Gandhis Teachers Rajchandra Ravjibhai Mehta

Author(s): Satish Sharma
Publisher: Gujarat Vidyapith Ahmedabad

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Chapter 2 The Life of Rajchandra
Rajchandra, as has been mentioned before, was born in 1868 in Vavania in Kathiawad (Saurashra), India. His father was a Vaishnava.' named Ravjibhai. The mother was a devout Jain' and her name was Devabai. Rajchandra was very bright and he imbibed the religious spirit of his family at an early age. When still young, the grandfather took Rajchandra to guru Ramdas, who initiated him as a Vaishnava by putting a kanthi4 around his neck. Little did the guru or others know that the boy later would not believe in such rituals and would repudiate all unscrupulous superstitions.
Rajchandra had a close boy friend, named Amichand. He died of a snake bite and this incident brought to Rajchandra an awareness of the phenomenon of life and death for the first time. Amichand's corpse was taken to the cremation ground and burned on a pyre according to the Hindu rites.? Rajchandra hid himself in a nearby tree and watched all. He was shocked and saddened to see the body of his dear friend being burned. Strangely, this incidence put Rajchandra in a deep reflective mood. The veil of ignorance suddenly lifted from his inner sight and he was able to see his previous births and eventual death in this life. This was an eye-opening experience for a boy at age seven. Later, at age twenty-five, Raichandra wrote the following note in his diary:
"One should not doubt the narrations about previous births of great persons, which are recorded in various scriptures. By developing one's psychological power, it is feasible to look into one's previous births. There is nothing imaginary in it. To deny the possibility of experience in
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