The Living Library of Jainism – Muniraj Jambuvijayji Maharaj

Diksha Jeevan & profound research work:

Muniraj Jambuvijayji’s diksha jeevan was an ideal example of Gyan Sadhana and Prabhu Bhakti.

An immense level of faith in Parmatma was in his nerves. He literally used to talk with Parmatma in Jinalaya and spent hours and hours just in darshan. Those who have been in his touch know very well about his Prabhu Bhakti which was just like a little child’s unconditional love for his mother. While in Palitana, he would never miss a day without doing the yatra of Shree Shatrunjay Giriraj. If asked the reason for it, he would say that “Dada Adinath is waiting for me and I cannot afford to miss this meeting anytime while I am here!”

But what distinguished him was his dedication & faith towards Shrut Gyan(The Right Knowledge). It would not be a hyperbole to say that his life was only and only for research of Jain Aagam’s and ancient texts. This was because of his strong will to gain more and more knowledge. This can be understood from the fact that even at the ripe age of 87, his zeal for research was phenomenal. He dived deep into the sea of ancient scriptures with a single motive of unraveling the gems of concepts buried in them. A well known Jainacharya Shri Siddhasen Divakarsuriji had authored a volume ‘Sanmatiprakaran’ and Pandit Bechardas Doshi and Pandit Sukhlalji edited it with exhaustive commentary. Young Muniraj Jambuvijayji extensively studied the same and found some inaccuracies in the text. When he went on to draw their attention towards these inaccuracies, both the scholars were taken aback. Later Pandit Sukhlalji entrusted the task of editing one of the most complex literature ‘Dwadshar Nayachakra’ to Muniraj Jambuvijayji. Muniraj Jambuvijayji spent a period of approx 40 years in recreating this Granth. But he himself did not attend the Book release ceremony. When a Sadhviji Maharaj asked him the reason for not attending the ceremony, Gurudev humbly said “What is the need of my presence in giving something that didn’t belong to me in the first place. It was Parmatma’s gift and I just re-created it!” That was the height of his humbleness & faith in Parmatma! Spending 40 years on a book and still no praises or even presence on its release!

Jainacharya Mallavadi Kshamashraman, born in the 4^th century, had endeavored to pinpoint the salient factures and inherent weaknesses of twelve types of philosophical postulates, and at the end of it he had discussed the philosophy of anekantvaad, which encompasses all the diverse and disparate points of views. The original manuscript of the volume was not available but based on the various commentaries extant, Muniraj Jambuvijayji produced a rare and priceless volume which proved to be a goldmine for the scholars of religion and philosophy. He singlehandedly toiled for 20 years with infinite patience and for the purpose of his research, he studied ancient Tibetian language ‘Bhoti’ and its script. It was his approach to study any language required for his research. With this style, he learned French, English, German, Japanese, Sinhalese, Pali, and Tibeti. He was constantly in pursuit of knowledge and therefore he preferred to spend his ‘chaturmas’ (four month of rainy season staying at one place) in a small village so that he could carry on his work undisturbed. He was always surrounded by old manuscripts and would talk about ‘Shrutgyan’ with devotees. Compassion for all was at the core of his teaching. Scholars and researchers from Japan, England, and Germany visited him very often and learned a great deal about Indian scriptures from his illuminating discussions and discourses. His piety and profound scholarship touched them all. For anyone who wanted to study or do research on Jain, Buddhist, or other ancient religions, Muniraj Jambuvijayji was the proper guide. A unique tradition is followed in Jainism as well as many other cultures of India while learning and that is Guru is always seated higher regardless of his age or knowledge in other fields. The same was followed by Muniraj Jambuvijayji Maharaj as well. When he wanted to teach something to a scholar visiting him, he would seat higher. But when he wanted to learn something from the scholar, say a foreign language, he would make the foreign scholar seat on a height and he himself would sit on the floor.

Mitchell from Italy studied in a German University and met Muniraj Jambuvijayji in a small village in Kutch and took lessons from him. She started reciting Navkar Mahamantra every day and gave up meat-eating. Similarly, Hiroko from Japan’s Hiroshima University studied Jainism and Buddhism from the Muniraj Jambuvijayji. She also undertook a pilgrimage to Shetrunjay along with her parents from Japan. For scholars from Australia, America, Italy, Japan, and South Africa, Muniraj Shri Jambuvijayji was an ever-willing guide and a beacon light.

Preservation of Jain store-houses of knowledge was his prime consideration, following the traditions established by Munishri Kantivijayji, Munishri Chaturvijayj and Munishri Punyavijayji Maharaj. Shri Punyavijayaji had gifted valuable volumes of Aagams through intensive research and the same tradition was carried forward to its pinnacle by Muniraj Shri Jambuvijayji.

He had an uncanny insight to capture the essence of the original volumes, besides the researcher’s unflagging zeal and patience. All his works were published by Shri Mahavir Jain Vidhyalay of Mumbai and Shri Bhogilal Laherchand Institute of Delhi. His edited works of ancient volumes comprise staggering 25,000 pages. Munishri was an indefatigable researcher who spared no pains for the preservation of the treasure trove of Jainology. The treasure of knowledge of Jaisalmer needed to be restored properly and Munishri spent days in scorching heat on the burning sands of Rajasthan. Similarly, he endeavored to preserve the manuscripts in Limbadi, Khambhat, Patan, and Pune with the help of micro-filming and xeroxing. When the Institute of Jainology cataloged the 1500 valuable manuscripts lying in British Library, the leaders of all sects of Jain religion in one voice opined that the foreword be written by Muniraj Shri Jambuvijayji. He, unhesitatingly, did the job. On top of everything, status and fame were alien to his nature and would sign simply as Jain Muni Jambuvijayji and steadfastly refused the title of Upadhyay or Acharya.

One striking thing that is reflected in all his work: he always thought about benefits of longer run, say 200-400 years of time span and always thought way ahead of his times!

Yet another feat of Muniraj Jambuvijayji that, to our limited knowledge, is achieved by a handful of Jain Sadhus was that for his research and exploration work on Shri Ashtapad Tirth, he went all the way to Badrinath and spent a considerable time on the project. He met many Munis/ Monks of different religious beliefs and did constructive discussions on Vedas and other related topics. Although he was a strong believer of Jainism, he gained a lot of knowledge of other religions. Many times he was invited to address a gathering of Scholars from diverse fields and the invitees would expect him to be critical of other religions and talk only in favor of Jainism. But Muniraj Jambuvijayji would always respect the beliefs of others and never passed any hurtful comments on the beliefs of other religions. This was the height of his mature conduct with all.

Contrary to the recent trend of urban savvy Jain monks, Shri Jambuvijay would always prefer to spend the majority of his time in rural areas. He always preferred to halt in small villages so that a large amount of visitors would not disturb him frequently in his research work.