Prof Arvind Jain in Guiness Book of World Records

P J Joychen

JAIPUR: A two-time Limca book record holder, Prof Arvind Jain of Bhilwara has now achieved a unique feat in the world of philately. His name will figure in the next edition of Guinness Book of World Records for the largest collection of stamps and other philatelic items issued in honour of Sir Rowland Hill, creator of the first postage stamp. He has got the confirmation letter for the same via email from Kaoru Ishikawa of Guinness World Records, London. He is the first-ever Indian philatelist to get this honour from the world's most authentic and prestigious record book.
The 52-year-old college professor has been collecting stamps and other philatelic items on more than 20 subjects and themes for the last 35 years. Since the past three years, a difficult and unusual theme has attracted him. He has left no stone unturned to include almost every postage stamp issued throughout the world in honour of Sir Rowland Hill (creator of the world's first ever postage stamp Penny Black' which was issued by UK on May 6, 1840). His efforts have fructified and he now owns the largest collection on this unique theme in the world.

He had to strive hard to create this unusual collection which is now systematically arranged on more than 240 sheets consisting of 870 philatelic items (593 unduplicated postage stamps, 105 miniature/souvenir sheets, 89 first-day covers, 36 special sheetlets and 47 other items -- booklets, post cards/maxim cards, imperforated stamps / MS, gutter pairs, deluxe souvenir sheets, etc). Starting from the very first stamp set of eight, issued in 1940 by Portugal, he has almost all the stamps in his collection issued around the world in honour of Sir Rowland Hill.
Earlier, Limca Book of Records had certified his efforts by including this collection in its 2008 and 2009 editions as the largest collection of stamps issued in honour of a person. He also got his name entered in the 2007 edition of the Limca book for the largest collection of stamps issued worldwide on the theme of Cricket.'

Various stamps of Prof Jain have so far been displayed at Jaipur, Jamnagar, Ajmer, Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Chennai. His collection on cricket was specially displayed for 45 days at National Philatelic Museum, New Delhi from March 14 to April 27, 2007. He has won more than 30 medals in various state and national-level stamp exhibitions and he has been honored by India Post and Philatelic Society of Rajasthan for his achievements in the field of philately. Prof Jain has also penned down nearly 250 articles on various aspects of philately which have been published by leading newspapers and magazines in India.

JITO to Help Housewives, Enterprising Jains

Mumbai: Are you a small entrepreneur, or a housewife with savings under Rs1 lakh and belong to the Jain community? Here is good news for you. In the fourth annual global summit, organised by the Jain International Trade Organisation (JITO) -- a two-day Financial Supermarket -- starting December 24, will cater to the community's young entrepreneurs.

"Our team comprises of CAs, financial advisors, bankers and lawyers. They will help the investors with their businesses and assist them to come out with an IPO for less than Rs25 crore. Housewives with savings under Rs1 lakh will be given opportunities to invest and earn more," said Hemant Shah, JITO president.

Prominent Jain businessmen, service providers and financial leaders will be participating in the meet. "We plan to help many Jains to corporatise their businesses," said Pratap Jain, CEO, JITO.

The meet will see financial advisors like State Bank of India, Bank of India, JM Financials Limited, Enam Securities Pvt Ltd, SBI Capital Market Limited, etc giving in-principle approval to all projects. "JITO will act as a platform for facilitating the projects," said Ganivarya Nay Padmasagarji Maharaj.

Jain Friends is now Jains Today!

Jain Friends is now Jains Today!

We have changed the name of the most popular Jain Discussion Group Jain Friends to Jains Today.

Jain Friends was established in 2001 and it has about 2400 members worldwide. The change in name is because of there are some other groups and communities on net having the same name, and many members are confused about them.

The new address of the group is:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jainstoday/
If you are not a member, please join by clicking on above link.

You can also join by sending a blank email to:
jainstoday-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

For posting a message to the group, use following email (Only members can post):
jainstoday@yahoogroups.com

-Mahavir Sanglikar
www.jainsamacar.blogspot.com
0 962 372 5249

My Views On Conversion to Jainism

My Views On Conversion to Jainism

In reply of the renowned scholar Kancha Illaiah, Hem Raj Jain has suggested that oppressed classes may try Jainism. That is a good concept, and some great Jain Acharyas have already executed this idea. For instance, late Acharya Nanalalji Maharaj successfully initiated hundreds of thousands of people from Meghwal/ Balai (Bhangi) community into Jainism in Malawa region of North India. These neo-Jains are known as Dharmpals, and are staunch Jains.

