Full text of "The Collected Works Of Mahatma Gandhi Vol-Xli"

See other formats

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF

MAHATMA GANDHI

XLI

(June-October 1929)

qsarou snrii

THE PUBLICATIONS DIVISION
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting

Government of India

October 1970 (Asvina 1892)

By Kind Pctmission of JVavtijivan Trust, Ahnnlnbud

) BY THE DIRECTOR, THE PUBLICATIONS DIVISION, NEW OKI.m-1
<fD PRINTED IN INDIA BY SHANTILAI, IIARJIVAN SHAH
NAVAJIVAN PRESS, AHMEDABAD-14

PREFACE

During the period of four and a half months (June 1 to
October 15, 1929) covered in this, volume, Gandhijh continued
his efforts to educate public opinion for the coming struggle for
independence in terms of the Calcutta Congress Resolution of
the preceding year. After a strenuous tour of Andhra in April-
May, he went for rest to Kausani in Aim or a, where he finished
his Gujarati translation of the Bhagavad Gita , published later under
the title Anasakliyoga , on which he had been working for some
time. The volume also records the progress of yet another experi¬
ment in food which Gandhi ji had commenced during lire Andhra,
Lour. During July-August, he studied in depth, the Ahmedabad
textile workers’ ease for a living wage which had been referred to
him and Slieth Manga Idas Girdhardas as members of a permanent
board of arbitrators, and drew up a carefully documented statement
in support of the ease for submission to an umpire (pp. 359-63).
In early September, Gaudhiji resumed travelling and left for a
khucli propaganda tour of the U.P.

The volume begins with, an assessment of the work of the
IAuvigu-CIolh Boycott Committee. Gaudhiji paid a compliment
to llie “enthusiastic and dutiful Secretary 53 of the Commitlee,
Jairamdas Doulatram, hut complained of kick of sincerity on the
part of the leaders in regard to tire khadi programme. He empha¬
sized the imperative necessity of increasing khadi production for
the success of the boycott and suggested ways and means of doing
so. One cause of public apathy to the khadi programme was
(ho fact that cc the intellectual wing of the Congress has weakened
with the widening of its base, . . , Students of European econo¬
mics, shaped according to tint Government’s model, could not
appreciate the organization’s rural bias. . . could not make the
necessary sacrifices and therefore left it” (p. 257). Another cause
of the apathy was the total want of faith on the people’s part in
their ability to do anything and their acceptance of slavery as
“our natural condition”. “This is a most debasing state for anyone
to be in,” he commented (p. 64).

Condemning the police search of the house of Ramananda
Ghatterjec, of the Modem Review, Gandhiji charged the Govern¬
ment with following a policy of “studied humiliation” of the whole
people. “The tallest among us must be occasionally bent, lest
we lor get; ourselves. Hence this exhibition of the red claw” (p. 19).

[Vi]

There were frequent prosecutions for sedition under Section KM-A
of the Indian Penal Code and Gandliiji suggested a strong
public agitation for the repeal of the Section (p. 19. r >)g adding,
however, that “the force required really to repeal (hat Sectionals
the force required for the attainment of swaraj”. _ But lie Inul u a
suspicion that many of us want swaraj as a gilt instead ol earn¬
ing it by the sweat of our brows 1 ’ (p. H)6). To an impatient rrit ic
of his khadi programme, Gandliiji replied: \ on cannot get swa,i aj

by mere speeches, shows, processions, etc. What is needed is soldi,
steady constructive work , what the youth, (ia\<s foi and is f d
on is only the former” (p. 276). Replying to the ^respondent's
suggestion that youthful leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas
Chandra Bose be told to raise a national volunteer force and
Vallabhbhai to organize labour and peasantry to rise, Gandliiji
stressed the inter-depcndence of the leaders and the led, Vallabh-
bhai needed a Bardoli to make good his leadeiship. !!u\v many
Bardolis are there ready in the country today? 11 (p. 276 ), he
asked.

In view of the impending struggle, a large majority in the
Congress desired that Gandliiji should accept the presidentship of
the organization for the coming year. But he declined to shoulder
the responsibility, saying: “I know too that 1 am not keeping pace
with the march of events. There is therefore a hiatus between the
rising generation and me. ... I know that l must take a hack
seat and allow the surging wave to pass over me. . . , Older men
have had their innings. The battle of the future Inns to be fought
by younger men and women. And it is but meet that they are
led by one of themselves 1 ’ (p. 240), Recommending Jawaharlal
Nehru for the honour, he said: « . Ins being in the chair is as

good as my being in it. We may have intellectual dillcrenccs but
our hearts are one. And with all his youthful impetuosities, his
sense of stern discipline and loyalty make him an inestimable com**
rade in whom one can put the most implicit faith,” (p, 1HU.

Gandhiji admitted to being “a crank, lad (Ust and mad man 11
in regard to his dietetic experiments (p. 34), but pleaded, in a
letter to G. D. Birla, that such experiments were an integral
part: of his life and were essential for his mental peace fp. Id),
“As a searcher for Truth I deem it necessary to (iud the perfect
food for a man to keep body, mind and soul in a sound con¬
dition” (p. 307). Though he found “after prolonged experiment
and observation that there is no fixed dietetic rule for all cons*
titutions” (p, 263), he enthusiastically shared with his readers and
correspondents the details and results of his experiments and

with a poet’s delight. He called them “this king of seers” (p.
72) and wrote about the “hills clad with greenery, as though,
feeling shy, they had covered their bodies with it” (p. 79). But
the thought of the country’s plight weighed so heavilv on his

venous signt, out an. tms is an musion created oy uou, ine
Himalayas do not really exist, I do not exist and you do not
::xisl, Brahman alone is real.” “The true Himalayas,” Gandhiji
concluded, “exist within our hearts. True pilgrimage. . . consists
in taking shelter in that cave and having darshan of Siva there”
(p. 1'84).

Writing in Hindi Navajivan on “Reason v. Faith”, Gandhiji
explained that whatever is “amenable to rational inquiry” cannot
be the subject of faith. “In every matter,” he added, “faith
must be supported by empirical knowledge. For ultimately ex¬
perience is the basis of faith and everyone who has faith must at
some time pass through experience” (pp. 435-6). We should, he
said iu another context, “subiect even a “mahatma’s” word to the

intcl

we should discard it” (p. 55). He wanted to be saved from the
“horror of touching-thc-fcct devotion” (p. 351), and was pained
by Mirabehn’s hankering after his company, which he diagnosed
as a disease of “idolatry” (p. 76).

Gandhiji’s intense dislike of some aspects of modern civilization
is reflected in this entertaining description of the contents of news¬
papers: . . the progress of motion pictures, of the progress made

in aviation, stories of murders, facts describing the various revolutions
that arc going on in the world, dirty descriptions of dirty pro¬
ceedings of law-suits, news regarding horse races, the stock ex¬
accidents” (p. 187). St

personal experience Gandhiji confessed his sL

a i xx

iMi

[viii]

ment), with comments on selected verses and will) a lucid and
reasoned preface expounding his interpretation of the Vila's (caching.
An English rendering by Mahadcv Desai of the verses and of
Gandhiji’s comments on them, with a scholarly introduction en¬
titled “My Submission” and additional notes on tiro verses, was
published in 1946 under the title The Gospel of Selfless Action or
The Gita according to Gandhi. The preface in the original Gujarati
was rendered into English by Gandhiji himself in Yeravda jail in
instalments of one or more paragraphs daily and was published in
Young India of 6-8-1931. The manuscript of this English render¬
ing, in Gandhiji’s own hand, is ava.ila.hle, and va.ria.1 ions between it
and the translation as edited for Young India (which is repro¬
duced in this volume) arc indicated in the footnotes, hike tin'
English version of Hind Swaraj (Vol. X), this translation of tin'
preface in Anasaktiyoga provides a valuable illustration of Gandliiji's
method of translating his own Gujarati.

Disclaiming all pretension to scholarship and ignoring the
subtleties of metaphysical doctrine, Gandhiji in the preface and in
his notes concentrated on bringing out the fundamental ethical
teaching of the Gita for the benefit of the lay reader, of women,
Vaishyas and Shudras “who have little or no literary equipment,
who have neither the time nor the desire to read the Gita in the
original and yet who stand in need of its support" (p. P2). His
only qualification for this task was, he said, “an endeavour to en¬
force the meaning in my own conduct for an unbroken period
of 40 years” (p. 92). On the basis of that: experience, Gandhiji
made bold to offer an interpretation of the Gita 's teaching which
departed from the traditional views of it in important respects.
His approach to the subject illustrates his attitude' to all scriptures.
He claimed the freedom to interpret the revealed word in the
light of a disciplined and purified conscience. “A poet’s meaning,"
he says, “is limitless. Like man, the meaning uf great writings
suffers evolution” (p. 99). By extending the meanings of word's
like yajna and sannyasa, the author of the Gila “has taught ns to
imitate him (p. 100). It was this attempt to interpret the script ores
m consonance with modern ethical insights that enabled Gandhiji
to exemplify in his life the living truth behind the old religions
formulas. In Anasaktiyoga, Gandhiji approached the Gita in
this spirit and attempted a systematic exposition of a personal
and creative interpretation of its teaching.

The traditional view of the Gita doctrine of karmaynga , spin-
ually oriented action, was bound up with the supposedly historical
context ot tb,e teaching. A§ *u exhortation to Arjuna to’ overcome

aasqucraamg as compassion ana to ao ms
leaving the result of the fighting in God
lieved to enjoin disinterested performance
l antics, including the Kshatriya’s duty of :
lern times the emphasis on caste duties was
and the meaning of niyala karma, the allotted duty (in. 18)—the
phrase has also been interpreted to mean self-controlled action—
was enlarged to embrace public and national service, and the
doctrine of disinterested work so interpreted inspired a host of
patriots, led by Shri Aurobindo and Bal Gangadhar Tilak, in the
struggle for the emancipation and regeneration of the Motherland.

Gandhiji had discovered the Gila via the medium of a rather
free English translation (Edwin Arnold’s The Song Celestial) , and
he naturally read it in the light of the moral and religious ideas
which were fermenting in his mind while he was studying for the
Bar in England. He instantaneously saw in the work a confirma¬
tion of his own as yet vague intuitions (Vol. XXXIX, pp, 60-2),
and closer study of the work, after 1903, deepened those intuitions
and in legrated his developing political, humanitarian and ethical
concerns by providing them with a spiritual foundation. Hencefor¬
ward the Gila became for him cc a spiritual reference book” (p. 91).

Gandhiji disengaged the Gita's teaching from its historical con¬
text by interpreting the Mahabharala battle anagogically, as
describing, under the guise of physical warfare, “the duel that
perpetually went on in the hearts of mankind” (p. 93). “Krishna
ol the Gila'' he says, “is perfection and right knowledge personi¬
fied; but the picture is imaginary” (p, 94). The primary aim of
the work, thus, is not to rouse a warrior to physical battle in a
just; cause, but: to teach an aspirant to found all his activities in
spiritual consciousness and to show him the means of doing so.
This means consisted in doing one’s duty in the spirit of yajna,
sacrifice, dedicating the fruits of the sacrifice to the Lord seated
in the hearts of all beings. Such endeavour ruled out, according
to Gandhiji, violence and uutrulh in any form and for any cause
(p. 98), The characteristics of the sihikiprqpia , the man whose in¬
tellect is firmly anchored in the spiritual centre of his being,
described in Chapter II of the Gita, do not have, Gandhiji argued,
the remotest; connection with the specific duties of a warrior (p. 93).
And the characteristics of the hhakta , the man whose heart abides
for ever in loving devotion to God, described later in Chapter XII,
are no different from those of the sthitaprajva .

Similar Iv. Gandhi ii enlarged the traditional meaninf? ol

L x ]

Gandhiji interpreted yajna to mean, not a. mere, ritual olferiug, but
“acts of selfless service dedicated to (rod 1 ' (p. 10(5), Swadharma
meant, according to him, not merely caste functions and duties,
but the duty of service in whatever oceupation one followed, (p.
108). All action not performed in this spirit was, uncording to
the Gila, a cause of bondage, ami since no human being could
escape the necessity of action in obedience to the laws of univer¬
sal Nature to which lie is subject, the Gila enjoins disinterested
performance yajna, the worshipful offering of all actions to the
Lord, as the only means of deliverance (in. 5 & 0 and iv.
27). This, according to Gandhiji, was the core of the Git as
teaching.

The Gila is thus not a mere exhortation, to spiritual endeavour
or a code of morals and ethics; it is a practical guide to the
most effective way of attaining self-realization, and in this lay its
excellence (p. 94). Gandhiji oilers a simple and universal re¬
medy for the ills of life. “Thai, matchless remedy is renunciation
of the fruits of action, 'fids is the centre round which (he Gita is
woven” (pp. 91-5). Such, renunciation is possible onlv to a true
bhakla (p. 95), and Gandhiji exemplified its ellicaey by his lile-long
sadhana of public service, sustained in failure* and success by his
faith in Ramanama as a potent form of prayer, u Ramanaana is
a matter of faith not of the intellect. . * . Whether or not our prls

« it

peace from it, whether one lee Is happy or unhappy, one omflil to
keep up the repetition in the faith that Ramanama alone is
real” (p. 246),

In reproducing English material, every endeavour lias been
made to adhere strictly to the original. Obvious typographical
errors have been corrected and words abbreviated in the text
generally spelt out. Variant spellings of names have, however,
been retained as in the original.

Matter in square brackets has been supplied by the Editors.
Quoted passages, where these are in English, have been set up in
small type and printed with an indent. Indirect reports of speech¬
es and interviews, as also passages which are not by Gandhiji,
have been set up in small type. In reports of speeches and
interviews slight changes and omissions, where necessary, have
been made in passages not attributed to Gandhiji.

While translating from Gujarati and Hindi, efforts have been
made to achieve fidelity and also readability in English. Where
English translations are available, they have been used with such
changes as were necessary to bring them into conformity with the
original.

The date of an item has been indicated at the top right-hand
corner; if the original is undated, the inferred date is supplied
within square brackets, the reasons being given where necessary.
The date given at the end of an item alongside the source is that
of publication. The writings are placed under the date of publica¬
tion, except where they carry a date-line or where the date of
writing has special significance arid is ascertainable.

References to Volume I of this series are to the January 1969
edition.

In the source-line, the symbol S.N. stands for documents avail¬
able iu the Sabarmati Sangrahalaya, Ahmedabad; G.N, refers to
those available in the Gandhi Srnarak Nidhi and Sangrahalaya,
New Delhi; G.W. demotes documents secured by the Collected
Works of Mahatma Gandhi; M.M.U, stands for Mobile Microfilm
Unit reels.

ACKNO I VI,EDO EM E.N'l IV

For material in this volume, wo arc indebted lo the Sabannati
Ashram Preservation and Memorial Trust and Saur.Tahalaya,
the Navajivan Trust, and the Gujarat Vidyapitii (haulludaya,,
Ahmcdabad; the Gandhi Sinarak Nidhi and Srimiulialnya, the
Nehru Memorial Museum and I.ibrary, New Delhi; Slui G.
D. Birla, Calcutta; SnU. Sha.ra.da.hehn Shah, Sut rmlrnmigar;
Shri Haribhau Upadhyaya,, Ajmer; Slui Shaiilikumar Morarji,
Bombay; Shri S. V. Subb; i Ran; Suit. Vasumali Pandit,

Surat; Smt. Gaugabo.lui Vaidya.; Suit. Radii.ibrim (.haudhari,
Calcutta; Shri Fuleliand Shah, Sureudranaeur; Shri Yalji (i.

Dcsai, Poona; Shri Narandas Gandhi, Rajkot; the publi.'.hris of
the books: Bapuna Ptil.ro -7: Shri Ghhaganlal Jmliine, Bapuna Paha (>:
G. S. Gangabehme. Bapuna Palm ■!): Shn .Snrnndn\ Gamlhine, Pi. I,
Bapuna Balm-5: K'u. Prema.be.hn hnntalnc, Bapum i’tauhh, .1 Pniirh t>J
Old Belters ; and the following newspapers and journal';; 7 hr Bmhay
Chronicle , Hindi Navajivan ., The Hindu , The Hindustan 7 7 hr

Leader , Navajivan , Prajahandlm , Shikdtnn anr Stihiiya % and ) vim"

India.

For research and reference facilities, we owe thanks to die
All-India Congress Committee Library, the Indian (hunt il of
World Affairs Library, the Research and Rrtrivnee Division of'
the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, and Slut Pyatelal
Nayyar, New Delhi; and, lor assistance in phone \n indue; docu¬
ments, to the Photo Division of the Ministry of Inloitnation and
Broadcasting, New Delhi.

CONTENTS

PREFACE

NOTE TO THE READER
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

5
G
7

10
n
12

15
1G
17
IB

20
that JRi

22
•Ai

Him* % /

26
27
2B

( V)

or.

SuJ

PACK OF BOYCOTT (2-6-1929)

COMMITTEE FOR REMOVAL OF UNTOU(ill ABII,ITY (2-6-1929)
gujarat’s contribution (2-6-1929)

KARACHI KIIADI BI1ANDAR (2-6-1929)

IDEAL PRIMARY SCIIOOI. FOR CHILDREN (2-6-1929)
GOSEVA SANOHA (2-6-1929)

LETTER TO MADIIAVJ1 V. TIIAKKAR (2-6-1929)

LETTER TO JAM.NALAL BAJAJ (2-6-1929)

LETTER TO C. D. 1VIRT.A (2-6-1929)

LETTER TO G. I). BIRLA (3-6-1929)

LETTER TO JAWAIIARLAL NEIIRU (5-6-1929)

LETTER TO TARA MODI (5-6-1929)

LETTER TO MADHAVJI V. TIIAKKAR (5-6-1929)
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT (6-6-1929)

GOSEVA SANGIIA (6-6-1929)

ATROCIOUS (6-6-1929)

FOREIGN-CLOTH BOYCOTT (6-6-1929)

NOTES (6-6-1929)

WANTED SELF-CONVERSION (6-6-1929)
DItOTI-CWM-SOLA HAT (6-6-1929)

AN APOLOGY (6-6-1929)

SPINNING V. WEAVING (6-6-1929)

GOUNOIL-ENTRY (6-6-1929)

LETTER TO MOOLCIIAND AORAWAL (fi-G-1929)
Burma’s contribution in 1926 (9-6-1929)
gujarat’s duty (9-6-1929)

WHAT should municipalities DO? (9-6-1929)
ANONYMOUS DONATIONS (9-6-1929)

“sad plight of bulsar biiangis” (9-6-1929)
LETTER TO MADIIAVJI V. TIIAKKAR (10-6-1929)
LETTER TO FULOIIAND K. SIIAII (11-6-1929)
LETTER TO OUIIAUANLAL JOSIII (11-6-1929)
‘FOOD faddists’ (13-6-1929)

1)R. SUNDERLAND’S VOLUME (13-6-1929)

KIIADI GUIDE (13-6-1929)

60
61
62

^xiv'

BARDOLI ENQUIRY REPORT (13-6-1929)

PANDIT NEHRU’S APPEAR (13-6-1929)

A CARDING ENTHUSIAST (13-6-192!))

MARRIAGE AND THE VEDAS (13-6-1929)

NOTES (13-6-1929)

LETTER TO LI LAV AT I (13-6-1929)

LETTER TO CHIIAOANLAL JOStU (13-6-1929)

LETTER TO MANILAL AND SUSHILA GANDHI (13-6-192!))
LETTER TO MADII A VJI V. THAKKAR (13-6-192,9)

LETTER TO G. IX B1RLA (13-6-192!))

SPEECH AT NAINITAL (14-6-192!))

DUTY OF REFORMERS (16-6-1929)

RAW V. COOKED FOOD (16-6-192!))

MY NOTES (16-6-1029)

A STUDENT (16-6-1929)

LETTER TO PRABHAVATI (16-6-192!))

SPEECH AT PREM 'VIDYALAYA, TADIKHET (16-64929)
LETTER TO SATIS CHANDRA DAS GUPTA (17-6-1929)
LETTER TO REliRAMj! KHAMBHATTA (17-6-192!))

LETTER TO ASHRAM WOMEN (17-6-1929)

LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHf (17-6-192!))

LETTER TO MAHADEV DESAI (17-6-1929)

SPEECH TO CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY, ALMORA (HULI929)
TELEGRAM TO SWAMI (Oa or after 18-6-1929)

LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSH1 (19-6-1929)

KHADI AND BOYCOTT (20-6-192!))

NOTES (20-6-1929)

A FEW QUESTIONS (20-6-1929)

SPEECH AT ALMORA (20-6-1929)

TELEGRAM TO MUTUAL NEHRU (On or after 20-6-1929)
LETTER TO MAHADEV DESAI (21-6-1929)

TELEGRAM TO PRESIDENT, (INGRESS < lOMMlTTKE
KARIMGANJ (On or after 22-6-1929)

TELEGRAM TO G. D. BIRLA (On or after 22-6-1929)

THE CONGRESS AND KHADI (23-6-1929)

MAURYA EMPIRE AND UNTOUCHABILITY (23-64929)

A SUGGESTION CONCERNING “WAVAJIVAM 11 (23-64929)
TELEGRAM TO MOTILAL NEHRU (On or after 2346 1929)
LETTER TO MIRAREHN (24-6-1929)

LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSIH (24-6-1929)

LETTER TO PRABHAVATI (24-6-1929)

TELEGRAM TO DR. M. A, ANSARI (On or after 24-6-1929)
LETTER TO PRABHAVATI (25-6-1929)

3 !)

•18

•14

•ir>

47
•IK
■18
•1!)

5!)

(10

Oil

71!

f t 1

80
81
82

99
100
101
102
103
101

105

106

107

108

109

110
111
112

113

114

115

116

117

118

119

120

TELEGRAM TO KJLOETZU (On or after 26-6-1929)

A QUAINT ADDRESS (27-6-1929)

SEXUAL PERVERSION (27-6-1929)

A TRAGEDY (27-6-1929)

RASIITRIYA SANGIIA AND SELF-SUPPORT (27-6-1929)

TIIE EVIL OF PURDAH (27-6-1929)

“ANASAKTIYOGA 55 (27-6-192 9)

LETTER TO MAHADEV DESAI (28-6-1929)

LETTER TO C1IHAGANLAL JOSH! (28-6-1929)

LETTER TO JETIIALAL JOSIII (28-6-1929)

LETTER TO FULCIIAND K. SIIAH (28-6-1929)

TELEGRAM TO NAGESIIWARA RAO (On or after 29-6-1929)
A QUANDARY (30-6-1929)

SMALT,POX AND CHOLERA (30-6-1929)

ANGUISH OF U A HINDU YOUTH” (30-6-1929)

LETTER TO MANILAL AND SUSHI LA GANDPII (30-6-1929)
LETTER TO NANABIIAI I. MASIIRUWALA (30-6-1929)
LETTER TO G. D. BIRLA (30-6-1929)

LETTER TO KR1SHNAGHANDRA (1-7-1929)

LETTER TO IJLAVATI (1-7-1929)

LETTER TO VITHALDAS JERAJAN1 (1-7-1929)

LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI (1-7-1929)

LETTER TO JAWAHARLAL NEHRU (After 1-7-1929)

THE KELLOGG PACT (4-7-1929)

A PLEA FOR COMMON SENSE (4-7-1929)

MILL-OWNERS AND BOYCOTT (4-7-1929)

DESTROY ALL HI MSA (4-7-1929)

FOR SELF-SPINNERS (4-7-1929)

AN UNFORTUNATE DAUGHTER (4-7-1929)

FOREIGN SUGAR V . KHADI (4-7-1929)

LETTER TO R. B. GREGG (4-7-1929)

LETTER TO N. R. MALKANI (Before 5-7-1929)

THE OLD STORY (7-7-1929)

ON INCREASING THE SIZE OF “NAVAJIVAN” (7-7-1929)
INSTANTANEOUS EFFECT (7-7-1929)

AMONG THE SKELETONS OF ORISSA (7-7-1929)

LETTER TO SATIS CHANDRA DAS GUPTA (8-7-1929)
LETTER TO PRARIIAVATI (8-7-1929)

AT,MORA IMPRESSIONS (11-7-1929)

FOREIGN-CLOTH BOYCOTT (11-7-1929)
SELF-SUPPORTING EDUCATION (11-7-1929)

SYLHET INUNDATED (11-7-1929)

88
90

133

135

136

137

138
140
142
145

147

148

14X)

150

151

152

153

155

156

158

159

160
161
162

163

164
166
167
167

169

170
170

172

173
175

121

122

123

124

125

126

127

128

129

130

131

132

133

134

135

136

137

138

139

140

141

142

143

144

145

146

147

148

149

150

151

152

153

154

155

156

157

158

159

160
161
162
163

PROHIBITION (11-7-1929)

THE PUNDIT SABIIA OF KA.SIII (11-7-192!))

WIDOWS AND WIDOWERS (11-7-1929)

LETTER TO NAJUKLAL N. CHOKSl (11-7-1929)

LETTER TO IIARIBIIAU UPADIIYAYA (12-7-1929)
TELEGRAM TO NAGKSIIWARA RAO (On or after 12-7-192!))
LETTER TO NAJUKLAL N. GUOKSI (19-7-1929)

MEANING OF THE TERM ‘FADDIST 1 (1-1-7-1929)

HOW TO DESCRIBE T1IEIR MAJESTY7 (I'1-7-1929)

IF SPINNERS ALSO WEAVE:’ (1-1-7-11)2!))

ABOUT “NAVAJIVAN” (14-7-1929)

LETTER TO A RUSSIAN CORRESPONDEN T (1 1 -/ 1 <).;'))
LETTER TO RAMESIIWARDAS PODDAK (14-7-1
LETTER TO JKTHAI.AL JOSHI (14-7-1929)

LETTER TO ALBERT M. TODD (15-7-1929)

LETTER TO PRABUAVATI (15-7-1929)

LETTER TO MOOLCHAND AORAWAI. (1 5-7-1 929)

LETTER TO GANGABKIIN VAIDYA (17-7 1979)

NOTES (18-7-1929)

AN ANDHRA HERO (18-7-192!))

SWORD OF DAMOGLKS (18-7-1929)

UNFIRED FOOD EXPERIMENT (12-7-1929)

ARTLESSNESS OR AUDACITY? (18-7-1929)

SIKHS IN BRITISH COLUMBIA (18-7-1929)

THE RUNNING SORE (18-7-192!))

LETTER TO PRABUAVATI (18-7-192!))

LETTER TO JAWAIIARLAI. NEHRU (20-7-1929)

LETTER TO PRABUAVATI (20-7-1929)

MY NOTES (21-7-1929)

RESULTS OF THE VICTORY AT’ BARDOEI (21-7-1929)

WHAT IS ONE’S DHARMA? (21-7-192!!)

PRODUCTION OF KIIADI IN GUJARAT (21-7-1929)

LETTER TO V. S. SRINIVASA SASTRI (21-7-192!))

LETTER TO N. TGIIERKOFF (21-7-192!))

LETTER TO FIILStMHA DABHI (21-7-1929)

LETTER TO JKTHALAL JOSHI (21-7-1929)

SPEECH AT PUBLIC MEETING, KADI (22-7-1929)

TELEGRAM TO JAWAIIARLAL NEHRU (On or after 22-7-1929)
FROM BRITISH GUIANA (25-7-192!))

URBAN V. RURAL (25-7-192!))

NOTES (25-7-1929)

MILL-LABOUR IN BARODA STATE (25-7-1929)
A VICIOUS BOOK (25-7-1929)

179
1111)
I HO
1111

nut

lit!)

Hi!)

190

191
I!)!!

11 If)
190

199

D|)D

209

Ml) 1 )

ns ii \ * * J

200

2011

20!)
«.) i o

* * * f *

«t j '{

Mil ** 1

»> I

214-
214

Dir.

0 , 1 S '

•> i n

21H

‘iiti

■m* 4

*% r a

‘1*1 i

f * « f"t
4*&iNt Is

164

165

166

167

168

169

170

171

172

173

174

175

176

177

178

179

180
181
182

183

184

185

186

187

188

189

190

191

192

193

194

195

196

197

198

199

200
201
202

203

204

[ xvii ]

PROGRESS OF SELF-SUPPORT KIIADI (25-7-1929)

MY IMPERFECTIONS (25-7-1929)

SPEECH ON COMPROMISE RESOLUTION, A.I.C.C. MEETING,
ALLAHABAD (27-7-1929)

MY DIIARMA (28-7-1929)

WHAT HAS BEEN DONE FOR THE ANTYAJA? (28-7-1929)
MESSAGE TO BOMBAY CONGRESS MUSLIM PARTY (28-7-1929)
LETTER TO JAWAI-IARLAL NEHRU (29-7-1929)

LETTER TO N. R. MALIiANI (29-7-1929)

LETTER TO SIIANTIKUMAR MORARJI (29-7-1929)

NOTE TO GHHAGANLAL JOSIII (29-7-1929)

NOTE TO GIIHAGANLAL JOSIII (29-7-1929)

LETTER TO SIIANTIKUMAR MORARJI (31-7-1929)

I.ETTER TO HARIBI-IAU UPADIIYAYA (31-7-1929)

LETTER TO BECI-IAR BIIANJI (31-7-1929)

‘IS SWARAJ WORTH HAVING?’ (1-8-1929)

WHO SHOULD WEAR TIIE CROWN (1-8-1929)

A.I.S.A. PRIZE (1-8-1929)

“BRITISH trustees” (1-8-1929)

ASSAM FLOOD (1-8-1929)

‘the CREATIVE DELIGHT’ (1-8-1929)

BOMBAY MILK SUPPLY (1-8-1929)

LAKSHMI DEVI’S STORY (1-8-1929)

LETTER TO RAMESIIWARDAS PODDAR (1-8-1929)

SPEECH AT TILAK’s DEATH ANNIVERSARY, GUJARAT

vidyapitii (2-8-1929)
OUR SCHOOL (1-8-1929)

STATEMENT ON FUNDS COLLECTED IN BURMA
MY NOTES (4-8-1929)

LETTER TO DEVCIIAND PAREKII (4-8-1929)

(4-8-1929)

LETTER TO M. R. JAYAKAR (5-8-1929)
NOTE TO CIIIIAGANLAL JOSIII (5-8-1929)

LETTER TO BANARASIDAS CHATURVEDI (5-8-1929)

LETTER TO SIIANTIKUMAR MORARJI (6-8-1929)

I.ETTER TO PRAFULT.A CHANDRA GIIOSII (Oil Of after 6-8-1929)
I.ETTER TO JAWAHARLAL NEHRU (7-8-1929)

LETTER TO DEVCIIAND PAREKII (7-8-1929)

LETTER TO PURUSHOTTAMDAS TIIAKURDAS (7-8-1929)
LETTER TO MADAN MOHAN MALAVIYA (7-8-1929)

NOTES (8-0-1929)

INCURABLE (8-8-1929)

MAHARASHTRA KIIADI SANGHA (8-8-1929)
UNFIRED FOOD (8-8-1929)

226

228

230

233

234

235

236
236

236

237

238

239
242

242

243

244

245

246

247

250

9 r il

251

253

254

ncR

255

256

257

258
258
260
262
263

sS' 205
206

207

208

209

210
211
212

213

214

215

216

217

218

219

220
221
222

223

224

225

226

227

228

229

230

231

232

233

234

235

236

237

238

239

240

241

242

243

244

I"* * * a

[XVIII

PROHIBITION CAMPAIGN (8-8-1 !>2!l)

AD HARM A IN TIIR NAME OP SANATANA Dll ARM A (8-8-1 ')!!!))
A husband’s DUTY (8-8-15U!!))

LETTER TO NAJUKLAL N. OIIOKSI (8-8-1!)'.!'»)

LETTER TO DKVCIIAND PARKKII (8-8-l!ll!!l)

LETTER TO CIORD1IANRIIAI I. PATPI. ()!• «..|!I2<I)

LETTER TO RAIIIANA TYAHJI (51!P!‘I)

LETTER TO PULLMAN I) K. SIIAI1 (10-8-1<l!!<I)

THE EPPICACY OP VOWS (I 1-11-1 !l!!!l)

‘BITTER AS POISON’ (l 1-8-15)2!))

FRUIT OF SATYAOKAHA (11-8-1!):!!))

MY NOTES (1 1-8-1 !)2!))

DID RAMA SHED BLOOD? (I 1-8-1 !!!!<))

experiment in uncooked food (I i"!!-i!i:!!i)

LETTER TO JAWAIIARI.AI, NEHRU (| I-8-1 !l!(!l)

LETTER TO N. R. MAI.KANI (I I-8-1 H:!'))

INTERVIEW TO “THE HINDU” (12-8.1 !»2'I)

LETTER TO MANILA!. AND SUS III I UANDII! (I!'. fl-I
LETTER TO PRAIUIAVATI (1!!-){-151*! 1 ))

TELEGB AM IO AMRI PLAI-TIIA K K AK |I 111 or ;tflrr 12-8 l , r“U
ARBITRATORS’ AWARD (1-I-8-I !)2‘l)

LETTER TO SIR PURI IS IIOTT AMD AS TII A KI i RI IAS (111! |<R-<n
LETTER TO UARIBIIAU UI’ADIIYAYA 1 I | }|,|i|' 11 ))

TELEGRAM TO I'URUSIIOTTAMDAS TANIUIN (Oh or ,rt,-r
1 ‘1-8-15)29)

UNFIRED EOOD (18-8-15)2!))

NOTES (15-8-1!):.!!))

POREIGN-Cir,0'I'H BOYCOTT (15-8-l'l!!!l)

n <*

n. t l If 1R

SOME RELIGIOUS QUESTIONS (I
TREE WORSHIP (15-8-1!)!!!))

LETTER TO CIIANDRAKANT (l. r »-8-|!l!(!l)

TELEGRAM TO 0. D. BIRLA (17-8-1512!))

TELEGRAM^TO SATIS CHANDRA DAS GUPTA (On or ,|W

pnio^ RAM T ° KntrRStIKT) NAOROJI (On nr after 1711 !‘i:'<n
RURAL EDUCATION (18-8-15)2!))

FLOOD RELIEF IN ASSAM (18-8-1!)!!!))

NEED for FAR-SIGHTEDNESS (]8-8-!!l;!'|)

IF SPINNERS ALSO WEAVE? (18-8-1!)!'

LETTER TO RAMNIKTAL MODI (18-8-..

LETTER TO MADIIAVJI V. TIIAKKAU (18-8-1 (I2<»)

letter to manual and SUSHIIA CANDID li i

18-8-1929) A gamjih (On ,, r alter

2 (i5
i!(>7

:!(iu

<* 7n

1!70

:!7i

• r;.)

* * t 0 ,

' r; r.

•4 , / * }

<yyy
*) y y

:!::o

‘ >o |

. .< M

• MM

•.«) I

:!8:i

‘ M»o
<,«).)

5 H

v %)

• HK

, J i

aurt

■-!?$:»

‘.!!S7

',!<)()

•Hit)

Ml * #

'.!'H

‘Hj.j,

!!!•:♦

:!%

!{!)<>

"')<)

:ino

245

246

247

248

249

250

251

252

253

254

255

256

257

258

4m v " fc >
260
261
262

263

264

265

266

267

268
269

270

271

272

273

274

275

276

277

278

279

280
281
282
283

- * ^

XIX _

LETTER TO PRABIIAVATI (Before 19-8-1929)

TELEGRAM TO G. D. BIRLA (19-8-1929)

LETTER TO PRABIIAVATI (19-8-1929)

TELEGRAM TO RAJENDRA PRASAD (19-8-1929)

TELEGRAM TO C. RAJ AGO P ALACI1ARI (On or after 19-8-1929)
TELEGRAM TO VALLABIIBHAI PATEL (On or after 19-8-1929)
TELEGRAM TO INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS, LAHORE
(On or after 19-8-1929)

TELEGRAM TO KRISHNAGOPAL DUTT (On or after 19-8-1929)
TELEGRAM TO JAMNALAL BAJAJ (On or after 19-8-1929)
TELEGRAM TO M. M. MALAV1YA (20-8-1929)

LETTER TO SIR K. V. REDDY (20-8-1929)

TELEGRAM TO MOTILAL NEIIRU (On or after 20-8-1929)
UNFIRED FOOD (22-8-1929)

TOWARDS A PROPER WHEEL (22-8-1929)

REPORTERS A NUISANCE (22-8-1929)
our choice (22-8-1929)

NOTES (22-8-1929)

‘the old story’ (22-8-1929)

A PAINFUL STORY (22-8-1929)

LETTER TO JAWAIIARLAL NEIIRU (22-8-1929)

LETTER TO VASUMATI PANDIT (22-8-1929)

TELEGRAM TO RAJA OF KALAKANKAR (On or after
22-8-1929)

LETTER TO HORACE ALEXANDER (23-8-1929)

LETTER TO G. D. BIRLA (23-8-1929)

TELEGRAM TO SECRETARY, RECEPTION COMMITTEE
TRADE U
23-8-1929)

TRADE UNION CONFERENCE, KANPUR (On

TT ]>

• lift, «

after

TELEGRAM TO SATIS CHANDRA DAS GOTTA (Before 24-8-1929)
LETTER TO SATIS CHANDRA DAS GUPTA (Before 24-8-192!))
LETTER TO SATIS CHANDRA DAS GUPTA (24-8-1929)

LETTER TO M. R. JAYAKAR (24-8-1929)
A KATIIIAWARl’s WAIL (25-8-1929)

MY NOTES (25-8-1929)

LETTER TO VASUMATI PANDIT (25-8-1929)

LETTER TO PRABIIAVATI (26-8-1929)

LETTER TO CIIIIAGANLAL JOSIII (26-8-1929)

LETTER TO G. D. BIRLA (26-8-1929)

LETTER TO MADIIAVJI V. TIIAKKAR (27-8-1929)
LETTER TO VASUMATI PANDIT (20-8-1929)

LETTER TO FULOIIAND K. SIJAII (28-8-1929)

LETTER TO DIIARAMKIMIIA BIIANJI KHOJA (28-8-1929)

300

301

302

303

304
304

304

305

306
308

308

309
311
81 9

313

314

315

316

01 /

317

318

319

kJ JL 4/

320
323

325

326

327
327

327

328
328

399

284

285

286

287

288

289

290

291

292

293

294

295
996

297

298

299

300

301

302

303

304

305

306

307

308

309

310

311

312

313

314

315

316

317

318

319

320

321

322

323

324

325

LETTER TO NANABHAI MASIIRUWAl A (20-8-1929)
THE ANGLO-INDIAN (29-8-1929)

NOTES (29-8-1929)

THE DEVADASI (29-8-1929)

IMAGE WORSHIP (29-8-1929)

LETTER TO VASUMATI PANDIT (80-8-192!))
CARDING OR ARCHERY (1-9-1929)

MY NOTE (1-9-1929)

FIT FOR ALL TO READ (1-9-1929)
SCHEME OF SELF-RELIANCE (1-9-1929)
LETTER TO ABBAS TYABJI (1-9-1929)
LETTER TO BEHRAMJI KIIAMBIIATTA
TELEGRAM TO THAKURDAS BHARGAVA

84)4929')

(( hi or al'tcT '2-9 4 979)

APPEAL TO TEMPLE TRUSTEES (5-9-191!!))
CONGRESS ORGANIZATION (5-9-192!))
FORTHCOMING U.P. TOUR (5-9-192!))
NOTES (5-9-1929)

INDIAN CULTURE (5-9-1929)

LETTER TO G. V. MAVIANKAR (0-9-1929'!
LETTER TO GHIIAGANl AL JOSH I (7-9-4 92.9)
LETTER TO DR. IIIRALAL SHARMA (7 ‘99 929)

NOTE ON DISPUTE BETWEEN
WORKERS (7-9-1 !)29)

CC IF SPINNERS ALSO WEAVE?" (fi-9-1929)

M11JN AYNKP%

AND

MESSAGE TO KATHIAWAR YOUTH COX l-E EE NOE

iO 9

192*1)

MY NOTES (8-9-1929)

REBIRTH OF THE SPINNING-WHEEL <0 9 1929)

LETTER TO GAN GAB EH M VAIDYA (1L94929)

LETTER TO OH II AO AN I AL JOSIU (8-9*4 !)‘2,9)

LETTER TO MA'NILAL 'AND SUSUILA GANDHI (199 l«r|9

APPEAL TO MILL-WORKERS (9-!l-I92'l)

LETTER TO GUIIAOANLAL JOSIU
LETTER TO VASUMATI PANDIT
LETTER TO PRKMABEItNf KANTAK (<»■ 't
LETTER TO ASHRAM WOMEN (‘MM!!:! 1 !)

A LETTER (9-9-1929)

SPEECH AT PUBLIC MEETING, BIIOPAI, (Kl-'l-Wlj
RESOLUTION ON AJMAL JAMIA VllNII (I 1 .'L I't'IM)
LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSIU (1 l-9-l ( l'.!'l)

LETTER TO JAGJIVANDAS (1 1-9-1929)

SPEECH AT PUBLIC MEETING, AGRA (11
MY LIMITATIONS (12-9-1929)

FOUR FUNCTIONS (12-9-1929)

'Hi > ;

, M /

',* 0(1

.MO

i If « t »»

, > /:»

* *.* ’>'■'§

m 7

“xxi

326

327

328

329

330

331
339

V/ M IM

334

335

336

337

338

339

340
314

342

3.1.3

344

845

846
34-7

348

349

350
331

339
% /

353

354

355

356

357

358

359

360

361

362

363

364

365

366

367

A TRITE HERO (12-9-1929)

NOTES (12-9-1929)

COMMUNICATIONS WITH SPIRITS (12-9-1929)
DISTRESS IN SIND—AN APPEAL (12-9-1929)
SELF-INTEREST IK SUPREME GOOD (12-9-1929)

EVIL CUSTOMS IN U.F. (12-9-1929)

LETTER TO CTIIIAGANLAL JO SHI (12-9-1929)
DISCUSSION WITH WORKERS, AGRA (13-9-1929)
LETTER TO BRIJKRISIINA CHANDIWALA (13-9-1929)
SPEECH TO STUDENTS, AGRA (13-9-1929)

LETTER TO ALLEN MELTON (14-9-1929)

LETTER TO A. K. BHAGWAT (14-9-1929)

LETTER TO BALKRTSIINA SHUKLA (14-9-1929)

LETTER TO A. A. PAUL (14-9-1929)

LETTER TO KEDAR (14-9-1929)

LETTER TO T. R. SANJIVI (14-9-1929)

LETTER TO JAG ANN ATII AC GAR WAT. (14-9-1929)

LETTER

TO SECRETARY, CELT. RAILWAY UNION (14-9-1929)

LETTER TO NIEANJAN PATNAIK (14-9-1929)

LETTER TO SATIS CHANDRA MUKIIERJEE (14-9-1929)
LETTER TO CIIHAGANLAL JOSHI (14-9-1929)

LETTER TO NARANDAS GANDHI (14-9-1929)
NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS (15-9-1929)
THE BLIND IN INDIA (15-9-1929)

MARRIAGE AND ITS RITES (15-9-1929)

MY NOTES (3 5-9-1929)

LETTER TO CIIHAGANLAL JOSHI (15-9-1929)

LETTER TO BANARASIDAS CHATURVEDI (15-9-1929)

SHATTER TO OANGABEHN VATDYA (16-9-1929)

LETTER TO ASHRAM WOMEN (16-9-1929)

.LETTER TO CIIHAGANLAL JOSHI (16-9-1929)

LETTER TO CIIHAGANLAL JOSHI (16-9-1929)

TELEGRAM TO LTD YOG A MANDTR, SARARMATI (17-9-1929)
TEI .EG RAM TO IvHADI SHOP, SRINAGAR (17-9-1929)
MESSAGE TO BOMBAY CHILDREN (17-9-1929)

LETTER TO CHAIRMAN, MUNICIPAL BOARD, LUCKNOW

(17-9-1929)

LETTER TO SWAM! GOVINDANAND (17-9-1929)

LETTER TO SECRETARY, A.I.S.A., AHMKDABAD (17-9-1929)
LETTER TO 7IAUDDIN AHMAD (17-9-1929)

LETTER TO D. VENKATESWARLU (17-9-1929)

LETTER TO K. GANESAN (17-9-1929)

LETTER TO M. S. ADIIIKARI (17-9-1929)

381

382

383

384

385

386

388

389

390

391

392

393

394

395

396

397
397
399

399

M S/

400
402
405

410

411

412

413

414

415

416

417

418

370

371

372

373

374

375

376

377

378

379

380

381

382

383

384

385

386

387

388

389

390

391

392

QCiq

394

395

396

397

398

399

400

401

402

403

404

405

406

407

LETTER TO JA.IRA.MlmN ihhi I.A l K.'W (, ■

LETTER TO DKSH RAJ (17-9-1929)

LETTER TO JAOANNATH ( 17-0-1 *12!))

LETTER TO EVELYN (iKIXlE (1 7-!)-1929)

LETTER TO N. S. IIARIHKAR (I 7-9-1 929)

LETTER TO SATIS CIIANTMtA DAS GUPTA ( 17 -9-1929)
LETTER TO VASUMATt I’ANDIT (17-9-1929)

LETTER TO O. V. MAVI.ANK AR (I
LETTER TO CIIIIAGANLAL JOSIII (17-9-1929)

LETTER TO N. R. MALKANI (1H-9-1929)

LETTER TO OHUAOANLAL JOSIII (13-9-1929)

LETTER TO MANIBKIIN PATEL (I !P>-1929)

LETTER TO O. T). HI'RLA (IH-9-1929)
judge’s indictment (19-9-192'D
NOTES (19-9-1929)

SOME TELLING FIGURES (19-9-1929)

REASON V. FAITH (19-9-1929)

TESTIMONIAL TO MDNSUI AJMER! (19-9192,9)

LETTER TO SECRETARY, KENDAL CONGRESS COMA
(19-9-1929)

LETTER TO B. NARASIMHAM (19-9-19291
LETTER TO L. BANARASIDAS (19-9-1929)

LETTER TO BHANU PRASAD (19-9.-1929)

LE/TTER TO ItADIIA GANDHI (19-9-.1929)

LETTER TO PREMABKIIN KANTAK (19.9 1929)

LETTER TO CIITIAGANI.AL JOSIII (19-9 • 1929,

LETTER TO MAHIIAVJI THAKKAR fl9-9.. 1999)

I.ETTER TO CIHHACANLAL lOSHI (20-9 1929)

LETTER TO CIIIIAGANLAL JOSIII (21-9-19291
DOES A VILLAGE MEAN A DUNGHILL? (22 9 1929,

OX V. BULLOCK (22-9-1929)

LETTER TO MATIIITRADAS KURU.SHO'ITAM (22 9, 1929
LETTER TO CIIIIAGANLAL JOSIII (22-9-1929)

SPEECH AT KANPUR (22-9-1929)

SPEECH AT PIECE-GOODS MERCHANTS' MEETING, It AN 19'1!

(22-9-1929)

LETTER TO MAIIADEV DESAI (22-9-1929)

LETTER TO CIIIIAGANLAL JOSH! (22-9-1929)

LETTER TO ASHRAM WOMEN (23-9-1929)

LETTER TO CIIIIAGANLAL TOSHI (23-9-1929)

[ * * * 1

xxm J

409

410

411

412

413

414

415

416

417

418

419

420

421

A ')<>

l *•<,

423
424 '
4'25
-126

427

428

429
4*30

431

432

433

434

435

436

437
4*38

439

440

441
449

M, K Am

443

444

445

446

447

448

449

LETTER TO DUDIIABIIAI (24-9-1929)

LETTER TO GHIIAGANT AL JOSHI (24-9-1929)

SPEECH TO STUDENTS, KANPUR (24-9-1929)

SPEECH AT BANARAS (25-9-1929)

SPEECH AT HINDU UNIVERSITY, BANARAS (25-9-1929)
CONVOCATION ADDRESS AT KASHI VIDYAPITII, BANARAS

(25-9-1929)

TWO VALUES OF A RUPEE (26-9-1929)

SIMPLIFYING MARRIAGE (26-9-1929)

REASON V. AUTHORITY (26-9-1929)
notes (26-9-1929)

HOW LOVE ACTS (26-9-1929)

TO A CORRESPONDENT (26-9-1929)

TWO QUESTIONS (26-9-1929)

LETTER TO OIITIAGANLAL JOSIH (26-9-1929)

LETTER TO ERI [KR ISTINA CIIANDIWALA (26-9-1929)

SPEECH AT women’s MEETING, BANARAS (26-9-1929)
SPEECH AT PUBLIC MEETING, BANARAS (26-9-1929)

LETTER TO CHIIAGANLAL JOSHI (26-9-1929)

LETTER. TO SECRETARY, A.I.S.A., MIRZAPUR (27-9-1929)
LETTER TO JAGANNATH (27-9-1929)

LETTER TO JAIRAMDAS DOULATRAM (27-9-1929)

LETTER TO CHIIAGANLAL JOSIH (28-9-1929)

SPEECH TO LUCKNOW UNIVERSITY STUDENTS, LUCKNOW
(28-9-1929)

SPEECH AT A.I.C.C. MEETING, LUCKNOW (28-9-1929)
LETTER TO CHIIAGANLAL JOSHI (After 28-9-1929)

THREE QUESTIONS PUT BY A YOUTH (29-9-1929)

MY NOTES (29-9-1929)

NOTE TO JAYKR1SIINA BIIANSALI (29-9-1929)

SPEECH AT LUCKNOW (29-9-1929)

INTERVIEW TO KRKE PRESS OF INDIA (29-9-1929)

LETTER TO ASHRAM WOMEN (30-9-1929)

LETTER TO TAR AM ATI MATIIURADAS TRIKUMJI (30-9-1929)
LETTER TO MANUAL AND SUSIIILA GANDHI (30-9-1929)
LETTER TO NARANDAS GANDHI (30-9-1929)

LETTER TO CHIIAGANLAL JOSHI (End of September 1929)
LETTER TO FULCIIAND K. SHAH (1-10-1929)

LETTER TO SHIVABIIAl (1-10-1929)

LETTER TO MATIIURADAS PURUSIIOTTAM GANDHI (1-10-1929)
LETTER TO CIIHAGANLAL JOSHI (1-10-1929)

LETTER TO CHIIAGANLAL JOSHI (2-10-1929)

THE HINDU WIFE (3-10-1929)

457

458

460

461

463

466

467

468
470
472

472

473

474

475

476

477

478

479

480

481

482

483

484

485

486

487

488

489

490

491
4Q1

nil ala

492

493

| xxiv ]

450

451

452

453

454

455

456

457

458

459

460

461

462

463
4-64'

465

466

467

468
460

470

471

472

473

474

475

476

477

478

479

480

481

482

483

484

485

486

487

488

489

490

491

492

THE THOUSAND-TIE A, D K!) MONSTKU (8-HM 929)

SPINNING SONG ( 8 - 10 - 1929 )

c YOU ARE BEING DRIVEN 1 (3*-10-192!))

YOUTH ON TRIAD (3-10-1929)

NOTES ( 3 - 10 - 1929 )

DUTY OF THE UNITED PROVINCES (8 10- lHPC
LETTER TO M. HINDUEDE (8-10-19:90
LETTER TO FREDERICK B. FISUKE (N. -10 10;><M
LETTER TO DR. H. W. B. MORENO (8 4 0-1'1291
LETTER TO AMINA QURESItl (O-KM 92'))

LETTER TO BAS A NT KUMAR HIRI.A (!!-1(1-1 M
LETTER TO GTIH A( I AN I ,AI, GANDHI CLIO I ‘»"0!

LETTER TO GHHAGANLAL JOStll C -1 II- Hr !'l.

FRAGMENT OF LETTER TO MUNN.M.M. C HI l*l'»L
ANSWER TO “the, UNO 1,1X11 M A INl” i HHlur |..[U I 'I "I ;
LETTER TO IL B. TKJUMAI. ( I -1 (I-1 T!' 11
LETTER TO HARISIt (IMANDRA DAS i I III |T"l
LETTER TO PRATAP S. PANDIT l' I IILI'M'I'
r.ETTER TO C11RI RAJ (-1-10-1! K!(U

UTTER TO SATIS (IMANDRA MHKHKRJI i I III |'i"|.
LETTER TO MADMAVJI V. TMAKKAU i I III ]T."li
TETTER TO MANUAL AND NUSIULA C.WlilH . T III I'L'
LETTER TO KASIMNATM (S-HI-1T.l'l)

TELEGRAM TO H. T. SM.COilK (Afti-r d III
ACADEMIC V. PRACTICAL (II- III-1 'M<| )

CONCERNING COM ((>-l(M')2<l)

WHAT DOES KHALI MEAN? (0-H) -1 ‘ LM11
WETTER TO CTIHACANLAL JOSMI (li III IT'D.

LETTER TO BRIJKRISHNA CUANDDVALA III ID
I.ETTER TO ASHRAM HOYS AND CUTM iID |'l."i J
LETTER TO ASHRAM WOMEN (7-ill- JOtJOj
LETTER TO CHIT AC ANAL JOSMI f/-IILl'r">-
TELEGRAM TO SIIANKERIAL 1IANEEU Mi 111 I'i; i "ii
TEI.EGRAM TO MANCALDAS GIRDMAUMAS (II III J*»■'<i.
LETTER TO CIIirACANLAL JOSMI
LETTER TO VAT.Jt G. DESAI (H-HL

LETTER TO PHRUSIIOTTAMDAS TIIAKCRMAS 111- III |*i;"ii
LET TER TO IHIITPENDR A NATH IIAM-'.U J EE ill III J 1 J. < 1 1
LETTER TO WIMPENDRA NATH GHOSH If! Ill I'l;

LETTER TO GIRT RAJ (i)-I()-I<J2<l)

LETTER TO JAIRAMDAK DOMLATRAM (II-ID-l'l‘,"D
LETTER TO 0. B. dm SILVA (li-KMT.Nj
LETTER TO GANGA NATH JHA (ft-10-1 HIM)

•I I If)
•IHH
■I'lJi
•I! I!)

!i(HI

.SI) I

an:;
:>():!
:>();>
;)M,')
Hllli
dm 7

.Dili!

ollJ!

oDM

.ill)

Dill

' >

it I',!
di:;
.»! I
oil

■Dl.D

D 17
ill 5!
id!)

;i' , H

D'.’i

» f ¥ , if j

i‘ « j * #

t 1 ^ 1 1 * ^

.via

. 0***1

493

494

495

496

497

498

499

500

501

502

503

504

505

506

507

508

509

510
51 1

512

513

514

515

516

517

518

519
r )‘m

521

522
ryrt

» / A,

r >9 fj

526

527

528

fj'X)

530

531

^xxv]

LETTER TO J. G. KUMARAPPA (8-10-1929)

LETTER TO K. A. FITTER (8-10-1929)

LETTER TO ASA SINGH (8-10-1929)

LETTER TO BRIJKRISHNA GIIANDIWALA (8-10-1929)

LETTER TO RAIIIANA TYABJI (9-10-1929)

LETTER TO CIIIIAGANLAL JOSHI (9-10-1929)

LETTER TO JAMNADAS GANDHI (9-10-1929)

MESSAGE TO SIKH LEAGUE (9-10-1929)

LETTER TO GANGAREIIN VAIDYA (9-10-1929)

CONGRESS ORGANIZATION (10-10-1929)

NOTES (10-10-1929)

TULSIDAS (10-10-1929)

LETTER TO GANGABEIIN ZAVKRI (10-10-1929)

LETTER TO CIIIIAGANLAL JGSIII (10-10-1929)

LETTER TO A (10-10-1929)

TELEGRAM TO JAWA1IARLAL NEHRU (11-10-1929)

LETTER TO CIIIIAGANLAL JOSIII (11-10-1929)

SPEECH AT POLITICAL CONFERENCE, IIARDOI (11-10-1929)
KIIADDAR AND IJNTOUCHABILITY *. DUTY OF INDIAN
M U NICI PALI TIES (12-10-192 9)

LETTER TO AMAL HOME (12-10-1929)

r vttk i? r m

Lj ILi JL Jm Pj I v. JL \J

letter to

LETTER TO
LETTER TO

letter to
letter to
LETTER TO
LETTER TO
LETTER TO
Gujaratis’
A RUINOUS

LETTER

SPEECH

LETTER

'TO

It)

FREDERIC STANDENATH (12-10-1929)

IIARI G. GOVIL (12-10-1929)

TAGF, BUNDGAARD (12-10-1929)

ELEANOR M. HOUGH (12-10-1929)

HENRY S. SALT (12-10-1929)

K. V. SWAM! (12-10-1929)

AD ELK KAUFMANN (12-10-1929)

<L VJjAYARAGIIAVACIIARIAR (12-10-1929)
CIIIIAGANLAL JOSIII (12-10-1929)

LOVE (13-10-1929)

VICE (13-10-1929)

CIIIIAGANLAL JOSIII (13-10-1929)
ISIIWARLAL JOSIII (13-10-1929)

MO RADABAD (13-10-1929)

ASHRAM WOMEN (14-10-1929)
CtniAGANLAL JOSIII (14-10-1929)
CIIIIAGANLAL JOSIII (14-10-1929)
CIIIIAGANLAL JOSIII (15-10-1929)
GANGADKVI SANADHYA (15-10-1929)

ADDENDA

NOTE TO CIIIIAGANLAL JOSIII (Before 6-9-1929)
LETTER TO CIIIIAGANLAL JOSIII (10-9-1929)

531

532

533

534

535

536

537

540

541

543

544

545

546

547
547

548

550

551

MW M ««l

551

552

CEO
w \J

553

554

555

WM MV

55b

r* r*

557

559

Krtn

v/i)

560

561
561

563

564

566

567

568

us worn
dent, I
credit
since h

other ll
any sec
receives

im-fuic

ordanc
iLy ca
;oes to
)ted tl

res

'Y*'

lie

is silicon ty among tiicse prominent people themselves. Some oi
them pretend to wear khadi, some wear it only on occasions,
etc., and some others ilatiy refuse to wear it and yet remain in
the Congress. Misusing their high positions they do not abide by

■ i ■ . t * . . i i

But whether we call the pace slow or fast, we can see from the

that it is certainly beginning to have its impact on England at any
rate. Mr. Roberts, President of the Cloth Dealers’ Association

feel acutely the ellect of the boycott. He says that almost a
third of the cotton-textile mills in England have closed down.
But since our enthusiasm lasts a short while and cools off, such
impact does not last for ever. In order that it should do so,

in short supply. But if we have digested the mantra of kliadi, there

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA CANDID

were to complain that there was a short ago ol toll is in spite of
the availability of wheat (lour and be struck with fear, there
would be no justification for that lear; in like manner there will
be no fear of a shortage of khadi as long as there is cotton in
India. If we now entertain such fear, it is because we have for¬
gotten the power of khadi and have even lost, our faith in it. It
is as easy to spin yarn and weave khadi as it is to halo' roll is in
every home. Khadi depends on supplies of yarn. Kven now,
wc come across weavers almost anywhere. But we do not get
male or female spinners so easily.

There arc three ways of producing hand-spun yarn: the first
is the way of self-reliance, the second is doing it for wagers and
the third is that of sacrificial spinning'. 'The. first ran be dir most
extensive and it should he considered the easiest. It is that
the agriculturists should themselves spin yarn {'or their require¬
ments of cloth and got it woven, whereby khadi so made will he
cheaper for them than mill-cloth. And in this wav one can save
oneself the trouble of finding buyers for one's khadi. (lily -dwellers
and those who are not agriculturists should get ready-made khadi.
The second way is for them, he., to pay and got yarn spun. This
method is most prevalent today because <he khadi movement
was started and was possible only that way. It started with the
middle classes, the educated class of people. They were not in a
position to produce khadi. on their own and w r ear It. In India there
is one class tormented by hunger, which will be able to ward olf
its misery if it gets a few pice a day. Thus yarn began to hr
spun for wages. There is a greed; advantage in this too. Thai is,
it has increased the orgaut/aug capacity of the middle classes,
has given rise to a great agency of' service, has brought into exis¬
tence a class of people selling khadi for the benefit of others and
has opened up a major new source of honourable income for (hr
middle classes, This is no ordinary gain. The third way is to
produce yarn by sacrificial spinning. This has hern going, on very
slowly on account of lack of proper environment. It* an atmos¬
phere of sacrifice can be created, rrorrs of yards of* yarn can he
produced by this method. In municipal schools where thorn
sands of boys and girls study, yarn can hi* produced every day
by means of the lakli with the greatest ease. ‘That will involve
very little expenditure and the work can become enduring. The
yarn produced can be immediately sent to a weaver and got
woven* and thereby confidence cam he created in the people,
This work can be easily organf/ed. dims, if all the three ways are
fully used* there will not be the slightest dilliculty in India, prodtn

gujarat’s contribution ’

ring as much yarn as is required, that is to say, to produce khadi
in the quantity needed.

[From Gujarati]

Navajivan, 2-6-1929

COMMITTEE FOR REMOVAL OF UNTOUCH ABILITY

2 .

The Congress Working Committe has set up a separate com¬
mittee for the removal of untouchability, of which Bharat Bhushan
Pandit Malaviya is the President. Its Secretary is Shri Jamnalalji.
Its office is at 395, Kalbadevi Road, Bombay. The main objecti
of the committee are:

1. to get public temples thrown open to the Antyajas’,
to secure for the Antyajas the use of public wells;
removal of the restrictions which face Antyaja children
in public schools;

to improve their condition in respect of cleanliness; and
to induce them to give up their habit of eating carrion
and taking liquor.

The. committee expects every Hindu to help in educating
public, opinion for this work. Those who are willing to assist in this
task should correspond with Shri Jamnalalji at the above address.

[From Gujarati]

Navajivan, 2-6-1929

X GUJARAT’S CONTRIBUTION

The All-India Congress Committee has decided that by the
end of August every province should enrol 1] per cent of its popu¬
lation, excluding that of the Princely States and the Excluded
Areas, and that at least half the number of districts and half the
number of taluks in them and ten villages in each taluk should
be covered. This proportion is certainly not too high. If a
province cannot enlist even this percentage, it ought not to have
the right to send a representative to the Congress.

If the Congress is at all ready to carry out the constructive
work decided upon by itself and if it cannot influence one man
in every four hundred, it will have no value. The programme of
constructive work is such that everyone can take part in it. It
is not like that of the legislature in which only a few people whose
number can be counted on one’s fingers can participate. If wc

THCE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA OANDIIt

can find volunteers, wc can get work from croivs of people. Khadi
work is such that the boycott cannot al all I hi an accomplished
fact without the enthusiasm and help of ('tores of people. The
removal of untouchability means (he consent ol 2o (core Hindus.
Prohibition implies the effect of true self-purilicalion on lakhs of
Hindus and Muslims. These things can be done only if the
Congress organization is alive, alert and pervasive. And if the
Congress cannot even do this work, tin- job which we hope to
accomplish by January 1 of tin; coming year will never get done*.

Hence I hope that even in this work, Gujarat will, as in the past,
make a bigger contribution than its share, and well before tin* end
of August. And if we want to do that, we must take a map of*
Gujarat and decide how many men must join the Gongress from
every part, that is, from every taluk, and the work must then
be distributed accordingly.

Wc easily recall, while considering this subject, that the Gom
gress constitution lias in it the stipulation regarding yam, A
number of people wish to get exemption from that clause in many
ways. 1 presume that the workers ol' Gujarat do not ha\ e
such persons in their midst. But, perchance, if there is any such,
I must state for his benefit that the condition is not applicable
at the time of enrolling himself in the Congress, lb' who accepts
the Congress objectives and gives four annas or 2,0()0 cauls ol
yarn can compel a worker to register his name in the (longuwx
office. The obligation to wear khadi applies to a man who wishes
to exercise his voting right. It is ncrcssaty to understand this
distinction. It is also meaningful. A man joining; (hr < longress
may be a lover of foreign cloth and e\rn revile khadi, but w e
hope that, after coining into contact with us, after being, served
by us and experiencing our love, his fascination for foreign doth
will disappear and he will begin to use khadi. Perhaps, he may be
moved to wear khadi if only out; of a desire to earn the franchise.
And despite all this, if he will not wear khadi, he wilt forfeit Ids
voting right at least for that time, lids is how the Congress had
understood the utility and necessity of khadi. I have vn v often
written that it is our duty to remove the condition legauihig
khadi if a number of people hold that that restriction maids the
work of the Congress and that it must be done away with. But 1
have no doubt whatever in my mind that, as* long as that
condition stands, it must be implemented honestly.

[From Gujarati]

Navajivan , 2-6-1929

T KARACHI KHADI BHANDAR

I had paid a visit to the Bhandar when I was in Karachi,
hut I was not able to pay much attention to it. Moreover, as I
had heard complaints about its high prices, I had kept silent on
that subject. The manager of the Bhandar, Bhai Dayaram Topan-
das, complained against my silence. 1 gave him the reason
therefor. Thereupon, he produced before me proofs of the fair¬
ness of his transactions, which included testimonials from Saclhu
Vaswani 1 , Ad uirya Gidwani 2 and others. Bhai Chanclrashankar
Bueh, after a special investigation, writes; 3

In addition, Bhai Dayaram Topandas had asked that the
Charkha Satigha audit and publish the Bhandar accounts at its
own expense and had stated that, if anyone else were ready to
undertake to run it in a better manner, he was willing to hand
it over to him. There is no doubt left in my mind about the
rates and transactions. It is true that there is no loss in that
shop; this is not a shortcoming but a merit; it suggests that he
knows how to run the Bhandar. No one who has run a khadi
bhandar with circumspection has suffered a loss. There may not
be much profit in it, but there is no reason why there should be
a loss.

[From Gujarati]
Navqjivan, 2-6-1929

5. IDEAL PRIMARY SCHOOL FOR CHILDREN

The subject of child education, which ought to he the simplest,
appears to have become difficult or to have been made so. Expe¬
rience teaches us that, whether we wish it or not, children do
receive some education good or bad. To many readers this sen¬
tence may sound strange, but if wc consider whom we can call

1 T. L. Vaswani

2 A. T. Gldwani

3 The letter is not translated here. Bueh had stated that a nominal marginal
profit was added to tins selling price and the general expenditure was quite rea¬
sonable. Four persons worked in the store and each one drew about Rs. 25 a
month. He had suggested that, if only two managed the work, each of them
Could live respectably on Rs. 50 a month, the other two seeking jobs elsewhere.

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA OANOIlf

a child, what education means and who ran imparl child edu¬
cation, perhaps we shall find nothing novel in (he above sen¬
tence, A child means a boy or girl under She asp* of ten or
anyone who appears to be of that age.

Education docs not moan a knowledge of Site alphabet. This
type of knowledge is only a means So edueal ion. Education im¬
plies a child’s learning how to put his mind am! all his smses
to good use. That is to say, he really Iranis Imw to use his
hands, feet and other organs of action and Ids mar, ear and other
organs of sense, A child who has acquired the knowledge that
he should not use his hands for stealing or for killino Utor; nor
for beating up his companions or younger bin!tier; and sisters
has already begun his education, lb* has started it, wr can save
when he understands the necessity of keeping Ins bods, bis teeth,
tongue, ears, head, nails, etc., (Tsui and keeps timin Tran. That
child has made good progress in education who dor;; u<a indulge
in mischief while eating and drinking,, cats and drink;; .Turn <n in
society In a proper manner, sits properly and chooses purr food¬
stuffs knowing the difference between purr and impurr tnndsftdlg
does not eat like a glutton, does not clamour for u lutcver he see*
and remains calm even if he doers not get wliaf In* wants, Isvnt
that child has advanced on die road to education whose poo
nunciation is correct, who can recount to us the histuiy and uro¬
graphy of the country surrounding him without knowhw those

♦

terms and who understands what his country means. 'Thai child
has made very good progress in his education who can under¬
stand the difference between truth and untruth, worth and
worthlessness and chooses the good and the into, while re¬
jecting the hud and the untrue. There is no nerd now to dilate
on this point, flic reader can supple ods *t an i i bt i f e s himself.
Only one thing needs to be made dear. In all fhi; oe U n
need ol a knowledge of the alphabet or of* aim oaipf, IT en¬
gage child* en i n learning the script tj taut aim mini to puff urn a
burden on then mind and other organ* and i; Ida* pultun* their
eyes and hands to bad use, A child who has i rnb ri | line edu¬
cation easily picks up a knowledge <T tlie alphabet at ihr appio-
priate time and in an interesting wav Tod.m faee.vivTr be¬
comes a sort of burden to children, Heir best tinn* fbr dr vdoputeut
is spent uselessly, and in flu* end. instead of wt lung a beautiful
hand and reading in a beaut hid way, their lundv i it in-, b like tin*
housefly s legs, and they read mostly what should mu be rival and
even what they do read, they read wrongly. IT call this education
is blasphemy, or sacrilege. Before a child receives a know ledge of the

^uuus^n u^uiuai uy me. u we arc not ncing earned away m
tlxc prevailing current, this matter ought to appear as clear as a
lamp.

A child can receive the education outlined above even in the
home and that too from the mother herself. Hence children receive
elementary education from their mothers. Tf our homes arc broken
up and divided today, if the parents have forgotten their duty to
their children, the children should, as far as possible, be educated
under conditions providing a family-like environment. Only a
mother can discharge this duty; hence child education should be
placed in charge of women alone. A man has not generally till
now been able to show the love and patience that a woman can.
If all of tins is true, the moment we tackle the question of child
education, that of the education of women naturally stares us in
the face. And until wc have mothers capable of imparting edu¬
cation to children, 1 have no hesitation in saying that children will

,1 " 1 ’ hundreds of

role of a mother. These children do not know how to talk or walk
and they have running noses, they clean their nasal mucus with
their hands and wipe it on their legs or their clothes. There is
rheum in their eyes, there is wax in their ears and dirt in their
nails. Even when asked to sit down properly they sit awkwardly,
spreading out their legs, .saliva drips when they speak, they say
7w/i 9 for Warn’ 1 and use the first person plural for the first person
singular, They have no idea of cast, west, north and south. They
are wearing soiled clothes, their private parts arc exposed, they
toy with them and, if asked not to do so, they do it all the more.
If their clothes have pockets, these arc filled with some dirty
sweets, which they cat from time to time, dropping some of these
on the floor and making their sticky hands stickier. Their caps
have become jet-black at the border and a bad odour issues from
them. Only if motherly feelings spring up in the woman whe
looks after these live children can she teach them. The first lessor
will certainly be to put them in good shape. The mother will give

1 Meaning Vhaf

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

them a bath lovingly, she will do nothing but crack jokes with
them for several days and in many ways, just as mothers have
done till this day, just as Kausalya did with little*; Rama; she will
bind them in the bonds of her love and train them to dance to
her tune. Until the mother succeeds in this, just as a cow distrac¬
tedly runs here and there for her lost calf, she will become anxious
about those five children. She will not rest so long as the children
have not learnt to be normally clean, tlieir teeth, cars, hands
and feet have not become clean, their stinking clothes have* not
been changed, and ‘him' has not become ‘sluin'. Alier gaining
this much control over them, the mother will teach the children
the first lesson of Ramanama. Some will call Him Rama, some
will call Him Rahman, but it is all the same. Economies will surely
come after religion. And so the mother will nowslarl teaching them
arithmetic. She will teach the children the. multiplication tables and
addition and subtraction orally. Children ought to know about the
place where they reside; hence she will point out to them the adjoin¬
ing rivers and channels, hillocks and buildings and while doing so
give them an idea of the directions. And site, will add to her own
knowledge for the sake of the children. Tn this concept, history and
geography can never be separate subjects. Knowledge of both can
be imparted in the form of stories only. Tint mother cannot he
satisfied with this much. A Hindu mother lets her children hear
the sound of Sanskrit from their childhood anil therefore makes
them learn by rote verses in praise of God and trains the. children
in correct pronunciation. A patriotic mother will surely give them
a knowledge of Hindi. Hence she will talk to children in Hindi,
read to them from Hindi books and turn them bilingual. She will
not at this stage impart to them knowledge of writing, hut: will surely
place a brush in their hands. She will make them draw geome¬
trical figures, straight lines, circles, etc.. A mother will not at all
concede that the children who do not draw a (lower or a, jug or
a triangle have received education. And sin; will not deprive
children of music. She will not tolerate it if the children do not,
sing in chorus and in a sweet voice national songs, devotional songs,
etc. She will teach them to sing in rhythm. If she is a good tea¬
cher, she places a one-stringed instrument in their hands, gives llieni
cymbals and teaches them a dance with sticks in which both hoys
and girls join.. In order to develop their bodies, she makes them do
physical exercise, makes them run and jump. Ami because (lie spirit
of service is to be inculcated in them and they are to be taught
some craft too, she would teach them to pick cotton pods and
break them open, to gin and card cotton and to spin it and

IDEAL PRIMARY SCHOOL FOR CHILDREN

the children would playfully spin at least for half an hour
every day.

Most of the books we come across nowadays arc useless for
this curriculum. Her love will provide the books for every mother,
because there will be different books of history and geography in
every village and sums in arithmetic are of course to be set anew.
A dedicated mother will prepare herself every day and will make up
new stories and new sums in her notebook and teach them to the
children.

It should not be necessary to prolong this curriculum. A quar¬
terly course of studies can be drawn, up from it, because the
children have been brought up in different environments. Hence
we can never have a uniform curriculum. VVc can draw up cour¬
ses for them from time to time as and when the children come to
us. Sometimes children come to us having learnt: wrong things;
wc have to make them unlearn these. If a six-scven-ycar-oki child
is writing an indifferent hand or is in the habit of reading ma bhu
pa\ we have to make him forget it. Until the false notion that
the child will gain knowledge through reading is removed from
his mind, he cannot make headway. It can easily be conceived
that even lie who has not mastered a knowledge of the alphabet
throughout his life may become learned.

T have made no use in this article of the word ‘teacher’. A
teacher is a mother. She who cannot take the place of a mother
can newer become a. teacher, A child should not feci that it is
receiving education. The child whose mother’s eyes follow it
everywhere is receiving education all the twenty-four hours, A
child who si Is six hours in, a school may not be receiving any edu¬
cation at all. In this topsyturvy life, perhaps we may not find
women-teaohers. It may well, be that child education is practi¬
cable at present only through mcn-teaohers. Then the men-tea¬
chers will have to acquire the noble status of a mother and ultimately
the mothers will have to get ready for this job. But if my con¬
cept is right,, any mother if she. has love in her heart can become
fit with a little assistance. And while preparing herself she will
prepare the children as well.

[From Gujarati]

Navajivan , 2-6-1929

1 For “Mother, give me water to drink. 1 ’

6. GOSEVA SANG HA

A meeting of the Goscva Sangha was held in tin: Uclyoga
Mandir on May 28, and the following constitution 1 was approved.
It is desirable that many should join this Sevak Sangha. It is at
the same time necessary to sound this warning that one cannot
become a worker merely by tendering money, yarn or leather by
way of subscription. Among the duties of a sevak which have boon
set down, some are compulsory and some, though necessary, have
been included merely as voluntary. Only those, who carry out
the compulsory duties and try to observe the voluntary ones can
join as members. For those who arc fired by a desire to serve the
cow, the obligations are not difficult to carry out. What: should they
do who are at present unable to carry out the compulsory duties,
but are keenly desirous of maintaining a close conned ion with
the Sangha? This question had been raised at the meeting of the
Sangha. For that purpose, a class of helpers has been provided.
I hope, however, that those who cannot become helpers will
send donation as in the past and continue doing so.

[From Gujarati]

Navajivan, 2-6-1929

1 Vide Appendix I.

7. LETTER TO MADHAVJI K THAKKAR

Ashram, Sabarmati,

June 2 , 1929

BHAISHRT MADHAVJI,

I have your letter. Whenever I get back to the Ashram I
have less time to answer letters. Surely, with efforts, you will
get over your temper. I see that you are vigilant. I was pleased
when 1 went over your life sketch. May God grant you long
life and health and strengthen your devotion to service. It will
always benefit you if occasionally you give up broad or any other
item that you find heavy.

1 got your letter today after I had dictated this. I see there is
a constant ebb and flow in your health. If you come over in July
wc can try yet further treatment.

Vandemataram from

Mohandas

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.'N. 6785

8. LETTER TO JAMJVALAL BAJAJ

Ashram, Sabarmati.,

June 2 , 1929

CHI. JAMNALAh,

About linkin' 1 , 1 have spoken to Santok 2 . According to the
Gujarati calendar the year ends with Diwali . If therefore the
marriage is to take place this year it has to be in the month
of Ashadh because, as Santok says, there arc no marriage-days after
this. It would be too early to have the marriage in Ashadh.
Again Santok is so insistent on Banarasi learning Gujarati even
before the marriage that she says the marriage should be fixed
for the coming Jeth if marriage-days arc available in the next
year. It is thus a matter of one year. Indeed Santok has also the
desire that in the mean while Rukhi can further continue her stu¬
dies; and it is a welcome desire. So, I think, now we should leave
the matter as it is. I am trying to ascertain whether or not

* Daughter of Maganlal Gandhi
2 Wife of Maganlal Gandhi

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA CANDID

there are marriage-days in the coining year. I think we need
not hold up other similar alliances. Let ns proceed on the belief
that all betrothals will surely be followed by a marriage, and
any alliance that we would now settle may perhaps require to be
immediately followed by solemnization. But then yon know
more about this. Please make the right arrangements for the work
regarding untouchability, and send me some news about it regu¬
larly every week if possible. On enquiries 1 learn today that there
are marriagc-clays in the coming year.

Alrsshijx jAmt

Haiti

From ;i photoslat of the Gnjftrali: G.N. 90 1G

9. LETTER TO G. /). MRLA

Udyooa M ANDIE, Sab ARM ATI,

June 19TJ

BIIAI GHANSHYAMDASJI,

I have your letter. It has given me much comfort because
the feeling had been weighing on me that my advising you to keep
D. 1 with you was perhaps a mistake. There can be no two
opinions that he had been treated very harshly by the girl’s rela¬
tives. I have received a letter regarding this which I enclose for
your perusal. . . had hinted at, it. . . . writes that . . ,’s death
was caused by heart failure, hs it, correct ?

I understand about Forward. There will always be attacks on
public figures but we have to weigh things in the scales of
justice. Subhas’s courage is laudable.'

TtmrSy

Mohandas

From Hindi: G. W. 6171. Courtesy: G. I). Itirh

10 .

T f/ 1 r r**r*rp /)

Ijll* l ,1 &ltl\

BHAI GHANSHYAMDASJI,

June, .7,

I have your letter. It is true I
harm to the body is perceptible.

have become weak. But no
I am conducting the experi-

1 The name is omitted,

LETTER TO TARA MODI

mcnt 1 with caution. You should not be anxious. Such experi¬
ments arc an integral part of my life; they are essential for my
mental peace and self-realization. I try to keep alive within
the limits I have specified for myself. But I also believe that life
and death arc not in our hands. I am happy to know your
ideas about Kcshu 2 . His father took great pains over him and wc
all hope to get much service from him. I do not wish to restrict
his freedom in any way. His being with you frees me from anxiety.

Tours,

Mohandas

From Hindi: C. W. 6172. Courtesy: G. D. Birla

1L LETTER TO JAWAHARLAL NEHRU

June 5, 1929

MY DEAR JAWAHARLAL,

I am glad you will join me during the tour. Copies of the
reports make sad reading. I suggest your sending copies to the
respective committees with your observations and suggestions.
The report about Bihar surprises me. But that shows the ex¬
tent of our fall.

Hope Kamala and Krishna are well.

Bapu

Gandhi-Nchm Papers, 1929. Courtesy: Nehru Memorial Museum and Library

12. LETTER TO TARA MODI

Ashram, Sabarmati,
June 5, 1929

CHI. TARA,

I have your letter. Ramniklal had talked to me about you.
I am glad that you stay at Vedchhi, get plenty of experience and
arc learning a lot. It is a good thing that you should learn to
live in the country and get to know how to be useful to the
villages and that the two of you can live apart, whenever neces¬
sary, and remain content. As for staying here, you can by all
means come here whenever you want to. Ramniklal is satisfied at

1 On dietetics; vide pp. 34-6.

2 Son of Maganlal Gandhi

the collected works of MAHATMA GANDHI

heart and his decision to live here has brought him great peace.
I would have endured separation with both of you but never
would I have been able to get used to it. In spite of all lIns, I
would certainly wish you to stay where you a,re happy at heart.
And of course you would have my blessings in whatever you do.
Write to me from time to time. You must have got the news that
Ghhaganlal and Kashi 1 have come over here.

Ramniklal must have written to you about my experiment.
I hope you know also the changes about the Hal Mandtr. Read
carefully the article 2 3 on tins subject appearing in Navujivan.

llUw sings J)om
Baiui

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 4145

13. LETTER TO MADIIAVJI V. TUAKKAR

Ashram, Kabarmati,
June 5, WTJ

BHAISHRI MADIIAVJI,

I got your letter after 1 had written to you* It seems your
weight has again returned to normal. Such increase and de¬
crease will always persist. I shall start; for Ahnora on the 11th. My
address during the tour of that area will be: From Vidyalaya 1 ,
Ranikhet, Write to me to this address whenever you want to.

Vamkmntaram f/om
Mohandas

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 6786

14. CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT

The following is the consolidated statement I promised to
publish of the Andhra Desha collections. It lias beam prepared by
Sjt. Narayanamurti as auditor of the A.I.S.A. 4 and cheeked by
Deshabhakta Koncla Venkatappayya:

1 Wife of Ghhaganlal Gandhi

2 Vide pp. 5-9.

3 Started in 1921 by Prom Vidyalaya Society
three R’s, manual training such as spinning, weaving,
try, etc., board and instruction being free

4 All-India Spinners’ Association

to impart, besides the
carpet-making, earpen-

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT

P-»

r—<

* rH

n t

ccS

- 7-6

- 3-0

-+->

« |W(

898

xf 1

nr\

r-»

r^H

4-»

--1

n t

•

■

r—^

OJ)

<cS

r—H

• P " "j

Rs.

t-'

T 1 <9

qj :
U

o o cn
d *H oi

o o

> i

o o

' I

o o
o O
m cm

rd w

2 g ^ 05

S .2 9 CM

(MMmf

d <U

r-H

O "3
H °

r-5 (5

os 3

►4 pH

r—4 CD

i i
M H i-O

CO xH
en CO CO

CO 00

CM CM

ri. O O o

X* I I I

(3 R| 10 l °

rH)C^

in 1 —i >n
I 1 i

on cn x}-<

r-H

■ i *

co m m
o CM "if
CO CO Tr

r» *>

(N CO co

X^ X} 4 -H

O _j o co
T3 ^ 6 6

(H P , I

cd 3 ■'pf< t— i

pp Ph co cn
»"■“( in

HOl

xf- 1

CO CO
00 CM
to on

xj-< n-

xt 4 cm

O o

I I

i—i o

I I

CO CM
CO

o i"~

'— 1 LN *—i CD w .'

ii i i o i •

CO ^ O C0 CM C0 '— 1

r—H t—H

• i i i i i ■

co cn co co r-H co cm

CO CO r-H /•‘Tn **H CO

m m co co in o ^

*"V «r* •S '. *N

r-> xh m in r-i O

*s 2

O d

*h|C1

tHjCS

1— H

■rp

i t

■

r-H

■

■vf

p-»

r-H

75:

(U)

■t

1 P—•)

■o

r-H

—i

I s -

MTS

-^Ll

«s

■

Vmiir

•t

* p»—J

• iH

r-H

Rs.

970

»rjH

r**

o o

, -r ^

i i i i

to cn co co

CO tN CO -H

m m co co
m rh in m

r-H

■

•>

CJf CO

■S', T)

a t? p. h

P— ,

I J* M-4

r-\ O

y*r flj +— 1

w bp *a

w .pi

fMWlj

CJ) *~h

CO T 1

nr r*N

nr cm

n* cm

cm m

ph(C1 O

lO r-H »n

cn co 4

■ i i

co co in
m co xp

CM xr

^ #“S *\

in cn co

rjh CO p*h

(M 00 UD

O if H

rH|Cl

X}^ tJH

I i

O CO

O CD

0*1 r*“H

*n cm

*> NfS

co ir-
x]*i CM

CD »”H

m cn

CO ip-h cn

o ^ N H (J) H o

to O CO N CO h

. i . w

• I

1 1 I I I I 1

co on uo cn rH co cm

^ a ^ cn <-i co

m »n co co m o ^

o* T< m m o'

o co CO cn CM CM

a g

to -i- 4
« OT
c3

K*" W

• H

t 0

A ^

’S s

l rH CP

g v «
w

d M CtJ

3 ^ .a
O ^ t>
cn xh m

• H

<rt

o iJ

-i > 0

OS ,<U

co r-s

-P u

Cp j-s

Ph pjj

tJ d
X) $
p PI

fm m,

§ t t

□ 2 1 )

§33

X O
rt 7j
pa

'ts

S 3 a a ^ £ g

U O < |^j pq fr) q

co on o *h cm co xH

319 2,53,907- 8-0 7,556- 1-0 2,61,463- 9-0 2,936-1-3 2,64,399-10-3 3,550-0-0 5,597-10-0

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA < JAN 1)11.1

I have never before had the opportunity or the inclination to
supervise the conduct and expenses of tours during the past eight
years as I had of this eventful Andhra tour. 1 had noticed before
too much laxity about expenses and too much lavishness in order¬
ing things. Much of it was done out of personal affection, hut
even that affection became a questionable thing when the expen¬
diture was deducted from purses collected in the name of Daridra-
narayana. In Andhra .Desha therefore I took the law, as far as
possible, in my own hands and insisted upon no deduction being-
made from cash collected without vouchers being produced and
accepted by me. I further insisted upon all the railway expen¬
ses of my party being paid by me so that they might not become a
charge upon the purses. I also insisted that all feeding expen¬
ses of my party should be paid by me when they were not paid
by the local host. Thus the certified expenses include generally
only motor hire, petrol, railway travelling of volunteers and the
like. These expenses do not amount to more than live per cent
of the collections. To have brought about a great awakening in
319 villages was worth the expense incurred. Having said as
much in defence of the expense, I must; eon less (hat even though
the sums collected may be large, we cannot afford to lly from
place to place and pay high motor charges. Whilst; the tour was
on, I published the full details' of one bill which the reader
should recall if he will understand the full significance of my
statement. There was even there considerable room for improve¬
ment and economy. It may seem ungracious to write thus of a
tour which has been the mosL economic of all [ have known. Hut
it would be wrong to be easily satisfied or lie satisfied with” any¬
thing hut the highest. Jbasy satisfaction means arrested progress
leading to stagnation and finally retrogression. Speed of descent is
in the inverse ratio to the snail-like speed of ascent. Workers
therefore will take note that whilst Andhra expenses tire smile guide
for the future, they may not be imitated without very considerable
modification. That will come automatically when every worker
realizes that he is to use national funds as jealously and ns eco¬
nomically as a careful householder would use his own. Almora
beware!

Young India, 6-6-1929

1 Vide Vol. XL, p. 318.

15. GOSEVA SAJVGIIA

The following is a translation of the constitution 1 adopted by
the SLanding Committee ol Goscva Sangha that met on 28th and
29th ultimo at the LJdyoga IVIaiidir, Sabarmati. [ hope the reader
will not be disturbed over what may appear to him to be a
novelty in constitution-making in which members have no rights
and strange duties are expected of them. The members of ^tlie
Standing CommiLLcc have come to the conclusion that the very
cli(heult woik ol solving the cow is not possible without a large
number of men and women devoting themselves to it in a spirit
pittcly t)f sci vice combined with lull desire and prepared ness for
learning the science ol cow-prcscrva 1 1 on, nor need the reader be
surprised ovei the alternative subscriptions m the siinpe ol clona-
ting unslaughteied hide oi sell-spun yarn. It is any day easier
to pay live rupees yearly than to find two hides of naturally dead
cattle. The very act of procuring such hide by one's own eilbrt
and not through deputy involves a certain amount of trouble and
the gaining of some knowledge about hides. This is a definite
gain. And il the reader will but remember that the word cow is to
be taken in the widest sense and includes all life that serves man¬
kind and demands protection, the connection of self-spun yarn with
the Goseva Sangha will become immediately obvious.

Young India, 6-6-1929

16'. ATROGIOUS

Though house-searches, arrests without cvcu reasonable
ground or suspicion of innocent and respectable men, putting
them in veils and handcuffs are in the air, I was wholly unprel
pared for the search of the offices of the weil-known magazine, The
Modern Review, much less tlu: house of its equally well-known
Editor, Sjt. Ramanauda Ghattcrjcc. Therefore when [ heard of
the search l wired for particulars and Sjt. Ramananda Ghattcrice
has sent me the following letter: 2

On the 24th instant when I returned from my office at about 11.30

a.m., nay second son told me that a Bengali police officer had conic to

1 Vide Appendix T.

2 Only excerpts are reproduced here.

41-2

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA OAMD!It

search my house in connection wilh Dr. J . I. Sunderland s lndia in I>on~
dage: Her Right to Freedom. . . .

... I, entered the silling-room, where I found a man in plain clothes
seated in a chair. . . . 'Id i<: oil lean- asked me whether I had any printed copies
of India in Bondage , etc., any manuscripts thereof, a,ml anv eoire:i|nmdmec
with the author relating to it in the nature of any business agreement,
'Fhertaipon I gave him one printed copy of (he book there was no other
copy in my house and two lypewrilten copies of the Indian and Ame¬
rican editions. I also gave him (he original copy of the agreement wilh
the author signed by Dr. Sunderland by which 1 had bound in\ self to give
him 2b per cent of the face value of each copy of the book sold, I pave
the man the. covering leper also. . . . lie then wrote out an inventory
of the things taken, got it signed by two local search witnesses, gave me a
carbon copy, and went. away. The wa.rra.nl he had with him was only
for searching my house, lie was throughout polite. . . .

Another Bengali police oflicer had gone to my press and o(li< e.
. . . His warrant was for searching th<‘ premises and arresting Mr.
Sajanikanta Das . . . printin' and publisher of (he hook. . . . the olheer
took away 42 copies of the second edition . . . one copy of (In' first edition,
the manuscript from which the hook was printed, and a. lew cash memos
and other documents to show that copies of (In' book had hern so hi and
sent by V.P.P. 'Hut printer and publisher was also arrested at my ollire
and released on bail (lien and then* on bis signing a bond lor Rs, 1,000.
His trial for soli Lion will commence on June 1 at the Presidency Mug is*
irate’s Court. At my ofhee also the police oflicer was polite,

I have asked my office to send you by post a copy of die second edb
lion of the book in order that you may be able to (brm your own opinum
of it, if you can make time to do so.

Let us thank the police that they were courteous. It would
have been monstrous, if they had been otherwise* But a,
search is a search even though it is courteous* (iohlen letters art'
no less galling to a self-respecting man than iron ones, 'The sting
lies .in the fetters, not in the metal. The search itself was wholly
uniustified. For Sit. Ramananda Chatterjee is not a mmentifv
of an editor. He is one of the foremost among journalists. He
and his magazine enjoy an international reputation, 7 iu\ Modern
Review is known for its sobriety and correctness of statement. It
is one of the most cultured magazines commanding contribu¬
tions from some of the most noted writers in India. Where was
the occasion for the search? If Dr. I. T. Sunderlamfs book is

i ■*

seditious, let the publisher be proscr.uled by all means, but the
information the police required could have been obtained with

FOREIGN-CLOTH BOYCOTT

out any dramatic performance. But to the Government of the
day a dramatic performance is the thing they want. The tallest
among us must be occasionally bent, lest we forget ourselves.
Hence this exhibition of the red claw. There used to be in the
mutiny days a rehearsal of humiliations. This search of Sjt.
Ramananda Chattcrjce and much that is going on at the present
moment is an edition of those rehearsals. They will continue till
we learn to resent and resist such wanton insults.

Of Dr. Sunderland’s book, 1 am sorry, 1 know nothing. Before
it was printed the author had sent me the manuscript for opinion.
My preoccupations and continuous touring prevented my ever
reading it. The manuscript is still lying with me. In due course
the book was published. But I know that the worthy Doctor was
anxious to have my opinion even after the publication of the
volume. 1 could not make time for reading the book though I
had hoped to cope with it during the Andhra tour. But what I
could not do as a friend, l shall now have to do as editor. And
this is possible for it will be part of the daily cdiLorial routine.
The point however is not whether the book is seditious. The
point is that searches and arrests arc wholly uncalled for where
the purpose can be served without them, and that they arc the
order of the day in India only in order to overawe and humi¬
liate a whole people. This studied humiliation is one of the cho¬
sen methods which the ruling race consider necessary in order
that they -though less than one hundred thousand—may rule
three hundred million people. It is a state of things we must
strain every nerve to remedy. To command respect is the first
step to swaraj.

Toung India, 6-6-1929

17. FOREIGN-CLO TH BO TCO TT

Sjt. Jairamdas has addressed a general letter to every District
Congress Committee as to what is expected of it in the matter of
boycott. The following are the operating extracts from the letter:

I send hereunder the lull text of the new programme framed by
the Foreign-Cloth Boycott Committee at its meeting on the 24th May.
May I request you to place it before an emergency meeting of your exe¬
cutive and in view of the various items of the programme prepare your
own line of action within your jurisdiction? There is no reason why the
programme for enrolment of Congress members adopted by the All-India
Congress Committee at its recent meeting at Bombay should in any way

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA OANDII1

interfere with the carrying out of this new boycott jirogramtne. ( hi the
contrary the enrolment programme will give you very great opportu¬
nities of carrying the message of the boycott of foreign cloth to the
thousands whom you may have to approach for enrolment as < Ion press
members. The message of the Congress including (lie boycott of foreign
cloth has naturally to be explained to the people before they are asked
to join the Congress. I hope you will bo able to show a far bet aw
record of boycoLt work done in the next lour months than you have been
able to do during the last live months.

Forkk;n-(Ilotii Boycott Rrsouo it in

(a) Tile Foreign-Cloth Boycott Committee notes the n spouse mud<
by the people, in the course of the last (hree months, to tin 4 progtammo
of boycott of foreign cloth halt I down by the Working (lommUter, and
urges all Congress Comini ttces ami other organize I ions co upending in (he
boycott campaign to carry out that programme with even gr< atm vigour
during the remaining part of the year.

(b) The Committee, suggests that in accordance with the alnve
programme, organized elforts should lx 4 made to concentrate on:

1. organizing propaganda parties for touring; outside large towns;

2. arranging house-to-house visits for converting people to (lie boy
cott of foreign cloth;

3. holding public met*tings where house-to-house propaganda j N nni
feasible;

4. hawking khadi as often during each week as is possible;
collecting sullicient funds to run small khadi depots wherever

5 .

necessary;

6. organizing street propaganda and rni<utr kithtns on every Wed¬
nesday and Sunday in the week;

7. engaging in special boycott activity on the fust Sunday of eru h
month, that is, 2nd June, 7lh July, -Ith August, ami 1st September;

8. arranging requisitions for special meetings of local bodies whit St

have not so far considered the suggestions made hv die fun Cm

** <<

Cloth Boycott Committee for serairing their co operation its the
boycott campaign;

9. posting weekly reports of foreign-rioth boyott work on rarh
Monday; and

10. observing 2nd October 1929 (Gaud Fiji's birthday) as the
Foreign-Cloth Boycott Day.

I showed last week 1 that the reorganization resolution not
only did not interfere with the constructive programme 1ml that

1 Vide Vol. XL, pp. 428-9.

uic lonowmg extract i ca kc irom me spcccn reccnuy delivered oy
the Secretary of State for India to the London Chamber of Com¬
merce. He is reported to have said:

Ft was difficult: lo realize (hr prodigious amount of British capital
which was sunk in India, and ho was quite ready to believe that it could
hr put even so high as £700,000,000, or even £1,000,000,000. This year
the Railway Department were assured of the prospect of spending
£20,000,000 on useful productive works. Tn addition to the railway capi¬
tal, (he (Jovernment of India had nearly £100,000,000 invested in other
profit-earning enterprises, and on top of (hose vast undertakings which
accounted for so much of the Fndian National Debt, one musl pile the
incalculable capital sunk in the great trading ventures, which had been
growing in value. . . ,

India, bought from us something like £85,000,000 worth of our
commodities, and they could readily realize what the effect on our unem¬
ployment problem would be if the Indian market; were lost or seriously
curtailed. If British traders took to heart the exhortation recently given
by tint Prince of Wales, he was confident that British fair dealing and
superior British workmanship would regain the ground which had been
lost in recent years. At. present Indian purchases in Great Britain re¬
presented only 5.S. Ihl. per head, while those made by New Zealand and
Australia represented respectively £13 5s. 5d. and £8 17s. 3d. per head.

Wo could not share Lord Peel’s joy as lie quoted the enor¬
mous figures of British capital sunk in India and her purchases of
British goods, nor can we associate ourselves with the cheers that
gre.td.ed his perorations to the eloquent figures. They teach us a
different lesson. Most of these purchases spell ruin to the pea¬
santry of India. And ltd it be remembered that more than half
the purchases are of British cloth which India, buys whilst its mil¬
lions of hands remain idle during half the year and whilst they
can easily manufacture all the cloth they need in their cottages
and stop this terrific drain from the country. 1

Young India, (>-0-1929

1 Vide also pp. 1-3,

18. .NOTES

A SuccussFur, Kxpkrimknt

Very few readers know and perhaps fewer still are interested
in the composition of the A.T.tt.A. Council. I he reader may
recall that the Council timidly., before its lime, tried the experi¬
ment of having three members added to its strength by election.
The voters wore A- and B-elass members who had paid up their
subscriptions. Though the B-elass membership was abolished
for the reasons already stated in these pages 1 , lor the purposes o(
this election, anomalous (hough it was in many respects, the 15-
class members were allowed to participate in the voting. 1 In* sys¬
tem adopted was proportional representation. 'The voting was
conducted through the post. The result was very satisfactory.
The voters understood their responsibility and appreciated tint
privilege. There wore live candidates of whom throe had to he
elected. The following is an interesting summary of the voting
lists:

Total votes cast

LIDO

Invalid

Valid votes

«>'■><)

/ * '

Quota necessary

i) rq

,, , ! 1
:i1 i

First Votkk

Sjt. V. V. J era jam

Dr. B. Subrahmanian

\ ) * )

Sjt. K. Santanam

Dcva Sharma Vidyalankar

•II

i:i

N. Rama Lingam

„ Jcrajani elected.

Analysis of Sjt. JerajanFs papers for second
Sjt. K. Santanam
Dr. B. Subrahmanian
Sjt. Dcva Sharma Vidyalankar
53 N. Rama Lingam

preferences:

Nil

1 Vide Vol. XL, pp. 394-5,

WANTED SELF-CONVERSION

Adding first preferences received, the result is as follows:

Dr. B. Subrahmanian 86

Sjt. K. Santanam 79

,, Dcva Sliarma Vidyalankar * 22

,, N. Rama Lingam 2

Dr. B. Subrahmanian and Sjt. K, Santanam elected.

Total voters:

490 A class

83 B class

Total votes cast (valid)
212 A class
47 B class

573

259

Thus without any canvassing and without fuss a little over
fifty per cent of the voters took part in an election in which there
was no unhealthy rivalry and no vital issue at stake. Out of
290 voting papers, 31 were found invalid. That no doubt is a
large figure but not too large for the first election on the pro¬
portional basis. It is to be wished that there will be more men
and women joining the A.I.S.A. For it is not merely a body
for taking the message of the wheel to the remotest village of
India but: incidentally it is a training ground for evolving a vast
democratic institution in which the highest position is one of
pure service and that position is attainable by merit within reach
of the lowliest among us. Let it be noted that the franchise of the
A.I.S.A, is the most democratic the world has known. Franchise
without any qualification whatsoever save that of age, is, in my
opinion, no franchise. It can never lead to true democracy.

Young India , 6-6-1929

19. WANTED SELF-CONVERSION

It was at Kurnool during the Andhra tour that I received an
anonymous letter complaining that members of the local recep¬
tion committee who were surrounding me were khacldar-clad only
for the occasion and that they were habitual wearers of foreign
cloth and given to foreign fashions. At the meeting itself, I saw
a fair display of foreign garments. I therefore referred to the
contents of the letter whilst at the same time I criticized the
anonymous writer for hiding his name. The anonymous writer
who must have heard my speech promptly wrote to me dis¬
closing his identity. As the letter docs credit to the writer and is
otherwise instructive I give it below in full:

THE COLLECTED WORKS OV MAHATMA (JANDill

Secrecy is a sin. But owing to the reasons set forth below I did not
give out my name in my letter of yesterday. 1 a,in a, < Jownuneul sen ant.
You are fully aware of the fact that as a CJovernment servant I am not
expected to express even my sincere opinion about my country's slate or
its needs. This is high treason. But still I could nol bear to see the' pal¬
pable insincerity of many of those that eamr to attend on you yester¬
day. That was torture to me lo see. The duty of (he lin rate hVs in
convincing the masses. But it is very wrong on the pat t of the literal*' to
think that the illiterate masses can be made to brierr bv insincere
behaviour. If everyone takes into his head to live' by vour udvb e even
within his own home, t am sure (he lime will nol Ir- far wlcn Italia
can hold up her head as a free and iudependcnl count iy. 1 bier want of

sincerity cannot convince the masses. We set a bad and a damaging
example by our hollowness and we give oeeasion to the world to mock
at us. My mind was ill at ease with all these thoughts and I therefore
wrote to you. 'Though very poor, 1 do not rare whether it is Well or HI
for me as a Government servant to give out my name, as long as I
feel convinced that I have done; no wrong;, I do not also much mind
whether my telling out my name to yon will jeopardiv.r my position {as a
Government servant) wldeh is my sole means of livelihood,

The writer and others who may write to pul die journals with
a reputation to keep should know that editors are bound to with-
hold from the public names which the owners give only for tab-
tors’ satis! act ion, The writer therefore may rest assured that bis

name will never lx; disclosed. If il is any satisfaction to him
he may know that I destroyed the portion containing his name
as soon as 1 had linished reading the letter ami that I eould not
recall the name myself even if I tried.

In my opinion even if he had written his letter for publica¬
tion with his name, he could have come to no harm. The lc!t< r
is perfectly innocent and such as any Uovrnuuent sei\,mt can
write with impunity. Wo often hesitate to do the right only be¬
cause of needless fear. We must learn to dare to do the riejit
thing*

Whether the writer’s specified charge against the Kurnool
leaders can be borne out or not 1 do not know, but 1 know that
what he says about the insincerity of public life has a sub¬
stance of truth in it. If the leading class did as it preached, we
should have no difficulty in getling an adequate res; onse bum the
masses. What is therefore sorely needed is undoubtedly e<inversion
of the leading classes. When that comes, the rest will be easy.

Young India, 6-6-1929

W. 1)110 TI-cuu-SOLA HAT

Pandit Durgashankar Mehta of Sconi writes:

I was a j>nu:lising lawyrr hut non-co-oprralrcl in 1921. Circum¬
stance's have driven me back to law but I am a ,strict khaddarite. E have
given up the use of trousers and ties and attend eourt and the local
legislature in blind. As (hairman of my District Council 1 am running
Famine Road Works, which require my being out in the sun. Recently
f got a, touch of the sun and went in for a hat, which has been specially
made ol pure: khaddar. 'This lias started a controversy. Will you take
part in il?

lids is nil old controversy, My narrow nationalism rebels
against the hat, my secret internationalism regards the sola hat
as one of the few boons from Europe. But for the tremendous
national prejudice 'against the hat, I would undertake to become
president of a league for popularizing sola hats. In my opinion
educated India lias erred in taking to (in this climate) unneces¬
sary, unhygienic, inelegant trousers and in betraying general hesi¬
tation to lake up the sola hat. But I know that national likes and
dislikes arc' not governed by reason. That Scotch Highlander will
run the': risk of being singled out by his kilt as an easy target for
the enemy hut will not abandon the awkward kilt. I do not ex¬
pect India to take kindly to the; sola, hat. Nevertheless workers like
Pandit Durgnshankar need not be rufiled by criticism and may cer¬
tainly wear khadi imitations of the sola, hat. It: is in reality an
easily portable umbrella that, covers the head without the neces¬
sity of one hand being occupied in carrying it. Hie Calcutta police¬
man who shades his head from the fierce sun by sustaining an um¬
brella, in his belt puts himself under a, double handicap when
pitied a,gainst his European fellow-member. Those who have
strong prejudice against sola, hats should study the contrast I have
described, I may here draw the reader's attention to an indi¬
genous and effective equivalent of the hat that is very generally
worn by the poor farmers of Malabar, It is an umbrella with¬
out the handle, made of leaves with, a bark hoop to fit the head. It
is cheap, thoroughly effective and in no way akin to the hat and
yet almost just: as serviceable.

Young India , (5-6-1921)

21. AN APOLOCT

I have always felt unhappy that even lhoui»li 1 am (he edi¬
tor of Hindi Navajivan I have never written anythin!*' (dr the jour¬
nal. There has always been a strong desire to do so, but I was not
able to fulfil it before now. From now on I intend to write some¬
thing for it every week.

[From Hindi]

Hindi Navqjivan, 6-6-1929

22. SPINNING v. WEM1NC

Shri Moolchand writes from Khadi Ashram, Rhwas

I feel that it is the duty of khadi workers to (earh the art of
weaving to those peasants who wish In learn it. Ihil it e.iiniol
be considered as important as carding nor can il he propagated as
successfully. Carding is an indivisible pari of the process of spin¬
ning, as preparing dough is of that of making chapatis. If a peisnn
knows how to make chapatis hut cannot prepare the dough he can¬
not be said to have mastered the art of making chapatis. So
it is as important to teach carding as it is to leach spinning.

Weaving is quite a separate process, a distinct occupation.
Moreover, it has not become extinct. India’s poxertv and weaving
are in no way inter-connected. It is the extinction of .spinning, which
is responsible for the grievous plight and the utter poverty in
which our peasantry finds itself today. Kven when we wish them
to become self-reliant it is not necessary to leach them weaving;.

Self-reliance does not mean in any way that each man mu.xl do

* *

everything himself. It: would be useless and harmful to attempt
it. Man is a social being and depends on society. Self-reliance
means only that each village ought to produce all the grain and
all the cloth it requires. There has to he a di\ ision of labour in
the villages. Only spinning will be essential for everyone. It was
so in the past. So it should he nmv and in the future, hveu a
little reflection will make it clear that, if spinning, is to he done
by hand, as it should be, then this is the wav to do so.

1 The letter is not translated here. The rom-Hjmmleiu had dnrnbrd the

work done in the Ashram mid asked Gandhi] i il weaving wti nut as imjujrtftni
as spinning.

LETTER TO MOOLCIIAND AGRAWAL

Wc should not fed for a moment that because the weavers
arc not honest in their dealings, the peasants should learn how to
weave. Our job is to make the weavers be tier. They are also a part
of society. Of course one thing must be done—some of the khadi
workers should learn to weave well so that they can influence
the weavers and also save them from the injustice they have to
suffer because of our ignorance.

[From Hindi]

Hindi Navajivan , 6-6-1929

28. COUNCIL-ENTRY

A gentleman writes about Council-entry: 1

My views on this subject are the same as they were in 1920-
21. I do not feel that the country has benefited by people getting
into the Councils. If however we must enter the Councils then
those elected would do well to use this forum to promote the cons¬
tructive programme, e.g., khadi, etc. Not to enter the Councils
would be wisdom of the first order. But next best would be to join
them and then to carry on there the work one would be doing
outside.

I would advise the readers that they should forget all about
the Councils if' they have not set their heart on getting elected
themselves or getting someone else elected.

[From Hindi |

f f 9 'll/ - * * <4 A A

Hindi Navajwan, 6-0-1929

LETTER TO MOOLCIIAND AGRAWAL

June 8 , 1929

BII AT MfOOMlirANttJT,

T have vour second letter.

which you may look up.

It is answered in Hindi Navajivan?

Tours,

Mohandas

From a photoslat; of the Hindi: G.N. 831

1 The loiter is not translated here. The correspondent had asked if, in view
of Gandhi jits statement at the Calcutta Congress, it could be said that he
supported Council-entry.

2 V*i # A A

Vide pp. 26-7,

o c

BURMA'S

i V /'<

,v /jV

Sliri Manilal Kotharl had gone to Burma hi HCh to make
collections for the A1 1-India I )esl ll Kind I \\ \ Memoiial 1'siud* It was
suggested to me while I was in Burma, and 1 had agseed that the
funds received at that time should be duly acknowledged in Auw/-
jivan. But immediately thereafter, I got caught up in tours and
hence I could obtain no figures and then' Isas betas Nona* slat k*»
ness. Therefore, l apologize to those I sent hers who nad r\ptd<<l
to see this list. A sum of Rs, 39,737-14-3 was rcali/.ed through finer
cheques received at dilFeront times, Out ol it, a sum ol ivs.
19,743-4-0, which was -earmarked for being spent in Kathiawar
itself, was credited to the account, ol the Satvagraha Ashram and
was disbursed through the agency ol' the Aslu am. 1 he balance was
credited to the account: of the All-liuba Kphnuus Asousat ion and
its disbursement is recorded in its account books. 1 see Irom aimdd
paper that a sum of Rs. 3,37(> out ol the promised contributions
has not yet been received, I have with me the name*; of those who
had recorded their proposed contributions. 1 hope those who had
promised contributions will send them nr that workers will culled
and forward them. II' any donor wishes to have hniber inhuma¬
tion, he should write to the secretary ol' the 1 hlvogn Maudir.

[From Gujarati |

NavajivaU) 9-0-1929

:y;. 67 ( 7 ; 1 /M 74 v mn r

The Gujarat Provincial Congress Cnnnuitfo has ihU a! alt
been remiss in giving died; to the Congress resolution, !i iu , sent
a copy of the resolution together with suggestions to even place
and, in order to facilitate the task of workers, it lias ptmh
ded even figures about the number of taluks in the districts of tin*
Province, the number of villages and the population in each
taluk and the extent: of the contribution it has to make, And
if every taluk does its duty, the Congress i rsoluliun will have
been properly implemented. As the statistics 1 given are of pritua*
nent value and as they will be useful to workers iu future also, 1
give them below:

1 Not given here

WHAT SHOULD MUNICIPALITIES DO?

1 hope Gujarat will not be satisfied with enrolling a quarter
per cent of its population, as members, but as it had earlier pledged
to do special work in proportion to its special capacity, it would do
likewise this time too. Every district must do at least this much:
The workers of* the Provincial Committee should meet and assess
their capacity. The workers of every district should meet and
assess their wn capacity and try to exceed the share that falls
to them. By doing so, very good results can, he obtained without
effort and the backward districts and backward taluks can be
covered. Gujarat should remember that the Congress Commit¬
tee, in fixing a quarter per cent, kept the weakest provinces in
view. Gujarat does not regard itself as weak in its capacity for
doing work. Other provinces, too, do not: consider Gujarat as a
weak province. Hence Gujarat cannot rest satisfied with, en¬
rolling a quarter per cent as members* For example, at the time
of collecting a crore, when there was competition in Gujarat,
Surat had done much better than its allotted share. Can Surat
or Kheda distric t draw any satisfaction by comparing itself with
Panehmahals? Wherever there is unity, the strong have always
borne the burdens of the weak. In accordance with that princi¬
ple, if* we regard. India, as indivisible, we would shoulder the bur¬
dens of the weak provinces and the strong among us would bear
the burdens of' the weak. Where such an attitude is cultivated, the
weak do not feel their burden and the strong do not feci proud.

| From Gujarati)

Navajlvan , !.M>-1929

wiiat should municipalities do?

It may he worth while knowing what the municipalities and
local bodies should do in regard to the triple boycott, I do not
know how many of these municipalities and local bodies in Guja¬
rat are under Congress influence. The Foreign-Cloth Boycott Com¬
mittee points out from time to time how much work can be done
in regard to the boycott in those bodies to which, Congressmen
have been elected. The Committee publishes the names of these
municipalities which do this work. Among them the names of
local bodies in Gujarat arc to be found scattered here and there.
Instead of this happening, Gujarat’s contribution ought to be
large. There must be only a few municipalities or local boards in
Gujarat or India which do not believe in boycott.

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA CANDID

One thing they can do on a large scale. When the boycott
gains momentum, there is bound to he a shortage of khadi. In
overcoming this shortage, the municipalities can make a hie;
contribution. All of them can get yarn spun in their schools ami
have it woven in their own villages. It is possible to do this work
with ease and at a minimum cost. If tin' khadi thus produced is
not now utilized by the respective villages or towns, it is possible to
sell it off immediately at other centres, If this happens at all
places, there can never be a, shortage of cloth. Just as we can
never imagine a shortage of roil is as long as wheat is available,
people should experience no shortage of cloth whatsoever so long
as cotton is available.

In order to do such lasting work, there should be an atmos¬
phere of khadi. If there is such an atmosphere, there will Ik*
sacrificial spinners in every home and yarn will he spun in every
home. An early start can be given to the creation of such an
atmosphere through municipal schools.

What applies to municipalities certainly applies also to
national schools. It is good that pupils go hawking, but it is
even more necessary to produce khadi at present than hawk it.
Greater labour, art and patience arc* needed in the production
of khadi. Hence those who have an understanding of khadi
and boycott have to give more emphasis to its production.
Gujarat may well have less of yarn spun by poor sisters*
but it should have an inexhaustible power to produce sacrificial
yarn. At the moment Bhai Fulehamlks baud is hawking khadi in
Kathiawar. That is praiseworthy. It also meets with success. Why
should not the same band produce yarn and teach tubers to do
likewise ?

[From Gujarati]

Navqjivan , 9-6-1929

ANONYM 0US DONAT10NS

‘SI

A donor has written an anonymous letter under the name
“Natural Keeling and sent a, hundred rupees. Of this amount,
Rs. 50 is meant for the Lalaji Memorial, Rs. 10 for the Magan-
lal Memorial, Rs. 25 for relief of distress in the South and Rs. 15
for cow-protection work.

1 thank “Natural Feel mg’’’’ for this anonymous donation. I
have very often written that the habit of writing anonymous
letters is very bad, that it should not at all be encouraged, that
it is a sign of eowardiee. But the anonymous letter of “Natural
Feeling 11 deserves none of these reproaches. The action of “Natural
Feeling 15 is oae example of the fact that there are in the world
very lew things which are solely good or solely bad at all times
and at all places. It is desirable that people should follow the
example of “Natural feeling 11 . Donors love to see their names in
newspapers. Ultimately, almost all desire that their names should
be known at, least to those to whom they send their donations.
There may be some among those who do not give their names
even to the recipients; such people deserve to be encouraged.
This way those who receive donations are fully tested since the
donors can watch how their anonymous gifts are being uti-

xee.

[From Gujarati
JVamjimriy 9-6-1929

29. "SAD PLIGHT OF BULSAR BIIANGIS 551

1. I have published the above article without changing a
single word in it under the title given to it by Thakkar Bapa, How
nice it would have been had he stopped in Bulsar even for a
day and solved this problem of cruelty by making a constructive
suggestion! Or if a solution were not possible, we would have
got at any rate an idea of the cruelty of municipal councillors
and the other respectable citizens. But is such a suggestion neces¬
sary for Thakkar Bapa? He spends all his twenty-four hours in

1 A. V. Thakkar had visited Bulsar with anti-untouchability workers.
His report was published under this title.

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA CANDID

work of this sort only. It is only to bo scon what llio Vibhishanas 1
of Bulsar do after reading this article. The municipality ran, if it
wishes, remedy this inhuman state ot ailairs in a day. Its (duct
officer can assess the extent of the Bhangis’ indebtedness, meed the
Pathans and repay to them the loans advanced by them and
can easily form a co-operative society, lie ran know why they
have to incur debts and if they hereafter would take loans in an
improper way, he can urge them not to do so. This will take a
little time of the official and the work will be accomplished at oner.

2. 'flic same official can scrutinize their expenses and in¬
quire into the additions to or deductions from their wage's.

3. If no one is willing to let them draw water from his well,
the municipality should construed: one lor them. And the Vibhb
shanas should, in order to set an example to the Hindus, draw
water from it for themselves from time to lime and on that
excuse keep the well also clean.

4, It should forthwith provide to the forty-two servants resi¬
dential facilities lit for human beings and explain to the Bhangi
and non-Bhangi women that the lavatories constructed near their
residences arc open to Bhangi women also,

5, If the admission of the Bhangis 1 children into the existing
schools angers the residents of Bulsar, the municipality should
start a good school for the Bhangis and the Vibhisltauas should
send their children to it. The municipality can do all those tilings
quickly, but if it docs not do its duty, the Congressmen of Bulsar
should do theirs, and the youth league of Bulsar should follow
suit. Iu improving the sad plight: of forty-two men, no lag eco¬
nomic question can arise nor that of the availability or non-availa¬
bility of many workers. The question is merely one of compassion.
If the Goddess of Compassion dwells nowhere in Bulsar, this
story of cruelty will remain buried in the hies of Ntmtjivan as a
proof of Thakkar Bapa’s anguish of soul. If there is any vigilant
person in Bulsar, he should write to Navajmm and intimate whe¬
ther anyone has taken any steps in this respect or not.

[From Gujarati]

Navajivan, 9-6-1929

1 Vibhishana, Ravaria’s brother, supported the cause of Mama because
it was righteous. The reference here is to the fair-minded among caste
Hindus who worked against unteachability, risking social ostracism.

30. LETTER TO MADIIAVJI V. TilARKAR

June 10, 1929

BIIAISIIRI MADIIAVJI,

I have your letter. By all means do come in July. By the
first week of July I must be back here. 1

Vandemataram from

Mohandas

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 6787

31. LETTER TO FULCIIAND K. SHAH

lJune 11, 1929f

BIIAISIIRI RULOHAND,

For many years now the proposal to have a well dug for the
Anlyajas in Junagadh remains unfulfilled. Dcvehandbhai knows
about it, and was also making some arrangements about it. Please
inquire into this. And your daP ought to complete the work on this
well. I have already written to Dcvehandbhai that the expendi¬
ture would be provided for.

Haven’t you included Manilal Kothari in the Youth Confe¬
rence ? He ought to be included. A sum of Rs. 750 has come
from Rangoon, about which also he had been speaking to me.
It would be proper to decide in consultation with Bhai Nanalal
how the amount should be spent. A letter signed by both of you
should go to him.

Blessings from

Bapu

Bhai Fulohand Kasturchand

Kelavani Mandal, Wadhwan City, Kathiawar

From a photostat of the Gujarati; G.N. 9189

41-3

1 From Almora; vide also pp. 11 & 14.

2 From the postmark

3 Team

32. LETTER TO CUIIAGANLA L JOSH I

Tuesday, June | //]*, 1929

CHI. CIIHAGANLAL JOSIH,

Vallabhhhai told me that the cheque for Rs. 900 which I
brought with me from Bardoli was not acknowledged in Toutif;
India, and that when lie mad<! an inquiry and again after an
investigation into the matter, you wrote' to him that you knew
nothing about it. Please let me know what the facts of the case
arc. Now I sleep all right.

Blessings Jrom

Bath

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 5421

3!L 'FOOD FADDISTS'

1 have been known as a crank, faddist, mad mam Evidently

the reputation is well deserved. For wherever 1 go, 1 draw to
myself cranks, faddists and mad men. Andhra has its fair share
of all these. They often find their way to Sabannnti. No wonder
then that I found these specimens in abundance during my
Andhra tour. But I propose to introduce to the reader only one
fellow crank who by his living faith in his mission compelled my
admiration and induced me to plunge into a dietetic experiment
which I had left unfinished at the age of 20 when I was a stu¬
dent in London. 1 2 This is Sundaram (lopalrao of Rajahmundry.
The ground was prepared i'or him by a survey superintendent
whom I met at Vizagapatam and who told me he was practically
living on raw food. Gopalrao has a nature-cure establishment in
Rajahmundry, to which he devotes the whole of his time. He
said to me, “The hip-baths and other kindred appliances are good
so far as they go. But even they are artificial. To be rid of disease
it is necessary to do away with fire in the. preparation of foods.
We must take everything in its vital state even as animals do.”

“Wouldyou advise me to adopt entirely raw diet?,” I asked.

1 The source has “12”, which however was Wednesday.

2 Vide Vol. XXXIX, pp. 50-3.

‘FOOD FADDISTS 5

“Certainly, why not? I have cured cases of chronic dyspep¬
sia in old men and women through a balanced diet containing
germinating seeds, 35 was Gopalrao’s reply.

“But surely there should be a transition stage,” I gently
remonstrated.

“No such stage is necessary, 55 rejoined Gopalrao. “Uncooked
food, including uncooked starch and proteid are any day more
digestible than cooked. Try it and you will feel all the better
for it. 55

“Do you take the risk? If the cremation ceremony takes place
in Andhra, the people will cremate your body with mine,” I said.

“I take the risk, 55 said Gopalrao.

“Then send me your soaked wheat. I commence from to¬
day, 55 I said.

Poor Gopalrao sent the soaked wheat. Kasturbai, not know- -
ing that it could possibly, be meant for me, gave it to the volun¬
teers who finished it. So I had to commence the experiment
the following day—9th May. It is therefore now a month when
I am writing these notes.

I am none the worse for the experiment. Though I have lost
over five pounds in weight, my vitality is unimpaired. During the
last eight days the weight has shown a decided tendency to increase.

Fellow faddists should know what I am doing.

I take generally eight tolas of germinating wheat, eight tolas
of sweet almonds reduced to a paste, eight tolas of green leaves
spinach or pounded [sic], six sour lemons, and two ounces of honey.
Wheat is replaced twice or thrice during the week by an equal
quantity of germinating gram. And when gram is taken in the
place of wheat, cocoanut milk replaces almond paste. The food is
divided into two parts, the first meal is taken at 11 a.m., the
second at 6.15 p.m. The only thing touched by fire is water.
I take in the morning and once more during the day boiling
water, lemon and honey.

Both wheat and gram germinate in 36 hours. The grain is
soaked in water for twenty-four hours. The water is then strain¬
ed. The grain is then left in a piece of wet khadi overnight. You
find it sprouting in the morning ready for use. Those who have
sound teeth need not pound the grain at all. For cocoanut milk
a quarter of the kernel is grated fine and you squeeze the milk
through a piece of stout khadi.

It is unnecessary to enter into further details. What I have
given is enough for diet reformers to help me with their sugges¬
tions. I have lived for years on uncooked fruits and nuts but never

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA OANDtXI

before beyond a fortnight on uncooked cereals and pulses. Let
those therefore who know anything of imiiced food favour me
with literature or their own experiences.

I publish the lacts of this experiment because I attach the
greatest importance to it. If it succeeds it enables serious men
and women to make revolutionary changes in their mode of living.
It frees women from a drudgery which brings no happiness but
which brings disease in its train. The ethical value of uueooked
food is incomparable. Economically this food has possibilities
which no cooked food can have. I therefore seek the sympathetic
help of all medical men and laymen who are interested in re-
formed dietetics.

Let no one blindly copy the experiment. I have not (lopal-
rao’s faith. I do not claim success for it yet. I am moving' cau¬
tiously. The facts are published so as to enable me to com¬
pare notes with fellow food reformers.

Young India , 13-6-1929

34. DR. SUNDERLAND'S VOLUME

If the house of the the editor of The Modern Rtwiew could be
searched, 1 why should he not be arrested? The Government of
Bengal did not leave us long in doubt. Sjt, Ramanancla Chalterjee
has been arrested and is to be tried for sedition, 'flic sedition
evidently consists in his having published die Rev. Dr. Sunder¬
land’s book of which the Poet Rabindranath Tagore says;

Tlie Rev. Dr, Sunderland became personally known to me during
his visit to India and my visits to America, and won from the first my
deep regard. I have greatly admired his courage, earnestness and sin¬
cerity in taking up in this book the cause of the Indian people, , . . His
love of humanity, which knows no geographical boundaries or racial diner-
ences, should be a lesson to all of us who seek to share his ideals and
carry on his work.

In the foreword the author says : 2

I very much desire not to be misunderstood as to my motive in
writing this book. Let no one say, or for a moment believe, that tile
book means enmity to Great Britain. It means nothing of the kind, any
more than pleas for freedom of the slave in the oltl days of American

1 Vide pp, 17-9.

2 Only excerpts are reproduced here.

DR. SUNDERLAND’S VOLUME

slavery meant enmity to the American nation which permitted slavery.
... I am in no sense whatever England’s foe or ill-wisher. What I ad¬
vocate for India I believe to be for England’s good as well as for India’s.
I want no wrong done to England, in connection with India or any¬
where else. But I also want England to do no wrong to India, or
through India to the world. . . .

