Half Hour With Jain Muni

Author(s): Abdul Hamiz A Baakza
Publisher: Jaico Publishing House Bombay
Catalog link: https://jainqq.org/explore/011007/1

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HALF-HOURS
WITH
JAIN
MUNI
RICETILOON

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DEDICATORY
To
INSANE KAMIL
Men Perfected
I bow down to Man.
मध्येण दामि।

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(texts. Best (2)
खान**
भारती
जैन
106382 विश्व

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* वर्द्धमान थागार da tasa zrát. लाडनू
شما
HALF-HOURS WITH A JAIN MUNI
(A Spiritual Biography of Mum Shree Chandraprabhsagar Maharaj )
By
ABDUL HAMID A BAAKZA,
With
MA, FT S
A Foreword by
PROF K T. MERCHANT,
MA, LLB (BOM.), B SC, (ECON) (LONDON), FRGS Principal and Sir Chunilal Madhavlal Professor of Banking, Sydenham College of Commerce & Economics, Bombay
JAICO PUBLISHING HOUSE 125, MAHATMA GANDHI ROAD, BOMBAY I

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@1962 BY JAICO PUBLISHING HOUSE
294.41
BAA-H 10038
Published by
MR. JAMAN H SHAH JAICO PUBLISHING HOUSE
125, MAHATMA GANDHI ROAD
BOMBAY-1
Printed in India by L G Gore, at Perfecta Printing Works, 109-A, Industrial Area, Sion, Bombay-22

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Prefatory Note
I am indebted to Muni Maharaj for the factual matter of this biography That is I could get verification from him for the dates and places that I have mentioned Beyond this, every attempt of mine to get any more information from him has ever met with a gentle rebuff He has such a high regard for the veracity of statement that he refused to say anything lest I misconstrued its meaning One other cogent reason that I can adduce is that his illness has affected his memory so much that he remembers very little of the past with any pretence to sequence or accuracy The only courtesy that he could show me was to allow me to write this Sketch I had therefore to depend upon 'the asides' with the visitors who came to see him or attend his Vyakhyan at different towns or cities Under this handicap, whatever bits of information I could gather, I have utilised So far as the main thread of the story is concerned, I am sure, Muni maharaj will agree with me as to its veracity Where I have interpreted the facts I may have erred in some minor details and for that, I seek his indulgence to pardon me 'Why should he have been so stubborn and not offered to enlighten me?' I humbly protest He should pay for this, by his forbearance
Now, if any apology be needed for presenting his lifehowever sketchy it be and hastily written-it lies in his growing popularity with the Jains and non-Jains at the present day A more serious reason for me is that I have learned to love him He is so lovable And love assigns no
reasons,
{
692, Krishnanagar, BHAVNAGAR,
Abdul Hamid A. Baakza

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FOREWORD
It is, indeed, a privilege to be asked to write a few words by way of a foreword to this special Jaico edition of Half-Hours with a Jain Munz by Shri Abdul Hamid A Baazka I write it with genuine pleasure My pleasure is all the greater because it provides me with an opportunity to pay my humble tribute to this great soul with whom I had the good fortune to spend a few half-hours myself-half-hours happy, pleasant and profitable
This spiritual biography of Mun Shri Chandraprabhsagar Maharaj gives us tantalısıng glimpses of the life and spirtual evolution of a fascinating sage, there are many gaps in it which Muniji alone can fill-If such gaps can be filled at all As one reads of the spiritual crisis in the life of the Muni, one cannot but recall the experience of Narendra (known as Vivekananda later) who lost all consciousness of the outer world while watching the Master and who fell in a trance and remained, when he regained consciousness, completely ignorant of what had happened But apart from this, buman personality 18 not a solid thing like marble, it eludes one's
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grasp like the rainbow And the personality of a harmonious and integrated sage like Muniji is even more elusive, because it is even more attractive and has achieved a finer synthesis
Words cannot capture the serenity, the graciousness and the ineffable charm of such personalities any more than they capture the heavenly beauty of the rainbow The biographer can disentagle the variegated threads of these personalities, examine their woof and texture, analyse the ingredients, but he cannot fix in words the magic of their harmonious blending The only way to apprehend such great souls is by personal contact, by experiencing at first band the joyous and uplifting impact of such a soul on oneself The purpose of this booklet will be more than fulfilled of those who read it are drawn to spend half an hour with this unique sage and experience personally the spell of the Master
I have had the good fortune of spending a few half-hours with Muniji, thanks to my former pupil Shrimati Gunial Desai The first time I met him, we discussed the problems of education and discipline I found to my great delight and surprise that, though Muniji is an ascetic and follows scrupulously the established traditions of his Order, he brings reason to bear upon the problems under discussion, he takes into account the forces at work in modern times and
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the changing patterns and circumstances of today I found in him a man of wide reading, deep knowledge, and profound understanding of men and things I was happy that we were at one on many points
The impression I formed was that here is an unorthodox, unconventional saint This impression was confirmed when I read this book His well-built and almost athletic body, his penetrating and lustrous eyes, his serene, composed and handsome face with the beard lending an added majesty to his countenance, won my heart instantly, created in me confidence and faith in him No wonder that Smt Indira Gandhi who met him for a couple of minutes says"He looked very much like what one would imagine Christ to be and gave me an impression of deep peace"
I met him again a few days later On this occasion, I was greatly perturbed by the unaccountably hostile behaviour of a trusted friend, something within me had impelled me to seek his guidance I know not why or how _my contact with him had been the briefest, and yet I was drawn to him in my hour of trouble and inward tumult I went to see him by appointment but he was to go on a visit to the house of a disciple He asked me if I would go with him I readily agreed All the way we discussed some problems, especially Free Will and Destiny. We went to three places At the first, he blessed the members of a Middle Class famıly residing in a small room and
•
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collected the Bhiksha Then we went to another place, where a young College girl was in sick bed. His soothing words and blessings brought her a good deal of comfort and happiness, despite her great physical pain This could be easily seen from the glow on her face The third place was not on his schedule; but a child begged Muniji to go with him, insisting that it was very near He would not displease the child In all these three places, a comparatively large family stayed in one small room which served at once as kitchen, bed-room, drawing-room and study-room Naturally this made him discuss with me the housing problem in Bombay and the plight and economics of Middle Class homes
This experience showed me how Munijl's unassuming ways, informal behaviour, and abounding compassion towards all and sundry naturally win the heart of all those who meet him
When I spoke to him about my personal problem, his few and well-chosen words consoled me very much; I came home very much relieved of pain and anxiety and mental anguish This, to my mind, is his great quality-serenity and tranquillity of mind. He is not only serene himself; he can transmit serenity to others
On the third occasion, I was privileged to listen to a lecture of his at the Roxy Cinema I then discovered his great and fluent command over language, his eloquence, his homely illustrations drawn from

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every day life like those found in the talks of Vinobaji All these coupled with his serene personality enabled him to carry his message straight to the hearts of his listeners who heard him with rapt attention and in pin-drop silence, though the hall was full
(III) Muniji is also a man of letters who has enriched Gujarati literature with the elegance of his style and the nobility of his thoughts His works not only give us pleasure but also ennoble our minds and purify our hearts Words flow from his pen as smoothly and as gracefully as they trip from his tongue His writings, his lectures, his personality exude the spirit of catholiaty and universality He speaks many languages Born in Rajasthan, brought up at Tumkur in Karnatak, living in Gujarat, he is well-versed not only in many Indian languages and literatures but also in Western thought Indeed, we find in him a happy synthesis of the East and the West
A harmonious personality, body, soul and mind in tune with one another, he is one of those free souls of whom Vivekananda speaks
"Upon these free souls depends the spiritual growth of mankind They are like the first lamps from which other lamps are lighted True, the light is in everyone, but in most men it is hidden The great souls are shining lights from the

