Acharya Kalyansagarsuri Maharaj Saheb | |
|---|---|
 Idol of Kalyanasagarsuri in Anantnatha Jain Temple, Narshi Natha Street, Mumbai | |
| Personal life | |
| Born | Kodan Kumar 1577 |
| Died | 1661 |
| Parents |
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| Religious life | |
| Religion | Jainism |
| Sect | Śvetāmbara |
| Initiation | by Acharya Dharmamurtisuri |
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Kalyansagarsuri (c. 1577 – 1661 CE) was a 16th century Jain ascetic, reformer, philosopher, and researcher belonging to the Achal Gaccha of the Śvetāmbara Murtipujaka sect of Jainism. [1] [2]
Kodan Kumar was born to Naning (father) of Shrimali clan and Namilde (mother) on the 2nd day of the bright half of Ashadha month in 1577 CE in the town of Lolada in Patan, Gujarat. The town is situated roughly 19 km away from Shankheshwar Jain Temple. [3] [4] [5]
With permission from his parents, at the age of 9 years, he was initiated as a Jain monk on 4th day of the bright half of Falguna month in 1586 CE by Acharya Dharmamurtisuri of Achal Gaccha of the Śvetāmbara sect of Jainism in the town of Dholka, Gujarat and was renamed as Kalyansagar. [2] [3] [5]
After initiation, Kalyansagar began studying the Aagamas, law, poetry, grammar and other scholarly disciplines under his preceptor Dharmamurtisuri's guidance. He was consecrated as an acharya within a short period of 7 years on the 6th day of the bright half of Magha month in 1593 CE. Consequently, he was renamed as Acharya Kalyansagarsuri. [3] [6]
After consecration as an acharya, he traveled to Bhadreshwar in Kutch district. After listening to the importance of Palitana in Kalyansagarsuri's sermon, businessman and brothers of the Lalan clan, Sheth Vardhman and Sheth Padamsinh decided to go to Palitana with the Chaturvidha Sangha (transl. four-fold congregation including monks, nuns, male lay followers, and female lay followers) under Kalyansagarsuri's guidance. Lay followers of the sangha came to Jamnagar port by water as the desert of Kutch was said to be dangerous to travel in those days. [7] However, since Jain ascetics do not use vehicles to travel, Kalyansagarsuri and his fellow monks and nuns walked through the Rann of Kutch. From Jamnagar port, the four-fold sangha began its journey towards Palitana with the vow of 6 Ri's as directed by Jain scriptures. [5] [7] [8] The 6 Ri's: -
Approximately 15,200 people participated in the pilgrimage. Out of these, 200 were male ascetics, 300 were female ascetics, and 15,000 male and female laity (Śrāvakas and Śrāvikas). It took one month for the four-fold sangha to reach Palitana from Jamnagar. After paying their homage to the presiding deity Rishabhanatha, the brothers initiated the construction of a temple atop Mount Shatrunjaya on the 9th day of the bright half of Marghshirsh month in 1594 CE. [8] [9]
In 1596 CE, a businessman named Raaysinh Nagda organized a pilgrimage to Palitana with the vow of 6 Ri's under the guidance of Kalyansgarsuri. [7] [10]
His preceptor, Acharya Dharmamurtisuri, in his final days, went to Prabhaspatan, where he called demi-goddess Mahakali to solve his dilemma of who to appoint as his successor and to give them the powers of invisibility and flying. Mahakali suggested to choose Kalyansagarsuri as his successor and give him the powers. He was appointed as the leader of Achal Gacch on 11th day of the dark half of the Paush month in 1611 CE in the town of Patan. [11] [12] After the demise of Acharya Dharmamurtisuri, he was declared as Achalgacchadhipati (transl. Leader of Achal Gacch). In 1613 CE, he was given the title of "Yugpradhan" (transl. one who is the leader of the people of that era) in Udaipur by Chaturvidha Jaina Sangha of India. [7] [9] [2]
Several idols and temples are found where inscriptions mention Kalyansagarsuri's name. In 1617 CE, Kalyansagarsuri consecrated a temple on Mount Shatrunjay in Palitana. [10] [12] The temple was constructed by Sheth Vardhman and Sheth Padamsinh of the Lalan clan. In 1618 CE, upon Raayshi Shah's request, Kalyansagarsuri consecrated a total of 302 Tirthankara idols in the town of Jamnagar. [5] In 1619 CE, on the 3rd day of the bright half of Vaishakh month (Akshay tritiya), the idol of Shantinatha and other Tirthankaras were consecrated by Kalyansagarsuri in the temple constructed by Sheth Vardhman and Sheth Padamsinh of Lalan clan. In 1621 CE, Kalyansagarsuri consecrated 501 Tirthankara idols in a BahattaraJinalaya (transl. 1 main shrine and 71 smaller shrines surrounding it) which was also constructed by Lalan brothers. [7] [13] [9]
Under the guidance of Kalyansagarsuri, Lalan brothers Sheth Vardhman and Sheth Padamsinh renovated ancient pilgrim sites including, but not limited to Bhadreshwar, Girnar, Taranga, Abu, Shikharji, Pavagadh, Champapuri, Pavapuri, Rajgrihi, Hastinapur, and Varanasi. The brothers also renovated the stone staircase at Girnar, Palitana, and Shikharji under Kalyansagarsuri's guidance. [1] [7] The temple of Adbad Adinath was renovated under the guidance of Kalyansagarsuri. [9] [10] [13]
Kalyansagarsuri composed several hymns and prayers, and wrote books of varying genres. Some of his popular Sanskrit compositions are:
He also composed Agadadattaras in the Gujarati language.