The plain fact is: there are two Englands, just as there are two
Americas. One of the Englands — that which I like to think of as the
true one — believes in justice and freedom, not only at home but every¬
where else. This is the England of Magna Charta; of Milton and Pym
and Hampden; of Pitt and Fox and Burke in 1776 when they demanded
justice for the American Colonics; of Burke and Sheridan in connection
with the trial of Warren Hastings, when they demanded justice for India;
the England that abolished its slave trade in 1807 and slavery in all British
dominions in 1833; the England of the Reform Bills; the England of such
friends of India as Cobden and Bright, Lord Ripon, Mary Carpenter,
Professor Fawcett, Charles Bradlaugh, A. O. Flume, Sir William Weclclcr-
burn, Sir Henry Cotton, and many others in the past; and many today,
both inside and outside of Parliament (and particularly the Labour Party). . . .

This England I honour and love. . . . Unfortunately, there is another
England. ... It is the England which fought against Magna Charta;
which refused to give justice and freedom to the American Colonies in
1776; which has constantly allied itself with militarism and imperialism;
which fought two wars to force opium on China; which long held Ireland
in bondage; which opposed all efforts to abolish the slave trade and
slavery; which has opposed practically all political and social reforms in
England; and which today, while giving profuse promises to India of pots
of gold at the end of a rainbow thrusts into prison without trial Indian
leaders who agitate for freedom, and gives no assurance of any’ real in¬
tention of ever loosening its iron grip upon what King George calls
ce My Indian Empire”.

This England I do not love or honour. It is solely against this evil,
and as I believe, dangerous England, that any hostility or criticism found
in the following pages is directed. . . .

I believe that this imperialistic, might-makes-right England, if kept
in power, will as certainly lose India to Britain, as the rising of the sun.
The men at this England’s head are the Lord Norths of our time, who are
driving India to revolution, just as Lord North and George III in 1776
drove the American Colonies to Revolution. And India’s revolution, if it
comes, will be sympathized with by all Asia and by all intelligent lovers
of liberty in the entire world. And there will be no possibility of its be¬
ing put down, India will emerge a free, independent and great nation,
\vholly independent of Britain,

THE COLLECTED WORKS OE MAHATMA GANDHI

Something ought to be said here regarding my qualifications for writing
about India. . . . For more than forty years l have been a constant student
of India’s great religions, her extensive literature, her philosophies, her
remarkable art, her long history, and above all, her pressing and vital
present-day social and political problems. . . .

Dr. Sunderland is a nonagenarian. He is no adventurer. If
he is seditious, it is virtue to be in his company. Undoubtedly the
book contains strong things strongly put. But there is no malice
in them. The book is brimful of quotations from eminent Eng¬
lish writers. It has passed through its second edition inside of a
year. I tender my congratulations to Sjt. Ramanandn (IhaUerjeo
on his having published Dr. Sunderland’s book and on Ins being
therefore singled out for the honour of a prosecution. This arrest
is forcible proof of Dr. Sunderland’s indictment of British rule.

Young India , 13-6-1929

35. KHADI GUIDE

The A.I.S.A. has just published a khadi guide which as
well as the report of the A.I.S.A. for 15)27-28 all public workers
should possess. Both can be had at the offices of the A.f.S.A. or
its many depots at Rs. 1-2-0 and 0-1-0, respectively. The guide
is profusely illustrated and gives information about the khadi
activity in all the provinces. It contains too some useful maps.
It should be the concern of every patriot to study the activities of
an institution that finds work for nearly 1,000 middle class men
and through them distributes among nearly one hundred thousand
women, 5,000 weavers and 700 carders In over 2,000 villages
twenty-four lakhs of rupees annually. The report contains audit¬
ed accounts which careful workers may criticize. The Association
is in need of sympathy as well as informed and useful criticism,

Toung India , 13-6-1929

36 ; BARDOLI ENQUIRY REPORT

Messrs Broomfield and Maxwell’s report is an illuminating
document. Its pages arc an evidence of the immense conscien¬
tious labours they have put into the work entrusted to them,
within the limits prescribed by the reference whose operative sen¬
tences (including an obvious grammatical slip) were word for
word as the people’s representatives had drawn up. Though there¬
fore the actual finding on the question of the amount of assess¬
ment is, as Mahadcv Dcsai has, in my opinion, conclusively point¬
ed out, 1 faulty, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and the ryots of the
tracts concerned arc bound to accept it. It is up to them how¬
ever at least to reason and point out to the Government the
defects in the finding and to leave it to their honour to remedy
them. Throughout the brave fight the people put up, the ques¬
tion never was one of rupees, annas and pies, burdensome though
the assessment was. The question was one of principle and jus¬
tice. Resentment was felt against the high-handed and contemp¬
tuous manner in which the people’s case was treated. The authors
of the report have completely vindicated its justice.

The Officers were to

enquire into and report upon the complaint of the people of the Bardoli
Taluk and Valocl Mahal and Ghorasi Taluk—

(a) that the enhancement of revenue recently made is not warranted
in terms of the Land Revenue Code,

(b) that the reports accessible to the public do not contain sufficient
data warranting the enhancement and that some of the data given are
wrong;

and they were to

find, that (sic) if the people's complaint is held to be justified, what en¬
hancement or reduction, if any, there should be upon the old assessment.

On all these points the Commissioners have substantially
found in favour of the people. As to the first complaint the
Commissioners have found that the authorities have offended
against the spirit of Section 107. The Commissioners’ examination
of the second complaint is detailed, exhaustive, able and instructive*

1 In Young India , 23-5-1929, under the title ‘‘The Bardoli Report: An
Analysis”

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

It is the best part of the report and covers ‘Id out, of 77 pages
of the body of the report. This examination proves to the
hilt almost every one of the charges brought by the people against
Messrs Jayakar and Anderson. There could be no better vindi¬
cation than this:

We are hound (o Hold that the complaint referred to in point (b)
of the terms of reference is substantially justified. The data in the reports,
apart from the rental and sale statistics, are obviously nol sulUeirnt to
warrant either the general increases sanctioned in (lit 4 maximum rates,
or the much higher increases in tin* cast 4 of particular villages. The rental
and sale statistics have been carelessly compiled, art 4 demonstrably in¬
correct in a large number of cases, and in general must In' regarded as
completely unreliable. Further, the established method of using the
statistics is in our opinion unsound in theory, and however it may work
in practice in other districts, is not capable of giving satisfactory results
in this part of Gujarat, where leases and salt 4 transart ions are 0 Heeled by
such a variety of disturbing factors. In view of this conclusion we .submit
that the present settlement cannot be. allowed to stand in either of the
two taluks.

Having thus found that the increase made' by the Govern¬
ment had o(Fendec! against the spirit of Section 107 of the Code
and that the data relied upon by the Government were' insuffi¬
cient and faulty, the Commissioners had to say what the increase
or the reduction, as the case may be, on the*: old assessment there
should l)e. Though in my opinion the case before the Commis¬
sioners was for a substantial reduction in tin* old assessment, such
a proposal was evidently beyond their ben. Revision lias tradi¬
tionally come to mean an increase, he it ever so slight, in the

general rate of assessment. Though therefore they have rejected

the Government rate of 22 per cent increase! as excessive, they
have proposed an increase! of 5.7 per cent. This means an in¬
crease of Rs, 48,648 instead of Rs. 1,87,4111b

For the people’s representatives they have nnmixecl praise.
I cannot resist the temptation to quote from the report the Com¬
missioners’ unqualified appreciation of their '"valuable assistance”:

At all our inspections the ease for the agriculturists wan also watched
by representatives specially delegated for the purpose, principally Mr.

N&rahari Parikh and Mr. Mahadev Donah In addition to the compila¬

tion of much useful information on their own laws, these gentlemen had
systematically investigated and tabulated in advance the rental nr sale
transactions of each village in our programme, and their detailed know¬
ledge of individual cases not infrequently enabled us to obtain more ac*

BARDOLI ENQUIRY REPORT

curate information than would otherwise have been available. We gladly
acknowledge here the conscientious and impartial manner in which this
assistance was given to us and its real value for the purposes of this en¬
quiry.

But as 1 have already said the report suffers from limitations.
Though the total increase proposed by the Commissioners is trifling
in the aggregate, it is not warranted by the facts of the case
and in certain eases serious injustice has been done, unconsciously
no doubt, by the Commissioners. If the Government is wise, it
would redress the injustice. This is an injustice which it was
within the power of the Commissioners to avoid and which they
could and would have avoided, if they had more time, and if
they had, as they should have, heard the people’s representa¬
tives on the proposed increase. Such a precaution is necessary
when every case or every village is never individually examined.
In assessing particular villages Messrs Broomfield and Maxwell
have simply drawn deductions from the condition of villages
which they have thought to be analogous. What therefore they
could not do or tailed to do, the Government can, if they
wish, do now without much time or trouble and render the
needed justice in individual cases*

But the report also suffers from defects which the Commis¬
sioners had no power to remedy. Sardar Vallabhbhafs belief is
shared by all those who have at all studied the land revenue
policy, that the land is already over-assessed and that the case is
not one of tinkering with particular assessments but it is one of
overhauling the whole land revenue policy. The pages of this
valuable report show that both the revenue laws and the methods
of their administration are far from satisfactory. But this is a
question which the people of Bardoli had not raised. It is for the
country now to demand a radical change both in the law and its
administration. This requires a critical study of both, and popu¬
lar education and propaganda in revenue matters. It will tax
the Sardar’s best ingenuity and provide him with a platform
for civil disobedience of an all-India character, should the
Government still prove obdurate and deaf to public opinion. The
illuminating report and the Bardoli triumph should render
unnecessary any such heroic measure.

Young India^ 13-6-1929

37. PANDIT N EH RIPS APPEAL

Pandit Motilal Nehru has addressed the following appeal to
Congress members of the legislatures:

You must have road with in to rest tin; recent pronouncement of the
Viceroy and of some provincial Governors extending the life of (he
legislatures. As you are no doubt aware, the A.I.C.Cd and (he Working
Committee considered this situation and decided to call upon all Congress
members of the legislatures to abstain from attending them till further
notice. They were, further asked to devote all their available time to the
furtherance of the Congress programme in the country,

It is edear that the real strength of the nation is built up by work
outside the present legislatures, and even our Conned work carries weight
only to the extent of the organized strength behind us, All indications
point to an approaching crisis and by the end of this year at tin* latest
we must be ready to face this crisis with confidence, 'flic A.LC.tk has
therefore laid down a special programme of reorganization for the next
three months, failure to comply with which wilt lead to the disadilialion
or non-recognition of the Committee concerned. Those of us who arc
members on behalf of the Congress of the Central Legislature or the
Provincial Councils have now to demonstrate that we can work outside the
Councils as well as inside. I Won from the point of view of future
Council work it is essential Lhat we should work in our constituencies ami
consolidate, the position of the Congress.

I write this letter to appeal to you to give some time and energy to
working for this Congress programme. You would naturally prefer work¬
ing in your own constituency, dins is right, I would suggest however
that you should immediately get into touch with your Provincial Con¬
gress Committee so that: full advantage may be taken of your lime and
your efforts may be co-ordinated with those of others.

You may of course concentrate on any item of the Congress pro¬
gramme;. I would specially suggest however the formation of village and
local Congress Committees, the; enrolment, of Congress members and volun¬
teers and the boycott of foreign cloth, I would also strongly recommend
your collecting funds for Congress work. These moneys should he sent
to the Provincial Congress Committee concerned which will issue reee
to the donors. The money may also be sent direct to the A.LC.C
office in Allahabad.

1 All-India Congress Committee

A CARDING ENTHUSIAST

I would like to keep a separate record of these activities of Con¬
gress members of the legislatures so that the country may know what wc
can do outside the Councils, f would therefore request you to send me
a monthly letter telling me briefly what you have done to further the
Congress programme. This report may Lake the form suggested on a
separate sheet. It should be sent to me direct.

If you have any dilheulties the office of the A.I.C.G. will be glad
to help you in removing them.

This authoritative pronouncement that cc thc real strength of
the nation is built up by work outside the present legislatures 55
has come none too soon. If the members of the legislatures will
recognize this obvious truth and emphasize it in their speeches
and acts during the remaining months of this year, we should
be ready to face any crisis that may overtake the country.

Young India , 13-6-1929

38. A CARDING ENTHUSIAST

Shri Mahavir Prasad Poddar writes the following in praise
of carding: 1

The eurding-bow is indeed as praiseworthy as Rhai Mahavir
Prasad says it is. For those who would learn the art of spinning
in its totality it, is essential In learn the use of this instrument as
well. It is very easy to learn and the music it produces while it
is operated is very sweet to the ears. I would advise all those who
use clean snow-white cotton slivers to follow Mahavir Prasad’s
example,

[from Hindi]

Hindi Navajimn , 13-6-1929

1 The letter is not translated here. The correspondent had emphasized
the importance and beauty of carding. He had stressed the need to teach
carding in every village and offered his services for this purpose,

39. MARRIAGE AND THE VEDAS

There is more of pomp and show and loss of religion in the
way the marriage rites are performed in the Hindu society these
days. Those who are getting married do not know what these
rites arc or represent, and what their obligations are after the
ceremony. This is highly regrettable. The Vedas regard mar¬
riage as a sacrament and have described how it should be per¬
formed. Marriages should continue to he performed in the same
way. It is the duty of the parents and the elders to explain to
the couple the significance of these rites and their duties after
going through the ceremony. These rites and the. pledge's that the
couple have to take have already been published in NavqjivanK
Readers may look them up.

[From Hindi]

Hindi Navajivan 9 13-6-1929

40. NOTES

Sewing as a “Yajna”

Shri Mahavir Prasad also writes: 2

Whatever we do for the good of others is a ynjna, k num¬
ber of such big and small yajnas are necessary to make the Idmdi
movement successful Spinning of course is the biggest and most
universal of these. If those who have a, little spare time would
tailor khadi it could he made very cheap. This work can he or¬
ganized only at such places where khadi bhandars exist and only
the khadi bhandars can efficiently manage it. I would like to
thank Bhai Mahavir Prasad and Gluinshyamclasji too for making
a start in this direction. I hope they will continue the sacred
work they have undertaken. It should not lie: difficult to find
such ladies in Calcutta who would volunteer to stitch khadi.

"‘Navajivan 51 Series

There is no end to Shri Mahavir Prasad’s grwd. He is
ever dreaming of propagation of khadi. Ho has extracted a

1 Vide Vol. XXX, pp. 35-9.

2 The letter is not translated here. The correspondent had suggested
that by stitching khadi free of cost people could participate in the khadi yajna.
He had referred to a scheme to this effect started in G. D. Bidet's house,

LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSIII

number of articles regarding khadi and allied activities from
Navajivan and distributed them in book-form in thousands. These
booklets are available at a cheap price. He intends publishing
them as a series to be known as Navajivan Mala. I have seen the
first three books and I feel that they ought to be widely circu¬
lated. If enough khadi literature is made available to the pub¬
lic they will realize the potentialities of khadi.

[From Hindi]

Hindi Navajivan, 13-6-1929

41. LETTER TO LILAVATI

JOAKISU.LY,

Jane 13, 1929

GUI. LILAVATI,

I could not reply to your letter earlier; I. had absolutely no
time. Whatever you would do rests solely on your strength. My
only advice could be that you can do whatever you would, after
satisfying your uncle who, you say, has such, great affection for you.
If you wish to take some step in spite of his dissatisfaction, it
must be subject to two conditions. It should proceed with restraint
and be prompted by the inner voice. The bonds of kinship too
slacken before the inner voice. All the same one ought to know
that the inner voice is very often wrongly interpreted.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 9314

42. LETTER TO OHIUGANLAL JOSIII

Bareilly,

June 13, 1929

CHI. CHHAGANLAL JOSIII,

Parncrkar had given me points to be included in the letter
to Sir Purushottamdas. I enclose them with this. They seem to
be all right. In the letter make clear that it will be for him to
get a fencing put up. Give him an estimate of the expenditure
for that. We should get occupancy right for 25 years. After that
period, we should get compensation for the buildings wc may

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA, GANDHI

have constructed at a rate to be fixed then. If the two parties
differ as regards the amount, a duly authorized arbitrator should
be appointed and we should be paid the amount fixed by him.
We should be bound for five years to accept their cattle, even if
we are incurring losses. You may also add that, if the society in
Bombay wishes to discuss the matter further, Parnerkar will visit
Bombay.

Have a talk with Chi. Ivanti from time to time. We cannot
say yet that lie has calmed down.

I send with this Ranchhodbhafs letter; make good use of
his criticism.

The change about the kitchen ean be introduced with im¬
mediate effect.

I shall make one criticism about the names suggested for the
different places in the Ashram, I see no uniformity in them. There
is a mixture of Bengali, Marathi and Persian words. No thought
seems to have been given to the matter. Why kuth\ ami not kuti ?
Why should we not call the place “Magan Ivulir" or “Magan
Niwas" ? What shall we gain by having a. new name in place of
the suggestive cue, “Striiiiwas"? Why not “Prarthanabhavun"?
Or, why should we not try to (ind a word which ean be easily
understood to indicate that the place where prayers are held is
an open maidan?

I see no reasoning behind the suggestion to call the guest house
“Nandini". 1 should certainly like BhansalPs name to he con¬
nected with Mahadev’s dwelling. Why should we not name it
“Jaybhuvan" ? Why should the kitchen be named "Sharuda-
mandir" ? Why not “Bhojaushala"? Since the place serves both
purposes, its name should refer to both. “Kailas" for u Vankar
Niwas” sounds ostentatious. “Rustem Block" should be (“hanged
into a suggestive name. Wc should line! the Gujarati equivalent
for “block". “Goshala" is a suggestive name, and we have no
right to replace it by the most sacred name “Gokul”. “Uttar
Prantar” and “Dakshin Prantar” too do not sound well to me.
We should dismiss “Rajmarg”. I have some doubt whether to
permit “Vithi” to stay. “Tirtha” should be dismissed.

You will now easily understand wliat is at the root of my
criticism. Comments were invited at the time of the prayer;
take this as in response to that. Don’t think at all that my sug¬
gestions must be carried out. It will be enough if this criticism
receives attention along with other criticisms. Kaka will be able
to think better about this problem.

LETTER TO MANILAL AND SUSIIILA GANDHI

Preserve the accompanying notice. It is necessary that
Ghhaganlal 1 should see the Vahivatdar 2 when he goes there. If
they have started any work, there will be no problem at all.

I have gone through the new scheme drawn up by Chhotclal
for the production of khacli in Bahial. I enclose it with this.
The weakest part of the scheme is that relating to carding. We can
succeed only if it is taken up by the new class of people that has
arisen.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: S.N. 15802; also Bapttna Balm-7: Shri
Chhaganlal Josh'me, pp. 11'1~G

43. LETTER TO MANILAL AND SUSIIILA GANDHI

Bareilly,
June 13, 1929

Gill. MANILAL AND SUSIIILA,

I fail to write when I am moving from place to place. I
often intend to write but when it is time for the weekly mail
my letter is not ready. This lime too I have set out on a jour¬
ney. The journey will lead me to the hills. Today we arc at
the foot of the mountain in Bareilly. This time I have a large
convoy. There is Ba, there is Purushottam, then Prithviraj and
Pyarelal too. Devdas will join us in Almora. The journey has
been organized by Prabhudas. Among the women are Jamna-
behn, Khurshcdbelm, Mirabehu and Kusumbclm. Mahadev
has been detained by Vallabhbhai. If both of you cannot come
away and Sushila alone comes, it is all right. But I think there
is nothing wrong if she stays on till both of you can come along
provided she is keeping well and her separation from her parents
is not very painful to her. What I mean is that you should do
what both of you wish to. If Sushila desires to come she must
not be held back. If proper arrangements about the journal,
etc., cannot be made, I realize that you cannot come over. Ram-
das is not particularly well. He is not yet free from his mental

1 Chhaganlal Gandhi was manager and trustee of the Vijapur Kltadi
Ashram. The Gaokwar State had served some notice which is referred to here.

2 An official under the Gaekwar of Baroda State

THE COLLECTED WORK.S OF MAHATMA CANDID

trouble. I am of course line. About my recent experiment in diet
you will read in JVavajivan and Toung India.

Wes. shifts /tom

Baihi

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 47.5.1

■14. LETTER TO MADIIAVJl V. TltAEKAR

BARKH.t.Y,

June 13, 1339

BIIAtSURt MAIUtAVjr,

In my reply to your le.Ltor I forgot to mention one thing. If
you want to be very particular about the things to he taken with
you, you may bring along a couple of bowls and a plate, ami
also a lota 1 . I have not yet. been able to lix up a date on which
to return to the Udyoga Mandir, but hope to do so in the first
week of July.

Viini/niMlnttim Jwin

.Mohandas

From a photostat of the Gujarati: (!.N. (>7(!!t

LETTER TO G. I). IIIRLA

DARKILLY,

/ V /O'H;

BHAt OUANSUYAMDASJt,

Harbhai is Nanabhai’s colleague at Dakshinamurti Bltavau.
Nanabhai has fallen ill. Following the talk we had at Wardha
about this school I am sending him on to you. You were to consi¬
der what assistance you could give to this institution. I have to¬
day sent an assurance to Nanabhai taking it that you will make
a donation. You will learn all the details from Harbhai, see the
accounts of the institution and do whatever you consider proper.

Mohandas

From Hindi: C.W. 6173. Courtesy: G. D. Birla

1 Metal jug

46, SPEECH AT NAINITAL

June 14, 1929

My voice is not as strong as it was in 1921. I should now
stop making speeches. Here too I did not and do not intend
making a speech. But one who considers himself a representative
of Daridranarayana cannot stop begging. I have not much
strength left. But you all keep giving me something or the
other, so I cannot overcome my greed. I thank you for the address
and the purse. I am grateful that in. order to save time you
omitted reading the verses, and the chairman of the District
Board left out the whole address. I thank you for the same. You
have not contributed enough money. Those who live here arc
not poor. They arc the ones who have usurped the occupations of
the poor. I have come to remind them of their duty. The popu¬
lation here has come down from 3 lakhs to 2 lakhs. Why has it
decreased so much? Why this decline in spite of good climate?
Why have so many people died or left? Evidently because people
have no employment here. They are suffering badly for want of
employment. We send out our wool to foreign countries or sell
it to the mills. Wc deprive the poor of their bread because we
buy mill-cloth. Our tastes have changed. We consider swadeshi
cloth to be bad and mill material good. We like to dress up
like the sahibs. We have ruined the poor by aping others. People
have become cowards. But if they try they can cast off their
fear. One should only fear God and no one else. I consider that
the best remedy for India’s poverty and the prevailing cowar¬
dice would be to give up foreign cloth. All the brothers and
sisters should share in this effort. It can be done easily. People
sing or recite poetry but this is not going to solve the problem of
hunger. The truth is that only the charkha can satisfy our hunger
and bring us swaraj. Ever since the message of. the charkha has
been spread in India it has given life to thousands of women. I
would request all the brothers who use foreign cloth that they
should wear the rough cloth made by their countrymen. They will
thus provide livelihood to thousands. The Congress has called for
prohibition. I do not know how many people here are addict¬
ed to liquor. It is this evil habit which brought about the des¬
truction of the Yadavas even though they had Lord Krishna among
them. Lord Krishna had warned them that drinking and

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MA.1IA.TMA (!AN 1)111

gambling would lead them to destruction. But they did not bred his
warning and were annihilated. I would request you also to give
up liquor. Everyone should pay (bur annas and join the Con¬
gress. Those who join it have to take the pledge that they would
achieve swaraj through peaceful and honest means. Everyone who
fulfils these conditions can become a member of the Congress.

This then is the way to attain swaraj. If each man spins
enough for himself then swaraj cannot be far. This is what I have
come to tell you. 1 have not much strength. But l would repeat
two things which I had said in 1921. One is that il Hindus,
Muslims, Christians, Parsis were to unite and not, light with one
another, we would attain swaraj today. But you have all lost your
head. You have to become good. Thou swaraj is within your
grasp. The second thing is to remove untouehability; otherwise the
Hindu religion itself will ho wiped out. How can any Hindu
practise untouehability when he proclaims faith in Advaila 1 . It is
our lirst and foremost duty to remove untouehability. Those who
have not yet contributed to the purse collected here may please
do so now. Women have often volunteered to give me their jewel¬
lery; they may do so here too. Yon have presented me with two
boxes. They are very good, lint where have 1 the place for such
beautiful things? I would like to strike a bargain with you,
you pay me a good sum and buy them. Where do 1 keep them
during my travels, where can I keep them in the Ashram?

[From IlmchJ

Aaj\ 4-7-1929

47. BUTT OF REFORMERS

I received last week a letter dated the 29th ultimo from a
reform society of Ahmcdalxul It is as follows: 2

The matter of this letter must perhaps have become old by
now but the incident which has been narrated in it is likely to

1 Non-duality; the Veclamic doctrine of the identity of the individual stdf
with the universal Self

* The letter is not translated here. It stated that the Reform of Society
League which was started three months earlier had only nine members, They
cleaned the by-lanes and wrote to the Municipality for a urinal* The sanitary
committee visited the spot. The opponents attacked them with sticks as writ
as words of abuse. The situation would have taken an ugly turn had they not

DUTY OF REFORMERS

recur often. There is no doubt that the bad habits which are
ingrained in us will not go all at once. To get rid of them,
the same efforts are needed which we are making for winning
swaraj. Such efforts will produce and are producing the same
strength, which results from our efforts for swaraj, for both things
are the same. We labour under the illusion that we are unable
to do anything because we are powerless. The other illusion is
that nothing happeus because we are small in number. I have no
doubt that our strength will grow if we try to destroy evil,
immorality and rot wherever we sec them.

But there is a limit to such efforts. That is the limit set
by truth and non-violence; hence there will certainly be discre¬
tion and politeness. We shall do what we mean to, but shall put
up with our elders’ abuse, stick and knife. A court of law has no
place in the limits set by me. The law-courts of today are no law-
courts at all. The victory scored in them is no victory. A reformer’s
victory lies in melting the heart of his opponent. A law-court can¬
not at all achieve that, even a stick cannot. Our forbearance can
accomplish that with ease. I have no doubt that if the young people
bear everything in silence, the ciders will relent. But to put up
with things and to launch satyagraha is not the way of the coward,
but of the brave. This way is not for him who secs in it weak¬
ness and cowardice. Hence even if by having resort to the law-
courts the by-lanes of Ahmcdabad can be improved, the reformers
should certainly do so. Great daring is needed to improve those
by-lanes, those lavatories, those urinals. I shall not be surprised if
a number of youths have to sacrifice their lives for accomplishing
this task. Dr. Hariprasad 1 has once again taken the task in hand.
If the youths assist him a lot of reform can be brought about.
They can attend meetings, stage plays and take out processions.
All this is good work and is to be done in a disciplined manner.
But they count for little before certain services. The youths
themselves should clean the roads. They should clean gutters
and drains. We all should know how to work as Bhangis. And
what applies to the improvement of by-lanes applies also to many
other things. If the students really wish to form themselves into
an army for swaraj, they must go beyond the speech-making
stage to the action stage. Their reports should contain an account
not of how many speeches they delivered and how many plays they
staged but instead of or in addition to these of how many lava-

1 Dr. Hariprasad Vrajrai Dcsai, physician and Congress worker of
Ahmcdabad

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANMII

tories they cleaned, and how many wells in how many villages,
how many bunds they built, how many patients they attended on,
how much khadi they wove, how many wells or tanks they dug,
how many night-schools they conducted and so on.

[From Gujarati]

Navajivan, 16-6-1929

48. RAWv. COOKED FOOD »

Some look upon me as a fool, a crank or a faddist. I must admit
that wherever 1 go I am sought out by fools, cranks and faddists.
One can conclude from this that I must be having the charac¬
teristics of all these three types. Andhra has its fair share of all
three. Some mad men come as far as the Udyoga Mandir in
Sabarmati. So, when I go to Andhra, how could I escape; run¬
ning into them. But 1 do not wish, at the present moment, to
introduce all the three types to tin; readers. Among my fads is the
one concerning experiments in diet. I wish to present one such
faddist, because I have begun tin; experiment which I wish to
describe and which I am undertaking under his influence. I {is
name is Sundaram Gopalrao. He lives in Rajalunundry. lie runs
an institute of hydropathy and dietetics; !f have been told, and f
do believe, that many have benefited by his treatment.

This Gopalrao has been living on uncooked food for the last
one year. He believes that lire should not touch man’s food. The
sun is a sustaincr, lire is a destroyer. The sun matures food, tire
takes away its essence. When food conies in contact with lire, its
essence is burnt out. In accordance with this reasoning, Iu- gave
up cooked food and after gaining experience he made the experi¬
ments on his patients. He holds that the most delicate intestines
which digest cooked food will necessarily digest uncooked food
as well.

I have believed for many years that one should not eat cook¬
ed food. I had given up cooked food at the age of 2(1, but that
state could not last beyond 15 days. I tried it again iu the year
1893 in the Transvaal; and then too could not proceed beyond
15 days.

I have been tempted by what Gopalrao says and by his
experience and I have commenced at 60 an experiment which I
had abandoned out of fear in my youth. In point of results,

Vide also pp. 34-6.

RAW 0. COOKED FOOD

the experiment is very important and hence I shall tell the reader
what it is. I have lived on raw fruit and dry fruit conti¬
nuously for six years. But I have not lived for a long time on
uncooked cereals and pulses and I have believed that a man like
me could not digest it at all.

It is the opinion of contemporary Western medical men
that our diet should contain a certain element in the absence of
which a man cannot preserve his health. It is known as “vitamin’ 5 .
Vitamin means the vital essence. Chemists cannot detect it
by analysis. But health experts have been able to feel its
absence. Having studied the effects of many types of diet, they have
found out that this vital essence is a necessary thing. They
believe that if any vegetable is cooked this essence is destroyed.
They have divided this essence into classes. Of them, vitamin A
is to be found in leafy vegetables and germinated grains of cereals.
Hence they have been recommending for years now the consump¬
tion of foods containing vitamins and therefore many people take
raw vegetables, pulses, wheat, etc., which have sprouted after
being soaked in water.

But many experts hold and Gopalrao cites his own experience
in support of it that uncooked and cooked foods should not at all
be mixed. If one wants to benefit fully by uncooked food, one
must give up cooked food altogether.

I have faith in this argument. This view is becoming stronger
day by day. We sec support for this view even in the chapter on
diets in the book by the T.B. expert, Dr. Muthu.

Apart from health, there is for me a great attraction in this
diet. I regard the destruction of even vegetables as violence. Man
cannot help such destruction. But despite knowing that, one who
believes in the dharma of non-violence will indulge in a mini¬
mum of such destruction. Moreover, diet has an intimate connec¬
tion with physical celibacy. It has been the primary object of
all my dietetic experiments to find out which diet is most helpful
in the observance of physical brahmacharya.

It is also the purpose of all my dietetic experiments to find
out which diet can be taken in the least time and at least ex¬
pense and can fully safeguard health. I saw all this included
in Gopalrao’s experiment and so I too have plunged into it.

None should hastily copy my experiment. He who has no
experience of such experiments should never do so. My experi¬
ment has not yet proceeded beyond the initial stage. I cannot
even claim that it has succeeded. I do not have Gopalrao’s faith.
It is not even as simple as he believes it to be. I can say only this

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

much now about that experiment that T hav<
weight. I shall not say that I have lost my

strength. Smc<

last week mv weight has started increasing; I have regained oik

pound. There has been no obstacle in my incessant activities.
Hence I wish to prolong the experiment. 1 shall keep the rea¬
der posted with its results. If medical men ha,vine; some experience
of such diet will communicate their experience, to me, 1 shall be
grateful. Now 1 shall describe my diet: bight loins of germinating
wheat, eight tolas of almonds ground to a paste, eight tolas of green
leafy vegetable crushed, eight sour lemons, five tolas of honey.

When I do not take wheat, T take an equal quantile of ger¬
minated gram. From this week l have started tilling wheat ami
gram together. I sometimes take the grated kernel of the eoeoannt
in place of almonds, and, if there is scope, 1 take dried grapes or
some other fruit in addition to the five constituents.

If wheat or gram is soaked in water lor 1M hours and them
the water is strained and it is (hen kept in a piece of wet cloth
overnight, it sprouts. Salt is not considered necessary in
diet. I do not take, it at present. 1 keep varying the,
and mixture of wheat and gram. The above proportion is nub/ by
way of guidance. I have been taking wheat and gram together
for the last three clays. There should be no almonds when there is
gram because both contain muscle-forming elements. 1 began
with gram but the same purpose, is served when it is replaced
by moong 1 and other pulses. It is possible dial wheal can be re¬
placed even by jowar 2 and hajrti l This field is wide and into
resting and worthy of development, ft is more useful in diis
poor country. There is a lot: of truth In the maxim that our
actions arc influenced by our food. We have misused tin* above
dictum by exaggerating our food habits to the point of looking
upon them as our dharrna and further have been fussing about
pollution by mere touch, I have believed for forty years that,
leaving aside exaggeration, the question of dug is a serious one
meriting thought. I thank God be manse He; has given me the
good sense and the strength to try my last experiment today,
and by means of this article I «hare with the reader the pleasure
I derive from my experiment,

[From Gujarati]

Mavajivan 9 16-6-1929

1 A kind of green gram

2 & 3 Kinds of millet

anc

crv

c entitled is lms Humanity r 1 had ca
s being inundated with letters, there was
:ausc it was written with good intention
6. As that letter served as a warning to
When every week I open my Mavajimn pa
stanzas from Aklia 2 in it. The stanzas ai

x silent sword
:ly;

;es, she will not withdraw,
earned scholar from within,
roles she plays,
rm she chooses, where.

ice dawns in any

, like an innocent She will pray,

eserves discarding

xadc a victim, sines Akha,

what of that?

aya and know it, how then can it be may a? If a blind man
see, how can we call him a blind man? How can I know
l I shall be caught up in may a —I who am engrossed in many
hies and finding retirement in them? Hence by publishing
ibove stanzas and describing the context, I gain peace pray-
;o God to save me from maya* The thoughtful reader should
inly draw a lesson from this. None should act believing that
; I say is gospel truth because I am called a “mahatma”. We
iot know who a “mahatma” is. It is a good thing that we
id subject even a “mahatma’s” word to the test by means of
intellect and if it docs not stand the test we should discard it.

1 In eight instalments; vide Vols. XXXI and XXXII.

2 Akha Bhagat, a Gujarati poet

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

Famine in the South

Rajaji has once again made an appeal foe funds in this
cause. All his work is clear, precise and fruitful. Where the peo¬
ple’s hunger and thirst arc banished and a man to satisfy this need
is available, those who have wealth should make use of it. The
readers responded to his first appeal. I am sanguine that they
will satisfy his additional demand without delay.

[From Gujarati]

Navajivan, 16-6-1929

50. A STUDENT

Them [Vii)Vai,a|ya,
\Jtm j l\(>, l!K!\fi {

A student means one who hungers for knowledge. I'idya means
knowledge that is worth knowing. Alma is (he only thing worth
knowing and so vitfya is the knowledge of the Self. lint to anjuire
knowledge of the Self, one must study literature, history, geography,
arithmetic, etc. These are all means to an end. Knowledge of the
alphabet is necessary to get knowledge of these subjects. But we
know of persons having such knowledge without the knowledge
of the alphabet. Those who know this will not hanker after the
knowledge of literature, etc., but they will seek the knowledge,
of the Self,

The student should forsake all those tilings which are obsta¬
cles in the pursuit of tins knowledge and should cultivate what is
helpful 1 he student life of one who understands this never
comes to an end and he goes on gaining knowledge while eating,
drinking, sleeping, playing, digging, weaving, spinning or doing
any^ other activity. To be able to do this, one must; develop a
habit of observation. Such a one does not need a group of tea¬
chers daily; in other words, he regards the whole world as his
teacher and he goes on learning lessons from it,

Bapu

From a microfilm of the Gujarati: MMAl U

1 Gandhiji reached Prem Vidydaya on this date.

5L LETTER TO PRABHAVATI

June 16 $ 1929

CHI. PRABHAVATI*

I have your letter. I was somewhat worried after I sent you
back but was relieved when I duly received your letter. I hope
you had no difficulty in finding out your train and obtaining
a scat at Mughalsarai. Did you have to pay more than Rs. 10
for your fare? Keep up your daily lessons in the Gita , English
and Arithmetic, Write something in your diary every day. Recite
the sklokas in the presence of someone who knows Sanskrit. Free
yourself from all fear. Write to me about father’s health. We are
all fine. It is, of course, cold here.

Blessings from

Bapu

Chi. Prabhavatibehn

C/o Babu Brijkishore Prasad, P.O, Siwan, Dist. Chhapra, Bihar
From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 3351

52 . SPEECH AT PREM VIDYALATA , TADIKHET 1

June 16 , 1929

I heard the talc of your woes even before I came here, but the
remedy lies in your own hands. Its name is self-purification. We
are today weighed down by our own selfishness and parochialism
of outlook, we must cast it out. We know how to die for our
family but it is time that we learnt to go a step further. We
must widen the circle of our love till it embraces the whole village,
the village in its turn must take into its fold the district, the dis¬
trict the province, and so on till the scope of our love becomes
co-terminous with the world. Our Congress Committees are
today in a moribund condition. It should be up to you to rally
round the banner of the Congress in your numbers and once more
make it throb and pulsate with life. You must cultivate self-confi¬
dence and make God your shield. There is none mightier
than He. A man who throws himself on God ceases to fear man.

1 Extracted from Pyarel&Ps report under the title “The Almoda Tour
II”. Gandhiji presided over the anniversary celebration*

ax hi

it really wants to serve, me peoj
it is worth Its salt can he shirvec
ions are smothered, hy opulence,
isianl dependence on the puhl
l the lesson of true, humility ;
^ contrary, an institution that, is
>ublio for its support is liable to
ax in the performance of its < 1 *ii
t that a.n instil u < ion ran rninn
$ utility, l would therefore adv
with financial clistrems to curtail I
lin compass of its means rallu
>y borrowing funds, fn 4In: foniu
ed in size will still retain its pr
s bloated size will only bo a,

KlT/il llil t' I » / k >(/ It'A 1 if 1 % # *1"# w*

uun as a, messnip;

sienee of 'lb years

k, as I claim to
i mu' that a little,
e to be deplored
se by any public
. T, hold, that no
)i' want of funds,
tan are lulled by
for funds teaches
1 keeps it on the
together iudepen-
lertimb to inertia
, The amount of
id alSordi; a true
r\ cry Institution
vtetivitie;; so as to
than tii keep up
use the institution

iso mat you nave plunged
rind it so long as you ca
r. I have found that poun
ty as Ur, Muthu calls it.
food is as delicate as milk
cions. It seems never to
es cause disturbance when
nsist upon taking the whole
lined and chopped but not
c condition of doing justi<
iwing let your morsels be s
that morsel you are che
liquid before it passes dow
5 minutes per meal. Do
ly near you at the tin
:n you have aenuired the '

ut injur

;ality anc
ris germi
[ly, if no
if takci
you hav<
vegetable
tion is ai

LETTER TO BEHRAMJI KHAMBHATTA

June 17 ,

BHAISHEI BEHRAMJI,

I think the 7th of September is a Saturday; if it is, the day
suits me. See if you can relieve me the same evening.

Blessings to both of you from

Baiui

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 651)4

rr
\/ %v •

LETTER TO ASHRAM WOMEN

Nainitau,

Silntrr Day , / 7 , /&?£

SISTERS,

Your responsibilities are increasing fairly rapidly, 1 send
with this a letter from Kishorelal about “An Ideal Bal Mundir h
Read it and show it to the teachers, I should like those of you
who take interest in the work to get trained up for it. Do so
even if that means putting Narandas to a lot of trouble. It is pos¬
sible to get a more intelligent guide than lie, but we sha.ll get
everything wc want if we cling, as the phrase, goes, to the trunk

AVI A

Vl VV«

Do your best to make the kitchen a success.

From a photostat of the Gujarati; G.N. 3715

Blessings from
Baiui

56. LETTER TO CIIHAGANLAL JOSHI

June 17, 1929

CHI. CIIIIAOANI.AL JOSHI,

I got your letter. I like the decision not to write to anyone
for advice. It will be enough if you consult from time to time
those who are there. You should also come to decisions quickly.
Don’t be afraid of making mistakes. One cannot help making
some.

You say: “I am well ‘today’ ”. I infer from this that an earlier
letter is making its way to me. The letter in front of me is dated
the 13th.

You must have received my letter 1 regarding Vallabhbhai’s

f'OITl I *1 1 ti f"

Vi/ m'JLJo fli A v a jl jl w •

We are all happy and in fine spirits. My experiment continues.
Kishorelafs letter is meant for the women. You and the tea¬
chers also should read it.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 54*22

57. LETTER TO MAHADEV DESAI

June 17, 1929

YT Y ■■ * mmY a f*\ v’i v

JL JL JL n JM/YA X JL»J^ ^

I iust got your letter. By ‘just’ I mean at 8.25. I have five
minutes before I shall come out of my silence and therefore I write
this. It was good that both of you went there. You both needed
some rest badly. I have had no rest yet, nor did I expect to have
any. They are talking about a week’s [rest] after the 22nd and
according to the programme I should finish the Gita work during
this period. Let us sec what happens. Here too the collection will
be tidy. We do feel your absence. The experience we get here is
also not to be dismissed lightly. But we cannot have everything,
can we? There you have Vallabhbhai’s company which too is
just as precious.

1 Dated June 11; vide p. 34.

telegram mlormmg ns about jawauanai s wim s illness; so nr ini
tliis very day. Kripalani has coniii. Dcvchis joined us al Naini-
tal; lkijkisan too is with us. I have a crowd, sure enough.

The rains have given us no trouble yet. The weather is line.
Prahhudas’s health is all right.

With what you have sent, [the matter] ('or Yount’ India is
enough. I have not been able to send matter for sixteen columns.
A major part was supplied by Pyjtrdal, l wrote to till about throe,
columns only. We have sent plenty [of maltorj for Mavajinnn to¬
day. You know, don’t you, that 1 have now undertaken to write
every week something for the Hindi Navajimn too? Prom there you
can keep an eye on the Ashram. There is a lone; letter from
Surendra. He has come out of his swoon and now clearly sees the
taint in his reason and his egotism. Ile is candid and was bound
to see his error some day. He did not need Nath to decide.

It is very good that there you will get a chance to study
revenue. I wish you would send a titling reply.

Mr whip Jmn

HhW

From a photostat of the Gujarati: ft.N. 11452

SPEECH TO CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY ALMORA 1

Jwif IS, 1929

Gandhiji’s reply which opened with a reference to his numerous Ghnstdn
contacts in India as well as abroad and particularly his dose friendly relations
with the late Principal Rudra of St. Stephen’s College, Delhi* was a feeling
appeal to the Indian Christians completely to identify themselves with Indian
ideals and Indian nationalist aspirations, and not to regard India’s undent
culture and civilisation as a relic of barbarism to he looked down upon and
despised but to treasure it as a precious heritage that had to lie euridmd and

appreciate tlieir viewpoint ana to I;
making Hindus bolter Hindus, M
them bettor Indians.

Toung India, 27-6-1929

TFT FH

JL jWjXvu

SWAMX

Care Siiree
Bomijay

RE 1''USE TERMS DIIOLKA

BITED.

From a photostat: S.N. 15402

THE COLLECTED WORKS 01’ MMIATMA GANDHI

must be addressed to Almora. If I take rest, I can reach the
place on 6th July, otherwise oil June 30. I have not been able
to decide what to do. I am really keen on finishing the Gila. I led
inclined to stay at one place for six days and do that. I must
decide in a day or two.

I should indeed like it very much if you learn to work on
your own responsibility. I shall take no objection if you inform
me only about those things which you think it necessary to bring
to my notice.

If Krislmainaiyadevi 1 wishes to go to Darjeeling, certainly let
her do so.

Ille.uingx front
Bai’u

[PS.]

I am inclined to dispose of the land near Thana. find out
what Chhaganlal says about the matter. Write to llirji afterwards
and tell him to do what you think best about it.

1 rom Gujarati |

Bafmna Patro -7: Skri Chhaganlal Joshintt, p. 117

67. KI1ADI AND M) YCO 'lT

Our disbelief is an extraordinary phenomenon. We have
no faith in our ability to do anything. If it is total
prohibition it is regarded as impossible. I lindu-Muslim unity
is a day-dream. Removal of untouchability in the fare of Saualanist
opposition is unthinkable. Boycott of foreign cloth through mills
we did not achieve, through kluuli we cannot achieve. There thus
remains nothing that we can possibly do. Hence swaraj is an im¬
possible proposition and slavery our natural condition. This is a
most debasing state for anyone to he in.

Our disbelief is the greatest stumbling-block in our march
towards swaraj. Let us just examine the. proposition that boycott
cannot be achieved through khadi. It is said that kluuli produc¬
tion is not enough for our wants. Those who talk or write thus
do not know the A B C of khadi. Kluuli is capable of infinite
expansion because it can be as easily made as bread if we have
the will. I need not go into the economics of kluuli for the pur¬
poses of boycott. Supposing England and Japan ceased to send

1 Widow of a Congress worker from Nepal; Gandhiji gave her fttul her
children shelter in the Ashram.

KHADI AND BOYCOTT

us their cloth and our mills somehow or other could not work, we
would not think of the economics of khadi but we would simply
manufacture the required quantity in our own homes. The mer¬
chants who had lost their pieccgoods trade would all be occupied
in khadi production. It is only because we have created a vicious
atmosphere of impotence round ourselves that wc consider ourselves
to be helpless even for the simplest possible things. But for our
hopelessness, there is no reason why we should not feel that what
Bijolia has been able to do without the stress and incentive of boy¬
cott, we should certainly do under the great and patriotic incen¬
tive. It is being done today in Bardoli on such a scale that the
technical department is unable fully to cope with the demand
for wheels and accessories.

Undoubtedly the movement will fall flat if everybody becomes
a critic and bystander and nobody says, “It is my business.”
This movement depends for its success upon the willing and orga¬
nized co-operation of millions. This co-operation can be had for
the asking if the thinking class will put their hands to the wheel
with the fixed determination to succeed. Let them remember
that this is a movement which has a growing and vigilant organi¬
zation with a modest capital. It has only to be worked by the
nation to its fullest capacity and success is a certainty.

Let it be remembered that there is no other constructive
scheme before the nation for effective action on a universal scale.
I have repeatedly pointed out in these pages how production of
khadi can be indefinitely increased. I have described the three
methods, viz., spinning for hire, spinning for self and spinning for
sacrifice. 1 Once the spirit of true sacrifice seizes the nation, it is pos¬
sible to inundate the market with hand-spun yarn. And I have
shown that the secret of khadi production lies in increased produc¬
tion of yarn. There are over ninety-seven lakhs of pupils studying
in all the schools of India. It makes a miserable percentage of less
than 4 per cent of the total population, but the number is enough
for easy organization of sacrificial spinning. This figure takes no
account of several other institutions that can be also similarly
organized without much effort, if the determination is reached
that wc must achieve boycott through khadi.

Young India , 20-6-1929

1 Vide pp. 2-3; also Vol. XL, p. 431.
41-5

62. NOTES

Siietii Jamnalat.ji’s AcTtON

As a self-rcspccting man, Shetli Jamnalalji could not, have
acted otherwise than he had in reply to the request of the Deputy
Commissioner of Police, Bombay, to deliver the copy in his pos¬
session of Pandit Sunderlalji’s History of British Rule. He rightly
regards the action of the U.P. Government as “high-handed and
tyrannical” and house searches all over India as “highly insulting,
objectionable and vindictive”. Ho claims to have read the book
which in his opinion is “unobjectionable and a praisewordiy endea¬
vour to inculcate the lesson of non-violence”. The action of the
police in searching his house and odices in spite of his assurance
that the book was not in any of them adonis additional justification,
if such was wanted, for the language used by him. The object of
the search was clearly not to find the book but. to insult, Jamnalal-
ji. The proper answer to this insult is for everyone who has Pan¬
dit Sunderlal’s volume in his possession to inform the police in
his or her district and the Press of such possession and challenge
search or prosecution or both. If this course is adopted by the pub¬
lic and if there are many copies still untraced, the Government will
soon discover that it will make of itself a laughing-stock by continuing
the fruitless searches of numberless houses. Searches, imprison¬
ments and the like arc effective only so long as they frighten people.

“Gita” in National Simoons

A correspondent asks whether Gita may be compulsorily taught
in national schools to all hoys whether Hindus or non-Hindus.
When I was travelling in Mysore two years ago 1 had occasion
to express my sorrow that the Hindu boys of a high school did
not know the Gita. 1 I am thus partial to the teaching of the Gita not
only in national schools but in every educational institution. It
should be considered a shame for a Hindu boy or girl not to
know the Gita. But my insistence stops short at compulsion, espe¬
cially so for national schools. Whilst it is true that Gita is a book
of universal religion, it is a claim which cannot be forced upon
anyone. A Christian or a Mussalman or a Farsi may reject the
claim or may advance the same claim for the Bible, the Koran or
the Avesta as the case may be. I fear that Gita teaching cannot be

1 Vide Vol. XXXIV, p. 395.

NOTES

made compulsory even regarding all those who may choose to be
classed as Hindus. Many Sikhs and Jains regard themselves as
Hindus but may object to compulsory Gita teaching for their boys
and girls. The case will be different for sectional schools. I should
hold it quite appropriate for a Vaishnava school for instance to lay
down Gita as part of religious instruction. Every private school has
the right to prescribe its own course of instruction. But a national
school has to act within well-defined limits. There is no compul¬
sion where there is no interference with a right. No one can claim
the right to enter a private school, every member of a nation has
the right presumptively to enter a national school. Hence what
would be regarded in the one case as a condition of entrance
would in the other be regarded as compulsion. The Gita will
never be universal by compulsion from without. It will be so if
its admirers will not seek to force it down the throats of others and
if they will illustrate its teachings in their own lives.

A Contradiction

The reader will recall a paragraph 1 I gave to a letter from
an Andhra correspondent who had complained that the ladies at
the women’s meeting at Tanuku had a purificatory bath after the
meeting under the belief that the Antyaja girl Lakshmi was with
me at that meeting. Two correspondents have sent letters energe¬
tically protesting that the charge is wholly false. I gladly re¬
produce one of the letters ; 2

We were all surprised to read your note in Toung India for the 16th
instant entitled “Untouchability” about the ladies’ meeting at Tanuku.
The remarks are justified if what your correspondent wrote is true. But
I am sorry to say your correspondent has erred grievously. . . .

I was at the place of the meeting as the ladies of my family had
been to the meeting. I am a Brahmin and my ladies have not had a
purificatory bath. I know many ladies who attended and they assured me
they never contemplated such a thing. . . . Some might have bathed as
they had to cook the evening meals. But to suggest that they did this to
purify themselves from the touch of a so-called untouchable is a gross libel.

Both the correspondents have given their names. I have no
reason to disbelieve their statements and I am sorry for hurting
the feelings of the ladies who attended the meeting. I had the
name of the correspondent who had made the charge now contra¬
dicted. I have therefore written to him to inquire how he came

1 Vide Vol. XL, pp. 381-2.

2 Only excerpts are reproduced here.

THE COLLECTED WORKS OK MAHATMA OANDUI

to make the serious charge. It is a
ladies nowadays resent the imputation
pollution the presence ol' the so-called
attended by them.

matter ol joy to me that
that they would regard as
untouchables at meetings

Young India, 20-6-1929

63. A FEW QUESTIONS

A gentleman has asked me some questions. This letter begins
with praise of me. He has described me as completely free
from fear and ill will, a perfect (vagi' and a perfect satyagrahi.
Such adjectives are nearly always used in addresses, but as addres¬
ses arc given to exaggeration their use there may be considered
excusable. But. the. use of such adjectives in letters is unpardonable
and discourteous. It: is uncivilized to praise a man to his face, t
have noticed such praise specially in Hindi letters. That’s why I
have mentioned it here. In fact I am not completely free from fear
and ill will nor am 1 a perfect satyagrahi or a perfect lyagi. If you
take the word ‘satyagrahi’ in its literal sense, I could perhaps be
considered a perfect satyagrahi, because it is easy to insist on truth
after we have understood its value. One must also remember
that insisting on truth is not the same thing as following truth.
I am fully aware that 1 am not completely free from fear and
ill will or a perfect (vagi. Mere external (yaga cannot make one per¬
fect in these respects. Internal (yaga is a highly diflieult a (fair and
I cannot claim at all that my heart is free from fear, ill will and
the like. It is true that my constant endeavour is to master my
mind. But: the difference, between elfort and achievement is as
great as that between earth and sun. Therefore no one should
think that l can .uever be; wrong. I try to see things dispassionately
—with a mind cleansed of all impurity, and say only what I so
see. But one is free to reject it if it does not appeal to one’s rea¬
son. Blind faith has caused us great harm. 1 don't wish others to
have blind faith in me, I wish to avoid it. It is a harrier in my
way. I will now discuss the questions put by this gentleman. He
and other readers can give them intelligent consideration.

A FEW QUESTIONS

It is difficult, if not impossible, to acquire spiritual strength
if we totally ignore listening or recitation. Hearing pious things
serves as the spark to light the fire of awakening during the
time when the soul is asleep. However, with the attainment of the
inner seeing—the intuition—the need to hear good things vanishes.
Prahlad had this capacity of inner hearing in an abundant measure.
For the common man the outer hearing is the first step.

The second question is this:

Is there no way of dealing with the problem, of widows in India except
remarriage which lowers the banner of chastity—a way which will safeguard
their virtue and at the same time enable them to participate in work for the
country? In India there are more girls than boys and more widows than
widowers. How then can this problem be solved by remarriage ?

To say that widow remarriage leads to loss of chastity is wrong.
To forcibly prevent a widow from remarrying, when she wishes
to do so, would be harming chastity and dharma as well. Only
by marrying a child-widow can we safeguard dharma and chastity.
We can safeguard brahmacharya only by respecting the widows, by
providing them means of education, and by granting them full
freedom to remarry. Mental and physical prostitution is wide¬
spread today and the reason for this is the coercion used against
widows. It cannot be proved that there are more girls than boys
or more widows than widowers. It is true of a few castes. It is
however to be desired that the too many castes now existing
should disappear. There can be no more castes than the four var-
nas* The Hindu Shastras do not authorize the existence of the in¬
numerable castes found today. It may be that the multiplication
of castes served some useful purpose. But today castes serve no
purpose and meet no need.

[From Hindi]

Hindi Navajivan, 20-6-1929

64. SPEECH AT ALMORA

June P(K mil)

I have noted wliat you wauled to tell me in your addresses.
But at the moment my heart is with Paclani Singh the man
who was crushed under the car when he came to see me. The
doctor had hoped that he would survive and l had shared this
hope. But his life-thread luis snapped, 1 have done*, a great deal
of travelling and I have been doing it for the past many, many
years. I have taken part in many gatherings and in order to do
this I have travelled a lot by car but in my old age this is the
first time such an unhappy incident has taken place, 1 will never
be able to get over it, I believe that 1 have no (ear oi death. All
of us have to die one day. Paxlam Singh has become immortal
by meeting Ins death in this manner. My unhappiness stems from
the fact that 1 became the cause of his death. 1 have always felt
that riding in cars makes men proud. The eUaulfeurs who drive
are vain and hot-tempered. One should beware of drivers with
a hot temper. But under the illusion that I will be able to
serve better I continue to use cars, 1 have reaped the fruit
today. And yet I cannot promise to give up the use of.ears, as l
cannot give up the fond desire to serve the country, 1 must there¬
fore content myself with expressing my sorrow at this meeting.
The chaulfeurs should remember that they must not be easily
excited. I could see that the driver of this ear had a hot temper,
Paclam Singh forgave him and gave a generous statement before the
magistrate. But I do not consider myself or the driver free from
blame. The unforgivable fact is that I should have got down in
that crowd and it was the duty of the driver not to drive fast. But
that’s what he did. How can I forget litis sad fact? Padam Singh
was brave. Yesterday lie was able to talk without etlbrt. But to die
thus was his fate and it was my misfortune to witness his death, and
now he is gone. I would like you to learn a lesson from this inci¬
dent. Caught in the jaws of Death we are like puppets in the hands
of Fate, more delicate than a piece of yarn. In a short; while we
all have to depart from this world. Then why stray from the path
of duty? Why waste time in anger and in pleasure-seeking?

In your address you say that you want freedom and swaraj
for India, You have also mentioned that swaraj can only be
attamcd|through peaceful means. You must therefore remember

SPEECH AT ALMORA

that your work should be faultless. It is easy to make it so. The
District Board address mentions that young pupils do spinning.
I would like to congratulate you on this. You have said that you
spend as much as 60 per cent of your income on education and
that you consider even this insufficient. Since you are working
hard in the field of education I would like to speak to you of
my experience.

Even if we have crorcs of rupees it is impossible to impart
education in India in this way. Education should pay for itself.
That is, we should not have to spend any money on it. If we
are successful in doing this we will be able to achieve two things.
Firstly, we shall save money and secondly, we shall impart true
education. The education given to our boys and girls today
makes them unmindful of their morals, unhealthy and restless,
whereas by making education self-sustaining wc will be making
them mentally poised and morally excellent. I would request the
District Board to try this out in two or three schools. There is no
doubt in my mind that you will be successful.

I am grateful for the purse. As to the few presents given
to me, you know now that I do not require such presents and
I cannot accept them for my personal use. If I do so I shall
stray from the right path and it will also detract from my fit¬
ness as a leader. I will make an exception of the fan and the asana 1
presented by the District Board. There is a small museum in the
Ashram where the latter will be kept as a memento of the love
and industry of the boys. I will lovingly use the shawl in winter
and remember the boys who have made it even though I don’t
know their names. I would request those who have not given
their contributions to do so now. You should know what the
money will be used for. It will be used for financing the spin¬
ning and weaving work among the poor—among such poor folks
who are even poorer than the poorest among you. There are
about a crorc of such people in the country whose one and only
meal in the day consists of dry roll and salt. I call them Daridra-
narayana , It is only for them you have given your contribution.

I know that the coolie or begar system came to an end in
1921 and I hope you will stop being afraid of anyone whosoever
he may be—a high officer or an Englishman. If we follow our
own path why should we be afraid ? Fear is a barrier in the way
of swaraj. There is no more time. But I will ask for some time
to bargain with you. I was asked not to auction these things.

1 Something tQ sit on

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA HANOI II

But I hope there arc people here who can afford to pay and buy
them. There arc two more points L ought not to omit. I he
Nayaka community here commits adhanna in the name of dharma.
They get their women to lead an evil life. 1 would request them
respectfully to refrain from this adharma. It can only cause,
harm to them and the country. Their girls ought to get married
and be educated. No woman in this world was born to lead the
life of vice. Each woman ought to become as pure as Sita. Like¬
wise untouehability is a stain on us. It is our duty as Hindus
to wipe it off. I am thankful that Hindus, Muslims, Christians and
other communities here live in amity.

[From Hindi]

An?, 4-7-11)29

65. TELEGRAM TO MOTILAL NEHRV

YOUR WIRE.
ENABLE MK
KAMALA?

5tH

Till" "V

jj V 1* MW id

LKAVL

On or after June HO, I9H9 ]

DKLTU WILL SUIT SO AS
NSOIIT TRAIN. now LS

Gandhi

From a photostat: S.N. 15403

66. LETTER TO MAI IA DEV I) ESA I

\Jum HR 1929

CHI. MAHADKV,

I am nestling in the lap of the Himalayas; and tins king of
seers clad in white is lost in delight while taking a sun-bath*
His trance is enviable. It stings rue that yon are not here to
share my envy. lint your place is there. "Tims the pain of the
sting is blunted.

Today I begin the end of my work on the Gita winch is still
to be completed.

1 In reply to the addressee’s telegram of June H) from Allahabad receiv¬
ed at Almora on June 20, wherein Gandluji had been asked to wire date and
place suitable for Working Committee meeting to consider Council work

2 Gandhiji resumed his work on the Glut on Jun« 21, 1621) immediately
after arriving at Kausani; vide also pp. 61-2.

TELEGRAM TO PRESIDENT, CONGRESS COMMITTEE, KARIMGANJ 73

It is all right that you have become the President. You
must associate yourself with work of this kind.

Tell Vallabhbhai that he must not budge from there before
he is hale and hearty. Do not insist on showing me everything
that you write for Young India. It does not matter if you commit
mistakes.

I don’t like Sundcrlal’s throwing off the burden. I must have
a look at his book, whether Gujarati or English, which you write
about.

If I write any more that would amount to an affront to the
Gita and Kaka.

I can stand the luxury of this place only if I give a major
part of my time to the Gita *

We will be leaving here on Tuesday the 2nd,

Blessings from

Bapu

PS.

On the 5th the Working Committee is [meeting] at Delhi
and on the 6th night [I shall be] at the Ashram.

From a photostat of the Gujarati: S.N. 114-53

67. TELEGRAM TO PRESIDENT , CONGRESS COMMITTEE,

KARIMGANJ 1

T)n or after June 22 „ 1929]

WIRE INCOMPLETE. WHO ARE YOU?

FLOOD. HAVE NO FUNDS TO SEND.

AUTHENTIC PARTICULARS CAN SEND
INVESTIGATE, THEN IF NECESSARY CAN

GIVE DATE
IF I GET
REPRESENTATIVE
MAKE APPEAL.

Gandhi

From a photostat: S.N. 15404

1 In reply to the addressee’s telegram dated June 20 received atNainital on
June 22, which read: ‘ Devastating flood throughout Karimganj Assam rendered
thousands homeless. People sheltered railway embankment hills. Five hundred
square miles affected., All communication dislocated. Deaths reported various
quarters. Cattle washed away, Shortage flood staff threatens death starvation.
Congress Committee commenced relief. Appeal funds one lakh. Pray remit
ten thousand immediately.”

68. TELEGRAM TO G. J). BIRLA

[On or alien- June 22, 1929\ l

Ghanshyamdas Birla
Royal Exchange
Calcutta

can YOU
DONE BY

SEND REPRESENTATIVE
FLOODS KARIMGANJ

INVESTIGATE

ASSAM:'

From a photostat: S.N”. 15401-

I) AM AGE

Gandhi

69. THE CONGRESS AND KHADI

Slxri Chinoy writes: 1

We arc reaping as we have sown. As we have been imlilfo-
rent in doing khadi propaganda, we are facing a difficult, situa¬
tion today. I shall never advise enrolment of members by keeping
the people in the dark. On the contrary, 1 would not even say
bluntly to those people: ‘You become members, but you will not
get voting rights until you wear khadi.’ I would put in their
hands a pamphlet for the purpose of explaining the position. 1
would include in. it the Congress provisions concerning khadi and
set out the benefits and explain their duty of becoming members.
Our aim is not to frighten the people away hut to attract them to
the Congress. The problem relating to students and lawyers is a
difficult one. They do understand everything. If they do not like
khadi, how can they lie convinced? Or [ would say to them:
‘If you believe in the Congress as a great force and not in khadi,
join the Congress, wear khadi if only to observe the rules and try
to get the khadi clause abrogated. Congress work is carried on

1 Vidt the preceding item.

1 The letter is not translated here. The correspondent, who was the
Secretary of the Surat City Congress Committee, had stated that they had
decided to enrol 1,750 members. There were at the time only 70 khadi-woaring
members on the register. The rule that no member who did not wear khadi

could vote or fill executive positions in the Committee stood in the way of
enrolment. The president of Lite local Youth League, too, had declined to enrol
himself for this reason. The correspondent could not enrol members keeping
them in the dark about this condition. So what was he to do?

THE CONGRESS AND KHADI

by majority opinion; hence, submit to the khadi clause until it is
abolished and be proud to be its members.’ I would say that
those who do not understand even this much are not fit to re¬
main in the Congress or any other organization because they do
not appreciate the first condition of remaining in any organiza-
tion—submitting to rules. They behave as if they were obliging
the organization they join. Such patrons cannot serve the
Congress and no help will be forthcoming from them in
winning swaraj. Whichever organization they happen to be in,
they will be a burden to it. It is the workers’ duty to appeal to
lawyers aud students, but if they cannot be brought round ulti¬
mately, we should do without them. I would only appeal to that
category not to insist; on the condition described by Shri Chinoy.

Our real task is to reach the classes we have neglected so far.
They a,re the merchants, craftsmen, farmers and labourers. I
believe that these classes will not advance the argument which the
president of the Youth League is believed to have offered. A
bulletin meant for them would contain a short history of the
Congress from its inception up to date, an account of its main acti¬
vities and the benefits of joining the organization, -Whether they
become members or not, such a movement itself constitutes the
political education of the people. It is my firm belief that where
the Congress volunteers have been working and they are known,
there should be no difficulty in enrolling the said classes as Con-

fVfACJC! HI AtYTl hAfC!
fcA l A** iuil? AAA \v* A A A ^ .r Aw# 1 A 0 •

Now there remains the last question: What if, after every¬
thing is done, people do not enrol themselves because of the khadi
clause? In that ease, this matter should be communicated to the
Congress and we should get the khadi clause rescinded. Or if
they themselves value khadi as much as swaraj, they should have
patience till the people begin to believe in khadi. Do we not have
in India people who say that they do not want swaraj? Again,

if ewami is intcrnrM'Pfl fn mran inrlenpnflf'nm TYinre rjpnTilf* will

A A kj V t *C*A A A ^3 I A A A A*^ A l- A A A# A A«# AA A AA AAA Ar** CA A A A A A AA A»* In 9 As# A A AA A^ A A A*/ A^ ^ AAA A A*^ A«r AmA A A^ 1 V * AAA An^ A

alarmed. Even if this happens, those to whom swaraj is their
life-breath will not relax the condition relating to swaraj.

I am personally neutral on the khadi clause. Khadi is the
very breath of life to me. Hence I wish to see khadi wherever
I am. But I do not wish to insist on retaining the khadi clause
in the Congress constitution. If my other colleagues do not have
as much faith in khadi as I have and if, in their opinion, that
clause hampers the work of the Congress, then the khadi clause
had better be repealed. Khadi propaganda will be continued even
despite that. And my belief will remain unshaken forever that

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA OANMIt

swaraj will conic near us by as many yards as the number of
yards of khadi by which we step up its production. To my mind,
swaraj without khadi is as unthinkable as a barren woman having
a son, because it would be no swaraj at all for the millions.

[From Gujarati]

JVavajivan, 23-64929

70. MAURTA EMPIRE AML) UMtQl/GHAimJTY

A reader sends the following extract 1 wliich is worth know¬
ing. r

The reader has culled the extract from Mnurya Samrajya ktt
Itihas . It shows that the revolt against untouchability is not a novel
phenomenon of recent date. Our ancestors too have fought against
it That poisonous tree deserves to be destroyed root anil branch,

[From Gujarati]

Mavajwm , 23-64929

71. A SUGGESTION* (IDMCEltmMG “MAVAJIVAN"'

A lover of Namjiuan writes: 2

1 do not want to oppose this suggestion, I had laid down
the scope of Mavqfivnn when it became a weekly and came into
my charge. And that was because of my inability. Purveying news
is also an art. I had cultivated it specially fin 4 Indian Opinion, l
used to give maximum news in minimum space and 1! had (.mined
my associates to do so. Tins was necessary there, The task of
Mavajivan here was of a different sort. There: is no dearth of
newspapers here, hence we had no desire to issue Mnmjwan as a
newspaper. Through it, satyagraha, altimsa, etc., went to bo

* This is not translated here. According lu It, ChAmhagupta Maurya
had 18 ministers of whom the first was a Brahmin, Among dm enumeration
of this minister’s powers, there is this injunction of Ghauakya’s: 111 If any Brahmin
minister, so ordered, declines to teach the Vedas to an untouchable or refuses
to perform a sacrifice for him, he should be dismissed from his post, 1 *

2 The letter is not translated here. The correspondent had suggested
that just as Indian Opinion carried a column or two of news, no should
Mavajivan , and be a complete journal, as the number of people in this country
who could afford to buy two papers were very few. lie wauled foreign ns
well^ as Indian news to be given. He had requested Gandhiji to elicit the
opinion of other readers on the subject.

TELECRAM TO MOTILAL NEHRU

propagated. It has succeeded fairly well in doing so. In trying
to convert Navajivan into a newspaper also, there was the risk of
having both aims defeated. That risk is present even today.
Moreover, I am now older by over ten years; hence I cannot
do that by myself. If I decide to give news, I shall have to in¬
crease the cost of producing Navajivan, its size too will perhaps have
to be increased and fresh competent men will have to be em¬
ployed whose only job will be to process news. A man of ordinary
ability cannot make an abstract of news. Therefore, providing
news is not such an easy thing as the lover of Navajivan believes.

Although I believe that the task of providing news is a
difficult one, I do not wish to reject this suggestion outright.
Hence, I ask for the readers 1 opinion in brief on the following
questions:

1. Do you approve of the suggestion made by the lover of
Navajivan ?

2. If you do, do you believe in the necessity of increasing
its size or will you be satisfied with its present size?

3. Do you not get the desired news by reading other news¬
papers in addition to Navajivan ?

It will do even if the reader sends me his replies to these three
questions on a postcard. He should superscribe at top left corner
on the postcard or envelope the words “about Navajivan”, so that
the communication will surely reach me. I hope no readers
make the mistake of believing that I read every letter addressed
to me by name. Only those letters are passed on to me which
my colleagues believe that I ought to read.

[From Gujarati]

Navajivan, 23-6-1929

72. TELEGRAM TO MOTILAL NEHRU 1

[On or after June 23, 1929 ]

Nehru

Allahabad

YOUR WIRE. I CERTAINLY MEANT 2 FIFTH NOT

■FIFTEENTH.

A Jw A A M Am sfc ^ A A A •

Gandhi

From a photostat: S.N. 15405

1 In reply to the addressee’s telegram received on June 23

2 Vide p. 72.

LETTER TO MI RAIMI LM

June 24, 1929

GIIL MIRA 1 ,

It is well you do not want mo to speak to you tomorrow on
the incident. But I did want, after witnessing the exhibition, to
reduce to writing my thoughts, i do that now.

Hie exhibition is proof of the correctness of my statement.
None else would have felt; like committing suicide over a simple
innocent remark of mine. You want to bo with me in my tours
occasionally, it is true; you want to come to the Ashram leaving
your work at least every four months. You recognize these desires
as limitations. I make allowance for them. But why (eel disturbed
when t tell you what I feel to bo the truth that they are not
themselves the, disease, but they are symptoms of a deep-seated
disease which lias not been touched. If you were not what I have
described you to he, you would rejoice over my drawing attention
to the disease and courageously strive to overcome it. Instead,
you simply collapsed, much to my grief and anxiety.

This disease is idolatry. If it is not, why hanker after my
company! Why touch or kiss the feet that must one, clay he dead
cold? There is nothing iu the body. The truth l represent is
before you. Experience and effort will unravel it before you, never
my association in the maimer you wish. When it comes m the
course of business you will, like others, gain from it and more
because of your devotion. Why so helplessly rely on me? Why
do everything to please mid? Why not independently of me and
even in spite of me? I have put no restrictions on your liberty,
save those you have welcomed. Break the idol to pieces if you
can and will. If you cannot, I am prepared to sutler with you.
But you must give me the liberty to issue warnings.

My diagnosis may be wrong. If so, it is well. Strive with
me cheerfully instead of being nerve-broken. Everyone but you
takes my blows without being unstrung.

If your effort has hitherto failed, what does it matter? You
have hitherto dealt mechanically with symptoms. There you have
had considerable success. But if I say you have not been able
to touch-the root, why "weep over it? I do not mind your

1 The superscription in this and other letters to Mirabehn is iu Dcvanagari.

letter to chhaga&lal joshi 79

failures. They are but stepping-stones to success. You must rise
from this torpor never to fall into it again.

I have done. May God be with you.

Love.

Bapu

From the original: G.W. 5378. Courtesy: Mirabehn; also G.N. 9434

74. LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI

Silence Day [June 24, 1929Y

CHI. CHHAGANLAL (jOSHl),

I got your letters.

In front of me are Himalayan peaks wrapped in snow and
shining brilliantly in sunlight. Below are hills clad with greenery,
as though, feeling shy, they had covered their bodies with
it. The solitude of the place is beyond description. We are to stay
here for seven or eight days. I can permit myself such luxury
only if there is some pretext for it. This was provided by Kaka
and the arrangement was also suggested by him. He had
entrusted the task to Devdas and Prabhudas, and I accepted this
luxury after deciding to give practically all my time to the Gita .

I wish, therefore, to write the fewest possible letters this week
and also do the minimum work for Young India. Accordingly, I
have decided to suspend routine correspondence.

What remains of what you want I shall give you immediately
I arrive there. Keep yourself ready. Note down all the things
about which you wish to consult me. Think and decide who will
do in your absence the work that you are doing. It would be
good if Ramniklal agrees to do it. Also think and decide where
you wish to go for rest.

Many boys do what Katto and others do. Giriraj is of course
responsible for his faults. His letter throws a new light on the
matter.

If possible, we should dispose of the Thana land. The other
conditions of Dholka, we can accept but not the prohibition of
tanning 2 We may have connection with a dairy which does no
tanning, but owning a goshala [is a different matter]. c DhunV for
‘faddist 5 is quite correct.

1 This appears to have been written on the first silence day after
Gandhiji’s arrival at Kausani.

2 Vide also “Telegram to Swami”, p. 63.

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

Vaydo —“Stupidly obstinate”

Chakram —“Madcap”

Arc there two d’s in the English word?

I have read Kakasaheb’s draft and am returning it
expressed my view as a member. You may include t
which all of you approve.

You should send to Subbiah his usual pay. We h:
him to Rajaji as interest-free loan.

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. fm(>

7 r > T V'TTF'R TO PR A TUTAV A'I'T

* % *IJ JL >M> v iJL vi > w (A Vi A A A A A * Ai » ^ w A A

lauat

hwu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. "i'i 50

76. TELEGRAM TO DR. M. A. ANSARP

[On or after June 24, 1929~\

Dr. Ansari
Daryagunj
Delhi

PRAY TI-IANK HIS HIGHNESS FOR INVITATION. DO
NOT CONSIDER POSSIBLE VISIT BHOPAL BEFORE SEP¬
TEMBER. MUST REACH ASHRAM 6TH JULY.

Gandhi

From a photostat: S.N. 15406

77. LETTER TO PRABHAVAT1

June 25, 1929

CI-II. PRABIIAVATI,

I got your letter yesterday after I had posted one 2 to you.
You must get rid of your cough. The valds usually have some
ordinary medicine for it, as also the doctors. You can take it from
either. Have your throat examined by a doctor. Has Jayaprakash
left America? If his arrival is postponed or if he has come and
agrees, you can come to the Ashram and finish your [study of
the] Gila and English. In the meanwhile you should analyse every
single word from the Hindi translation and know its meaning.
In this way you will surely avoid some of your errors of pro-
nunciation.

Blessings from

Bapu

[PS.]

We shall leave here on the 2nd and reach the Ashram on
the 6th.

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 3349

1 In reply to his telegram dated June 23
on June 24

2 Vide p. 80.

from Lahore received at Almora

41-6

78. TELEGRAM TO KLOET’ZU 1

REACHING ASHRAM SIXTH.
WHERE TILL THEN.

[On or after June 2d, 1929\

DIFFICULT MEET ANY-

(lANOm

From a microfilm: S.'N. 15408

79. A QUAINT ADDRESS

Among the Andhra notes still lying unattended to 1 (inti the
following extracts from a quaint, hut instructive address presented
by the working hands of S. L. N. Factory, Nallagaka:

It was in tlu; year 191() we could see for the first time our cotton
being ginned by foreign mechanism driven by steam power, '1411 then
ginning cotton in these parts was done by hand-gins when we had work
enough for three months of summer to teed ourselves and our children.
Our factory can now gin the produce 4 of 20 villages and only a limited
number of us are allowed to work.

About the year 1920 when you were beginning to revive hand-spin¬
ning in storm-beaten and almost worn-out Northern India, there were
few among agricultural and labour classes in these parts who could buy
cloth for daily use. Eight years have rolled by. Mill-yarn lias appeared
in the market. Its cheapness and evenness have attracted us. Self-
spinning has lost its importance, We have almost come to the stage of
buying cloth, woven mainly out of mill-yarn by local weavers majority
of whom come from the suppressed. We still consider milbmade cloth
and foreign cloth to be a matter of luxury only hi to be used by Brahmin
and Vaishya communities, the foremost to adopt foreign cloth for daily
use. We have still belief in the quality of khatii cloth And always prefer
that if available at a reasonable price.

We generally use In these parts eight-spoke eharkha with an iron
axis, all complete, costing Rs. 6, hand-gin costs Rs, 1-84), the cost of
20 tolas of seedless cotton as, 4, spindle costs Re, 04J-G, carding charge
for 52 tolas of cotton as. 6 to 8, spinning 20 tolas costs as, 2, arranging

1 In reply to his telegram dated June 24 from Ahmedabad received at

which read: “Please wire Ashram where when can I

Almora on Jum
meet you this week.”

A QUAINT ADDRESS

yam to make cloth of 30' X27" is as. 3, weaving charge of cloth 30' X27"
Re. 1, male dhoti measures 10^' X30" weighing nearly 30 tolas; and female
sari measures 30'X30" weighing nearly 140 tolas. Carding is done by a
professional carder, carding and weaving charges are often paid in c ho lam
grain, the chief food crop of the district. The labourer gets his cotton as
wages when picking up cotton from fields. Fortunately your visit to these
parts has happened in a spinning season. You can see some of the vil¬
lagers, quite illiterate of the present-day civilization, still plying their
charkhas.

Though our number is small (only 50) we represent the important
religions of the district, besides almost all communities and their sub-sec¬
tions among Hindus. We observe untouchability as regards food and
drinking water. One community of Hindus do not even drink water from
the hands of another. Among the suppressed there are more than four
sub-sections. One sub-section of them does not allow another to touch
even drinking well. These suppressed classes are made to live outside the
villages and their chief occupation is scavenging, spinning, weaving and
shoemaking.

Muharram festival in these parts (we speak only of the villages) is
mainly conducted by Hindu funds and help. Mohammedans help Hindus
in celebrating Hindu festivals. In processions some of them actually carry
on their shoulders Hindu idols. Hindus worship Muslim saints and are
called by Mohammedan names, and Mohammedans worship Hindu gods
and are called by Hindu names. Though this is all through our illiteracy
we seem to follow the Sanskrit saying:

arwRTCTfatf «r«n i

wbwresTO n 1

Buffalo is the chief milk-producer and cow is scarcely reared for
milking. Oxen used for agriculture are imported from Northern Gircars.
We have not got sufficient pasture land, and it is one of the chief reasons
why the agriculturist does not welcome the cow.

Drink evil, on a large scale, exists among labourers and agricul¬
turists. God bless us, none of us are habitual drunkards. Malaria, typhoid,
cholera hold their sway for nearly three months in the year.

Strikes, A.I.S.A., Congress, swaraj, Hindu-Muslim question, these
are all words or phrases; we the villagers in general do not understand.
None try to explain them for us, nor are we literate enough to know them.

We have all today assembled here to request you to accept our few
coppers which may be of use in your public work and some samples of cot¬
ton and its products for your information about the qualities available here.

1 “Just as water falling from the skies reaches the sea, so also the worship
to all the gods reaches Keshava.”

We further demand your prayer to Almighty for our sound health, so that
we may daily labour to cam our bread honestly.

I have tried to make the language more readable than it is
in the original. Its merit lies in its directness, its sense of humour
and its perception of the true situation in spite of adverse circum¬
stances. It is wonderful how even those; whose; interests are op¬
posed to the message of the spinning-wheel do not fail to perceive
its truth. It shows how the so-called higher classes art; responsible
for the ruin of the supplementary occupation of millions and there¬
fore for their semi-starvation. The remarks about, untouehability
and Hindu-Muslim relations arc no less instructive.

Young Lidia, 27-6-1929

80. SEXUAL PERVERSION

Some years ago the Bihar Government in its educalion depart¬
ment had an inquiry into the question of unnatural vice in its
schools, and the Committee of Inquiry had found (he existence of
die vice even among teachers who were abusing their position
among their boys in order to satisfy their unnatural lust* The
Director of Education had issued a circular prescribing depart¬
mental action on such vice being found to exist in connection
with any teacher. It would be interesting to know tin* results, if any,
issuing from the circular.

1 have had literature too sent to me from other provinces
inviting my attention to such vice and showing that it was on the
increase practically all over India in public as well as private
schools. Personal letters received from boys have eonlirmed the
information.

Unnatural though the vice is, it has come down to uh from
times immemorial. The remedy for all secret vice is most dillieult
to find* And it becomes still more difficult when it atfeets guat-

wherewith shall it be salted ?

SEXUAL PERVERSION

but actually results in promoting it. Boys who were clean before
they went to public schools have been found to v have become
unclean, effeminate and imbecile at the end of their school
course. The Bihar Committee has recommended the “instilling
into the minds of boys a reverence for religion 55 . But who is to
bell the cat? The teachers alone can teach reverence for reli¬
gion. But they themselves have none. It is therefore a ques¬
tion of a proper selection of teachers. But a proper selection of
teachers means cither a much higher pay than is now given or
reversion to teaching not as a career but as a lifelong dedication
to a sacred duty. This is in vogue even today among Roman
Catholics. The first is obviously impossible in a poor country like
ours. The second seems to me to be the only course left open.
But that course is not open to us under a system of govern¬
ment in which everything has a price and which is the costliest
in the world.

The difficulty of coping with the evil is aggravated because the
parents generally take no interest in the morals of their children.
Their duty is done when they send them to school. The outlook
before us is thus gloomy. But there is hope in the fact that there
is only one remedy for all evil, viz., general purification. Instead of
being overwhelmed by the magnitude of the evil, each one of
us must do the best one can by the scrupulous attention to one’s
own immediate surroundings taking self as the first and the im¬
mediate point of attack. We need not hug the comfort to our¬
selves that we arc not like other men. Unnatural vice is not an
isolated phenomenon. It is but a violent symptom of the same
disease. If we have impurity within us, if we are sexually deprav¬
ed, we must right ourselves before expecting to reform our neigh¬
bours. There is too much sitting in judgment upon others and
too much indulgence towards self. The result is a vicious circle.
Those who realize the truth of it must get out of it and they
will find that progress though never easy becomes sensibly pos¬
sible.

Toung Indian 27-6-1929

8L A TRAGEDY

Throughout a life of continuous hustle lived among crowds
for nearly thirty years I cannot recall a serious accident though I
can many narrow escapes. But in Almora on the day of my
entry, i.c., 18th instant, and after a crowded meeting, as l was
returning to my host’s house, a villager named Paclam Singh who
came rushing as villagers do to the car for darshnn met with what
proved to bo a fatal accident. He could not dodge the ear in
time, fell and the car ran over him. lie was quickly carried by
kind bystanders to the hospital where he received the utmost atten¬
tion and hope was entertained that ho would survive, lit': was
strongly built and brave. He lived for two days, his pulse was
good, he was taking nourishment. But the heart suddenly stopped
on 20th instant at 8.15. Padam Singh died leaving an orphan boy
12 years old.

Death or lesser accidents generally do not give mo more
than a momentary shock, but: even at the time of writing this I
have not recovered from the shock, f suppose it is because 1 feel
guilty of being party to Padara Singh’s death. I have, found chauf¬
feurs to be almost without exception hot-tempered, easily excitable
and impatient, as inflammable as the petrol with which they have
to come in daily contact. The chauffeur of my ear had more than
a fair share of all these shortcomings. For the e,rowel through
which the car was struggling to pass lie was driving rashly. I
should have either insisted on walking or the ear proceeding only
at a walking pace till we had beam chair of the crowd But cons¬
tant motor-riding had evidently coarsened me, and freedom from
serious accidents produced an unconscious hut unforgivable in¬
difference to the safety of pedestrians. This sense of the wrong is
probably responsible for the shock. It is well with Paclam Singh.
Pandit Govind Vallabh Pant has assured mo that, tilt; sou will Ik:
well looked after. Fadam Singh received attention at the hospital
which moneyed men might have envied. He was himself resigned
and at peace. But his death is a lesson to me as, 1 hope, it would
be to motorists. Although I may be twitted about my inconsistency,
I must repeat my belief that motoring in spite of all its advantages
is an unnatural form of locomotion. It therefore behoves those who
use it to restrain their drivers and to realize that speed is not
the summum bonum of life and may even be no gain in the long
run, I have never been clear in my mind that my mad rush

RASHTRIYA SANGHA AND SELF-SUPPORT 87

through India has been all to the good. Anyway Padam Singh’s
death has set me thinking furiously.

Young India, 27-6-1929

82. RASHTRIYA, SANGHA AND SELF-SUPPORT

The boycott movement has its constructive as well as its
destructive side. Destruction will be ineffective if it does not go
hand in hand with construction. Just as a field denuded of
weeds will send them up again if no crop is sown, so also will
destruction of foreign cloth surely be followed by new consign¬
ments if there, is no khadi available. Indeed destruction or giving
up of foreign cloth is necessary because we must manufacture and
find use for life-giving khadi. The Rashtriya Sangha of Bengal
has taken up the constructive work. Satisbabu of Khadi Pratishthan
who is the founder of the Sangha is concentrating his attention on
villages being self-supporting for their cloth requirements. The
Sangha is taking in its orbit parts of Utkal also. He recently visited
the Alaka Ashram of Sjt. Gopabandhu Choudhry and in company
with him and other friends surveyed some neighbouring villages.
From his notes about the tour I take the following interesting
extracts : l

We selected village Ranahata about five miles from the Ashram. The
inhabitants are all peasants. There is the usual poverty. The village sends
a portion of its manhood as wage-earners to Calcutta. The proposition to
undertake the production of all necessary cloth within the village was
readily responded to. A volunteer body of 10 was formed which is to
receive training in the Alaka Ashram. After their training Sjt. Parihari is to
come and stay in the village for carrying on the work. . . .

There are some families of weavers round the Ashram in Jagat-
singhpur. . . . There will be however no difficulty about weaving the cloth
for Ranahata at present at Jagatsinghpur. Ultimately of course Ranahata
will weave its own cloth. . . .

We found the 30 miles road to the Alaka Ashram thoroughly lined
with trees. ... I found groups of women not only sweeping the road but
the surrounding fields also for collecting leaves and stray twigs for fuel.
Collecting leaves one by one seemed to be an occupation. ... I sighed
for the day when these women will sit by their wheels. . . .

What Satisbabu has described is typical of most Utkal villages.
Those mentioned by Satisbabu are by no means the poorest. But

1 Only excerpts $re reproduced here.

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAIIATMA GANDHI

there is not much to choose in the midst of growing poverty* If
the Rashtriya Sangha succeeds in its clfort, it would have: conferred
a real boon on the villagers of Utknl besides making a, substantial
contribution to the boycott movement.

Toting India , 27-6-1929

83. THE EVIL OF PURDAH

The belief that anything old is good is a source of numerous
wrong practices. If all that is ancient is considered good what
about sin? It is very old, but it will ever deserve to be discarded*
Untouchability is also old, but it is a sin, therefore we should give
it up. The same is true of drinking and gambling. If a. tiling
which lies within the province of reason -which can be proved to
be right or wrong with the aid of reason, does not appeal to me*
son, it would deserve to he immediately given up.

However old purdah may be, reason cannot accept it today*
The harm it has done is self-evident. We should nol try to
justify purdah as we do in the ease of many other things by
putting an ideal interpretation on this custom. In fact the way
it is now observed, it can stand no such interpretation.

The truth is that purdah is not an external affair, it is some¬
thing internal. Many women who observe purdah externally are
found to be immodest. However, a woman who retains her
modesty without observing external purdah deserves to he wor¬
shipped. And fortunately there is no dearth of such women in
the world even today*

In the scriptures wo find many terms winch had an external
meaning at one time but which arc interpreted at present ana-
gogically. One such is yajna. Now we know that the killing of
animals is not a true yqfna. True yajna consists in burning up the
animal passions within us. One can quote hundreds of such exam¬
ples, Therefore those desirous of reforming and saving Hindu
society need not be afraid of ancient conventions. We cannot find
better principles than the old ones. But the way they are to be
put into practice must continue to change. Change is a sign of
growth while stagnation is the beginning of decay. The world
changes every moment. Only the dead do not change. Immobi¬
lity is thus a sign of death. We are not: talking here of the im¬
mobility, the calmness of the yogi. In the calmness of the yogi there
lies hidden the speediest motion. There is in that calmness the ut¬
most wakefulness of the atman. We are talking here of inert

.•If

jility—in other words, of inertia. E

' cn willingly to acquiesce in all old cvn cusioms. it prevents
making any progress. This very inertia comes in our way
m me attainment of swaraj. Now let us see how the purdah causes
us harm.

1. Tt prevents women from receiving education.

2. It makes them timid.

3. It ruins their health,

4. It comes in the way of normal relationship between men
and women,

5. It engenders in them a sense of inferiority.

6. Women lose contact with the outside world and in the
result they are deprived of their due experience.

7. It prevents a woman from performing her role as man’s
better half.

8. Those women who observe purdah cannot play their full
role in the struggle for swaraj.

9. Purdah comes in the way of children’s education.

Considering all these ill effects, it is the duty of all intelli¬
gent Hindus to do away with this evil custom.

As with, the other reforms so also with the purdah. Charity
must begin at home. When others observe the good results of our

will naturally emulate our example. It is, however,
important to remember one thing: A reformer must always be

courteous. If in doing away with purdah our aim
e of restraint, then it is our dutv to take this step
surely succeed in our effort. I
traint but licence, it will not be
)ccausc the public will then rescr
von support this evil custom. The
and cannot respect

ih our aim
ke this step
hat we aim
5 to remove
love and in
are pure in
an impure

84. " ANASAKTirOGA ” 1

The Message of toe “Gita’’

It was at Kausani in Almora, on 24th Juno 192!), he., after two
years’ waiting, that T finished the introduction in Gujarati to my
translation of tho Gita. The whole was then published in due course 1 . 2
It has been translated in Hindi, Bengali and Marathi, There has
been an insistent demand for an English translation, 1 (hushed the
translation of the introduction at the Yeravda prison, Since my
discharge 3 it has lain with friends, and now 1 give it to the reader.
Those, who take no interest in the Book of bile, will forgive the. tros-
passon these columns. To those, who are interested in the poem
and treat it as their guide in life, my humble attempt might prove
of some help.

M. K. G,

Just 4 5 as, acted upon by the affection of co-workers like Swatni
Anand and others, I wrote My Experiments with 7 rut It* < so has it been
regarding my rendering of the Gita . u We shall be able to appreciate
your meaning of the message of the Gita, only when we are able to
study a translation of the whole text by yourself*, with the addition
of such notes as you may deem necessary, 6 I do not think it is

1 Literally, e the yoga of nonmttaehmont\ The English translation by
Mahadev Desai bore the title The Gila accordin*! to Gandhi, The English trans¬
lation of the introduction to his (Gujarati translation of tin* Gita was begun by
Gandhiji on 16-12-1930, and was completed by him on 04*1931 in the Yeravda
prison. The original manuscript in English (photostat: (LN. 7911), in addition
to bearing the dates for each instalment of the translation, also meat ions
24-6-1920 as the date on which the introduction in Clujarati to the translation
of the Gita was completed. However, in his letters to Mahadev Desai and
Chhaganla] Joshi dated 20-6-1929 ( vide pp. 133 & 135.), ho mentions -his
having completed the Gita the previous day. The work therefore is placed under
June 27, 1929.

The English translation appeared first in Vtnmg India , 6414931, with this
prefatory note and they were both reproduced in The Gita ammling to (kndhi ,

2 On March 12, 1930 by Navajivan Publishing Home*, Ahmedahad

3 On January 26, 1931

4 The original manuscript has “Even”.

5 Vide Vol. XXXIX.

6 In the original manuscript the sentence reads; u We can appreciate
your meaning of the message of the Gita only when you have translated the
whole text with such notes as you may deem necessary and when we; have
gone through it all”

ec ANAS AKTI YOGA”

just on your part to deduce ahimsa, etc., from stray verses/ 1 2 3 4 5 thus
spoke Swami An and to me during the non-co-operation days. I
felt the force of his remarks 1 . I therefore told him th at I would
adopt his suggestion when I got 2 the time. Shortly afterwards I
was imprisoned. 3 During my incarceration I was able to study
the Gita more fully. I went reverently through the Gujarati trans¬
lation of the Lokamanya’s great work 4 . He had kindly presented
me with the Marathi original and the translations in Gujarati and
Hindi, and had asked me, 5 if I could not tackle the original, at
least to go through the Gujarati translation. I had not been able
to 6 7 follow the advice outside the prison walls. But when I was
imprisoned I read the Gujarati translation. This reading whetted
my appetite for more and I glanced through several works on the
Gila?

2. My first acquaintance 8 with the Gila began in 1888-89
with the verse translation by Sir Edwin Arnold known as The Song
Celestial. On reading it I felt a keen desire to read a Gujarati
translation. And I read as many translations as I could lay hold
on. But all such reading can give me no passport for presenting
my own 9 translation. Then again my knowledge of Sanskrit is
limited; my knowledge of Gujarati too is in no way scholarly. 10
How eoulcl 1 then dare present the public with my translation?

3. It has been my endeavour, as also that of 11 some compa¬
nions, to reduce to practice the teaching of the Gita as I have
understood it. The Gila has become for us a spiritual reference
book, 12 T am aware that wc ever fail to act in perfect accord with
the teaching. The. failure is not due to want of effort, but is in

1 The original manuscript has “remark”,

2 The original manuscript has “get”.

3 hi the original manuscript the sentence reads: “Then I was imprisoned.”

4 Gita Rahasya

5 The original manuscript has “and asked me”,

6 The original manuscript has “I could not”.

7 In the original manuscript the sentence reads: “This reading whetted
my appetite for reading more about the Gila and 1 glanced through several

works on it.”

8 Vide Voh I, p. 344 and VoL XXXIX, p. 60.

9 The original manuscript does not have the word “own”.

10 In the original manuscript the sentence reads: “Then again my know¬
ledge of Sanskrit is limited; my knowledge of Gujarati too in no way of a
higher type.”

11 The original manuscript does not have the words “that of”,

12 In the original manuscript the sentence reads: “It has become a spiri¬
tual reference book.”

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA walnimii

spite of it. 1 Even through the failures wo seem to see rays of
hope. The accompanying rendering contains the moaning of the
Gita message which this little band is trying (o enforce in its 2
daily conduct.

4. Again this rendering is designed for women, the com¬
mercial class, the so-called Shudras and the like, who have tilde
or no literary equipment, who have neither the time nor the desire
to read the Gita in the original, and yet who stand in need of its
support. 3 In spite of my Gujarati being imsoholarly 4 1 must own
to having the desire to leave to the Gujaratis, through (he mother
tongue, whatever knowledge 1 may possess, I, do indeed wish
that, at a -time when literary output of a questionable character
is pouring in upon the Gujaratis, they should have before them
a rendering, which the majority can understand, of a book that is
regarded as unrivalled for its spiritual merit and so withstand the
overwhelming flood of unclean literature. 5

5. This desire does not mean any disrespect, to the other
renderings. They have their own place. But 1 am not aware
of the 6 7 8 9 claim made by the translators of enforcing their meaning
of the Gita in their own lives. At the back of my trading^ there is
the claim of an endeavour to enforce tin: moaning in my own
conduct for an unbroken period of 40 H years, For this reason 1 do
indeed harbour the wish that all Gujarati men or wmueifb wish¬
ing to shape their conduct according to their faith, should digest
and derive strength from the translation here presented.

6. My co-workers, too, have worked at this translation. My
knowledge of Sanskrit being very limited, 1 should not have

1 In the original manuscript the sentence reads; “The failure in due not
to want of effort but in spite of it:.”

2 The original manuscript lias “their”.

3 The original manuscript has “who stand in rated of the support; of the

Gita”.

4 The original manuscript tuts “In spite of my knowledge of Gujarati
being limited”,

5 In the original manuscript the sentence reads; “l do indeed wish that
at a time when literary output of a questionable character is pouring in upon
the Gujaratis they should have before them a readable rendering of a book that
is regardful as unrivalled for its spiritual merit, and so that they may lie able
to withstand the overwhelming flood of unclean literature.”

6 The original manuscript has “any”.

7 The original manuscript has “rendering”,

8 The original manuscript has “thirty eight”.

9 The original manuscript has “For this reason t do indeed harbour the
wish that every Gujarati man or woman”.

c c AN A S AICTIYO G A 5 5

full confidence in my literal translation. To that extent therefore
the translation has passed before 1 the eyes of Vinoba, Kalca
Kalelkar, Mahaclev Desai and Kishorclal Mashruwala.

7. Now about the message of the Gita .

8. Even in 1888-89, when I first became acquainted with the
Gita, I felt that it was not a historical work, but that, under the
guise of physical warfare, it described the dud that perpetually went
on in the hearts of mankind, and that physical warfare was
brought in merely 2 to make the description of the internal duel
more alluring 3 . This preliminary intuition became more con¬
firmed on a closer study of religion and the Gita. A study of the
Mahabharala gave it added confirmation. I do not regard the
Mahahharata as a historical work in the accepted sense. The ee Adi-
parva” contains powerful evidence in support of my opinion. By
ascribing to the chief actors superhuman or subhuman origins, the
great Vyasa made short work of the history of kings and their
peoples. The persons therein described may be historical, but the
author of the Mahabharala has used them merely to drive home his
religious theme.

9. The author of the Mahahharata has not established the
necessity of physical warfare; on the contrary, he has proved its
futility. He has made the victors shed tears of sorrow and repen¬
tance, and has left them nothing but a legacy of miseries.

10. In this great work the 4 Gita is the crown. Its second
chapter, instead of teaching the rules of physical warfare, tells us 5
how a perfected man is to be known. In the characteristics of
the perfected man of the Gita, I do not sec any to correspond to
physical warfare. 6 Its whole design is inconsistent with the rules
of conduct governing the relations between warring parties. 7

1 The original manuscript does not have the word “before”.

2 The original manuscript does not have the word “merely”.

3 The original manuscript has “attractive”.

4 The original manuscript does not have the word “the”.

5 The original manuscript lias “teaches”.

6 In the original manuscript the sentence reads: “In reading these verses
I do not find a single characteristic of a perfected man that can correspond
to physical warfare.”

7 In the original manuscript the sentence reads: “The whole design of the
Gila is inconsistent with the rules of conduct governing the relations between
contending parties in domestic disputes.”

TIIE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA. OAMDin

11. Krishna or the Gita is perfection 1 and right knowledge
personified; but the picture is imaginary* That dors not mean that
Krishna, the adored of his people, never jived. Bid perdu*,lion is
imagined. The idea of a perfect incarnation is an aftergrowth,

12. In Hinduism 2 incarnation is ascribed to one who has
performed some extraordinary service of mankind. All embodied
life is in reality an incarnation of God, but it is not usual to
consider every living being an incarnation. Future generations
pay this homage to one who, in his own generation, has been
extraordinarily religious in his conduct;. 3 I can see nothing wrong
in this procedure; it takes nothing from God’s greatness, and the.ro
is no violence done to Truth, There is an Urdu saying which means:
“Adam is not God but he is a spark of the Divine. 1 " And therefore
he who is the most religiously behaved has most 4 of the divine
spark in him. It is in accordance with this train of thought, that
Krishna enjoys, in Hinduism, the status of the most perfect
incarnation.

13. This belief in- incarnation 5 is a testimony of man's lofty
spiritual ambition. Man is not at peace with himself till he lias
become like unto God. 6 The endeavour to reach this state is the
supreme, the only ambition worth having, 7 And this is self-realiza¬
tion. This self-realization is the subject of the Gita,, as it is of all
scriptures. 8 But its author surely did not write it to establish that
doctrine. The object of the Gita appears to me to be that of showing
the most excellent way to attain self-realization. 6 That which is to
be found, more or less clearly, spread out here and there in Hindu
religious books, has been brought out in the clearest possible
language in the Gila even at the risk of repetition.

14. That matchless remedy is renunciation of fruits of action*

1 The original manuscript has u perfect”.

2 The original manuscript does not have the words “In Hinduism”,

3 In the original manuscript the sentence reads; “Future generations pay
homage as an incarnation to one who, in his own generation, lias been the most
religious in his conduct:.”

4 The original manuscript has “more”.

5 The original manuscript has “'Hus incarnation habit”.

6 In the original manuscript the sentence reads: “Man is not at peace
with himself till he has become like unto God, he is not happy without it,”

7 In the original manuscript the sentence reads; “The endeavour to be
that is the supreme, the only ambition worth having,”

8 In the original manuscript the sentence reads: “This stdf-realizarion is
the subject of all scriptures as it is of the Gita”

9 In the original manuscript the sentence reads: “But the object of the
Gita appears to me to be to show the most excellent way of attaining self-reali¬
zation.”

“anasaktiyoga 5 *

15. This is the centre round which the Gila is woven. 1 This
renunciation is the central sun, round which devotion, know¬
ledge and the rest revolve like planets. 2 The body has been
likened to a prison. 3 There must be action 4 where there is body.
Not one embodied being is exempted 5 from labour. And yet all
religions proclaim that it is possible for man, by treating the body
as the temple of God, to attain freedom. Every action 6 is tainted.,
be it ever so trivial 7 . How can the body be made the temple of
God? 8 In other words 9 how can one be free from action, i.e.,
from the taint of sin ? The Gila has answered the question in deci¬
sive language: “By desireless action; by renouncing fruits of ac¬
tion ; by dedicating all activities 10 to God, i.e., by surrendering
oneself to Him body and soul. 39

16. But desirelessncss or renunciation does 11 not come for
the mere talking about it. It is not attained by an intellectual feat.
It is attainable only by a constant heart-churn. Right know¬
ledge is necessary for attaining 12 renunciation. Learned men possess
a knowledge of a kind. They may recite the Vedas from memory,
yet 13 they may be steeped in self-indulgence. In order 14 that know¬
ledge may not run riot, the author of the Gita has insisted' on devotion
accompanying it and has given it the first place. Know¬
ledge without devotion will be like a misfire. Therefore, says the
Gita : “Have devotion, and knowledge will follow. 53 This devotion
is not mere lip worship, it is a wrestling with death. 15 Hence the
Gita's assessment of the devotee’s qualities is similar to that of the
sages.

1 In the original manuscript the sentence reads: <s The Gita is woven
round this as the centre.”

2 In the original manuscript the sentence reads: “Devotion, knowledge
and the rest revolve like planets round this renunciation as the central sun.”

3 The original manuscript does not have this sentence.

4 The original manuscript has “ work”.

5 The original manuscript has “exempt”.

6 The original manuscript has “But every action”.

7 The original manuscript has “little”.

8 In the original manuscript the sentence reads: “And freedom is available
only for those who become sinless.”

9 The original manuscript has “Then”.

10 The original manuscript has “activity”.

11 The original manuscript has “do”.

12 The original manuscript has “is necessary to attain”.

13 The original manuscript has “but”.

14 The original manuscript has “So”.

15 In the original manuscript the sentence reads: “But this devotion is
wrestling with death.”

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA. OANDItl

17. Thus the devotion required by Hie (Vita is no solt-luuirtcd
effusiveness. It certainly is not blind Ikilli. Tlw drvolion of the
Gita has the least to do with externals. A devotee may use, il he
likes, rosaries, forehead marks, make offerings, but those things 1
are no test of his devotion. He is the devotee who is jealous of none,
who is a fount of mercy, who is without egotism, who is sellless,
who treats alike cold and heat, happiness and misery, who is ever
forgiving, who is always contented, whose resolutions are linn, who
has dedicated mind and soul to God, who causes -no dread, 2 3
who is not afraid of others 2 , who is free from exultation, sorrow
.■^8. f ca r, who is pure, who is versed m action and yet t(.mains
unaffected by it, who renounces all fruit, good or bad, who treats
friend and foe alike, who is untouched by respect, or disrespect,
who is not puffed up by praise, who does not go muh i when
people speak ill of him, who loves silence and solitude, who has a
disciplined reason. 4 Such devotion is inconsistent with the existence
at the same Lime of strong attachments. 5

18. We thus see, that to be a real devotee is to realize oneself. 6
Self-realization is not something apart. 7 One rupee can purchase
for us poison or nectar, but knowledge or devotion cannot buy us
either salvation or bondage. 8 These are not media of exchange.
They arc themselves the thing we want, tn other words, if the
means and the end arc not identical, they are almost so. The
extreme of means is salvation. Salvation of the (Sita is period peace. 9

19. But such knowledge and devotion, to be true, have to stand
the test of renunciation of fruits of action. Mere knowledge ol right
and wrong will not make one lit for salvation. 10 According to com¬
mon notions a mere learned man will pass as a pundit. He need

1 The original manuscript has “but they’

2 The original manuscript has “whom people do not fear'

3 The original manuscript has “them”.

4 The original manuscript has “whoso reason Is disciplined’

5 in the original manuscript the sentence reach: “Kueh devotion ift im¬
possible in men or women with strong attachments/*

<> in the original manuscript, the sentence reach: “We thus s«e, that to

know to be a real devotee is to realize oneself/’

7 In the original manuscript the sentence reach: “Self-realization h not

something apart from it/*

3 In the original manuscript the sentence reads: “Just as one rupee can
purchase for us poison or nectar so may we not use knowledge or devotion
for attaining either salvation or bondage:/’

9 In. the original manuscript the sentence reads: “The salvation contem¬
plated by Gita is perfect peace/*

10 This sentence is not in the original manuscript*

fc >

'i"', V?

r * /'''

/£r~0-

■ l^ r '“ —7*— ’i '—

^-t/O^u^e^ i^yrv A—*y. X&ii-* ^t.

' ' ! , \ 77

• ^4-8-

J^CAX',to J 4 a^%*~£L —^3- 4£UA*

h ^jn«, 1 !

>c.^l £jUfcA» .y^V .H****^^ ^

yo^c- /Ai ^ Ct^JL> ' .

aa~ h, '^-^><<xd /£&jl iAA-^t-Z^L

i <&<\/^ i*** i**f £

7 4

y i A/l7 / ^^

Tvt r ^ 1 7>-7 >V ■£6'<jJ>3* d^x/l- 4St>^

^c# ^ d*d«Ah*\y* jr**0 €7**y , , ,,,4 $ ^ ,/

^ ■ ( ( ^'V': -

r\»»*~vv 4- /"t? ^t-MU #HytJL-~ c4aA4-*<

(^^ r /xx.-■ \S" /" ■ tyA-1/>'^^^7v^*•••../'/tct ■■)

*L A-Cw ^"' t V' , ^ v -' A -'' v '^ - y

\ *

I 4 ^ , v J - i ' ’ .? * \,„ w y

YUrjft

■> ./

’tyWViUU. V/Ax, ^

., ^ . - - ».-- — - »v- ^ J t*s-'4L*& 4yVb-4rii©

t^4*Ct>w' \>1 i^V *> V^^AXX-n(jrw*w^ ' yf ,

ij'.i fr| [lif m i n'm a •'r' 1 W 1 !'(

^li ,1 ^*I?|V^w*** 11 *^t'*»'r* r *-i»*H'n'-fr*'*» f «n^Hr* [ '«'^(4 , ^»****W* L

i, W 1 *

iUir*VUV <• iniiI 1 W*'

ll'jl

*[ y

.,mH v * W8 *x

1 * ■ . - - .v ,„

|# v

r f

'-i#V*M '^<r

L/T (M--*

-* vv .//-' £ho&

t' v ^ v '*A^D ,,,< ^ ll >^c^ r "' i “

^0j>s^..t\ K ^\yt4^ ^x/b

* J

■ *$|y ^Ifpu ##

>|^ ....J' l*','! uifS** 4

,„,, <#**■' Jp *«<*“'

*«#

,*(1 ,/ ia&^

»*-\« - T A

»- P 4 * f\

%,*■ ,.4/ w

✓

Vt- 1

J##*'*

/ i(F J

t?<

a^s/%1

•n /

cis,<*~lr€* yUV* '*' VV '

- fy '■S~-/x~ 4/^4# !A..J^

CtuCo

■■«

4 ? Jtm*+*** '**■'

I 5

^ J^v»*

Ly^xA*

y^v

■<jfiL*J

•(•V

J*/

y /
w 4

ft**”'

,! Cw-

( a .

%*,*«**

%Xju- >

X„ V

1 i~«. jf Y^X*

6 , )^**-xX

X$L*

> *

i*/

Irl

t^y

«y ] ”'

,W hr

tjy/. { t >a y.A.M.v'^

f /

Ki"-'"4L*

JM*m (*.

J0»%

’%

$ u *

/a^A

jj^Jf **4ftyJ4$'

4 mrt

•■Hfl!

» i it

ij$k ,

r ; J

jii'i'.w

I, 1 ' l 0 T*

^ < ,.A i

^ ’ I

f • 1

\y w *‘?<f

1 i> ,1 1J

ii/jwWV'i «h >

' t *'

^ANASAKTXVOGA 55

not perform any service. He will regard it as bondage even to lift
a little loia. 1 Wlierc one test of knowledge is non-liability for ser¬
vice, there is no room for such mundane work as the lifting of a
lota .

20. Or take bhakii. 2 The popular notion of bhakti is soft¬
heartedness, telling beads and the like, and disdaining to do even
a loving service, lest the telling of beads, etc,, might be interrup¬
ted. 3 This bhakki 4 5 therefore leaves the rosary only for eating,
drinking and the like, never for grinding corn or nursing pa¬
tients.

21. But the Gila says: 5 (< No one has attained his goal without
action. Even men like Janaka attained salvation through action.
If even l were lazily to cease working, the world would 6 perish.

How much more necessary then for the people at large to engage

in action?”

22. While 7 on the one hand it is beyond dispute -that all

action binds, on the other hand it is equally true that all living
beings have to do some work, whether they will or no. Here all
activity, whether mental or physical, is to be included in the term
action. Thun how is one to be Tree from the bondage of action,
even though he may be acting 8 ? The manner in which the Gita
has solved the problem is, to my knowledge, unique. 9 The Gita
says: “Do your allotted work but renounce its fruit -be detached
and work.have no desire for reward, and work.”

This is the unmistakable teaching of the Gila. 10 He who gives
up action falls. He who gives up only the reward rises. But re¬
nunciation of fruit in no way means indifference to the result. In
regard to every action one must know the result that is expected

1 In the original manuscript the sentence roads: “He will regard it as a

bondage even to lift a little lota.”

2 Tins sentence is not in the original manuscript.

3 In the original manuscript the sentence reads: “Tire popular notion of a
bhakta is that he is a soft-hearted maniac, telling beads and disdaining to do
even a loving service lest his telling of beads might be interrupted.”

4 The original manuscript has “He”.

5 The original manuscript has: “Both these have been clearly told by the

Gita.”

6 The original manuscript has “will”.

7 The original manuscript has “But”.

8 The original manuscript has “doing it”.

9 in the original manuscript the sentence reads: “The manner in which
the Gita has solved the problem no other work has to my knowledge.”

'0 In the original manuscript the sentence reads: “This unmistakable and
unmistakable teaching of the Gita” [ric].

41-7

THE COLLECTED WORKS OE MAHATMA OAND1II

to Follow, the menus thereto, and the capacity for it. He, who,
being thus equipped, is without desire for the result, and is yet
wholly engrossed in the due fulfilment of the task before him, is
said to have renounced the fruits 1 2 of his action,

23. Again, let no one consider renunciation to mean want of
fruit for the renouneer. The Gila reading does not warrant such a
meaning. Renunciation means absence of hankering after' fruit.
As a matter of fact, he who renounces reaps a thousandfold. 'The
renunciation of the Gila is the acid test of faith, lie who is ever
brooding over the result often loses nerve in the performance of
his duty. He becomes impatient and then gives vault to anger
and begins to do unworthy things; he jumps from action to action,
never remaining faithful to any. He who broods over results is
like a man giveni to objects of senses; he is ever distracted, he says
goodbye to all scruples, everything is right in his estimation and
he therefore resorts to means fair and foul to attain his end,

24. From the; hitter experiences of desire for fruit the author
of the Gila discovered the path of renunciation of fruit, and put it
before the world iu a most convincing maimer. The common belief
is that religion is always opposed to material good. “( )ne cannot
act religiously in mercantile and such other matters. There is no
place for religion in such pursuits; religion is only for attainment
of salvation/* we hear many worldly-wise people say, In my
opinion the author of the Gila has dispelled this delusion. lie* has
drawn no line of demarcation between salvation and worldly pur¬
suits. On the contrary, he has shown that religion must rule even
our worldly pursuits. I have felt that the Gila teaches us that what
cannot be followed out in day-to-day practice cannot be culled
religion. Thus, according to the Gila, all acts that are incapable
of being performed without attachment are taboo. This golden
rule saves mankind from many a pitfall. According to this inter¬
pretation 3 , murder, lying, dissoluteness and tint like must 4 be re¬
garded as sinful and therefore taboo, Maids life then becomes
simple, and from that simpleness springs peace,

25. Thinking along these lines, I have fell that in trying to
enforce in one’s life the central teaching of the Gita, one is bound
to follow truth and ahirasa. When there is no desire for fruit,
there is no temptation for untruth or himseL Take any instance of

1 The original manuscript has “fruit”.

2 The original manuscript has “for”.

3 The original manuscript has “doctrine”.

4 The original manuscript has “would”.

C ‘ AN AS AKTIYO G A* ’ 99

untruth or violence, and it will be found that at its 1 back was the
desire to attain the cherished end. But it may be freely admit¬
ted that the Gita was not written to establish ahimsa. It was an
accepted and primary duty even before the Gita age. 2 The Gita
had to deliver the message of renunciation of fruit. This is clearly
brought out as early as the second chapter.

26. But if the Gita believed in ahimsa or it was 3 included in
desirelessness, why did the author take a warlike illustration ?
When the Gita was written, although people believed in ahimsa,
wars were not only not taboo, but nobody observed the contra¬
diction between them and ahimsa.

27. In assessing the implications of renunciation of fruit, we
are not required to probe the mind of the author of the Gita as
to his limitations of ahimsa and the like. 4 Because a poet puts a
particular truth before the world, it does not necessarily follow that
he has known or worked out all its great consequences, or that
having done so, he is able always to express them fully. 5 In this
perhaps lies the greatness of the poem and the poet. 6 A poet’s
meaning is limitless. Like man, the meaning of great writings
suffers evolution. On examining the history of languages, we
notice that the meaning of important words has changed or ex¬
panded. This is true of the Gita. The author has himself extended
the meanings of some of the current words. 7 We are able to dis¬
cover this even on a superficial examination. 8 It is possible that,
in the age prior to that of the Gita, offering of animals in sacrifice
was permissible. But there is not a trace of it in the sacrifice in
the Gita sense. In the Gila continuous concentration on God is the
king of sacrifices. The third chapter seems to show that sacri¬
fice chiefly means body-labour for service. The third and the

1 The original manuscript has “their”.

2 In the original manuscript the sentence reads: “It was accepted as
primary duty even before the Gita age.”

3 The original manuscript has “is”.

4 In the original manuscript the sentence reads: “But in assessing the
measure of renunciation of fruit, we are not required to probe the mind of
the author of the Gita as to his limitation of ahimsa and the like.”

5 The original manuscript has “he is able to reduce them in

language”.

6 In the original manuscript the sentence reads: “And in this lies the
greatness of the poem and the poet.”

7 In the original manuscript the sentence reads: “The author of the
Gita has himself extended the meanings of great current words.”

8 In the original manuscript the sentence reads: “And this we are able
to discover even on a superficial examination.”

THU COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA (iANI)IU

100

fourth chapters read together will give us oilier meanings for
sacrifice, but never animal-sacrifice. Similarly has the meaning of
the word sannyasa undergone, in the Gila, a Iransformalion. The
sannyasa of the Gita will not tolerate complete cessation of all
activity. The sannyasa of the Gila is all work and yet no work. Thus
the author of the Gila, by extending meanings of words, has taught
us to imitate him. Let it be granted, that according to the letter
of the Gita it is possible to say that warfare is consistent with renun¬
ciation of fruit. But after 40 years’ unremitting endeavour fully to
enforce the teaching of the Gita in my own life, I have, in all
humility, felt that perfect renunciation is impossible without per¬
fect observance of ahimsa in every shape and form. 1

28. The Gila is not an aphoristic work; it is a great religious
poem. The deeper you dive into it, (lie richer the meanings you
get. It being meant for the people at large, there is pleasing repeti¬
tion 2 . 3 With every age the important, words will carry new and
expanding meanings. But its central teaching will never vary.
The seeker is at liberty to extract from this treasure any meaning
he likes so as to enable him to enforce in his life the central
teaching.

29. Nor is the Gita a collection of Do’s and Don’ts. What is
lawful for one may be unlawful for another. What may be
permissible at one time, or in one place, may not be so at an¬
other time, and in another place. 4 Desirc for fruit is the only
universal prohibition. Desirelessness is obligatory.

30. The Gita lias sting the praises of knowledge 5 , but it is
beyond the mere intellect; it is essentially addressed to the heart
and capable of being understood by the heart. Therefore the
Gita is not for those who have no faith. The author makes Krishna
say : 6

“Do not entrust this treasure to him who is without sacrifice,
without devotion, without the desire for this teaching 7 and who
denies Me. On the other hand, those who will give this precious
treasure to My devotees will, by the fact of this service, assuredly

1 The origiual manuscript has “is impossible without perfect observance
of truth and ahimsa”.

2 The original manuscript has “the same thing has been said often”.

3 The original manuscript adds “Therefore”.

4 The original manuscript adds “Therefore”.

5 The original manuscript has “learning”.

6 In the original manuscript the sentence reads: “The author himself
has said.”

7 The original manuscript does not have die words “for this teaching”.

c ‘ AN AS AKTIYO GA n IU1

reach Me. 1 And those who, being free from malice, will with faith
absorb this teaching, shall 2 , having attained freedom, live where
people of true merit go 3 after death. 55

DISCOURSE I

Mo knowledge is to be found without seeking, no tranquillity without
travail, no happiness except through tribulation. Every seeker has, at one
time or another, to pass through a conflict of duties, a heart-churning,

Dhritarashtra said:

1. Tell me, O Sanjaya, what my sons and Pandu’s assembled, on battle
intent, did on the field of Kuru, the field of duty.

The human body is the battle-field where the eternal duel
between Right and Wrong goes on. Therefore it is capable of
being turned into the gateway to Freedom. It is born in sin and
becomes the seed-bed of sin. Hence it is also called the field of
Kuru. The Kauravas represent the forces of Evil, the Panda-
vas the forces of Good. Who is there that has not experienced the
daily conflict within himself between the forces of Evil and the
forces of Good ? 4

DISCOURSE II

By reason of delusion, man takes wrong to be right. By reason of
delusion was Arjuna led to make a difference between kinsmen and non¬
kinsmen, To demonstrate that this is a vain distinction, Lord Krishna
distinguishes between body (not-self) and atman (self) and shows that
whilst bodies are impermanent and several, atman is permanent and one.
Effort is within man's control, not the fruit thereof All he has to do,
therefore, is to decide his course of conduct or duty on each occasion and
persevere in it, unconcerned about the result . Fulfilment of one's duty in the
spirit of detachment or selflessness leads to Freedom,

30. This embodied one in the body of every being is ever beyond all
harm, O Bharata; thou shouldst not, therefore, grieve for anyone.

1 The original manuscript has: c< by the fact of this service of me will
assuredly reach me”.

2 The original manuscript has “will”.

3 The original manuscript has “live”.

4 The translation of the Gita verses not commented on or referred to
by Gandhiji is not reproduced in this volume. The translation both of the verses
and of Gandhiji’s comments is from Mahadev Desai’s The Gita according to
Gandhi ,

102

the collected works of mahatma oanmti

Thus far Lord Krishna, by force of argument based on pure
reason, has demonstrated that alman is abiding while the physical
body is fleeting, and has explained that if, under certain circum-
stances, the destruction of a physical body is doomed justi¬
fiable, it is delusion to imagine that the Kauravas should not be
slain because they are kinsmen. Now he reminds Arjuna of
the duty of a Kshatriya.

31. Again, seeing ihine own duly thou shouldst not shrink from it; for
there is no higher good for a. Kshatriya than a, righteous war.

32. Such a tight, coming unsought, as a gateway to heaven thrown open,
falls only to tlm lot of happy Kshatriya,s, O Partial.

33. But if thou wilt not tight this righteous light, then falling in thy
duty and losing thine honour thou wilt incur sin,

34. The world will for ever recount the story of thy disgrace; and for a
man of honour disgrace is worse; than death.

35. The makaraihas will think that fear made thee retire from battle;
and thou wilt fall hi the esteem of those very ones who have held time* high,

36. 'Chine enemies will deride thy prowess and speak many unspeakable
words about, thee. What can be more painful than, that?

37. Slain, thou shall; gain heaven; victorious, thou shall inherit the
earth; therefore arise, O Ivaunteya 1 , determined to tight.

Having declared the highest truth, viz,, the immortality of
the eternal atrnan and the fleeting nature of the physical body
(11-30), Krishna reminds Arjuna that a, Kshatriya may not
flinch from a fight which comes unsought (51-32), He then (52-37)
shows how the highest truth and the performance of duty inci¬
dentally coincide with expediency. Next he proceeds to fore¬
shadow the central teaching of the Gila in the: following shloka*

38. Hold alike pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat, and
gird up thy loins for the fight; so doing thou shall not incur sin.

39. Thus have I sot before thee the attitude of Knowledge; hear now the
attitude of Action; resorting to this attitude thou shah cast oil' the bondage

of action,

44. The attitude, in this matter, springing, as it does, from fixed resolve
is but one, O Kurimandana; but for those who have: no fixed resolve the
attitudes arc many-branched and unending.

When the attitude ceases to be one and undivided and be¬
comes many and divided, it ceases to be one settled will, and is
broken up into various wills or desires between which man is

tossed about.

1 Son of Kmnti

“anasaktiyoga” 103

42-44. The ignorant, revelling in the letter of the Vedas, declare that
there is naught else; carnally-minded, holding heaven to be their goal, they
utter swelling words which promise birth as the fruit of action and which dwell
on the many and varied rites to be performed for the sake of pleasure and
power; intent, as they arc, on pleasure and power their swelling words rob them
of their wits, and they have no settled attitude which can be centred on the
supreme goal.

The Vedic ritual, as opposed to the doctrine of yoga laid
down in the Gita, is alluded to here. The Vedic ritual lays down
countless ceremonies and rites with a view to attaining merit and
heaven. These, divorced as they are from the essence of the Vedas
and short-lived in their result, are worthless.

45. The Vedas have as their domain the three ganas; eschew them,
O Arjuna. Free thyself from the pairs of opposites, abide in eternal truth, scorn
to gain or guard anything, remain the master of thy soul.

46. To the extent that a well is of use when there is a flood of water
on all sides, to the same extent arc all the Vedas of use to an enlightened
Brahmana.

47. Action alone is thy province, never the fruits thereof; let not thy
motive be the fruit of action, nor shouldst thou desire to avoid action.

48. Act thou, O Dhananjaya, without attachment, steadfast in yoga,
even-minded in success and failure. Even-mindedncss is yoga.

49. For action, O Dhananjaya, is far inferior to unattached action; seek
refuge in the attitude of detachment. Pitiable are those who make fruit their
motive.

50. Here in this world a man gifted with that attitude of detachment
escapes the fruit of both good and evil deeds. Gird thyself up for yoga, there¬
fore. Yoga is skill in action.

Arjuna said:

54. What, O Keshava, is the mark of the man whose understanding is
secure, whose mind is fixed in concentration? How does he talk? How sit?
How move?

The Lord said:

55. When a man puts away, O Partha, all the cravings that arise in the
mind and finds comfort for himself only from atman, then is he called the
man of secure understanding.

