Mohandas Karamachand Gandhi. Famed for his peaceful opposition to British rule in India and his part in achieving India’s independence. (Glossary for the Vahinis)
Acquire The Spirit of Sacrifice
(Gandhi)
Mahatma Gandhi went to London and was conferred with the degree of Bar-at-Law. He wished to fulfil his life by utilising his education in the service of society. Therefore, after his return to his motherland, joined the Indian National Congress. He sacrificed his entire life for achieving Independence for the country. He started wearing a simple dhoti and a piece of cloth to cover the upper portion of his body: underwent several difficulties in the north Indian States during the freedom struggle. He was beaten by the police with lathis (baton) in Lucknow. However, in spite of undergoing several difficulties and physical torture at the hands of the police, he did not give up his resolve to attain Independence for the country. He started practising Law. Even then, his life did not go smoothly. He joined the Independence movement on behalf of the Indian National Congress and underwent great torture at the hands of the British. Nevertheless, he did not lose heart.
(Gandhi and His Wife Kasturba)
His wife Kasturba was a noble lady. She always served her husband with great devotion, even when Gandhi was in jail. Simultaneously, she was also engaged in service to the country. It is only her spirit of service that protected her throughout. During the days of their involvement in the Independence movement, there were occasions when the husband and wife got separated. But Kasturba was reconciled to the situation that whatever happened was for her good only. Thus, people who serve others with a noble heart will always see good only. At last, the country attained Independence and Jawaharlal Nehru became the first Prime Minister.
Subhash Chandra Bose was another great leader of the freedom movement who was good at heart and was a great patriot. It is only because of the efforts of such men of sacrifice, the country could attain Independence. However, it is not merely Swatantrya (Independence) that we have to wish for. We must attain Swarajya. That is great. Swatantrya is a temporary phenomenon of freedom from foreign rule while Swarajya is concerned with and attained by the heart. (SSS Vol.37, pp. 282-284)
(Young Gandhi)
When Gandhi was twenty-four years old, he proceeded to South Africa at the invitation of an Indian Business House to conduct a Court case. There he witnessed the humiliation being heaped upon Indian settlers by the Whites. Differences can exist between man and man in health, education, wealth and temperament. But, fundamentally, all men are equal and should be treated as such. But racial animosity was the accepted policy of the White rulers in South Africa.
Gandhi earned the appellation of ‘Mahatma’ because of the sacred ‘Kokila Vrata’ observed by his mother. Gandhi’s mother used to observe everyday a vow ritual known as ‘Kokila Vrata’. As soon as she completed the ritual, she would wait for the call of the Kokila (the Indian cuckoo) to have her breakfast. However, on one day, she waited for a long time, without, taking food, for the call of cuckoo. Noticing this, the young Gandhi went out of the house, imitated the cooing of the cuckoo and then told his mother, ‘Now that the cuckoo has made its call, please, mother, take your food.’ Unable to contain her grief, the mother slapped on the cheeks of Gandhi and wailed: ‘What sin have I committed that such a liar should be born to me! What a great sinner am I to have begotten such a wicked liar as son, Oh Lord!’ She was shedding tears as she spoke. Deeply moved by his mother’s words, Gandhi made a promise to her ‘In my life, henceforth, I will not utter falsehood.’
In those days, the mothers used to watch the behaviour of their children and strove to keep them on the right path. Gandhi became a ‘Mahatma’ because of the severe punishment meted out to him by his mother.
Gandhi’s mother Putlibai, had a maid called Rambha. One day, Gandhi came running to her saying ‘I am afraid, I am afraid!’ Rambha was a worthy maid of Putlibai. She told the young fear-stricken lad: ‘Don’t have any fear. Whenever you feel afraid, repeat the name, ‘Ram, Ram,’ and your fear will leave you.’ That teaching was remembered by Gandhi all his life and he died with the name of Rama on his lips. (SSS Vol.26, pp. 151-152)
The advent of Satyagraha by Gandhi
(Gandhi leading the 1930 Salt March, a notable example of Satyagraha)
Gandhi stayed on among the oppressed Indians and native blacks and devised the strategy of Satyagraha (passive resistance or civil disobedience) to end the exploitation. When the movement showed signs of quick success, General Smuts invited Gandhi for discussion. Gandhi explained to him that he had to resort to non-violent Satyagraha since the inhuman policy of insulting and injuring humans having black skins had to be resisted and exterminated. General Smuts retorted by pointing out to Gandhi how millions of Indians--human beings like the rest-- were kept out of villages and condemned as untouchables.
The General’s word acted as a bullet shot right at the heart of Gandhi. Gandhi felt that he had no right to correct another while he was himself infected with the same evil. He decided to return to India and practise the strategy of Satyagraha for the removal of untouchability and other social evils and to free his Motherland from exploitation by foreigners. Satyagraha was the path of Truth and Love, of the means being as pure as the ends. Verily, he who accepts criticism gladly and thanks the critic for his remarks is the one really human. Since Gandhi was willing to learn and had the humility to acknowledge criticism, he could mould the people of his land and be hailed as the Father of the Nation.
