Shrimad Rajchandra

Author(s): JAINA Education Committee
Publisher: JAINA Education Committee

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CONTEMPORARY Jain LEGENDS
He composed his first poem at the age of eight and started writing poems and articles related to social issues for publication in the local newsletters. Despite his young age he wrote serious articles on social reform subjects like the need for improving female literacy rates, child marriages, and the display of wealth by the rich. He also composed poems with nationalistic zeal.
At a very young age, he had the supernatural ability to foresee what was likely to happen and he helped some people by saving them from possible disasters. By the time he was 18, he had become a very proficient astrologer. He was able to identify books merely by touching them and know the taste of food without tasting it. Along with developing all these extraordinary abilities, he became very compassionate towards all living beings and a strong promoter of non-violence.
Family:
At the age of 20, Räjchandra married Zabakben in 1888 AD (1944 V.S.). Zabakben was the daughter of Shri Popatlalbhai Jagjivandäs, the elder brother of Shri Reväshankarbhai who later became Shrimad's business partner. They had four children; two sons, Shri Chhaganlal and Shri Ratiläl and two daughters, Smt. Javalben and Smt. Käshiben. Shrimad had a younger brother, Shri Mansukhbhai.
Shrimad Räjchandra became a partner in a gemstone business in Mumbai at the age of 20 (1888 AD). He was absolutely ethical, honest, and very compassionate in all his business dealings. In a very short time his business flourished because of his wisdom and business insight. His regard for truth, adherence to high moral values, and firmness to do what was right inspired many others. In 1899 AD (1955 V.S.), he totally retired from business at the age of 31.
Power of Avadhän (Multi-tasking):
At the age of 17, Shrimad had observed someone performing eight different tasks simultaneously, known as Ashta-vadhäni (eight tasks) in Gujarati. He studied the method and the next day he was able to perform twelve tasks. He soon improved his performance to be able to manage 52 Avadhäns or tasks. When he was 19, he was invited to perform his Avadhäns at a public meeting in Mumbai in the presence of the Bombay Chief Justice and other dignitaries. He successfully performed 100 Avadhäns (tasks) known as Shatävdhän.
The 100 tasks included a variety of activities like playing cards, playing chess, counting the bell chimes, completing mathematical manipulations like addition, division, and multiplication, composing poems with different themes and specified set of words, arranging the order of words from 16 different languages which included English, Greek, Latin and Arabic (note that Shrimad's formal study included only Gujarati up to Grade 7 of elementary school).
This was an unbelievable feat and the performance was given much publicity in all the major newspapers like the Times of India and Pioneer. Shrimad was invited to go to Europe and demonstrate his extraordinary talents. This would have meant more fame and substantial material gain. However, he declined the offer because it would be extremely difficult to stay in Europe as per Jain religious standards and also he would be distracted from his main objective of spiritual progress.
By the time he was 20, his fame had spread throughout India and he realized that he was achieving only material benefits for his amazing powers and that was not what he wanted from his life. He gave up
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