"Only for my own welfare I beg forgiveness..."

Prayer For Forgiveness

O God! I blundered a lot. I paid no heed to your invaluable words. I did not think over incomparable Tattva(Divine Truth) as told by you. I did not respect the adorable best conduct as preached by you. I did not recognize the worth of mercy, peace, forgiveness and piousness advocated by you.

I blundered, wandered, roamed and have fallen into a ditch of miseries of this endless Samsar (cycle of births and deaths). I am sinful. I am puffed up with great pride and am impure, being wrapped in with particles of Karmas.

Oh Paramatma! (The Great God) There is no deliverance for me without (worshipping) the Tattva shown by your good grace. I am constantly engrossed in the intricacies of the world. I have become blind with ignorance; I am bereft of discriminating power; and I am indiscriminate, supportless and helpless.

O, Attachment-free Paramatma! Now I accept your shelter and the shelter of your Dharma and your Muni(Saint). It is my sincere wish that my guilts getting destroyed, I be free from all sins. I repent now for sins committed before. The more I move inside with deep subtle thinking, the more my indentity is enlightended by the astonishing qualities of your Tattva.

O, God! you are un-attached, un-emotional, the emodiment fo Sat, Chit, and Anand (ever-existence, knowledge and bliss), with innate joy, limitless knowledge and limitless perception. Truly you are the illuminator of three worlds.

Only for my own welfare I beg forgiveness, you as witness. Let it ever be my yearning and desire that never for a moment I be put into a doubt about the Tattva told by you and day and night I remain on the path shown by your grace.

O, Omniscient God! What more shall I say? There is nothing unknown to you. Only by repentance I pray for forgiveness of Karma-generated sins.

Om Peace, Peace, Peace. 
(Mokshamala: Lesson No. 56)

"Precious Diamond of India..."

 In about Vikram Samvat 1940 Shrimadji came from Vavania to Morbi. 


In Morbi, Shastri Shankarlal M. Bhatt was performing the feat of attending to eight objects or eight activities at a time. 


At the same time in Bombay, Gattulalji Maharaj was performing similar feats. 


These were the only two well-known persons for their exceptional memory and attention feats. 


Shrimadji saw the performance of these feats in Morbi and quickly picked them up.

Within two days after He saw the memory feats, He started performing similar feats before His friends and then for the open public. 


He was already known as a learned man but when He performed a memory feat of attending to twelve activities at a time before a public of 2,000 persons He became famous as a prodigy with exceptional powers. 


Some admirers used to address Him as the Precious Diamond Of India.

In an exhibition at Wadhwan He performed His memory feat of attending to sixteen activities at a time before an audience of rulers and highly educated public, and all were extremely pleased. 


The dailies published articles in His praise.

In Botad, before His millionaire friend Sheth Harilal Shaivalal, He performed the memory feat of attending to 52 activities at a time. They included:

* Playing Chopat with three players; 

* Playing cards with three others & at the end to call out all thirteen cards He had;

* At the same time playing chess & at the end of the memory feat to declare all the pieces which were discarded from the chess board;

* To count grains which were dropped on His back while He was engaged in the memory feat;

* To perform addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and  memorize the results and declare them at the end of the memory feat;

* To tell... how many beads, a man sitting opposite Him, had turned from a garland till the time he stopped turning them;

* To hear words of 16 sentences in 16 different languages in a random way and later on to speak out all the 16 sentences in the 16 languages;

* To give individual letters in a random way in a chart to be completed and at the end to compose a verse;

* To prepare problem poems;

* To compose complete verses on being supplied only with one line or half lines, 

* To compose 16 poems in 16 different poetical forms starting with one line of each of the recollected complete poems at the end. 

Later on Shrimadji easily performed memory feats of attending to 100 things and activities at a time. 

Even than he used to say that His powers were merely a drop in the ocean, that the powers of the Self were infinite.

Shri Chatrabhujbhai, the brother-in-law of Shrimadji, said that Shrimadji used to tell whether a person uses his right hand or left hand to fix a Paghadi (a head dress - turban) just by looking at the shape of the Paghadi on the wearer's head. 

