________________ 200 The Divine Touch of a Pre-eminent Personality were always in the mind of Mahatma Gandhi whenever he faced any difficult times in his life. The short span of the thirty-three years that Shrimad Rajchandra lived in this world are equivalent to a whole century, even more. The age of an individual cannot be counted in years alone. In addition to counting the number of years a person has lived on this earth; the other and more important measure of his life is the spiritual status that the person had attained during his lifetime. Taking this measure into consideration, one can confidently say that what Shrimad Rajchandra has said and achieved in just thirty-three years of his life was indeed equivalent to three hundred years. I feel that he was born on this earth just for accomplishing one great thing and that is to make the 21st Century the century of Mahatma Gandhi. It was a curious coincidence that non-violence, a universal viewpoint and unflinching commitment to truth were resurrected together once again in this world in the teachings of Shrimad and in the acts and deeds of Mahatma Gandhi. There was a time in Gandhi's life when as a barrister, he did not have any briefs or any legal work, but this proved to be a blessing in disguise. He had enough time to listen to Shrimad attentively. His in-depth learning and training in spirituality were accomplished before he went to South Africa. The period of ten years during which these two great souls were in touch proved most memorable. Gandhiji had said, "There was no soul other than Shrimad Rajchandra who had influenced me so deeply. I bow my head before him because, during the days of my moral and spiritual crisis, his advice came to my rescue and benefited me greatly.' To fully express his indebtedness to Shrimad, Gandhiji had used the word "refuge'. Gandhiji's description of Shrimad Rajchandra is truly unique. That description not only includes Shrimad Rajchandra's physical features but also the devotion and