________________
Rev. Atmaramji Maharaj instructed Virchandbhai to stick to the Indian dress and to strictly follow the religious rules of daily life. The well-known magician from Mahuva, Prof. Nathu Manchhachand agreed to go with Virchandbhai as his cook. Virchandbhai obtained special permission to cook on board the ship (see Appendix 3). Thus equipped, Virchandbhai sailed for Chicago by S.S.'Assam'. A REPRESENTATIVE OF JAINISM
It is natural that a person expected to act as a representative of one's religion in a parliament of about 3000 representatives, would be selected by his co-religionists on the basis of his learnings, his oratory, his ability for comparitive study, his broadmindedness and such other qualities. Virchandbhai had been selected by Rev. Atmaramji on this very basis. That such a person would succeed is not something surprising. But that he succeeded brilliantly in the face of certain difficulties regarding the presentation of Jainism makes his success doubly commendable.
The three branches of Indian Philosophy are Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism; their scriptures are written in Sanskrit, Ardhamagadhi and Pali respectively. A person who wishes to study these religions has to get conversant with the technical terms of each faith. Then again to impart the true essence of each of these to a new group of people is an equally if not more difficult job. Then again, the philosophy of Jainism touches various topics. For anyone to imbibe these metaphysical intricasies in depth, to digest its essence with the knowledge of its subtle terminology and then to present it in a lucid manner to savants at a conference and to create an atmosphere of intellectual curiosity for Jainism was no mean task. Only some rare personality like
33 )
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
