Munshi Kanhiyalal Alakdhari

 

Shri Nathji used to relate the episode of the two brothers in Punjab whose father had a large amount of wealth. Immediately after the death of the father, the question of dividing the wealth arose. The elder brother began to squabble over details. The younger brother, Munshi Kanhiyalal Alakdhari, who was spiritually inclined, became disgusted with the pettiness of squabbling over material possessions.
He said to his elder brother: "All right–you keep everything! Take my share of the wealth as well! I would rather give it away than quarrel with you over it!"
And saying this, he went away.

The elder brother was stricken by his conscience after a few days, and came to Munshi Kanhiyalal.
"Here, you keep both the shares, mine as well as yours!" he said with an air of generosity. The younger brother refused, and the elder said, "If you won't take mine, at least let me return yours!"

And Shri Munshi Kanhiyalal replied: "No. I cannot take back what I have given away! Only a dog will eat his own vomit!"

Shri Babaji Maharaj and Shri Nathji were fond of reading the articles and books Munshi Kanhiyalal wrote. "He is a righteous man!" Shri Babaji would say of Munshi Kanhiyalal.

Once Shri Munshi Kanhiyalal ran short of oil for his lamp. He had a bottle of perfume with him. He poured it into the lamp, and lit it. The fragrance of the perfume spread everywhere. A neighbour came in and was surprised. "For the cost of that perfume you could have purchased a gallon of oil!" he said.

"True!" said Munshi Kanhiyalal, taking in the exhilarating fragrance, "but what a night!"

As was to be expected, his indifference to material possessions got him into financial difficulties.
"Munshiji," said a friend of his, "what do you do for your next meal? You don't seem to be earning anything!"

And Munshi Kanhiyalal replied: "He, who has given me this mill of thirty two teeth, will surely provide me the grain for grinding!"

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 Munshi Kanhaiyalal Alakhdhari was born in 1809 in Agra to Dharam Das ji. He studied in Calcutta and also resided for some time in Burma but latter retuned to India. His spiritual persuits brought him to Ludhiana in Pujab were he started an spiritual organisation named Niti Prakash in 1873

Around 1867, North Indian religious reformer Kanhaiyalal Alakhdhari who completed a translation into Urdu of fifty-two Upanishads, Bhagwat Gita and Yogavishisth. Also wrote urbu books like Chirag a Hakikat,  Shamma i marifal, etc. He served as a mentor to Pandit Lekh Ram, an important preacher and writer for the Arya Samaj, helping him discover the movement. Alakhdhari's ideas also influenced Pandit Shiv Narayan Agnihotri, the founder of the Dev Samaj. He died in 1873.