MENNU

Enlightened is he,
Enlighten is what he does,
Worship thy Guru..

Many men who have been born in Bharat, walked the tough path of attaining salvation, penance have graced the land of Bharat and contributed towards enriching its cultural heritage. Bharat has been the figurine of non-violence, penance-sacrifice. Every period is bejeweled the historic birth of saints who have been idolized for their sacrifice and penance. Present period also manifests the ideal saint- world-known, visionary, historic, invincible seeker, Shraman-sanskriti unnayanak, ubiquitous saint, proponent of youth, celebrated and renowned poet, Digambar Jainacharya Param Poojya Acharya Shree 108 Vidyasagar ji Maharaj.
Introduction
Father Shri Mallappaji Ashtega (Munishri Mallisagarji)
Mother Mrs. Srimantji (Aryikaashree Samaymatijee)
Brother/Sister Four brothers, two sisters
Place of Birth Chikkodi (near Gram-Sadlaga), Belgaum (Karnataka)
Date of Birth Ashwin Shukla Purnima (Sharad Purnima), dated 10-10-1946, Thursday, at 12:30 p.m.
Birth constellation Uttara Bhadra
Education 9th matriculation (in Kannada language)
Oath of Celibacy Shri Digambar Jain Atishay Kshaitr, Cholgiri (Khaniaji), Jaipur (Rajasthan)
Pratima Seven (from Acharyashree Deshbhushanji Maharaj)
Place Shravan Belagola, Haasan (Karnataka) in 1966
Date of initiation Ashad, Shukla Panchmi, dated 30-06-1968, Sunday
Place of initiation Ajmer (Rajasthan)
Date of Acharya pad Margashirsha Krishna Dwitiya, dated 22-11-1972, Wednesday
Place of Acharya pad In Nasirabad (Rajasthan), From Acharyashree Gyansagarji maharaj
Mother toungue Kannad
 
He is a unique child by being the second child of his parents. His childhood has been adventurous, wonderous and filled with astonishment. Instead of playing with fellowmates true to his age, instead he was engaged in visiting temples with his parents, listening to religious talks and speeches, having a pure Satvic diet, learning difficult Sutras of sanskrit out of directions given by Guru et al and through several such engulfing incidents signalled towards the future and led to steering towards the invincible path of spirituality. He was sharp and obedient since childhood. His mother tongue is kannada. He has studied in Marathi medium until Class ninth.
At the tender age of 9 years, by listening to the spiritual words of Jainacharya Shantisagar ji, the seeds towards the path of eternal salvation were sown which sprouted and blossomed through the adoption of Bramhacharya Vrat. At mere 20 years of age, he abandoned his family and home by taking the divine oath towards eternal travel in search of ultimate truth. Surrender towards Guru and worshiping thy Guru was the only objective that drove him towards the life length devoted in auterity, penance and social service on June 30th 1968 at Ajmer, Rajasthan for attainment of salvation.

One who blankets the whole universe at the horizon and enlightens its inhabitants with knowledge and righteous behaviour towards the path of non-violence and in continuous search of truth. Devotees who are free from any sickeness, diseases, sins, frail, holding attitude of generous serving and hosting tend to offer food which is absent of salt, sweetness, greenness, fruits, nuts and is prepared through process of purity of heart, body, mind and vicinity. Thy who recieves offerings from such devotees once a day, consumes it for the sole purpose of knowledge, meditation, penance, austerity and spirtual learing. The one who has devoted his life for the preservation of culture, knowledge and is continuous travelling and promoting non-violence, generous behaviour, compassionate Munivar Shree carries mere a pair of Pichhi-kamandala and leads a life of minimalism of worldy needs and free from sources of worldy pleasures.
Following your holy footsteps, both parents and siblings initiated living similar lives. This is a unique incidence of the century, where seven out of eight members symbolizing seven energy rays of a spectrum while meditating seven concurrent elements of nature diverted towards the common goal of salvation and enlightenment.
He actualised/substantiated the vision and expectation of his Guru by initiating the construction of a huge Gurukul. One ray of hope and substantation led to another like a candle who lits the other one soon lightening up the whole surrounding and tangible structures, followers, disciples and many active listeners followed. He conducted the sanctification and life long abandonment process called ‘Deeksha’ for 120 Muni, 172 Aryika, 21 Aelak, 14 Kshullak, 3 Kshullikayein totalling to 330 souls which he uplifted and led towards the path of austerity and complete abandonment for the tru purpose of attaining enlightenment and redemption.

  • Enabling self-realisation by people and its actualisation conceived through Jinalaya/temple which are a splendid example of both Vastushastra and great traditional sculpting artform:
    • A. Grand stone temple of Kundalpur’s bade baba
    • B. Sidhhodaya Siddhakshetra in Nemavar
    • Grand stone-built Panchbalyati and Choubisi Jinalaya in Ramtek
    • Sarvodaya teerth in Amarkantak
    • Stone-built Trikaal Choubisi’s temple at Dongargarh
    • Grand stone temple in Nagpur
    • Nandeeshwar architecture in Madhiyaji, Jabalpur
    • Stone temple in Bhagyodaya, Gopalganj and Rampura Sagar
    • Stone temples in many cities like Bhilai, Silwani, Tadha.
  • To encourage youth on the path of righteousness and non-violence, “ Govt. Service Training Centre (Delhi, Bhopal)
  • To preserve culture, sacraments and religious ordinations, based on Gurukul system, five girl boarding school “ Pratibhasthali Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh; Dongargarh-Chhattisgarh, Ramtek-Maharashtra, Paporaaji-, Tikamgarh-Madhya Pradesh, Indore-Madhya Pradesh
  • Pratibha Prateeksha in Indore (Girls boarding hostel)
  • In the field of medical science and welfare “Chikitsa Seva Sansthan, Bhagyodaya Teerth Sagar”
  • Shaantidhara Dugdh Scheme, Beena barah
  • To conserve the voiceless animals, more than 100 cow-sheds are functional under “Dayodaya Mahasangh”
  • For creation of empoyment, small-scale enterprises like “Poori Maetri” and “Hathkargha”
 
