Gandhi And Jainism

Author(s): Shugan C Jain
Publisher: International School for Jain Studies

Page 57

strengthened his conviction of the efficacy of the vows and value of truthfulness.
Perhaps his life mission of adhering to the value system he cherished so far and move on brought him in contact with people like Dr. Pranjivan Mehta who kept on guiding him and later created an urge in him for Hind Swaraj; Virchand Gandhi in dietary experiments and legal profession; Gokhale for educational and social reforms; and above all Rajchandra for spirituality and way of life. Rajchandra was almost his age, came from his town and community developed living contacts and admired most. All these people led simple life while pursuing their professions.
A word about Rajchandra: Gandhi spent a lot of time observing and interacting with Rajchandra (Appendix II) whom he called as Raychandbhai. Raychandbhai was a jeweller who was more spiritually inclined but was a successful jeweller and family man as well. He practiced spiritually and gave it the highest place in his life. Gandhi started considering him as a friend which soon changed to being a spiritual mentor. Gandhi himself said:
"I found his talks of absorbing interest... His words went straight home to me. His intellect compelled as great a regard from me as his moral earnestness... In my moments of spiritual crisis, therefore he was my refuge”.
Accordingly he chose the first opportunity to leave India and go to South Africa for earning a livelihood and pursue his life mission. He continued his interactions with Rajchandra from South Africa through a series of letters to seek insight in spiritual and way of life matters.
Conclusion Gandhi respected the vows taken before leaving for England. However he experimented, gained more knowledge and enforced his convictions based on experience and logic rather than blind faith in the vows. He was a great practitioner of truth and did so even at the cost of loosing professional opportunities and earned
Pg.34 Gandhi & Jainism