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vows, and kept fasts. This fact is also supported by a number of world-renowned scholars' who inferred that Gandhi had strong imprints of Jainism.
'His parents were followers of Jain school of Hinduism, which regards Ahimsa, the doctrine of non-injury to any form of life, as one of its basic principles. This was the doctrine that Gandhi was to proclaim victoriously throughout the world. The Jains believe that the principle of love, not intelligence, is the road that leads to God.29
You Gandhiji; you and your Jain ancestors, long ago, left their chanting, singing and telling of beads. He is there where the tiller tills the hard ground. He is with them in sun and shower, and his garments are dirty'.30 Tagore
The influence of religious principles in the family can be seen even on the household help, Rambha. She taught Gandhi the benefit of chanting (use of Ramanama) to allay fear. Being the youngest child in the family, he got fatherly love from his elder brother as well. Similarly, he learnt the meaning of Ahimsa when his father absorbed the pain of Gandhi's theft and when his mother explained that we should respect all life-forms, even that of an insect. Gandhi's family were thus instrumental in predisposing him to traits or behaviours such as self-sacrifice, Ahimsa, fasting, serving, love and devotion, which were considered virtuous.
Jains are firm believers of activism of soul and karma doctrine (see Appendix I). His own earlier karmic imprints seem to be virtuous as he developed excellent skills of observation, experimented in different areas of his life but always returned to the values practised by his family through corrective actions.
Gandhi & Jainism | Pg.13