Jain Journal 1968 01

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 24

THE PANDIT TRIO
Bhanwarmal Singhi
Pandit Sukhlalji, Muni Jinavijayji and Pandit Bechardasji constitute a trio whose contribution to the Oriental learning in general and Jainism in particular has been widely appreciated. They are contemporaneous in age and have a great similarity in views. It was the inner urge for learning which drove and goaded each of them in pursuit of knowledge in whatever direction it was found. All three of them were born in the circumstances of poverty and had to struggle very hard to achieve their objective. Poverty gave them the first lesson of life and blended their yearning for scholarship with the yearning for service to the society. They have never believed in learning for the sake of learning-a learning isolated from life. Their thinking sprang from the agony of life which they had tasted and experienced very early in life. This gave a social touch to their philosophical pursuits. They believe that any principle which cannot be lived is valueless. The more they read and studied the books of religion and philosophy, the more they felt the poverty of life in the midst of plenty of philosophical platitudes. They have interpreted old concepts in terms of new values. They have vehemently criticised the society for making religion a dogma. To them, freedom of thought is the greatest value in life and no society or religion which curbs this freedom can last for long. They have been reformers and rebels all through their life. With implicite faith in non-violence, they took active part in the non-violent battle for India's independence under Mahatma Gandhi's leadership. Having been convinced of the efficacy of non-violence as a positive force in social and political matters, they could not remain passive and isolated spectators or at best the preceptors of non-violence in the struggle for the reformation of society. By their thought and action, they brought revolution in the Jaina society. Their critical interpretation of the scriptural texts naturally shook those who were in positions of authority in the religious domain. They were dubbed as non-conformists and rebels to be opposed and boycotted.
However, it was given to these three rebels to give an intellectual leadership to the movement of social and religious reforms in the Jaina community. Although the field of their activity has been mainly in Gujarat, the stronghold of the Jainas, their writings have stirred the conscience of the Jaina youth in other parts of the country also. I remember very vividly the popular enthusiasm which was aroused several years ago among the