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I have become a Jain Shravaka (householder votary), Come I can make you one also."
The next day Gandhi expressed similar desire to Satījī. He was offering curd to Jain Sādhvi Ujjawal. Satījī told Gandhi "If you take my pot in your hand and put curd in it than no curd will fall on the floor?” Gandhi took Sadhvi's pot in his hand, and as per his nature, said to sati while pouring curd in her pot, "Mahāsatīji: I am not so lucky to keep this pot (Satījīs) in my hand. If it was possible, than I would have been free from all these worldly issues and could live peacefully"
As per the Jain philosophy propagated by its tirthankaras, status of a person is determined not by the family in which one is born but by his/her actions. Jain history is full of non Jains, who understood Jain principles very well, practiced them and became exemplary Jain preceptors. Based on this, even though Gandhi might not have been born in a Jain family, yet his understanding Jain doctrine and practice of the same makes him an exemplary Jain.
Notes & References
Pearelal MAHATMA GANDHI, Vol. 1, The Early Phase; Ahmedabad: Navajivan Publishing House, 1965/1986, p. 276'. CWMG, 49:327-28 "I have never seen any difference between the Jain doctrine and the general Vedic doctrine. The difference is only one of point of view. The God of the Vedas is both a Doer and a non-Doer. Since the whole world is pervaded by God, He is a Doer, and yet He is not that because He remains untouched. - - - Looked at from this point of view, the verses which you have quoted from the Gita can be reconciled with one another. We should remember that the Gita is a poem. God does not speak nor does He do anything. - - - The conversation between Lord Krishna and Arjuna is imaginary. - - - It was a custom in those times to write religious works in such a form, and even today a learned
Gandhi & Jainism
Pg.205
| SR No. | 007798 |
| Book Title | Gandhi And Jainism |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Shugan C Jain |
| Publisher | International School for Jain Studies |
| Publication Year | 2017 |
| Total Pages | 339 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 120 MB |