# Acharya Bhikshu
**Acharya Bhikshu** (आचार्य भिक्षु; born Bhikhan, 1726 to 1803) was a Svetambara Jain monk of Marwar who founded the Terapanth order in 1760. Born in [Vikram Samvat](https://www.edgepedia.org/vikram-samvat) 1783 at Kantaliya in Marwar to Shah Balluji and Deepa Bai, of the [Oswal](https://www.edgepedia.org/oswal) caste and Sakkalecha (Sanklecha) clan, he had differences with his Sthanakvasi (A Svetambara Jain sect that worships without temples or images) guru over several aspects of religious practice and re-founded a scripture-conformant order at Kelwa in Mewar on Vikram Samvat 1817 Ashadh Shukla Purnima, a date given as 28 June 1760.[5](https://www.jainsamaj.org/content.php?url=Terapanth_-_History_of_Terapanth) • [7](https://jinagam.co.in/terapanthi/) • [2](https://sss.jvbharati.org/About/Terapanth/)
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Birth | V.S. 1783, Ashadh Shukla Trayodashi, Kantaliya, Marwar[3](https://www.jainsamaj.org/content.php?url=BikshujiMS) • [4](https://www.herenow4u.net/index.php?id=74291) |
| Parents | Shah Balluji (Ballushah) and Deepa Bai; Oswal caste, Sakkalecha clan[6](https://terapanth.com/index.php?Itemid=838&id=600&lang=hi&option=com_content&view=article) • [4](https://www.herenow4u.net/index.php?id=74291) |
| Diksha | V.S. 1808 (1751) under Sthanakvasi Acharya Raghunathji[4](https://www.herenow4u.net/index.php?id=74291) • [1](https://www.indica.today/long-reads/acarya-bhiksu-jainism-and-jain-reform-movement-v/) |
| Founding of Terapanth | V.S. 1817 Ashadh Shukla Purnima at Kelwa, given as 28 June 1760[2](https://sss.jvbharati.org/About/Terapanth/) • [5](https://www.jainsamaj.org/content.php?url=Terapanth_-_History_of_Terapanth) |
| Tenure as acharya | V.S. 1817 to V.S. 1860[1](https://www.indica.today/long-reads/acarya-bhiksu-jainism-and-jain-reform-movement-v/) • [10](https://www.herenow4u.net/index.php?id=66125) |
| Successor | Bharmalji (Acharya Bharmalji), declared in V.S. 1832[6](https://terapanth.com/index.php?Itemid=838&id=600&lang=hi&option=com_content&view=article) • [7](https://jinagam.co.in/terapanthi/) |
| Death | V.S. 1860, Bhadrapada Shukla Trayodashi, at Siriyari (Marwar), aged 77[1](https://www.indica.today/long-reads/acarya-bhiksu-jainism-and-jain-reform-movement-v/) • [7](https://jinagam.co.in/terapanthi/) |
## Origins and family
Bhikhan was born at Kantaliya in Marwar on Vikram Samvat 1783 Ashadh Shukla Trayodashi.[3](https://www.jainsamaj.org/content.php?url=BikshujiMS) • [4](https://www.herenow4u.net/index.php?id=74291)
## Career
Monastic career under Raghunathji. In V.S. 1808 (1751) he took initiation as a monk from Acharya Raghunathji of a Sthanakvasi branch.[4](https://www.herenow4u.net/index.php?id=74291) • [1](https://www.indica.today/long-reads/acarya-bhiksu-jainism-and-jain-reform-movement-v/) He had differences with his guru on several aspects of the religious practices of the Sthanakvasi ascetics.[5](https://www.jainsamaj.org/content.php?url=Terapanth_-_History_of_Terapanth)
Founding of Terapanth, 1760. On V.S. 1817 Ashadh Shukla Purnima at Kelwa in Mewar (Udaipur district, [Rajasthan](https://www.edgepedia.org/rajasthan)) he took shastra-sammat diksha together with twelve companions, and this day is counted as the first day of the Terapanth, when an organized sangh under his leadership took that name.[7](https://jinagam.co.in/terapanthi/) • [2](https://sss.jvbharati.org/About/Terapanth/) The exact Gregorian date differs between sources: 28 June 1760 in one account[2](https://sss.jvbharati.org/About/Terapanth/) • [5](https://www.jainsamaj.org/content.php?url=Terapanth_-_History_of_Terapanth) and 29 June 1760 in the Terapanth Dharmasangha's own history.[8](https://jstmahasabha.org/etihas-menu/terapanth-dharmasangha) An account holds that the sangh began with thirteen sadhus and thirteen shravakas, whence the name "Terapanth".[8](https://jstmahasabha.org/etihas-menu/terapanth-dharmasangha)
Years of consolidation, V.S. 1817 to 1831. The fourteen years after the founding were, in the sect's accounts, a period of struggle in which he practiced severe austerity, studied the scriptures, and planned the sangh's future structure.[6](https://terapanth.com/index.php?Itemid=838&id=600&lang=hi&option=com_content&view=article)
Disciplinary codes and succession, V.S. 1832 onward. In V.S. 1832 he declared his chief disciple Bharmalji his successor and created the sangh's maryadas, or disciplinary regulations.[6](https://terapanth.com/index.php?Itemid=838&id=600&lang=hi&option=com_content&view=article) • [7](https://jinagam.co.in/terapanthi/) These code-of-conduct letters were written in Rajasthani and stand as the constitution of the Terapanth sangh.[2](https://sss.jvbharati.org/About/Terapanth/)