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beginning Those who come in contact with them have as it were their own lamps lighted By this the first lamp does not lose anything, yet it communicates its light to other lamps A million lights are lighted, but the first lamp goes
on shining with undiminished light.”
May his message spread and bring tranquillity and happiness and peace to all Nothing will please Muniji more; for he practises the advice of Laurence Binyon
"Overbrım and overflow
Thine own heart, of thou wouldst know, For the spirit born to bless
Lives in its own excess"
His is, indeed, a spirit born to bless; and I am sure this booklet will make his message 'overbrim and overflow the large circles of his disciples
K T Merchant
Bombay 13th February, 1962
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AN APPRECIATION
Some time ago, I had the opportunity of listening to a spiritual discourse of Munı Shree Chandraprabhsagar Maharaj, entitled 'The Spiritual Basis of Human Brotherhood' which was arranged under the auspices of the Theosophical Lodge of Bhavnagar I had also the further privilege of thanking the Muni Maharaj after the lecture was over I could see in a moment that here was no ordinary man but a person of dynamic spirituality Indeed, the name of Muni Shree Chandraprabhsagar Maharaj scarcely needs an introduction to the Gujarati public especially, the Jain section of it He is a very gifted and popular preacher and a saintly monk He is a great personality in more respects than one He is a Jain monk, no doubt, but his vision of things spiritual is broadbased and whatever he says, does or writes exhales an aroma of spiritual catholiaty and universal wisdom He is also a gifted writer of Gujrati prose The book 'Saurabha', written by him under the pen-name of Chitrabhanu is a living reminder of the fact that Jain Munis have rendered invaluable service to the growth
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and development of Gujrati literature almost from its very beginning to the present times
His little book 'Saurabha' is a collection of aphoristic saying on almost every subject which touches our human lives His method of presentation reminds us constantly of Khalil Gibran, a kindred soul engaged in a similar pursuit of the quest of the spirit. In 'Saurabha' there is a fragrance of flowers which never wither but are always fresh, for they are of the Tree of Paradise It is the pride of his penmanship and the delight of our hearts.
Half-Hours with a Jain Muni is a brief yet very instructive record of the spiritual biography of the saintly Muni Although the Muni dons the traditional robe of an orthodox Jain Muni, he is singularly free from the poison of sectarianism which is the ruin of India. As Shree Baakza, his biographer says. "His philosophy is broad-based on human values He is a preacher, but he is not preachy " Mr Baakza has given us a soul-stirring account of the life of the Muni who passing through the storm and stress of worldly existence, set his eyes firmly on the Most High and is now resting there with the peace of his mind and heart and soul
Saints are the salt of the earth They are always eager to help the suffering humanity The large-hearted Muni, out of sheer compassion for the suffering, once helped bring about the cure of a tum
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our on the thyroid gland of the son of the Chief of Dasada
The work of collating the facts in the life-history of the Muni Maharaj has been carefully and scrupulously done by Prof Baakza He has given us an account of the Muni's life in a lucıd, crisp and straightforward style May it delight the hearts of the Muni's numerous devotees and friends!
Krishnanagar, Bhavnagar
JB Dave
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Half-Hours with a Jain Muni (A Spiritual Brography of Vum Shree Chandraprıblısagar Vlaharaj)
On the evening of the 5th July 1956, a friend of A sweet mine came to see me He wanted to personalıtı take me to Muni Shree Chandraprabhsagarji Maharaj Chitrabhanu' We immediately set off to see the person
I had pictured to myself a man of austere looks, with a bald head, and a few straggling hair on the chin-an angular type altogether, but when I saw the Monk, he belied my mental image of him by presenting himself as a man of rosy health and gentle manners and a man of great personal charm Not a hard shiny shell of a skull, but a well shaped head with a stock of black hair, an open face with a beard which, though not cultivated was not scrubby too I could see him through the haze of the twilight which filled the room, because the religious vows of his order shut out all artificial light and yet the glimpse I caught

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of the beauty, and the calm that I experienced in his presence were sufficient to gain him soon my complete esteem
'He is a sweet personality'. That is the impression I carried away with me, on my first visit It has deepened with further contacts
Next morning,
bestirred myself to go out, and Join the numerous crowds which were moving towards the Lecture Hall The floor was soon occupied comA preacher who pletely There were men and women, is not preachy coming from far and near, there were men of position and rank, petty shopkeepers and business-magnates, Jains and non-Jains, schoolteachers and youngsters In short, there was a combination of town and gown which is not often met with Every public speaker has his own qualities which attract people; University don draws the learned, and a soap-box zealot, a common herd But, what was it in this man to draw such a mixed gathering? I sat musing
Seven to nine-the hours, which of all the hours of the day, are usually kept apart for personal use To wit, 70'clock is a by-word for shave There is a majority who would forego an extra biscuit and let their tea get cold, but they must scan through their morning paper It is a religious duty with them ' Some good souls have to perform the three-hour Puja which they must somehow finish
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'But what was in the man which called them away from these consecrated hours”, I wondered But before I could frame some plausible answer to this question, he was there, correct to the minute.
All rose and gave him passage through the closepacked rows He walked down to the Asan or Pulpit with his usual light, quick step, and assumed the Ardha Padmasan, his cross-legged lotus posture
He chose some text from the Jain Scriptures and began to expound He set forth in the simplest possible way the deepest meaning of the text It seemed to me he was not so much interested in the metaphysical analysis as in its spiritual message and direct application to modern life
He is tremendously interested in people and their doings His interest lies in the world of reality in which we live He wants us to solve the problems of the day with the help which our religion or religous outlook can lend It soon becomes apparent as he proceeds with the exposition of his text that it is not religion with any particular brand or theological dogma or philosophical crotchet that he is interested in No, what he wants, and earnestly wants, is to induce people to have religious outlook in life
Just as an ass carries a load of sandalwood but has no share in its fragrance and coolness, in the same way a learned man without good actions obtains the load of learning but not salvation
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Why should you read and study philosophy if you refuse to change and want to remain a learned fool? Forms and ceremonies have no value if you love them for their own sake. Religion itself is a means to an end, and not an end in itself He is therefore sparing in the use of Jain terminology. His discourses are based upon the Syadavada or Jain theory of Relativity, which has a wider connotation and has no smell of any 'ism' His philosophy is broad-based upon human values It wonderfully appeals to all, Jain oi Gentile Simple truths, he preaches and makes the pills palatable He addresses his audience as if he addresses his friends He takes them into his confidence by an occasional inquiring look at someone in the audience to elicit 'Yes' or 'No' to some interesting point. He is conscious of his ethical aim, but he does not make his people feel it He is a preacher, but he is not preachy He himself says, "I do not want to teach people their duties or any doctrine of religion I want to arouse them from their complacencies, to stir their hearts, to vivify their imagination, to bring them out from their little selves to the Higher, of which they are capable"
He wants us to take religion, not with a long face but with a sense of spiritual adventure. "LIVE LIFE” that's all That is the substance of all his teaching Live it nobly, wholly, powerfully keeping the goal in view If you have no goal in life, if you have no vision of the moral beauty which shines upon the
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face of Nature and Man and if you live blindly, mechanically going round like an ox of the tread-mill well you have not enjoyed the Day as you should have enjoyed it, and have frittered away all your energy and the Night comes and all is over He has had some soul-stirring experience before, and Death Reflections as a Call has taken a special significance On Death since then He makes pertinent references to Death as a crisis in Life
He wants people to keep it ever before their minds, not as a dreadful event in life, but as testing time You should possess your self of a clearance certificate before you enter the Portals of Death Death serves as a stimulant to those who meditate upon it, to urge them on in the race of righteousness It keeps them awake and vigilant
persuasive
He is so free and fearless in all his speeches He cares not for petty conventions His thinking does not move in the old grooves He puts the 'Old', but in the Firm, but language of to-day There is nothing of a Pandit or a Shastri about him He criticises the New too He does not assert as if he is the only custodian of Truth but gently he pushes in his ideas, presented in some pretty story, or parable His discourse 19 Colourful a happy combination of Speech Akhyan and Vyakhyan, Sermon and Lecture, free from the clerical stiffness of the one and the high-browed airs of the other. He usually lends a romantic setting to his spoken word-a general
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feature of his style which is richly exhibited in his written word It will be of some interest to trace this element of romance in him to his early youth
Rup-Rajendra, to give his family name, was born His Birthplace on Vikram Samvant 1978 Shravana Its significance Sudi Bij, 26 July 1922 AD at the village of Takhtagadh in Rajputana.
This region of his nativity is situated between two territories, representing as if it were the two phases of his life. There stretches out far beyond, the land of Mewar, the land of Rajput chivalry and heroic deeds, and not far distant is situated the lovely group of the Jain temples, the Dilwara and Ranakpur
To those who hold that events in life are not fortuitous, but are related to unseen subtler bonds, the location of his birth-place is not without significance The iron of the soil seems to have entered his soul. The activities of his reckless boyhood may have sprung from this natal influence
He was barely nine months old, when he was taken to Mysore, another land of romance and beauty How he grows His father was a businessman of Tumkur, a market town in Mysore.
He was four years old when he was bereft of his Glimpse mother's tender affection and care He al. of death ways slept with his mother at night This was the first night when his father took him under his care

