The Story of My Experiments with Truth · Chapter
Glimpses of Religion explained
Gandhi reflects on his early religious education, describing how his parents' tolerance for various faiths, the influence of his nurse Rambha, and the reading of the Ramayana by Ladha Maharaj shaped his spiritual outlook.
What happens
Gandhi reflects on his early religious education, describing how his parents' tolerance for various faiths, the influence of his nurse Rambha, and the reading of the Ramayana by Ladha Maharaj shaped his spiritual outlook. He also recounts his initial dislike for Christianity due to missionary abuses and his early experiments with truth and morality.
Themes in this chapter
Religion and Interfaith Dialogue
Gandhi describes his early exposure to Hinduism, Jainism, Islam, and Zoroastrianism through his parents and their friends, fostering a tolerant outlook.
Truth and Self-Experimentation
Gandhi emphasizes that truth became his sole objective, and he began experimenting with the principle of returning good for evil.
Characters to notice
- Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
Recounts his childhood religious experiences and growing conviction that truth is the basis of all morality.
- Putlibai Gandhi
Gandhi's mother, who visited temples and exposed him to various religious traditions.
- Kaba Gandhi
Gandhi's father, who hosted discussions with Jain monks and friends of different faiths.
- Ladha Maharaj
A devotee of Rama who read the Ramayana to Gandhi's father, inspiring Gandhi's deep devotion to the epic.
- Pandit Malaviyaji
Mentioned as a devotee whose reading of the Bhagavat during Gandhi's fast made him wish he had heard such readings in childhood.
Key passages
“For a bowl of water give a goodly meal; For a kindly greeting bow thou down with zeal; For a simple penny pay thou back with gold; If thy life be rescued, life do not withhold. Thus the words and actions of the wise regard; Every little service tenfold they reward. But the truly noble know all men as one, And return with gladness good for evil done.”
A Gujarati poem taught Gandhi to repay kindness generously and to return good for evil, which became his guiding principle.
Gandhi adopted this moral precept as a core part of his philosophy.
“I think it is due to the seed sown by that good woman Rambha that today Ramanama is an infallible remedy for me.”
Gandhi credits his childhood nurse Rambha for teaching him to repeat Ramanama, a practice that remains a spiritual anchor for him.
This early influence had a lasting impact on Gandhi's spiritual life.