The World Parliament of Religions, held in Chicago in 1893, was the beginning of the largest world religio-cultural movement of the nineteenth century. Scholars of every religion were invited from all over the world to discuss what principles would be helpful in at least mitigating the ignorance, misunderstanding, arrogance, and disdain towards other religions and creating brotherhood among all mankind. Great Jain scholar Barrister Virchand Gandhi was one of the invitees to represent the Jain religion in this Parliament of world religions.
However, some speakers in this parliament took pleasure in criticizing Hinduism in particular. Swami Vivekananda's speech was already over. Barrister Virchand Gandhi, a great scholar of Jainism and philosophy, was present there as a representative of Jainism. On September 25, 1893, he gave a speech on Jainism. But before he started talking about Jainism, he first took up the scholarly criticism of Hinduism. The records of the World Parliament of Religions states that his every sentence was met with applause and the critics were embarrassed. Reverend John Barrows, the organizer of the illustrious Parliament, in his speech concluded that "Even though the goal of the Parliament of World Religions was to reduce contempt for other religions, some scholars violated the main object by forgetting their own religious principles, but a young scholar, Barrister Virchand Gandhi, showed immense humanistic wisdom to pull the Parliament of World Religions back to its original mission."
Not only this, he published Gandhi's speech on Jainism with an introduction. Impressed by this speech, Virchand Gandhi was invited to deliver the speech again at the closing ceremony of the Parliament. This impassioned speech became so popular that he had to give hundreds of speeches in America.
He was only 29 years old when he gave his speech in the Parliament. He was born on 25 August 1864 in Mahua village in Gujarat. He was the first barrister in the Jain community. Apart from his profound studies in Jainism, Hinduism, and Buddhism, he acquired fourteen languages to understand the essence of other world religions and ancient philosophical currents from the original language.
He also wrote extensively. The pluralistic philosophy of Jainism remained the subject of his contemplation and meditation. That is why he was able to look at the fundamental philosophies of other religions from the role of a sympathetic but critical physician. He had great respect for Emperor Akbar's attitude of treating all religions equally. Despite being a Jain himself, he was the first to advocate for Hinduism in the Parliament, which made Swami Vivekananda his friend. Even Mahatma Gandhi was influenced by his philosophy. The reason for this is Virchand Gandhi's Jain-based universal humanistic philosophy. Thus, it was of great help in fulfilling the mission of the World Parliament of Religions. And that is why his statue was later erected in Chicago. This is the glory of an Indian philosopher.
His lectures elsewhere in America led many Americans to study Jainism. In his 535 lectures in America, he explained how Lord Mahavira's non-violence is useful for the peaceful harmony of today's world. His admirer Herbert Warren not only converted to Jainism but also compiled a book of Virchand Gandhi's speeches and published it.
The life and philosophy of Jesus Christ was also a subject of his fascination. The early days of Jesus Christ are missing from Bible history. There was a lot of debate about where Jesus Christ might have spent this time. In it, a Russian scholar, Nikolai Notovitch, found an ancient manuscript in Tibet. Virchand Gandhi wrote a long scholarly introduction to the translation of this manuscript. In this preface he tries to prove how it is possible that Jesus Christ actually came to India and finally discussed with the Indian scholars in Kashmir and formulated his philosophy. He also showed how Jain principles influenced the philosophy of Jesus and the missionary organization that later developed into Christianity. This book created a lot of excitement at that time. Discussions about it are still going on.
His work was not limited to religion-philosophy. His attitude towards women was liberal. He also founded the Society for the Education of Women in India to provide them with modern education and made efforts for women's education throughout the country. He also took part in the Indian freedom movement. He participated in the 1895 Pune session of the Congress as a representative of the Bombay state. Gandhi also established Philosophical Council. This philosopher, who had a wide range of knowledge, died at the age of thirty-seven. But the allure of his work and philosophical outlook remains. A play "Gandhi Before Gandhi" was also released on his life. This play was performed more than two hundred shows across the country.