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He asked every one where his mother had gone She would never stay away so long without him, however urgent be the need or pressing the call The truth was dawning upon his mind when some one bluntly told him in the morning that he would never see her again In the extremity of his grief and bewilderment he ran to his old friend, an aged man who had always been kind and affectionate to him and to whom he carried all his little problems to solve when in difficulty He gave him sweets and chocolates and caressed him, he was the man whom he unbosomed his heart and who ever listened to him patiently "Uncle", he asked him "where is my mother gone, please tell me the truth... .what is this Death, they talk about", he pleaded with tears in his eyes The good old man seated him by his side with his usual pat and asked him to look up to the clear, blue sky above "Do you see that starry heaven", he pointed upwards, "How lovely it looks by day and how very brilliant at night' Is it not a beautiful home? Well, you mother has gone there to live amidst the stars" But can we not go there, won't you take me to my mother "?", the boy appealed plaintively. 'Dear Child', he replied in a soothing tone, "we'll surely go there one day. It is an abode of bliss Good people who have been kind and nice to others are admitted there Fairies and angels wait upon them If you will be a good boy and do well, your mother will certainly send you an angel to fetch you to her side". The boy revolved all that was said to him in
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his mind for a number of days He kept the secret to himself He loved the good old man, he trusted him; he knew he would never deceive him Faith is a great solace and it leads to success Rajendra believed in the story and looked forward to the day when his mother would call him Days and nights passed when he gazed longingly into the stars from his open window till the weary waiting brought sleep to his tired eyes, but he received no word from his mother Stars shone and the Moon as the Queen of Heaven rode forth at night-"why should my mother remember me in such an abode of peace and bliss" but, when I think of her so much would she not think of me some day? O! then she would run to me and clasp me to her bosom. But I'll turn away my face and won't talk to her She should repent and be sorry for neglecting me I won't relent till she weeps for it and entreats me to forgive her" Such were his thoughts and great was his resentment Then and then only I'll smile and cast my arms round her neck and be reconciled to her
Time is a great healer He felt less and less the loss of his mother as time passed; Truth, however, dawned upon his mind that life was not all sweets and chocolates, that material comforts alone did not satisfy the inner hunger
Lapped in luxury and with every whim gratified, the child thrived He had everything which money could procure and which affection could bestow He
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was seldom crossed in his childish demands The result was that he grew up to become a wild boy of nature, self-willed and strong He associated with street urchins and took part in their noisy quarrels He was a boy who would make trouble for the parents He received, however, his knowledge of the three R's at a local school
One incident, at least, of his Tumkur days deserves recording It has a psychological interest One evening he returned from school, tired and fagged out He felt sleepy and yet yielding to an impulse, he composed himself to read class lessons He pored over his task, but could not make head or tail of it His eyes were heavy, he dozed and was soon fast asleep He was still conning his lesson but when he awoke, he found to his surprise that he was really reading while slumbering He consulted the clock on the wall opposite, and saw that the minute hand had completed the circle For one whole hour, though asleep, yet he was awake in his mind This seemed odd to his boyish imagination It set him thinking The phenomenon served as an eye-opener He saw that there existed something else apart from physical senses and that gave continuity to our desparate actions We cannot expect a boy in the third form of the primary school to have given this experience a philosophic turn We refer to it only to show that it had made an impression upon the subconscious
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When he was of age, he was sent to Bangalore to prosecute his studies. Rup-Rajendra as the name His education suggests had a body beautiful One
could compliment him on bus fine physique but that does not mean that his mind was matured to acquire higher education The rough and tough career he had so far pursued promised but httle, that he would ever turn to books He does not seem to have profited much from academic education, but the change of place did benefit him, at any rate Here, he had ample opportunities to see parks and gardens and extend his excursions even to the woods which are accessible in Mysore.
The innate poetry of his soul revived in these congenial surroundings We can form but little conception of the release which his soul experienced, His poetic son
... at this time, from the bondage of mere
physical pleasures, which he had known so far His thirst for the romantic and lovely in Nature was aroused and appeased when he gazed long and at leisure upon the fountains of the Brindaban Gardens or when he roamed through the shady lanes or lay idling upon some bank of flowers His No sermons wandering steps took him to Bahubali's and stones Sravan Belguna, too It was not so much in the spirit of a religious pilgrim that he visited this ancient temple Its exquisite carving and the magnificence of its courtyard impressed him very

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much, of course, but, he read no sermons in the stones
These placid scenes of nature were not calculated to satisfy the other part of his nature viz his love for adventure and his desire to become a hero.
Seva-Dal.
In these days, a wave of nationalism had swept all over the land Mother India called her sons to deeds of valour and bravery He first Joined the voluntary Corps, Congress Seva Dal, but its slow progress and halting methods could not keep pace with his fiery spirit Dissatisfied with its working, he looked about for something more daring, more risky, something which would challenge his manhood.
He soon came upon a Revolutionary Club He joined the underground movement That was real adventure With a few scratches and wounds on his body and escapades and dexterous manoeuvres he at last reached Calcutta He passed some time in the company of Subhash Babu and his group But this shadow of the incendiary which fell athwart his path soon receded It was hectic fever which lasted for a day only He returned to Tumkur
soul
He had received scars on his body, but not on his ། * When I was on the subject of analysing the qualities of his mind or what Jung calls Persona in an earlier section, I was in search for a word or neat little phrase which would sum
A free soul
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up the whole but I could not find one Now, I have tracked down my hunt I find it in Prof. James' 'Varieties" The Gifford lecturer classifies the man of Rup type with healthy-mindedness His remarks are illuminating "In many persons, happiness is congenital and irreclaimable. "Cosmic emotion' inevitably takes in them the form of enthusiasm and freedom I speak not only of those who are animally happy We find such persons in every age passionately flinging themselves upon their sense of the goodness of life in spite of the hardships of their own condition, and in spite of the sinjster theologies into which they may be born"
They soon ally themselves with the good and the tender they find anywhere, and the good and the
tender exercise a wholesome influence Lync episode
c episod upon them in return Our child-like Rup came under such influence at this time It melted the 'Iron' in his soul It deflected him from the downward path, he had hithero pursued, and led him, as by a gentle touch up the Mount of Ascension, that was so far hidden in cloud Prof William James helps us here again with an illuminating passage to sympathetically understand this obscure phase of his headlong career 6 "It is to be hoped that we all have some friend, perhaps more often feminine than masculine, and young than old, whose soul is of this sky-blue tint, whose affinities are rather with flowers and birds
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and all enchanting innocencies than with dark human passions, who can think no ull of man or God, and in whom religious gladness, being in possession from the outset, needs no deliverance from any antecedent burden" He found such a friend' at this moment, and the tender affection which developed tended to soften the hardness of his heart Religion was entering his life
As the Fates would have it, the friendship was not destined to last long The bud of this charming Platonic friendship was nipped before its blossoming Death parted them for good and for all The heroic and dark preliminaries which bring us to this lyric episode in RUP life and which is soon followed by his taking a vow of Renunciation add to the pathos of its heart-rending close The boy belonged to the healthy-minded type, as we had occasion to refer to-one who would never yield to sentimental and morbid sorrow
The faith in Goodness which he had ever had and which was greatly strengthened of late, stood him well now when he had to pass through a great test It will be hypocrisy to deny that this was not a positively agonising moment of his life Death cast a spell over him as it were
"The seed to take to the ascetic life was there, no doubt But it was buried deep down in the subconscious To what he had given half-hearted attention in the past, now loomed up before him He

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could not smother "the still small voice" which whis. pered, "Leave all for Me." He had heard it before, but he had not beeded it.
The call of Truth and Service comes to all once in a lifetime But it is only to a few that the call is repeated "The Seed' was stirring. The world of emo
tion which he had momentarily peeped As Chitrabhanu. As ChitraDhanus in was a necessary adjunct to the shaping of his intellect to nobler ends The neryous style which he exhibits in some of his stories, the simple sweetness of his poetry, his stimulating power which arouses kindred passion for Truth as he sees it, in his audience are the virtues whose growth is not the less to be attributed to this phase of his life His studies in philosophy and the minutiae of theology might have given us a man of learning, but not a vivacious speaker His emotional culture balances the intellectual It is due to this, that he is gradually mas. tering the craft of the painter to deliveate in colourful language the things of the Spirit
That RUP is becoming a Chitrabhany is not a mere accident
Physical and spiritual development proceeds on some co-ordinating principle. Looking to the phy, Rolation of the scal side alone, we observe all the physical to the stages of evolution, right down from Spiritual an amoeba to a full grown mammal which it took aeons to perfect it, contracted to the

