Comtemporary Jain Legends

Author(s): Atmanandji Maharaj
Publisher: Shrimad Rajchandra Ashram

Page 45

move. His body will have to be burnt out near the pond outside the village." Hearing this, Rajchandra slipped into deep thinking and as a result the cover of ignorance vanished. He remembered his previous lives and when he went to Junagadh, he knew everything about the lives through which he had passed before. This knowledge affected his social life very deeply. He knew the pains of repeated births and death. He became more and more detached to his family life and decided to work to attain Moksha, absolute bliss or Salvation or Omniscience.
His Learning: After seven years of age, Shrimad Rajchandra was put to a school. He remembered his readings only by one-time reading, (this is called Ekpathi) and he cited about this power in Samuchehaya Vayacharya. He completed his seven-year study in only two years. He was always eager for learning, reading new books and knowing more and more at all times.
Attachment of Magical Powers in Childhood: He started composing poems at the age of eight. He sat at the father's shop and conducted the business honesty and sincerely. He could understand the proper meanings of Gujarati, Hindi, Sanskrit and Prakrit words and phrases in these books. The virtues of being kind to all living animate; sympathy and tolerance were developed in him from his young age.
Avadhan Shakti and Jyotish Knowledge: He could do many works at a time without errors. He made an experiment of twelve Avdhans in Morbi at the age of only 16 and then did 16 and 52 deeds at one time in Jamnagar and Botad respectively. He made an experiment of performing 100 deeds at a time in Mumbai at the age of 19.
After this success, Shrimad Rajchandra turned to astrology. He had also the power of knowing books by touch only keeping eyes closed and knowing the taste of food-item without taking it on tongue. The intelligent part of the society expressed their sharp reaction on these extraordinary powers and newspapers like Mumbai Samachar, Jame Jamshed, Gujarati, Times of India, The India Spectator, Bombay Gazette etc. quoted these powers not only as a news-item but they wrote editorial articles also. The Jain Samaj in the assembly on Shatavadhan awarded him gold medal and he was titled as Sakshat Saraswati-i.e. Goddess of Learning in person. Shrimad Rajchandra stopped these activities respectively at the age 20 and 24 because he was afraid of excessive public contacts because of his Avadhan experiments and only worldly progress was expected by the knowledge of astrology. He placed both these powers in the category of simple imaginations and turned towards restraint, detachment, study, thinking and loneliness for attaining real strength of soul.
Business and Conduct: Shrimad Rajchandra had the business of jewellery and he did it only for the maintenance of his family. As a measure of social revolution, he wrote poems and articles for female education, unparalleled marriages, reason for the down fall of Aryans, protest against heavy expenses for dinner parties at marriages and many other subjects.