Mahatma Gandhi¹

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, better known as Mahatma Gandhi. "Mahatma" means "Great-Souled One". His followers and admirers adorned him with this significant title, but the Mahatma’s soulful humility vehemently disclaimed the title. To be absolutely correct, Mahatma Gandhi had two more names: Ahimsa, Non-Violence, and Satyagraha, Soul-Force. Gandhi was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but both of his parents cared nothing for the so-called material wealth. They did care for something else and it was the inner wealth. In his life, his father’s indifference to material wealth, his father’s politically-oriented brain, tremendous will, his mother’s piety, purity, simplicity, sincerity, inner hunger and conscience of the soul and his wife’s inspiration, dedicated service and constant sacrifice loomed large.

He went to England to study law when he was nineteen years old. Three years later he returned to India and started practising law. Alas, in those days, in his legal practise, he received not the garland of victory, but of sad failure. Such being the case, he wanted to be a high school teacher in Bombay. Here too, God denied him this new career. Gandhi’s application to be a teacher was not favoured with acceptance. But in 1893, opportunity knocked at his life’s door. The heart of this young barrister cried with his fellow-countrymen, who were victims of ruthless injustice in South Africa. He left for Africa. He defended their case, their cause. He helped them and served them. There, in Africa, he gradually became a lawyer of the superlative degree. Mahalakshmi, the Goddess of Beauty and Plenty, blessed his heart with Her beauty and his outer life with plenty. Money, the bird, flew towards him and sweetly sat on his hand. Success, the dog, ran towards him and faithfully sat at his feet. Behind the bird and the dog, a human being from a far-off land came and inspired his aspiring heart and illumined his searching mind to fulfil life’s ideals. Gandhi’s life became the perfect expression of Tolstoy’s inspiration. With a view to practising his ideals, he cast aside the crown and throne of his outer achievements. He embraced Ahimsa, He embraced Satyagraha. He was one of those who awakened the slumbering nation and inspired the oppressed and depressed country to come out of the foreign yoke. He was successful. By this time, his frail body was no longer a stranger to inhuman brutalities. He had to undergo, several times, severe prison sentences. On being imprisoned for the first time, on 11 January 1908, he remarked:

His release from last imprisonment was on 6th May 1944. He spent no less than two thousand three hundred and thirty-eight days in jail.

His outer life suffered. His inner life triumphed. His life and his soul’s conviction became indivisible. His country’s independence became the object of his soul’s concern. His country’s ‘untouchables’ became the object of his heart’s concern. Bharat Mata placed her hands of Infinite Bounty on the head of her devoted son. His country’s untouchables discovered their haven in his boundless heart.

For the redemption of the untold sufferings of the untouchables Gandhi’s heart of supreme sacrifice voices forth:

We all know the supreme necessity of humility in a seeker’s life. No humility, no realisation of the Infinite Truth. One must needs be as humble as the dust. But Gandhi’s humility does not want to stop even at this point. He says: "The seeker after truth should be humbler than the dust. The world crushes the dust under its feet, but the seeker after truth should so humble himself that even the dust could crush him. Only then and not till then, will he have a glimpse of truth."

The world, especially the Christian world, is afraid of the consequences of sin. A Christian is more concerned about his sin than any other man on earth. The Indian heart in Gandhi speaks about sin: "I do not seek redemption from the consequences of sin, I seek to be redeemed from sin itself."

Again a Vedantin, a student of Vedanta, will proclaim that there is no such thing as sin. It is merely a play of ignorance.

Gandhi throws abundant light on conception and continence: "I think it is the height of ignorance to believe that the sexual act is an independent function necessary like sleeping or eating. The world depends for its existence on the act of generation and as the world is the playground of God and a reflection of His glory, the act of generation should be controlled for the ordered growth of the world. He who realises this will control his lust at any cost, equip himself with the knowledge necessary for the physical, mental and spiritual well-being of his progeny and give the benefit of that knowledge to posterity."

Mother Earth is truly proud of her son Gandhi’s sincerity. He said: "For me the observance of even bodily brahmacharya has been full of difficulties. Today (1929) that is to say, at the age of sixty, I may say that I feel myself fairly safe, but I have yet to achieve complete mastery over thought, which is so essential."

Gandhi married at the age of 13. He was blessed with four sons.

Fasting played a major role in Gandhi’s life. His sound advice is "eat only when you are hungry and when you have laboured for food." This reminds me of a Zen story:

The Chinese Zen master, Hyakujo, used to work very hard with his disciples, even at the ripe old age of eighty. He used to prune the trees, clean the grounds, trim the garden and so forth. His disciples were extremely shocked at these exertions. They knew well that it would be of no use to suggest to him to stop working, for he would turn a deaf ear to them. A brilliant idea flashed across their minds. They hid away his tools. The Master played his part. He stopped eating. This went on for several days. The disciples discovered why he was not eating. They returned his tools to him. With a smile, he took the tools and exclaimed, "No work, no food!" He began eating as usual.

Gandhi often fasted to get things done in his own way. Let me tell you two amusing but significant incidents in Gandhi’s life. His wife once saved up twenty-five rupees to spend for a special purpose. When Gandhi came to know about it, he brought his poor wife’s conduct to the attention of the public. He was furious. He exposed her in his weekly Young India under the caption, "My shame, my sorrow," and observed a three-day fast! He had taught his wife that there should be no personal belongings and no hoarding up of money.

On another occasion Gandhi took a vow that he would fast unto death. Tagore immediately said to his countrymen having realised the gravity of Gandhi’s vow: "He has come after a thousand years. Shall we send him back empty-handed again?"

Gandhi’s Gurudev, Rabindranath Tagore, once remarked:

"I differ with Gandhi in many respects, but I admire and revere the man highly." In one aspect of life at least, we see the difference between these two great souls. In renunciation, Mahatma found his deliverance, while Tagore found his deliverance in the fruit of fulfilment. Tagore sings, "Deliverance is not for me in renunciation, I feel the embrace of freedom in a thousand bonds of delight." The Upanishadic seers sing through the heart of Mahatma, "Tena tyaktena bhunjita" "Enjoy through Renunciation".

Prime Minister Nehru, during his speech to the Congress of the United States on 13 October 1949, spoke about the Father of the Indian Nation:

Four days later, on 17 October, while addressing Columbia University, Nehru again spoke about his mentor, guide and master: Krishnalal Shridharani, the well-known author of "My India, My America" has something amusing but striking to share with us: Now let us hear from Gandhi what he has to say about his own salvation or about his going to heaven: Gandhi says about religion: "After long study and experience, I have come to the conclusion that (1) all religions are true; (2) all religions have some error in them; (3) all religions are almost as dear to me as my own Hinduism."

Each individual has the right to have a God of his own. He is competent enough to define God according to his inner receptivity and outer capacity. Gandhi’s God is nothing other than truth. He says: "There are innumerable definitions of God, because His manifestations are innumerable. They overwhelm me with wonder and awe, for a moment stun me. But I worship God as Truth only."

Some of the world figures have called him the Saint Paul, Saint Thomas and Saint Francis of Assisi of the modern era and I call him the Pacific Ocean of Heart’s Love and Soul’s Compassion. Perhaps I am wrong. Perhaps I am right. But I am adamant in my assertion that Mahatma Gandhi is not the exclusive treasure of India, but a peerless pride of mankind and will remain so, down the sweep of centuries.