Nathuram Premi | |
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![]() Nathuram Premi | |
Born | 26 November 1881 |
Died | 30 January 1960 (1960-01-31) (aged 78) Mumbai, Maharashtra |
Occupation(s) | Writer, Publisher, Poet, Editor, Linguist and Scholar; Thinker and Social Reformer |
Spouse | Rama Devi |
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Nathuram Premi (26 November 1881 – 30 January 1960) was an Indian writer, publisher, poet, editor, and linguist in the field of Jainism as well as Hindi literature. A budding poet, he wrote under the nom de plume of "Premi". Although belonging to the Digambara sect of Jainism, he adopted a non-sectarian attitude and published and translated many Digambara as well as Śvetāmbara works. Working as a clerk in a firm in Mumbai he rose to establish his own publishing house and bookstore Hindi Granth Ratnākar Kāryālay which published works of many of the biggest names in Indian literature, including Munshi Premchand, Hajariprasad Dvivedi, Jainendrakumar, Yashpal, Swami Satyabhakta, Sharatchandra Chatterjee and Rabindranath Tagore. The bookshop and publishing house now called Hindi Granth Karyalay is now being managed by his grandson and great-grandson 100 years after its establishment.
Born on 26 November 1881 in Deori, in the district of Sagar in Bundelkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Nāthūrām Premī was the eldest child of Tundelal Modi, a travelling merchant of modest means, belonging to the Paravāra community of Digambara Jains hailing from Bundelkhand. He studied in grammar school and was the monitor of his class. He cleared his pre-high school exams in 1898 and became a schoolteacher nearby at Rehli. In the late 1890s, he married Rama Devi, who was from the nearby village of Sarkheda, in the district of Sagar.
Nāthūrām Premī excelled in the field of literature as a poet, editor, writer and publisher earning respect and affection of his contemporaries like Munshi Premchand, Mahaviraprasad Dwivedi, Rahul Sankrityayan, Pandit Sukhlalji, Muni Jinavijayaji, Ganeshprasadji Varni, Pandit Becharadasji Doshi, Pandit Agarchand Nahata and Dr Dalsukh Malvania.[1] Premiji and Munshi Premchand were close friends, and he published the first edition of Munshi Premchand's classic novel, Godān. He also published Premchand's short story collections entitled Nava Nidhi and Sapta Saroj.
Under the inspiration of his guru Syed Amir Ali Mir, Nathuram became a budding poet, writing in Urdu and Braj under the nom de plume of "Premi". Since then he was affectionately called Premiji by his friends and contemporaries. His poems were published in the literary magazines of the time, Rasika Mitra, Rasika Vātikā and Kāvya Sudhākara.
He also edited classics such as the Banārasīvilāsa, Daulatapadasangraha, Jinaśataka and Ardha Kathānaka. Premiji also edited and published Ardha Kathānaka, Banārasīvilāsa and many other Digambara Jain works, including Ācārya Kundakunda's Bārasa Anuvekkhā and Ācārya Amrtacandra's Puruṣāthadiddhyupāya. He also edited and published for the first time, the Śvetāmbara classic Upamitibhavaprañcakathā.
On 24 September 1912 Premiji founded the publishing house Hindi Granth Ratnākar Kāryālay (now known as Hindi Granth Karyalay) at C.P. Tank, Mumbai. It was to become the foremost Hindi publishing house in India and is also the oldest bookstore of Mumbai. The first publication was a Hindi translation of John Stuart Mill's On Liberty, titled Svādhīnatā translated by Mahavira Prasad Dvivedi. He published almost the entire oeuvre of Sharat Chandra Chatterji, the Bengali writer, and some works of Rabindranath Tagore, such as Ānkh kī Kirkirī, and Naukā Dūbī. Premiji also published Hindi translations of the Gujarati writer KM Munshi, such as Gujarāt ke Nāth and Pātan kā Prabhutva. Other famous works published include Munshi Premchand's classic novel, Godān and short story collections titled Nava Nidhi and Sapta Saroj. He also published works of then new writers such as Hajariprasad Dvivedi, Jainendrakumar, Yashpal, Acharya Chatursen, and Pandit Sudarshan. He also published the Bengali plays of Dvijendra Lal Rai for the first time in Hindi.