Similarly, another great Jain Acharya converted about one lakh of butchers (Hindu Khatik) into Jainism. That was a great work, as the butchers were directly involved in killings of animals, and it was their occupation. They threw away this occupation and adopted other non-violent occupations. These people now are known as Veervals.

Acharya Vijay Indra Din Suri, who was born in a tribal community, converted about Half a Million tribals into Jainism in Gujarat. These converted tribal people are known as Kshatriy Parmar Jains.

In Eastern states of India like Jharkhand, West Bengal, Orissa and Bihar, there is a community known as Saraak, which was follower of Jainism in ancient and medieval times and was converted to Hinduism thereafter, is now again returning to their original religion, i.e. Jainism. Thanks to the missionary work of some great Jain monks and activists.

All the neo Jains I have mentioned above are following Jainism in right manner.

Now, my views about Hem Raj Jain’s article. Although his concept is right one, there are many flaws in his thinking. He has mentioned Jainism as a sect of Hinduism. That is not a right thing and this issue has been discussed for a lot of times. Then why he thinks so? Some of his views clearly indicate that he is a Saffron man, probably belonging to RSS. These people always want to keep oppressed people away from Hinduism. No matter if oppressed people adopt Jainism, Buddhism or Sikhism, their only wish is that they should not get converted to Islam and Christianity.

These people always mention that Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism are sects of Hinduism, but they never talk about the status of Vedic religion in Hinduism. Why they never say that Vedic religion is a sect of Hinduism? Their theory is: Jainism is a sect of Hinduism, Hinduism means Vedic Religion, and so Jainism is a sect of Vedic religion.

Hem Raj like to use the word ‘transformation’ instead of ‘conversion’. But he should know that both the words have the same meanings. By the way, why these people do not ‘transform’ the oppressed people to the Vedic religion instead of showing them the Buddhist or Jain way?

Hem Raj has mentioned that 85% of 1200 millions India are Hindus. It is the biggest fake statement in his article. Deduct 12% Muslims, 2.5% Christians, 2% Sikhs, 1% Jains, 1% Buddhists, 16% Dalits, 8% Tribals, and 1% others from 100 and the Hindus remain at 56.5%. This percentage too will decrease soon to make Hindus a minority religion as Kshatriyas, the main pillar of so-called Hinduism is awakened and many of them are going away from Hinduism.

-Mahavir Sanglikar
0 962 372 5249
jainway@gmail.com

Please read following articles on related subjects:

Recent Conversions to Jainism
Forced Hinduism

Forced Conversions to Hinduism

Hinduism is being forced on the followers of Non-Vedic religions like Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism. The people forcing it do not tell you to go to Hindu temples or perform rituals, but they just change your religious identity. They write your religion as Hindu wherever possible.

All this starts right from the admission of the pregnant woman to the maternity home. When the registration process goes on, the clerk writes her religion as Hindu, without asking her or her relatives accompanying her. For these clerks, if the woman is not a Muslim or Christian, then she is a Hindu. After the birth of the child, the doctor issues a birth certificate mentioning the child’s religion as a Hindu. For the parents, the religion is not important at that time as they are in heaven. They do not take pain even for reading it. But thereafter, whenever they see the birth certificate, they find that their child is converted to Hinduism.

Same thing happens in the school while the admission of the child. The parents do not know that here also their child is growing as a Hindu. They realise it only when the student gets a ‘School Leaving Certificate’ from the school. It mentions the religion of the student as Hindu-Sikh or Hindu-Punjabi in case of Sikhs, Hindu-Jain in case of Jains and Hindu-Buddhist in case of Buddhists. Sometimes it mentions just ‘Hindu’. So the School Leaving Certificate is actually Certificate of Religious Conversion to Hinduism.

