Book Title: Comtemporary Jain Legends
Author(s): Atmanandji Maharaj
Publisher: Shrimad Rajchandra Ashram

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Page 115
________________ Professor at B.J. Vidya Bhavan conducted by Gujarat Vidyasabha. He stayed at "Saritkung" bungalow at Ahmedabad for many years. When it was sold away, Pandit Sukhlalji stayed at Anekant Vihar, which belonged to Acharya JinVijayaji. Both these places happened to be as holy as a place of pilgrimage for learned persons, scholars, social workers and others. Pandit Sukhlalji retired from Benaras University but he continued creating new literature. He was invited to deliver Sayajirao Memorial lectures at covering the three subjects-Soul, World and God in Gujarati. These have been published in 1958 and 1960 in Hindi under the name Bharatiya Tattva Vidya. These lectures have also been translated into English and L.D. Vidya Mandir under the title Indian Philosophy publishes them in 1977. He has delivered lectures on Soul, God and Penance at Gujarat Vidya Sabha and these have been published in Hindi and Gujarati in 1956 under the heading Adhyatma Vicharna. He delivered lectures on Acharya HariBhadra under the invitation of Mumbai university and the same are published in Hindi and Gujarati in 1966 under the title: SamdarshiAcharya HariBhadra. In addition to this, Pandit Sukhlalji has written edited and compiled several other big and small books. We can see from this large bulk of books that he was never idle in his life. He has done so much work even though he had lost his eyes. This is because he was solely devoted to spiritual literature. He has worked very hard during the whole of his life. His stray writings have been collected and published as a book titled "Darshan and Chintan". We can see his approach towards philosophical thinking, national thoughts and social problems in his lectures on various subjects. His writings were not routine but revolutionary, his thinking was very deep, his comments were authoritative and his life as a whole was dedicated to spiritual and scriptural knowledge. His Outlook for Life: Pandit Sukhlalji could do so much work in literature only because of his outlook for life. He kept his own necessities to the barest minimum and gave all facilities to own necessities to the barest minimum and gave all facilities to his assistants and colleagues. He took unavoidable services only from others. He was self-supporting as much as he could. This was his way of living life. Many people came forward to help him but he depended only on his own earning. He never had more than two pairs of clothes. He kept only one mattress and a covering. He believed in simplicity and cleanliness. He had no house of his own. He had no more requirements than were really needed. It is for this reason that he could straightway tell the truth to others. He expressed his views most courteously and with love. Because of his straight forwardness and insistence for truth, he was disliked by many but he did not mind for it. He was the direct illustration of the saying "Learned is respected every where". He was respected wherever he went. It was natural that the people will honor such a man. He was awarded ViyajDharm Soori Jain Sahitya Gold Medal in 1947. He was honored by the degree of D.Litt. By the Gujarat University in 1957, the Sardar Patel University in 1967 and the Saurashtra University in 1973. The Government of India honored him by awarding Padma Bhushan in 1974. Even before this, the Government of India since 1961 granted him pensions by giving him Certificate of honor for Sanskrit. The Sahitya Academy of Delhi granted him prize of Rs.5000 for his "Darshan and Chintan". The Government of Mumbai also gave him prize for this work. His admirers had formed Pandit Shri Sukhlalji Samman Samiti in his honor and he was honored in 1957 at Mumbai under the Presidentship of Dr. Radhakrishnan. He was given a bag of Rs.75,000 on this occasion. Panditji formed Gnanodaya Trust with this amount and decided to use this amount for the expansion and creation of Indian religion and philosophy. He was awarded the title of Vidya Varidhi by Naav Nalanda Vihar of Bihar in 1975 AD. It was with his inspiration that Parshvanath Shodh Sansthan at Bihar and L.D. Prachya Vidya Mandir at Ahmedabad was established. 115

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