In memory of Seth Manikchandra, Premiji established the Manikacandra Jain Granthamālā wherein he published Jain scriptures, for the first time systematically edited by philologists. The Manikacandra Jain Granthamālā published over 48 Digambara Jain texts, mostly written in Prakrit, Apabhramśa or Sanskrit. He ran the Manikacandra Jain Granthamālā on an honorary basis between 1915 and the 1950s selling all the books at cost price. When his health began to fail, it was decided to hand over the series to Bhāratīya Jñānapītha in Varanasi.[4]
Premiji was non-sectarian in his attitude and shared a good rapport with many Śvetāmbara scholars. Besides many Digambara scriptures, he published and translated many Śvetāmbara scriptures. He once remarked to Sukhlalji that he wished that the learned Digambara scholars would give up their sectarian views.[5] During those times there used to be heated debate whether Acarya Umāsvāti (Umāsvāmī) belonged to the Śvetāmbara or the Digambara tradition. Premiji, although a Digambara himself, went against views of Digambara community and opined that he was neither, but belonged to the Yāpanīya tradition.[6] Pt. Sukhlal Sanghvi, a Śvetāmbara Jain scholar observed Premiji's non-sectarian attitude:[5]
Premiji was adept at several languages. One of his mentors, Pannalal Bakhliwal, taught him Bengali and on his own, he studied and mastered Gujarati and Marathi. His Sanskrit background helped him to learn Prakrit and Apabhramśa, His command of languages as well as grasp of Jain Philosophy resulted in requests for translation of ancient Jain texts. At the behest of the Srīmad Rājacandra Granthamālā, he translated from Gujarati into Hindi Śrīmad Rājacandra's Mokṣamālā. This translation was unique in that he translated the prose segments into prose and the poetry into verse form. He also translated Ācārya Amrtacandra's Puruṣārthasiddhyupāya from Sanskrit to Hindi.
Pt. Sukhlal Sanghavi praised reforms initiated by Premiji and compared him with King Ajātaśatru who personified openness and generosity:[5]
"During his formative years, he had been exposed to narrow traditional culture traits. Nevertheless, his social convictions had become extremely progressive, similar to his religious convictions. Thus, in his household, there was never the confining custom of women covering their faces. Hem Chandra's wife Champa, who was quite young and pretty, had as much freedom to conduct herself in the presence of all as did Ramabahin, or Hem Chandra, or Premiji himself. Premiji was a reformer in the true sense. He had his own brother married the second time to a widow, without any concern about the wrath of the orthodox traditionalist. Observing the conduct of Champa with Premiji, a stranger could not tell that she was his daughter-in-law. He/she would think that Champa was his only daughter – close to his heart. It was an atmosphere of complete freedom around Premiji. Orthodox and reformer, both will agree wholeheartedly that Premiji personified Ajātaśatru – a personality in Buddhist literature who embodied freedom, open-mindedness and generosity, who was appreciated by all."
In 1946, a grand luncheon was organised in Calcutta to commemorate the release of a festschrift in his honour, titled "Premī Abhinandana Grantha". However Premiji refused to attend as in that year Bengal had suffered a great famine and he could not accept the invitation for a grand luncheon when there were thousands of people in Bengal dying of starvation.[7]Under his tutelage, Hindi Granth Ratnākar Kāryālay became India's No. 1 publishers of Hindi literature. In recognition of his contributions to Indian literature, the acclaimed Hindi novelist Vishnu Prabhakar called Premiji the "Bhīsma Pitāmaha" of Hindi publishing.
Premiji had suffered from asthma for a long time and died owing to old age on 30 January 1960. He left behind his daughter-in-law and two grandsons, Yashodhar Modi and Vidyadhar Modi. They are continuing his legacy along with their children.
