Param Krupalu Dev: As a student Param Krupalu Dev was an extraordinary divine personality. His outstanding virtues distinguished Him from other mundane beings in each phase of life. His spiritual prowess and vast knowledge were apparent right from a very young age. Let us look at His facet as a Student and through the astonishing events of His school-life, peek into the treasure of His merits. Brilliance in Action Having inherited deep spiritual knowledge from past lives, learning the elementary education was an effortless task for Param Krupalu Dev. Such was His inherent brilliance that He just mastered the curriculum of school education with astounding ease. During Param Krupalu Dev’s first day at school, the teacher Shri Lavjibhai wrote the numbers 1 to 5 and asked Him to practise them. He wrote them instantly. He similarly copied the numbers from 6 to 10, 11 to 20 and 21 to 100 with the same ease. He wrote and recited the multiplication tables from 1 to 10 as instructed. He wrote and read aloud 5-6 lessons from the Gujarati Primer. Lavjibhai was awestruck by Param Krupalu Dev’s brilliance and informed the headmaster. The headmaster called Param Krupalu Dev’s father Shri Ravjibhai and enquired whether Param Krupalu Dev had been taught at home. Ravjibhai replied that he had bought the learning materials just a day before! This convinced them that He was no ordinary student. Within a span of only two years, He completed learning the syllabus of 7 standards. His sharp memory enabled Him to remember everything the first time He read it or heard it from His teacher. Unlike other children, He never had to revise anything. Once a teacher committed a mistake while teaching and Param Krupalu Dev rectified that mistake. When the teacher checked further, he realised that Param Krupalu Dev was right. The teacher was overwhelmed. Coupled with His brilliant knowledge, Param Krupalu Dev’s handwriting too was so beautiful that He would be specially invited by the Royals of Kutch to write. Having heard of Param Krupalu Dev’s brilliance, two gentlemen from Kutch came to meet Him with plans to take Him to Kashi for higher studies. But they were so amazed by His knowledge that they felt there was nothing left to teach such a capable One. Param Krupalu Dev’s power to compose poetry was as remarkable as His memory. He could compose poems spontaneously and started writing poetry from the age of 8. He had written approximately 5,000 couplets at age 8. At age 10, He delivered interesting speeches with great skill and at age 11, He wrote mature articles which were published in the best magazine in those days. Affectionate Nature Normally it is seen that when one possesses excellence of any kind, it leads him to being arrogant, egoistic and rude. But, the divine being that He was, Param Krupalu Dev’s superiority was embedded with virtues of humility, love and affection. Param Krupalu Dev’s intelligence combined with His loving nature made Him very dear to everyone. He believed that a spirit of affectionate brotherhood was the key to happiness. If He found a separatist feeling or behaviour in anybody, it would cause Him great pain and His heart would cry. Once, Param Krupalu Dev was rebuked by His teacher and He did not attend school the next day. The classmates were so fond of Param Krupalu Dev that when they noticed His absence, they went to where He was and the entire group went to a far-off field. Param Krupalu Dev had fruits with Him, which He shared with all His classmates and then ate at last. When the school teacher saw that the students were missing, he went looking for them and persuaded Param Krupalu Dev to return to school. Such was His bonding with His classmates! A bright and most trustworthy student, He would help His teacher correct other students’ classwork. His openness, courtesy, simplicity, dependability, extraordinary art of teaching made Him a favourite amongst both – the teachers as well as students. Thirst for Truth Param Krupalu Dev did not use His brilliance to achieve worldly laurels, instead used it to progress on the spiritual path and move closer to liberation. He yearned to unearth the Eternal Truth. At the age of 13, Param Krupalu Dev wanted to know which religion gives a complete picture of the absolute truth. While students His age are reluctant to study even in schools, He began reading scriptures of different religions. Such was the purity of His soul that He was able to read books in Prakrit and Sanskrit quickly without having studied the language formally. In just 15 months, He had read all the Jain Agams. Just reading the scriptures once, He grasped their essence and the scriptures were virtually memorised. When He would study the scriptures, someone seated by His side would feel that He is just flipping the pages and yet He would fully and deeply comprehend the content. Such thirst for the Truth at such a young age. Let us get inspired by Param Krupalu Dev’s divine qualities and invest our time and energy in sincerely studying the Spiritual Science and along with it cultivate the virtues of humility, love and care for our harmonious co-existence.