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period of a few months and repeated correspondingly in the embryonic state, in the growth of a human child So, some thinkers believe that similarly there is some Law of Correspondence obtaining between the spiritual and the physical When the time comes for the soul to take a further definite step upward, she has to pass through a period of gestation and she is rapidly carried through all the stages from the inception to the finale, which she had experienced before It is a travail for the soul It is a process of purification The gross sensual is already burnt up, but its finer counterpart remains still to be dealt with According to the Law of Resistance, action and reaction takes place There is a pulling in opposite directions It is the separating of the wheat and tares.
RUP was thrown into the throes of this trial It was the beginning of the summer, 1938 One evening, as he returned from the garden of his walk, Illness-a Retreat he felt some slight pain in the muscles unto Self of the leg and he suffered from headHe took no notice of such a trifle
ache
In the morning, when he tried to get up, he found that it pained much at the joints when he moved He had fever too
From low fever temperature shot up higher and higher as the day advanced One day, two days The condition was worse. He now and again was losing his temper He could not now move out of
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his rom. The inflammation had spread out from his Joints of the fingers and the knee-cap His nervous excitement was attributed to the high temperature he suffered from The family doctor announced that it was rheumatic fever and advised complete rest and seclusion for the patient Doctors usually say so, and people usually take it so-so
When the news of his illness spread around, relaOn visiting the sick tions and friends started pouring in to inquire after his health.
Such courtesy calls are good in their own way But when visitors and particularly old folk insist upon admission to the sick room, and seeing the patient and talking to him, having of course no consideration for the poor fellow, the matter becomes a great nuisance But how can one offend these good folk" The doctor was a man of grim humour and when he saw this fan-fare, he gave peremptory orders that no one should be allowed to come into the room, except one or two who attended upon the bed
Here, Rup himself had fallen unconscious after showing the excited state of his mind by wild looks and frantic gestures. He lay senseless for a week or so Home-people were upset It seemed as if his Shasan Dev (guardian angel) had planned out this illness for him, so as to insure him full freedom from distractions, and to enable him to face for himself the great problems of life and death
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In this spell of unconsciousness, he dreamed dreams and saw things-terrible, hair-raising and thought-provoking
There were moments in which Evil seemed to triumph It was powerfully suggested to his mind Fight against that he had become a successful businesssenses
man, and that his coffers were all full of gold and silver He was spellbound to gaze upon the jewellery of the exquisite workmanship, though he did not wish to see it He saw gold bars, first in dazzling lustre, but soon changed to yellow snakes wriggling away as he kicked them in contempt He felt hungry and thirsty. So hungry that he would eat a basketful of Idlı-Dhosa? and so thirsty that he would drink a bucketful of Soup But something whispered, "You are to practise penance You are washing your sins” He was tempted to gather the 'forbidden frut,' luscious and fair His trembling hand plucked it from Nowhere, and put it into the mouth He just but it and his mouth tasted ashes He felt he was kneeling against silk and satins, so soft and cooling to his morbidly hot body .....picture after picture of luxurious ease and effeminate indolence was set before his mind by the fever-heated imagination
There is no faculty which is so resourceful as imagination, in making images, a faculty which serves both ways It helps man soul-ward, of controlled and directed by the intellect and unmans man if left to itself Rup 'pulled up and asserted his will So, it

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was now the turn of the intellect to tempt him To tempt him to knowledge and power
By a special effort, he was mortifying these inborn non-sensual lusts Then thoughts and concepts Spirstaal of a more attenuated order presented struggle themselves to his mind But be braced up his mind and refused to admit them The memory was playing its own part The things which he thought had least concern with his life, and which had casually tumbled in, were now evolved from the long-forgotten past He had to face each and every little thing, exercise his judgment, take it or reject it His faculty of moral judgment was sorely tried In the lonely cell of his heart, he felt utterly lonely, forsaken in the midst of this night of horror He longed for some warm companionship, but, that was denied
He, a rebellious soul, a tough fighter, who would ever check back womanlys tears was now like a helpless babe in his mother's arms Tears welled up into his eyes from a heart which ached with the pain of void and dryness of soul He gave out a cry of distress, "Come high, solace my heart. I die "
At the same time, he heard a voice so familiar to his ear and yet which struck so strange, "My dear boy, what ails thee, my dear Just open thy eyes, and see who is here" He felt he heard a voice from a far-off land which he had already left behind When he opened his eyes, he saw things but not as he used
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to see them before He somehow felt he did not belong to this place "These good people who love me can never be mine, always I am a stranger here below and I must never forget it" "Drink this, my dear, buck up Be a good boy" A glass of frut juice was put to his lips He sipped it taking a long time to finish it He drank it all But he soon fainted away It was so to say in the nature of a Recess allowed him from the Court of Trial
The proceedings soon started He was still thirsty when he entered the inner court He fancied himself holding a bejewelled cup in his hand A fine tall jar stood by his side He dipped the cup and carried it full to his parched lips But as he was going to take a large draught of the heavenly drink, he discovered that the cup was empty. He dipped it again and again, and found it ever so empty stille "Leave all for Me," he remembered with a biting conscience He threw away the cup with the full knowledge drawing upon his mind:
"I know my life's a pain and but a span;
I know my sense is mock'd in everything"
“Religion is the only thing, that endures in this valley of the shadow of death"10, he thought His religrous instinct aroused him to turn to rites and symbols of devotion No sooner did he think of this, than a rosary was there in his hand, bis nimble fingers playing the beads How bewildering, however, that the beads were slipping off and disappearing in the abys
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mal darkness below. He was made to realise the aparigrah" to the finest .. In this extremity, what he felt can be better expressed in the Miltonic language than by my feeble wit “Methought I saw my late espoused Saint, Came vested all in white, pure as her mind, Her face was veil'd, yet to my fancied sight, Love, sweetness, goodness, in her person shin'd,
So clear, as in no face with more delight," whispering, "Leave all, leave all for Me" He knew, he felt, he thrilled His heart leapt with joy to embrace the Call
The mind with its commotion ever so slight, was now becalmed From a full heart, rejoicing, and with an effortless ease poured out the Song of Trumph 12
I leave all niches, it is but dross, Fame I care not, tas little loss; I leave all, or all on earth's sod, But I want Thy Vision, my Soul, my God Darkness, darkness, everywhere Oh Light, O Thou my wealth, my life, my sight, Lead me Soulward, upward higher, 0 Omnipresent Hidden Fire I realise the misery of all desires, I errpty myself of all, 0 Sire! No joy, no hope in Life, no rest, I set my eyes on High and rest Enlightener of men, art Thou;