In Premiji's memory, his grandson Yashodhar Modi has started the Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series. This series has published select volumes focusing on subjects as varied as Jainism, philosophy and yoga and published original texts by ancient and medieval Jain ascetics such as Kundakunda, Samantabhadra, Pūjyapāda, Joindu, Prabhācandra, Vādirāja, Bhāvadeva and many others, usually accompanied by translation in either Hindi or English.
Also, modern scholars such as Premiji himself, Prof. Ludwig Alsdorf, Prof. Maurice Bloomfield, Prof. Willem Bollée and Dr. Jaykumar Jalaj have been and are being published in the Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series.
Jain Studies : Their Present State and Future TasksBy Prof Dr Ludwig AlsdorfEnglish tr. by Bal Patil P{Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 1}Published in 2006ISBN 978-81-88769-13-1
The Story of PaesiPrakrit text in Roman and DevanagariEnglish tr. by Prof Dr Willem Bollée{Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 2}Published in 2005ISBN 978-81-88769-03-2
Ratnakaranda ShravakacaraSanskrit text by Acarya SamantabhadraHindi tr. by Dr Jaykumar Jalaj{Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 3}Published in 2006, 2006ISBN 978-81-88769-04-9
Vyavahara Bhashya PithikaPrakrit text in RomanEnglish tr. by Prof Dr Willem Bollée{Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 4}Published in 2006, 2011ISBN 978-81-88769-70-4
SamadhitantraSanskrit text by Acarya PujyapadaHindi tr. by Dr Jaykumar Jalaj{Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 5}Published in 2006, 2006, 2008ISBN 978-81-88769-06-3
AtthapahudaPrakrit text by Acarya KundakundaHindi tr. by Dr Jaykumar Jalaj{Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 6}Published in 2006, 2008ISBN 978-81-88769-15-5
TattvarthasutraSanskrit text by Acarya PrabhacandraHindi tr. by Dr Jaykumar Jalaj{Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 7}Published in 2008ISBN 978-81-88769-16-2
Yogamrit : Yog Sahaj Jivan VigyanBy Mahavir Sainik{Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 8}Published in 2006ISBN 978-81-88769-17-9
ParamatmaprakashaApabhramsa text by Acarya JoinduHindi tr. by Dr Jaykumar Jalaj{Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 9}Published in 2007ISBN 978-81-88769-09-4
YogasaraApabhramsa text by Acarya JoinduHindi tr. by Dr Jaykumar Jalaj{Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 10}Published in 2007, 2009ISBN 978-81-88769-12-4
DhyanastavaSanskrit text by Acarya BhaskaranandiHindi tr. by Dr Jaykumar Jalaj{Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 11}Published in 2007ISBN 978-81-88769-20-9
DhyanashatakaPrakrit text by Jinabhadragani KshamashramanaHindi tr. by Dr Jaykumar JalajPublished in 2007, 2009{Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 12}ISBN 978-81-88769-21-6
Barasa AnuvekkhaPrakrit text by Acarya KundakundaSanskrit tr. & Hindi gloss by Pt. Nathuram Premi{Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 13}Published in 2010ISBN 978-81-88769-22-3
IshtopadeshaSanskrit text by Acarya PujyapadaHindi tr. by Dr Jaykumar Jalaj{Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 14}Published in 2007, 2009ISBN 978-81-88769-23-0
Life and Stories of the Jain Saviour ParshvanathaAn English tr. of Acarya Bhavadeva's Parsvacaritramby Prof Dr Maurice Bloomfield{Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 15}Published in 2008ISBN 978-81-88769-24-7
TattvasaraPrakrit text by Acarya DevasenaSanskrit gloss by Muni RatnabhanuvijayEnglish tr. by Manish Modi{Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 16}ISBN 978-81-88769-25-4
The Apabhramsha of Svayambhudeva's PaumacariuBy Dr Eva de Clercq{Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 17}Published in 2010ISBN 978-81-88769-28-5
Jainism and the Definition of ReligionBy Dr Piotr Balcerowicz{Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 18}Published in 2009ISBN 978-81-88769-29-2
DravyasamgrahaPrakrit text by Acarya NemicandraEnglish tr. by Prof Dr Nalini Balbir{Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 19}Published in 2010ISBN 978-81-88769-30-8
TattvarthasutraSanskrit text by Acarya PrabhacandraHindi tr. by Dr Jaykumar Jalaj, English tr. by Anish Shah{Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 20}ISBN 978-81-88769-31-5
RayanasaraPrakrit text by Acarya KundakundaHindi tr. by Dr Jaykumar Jalaj{Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 21}ISBN 978-81-88769-32-2.
