https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Champat_Rai_JainChampat Rai Jain - Revision history2026-07-31T11:31:29ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Champat_Rai_Jain&diff=123897&oldid=prev>Monkbot at 13:43, 14 January 20212021-01-14T13:43:18Z<p></p>
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{{Infobox writer<br />
| honorific_prefix = Vidya-Varidhi<br />
| image = Champat Rai Jain.jpg<br />
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1867|8|6}}<br />
| birth_place = [[Delhi]], [[India]]<br />
| death_date = {{death date and age|1942|6|2|1867|8|6|df=y}}<br />
| death_place = [[India]]<br />
| pseudonym = C.R. Jain<br />
| subject = [[Jainism]], [[Comparative religion]]<br />
| language = [[English language|English]], [[Hindi]], [[Urdu]]<br />
| occupation = [[Barrister]]<br />
| notableworks = "The Key of Knowledge", "The Practical Dharma", "Jainism Christianity and Science"<br />
| awards = Jain Darshan Diwakar<br />
}}<br />
{{Jainism}}<br />
'''Champat Rai Jain''' (1867–1942) was a Digambara Jain born in Delhi and who studied and practiced law in England. He became an influential [[Jainism]] scholar and [[comparative religion]] writer between 1910s and 1930s who translated and interpreted Digambara texts. In early 1920s, he became religiously active in India and published essays and articles defending Jainism against misrepresentations by colonial era Christian missionaries, contrasting [[Jainism]] and [[Christianity in India|Christianity]]. He founded Akhil Bharatvarsiya Digambara Jain Parisad in 1923 with the aim of activist reforms and uniting the south Indian and north Indian Digambara community. He visited various European countries to give lectures on Jainism. He was conferred with the title ''Vidya-Varidhi'' (lit. Ocean of Wisdom) by [[Bharata Dharma Mahamandal]] (The India-Religious Association).<br />
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== Life ==<br />
Champat Rai Jain was born on 6 August 1867 in [[Delhi]], India.{{sfn|Kumar|1996|p=98}} He was married at the age of 13.{{sfn|Kumar|1996|p=98}} In 1892, he went to England to study law, and became a barrister.{{sfn|Kumar|1996|p=205}} <br />
<br />
Champat Rai Jain was a Digambara, whose writings represent that sect's propaganda with his personal interpretations, according to Robert Williams.<ref name="Williams1991xv">{{cite book|author=Robert Williams|title=Jaina Yoga: A Survey of the Mediaeval Śrāvakācāras |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LLKcrIJ6oscC |year=1991|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0775-4|page=xv}}</ref> Jain became a part of a Digambara group presenting Digambara point of view in the 1920s and 1930s such as with Jagadarlal Jaini, Nathuram Premi, Jugalkishor Mukhtar and Hiralal Jain.<ref name="Williams1991xv"/> Jain was the founder of the Jaina mission in London.{{sfn|Jaini|2000|p=33}} He died on 2 June 1942. He was a barrister-at-law, orator, writer, and attempted to explain Jainism with modern age [[psychology]] and science terminology.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZkjQAAAAMAAJ|p=8|title=Indian Book Industry|year=1976}}</ref><ref name= Vijay/><ref>{{cite book|last1=Farhadian|first1=Charles E.|title=Introducing World Religions: A Christian Engagement|date=2015|publisher=Baker Academic|isbn=9781441246509|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5VV-BAAAQBAJ|access-date=26 October 2015}}</ref><br />
<br />
According to Padmanabh Jaini, the colonial-era Champat Rai Jain was an [[Apologetics|apologist]] of Jainism, defended the Jain doctrines that were criticized by Christian missionaries, and authored the first Jaina text aimed at the Christian world when Christian missionaries were extremely frustrated at Jain people they understood to have "no pagan gods" and refused to convert to Christianity.{{sfn|Jaini|2000|p=33}} He was among the early 20th-century Jain activists who participated in the colonial discussion about whether Jains are culturally Hindus or a minority community.<ref name="Flügel2006">{{cite book|author=Peter Flügel|title=Studies in Jaina History and Culture: Disputes and Dialogues|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CIgqBgAAQBAJ |year=2006|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-23552-0|pages=313–314, 347, 423–425 }}</ref><br />
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He became a part of Digambara activists who sought to energize and reform Digambara community. He participated in several Digambara societies, and founded Akhil Bharatvarsiya Digambara Jain Parisad in 1923 with the aim of activist reforms, reducing caste divisions within Jainism, and uniting the south Indian and north Indian Digambara community.<ref name="Flügel2006"/><br />