To find comfort for oneself from atman means to look to the
spirit within for spiritual comfort, not to outside objects which
in their very nature must give pleasure as well as pain. Spiritual
comfort or bliss must be distinguished from pleasure or happiness.
The pleasure I may derive from the possession of wealth, for ins¬
tance, is delusive ; real spiritual comfort or bliss can be attained

104

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA CANDID

only if I rise superior to every temptation even though troubled
by the pangs of poverty and hunger.

59. When a man starves his senses, 1 the objects of those senses disappear
from him, but not the yearning lor them; the yearning too departs when he
beholds the Supreme.

The shloka does not rule out fasting and other forms of self-
restraint, but indicates their limitations. These restraints are
needed for subduing the desire for sense-objects, winch however is
rooted out only when one has a vision of’ the Supreme, The higher
yearning conquers all the lower yearnings.

60. For, in spite of the wise man’s endeavour, O K.lunteya, the unruly
senses distract his mind perforce.

61. Holding all these in cheek, the yogi should sit intent on Me; for he
whose senses are under control is secure of understanding.

This means that without devotion and the consequent grace
of God, man’s endeavour is vain,

62. In a man brooding on objects of the senses, attachment to them
springs up; attachment begets craving and craving begets wrath.

Graving cannot but lead to resentment, for it is unending
and unsatisfied,

63. Wrath breeds stupefaction, stupefaction leads to loss of memory, loss
of memory ruins tin? reason, and the ruin of reason spells utter destruction,

64. But the disciplined soul, moving among sense-objects with the senses

weaned from likes and dislikes and brought; under the control of attains

peace of mind,

66. The undisciplined man has neither understanding nor devotion;
for him who has no devotion there is no peace, and for him who has no peaeo,
whence happiness?

69, When it is night for all other beings, the disciplined soul is awake;
when all other beings are awake, it is night tor the seeing ascetic,

This verse indicates the divergent paths of the disciplined
ascetic and the sensual man. Whereas the ascetic is dead to the
things of the world and lives in God, the sensual man is alive only
to the things of the world and dead to the things of the spirit,

70. He In whom all longings subside, even as the waters subside in the
ocean which, though ever being filled by them, never overflows -that man finds
peace; not he who cherishes longing.

1 Mahadev Desai in The Gila according to Gandhi explains; “For ‘starves his
senses’, Gandhiji has ‘fasts’. X think there is no violence to the meaning of the
rse in applying ‘starvation’ to all the senses, including that of hunger,”

r->

}

“anasaktiyoga”

71. The man who sheds all longing and moves without
from the sense of T and ‘Mine*—he attains peace.

72. This is the state, O Partha, of the man who rests in Brahman;
having attained to it, he is not deluded. He who abides in this state even at
the hour of death passes into oneness with Brahman.

DISCOURSE III

This discourse may be said to be the key to the essence of the Gita .
It makes absolutely clear the spirit and the nature of right action and
shows how true knowledge must express itself in acts of selfless service .

Arjuna said:

1. If, O Janardana, thou holdest that the attitude of detachment is
superior to action, then why, O Kcshava, dost thou urge me to dreadful
action ?

2. Thou dost seem to confuse my understanding with perplexing speech;
tell me, therefore, in no uncertain voice, that alone whereby I may attain
salvation.

Arjuna is sore perplexed, for whilst on the one hand he is
rebuked for his faint-heartedness, on the other he seems to be
advised to refrain from action (II. 49-50). But this, in reality, is
not the case as the following shlokas will show.

The Lord said:

3. I have spoken before, O sinless one, of two attitudes in this world—
the Samkhyas’, that of jnanayoga and the yogis’, that of karmayoga.

4. Never docs man enjoy freedom from action by not undertaking action,
nor does he attain that freedom by mere renunciation of action.

‘Freedom from action 5 is freedom from the bondage of action. 1
This freedom is not to be gained by cessation of all activity, apart
from the fact that this cessation' is in the very nature of things
impossible (see following shloka) . How then may it be gained ?
The following shlokas will explain:

5. For none ever remains inactive even for a moment; for all are
compelled to action by the gunas inherent in prakriti.

6. He who curbs the organs of action but allows the mind to dwell
on the sense-objects—such a one, wholly deluded, is called a hypocrite.

The man who curbs his tongue but mentally swears at an¬
other is a hypocrite. But that does not mean that free rein should

1 Mahadev Dcsai explains here: “The ‘bondage of action’ in Gandhiji’s
note is the bondage of sansara 3 the cycle of death and birth. All action will have
its consequences; the consequences in one case, as we shall sec, will be the
bondage of sansara, in the other case it will be freedom from it.”

106

THE OOLLKOiTF.I) WORKS OF MAHATMA CIAND1U

be given to the organs of action so long as the mind cannot, be
brought under control. Self-imposed physical restraint is a condi¬
tion precedent to mental restraint. Physical restraint should he
entirely self-imposed and not; super-imposed from outside, e.g., by
fear. The hypocrite who is held up to contempt here is not. the
humble aspirant alter self-restraint. The shlokn has reference to
the man who curbs the body because he cannot help it whilst
indulging the mind, and who would indulge the body too if he
possibly could. The next shloka puts the thing conversely.

7. But he, () Arjuna, who keeping all the senses muter control of the
mind, engages the organs in kannuyoga, without attachment that matt excels.

The mind and body should he much; to accord well. Kven with
the mind kept in control, the body will bo active in one way or
another, but he whose mind is truly restrained, will, for instance
close, his ears to foul talk and open them only to listen to the
praise of God or of good men. He will have* no relish for sensual
pleasures and will keep himself occupied with such activity as en¬
nobles the soul. That is the path of action. Ivurmnyoga is the yoga
(means) which will deliver the self from the bondage of the body,
and in it there is no room for self-indulgence.

8. Do thou thy alloiled task; lor action is superior to inaction; with
Inaction even life's normal course is not possible.

9. This world of men sullers bondage from all action save that which is
done for the sake of sacrifice; to this end, O Kaimteya, perform action without
attachment.

4 Action for the sake of sacrifice 1 means acts of soilless service
dedicated to God.

10. Together with .sacrifice did the Lord of beings create, of old, man¬
kind, declaring: “By this shall ye increase; may litis he to yon the giver
of ail your desires.

11. “With this may you cherish the gods and may the gods cherish you;
thus cherishing one another may you attain the highest good,

12. “Cherished with sacrifice, the gods will bestow on you the' desired

to i

...I

4 C AN AS AICTIYOG A 5 ’ IU /

An objection is sometimes raised that God being impersonal
is not likely to perform any physical activity; at best He may be
supposed to act mentally. This is not correct. For the unceasing
movement of the sun, the moon, the earth, etc., signifies God in
action. This is not mental but physical activity. Though God is
without form and impersonal He acts as though He had form
and body. Hence though He is ever in action, He is free from
action, unaffected by action. What must be borne in mind is that
just as all Nature’s movements and processes are mechanical and
yet guided by Divine Intelligence or Will, even so man must reduce
his daily conduct to mechanical regularity and precision, but he
must do so intelligently. Man’s merit lies in observing divine gui¬
dance at the back of these processes and in an intelligent imitation
of it rather than in emphasizing the mechanical nature thereof
and reducing himself to an automaton. One has but to withdraw
the self, withdraw attachment to fruit from all action, and then
not only mechanical precision but security from all wear and tear
will be ensured. Acting thus man remains fresh until the end of
his days. His body will perish in due course, but his soul will re¬
main evergreen without a crease or a wrinkle.

27. All action, is entirely done by the gunas of prakriti. Man, deluded by
the sense of ‘I’, thinks C I am the doer 5 .

28. But he, O Mahabahu, who understands the truth of the various
gunas and their various activities, knows that it is the gunas that operate on the
gunas; he does not claim to be the doer.

As breathing, winking and similar processes are automatic
and man claims no agency for them, he being conscious of the
processes only when disease or similar cause arrests them, in a
similar manner all his activities should be automatic, without
his arrogating to himself the agency or responsibility thereof,
man of charity docs not even know that he is doing chari¬
table acts, it is his nature to do so, he cannot help it. This
detachment can only come from tireless endeavour and God’s
grace.

30. Cast all thy acts on Me, with thy mind fixed on the indwelling atman,
and without any thought of fruit, or sense of 'mine 5 shake off thy fever and
fight!

He who knows the ahnan inhabiting the body and realizes
Him to be a part of the supreme atman will dedicate everything to
Him, even as a faithful servant acts as a mere shadow of his master
and dedicates to him all that he does. For the master is the real
(doer, the servant but the instrument.

108

THE COLTiKP/rEI) WORKS OF MAHATMA OANOIII

33. Even a man of knowlrdi'c su'ts :i<Tortlinn to Im naturr; all orcalurt-s
follow their nature; what lln-n will constraint avail:'

This does not run counter to the loaohint!; in II. (»1 ami II. lilt
Self-restraint is the me;ms of salvation (VI. :tr>, XUI. 7). Man’s
energies should he bent towards achieving complete self-restraint
until the end of his (lavs. Hut if he does not succeed, neither will
constraint help him. The shloktt does not rule out. restraint hut
explains that nature prevails. Me who justifies himself saying,
‘I cannot do this, it is not in my nature,' misreads the xhlok/t.
True, we do not know our nature, but habit is not nature. Pro¬
gress, not decline, ascent, not descent, is the nature of the soul,
and therefore every threatened decline or descent ought to Ik;
resisted. The next verse makes this abundantly clear.

34. Each sense has its settled likes and dislikes towards its objects; man
should not come under the sway of these,, for they are his beset tern.

Hearing, for instance, is the object of the cars which may he
inclined to hear something and disinclined to hear something
else. Man may not allow himself to be swayed by these likes and
dislikes, but must decide for himself what is conducive to his
growth, his ultimate end being to reach the state beyond happiness
and misery.

35. Better one’s own duty, hern ft of merit, than another’s welbperlbrm-
ed; better is death in the discharge of one’s duty; another’s duty is fraught
with danger.

One man’s duty may be to serve the community by working as
a sweeper, another’s may be to work as an accountant. An account-
ant’s work may be more inviting, but that need not draw tin* sweeper
away from his work, Should he allow himself to be drawn away
he would himself be lost and put the community into danger.
Before God the work of mati will be judged by the spirit in which
it is done, not by the nature of the work which makes no diffe¬
rence whatsoever. Whoever acts in a spirit of dedication fits
himself for salvation.

40. The senses, the mind and the reason are said to be Its seat; by
means of these it obscures knowledge and stupefies man.

When Lust seizes the senses, the mind is corrupted, discrimi¬
nation is obscured and reason ruined. See H,

41. Therefore, O Bharatarshabha, bridle thou first the senses and then
rid thyself of this sinner, the destroyer of knowledge and discrimination.

42. Subtle, they say, arc the senses; subtler than the senses is the mind;
subtler than the mind is the reason; but subtler even than the reason is He,

‘‘anasaktiyoga*’ 109

43. Thus realizing Him to be subtler than the reason, and controlling
the self by the Self ( atman ), destroy, O Mahabahu, this enemy—Lust, so hard
to overcome.

When man realizes Him, his mind will be under His control,
not swayed by the senses. And when the mind is conquered, what
power has Lust? It is indeed a subtle enemy, but when once the
senses, the mind and the reason are under the control of the subtle-
most Self, Lust is extinguished.

DISCOURSE IV

This discourse further explains the subject-matter of the third and
describes the various kinds of sacrifice.

6. Though unborn and inexhaustible in My essence, though Lord of all
beings, yet assuming control over My Nature, I come into being by My myste¬
rious power. 1

7. For whenever Right declines and Wrong prevails, then O Bharata,

I come to birth.

8. To save the righteous, to destroy the wicked, and to re-establish Right
I am born from age to age.

Here is comfort for the faithful and affirmation of the truth
that Right ever prevails. An eternal conflict between Right and
Wrong goes on. Sometimes the latter seems to get the upper
hand, but it is Right which ultimately prevails. The good are
never destroyed, for Right-—which is Truth—cannot perish; the
wicked are destroyed because Wrong has no independent exis¬
tence. Knowing this let man cease to arrogate to himself author¬
ship and eschew untruth, violence and evil. Inscrutable Provi¬
dence—the unique power of the Lord—is ever at work. This in
fact is avatar, incarnation. Strictly speaking there can be no birth
for God.

9. He who knows the secret of this My divine birth and action is not
bom again, after leaving the body; he comes to Me, O Arjuna.

For when a man is secure in the faith that Right always pre¬
vails, he never swerves therefrom, pursuing to the bitterest end and
against serious odds, and as no part of the effort proceeds from
his ego, but all is dedicated to Him, being ever one with Him,
he is released from birth and death.

1 Mahadev Desai explains: “Gandhiji’s translation says: ‘because of My
Nature*. Prakriti is here Nature. God by His mysterious power— maya —assumes
the garb of prakriti and looks as though He was born.”

Tim OOLLRGTM) WORKS OF MA.11A.TMA. GANDHI

10. Freed from passion, tear and wralh, (lilt'd full with Mr, Inlying on
Me* ancl refined by the firry ordeal of knowledge, many have heroine one

with Me.

11. In whatever way men resort to Mr, even so do l render to them.

In every way, O Fartlia, the path men (ollow is Man *

That is, the whole world is under His ordinance. No one
may break (rod’s law with impunity. As wo sow^ so shall wo
reap. This law operates inexorably without fear or favour.

12. Those who ilc.siiv their actions to bear fruit worship the gods here;
for in this world of men the fruit of action is quickly oliluinahlc.

Gods, as indicated before, must, not be taken to mean the
heavenly beings of tradition, but whatever roller,ts the divine. Itt
that sense man is also a god. Steam, eleetrieity and tin- other great
forces of Nature arc all gods. Propitiation of those Imres quickly
hears fruit, us we well know, but it is short-lived. It fails to bring
comfort to the soul and it certainly does not take one even a
short step towards salvation.

13. The order of the four varuas was created by Me according to the dllfe*
rent gtmns and karma of each; yet know that though, therefore, author thereof,
being' changeless l am not the author.

14. Actions do not ailed Me, nor am I concerned with the fruits there¬
of. He who recognises Me as such is not bound by actions.

For man has thus Indore him the supremo example* of One who
though in action is not the Doer thereof! And when wo are but
instruments in His hands, where then is the room lor arrogating
responsibility for action i

15. Knowing this did men of old, desirous of Freedom, perform action;
do thou, then just as they did ■ the men of old in days gout' by.

16. 1 What is action? What inaction?’ t lere even the wise an* perplexed.

I will then expound to thee that action knowing which thou shall he saved from
evil

17. For it is meet to know the meaning of action, of forbidden action,
as also of inaction. Impenetrable is the seen;! of action. 1

18. Who sites inaction in action and action In inaction, he is enlightened
among men, he is a yogi, he has done all he need do,

1 Mahadev Desai explains;

*‘Three classes of action are here mentioned:

(t) Karma, he,, action which is capable of being performed without at¬
tachment, but is not so performed and therefore hinds; also including inaction
or laziness which presupposes selfishness of attachment and therefore binds;

*‘ANASAKTIYOG A 5 ’ 111

The ‘action 2 3 * 5 of him who, though ever active, does not claim
to be the doer, is inaction, and the ‘inaction 5 of him who, though
outwardly avoiding action, is always building castles in his own
mind, is action. The enlightened man who has grasped the secret
of action knows that no action proceeds from him, all proceeds
from God and hence he selflessly remains absorbed in action. He
is the true yogi. The man who acts self-fully misses the secret of
action and cannot distinguish between Right and Wrong. The
soul’s natural progress is towards selflessness and purity and one
might, therefore, say that the man who strays from the path of
purity strays from selflessness. All actions of the selfless man are
naturally pure.

19. He whose every undertaking is free from desire and selfish purpose,
and he who has burnt all his actions in the fire of knowledge—such a one
the wise call a pundit.

20. He who has renounced attachment to the fruit of action, who is
ever content, and free from all dependence—he, though immersed in action,
yet acts not.

That is, his action does not bind him.

21. Expecting naught, holding his mind and body in check, putting away
every possession, and going through action only in the body, he incurs no stain.

The purest act, if tainted by ‘self 5 , binds. But when it is
done in a spirit of dedication, it ceases to bind. When ‘self 5 has
completely subsided, it is only the body that works. For instance,
in the case of a man who is asleep his body alone is working. A
prisoner doing his prison task has surrendered his body to the
prison authorities and only his body, therefore, works. Similarly,
he who has voluntarily made himself God’s prisoner, does no¬
thing himself. His body mechanically acts, the doer is God, not
he. He has reduced himself to nothingness.

22. Content with whatever chance may bring, rid of the pairs of oppo¬
sites, free from ill will, even-minded in success and failure, he is not bound
though he acts.

(2) Vikarma, forbidden action, i.e., action which by its own nature is
incapable of being performed without attachment, and hence necessarily bind¬
ing, c.g., murder, lying, adultery and so forth;

(3) Akarma, i.e., action, mental or physical, which is performed without
attachment and therefore does not bind.

Shri Vinoba has made a bold departure in his interpretation of the word

‘vikarma?. It means, he says, specific action, i.e., when the mind co-operates
with the body and helps to make a self-ful action selfless. Mathematically he
expresses it in this formula, karmawikarma—akarma , J5

112

THE COLLECTED WOR&S OE MAHATMA OAMimi

23. Of llw fire soul who has shed all alturlinirnl, wlm.sr mind is firmly
grounded in knowledge, who aels only for saenhro, all karma is rxliuguLshed.

24. The offering of sarrilirc is Bralmuan; the ohkuioii is Brahman; it is
ollcred by Brahman in the lire that is Brahman; thus he whose mind is fixed on
acts dedicated to Brahman must needs pass on to Brahman.

25. Some yogis perform saerifiee in the, form of worship of the gods,
others oiler sacrifice of sacrifice itself m the lire that is Brahman,

26. Some oiler as sacrifice the sense of hearing and the other senses in
the fires 1 of restraint; others sacrifice sound and the other objects of sense in
the fires of the senses.

The restraint of the senses hearing and others is one thing;
and directing them only to legitimate objects, e.g., listening to
hymns in the praise of God, is another, although ultimately both
amount to the same thing,

27. Others again sacrifice all the activities of the senses and of the
vital energy in the yogir lire of self-control kindled by knowledge.

That is to say, they lose themselves in the contemplation of
the Supreme.

28. Some sacrifice with material gifts; with austerities; with yoga;
some with the acquiring and some with the imparting of knowledge, All these
arc sacrifices of stern vows and serious endeavour,

29. Others absorbed in the practices of the control of the vital energy
sacrifice the outward in the inward and the inward in the outward, or check
the flow of both the inward and the outward vital airs.

The reference here is to the three kinds of practices of the
control of vital energy pitraka , rechaka and ktmihhaka 2

30. Yet others, abstemious in food, sacrifice one form of vital energy
in another. Alt these know what saerifiee is and purge themselves of all im¬
purities by sacrifice.

31. Those who partake of the residue of sacrifice called umrita (am-
brosia) — attain to everlasting Brahman, liven this world is not for a non-
sacriiicer; how then the next, O Kurusattama?

1 Maliadev Dcsai explains: "Fires "-■■•the plural is used to denote the diffe¬
rent yogic processes of restraint- dharana (concentration), dhy/mn (meditation)
and samadhi (absorption in the object of meditation) all three constituting self-
restraint-— sanyama.

2 Mahadcv Dcsai explains: "Puraka practice consists in drawing the breath
in and stopping all exhalation, i.e., in the language of shloka 21) ‘sacrificing
the outward (called prana) in the inward (called apana )’; rechaka practice consists
in throwing the breath outward and stopping all inhalation, i.e., in the language
of shloka 29, ‘sacrificing the inward (apana) in the outward (prana)'-, kumbhaka

c ‘anasaktiyoga 55 113

32. Even so various sacrifices have been described in the Vedas; know
them all to proceed from action; knowing this thou shalt be released.

Action here means mental, physical and spiritual action. No
sacrifice is possible without this triple action and no salvation
without sacrifice. To know this and to put the knowledge into
practice is to know the secret of sacrifice. In fine, unless man uses
all his physical, mental and spiritual gifts in the service of mankind,
he is a thief, unfit for Freedom. He who uses his intellect only and
spares his body is not a full sacrificer. Unless the mind and the
body and the soul are made to work in unison, they cannot be
adequately used for the service of mankind. Physical, mental and
spiritual purity is essential for their harmonious working. There¬
fore man should concentrate on developing, purifying, and turning
to the best use all his faculties.

33. Knowledge-sacrifice is better, O Parantapa, than material sacrifice,
for all action which does not bind finds its consummation in Knowledge (jnana).

Who does not know that works of charity performed with¬
out knowledge often result in great harm? Unless every act, how¬
ever noble its motive, is informed with knowledge, it lacks per¬
fection. Hence the complete fulfilment of all action is in know¬
ledge.

34. The masters of knowledge who have seen the truth will impart to
thee this Knowledge; learn it through humble homage and service and by
repeated questioning.

The three conditions of knowledge—homage, repeated ques¬
tioning and service—deserve to be carefully borne in mind in this
age. Homage or obeisance means humility, and service is a neces¬
sary accompaniment; else it would be mock homage. Repeated
questioning is equally essential, for without a keen spirit of inquiry,
there is no knowledge. All this presupposes devotion to and faith
in the person approached. There can be no humility, much less
service, without faith.

35. When thou hast gained this knowledge, O Pandava, thou shalt not
again fall into such error; by virtue of it thou shalt see all beings without
exception in thyself and thus in Me.

The adage c Tatha pinde tatha brahmandc* (w fqi — c as

with the self so with the universe 5 ) means the same thing. He
who has attained self-realization sees no difference between him¬
self and others.

36. Even though thou be the most sinful of sinners, thou shalt cross the
ocean of sin by the boat of knowledge.

41-8

114

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA. GANDHI

37. Asa blazing fire turns its fuel to ashes, () Arjuna, even so the lire
of Knowledge turns all actions to ashes,

38. There is nothing in tins world so purifying as Knowledge, lie who
is perfected by yoga finds it in himself in the fulness of lime.

39. It is the man of faith, who gains knowledge tint man who is intent
on it and who has mastery over his senses; having gained knowledge', he comes
ere long to the supreme peace.

40. But the man of doubt, with,out knowledge and without faith, is lost;
for him who is given to doubt there is neither this world nor that beyond, nor
happiness.

41. lie who has renounced all action by means of yoga, who has severed
all doubt by means of knowledge -lum self-possessed, no actions hind, 0
Dhauanjaya!

42. Therefore, with tile sword of self-realization sever thou this doubt
bred of ignorance, which has crept into thy heart! Brtake thyself to yoga and
arise, O Bharata!

DhSCOURSH V

This discourse is devoted to showing that renunciation of action as
such is impossible without the discipline of sc.ljkss action and that both
are ultimately one.

Arjuna said:

1. Thou laudat renunciation of actions, O Krishna, whilst at the same
time thou laudest performance, of action; tell me lor a certainty which is the
better.

The Lord said:

2. Renunciation and performance of action both lead to salvation; but
of the two karmayoga (performance) is fie Iter than sanuyasa (renunciation).

3. Him one should know as ever renouncing who has no dislikes and
likes; for he who is free from the pairs of opposites is easily released from
bondage.

That is, not renunciation of action but of attachment to the
pairs, determines true renunciation. A man who is always in
action may be a good sarmyasi (renouncer) and another who may
■be doing no work may well be a hypocrite. See III. 6.

4. It is the ignorant who speak of samkhya anti yoga as didm-nt, not so
those who have knowledge. He who is rightly established even in one wins
to thfc fruit of both.

The yogi engrossed in samkhya (knowledge) lives c, n m
thought for the good of the world and attains the fruit of
karmayoga by the sheer power of his thought. The karmayogi

‘ ‘ anasaktiyoga’ ’ 115

ever engrossed in unattached action naturally enjoys the peace
of the jnanayogi.

8. The yogi who has seen the Truth knows that it is not he that acts
whilst seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, walking, sleeping or breath¬
ing,

9. Talking, letting go, holding fast, opening or closing the eyes — in the
conviction that it is the senses that are moving in their respective spheres.

So long as ‘self 5 endures, this detachment cannot be achieved.
A sensual man therefore may not shelter himself under the
pretence that it is not he but his senses that are acting. Such a
mischievous interpretation betrays a gross ignorance of the Gita
and right conduct. The next shloka makes this clear.

10. He who dedicates his actions to Brahman and performs them without
attachment is not smeared by sin, as the lotus-leaf by water.

13. Renouncing with the mind all actions, the dweller in the body,
who is master of himself, rests happily in his city of nine gates, neither doing
nor getting anything done.

The principal gates of the body are the two eyes, the two
nostrils, the two ears, the mouth, and the two organs of excretion—
though really speaking the countless pores of the skin are no less
gates. If the gate-keeper always remains on the alert and performs
his task, letting in or out only the objects that deserve ingress
or egress, then of him it can truly be said that he has no part
in the ingress or egress but that he is a passive witness. He thus
does nothing nor gets anything done.

14. The Lord creates neither agency nor action for the world; neither
does He connect action with its fruit. It is nature that is at work.

God is no doer. The inexorable law of karma prevails, and in
the very fulfilment of the law—giving everyone his deserts, making
everyone reap what he sows—lies God’s abounding mercy and
justice. In undiluted justice is mercy. Mercy which is inconsistent
with justice is not mercy but its opposite. But man is not a
judge knowing past, present and future. So for him the law is
reversed and mercy or forgiveness is the purest justice. Being
himself ever liable to be judged, he must accord to others what
he would accord to himself, viz., forgiveness. Only by cultivating
the spirit of forgiveness can he reach the state of a yogi, whom no
actions bind, the man of even-mindedness, the man skilled in
action.

15. The Lord does not take upon Himself anyone’s vice or virtues it is
ignorance that veils knowledge and deludes all creatures.

The delusion lies in man arrogating to himself the authorship
of action and then attributing to (Joel the consequence thereof—
punishment or reward as the ease may be.

18. The men of sclf-roaliaation look with an equal eye on a Brahmana
possessed of learning and humility, a cow, an elephant, a dog and even a dog-
eater.

That is to say, they serve every one of them alike, according
to the needs oi each* i,reating a Brahmana and shwctpaJccc
(dog-eater) alike means that the wise man will suck the poison
off a snake-bitten shrvapaka with as much eagerness and readiness
as he would 1'rom a snake-bitten Brahmana.

19. In this vet y hotly they have emupu-red the round (if birth and
death, whose mind is anchored in sameness; for perfect Brahman is same to all

therefore in Brahman they rest,

As a man thinks, so lie becomes, mid therefore those' whose

minds are bent on being the same to alt achieve that sameness
and become one with Brahman.

20. He whose, understanding is secure, wiio is undeluded, who knows
Jrahman and who rests in Brahman, will neither Ik- glad to got what is
Peasant, nor sad to get wiiaL is unpleasant.

21. lie who has detached himself from contacts without, finds bliss in
Uman; having achieved union with Bralunan lie enjoys eternal bliss.

He who lias weaned himself from outward objects to the mner
alman is fitted for union with Brahman and the highest bliss. To
withdraw oneself from contacts without and to bask in the
sunshine of union with Brahman are two aspects of the same state
two sides of the same coin. ,

23, flic mail who is able even here on earth, ere he Is released from the

lody, to hold, out ngamst the Hood-tide of lust and wrath he is a yogi, hi

‘ c AN AS AKTIYO G A 5 5 117

His physical exercises help the latter to keep his senses of
enjoyment in full vigour. The yogic practices help the yogi to keep
his body in condition and his senses in subjection. Men versed
in these practices are rare in these days, and few of these turn
them to good account. He who has achieved the preliminary stage
on the path of self-discipline, he who has a passion for Freedom,
and who having rid himself of the pairs of opposites has conquered
fear, would do well to go in for these practices which will surely
help him. It is such a disciplined man alone who can, through
these practices, render his body a holy temple of God. Purity both
of the mind and body is a sine qua non, without which these
processes are likely, in the first instance, to lead a man astray and
then drive him deeper into the slough of delusion. That this has
been the result in some cases many know from actual experience.
That is why that prince of yogis, Patanjali, gave the first place to
yamas (cardinal vows) and niyamas (casual vows) and held as
eligible for yogic practices only those who have gone through
the preliminary discipline.

The five cardinal vows are: non-violence, truth, non-stealing,
celibacy, non-possession. The five casual vows are: bodily purity,
contentment, the study of the scriptures, austerity, and meditation
of God.

29. Knowing Me as the Acceptor of sacrifice and austerity, the great
Lord of all the worlds, the Friend of all creation, the yogi attains to peace.

This shloka may appear to be in conflict with shlokas 14 and
15 of this discourse and similar ones in other discourses. It is not
really so. Almighty God is Doer and non-Doer, Enjoyer and
non-Enjoyer, both. He is indescribable, beyond the power of
human speech. Man somehow strives to have a glimpse of Him
and in so doing invests Him with diverse and even contradictory
attributes. 1

1 Mahadev Desai explains: “We have had in the discourse a com¬
parison of the jnanayogi or the philosophic mystic and the karmayogi or the
active mystic. The shlokas v. 27-29 start a new comparison now — quite a
parallel dichotomy as it evidences itself in the life of the devotee. Shloka
27-28 introduce to us the contemplative or meditative mystic— dhyanayogi — to
be described in discourses vi, vii and vm, while shloka 29 describes the devo¬
tional mystic, the bhaktiyogi who worships the Supreme in His one or many
manifestations, to be described in discourses xi-xii. To him God- appears
or reveals Himself as the Acceptor of all sacrifices and the Friend of all
creation.”

118

TUB GOLLHC'.TKl) WORKS OK MAHATMA. GANDHI

DISCOURSE VI

This discourse deals with some of the means for the accomplishment
of yoga or the discipline, of the mind and its activities.

The Lord said:

1. Ilo who performs rill obligatory action, without depending on dir fruit
thereof, is a simuyasi and a yogi -not dir man who nr gleets the sacrificial
fire nor ho who neglects action.

Fire here may he taken to moan all possible instruments of
action. Fire was needed when sacrifices used to be performed
with its help. Assuming* that spinning were a means of universal
service in this age, a man by neglecting the spinning-wheel would
not become a sannyasi,

2. What is called saunyusa, know thou to hr yoga, <) Pandava; for none
can become a yogi who has not renounced Hellish purpose.

3. For the man who seeks to scab' the heights of yoga, aetion is said to
he the means; for the same man, when he lias sealed those heights, repose is
said to be the means.

He who has purged himself of all impurities ami who has
achieved evemmindedness will easily achieve self-realr/ntiom But
this does not mean that he who has sealed the heights of yoga will
disdain to work for the guidance of the world. On the contrary
that work will be to him not only as the breath of his nostrils,
but also as natural to him as breathing, lie will do so by the
sheer force of his will Sec 1 * V. 4.

4. When a man is not attached either to the objects of sense or to
actions and sheds all selfish purpose, then he is said to have scaled the heights

5. By one's self should one raise oneself, and not allow oneself to fall;
for atman (Self) alone is the friend of self, and self alone is se 11 H 1 Of *

6. His Self alone is friend, who has conquered himself by Ins Self; but
to him who lias not conquered himself and is thus inimical to himself, even
his Self behaves as foe. 1

1 Mahadev Desai explains; <£ I have in my translation distinguished *utman\
the higher Self, from the lower self, though it is not quite dear whether
Gandhiji does so in his translation, Atman is, really speaking, neither friend

“anasaktiyoga 5 5 119

14. Tranquil in spirit, free from fear, steadfast in the vow of brahma-
chary a, holding his mind in control, the yogi should sit, with all his thoughts
on Me, absorbed in Me.

Brahmacharya (usually translated ‘celibaoy 3 ) means not only
sexual continence but observance of all the cardinal vows for the
attainment of Brahman.

15. The yogi, who ever thus, with mind controlled, unites himself to
atman 3 wins the peace which culminates in Nirvana, the peace that is in Me.

29. The man equipped with yoga looks on all with an impartial eye,
seeing atman in all beings and all beings in atman .

30. He who sees Me everywhere and everything in Me, never vanishes
from Me nor I from him.

31. The yogi who, anchored in unity, worships Me abiding in all be¬
ings, lives and moves in Me, no matter how he live and move.

So long as ‘self 3 subsists, the Supreme Self is absent; when
‘self 3 is extinguished, the Supreme Self is seen everywhere. Also
see note on XIII. 23.

46. The yogi is deemed higher than the man of austerities; lie is deemed
also higher than the man of knowledge; higher is he than the man engrossed
in ritual; therefore be thou a yogi, O Arjuna!

The man of austerities means the man practising them with
an eye to fruit; the man of knowledge does not mean the jnani
who has realized the truth, but a man of learning.

47. And among all yogis, he who worships Me with faith, his inmost
self all rapt in Me, is deemed by Me to be the best yogi.

DISCOURSE VII

With this discourse begins an exposition of the nature of Reality and
the secret of devotion.

The Lord said:

1. Hear, O Partha, how, with thy mind rivet ted on Me, by practising
yoga and making Me the sole refuge, thou shalt, without doubt, know Me fully.

4. Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Ether, Mind, Reason and Ego — thus eight¬
fold is my prakriti divided.

This eightfold prakriti is substantially the same as the field
described in XIII. 5 and the perishable Being in XV. 16.

5. This is My lower aspect; but know thou My other aspect, the higher
—which is jiva (the Vital Essence) by which, O Mahabahu, this world is sus¬
tained.

6. Know that these two compose the source from which all beings spring;
I am the origin and end of the entire universe.

120

TItft OOTJ.KCrrKI) WORKS OK MAHATMA OANDHT

12. Know lltal all the manifestation# of the three gwias^ snttva s rajas t
and tamaSj proceed from none t>ut Mr; yet 1 am not in them, they art' in Me.

God is not dependent on them, they are dependent on Him.
Without Him those various manifestations would he impossible.

13. Beloved by these manifr,stations of the three pjtw$,s\ the entire world
fails to recognize Me, the Imperishable, an transcending them.

14. For this My divine delusive mystery made up of the three gmas
is hard to pierce; hut those who make Me their sole refuse pierce the veil

25. Veiled by the delusive mystery created by My unique power, I am
not manliest to all; this bewildered work! does not recognize Me, tart bless and
changeless.

Having the power to create tills world of sense and yet un¬
affected by it, He is described as having; unique power.

2h. Those who endeavour for freedom from age and death by taking
refuge In Me, know in full that Brahman, tuihwfmtt and all karma,,

30, Those who know Me, including adhihhttht* odhhhihkt, itdhiyqjna, possess*
ed of even-mindedness, they know Me even at the time of pacing away.

"The terms in italics are defined in the next discourse the sub¬
ject of which is indicated in 29dUb The sense is that every nook
and cranny of the universe is filled with Brahman, that He ts the
sole Agent of all action* and that the man who imbued with this
knowledge and faith completely surrenders himself to Him,
becomes one with Him at the time of passing lienee. All his
desires are extinguished in his vision nfllim and lie wins his freedom*

DISCOURSE VI rt

The nature of the Supreme is further expounded in this discourse .

Arjuna said:

1. What is that Brahman? What is adhyatma ? What karma, O Purushot-
tama? What is called adhibhuta ? And what adhukivu?

2* And who here in this body is tuMyajna and how? And how at the
time of death art Thou to be known by the self-controlled?
the Lord said;

3. The Supreme, the Imperishable is Brahman; its manifestation is
adhyatma; the creative process whereby all beings are created is called karma,

4. Adhibhuta is My perishable form; mlhuhimt h the individual self in
that form; and O best among the embodied, adhtytyna am I in this body,
purified by sacrifice.

That is, from the Imperishable Unmanifest down to the peri¬
shable atom everything in the universe is the Supreme and an

‘ c ANAS AKTIY O GA 5 5 121

expression of the Supreme. Why then should mortal man arrogate
to himself authorship of anything rather than do His bidding
and dedicate all action to Him? 1

5. And he who, at the last hour remembering Me only, departs leaving
the body, enters into Me; of that there is no doubt.

6. Or whatever form, a man continually contemplates, that same he
remembers in the hour of death, and to that very form he goes, O Kaunteya.

7. Therefore at all times remember Me and fight on; thy mind and
reason thus on Me fixed thou shalt surely come to Me. 2

8. With thought steadied by constant practice, and wandering nowhere,
he who meditates on the Supreme Celestial Being, O Partha, goes to Him.

17. Those men indeed know what is Day and what is Night, who know
that Brahma’s day lasts a thousand yugas and that his night too is a thousand
yugas long.

That is to say, our day and night of a dozen hours each are
less than the infinitesimal fraction of a moment in that vast cycle of
time. Pleasures pursued during these incalculably small moments

1 Mahadev Desai explains: ‘ ‘Gandhiji has summed up in his brief note
the gist of this quatrain for those who will not bother about technical terms.
A deeply spiritual friend has obliged me with an interpretation which lights up
the apparent abracadabras with a deal of meaning: The shlokas describe the
whole process in which the Absolute becomes conditioned and from the con¬
ditioned state becomes Absolute again. (1) We have first the Impersonal,
Unmanifest, Unconditioned Absolute; (2) It chose to reveal one of Its aspects
—that aspect was primordial unmanifest prakriti— here called adhyatma; (3) Prakriti
next became active—this disturbance in the equilibrium of its gunas was karma—
work, action; (4) the next steps in the process were the countless manifestations
of matter, with name and form — that is adhibhuta; (5) then the Absolute inform¬
ed these with its Ego, i.e., became conditioned; that is adhidaiva; (6) but the
conditioned had the potentiality to recover its pristine unconditioned state by
means of giving of itself a pure sacrifice. The culmination of this self-sacrifice
comes with the dissolution of the body and the merging or identification of
the conditioned in the Unconditioned.

In short, it is the cycle of sacrifice that is described. The Supreme
Being sacrifices Himself in the first instance and ultimately the individual
sacrifices himself to be merged in the original Essence. Cf. in. 15, which
describes the same cycle of sacrifice.”

2 Mahadev Desai explains; “This shloka should make it abundantly clear
that all through in his exhortation to Arjuna to fight, it was not only the
actual warfare in front of them that was meant, but the fight — moral and
spiritual — that is man’s lot on earth. Cf. Jesus’ words: ‘Whosoever would
come after me, let him renounce himself and take up his cross daily and follow
me. 9 It is the taking up one’s cross daily, at every moment, that is meant
here. See also shloka 14. ‘Life is a perpetual striving. There is always a
tempest raging in us, and struggle against temptation is a perpetual duty.
The Gita says this in several places.’ ”— Harijan , 8-7-’33

122

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

are as illusory as a mirage. Rather than waste these brief mo¬
ments, we should devote them to serving God through service of
mankind. On the other hand, our time is such a small drop in
the ocean of eternity that if we fail of our object hero, viz., self-
realization, we need not despair. Wc should bide; our time.

18. At the coming of Day all the manifest spring forth from the Un¬
manifest, and at the coming of Night they arc dissolved into that same Un-
manifest.

Knowing this too, man should understand that he has very
little power over things. The round of birth and (loath is cease¬
less.

23. Now I will tell th.ee, Bharatarshabha, the conditions which determine
the exemption from return, as also the return, of yogis after they pass away
hence.

24. Fire, Light, Day, the Bright Fortnight, the six months of the Northern
Solstice — through these departing mm knowing Brahman go to Brahman.

25. Smoke, Night, the Dark Fortnight, the six months of the Southern
Solstice — therethrough the yogi attains to the lunar light and thence returns.

I do not understand the meaning of those two shlokaw They
do not seem to me to be consistent with the teaching of the OU(L
The Gita teaches that he whose heart is meek with devotion, who
is devoted to unattached action and has seen the Truth must win
salvation, no matter when he dies. These shlokas seem to run counter
to this. They may perhaps be stretched to mean broadly
that a man of sacrifice, a man of light, a man who has known
Brahman finds release from birth if he retains that enlightenment
at the time of death, and that on the contrary the man who has
none of these attributes goes to the world of the moon -not at all
lasting—and returns to birth. The moon, after all, shines with
borrowed light!

26. These two paths — bright and dark— are deemed to he the eternal
paths of the world; by the one a man goes to return not, by the other he
returns again.

The bright one may be taken to mean the path of knowledge
and the dark one that of ignorance.

27. The yogi knowing these two paths falls not into delusion, O Far ilia;
therefore, at all times, O Arjuna, remain steadfast in yoga.

‘Will not fall into delusion 9 means that lie who knows the
two paths and has known the secret of cvcn-mindcdness will not
take' the path of ignorance*

c ‘anasaktiyoga 5 ’ 123

28. Whatever fruit of good deeds is laid down as accruing from (a
study of) the Vedas, from sacrifices, austerities, and acts of charity—all that
the yogi transcends, on knowing this, and reaches the Supreme and Primal
Abode.

He who has achieved even-mindedness by dint of devotion,
knowledge and service not only obtains the fruit of all his good
actions, but also wins salvation.

DISCOURSE IX

This discourse reveals the glory of devotion .

4. By Me, unmanifest in form, this whole world is pervaded; all beings
are in Me, I am not in them.

5. And yet those beings are not in Me. That indeed is my unique power
as Lord! Sustainer of all beings, I am not in them; My Self brings them into
existence.

The sovereign power of God lies in this mystery, this miracle,
that all beings are in Him and yet not in Him, He is in them and
yet not in them. This is the description of God in the language of
mortal man. Indeed He soothes man by revealing to him all His
aspects by using all kinds of paradoxes. All beings are in Him
inasmuch as all creation is His; but as He transcends it all as
He really is not the author of it all, it may be said with equal
truth that the beings are not in Him. He really is in all His true
devotees, He is not, according to them, in those who deny Him.
What is this if not a mystery, a miracle of God?

11. Not knowing My transcendent nature as the sovereign Lord of all
beings, fools condemn Me incarnated as man.

For they deny the existence of God and do not recognize the
Director in the human body.

20. Followers of the three Vedas, who drink the soma juice and are purged
of sin, worship Me with sacrifice and pray for going to heaven; they reach
the holy world of the gods and enjoy in heaven the divine joys of the gods.

The reference is to the sacrificial ceremonies and rites in
vogue in the days of the Gita. We cannot definitely say what they
were like nor what the soma juice exactly was.

21. They enjoy the vast world of heaven, and their merit spent, they
enter the world of the mortals; thus those who, following the Vedic law,
long for the fruit of their action earn but the round of birth and death.

22. As for those who worship Me, thinking on Me alone and nothing
else, ever attached to Me, I bear the burden of getting them what they need.

124

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

There are thus three unmistakable marks of a true yogi or
bhakta —even-mindedness, skill in action, undivided devotion. These
three must be completely harmonized in a yogi. Without devotion
there is no even-mindedness, without cven-mindedncss no devotion.

well be a pretence.

23. Even those who, devoted to other gods, worship them in hill
faith, even they, O Kaunteya, worship none but Me, though not according to
the rule.

“Not according to the rule 55 means not knowing Me as the
Impersonal and the Absolute.

26. Any offering of leaf, flower, fruit or water, made to Me in devotion
by an earnest soul, X lovingly accept.

That is to say, it is the Lord in every being whom we serve
with devotion who accepts the service.

27. Whatever thou doest, whatever thou eatest, whatever thou offerest
as sacrifice or gift, whatever austerity thou dost perform, O Kaunteya,
dedicate all to Me.

28. So doing thou shalt be released from the bondage of action, yielding
good and evil fruit; having accomplished both renunciation and performance,
thou shalt be released (from birth and death) and come unto Me.

29. I am the same to all beings; with Me there is none disfavoured,
none favoured; but those who worship Me with devotion are in Me and I
in them.

30. A sinner, howsoever great, if he turns to Me with undivided devo¬
tion, must indeed be counted a saint; for he has a settled resolve.

The undivided devotion subdues both his passions and his

* *1 1 T

evil deeds.

31. For soon he becomes righteous and wins everlasting peace; know
for a certainty, O Kaunteya, that My bhakta never perishes.

DISCOURSE X

For the benefit of His devotees, the Lord gives in this discourse a glimpse
of His divine manifestations.

36. Of deceivers I am the dice-play; of the splendid, the splendour; I
am victory, I am resolution, I am the goodness of the good.

The ‘dice-play of deceivers’ need not alarm one. For the
good and evil nature of things is not the matter in question, it is
the directing and immanent power of God that is being described.
Let the deceivers also know that they are under God’s rule and
judgment and put away their pride and deceit.

“anasaktiyoga” 125

39. Whatever is the seed of every being, O Arjuna, that am 1 5 there is
nothing whether moving or fixed, that can be without Me.

40. There is no end to my divine manifestations; what extent of them
I have told thee now is only by way of illustration.

41. Whatever is glorious, beautiful and mighty, know thou that all such
has issued from a fragment of My splendour,

DISCOURSE XI

In this discourse the Lord reveals to Arjuna?s vision what Arjuna has
heard with his ear—the Universal Form of the Lord. This discourse is a
favourite with the bhaktas. Here there is no argument, there is pure
poetry. Its solemn music 1 reverberates in one’s ears and it is not possible
to tire of reading it again and again.

53. Not by the Vedas, not by penance nor by gifts, nor yet by sacrifice,
can any behold Me in the Form that thou hast seen.

54. But by single-minded devotion, O Arjuna, I may in this Form be
known and seen, and truly entered into, O Parantapa!

DISCOURSE XII

Thus we see that vision of God is possible only through single-
minded devotion. Contents of devotion must follow as a matter of course •
This twelfth discourse should be learnt by heart even if all the discour¬
ses are not. It is one of the shortest. The marks of a devotee should be care¬
fully noted.

Arjuna said:

1 . Of the devotees who thus worship Thee, incessantly attached, and
those who worship the Imperishable Unmanifest, which are the better yogis?

The Lord said:

5 . The greater is the travail of those whose mind is fixed on the Un¬
manifest; for it is hard for embodied mortals to gain the Unmanifest— Goal.

Mortal man can only imagine the Unmanifest, the Imper¬
sonal, and as his language fails him he often negatively des¬
cribes It as ‘Neti 5 , ‘Neti’ (Not That, Not That). And so even
iconoclasts are at bottom no better than idol-worshippers. To wor¬
ship a book, to go to a church, or to pray with one’s face in a
particular direction—all these are forms of worshipping the
Formless in an image or idol. And yet both the idol-breaker and

l Mahadcv Desai explains: “The music, of course, of the original! In
translation, ‘the glory is gone’. For a very free rendering which brings out
some at least of the haunting music of the original the reader must go to
Sir Edwin Arnold’s flowing stanzas.”

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

126

the idol-worshipper cannot lose sight of the fact: that there is
something which is beyond all form, Unthinkable, Formless,
Impersonal, Changeless. The highest goal of the devotee is to be¬
come one with the object of his devotion. The hhakta extinguishes
himself and merges into, becomes, Bhagavan. This state can best
be reached by devoting oneself to some form, and so it is said that
the short cut to the Unmanifest is really the longest and the most
difficult.

6. But those who casting all their acLions on Me, making Me their all
in all, worship Me with the meditation of undivided devotion,

7. Of such, whose thoughts are centred on Me, () Partha, 1 become
ere long the Deliverer from the ocean of this world of death.

12. Better is knowledge than practice, better than knowledge is eoncentra*
tion, better than concentration is renunciation of the fruit of all action, from
which directly issues peace.

‘Practice 5 ( abhyasa) is the practice of the yoga of meditation and
control of psychic processes; ‘knowledge 1 (jnana) is intellectual
effort; ‘concentration 5 ( dhyana ) is devoted worship. If as a
result of all this there is no renunciation of the fruit: of action,
‘practice 5 is no ‘practice 5 , ‘knowledge 1 is no ‘knowledge 1 , and
‘concentration 5 is no ‘concentration 5 .

TfcTQfirYT UD CP VffT

J*/ X O vd V* J XJ JLVtO X j 4V X X X

This discourse treats of the distinction between the body {not-Self)
and aiman (the Self).

1. This body, O Kauntcya, is called the Field; he who knows it is
called the knower of the Field by those who know.

2. And understand Me to be, O Bharata, the knower of the Field in all
the Fields; and the knowledge of the Field and the knower of the Field, i
hold, is true knowledge.

3. What that Field is, what its nature, what its modifications, and
whence is what, as also who He is, and what His power*—hear this briefly
from Me.

4. This subject has been sung by seers distinctly and in various ways,
in different hymns as also in aphoristic texts about Brahman well reasoned and
unequivocal.

5. The great elements, Individuation, Reason, the Unmanifest, the ten
senses, and the one (Mind), and the five spheres of the senses;

6. Desire, dislike, pleasure, pain, association, consciousness, cohesion —
this, in sum, is what is called the Field with its modifications.

The great elements are Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether,
‘Individuation 5 is the thought of I, or that the body is ‘I s , the

£ ' ANAS AKTIYO GA 33 127

‘Unmanifest 3 is prakriii or maya; the ten senses are the five senses of
perception—smell, taste, sight, touch and hearing, and the five
organs of action, viz., the hands, the feet, the tongue, and the two
organs of excretion. The five spheres or objects of the senses are
smell, savour, form, touch and sound. ‘Association 3 is the pro¬
perty of the different organs to co-operate. Dhriti is not patience
or constancy but cohesion, i.e., the property of all the atoms in the
body to hold together; from ‘individuation 3 springs this cohesion.
Individuation is inherent in the unmanifest prakriti. The undeluded
man is he who can cast off this individuation or ego, and having
done so the shock of an inevitable thing like death and the pairs
of opposites caused by sense-contacts fail to affect him. The Field,
subject to all its modifications, has to be abandoned in the end
by the enlightened and the unenlightened alike.

11. Settled conviction of the nature of the atman 3 perception of the goal
of the knowledge of Truth, —

All this is declared to be knowledge and the reverse of it is
ignorance.

12. I will (now) expound to thee that which is to be known and know¬
ing which one enjoys immortality; it is the supreme Brahman which has no
beginning, which is called neither Being nor non-Being.

The Supreme can be described neither as Being nor as non-
Being. It is beyond definition or description, above all attributes.

15. Without all beings, yet within; immovable yet moving; so subtle
that it cannot be perceived; so far and yet so near It is.

He who knows It is within It, close to It; mobility and im¬
mobility, peace and restlessness, we owe to It, for It has motion
and yet is motionless.

20. Prakriti is described as the cause in the creation of effects from
causes; Purusha is described as the cause of the experiencing of pleasure
and pain.

21. For the purusha, residing in prakriti, experiences the gunas born of
prakriti ; attachment to these gunas is the cause of his birth in good or evil
wombs.

Prakriti in common parlance is maya . Purusha is the jiva. Jiva
acting in accordance with his nature experiences the fruit of ac¬
tions arising out of the three gunas.

22. What is called in this body the Witness, the Assentor, the Sustain¬
ed the Experiencer, the Great Lord and also the Supreme Atman, is the
Supreme Being.

128

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDIII

23. He who thus knows purusha and prakrili with its gunas, is not bom
again, no matter how he live and move.

Read'in the light of discourses II, XI, and XH this shluka may
not be taken to support any kind of libertinism. Tt shows the
virtue of self-surrender' and selfless devotion. All actions bind the
self, but if all are dedicated to the Lord they do not bind, rather
they release him. He who has thus extinguished the ‘self 1 or the
thought of ‘I 5 and who acts as ever in the great Witness’s eye, will
never sin nor err. The self-sense is at the root of all error or sin.
Where the T has been extinguished, there is no sin. This shloka
shows how to steer clear of all sin.

27. Who sees abiding in all beings the same IVuamrshvara., imperishable
in the perishable, he sees indeed.

28. When he sees the same Ishvara abiding everywhere alike, lie does
not hurt himself by himself and hence lie attains the highest goal.

He who sees the same God everywhere merges in Him and
sees naught else; he thus does not yield to passion, docs not become
his own foe and thus attains Freedom.

29. Who sees that it is prakriii that performs all actions and thus (knows)
that atman performs them not, lie sees indeed.

Just as, in the case of a man who is asleep, his ‘Self’ is not
the agent of sleep, but prakriti, even so the enlightened man will
detach his ‘Self 5 from all activities. To the pure everything is pure.
Prakriti is not unchaste, it is when arrogant man takes her as wife
that of these twain passion is born.

30. When he sees the diversity of beings as founded in unity and the
whole expanse issuing therefrom, then he attains to Brahman.

To realize that everything rests in Brahman is to attain to the
state of Brahman. Then jiva becomes Siva.

DISCOURSE XIV

The description of prakriti naturally leads on to that of its consti¬
tuents, the gunas, which form the subject of this discourse. And that, in
turn, leads on to a description of the marks of him who has passed beyond
the three gunas. These are practically fhe same as those of the man of
secure understanding (II. 54-72) as also those of the ideal bhakta (XII.
12 - 20 ).

19. When the seer perceives no agent other than the gunas, and knows
Him who is above the gunas, he attains to My being.

As soon as a man realizes that he is not the doer, but the
gunas are the agent, the ‘self’ vanishes, and he goes through all

6 'anasaktiyoga 5 ? 129

his actions spontaneously, just to sustain the body. And as the
body is meant to subserve the highest end, all his actions will
ever reveal detachment and dispassion. Such a seer can easily
have a glimpse of the One who is above the gunas and offer his
devotion to Him.

20. When the embodied one transcends these three gunas which are born
of his contact with the body, he is released from the pain of birth, death
and age and attains deathlessness.

Arjuna said:

21. What, O Lord, are the marks of him who has transcended the three
gunas ? How does he conduct himself ? How does he transcend the three gunas ?

The Lord said:

22. He, O Pandava, who does not disdain light, activity, and delusion
when they come into being, nor desires them when they vanish;

23. He who, seated as one indifferent, is not shaken by the gunas , and
stays still and moves not, knowing it is gunas playing their parts;

24. He who holds pleasure and pain alike, who is sedate, who regards
as same earth, stone and gold, who is wise and weighs in equal scale things
pleasant and unpleasant, who is even-minded in praise and blame;

25. Who holds alike respect and disrespect, who is the same to friend
and foe, who indulges in no undertakings — that man is called gunatita.

Skis. 22-25 must be read and considered together. Light,
activity and delusion, as we have seen in the foregoing shlokas,
are the products or indications of sattva, rajas and tamas, respec¬
tively. The inner meaning of these verses is that he who has
transcended the gunas will be unaffected by them. A stone does not
desire light, nor does it disdain activity or inertness; it is still,
without having the will to be so. If someone puts it into motion,
it does not fret; if again it is allowed to lie still, it does not feel
that inertness or delusion has seized it. The difference between a
stone and a gunatita is that the latter has full consciousness and
with full knowledge he shakes himself free from the bonds that
bind an ordinary mortal. He has, as a result of his knowledge,
achieved the repose of a stone. Like the stone he is witness, but
not the doer, of the activities of the gunas or prakriti . Of such jnani
one may say that he is sitting still, unshaken in the knowledge that
it is the gunas playing their parts. We who are every moment of
our lives acting as though we were the doers can only imagine the
state, we can hardly experience it. But we can hitch our waggon
to that star and work our way closer and closer towards it by gra¬
dually withdrawing the self from our actions. A gunatita has expe¬
rience of his own condition but he cannot describe it, for he who

41-9

130

THE COLLECTED WORKS OE JvlA.llA.TMA. GANDHI

can describe it ceases to be one. The moment 1m proceeds to
do so, ‘self’ peeps in. The peace and light and bustle and inertness
of our common experience arc illusoiy. llio (*ila it.sc.ll. 1ms made
it clear in so many words that the sallvik state is the one nearest
that of a gunatita. Therefore everyone should strive to develop
more and more saliva in himself, believing that some day 1m will
reach the goal of the state of gunalila.

DISCOURSE XV

This discourse deals with the Supreme Form of (he. l.ord , transcending
ksliara ( perishable) and akshara ( imperishable).

The Lord said:

1. With its root above and branches below ihe ashvnltha (nr, they say,
is imperishable; it has Vedic hymns lor its loaves; he who knows it knows the

Vedas.

Shvah means tomorrow, and ashvaliha (na slwopi sl/iala) means
that which will not last even until tomorrow, he,, the world of
sense which is every moment in a state of flux, lint oven though it
is perpetually changing, as its root is Brahman or the Supreme,
it is imperishable. It has for its protection and support the leaves
of the Vedic hymns, i.c., clharma. He who knows the world of sense
as such and who knows clharma is the real jnani, that man has really
known the Vedas.

2. Above and below its branches spread, blossoming because of the gunas,
having for their shoots the sense-objects; elect) down in the* world of men are
ramified its roots, in the shape of the consequences of action.

This is the description of the tree of the world of sense as
the unenlightened see it. They fail to discover its Root above in
Brahman and so they arc always attached to the objects of seme.
They water the tree with the three gunas and remain hound to
karma in the world of men.

3. Its form as such is not here perceived, neither is its end,, nor begin¬
ning, nor basis. Let man first hew down this deep-rooted cuhuattha with the
sure weapon of detachment;

4r. Let him pray to win to that haven from which there is no return
and seek to find refuge in the Primal Being from whom has emanated this
ancient world of action.

‘Detachment’ in shl 3 here means dispassion, aversion from
the objects of the senses. Unless man is determined to cut himself
off from the temptations of the world of sense he will go deeper

c f ANASAKTIYOGA 3 5 131

into its mire every day. These verses show that one dare not
play with the obj ects of the senses with impunity.

7. A part indeed of Myself which has been the eternal jiva in this
world of life, attracts the mind and the five senses from their place in prakriti.

9. Having settled Himself in the senses — ear, eye, touch, taste, and smell
— as well as the mind, through them He frequents their objects.

These objects are the natural objects of the senses. The fre¬
quenting or enjoyment of these would be tainted if there were the
sense of T about it; otherwise it is pure, even as a child’s enjoy¬
ment of these objects is innocent.

11. Yogis who strive see Him seated in themselves; the witless ones
who have not cleansed themselves see Him not, even though they strive.

This does not conflict with the covenant that God has made
even with the sinner in discourse 9. Akritatman (: who has
not cleansed himself) means one who has no devotion in him,
who has not made up his mind to purify himself. The most con¬
firmed sinner, if he has humility enough to seek refuge in surren¬
der to God, purifies himself and succeeds in finding Him. Those
who do not care to observe the cardinal and the casual vows and
expect to find God through bare intellectual exercise are witless.
Godless; they will not find Him.

DISCOURSE XVI

This discourse treats of the divine and the devilish heritage.

23. He who forsakes the rule of Shastra and does but the bidding of his
selfish desires, gains neither perfection, nor happiness, nor the highest state.

Shastra does not mean the rites and formulae laid down in the
so-called Dhannashastra, but the path of self-restraint laid down by
the seers and the saints.

24. Therefore let Shastra be thy authority for determining what ought
to be done and what ought not to be done; ascertain thou the rule of the
Shastra and do thy task here (accordingly).

Shastra here too has the same meaning as in the preceding
shloka. Let no one be a law unto himself, but take as his authority*
the law laid down by men who have known and lived religion.

DISCOURSE XVII

On being asked to consider Shastra (<conduct of the worthy) as the
authority , Arjuna is faced with a difficulty . What is the position of those
who 'may not be able to accept the authority of Shastra but who may act

the collected Works of mahatma ganhih

Wj,

in faith? An answer to the question is attempted in this discourse. Krishna
rests content with pointing out the rocks and shoals on the path of one who
forsakes the beaconlight of Shastra (conduct of the worthy). In doing so he
deals with faith and sacrifice, austerity and charily performed with faith,
and their divisions according to the spirit in which they are performed. He
also sings the greatness of the mystic syllables AUM TAT SA'T a formula
of dedication of all work to God.

23. AUM TAT SAT has boon declared to be the threefold name* of Brah¬
man and by that name were created of old the* Brahman os, tin* Vedas and sacrifices.

24. Therefore, with AUM ever on their lips, are all the rites of sacrifice,
charity and austerity, performed always according to tin* rule, by Bxihnnwadins,

25. With the utterance of TAT and without tin* desire for fruit an* the
several rites of sacrifice, austerity and charity performed by those seeking Freedom,

26. SAT is employed in the sense of ‘real 1 and ‘good 1 ; C) Partita, SAT
is also applied to beautiful deeds.

27. Constancy in sacrifice, austerity and charity is called NAT; and all
work for these purposes is also SAT.

The substance of the last four shlokas is that every action should
be done in a spirit of complete dedication to (loti. For AUM alone
is the only Reality. That otdy which is dedicated to It counts.

TUO^ATT’D CIV V\ / l I T

JLUouUUKutj A.V111

This concluding discourse sums up the teaching of the Gila. It may
be said to be summed up in the following : “Abandon all duties and come to
Me, the only Refuge” (66). That is true renunciation. But abandonment of
all duties does not mean abandonment of actions; it means the abandon¬
ment of the desire for fruit, Even the highest act of service must be dedi¬
cated to Him, without the desire. That is tyaga (abandonment), that is
sannyasa (: renunciation ).

17. He who is free from all sense of T, whose motive is untainted, slays

not nor is bound, even though he slay all these worlds.

This shloka though seemingly somewhat baffling is not really
so. The Gita on many occasions presents the ideal to attain which
the aspirant has to strive but which may not be possible completely
to realize in the world. It is like definitions in geometry. A per¬
fect straight line does not exist, but it is necessary to imagine it
in order to prove the various propositions. Even so, it 3.S r"ji t* s s r*^^ 1
to hold up ideals of this nature as standards for imitation in
matters of conduct. This then would seem to be the meaning of
this shloka: He who has made ashes of ‘self’, whose motive is un¬
tainted, may slay the whole world, if he will. But in reality he

LETTER TO MAHADEV DESAI

133

who has annihilated c self 5 has annihilated his flesh too, and he
whose motive is untainted sees the past, present and future. Such
a being can be one and only one—God. He acts and yet is no doer,
slays and yet is no slayer. For mortal man the royal road—the
conduct of the worthy—is ever before him, viz., ahimsa—holding
all life sacred.

36. Hear now from Me, O Bh.aratarsh.abha, the three kinds of pleasure.
Pleasure which is enjoyed only by repeated practice, and which puts an
end to pain,

37. Which, in its inception, is as poison, but in the end as nectar, born
of the serene realization of the true nature of atman —that pleasure is said to
be sattvik.

47. Better one’s own duty, though uninviting, than another’s which may
be more easily performed; doing duty which accords with one’s nature, one
incurs no sin.

The central teaching of the Gita is detachment—abandonment
of the fruit of action. And there would be no room for this
abandonment if one were to prefer another’s duty to one’s own.
Therefore one’s own duty is said to be better than another’s. It
is the spirit in which duty is done that matters, and its unattached
performance is its own reward.

68. He who will propound this supreme mystery to My devotees, shall,
by that act of highest devotion to Me, surely come to Me.

69. Nor among men is there any who renders dearer service to Me than
he; nor shall there be on earth any more beloved by Me than he.

It is only he who has himself gained the knowledge and lived
it in his life that can declare it to others. These two shlokas cannot
possibly have any reference to him who, no matter how he con¬
ducts himself, can give a flawless reading and interpretation of the
Gita while conducting himself anyhow.

The Gita according to Gandhi

85 , LETTER TO MAHADEV DESAI

Kausani,
June 28, 1929

CHI. MAHADEV,

Yesterday I completed my work on the Gita and experienced
a profound delight. I hope I have carefully gone through every¬
thing. I have put in as much I cquld digest from Kaka’s notes,
I have finished the preface,

134

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA ClANMlt

I see from your letter that you will reach the Ashram about
the same time as I.

Padam Singh’s [death] 1 2 was a greater shock than RasikY. It
was not the shock of death but of my own dimness. But f deli¬
berately omitted to observe a fast, ff death is something that
should be welcomed, why observe a fast on its accountOn the
occasion of this terrible death, also, having again reasoned in the
same way, I had my evening meal, although the lime for it. had
almost passed. I had eaten in the morning. After this the death
occurred. The day before his death Padam Singh had talked to me
about his death with a quiet mind, saying, “If I do not survive,
bless my son”. I told him I would take him to the Ashram, and if
he wished it I would make arrangements for him at his own house.
He replied, “I do not ask for this, it is not necessary. What I need
is your blessing.” I reassured him. After Ids death Mohan Joshi
enquired after his relatives. Govind Vallabh Paul hail initiated
a collection. But the relatives refused to accept so much as a
cowrie. “We want the Mahatma’s blessings, nothing more.” There
is here as much heroism as grief. This whole family seems to be
brave; or maybe all the villagers in this province are like this. '1'bey
sell milk. Everyone has his own little piece of land. The people
are poor but not helpless; they arc generous [ though | penniless.
The hill people daily visit this forest which looks uninhabited, and
leave behind something [for us]. Now I am doing nothing with
the cheque except returning it to you. If the person who gave
it wishes to have it back give it to him and if he docs not scud it
to the Ashram, we shall utilize the amount for the Prom Vidyalaya
here. Please let me have the reply to this at the Ashram itself.
This will be posted tomorrow, you could get it on Tuesday when
I leave this place. On the 5th in Delhi the whole day will be taken
up by the Working Committee. On the 5th evening I start for the
Ashram.

It is most important that Vallabhbhai docs not leave Simla
in a hurry. The article about Bardoli ought to be seen, although
it has been despatched. It is good that you have thought of a
pilgrimage to Kotdal. Reaching this spot is also a good thing. Toll
Stokes I often remember him. I wish the complaint of piles is
cured for good. Plow is it you never mention anything about
Vithalbhai’s health?

1 Vide pp. 86-7.

2 Son of Harilal Gandhi, Gandhiji’s eldest son; vide Vol. XL, pp. 13-4
& 28-30.

LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI 135

I got the letter about Gregg’s marriage only this week, though
I had the news earlier from Andrews’s letter.

Panditji had suggested a medicine to Sir T. Vij ayaraghava-
chari. I had asked it to be sent from the Ashram. Did he get it or
not? And did he get the letter I asked Pyarelal to write telling
how it is to be administered ?

I shall go through what you have written about Dashkroi. I
shall write what I can. I had believed that the postal department
in Simla would be wide awake and took it for granted that the
Speaker’s Quarters at any rate would be known to all the postal
employees.

While returning from Bageshwar I was drenched in the rain
for two hours; that again while sitting in a doli. I had no strength
to walk. With wet clothes we had to drive up to the next stop
and climb another three thousand feet. As a result I had fever
for two days. I was expecting a temperature today but it is normal.
Including what I had yesterday, I have so far taken six grains of
quinine. My experiment in diet continues. It has not failed
totally. I cannot say it has been successful. I have no more
doubt that such food can be digested. I have yet to see to what
extent it is superior to cooked food. You may not worry about
this. That I derive the deepest joy from this experiment should
be enough for all friends.

Blessings from

Bapu

[ps.]

I have not read this again.

From a photostat of the Gujarati: S.N. 11454

86. LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI

Kausani,
June 28, 1929

CHI. CHHAGANLAL (jOSHl),

I could finish the Gita work earlier than I had expected—that
is, last night. I have, therefore, time to write.

You quite misunderstood my statement about the Gita. Now
I shall have to hang my head in shame after I return to the
Ashram, for I have not learnt a single verse by heart while here.
Nor was it my intention to do so. I assumed that you knew that
my translation of the Gita had not been revised. In any case this
must have been clear from the next letter.

136

THE COLTjEGTED WORKS OF MAHATMA tJANDHI

Kusum’s thinking that you would leave the Aslmim in my
absence indicates that she has judged you at loss than your worth.

I wonder what she must have seen in your life to form such an
estimate. Never even in a dream has it occurred to me that
you would for a moment leave the Ashram during my absence or
without consulting me, and for a selfish end.

You should certainly pay more attention to all your children.
Both of you should watch them more carefully and see that they
come round, 1 ean understand Ramabelufs strong desire to go
somewhere outside the Ashram. It should he satisfied. It would
even be better if you can send her a,way soon.

Tell Surcndra that (Jin raj still cannot take up the work of
the tannery. It; is Surcndra's work to draft, its report. If he does
not or cannot attend to it, then Valji should do it. In any case,
the burden should not fall on you.

So after all Bhansali has started a fast. I have not seen
KishorclaFs speech. Show it to mo when I arrive there.

Blessings from

Bapv

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N, 5423

on t nr jr T? jy T'o AT AT 70 istff

Gr W * mt hM* JL uAi V* via Vdr t* V *4» M m # m 4 n >ii M 4 ^Jj r /i A I

Kausani,

June 28, 1929

BHAI JETHALAL,

I have your postcard. 1 am not competent to reduce the

subscription in the form of hand-spun yarn, A thousand a month
ought to be an easy job for you. As far as l remember it would
fulfil [the provision of] the Goseva Sanglnds constitution 1 if you
continue your efforts in regard to milk,

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G,N. 1348

1 Vide Appendix I,

88. LETTER TO FULCHAND K. SHAH

Kausani,

June 28 , 1929

BHAISHRI FULCHAND,

I have your letter. I could write this letter because I have
finished the work that I had resolved to do.

Such deserving women as Bhaktibehn can certainly become
volunteers. Regarding Durbarsaheb, real permission can be had
from Vallabhbhai. The satyagraha in connection with Pandit
SunderlaFs book cannot be offered in a native State. The prize
for the spinning-wheel could not be announced on account of my
absence. The amendments from Devchandbhai should go to
the Committee which was appointed in connection with this an¬
nouncement since they relate to fundamentals. . . .* I understand
about Manilal. What you say is correct.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a copy of the Gujarati: C.W. 9297. Courtesy: Shardabehn Shah

89. TELEGRAM TO NAGESHWARA RAO 1 2

[On or after June 29, 1929~\

Nageshwararao

Amrutanjan

Madras

CAN YOU GUARANTEE REPAYMENT SEVEN THOUSAND
WITHIN SIX MONTHS? REPLY KASHIPUR.

Gandhi

From a microfilm: S.N, 15410

1 A few incomplete sentences which yield no meaning are omitted here.

2 In reply to a telegram dated June 28 from Nageshwara Ran and Gane-
san, Madras, received at Almora on June 29 which read; “Request early atten¬
tion telegram and letter, Matters critical,”

90. A QUAMDAIU

A young man has written a long letter about the quandary
facing him. Following is its summary:

I am 24. I passed the matriculation in 1924. Since then
I have been in continuous employment. I have born put¬
ting on pure khacli since 1921. 1 was married in 1924. We
arc four brothers and four sisters, Mv mother is alive.

I came to understand mv country and swadeshi since
1920-21. And thereafter I have worn ldiadi, regarding that as
my duty. But that much, dot's not satisfy me. 1 very much
feci inclined to join the light for swaraj. Hut because of the
immaturity of my thought and of vacillation between my duty
to my parents and that to my country, I have had to mark
time.

Our financial condition is not sound; on the' contrary
wc arc in debt. But I (eel that it is not easy to pay off the
debts while having to meet expenses demanded by society.

The reason why I say all this to you is that since 1921
I was feeling that when my father's economic condition per¬
mitted him to meet his daily wants comfortably and ho had paid
off his debts, I would join the fight for swaraj and be used up.

The plight to which the families in Orissa, Madras and
other places have been reduced by the. foreign Government's
policy of loot and plunder will also be ours and llull of every
family if that policy continues; because every year our country
continues to waste its valuable manpower in addition to los¬
ing crorcs of rupees. Hence in the present condition of the
country every man must, if for no other reason, at any rate
for the benefit of his family, join in the fight; for swaraj.

When I place these thoughts before my parents and seek
their approval, they arc deeply hurt and feel that I am not
discharging my debt to them. And they argue that one does
not burn down one’s house to go on a pilgrimage, that service
to one’s family comes before service to country, that I should
help the family with money and should continue to support
the old evil practices of society, staying within their sight.

I have great regard for my family. They are willing to
see me happy in every way. But they do not like my idea and
as a consequence our relations are strained.

A QUANDARY

139

It is about eight days since I commenced spinning and
I shall spin all my life because I have unshakable faith in
the spinning-wheel. For the last seven years or so, there
has been an inward conflict in me; however, I have been able
to maintain reasonable self-control.

It is now two years since my wife stopped buying foreign
cloth; now she purchases pure khacli.

Other people in my house buy and wear foreign clothes.
For the last fifteen days they have been promising to wear
khacli if I stay on, but perhaps that may be only in order to
stop me from leaving.

I am ready to offer any sacrifice for the sake-of the country.

Such a quandary faces many young men. In this transitional
stage, there will certainly appear to be a contradiction between
service to family and service to country. Parents will desire one
thing, youths understanding the country's plight will desire an¬
other thing. At such a juncture, there cannot be the same way out
in every case and it is not for an outsider to indicate it. The
way prompted by one's inner voice alone is the true way out. Prah-
lad did not disobey his father at another’s instance. Nor does
everyone hear the inner voice. Only he hears it whose heart has
been purified by self-control. What inner voice can a drunkard
ever have ? Would an adulterer commit adultery if he acted in
accordance with his inner voice?

One should not hastily go against one's father’s command or
wish. He who has brought us up has the right to command us, we
have certain duties towards him. But we see that the parents of
today act selfishly. Moreover, some of them do not at all know
their duty to their country; some of them are faint of heart; some
are blind to their duty. It may be questioned how far it is one’s
duty to carry out the commands of such parents.

Considering all this, it is difficult to offer definite advice in a
case like this. But a number of general rules can be suggested.

1. Whenever parents give a piece of advice out of selfish¬
ness, it can be rejected courteously.

2. When parents ask to be served and if this cannot be done
in any other way, it is the son's duty to serve them.

3. But just as a son who has turned a sannyasi cannot run to
the rescue of his parents even when they are in difficulty, so too the
son who has dedicated his all to serving the country cannot aban¬
don the service of his country.

4. When parents expect more from their son than is re¬
quired to meet their true needs, the son has a right to refuse their

140

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

demand. As for example, it is tlie son’s duly not to satisfy the
wishes of his parents when they desire to incur undue expen¬
diture on a wedding.

5. If the parents want their son to commit a.dharma 9 it is never
a duty to do it.

6, There is no contradiction between pure service to country
and pure service to family. This contradiction can occur only bet¬
ween something supposed to be service to family and something
supposed to be service to country.

It is hardly necessary to add to these rules or to frame subt¬
ler rules. Where constant thought is being given to what duty is,
one automatically knows what one’s duty is in a, given situa¬
tion. Every reader should regard the above rules merely as
pointers. Where there is viveka and vichara^ it is easy to know
one’s duty.

[From Gujarati]

Mavajivan , 30-6-1929

91. SMALLPOX AMD CHOLERA

A reader writes : 1 2

As long as we t are ignorant and we malign women, the reign of
superstition will continue. Superstition is there even in educated
Europe and America. So long as man has the craving to live,
etc., so long will superstition continue in greater or less degree.
But as we limit our cravings, so will superstition be on the decline.

But where a superstition can be recognized clearly, an attempt
should be made to remove it. Many people waste money in get¬
ting evil spirits exorcized during sickness and die prematurely. In
the case of a disease like smallpox, where generally no medicine
is administered, superstition establishes a firmer sway, liven the
goddess of smallpox gets a fair share of it. The religious instinct
is not at the bottom of this, but the craving to five, I am firmly
convinced that vows, etc., which arc made merely to cure small¬
pox are a superstition and deserve to be discarded.

It has been proved that smallpox mostly results from insanita¬
tion. In fact one whose blood has lost its vitality catches the in-

1 Discrimination and thoughtfulness

2 The letter is not translated here. The correspondent had stated that
there was an epidemic of smallpox and cholera and a number of superstitions
were prevalent about these maladies. He had also asked whether Gandhiji
had modified the views given in his book on health.

SMALLPOX AND CHOLERA 141

fection. The disease is not as devastating as is believed. I have
found no ground to modify what I have written in my book on
health. It is my experience in many cases that the disease is cured
by proper care. The patient ought to be provided enough air and
light. His clothes must be changed daily. It is the experience of
many doctors that hydropathy is beneficial. Nowadays even
chromo-therapy is pressed into service. But the object here is not to
suggest remedies for smallpox, but to deprecate prevailing super¬
stitions and to get them discarded as well as to lessen the fear of
the disease. Treatment must be sought at the hands of some
knowledgeable and benevolent vaid or doctor or one should ac¬
quire knowledge of hydropathy, etc., and master the treatment
oneself.

Vaccination as a preventive remedy against smallpox is well
known and, in general, doctors set great store by it. In many
countries, it has even been made compulsory. I myself do not believe
in it. So far as prevention of smallpox is concerned, it does help a
little. Even if it does prevent its onset, it produces a number of other
complications. My opposition to it is more on religious grounds.
In order to produce the smallpox vaccine, innumerable animals
are tortured and it passes my understanding how vegetarians can
ever take such vaccine. But those who do not get themselves
vaccinated ought to know and follow the rules of sanitation; they
should not blindly imitate a person like me in this matter. Social
laws cannot be disregarded thoughtlessly. And if one is compelled
to break them, one must put up even with the inconvenience
arising from such breach. No one has the right to endanger
society through his obstinacy. Hence, when smallpox spreads in
a community which believes in vaccination, those who do not
believe in it should, in addition to observing the rules of sanita¬
tion, segregate themselves voluntarily from that society.

[From Gujarati]

Navajivan , 30-6-1929

92. ANGUISH OF ‘71 HINDU 'YOUI'll"

“A Hindu Youth” writes us follows: 1

Being a coward, he holds hack his name. It is a good rule not
to take cognizance of anonymous letters. This youth had no
reason to feel ashamed to communicate to me his name. There
was no fear at all of his name being published without his wish.
But the poet’s assertion that “cowards die many times before their
death” is true indeed. Fewer people die of a disease itself than
from fear of it. People who sillier from the fear of a certain thing
do not suller so much when the thing itselfcomes to pass. There
is nothing in this letter to be ashamed of. If there is shame at
all, it is in doing an evil thing, not in exposing what has been
done. On account of our not understanding this golden principle,
we commit grave sins and turn hypocrites, lienee people like “A

Hindu Youth” must get over fear.

I publish at times letters like the one. under reference because,
despite being anonymous, they contain matter which applies to
many people. This letter is of that sort. The. condition of many
Hindu youths is similar to this young man’s. The. narrowness of
caste and Hindu society’s slavery to convention today are at the
root of it. Instead of tradition following religion, religion is
playing second fiddle to tradition. Conduct contrary to the
caste is regarded as irreligious. There may be many vices current
in the caste system, but, since it is an all-purifying (hmga it
has come to be regarded as faultless and as having the power to
change vice into virtue. Because the practice, of putting on the
vertical mark of one’s sect 2 on one’s forehead has been handed
down through generations, it is regarded as part of religion and if
one does not put it on because it has become a symbol of hypo¬
crisy or for some such strong reason, he is regarded as having
forsaken his religion. Thus by surrendering to convention we
became emasculated and finally even lost our country. The slavery
born in one field proved all-pervasive.

1 The letter is not translated here. The correspondent had stated that he
had to support a large family on a moderate income. There was a dearth of
marriageable girls in his sub-caste, and one had to pay as much as Rs. 5,000
for getting a bride and so he had little hope of marrying. In his frustration, all
manner of thoughts assailed his mind. He had pleaded for Gandliiji’s advice.

2 The Vaishnava sect

ANGUISH OF <C A HINDU YOUTH 55 143

It has become the duty of forward-looking youths to destroy
this tradition of castes. Nevertheless, a number of youths,
instead of doing their duty, out of weakness break the restraints
imposed by castes mentally and in secret action wherever
opportunity offers. And yet they keep up the external pretence
of observing them. The Shastras call this dishonest conduct.

Hence in predicaments like the one facing “A Hindu
Youth”, one has to show courage and hew down the tree of
convention. The young man has entertained perverse thoughts
because of his firm belief that one may not break the imaginary or
artificial restraint imposed by caste. He wants to marry in order
to satisfy his sexual urge. If he has money, he is ready to buy a
bride and then he would pretend that the action fell out of the
category of sexual indulgence because it could be called a
marriage. If such adultery approved by custom or some other
pretence is not possible, he is tempted to commit open adultery
even. And if he holds himself in check, it is because he is afraid of
appearing bad in the eyes of people. If, however, all these things
fail him, he also entertains ultimately the thought of giving up his
religion. This is the limit of cowardice. He who has even a little
understanding of religion can have no excuse whatever to give
up his religion. A religion cannot be put on and put off like a
garment. It is more precious than even the body. A body is born
and it dies. Religion has taught us clearly that it is connected
with the soul and cannot be changed. The rot that has set in
in religion can be got rid of, but religion cannot be given
up. How can one give up a religion in which the Vedas, the
Upanishads and the Puran as were composed, in which myriads of
men performed lifelong tapascharya, a religion whose adherents’
bones have added lustre to the Himalayas and blood has made
the trees and flowers of the Himalayas blossom forth? It is the
reformers alone who have maintained this religion in a state of
splendour by cutting down the dead wood of tradition. In opposing
tradition men like the Buddha, Mahavir, Shankar, Ramanuja,
Kabir, Nanak, Chaitanya, Rammohan Roy, Ramakrishna, Daya-
nanda, Vivekananda and others have pointed out the way to us.
These reformers, far from abandoning their religion, kept it fragrant
and preserved it by breaking down bad traditions.

They were great; therefore they became famous as refor¬
mers. We may not be known as reformers, but it is our duty within
our limited field to save our religion by pulling down irreligion
wherever the latter holds sway by usurping the place of religion.

“A Hindu Youth” should now understand:

144

TIIE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA CANDIII

1. The married slate is not meant Tor the purpose of sexual
indulgence. It is for preserving the sacred love between man and
woman and also for progeny. Moreover, when both are possessed
of passion, religion permits its satisfaction while observing certain
limits. People have held that the less such liberty is taken, the
better it is. Sexual union outside marriage or even union with
one’s married partner merely for the satisfaction of one’s sexual

urge is adultery.

2. Adopting this attitude towards

should seek a wile.

3. He should make a vow not to

marriage, the “Youth”’
oiler even a cowrie or

pice by way of bribe while making that quest.

4. He should apply to his caste to secure

such a girl for

him.

5. If he does not secure one, having notified his caste, he
should look for a girl belonging to the varan of his caste and
should have confidence that if he has worth in him, he will get
a suitable girl. If he is not worthy, he should try to become so.
In doing this his passion will abate and it will be. easy for him to
be patient in obtaining a girl.

6. If he does not get a girl of the same varna since the
varna system has now become weak and exists in name only, he
should secure a girl from any other varna.

7. If he cannot get a maiden, lie should marry a widow.

8. If he has the courage to effect reform in his caste, then

even if he can get a girl from his own caste lie should, in order to
break the practice of marrying from the circle of sub-castes, insist on
finding a girl of the same varna but from another caste.

9. If he has the courage to introduce a reform in regard to
widow-remarriage and if he has the requisite fitness, he should
insist on marrying no one but a widow belonging to the same or

any other varna.

10. Ultimately, he should firmly resolve that, if he does not
get a girl despite observing the nine rules above and even disre¬
garding caste restrictions, he will not forsake his dharma and will
not indulge in adultery.

It is improbable that observing the nine conditions he will
not get a girl from the twenty-two crores of Hindus. But even if
the improbable happens every man must have the courage and
strength not to forsake dharma or to fall into sins like adultery.
He who does not have this will not be regarded as a man.

While taking the nine types of liberties, calamities like boycott
by the community, parents’ displeasure, loss of an inheritance, etc.,

LETTER TO MANILAL AND SUSXIILA GANDHI 145

are likely to befall one. This article is not meant for one who
does not have the grit to bear such hardships.

[From Gujarati]

Navajivan , 30-6-1929

93. LETTER TO MANILAL AND SUSHILA GANDHI

June 30, 1929

CHI. MANILAL AND SUSHILA,

X have your letters. I am at the moment sitting in a secluded
spot in front of the peaks of the Himalayan ranges covered with
snow. I spend all my time in the verandah. Here I finished revis¬
ing my translation of the Gila. It will now be published if my friends
so desire. If it is not printed I shall send you a copy or you
will see it if you come here in the mean time.

Has the name Sita now stuck to your heart? If not it can be
given up. If it is, it would not pain me at all. The right to
give a name must belong to you. My wish is that you would
ask for suggestions from elders but do what you yourselves decide.
It would be a different matter if you were children. I have opened
this subject because Nanabhai says the nam? Sita hurts Sushila.
There is no reason to be displeased. Since I do not insist on this

why should she be unhappy about it?

Now about the alliance with a Marwari, I do not remember
whether I had told hlanilal about it, but before I received the
offer of Sushila, it was my plan to form alliance with an edu¬
cated Bengali girl. God may have joined you, because who knows
whether with the Bengali girl you could have merged as com¬
pletely as you two now have. However, it was my intention even
before I betrothed Ramdas to go out of Gujarat. It is essential
that we do this. Of course, I wished to limit myself to the Vaishya
community. The unnatural restrictions that now prevail have done
and are still doing much harm. The alliance that I have just con¬
cluded I expect to be as successful as yours. Here again the main
role has been Jamnalalji’s. He has found a groom who is one of
his distant relatives. He is modest and educated. He was intro¬
duced to Rukhi and the alliance is formed as she and Santok were
willing. This too is a way of bringing about India’s unity.
Now do you understand, can you swallow it?

Sushila should not be impatient to come here. I can quite
understand her wish to see her family. But if it is found that she

41-10

146

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

must stay on for the sake of the work there, it is her duty to stay
on. This is my advice. But do only that which both of you
think right.

Yes, if the community docs not want Indian Opinion and it
involves a loss it should be closed down, however necessary it may
be. But it must be proved that the community docs not want it
and that the losses arc not owing to our slackness or remissness.
Our writings should not be immature. Sastriji particularly insists
that the journal should never be closed down. Whatever you would
do should be done with deliberation, after considering the advice
of your friends and having made all the efforts needed to keep
i going.

I have with me Devdas, Prabhudas, Purushottam, Kusumbehn
senior, Jamnabclm, Khurshedbehn and Pyarclal. Ba is of course
there. Thus this time I have a large company. And I quite for¬
get Brijkisan.

Now about vaccination. I do not believe in cow-pox. It is
a dirty practice. The cow’s teats arc made to fester till they stink
and a vaccine is extracted from it. This is inoculated into our sys¬
tem. This is tantamount to partaking of beef. This question had
arisen in the South African jail; it also confronted us in the jails
here. But in the end no one let me off. Nor docs it always prove
beneficial. The opponents of vaccination arc growing in number.

But it would be all right if you got yourself vaccinated. What
I have stated above are my personal views. Generally people do
get themselves vaccinated. Do what you think right after both of
you go deep into this matter, study it with interest and form an
independent opinion about it.

I hope you read in Navajivan and Young India about my experi¬
ment with uncooked grain. 1 It still continues fairly well.

Blessings from

Batu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 4756

1 Vide pp, 34-6 & 52-4.

94. LETTER TO NANABHAI I. MAS HR UWALA

Not revised Kausani,

June 30, 1929

BHAISHRI NANABHAI,

Please convey my repeated congratulations to mother and
daughter, Vijayalakshmi and Tara, for having suppressed the
letter written by you under the pretext of revising it. I had oc¬
casion to meet Malavi[ya]ji and I am pleased with the way it
turned out. Khadi is decidedly progressing but, I am afraid, it is
at a snail’s pace.

It appears advisable to let Sushila stay there, if she does not
want to come over leaving Manilal behind. We should be content
that the two have become united like milk and sugar and live
happily. It is not at all desirable that Manilal should rush here
deserting his duty. I think it good for the youngsters that we give
up our longing to see them when they have gone to other lands. It
would be a different matter if they return at their own conve¬
nience and when they wish to.

Even before your letter came I had known that Tara went
hawking khadi regularly.

I had written to both of them to have any other name of their
choice if they did not like the name Sita. The right to name one’s
children must belong to the parents; elders may offer suggestions,
if asked for.

I have also written to them explaining Rukhi’s betrothal to
a Marwari. I think we ought to take such liberties within limits.
I might not have told you that, before I had the offer of Sushila
from you, I had almost decided to betroth Manilal to an eligible
Bengali girl. For many years I have felt that we ought to come out
of Gujarat in this way.

Prabhudas will accompany me to the Ashram. Kakasaheb
has asked for him for the Vidyapith. Prabhudas is his favourite
pupil.

We reach Delhi on the 5th and the Ashram on the 6th.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 7518

95. LETTER TO U. 1). 111 It LA

Unmised June, 30 , 1929

BHAISH1U GIIANSIIYAMDASjr,

Your three letters are before me. 1 would have no right to
be in this lovely, secluded spot surrounded by snow-clad moun¬
tains, if I had no special work to do here. The special work was
revision, of the translation of the Gita, which had remained unfinished
atWardha. I could complete it only in seclusion. I just sat down
here for the purpose. I have postponed all other work that could
be postponed till I could finish this job. That is the reason why I
have not replied to you earlier. The work on the Gita is now over.

Now regarding Keshu. His father’s hope and mine has been
that ultimately Keshu would choose the Ashram life and dedicate
himself to khadi work. But I do not wish to put any pressure
on him. And now lie is in your hands. You should take from
him such work as he may be willing to do and as may be for his
good. You should look upon him as your own sou and train him.

You have trained numerous young men and l have been
informed and I believe that many enterprises of the Birla family
were started by you.

What shall I say about khadi when there is the opportunity
of using your talent for the sale of khadi? The khadi stock is all
sold out. Still, it is bound to accumulate again. I shall then use your
ability. At present we shall let the business run itself. I hope the
khadi being “unasked for” does not mean I sent it without permis¬
sion? As for production, it is true that here I cannot make
much use of your assistance. We arc making what efforts we can.

What happened about the dairy?

I have not fasted. Since I began to look upon death as my
great friend I have given up fasting on account of death. I did
not fast on the death of Maganlal and Rasik. Death now has ceased
to hurt or, say, it hurts very little.

The experiment with uncooked food is continuing.

The meaning of [faddist] 1 2 can be understood as ‘dhuni in
Gujarati. I am unfamiliar with the word ‘ sanaki ‘ Chakram 5 of
course will not do.

1 Illegible in the original; vide pp. 79-80.

2 Eccentric

LETTER TO KRISHNACHANDRA 149

These days I try to write something every week for Hindi
Navajivan. If you don’t happen to read it now, begin to do so
and give me any suggestions that you deem fit about the subject-
matter and language.

Tours ,

4 *

Mohandas

[PS.]

I shall reach Delhi on July 5 and the Ashram on 6th.

From Hindi: G. W. 6174. Courtesy: G. D. Birla

96. LETTER TO KRISHNACHANDRA

Kausani (Himalayas),

July 1 , 1929

BHAX KRISHNACHANDRA,

I have your letter.

Involuntary discharge is no cause for alarm. Water-treatment,
exercise, pure air, simple wholesome diet and reciting Ramanama
will stop it.

Discontinue the milk at mealtime if you find it makes your
diet heavy.

Spices should be completely avoided. Drink water if thirsty
and eat only when hungry. You must walk for at least two hours
every day, preferably before mealtime. It is better to avoid eat¬
ing at night. My book on health would be a useful guide. Give
up oil. Take ghcc sparingly.

Tours,

Mohandas Gandhi

From a photostat of the Hindi: G. N. 4260

57. LETTER TO LILAVATI

July 1 , 1929

CHI. LILAVATI,

I have your letter. I have shown it to Jamnabehn. She will,
moreover, go there in a few days. You should keep in touch
with her. And it is a very good thing that you see Perinbehn
regularly and help her in her work. As for the Ashram rules,
they can be observed wherever one may be. Passions do not arise
if one does not sit idle for a single moment, and constantly engages
body and mind in good deeds and good thoughts.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G. N. 9315

98. LETTER TO VITHALDAS JFRAJA.NI

July 1 , 1929

BHAISHRI VITHALDAS,

Herewith I send you an extract from Krislmadas’s letter tell¬
ing what he has written about you. My purpose in sending this
is that you should compose a booklet on the science of selling kliadi
as Maganlal wrote one about weaving.

I had your letter about a memorial to Maganlal. I have not
stopped thinking about it but one after another things kept com¬
ing up and therefore I am silent about it. I do not wish to go
begging from door to door for this collection.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: S, N. 9768

99 . LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI

Silence Day [July 1 , 1929] 1

CHI. CHHAGANLAL (jOSHl),

I got your letters. You will probably get this on Thursday.
I shall arrive there on Saturday evening. Can there be anything,
then, to write about?

Today, too, the snowy Nandadevi and other smaller peaks
are shining brilliantly in sunlight in front of me. I wish to invite
you all to come and see this. Borrow Vinoba’s imagination for a
moment and share my joy from there.

Don’t think all the time of your being weak. T am atman ;
the atman can never be weak; I will never be weak.’ Resolve thus
in your mind. Anyone who constantly thinks of his illness never
leaves his sick-bed. Keep yourself ready to go on your leave.

What did you do about Galiara’s money which is to be spent
in the neighbourhood of Kathor ? Include this matter in your
notes.

Blessings from

Bapu

dps.]

Surendra will have become quite a familiar face before I arrive
there. I do not write other letters; it is time for the post.

[From Gujarati]

Bapuna Patro-7: Shri Chhaganlal Joshine, p. 121

100 . LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI

July 1 9 1929

CHI, CHHAGANLAL,

I got your letter after I had dispatched today’s post. I do not
remember anything about Anjani, I shall be glad if you go
there and to other places so that, at least while you are there,
you may feel a little lighter. You should certainly go out occa¬
sionally.

152

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

The sum of Rs. 2,000 received from Galium may be handed
over to Kaka. He lias decided to spend the amount for educa¬
tion through the Vidyapith. He was saying something about
adding to this the money given by Mahadev and a few other sums.

I have forgotten the details.

I did not know that Subbiah owed some money to the
Ashram. You should certainly deduct something from his pay
against that sum. Write to him immediately and ask him if he
agrees.

Whenever there arc many letters enclosed in one envelope,
you should make it a rule to secure the envelope with a string. The
string, moreover, should be tied last. Instead ol using an enve¬
lope," it would be easier and cheaper, when there are many letters
to be dispatched, to wrap them in a, blank sheet of paper or a
newspaper sheet and paste a blank slip on tlie latter. It is not
obligatory to put the letters in an envelope. All that is neces¬
sary is that, if the packet containing the letters is sealed from all
sides, stamps of the value required by the weight ol the letters
should be pasted on it. I will immediately implement this sug¬
gestion which I am making to you.

The idea had occurred to me a long time ago, but I did
not carry it out so far.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 5424

101. LETTER TO JAWAHARLAL NEHRU

[After July 1929] 1

MY DEAR JAWAHARLAL,

I read the current Congress Bulletin. I think that the re¬
production of that statement was out of place in an official publi¬
cation which is designed merely to record Congress activities. Is
it not like a government gazette? On merits too I understand
that it was prepared by their counsel. It is not the outpourings of
earnest souls as you and I thought it was.

1 From the reference to the statement given in court by Bhagat Singh
ind Dutta in the Assembly Bomb case, which was published in the Congress
Bulletin dated July 1 ? 1923

THE KELLOGG PACT

153

Nor did I like your advocacy and approval of the fast 1 they
are undergoing. In my opinion it is an irrelevant performance
and in so far as it may be relevant it is like using Nasmyth ham¬
mer to crush a fly. However this is for you to ponder over.

I would like you to come to a decision soon regarding the
Presidentship. Why this hesitation ? I thought at Almora it was
agreed that you would wear the crown. Oil this, read the enclosed
and hand it on to Father.

I hope Kamala is well.

Tours ,
Bapu

Gandhi-Neh.ru Papers, 1930. Courtesy: Nehru Memorial Museum and
Library

102. THE KELLOGG PACT

In Young India for March 21st was printed an appeal issued at the
recent Conference of the Women’s International League for Peace and
Freedom, in which occurs the following passage:

“The pact for the ‘renunciation of war’ has been signed by a large
number of States. The logical conclusion of this renunciation can only be
disarmament. And it is the only way to avoid fresh wars.” It is pos¬
sible that some of the readers of Young India are not fully conversant
with the genesis of this Pact, the Kellogg Pact. . . . On August 27, 1928,
it was signed by fifteen States, and within five or six months practically
all the States of the world signified their intention of adhering to it.

It consists of only two very brief and simple articles, by the first of
which the signatories, in the names of their respective peoples, renounce
war as an instrument of national policy; while by the second they
agree never to seek a settlement of any dispute, of whatever nature and
whatever origin, save by pacific means. It thus stands as a clear and
unqualified renunciation of war. . . .

How does all this affect India? Do not her poverty and her subjec¬
tion make her powerless? I think not. . . . Let the teachers in the
schools and colleges lead the way by seeing that the youths fully under¬
stand what this Pact really is. . . . When this knowledge has been
assimilated by the educated it will in some form permeate the masses
of the uneducated, preparing the way for the stand India will take
when she has attained her freedom. . . .

1 By Bhagat Singh, Dutta and some other prisoners in protest against the
treatment meted out to them in jail

154

THE COLLECTED WORKS OE MAHATMA GANDHI

I gladly publish L. E.’s contribution 1 and have no difficulty
in agreeing that the Kellogg Pact has great possibilities, the patent
insincerity of many signatories notwithstanding. I share to the full
the apprehension about the Pact felt by the correspondent whose
letter to Young India L. E. has mentioned. But this insincerity docs
not trouble me. My difficulty is as to the suggestion made by L. E.
about India's part in promoting peace. India’s contribution to
peace must in the nature of things be di fferent in kind from that of
the Western nations. India is not an independent nation. And it
may be inferred from her present position that she has not the will
to be independent. The parties to the Pact arc mostly partners in
the exploitation of the peoples of Asia and Africa; India is the
most exploited among them all. The Peace Pact therefore in
substance means a desire to carry on the joint exploitation peace¬
fully. At least that is how the Pact appears to me to be at pre¬
sent. India has never waged war against any naison. She has
put up sometimes ill-organized or half-organized resistance in self-
defence pure and simple. She has therefore not got to develop the
will for peace. She has that in abundance, whether she knows
it or not. The way she can promote peace is to offer successful
resistance to her exploitation by peaceful means. That is to say,
she has to achieve her independence, for this year to be known
as Dominion Status, by peaceful means. If she can do this, it
will be the largest contribution that any single nation will have
made towards world peace. If my diagnosis is correct, it will be
realized that the teaching such as L. E. wants in the schools can
only be ineffective and what is worse, hypocritical. Even if the
teachers can make themselves believe in what they may be called
upon to teach, it will find no echo in the hearts of the boys and
girls of their classes, even as a person who has never hurt a fly
will fail to understand the meaning of an appeal made to him
to will not to spill blood.

Young India , 4-7-1929

1 Only excerpts are reproduced here.

103. A PLEA FOR COMMON SENSE

A young man writes from Kashmir:

Some days ago I bought a set of portraits of some of the great men
of India. Today I hnd that all these portraits are printed in Germany. I
am distressed to see what I have done—bought foreign things that were
available in our own country, and the very sight of these portraits which
was likely to inspire me with good ideas is injuring my feelings. My friends
who are also of the same mind suggest to me to burn them; but this is a
thing which my conscience does not allow, as these are the portraits of
those great men who have sacrificed their lives for our country. I request
you to advise me in the matter. I await your answer through your Young
India.

Well may this young man want my answer through Young
India. I am glad the young man’s conscience has prevented him
from burning the portraits. It was no doubt wrong to have bought
these portraits made in Germany. But there is such a thing as
common sense in the world. Common sense is realized sense of
proportion. The way to redress such trivial mistakes as the young
man fell into is to be more careful in the future so as not to
repeat them. If the young man and his friends will search within
and search also their surroundings, they will discover many more
incongruities and foreign articles in and about them. Let them
begin the reformation by banishing the worst foreign things and
the rest will go without an effort. Here again let these friends make
use of common sense and understand that the adjective foreign
is to be taken in its widest sense. Anything that harms the inner
being is foreign. Do we not often strain at a gnat and swallow a
camel ?

Young India } 4-7-1929

104. MILL-OWNERS AND BOYCOTT

Although I have before now dealt with this question in these
pages, correspondents often inquire why the indigenous mills are
not invited to take part in the foreign-cloth boycott movement.
Others inquire what part these mills play in the movement. Yet
others ask why Congress workers should not directly encourage
and advertise indigenous mill-cloth side by side with khadi.

To take the last question first, these correspondents should
remember that the Congress resolution contemplates the boycott
through khadi. There arc sound reasons for this partiality. Mill-
cloth alone has had its opportunity for the past fifty years and it
has not brought boycott about. Immediate boycott through the
existing mills is an impossibility. New mills cannot be started for
the asking. Therefore if the boycott is to succeed, it can do so
only through khadi, Khadi cannot: bo pushed side by side with
mill-cloth. Given the choice, it must be confessed with regret
that the unthinking multitude will prefer the apparently cheaper
and easily obtainable calico to the apparently dearer and coarse-
looking and not easily obtainable khadi. It follows therefore
that Congress workers, as far as their influence can reach -and it

does not reach very far yet—must preach khadi to the exclusion
of mill-cloth.

This brings me to the second question. But the exclusive
preaching of khadi does not mean hostility to the indigenous
mill-cloth. Mill-cloth is playing an important part in the move¬
ment whether the mill-owners will or no. The multitude buys it
in competition with foreign cloth. The mills have their agencies
direct and indirect in all the parts of India, As a distinguished
mill-owner once very properly remarked tome; £C We do not want
your help, we penetrate where you will perhaps never even make
your voice heard. If you preach our cloth, you simply invite us to
raise our prices by creating a demand we cannot cope with,” He
was silenced when I told him that I contemplated boycott not
through mill-cloth but through khadi. He at once agreed that that
was quite a feasible proposition if I could produce enough khadi to
displace foreign cloth and popularize it. Most mill-owners recognize
this as did the one I have quoted. Any advocacy then on the part
of Congressmen of mill-cloth can only hinder boycott and ultimately
even damage the mills by reason of the certain failure of the
movement through the adoption of thoughtless methods- The

MILL-OWNERS AND BOYCOTT

157

reader should realize that repeated failures of the movement
must result in deepening despondency and then making the people
indifferent in their purchase of cloth. We must avoid failure this
time at any cost. We may risk no avoidable mistake through slug¬
gish or imperfect thinking. It is the popular indifference that has
given the foreign-cloth dealer his vantage ground. The moment
the people arc induced to think for themselves and make their
choice, the boycott is a certainty. The indigenous mills are
therefore playing their part in the movement and profiting by it
without assistance from Congressmen.

Now for the first question. There is undoubtedly a way in
which the mill-owners can actively, deliberately and effectively
help the movement. An attempt was made last by Pandit Mala-
viyaji and Motilalji and myself to invite their active participation.
The attempt failed, perhaps because it was not in the nature of
things possible for the mills actively to participate in terms of the
Congress in any movement with which the Government do
not openly associate themselves or which they are suspected of
secretly disapproving. The vast majority of them are under the
influence of banking concerns which depend for their existence on
Government goodwill. But if there are mills which can defy
Government pressure, no matter how subtly exerted, here are the
conditions under which they or anyone of them can directly
participate in the movement wholly or partially:

1. They can sell khadi through their agencies;

2. they can lend their talents to the movement;

3. they can, by conference with the A.I.S.A. determine the
varieties they should manufacture in terms of boycott;

4. they can cease to manufacture khadi whether in that name
or any other;

5. they can standardize their prices so as neither to suffer
loss nor to increase their profits; and

6. they can render financial assistance to the movement.

Several other ways may easily be deduced from the six chief
ones I have mentioned. This assistance can be given only if the
mill-owners and the shareholders are patriotically inclined and are
prepared to limit their profits. I am sure the majority of share¬
holders if they were properly canvassed would not object. It is the
capitalist who has therefore really to decide. As one of them told
me, "We will come in when we must—not before.” He may be right.

Lastly the reader should know that all mills because they are
built on the Indian soil may not be called indigenous. There are

158

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

mills that arc indigenous only in name. They arc owned and
managed by foreigners, their shareholders are foreigners, they
exclude Indians from management or shares, the major part of
their earnings is drained away from India, The only thing that
India gets out of their earnings is the paltry labourers 3 wages.
These mills arc no more indigenous than the existing Government,
These can never help the movement.

Young India , 4-7-1929

105. DESTROY ALL HIMSA

Raja Mahendra Pratap is a great patriot. For the sake of the
country this noble man has chosen exile as his lot. He has given
up his splendid property in Vrindavan for educational purposes.
Prem Mahavidyalaya now conducted by Acharya Jugalkishore
is his creation. The Rajasaheb has often corresponded with me.
And I have withheld from publication communications from him.
But the latest received from him I have not the heart to withhold.
Here therefore is his letter.

As a friend of humanity and your fellow-counuyman by birth, I
demand of you kindly to publish the following thoughts in your worthy
paper.

What Is Aiixmsa ?

I assert that I am a true follower of ahimsa, But it needs an
explanation of this word to clear my position. It becomes still more neces¬
sary when I add and affirm that many who call themselves the worship¬
pers of this holy word have no sense of its spirit,

Ahimsa, as I understand it, is not to give pain to anybody in mind
or body by one’s thought, talk or action. However, to be a follower of
this principle does not stop here. A follower of ahimsa has to change all
those conditions under which himsa is practised or becomes possible. I call
it worst kind of himsa, opposite of ahimsa, when a man tolerates or aids
himsa of others.

Many people in India today deliver some very fine sermons on the
beauties of ahimsa; however they do little to destroy the himsa of the
British. I say all such persons are abettors and aids to all that crime
which the British commit in India against the weak, the hungry and the
helpless.

Of course, no one can deny that our great leader Gandhiji has a
very sincere desire to serve the Indian nation. However, I am afraid that

FOR SELF-SPINNERS 159

his methods alone, unsupported by some more energetic active programme,
cannot bring relief to the people.

I highly appreciate and strongly endorse the kliadi movement of
Gandhiji. It may or may not appreciably better the economic condition
of the masses, because there are today so many modern factors at work
in our society; but in any case the idea from the psychological standpoint
is certainly admirable. It directs the human thought to a simple life and
awakens in the people a certain sense of unity.

I must, however, add that we need much more. We have to des¬
troy in the true spirit of ahimsa all that British organization which is
himsa personified.

Let the nation as a whole strive to that end. At the earliest pos¬
sible moment let us put an end to the British brutality in India, in fact,
in the whole world. Let everyone perform his duty according to his
natural endowments. In the true spirit of ahimsa, I cannot force my will
on others. Let everyone find out for himself what one must do. I can
only point out the eternal truth that the Creator certainly wants the good
of all his creatures—of all the men and women—in our common human
race. If any man or group acts selfishly and oppresses others he surely
misuses his gifts and acts against the wishes of the Creator. I can only
say: Let everyone try his or her best to destroy all himsa. This is ahimsa.

Young India, 4-7-1929

106. FOR SELF-SPINNERS

A.I.S.A. members and all those who send self-spun yam as
subscriptions or donations should be most careful about preparing
and packing their yarn. Every yard of yarn spun means so much
added to the wealth of the country. Let us not despise it. I
have known quotations in South Africa of rice and other sta¬
ples as low as 1 /32nd of a penny. The keen-witted European mer¬
chants knew what these tiny fractions meant when they underwent
endless multiplication as they did in transactions involving thou¬
sands of bags of rice. If we had the same wit, we would realize the
value of a yard of self-spun yarn when it undergoes multiplication by
the three hundred million hands that may draw yards of yarn from
day to day. Let it be then further remembered that the value of
each yard of yarn increases in the same ratio as the increase in its
fineness, evenness and strength. And since hanks of yarn in separate¬
ness would fetch only a fraction of a copper coin, all cost of tran¬
sit should be saved as much as possible. Those agencies therefore
that organize and collect yarn subscriptions and donations should

160

’1’IIB COLLKCTKD WORKS OB MAHATMA (iANDIII

see to the proper labelling and classification of yarn and send
such parcels to the head office at fixed periodical intervals. Little
is it realized even by the best workers that the message of the
wheel means a complete revolution in the national life. Its success¬
ful delivery means a solidly-knit, well-organized, well-disciplined
self-restrained, self-contained, self-respecting, industrious, pros¬
perous nation, no member of which willing and ready to work ever
need starve.

Young India , 4-7-1929

107. AJI UNFOli TUNA TR DA IKIIFI Dll

I have countless daughters in the country those 1 know and
those that I do not know. One of them has written to me from
Pushkar, signing herself as “your unfortunate daughter”. Here is
the entire letter 1 :

In India there arc many Hindu girls who sudor the same fate
as this Lakshmi Devi. As soon as a girl grows up a little and begins
to take interest in studies and games, selfish and bigoted parents
push her into the sea of matrimony. The marriage that was forced
on Lakshmi Devi cannot be considered a religious marriage. In a
religious marriage the girl should be told to whom she is getting
married, her consent should be obtained for the marriage and if
possible she should be given an opportunity to sec the prospective
bridegroom. Nothing of the kind was done in Lakshmi Devi’s case.
Secondly she was too young for wedlock. Therefore she has a per¬
fect right to refuse to countenance such a marriage, to refuse to
recognize it as marriage. The only heartening feature of this tra¬
gedy is that her mother is with her. I congratulate the lady. I would
request Lakshmi Devi’s father not to regard adharma as dharma
and stand in her way. I hope Lakshmi Devi will remain steadfast

in her resolution in the same brave and modest spirit that she
has shown in writing this letter for publication, and will marry the
young man who wishes to be bound to her in holy wedlock. I
also hope that she will remain steadfast in her resolve 1*0 serve
the country. Those girls who wish to do away with evil cus¬
toms and follow a new path, who wish to become my daughters
should never give up humility, discretion, truth and self-restraint.

x Not translated here. The correspondent had said that she had been
married off by her parents when still a child to a man who had another wife
living, and that in her husband’s house she was subjected to much cruelty.
She had expressed her desire to remarry.

FOREIGN SUGAR V. KHADt

161

Licence and immodest behaviour would bring them unhappiness
and I should be ashamed of them. They would never be able to
show a way to others. Such girls should have the dignity, modesty
and purity of Sita and the courage and strength of Draupadi.
These good daughters must remember that to establish swa-

ra j_ Ramarajya —in India they have to work shoulder to shoulder

with men and it is their special duty to improve the condition of

women.

[From Hindi]

Hindi Navajivan, 4-7-1929

108. FOREIGN SUGAR v. KHADF

A correspondent from the Meerut District writes:

Our family consists of about 30 or 32 members. For several genera¬
tions wc have been following the vocation of sugar refiners. We take crude
molasses from the sugar planters and prepare white sugar from it by
the indigenous process without the employment of any machinery. But
for the last several years we have been hard hit by the competition of
foreign and machine-made sugar and the profits of our business do not
suffice even to cover the ordinary wages of our labour. The importation
of foreign sugar further means a heavy drain of wealth from our country
and yet you never open your lips on the subject which is rather surprising.
But that side of the question apart, we feel really at sea as to what we
should do. Our womenfolk still follow their traditional occupation of cot¬
ton spinning and get the yarn thus spun woven by the village weaver into
khadi. . . .

I am sorry to have to advise these friends to give up their
present occupation if sugar refining is truly an unprofitable con¬
cern. For today, I really do not know how we can completely
prevent the importation of foreign sugar into our country. I consi-

1 Originally published in Hindi Namjivan, 4-7-1929, this and “The Running
Sore”, 18-7-1929, appeared under the title “Notes from Hindi Mavajivan" with the
following introductory note by Pyarelal: “ . . . Gandhiji has of late commenced
regularly to write original articles for Hindi Navajivan. Apart from the fact that this
special writing enables him to discharge his obligation towards a weekly of which
he has been nominally editor all these years, he has found that it gives him an
opportunity of coming into direct touch with the Hindi reading public and their
peculiar problems which he could not do so Well before. As a specimen I give
below a translation of two articles selected almost at random that have recent¬
ly appeared in Hindi Navqjivan

41-11

162 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA CAN'D III

der sugar to be an unnecessary', even harmful article of consump¬
tion. fi White poison 5 as it has been called by dietetic experts,
it is a fruitful source of many a disease. But we have become
so hopelessly addicted to its use that it is not quite an easy thing
to get rid of it. We cannot today produce all the sugar that we con¬
sume. Again, country sugar is clearer and not being so white as
the imported sugar is less popular. It is not an industry for which
a country-wide and mass agitation can be set up as in the case
of khadi. Nor can such an agitation alone, even if successful, help
to convert a losing into a paying concern. I can therefore repeat
what I have already said that if the sugar manufacture is no longer
a profitable trade there is no help but to leave it.

But what to do next is the question that will naturally be
asked. In my opinion weaving is any day preferable as an avo¬
cation to sugar manufacture. Unlike spinning, weaving provides a
whole-time occupation and what is more it is a growing universal
occupation with practically an unlimited scope before it.

As for the question of introducing khadi in his family to
which the correspondent refers, it docs not require much effort to
spin fine yarn at home. If only each member of the household
in question will but make up his or her mind diligently to spend
one hour daily on the spinning-wheel, he or she can turn out the
count that will suit his or her requirement and all the clothing
needed in the family including fine saris, etc., can be had just for
the charge of weaving yarn into cloth, while if like spinning
weaving is introduced in the household, as it well may be, it will
constitute another big advance and simplify matters still further.

Young India, 8-8-1929

109. LETTER TO R m B . GREGG

July 4 , 1929

MY DEAR GOVIND,

I have not been as regular in writing to you as you have been.
Young India gives the reason. You are never absent from my
thoughts.

I knew of ybur marriage long before your letter. Andrews
wrote a line about it. You give me a beautiful description about it
all. I wish you and yours a long and happy life of service. It would
be a joy to welcome you, Mrs. Gregg at the Ashram. Of course
she must see all your Indian associates and Indian haunts.

LETTER TO N. R. MALKANI

163

I did get that book on food. It did not create much impres¬
sion on me. You must have seen in Young India all about my latest
experiment. 1 2 It still continues. But I am unable to report any
decisive result yet.

We have just descended from the Almora hills. I combined
business with recreation in the coolness of the Himalayan hills.
We had a glorious view of the snowy range. It was a dazzling
snow-capped amphitheatre in front of us whenever the sky was
clear.

I hope you are keeping perfect health now.

With love to you both,

Tours ,

Bapu

From a photostat: G.N. 4664

110. LETTER TO N. R. MALKANI

[Before July 5, 1929V-

MY DEAR MALKANI,

I have your letter. Certainly let me have your observations
on Gujarat and Tamilnad and add your observations on the con¬
duct of the Ashram. You have now lived there sufficiently long
to form an opinion.

Yes, you may develop the wool industry in Sind if cotton is
impossible. If Sind really wants to boycott foreign cloth, it would
do sacrificial or self-spinning. Every province should realize that
boycott of foreign cloth is impossible without khadi. We must
therefore learn to spin enough for our own requirements. The
takli is the easiest thing in this direction.

Tours,

Bapu

[p S.]

I reach Sabarmati on 6th instant.

From a photostat: G.N. 892

1 Vide pp. 34-6.

2 The original bears the entry, “5-7-1929”, presumably written by the ad¬
dressee on receipt of this letter.

11L THE OLD STORY 1

Elsewhere will be found a digest prepared by Mahadev Desai
of reports of alleged oppression in the Dholka and Dashkroi taluks
in connection with the recovery of iaqavi advances. In sending the
digest Sjt. Desai observes that he had hoped that the Govern¬
ment would have learnt wisdom from the Bardoli experience but
that he had been sadly disillusioned. In my opinion both the
hope and the disappointment were wholly unwarranted. The
Government did not change its policy in the case of Bardoli, it
was only compelled to yield under the pressure of organized resis¬
tance of the Bardoli peasantry and it is bound to do so again
wherever such resistance is well organized. Even so the peasantry
of Dholka and Dashkroi taluks will find that no power on earth
will dare to molest them once they have fully learnt the lesson
of self-respect.

The moral, however, which I want to draw from these hap¬
penings is that where the people have not shed their cowardice
they will continue to be oppressed, if not by a foreign Government,
by their own kith and kin, a hundred Bardolis notwithstanding.
The first and foremost duty of national workers should there¬
fore be to inculcate the lesson of fearlessness among the people.
We cannot have a Vallabhbhai to lead everywhere. But
every worker can in his own humble way try to emulate his
qualities. All may not have Vallabhbhai’s sagacity, his matchless
courage and generalship but everyone can, and ought to be able
to, develop a bit of his alertness and sleepless vigilance.

The Government, evidently, is determined to go on exacting
more and more revenue so long as the people continue meekly to
submit to its demands. All that it cares for is the golden egg, no
matter whether the goose that lays it lives or dies. And how else
can it carry on its present top-heavy system of administration ?
“The people must be made to pay at any cost’ 3 —that is the un¬
written law and policy, which consequently it has perforce to follow.
To compel it to scrap this policy is half the battle of swaraj. Land
revenue today forms the very basis of British rule in India. It is
a wrong basis from the people’s point of view. It has been proved
times without number that the Indian people are already taxed

1 The Gujarati original of this appeared in Navajivan , 7-7-1929. This is a
translation by Pyarelal.

THE OLD STORY

165

far beyond their capacity. But the income of the Government falls
short of its daily-growing requirements and so its best brains are
kept busy devising fresh ways and means of increasing taxation.
Unless, therefore, the present system of administration is complete¬
ly changed, i.e., the expenditure considerably reduced, the oppres¬
sion of the people will continue unabated even when the reins of
Government have passed into Indian hands. That is why I am
never tired of repeating from the housetop that swaraj must mean
a complete transformation of the present system of administration
and not a mere change of hands. But that will be possible only
when the people have mastered the art of resisting unjust taxes.
The first step in this direction would be to make a thorough study
of the present system of taxation and to demonstrate its utterly
unjust character. Then when it becomes imperatively necessary,
comes the undoubted right of the people to refuse to pay unjust
taxes, undeterred by fines, prosecutions and worse.

But who is to teach this art to the people ? It is a task essen¬
tially for our national workers who must go and settle in the vil¬
lages in their midst, win their confidence by dint of selfless service,
identify themselves with them in their joys and sorrows, make
a close study of their social conditions and by degrees to infect
them with their courage and determination to do or die. But for
silent, patient, constructive work of this kind by a band of work¬
ers who buried themselves in the villages of Bardoli, even the
matchless leadership of Vallabhbhai might have proved of no
avail. No general, however capable he may be, can fight a battle
single-handed. He can fight only with the help of his weapons
and the only true weapons of a general are not rifles and guns
but loyal, disciplined soldiers, who would be content to work
silently and unostentatiously and carry out his orders without
demur even at the cost of their lives. The instances of oppression
recounted by Mahadev Desai arc by no means isolated phenomena.
More probably than not they have their replicas in other parts of
the country also, only we do not know them. It is a well-esta¬
blished principle of medical science that all the diseases that the
human system is heir to have a common origin and therefore a com¬
mon cure. Even so beneath the surface variety of ills which our
body politic displays today, there is a fundamental unity of cause.
It is that we must trace out and tackle.

Toung India 3 25-7-1929

112 . OX INCREASING THE SIZE OF “ XAVAJIVAX ”

I have received many comments on the opinion of a lover
of Xavajivan which I had published 1 regarding the inclusion of
news items in it. Amongst these “a lover oil Xavajivan” t who happens
to be a city-dweller, writes as follows: 2

A viewpoint which is diametrically opposite to the one quoted
above is expressed by a villager who happens to be a lover of
Xavajivan : 3

I feel that both these viewpoints are justified as they have
been expressed from different standpoints. One way of solving
this problem is for me to go through the list of subscribers to
Xavajivan and find out whether the majority of them live in cities
or in villages. However, before arriving at any conclusion in that
manner, it is necessary to get the opinion of still more readers.
Hence I hope that those who take interest in this controversy will
send their opinions to me. _

Perhaps even if the majority of readers happen to be villagers
and desire the inclusion of news items, I would still have to investi¬
gate further how far it would be possible for me to do so. It is
necessary to mention this here lest the reader conclude that a
supplement will definitely be published in order to give news items.
An attempt is continuously being made to see to it that
Xavajivan is useful to the maximum number of readers. However,
the question how far it can be turned into a newspaper in addition
to being the vehicle of my ideas and a means of pointing out the
way to the attainment of swaraj is not a minor one. It is my
primary duty to ensure that the main purpose behind it is not jeo¬
pardized in any way. The original limits set by me are dear to
me. And I do not regard the attempt to keep within these as vain,
whereas I doubt as to the advisability of including news items
in it. However, I look to lovers of Xavajivan for some light
in this matter. The request for publishing news items comes

1 Vide pp. 76-7.

2 The letter is not translated here. The correspondent had suggested that
the journal might continue to be published as hitherto. In regard to its size and
the choice of subjects dealt with in it, he desired that special attention should
be paid to satyagraha, non-violence and swaraj or dharmarajya.

3 The letter is not translated here. The correspondent had supported the
inclusion of news items and an increase in the number of pages which would
add to its popularity and increase the circulation in villages,

AMONG THE SKELETONS OF ORISSA 167

from a thoughtful individual. I cannot ignore it. He also desires
that other readers should send in their considered opinions.

[From Gujarati]

Navajivan , 7-7-1929

113, INSTANTANEOUS EFFECT

As a result of the letter of Thakkar Bapa that I had pub¬
lished regarding the sad plight of untouchables in Bulsar, 1 the
enthusiastic youth of that town immediately took the task in hand
and made the Municipality aware of the problem. During my
tour, I received letters about this from the taluk committee, the
National Seva Mandal and such other organizations. I give below
extracts 2 * * from the report which I have received of the resolution
that has been passed by the Municipality as a result of this move¬
ment.

I congratulate the Municipality and those workers who have
tried hard and resolved to provide facilities for our Bhangi brothers
in this manner and for starting a school for Bhangi children. I hope
that this enthusiasm will not subside. Let them not rest in peace
until they enter the hearts of the Bhangi brothers and free them
from their addiction to drink.

[From Gujarati]

Navajivan, 7-7-1929

114, AMONG THE SKELETONS OF ORISSA

Readers of Navajivan are not unfamiliar with the philan¬
thropy of Shri Jivram Kalyanji Kothari. He has not been con¬
tent merely with giving away his wealth. He has devoted even his
body and soul to the cause of khadi. Day and night he thinks of
nothing but this cause. Not being satisfied even with this, he decid¬
ed to use his own physical energy also in that cause and having
done so found out the poorest and, from the standpoint of khadi,
the most difficult province to work in. The idea took hold of
him that the wealth that he had gained through labourers should

1 Vide pp. 31-2.

2 These arc not translated here. The Bulsar Municipality passed the reso¬

lutions sanctioning sums of Rs. 500 each for digging wells for the ‘untouch¬

ables 5 and for building sheds for them with full amenities,

168

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

now be returned to them and finally it bore fruit in Orissa. For
the past year or so he has been working in Orissa, accompanied
by his wife. And now Purbai, the widow worker of Karachi has
also gone there. With them is a gentleman, Maganbhai by name
and another person known as Ghanshyam Shahu. On my
requesting them to do so, they gave me in Calcutta a detailed
account of their work in their broken yet sweet language. After
having carefully scrutinized it and put it in the form of an arti¬
cle, I had sent it over during my tour of Andhra. However, that
important article was lost in the post and has not yet been traced.
Recently I received another letter from Shri Jivram which con¬
tains an account of the work being done there at present. I pub¬
lish it below, as it will give some idea about it to the reader: 1

I have made few changes in the language of this letter. I have
often found that such letters become less interesting if their lan¬
guage is altered. I realize that the minor changes that I have made
in the genders, etc., have indeed made the letter less interesting.
In revealing the true nature of Shri Jivram, the ‘improvements 5
made in his letter have had the very opposite effect and made it
more obscure. However, this is a matter which all readers will
not ordinarily understand and I have attempted to improve the
language for fear that they may get tired of reading a language that
falters too much. False adornments and superficial make-up have
taken such hold of us that we fail to recognize that which is genuine
unless it is cast in the conventional mould. Instead of unbleached
but durable and easily recognizable khadi, people prefer starched,
bleached khadi, although the latter may be more expensive and
they forget that repeated washing has made the latter variety less
durable and also that it is difficult to make out whether it is
genuine or not. The same is true of such letters. However, I shall
not dilate on this theme.

The changes made in Shri Jivram’s letter will not affect the
evaluation of his work.

