the.com/mahatma
Not a name — a title meaning 'great soul,' which Gandhi never gave himself.
means An honorific meaning 'great soul,' applied to a person revered for extraordinary wisdom or spiritual stature.
from From Sanskrit mahātman, a compound of mahā ('great') and ātman ('soul' or 'self') — the same ātman at the heart of Vedanta philosophy, where it denotes the innermost essence of a person. The title long predates Gandhi, used in Hindu and theosophical tradition for revered sages; it was reportedly bestowed on Mohandas Gandhi by admirers (popularly credited to Rabindranath Tagore), and the world simply never stopped using it.
- origin
- Sanskrit: maha (great) plus atman (soul)
- honorific
- Tagore popularized it for Gandhi, who disliked it
- not unique
- theosophists used it for revered spiritual teachers earlier