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== Lectures ==<br />
Champat Rai Jain attempted to present Jainism as a scientific religion:<br />
{{Quote|<br />
Jainism is a science, and not a code of arbitrary rules and capricious commandments. It does not claim to derive its authority from any non-human source, but is, science-like, founded on the knowledge of those Great Ones who have attained perfection with its aid. Scientific validity can be claimed neither by dogmatism nor mysticism; and it is unnecessary to add that nothing but science and scientific thought can be relied upon to produce immediate, certain and unvarying results.<br />
|Champat Rai Jain|Essays and Addresses<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/WHATisJAINISM/What_is_Jainism#page/n7/mode/2up What is Jainism?: Essays and Addresses], C.R. Jain (1927)</ref>}}<br />
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* '''Jaina Doctrine''' - Lecture delivered before the "Association des Amis de l'Orient" (Paris) on 28 November 1926{{sfn|Jain|1928|p=27}}<br />
* '''Jainism And Its Power To Stop Human Warfare'''- Lecture delivered before "Le Trait d'Union" Society at Nice{{sfn|Jain|1928|p=35}}<br />
* '''Religion and Comparative Religion'''- Lecture delivered at Genova, Italy (6 January 1927){{sfn|Jain|1928|p=46}}<br />
* '''Ahimsa as the Key to World Peace''' at the World Fellowship of Faiths (1933){{sfn|Bregman|2010|p=203}}<br />
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== Publications ==<br />
Champat Rai Jain wrote in three main languages of his time: English, Hindi, Urdu.{{sfn|Pruthi|2004|p=123}}<br />
<br />
According to Williams, the translations of Champat Rai Jain were of "no high merit", he added his own interpretation often "disfiguring the sense of the original" Jain texts about monastic life and doctrines for Jain laypeople.<ref name="Williams1991xv"/><br />
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*The Key of Knowledge (1915, 1919, 1928)<ref>{{cite book|last1=Jain|first1=Champat Rai|title=The Key Of Knowledge|date=1919|publisher=The Central Jaina Publishing House|work=Internet Archive|location=Allahabad|edition=Second|url=https://archive.org/details/keyofknowledge|access-date=17 November 2015}}</ref><br />
*The Householder's Dharma (1917): English translation of the Jain text, [[Ratnakaranda śrāvakācāra]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/TheRatnaKarandaSravakachara | title=The Ratna Karanda Sravakachara | publisher=The Central Jaina Publishing House | work=Internet Archive | date=1917 | author=Jain, Champat Rai}}</ref><br />
*The Practical Dharma (1929)- Second edition of "The Practical Path" (1917)<ref>{{citation|last=Jain|first=Champat Rai|title=The Practical Dharma|publisher=The Indian Press Ltd.|location= Allahabad|date=1929|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EscwAQAAMAAJ}} [https://archive.org/details/ThePracticalPath Alt URL]</ref><br />
*Confluence of Opposites (1921){{sfn|Jain|1921}}<br />
*The Jain Law (1926) <ref>*{{citation|last=Jain|first=Champat Rai|title=The Jaina Law|publisher=Devendra printing & publishing Company, Limited|date=1926|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Il0OAQAAIAAJ}}</ref><ref>*{{citation|last=Flügel|first=Peter|title=Studies in Jaina History and Culture: Disputes and Dialogues<br />
|p=424|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781134235520|date=2006|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CIgqBgAAQBAJ}}</ref><br />
*Nyaya- The Science of Thought (1916, 1924)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/ScienceOfThought | title=Nyaya- The Science Of Thought | publisher=The Central Jaina Publishing House | work=Internet Archive | date=1916 | access-date=17 November 2015 | author=Jain, Champat Rai}}</ref><br />
*Jainism, Christianity and Science (Allahabad, 1930){{sfn|Jaini|2000|p=33}}<br />
*The Lifting Of The Vell or The Gems Of Islam (1931)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3wA0AAAAMAAJ|title=The Lifting Of The Vell or The Gems Of Islam|work=Internet Archive}} [https://archive.org/details/TheLiftingOfTheVellOrTheGemsOfIslam Alt URL]</ref><br />
*The Practical Dharma (1929)<br />
*Risabha Deva- The Founder of Jainism (1929, 1935)<ref><br />
{{cite book|title=Risabha Deva - The Founder of Jainism|author=Champat Rai Jain|publisher=The Jain Mitra Mandal|year=1935|url=https://archive.org/details/Founder_of_Jainism|work=Internet Archive}}</ref><br />
*Sannyasa Dharma (1926)<br />
*{{cite book|title=Sacred Philosophy|url=https://archive.org/details/SacredPhilosophy|date=1920}}<br />