The most stupid thing in these School Leaving Certificates is that there is no standardised format for it. One school mentions ‘Religion and caste’, other mentions ‘Race and religion’, another mentions ‘Race and caste’. Who knows about race? But many schools have a ‘Race’ column on the leaving certificate. It is there because it was there while British rule. Change is not acceptable.

Now let us speak about the census. On every tenth year, the Census Commission of India counts the people of India. The Census form mentions 7 religions namely Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Jain, Buddhist and Parsi. The followers of other religions are counted under ‘Other’ column. But while census, the data collectors do the same thing what the clerks in hospitals do. They do not ask religion at all. For them all those are Hindus if their name is not a Muslim or Christian name. This happens not just because of lack of knowledge. It is being done systematically by the Hindutwa minded people working as Census Data Collectors.

The population of Hindus in India is about 79%. It is because of the forced Hinduism. We can not know the actual population of Jains, Buddists, Sikhs in India. We can not know the actual population of Adivasis and Nomadic tribes, who are not Hindus but they are counted as Hindus.

Guard against religious majorityism, stresses Chidambaram

New Delhi, Dec 10 (IANS) Two legal luminaries locked horns in the Rajya Sabha Thursday, with Home Minister P. Chidambaram cautioning against dividing the country's polity on religious lines and Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) countering that the minorities needed to be protected but not at the cost of the majority.

Chidambaram's remarks came at the fag end of his reply to a 10-hour discussion spread over two days on the Liberhan Commission report on the Babri Masjid demolition and the government's action taken report (ATR) were in response to what Jaitley had said while participating in the discussion Wednesday.

"To divide polity on the basis of religion is dangerous," Chidambaram maintained, adding: "Please do not try to create a division on the lines of colour or religion."

"You can construct a majority on a political ideology, an idea, a theory, a principle. I can accept that. But if you construct a platform on religion, that cannot be accepted," the minister contended.

Jaitley replied that his argument was not of majorityism.

"India is secular. We must protect the minorities but not at the discrimination of the majority because of vote ban politics," he contended.

For good measure, Chidambaram prefaced his remarks by saying religions like Buddhism, Christianity, Jainism, Islam, Zorastrianism and Sikhism had come to India between 6 BC and the 1490s.

"All these religions are Indian religions. Those who practice them are as Indian as any other Indian," he contended.

Opressed Castes May Try Jainism

Opressed castes may try Jainism
By: Hem Raj Jain

Kancha may try Jainism Ref: - Transformation and not conversion is the key. Dear Sir This refers to the professor of political science and so called dalit Kancha Ilaiah’s interview to a prominent newspaper regarding his latest book ”Post Hindu India” out of experience of the sects of Hinduism the oppressed castes are practicing and in which:-

(1)- Kancha rightly said that – “Hinduism is in a state of crises, facing a civil war within due to ‘varnashram’ system which keeps 750 million (of oppressed castes of dalits, tribals and backward classes) subjugated and humiliated, whereas other religions offer spiritual democracy, as opposed to the spiritual fascism of Hinduism”.

(2)- Kancha rightly laments that -“it is also said (in Hinduism) that God does not approve of working with hands, it is impure hence this way science and technology stagnated and its practitioners (these oppressed castes) got subdued”.

(3)- Kancha is also right when he says that – “in the hearts of these oppressed castes there is anger and hatred” obviously mainly due to political empowerment thanks to democracy with universal adult franchise.

(4)- But Kancha is wrong when he resent – “the allegation by so called upper caste Hindus that these oppressed castes are merit deficient”. The upper castes do not doubt the merit per-se of the oppressed castes but certainly question the mind-set of these oppressed castes towards reservations in government services (even demands in private services), education, legislatives etc. which has so damagingly made these oppressed castes uncompetitive which is so very harm full to the country which has 750 million uncompetitive citizens.

(5)- Kancha is trying to put the cart before horse when he says that – “Marriage out of one’s cast is prohibited”. Because once these oppressed castes gain respectability and become competitive then this barrier to inter caste marriage will automatically go away.

(6)- Kancha also unnecessarily laments about –“upper caste Hindus not eating with these oppressed castes”. Because presently in India people from upper castes by and large do not mind eating with these oppressed castes.