In Vikram Samvat 1943 or 1887 A. D. Shrimadji went to Bombay and there, in Faramji Kavasji Institute and at other places He performed various memory feats and all the newspapers in Bombay gave wide publicity and praise to these performances. 

He was awarded gold medals by the public and institutions, for His excellent, unheard of and amazing memory feats.

In one of the memory feats He was shown twelve books of different sizes and told their names too. Then He was blind-folded and He used to touch a book He had seen before and immediately call out its name. 

Dr. Peterson who presided over the performance had nothing but admiration and praise for this outstanding feat.

On another occasion He was shown different food dishes and just by looking at them He told in which there was less salt, without touching the dishes or tasting the food in them.

Some of His admirers suggested Shrimadji to tour the foreign countries and show His ability and powers to the outside world. 

But He refused the suggestion on the ground that He could not observe religious discipline in foreign countries.

Shrimadji thought the wide publicity of His exceptional powers may hinder His march towards the Self-realization and so before He reached twenty He gradually discouraged it and after twenty we hear next to nothing about his performances of memory feats..

Mahatma Gandhi, had a Jain 'spiritual mentor',

 It is little known that the apostle of nonviolence, Mahatma Gandhi, had a Jain 'spiritual mentor', a young diamond merchant, Shrimad Rajchandraji.

Once, in despair, Gandhiji wrote to Shrimad Rajchandraji that he wanted to change his religion. Rajchandraji, a householder-ascetic, asked him to look within himself first. This changed Gandhiji's life.

Thereafter, he would often say that he had learned most of his lessons of self-improvement, truth & nonviolence from Rajchandraji's Jain views.

In fact, Rajchandraji, who died young at the age of 33, is one of the three whom Gandhiji considered as having been instrumental in molding his ideas, the other two being the writings of Leo Tolstoy & Ruskin's poem 'Unto this last'. 

Some Anecdotes OF Shrimadji's Life ..

 1. Once Shrimadji had gone out with a friend for a walk in Bombay and on His way He came near a cemetery. He asked His friend as to what was the place they came by. His friend replied: "Cemetery". Shrimadji said that He viewed the whole Bombay city as a cemetery.

2. Once Shrimadji's neighbour knowing His superhuman powers told Him that He must be knowing the market rates of all commodities and such knowledge could be used to His financial benefit in His dealings in shares. To this Shrimadji replied that He was not a fool to use His spiritual powers for such petty selfish benefits.

3. Once Padamshibhai, a resident of Kutch, sought from Him the remedy for removing his fear of death. Shrimadji advised that till life is fully led according to fixed destiny there is no death. Why then should we not live well until death visits us ? By the fear of death one cannot be free from death. Be fearless, lead a chaste life & embrace death when it comes.

4. Shrimadji's servant Lallu, a resident of Morbi, who had stayed with His family for a number of years caught a deadly disease in Bombay. He used to daily nurse him personally till Lallu breathed his last.

5. Once Shrimadji went to see Tokarshibhai, who had Pneumonia & whose sickness was growing fatal. In Shrimadji's presence Tokarshibhai became quiet & experienced peace & joy. After some time Shrimadji receded from him and said to other relatives of Tokarshibhai that the latter was gradually sinking. When Shrimadji was asked as to how did he know it and as to what did He do by which Tokarshibhai got a relief from his pain & enjoyed peace, Shrimadji replied that He could see Tokarshibhai's death and He therefore tried to change his mind & last desires so as to improve his spiritual prospects for the future birth.

6. Once Shrimadji asked His three years old daughter her name, to which she replied that her name was Kashi. Shrimadji lovingly said: "No you are the Self." But Kashiben refused to agree to it. Shrimadji laughed at the child's ignorance. 

"Spiritual Aspirations While Being Involved In Business..."

 Shrimad Rajchandra, the self-realised soul (who was also a guide, helper & best friend to Mahatma Gandhi), was also a householder like you & I, & was involved in business dealings.  In HIS journal, HE wrote about how to behave & deal with business partners.