<br />
;Essays and Addresses<br />
*What is Jainism (Essays and Addresses- I)<br />
*Jainism and World Problems (Essays and Addresses- II)<br />
*The Change of Heart (Essays and Addresses- III)<br />
<br />
=== Hindi ===<br />
* Jain Law<br />
* ''Sanatana Jain Dharma''<br />
<br />
=== Urdu ===<br />
*''Jawahrat-e-Islam''<br />
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==Gallery==<br />
<gallery><br />
Confluence of opposites.JPG|Confluence of opposites (1921) book authored by C.R. Jain<br />
The Ratna Karanda Sravakachara.JPG|The Householder's Dharma<br />
Jainism and Christianity.jpg|Jainism Christianity and Science (1930)<br />
Founder of Jainism.JPG|"Risabha Deva-The Founder Of Jainism" book authored by C.R. Jain<br />
KeyofKnowledge.jpg|Book cover of "The Key of Knowledge"<br />
</gallery><br />
"Key of Knowledge", a book authored by Champat Rai Jain, was published in 1915.{{sfn|Jain|1921}}<br />
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==Reception==<br />
Vijay K. Jain, a modern Jainism scholar in the Preface of his book ''From IIM-Ahmedabad To Happiness'' wrote:<ref name= Vijay>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OHUdNxsUeGMC|title=From IIM-Ahmedabad to Happiness|isbn=9788190363907|last1=Jain|first1=Vijay K|year=2006|p=xi}}</ref>{{quote|Many illuminated works and teachings of great thinkers and sages of the past have repeatedly told us that we need to be able to distinguish between valuable gems and valueless stones, both of which are scattered along our way. One such valuable gem that I could lay my hands on, about a decade ago, was that amazingly comprehensive yet precise treatise The Key of Knowledge, by Champat Rai Jain. The book, first published in 1915, true to its title, has timeless pearls of wisdom in each of its 900-plus pages; one has only to have patience, and develop appreciation and understanding to pick them up. No other work that I know of treats of the great issues that confront humanity with the same simplicity, charm, ease, authority and freedom. As could be expected from a Barrister-at-Law of that era, he was a brilliant grammarian and logician; but more than that, he was a great philosopher.}}<br />
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== See also ==<br />
{{Commons category}}<br />
*[[Jainism in Europe]]<br />
*[[Bal Patil]]<br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
=== Citations ===<br />
{{Reflist|30em}}<br />
<br />
=== Sources ===<br />
*{{citation|last=Jain|first=Champat Rai|title=Jainism, Christianity and Science|publisher=The Indian Press, Ltd.|location=Allahabad<br />
|date=1930|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=emsrAAAAIAAJ}} [https://archive.org/details/JainismChristianityAndScience Alt URL]<br />
*{{citation|last=Jaini|first=Padmanabh S.<br />
|title=Collected Papers on Jaina Studies<br />
|date=2000|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HPggiM7y1aYC&pg=PA33<br />
|isbn=8120816919}}<br />
*{{citation|last=Bregman|first=Lucy|title=Religion, Death, and Dying|publisher=ABC-CLIO|date=2010|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IvS11snZnQ0C|isbn=9780313351730}}<br />
*{{citation|last=Kumar|first=Bhuvanendra|title=Jainism in America|publisher=Jain Humanities Press|date=1996|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AJ_XAAAAMAAJ&q=champat+rai+jain|isbn=9780969997832}}<br />
*{{citation|last=Pruthi|first=Raj|title=Jainism and Indian Civilization|publisher=Discovery Publishing House|date=2004<br />
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LlqOvvJJnugC|isbn=9788171417964}}<br />
*{{citation|last=Jain|first=Champat Rai|title=WHAT IS JAINISM (Essays and Addresses 1)|publisher=The Indian Press, Ltd.|date=1928|url=https://archive.org/details/WHATisJAINISM}}<br />
*{{citation|last=Jain|first=Champat Rai|title=Confluence of Opposites<br />
|date=1921|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R0yyntp31rgC}} [https://archive.org/details/cu31924029053878 Alt URL]<br />
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{{Modern Jain writers}}<br />
{{Jainism topics}}<br />
{{Authority control}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Jain, Champat Rai}}<br />
[[Category:Scholars of Jainism]]<br />
[[Category:Indian barristers]]<br />
[[Category:1867 births]]<br />
[[Category:1942 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Indian Jain writers]]<br />
[[Category:Jain law]]<br />
[[Category:19th-century Indian Jain writers]]<br />
[[Category:19th-century Indian lawyers]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Indian lawyers]]<br />
[[Category:Writers from Delhi]]</div>>Monkbot