Virchand R Gandhi

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

Page 1

VIRCHAND R. GANDHI
36 Virchand R. Gandhi
A Brief Summary of his Life and Mission
(August 25, 1864 to August 7, 1901)
It was the memorable day of September 11, 1893. The Columbus Hall of the Art Institute of Chicago was overflowing with more than 3,000 delegates of different nations and religions. It was the opening day of the Parliament of World Religions Conference, the first such conference ever organized in the history of mankind. The aim of the conference was to impart to the world, the knowledge of different religions, to promote a feeling of fraternity between followers of diverse religious persuasions, and to pave the way for world peace. The conference lasted for 17 days.
Two young men among them, with their Indian costumes and turbans drew special attention from the public - one was the world famous Swami Vivekananda, who represented Hinduism and the other was Shri Virchand Raghavji Gandhi who represented Jainism. They made such an impact at the Parliament of Religions with their impressive speeches and personality that both of them were requested to prolong their stay in the USA and continued to give speeches at different cities after the conference was over.
Shri Virchand Gandhi, a young man of twenty-nine, impressed the delegates not only by his eloquence, but also by the sheer weight of his scholarship. The impartiality of his outlook and the oratorical skill of this man fascinated the delegates at the conference. An American newspaper wrote, "Of all eastern scholars, it was this youth whose lecture on Jain faith and conduct was listened to with great interest attention."
Shri Virchand R. Gandhi was born on August 25, 1864 in Mahuva, near Bhavanagar, Gujarat, India. After his primary and secondary education in Bhavanagar, he joined Elphinstone College in Mumbai. He graduated and obtained a B.A. Degree with honors from the University of Bombay in 1884. He was probably the first graduate amongst the Jains at that time. He was also a student of Buddhism, Vedanta Philosophy, Yoga, Christianity and Western philosophy. He had also done a comparative study of various philosophies, which equipped him for talks on various subjects with confidence. He had command over fourteen languages including Gujarati, Hindi, Bengali, English, Präkrit, Sanskrit, and French.
Shri Gandhi became the first honorary secretary of the Jain Association of India in 1885 at the age of 21. As secretary, he worked very hard for the abolition of poll tax levied on pilgrims to Mount Shatrunjay, the most sacred place of Jain religion at Palitänä, Gujarat, India. In those days to protest against the ruler was to invite severe punishment and even death. He prepared a case to compromise. He made a strong representation to Lord Ray, the governor of Bombay, and Colonel Watson, the political agent and eventually abolished the poll tax in place of a fixed payment of Rs. 15,000 per year to the ruler for looking after the safety of the pilgrims and the holy place.
In 1891 Mr. Boddam, an Englishman set up a factory for slaughtering pigs and making tallow out of them at Mount Sametshikhar, another holy place of Jain pilgrimage near Calcutta, in the state of Bihar, India. Shri Virchand Gandhi went all the way to Calcutta to stop the killing of pigs at the holy place. He stayed
JAIN STORY BOOK For Private & Personal Use Only
145