Monks and Acharyas
Vajraswami
वज्रस्वामी · વજ્રસ્વામી
The young monk the gods could not fool, who carried a whole town through the sky
- 4 min full story
- 2 min children's telling
- For all ages
- Shvetambar telling
The baby who once chose a monk's broom grew up to be Acharya Vajraswami. This is the story of his life as a monk: the tests of the gods, a rich girl who wished to marry him, and a famine that called for unusual help.
What it teaches Wisdom Self-Control Care for the Sangh
The opening of the children's telling
Do you remember baby Vajrakumar, who chose the monk's little broom instead of toys? He grew up to be a wonderful monk named Vajraswami.
One rainy day, some gods wanted to test young Vajra. They pretended to be travellers and offered him tasty food. But Vajra looked carefully. Their eyes never blinked, and their feet did not touch the ground! "These are gods," he thought. Monks do not take food from gods, so he said a polite no.
Read the whole story See plans
To carry into the day
The best use of any gift is to care for others with it.
To talk about together
Vajraswami had special powers but never showed off. Why do you think he chose not to?
Retold for JainStory from the traditional narrative and checked against published Jain sources. Details vary between tellings.