To serve for the welfare of society through deeds and visible work, by inspiring several others, he is the one saint among many others of the world. With the only objective of serving the society and preserving the rich old traditional culture and heritage amidst modernization and cultural openness, his heart trembled with fear of losing the culture and sanctum-sanctorum of religiosity, he undertook the ardent task of restoring the lost culture by:
  • National language should be ‘Hindi’,
  • Name of our country should be ‘Bharat’ not India
  • Bhartiya Educational system should be centrally adopted in Bharat
  • Legal and Govt. work should take place in National language and not in English
  • Education of Girls and boys should be separate and distinct
  • Migration of Bhartiya talents
  • 100% Vote
  • Eligibility criterion should be preserved in education system
If one wants to see the noble unison of burning like a fire within yourself for the preservation of your nation and its language like Bhagat Singh and on the other hand igniting the cognizance for removal of foreign language is examplified through the living legend- Acharya Shree Vidyasagar ji Maharaj
hearted and compassionate saint who is concerned about increasing unemployment and inclination towards foreign lifestyle and influences. He is inspired by gandhijis life and thoughts and supports the creation of employment opportunities within the nation which will reduce dependence on other countries and promotes non-violent employment opportunities. He proclaimes:
  • Business over service,
  • Medical service is not a business,
  • Preserve non-violent small scale enterprises and industries,
  • Agriculture is the basis of economy in the country- Either be a saint or a farmer,
  • For the welfare and development of villages and rural areas, schemes for rural development should be promoted,
  • Poultry, meat-packing, fishery etc are not agricultural projects, it is a faux if considered so,
  • employment to hand-weavers, preserves the nature and is a ladder towards independence.
 
He who uses tonality of Mahaveera, the polite choice of words like Buddha uses simple peaceful words to explain the complexities of the world, one who conceives and concludes the works of plato, aristotle, kabir is the one who is supremely knowldegeable. Knowledge-meditation-ascetic are the three sides of the ultimate austerity and compassion. With such skills and knowledge, he is the creator of Mookmaati which is revolutionary, spiritual, moral, social, principled, transitional, epic and many other literary art works whose description follows below:
    • Collection of poetry -
      • Mookamaatee mahakaavy,
      • Narmada ka naram kankar,
      • Doobo mat lagao dubakee,
      • Tota kyon rota?
      • Chetana ke gaharaav mein,
      • 12 Hindi shatak,
      • Aachaary stuti saroj,
      • More than 500 haiku poems
    • Sanskrit creations -
      • Shaarada stuti,
      • Panchastikay ka sanskrit pratiroopak,
      • 6 Sanskrit shatak,
      • Dheeroday champookavy,
    • Others -
      • Padyanuvaad of 22 books of Jainnayana,
      • 10 spiritual hymns, 9 devotions,
      • Communicative compositions in English Bangla, Kannada, Prakrit etc.
And earned accolades for his literary and emotion driven literary works in Prakrit, Sanskrit, Hindi, English, marathi, bengali and kannada languages.
For the prosper of Bhartiya Culture and traditions, education is pivotal on which some of his thoughts are described below:
  • Creation of interests and demolition of evil is the objecive of education.
  • Education should be interpreted through deeds and skills.
  • The objective of education is not to survive through life rather to construct a life out of the caged life.
  • serves the purpose of preservation of culture as well as development of future.
  • Economically driven rather it should be driven towards spiritual attainment.
  • Educational processes should responsibly shoulder every learner towards a leading path of discipline and duty so that attitude of providing help should be inculcated rather than a support-seeking attitude.
  • If the lessons of truth, non-violence and peace is not taught to the students, then terrorism cannot fought with.
  • There is no limit to the responsibilities of a teacher. The one who understands the potentiality of change can provide stability in responsible behaviour.
  • If well-educated person is not disciplined and conscientious, then what is the purpose of education?
  • Knowledge should not be language-oriented but emotion-oriented
  • Teacher should limit his aspirations and be satisfied before giving knowledge and cultural inheritance to the successors.
With such all-welfare thoughts, he is renowned as ‘Sarvodayi” saint. For the younger generations, he presents thought-provoking content in an inspiring way to lead them towards curiosity and enlightenment. With his nation-building guidance and mentorship of youth with zeal, enthusiasm, energy, awareness and vision, youth is enriched with objectives to fulfill.
No amount of words could ever describe your great personality; even if hundreds of dictionaries will combine they are too short to write about you. Many eloquent have been writing about you but the quotes do not take the name of taking rest. You are a great source of inspiration for the enlightenment seekers. You are the mascot of the nation, society and all the living beings. You have a unique aura that without even uttering a single word, devotees from all the corners of the world come around you.
After a lot of visions, thirst for your philosophy remains. Each sentence spoken by you is full of knowledge and experience. What could I say? You are a dynamic seeker who wanders the universe like a spiritual sun, who directs the path towards enlightenment. Your grand personality is beyond the boundaries of nation, time, caste, religion; you will be remembered as equals of Teerthankara Bhagwan.