Shrimad Rajchandra And Mahatma Gandhi

Author(s): Kumarpal Desai
Publisher: Raj Saubhag Satsang Mandal

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Shrimad Rajchandra's Life Sketch
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seekers of truth, monks and householders, were drawn towards him.
It was at about this time, that Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, later to be known as the father of the nation or as Mahatma Gandhi, qualified as a barrister in England and returned to India. He too turned to Shrimad for spiritual guidance.
Shrimad's inner and external renunciation, by this time, were beginning to reflect through his behavior. He would sleep on the floor without a mattress, wear just one piece of clothing and would eat only once a day. He would not use any footwear. He sought solitude so that he could maintain silence and meditate. Mosquito bites and extreme temperatures did not bother him when he was meditating outdoors. He gave up his business activities and pleaded for his mother's consent to let him renounce materialistic pursuits and adopt monkhood. Citing his ill health, she persuaded him to postpone his plans until he was fully fit.
However, destiny had other plans. Shrimad's health continued to deteriorate. Much to the dismay of all those who had recognised his spiritual state, Shrimad's soul left its mortal body at the peak of his youth, at the age of thirty-three years and five months in the year VS 1957 in Rajkot.
Thanks to the influence of Shrimad, souls like Shri Saubhagbhai, Shri Laghuraj Swami, Shri Ambalalbhai, and Shri Mansukhbhai Kiratchand Mehta to name just a few, experienced a radical transformation in their lives.
The essence of Shrimad's exalted inner state can be found in his poems, writings, letters, articles and notes. His words hold an extremely important place in the annals of Jain philosophy. He composed philosophical treatises like “Mokshmala' and ‘Bhavanabodh’. In a short span of just ninety minutes, he composed the formidable ‘Atmasiddhi Shastra’, a classical poem consisting