Jinamanjari 2001 04 No 23

Author(s): Jinamanjari
Publisher: Canada Bramhi Jain Society Publication

Page 5

ŚRĪMAD RĀJACANDRA ON THE ROLE OF THE SADGURU FOR SELF-REALIZATION
Jinamañjari, Volume 23, No.1, April 2001
era.
INTRODUCTION
The present article aims at studying Śrīmad Rājacandra's concept of the sadguru and his significance in the attainment of self-realization on the basis of Śrīmad's works collected in the volume entitled Śrīmad Rājacandra. Śrīmad Rājacandra was one of the outstanding ethico-religious Indian philosophers who flourished in the latter half of the 19th century of the common
D. M. Shah and U. K. Pungaliya
As an interpreter of Jain philosophy, religion and mysticism in the light of his own experience, Śrīmad Rajacandra's contribution is unique. Though he sincerely and strongly believed in Jainism as preached and propagated by the Jain Tirthankaras such as Mahāvīra, his mind was open. Wherever it was possible, he examined the doctrines of Jainism in the light of his own spiritual experience and interpreted them rationally while comparing them with non-Jain philosophies like Vedānta, Samkhya-Yoga, etc., wherever he considered it
necessary.
Śrīmad Rajacandra was one of the great experimenters who did not blindly accept the doctrines inherited by tradition. On many occasions he raised genuine doubts and tried to interpret received doctrines non-traditional ways. At the same time, he was quite aware that there are certain doctrines in philosophy which can be a matter of experience only for a omniscient being (sarvajña) that is free from passion (vītarāga) and not for an imperfect human being, because ignorance and passions are the main obstacles for intuitively comprehending
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