Rambhadracharya

**Jagadguru Ramanandacharya Swami Rambhadracharya** is a Hindu religious leader. He is also an educator, composer, skilled public speaker, and philosopher. He was born on 14 January 1950. His birth name was **Giridhar Mishra** (IAST: Giridhara Miśra). He can speak 22 languages. He lives in Chitrakuta, Uttar Pradesh, India.

In 1988 he became one of the four *Jagadguru Ramanandacharyas*, the leaders of the Ramananda order. He is the founder of Tulsi Peeth which is a religious and social service organization. It is in Chitrakuta. It is named after the saint Tulsidas. He is the founder and lifelong chancellor of the Jagadguru Rambhadracharya Handicapped University. It is a university in Chitrakuta and it gives graduate and postgraduate courses entirely to the four types of disabled students, having a poor physical or mental ability. Jagadguru Rambhadracharya became blind at the age of two months. He has never used Braille or any other help to learn or compose. He can speak 22&nbsp;languages, and he is a self-produced poet (*Ashukavi*). He is a composer in Sanskrit, Hindi, Avadhi, Maithili and many other languages. He has written more than 80 books, which include four story telling poems (two in Sanskrit and two in Hindi), a Hindi series of comments on the Ramcharitmanas, a Sanskrit series of comments on the Ashtadhyayi, and a Sanskrit series of comments on the *Prasthanatrayi* religious books (the Brahma Sutra, the Bhagavad Gita and the main Upanishads). He is seen as one of the greatest sources of information on Tulsidas in India, and he is the editor of a critical edition of the Ramcharitmanas. He is a famous Katha artist for the Ramayana and the Bhagavata. His Katha programmes are held regularly in different cities in India and in other countries. They are shown on many television channels like Sanskar TV and Sanatan TV.

## Birth and early life
Jagadguru Rambhadracharya was born in Shandikhurd village of Jaunpur district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. His family was a Saryupareen Brahmin family of Vasishtha *Gotra*. His birth time was 10:34&nbsp;pm and he was born on the Makar Sankranti day of Saturday, January&nbsp;14,&nbsp;1950 (Magha Krishna Ekadashi). His mother was Shachidevi and his father was Pandit Rajdev Mishra. His name *Giridhara* was named by his father's aunt, a cousin of his grandfather Pandit Suryabali Mishra. His father's aunt was an admirer of Mirabai, a female saint of the Bhakti age in middle India, who used the name Giridhara for Krishna in her compositions.

### Blindness
Giridhara became blind in March 1950 when he was aged two months. When he got the eye disease trachoma, there was no medical care in his village. He was taken to a local woman who was known to cure Trachoma. She dropped a hot medicine into his eyes to break the Trachoma lumps, but his eyes started bleeding and he became blind. His family took him to many Ayurvedic, Homeopathic, Allopathic and medical doctors in Sitapur, Lucknow and Mumbai, but there was no help. By accident, 52&nbsp;years after the day he learnt the Gita, he released the first ever Braille form of Gita at New Delhi on November&nbsp;30,&nbsp;2007, with the real Sanskrit text and a Hindi series of comments. When Giridhara was seven years old, he learned the whole Ramcharitmanas of Tulsidas (close to 10,900&nbsp;verses) in 60&nbsp;days. His grandfather helped him. On Ram Navmi day of 1957, he spoke the whole book while not eating food because of religious reasons. As he has the ability to memorize everything by just listening it one time, he never used Braille or other help to learn. In three months, he had learned the whole Laghusiddhāntakaumudī of Varadarāja to a high level.

### Highest degree and post-doctorate
 pose with fingers folded in the Chin Mudra.]]
Giridhara began studying for a PhD also at Sampurnanand Sanskrit University. Pandit Ramprasad Tripathi supervised his studies. Giridhara got a scholarship from the *University Grants Commission* (UGC) by passing an examination. However, he had money problem for several years. Giridhara Miśra took Vairagi (Virakta Dīkṣā) in the Rāmānanda Sampradāya (monastic order) on the Kārtika full-moon day of November&nbsp;19,&nbsp;1983 from Śrī Śrī 1008 Śrī Rāmacaraṇadāsa Mahārāja Phālāhārī. He then came to be known as Rāmabhadradāsa.

;Tulsi Peeth
 to a statue of Tulsidas at Tulsi Peeth on 25 October 2009]]
In 1987 Rambhadradas established a religious and social service institution in Chitrakoot, where, as per the Ramayana, Rama had spent twelve out of his fourteen years of exile. Its name is Tulsi Peeth (the seat of Tulsi). As he is the founder of the institution, Sadhus gave him the title of *Śrīcitrakūṭatulasīpīṭhādhīśvara* (which means the God of the Tulsi Peeth at Chitrakoot). In the Tulsi Peeth, there a temple of Rama and Sita, and its name is Kanch Mandir ("glass temple"). On 1&nbsp;August&nbsp;1995 he was  as the *Jagadguru Ramanandacharya* in a ritual manner in Ayodhya by the *Digambar Akhara*.

### Institutes for the disabled
Swami Rambhadracharya started the Tulsi School for the Blind in Chitrakoot on 23&nbsp;August&nbsp;1996. This is the first university in the world entirely for disabled students. It was created by a local law of the Uttar Pradesh Government, which was afterwards accepted as the Uttar Pradesh State Act 32 (2001) by the Uttar Pradesh legislature. This act assigned Jagadguru Rambhadracharya as the chancellor of this university for his entire life. The university offers graduate, post-graduate and doctorate degrees in many arts and sciences. The permission to enter into the university is limited to only four types of disabled students – those who are blind, or have difficulty in hearing, having difficulty in walking or having some  , as defined in the Disability Act (1995) of the Government of India. According to the Government of Uttar Pradesh, the university is one of the main education institutes for Information Technology and Electronics in the state. Various degrees were given to 354 disabled students in the second  of the university which was held in March 2010. In the third graduation ceremony which was held in January 2011, 388 disabled students were given degrees.

Rambhadracharya also founded an organisation. Its name is Jagadguru Rambhadracharya Viklang Seva Sangh. Its based in Satna, Madhya Pradesh. Its mission is to make community awareness and to start child development programs in Indian villages. Its main aim is to support the education programs of Jagadguru Rambhadracharya Handicapped University. It helps disabled children get a good education by making access to education easier. Rambhadracharya also runs a hundred-bed hospital in Gujarat.

### Rambhadracharya's edition of Ramcharitmanas
, the president of India (left)]]

Tulsidas wrote the epic poem Ramcharitmanas in the late sixteenth century. It has been very popular in northern India ever since. Some Western scholars have called it the "Bible of northern India". Many different poets have created their own versions of the poem.

## Notes
## References
## Other websites
* Official website of Jagadguru Rambhadracharya
* Very important edition of Ramcharitmanas edited by Jagadguru Rambhadracharya, with a Hindi series of comments 
* Unofficial website of Jagadguru Rambhadracharya on Google Pages 
* Jagadguru Rambhadracharya Handicapped University 
* Youtube channel with information and discourses of Jagadguru Rambhadracharya