22 Quotes & Sayings By Virchand Gandhi

Virchand Gandhi was the son of Mahatma Gandhi, India's greatest leader. He was born in 1914 in South Africa and died in 1992. He spent his childhood in India and later in Switzerland. His father's teachings, including nonviolence, inspired him to dedicate his life to helping others Read more

He founded the Gandhi Institute of Peace and Education (GIE) in 1977 to translate his father's work into modern times. GIE seeks to promote justice, peace, and environmental responsibility through education, research, and training programs. Its primary goals are to nurture a global community of learners committed to firm ethical ideals; to foster knowledge about Gandhi's writings, speeches, and projects; and to promote the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, who is widely regarded as the greatest man of our time.

1
In our country religion is not different from philosophy and religion & philosophy don’t differ from science. Virchand Gandhi
2
We preach and practice brotherhood – not only of man but of all living beings – not on Sundays only but on all the days of the week. We believe in the law of universal justice – that our present condition is the result of our past actions and that we are not subjected to the freaks of an irresponsible governor, who is prosecutor and judge at the same time; we depend for our salvation on our own acts and deeds and not on the sacrificial death of an attorney. Virchand Gandhi
3
Since the early beginning of history, India has been the Klondyke of the world Virchand Gandhi
4
This is my country, that is your country; these are the conceptions of narrow souls - to the liberal minded the whole world is a family. Virchand Gandhi
5
The heart of vegetarians is healed sooner than those of flesh-eaters. Virchand Gandhi
6
All religions worthy of the name are now making great efforts to purify their doctrines and return to their original standpoint, – all except Christianity! You surely know that the nineteenth century Christianity is not the religion taught by Christ. Christ's religion has been changed and corrupted. But Christian clergymen are well aware that if they were to attempt to purify Christianity and bring it back to the religion of Christ, the result would be to reform it out of existence. Christianity stands to-day completely explained. Every step in its development is laid bare and shown to be due to purely natural causes, and it is easy to see how much Christianity adopted from other and older religions. Virchand Gandhi
7
The central ideas of Christianity – an angry God and vicarious atonement – are contrary to every fact in nature, as also to the better aspirations of the human heart; they are, in our present stage of enlightenment, absurd, preposterous, and blasphemous propositions. Christians well know that the much-decorated statue of the Church, as it now stands, is not of pure chiseled marble, but of clay, cemented together by blood and tears and hardened in the fires of hatred and persecution. And still we hear the cry, 'The whole world for Christ'. Virchand Gandhi
8
The universe is not for man alone, but is a theater of evolution for all living beings. Live and let live is its guiding principle. 'Ahimsa Paramo Dharmah' - Non-injury is the highest religion. Virchand Gandhi
9
In the history of a soul’s evolution there is a critical point of the human incarnation that decides for us whether we stay there, go down or progress upwards. There is a knot of worldly desires impeding us; cut the knot by mastering desires and go forward. This done, progress is assured. Virchand Gandhi
10
If a person's mind is controlled by forces of revenge and jealousy, it cannot express love & sympathy. And even if they show love and sympathy to others it will yield no good result. The thought will not be reflected in love but in hate. Virchand Gandhi
11
Christian missions to India imply that India is a land of heathens, and, therefore, stands on the same level with the Andaman or the Fiji Islands. That a country which has been recognised in all ages the world over as the mother of all religions and the cradle of civilisation should be considered as pagan, shows how much ignorance prevails in Christendom. Since the Parliament of Religions, I have been studying Christian institutions, and I have also studied the way in which the Christian ministers and the missionaries are manufactured in this country, and have learned to pity them. We must not blame them too severely, because their education is too narrow to make them broad-minded. I grant that they are good-hearted, that they are good husbands and often fathers of large families, but generally they are very ignorant, especially of the history of civilisation and of the philosophy of religion of India. Most of them do not even know the history of ancient India.We know that in this age of competition, centralisation, and monopoly, very many people are forced out of business. The English say, 'The fool of the family goes into the Church'; so that when a youth is unable to make a living, he takes to missionary work, goes to India, and helps to introduce among the Hindus the doctrines of his church, which have long since been exploded by science. . Virchand Gandhi
12
I have heard your orators speak on many questions. One among them the so-called vital question of money which is above all things the most coveted commodity but I, as a Jainist, in the name of my countrymen and of my country, would offer you as the medium of the most perfect exchange between us, henceforth and forever, the indestructible, the unchangeable, the universal currency of good will and peace, and this, my brothers and sisters, is a currency that is not interchangeable with silver and gold, it is a currency of the heart, of the good life, of the highest estate on the earth. Virchand Gandhi
13
...am so deeply impressed with the fair mindedness and tolerance of the American people... Virchand Gandhi
14
My brothers and sisters of America, there is not the least shadow of hope that India can ever be Christianised. After two hundred years of vain efforts and of spending millions of dollars with the prestige of the conqueror and backed by British bayonets, Christianity is not supported by the converts themselves. Every bit of Protestant Christianity in India is maintained partly by the money flowing from England and America, and partly by taxes imposed upon the Hindus against their will, which must be paid although the people st . Virchand Gandhi
15
The American people spend thousands of dollars to propagate the doctrines of the fall of man, the creation of the world out of nothing in six days by a personal God, vicarious atonement, absolution from sin by the shedding of innocent blood. This is the Christianity offered to the poor and illiterate of India..Christianity has percolated through the layers of dogmatism and bigotry, of intolerance and superstition, of damnation and hell fire. It takes on itself the quality of these layers and imparts them to those that are received within its folds. Virchand Gandhi
16
In more ancient times the life was simpler, but now the discovery of all these different medicines for curing dyspepsia shows that people are suffering from this disease. In this country we know that there are so many kinds of pills and medicines used. We even have those in India now. These things show that not only in America but in all the countries of the world we have to recourse to artificial means for necessary nutrients because people are not aware of right rules of diet. It is better to follow the right rules of diet in the beginning in order to avoid any kind of artificial medicines later on. Virchand Gandhi
17
…the designation of wife in India, of the Hindu wife, is higher and grander than that of Empress. She is called Devi Virchand Gandhi
18
In international commerce, India is an ancient country-(19th October, 1899) Virchand Gandhi
19
The greatest skeptic must now admit that the land and sea-borne trade of India had given her a world-wide fame not only for her gold, spices and silk, but for her religions and philosophies also. Virchand Gandhi
20
In Western lands there is a distinct division between the religious and the secular life. There is one rule of conduct for laymen and another for clergymen. This distinction has never found its place in the life of the people of India. There, all of life is included in the word 'religion.' Virchand Gandhi
21
May peace rule the universe, may peace rule in kingdoms and empires, may peace rule in states and in the lands of the potentates, may peace rule in the house of friends and may peace also rule in the house of enemies. Virchand Gandhi