(7)- But Kancha is impractical in prescribing remedy to oppressed castes when he says that – “the oppressed castes will embrace other religions like Buddhism, Christianity or Islam”. Because:- (i)- Dalits have been trying to embrace Buddhism since pre-independence since the time of Dr. Ambedkar but it has been a big failure. (ii)- Islam and Christianity shall not try such mass scale conversion in view of “aggressive Hindu nationalism” which came into existence in eighties and which has seen the lives, liberties, safety & properties of thousands of Muslims and Christians (also in post Babri Mosque demolition era, Kandhmal Orissa etc ) being violated in the full presence of compromising Indian State. But fortunately, the situation is not that hopeless. Kancha and other well wishers of oppressed castes may try Jainism while keeping the following in view.

(8)- There are three types of Jains. One by birth second by diet and third by choice. Vegetarianism and non alcoholism is practiced by ‘vaishnav’ and other sects of Hinduism also but what makes Jains by choice different from such others is that they believe with integrity in leading a non violent life by giving monopoly of violence (physical coercion) to State and its rule of law. Therefore Jains by birth may remain without being Jains by diet or Jains by choice but these oppressed castes will have to be prepared, after embracing Jainism, to become Jains both by diet and choice. Because then only they shall be able to construct for themselves additional Jain temples all over India in cities and villages in which they shall go and shall gain immense respectability which they are so sincerely seeking.

(9)- Moreover while transforming to Jainism these oppressed castes should also be prepared to imbibe the traits of self discipline and sanctity because there is no priestly class in Jainism to enforce these traits in the followers of Jainism and Jains themselves perform all the rituals of worship etc in Jain temples and other religious places.

(10)- Every body realizes that unless reservation is granted to these oppressed castes they hardly have any chance of getting representation in government services and which will be damaging to their interests regarding their life, safety, liberty & properties especially of the dalits and tribals (because at least backward castes are mostly militants). Hence in the interest of maintaining competitiveness and justified representation in government services the oppressed castes should support policy of (say) 80 % reservation to all the citizens in government service only (and not in education or legislatives etc) on merit on proportion to numbers (categorized on any basis of caste, group religion, sect etc) including 33 % reservation to women in these reservations in government services, where ever they can work.
(11)- There are quite a number of Jains in India who, with the cooperation of fellow religionists and Jain Munis / saints, are prepared to bring about this peaceful, non – violent, practical and serious transformation (and not conversion) of these oppressed castes from other sects of Hinduism to Jainism sect of Hinduism.

(12)- In support of transformation v/s conversion theory it is sufficient to say that Hindus (including Sikhs) have one thing in common that they use the word “Aum” in their mantras and other religious couplets and it is also sufficient to give only one example that in the families of ‘Agrawals’ in India they still take brides from the families who practice vaishnav and Jain sects of Hinduism.

(13)- Here it is needless to mention that once these oppressed castes embrace Jainism, it will have tremendous welcome effect on the attitude of Hindus toward unfortunate prejudice against ‘working with hands’ and this will have immense beneficial effect on the advancement by Hindus (85 % of 1200 million India) of science and technology, the extremely important field, which too Kancha has so brilliantly identified.

MYTHRI JAIN MILAN'S MUSICAL EVENING TO RAISE FUNDS FOR FLOOD RELIEF

Mysore, Dec. 7 (ACP & SH) -

Mythri Jain Milan, a branch of Bharatiya Jain Milan (BJM) had organised a Musical Evening at Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar Hall (Senate Bhavan), Manasagangotri here last evening to raise funds for the flood victims.

The musical troupe led by noted Kannada music director and singer Gurukiran enthralled the large audience.

The programme began with Ajay Warior's rendering of Kana Kanadi Sharade... from the film Apthamithra.

The troupe was greeted by thunderous applause as its members came on stage. Even as Gurukiran sought to know his listeners' choice, the audience responded saying 'Bundle, Bundle ....'

He obliged by singing the number from Vishnu-starrer Ekadanta as his troupe members danced to the melody, with the audience too joining them.

Gurukiran earned a repeated round of applause when he announced the song's sequence was filmed in Mysore itself.

While Sunitha sang the number Umma Umma from the film Gulabi along with Gurukiran, a section of the youth from audience started dancing to the tune.