It is my request to Shri Jivram and those like him who are
doing difficult work in a difficult region that they should never
lose hope. It is our dharma to do our work, the outcome is
in the hands of God. When we have no doubts regarding the
worthiness of the activity and the means employed, we should die
doing it but never give it up. All great tasks in the world have
been achieved in this manner. At the place where Shri Jivram

1 The letter is not translated here. It had described how the spinning-wheel
had banished fear ^nd idleness among the womenfolk in Orissa,

LETTER TO SATIS CHANDRA DAS GUPTA

169

lives, the only inducement is inner joy. The climate is inclement,
milk and ghee are hardly or not at all available, the language is
different, the people are lazy, not deliberately but due to the pre¬
vailing circumstances and the atmosphere is not at all congenial
to the spinning-wheel. Only those whose hearts are overflowing
with love and who have full faith in their duty can enjoy living
in such conditions—under such risks.

Shri Jivram has been taking such risks. He should now gra¬
dually introduce the science of the spinning-wheel in his sphere of
work, make spinning-wheels locally, find out how counts of yarn
are calculated, learn to recognize the different varieties of cotton,
understand the subtler aspects of the carding of cotton. Where
there is a will, there’s a way.

The example of Shri Jivram deserves to be followed by many
young men and especially by those belonging to the richer classes.
This latter should not rest content with contributing money, but
should also put in physical labour and devote their hearts to the
cause. If they arc as diligent in their work as they are in their
business, the cause of khadi will progress at a much greater speed.
All those who have had the experience have found that the
spinning-wheel is the only principal means of bringing about an
awakening among crores of destitute persons, of serving them- and
of making them happy.

[From Gujarati]

Navajivan, 7-7-1929

115. LETTER TO SATIS CHANDRA DAS GUPTA

July <9, 1929

DEAR SATIS BABU,

What a tragedy? You plunged into the milkless experiment
too soon. It is evident that Gopalrao’s optimism and deductions
are superficial. I am myself flourishing. I have put on \\ lbs. on
a totally fruitarian diet, no wheat, no nuts, no pulses. I omitted
cereals and nuts because of slight fever contracted in Almora. I
was none the worse for it but better. But I can do these things
I suppose because of my previous training. Mirabchn is taking
germinating wheat, gram and some fruit and raw vegetable and
flourishing because she has kept milk and ghee. You could per¬
haps do likewise. There is nothing wrong in the raw cereals if milk
and ghee be not omitted. Most of the literature points in that direc-

170 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

tion. The milkless experiment cannot yet be claimed as a success.
You must therefore adhere to milk and ghee for the time being.
Please do not hurry over the thing.

Tours }

Bapu

From a photostat: G.N. 1606

116. LETTER TO TRAUIIAVATI

Silence Day [July 8, 1929] {

CHI. PRARHAVATI,

We reached the Ashram comfortably on Saturday night. I
have gained two pounds. [My experiment of taking] uncooked
grain still continues. Is your cough cured? Jayaprakash is not
returning soon; I have therefore written to Rajendrahabu that if
you are sent back here I could have your Gita and English further
improved. If Father permits, come soon provided you wish to.
I shall certainly like it.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 334-7

117, ALMORA IMPRESSIONS

Hospitality

When one meets with nothing but deep affection and great
attention everywhere it is difficult to give their respective mea¬
sures. I thought that Andhra Desha could not be equalled in this
respect. The experience of Almora following closely on the heels
of Andhra compels a revision of the opinion. For Almora did no
less. No pains were spared by the Almora friends to make my all
too short a stay in the beautiful Himalayan drills most comfor¬
table, In one respect they improved upon Andhra. They would
not make the receptipn expenses a charge upon the various purses
collected. All the heavy motor expenses were borne by a few private
friends. The Committee would not listen to the expenses being
paid of those who were travelling with me but were not of the

1 From the reference to the experiment of uncooked grain and Gandhiji’s
return to the Ashram

ALMORA IMPRESSIONS

171

staff and who were able to pay them. cc If they intended to pay,
let them give what they chose to the khadi purse,” was the final
reply. Enough however of the necessary acknowledgment of this
generous hospitality. In these hills, Nature’s hospitality eclipses all
that man can ever do. The enchanting beauty of the Himalayas,
their bracing climate and the soothing green that envelops you
leave nothing more to be desired. I wonder whether the scenery of
these hills and the climate are to be surpassed, if equalled, by any
of the beauty spots of the world. After having been for nearly
three weeks in the Almora hills, I am more than ever amazed
why our people need to go to Europe in search of health.

Who Is Untouchable?

Untouchability is a snake with a thousand mouths through
each of which it shows its poisonous fangs. It defies definition. It
needs no sanction from Manu or the other ancient law-givers.
It has its own local smriti. Thus in Almora a whole class of people,
whose occupation is, even according to the Sanatana Dharma so
called, innocent, are untouchables. They arc all cultivators owning
their own Holdings. They are called shilpi, i.e., farmers. Another
similar class of people called Boras suffer in the same manner
although they do not even eat carrion or take liquor and observe all
the rules of sanitation as well as any. Tradition has condemned
these as untouchables. Hinduism that refuses to think accepts
the tradition unquestioningly and exposes itself to merited ridicule
and worse. Reformers are trying to cope with the evil. I feel, how¬
ever, that much more drastic methods are needed than are employ¬
ed to rid Hinduism of the blot. We are needlessly afraid to wound
the susceptibilities of orthodoxy. We have to shed the fear, if we
expect to end the evil in our own generation. This untouchability
naturally recoils on the heads of those who are responsible for it.
In Almora the choka —untouchability at the time of dining—has
worked its insidious way even among castes and sub-castes till at
last every man makes himself an untouchable. This choka exercises
its evil sway even in national institutions like the Prem Vidyalaya.
I was considerably relieved when upon inquiry I found that none

of the trustees believed in the choka > and that they were tolerating

•

it so as not to scare the parents of the boys attending the institution,
x Nayaks

Just as there is in the South a caste which dedicates to a life
of shame girls euphemistically called Devadasis, so is there in Almora
a caste called Nayak that similarly brings up its girls without any

172

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

euphemism. Nevertheless it too defends the practice on religious
grounds and thus drags with the girls religion too in the mire. If
God was a capricious person instead of being the changeless and
unchangeable living Law, He would in sheer indignation wipe out
all those who in the name of religion deny Him and His law.
The Servants of India Society is trying to wean the Nayak parents
from the sin of degrading their daughters. Idle progress made is
slow, because the public conscience is asleep and man’s lust provides
material reward for the indecency.

Young India, 11-7-1929

118 . FOREIGN-CLOTH BOYCOTT

This Committee is pursuing its course in a very systematic
way. It has followed the President s letter to the* JM.L.A.s and
M.L.C.s by supplying them with boycott and khadi. literature to
enable them to do their work. A letter to the cditois of news¬
papers, among other things, reminds them ot then obvious duty
to eschew foreign cloth and liquor advertisements. It would be inte¬
resting to know if the appeal has met with much, if any, response.
Let the reader remember that the first Sunday in every month is
to be specially devoted to boycott work. I he next day of such
observance is 4th August. A general letter to Congress Gommittees
lays down the following ten points:

1. Organizing propaganda parties for touring outside large towns;

2. arranging house-to-house visits for converting people to the
boycott of foreign cloth;

3. holding of public meetings where house-to-house propaganda is
not feasible;

4. hawking of khadi as often during each week as possible;

5. collecting sufficient funds to run small khadi sale depots wherever

necessary;

6. organizing street propaganda and ncigat kxftan parties on every

Wednesday and Sunday in the week;

7. engaging in special boycott activity on the first Sunday of

each month, that is, 4th August and 1st September;

8. arranging requisitions for special meetings of local bodies which
have not so far considered the suggestions made by the F. G. B. Commit¬
tee for securing their co-operation in the boycott campaign;

9. posting weekly report of F. G. B. work on each Monday, and

10. observing 2nd October, 1929 as the Foreign-Cloth Boycott Day.

SELF-SUPPORTING EDUCATION

173

The Publicity Department of the F. C. B. Committee gives the
following interesting and encouraging report 1 of the work being
done in Vile Parle, Cbamparan and elsewhere 2 .

It is to be hoped that other places will copy these organiza¬
tions. But the workers should bear in mind that the secret of the
success of boycott through khadi lies in the recognition of the fact
that we have to be manufacturers as we are consumers. It is the
capacity for automatic production and distribution that makes
khadi invincible the moment we recognize the fact. If therefore
where hawking of khadi is undertaken without at the same time
the same agencies working for production, soon there will be no
khadi to hawk. And for the sale of khadi just as the workers set
the example by wearing it, so may they set the example in pro¬
duction by spinning themselves. The easiest way of doing this is
to take up the takli. That little instrument has unrealized possi¬
bilities which anyone who takes it up may verify for himself
or herself.

Toung India , 11-7-1929

119. SELF-SUPPORTING EDUCATION

The Almora District Board address, which narrated the story
of how it educated the children under its charge, and its very lau¬
dable attempt to instruct the boys in wool-spinning and weaving,
prompted me to repeat with greater emphasis than hitherto the
opinion expressed before by me that education should be self-
supporting. The opinion has gathered force during my wanderings.
If the State has to bear the cost of education of millions of chil¬
dren it will never be able to raise enough money by any con¬
ceivable measure of taxation. That it is the primary duty of the
State to bring to its schools every boy and girl and give them
proper, not perfunctory (as now), education is an axiomatic truth.
But in a country like India such education must largely if not
wholly pay itself. And if we could but shed the hypnotic spell which
our English tutors have cast over us, we should not find any diffi¬
culty in discovering ways and means of achieving the end. With
the best motives in the world, the English tutors could not wholly
understand the difference between English and Indian require¬
ments. Our climate does not require the buildings which they

1 Not reproduced here

2 This covered Karnatak and Kathiawar.

174

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

need. Nor do our children brought up in predominantly rural
environment need the type of education the English children brought
up in surroundings predominantly urban need.

When our children are admitted to schools, they need, not
slate and pencil and books, but simple village tools which they can
handle freely and remuneratively. This means a revolution in edu¬
cational methods. But nothing short of a revolution can put edu¬
cation within reach of every child of school-going age.

It is admitted that the so-called knowledge of the three R 5 s
that is at present given in Government schools is of little use to
the boys and girls in after life. Most of it is forgotten inside of
one year, if only for want of use. It is not required in their village
surroundings.

But if a vocational training in keeping with their surroundings
was given to the children, they would not only repay the expenses
incurred in the schools but would turn that training to use in
after life. I can imagine a school entirely self-supporting, if it be¬
came say a spinning and weaving institution with perhaps a
cotton field attached to it.

The scheme I am adumbrating docs not exclude literary train¬
ing. No course of primary instruction would be considered com¬
plete that did not include reading, writing and arithmetic. Only,
reading and writing would come during the last year when really
the boy or girl is the readiest for learning the alphabet correctly.
Handwriting is an art. Every letter must be correctly drawn, as
an artist would draw his figures. This can only be done if the
boys and girls are first taught elementary drawing. Thus side by
side with vocational training which would occupy most of the
day at school, they would be receiving vocal instruction in ele¬
mentary history, geography and arithmetic. They would learn
manners, have object-lessons in practical sanitation and hygiene,
all of which they would take to their homes in which they would
become silent revolutionists.

The District Board of Almora and any other such Board
which is unhampered by restrictions and which has a clear nation¬
alist majority may try the experiment if it has faith and some
members who will make it their business to see it through. Above
all it is a question national educational institutions must tackle if
they would justify their existence. They have to conduct original
researches, not reproduce clumsy imitations of those which they
condemn and seek to replace.

No originality is claimed for the method advocated here.
Booker T. Washington tried it with considerable success. If I re-

SYLHET INUNDATED

175

collect rightly, even tlic higher education he gave was self-support¬
ing. In America it is the most usual thing for even college boys
to pay fully for their education by engaging in some kind of remu¬
nerative work. The plan is different but the idea underlying is
not.

Young India, 11-7-1929

120. SYLHET INUNDATED

It was in Kausani that I received the first information 1 from
the Chairman of the local Congress Committee of the devastating
floods that have overtaken the Sylhet valley. Even the usual
rainfall is terrible in these parts of India, but the papers before
me tell me that a flood such as was recently experienced there has
not been known within living memory. The area affected is said to
be 5,500 square miles and the population over 18 lakhs. I need
not reproduce the terrible story of destruction which has been
vividly described in the daily Press. I have had telegrams and
letters from at least four committees asking for relief. These in¬
clude one from Sjt. Subhas Bose informing me of the formation
of the Central Relief Committee with Dr. P. C. Ray as its Presi¬
dent. Sjt. Amritlal Thakkar has proceeded there to see with his
own eyes the damage done to life and property.

Since Gujarat has had experience of such a flood only recently,
it can understand Assam’s tribulation. A man who is kind, has
national feeling and patriotism, can never ask: ‘How can one give
every day if every day there are floods and famines? Who can
afford to do so ? Even the treasures of Kuber would be emptied if
donations have to be given like this.’ As long as we have the
right to eat, the man who is starving has the right to ask for his
share of food. If this is recognized as an established truth, then,
anyone who has more than his daily needs cannot at all refuse
to give if someone approaches him for donations for people affec¬
ted by floods, etc. 2

I ask those who have not already given, to send their subscrip¬
tions which will be used in a manner that would give the greatest
relief with the means that the donors may put at my disposal.
Relief in the case of unprecedented destructions such as this only

1 For this and Gandhiji’s reply, vide p. 73.

2 This paragraph is from the article, “Heavy Floods in Assam”, published
in Navajivan, 14-7-1929.

176

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MA1IATMA GANDXIX

comes in well alter the first shock is over. First aid in such cases
is rendered by Nature herself iu that utter destruction is its own
remedy. Man brings the healing balm through his fellow-fe eling
to those who remain behind to tell the tale of woe. The dona¬
tions that the readers may send will be used after the most careful
inquiry I may be capable of making.

Young India, 11-7-1929

121. PROHIBITION

Sjt. C. Rajagopalachari who has been entrusted with the
prohibition propaganda by the Working Committee has issued the
first number of the monthly Prohibition, the official organ of the
Prohibition League of India. Its price is 2 annas, postage extra,

."""' i | r .■n i " i y " JL C? J

and can be had at Gandhi Ashram, Tiruchcngodu. The contents
are interesting. They show how the Government thwart prohibi¬
tion by every means at their disposal. Damoh is a district of the
Central Provinces. It carried prohibition in the teeth of opposition.

I must ask the curious to read the history of the campaign in the
pages of the journal. I cannot however resist quoting the following
tragic story of damages claimed by a liquor vendor:

Perumal Naidu, Village MunsifF of Singarapet, Dt Salem, Madras,
was tried departmcntally by the Divisional Revenue Officer . . . and he
was suspended for one year. . . .

Not content with the infliction of this departmental punishment the
local toddy shop renter filed a suit for damages for Rs. 300 on the ground
that by reason of the defendant’s dissuasion, he lost all custom for full
three months, January to March 1926, and that the defendant was bound
to make good the loss. . . . The suit is pending.

Is it any wonder if I call a system Satanic under which such
things are possible ? I need not be told that there may be other
systems more Satanic than this. It would be time enough to con¬
sider such a retort if I had to make a choice between Satanic
systems. The pity of it is that many educated Indians who lead
public opinion are drawn into this Satanic net as witness what
Mahadev Desai said 1 about the recent dinner to the Viceroy
at the Chelmsford Club, All but one or two Indians drank
champagne to their fill! When Satan comes disguised as a cham¬
pion of liberty, civilization, culture and the like, he makes himself

1 Under the caption, “A Simla Letter” in Young India , 11-7-1929

THE PUNDIT SABHA OF KASHI 177

almost irresistible. It is therefore a good thing that prohibition
is an integral part of the Congress programme.

Young India , 11-7-1929

122. THE PUNDIT SABHA OF KASHI

When I was in Kashi, three questions were sent to me on
behalf of the Kashi Pundit Sabha. I considered it my duty to
answer these questions, but I did not then have time to do so.
Later the questions lay in my file, I could not attend to them
during my tour either. Now I am cleaning up my file. The
questions are:

1. How can a sanatani Hindu who is well versed in the doctrines of
sanatana dharma and accepts the Vedas and the smritis based on them
as an infallible authority contend that there is no untouchability in Hindu-
ism or lend his support to freely mixing with untouchables, excepting on
the occasions enumerated in the well-known verse; “In religious proces¬
sions, marriages, emergencies, rebellions and in all festivals contact with
untouchables docs not pollute” ?

2. Your work is among the people of India who are predominantly
sanatana dharmis and who implicitly believe in the Gita dictum; “Let
the Shastras, therefore, be thy authority in deciding what is to be done
and what is to be shunned,” How can you then effectively carry on the
work of eradicating untouchability till you have proved that this work
is in conformity with the Shastras?

3. The Muslim Ulemas are firmly convinced that there is merit in
killing all those whp follow any religion other than Islam for they are Kaffirs,
and that Muslims can mingle with them only when they accept Islam.
So long as all Muslims are under the influence of these Ulemas, how can
Hindus make friends with Muslims while protecting the Hindu dharma ?

The pundits should not expect a very learned answer from me.
I shall humbly try to answer the questions as best I can on the
basis of dharma and Shastras as I have understood them from my
own experience.

The shrutis and smritis do not become scriptures merely because
they are known by these respectable names. Whatever goes against
the eternal principles of truth, etc., cannot be religious. Manu-
smriti and similar treatises put before us seem to be different
today from what they were in their original form, as they
contain some contradictory statements. In them are found state¬
ments that go against morality and reason. Having regard to the

41-12

178 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

spirit of the shruti granlhas, untouchability would indeed seem to
be a sin. What I have said about untouchability is this: “There
is no sanction in the Shastras for untouchability as we know it to¬
day.” In this statement and the one the pundits have put into
my mouth there is a vast difference. Even if we accept the current
smritis as our authority we do not find in them any basis for
untouchability as it is practised today. Even if we accept what
the pundits have quoted as authority, three-fourths of our work
is done. “Religious processions, marriages, emergencies, rebellions
and festivals” arc with us even today. Why do the pundits
publicly support untouchability when the smritis say that when
any of the circumstances obtain untouchability should not be
observed ?

There is no need for me to answer the second question any
further. I have made it clear that for my purpose the statement
of the pundits is enough. Let us now consider what may be called
a Shastra. I have said above that if we treated every work written
in Sanskrit as a Shastra then virtue could be proved to be sin and
sin, virtue. Thus in the language of the Gita, Shastra can only
mean, if the meaning is to be acceptable to reason, the utterances
of a sthitaprajm 1 2 . Therefore if the pundits wish to lead the people
on the right path, along with learning they should also have a
steadfast intellect, and they should give up passion and ill will.
Till the pundits strive hard, do tapas and become the brahma-
bhutas} of the Gita an ordinary person like me will have no
other alternative than to serve the people in the light of his
experience.

That leaves the third question. In my humble opinion the
pundits have only betrayed their ignorance in asking such a ques¬
tion. It is neither a teaching of Islam to kill the people who belong
to other religions nor do the Ulemas have any such desire. All the
Muslims are not under their control either. Nothing except the
purity of the Hindus can save Hinduism. It is only oneself that
can save oneself. According to the saying “if you are good the
world will be good” it is our duty to live in amity with all.
At any rate my experience teaches me only this.

[From Hindi]

Hindi Navajivan, 11-7-1929

1 Man of steadfast intellect

2 Those who have become one with Brahman; vide Bhagavad Gita } n. 55-72.

123. WIDOWS AMD WIDOWER

Ever since I expressed my views about widow-remarriage 1 I
have been receiving lots of questions. Many which I feel do
not need answering, I forget. But the following questions deserve
consideration:

1. Up to what age should widows be permitted to remarry?

2. If, after widow-remarriage has been socially approved, a widow
past the specified age should desire to remarry and insists on doing so,
how can she be stopped?

3. After widow-remarriage has been socially approved, should
widows with children, or those who are no longer young be allowed to
remarry if they want to?

4. An article written by Shri Ramanand Chatterjee, Editor, Modem
Review , has appeared in Widow’s Cause , an English paper published from
Lahore. The article suggests that widows should be allowed to remarry
up to the age of thirty-five. Is this right?

5. Once the custom of widow-remarriage becomes established,
widows will wish to remarry and even those widows who had not so far
considered remarriage out of respect for custom will start doing so.

There is no need to answer these questions separately for they
are all prompted by a misunderstanding of my views. The rights
or latitude allowed to widowers should also be allowed to widows.
Otherwise widows become victims of coercion and coercion is
violence, out of which only harm can come. The questions raised
about widows are not raised about widowers. It can only be because
laws applying to women have been framed by men. If law-making
had been the business of women they would not have given them¬
selves fewer rights than men enjoy. In countries where women have
a hand in law-making they have had the necessary laws enacted
for themselves.

Thus the answer to the above questions is that it is the duty
of the father to marry off his young widowed daughter. As regards
the rest no obstacles should be placed in the way of those who
wish to remarry.

There is no reason to believe that when such an arrangement
comes into effect all widows would remarry. In those countries
where widow-remarriage is allowed all the widows do not re¬
marry, nor do all the widowers. Only when widowhood is observ-

1 Vide pp. 68-9.

180

TII£ COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

ed voluntarily is it worthy of praise. Enforced widowhood is to be
condemned and leads to promiscuity. I know of many widows who
do not wish to remarry though there are no restrictions imposed
on them.

[From Flinch]

Hindi Navajivan, 11-7-1929

124. LETTER TO NAJUKLAL JV. CHOKSI

July 11, 1929

BHAISI-IRI NAJUKLAL,

What is the news about you? Moti should be sent here for
some length of time. I hear she has epilepsy. She is losing weight.
If she comes here we can try some remedy.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: S.N. 12144

125 . LETTER TO HARIBHAU UPADHTATA

Ashram, Sabarmati,

July 12 , 1929

BHAI HARIBHAU,

I understand what you write about Bijolia. We have invariably
found amazing results wherever truth and non-violence were
sincerely employed. In response to your letter I wrote out one to
Kshemanandji on the same day. I myself do not know that Kshema-
nandji has not himself understood my point of view. His was very
clear but you may ask him when you come or write to him. Send
Ramnarayanji over here whenever he wants to come. I hope you
know that his wife will live apart in the women’s section, or don’t
you?

I had fevet just for two days. My experiment with the diet has
nothing to do with it. The experiment continues. I am pleased
to know that Vaijanathji’s book has been well received.

Please do not bother yourself about giving up milk. I myself
cannot as yet claim complete success in my experiment of giving
up milk. But I am pulling on somehow, because my insistence on
giving up milk is my own and also long standing. I am distress-

TELEGRAM TO NAGESHWARA RAO

181

ed when I take milk. I get the almonds wiped with a clean dry
piece of cloth and pounded fine along with the skin. The powder
turns to something like ghee. Formerly I used to skin them after
soaking them in water. Later I came to know that the skin too
contained some salts. These ought not to be wasted. Moreover,
the skin is certainly laxative. If you try the experiment of almonds
you must take one of these, viz., tomatoes, cabbage leaves, fresh
tandalajo 1 . From these one obtains the vitamin which is to be found
predominantly in green leaves alone. Nowadays it is widely
believed that this vitamin is essential. Green leaves, tomatoes or
cabbage must be taken uncooked. Vitamin A is destroyed by the
mere applying of heat. I do not think any part of your letter now
remains unanswered.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a copy of the Gujarati: G.W. 6065. Courtesy: Haribhau Upadhyaya

126. TELEGRAM TO NAGESHWARA RAO

[On or after July 12, 1929] 2

Nageshwara Rao

POSITION COMPLICATED TRYING SEND “NAVAJIVAN”

MANAGER DISCUSS WITH YOU AND DECIDE FOR
HIMSELF.

From a microfilm: S.N. 15425

1 A variety of edible leaves

2 This was sent in reply to the addressee’s telegram dated July 12, 1929
from Madras which read: “Former Press decree 3,500. Paper merchant warrant
3,000. Arranging pre§s security 7,000. Please remit telegraph transfer/’

127 . LETTER TO NAJUKLAL N. CIIOKSI

July 13 , 1929

BHAISHRI NAJUKLAL,

I have your letter. When Moti comes here after two or three
months I would certainly not be here. Moreover it is not good
to let such a disease drag on in this way. What is the hitch in
sending Moti immediately ?

Blessings from

Bafij

From a photostat of the Gujarati: S.N. 12145

128. MEANING OF THE TERM ‘FADDIST

Readers have provided useful assistance in giving the meaning
of the word ‘faddist 5 . The equivalent of this word in Gujarati
(dhuni) was sent in by four persons. One of them is a lady
who does not know English, However, from the definition that I
had given of it, she readily thought of the word 'dhunV and that is
the word which comes nearest in meaning to the word ‘faddist 5 .
Some others had suggested the Gujarati equivalent of the word
‘crazy 3 (chakram) , A faddist is never a crazy individual. In Eng¬
lish, there is a good word for the latter type of person—a ‘mad¬
cap 5 . The other word that was suggested was dadharingo ; that, how¬
ever, will not do.

For those who know both English and Gujarati, it will be an
interesting pastime to find out the equivalents in one language of
words in the other, and if anyone compiles such a dictionary, it
will be a useful thing. It is not the function of the dictionary I
have in mind to make sentences and thereby give the meaning of
a Gujarati word in English and vice versa. In the dictionary which
I visualize, only the equivalents of words that are used in daily
life in either of those two languages are given in both languages.
Anyone who is a diligent lover of the language can compile such a
concise dictionary within a short period of time. Such a small
dictionary will prove very useful to those like me who do not wish to
use English words while speaking Gujarati. Anyone who has the
ability, the interest and the time to spare should compile such a

HOW TO DESCRIBE THEIR MAJESTY? 183

dictionary. If it is sent over to me and if it is found useful, Nava-
jivan will be prepared to publish it and pay something for it.

[From Gujarati]

Mavajivan , 14-7-1929

129. HOW TO DESCRIBE THEIR MAJESTY?

Although both Simla and Darjeeling are in the Himalayas, in
neither of these places could I get an idea of their grandeur. I
stayed in these places only for a short while and they looked like
British colonies to me. It was in Almora that I got some idea of
what the Himalayas are. But for the Himalayas, there would be
no Ganga, Jamuna, Brahmaputra and Indus; if the Himalayas
were not there, there would be no rainfall and these rivers would
not be there, and without rainfall India would become a desert
like the Sahara. Our far-sighted ancestors who knew this and who
were always grateful to God for the gifts that were bestowed on
them turned the Himalayas into a place of pilgrimage. Thousands
of Hindus have sacrificed their lives in these parts in their search
for God. These persons were not insane. It is as a result of their
tapas that the Hindu faith and India herself still endure.

In Kausani, while looking at the row of snow-capped Hima¬
layan heights glittering in the sunlight, I wondered how different
types of people would react to the sight of those grand white peaks.
Let me unburden my mind by sharing with the reader the thoughts
that overpowered me again and again at that time.

If children were to see that sight, they would say to them¬
selves that that was a mountain made of sutarfeni *, that they would
like to run up to it and, sitting on top of it, go on eating
that sweet. Anyone who is as crazy about the spinning-wheel
as I am would say that someone has peeled the cotton pod,
separated the seed from the cotton, carded the latter and made a
mountain of cotton like an inexhaustible stock of silk and remark,
c How stupid the people of this country were that despite this
wealth of cotton, they roamed about half-naked and half-starved ! 5
If & devout Parsi happened to come across this sight, he would
bow down to the Sun-God and say: ‘Look at these mountains
which resemble our dasturs 1 2 clad in milk-white puggrees just taken
out of boxes and in gowns which are equally clean and freshly-

1 A sweet resembling in appearance white thread

2 ‘Priests

184

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

laundered and ironed, who look handsome as they stand motion¬
less and still with folded hands, engrossed in having the darshan 1
of the sun.’ A devout Hindu, looking at these glittering peaks
which collect upon themselves water from distant dense clouds
would say: ‘This is God Siva Himself, the Ocean of compassion,
and who by holding the waters of the Ganga within His own white
matted hair saves India from a deluge. 5

Shankaracharya 2 had roamed about in Almora, Even today
I can hear him say, ‘This is indeed a marvellous sight, but all
this is an illusion created by God. The Himalayas do not really
exist, I do not exist and you do not exist. Brahman alone is real.
It alone is the truth, while the world is illusory. Repeat, there¬
fore, that while Brahman is the only reality, the world is unreal.’

Oh, reader! The true Himalayas exist within our hearts. True
pilgrimage, or supreme effort on the part of all human beings, con¬
sists in taking shelter in that cave and having darshan of Siva there,

[From Gujarati]

Navajivan, 14-7-1929

130. IF SPINNERS ALSO WEAVE?

Shri Jethalal Govindji’s self-confidence and enthusiasm are
most extraordinary. He has sent me the following report 3 * which
deserves consideration.

Where a spinner can weave, he is being encouraged to do
so; however, it should be admitted that this is not being done
with the same amount of fervour as shown by Shri Jethalal.
Such enthusiasm can be found only in an experienced person. It
is obviously desirable that all the processes involved in making
khadi, including weaving it, should find a place in the farmer’s
household. It is for the sake of weaving that emphasis is laid on
carding and spinning. However, if we stress all these activities
equally, there is danger of the importance of spinning being lost sight
of. Once the activity of spinning becomes established, weaving will

1 Sight of a holy person or thing

2 Eighth-century philosopher

3 Not translated here. The correspondent had argued that, if a carder
were also a spinner, he would card cotton so well that the yarn would not snap

while spinning; that if a spinner were also a weaver he would spin in such a
way that the yam would not snap while weaving; if a weaver were also a sales¬

man, he would weave well enough to attract buyers,

about “navajivan” 185

automatically find a place in the farmer’s household. An army
commander who has besieged a wall, does not start shelling the
entire wall, bur rather concentrates his attack upon a small por¬
tion of it and makes a hole in it. He regards himself as having
triumphed when the first hole is made. The mason who is en¬
gaged in the process of demolishing a wall does not bring down his
hammer upon all the bricks but rather strikes a blow at a single
key brick; once that crumbles, in an instant he knocks down all the
rest with the help of a crowbar. A somewhat similar argument
applies to the stress laid on spinning. This argument does not
apply to Shri Jcthalal. He should not limit his self-confidence at
all. It does, however, apply to the patience of those who feel
dizzy on reading this letter. If the talk about weaving scares them,
let them ignore it. For all those who can understand them the
calculations worked out by Shri Jethalal are full of hope and
guidance. We have not yet even touched those skeletons of whom I
speak so often and whose number exceeds a crore. Compared to
these, the class of persons whom we have been able to reach is
better off. These human skeletons do not even have room to keep
looms, many are even without homes and roam about like wild
animals. For them, the takli is the only tool available.

When they get this, their eyes will regain lustre. Weaving
can only come as the next step. Shri Jethalal may not even have
come across such individuals. I have seen a few such persons here
and there. Even after covering much ground, I did not have the
good fortune of visiting their homes, or one may say that my
penance has not been adequate enough. They live at a great
distance from the railway line. In those skeletons dwells the real
Lord of the Poor.

[From Gujarati]

Navajivan , 14-7-1929

131. ABOUT “ NAVAJIVAN ”

I have before me a pile of opinions sent by “lovers of
Navajivan” regarding the publishing of news in this magazine.
Every day I am inundated with letters on this subject. The readers
have discussed the matter well and in an interesting manner.
If numbers alone arc to be considered, the majority welcome the
suggestion for the inclusion of news items. However, the number
of persons who have opposed this idea is not small either. And
the reader will well understand that it is likely that there is deeper

186

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAIIATMA GANDHI

reflection behind the negative answers. One of these is as follows -1
Another gentleman has written in Hindi to this client: ‘I read
Navajivan in order to find happiness from’ a vision of truth. I
do not at all like the suggestion made by the “lover of Navajivan
The above-mentioned letters contain much that is in the same
strain. I have merely given the substance of these. Let us put
aside their praise of Navajivan. The sum and substance of their
opinions is as follows: ‘The scope of Navajivan has already
been defined. By adding to its size, it would lose both ways.’ I
feel that this argument is correct:. The tempt at ion to include news
items is indeed great. However, it appears to be some sort of a
craze. No periodical can serve several purposes. The task of
Navajivan is to serve the cause of swaraj. Hence my dharma is
to engage my colleagues’ time merely in trying to achieve- that end.
To utilize their energy even for other worthy causes would be as
good as retarding the cause of swaraj. This then is a funda¬
mental consideration.

While considering the matter with Sim Mohanlal, I find
that there are many practical difficulties too. News items cannot
at all be included without increasing the price of Navajivan
and this I regard as undesirable. Some persons are indeed of
opinion that news items should be included even if it means in¬

creasing the price of Navajivan. However, such generosity should

S 1 J van lias to roach even the poorest

of the poor sections of society* If at all it were possible for me
to do so, I would lower its price, but would not increase it.

Moreover, there is a difficulty in the selection of news items.
What items are to be included and what If ^ (, I ^ C/1 "UL (31 d •

The tone of the letters written by many persons implies that,
since we do not get correct reports these days, Navajivan will be
able to do that job. This is an illusion. The latter too, would
have to depend upon inland and foreign telegrams and newspapers.
JSavajwan is not m a position to employ its own correspondents
and get reports from them. No newspaper in India is in such a
position. I he cables sent by Reuter and such other agencies are
not reliable. Almost all of them arc motivated by self-interest,
are hurriedly despatched, involve partiality and arc provocative.
Which of such news items should be included and which excluded ?

The letter is not translated here. The correspondent had stated that during
t e nine years that he had been reading Navajivan he had had no difficulty in
un erstanding an article because no news items had been published along with
t em.^ oung India and Navajivan were better than Indian Opinion because they
contained e ‘sacred articles” and no news.

ABOUT CC NAVAJIVAN 55 1$7

I see other practical difficulties also. Hence, I have finally
arrived at the conclusion that there is no room for news items in
Navajivan. However, I found this discussion most interesting. I am
indebted to those who took part in it. In particular, I have
been enabled to understand my responsibility. Much remains to
be done in the way in which Navajivan is being conducted. I shall
attempt to do this if possible. I have to abandon many subjects
owing to lack of time and to my tours. I shall try and take them
up. And I shall take care to bear in mind the original idea
behind the suggestion, i.e., I shall try and give facts which have a
bearing on any incident referred to in an article. In this manner,
there will be no difficulty in understanding the subject-matter.

My suggestion to those who hanker after news is that they
should get it from elsewhere and they will lose nothing if they
give up craving for it. Balfour was Prime Minister of England;
he was a highly learned man. He had said that he never read
newspapers; his secretaries put up to him anything that he ought
to know. This statement was neither exaggerated nor arrogant.
He did not feel any necessity for reading newspapers. Being of a
studious disposition, he did not wish to give his time to reading
newspapers. What would villagers gain by reading newspapers ?
They would come to know of the progress of motion pictures, of
the progress made in aviation, stories of murders, facts describing the
various revolutions that are going on in the world, dirty descrip¬
tions of dirty proceedings of law-suits, news regarding horse races,
the stock exchange and motor-car accidents. Mostly items of
news mean only these things.

Of course, villagers, too, should have a knowledge of history
and geography. There are other means for obtaining this
knowledge. That is the task of the Vidyapith. This problem
involves the education of the men and women dwelling in villages
and not that of rural children. Kakasaheb has taken up this task
with the help of the charitable gift made by Shri Nagindas. With
the grace of God, we shall be able to see its good results with¬
in a short period. It has been decided to publish an educational
supplement to Navajivan. Whatever can be done through it will
certainly be done. Moreover, whatever news items are necessary
for mental development, for an understanding of the world and for
forging unity with it will readily be available in the supplement
to Navajivan or in the second half of it.

[From Gujarati]

Navajivan , 14-7-1929

132. LETTER TO A RUSSIAN CORRESPONDENT '

Sabarmati (India),
July 14, 1929

DEAR FRIEND,

I have your kind and interesting letter for which I thank you.
I may not have been able clearly to express my view on war and
non-violence in the pages of Young India, but you may be sure
that I am not likely to take part in any armed conflict that may
arise anywhere including my own country.

Tours sincerely,

M. K. Gandhi

From a photostat: G. W. 9703. Courtesy: The Embassy of the U.S.S.R.
in India

133. LETTER TO RAMESHWARDAS PODDAR

July 14 [ 1929 ] 1 2

BHAI RAMESHWARDAS 3

Your letter. What has been said about that lady applies
equally to the men. As for you, you must stop worrying and
seek the support of Ramanama. All will be well.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Hindi: G.N, 199

1 Exhibited at the Gandhi Darshan Exhibition (1969) a New Delhi, by the
Cultural Department of the TJ.S.S.R. Embassy

2 From the postmark

134. LETTER TO JETHALAL J0SH1

Ashram, Sabarmati,
July 14, 1929

BHAI JETHALAL,

You must obtain a testimonial from the Vidyapith; only then
can something be done.

Blessings from
Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 1349

135 . LETTER TO ALBERT M. TODD 1

July 15 , 1929

It is kind of you to offer me pecuniary assistance if I satisfy
you that I am in need. Though I always remain in need by
the very nature of the philosophy of life that I have adopted, my
needs are supplied by those in India who are interested in the
activities that I am engaged in. I send you herewith the consti¬
tution of the Ashram 2 which will give you some idea of the various
activities.

M.K.G.

From a photostat: S.N. 15213

1 In reply to his letter dated April 25, 1929, which read: “Because I wholly
approve of you and your work, I would like to send some money, perhaps five
hundred dollars. ... If I find that you are in need of help, I will be glad
to give, so far as I am able. . .

2 Vide Vol. XXXVI, pp. 398410.

136. LETTER TO PRABHAVATI

July 15, 1929

CHI. PRABHAVATI,

The customary letter from you has been missing for so long.
Why? It is all well here. About thirty of us are carrying on
the experiment of uncooked grain.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G,N. 3348

137 . LETTER TO MOOLCHAND AGRAWAL

July 15 , 1929

BHAI MOOLCHANDJI,

I have your letter. We can achieve very little through public
agitation in the States. Do what you can by discussing things
personally with the authorities. Or else call off the public meet¬
ings.

Tours ,

Mohandas

From a photostat of the Hindi: G.N. 755

138. LETTER TO GANGABEHN VAIDYA

Silence Day [July 17 , 1929 ]*

CHI. GANGABEHN SENIOR,

1 did shrink when I permitted you to resume the medical role.
But it will not matter since you will exercise it with care. Make as
little use of it as you can. Improve your own health. Do not be*
embarrassed on account of the change of rooms. Let these changes
go on. Indeed, do we ever have a room of our own? Aparigraha 2
is an attitude of the mind. If we regard a thing like a pen as

* As in the source, though the Silence Day fell on the 15th.

2 Non-possessiveness

NOTES

191

belonging to us we commit parigraha. We should live as and
where the world lets us live. A perfect spirit of service will be
born only if one could conduct oneself in this manner. Be very
firm regarding Krishnamaiyadevi and Maitri.

Blessings from
Bapu

[From Gujarati]

Bapuna Patro-6: G.S. Gangabehnne , pp. 25-6

139. MOTES

A Good Soul Passes away
Dr. Ruth P. Hume writes from Ahmednagar:

A cablegram came today telling of the passing on [sic] of my father—
Rev. R. A. Hume, D.D.—on June 24th.

I wanted to tell you, as you and my father were personal friends.
And I thought possibly you might care to mention it in Young India. Of his
life and work you know—also that he was born in Bombay in 1847, re¬
turned to India as a missionary in Ahmednagar in 1875, and retired to
America in 1926. He had been active until recently. But he was in poor
health. So wc would rejoice for his release and give God thanks for his
long life of service.

Yes, indeed, I have pleasant recollections of the deceased
friend. He carried on an extensive correspondence with me both
whilst he was here and after he had gone to America. I re¬
cognized in his letters his warm-hearted affection for India. He
rendered assistance to Dinabandhu Andrews whilst he was touring
in that great continent. I share with his daughter the rejoic¬
ings for the release of this good soul from the earthly tabernacle.
Death such as this affords no cause for sorrow or condolence.
Death always is but more especially in cases like this a “sleep and
a forgetting”.

Anti-vaccination

Sjt. Krishnagopal Dutt of Sialkot wires:

Secretary, Anti-vaccination League, Palghat, was imprisoned be¬
cause he refused getting his son vaccinated. Refer my statements Associa¬
ted Press. Pity people regard things other than political unimportant.
Poor Secretary imprisoned, noble cause, but country’s Press callously
silent. Kindly express your strong feelings in Press.

192

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

I congratulate the Secretary on his incarceration for the sake of
conscience. But I have no anger in me for the indifference of the
public or the Press over the incident. I am and have been for
years a confirmed anti-vaccinationist but I recognize that I must
not expect public support for my views. Anti-vaccination has no
backing from the orthodox medical opinion. A medical man who
expresses himself against vaccination loses caste. Tremendous
pecuniary interests too have grown round vaccination. A sort of
temporary immunity from smallpox is gained by vaccination
though at much cost otherwise to the body and certainly to moral
fibre. But all this argument often based on solid experience
counts for nothing against the tangible though temporary immunity
from smallpox, which the person who has the filthy vaccine in¬
jected into his body gets. It will be thus to the end of the
world. The State can only act as it has in the case of the Sec¬
retary. It will do so even when full swaraj is established. It
behoves reformers then to be patient with an unbelieving public
and a Press which generally refuses to move in advance of public
opinion. This imprisonment of the Secretary must be regarded
by us anti-vaccinationists as a boon, but it ceases to be that
when we parade or exploit it. Such imprisonments are a prelude
to reform when they are taken quietly and gracefully. Soon
there would be a conscience-saving clause in the law. But before
it comes those who do not believe in vaccination have to prove
their immunity by following a strictly hygienic life and by impos¬
ing isolation on themselves in times of epidemic. I read in the
Press that the Secretary fasted as a protest. I am convinced that
this fasting was wrong and uncalled for. You fast against a wrong.
Here there was no wrong done by the court. A civil resister
cheerfully accepts imprisonment for his resistance. Again, you
may not fast against all wrongs. Fasting to be good has well-defined
limitations which I have often discussed in these columns. When
the limit is crossed, it becomes ludicrous when it is not worse.

Sacrificial Spinning

The Secretary of the A.I.S.A has addressed the various khadi
organizations to enlist members of the A.I.S.A. which is the same
thin g as saying that they should canvass for increase in sacrificial
spinning. There is u n limited scope for it, if we but set our minds
to the task. Hawking khadi is becoming popular after a great
deal of whipping up. But it is not yet realized that hawking is
useless if there is no khadi to hawk. Spinning for wages cannot
be organized in a moment. It requires money and workers.

AN ANDHRA HERO

193

Sacrificial spinning requires no money and few workers if the spirit
of sacrifice and an appreciation of spinning for sacrifice can be
evoked. I hope the appeal made by Sjt. Banker will meet with
prompt and adequate response.

Young India , 18-7-1929

140 . AN ANDHRA HERO

During the recent Andhra tour I was presented with a port¬
rait of a young man as that of a great patriot. I did not know
anything about Alluri Shri Rama Raju. Upon inquiry I was
told many stories of his exploits. I thought them to be interesting
and inspiring as an instance of sustained bravery and genius,
though in my opinion misdirected. I therefore asked for an
authentic record. Sjt. M. Annapurniah, editor of a Telugu paper
called The Congress, has kindly sent it to me. I have considerably
abridged it. 1 Though I have no sympathy with and cannot ad¬
mire armed rebellion I cannot withhold my homage from a youth
so brave, so sacrificing, so simple and so noble in character as
young Shri Rama Raju. If the facts collected by Sjt. Annapur-
niah are true, Raju was (if he is really dead) not a fituri 2 but a
great hero. Would that the youth of the country cultivated Shri
Rama Raju’s daring, courage, devotion and resourcefulness and
dedicated them for the attainment of swaraj through strictly non¬
violent means. To me it is daily growing clearer that if the
teeming millions whom we the articulate middle classes have hitherto
suppressed for our selfish purpose are to be raised and roused,
there is no other way save through non-violence and truth. A
nation numbering millions needs no other means.

Much is not known of the early life of the great Alluri Shri Rama
Raju. He was born of a respectable Kshatriya family in a village called
Mogallu,- in the West Godavari District. . • ■ He studied up to the fifth
form at various places in Andhra Desha and was never known to be
bright at school. He was a good singer, and a promising young poet. . . .

He was not known to have any great sympathy with the non-co-
operation programme. His subsequent confessions and conduct show vio¬
lence. But he patiently waited and allowed non-co-operation to have
its trial. In the whole programme of Gandhiji boycott of courts and liquor
appealed to him. He started in the Agency tracts of Godavari and

1 Only excerpts are reproduced here.

2 Trouble-maker

41-13

194

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

Vizagapatam Districts a campaign of prohibition. His piety ancl devo¬
tion attracted huge crowds around him. His word was law to the
Agency folk. They were guileless and his eloquent appeals touched their
hearts. ‘Don’t dance attendance at the courts and don’t drink 5 was his
message to the villagers. His message spread like wildfire. Not one in the
Agency but responded to his bugle call. A new consciousness dawned
on the innocent folk. People gave up drink in large numbers. Courts were
deserted. A number of panchayat courts sprang up in the villages and jus¬
tice was administered locally. Raju is reported to have been a regular
khadi wearer. From the confessions in the fituri trials, it is clear that Raju
supplied only khadi uniforms to his troops. Sjt. Rallapalli Kasanna, a
non-co-operator and khadi producer of Tuni, was put on trial for having
supplied khaki khadi uniforms to Shri Rama Raju. Shri Rama’s temple was
his abode. There he used to perform tapas. Huge numbers flocked to have
his darshan every day. They used to listen to his utterances which were, from
all accounts, reported to be thrilling. He used to deliver spiritual mes¬
sages, but in the milk of spirituality there was invariably the sugar of
patriotism. People drank this milk with great fervour. What was the
result? A young sannyasi of twenty-five, preaching revolution to illiterate
Koyas, slow to move, but unapproachable, when they do move. The bureau¬
cracy at once scented it. . . . The Mahommcdan deputy collector and
the saint Raju were alleged to have met. Nothing is known as to what
transpired between them both. But the result was that he recommended
to the Madras Government a grant of land of thirty acres to Raju with
extensive facilities to undertake cultivation. The grant was actually made.
The patriot was thus sought to be made a farmer.

But no! The patriot remained a patriot. He was not the man
to be content with thirty acres, he wanted to wrest the whole of India
from the usurping hands of the foreign bureaucracy. That was the ambi¬
tion of his life. He read the Gita . He realized his svadharma. A vision
of free India dawned upon him. And he quietly started his work. The
situation in the Agency tracts helped him very much. He fully exploited
it to the country’s advantage.

The scene was the Gudem Taluk in the Agency. In the Agency,
there is not the ordinary rule obtaining in the plains. . . . The Koya had
lost his elementary rights. He could not fell one tree in the forest as
before for cooking his food. His cow could not freely graze on the forest
pasture as before. Thus the whole of the Agency was seething with dis¬
content.

. • • Rama Raju exploited these local grievances in the Agency for a
fight for liberty. Raju was so much loved by the Agency people that
they refused to give any information about him in spite of the greatest
amount of coercion. . . .

SWORD OF £>AMOCL£S

195

There were on the whole six encounters and in the first five Raju
had a decided victory. The British requisitioned the services of the Malabar
Force, while special troops arrived from Assam also. There was deadly
fight. ... At one time Raju’s forces were surprised by the enemy while
asleep and Raju himself narrowly escaped death after heroically attacking
the enemy. The last was also a surprise attack against Raju’s forces and
after desperate fighting the latter were vanquished. That practically was
the end of the great struggle for liberty. Rumours were current in those
days, that Raju was very much depressed to hear that the Agency people
were put to enormous hardships by the Government by way of demand¬
ing supplies, infliction of punitive taxes and other kinds of coercion. This
depression was to some extent responsible for his defeat or surrender. . . .

But what about Raju? . . . His alleged death is shrouded in mystery.

Young India , 18-7-1929

14L SWORD OF DAMOCLES

Section 124 A is hung over our heads like the sword of
Damocles whether we are feasting or fasting. It has descended
upon Dr. SatyapaPs devoted head whilst preparing the political
feast for the Congressmen and women who will flock to Lahore
during the Christmas week. Two years 5 rest in a prison plus a
fine of Rs. 500 is the reward that the Punjab Government had
awarded to Dr. Satyapal for his having dared to love his country
well. Dr. Satyapal has been adjudged guilty of sedition because
he wants freedom for his country from misrule. Where is the
Indian, be he Liberal or Nationalist, Mussalman or Hindu, who
is not knowingly guilty of sedition, if Dr. Satyapal is? I have
read again and again the speech which was the subject-matter of
the indictment against Dr. Satyapal. A diligent man could easily
find from the daily Press speeches much stronger than Dr. SatyapaPs.
Disaffection has been described by a commentator on the Section
as want of affection. He goes so far as to say that he who has
no affection for the Government established by law is guilty of
disaffection. I do not know any Indian who has actually affec¬
tion for the Government as it is today established. It is a rape of
the word flaw 5 to say that it is a Government established by flaw 5 .
It is established by the naked sword, kept ready to descend upon
us at the will of the arbitrary rulers in whose appointment the
people have no say.

Dr. SatyapaPs incarceration therefore suggests a wide agitation
for the repeal of Section 124 A. But repeal of that Section and the

196 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

like means repeal of the existing system of government which means
attainment of swaraj. Therefore the force required really to
repeal that Section is the force required for the attainment of
swaraj. It may be perfectly possible to make a show of repeal
and retain by a concealed route the same powers now exercised
under the Section. No such dodge will or should satisfy the people
at this stage. If therefore w tfeel that Dr. Satyapal has been wrong¬
ed and in him the whole movement, we must intensify the move¬
ment and evolve a government for which we can have real affec¬
tion, which we can call our own. There will then be no sedition on
a nation-wide scale, no political murders or attempts at such with
the secret sympathy of a people tired of superimposed rule. That
we have not yet changed the condition which we know to be in¬
tolerable is not proof of our satisfaction with it, it is proof no doubt
of our helplessness. But that helplessness is fast going. Whether it
is to find expression in anarchy and bloodshed or in well-ordered
civil disobedience remains to be seen. Much will depend upon the
wisdom of the English rulers, more however will depend upon our¬
selves. If we will look less towards Downing Street or White Hall
and more towards ourselves, we shall shed our impatience. We shall
then be too busy building up to be impatient. I have a suspicion
that many of us want swaraj as a gift instead of earning it by the
sweat of our brows.

Young India , 18-7-1929

142 . UNFIRED FOOD EXPERIMENT 1

Unusual and unexpected interest has been evoked by my
experiment in unfired food. It has given rise to interesting and ins¬
tructive correspondence. I observe that there is quite a number of
men living on unfired food and many more who have at one time
lived on such food. My correspondents will excuse me for my not
acknowledging all such letters individually. But they may rest
assured that I have taken in whatever was new and acceptable
in their suggestions. Several have asked me for further information
on the progress of my experiment.

The experiment still continues. There have been moments
when I have weakly doubted the wisdom of continuing it. This
was when extreme weakness had overtaken me during the Andhra

1 An article similar to this appeared in Navajivan, 14-7-1929, under the
title “Unfired Food”.

UNFIRED FOOD EXPERIMENT

197

tour. But my faith in the correctness of the theory behind unfired
food and my partiality for it are so great that I would not easily
give up the experiment. For it has for me a value not merely
sanitary but also economic and moral or spiritual. It is of great
importance to national workers who have to work in different
parts of the country often in trying circumstances. This food
surmounts all the difficulty arising from the different food habits
of the different provinces. But of this more if I can write of
the experiment with fairly absolute confidence. At the time of
writing, all I can say is that it seems to have done me no harm.
Dr. Ansari, who knows my body well, examined it carefully whilst
I was in Delhi on the 5th instant and was of opinion that he had
never found me to be in better health than now. My blood pres¬
sure (systolic) which after the breakdown at Kolhapur 1 had never
been found to be below 155 was now registered at 118, pulse
pressure at 46. Though 118 he thought to be subnormal, it was no
bad sign as I had just risen from a slight attack of malaria and I
was then living on juicy fruits only.

My resolve to continue the experiment has been considerably
strengthened by reading Dr. Muthu’s great work on tuberculosis
and Colonel McCarrison’s instructive and carefully-written food
primer. The former contains an illuminating chapter on diet and
the latter which is dedicated to the children of India is popularly
written and gives in a very concise manner all the information on
nutrition that a layman need possess. It is a book which needs
to be read with caution. It puts, naturally for the author but unduly
according to my experiences, much emphasis on the necessity
of animal food such as meat or milk. The unlimited capacity of
the plant world to sustain man at his highest is a region yet un¬
explored by modern medical science which through force of habit
pins its faith on the shambles or at least milk and its by-products.
It is a duty which awaits discharge by Indian medical men whose
' tradition is vegetarian. The fast-developing researches about vita¬
mins and the possibility of getting the most important of them di¬
rectly from the sun bid fair to revolutionize many of the accepted
theories and beliefs propounded by the medical science about food.
Be that as it may, both these authors seem to me to agree that it is
best to take all foods in their natural state if we are to derive the
highest benefit from them and especially if we are not to destroy
some of the important vitamins they contain. They opine that fire

1 On March 26, 1927; for the “Medical Opinion”, vide Vol. XXXIII,
Appendix III.

198

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

destroys some of the vitamins and the most essential salts and vita¬
mins are removed when the covering of wheat is removed for the
attainment of extreme fineness or of rice for its polish.

In my previous article, I have warned the reader against
copying my experiment. 1 But after two months 5 trial I am able to
say with confidence that anyone may try it provided he retains a
small quantity of milk and ghee. Though my own experiment is both
unfired and milkless, I am not yet in a position to recommend avoi¬
dance of milk and ghee. Though my belief in the possibility of
avoiding milk and ghee without endangering health is un¬
shakable, I cannot claim as yet to have found a combination of
vegetarian foods that will invariably produce the results claimed
today for milk. These authors arc undoubtedly of opinion that a
little addition of milk and-—or—ghee (pure) raises the food value of
vegetarian proteids and fats and promotes assimilation of the latter.

I may now tell the reader what I am taking at present:

Sprouted wheat
Pounded almonds
Whole almonds

Green vegetable, e,g., marrow (dudhi) or
cucumber or the like (grated)

Raisins (or fresh fruits)

Lemons

Honey

i olas

nr f

1 olas

Neither the quantity nor the variety is absolutely fixed- Often
I avoid almonds or wheat or both. Sometimes I take sprouted
gram and grated cocoanut instead of wheat and almonds. The
reader need not take honey. He may take gut 2 but in no case white
sugar which is decidedly harmful. Sugars are best obtained from
raisins, figs or dates all of which should be taken in moderation.
He may increase the quantity of wheat if he finds it to be insuffi¬
cient. In the beginning stages there will probably be a feeling of
emptiness. It will be due to the fact that by ill usage the stomach
is distended. Till it assumes its natural size, the emptiness should
be put up with. It may be partly overcome by taking juicy fruit or
a little more vegetable or better still by drinking plenty of water,
never by exceeding the maximum quantity of wheat or gram. Milk
may undoubtedly be increased if the purse allows it. Over thirty
comrades have taken up the experiment with me. The maximum
fixed forlthem is:

1 Vide pp. 36 & 53,

2 Jaggery

ARTLESSNESS OR AUDACITY?

199

Sprouted wheat

Tolas

„ gram

Vegetables

Cocoanut

Khismis

Lemon

Milk

lb.

Fresh fruit when available

Ghee instead of cocoanut

Tolas

The quantity of milk and ghee is the minimum. Those who
need more are at liberty to take more. We all take a little salt.
I omitted it for one month. But some medical friends have warn¬
ed me against giving it up. And fancying that I was feeling weak
or being really weak, I began taking salt in Almora. The quantity
taken by me is not more than 30 grains during the day. Honey is
taken 3 times a day separately with hot water. Too much stress
cannot be laid on the great necessity of thorough mastication. We
have so ill used our teeth and gums that we now find it difficult
to make proper use of them.

Toung India , 18-7-1929

143 . ARTLESSNESS OR AUDACITT?

The following correspondence 1 will be read with interest.

Deputy Commissioner’s Bungalow, Gonda,

June 19 3 1929

The Secretary,

All-India Congress Committee

sir,

I write to draw your attention to the famine in Gonda. . . . They 2
have done their part and the public are beginning to do theirs. I need
money to relieve poverty outside the famine area and am receiving sub¬
scriptions from private persons.

I appeal to you as to an organization which claims to promote the
country’s welfare not only political but also social and economic . . . you
have promised £100-0-0 to the League against Imperialism; will you not
give as much to the league against starvation?

1 Only excerpts are reproduced here*

2 The Government

200

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

Prominent members of the Congress are collecting funds to save
from prison thirty-one alleged Communists at Meerut; will you not do
the same to save from famine five lakhs of hungry men at Gonda ?

Moreover if you wish to further two causes, charity and politics at
a single stroke, will you send me all the foreign clothes you collect? I
will despatch them to this wild tract on the Nepal border where they
will no longer be an eyesore to good patriots. If you commute the sen¬
tence on European clothes from burning to banishment, I guarantee that
they will never return. You will not, I think, wish any longer to burn
clothes when you realize that there arc thousands of your countrymen
wearing rags which arc too scant even for decency. True patriotism is
to help your fellow-countrymen in their need, and I appeal to you for a
generous contribution both of money and clothes,

Tours sincerely,

B. J. K. Hallowks

President, Famine Relief Fund, Gonda

B. J. K. Hallowes, Esq.

President, Famine Relief Fund

Deputy Commissioner’s Bungalow, Gonda (U.P.)

sir,

Your letter of the 19th of June was delivered to me on the evening
of the 24th June- . . .

Conditions in the district of Gonda and in its neighbouring district
of Bahraich are terrible enough. . . . Surely there must be something very
seriously wrong somewhere in the machinery of the State or the structure
of society or both.

The days when we could cast the blame on the gods for all our
ills are past. Modern science claims to have curbed to a large extent
the tyranny and the vagaries of nature. . . ,

Your relief works must bring some solace, however temporary,
to many. They are certainly to be appreciated. But do you not think
that all this charitable relief does not touch even the fringe of the pro¬
blem of Indian poverty ? ... It is certain that the charity of the wealthy
does not put down poverty and famine relief measures do not put an end
to conditions which cause famines.

The whole raison d’etre of the National Congress is to put an end to
such terrible conditions by removing the root causes. The Congress is
convinced that only by changing the whole system of government and the
structure of society can poverty be conquered and a measure of social
well-being introduced. . . it is for this reason that the Congress associates
itself with other organizations, like the League against Imperialism, which
also attack the root cause of poverty and inequality.

ARTLESSNESS OR AUDACITY?

201

If the Government at present functioning in India were really
desirous of attacking and eradicating poverty they would do something
much more and vastly different from the petty relief they give in times
of acute distress. They would feel that in a country where there is such
terrible poverty it is a tragic absurdity to have an expensive and top-
heavy system of administration. They would feel that the whole political
and economic system they have built up in the country, and the social
structure they have bolstered up, have impoverished the country with
great efficiency and rapidity, and this process continues. They would
realize that the responsibility for this poverty is theirs and therefore the
speediest way of ending it is to remove themselves from the scene of ac¬
tion, liquidate their Government and make room for others who can
tackle the problem with greater disinterestedness and competence than they
have shown.

. . .You will want a surer remedy giving more permanent results
than the quaclds nostrum. I trust that you will appreciate that this sure
remedy lies in the complete replacement of the present system of govern¬
ment and a change in the social structure. . . . Your co-operation, moral
and material, as well as the co-operation of all others who object to the
exploitation of a country or a people or a class by another will be welcome.

. . . The Congress believes that even temporary relief should take the
form of teaching an auxiliary industry to agriculture which will provide
an immediate income now and a welcome addition in better times. . . .
The method of organizing this kind of relief is to encourage carding and
hand-spinning by lending and distributing spinning-wheels and cotton.
Hand-weaving, of course, automatically benefits by this. If you appre¬
ciate this kind of relief and are prepared to co-operate with it, I shall
gladly recommend to the All-India Spinners’ Association to do what
they can in the matter.

Tours sincerely >
Jawaharlal Nehru
General Secretary

It is difficult to believe that the Deputy Commissioner’s letter
is seriously meant. It reads more like a veiled sermon to Pandit
Jawaharlal Nehru than a request for help. If it is a sincere request
for help, the references to the League against Imperialism, the
Meerut prisoners and the foreign clothes 5 burning are irrelevant
if not impertinent. The Deputy Commissioner has got the answer
he deserved. His request is like that of an army of occupation
asking for help from comparatively better-off victims for the worse
off, when' both could be immediately relieved if the army removed
the pressure by withdrawing itself. And why should Government

202 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAXIATMA GANDHI

officials expect help from organizations like the Congress which have
their own method of dealing with famines and the like? The
writer of the letter forgets that Congressmen who desire boycott of
foreign cloth cannot consistently give it even to the famine-stricken.
It will be in their opinion to perpetuate the state of starvation.
Foreign cloth is believed by them to be one of the most potent
causes of India’s poverty. To make use of that cloth oven in times
of distress is to put off the day of relief from starvation.

Toung India , 18-7-1929

144. SIKHS IN BRITISH COLUMBIA

Dinabandhu Andrews writing about the Indian settlers in
British Columbia says: 1

... the Sikh community in British Columbia have done great credit
to India, the Motherland. They have struggled on courageouly all these
years and have helped one another in a truly brotherly manner. There
has never been a case of destitution in which the Khalsa Dcwan Society
has not come to the rescue. It has done my heart good to see such
sturdy independence of character and such manly endurance as has been
shown by these brave people.

Secondly, the ‘Komagata Maru’ trouble is now a thing of the past.
The British Columbians are ashamed of what happened and they do not
in any way defend it. There has also been some amendment; because
now the Sikhs are quite freely allowed to bring in their wives into Canada
and many of them have done so. This is one thing accomplished. . . .

One thing still remains, namely, citizenship. They have not yet
received citizenship, as Indians have done in Australia and New Zealand.
Nevertheless, if this were pressed for now, it would surely be granted,
and the time is ripe. What is needed is for someone, of noble character
and bearing, like Mr. Sastri 2 , to go out to Canada as Agent-General and
live there. If this were done, then citizenship would certainly follow.

Let me give the conclusion of the whole matter. The world
today is drawing closer together. India cannot any longer afford
to stand apart. India should have her ambassadors in every great
progressive country of the world 3 making for fellowship and goodwill.

Toung India , 18-7-1929

1 Only excerpts are reproduced here.

2 V. S. Srinivasa Sastri

145. THE RUNNING SORE 1

A Maheshwari young man from Sholapur referring to the
question of marriages of child girls with old men writes : 2

. . . Will you please advise as to the best way peaceful satyagraha
can be offered in this behalf?

What, in your opinion, should be considered to be the proper age
limit for the bride and the bridegroom, respectively, for marriage ? And
in what circumstances would you recommend the offering of satyagraha
for the prevention of unequal marriages? . . .

Would you kindly let us have your opinion on all these points in
the columns of Hindi Navajivan ?

There is no doubt that satyagraha is the right thing in such
cases. But how to offer it is another question. I have more than
once dilated, in my writings, on the limits of satyagraha. Satya¬
graha presupposes self-discipline, self-control, self-purification, and
a recognized social status in the person offering it. A satyagrahi
must never forget the distinction between evil and the evil-doer.
He must not harbour ill will or bitterness against the latter. He may
not even employ needlessly offensive language against the evil
person, however unrelieved his evil might be. For it should be
an article of faith with every satyagrahi that there is none so fall¬
en in this world but can be converted by love. A satyagrahi will
always try to overcome evil by good, anger by love, untruth by
truth, himsa by ahimsa. There is no other way of purging the
world of evil. Therefore a person who claims to be a satyagrahi
always tries by close and prayerful self-introspection and self-ana¬
lysis to find out whether he is himself completely free from the taint
of anger, ill will and such other human infirmities, whether he is
not himself capable of those, very evils against which he is out to
lead a crusade. In self-purification and penance lies half the vic¬
tory of a satyagrahi. A satyagrahi has faith that the silent and
undemonstrative action of truth and love produces far more per¬
manent and abiding results than speeches or such other showy per¬
formances.

1 Originally published in Hindi Navajivan, 18-7-1929, this appeared under
the title “Notes from Hindi Navajivan For Pyarelafs introductory note, vide
footnote on p. 161.

2 Only excerpts are reproduced here.

204 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

But although satyagraha can operate silently, it requires a cer¬
tain amount of action on the part of a satyagrahi. A satyagrahi,
for instance, must first mobilize public opinion against the evil
which he is out to eradicate, by means of a wide and intensive
agitation. When public opinion is sufficiently roused against a
social abuse even the tallest will not dare to practise or openly to
lend support to it. An awakened and intelligent public opinion is
the most potent weapon of a satyagrahi. When a person supports a
social evil in total disregard of a unanimous public opinion, it indi¬
cates a clear justification for his social ostracism. But the object of
social ostracism should never be to do injury to the person against
whom it is directed. Social ostracism means complete non-co-opera¬
tion on the part of society with the offending individual; nothing
more, nothing less, the idea being that a person who deliberately
sets himself to flout society has no right to be served by society.
For all practical purposes this should be enough. Of course, special
action may be indicated in special cases and the practice may
have to be varied to suit the peculiar features of each individual
case.

But what about the sensual old man who even in his decrepi¬
tude cannot help his sensuality? Sensuality is blind; it cannot dis¬
criminate, it seeks satisfaction anyhow and at any cost. How should
society deal with such a man? The reply is, by refusing to provide
him with hapless victims. The rule about not giving in marriage
any girl below twenty and against her will should be rigorously
enforced. The question as to what the old man should do if no
girl should be willing to marry him of her own accord natu¬
rally arises. Society has no answer to such a question; it is not
bound to furnish any. It is concerned only with saving hapless
girls from falling victims to blind lust. It is no part of its duty
to provide means for the satisfaction of the latter. In practice,
however, it will be seen that when purity pervades the social
atmosphere it will serve largely to quell the lust of the lustful.

Young India, 8-8-1929

146. LETTER TO PRABHAVAT1

July 18, 1929

CHI. PRABHAVATX,

I have your letter. On the 26th I shall touch Allahabad.
We shall spend two days there. It will be good if you come
over then. About coming here it is your duty to obey Father’s
command. But I believe Father will grant you his permission.
Please pass on the enclosed letter wherever it should go.

I have now discontinued wheat and gram. I take only copra,
fruits and some vegetable.

You must have your cough completely cured.

Blessings jrom

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 3359

147 . LETTER TO JAWAHARLAL NEHRU

July 20 , 1929

MY DEAR JAWAHARLAL,

I have glanced at the programme. So far as I am concerned
it is all right. I think I shall easily stand it. I have not checked

it for Mondays. But I assume that you have avoided travelling on
Mondays.

Pyarelal, Devdas and Kusumbehn will be with me. Vallabh-
bhai, Mahadev and Manibehn will reach via Jubbulpore. I do not
think there will be any other company with me.

You will please not detain me on 28th. I would like to get
away by the first train after finishing on 27th.

I hope Kamala is better. I do want to see her healthy and
bright when I come to Allahabad.

Tours ,

Bapu

Gandhi-Nehru Papers, 1929. Courtesy; Nehru Memorial Museum and
Library

148. LETTER TO PRABHAVATI

July 20, 1929

CHI. PRABHAVATI,

Herewith find the letter from Rajendrababu. Under these
circumstances you should, for the present, remain at the Sadaqat
Ashram and learn what you can, and in the month of August
go to your in-laws 5 with courage. Having reached there you
should serve your elders but observe your own discipline stead¬
fastly. After all you have but to go there. Having pleased your
parents-in-law with your humility, you may come back. If you do
not hear from Jayaprakash in the mean while, I think it would be
a mistake not to go to them when they are insistent. You
should go there but should not observe purdah. You should speak to
your father-in-law with courage. If he is cross you should patiently
bear with it. His anger will subside when he sees your purity. Even
after going there you should insist on continuing your studies. You
should speak about Jay aprakash 5 s insistence on English. You should
explain that the Gita is essential for inner satisfaction. You may, if
you want to, visit me at Allahabad.

Ask me if you fail to understand anything. I shall reach
Allahabad on the 25th morning.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 3353

149. MY NOTES
Supplement to “Navajivan 55

What Kakasaheb decided long ago has at last been put into
effect today. Hence along with this issue, the reader will receive
with no extra cost a supplement to Navajivan entitled Shikshan ane
Sahitya. The management of Navajivan have taken a risk by resolving
in this manner to publish this supplement, because Navajivan is not
going to receive any financial benefit by doing so. Behind this
venture is, indeed, the expectation that lovers of literature will pur¬
chase more copies of these issues of Navajivan for the sake of this
supplement. Regardless of whether that hope materializes or not,

My notes

207

it will be brought out every month around the full-moon day. I
hope that everyone will go through the supplements carefully and
preserve them. It will be Kakasaheb’s constant endeavour to
make this supplement more and more useful from the educational
standpoint. Ultimately, it is hoped that it will wholly become the
organ of the expanding activities of the Vidyapith. It will also
contain news of the Vidyapith and the various national schools
running in India. There is, however, no need for me to anticipate
the future. The reader himself will see and evaluate the improve¬
ments that will be made in these issues from month to month.

Sacrificial Spinners 5 Dharma

Although everyone is aware of the story of bundle of sticks, it
is worth refreshing one’s memory about it from time to time.
Even a delicate child can break a single stick. However, even a
giant like Ramamurthi 1 cannot break a whole bundle of sticks. A
single stick cannot even heat a little water, whereas a bundle can
cook cereals for thousands of persons. Similarly, sacrificial spinning
practised by a single individual may well prove ineffective.
Sacrificial spinning practised by large numbers of persons can
keep out cloth imported from Manchester, Japan and such other
places and save one hundred million rupees which go out of
India every year. The Charkha Sangha has been founded following
the worldly law which knows of no exceptions. The very word
‘Sangha 5 indicates the strength that underlies it. Hence, those
who believe in the strength of the spinning-wheel, those who
have faith in sacrificial spinning, should join the Sangha at this
juncture and increase its strength. And those who have already
joined it should invite their neighbours to follow suit. It should be
borne in mind that even youths have a place in it. Though youth
associations have been formed at various places in the country, I
do not find young men making proper or full use of the strength
that lies in unity. If all boys and girls studying in schools realize
the strength that underlies the takli, thousands of persons can enter
the fold of the Charkha Sangha and a beautiful mountain of yarn
can be raised every day. In this manner, every man, woman, child
or aged person can readily do this in addition to his or her regular
occupation and thus contribute one’s share in the sacrificial offer¬
ing that is swaraj. Will-power alone is required. Hence if you do
not spin already, you should start doing so, inspire others to do so,
start wearing khadi if you do not already do so, inspire others to
do so, join the Charkha Sangha if you do not already belong to

1 A strong man then famous as ‘the Indian Sandow’

210 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

non-violence and attribute non-violence to something beyond
these limits, some of them are puzzled and some are annoyed, while
others pity me. I would like to tell all these three categories of
people that, if they will have a little patience, the riddle of non¬
violence can be solved to some extent. I am a seeker and a
worshipper, not one who has already attained the end; hence I
am liable to make mistakes and deserve to be forgiven. In this
age of discoveries and exchange of ideas, no one will be harmed if
I express my ideas. If I have committed any mistakes, I shall cor¬
rect them. If there is any substance in my belief, other seekers
will benefit thereby.

Let me now come to the subject-matter. My humble opinion
is that perhaps there is some mistake in the prevalent Jain belief
regarding diet. From the standpoint of non-violence, I feel that
one commits an offence in killing plant life for the sake of food. The
least amount of violence is involved when anything that is edible
is eaten directly after it is plucked from the tree. All storage is full
of violence. There is untold violence in the touch of fire. There
is violence even in lighting a fire. Then to consign green or dried
substances to the fire involves even greater violence. All this is self-
evident. In not bringing vegetables near fire and not drying them,
there is less processing of them. All needless processing is stained
with violence. Anyone who eats vegetable products after drying or
cooking them is not free from the original taint. By killing vege¬
table matter when it is outside of one’s physical body and consum¬
ing it, one incurs the sin of killing it. Pulses allowed to germinate
are not rendered stale; pulses prior to germination are not lifeless.
Hence I see no objection in permitting these to germinate.

How cooked vegetables affect the body is a separate matter
and one which deserves consideration. My experience and that of
other experimenters suggest that the body does not get the same
satisfaction from eating cooked vegetables as it does from eating
them fresh and tree-ripened. Whatever is cooked over fire has an
intoxicating element within it, hence it readily arouses passionate
feelings. My experience of the last four years goes to show that as
soon as I started eating cooked food I lost the freedom from passions
which I had acquired while eating raw vegetables. I am again
attaining to that passionless state now. I have before me similar
experiences which doctors have reported. However, I do not wish
to add to the length of this article by quoting them. If anyone
wishes to read the literature, I shall give him the names of the books.

I have no defence for the use of honey. I believe that it
would be better if one could avoid it. I do not recommend

what is one’s dharma?

211

eating it to healthy persons. Since I had not given it up, I
started taking it when the doctor at Yeravda specially recom¬
mended it to me and I still take it. However, at the end of this
experiment, I hope to give up honey. I have already decreased
the dosage. I regard honey as being less harmful than sugar.
Both doctors and vaids are of opinion that, from the standpoint of
health, it is preferable to sugar. However, if this experiment suc¬
ceeds, I will readily get from the items that are included in the
experiment the same food value which I get from honey. Not a
single bee is harmed if honey is extracted by the improved tech¬
nique, but this is no justification for taking honey.

I do not differentiate as between health, non-violence and the
ultimate aim of life. Whatever is health-giving should further the
cause of non-violence and should not be opposed to the ultimate
aim of life. What is in question here is health in its pure and real
sense. In this poor country, where society has become disorga¬
nized and millions are dying of starvation, the question of the ulti¬
mate end has become a difficult one. However, it is required for the
success of this experiment that it should be within the reach of the
poor as well. This, however, is a long-term position. I myself can¬
not conduct this experiment taking into account only the body. I
wish neither to survive nor to win swaraj by practising what I
consider to be opposed to my dharma. I consider it to be man’s
achievement to harmonize dharma and the ultimate aim of life,
truth and swaraj; swaraj and government by all, the welfare of the
country and the welfare of all. That alone is the path that leads to
moksha , that alone is what interests me. Whosoever wishes to share
that interest is welcome to do so. None of my activities are
carried on with any other end in view.

I do not know about the discovery made by Rishabhdev
Swami.

[From Gujarati]

Navajivan , 21-7-1929

152. PRODUCTION OF KHADI IN GUJARAT

Nowadays, there is an all-round increase in the sale of khadi,
but its production has not kept pace with it. Gujarat has laid the
foundation of the khadi movement but has not been able to build a
solid structure over it. One reason for this is quite clear. Gujarat is
the centre of the cotton textile industry. If Bombay too is regarded
as a part of Gujarat, 99 per cent of the cotton textile mills are loca¬
ted in Ahmedabad and Bombay. It is for this reason that Gujaratis
started wearing mill-made cloth earlier and, as compared to other
provinces, Gujarat shelves the spinning-wheel sooner.

However, Gujarat has taken up the message of swaraj with
enthusiasm. Its contribution to constructive activity is very large.
Hence it is befitting that Gujarat should also attain a place that is
worthy of it in the matter of khadi production. Gujarat cannot pos¬
sibly compete with Tamilnad and other regions. It can, however,
make as much progress as it wishes in the method of self-reliance
and in sacrificial spinning. It does not matter if the spinning-
wheel is not adopted in Gujarat as a form of labour. For the
method of self-reliance and sacrificial spinning, some sort of idea¬
lism is necessary. If this idealism is generated and if the idea
takes root that swaraj is bound up with yarn, the methods of self-
reliance and sacrificial spinning will succeed without the least
difficulty. Why cannot the municipalities of Gujarat and other
places imitate what is being practised in Almora? Why cannot
those of us who have plenty of spare time learn to spin and start
spinning regularly every day? It is necessary to propagate this
idea in every house. Those who are engaged in door-to-door
hawking of khadi should take up the task of producing khadi.

[From Gujarati]

Navajivan , 21-7-1929

153. LETTER TO V. S. SRINIVASA SASTRI

Sabarmati,

July 21, 1929

MY DEAR BROTHER,

I had expected a note from you on your return from East
Africa. Do please tell me what you did there. I hope your health
is good. I hardly read the papers for the continuous touring. And
when I do, it is merely to cast a passing glance.

Tours ,

From a photostat: G.N. 8817

154 . LETTER TO N. TCHERKOFF 1

Sabarmati,
July 21, 1929

DEAR friend,

I have your letter which was still lying in my file. I write this
simply to acknowledge it with thanks. I hope to deal with it at
length some day or other if I can scrape together a few hours.
Meanwhile let me tell you that there is not the slightest difficulty
about my endorsing the sentiment that all war under any conceiva¬
ble circumstance is undesirable.

Tours sincerely ,

M. K. Gandhi

N. Tcherkoff, Esq,.

Moscow—66, U.S.S.R.

From a photostat: G.W. 9704. Courtesy: The Embassy of the U.S.S.R.
in India

1 Exhibited at the Gandhi Darshan Exhibition (1969), New Delhi, by the
Cultural Department of the U.S.S.R. Embassy

155 . LETTER TO FULSIMHA DABHI

Ashram, Sabarmati,

July 21 , 192[9y

BHAISHRI FULSIMHAJI,

I have your letter. Indeed I would like the children to under¬
take the experiment in diet, but they can do so only under your
supervision and with your consent. Here I let the children too try
the experiment. It does them no harm. Sunshine, complete rest
and open air all the twenty-four hours are most important for your
wife. She should take as much milk and fresh fruit as possible. It
is better if she takes bhakhris 2 prepared from wheat roasted and
ground at home rather than barley porridge. These bhakhris should
be well masticated. [She should have] more of milk or curds and
less of bhakhris . She should also chew green leaves of vegetables.
If she does this her health will surely be all right.

Blessings from

Bapu

Shri Fulsimhaji

Shrx V. B. Rashtriya Vinaymandir, Sunav {via Anand)

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 1293

156. LETTER TO JETHALAL JOSffl

Ashram, Sabarmati,

July 21 , 1929

BHAISHRI JETHALAL,

Your postcard is yet to be answered. In the matter of sticking
to ideals it is as much essential to be tolerant of others as it is to be
strict with one’s own self. Members of the family too are to be
brought round with humility. Impatience or use of force indicates
lack of faith in the ideal. If you want to see me you can come at
4 o’clock on any day, other than Monday, when I am at the Ashram.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 1350

1 The year is inferred from the reference to “experiment in diet”,

2 A kind of chapati

157. SPEECH AT PUBLIC MEETING , KADI

Tuesday , July 23, 1929

I have been anxious to visit this institution 1 for the past year.
Ever since I heard that Shri Chhaganbhai Pitambardas and other
individuals are devoting their entire life to this institution, I have
been eager to come here. It is laudable that this institution should
be protected and nurtured by the citizens of Kadi and the people
of Baroda State. Your children will receive a good education if
you are prepared to send them here. Here you will find purity
of thought and conduct which are even more valuable than a
knowledge of the alphabet.

Along with the congratulations that I wish to offer to the
secretary and the management of this institution on the simplicity
and clarity of its report, I should also like to say how sorry I am
that they have not yet been able to solve the problem of untouch-
ability. Hinduism cannot be conceived of without the abolition
of untouchability. If this untouchability is not destroyed in this
age of reason, when one religion comes into contact with and is
compared to another, any religion which is greatly polluted or
whose roots are rotten cannot survive. If Hinduism were rotten at
the roots, I would have abandoned it. I am not content with
having been born in a Hindu family. As a human being one
may swim in one’s father’s well but not get drowned in it.
Although the Hindu religion is good, untouchability constitutes a
blot on it. Hinduism would certainly have been destroyed if the
ignorance involved in untouchability were inherent in it. If it
harbours this ignorance, we must sacrifice our lives in order to
remove it. This institution with which Chhaganbhai is associated
may tolerate untouchability because of social pressure. In the wel¬
fare of the Kadva Patidar community lies the welfare of Hinduism
and of all human beings. By assuming that in the welfare of one
community lies the welfare of all others, one should regard this as
a matter of pride. You will not be able to serve the Kadva Patidar
community if you regard "any human being as untouchable. If I
were to institute a comparison between child-marriage and
untouchability, I would disregard the former, as that practice is
prevalent among the Patidars who are regarded as high-class people.

1 The Kadva Patidar Ashram

216 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDX-IX

It is not prevalent all over the country. If it had been, society
would have perished. One can be patient with regard to child-
marriage but untouchability cannot be tolerated even for one
moment. The people should make their intentions known that
deserving untouchables will certainly be accepted. Along with this,
people should also be advised to spin. Not only should spinning
be encouraged, but great stress should be laid on it. You
should insist that ornaments and jewels should be taken away
from the children entrusted to you and that they should be taught
spinning.

If you desire to further the growth of nationalism, you should
accord a place to Hindi. It is a language which can be learned
easily. It sustains work and also helps in carrying it on. The
Congress programme, although light and beautiful, is also exten¬
sive. It is such that it can give those who live in the country a
share in something worth doing and always welcome. The pro¬
gramme consists in propagation of khadi and boycott of foreign
goods. Khadi should be accepted to the extent that even foreign
thread should be boycotted. Khadi is being sold here but the
demand for it cannot be met. It is not in keeping with the principle
of khadi that it should be produced at one place alone and then
distributed elsewhere. You should yourselves spin, make khadi and
wear it. You could be said to produce wealth for the country
even if you could spin a little while carrying on your activities.
If you wish to wear fine khadi, you should spin fine yarn, but you
should make fullest sacrifice in the boycott of foreign cloth.

In this State the income from liquor is large. We do not wish
to derive any benefit from this income. Whatever the reason for
it, we should approach those who own liquor booths, those who
drink, and the Government, and launch a movement in this matter.
You can also lovingly persuade people to abstain from drink.
You can reason with those who run the liquor booths. Those
who drink ruin their lives. They forget the distinction between
a wife and a sister, a distinction which even a child can under¬
stand.

Nowadays, instead of protecting cows we eat them. The
reason behind a large number of cows being exported to Aus¬
tralia — thanks to the Hindus of India — is that beef worth crores
of rupees is being produced there. Its essence is extracted from
that beef. I could make you shed tears if I described that process
to you. Cows are being slaughtered there. Even our Muslim
brethren do not carry out so much slaughter on Bakr-Id day.

A large number of cows are sent from Gujarat apd Kathiawar,

SPEECH AT PUBLIC MEETING, KADI

217

We thus commit this sin directly. Rearing cows does not imply
tying up a cow in front of one’s house in order to worship it.
If the she-buffalo is to be permitted to survive, the cow will have
to be slaughtered. If the latter has to survive, the former must be
given up. The buffalo benefits nobody. The person who dis¬
covered the buffalo for the purpose of milk has virtually caused
the slaughter of cows. If someone says that camel’s milk is useful
and that the she-camel is a very serviceable animal, we shall
kill both cows and buffaloes. We do not yoke the buffalo
to the plough. The he-buffalo can be put to use in Konkan.
Both the cow and her calf can be useful. Even medical science
can demonstrate that the product of the buffalo cannot be
put to as many uses as those of the cow. All that I wish to
say is that it is our supreme dharma to protect the cow. If
we on our part afford this protection to the cow, its protection will
be brought about automatically. The Hindu can save the cow
throughout the world. It is because we are steeped in our selfish¬
ness that we fail to see that which is there right before us. So
long as we do not castrate the bull, we shall be unable to protect
the cow. We could protect the cow only if we put it to full use.
By regarding hide as untouchable, we encourage the untouchables
to eat beef. We have lost the use of bone-manure. If this is made
available free of charge, all farmers will make use of it. There
is not a single tannery functioning in India where only the hides
of dead cows are being used. I am the only one running such a
tannery. I have engaged a person in the Ashram specially to
[help me] master this trade and am gaining proficiency in it. If the
cow is to be protected, her progeny should be developed through
castration. If her offsprings are healthy, we can obtain a minimum
of 20 seers of milk from each cow. I have seen a cow in Banga¬
lore which yields 80 pounds of milk. But it is fed adequately. No
buffalo can yield 80 pounds of milk. As many as five or six
years would pass before we could obtain even 20 pounds of milk
from the cows we have. Breeding bulls should be secured and
taken to various [breeding] centres. That is the duty of the State
as well.

[From Gujarati]

PrajabandhUj 28-7-1929

158. TELEGRAM TO JAWAIIARLAL NEHRU*

[On or after July 23, 1929 ]

Jawaharlal

YOU MAY FIX UNFURLING CEREMONY SUNDAY IF NO TRAIN
AVAILABLE SATURDAY AFTER COMMITTEE MEETING.

From a photostat: S.N. 15434

159. FROM BRITISH GUIANA

The following from Dinabandhu Andrews’s letter 2 dated 1st
June at Georgetown will be read with interest.

There can be no question whatever, that conditions in British Guiana
are better than elsewhere, except for the climate which is a very damp
one. . . .

The greatest of all things which draws me to this Colony is the
obvious freedom from the worst forms of race prejudices. The number 1
of Europeans is so exceedingly small. . .

. . . The African race does not compete economically with the
Indians . . . the African people are on the whole turning away from
agriculture, while the Indian people are sticking to it in all the enormous
development of rice cultivation. . . .

. . . We have as a people spent a very great deal of serious thought
and consideration upon the Indians in Africa, but I say that here is,
in the New World, an Indian population greater than that in the whole
of Africa, and now I feel the time has come for us to put our best
energy into improving the condition of things out here in such a way
that future generations may be proud of this colonization of Indians in
the New World. . . .

This letter has to be read with caution. I cannot enthuse
with the Dinabandhu in his praise of Demerara as a land suitable
for Indian colonization. Reports about its unhealthiness, it is clear,
were not exaggerated. I should be most chary of encouraging
emigration to such an unhealthy part of the world. I remember
a naive suggestion once made in South Africa that the Indian

1 In reply to his telegram dated July 23 from Allahabad, which read:
“May I announce you will unfurl National Flag Sunday morning eight.”

2 Only excerpts from this long letter are reproduced here.

URBAN V. RURAL

219

settlers should be encouraged to remove themselves to tracts more
suitable for their settlement and wholly unsuitable for white colo¬
nization, i.e., to the most unhealthy tracts in that continent. It
was not suggested that the climate of South Africa was unsuited
to the Indian constitution. If anything the Indian fared better
than the European from the health standpoint. But he was not
wanted there by the white man. Now Demerara is such a
favourable spot. There white men can barely exist. No wonder,
therefore, that there are no political disabilities from which Indians
are suffering and that an African is the Attorney-General. This is
a matter of necessity and carries no virtue with it. If the African
refuses to do agricultural labour there, I fancy that it is not be¬
cause he will not work on the land but because he is too indepen¬
dent to do so under unfavourable conditions. He does work on
his own land in South Africa. Why should his poverty consign
the Indian to the most trying occupation in the most unhealthy
part of the world ? It is the same story in East Africa. The High¬
lands are not for him. On the whole therefore the problem
before the Indian public is just now to better the conditions of life
here, and by attaining swaraj, to raise India’s political status be¬
fore considering colonization schemes. In my opinion it is enough
for us if meanwhile we are able to safeguard the rights of Indians
already settled in the different parts of the world.

Young India , 25-7-1929

160 . URBAN v. RURAL

Several correspondents have sent me cuttings from Prabuddha
Bharat containing an elaborate criticism of Gregg’s book 1 and
thereanent the whole cult of the charkha. The articles are too
long for reproduction in these pages. I must refer the curious to
the original. But they enunciate the following propositions:

1. India must become industrial in the Western sense;

2. the question of physical existence cannot be solved by the charkha;

3. the conditions attached to the success of the charkha make too
large claims on prevailing tendencies and human nature;

4. the justification and superiority of machines lie not so much in
meeting the internal needs of a country as in invading and capturing
foreign markets;

5. if India is to live and fulfil her spiritual mission among men,
she must modernize herself. . . . Let us unhesitatingly and energetically

1 Economics of Khaddar

220 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

assimilate the modern industrial methods. . . . But; along with that we
must practise spirituality intensely, create a mighty spiritual idealism in
the mind of the nation and a great love for the country so that on the
wings of them we may cross over the dark valley of modernism in
which the West is sadly groping. Without spiritual idealism, modernism will
spell a speedy ruin.

I have so far as possible copied the writer’s words including
his italics.

I am sorry that I am unable to subscribe to these propositions.
They are obviously based upon the assumption that modern civiliza¬
tion is comparatively a good thing and that it cannot be resisted
with any hope of success. There is a growing body of enlightened
opinion in the West which distrusts this civilization which has in¬
satiable material ambition at one end and consequent war at the
other.

But whether good or bad, why must India become industrial
in the Western sense ? The Western civilization is urban. Small
countries like England or Italy may afford to urbanize their systems.
A big country like America with a very sparse population, perhaps,
cannot do otherwise. But one would think that a big country,
with a teeming population, with an ancient rural tradition which
has hitherto answered its purpose, need not, must not, copy the
Western model. What is good for one nation situated in one
condition is not necessarily good enough for another differently
situated. One man’s food is often another man’s poison. Physical
geography of a country has a predominant share in determining
its culture. A fur coat may be a necessity for the dweller in the
polar regions, it will smother those living in the equatorial regions.

The author’s second proposition that “the question of physical
existence cannot be solved by the charkha” cannot hold water.
On the contrary that question can only be answered by the
charkha or its equivalent. Every writer of note whether Indian
or European has admitted the necessity of cottage industries, if
India is to live physically. The writer of the articles in question has
done less than justice to himself, to Mr. Gregg and to his own
country by summarily dismissing Mr. Gregg’s dispassionate thesis.
Mr. Gregg has considerable -engineering experience and he has
shown conclusively that it will be suicidal, it must mean certain
death to millions of India’s population, if the solar power stored
in the hands and feet of her three hundred million inhabitants is
allowed to run to waste in the impossible attempt to replace it
with steam or such other power for the purpose of sustaining physical
existence. It would be on a par with the attempt made by a

URBAN V. RURAL

221

man not to use his hand for bringing food to the lips but to let
a machine do the work of the hand and run the risk in the
bargain of sometimes burning his lips for want of the automatic
protection that the sensory nerves connecting the hand with the
brain afford against overhot dishes.

The third proposition is now simply answered. “The condi¬
tions attached to the charkha 55 not only make no “large claims on
the prevailing tendencies and human nature’ 5 , but they are based
on “the prevailing tendencies and human nature” as they are to
be found in India. Were it otherwise, in the midst of confusion
and disappointment running through so many national activities
the charkha would not have spread through 2,000 villages nor
would it have shown the steady, though necessarily slow, progress
it had demonstrably made during the past eight years 5 revival.

In the fourth proposition the writer justifies the worship of the
machine age not for the reason that it may meet the “internal
needs of a country 55 but because it means an “invasion and cap¬
turing of foreign markets 55 . Unfortunately or fortunately for
India there are no foreign markets to invade and capture. The
consummate exploiters of the West have ‘'done the trick 55 . We may
invade and capture foreign markets if we will at the same time
invade and capture the foreign manufacturing countries. And if
the writer has any such grand scheme in contemplation, methinks
it is more difficult of accomplishment than the task set before
themselves by the votaries of the charkha.

The last proposition gives away the writer’s whole case. He
will modernize India and yet retain her spirituality without which
he thinks, in italics, that “modernism will spell ruin ”. He will have
India to do what experienced sages have told us is impossible of
accomplishment. “Ye cannot serve God and mammon. 55 He seems
to agree that the West has failed to reconcile the two. Why does
he think that India can perform the impossible task? Why should
it not be assumed that if the ancients could have done it, they
would have done so long ago? Indeed it was after making the
attempt that the authors of the Upanishads said, “All this is
God’s. Therefore live so as not to covet your neighbour’s property.”

Surely exploitation means usurpation. And usurpation can never
be reconciled with spiritualism. It pained me therefore to read
the article with such a dismal conclusion in a magazine which is
solely devoted to spiritual culture.

222

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

What was more painful still was the exploitation of the name
of Swami Vivekananda in connection with the double-edged theory
propounded by the writer. The inferential invocation of the authority
of the illustrious dead in a reasoned discussion should be regarded
as a sacrilege. After all we, a handful of educated Indians, are
shouldering a serious responsibility in gambling with the fortunes
of the dumb millions whose trustees we claim to be. A still more
serious responsibility rests upon the shoulders of those of us who
claim to possess some spiritual perception.

Young India, 25-7-1929

161. NOTES

Welcome Home

The Wandering Singer has returned home after making many
conquests in the West. Time alone will show how lasting is the
impression created by her. If the reports received from private
sources in America be any criterion, Sarojini Devi’s work has left
a profound impression on the American mind. From that trium¬
phal tour she has returned none too soon to take her share in
solving the many and intricate problems facing us in the country.
May she cast over us the spell she was able so successfully to cast
over the Americans.

Assam-Bengal Flood

I am publishing the first list of donations to the appeal 1 in
respect of the calamity that has overtaken East Bengal and Assam.
Just at the time of sending the manuscript to Young India office I
find the following wire from Dr. Prafulla Chandra Ghosh 2 :

Sheth Ramanlal Keshavlal of Pctlad (Gujarat) accompanied by
Bhimjibhai, representative of Messrs Ranchhoddas Dayaram & Sons
at Chittagong, Sjt. Harivallabh C. Shah and others came to Abhay
Ashram, Comilla, on their way back from Silchar and Sylhet. . . . The
method of work followed by the Ashram appealed to them, and they
appreciated very much the idea of giving a sort of permanent relief to
the agriculturists by the introduction of spinning-wheels, of which the
Ashram has decided to have one thousand, and the idea of giving paddy
for husking by which they can anyhow earn an honourable living instead

1 Vide pp. 175-6.

2 Secretary, Abhoy Ashram, Comilla; only excerpts from his telegram
are reproduced here.

MILL-LABOUR IN BARODA STATE 223

of depending on doles. Shethji and Bhimjibhai were pleased to an¬
nounce a donation of Rs. 2,550 on the following heads:

1. For 200 spinning-wheels Rs. 550;

2. for paddy-husking work Rs. 1,250;

3. for two huts for the Ashram Rs. 500; and

4. for khadi debt of the Ashram Rs. 250.

This is merely a sample of what is being received by me.
Young India, 25-7-1929

162. MILL-LABOUR IN BARODA STATE 1

The Editor
“Young India 9 ’

sir,

May I draw your attention to the sad plight of the textile and other
factory labour in the Baroda State and request you to extend your kind
assistance for the betterment of their conditions? You are possibly aware
that we have, in British India, a sixty hours 9 week rule, i.e., a general
ten hours 9 day arrangement for the factory labour since 1922, but the
mills in the Baroda State are even to this date allowed to work as long
as twelve hours and at times even more. In the matter of child labour too
whilst the Factory Act here has laid down a twelve years 9 age rule for
half-timers and a fifteen years 9 rule for whole-timers, children of tender age
are still taken in for work ... as I know that it was with your advice
and under your guidance that the textile workers of Ahmedabad strove
for and obtained a ten hours 9 day even before the present Factory Act
was enacted, as also that it was at your instance and under your influence
that a similar reform has been effected this year by the Indore State.
The Baroda State is now thinking of revising its Factory Act and has
issued draft rules, which, if finally adopted, would bring the Act in a
line with that prevalent in British India. I, however, understand that the
local mill-owners are opposed to this much-needed and long-overdue
reform. . . . This question is coining up for consideration before the
Bardoa Council during the next week and if you can kindly see your
way to express your views on this matter at this juncture, it will prove
very helpful both to the Council and the State in arriving at a just and
sound decision.

I am , etc.,

‘A Friend of Both*

1 This appeared under the caption “Correspondence 99 .

224 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

I gladly publish the foregoing letter 1 . I know the writer and
I do believe him to be what he subscribes himself as. I do not
know that my opinion will reach the quarters where it should, and
if it does, whether it will have any weight. Anyway I am empha¬
tically of opinion that no State, much less Baroda, can afford to do
less than British India. Indeed even ten hours a day and the
age limit for children in British India need improvement. If
capital is not to fall into utter discredit, it behoves capitalists
voluntarily to exercise self-restraint and make common cause with
labour.

Young India, 25-7-1929

163. A VICIOUS BOOK

Three correspondents have written to me urging me to give
my opinion on a book called Swami Dayanand, A Critical Study of
His Life and Teachings, by F. K. Durrani, B.A., Muslim mis¬
sionary. The author is the Secretary oT Tabligh Literature Society,
Lahore. A fourth correspondent has given me a copy of the
book. One of them reminds me that I had no hesitation about
expressing my opinion on Rangila Rasul 2 and tells me that there¬
fore I should have none in giving it on Mr. Durrani’s volume. I
have gone through the volume with as much patience as I could
command and I have come to the conclusion that it is a vicious,
libellous book which should never have been written by a res¬
ponsible man and published by a responsible society. The author
protests in his preface that he will approach his subject in a scien¬
tific and dispassionate spirit. But he breaks that promise in the
preface itself. He says, “We intend neither to praise nor to con¬
demn.” But in the very next page this is what he has to say
on Satyartha Prakask. “It is a worthless book and the teachings
and ideas contained in it are so absurd and so amusingly childish
that one finds it hard to believe that a man who became the found¬
er of such a powerful organization as the Arya Samaj could be the
author of such drivel.” The author has not hesitated to accuse
the great reformer of falsehood, trickery, incapacity and addiction
to bhang “whose narcotic juice often kept him insensate”. “The
account of his life left by himself is pure fiction.” “A pall of
mystery hangs over his origin and early years.” He has not one

1 Only excerpts from it are reproduced here.

2 Vide Vols. XXIV and XXXIV.

A VICIOUS BOOK

225

good word to say of the Swamiji or the Arya Samaj. He has gone
out of his way even to abuse Hindus and Hinduism. But I may
not multiply proofs. Almost every page of the book furnishes
ample ground for condemning it. The author lets the cat out of
the bag in his concluding chapter. He says:

If wc love our motherland, if we want to make India a great and a
civilized country, it is our duty to wash it clean of the stains of ancient
superstitions of Hinduism and reach out the healing of Islam to every
child of the motherland. . . . Islam is a conquering force and the Muslims
were born to freedom and empire. Both can come to us, if wc exert
ourselves to expand our numerical strength. We are the children of the
soil of India and we owe a duty to the motherland. Like other lands,
she too should have a place of equality in the comity of nations. Hindu
India will never be able to do that. She can be free and rise to power
and glory only under the banner of Islam.

And this cherished desire of his the author has sought to fulfil
by dipping his pen in venom and reviling one of the greatest re¬
formers of modern times, his writings and the great and growing
sect of Arya Samaj and incidentally Hindus and Hinduism. I
advise Mr. Durrani to reconsider his views, apologize for the libel¬
lous publication and withdraw it. This advice I venture to tender
because in a public letter he says:

If anyone can prove that the book has been written out of spite and to
hurt, hereby I promise to withdraw even the present edition and will ■
not bring it into the market. I have greater fear of my own conscience
than of any Government, and my conscience is clear in this matter.

If my testimony is worth anything, I can say that the book is
bound to hurt every Arya Samajist and every Hindu, indeed every
impartial man and woman not excluding Mussalmans. If a tree
may be judged by its fruit then this book is a fruit of spite.

Toung India , 25-7-1929

164. PROGRESS OF SELF-SUPPORT KHADI

Sjt. Satis Chandra Das Gupta of Khadi Pratishthan sends
the following interesting account 1 of the progress 2 being made by
the Rashtriya Sangha which is trying to induce people to spin for
their own khadi.

This is what I call good progress for the few months that the
Sangha has taken up the work. If it becomes popular, there can
be no doubt that the self-support method is the cheapest and the
most efficient.

Young India,) 25-7-1929

165. MY IMPERFECTIONS

A reader writes: 3

What this correspondent says is of course true. I do use
honey; I have not completely given up its use so far. I am
more conscious of my imperfections than others can be. The
fact is there are a number of things that I would like to give up
but I have not yet been able to do so. Honey has been con¬
sidered good for my health. I have not had the courage to give up
honey, though I know that its use involves violence, as I have
already given up a good many items of diet. To be intellectually
convinced that a certain thing should be given up is one thing,
to really give it up with one’s heart is another. Having said this
I must also say 'that my effort to give up honey continues. But
if one gives up honey one must also give up sugar and jaggery.
From the point of view of vikriti 4 , sugar is the worst thing. Prepara¬
tion of sugar involves a lot of violence also. Honey has not harmed
me in any way. The doctors maintain that honey is very good
for health. Then there is this in its favour: the modern methods
of bee-keeping do not involve destruction of the bees. But of
course that is no argument in favour of eating honey.

1 Not reproduced here

2 In Hooghly, 24 Parganas, Midnapur, Bogra, Burdwan and Calcutta

3 The letter is not translated here. The correspondent had suggested that
the use of honey should be given up as it involved violence to the bees. Vide
also pp. 210-1.

4 The correspondent had listed ghee, milk, curds, honey, liquor and meat
as things producing vikriti , perturbation.

MY IMPERFECTIONS 227

All enterprise carries with it some defect. All industry involves
sin. The less of this the better.

I would now like to digress a little. The readers should
understand that ahimsa does not end with consideration of
what should or should not be eaten. We should of course give
meticulous thought to these. But the ahimsa which has been
described as the supreme dharma is much more than this. Ahimsa
is the noblest feeling of the heart. So long as our relations with
others are not pure and so long as we consider anyone our enemy,
we cannot be said to have touched even the fringe of ahimsa.

A man who observes ahimsa scrupulously in eating and drink¬
ing, but is unscrupulous in business, does not hesitate to cheat and
selfishly causes unhappiness to others, cannot be said to be ob¬
serving ahimsa. But a man who, though a non-vegetarian, and
not so particular about what he eats, is compassionate and has
dedicated himself to helping others, must be considered a saint
who knows the dharma of ahimsa and follows it whole-heartedly.

Straying from this central point we have forgotten our dharma.
That is why I wish we would see the great himsa that the ever¬
growing distrust between us involves and prove our manliness in
removing it. How should we behave with the English, with the
Muslims or other communities ? The search for an answer to this
question provides the real field for ahimsa.

The research in pure food is the job of physicians endowed
with noble qualities. The public in general cannot understand it.
For this work a knowledge of science is essential. Whether I de¬
clare honey harmless or harmful does not matter at all. We
should simply accept the views of one who has studied the tech¬
nique of production of honey and has observed its effects. All
enterprise is clouded with defect. Eating anything at all involves
some violence. Having realized this our duty is clear: we should
give up whatever we can do without. We should eat nothing to
please the palate. One’s body is the abode of God and one is
merely its custodian. Therefore we should try our utmost to keep
it pure as far as possible. We should never treat it as a means of
indulgence. We should treat it as something meant to practise
restraint upon and should increasingly cultivate self-control.
Having once decided upon this, we are rid of the problem of
what to eat and what to eschew.

[From Hindi]

Hindi Jfavajivan, 25-7-1929

166. SPEECH ON COMPROMISE RESOLUTION, A.I.C.C.

MEETING, ALLAHABAD

July 27, 1929

The resolution moved by Mahatma Gandhi runs that:

In view of the general situation in the country this meeting
of the A.I.C.C. is of opinion that the time has come when all
national effort should be concentrated on the preparation of the
country for a campaign of non-violent non-co-operation after
31st December, 1929, and agrees with the Working Committee that
all Congress members of the various legislatures, central and pro¬
vincial, should resign their seats to give effect to this campaign;
but having regard to the views expressed by a considerable body
of Congress members of the legislatures and some members outside
them this Committee resolves that the question of withdrawal from
the legislatures do stand over till the forthcoming Congress at Lahore,

This Committee further desires the public in general and the
members of the legislatures in particular to prepare for complete
withdrawal from legislatures, should such a course be necessary,
on and from the 1st of January next.

Provided that nothing herein contained shall prevent members
of the Congress Party in any legislature from resigning their seats
before the Congress is held at Lahore if they consider it necessary
to do so on any new issue that may arise hereafter.

Speaking in Hindi on the resolution, Mahatma Gandhi said that many
would have been surprised at the resolution and as many would have also
felt pain at it. Personally, he too felt pain at putting the resolution before the
Committee. But it was the duty of the Working Committee to take into
consideration all the circumstances before arriving at any decision. The
opinion expressed by the members of the Councils was, he said, very
strong. They would have resigned their seats in the legislatures if they
were forced to do so by the Congress Committee but they would have at the
same time kept a grievance and the result would have been that the Congress,
which hitherto could boast of unity in its camp, would have been exposed to
the danger of a split in its ranks. The Mahatma said:

Such a situation, none was prepared to face. At least I was
not prepared to face it.

Proceeding, Mahatma Gandhi said that the Working Committee had
also invited the Congress members in the legislatures to put their case

SPEECH ON COMPROMISE RESOLUTION, A.I.C.C. MEETING 229

before it. Some of them presented their case to the Working Committee and
also to him and their case was to the effect that the time had not come when
the members should be asked to resign their seats in the legislatures although
his personal view was that such a time had arrived and the country would
be greatly benefited by severing connection with the legislatures. What
opinion the President had now, he (Mahatma) held before and even then.
But they had also to see that the Congress organization could not be conducted
smoothly by enforcing individual views only. Mahatma Gandhi said:

You know that when the Swaraj Party came into existence
and I came out of the jail, I entered into a compromise with
your President and Mr. C. R. Das. I bent my head before them
and the same thing I am doing today. Though I am not bend¬
ing my head today before them but before those persons who
think that they should not resign their seats in legislatures at this
moment. We want to work with them.

It was this anxiety to maintain solidarity that prompted him to advise
the Working Committee yesterday that although the time had arrived to
take action suggested by the Committee, they should do what the Congress
members of the legislatures desired today.

Proceeding, Mahatma Gandhi said that today they had postponed
consideration of the question of resignations but the resolution authorized the
members to resign of their own accord without asking the Working Committee
in case any new issue arose necessitating their withdrawal from the legislatures
before the Lahore Congress.

The resolution, he continued, also urged that it was their religious duty
that they should start preparation from the 1st of January, 1930. They should
prepare themselves to do from today what they would be required to do from
the 1st January. On the 31st of August next, people would be called upon to
give an account of their efforts for the enrolment of members for the Congress.
It was not to be supposed that the Congress members in Councils should work
only in Councils and not outside them. The resolution had increased their
responsibility. The Mahatma said:

I also want to tell them that when the Committee had paid
great consideration to their views they should also carry on their
duties very devotedly.

Concluding, Mahatma Gandhi hoped that it would not be understood by
accepting the compromise resolution that they did not want independence or
non-violent non-co-operation. He trusted that on the 1st January, 1930 they
would render a good account of themselves,

The Leader 9 29-7-1929

167. MT DHARMA

July 28 , 1929

A father who is grieved by the conduct of his son and daught-
er-in-law writes: 1

The writer of the letter is well known to me. He is a respec¬
table gentleman. With his permission, his son and daughter-in-
law stayed with me for some time. I have a pleasant memory of
my association with this couple. Both of them have self-control,
are sweet-tempered, courteous and eager to obey their elders.
Both have accepted a simple way of life. They have come of age.
The son earns his own living. The daughter-in-law is not fond
of clothes or jewellery. She has given up the veil and some of
the evil customs prevalent in their caste. The father does not
quite approve of this. Hence he is grieved and believes that they
defy their elders because of their association with me.

The above letter is the outcome. I can understand a father’s
grief. But I do not regret my own conduct. I feel that the beha¬
viour of the son and the daughter-in-law has been correct. Pai'ents
cannot insist upon their grown-up children following their example
in all matters. In this age of independence, parents should give
up such a desire. Even the Shastras say that a son of sixteen should
be regarded as a friend,

I feel that, just as the son should observe certain restrictions,
the father too should check his own desire to be worshipped as a
god. The father should be satisfied if the son is polite, serves his
parents when the need arises and looks after them if they become
invalid. I have not heard of cultured parents in the past enter¬
taining greater expectations.

I am aware that hundreds and thousands of young men have
come under my influence. I am conscious of my dharma. I believe
that I had made a considerable effort to carry out my dharma as a
son and had attained some success therein, My parents regarded
me as an obedient son and gave me full freedom. I never felt irked

1 The letter is not translated here. The correspondent had stated that
Gandhiji’s advice to youth to differ from their parents if their conscience war¬
ranted it was causing estrangement between parents and children, that before
they took the vows of brahmacharya and aparigraha, they should be old enough
to understand■ their implications and that men and wotpep should live separately
ip the Ashraxp,,

MY DHARMA

231

by the control they exercised over me. I have sons as well as
grandsons. I impose no restrictions upon them. All who have
come of age enjoy complete independence. I do not regret having
given them this training. My eldest son openly goes against me. I
am not unhappy over this. Despite this behaviour of his, I keep
up my relationship with him as a father in accordance with what
I consider my dharma. He signs his letters to me as “your obe¬
dient son 53 . I do not feel that he is insulting me by doing so. I
should realize that obedience has its limits. There are girls who
stay with me as my own daughters, women who stay with me as
my own sisters. They all enjoy freedom and have come to live here
of their own free will. I do not feel that they should act in accor¬
dance with all my wishes. Their elders are not displeased because
they stay with me. As a result of innumerable such experiences, I
have arrived at the conclusion that while teaching one to exercise
self-control in life, there is nothing wrong in giving one complete
freedom. I have no knowledge whatsoever of anyone having come
to harm through contact with me or of his life having become
morally corrupt.

There is nothing mysterious in what I teach young persons;
neither is there anything frightening about it. There is no dan¬
ger m putting it into practice. In many instances I have found
that all of it is acceptable to both the mind and the heart. Hence
to those parents who are grieved at the conduct of their sons and
daughters my plea is that they should recognize the signs of the
times, ham alive today but may not be here tomorrow. The
march of time is not going to be halted if I stay still. This trend is
dragging people into leading a life of irresponsibility. By stop¬
ping it, I am trying to lead the young men on the path of self-
control. Parents and guardians should assist me m this effort.

The writer finds fault with my conduct towards the women
in the Ashram, in their touching me in a motherly spirit. I have
discussed this matter with my colleagues in the Ashram. I do not
know of any other place in India where women enjoy the amount
of freedom, restricted perhaps, that women both educated and
uneducated—enjoy in the Ashram. I see no harm m ^ a father
innocently touching his daughter in public. My touch is of that
kind. I never enjoy privacy. When young girls come out for a.
walk with me daily I put my hands on their shoulders and walk.
The girls are aware of the fact and everyone else also knows that
that touch is an innocent one without any exception. .

We mate our girls helpless, create undesirable ideas m them,
and implant in them that which is not there. Thereafter, we

232 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

suppress them and then often make them victims of adulterous
conduct. They come to believe that they are incapable of protecting
their honour. A superhuman effort is being made in the Ashram
to free young girls from this feeling of helplessness. I had started
a similar sort of attempt in South Africa itself. I have not seen
it bringing about any bad effects. However, as a result of their
training in the Ashram, some young girls although they have
reached the age of twenty try to remain free from sensuous thoughts
and they are day by day becoming fearless and self-reliant. I feel
that the belief that the touch or sight of a maiden stirs a man’s
desire is an insult to man. If that is indeed a fact, brahmacharya
would become an impossibility.

During this period of truce, the relationship between a man
and a woman in this country should be confined within certain
limits. I have daily experiences suggesting risk in such freedom.
Hence despite maintaining freedom for women, all possible restric¬
tions are imposed in the Ashram. Except me no other man
touches young girls as no such occasion arises at all. A fatherly
relationship cannot be established at will.

I do not claim any power of yoga in order to justify my
touching girls. I have no yogic powers. Like all others I too am a
creature made of earth, subject to the same sexual instinct. But
even men who have these feelings have been fathers. I have
many daughters and many sisters. I am bound by the pledge of
having only one wife. And my wife stays with me merely as a
friend. Hence I have naturally to control the terrible sexual urge.
My mother taught me the beauty of abiding by a pledge when I
was in the prime of my life. The wall of my pledge which is harder
than a diamond protects me. That wall has protected me even
against my will. The future is in the hands of Rama.

Except in the case of some elderly couples, the Ashram pro¬
vides separate living-rooms for men and women,

[From Gujarati]

Navajivan , 28-7-1929

168. WHAT HAS BEEN DONE FOR THE ANTYAJA?

A reader of Navajivan writes: 1

It is difficult to answer the question what I am doing
for the Antyaja. I cannot recount it. Hence I can only reply that
I have done nothing. If that appears to be a rude answer, one can
say that I have done whatever my Antyaja brothers and sisters say
I have done for them. As a matter of fact, I do for my own sake
whatever I can by way of service to the Antyajas. It is wrong to
say that anyone is uplifting these people. By doing away with
untouchability, those who call themselves high-caste people uplift
themselves and thereby protect the Hindu faith. Considered from
this point of view, there is no need to give a reply to the above
question. In so far as the question has been addressed to me alone,
the answer is that on my own I do nothing and can do nothing
in this matter. Innumerable colleagues of mine are engaged in this
work in India. Anyone may take into account whatever part I
may have in their work.

This gentleman erroneously believes that I am especially
engaged in the work relating to khadi. I cannot even show that I
am doing anything in this matter or what I can show is to the
extent that I spin as a daily sacrifice. The rest is what is being
done through my colleagues.

Moreover, it is obvious that in serving the cause of khadi,
hundreds and thousands of Antyajas are automatically served. More¬
over, service of the Antyajas is not something the value of which
can be calculated in yards as in the case of khadi. If anyone asks
how many schools have been started for them, how many wells
have been dug for them, how many temples have been built for
them, the replies to all these would certainly not satisfy me. If one
can say how far the extent of untouchability has shrunk, one will
certainly find the answer. But we do not have such an instru¬
ment for gauging this. Although there may be a thousand schools
for the untouchables, as many temples and an equal number of wells,
it may nevertheless be claimed that not a single brick has been
pulled down from the edifice of untouchability. When the task of
abolishing untouchability began, friends who regarded themselves

1 The letter is not translated here. The correspondent had suggested
that, if Gandhiji’s volunteers worked in co-operation wih the Arya Samaj
and the Hindu Mahasabha, that would prove useful in achieving success in
the political field too.

234 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

as staunch Vaishnavas told me that they would give me as much
assistance as I wanted in the task of building schools, etc., if
only I gave up the idea of abolishing untouchability. What did
I wish to accomplish by such' assistance ? It could give me no
satisfaction whatsoever. I did not want separate institutions for
the Antyajas , but only the right of entry for them into existing
public institutions. Separate institutions would bring no glory to
the Hindus, but rather constitute a blot upon them. And today,
if I do get involved in having separate schools, temples, etc., for
them, it is only because of a feeling of helplessness, because I re¬
gard it as my dharma at this difficult juncture and because of hope
that eventually the distinction between these institutions and others
will vanish.

I myself can see untouchability disappearing but I do not
have an instrument to show this.

People run away when they see the flames on the path of love.

Those who have entered them enjoy great happiness, while the onlookers

get burnt.

The Arya Samaj and the Hindu Mahasabha deserve to be
congratulated on the service they render to the Antyajas . I do what¬
ever little I can wherever possible. I must admit, however, that
because of differences in the manner in which the work is being
done, very often I cannot offer my services. I do not crave to
have a hand in all that is being done, I do not even have the
capacity to participate in everything. I am aware of my own
limitations, and I consider myself fortunate in doing whatever I
can while keeping within these limits.

[From Gujarati]

Navajivan , 28-7-1929

169. MESSAGE TO BOMBAT CONGRESS MUSLIM PARTY

July 28 , 1929 X

1 am glad you are having a Congress Muslim Party. If it is
well supported and if it does not go to sleep, it must prove a
tower of strength to the Congress and the institution will be of
real service to India in general, and the Muslim community in
particular.

The Bombay Chronicle, 29-7-1929

1 The message was read out by Abid Ali on this date at the first meet¬
ing of the party in Bombay, with Brelvi in the chair.

170. LETTER TO JAWAHARLAL NEHRU

On the Train,
July 29, 1929

MY DEAR JAWAHARLAL,

Your letters 1 to Indu are excellent and should be published. I
wish you could have written them in Hindi. Even as it is there
should be a simultaneous publication in Hindi.

Your treatment of the subject is quite orthodox. The origin
of man is now a debatable subject. The origin of religion is a still
more debatable matter. But these differences do not detract from
the value of your letters. They have a value derived not from the
truth of your conclusions but from the manner of treatment and
from the fact that you have tried to reach Indu’s heart and open
the eyes of her understanding in the midst of your external activities.

I did not want to strive with Kamala over the watch I have
taken away. I could not resist the love behind the gift. But the
watch will still be kept as a trust for Indu. In the midst of so many
little ruffians about me, I could not keep such a piece of furniture.
I would therefore be glad to know that Kamala will reconcile
herself to Indu getting back her darling watch.

My article on the Congress crown 2 is already written. It will
be out in the next issue of Young India.

Tours ,

Bapu

A Bunch of Old Letters, p. 72

171. LETTER TO N. R. MALKANI

July 29, 1929

MY DEAR MALKANI,

1 have just read your Tamil Nad report on the train taking
me back to the Ashram. It is good. I like the frankness about
it. I am sending it to Varadachari 3 for report.

3 Letters from a Father to His Daughter

2 Vide pp. 239-41.

3 N. S. Varadachari, one of the joint authors of the essay Hand-spinning
and Hand-weaving

236

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

What about the flood there?

Tours,

Bapu

From a photostat: G.N. 893

172. LETTER TO SHANTIKUMAR MORARJI

On the Train,

July 29, 1929

CHI. SHANTIKUMAR,

Send over the book Science and Art of Living by Dr. Leonard
Hill if it is available at a low price. By low price I mean up to
Rs. 3.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: C.W. 4713. Courtesy: Shantikumar
Morarji

173. NOTE TO CHHAGANLAL J0SH1 1

July 29, 1929

I have written to this man to bring over the girl. He must not
expect that we will keep her in any case. After interviewing her
and if she can stand the life at the Ashram, maybe there will be
no hitch.

From a microfilm of the Gujarati: S.N. 15432

174. NOTE TO CHHAGANLAL JO SHI 2

July 29, 1929

I have written to him that he can send over his representative.
We shall bear the boarding expenses.

From a microfilm of the Gujarati: S.N. 15418

1 On. Jangbahadursingh’s letter dated July 17, 1929, from Gopiganj

2 On B. Subramaniam’s letter dated July 10, 1929, from Bc^wada

175 . LETTER TO SHANTIKUMAR MORARJI

July 31 , 1529

CHI. SHANTIKUMAR,

You have despatched the book by return of post. 1 2 What could
I send you besides my blessings ?

Bafu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: C.W. 4714. Courtesy: Shantikumar
Morarji

176 . LETTER TO HARIBHAU UPADHTATA

July 31 , 1929

BHAI HARIBHAU,

I have your letter. Please read in Hindi Navajivan what I have
written about . . ? Your advice is correct. Find out the truth
if you can. We have no remedy for . . . if he is corrupt. We
would protect him if he were pure.

About spinning—I have both [the classes] in view. We how¬
ever want members from the educated class; not from amongst the
poor spinning women. They would not understand this. We want
to increase the production and also create an interest. Production
would increase if we created interest. If men of understanding
would take up spinning with conscious interest, they would add to
the bulk of fine yarn and would also make new inventions. Not
all would do it, but inventors will come from this class of spinners
only.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a copy of the Gujarati: C.W. 6066. Courtesy: Haribhau Upadhyaya

1 Vide “Letter to Shantikumar Morarji 5 ’, p. 236.

2 As in the source; for Gandhiji’s article, vide pp. 245-6.

177. LETTER TO BECHAR BHANJI

July 31 , 1929

BHAISHRI BECHAR,

I have your letter. You should put up with your wife’s beha¬
viour as long as you cannot win her over with love. You may
insist on the girls putting on khadi if they are not grown up. There
again I would have you use your discretion.

Blessings from

Mohandas

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 5576

178 . 'IS SWARAJ WORTH HAVING?’

The following letter 1 will be read with painful interest.

I am a native of Vikrampur, and my home is only a few miles
away from the home of Dcshbandhu. I belong to the Namashudra
community . . .

The clerks in the office, where I am working, numbering 50, are
all so-called high-caste Hindus . . .

... I am looked upon here as a despised insect . . . Even the servant
refuses to wash and clear away my plates . . . Although in cleanliness
and decency I am not in any way inferior to any ...

. . . Is swaraj worth having when the mentality of the people is
so cruel towards their fe llo w- co un try men ? Will not the treatment of the
so-called higher classes who occupy most of the top positions towards the
so-called lower classes be terrible when the power is in their hands ? . . .
I am in intense agony of mind. Please reply sharp and also advise me
what I am to do here.

As the writer does not wish to have his identity disclosed I
have erased some parts of the letter. There is no doubt that what
is happening to this Namashudra friend is the lot of many who are
similarly placed. Though untouchability is undoubtedly going,
the suppressed classes who are daily growing more and more con¬
scious and naturally resentful of the terrible treatment meted out to
them by the so-called higher classes are becoming restive. Their

1 Only excerpts are reproduced here.

■WH6 SHOULD WEAR THE CROWN

239

fear, too, that if the things remain as they are when swaraj is at¬
tained, the reformer’s may be a voice in the wilderness and blind
orthodoxy may reduce to nought even the little progress that has
been made, has a surface justification. I wish the “suppressed 53
friends could be made to see that the fear is in reality ground¬
less. They do not give sufficient credit to the reformers. It is not ■
the quantity that will count when freedom is gained. It is the
determination of the few that is going to be the deciding factor.
Surely he who runs may see that in the forefront of the fight for
freedom are to be found the reformers and not the reactionaries
who even now seek the protection of the foreign power for sustaining
their reactionary policy which they miscall religion. When
therefore swaraj is attained it will be the reformers who must have
the reins of Government in their hands.

Again the suppressed classes should know that in any consti¬
tution that can be conceived there are bound to be full legal safe¬
guards for their rights.

And lastly, they may not feel helpless and dependent on the
aid of reformers. They have a just cause and they have them¬
selves to defend it. True meaning of swaraj is that every mem¬
ber of the commonwealth is capable of defending his liberty against
the whole world. Swaraj is an inward growth. Their restiveness
is the surest and the hopefullest sign of their and India’s coming
freedom. Healthy discontent is the prelude to progress. But mean¬
while it behoves all the clerks and others who come in contact
with these classes to treat them with exemplary consideration and
courtesy.

Young Indi^ 1-8-1929

179 . WHO SHOULD WEAR THE CROWN 1

The occupation of the Congress chair is becoming more and
more onerous year after year. It is a serious question who should
wear the crown for the next year. It is all thorns and no roses.
I have noticed my name as one of the possibilities. When I first
saw it amongst the nominees of some committee, I did not treat
it seriously. But now I find friends speaking to me seriously and
pressing me even to ask for the crown even if it is not offered to
me. I need not discuss here the reasons advanced in favour of the

1 This was written before July 29, 1929. Vide ‘ 'Letter to Jawaharlal
Nehru”, p. 235.

240

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

proposal. I admit the weightiness of some of them. I have given
them all the consideration I was capable of giving them, but
I must own I have neither the courage nor the confidence
in my ability to shoulder the burden. I feel that I have be¬
come almost unfit for attending to the details of office work which
I must do, as is my nature, if I accepted the office. I know too
that I am not keeping pace with the march of events. There is
therefore a hiatus between the rising generation and me. I look
a back number in their company. Not that I believe myself to be
a back number. But when it comes to working in their midst,

I know that I must take a back seat and allow the surging wave to
pass over me. I have mentioned two decisive reasons for my reluc¬
tance to shoulder the burden. There are others which I do not put
in the same category as these. But I hold these two as sufficient
to eliminate me from the list of nominees.

In my opinion the crown must be worn by Pandit Jawa-
harlal Nehru. If I could have influenced the decision, he would
have occupied the chair even for this year. But the imperative
demand of Bengal compelled the senior partner to capitulate.

