________________
civilization. Young Pungaliya who had not yet crossed his twenties, took the cue and the seeds of his interest in philosophy and 'Adhyatma' were neatly sown.
After voluntary retirement from his flourishing legal practice, he has devoted himself to the cause of propogating study of Prakrit languages and Jainology. He is the organizing force behind Sanmati Teerth, an institution which has actively and financially sponsored the project of compilation of a comprehensive Historical Prakrit Dictionary under the auspicious of the world - famous Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute of Pune. Sanmati Teerth also conducts classes for teaching Prakrit & Jainology. Prakrit courses are recognised by the University of Pune.
While doing this and after a gap of almost 45 years since Shri Pungaliya passed his law and joined profession, he decided to study Prakrit, worked hard with devotion and obtained his M. A. degree from University of Pune. His interest in 'Adhyatma' and philosophy never waned since his days of Yerawada Prison University. He practised Yoga, attended Meditation shibirs, religous and philosophical discourses and practised 'Dhyan.'
With this background he felt inspired to write a thesis for his Ph.D. on a subject of his great interest and which could inspire the English reading people, particularly the young generation of the children of Jains who have migrated to western world. Shrimad Rajchandra, the great saint and philosopher, was born in 1867. He possessed extraordinary intellectual, spiritual, visionary, telepathic capacities right from his early childhood. He joined school at the age of 7, wrote a poem of 5000 verses at the age of 8. He studied most of Jain scriptures before reaching the age of 9. He was a voracious reader
ii
