The Ashtavakra Gita or Song of Ashtavakra is a classical Advaita text in the form of a dialogue between the sage Ashtavakra and Janaka, king of Mithila.
Wardha is a city and a municipal council in Wardha district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The administrative headquarter of Wardha district is situated here. Wardha gets its name from the Wardha River which flows on the northern, western and southern boundaries of the district. Founded in 1866, the town is now an important centre for cotton trade. Wardha was an important part of the Gandhian era.
Kochrab Ashram, also known as Satyagraha Ashram, is a historic site and museum in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. The ashram was the founded in May 1915 by Mahatma Gandhi, leader of the Indian independence movement. For the next two years he lived in the ashram with several other members of the movement. Some of his Gandhian ideas were conceived during that time. In 1953 the Bombay State named the ashram a memorial and tendered it to the Gujarat Vidyapith a year later. Its renovation and redevelopment into a museum were completed in 2024.
Shrimad Rajchandra, also known as Param Krupalu Dev, was a Jain poet, mystic, philosopher, scholar, and reformer from India. Born in Vavaniya, a village near Morbi, he claimed to have attained recollection of his past lives at the age of seven. He performed Avadhāna, a memory retention and recollection test that gained him popularity, but he later discouraged it in favour of his spiritual pursuits. He wrote much philosophical poetry including Atma Siddhi Shastra. He also wrote many letters and commentaries and translated some religious texts. He is known for his teachings on Jainism and his spiritual guidance to Mahatma Gandhi.
Dharampur is a town and a municipality in Valsad district in the state of Gujarat, India. There are more than 100 villages associated with Dharampur (Revenue) office. Ramsingh of the Sesodia clan, the second son of Ram Raja of Udaipur, defeated the local tribal chief in the 13th century and became the ruler of Dharampur State in South Gujarat.
Dada Bhagwan, also known as Dadashri, born Ambalal Muljibhai Patel, was an Indian spiritual leader from Gujarat who founded the Akram Vignan Movement. He was spiritually inclined from an early age. He worked as a contractor for a company maintaining dry docks in Bombay before attaining "self-realization" in 1958. He left business and focused on his spiritual goals. The movement around his teaching grew into the Akram Vignan movement gaining followers in western India and abroad. Ahimsa (non-violence) and vegetarianism are an important part of Dada's teachings.
The credit for introducing Jainism to the West goes to a German scholar, Hermann Jacobi, who translated some Jain literature and published it in the series 'Sacred Books of East' in 1884. In Europe, the largest Jain populations are in Britain, with a population of about 25,000.
Jagdish Chandra Jain was a scholar, indologist, educationist, writer, and freedom fighter during the freedom struggle of India. He authored over 80 books on a variety of subjects, including Jain philosophy, Prakrit literature, and Hindi textbooks for children. Jain was the chief prosecution witness in Gandhi's murder trial. He repeatedly tried to warn the government of the conspiracy to assassinate Mahatma Gandhi, which became to known to him after Madan Lal Pahwa, a Punjabi refugee and one of the conspirators of the murder of Mahatma Gandhi, confided to him of their plan. Jain's attempts to warn the government met deaf ears. He recounted his personal experiences in two books: I Could Not Save Bapu and The Forgotten Mahatma. He died from cardiac arrest in July 1993 in Bombay at the age of 84.
Atma Siddhi Shastra is a spiritual treatise in verse, composed in Gujarati by the nineteenth century Jain saint, philosopher poet Shrimad Rajchandra (1867–1901). Atma according to Jainism means "soul" or the "self" and "siddhi" means "attainment". Hence, Atma Siddhi is translated as self attainment or self realization. It is a composition of 142 verses in Gujarati, explaining the fundamental philosophical truths about the soul and its liberation. It propounds six fundamental truths on soul which are also known as satapada.
The Gandhi Global Family medals and awards are awards offered by the Gandhi Global Family for contributions to society.
Deepakbhai Desai, referred as Pujya Deepakbhai Desai by his followers, is Indian spiritual leader from Gujarat, India. He heads Dada Bhagwan Foundation. He teaches the Akram Vignan philosophy developed by Dada Bhagwan.
Anandghan was a 17th-century Śvetāmbara Jain monk, mystical poet and hymnist. Though very little is known about his life, his collection of hymns about philosophy, devotion and spirituality in vernacular languages are popular and still sung in Jain temples.
Yugpurush: Mahatma Na Mahatma is a 2016 Gujarati play based on the relationship between Jain philosopher Shrimad Rajchandra and Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi. The play depicts the spiritual journey of Gandhi. It is written by Uttam Gada and directed by Rajesh Joshi. The original song for the play is composed by Sachin–Jigar. It is produced by Shrimad Rajchandra Mission, Dharampur and inspired by its founder Pujya Gurudevshri Rakeshbhai. The play is adapted into seven total languages including English, Bengali, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil and Kannada. It won the Best Drama award at the 16th Annual Transmedia Gujarati Screen and Stage Awards 2016. The play has completed 1004 shows as of November 2017.
The Akram Vignan movement, also spelled Akram Vijnan, is a new religious movement originated in 1960s in Gujarat, India. It was founded by Dada Bhagwan and later spread to Maharashtra and Gujarati diaspora communities around the world. After death of Dada Bhagwan, the movement split in two factions: one led by Niruben Amin and the other led by Kanubhai Patel.
Shrimad Rajchandra Hospital is a charitable, multi-bed hospital located in the city of Dharampur in the Valsad district of Gujarat, India. The hospital currently operates under the administration of Shrimad Rajchandra Love and Care, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) which runs the hospital and other charitable activities. Established in 2003, it provides medical care at nominal rates or completely free of cost. Hospital records show that over 125,000 patients were treated in 2016, and over 1 million patients have been treated since the inception of the hospital in 2004.
Pranjivandas Jagjivandas Mehta was a Mumbai-born physician, lawyer and jeweller who settled in Burma. He was a close friend of Mahatma Gandhi, helping Gandhi in England, helping him return from South Africa to India and sponsoring him. He also helped Gandhi articulate and elucidate his vision of India in the Hind Swaraj which was written primarily for Mehta. In 1909 he wrote a letter to Gokhale recognising Gandhi as a Mahatma, well before Gandhi was given that title.
Apurva Avsar is a 2007 biographical play about an Indian Jain philosopher and mystic Shrimad Rajchandra directed by Manoj Shah. The play is co-written by Shah and Raju Dave.
Pujyashri Saubhagyabhai (1823–1896) born in Sayla, Saurashtra was one of the foremost devotees of Shrimad Rajchandra. Saubhagyabhai was 67 years old when he first met Shrimad. Though Shrimad was 44 years younger than him, he declared Shrimad as his Guru and is considered as Shrimad Rajchandra's divine soulmate. The great scripture, Atmasiddhi Shastra was composed by Shrimad Rajchandra upon the request of Saubhagyabhai in 1896.
Vananiya is a small village located 40 km from the town of Morbi in the state of Gujarat, India.
