Gandhis Teachers Rajchandra Ravjibhai Mehta

Author(s): Satish Sharma
Publisher: Gujarat Vidyapith Ahmedabad

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Gandhi's Teachers ! Rajchandra Ravjibhai Mehta
very life, I hope I may be prepared to give it... Often in my progress, I have had faint glimpses of the Absolute Truth, God, and the daily conviction is growing upon me that He alone is real and all else is unreal.")
To make progress on the path to moksha, Gandhi firmly believed in the age-old Indian tradition of seeking a "guru" who advised the disciple on matters of daily conduct and living, achievement of perfection in life, self-realization, and attainment of the goal of moksha. This was a huge task and could be accomplished by one who himself was self-realized, had perfect knowledge, practiced what he preached, could guide by word and example, was pure, inspired change, was non-sectarian, was infallible, and was free from wants and flaws. Gandhi indicates: "I think there is a great deal of truth in the doctrine that true knowledge is impossible without a guru. An imperfect teacher may be tolerable in mundane matters, but not in spiritual matters. Only a perfect jnani? deserves to be enthroned as a guru. There must, therefore, be ceaseless striving after perfection, for one gets the guru that one deserves. This infinite striving after perfection is one's right. It is also its own reward." Gandhi also believed in the potency of people and he writes in a letter to Premabehn from Yervada Mandir: "Great men seem to be the cause of revolutions in the world. In truth, the people themselves are the cause. Revolutions do not take place by accident, but obey laws as rigid as the law governing the motions of the planets."9
Inspirations of Gandhi came from many sources, but in his autobiography and several other writings and speeches he specifically mentions four thinkers who had captivated him and left a deep impression on his life, thought, and reform strategies. These thinkers were Gokhale, Rajchandra, Leo Tolstoy, and John Ruskin.:' In the political realm, Gandhi had accepted Gokhale as his teacher and counselor since he had met Gandhi's all expectations of a "guru" and Gandhi never doubted or questioned the propriety of his views and instructions." In the religious realm, no one could qualify as