Champat Rai Jain was a Digambara Jain born in Delhi and who studied and practiced law in England. He became an influential Jainism scholar and comparative religion writer between 1910s and 1930s who translated and interpreted Digambara texts. In early 1920s, he became religiously active in India and published essays and articles defending Jainism against misrepresentations by colonial eraChristian missionaries, contrasting Jainism and Christianity. He founded Akhil Bharatvarsiya Digambara Jain Parisad in 1923 with the aim of activist reforms and uniting the south Indian and north Indian Digambara community. He visited various European countries to give lectures on Jainism. He was conferred with the title Vidya-Varidhi by Bharata Dharma Mahamandal.
Life
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. Jain was the founder of the Jaina mission in London. He died on 2 June 1942. He was a barrister-at-law, orator, writer, and attempted to explain Jainism with modern agepsychology and science terminology. 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 energize 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 Jainism, and uniting the south Indian and north Indian Digambara community.
Lectures
Champat Rai Jain attempted to present Jainism as a scientific religion:
Jaina Doctrine - Lecture delivered before the "Association des Amis de l'Orient" 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
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.
