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ACĀRYA VIJAYAVALLABHASŪRI COMMEMORATION VOLUME
similar to the Gandhian concept of a happy society. The success of Shri Virchand Gandhi was mainly due to the briefing he had from Atmārāmji and Vallabhavijayaji.
TO THE SHELTER OF GOD An unusual incident occurred in the early life of Acārya Vijayavallabhasūri. Seeing his mother on death-bed, he asked her anxiously : "To whose shelter are you leaving me?" "I leave you to the shelter of the Lord” was his mother's apt reply. "His shelter is the best shelter; the rest is all illusion," she added. These words, touchingly told, sowed the seeds of religious faith that was to blossom forth in later years. At the age of sixteen, he renounced worldly life at Radhanpur in V.S. 1943. This dedicated soul started his austere life with the seriousness which foreshadowed a great religious life. He strove to realise the ideal of his Guru, which expressed itself for the betterment of the society and removal of illiteracy. He started launching new educational institutions and the help of many social reformers readily overflowed.
ORTHODOXY DISTURBED Ācāryaśrī widely travelled the country; and this urged him to concentrate his work on the projects which helped the masses to live a healthier and better life by the removal of social and religious evils and spread of the spirit of religious toleration. But how could a Jaina sādhu, devoted to study and spread of religion, undertake social projects-was the parrot-like echo from the dovecotes of the orthodoxy. It became his unfortunate lot to be the most misunderstood individual inspite of his loftier ideals. This trend of thought attracted the attention of the people of all faiths in the country. Undaunted and unperturbed, he strove to build up more institutions, societies and educational organizations which helped to alleviate the burden of the masses and uplift the society in all respects.
His religious discourses carried always a message of enlightening the public with the gospel of swadeshi, non-violence, and education. His popularity in the Punjab grew proverbial, which earned for him the title of 'Punjab Kesari'. Time's winged chariot moved on for nearly a scora of years during which period he moved in many towns and cities,
ition resulted in craving for darshan of Adiśvara at Satruñjaya and moving scenes greeted his departụre from the Punjab,
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