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Chapter 4

What Cast a Spell on Gandhi

What was Gandhi’s reaction to witnessing Rajchandra’s phenomenal power of retentive memory as well as his many other exceptional talents and abilities? To put it in his own words, “I envied his gifts without, however, coming under their spell” (GATB, 112). Gandhi said, though impressed, he was not inspired because he was interested in something quite different, something deeper. His religious appetite having been kindled by some of the devout theosophists and Christians in London, Gandhi was ready now, as he put it in his Preface to Shrimad Rajchandra—written from Yeravada Jail (1926, 146)—“to drink deep to his heart’s content the nectar of religion from his guru”—a guru who was not only knowledgeable but also a living embodiment of truth, purity, and wisdom. Unbeknownst to him, Gandhi was yearning in his heart for someone he could trust as a friend and spiritual guide, and with whom he could enter into a close, heart-to-heart, and soul-to-soul relationship. Like a hungry little bird waiting to be fed by its mother, Mohandas, too, was searching for someone to feed him now the real food for the soul.

And Gandhi would not be disappointed. He had come to the right place, at the right time, to meet the right person—Rajchandra—who would satisfy the hunger of his soul. The first two months that Gandhi spent in close communion with the poet at his residence in Mumbai, would prove to be most fruitful in satisfying not only his spiritual hunger, but also “in molding his inner self” and in building his character. Gandhi himself would later attribute to Rajchandra the distinct honor of being his prime inspiration to show him the way out of the darkness of ignorance into the Light of Knowledge; the poet would lead him gently but firmly from untruth to Truth. We shall now witness the gradual process of metamorphosis of an otherwise ordinary man like Mohandas Gandhi into the world-revered “Mahatma Gandhi.”

As indicated in the previous chapter, when Barrister Gandhi first met Rajchandra, the latter had already gone through a state of “divine discontent” as a result of which he had been reborn as if a person living in the world, yet not of this world. And what had struck Gandhi upon meeting the poet for the first time was exactly this: his “vairagya-bhavna” or “dispassion toward the things of the world.” Though the poet was detached, Gandhi observed, he had a cheerful countenance and a tranquil expression on his face; his eyes lit up when he spoke with measured yet forceful flow of words! As Gandhi put it in his Preface to Shrimad Rajchandra (November 5, 1926), “Shrimad was a rare man with a genuine culture of the heart.”

In his Autobiography (GATB, 112), Gandhi mentions three things about the poet which “cast a spell” over him: “his wide knowledge of the scriptures, his spotless character, and his burning passion for self-realization.”

Rajchandra’s Encyclopedic
Knowledge of World Religions

Despite his being the brightest student in his class who surpassed even his teacher in knowledge, Rajchandra had to drop out of school early in order to bear the financial responsibilities of his family upon his father’s sudden death. At the tender age of only thirteen, he had to hold the reins of their family’s pearl and diamond business. However, even while attending to his jewelry shop and tending to his clients, Rajchandra did not quit his passion for learning; he went alone on the path of self-study, or “swadhyaya” (swa: self, and adhyaya: study). The poet—an “incarnation of Devi Saraswati or the Goddess of Knowledge” (see ch. 2)—studied and mastered not only his own Jain religious scriptures, but also those of Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, and many more. Nemchand Gala, in his book in Gujarati, Shrimad Rajchandra Ane Gandhiji (1986, 5–10), has noted that by the age of twenty, Rajchandra had already written and published several books of poems, essays, stories, articles, and translations with his erudite commentary. Some of his early books include a series of didactic poems for women’s moral-ethical education and social reforms, such as: Stri Niti Bodha (1884); Pushpamala, or the “Garland of Flowers,” with 108 moral flowers of instructions, included in Subodh Sangraha and Bhavana-bodh (1887). Gandhi so much loved Shrimad’s famous poem, “Apurva Avasara,” that he translated it as “An Unprecedented Occasion” and included it in his Ashram-bhajanavali, or the “Ashram Book of Prayers” (1922). Rajchandra also wrote eight hundred letters to his devotees. Not yet twenty-five, he wrote, during one of his visits to the city of Nadiad, his masterpiece titled Atma-Siddhi-Shastra (1896), or “The Science of Self-Knowledge,” in one sitting, and in only an hour and a half, under the light of a hurricane lamp held by one of his followers. (See appendix 2 for the excerpts of Rajchandra’s writings.) Later, we shall see how Gandhi would be the biggest beneficiary of the poet’s religious knowledge and spiritual wisdom.

Shrimad’s Command over Languages

With his uncanny memory and an innate love of learning, Rajchandra is said to have taught himself Sanskrit, the sacred language of major Hindu scriptures, along with other ancient languages like Prakrit, Magadhi, Pali, and several others. Though self-taught, his command over these languages was astounding, and his intellectual grasp, simply surpassing.

