1) Prof . A Chakravarti Nayanar (1880-1960) passed his M.A. with distinction, in 1905, from the Christian College, Madras, and took his L.T. in 1909 from the Teacher Collage, Madras. For a year or two he worked as a teacher in the Wesley Girl’s School and as a clerk in the Accountant General’s office Madras In 1906, he was appointed as Assistant Professor of Philosophy inn the Presidency Collage, Madras and thereafter he worked as such (having become a professor in 1917) in the Government Collage at Rajahmundry, Madras and Kumbkonm (of then Madras Presidency)from where he retired as principal in 1938. He was conferred upon the title of Rai Bahadur in the same year.
2) Prof. Chakravarti was well versed in the various schools of western philosophy. He brought his wide learning and deep scholarship to bear upon his study of Jaina philosophy. His introduction to the Pancastikaya(Arrah, 1920) is a valuable exposition of Jaina metaphysics and the path of moksa. In 1937 he delivered Principal Miller Lectures which published under the title ‘Humanism and Indian Thought’ He was a
stalwart Jaina sravaka of his times in Tamil Nadu. He was specially interested in Jaina Tamil literature on which he had written a monograph in English ( Arrah, 1941). He has edited a number of Tamil works by Jaina authors with their commentaries and, in some cases, with his learned exposition in English. For instance, Neelakesi, the text and the commentary of Samaya Divakara Muni, along with his elaborate Introduction in English (Madras 1936); Tirukkural by thevar, along with the Tamil commentary by Kaviraja Pandithar (Bharatiya Jnanpith Tamil Series, No. 1 with an English Introduction) and Tirukkural, with English translation and commentary and an exhaustive Introduction (Madras, 1949). He has also edited the Meru-mandara-puranam In Tamil. His exposition (described by M.S.H. Thompson, in the J.R.A. Society, London, 1925 as ‘an indispensable aid to the study of tirukkuram’) of the Tirukkuram has been hailed both in India and outside as a learned and liberal exposition of the Kural, the Tamil Bible. His ‘Religaon of Ahimsa’ is published by Shri Ratanchand Hirachand, Bombay (1975) It is a learned exposition in English of some aspects of Jainism.
3) Prof. Chakravarti, as an authority on his subject, contributed a number of essays And articles on Janisim, ahimsa and contemporary thought to various publication such As Cultural Heritage of India Philosophy of the East and West Jaina Gazette, Aryan path Tamil Academy. He wrote both in English and Tamil. Some of his papers are
Reprinted in the Yesterday and Today, Madras, 1946. He was a member of a number of Associations and Institutions in Madras.
4) As a pious Jaina and a deep scholar of Jainism, he wrote a commentary in English on the Samayasara of Kundakunda. He mainly follows the Sanskrit commentary of Amrtacandra. Still his exposition of the Samayasara and his evaluation of its contents clearly demonstrate how able he has expounded the principals of Kundakunda to make them intelligible to the modern world. This was published by the Bharatiya Jnanpith, and ascend edition of it is a lately issued.
5) Prof. Chakravarti was a well-wisher of the Jnanpith and he gave two of his work As noted above for publication in the Jnanpith Series. We are thankful to Thiru V. Jaya Vijiyam, B.E. (33, Pudupet Garden street, Roypeeth Madras) for a bio-data of Prof. Chakravarti. He is the grandson of the late Professor from his daughter Smt. V.C. Jothimala.
Śilappadikāram, meaning "The Epic of the Anklet", is one of the earliest and most significant Tamil literary classics. Authored by Iḷaṅgōvaḍigaḷ, a Cēra prince who later became a Jain ascetic, the…
2006Vol. 33 · No. 01pp. 13–19
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Aryan Culture
Jain Journal A Quarterly on Jainology
Vol. 7 · No. 1
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Jain Journal A Quarterly on Jainology
The History of the Kulagaras and the Early Life of Rishabha (Vijjāharalogavaņņana, Paumacariya)
This long section retells legendary history from Jain cosmology about the Kulagaras – ancient law‑givers – and the first Tīrthaṅkara, R̥ṣabha.
In the descending half of the current time cycle, human…
The Books Received section of the July 1970 issue of Jain Journal enumerates new publications related to Jainism across multiple languages. The editorial team notes that Ramchandra Adhikari’s Bengali…