What He has written shows how it is possible to be plunged in business dealings while at the same time keep the aim of completely retired (detached) life.

This is an extract from “Shreemad Rajchandra Jeevankala” by Shri Brahmachariji, translated by Dinubhai Patel, p117-118.

“One with whom you have joined to work in worldly life, you declare to him your decision to work in your behaviour with him in a certain way. 


If he accepts it you carry on as per your decision. 


If he does not accept your decision, try to follow his way but at the same time you tell him that whatever work he entrusts you in business you will perform it with due care not to harm him or the business even though you would keep faith in your way of work.

You tell him that he should not think of you any time with a fear that you may bring him to any loss or disrespect. 


Regarding business life, you would never wish to go against him as your partner in business. 


Not only that but in case he finds your behaviour by thought, word or deed goes against his interest you express him sorrow & feel repentance for it & say that you will take care in advance not to repeat it, & that you will remain non-egoistic while carrying out his work entrusted to you. 


Say to him that you will gladly accept any harsh words for your mistaken behaviour from his point of view. 


So long as you can, you will not even in dream think of doing any harm to him, nor would you ever imagine any way of harming him.

In case he has anytime any adverse doubts about your thinking or behaviour, he should immediately tell you about it and for doing so you will feel always obliged to him, & that you will explain to him as to why did you behave that way. 


In case you have no explanation, you shall keep quiet but you will never tell a lie.

Please tell him that what you expect of him is only that keeping you as an instrument he should never start any harmful act; he is free to behave as he wishes & in so doing you have nothing more to say. 


Say to him that he should allow you to behave in your way of non-attachment & he should not restrict his heart in so doing, & in case he desires to stop you from behaving as a non-attached soul then he should forewarn you so that you can decide what to do in such a situation.

So long as it is in your power you would never trouble him in any way but in case he dislikes your behaviour as a non-attached soul, tell him that you will clear out of the joint business very carefully, quietly, informing him in advance & bringing him much profit in business & with no intention of doing any harm during the time you are in business with him or even for a long time after you clear out of it.”

What from here can you take & apply in your own everyday business dealings?

"You the great soul of infinite peace & calmness..."

  

 On Kartik Sud 14th, Samvat 1947, Shrimadji writes in a letter as follows: 


"That my soul has attained complete knowledge of its nature is an indubitable fact, that my knots of the heart & head have been removed, is a truth of all times & all Self-realized souls will easily recognize & endorse my experience."

At other place He writes: "O you Self-knowledge, the source of all heights of joy & bliss, to you I bow down with all devotion and humility. Innumerable souls without you suffer from ignorance. It is solely by your grace that I could know you and I could reach the goal of my soul's pilgrimage. As a result, I enjoyed unprecedented peace. I felt freedom from all worries and burdens, mental and physical."

"In Vikram Samvat 1947 I could realize the full stature of my spiritual being, & from then onwards I am enjoying increasing peace and bliss."

"In a wink the knowledge which drew me to the worldly life, changed its course & has led me to my proper goal i. e. Self-realization.

In a couplet He says: "One gets a spiritual insight by his spiritual eye & without it he cannot obtain soul-saving knowledge at all. This is not a matter of physical perception and it is foolish to try that way. 


Only by unqualified, concentrated devotion to a Spiritual Guru or guide, one can obtain the soul-saving knowledge. Only a Guru can give this spiritual eye to see the spiritual reality.

In Vikram Samvat 1948, in the month of Magh, Shrimadji writes: "The system which contains a clear description of the right positions of bondage & freedom is the only guide to Self-liberation & such a system is that of the great MAHAVIR - the Jain system. 


If in my humble opinion, there is any living man available, in whom the heart of the great Tirthankara is residing, he is no other than the author of these lines. 


The result of the soul-saving knowledge is the experience of complete renunciation from all worldly considerations & this is what I experience in my own being. 


Hence, I consider myself to be the perfect disciple of the great Tirthankara." 

