________________ Preface has no desire for worldly riches and honour, has sharp intellect, is serene, has sharp wit to know beforehand the answers to all future questions, has the ability to face with calmness almost all kinds of questions, enjoys lordship over the audience, is attractive, and is a repository of good qualities; such leader of the congregation (sangha) should deliver his discourse in clear and sweet words, without speaking ill of others. A tall order in this "kali' age (the fifth aeon, called 'dusama')? Yes, but present in this age also are pious souls, ascetics (muni, sramana) and householders (sravaka), endowed with right-faith (samyaktva, samyagdarsana) who follow laudable conduct (caritra) according to the level of the destruction-cum-subsidence (ksayopasama) of their conductdeluding (caritra-mohaniya) karmas. Acarya Visuddhasagara (born 18 December, 1971) is one such rare gem among the present-day ascetics. A digambara ascetic (nirgrantha muni) since last twenty-nine years, Acarya Visuddhasagara's greatest commitment is to study the Scripture. A worthy son of Mother Jinavani', he spends maximum time, during the day and at night, in her service. With dedication and extraordinary concentration (ekagrata) he has brought out and assimilated profound concepts and tenets found deep in the ocean of the Scripture, with their associated five kinds of meanings - the word-meaning (sabdartha), the standpoint-meaning (nayartha), the sectarian-meaning (matartha), the scriptural-meaning (agamartha) and the spiritual-meaning (bhavartha)beyond the reach of the ordinary souls. As the then Muni Visuddhasagara completed his period-of-study (siksakala), his guru, Most Worshipful Acarya Viragasagara, in 2007, conferred on him the status of the Chief Preceptor (Acarya) that carries with it the responsibility of nurturing other potential souls who wish to tread the holy path to liberation. During this period-of-nurturing (ganaposanakala), Acarya Visuddhasagara has, till date, accorded Jaina-ordination (jinadiksa) to some thirty-eight choicest gems among the present-day worthy souls. His clear message to his disciple-ascetics (sisya muni) is that in this 'kali' age the greatest austerity (tapa) they can observe is the study of the Scripture-svadhyaya. He avers that the study of the Scripture, as a 1 Digambara Jaina-ordination (jinadiksa) - 21 November, 1991. . . . . . . . XLVII
