Jain Journal 1968 01

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

Page 29

JANUARY, 1968
115
After Muniji had left Santiniketan for reasons of heath, this Series was given over to the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan of Bombay. Muniji has been the General Editor of the Series from the very beginning. Many publications dealing with Jaina texts of historical and philological importance have been brought out in this Series. Had it not been for the imagination and ideas of Muniji, many of these works of great historical and philological value would not have seen the light of the day.
For the last few years, he has been guiding research as the Director of Rajasthan Puratattva Mandir, run by the Government of Rajasthan. Muniji is now more than eighty years old but in spite of the physical disabilities which have come with age, his interest and zeal continues unabated. What often makes him sad is that much still remains to be done in the field of Oriental study and research. This is his feeling after having enriched the Oriental learning with nearly 40 books written or edited by him.
Muniji has all along been a devoted scholar, a social revolutionary, and a constructive worker. He is not at all doctrinaire or dogmatic in any sense and, therefore, is religious in the true sense of the word. He once said "If I have faith in Jainism, it is not because of the Jaina sectarian outlook, but because of the independent thinking and understanding which it teaches." Free thinking and rational understanding have alone been the great motive forces in his life.
3. Pandit Bechardasji : He was born in 1902 in Gujrat. His father was a man of very small means and did not have resources to be able to do much for his son's education. What worsened the situation was that his father died when he was only 10 years old. The whole responsibility to run the household came upon his mother, who had to do all kinds of jobs to earn the livelihood. Panditji also helped his mother by doing many things involving manual labour. It seemed for a little while that Panditji could not go for education but as luck would have it, he was selected by the great Jaina Muni Sri Vijaya Dharma Suriji as a candidate for higher studies in Jainism. After having studied for a few months at Mandal and Palitana, he could manage to go to Kasi where he acquired by his perseverence and hard work mastery over Jaina philosophy. He passed Title Examination of the Calcutta Sanskrit College. While studying, he also acted as editor of the Sri Yaso Vijaya Jaina Series. He showed uncommon merit in his studies and won awards and scholarships. Having acquired knowledge of Prakrit and Ardhamagadhi, Panditji went to Ceylon for the study of Pali which was very necessary for Buddhistic studies. His eight months' stay in Ceylon gave