Shrimad Rajchandra Diwakar Chitrakatha 037

Author(s): Amarmuni
Publisher: Mahavir Seva Trust Mumbai

Page 2

SRIMAD RAJCHANDRA
Shrimad Rajchandra's genius was of a contemplative character, and yet the story of his life is not entirely uneventful. Till he was four years old, he was known as Laxminandan, but that was informally; he was, next, given the name Raichand. He grew up, and was sent to school. He was quick at learning and had remarkable memory and poetic gifts. As a young man, he got married, shifted to Bombay and entered business, where again he was strikingly successful. He led the life of a house-holder; he had four children. After having retired from business; at an early stage, he left Bombay and returned to places nearer his hometown Vavania in Saurashtra, and he passed away while still in his thirties, at the age of thirty-four..........
Raichandbhai was considerably close to people of the Jain fold who follow the way as preached by Bhagwan Mahavir. Quite a number of these were orthodox Jains, and among these were some who were munis, who were criticized in the orthodox circles and sometime to hostility and persecation. Very often, Shrimad was approached for guidance by his disciples during periods of strain. Despite this, Shrimad's advice was to avoid all unnecessary wranglings and friction, but never to flinch from the main battle.
It was this independence of outlook and this capacity for the analysis of the accepted values of life, that attracted a young intellectual like Mohandas Gandhi to him and there were exchange of letters between Gandhiji and Shrimad, which left a deep impact on Gandhiji. This was also how the ardent but unassuming young man from Vavania, entered the history of Indian and consequently, of world-thought.
What follows is the pictorial life-story of this man.
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