The epitome of Prabhu Bhakti – Param Pujya Adhyatmayogi Acharya Kalapurnasuri M.S

Prabhu Bhakti – A term that we might be using commonly or might even be practicing everyday. Acharya Kalapurna Surishwarji Maharaj defines it.

He made Prabhubhakti his sole reason of living his life. A Yogi who, even after being a mentor to 600 sadhus of his Samuday, became a small kid in front of Parmatma! Here’s presenting a blog on the “Bhaktiyogi”, “Adhyatmayogi”, “Gyanyogi”, “Karmayogi” Kutch Vagad Samuday Ratna Pa. Pujya Acharyadev Shrimad Vijay Kalapurna Surishwarji Maharaj!

Early life & Diksha

Acharya Kalapurna Surishwarji Maharaj was born on Vaishakh Sud 2 of Vikram Samvat 1980 (05-05-1924) at Phalodi , Rajasthan to Father Pabudanji & Mother Khamabai. He was named Akshayraj. Since childhood, he was deeply attached to Jainism and its rituals. One of the considerable contributions to shaping this great Mahatma goes to his Mama (maternal uncle) Shri Manekchandji who trained Akshayraj right from the tender age of 9-10 years. He had the quality of humbleness, sanity & respectful behavior towards everyone. Very few know that Gurudev had deep interest in the art of Singing and he was a professionally trained singer and musician. He played harmonium and other instruments in mandals where he actively participated in various religious ceremonies. He used to spend an average of 2-3 hours daily in Jinalay doing Pooja, Chaityavandan and other forms of Jinbhakti! It was the interest in this Bhakti that took his interest off from most of the worldly desires right from a very small age. Who knew that these were the times when the seeds of Prabhubhakti were being sown and that the world was about to see a huge
tree grow out of it!

As time passed, Akshayrajji now had the responsibility to start earning. With an intent to achieve financial stability he came to Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh and took up a job under Shreshthi ShriSampatlalji. It was one fine midnight when Sampatlalji noticed Akshayrajji wearing a Dhoti. Out of surprise, he asked the reason for wearing a Dhoti at 12 in the night! Akshayraj replied “I am preparing for Samayik. Since we had more work at the shop today, I came back home late. I have a Pratikraman routine. But now that it is not possible to do Pratikraman at this hour, I shall do a Samayik!” Yes, that was the discipline in his life. Looking at this dedication for dharma, Sampatlalji smilingly asked Akshayrajji to perform all his daily rituals at his suitable time without seeking any permission from him! It was Shree Shamala Parshwanath Bhagwan at Rajnandgaon whose bhakti for about 10 years became the strong reason for his Vairagyabhav in the later stage of his life.

Soon, Akshayrajji was married to Ratanben at the age of 16 years. She too had a deep interest in spiritual well-being. They had 2 sons – Gyanchand and Aaskaran. The vairagyabhav in his heart was growing every passing day and he accepted one of the most challenging “Brahmacharya Vrat” (Vow of Celibacy) at a very young age of 27 years from Mahatma Roopvijayji. With constantly growing Prabhu Bhakti & a regular contact with Jain Monks, the feeling of Vairagya grew stronger. And one fine day he announced “I shall take diksha at the very first muhurat after Kartak Sud 15!” This made Ratanben, Gyanchand & Aaskaran determined to start the practice for their Diksha as well. And, this changed the life of the whole family! On the auspicious day of Vaishakh Sud 10 of Vikram Samvat 2010 (12-05-1954), Akshayrajji, along with his family & father-in –law Mishrilalji took diksha at Phalodi, Rajasthan under the guidance of Pu. Ratnakar Vijayji and Pu. Kanchan Vijayji.

AkshayRaj was named Muni Kalapurna Vijayji, Ratanben was named Sadhvi Suvarna Prabha Shreeji, Mishrilalji was named Muni KalghotVijay, Son Gyanchandji was named Muni Kalaprabha Vijayji and Son Aaskaranji was named Muni Kalpataru Vijayji.

Diksha jeevan

Muni Kalapurna Vijayji began his journey of Atmasadhana. He practiced a life full of calmness, peace and self-search. He was liked by all the fellow Mahatmas of all the age groups. He believed that anger had no place in anyone’s life and practiced & preached the same. During one of his Chaturmas in Surat, he got to know that 2 of the leading members of the Sangh had this habit of getting angry at petty matters. He called them both and made them take a vow that whoever gets angry shall put an amount of Rs.10,000/- in the donation box of the Jinalay. He knew that punishment should be suitable for the crime! He met one of these 2 people after 5 years & asked how many times did he have to put Rs.10,000/- in the donation box. The person replied “Not even once!” Yes, that was the impact of Gurudev!

His journey as a monk had numerous facets of Atmasadhana – Adhyatmayog, Gyanyog, Karmayog & many more. He learnt the science of Navkar mantra & spiritual upliftment from Pu. Panyas Bhadrankar Vijayji and spent close to 3 years of his life with him. He got valuable lessons and guidance on performing penance through the study of ancient texts, leaving the materialistic world and its attractions aside, dhyan sadhana (meditation) and other related practices. This was another stepping stone in his journey of becoming Adhyatmayogi. Gurudev learnt & deeply studied Pujya Anandghanji Chovisi, Pujya Devchandraji Chovisi & Pujya Yashovijayji Chovisi that played a vital role in his spiritual journey and eventually made him an undefeated master of this field.

