Kesi (Ganadhara)

Kesi was the leader of the order of monks of the twenty third Jain Tirthankara, Parshvanatha, who is said to have met the 'Gandhara' (Chief disciple) of the twenty fourth Jain Tirthankara, Mahavira, Gautama.^[1] He was the disciple of Arya Samudradatta. His monastic lineage later came to be known as the Upkeśa Gaccha.

Kesi (Ganadhara)
Parshvanath's Gandhara.
Symbol	Tree or Jain Chihna
Height	1.8m
Genealogy
Born	511 (historical) 534 (traditional) Sarnath (ancient in Shaptārshis dynasty)

Monastic lineage

The time period between Parshvanatha and Mahavira was only 250 years, which is relatively short when compared to the periods between any two consecutive tirthankaras. According to ancient Śvetāmbara texts such as Uttaradhyayana Sutra, owing to this short period of time between both the tirthankaras, monks of Parshvanatha's lineage existed during Mahavira's time period. Keśiśramanācharya was a monk of Parshvanatha's lineage, who is said to have met Gautama Swami, the prime disciple of Mahavira.^[2] Parshvanatha's monastic lineage is said to have begun with his prime disciple Arya Śubhadatta. Later, this lineage came to be known as the Upkeśa Gaccha of the Śvetāmbara tradition.^[3]

Keśiśramanācharya's (the 4th head of the monastic order in Parshvanatha's monastic lineage) disciple Swayamprabhasuri went on to create the Porwal and Srimali castes by preaching Jainism and strongly opposing animal sacrifice in Bhinmal and Padmavati region of present-day Rajasthan.^[4][5][6] Later, Swayamprabhasuri's disciple Ratnaprabhasuri preached Jainism in Osian and created the Oswal caste.^{[7][8][9][10]} The monastic lineage of Upkeśa Gaccha is particularly important as it narrates the history of Jainism before Mahavira and describes the creation of three of the most prominent castes of Jain followers. It also suggests the antiquity of the Śvetāmbara tradition and that white-clad ascetics were the original followers of Jainism and of Parshvanatha, who preceded naked ascetics of the Digambara sect.^[11][12]

See also

• Mahavira
• Swayamprabhasuri
• Ratnaprabhasuri