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{{Short description|Indian Jain spiritual leader (1726–1803)}}

{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2018}}
{{Infobox religious biography
| honorific-prefix = Mahamahim
| name = Acharya Bhikshu
| image = Acharya Shree Bhikshu Painting.jpg
| religion = [[Jainism]]
| sect = [[Śvetāmbara]]
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1726|07|01}}
| birth_place = [[Kantaliya]], Rajasthan
| death_date = 30 August 1803
| death_place = [[Siriyari]], [[Rajasthan]]
| honorific suffix = Swamiji
| founder = [[Śvetāmbara Terapanth]]
| successor = Ācārya Bhārimāljī
}}
{{Jainism}}
[[Image:MarydaPatral1.jpg|thumb|300px|1st Page of Letter of Conduct written by Acharya Bhikshu]]
[[Image:Maryda Patral 2.jpg|thumb|300px|2nd Page of Letter of Conduct written by Acharya Bhiksu in Rajasthani language]]
[[File:Pakki Haat in Siryari - Acharya Bhikshu's Antim Pravas Sthal.jpg|alt=Pakki Haat, Siriyari - A historic place where Acharya Bhikshu resided during his last months of life|thumb|299x299px|Pakki Haat, [[Siriyari]] - A historic place where Acharya Bhikshu resided during his last months of life]]
'''Acharya Bhikshu''' (1 July 1726 – 30 August 1803) was the founder and first spiritual head of the [[Śvetāmbara Terapanth]] sect of [[Jainism]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Dundas|first=Paul|title=The Jains|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5ialKAbIyV4C&pg=PA254|year=2002|publisher=Routledge|isbn=0-415-26606-8|page= 254}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Singh|first=Narendra|title=Encyclopaedia of Jainism|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JoDUPJpb63UC&pg=PA5188|year=2001|publisher=Anmol Publications|isbn=81-261-0691-3|chapter=Acahrya Bhikshu and Terapanth|page=5184}}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

He was a Devotee of [[Mahavira]]. In the initial phase of his spiritual revolution, he moved out from the group of [[Sthanakvasi]] Acharya Raghunath. That time he had 13 saints, 13 followers and 13 the basic rules. This coincidence results in the name of "Terapanth" (Thirteen Path) and he referred it as "Hey Prabhu Yeh Terapanth".<ref>{{cite book|last=Shashi|first=S. S.|title=Encyclopaedia Indica: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh. Origin and development of Indus civilization (Volume 1)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D5_n00RqRc0C&pg=PA948|publisher=Anmol Publications|isbn=81-7041-859-3|page=945|year=1996}}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Vallely|first=Anne |title=Guardians of the transcendent: an ethnography of a Jain ascetic community|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eI4PAY9rDmQC&pg=PA150|year=2002|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=0-8020-8415-X|page=59}}</ref>

The various beliefs and teachings of the religious orders of those times greatly influenced his thinking. He studied and analysed the various disciplines of the Jain religion and on this basis he compiled his own ideologies and principles of the Jain way of life. Based on the doctrines propagated, Acharya Bhikshu rigorously followed the principles. It was this way of life that was demonstrated by Acharya Bhikshu which became the foundation principle of Terapanth. The Letter of Conduct was written by him is still followed in the same manner with due respect with slight changes as per the time & situation. The original copy of letter written in Rajasthani language is still available. His followers piously referred to this monk as 'Swamiji' or 'Bhikshu Swami'.{{Citation needed|date=June 2013}}

Acharya Bhikshu visualised a systematic, well established and orderly religious sect and saw it taking shape through ''Terapanth''. To organise and stabilise this religious order he propagated the ideology of one guru and brought to an end the concept of self discipleship.{{citation needed|date=July 2015}} In this way his ideology of one Acharya, one principle, one thought and similar thinking became the ideal for other religious sects. Acharya Bhikshu said the common man should understand and practise true religion which would take him to the path of salvation.{{Citation needed|date=June 2013}}

==Life==
Acharya Bhikshu (aka Bhikhanji) was born in Kantaliya in Rajasthan in 1726. He belonged to a merchant class named Bisa Oswal. He was initiated as a monk by a Sthanakvasi Acarya Ragunathji in 1751. Upon reading the scriptures, he found that the order of monks have wandered away from true teachings of Jainism; Ragunathji seconded the same but was unwilling to bring the same in the sect as they were hard to follow by the other monks.<ref>{{cite book|last=Dundas|first=Paul|title=The Jains|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5ialKAbIyV4C&pg=PA254|year=2002|publisher=Routledge|isbn=0-415-26606-8|page= 256}}</ref>

== Contribution ==
In the middle of the 18th century, Acharya Bhikshu led a reformist movement. A philosopher, writer, poet and social reformer, he wrote 38,000 "shlokas", now compiled in two volumes as "''Bhikshu Granth Ratnakar''". His "Nav Padarth Sadbhav", which advocated a society free from exploitation, and is regarded{{who|date=July 2015}} as a significant philosophical composition that deals exhaustively with the nine gems of Jain philosophy.{{Citation needed|date=June 2013}}

==Postage stamp==
[[File:Aacharya Bhikshu 2004 stamp of India.jpg|thumb| Acharya Bhikshu 2004 Stamp]]
On 30 June 2004, [[India Post]] issued an INR 5 commemorative [[postage stamp]] in memory of Acharya Bhikshu on the occasion of the bicentenary of his death.

==See also==
*[[Jain Vishva Bharti Institute, Ladnun]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*[http://www.terapanthinfo.com/ Terapanth Official Website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130719221606/http://terapanthinfo.com/ |date=19 July 2013 }}
*[https://www.terapanthonline.com/ Terapanth Website]

{{Jain Gurus}}
{{Jainism topics}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhikshu, Acharya}}
[[Category:Jain acharyas]]
[[Category:1726 births]]
[[Category:1803 deaths]]
[[Category:Scholars from Rajasthan]]
[[Category:Indian reformers]]
[[Category:Indian Jain writers]]
[[Category:Indian Jain monks]]
[[Category:18th-century Indian Jains]]
[[Category:18th-century Jain monks]]
[[Category:18th-century Indian monks]]
[[Category:18th-century Indian philosophers]]
[[Category:Rajasthani-language writers]]

Acharya Bhikshu - Revision history

Vikibnf at 17:58, 13 March 2026