Gautama Indrabhūti.The Śvetāmbara tell the following story of the conversion of Mahāvīra’s earliest and greatest disciple, Gautama Indrabhūti. It happened that once when Mahāvīra went to the city of Apāpā to preach, a rich Brāhman was preparing to offer a great animal sacrifice, and had invited Gautama Indrabhūti and his ten brothers to be present. They heard of the new teacher, and that he was denouncing the animal sacrifice at which they had assisted, and they were very much enraged at his audacity. They therefore determined to oppose him and expose the falseness of his teaching, but felt that they must first learn more of this new doctrine. They listened to Mahāvīra’s discourses, and heard the gentle, thoughtful answers he gave to all questioners, till at length, being convinced of the truth of his Way, they cast in their lot with his, and became his chief disciples or Ganadhara.[1]
The Digambara give a different account of Gautama’s conversion. Indrabhūti was, they say, born of Brāhman parents in a village called Gōvara, his father’s name being Vasumati, and his mother’s Pṛithvī;[2] he became a very learned pandit and grew extremely vain of his learning. One day, however, an old man appeared and asked him to explain a certain verse to him. Mahāvīra had, the old man said, repeated the śloka to him, but had immediately afterwards become so lost in meditation that he could get no explanation of it from the saint, and yet he felt that he could not live unless he knew the meaning. The verse contained references to Kāḷa[3] and Dravya, Pañċa Astikāya, Tattva and Leśyā,[4] not one of which could Gautama understand, but being too true a scholar to pretend to a knowledge which he did not possess, he sought out Mahāvīra to ask