Rajchandra: A Man of Spotless Character

For Mohandas Gandhi—“the Mahatma-to-be”—a person’s character, more than his knowledge, took precedence over anything else: his gifts, talents, money, power, name, fame, success, or any other accomplishment. By character, he meant not only what a person shows outside, but who he or she really is inside. To Gandhi, a person of high character meant one whose words (vani), thoughts (vichar), and conduct (achar) were well aligned. Most everyone knows how much Gandhi loved the picture of the “Three Monkeys”: one, with both hands on his eyes, signifying that he does not want to see evil; the other with hands over the mouth, suggesting that one should not speak ill of anyone; and the third monkey with hands over his ears, warning everyone to refrain from listening to gossip or to anyone’s slanderous talk. When Gandhi said Rajchandra’s “character was spotless,” he meant to pay him the highest compliment with utmost regard for his crystal clear transparency of heart, his words, his thoughts, and his behavior. Gandhi was deeply touched by the truthful, compassionate, and nonviolent nature of Shrimad Rajchandra who looked upon everyone with an equal eye and treated all with utmost respect. More on this to come later.

Rajchandra: A Businessman of Rare Integrity

The poet’s upright moral character was also reflected in how he conducted his business. It is usually believed that business and truthfulness are incompatible. Rajchandra proved it wrong. Many a time, the briefless barrister Gandhi used to visit Rajchandra at his diamond shop, where he saw the poet handling his big business transactions with utmost honesty and accountability; he also saw that Rajchandra treated both his coworkers and customers with equal respect, courtesy, and sympathy. Not only did his business thrive, but he also earned the highest respect of all—including that of Mohandas Gandhi. Rajchandra demonstrated what is described in the Bhagavad Gita as “yogah karmasu kaushalam” (Ch. 2: 50), meaning “yoga is to attain perfect skill in one’s work or profession. In Gujarati—Rajchandra’s native tongue, he was known as the real Heera-parakhu, that is one who, with his perfect discerning skill and ability, can differentiate between a fake and a real diamond! No wonder Gandhi described Rajchandra in his Autobiography as a “connoisseur of diamonds”!

“Rajchandra Drinks Milk,
Not Blood, of His Customers”

There is a famously known real incident in Shrimad’s life which demonstrates his utterly honest and sympathetic way of dealing with his customers. It so happened that once a customer who had previously sold his jewelry to Rajchandra at the then rate of currency brought it back; he said that his older brother was very upset with him for selling it so cheap, because the current market price of the same had doubled! Without any hesitation, Rajchandra not only returned to him the money, but also cancelled the whole deal, saying, “Rajchandra drinks milk, and not suck the blood of his customers.” To him, business was only a means for making a living and not his whole life. This is a real example of both his business acumen and his moral integrity.

Another observation Gandhi makes is that the moment Rajchandra finished his business, he turned to read some religious book or jot down some inspiring ideas in his journal which he kept under his desk. Deeply impressed, Gandhi notes (GATB, 113), “The man, who immediately finishing his talk about weighty business transactions, began to write about the hidden things of the spirit, could evidently not be a businessman at all, but a real seeker after Truth.” Gandhi adds, this happened not once or twice but often, when Rajchandra was “thus absorbed in godly pursuits in the midst of business” (Ibid.).

Rajchandra’s “Burning Passion
for Self-realization”

Gandhi’s vigilant eyes took no time in recognizing that above all, Rajchandra was a truly God-loving and God-centered man. As he narrates (GATB, 112–13),

Raychandbhai’s (i.e., Rajchandra’s) commercial transactions covered hundreds of thousands. He was a connoisseur of pearls and diamonds. No knotty business problem was too difficult for him. But all these things were not the centre round which his life revolved. The centre was his passion to see God face to face.

Like a “man of equilibrium or equipoise,” called “sthitaprajna” (sthita: seated or settled, and prajna: wisdom) in the Bhagavad Gita (Ch. 2: 55–72), Rajchandra was “a man of steady wisdom”—balanced in pleasure and pain and free from desires, passions, ego; focused on God, he or she is indifferent to all kinds of pairs of opposites, such as honor and dishonor, heat and cold, attractions or aversions, gain and loss, victory or defeat. As we shall fully discuss later, upon closer contact with Rajchandra, Gandhi would say, he was all the more inspired by him, who, despite being so highly knowledgeable, was a truly humble man; even though a married householder and a successful businessman, he entertained no worldly ambitions or attachments. At his heart, in his attitude and behavior, Rajchandra was an ardent devotee of God (mumukshu); Gandhi could instantly recognize him as “a real seeker after Truth,” who lived, breathed, and yearned for only one thing: to achieve moksha (liberation) through self-realization. More is to come in the next chapter, in which we examine Gandhi in closer communion with Shrimad Rajchandra.