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Give me knowledge and give me now,
Thou art my all in all, enou !
He had gladly made a willing sacrifice of everything, even of the affections of the heart
A large stream of water flowed out before him, azure and crystal clear, so still and calm that he could see the ground below the pool 'A seed' was starting in the slime He possessed a faculty of a sort of double-see, within and without He perceived that the life, joy, love, which he had had before was only a husk of that love seed which was to burst out of it, and the hard crust of lust to shoot up into the lotus of frution A beam of pellucid light ran up from the splitting seed and a stem winding round it, the knots tremulously shining where they touched The unearthly plant was crowned with a thousand-petalled lotus flower He was one with it, he learned the lesson that one should generously give out oneself for others as that sweetscented 'spendthrift' It was only for a splt moment that he caught the "darshana" or the V1510n Beatific of his Atmadev, the term by which he loves to designate one's Real Self And then there was a complete black-out
When he returned to the earth, earthy' after the long-protracted fainting spell, he could not recognise Loss of the old familiar faces His memory was memory gone The doctor advised that he should be given company most of the time This would perhaps help him recall old impressions
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He sat stolid and insensate to all going around him for hours on end When he was persuaded long, to get some word from him, he would jerk to attention all of a sudden, blurt out something and fall back into former silence This continued for a number of days till he slowly regained his memory Even then, gaps remained for a very long time after One thing is clear, that he could hardly bring back anything of what he had experienced in his inner self From an aspect of some ordinary thing, something would flash back and form a link of association with the inner consciousness By such occurrences, rare and far between, portions of the occult knowledge percolated into his mind
To make it intelligible, we have pieced together these bits into a readable account for the reader It stands as it is for the reader to judge for himself how far such an experience has been significant in giving bias to the religious susceptibilities of Rup and on that account how much interesting it is for the reader to know This is the raison d'etre for its inclusion in this Sketch
When he was his normal self again, he desired to go for a change It was but natural that he should wish to be away from the place where he Tirth Yatra had suffered so much Home people readily consented or rather encouraged him He travelled to Palitana Here, he met Guru Vijay Bhaktisurishvarjee and Agamodharak Acharya Shree Sagaranand
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Surishvarjee He was much benefited by the company of the latter though the former inspired him not less He was so much impressed by the spiritual influence these saints shed around them, that he wanted to take his Diksha there and then It is to be noted how susceptible in these things his mind had become after the illness He wrote to his father to give him permission to join Shraman Order His father advised him to wait He wanted to take him round for tirtha yatra It becomes difficult to undertake long journeys after the Vows14 are taken Because a Shraman has to travel on foot, wherever he goes
Father and son travelled nearly all over India Rup met many Jain Gurus as well as Fakirs and Sadhus Among the great, may be mentioned, Aurobindo Ghose and Raman Maharshi
The four years, 1938-1942, though otherwise uneventful, added much to the store of his knowledge Half of the time, he was travelling During these travels, the great books of Nature and of man were open before him His receptive mind took in much more than what he had admitted of the bookish learning This proved helpful for his literary talent His love for reading was also now aroused and books henceforth were not less common companions of his leisure
you of
There was much pressure brought to bear upon him to change his resolve to take the vows and to devote himself to his father's business And once,
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though only once, there was real danger of his falling away from the grace But the weak moment soon passed away and he remained unshaken in his resolve One incident picks out in this period, which is remarkably reminiscent of all that impinged upon his soul from above.
It was toward the end of the year 1941 that he reached the end of his spiritual journey. He found what he was seeking all along-his lost soul That which was vague and indistinct, that which he had seen dimly as through a glass, he now saw face to face It was at Pavapuri, the place hallowed by the presence of his Master
It was1 at Pavapuri that Lord Mahavir attained his Nirvana Here it was that in the month of Kartika, he had delivered his last sermon to his followers.
This lovely place is situated about seven miles from the Bihar Sharif station A marble temple erected to commemorate Lord Mahavir's last days on earth stands in the midst of a small lake
When Rup visited the temple it was the night of Amavasya1o, eve of the New Year It was one of the darkest nights and most awfully silent All nature seemed hushed. There was no barking of dogs nor hooting of owls
As Rup came to the head of the bridge which spans the water, he experienced something indescri
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bably sweet and elevating in the surrounding atmosphere The still water mirrored the marble temple in all its purity and a profusion of water lilies springing from the clear dark water and interlacing with starlights and wick-lamp floats added to the charm of the place He walked along He felt a buoyancy in his limbs as that of a lark on the wing Blood coursed through his veins as if it were on fire, tingling to a dulcet tune in his ears He was swept on a high tide of joy In this exalted mood of ecstasy he swayed to the steps, which admitted to the interior of the temple
It is amazing, however, that when he entered the sacred precincts he all of a sudden experienced a sense of peace and a certain awe of the silent place He was calm and serene as he came to the alcove where the padukas or foot prints of Lord Mahavir lie in low relief in marble More amazing still, was the clear vision which he saw, as he was transported with ineffable rapture in a single act of adoration From betwixt the padukas a brilliant pencil of light as of liquid sapphire sprang up, his whole being responding to and commingling with it, and was lost in the deep blue of the sky
The Vision Beatific
It is no use describing this transcendent experience Suffice it to say, that the knowledge he now gained of the unseen, was conveyed to him in unmistakable terms This lay a seal of approbation, as it were, on the vows of Renunciation which he had
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taken in a dream-state The chapter of "might-havebeens" in life was now closed for ever There was only one way in life for him to pursue and that of an anchorite
Acharya Shree Chandra Sagar Suri gave him Diksha on Maha vad Pancham Vikram Samvat 1998, 6th Feb 1942, at Bordi, Bombay
Father, too, took the Vow and was named Chandrakant Sagarjee Maharaj. His age was fifty at the time he took Diksha He became well-known as an ascetic. He was devoted to the Shraman Order Even at the age of sixty, his fervour in devotion and acts of piety did not abate in the least The great soul of Chandrakant Sagarjee Maharaj is no longer with us now He passed away on 26 July 1959 on the same day that Chitrabhanu was born 37 years ago What a harmonising contrast of life in death
•
The title of one of the numerous booklets which Chitrabhanu's prolific pen has given us is Jivan-manWord as bread Dharma, Religion in life The title of life means much It is indeed true that there is much of the poetic in his writings The source of their inspiration does not he so much in his imagination however, as in his life It may be truly said of his literary compositions that it is his very lifeblood which is poured into them to be the bread of life for others This does not apply to him alone This is true of every word of man who is conscious of a high purpose in life
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It is a matter of regret that space does not allow us to quote more than a few instances, and these also taken at random to show his active sympathy towards all
It was the end of Chaturmas 1951 Jain sadhus 17 Heroic in deed is have to change the place of their heroic in faith residence after the monsoon He had, therefore, shifted to Santok Ben Weaving Factory near the Station, Bhavnagar He was spending a night there It was a two storeyed building He was occupying the top floor
A fire broke out in the small hours of the morning The ground floor was enveloped in flames Inmates of the house rushed up and battered at the door of his room and forced it open There was no time to lose The balcony on which the door of his room opened was the only exit possible People outside set up a ladder against the wall under the balustrade The ladder, however, fell short by five to six feet to reach up
An awning was stretched over the asan and the squatting ground for the people where the day's function was held This was just underneath the balcony The male members of the house, who were only two, became so panicky that they were the first to jump on the awning to escape, crashing down the whole structure with them 'in their bold dash " Women and children were cowardly neglected Chitrabhanu
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threw all scruples to winds He lowered down every woman, supporting her on his arms, till she rested her feet on the rung of the ladder He thus saved all twelve in number, including his old father And the last of all himself He was amply rewarded for this service His biceps were swollen and his whole body smarted with pain for a number of days.
His sympathy extends to all and to all alike, irrespective of caste or creed A remarkable case of a His love for all mind-cure in this connection is worth noting It was at Dasada On the last day of Paryushana celebration, it is customary to take out a procession The route of the procession lay by an old tomb A butcher of Uked who was possessed by a gene sat there A superstitious awe attached to the place Jains ever shunned that tomb whenever they took out a procession, lest some evil might visit them Chitrabhanu to set an example and to teach his people that superstition should be ruled out of life, led past the dreaded tomb The butcher howled and screamed But nothing untoward happened On the other hand Chitrabhanu by sprinkling a little Vasxep13 on the head of the maniac and mumbling some incantation cured the man of his lunacy. In his gratitude the butcher promised, not only to leave his ancestral trade but never to touch animal food for his life-time
As we are on the subject of the metaphysical
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healing, one more case may be quoted as it demonstrates his love and compassion for the suffering
Chitrabhanu was at Dasada It was the same season, the end of Chaturmas, 1949 He was shifting his residence He was going to take his
Wonderful care quarters at the house of one Popatlal Dahyabhai, a wealthy man of the place. The procession was passing by the palace Mohammed Khanjee, the Chief of Dasada was standing in the balcony of the palace Chitrabhanu beckoned him to come down to see him He came to see Muni at Sheth Popatlal's He paid his respects to Muni without uttering a single word He was weeping bitterly Munimaharaj soon learned that the Chief's ten year old son suffered from a tumour on the thyroid gland and that cure looked impossible The pathetic figure of the Chief standing before him moved the bowels of his mercy He gave him some Vasaxep with his blessing to apply it to the affected part He cheered him and gave him confidence that all would be well and there was nothing to worry about It looks miraculous, but the boy recovered in two days The family will ever remain grateful to our Saint
I have not the least intention to attribute any miraculous powers to Muni Chitrabhanu He himself would deny possessing any such powers His magnetic influence is sufficient to heal if a man's faith is great
The modus operandi in these cases is simple
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enough He concentrates his will on the patient to make him feel that he is healthy if he be present or sends a strong current of good will if he be absent, confidently believing all the while in the efficacious virtues of the Vasaxep From what I know in this matter, I believe that it is a case of faith-cure Much depends upon the faith of the person in the curative virtue of the powder as given by the Munimaharaj Once he halted at a village in his itinerary foot
journey The place was a haunt Magnetic personality of robbers Jiwo Reval of the Viramgaum District was the ring-leader of the gang, the name struck terror in the hearts of the villagers
An open-air meeting was held and Chitrabhanu was discoursing to the villagers A cart track, skırting the assembly of the listeners, zigzagged unto the fields beyond Jiwo Revel riding along stopped short in the impetuous career of his fiery horse at the kerb of the road and quickly dismounting stood there for a while to listen A little while and he was gone But something pricked his conscence, he was troubled in his spint For, the imprecation and the great oath he uttered as he galloped away betrayed the inner tearing of the soul. Never for once could the gaze of the simple, fearing people turn aside from the rider and his steed till nothing was left save a cloud of dust on a distant slope Which son of his mother was not afraid of the dreaded highway robber, whose tall figure
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and huge body seemed to dwarf all villagers in his presence?
The cheery voice of Chitrabhanu, however, cleared the air and calm and peace that was lost for the moment was restored to the meeting
The next morning Chatrabhapu was out for his constitutional He was walking along the same beattrack of the robber It was a fine morning. Birds fflew about and the insects hummed The distant call of a Koel was heart-captivating
As Chitrabhanu approached the top of the slope, the formidable form of Jiwa Reval loomed up from behind a boulder He hesitated and stopped as he crossed the road He reverentially salaamed the Muni Chitrabhanu looked intently upon him and raising bis hand to give him a blessing (Dharma Labh meaning 'may you spiritually prosper') asked him in a soothing voice, "Who are you, brother?" Jiwa faltered out "I. ....I am Jiwa Reval : the outlaw". Chitrabhanu made a sweet-gesture to come with bim to a big banyan tree that stood nearby upon a clearing. The golden sunlight filtered down through its branches making circular patterns on the ground like 'butterfly souls' across the floor
The Saint and the sinner sat opposite each other under the grateful shade of the tree Under the bewitching influence of the Saint and Nature the sinner opened his heart to Chitrabhanu, the Muni
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assisting him with kind words and gestures to make clean breast of himself With sympathetic understanding he quietly listened to the confession of the robber. Chitrabhanu has a wonderful insight into the secret working of men's hearts He pled him with the questions whether he preferred an unnatural death on a gibbet to a natural death at home, whehter he would like his wife to be a widow and the children to become orphans He expatiated upon the felicities of domestic life and honest living. Taking him in the aura of his healing love and with tact and encouragement he led him on to appreciate the sanity of a staid life and family love The only problem that troubled him most, the robber confessed, was how he could get a footing in society which he had ruthlessly and violently treated Chitrabhanu assured him of his help in that matter and allayed all his fears Chitrabhanu persuaded the Chief of the place to take him in his service He was thus amply provided for
He did well and he is now living a respectable life as a good citizen
His heart goes out in sympathy for small creatures in their suffering as much as for human beings He recently picked up a pariah dog which was wounded, from the road side and personally looked after the puppy and nursed it From such instances, it should not be understood that he is a religious crank The traditional Jain behaviour
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of becoming too soft towards animal life is of course there, in his mental make-up; but making allow ance for it, I do not think that he professes mealymouthed philanthropy for all that. These acts of his wide benevolence do not interfere with his serious work He says "This sort of charity is my hobby"
He is not a mere recluse, confined to desk or pulpit It may be directly or indirectly, but he helps causes of a wider interest
It was indeed a piece of noble work which he did last Paryushan, in helping to compose the clash of difference on a burning topic
The Jain community does not subscribe to the rule of untouchability in such a rigid form as is done
in the sister community of Hinduism Inter-dining Inspite of it, some orthodox Jains looked with disfavour upon admitting Bhavsars to a religious supper Muni Chitrabhanu took up the cause By pleading, persuasion and the moral pressure he excercises upon his people, he succeeded at long last in bringing together these two factions And Bhavsars and the so-called high caste members of the community sat down to the supper last Paryushan, numbering not less than 11000 mouths
He is not an out-right reformer There are many little things which have outlıyed their usefulA Line of reform n ess and which are a drag upon he advocates the progress of the society He knows this But he knows this also that it is no use
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going against the tempo of the slow-going people. By your zeal you may arouse the passion of the people and you may defeat the end in view If you know a thing can be done, then make an honest attempt to get it done. Otherwise, leave it to people to take their own time to do it He is fond of quoting a well-known ilustration in this connection. If there is a line and if we want it to be shorter, draw a longer line parallel to it without disturbing the original and the former becoms shorter naturally Do something substantial People will see it and they will come out of their old ruts and join you.
Before I conclude this sketch, I am tempted to add a few personal details of Muni Chitrabhanu. A Jain
Muni can have no private life as such. He Personal details lives in broad day-light so to say, accessible to everyone at any time And yet, I thought, it would be of some interest to the general reader to know something of the characteristics of a Jain Shraman. He puts on two wrappers to cover his body. Our Muni wears khadder Even before he took ascetic vows, he had adopted it. The Shraman gives preference to wool for a spread or a blanket He goes bare headed and bare footed everywhere and in any weather
He is methodical in his habits He keeps every thing tidy and in order, from his personal belongings which are very few, to paper and books of which he has always a considerable stock You can claim

