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was a great sādhaka in his past life and acquired some ātma-jñāna and inherited from past life philosophical knowledge of numerous books, which perhaps he had not read in his present life. This was possible for him because of his extra-sensory powers."!! He himself has said that reading of one verse gives him knowledge of thousands of Sāstras. 12 Such things were possible for him only because of his purity of soul and the resultant extra sensory powers.
Śrīmad was a businessman of a special type. Though he was dealing in jewels and pearls at a place like Bombay, religious qualities like honesty and contentment and his aim of self-realization were always at his heart. He did business and earned money, but he was not attached to or greedy of it. Mahatma Gandhi observes, “Srimad has proved that a religious man must prove his religion in every act of his life. Religion is not to be observed only on an Ekādaśí day, or an Id day. To observe it in such manner is equal to not knowing what religion is. Śrîmad always said so, believed and practised that concept."!3. He had learnt the art of evaluating jewels and therefore he was invited to be a partner in joint business concerns which had dealings with European, Arab and other countries. Because of Śrsmad's way of dealing, the firm came to
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