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Gandhi's Teachers: Rajchandra Ravjibhai Mehta
16. Government of India, The Collected Works... Vols. 21, 34, & 54... op. cit., 1958-84, respectively pp. 427-35, p. 23, & p. 201.
17. A speech on the birth anniversary of Rajchandra. See: Government of India, The Collected Works... Vol. 21... op. cit., 1958-84, pp. 427-35. Also see: Navajivan, November 24, 1921; Harijanbandhu, Vol. 26, No. 3, 1933.* *Because of Rajchandra's averse statements about Jainism, some Jains used to say that he knew nothing of Jain Dharma (Jainism) and that he was a hypocrite and egotist. Gandhi, however, assures that there was not a trace of hypocrisy or egotism in Rajchandra. See: Navajivan, November 24, 1921.
18. Earlier in Chapter 1, it has been indicated that Revashankar Jagjivandas Mehta was one of Gandhi's main well-wisher and life-long supporters.
19. In a letter to Jaisukhlal dated November 3, 1945, Gandhi makes a reference to Rajchandra having a son. It is possible that he may have had other children as well. See: Government of India, The Collected Works... Vol. 82, 1958-84, p. 425.
20. The understanding of present life to be the result of past karmas (doings) is common in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. The karma theory, however, is not the same in these three traditions. See: Bhaktivedanta, A. C., Bhagavad-Gita As It Is. Los Angeles: International Society for Krishna Consciousness, 1986; Radhakrishnan, S. and C. A. Moore, A Source Book in Indian Philosophy. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1957; Rice, Edward, Eastern Definitions. Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company, 1978. Also see: Chapter 3 - Jainism and Jain Goal of Life. Since Rajchandra's primary goal was the attainment of moksha, family and business lives were more like obstacles for him. 21. Goverdhandas, Mahatma Gandhi and Kavi Rajchandraji...op. cit., 1989, p. 5.
22. Ramayana and Mahabharata are huge Hindu epics,
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