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from him even a scrap of paper, you have given him any time you choose
The temple boy attached to him told me that he never got irritated He keeps his temper even when Visitors early provoked He is up from his pallet long beand late fore dawn and retires not before nine Squatted before a low desk, he is ever busy doing something or the other, reading books or proof sheets or writing articles or replying letters. Visitors intrude upon his privacy at any hour of the day Many of them come to pay merely formal respects They come from the Punjab, Bengal, Marwar, Madras or some such distant places He is so very accommodating to others that he does not like to displease them They keep on talking till the thin end of it He bears all this nuisance with a cheerful face and does not betray even by a wrinkle on his forehead how much it pains him to be hindered in his work
He is now known abroad and men and woman come to see him from Italy, Switzerland, UK and U. SA
The minute the pious soul is gone, he immediately turns to his scheduled study Albert the visiting man or woman does not go back without some cheering word from him or a pinch of Vasxepis If he is lucky enough to manage shorten the visit, the visitor is atleast sure to carry with him the sweet memory of a friendly smile Many who have come in contact with him experience a certain expansion
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of consciousness a sense of care-free-ness. They feel refreshed in body and soul. And this feeling of freshness endures with them till much later, they say, when everything else upon which it seemed to depend at the time or which seemed to have occasioned it, is forgotten altogether Some people come and carry on talking with him even after nine in the night. He cannot refuse such friends. His gentle nature can only permit him to drop a sly hint that it was time to retire.
One has to marvel at the mental and physical reserves of the man, that inspite of these odds against His reading him, he contrives to pursue his seriand study ous study and to send so much to the press. He has trained his body so well as to drop to sleep any time he Likes and to sleep like a babe
The range of his reading is wide enough. It is rather too wide for a Jain Muni. He is liable to be Sufi accused of being an indiscriminate reader writers, Christian authors, Hindu divines-all have passed through his hands and not some without being well thumbed and kept for future' reference A friend comes to him and brings him some favourite book of his, pleads that it is worth his reading and leaves it with him to return it with his opinion He is too courteous to refuse such a well-meaning offer He scans through at least some of its important chapters This sort of desultory reading does not prevent him from his set study anyhow He cannot be re
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garded as a desultory reader He has mastered about nine to ten languages He is an authority in some branches of Sanskrit uterature He wittely says that such all-round reading is a mental therapeutic so that mind may not be inured to onesided thinking This keeps mind healthy, fresh and open to Truth It is the demand of the palate to taste variety of food in substantial quantity, so it should be for the mind, lest it be morbid enough to have lost the savour "One's experience should be rounded off to the orbed beauty of the moon" is his favourite way of putting what moral perfection consists of
There is no credit for a Jain Muni to be abstemious in his diet Jains are well known for their fasting feats A forty-day fast is nothing to them Muni Chitrabhanu believes in moderation. He does not believe in anything which does not serve any useful purpose Every one should be his own judge He for one, does not venture beyond two days
He recognized the value of fasting as a means of spiritual culture This object is better fulfilled, he believes, by abstaining from all activity and not merely from food Emphasis on mental discipline is more marked in his case, it is the only deciding factor with him He favours maun-vrata or to be more accurate muni-vrata- a fast of silence The word muni is derived from man, to think and vrata means a vow One takes a vow to observe silence for a certain period Many people set a day apart
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for this purpose They, then, communicate with others by writing notes, this is defeating the purpose for which the silence is kept. Chitrabhanu believes in the wisdom of the commonsense.
Instead of allotting a day to the silence he reserves a few hours of the day when he can completely reture unto himself Introspection, deep thinking, quiet study make up the programme. The mental fast ensures the grip of the soul on all material conditions.
As to his large-hearted tolerance we have referred to it before Here, I would like to make a few observations on this greatly needed virtue to day Some of the old school Jains have some times out-stepped the bounds of decorum in the zeal to see Ahimsa observed by all Muni Chitrabhanu set a good example in the attitude he took towards the butcher. It demonstrates that one can convert an alen to one's farth by love and persuasion and not by hatred Hatred lands one in Himsa again, which one is out to eradicate.
शिवमस्तु सर्व जगतः परहितनिरता भवंतु भूतगणाः दोषा प्रयान्तु नाश
सर्वत्र सुखी भवंतु लोकार May Good be to all the world, May all ever do good to all; May all evil be destroyed, May all people be happy.

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APPENDIX I
HIS THOUGHTS AND TEACHING'S
The Epic of Life
Life is an epic in itself Its delineation is unseen, its music is in the ecstasy of silence We cannot depict it, we cannot decipher its meaning, for we have not the vision responding, to comprehend its range Peace and joy would be ours, could we but read with sympathetic insight: this epic of cosmic life The Dynamic Force
The radiation of spirit is like a magic life-force that transformas defeat into victory. A man endowed with its glowing fire, can smile with a gleam of triumph on his face, even when surrounded by defeat The Poetic Creation
The enraptured heart of the poet ever yearns to seize that eternal moment of poetic creation which reflects without a shadow the heaving surge of emotion in all its lucidity.

