Book Title: Some Distinguished Jains
Author(s): Umrao Singh Tank
Publisher: Atmanand Jain Sabha

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Page 33
________________ 23 The services rendered by Karam Chand to luis community and religion can never be overated. His memory is still cherished in Rajputana as one of the great benefactors of the Sangha. Every act of his bespeaks of his boundless charity and unostentatious piety. In A.D. 1555 le celebrated the official entry of Jinachandra suri of the Brihat Kharataragachchlia with great eclat at Bikaner. The kavi who announced him the advent of the holy guru was given a handsome reward. During the famine of 1578 (Vik-Sam 1635), he made every endeavour to relieve the starving population by establishing depots for the free distribution of corn. He recovered a large number of Jaina images from the Mahomedans into whose hands they had fallen and deposited them in the Chintamanji temple at Bikaner. He introduced some needed reforms in the Osval community and fixed and regulated the cesses due by the community to the bhojaks Akbar, though not a convert, was more than an admirer of Jainism It was Hiravijaya-suri who first made him familiar with the sublime teaching of the Jina in A D. 1682. As a result of his activity and labour, Jainism secured a corner in the emperor's heart and proved itself a potent factor in influencing his views and policy. Mr. Smith is perfectly right when he observes that many of his acts from 1682 onwards were the direct outcome of his partial acceptance of the Jaina doctrine. Abul Fazl expressly mentions Hiravijayasuri

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