Editing Mahatma Gandhi (section)

=== Childhood ===
[[File:Mohandas K Gandhi, age 7.jpg|thumb|Gandhi in 1876 at the age of 7.]]
As a child, Gandhi was described by his sister Raliat as "restless as mercury, either playing or roaming about. One of his favourite pastimes was twisting dogs' ears."{{sfnp|Guha|2015|p=22}} The Indian classics, especially the stories of [[Shravana Kumara|Shravana]] and king [[Harishchandra]], had a great impact on Gandhi in his childhood. In his autobiography, Gandhi states that they left an indelible impression on his mind. Gandhi writes: "It haunted me and I must have acted Harishchandra to myself times without number." Gandhi's early self-identification with truth and love as supreme values is traceable to these epic characters.<ref name="Sorokin2002" /><ref>{{cite book |last1=Rudolph |first1=Susanne Hoeber |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fi6GDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA48 |title=Gandhi: The Traditional Roots of Charisma |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |year=1983 |isbn=978-0-226-73136-0 |page=48 |last2=Rudolph |first2=Lloyd I. |name-list-style=amp |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=7 October 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241007224423/https://books.google.com/books?id=Fi6GDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA48#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>

The family's religious background was eclectic. Mohandas was born into a [[Gujarati people|Gujarati]] [[Hindu]] [[Modh]] [[Bania (caste)|Bania]] family.<ref>{{harvp|Guha|2014a|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=XS7UAAAAQBAJ&q=%22the+subcaste+the+Gandhis+belonged+to+was+known+as+Modh+Bania,+the+prefix%22&pg=PP42 42]}}. "The subcaste the Gandhis belonged to was known as Modh Bania, the prefix apparently referring to the town of Modhera, in Southern Gujarat."</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Renard, John |year=1999 |title=Responses to 101 Questions on Hinduism |url=https://archive.org/details/responsesto101qu0000rena_e0p7/page/139 |publisher=Paulist Press |isbn=978-0-8091-3845-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/responsesto101qu0000rena_e0p7/page/139 139] |access-date=16 August 2020}}</ref> Gandhi's father, Karamchand, was Hindu and his mother Putlibai was from a Pranami [[Vaishnava]] Hindu family.{{sfnp|Gandhi|2008|pp=2, 8, 269}}<ref name="sharma11">{{cite book |last=Arvind Sharma |url=https://archive.org/details/gandhispiritualb0000shar |title=Gandhi: A Spiritual Biography |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-300-18738-0 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/gandhispiritualb0000shar/page/11 11]–14 |url-access=registration}}</ref> Gandhi's father was of Modh Baniya caste in the [[Varna (Hinduism)|varna]] of [[Vaishya]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rudolph |first1=Susanne Hoeber |title=Gandhi: The Traditional Roots of Charisma |last2=Rudolph, Lloyd I. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fi6GDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA17 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=1983 |isbn=978-0-226-73136-0 |page=17 |name-list-style=amp |access-date=29 March 2024 |archive-date=7 October 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241007224429/https://books.google.com/books?id=Fi6GDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA17#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> His mother came from the medieval [[Krishna]] bhakti-based [[Pranami]] tradition, whose religious texts include the [[Bhagavad Gita]], the ''[[Bhagavata Purana]]'', and a collection of 14 texts with teachings that the tradition believes to include the essence of the [[Vedas]], the [[Quran]] and the [[Bible]].<ref name="sharma11" /><ref>{{cite book |last=Gerard Toffin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uuuICwAAQBAJ&pg=PT249 |title=Public Hinduisms |publisher=Sage Publications |year=2012 |isbn=978-81-321-1696-7 |editor-last=John Zavos |pages=249–57 |display-editors=etal}}</ref> Gandhi was deeply influenced by his mother, an extremely pious lady who "would not think of taking her meals without her daily prayers... she would take the hardest vows and keep them without flinching. To keep two or three consecutive fasts was nothing to her."{{sfnp|Guha|2015|p=23}}

At the age of nine, Gandhi entered the local school in [[Rajkot]], near his home. There, he studied the rudiments of arithmetic, history, the Gujarati language and geography.{{sfnp|Guha|2015|pp=24–25}} At the age of 11, Gandhi joined the High School in Rajkot, [[Alfred High School (Rajkot)|Alfred High School]].{{sfnp|Guha|2015|pp=25–26}} He was an average student, won some prizes, but was a shy and tongue-tied student, with no interest in games; Gandhi's only companions were books and school lessons.{{sfnp|Ghose|1991|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=5l0BPnxN1h8C&pg=PA4 4]}}