Vardhaman Book on Jainism

Author(s): Jayshree Menon
Publisher: Bennete Coleman & Co Ltd

Page 77

THE SMALL BIG MAN
.n a world of rapidly changing ideals, practice and precept often simulate the linear struc
ture of railroads. For miles and miles, tracks run alongside, converging only through the magical melee of the mind and its mechanics - the realm of the imagination. Science however calls it a mére illusion, a travesty of truth, a mere visual deception. Two parallel lines will never meet, it says with equanimity. And that is the universal truth - the scientific reality.
It is not far from the spiritual truth either, for how often does religious rhetoric respond directly to the exigencies of daily life - the pangs of hunger, the cries of the disabled and of those who writhe in pain? Yet one man has struck a balance. His name is Mafatlal Mehta. A staunch Jain, he won't preach his faith but practice it he will, and with such fervour, it boggles the mind. Not for him the hollow homilies of saints nor the long hours of virtuous meditation that religion demands of its faithful.
"I won't be a sadhu" he says with a determined shake of his head. Mafatkaka, as he is fondly known for the bundles of money he doles out in charity each day, prefers to spend his time serving humanity - ensuring that the have-nots have what they should - striving to attain the Jain ideal
of karuna (compassion). At age 83, Mafatkaka is a study in perseverance. Through the love and support of an adoring family, he cuts a fine picture of a man devoted to his cause the cause of purging misery among his brethren.
Resolute that service alone is the true path to salvation, Mafatkaka can convince airlines to part with their leftovers and marriage parties to hand over their surplus food. A true champion of the poor, his benevolence ranges from medical to educational aid, from organising eye camps to polio correction centres among a host of other gracious activities.
Mafatkaka was only five when he lost his father. His elder brother Chandulal and mother Diwaliben played vital roles in his upbringing. While Chandulal Mehta gave him the best education and the requisite skills to set up a pioneering diamond business, it was his mother who proved to be the stronger influence on his philanthropic life. A gutsy freedom fighter, Diwaliben was simple, disciplined and deeply religious. She had no formal education, yet she developed an innate fondness for religious literature that helped her acquire a sound understanding of the basic tenets of Jainism. Even in her own childhood days in Palanpur, Gujarat,
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