Older men have had their innings. The battle of the future
has to be fought by younger men and women. And it is but meet
that they are led by one of themselves. Older men should yield
with grace what will be taken from them by force if they do not
read the signs of the times. Responsibility will mellow and sober
the youth, and prepare them for the burden they must dis¬
charge. Pandit Jawaharlal has everything to recommend him.
He has for years discharged with singular ability and devotion the
office of secretary of the Congress. By his bravery, determination,
application, integrity and grit he has captivated the imagination
of the youth of the land. He has come in touch with labour
and the peasantry. His close acquaintance with European poli¬
tics is a great asset in enabling him to assess ours.

But say the older heads: “When we are likely to have to enter
into delicate negotiations with various groups and parties outside
the Congress, when we might even have to deal with British diplo¬
macy, when we have yet the Hindu-Muslim knot to undo, we must
have someone like you as the head.” In so far as there is force
in this argument, it is sufficiently answered by my drawing atten¬
tion to the fact that whatever special qualities I may possess in
the direction indicated, I shall be able to exercise more effectively
by remaining detached from and untrammelled by, than by hold¬
ing, office. So long as I retain the affection and the confidence of
our people, there is not the slightest danger of my not being able

WHO should Wear th:e Grown

241

without holding office to make the fullest use of such powers as I
may possess. God has enabled me to affect the life of the country
since 1920 without the necessity of holding office. I am not aware
that my capacity for service was a whit enhanced by my becoming
President of the Congress at Belgaum 1 .

And those who know the relations that subsist between
Jawaharlal and me know that his being in the chair is as good as
my being in it. We may have intellectual differences but our
hearts are one. And with all his youthful impetuosities, his sense of
stern discipline and loyalty make him an inestimable comrade
in whom one can put the most implicit faith.

“Will not Jawaharlal’s name be a red rag to the English
bull?”—whispers another critic. We give English statesmen little
credit for common sense and diplomatic skill and betray less faith
in ourselves when we think like the imaginary critic. If a deci¬
sion is really right for us, it ought to be right for the whole world.
If in choosing our President we have to take into consideration
what English statesmen will think of our choice, we show little
courage of our convictions. Personally I have a higher estimate
of English character than that assumed by the critic. The Eng¬
lishman prizes honesty, bravery, grit and outspokenness all of which
Jawaharlal has in abundance. Even if therefore British states¬
men are to be considered in making our choice, Pandit Jawaharlal
suffers from no disqualification.

Lastly, a President of the Congress is not an autocrat. He
is a representative working under a well-defined constitution and
well-known traditions. He can no more impose his views on the
people than the English King. The Congress is a forty-five-year-
old organization and has a status above its most distinguished
Presidents. And it is the Congress as a whole with which, when
the time is ripe, British statesmen will have to deal. They know
this probably better than we do. All things considered therefore
my advice to those concerned is to cease to think of me and to
call Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to the high office with the fullest
confidence and hope.

Toung India , 1-8-1929

180. A.LS.A. PRIZE

The reader may recall that some years ago Sjt. Revashankar
Jagjivan Jhaveri had offered a prize of Rs. 5,000 for a spinning-
wheel that would do for the spinners what Singer’s Sewing
Machine does for the housewife. Many tried to win the prize. A
skilled man was admitted to the Ashram and given every facility
to make his experiment under the best of auspices. The attempt
however failed. But hope of finding a suitable cottage wheel was
not given up. Sjt. Revashankar Jagjivan is one of those who never
lose hope. He has succeeded in persuading the Council of the
Association to announce a prize that would attract even the Wes¬
tern inventors to compete for it. Consequently the reader will
find elsewhere the A.I.S.A. advertisement announcing a prize of
Rs. 1,00,000 or its present equivalent (roughly) -£7,700. This
figure will be maintained on the expiry of the time-limit irrespec¬
tive of the fluctuations that the fickle rupee may undergo mean¬
while. I hope that the prize will produce a spinning Singer who
would raise the income of the village spinner eightfold.

Toung India , 1-8-1929

181. “BRITISH TRUSTEES ”

It is a real pleasure to give elsewhere Mr. Pennington’s letter.
Mr. Pennington is now a nonagenarian but his faith in himself and
the nation he represents is as green as ever. I wish that we could
have the same faith in ourselves and the nation we are humbly
striving to represent. Mr. Pennington’s postscript 1 is marked
“private” but there need be no privacy about it. I have printed it
as it does credit to him. The reader will join me in wishing him
many more years of life upon this tiny globe.

To come to the subject-matter of my correspondent’s letter,
I must confess that he does not convince me. There would be no
quarrel with him or the English administrators if they were real
trustees. Mr. Pennington’s honesty is beyond question. But surely
he is labouring under self-deception. Some of the highest men
in the British Cabinet have frankly repudiated the doctrine of trust

1 Which read: “You are quite at liberty to publish this, if you like.
I can hardly hope to write again having been born in 1839.”

ASSAM FLOOD

243

and enunciated for our benefit and the knowledge of the world
the doctrine of the sword. “By the sword we have seized India,
by the sword we propose to keep it. 53 The sword here means ob¬
viously gunpowder and all the tricks of diplomacy that accompany
that substance. It was therefore the naked truth which was uttered
when the doctrine of the sword was enunciated.

Nor need Mr. Pennington and those who think with him
be reminded that a trust is always a burden, a responsibility. But
the British people have used their possession of India predomi¬
nantly if not exclusively for their benefit. In their own words, they
have exploited the country and its people. In the late Lord Salis¬
bury's words they have bled India. Surely when a trustee dischar¬
ges his trust, the ward feels its good effect and grows under its pro¬
tection. But India's statesmen from Gokhale downward have
testified that our growth has been stunted.

Pax Britannica is an overworked horse out of which no work
is to be had now. Nobody is deceived by it. What we want is
Pax Indica. And if we have to wade through a sea of blood before
we reach it, the sooner we can do so, the better. We do not
want a superimposed pestilential peace that smothers us, we want
an inward oxidizing peace that will make us healthy and strong.

Mr. Pennington reminds us of the mandates, that euphemism
for usurpation for the purpose of exploitation. Let him ask the
mandated nations how much they appreciate the mandates. Hypo¬
crisy and camouflage are among the curses of modern times. But
sweet words butter no parsnips. They have ceased to deceive the
people concerned. That well-intentioned people can still be hood¬
winked into believing in worn-out beliefs and shibboleths is a great
pity. Their usefulness for service is curtailed by unfortunate self-
deceptions under which estimable men like Mr. Pennington labour.

Toung India , 1-8-1929

182 . ASSAM FLOOD

Here is the first report 1 from Sjt. Amritlal Thakkar on this
flood. The money collected is being sent.

Toung India , 1-8-1929

1 Not reproduced here; the report narrated losses suffered in Cachar and
Sylhet districts and requested for public funds for reconstruction of houses and
supply of fodder for cattle.

183. ‘THE CREATIVE DELIGHT

Under the above heading there appears in St. Berchmans 5
College Magazine a very readable and thought-provoking arti¬
cle 1 by Capt. A. R. Poduval of Cochin. Though for the pages of
Toung India it may be considered somewhat long, I have not had
the courage to mutilate it. I present the reader with the whole of
Capt. Poduvafs article in the hope that it will bring converts to
the great cause of Daridranarayana.

Toung India 3 1-8-1929

184. BOMBAY MILK SUPPLY

Sjt. Nagindas Amulakhrai, the milk enthusiast, continues his
well-thought-out agitation for procuring a cheaper and purer milk
supply for Bombay. He has drawn up a memorandum showing
that if the railway company would adopt a reasonable and res¬
ponsive attitude it can very materially help cheaper production,
i.e., by reducing the freight for milk and supplying cheap facilities
for carrying milk from the suburban stations to Bombay. He says 2
that it is owing to bad freight policy

that places between Palghar (58 miles) and Bulsar (125 miles),
although fully grass areas, . . . have no dairies started for milk supply to
Bombay; that suppliers of milk in bulk have no alternative but to keep
themselves and their buffaloes (16,003) confined in the stables (96) in
the heart of the city in very unnatural conditions where there is no
grazing area and the rent for accommodation of each buffalo in the
stable is Rs. 9 or Rs. 10 per month resulting in a distinct additional
loss at the rate of Rs. 240 per each of the 12 buffaloes that go dry
every month after the lactation period out of a lot of 100 buffaloes in
milk; and that the milk production from more than 26,000 buffaloes
and supply thereof from year to year is being entirely stopped though
they would again come into calf and produce milk to the same extent
as before within a very short time if not slaughtered and wasted.

1 Not reproduced here. The writer had expatiated on the ‘creative
delight* in labouring with one’s own hands to produce things for personal use
and referred to spinning and the wheel in this connection.

2 Only excerpts are reproduced here.

LAKSHMI DEVI’S STORY

245

He contends that

. . i Bombay milk rate is the maximum in the world. It is much

dearer than in New York and London. It is 50% dearer even than in

Calcutta. . . The result is the highest infant mortality of the poor of

Bombay and nearly total extinction of the best breed of buffaloes . . .

I understand that a Joint Committee consisting of a sub¬
committee of the Railway Local Advisory Board and a certain
number of the members of the Bombay Corporation has been
brought into being to consider this question. The question of
cheap and pure milk supply for Bombay is a vital question. It
affects the health of the inhabitants and especially the babies of
c the first city 5 of India. The humanitarian and the economic
aspects are no less important. It is to be hoped therefore that
the Joint Committee will present a solution that will enable
suburban dairies to thrive and simplify the question of removing
the cattle stables from the heart of the city.

Young India, 1-8-1929

185. LAKSHMI DEWS STORY

I have received many letters in connection with the letter
of Lakshmi Devi’s, which I published earlier. 1 One of them is
from the young man she was married to. The young man’s name
is Madan Mohan Sharma. He is studying in a college. Shri
Madan Mohan Sharma writes : 2

All the other letters I have received tend to support Shri
Madan Mohan Sharma’s statement. Shri Haribhau Upadhyaya
has looked into the matter personally. He has also written to
me. I have also read an article he wrote on this subject in
Tyagbhumi. Shri Haribhau’s letter 3 is before me just now. I feel
that he has given sound advice to both the parties.

I don’t know which of the two statements is to be believed.
If the facts stated by Shri Madan Mohan are true then Lakshmi Devi
has erred greatly. And if her statement is true, then I will stick
to the views I have expressed earlier. Shri Madan Mohan has
written other letters too and he swears that he has neither sup¬
pressed nor fabricated anything. He has also asked me to look into

1 Vide pp. 160-1.

2 The letter is not translated here. The correspondent had denied the
allegations Lakshmi Devi had made against him and charged her with lying.

3 For Gandhiji’s reply to this ? vide p. 237 T

246 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

this matter. Bhai Haribhau Upadhyaya is a fellow-worker and I
have full faith in him. He has clearly written that he thinks both
the parties have suppressed some of the facts. In that case it
would be difficult to unearth the truth. I would advise Shri
Madan Mohan Sharma to tell Haribhauji whatever else he wishes
to add on the matter and remove his doubts.

I have also been told that I have done injustice to Shri
Madan Mohan by publishing Lakshmi Devi’s letter and have
thereby promoted the cause of untruth. I, however, feel I have
served the truth as well as both the parties by publishing Lakshmi
Devi’s letter. Men are quite often unjust to women. For most of
such women their misery ends only with their death. If Lakshmi
Devi has been untruthful, then undoubtedly she has harmed her
sex. But if I had not published her letter then this chance of
exposing the untruth would have never occurred. What I said in
my remarks on her letter can help her only if she is truthful, not
if she is untruthful. My advice was given on the assumption that
she had written the truth. If Lakshmi Devi has been truthful
then it is up to her to come forward boldly and prove her
innocence. But if she has been untruthful she should admit it
and atone for her sin. Many charges have been made against
her in the letters I have received. Only truth, purity and stead¬
fastness can save Lakshmi Devi.

[From Hindi]

Hindi Navajivan, 1-8-1929

186. LETTER TO RAMESHWARDAS PODDAR

Ashram, Sabarmati,
August 1, 192[9 ]*

BHAI RAMESHWARDAS,

I have your letter. Ramanama is a matter of faith not of the
intellect. And if one thinks of discontinuing it if it fails to bring
one peace, this is as good- as losing one’s faith. Whether or not
one gets peace from it, whether one feels happy or unhappy, one
ought to keep up the repetition in the faith that Ramanama alone
is real. One should never accept defeat.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati; G,N. 201
1 From the G. N. Register

187. SPEECH AT TILAK'S DEATH ANNIVERSARY ,

GUJARAT VIDYAPITH

[August 2, 1929y

This is what I understand your question to mean: to what
extent does Tilak Maharaj’s life reflect the belief that tit for tat
was his principle? We shall not be able to gain much from
pursuing this question. But I had a brief correspondence on this
subject with Tilak Maharaj. 2 As a humble student of his life
and an admirer of his virtues, I can say that he had a sense of
humour. Vinod means humour. Since we have not begun to
use the word vinod in that sense, I have to use the English word
in order to make myself clear. If the Lokamanya did not have
that sense of humour, he would have gone crazy—he carried such
a great national burden. But by this gift he used to save himself
as also others from difficult situations. Another characteristic of
his was that, while arguing with anyone, he deliberately used to
indulge in exaggeration. I do not fully remember the correspon¬
dence I had with him on this subject; you may go through it.
Tit for tat was not the guiding principle of Tilak Maharaj 5 s life;
if it were, he would not have gained so much popularity. I do
not know of a single instance in the world of any man having
based his life on that principle and become popular. It is true
that in this regard he did not venture as far as I go — that we just
cannot employ deceit against a deceiver. True, there is to be
found some support for this in one or two places in the Gita
Rahasya — in one or two places only. He indeed held that in
the national interest the principle of tit for tat could be used
if necessary. But he also truly believed that to employ truth alone
against a rogue was the correct principle; but he used to say
that only saints could implement this principle. According to
Tilak Maharaj’s definition a c sadhu* does not mean a l vairagi\ but
one who stays away from the world, he who does not participate
in worldly affairs. He believed that, remaining in the world,
anyone might be able to observe it, but if he could not do so,
he had a right to have recourse to the other thing, that is, to
employ deceit.

1 From Prajabandhu, 4-8-1929

2 Vid* Vol, XVI, pp. 490-1,

248

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

However, if we have any right to evaluate the life of such
a great man, let us not do it on such controversial points. His
life is a rich legacy to India, to the world. That will be evaluated
fully hereafter. That will be done by history, and only by
history. The greatness of a living person can never be fully
measured by his contemporaries; they cannot help being partial
because it is only those with likes and dislikes that sit in
judgment. Truly speaking, even historians are not free from it.
Gibbon has been regarded as an honest historian; nevertheless I can
perceive his partiality on page after page. Much of his writing is
likely to have been influenced by his love or hate of certain in¬
dividuals or institutions. There is a special likelihood of contempo¬
raries being guilty of partiality. The best use we can make of
the Lokamanya’s noble life is that we recall the permanent prin¬
ciples in it and follow them.

Tilalc Maharaj’s patriotism was inexhaustible. Along with it
he had a keen sense of justice. I came to know it quite by
chance. He had attended the literary conference held at the
time of the Calcutta session of the Congress in 1917. How could he
find time from the work of the Congress? Nevertheless, he had
come, delivered a speech and gone away. I could perceive his
love for Hindi, the national language, at that time. But I saw a
greater thing than that and that was his just and fair attitude
towards Englishmen. Indeed, he began his speech in this way:
“I criticize the British Government a lot. But we cannot forget
the services rendered to our language by English scholars.” Half
his speech was full of this theme. And he said that, if we want
to cultivate and develop the national language, we would have
to toil and study as much as the English scholars had done. If
we have been able to preserve our script, if our grammar has got
standardized, English scholars have played a large part in it.
The early missionaries who arrived here had a great love for
the new language. Is Taylor’s Gujarati Grammar an ordinary
achievement ? It did not bother Tilak Maharaj at all that his
popularity might diminish if he praised the English. The people
expected him only to blame the English.

We cannot show even a hundredth or a thousandth part of
the spirit of sacrifice that Tilak Maharaj had in him. And what
of his simplicity ? No furniture or any other decoration was to be
found in his apartment. A stranger would not feel that this was
the residence of some big man. Let us emulate his innate simpli¬
city. Similar was his patience. He would remain steadfast and
go on doing his duty and never neglect it. Even when he got

SPEECH AT TILAK’S DEATH ANNIVERSARY

249

news of his wife’s death, his pen did not pause. 1 We wish to enjoy
great luxuries and to win swaraj. These are contradictory things.
In this age, hypocrisy, irresponsibility and self-willed conduct
are rampant. If we wish to win swaraj, self-control should be our
motto, capricious conduct never. Gan we point out a single
moment in his life when he had spent it in enjoyment? He had
infinite patience. Hence he could take work from the worst of
men. A leader of men ought to have this capacity. That does
not do harm. If we are so particular that we will not take work
from any given person, we should either repair to the forest or
sit at home leading a householder’s life, provided we keep
ourselves aloof.

We should not content ourselves with mere praises of Tilak
Maharaj. Our principle should be work, work and work. At a
time when we wish to win swaraj, we should not indulge in use¬
less reading or thinking but utilize every moment towards work for
swaraj. You may ask, should that work be done at the cost of
studies ? In 1921 also, I had the same argument with students.
What did Tilak Maharaj do? He wrote great books, not outside
but inside the jail. It was only in jail that he could write the
Gita Rahasya and the Arctic Home, He sacrificed his capacity
for writing great and original books for the sake of his country.
He thought to himself: this house is on fire; let me do my best to
put out the fire. If he emptied a thousand buckets of water, let
us pour at least one. Education and other things are necessary,
but they are secondary. If they can be used for the work of
swaraj we should do so, else we should let them rust. Therein
neither we nor the world stands to lose.

Tilak Maharaj accomplished this in his life. There is so much
to learn from his life, so great is his legacy to us, that there is
no room for the question which was asked at the outset. It is
our dharma to pick up virtues.

The work that has to be accomplished at the present moment
cannot be done by slack persons. The work of swaraj is difficult.
The atmosphere that exists in India today is such that we
deliver speeches, we behave in a disorderly manner, we perpetrate
violence, we somehow enter some associations and wreck them,

1 A footnote in 'Navajivan says: I cannot but recall another more
wonderful event. The Lokamanya had gone to Raigadh, Shivaji’s capital,
to inaugurate celebrations in honour of ShivajL He had to depart, leaving
his eldest son who was lying seriously ill at home. No sooner did he reach
Raigadh than a telegram arrived. He straightway put it into his pocket and
only after completing the celebrations did he read it.

250

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

we enter legislatures and make speeches there. We do not find
this in Tilak Maharaj’s life. What we have to learn therefrom
is the virtues I have mentioned. If you do that, it will be worth
your while to study at the national Vidyapith; otherwise the money
spent on you would be a waste. If we do not do our duty,
despite the speeches which have been made and the essays read
out by students, we shall remain where we were and we would
have only wasted a couple of hours. Let not this happen!

[From Gujarati]

Navajivan, 11-8-1929

188. OUR SCHOOL 1

I have published the delectable description 2 of the Raniparaj
School of Vedchhi given above just as it was received by me with¬
out the alteration of a single syllable. The reader will find some
obvious grammatical mistakes in it which I have deliberately
allowed to remain. Manual training is naturally given a place
of honour in this institution. The three R’s are taught not as
a task but recreation. The artistic mind of Sjt. Jugatram 3 is
clearly in evidence in all this. We may not all be able to emulate
his consummate art. But if we can only emulate his overflowing
love, we can dot the country with such model tiny institutions,
and give to our teeming agricultural population just the sort of
education which it so sorely needs to alleviate its condition. This
institution inculcates culture, character, a knowledge of the rules
of hygiene and sanitation, self-help and love of freedom. Let
no one delude himself with the idea that such an institution can
be good enough only for the Raniparaj children, but not for the
children of the wealthy and the well-to-do. It can be easily shown
that Raniparaj boys would feel smothered in our present-day
schools for the children of millionaires. And what is smothering
to the Raniparaj children cannot be uplifting for the rest. On
the other hand if the children of the millionaires attended the
Raniparaj School of Vedchhi, it would enable them to breathe
the pure, life-giving ozone of robust nationalism, and learn the

1 The Gujarati original of this appeared in Navajivan , 4-8-1929. This is a
translation by Pyarelal.

2 Not reproduced here

3 Jngatram Dave, one of the tutors in the school

MY NOTES 251

dignity of labour — a privilege which they sorely lack at present
and might well envy.

Toung India , 5-9-1929

189. STATEMENT ON FUNDS COLLECTED IN BURMA

A brief statement on the funds collected during the tour of
Burma, prepared by the secretary of the Udyoga Mandir, is given
above. 1 The figures for all towns along with their names have been
received from Rangoon. It is not necessary to give them here.
However, if anyone wishes to see these, he can approach Shri
Nanalal. Needless to say, funds have been sent to all the insti¬
tutions for which they were received.

[From Gujarati]

Navajivan , 4-8-1929

190 . MY NOTES

Two Children’s Sacrificial Offering

Chandan and Krishnavijay are sister and brother. Their
mother is a widow. She is well-to-do, but has faith in khadi.
Her entire family of six persons spins all the yarn that it needs.
At the end of the year, some khadi is left over. All the children
are studying. The two elder girls are studying at the Vinaya
Mandir. Chandan is aged five, while Krishnavijay is six. Both
these children spin of their own free will. No sort of pressure
is applied; they spin simply because they see others doing so.

I have just seen a bolt of khadi prepared from the yarn spun
by these two children and this deepened my conviction about the
potential strength of hand-spun yarn. The yam spun by them is
of 5 to 6 counts. The entire bolt weighs five and a quarter
pounds. Its length is 12 ft. 3 inches, its width is 33 inches and
the count for the warp yarn is seven. I do not regard this as
something ordinary. The reader may try and figure out the
strength of that khadi which can be produced so easily. The
mother, the uncle and the elder girls spin very fine and beautiful
yarn. Let no one conclude that this family uses clothes sparingly.
The children are as well and fully clad as those of any respect¬
able well-to-do family. They use enough bed-covers, sheets, etc.

1 The statement is not translated here.

252 THE COLLECTED WORKS OX? MAHATMA GANDHI

Hence the example of this family is applicable to all middle-class
families. The only distinguishing feature is that the family loves
khadi and the uncle, who is the guardian of the family, has
through his own love made all the members devoted to the cause
of khadi. If all those who are dedicated to swaraj also dedicate
themselves to the cause of khadi, we can boycott foreign cloth
today sitting in our homes and if that boycott can be realized,
the people will acquire new vigour and sclf-confidencc. All
children can follow the example of these children. Will parents
inspire them to do so?

To the Person Who Is Ashamed to Reveal His Name

You will not free yourself from guilt so long as you remain
anonymous through shame. You should not regard the offence
as a disease or try to conceal it from others. On the contrary, mak¬
ing it public will bring about a sense of shame and this in turn
will help you in washing off guilt. So long as you have a false sense
of shame, I regard your reading of the Upanishads too as some¬
thing futile. The real disgrace consists in committing the offence.
In trying to shield it, one is doubly guilty.

A Correction

With reference to my article 1 regarding the services rendered in
Orissa by Shri Jivram Kalyanji, the said gentleman writes : 2

Despite Shri Jivram’s desire not to publish this correction, I
have felt it necessary to print it. This merely shows his honesty
and sincerity. He does not wish to accept the credit which I
gave him erroneously. For my benefit, he also wished to do away
with the objection — that wealth was being accumulated at the
cost of labourers — which lay behind the credit I gave him. Both
grounds are genuine. It is not relevant to our subject-matter
whether those who gather hardai can be regarded as labourers and
whether trading in that which is obtained through their efforts
may be regarded as earnings derived from their labour. The
reader has merely to know from this that my belief that Jivram
went to Utkal with a view to making money through the labour
of others whom he underpaid was an erroneous one. It is sufficient

1 Vide pp. 167-9.

2 The letter is not translated here. The writer had stated that contrary to
Gandhiji’s impression, labourers were not exploited by voluntary workers but
helped as the hardai (myrobalans) picked by them in the forests was purchased by
merchants from Europe; and that there were other dedicated workers in the field
besides himself, so that all the credit could not be given to hiim

LETTER TO DEVCHAND PARERH

253

for me and the reader to know that the sentiment which actually
prompted him to go there was also a pure one. That Shri
Maganbhai is not a householder but a brahmachari is his special
distinction.

[From Gujarati]

Navajivan, 4-8-1929

191. LETTER TO DEVCHAND PAREKH

Ashram, Sabarmati,
August 4, 1929

BHAISHRI DEV CHANDBHAI,

I got your letter. The restriction placed by the Conference
does not prevent one from being appointed member of the exe¬
cutive committee or some other body of the Conference in any
State. But I am very doubtful if in the present circumstances
any State in Kathiawar would appoint a citizen of another State
in this manner. It would be unbearable if you offer your name
and it is rejected. If, therefore, Jamnadas can assure you that
your name will be accepted, I see no objection to your getting
yourself appointed. But I see no benefit either. Even from a
practical point of view, it would be wise not to entertain such a
thought at all. Having taken one step, you will not know where
to stop. I am, however, ready to concede that you and others
who are familiar with the local conditions, would know more
about the whole matter. You need not, therefore, pay serious
attention to this advice.

This time you must be made to change what has become a
regular habit with you. I had never thought that I would have
to attend the Conference on the dates fixed. All my time is
booked. Do present an address to Jawaharlal. But it is not pro¬
per that it should be presented by me. My presenting it would
look as appropriate as a father presenting an address to a son!
I had a letter today from Jawaharlal in which he says that in
case his wife had to be immediately operated upon he might not
even attend the Conference. He is known to be very scrupulous
about keeping a promise once made. If, however, unforeseen
circumstances arise, like the possibility mentioned above, even the
strength of a strong man avails him nothing. Let us hope that no
such difficulty will arise.

Vandemataram from

Bapu

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

254

[PS.]

I have not revised this letter.

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 5718

192. LETTER TO M. R. JAYAKAR

Sabarmati,

August 5, 1929

DEAR MR. JAYAKAR,

It was an unexpected delight to receive your letter accompany¬
ing the gift of your yarn. It reminded me of the good old days.
I hope you will continue to send such reminders. Every yard
of yam you will spin will be so much addition to the country’s
wealth. And your addition will be infective.

Tours sincerely 9

M. K. Gandhi

Jayakar’s Private Papers, Correspondence: File No. 407-VI. Courtesy:
National Archives of India

193. NOTE TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI

[August 5 , 1929] 1

Do what you can for this man. I shall of course be pleased
if you could accommodate him. It is however for you to con¬
sider whether he is sincerely repentant.

Bapu

From a microfilm of the Gujarati: S.N. 15815

1 This note in Gandhiji’s hand is written on a letter from Jethalal Virji
in which the latter denies having misconstrued Chhaganlal’s letter. A note to
the effect that a letter from Jethalal Virji has been replied to on August 5,
1929 appears on the latter’s letter to Chhaganlal Joshi.

194 . LETTER TO BANARASIDAS CHATURVEDI

August 5, 1929

BHAI BANARASIDAS,

I have your letter. I have gone through the article in
Maharatta. I think that we should not write anything about it.
I am sure that it will produce no impact in the West. Even if
it does our reply will only make matters worse. Public servants
will always be subject to such attacks. Deenabandhu 1 will certainly
write to me if any action is necessary.

Touts ,

Mohandas

Shri Banarasidas Ghaturvedi
91 Upper Circular Road
Calcutta

From a photostat of the Hindi: G.N. 2556

195 . LETTER TO SHANTIKUMAR MORARJI

August 6*, 1929

CHI. SHANTIKUMAR,

I have your letter and cheque 2 ; the receipt is enclosed here¬
with.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.W. 4715-B. Courtesy: Shantikumar
Morarji

1 G. F. Andrews

2 For Rs. 100 for the kssam Relief Fund

196. TELEGRAM TO PRAFULLA CHANDRA GHOSH i

[On or after August 6, 1929]

PLEASE SEE AMRITLAL THAKKAR SILGHAR.

Gandhi

From a microfilm: S.N. 15449

197. LETTER TO JAWAHARLAL NEHRU

August 7 , 1929

MY DEAR JAWAHARLAL,

I do not like the title “Dawn of History 55 . “A Father’s
Letters to His Daughter 55 may be a better title than “Letters to
Indira 55 , though I do not mind the latter.

I wish Kamala would be freed from these recurring pains.
I should risk the operation, if the doctors would perform it.

I am keeping the clock under lock and key and shall bring it
on my coming there.

I go to Bombay on the 11th to meet Jinnah. I admire Sarojini
Devi’s optimism. But I am going to Bombay without 1 2 much hope.

Tours,
Bapu

Gandhi-Nehru Papers, 1929. Courtesy: Nehru Memorial Museum and
Library

1 In reply to his telegram of August 5 from Comilla received at Sabarmati
on August 6, which read: “Starting spinning in relief area. Solicit arrange
give us ten thousand or as much as possible for same from your relief fund.”

2 The source has “with’*.

198 . LETTER TO DEVCHAND PAREKH

Ashram, Sabarmati,
August 7, 1929

BHAI DEVCHANDBHAI,

I have your postcard. It is good that you dropped the idea
of having yourself appointed to the Committee.

Either Revashankerbhai or Durbar Saheb should present the
address to Jawaharlal. I believe Durbar Saheb will be attending.
Vallabhbhai would be in Madras Presidency.

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 5697

199. LETTER TO PURUSHOTTAMDAS THAKURDAS

Ashram, Sabarmati,
August 7, 1929

BHAISHRI,

I have your letter. May your efforts bear fruit. Please ex¬
cuse me for my ignorance. Who are there on the Tariff Board ?
What are the powers allotted to them?

The Congress does not at present have the experts you expect
it to have. It is a matter of regret that the intellectual wing of the
Congress has weakened with the widening of its base. Maybe this
was inevitable during the transitional period. Students of Euro¬
pean economics, shaped according to the Government’s model,
could not appreciate the organization’s rural bias, could not attune
themselves to it, could not make the necessary sacrifices and there¬
fore left it. But for this divorce we could have had the custody of
our house long before now. In spite of the unstable position of the
Congress I want you to explain your requirements more clearly
and furnish me with the necessary information so that I may do
all that I can. Importing salt is as preposterous as importing
water. But, indeed, is there any limit to our absurdities ? Despite
producing, enough cotton at home we import about a hundred
crore rupees worth of cloth. What is a crore and a half rupees of
41-17

258 the collected works or mahatma gandhi

salt in comparison with this? But this is a digression. Please
therefore regard as enough what I have written above.

Vandemataram from

Mohandas

From the Gujarati original: Purushottamdas Thakurdas Papers, File No.
89/1929. Courtesy: Nehru Memorial Museum and Library.

200 . LETTER TO MAD AN MOHAN MALA VITA

[August 7, 1929] 1

BHAISAIIEB,

A newspaper by the name of Brahman Maha Sammelan is issued
from Kashi. It proclaims itself the defender of sanatana dharma.
It often publishes some very vicious attacks on Maharshi Dayanand
Swami. The Arya Samajist papers have criticized it very
much. Can't you do something to stop publication of such
writings ?

I hope you are keeping well.

Tours,

Mohandas

Bharat Bhooshan Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviyaji
University, Banaras City

From a photostat of the Hindi: G.N. 8683

20 L NOTES
Vaccination

Anti-vaccination enthusiasts rate me for having said that
vaccination confers “a sort of temporary immunity from small¬
pox 55 . 2 The correspondents ignore the phrase “a sort of 55 and
repudiate my claim to describe myself as an anti-vaccinationist. I
would urge my enthusiastic friends to appreciate the fact that a
person may be a good anti-vaccinationist although he may believe
in a sort of temporary immunity provided that he renounces the
benefit of such immunity. For myself I do not believe in

1 From the postmark

2 Vide pp. 191-2.

NOTES

259

vaccination giving any real immunity temporary or otherwise. It
gives a seeming immunity because those who submit to the unclean
process in numerous cases believe that they have escaped smallpox
because they see some of their neighbours getting it. Who can
persuade these fear-stricken men that even without vaccination
they might have escaped the infection like the rest of their nume¬
rous unvaccinated neighbours? In my note I merely mentioned a
psychological fact. Anti-vaccinationists will ensure reform in
tolerably good time, if they will be absolutely accurate about
their facts, take due account of popular prejudices and fears and
patiently cultivate public opinion against compulsory vaccination. But
for the apathy in such matters of educated India there would
never be compulsion in a matter in which respectable medical
opinion favours the reformer’s view and statistics exist which at least
make out a reasonable case against compulsion. I can understand
my compulsory segregation if my neighbours fear infection from
me, but I cannot understand my being compelled to undergo an
operation against which I have a religious or hygienic objection.
A community has a right to protect itself from me but it has no
right to impose an obligation on me merely for my protection. The
essence of my freedom consists in my right to err so long as my
error endangers no one else.

A Patriot’s Death
A correspondent writes

I am sure it will cause you genuine grief to know that L. Banke
Dyal, editor of Weekly Jhang Sial and selfless Congress worker in the Pun¬
jab, is no more. ... he acted as your Private Secretary to collect and sift
evidence in certain villages of the Punjab in connection with the Congress
Committee report regarding martial law atrocities. . . . Banke Dyal lived
a life of poverty and even starvation. . . . Could you possibly stir up the
Punjab Congress or Indian philanthropists to do something to relieve
the misery of his dependants ?

I have a vivid recollection of Lala Banke Dyal when I was
in the Punjab in connection with the Martial Law Congress Inquiry,
and can bear out what the correspondent says about his services.
I tender my condolences to the family of the deceased. There is
no doubt that it is the duty of moneyed Congressmen in the Punjab
to investigate the condition of the family and make whatever
provision may be necessary. All genuine patriotic workers should
be able to feel that their true service is the surest insurance for their

1 Only excerpts are reproduced here.

260

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

legitimate survivors. And relief should always be local. There is
something wrong when the family of a patriot in Karachi has to be
supported from Dibrugarh.

For A.I.S.A. Defaulters

The Secretary, A.I.S.A., complains that many members are
anxious to retain their membership but they are not prompt in
complying with the rules. In spite of extension, several have failed
to send in their yarn and ask for further indulgence. I have reluc¬
tantly authorized the Secretary to extend the time till 21st instant
when the Council meets. But an organization weakens if its mem¬
bers continuously seek indulgence. I know that procrastination
among members is the bane of most institutions. But an associa¬
tion which seeks to serve individually three hundred million men
and women cannot afford to be lax regarding the observance of
terms of membership. Nor is the condition severe if the members
will spin regularly. Many allow arrears to accumulate and then
fancy that they will be able to make up by giving many hours at
a stretch. Unfortunately for them those many hours never come
and they End themselves in default. Regular spinning for half an
hour daily is no strain and it should be a joy to be able to renew
from day to day through the wheel a vital contact with the millions
of paupers. I hope that the members will realize the truth of my
remark and hasten to make up for arrears and make a promise to
themselves never again to fall into arrears.

Young India , 8-8-1929

202. INCURABLE

Having read carefully the Governor’s speech and the Reve¬
nue Member’s on the proposed Land Revenue legislation and there-
anent on the Bardoli Inquiry report, the conclusion forces itself
upon me that the Government is incurable. The Bombay Govern¬
ment has accepted the Committee’s report as it were at the point
of the sword. It knows full well that rejection of the report would
mean a resuscitation of the whole agitation in a much more serious
form than before. There is no grace or dignity about the accept¬
ance. Indeed the Revenue Member had the hardihood to say
that the Government had accepted the report in order to close the
matter though it could draw conclusions just the opposite of what
Messrs Broomfield and Maxwell had drawn on the data collected
and accepted by them. There is not one word of regret for the

INCURABLE

261

many acts of oppression committed by the officials or for the gross
errors of Settlement officers which cost the people a protracted
struggle involving terrible hardships. In the teeth of published
letters of the ex-Governor, the Revenue Member dares to suggest
that the inquiry was granted not under pressure but because there
were definite allegations about the settlement being unlawful and
the assessment being based on erroneous figures. He forgets that the
ex-Governor had repudiated these charges and defended the settle¬
ment with unbecoming energy and had with equally unbecoming
rashness prophesied that if an inquiry was granted the finding would
show a higher figure.

The speeches make it abundantly clear that the Government
does not believe in doing justice for its own sake. In important
matters affecting its existence, it will yield only to pressure
which if successfully exerted would place its existence in greater
jeopardy than the justice demanded would. Thus it yielded to
the Bardoli agitation because its pressure had become more dange¬
rous for its existence than the reluctant grant of barest justice.

But the niggardly justice done to Bardoli has involved em¬
barrassing implications. It has now been obliged to announce
that it will bring in a revenue bill at an early date in order to ob¬
viate in future the errors discovered by Messrs Broomfield and
Maxwell. But the faint outline given of the forthcoming bill by the
Revenue Member need not enthuse us. It is much to be feared
that the legislation will promise to the ear what it will break to
the hope. All the public collection and preservation of statistics
will be of no avail, if the method of assessment is not radically al¬
tered and the decisions of Settlement officers are not made appeal-
able in courts of law. To do this, the Government knows, means a
tremendous loss of revenue. And an appreciable loss of revenue
means a revolutionary reform in administration. For this the two
speeches referred to give no hope whatsoever.

Here then is work cut out for Sardar Vallabhbhai and his
newly-formed League. It has had an auspicious beginning. It
represents all shades of opinion. All its resources will be taxed in
seeing that the promised legislation gives the radical relief needed
by a people groaning under the weight of a tax their holdings can
ill afford to sustain. Absence of graceful and frank confession by
the Government of the Bardoli blunder gives no hope of true
reform being made without adequate, intelligent, well-informed
and forcible agitation.

Young India, 8-8-1929

203. MAHARASHTRA KHADI SANGHA

Maharashtra Khadi Sangha is one of the most efficient and
methodical khadi organizations in the country. No wonder, see¬
ing that it has Sjt. Shankarrao S. Dev of Dhulia as its head. I take
the following 1 from the interesting report sent by the Sangha to
the Secretary of the A.I.S.A.

The workers undertook lecturing tours and visited principal towns in
their respective divisions. . . . During these visits members in charge
obtained signatures of persons who had already taken the vow or who
took it newly of wearing khadi habitually and also of persons who
promised to purchase khadi worth at least ten rupees per year. . . . at
present nearly 4,000 people. . . . arc habitual khacli-wearcrs. The move¬
ment of khadi in Maharashtra has undoubtedly passed through the first
three stages of contempt, ridicule and indifference and has now reached
the stage of active appreciation.

I hope that it will be possible for the Council to make the
grant required. I would urge the Sangha to concentrate its ener¬
gies in production along all the three lines often indicated in
these pages, viz.,

1. self-spinning,

2. sacrificial spinning, and

3. spinning for wages by the semi-starved and partially idle.

The Sangha should have a map showing the places where the
people are living in a state of semi-starvation and have idle hours
during which they can card and spin in their own cottages. Need¬
less to say that this work can be done only if the members of the
Sangha know carding and spinning and can attend to simple
repairs and adjustments.

Young India , 8-8-1929

1 Only excerpts are reproduced here.

204. UMPIRED FOOD

The Interest evinced in my experiment in unfired food and
the testimony received in support are truly remarkable. Some
correspondents even send their experiences for publication. But I
refrain. I have found among enthusiasts a tendency towards exag¬
geration. They often build their conclusions on insufficient data
or see a connection between a result and their experiment not war¬
ranted by actuality. Whilst therefore these experiences are very
helpful to me, as I am able to check them by my own, I am chary
of sending them out as a guide to fellow seekers. I therefore pro¬
pose periodically to give the verified results of my own experiences
and observation coupled with the caution that even they are liable
to variation. I have found after prolonged experiment and ob¬
servation that there is no fixed dietetic rule for all constitutions. All
that the wisest physicians claim for their advice is that it Is likely
to benefit in a given case as in a majority of cases they have found
it to answer fairly well. In no branch of science is the scientist
so hampered in his research as in the medical. He dare not speak
with certainty of the effect of a single drug or food or of the re¬
actions of human bodies. It is and will always remain empirical.
The popular saying that one man’s food may be another’s poison
is based on vast experience which finds daily verification. Such
being the case, the field for experiment on the part of intelligent
men and women is limitless. Laymen ought to acquire a work¬
able knowledge of the body which plays such an important part
in the evolution of the soul within. And yet about nothing are we
so woefully negligent or ignorant as in regard to our bodies. In¬
stead of using the body as a temple of God we use it as a vehicle
for indulgences, and are not ashamed to run to medical men for
help in our effort to increase them and abuse the earthly tabernacle.

But now for noting the results to date:

1. There are now twenty-two in the Mandir making the
experiment with me. Most of them have given up milk.

2. They are now having bananas added to their diet and the
quantity of cocoanut taken has been increased.

3. It can be stated with tolerable confidence that when milk
is retained there is no danger of weakness or any other untoward
result.

4. There is no difficulty about digesting uncooked sprouted
grains and pulses and uncooked green vegetables,

264 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

5. Gases of constipation have in most cases yielded to the
elimination of grains and pulses and a liberal use of cocoanut
milk and green vegetables such as dudhi (marrow), pumpkin,
cucumber, etc., all taken with their skins well washed. Cocoanut
milk is prepared by grating an undried cocoanut fine and mixing
it with its own or other clean water and straining and pressing
through a stout cloth. A whole cocoanut may be thus taken with¬
out the slightest injury or discomfort.

6. In the majority of cases weight has been lost, but the medi¬
cal authorities who favour unfired food assert that the loss of
weight is a healthy reaction up to a point and is a sign of the

body throwing off poisonous matter.

7. The majority still experience weakness but persist^ in
their experiment, believing in the above-mentioned authorities
that weakness is an intermediate stage in this experiment. There
is no doubt that the stomach which has undergone distension
through overfeeding with starchy and fatty foods feels an empti¬
ness till it resumes its natural size.

8. The experiment is not an easy thing nor does it yield
magical results. It requires patience, perseverance and caution.
Each one has to find his or her own balance of the different in¬
gredients.

9. Almost every one of us has experienced a clearer brain

power and refreshing calmness of spirit.

10. Many have found the experiment as a decided help in

allaying animal passion.

11. Too much stress cannot he laid on the imperative
necessity of thorough mastication. I observe that even many of the
careful inmates do not know the art of mastication and have there¬
fore bad teeth and spongy gums. A few days of hard and con¬
scientious chewing of the cocoanut and green vegetable has
brought about wonderful results in this direction.

Several physicians arc taking an interest in my experiment.
They send me texts from Ayurvedic writings for or against the
articles I have been using. Two or three have sent me the identical
text against taking honey mixed with hot water and pronouncing
dire results. When I ask them whether they have verified the text
from their own experience they are silent. My own experience of
taking honey mixed with hot water extends to more than four
years. I have experienced no ill effect whatsoever. Objection has
also been raised against the use of honey on humanitarian grounds.
This objection has, I admit, considerable force though the Western
method of gathering honey is cleaner and less open tp objection.

PROHIBITION CAMPAIGN

265

I fear that if I would be strictly logical I should have to cut down
many things I take or use. But life is not governed by strict logic.
It is an organic growth, seemingly irregular growth following its
own law and logic. I began taking honey in Yeravda Jail under
medical advice. I am not sure that its use is now necessary for me.
Western- doctors bestow high praise upon it. Most of them who
condemn the use of sugar in unmeasured terms speak highly of
honey which they say does not irritate as refined sugar or even gur
does. I do not want to weaken my present experiment by abjur¬
ing honey just now. The humanitarian aspect will be infinitely
more served, if the unfired food experiment succeeds beyond doubt.

Another physician quotes a text against the use of sprouted
pulses but he too lacks actual experience for supporting his text.
And this has been my complaint against many Ayurvedic physi¬
cians. I have no doubt that there is abundant ancient wisdom
buried in the Sanskrit medical works. Our physicians appear to
be too lazy to unearth that wisdom in the real sense of the term.
They are satisfied with merely repeating the printed formula. Even
as a layman I know many virtues are claimed for several Ayur¬
vedic preparations. But where is their use, if they cannot be
demonstrated today ? I plead, for the sake of this ancient science,
for a spirit of genuine search among our Ayurvedic physicians.
I am as anxious as the tallest among them can be to free ourselves
from the tyranny of Western medicines which are ruinously expen¬
sive and the preparation of which takes no count of the higher
humanities.

Young India, 8-8-1929

205 . PROHIBITION CAMPAIGN 1

The Editor, 4 ‘Young India”
sir,

Surely Mr. Rajagopalachari’s scheme on. p. 112 of your issue for the
4th April is inconsistent with Mr. Gandhi's dogma of non-violence. Prohi¬
bition is force, and force is no remedy for anything, least of all for in¬
temperance, especially among those who repudiate the use of force (vio¬
lence) in any shape. ‘Non-violent 5 prohibition is self-contradictory. Gould
one frame a section of the Penal Code to the effect that anyone drinking

1 This appeared under the title “Correspondence”.

266

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

a glass of toddy (or beer) in his own house shall be liable to fine or im¬
prisonment? I am altogether in favour of real temperance, but equally
opposed to tyranny, and the prohibition of moderate (quite temperate)
drinking is nothing but tyranny.

Tours truly,

May 6, 1929 J. B. Pennington

I am unable to subscribe to the opinion that prohibition is al¬
ways force. If I prohibit my children from doing some wrong and
for a breach of that prohibition I punish not them but myself
either by fasting or otherwise as I have often done with excellent
results, I use no force in Mr. Pennington’s sense. I use the force,
that is to say, not of the body but of the spirit, not of the brute
but of love. But I am free to confess that Sjt. Rajagopalachari’s
prohibition is not spiritual but physical, not lovely [sic] but brutal,
nevertheless I must plead guilty to having endorsed it. Unfortu¬
nately for me I have to confess that my non-violence is very
imperfect, inconsistent and primitive. Only, it is still miles ahead
of what Mr. Pennington is likely to conceive. I hold drinking
spirituous liquors in India to be more criminal than the petty thefts
which I see starving men and women committing and for which
they are prosecuted and punished. I do tolerate very unwillingly,
it is true, and helplessly because of want of full realization of the
law of love, a moderate system of penal code. And so long as I
do, I must advocate the summary punishment of those who manu¬
facture the fiery liquid and those even who will persist in drinking
it notwithstanding repeated warnings. I do not hesitate forcibly
to prevent my children from rushing into fire, or deep waters.
Rushing to wine is far more dangerous than rushing to a raging
furnace or flooded stream. The latter destroys only the body,
the former destroys both body and soul,

Toung India,; 8-8-1929

206. ADHARMA IN THE NAME OF SAN AT AN A

DHARMA

These days as I write often for Hindi Navajivan , relevant ex¬
tracts from Hindi papers which are worthy of my consideration
are brought to my notice. I have today two newspapers before
me: one of the Arya Samajists and the other of the Sanatanists.
The Sanatanists 5 paper carries a rude, indecent and obscenely-wor¬
ded denunciation of Maharshi Dayanand. The language used and
the charges levelled against Swamiji are of a kind that do not
become a religious paper and a responsible paper. I do not know
if the paper enjoys any influence among the people. I hope nobody
pays attention to it.

I fear that the attack on Swamiji has been made out of some
selfish motive. That is why it is so barbarous and untruthful. I
would not be surprised if it turns out to have been written by a
member of the C.I.D. There would seem to be no other justifica¬
tion for such a vicious attack.

It is the duty of the Hindu Mahasabha to stop the publication
of such dirty papers. I would request the Arya Samajists not to
read such papers and even if they do, not to be angry. They should
not even discuss them in their papers. Writers with unclean minds
are avid for opposition for they feed on such opposition. Swami
Dayanand had such a noble character and his services were so great
that selfish and ignorant writers can cause him no harm. If the
Arya Samajists will exercise a little patience the publication of
such filthy writings will cease automatically. When there is no one
to comment on such writings or take note of them, this publication
will stop of its own accord. 1

[From Hindi]

Hindi Navajivan, 8-8-1929

1 Vide also p. 258.

207 . A HUSBAND'S BUTT

A friend writes: 1

Husbands are always eager to read sermons to their wives.
Wives are even told to consider themselves the husband’s property.
The husband feels that he has the same proprietary rights over his
wife as he has over his goods and chattels and livestock. To srp-
port this position they do not hesitate to quote from the Ramayana :

Drums, fools, Shudras, beasts and women,

All these are fit to be beaten.

These lines are considered to sanction chastisement of wives in
our society. I am quite certain that this verse is not by Tulsidas.
Even if it is one may be sure that it does not express Tulsidas’s
personal views but merely the prevailing social attitude. It is also
possible that without giving the matter much thought he simply
gave support to the prevailing social disposition. The Ramayana is
a devotional poem written from the standpoint of a bhakta.
Tulsidas did not write it in the capacity of a reformer. That is
why he has drawn a realistic picture of his age and described it so
naturally. Although his description is not without blemishes, this
does not lessen the importance of this superb work. Just as one can¬
not expect the Ramayana to give us correct geographical information,
in the same way we cannot expect it to propound for us the
modern view. But we are straying from the subject. Whatever
Tulsidas’s view may have been about women there is no doubt
that a man who treats his wife like an animal, who considers her
as his property, cuts himself from his better half 2 .

It is the duty of the husband to consider his wife a true com¬
panion, helper and his better half. He should share her joys and
sorrows. A wife is never to be considered her husband’s slave, nor
merely meant to be the object of his lust. She has a right to the
same freedoms which the husband wants for himself.

The culture in which women are not honoured is doomed.
The world cannot go on without either the men or the women,
it can go on only by their mutual co-operation. If the wrath of

1 The letter is not translated here. The correspondent had mentioned a
friend who was dissatisfied with his wife because in his opinion she was not a
good housewife and wanted her to leave him. He had raised questions con¬
cerning the relative rights of husband and wife,

2 The Hindi has ardhmga.

LETTER TO NAjUKLAL N. CHOKSI 269

woman should be roused she could destroy man. That's why she
has been considered Mahashakti.

Hindu culture has always respected women. They have
always been given the pride of place. For instance, we say c Sita
Ram 3 , never c Ram Sitah Vishnu is known ‘Lakshmipati'. Maha-
dev is also worshipped as Tarvatipati'. The creator of the Maha~
bharata gave the place of honour to Draupadi, as the Adikavi 1 Val-
miki gave to Sita. We begin our day by reciting the sacred names
of chaste women. A civilization so noble cannot bring the status
of women down to the level of goods and chattels.

The questions are now easily answered. It is my firm belief
that a wife has full right to her husband's earnings. She has an
inalienable right to his property. It is the husband's duty to pro¬
tect his wife and to do what he can to provide her food and
clothing.

[From Hindi]

Hindi Navajivan, 8-8-1929

208 . LETTER TO NAJUKLAL N CHOKSI

Ashram, Sabarmati,
August 8, 1929

BHAI NAJUKLAL,

I have your letter. At the moment I have nothing at hand
for you. Meet Motibai's demand. When I have anything fit for
you, I shall ask for you after giving you sufficient notice.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati; S.N. 12146

209. LETTER TO DEVCHAND PAREKH

Ashram, Sabarmati,
August 8 , 1929

BHAISHRI DEVCHANDBHAI,

I have your letter, I enclose with this JawaharlaPs letter.
It is a delicate matter. 1 Your reply, too, was not proper. You
ought to have clearly stated that politics had been voluntarily ex¬
cluded. You should have known that there would be agitation by
the other party. And we should also admit that they have a
right to carry on such agitation. Where there are differences of
principle, we cannot close the mouth of our opponent. Now
wait and see what happens. Your reply should have been simply:
c We have a difference of opinion with the person who has sent
you the wire. It is not possible to explain anything in a wire or a
letter. Our Committee, however, believes that after coming here
you will feel satisfied. 5 Who will then say that your reply was an
attack on the other party ? There is nothing for it now but to wait
and see what course events take.

Vandemataram from
Bapu

[PS.]

I have not revised the letter.

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 5719

210. LETTER TO GORDHANBHAI L PATEL 2

August 5, 1929

BHAISHRI GORDHANBHAI 3 ,

Owing to pressure of work your letter escaped my attention.
I remembered it last night. The final award could be given only

1 Jawaharlal Nehru was to preside over the conference of the Youth League
at Rajkot and some political worker in Saurashtra had sent a telegram to
him which made him hesitate whether he should attend the conference.

2 The letter was in reply to the addressee’s letter dated 2-8-1929 in con¬
nection with the dispute between the Labour Union and the Mill-owners’
Association, in which Gandhiji and Sheth Mangaldas had been appointed
arbitrators.

3 Secretary, Ahmedabad Mill-owners 5 Association

LETTER TO FULCHAND K. SHAH

271

in mutual consultation. My opinion however is that the petitioners
have a right to add to or alter their petitions or to vary emphasis,
etc. 1 The arbitrators have not yet considered whether or not they
can go into the question of the propriety of the wage-cut in 1923. 2

From a microfilm of the Gujarati: S.N. 14975

211. LETTER TO RAIHANA TTABJI

August 9, 1929

MY DEAR RAIHANA,

Your love letter. I am here the whole of August except next
Sunday. So come when you can and like.

Tours ,

Bapu

From a photostat: S.N. 9609

212. LETTER TO FULCHAND K. SHAH

Ashram, Sabarmati,

August 10, 1929

BHAISHRI FULCHAND,

I have your letter. A reply has been sent to Jawaharlal. You
must have come to know about the letter I wrote in this connection
to Devchandbhai’s address day before yesterday. Whatever Bhai
Amritlal does, you are going to act with politeness and firmness.

I always get all manner of criticisms of the Parishad’s working
but I gulp them down; nor do I wish to worry you by referring
them all to you. Let not however falsehood, pomp, pretence or
excess come in anywhere. It is impossible for me to go over there.
And I have already written who should present the address. I see
nothing wrong if a person against whom a case is pending produces
witnesses though he might have to pay them an allowance. He
should not let himself be released on bail. A satyagrahi is tested

1 The Labour Union by their letter dated 31-7-1929 had withdrawn
their original contention that since 1923 the condition of the mills had im¬
proved sufficiently to warrant restoration of the cut in the workers’ wages
effected in 1923, and had argued instead that the cut was unjustified and
should, therefore, be cancelled.

2 For the arbitrators’ award on the original issue, vide pp. 283-4. For
Gandhiji’s views on the new issue raised by the Labour Union, vide pp. 359-63.

272 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

also in a false case like this and gains heaven-sent experience. We
gain or ought to learn a lesson which never even occurs to us. The
aforesaid satyagrahi has checked his anger towards the shepherd.
He can love the shepherd. If he cannot, he is no true satyagrahi.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 9190

213 . THE EFFICACT OF VOWS 1

A correspondent who seems to be a regular and careful reader
of Mavajivan writes:

I spin regularly, but the question is whether or not I should bind
myself to it by a vow. If I take a vow to spin regularly for one hour
every day, I suppose I must do an hour’s honest spinning unfailingly,
come what may. Suppose now, having taken the vow I am required
to go out on a long journey, how can I fulfil my vow about spinning?
Or again, suppose I fall seriously ill, even then I must do my spinning,
or else be guilty of breaking my vow before man and God. On the other
hand if I do not take a vow, what guarantee is there that my resolution
would not give way and betray me at a critical moment?

You will perhaps say that one’s resolution ought to be made of ster¬
ner stuff. But when even the acknowledged leaders of the country are seen
hourly breaking their resolutions, what can one expect from the rank and
file? What are lesser mortals like myself to do? Would you kindly resolve
my dilemma?

Being accustomed from very childhood to taking vows I confess
I have a strong bias in favour of the practice. It has come to my
rescue in many a crisis; I have seen it save others from many a
pitfall. A life without vows is like a ship without anchor or like
an edifice that is built on slip-sand instead of a solid rock. A
vow imparts stability, ballast and firmness to one’s character.
What reliance can be placed on a person who lacks these essen¬
tial qualities ? An agreement is nothing but a mutual inter¬
change of vows; simultaneously one enters into a pledge when one
gives one’s word to another.

In old days, the word of mouth of illustrious persons was re¬
garded as good as a bond. They concluded transactions involving

1 Tlie Gujarati original of this appeared in JVavajivan, 11-8-1929. This is
a translation by Pyarelal.

THE EFFICACY OF VOWS

273

millions by oral agreements. In fact our entire social fabric rests on
the sanctity of the pledged word. The world would go to pieces if
there was not this element of stability or finality in agreements
arrived at. The Himalayas are immovably fixed for ever in their
place. India would perish if the firmness of the Himalayas gave
way. The sun, the moon and other heavenly bodies move with
unerring regularity. Were it not so, human affairs would come to
a standstill. But we know that the sun has been rising regularly
at its fixed time for countless ages in the past and will continue to
do so in future. The cooling orb of the moon will continue always
to wax and wane as it has done for ages past with a clock¬
work regularity. That is why we call the sun and the moon to be
witness to our affairs. We base our calendar on their movements,
we regulate our time by their rising and setting.

The same law, which regulates these heavenly bodies, applies
equally to men. A person unbound by vows can never be absolutely
relied upon. It is overweening pride to say, 'This thing comes
natural to me. Why should I bind myself permanently by vows?

I can well take care of myself at the critical moment. Why should
I take an absolute vow against wine? I never get drunk. Why
should I forgo the pleasure of an occasional cup for nothing? 5 A
person who argues like this will never be weaned from his addiction.

To shirk taking of vows betrays indecision and want of reso¬
lution. One never can achieve anything lasting in this world by be¬
ing irresolute. For instance, what faith can you place in a gene¬
ral or a soldier who lacks resolution and determination, who
says, T shall keep guard as long as I can 5 ? A householder, whose
watchman says that he would keep watch as long as he can, can
never sleep in security. No general ever won a victory by fol¬
lowing the principle of 'being vigilant so long as he could 5 .

I have before me innumerable examples of spinners at will.
Every one of them has come to grief sooner or later. On the other
hand, sacramental spinning has transformed the entire life of those
who have taken to it; mountains of yarn stored up by them tell
the tale. A vow is like a right angle. An insignificant right angle
will make all the difference between ugliness and elegance, solidity
and shakiness of a gigantic structure. Even so stability or instabi¬
lity, purity or otherwise of an entire career may depend upon the
taking of a vow.

It goes without saying that moderation and sobriety are of the
very essence of vow-taking. The taking of vows that are not feasible
or that are beyond one’s capacity would betray thoughtlessness and
want of balance. Similarly a vow can be made conditional without

41-18

274

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

losing any of its efficacy or virtue. For instance there would be
nothing wrong about taking a vow to spin for at least one hour
every day and to turn out not less than 200 yards daily except
when one is travelling or is sick. Such a vow would not only be
quite in form but also easy of observance. The essence of a vow
does not consist in the difficulty of its performance but in the
determination behind it unflinchingly to stick to it in the teeth of
difficulties.

Self-restraint is the very key-stone of the ethics of vow-taking.
For instance, one cannot take a vow of self-indulgence, to eat, drink
and be merry, in short, to do as one pleases. This warning is
necessary because I know of instances when an attempt was made
to cover things of questionable import by means of vows. In the
heyday of non-co-operation one even heard the objection raised,
c How can I resign from Government service when I have made a
covenant with it to serve it? 5 Or again, ‘How can I close my
liquor shop since I have bound myself by contract to run it for
five years? 5 Such questions might appear puzzling sometimes. But
on closer thinking it will be seen that a vow can never be used
to support or justify an immoral action. A vow must lead one
upwards, never downwards towards perdition.

The correspondent has concluded by having a fling at the
‘acknowledged leaders 5 of the country and cited their so-called '
fickleness to justify his position. This sort of reasoning only be¬
trays weakness. One should try to emulate and imitate only the
virtues of one’s leaders, never their faults. Our national leaders do
not claim to be paragons of perfection. They occupy the position
of eminence that they do in public life by virtue of certain qualities
which they exhibit in their character. Let us ponder over those
qualities and try to assimilate them, let us not even think of their
shortcomings. No son can be called a worthy son of his father
who only imbibes the shortcomings of his parents or pleads in¬
ability to keep clear of them. It is the virtues, not the faults of
one’s parents, that constitute one’s true legacy. A son who only
adds to the debts of his parents would be written down as un¬
worthy. A worthy son would liquidate their debts and increase the
legacy left by them.

Toung India, 22-8-1929

214 . c BITTER AS POISON n

A correspondent has addressed me several posers for answers
in Navajivan. One of these runs:

The fateful 1st of January 1930 is approaching fast, but you are still
harping on your incantatory formula of “khadi, khadi, and again khadi”,
and refuse to give any effective lead to the country. I for one have no
stomach left for this “hand-spun” war-cry of yours, and I believe it has
begun to get on the nerves of the country too. Why not give a mandate
to youthful leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose
to raise a force of one crore national volunteers who would be ready to
lay down their lives for the sake of the country? Let the wearing of
khadi or in the alternative swadeshi mill-cloth be made a necessary
condition for enrolment. Similarly you may promulgate whatever other
conditions you think necessary for the enrolment, and give to khadi the
principal place among these. I do not mind that. The country is as im¬
patient as ever to embark upon non-co-operation or civil disobedience;
only it lacks the proper lead. Simultaneously with this I would suggest
that leaders like Vallabhbhai should be called upon to organize labour
and peasantry, and you will find that they would rise up and stand to¬
gether like one man to face the ordeal of fire without flinching, even as
the brave cultivators of Bardoli did last year.

I am sorry to say that even if khadi gets on one’s nerves, as it
is alleged by the correspondent to do, I have no other remedy to
suggest in its place. I cannot conceive of swaraj without khadi, for
the simple reason that without it the lot of the peasantry is bound
to remain precarious in India, and it constitutes more than eight-
tenths of her entire population.

Nor is it true to say that the country is utterly fed up with
khadi, and that khadi has begun to get on the people’s nerves. It
may be so in the case of a handful of town-dwellers of India, but
they do not constitute India. India’s city-dwelling population in
the midst of the teeming millions of her villages is as a drop in the
ocean. The foundation of India’s nationality is to be laid not in
her towns but in her villages, and the only movement that is at
present actively going on among India’s villages is that of khadi.
It is daily expanding. It today provides a living to at least 2,000

1 The Gujarati original of this appeared In Navajivan, 11-8-1929. This is a
translation by Pyarelal.

276 v THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

middle-class young men, and enables over one lakh of poor women
spinners to eke out a living. Similarly it is giving employment to
over ten thousand weavers, and a host of washermen, dyers, card¬
ers, tailors, etc. If in spite of all these beneficent results that khadi
has produced and is producing, it is as gall and wormwood to any,
I can only pity them.

It is a gratuitous insult to Pandit Jawaharlal or Subhas
Chandra Bose to say that they are awaiting my permission or man¬
date to organize the youth of the country, and are being kept back
for want of it. They are already doing the work of organization
to the best of their power and ability. They need no permission
from me for doing their part. If they are true soldiers as I believe
they are, I could not hold them back if I would. But the plain,
painful fact of the matter is that today not to talk of one crore
volunteers, there are not ten thousand who are prepared complete¬
ly to sacrifice themselves for duty’s sake. I know that they can
get ready in no time if they wish, but The will to do 5 is lacking.
You cannot get swaraj by mere speeches, shows, processions, etc.
What is needed is solid, steady, constructive work; what the youth
craves for and is fed on is only the former.

It is a gross misrepresentation of the true situation to say
that the masses are impatient to be led to civil disobedience, but
that I am hanging back. I know well enough how to lead to civil
disobedience a people who are prepared to embark upon it on
my terms. I see no such sign on the horizon. But I live in faith.
I am still hoping that a way out of the “encircling gloom 53 will be
found on 1st January next.

As for Sardar Vallabhbhai he carries my permission in his
pocket always. But he needs a Bardoli to make good his leadership.
How many Bardolis are there ready in the country today ? It took
Bardoli seven years of silent preparation to prepare for limited
satyagraha for the redress of her wrongs. It is a question whether
even Bardoli is today ready for utter self-immolation to obtain
freedom for the whole of India. Both the Sardar and myself enter¬
tain the highest hopes about Bardoli, but her time is obviously
not yet. She is herself in travail.

Young India, 5-9-1929

215. FRUIT OF SATYAGRAHA

A 4 ‘Spiritual Seeker” writes: 1

The fruit of satyagraha, howsoever slight, is the same as des¬
cribed by the “Spiritual Seeker”. The history of the world is full of
the triumph of satyagraha. Not a single instance of its defeat can be
found. But one should make sure that stress is laid on truth alone.
I have received the amount sent by the “Spiritual Seeker”. He has
sent a currency note without registering it. No one should do
this. Anyone who wishes to send a currency note should seal the
envelope and register it.

[From Gujarati]

Navajivan.) 11-8-1929

216. MY NOTES

To the Person Who Has Given His Name

Although doctors very often regard marriage as a cure, they
are, I think, gravely mistaken in this matter. I know that some
persons have benefited, but I also know that many people have been
harmed, by it. It is not proper to abandon the straight path
and get misled by taking a crooked path because sometimes one
feels that momentary success can be thus achieved. The better
alternative is not to deviate from the straight path, despite any
hardships that one may have to undergo; the path of self-control
is hence the only one that I can recommend in circumstances such
as yours.

To ‘Reader of “Navajivan ” 5

There is much in your letter that calls for a reply, but I do
not wish to encourage anonymous letters. If you send me your
name and address, I shall try to give you a reply.

To £ A Kathiawari Youth 5

If there is no ill will in your questions, they are harmless. But
whether they are well or ill meant, why this cowardice in conceal-

1 The letter is not translated here. Reporting that as a result of satya¬
graha, he had succeeded in persuading someone to take a vow of improving
his conduct day by day, the correspondent had sent ten rupees to be utilized
for diverse public causes.

278 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

ing your name while asking questions ? You bring credit neither
to yourself nor to Kathiawar by this concealment. Those who do
not possess even the courage to reveal their names can render no
service, much less join in the fight for swaraj.

[From Gujarati]

Navajivan , 11-8-1929

217. DID RAMA SHED BLOOD?

This is the second question put by the very same gentleman
to whom khadi is like poison: 1

It is my confirmed opinion that non-violent non-co-operation
is the strength not of the weak but especially of the strong. It
is a universal principle. We practise it all the time, consciously
or unconsciously. Current history takes note of wars waged by
kings. The history of the people—of the nation—has to be written
hereafter. When such history is written, we shall come across non¬
violent non-co-operation on every page of it. What a wife who
refuses to submit to a cruel husband does, constitutes non-vio¬
lent non-co-operation. The history of the Quakers 2 has been made
glorious by non-violent non-co-operation. The history of the
Vaishnavas in India bears testimony to the very same thing. The
whole world can do what these people have been able to do.

Those who look into the matter can clearly see that the world
is moving in the direction of peace. Although cast in human
form, the human race has not yet given up its bestial instincts; it
has no alternative but to give them up. Hence the example of cats
and dogs is irrelevant and ill befits us. We are not cats and
dogs but creatures who stand erect on two legs, who strive to rea¬
lize the self and are endowed with the capacity to reason.

And what about Ramachandra ? Who has proved that he
shed rivers of blood in Lanka ? When was a ten-headed
Ravana born? Who had seen an army of monkeys? The Rama,"

1 The letter is not translated here. The correspondent had said that in
his opinion non-violent non-co-operation was best for Indians only because
they were weak and unarmed, that Rama had shed blood in his battle with
Ravana, that a dog could snatch away a kitten only after killing the mother-
cat, that 33 crores of Indians could not all have faith in non-violence. For
the first question and answer, vide pp. 275-6.

2 Members of the Society of Friends, a religious sect founded by George
Fox in the 17th century. They had adopted great simpligity of attire and werq
highly respected for thgif honaurable dealings.

EXPERIMENT IN UNCOOKED FOOD

279

yam is a sacred book, an allegory. The Rama who is worshipped
by millions of persons dwells in our heart and is its sovereign mas¬
ter. Ravana too is the terrible form given to the base desires which
dwell within us. The Rama dwelling within us is continuously
waging war against the Ravana. Rama is the very embodiment
of compassion. We have not much to learn if a historical figure
Rama had waged a war against another historical figure Ravana.
Why should we go searching in the past for such characters ? They
are to be found at many places today. Rama the eternal is a form
of Brahman, the image of truth and non-violence.

The problem of India will be solved neither through anger
nor through misinterpretations of the Ramayana, etc., nor through
imitation of beasts. In order to solve this problem, we shall have
to know ourselves. Non-violent non-co-operation is something
that will remind Indians of their humanity. It may be that mil¬
lions of men will not accept it all at once. Millions will never
take up arms. Even if there are a few determined warriors in the
non-violent war, they will be able to protect millions and instil
life into them. Even if this is only a dream of mine, it appears
fascinating to me. Even if it is a "flower of the skies 51 , it appears
beautiful to my imagination and its fragrance ever haunts me.

[From Gujarati]

Navajivan, 11-8-1929

218 . EXPERIMENT IN UNCOOKED FOOD

I cannot give a report of progress only in regard to this experi¬
ment this week. I have had to ask two persons to give up the
experiment, as I was not competent enough to deal with their weak
state and their constipation and had to accept defeat. From the
experiments on my own system and those of some others, I had
concluded that coconut milk and raw greens would be able to cure
their constipation. But that did not happen. Despite taking a
large quantity of the above, their constipation could not be cured.
On my own system, it is having just the opposite result. There is
no sign of constipation whatever; coconut milk and green vegetables
are having too much the contrary effect. That too is not a good
sign.

I cannot also note much progress in the experiments carrie d
put by others. Despite this, I am convinced that this is a good field

1 A Gujarati phrase meaning ‘an impossibility’

280 THE collected works OF MAHATMA GANDHI

and deserves to be explored. Cooked food can never be as nourish¬
ing and tasty as food which is uncooked. As the field is a new
one, we have before us relatively few experiences of it. Hence this
experiment can be tried through patience alone.

Those who are carrying on this experiment should exercise
caution in doing so, not stick to it obstinately, and should give it
up if they do not have the capacity to carry it on. It can he
safely stated that vegetables and pulses, if eaten, should be
eaten raw \ hence wheat would be the only item which would
have to be cooke d. No harm and no weakness would re suit from
taking a diet of ivtis, milk, raw vegetables and sprouted pulses. The
quantity of pulses should be small i vegetables too should be taken
in small quantities, i.e., about three tolas of the former and about

five of the latter.

One of those who are carrying on this experiment has sent
in the following report 1 about his experience.

[From Gujarati]

Navaj warty 11-8-1929

219 . LETTER TO JAWAHARLAL NEHRU

August ll y 1929

MY DEAR JAWAHARLAL,

This is an account they have sent me of the little band of
satyagrahis who will present you with an address.

You may not mind the wires and protests you are receiving. 2
You will judge things for yourself when you go to Kathiawar if
at all Kamala’s condition permits you to do so. I leave Bombay
7th September for Bhopal and reach Agra as per programme on
11th unless you want any alteration.

Tours ,

Bapu

A.LG.C. File No. 273, 1931. Courtesy: Nehru Momorial Museum and
Library

* Not translated here. The correspondent had given his experience
of 28 days; in the beginning he felt hungry, but on increasing the quantity
of intake the complaint vanished; he had constipation for some days, but
when bananas were replaced by grapes, cereals were reduced and the greeny
and coconut milk increased, he got over the trouble,

2 Vide p. 270.

220 . LETTER TO N, R. MALKANI

[August IT 1925] 1 2

MY DEAR MALKANI,

I have your letter. I shall now do what more is possible be¬
yond the cheque sent by Vallabhbhai. These things are going
beyond much human effort.

Tours,

Bapu

From a photostat: G.N. 894

221 . INTERVIEW TO “THE HINDU”*

Bombay,

August 12, 1929

Gandhiji granted an exclusive interview to me today.

Asked about his views on Mr. MacDonald’s speech and the absence of
reference to India in the King’s speech, he said:

I have not read the full text of the speech. I am unable to
make any pronouncement on the question.

When informed of the impressions of those who had met the Secretary of
State for India and other Cabinet members about the Labour Government’s
“anxiety” to conciliate Indian opinion, Gandhiji said:

I quite realize the Labour Government’s difficulty. Every¬
thing depends upon the offer they make.

When pointed out that the Simon Commission to which the Labour Party
had committed itself had not concluded their work, Gandhiji remarked:

Where there is a will there is a way.

Referring to the Lahore Congress Presidentship, Mahatmaji declared that
he would not accept the honour. He was only a back-number, he said.
When I pointed out that he was leading in the election in spite of his article 3
in Young India, Gandhiji repeated:

1 As indicated by the addressee

2 This was published under the caption, “Lahore and India: Gandhiji
on Congress Demand” as from “an occasional correspondent”.

3 Vide pp. 239-41,

282

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

I will not accept it. The matter will be referred to the A.I.-
G.C. for final decision.

Asked if the final choice did not rest with the Reception Committee, he

said :

No, the matter will be considered by the A.I.C.C.

Asked whether Independence would be declared in the Lahore Congress,
Gandhiji stated in clear terms:

I have no reason to lose any hope. I am for Dominion Status.
I will wait for it till the midnight bell of December 31, 1929 rings.
I hope Dominion Status will be given by that time; if not, on
January first I will be an Independence-wallah.

Gandhiji when questioned about his experiment with unfired food said:
That is the best question you have put me.

He added, he was enjoying the same amount of health. General condition was
exceptionally good. Medical opinion was favourable, but he had lost ten
pounds in weight. He had not come to any final decision about unfired food.

The Hindu , 12-8-1929

222 . LETTER TO MANILAL AND SUSHILA GANDHI

August 12) 1929

CHI. MANILAL AND SUSHILA,

I get your letters all right. And now I am also getting some
details.

I have very little time left to me.

Sushila seems to have become restless; it is therefore only
right that she should now come over here.

Sorabji is just what he was a year ago. But I can understand
that Sushila should take to heart all that has happened since. But
we have to live in this world without attachment, retaining [our]
sweetness and without losing virtue.

Ramdas had been here for a few days. Nimu has gone to
Lakhtar. Devdas went to Delhi from Almora.

I am keeping well.

Blessings from

Bapu

Frpn* a photostat of the Gujarati; G.N. 4757

223. LETTER TO PRABHAVATI

August 12> 1929

CHI. PRABHAVATI,

I have your letter. You needs must visit your in-laws for a
week or two. They ask for your presence at some auspicious cere¬
mony. They will be pleased; it will further clear your way.

The letter from Jayaprakash is all right. His return will
continue to be postponed. At the moment I have no time to
write more.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 3358

224. TELEGRAM TO AMRITLAL THAEKAR 1

[On or after August 12, 1929]

Thakkar

RETURNED FROM BOMBAY TODAY. WIRED RAMANLAL

MORNING DETAIN HARIVALLABH.

Gandhi

From a photostat: S.N. 15461

225. ARBITRATORS' AWARD

Sabarmati Ashram,
Ahmed ab ad,
August 14, 1929

The labourers have pleaded that the present condition of mills
is so good that the cut effected in 1923 should be abolished and
they should revert to the minimum wages received by them in
that year. 2 After hearing both sides on this point and after exam¬
ining the statements submitted, the Arbitrators give their deci-

1 In. reply to his telegram dated August 12, which read: “Have you
written Petlad. Wiring detain Harivallabh Assam.”

2 This was the original contention of the Labour Union, which, however,
was subsequently withdrawn. Vide p. 270,

284

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

sion to the effect that, as the labourers’ party could not prove
its point, the plea has been rejected.

Mohandas Gandhi
Mangaldas Girdhardas

From a microfilm of the Gujarati: S.N. 14975

226. LETTER TO SIR PURUSHO TTAMDAS THAKURDAS

Ashram, Sabarmati,

August 14 , 1929

BHAISHRI,

I have another letter from you and today some printed and
typewritten material too, which I shall find time to go through.
I shall leave nothing undone that I can. Please do keep me in¬
formed. I shall not be tired.

Tours }

Mohandas

Sir Purushottamdas Thakurdas

Navsari Chambers

Outram Road, Fort, Bombay-1

Purushottamdas Thakurdas Papers, File No. 89/1929. Courtesy: Nehru
Memorial Museum and Library

227. LETTER TO HARIBHAU UPADHTAYA

Ashram, Sabarmati,

August 14 , 1929

BHAXSHRI HARIBHAU,

I have your letter. Your own report is good. I have no time
to dictate more now. Bhai Ghanshyamdas is led away by his
love; he therefore gets angry even with one who makes an inno¬
cent suggestion. Nor am I going to let go the honey 1 in a hurry.
I am carrying on my experiment with great care. Give plenty of
reassurance to Ghanshyamdas and make him shed his fear. I am
returning your two letters. I shall write more if I get the time.

Blessings from
Bapu

From a copy of the Gujarati: C.W. 6067. Courtesy: Haribhau Upadhyava
1 Like one who drops the honeycomb at the first sting

228. TELEGRAM TO PURUSHOTTAMDAS TANDON 1

[On or after August 14 > 1929]

DO PLEASE GOME SABARMATI ON OR BEFORE TWENTY-FIRST,
From a photostat: S.N. 15452

229. UNFIRED FOOD

DEAR SIR,

I have read the further account 2 of your dietetic experiment — re¬
printed in The Hindu of July 22 — with much interest; and I am glad to
see that you do not carry your objections to milk and its products to the
extent of recommending the ‘youth °f India’ not to use it. Indeed, you
are, if I may say so, recording the results of your experiment with much
open-mindedness. But there are in your account two mis-statements of
fact: (a) the capacity of the plant-world to sustain man at his highest is
not an unexplored field to modem medical science, and this science has
shown it to be not unlimited: one reason for the nutritive limitations of
a purely vegetable diet for man is the difference in length and structure
between the human gastro-intestinal tract and that of herbivorous animals.
Man’s digestive tube is not long enough nor capacious enough to accom¬
modate a sufficient mass of suitable vegetable food, nor to extract from such
as it can contain all the nutriment man needs for his fullest well-being;
(b) there is only one vitamin—vitamin D— for which man can rely (to a
considerable extent) upon the sun. . . . there is nothing to indicate the
possibility of “getting the most important of the vitamins from the sun”,
though, no doubt, the sun plays a great part in their production in the
foods available for mankind. . . .

One of the great faults in Indian diets at the present day is their
deficiency in vitamin A, in suitable proteins and in certain salts; and the
greatest nutritional need of India is the freer use of good milk. . . .
Do not, I beg of you, decry it: for a pint of milk a day will do more
for ‘Young India 5 than most things I wot of. It is, for example, to defi¬
ciency of vitamin A that we owe so much disease of the bowels and lungs,

1 In reply to his telegram dated August 14 from Lahore, which read:

“Retiring from Bank 31st August. Intend seeing you before 21st. May I come

Sabarmati ? 55

2 Vide pp. 196-9.

286 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

so much, disease of the bladder (such as ‘stone 5 ) and so much anaemia

in this country.

I am,

Coonoor, Tours sincerely,

26th July, 1929 R. Me Garrison

PS. When next you make an Andhra tour., avoid “the extreme weak¬
ness 55 which overtook you in your last one, by taking a pint of milk a day!

I publish this letter 1 thankfully and wish that other men
versed in medical science would also guide me. In making the
experiment, I am trying to find out the truth about food in so
far as it is possible for a layman to do so.

As for Dr. McCarrison’s argument about the necessity of
animal food, I dare not as a layman combat it, but I may state that
there are medical men who are decidedly of opinion that animal
food including milk is not necessary for sustaining the human sys¬
tem to the full. By instinct and upbringing I personally favour a
purely vegetarian diet, and have for years been experimenting in
finding a suitable vegetarian combination. But there is no danger
of my decrying milk until I have obtained overwhelming evidence
in support of a milkless diet. It is one of the many inconsistencies of
my life that whilst I am in my own person avoiding milk, I am
conducting a model dairy which is already producing cow’s milk
that can successfully compete with any such milk produced in
India in purity and fat content.

Notwithstanding Dr. McCarrison’s claim for medical science
I submit that scientists have not yet explored the hidden possibi¬
lities of the innumerable seeds, leaves and fruits for giving the fullest
possible nutrition to mankind. For one thing the tremendous vested
interests that have grown round the belief in animal food prevent
the medical profession from approaching the question with com¬
plete detachment. It almost seems to me that it is reserved for
lay enthusiasts to cut their way through a mountain of difficulties
even at the risk of their lives to find the truth. I should be
satisfied if scientists would lend their assistance to such humble
seekers.

I am thankful for Dr. McCarrison’s more accurate statement
about vitamins.

Toung India , 15-8-1929

1 Only excerpts are reproduced here.

230. NOTES
The Oriental Brand

So the editor of a world-known magazine has to pay a fine
of Rs. 1,000 for having dai'ed to re-publish in book form articles
written for and published in his magazine from time to time by
an American humanitarian. Dr. Sunderland’s India in Bondage is
nothing more than mainly his articles collected from The Modem
Review. As I have often remarked in these pages 1 the section under
which Sjt. Ramananda Chatterjee was charged is so wide and so
elastic that almost anyone who at all wrote truthfully and fear¬
lessly could be found guilty under it. It is a travesty of justice
to bring a man of the status of Ramananda Babu under that section.
But he is labouring under the sin of possessing a brown skin. The
brand of the oriental is marked on his forehead and so he and
his publisher are punished as felons. I do not suppose this prose¬
cution will in any shape or form affect Ramananda Babu’s writings
or his choice of articles for his magazine. He has received an
unexpected advertisement. The Government has earned not im¬
munity from disaffection but a larger measure of it for its pains
in having embarked upon this prosecution. Those who are noted
for their extremism expect prosecution some time or other. Men
of Ramananda Babu’s type though noted for their independence of
spirit but always known for their sobriety were never expected to
be hauled up as criminals before courts of justice (miscalled).
The unexpected has however happened. I congratulate Rama¬
nanda Babu on his good luck in finding himself in the same dis¬
tinguished gallery as Lokamanya Tilak. Whatever the technicali¬
ties of law, for the ordinary citizen this prosecution and judgment
will be counted as a sin against the nation.

Assam Flood

Sjt. Bipin Chandra Pal wrote to me whilst I was in Bombay:

I am here since last Wednesday on a mission of mercy. You know
that Sylhet is my native district. Sylhet and Cachar have been recently
overtaken by a flood of the like of which the oldest living people of those
parts have no recollection. I understand that you have already been
moved by the reports of the suffering of the poor of these districts to send

1 Vide pp. 17-9 & 36-8.

288 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

a few thousands of rupees for their help. The extent of the calamity is
being gradually brought home to the workers there. Mr. Thakkar of the
Servants of India Society had been to the afflicted districts and, seeing
things with his own eyes, and realizing the inadequacy of the help already
received, he asked the Sylhet-Cachar Flood Relief Committee to try and
send a deputation to Bombay and other provinces and induce me to lead
it. When asked to undertake this, I could not possibly refuse to do so
though I am not as young as I was twenty years ago nor in the best of
health. This is the story of my present visit to Bombay.

I write this to ask your help in this work, I enclose a cutting from
the papers giving the latest estimate of the extent of the calamity. If
you are moved to say a word in support of our appeal, I have no doubt
that even the present trade depression, which is certainly very bad in
Bombay, will not be able to close the channels of charity for this purpose.
I have no doubt that you will do this for our poor.

I gladly endorse the appeal. The calamity is appalling and
every little help tells.

Charkha for Flood Relief

Sjt. Dhirendra Das wires 1 from Kulaura which ‘is within the
Assam flood zone:

Today I am reporting how the charkha is working. There were
three spinning centres in the flooded area in ICarimganj before the flood.
. . . After the flood three new centres have been opened . . . One
important point to note is that the number of the ration tickets in the
spinning centres is much smaller than in the other non-spinning centres
that are equally affected. There is a great demand for wheels throughout
Sylhet and Cachar districts. In every village there are some who know
spinning. Two thousand charkhas can be introduced easily. Yam can
be consumed locally. There are weavers. Our other relief operations,
namely, doling rice and paddy, house building, tank disinfection, supplying
fodder, paddy husking, mat making, continue as usual. Sheth Ramanlal
Keshavlal of Petlad came here and paid Rs. 250 for spinning and
Bhimjibhai of Chittagong Rs. 50 for general work. Sjt. Thakkar left
Silchar leaving work with Sjt. Harivallabhbhai, the representative of Sheth
Ramanlal. Harivallabhbhai often consults and helps in relief works other
than spinning. Our funds are too inadequate to meet the situation. May
we appeal to you for help?

Thi s shows what an important part the charkha can play
when everything else fails and how when it is well organized it
spares people the humiliation of living on charity.

1 Only excerpts are reproduced here.

FOREIGN-CLOTH BOYCOTT

289

Interview with Mr. Jinnah

No speculation need take place regarding my meeting 1 Mr.
Jinnah in Bombay. Ever since her return from her brilliant tour
in the West Sarojini Devi has been busy planning schemes for
bringing about Hindu-Muslim union. To that end she has been
trying to bring people together. As her landing place was
Bombay, she naturally commenced operations there and met Mr.
Jinnah, and suggested at Allahabad that I should go to Bombay
at an early date and meet Mr. Jinnah as also the Ali Brothers.
And so I went and first met Mr. Jinnah and then the Ali Brothers.
Our conversation was as between friends. The two conversations
were unconnected with each other. They were mere friendly con¬
versations and need have no importance attached to them. I have
no representative capacity and I did not go as a representative.
But naturally I want to explore all possible avenues to peace and
never lose a single opportunity of knowing the mind of those who
have any influence in India. It is best therefore for the public
not to speculate about the contents or the results of these con¬
versations. If anything comes out of them, they will certainly
know. Meanwhile let those who believe in prayer pray with me
that there may soon be peace between Hindus, Mussalmans and
all the other communities. And let those who believe with me
that such peace is indispensable for our full growth, aye, even the
progress of the world, strive their best for it. Every honest effort
however humble will bring peace nearer.

Young India, 15-8-1929

23L FOREIGN-CLOTH BOYCOTT

The propaganda for the boycott of foreign cloth is being
steadily continued by the F.C.B. Committee as will be seen from
the following extract 2 from its latest bulletin.

More Municipalities have taken action. Nipani in Belgaum district
has, in addition to increasing local tax on foreign-cloth import, exempted
hand-spun and hand-woven khadi from the same and resolved to pur¬
chase as far as possible homespun khadi for peons’ uniforms, etc. Bezwada
Municipality (Andhra) has resolved to make all their cloth purchases in
hand-spun khadi only and also to push spinning in all schools. But the
credit for by far the boldest action hitherto taken by a local body goes

1 On August 12, 1929

2 Only excerpts are reproduced here.

41-19

290

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

to Murwara Municipality (G.P.) which has resolved to raise terminal tax
on all foreign cloth from annas 2 to Rs. 2 per maund. It has of course
exempted hand-spun khadi from the same tax. . . .

Sind; 18 centres of khadi sale are working—7 in Karachi and one
each at Hyderabad, Nawabshah, Bhiria, Halani, Talti, Rohri, Sukkur
Shikarpur, Naushahra, Feroze, Larkhana and Jacobabad.

Agra (U.P.): . . . 250 houses were visited, 300 rupees worth of khadi
hawked and pledges to boycott foreign cloth were taken from 100 persons.
• • •

Mymensingh (Bengal) : Twelve lecturers with six magic lanterns and
slides are touring the district and about 300 lectures have been delivered.

• ■ •

Rut the Committee has its limitations. Unless there is willing,
intelligent and sustained co-operation from all Congress Commit¬
tees, the work cannot bring about the boycott we want during the
year. Much more concentration is necessary.

Young India , 15-8-1929

232. SOME RELIGIOUS QUESTIONS

A gentleman has sent the following questions:

1. What is the true nature and aim of dharma?

The evils perpetrated in the name of religion today are really
amazing. We bring in religion in extremely minor matters. But are
there any men today who understand the aim and nature of religion?
This is all due to lack of religious education. I hope you will take
the trouble of expressing your views on this and the following other
questions in Hindi Navajivan .

2. What are the ways of attaining peace for one’s soul and achieving
one’s object in this world and the next?

3. Do you think a man can escape the punishment for his past mis¬
deeds if he atones for them?

4. What should be the prime aim and duty of man in his life?

It is a matter of joy and wonder that among the readers of
Young India , Gujarati Navajivan and Hindi Navajivan it is mostly
the Hindi readers who ask questions regarding religion. It does
not necessarily mean that people from other provinces lack curio¬
sity in matters of religion. It is, however, true that it is the
readers of Hindi Navajivan , more than others, who love religious
discussions and expect my help in solving their religious problems.
I cannot claim a deep direct knowledge of the scriptures. But

Some religious questions

291

of course I do claim to be trying to abide by religious principles.
In my attempt to do so if the experience gained by me can be of
any help to the readers they are most welcome to it. Having
thus mentioned my limitation in this regard I will now attempt
to answer the questions.

L It is true that we lack religious education in the country.
Religious instruction can only be imparted through the practice
of religion, not by exhibiting mere learning. That’s why someone
has said: What is there that satsang 1 cannot do for a man ? Who does
not know the emphasis Tulsidas laid on the importance of satsang ?
This does not mean that there is no need to read and understand
religious books. But the need for books, etc., arises only after a
man has had satsang and has purified himself to a certain extent.
If one starts studying religious books before this stage then instead
of bringing peace this study could hinder the growth. This
means that an intelligent man should put his religion into prac¬
tice straightaway instead of worrying himself with all manner of
questions. Then according to the maxim “as with the individual
so with the world 35 , one is bound to influence the other. If each
one of us was to take care of one’s self, nobody would need to
worry about the others.

2. Only by living a saintly life can one obtain peace. This
is the way to fulfilment in this world and the next. A saintly
life is that in which we practise truth, ahimsa and restraint.
Enjoyment of pleasures can never be one’s dharma. Dharma has
its source in renunciation only.

3. It is possible to atone for one’s past misdeeds and it is our
duty to do so. Atonement is not supplication, nor crying or
whimpering, though there is some scope for fasting, etc., in it.
Repentance is the true atonement. In other words the resolve
not to commit the mistake again is without doubt the true pe¬
nance. The results of the misdeeds are wiped out to some ex¬
tent. Until we atone for a sin it goes on accumulating like
compound interest. This stops once we do the penance.

4. The aim of man in his life is self-realization. The one
and the only means of attaining this is to spend one’s life in
serving humanity in a true altruistic spirit and lose oneself in
this and realize the oneness of life.

[From Hindi]

Hindi Navajivan^ 15-8-1929

1 Association with* good or good persons

233. TREE WORSHIP 1

A correspondent writes:

It is a common enough sight in this country to see men and women
offering worship to stocks and stones and trees, but I was surprised to
find that even educated women belonging to the families of enthusiastic -
social workers were not above this practice. Some of those sisters and
friends defend the practice by saying, that since it is founded on pure
reverence for the divine in nature and no false beliefs, it cannot be classed
as superstition, and they cite the names of Satyavan and Savitri whose
memory, they say, they commemorate in that way. The argument does
not convince me. May I request you to throw some light on the matter?

I like this question. It raises the old, old question of image
worship. I am both a supporter and opponent of image worship.
When image worship degenerates into idolatry and becomes en¬
crusted with false beliefs and doctrines, it becomes a necessity to
combat it as a gross social evil. On the other hand image worship
in the sense of investing one’s ideal with a concrete shape is in¬
herent in man’s nature, and even valuable as an aid to devotion.
Thus we worship an image when we offer homage to a book
which we regard as holy or sacred. We worship an image when
we visit a temple or a mosque with a feeling of sanctity or re¬
verence. Nor do I see any harm in all this. On the contrary,
endowed as man is with a finite, limited understanding, he can
hardly do otherwise. Even so, far from seeing anything inherently
evil or harmful in tree worship, I find in it a thing instinct with a
deep pathos and poetic beauty. It symbolizes true reverence for
the entire vegetable kingdom, which with its endless panorama of
beautiful shapes and forms, declares to us as it were with a mil¬
lion tongues the greatness and glory of God. Without vegetation
our planet would not be able to support life even for a moment.
In such a country especially, therefore, in which there is a scar¬
city of trees, tree worship assumes a profound economic significance.

I therefore see no necessity for leading a crusade against tree
worship. It is true that the poor simple-minded women who
offer worship to trees have no reasoned understanding of the
implications of their act. Possibly they would not be able to give

1 The Hindi original of this appeared in Hindi Navajivan, 15-8-1929. This
is a translation by Pyarelal.

LETTER TO CHANDRAKANT

293

any explanation as to why they perform it. They act in the purity
and utter simplicity of their faith. Such faith is not a thing to be
despised; it is a great and powerful force that we should treasure.

Far different, however, is the case of vows and prayers which
votaries offer before trees. The offering of vows and prayers for
selfish ends, whether offered in churches, mosques, temples or before
trees and shrines, is a thing not to be encouraged. Making of sel¬
fish requests or offering of vows is not related to image worship
as effect and cause. A personal selfish prayer is bad whether
made before an image or an unseen God.

Let no one, however, from this understand me to mean that
I advocate tree worship in general. I do not defend tree worship
because I consider it to be a necessary aid to devotion, but only
because I recognize that God manifests Himself in innumerable
forms in this universe, and every such manifestation commands
my spontaneous reverence.

Young India, 26-9-1929

234 . LETTER TO CHANDRAKANT

Ashram, Sabarmati,

August 15, 1929

BHAI CHANDRAKANT 1 2 ,

Participants in Rentiya Baras 1 should take stock of their spin¬
ning for the last twelve months and, if it is found to be less than
that for the year before, they should observe the day by resolving
to stop observing it. This, truly, will be service unto Him. It will
protect your pledge from being violated and will uphold the honour
of this day. This is my message.

Blessings from

[From Gujarati]

Bapuna Palro — 3: Kusumbehn Desaine , p. 82

1 Ex-president of the municipality and a worker of Kapadwanj Seva
Sangh

2 Literally ‘Spinning 12th’, Gandhiji’s birthday according to Vikram eraj
the 12th tithi was celebrated by non-stop spinning.

235 . TELEGRAM TO G . D.

Ahmedabad,

August 17, 1929

Ghanshyamdas Birla
8 Royal Exchange, Calcutta

YOUR WIRE. SLIGHT ATTACK DYSENTERY. CERTAINLY VERY
WEAK BUT BEST DOCTOR ADVISING NO CAUSE ANXIETY. SHALL
TAKE GOAT’S MILK WHEN BECOMES IMPERATIVE. UNCOOKED
STOPPED SINCE THURSDAY.

Gandhi

From the original: C.W. 7832. Courtesy: G. D. Birla

236. TELEGRAM TO SATIS CHANDRA DAS GUPTA 1 2 3

[On or after August 17, 1929]

THANKS. REPORTS EXAGGERATED. MAKING PROGRESS.

Gandhi

From a photostat: S.N. 15474

237. TELEGRAM TO KHURSHED NAOROJP

[On or after August 17, 1929]

EXPERIMENT FORGOTTEN. NOT YET RESTORED NORMAL
CONDITION. NO ANXIETY.

Gandhi

From a photostat: S.N. 15473

1 In reply to his telegram dated August 17, which read: “Much con¬
cerned about Gandhiji’s health. Wire full details. Please persuade him to keep
entirely on milk diet for a few days enabling him to regain his lost weight”
(S.N. 15472).

2 In reply to his telegram dated August 17, which read: “Kindly wire
Mahatmaji’s health. 53

3 In reply to her telegram dated August 17, which read: “All
for your health. Please forget all experiments. 38

anxious

238 . RURAL EDUCATION

Kakasaheb wishes to serve a number of purposes through this
supplement. One of these is that persons who have passed what
is ordinarily regarded as the school age, who are householders,
are engaged in a profession or otherwise and are employed — the
men and women living in about ten thousand villages of Maha
Gujarat — should receive some kind of education which it is
possible to give them. The term education in this sense should
be interpreted in a wider sense. It is something distinct from a
knowledge of the alphabet. Villagers today have no practical
knowledge in many fields and we find, instead, that often ignorant
superstition has established a hold over them. Through this sup¬
plement, Kakasaheb intends to rid them of these superstitions and
give them some useful knowledge.'

From the standpoint of health, the condition of villages is
deplorable. One of the chief causes of our poverty is the non¬
availability of this essential knowledge of hygiene. If sanitation in
villages can be improved, lakhs of rupees will easily be saved
and the condition of people improved to that extent. A sick
peasant can never work as hard as a healthy one. Not a little
harm is being done because we have a higher death-rate than the
average.

It is held that our economically backward condition is res¬
ponsible for our deplorable insanitation and that if the former is
bettered, the latter will improve automatically. Let this be said
in order to malign the Government or to put all the blame on it,
but there is not even fifty per cent truth in that statement. In my
opinion based on experience, our poverty plays a very small
part in our insanitary condition. I know what part it plays and
where, but I do not wish to go into it here.

The purpose of this series of articles is to point out the ways
and means of eradicating those diseases for the incidence of which
we are responsible and which can be readily eradicated at little or
no expense.

Let us examine the state of our villages from this standpoint.
Many of these are found to be like heaps of garbage. People urinate
and defecate at all places in the villages, not excluding even
their own courtyards. Where this is done, no one takes care
to cover up the faeces. The village roads are never well maintained
and one finds heaps of dust everywhere. We ourselves and our

296

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

bullocks find it difficult even to walk on them. If there is a
pond, people wash their utensils in it, cattle drink, bathe and
wallow in it; children and even adults clean themselves in it after
evacuation; they even defecate on the ground near it. This same
water is used for drinking and cooking purposes.

No rules are observed while building houses. Neither the
convenience of neighbours, nor residents 5 facilities for light and air
are considered when buildings are put up.

Because of a lack of co-operation among villagers, they do
not even grow things which are essential to ensure their own
hygienic conditions. Villagers do not put their leisure hours to
good use, or perhaps they do not know how to do so, as a result
of which their physical and mental capacity is depleted.

For want of general knowledge of hygiene, when there is an
incidence of a disease, instead of employing some home remedies
very often the villagers seek the help of magicians or get involved
in the web of mantras and spend money and in return the disease
is merely aggravated.

In this series, we shall examine all these reasons and see what
can be done in the matter.

[From Gujarati]

Shikshan am Sahitya, 18-8-1929

239. FLOOD RELIEF IJV ASSAM

Shri Thakkar Bapa has written the following letter 1 on the
above subject.

The reader will find from this that there is considerable need
for assistance there and the sums contributed by him are being
put to good use. I have requested Shri Harivallabhdas Shah
to prolong his stay there and he would most probably have done
so. It was necessary to obtain permission from Shri Naranbhai
KeshavlaFs firm to allow him to stay there longer. That permis¬
sion was generously and promptly granted through a telegram.

[From Gujarati]

Navajivan y 18-8-1929

1 Not translated here. Thakkar Bapa had acknowledged receipt of
Rs. 24,000 and explained how it was used for distribution of rice, and[
encouraging spinning in flood-stricken Assam.

240. NEED FOR FAR-SIGHTEDNESS

A reader makes the following comment on Shrl Jivram
KalyanjTs £ Correction 55 published in Mavajivan dated 4-8- 5 29: 1

The above does not apply to Sliri Jivram 5 s argument. He
merely argued that he had gone over to Orissa not in order to wipe
out the prevalent impression that he had done an injustice to the
labourers, but rather because he was touched by their sufferings.
Those from whom he had purchased the karde were not labourers
serving under him but persons who collected it on their own and
sold it to him. The problem posed by the above correspondent
is a separate but important one; hence I have published the letter.
It is largely true that, although by collecting raw material and
exporting it abroad, individuals may benefit themselves, the country
as a whole is a loser rather than a gainer and is robbed
of its wealth. However, such things also grow in India as can¬
not be utilized and for the utilization of which we do not have
sufficient facilities. We should certainly export such items abroad
and import them in the form of new products. I do not see any
use for the craze that we should process all items that are grown
in India. We may even do harm to ourselves by doing so.
Whether harde is something that should be exported or not is a
different question. I am unable to give an opinion on it. How¬
ever, cotton is the most important item which should not be ex¬
ported at all; so long as we are guilty of this offence, the export
of other minor items is hardly of any significance. To take such
small items into account is to do business without any sense of
proportion. If we were far-sighted, we would devote all our time
and all our talent for the present to the utilization of our cotton
in our villages. If we can take care of this one factor, the rest
will take care of itself. We should realize that, just as various
small poisonous plants which thrive under the shade of a poisonous
tree are automatically destroyed along with the destruction of the
main tree, similar is the case of unscrupulous trading in cotton.

While considering this question, I have so far only taken in¬
to account cloth that is imported from England and have shown

1 The letter is not translated here. The correspondent had stated how
harde or myrobalan, used in dyeing, tanning, etc., was exported by Indian
traders, while Europeans processed the stuff and imported it into India for
use in the dye industry, making enormous profits.

298

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

that by doing so we throw away sixty crores of rupees. If we
take into account the cloth that is imported from Japan and
other countries, the figure would reach one hundred crores.
However, that is not the whole story. In addition to this, lakhs
of rupees are sent abroad as a result of this trade. This leaves
out all the amount that the country spends on this Rs. 100 crores
by way of insurance premia paid to foreign agencies and many
more similar activities that are carried on.

Business men as a class are the greatest hurdle in the way of
solving this important question. They are not prepared to give up
their trade in foreign cloth or change it for something else. They
adopt many means, both fair and unfair, in order to keep up that
trade and arguments can be found to support such practices.
Again, just as we import our cloth from abroad, we also adopt
foreign ideas. What we find here mostly are English newspapers
and magazines full of beautiful pictures, well printed and written
with great skill. As the owners of these journals have large sums of
money at their disposal, it is but natural that their articles are
clever. Hence, momentarily our own ideas appear insipid to us,
whereas we are dazzled by theirs. And what more could we ask for
when these ideas further our self-interest? Things being in such a
pitiable condition, actually the main task is to bring about a change
of heart in business men who deal in foreign cloth; in other words,
our task in achieving swaraj will become most simple when business
men introduce the concept of the welfare of others in their
business and give national welfare an important place in it.

[From Gujarati]

Naoajivan ., 18-8-1929

24L IF SPINNERS ALSO WEAVE?'

If the above figures are correct, the reader will see that the
activity of spinning alone can remain the focus and all those who
spin are certainly self-reliant for ever.

[From Gujarati]

Navajivan, 18-8-1929

1 Shivabhai Gokalbhai Patel in this article, not reproduced here, repudiates
Shu Jethalal s plea that a person can earn more if he performs all the
functions pertaining to making of cloth, i.e., carding, spinning and weaving
by himself (p. 184). He further states that it is not possible to set up looms
in every household. Besides that, weaving requires the help of other persons.

242. LETTER TO RAMNIKLAL MODI

Ashram, Sabarmati,

August 18 , 1929

CHI. RAMNIKLAL,

Chhaganlal passes on your letters for me to read. And now
I have one directly addressed to me. I think of you almost
daily, I often wish to write too, but I have no time. Besides,
now I am confined to my bed. There is no cause for worry.
I am better today. It is 2 o’clock now but I have had no
motion since 6 o’clock. I remember the lady. The letter from
her is nice. I hope you sent her a proper reply. Go on patient¬
ly doing what you can. It is essential, though, that you attain
perfection in a few matters. I had a long and interesting letter
from Tara. She enjoys great peace of mind at Vedchhi. You
should improve your health too. How are things nowadays ?

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 4146

243, LETTER TO MADHAVJI V. THAKKAR

Ashram, Sabarmati,

August 18, 1929

BHAISHRI MADHAVJI,

I was wondering why there had been no letter from you.
I have one today. There was no need for you to have offered
anything, so please forget about it. Please do not be sorry.
You must not invite domestic discord on that account. The weak¬
ness that you now feel will pass away if you are patient. Now
that you have got a good deal of experience you will know what
diet you should take. Moreover, I am now confined to bed. I
had an attack of dysentery. I feel better today. On such an
occasion there would be none to guide me regarding uncooked
diet; my experiment is therefore suspended for the while. Eleven
people are still holding their ground. Do write to me regularly
about your health.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 6790

244. LETTER TO MANUAL AND SUSHILA GANDHI

[On or after August 18, 1929 J 1

CHI. MANILAL AND SUSHILA,

I got the short letters written by you both. I am content
with such short letters.

If you have read any news about my health, you need not
get alarmed on that account. It is improving now. I have only
to regain some strength. I have given up the experiment of eat¬
ing uncooked grain. I have resumed milk too and I think,
therefore, that I shall not take time to regain my usual strength.
I start on a tour from September 7.

Devdas is still in Delhi. Ramdas is in Bardoli and Nimu in
Lakhtar. Harilal is in Rajkot just now. The Udyoga Mandir
is crowded just now. Many girls have recently joined and, there¬
fore, we face a big problem about the women’s education and re¬
lated matters. Let us wait and see what happens. Just now
Gangabehn senior looks after everything.

Prabhudas is here at present and is working with Kakasaheb
in the Vidyapith. Did I write to you about this?

I am eager to know what you two have finally decided.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G,N. 4747

245. LETTER TO PRABHAVATI

[Before August 19, 1929] 2 *

CHI. PRABHAVATI,

I have your letter. I replied you by wire to comfort you,
in case my letter miscarried. God will certainly give you the
courage you need to go to your in-laws’, now that you have
decided to. My tour of U.P. starts from here on 11th September.

1 From the reference to giving up “the experiment of eating uncooked,
grain** and to resuming milk; vide pp. 294 & 306.

2 From the reference to the addressee’s willingness to go over to her in¬

laws 9 , this appears to have been written before the letter dated August 19.

LETTER TO PRABHAVATI

301

On that day I reach Agra and if you can join me there do come
over. I have liked the quotations from the letter from Jayaprakash.
He appears to be a clean young man. He is right in asking for
himself freedom in regard to khadi. It would be enough if he
could be won over by love and reason in this matter.

Many people have turned up, so this is incomplete.

I will write the rest at leisure later. Let me have C.
Arrah’s address.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 3309

246. TELEGRAM TO G. D. BIRLA

Sabarmatl

August 19, 1929

Ghanshyamdas Birla
8 Royal Exchange, Calcutta

COMMENCED CURDS YESTERDAY. NO ANXIETY.

Gandhi

From the original: G.W. 7883. Courtesy: G. D. Birla

247. LETTER TO PRABHAVATI

Silence Day , August 19, 1929

CHI. PRABHAVATI,

I am writing this from my bed. I got dysentery. So I have
given up my experiment of uncooked [grain]. I am better today.
I shall recover my strength in a few days. There is absolutely no
cause for worry. I shall send you my tour programme. I do not
have it with me now. I have got your letter. I am now waiting
to see what kind of a letter you will get from your in-laws.
By God’s grace everything will be all right. I hope there was
no difficulty; and if you are confronted with one you should get
over it.

Yesterday I had to take some curds made out of goat’s milk.
The doctor thought that without it my dysentery would not be
cured. I saw no point in being stubborn. I have destroyed the
letter about Jayaprakash. I do not have enough time to try and

302 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHl

recollect the questions just now. If I happen to remember them
I shall write the answers [for you].

You should learn as much as you can by yourself.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 3357

248. TELEGRAM TO RAJENDRA PRASAD

Monday [August 19, 1929] 1 2

Rajendra Prasad

Khadi Depot, Muzaffarpur

PAY SATIS CHANDRA MUKERJEE TWO HUNDRED FIFTY
RUPEES MY BEHALF.

Gandhi

From a photostat: S.N. 15498

249 . TELEGRAM TO C. RAJAGOPALACHARP

[On or after August 19, 1929]

Raja

AM ADVISING VALLABHBHAI PREPARE GO. UNFIRED CAN
NEVER BE DOOMED. GETTING ON.

Bapu

From a photostat: S.N. 15479

1 This telegram is scribbled in Gandhiji’s hand on a sheet of paper
entitled “Monday Talks and Instructions”, whose date, according to the S.N.
Register, is August 19, 1929, which seems to be correct as August 19 was a
Monday, and on the same sheet is written in Gandhiji’s hand: “I want Hari-
vallabhdas’s report on Assam” which obviously refers to the Assam floods. Vide
p. 296.

A copy of this telegram was sent to Satis Chandra Mukerjee also as just
below the above draft telegram Gandhiji has written: “Satis Chandra Mukerjee,
C/o” and added: “Now please send these. . .

2 In reply to his telegram dated August 18, received at Sabarmati on
August 19, which read: “Convinced no harm will result by reason difference
over issue which nobody takes as real. Vallabhbhai’s presiding is like your pre¬
sence important for moral effect. Pray avoid disappointing. Now you have
doomed uncooked food for ever hope inflammation subsiding.”

250. TELEGRAM TO VALLABHBHAI PATEL 1

[On or after August 19, 1929]

raja wires and insists you should preside.

PREPARE GO. GOME HERE BEFORE LEAVING.

Bapu

From a photostat; S.N. 15479

251. TELEGRAM TO INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS,

LAHORE 1

[On or after August 19, 1929]

Congress

Lahore

YOUR WIRE. WHILST THANKING

ACCEPT HONOUR. CONSIDER SELF

FROM WANT OF ENERGY IT
AM OUT OF TUNE WITH
CONGRESSMEN. MY OCCUPANCY

EMBARRASS EVERYBODY INCLUDING

PANDIT JAWAHARLAL NEHRU.

YOU UNABLE

UNFIT. APART
WELL UNDERSTOOD

MANY

CHAIR

MYSELF.

THINGS

CAN

PRAY

DONE

ONLY

ELECT

Gandhi

From a photostat: S.N. 15480

252. TELEGRAM TO KRISHNAGOPAL BUTT 3

[On or after August 19, 1929]

THANKS. CONDITION BETTER. PARTIAL FAST. FRUIT

JUICE FOLLOWED NOW BY DILUTED CURDS.

From a photostat: S.N. 15482

1 This is drafted on the back of the telegram from C. Rajagopalachari;
vide the preceding item.

2 In reply to the following telegram dated August 19: “Congress reception
committee forty-fourth session elected you president 83 overwhelming majority.
Kindly accept.’*

3 in reply to his telegram dated August 19, which read: “Wire health
Gandhiji what treatment following.”

253. TELEGRAM TO JAMNALAL BAJAJ 1

UNNECESSARY

TROUBLE

On or after August 19, 1929]

JIVRAJ JUST NOW.

Bapu

From a photostat: S.N. 15483

254. TELEGRAM TO M. M. MALA VITA 2

August 20, 1929

Malaviyaji

THANKS. PROGRESSING. TAKING CURDS SINCE SUNDAY.

Gandhi

From a photostat: S.N. 15485

255. LETTER TO SIR K. V. REDDT 3

Sabarmati,

August 20, 1929

DEAR FRIEND,

I thank you for your very full letter. I have been delayed
in replying to it, owing to my peregrinations and then illness from
which, by the grace of God, I am recovering.

I do hope that the trade licences matter has been or will be
satisfactorily settled. I continue to receive anxious enquiries from
South Africa. I am obliged to tell them all that they should
worry you and not expect much from here. However, when you
think that intensive work here will assist you, you will please
tell me.

The news you give me about matters educational is most en¬
couraging. The success of Sastri College must in the end go a long
way towards raising our status in South Africa.

1 In reply to his telegram dated August 18, received on August 19, which
read: “Leaving Monday night with doctor Jivraj, unless receive wire contrary. 59

2 In reply to his telegram dated August 19, received on August 20, which
read: “Very sorry. Hope improving. When doctor advises please resume
taking goat milk. Avoid almonds for sometime."

3 Agent-General of the Government of India in South Africa

****

TELEGRAM TO MOTILAL NEHRU

305

I know how true you are when you tell me about oulypeo-
ple’s apathy in matters in which they are expected to exert
selves. I know even in our time the difficulties of the poor vege¬
table hawkers. It was their amazing industry that I thought

enabled them to walk long distances early in the morning and
dispose of, in the best manner they could, their produce before
9 a.m. May success attend your effort on their behalf.

Thank you for interesting yourself in Manilal and his wife.
I hope they are helpful.

Tours sincerely.

From a copy: G.W. 9241. Courtesy: S. V. Subba Rao

356. TELEGRAM TO MOTILAL NEHRU

[On or after August 20, 1929] 1

BOTH WIRES RECEIVED. THANK GOD FOR KAMALA.
REPLYING CONGRESS MESSAGE LAHORE 2 SAID COULD

NOT PRESIDE AS AM OUT OF TUNE MUCH

GOING ON UNDER CONGRESS NAME. HAVE AGAIN

RECOMMENDED JAWAHAR’s NAME. 3 SEE NO USE

MY PRESIDING. 4

Gandhi

From a photostat: S.N. 15494

1 One of the addressee’s telegrams to which this appears to be a reply
was dated August 20. It read: “Strongly recommended your accepting
presidentship. Kamala progressing. Am returning Allahabad tonight.”

2 Vide p. 303.

3 A telegram from Jawaharlal Nehru dated August 21 read: “Beg of
you not to press my name for presidentship” (S.N. 15496).

4 Motilal Nehru’s telegram dated August 21 in reply to this read: “Your
telegram. Consider your reason for refusal strong reason for acceptance and
reorganizing Congress on correct lines. Besides forcing Jawahar on country
against its will unfair both to Jawahar and country” (S.N. 15497).

41-20

257. UNFIRED FOOD 1

Instead of hopeful progress I have to report a tragedy this
week. In spite of great carefulness in experimentation along an
unbeaten track, I have been laid low. A mild but persistent
attack of dysentery has sent me to bed and not only to cooked
food but also to goat’s milk. Dr. Harilal Desai used all his skill
and patience to save me from having to go back to milk, which
I had left last November in the hope of not having to go back
to it, but he saw that he could not reduce the mucus and the
traces of blood that persistently appeared in the bowels without
making me take curds. At the time of writing this therefore I have
had two portions of curds, with what effect I shall note at the
foot of this article which is being written on Sunday 2 night.

It appears that I was not digesting the raw foods I was tak¬
ing, and what I had mistaken for good motions were precursors
of dysentery. The other conditions including vitality being good,
I had no cause to suspect any evil.

My companions too have one after another fallen off, except
four, of whom one has been on raw food for nearly a year with
great success as he thinks.

The companions have left off because they were feeling weak
and were losing weight week by week.

Thus Sjt. Gopalrao’s claim that unfired food is suitable for
any stomach and can be taken with impunity by young and old,
sick and healthy, is to say the least of it ‘unproven’. This ap¬
parent failure should serve as a warning to the zealots that they
should move most cautiously and be scrupulously exact in their
statements and careful in their deductions.

I call the failure apparent, because I have the same faith in
unfired food today that I first had nearly forty years ago. The
failure is due to my gross ignorance of the practice of unfired
food and of right combinations. Some of its good results are
really striking. No one has suffered seriously. My dysentery has
been painless. Every doctor who has examined me has found
me otherwise in better health than before. For my companions
I have been a blind guide leading the blind. I have sadly missed

1 An. article similar to this appeared in Navajivan, 25-8-1929, under the
title “Food Untouched by Fire”.

2 August 18, 1929

tJNITRED FOOD 307

the guidance of someone who has known the virtue of unfired
food and who would have the patience of a scientist.

But if I regain my health and have a little leisure, I hope
to revert to the experiment with better hope in that I shall know
what mistakes to avoid. As a searcher for Truth I deem it
necessary to find the perfect food for a man to keep body, mind
and soul in a sound condition. I believe that the search can
only succeed with unfired food, and that in the limitless vegetable
kingdom there is an effective substitute for milk, which, every
medical man admits, has its drawbacks and which is designed by
nature not for man but for babies and young ones of lower ani¬
mals. I should count no cost too dear for making a search which
in my opinion is so necessary from more points of view than one;
therefore I still seek information and guidance from kindred spirits.
To those who are not in sympathy with this phase of my life and
who out of their love for me are anxious about me, I give my
assurance that I shall not embark upon any experiment that
would endanger my other activities. I am of opinion that though
I have been making such experiments since the age of 18, I have
not often suffered from serious illness and have been able to pre¬
serve tolerably good health. But I would also like them to feel
with me that so long as God wants me for any work on this earth,
He will preserve me from harm and prevent me from going too far.

Those who are making the experiment must not give it up
because of the temporary check I have received. Let them learn
from the causes of my failure.

1. If there is the slightest danger of insufficient mastication,
let the ingredients be finely pulverized and dissolved in the mouth
instead of being swallowed.

2. If there is an undissolved residue in the mouth, it must be
^ put out.

3. Grains and pulses should be used sparingly.

4. Green vegetables should be well washed and scraped be¬
fore being used and should also be used sparingly.

5. Fresh and dried fruits (soaked) and nuts should be the
staples at least in the beginning stages.

6. Milk should not be given up till the unfired foods have
been taken without any harm for a sufficiently long period. All
the literature I have read points to fruits and nuts with only a
small quantity of green vegetables as a perfect food.

(I am able to report on Tuesday morning that diluted curds
are working well.)

Toung India, 22-8-1929

258. TOWARDS A PROPER WHEEL

I gladly publish the foregoing well-thought-out specification 1 .
I wish that many young men will evince in the spinning-wheel
the interest that Sjt. Hiralal Amritlal Shah has. His preoccupations
and his business have not prevented him from studying the move¬
ment with close attention. He has sent me a drawing to accom¬
pany the specification. I am unable to publish it, at any rate
this week, as the article came into my hands just at the time of
sending the last Young India matter to the printers.

Young India , 22-8-1929

259 . REPORTERS A NUISANCE

The recently published Press report that my weight was re¬
duced to 80 lb. and that I had fainted was utterly baseless but
it succeeded in giving a fright to probably hundreds of well-wishers.
I have wires from all over India, including Burma, making anxious
inquiries. On more than one occasion Press agencies have in my
case rendered themselves liable to legal action by giving currency
to false and harmful news. Often has my anger against them got
the better, for a moment, of my non-co-operation. It is cruel to give
a shock to the credulous public by spreading false reports. Good
faith and ignorance are no excuse when thousands of men and
women are concerned. Reporters are bound to take every precau¬
tion possible to ensure accuracy. In the case in point it was easy
enough to ask a responsible person at the Udyoga Man dir or Dr.
Harilal Desai as to my exact condition and much grief and an¬
xiety could have been avoided. I suggest to the agencies that they
warn their reporters that they would be fined or dismissed for
repeated offences of the character I have described.

Young India, 22-8-1929

1 Not reproduced here

260. OUR CHOICE

An American correspondent has sent me a cutting from an
old number of The World Tomorrow (August 1928). It is a re¬
markable article on “Pacifism and National Security” by John
Nevin Sayre which is worthy of perusal by every patriot. The fol¬
lowing opening paragraphs 1 show which way the writer would
lead us:

Pacifism, first of all, asks people to consider whether national ar¬
mament can really conduce to security in a civilization which uses the tools
of twentieth century science. No matter what may be said for defence
by armament in the past, we believe that it is an utterly obsolete and
extremely dangerous way of attempting to attain security now. In the
world in which we live and in the decades immediately ahead, it is open
to the double objection of (1) mounting cost and (2) diminishing effec¬
tiveness for defence.

. . . every time the hands of the clock traverse twenty-four hours.,
the United States spends £2,000,000 [on] upkeep for army and navy. . . -
There is also an increasing human cost not measurable in dollars.

. . . today military strategists plan to conscript the activity of the entire
manpower of a nation. . . . Compulsory military training in time of
peace and the invasion of schools and colleges by military departments
run by the Department of War are requisitioning study time of youth, and
tending to regiment youth’s thinking. The post office, the newspapers,
the radio, the movies, artists and men of science are in danger of being
drawn in to give their support to the building of war’s preparedness
machine. All this means an increasing cost to human liberty, to
freedom of thought and discussion, to the possibility of social advance. . . .

Even worse is the fact that increase of expenditure for armament
does not in the modern world purchase increase of security. It may do
so, possibly, for a score of years, but the policy is subject to a law of
diminishing returns and leads straight towards a climax of disaster. Senator
Borah in discussing c What is Preparedness? 5 recently called attention
to the huge public debts and constantly increasing tax burdens which
governments are putting on their peoples throughout the world. . . .

The fashion nowadays is to take for granted that whatever
America and England are doing is good enough for us. But the
figures given by the writer of the cost to America of her armament

1 Only excerpts are reproduced here.

310

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

are too terrible to contemplate. War has become a matter of money
and resourcefulness in inventing weapons of destruction. It is no
longer a matter of personal bravery or endurance. To compass the
destruction of men, women and children, it might be enough for
me to press a button and drop poison on them in a second.

Do we wish to copy this method of defending ourselves ?
Even if we do, have we the financial ability ? We complain of
ever-growing military expenditure. But if we would copy America
or England, we would have to increase the burden tenfold.

fi Why not, if the thing is worth doing ? 5 asks the critic. The
question then is, c Is it worth doing ? 5 Mr. Sayre answers em¬
phatically and says, “It is not worth doing for any nation. 55 I say
nothing about our so-called naval or military programme when it
is resisted by the Government. The nation cannot be kept on the
non-violent path by violence. It must grow from within to the
state it may aspire to. The question therefore for us to consider
is, ‘What is our immediate aspiration ? 5 Do we first want to
copy the Western nations and then in the dim and distant future
after having gone through the agony, retrace our steps ? Or do we
want to strike out an original path or rather retain what to me
is our own predominantly peaceful path and therethrough win
and assert our freedom?

Here there is no question of compromise with cowardice.
Either we train and arm ourselves for destruction, be it in self-
defence, and in the process train for suffering too, or we merely
prepare ourselves for suffering for defending the country or deli¬
vering it from domination. In either case bravery is indispensable.
In the first case personal bravery is not of such importance as in the
second. In the second case too we shall perhaps never be
able to do without violence altogether. But violence then will be
subservient to non-violence and will always be a diminishing factor
in national life.

At the present moment, though the national creed is one of
non-violence, in thought and word at least we seem to be drift-
ing towards violence. Impatience pervades the atmosphere. We
are restrained from violence through our weakness. What is want¬
ed is a deliberate giving up of violence out of strength. To be
able to do this requires imagination coupled with a penetrating
study of the world drift. Today the superficial glamour of the West
dazzles us, and we mistake for progress the giddy dance which
engages us from day to day. We refuse to see that it is surely
leading us to death. Above all we must recognize that to compete
with the Western nations on then: terms is to court suicide. Where-

NOTES

311

as if we realize that notwithstanding the seeming supremacy of
violence it is the moral force that governs the universe, we should
train for non-violence with the fullest faith in its limitless possibi¬
lities. Everybody recognizes that if non-violent atmosphere had
been maintained in 1922 we could have completely gained our
end. Even as it is, we had a striking demonstration of the effi-
cacy of non-violence, crude though it was, and the substance of
swaraj then gained has never been lost. The paralysing fear that
had possessed the nation before the advent of satyagraha has gone
once for all. In my opinion therefore non-violence is a matter of
patient training. If we are to be saved and are to make a substan¬
tial contribution to the world’s progress, ours must emphatically
and predominantly be the way of peace.

Young India, 22-8-1929

26 L NOTES

A Worthy Sacrifice

Sjt. Purushottamdas Tandon has given up the lucrative post
of manager of a premier bank in order to join the Servants of the
People Society founded by Lala Lajpat Rai of revered memory.
Lalaji had made rigid rules. No life member could engage in any
lucrative work. Sjt. Purushottamdas Tandon was a dear comrade
of the deceased patriot, and this sacrifice is in obedience to the call
of duty towards a deceased leader. What is however a great step
for us is nothing in the estimation of Sjt. Purushottamdas Tan¬
don. He has been used to making sacrifices. For many years past
he has ceased to believe in making money for its own sake. He has
been progressively simplifying his life. But there were family
obligations he could not shirk unless he could carry with him in
his own evolution towards the higher life the members for whom
he was responsible. He has now evidently got over the difficulties
and the way has been clear for him to take the final plunge. By
such only are nations made. I congratulate Lalaji’s Society on the
event. Do the public deserve such sacrifice ? The amount that
was asked for in the Lalaji Memorial has not yet been fully sub¬
scribed. That the paltry sum of five lakhs has not yet been sub¬
scribed in respect of a memorial to one of the noblest of Indians
is a sad reflection. Let me hope Sjt. Purushottamdas Tandon’s
sacrifice will spur the lethargic to action and evoke a response ade¬
quate to the occasion,

312

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

Desolation in Sind

Sind has had a second disaster. I have purposely refrained
from saying a word hitherto. The floods have this time wrought
greater mischief than before. Only familiarity has made us indiffe¬
rent. The distress however is not less felt by the afflicted on that
account. Professor Malkani has sent me some harrowing details
of the havoc wrought by the floods. The latest news is that cholera
has followed in the wake of the floods. I suggest to the donors
who have been sending donations for the Assam flood relief that
they combine their donations for both the areas and leave me to
apportion the amounts in the best manner I know. And unless
henceforth the amounts received are specially earmarked for one
or the other list, I shall treat the donation as jointly for both.
Whatever is received for Sind will be disbursed through Professor
Malkani. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel has already sent Rs. 10,000
out of the late Gujarat Famine Fund.

