Great Warrior Of Ahimsa

Author(s): Pratap J Tolia
Publisher: Vardhaman Bharati International Foundation

Page 48

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"I do not have any partiality, whatever religion you belong to. I only wish that you should follow such a religion, such a code of conduct, such'a devotion that may lead you to eradicate the blemishes of worldly life.........!"
Such letters and other are the treasure and testimony of the Unique greatness, secular spirit and religious generosity and tolerance of Srimad Rajchandraji.
Mahatma Gandhiji's Spiritual Heir and Great Secular Scholar and Initiator of SarvodayaBhoodan Movement Acharya VINOBĀ BHĀVE has paid glowing tribute to this unparalleled greatness of Srimad Rajchandraji in one of his Marathi Letters dated 17-11-1935, written from Pavnar near Wardha. He has written :
"Rajchandbhai became instrumental in strengthening Bāpu (Gandhiji)'s faith in Hinduism-this, a service which had naturally taken shape at his hands but from the view point of public, was his best act. In my opinion, his superb service is to manifest in himself, a burning zeal for Self-Realisation".
GANDHIJI'S FIRST ACQUAINTANCE WITH RAJCHANDRAJI
Before going in depth about Gandhiji's various impressions and writings or speeches cn Srimad Rájchandraji who strengthened his faith in his own fold of Hinduism, it will be interesting and useful to have a glimpse of Gandhiji's first and primary acquaintances with Srimadji.
It was the month of July in 1891 A.D., one Hundred years before. Gandhiji, the then Barrister M.K. Gandhi, had returned from England after his studies in Law. He had put up with Dr. Pranjivandās Mehta at Bombay, whose niece was married to Rajchandräji, then known as Poet Raychandbhai. Dr. Mehta was the person to introduce Rajchandraji saying about him:
"Inspite of being a poet he is associated with us in Business. He is a very knowledgeable person, a Gyani, a Shatavadhāni (one who is capable of attending to one hundred things at a time and recollecting the same in order)."
Someone suggested to Gandhiji at that time that "Why don't you narrate a few words to Rāychandbhai ? He will repeat them in the same order irrespective of whatsoever language".
Gandhiji, astonished at listening this, narrates the incidence clarifying his own condition of that time :-
"Young man was I, returned from England, showy of my knowledge of Language, no less was the influence of the west upon me. Returned from Abroad means descended from Heaven ! I made a big show of expressing the whole of my knowledge and first of all I wrote down words of different languages--because where was I capable to hold that order in my memory ? I read out those words thereafter. What a surprise that Raychandbhai slowly and smoothly repeated all these words in the same order ! I was pleased, greatly astonished and cultivated my high opinion about the Memory Power of the Poet. This experience should be good enough to calm down my pride of the Western influence........"
Gandhiji was so much impressed at this very first acquaintance by Rajchandraji that he felt such a Memory, such a knowledge and that too of a not much school-educationpossessing and a little elder to him (just by one year and ten months) person was rare. Even he was so much respected without going out of India. This thing made Gandhiji to realise that one need not go abroad to gather respect and memory could not be purchased from the school and so also the knowledge !