Chhogmal Choprha
A letter received from Mr. E. N. Graham, Fellow of the Royal Christian Society, Westward Ho., Ootacamund on 4th April 1919.
Dear Mr. Gulab Chand Lunia.
Am writing to thank you for your kindness in putting me to interview the Sadhu Sri Poonam Chandji Maharaj and to meet the heads of the Jain Swetambar Terapanthi community.
I was very impressed with every thing I saw and heard particularly with the being and contented look of the saints and their melodious reading of the holy writing.
It is remarkable how little we of the western world know of the teachings of Jainism.
I confess that until I came to Jaipur, I had a very hazy idea of your religious truth. I had visited the Jain temple in Calcutta and read a little about it.
But it was not till the Sadhus explained to me the principal points of your faith, that I realized the simplicity and beauty of the Jain religion in its pristine state. Your conception of the Deity appeals to the reason as well as the imagination; it is certainly grand to conceive God as the consummation of all the good souls of all the world, that to Him flock the souls of humanity after repeated trials and re-incarnation after suffering and purification; also how noble it is to teach men that it is no use, nay it is wrong, to pray for favours; equally noble is the respect you have for every thing living and the horror you have for shedding blood. But alas! How few can abstain from directly or indirectly slaughtering animals.
How few can resist the temptation of wealth; yet the Sadhus have renounced of their own free will all worldly goods, all friends and relations and have devoted themselves to the teaching and practice of the holy books.
Further more, in order to purify themselves they have become ascetics, barely take enough food, fast from sunset to sunrise and subject the flesh to many self-inflicted tortures.
It was a pleasure to see you and your Jain brethren a score or more joining in the discussion we had; to see the honour and respect you have for Sri Poonam Chandji and his fellow saint. Nor shall I forget the courtesy and patience with which Mr. Ganeshilal Sindhar and Messrs. Surajmul Patolia and Kasturchand Banthia acted as interpreters and translated the Sanskrit into English.
I need hardly say that I will always look back with great pleasure the opportunity you kindly gave me of meeting the saints and brethren of the Jain Swetambar Terapanthi Sect, I will in future be able to tell my friends not only of Jainism but also of the Jain community in India.
After leaving Jaipur, I visited the great temple of Mount Abu. What a marvellous building and to think that all the exquisite carving was done in the 11th century when the greater part of Europe was sunk into darkness! The beauty and antiquity of the temple stand for what Jainism was. Pardon my saying "was". It seems to me that the tolerance of your creed is rather likely to be misconstrued by some of the present generation.
They are inclined to forget the pure Theism of their forefathers and pay undue honour to the graven images of their neighbours. My advice to them is to follow the teaching and practice of the Sadhus and the older Jams; if they do, they wont go far wrong. Once more I thank you and the Sadhu and I trust the latter's health is better.
I remain,
Yours very truly,
E. N. Graham, F.R.C.S.
