Acharya Kalyansagarsuri Maharaj Saheb | |
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 Idol of Kalyanasagarsuri in Anantnatha Jain Temple, Narshi Natha Street,Mumbai | |
| Personal life | |
| Born | Kodan Kumar 1577 (1577) |
| Died | 1661 (1662) |
| 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 theAchal Gaccha of theŚvetāmbaraMurtipujaka sect ofJainism.[1][2]
Kodan Kumar was born to Naning (father) ofShrimali clan and Namilde (mother) on the 2nd day of the bright half ofAshadha month in 1577 CE in the town of Lolada inPatan,Gujarat. The town is situated roughly 19 km away fromShankheshwar Jain Temple.[3][4][5]
With permission from his parents, at the age of 9 years, he was initiated as aJain monk on 4th day of the bright half ofFalguna month in 1586 CE by Acharya Dharmamurtisuri of Achal Gaccha of theŚvetāmbara sect ofJainism in the town ofDholka,Gujarat and was renamed as Kalyansagar.[2][3][5]
After initiation, Kalyansagar began studying theAagamas, law, poetry, grammar and other scholarly disciplines under his preceptor Dharmamurtisuri's guidance. He was consecrated as anacharya within a short period of 7 years on the 6th day of the bright half ofMagha month in 1593 CE. Consequently, he was renamed as Acharya Kalyansagarsuri.[3][6]
After consecration as anacharya, he traveled toBhadreshwar inKutch district. After listening to the importance ofPalitana in Kalyansagarsuri's sermon, businessman and brothers of the Lalan clan, Sheth Vardhman and Sheth Padamsinh decided to go toPalitana with theChaturvidha Sangha (transl. four-fold congregation including monks, nuns, male lay followers, and female lay followers) under Kalyansagarsuri's guidance. Lay followers of thesangha came toJamnagar port by water as thedesert of Kutch was said to be dangerous to travel in those days.[7] However, sinceJain ascetics do not use vehicles to travel, Kalyansagarsuri and his fellow monks and nuns walked through theRann of Kutch. From Jamnagar port, thefour-fold sangha began its journey towards Palitana with thevow of 6 Ri's as directed byJain 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 reachPalitana fromJamnagar. After paying their homage to the presiding deityRishabhanatha, the brothers initiated the construction of a temple atopMount Shatrunjaya on the 9th day of the bright half ofMarghshirsh month in 1594 CE.[8][9]
In 1596 CE, a businessman named Raaysinh Nagda organized a pilgrimage toPalitana with the vow of 6 Ri's under the guidance of Kalyansgarsuri.[7][10]
His preceptor, Acharya Dharmamurtisuri, in his final days, went toPrabhaspatan, where he called demi-goddessMahakali 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 thePaush month in 1611 CE in the town ofPatan.[11][12] After the demise of Acharya Dharmamurtisuri, he was declared asAchalgacchadhipati (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) inUdaipur byChaturvidha Jaina Sangha ofIndia.[7][9][2]
Several idols and temples are found where inscriptions mention Kalyansagarsuri's name. In 1617 CE, Kalyansagarsuri consecrated a temple onMount Shatrunjay inPalitana.[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 302Tirthankara idols in the town ofJamnagar.[5] In 1619 CE, on the 3rd day of the bright half ofVaishakh month (Akshay tritiya), the idol ofShantinatha and otherTirthankaras were consecrated by Kalyansagarsuri in the temple constructed by Sheth Vardhman and Sheth Padamsinh of Lalan clan. In 1621 CE, Kalyansagarsuri consecrated 501Tirthankaraidols in aBahattaraJinalaya (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 toBhadreshwar,Girnar,Taranga,Abu,Shikharji,Pavagadh,Champapuri,Pavapuri,Rajgrihi,Hastinapur, andVaranasi. The brothers also renovated the stone staircase atGirnar,Palitana, andShikharji under Kalyansagarsuri's guidance.[1][7] The temple ofAdbad 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 popularSanskrit compositions are:
He also composedAgadadattaras in theGujarati language.
During the pilgrimage toPalitana, 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-goddessMahakali, 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 thevow of Paushadh, which the brothers accepted wholeheartedly. While the brothers were walking barefoot with the Kalyansagarsuri, an elephant that accompanied thesangha 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 wholesangha realized the reason behind thePaushadh vow.[1][6][8]
In 1596 CE, while traveling toBhuj,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 ofParyushana and constructed a Jain temple out of respect for Kalyansagarsuri.[1][3][12]
In 1612 CE, duringchaturmas inJamnagar, Kalyansagarsuri sent his disciple Ratnasagar to help the wife of the thenNawab of Jamnagar. With his magical powers, Ratnasagar cured the fever of the Nawab's wife. Impressed with the incident, the Nawab and his wife praisedJainism and built anupashraya for Jain ascetics.[1][8]
In 1614 CE, Kalyansagarsuri consecrated 450Tirthankara idols in a temple inAgra. The temple was constructed by brothers Kurpal and Sonpal of theLodha clan. They were also ministers in theMughal court. The brothers also organized a pilgrimage toShikharji,Pavapuri, andPalitana apart from renovating several pilgrim sites. Later, when Kalyansagarsuri stayed inVaranasi, rivals of theJain sangha wrongly influenced the Mughal emperorJahangir against Jainism. Consequently, Jahangir asked Lodha brothers to show some miracle by theTirthankaras 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 theTirthankara 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-goddessMahakali 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 thattirthankaras 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 ofAshwin month in 1661 CE duringchaturmas inBhuj,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 includeJangamtirth,Jagadguru,Yugpradhan, andYugveer.[12]
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