Shantisagar

Acharya Shri Shantisagar (1872-1955) was the first Digambara Jain Acharya of the 20th century, and the first Digambara monk to wander in North India after several centuries, credited with reviving the tradition of Digambara monks. Most Digambara Jain monks today belong to his lineage. He was given the title Charitra Chakravarti (Emperor of character) by his followers.

Shantisagar was born in 1872 or 1873 in north Karnataka. His father was either a farmer or employed in the cloth business. By the age of eighteen, having read religious texts and undergone several pilgrimages, he desired to become initiated into a religious order. After his parents died in 1912, he visited the Jain holy city of Shravanabelagola and was initiated into a holy order in 1918. He took the ailaka vow in front of an image of the Tirthankara Neminatha, a famous Jain spiritual leader, beginning his full initiation into Digambara, one of the two main sects of Jainism. He was initiated as a Digambara monk at the age of 47 or 48 at the village of Yarnal in 1922 and was named Shanti Sagara (meaning Ocean of Peace).

Shantisagar preached principles of Jainism in various parts of the country and was given the title of Acharya due to his knowledge and wisdom. His disciples gave him the title of Charitra Chakravarti (Emperor of Good Character) along with various other titles sucha as muniraj (king among ascetics) and silasindhu (ocean of observances).

He fasted to oppose the restrictions imposed on Digambara monks by the British Raj and prompted their discontinuance.

Regarding the observance of the sallekhana vow, a Jain death ritual, by Acharya Shantisagar, Padmanabh Jaini writes:

Acharya Shantisagar died on 18 September 1955 at 6.50 AM at Kunthalgiri, Osmanabad district, Maharashtra, India.

Based on the account given by Sumeruchandra Diwakar and Dharmachanda Shastri, Shantisagar was born in 1872 to Bhimagauda Patil and Satyavati at Yelagula (Bhoj), Karnataka, India. His birth name was Satgauda. He was married at the age of nine. His wife, however, died six months after the marriage. In 1905, he made a pilgrimage to Sammet Shikhar with his sister.

Acharya Shantisagar Parampara, Paporaji

• 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

• Br. Dharmachanda Shastri, Ed., Charitra Chakravarti, 1989
• Dundas 2002, p. 185.