Prem Suri

Acharya Prem Suri
Personal
Born	Premchand Nandiya,Sirohi,Rajasthan
Died	May,22,1968
Religion	Jainism
Parents	Bhagavanbhai (father) Kankubai (mother)
Sect	Svetambara Murtipujaka
Religious career
Initiation	by Acharya Dansuri

Acharya Prem Suri (1884-1968) was a revered Jain ascetic,scholar, philosopher and author of the Śvetāmbara sect. He was given the title of Siddhant Mahodadhi (Ocean of Principles) based on his advanced spirituality and knowledge of Jain scriptures. .

Suri was born in 1884 in the village of Nandia in the Sirohi district in Rajasthan. In 1901, at the age of 17, he was initiated as a Jain monk by Dan Vijay Suri.

Contributions and Recognition

In Sanskrit he wrote Sankram Karanam in two parts containing four hundred pages in which he made very lucid exposition of the transformation of the karmas. Then he wrote a small but excellent book named Karmasiddhi in which the existence of karmas was proved logically and authoritatively with the support of excerpts from many ancient works. He compiled the Marganādvāra, a voluminous work on Jainology defining Märganās and other technical words. He edited Karmaprakrti by Sivasarmasurisvaraji Maharaj with the vast commentary of Malayagiri, Acharya Haribhadra suri's Saddarśanasamuccaya with a very learned and lucid commentary by Gunaratnasuri and other several Sanskrit and Prakrit works on karma doctrine. Acharya Danasuri Maharaj was pleased with his deep knowledge and self-mortification and bestowed upon him the title of Siddhanta Mahodadhi (Ocean of Principles) in 1935 and made him an Acharya.

Service and Legacy

Premasuriji's life was dedicated to the service of Jainism. He travelled more than thirty thousand miles on foot preaching the import- ance of right conduct and initiated more than three hundred disciples. Some of his disciples like Ramchandrasuri, Bhadrankarvijaya, Bhuvanbhanusuri are well-known Jain ascetics all over India.

Premsuri Maharaj had employed some of his disciples in the research work that would be published in seventeen volumes containing about four lakh verses in Sanskrit. Out of these Khavagasedhi and Thiaibandho, each approximately exceeding over twenty thousand verses, were prepared in the year 1966. The publication of these volumes was celebrated in October in that year. In recognition of the monumental nature of these works, they were carried on the elephant's back in a long procession like the great Siddha-Hema of Acharya Hemacandra Suri. It is worthy of mention that Acarya Premsuri Maharaj always used to go through the press copies of this great research work personally and revise them even at an age of eightyfive.

He died on 22 May 1968 at Khambhat, Gujarat. After his death, his tradition was divided into two schools, led by Ramachandra Suri and Bhuvanbhanu Suri respectively.

References

• Luithle-Hardenberg, Andrea (2010). "The pilgrimage to Shatrunjaya: Refining Shvetambara Identity". In Peter Berger (ed.). The Anthropology of Values: Essays in Honour of Georg Pfeffer. Pearson Education India. p. 336. ISBN 978-81-317-2820-8.
• Shah, Natubhai (2004). Jainism: The World of Conquerors. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 84. ISBN 978-81-208-1938-2.
• Chandrashekhar Vijay (2004). "Siddhant Mahodadhi Acharya Premsurisvarji"
• Devluk, Nandlal B. (2008). "Jinshasan na Zalhlta Nakshatro". Arihant Prakashan
• Shah, Ramanlal C. (2006). "Prabhavak Sthaviro". Mumbai Jain Yuvak Sangh
• Devluk,Nandlal B. (2010). "Vishwa Ajayabi Jain Shraman". Arihant Prakashan.

"Sambharana suri prem na" book published in vs 2039.