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Faith.
Faith is the greatest force in life The tree of life bears frut only when nourished with the water of human faith The Surging Foam -
Where is the joy or sadness of prosperity or penury, of happiness or misery, which are like the foam on the surface of the sea of life, born from the conflict of the surging waves of fancy and destined at last to pass into the selfsame sea at the end of that conflict ? Freedomia
The freedom that soils the luminous orb of human culture must lead mankind to the abyss of degradation Birth of Poetry
True poetry is not merely fine verse produced by human effort, but a sacred stream of the spirit bubbling forth from the conflict of agony and despair, rag. ing in the poet's heart! Beauty
The loveliness that must rely on outward senses for its realisation is not beauty, pure and serene, but the forlorn ghost of passion and desire. Beauty finds her fulfilment as she spreads her reign in the calm serenity of human soul--the superb charm of loveliness that must be felt and realised in the quietude of

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being when external senses are drowned in a dee slumber
The Blessed Vision:
As the heart of a lover dances in joy at the sig of his Beloved's portrait, even so doth the heart of devotee burst forth into rapture at the blissful visic of his beloved lord'
Tears -
When did I tell you, my love! not to offer п tears? What I had asked, indeed, was to offer m not the unholy tears of deception, wrath and wailin darling If thou needs must give, then give me, m darling' the sacred tears of love and pathos and hi man sympathy in all its fullness

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Quest of Happiness n VERY one in the world yearns for happiness. Li He goes to the ends of the earth to secure this
illusive happiness. And yet, it ever Happiness eludes his grasp It is because he does not know what real happiness is. He has a general feeling about it but no clear conception of the nature of happiness. Sonde of the things which people desire and believe that if they had them, they would be happy are health, money, power, fame and sexual gratification Suppose, we chance to meet a person in this world of strange happenings, upon whom Dame Nature has showered all these blessings and suppose, we tempt him with the question, "How happy you are, oh fortunate Onel Aren't you?" The man will he embarrassed and you can be sure that he will confess he is not Surfezt cloys and the interest on fullness is returned in boredom. For thousands of years man has been wandering about to obtain real happiness but it is as far away from his reach as when he first started upon this reckless Journey The fact is, he is not sure of himself as to what he is after, what the aim and purpose of living is.

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Mind, body and speech are our wonderful instruments by means of which we can obtain anything we hke If they be properly used they bring Unsatiable desire happiness and if not, misery Since man has failed to keep an equilibrium of mind, and to harmoniously use them that he has failed to attain the desired result One moment, if he were elated with success the next he might be punished with defeat Every event in life has this dual nature We are in the dark as to what turn our fate would take next The uncertainty of the future robs us of our sense of happiness If once for all, we admit this change as fact, if we appreciate it as the two aspects of one and the same thing, we will not lose balance of mind or sense of happiness so soon. One seeking happiness should keep cool head in ease and prosperity, but should not be inactive and negligent of duty, however, when adverse circumstances assail him These are unavoidable accidents in life The man should be even-minded in both Pain accompanies pleasure as black lining in bright clothes
They form warp and woof in 'the process' of life as in manufacturing of cloth You can only enjoy a hearty meal on an empty stomach No hunger, no satisfaction Allaying of pain is pleasure You relish the positive condition when it is preceded by the negative one Happiness lies in giving right attention, in adjudicating the claims of both
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We never inquire into the matter, we never halt in our mad pursuit and ask ourselves whether we really need certain things. 'Others have these things, why should I not have them" that's how we resent what we have and seek what we have not And then like a deer, heated by the chase, we are goaded to go after what ultimately proves a mirage Attracted by this false show, we are going astray from the centre of our circumference that we forget The end is ashes and despair.
One wish fulfilled, leads to the other and then to another We go halfway and then return to take another route, because we see others are going that way People thus throw away their gifts and talents after unfufilled desires A million, then ten million, then why not a billion? There is no end to this mounting desire till death ends all
It is but easy to see that one cannot be happy as long as one does not have the sense of fulfilment You start with a wrong notion of happiness You believe that money is everything Well, if you possess all the treasures of Kuber maharaj, you'll still be unhappy You may find your way to the den of the robbers of Ah Baba's Tale You may have all the things there which gratify the senses-money and all that money can procure, fame and name, power and authority, and to complete the list, loving wife and children And yet .
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There is a way into these treasures but no way out Like the robbers of the tale, the senses will kill you, the senses will bewilder you; they will fetch you pain and shame unless you know the secret word, Open, Sesame! Sesame, the opening of the door of the mind, that is what is needed to come out of the den of the robbers and that commanding word, soul alone can pronounce.
You wish to emulate others. If you have knowledge, you desire to excel others in knowledge, if riches, then you suffer from the green-eyed jealousy that others possess them as well You become too much self-centred to share good things with others You want all to yourself Ravana must have his undividel rule; there is no place for Rama in his realm 'I am strong let the weak go to the wall' that is how the Fool learns to look upon the poor and the suffering He hardens his heart against all that is good and noble in life People on the ladder of success envy those who are above them but care not to look down and lend a helping hand to those who are below A tank of water, which ever receives but does not let out will stink if not burst
Thousands die daily around you for want of proper nourishment, shiver to death because they have no sufficient clothing to wear, many die a lingering painful death, because they cannot afford medical assistance and can you bear to pass on? Happiness Lies not in keeping a grip upon things but in sharing them with others Happiness is a way of looking at
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life, feeling happy in making others happy. The more you hug the cup of happiness to yourself, the more miserable will you feel when it slips out. Should we not be very happy to share its contens with a thirsty traveller? If we knew it would fall, should we not feel good to see his eyes sparkle with gratitude. Is there no joy in watching a poor old woman's pleasure at an unexpected gift? There is always more joy in giving than in hoarding
A bird had a nest on a tree. The tree caught fire The mother spread her wings over the chicks in the nest as a last resort to protect them, and sacrificed her life for them It is common experience of many of us to have observed such acts of charity in the dear little creatures of the sub-human race It still happens that we frequently miss the lesson they teach
Have we less humanity than even those who are lower in creation? Our sense of happiness is like the momentary pleasure we obtain from borrowed ornaments on festive occasions. Pause and think if our joy is an abiding joy or something borrowed or second hand and likely to be lost any moment, again One should, therefore, take care to improve upon every opportunity, not only to advance oneself in life but to carry others along with him, and the laurels of honour won this way will ever remain fresh, untouched by the blight of time or the worm of consci
ence.
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Man is imitative in behaviour and patterns of thinking as well He gets trapped in the whirligig of pleasure and excitment, imitating others engaged in a similar pursuit, thinking lest he miss something in life which others have it. He lives and dies like a hired labourer, without any thing with him, to call his own It is a case of love's labour lost It is because he allowed himself to be driven with the high-tide of passion for things It is a case of misplaced love.
If you want to grow a mango tree, you think of the nature of the soil, manure, and so many other things connected with it in horticulture But in a serious question like life and living you take it lightly and plunge headlong in the stream believing you will somehow reach the other shore You never care to know if there be rocks or crocodiles hidden under water Swimming can be enjoyable, and it should be enjoyable
You consult experts in other matters but not in this matter of being Happy, in making your swimming an enjoyable, thrilling experience In business manage ment you consult an economist; in sickness, a doctor but here, you leave everything to luck and if in distress consult a palmist or an astrologer But you never go to Religion or prophets or teachers of mankind-tirthankaras the "makers of the River Cross
ing"
You come crying as a baby, but depart laughing merrily as man as an Indian bard sings:
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When you came to this world, The world was laughing at you, while you cried, Now leave the world with works, so eloquent, That you smilema smile of satisfaction, And the world weep for you.
When a baby is born he cries This is his first reaction to the world He is confused, bewildered The trailing cloud of glory is not yet effaced from his memory. The heaven plays about him and he has not yet learned to adjust his vision divine to the narrow cell of the body He cries but people gathered round the crib laugh
The childishness, the innocence, the vision celestial these were our possession We should preserve these gifts though we should leave childishness behind, of course
We are now sensible, thinking men and women, grown-ups everyone following his own profession The poet says we should now leave the world, when the hour strikes, in a way worthy of man. There should be a sraile on our face of having lived a life of benevolence and the sparkle of joy in our eyes of having fulfilled our life's mission People around should be weeping, because they part with a good man This is the real sign of a successful life But if the dying man were troubled as to what would happen to his property, family and so on, take it for a dire sign of his having failed in life

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As a man casts off old clothes and puts on new and enjoys the feeling of newness and freshness so should a man feel in discarding the old, worn out body, and putting on the new The old body is this entangled hfe in the material-world Sansara and a new body is a final ever release from its hold
A sincere traveller on the life's path should rejoice in attaining Moksha Salvation since his round of life and birth comes to an end But man today is distressed by death He feels restless, and naturally 50 He does not attain anything good, he has not been virtuous, done works of charity or observed chastaty or carried out penance or felt compassion for the suffering He knows his life has been wasted and there is a sorry end to it all There will be no new garment to put on but even this thread-bare one will be taken away and he will have to wander helplessly in the purgatorial regions
He has reason to dread the hour of death
Throne, principality, power, do not bring happiness of one is not in possession of spiritual riches One may pretend to look happy but hell-fires of remorse and the biting, restless soul keep burning all the while, the ravenous worries hover over his head like vul. tures, the worms of conscience corrode his heart Know then, please, that your imagined happiness 16 but born of the unreal