Toung India, 22-8-1929

262. ‘THE OLD STORT*

The Editor, “Young India”
sir,

In your issue of the 25th instant you deal with the oppression by
revenue officials, and whilst putting the blame on the Government on
account of the system in force, you recognize that acts of oppression are
committed on cultivators “by their own kith and kin”. Further on in
your leader you say that unless the present system of administration is
completely changed, “the oppression of the people will continue unabated
even when the reins of Government have passed into Indian hands”.
Two things therefore appear to be necessary: first, alteration in the Land
Revenue Rules providing for closer consideration of the condition and
interests of cultivators which can and ought to be secured by agitation
and representation in the Councils, and second, a c change of heart 5 — an
expression much favoured when making demands on the conscience of
Government — in those who, being the kith and kin of the cultivator,
now exercise their petty power in the direction of oppression, often to
secure their own ends. It is much to be feared that the second measure
will be the more difficult to secure. . . .

Would you essay an improvement, Sir ? Start ryotwari tenants’ asso¬
ciations and limit their activities to educating the ryots as to their rights.
Then fight their cai*se in GouncilSj and finally, discourage them in the

A PAINFUL STORY

313

consumption of liquor, not as a weapon against what it pleases some to
call the ‘satanic Government 5 but as a measure of moral uplift of the poor
but lovable, over-labouring cultivator.

30th July 1929 J’ai Accuse

This letter 1 is from a well-known Anglo-Indian settler. His
accusation is as old as the British rule. The accuser forgets that it
is the system that is bad. What does it matter whether it is worked
by the puggree or the sola hat? And it should be remembered that
from the Patel to the Deputy Commissioner, they are all nurtured
in the same traditions and have often been known to do better
than their teachers. Those who carry out the tyrant’s will often
outdo the latter in the execution of his designs. So long as the
system continues to be top heavy and the tallest Indian adminis¬
trators have to remain subservient to the imperious will of a
white chief whether in Simla or Whitehall, the evils c J 5 ai Accuse’
draws attention to will continue,

Toung India.) 22-8-1929

263. A PAINFUL STORY

A gentleman writes from Ramgarh (Jaipur) ; 2

One comes across such tragic incidents all over India. They
would seem to be more common among the well-to-do. For even
very old men of this class want to marry and when they die it is
considered honourable to keep the girl in perpetual widowhood.
The question of religion does not arise here at all. This is the
reason why such cases are to be found more in the Marwari and
Bhatia communities, etc., than among others. There is only one
remedy for this evil. One should start in every community a peace¬
ful agitation to rouse public feeling against such evils. When this
happens old men will not dare to marry again and young girls
will not be condemned to widowhood. Besides, once public opi¬
nion has been created no one will support the custom of keeping
child-widows in perpe tual widowhood and blaming it on fate or
the sins of a previous birth. When a young man happens to lose
his wife no one stops him from remarrying by bringing in the argu¬
ment of the sins of a previous birth. My advice to the reformers is
not to lose heart. They should remain firm in their duty and go

1 Only excerpts are reproduced here.

2 The letter is not translated here. The correspondent had written about
a girl of twelve who had been widowed within two months of marriage.

314

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

ahead with faith and self-confidence. Of course they must remem¬
ber that this work cannot be accomplished by merely delivering
speeches. They may even have to resort to satyagraha. I have
given my views concerning the scope of satyagraha in previous
issues. The darkness that is child-widowhood cannot but vanish
before the sun of satyagraha, for in the dictionary of satyagraha
there is no such word as ‘failure 5 .

[From Hindi]

Hindi Navajivan, 22-8-1929

264. LETTER TO JAWAHARLAL NEHRU

August 22, 1929

MY DEAR JAWAHARLAL,

I am delighted over Kamala’s operation. I hope she will be
fully restored now.

You may depend upon my not unduly pressing your name on
the country. I felt bound to express my opinion to the committee
at Lahore in reply to their wire. 1 It is enough for your self-respect
that you do not want the crown. It is an ugly business for any¬
body this time. I have simply pressed your name as of a principle.
If the country is not ready to assert that principle, we can wait.

If you are not to be the helmsman, the only alternative I
can think of at this juncture is re-election of Father, or failing
that, of Dr. Ansari. Gan you think of any other name ?

I am preparing for the U.P. tour. I am daily recovering lost
strength. I am in no way sorry for my experiment from which I
have learnt a lot.

Tours,

Bapu

Gandhi-Nehru Papers, 1929. Courtesy: Nehru Memorial Museum and
Library

1 Vide p. 303.

265 . LETTER TO VASUMAT1 PANDIT

August 22 , 1929

CHI. VASUMATI,

I have your letter. I have no time left after attending to
my illness, so I content myself by thinking [of you]. I am recover¬
ing strength. I take plenty of curds.

Do you have peace of mind there ? How is your health ?
Have you regular motions ? How is your appetite ? Do you feel
strong? Can you go for a walk?

Surajbehn has arrived from Bombay today. There is at pre¬
sent a crowd of other people too.

I am expecting a detailed letter.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: S.N. 9261; also G.W. 508. Courtesy:
Vasumati Pandit

266, TELEGRAM TO RAJA OF KALAKANKAR 1

[On or after August 22, 1929]

THANKS WIRE. HEALTH SATISFACTORY. PROGRESSING.
From a photostat: S.N. 15500

267, LETTER TO HORACE ALEXANDER

August 23, 1929

DEAR FRIEND,

I thank you for your letter.

I expect nothing but hindrance generally from the India
Office to the crusade against opium and drink. The reply you have
sent me therefore does not surprise me.

When Mr. Silcock comes, he shall most surely receive a warm
welcome.

1 In reply to his telegram dated August 22, which read: “Anxious to
know welfare. Wire health.”

316 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

Of the young friend, I have already written to you. Of course
he may come and stay here if it suits him.

Tours sincerely ,

From, a photostat: G.N. 1408

268 . LETTER TO G. Z>. BIRLA

August 23 3 1929

BHAI GHANSHYAMDAS,

I have your letter. Do give up worrying on my account.
People fall sick even when they take regular diet. What does it mat¬
ter if the same happens to me in the pursuit of truth? I am
taking plenty of curds these days. May I tell you that even
milk and curds are admissible only to a certain extent. They are
not man's natural food. The argument you advance in support of
milk is the same as that in support of beef-tea and liquor because
some physical benefit is derived for the time being from all of
them. But physical benefit [is not] everything. The abatement
of carnal desires experienced by so many people while taking raw
cereals is not the result of starvation. During the four years I
was on fruit diet I used to walk forty miles daily and expe¬
rienced the same mental peace. But I do not wish to emphasize
this point overmuch. The mere physical benefit is not the only
consideration in my experiment. I shall not change over hastily
to raw cereals nor shall I give up milk in a hurry. At the moment
many doctors are taking interest in this experiment. Many have
sent me literature [on this subject]. If I resume the experiment
it shall be under Dr. Haribhai's supervision.

Tours ,

Mohandas

From Hindi: C.W. 6175. Courtesy: G. D. Birfc*

269. TELEGRAM TO SECRETARY, RECEPTION COMMITTEE,
U. P. TRADE UNION CONFERENCE, KANPUR 1

[On or after August 23, 1929}

PLEASE CONSULT PANDIT JAWAHARLAL. PROGRAMME

HIS HAND[s],

From a photostat: S.N. 15503

270 . TELEGRAM TO SATIS CHANDRA DAS GUPTA 2

[Before August 24, 1929}

Satisbabu

Khadi Pratishthan
SoDEPUR

your astounding letter. 3 never dreamt hem-

PRABHA DEVl’s LETTER BUSINESS LETTER. KRISHNADAS

suggestion mischievous. must know what niran-

JAN SAID. YOU MUST NOT BE HYPERSENSITIVE.

NEVER LISTEN OTHER PEOPLE’S VERSIONS ESPECIALLY

WHEN PARTIES CONCERNED ALIVE.

Bapu

All the three wires go together. Show me after preparation.

From a microfilm: S.N. 15194-b

1 In reply to the addressee’s telegram received on August 23, which read:
“Reception Committee U.P. Trade Union Conference requests you join session
14th, 15th September and accept labourers 5 humble purse. Wire acceptance. 5 ’

2 This telegram and the following item appear to have been sent on the *
same day before Gandhiji wrote to the addressee on August 24.

3 Vide Appendix II.

271 LETTER TO SATIS CHANDRA DAS GUPTA

[Before August 24, 1929]

MY DEAR SATIS BABU,

I have wired about your astounding letter.

I know nothing about any business letter from Hemprabha-
devi. Even if she wrote a business letter, I should take a long
time before taking it as such. As it is, her letters to me have been
all love and no business. Your business letters too have been love
letters for me. Such I have believed to be the relations between
you and me. I had never thought you to be capable of mis¬
understanding me. Krishnadas’s other suggestion seems to me
to be equally mischievous. How he has drawn deductions pas¬
ses my comprehension. His behaviour is inscrutable. Your taking
him on trust regarding my doings and without reference to me is
painful. I can say nothing of Niranjan till you tell me what he
has told you. You should take it from me that I have told them
nothing that I have not told you about your decision regarding
Ram Binod.

You may come and see me about this if you are still not satis¬
fied. Henceforth in all matters no matter who is concerned, never
believe telltales. And those are telltales who regale their company
with irrelevant tales about others. Again never believe anything
against anybody without first referring the damaging statement to
him. So you remember what I did when I heard unworthy sug¬
gestions about Dadabhai ?

Say now you owe me ten thousand apologies for being so
cruel as to believe things of me of which I have not ever dreamt.

With love,

Bapu

dps.]

My health [is] improving.

From a photostat: G.N. 1607

272 . LETTER TO SATIS CHANDRA DAS GUPTA

August 24, 1929

MY DEAR SATIS BABU,

I have your note. I cannot make out how Niranjan thought
that I was irritated on your account. All I can tell you is that
you have never given me cause for irritation. I have doubted
often the soundness of your judgment, never your motive. Irrita¬
tion can only come when the motive is questioned.

Subhas Babu will never pardon the loin-cloth. We must bear
with him. He cannot help himself. He believes in himself and in
his mission. He must work it out as we must ours.

Love.

Bapu

From a photostat: G.N. 1608

273 . LETTER TO M. R. JATAKAR

August 24, 1929

DEAR FRIEND,

There was no need for apology for your letter. 1 You are right
in assuming that I could not be unaware of the difficulties you
have mentioned in your letter. I went to Mr. Jinnah as Mrs.
Naidu had arranged the interview. I think it was my duty. But
I have bound nobody. I have no representative capacity even
if I wished to bind anybody. I simply listened to Mr. Jinnah’s
exposition of his position. Similarly with the Ah Brothers too, I
heard what they had to say. With the latter, the talk turned upon
their grievance against me for my reticence.

Tours sincerely ,

_M. K. Gandhi

Jayakar’s Private Papers, Correspondence File No. 407-VI. Courtesy:
National Archives of India

1 Vide Appendix III.

274. A KATHIAWAB1 9 S WAIL 1

An enraged Kathiawari youth writes: 2

I must painfully tell you that you have put us in a very awkward
fix by sealing our lips, and unless you release us from this disability you
will unman us altogether. Even the restrictions imposed by Sjt. Mansukhlal
which you decried were far more liberal than the disabilities that you have
now imposed. ... Is it not rather curious that whereas in British India the
slightest wrong is enough to make you flare up in righteous indignation, you
won’t allow even a single condemnatory syllable to be uttered against any
individual State though it might perpetrate the worst-tyranny on its innocent
ryots? It is time that you reconsidered your self-denying ordinance. And
if you cannot withdraw it altogether you should at least revise it to the
extent of restoring the liberty to protest against cases of “flagrant in¬
justice”. Remember, at Bhavnagar you undertook to obtain a redress of
our grievances. Now that you have been disappointed in your efforts, does
it not become your sacred duty to ventilate those questions before the
public? Bui that duty you have not discharged yet and have prevented
others from discharging. -That is why .we are today ground down by
oppression. Freedom of public discussion is our sacred and inalienable
right and you ought to teach the Kathiawar public to exercise that right.
But you are doing just the reverse and by your curious silence are in fact
conniving at the wrong. In moments of despair, I am tempted to charge
you with showing an undue partiality towards the States. . . .

Won’t you remember and make good the promise you made at
Bhavnagar ?

The Kathiawari friend in question has an undoubted right to
write to me as he has done, just as it is my duty to give a pa¬
tient hearing to what the youth might have to say. Every duty
performed confers upon one certain rights, whilst the exercise
of every right carries with it certain corresponding obligations.
And so the never-ending cycle of duty and right goes ceaselessly
on. In the present case for instance the 1 Kathiawari youth began by
exercising his right to pour forth his grief to me. I discharge
my duty by giving him a patient hearing, with the result that the
right to speak out my mind to the Kathiawari youth has now
accrued to me, and it is the duty of the Kathiawari youth in

1 The Gujarati original of this appeared in Navajivan , 25-8-1929. This
is a translation by Pyarelal.

2 Only excerpts are reproduced here.

A KATHIAWARl’s WAIL 321

question to hear and try inwardly to digest and assimilate what
I might have to say.

I very well remember the promise I made at Bhavnagar. I
have not yet lost hope. My efforts still continue, but their result is
not in my hands, but in the hands of God who alone controls
results. Nor is it necessary that my efforts in this direction should
be before the public or involve my personally meeting the rulers in
question. They may or may not even be direct, indeed they may
begin and end with a heart-felt prayer. Let no one laugh at this,

I want to enter into no special pleading on my behalf. I mention
this method of work because it is part and parcel of my life. For
years together in South Africa my efforts consisted practically
only in waiting and prayer, and it is my firm conviction that that
period of silent prayer was the most fruitful for that work. It
constituted the bedrock on which whatever little was accomplish¬
ed was based. Even today, perhaps I may be said to be doing
nothing tangible for the attainment of Hindu-Muslim unity,
yet it is my claim that I am striving for it ceaselessly. Even so
in the matter of the Indian States. I am always on the look-out
for an opportunity. Opportunities have always come to me for
the waiting and praying. Let no one therefore be led away to
think that I have ceased to concern myself about the question of
the Indian States or to do anything in that behalf.

But I know that the impadent reader can judge my efforts
only in the light of concrete tangible results. He may therefore
well feel angry if he fails to understand my way of doing things.

I must hold my soul in patience.

I may not here enter into a discussion of MansukhlaFs restric¬
tions. My opinion in that respect has not undergone the least
change. But circumstances alter cases. I have simply laid down
the indispensable conditions for the holding of conferences in the
Indian States. If such conferences must be held at all without ob¬
serving these restrictions, I maintain that it is not possible as yet
to hold conferences within the boundaries of the States.

But these restrictions apply to conferences only, they do not
affect individual action. Anyone in his individual capacity has al¬
ways perfect liberty to criticize as much as he likes any Indian
prince, subject only to the measure of his own strength and consi¬
derations of sobriety and common sense.

Again I have never suggested that individual rulers of Indian
States may never be criticized or that conferences untrammelled
by any restrictions may not be held at all. On the contrary I hold
that there is nothing improper in holding in British territory confe-

41-21

322

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHi

rences at which individual States may be freely criticized. There is
also the undoubted right of the subjects of any State to criticize
the administration of that State within its own border. That this
right is not fully exercised today is a matter of deep sorrow.

It is true that personally I do not through Navajivan or other¬
wise criticize individual rulers. But that is a different matter
altogether. I claim to be a practical man. I have got a fair
measure of my strength and I know how to conserve it. I have
deliberately cultivated the habit of avoiding a useless or super¬
fluous word. I do not hesitate unsparingly to denounce all
wrongs great and small in British territory because I know that
such denunciation is backed by consciousness of potential
strength. In the case of the States, though I am not unaware
of the terrible things going on in some of them, I have no strength
to back my exposure of the wrongs.

I disclaim any undue partiality for the States. At the same
time I owe them no grudge; I do not desire their destruction.
There is an abundant scope for reform in them which it should
not be impossible to effect today. But it is my firm belief that it
is impossible to reform the States in the true sense while India is
in bondage. It may be possible to obtain redress here and there in
cases of flagrant injustice by leading a crusade against it. But such
tinkering does not interest me. It gives me no satisfaction. I am
therefore today concentrating all my energy on the root evil. If I
can effectively touch the root the branches will in time drop down
of their own accord. Whereas on the contrary to divert public
attention from the root evil and mobilize it against the branch evils
in the States would mean lending an additional lease of life to the
former. That is a risk that I for one am not prepared to run.

Let no one, however, understand me to mean from this that
no action whatsoever is at present possible in the case of the States.
I shall repeat here what I have already said. Wherever the sub¬
jects of States are ready for it they can and ought to organize an
agitation against maladministration in that State especially if
they have the strength to make use of the never-failing weapon
of satyagraha. But it is a matter of deep sorrow to me that
today the ruled are often tools in the hands of wicked rulers.
Grinding oppression has rendered the people nerveless. No one has
yet been able to save goats from the clutches of tigers. The goats’
emancipation would be possible only if one could envisage the
goat world itself giving birth to its would-be emancipator. Though
reduced to the position of the goat man is today in this country,
especially in the States, all hope is not lost for him. He belongs

MY NOTES

323

to a higher species. Strength lies dormant in the weak/ If they
find an environment in which bipeds exactly like them exhibit
strength, it is not unlikely that they will catch the infection. Bar-
doli was only a modest forerunner—a beam from the powerful
sun. If Bardoli exhibited the full strength and qualifications neces¬
sary for full satyagraha, its example would spread throughout the
length and breadth of the land, and we should find ourselves,
including the people of the States, a free nation.

Young India, 29-8-1929

275. MY NOTES
Evil-minded Government

Bhai Mahadev has given in this issue a summary of some
noteworthy correspondence between Sardar Vallabhbhai and the
Government on the report 1 presented by the official inquiry com¬
mittee on Bardoli and Ghorasi, It is worth pondering over. There
are two points in it: one about redressing the injustice done to seve¬
ral villages through oversight, and the other about the benefits,
if any, likely to accrue to Bardoli and Chorasi as a result of the
new changes proposed to be made by the Government. The Gov¬
ernment has returned a negative reply in regard to both the
matters. It would not even hear the plea of injustice. It is not
willing to concede the benefits of future changes. Even if a rope
is burnt, its twist endures. 2 The Government is aware that, if it
cannot remove through negotiations the injustice done to certain
villages, the Sardar will definitely not have recourse to a weapon
like satyagraha. Such a weapon cannot be used in this way. Be¬
ing thus free from fear the Government declines to do justice. Be¬
cause of its policy of not doing justice until its hands are forced,
the Government has become unpopular and is becoming more so.
The officials are not inclined to understand the simple thing that
the Government does not stand to suffer any loss if a slightly
reduced revenue was received from three or four villages. Their
“prestige 553 stands in the way. The other thing concerns the
future. Just as we cannot launch satyagraha for the sake of
particular villages only, we cannot but do so if the future benefits
do not go to Bardoli and Chorasi. Then satyagraha will become

1 The BroomfieId-Maxwe 11 Report

2 A Gujarati saying

3 The English word is used.

324 TitE dOLLEdTED WORKS OF MAHATMA CaNDI^I

inevitable. Hence the Sardar has told the Government politely but
firmly that, if the new legislation proves to be beneficial and if
Bardoli and Chorasi do not receive its benefits, satyagraha will
surely be launched for their sake. There is one small legal loophole
in the case of the villages of Bardoli. The Sardar cannot expose it,
but if it exposes itself, the above-mentioned villages can perhaps
take advantage of it.

Therefore, it is a different matter if the loophole exposes it¬
self. Else those villages should be ready to put up with this
injustice and if it becomes necessary to launch satyagraha, Bardoli
should be ready for it. No one knows when the future will become
the present. The legislation which the Government had promised
to enact has hung fire for a number of years. But Bardoli has
yet to discharge its original debt. The swaraj yajna commenced
by Bardoli has still remained unfinished. If it gets ready to
complete it, there is no need even to talk of the miniature
satyagraha of the future.

Another Temple Thrown Open

Thanks to Shri Jamnalalji’s efforts, the famous Lakshminarayan
Temple at Wardha was thrown open to Antyaja brothers and sisters.
Now owing to his efforts, even the well-known Dattatreya Temple
at Elichpur in Berar has been thrown open. Elichpur was the
old capital of Berar. It has even today a population of 38,000. At
a public meeting held on July 1, the temple was thrown open. Dr.
Patwardhan of Amaraoti presided over the meeting. The ceremony
of declaring the temple open was performed by Jamnalalji. The
temple was built fifteen years ago at a cost of Rs. 83,000. Its manage¬
ment is in the hands of a committee of twenty-four members. The
resolution to throw it open to the Antyajas was voted by eighteen
out of twenty-four. There are five trustees, all of whom were
unanimous in regard to the decision to throw it open. Now this
signboard adorns the temple gate:

This temple is thrown open from today for free access to Mangs,

Mahars, Chamars and all Hindus alike for purposes of darshan , bhajan, for

offering worship and prayers and for attending religious discourses, etc.

This temple was erected by the efforts of Swami Vimalanand.
The Swamiji was present on the auspicious occasion. At the time
of declaring the temple open, Jamnalalji entered the temple with
about fifty Antyajas . Jamnalalji and Vinoba Bhave of the Satya¬
graha Ashram, Wardha, delivered the main speeches on the occasion.

I congratulate the citizens of Elichpur, the trustees and
Jamnalalji on this event. I can well imagine the joy of the

LETTER TO VASUMATI PANDIT

325

Antyaja brethren at that time. Why should they not rejoice over
securing that which Hindu society had till now deprived them of
and which they had always hankered after ? But this is only a
beginning, a drop in the ocean. There are lakhs of Hindu tem¬
ples in India. As long as the doors of every one of the public tem¬
ples do not open to our Antyaja brethren, so long will the fol¬
lowers of Hinduism remain discredited and be unable to stand
boldly before the world. By boycotting the Antyajas Hindu society
itself has been boycotted by the world. Let it learn from Elichpur
and Wardha how to get out of that boycott.

Bhangi Brethren of Bulsar

I have received a sad letter 1 about this which runs as
follows.

If what is stated is true, it should put the Bulsar Munici¬
pality and the citizens of Bulsar to shame. It is to be regretted
that a responsible body or responsible individual should remain
indifferent where matters can be improved with a little money and
much smaller efforts. How sad is it that the Bhangi brothers
and sisters have to pull on in hope and to pay for water which
rich people can get gratis and with ease ? If these facts are true,
the Municipality and citizens of Bulsar will, I hope, strive to
set things right at once.

[From Gujarati]

Navajivan, 25-8-1929

276. LETTER TO VASUMATI PANDIT

August 25 y 1929

chi. vasumati,

I have your letter. You cannot claim the right to commit
errors simply because I make some mistakes of language. If I
lose my teeth, should you have yours extracted? My lack of know-
ledge was tolerated but my successors 5 would not be. My
health is now all right. I am recovering strength. You should

1 Not translated here. The municipality and its officers had done nothing
to release them from the clutches of Pathan money-lenders or from difficulties
about residential quarters. They still had to pay for water. The so-called
respectable citizens of Bulsar had turned a blind eye to their woes. The
correspondent eulogized the services rendered to the Bhangis by Navsari
Municipality and hoped that Bulsar would erqul^tc that example,

326

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

stubbornly keep up your walking. It is now raining heavily here.
My diet consists mainly of curds.

Blessings from

Bapu

Chi, Vasumatibehn
Udyoga Mandir, Vijapur
Vijapur of Gaekwar via Kalol

From a photostat of the Gujarati: S.N. 9262; also G.W. 509. Courtesy:
Vasumati Pandit

277. LETTER TO PRABHAVATI

Silence Day y August 26 , 1929

GHI. PRABHAVATI,

I get your letters regularly. You should shake off your worry.
You should learn to win peace from perturbation. External circum¬
stances are seldom what we desire. But it is within our power to
train our mind to overcome circumstances. Even in adverse cir¬
cumstances one should find occasions for rendering service. We
should have only love for those who oppose us.

You will yourself arrange for your visit to Agra, won’t
you? Whom could I write to from here? You have to be cou¬
rageous and find your own way. God will of course help you.

My health is steadily improving. I take only milk or curds;
also fruits. I go for short walks too. I had not stopped writing
and spinning altogether. So you are not to worry at all on
my account.

I have written about your studies.

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 3354

278 . LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI

August 26, 1929

CHI. CHHAGANLAL,

No independent work can be assigned to Shivabhai, but if
he wishes to live in the Udyoga Mandir he may, making his own
arrangements, as he agreed to yesterday. Ask me more about
this if you want to.

Bapu

From a microfilm of the Gujarati; S.N. 15510

279. LETTER TO G. D. BIRLA

August 26, 1929

BHAI GHANSHYAMDASJI,

What have you done about the auditing of tne Bengal Con¬
gress Committee [accounts] ?

Tours,

Mohandas

Sjt. Ghanshyamdas Birla

Birla Cotton Spinning & Weaving Mills, Ltd.
Subzi Mandi, Delhi

From Hindi: G.W. 6176. Courtesy: G. D. Birla

280. LETTER TO MADHAVJI V. THAEKAR

August 27, 1929

BHAISHRI MADHAVJI,

You are certainly going on well with your experiment. Do
not insist on not taking fruits with milk. But do continue it so
long as it agrees with you. It will do you no harm at all.

Blessings from

Bapu

Sjt. Madhavji V. Thakkar

178 Lower Chitpore Road, Calcutta

From a photostat Qf the Gujarati: G.N. 6791

281. LETTER TO VASUM.ATI PANDIT

Ashram, Sabarmati,

August 28, 1929

CHI. VASUM ATI,

X have your letter. We had as usual the recitation of the
whole Gita today because of Janmashtami. On this occasion I
thought much about all the members of our Ashram. The recitation
was performed with great enthusiasm and in a very sweet tone;
it was interspersed with stotras. Being held at daytime others too
could read and this made the singing all the sweeter.

We have no rain today. After many days there is a little
sunshine, perhaps you too have some relief today. Most of us arc
today on a fruit diet. Even if only one or two women take to
carding, others will follow suit. Govindji should be relieved of
other duties except carding and you should make him do this
work. I am accordingly arranging to send someone from here.
All of you should read this letter. My health is all right. It is
certain, at any rate so far, that we start on the 6th. Today wc
are going to have bhajans in the evening at 7 o’clock. Panditji’s
band will also play. Ba sends her blessings to all.

From a photostat of the Gujarati: S.N. 9263; also G.W. 510. Courtesy:
Vasumati Pandit

282. LETTER TO FULCHAND K. SHAH

Ashram, Sabarmati,

August 28, 1929

BHAISHRI FULCHAND,

I have your letter. I am gradually improving. I see no
need for you to come. I have written to Bhai Jawaharlal regarding
the address. He comes here tomorrow evening. We have had a
telegram.

He will leave this place in the evening, day after tomorrow.
I take it that you will start the welcome from Viramgam onwards.
It is not possible for me to come. Kaka is in Bombay.

Anasuyabehn can hardly go. I shall see if someone else
could be sent.

329

LETTER TO DHARAMSIMHA BHANJI KHOJA

You are all competent to explain the condition of Kathiawar.
There is Revashankerbhai too. I do hope you have invited
people from all groups. They should all be given freedom to see
and say what they want to.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a copy of the Gujarati: G.W. 2859. Courtesy: Sh'aradabehn Shah

283 . LETTER TO DHARAMSIMHA BHANJI KHOJA

Ashram, Sabarmati,

August 28 } 1929

BHAISHRI DHARAMSIMHA,

What you write about khadi appears to be correct. Khadi
made from mill-yarn would not do, because hand-spinning is our
basis, our focal point. Occasionally I do speak out something
about mechanization. As regards the native States see the current
issue of Navajivan A What you write about ghee and milk is quite
correct. Ginning is certainly coming to life in the footsteps of
spinning. If an occasion comes up in the Ashram a widow re¬
marriage may be celebrated by all means. But things cannot be
brought about by force. Being beyond attributes God deserves to be
called even by seemingly contradictory epithets such as 'without
attributes 3 , Tull of good qualities 5 , 'immutable 5 , 'ever-changing 5 , etc.
It is best not to become a soldier but having once taken up this
profession, a soldier forfeits his right to consider whether a battle
is right or wrong. Many ask for a contents [column] in Namjivan .
Accepting contributions too is a necessary aspect of Navajivan.
We have drafted a scheme under which the profits accruing to the
Navajivan firm may be utilized mainly for the Navajivan staff.

Vandemataram from
Mohandas

[p s .]

I could not revise this.

SjT. DHARAMSIMHA BHANJI KHOJA

Vicchia, Kathiawar

From a photostat of the Gujarati: S.N. 19847

1 Vide pp. 320-3.

284 . LETTER TO NANABHAI MAS HR UWALA

Ashram, Sabarmati,

August 28, 1929

BHAISHRI NANABHAI,

I have your letter. My health is steadily improving. I know
of all the arguments in favour of accepting the presidentship, but
what should I do if I cannot summon the courage ? I have left
everything to God. He will do what He wants to.

It seems now after all Sushila has got somewhat reconciled to
the name • c Sita\ She makes no complaints nowadays.

I hope you are well.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 6679

285 . THE ANGLO-INDIAN

Some Anglo-Indian friends have often complained to me that
I do not give the Anglo-Indian friends sufficient notice in these
columns. I have always repudiated the charge. It is not my
lukewarmness towards them that I do not often mention them
in Young India. Indeed I have the honour to have many friends
among them. My conception of swaraj requires the same con¬
sideration for them as for any other group. Only they stand in
little need of any advocacy in these columns. Those who are
despised in the country, those who are neglected by the Govern¬
ment or those whose interests are hostile to those of the Govern¬
ment claim a lien upon these columns. Just as Englishmen do not
need the protection of these columns, so do the powerful Anglo-
Indian interests stand in no need of it. I can mention several
such indigenous interests that stand in little need of the assistance
of Young India. But this general assurance I have tendered more
than once that in these columns there never would be any sacri¬
fice advocated or encouraged of a single legitimate interest.

I note in the constitution of the Anglo-Indian League the
definition of the phrase Anglo-Indian community which I had not
known hitherto. It cc means and includes 55 :

THE ANGLO-INDIAN

331

(L All persons of mixed European and Indian descent whose
father, grandfather or more remote lineal ancestor in the paternal line
shall have been of European, American or Colonial birth, and

(2) Europeans, Colonial British subjects of European descent, and
Americans domiciled in India.

In the circumstances these friends of the League really need
not only no advocacy from these columns, but they have ranged
themselves against the millions of India in so far as the European
interest may be regarded as against that of India. If the half-
borns claim the rights and privileges of the ruling race, theirs is
an interest which as the occasion may demand will, if the ruling
race can help it, override that of the indigenous inhabitants when¬
ever the latter is in conflict with theirs. These columns stoutly
resist such usurpation, no matter by whom advanced. At any
rate the Anglo-Indian of the League may regard himself as well
protected as the ruling race.

But I know that the Anglo-Indian not represented by the
League is in an overwhelming majority. He does claim my
sympathy, friendship and even pity in several cases. The half-
born who takes the hue of his Indian parent and has no money
is in a most unenviable condition. His political right is in no
danger. It is his social status which is non-existent. He frets
over his Indian parentage and he is disowned by the European race.
He is therefore between Scylla and Charybdis. I often meet him.
He is washed out in the process of living above his means and
trying to live the European life and look like Europeans. I have
pleaded with him to make his choice and to throw in his lot with
the vast multitude. If these men and women will have the courage
and the foresight to appreciate this very simple and natural posi¬
tion, they will serve themselves, they will serve India and they
will be spared the galling position in which they find themselves.
The greatest problem before the dumb Anglo-Indian is that of
determining his social status. He is saved, the moment he re¬
cognizes himself as an Indian and lives like one.

To the vocal Anglo-Indian of the League I submit that the
activities of the League are a mere tinkering with the grave pro¬
blem, The League should, if it will truly represent the bulk of the
Anglo-Indian community, revise its policy radically, change the
definition to which I have adverted and step forward boldly and
unequivocally on behalf of the glorious battle for India’s freedom.
Today in my opinion the League is attempting the impossible.

Toung India, 29-8-1929

286 . NOTES

A Mute Reformer
Sjt. Manilal Kothari writes:

You will remember that, writing on the Bhil situation in Rajputana
in Young India in 1922, you recommended pardon for the Bhil leader,
Motilal. 1 In 1924 Sir R. E. Holland, the A. G. G. in Rajputana, after
sympathetic consideration of the whole case and in view of the peaceful
situation then prevailing in Rajputana, advised the States concerned to
pardon Motilal, so that some time later, his influence could be utilized
for some useful social work amongst the ignorant and backward Bhils.

I understand that all the Rajputana States, including Mewar, agreed to
the proposal, and I was distinctly told by Sir R. E. Holland as well
as by his successor Lt. Col. Patterson that I had their authority to tell
the Government of Bombay that Rajputana had no objection to pardon
being granted to Motilal by the Bombay States, viz., Idar and Danta.
It is, therefore, surprising that of all the States, Mewar should now keep
him under detention and that too without any trial.

The authorities allege that you had disowned Motilal. I believe it is
not a fact. You have, I believe, known him personally and something of
his work. I would, therefore, request you kindly to clear the misunder¬
standing and advise the Mewar Durbar to take a sympathetic view of
the case and release the reformer.

The reader is not likely to know Motilal. Well, he is an
unassuming, ignorant social reformer among the Bhils of Raj¬
putana. His passion is to wean them from meats and drink.
At one time he exercised among them very great influence. And
now though it is not as great, his name commands respect among
his tribesmen who owe so much of their social transformation to
him. I have had the privilege of meeting Motilal after my dis¬
charge from Yeravda. He is no man of letters and hardly talks
to anyone. But he means business and believes in himself and
his people. I am afraid that there is a colouring of truth in the
imputation that I had disowned him in 1922. I had said that
he had no authority to use my name which he was alleged in 1922
to have done. But after that and when I had come to know
something of his mission I had strongly recommended that he
should be pardoned. I had flattered myself with the belief that

1 Vide Vol. XXII, pp. 476-7 & 497,

NOTES

333

Sir R. E. Holland’s recommendation had something to do with
the 'Young India paragraph. Be that as it might, I had hoped
that Motilal was pardoned, and that the incident of 1922 was
wholly forgotten by the States concerned. It therefore surprises
me that Mewar State has arrested and detained him not for any¬
thing he has done since but for the offences alleged against him
in 1922. Apart from every other consideration, surely the Mewar
State will avoid the charge of bad faith which the simple Bhils will
bring against it, if their beloved leader is now detained under
custody for what they have been led to believe had been pardoned.
So far as I am aware Motilal has done nothing to deserve deten¬
tion. I trust therefore that this simple and sincere reformer will be
released and encouraged in his prosecution of social.reform among
his own people.

Bardoli 1

The correspondence between Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and
the Bombay Government published in the Press affords interesting
reading, and is proof of the incorrigibility and the inelasticity of
the existing system of Government. It sacrifices everything on
the altar of prestige. In important matters it does justice only
when pressure compels it. The few instances of unconscious in¬
justice done in the Broomfield-Maxwell Report and brought to
light by the Sardar would under a responsive system have secured
redress for the asking. Not so with this Government. It knows
that the Sardar cannot and will not give battle on the question
if he cannot secure redress by negotiation. And so the Govern¬
ment refuse to look at his proposal. I may mention parenthetically
that there are legal difficulties in the way of enforcing any en¬
hanced assessment. But Vallabhbhai is too proud to mention
them and seek shelter behind them. The Government will deserve
precious little thanks if it finds itself unable in virtue of its own
laws to enforce payment. It has earned discredit by rejecting the
Sardar’s courteous advances. But there is another point on which
the Sardar dare not yield even though it may cost another pro¬
tracted struggle. He had naturally expected the Government to
admit that Bardoli and Chorasi would receive the benefit, if any,
of the proposed new legislation and consequent revision of settle¬
ments. Bardoli which has made such legislation obligatory on the
Government cannot possibly be made to lose the benefit, if there
be any, of such legislation. The Government thinks otherwise,

1 Vide also pp. 323-4.

334 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

and the Sardar promises battle, if there is any benefit and the
then Government proves unbending. But on this the public need
not speculate except to note the woodenness of the Government,
and hearten itself to destroy a system under which such procedure
is possible.

“India in Bondage”

It would not have been in keeping with their tradition if the
Government of Bengal had not followed up the prosecution of
Sjt. Ramananda Chatterjee by proscription of Dr. Sunderland’s
innocent volume. The seizure consequent upon the notice of pro¬
scription was effected with all the pomp, indignity and offence the
police were able to accompany their brave performance [sic]. For it
is reported that instead of politely asking Ramananda Babu to deliver
the copies in his possession, they “raided his office and took away
350 unbound copies, 101 cloth binding cases, 5 bundles of loose
formes of the book, one bundle of the pictorial dust cover and 44
bound copies of the book”.

The police and the Government of Bengal are welcome to
the satisfaction of having subjected to indignity one of the fore¬
most journalists and public workers of the land. Let them know
that they are by such acts sending up the barometer of disaffection.
Helpless we may be today to avenge such wrongs, but the time is
fast coming when we shall no longer be so helpless.

Lalaji Memorial

Sjt. Purushottamdas Tandon could not rest after having
formally taken up the burden of guiding Lalaji’s Society. 1 He
therefore came over to Sabarmati to confer with me as to how
best to collect the balance of the Memorial Fund. He being a
U.P. man and having passed a lifetime (practically) of service there,
his eyes were turned to his own province. Would his tour inter¬
fere with my khadi collection was the question that worried him.

I told him that he was not to mind the effect of his collection
on my tour. Indeed I would love to combine the two collections
myself. But experience has taught me that only one thing could
be done at a time. Whilst therefore I could not combine the two,
as in Andhra and Burma, I would love to receive subscriptions
for the Memorial from whomsoever would give them to me. I
therefore welcome Purushottamdasji’s touring for the Memorial
Fund, and I should be glad if those who revere the memory of

1 Tide pp. 311-2.

notes

335

the deceased tribune of the people (and who does not?) will
subscribe to the Memorial, and if they will, hand them to me.
At any rate my tour ought in no way to interfere -with the
Memorial Fund to be collected by Purushottamdasji. Indeed it is
a matter for sorrow and shame that this collection has been hang¬
ing fire for such a long time.

Anti-untouch ability Campaign 1

Sjt. Jamnalalji, the Secretary of the Congress Anti-untouch-
ability Committee, has succeeded in having the famous Dattatreya
temple of Elichpur, the former capital of Berar, thrown open to
the so-called untouchables. He performed the opening ceremony
before a distinguished gathering on 31st July last. The temple is
one of the biggest in Elichpur which has a population of 38,000.
It was built 15 years ago at a cost of Rs. 83,000 by the efforts
of Swami Vimalanand. The Committee of Management consists
of 24 of whom 18 voted for the opening. There is a board of 5
trustees who were unanimous in their decision in favour of the
opening. The new signboard put up at the entrance reads:

This temple is thrown open from today for free access to Mangs,
Mahars, Chamars and all Hindus alike for purposes of darshan, bhajan, for
offering worship and prayers and for attending religious discourses, etc.

The opening ceremony was preceded by a public meeting presided
over by Dr. Patwardhan of Amaraoti.

The organizers of the ceremony deserve congratulations for the
service they have rendered to Hinduism and the nation. Let us
hope that Jamnalalji will be able to induce the trustees of other
temples to follow the example of Wardha and now of Elichpur.
This beginning is but a drop in the ocean. For there are lakhs
of temples that await this initial purification of lifting the ban on
"untouchables’. Hindus must hang down their heads in shame so
long as the curse of untouchability persists.

Self-spinning in Rajput ana

Sjt. Mulchandji who is organizing self-spinning in Ringas
sends an interesting report of the work done there from which I
condense the following information:

The work was commenced in March 1928. It was started
with a school through which contact was sought to be esta¬
blished. But it was found that direct contact with the elders

1 T/.’rm

336 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

was essential. So the workers visited the homes of the
peasantry after they had returned from their fields. They
had spinning-wheels which were in danger of being put away.
The work was however commenced by inviting them to learn
carding. This some of them undertook to learn. Teaching
was imparted at night between 7 and 10. This however
excited the jealousy of the professional pinjaras who spread
all kinds of wild rumours among the credulous peasantry.
Nothing daunted, the workers called a meeting of the whole
peasantry and explained the philanthropic object of their
mission. Confidence was restored and the work went’ on
smoothly. As a result in a population of 5,289 in 61 villages,
410 families out of 933 had taken part in the movement up
to the time for which the report has been drawn up. Of
these 67 families have had all their clothing made out of self-
spun yarn. This means 349 souls. 595 men and women had a
portion of their cloth prepared from self-spun yarn. 915 per¬
sons learnt carding during the period under review, i.e., eight
months. Altogether 2,398 yards of khadi was thus woven.
This is encouraging progress, and shows how by patient toil
contact can be established with people, and they can be
persuaded to take an interest in their own well-being. What
has been possible in the villages surrounding Ringas is surely
possible more or less throughout India.

Sarojini Devi’s Work in the West

Sjt. Dhan Gopal Mukarji writes: 1

Mrs. Naidu’s visit was fortunate for the Indians in America, and also
beneficial to the Americans themselves. She was not afraid to make
enemies. That is why she succeeded so eminently. She pleased all because
she curried favour with none. . . . There is no living person that uses
any language as well as she did her English. To crown all, she was not
proud of her knowledge of the conquerors’ language. This last bit of honest
sarcasm ran through the amor propre of her opponents like the finest
rapier. A slave cannot be proud of his mastery over his conquerors’
language.

You can see from the above how well we liked “our silver-tongued
Sarojini of Hyderabad”. She did her work well. Do send her again.

Foreign-cloth Boycott

Sjt. Jairamdas Doulatram, Secretary, Foreign-Cloth Boycott
Committee, writes: 2

1 & 2 Only excerpts are reproduced here.

THE DEVADASI

337

Only about five weeks remain before the second stock-taking of the
nation’s progress in regard to the programme of boycott of foreign cloth.

. . . The 2nd of October is the day for such national stock-taking. . . .
Unless in the course of the remaining few months of the year the Congress
is able to organize the masses to an adequate extent through the medium
of the boycott campaign, the Lahore Congress will not be placed in a
position to decide upon taking any large step towards national satyagraha
on the 1st January, 1930.

I would, therefore, earnestly appeal to all organizations to put forth
as large an effort as is possible from 1st September to the end of Decem¬
ber, 1929 to make the boycott programme a great success.

Measured by the past eight months it does not seem as if
we are to make much progress with the movement during the
remaining months. No doubt something has been done. For
this we may be thankful, but nothing commensurate with the task
before us has been accomplished. What we need is a hurricane
campaign. That can come only if we have the adequate fire
within us. The sad part of the work is that the Congress Com¬
mittees do not respond. Very few have sent in regular reports.
Many have sent none. Unless all Congress Committees act as
one man and promptly, no effective work is possible.

Young India, 29-8-1929

287 . THE DEVADASI

The indefatigable Dr. S. Muthulakshmi Reddi writes: 1

As you have been openly denouncing the Devadasi system in the Hindu
temples, I make bold to appeal to you for help in the great task of get¬
ting rid of that evil. In this Presidency, I find it an uphill task, as the
so-called educated men and even some of the most prominent Congress¬
men oppose my reform measures and defend that infamous institution.

My Devadasi Bill, which has now become an Act, deals only with
the Inam-holding Devadasis, but there is a section of that community which
practise dedication under the cloak of religion simply to make a living
out of prostitution. This is nothing but traffic in children; because
children are even bought and adopted (adoption by Devadasi is allowed
by our Hindu Law) ... I have had many memorials and petitions from
the enlightened section of that community asking me to bring about
legislation to punish such wicked people who trade upon the children’s
souls and bodies.

1 Only excerpts are reproduced here.

41-22

338

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

The Penal Code Sections 372 and 373 have proved ineffective. Hence,
I have given notice of another Bill for the success of which I want your
blessings. Some may argue that legislation is no good so long as the
people do not realize the evil in that custom; but my contention is that a
good section of our people perceive the injustice.

Among the Devadasi community itself there is a great awakening, and
they have been doing propaganda on a large scale, but I am pained to
observe that the high-caste people do not help them in that community’s
efforts to reform themselves. And further, our laws for the protection of
children are almost nil in this Presidency . . .

I heartily endorse the writer’s proposal. Indeed I do not
think that the proposed legislation will be in advance of public
opinion. The whole of the enlightened public opinion that is
vocal is against the retention of the system in any shape or form.
The opinion of the parties concerned in the immoral traffic can¬
not count, just as the opinion of keepers of opium dens will not
count in favour of their retention, if public opinion is otherwise
against them. The Devadasi system is a blot upon those who
countenance it. It would have died long ago but for the supineness
of the public. Public conscience in this country somehow or other
lies dormant. It often feels the awfulness of many a wrong,
but is too indifferent or too lazy to move. But if some active
spirit like Dr. Reddi moves, that conscience is prepared to lend
such support as indifference can summon up. I am therefore of
opinion that Dr. Reddi’s proposal is in no way premature. Such
legislation might well have been brought earlier. In any case
I hope that she will receive the hearty support of all lovers of
purity in religious and general social life.

Toung India , 29-8-1929

288 . IMAGE WORSHIP

An inquirer writes:

1. What ritual would you suggest' or the kind of image-worship which
you support? Would it be enough just to have the darshan of the image or would
you also recommend the offering of food, etc.? Considering that the image
cannot eat, how far is it proper to offer it food ?

a. I have no specific ritual for the worship of an image.
Each man or society can create his or its own ritual. And this is.
what usually happens. The ritual indicates the person’s or the
society’s conception of good form. It is after all mostly a matter

image worship

339

of convention. The devotee, as the saying goes, conceives of his
deity in his own image, which means that it is a matter of
imagination, but so long as imagination holds sway it represents
the real.

2. Inasmuch as man is an embodied being, even the greatest of men is
bound to have a few defects. As I see it, the worship of him will result in the
transmission of these defects to the worshipper, because both the merits and
defects of the worshipped tend to be transmitted to the worshipper. Do you
approve of this kind of worship ?

a. For the object of one’s worship one can choose either an
ideal, that is, an imaginary figure, or a historical person. I prefer
the former. Krishna conceived as a Sampurnavatara , i.e,, a plenary
incarnation of God is an ideal, that is, an imaginary incarnation.
A historical Krishna may have defects. I agree that the merits
and defects of the worshipped tend to be transmitted to the
worshipper.

3. The body with the jivatma 1 is called chetana, i.e., the sentient, and after
the soul has departed from it, it is called jada } i.e., the inert. If it is contended
that the all-pervading divine Principle is present also in the lifeless image, how
can one who considers God to he all-pervading limit Him merely to the
image? Would it not amount to an insult to an emperor if one were to call
him the ruler of a small village ?

A. It is true that we cannot limit the authority of an emperor
to just a village, but he is ruler of a small village in the same
degree as he is of countless villages. And it is quite possible that
the resident of a particular village may be completely ignorant of
the existence of other villages. The prince of devotees, Tulsidas,
had for his God the bow-bearing Ramachandra and not the discus-
wielding Krishnachandra. That is why he had the darshan of
Ramachandra even when he looked at the image of Krishna¬
chandra.

4. You often say that for success in the tasks that we have undertaken,
such as Hindu-Muslim unity, people should pray to God. That being so, will
you say that the people who worship trees and other things should pray to
them for selfish or altruistic ends ?

a. There is no detachment in a petitionary prayer. There is
in it an element of attachment and necessarily therefore of aversion.
My ideal prayer is free from attachment and is therefore addressed
-to the all-pervading and unknowable Divine. But those who

1 Individual self

340 the collected works OF MAHATMA GANDHI

worship trees and other things may pray to them for success in
such altruistic prayers as for Hindu-Muslim unity.

5. Along with faith, is not discrimination also necessary? Won’t you say
that faith devoid of discrimination is blind faith or superstition? And is not
blind faith responsible for many evils in the world?

A. My faith includes both knowledge and discrimination.
Faith has no place in things which can be dealt with by reason.
It is thus clear that blind faith is not faith at all.

6. You prescribe the way of truth and non-violence as the only true
way for all men. Gould you not similarly prescribe some specific form of
upas ana 1 —no matter what language is used for ritual or prayer ?

a. Truth and non-violence represent a universal principle.
Upasana, however, is only a means, though a necessary and power¬
ful means, evolved by man. It is therefore determined by time
arid place. It admits of variation, and rightly too, though the
final result is the same. Just as the waters of all rivers flow into
the sea, even so do the prayer and adoration offered to the differ¬
ent deities find their way to Keshava.

[From Hindi]

Hindi Navajivan, 29-8-1929

289 . LETTER TO VASUMATI PANDIT

August 30, 1929

CHI. VASUMATI,

I have your letter. You should make a trip by all means, if
you can free yourself from there. I take my daily walk regularly.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: S.N. 9264; also G. W. 511. Courtesy:
Vasumati Pandit

1 Waiting on God, spiritual or religious exercise, meditation

290 . CARDING OR ARCHERY

The word pinjan 1 has become disagreeable in our language.
Even in figurative language, it is a term implying censure. When a
person keeps on pointlessly repeating the same thing, we say of
him that he is doing pinjan . This usage of the word has become
so established that we do not like the word ‘pinjanshastra’ 1 2 3 4 or 'pinjan-
vidya n . A new form of the tool used in carding, which is known
as the “Bardoli Bow 55 , is made of a bow-shaped bamboo, and
looks like a bow too. Hence I have made bold to use a word
which has become endeared in the terminology of the Kshatriyas,
i.e., ‘ dhanurvidya H instead of the word c pinjanskastra\ I apologize to
the intellectual class for doing this. If other lovers of the lan¬
guage also get enraged at me for taking such liberties with a
word with such an established usage, I beg their forgiveness too.

I feel, however, that at a time when our language is develop¬
ing, when new ideas are being brought into it, new discoveries are
being made, when the scope for courage, etc., is being enlarged,
we should be accommodating in the usage of those words.

The reader is not unfamiliar with the liberties I have been
taking with words for many years. I have given a new defini¬
tion of the word Kshatriya. The latter is not a person who knows
how to kill others but rather one who acquires the art of sacrificing
his own life so that others may live. A Kshatriya is one who has
well mastered the mantra of never retreating in the battle between
gods and demons which is raging in this world. A Kshatriya is one
who is the very embodiment of compassion. What kind of know¬
ledge of archery should such a Kshatriya possess? While reflecting
on this problem, just as a carpenter invariably thinks of a babul
tree, is it any wonder if my mind turns towards carding? If we
learn the craft of carding, if the young people acquire mastery
over it, they would by daily devoting some time to it serve hun¬
dreds of thousands of women. Those who have mastered the science
of spinning repeatedly declare that, if carding is properly done,
if the strands in a sliver are separated and symmetrically arranged,
the resulting yarn will easily be good, even, strong and fine. If

1 Carding

2 Science of carding

3 Knowledge of carding

4 Knowledge of archery

342 THE COLLECTED WORKS OE MAHATMA GANDHI

someone makes slivers free of charge, that will be rendering great
service to those of our women who do not card today and are
not likely to do so. And if this is done, it will go a long
way towards helping make khadi cheap. The activity of spinning
is progressing at snail’s pace. The same is not true of carding or
what we may now call c dhanurvidya\ Moreover, this vidya pre¬
supposes both physical and spiritual strength. Let anyone who
wishes, have a look at a carder’s chest. Every carder’s chest is
something that would make another envious. It is round, ex¬
panded and beautiful. The muscles of his arms too are likewise
well developed. If one carder is earnest, he can surely serve
at least twenty women because he cards at least ten pounds [of
cotton] in ten hours. This amount of cotton is more than what
is required by twenty women working ten hours, who spin yarn of
ten to twelve counts. From this it is clear that anyone who ac¬
quires this skill can find work to his satisfaction.

Moreover, the activity of spinning has been carried on as an
independent trade from ancient times, and has been able to com¬
pete with other trades. Today a carder demands and gets thirty
rupees a month. In the beginning the Ashram had engaged a
carder on a wage of seventy rupees a month. Even an ordinary
carder can make eight annas a day today. One has to have a
book in order to acquire easily a knowledge of such a beautiful
form of archery. This has been included in Maganlal Gandhi’s
book entitled “The Science of Weaving”. However, that can con¬
tain only the basic principles. Again, this vidya has taken great strides
since then. The Gujarat Vidyapith has given a proper place to this
great science, which is a prop of the nation and sustainer of
millions of men and women. It has laid down the examinations
to be held and is realizing and increasing its importance day by
day. Hence the necessity has been felt for having a textbook on
this subject. In order to see to it that the text is a very useful
one, a questionnaire has been issued by the Principal to those who
have mastered the art. The questions go into minute detail and
occupy a fair amount of space and as only a particular section of
readers would be interested in it, I do not publish them here.
However, those who are interested in this subject should write to
the Principal, Gujarat Vidyapith, Ahmedabad, and obtain a copy
of the questionnaire. His office will find it convenient if the words
‘Regarding dhanurvidyd are written on the left-hand side of the
address.

Perhaps, it is necessary to add that the term has not been ac¬
cepted by the Vidyapith. I have coined it for the very first time

MY NOTES

343

for this article. I alone am responsible for its use. Kakasaheb or the
other office-bearers can reject it. The reader who does not like
this use of the word may suggest any other sonorous word instead.
A carder is also known as a tanti. Since a tant 1 is the principal factor
involved in carding, the term ‘tantvidyc? or Hantshastra? may also be
employed. But I must admit that I like the word c dhanurvidya2

[From Gujarati]

Navajivari) 1-9-1929

291 . MY NOTE
Shri Hiralal’s Scheme

Three experienced persons have independently pointed out
the same defect in Shri Hiralal’s scheme published in Young India
and Navajivan for a new type of spinning-wheel. Since others who
are giving thought to this scheme also find this and other defects
in it, I publish below one letter from among the many that I
have here with me: 2

Let Shri Hiralal and others interested in innovations give
thought to this. Even if Shri HiralaPs scheme is regarded as faulty
and considered useless, his efforts will still be dear to me. Such
efforts are very necessary. Although we may not discover a new
spinning-wheel, while working in that direction we may come
across many other things. Although the farmer’s heirs did not
discover in his field the golden egg mentioned in his will, they
got by digging it up untainted wealth in the form of a golden
harvest which proved even more valuable than the golden egg and
the heirs learned the importance of body labour.

[From Gujarati]

Navajivan , 1-9-1929

1 A thread

2 The letter is not translated here. Hiralal had suggested the use of a hol¬
low spindle. The correspondent contended that it would result in untwisting
the yarn, and making i% weak &nd fragile.

292. FIT FOR ALL TO READ

The Navajivan Prakashan Mandir has just published Shri
Mahadev Desai’s “History of Bardoli Satyagraha” 1 . As it has been
written by Shri Mahadev Desai, it is indeed authoritative and the
reader can rest assured about the authenticity of each event men¬
tioned in it. At a time when the fragrance of a gigantic satyagraha
has filled the air and people are eagerly looking forward to the com¬
ing year, everyone who desires to secure swaraj should know what
kind of weapon satyagraha is, what its limits are, how Bardoli, the
Sardar and the people of Bardoli employed it, what kind of
triumph they achieved thereby, what fine after-effects flowed from
it and how far-reaching they have been. Hence this history is
very opportune. Everyone should make a detailed study of it.
Considering its subject-matter, it is neither too long nor too
short and it occupies 389 demy octavo pages. It contains six illustra¬
tions the most useful of which is the one giving a map of Bardoli,
showing all its principal villages. The inquiry committee had
visited 47 villages, which are indicated with the help of numbers.
Other useful details are also given. Among other useful illustrations,
that of a women’s meeting attracts special attention. This history
has been priced at only twelve annas. 2 I hope that all will get a
copy of this book, read it carefully, reflect upon it, and derive
some inspiration from it regarding the kind of sacrifice they may
in their turn be able to make at the altar of swaraj.

[From Gujarati]

Navajivan , 1-9-1929

1 Bardoli Satyagrahano Itihas

2 The source has a footnote advising those ordering the book by post to
send three annas extra for postage.

293 . SCHEME OF SELF-RELIANCE

Of course, I did publish Shri Shivabhai’s article 1 but I have
received three articles contradicting it. The last one is from Shri
Jethalal, It is not easy to oppose him because he writes from his
experience and adheres firmly to his views. His rejoinder 2 runs as
follows.

All lovers of khadi who have made a study of its science should
consider this reply carefully. If those who do not know this science
master the arithmetic behind it, they will find it interesting and
enjoyable. Having said this, I may add that I cannot deviate from
my basic statement. I still feel that, in the widespread propa¬
ganda for khadi, the principle that those who spin should also
weave cannot work. That certainly is not the ideal situation.
At the very basis of this scheme lies lack of faith in human beings.
As weaving is a complete and independent activity, it cannot be
carried on in every house and in attempting to do so, one would
run counter to the prevailing principle of division of labour. Man
is as independent as he is dependent. And he must be so in order
that he may be able to preserve his humility. If he can be visual¬
ized as a totally independent being, he will cease to be a social
animal and if, in turn, he ceases to be that, he will cease to be
non-violent and will be unable to achieve a sense of unity with all
living beings.

It has been said that, if all those who spin do not weave, they
will not turn out good yarn. This amounts to maligning the human
race. If those textile mills which only produce yarn can make fine
yarn, why should not persons who merely spin on the spinning-
wheel do likewise ? Love will make them spin fine yarn. The reader
should bear in mind that it is a different matter that, in order
to have a complete knowledge of spinning, it is necessary to have a
knowledge of weaving also. There should certainly be no need for
every spinner to weave for himself in order to improve the quality
of the yarn spun by him. I am becoming increasingly convinced
day by day of the need to make an independent effort to improve

1 “If Spinners also Weave?” published in Navajivan > 18-8-1929; videp . 298.

2 Not translated here. Taking into account the cost of cotton and
wages for ginning, carding and spinning, the correspondent had shown that
khadi produced thus would cost nearly three rupees a yard of 10 count yarn
and 30 inches width.

346

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

the quality of yarn. The spinner stands to gain by such improve¬
ment. Let us take full advantage of this and bring about an im¬
provement in the quality of yarn. We shall never be able to
make innumerable women take to weaving. Even at present we
have been able, with some effort, to make the women produce
better yarn. The improvement that has taken place in yarn in
the course of the last seven years is a hopeful sign.

Moreover, there are hundreds of thousands of expert weavers
in the country and it is our duty to make use of their skill. They
too form a section of the people. We have yet to win them over
with love. We have still to convince them that in the reform of their
trade lies the welfare of the country. And it is through such mutual
trust and dependence alone that we are going to march ahead.

I regard the question of competing with cloth made in textile
mills—whether foreign or Indian—as a temporary and futile one.
When farmers store their own cotton, carry on all the activities up
to that of spinning in their own homes, they will certainly get their
own khadi made by paying the proper wage to the weaver and not
touch mill-made cloth. The economics of khadi is unique. It has
a soul whereas the economics of textile mills is soulless. Hence
the two differ in kind. Just as the waters of the ocean and those of
the Ganges being qualitatively different cannot be compared to
each other, similarly there can be no comparison between cloth
produced in textile mills and hand-made cloth produced in villages.

However, no one should interpret my article to imply that,
where the farmer is well-to-do and has a large family, he should
not introduce weaving into his house; he certainly should do so.
My emphasis is on keeping the activity of spinning separate; there
is a danger of suffocating it by combining it with weaving or
of slackening the pace of the widespread use of the spinning-
wheel. For the purpose of propaganda for the spinning-wheel,
it is necessary to realize and demonstrate the limits of weav¬
ing. Whereas crores have to spin, only lakhs have to weave;
while spinning will always remain primarily a subsidiary occupa¬
tion, weaving will always remain chiefly an independent one. On
the revival of spinning depends the economic and, consequently,
the moral upliftment of crores of people and in order to make the
activity successful, it is necessary to bring about development in
all sections of society such as weavers, business men and others.
Spinning is an activity which awakens religious sentiment and
purifies the soul.

[From Gujarati]

Nwoajivan, 1-9-1929

294 . LETTER TO ABBAS TYABJI

[September 1, 1929 } 1

DEAR BHUR-R-R 2 ,

The check is being duly acknowledged. What does it matter
what others think of it so long as your conscience and your doc¬
tor tell you, you dare not go far from home ? But you must soon
be a young man of seventeen and not an old mare of seventy.

Touts,

Bhurrr

[PS.]

I shall tell Raihana your message when she comes.

M. K. G.

Abbas Tyabji, Esq.

Camp, Baroda

From a photostat: S.N. 9567

295 . LETTER TO BEHRAMJI KHAMBHATTA

Sabarmati,

September 2, 1929

BHAI KHAMBHATTA,

I have your letter. I expect to reach Revashankerbhai’s place
at two in the afternoon of the 7th. I shall get down at Dadar by
the first morning train reaching there, and then go to Vile Parle.
From there I shall reach Bombay at 2 p.m. The programme you
have drawn up is all right. It would be good if you can begin
at 5.30 and still better if at 6 o’clock. Being forbidden by doctors
to speak much, I shall speak for a few minutes only. Can you not
manage to go through the programme in an hour and a half?
Of course I do not wish to put you to inconvenience. You need
not do anything else for me. Arrange to take me to the place.
If you wish, you may see me at Dadar.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 6595
1 From the postmark

?This was a form of greeting used between Gandhiji and the addressee.

296. TELEGRAM TO THAKURDAS BHARGAVA 1

Sabarmati,

[On or after September 2, 1929 ]

MY OPINION EIGHTEEN YEARS GIRLS- TWENTY-FIVE BOYS.

From a photostat: S.N. 15523

297. APPEAL TO TEMPLE TRUSTEES

Sjt. Jamnalalji in his capacity as Hon. Secretary, Anti-un-
touchability Committee of the Indian National Congress, has ad¬
dressed the following forcible appeal 2 to the trustees of public Hindu
temples:

You are probably aware that the Indian National Congress has
appointed a separate Committee this year for making special efforts for the
removal of untouchability. The work has obviously to be done through
the Hindus, and the Congress resolution is explicit on the point. In these
days of terrific advance in material science while the world is shrinking
fast, India has constantly to be weighed in the scale of nations as a
single indivisible unit, and when an evil within the fold of a community
apart from its inherent injustice becomes a nuisance to its neighbours and
a reproach to the entire nation, it is only appropriate, you will agree, that
the premier national institution such as the Congress should interest itself
in it, and help the community concerned to achieve its speedy elimina¬
tion. . . .

. . . The Hindu tradition, founded on Vedic and scriptural lore, and
nurtured by the most dynamic teachings of Kabir, Gaurang, Jnaneshvar,
Eknath, Tukaram,Narasinh Mehta and a whole galaxy of Dravidian saints,
not only broke the barriers in social intercourse between man and man,
but emphatically repudiated and positively set their face against any
such cruel distinctions. . . .

. . . The barest justice requires us to let them draw from the village
well drinking water, to let their children have the same benefit of learn¬
ing the three R’s at the village school as our own, and to fling open
for them the temples of God that we open to the rest of the Hindus. . . .

1 In reply to his telegram dated September 2, which read: “Sarda Bill fixing
fourteen for girls. Wire your opinion minimum marriage age for girls and boys.”

2 Only excerpts are reproduced here.

APPEAL TO TEMPLE TRUSTEES 349

I shall be thankful if you will let me know what action you propose
taking in response to my appeal to you.

Let us hope that the appeal will not fall on deaf ears. Wardha
has led the way. In this connection it is pleasurable to note what
a correspondent writes. He says:

Of late there has set in a healthy tide of thoughtful and sympathetic
consideration of this question among class Hindus throughout Maharashtra.
The recent opening of the temple at Elichpur 1 has added further stimula¬
tion. Two or three more temples have been thrown open to untouchables
quietly. Sjt. Bhopatkar, as President of the local Asprishyata Nivarak
Mandal has issued through the Kesari a reasoned appeal to all the trustees
of Hindu temples in Maharashtra, inviting them to throw open the temples
under their charge to untouchables. He has also issued a special appeal
to the trustees of the famous Parvati Temple of Poona built by the
Peshwas. It is managed by trustees who are known to be public-spirit¬
ed. This appeal has been ably reinforced by Rao Bahadur Prof. Sahasra-
buddhe of Poona. The Rao Bahadur makes a passionate appeal to the
local Mahasabha, Youth League, Brahman Sabha, Students 5 Brotherhood,
the pundits and all the general public to strengthen the hands of the
trustees by publicly supporting the latter emphatically and unequivocally.

It is to be hoped that the Hindu public will support these
appeals by calling meetings and otherwise. Perhaps the most effec¬
tive way is to organize local meetings in places where there are
important temples and take deputations to the trustees. After all
they are not owners, but agents of the public, and if the public
demand freedom of entry for the ‘untouchables 5 into a particular
temple, the trustees concerned have to carry out their desire
irrespective of their own opinions.

Young India , 5-9-1929

298. CONGRESS ORGANIZATION

Sjt. Jairamdas reports that out of 172 possible District Con¬
gress Committees only 27 have been sending reports of work done
in connection with the foreign-cloth boycott movement inaugu¬
rated by the Congress, which is really the most important part of
the Congress work in the sense that it affects the whole nation
and it is a programme in which everyone can take part. It is
moreover a programme whose successful working cannot but pro¬
duce a tremendous impression both on ourselves and the rulers.
Sjt. Jairamdas further states that repeated reminders fail to bring
even acknowledgments. Some Provincial Congress Committees
have ignored his appeals altogether. Thus there is nothing from
seven provinces, viz., Delhi, C.P. Hindustani, Burma, Assam,
Andhra, Ajmer and North Western Frontier. Out of a total of
2,230 reports bespoken only 86 have been received, i.e., 4 per cent!
The districts are distributed as follows:

Berar

Punjab

Maharashtra

Utkal

Bihar

Kerala

[3]

Tamil Nad

Sind

U. P.

Bombay

C. P. Marathi

Karnatak

Gujarat

Bengal

169

There are more

than 250

districts in British India.

Thus

only two-thirds of the total number of districts are covered nomi¬
nally by the Congress organization. This is not a bright outlook.
The Congress is the one organization that appeals to the nation.
It is the one organization which, if efficiently worked, can without
doubt secure freedom for the nation. But it cannot do so if its
component parts do not respond with the quickest dispatch to
instructions from the central office, or if it does not cover every
district and taluk, let alone every village. Foreign-cloth boycott
is a matter largely of organization. There are no two opinions
about its desirability and even necessity. But the ablest secretary
will fail, if those who have to be organized are lazy or indifferent.
It is time for responsible workers throughout the provinces to pon¬
der over the painful facts narrated by me, and to remedy an evil
which is so easily avoidable. The Secretaries of District and

FORTHCOMING U. P. TOUR

351

Taluk Committees should know that failure to carry out instruc¬
tions from headquarters brings them under the disciplinary reso¬
lution passed by the A.I.C.C. meeting at Bombay. Personally I
should prefer to have only 16 swift-moving, co-operating commit¬
tees instead of 169 indifferent, irresponsive and irresponsible commit¬
tees. The 16 real committees can show some work. The 169 inactive,
sleeping committees can only be a dead weight. What shall we be ?

Young India, 5-9-1929

299 . FORTHCOMING HP. TOUR

Local organizers have asked me for instructions regarding the
forthcoming tour in the United Provinces. I had thought that
what I had said about the Andhra tour 1 would suffice, but I observe
that the paragraphs then written escaped the attention of workers
in the other provinces, as they were not then directly concerned.

To come then to the U.P. tour, organizers will please re¬
member that I have just risen from a sick bed to which I was dri¬
ven by my own ignorance and premature trustfulness. Medical
and other friends have therefore reconciled themselves to the tour
on my promise that I would take as much rest as possible during
the day, refrain from making long speeches or from undertaking
much other exertion. Therefore the organizers will beware of
multiplying functions or expecting long speeches from me. Nor
must I be called upon to walk or mount huge platforms.

Even apart from medical instructions consequent on my
convalescence, from the strict business point of view—and this
tour is to be purely a business and businesslike tour—it is necessary
to save time and expense.

I have a horror of touching-the-feet devotion. It is wholly un¬
necessary as a mark of affection, it may easily be degrading. It
interferes with free and easy movement, and I have been hurt by
the nails of the devotees cutting into the flesh. The performance
has often taken more than fifteen minutes to pass through a crowd
to a platform only a few yards from the farthest end.

The platform is comparatively a costly affair, and sometimes
when unskilfully constructed, a dangerous contrivance. It is there¬
fore better to take my motor to the centre of the meeting and use
it as a platform. This proved a most effective and expeditious
method in Andhra.

1 Vide Vol. XL, pp. 88-90.

352

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

Reception Committees should on no account cut through the
purses for the purpose of defraying decoration or feeding expenses.
There should be a separate collection where required. All decora¬
tion should therefore be avoided. Even where some decoration is
resorted to, foreign cloth, foreign paper and the like should be
altogether excluded.

Noises at the meetings should be avoided. This can only be
done by some leading men going to the meetings in advance,
and coaching the audience to observe silence, not to press, not to
shout, not to smoke, not to attempt to advance towards me for
touching the feet, etc.

Strictest economy should be observed about housing and feed¬
ing me and my company. The companions should have the plain¬
est fare, no spices, no sweets. Local fruit if obtainable may be
given. Expensive fruit must not be ordered from Bombay, Calcutta
or Delhi. I carry a supply of dried fruit with me, and I should
be thankful for it to be locally replenished wherever obtainable.
Lemons are a necessary article of food. Unfortunately for me, I
have been obliged to revert to goat’s milk. It will be therefore
necessary to procure for me about 4 lb. of goat’s milk, and
where possible, curds made from goat’s milk, in whose manufac¬
ture no other curds are mixed for fermentation. A few drops of
lemon added to boiled and cooled goat’s milk curdles it in twelve
hours.

My lodgings should be so selected as to afford me quiet and
privacy. We carry enough cloth to make our own beddings. But
where anything in this direction is supplied, it should be entirely
of khadi. It has been a torture to me at times to be placed in
luxuriously fitted rooms where everything is foreign, cloth included.

Work should not commence before 7 a.m. and should not
take more than two hours. In every case it should stop at 10 a.m.,
and not recommence before 5.30 p.m. and should not go beyond
8 p.m. From 10 to 3 I should have the whole time to myself for
rest and my editorial and other work. Between 3 and 4 I should
spin and see workers. Workers’ meetings I hold to be necessary in
every place, big or small.

Spectacular functions should be strictly avoided, except where
they are meant to serve an educational purpose.

Organizers should remember that this is a khadi tour under¬
taken on behalf of the All-India Spinners’ Association. It is the
largest national organization run on business lines for the sole pur¬
pose of bringing the message of the wheel to the homes of the seven
hundred thousand villages of this vast country. On its successful

FORTHCOMING U. P. TOUR

353

working depends the relief of the growing and grinding economic
distress of the semi-starved millions. I want every pie I can
get for this work. One rupee in the chest of the A.I.S.A. means a
day’s feed to 16 starving sisters, whereas in a private pocket it may
mean a day’s drink or a day’s cigar or a day’s sweets bringing
diseases in their train.

Moneys collected from the populace should on no account
be diverted for any other purpose. The masses give trustingly. The
safest way to use their donations is for the propagation of the wheel.
Donations so used return to their kind charged with double inte¬
rest. In these collections all should take part irrespective of party
or status. Even judges have paid me for khadi.

But I want to do other Congress work also. I want to learn
about and help in the organization of the Congress. The addresses
where presented should therefore be full of information:

(a) The population with its component parts in the area
covered by the address;

(b) national schools with attendance;

(d) monthly sale locally and outside of khadi produced;

(e) number of self-spinners;

(f) number of volunteers and the nature of their work;

(g) number of members* men and women* according to
religious denomination;

(h) state of Congress finance;

(i) quantity of work done for boycott of foreign cloth*
liquor and untouchability, and state of Hindu-Muslim rela¬
tions.

This is merely a sample of the information I should like to be
supplied to me. I should like a map drawn to scale of each
taluk visited with the villages shown where Congress activity is
carried on.

Those who are Interested in cow welfare and pure milk sup¬
ply will give me the information about the condition of the cattle
in their respective areas.

Lastly* I should of course love to see students* not to address
them but to meet them so as to enter into their hearts and to
share their sorrows and difficulties. Women’s meetings I always
expect everywhere with their jewellery and well-spun yarn.

Young India, 5-9-1929

41-23

m MOTES

Afflicted Sind

The pen refuses to move to record the tale of Sind’s woe. Day
after day I follow the harrowing accounts in the daily Press, and
realize our helplessness. But we may not therefore sit idle. Every
rupee received will relieve some distress. We have simply to do
the little we can. The widow’s mite coming from a pure heart
goes much faster than millions given grudgingly. All the contribu¬
tions received will be spent through the very careful and tried
agency of Professor Narayandas Malkani. Let the donors not delay
their contributions.

A National Insult

The insulting and impossible (for a self-respecting man) condi¬
tions imposed by the Union Government on the Ali Brothers in res¬
pect of their contemplated visit to South Africa demonstrate once
more the truth of the proverb: “The leopard cannot change his
spots.” One had thought that after the friendly agreement arrived
at the historic round table conference, after the wonderful work
done by the Rt. Hon’ble Sastri in South Africa, the insult offered
to the Ali Brothers and through them to the nation by the Union
Government was impossible. In view of the undertaking volun¬
tarily given by the Brothers, the Union Government could have
felt sure that they would never deliver political speeches. With
reference to notabilities the convention is to assume correct con¬
duct on their part without the necessity of imposing galling res¬
trictions. And even when in such cases there is any doubt about
such conduct, the convention is to ensure safety through diplo¬
matic and courteous channels. For instance in this very case the
Union Government, instead of conveying the restrictions to the
Ah Brothers, could have secured their purpose through the Govern¬
ment of India—in so far as it was legitimate. In no case could
they exact pecuniary security or impose a ridiculous time -limit as
the Union Government have sought to do. It is to be hoped
that the Government of India will see that this palpable wrong is
righted, the restrictions wholly withdrawn and the Brothers per¬
mitted to proceed to South Africa without hurting their self-res¬
pect and without undue restrictions, direct or indirect, tacit or
implied.

NOTES

355

Pure Cheap Literature

I have not much faith in the efficacy of cheap literature, how¬
ever pure it may be, when it is pitted against dirty literature. I
believe in the contact of pure conduct. But on the principle that
something is better than nothing and that the spread of pure litera¬
ture can do no harm even where it fails to do good, I welcome
the enterprise of Sjt. Mahavirprasad Poddar and his band of purist
friends in publishing good, pure, healthy literature. These publica¬
tions are very cheap, very handy and all in Hindi. It consists of
abridgments from Navajivan, Young India and other publications.
Eastern and European. Much consists of khadi literature. I recom¬
mend this for stocking in all khadi bhandars. Full information may
be had from Shuddha Khadi Bhandar, 132 Harrison Road, Cal¬
cutta,

The Charkha Supplement

I very nearly promised 1 the reader the plan that Sjt. Hiralal
had accompanied his specification. He has now very kindly sup¬
plied me with the block and letterpress. The reader will see both. 2
in the supplement to this issue. It is perhaps only proper that I
should tell him that three Gujarati correspondents have in¬
dependently of one another raised identical objections 3 to Sjt.
Hiralal’s conception, objections which they hold to be radical
and fatal to its success. I have published one of the letters in
Navajivan . Shortly, the objection is that the hollow spindle will
not wind the yarn if it is to work at both ends. The twist
received at one end will be undone at the other end 4 . This is as
far as a layman can describe a technical objection. I have brought
this to Sjt. HiralaTs notice, and suggested to him that he should
now translate his theory into practice, and have a model made of
his plan and work at it regularly, till he can make the next an¬
nouncement not of a well-reasoned specification, but of a complete
charkha constructed according to his specification.

At any rate the labour spent by Sjt. Hiralal Shah is its own
reward. He has endeavoured to stimulate and provoke the in¬
ventive faculty of khadi lovers. Whether he can now follow up his
specification with concrete action or not, it is for others to take
up the thread of their conception where Sjt. Hiralal has left it,

1 Vide p. 308.

2 Not reproduced here

3 Vide p. 343.

4 The source has “hand”.

356

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

The plan now presented to the reader should help him in that
direction.

Young India, 5-9-1929

301. INDIAN CULTURE

When I was touring in U.P in 1924 a peasant called out to
me near Ayodhya and threw a sheet of paper in my car. I picked
up that sheet and found that he had written on it many precious
quatrains and couplets from Tulsidas's Ramacharitamanasa. This made
me very happy and enhanced my reverence for Indian culture. I
preserved this sheet in my file hoping to publish it some day.

I would take it up every week and put it aside. For at the
time I got it I was not writing anything for Hindi Navajivan and
I did not feel that it would be so useful for the Gujarati Navajivan .
Part of what he had written on it was published in both the
Gujarati and Hindi editions in 1927. 1

As these days I am regularly writing something every week
for Hindi Navajivan and also as my tour of U.P. is to begin
shortly I am publishing below the remaining part: 2

I have left out the words of praise. This peasant brother
has a neat hand and he has formed his letters with care.

Historians have testified that nowhere in the world are the
peasants as civilized as in India. This sheet of paper is proof
of it. Tulsidas has played a leading part in the preservation of
Indian culture. Without the awakening influence of the Rama¬
charitamanasa of Tulsidas, the life of the peasants would become
dull and dry. One cannot say how it happened but it is un¬
questionably true that the life-giving force in Tulsidas's language
is not found in other writers. Ramacharitamanasa is a storehouse of
gems of thought. The above couplets and quatrains give us some
idea of its value. I firmly believe that the peasant writer did not
have to put in much effort in the selection of quotations. He has
supplied them from his repertory.

We need not despair as to our morality, when we hear from
a peasant's mouth sayings like, “Can an adulterer find salvation?",
“Gan a kingdom stand without a knowledge of statecraft?", “Is
there any vice to match backbiting or any virtue to match com¬
passion?" 3 and so on.

1 Vide VoL XXXIV, p. 490.

2 Not translated here

3 From Ramacharitamanasa , £ U ttarakanda’

LETTER TO G. V. MAVL AXKAR

357

It is said these days that the peasants are living in darkness,
that in our country tamas is predominant and that it must move
on into rajas . First of all I do not believe that tamas, rajas
and sattva can be divided into such watertight compartments. I
feel that everyone has within him all the three gunas in some
measure or other. The difference is only of degree. I firmly
believe that in our country it is not tamas which rules supreme
but sattva. This sheet of paper is a proof of this. If this had
been an exception, it would not have served as a proof of the
predominance of sattva in India. But when we know that mil¬
lions of peasants know by heart the quatrains and couplets of
Tulsidas and that they also understand them, then we can say with
a measure of certainty that people who have such ideas have a
sattvik civilization and that these quatrains and couplets are a
proof of it.

[From Hindi]

Hindi Navajivan , 5-9-1929

302 . LETTER TO G. F. MAVLANKAR

September 6, 1929

BHAISHRI MAVALANKAR,

I wonder what I should say to you. You have many things
to attend to, and there must be several mendicants like me waiting
at your door. However, as compared to the other, the fee-paying,
clients, the beggars have either a prior right or none at all. This
by way of introduction.

The Trust Deed relating to the Navajivan Karyalaya has been
lying with you, and it has now got to be registered without
delay. One can never know what will happen when. Before any¬
thing happens, you, I and all others concerned must [take this
step and] run the risk of incurring humiliation. Please, therefore,
have done with the job in a week’s time. As two years have al¬
ready passed, it may be necessary to make some changes. Please

consider this.

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati ; G.N. 1226

303. LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI

[September 7, 1929 J 1

CHI. CHHAGANLAL,

I am writing these few lines in the midst of much work and
surrounded by a number of people.

1. Sharma will arrive there on Monday. I shall enclose his
telegram with this if I can find it. He is an expert on the con¬
sumption of uncooked grain. He has even written several books
on the subject. Those who eat such grain* and Lakshmidas,
should have a discussion with him. If, after that, he wishes to
come to Agra, he may do so. Tell him that, if he wishes, he can
stay there for two and a half months. Look after him. I feel
sorry that he will be coming from such a long distance and his
visit will be fruitless. I had written to him and told him that
he could come, if he wished.

2. I was alarmed to read about the mistakes in our account
books. You know my faith in Narandas in this matter. I should
like you to take his full help for this work and be guided by
him. Lakshmidas, too, knows this job well. There should be
neither a moment’s delay about this nor any slackness.

3. The water in the well must have been cleaned.

4. Think and decide soon whether the house occupied by
Bhansali should be used for women’s work.

5. What happened about Zaverbhai’s wife ?

Blessings from

Bapu

[From Gujarati]

Bapuna Patro-7: Shri Chhaganlal Joshine, pp. 123-3

1 Vide “Letter to Chhaganlal Joshi”, p. 369; also the following item,,

304. LETTER TO DR. HIRALAL SHARMA

September 7, 1929

DEAR FRIEND,

You will be at the Ashram on Monday to find me away. I
am sorry. But I am glad you have come. Please discuss the food
question with those who were trying unfired food. You can stay
as long as you wish at the Ashram. And if you will follow me
you can come to Agra. I shall be there till 20th. We can discuss
my failure. I should love to resume the experiment if I get pro¬
per guidance. Thanks, I had your book. The two principal
volumes I have brought with me.

Tours sincerely,

M. K. Gandhi

From a photostat: G.N. 5429

305. MOTE ON DISPUTE BETWEEN MILL-OWNERS

AND WORKERS 1

Bombay,
September 7, 1929

There are approximately more than 55,000 labourers employ¬
ed in the textile mills of Ahmedabad. In 1923, the mills were
not in the same happy position in which they were in 1920-21;
mill-owners, therefore, cut the workers 3 wages by 15J per cent. This
reduction was not made through the medium of the panch in
accordance with the agreement between the mill-owners and the
workers. The latter resorted to a prolonged strike in which they
were not successful. For the last eight months or so, the labourers
have been demanding that this cut should be restored. Finally,
this issue was entrusted to the panch, which includes Sheth Mangaldas
Girdhardas and myself. I regret to say that we could not reach
unanimity about our decision. The mill-owners have raised the
objection that the cut made in 1923 was effected with the consent
of both the parties. It was also argued that the cut was intro¬
duced through the panch and that, in whatever way the cut might

l This note, intended for submission to an umpire, was on the fresh issue
raised by the Labour Union, viz., that the cut in the workers’ wages effected
in 1923 was not justified. Vide pp. 270-L

360

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

have been effected, the workers had no right now to ask for its
annulment. Moreover, the owners maintain that the financial
condition of the mills does not permit this and finally that the wages
which the workers get at present are in excess of their needs.

As against this the labourers say that

1. no verdict was given by the punch in 1923;

2. the labourers had not accepted the wage-cut willingly
but because of their inability to prolong the strike;

3. whatever the facts of the case, the wages received by the
workers in 1923 were barely sufficient to meet their needs. They
have had to bear greater loss because of the cut.

From the evidence presented before the punch I have come
to the conclusion that all the three points put forward by the
labourers are valid. I am also of opinion that in matters regard¬
ing wages, etc., decisions given at any particular time do not
hold good for ever. Hence, whenever such cases are put forward
by the workers or the mill-owners, the punch is bound to examine
the pros and cons and then give its verdict.

In my opinion, there is only one important matter that needs
to be examined. Are the wages paid at present sufficient to
meet the labourers’ basic needs? If they are not, so long as the
condition of a mill does not deteriorate to the extent that it
has to be run by drawing on its capital, no reduction should be
made in the wages of the labourers who are working while suffer¬
ing a loss. On the basis of the facts presented before the panch,
I have come to the conclusion that the majority of labourers do
not get a living wage.

Two official publications were presented before the punch,

L Report on an Inquiry into the Wages and Hours of Labour in the
Cotton Mill Industry , 1923

2, Report on an Inquiry into Working-class Family Budgets of
Ahmedabad) 1928

The actual average wage of an Ahmedabad mill-workers
amounts to Rs. 27-7-0 and, provided he is not absent even for
a single day, it can go up to Rs. 33-7-6 (vide the first publi¬
cation, pp. 11-2).

The figures of expenditure presented from the side of labour
indicate that the monthly expenditure of a family amounts to Rs.
49-13-6 (see Appendix A). These figures relate to a Hindu family.
The expenditure of a Muslim family is even more. Hence, on the
whole, the labourers do suffer a loss. The expenditure figure

accepted in the second publication mentioned above is Rs. 39-5-§
(vide p. 37).

NOTE ON DISPUTE BETWEEN MILL-OWNERS AND WORKERS 361

The reason for this discrepancy is that, as proved by that
document, it does not take into account item No. 22 (interest)
and No. 24 (social expenses), and the figures for item No. 8
(milk) and No. 14 (fuel) are lower. In my opinion, this expense is
necessary and reasonable. The amount which has to be paid
by way of interest is partly unavoidable and partly avoidable.
Interest which has to be paid on grocery which is bought on
credit as the wages are low is unavoidable, whereas the expense on
liquor and such things which is incurred by borrowing money can
be avoided. Hence the interest that is actually paid is not taken
into account, but rather that which would have to be paid. Social
expenses are also inevitable. Labourers, or for that matter any¬
one else, may starve but will see to it that social obligations of his
family and caste are met. Hence, even after hearing all that was
said on the side of the mill-owners, I find no reason to reduce the
figures of expenditure presented by the labourers.

The various classes of textile workers deserve to be noted:

(a) Those numbering 13,482 who earn a wage of Rs. 30 to
Rs. 40.

Persons working in the weaving department mainly constitute
this class. It is made up exclusively of men—there are no women
in it.

(b) Those numbering 32,828 who earn a wage of Rs. 6 to
Rs. 30.

This includes people working in the following sections of the
textile industry: carding, blow-room, frame, spinning, reeling,
binding, engineering, etc. Besides men, women as well as child¬
ren are employed in these sections. Their numbers are as follows:

1. Men workers 17,381

2. Women workers 6,602

3. Children (from 14 to 18 years of age) 2,363

4. Children (who work for half a day and
under 14 years of age)

(Note: The figures given in b(2) include the 1,976 women
who are employed in the winding department. Their income,
unlike that of the women working in other sections, does not add
up to the income of the men working in this section.)

These figures indicate that even in class (b), there remains a
large section in which, as in class (a), only men are employed.

The wage-earning class in section (b) earns only around Rs.
33. This is testified by the second publication mentioned above
(vide table 1, p. 11).

362 the collected Works of mahatma gandhi

The families of workers belonging to class (a) do not generally
work.

There are about 2,300 labourers whose income exceeds Rs.
40. In addition, there are 1,670 jobbers, 1,651 clerks, 1,171
watchmen and others* There had, however, been no cut in their
wages in 1923.

Note: These figures have been extracted from publication No.

1 in which detailed information has been given regarding all
workers employed the textile mills of Ahmedabad in August
1923. The total number in that year has been shown as 52,038
but since then there has been an increase in this number.

In publication No. 2, the average income of all labourers in
Ahmedabad has been calculated as Rs. 44-8-0. In publication
No. 1, the maximum amount has been given as Rs. 33-7-6. In
the latter, labourers working in places other than textile mills have
not been included- Also it does not include income earned out¬
side of that occupation. But it does give the average income of
all labourers employed in textile mills. In publication No. 2, the
income from all sources and the entire labour force have been
taken into account but the principal distinction in No. 2 is that
the inquiry is restricted to only 872 families, whereas in No. 1,
the wages of all labourers employed in textile mills have been taken
into account. In publication No. 2, the inquiry covers the
following wage-earners:

Incomewise Number of Families

income group

Under Rs. 20

NUMBER OF

FAMILIES

TOTAL

PERCENTAGE

1.15

Between Rs.

20 and Rs. 30

146

16.74

Rs.

30 and Rs. 40

182

20.87

Rs.

40 and Rs. 50

220

25.23

Rs.

50 and Rs. 60

157

18.01

Rs.

60 and Rs. 70

8.37

Rs.

70 and Rs. 80

.5.16

Rs.

80 and Rs. 90
#

3.67

In other words, the income

872

of 527 families is

100 (p.c.)
over Rs. 40.

Whereas, as indicated by me above, the larger part of the class
of labourers who are demanding the withdrawal of the cut has
an income below Rs. 40 and of this too the majority has an in¬
come of under Rs- 30. Hence any kind of inquiry proves that
the majority of workers earn less than they spend.

NOTE ON DISPUTE BETWEEN MILL-OWNERS AND WORKERS 363

An argument advanced by the mill-owners is that even today
the mills are running at a loss. I regard the evidence given in
support of this as rather weak. It is possible that a few mills are
running at a loss; but the majority of them would not incur losses.
If the shareholders were given a smaller dividend or if the per¬
centage in respect of depreciation were not deducted before declaring
the dividend and if nothing can be taken to the Reserve Fund.

I would not place these as losses as against the wages of labourers.

I must mention one point here. Labour had put forward
two arguments in support of its demand. I have already discussed
one of them. The second was that mills were at present making
such profits that they should withdraw the wage-cut. Labour,
on its part, could not prove this and on this the panch has given
a unanimous verdict. 1

It is my opinion that the other point has been proved by
labour. There is an understanding between my colleague and
myself that the papers put before the panch should be sent by
both these parties to a Sarpanch 2 .

I have to write out my verdict first; after seeing it my col¬
league should write out his 3 ; after seeing the latter, I should
offer my comments.

If the Sarpanch wishes to consult the panch, they should meet
at a time and place convenient to all three.

If the Sarpanch feels that any further proof is necessary, he
has the right to ask for it.

Besides the papers which have already been presented, if any
of the parties wish to present any more facts relating to the point
in question before the Sarpanch, they can do so after showing it
to each other.

Finally, since unrest is spreading among the labourers as a
result of the delay in the decision, the Sarpanch is requested to
give his decision as early as possible.

I have to tour the U.P. till the 24th of November, but if the
Sarpanch wants to ask me anything, he should write to me care
of the Satyagraha Ashram, whence the letter will be forwarded
to me wherever I am and I shall send the Sarpanch whatever
replies I may have to after consulting my coliegue.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

From a microfilm of the Gujarati: S.N. 14974

1 Vide pp. 283-4.

2 Umpire

3 For the note by Sheth Mangaldas, vide S.N. 14975.

306. “IF SPINNERS ALSO WEAVE?”

I have received one or two similar articles. I have published
this one 1 as I felt that it was the best. The others deal with the
same subject but the treatment is not so good.

Shivabhai 3 s calculations appear to be defective. 2 However,
we should overlook this and understand the underlying principle.
Very often it has been the case that, whereas the results calculated
by us or our conjectures are correct, the arguments or figures
adduced in support thereof are either weak or incorrect. What I
feel basically is the fact that spinners can never become weavers
on a large scale. Hence, it cannot become an indivisible part of
the scheme of self-reliance, and no attempt should be made to do
so. The other pole of this scheme should be voluntarily accepted
dependence on others. In this case, it is futile to cite the exam¬
ples of Bijolia and Bardoli. The circumstances in both those
places were of an unusual nature. In ordinary circumstances it
is the case that everyone has moments of leisure when he must
spin and get the yarn spun by him woven in his own village.
Not only is there no objection here to spinners learning to weave,
but rather it is our duty to provide facilities for them to do so.
However, there is no need to carry on any propaganda for this.

Let me put this in another way. If a brahmachari who lives
by himself or a widow who has no means of support gins, cards,
spins and weaves, that will be regarded as doing business at a
loss. Such a person will by weaving alone earn six to eight
times as much as one who merely spins; and, he or she should
indeed do so or find out some such independent occupation.
However, where there is a large family, one person can become a
weaver. It is my idea that we should enlarge the concept of our
family. Our village is our family of which all its residents are
members. Our ideal is not a Robinson Crusoe living on a desolate
island, but a family which extends over the entire world. In
order to reach it, it is but a natural step forward to turn over
village into a single family. Man is a social animal. His country
is this small planet—the world. In it everyone will carry on an
all-pervasive activity. What extends over the family will be done
by the family and the same applies, in its turn, to the town and

1 This article by Sitaram Purushottam Patwardhan is not translated here,

2 Vide footnote 2, p. 345.

MY NOTES

365

the country as a whole. However, this will be done not with a
view to destroying one another, but rather to sustain one another.
In my view, the spinning-wheel is a universal thing, while the
loom is confined to either the family or the village. The cooking-
fire and the spinning-wheel are to be found in every home but
the same cannot be said of the loom. It can be clearly shown
that this involves an economic disadvantage. Whatever is basically
harmful on economic grounds is also certainly harmful from the
religious point of view. Untainted wealth can never be opposed
to religion.

[From Gujarati]

Navajivan , 8-9-1929

307 . MESSAGE TO KATHIAWAR YOUTH CONFERENCE 1

Youths, listen to everyone, but decide your own course of
action, do not be carried away by speeches. Concentrate on work
and learn to be quiet. Your speech being your work, you will
be worthy of being heard after you have rendered substantial
service to the people.

[From Gujarati]

Prajabandhu , 8-9-1929

308. MY NOTES
Nature’s Wrath

The fury that Nature has let loose on Sind is indescribable. The
thought of it stuns me and it reveals the might of Nature on the
one side and our littleness on the other. But man’s dharma is
compassion above everything else. When he is under its influ¬
ence, he is led to do his utmost, aware of his own limitations. We
sympathize with a man or a family, if we can. We get some satis¬
faction by sharing our food with anyone who is hungry. Our
humanity consists in giving away everything and still not feeling
satisfied about it. To give away everything is a noble human
quality and there is no room for pride in something which is one s
inborn quality. A Gujarati should not consider himself different

1 Held under the presidentship of Jawaharlal Nehru and attended by
1,400 delegates

366

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

from a Sindhi when patriotic fervour i$^n the air. Just as family
members though having different names do not consider them¬
selves different, so also we are all one though belonging to different
States. That is why we should share each other's sorrow. Gujarat
has the ability to give much and keep accounts properly. All those
who .feel sorry for Sind should donate generously. They should
send their names if they sincerely want to go and serve there. All
the money will be sent to Professor Malkaniji who has shouldered
the responsibility of this work. Sardar Vallabhbhai has already
sent Rs. 15,000 out of Gujarat Flood Relief Fund. But what is Rs.
15,000 when the disaster is much greater than Gujarat’s ?

The Meaning of Yajna

A reader writes: 1

It is a fact based on actual experience that violence is involved
in lighting a fire. The Shastras have not said that the yajnas of
the past did not involve violence. However, they regarded as in¬
nocent the violence practised in the course of a yajna, just as we
salve or cheat our conscience by regarding as innocent a diet of
vegetables although we are aware that it involves violence.

If the rishis 2 and munis 3 of the past had sacrificed animals, it is
my firm belief that at that time the need for such sacrifice was
felt; however, today there is no need for doing so; it is a savage
and cruel practice. I regard such acts of offering animals at sacri¬
fices as not only not religious in this age, but as irreligious acts,
and hence wish to see them stopped for good. That the concept of
yajna in the Gita has a universal and altruistic implication may be
construed from the verses preceding and following that verse and
from the central argument itself of the Gita. Hence the meaning
of yajna approved by the Gita is: It is an act which is performed solely
for the sake of service or from a purely altruistic standpoint. And
here a narrow interpretation of the term service is utterly rejected.

That alone is service where no harm has been wished or done
to any living creature.

Self-purification

In many parts of the country, the yajna for self-purification
begun in 1920 is still going on unperceived. A fresh proof of this
is the purification that is going on among our Antyaja brethren. A
weaver, Ramji Gopal, has handed me a letter. It contains the

1 The letter is not translated here.

2 Seers

3 Ascetics

REBIRTH OF THE SPINNING-WHEEL

367

names of 53 persons from 13 towns in Kathiawar who have taken a
pledge to give up liquor and such other things. All of them have
given up drinking; some have given up smoking and opium, and
some others have given up even meat. Shri Ramji has given me
their names after they had kept their pledge for a year. There is
no doubt that such activity is going on at many places. And its
distinctive feature is that there is no artificiality in it or in other
words there is no element of compulsion in it, and also that it
is not being carried on by persons who do not belong to that so-
ciety, but rather voluntarily by reformers thrown up by that very
society. I offer congratulations „to such invisible, silent workers.
Let them accept my best wishes and let there be widespread emu¬
lation of these persons.

A Bhangi Brother from Bulsar

Shri Chhotubhai Shah writes from Bulsar: 1

I hope that the necessary reforms will be carried out now
without further delay.

[From Gujarati]

Navajivan, 8-9-1929

309 . REBIRTH OF THE SPINNING-WHEEL

I do feel some hesitation in publishing this letter 2 as, both
Kakasaheb and Balkrishna, who understand the structure of
machines and to some extent know how to construct them, feel
that the basic defect is such that it cannot be remedied. I also keep
receiving other letters which testify to the basic defect. Then
again, a gentleman writes : 3

Despite this, I felt it was proper to publish the above letter,
as what I wrote 4 while publishing the original scheme holds good
even today. Whether his scheme succeeds or fails Shri Hiralafs
efforts are praiseworthy. His own faith in the scheme is equally

1 The letter is not translated here. The addressee had written that the
rains had delayed the work of digging wells and putting up roofs for the
Bhangis of Bulsar. He promised to relieve them of their debts.

2 The letter by Hiralal Amritlal Shah is not translated here. It described
an improved type of spinning-wheel devised by him.

3 The letter is not translated here. The correspondent had contended that
if yarn was subjected to twisting at a later stage, as in the case of the hollow
spindle, it became weak.

4 Vide p. 343.

368 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

praiseworthy. He does not believe that it is perfect. All that he
wishes to say is that a new type of powerful spinning-wheel is a
possibility and that it can be produced at a very low cost, and he
has put before the public, in as systematic a manner as he could,
whatever ideas occurred to him in this regard. I now wish to
make a suggestion to Shri Hiralal and other innovators like him.
They should not merely discuss the merits or demerits of their
schemes, but those like Shri Hiralal who regard improvement as
a possibility should have spinning-wheels made according to
their designs and, after testing them, put the results before the
public. I regard it as futile waste of time and energy merely to
discuss a scheme which can be readily tested by putting it into
practice. Shri Hiralal claims that the basic defect which has been
pointed out does not exist. I hope this is the case and if so, it is
something which can be easily proved. And the greatest achieve¬
ment is his who has an unflinching faith. Hence my advice to Shri
Hiralal is that, rather than enter into controversies in newspapers,
etc., he should devote some time every day to putting his
scheme into practice. The diagram accompanying Shri Hiralal 5 s
scheme and an explanation regarding it are being published as a
supplement 1 to this issue of Navajivan.

[From Gujarati]

Navajivan, 8-9-1929

310. LETTER TO GANGABEHN VAIDYA

[On the Train,]
September 8 , 1929

CHI. GANGABEHN,

I know that you have a heavy responsibility. But as you have
faith in God, everything will surely be all right. Withdraw your
resignation. Regard both respect and disrespect alike.

Never forget the smallest thing; if you have an orderly mind
you will forget nothing at all.

Blessings from

Bapu

From Gujarati: C.W. 8728. Courtesy: Gangabehn Vaidya

1 Not translated here

311. LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI

September 8, 1929

CHI. CHHAGANLAL,

We reach Bhopal in a few minutes. I am keeping good health.
You must have got the letter 1 I wrote yesterday. Kishorelal keeps
indifferent health. He had a little fever yesterday.

Tell Surendra that I met Nathji. He will come there in a few
days to meet Marathe.

I may get some news about Gopalrao today in Bhopal. But
the probability is slight.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 5430

312. LETTER TO MANUAL AND SUSHILA GANDHI

Sunday, September 8, 1929

CHI. MANUAL AND SUSHILA,

I got the letters of you both. Sushila may certainly come
when she wants to. I shall arrange to keep everything ready for
her to return immediately if she so desires. I am dictating this
letter at Bhopal. Kanti is taking it down and I am spinning at
the wheel. Today is Sunday. It is already evening. My silence
period is about to begin. Among the others accompanying me
axe Kusumbehn, Jamnabehn and Pyarelal. Pyarelal’s sister will
be with us till we reach Agra, and Jamnalalji, too, will remain with
us at least till we leave this place. The scenery around here is very
pleasant. Sanchi, the place known for Buddhist art, is near here.
We shall visit it on Tuesday. The lake here also is famous all over
India. The surrounding scenery is beautiful and stretches some
six or seven miles.

Silence Day

You have put me a question regarding the continuation of
Indian Opinion. It is useless for me to write anything on the matter
from here. You may do there whatever seems possible. If you
finally decide to close it down, you should certainly consult

1 Vide p. 358.

41-24

370

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

the Trustees there before doing so. Take the advice of Umar
Sheth also.

It is surprising that you should have raised the question
of marriage with a member of the Marwari community. I think
I once told you that, if the proposal for Sushila had not been
received, I had nearly decided to betroth you to a Bengali girl.
What I had said was that I was not prepared to go so far as to
approve of marriage with anyone outside one’s community—
though of course there is no sin even in such a marriage. But it has
been my considered opinion that inter-provincial marriages are
a very good thing.

Others would have nothing to say against us for not being
vaccinated as long as we remain in a given place while the
epidemic rages there. However, why should I involve either of you
in that botheration ? Do what your conscience tells you and what
is within your capacity. You need not now be guided by me
on this subject. The proper course for you is to read the litera¬
ture on the subject and form your own views independently, and
then act on them. The majority of people get vaccinated. Only a
few like me do not.

Nimu will have her delivery shortly. She is at Lakhtar. I can¬
not say why Ramdas does not write. I have written to him.
As for Nimu, she is lazy.

Devdas has gone to Almora as Mathuradas’s wife has fallen
ill. Otherwise he would have seen me at Agra the day after to¬
morrow.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 4759

313. APPEAL TO MILL-WORKERS

September 9, 1929 1

Mahatma Gandhi and Sheth Mangaldas to whom the question of restora¬
tion of the cut in the wages was referred with a view to arbitration by the labour
Union and the Mill-owners’ Association have now announced that owing to
difference of opinion between them the question will be referred to an umpire
for final decision and that they have selected as umpire Dewan Bahadur Krishna-
lal Mohanlal Zaveri, retired judge, Bombay High Court. Mahatma Gandhi
has issued an appeal to the workmen to have patience and preserve peace. He

1 Released on this date by the Associated Press from Ahmedabad

LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI

371

says that he is aware that there is some restlessness among them owing to the
delay in the announcement of the arbitrators 5 decision. He assures them that
he will try to obtain the decision of the umpire as soon as possible. He will do
what he can for them during his tour in the United Provinces and get infor¬
mation regarding their welfare.

The Bombay Chronicle, 10-9-1929

314. LETTER TO CHHAGAMLAL JOSHI

September 9, 1929

CHI. GHHAGANLAL,

I got your letter and the pile of other mail sent by you. I
will write to Jagjivandas. I think it best to send him your letter.
Truth may be bitter like poison in the beginning, but in the end it
proves to be as sweet as amrit 1 . We should not, therefore, feel wor¬
ried. We have got into the wrong habit of saying nice things to
one another, and we must overcome it.

.You should indulge in self-depreciation less often now. Hold
firmly to the thought that the man of faith always succeeds and
offer up your very thoughts in the yajna of duty. Self-examination
is good, but there are limits to the utility of seIf-depreciation.

We must become perfect in making the bread on which depends
the health of so many. The person in charge of the job should not,
therefore, be changed.

I approve of the changes you have made in regard to keep¬
ing of accounts. We should become perfect in this sphere too. The
truth is that a secretary should have a thousand eyes and a
thousand hands. He should be attentive to the smallest detail.

I suppose I told you about Perrins of Jamshedpur. Sitting
in his room, he used to be in contact with all departments with the
help of the telephone, get reports from them day and night and
give whatever instructions he wanted to give. This was vigi¬
lance of a demoniac character. We do not go to the length of
installing a telephone but our vigilance should be greater even
than that of Perrins. If the disinterested attitude really develops
in us, though occupied with our daily work we would be enjoying
infinite peace and also would not appear worn out in body. The
inert machine wears out through use, whereas the atman shines
the brighter through the exercise of its powers and seems to grow

1 Nectar

372

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

ever new, and, therefore, the body which is its habitation also
seems even fresh. I have written about the ideal state. I know
that I myself am far away from that state, and I have, therefore,
little right to write about it.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 5431; also Bapuna Patro-7: Shri
Chhaganlal Joskine , pp. 124-5

315. LETTER TO VASUMATI PANDIT

September 9, 1929

CHI. VASUMATI,

I have been of course a little anxious on your account, and
that is because you do not at present seem to be quite yourself.
Do only what you can and never worry. That is what you need.
You must not worry simply because you cannot fulfil the high
expectations that I might have of you. It is my duty to have such
expectations, but a son or daughter can only do his or her best.
If they try to do more, they would break down or become quite
unnatural in behaviour and their lives would be wasted. Take care
of your health. The climate here at Bhopal is excellent. The
natural scenery also is beautiful. We shall reach Agra the day after
tomorrow. Perhaps Jamnalalji will part company with us here.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: S.N. 9265; also C.W. 512, Courtesy:
Vasumati Pandit

316. LETTER TO PREMABEHN KANTAK

Silence Day> September 9, 1929

CHI. PREMA,

I understand your suffering, and still more, your love. I very
much like your devotion to duty. Never have any doubt that
now it is only by following the path you are doing that you will be
able to achieve self-purification, enjoy peace and do service to the
country. If you have learnt something from your stay at the

A LETTER 373

Ashram, be determined not to leave it so that you may bring
credit to yourself, to the Ashram and to me.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 10213; also C.W. 6661. Courtesy:
Premabehn Kantak

317 . LETTER TO ASHRAM WOMEN

September 9> 1929

SISTERS,

Today I have to do the work for the Gujarati Navajivan, the
Hindi Navajivan and Young India and have little time. Please, there¬
fore, excuse me if I am brief and be as pleased as if this were a
long letter. Though I am here, think of me as in your midst. All
of you should be one in heart, help one another and bring credit
to yourselves and to the Mandir.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 3700

318 . A LETTER

On Tour Sabarmati , 1

September 9, 1929

The Secretary
A. I. C. C.

Hewett Road
Allahabad

dear SIR,

I send you herewith the information which at last I have
been able to secure from the Utkal Provincial Congress Com¬
mittee. \

Yours sincerely ,

Enclosure M. K. Gandhi

A.I.C.C. File No. 151, 1929. Courtesy: Nehru Memorial Museum and
Library

1 Permanent Address

319 . SPEECH AT PUBLIC MEETING , Pi/OPdL 1

September 10 , 2529

I confess that when yielding to the loving insistence of His
Highness 2 and Dr. Ansari I accepted the invitation to visit Bhopal,

I was prepared to find here the same regal splendour, the same
wasteful blaze of luxury as one comes across in our other pre¬
sent-day Indian States. But to my agreeable surprise I found
His Highness living in a 'palace 5 which could be called as such
only by courtesy, and which in fact would not stand comparison
even with the lovely palatial residence of Dr. Ansari who was
after all medical adviser to His Highness. . . .

Gandhiji reiterated his belief that the existence of the Indian Princes’
rule was in no way inconsistent with the evolution of true democracy. He was
therefore no enemy of Indian States, and he entertained every hope of their
reaching his ideal of democratic swaraj which he often interpreted as Ramarajya .
Using the word ‘Ramarajya? in a Mussalman state and for an audience which
had a very large number of Mussalmans in it, he immediately said:

I warn my Mussalman friends against misunderstanding me
in my use of the word ‘Ramarajya’. By ‘Ramarajya’ I do not mean
Hindu Raj. I mean by ‘Ramarajya’ Divine Raj, the Kingdom of
God. For me Rama and Rahim are one and the same deity. I
acknowledge no other God but the one God of Truth and
righteousness. Whether the Rama of my imagination ever lived or
not on this earth, the ancient ideal of Ramarajya is undoubtedly
one of true democracy in which the meanest citizen could be
sure of swift justice without an elaborate and costly procedure.
Even the dog is described by the poet to have received justice under
Ramarajya .

In alluding to his belief in Hindu-Muslim unity he recalled his friend¬
ship with the late Hakim Saheb Ajmal Khan and asked for contributions to
the Ajmal Jamia college and in so doing mentioned the heroic sacrifice of Dr.
Zakir Husain and his colleagues who had reduced their honorariums to what
might be termed a starvation point. He asked the Hindus to give up un-
touchability if they would save Hinduism, and he reminded both Hindus and
Mussalmans, that if they would identify themselves with the poorest in the

1 This appeared under the title “The U. P. Tour’\

2 The ruler of Bhopal

LETTER TO C HH AG AN L AL JOSHI

375

land they were bound to exclude from their wardrobes all foreign doth and
take to khadi and encourage the spread of the spinning-wheel. In response
to his appeal for contributions for the Ajmal Jamia Fund., a committee was
formed at once to make house-to-house collections.

Toung India , 19-9-1929

320 . RESOLUTION ON AJMAL JAMIA FUND 1

[September 11, 1929]

Whereas it is necessary to maintain the Jamia Millia, Delhi,
as a memorial to the late Hakim Ajmal Khan Saheb, this meet¬
ing of the Trustees of the Ajmal Jamia Fund hereby resolves that
out of the sums so far collected a sum of Rs. 1000/- be retained
with the treasurer and the balance be transferred to the Jamia
to constitute a reserve fund for permanent investments and meet¬
ing the deficit between the current income and expenditure and
in future all sums received be handed over to the Jamia for the
same purpose.

All sums received prior to the date and not passed through the
hands of the Treasurer shall be accounted to him and this
meeting authorizes the Treasurer to legalize the expenditure of
that money by the Jamia authorities under the sanction of the
President. The Treasurer be authorized to appoint a duly certi¬
fied auditor for the auditing of the accounts of the Fund,

From a microfilm: S. N. 15580

321. LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI

Agra,

September 11, 1929

CHI. CHHAGANLAL,

I send with this a copy of the letter I have written to Jagji-
vandas. You must have received the letters which were posted
yesterday at Bhopal.

1 In a letter to Gandhiji dated December 11, 1929, Dr. Zakir Husain wrote:
C T beg to enclose herewith copy for your file of the resolution passed by the
trustees of the Ajmal Jamia Fund on the 11th September, 1929, at Bhopal. 5 *
The source contains the names of Gandhiji, Zakir Hussain, Dr. M. A. Ansari
and Jamnalal Bajaj as signatories.

376

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

Prabhavati arrived here yesterday. Sharma too has come.
I am very happy indeed. We are not likely to learn much even
from him. I have told him that he may go home from here. Dev-
das has gone to Almora. Whenever you write to me, give me
news about Bhansali. Gopalrao must have recovered, and come
back to the Mandir.

Let me know what was done about my suggestion to shift
the women’s work centre to the house occupied by Bhansali. I hear
from Manilal that it is already fixed that Dr. Mehta will come in
October. We should, therefore, make our arrangements soon. What
happened about Zaverbhai’s wife ?

Blessings from

Bapu

[PS.]

I have not revised this.

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 5432; also Bapnna Patro-7: Shri
Chhaganlal Joshine, pp. 125-6

322 . LETTER TO JAGJIVANDAS

Agra,

September If 1929

RHAISHRI JAGJIVANDAS,

I enclose Bhai Chhaganlal Joshi’s letter on the subject of the
temple at Lathi. You will see that his criticism is severe; if it
is well founded, he deserves to be thanked for it. If his criticism
does you injustice in any way, you should not get angry, consi¬
dering that the criticism proceeded from a pure motive. If the
criticism is justified, you should acknowledge the great mistake
you have made and, in future, think many times before shouldering
such a responsibility. You will see from Bhai ChhaganlaPs letter
that an effort is being made to obtain money for the expenditure
already incurred. As for the work that remains to be done, get
necessary help from some source and finish it. Please return
ChhaganlaPs letter.

Blessings from

Mohandas

From a microfilm of the Gujarati: S.N. 15422

323 . SPEECH AT PUBLIC MEETING , AG/L4 1

September 11, 1929

Gandhiji whilst thanking them 2 on their collection 2 and the admirable
restraint which they had shown in presenting all their addresses at a single func¬
tion declined to accept their plea in the Agra citizens 5 address that hard
times justified the limited size of their purse.

I know that the moneyed citizens of Agra could have made
the purse bigger if they had wished. Hard times cannot serve as a
justification for them, for it is a notorious fact that famine condi¬
tions present opportunities for profiteering to the middlemen class
of which they are not slow to take advantage. Hard times instead
of putting a curb on your generosity ought to serve as a stimu¬
lant in the present case, because khadi work for which the various
purses are being raised is just the activity par excellence which is
calculated to alleviate the distress caused by famine conditions.

He asked the audience to give substantially to the volunteers as soon as
they approached them. He had made it clear in his Andhra speeches that
he did not want addresses framed, for he had no place to keep them and
every rupee spent in framing meant the loss of one woman’s subsistence for
16 days. He said he meant no disrespect if he wanted to auction them. He
had done so before and one address in Andhra fetched Rs. 10,000. 4

I am here to re declare my faith in the potency of non-co-
operation. You have all got to prepare for January 1930 from
now. The A.I.C.G. has already laid down the conditions by ful¬
filling which alone, in its opinion, swaraj by non-violent means
can be attained. It is the triple constructive programme, viz., the
boycott of foreign cloth through khadi, the suppression of the
drink and drug evil and the elimination of untouchability by
the Hindus. And since all this work can be effectively done
through a proper Congress organization, the reorganization of the
Congress by the enrolment of Congress members is a necessity.
Let me warn you solemnly that if we do nothing now, swaraj or

1 This appeared under the title 44 The U. P. Tour’ 5 .

2 District Congress Committee, District Board, Municipal Board and
Agra Youth League

3 A joint collection of Rs. 8,000 out of which Rs. 4,000 represented Agra
citizens’ purse

4 This paragraph is from The Leader , 15-9-1929.

378 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

independence is not going to drop down from heaven by a mere
declaration by the Congress in December. I will go further and
say, that unless in the mean time we shall have forged an effective
sanction to back our declaration which we want to make, if the
Government should refuse to accept by the midnight of December
31, 1929 the national demand, our declaration will remain a dead
letter and we shall be unable to do anything effective during
1930.

Toung India , 19-9-1929

N 324. MY LIMITATIONS

It is not without grief and great hesitation that I have been
instrumental in a meeting of the A.I.C.C. being called for the
purpose of electing the president for the forthcoming session of the
Congress. Friends have been sending me urgent wires and writing
to me not to precipitate a crisis, to reconsider my decision and
avoid the convening of the A.I.C.C. meeting. I have been reluc¬
tantly obliged to disappoint them. The only consolation I can give
them is that their grief over my decision cannot be greater than
mine. I believe in waiting on God for guidance. I have no light
from within. Confidence does not come to me.

I have a lively sense of what must be regarded as my limita¬
tions. I have no faith in the council programme. I have no faith in
Government schools and colleges. I have still less in the so-
called courts of justice where when justice is obtained it is
found to be too dear, and where it is almost unobtainable when
the question for decision is as between the ruling race and the
subject race on a vital point. I have no faith in spectacular demon¬
strations. Whilst I want power for labour and its progressive
welfare, I do not believe in its exploitation for a mere political
end. I believe in unadulterated non-violence, I do not believe in
the possibility of India (whatever other countries might have at¬
tained) attaining swaraj in terms of the millions by violent means.
I believe that unity between Hindus, Mussalmans, Sikhs, Parsis,
Jews, Christians and others is essential for the attainment of swaraj.
I believe the removal of untouchability to be equally essential for
our purpose. Indeed I have no desire to obtain swaraj, even if it
was possible, at the sacrifice of a single legitimate interest of a
single minority. I do not believe the Mussalman to be the natural
enemy of the Hindu nor the Englishman of the Indian. I want
for my compassing my end the co-operation of both the Mussalman

FOUR FUNCTIONS

379

and the Englishman. My non-co-operation though it is part of
my creed is a prelude to co-operation. My non-co-operation is with
methods and systems, never with men. I may not harbour iU
will even against a Dyer. I regard ill will as beneath the dignity
of man. The reader should now have no difficulty, if he had
been patient with me so far, in bearing with me for saying that I
am no enemy of capital nor of Indian States. I believe the one to
be consistent with the highest status attainable by labour and the*
other with the highest status attainable by the people. Need I
repeat my growing faith in the life-giving wheel and khadi?

I feel that among Congressmen there can only be a micros¬
copic minority going with me in this long recital of credos. With
most one or the other of the credos must be a veritable stumbling
block. Is it any wonder, if I feel that as president of the Congress
I should be a round man in a square hole? The president of the
Congress must be a man, not one commanding respect from a
safe distance, but one who represents in every fibre of his being the
sum total of what the nation stands for. I dare not submit my¬
self for that test.

But I know that if I am allowed to work in detachment, in
spite of my limitations I can render useful service to the nation.
My advice therefore to the members of the A.I.C.C. and those who
can influence them is not to press me to accept an office for which
I seem to myself to be so ill-fitted. They will recognize that it is
not want of will, it is the want of capacity, that deters me. An
incapable president is surely worse than useless.

Young India, 12-9-1929

325 . FOUR FUNCTIONS

During my day’s stay in Bombay on my way to Bhopal I
had four interesting functions to attend to. The first was the
opening of a crafts block in connection with the national school
in Vile Parle. It is an institution to which several young men have
dedicated their lives. It should be the pride of the men and women
of Bombay to support it. An ill-equipped national school is any
day preferable to the best-equipped school run under the aegis of
an anti-national authority, even as a humble, dilapidated hut
is any day preferable to a palatial jail with all creature comforts
anticipated. The distinguishing feature of the two varieties is, that
in the national school the first lesson of the boys and girls is loyalty

380

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

to one’s country without limitations, in the second even this in¬
dispensable thing is subject to loyalty to a foreign rule.

The second function was the laying of the foundation stone of
a building which is to serve as a nucleus for the service of India’s
women. It is a creation of the energy and devotion of Sjt. Kar-
sandas Chitalia of the Servants of India Society. He has set
himself apart for mute service of the woman’s cause. Though in
my opinion the erection of the building is premature till he has
found a steady, selfless, sober, tried woman who would devote her¬
self to the cause and a few girls at least who would follow her, I
have yielded to his superior faith and devotion, and not only laid
the foundation but devoted a large part of the purse of nearly Rs.
25,000 presented to me ten years ago through his and Shrimati
Jaiji Petit’s labours. True service of any cause is rendered by
raising of stout hearts than buildings. Brick and mortar have no
power to attract true hearts. But they come into being whenever
they are needed by true and stout hearts. At any rate it is my
prayer and hope that this building will fulfil the noble aspirations
of Karsandas Chitalia. I know that he would not have been
happy without it.

The third function took place at Vanita Vishram for helping
the blind. I must again make the confession as in the case of
Karsandas Chitalia, that it was not the demonstrable strength of the
cause as the faith and devotion of Sjt. H. D. Chhatrapati, and
Sjt. B. Khambhatta that induced me to preside at the function. I
had the privilege of knowing the blind brother of Sjt. H. D. Chhatra¬
pati, i.e.. Dr. Nilkanthrai Chhatrapati. But being wholly im¬
mersed in the cause of the starving millions who are worse than
the physically blind, I have not been able to take any active
interest in the latter. It required the magnetic touch of these two
friends to draw me. There is at Tardeo the Happy Home for the
Blind. It was for this institution that the meeting was called.
How happy that Home is the curious and philanthropically minded
reader must find out for himself or herself. The conductors invite
scrutiny, but they also invite all

(a) to furnish the Home with funds,

(b) to send the blind they can get hold of, and

It is stated that there are 15,00,000 of totally blind people in
India and that nearly 70 per cent of these are curable if treated in
time. They state also that the number of partially blind is
times as much as that of the totally blind. Sjt. Chhatrapati also

A TRUE HERO

381

mentioned the interesting but painful fact, that the blind beggars
in Bombay received from 4 to 5 rupees daily and that the
money mostly went into the pockets of the conductors whom the
blind beggars employed. If therefore instead of our charity being
blind, as it undoubtedly is today in many cases, it became enlight-
ened, and if then we refused to pay anything to the beggars but
took the trouble of sending them to the home or homes designed
for them and helped the homes, we should save the nation’s monev
and in the bargain make the blind fit for earning their livelihood
as they can be made without much difficulty.

The fourth function was a visit to the new and more com-
modious abode of the A.I.S.A. Khadi Bhandar at 396, Kalbadevi.
During its seven years’ existence it has sold nineteen lakhs rupees
worth of khadi. It employs today 31 salesmen, 18 tailors and a
varying but large number of washermen, dyers and printers. For
tailoring it pays yearly over Rs. 15,000, for washing over Rs.
9,500 and for dyeing, etc., Rs. 8,800. Khadi is stocked today in
1,660 separate items. The slow yet marvellous evolution that khadi
has undergone during the short period of its revival is stimulating
and encouraging. A visit only should be enough to convert the'
sceptic who would go there with an open mind.

Young India , 12-9-1929

326. A TRUE HERO

Sheth Jamnalalji has just told me of the heroic death of a brave
Sind worker. He was working in Larkhana and was known for
his bravery and sacrifice. The reader knows that cholera has bro¬
ken out in many parts of Sind, including Larkhana. Sjt. Lahori
—for that is the name of this worker—was at that time working
there. He sent away his people, but himself he would not move
in spite of the expostulations of friends. The goddess of cholera
being no respector of persons caught Lahori also in her trap,
and he is now gone leaving Larkhana and all those who knew him
wailing after him. For him here as well as up above there is
nothing but shouts of ‘Well done, Lahori!’ I do not send my
condolences to the bereaved family. To them I tender my
congratulations as also to the people of Larkhana for having
given to India such a noble example of unadulterated heroism.
To the young men and young women of India in general and Sind
in particular I commend the example of Lahori for emulation.
Let us learn to shed all fear of death in the face of calamity.

382 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

and let us also learn the spirit of sacrifice which actuated Lahori
to hold fast on to the post of duty.

Toung India, 12-9-1929

327 . MOTES
Kenya Indians

The deputation from Kenya is to be congratulated on taking
a firm stand about the fundamentals, not that justice will be done
to them on that account. The Kenya Europeans have so entrenched
themselves as to dictate terms to the authorities in Downing
Street. Justice therefore can only be expected if they could develop
the spirit of civil resistance or we in India could assert ourselves.
But whether our countrymen overseas could show resistance or
not or whether we in India could clothe them with protection or
not, we may not voluntarily surrender the principle of equality.
The franchise must be common to all and the v re should be equal
property rights.

Anna against Idleness

Replying to the criticism that spinning brings a poor return,
Sjt. C. Rajagopalachari said at the opening of the Khadi Exhi¬
bition at the Tamilnad Conference at Vidyaranyam: 1

We offer spinning as a nationwide remedy for present conditions.
The relief may be insignificant, but it is certain and immediate, and does
not base its efficacy on depopulation or expropriation. If anyone is-able
not merely to decry and ridicule but to discover a better remedy and orga¬
nizes a better, new supplementary occupation for the masses, spinning
may be withdrawn in favour of it.

Destructive criticism without any positive contribution tends but to
kill the spirit of human effort. Khadi puts the spirit of industry in place of
the deadly darkness of idleness. . . . We all want our millions to earn
not merely one anna more but one rupee more per working day, . . .
but until the rupee is found let no one despise the extra anna. . . .

Young India , 12-9-1929

1 Only excerpts are reproduced here.

328 . COMMUNICATIONS WITH SPIRITS

Several correspondents have been inquiring whether I receive

communications from the spirits of the dead, and whether I do or
not, whether I believe in the possibility of, and if yes, approve
of, such communications. The latest inquirer writes as follows: 1

... I have had the occasion to know a bit of the Indian Spiri¬
tualist Society of Bombay. . . . Recently a boy was drowned in the
Tilak tank, Deccan Gymkhana, Poona, and the parents of the boy have
sought communication with his spirit through this Society. I am inform¬
ed the boy-spirit has spoken to them. In his book Subhadra or Life after
Death Mr. V. D. Rishi, the organizer of the I. S. Society, writes that during
his experiences at the seance the spirit of his wife as also other spirits
have communicated to him that they take much pleasure and feel a
sort of relief to talk to their relatives and friends on this earth. They have
thanked him often and often for the good he has done to them by the
spread of the science of spirit communication. Mr. Rishi believes that
scientists have not done proper justice to this branch of science. ... to
know exactly what is life after death.