During the pilgrimage to Palitana, on one night, Kalyansagarsuri noticed some unusual behavior of birds indicating a risk to lives of Vardhman and Padamsinh. To confirm it, Kalyansagarsuri invoked demi-goddess Mahakali, who confirmed about a deadly risk on both the brothers' lives. She also suggested a way to escape the risk. The next day, Kalyansagarsuri ordered the brothers to take the vow of Paushadh, which the brothers accepted wholeheartedly. While the brothers were walking barefoot with the Kalyansagarsuri, an elephant that accompanied the sangha became aggressive due to sexual desire and it became difficult to control him. After a while, the fetters of the elephant got stuck in the tree branches and the elephant calmed down. After the incident, the whole sangha realized the reason behind the Paushadh vow. [1] [6] [8]
In 1596 CE, while traveling to Bhuj, Kutch, he cured the illness of Maharao Bharmal I, the then king of Kutch, with his magical powers. The pleased king then ordered a ban on animal slaughter in his kingdom during the 8 days of Paryushana and constructed a Jain temple out of respect for Kalyansagarsuri. [1] [3] [12]
In 1612 CE, during chaturmas in Jamnagar, Kalyansagarsuri sent his disciple Ratnasagar to help the wife of the then Nawab of Jamnagar. With his magical powers, Ratnasagar cured the fever of the Nawab's wife. Impressed with the incident, the Nawab and his wife praised Jainism and built an upashraya for Jain ascetics. [1] [8]
In 1614 CE, Kalyansagarsuri consecrated 450 Tirthankara idols in a temple in Agra. The temple was constructed by brothers Kurpal and Sonpal of the Lodha clan. They were also ministers in the Mughal court. The brothers also organized a pilgrimage to Shikharji, Pavapuri, and Palitana apart from renovating several pilgrim sites. Later, when Kalyansagarsuri stayed in Varanasi, rivals of the Jain sangha wrongly influenced the Mughal emperor Jahangir against Jainism. Consequently, Jahangir asked Lodha brothers to show some miracle by the Tirthankaras within 10 days or the temple would be desecrated and destroyed. The younger brother, Sonpal, went to Varanasi where Kalyansagarsuri was staying at that moment to inform him about the incident and asked for help. Kalyansagarsuri relieved him and sent him back. It is said that due to limited time and the long commute between Agra and Varanasi, Kalyansagarsuri reached Agra by flying in the sky. The said magic of flying was taught to Kalyansagarsuri by his preceptor Acharya Dharmamurtisuri. On the tenth day, Jahangir arrived at the temple where Kalyansagarsuri asked him to bow down to the Tirthankara idol if he wanted to witness the miracle. As soon as the emperor bowed down to the idol, it lifted its hand to bless and said, "Dharmalabh" (transl. be blessed with spirituality). It is said that Kalyansagarsuri had ordered the demi-goddess Mahakali to enter the idol and do the said act. Witnessing the miracle, the emperor said that he truly believed in the truthfulness of Jains and that tirthankaras were true gods. Impressed with Kalyansagarsuri, Jahangir gifted 10,000 gold coins to Lodha brothers, which they used for charity. [8] [11] [12]
Kalyansagarsuri died at the age of 84 on the 13th day of the bright half of Ashwin month in 1661 CE during chaturmas in Bhuj, Kutch. [12] [5]
During his life and after, he was known given several alternate names and titles by his followers and disciples. Alternate names include Kshemasagar, Shubhasagar, Shivodadhisuri, and Shivsindhuraj amongst several other names he was known by. The titles he was given include Jangamtirth, Jagadguru, Yugpradhan, and Yugveer. [12]
The Śvetāmbara is one of the two main branches of Jainism, the other being the Digambara. Śvetāmbara in Sanskrit means "white-clad", and refers to its ascetics' practice of wearing white clothes, which sets it apart from the Digambara or "sky-clad" Jains whose ascetic practitioners go nude. Śvetāmbaras do not believe that ascetics must practice nudity.
