How did Putlibai Gandhi influence Mahatma Gandhi’s beliefs?

Putlibai Gandhi significantly shaped Mahatma Gandhi’s early moral and spiritual development through her deep religious devotion and lifestyle. As a practitioner of Vaishnavism with influences from Jainism, she fostered a home environment that emphasized core principles that would later define Gandhi’s philosophy, including ahimsa (noninjury to all living beings), vegetarianism, and fasting for self-purification.1

Her personal conduct—characterized by frequent fasting, time spent in the temple, and a lack of interest in material finery—served as a practical model for the values of simplicity and sacrifice. Furthermore, her dedication to nursing family members during illness instilled in him a sense of service. These early influences were so profound that Gandhi took these practices for granted as he grew up, eventually adopting them as central tenets of his life and political activism.1