GANDOLFI – A holy bishop. Painting by Ubaldo G. Bologna, Pinacoteca.
such, imbued with strong Christian influences. He strove to make the existence of the humble and the oppressed less painful; to make men good, so that in goodness and truth their existence might be serene; to urge them to believe in a Supreme Truth, so as not to seek salvation in anything within what he called “the desert of atheism.” For this reason he admired the moral doctrine of Christianity and the “Sermon on the Mount,” but did not accept the dogmas of the Christian faith, because for him religion always remained a philosophy and a ritual.
BIBL.: R. Rolland, Mahātmā G., Paris 1924; C. F. Andrews, Mahātmā G.'s ideas. London n.d.; M. E. Modelli, L'India, Milan 1937. Autobiography edited by F. Andrews, Italian trans., there 1931. Mario E. Modelli