## Political influence
The practice of regulating the entire pantha by one acharya, whom all monks and nuns obey, became the characteristic feature of the Terapantha.[9](https://www.abtyp.org/terapanth) His maryada patras, written in Rajasthani, remain the sangh's constitution, and the sect regularly observes the Maryada Mahotasava festival in commemoration of the disciplinary code.[2](https://sss.jvbharati.org/About/Terapanth/) • [9](https://www.abtyp.org/terapanth)
## Death and successors
Bhikshu attained samadhi-marana at Siriyari in Marwar on V.S. 1860 Bhadrapada Shukla Trayodashi, at the age of 77.[7](https://jinagam.co.in/terapanthi/) • [3](https://www.jainsamaj.org/content.php?url=BikshujiMS) His declared successor Bharmalji (Acharya Bharmalji) led the order next.[6](https://terapanth.com/index.php?Itemid=838&id=600&lang=hi&option=com_content&view=article) • [7](https://jinagam.co.in/terapanthi/)
## Historians' assessment
His own writings describe the laxity of monastic life in the nineteenth Vikrama century, a picture one study compares with the period of Haribhadrasuri in the eighth to ninth Vikrama centuries, indicating that he saw his reform as part of a recurring cycle of decline and correction in Jain monasticism.[10](https://www.herenow4u.net/index.php?id=66125) Sect biographies emphasize that he rigorously followed principles of discipline, purity, and self-control, and that his way of life became characteristic of the order he founded.[11](https://terapanth.com/index.php?Itemid=696&catid=105%3Aacharya&id=105%3Aacharya-shri-bhikshu&lang=en&option=com_content&view=article)
## Legacy
The Terapanth Dharmasangha founded at Kelwa in 1760 continues as an organized order under a single acharya, and its institutional forms, the maryada patras as constitution, the rule that the incumbent names his successor, and the annual Maryada Mahotasava, all trace to Bhikshu's own arrangements.[2](https://sss.jvbharati.org/About/Terapanth/) • [9](https://www.abtyp.org/terapanth) Jain Vishwa Bharati Prakashan, the academic publisher of Jain studies associated with the order, has issued biographical and scholarly studies of him, including a Hindi biography by Muni Budhmal and a study of the relevance of his thought by Mahendra Kumar.[12](https://jainebooks.org/books/acharya-bhikshu) • [13](https://jainebooks.org/books/628/acharya-bhikshu-ke-vicharo-ki-prasangikta)
## References
1. Acarya Bhiksu, Jainism and the Jain Reform Movement, Indica Today. https://www.indica.today/long-reads/acarya-bhiksu-jainism-and-jain-reform-movement-v/
2. About Terapanth, Saman Sanskriti Sankay, Jain Vishva Bharati. https://sss.jvbharati.org/About/Terapanth/
3. Bikshuji M. S., jainsamaj.org. https://www.jainsamaj.org/content.php?url=BikshujiMS
4. A Short History of the Terapanthi Sect of the Swetamber Jains, Chhogmal Chopra (hereinow4u.net). https://www.herenow4u.net/index.php?id=74291
5. Terapanth: History of Terapanth, Ahimsa Foundation. https://www.jainsamaj.org/content.php?url=Terapanth_-_History_of_Terapanth
6. आचार्य भिक्षु, terapanth.com. https://terapanth.com/index.php?Itemid=838&id=600&lang=hi&option=com_content&view=article
7. तेरापंथी, Jinagam. https://jinagam.co.in/terapanthi/
8. इतिहास: Terapanth Dharmasangha, Jain Swetambar Terapanthi Mahasabha. https://jstmahasabha.org/etihas-menu/terapanth-dharmasangha
9. Terapanth, Akhil Bhartiya Terapanth Yuwak Parishad. https://www.abtyp.org/terapanth
10. Acharya Bhikshu: The Great and Bright Sun of Terapanth (hereinow4u.net). https://www.herenow4u.net/index.php?id=66125
11. Acharya Shri Bhikshu, terapanth.com. https://terapanth.com/index.php?Itemid=696&catid=105%3Aacharya&id=105%3Aacharya-shri-bhikshu&lang=en&option=com_content&view=article
12. आचार्य भिक्षु, Muni Budhmal, Jain Vishwa Bharati Prakashan. https://jainebooks.org/books/acharya-bhikshu
13. आचार्य भिक्षु के विचारों की प्रासंगिकता, Mahendra Kumar, Jain Vishwa Bharati Prakashan. https://jainebooks.org/books/628/acharya-bhikshu-ke-vicharo-ki-prasangikta
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › History and archaeology › Asian history › India and South Asia › Later Mughals (1707 to 1857)*
*Initially written Sep 23, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026*
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