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Mohandas Gandhi

No Indian since Buddha has so fully captured the imagination, or taught the world as much, as Mohandas Gandhi. As one of the most complex personalities of the 20th century (Rushdie 129), his actions affected the lives of millions of people. His leadership of the movement to end British rule brought about IndiaÆs independence and introduced a revolutionary new political method.

Few historical figures seemed as unlikely a candidate for memorable greatness as Gandhi. He was a soft-spoken, frail-looking man who would confer with his British adversaries dressed in the traditional Indian dhoti and sandals. Committed to a life of poverty, he occupied no elected office, held no academic distinction and made no scientific discoveries. And yet, upon hearing of his death in 1948, no less a figure than Albert Einstein paid tribute to GandhiÆs extraordinary life with the statement, ôGenerations to come, it may be, will scarcely believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon the earthö (Shirer, 11).

GandhiÆs story begins in Porbandar, a port city on the west coast of what is now the Indian state of Gujurat. He was born on October 2, 1869, the youngest of four children born to Karamchand and Putliba Gandhi. Although the family name is taken directly from its subcaste of grocers, the Gandhis had been, for some 300 years or so, the Dewans, or administrators, who served the princely state of Porbandar.

The family were devout Vaishnavas who worshipped Vishnu, the preserver, a major deity in the Hindu Pantheon. His mother was a member of the little-known Pranami sect, which combined elements of Hinduism and Islam and emphasized the believerÆs intimate relationship with God rather than the observance of rituals (Payne 20). The Pranami priests often read from both the Koran and the Hindu Puranas. This combination of religious syncretism and the example of his motherÆs piety would have a powerful influence on ...

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Mohandas Gandhi. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 01:59, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1713080.html