Book Title: ISJS Jainism Study Notes E5 Vol 01
Author(s): International School for Jain Studies
Publisher: International School for Jain Studies

Previous | Next

Page 112
________________ QUES monk" 3 While from V.S. 1952 to 1957 when he passed, he almost overcame conflict. But before reaching the zenith of the spiritual development, that is, perfect vitarăgata and kevalajñāna, the span of his life was unexpectedly cut short and he met a premature death because of extreme weakness".4 Another important feature of his life is his acquaintance with Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi was very much influenced by his teachings and was a major influence on him. He was Gandhi's spiritual guru. Through letters Gandhi and śrīmad had lot of correspondence. Gandhi Says, "he was absorbed in his thoughts even when he would be walking. He had a miracle in his eyes, which were very shining. He was never in depressed mood. His voice was so much sweet that one would never be tired of listening to him. His face was always smiling and it displayed inner bliss. "5 There were many other people who followed him during his life. He wrote Ātmasiddhi on the request of Sobhagabhai and completed it in three hours. Saskara, the propounder of Advaita Vedānta and Vivekananda of Ramakrishna Mission also lived a short span life of 33 years with its full meaning. Srimad lived only for 33 12 years. 2.1 Literature His major works are in Gujarati. They include Bhāvanābodha, Moksamālā, Ātmasiddhi, Apūrva Avasara, Mūlamārga, about eight hundred letters, personal diaries and notes, more than one thousand aphorisms and good sayings are published in works like Puspamālā, Bodhavacana and Vacanasaptasati, Gujarati translation of Kundakunda's Pañcāstikāya etc. Some poems, incomplete articles, translations notes and commentaries etc. are available in Manuscripts. His autobiographical article such as Samutcaya-Vayācārya is also valuable. These works show that he was a prolific writer, poet and a mystic who always wrote on the basis of his personal experience. His unfinished and unpublished works include topics like 'women's education', 'Svadesi, who is really rich?' All these were written before he completed 20 years of his age. But he stopped writing on such topics after the 20th year and concentrated only on spirituality. 3 U.K. Pungaliya, Philosophy and Spirituality Of Rājacandra, p.27 4 Ibid p. 68 5 lbid STUDY NOTES version 5.0 Page 99 of 317

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352