Rajendrasuri

Acharya Rajendrasuri (Hindi: आचार्य राजेंद्रसूरी) was a Svetambara Jain monk and reformer of monk traditions of 19th century. He wrote many books on Jainism including Abhidhānarājaindrakōśa (Sanskrit: अभिधानराजैंद्रकोश), a dictionary of Prakrit defining 60000 terms used in Jain works.

Early life

Acharya Rajendrasuri was born to businessman Rishabhadas Parakh and Keshardevi. His birth name was Ratna Raj. He was born on 3 December 1827 at Bharatpur, Rajasthan.

Ascetic life

He was initiated as a Jain yati (wondering Jain monk) by Hemavijay at Udaipur on Vaishakh Shukla 5 Vikram Samvat 1904 (in 1848 CE) and given a new name, Ratnavijay. He was the first yati initiated in the 19th century. Later his name was changed to Rajendrasuri upon his elevation to acharya rank.

He studied under Pramodsuri and Jain yati monk Sagarchand. Dharanendrasuri, impressed by his scholarship, appointed him as his daftari. Ratnavijay was disapproved with the luxurious life of Dharanendrasuri and left him in 1864 AD. Later he became the leader of Tapa Gaccha.