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Happiness does not reside in money or material things Its seat is in the heart If it were establıshed there the things of the world would take on the colour of an entertainment park Thinkers of the world, therefore, refer it always to the joy of the soul.
The material-minded cannot perceive it and run hither and thither in search of this fountain of joy, the blind fools do not see that it is bubbling in their own hearts
Their case is that of the musk-deer who knows not of the seat of fragrance, he carries about all the while He whiffs and runs in whatever direction the wind blows it-albeit his own fragrance
The same thing we notice all over the world, to day Man looks for happiness outside himself but never looks in If we desire veritable happiness we should withdraw out-going mind from external things, obtain control over senses, study life, make a critical review, steady our emotions and exercise introspection to stop the ever-active flow of thought This is the only way to secure what really means happiness
However material minded usually the Japanese are, they have experimented with self-conquering methods The life-size figures of three monkeys in stone are placed at the three entrance gates of the city of Tokyo The statues teach the object-lessons in self-control
Today's contagion
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One has his eyes shut He conveys the lesson Look on things beautiful and if an occasion arise to see evil, shut your eyes, as I do The second has clapped his ears suggesting, 'I listen to what is good but close my ears to enl' The third monkey is represented as stopping his mouth and declaring, "Say good, but stop your mouth against uttering anything false, then keep mum' If one attains feliaty by controlling these three senses, how much more could be expected of one who attempted to master all one's senses
People have no control over the tongue They are used to circulate false reports They slander one
to-day, another the next day, and The mischief of idle talk
so on, thus spreading like an ink
blot the contagion of their malice Slander and gossip do incalculable harm and damage in society and victimize many an innocent man or woman who is helpless against their sweeping onslaught The evil works and spreads so subtly that we hardly notice the mischief done, in the beginning We should keep a strict guard on our speech Furst an idle talk, then an evening gossip, then slanderingthe match is struck, the fire spreads Or it is like a bucolic plague It is the worst of evils, the worst of social ills Its germs continue to live for years Sometimes, people take to this gossiping, just to idle away time and they know but little that they start the mischief It soon becomes a habit A confirmed

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gossiper feels an itch to make a story on hearsay and pass on to others The mind of a gossip is a perverted mind When children suffer from scabies, we bandage their feet and hands, in order to prevent them from scratching the skin Even though they suffer, they have ever such a craving for it They never think long
Would we could do the same with the gossips that do likewise in their ignorance
We thus see that sense-control and cultivating detachment from outside things bring us a true sense of happiness Particularly, a sense of fullness which Renunciation bestows is a wonderful experience The life of Shri Mahavir-dev and the episode of going into the forest in the case of Shri Ramchandrajı are pertinently edifying The story of Ramchandraji's renunciation of the throne and home, moves our hearts and lifts our souls It shows how one can crush all hope and ambitions of youth and be ready to leave all for one's faith and thereby gain the highest pinnacle of idealism Think over the matter seriously Was happiness found in kingship or in forest? In the gratification of sensual pleasure or in renunciation of luxurious living" Does it lie in the crown and sceptre or in the nobility and generosity of the heart? Rama knew that one who learned to detach oneself from worldly things, could easily let go everything when Time demanded Such a man lightly holds the things of the world He always enjoys the sense of
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fullness, whether he lived in a cottage or a palace He has no sense of lack or losing Rama knew this and realized it Earth's kingdom shunning, he won his empire on the hearts of men
So, these are the two unfailing means to secure happiness, soul-control and self-denial One who is rich in soul needs no outward riches to add to one's treasures
To adapt Shakesphere on Perfection, the soul is perfect as it is
The soul which is refined as gold, needs no gilding, the soul which has purified itself from sensual taint is pure like a lily It gives out its own perfume It has the splendour of the seven-coloured rainbow It has everything in itself It is full and happy To attempt to add anything to the fullness of its Bliss is 'wasteful and ridiculous excess'
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APPENDIX II
Notes and References
Muni Shree Chandraprabhsagar Maharaj does not like long honorifics with his name It shows his humility in discarding the old traditional use of name and adopting the pen-name of Chitrabhanu in all his writings
Ch stands for Muni Shree Chandraprabhsagar Maharaj Chitrabhanu
We set down a few questions on the opening page of the book They harmonise with the spirit and teaching of Ch The time has come when our religious teachers should emphasise the unity of all to ensure human fellowship We may honestly differ from others and uphold the uniqueness of the faith we belong to, yet there remains a considerable body of religious teaching which is common to all Can we not make use of this common ground and make an honest attempt to feel one? "And people are naught but a single nation" Koran Ch 10 V 19, 49 V 13.
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The difficulty with most of us is that we do not want to look for truth anywhere else except in our own books For the curious persons who desire to see similarites obtaining between different systems, "The Essential Unity of all religions" compiled by Bhagwandas is a mine of information, The World Gospel Series edited by Duncan Greenless, too, is handy 2 Syadvada or Anekantavada It is the seven fold syadvada logic of the Jains the different forms of predicative judgment A science which can dispassionately scrutinise the diverse doctrines and which can reconcile the apparently inconsistent, is known as the science of Syadvada, Sapekshavada, Nyayavada, and Anekantavada. See Anekantavada by Shree Harisatya Bhattacharya and also the Philosophy of Mahavira by Kamtaprasad Jain (The Tlustrated Weekly of India, No 25, 1956) “The Seven-fold prediction takes into account not only the formal but also the material conditions of validity of a judgment" -Foreword by Prof J B Dave to "Anekantavada" 3 See the published lecture Have to Jago' Ch 3 'I bow to you and hold up my lamp to light you your way'—Munijee's favourite aphorism 4 The Varieties of Religrous Experience by Prof Willam James 5 Lectures IV & V-The Religion of Healthymindedness by Prof William James

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6. Lyric episode based upon Vataries of Art Kalanı Upasika in Katha Dipa Ch. 7 Idli Dhosa, Sappu Famous dish of rice and soup from Karnatak (Mysore) 8. Saurabh Ch Tears Ansu—p 23 Appendix II No 10 9 "It is only the empty that can be filled" J Krishnamurti 'And when thou reach the temple, thou mayest know that the empty alone are filled Shree T L. Vaswanı 10 "Religion is the only thing real in this unreal world" in Mahavir--Ch 11. Aparigrah see Saurabh Mayada Ch To note one of the five yamas or shilas carried to its logical extreme involves complete annihilation of the lower
self
12 "Sudha Syandını"-Priya Darshan 1 e Lovely Vision p 4, Cha free rendering of the poem by the Author 13 Turth Yatra. All the places of Jain pilgrimage are listed and described in three volumes Jain Tirth Sarva Sangrah 14 Diksha . 5 Vows-Non-violence, Truth, Nonstealing, Celibacy, Limitation_named Panch Shila in Buddhism See The Essential Unity of All Relagrons Bhagwandas p 278

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15 See Mahavir (pp 26, 27) a publication of Shree Vallabh Suri Smarak Nidhi 16 Amavasya The eve of the New Year's Day ac cording to the Vikram era beginning B C 56-57 It is the anniversary of the passing away of and attaining Nirvan by Mahavin
Eighteen Kings were gathered there to attend a conference These Kings did come to hear the last sermon of Lord Mahavir and they were present when He passed away They assisted in the illumination of lights after His passing away It is interesting to note that Drwalı, the great feast of lights, has begun from this immemorable night to celebrate in a material form the Light of Divine Knowledge which He left behind 17 One peculiarity of the Shraman order is that the Sadhus stay at one place during the whole of the rainy season The rains give birth to insects and worms The sadhus are therefore cautious, they want to avoid killing even the small creatures They do not undertake long journeys during Chaturmasthe four months of the rainy season The feast of Paryushan falls in this season 18 The Sadhus cannot touch a female Ch However did not stick to the Rule when he saved a number of females from Are
Vasaxep is a powder, poundel of sandal wood, saftron etc It is believed that Mahavir himself bless
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ed it and used it He sprinkled it on the head of Grantam, his first disciple It has come down passing through the hands of the Munis of the Jain hierarchy, each of them adding to the original store The faithful attribute miraculous virtues to the powder. The reader should be amused to know that Sow Balvantrai Mehta carried this Vasaxep to Delhi
She appled a tilak on the forehead of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, our Prime Minister, on the occasion of his birthday and again when he was leaving for America 'As he, freely moved about exchanging greetings with one and all, Sow Balvantraz Mehta applied tolak on his forehead' -The Hindustan Times This vasaxep was applied on the morning of Panditji's departure for London on his way to U.S.A and Canada in December, 1956

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JAIN MONKS AND NUNS There are thousands of Sadhus in the world but the Jain monks and nuns are well known for their austerity and severe vows They have to practise the five great vows in their perfect and bighest possible forms. Non-injury, Truthfulness, Non-stealing, Celibacy and Non-attachment to worldly objects Therr life is one of complete self-help They are not to be a burden on sogety in any way They always travel on feet, wear the fewest possible clothes (some even discard clothing altogether), have no house or property of their own and are expected to know many languages for the purpose of propagating the message of peace among the people of different nations They take only simple, purely vegetarian diet, Just sufficient to keep body and soul together, beg ther food from different houses and have neither attachment for, nor enmity towards any hving being Prof P R Jain MA