Gandhis Teachers Rajchandra Ravjibhai Mehta

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

Page 89

Rajchandra's Influences on Gandhi
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the monogamous ideals and faithful to his wife. He could not recall exactly what circumstance set his thoughts in the direction of taking the vow of brahmacharya, but one predominant factor was the influence of Rajchandra on him. Gandhi had read somewhere that Mrs. Gladstone, the wife of a British Parliamentarian, insisted on preparing tea for Mr. Gladstone even in the House of Commons and that this had become a rule in the life of this illustrious couple. One day Gandhi shared with Rajchandra his admiration for Mrs. Galdstone's devotion to her husband and praised her caring attitude and the conjugal love. Rajchandra was not impressed and he asked Gandhi:7
"Which of the two do you prize more, the love of Mrs. Galdstone for her husband as his wife, or her devoted service irrespective of her relation to Mr. Gladstone? Supposing she had been his sister, or his devoted servant, and ministered to him with the same attention, what would you have said? Do we not have instances of such devoted sisters or servants? Supposing you had found the same loving devotion in a male servant, would you have been pleased in the same way as in Mrs. Gadstone's case? Just examine the viewpoint suggested by me."
Rajchandra's words appeared harsh to Gandhi at that time and he felt perplexed. But he continued to reflect on the posed question and realized that there was a substantial amount of truth in what Rajchandra said. For a wife, it was not so great if she was devoted to her husband, because this was a natural expectation in the conjugal relationship. But a similar devotion on the part of a sister or a servant was many times more admirable, as the devotion in these cases was more selfless and required a special effort in the cultivation. Rajchandra's views started making sense to Gandhi and he began to reflect upon his own relationship with his wife. He began to question whether his devotion and faithfulness to his wife were selfless, or were those feelings based on an expectation in the conjugal relationship that also included lust and carnal desire. Gandhi's conclusion was that probably the