Dr. Sulekh Chand Jain
As mentioned earlier, Shrimad Rajchandra was a mentor, a kind of spiritual guru, and a confidante to Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi-ji and Rajchandra had many long correspondences on matters of spirituality.
Rajchandra and his family were diamond traders. Once, Rajchandra entered into a major contract for a future time (within 6 months) with another diamond dealer for an agreed upon price for delivery of the diamonds at a future date. The seller was betting that during the upcoming six months, the price of diamonds would go down; he intended to buy first at the lower price, then make the delivery and thus would make a good profit.
Similarly, Rajchandra also bet that the price would go up in next six months, and he—by paying today’s low price, would make good money down the road. The seller was betting on the price going down and Rajchandra on going up in six months. This is called future commodity trading.
Both Rajchandra and the seller prepared a document (an IOU) for this contract. During the next six months, Rajchandra’s predictions came true and the price of diamonds shot up significantly. On the agreed upon date of delivery, Rajchandra went to the shop of the seller and asked for the delivery of the diamonds. Rajchandra knew very well in his heart that if the seller made the delivery, he (the seller) would incur a very substantial loss and Rajchandra would make a very good profit. The seller expressed his inability to make the delivery at that time and asked an extension of another one week.
Realizing this, Rajchandra pulled out the contract, tore it into many pieces and said to the seller, “brother, I know very well what is happening in the market. If you make this delivery, you will be completely ruined due to this loss and I will make some profit. For me, this is himsa where you get ruined and I become richer. I do not do this kind of business. So the contract is nullified,” and left his shop. This is astounding. When Shrimad Rajchandra put himself into the shoes of the seller, and felt his pain and suffering, this is ahimsa.
