Jain monk Tarun Sagar Maharaj died in the early hours Saturday at east Delhi's Radhapuri Jain Temple. He was 51.
"He was not keeping well and was earlier admitted to a private hospital in Vaishali. A few days ago, he had decided to come to the Radhapuri Temple in Krishna Nagar, where he died at around 3.18 am Saturday morning," said a senior official of the Bhartiya Jain Milan, a pan-India Jain organisation.
His last rites were performed at the Tarun Sagar Dham in Modinagar in Uttar Pradesh.
"I live in Shahdara. We got to know about his death at around 6 am and then many people rushed to have his 'antim darshan'. The temple where he died was filled with devotees. We have lost a leader of our community," the official said.
Sagar was suffering from jaundice and other ailments,
President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh condoled the death of the Jain monk.
"Deeply pained by the untimely demise of Muni Tarun Sagar Ji Maharaj. We will always remember him for his rich ideals, compassion and contribution to society. His noble teachings will continue inspiring people. My thoughts are with the Jain community and his countless disciples," Modi tweeted.
"Sad to hear of the passing of Jain Muni Shri Tarun Sagar Ji Maharaj. Known for his 'Kadve Parvachan'. He spread the message of peace and non-violence in the society.
Our country has lost a well-respected spiritual leader. My condolences to his countless followers," Kovind tweeted.
The home minister tweeted, saying the departure of the monk has left him "shocked". "I offer my tributes to his feet," he said.
Union Minister Suresh Prabhu also expressed his condolences and said his demise was personal loss to him.
"Extremely sad,learn about untimely, unfortunate Jain Muni #TarunSagar's passing away,early hours today. He was only 51years old. His short life will always be remembered for his rich contribution to society.Its personal loss to me, having known him very closely,blessed by him", he tweeted.
The Congress party also expressed the condolence in a tweet.
"Deeply saddened to hear about the demise of Jain Muni Tarun Sagar ji Maharaj earlier today. His teachings and principles will continue to guide us on the right path. In this moment of loss, our prayers go out to his followers and devotees," it said.
Several chief ministers, including Arvind Kejriwal of Delhi, Yogi Adityanath of Uttar Pradesh, Manohar Lal Khattar of Haryana and Nitish Kumar of Bihar also expressed grief over his death.
"Pained to hear the sad demise of Muni Tarun Sagar Ji Maharaj. His teachings and ideals will always inspire humanity," Kejriwal tweeted.
In his condolence message, Yogi said the Jain saint Tarun Sagarji always showed the path of goodness to the humanity through his teachings.
His noble teachings will inspire future generations, he said in an official release.
Khattar said he is deeply pained by his death and prayed to god for the peace of the departed soul.
The Jain monk had also addressed the Delhi and Haryana Legislative assemblies.
In his condolence message, Nitish Kumar said that "Jain saint Tarun Sagarji had deep impact on his Jain community. He spent all his life for the betterment of the Jain community," an official release said.
"His compassion, sacrifice and preachings helped in rekindling the consciousness in both Jain community and all sections of the society. The contributions of Tarun Sagarji Maharaj towards the society cannot be forgotten," Kumar said.
Kumar prayed for strength and courage to the monk's disciples and followers to bear the loss.
Born in Madhya Pradesh's Damoh district on June 26, 1967, Sagar has a huge following in the Jain community.
Internationally acclaimed Jain muni was most popular for his lecture series called "Kadve Pravachan", critical of common practices.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
