[1] He was born as Vayja Kumar to Dedi and Dron in the Pragwat community in a small village Dantani near Mount Abu, Rajasthan, India on 9th day of bright half of Shravan month in 1080 CE.

[2][3] At the age of 6, on the 8th day of bright half of Vaishakh month in 1086 CE, Vayja Kumar was initiated as a Jain monk by Acharya Jaysinghsuri at Dantani, his birth place.

[3][4] Once, while revising the Daśavaikālika Sutra, one of the 45 canonical scriptures of the Śvetāmbaras, he came across a stanza which stated that a Jain monk must not touch or drink water that is not boiled.

Upon hearing Vijaychandrasuri's doubt, Jaysinghsuri responded by saying that a Jain monk is indeed disallowed from drinking or touching unboiled water.

Vijayachandrasuri was unsatisfied by this response and further asked his preceptor about the result of following the scriptures and giving up the lax conduct.

[5][6] Vijayachandra sought guidance from Jaysinghsuri to perform a Kriyoddhāra (major reforms to eliminate lax monastic practices).

[6] Upadhyaya Vijayachandra visited the Mahavira temple atop the Pavagadh Hill and resolved to perform Sallekhana beginning with Māsakṣaman, a month-long fast, if he failed to make impactful reforms in monasticism as prescribed by the Śvetāmbara canon.

[7] Legend has it that once, demi-goddess Chakreshvari asked Tirthankara Simandhara, who is currently believed to be living in Mahavideha, if there was an ascetic in the Bharata Kṣetra who was closest to following the practices prescribed in the Śvetāmbara canon.

After worshipping the idols and paying homage to the ascetics, he requested Upadhyaya Vijayachandra to oblige him by accepting food and water from his mobile kitchen that was set up at the foothills of Pavagadh Hill.

Later, Vijayachandra preached Yashodhana and informed him about the ill practices in the monastic conduct of monks due to the influence of yatis.

[8] Yashodhana and Upadhyaya Vijayachandra visited Bhalej, where he was consecrated as an acharya on the 3rd day of the bright half of Vaishakh month (Akshaya Tritiya) in 1079 CE by his initiator Jaysinghsuri and was given the name Aryarakshitsuri.

[14] An alternate story says that once, minister Kapardi performed Guru Vandan to Hemachandrasuri in Kumarapala's court by cleaning the floor with his clothes.

Amazed by this method of paying homage to a monk, Kumarapala asked Hemachandra about its authenticity and mention in aagamas.

[15] In 1154 CE, Hameer, the king of Ratanpur, and his son Jesangde, along with their family, accepted the 12 vows of Śrāvaka from Aryarakshitsuri.

[19][20] Aryarakshitsuri died in 1180 CE at the age of 100 by performing Sallekhana in the town of Benap in Banaskantha district of Gujarat.