Mahapragyaji was called Nathmal by his family,which was a Jain Shwetambar TerapanthiAgarwal family. He had an extended family,though he lost his father at a very young age,when he was just two and a half months old.But he was reared up well by his mother very caringly and affectionately.Mahapragya’s mother was a pious woman,whodevoted her spare time to spiritual matters.As there was no formalschool in those days in the village Tamkor in Rajasthan, soMahapragya was devoid of receiving any academic disciplinein an educational context. Instead, his mother was the firstperson in his life to inspire him towards the path of spirituality.She used to chant and recite holy songs which made a deep impacton the young mind.The great soul also received lessons onphilosophy from Jain monks who visited his village.This led toa speedy realisation towards his ardent desire for monkhood.And at the age of ten he became a monk, on 29 January, 1931.Soon began his journey into monkhood under the guidanceof Acharya Kalugani, the eighth Acharya of Jain SwetambarTerapanth, in the town of Sardarsahar (Rajasthan).With this,Nathmal attained the rank of Muni Nathmal. Also, AcharyaKalugani made the required arrangements for Nathmal’sstudies under Muni Tulsi’s classes, who later became theNinth Acharya.This led to a rapid increase in the child’s intellectual developmentand prompted him to receive lessons in themonastery on various subjects of Jain philosophy which includedmemorising thousands of sermons and verses in Hindi,Sanskrit, Prakrit, and Rajasthani languages. Also other subjectslike history, philosophy, logic, grammer, physics,biology,ayurveda, politics, economics, and sociology helped in expandinghis outlook towards a new horizon.And soon by theage of 22, he became an expert and extempore poet, whonever hesitated from demonstrating this skill in many gatheringsof intellectuals. Due to this, Mahapragyaji was popularlyknown as a ‘mobile encyclopedia’. His outstanding intelligencewas a matter of surprise even for the intelligentsia.

December,1979 at Jain Vishva Bharati,Ladnun,Rajasthan. It focuseson the concept of value-based education and moral educationto ensure the overall growth of the students.This systemstimulates and restores emotions to inculcate a positiveattitude, in order to have an integrated development of personality.Many schools made this effective system a part oftheir curriculum, as it generated surprising results in minimisingstress, promoting efficiency in studies, better concentrationand memory.Acharya Mahapragya began a pathbreaking task whenhe came up with the concept of Ahimsa Yatra. It came into existencewhen he witnessed the necessity of solving the problemscaused by violence. He made his journey on foot so thatthe people are able to follow the dictates of non-violence. Itprimarily focuses on the spiritual aspect of it to ignite theconsciousness of non-violence and to inculcate its valuesthrough its practical aspect which is done by employmenttraining for livelihood.The movement was in motion from2001 to 2009. He passed through 87 districts of India, coveringmore than 2400 villages, towns and cities to appealfor communal harmony and held meetings with many spiritualand political leaders.In 2004, on 15th June, an organisation named ‘Foundationfor Unity of Religious and Enlighted Citizenship’ (FUREC) waslaunched by then President Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam at RashtrapatiBhavan in New Delhi. The thought process behind thisformation was to celebrate inter-religious festivals, multi-religiousprojects, healthcare, and employment, adopting valuebased education in schools and encouraging inter-faith dialogueamong religious leaders.And in order to run the organisationsmoothly and successfully,it required anational level independentand autonomous organisationmanaged by devotedand committed leaders. Italso included scholars andenlightened Citizens for coordinatingall activities. Thisconcept was conceived bythe “Missile Man”, who wasnot only an eminent scientistbut also a great visionary.Kalam put forward a plan,which he described as aroad map for transformingIndia from a less-developedto a progressive society in 20years. For this he conceivedsteps to convert India into afully developed place withprosperous and harmoniouslife for its citizens.And by doingso, the pious and reverentleaders organised a Conclaveunder the assistance ofAcharya Mahapragya atSurat on 15th October, 2003.As a coincidence, the then President also shared his birthday onthe same date.The Action Plan so discussed during the Conclavewas chronicled and is famously known as ‘Surat SpiritualDeclaration’(SSD). FUREC is a collaboration which combinesthe objectives of the Surat Spiritual Declaration and PresidentDr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam’s Vision 2020. It is a non-profit organisation,founded by 15 dutiful leaders.