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foundation by which he could evaluate his actions and identify the corrective measures needed to adhere to a path of self-care and internal focus even amid great external strain."
Gandhi himself beautifully summarised his early life as, "One thing took deep root in me - the conviction that morality the basis of things, and that truth is the substance of all morality. Truth became my sole objective. It began growing in magnitude every day and my definition of it also has been ever widening.”37
Among the underpinnings mentioned, nothing is probably more important than the Jain influence identifiable in his mindset. He managed to graft several Jain concepts on to his own interpretation of Hinduism, so much so that no less a person than Tilak once mentioned that he had always taken Gandhi to be a
Jain 39
Gandhi proved that inadequacies like his slight in stature and fragile and coming from a small town are not hindrances in selfrealisation and can be overcome. Later this young boy grew to be hailed as Mahatma which signifies "Great Soul” and “Father of the Nation,” titles bestowed on him respectively by the great Bengal poet and educational reformer Rabindranath Tagore and Indian independence leader Subhash Chandra Bose“.
Notes & References
My.Ex. 1 page 189 First emperor who unified India and renounced his empire to become a Jain monk Gujarat was one of the main centres of the Indus Valley Civilization (oldest recorded civilization of India and perhaps of the world 3,500BC). The ancient history of Gujarat was clearly enriched by the commercial activities of its inhabitants with
Pg.16 Gandhi & Jainism
