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The Life of Rajchandra
17
on the ground or had a chair to sit on. In the shop, he sat on a gaddi. 35 He used to walk slowly and anyone could easily see that he was deeply absorbed in his own thoughts. He was free from any sign of impatience or anxiety and paid a singleminded attention to his affairs. There was a strange shine on his face, power in his eyes, and he looked like an embodiment of peace. The face was round, the lips thin, the nose neither pointed nor flat, and the body was slim-built and of medium size. The skin was dark. There was such sweetness in his voice that one simply wanted to keep on listening to him. The face was smiling and cheerful and it depicted inner joy of the soul. Rajchandra had a ready command of the language and Gandhi did not see him ever pausing for a word to express his thoughts or change a word while writing a letter. Yet, the reader could not tell that any thought was imperfectly expressed or the construction of a sentence was defective or the choice of a word was faulty. These qualities, Gandhi believes, could exist only in a man of self-realization and perfect self-control.16 Rajchandra conducted his household and business affairs with a clear-minded attention, an attitude of renunciation, and with constant focus on the ultimate goal of moksha. The following verse by Shamal Bhatt applied welli to Rajchandra's affairs:37
"He is a true vanik,3% who never speaks an untruth; He is a true vanik, who never gives short measure; He is a true vanik, who honors his father's words; He is a true vanik, who returns the principal with interest;
Good sense is the vanik's measure, and the king's measure his credit; Should the vania (vanik) neglect business, suffering like a forest fire spreads far and wide. "39
Rajchandra's business of diamonds and pearls was in partnership with Revashankar Jagjivan Mehta. In addition, he had a cloth shop. Gandhi says that in his business dealings Rajchandra displayed utmost vigilance and was very successful. He could judge the worth of diamonds and pearls with great accuracy. Even without any knowledge of English
G.T.R.-2.
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