Shantisagar

This article is about Jain monk. For lake with the same name, see Shanti Sagara.

Charitra Chakravarti Acharya Shri Shantisagar Ji Maharaj
Shantisagar
Religion	Jainism
Sect	Digambara
Personal
Born	Satgauda 1873 Yalgud, Karnataka
Died
Cremation place	Kunthalgiri, Maharashtra
Parents	Bhimagauda Patil (father) Satyavati (mother)
Senior posting
Successor	Virasagar
Religious career
Initiated	Virasagar, Nemisagar
Initiation	1919 Yarnal by Devendrakirti

Acharya Shri Shantisagar (1872-1955) was a Digambar Jain Acharya of the 20th century, and the first Digambar Jain monk to wander in North India after several centuries. He was given the title Charitra Chakravarti (literally Emperor of character) by his followers.

Biography

Shantisagara was born in 1873 in north Karnataka, an area which along with adjacent south Maharashtra is the place of origin of most Digambara monks today. Thwarted in his desire for ascetic initiation by parental refusal (and, presumably, by the absence at that time of anyone competent to confer it), the young Shantisagara spent much time performing minor acts of austerity and in going on pilgrimage to a wide range of holy places which confirmed his sense of Jain tradition and civilisation. Having himself taken the ailaka vow, the preliminary stage to full Digambara initiation,in front of an image of the fordmaker Neminatha, he was eventually at the age of forty-seven able to take initiation at the village of Yarnal.

He seems to have attempted to familiarise himself with the technicalities of Jain metaphysics only later in life through conversations with Jain scholars, and the title of Acharya was bestowed upon him by general acclaim as a token of his charisma and asceticism rather than because of any profound learning.

Death

Regarding the observance of sallekhana vow by Acharya Shantisagar, Padmanabh Jaini writes:

It is August, 1955. On the holy mount of Kunthalagiri, in the state of Maharashtra in India, an old man called Santisagara (Ocean of peace) is ritually fasting to death. He is the Acharya (spiritual leader) of the Digambara Jaina community; now, after thirty-five years as a mendicant, he is attaining his mortal end in the holy manner prescribed by the great saint Mahavira almost 2,500 years earlier. Santisagara has owned nothing, not even a loincloth, since 1920. He has wandered on foot over the length and breadth of India, receiving food offerings but once a day. and then with only his bare hands for a bowl; he has spoken little during daylight hours and not at all after sunset. From August 14 until September 7 he takes only water; then, unable to drink without help, he ceases even that. At last, fully conscious and chanting the Jain a litany, he dies in the early morning of September 18. The holiness and propriety of his life and of the manner of his death are widely known and admired by Jainas throughout India.

Chronological outline

Based on the account given by Sumeruchandra Diwakar and Dharmachanda Shastri, Shanti Sagar was born on 1872 to Bhimagauda Patil and Satyavati at Yelagula (Bhoj), Karnataka. His birth name was Satgauda. At the age of nine, he was married. His wife however, died in six months. As a child, he was inspired by Muni Adisagar. In 1905, he made a Pilgrimage to Sammet Shikhar with his sister. His mother died in 1912 and his father shortly before it.

In 1915 he was initiated as a Kshullaka by Muni Devakirti (Devappa Swami) who was a former Sena Gana Bhattaraka. He visited for a pilgrimage to Girnar in 1918. One year later, he was initiated as a Muni by Devakirti at Yarnal. He spent his first Chaturmas at Kognoli in 1921. In 1922 he spent his Chaturmas at Naslapur and then in Samdoli (1924). He was titled as a Jain Acharya and initiated Munis Virasagar and Nemisagar.

• 1925 Ch Kumbhoj
• - Present at Mahamastakabhisheka at Shravanbelgola (Kanrataka)
• 1926 Ch Nanded
• 1927 Ch Bahubali (Maha.)
• - Nagpur (Maha., then capital of Central Provinces)

Eastern India wanderings

• - Panchakalyanaka at Samet Shikhar (Bihar)
• - Champapur
• - Pavapur

Central India wanderings

• 1928 Ch Katni (Madhya Pradesh)
• - Jabalpur, Sleemanabad
• - Nohta
• - Kundalpur
• - Sagar
• - Dronagir, encounter with tiger
• 1929 Ch Lalitpur
• - Sonagir: 4 Ailaks initiated
• - Gwalior
• - Murena

Northern India wanderings

• -Rajakheda (UP): attacked by a violent crowd
• - Agra
• -Firozabad
• 1930 Ch Mathura, Digambar Jain Mahasabha blessed
• - Delhi (marked by a memorial at Lal Mandir)
• - Hastinapur
• 1931 Ch Delhi

Western India wanderings

• - Mahavirji (Raj.)
• 1932 Ch Jaipur
• 1933 Ch Byavar
• 1934 Ch Udaipur
• 1935 Ch Goral(Guj)
• 1936 Ch Pratapgarh
• 1937 Ch Gajpantha (Maha.)
• - Sanskrit "Shri Shantisagar Charitra" written by Muni Kunthusagar
• - Gajpantha: Given title "Charitra Chakravarti"
• 1938 Ch Baramati
• -Indore (MP)
• 1939 Ch Pratapgarh (Raj)

Maharashtra wanderings

• 1940 Ch Goral(Guj)
• 1941 Ch Akluj
• 1942 Ch Korochi
• 1943 Ch Digraj
• 1944 Ch Kunthalgiri
• 1945 Ch Phaltan
• 1946 Ch Kavalana
• 1947 Ch. Sholapur, India's independence
• - A mute young man starts speaking
• 1948 Ch Phaltan
• 1949 Ch Kavlana
• 1950 Ch Gajpantha
• 1951 Ch Baramati
• 1952 Ch Lonand
• 1953 Ch Kunthalgiri
• 1953 Book "Charitra Chakravarti" by Sumeruchandra Diwakar published
• 1954 Preservation of Dhavala books

Final samadhi

• 1955 Ch Kunthalgiri
• - Determination for Sallekhana
• - Sumeruchandra Diwakar arrived
• - Acharya pada awarded to Muni Virasagar
• - Bhattarakas Lakshmisen and Jinasen arrive
• Sept 18, 1955 Kunthalgiri: Samadhimarana

See also

• Bhadrabahu
• Kundakunda