Prof. Sagarmal Jain, Former Director of Parshwanath Vidyapeeth got conferred Presidential Award for PRAKRIT LANGUAGE for the year 2017.
On 15th August, 2018, the Ministry of Human Resource & Development, Govt. of India announced the name of the recipient of Presidential Awards for PRAKRIT LANGUAGE for the year 2017. This year Prof. Sagarmal Jain, Former Director Parshwanath Vidyapeeth, Founder Director of Prachya Vidyapeeth, Shajapur (MP) and a great scholar of Jainism has been awarded Presidential Award 2017 for his significant contribution to Prakrit Language and Literature.
Prof. Sagarmal Jain is a great scholar of Jainism. Very noble, polite and a man of integrity by nature, Prof. Sagarmal Jain has got depth and insight into Jaina Philosophy. Like Pt. Dalsukh Malvania, he is open for modern interpretation of a traditional Jaina Philosophy. Prof. Jain was born at Shajapur (M P) on 22nd February, 1932. His father Sh. Rajmalji Jain and mother Smt. Gangabai were of religious minded. From the childhood Prof. Jain had blessings of Jaina saints so his development and growth was under the very religious atmosphere. Up to High school, his schooling was done at Shajapur. After doing his High school, he joined his family business of Sarafa at Shajapur. At the age of seventeen, he was married with Smt. Kamala Jain. In 1925, he joined Sahitya Sammelana, Prayaga and passed Vyapar-visharad examination. In 1954 he passed Sahitya Ratna in Artha-shastra. In 1957 he passed his Intermediate exam in commerce. In 1958 he took leading role in opening Balkrishna Mahavidyalaya at Shajapur and passed his B A from this college. In 1961 he passed his M A from Christian College, Indore. He was appointed as a lecturer first time in Maha Kaushal Vidyalaya, Jabalpur. Then in 1967 he was transferred to Government Kala Evam Vanijya Vibhag, Indore. Then in 1968, he took over as head of the Philosophy Dept. in Hamidia College, Bhopal. In 1969 he completed his thesis on ‘Jaina Bauddha aura Geeta ke Achara Darshano ka Tulanatmaka Adhyayana’. In 1979, after recommendation of Pt. Dalsukh Malvania he joined Parshwanath Vidyapeeth (then P V Research Institute) as a Director.
At Parshwanath Vidyapeeth: During his tenure as a Director at Parshwanath Vidyapeeth, he made a tremendous progress in academic as well as administrative field. He created a vast Jaina literature by his authorship, translation dedication towards study of Jainism. He got expertise in Jainism and Prakrit Studies. He got constructed many more premises in the campus, boosted the speed of publication and guided more than 50 students for their Ph. D. It has all accomplished due to his dedication and hard work. Many Sdhu-Sadhvis studied under his supervision at Parshwanath Vidyapeeth. As a Director of Parshwanath Vidyapeeth, he visited several foreign countries. He visited U S A in 1985 to deliver few lectures on Paryushan. In 1993, he was invited as a scholar of Jainism in Parliament of World Religion which was held in Chicago. He visited JAFNA in 1996 and many more countries like Rale, Washington, Finland San Francisko and Los Angeles to deliver lectures on Jainism.
He was General Secretary at Managing Committee of Parshwanath Vidyapeeth from 2001 -2009.
Award and Accolades:
- On his work on Ph. D. he got Pradeep Kumar Rampuria Award in 1987.
He was awarded Hasti Smriti Puraskara by Samyag-jnana-pracharak- mandal Jaipur in 1994.
He was awarded most prestigious Award from the President of India, 2017 for his contribution to Prakrit Studies.
His Back Journey to Shajapur:
After spending 20 years as a Director of Parshwanath Vidyapeeth, he got retired in 1997. At Shajapur he established a Prachya Vidyapeeth working in the area of Research in Jainism. More than 16 Sadhu-Sadhvis got their Ph. D. under his supervision from Jaina Vishwa Bharati and Vikram University which recognizes Prachya Vidyapeeth, Shajapur as their external Research Centre. He has got a good library of Jainism and still at the age of 86, he works there.
Academic Works: He authored more than 34 books and booklets, wrote Introduction for 17 Books, edited 30,000 pages 0f 78 books in the form of books and many more articles and Monographs.