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the Gujaratis among them should also read Rajchandra because: "The more I consider his life and his writings, the more I consider him to have been the best Indian of his time. Indeed, I put him much higher than Tolstoy in religious perception. The books I have read have afforded me the highest solace. They should be read over and over again. So far as English book was concerned, Tolstoy is incomparable in my opinion in chastity of thought. His definition of purpose of life is unanswerable and easy to understand. Both Kavi and Tolstoy have lived as they have preached." At first Gandhi felt superior to Rajchandra because he had not gone to college studied abroad, just as in Calcutta a few years earlier Narendranath Dutt (later Swami Vivekananda), a student of Western philosophy at Scottish Church college succumbed to the superior wisdom and spiritual magnetism of the self-educated mystic Sri Ramkrishna, so the anglicized young Gandhi felt himself irresistibly attracted to the saintly Rajchandra.
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Rajchandra's influences on Gandhi's life, thought, spiritual pursuits, and reform endeavors are many; however the primary
ones are:
a. Vow of Brahmacharya
b. Dietetic Experiments
c. Simplicity
d. Religious Equanimity
e. Aparigraha
f. Compassion
g. Dharma
h. Spiritual Yearning
i.
Service to Humanity and Self
The impact of Rajchandra will be discussed at appropriate places. The influences of Rajchandra on Gandhi's life and endeavours have been many more. Hardly there is any area of
Gandhi & Jainism | Pg.283