He looked upon the country as one. He planted the seed of unity of all faiths and all communities, which under his guidance grew quickly into a big tree. He built a great movement on the basis of Atmabhalam (soul-force) that strengthened unity and self-confidence. Selfishness that had possessed the nation as an evil genius and mined its progress in material, moral, political and spiritual fields, was suppressed while the movement was on. The people suffered much but sufferings is the prelude to success. There is no rose without thorns. Without giving, no one can gain. How can anything great be achieved without overcoming internal and external obstacles?
The birth and meaning of Swatantra
The independence we celebrate today was finally achieved and proclaimed at midnight on August 14/15, 1947. What exactly does the word ‘independence’ mean? It means we are not dependent on anyone, any longer. We are dependent on ourselves alone. The Indian word is Swatantra for ‘Independence.’ It means ‘our Tantra.’ The word Tantra means ‘the Heart’ (Hridayam, Hrdaya, in the Heart, Hrd. The Yantra (the machine, the apparatus) is the body. The Mantra (saving formula is the Breath and the Tantra (the heart, the source of life is the Atma So, Swatantra means independence from everything except the Atma. The resident of the heart is the only Guru. There is no dependence on the others. He is the only Master, the only God. This is the stage of Swarajya, sole monarch of oneself.
(Father of the Nation)
The word Swaraj, commonly used for an independent state, connotes only absence of worldly dependence. Independence can be enjoyed by man only if he gets rid of bondage to the senses which drag him into tantalising ventures. The attainment of Yoga, involving sense-control, expansion of love, and cleansing the consciousness, so the God’s glory may be reflected therein, is the goal. (SSS Vol.18, pp. 94-97)
Mahatma Gandhi realised the eternal values enshrined in Bharatiya Culture. He attempted to promote these values through the primary schools he sponsored. When he was in prison, a British officer who visited him often asked him, ‘I find you sad and worried today. Tell me why?’ and Gandhi replied, ‘I find that the educated person has a hardened heart, more hardened than the heart of an uneducated person. This is something that should not happen. The system is fraught with danger.’ This made Gandhi try his experiments in imparting Indian ideals to the tender minds in primary schools. The same officer approached Bal Gangadhar Tilak later and told him how Gandhi had accused Western education of hardening the heart. He asked Tilak, ‘But, I find you have not been spoiled at all by the Western system of education.’ Tilak replied, ‘I asserted that I am what I am, in spite of the system of education through which I had to pass.’ (SSS Vol.14, p. 145)
There are three stages of wisdom correlated to those three bodies: Jnana, Sujnana and Vijnana. Knowledge that is gained by the analysis of the objective world and the similarities of the behaviour of its components is Jnana. When this knowledge is further studied and practised to subserve the best interests of the individual society, it becomes Sujnana, or beneficial wisdom. The intentions and urges that arise from the purified consciousness saturated with the Divine qualities emanating from the sage is Vijnana, the Highest Wisdom. It is to be noted that the word Vijnana is often misused to indicate mere Jnana, or co-ordinated information, analysed information about sense perceptions arising out of contact with the material objective world. Bharatiya Culture uses the word for the Supreme Wisdom, which denotes the seer, the saint.
Intelligence, intellect, intuition---these three govern the thoughts and actions of man. One leads to another. This is the significance of the prayer with which Gandhi awakened the urge of liberation in this vast country, liberation not only from alien rule but also from alien tendencies and trends of thought. He caused the reverberation all over the land from a million throats of the prayer, Sabko sanmati de Bhagavan---’O Lord! Grant every one the equipment of beneficent intelligence.’ Once that is assured, progress is certain. (SSS Vol.11)
When students are good, the country will be good. As is the student, so are the people. Just consider’ all persons whom we revere to-day as elders and leaders have been, at one time, students like you. And, you too will replace them later. Make yourself ready therefore by utilising best the chances you have. Your education must make you self-reliant and self-confident.
On one occasion, a follower told Gandhi, ‘Independent India is your crown.’ Gandhi commented: ‘Independence is my crown; but, separation is my Cross.’ We have to grasp the sadness of that confession. Divisiveness has become the bane of the nation in all fields. The evil of separatism is infecting the entire country and passions are rising sky high. True humanness yearns for unity. Man seeks the one in the many, unity in diversity. He should not break the unity into diversity. All limbs and organs have to work in unison in order to ensure health. The nation too is a body and the same rule applies to its various limbs and parts. The welfare of the nation depends on the welfare of the societies comprising it and the nation’s welfare is proportionate to the welfare of its component States. So, we must promote human values at every stage. What is happening today is just birth, growth and death. (SSS Vol. 15, pp. 185-186)
Gandhi once said, ‘knowledge without character is a powerful evil’ (SSS Vol.11, p. 133)
Engage in Karma as a means of adoring God
Gandhi told someone at the Round Table conference this Truth. One person had come to London during that confernce from Colombo and during a conversation, he suddenly asked him this question: ‘Where is God?’ Gandhi rplied, ‘God is that mysterious power from which this worlds around me originated, through which they desintegrate, which is the base on which all creation rests and moves. This power is so mysterious that, as the Vedas declared, ‘Words which attempt to describe It turns back defeated; even the mind with all its imaginative power cannot reach It.’ All things rise from It, exists in It and merge in It, as the Gita declares. (SSS Vol. 15, p. 126)