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

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JAIN JOURNAL
people. As a teacher he was strict and exacting. No wonder by virtue of his thoroughgoing methods and the great pains he took, many of his disciples became real scholars with an acknowledged mastery over the Jaina as well as other systems of Indian philosophy.
It was only after equipping himself fully to the task awaiting him that Labdhivijay set out on foot to tour extensively various parts of India. He commenced his holy mission to Malwa (Ujjain) in 1905 (V.S. 1961). It was a mass campaign of religious education. He not only diagonised the malady which caused men to suffer but prescribed the cure which consisted of adopting moral values in life. People responded to him warmly wherever he went.
In 1906 (V.S. 1962) Labdhivijay went to Bengal. The next year he went to Gwalior where the inhabitants of the Punjab came into contact with him. They requested him to come over to the Punjab to educate the masses and to inspire them to lead a higher moral life. He accepted their invitation and went to the land of the Five Rivers in 1908 (V.S. 1964). He travelled all over the Punjab delivering lectures on various moral and religious subjects.
At that time, the Punjab was the stronghold of the Arya Samajists. The followers of Svami Dayananda Sarasvati were denouncing idol worship and superstittion and a deviation from the original pure religion of the Aryan culture. But for the common people of India idolatry constituted the most popular and readily understood mode of worship. So in his lectures Labdhivijay explained the necessity and the sound basis of idol worship. This made the Arya Samajists excited and furious. They challenged him and his faith in idol worship. In 1909 (V.S. 1965), at Narwal in the Punjab, took place the historic Vad-Vivad (Debate) which was held between Labdhivijay and his Arya Samajist opponent in a place with a judge to decide the result. He outwitted his adversary in argument and established the superiority of idol worship. He also wrote a book reviewing and analysing the ideology of Svami Dayananda Saraswati wherein he proved logically that the belief of the founder of the Arya Samaj was based on unfounded grounds and misunderstanding of the scriptures. From there he moved to Ludhiana where he preached to Muslims, fishermen, butchers and others, calling on them to forsake their life of violence and become strict vegetarians. A large number of them decided to adopt a non-violent way of life. Many of them also gave up drinking and prospered in later life.
From Ludhiana Labdhivijay went to Kasur en route to Multan. Here too, he was engaged in a Vad-Vivad with the Samajists in which