Kānji Svāmi Panth

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Kānji Svāmi Panth. Jain movement named after its founder, Kānji Svāmi, born in Gujarat of Śvetāmbara parents in 1889. When he was about 30, he read Kundakunda's Samayasāra (Essence of Doctrine), which opened him to the possibility that the Digambara way was the true one. In 1934, he renounced his status as a Śvetāmbara monk and became a Digambara layman. This took place at Songadh which remains the centre of the movement derived from him. He became an indefatigable preacher, mainly commenting on the works of Kunda-kunda and taking even further his stress on the primacy of the realization of the true soul (paramātman) over all external observances, vows, and rituals. The Panth is a mainly lay movement, though there are some brahmacharis (ascetics). The Panth is missionary and has adherents in many countries round the world.