Acharya Tulsi and the Anuvrat Movement

Acharya Tulsi, who led the Terapanth order of Svetambara Jainism through much of the twentieth century, was among the most influential Jain religious leaders of the modern age. Born in 1914 at Ladnun in Rajasthan and initiated as a Terapanth monk in his youth, he became the ninth acharya of the order in 1936 and guided it until 1994. His long leadership was marked above all by his effort to translate the ethical principles of Jainism into a practical programme of moral renewal for society at large, most notably through the Anuvrat movement.

Acharya Tulsi launched the Anuvrat movement in March 1949 at Sardarshahar in Rajasthan, in the aftermath of the Second World War and India's independence and partition, at a time when the moral condition of society and the dangers of violence weighed heavily on thoughtful minds. The word anuvrat refers to the small vows, the limited ethical undertakings that Jain tradition prescribes for laypeople, as distinct from the great vows of the ascetics. Acharya Tulsi conceived the movement as a means of bringing this discipline of self-restraint to the whole of society, regardless of religion.

The distinctive feature of the Anuvrat movement was its deliberately non-sectarian and universal character. It was open to people of all faiths and none, and it asked participants to take simple, practical vows of ethical self-discipline: to abstain from violence, dishonesty and corruption, to practise restraint in consumption, to avoid intoxicants, to respect all forms of life, and to cultivate honesty, tolerance and self-control in daily conduct. The programme sought to build a more virtuous society from the ground up, through the moral transformation of individuals, rather than through political or coercive means.

Underlying the movement was Acharya Tulsi's conviction that the great problems of the age, violence, exploitation, dishonesty and moral decay, could ultimately be addressed only through the reform of individual character, and that the ancient Jain values of non-violence and self-restraint offered a universally relevant remedy. The horrors of modern war, including the use of atomic weapons, deepened his sense of urgency about the need for a moral awakening grounded in non-violence.

Acharya Tulsi complemented the Anuvrat movement with wide-ranging educational and social initiatives. He promoted literacy and learning, founded institutions of study, and encouraged the development of a system of meditation and mental discipline. His successor and disciple, Acharya Mahaprajna, would develop this into the technique known as Preksha meditation and would carry forward the programme of ethical and spiritual renewal, including a broader initiative for the training of character.

In a notable act of humility and organisational foresight, Acharya Tulsi in his later years stepped back from the supreme leadership of the order, designating Acharya Mahaprajna as his successor while he himself continued to guide and inspire, an unusual gesture that reflected his concern for the disciplined continuity of the Terapanth. He passed away in 1997.

Acharya Tulsi's significance lies in his demonstration that the ethical core of Jainism, its commitment to non-violence, truth and self-restraint, could be offered to the modern world as a practical philosophy of life transcending sectarian boundaries. Through the Anuvrat movement he brought the Jain ideal of the small vows out of the monastic and communal sphere and presented it as a universal path of moral self-discipline, making a distinctive contribution to the ethical thought of twentieth-century India and enhancing the standing of Jainism in the modern age.