Ahimsa Varsh 2600th Birth Anniversary of Mahavir Swami

Author(s): Naresh Jain, P Jayaraman
Publisher: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan

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Shrimad Rajchandra, Gandhiji and Ahimsa
in Godly pursuits in the midst of business, not once or twice, but very often."
("Satya Na Prayog" or the Story of My Experiments with Truth.)
- Dr. Kumarpal Desai
t was a defining moment in history when Shrimad Rajchandra and Mahatma
Gandhi first met. Mahatma Gandhi, then simply known as Mr. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi had returned to India, following his admission to the Bar in England. In Mumbai, he stayed with Dr. Pranjivan Mehta, whose brother, Revashankar Jagjivan was Shrimad Rajchandra's business partner. By coincidence, Shrimad was there that day.
Gandhiji stayed in Mumbai to set up a legal practice. He had spare time on his hands and often spent it with Shrimad at his shop. He had observed Shrimad closely and wrote about him: "Shrimad was always satisfied with the food offered to him. His attire was simple, and consisted of a shirt, a dhofi, a long coat, a scarf and a turban. He walked at a Slow pace and it was obvious to passers-by that he was engrossed in deep thoughts. His eyes sparkled with magic and inner brilliance. There was na restlessness: on the contrary they reflected intense concentration."
In their very first meeting, Gandhiji was greatly impressed with Shrimad's intellectual capabilities. In the time they spent together, Gandhiji was able to appreciate the subtle nuances of Shrimad's personality and conduct. His bright eyes, his contentment, the ease with which he dealt with others and his thoughtfulness, all played a significant part in molding Gandhiji's noble character.
He said: "I cannot aptly describe the lasting influence Shrimad Rajchandra made on my life. For years, I have been in search of a righteous person in India but I have not yet seen another righteous being who measures up to him. Amongst the European philosophers, I consider Tolstoy of the top order and Ruskin of the second order but my experience with Shrimad was superior to that with both of them."
There had been extensive correspondence between the two men.
Unfortunately, only tllree of these letters exchanged between them have survived. Nonetheless, these three letters tell us vividly how Shrimad helped Gandhiji clear his misgivings about his own faith and prevented him from converting to another faith. Like a true barrister, Gandhiji posed a number of questions to Shrimad on issues of the existence of the soul, God, emancipation, religion, reincarnation and Christianity. Shrimad had responses, which were informed both, by intellect and by his own spiritual experience.
Mahatma Gandhi has expressed his deepest respect towards Shrimad Rajchandra in his autobiography "Experiments in Truth" as well as in his various speeches. Expressions of the personal experiences which Mahatma Gandhi had with Shrimad,are compiled here:
"I have learnt much from the lives of many a person, but it is from the life of Kavishri (the poet i. e. Shrimad) that I have learnt the most." (A lecture delivered by Gandhiji
in Ahmedabad in 1921)
"While we are worldly souls, Shrimadji was not like us. While we may have to take many births hereafter, for Raichandbhai his present life may be the last. While we perhaps are running away from liberation, Raichandbhai was heading towards it with a tremendous speed. This speaks Volumes of Raichandbhai 's self effort." [From Gandhiji's Pen-Picture of Shrimad Rajcbandra
** "Two outstanding virtues to be imbibed from Shrimad's life are his love for Truth and Ahimsa [Nonviolence). His actions and conduct reflected what he believed to be true. His love for Ahimsa 'was because he was a Jain and also because it was inherent in his nature. Basic Ahimsa - which means not to harm even the smallest life-form and so on - (as understood by the Jains) but his Ahimsa did not stop there. If any human suffered any pain, Shrimad would also Suffer in sympathy and because of this, he would become very detached from the material
"Raichandbhai's commercial transactions numbered in hundreds and thousands. He was a connoisseur of pearls and diamonds. No business problem was too difficult for him. But all these things were not the centre around which his life revolved. It was the passion to know himself. The man who, immediately on completing his weighty business
llis detached lifestyle is noticeable from his earliest days. He passed away at the young age of 33 years. His attitude of detachment can be seen in his writings at the age of 17 and 18. From that young age his life's direction was one of detachment and equanimity. Even though he remained a house-holder and a businessman almost till the end of his life, yet his inner life was one of detachment.
Four lessons for us from his life are :1) Focus on the eternal; 2) Candor in life ! and equal treatment to all; 3) Truth, and 4) a Life full of Ahimsa.
I have read some of the letters he wrote just before his death and I have noticed these virtues in them. Let us remember these virhies and implement them in our lives."
the hidden things of the spirit. He could evidently not be a businessman at all, but a real seeker of Truth, And I saw him thus absorbed
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