Parmatma Bhakti

What distinguished him was his Prabhu Bhakti! A true devotee of Vitarag Parmatma, he felt countless emotions at the very sight of Parmatma. Spending hours & hours in front of Prabhuji was his routine. He used to wait for an opportunity to get some personal time that could be spent with the one that ruled his heart & ensured that he made every single moment count. His ardent devotion could be seen in the fact that he sang 5,7,9 or sometimes even 15-17 stavans (devotional songs) in front of Parmatma & never got tired of it. He would just wait for the opportunity. Many times he used to fast on some particular days just so that he could get some more time to spend with Prabhuji! People say they have seen him as a child convincing his father to get something (Moksh is what he always seeked), they have seen him cry at the time of leaving the Jinalay. That was the level of Jinbhakti that he carried in his heart. There were a few Parmatma & their JInalays that
were very close to his heart:

Shri Rishabhdev Bhagwan, Shree Shatrunjay Tirth (Palitana – Gujarat)
Shri Sahankheshwar Parshwanath Bhagwan, Shree Shankheshwar Tirth (Gujarat)
Shri Suvidhinath Bhagwan, Vadhvan (Gujarat)
Shri Mahavir Swami, Jaipur/ Pali (Rajasthan)
Shri Chintamani Parshwanath Bhagwan, Phalodi (Rajasthan)
Shri Rishabhdev Bhagwan & Shri Shantinath Bhagwan, Jalalpore (Navsari – Gujarat)
Shri Shamala Parshwanath Bhagwan, Rajnandgaon (Chattisgarh)
Shri Ajitnath Bhagwan, Mandvi (Kutch – Gujarat)
Shri Avanti Parshwanath Bhagwan, Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh)
Shri Jagvallabh Parshwanath Bhagwan, Ahmedabad (Gujarat)

Gurudev went to Antarikshji Tirth (Akola, Maharashtra) during his vihar towards Southern India. He went inside the temple and saw the sad condition in which Prabhuji was being worshipped. He was in an utter state of shock and pain. At the very sight of this painful situation, he immediately decided to give up rice and any
item made out of rice!

It was this Parmatma Bhakti that took him to the Southern India where he did Pratishtha – Anjanshalaka of many Jinalayas at Chennai (Madras), Tirupattur (Tamil
Nadu), Kaktur (Andhra Pradesh), Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu), Hyderabad, Kampli (Karnataka) and many other places.

He was conferred upon the Panyas Padvi on Magh Sud 13 of Vikram Samvat 2025 (30-01-1968) at Phalodi and later Acharya Padvi on Magsar Sud 3 of Vikram
Samvat 2029 (09-12-1972) at Bhadreshwar.

Vatsalyabhav

Gurudev was considered one of the most humble & caring souls. Be it his disciples or his followers, everyone could feel the warmth of his “Vatsalyabhav” and “Hitchintakta”.

During his visit to Raydhanpar village, he delivered an impactful Vyakhyan (sermon) for all the villagers. At the end of it, he asked the villagers to give up the bad habits as “Gurudakshina”. A total of 16 villagers gave up alcohol, non-veg food & gambling for lifetime! This is one of the very few instances where Gurudev ensured that people around him, be it Jains or Non-Jain followers, got what they deserved.

Many people gave up “Kandmool”, “Abhakshya”, started doing Chovihar-Navkarshi, Pooja-Chaityavandan, Samayik-Pratikraman, Navkar Mantra jaap etc by his mere inspiration. Many Non-Jain followers of Gurudev still continue with their vows that they took from Gurudev and even today, give all the credit to the blessings and inspiration of Gurudev.

On 26th January 2001, a horrific earthquake shook the entire Kutch region of Gujarat. Numerous houses, temples and religious structures were destroyed. Gurudev was at Nimbaj Village when a few leading people from the earthquake affected region reached out to Gurudev for help. Gurudev was deeply shaken with the news of the earthquake and the huge loss of life and property that it incurred. He assured the trustees of complete co-operation and guidance and instructed them to first take care of the people who were impacted. He guided them to help the people first and other religious structures later. He also played a huge role in collecting the funds for relief work and constantly monitored the relief work that was in the able hands of Shri Kumarpalbhai V. Shah & Shri Kalpeshbhai V. Shah. He ensured that people, who left the villages due to destruction caused by the earthquake, returned back to their own land. It was his vision and farsightedness that helped in a smooth execution of the mammoth task.

People of Kutch-Vagad had a special place in Gurudev’s heart and Gurudev too had an irreplaceable place in people’s heart!

Kaldharma

It was the early morning of Maha Sud 4 of Vikram Samvat 2058 (16-02-2002) when Gurudev started feeling uneasy and was rushed to hospital from Keshavana to Jalore. Gurudev was repeatedly chanting “Chandessu Nimmalayara” while his disciples chanted Navkar Mantra – Uvassagaharam Stotra and other such sacred Stotras. In the midst of the sacred chants, Gurudev peacefully and calmly breathed his last at 7:20am. After an elaborate discussion, it was decided to conduct his last rites at Shankheshwar (Gujarat), a place where he had left his heart! A Jinalay and Smruti Mandir was constructed in his memory that is still present today, reminding us of this great soul.

It can never be enough to speak or write about a personality who dedicated himself to Jinshasan and showed the path of Adhyatmayog to his fellow Sadhaks, a personality who spent most of his life within himself but gave complete justice to whoever came to him, a personality who created an irreplaceable place not just in the hearts of Jain followers but went on to become a Guru for numerous Non-Jain people, a personality who did not consider the idol of Parmatma any different from Parmatma himself and who went on to become the epitome of Prabhu Bhakti!