"One who gains the soul's knowledge in accordance with the enlightened GURU's opinion, has obtained correct insight & experience, & none else. When the goal & the path are clearly seen there is no difficulty for a sincere disciple to follow the path & reach the goal."

In HIS talks with Muni Mohanlalji, Shrimadji said: "I do not forget the Self even for a second." 

Once Shrimadji said to Shri Devkaranji Muni, an associate of Shri Lalluji Maharaj, that He lived in his body as a separate pulp would be felt in a dried coconut shell.

At Kheda one day Shrimadji in a soliloquy says: "In Samvat 1948, You the great soul of infinite peace & calmness visited Ralaj, in these days You visited Vaso & there You were a great Yogi absorbed in deep meditation & now You are the same Yogindra enjoying bliss & peace here at Kheda.

" This is Shrimadji's description of Himself as a disembodied soul.

In a letter Shrimadji writes: "I think in my mind that I have all qualifications to re-establish and   propagate the Vedic religion, but in order to settle and propagate the Jain religion I do require some more qualifications than I actually possess." 

"I have drunk to my heart's content the nectar of religion..."

 

Gandhiji regarded Shrimadji as his friend, philosopher and guide. 


He acknowledges the debt he owes to SHRIMADJI in his recollections of his friendship with Shrimadji. From 1891 to 1901 A. D. for a period of ten years they were best friends.

Gandhiji says that most of his lessons for self-improvement and on truth and non-violence, he has learnt from Shri Raichandbhai. 


Raichandbhai is one of the three personalities that have much impressed his mind, the other two being the writings of Tolstoy and Ruskin's `Unto this last'.

To love the murderer is one of the maxims of non-violence and Gandhiji had well learnt it from Shrimadji, who was full of sympathy, forgiveness and piety for all living beings.

Gandhiji says: "I have drunk to my heart's content the nectar of religion that was offered to me by Shri Raichandbhai. 


Raichandbhai hated the spread of irreligion in the name of religion and He condemned lies, hypocrisy and such other vices which were getting a free hand in his time. 


He considered the whole world as his relative and his sympathy extended to all living beings of all ages.

Shrimadji was an embodiment of non-attachment and renunciation. 


He has written only that which he has experienced. 


He has never allowed his poetic imagination to get ahead of truth and experience. 


There is therefore no artificiality in His writings. 


They come from the heart and appeal to the very heart of the reader. 


He used to keep diary and a pen with him in all his daily routine and He immediately wrote down important thoughts that occurred to Him. 


I never remember any occasion when Shri Raichandbhai got lost or infatuated in any worldly matter."

"I Have Experienced Much About The Soul..."

In Samucchaya Vayacharya Shrimadji writes: 


" I was born on Sunday, Kartik Sud Purnima (15th day of Kartik), Vikram Samvat 1924. 


Therefore today, I have completed 22 years. 


In this apparently short span of life, I have experienced much about the soul, the nature and mutations of mind, the integrity of speech, the physical body, the wealth, various impressions of the variegated or multicolored wonderful world formations of various orders, many worldly ups and downs and the causes of interminable misery and unhappiness. 


All these have been experienced by me in many ways."

"In my short life I have entertained all the thought-forms which were thought over by all the powerful saints and philosophers and by the formidable skeptics. 

I have thought of the universe of desires and aspirations which were discussed by the great rulers. 


I have also thought of the disinterestedness par excellence, an attitude of serene indifference. 


I have much meditated on the acquisition of immortality and of minute temporariness or transitoriness. 


Many similar great thoughts I have traversed in very few years of my life."

"I look at all of them as a seer, and I realize the unfathomable gap between my present state of knowledge and experience and the state of my being when I cherished or entertained these great and multifarious thought-systems.

All these minute and big differences and gradual development of my Self have been only recorded in my memory. 


I have never made any effort to publicize these thoughts. 


I felt that giving these thoughts to a wider public or sharing my experiences with them might bring good spiritual dividends but my memory refused to do so and I was helpless. 


By cooperative understanding if my memory could be persuaded to open its treasures to the world by putting them in writing, I shall surely do it in future." 

"I give below a very brief recollection of my early years":

"For the first seven years I played alone. 


