________________
The man and his Message to save the mother and the child. In an instant both the lives were savéd and the whola village was full of praise for the brave rescuer. This indicates the depth of love and sympathy Atmaramji had, even in those younger years, for mankind irrespective of caste or creed. Many may feel more or less sympathetic under similar circumstances, but very few boys of that age would be prepared to act in that way. The reason is that only deep feelings of sympathy lead to prompt action at a critical time of extreme difficulty. Atmaramji felt the mother's agony and he at once translated his genuine feelings of sympathy into spontaneous action.
ABSENCE OF THE SENSE OF SEPARATENESS
The following incident would show how Atmaramji identified himself with the whole order of monks and how absent the sense of separateness was in him. One of his followers once complained of a certain person not " Bowing down to him. Atmaramji remarked "Every Jain householder daily recites NAMASKAR MANTRA which implies his bowing down to all Sadhus. If I live the life of a Sadhu, I am automatically included in that bowing down, but if I do not live that life, I do not deserve the respect and that person is therefore quite right in with holding his respect for me. What a nice answer i So meek, effective and captivating ! An answer that spontaneously escaped his smiling lips and one which instead of adding to the antagonistic spirit in the complainant might have given him some food for thought. • NON-DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE RICH & THE POOR
Atma Ramji treated the rich and the poor alike. He was eqally approachable to all and served them with the same zeal. He never sacrificed his principles for the sake of the rich. In the Bikram year 1941, he was to leave Ahmedabad. He notified his departure time as 12 o'clock noon. At the appointed time thousands of Jains assembled to bid him farawell. Nagar Seth Pramabhai, the wealthiest and the most influential man of the town was a bit late. The people requested him to wait for a few minutes to allow the Seth a chance of bidding farowell. His reply was characteristic.
• 80 :
[ Shree Atmaramji
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org