The troupe rendered songs like Kolle Nannanne... from the film Aramane and Maarikannu Horimyage... from 'A' .

Loud applause greeted singer Mayur when he came off the stage to come near the audience while singing Ninnindale Ninnindale Kanasondu Shuruvaayithu... from Milana. Singer Chaithra also sang. Mimicry Dayanand's humour created waves of laughter. DCP Rajendra Prasad inaugurated the function. S.N. Padma Prasad, President, Mythri Jain Milan, felicitated the sponsors. N. Prasanna Kumar, Vice-President, Zone-8, BJM, H.P. Prasad, Secretary, Zone-8, BJM, Jinkalappa, Labour Commissioner and M.N. Nataraj, Co-ordinator, Nehru Yuva Kendra, were present. Arun Pandit, Secretary, compered.

Wedding Invitation

Wedding Invitation

You are Heartily Invited to the wedding Ceremony of Jain activist and Jain Friends Member Rahul Naik (B.E., Software Engineer, Mrs. Jayshri and Mr. Subhash Naik of Darur, Belgavi) of Pune. He is going to marry with Ms. Sucheta (M.B.A.), daughter of Mrs.Usha and Mr. Shashikumar Magdum of Kolhapur.

Muhurt:
Sunday, 13th December 2009
10:18 AM

Venue:
Dhairyaprasad Sanskritik Bhavan
Circuit House Road
Tarabai Park, Kolhapur
Phones: 26517387, 26688137

Jain writers pioneers of Gujarati writing

Jain writers pioneers of Gujarati writing

By Ashish Vashi

AHMEDABAD: Gujarati language emerged out of Jain tradition. Jain saints and the tradition of writing pioneered the development of Gujarati language Twitter Facebook Share Email Print Save Comment and literature.

The first phase of Gujarati literature, generally claimed from the 12th century to the early 15th century, was dominated by Jain authors. The oldest ‘rasa’ poem of 1185 ‘Bharatesvara-bahubali Rasa’ was by Shalibhadra Sur, a Jain saint.

“Rasa, originally a folk dance which slowly acquired the features of dramatic presentation, was adopted by Jain authors in long narratives divided in short parts. The themes of the ‘rasas’ are legends associated with Jain saints. The period is dominated almost exclusively by the Jain poets,” wrote Sisir Kumar Das in ‘The History of Indian Literature 500-1399’, published by Sahitya Academy, Delhi. Another great influence on Gujarati language was Jain saint Hemchandracharya, whose writings are known as Gurjara Apabhramsa. The specimens of the Apabhramsa are to be found in the Prakrit grammar of Hemchandracharya (1088-1172), the great Jain monk. He lived during the reign of Siddhraj and Kumarpal, both kings of Solanki dynasty.

“In Hemchandracharya’s great work, we can spot the Gujarati writings very clearly. In many ways the Jain saints were pioneers for Gujarati language, ” says Kumarpal Desai, Jain scholar. Hemchandracharya also collected many ‘dohas’ in ‘apabhramsa’ as illustrations of different forms of poetry which are generally considered as part of the protohistory of Gujarati literature.
“The Jain tradition of writing helps a lot in formation of Gujarati language. They were pioneers,” says eminent writer of Gujarati language and Padma Shri Bholabhai Patel. “Even today, Jain granths have manuscripts of more than 1400 writers. All manuscripts are kept in protected ‘bhandars’ as these are great source of knowledge,” adds Desai.

Demand of Minority Status for Jains Worthy: RSS Chief

Demand of Minority Status for Jains Worthy: RSS Chief

“Jains are demanding minority status on national level. This demand is worth” This statement is not from any Jain leader, but from the RSS supreme Mohan Bhagwat!

In a function held at Godiji Parshwanath Mandir of Pune, Bhagwat said that Jains should get national minority status as soon as possible.

He was speaking on a question raised by Shripal Lalwani, a member of Arihant Jagruti Munch of Pune. The question was, “If Buddhists and Sikhs have got national minority status, why Jain community yet has not gotten it in spite of a long time demand?”

Bhagwat’s statement given in front of public is very important as Hindutwa people, including some so-called Jains have been always opposed to the minority status of Jain community.