Gandhis Teachers Rajchandra Ravjibhai Mehta

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

Page 43

The Life of Rajchandra
25
written in about sixth century B.C. These are important parts of the Hindu scriptures. See: Radhakrishnan and
Moore, A Source Book... op. cit., 1957. 23. Goverdhandas, Mahatma Gandhi and Kavi Raj
chandraji...op. cit., 1989, p. 2. 24. Government of India, The Collected Works... Vols. 9 &
43... op. cit., 1958-84, respectively p. 213 & pp. 98-99.
Also see: Modern Review, June 1930. 25. Government of India, The Collected Works... Vols. 32...
op. cit., 1958-84, p. 6. 26. This was a long poem composed by Rajchandra at age
eighteen. The translated version of a couple of the verses is as follows (See: Government of India, The Collected Works... Vols. 32... op. cit., 1958-84, p. 6): "When shall I know that state supreme, When will the knots, outer and inner, snap? When shall I, breaking the bonds that bind us fast, Tread the path trodden by the wise and the great? Withdrawing the mind from all interests, Using this body solely for self-control, He desires nothing to serve any ulterior and of his own, Seeing nothing in the body to bring on a trace of the darkness of ignorance." A prose version of this poem was included in Ashram Bhajaanavali and recited by residents of Gandhi's Ashrams in their daily prayers. The text was as follows (See: Government of India, The Collected Works... Vol. 44... op. cit., 1958-84, pp. 463-465): "When will the matchless time come, so that I would be rid of all knots external and internal? When will I give up all the subtlest ties and go the way the great sages have gone? Would that I was indifferent to all the moods and that the body was used merely for self-restraint, that there was nothing to bind me for any cause imaginable and that I had no illusions about the body. Would that I should gain knowledge that comes from removal of obstruction in the path of perception, that I regarded body as separate from