Chandrashekhar Vijay

Panyas Chandrashekhar Vijayji Maharaj Saheb (18 January 1934 – 8 August 2011), also known as Gurudev or Guruma, was a Jain monk, scholar and author. Born and educated in Mumbai, he was initiated as a monk who was later designated Panyas. He was involved in religious as well as sociopolitical activities. He founded several institutions and authored 261 books. He was born on 18 January 1934 (Vikram Samvat 1990, Falgun Sud 5) in Bombay to Subhadraben and Kantilal Jivatlal Pratapshi. His family belonged to Radhanpur in present-day Banaskantha district. His birth name was Indravadan. He studied till matriculation. He was initiated as a Jain monk by Prem Suri on 15 May 1952 (Vikram Samvat 2008, Vaisakh Vad 6) at Motisha Jain auditorium, Byculla, Mumbai and was given new name, Chandrashekhar Vijay. Later he was elevated to designation of Panyas on 2 December 1984 (Vikram Samvat 2041, Magshar Sud 10) at Navsari, Gujarat.