Five and Twenty Glorious Years

Summary

The Silver Jubilee issue of Jain Journal looks back over twenty-five productive years and places that achievement in the longer history of Jain periodicals. It recalls that the first Jain newspaper, “Jain Divakar”, was launched in Gujarati by Karsandas Mulji’s “Mumbadevi Parab” in 1875, and that the first English-language periodical, “Jaina Gazette”, was established in 1903 by C. S. Mallinath; after Pandit Ajit Prasada took it over, the magazine continued until 1950. When that magazine and its successor, “Voice of Ahimsa”, ceased publication, the field was left without a regular English‑language forum for Jainism. In 1966 Shri Ganesh Lalwani, inspired by the need for an independent journal that could present Jain studies to scholars and the general public in English, established Jain Journal under the patronage of Jain Bhawan in Calcutta. The article celebrates Lalwani’s endurance and scholarly leadership across two and a half decades, praising his ability to supervise editing, printing and fund‑raising almost single‑handedly. As the author recounts, Jain Journal has served as an international bridge by welcoming contributions from scholars of many countries and traditions. Writers such as Leona Smith Kremser – whose poems “Dearly Beloved”, “At the Feet of the Jina” and others were translated into Hindi – and Clare Rosenfield (“Song to Truth” and “Satruñjaya in Heart”) gave voice to the devotional aspects of Jainism; Japanese scholar Suzuko Ohira contributed studies on the doctrine of lesyā; Richard Kleifgen and other western researchers analysed philosophical themes; Indian mathematicians such as Sajjan Singh Lishk and Radha Charan Gupta explored Jain cosmology and mathematics. The journal devoted special April issues to topics like Bahubali and Śravaṇabelagola, Gautama Gaṇadhara and classical articles by pioneers like J. L. Jaini and Virchand Gandhi. These thematic issues, often illustrated with photographs of temples, manuscripts and monoliths, have been treasured by researchers. Despite its academic reputation, the article notes that subscriptions rarely exceeded a hundred, so the journal survived primarily through Lalwani’s dedication and the generosity of a few donors. The author urges readers to remember that approximately a hundred thousand educated Jains can read English and that, if each subscribed, the journal’s financial woes would disappear. Without broader support, he warns, the unique scholarly forum created by Jain Journal may not be able to continue. The essay ends by expressing gratitude to the editor and quoting a plea from another benefactor that readers “forgive them, for they know not what they do” – a reflection on the community’s indifference.