Muni Jambuvijaya | |
|---|---|
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| Official name | Muni Jambuvijaya Maharaj |
| Personal life | |
| Born | Chunilal Bhogilal Joitram 1923 Mandal,Gujarat |
| Died | (2009-11-12)12 November 2009 |
| Cremation place | Shankheshvar |
| Parent(s) | Bhogilal Mohanlal Joitram, Aniben Popatlal |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Jainism |
| Initiation | Jambuvijaya 1937 Ratlam by Acharya Bhuvanvijaya |
Jambuvijaya (1923–2009), also known asMuni Jambuvijayji Maharajsaheb, was amonk belonging to theTapa Gaccha order ofŚvetāmbara sect ofJainism. He was known for his pioneering work in research, cataloguing and translations ofJain Agamas and ancient texts. He was responsible for discovering and publishing many ancientJains texts lying in different forgotten Jainjnana bhandaras (ancient Jain libraries). He was a disciple of Muni Punyavijay. Both Muni Punyavijay and Jambuvijay worked all their life in the compilation and publication of ancient Jain Agama literature and cataloguing ancient Jain jnana bhandaras. Muni Jambuvijay was a scholar who devoted his entire life to critically editing Jain scriptures.[1]
Jambuvijaya was born as Chunilal Bhogilal Joitram in 1923 in town of Mandal,Gujarat. His father's name was Bhogilal Mohanlal Joitram (1895–1959) and his mother's name was Aniben Popatlal (1894–1995). He was born in a deeply religious family. His father took vow oflifelong celibacy in 1925 and was initiated as a Jain monk Muni Bhuvanvijaya in 1932. His mother tookinitiation as Sadhavi Manoharashriji in 1939 under her own sister Sadhavi Labhashriji. All of Jambuvijayaji's aunts were initiated as sadhavi's and there were a number of initiations in his mother's family.[2]
InRatlam in 1937, at the age of 14 he took initiation as a Jain monk under his father, Acarya Bhuvanvijaya, who became his teacher. Later on he studied under Acarya Punyavijaya and assisted him cataloguing various Jain manuscripts. After the death of Muni Punyavijaya, he became the chief editor of theJain Agama series.[3] Muni Jambuvijayji was apolyglot and knew 16 languages. Among them wereSanskrit,Prakrit,Pali,Apabhramsha,Gujarati,Hindi,Tibetan and some others.[4]
John E. Cort mentions the difficulties faced and the persistence shown by Muni Jambuvijay in ensuring that ancient manuscripts which were under lock and key were brought to light. Many bhandaras like the one atPatan were unopened for decades or centuries and Muni Jambuvijay had to often use his mendicant charisma to convince the trustee to open up the libraries.[5]
List of Books critically edited by Muni Punyavijayji and successor Muni Jambuvijayji:
Jambuvijay died in a road accident on 12 November 2009 at the age of 87 years. Early morning, he was travelling by foot along with other monks fromBalotra toJaisalmer when they were hit by a truck. He along with Namaskarvijay died in the accident and others are seriously injured.[6] They were cremated atShankheshvar on Sami Road inPatan.[4] The deaths of Jain ascetics in road accidents while travelling barefoot, resulted in widespread protests by Jains and they demanded for an investigation.[7]