Gurudev Upadhyaya Shri Amar Muniji Maharaj
(1 November 1902 – 8 June 1992)
Upadhyaya Shri Amar Muniji is regarded as one of India’s foremost thinkers in the genres of Indian philosophy and religion. Captivated by his wisdom, Jain society endowed him with the title of ‘Upadhyaya’ and Mrs Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India, conferred upon him the title of Rashtrasant (National Saint).
Renouncing at the age of 15, Upadhyaya Shri Amar Muniji spent a lifetime pursuing his intense thirst for knowledge. He was graced with an all-penetrating yet ever-peaceful look, a logical and precise mind, a truth-seeking temperament, total dedication to attaining inner purity and a vision that propounded religious tolerance.
He is celebrated as a spiritual revolutionary who discarded outdated social regulations and explained Jainism in the modern context. He infused a new dynamism into thought patterns such as elevating the status of women.
Upadhyaya Shri Amar Muniji wrote extensively including articles, poems, essays and critical reviews. He was a creative and liberal thinker and an expert in Yoga, Nyaya, Logic and Metaphysics. His topics were modern in outlook, varied and he made them interesting and uplifting, providing a highly practical guide to the spiritual aspirant. One of his books, ‘Sukti Triveni’, elaborating the overlap and essential commonality in Jainism, Buddhism and Vedic traditions, is widely acclaimed.
In 1973, with Upadhyaya Shri Amar Muniji’s blessings, Pujya Tai Ma initiated Veerayatan, a source of inspiration from which streams of service, education and spiritual cultivation flow in all directions. The seed sown by Upadhyaya Shri Amar Muniji’s saintly hands has today developed into an enormous tree of universal welfare.