I still remember to have cherished a wonderful imagination in my mind. 


Even in play I had strong desire to be victorious and to be the lord of everything. 


I aspired to be a great man of a resigned nature. 


I had no attachment to wearing clean clothes, selection of good food, good bed, etc. 


Still my heart was extremely soft. 


I still recollect that side of my nature at an early age. 


Had I had, at that time, the discriminative knowledge which I now possess, I would not have cared more for liberation. 


It was a life of such spotless innocence that I love to recollect it very often."

"For four years, from seven to eleven, I devoted myself to study. 


At that time I remembered all what I once saw or read. 


My recollection was faultless, as my mind was sinless. 


As a child, I had no idea of fame, hence the bugbear of publicity never bothered me. 


I had unique retentive memory which I find very few men even today possess."

"Still, I was indifferent to my studies. 

I was given much to talking, play & merrymaking. 

Because of good memory, my teacher was pleased with me as I used to recite all what I once read in front of the teacher. 

At that time I was full of affection and natural sympathy towards all around me." 

"I learnt that a spirit of affectionate brotherhood was the key to family and social happiness. 


If I found a paratist feeling or behavior in anybody, it used to pain me very much and my heart used to cry." 

"In my eighth year I composed poems which at at later age I found to be very well done."

"I studied so well that I could explain the book to my teacher who started teaching it to me. 


I cultivated very wide reading."

"I had much faith in man kind and I loved the natural world order."

"My great grand father was a Vaishnava, a staunch devotee of Lord Krishna. 

I heard from him many devotional songs about Radha and Krishna, also the mysterious stories of the wonder-works of Lord Krishna and other incarnations of God."

"I took religious initiation at the hand of a Sadhu named Ramadasji. 

I daily went for the Darshana of Lord Krishna and attended lectures and devotional congregations. 

I believed the incarnation of God as real God and I cherished a strong desire to see His residence. 

I dreamt to be a great spiritual follower of Lord Krishna and a powerful preacher of His faith." 

"I considered it to be the pride of my life if I could become a great Sanyasi performing Hari Kirtana in the public and leading an upright ascetic life."

"I was so much saturated with such thoughts that I hated the Jains who did not accept God as the creator of the world. 


I believed that nothing could be created without a creator that the world was a masterful creation and such a uniquely supreme creation could only be the work of God and none else."

"The Jain Banias in my native place praised me as the most intelligent student of the village. 

But they ridiculed my initiation in Vaishnavism and they argued with me to dislodge me from my faith. 

I did not succumb but I gradually read the Jain sacred books such as Pratikramana Sutra. 

The fundamental idea of the Jain works was the advocacy of non-violence and love to all high and low in the world. 

I liked this idea of universal love and non-violence very much."

"Occasionally I visited the residence of the ruler of Kutch as a writer since my hand-writings were praised as best."

"After the age of thirteen, I started attending to my father's shop. 

While sitting in the shop I have composed many poems on the heroic and spiritual life of Rama and Krishna. 

But in my dealings with the customers of the shop I have never weighed less or more." 

"The Self-Realised Raichandbhai..."

Mahatma Gandhi, shortly after his return from England, met a young man of 25 in Mumbai who was to have a profound influence on his life and philosophy.

To quote Gandhiji: “Since that day onwards till the death of Raichandbhai, ours was a very close contact. Many times I have said and written many times that I have learnt much from the lives of many a person, but it is from the life of poet Raichandbhai, I have learnt the most” and “I must say that no one else has ever made on me the impression that Raichandbhai did”. 

Raichandbhai, to be known as Shrimad Rajchandraji, composed the ‘Atma Siddhi Shastra’, a composition of 142 stanzas explaining the Jain path to liberation (Moksha), one night in Nadiad in just 90 minutes. 


This highly spiritual composition is also considered Classic Gujarati Literary work. 

So who was the self-realised Raichandbhai who had such impact upon Gandhiji, and in consequence the whole world? Was he just a poet, a dealer in precious stones, or a spiritual genius?


