UP governor CM condole death of Jain seer Acharya Vidyasagar Maharaj

Lucknow, Feb 18 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday condoled the death of Jain spiritual guru Acharya Vidyasagar Maharaj.
     Governor Anandiben Patel, in a statement, said, "His valuable messages given to people for spiritual awakening will always be remembered. Throughout his life, Maharaj ji made valuable contributions to the society in health and education as well as poverty alleviation."
    In a post on X in Hindi, Adityanath said, "The death of revered saint of Jain sect, spiritual guru, Acharya Shri 108 Vidyasagar Ji Maharaj is an irreparable loss for the spiritual world and the entire society. Koti-koti naman!"
    Renowned Jain seer Acharya Vidyasagar Maharaj breathed his last on Sunday at Chandragiri Teerth in Dongargarh in Chhattisgarh's Rajnandgaon district after undertaking 'sallekhna'.
    Sallekhna is a Jain religious practice involving voluntary fast unto death for spiritual purification, a statement from the teerth said.
    Acharya Vidyasagar Maharaj attained 'samadhi' through 'Sallekhna' at Chandragiri Teerth at 2.35 am, the statement from the teerth said.
    "Maharaj was staying at the teerth in Dongargarh for the last six months and was unwell for the last few days. For the last three days, he was observing sallekhna, a religious practice of voluntarily fasting to death, and had quit intake of food and liquids. According to Jainism, it is a vow taken for spiritual purification," the statement said.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)