Champat Rai Jain

Champat Rai Jain was born on 6 August 1867 in Delhi, India. He was married at the age of 13. In 1892, he went to England to study law, and became a barrister. Champat Rai Jain was a Digambara, whose writings represent that sect's propaganda with his personal interpretations, according to Robert Williams. 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. According to Padmanabh Jaini, the colonial-era Champat Rai Jain was an 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. 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. He became a part of Digambara activists who sought to energise 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 Jain society, and uniting the south Indian and north Indian Digambara community. == Lectures ==

Champat Rai Jain attempted to present Jainism as a scientific religion: {{Quote| 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. • Jaina Doctrine - Lecture delivered before the "Association des Amis de l'Orient" (Paris) on 28 November 1926 • Jainism And Its Power To Stop Human Warfare- Lecture delivered before "Le Trait d'Union" Society at Nice • Religion and Comparative Religion- Lecture delivered at Genova, Italy (6 January 1927) • Ahimsa as the Key to World Peace at the World Fellowship of Faiths (1933) == Publications ==

Champat Rai Jain wrote in three main languages of his time: English, Hindi, Urdu. 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. • The Householder's Dharma (1917): English translation of the Jain text, Ratnakaranda śrāvakācāra. • The Practical Dharma (1929)- Second edition of "The Practical Path" (1917) • Confluence of Opposites (1921) • The Jain Law (1926) • Jainism, Christianity and Science (Allahabad, 1930) • The Lifting Of The Vell or The Gems Of Islam (1931) • The Practical Dharma (1929) • Risabha Deva- The Founder of Jainism (1929, 1935) • Sannyasa Dharma (1926) • ;Essays and Addresses • What is Jainism (Essays and Addresses- I) • Jainism and World Problems (Essays and Addresses- II) • The Change of Heart (Essays and Addresses- III) Hindi • Jain Law • Sanatana Jain Dharma Urdu • Jawahrat-e-Islam ==Gallery==

Confluence of opposites.JPG|Confluence of opposites (1921) book authored by C.R. Jain The Ratna Karanda Sravakachara.JPG|The Householder's Dharma Jainism and Christianity.jpg|Jainism Christianity and Science (1930) Founder of Jainism.JPG|"Risabha Deva-The Founder Of Jainism" book authored by C.R. Jain KeyofKnowledge.jpg|Book cover of "The Key of Knowledge" "Key of Knowledge", a book authored by Champat Rai Jain, was published in 1915. ==Reception==

Vijay K. Jain, a modern Jainism scholar in the Preface of his book From IIM-Ahmedabad To Happiness wrote: == See also ==