Essence of Jainism Part 01

Author(s): Kushalchandravijay
Publisher: 108 jain Tirth Darshan Trust

Page 10

Later, Virchand Gandhi went to England, where he fulfilled his desire to be a barrister but he did not use this training for monetary gain. Considering the curiousity for Jainism in England, he started a coaching class. Later he founded the 'Jain Literature Society' in London. Herbert Warrent, a religious enthusiast, abandoned non-vegetarianism and adopted the Jain religion. He took notes of Virchand Gandhi's lectures and wrote in English a book on the Jain religion. Moreover, Charles C. Bonny, the President of the Conference of world religions, was impressed by him. At the time of the famine of 1896-97 in India, Mr. Bonny was the president of the Famine Relief committee founded in America by Virchand Gandhi. This committee immediately sent to India forty thousand Rupees and a steamer full of corn. During this travel Virchand Gandhi delivered as many as 535 lectures. He had the command of fourteen languages including Gujarati, Hindi, Bengali, English, Sanskrit and French.
Thus a young man of twenty-nine, he preached religion in foreign countries in the face of opposition from his own community who objected to travel abroad. He toured abroad thrice to spread the message of Jain Philosophy and he was equally a spokesman of indian philosophy.
The short life span of Virchand Raghavji Gandhi is full of multifarious achievements. He was the first graduate of the Jain society to get his BA with Hons. in 1884. When his father died in 1890, he did not allow the primitive practices of wailing and breast-beating during mourning. At the age of twenty one, as the secretary of 'Shri Jain Association of India' he worked fc the abolition of poll-tax levied on pilgrims to Palitana.
Annoyed by poll-tax and other forms of harassment, the Anandji Kalyanji firm had filed a suit against the ruler of Palitana. But 'Sursinghji' the ruler (Thakor) of Palitana, was a right-hand man of the Political Agent. The Political Agent did not give fair justice. Virchand Gandhi took up the problem. In those days to protest against the dictates of the ruler was to invite severe punishment and even death. He often went up from Mahuva to Palitana and prepared the ground for compromise. He met Lord Ray, the Governor of Bombay, and Colonel Watson, the Political Agent and made a strong representation and eventually forced the abolition of the poll-tax. An English man set up at Mt. Sametshikhar, a place of pilgrimage in Bihar, a factory for extracting pig's fat on order. Virchand Gandhi went all the way to Calcutta to have the work on the project