Is it true that Jains influenced Mahatma Gandhi?
The image of the Jaina as a man of peace and goodwill is strongly imprinted on the Indian psyche; and indeed, it can be said that the Jaina community has often been a morally uplifting factor in the life of Indian society as a whole. In this connection might be mentioned Mahatma Gandhiperhaps the greatest champion of nonviolence in our age. Gandhi claimed to have been deeply influenced, particularly in the development of his theory of ahimsa as a political weapon, by the revered Jaina layman Raychandbhai Mehta. Three persons have influenced me deeply, Tolstoy, Ruskin and Raychandbhai: Tolstoy through one of his books and Raychandbhai through intimate personal contact. When I began to feel doubts about Hinduism as a religion, it was Raychandbhai who helped me to resolve them. M.K. Gandhi 1958-1976: XXXII, 4. On the life and works of Raychandbhai Mehta (1868-1901), known to his devotees as Srimad Rajacandra Jaini, Padmanabh. Jaina Path of Purification. Pg. 314-5, footnote 64. [Back to th
