Shrimad Rajchandra And Mahatma Gandhi

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

Page 90

Shrimad Rajchandra & Mahatma Gandhi
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had not dared to write to young Gandhi about the loss lest he could not bear the shock while being so far away. It was the tradition that a family elder or a person of importance conveys the news of bereavement and Shrimad had been allocated that task. Gandhi was eagerly waiting to see his mother on his arrival, and Shrimad had to break the news of her demise. Gandhi had later noted, “The news of her death gave me a greater shock than the one I felt when my father had passed away."
At the time, Shrimad Rajchandra's fame as a Shatavadhani (one who could perform a hundred mental tasks simultaneously) had spread far and wide. In 1887, on January 12th, nineteen-yearold Shrimad Rajchandra had demonstrated this incredible power at an event in Mumbai's Faramji Cawasji Institute.
Dr. Pranjivan Mehta introduced Gandhi to Shrimad, who was barely twenty-five years old at the time and only two years older than Gandhi. Even in his early youth, Gandhi was a good reader of a person's character. Their first meeting left a profound and lasting impression on Gandhi; Shrimad was highly intelligent, with a very spiritual and virtuous character. Dr. Pranjivandas talked about Shrimad's performance of Shatavadhan and requested Shrimad to demonstrate this amazing feat to Gandhi. Gandhi was a fully-fledged barrister, qualified in England while Shrimad only studied up to 7th grade in a village school. He had no knowledge of English but a powerful retentive memory. He was able to repeat a whole series of words in the same order as they were spoken, in any language. He would do additions, subtractions, multiplications,