| Nathuram Premi | |
| Birth Date: | 26 November 1881 |
| Birth Place: | Deori, Sagar, (Bundelkhand), Madhya Pradesh |
| Death Place: | Mumbai, Maharashtra |
| Occupation: | Writer, Publisher, Poet, Editor, Linguist and Scholar; Thinker and Social Reformer |
| Spouse: | Rama Devi |
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.
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.[2]
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.[3] 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.[4] Pt. Sukhlal Sanghvi, a Śvetāmbara Jain scholar observed Premiji's non-sectarian attitude:[3]
"He was considered to be a Pandit – a scholar of Jain tradition. To me it was a surprise! How could his writings be so impartial and audacious? I had come in contact with many Jain friends and scholars, but until then, excepting a few, I had not come across any scholar who was as non-sectarian or fearless as Premiji. So I had developed the perception that it was impossible to find a Jain scholar who was non-sectarian as well as fearless. Premiji's writings gradually made me realise that I had the wrong notion. This was the foremost reason for me to be attracted towards him.
[...]
We had an excellent understanding of traditions of one another but we had no sectarian complicities."
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 PPublished in 2006
The Story of PaesiPrakrit text in Roman and DevanagariEnglish tr. by Prof Dr Willem BolléePublished in 2005
Ratnakaranda ShravakacaraSanskrit text by Acarya SamantabhadraHindi tr. by Dr Jaykumar JalajPublished in 2006, 2006
Vyavahara Bhashya PithikaPrakrit text in RomanEnglish tr. by Prof Dr Willem BolléePublished in 2006, 2011
SamadhitantraSanskrit text by Acarya PujyapadaHindi tr. by Dr Jaykumar JalajPublished in 2006, 2006, 2008
AtthapahudaPrakrit text by Acarya KundakundaHindi tr. by Dr Jaykumar JalajPublished in 2006, 2008
TattvarthasutraSanskrit text by Acarya PrabhacandraHindi tr. by Dr Jaykumar JalajPublished in 2008
Yogamrit : Yog Sahaj Jivan VigyanBy Mahavir SainikPublished in 2006
ParamatmaprakashaApabhramsa text by Acarya JoinduHindi tr. by Dr Jaykumar JalajPublished in 2007
YogasaraApabhramsa text by Acarya JoinduHindi tr. by Dr Jaykumar JalajPublished in 2007, 2009
DhyanastavaSanskrit text by Acarya BhaskaranandiHindi tr. by Dr Jaykumar JalajPublished in 2007
DhyanashatakaPrakrit text by Jinabhadragani KshamashramanaHindi tr. by Dr Jaykumar JalajPublished in 2007, 2009
Barasa AnuvekkhaPrakrit text by Acarya KundakundaSanskrit tr. & Hindi gloss by Pt. Nathuram PremiPublished in 2010
IshtopadeshaSanskrit text by Acarya PujyapadaHindi tr. by Dr Jaykumar JalajPublished in 2007, 2009
Life and Stories of the Jain Saviour ParshvanathaAn English tr. of Acarya Bhavadeva's Parsvacaritramby Prof Dr Maurice BloomfieldPublished in 2008
TattvasaraPrakrit text by Acarya DevasenaSanskrit gloss by Muni RatnabhanuvijayEnglish tr. by Manish Modi
The Apabhramsha of Svayambhudeva's PaumacariuBy Dr Eva de ClercqPublished in 2010
Jainism and the Definition of ReligionBy Dr Piotr BalcerowiczPublished in 2009
DravyasamgrahaPrakrit text by Acarya NemicandraEnglish tr. by Prof Dr Nalini BalbirPublished in 2010
TattvarthasutraSanskrit text by Acarya PrabhacandraHindi tr. by Dr Jaykumar Jalaj, English tr. by Anish Shah
RayanasaraPrakrit text by Acarya KundakundaHindi tr. by Dr Jaykumar Jalaj.
Jainism : An Eternal PilgrimageBy Bal PatilPublished in 2008, 2011
DravyasamgrahaPrakrit text by Acarya NemicandraHindi tr. by Dr Jaykumar JalajPublished in 2009
ParshvanathacaritramSanskrit text by Acarya Vadiraja
Parshvacaritram : The Life of ParshvaSanskrit text by Acarya GunabhadraEnglish tr. by Prof Dr Willem BolléePublished in 2008
Jain Sahitya aur ItihasBy Pt. Nathuram PremiPublished in 1942, 1956, 2012
Tales of AtonementStories from Malayagiri's Commentary on the Vyavahara BhashyaEnglish tr. by Prof Dr Willem BolléePublished in 2008
Yogashastra : A Handbook on the Three Jewels of JainismSanskrit text by Acarya HemacandraEnglish tr. by Prof Dr Olle Qvarnström
SamayasaraPrakrit text by Acarya KundakundaHindi translation by Dr Jaykumar Jalaj2012
DhyanabattisiBraj text by BanarasidasaEnglish tr. by Jerome PetitPublished in 2010
TattvarthasutraSanskrit text by Acarya UmasvatiEnglish tr. by Prof Dr Duli Chandra Jain
Svarupa SambodhanaRight Instruction on the Nature of the SoulSanskrit text by Acarya AkalankaEnglish tr., notes and introduction by Nagin J. ShahPublished in 2011
ShastrasarasamuccayaSanskrit text by Acarya MaghanandiEnglish tr. by Shreyans Sukhani
Three Prakrit GrammarsBy Saartje VerbekePublished in 2010
IshtopadeshaSanskrit text by Acarya PujyapadaGujarati tr. by Pravina Mehta, English tr. by Manish ModiPublished in 2010
Bhaktamara StotraSanskrit text by Acarya ManatungaHindi poetic tr. and gloss by Pt Nathuram Premi, English tr. by Manish Modi
Mrityu MahotsavaSanskrit text by an Unknown WriterHindi tr. by Shreyans Sukhani, Gujarati tr. by Dr Shilpa Vasani, English tr. by Manish ModiPublished in 2010
AradhanasaraPrakrit text by Acarya DevasenaEnglish tr. by Prof Dr Nalini BalbirPublished in 2010
Tattvarthasutra : That Which IsSanskrit text by Acarya UmasvatiEnglish tr. by Nathmal Tantia
Ratnakarandaka ShravakacaraSanskrit text by Acarya SamantabhadraEnglish tr. by Prof Dr Willem Bollée2012