Pt. Sukhlal Sanghvi | |
|---|---|
 Pandit Sukhlalji | |
| Born | (1880-12-08)8 December 1880 |
| Died | 2 March 1978(1978-03-02) (aged 97) |
| Occupation(s) | Writer, Philosopher, Editor, Linguist and Scholar |
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Sukhlal Sanghvi (8 December 1880 – 2 March 1978), also known asPandit Sukhlalji, was aJain scholar and philosopher. He belonged to theSthanakvasi sect ofJainism.[1] Pandit Sukhlal lost his eyesight at the age of sixteen on account of smallpox. However, he persisted and became profoundly versed in Jain logic and rose to become a professor at Banaras Hindu University.Paul Dundas calls him one of the most incisive modern interpreters ofJain philosophy.[2] Dundas notes that Sanghavi represents what now seems to be a virtually lost scholarly and intellectual world.[3] He was a mentor for famous Jain scholarPadmanabh Jaini. During his lifetime he won such awards as theSahitya Akademi Award and won recognition from the Government of India by gettingPadma Bhushan award. Sukhlalji was also known asPragnachaksu because he was so vastly learned despite being visually disabled.
Sukhlal was born in the village of Limli village ofSurendranagar district, Gujarat on 8 December 1880 (fifth day of the bright day of the month of Margshirsh inVikram Samvat 1937).[4] He belonged to Visa ShrimaliVanik community (merchant community) of Gujarat.[citation needed] Talshi Sanghvi and his first wife Maniben were his parents. His mother died when he was four years old. He was raised in Limli by his distant relative, Muljibhai fromSayla. He lost his eyesight followingsmall pox infection when he was sixteen. This made him more introspective and he devoted his life to learning.[4]
He attended discourses of Jain monks, and studied scriptures with the help of a reader. In 1904, he joined Shri Yashovijaya Jain Sanskrit Pathshala atBenaras, where he studied philosophy and linguistics, focusing his early years on mastering theSiddha-Hema-vyakarana, an eighth-century text onPrakrit grammar.[5] Besides grammar, he studiedTarkasamraha,Muktavali, andVyaptichakra with various commentaries. He also became well-conversant with epics likeRaghuvamsha,Maghakavya, andNaishadhacharitam, besidesAlamkarashastra andKosha. For further studies he went toMithila in 1911, where he studied with the scholar Balakrishna Mishra, and then toVaranasi where he began translating and commenting on works of Jain literature and philosophy.[5] Later, he went toAgra where he edited important Jain works likePanchapratikramana, the first four Karma granthas of Devendrasuri. andYogadarsana andYogavimshika ofHaribhadra Suri.[4] After passing Nyayacarya examination he continued to teach at Jain pathshalas where his students included future scholar-monks likeMuni Jinvijay, Muni Lalitvijay and Muni Punyavijay.[6]
In 1922, he joined Puratattva Mandir ofGujarat Vidyapith as professor ofIndian philosophy. Here he edited Sanamatitarka of Siddhasena Divakara in five volumes containing valuable indices and appendices. He was assisted by Pandit Bechardasji in this task.[5] From 1934 to 1944 he was the Chair of Jain Philosophy atBenaras Hindu University.[5] He devoted most of his time to writing and editing a number of valuable works in Sanskrit, Hindi, and Gujarati. He editedTattvarthasutra and Nyayavatara in Gujarati with texts and translations. He edited Pramana-mimamsa byHemacandra, with detailed introduction and notes. He not only corrected the original readings with the help of the photocopies of the original manuscripts but also gave other comparative readings. He critically edited Jayarashi's Tatavapaplava—a systematic work ofCharvakas which brought him wide recognition. He threw new light on the history ofBuddhist philosophy by editing Archata's commentary onDharmakirti'sHetubindu. After retirement from Banaras Hindu University in 1944, he came back toBharatiya Vidya Bhavan where he worked with Jain monk Acarya Jinavijayaji. In 1957, Sukhlalji was invited by the M.S. University of Baroda to deliver five lectures on Indian philosophy, which were published in Gujarati (1951), Hindi (1971) and English (1977). His scholarly lectures orAtma-Paramatma andSadhana delivered at Gujarat Vidyasabha were also published in Hindi and Gujarati under the title ofAdhyatma vicharana The University of Bombay also invited him for lectures on AcharyaHaribhadra, which were published both in Gujarati (1961) and in Hindi (1966).
A compilation of his critical essays on religion, philosophy, travel, and criticism, comprising nearly the entire body of his writing in Gujarati, was published with the title,Darshan ane Chintan (Philosophy and Reflections). This book won theSahitya Akademi Award for Gujarati in 1958.[5] The essays in this compilation touched on several topics, including cattle-breeding, untouchability, women's rights, and language politics in India.[5]
Young Sukhlalji was inspired by the writings of PanditNathuram Premi, who was to become a close family friend. Sukhlalji was non-sectarian in his attitude and shared a good rapport with manyDigambara scholars like Premiji and observed their mutual respect:[7]
Sukhlalji also mentored three scholars of Jainism – Mahendrakumar Nyayacarya, Padmanabh Jaini andDalsukh Malvania. Out of these, the second and third were his direct students. Sukhlalji always insisted on learning ofPali Canon for understanding Jainism and encouraged young Padmanabh Jaini to visitSri Lanka to studyBuddhism.[8] AuthorB. K. Matilal notes that Sukhlalji advocated "a non-partisan historical comparative study of any Sanskrit philosophical text" and noted in his preface toAdvanced Studies in Indian Logic and Metaphysics (1961):[9]"I became firmly convinced that the study of any philosophical system inevitably demands certain prerequisites and these prerequisites include a fairly accurate understanding of the historical inter-relationships between the various philosophical systems of India."
He was known for his vast learning, sound scholarship, remarkable memory and for being a very ethical and conscientious person. Pandit Sukhlalji worked with a vast array of scholars and was good friends with all of them, despite not always agreeing with them. Some of the luminaries he worked with include MuniJinvijay, Muni Punyavijaya, AcaryaPrem Suri, PanditNathuram Premi, Pandit Jugalkishore Mukhtar, Dr. Hiralal Jain, Dr A. N. Upadhye, Dr. Mahendrakumar Nyayacarya, Prof. Dr.Padmanabh Jaini, Dr.Dalsukh Dahyabhai Malvania and Dr. Nagin J. Shah.
President of India,Dr. Radhakrishnan, himself a reputed philosopher and scholar paid glowing tributes to Sukhlalji by saying that his life was that of an ascetic performingJnanayajna (Worship of Knowledge).[13]
Sukhlalji was a prolific writer. He edited and translated many texts fromSanskrit toGujarati andHindi. A partial list of his works is enumerated below:
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