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his acceptance of Rajchandra as his refuge in his moments of spiritual crises shows the impact of Jainism on him.
Gandhi must have interacted with several Jains. During our research, we came across notable Jains like Dr. Pranjivan Mehta, (described as friend, guide and benefactor by Gandhi), Raychandbhai, Virchand Gandhi and Ambalal Sarabhai etc. He acknowledged the role played by Dr. Mehta in advising to plan and start Salt Tax Removal and Hind Swaraj movements many years before Gandhi practised them. Dr. Mehta also supported him financially in setting up Phoenix and Sabarmati Ashrams and Gujarat Vidhyapeeth. Virchand Gandhi (lawyer and Jain philosopher) was involved in his establishing law practice after return from England. Rajchandra had profound impact on his life and was his refuge during moments of spiritual crisis. Similarly we find Sheth Ambalal Sarabhai, whom Gandhi opposed during Ahmedabad strike but admired Gandhi and later donated significantly when Gandhi started his movement to abolish untouchability (as other Hindu donors refused to support his movement financially); Ambalal's sister Anusuyabehn and daughter Mridula who were always there to support Gandhi's Satyagraha; Jain monks like Bechar Swami during his childhood and a regular visitor to Gandhi family and Mahasati Ujjawala during his month long sojourn in Birla House Bombay in 1944 indicate Jain impact on him. These are just a few names we have come across. Similarly we found many instants when Gandhi addressed Jains to become better Jains by practicing Ahimsa and Aparigraha as pronounced by Mahavira. Our research for other Jains was, however, constrained as most of the Jains in Western and Southern India do not write Jains as their surnames.
The variables identified for comparative analysis are primarily moral cum religious values which impact a person in his responses to the occurrences of an event, be it external i.e.
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