Page:Rolland - Mahatma Gandhi, tr. by Catherine D. Groth, 1924.pdf/21

 which regards ahimsa, the doctrine of non-injury to any form of life, as one of its basic principles. This was the doctrine which Gandhi was to proclaim victoriously throughout the world. The Jaïnists believe that the principle of love, not intelligence, is the road which leads to God. The Mahatma’s father cared little for wealth and material values, and left scarcely any to his family, having given almost everything away to charity. Gandhi’s mother was a very devout woman, a sort of Hindu St. Elisabeth, fasting, giving alms to the poor, and nursing the sick. In Gandhi’s family the Ramayana was read regularly. His first teacher was a Brahman who taught him to memorize