Jambuvijaya (1923–2009), also known as Muni Jambuvijayji Maharajsaheb, was a

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

belonging to the

Tapa Gaccha Tapa Gaccha is the largest Gaccha (monastic order) of Śvetāmbara Jainism. More than half of the existing Jain ascetics belong to the Tapa Gaccha. Several successful Sanskrit scholars belonged to Tapa Gaccha, including Hiravijaya, Meghavijaya, ...

order of

Śvetāmbara The Śvetāmbara (; also spelled Shwetambara, Shvetambara, Svetambara or Swetambara) is one of the two main branches of Jainism, the other being the Digambara. ''Śvetāmbara'' in Sanskrit means "white-clad", and refers to its ascetics' practi ...

sect of

Jainism Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religions, Indian religion whose three main pillars are nonviolence (), asceticism (), and a rejection of all simplistic and one-sided views of truth and reality (). Jainism traces its s ...

. He was known for his pioneering work in research, cataloguing and translations of ''

Jain Agamas Jain literature () refers to the literature of the Jain religion. It is a vast and ancient literary tradition, which was initially transmitted orally. The oldest surviving material is contained in the canonical ''Jain Agamas'', which are wri ...

'' and ancient texts. He was responsible for discovering and publishing many ancient Jains texts lying in different forgotten Jain ''jnana 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.

Early life and family

Jambuvijaya was born as Chunilal Bhogilal Joitram in 1923 in town of Mandal,

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

. 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 of lifelong celibacy in 1925 and was initiated as a Jain monk Muni Bhuvanvijaya in 1932. His mother took

initiation Initiation is a rite of passage marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components. In an extended sense, it can also signify a transformatio ...

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.

Monkhood

Ratlam Ratlam is a city in the northwestern part of the Malwa region in Madhya Pradesh state of India. The city of Ratlam lies above sea level. It is the administrative headquarters of Ratlam district, which was created in 1947 after the independe ...

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 the Jain Agama series. Muni Jambuvijayji was a

polyglot Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

and knew 16 languages. Among them were

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

Prakrit Prakrit ( ) is a group of vernacular classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages that were used in the Indian subcontinent from around the 5th century BCE to the 12th century CE. The term Prakrit is usually applied to the middle period of Middle Ind ...

Pali Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a Classical languages of India, classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pali Canon, Pāli Can ...

, Apabhramsha, Gujarati,

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

, Tibetan and some others.

Revival of ancient scriptures

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 at Patan 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.

Agama research and editing

List of Books critically edited by Muni Punyavijayji and successor Muni Jambuvijayji: * Viyah pannati suttam, Part 1 * Viyah pannati suttam, Part 2 * Viyah pannati suttam, Part 3 *Nayadhamma kahao *Suyagdang sutra *Dasveyaliya suttam, Uttarjzhayanaim, Avassay suttam * Sthananga Sutra, Part 1 * Sthananga Sutra, Part 2 * Sthananga Sutra, Part 3 *Painnay Suttai, Part 1 *Painnay Suttai, Part 2 *Painnay Suttai, Part 3 *Nandisutt And Anuogddaraim *Pannavana Suttam, Part 1 *Pannavana Suttam, Part 2 *Anuyogdwar sutra, Part 1 *Anuyogdwar sutra, Part 2 *Dwadsharam Naychakram, Part 1 *Dwadsharam Naychakram, Part 2 *Dwadsharam Naychakram, Part 3 *Panch sutrakam with Tika *Aendra Stuti Chaturvinshika Sah Swo Vivran *Siddhahem sabdanushasana Sah swopagya (San) Laghuvrutti *Mahapacchakkhan Painniyam *Divsagar pannatti Painnayam *Tandulveyaliya Painnayam *

Samavayanga Sutra Samavāyāṅga Sūtra (c. 3rd-4th century BCE) is the 4th amongst the 12 Angas of the Jaina canon. The sutra is believed to have been composed by Gaṇadhara Sudharmasvāmī. This text contains the essence of Jain religion, defined and cat ...

*Stree Nirvan Kevalibhukti Prakarane *Surimantra Kalp Samucchaya * Thanangsuttam and Samvayangsuttam, Part 3 *Ayarang suttam ( Acaranga Sutra) *Mahanisiha Suya Khandham *Nandisuttam *Dasakalia suttam * Sutrakrutang sutra, Vol. 1 *Hastalikhit Granthsuchi, Part 1 *Hastalikhit Granthsuchi, Part 2 *Hastalikhit Granthsuchi, Part 3

Death

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 from

Balotra Balotra is a city situated in the Balotra district within the state of Rajasthan, India. Previously, it was located in the Barmer district of the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is known for its historical and cultural significance, as well as it ...

Jaisalmer Jaisalmer , nicknamed ''The Golden city'', is a city in the north-western Indian state of Rajasthan, located west of the state capital Jaipur, in the heart of the Thar Desert. It serves as the administrative headquarters of Jaisalmer district ...

when they were hit by a truck. He along with Namaskarvijay died in the accident and others are seriously injured. They were cremated at Shankheshvar on Sami Road in Patan. The deaths of Jain ascetics in road accidents while travelling barefoot, resulted in widespread protests by Jains and they demanded for an investigation.

References

{{authority control Scholars of Jainism Indian Sanskrit scholars 1923 births 2009 deaths Indian Jain monks 20th-century Indian Jains 20th-century Jain monks 20th-century Indian monks Śvetāmbara monks