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88
Gandhi's Teachers : Rajchandra Ravjibhai Mehta
upbringing. But Rajchandra also recommended him to read Panchikaran, Kavyadohan and Mokshamala as an added help.80
Gandhi also learned from Rajchandra that dry religious knowledge was futile and that one had to have firm faith and devotion in God and prayer in order to succeed in the spiritual pursuits. Regarding his own faith in God and prayer, he mentions:81
"He has saved me...in all my trials - of a spiritual nature, as a lawyer, in conducting institutions, and in politics - I can say that God saved me. When every hope is gone, when helpers fail and comforts flee, I find that help arrives somehow, from I know not where."
Gandhi further mentions:82
"Supplication, worship, prayer are no superstitions; they are acts more real than the acts of eating, drinking, sitting or walking. It is no exaggeration to say that they alone are real, all else is unreal."
And:83
"Such worship or prayer is no flight of eloquence; it is no lip-homage. It springs from the heart... Prayer needs no speech. It is in itself independent of any sensuous effort. I have not the slightest doubt that prayer is an unfailing means of cleaning the heart of passions. But it must be combined with the utmost humility."
Service to Humanity and Self
Finally, Gandhi learned from Rajchandra that the two-fold purpose of life was service to humanity and self and service to humanity takes precedence over service to self. Even goals like self-purification, self-realization, spiritual growth, and moksha are to be attained through service to others and Gandhi explains:84
"If I found myself entirely absorbed in the service of the community, the reason behind it was my desire for selfrealization. I had made the religion of service my own, as
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