Acharya Bhikshu was the founder and first spiritual head of the Śvetāmbara Terapanth sect of Jainism.
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. == Contribution ==
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 as a significant philosophical composition that deals exhaustively with the nine gems of Jain philosophy. ==Postage stamp==
Postage 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==