Jainism : An Eternal PilgrimageBy Bal Patil{Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 23}Published in 2008, 2011ISBN 978-81-88769-54-4
DravyasamgrahaPrakrit text by Acarya NemicandraHindi tr. by Dr Jaykumar Jalaj{Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 24}Published in 2009ISBN 978-81-88769-37-7
ParshvanathacaritramSanskrit text by Acarya Vadiraja{Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 25}ISBN 978-81-88769-27-8
Parshvacaritram : The Life of ParshvaSanskrit text by Acarya GunabhadraEnglish tr. by Prof Dr Willem Bollée{Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 26}Published in 2008ISBN 978-81-88769-35-3
Jain Sahitya aur ItihasBy Pt. Nathuram Premi{Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 27}Published in 1942, 1956, 2012ISBN 978-81-88769-02-5
Tales of AtonementStories from Malayagiri's Commentary on the Vyavahara BhashyaEnglish tr. by Prof Dr Willem Bollée{Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 28}Published in 2008ISBN 978-81-88769-38-4
Yogashastra : A Handbook on the Three Jewels of JainismSanskrit text by Acarya HemacandraEnglish tr. by Prof Dr Olle Qvarnström{Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 29}ISBN 978-81-88769-40-7
SamayasaraPrakrit text by Acarya KundakundaHindi translation by Dr Jaykumar Jalaj{Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 30}2012ISBN 978-81-88769-45-2
DhyanabattisiBraj text by BanarasidasaEnglish tr. by Jerome Petit{Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 31}Published in 2010ISBN 978-81-88769-48-3
TattvarthasutraSanskrit text by Acarya UmasvatiEnglish tr. by Prof Dr Duli Chandra Jain{Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 32}ISBN 978-81-88769-50-6
Svarupa SambodhanaRight Instruction on the Nature of the SoulSanskrit text by Acarya AkalankaEnglish tr., notes and introduction by Nagin J. Shah{Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 33}Published in 2011ISBN 978-81-88769-51-3
ShastrasarasamuccayaSanskrit text by Acarya MaghanandiEnglish tr. by Shreyans Sukhani{Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 34}ISBN 978-81-88769-52-0
Three Prakrit GrammarsBy Saartje Verbeke{Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 35}Published in 2010ISBN 978-81-88769-55-1
IshtopadeshaSanskrit text by Acarya PujyapadaGujarati tr. by Pravina Mehta, English tr. by Manish Modi{Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 36}Published in 2010ISBN 978-81-88769-56-8
Bhaktamara StotraSanskrit text by Acarya ManatungaHindi poetic tr. and gloss by Pt Nathuram Premi, English tr. by Manish Modi{Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 37}ISBN 978-81-88769-57-5
Mrityu MahotsavaSanskrit text by an Unknown WriterHindi tr. by Shreyans Sukhani, Gujarati tr. by Dr Shilpa Vasani, English tr. by Manish Modi{Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 38}Published in 2010ISBN 978-81-88769-58-2
AradhanasaraPrakrit text by Acarya DevasenaEnglish tr. by Prof Dr Nalini Balbir{Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 39}Published in 2010ISBN 978-81-88769-62-9
Tattvarthasutra : That Which IsSanskrit text by Acarya UmasvatiEnglish tr. by Nathmal Tantia{Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 40}ISBN 978-81-88769-64-3
Ratnakarandaka ShravakacaraSanskrit text by Acarya SamantabhadraEnglish tr. by Prof Dr Willem Bollée{Pandit Nathuram Premi Research Series Volume 41}2012ISBN 978-81-88769-66-7
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