________________
Law of Karma
conquer evil by love there. He started to put into practice his moral and religious ideas too.
With this unique experiences of South African moral and political adventures, he came to India and was determined to make efforts for the independence of India by applying the technique of Satyagraha. He had a firın belief that his method of non-violent Satyagraha, which had succeeded in solving smaller problems of life, could also solve the greater problems like “Political Slavery”. The life of Gandhi from 1920 to 1948, when he attained his martyrdom, has almost become a household story.
Gandhi's thought has originality, no doubt, but it carries on it the stamp of a number of influences. One of the earliest influences that provided backbone to Gandhi's thought was that of ancient Hindu tradition. At a very early age he had studied the Gītā and the Rāmāyana. These studies sharpened his moral sense and kindled his religious insight. In England, he got an opportunity to acquaint himself with Christianity also. It is said that when he saw the statue of Christ at St. Peters in Rome, he brust into tears. He had a tremendous respect for the life and personality of Jesus. Thus, he was able to incorporate some of the important sayings of Jesus Christ in his thought. Tolstoy also influenced Gandhiji in numerous ways. Tolstoy's emphasis on the power and dignity of suffering gave Gandhiji an inspiration for developing his own notion of Satyagraha. Besides these, he had also the first-hand knowledge of Zoroastrianism and Islam and also of the works of Ruskin and those of some of the theosophists of the time. All these influences had a deep effect on the mental set-up of Gandhiji. Gandhiji carried on experiments after experiments on moral religious and existential issues both in his inner life and in outward existence. In short, his thought is nothing but a product of the series of experiments that he carried out,
God
Mahatma Gandhi has a deep faith in God. He feels that he may live without air, but not without God. He is of the
