________________ * The lessons on Jain philosophical doctrines are lucid and simple expositions useful for every student of Jain philosophy and religion. * He has also enumerated the eighteen obstacles to the control of mental modifications which a seeker of the Self-realization should remove from his life. * He has also described fourteen mental states which make gradual development of the highest virtues. AVADHANA OR POWERS OF ATTENTION AND RECOLLECTION In about Vikram Samvat 1940 or 1884 A.D. Shrimadji came from Vavania to Morbi. In Morbi, Shastri Shankarlal M. Bhatt was performing the feat of attending to eight objects or eight activities at a time. At the same time in Bombay, Gattulalji Maharaj was performing similar feats. These were the only two well-known persons for their exceptional memory and attention feats. Shrimadji saw the performance of these feats in Morbi and quickly picked them up. Within two days after he saw the memory feats, he started performing similar feats before his friends and then for the open public. He was already known as a learned man but when he performed a memory feat of attending to twelve activities at a time before a public of 2,000 persons he became famous as a prodigy with exceptional powers. Some admirers used to address him as the precious diamond of India. In an exhibition at Wadhwan he performed his memory feat of attending to sixteen activities at a time before an audience of rulers and highly educated public, and all were extremely pleased. The dailies published articles in his praise. In Botad, before his millionaire friend Sheth Harilal Shaivalal, he performed the memory feat of attending to 52 activities at a time. They included: * Playing Chopat with three other players; * Playing cards with three others and at the end to call out all thirteen cards he had; * At the same time playing chess and at the end of the memory feat to declare all the pieces which were removed from the chess board; * To count grains which were dropped on his back while he was engaged in the memory feat; * To perform addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and to keep the results in mind and to declare them at the end of the memory feat; * To tell as to how many beads, a man sitting opposite him, had turned from a garland till the time he stopped turning them; * To hear words of 16 sentences in 16 different languages in a random fashion and later on to speak out all the 16 sentences in the 16 languages; * To supply individual letters in a random way in a chart to be completed and at the end to compose a verse; 10
