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Shri Virchand Raghavji Gandhi
- Dr. Kumarpal Desai
At the World Religions Conference held in Chicago, U. S. A. in 1893 America, and the west, for the first time, heard the determined, spirited, resonant voice of ancient India, and the message of Indian philosophy and culture.
this institution Mrs. Howard who had adopted pure vegetarianism and other codes of conduct of Jainism under the influence of Virchand Gandhi.
Virchand Gandhi, a young man of twenty-nine, impressed the delegates not only by his eloquence, but also by the sheer weight of his scholarship. The scholarship, the catholicity of outlook and the oratorial skill of this man fascinated the delegates at the conference of World Religions. A striking characteristic of Virchand Raghavji Gandhi's lectures on the Jain religion was that they did not criticize other religions. Free from sectrain preferences and prejudices, his impartial ideology was an apt expression of the Jain who practices ahimsa in life and anekanta in thoughts.
Later, Virchand Gandhi went to England, where he fulfilled his desire to be a barrister but he did not use this training of monetary gain. Considering the curiosity for Jainism in England, he started a coaching class and founded the 'Jain Literature Society in London. Herbert Warren, a religious enthusiast, abandoned non-vegetarianism and adopted the Jain religion. During this travel Virchand Gandhi delivered as many as 535 lectures. He had the command of fourteen languages including Gujarati, Hindi, Bengali, English, Sanskrit and French.
Virchand Gandhi was not only a philosophical thinker but he also had the welfare of the nation at heart. Virchand Gandhi made as great an effort as Vivekanand did to give to the people abroad the true perspective of India. As early as in the year 1893 Virchand Gandhi talked of the economic and political freedom of India.
The short life span of Virchand Raghavji Gandhi is full of multifarious achievements. He was the first graduate of the Jain Society to get his BA with Hons. in 1884. When his father died in 1890, he did not allow the primitive practices of wailing and breastbeating during mourning. At the age of twenty-one, as the secretary of 'Shri Jain Association of India'. He worked for the abolition of poll-tax levied on pilgrims of Palitana.
Virchand Gandhi had a rare ability to see beyond the immediately visible world. He could see beyond this world, he could know the future. Even before the dawn of political independence, Virchand Gandhi had foreseen the proper role of India. He said, "If India becomes free, she will live in political cooperation with all countries."
An Englishman set up at Mt. Sametshikhar, a place of pilgrimage in Bihar, a factory for extracting pig's fat on order. Virchand Gandhi went all the way of Calcutta to have the work on the project stopped. He stayed in Calcutta for six months studying the papers regarding the case and learnt the Bengali language and ultimately got this verdict that.
Virchand Gandhi made such a great impact that the conveners and scholars of the conference of world religions awarded a silver medal to him. Subsequently on 8th August 1894 the citizens of Kasadova awarded a gold medal to him. In Chicago he founded the institution namely 'Society for the Education of Women of India and the secretary of
"Sametshikhar is a place of Jain pilgrimage and nobody else has any right to interfere there." He did not give up his fight until he achieved his objectives and got the factory closed down. He brought the dispute regarding the temple at Kavi to a happy resolution. He attended the international Commerce Conference as an all-Asia delegate. As a delegate from Bombay, he attended the Indian National
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