. . . Gould you not—for the benefit of so many who are seeking and
those who might yet seek intercourse with the spirits as also for my own
benefit—very kindly express your views (publicly if you so please) on this
matter, advancing some convincing arguments against what has been
mentioned above. . . .

My answers must be categorical. I never receive commu¬
nications from the spirits of the dead. I have no evidence war¬
ranting a disbelief in the possibility of such communications. But
I do strongly disapprove of the practice of holding or attempting
to hold such communications. They are often deceptive and are
products of imagination. The practice is harmful both to the
medium and the spirits, assuming the possibility of such commu¬
nications. It attracts and ties to the earth the spirit so invoked,
whereas its effort should be to detach itself from the earth and rise
higher. A spirit is not necessarily purer because it is disembodied.
It takes with it most of the frailties to which it was liable when
on earth. Information or advice therefore given by it need not be
true or sound. That the spirit likes communications with those on
earth is no matter for pleasure. On the contrary it should be

1 Only excerpts are reproduced here.

384 THE collected works OF MAHATMA GANDHI

weaned from such unlawful attachment. So much for the harm
done to the spirits.

As for the medium, it is a matter of positive knowledge with
me that all those within my experience have been deranged or
weak-brained and disabled for practical work whilst they were
holding or thought they were holding such communications. I
can recall no friend of mine who having held such communication
had benefited in any way.

Young India, 12-9-1929

329. DISTRESS IN SIND — AN APPEAL 1

This is a calamitous year for Sind. . . . Sind is a dry tract and
the average annual rainfall is hardly 5". But the total rainfall this
year varies between 25" and 50*. All this has fallen within a period
of less than 3 weeks. ... Not one district has escaped the disaster.

The central parts of Sind have suffered most.

... A few days back it rose to 73". ... The Punjab rivers are in
full flood. . . . This tremendous volume of water is expected to reach
Sind within 24 hours. . . . Government has . . . kept special trains
ready for an emergency. . . .

The People’s Flood Relief Committee, which did some useful work
during the floods of 1927, has been revived. It started with a generous
donation of Rs. 10,000 from the Gujarat Provincial Congress Committee
and has since collected a sum of about Rs. 15,000 in Sind. But misfortunes
never come single, and rains, pests and pestilence have disorganized the
trade of Karachi and Hyderabad. The zamindars are unable to pay because
of the losses of crops, and the merchants are hard hit by cholera in Upper
Sind and floods in the Punjab. We are therefore obliged to appeal for
funds outside our province. There was a noble response from Bombay
during the floods of 1927, when the People’s Flood Relief Committee re¬
ceived nearly 2 lakhs of rupees from the Bombay Central Relief Fund.
The distress is much more acute now, and my Committee is confident that
its appeal for funds will not be made in vain.

3-9-1929 N. R. Malkani

Hyderabad Secretary

This was received early last week, and was written, as the
reader will notice, on 3rd instant. At the time of its publication
in Young India therefore the final fate will have been decided.

1 Only excerpts are reproduced here.

SELF-INTEREST V. SUPREME GOOD

385

Whatever the fate may be, the distress depicted In the appeal
cannot be lessened. If God so wills it, the further calamity feared
might have been avoided. In every case the appeal ought to
find a generous response.

Young India, 12-9-1929

330 . SELF-INTEREST v. SUPREME GOOD

Shri Mahavir Prasad Poddar writes: 1

I have no doubt at all that if the profit motive is introduced
into the sale of khadi, it can never become popular. It has been
the policy of the Charkha Sangha that the administrative expenses
on the production and sale of khadi should not be more than
6J per cent of the actual cost. If the expenses are more, they
should not be recovered from the buyers, rather we should beg
for donations to make them up. The proposal is that if possible the
expenses should be less than 6i per cent. The ideal thing would be
for us not to charge more than what is spent on production up to
weaving, etc. If it is found necessary a little profit can be charged
on the sales. When khadi becomes as popular as ghee it will
begin to sell among the millions and then the profit should
not be more than 3 per cent. Secondly, we should also hope
that the millions of peasants of our country following what has
come to be called the self-reliance system In khadi will be able
to spin for themselves and have enough khadi woven for their
needs. If they can produce more khadi they will sell it themselves.
Whether this golden time ever comes or not, the idea of making
money by sale of khadi should be shunned. Khadi is certainly a
powerful means of finding livelihood for the poor. But it cannot
be a means of making money. Every industrious person has a
right to a livelihood. But no one has a right to amass wealth.
To be sure, amassing wealth is theft. He who takes more money
than he needs for his living whether knowingly or unknowingly
deprives others of their living. Art ha, i.e., good, is of two kinds—
swartha or individual good and paramartha 2 or the higher good. The
latter is what one should seek; it is not opposed to dharma.
Individual good which is opposed to dharma should be shunned.

1 The letter is not translated here. It dealt with the question of profits in
khadi.

2 Literally, supreme good; here it means higher good or altruism as a
means to the supreme good.

41-25

386 the collected works of MAHATMA GANDHI

Khadi shastra is the shastra of paramartha and therefore it is true
economics. No one should therefore charge excessive price for
khadi.

Those who burden khadi with the cost of other activities do
an injustice to khadi. Khadi today is in need of help from
other constructive activities. To burden khadi with the cost of
other activities is like killing a buffalo for shoes.

[From Hindi]

Hindi Navajivan, 12-9-1929

331. EVIL CUSTOMS IN U.P.

September 12 , 1929

Seeing that my tour of the United Provinces is about to start
an experienced and well-educated friend writes: 1

If I get the chance I shall certainly study these questions and
write about them. It is indeed a pity if, as the correspondent
states, the students in U.P, are more keen on marriage than the
students elsewhere and a lot of money is wasted on the marriage
ceremonies.

But there is no need in this matter to compare U.P. with any
other provinces. What does it matter if such evil customs are
more or less in U.P. than in other provinces? It is the duty of
every sensible man to try and do away with evil customs as such.
It is improper and against religion to entangle students in the
web of marriage. Our religion teaches us that one who does not
observe brahmacharya as a student, does not have the right to enter
life as a householder. Likewise one who cannot run a household
should not enter into matrimony. The grihasthashram is not meant
for indulgence and the gratification of the senses. A householder
can have intercourse with his own wife with proper restraints if
he desires an issue. Intercourse for its own sake has been con¬
demned not only in Hinduism but in all religions.

If it is true that a great number of students in U.P. are
married, then I have discovered the cause of an unhappy experi¬
ence of mine. Propagation of Hindi throughout India is a special
duty of U.P. When I mentioned teaching Hindi in the South
I had hoped that many unmarried young men of good character,
capable of sacrifice and well versed in the national language would

1 The letter is not translated here. The correspondent had referred to early
marriages, the extravagant ceremonies and the custom of purdah .

EVIL CUSTOMS IN U.P.

387

be coming forward for this work. But readers will be sorry t<?
know that U.P. was not much of a help in this work. Due to
the scarcity of workers, the work of teaching the national language
in other provinces, such as Bengal, Sind, Utkal, etc., had not pro¬
gressed much. The reason for this is not lack of funds but lack
of good workers.

The extravagant expenditure incurred during marriage is
also a matter of regret. Everywhere those who have money
spend lavishly, in an attempt to make a show of their wealth, and
mislead the poor. In this matter also the students should pledge
themselves not to let their parents spend too much money on
weddings. I have met the friend who has written the letter. He
reminds me of Jamnalaljfs example and asks me to put the same
before the students and their parents. On the occasion of his
daughter Kamala’s wedding Jamnalalji spent hardly Rs. 500.
He gave no community dinner. He just invited a few friends to
bless the couple. The ceremony was limited to the performance of
the religious rites. There was absolutely no ostentation. Both the
bride and bridegroom wore simple khadi dresses. It is the duty
of every rich man to curb his vanity on such occasions and save
the society from harm.

The third question is about the purdah . I have already
written a lot about this evil custom. It causes harm in every way.
It has been proved by experience that instead of protecting the
women, the purdah causes them great mental and physical harm.

What can I write about the landlords ? I do not think anyone
of that class reads Hindi Navajivan . But since I believe that our
human nature impels us towards nobility I hope the landlords
will follow the example of the samurai of Japan and living a life
of simplicity and dedication, work for public welfare. But this
is a mere hope. It cannot be realized by my simply mentioning
it in Hindi Navajivan .

[From Hindi]

Hindi Navajivan, 12-9-1929

332. LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI

Agra,

September 12, 1929

CHI. CHHAGANLAL,

Your letter of the 9th I got today, the 12th. Counting the
days, I think I should have got it yesterday. The fact that I got
it on the 12th means that what generally happens with the letters
written to people in Kathiawar is happening also with letters
written to me in Agra, that is, that letters are not carried to
Ahmedabad on the day on which they are posted. Send someone
to the Post Office and inquire about this. For the delay in the
arrival of the letters means that, though we post them in time,
they remain unattended to for twenty-four hours or are held up
somewhere between Sabarmati and Ahmedabad.

Surajbehn’s case is somewhat difficult. You must of course
have sent for the doctor. If she wishes to leave, let her. I am
writing a letter to her. Please hand it over to her.

As the work becomes more systematic, the burden will become
lighter. My experience is that one feels the burden not of work
but of worry. A person with a well-ordered mind knows easily
how much he can carry and takes up a task within the limits of
his capacity, but in the eyes of others it seems much heavier than

it is.

Blessings from

Bapu

[PS.]

I have not revised this.

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 4533; also Bapuna Patro-7: Shri
Chkaganlal Joshine, pp. 126-7

333 . DISCUSSION WITH WORKERS, AGRA 1

September 13, 1929

Workers from Agra and the districts who were over 31 in number, met
Gandhiji at his residence in an informal gathering. ... “It is so late in the
day and we have so few trained workers for khadi work; what can we do?’ 3
they bitterly complained to Gandhiji. Gandhiji as he proceeded to lay bare
his grief to them sharply retorted:

Whose fault ? By the sheer strength of its size and numbers
the U.P can dictate terms to the whole of India. What is then the
meaning of this helplessness which I see before me? A Kripalani
from Sind can today come and create in your midst a splendid field
for khadi work. Round about you is the spectre of starvation and
want. Look how people are dying on all sides without anyone to
give them even a decent cremation. You have an unlimited op¬
portunity for khadi work before you, if only you knew how to use
it. If you believe that the cure for starvation lies in khadi, you
will not mind whether you are many or whether you are few.
You will forge ahead with your work in the fulness of faith without
flagging or looking back. In things like this it is the quality of
work that tells in the long run.

After reciting his South African experiences he proceeded:

You say you have the workers, but I make you a sporting
offer. I am prepared to place all my present companions at
your disposal. They know carding and spinning. I shall shift
for myself without their services, if you think that you need them
for teaching you spinning and carding. . . .

“If we send all our best workers into khadi work,’ 3 they objected, “it
would either mean a complete paralysis of our political activity, or if with
the khadi work they carry on their political activity, the latter will jeopardize
the former, as in the event of their arrest their khadi work would come to a
standstill and the public would lose confidence in the movement.’ 3

That shows that you have not yet learnt the A.B.G. of the
soldier’s art. A soldier never worries as to what shall happen to
his work after him, but thinks only of the immediate duty in front
of him. Garibaldi never thought about his crops, when he left
his farm and his plough in response to the call of duty. General

1 This appeared under the title “The U* P- Tour II”,

390

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

Smuts never paused to think of his splendid practice at the bar
or of his still more precious farm when he joined the fight. Botha
had a flock of 40 thousand sheep. They did not worry him when
he plunged into the life-and-death struggle. Neither of these
great generals doubted that if their property was seized by the
enemy 3 as in fact it was, it would only be for the time being,
and was bound to be ultimately restored to them or their descen¬
dants when the fighting was over. Even so ought to be the case
with khadi workers. As for the public viewing with distrust an
enterprise whose conductors were liable to be marched off to jail
for its cause, what is likely to happen is just the reverse. When
public opinion is sufficiently roused, far from condemning the jail¬
going worker, it would be the shirker who would find it morally
impossible to stay outside the jail.

The last question asked by the workers was as to how they could utilize the
services of their womenfolk for the movement. “By freeing them from the in¬
cubus of purdah.” replied Gandhiji and proceeded to describe vividly how the
backward condition of the woman in the U.P. was due to her subjection by
man and how she would respond the moment her disabilities in this respect were
removed.

Young India 26-9-1929

334 . LETTER TO BRIJKRISHNA CHANDIWALA

Agra,

September 13 , 1929

CHI. BRIJKRISHNA,

How is it that there has been no letter from you so far? How
are you keeping ? Who are the persons staying at Vijapur these
days? Do write to me about everything. Since the above was
written I have your letter.

From a photostat of the Hindi: G.N. 2364

Blessings from
Bapu

335. SPEECH TO STUDENTS , AGRA 1

[September 13 , 19J?9] 2

Before beginning his address Gandhiji asked such students as were already
married to raise their hands. ... A similar query about the number of
khadi-wearers elicited the fact that hardly a dozen from that vast audience
wore khadi. . . .

I am not prepared to hear this confession of incapacity from
students. 3 All your scholarship, all your study of Shakespeare and
Wordsworth would be vain if at the same time you do not build
your character, and attain mastery over your thoughts and actions.
When you have attained self-mastery and learnt to control your
passions you will not utter notes of despair. You cannot give your
hearts and profess poverty of action. To give one’s heart is to
give all. You must, to start with, have hearts to give. And this
you can do if you will cultivate them.

But what is it instead that we find today? The students in
the U.P. today get married, not under compulsion from the
parents, I am told, but out of their own insistent desire. During
student days you are expected not to dissipate energy but to
conserve it. I observe that over 50 per cent of you are married;
if you will make the best of a bad job, you will in spite of your
marriage put a severe restraint upon your passions and lead whilst
you are prosecuting your studies a life of pure brahmacharya. And
you will find that at the end of your studies you are all the better
for that restraint, physically, mentally and spiritually. Do not by
any means consider that I am presenting to you something that
is utterly impossible of execution. The cult of those who, though
they may be married, are exercising perfect self-restraint on them¬
selves, is increasing with much profit to themselves and to the
general benefit of mankind. To those who are unmarried I would
appeal to resist temptation. After all we are a slave nation
struggling to break asunder the fetters that keep us in that con¬
dition. Surely you at least should realize the sinfulness of
bringing slave children into the world. Many young men from

1 To students of Agra College and St. John’s College at Neston Hall,
Agra College. This appeared under the title “The U. P. Tour”.

2 From The Leader, 16-9-1929

3 The students of one of the colleges had confessed, in their address, their
inability to put into practice Gandhiji’s ideals although they believed in them.

392

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

various colleges, not excluding your own, write to me pathetic
letters asking me to tell them how they can get rid of their
mental weakness. I have suggested to them the age-old prescrip¬
tion. They will no longer feel helpless if they will seek the help
of God through all their weakness. The same friend that told me
about the marriage evil also complained to me that students were
guilty of involving their parents in extravagant expenditure on
marriage ceremonies. Surely, marriage, you ought to know, is a
sacrament and ought not to carry any expenditure with it. If
those who have money will not curb the desire to spend it on
feasting and revelry, the poor people will want to copy them and
incur debts in so doing. You will, if you are brave, rise in
revolt against any extravagant expenditure when you are ready
to be married.

Coming to the subject of khadi Gandhiji said he was not ashamed to be
called khadi-mad, and those who invited him to address them must be prepar¬
ed to listen to his message of madness. As he was coming over he was shown
from a distance the hostels which they were occupying. They looked like palaces
to him. If the students were not selfish they would wish every son and daughter
of India to live even as they were living. But they knew full well that such a
thing was impossible of fulfilment for many a generation yet to come, in a
country which was known to have at least ten crores of its population going
without a full meal per day. If they believed in this statement which they
could verify for themselves, if they explored the village conditions of India, they
would one and all identify themselves somewhat with their starving countrymen
by adopting khadi.

Young India, 19-9-1929

336 .; LETTER TO ALLEN MELTON 1

Camp Agra,

September 14, 1929

DEAR FRIEND,

I have your letter. My message to the Christians would be
to cultivate humility instead of arrogating to themselves the ex¬
clusive possession of absolute truth.

1 re Ply to his letter dated July 30,1928, asking for a *'heart-felt message
to the people who call themselves Christians”, and to offer “suggestions to

bring about a better understanding between people of foreign birth and those
who are natives”

LETTER TO BALKRISHNA SHUKLA 393

The only way I know of bringing about better understanding
between different peoples is to treat all as of ourselves.

Toms sincerely ,

Allen Melton, Esq,.

President, World Fellowship Council, Dallas, Texas

From a photostat: S.N. 15239

337 . LETTER TO A. K. BHAGWAT

Camp Agra,

September 14 , 1929

DEAR FRIEND,

1 have your full letter. If unfired food requires the extraordi¬
nary precautions that you suggest it is surely worse than cooked

food for in practice nobody can guarantee absolute prevention of
contamination. What I have hitherto understood was that un¬
cooked food did not become contaminated so rapidly as cooked
food. How r ever I value the hints that vou have sriven me. They

# O *

would be serviceable in future experiments I may make.

Touts sincerely ,

Dr. A. K. Bhagwat

C/o Shrimati Pant Pratinidhi, Oundh State, Dt. Satara
From a photostat: S.N. 15522

338. LETTER TO BALKRISHNA SHUKLA

Camp Agra,

September 14, 1929

DEAR FRIEND,

I have your letter. I have no notion of the date of my
arrival in Unao nor do I know that Unao is included in the
programme. Will you please correspond with the Secretary of
the Reception Committee ?

Tours sincerely s

Shri Balkrishna Shukla
Chairman, District Board, Unao

From a microfilm: S.N. 15525

339. LETTER TO A. A. PAUL

Camp Agra,

September 14 , 1929

MY DEAR RAJAN,

I was glad to hear from you after such a long time. I see
you are making steady progress. I am afraid that I have not
been able to give you the thing I thought I might be able to
give you.

Tours sincerely ,

A. A. Paul, Esq,.

Federation of International Fellowships

“Maitri”, Kilpauk

Madras

From a photostat: S.N. 15526

340. LETTER TO KEDAR

Camp Agra,

September 14, 1929

DEAR FRIEND,

I have your letter. You were certainly right in bringing
Prof. Higginbottom’s statement to my notice. Nothing now
remains to be done.

Tours sincerely ,

Shri Kedar
Agricultural College
Allahabad

From a photostat: S.N. 15533

341 . LETTER TO T. R. SANJIVI

Camp Agra,

September 14, 1929

DEAR FRIEND,

I have your letter of the 7th instant. Also a copy of the

Kalpako l . As you know I rarely mention any books in the columns
of Young India except those dealing with the things I am working
for.

Tours sincerely^

Shri T. R. Sanjtvt

President, The Latent Light Culture
Tinnevelly (S. India)

From a microfilm: S.N. 15535

342. LETTER TO JAGAMKATH AGGARWAL

Camp Agra,

September 14, 1929

dear friend,

You can see me on Thursday next at 3 p.m.

Tours sincerely,

Shri Jagannath Aggarwal

Head Master, R, K. High School

Jagraon

Frqm a microfilm; S.N. 15539

1 An English, monthly published by the addressee

343. LETTER TO SECRETARY , G.I.P. RAILWAY UNION

Camp Agra,

September 14 , 1929

The Secretary

GJ.P. Rly. Union, Bhopal

DEAR FRIEND,

I have read your address. It was impossible for me to do
anything during my brief sojourn at Bhopal. I suggest your
adopting the usual method of writing to the Central Union and
asking its guidance.

Yours sincerely^

From a microfilm: S.N. 15552

344. LETTER TO NIRANJAN PATNAIK

Camp Agra,

September 14 > 1929

MY DEAR NIRANJAN BABU,

I have your letter. I cannot now recall the exact words I
used. All I know is that I had nothing unflattering to say about
Satis Babu that I could not mention to him. My advice for
future guidance is never to repeat the words of another person
without having them confirmed by him when those words are
likely to be in the nature of an adverse criticism of any person
who is not present at such conversation.

Yours sincerely^

Shri Niranjan Patnaik
Berhanpore, B.N. Rly.

(Dist. Ganjam)

From a photostat: S.N. 15553

345. LETTER TO SATIS CHANDRA MUKHERJEE

Camp Agra,
September 14, 1929

DEAR SATIS BABU,

I expected a letter from you after your telegram but I have
nothing so far. But I have heard today from Rajendra Babu
that Krishnadas has not received my letter which I wrote to him
immediately on receipt of liis. Fortunately Pyarelal kept a copy of
that letter. I therefore send it to you as I have no other address
before me for Krishnadas. Rajendra Babu also says that Ram
Binod has not received my letter but I had a telegram from him
yesterday saying that he had my letter. Your telegram I may
mention was, owing to the stupid blunders at the receiving station,
almost indecipherable but I could gather the meaning.

I hope you are keeping well, Jawaharlal has left for me
shorthand assistance of which I am taking advantage and giving
my hand and body a little more rest which I am supposed to be
taking here in Agra for seven days before proceeding further.
Not that there is now anything wrong with me except weakness.

Tours sincerely,

Shri Satis Chandra Mukherjee
C/ o Shri Satis Chandra Guha
Darbhanga

From a microfilm: S.N. 15554*

346. LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI

Agra,

September 14, 1929

CHI. CHHAGANLAL,

I could not dictate a reply to your letter yesterday, for I had
to leave at 3 o’clock to go to a village 25 miles away.

Disputes like the one over the exhibition will arise frequently.
As you bear them in patience, you will become seasoned. Do not
lose heart and, so long as you have not lost heart, do not give up
the captainship. When you lose self-confidence, do not hesitate

to give it up.

398

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

Always bear in mind the distinction between the mind’s im¬
perfection or unsteadiness and its impurity. Against the latter,
you should even force yourself to employ non-co-operation; the
former, however, will remain with us for ever. Even the greatest
sages have not been able to overcome them; who are we, then?
Bhai Madhavlal has written about this case. Since he has requested
a personal reply, I have sealed the cover and enclosed it with
this. But I hope that he will show the letter to all. Even if he
does not, I have nothing to write to you about. You should go
on working patiently as circumstances require. There is God
above to protect us and to shape the result; why then should we
worry ?

I have written to Karsandas about Surajbehn. You should
also write to me from time to time and convey to me the impres¬
sion which you form. I have sent to him your earlier letter and also
Gangabehn’s. It is our duty as friends to inform Karsandas about
the result of our test of Surajbehn.

Have you carried out the measures which I had suggested for
cleaning up the goshala? Is there any change in the quality of
the water after the cleaning of the well? Do they now make the
bread of the right quality?

Krishnadas arrived yesterday. I have sent a wire today
saying that Ghhotelal should be sent here. -When he arrives, I
will send both to Almora. It seems advisable for the present to put
both of them in Uttamchand’s place. The difficulty from that side
will then disappear. I do not see much change on Krishnadas’s
face, and he tells me that Chhotelal’s health is not at all good.

Mahadevprasad had written some criticism about the goshala;
it is with Surendra. We should think over it. Introduce immediate¬
ly as many reforms as possible.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 5434; also Bapuna Patro-7: Shri
Chhaganlal Joshing, pp. 127-8

347. LETTER TO MAR AMD AS GAMDHI

Agra,

September 14 ,

GHI. NARANDAS,

May you prosper in the new year which you are entering.
May your firmness of mind increase and your spirit of self-sacrifice
become stronger.

If the women in the women’s ward keep attending a day will
also come when they will pay attention. We may try to impart to
them the best we can and remain content with the effort.

I write to Bhansali from time to time, as you suggest. If you
think it necessary for someone to go to Rajkot, do remember
Santok’s name.

Jamnadas seems to have neglected his eczema. It is the easiest
thing to cure. That it has developed into a boil is a sign of utter
carelessness.

What is Purushottam’s weight these days? Has the tongue
become clear? Has the constipation disappeared? What food does
he eat?

Ba sends her blessings.

Blessings from

Bapu

[From Gujarati]

Bapuna Patro—9: Shri Norandas Gandhine, Pt. I, pp. 54-5

348,, MATIOMAL EDUCATIOMAL IMSTITUTIOMS

A national school, judged from the point of view of size and
influence, may be likened to a she-goat while the Government
schools are like a lion. A lion is far far stronger than the goat; one
lion may make short work of a multitude of goats. Is it not then
rank folly to talk of national schools or to hope that they can
withstand all competition and grow? Only those who are devoid of
the capacity to think or can think only superficially will speak like
that. But the lovers of national education should not, on that
account, feel defeated or dismayed.

There can be no comparison between a national school and
a Government school. There can be no proper appreciation of the

400

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

importance of a national school until the spirit of nationalism is fully
developed—thus leading to an understanding of its merits. It is
necessary to understand the distinctive characteristic of a national
school. It is this: In the national school the first lesson is that of
love and service of the motherland; of sacrificing oneself for the
sake of the country. In the Government school love for the coun¬
try is subordinate to loyalty to the foreign rule. Who does not
know that when there is a conflict between the two, the Govern¬
ment school teaches its students to align themselves on the side
of the protection of the foreign regime? Therefore, those who
have in their heart the love of the country will prefer the cottage
of the national school to the palace of the Government school. Is
there a man who will give preference to the slavery of a prison-
house even though it may provide all physical comforts and have
the appearance of a big palace—over the freedom of his dila¬
pidated cottage? Had we not forgotten this decisive difference
between the two, blinded by our selfishness and attachment to
false glitter, the national schools, far from suffering from want of
an adequate number of students in them, would have been
full, and the rich would have vied with one another in setting up
good buildings for these institutions. Be that as it may, even
though the national school has to meet underneath a tree, even
though it has only a handful of boys, our teachers should never
lose their faith.

[From Gujarati]

Navqjivan, 15-9-1929

349. THE BLIND IN INDIA

In Tardeo, Bombay, there is a home for the blind. Shri Hari-
prasad Chhatrapati is in charge of it and the osteopath Mr.
Behramji Khambhatta and his wife take interest in it. We are all more
or less familiar with three categories of blind persons. The first
category suffer from the blindness of ignorance. No one has been
able to ascertain their number. We may perhaps not be able to
recognize this type of blindness; however, it is much worse than
physical blindness. The second category of blind people are
those who suffer from the pangs of hunger. Their number can be
ascertained. It has been set down as not less than one hundred
million. Although they can see, they are blind as their eyes have
lost all lustre. Eyes set in a wax model can be mechanically operated,
but they do not see. Similarly, although the pupils of the eyes of

strated their ability to write. One person threaded a needle.
The canework done by them was also exhibited.

The demands of this institution are as follows:

1. The rich should contribute funds for running it.

2. None should give alms to the blind;instead, if the money is

1 Vide p. 380.

41-26

402

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

sent to the above institution, they will be looked after and
treatment given to them, if possible, to restore their sight.

3. The whole or part of the amount thus saved by not
giving alms should be paid by generous people to the
above institution.

4. Those who have no money to spare but feel concern for
such handicapped persons should reason patiently with
them and send them to this institution where they will
be examined.

If genuine sentiment for swaraj has been generated in us,
even the blind would start deriving some solace from it. It is
not necessary to wait for swaraj in order to remove their miseries.
Even before the sun of swaraj has risen fully, its light and its com¬
fort will surely spread all round. No time or energy is wasted
in putting my suggestions into practice. .The sentiment for swaraj
implies the same enthusiasm for the liberation of all the blind,
crippled, dumb, half-starved persons, orphans and all those who
are miserable in this country as one has for oneself. Anyone
who has suffered such a change of heart will not miss a single
opportunity of serving those who suffer.

[From Gujarati]

Navajivan , 15-9-1929

350. MARRIAGE AND ITS RITES

I had carried on correspondence with a dear friend on this
subject and of these letters, I had carefully set aside one. I present
to the reader today its main part: 1

This is not a letter, but an article worth reflecting upon. I
agree with the larger portion of it. There may be a difference
of opinion regarding two ideas. I use the words “may be 55 as
very often when there is agreement, people appear to differ owing
to a difference in the points of view.

I do not feel that the sentiment about bringing forth children
should necessarily be there in marriage. I have today before

1 This extract is not translated here. The correspondent had suggested that
certain additions be made to the marriage vow of the Hindus as the Shastras
had declared that if a man did not have a son he would not enter heaven.
He also pleaded that the saptapadi should not be interpreted merely spiritually.
Saptapadi are the seven steps a Hindu bride and bridegroom walk together,
making at the same time promises of mutual fidelity and devotion, after
which the marriage becomes legally complete.

MARRIAGE AND ITS RITES

403

me instances in which a man and a woman have been united in

wedlock despite the absence of any sexual desire or the desire

to bring forth children. Olive Shreiner had such a relationship;

there is a couple 1 in Austria whose relationship today is of such a

kind and was also like that from the very outset. There is another

couple which was not guided at all by this sentiment when it
entered into this relationship, but later on, as a result of this
relationship, they did have children. They did not regard this
result as an auspicious one. They put this result to good use
after it had already materialized. They took the warning and,
insisting upon leading a life of self-control, restricted themselves
to having only two children. I know of such Indian women who
have got married merely in order to avoid being censured by the
world or feeling helpless and seeking the protection offered by
men. There are many widowers who look for a companion only
in order to run their household and look after their children by
the previous marriage. At present the course of the lives of those
who practise self-control contradicts the belief that marriage
and begetting of children are one and the same thing. There is
no need to conclude hastily that begetting children is indeed there
at the root of the union of the two sexes. Why cannot the purity
of conjugal love imply the supreme striving towards the unity of
all living beings? Cannot that which appears to be an impossi¬
bility today become possible tomorrow? Can there be any limits
to self-control? Let us not set any restriction to higher states to
which a human being can reach, by looking at the example of
creatures other than human beings.

If it is desirable to put an end to the sexual relationship bet¬
ween man and woman after five years, will it not be desirable
to eliminate this relationship from the very beginning? If there¬
by there will be fewer marriages, It does not matter; even If there
will be fewer marriages of that type it does not matter either.
To show the practicability of my idea even a single example of
purity is sufficient. Although Jaya and Jayant may be living in
the poet Nanalal’s imagination today, why may they not become
realities tomorrow?

However, the important thing that fills my mind right now
relates to something else. The sentiment about begetting children
should certainly not find a place in the vows of saptapadL Why
should there be a vow for something which is going to take place
if no attempt is made against it? Although we may not regard

1 Frederic and Francisca Standenath, vide Vol. XXXVII, p. 357.

404 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA 0 AND HI

the begetting of children as our duty, it is something that is bound
to continue to happen. Hence if there is a vow relating to it,
it should run somewhat as follows: 'Even if we enjoy sexual
pleasures, they will not be an end in themselves, but only to beget
children if we are fit to bring them up. 5 The reader will see
that this vow and the one taken for the sake of begetting children
are poles apart, as the north is from the south. Is there anyone
who is ignorant of the harmful practices that are being daily
carried on because of the desire for a son in Hindu society as a
result of the vow concerning the begetting of children?

We can readily visualize an age when people will find it
necessary to regard the begetting of children as the primary object
of marriage. Such an age prevails in France today. There in
order to gratify freely their sexual desire, the people have artificial
methods of preventing conception. Hence the number of deaths
now exceeds that of births. Therefore the dharma of begetting
children is now being taught there! When in times of war, the
men on both sides are slain, not only does the dharma of beget¬
ting children become essential, but it is also regarded as the dharma
of each man to marry more than one wife. It is obvious that the
roots of both these examples are corrupt. In the first case, there
was an excess of indulgence in sexual pleasure, while in the second
instance, human violence had reached its zenith. The result that
followed from this was inevitable. Hence despite the fact that it
was irreligious in that particular age, it came to be known as
something religious. Dharma is and always was as follows: ‘You
shall now be destroyed as you have over-indulged yourselves in
sexual pleasures; you have proved to be worse than beasts, you
have slain one another, let those who survive be destroyed now. 5
The welfare of the world lies in the destruction of such peoples
as it involves a direct reaping of the fruit of one’s own actions.
The Bhagavad Gita asserts the same thing. The author of the
Mahabharata has also depicted the destruction of the handful of
persons who survived at the end.

Now that we find that there are many good uses to which
marriage can be put, let us accept them as our objectives and let
the begetting of children depend upon our natural inclinations. This
is what I find to be desirable and essential. What people should
resolve on is service, it is only through helplessness that they should
gratify their sexual desires.

Now to turn to the meaning of the ceremony. I have no
hesitation in declaring that an interpretation which has been
arrived at by doing violence to truth is to be wholly shunned.

Howeve
desirabl
it is our
interpre
ouslv c

wit'

on!

xogemer wnn trie moral e
bound to be an improvement o
As language is the most impoi
tionship, it will continue to de^
two ways — by the formation of
d by giving new interpretations
etion to decide what is proper
vhat circumstances it is possib!
solved in this. Meanings that ha
ion are bound to appear beat
on: truth must not be sacrificed

)pen to go to -Domuay, me men anu
leave me alone. A large gathering
ssembles at Mani Bhuvan. However, on mis
occasion, on me /in, when I passed through Bombay on my way
to Bhopal, four functions were arranged. Two of these were
held at Vile Parle and the other two in the heart of the city
itself. The first of these was the laying of the foundation-stone of

an Ashram for the benefit of women.

Shri Karsandas Chitalia has been the guiding spirit behind
this. He had been dreaming of such an Ashram every day. He
has always had his eyes fixed on Surajbehn and other women.

former has become a widow. One
widowhood was to get her fully oo

the task of serving women and make her forget her own sorrow.
Shrimati Ramabai Ranade and such other distinguished women
have kept this ideal alive. Shri Karsandas has a unique faith in
Surajbehn, Although she has had no education^ she has a very

406

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

soft heart and has always been enthusiastic about serving women.
However, I believe that she has yet to train herself. Shri Karsandas
is of opinion that regardless of whether she has received any
training or not, if once a small building is built for her, she will
train herself as she is kind-hearted and will be at peace with
herself if she throws herself whole-heartedly into the work. Other
women too will do likewise. I see haste and impatience in this.
I feel that as soon as women become ready, a building will surely
be ready for them. It is necessary to prepare the temple of one’s
heart before preparing a structure of brick and mortar. Once the
former is achieved, the rest will certainly follow. If this is not
done, other things even if present, are useless, and very often diffi¬
culties crop up in the way of getting them or fraudulent practices
have to be resorted to for that purpose. Today-there are buildings
in which only crows live. There are others which put the name
‘Ashram’ to shame, where self-interest rather than the ideal of
welfare, immorality rather than morality reigns.

However, I am a humble creature who is a slave of love. I
am bewitched by Shri Karsandas’s simple-minded devotion. Ten
years ago, due to his and Shrimati Jaiji Petit’s efforts I had received
a purse of Rs. 25,000 on behalf of the Bhagini Samaj. Ever since
then I was determined to make use of that amount for the service
of women alone and in using it to seek the advice of this lady
and this gentleman. Shri Karsandas had collected some funds for
this Ashram, while a portion of the amount was donated by
Surajbehn. That was not sufficient to start an Ashram. Hence,
at the suggestion of Shri Karsandas, I decided to make use of
that sum in order to make up the needed amount. Not resting
satisfied with this, Shri Karsandas insisted upon my laying the
foundation-stone of the building. Hence yielding to his insist¬
ence, I have performed this ceremony. Now I hope and pray
that those women on whom Shri Karsandas is relying will justify
his faith in them. A trust is being formed and a constitution is
being drafted for the Ashram. Hence all precautions dictated by
practical common sense are being and will be taken in order to
safeguard its objectives.

As a matter of fact, service to women can be rendered only
by other women coming forward to serve. Women ought to learn
to live together, to work together, to tolerate one another’s tem¬
peramental differences, to think independently and to put these
thoughts into action with courage and determination and to put
up with hardships. Women have a far greater capacity for re¬
nunciation than jnen. Howeyer ? the women pf Jndi^ have not

MY NOTES

407

developed a viewpoint that enables them to look beyond the
narrow limits of the family. One of the aims of this Ashram
is certainly to remedy this drawback.

National Schools

After having performed the ceremony of laying the foundation-
stone of the Stri-Seva Ashram, I had to perform the inauguration
ceremony of the Udyoga Mandir and the khadi exhibition of the
national school in Vile Parle which has been recognized by the
Vidyapith. This school continues to survive amidst many adver¬
sities, because of the determination and steadfast devotion of
Shri Gokulbhai and other workers. It has been brought over to
Vile Parle in order to reduce expenses and at present Shri Kishore-
lal Mashruwala is the guiding spirit behind it. Attempts are be¬
ing made in this school to give crafts a primary place in actual
practice and the spinning-wheel and khadi have the place of prime
importance among these crafts. It is in this connection that a hall
was required. It is now ready and a small khadi exhibition has
been arranged in it.

How can one compare this lamb to the tiger-like government
schools ? Considering the law in accordance with which a single
tiger devours several lambs, large as well small, is there no limit
to the stupidity of those who are fascinated by the idea of running
national schools ? Perhaps a person who lacks discretion and thinks
superficially may say so. There is no reason for the protagonists
of national education to feel defeated or scared because of this.

There can be no comparison at all between national schools
and government schools. There cannot be full appreciation of the
former so long as the spirit of nationalism is not fully felt and so
long as its merits are not fully understood. But why should, for
that reason, those who understand nationalism doubt their own
conviction? It is necessary to understand the distinctive feature
of a national school. It is this: the first and last lesson in it is
one of patriotism, national service and sacrifice for the sake of the
country. In a government school, patriotism comes after loyalty
to foreign rule. Who does not know that when a conflict arises
between the two, the lesson of loyalty to the foreign government
is taught ? Hence those who are devoted nationalists will prefer
the hut of a national school to the palace of a government school
Who would prefer subservience in a gorgeous, comfortable prison
to freedom in one’s own leaking and dilapidated hut? If, as a
result of our craze and our inherent selfishness, we had not wiped
out this decisive distinction between government schools and

408

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

national schools today, the latter would have been overflowing with
pupils instead of having a handful of them, and wealthy people
would have been vying with one another to build beautiful build¬
ings for these. However, although national schools may have to
be run under the shade of a banyan tree, although only a hand¬
ful of children may attend them, let nationalist teachers never
lose their faith. I believe that the school in Vile Parle is of this
type and hence I regarded myself as fortunate in having visited it.

New Building for Khadi Bhandar

The Khadi Bhandar of the All-India Spinners’ Association in
Bombay is a symbol of the progress of khadi and a measure of
Shri Vithaldas Jerajani’s love for it. From the standpoint of
swaraj the progress made by this Bhandar may well appear
to be very slight. However, viewing it as a store, its progress

may be regarded as good. From a small building it moved to a

somewhat large one and when even this was found to be in¬
adequate, it has been shifted to a new and still larger building at
No. 396 Kalbadevi. A visit to this new place was the fourth
function on the 7th. 1 What a contrast between the coarse variety
of khadi produced at its inception — to persons crazy about khadi
like myself that would appear to be beautiful even today — and
the 1660 varieties and textures being produced today! What a
contrast between the swaraj flag made then and the woollen

khadi flag made today with permanent dyes! But let me give

below the account of this progress which was written down in a
beautiful hand and read by Shri Jerajani : 2

The original bhandar was opened in January 1920 in the
Morarji Gokuldas Market. The sales during six months in that
year amounted to Rs. 28,276. Last year, they amounted to Rs.
3,97,282. The total sales for seven years amount to Rs. 19,60,072.
However, this is an insignificant figure considering the boycott,
even the store at Kalbadevi is of no significance. This Bhandar
should have its own building. If the idea of boycott really catches
on, if the love of khadi runs in the blood of every Indian child,
there will be a khadi bhandar in each locality in Bombay, not
merely the one we have at present. The only way to generate
such widespread love is for those who love khadi at the moment
to continue to do so, to help this and such other bhandars, and

1 Vide p. 381.

^ This is not translated here. It stated that about 50 persons worked

in the store. 18 sections were to be opened in order to provide facilities
to buyers of khadi.

MY NOTES

409

for workers not to let their faith diminish even in the least. This
Bhandar will confirm the faith of those who have it and create
faith in those who do not have it.

Beggars for Antyaja Service

The Kathiawar Antyaja Committee has sent Shri Ramji Jutha
Hirani and Shri Ramnarayan Nagardas Pathak to East Africa
and other places to collect funds for their work. Shri Ramji is a
worker in Vartej Antyaja Ashram and Shri Ramnarayan, a worker
in the Chhaya Antyaja Ashram. The ideal thing is that the burden
of such expenditure in Kathiawar should be borne by the people
living in Kathiawar itself. However, today we are facing tasks
with regard to which public opinion has not been sufficiently
educated. There are some who regard untouchability as their
dharma. In these circumstances, people who love the Antyajas
and would serve them should hold out their hands and beg for
their sake. It is in keeping with this practice that these two workers
have been sent to East Africa. I hope that the Indian residents
of East Africa, and especially the Gujaratis, will give them as
much as they consider proper and to the best of their capacity.
At present the Antyaja Committee is running three ashrams and
ten schools. Approximately, 800 boys and girls are taking ad¬
vantage of these. Is there any compassionate person who will not
help them? I had told these gentlemen that I would notice their
begging mission in the issue of the very week when they would
leave. However, owing to heavy pressure of work I could not keep
my promise. Had Shri Mulchand Parekh, the Secretary of the
Committee, not reminded me of it, I might still have forgotten
about it. I have not written this in order to justify my error but
in order to confess it. We should beware of making promises to
anyone, but when we do, we should promptly carry them out. As
I could not do so in this instance, I beg forgiveness of these two
friends and of the Antyaja Committee.

[From Gujarati]

Navajimn , 15-9-1929

352. LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI

Agra,

September 75, 1929

CHI. CHHAGANLAL,

Has anything been done about Kathor ? Hasmukhrai should
write to me and keep me informed about Bhansali. Has his weight
increased? Gan he walk now without help? What does he eat? I
ought to know all this. How does Marathe keep? Nathji was to go
there to meet him and plead with him. It was proposed to frame
rules about personal cleanliness; have they been framed? Have the
roads been named at last? If they have, I have not seen the list.

I wish to remind you of a suggestion which I had made some
months ago. It was that we should get the Khadi Vidyalaya
recognized by the Vidyapith and that those who pass its exami¬
nation should be awarded degrees or diplomas by the latter.
We have given no further thought to this matter. I think we
should do so now. Discuss the matter with Shankerlal and
Kaka and give effect to the suggestion. Perhaps you remember
that I had gone to the extent of suggesting that even those who
had passed the examination in previous years should, if they
desired, be given certificates after going through a special proce¬
dure, and that the names of all such persons should be entered
on our register and that of the Vidyapith. There are two or
three similar matters which sometimes occur to me, but I do not
recollect them at the moment.

Doctor Hariprasad must have now started the nursing class.
Tell Shivabhai that in consultation with Jethalal and Appasaheb
he should fully reconcile the discrepancies in the accounts to which
they have drawn attention. I think that Narandas, too, does not
accept Shivabhai’s figures. Shivabhai should resolve the differences
with all the three either through correspondence or by personal
discussion. Mirabehn told me that a new method of estimating the
quality of yarn had been recently introduced in the Ashram. If
this is true, it should be explained both in Navajivan and Young India.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 5435; also Bapuna Pairo-7: Shri
Chhaganlal Joskine, pp. 128-9

353. LETTER TO BAKARASWAS CHATURVEDI

Agra,

September 15, 1929

BHAISHRI BANARASIDAS,

I have received both your letters. I shall visit Dayalbagh 1 2 .
At Firozabad I do hope to meet your father, your son and others.
If Ramnarayan has already met me he did not introduce himself.
I hope to meet Ghiranjilal also. I trust that the loss in Vishal
Bharat 2 will be made up soon enough. How is the Hindi-propaga-
tion work progressing in Bengal?

Tours ,

Mohandas

From a photostat of the Hindi: G.N. 2522

354. LETTER TO GANGABEHjY VA1DTA

September 16, 1929

CHI. GANGABEHN SENIOR,

I have your letter. Do not mind if you cannot help saying
unpleasant things at the Managing Committee meetings; if you
remain on it, you will get experience. One cannot learn to control
anger and other weaknesses by keeping idle at home. One can
do so only by trying while discharging the responsibilities one has
undertaken. To run away from responsibility because one is apt
to lose temper is a form of cowardice and, moreover, one will not
then know whether one has learnt to control anger.

Write to me if Lakshmi has been giving trouble. I will then
write to Dudabhai and he will take her away. I am happy to
learn that the Dehra Dun girls have shown their merit. Surajbehn
of course will take time to learn things.

Do not mind if you have started taking coffee again. You have
tried your very best to give it up, but you have not succeeded. There
is a limit beyond which one cannot fight against one’s body.

1 An Industrial colony established at Agra by a religious sect

2 A Hindi monthly edited by the addressee

412

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

Take care of your health. Have no hesitation at all in taking as
much milk as you think necessary.

Blessings from

Bapu

[From Gujarati]

Bapuna Patro-6; G.S. Gangabehnne , p. 26

355. LETTER TO ASHRAM WOMEN

Silence Day , September 16, 1929

SISTERS,

Do not expect long letters from me for the present. I get very
little time on Monday, since I have to finish the work for both
Navajivans on that day. I must wait and see what happens as the
tour progresses. Though we are here only for a few days, Mira-
behn has started a class for spinning and carding. Jamnabehn has
brought from Bombay garments made by the women there and
sells them. She is helped in this by Prabhavati. Kusum is always
occupied in her work. I may be said to be in fairly good health,
but I get very much annoyed if any person in our circle makes a
mistake. From that I see that my body has still not become what
I should like it to be. And the mind has not become so detached
from the body that it can control the latter whatever its physi¬
cal condition might be.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 3701

356. LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI

September 16 , 1929

CHI. CHHAGANLAL,

I got today the mail sent by you, but I find in it no letter
from you. You need not worry if occasionally you cannot write
for want of time. I want you to recover your composure as
early as possible. What way can I suggest to you for this? The
truth is that composure is not acquired by following anyone's
advice; it springs from within.

I myself am fighting with the demon of Anger these days.
The moment anyone in our circle makes a mistake, this adversary

Letter to chhaganlal josh! 413

Anger rides on my back. This betokens weakness of both body
and mind. If the mind has become completely indifferent, in
what way can the body’s weakness affect it? The reason knows
this, but the heart has not felt this knowledge. One day, however,
this anger is bound to leave me. My harshest attacks are on
Pyarelal and Kusum. As I must win God’s grace by my own
effort, so also must you. Do not imagine that there is any difference
between you and me—both of us have the same atman , and both of
us have an element of the brute in us. The latter will disappear if
the darkness of ignorance vanishes.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 5436; also Bapuna Patro-7: Shri
Chhaganlal Joshine, p. 130

357. LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI

Silence Day, September 16, 1929

CHI. CHHAGANLAL,

Narandas’s letter and yours were caught between other letters
and so I did not see them when replying to the other letters to¬
day. 1 After the mail had been dispatched, I started reading the
letters which I had read incompletely and, as I removed the clip,
I saw the two letters. I was glad. I wish that your reconciliation
should endure. I shall certainly be happy if Narandas’s suggestion
can be carried out. It will certainly be convenient if the women’s
work centre can be located in the enclosed courtyard. Gangabehn
ought to have obtained my permission for starting a fast. It does
not matter if she is fasting only for a day or two. I propose to
send a wire about this tomorrow.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 5437; also Bapuna Patro — 7: Shri
Chhaganlal Joshine , pp. 130-1

1 Vide the preceding item.

358. TELEGRAM TO UDYOGA MANDIR, SABARMATI

September 17 , 1929

WIRE RESULT GANGABEHN’S FAST HER HEALTH.

Bapu

From a microfilm: S.N. 15822

359. TELEGRAM TO KHADI SHOP , SRINAGAR'

September 17 , 2929

WIRE RECEIVED. KEEP CHHOTELAL FOR PRESENT.

WHEN CAN YOU RELIEVE EARLIEST? DO YOU NOW
RECEIVE LETTERS ?

Bapu

From a microfilm: S.N. 15556

360. MESSAGE TO BOMBAY CHILDREN 1 2

Agra,

September 17, 1929

The children who live and study in Bombay ought to know
that they are but a drop in the ocean of the crores of children in
India. Also they must realize that a large number of these crores
of Indian children are only living skeletons. If the Bombay chil¬
dren look upon them as their own brothers and sisters, what are
they going to do for them?

With blessings of

Bapu

The Bombay Chronicle , 2-10-1929

1 In reply to addressee’s telegram dated September 16 5 which read:
“Relieving Chhotelalji soon will disturb work considerably. Please wire 55
(S.N. 15555).

2 Received preparatory to celebration of Gandhiji’s birthday by them

361 . LETTER TO CHAIRMAN , MUNICIPAL BOARD ,

Lf/CiTjVOPl 7

Camp Agra,

September 17, 1929

The Chairman
Municipal Board
Lucknow

dear SIR,

I have your letter. With reference to the hoisting ceremony
of the national flag I take it that you have fixed the time in
consultation with the Reception Committee for I am not my own
master when I undertake these tours. The Reception Committees
in each place regulate my movements.

Tours faithfully.

From a microfilm: S.N. 15560

362. LETTER TO SWAMI GOVINDANAND

Camp Agra,

September 17, 1929

DEAR FRIEND,

I have just heard that you are conducting, in the name of the
Congress, a khadi bhandar uncertified by the All-India Spin¬
ners 5 Association at which spurious khadi is sold. I have received
also the specimen of a handkerchief which obviously contains
mill yarn. I would like you to tell me how far there is truth
in the statement brought to my notice.

Tours sincerely,

Swami GOVINDANAND
President, Sind P. G. C.

Kesari Office, Karachi

From a microfilm: S.N. 15547-a

363. LETTER TO SECRETARY, A.I.S.A., AHMEDABAD

Camp Agra,

September 17, 1929

The Secretary

All-India Spinners 5 Association
Mirzapur, Ahmedabad

DEAR FRIEND,

I have your letter 1 about the Khadi Bhandar run by Swami
Govindanand. I have written 2 to him directly of which a copy is
sent herewith.

Tours sincerely s

Enclosures:

From a microfilm: S.N. 15547

364. LETTER TO Z^UDDIN AHMAD*

' Camp Agra,

September 17, 1929

DEAR FRIEND,

I have your letter for which I thank you. I have received
advice from Sabarmati that the book mentioned by you has been
received there. I have a long tour in front of me and I am not
likely to be at the Ashram for a long time to come. I am
afraid therefore that I shall not be able to look at your book
before next year.

Tours sincerely ,

From a microfilm: S.N. 15530

This read: Swami Govindanand’s Bhandar is not one certified by the
AJ.S.A. Still it is feared that as it is run by the President, Congress Com¬
mittee, difficulties may arise . . .” (S.N. 15546).

2 Vide the preceding item.

3 In reply to his letter requesting Gandhiji to write a few words about his
book. Systems of Education (S.N. 15529)

365. LETTER TO D. VENKATESIVARLV

Gamp Agra,
September 17, 1929

DEAR FRIEND,

I have your letter. When you have finished your course if
you are still intent on coming to the Ashram there would be no
difficulty about your admission. But you will write again after
next June if you are still so minded. I would, however, recom¬
mend your living the Ashram life where you are by way of pre¬
paration. And it would be advisable for you to come at first alone
and after you are acclimatized and satisfied that you can lead the
Ashram life, your wife can follow. I would also suggest your both
learning Hindi. I presume you have a copy of the constitution
of the Udyoga Mandir. If you have not you should send
for one from Sabarmati.

Tours sincerely,

Sjt. D. Venkateswarlu

Final Year, Government Textile Institute

Washermenpet, Madras

From a microfilm: S.N. 15537

366. LETTER TO K. GANESAN

. Camp Agra,
September 17, 1929

DEAR FRIEND,

I have your letter and I have advice from Sabarmati that
your mother’s yarn 1 was safely received. Please thank her on
my behalf for the value of it.

Tours sincerely,

Sjt. K. Ganesan

C/o Sjt. K. Kuppuswami Iyer, B.A., B.L.

High Court Vakil, Dindigul

From a microfilm: S.N. 15543

1 Thirty thousand yards sent as gift on Gandhiji’s birthday

41-27

367 . LETTER TO M. S . ADHIKAB1

Camp Agra,

September 17, 1929

DEAR FRIEND,

I have your letter 1 . I suggest your showing your scheme to
someone better qualified to examine it and having more leisure
for it.

Tours sincerely,

M. S. Adhikari

C/o Modern Hindu Hotel

Fort, Bombay

From a microfilm: S.N. 15545

368. LETTER TO KANNOOMAL

Camp Agra,

September 17, 1929

DEAR FRIEND,

I am sorry I could not see you when you called as I was
just closing my eyes. I have now got your books for which I
thank you. I do not find the price of the books of which you
have sent me a list nor do I find it in the books themselves, for
instance. Sayings of Kabir in Hindi which I have been just glancing
through.

Tours sincerely,

Lala Kannoomal
Dholpur (Rajputana)

From a microfilm: S.N. 15551

1 Dated September 9, which read: e£ I have herewith enclosed a copy of
the Rules and Regulations of a certain company in Bombay which professes
to grant loans on co-operative basis at 1 per cent per annum. . . . If the
scheme can alleviate and better the present economic condition of the coun¬
try, I think it is worth the trial. . . (S.N. 15544).

369. LETTER TO V. V. D1KSH1T

Gamp Agra,
September 17 , 1929

DEAR FRIEND,

I have your letter enclosing Sjt. Seshagiri Rao’s letter. I
suggest by way of preliminary that his machine be shown to Sjt.
Narayana Raju of Ellore who knows something of spinning-
wheels. If he is absolutely sure of his invention he can send it to
Sabarmati for examination. If the machine is at all promising
every facility will be given to him to perfect his conception. He
will have to bear the cost of sending the machine and of returning
it if he wants its return in the event of its being found unsatis¬
factory. His board and lodging will be found for him by the
Udyoga Mandir in the event of his coming to Sabarmati. I am
not writing separately to Sjt. Rao. Let this serve as an acknow¬
ledgment of his letter also.

Tours sincerely,

Sjt. V. V. Dikshit

Ellore, West Godavari District

From a microfilm: S.N. 1558

370. LETTER TO JAIRAMDAS DOULATRAM

Gamp Agra,

September 17, 1929

MY DEAR JAIRAMDAS,

I have your letter. I am sending today to Purushottamdas
Tandon the covering letter. You will see in Young India the use I
have made of some figures quoted by you in the Mysore Bulletin. 1
There should be more work along this line. The very figures you
have given can be still further worked out and they will show
startling results. For instance the average income of 1 anna
7 pies means that the income of 11 crores who have four months
in the year at least lying absolutely idle on their hands is much
less than 1 anna 7 pies because the average includes the incomes of

1 Vide pp. 434-5.

420 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

big zamindars and the fat salaries of highly placed officials as also
the equally fat fees of doctors and lawyers. It should not be diffi¬
cult for someone to work out these figures and find the average
income of the 11 crores. It must be nearer 1 pie than seven. Surely,
66 crores for foreign yarn and foreign piece-goods is a wrong figure
for the imports from England alone of piece-goods excluding yarn
amount to nearly 60 crores. If you add to this imports of yarn
from England and imports of yarn and piece-goods from Japan
and Italy they are likely to be 100 crores, but this requires check¬
ing. Who has prepared these figures? Here is a copy of my
itinerary revised to date.

Tours sincerely ,

Enclosure 1

Sjt. Jairamdas Doulatram

Secretary, Foreign-Cloth Boycott Committee

Congress House

414 Girgaum Back Road, Bombay
F rom a photostat: S.N. 15559

371. LETTER TO DESH RAJ

Camp Agra,

September 17 , 1929

MY DEAR DESH RAJ,

Though your report on Mr. Brayne’s rural work is uncon¬
scionably late I welcome it as I have been anxiously waiting for
It. I am now devouring it. May I make public use of it? If you
can absolutely vouch for every statement made by you it is a
valuable document. It would not do to have a single statement
successfully contradicted. Attempts at contradiction probably
there would be but you must have chapter and verse in support
of what you have said. You realize that some of your statements
are most damaging. If therefore you want to revise any portion
you may do so. There are some obvious slips at page 6. You say
“they have got an agricultural farm of about 40 yds”. I suppose
you mean acres. At page 14 you say “from the last year Govern¬
ment sanction an annual grant of Rs. 2,50,000 for the village
guides”. This seems to be surely an error but I cannot guess the
correct figure unless it is Rs. 250 or Rs. 2,500. Please let me know
the correct figure. But in view of these slips I would like you to

LETTER TO EVELYN GEDGE

421

revise the report and make it absolutely accurate in connection
with every single detail. And I need hardly ask you to be prompt
in your reply. Please let me have your reply if possible at Luck¬
now where I expect to be from 27th to 30th.

Touts sincerely.

From a microfilm: S.N. 15561

372. LETTER TO JAGANNATH

Camp Agra,

September 17 , 1929

MY DEAR JAGANNATH,

Better late than never. I have been boiling with indignation
against you for being so late with the report. After your last
visit to the Ashram with Tandonji I thought that I would get
the report at once but you know what time it took before you
could send it to me. However there is some compensation in that
the report is exhaustive. I am now studying it carefully. You
will find my letter 1 herewith to Desh Raj. Please send it to him.
I am keeping my health as well as possible.

Touts sincerely.

Enclosure: Tour Programme 2
Sjt. Jagannath

From a microfilm: S.N. 15541

373 . LETTER TO EVELYN GEDGE

Camp Agra,

September 17, 1929

DEAR FRIEND,

I have your letter. I am writing at once to Cornelius and
I hope that the result of my correspondence will prove happy
though his letter to Mr. Vergese fills me with doubt. During our
conversation you wanted me not to mention your name but I
think that it would be wrong not to mention your name. Corne¬
lius ought to know the source of my information and it is better

1 Vide the preceding item.

2 Not available

422

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

not to leave him to guess it. I hope therefore I am right in using
your name. I did not gather at our conversation that you in¬
tended absolute prohibition. I return the two letters sent by
you.

Tours sincerely,

Enclosures: 2
Miss Evelyn Gedge
University Settlement
Vacghangandhi Road
Gamdevi, Bombay

From a microfilm: S.N. 15562

374 . LETTER TO K S. HARDIKAR 1

Camp Agra,

September 17, 1929

DEAR DR. HARDIKAR,

I have your letter about the flag. I am already attending
to it. Your suggestion is quite good and workable. It may take a
little time before the thing is in working order. I note what you
say about the size. I had similar complaints from one or two
other workers. I note also what you say about the fastness of
colours.

Tours sincerely t

Dr. N. S. Hardikar
Hindustani Seva Dal, Hubli

From a photostat: S.N. 15528

1 Bi r eply to his letter dated September 6, which read: c< . . * as per
resolution, of the Calcutta Conference of the Dal in December 1928, a good
number of places have been observing the monthly flag salutation function
regularly at 8 a.m. on the last Sunday of every month. . . . We have been
getting orders for national flags from distant places both in India and outside.
... I shall feel highly obliged if the A.I.S.A. arranges that its provincial
branches at least keep national flags of different sizes ready for sale (with the
charkha on them) . . ” (S.N, 15527).

375. LETTER TO SATIS CHANDRA DAS GUPTA

Camp Agra,

September 17 , 1929

DEAR SATIS BABU,

I have your letter about the doings of Congressmen there.
What you say is too true. I am simply sitting still. I enclose
Dr. Hardikar’s letter. What he says about the size of the flag is, I
think, quite true. Can you prepare these flags to the standard
size required by Dr. Hardikar and supply all the stores? I would like
you to consult Jerajani in this matter. He has also been making
experiments in flag making. He has been fairly successful. The
colours must undoubtedly be fast. Jerajani has used hand-spun
woollen stuff for making good flags. We might have both woollen
and cotton varieties but you know best.

Herewith is Niranjan Babu’s letter. In so far as his narrative
means the slightest reflection upon you it is a bad narrative. There
is nothing wilful in it but it shows how cautious a man has to be
especially in talking to one who is nervous under a shock deli¬
vered to him. I have sent Niranjan Babu a prescription 1 for future
use which you will see from the copy of the letter herewith en¬
closed. I have had nothing yet from Krishnadas nor from his
Guruji to whom I had to write about the incident owing to a
letter received from him. He sent me a long telegram apologiz¬
ing for Krishnadas but of course it is not the apology I need.
I want an absolute clearance. Hemprabhadevi is absolutely
silent nowadays. I wonder if her silence is also due to the recent
disturbances. Have you regained your weight and are you quite
well now? One thing seems to me to be clear from the dietetic
literature that has come under my notice, namely, that polished
rice is unfit for consumption and a grain which requires so much
delicate handling as rice need hardly be taken when other cereals
are at hand. Wheat, milk or curds, uncooked green vegetables and
fruits seem to be just now a workable proposition. That the plant
world does hold an absolute substitute for milk I have no
doubt but the secret is still to be found. American friends as also

1 Vide p. 396,

424 the collected works OF MAHATMA GANDHI

English friends have suggested the Soya Bean milk. I am trying
to secure the Soya Bean.

Tours sincerely ,

Bapu

Ends. Letter of Sjt. Niranjan Patnaik and reply

Sjt. Satis Chandra Das Gupta
Khadi Pratishthan, Sodepur
Near Calcutta

From a photostat: G.N. 1609

376 . LETTER TO VASUMATI PANDIT

Agra,

September 17, 1929

CHI. VASUMATI,

Once again I have had no letter from you for some time. I
must get one regularly. I have sent to Chhaganlal the programme
of my tour. Read that letter. I keep good health. I have not
yet started eating bread, nor do I feel the need for it.

Blessings from

Bapu

[PS.]

I have not revised this.

From a photostat of the Gujarati: S.N. 9266

377. LETTER TO G. V. MAVLANKAR

September 17, 1929

BHAISHRI MAVALANKAR,

I got your letter.

I am writing this reply in great haste. I am under the im¬
pression that the printing press valued at Rs. 20,000 was also

donated. Bhai Shankerlal knows the true position. Please show the
Deed to him.

Swaim’s name will continue. Isn’t our position merely that
oi the parties making the Trust?

I think it necessary to continue all the new Trustees. There is
of course a reason for keeping each name, I qan e^plmn it when we

425

LETTER TO CHHAGAVLAL JOSHI

meet or in a letter when T get sufficient time for that,

I think I have omitted no point in this reply.

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 1225

378. LETTER TO CHHAGAJVLAL JOSHI

Agra,

September 17 , 1929

CHI. CHHAGANLAL,

If you get some time from your miscellaneous administrative
work, you or Panditji or Narandas should go to Gangabehn’s help.
Without someone to help her, she cannot manage the women who
are misbehaving. It has been proved that . . . behn 1 steals. I
have always felt that . . ? had this defect. Everyone knows what
trouble . . . 3 gives. . . A is a careless, thoughtless and bad-
mannered girl.

I think one of you should take [A] 5 into confidence and tell
him about [B] 6 . If her bad nature cannot be reformed, [A] should
take her out of the Udyoga Mandir and reform her with love. He
ought not to be angry with her and abandon her. In the Udyoga
Mandir, however, she will not improve. Those who live in the
Mandir ought to have certain virtues. If they lack them, they
are likely to grow worse instead of improving there, for they will
abuse the freedom which prevails in the Udyoga Mandir and, in
the absence of the restrictions which exist in the outside world, they
would slacken even those restraints which they used to exercise be¬
fore joining the Mandir. It is also likely that [A] does not see the
defects of [B] which we see. I have known few husbands who
can see the shortcomings of their wives. If every husband can
do this, conjugal life would probably be impossible. I would not,
therefore, blame [A] if he cannot see [B*s] defects. But it is clear to
me as daylight that, if that is so, both of them should leave the
Udyoga Mandir, for so long as he does not see her defects she will
have a powerful shield in him. It Is but natural that he should be
partial to her so long as he does not see her defects. And so long
as this goes on, [B’s] interests will suffer.

In admitting married women, we do assume that we shall
get the fullest co-operation from the husband and that, when

b 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 & 6 The names are omitted in the source.

426

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

we confess our helplessness in regard to the wife, both will leave
the Mandir. What applies to [B] and [A] also applies to [C] 1 and
[Dp.

If Lakshmi does not behave properly, Dudabhai should again
take her away. This should be done every time it is necessary; in
course of time, then, if it is our and her good fortune, she will
learn to behave better.

I have written all this for consideration by you. Carry out as
much from it as is practicable.

How is Krishnamaiyadevi behaving?

It was a narrow escape for Fulchand. But we should not al¬
ways trust to similar good fortune. It is desirable to keep ready
facilities of ropes, etc,, near the place where children go for
swimming- In any case, we should caution them from time to
time.

Blessings from

Bapu

[PS.]

I have not revised this.

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 5438; also Bapuna Patro-7: Shri
Chhaganlal Joskine, pp. 130-2

379. LETTER TO N. R. MALKANI

Camp Agra,
September 18 , 1929

MY DEAR MALKANI,

I have your letter. The news you give me has deeply grieved
me. Swami Govindanand wrote to me asking me to bless some
Congress Relief Committee he had formed. I told him I could
not do so as all the moneys I could collect were to be distri¬
buted through you and you only. ' I see now what a fix you
have found yourself in. You must now keep intact the balance
of the moneys sent to you from Gujarat. If you are again free
to work out relief measures independently of official interference
or control, the Gujarat money will be set free. Otherwise you will
return it to me. When you find that you arc being exploited in¬
stead of being able to serve the people, you will wash your hands
clean of the present Committee and if you cannot do relief work

1 & 2 The names are omitted in the source.

LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI

427

quietly and without stirring up dirt you will realize that the fates

are against you and that they do not require your services. We hold
ourselves ready to serve where our service is needed. We do not
need to thrust ourselves anywhere. It is enough that we are will¬
ing. Have I made myself quite plain and understandable ?

Now for Choithram 1 . Jairamdas and I had a long talk
about him. He is sinfully wasting his body. Why can he not,
whilst there is time, give himself one whole month’s rest or more
if necessary and recuperate himself, and become thereby a fitter
instrument for service ? I think you who surround him should
declare a strike and satyagraha against him and compel him to
take rest. Please show this letter to him and tell me how far
you have succeeded.

Tours sincerely,

Bapu

Prof. Naraindas Malkani
District Congress Committee Office
Hyderabad (Sind)

From a photostat: G.N. 895

m LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI

Agra,

September 18, 1929

CHI. CHHAGANLAL,

I got your letter. Raojibhai’s fever seems to have continued
for quite a long time, but it must have gone now. I wrote to
you about Narandas the day before yesterday.

Today all of us went and paid a visit to the institutions run
in Dayalbagh. 2 We met their head, Sahebji Maharaj. No work
on raw hides is done in these institutions. They make footwear,
buying leather from elsewhere. I saw nothing in the gosh ala from
which we could learn. The expenditure on it is very high. 'The
institution maintains connection with the Government. It runs
a college, etc., and accepts grants from the Government for the
purpose. There is great cleanliness in the place. The buildings
are palatial, and the roads metalled. The institution has its own

1 Dr. Choithram Gidwani

2 A description of this appeared in Toting India , 26-9-1929, under the title,
“TJ. P. Tour”.

428 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

guards. It employs water-pumps and has electric lights. I would
not regard this as an institution of the poor and for the poor.

It is certainly one which would do and bring credit to the rich.

It is extremely well managed. The residents have great love for
the Saheb Maharaj. Women enjoy freedom. Not only are there
no caste restrictions, but their observance is actually prohibited.
Marriages are deliberately arranged outside caste circles. The
marriage ceremony is absolutely simple. Women are always clad
in white. Except bangles and a small necklace, all other orna¬
ments are banned. Even those which they wear are made in Dayal-
bagh, and it is a rule that they must be made in Dayalbagh.
The women’s dress imitates the Parsi dress. They even tie a white
kerchief round the head. Attendance at morning and evening
prayers is compulsory, and the prayer lasts one hour in the
morning and two in the evening. Sahebji IMahai aj is full of en¬
thusiasm and takes interest in all activities. Everything is done
under his supervision. His aim in life is self-realization. The
satsangis are forbidden to take part in politics. I send with this
a copy of the pamphlet giving a description of the institution.

More about this when we meet.

There is a gentleman here named Pratapnarayan Vatal. He
has had experience in the tannery of the Rcwa State. He has
promised to help us through corresponde nee in running our tan¬
nery. If he immediately initiates correspondence and writes to
you, explain the position to Surendra and ask him to keep up the
correspondence. I was told that he has had twenty years’ ex¬
perience.

If I meet Premraj’s guru in Farrukhabad I will try to get
acquainted with him.

Gopalrao’s wound seems to have taken a rather long time to
heal. But he must have returned now.

You need not do anything now about [the delay in] the post.
I t hink the time it takes to arrive here is correct. I see that I
made a mistake in counting the number of days. For a letter
posted on the 13th can leave Ahmedabad earliest on the 14th.
It will reach Agra on the evening of the 15th and will be delivered
on the 16th. I got your letter of the 15th on the right day ac¬
cording to their reckoning. 1

Blessings from

BapU

1 Vide p. 388.

LETTER TO G. D. BIRLA

429

[PS.]

Chaman Kavi writes to me and tells me that you promised
to write to him daily about me but did not write and did not

even reply to his letter.

Narandas had merely asked my permission in his letter.
Harjivan will not let Chhotelal go away just now.

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 5439; also Bapiina Patro-7; Shri
Chhaganlal Jo shine, pp. 132-3

38L LETTER TO MANIBEHN PATEL

Agra,

September 18, 1929

I have your letter. It is a good thing that Yashoda 1 2 is now

in Ahmedabad. Her illness causes anxiety, but it is possible that

she will recover with careful nursing.

If Father has arrived, tell him I expect to meet him in

Lucknow on the 27th.

I know about [the death of] Bhai IndulaPs wife. For her
this is a release from pain. I am a little surprised about . . 2
bhai. But where is the need for surprise when such things are

in the air?

I enjoy good health, and live at present on milk, curds and fruit.

Blessings from

Bapu

[From Gujarati]

Bapuna Patro-4; Manibehn Patelne, p. 68

382 . LETTER TO G. D. BIRLA

Agra,

September 18, 1929

bhai ghanshyamdasji,

I got your letter of September 2. My impression is that I
wrote to you during the Andhra tour to arrange for the auditing
of the Bengal Congress Committee accounts. 3 I was hoping your

1 Wife of the addressee’s brother

2 The name is omitted in the source.

3 Vide also p. 327.

430 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

auditors would agree to do the job free of charge. You may
write to the Secretary of the Bengal Provincial Congress Committee*
I shall write to him today. 1

I have had enough rest in Agra. My health is better. I am
only taking goat’s milk, curds and fruits. I could eat rod but I
have not tried it. If we get some opportunity to sit down to¬
gether at leisure as we had in Wardha, I would like to know your
views regarding food. Because of weakness or inability, one may
not be able to adopt an ideal diet and yet one may have well-
considered views about it.

The sages had arrived at fairly well-founded views regarding
this matter of an ideal diet but my mind does not accept that they
had reached a solution which must hold good for all time to come.
But as I have been unsuccessful for the time being in my experi¬
ment this subject is no longer of immediate interest.

I trust you are keeping good health. Mahadevlalji had
written to me in July a letter which contained some charges
against you. I drew his attention to the impropriety of it and
asked his permission to pass on the letter to you. The impropriety
consisted in his not mentioning the matter to you first. In his
reply he gave me permission to forward his letter to you. The
letter, however, was not desptached perhaps because I was on tour
or for some other reason. Meanwhile, Mahadevlal came to the
Ashram. At present he is touring with Jamnalalji. He does
not seem to have any selfish motive. I am sending his letter to
you now. Read it at leisure and take your own time in sending
the reply. And return his letter with your reply.

Tours,

Mohandas

From Hindi: G.W. 6177. Courtesy: G. D. Birla

383. JUDGE'S INDICTMENT

I condense the following from a newspaper report:

It is extremely common for advocates for the defence in
criminal cases to argue that the prosecution story is an entire
concoction by the police, and in the vast majority of cases
no evidence whatever, whether elucidated in cross-examination
or offered in examination-in-chief, is ever produced in support
of this argument. Now either the contention is raised on direct

1 The letter was, however, written on September 19; vide p. 437.

notice of the High Court. I make these observations in order

that a check may be placed on a growing and serious evil.

These are the remarks of the Chief Justice of the Patna High
Court.

I have said enough in these columns to show that justice is
practically unobtainable in the so-called courts of justice in India.
But I was unprepared for a Chief Justice (assuming that he is cor¬
rectly reported) becoming the framer of a gratuitous indictment
against lawyers and their clients. These remarks of the Chief
Justice of the Patna High Court, in my opinion, amount to a
threat to the accused persons and their counsel.

If the fear of an increase in sentence or being disbarred hangs
like Damocles 5 sword on the accused person or his counsel as the
case may be, it would be impossible for either to impugn the
conduct of the police. Whatever the learned Chief Justice’s ex¬
perience may be, the experience of the man in the street is, that
in a vast number of cases the police story is manufactured, and
the growing evil is not in the accused or his counsel, but it is in
the police who therefore need to be checked in their excessive
zeal to fasten a particular crime upon someone. The ordinary
policeman is in mortal fear of degradation or dismissal, if he can¬
not secure convictions. It becomes therefore his interest to manu¬
facture a case in the absence of reliable evidence. The judge
therefore whose duty is to presume the innocence of every ac¬
cused person coming before him would think twenty times before

432 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

he puts a single obstacle in his way. Where is the lawyer who
has not often felt the truth of the statement which he makes
but which he is unable to prove ? And even a Charles Russel will
be hard put to it to demonstrate the truth that he feels within
himself if for fear of being disbarred in case he fails to prove his
charge, he is hampered in the course of his cross-examination or
examination-in-chief? The Piggot forgeries would never have
been proved but for his fiery cross-examination. A lawyer who
believes in the innocence of his client, whether he is prompted by
him or no, is bound, in order to discover the truth, to impugn by
way of cross-examination or otherwise the prosecution story. This
however is common sense and common law, but both are at a dis¬
count in India's courts of justice. When it is a question of the
prestige of the Government which in its turn depends upon the
prestige of the police, the judges consider it their duty to protect
that prestige by turning prosecutors themselves. It is sad, but it
is true. The Chief Justice of the Patna High Court is to be
congratulated upon his boldness in emphasizing the fact.

Toung India, 19-9-1929

384 . NOTES

Arbitration v. Brute Forge

The Working Committee of the Congress being invited to
express its opinion on the Golmuri Tinplate Workers’ strike in¬
structed the Secretary to correspond with the employers and put
the correspondence before its next meeting so as to enable it to
understand both sides of the question and to form an opinion.
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru immediately entered into correspondence
with the employers and has now prepared an elaborate note. I
must not go into the merits of the strike. From the correspon¬
dence and the note I see that there are vital differences of opinion
even on facts between the employers and those who represent the
strikers. One thing however stands out prominently that this is
a strike on the part of workers in a concern which is heavily pro¬
tected at national expense. The Congress members supported the
protective tariff in the full belief that the industry was a national
industry, that the workers were well treated and that the industry
deserved support on merits. The Congress therefore is bound to
interest itself in the doings of a concern of this description. The
main demands are:

Motes 433

1. that there should be an impartial committee of enquiry
into all the grievances;

2. that there should be no victimization;

3. that the case pending in the courts against strikers for
picketing, etc., be withdrawn.

Hitherto the employers appear to have ridden the high horse.
They are represented by the powerful Burmah Oil Go. and
Messrs Shaw Wallace and Go. They can afford to lose money to
any extent. The correspondence before me shows that they are
unwilling to go to arbitration, and they are relying upon the
force which money and prestige can give them. The public need
not worry over the intricacies of the case which is becoming com¬
plicated by the intervention of the Pathans and many other
things that have happened in the course of this unusual strike.
The employers seek to hide themselves behind the plea that the
strike was premature. Surely at best it is but a technical defence.
Public opinion therefore should concentrate upon the reasonable
demands that the men have made. They do not say that their
case should be accepted by the public as such, but they ask for
the public opinion in favour of the appointment of an impartial
committee of enquiry into their grievances with the usual condi¬
tions as to restoration of the pre-strike position. On this there
can be no two opinions. The strongest combination of employers
must accept the principle of arbitration if capital and labour are
ever to live in peace.

What Is Utopian?

I have before me a report of the speech recently delivered by
Acharya Kripalani before a meeting convened to protest against
the resolution of the Meerut College Board regarding participation
by the students and professors of the College in political meetings.
Speaking on the non-co-operation programme he is reported to have
said:

It has become the fashion in our days to consider the non-co-opera¬
tion programme to be Utopian, but I ask you what can be more Uto¬
pian than to suppose that this country can content itself with political
liberty without asserting its economic independence? What can be
more Utopian than to think that we can be free without even the limited
swadeshism implied in the boycott of foreign cloth and the manufac¬
ture of our own? What can be more Utopian than to expect real
national workers out of those who live and move and have their being in
Government schools and colleges which are in every way soulless foreign
institutions ? If national life means anything, there must surely be a scheme
41-28

434

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

of national education wholly under national guidance and control, in
tune with the past, responsive to the present and fully conscious of the coun¬
try’s destiny in the future. I ask again what can be more Utopian than
to expect swaraj from the activities of the imitation Parliaments at Delhi
and Simla and their provincial off-shoots. Were they designed for en¬
abling India to realize her full height ? They could only fulfil this purpose
by destroying themselves and giving place to institutions natural to the
soil and created by our own strength and initiative, not descending as
doubtful gifts from our foreign masters. Take again the law-courts. I
say that to expect justice from them as they are constituted today is all
moonshine. Lastly, to believe that the din and the noise created by a few
toy-bombs and pistol shots can overthrow the organized and mailed
despotism that passes muster under the name of Government is mid¬
summer madness that can appeal only to immature and over-emotional
brains, rightly impatient of thraldom but still lacking in the exact
calculation involved in solving the great national problem.

I hope that these words went home to the Acharya’s audi¬
ence. The students will never be able to give a good account of
themselves in the struggle for freedom unless they become silent,
effective, stout-hearted, self-sacrificing workers.

Toung India , 19-9-1929

385. SOME TELLING FIGURES

The Foreign-Cloth Boycott Committee has
following facts and figures:

collected the

Foreign yarn and cloth imported

Rs.

crores

Total cloth consumed per head

yards

Village population

crores

Persons dependent on agriculture

crores

Persons employed for part of the year

crores

Agricultural indebtedness of India

Rs.

700

crores

Average daily income per head

anna 7 p.

Average daily income from spinning

anna

Total employees in mills, factories, workshops

and industries

lakhs

Capital invested in textile mills

Rs.

crores

Persons employed in textile mills

3 *

lakhs

Capital invested in khadi by A.I.S.A.

Rs.

lakhs

Persons employed by A.I.S.A.

1 lakh

Cost per head of giving employment through mills

Rs.

1,328

REASON V. FAITH

435

Cost per head of giving employment through hand-spinning Rs. 21

Proportion of wages for labour to cost of mill-cloth 25%

Proportion of wages for labour to cost of khadi 73%

I am almost sure that the import figures given by the cal¬
culator in the Foreign-Cloth Boycott Committee’s office are con¬
siderably below the total. 1 2 I know that that office always errs on
the right side. Let us therefore take the 66 crores as the correct
figure. It means a tax we are paying per head of over Rs. 2
per year, and it is a tax which we pay for our idleness. If the
66 crores of rupees could be kept in the country and circulated
among the 11 crores who are unemployed for four months, they
will then have Rs. 6 added to their incomes for part employment
during the year, a by no means insignificant addition. The
service rendered by indigenous mills compared to that rendered
by khadi appears too insignificant to be of any account. They can
never cope with the problem of the terrible unemployment of
millions of men and women, and even the few labourers for whom
they can find employment get only 25% of the cost of textile manu¬
facture whereas the labourers for khadi get 73% for work done in
their own cottages and without the demoralizing atmosphere that
surrounds factory labour.

Young India, 19-9-1929

386 . REASON v. FAITH

I said in my article “Image Worship 532 that faith begins where
reason fails. That is to say, faith is beyond reason. Many
readers argued from this that if faith is beyond reason, it can only
be blind. My view is just the opposite of this. That which is
blind cannot be faith. If someone asserts with full conviction there
are flowers in the sky the assertion cannot be considered valid.
For the experience of the vast masses of people contradicts It.
Belief in the existence of flowers in the sky is not faith; it is crass
ignorance. Whether there are flowers in the sky is something that
is amenable to rational inquiry and such an inquiry will prove the
falsity of the assertion. On the contrary, when we say, “God
is”, no one can prove that the proposition is false. However hard
we might try through reason to disprove the existence of God,
some doubt would still remain in the mind of everyone. On the

1 Vide p. 420

2 Vide pp. 338-40.

436 the collected works of mahatma gandhi

other hand the experience of millions proves the existence of Goa.
In every matter, faith must be supported by empirical knowledge.
For ultimately experience is the basis of faith and everyone who has
faith must at some time pass through experience. He who has
faith however, does not desire experience for true faith does not
admit of doubt. This does not mean that one having faith be¬
comes dull-witted. He whose faith is pure always has a sharp
wit. His reason tells him that faith is higher than experience, that
it transcends experience, that it reaches where reason cannot. The
seat of reason is the mind, that of faith is the heart. It has been
the uniform experience of man that the heart is a thousand times
more potent than the mind. Faith makes ships sail; faith makes
men do great deeds — even move mountains. None can van¬
quish one who has faith. The wise are always afraid of defeat.
The child Prahlad was perhaps to some extent lacking in in¬
tellect but his faith was unshakable as the Meru 1 . Faith does not
admit of argumentation. Therefore the faith of one man is of no
use to another man. One man with faith will ford a river, while
another who blindly follows him will surely be drowned. That
is why Krishna says in chapter XVII of the Gita: A man is what
his faith makes him.

The faith of Tulsidas was unsurpassed. It was his faith that
presented to the Hindu world a treasure like the Ramayana. The
Ramayana is a work filled with learning, but the effect of its
learning is nothing compared to the effect of its bhakti. Faith
and reason belong to two different spheres. Faith helps us to
cultivate inner knowledge, self-knowledge, and thus leads to inner
purity. Intellect helps us to acquire external knowledge, worldly
knowledge, but it has no causal connection with inner purity. Men
of great intellect are also sometimes the most depraved in character.
But it is impossible to associate moral depravity with faith.
Readers can understand from this how a child may reach the highest
point in faith and yet retain intellectual balance. How to find
that faith ? The Gita and the Ramacharitamanasa provide the answer.
It can be had through devotion, through cultivating the company
of the good. Those who have had the benefit of satsang will have
realized the truth of the saying: “What good will not satsang do
to men?”

[From Hindi]

Hindi Navajivan, 19-9-1929

1 Name of a mountain

387. TESTIMONIAL TO MUNSHI AJMERI

Agra,

September 19, 1929

While in Agra I had the privilege, in an abundant measure,
of enjoying the music of Bhai Ajmeriji. His melodious voice and
his knowledge of Hindi and Sanskrit gave me immense joy.

Mohandas Gandhi

[From Hindi]

Jyotsna, Munshi Ajmeri Commemorative Issue, 1969

388, LETTER TO SECRETARY, BENGAL CONGRESS

COMMITTEE

Camp Agra,
September 19, 1929

The Secretary

Bengal Provincial Congress Committee

116 Bow Bazar Street

Calcutta

DEAR FRIEND,

As you know I have yet to report to the Working Committee
about the Bengal Provincial Congress Committee. The office has
been worrying to choose an auditor and send the auditor’s report.
I have asked Sjt. Ghanshyamdas Birla to select an auditor and send
him. If he does, please give the auditor he may send the faci¬
lities he may require for auditing.

Tours sincerely.

From a microfilm; S.N. 15565

389. LETTER TO B. NARASIMHAM

Camp Agra,

September 19, 1929

DEAR FRIEND,

I have your letter. I would love to give you a certificate for
your ink. I have invariably used it whenever it has been possible.
My own experience is that it is an ink that is at least useful but
the others who make use of fountain pens much more than I do
tell me that it is not as serviceable as the standard foreign ink we
get. I do not think that it matters that your ink might not be
equal to the best so long as your ink gets the minimum use that
might be required of any ink for the purpose for which it might
be intended. But when it comes to a matter of issuing a certi¬
ficate I have the greatest hesitation. I do not want to exaggerate
and mislead the public. I therefore advise you to stand on
your own merits just now. Let me use your ink freely in the
Ashram for some time and when I have got universal testimony
from all those who might use your ink in the Ashram I will be
more free to give you a certificate than I am now. You will
therefore send me a moderate quantity from time to time of the
ink that you may issue for the market and I shall see that you
get reports from time to time and when I am ready to give the
certificate you shall have it.

Tours sincerely,

SjT. B. Narasimham

Secretary, Guntur Mandala Jathiya Vidya Parish ad
Tenali

FrQm a microfilm: S.N. 1554$

390 . LETTER TO L. BANARASIDAS

Camp Agra,
September 19, 1929

DEAR FRIEND,

I have your letter. It is difficult for me to believe that the
Servants of the People Society would not give you a hearing. I
am forwarding your letter to them.

Tours sincerely,

Sjt. L. Banarasidas, B.A., LL.B.

Manager, Radha Kishan High School
Jagraon

From a microfilm: S.N. 15563

391. LETTER TO BHANU PRASAD

Camp Agra,
September 1 9, 1929

dear friend,

I have your letter. It would certainly be much more con¬
venient for me to see you personally before I give you any advice.
I therefore accept your suggestion that you should see me when
I am in Fyzabad or you may anticipate the date and try to see
me at Banaras or Lucknow. I hope you are better.

Tours sincerely,

Sjt. Bhanu Prasad
Rakagunj
Fyzabad (Audh)

From a microfilm: S.N. 15564

392 . LETTER TO RADHA GANDHI

Agra,

September 19 , 1929

GHI. RADHA,

Nowadays I have to carry on my work mostly by dictating
letters, because, if I must take rest and also attend to business,
I have to dictate letters while taking meals or while spinning.
How did you happen to have an attack of fever? It does not
matter if Manu has left. When Santok comes, tell her to write to
me in detail.

I wish to solve the problem of Umiya as early as possible. It
would be very good if she improves her Gujarati a little more.
Write to her about it from time to time. How is Rukmini’s
health? Whenever you two sisters get an opportunity for service,
you should acquit yourselves well and cultivate the utmost humility.

Blessings from

Bapu

From Gujarati: G.W. 8676. Courtesy: Radhabehn Chaudhri

393 . LETTER TO PREMABEHN KANTAK

Agra,

September 79, 1929

GHI. PREMA,

I have your 1 letter. In using the singular I have yielded to
my trust in you. Your lengthy reply was welcome. Sons and
daughters should be satisfied if the father, busy with his work,
writes only a line, but they on their part ought to pour out
their hearts when writing to him.

It is of course quite true that I wish to catch anyone that
walks into my net. One may be completely ruined if caught in
somebody else’s net. But I do not know of any person that was
ruined by being caught in mine, Your request-for money to pay

1 Gandhiji has used the pfQ4QUn in the singular.

LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI 441

the fare to Bombay is right and I was happy that you made it.
I have written to Chhaganbhai Joshi about it.

Blessings from

Bapu

[From Gujarati]

Bapuna Patro-5: Kurrt. Premabehn Kantakne, p. 5

394. LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI

Agra,

September 19, 1929

CHI. CHHAGANLAL,

J \

I got your letter. Read the letters on Gangabehn before
passing them on, so that you may know my view. Manji has
given her a real fright, whereas he ought to have offered his
sympathy to her. Personally I am convinced that . . - 1 has com¬
mitted theft. You know, do you not, that she had committed
some thefts even in the past?

The doubt which I had expressed in a previous letter about
[A] 2 has proved correct for the present at any rate. If he can
cultivate the ability to see his wife’s defects, she will cease to be a
wife to him and become one among his countless sisters. This case
of [A] proves to me for the thousandth time that a husband is a
wonderful creature. I have said what I wished to. You may
now do what you think best.

I should like you to believe firmly that your mind is not
impure. You should fulfil only one condition to be entitled to
hold this belief, and that is that you should not nurse impure
thoughts even for a moment but fight them every time they in¬
vade your mind. The mind will always be running in all direc¬
tions; our manhood and our duty lie in taming and controlling
it. A person who believes that his mind is impure sometimes
nurses his impurity or becomes weak. Hence, so long as we are
continually battling against impurity, we should never admit that
we are impure. This is worship of the truth in its purest form.

It is good indeed if Marathe now admits the failure of his
experiment. In that case, however, it is necessary that he should
make his experiments in the presence of all and give whatever he
has to the pupils learning carpentry, that is, become a teacher.

*& 2 The names are omitted in the source-

442

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

If you can politely explain this to him, try to do so. Or put it
before Nathji.

You need not send money to Sind just now, for the work
there is being mismanaged and Malkani’s services cannot be utilized
fully. He has been, much against his will, drawn into a Govern¬
ment committee. I have, therefore, written to him and told him
that he should not spend the money sent to him in the past
through that committee.

You should also keep with you for the present the money
received for the Assam Flood Relief Fund.

In this season of fever, everyone should drink boiled water.
It would be better still if they keep the bowels light with the help
of purgatives or enema, and reduce the quantity of food. If any¬
one has the slightest fear that he is getting fever, he should take
3 grains of quinine and 15 grains of soda bicarb in lime juice.

Blessings from

Bapu

[PS.]

I have not revised this.

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 5440; also Bapnna Patro-7: Shri
Chhaganlal Joskine , pp. 134-6

395. LETTER TO MADHAVJI THAKKAR

Agra,

September 19 , 1929

CHI. MADHAVJI,

I had to keep aside your letter for some days. As for continu¬
ing the present diet, I think it necessary that you should get your¬
self examined for an assessment of the results. There is no doubt
that you will regain strength. Eat only as much as you can
digest. Be in no hurry about putting on weight. Certainly, it is
an ideal thing to leave off business and devote yourself entirely
to public work in a spirit of service to others, but this cannot be
done in a hurry. You may retire from business only when you
feel certain in your mind that it is quite impossible for you to
stay on in business. It is absolutely necessary not to take a
hasty step and have to repent later. My advice to many has
been that they should begin by regarding themselves as trustees of

443

LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI

their business, and that, while they ran it in this spirit, they
should make their personal life plain and simple, maintaining
themselves at the least possible expense. If a person can do this,
he will feel no pain on having to give up the business altogether
just as the trustee feels none on relinquishing his trust, and will
find it easy and natural to devote himself to public service. I
hope you will try to carry your wife with you in your plans.

I am enclosing the programme of my tour.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 6792

396 . LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI

Mainpuri,
September 20, 1929

CHI. CHHAGANLAL,

I had expected to get your letters today here in Mainpuri, but
did not get any. I, therefore, expect to receive them in Kanpur
the day after tomorrow. Today my mind is engrossed in Toung
India and, besides, visitors are waiting to see me. I, therefore,
dictate nothing further.

Blessings from

Bapu

t ps -]

Tell Bal that I have had no time to write to him. I shall write
now.

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 5441 5 aJsQ Itapuna Patro—/: Skr%
Chhaganlal Joshine, p. 136

397 . LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI

Farrukhabad,

September 21 , 2929

CHI. CHHAGANLAL,

We are in Farrukhabad today. I did not get the post even
here. I believe I shall have a pile tomorrow in Kanpur.

Gopalrao must have returned now. I should know what
effect the operation has had on him.

Narandas must have taken up the work now. You had asked
me about the expenditure incurred by Ratilal. I never told him
that he could spend as much as he liked, though I certainly told
him that he need not obtain permission for every pie he spent.
That is, as is the case with a bank account, when he has finished
his 150 rupees, anything he draws in excess of that figure will be
an overdraft, and, when that happens, we should inform him.
All this requires tact. It would even be good if you gave him
one book. He would then know immediately how much he had
drawn. It will be necessary for him to know this whenever he
wishes to draw a large sum. We should treat him with love and
save as much as we can.

Waman Pataki conducts the Hindi class well enough. I met
Premraj’s guru today. He had come to bring me to Farrukhabad.
He is President of the Congress Committee. He has, therefore, not
two children but more. I have told him that, if Premraj settles
down and agrees to look after the children, there will be no diffi¬
culty in taking charge of them. Most probably I shall get an op¬
portunity to see those children today.

Blessings from

Bapu

[PS.]

I have not revised this.

From a photostat of the Gujarati; G.N, 5442; also Bapuna Patro-7: Shri
Chhaganlal Jo shine , pp. 136-7

398. DOES A VILLAGE MEAN A DUNGHILL?

Mr. Curtis who toured India in 1918 and who played some
role in framing the Montagu-Chelmsford reforms has in the course
of an article about our villages, said that compared to villages in
other countries, Indian villages seemed to be raised on dunghills!
It is understandable that we do not find this criticism palatable,
but no one can deny the truth in it. If we approach any vil¬
lage, the very first thing we encounter is the dunghill and this is
usually placed on raised ground. On entering the village, we
find little difference between the approach and what is within the
village. Here too there is dirt on the roads. At any time, chil¬
dren may be found defecating on the streets and in by-lanes. As
for making water, even adults will be found doing it anywhere.
If a traveller who is unfamiliar with these parts comes across this
state of affairs, he will not be able to differentiate between the
dunghill and the residential part. As a matter of fact, there is
not much of a difference between the two.

However ancient this habit may be, it is, nevertheless, a bad
habit and should be eradicated. The Mamsmriti and other Hindu
religious scriptures, the Koran, the Bible, and the injunctions of
Zoroaster—all give detailed suggestions regarding maintaining the
cleanliness of roads, courtyards, homes, rivers and wells. However,
today we are simply disregarding this so much so that there is a
good deal of -filth to be found even in our places of pilgrimage.
Perhaps one could say that there is more of it in these places.

I have seen thousands of men and women dirtying the banks
of the Ganga at Hardwar. Pilgrims defecate at the very spot where
people sit, wash their faces, etc., in the Ganga and then again
fill their pots at the very same spot. I have come across pilgrims
defiling lakes in the same manner at places of pilgrimage. In
doing this we destroy the dharma of compassion and disregard
our duty to society.

Such recklessness leads to pollution of air and water. Is it
surprising then that cholera, typhoid and other infectious diseases
follow as a result of this? It is dirty water which is the very
source of cholera. The same can be largely said of typhoid too. It
is no exaggeration to say that almost 75 per cent of diseases are
caused by our insanitary habits.

Hence the primary duty of a village worker is to educate
villagers in sanitary habits. Speeches and leaflets occupy the lowest

446 the collected works OF MAHATMA GANDHI

place in such education. This is so because these insanitary habits
have taken such deep root that the villagers are not prepared to
listen to the volunteers, and, even if they do so, show a singular
lack of enthusiasm to act accordingly. If leaflets, etc., are dis¬
tributed, they will surely not read them. Many will not even
know how to read and, not being inquisitive, those who can read,

will not read them out to the others.

Hence it is the dharma of the volunteers to give object-lessons.
Only if they themselves perform the tasks that have to be per¬
formed by the villagers, will the latter follow their example; then
doubtless they will positively do so. Even so, patience will cer¬
tainly be required. There is no reason to conclude that people
will start doing things on their own just because we have served

them for a couple of days.

A volunteer should first of all collect the villagers together
and explain their dharma to them. And at the same time, he should
start cleaning operations, whether or no he can recruit volunteers
from amongst the villagers. He should obtain from the very vil¬
lage a spade, a basket or a bucket, a broom and a pickaxe. If
assured that these articles will be returned to them after use,
the people will probably not refuse to lend them.

The volunteers should now inspect the roads and go round
to all the places where there are any human excreta. They should
collect all faeces in their baskets with the help of the spade and
cover up those spots; wherever they find that people have urina¬
ted, they should collect tire wet earth from those spots in those
very baskets and throw over it clean earth from the surrounding
area. If there is any other filth lying around, they should sweep it
with the broom and make a heap in one corner and remove it
in the same baskets after having disposed of the excreta.

Where to dump the excreta is an important question. It is
a question both of cleanliness and of economics. If permitted to
lie around, the thing emits a foul smell. Flies which sit on it and
then sit on our bodies or our food spread infectious diseases all
round. We would give up eating many sweets and other items of
food if we examined them with the help of a microscope.

To the cultivator the dirt is gold. If put in the fields, it be¬
comes finp manure and increases the yield. The Chinese are experts
in this matter and it is said that they save crores of rupees by
preserving excreta like gold and, at the same time, avoid the inci¬
dence of many diseases.

Hence the volunteer should explain this matter to cultivators
and, if permitted to do so, should bury it in their fields. If any

DOES A VILLAGE MEAN A DUNGHILL? 447

farmer, through ignorance, disregards the sanitary methods
suggested by the volunteer, the latter should find a spot in the
dunghill and bury the excreta there. Having completed this task,
the volunteer should now approach the garbage heap.

Garbage is of two types. The first is that which is suitable mate¬
rial for manure—such as peels and skins of vegetables, grain, grass,
etc. The other type includes bits of wood, stones, sheets of iron or
tin, etc. Of these, the-first type should be kept in fields or at pla¬
ces where manure from it can be collected, and the second should
be carried and buried at places where pot-holes, etc., need to be
filled in. As a result of this, the village will remain clean and
people who walk bare-footed will be able to do so fearlessly.
After a few days 5 labour, the people will surely realize the value
of it. And once this realization dawns on them, they will start
helping and finally start doing things on their own. Every farmer
will utilize in his own fields the excreta of his own family, so that
no one will find anyone else being a burden to him and every¬
one will go on enriching his own crop.

We should never get into the habit of defecating on the road.
It is uncivilized to do so in the open in public and to make even
little children do so. We are aware of the uncivilized nature of
this act, for we avert our eyes if anyone happens to pass at that
moment. Hence every village should have the most inexpensive
water-closets built at one place. The spot at which the dunghill
is located can itself be used for this purpose. Farmers can share
among themselves the manure accumulated in this manner. And
so long as they do not start making such arrangements, volunteers
should clean dunghills in the same way as they clean streets. Every
morning after the villagers have performed this function, they
should go to the dunghill at an appointed hour, clean up all the
filth and dispose of it in the manner mentioned above. If no
field is available, one should mark out the place where the ex¬
creta may be buried. If this is done, it will facilitate the task every
day and when the farmers get convinced of the matter, they can
make use of the manure that is collected there.

This excreta should not be buried very deep in the ground,
as innumerable germs which usefully serve us live within nine
inches of the surface of the earth. Their task is to turn everything
within that layer into manure and purify all filth. The sun’s rays
too render great service and act as the messengers of Rama. Any¬
one who wishes to test this may do so through experience. Some
of the excreta should be buried nine inches below the earth s sur¬
face and the ground dug up after a week in order to take note

448 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANftHl

of what happens to it. Another portion of the very same excreta
should be buried three to four feet below the surface of the ground
and then what happens to it should be examined. One would,
thereby, learn through experience. Although the excreta should
not be buried deep in the earth, it must be well covered with mud,
so that dogs cannot dig it up and foul odour is not emitted. It
would be advisable to place a thorny hedge around the spot in

order to prevent dogs from digging it up.

When I speak of burying excreta we should understand that

there should be a large square or rectangular pit for it. For, no
further excreta is to be put on that already buried and the pit
is also not to be opened up soon. Hence the following day there
would be ready another small square pit near where the excreta
was buried the previous day. The earth removed from it would
have been kept on one side. All that would have to be done the
ugxt day would be to bury the excreta, cover it up with the
earth, level it properly and go away. Garbage consisting of peels
of vegetables, etc., should be turned into manure on a spot near
the above. This is so because human excreta and peels of vege¬
tables, etc., cannot be turned into manure by burying them to¬
gether. Worms do not operate on the two in the same manner. It
must now have been clear to volunteers that the place at which
they bury excreta will always remain clean, will have an even
surface, and look like a newly ploughed field.

Now remains the heap that is not fit for making manure.
The rubbish accumulated in it should be buried in a deep hole
at a single spot or wherever holes have to be filled up around the
village. It too must be buried every day, should be pressed down
from above and kept clean.

If this activity is carried on for a month, villages will cease to
be dunghills and become instead clean and beautiful. The reader
must have realized that no expense is involved in this. This neither
requires any help from the Government nor any great scientific
power. All that is required is a volunteer with zeal.

It is not necessary to add that what applies to human excreta
also applies to the excreta of animals. However, we shall consider
this in the next chapter. 1

[From Gujarati]

Shikshan ane Sahitya, 22-9-1929

1 Vide Vol. XLII, “Cowdung Cakes or Manure”, 17-11-1929.

399. OX v. BULLOCK

A young man wants to know why although a bull does not
fetch as good a price as a bullock, it is regarded a sin to castrate
the bull.

This question has already been discussed in Navajivan. How¬
ever, many people may not recall it. It is a question that arises
readily. One cannot say that there is no harm involved in cas¬
tration. The Shastras have taught us both our ideal dharma and
our practical dharma. The latter not only permits castration
but enjoins it. This is a very ancient custom, as old as the cus¬
tom of drinking cow’s milk. The reader must also be aware that
horses and such other domesticated animals are castrated when
this is found necessary.

The facts are as follows. All undertakings (or voluntary
actions) are tainted, and from this standpoint, castration too is
tainted since the calf subjected to it does suffer, however slightly
it may be. It is tainted again, as the calf has no knowledge of
what is done and would prevent it if it could.

However, we do not seek solutions to such problems by re¬
garding them as matters of absolute dharma. Relative dharma does
not proceed on a straight path like a railway track. It has, on the
contrary, to make its way through a dense forest where there is not
even a sense of direction. Hence in this case, even one step is
sufficient. Many circumstances have to be considered before the
second step is taken and, if the first step is towards the north, the
second may have to be taken towards the east. In this manner,
although the path may appear crooked, since it is the only one
which is correct, it can also be regarded as the straight one. Nature
does not imitate geometry. Although natural forms are very beauti¬
ful, they do not fit in with geometrical patterns.

If it is desirable for us to drink cow’s milk and use the bullock
for ploughing, it is our dharma to castrate the calf; not doing so
would amount to an irreligious act. In this manner, something
which when regarded independently is the very opposite of dharma,
becomes dharma when considered with reference to a given situa¬
tion. If we do not subject calves to castration, do not run dairies,
do not conduct tanneries, do not put the bones, hides and intes¬
tines, etc., of the cow to practical use and still wish to drink
cow’s milk, we shall become beef-eaters like the Westerners or, in
the alternative, our cattle -we alth will be destroyed.

41-29

450 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

This latter is taking place today. Experienced people are aware
that the cow which decreased the burden of the earth, or in other
words, yielded more milk than the quantity of fodder that it consu¬
med, that very cow has become a burden to India. In other words,
it yields much less in proportion to what it consumes. Hence, many
persons, through ignorance and carelessness, have started keeping
buffaloes and drinking their milk. Myriads of cows are sent to
Australia for being slaughtered. Innumerable cows are slaughtered
in India and their beef is exported to Burma. Countless others die
a premature death. No one has the figures of cows which perish in
this manner. Those that still survive live as if on sufferance. They
are not given sufficient fodder as they do not yield sufficient milk.

If we had not become apathetic to our dharma, if we had
not been indifferent to it, we would have studied the science of
cattle-breeding in the same way we study the other sciences and
would relinquish those ancient superstitions or ancient practices
which have lost their utility or become harmful today.

For many years now, I have in effect come to the conclusion
and have tried to persuade others that it is the dharma of every¬
one wishing to serve the cow to see to it that those calves which
do not belong to the best pedigrees and are therefore not fit to
beget cows are castrated while still very young and reared as
bullocks. It is a sin to disregard the necessary dharma which is in
keeping with the times under the pretext of following an ima¬
ginary but ideal dharma which is not practicable.

[From Gujarati]
ffavajivan , 22-9-1929

400. LETTER TO MATHURADAS PURUSHOTTAM

September 22 , 1929

CHI. MATHURADAS,

You have taken a difficult vow. But it is good that you have
done so. May God help you. To control one’s anger is not easy,
and very often one is not even conscious that one has become
angry. However, one can succeed in every aspiration through
persistent effort. Our duty is to make such effort.

I hope you keep good health.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 3731

401 . LETTER TO CHHAGAMLAL JOSH!

Kanpur,

[September 22, 1929 j 1 2

CHI. CHHAG ANLAL,

We arrived in Kanpur at half past eleven. Here the post
leaves early. If I wish to catch today’s post, and I must, I
should be brief. Ramniklal has come here to see me. He is in
excellent health. We have observed that it does good to send out
people from the Ashram by turns.

The worries of running the Ashram will waste away the health
of anyone with a sense of duty. So long as we have not cultivated
non-attachment, this is bound to happen.

I once again find that the packets of letters I get from you
are secured carelessly. You should tie the string round the
packet so tight that not a single letter can fall out. The string
round this packet was for show, as it were. The cover was torn,
so that any letter could slip out of it. Look into this. The
person who ties up the packets should be properly trained. I am
writing to Gangabehn. More by tomorrow’s post.

Blessings from

Bapu

[From Gujarati]

Bapuna Patro-7: Shri Chhaganlal Jo shine, pp. 137-8

402 . SPEECH AT KANPUR?

September 22, 1929

Gandhiji, in his reply, referring to the first told them that experience had
shown that there were three definite conditions which must be fulfilled to make
the introduction of spinning in schools and colleges a success. The first essential
condition was to have a spinning expert to do the teaching and organizing
work. This could be done by inducing the teachers already employed to master

1 As in the source

2 In a joint reply to addresses by District Board and Municipal Board. This
appeared under the title “The U. P. Tour—III s9 . The District Board address
stated that they had introduced compulsory spinning in schools and had spent
Rs. 35,000 to solve the milk problem.

452

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

the art by promise of a small increment in salary. The second condition was
to adopt takli instead of the charkha for teaching spinning in schools. The third
condition was to have arrangements for getting the yarn spun by the students
into cloth. Referring to the problem of milk supply he emphasized the need of
expert guidance. The reason why the milk problem was daily becoming acute in
India was that dairying had been criminally neglected. There was cow-
slaughter in India today because the killing of cows today was economically
profitable. If they wanted to save the cow and to solve the milk problem of
India, tanneries must go hand in hand with dairies. They must improve the
breed of the existing cattle so as to render their slaughter ultimately an uneco¬
nomic proposition.

Young India , 3-10-1929

403 SPEECH AT PIECE-GOODS MERCHANTS' MEETING ,

KANPUR 1

September 22, 1929

Gandhiji, while thanking them for the purses and the addresses they
had presented, said:

You could have easily excused yourselves from contributing
anything to the khadi fund on the ground that you could not help
a programme which, if successful, was bound to ruin your business.
But to your credit be it said, you have chosen a better way. You
know that the movement of boycott relies upon conversion,
not on compulsion. And you know that if the people want khadi
instead of foreign cloth, you will find your trade in the production
and sale of khadi. You know that foreign cloth business has spelt
economic ruin to millions from whom it has taken away the only
supplementary occupation which could enable them to keep
their heads above water. It is as their representative that I have
come to you with my beggar’s bowl. If I could persuade you, I
would make you close up your business, and turn all your talent
and business acumen to the service of khadi. But I know that
you are not yet ripe for it. I would, therefore, ask you to give
liberally by way of penance and not patronage.

Young India , 3-10-1929

1 In a joint reply to addresses by piece-goods merchants and their em¬
ployees. This appeared under the title “The U. P. Tour-III’ > ,

404 . LETTER TO MAHADEV DESAI

September 22, 1929

CHI. MAHADEV,

I get your letters. During this tour I have not been able to
write to you at all. I remained content with writing what was
unavoidable, and thus saved much time. However, I have sat
down to write out this. My silence has commenced. It is now
9 p.m.

You have sent a good number of cuttings. I had read none
except one. As yet I cannot write anything about Jatin. I am not
surprised that what may be called our own circle fails to under¬
stand me. Personally, I have not the least doubt regarding the
correctness of my view, I see no good in this agitation. I have
been obliged to keep silent because what I would say might be
misused. But people seem to have understood my position. No
one has asked for my opinion. In saying this, I do not take into
account questions by Press correspondents.

What you write about Vallabhbhai does not seem proper to
me. To make him President now would be like swallowing a hair.
However, we shall think about the matter further when we meet,
since all of you are coming to Lucknow. I give no thought to the
matter now. At the proper time, God will help us. No one has
been pestering me either.

At Madras Vallabhbhai rose to the occasion and did an excel¬
lent job. As for Karnatak and other places, I am looking for¬
ward to your account when we meet. I liked those of your contribu¬
tions to Navajivan and Young India which I have read.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: S.N. 11455

405. LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI

9.30 p.m., September 22, 1929

CHI. CHHAGANLAL,

Your letter of the 20th I got on the 22nd in Kanpur. In Agra
I would have got it on the 23rd. This seems strange to me.

We should take care of the cows sent from Morvi, use them
for our purpose and return them in improved condition.

I suppose you know what I meant by my suggestion to get the
weaving school recognized. The certificates should be awarded
by the Vidyapith and the examination, too, should be held by it.
The same about the dairy—when we have made sufficient
progress to enable students to appear at an examination.

It is better still that Lakshmi goes to teach [spinning to] Lady

Chinubhai. , , , . .

I have been taking interest in Budhabhai’s quarrels with his

wife for many years. This time I met the wife too. I have always

thought that she was to blame. If the women talk about this

among themselves, they should inform us too. I do not write more

to you for want of time. If, however, you want to know the facts,

see Budhabhai.

Blessings from

Bapu

[PS.] . ,,

How did it happen that the door of the goshala was not closed'
Whose fault was it? There will be no harm if the people who have
come from Lahore are arrested. Such things may happen. Some
persons may even come to us seeking refuge with us. It shou d e
enough if we do not get involved in their affairs.

From a photostat of the Gujarati; G,N, 5443j also Bapuna Patro-7: Shri
Chhagartlal Joshine l pp. 138-9

406. LETTER TO ASHRAM WOMEN

Kanpur,

Silence Day y September 23 , 1929

SISTERS,

I got the letter written by Gangabehn on your behalf. I
am very happy that Valjibhai has been doing my work. See that
all of you take full advantage of his learning. I cannot give what
he can. While, therefore, he is in a position to give more time,
take the utmost advantage of his store of knowledge.

Lakshmibehn must have arrived there bv now. I can under-
stand why Ramabehn and Dahibehn cannot attend at prayer-time.
Devotion to duty is itself prayer. We come together for prayer
in order that we may be fit for physical service of others. When,
however, one is required to do a physical duty, the doing of
that duty becomes a prayer. If any woman absorbed in medita¬
tion hears the cry of someone stung by a scorpion, she is bound
to get up from her meditation and run to the help of that per¬
son. Meditation finds its fulfilment in the service of the distressed.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 3702

407. LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI

Silence Day, September 23 , 1929

CHI. CHHAGANLAL (jOSHl),

I enclose with this Ghi. Chhaganlal’s letter. You will see
from it that he continues to feel a little hurt. Is he a member
of the Managing Committee ? If he is, It seems he was not Inform¬
ed. There may be nothing behind such things, but the fruits can
be bitter. You should ask in clear terms the information which
you want. The framework of the budget should be prepared, as
the Spinners* Association has done. That is, you should keep ready
the heads for which you require detailed information, so that you
will know the position as soon as it is received.

What Chhaganlal writes about management expenses Is not
correct. Where, however, extra assistants are also employed, th§

456

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

price of khadi which is arrived at by adding 6£ per cent to cost
as management expenses may be accepted for comparison.

But the main thing is the resentment which Chhaganlal seems
inwardly to feel. Try to discover its cause. Ignore what cannot
be helped and try to remedy what can be remedied.

On a spring balance yesterday my weight came to 98 [lb.];
on our balance, therefore, it must be not less than 94.

Note what Chhaganlal says in his letter about Raghunath’s
carding. It shows that our work is below standard. Those who
card should be able to do so for eight hours. The fact that Raghu-
nath gets tired shows that his hand has not set and the muscles
have not become trained. We may not expect him to acquire
the capacity of a professional carder, but certainly he should not
get tired. This applies to all processes. Everyone should become an
expert in every process.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 5444; also Bapuna Patro-7: Shri
Chhaganlal Joshine , pp. 139-40

408. LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI

[After September 23 , 1929] 1

CHI. CHHAGANLAL (jOSHl),

I have your letter.

Your weight has gone down very much indeed. You seem
to worry too much about things. You should go somewhere and
live for a few months in a place like Almora and build a strong
body. You ought not to have allowed your health to decline so
much*

If someone feels hurt without any cause, you need not worry
on that account. You had every right to ask Chhaganlal for esti¬
mates.

Munnalal, it seems to me, will not stay for long. Madhavlal
is riding on the waves of imagination.

I was surprised to know that Narandas had changed his
mind. Try and know the reason.

I believe that Ramniklal will arrive there after the Diwali.

1 From the reference t<? asking Chhaganlal Qancjhi fQr estimates; vide the
preceding item.

cannot

r at Sayla £
increase.

■ol for a lo:
on her. Sh(
she is still n
awav. edu(

should write from there.

It is not necessary to discuss further the mistakes regarding
the Mandir. In any case Ramji should not be involved in the affair.

I had another letter from MadhavlaL I do not worry about
the matter. Such disputes will arise and end.

458 the collected works OF MAHATMA GANDHI

in course of time. I enclose with this a letter to Dudhabhai; you
may use it if you wish.

I have had a letter from Galiara on the lines I had expected.
It would be good if we could now start as early as possible.

I enclose with this the letter from that Englishman. Note
down the particulars of his ship. Find from the newspapers on
which Friday it will arrive in Bombay. You will get the in¬
formation easily from The Times.

I am sorry that I shall not be there, but you should look
after him. Do for him what I did for Mirabehn. That is, see
that he uses a mosquito net, drinks only boiled water, does not
eat pulses, consumes as much milk as he can, and eats butter
instead of ghee. If necessary, supply him the fruits to which

he is used_you may even consult him about this. When he

moves in sunlight, he must wear his hat. He should go out very
little in sunlight. There is a letter on this from Mr. Alexander
who had stayed with us for one or two weeks. Peihaps you have

seen it. I will send it for you to read.

You need not send anything to Malkani just now. I have

already written to you about this. 1

Blessings from

Bapu

[PS.]

I have not revised this.

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 5445; also Bapuna Palro-7: Shri
Chkaganlal Joshine, pp. 141-2

41L SPEECH TO STUDENTS , KANPUR*

September 24, 1929

Mahatmaji, replying, said:

The words in which you have indicated your affection would
be most welcome only if all the students that are present here have
room in their hearts. But I am afraid this is only the spirit of
the speakers and, if that is true, then those words have not the
same value. All religions have preached self-control as the first
step towards progress.

1 Vide p. 442.

2 At D. A. V. College; Chatterji and Diwan Chand ? the Principals, wel¬
comed Gandhiji.

SPEECH TO STUDENTS, KANPUR

459

Pointing to the students, he said they were self-willed, but had no
purity. After roaming amongst thousands of students, he had come to the
conclusion that unless they had real purity and simplicity of heart, all insti¬
tutions like the Youth League, etc., would be of no use. His 45 years’ expe¬
rience told him that without it people were useless. The students had
desire, but that alone did not help in the matter.

Further, Mahatmaji compared the students to a person addicted to drugs,
who under their influence spoke in plenty and showed various activities, but,
when back to the normal state, did not amount to anything. Mahatmaji made
a reference to the absence of the students of the Agriculture College, whom he
called cowards because they allowed themselves to be confined even when they
did not like the orders, but got ready to obey them because fear dominated their
hearts, lest they might lose some job of Rs. 50 after finishing their studies.

Pointing to the students present, he said: “You must have done the same
if your Principal gave a similar order.” He begged to be excused for being
plain and asked, if he was not plain to them, to whom would he be so? He
further pointed out that with a spirit like that neither they nor the country
could gain anything.

Mahatmaji further made reference to Swami Shraddhanand who never
went to any meeting where he did not make a reference to hrahmacharja and
did not give it up even in his Gurukul. Likewise, Mahatmaji pleaded for con¬
trol of the senses and told the audience that western books coming to this
country never taught any control of the senses.

You ask me as to what I would have you to do in 1930.
Well, I would expect you in 1930 smilingly to face death if
need be. But it must not be the death of a felon. God accepts
the sacrifice of the pure in heart. You therefore must purify
yourselves before you can become fit instruments for the service of
the country even unto death. Unless you cultivate a snow-white
purity of character first, you may rest assured that you will not
be able to do anything effective in 1930. 1

Continuing, he said that simply to change the Government would mean
nothing. As was seen, the present Indian officials were no better than Euro¬
peans. What was needed was a change in the system of government. He had
everything to take but nothing to give when January came. They could have
blessings from the poor women for the money given to him, but in January they
would not get even this much. Mahatmaji made a vigorous appeal to prepare
for the occasion during the three coming months and to show some signs as
before sunrise the dawn was visible. Nothing was to be achieved unless they pre¬
pared during these months. Freedom could be achieved only after making a
sacrifice with clean hearts. No swaraj was possible without purification of the

1 This paragraph is from Tomg India, 10-10-1929.

460

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

heart. This was the first thing to be done and then came the working of the
Congress creed.

The Leader , 27-9-1929

412. SPEECH AT B ANAR AS

Wednesday , September 25 y 1929

Addressing the untouchables Mahatma Gandhi asked them to have pa¬
tience. He said that though much work had been done for their betterment, it
could not at all be considered satisfactory. As far as he could see, there was no
such thing as untouchability in Hindu dharma; on the contrary it was built
on the foundation of touchability. Just as one cast off a garment when it got
dirty and put on a better one, Hindu dharma could be discarded only if one

could find a better dharma.

He would not mind if anyone addressed him as a Bhangi or a Chamar.
One was called thus because of one’s occupation. And the occupation of a
Bhangi or a Chamar was not a bad one. A doctor also performs similar work,
there is no difference between their work and his, but a doctor’s occupation can¬
not be called bad. Doctors charge more for their services, whereas Bhangis take
just enough for their sustenance. They should pray to God that those who
were oppressing them would purify their hearts.

Referring to some undesirable practices prevailing among the untouchables,
he said: No one eats carrion except some of the untouchables. Achhutoddhar Man-
dal should be thanked for trying to wean them from this undesirable habit and
they also deserve thanks for giving it up. But it is equally bad to drink alco¬
hol. They could argue that even the doctors and Sahibs drink. But those who
are well off escape reproach. Therefore they should not imitate the example of the
doctors in this respect. One should not imitate the bad actions of others. These
days Malaviyaji is going about purifying them. 1 But the real purification
has to be achieved through their own efforts. The awakening amongst their
people should not be used for any wrong purpose. One should not accept what
is bad nor feel hate or something of the kind for others. They must always
try to remove their own imperfections. Once thfc people find that the fault
lies with them and not with the untouchables, they will worship them.

It was his wish that they too should make a sacrifice. He was asking for
something small and simple. They were not dying of starvation and were
also able to earn enough for their needs. But there existed crorcs in the coun¬
try who were starving to death but who did not wish to leave their villages as

1 The reference is to Madan Mohan Malaviya initiating the untpuchables
in a purificatory mantra.

SPEECH AT HINDU UNIVERSITY, BANARAS

461

they owned some land. How could they leave it and go elsewhere? If people
wanted to share the troubles of such men, they should wear khadi.

[From Hindi]

Aaj, 26-9-1929

413. SPEECH AT HINDU UNIVERSITY, BANARAS

Wednesday, September 25, 1929

ACHARYA, STUDENTS, TEACHERS, BROTHERS AND SISTERS,

This is not the first time I am visiting this University. I have
been here before. On one occasion you gave me money for the
khadi fund and for Daridranarayana. You have given me just now
a purse of Rs. 1,286-14-2 and perhaps, you will give some more.

I am grateful to you for whatever contributions you have given so
far and are likely to give. I say this as a matter of courtesy.
But if you were to ask me whether I am satisfied with the amount
I have received, then I would like to say no. I regularly get
news about you. Respected Malaviyaji keeps sending me news
about you. Whatever I have been told gives me the impression
that your capacity is much greater.

Shri Jamnalal Bajaj visited this place. He told me of the
work you have been doing regarding khadi. At that time I be¬
came hopeful. But from whatever I am seeing now and from
whatever I have been told it seems that the message of khadi
has not touched your heart. It is not a surprising thing, but it
saddens me all the same.

The Hindu University is the biggest creation of Malaviyaji.
He has been serving the nation continuously for the past 40 years.
We all know how great his services have been. The Hindu
University is the epitome of his life-work. Respected Malaviyaji
and I have our differences of opinion. But the differences do not
stop me from paying tribute to him for his services. The success
of this University will be the measure of his success, and the
success of this University can be judged by the way the students
have moulded their characters, how far they have contributed to¬
wards the progress of the country and how much religion they
have imbibed.

What are you doing to deserve the monumental service of the
great son of India? He expects you to become not literary giants
but defenders of Hinduism and the country through expressing

462 the collected works OF MAHATMA GANDHI

true religion in your own lives. . . . Remember that this, the
greatest creation of Malaviyaji’s, will be judged not by the magni¬
ficence of the buildings or the 1 } 300 acres that they cover, but
by what you become. . . . If you will express the requisite purity
of character in action, you cannot do it better than through the
spinning-wheel. Of all the myriads of names of God Daridra-
narayana is the most sacred inasmuch as it represents the untold
millions of poor people as distinguished from the few rich people.
The easiest and the best way of identifying yourselves somewhat
with these starving millions is to spread the message of the spin¬
ning-wheel in the three-fold manner suggested by me. You
can spread it by becoming expert spinners, by wearing khadi, and
by pecuniary contributions. Remember that millions will never
have access to the facilities that Malaviyaji has provided for you.
What return will you make to these your brothers and sisters?
You may be sure that, when he conceived the plan of this Uni¬
versity, he had the question in mind, and he embarked upon
the mission in the hope that you would so conduct yourselves as
to deserve the training given to you. 1

The charkha is a small instrument but in my eyes a very im¬
portant one. You may or may not agree with me about the
charkha. But my faith in the charkha is ever increasing. You
have a very big building here, and you can get all kinds of faci¬
lities you wish to have. Some of the students here do not have
to pay any fees. There are some to whom Malaviyaji even grants
some scholarships. He is doing all that a great man can do for
the students—men or women.

Such is your condition here. And on the other hand there
are crores of human beings in our country who do not get any
thing except dry roti and dirty salt once in a day. In Jagan-
nathji 2 , people are dying of starvation. There is no lustre in their
eyes. I could count every single bone in their bodies, and this
did not happen long ago, it is happening now. In some places
people get full meals, they over-eat so that they require the services
of doctors and physicians, elsewhere there are people dying of
starvation. I would like to know what you are doing for these
dying men. Do you have no sympathy for these skeletons?

Daridranarayana is the aptest name for God. So long as a
single such person is denied the darshan of Vishwanath, God can-

1 Taken from the report in Young India , 10-10-1929, which appeared
under the title #t The U. P. Tour-IV”.

2 Puri in Orissa

CONVOCATION ADDRESS AT KASHI VIDYAPITH, BANARAS 463

not dwell there. The untouchables are not allowed to enter the
place. If any untouchable does go to Vishwanath temple, it is
only when “God 55 is specially kind that his bones remain intact.
If you wish to meet God, then serve the Daridranarayana. You have
given me Rs. 1,286. It is better than giving me nothing. But if
you do not use khadi for the sake of Daridranarayana then what’s
the use of giving this money?

If you wear khadi you are being thrifty. You need clothes.
If you wear khadi worth one rupee, 13 annas will be paid out
of that to the poor people. But if you were to buy foreign cloth
that money would go out of the country. The poverty witnessed
in this country is not to be found elsewhere in the world, and if
you wish to remove it, you should wear khadi.