Ravjibhai, from Vaishnav background, and his wife Devbai, from a Jain family, lived in the small port of Vavania near Morbi in Saurashtra. They were a devout couple who served the community with much love and in 1867 they were blessed with a son whom they named Raichand. 

HE was later to be known as Shrimad Rajchandraji and considered to be Gandhiji’s spiritual mentor. It was from Him that Gandhiji learnt the height of compassion for all living beings, even an enemy!  

"One Of The Simplest Inspirational Source Of Eternal Truth..."

Shrimad Rajchandraji (1867-1901), the most enlightened saint and poet of recent times is recognized as the ideal symbol of ‘clarity, purity & holiness as it should be’.

This is best reflected in His literature captured in the scripture ‘Vachanamrut’, which world over is becoming one of the simplest inspirational source of eternal truth. 


It is one of the leading scriptures being researched upon, attracting several interpretations and translations.

Mahatma Gandhiji kept contact with Him for obtaining clarity on spiritualism and derived his spiritual inspiration from Life History of Shrimad Rajchandraji.

After Lord Mahavir achieved Liberation (about 2600 years ago), those trying to re-establish the order of detachment or the six schools of ‘Aatma Dharma’ i.e. Philosophy of Self-Realisation, got divided; leading to differences & conflicts amongst themselves. 


Religion was no longer what one strived to attain but merely became a topic for debate, arguments and discussions; creating a situation of disharmony.

Amidst, these conditions, a child was born, a revolutionary and an incarnation of Pure Knowledge. 


The day was 9th November 1867, the night of full moon day (Chaitra Sud Poonam). 


When the Sun rises, its rays dispel the gloom & darkness, similarly, Shrimad Rajchandraji’s birth brought the universal philosophy of the Soul (Aatman) back into its true light, exactly as was preached by Lord Mahavir and all other Great Souls who succeeded on the path of Self-Realisation. 


His birth itself brought the rays of Tatva Gyan - the Philosophy of Self, which had got lost in the name of Dharma (Religion).

"His Quest Towards Self-Realization..."

Shrimad Rajchandraji (gratefully & respectfully addressed as “Param Krupaludev” by His disciples) took the world by surprise right from the time He was born. 


Born as a highly advanced enlightened soul, He was endowed with exceptional powers since childhood. 


He chanted mantras before He started speaking.

He achieved ‘Jaati Smriti Gyan’ (clear remembrance & vision of several past lives) at the age of 7, started writing poems at the age of 8 & wrote 5000 lines in the first year itself and composed Ramayana and Mahabharata in verse at the age of 10.

At the age of 11 & 12, He contributed several articles to newspapers on issues such as need for women-education, etc. and won several prizes. 


As a child, He surprised everyone with His mystic powers of clairvoyance, mind-reading (Manahparyav Gyan) and perfect. 


At the age of 16, He wrote the entire book “Mokshmala’ – Path towards Liberation (a unique text of 108 golden lessons) in a span of just 3 days.

He possessed immense memory powers and publicly performed ‘Shatavadhan’ (performing 100 things at a time) at the age of 19. 


This was witnessed by the Governor General and other leading personalities of Mumbai. 


He won several medals and His amazing feats were widely covered by several newspapers then, including The Times of India. 


Amazed by His exceptional art and memory powers, Queen Victoria invited Him for performance in foreign countries but He thought that such publicity could hinder His quest towards Self-Realization and refused the offer to visit Great Britain (120 years ago).

He also possessed ‘Avadhi Gyan’ i.e. He could see all material things within a radius of 100 miles. 


Despite such amazing skills & powers, He considered it all negligible when compared with the powers of the Self and never used or pursued His unusual powers or publicized His Knowledge.

An era, when the whole world was blindly chasing outward happiness and prosperity, He declined and refused all opportunities of fame and popularity; this makes one wonder what divine and true happiness must He have attained. 


He attained true Bliss and Knowledge that went beyond the scope of five senses and guided His dear disciples to attain the said ‘Ati-indriya Gyan’ (Knowledge beyond the scope of senses to Experience the Aatman.)