ABSTRACT
Gandhi's own writings are a major source of information about the years between his departure from London and the beginnings of his activities in South Africa. Chance would have it that, during his years in England, he happened upon the Gita, India's sacred book, better known in the West as the Bhagavad Gita. Gandhi realized that he did not know the book when two theosophists invited him to read the Gita with them. He had never read it, neither in Sanskrit nor in Gujarati, his mother tongue. He accepted their invitation, although he was embarrassed by his ignorance. But the experience was, for him, spellbinding, a revelation pure and simple. Attachment is born if a man's thoughts are attracted by sensual objects. From anger comes delusion, from delusion rises bewilderment and loss of memory. From the confusions of the mind comes the ruin of reason. And from the loss of reason comes death.
