Jain Journal 1972 10

SR No.: 520028
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication
Publication Year: 1972
Total Pages: 55
Language: English
Classification: Magazine, India_Jain Journal, & India
File Size: 3 MB

Page 10

OCTOBER, 1972
In 1902 (V. S. 1958) Acarya Sri Vijay Kamal Surisvarji Maharaj came to Manasa for Caturmās. Lalchand opened out his heart before the saint and prayed that he should fulfil his burning desire to be initiated as his disciple. But he had yet to wait for a couple of years more. It was only in 1903 (V. S. 1959) that Lalchand left his home at dead of night. He reached the village of Boru where his Gurudeva was staying. The saint blessed him and initiated him as his own disciple under the new monastic name of Muni Labdhivijay. The news created a great sensation in the neighbourhood. Lalchand's relatives, when they came to know that he had left home and had become a monk, rushed to Boru to get him back. But it was too late.
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The life which Labdhivijay had chosen for himself was no bed of roses. From the beginning he subjected himself to a rigorous discipline. He regarded it as necessary to his mission and incalculable aid to it.
Under the able guidance of his Gurudeva, Labdhivijay commenced his studies of Nyāyā philosophy along with Vyakaraṇa. With his keen intellect he mastered the most intricate treatises in the aforesaid subjects in about three years' time. He also acquired considerable proficiency in rhetoric and started writing poems in Sanskrit, Hindi and Gujrati.
Labdhivijay was amazingly quick and clever at learning languages and before long mastered nearly a dozen of them. He did it as a necessary means to his mission of propagation. Therefore, in addition to Sanskrit, Prakrit and Apabhransa, he acquired a sound knowledge of Hindi, Marathi, Urdu and Rajasthani. He was striving to becoming proficient in English too, but owing to the overload of activities and unavoidable circumstances he was not able to continue further the study of that language. He was of the firm conviction that Jainism, because of its universal and enlightened teachings, can and should be an international religion. He saw no reason why its principles should not be understood and practised in the countries of the West. But for spreading and popularising it abroad he knew that a thorough knowledge of English was indispensible.
Many were the odds against which Labdhivijay had to fight in order to clear his way to realise his ideals. The first and foremost necessity was to create a band of workers who would make it their life mission to fight the evil influence and reactionary forces. Slowly, many devoted young disciples gathered round him, drawn by the power of his magnetic personality. He inculcated in them the spirit of service and dedication to the cause of spreading the teachings of Jainism among the