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Appendix II
Rajchandra Ravjibhai Mehta
In the philosophical and religious realm; Gandhi mentioned the names of Rajchandra, Leo Tolstoy, John Ruskin, and occasionally Henry David Thoreau for the spot of a Guru. Gandhi's criterion of a religious Guru was 'one who advised the disciple on all matters of daily conduct and living and helped him achieve perfection in life, self-realization of soul, and the goal of Moksha. That could be done only by someone who was himself pure and inspiring, perfect in spiritual knowledge, self-realized, nonsectarian, infallible, free from wants and flaws, capable of guiding by word and example, and practiced what preached."2 That was a tall order and difficult to match. However Gandhi ranked Rajchandra/Raychandbhai at the highest spot of his religious
Guru.
In his Autobiography, Gandhi devoted three pages to introduce Rajchandra and refer him at number of instances during his sojourn in South Africa.
Brief Life-Sketch of Rajchandra Ravjibhai Mehta Rajchandra was born in 1868 in Vavania, Kathiawad India, only one year before Gandhi was born. Both Rajchandra and Gandhi belonged to Bania families, shared Gujarati culture, and had strong religious backgrounds. Rajchandra's father Ravjibhai was a Vaishnava and mother Devabai, a devout Jain. When still young, his grandfather took him (Rajchandra) to guru Ramdas, who initiated him as a Vaishnava by putting a Kanthi around his neck. Little did the guru or others knew that the boy later would not believe in such rituals.
At the tender age of seven a Jain householder named Amichand who showered affection on him, died of a snake-bite. Secretly Rajchandra went to the cremation ground and was shocked and