Girnar is an ancient hill in Junagadh, Gujarat, India. It is one of the holiest pilgrimages for Jains, where the 22nd Tirthaṅkar, Lord Neminath attained omniscience, and later nirvana along with other five hundred and thirty three enlightened sages. This is well described in ancient texts such as Kalpa Sūtra written by acharya Bhadrabāhu.
Pavagadh is a municipal operated region in Panchmahal district about 46 kilometres (29 mi) away from Vadodara in Gujarat state in western India. It is known for a famous Mahakali temple which is one of the 51 Shaktipeeths and draws thousands of pilgrims every day. However, as per records, this was originally a Jain temple belonging to the Svetambara Achalgaccha sect, whose Adhistayika Mahakali's idol was installed here in the 12th century. This locality Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park was declared by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 2004.
Shankheshwar is a town in the Patan district of Gujarat state of India. It is an important place of pilgrimage for the followers of Jainism.
Siddhasenadivākarasuri was a Jain monk of the Śvetāmbara sect in the fifth century CE who wrote works on Jain philosophy and epistemology. He was like the illuminator of the Jain order and therefore came to be known as Divākara, "Sun". He is credited with the authorship of many books, most of which are not available. Sanmatitarka is the first major Jain work on logic written in Sanskrit. Among the most popular of his works, the Kalyan Mandir Stotra is a Sanskrit hymn dedicated to the 23rd Tirthankara Parshvanatha. It is one of the 9 holiest recitations in the Śvetāmbara Murtipujak sect of Jainism.
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The Shankheshwar Jain Temple is located in the center of Shankheshwar town of Patan district, Gujarat, India. The temple is dedicated to Parshwanath and is an important place of pilgrimage for the followers of Jainism.
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Mahakali Mata Temple is a Hindu goddess temple complex and pilgrim centre at the summit of Pavagadh Hill in Panchmahal District, India, with in the Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park.
Pavagadh Hill is situated within a plain in Panchmahal district, Gujarat, western India. A volcanic eruption occurred in the region approximately 500 million years ago and the etymology of Pavagadh is associated with this eruption: Pav-gadh means "one fourth hill" or "fire-hill". At its base is the historical city of Champaner, while the hill station of Pavagadh was built upon the volcanic cone itself. With Champaner, Pavagadh hill forms the Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site which is spread over an area of more than 1,329 hectares. Known for its forts, there are also dozens of heritage structures on the hill. The site is 50 kilometres (31 mi) east of Vadodara and 68 kilometres (42 mi) south of Godhra.
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Jainism is an Indian religion which is traditionally believed to be propagated by twenty-four spiritual teachers known as tirthankara. Broadly, Jainism is divided into two major schools of thought, Digambara and Śvetāmbara. These are further divided into different sub-sects and traditions. While there are differences in practices, the core philosophy and main principles of each sect is the same.
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Daulatsagarsuri was a Jain ascetic, philosopher, and a revered saint belonging to the Śvetāmbara sect. He was the head of the monastic order (Gacchadhipati) of the "Sagar Samudaay" of the Tapa Gaccha. While he was alive, he was the preceptor of 900 monks and nuns. He was awarded the rarest of the rare and ancient title of "Shri Sangh Sthavir" based on his austerity, knowledge of the canonical scriptures of Jainism, and spiritual leadership, becoming the only second of the modern Jain ascetics to have achieved this feat.
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Vādikavi Ācārya Bappabhattisuri Mahārāja Sāheb was a Śvetāmbara Jain ascetic in the 8th century CE. He was an eminent poet, philosopher, reformer, researcher, and a child prodigy. Apart from his literary contributions, he is best known for his scriptural debates and the reforms he brought about in the iconography of Tirthankara idols sculpted and owned by the Śvetāmbara sect of Jainism.
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