Correspondence

Summary

The correspondence section features a letter from Buddhaveerananda (formerly M. H. Shah) written on 3 September 1976 from the Nirvanashram at Śravaṇabeḷagoḷa. He writes after reading B. M. Singhi’s article on Muni Jinavijayaji in the July issue (Vol. XI No. 1) of Jain Journal and wishes to share his personal reminiscences of the monk for the benefit of younger readers who know little of him. The author recounts that as a young engineering student and self‑proclaimed atheist in Poona he encountered Muni Jinavijayaji. While staying in the Digambara Jain boarding house, he and others were reading the Tattvārthā Sūtra. Curious but sceptical, he visited the Śvetāmbara boarding house to meet the monk. Despite receiving rebukes from other Digambara monks, Muni Jinavijayaji welcomed him and patiently answered his questions. The interview was transformative: the author credits the monk with converting him from atheism to theism and later guiding him spiritually. He met Muni Jinavijayaji many times and benefited from his advice. Buddhaveerananda also recalls how, around 1940, Muni Jinavijayaji presided over the South Maharashtra Jain Conference, a Digambara body chaired by Diwan Bahadur Lathe. After Lathe’s death, the author led the conference and maintained its non‑sectarian outlook, inspired by the monk’s example. In closing, he writes that he carries the image of Muni Jinavijayaji as his spiritual guru and expresses gratitude for the monk’s broad‐minded guidance.