Vidyasagar was born as Vidyadhar on 10 October 1946 on Sharad Purnima (full moon) sadalga,belgaum,dist:Karnataka. His father Mallappa, mother Shrimati, and two sisters took diksha and joined the sangh of Acharya Dharmasagar. Of the three brothers, two of them joined the sangh of Acharya Vidyasagar himself, leaving one brother Mahavira Ashtage, to marry and continue the blood line.
He was initiated as a Digambar Monk at the age of 22 by Acharya Gyansagar, who belonged to the lineage of Acharya Shantisagar, at Ajmer in 1968. He was elevated to the Acharya status in 1972.
Acharya Vidyasagara is a scholar of Sanskrit and Prakrit and knows several languages such as Hindi . Several researchers have studied his works for masters and doctoral degrees. His works include Niranjana Shataka, Bhavana Shataka, Parishah Jaya Shataka, Suniti Shataka and Shramana Shataka. He also authored nearly 700 haiku poems which are unpublished. He authored the Hindi epic poem Mukamati. This has been also included in the syllabus of MA Hindi in various institutions.
Acharya Vidyasagar has been a source of inspiration to the people for starting institutions for the welfare of living beings at different places.
Acharya Vidyasagar has been a source of inspiration for religious functions. He has initiated more than 125 monks,a number unmatched in the past nine centuries.
Acharya Vidyasagar has been a source of inspiration for the construction, development and renovation of jain temples and images all over India. He has always inspired to invite scholars of eminence to have discourses on different subjects. He has also taken classes to teach his disciples different jain text. He is a strong supporter of cow protection movement.
His chaturmas for 2016 was in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh where he was accompanied by 38 munis. He gave his pravanchana in Madhya Pradesh assembly on special invitation.
Inscription on Parshvanath idol at Orchha mentioning the lineage of Acharya Vidyasagar from AcharyaShantisagar. He is termed anasakta yogi, jyeshtha, shreshtha, sant shiromani
In 2016, during a busy trip to Bhopal, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi took time to visit him, leading to speculations on what was Modi’s objectives and what they discussed. He was also visited by former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia from the opposing Congress Party There is a belief that his blessings may bring victory in elections.
His tradition
He belongs to the tradition established by Acharya Shantisagar initiated Acharya Virasagar, who was then succeeded by Acharya Shivsagar, Acharya Gyansagar and finally Acharya Vidyasagara. Two of his brothers, Anantanath and Shantinath also followed him and were initiated by Acharya Vidyasagar as Muni Yogasagar and Muni Samaysagar respectively.
Some of his disciples are well known scholars of their own right. As of 2001, about 21% of all the Digambar monks were under Acharya Vidyasagara. One of his best known disciples, Muni Kshamasagar ji, obtained samadhi in 2015 Muni Sudhasagar and Upadhyaya Guptisagar are also his disciples.
Since the number of monks (munis) and nuns (āryikas) initiated by him and are directed by him exceeds two hundred (117 Digambar Muni, 172 Aryikas), they stay in more than 60 locations in India during , ranging from Gujarat to Jharkhand, and Haryana to Karnataka. This ensures that only a few monks or nuns are staying in a place. They all depend on local Jains to provide them shelter and food.
His wanderings (Vihara)
As a traditional Digambara Jain monk, he never stays in a single place for more than a few days, except for the four months of the rainy season (chaturmas). He never declares which place he will be in next, although people attempt to estimate his next move. Since his initiation in 1968 he has had 7 chaturmas in Rajasthan (1968–74), one in UP (1974), 7 in MP (1976-1982), one in Bihar (1983), 9 in MP again (1984-1992), two in Maharashtra (1993–94), one in MP (1995), one in Gujarat (1996), 11 in MP again (1997-2007), one in Maharashtra again (2008), 8 in MP again (2009-2016).
The Acharya does not eat salt, sugar, fruits, milk, in addition to what is traditionally prohibited (like onions). He goes out for meal at about 9 AM. The devout wait for him to pass by and urge him to visit their kitchen. The Acharya picks one family, and accepts food given to him in the palms of his hand, one morsel at a time.
