Acharya
Vimalsagarsuri
Maharaj Saheb
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| Born | Indrakumar Bagrecha April 23, 1966 |
| Religion | Jainism |
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| Sect | Śvetāmbara |
| Religious career | |
| Initiation | by Acharya Padmasagarsuri |
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Vimalsagarsuri is an eminent and popular Jain monk and Acharya of the Tapa Gaccha of the Śvetāmbara sect of Jainism. He belongs to the lineage of Acharya Buddhisagarsuri.
Acharya Vimalsagarsuri was born on April 23, 1966, at Hiriyur, Karnataka in an Oswal Jain family, to Suadevi Bagrecha and Chaganrajji Bagrecha. In terms of formal education, he dropped school after passing 8th grade. He displayed an interest in learning and mastering multiple languages including Hindi, Gujarati, Sanskrit, Prakrit, English, Marathi, and Rajasthani.[1]
At the age of 16, Vimalsagarsuri was initiated as a Jain monk in a ceremony held on April 19, 1982, in Chennai. He was initiated by Acharya Padmasagarsuri of the Buddhisagarsuri Samudaay of the Tapa GacchaofŚvetāmbara Jains.[2] On December 1, 2014, he was consecrated as an Acharya after 22 years of monkhood in a ceremony held at the Nakodaji Shwetambar Jain Tirth.[2] He has delivered over 6000 discourses and has a large number of young followers. He usually uses Hindi as the medium of instruction in his sermons to reach a larger audience. He revived the ancient Jain practices of different types of meditation and also created Shri Ghantakarna Mahayantram, Shri Manibhadra Mahayantram, Shri Parshva Padmavati Mahayantram and Shrut Devi Yantram , which, according to Jain scriptures, are important objects of meditation. He is particularly popular amongst Śvetāmbara Jains for his yearly 5-day-long Shrut Sadhna (meditation for knowledge).[3]
In his ascetic life, he is said to have learned several canonical and non-canonical Jain scriptures as well as scriptures of other faiths before becoming an Acharya. After that, he also consecrated several temples and idols. Due to his efforts, Haribhadra Suri's Samarditya Mahakatha, which was only available in Gujarati in addition to its original language, was translated and presented in Hindi for the first time to reach a larger audience.[2]
Acharya Vimalsagarsuri has undertaken extensive padayatras (walks), covering approximately 70,000 kilometers across the Western India and South India, mainly in the states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and Rajasthan. The purpose of these walks is to reach out to communities far and wide to spread the message of Jainism. The other means he uses include transformation camps, awakening seminars, children's development workshops, family counseling sessions, and spiritual knowledge seminars.[4][5]
He is usually seen actively promoting interfaith harmony through his speeches and sermons delivered in mosques, Hindu temples, and even public gatherings.[6] He was invited by Buddhist as well as Sikh scholars as guest at their events. He also unequivocally supports initiation into the Jain faith as a monk and presents this move as an 'ideological revolution'.[7] He also strives to spread awareness about the history and heritage of India.[8] He also spreads awareness about safeguarding the interests of the Jain community.[9]
Acharya Vimalsagarsuri is also one of the very few Jain monks who have given sermons to prostitutes to inspire them to give up their ongoing profession of prostitution and start living a better life.
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