I am aware that amongst those who wear khadi many men
may be hypocrites, impostors, frauds and scoundrels. But those
are common faults. Even those who do not wear khadi can have
them. Even those who do not use khadi can be impostors or
scoundrels. So if such a man is an impostor or a fraud at least
one good thing about him would be that he does wear khadi. I
came across a prostitute who wears khadi. She said to me: ‘Pray
to God so that fallen women like me are absolved of our sins. 5

You should purify your hearts and whatever sacrifices you
choose to make, make them with the purest intentions — whether it
is going to the jail or the gallows. You must cleanse your heart first.
Degrees can be had from any college. But there should be some¬
thing special about your University. You can give something more
now, if you wish to as you have not given according to your ability.
Malaviyaji pins people down for contributions. He should demon¬
strate his ability now.

[From Hindi]

Aaj > 30-9-1929

414 . CONVOCATION ADDRESS AT KASHI VIDYAPITH,

BANARAS i

September 25> 1929

Acharya Narendradeva, who is the soul of the Vidyapith, had arranged
a Vedic, ceremonial which every snatak had to go through before he could
be declared qualified to receive his diploma and the blessings from the Kul-
pati Dr. Bhagavandas. . . . When Gandhiji entered the pandal that was

1 This appeared under the title * c The U. P. Tour—IV* 9 .

464

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

specially erected for the function, he was made to wear the yellow robe which
the Kulapati and the officials of the University had to. . . .

This solemn ceremony being over Gandhiji had to deliver his address. . . .
It was delivered in his own simple Hindi. ... He began by saying that his
faith in national education was daily growing and that he fully expected stu¬
dents discharged from national institutions to give a good account of them¬
selves and find themselves in the forefront in the fight for freedom.

He said:

You are doomed to disappointment if you compare your
schools or colleges with Government schools and colleges. The
two are different in kind. You cannot command the palatial
buildings nor a multiplicity of highly paid and learned professors
and teachers that Government institutions which live upon the
people can command. You will not have them even if you had
pecuniary resources at your disposal. The aim of Government
institutions is pre-eminently to turn out clerks and others who
would assist the alien Government to carry on its rule. The
aim of national institutions is just the opposite. It is to turn out
not clerks and the like but men determined to end the alien rule,
cost what it may and that at the earliest possible opportunity.
Government institutions naturally must be loyal to the alien
Government. National institutions can be loyal only to the coun¬
try. Government institutions promise a lucrative career.' National
institutions promise instead only the barest maintenance for full
service. You have just taken an oath 1 to discharge a triple debt.
Truly, as Max Muller reminded us, life with us is duty. Duty well
done undoubtedly carries rights with it, but a man who discharges

1 This was in Sanskrit. It read:

Sf £. What is your duty towards ancestors ?

a. To banish injustice, helplessness and -indigence from among man¬
kind and substitute brotherliness, self-respect and truth in its place.
What is your duty towards rishis ?

A. To propagate enlightenment in the place of ignorance, righteous¬
ness in the place of unrighteousness, altruism and true culture in
the place of selfishness and to make spirituality the basis of individual
and corporate life.

q. What is your duty towards the gods ?

A. To propagate righteousness among mankind, to conserve the forces
of nature and to utilize them for the service of man and to dedi¬
cate charamashram to the devotion of God.

q,. Will you fulfil these duties ?

a. With the Effulgence of God as witness, I promise that I shall strive
my best to fulfil these duties. May my effort be fruitful through
your blessings and God’s grace.”

CONVOCATION ADDRESS AT KASHI VIDYAPITH, BANARAS 465

his obligations with an eye upon privileges generally discharges
them indifferently and often fails to attain the rights he might have
expected, or when he succeeds in gaining them they turn out to
be burdens. Yours therefore is the privilege of service only. There
can be no rest for you till you have played your part in gaining
freedom for the country. If you will assimilate this fundamental
distinction between Government educational institutions and your
own, you will never regret your choice. But I know that your
fewness worries you often, and some of you doubt the wisdom of
having given up your old institutions and secretly cherish a desire
to return to them. I suggest to you that in every great cause it is
not the number of fighters that counts but it is the quality of which
they are made that becomes the deciding factor. The greatest
men of the world have always stood alone. Take the great pro¬
phets, Zoroaster, Buddha, Jesus, Mohammad—they all stood
alone like many others whom I can name. But they had living
faith in themselves and their God, and believing as they did that
God was on their side, they never felt lonely. You may recall the
occasion when pursued by a numerous enemy Abu Bakr, who
was accompanying the prophet in his flight, trembled to think of
their fate and said, ‘Look at the number of the enemies that is
overtaking us. What shall we two do against these heavy odds?’
Without a moment’s reflection the Prophet rebuked his faithful com¬
panion by saying, c No, Abu Bakr, we are three for God is with us.’ 1

What kind of faith do we require? Not the kind Ravana
had when he considered none his equal. We should have the
faith of a Vibhishan or a Prahlad. They had the faith that, even
though alone, they had God with them and so their power was
infinite. You have joined the Vidyapith to find such faith.

A gentleman told me this story in Agra. A Brahmin did not
have any knowledge of God, but on being questioned by a simple
and trustful man, advised him to throw himself headlong into a well
if he wished to meet God. The man believed him and acted accord¬
ingly, and he found God. It was the Brahmin who went to
perdition. Similarly if the teachers have no faith but you have
it and you wish to win freedom, then be firm in your faith, re¬
member God and make an effort in that direction. You will be suc¬
cessful. The students of the Vidyapith should not, like the other
students of Government institutions, make the mistake of thinking
that to secure a job is the ultimate aim of their education.

1 What follows is from Aaj.

41-30

466

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

I have defined swaraj many times. Swaraj can only be obtain¬
ed through peaceful and civil means. Swaraj means Dharmaraj;
without dharma it would mean nothing to me. The students of
national institutions do not have the power to attain the other
kind of swaraj. I am fully aware of my responsibilities when I
say this. Do not be under any delusion nor delude others. I say
so because I feel it to be true. Those who forget their duty towards
their country and their religion, are sinners and unworthy men.
It is the duty of the students to become truly brave soldiers in this
struggle for swaraj.

Young India , 10-10-1929, and Aaj 3 27-9-1929

415 .. TWO VALUES OF A RUPEE

It is remarkable but true how the value of a coin varies in
accordance with the way in which it is used. If you spend a
rupee in buying a death-dealing instrument for murdering some¬
one, that rupee is dipped in blood, worthy only to be thrown
away, whereas if you spend that same rupee for buying food for
a starving man it may mean life to him. The rupee so spent is
thus charged with life-giving properties. The one has earned hell
for the user, the other has brought heaven nearer to its user.
Similarly every rupee spent in purchasing khadi according to the
calculations carefully worked out by the Foreign-Cloth Boycott
Committee brings relief to the starving. It is distributed as follows:

Rs.

Cotton grower

Ginner

Carder

Spinner

Weaver

Washer

Salesman

Total 1

Thus not a fraction of the rupee leaves the country if it is
invested in khadi, and the whole of it goes to the deserving poor,
the workers in the fields or in the cottages of India, whereas a
rupee given for foreign cloth may mean with the exception of 1
anna for the salesman, that it is sent out of the country at the
expense of its own starving people, and if the cotton of which

SIMPLIFYING MARRIAGE

467

this foreign cloth is made is grown in India, 3 a. 9 p. might find
their place out of the rupee into the pockets of the cotton-grower.
But even there the speculator divides the 3 a, 9 p. with the grower.
But for the huge export of cotton from India we should not have
the ruinous gamble in the shape of cotton speculation which goes
on every day in Calcutta and Bombay. Will the patriots under¬
stand this simple national arithmetic and shun foreign cloth for
ever?

Young India , 26-9-1929

416 . SIMPLIFYING MARRIAGE

A correspondent sends me an account of a marriage ceremony
performed in Karachi. At the time of the marriage of a girl 16
years old, the daughter of a moneyed man Sheth Lalchand, the
father is reported to have curtailed the expenditure to a minimum
and given the marriage ceremonial a religious and dignified form.
The report before me shows that the whole ceremony did not take
more than two hours, whereas generally it involves a wasteful
expenditure spread over many days. The religious ceremony was
performed by a learned Brahmin who explained to the bride
and the bridegroom the meaning of what they were called upon
to recite. I congratulate Sheth Lalchand and his wife who
actively supported her husband upon initiating this belated reform,
and hope that it will be copied largely by other moneyed men.
Khadi lovers will be glad to know that Sheth Lalchand and his
wife are thorough believers in khadi, and that both the bride and
the bridegroom were clothed in khadi and are themselves con¬
vinced khadi wearers. This marriage ceremony calls to my
mind the scene I witnessed at the Agra students 5 meeting. 1 They
confirmed the information that was given to me by a friend, that
in the United Provinces young men studying in the colleges and
schools were themselves eager to be married early, and expected
their parents to go in for a lavish expenditure involving costly
gifts, and equally costly and sometimes even more costly enter¬
tainments. My informant told me that even highly educated
parents were not free from the pride of possession, and that so
far as expenses went they beat the comparatively uneducated
wealthy merchants. To alt such the recent example of Sheth
Lalchand and the less recent example of Sheth Jamnalal Bajaj

1 Vide pp. 391-2.

468 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

should serve as a stimulus in cutting down expenditure. But more
than the parents it is the duty of young men firmly to resist
premature marriage, more especially marriage during student life,
and at all cost to resist all expenditure. Indeed not more than
Rs. 10 should be required for the performance of the religious
ceremonial, and nothing beyond the ceremonial should be consi¬
dered a necessary part of marriage rites. In this age of democracy,
when the distinction between the rich and the poor, the high and
the low, is sought to be abolished, it is for the rich to lead the
poor to a contented life by exercising self-restraint in all their
enjoyments and indulgences, and let them remember the verse in
the Bhagavad Gita, “Whatever leaders of society do, the others will
follow.” 1 The truth of this statement we see daily verified in our
experience, and nowhere more vividly than in marriage ceremonies
and rites in connection with the dead. Thousands of poor people
deprive themselves for this purpose of necessaries of life, and burden
themselves with debts carrying ruinous rates of interest. This
waste of national resources can be easily stopped if the educated
youths of the country, especially sons of rich parents, will resolutely
set their faces against every form of wasteful expenditure on their
account.

Toung India, 26-9-1929

417. REASON v. AUTHORITY

A correspondent has sent me the September number of
Prabuddha Bharata in which the editor has answered my endeavour
to reply to his recent articles on the cult of charkha and khadi.
If that answer has satisfied the editor and satisfied the reader,
I cannot carry my own arguments any further, and must lfeave
the final answer to time and experience. But one thing in the
editorial reply deserves notice. The editor questions the propriety
of my remark that “the inferential invocation of the authority
of the illustrious dead in a reasoned discussion should be regarded
as a sacrilege”. The editor resents this, more specially because
Prabuddha Bharata is an organ of Swami Vivekananda’s order. I
must however adhere to my statement. I think that the duty of
avoiding in a reasoned discussion inferences from the writings of
the founder of an order devolves more specifically upon its members
and its organ, for to sceptics the authority of the founder will be

^II. 21

REASON v. AUTHORITY

469

of no avail, even as the authority of Shri Krishna is of no use to

one who is not his follower. And experience has shown that in

every case where there is an appeal to reason, any inference drawn

from the writings of a great person, however illustrious he may be,

is irrelevant and calculated to confuse the issues at stake. I

would like the editor and the reader to note also that I have not

criticized the citing of the specific writings of great men, but I

have suggested the impropriety of drawing deductions from their 1

writings instead of leaving the reader to draw his own from such

writings. Thus, for instance, have not the so-called Christians

distorted the undiluted message of Jesus? Have not sceptics

drawn opposite deductions from the identical sayings of Jesus?

Similarly have not different Vaishnavite sections drawn different

and often opposite deductions from the same texts in the Bhagavad

Gita , and is not the Bhagavad Gita today quoted in support even of

assassination? To me it is as plain as a pikestaff, that where

there is an appeal to reason pure and undefiled, there should be

no appeal to authority however great it may be. Curiously the

correspondent who has sent me the Prabuddha Bharata has also sent

me two apposite quotations from Sister Nivedita’s writings. Here

they are:

Like others, he (Vivekananda) had accepted without thought the as¬
sumption that machinery would be a boon to agriculture, but he could now
see that while the American farmer, with his several square miles to farm,
might be the better for machines, they were likely to do little but
harm on the tiny farmlands of the Indian peasantry. The problem was
quite different in the two cases. Of that alone he was firmly convinced.
In everything including the problem of distribution, he listened with suspi¬
cion to all arguments that would work for the elimination of small interests,
appearing in this as in so many other things as the perfect, though un¬
conscious, expression of the spirit of the old Indian civilization (The
Master as I Saw Him , p. 231).

His (Vivekananda’s) American disciples were already familiar with
his picture —that called to his own face a dreamy delight—of the Punjabi
maiden at her spinning-wheel listening to its ‘Shivoham Shivoham 5 [Ibid.,
p. 95).

Whether these extracts correctly represent the master or not
is more than I can say.

Toung India, 26-9-1929

1 The source has “his”.

418 . NOTES

The Ban on the Ali Brothers

The following cable, which I have extended, has been received
by me from the Secretaries of the South African Indian Congress:

At an emergent Executive meeting held at Durban on the situation
arising out of restrictions imposed upon the Ali Brothers’ contemplated
visit to the Union by the Union Government, the subject occupied the
earnest consideration of the Committee and the following resolution was
passed:

cc South African Indian Congress Executive as representing the
Indian community of South Africa deeply deplores conditions imposed
by the Union Government upon the contemplated visit of the Ali Brothers to
the Union, and hereby requests the Agent of the Government of India
to take all the necessary steps for the removal of all such conditions.”

We know now what the result of the Agent’s intervention has
been. The obstinate refusal of the Union Government to waive
the restrictions, especially in view of the unsolicited and gentle¬
manly assurance of the Ali Brothers not to engage in any political
controversy or discussion during their sojourn in South Africa,
shows in what estimate even the Government of India is held by
the Union Government. That estimate will persist so long as
the Government of India is an irresponsible Government and
therefore remains a body whose wishes can be flouted with im¬
punity by any foreign Government, whether it may be one occupy¬
ing the Dominion Status or one wholly unconnected with Great
Britain. I fear that we will have to submit to such humiliations
so long as we, through our own disunion, dissensions and the like,
remain impotent and powerless to help ourselves.

They Know

It has often been said that khadi propaganda means harm to
the mill industry, and this has been said even by some Congress¬
men who should know better. Of course so far as I am concerned,
khadi should hold the field even though it might ostensibly
damage the mill industry; surely the vital welfare of the starving
millions should have predominance over the material advancement
of the few rich people. But as a matter of fact khadi propaganda
has not only done no harm to the mill industry but it has resulted
in demonstrable advantage to that great industry, The confirma-

NOTES

471

tion of this view comes from no less a source than Mr. J. A. Wadia
who, when asked at a shareholders 5 meeting, "whether khaddar
propaganda had in any way affected the sale of Indian mill-made
cloth 55 , as chairman, promptly replied that c he was absolutely in
favour of khaddar 5 . He added that £ it was owing to khaddar
that their consumption of locally made yarn had gone up con¬
siderably. Mahatma Gandhi was not against Indian mill-cloth.
His propaganda was benefiting the mill industry. 5 I hope that
this unsolicited testimony will dispel the suspicion working in
the minds of many that khadi had damaged the indigenous
mill industry, A little reflection will show that it can do no
damage to the mill industry for the simple reason that against
the crores of rupees worth of cloth that the mills produce annually
the All-India Spinners 5 Association can show no more than 30
lakhs. But the khadi propaganda has produced in the people a
love for swadeshi on a scale unknown before, and it has resulted
in preference being given by the poor villagers to indigenous mill-
cloth over foreign cloth. But the reader may note what many
mills have done to khadi. They have unscrupulously and un¬
fairly resorted to the manufacture of coarse cloth, and have not
felt ashamed even to label it khadi with the pictures of the
charkha printed upon that spurious stuff. This is the return some
of them have made khadi for the swadeshi spirit it has been in¬
strumental in infusing amongst the people.

Loose Thinking
A correspondent writes:

In the course of an article you have said at one place: 6 ‘Where mar¬
riage is a sacrament, the union is not the union of bodies but the union
of souls indissoluble even by the death of either party. Where there is
a true union of souls, the remarriage of a widow or widower is unthink¬
able, improper and wrong.”

At another place in the course of the same article you say: C I consi¬
der remarriage of virgin widows not only desirable but the bounden
duty of all parents who happen to have such widowed daughters. 5 How
do you reconcile the two views ?

I find no difficulty in reconciling the two views. In the
giving away of a little girl by ignorant or heartless parents without
considering the welfare of the child and without her knowledge
and consent there is no marriage at all. Certainly it is not a
sacrament and therefore remarriage of such a girl becomes a duty.
As a matter of fact, the word 'remarriage 5 is a misnomer in such
cases. The virgin was never married at all in the true sense, and

472

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

therefore on the death of her supposed husband it would be the
most natural thing, it will be a duty, for the parents to seek for
her a suitable companion in life.

Toung India , 26-9-1929

419. HOW LOVE ACTS

Richard Gregg whom the reader knows as the author of the
Economics of Khaddar sends me the following French parable by the
poet Riche pin:

A widowed mother was living with her only son; they were the best
of comrades, the most intimate of friends. But an adventuress got hold of
the young man. She took away his money, his health, his position, his
self-respect, and turned him into a vagabond. One day she told him that
he must give her a supreme example of his devotion: he must murder
his mother and bring to his mistress his mother’s bleeding heart. Accord¬
ingly the young man went to his mother, killed her, cut the heart from her
body, and holding it in his hand, hastened to the evil woman. In his haste
he slipped on the pavement and fell headlong. The heart rolled out of
his hand. Then the heart spoke and said, “Did you hurt yourself, my
dear son?”

Let not the reader scoff at the parable as a figment of a
diseased imagination. A loving heart docs pity the erring loved
one, and love even when it is itself wounded. It is not love that
shines only in fair weather.

Toung India , 26-9-1929

420. TO A CORRESPONDENT

To “A Confused Believer, a Teacher of History’ 9

I am sorry I may not notice your letter, somewhat important
though it is. I do not encourage correspondents who have .not the
courage to give their names not for publication but for the assurance
of the editor, whom they must trust to keep confidence where
confidence is asked. If you are anxious about a reply to your
doubts and to that end will disclose your name, please rewrite your
arguments as your letter is destroyed.

Toung India , 26-9-1929

421. TWO QUESTIONS

September 26, 1929

When I was in Agra a gentleman sent the following letter 1 :

If anyone stopped this gentleman from seeing me, then it
is a matter of shame and regret. It is true that the poor volun¬
teers in their solicitude for my health were scrupulous about my
time. They evinced their love in shielding me from my visitors
while the love of those who wanted to see me and ask me ques¬
tions would have them violate the time limit. The result was a
constant tug of war. Visitors were put to some inconvenience, but
everyone could come to attend the evening prayers. None was
prevented from doing so. As the prayers were held in open
grounds everyone could take part in them. One must understand
that when so many people wish to meet one particular person
restrictions of some kind become necessary.

Now to answer the first question:

I try to have an equal regard for everyone on this earth,
as far as it is possible for a humble human being. Accordingly, I
try to love India and Gujarat no more than other parts of the
world. This equal regard does not necessarily mean that I can and
do serve everyone alike. My heart, being free from the bonds of
time, place and circumstance, can love everyone to the same degree.
But my body has limitations and, therefore, the service it can
render is also limited. My intentions are not to blame for this.
The fault is inherent in the way this service is rendered. The way
being what it is, India will feel that I belong especially to her.
Gujarat will feel it in an even greater degree and in Gujarat those
, staying at the Udyoga Mandir will feel most of all. In fact my
services are made available to the whole world through the Udyoga
Mandir, if only because my services to the Udyoga Mandir are not
in any way opposed to my serving Gujarat, India or the rest of the
world. And this is what I call pure patriotism. This indeed is
how I can discharge my duty to all concerned. This indeed is
at the root of that great saying “as with die individual so with

the universe 55 .

Now to take up the second question:

In my humble opinion I have been truly able to understand
India’s condition. This is not because I have been travelling, but

1 Not translated here

474

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

because of my intense desire to understand it. Many travellers
from the West come here out of curiosity. They may travel more
than I do, but they cannot know the country because they lack
that intense desire to know it. My travelling undoubtedly help¬
ed me to know my country, but the root is my desire to do so.
There is not and cannot be much difference between the conditions
of one province and those of others. There can be some differ¬
ence in degree. India is under foreign yoke and poverty-stricken.
That is the greatest ill it is suffering from. To cure this would be
to remove all other ills. Nothing can be achieved without doing
this first. Anyone who would understand this plain, simple fact will
have no trouble in understanding the remedies I have for the
maladies that India is suffering from.

[From Hindi]

Hindi Navajivan, 26-9-1929

422. LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI

Banaras,
September 26, 1929

chi. chhaganlal (joshi),

Yesterday I got two letters of yours of different dates. The
same thing had happened in Kanpur. There is something strange
in this. I see in this nothing but the alertness or otherwise of the
postal staff. When there are different routes for carrying the post
to a particular place, the postal clerks dispatch the letters accord¬
ing to their whim.

I think that Raghunath and others who have come there from
Vijapur to join in the birthday celebrations or for other reasons
have acted wrongly. For this I would blame the sense of irres¬
ponsibility which prevails in our atmosphere more than the persons
concerned. I come to this conclusion especially from Raghu-
nath’s action. We are always short of slivers. Raghunath and
Govindji, the two working together, could barely supply our
needs. And now Raghunath has come away. This docs not seem
to be good. Chhaganlal too seems to have been unduly lenient.
I am writing to him also about this. It was his duty to have
detained those whose presence was necessary. It is possible that
such persons would have gone nevertheless. We would then have
known where we stand and learnt something even from that. I
write all this so that people may reflect over our shortcomings and

LETTER TO BRIJKRISHNA C HAND IW ALA 475

think how we should act in future. We have got to consider how to
meet the needs of slivers in Vijapur. If we get hold of the remedy
for this, which is devotion to duty, it would be easy enough to
meet these needs. I think Raghunath should return to Vijapur.
If those who know carding well make slivers even In the Udyoga
Mandir and if these are sent to Vijapur every week, would not
their shortage decrease? Think about this.

We must master bread-making without delay. From the
women s section, Gangabehn should be spared for the^ required
number of hours and our bread-making should be made perfect, or
we should give up making bread altogether. If we do not do
one of these two things, I foresee danger to our health.

I see much more meaning in acquiring the ability to do our
daily work systematically and efficiently than in organizing func¬
tions like birthday celebrations which come once in a way.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 5446; also Bapuna Pairo-7: Shri
Chhaganlal Jo shine, pp. 142-3

423. LETTER TO BRIJKRISHNA CHANDIWALA

Banaras,

September 26, 1929

CHI. BRIJKRISHNA,

I have your letter. I am glad to learn that you kept good
health at Vijapur. That makes me think that it would be best for
you to continue your stay at Vijapur for the present. You should
gradually recover complete health.

You should learn to recite the Gita verses with correct pro¬
nunciation of the words. Gan you read the Gujarati script? How
did you feel at Vijapur? I keep good health at present. I take
plenty of fruit, milk and curds. I have not yet resumed eating
bread. Devdas arrived yesterday. He will be with me for the pre¬
sent.

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 2365

Blessings from

Bapu

424. SPEECH AT WOMEN'S MEETING, BANARAS

September 26, 1929

MOTHERS AND SISTERS,

I would like to say a few words to you. Wc want swaraj for the
country. We should therefore know what swaraj means. Swaraj
means Ramarajya. Swaraj does not mean unrestrained freedom.
But how can we bring about Ramarajya without first attaining Sita-
rajya ? If you all become as pure as Sita, Ramarajya is sure to follow.
Sita did not wear fine clothes, nor did she wear a lot of jewellery.
She had compassion in her heart for those who were suffering.
And what cannot one achieve who has compassion in one’s heart?
Women are compassionate by nature. You will surely reflect how
millions of women do not get food, and do not get clothing. Their
children do not get milk. By simply giving them money, bread or
clothes, you will turn them into beggars. God has given them
hands and feet and they are human beings like us. They must
therefore work to earn their livelihood. We should enable them to
earn their livelihood by spinning. Wc import cloth worth sixty
crores of rupees from other countries. A large part of this foreign
cloth is consumed by the women. You should all wear khadi so
that this money remains in the country.

You should not marry off your children before they grow up.
Girls under eighteen ought not to be married. Give them the
right education. Do not even mention marriage in their presence;
on the contrary relate to them the stories of Gargi, Maitreyi, etc.

Do not despise the untouchables. They are also human
beings like us. They too have been created by God. They do not
become untouchable or despicable just because they remove
night-soil. If we adopt that attitude our mothers also become
untouchables as they perform similar functions for the children.
But they command our respect, because if they did not do this
work, human beings would not survive. You all give me money
and jewellery with great love. Give me your blessings too, so
that I may be able to fulfil my work. Now you may all give what
you can.

[From Hindi]

Aaj, 27-9-1929

425. SPEECH AT PUBLIC MEETING, BANARAS

September 26 7 1929

MR. PRESIDENT, BROTHERS AND SISTERS,

My voice cannot reach you all, I hope you will forgive me. I
have not the strength that I had in 1920. I thank you for your
address. I thank you also for your contributions. You must under¬
stand that you cannot appease the hunger of one who comes to
you as a representative of Daridranarayana . The money you have
donated is not enough for him. It has been rightly said that the
amount you have given as your contribution is not large. Mala-
viyaji and others had signed an appeal for five lakhs of rupees.
This amount has not yet been collected. It is a matter of shame
for us. We should have received more money from you. Even
so I thank you for whatever you have voluntarily given.

I do not wish to take your time and I have not much time
to spare either. I have nothing new to tell you. The Congress has
chalked out the path we are to follow. It has asked us to boy¬
cott foreign cloth and if we cannot do so in Kashi where else can
we do it? You should wear khadi. You have given money for
khadi work and if you do not take to khadi, what is the use of
your giving money?

The second point emphasized by the Congress is that Hindus,
Muslims, Christians and Parsis should all purify their hearts and
live in amity.

Please don’t pay attention to what is happening outside. 1 You
have come for the meeting. You should give all your attention
to the meeting. I am not going to stir from here.

We do not want either Hindu Raj or Muslim Raj. The Raj
that we want is one which will ensure equal status to the rich and
the poor, the worker and the landlord. All will enjoy equality of
status. So long as this does not happen we shall not have swaraj.

Thirdly, we must remove the blot of untouchability. There
is nothing like untouchability in Hinduism which has books like the
Gita and which preaches the doctrine of advaita 2 . In the Hindu so¬
ciety we have four varnas: the Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas
and Shudras. But this does not mean that anyone of them is lower

1 Owing to a disturbance outside the Town Hall, there was some shouting.

2 Non-dualism

478

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

in status than any other. We must remove this blemish of un-
touchability and embrace the so-called untouchables. Schools and
temples must be thrown open to them and they should be allowed
to draw water from the wells.

Fourthly, I would request that those addicted to intoxicants
like liquor, opium, etc., should give up their use. Those who are
not addicted to them should gently persuade those that are to
give up their use.

Fifthly, you should all become members of the Congress.
Membership of the Congress means that you will undertake the
vow to follow the Congress programme as explained above. You
will then be bound to follow all such instructions issued by it as
do not go against your religion. If you can fulfil these five tasks,
then in the new year beginning on 1st of January 1930, you can
stand up and act on your pledge. If we have the will, the perse¬
verance and the strength, nothing can stop us from following this
programme. It is such an easy programme that even an illiterate
woman or a feeble old man can follow it. I pray to God to give
us the strength to fulfil it and to grant us success.

[From Hindi]

Aaj, 28-9-1929

426. LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI

Banaras,
September 26*, 1929

CHI. CHHAGANLAL,

You know that Parsuram who has stayed in the Ashram in
the past, is at present working in the Banaras Hindu University.
He will come there in a few days. At present he has holidays for
a month and will spend the time there. Give him some work to
do. He will certainly do such labour as sanitary work. But, in addi¬
tion, those who are making special efforts to learn Hindi may avail
themselves of his services.

There is also a student of Tilak Vidyalaya who is at present
studying in the Hindu Vishvavidyalaya; he too is filled with the
spirit of renunciation and now wishes to come and stay in the
Ashram. I have asked him to write to you. If he remains firm in
the decision which he announced to me today, he should be ad¬
mitted. He seems to know Wamanrao Pataki quite well.

letter to secretary, a.i.s.a., mirzapur

479

Lucknow,

September 27, 1929

I dictated the paragraph above in Kashi, and now I finish
the letter in Lucknow. We get today the post which reaches here
yesterday. Among others, I have your letter giving detailed infor¬
mation. You have given a good description of your difficulties.
The fewer the women's classes conducted by Narandas that are
broken up, the better. We had better not give up making bread in
sheer helplessness. Those who fell ill did not become ill because
of this work. There is nothing in it which should cause illness.
There can be only one reason for their illness. Those engaged in
making bread may have eaten too many sample bits of bread.
Was not this the case with that graduate ?

We should be able to satisfy LakshmFs desire to learn Guja¬
rati better. If Valji’s time can be spared, he has the necessary
qualifications and he has satisfied others who learnt the subject

from him.

I understand from your letter that the house occupied by
Mahadev has not been made over to us. I am certainly ready to
write to Santok whenever you want me to do so.

It was not my suggestion that Gangabehn should herself make
the bread. I felt, however, that it would do if she could super¬
vise the mixing of materials. Hasmukhrai, Pataki or perhaps
Bhanushankar may be able to do the job.

Blessings Jrom

Bapxj

[PS.]

have not revised this.

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 5447; also Bapuna Patro-7:
Chhaganlal Joshine, pp. 143-4

Skri

427. LETTER TO SECRETARY, A. I. S. A., MIRZAPUR

Camp Lucknow,

September 27, 1929

The Secretary, A. I. S. A.

Mirzapur

Ahmedabad

DEAR SIR,

I have your letter of the 24th instant enquiring about the
forthcoming Congress Exhibition. I have no reply to my letter

480

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

to Dr. Gopi Chand from which I should deduce that the Associa¬
tion did not participate in the Exhibition. If there is any change
I shall let you know, if necessary, by telegram.

Tours sincerely,

From a microfilm: S.N. 15610

428. LETTER TO JAGANNATH

Camp Lucknow,

September 27, 1929

MY DEAR JAGANNATH,

Both you and Desh Raj have been very prompt this time and
from what I have learnt about Mr. Brayne’s activities Desh Raj’s
report may prove a most valuable document, of course on the as¬
sumption that it is an absolutely accurate statement. I understand
that Mr. Brayne has been vilifying us in London practically at
our expense. I have seen Purushottamdasji regarding Lala Benarasi-
das and X now know the position. I shall await the further letter
from Desh Raj before I do anything.

Tours sincerely ,

From a microfilm: S.N. 15607

429 . LETTER TO JAIRAMDAS DOULATRAM

Camp Lucknow,

September 27, 1929

MY DEAR JAIRAMDAS,

I have your several letters but just now I want to notice the
one regarding Malkani. I quite agree with you that it would have
been better if Malkani had not joined the semi-official committee
or could have avoided it. I have told him as much and I have
told him also that so long as he is working for that committee the
money sent from Gujarat must be held over. It cannot be spent
through an official committee. I wish that Jamshed 1 had spared
Malkani. It is not just to the donors in Gujarat to have their
money left unused. It would be still more unjust and unlawful if
I allowed it to be used through semi-official channels. Jamshedji
has written to me asking me to authorize Malkani to hand over
the balance of Gujarat money to his Committee. I have written to

1 Mehta, Mayor of Karachi

LETTER TO GHHAGAXLAL JOSH1

481

him regretting my inability to comply with his request and re¬
gretting also that he should have drawn Malkani into the net and
thus have lessened his capacity for service. Now you will do
what you think is best. I hope you had a truthful and responsive

atmosphere about you in Gujarat.

Tours sincerely,

Shri Jairamdas Doulatram
Congress House, Bombay

From a microfilm: S.N. 15611

430. LETTER TO CHHAGAjYLAL JOSHI

Lucknow,
September 28, 1929

chi. chhaganlax,

Imamsaheb arrived here this morning. He is fine.

It is quite true that there cannot be real non-attachment
without spiritual knowledge. Non-attachment does not include
ignorance, cruelty and indifference. The work done by a person
filled with the real spirit of non-attachment shines far more and
succeeds better than that of a man who works with attachment.
The latter may sometimes get upset and forget things because of
worries; he may even feel ill will and in the result may spoil the
work. The man of non-attachment is free from all these defects.
I need not write and explain this to you. But, when a thing
we know is brought to our notice by someone else at the right
time, it has an altogether different effect on us. I send to you
from time to time useful thoughts like these which occur to me in

order that you may not get nervous.

The correspondence which you carried on with the Vidya-
pith seems quite all right to me. As a trustee, you could have
done nothing else. If your action gives rise to a misunderstanding,
bear it in patience as temporary. For, so long as you yourself
are certain that you have done a particular thing without ill will
or without being carried away by emotion, you need not worry

about the matter at all.

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 5448; also Bapuna Palro-7: Shri
Chkaganlal ^oshxe£, p. 145

41-31

431. SPEECH TO LUCKNOW UNIVERSITY STUDENTS,

LUCKNOW

September 28, 1929

Mahatma Gandhi, replying to the address 1 , regretted that the address
was in English and not in Hindustani. Lucknow being a seat of Urdu culture,
the address should have been in Devanagari and Urdu scripts which would
have shown perfect amity and concord between the Hindu and Muslim boys of
the Universtiy. He deprecated the attitude of those who neglected the mother-
tongue and concentrated on learning a language which was foreign. He him¬
self edited an English newspaper which decidedly proved that he was not against
the English language as such. What he wanted was the proper thing in the
proper place. He instanced the case of General Botha who, when summoned
by the King, took an interpreter, although he understood English quite well,
just to emphasize that he was Dutch in origin and valued the Dutch language
above anything else. Mahatma Gandhi hoped that in future greater stress would
be laid on the cultivation of the national language in the Lucknow University.

The Leader , 2-10-1929

432. SPEECH AT A.LC.C. MEETING, LUCKNOW

September 28, 1929

I know my name was proposed and elected by a majority of
votes, but I find myself quite unfit for such a heavy responsibility,
though it is a great honour. I, therefore, utilize this opportunity to
explain to you that it is my weakness indeed that I am shrinking
from it and the same I have explained so many times through
Young India.

What I felt most was for Pt. Malaviya who had no mind
to come over here.

His mission in coming over to this place was only to persuade
me, but I find that he is going back dejected.

While I do not want to undertake this responsibility, I do
not mean that I shall keep myself aloof from the Congress
programme. Suggestions have come from certain quarters that
if I do not accept it, I shall commit another unprecedented

1 Presented by the Lucknow University Students 5 Uinon

LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI 483

mistake. Anyhow I could not be convinced, and my conscience

does not permit me to shoulder the responsibility.

I assure you that in every programme adopted by you at the
Lahore Congress, I would be with you.

I feel I can do more work by not becoming the President of
this year’s Congress and I assure the house that I am firm on my
words of responsibility that I gave at Calcutta. This crown, though,
the thorny crown of the Congress, is unacceptable to everyone.
Why? Because it is a question of great responsibility. I would
suggest to you to elect one forgiving all that has so far happened.
I shall be very ready to assist him to my best capacity. I shall be
prepared for the worst if the chance comes. I am not to run
away from the coming battle on the 1st January, 1930. I shall
willingly extend every help in formulating the programme and
scheme for Congress work. What I wish from you is to discard
this futile mentality that if Gandhi is not on the chair or Motilal
not in the front, the Congress would collapse. You should stand
boldly on your conviction of heart and push the w T ork ahead. 1

The Hindustan Times , 2-10-1929

433. LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI

[After September 28, 1929] 2

CHI. CHHAGANLAL JOSHI,

I have your letter. There must be more money received
through Kothari from Rangoon. So far as my memory goes, about
Rs. 35,000 was received. Look into the Kathiawar Parishad’s or
some other account. It may even be that a part of the sum is
lying in the Deshbandhu Khadi Fund, for the entire sum was
not intended to be spent in Kathiawar. You will, therefore, get
the necessary information about this by writing to inquire at
Jamnalalji’s or asking Kothari. The people in Rangoon want
the account to be published.

I understand your reason for again postponing the change
concerning the women’s section. It would of course be fine if you
could make the change permanent. But do not force things on
them. We should take care and see that Gangabehn and Vasu-
mati do not break down in the attempt to carry out the change.
If their attempt is voluntary, we need not worry about their

1 The meeting elected Jawaharlal Nehru as Congress President.

2 As in the source

484 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

breaking down. When, however, such experiments are undertaken
through love or regard for others, it is not right that those who
make them should break in the attempt.

This time Mahadev is there . . . - 1

[From Gujarati]

Bapuna Pairo-7 ; Shri Chhaganlal Joshme, pp. 145-6

434. THREE QUESTIONS PUT BY A YOUTH

A young man has asked three questions. The first of these
is as follows: 2

Such horrible marriages arc, in my opinion, not marriages but
rather an exhibition of brute force. They are certainly contrary
to religion whatever the legal opinion regarding them. I would
certainly liberate a girl who has been sold in this manner and, if
that were possible, get her married to a deserving groom. Where-
ever such marriages take place, young men should give publicity
to them, find out the whereabouts of the girl’s parents and visit
them and try and convince the old man who has got married to
set the girl free. In order to carry out this task young men should
be worthy of it, be respectable and polite. The bride should in
fact be a child. There is no help if the bride, although young as
compared to the bridegroom, is mature enough to understand the
situation and has married him of her own free will. There are
such young women who, being tempted by wealth, sell their virgi¬
nity to old men and then commit misdeeds. Who can deal with
them? Measures can be adopted only in cases where the bride
is a child, not old enough to understand, and where the father or
some other guardian has sold her solely for money. Old men will
stop looking for child-brides where young men can prevent one or
two such instances and the former can satisfy their desires by
searching out mature widows.

The second question is as follows : 3

Speculation clearly constitutes gambling and does not benefit
the public at all. There is no doubt that it adversely affects

1 The letter is incomplete.

2 This is not translated here. It referred to the fact that some old men
got secretly married to young girls. The caste leaders took them back into the
fold on payment of a small fine.

3 This is not translated here. It referred to the fact that educated young
men took up jobs with speculators despite their dislike of this form of gamb¬
ling, but later themselves engaged in private speculation.

MY NOTES

485

business. Wealth gained through speculation is like wealth ob¬
tained by theft. Public opinion should be cultivated in order to
prohibit speculation. This is a very ancient corrupt practice

and has become widespread today. It will continue in one form
or another so long as the human race does not give up greed.
Young men will be unable to cope with all the evils in the world,
but much can be achieved if they themselves become pure.

Now the third question: 1

A bridegroom’s party of this kind is as fit to be abandoned as
a caste-feast. It is a useless expense and is detrimental to the
solemnity of the religious ceremony. Young men who are about
to marry should oppose firmly both the feast and the marriage
party consisting of the bridegroom’s relatives.

[From Gujarati]

Navajivan , 29-9-1929

435 . MY NOTES

Fasting or True Conduct?

A reader writes to say: 2

It seems that this association has not examined the conse¬
quences of fasting and truthful conduct. Otherwise this question
would not have arisen. Fasting has no independent power to con¬
trol one’s emotions. These are often found to have become
enfeebled in an individual who is fasting. Those who fast on the
Ekadashi and such other occasions, become so ill-tempered during
these fasts that those around them shudder to approach them.
Had there been any independent power in fasting which would
lead one to restrain one’s emotions, many persons who die of
“ would have been blessed long ago. It could indeed be
claimed, however, that anyone who wishes to restrain his emo¬
tions would derive some—however little help from fasting. ^ ^
Truthful conduct, however, is the best means of restraining
one’s emotions. It has unlimited power to control one s emo¬
tions and this power never fails to bring about results. Hence

1 This is not translated here. It related to the propriety of holding wedding
fpasts and of lar^e numbers joining the bridegroom’s party. ^

2 The letter, not translated here, read: “There was a discussion m our club

as to how to conquer one’s emotions. We all came to the conclusion that this
“uU b, doae Solo* « good coaduct We could b«™vcr, come

to a decision as to which of the two could be more praettsed easily.

486

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

fasting cannot be compared to truth at all. Anyone who is not
truthful cannot succeed in controlling his emotions, whereas any¬
one who is truthful can readily exercise control over his emotions.
One cannot help doing so while practising truth.

[From Gujarati]

Navajivan, 29-9-1929

436. NOTE TO JAYKRISHNA BHANSALI

September 29, 1929

Even the trees and plants converse with a person who is wholly
devoted to God, for he secs Him and His sport even in these.
We have not understood all this joy of bliakti. If we understand
it, the beauty of bhakti would immediately be heightened for us.
[From Gujarati]

Bapuna Patro—7: Shri Chhaganlal Joskine, p. 164

437. SPEECH AT LUCKNOW

September 29, 1929

Mahatmaji performed the National Flag-hoisting ceremony this morning
in the Municipal Hall. After the ceremony was over, Mahatmaji begged
pardon of the public for the delay in his coming.

I am grateful for the honour you have done me in giving
me this opportunity but I would ask you to understand the full
significance of this tri-coloured flag. It is not merely a piece of
khadi without any meaning. The red colour in the flag signifies
sacrifice, the white, purity and the green, hope. The three colours
stand for one ideal, that of unity. It is the duty of the citizens

to see that when once it is unfurled, it should never be allowed
to drop down.

The Bombay Chronicle, 30-9-1929

438. INTERVIEW TO FREE PRESS OF INDIA

September 29, 1929

In an interview given exclusively to the representative of the Free Press of
India, Mahatma Gandhi, expressing his impression of the A.I.C.CL meeting’s
decision reached at Lucknow, said:

The proceedings at the A.I.C.C. meeting were marked with
cool-headedness and no unnecessary excitement was witnessed
after I had made my position clear as to why I do not accept
the presidentship of the Lahore Congress. Yesterday’s proceedings
showed the wisdom of the A.I.C.C.

Questioned as to what programme would be adopted at Lahore for lead¬
ing the country ahead, Mahatmaji said:

What the Lahore Congress would do is more than I can say.

The Hindustan Times, 2-10-1929

439. LETTER TO ASHRAM WOMEN

Luckxow,

Silence Day, September 30, 1929

sisters,

Lucknow is the home of the purdah system. There are many
Muslim women here. They have sent a message to me and
asked me how their hardship may end. I can naturally give
only one reply, that we forge our own bonds. Only yesterday
we had a meeting of such women. They were not compelled to
attend it in purdah, but they thought that they could not do
otherwise. The Ashram exists to remove such hardships, and its
success depends on you. If you break the shackles, observe seif-res¬
traint, acquire knowledge and cultivate devotion to duty, you will auto¬
matically have set an example to other women .

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 3703

Blessings from

Bapu

440 . LETTER TO TARAM ATI MATHURADAS TRIKUMJI

Lucknow,

September 30 , 1529

Devdas gave me the news about your father’s death. I thought
of writing to you immediately, but before I could do so the matter
went out of my mind. I soon recover from the shock which
death gives me, and console others so that they, too, may do the
same. I see more clearly day by day that there is no difference
at all between birth and death. The two are aspects of the same
state and we keep on passing from one to the other. I have
often watched mice playing such a game. In the prison cell I
had to do the same thing myself. I used to walk from one wall¬
ed side to the other and back again. So, then, which side did I
leave and to which did I move ? I have been talking philosophy,
but it is full of truth and you should draw from it as much conso¬
lation as you can. In any case, time is doing its work of erasing
all memories. Were it not so, God knows in what plight we would
have been.

[From Gujarati]

Bapuni Prasadi , pp. 96-7

44L LETTER TO MANILAL AND SUSHILA GANDHI

Lucknow,

September 30> 1929

CHI. MANILAL AND SUSHILA,

I got your letters. I am writing this from Lucknow. You
will see from the newspapers that I have declined the President¬
ship. I keep good health. The weight has improved fairly well
and seems likely to go up still.

I am now waiting for Sushila to arrive.

My tour of this part (U.P.) will continue till the last week
of November. I have no time to write more.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 4760

rig your |_Diraiaayj greeting.

time. Chhaganlal is losing we:
jo to his help. Maybe your i

Dine respects. You have not
. going. All that he said in
; felt hurt. I think it necessar
3 . This seems possible only if
are difficulties in your way, pi
rshottam’s weight remains very
ally, without using medicines?
rrange for him to stay in Ha
d some time there and see if

ter from you for twc
that you must writ
rite about,
f the Khalishpur Ash
l there was not order
t is as shown in the

isifg

490

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

Write to me and let me know what the quality of the khadi and of
the yarn is.

Has the elder Gangabehn calmed down ? What happened
about Yashodadevi?

See how things are with Krishnamaiyadevi. If you think it
advisable to ask her to leave, let her go. If you can take Mahavir
into confidence and find out why those people are frequently ill,
try to know it.

Blessings from

Bapu

[From Gujarati]

Bapuna Palro-7: Shri Chhaganlal Jo shine, p. 146

444 . LETTER TO FULCHAND K. SHAH

Faizabad,

October 1, 1929

BHAISHRI FULCHAND,

I have your letter. Why should not the Meghwal brethren of
Vanathali obtain from the State the money needed for the building
too? Did any of them apply for the purpose to the State ? If you
think they ought to be helped, why should the Antyaja Committee
not help? Even if from other points of view it is thought proper
to give the help, whether wc should spend money in a State like
Jamnagar needs to be carefully weighed. If there seems to be no
objection to that, the Committee should address a formal letter
to the State and ascertain why it is unwilling to put up the building.

If it is considered necessary for the Wadhwan school for the
Antyajas to have a plot of land of its own, the Committee ought
to consider and decide that matter too.

In such matters the better thing, wherever the need for special
help from me is felt, would be to approach me through the Com¬
mittee.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a copy of the Gujarati: C.W. 2858. Qqprtesy; fulghand Shah

445. LETTER TO SHIVABHAI

Faxzabab,

October 1, 1929

BHAI SHIVABHAI,

I have read your letter. 1 do not have the required know¬
ledge to be able to judge the matter for myself On the face of it,
your argument seems to be correct, but you should communicate
on the matter with Appasaheb and with Jethalal. In any case
I am sending your letter to Appasaheb,

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: S.N. 9493

446 . LETTER TO MATH UR A DAS PURUSHOTTAM GANDHI

Faizabad,

October 1, 1929

CHI. mathuradas,

I have your letter. I am happy that you have taken up the
work of running a spinning class. Attain, if you can, perfection
in the task. For that purpose, you should build sound health.
Take as much exercise as your body can bear. Take especially
milk and preparations of wheat and green vegetables. The latter
should form the main part of your diet. If you can digest, take
a little of fresh vegetables uncooked. It is good that your sons
are taking up work one after another. I hope Motibehn is now
quite free from her fever.

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N, 3732

Blessings from

Bapu

447. LETTER TO GHHAGANLAL JOSHI

[October i, 1929] 1

CHI. GHHAGANLAL,

I am in Akbarpur today. With me are Ba, Kripalaniji and
Kanti. Abbas is with me by chance. He was travelling to this
place. As there were no facilities for staying here, I have left
the others behind in Lucknow. We are here only for a few
hours.

In your letter received yesterday, you have written about
winning my confidence. You have it in unlimited measure. Were
it not so, we could not have worked together for so long. What
worries me is the state of your health, your unsteadiness and your
lack of self-confidence. If you have these, you will be able to
manage other problems.

Do not attempt anything which you cannot manage. Even if
you find it necessary to give up the responsibility which you have
assumed, I will not stand in your way. You should not lose your
strength, and whatever you do should be done well. Nothing
should be done in impatience.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 5479

448. LETTER TO GHHAGANLAL JOSHI

Jaunpur,

Wednesday [October 2, 1929] 2

CHI. GHHAGANLAL,

The post addressed to Faizabad was received yesterday.

I send with this a cheque for Rs. 300 received from Shirinbehn.
Credit it in the miscellaneous account so that we can draw from
the amount for khadi or Antyaja work or similar purposes whenever
we are short of money.

Enclosed with this is a letter for Madhavlal. Pass it on to

1 From the reference to Gandhiji’s presence in Akbarpur

2 Gandhiji was in Jaunpur on this date.

THE HINDU WIFE

493

him after reading it. Discuss the matter with him if he opens

the subject.

Give me an account of the cow-protection exhibition. How
many attended the city exhibition and how many the cow-

protection exhibition? Take care of your health. Your request
to Maganbhai seems to me quite reasonable. All of us have not
learnt to understand the spirit behind such frank dealings. Have
I not told you about Mr. Ireland of Delhi? He is a great friend
of Andrews. Once the latter used his bicycle, for which he charged
two or three rupees, for he considered himself a trustee for the
cycle. When going to Simla, he refused to accept from me
second-class fare and accepted only intermediate fare. Even the
closest friends should have such perfectly truthful dealings with
one another. We have before us the examples of Harishchandra,
Taramati, Rohit, etc. You should have no fear.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 5478

449. THE HINDU WIFE

The following 2 is a summary of a long letter of a brother
describing the miseries of his married sister:

Some time ago my sister was married to a man whose
character was hidden from us. This man has been discovered
to be a rake . . . She remonstrated. The man could not
brook this ... My sister is heart-broken. ... We are help¬
less. What would you advise her and us to do? This is
one of the most shameful aspects of Hinduism, where woman
is left entirely at the mercy of man and has no rights and
privileges. . . . Thousands of such women are groaning and
weeping. As long as Hinduism is not purged of these and
such-like evils, can there be any hope of progress ?

The writer is an educated man. His is a much more graphic
description than the summary is of his sister’s distress. The cor¬
espondent has sent me his full name and address. His condem¬
nation of Hinduism, though pardonable under intense irritation, is
based on a hysterical generalization from an isolated instance.
For millions of Hindu wives live in perfect peace and are queens
in their own homes. They exercise an authority over their hus-

2 Only excerpts are reproduced here.

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDI-II

bands which any woman would envy. It is an authority which
love gives. The case of cruelty brought to light by the corres¬
pondent is an illustration not of the evil in Hinduism, but of the
evil in human nature which has been known to express itself
under all climes and among people professing different faiths of
the world. The facility for divorce has proved no protection
against a brutal husband for a pliant wife incapable of asserting and
at times even unwilling to assert herself. It is therefore in the
interest of reform for reformers to avoid hysterics and exaggerations.

Nevertheless the occurrence to which this article draws atten¬
tion is not an altogether uncommon occurrence in Hindu society.
Hindu culture has erred on the side of excessive subordination of
the wife to the husband, and has insisted on the complete merg¬
ing of the wife in the husband. This has resulted in the husband
gQmgtimes usurping and exercising authority that ieduces him to
the level of the brute. The remedy for such excesses therefore lies
not through the law but through the true education of women as
distinguished from unmarried girls, and through cultivating public
opinion against unmanly conduct on the part of husbands. In
the case in point the remedy is incredibly simple. Instead of the
brother and other relatives feeling helpless and weeping with the
distressed girl, they should clothe her with protection, educate
her to believe that it is no part of her duty to placate a sinful
husband or to seek his company. It is quite evident that the
husband himself does not care for the wife. She may therefore
without breaking the legal tie live apart from her husband s roof
and feel as if she had never been married. Of course there are two
legal remedies open even to a Hindu wife for whom a divorce is
unobtainable, and that is to have the husband punished for com¬
mon assault and to insist upon his supporting the wife. Experi¬
ence tells me that this remedy is in most cases if not in all worse
than useless, and it never brings any comfort to a virtuous woman
and makes the question of husband’s reform more difficult if not
impossible which after all should be the aim of society, more so
of every wife. In the present instance the girl’s parents are well
able to support her but where it is not possible, the number of
institutions that would give shelter to such ill-treated women is
growing in the country. There still remains the question of the
satisfaction of the sexual appetite on the part of young women
thus leaving the inhospitable roofs of their husbands or being
actually deserted by them when the relief given by divorce is
unobtainable. But this is really not a serious grievance in point
of numbers, for in a society in which custom has discountenanced

THE THOUSAND-HEADED MONSTER

495

divorce for ages, a woman whose marriage proves unhappy does
not want to be remarried. When public opinion in any social
group requires that particular form of relief, I have no doubt
that it will be forthcoming. So far as I understand the corres¬
pondent s letter, the grievance is not that the wife cannot satisfy
her sexual appetite. The grievance is the gross and defiant im¬
morality on the part of the husband. For this, as I have said,
the remedy lies in a revision of the mental attitude. The feeling of
helplessness is imaginary as most of our ills are. A fresh outlook,
a little original thinking, is enough to dispel the grief brought
about by defective imagination. Nor should friends, and relatives
in such cases be satisfied with the mere negative result of isola¬
ting the victim from the zone of tyranny. She should be indu¬
ced to qualify herself for public service. This kind of training
would be more than enough compensation for the doubtful pri¬
vilege of a husband’s bed.

Young India, 3-10-1929

450 . THE THOUSAND-HEADED MONSTER

The monster of untouchability shows his deadly fangs from his
thousand mouths nowhere more persistently than in the South.
Thus writes a correspondent from that quarter:

Whereas it has been apprehended in orthodox circles that the prea¬
chers of untouchability are apt to confound the issues and implications
involved in the principle by an attempt to push it to an undue extent
so as to create unnecessary friction, I wish to elicit from you a definite
pronouncement as regards the scope and extent of untouchability, in the
light of the undermentioned observations offered in the form of questions.

Though I do not think that the “preachers of untouchability”
or rather of anti-untouchability have done anything so as to
create any avoidable friction, it is best to deal with the questions
that often arise even in the minds of men who are not in any way
mischievously inclined, and who would, if they could, endorse the
anti-untouchability movement but who are unknowingly to them¬
selves obsessed by agelong prejudices.

The correspondent’s first question is:

Do you think that the principles of varnashrama dharma are
inconsistent with the formation of Indian nationality ?

In the first place varnashrama has nothing to do with un-
touch ability or with castes as we know them today. In the second

496 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

place varnashrama, as I know it, is in no way inconsistent with
the growth of Indian nationality. On the contrary if it has the
meaning that I have given to it, it is calculated to promote a
truly national spirit.

The second question is:

Do you think that sins of touch and sight arc of Vedic origin?

Though I cannnot speak with authority based on first-hand
knowledge, I have full confidence in the purity of the Vedas,
and therefore have no hesitation in asserting that the sins of touch
and sight have no support in the Vedas, but scholars like Sjt.
G. V. Vaidya and Pandit Satavalekar can speak with much
greater authority than I can lay claim to. I would, however, add
that no matter what is credited with Vedic origin, if it is repugnant
to the moral sense, it must be summarily rejected as contrary to
the spirit of the Vedas, and perhaps what is more, as contrary to
fundamental ethics.

The next four questions may be condensed as follows:

Don’t you think that the karmakanda is based upon a
knowledge of the laws of magnetism, and that the rules re¬
garding touch and sight, birth pollution and death pollution
are intended for the purification of the mind?

In so far as they are so intended, they have a certain relative
value, but the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Puranas and all the other
Shastras as also the other religions of the world proclaim in no
uncertain terms that purification of the mind is an inward process,
and that the magnetism produced by the inter-action of physical
bodies is nothing compared to the other subtle magnetism of
mind upon mind, and the outward purificatory rites become soul-
destroying, when they result in making man arrogate to himself
superiority over fellow-human beings and in making him treat
them virtually as beasts or even less.

The seventh question is:

Do you think that the procedure adopted by jivanmuktas, that is
those who have in the present body attained salvation, who are above
rules of the do and don’t, are conducive to the spiritual growth of ordinary
folk?

I do not think that anybody, however highly evolved he may
be, who lives on the earth and among earthly beings, can be
himself above the obligations binding on common mortals, and
therefore these rules have to appeal to reason and must never be
allowed to crush the spirit within. The rules about untouch-
ability have been demonstrated and can be demonstrated to be

THE THOUSAND-HEADED MONSTER 497

injurious to the growth of the spirit, and they are wholly con¬
trary to all that is best and noblest in Hinduism.

Then the question is:

Do you not believe in varna dharma?

I do in the manner often explained in these pages. In my
opinion varna dharma has nothing to do with untouchability or
superiority of one division over another.

The next question is:

Exceptions to untouchability are contained in the following verse:

‘ ‘Auspicious occasions, pilgrimages, political agitations, occasions of
fright or fear, festive occasions of deities, poverty.” These exceptions go
to prove the rule. Will you please press this authority into your service
and prescribe a limit to it?

The wise man who conceived this verse has taken in the
broad sweep of his exceptions every conceivable occasion. I would,
therefore, like the protagonists of untouchability to present the
reader of Young India with occasions which will not be covered by
fright or fear, poverty or auspicious occasions. And this corres¬
pondent has also not seen the terrible poverty of thought of those
who hug untouchability in that in the various provinces sanction
for untouchability merely rests upon tradition. No one has yet
given an intelligent definition of untouchable , unseeable and

‘unapproachable 5 .

The last question is:

In the attempt to spiritualize politics, what is the limit to which

you want to relegate untouchability ?

There is no limit. The very beginning of spiritualization .of
politics rests in the banishing, root and branch, of untouchability
as it is practised today. Untouchability attaching to birth or a
calling is an atrocious doctrine repugnant to the religious sense of

man.

Young India> 3-10-1929

451. SPINNING SONG

Marjory Kennedy Fraser sends me all the way from America
the following beautiful song rendered into English from the Gaelic:

Love gave I to thee, my lover,

Love that sister ne’er gave brother,

To her lull’d one ne’er gave mother.

Thou the wheel and I the thread,

While fate spinning o’er our head.

Toung India , 3-10-1929

452 . c TOU ARE BEING DRIVEN ’

Before leaving America Dinabandhu C. F. Andrews sent me
the following 1 from Re inhold Niebuhr’s pen appearing in the May
number of the Christian Century. The article is given in full
together with the original headlines to the paragraphs. I re¬
produce the article, as it shows in a practical manner the fallacy
of speed and over-production or rather production merely for the
sake of gain. If we have our ills, the Westerners have theirs no
less serious than ours. The moral that I would have the reader
to draw from the narrative is that we may not deal with our ills
by copying the doubtful methods of other peoples. We will have
patiently first to understand the causes of our ills and then equally
patiently to discover our own remedies and apply them with hope
and resolution.

Toung India , 3-10-1929

1 Not reproduced here

453. YOUTH ON TRIAL

It was a great and a wise step the All-India Congress Com¬
mittee took at Lucknow on 29th ultimo in electing Pandit Jawahar-
lal Nehru as the Congress helmsman for the coming year. No
man however great, be he even a Mahatma, is indispensable for
a nation conscious of itself and bent upon freedom. Even as the
whole is always greater than its part, the Congress which claims
to represent the nation is always greater than its greatest part.
To be a living organization it must survive its most distinguished
members. The All-India Congress Committee has by its deci¬
sion demonstrated that it believes in the inherent vitality of the
Congress.

Some fear in this transference of power from the old to the
young, the doom of the Congress. I do not. The doom was. to
be feared from the sceptre being held by paralytic hands as mine
are at present. I may take the reader into the secret that before
recommending Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s name for the burden, I
had ascertained from him whether he felt himself strong enough
to bear the weight. “If it is thrust upon me, I hope. I shall not
wince,” was the characteristic reply. In bravery he is not to be
surpassed. Who can excel him in the love of the country ? . He
is rash and impetuous,” say some. This quality is an additional
qualification at the present moment. And if he has the dash
and the rashness of a warrior, he has also the prudence of a states-
man. A lover of discipline, he has shown himself to be capable of
rigidly submitting to it even where it has seemed frksome. He is
undoubtedly an extremist thinking far ahead of his surroundings.
But he is humble and practical enough not to force the pace to
the breaking point. He is pure as the crystal, he is truthful
beyond suspicion. He is a knight sans pear sans nproeht. The

nation is safe in his hands.

But the youth are on their trial. This has been a year for
the youth’s awakening. Theirs undoubtedly was the largest con¬
tribution to the brilliant success of the Simon Commission boycott.
They may take the election of Jawaharlal Nehru as a tribute to
their service. But the youth may not rest on their laurels. They
have to march many more stages before the nation comes to its
own. Steam becomes a mighty power only when it allows itself
to be imprisoned in a strong little reservoir and produces tremen-

500 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

dous motion and carries huge weights by permitting itself a tiny
and measured outlet. Even so have the youth of the country of
their own free will to allow their inexhaustible energy to be im¬
prisoned, controlled and set free in strictly measured and required
quantities. This appointment of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru as the
captain is proof of the trust the nation reposes in its youth.
Jawaharlal alone can do little. The youth of the country must be
his arms and his eyes. Let them prove worthy of the trust.

Young India, 3-10-1929

454. MOTES
Credit Where Due

Correspondents have taken me to task for giving the Chief
of Bhopal a guarded compliment. 1 I would have been guilty of
discourtesy and what is more suppression of truth if I had not
paid it. Having accepted His Highness’s hospitality and having
noticed the remarkable simplicity of his abode, miscalled palace,
how could I claim to be true to my host and myself if I sup¬
pressed the fact when its mention had become relevant? I issued
no general certificate of merit. I had no evidence before me to
form an opinion about the general administration of Bhopal. I
had no time to study it even if I had wanted to. I therefore
possessed no qualifications for pronouncing any opinion. One
correspondent has sent me a copy of the note from among the
notes prepared by the Indian States Conference. I am unable to
base any opinion on that, nor would I be justified in publishing
it without first submitting it to the State authorities and ob tainin g
their version about the charges made in the note. But the paying
of the reserved compliment and the declaration of my general
belief about Indian States enable me to forward that note to His
Highness in full confidence that it will be carefully read by him
and even sympathetically considered.

Nagari Pracharini Sabha

The General Secretary, Nagari Pracharini Sabha, sends the
following notice for publication:

The Bharat Kala Parishad of Benares has handed over its entire art
collection of paintings, statues and other historical and literary exhibits

1 Vide p. 374.

DUTY OF THE UNITED PROVINCES

501

to the Nagari Pracharini Sabha of Benares. This valuable collection is
valued at more than a lakh of rupees, and the whole of the second storey
of the Sabha building erected at a cost of Rs. 25,000 has been given by
the Sabha for this Museum. It is requested that the members of the
Sabha and others interested in this work may help the Sabha by giving
or procuring articles of artistic or historical interest for this Museum. Per¬
sons who wish to lay down any conditions for the articles they send may
very gladly do so. Such conditions, if any, will be duly observed. It is
hoped that gentlemen interested in art, archaeology and literature will help
this work.

Before receiving this notice for publication I had seen the
commodious hall in which the Museum is to find an abiding place-
And I saw also the promising collection already installed there.
The appeal of the Sabha should receive a generous response from
all lovers of art.

Young India, 3-10-1929

455. DUTY OF THE UNITED PROVINCES

The reins of the Congress this year are in the hands of a
great U.P. leader. For the coming year too they will remain in
the hands of his youthful son. The responsibility of U.P. towards
India has therefore increased a great deal. I do not recollect any
leader having ever succeeded another from the same province as
President. Of course, this is not the first occasion where a son
succeeds his father. It is certainly a matter of great pride for
a province that a son is recognized during his father s lifetime as
fit to succeed his father as the leader of a great nation in the very

next year.

Secondly, U.P. is situated in the heart of India. A battle of
the campaign for India’s freedom has already been fought in U.P.
It is the arena of Pujya Malaviyaji’s services. It is in U.P. that the
Hindus’ most holy places are situated. And there are also numerous
relics of the Muslim emperors in the form of monuments. If the
people of such a province work hard and try their utmost there
should be no difficulty in realizing India’s ambition next year.

U.P. is the home of so many big landlords and talukdars ;
at the same time there is poverty too. Possibly the poverty in U.P.
is not worse than that in Utkal. Many areas have had famines
for three years consecutively. The people have neither work nor
money. They are starving. It can be true swaraj for them only

502 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

when they have regular work and can keep the wolf from the
door. If the young men of U.P. so wish, they can provide for the
people both work and wages by going to the villages and popular¬
izing the charkha. At the same time they can help boycott foreign
cloth. I have mentioned the charkha by way of example only.
What I want is that we should somehow destroy unemployment
and hunger among millions of our brethren and merge ourselves
completely in their service. So long as we think of them from a
distance only and do not go to them, and until we try to remove
their troubles after understanding them, one must know that we
shall have done little for them. Under these conditions swaraj will
remain a mere dream.

[From Hindi]

Hindi Navajivan , 3-10-1929

456. LETTER TO M. HINDHEDE

Camp Azamgarh,
October 5, 1929

dear friend,

I thank you for your letter and your pamphlets. 1 I am
sorry to have to inform you that my experiment having apparently
proved a failure I had to suspend it for a more auspicious occa¬
sion when I could have more leisure. I must confess that I have
not yet found the substitute for milk. I have been recommended
soya bean milk which I have not yet tried, soya bean not easily
procurable in India. I am trying, however, to procure it. There
is no difficulty about living healthily without milk but there is
considerable difficulty in becoming strong after having lost it by
protracted illness. Over forty companions tried unfired food with
me and the majority of them could not make it a success and
had to leave it.

Tours sincerely ,

M. Hindhede, Es£.

Ernaeringsundersogelser
Frederiksberg Alle 28
Kobenhavn V

From a photostat: S.N. 15197

1 The addressee had sent a few English pamphlets on diet. He advocated
eating vegetables and fruit but did not believe in taking milk,

457 . LETTER TO FREDERICK B . FISHER

Camp Azamgarh,
October 3, 1929

DEAR FRIEND,

I thank you for your letter of the 25th ultimo. In the papers
forwarded to me from Sabarmati I do not find the letter from the
Golden Rule Foundation 1 of New York referred to by you. But
I can guess the purport of that letter from your letter. As I am
dictating this, one tiring does occur to me, namely, the scarcity of
milk for Indian children. What American friends may do in giving
constructive help is not to send doles of charity but to send expert
knowledge in dairying, experts who are not exploiters in the dis¬
guise of philanthropists but true philanthropists who will give
knowledge for the sake of giving it and who will study the con¬
dition of India’s cattle and show us the way of improving our
cattle breed and the supply of milk from the existing cattle. This
idea, if it is entertained in a proper spirit, can be considerably
amplified.

Tours sincerely,

Frederick B. Fisher, Esq,.

Bishop’s Residence
Methodist Episcopal Church
3 Middleton Street, Calcutta

From a photostat: S.N. 15602

458. LETTER TO DR . H. W. 5. MORENO

Camp Azamgarh,
October 5, 1929

dear friend,

I have your letter. I do not know how to console you.
You sent me a report and you did not want me to hide my
thoughts. I could not serve you by so doing. Why is c half-boms’ 2
a most degrading epithet ? It has a well-known meaning and I

1 The Golden Rule Foundation which was being founded for child wel¬
fare throughout the world was the successor to Near Fast Relief Association.

2 Vide p. 331,

504 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

have seen it used in writings which are not intended to ridicule
the Anglo-Indians. Should I be wrong in stoutly resisting any
claim that may be put forth by anybody as by the ruling race?
This must be so of course because the claims put forth by the
ruling race are being resisted and are now in the melting pot. I
know that your birth is not a matter of your choice but the attempt
that is being made to conceal the birth is a matter for sorrow
even as an attempt made by Indians living in the colonies or in
Europe has appeared to me to be a matter for sorrow when they
have vainly tried to conceal their birth. Perhaps I am in much
closer touch with Anglo-Indians who do not even know the
name Anglo-Indian and who only know that their male parent
was a European who had deserted them and their mothers. Are
you sure that the leaders are “now prepared to throw in their
lot with the Indians” ? I know that such is your own personal
wish but such by no means is the opinion even of the majority
of leaders. You ask me in the last paragraph of your letter to
reproduce it in Young India. I shall gladly do so if you insist but
I would dissuade you from so insisting. Your letter lends itself to
much hostile criticism. The Anglo-Indian problem is far deeper
than you seem to imagine and it cannot be dealt with by mere
writing in the newspapers. It can be dealt with by enlightened
Anglo-Indians realizing the gravity of the position and stooping
to lift those who have neither a fair skin nor money to live up
to the dangerously artificial life that the leaders are living. I must
confess that I am not so much interested in the affairs of the
microscopic well-to-do minority of Anglo-Indians as I am in the
multitude that are living in a state of awful isolation neglected by
their own and despised by those who consider themselves to be
full-born.

Tours sincerely ,

Mr. Moreno, General President,

The Anglo-Indian League
2 Wellesley Square, Calcutta

From a photostat; S.N. 15631

459. LETTER TO AMINA QURESHI

Azamgarh,

October 3 > 1929

CHI. AMINA,

I was very glad to have your letter. The Gujarati is Qureshfs,
but that does not matter. I hope you are keeping good health
and that the young Begums are also in the best of spirits. Are
you going on with Urdu studies? What have you been reading?
Have you kept up the practice of writing regularly? If you have
given it up, resume it.

Tell Imamsaheb that Maulana Suleman Nadvi who lives
here, that is, at Azamgarh, took me to see Shibli ManziL There
are a number of Arabic and Urdu books in this Manzil which was
established to commemorate the late Maulana Shibli.

Blessings to you both from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 6655

460. LETTER TO BASANT KUMAR BIRLA

Azamgarh,
October 3y 1929

CHI. BASANT KUMAR 1 ,

I was most delighted to receive your letter and the yarn.
For you, the yarn is good enough. Here is my message: Having
made a start you must continue to spin in the spirit of yajna and
always remember Daridranarayana y i.e., our poverty-stricken breth¬
ren.

Blessings from

Mohandas

From Hindi: G f W. 6178. Courtesy: G. D. Birla

1 Son of G. D. Birla

461. LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL GANDHI

Gazipur,
October 3, 1929

CHI. CHHAGANLAL,

I have your letter. It is natural that you should feel worried
about Prabhudas. But instead of letting the worry grow, try to
overcome it. Prabhudas writes and tells me that he is more
worried about my worrying on account of you both than about his
fever. If it becomes clear that the plains will not suit him, we
will let him remain in Almora. There is work there too, and he
has already formed contacts there so that he will have no diffi¬
culty in staying on. It is likely, however, that by the time you
get this letter, Prabhudas himself will be with you. I hope that
he has no fever now.

I have written to Raghunath asking him to return there. I
have written to Umiya, Kusum and Vasumatibehn too. The
difficulty about slivers, therefore, will disappear. What have you
been doing during their absence ? I think that when you are
short of slivers there, you should even get them from the Ashram
and supply them. The reputation of a person or thing becomes
established when all people have the same experience of that
person or thing. I wish, therefore, that the work there may be
reduced in scope as much as you like but should be systemati¬
zed. At present you are getting work done with the help of who¬
ever is available to you. Instead of doing that, you should now
think what the minimum number is that you require, and arrange¬
ments should be made accordingly.

This must be fixed as a rule, that we should get slivers made
exclusively through the new volunteers who are being trained.
We shall then know who are capable of being trained. What will
it cost to send one maund of slivers from the Ashram ? Calculate
this. It is necessary to estimate the likely expenditure if the work
in Vijapur is organized into an institution. We shall consider
afterwards how much to add to the cost of the khadi produced
there.

I have two things in view: one, to provide work to the really
poor women there and, two, to run an ashram on an extremely
small scale but well organized. You are, however, the centre in
all this as Vinoba is in Wardha. Wardha has developed along

LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI

507

its own lines as planned, and Vijapur along a different line. We
went to Wardha of our own choice. To Vijapur we went by
chance. The latter is a memorial to Gangabehn and Rustomji
Sheth. As one of the oldest inmates of the Ashram, you seem to
have settled down there in peace. I would, therefore, be happy
if an independent weaving school could be run there as a branch
of the Ashram and following the rules of the Ashram. Think
about all this and write to me.

I have taken some time over this letter, and, therefore, I send
a copy of it to Chhaganlal Joshi so that he too may know my
views and make his suggestions. In any case remember that we
wish to buy up the plot there whenever we can get it.

Blessings from

Bapu

[From Gujarati]

Bapuna Patro-7: Shri Chkaganlal Joskine, pp. 148-50

462. LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI

Gazipur,

October 3, 1929

CHI. CHHAGANLAL,

I send with this a copy of the letter 1 I have written to
Chhaganlal. Write to me when you have the time, and let me
know the thoughts which occur to you on reading it. Discuss

the matter with others too.

There is nothing more to write about today. You do quite
right in giving me news about the illness of Rukmini 2 and others
you ought to give me such news. I hope by now no sign of the
illness is left. If the charts which were prepared are good, you
should get them printed.

I return with this Govindbabu’s letter. I have never been
satisfied with his work. But he has gone through much, works
to the best of his ability and is self-sacrificing. We should,^ there¬
fore, continue to send him money for the maintenance of his wife.
About other matters, you should write to him from time to time,
in the hope that it will have some effect. You should call tor
reports, etc., so that there may be some control on him. He does

1 Vide the preceding item.

2 Sir Raghavachari’s daughter

508

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

not seem to have much faith now in spinning but he goes on
doing the work as a matter of duty. In saying this, however I
may be doing him an injustice.

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 5450

Blessings from

Bapu

463. FRAGMENT OF LETTER TO MUNNALAL

October 3, 1929

The distinction which you make between the Udyoga Mandir
and the Satyagraha Ashram is not correct. The same men and
women who lived in the Satyagraha Ashram now live in the
Udyoga Mandir. But having realized their imperfection, they
adopted a more fitting name. Work in a spirit of self-sacrifice
by itself brings self-realization. The same is true about national
uplift work. If we are sincere workers in the cause of national
uplift, we shall naturally be working for our spiritual uplift.
“Servant of the country” is a more modest phrase than “workers
in the cause of national uplift”. Have no doubt, therefore, that
true service includes service of the country, of the atman and
of God.

[From Gujarati]

Bapuna Patro-7: Shri Chhaganlal Joshine , p. 151

464. ANSWER TO “THE ENGLISHMAN

[Before October 4, 1929 ] 1 2

Any such conference to attract me will have to be, like
Caesar’s wife, above suspicion.

The Bombay Chronicle, 5-10-1929

1 In reply to its “enquiry as to his attitude in the event of his being invited
to the Round Table Conference in London”

2 Released on this date by the Free Press of India from Calcutta

465. LETTER TO H. B. TEJUMAD

Camp Gorakhpore,

October 4, 1929

DEAR FRIEND,

1. It is necessary to pray because prayer is food for the soul

as food is for the body.

2. The body cannot live on prayer. For the body, honest
labour is prayer.

3. It is a misuse of God’s gift to use prayer for curing diseases.

4. It is a greater misuse to harness prayer for one’s promo¬
tion in life or such material comforts.

5. Prayer is most helpful in spiritual progress and for subduing
animal passions.

6. Harimma cannot be overpraised but Harimma in prayer
has its limits.

7. If the prayer of one is more quickly answered than that
of another it is a clear indication that the other lacks earnestness
to that extent.

Tours sincerely,

From a photostat: S.N. 15359

1 In reply to his letter dated September 29, 1929, which read: “Kindly
reply yourself for the satisfaction of my soul and each question may kindly be
separately answered: (1) Is it necessary to pray and why? (2) Gan a person live
on prayer alone, doing no work whatsoever for his livelihood, etc.? (3) My
son has recently got a chorneal opacity of one eye as a result of small-pox.
All surgeons and doctors opine that he will be per m a n ently blind. Gan it be
corrected by prayer? (4) I am a doctor in Barrage on temporary list and there
is no chance of becoming permanent. Gan I, by prayer, become permanent,
and rise in position, pay, comforts and happiness to my heart’s satisfaction?

(5) Is prayer helpful in spiritual progress and in subduing the animal passions?

(6) There is too much praise of Harimma in our religious scriptures, so much
so that one who concentrates on Harimma , has no more to do for this world
and the next. All that he needs, will he get by Harimma ? What is your opinion ?

(7) Why the prayer of one soul is quickly answered and that of another not heard

at all? What is the reason?” (S.N. 15358)

466. LETTER TO HARISH CHANDRA DAS

Camp Gorakhpore,

October 4, 1929

DEAR FRIEND,

I have your letter. You can certainly serve the country while
studying and that is by doing constructive work and rendering
other social service. You can spin for at least one hour daily
with your whole heart in it in the name of the starving millions.
You can also pass your vacation going to the villages and serv¬
ing them by doing sanitary work. There are many other things
that will suggest themselves to you.

Yours sincerely ,

Master Harish Chandra Das
P.O. Baripada
Mayurbhanj State

From a microfilm: S.N. 15608

457. LETTER TO PRATAP S. PANDIT

Camp Gorakhpore,

October 4, 1929

DEAR PRATAP,

Giri Raj continues to write to me about his doings but I
would like you to tell me about his progress either through your
own observation or your foreman. You can hand the letter to
Giri Raj for despatch or get my address from him.

Tours sincerely 9

From a microfilm: S.N. 15616

468. LETTER TO GIRI RAJ*

Gamp Gorakhpore,

October 4, 1929

MY DEAR GIRI RAJ,

I have your letter. I am glad you have taken long boots to
protect your legs. I hope you have now thoroughly recovered.

You must keep your health.

Dead cattle hide is certainly enough for our wants. Have I
told you that we are exporting nine crores worth of dead cattle
hide out of India ? You must remember that millions in India go
barefooted. Sir Nalini Ranjan Sarkar told me that the reason
why many tanneries have failed was because the leather want was
limited in this country. Anyway I did not expect you to raise
such an academic question because it is exactly on such academic
questions that many of the evils in the world are sustained, as
for instance meat-eaters justify meat-eating on the plea that the
earth will be overrun by the animals they ate if they became
vegetarians. Birth-control people justify birth-control on the ground
among others that there would be over-population if there was no
artificial control. Even war has been justified on the ground that
without it we should perish of pestilence and disease. Celibacy is
condemned for one reason among the others that the earth will
cease if all became celibates. Does it not stride you that it will
be time enough to consider the question when we have absorbed
nine crores worth of dead cattle hide? I am writing to Pratap
Pandit and enclosing the letter with this. Your argument about
machinery is not happily worded. Surely we can run a tannery
both for the instruction of villagers and for supplying the wants
of those who need foot-wear made out of dead-cattle hide. The
main consideration about machinery is that it should not displace the
labour of those who cannot otherwise be employed. You will find
that this one argument answers all objections. We do not want to
displace hand processes. We want to cultivate hand processes to
perfection but where it is found to be absolutely necessary let us
not hesitate to introduce machinery. Do you know that some
of the most delicate life-saving appliances would have been im¬
possible without the aid of some machinery? After all the simple

l in reply to his Hindi letter (S.N. 15612) dated September 28, 1929

512

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

charkha is also a machine. What we must dread is huge machi¬
nery run not by hand but by non-human power such as steam, elec¬
tricity, etc. But even this need not be tabooed. If this is not still
clear to you you must continue to challenge my arguments.

Tours sincerely,

Sjt. Gnu Raj

Suraj Mal Onkar Mal’s Ghawl
Matunga

From a photostat: S.N. 15613

469. LETTER TO SATIS CHANDRA MUKHERJI

Camp Gorakhpore,

October 4 , 1929

DEAR SATIS CHANDRA,

I enclose herewith for your information copy of a letter
written to Satis Babu of Khadi Pratishthan. I thought that I
ought not to withhold the contents of that letter from you al¬
though they might be painful to you but I would like you not
to be pained but take a detached view.

Tours sincerely,

Enclosure 1

From, a microfilm: S.N. 15630

470. LETTER TO MADHAVJI V. THAKKAR

Gorakhpore,

October 4, 1929

CHI. MADHAVJI,

I have your letter. Before I can guide you in regard to your
business, it is necessary for me to see you both at leisure. What
have your brothers to say in the matter ? If you have not resum¬
ed work for the present, how do you pass your time ? I should
like to ask you several such questions. As you cannot explain the
position clearly in letters, nor can I understand it well if so ex¬
plained, I should like you, if you are not in any hurry, to see me
at some place where I may have leisure. According to the pro¬
gramme, I am at Gorakhpur for four days; but barring Monday,

•m T ,

■i

moreover, there is bound to be some local problems d
my attention. I have therefore decided not to call you t<
pur, and hence I am sending you no telegram. I will de«
we shall meet after getting your reply to this letter, wh
reach you on Sunday morning. Your present diet is

because of your bringing out sputum occasionally. If you put ten
to twenty grains of soda bicarb into the butter-milk or curds
before taking it, the acidity will have disappeared completely. I
take curds daily, but I regularly mix soda bicarb with them. There
will be effervescence when you stir the curds after mixing soda;
you should know then that the acid has turned into carbon dioxide
gas and that the acidity has completely disappeared. If you
keep up your strength, be in no hurry to start solid food. You
should not mind the expenditure on food.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 6793

47L LETTER TO MANUAL AND SUSHILA GANDHI

Gu.,

October 5, 1929 1

CHI. MANILAL AND SUSHILA,

I have your letters, as also Sita’s photograph. It is a fine
one. I hope you do not dress her in too many clothes and render

her delicate.

I believe that the prevailing ill will between Hindus and Mus¬
lims is for the present unavoidable. Its remedy lies in patience
and in passage of time. Go on doing whatever service you can
and take offence at nothing. Bear with any opposition that people
may offer. You should not lose heart or get tired because of per¬
sistent opposition. I certainly wish that you are not forced to run
away from there in despair. But remember that the right course
would be to judge your own strength and act accordingly, rather

l Gandhiji undertook an extensive tour of U.P. in 1929. The single
letter available in the photostat is “Gu” which obviously stands for some obs¬
cure place in U.P. Gandhiji was in Gorakhpore on October 5, 1929.

41-33

514 the collected works OF MAHATMA GANDHI

than bow to ray wishes. I am dictating this letter at a village in
U.P. Probably I wrote to you earlier that Devdas had joined me at
Kashi and is still with me.

So far I have been able to live on milk, curds and fruit. They
seem to have agreed with me well enough. All are in good health.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 4761

472. LETTER TO KASHINATH

On Way to Gorakhpore,

Saturday night, October 5, 1929

BHAI KASHINATH,

As most of the accompanying note had to be written in the
train, I could write it only in pencil. It is based on the article
on tea sent by you. Send me any questions which may arise in your
mind after reading it, so that if I think it necessary I may write
further. I have not still been able to read the article on butter.
About that, next time.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 5240

473. TELEGRAM TO H. T. SILCOCK 1

G/o G. W. Maw
Friends Mission
Itarsi, C.P.

[After October 5, 1929 ]

YOUR LETTER. TWENTY-SEVENTH OCTOBER FIRST

NOVEMBER MEERUT DISTRICT SECOND DELHI THIRD
BULANDSHAHR FOURTH FIFTH ALIGARH SIXTH MUTRA
SEVENTH BRINDABAN. COULD YOU COME

MUSSOORIE BETWEEN SEVENTEENTH TWENTY-FOURTH INS-

TANT?

Gandhi

From a photostat: S.N. 15247
* In reply to his letter dated October 5, 1929

474. ACADEMIC v. PRACTICAL 1
A student writes:

Very often you give replies to your critics which are quite correct
in the academic sense \ they give a sort of temporary satisfaction to fhe
mind but in actual practice leave the riddle as unsolved as ever. Take
for instance your saying, “Only a coward fights on the strength of
numbers. It is all right in the abstract. It does for the time being bring
one a sort of mental reassurance, but of what avail is it in actual practice ?
You preach your gospel of soul-force to all and sundry. But do you think
that there is any chance of your utopian advice being seriously taken by
those who have not faith even in the spinning-wheel and khadi? Won’t
your preaching be, like pouring water over a duck’s neck, utterly futile ?**

I certainly hope that my advice about soul-force Is not alto¬
gether wasted though it might seem unavailing for the time being.
As an English proverb says, “Constant dropping will wear away a
stone. 53 And it is my faith that what seems utopian to the corres¬
pondent today will be regarded as practical tomorrow. History
is replete with such instances. If the word ‘soul-force 5 appears a
meaningless term to our students today, it only shows to what an
abject plight we are reduced. For is it not most tragic that things
of the spirit, eternal verities, should be regarded as utopian by our
youth, and transitory makeshifts alone appeal to them as practical?

We have an ocular demonstration of the futility of mere
numbers before us every day. What stronger proof of the propo¬
sition can be needed than that a nation of three hundred million
Indians is today being ruled by less than one lakh Englishmen?
The very sight of a lion puts to flight a thousand sheep. The reason
is plain. The sheep are aware of their weakness, the lion of its
strength. And the consciousness of strength in the latter over¬
powers the numerical strength of the former. By analogy may we
not deduce that ‘soul-force 3 or ‘spirit force 3 may not after all be
a mere chimera or figment of imagination but a substantial rea¬
lity?

I do not wish to disparage the strength of numbers. It has its
use but only when it is backed by the latent spirit force. Millions
of ants can kill an elephant by together attacking it in a vul-

1 The Gujarati original of this appeared in Nwoajioan, 6-10-1929. This is a
translation by Pyarelal.

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

516

nerable place. Their sense of solidarity, consciousness of oneness of
spirit in spite of the diversity of bodies, in other words, their spirit
force, makes the ants irresistible. Even so the moment we develop
a sense of mass unity like the ants, we too shall become irresistible
and shall free ourselves from our chains.

It is my firm faith that the students of our national schools, a
mere handful though they may be, if they are inspired by a real
spirit of sacrifice and service and a living faith in their ideals, will
stand the country in far greater stead than all the students in
Government educational institutions put together. -That quality is
more than quantity is sound theory because it is true in practice.
Indeed I hold that what cannot be proved in practice cannot be
sound in theory.

When Galileo declared that the earth was round like a ball
and turned on its axis, he was ridiculed as a visionary and a dream¬
er and was greeted with abuse. But today we know that Galileo
was right, and it was his opponents, who believed the earth to be
stationary and flat like a dish, that were living in the cloudland of
their ignorance.

Modern education tends to turn our eyes away from the spirit.
The possibilities of the spirit force or soul-force therefore do not
appeal to us, and our eyes are consequently riveted on the evanes¬
cent, transitory, material force. Surely this is the very limit of
dull unimaginativeness.

But I live in hope and patience. I have an unshakable faith
in the correctness of my proposition, a faith that is based on my
and my companions’ experience. And every student, if only he
has got the faculty of patient, dispassionate research, can experi¬
mentally prove this for himself:

1. That mere numbers are useless.

2. That all force other than soul-force is transitory and vain.

It goes without saying, that if the above propositions are cor¬
rect, it should be the constant endeavour of every student to arm
himself with this matchless weapon of spirit force by dint of self-
discipline and self-purification.

Young India, 14-11-1929

475 . CONCERNING GOD

A friend writes: 1

This problem confronts many people; hence I should like to
discuss it here a little. As the friend has observed, there may be
weakness in my writing, but I am not aware of it. I have of
course written what I have learnt from experience. But the expe¬
rience is indescribable. I can give you only a glimpse of it and that
can only be done in ordinary language. How can one compare
divine intervention with human intervention ? God and His
laws are not disparate. Neither karma nor God spares anyone.
Both are the same thing. One thought makes us cruel, another
makes us humble. In this world an extraordinary sentient
power is at work and we recognize it by whatever name we wish.
But it does intervene daily in all our tasks. Every one of our
thoughts is karma, which has its fruit. The fruit is subject to divine
law. Hence either God or His law does intervene in all our actions
whether or not we are conscious of it or acknowledge it.

Nothing is accidental in this world. What happens is subject
to law. Only our ignorance is so great that we are not aware of
its working. How can I construe it as an accident if a snake passes
by me and still does not bite me ? Why should not I regard it as
God’s grace ? Or why should I not look upon it as due to my
religious merit ? The sting of pride born of religious merit is more
poisonous than a snake-bite. Pride melts away in the presence of
divine grace.

As there is an article 2 about faith in this very issue, I do not
repeat it here. I have no use for blind faith. I put my intelligence
to work where I see a palpably worldly reason. But when the in¬
telligence tires out, I push faith to the fore and attach little im¬
portance to accidents.

1 The letter is not translated here. It had referred to Gandhiji’s following
statement in An Autobiography , Pt. V, Ch. XXI:

“The rule of not killing venomous reptiles has been practised for the most
part at Phoenix, Tolstoy Farm and Sabarmati. At each of these places we had
to settle on waste lands. We have had, however, no loss of life occasioned by
snake-bite. I see, with the eye of faith, in this circumstance the hand of die
God of Mercy. Let no one cavil at this, saying that God can never Impartial,
and that He has no time to meddle with the humdrum affairs of men,

2 Vide pp. 435-6.

518 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

But I cannot kindle faith in God by rational argument. I
have tried here a little logic. It is good if there is someone to
whom this argument appeals. I cannot impart to others faith in
God through my writings. I must admit that my experience
is of use only to me. A doubting heart must seek the company
of the good. Its quest constitutes an endeavour worthy of man-
even though it might not succeed.

[From Gujarati]

Navajivan , 6-10-1929

476. WHAT DOES KHADI MEAN?

A twelve-year-old boy writes: 1

There is nothing new in this use. Even if there is a coarse
mill-made dhoti and one wants to put it to such use, that can be
done. But the significance of the above statement is that mostly
one gets such ideas only after donning khadi. Khadi sets us
thinking about the poor people and thereby we use it carefully.
Moreover, it is a matter of surprise that a youth of twelve years
has imbibed such sense of thrift. Such fine results have been
experienced by many families on account of khadi activity. May
the other youths also emulate the example of this youngster. The
reader should know that from the financial condition of this
young man’s family, there is no need for him to be thus economi¬
cal. But when the whole of India is looked upon as a family, it is
necessary even for a millionaire’s son to be economical and to uti¬
lize the money thus saved for his poor brethren, the other children
of Mother India.

[From Gujarati]

Navajivan , 6-10-1929

1 The letter is not translated here. The correspondent had used a dhoti
for a year and then out of the torn garment he had made six handkerchiefs,
one of which had been sent to an exhibition in order to show how worn and
torn clothes could be turned to good use.

477. LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI

Gorakhpore,

October 6 , 1929

CHI. CHHAGANLAL,

I have your letter. As I have not become the President my
responsibility for doing something in January—according to my
nature and to the teaching of the Gita —has doubled now, in the
same way that the responsibility of a voluntary worker is greater
than that of a person who works for money. To put this in the
language of the Gita, there is a possibility of attachment in work
done with a crown on one’s head, whereas work done without
such a crown is more likely to be free from attachment.

And if my responsibility has increased, that of the inmates of
the Ashram also increases. If the country is able to do nothing
and if I see the fitness of the Ashram inmates, something can cer¬
tainly be done through them. None of you, therefore, has any
reason to despair or to be complacent. This, of course, does not
mean that I have now a plan of action. That will come when God

inspires it. My life is ruled by faith.

You can read this at prayer time. It may be read at the time
of the morning prayer, not at the time of the evening prayer.
About other matters, I shall see what I can write with all this

pressure for time on me.

At 5.45.

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 5451

Blessings from

Bapu

478. LETTER TO BRIJKRISHNA CHAMDIWALA

Gorakhpore,

October d, 1929

CHI. BRIJKRISHNA,

Your letter to hand. As your mother takes no service from
you, I do not feel you have a duty to go to Delhi. I can under¬
stand that your duty might consist in staying on at the Ashram
or Vijapur because by living at either of these places you can
prepare yourself for the future as also build up your health. But
you must not go by what I feel. Follow the dictates of your con¬
science. If you cancel the trip to Delhi I would advise you to
proceed to Vijapur which, as you have found, suits your health
better. Therefore it is preferable to stay there for the time being.
Raghunathji, Govindji and others are well versed in carding.
They will certainly teach you something of it. The gaps in your
training there can be filled up at the Ashram, Most of it you
will learn by practice and as you gain strength you will gradually
find it more interesting. I would not dare to introduce any changes
from here.

Blessings from

Bapu

[PS.]

Now you have learnt enough by experience to know what
food you should take or avoid.

My health is good. The same diet is continuing. The frequency
of meals and the quantity of milk have been reduced. Instead of

four I am taking three lb. of milk and curds,

From a photostat of the Hindi: G.N. 2366

479. LETTER TO ASHRAM BOYS AND GIRLS

Silence Day, October 7, 1929

BOYS AND GIRLS,

I have no letter from you. I sometimes wonder who from
among you can accompany me on my tours. The only under¬
lying idea is that boy and girl students should get better trained
for service. From that point of view, some things appear essential
to me:

1. According to his or her present idea, the candidate intends
to dedicate his or her life to service.

2. He or she is an expert in spinning, can card, gin, spin as
fine yarn as we want, can repair implements, recognize the varie¬
ties of cotton, test the quality of yarn and calculate its count, etc.

3. He or she has a good handwriting and can write fast.

4. He or she has most of the bhajans by heart and can sing
them.

5. He or she prefers and observes self-control in food and
drink, and is ready to observe it at any place where he or she
may go.

You can add other points besides these. You and the teachers
should think over this matter.

I would be surprised if you were taken aback by these condi¬
tions. I know that we have not remained as vigilant as we should
have. What I have put forward here should be a common thing
for most of you. It should not be found that any boy or girl student
between 12 and 15 does not know the Gita by heart. If he or she
learns one verse every day, the whole of the Gita will have been
learnt by heart in two years. Drop by drop fills the lake.

Blessings from

Bapu

[From Gujarati]

Bapuna Patro-7: Shri Chhaganlal Joshine, pp. 152-3

480 . LETTER TO ASHRAM WOMEN

Gorakhpore,
[October 7, 1929 ]*

SISTERS,

I am reminded of you on so many occasions. As I see
women and observe their condition in the course of my tours, I
think of the tasks before you and realize that real education is of the
heart. If pure love springs in it, everything else will be added.
The field of service is unlimited. Our capacity for service can also
be made boundless, for there is no limit to the strength of the soul.
If but the doors of one’s heart have opened, it can contain every¬
thing. Even a little work done by such a person will shine out.
On the contrary, he whose heart is sealed may do much work,
but it will get little appreciation. This is the significance of the
story of Vidura’s offering of bhaji and Duryodhana’s of fruit.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 3704

481. LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI

Gorakhpore,
Silence Day , October 7 , 1929

CHI. CHHAGANLAL,

I have your letter. I enclose with this Ghhaganlal Gandhis.
The suggestion that if anyone from Mansa offers to come and
learn [carding] he should be taken in, seems all right to me.

I return the telegrams sent by you. I have thrown into the
waste-paper basket the heap of other telegrams which came here
straight.

The locusts have done much damage here too. We shall know
now what the result there has been.

My free time today is over, and so I shall write no more.

Blessings from

Bapu

1 From Bapuna Patro-1: Ashramni Behnone 3 p. 68

TELEGRAM TO SHANKERLAL BANKER

523

[PS.]

Today’s post arrived after this was written. I am surprised
to read about the pain which Kaki suffered. How did it come

on all of a sudden? I am also likely to hear from Kaka.

It cannot be said that your weight has increased. It would
be good if you could go out. You should certainly not allow
your health to waste away.

If Jayanti meets me in Hardwar, it will be all right. But you
should now have the whole programme with you. He may see
it and select any place from it which suits him. However, 14-15
at Hard war seems convenient. Before that, I have to visit small
villages.

I had a letter from Narandas. You should win over a man
like him. I am simply in love with his straightforwardness,
purity and frankness. We, that is, chiefly you, ought to be able to
use his services fully. This, however, is my view and my wish. What
matters is your view and your wish.

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 5466

482 . TELEGRAM TO SHANKERLAL BANKER

’October 8 3 1929 } 1

Banker
Major Office
Ahmedabad

MANGALDAS’S STATEMENT FOR UMPIRE
FROM HIM COPY AND WIRE IF
HANDS SPECIAL REPLY. I DON’T
ELABORATE REFUTATION.

RECEIVED. GET

anything be¬
think requires

O'AND HI

From a microfilm; S.N. 15516

* • » *

1 As in the S.N. register

483 . TELEGRAM TO MANGALDAS GIRDHARDAS

[October 5, 1929] {

Sheth Mangaldas Girdhardas
Ahmedabad

RECEIVED STATEMENT FOR UMPIRE. PLEASE GIVE

COPY MAJUR OFFICE IF NOT ALREADY SENT EN¬
ABLE ME GET THEIR STATEMENT IF ANY. HOPE

YOU ARE WELL.

Gandhi

From a micro film: S.N. 15516

484 . LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI

Gorakhpore,
October <9, 1929

CHI. CHHAGANLAL,

I send with this Ayodhyaprasad’s letter to me and a copy of
my reply to him. Go through both. I do not follow what he
wants to say. I do not understand what he says about Mathura-
das either. Nor do I understand what his complaint is. Write to
me and explain if you know what it is.

I have gone through Ranchhodbhai’s speech. I found in it
nothing worth reproducing. I went through Parnerkar’s speech
too. It does not give an account of the progress made by the
goshala, but explains what needs to be done. It is not necessary
to print the speech. A report of this kind should give figures of the
increase in the yield of the cow’s milk, the fodder consumed, the
cow’s weight, the percentage of fat in milk, the average price of the
cows, the expenditure on maintaining crippled and infirm cattle
and that on maintaining milch cows only, the profit earned from
castrated bulls and the expenditure involved in not castrating the
bulls, a comparison of the prison [sic] cows and the kankareji and
other cows in Gujarat, a comparison of the cows in Gujarat with
cows in Hissar, a comparison of cows with buffaloes, etc. A report
containing such information would be of great value. We ought
to have such a report with us, for we have now started a school and

1 As in the S.N. register

train students, and also intend to institute certificates in this field
as we have in khadi work. We wish ultimately even to award
degrees. We ought, therefore, to have a report of the kind I have
set out. We see some reports of this kind which have been
published as books and become famous. Ours is an unexplored field
so that all our reports can be of that kind. I expect such reports
from our workers. Show this letter to Parnerkar and Valji.
Surendra, too, may read it.

Were necessary reforms carried out at the time of the Exhibi¬
tion? Are the dung and urine of the cattle fully utilized? Has the
uncleanliness to which I had drawn attention been removed now?

I heard a startling thing in Agra. Whereas the hide of one
of our cows weighs about 20 lb., that of a cow in Europe weighs
about 80 lb. I believed till now that we supplied to the whole
world hide for the soles and heels of shoes. I discovered in Agra
that in Europe they always make the soles and heels from the hide
of cows and bulls, and that their hide is stronger than even the
hide of our buffaloes. There may be some exaggeration in this,
but all this is interesting information.

I have not yet read Surendra’s report fully. I shall also let
you know the thoughts which occur to me after I have read it.

I return with this Parnerkar 5 s report.

I dictated the paragraphs above at half past five in the morn¬
ing in Gorakhpur. I am dictating what follows in Basti. I got
the post sent to this address.

We cannot give to Prabhashankar the bungalow reserved for
the doctor, for the latter may now arrive any day. Moreover,
Ratilal and Prabhashankar are at present on extremely un¬
happy terms with each other. The latter has harassed even Dr.
Mehta a good deal. He cannot, therefore, be lodged in the doc¬
tors bungalow. If there were a vacant room in the Ashram, we
would have certainly offered it to him. Write to him, therefore,
and tell him that apart from Dr. Mehta 5 s bungalow there is nothing
else in the Ashram and that a part of the bungalow is occupied
by Manilal Kothari, and the ground floor, which is vacant, was
especially got vacated for Dr. Mehta; add further that all the rooms
in the Ashram are occupied.

My certificate to Budhabhai is not to be treated as gospel
truth. I can state only the impression which I have formed from a
distance; if I imagined anything contrary to that impression ^ or
refused to state, when the occasion demanded, what my impression

was, that would be a blot on my vow of truth. Hence, the certi¬
ficate I gave was the only one I could give though in point ot tact

526

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

it might be understood. I think you should attach more weight to
what Harihar and others, who have come into contact with him
may have to say. If, therefore, you meet Budhabhai, tell him only
what you think right and feel no hesitation in doing so. You will
thereby have done your duty as a friend and served Budhabhai’s
true interests. If he has beaten his wife, he has of course committed
a sin. He has no right at all to beat her. If he does not speak
with her, that also is difficult to understand, though of course
sometimes this can be a form of satyagraha.

I understand what you say about Madhavlal. I have no letter
from him. Ordinarily, we can say that we cannot give him money
for his wife. Madhavlal is slow of understanding, and so we should
take no offence at what he says. If we can tolerate his dullness, he
may even become intelligent. Take him into confidence and
have a talk with him when he is alone. Tell him all that you
think. Having taken him in and let him stay for so long, we
cannot abandon him. He seems to be sincere, and so he cannot
but be of some use. We should find out in what way he can be
used.

It is necessary to take the advice of an experienced engineer
about how to change the course of the river. Such an engineer
can suggest some practical means.

Fever seems to have claimed many victims and harassed them
a good deal.

Blessings from
Bapu

[PS.]

I have not revised this.

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 5452

485. LETTER TO VALJI G. DESAI

Gorakhpore,
October 8 , 1929

BHAISHRI VALJI,

I am enclosing Bhai Nagindas’s letter and his article. He
desires the article to be published as a Supplement to Young India .
Though its basic idea is true and the figures, etc., given in it are
valuable, the article has not been written so as to be readily
understood by the man in the street. I believe it can be very much
abridged. If you can find the necessary time, you may make out

LETTER TO PURUSHOTTAMDAS THAKURDAS

527

of it a new article, short and pointed. If that is not possible, for
want of time or for any other reason, you may return both.

Blessings from

Bapu

[PS.]

I have not revised this.

From a photostat of the Gujarati; G.W. 7402. Courtesy: Valji G. Desai

486, LETTER TO PURUSHOTTAMDAS THAKURDAS

Gorakhpore,

October 8, 1929

bhaishri,

You are aware of Bhai Jagjivandas’s efforts in connection with
milk supply to Bombay and about the B.B.C.I. rates for carrying
milk and its containers. From what he writes it appears as if the
officers are merely arrogant in not acceding to his request, but I
hesitate to believe this. Bhai Jagjivandas says that you are aware
of the problem and in a position to do something about it. If
you can give me some news about it, please do so.

What about salt? I have not yet been able to write about
it myself; but I have been revolving it in my mind. I have
looked through the old speech of Pennington. I got nothing out
of it. Please send me better literature if you know of any. I
shall be in Hardwar on the 14th and the 15th.

Vandmataram from
Mohandas

[From Gujarati]

Purushottamdas Thakurdas Papers, File No. 84/1929. Courtesy: Nehru
Memorial Museum and Library

487. LETTER TO BHUPENDRA NATH BANERJEE 1

Camp Basti,

October 8, 1929

DEAR FRIEND,

I have your letter for which I thank you. I have preferred to
observe silence over the self-immolation of Jatindra Nath Das be¬
cause I feel that by writing on it I would have done more harm
to the country’s cause than good. There are many things on this
earth on which I hold decided opinions but I retain those opinions
to myself when I think that expression of those opinions can serve
no useful purpose.

Tours sincerely,

Sjt. Bhupendra Nath Banerjee
3-1 Lansdowne Lane
Kalighat, Calcutta

From a microfilm: S.N. 15598

488. LETTER TO BHUPENDRA NATH GHOSH

Camp Basti,

October <9, 1929

dear friend,

I thank you for your letter. If you will look up the articles
I have written in Toung India about fasting and hunger-strikes
you will discover that so far as my silence is required by anybody
it is to be found there. I have preferred to be silent over Jatindra
Nath Das’s self-immolation because any expression of my opinion
at this juncture is likely to do more harm than good to the coun¬
try’s cause.

Tours sincerely,

Sjt. Bhupendra Nath Ghosh
9/1/A Nandaram Sen Street
P.O. Hatkhola, Calcutta

From a microfilm: S.N, 15598-a

1 In reply to his letter (S.N. 15597) dated September 25, 1929

489. LETTER TO GIRI RAJ

Camp Basti,
October 8, 1929

MY DEAR GIRI RAJ,

I have your letter. I fear you may not go to the V. G. Insti¬
tute. If Prof. Chhaya would give you private tuition and if you
want it you may take it. But really speaking you ought to be
able to do all this by self-study. This condition of helplessness
that we find around us must be got over. You have had sufficient
training to enable you to prosecute further studies in practically
any branch without the help of any instructor. The use of a labo¬
ratory may be necessary. That can be easily arranged but I would
like you not to be in a hurry. The first thing Is to become a practi¬
cal tanner. When you have done that you will find the theory
to be much easier to grasp and a previous knowledge of practice
would help you m checking wrong deductions from theory. I know
of, many who possess full theoretical knowledge of tanning, who
cannot tan a single hide. I would, therefore, like you to concentrate
your attention just now upon becoming a perfect practical tanner,
even to hold his own against the village tanner. You will find this
to be no light task and you will remember that village tanners
have no knowledge of chemistry. The modern system of education
has made everything so difficult and therefore so inaccessible to
the vast majority of people. Our business is to reverse the process.

From a microfilm: S.N. 15615

490 . LETTER TO JAIRAMDAS DOULATRAM

Gamp Basti,
October 8 S 1929

MY DEAR JAIRAMDAS,

Jamshedji Mehta has written to me two letters giving me
chapter and verse that his Committee is in no way official except
that it has an official nominally [as] its president who was elected
at a public meeting and not officially imposed. He tells me also
that the whole responsibility is entrusted to the Executive Com¬
mittee. Kripalani who paid a flying visit to Hyderabad recently
confirms this. I therefore propose to lift the embargo on the Guja-

41-34

rjgQ THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

rat money held by Malkani but I am awaiting his letter. If mean¬
while you have to say anything to me please write or telegraph.
Here is a copy of my programme. I can understand your diffi¬
culty about domestic affairs. You shall certainly attend to them
but it is too early to say how things will shape themselves in
December and January. We shall of course meet before then when
we shall be able to discuss the programme for the next year. You
will give me your impressions of your tour in Karnatak as also

in Gujarat.

Tours sincerely,

Enclosure: Programme
Sjt. Jairamdas Doulatram

Congress House, 4*14 Girgaum Back Road, Bombay
From a microfilm: S.N. 15637

491. LETTER TO 0. B . DE SILVA 1

Camp Basti,

October 8, 1929

DEAR FRIEND,

I have your letter for which I thank you. You have an ex¬
pert in Ceylon itself trained at the Ashram and in charge of
sp inni ng work. His name and address are as follows.

Jaivardhan Jairamdas
59 Wellam Pitya, Colombo

With reference to the Labour Conference any Asiatic organi¬
zation can be represented at the Conference. I am sure you have
only to apply. If there is any difficulty you will please let me know.

Tours sincerely ,

Mr. O. B. de Silva
“Latjriston”

Mutwal

Colombo (Ceylon)

From a photostat: S.N. 15202

1 In reply to his letter (S.N. 15201) dated September 20, 1929, which read:
“You must be aware that the charkha has no vogue here. ■ . . But unemploy¬
ment and a financial breakdown have given a nasty shock to our habitual
complacency. . . . There is only one cotton-mill here, and the field for a
charkha programme is ready to be worked. When we have arranged the
finance could you give us for even one month a helper from your Ashram?

492. LETTER TO GANG A NATH JHA 2

Camp Basti,
October 8, 1929

DEAR FRIEND,

I thank you for your invitation to address the students of
your University during my forthcoming visit to Allahabad. I note
that you will arrange the exact date and time with Pt. Jawaharlal
Nehru.

Tours sincerely.

The Vice-Chancellor
Allahabad University
Senate House, Allahabad

From a photostat: S.N. 15627

493. LETTER TO J. C. KUMARAPPA

Camp Basti,
October 8, 1929

MY DEAR KUMARAPPA,

You will please forgive me for not acknowledging at once
your very full, frank and exhaustive letter. Continuous travelling
has prevented an earlier acknowledgment. What led you to
infer that I had already formed an opinion? I consider your letter
to be so good that I have taken the opportunity of sending it to
Miss Evelyn Gedge and I have suggested to her that she should
write to you directly. I appreciate all that you have said in your
letter. I hope you are getting on well there and keeping good

health. „ .

Tours sincerely,

Sjt. Kumarappa
Vidyapith, Ahmedabad

From a photostat: S.N. 15636

There is further an Asiatic Labour Conference being held in Bombay. Ceylon
is left out. Could you not use your influence to discover why? ... I know you

will help us.”

2 In reply to his letter (S.N. 15626) dated October 2, 1929, Gandhiji
addressed the students on the morning of November 17,1929.

494. LETTER TO K. A. FITTER i

Camp Basti,

October 8, 1929

DEAR FRIEND,

I thank you for your letter. The books 1 2 you mention have
been received at the Ashram. I am not likely to reach the
Ashram before the end of November. I am not therefore sure when
I shall get the time to see the books. I may, however, mention to
you that Navqjioan is not a review paper at all.

Tours sincerely ,

K. A. Fitter, Esq,.

Secretary, the Iran League
Hornby Road, Fort, Bombay

From a microfilm: S.N. 15246

495. LETTER TO ASA SINGH 3 *

Gamp Basti,

October 8, 1929

DEAR FRIEND,

If you send your invention to the Secretary, Spinners’ Asso¬
ciation for inspection your invention would be secretly guarded from
being copied. But it is open to you to patent your invention
before showing it to anybody and if you will patent it, it does not

1 In reply to his letter (S.N. 15245) dated September 23, 1929

2 A set of Avestana Jamhiro written by F. K. Dadachanji. They were
comparative studies in religions, throwing a new light on the Zoroastrian and
other religions. The addressee wished to have them reviewed in Mavajivan .

3 In reply to his letter dated September 24, 1929, which read: “According
to your advertisement about a spinning-wheel that you may spin 16,000 yards
per day of 8 hours, etc., I have designed one which is quite agreeable to the
requirements desired. It will spin 6 times more than the present one which I
understand spins from 2,500 to 3,000 yards per day of 8 hours. May I know

the procedure I should adopt for keeping the invention secret in submitting it

to the Spinners’ Association? I am afraid of its being copied by someone if I
apply for a patent’ 5 (S.N. 15356).

LETTER TO RAEHANA TYABJI 533

matter who copies it because it cannot be used commercially by
anybody else.

Tatars sincerely,

Asa Singh, Esq.

G/o the Commercial Book Co.

Brandreth Road, Lahore

From a microfilm: S.N. 15357

496. LETTER TO BRIJKRISHNA CHAND1WALA

Bash,

October 5, 1929

CHI. BRIJKRISHNA,

Your letter.

You should not have this recurring fever. I think you should
go to Vijapur and help as much as you can but never at the cost
of your health. There is no harm in taking roti if you can digest
it. I hope to reach the Ashram on November 26. The remain¬
ing days I intend to share equally between the Ashram and
Wardha.

From a photostat of the Hindi: G.N. 2367

497. LETTER TO RAIHANA TYABJI

Camp Basti,
October 9 , 1929

MY DEAR RAIHANA,

What sorrowful news you give me about Father? I know how
helpless he becomes when he has any illness at all. Your letter
was received only two days ago. It is now therefore more than
three weeks after operation 1 and I hope that Father is as chirpy as
ever before. Anyway you would give me fullest information and
if necessary telegraph to me at Hardwar where I shall be about
the 14th instant. I shall be in Mussoorie from the 17th to the
24th. I like your energetic plea for equal rights of inheritance
for women. Evidently you do not read Young India regularly,
much less Mavajivan although I see you can trace Gujarati letters.

1 Of the nose

534

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

I did deal with the question of inheritance in Young India 1 but I
shall carry out your desire and revert to the subject using a por¬
tion of your letter as my text. I do not need to be a girl to be
wild about the disqualifications imposed by the man in power
on woman.

Now about Jatin Das. I have been deliberately silent because
I have not approved of the fast. But I have refrained from say¬
ing anything as my opinion would have been distorted by the
officials and grossly misused.

Tours ,
Bapu

Miss Raihana Tyabji
Camp Baroda

From a photostat: S.N. 9611

498. LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI

Basti,
October 9, 1929

CHI. CHHAGANLAL,

I dictated yesterday a long letter to you. I forgot to men¬
tion one thing, and that was your reference to confidence. I
smiled as I thought what an imperfect means of communication
language is. It was after your explanation that I could under¬
stand the meaning of your words “deserving the confidence”. But
in the context in which you wrote the sentence, I understood it
to mean that you were eager to make an effort to win my con¬
fidence. I could not see that you were referring to your effort
to deserve the confidence which you already enjoyed. But now
I understand. That effort, of course, you should always make.
But worry should have no place in it at all.

The effort not to lose the confidence of a person after we
have won it indicates attachment on our part. Man is so imper¬
fect a creature that he may place confidence today and withdraw
it the next day over a trifle. What difference does it make wheth¬
er or not we enjoy the confidence of such a person ? We should,
however, aspire to be worthy of the confidence of the entire world,
for if we are able to take a single breath, the reason is the
whole world’s confidence in us. If that were not so, people

1 Vi4e Vol. XLII, “Position of Women” ? 17-10-1929,

LETTER TO JAMNADAS GANDHI

535

would have killed one another long ago. Hence, being worthy
of other people’s confidence is no more than devotion to duty and
this we should practise without attachment.

What I ask from you, therefore, is a mind at peace with
itself in the midst of any amount of work and an attitude of

extreme generosity towards the environment. When you acquire
these, you will find your work quite easy, for your words will then
penetrate directly to the heart like an arrow and neither Madhav-

lal on one side nor Narandas on the other will ever misunder¬
stand your meaning.

I have made this letter short. If, therefore, you find it diffi¬
cult to follow my meaning, return it along with your questions
and I will try to explain more clearly.

I expect to get details of the passing away of Kaki,

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 5453

499, LETTER TO JAMNADAS GANDHI

On Way to Manakpur,
October 9, 1929

CHI. JAMNADAS,

As I am writing this letter in a running train, I can use only
a pencil. I have read your School Report. It does not include
what I require. At the end of the Report the demand should be
stated clearly. Now let me know this in a letter or send a tele¬
gram. My programme is enclosed. What is the minimum amount
you require, and in how many instalments ? If you wire to me
state only this. In the letter state also the maximum you would
like to have. As it is, you feel the pinch of the rent for the school
land. It will be good to buy the land outright. See the Thakore
Saheb if you have not done so. What will it cost to buy it out¬
right? How is it that your eczema is still not cured? What
remedy are you applying?

Blessings from

Bapu

From a copy of the Gujarati: C.W. 8699. Courtesy: Narandas Gandhi

500. MESSAGE TO SIKH LEAGUE

Manakpur,
[October 9, 1929] 1

Please convey my good wishes to the Sikh League meeting at
Lyallpur. I hope the League will have the wisdom not to boy¬
cott the Congress and realize that the question is not closed but
open for discussion and adjustment.

The Tribune , 12-10-1929

501. LETTER TO GANGABEHN VAIDTA

Manakpur,
October 9, 1929

CHI. GANGABEHN (SENIOR),

I have had no letter from you for many days. Do write once
a week at least.

I think you must have been by Kaki’s side at the time of her
death. If you were not, whoever was present should send me an
account of her last moments.

What is your present weight? What is your diet? How does
Lakshmi behave nowadays? How is Raiya’s condition now? How
much of your time do you have to give to making bread? And
what is its quality now?

Blessings from

Bapu

[From Gujarati]

Bapuna Patro - 6: G.S. Gangabehnne 3 p. 27

1 Gfondhiji was in Manakpur on this date.

502. CONGRESS ORGANIZATION

These columns have repeatedly insisted that a perfected Con¬
gress organization almost means attainment of swaraj. This will
not be true of every country. It is true of India because of its
peculiar position. We are ruled by the hypnotic spell that the
British rule has cast over us. But British rule means British or¬
ganization more than its military strength. Military despotism
on the part of a handful of foreigners alien in language 3 culture
and habits can do very little if they had no organization to which
the people were made by very subtle methods to respond. The
moment that spell is broken, that moment the rule disappears.
The British can then remain only as friends and servants of the
nation at its will. The guarantee for the safety of their persons and
legitimate interests will be the goodwill and honour of the nation,
instead of the mounted forts which after all are a poor protection
for a handful against an awakened nation counted in myriads.
The test of a perfect Congress organization is simple:

1. The Congress must be represented in every village.

2. Every member must know what the Congress means
and must respond to the demands made upon him by the
Congress.

The Congress is the only truly national political organization
in the country. It is the oldest of its kind. It has had the ser¬
vices of the most distinguished sons and daughters of the nation.
It is admittedly the most powerful organization in the land. It
ought not to be difficult for such a body to expand itself and find
its flag flying in every village.

Let us with this end in view study the very Interesting and
instructive bulletin just issued by the Secretary. It contains an
exhaustive analysis of the returns received from the provinces of
their work regarding the enrolment of members in terms of the
A.I.C.C. resolution passed at the Bombay meeting. Here is the
consolidated table:

Province

Quota

Members Enrc

1 .

Ajmer

1,120

14,594

Andhra

36,763

29,000

Assam

8,337

(?)

Bihar

72,588

78,107

Bengal

1,24,413

93,385

538 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

Berar

7,688

7,688(?)

Burma

2,000(?)

1,904

C. P. Hindustani

20,505

28,827

C. P. Marathi

6,586

11,651

10.

Bombay

17,000

11,889

11.

Delhi

6,954

6,071

12.

Gujarat

7,396

15,990

13.

Karnatak

13,244

10,038

14.

Kerala

7,747

3,265

15.

Maharashtra

21,720

24,608

16.

N.W.F.P.

2,000

2,000 (?)

17.

Punjab

51,718

27,490

18.

Sind

8,200

2,615

19.

Tamil Nad

51,784

4,500 (?)

20.

United Provinces

1,07,724

67,849

21.

Utkal

12,421

6,945

Total

5,87,908

4,48,416

The reader should not be

satisfied with this table

. He must

procure the bulletin and study the analysis given for each pro¬
vince and each district wherever it was available. It will repay
perusal, if he is at all patriotically inclined. Barring Ajmer whose
membership is under dispute, Gujarat tops the list with double
its quota. Besides Gujarat, Bihar, C.P. Hindustani and Marathi
and Maharashtra are the only provinces that have done more
than their quota. Berar and N.W.F.P. have just done their quota.
The rest have not been able to reach it. It will be remembered
too that the requirement was one in every four hundred of the
population, barring the Indian States population and barring
Burma and N.W.F.P. This was low enough in all conscience.
There was a penalty attached to non-fulfilment of the provision.
A fair effort was undoubtedly made by the workers in general to
reach the quota required from their respective provinces. At the
Lucknow meeting the A.I.C.C. waived the penalty as it would
have meant disqualifying most of the provinces. But this waiver
should really mean redoubled effort by the defaulters to make
good their debt.

There is however a deeper truth underlying the figures pre¬
sented by the bulletin. We have not yet got enough workers nor
have we penetrated the villages. Many districts supposed to be
backward have not been touched. For Congress workers'no district
is backward, or if it is, it should command their greater care and
attention. The backward portions of Bardoli are showing

CONGRESS ORGANIZATION

539

the greatest constructive activity. The backward Champaran of
yore has to its credit the highest number of marks. It has 15,000
members enrolled against its quota of 4,522. It is invariably the
experience that where solid, honest and sustained work has been
done, people considered the most backward have responded in a
most surprising manner. Though, then, much has been done,
infinitely more needs to be done for the attainment of our goal.
We may not be satisfied with the negative result that we are
numerically better than the other political organizations.

Indeed there should be no competition between the Congress
and the other organizations. If we would be true to ourselves,
the Congress would be admitted by all to be the only national
organization to which the members of the other organizations,
whilst retaining their own, would deem it a pride to belong.
For this consummation Congressmen should show striking results
in constructive effort and broadest toleration towards those hold¬
ing opposite views, so long as they do not come in conflict with
the avowed object of the national organization.

Nor may we be satisfied with mere nominal membership.
The workers have to keep themselves in touch with the newly-
enrolled members. They have to share their sorrows. The new
members may be strangers to khadi when they are enrolled. The
only requirement of membership is signing the creed and paying
the trifling monetary or yarn subscription. But a member loses
the privilege of voting at Congress elections and other meetings,
if he does not habitually wear khadi. It is the duty of workers to
explain this clause to the new members as also to give them the
history of the Congress. The workers should share their sorrows
and their troubles, so that it may be noised abroad that the Con¬
gress is an instrument never of oppression and ever of real service
to everyone in distress. Given a reasonable fulfilment of these
elementary conditions, there is no reason why the Congress should
not become an irresistible organization.

Young India, 10-10-1929

503. NO TES

Thanks

My thanks are due to the numerous friends who were good
enough to send me birthday congratulations. They will excuse
me for not Sending them individual acknowledgments.

A Promising Effort

Sjt. Satis Chandra Das Gupta, Khadi Pratishthan, sends me
the following table 1 showing progress of work during the months
of July and August and in forwarding it, says:

The progress of work of the Rashtriya Sangha has been very slow
on account of the season for sowing and transplantation of paddy cover¬
ing the whole of July and August and some portion of September. The
work has again begun, and it remains to be seen whether the first spell of
enthusiasm will continue or not.

Though the actual work turned out will be considered by the
reader to be little, it is not to be despised, for the beginnings of all
constructive work have been known to be small, and where the
workers have been true and the effort sustained, it has been known
to have fructified a thousandfold in the fulness of time. Leaving
aside the spinners for Bogra, for their return is not given in the
table, there are 379 spinners who spun 102 seers in two months.
This means 20 tolas roughly per head in two months, that is to
say, £ of a tola per day which again means not more than half an
hour’s work per day. For these villagers even half an hour’s work
per day throughout the year is not a small thing. Again 102
seers means nearly 75 saris of ordinary length under 10 counts.
This is so much added wealth production without interference with
any other lucrative occupation. It should be remembered that
this was the work turned out during a season of exceptional acti¬
vity in the fields in the shape of sowing and transplantation of *
paddy. The Rashtriya Sangha deserves every encouragement in
its effort. Its work bears the seeds of a majestic tree.

The Right Way

One of the fine results of the new awakening is that young
men are realizing more and more fully the dignity of labour and the

1 Not reproduced here

TULSIDAS

541

dignity of callings that do not carry with them any breach of
morals. Thus in Ghazipur I found a barber who was educated
there. He was a schoolmaster in a primary school belonging to
the Municipality of Ghazipur, but had not given up his here¬
ditary calling and was adding to his meagre salary of Rs. 17
nearly Rs. 10 from his profession. He said he could easily earn
much more as a barber if he gave the whole of his time to it.
This barber schoolmaster is a convinced khadi wearer, and he
told me that all his people spun during their leisure hours and
they were all wearing khadi. A barber is now undergoing a
khadi service course at the Udyoga Mandir though he has not
abandoned his calling. I wish that these examples will prove
far more contagious than they have hitherto done. It is not enough
that stray lawyers and doctors spin and weave, or stray barbers
and tailors do national service, but thousands of professional men,
artisans and agriculturists should, whilst following their callings,
render national service by qualifying themselves, the literary pro¬
fessions by realizing the dignity of labour and the labouring pro¬
fessions by realizing the dignity of literature, and ah doing every¬
thing to uplift the nation and refraining from doing anything
that would degrade it.

Toung India , 10-10-1929

504. TULSIDAS 1

Several friends on various occasions have addressed to me
criticisms regarding my attitude towards Tulsi Ramayana. The
substance of their criticisms is as follows:

You have described the Ramayana as the best of books, but
we have never been able to reconcile ourselves with your
view. Do you not see how Tulsidas has disparaged woman¬
kind, defended Rama’s unchivalrous ambuscade on yali,
praised Vibhishana for betrayal of his county, and described
Rama as an avatar in spite of his gross injustice to Sita ? What
beauty do you find in a book like this? Or do you think that
the poetic beauty of the book compensates for everything else?
If it is so then we venture to suggest that you have no quali-

fications for the task. . ...

I admit that if we take the criticisms of every point indivi¬
dually they will be found difficult to refute and the whole of

1 The Hindi original of this appeared in Hindi Namjinan, 10-10-1929. This
is a translation by Pyarelal.

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

542

the Ramayana can, in this manner, be easily condemned. But that
can be said of almost everything and everybody. There is a story
related about a celebrated artist that in order to answer his critics
he put his picture in a show window and invited visitors to in¬
dicate their opinion by marking the spot they did not like. The
result was that there was hardly any portion that was not covered
by the critics’ marks. As a matter of fact, however, the
picture was a masterpiece of art. Indeed even the Vedas, the
Bible and the Koran have not been exempt from condemnation.
But their lovers fail to discover those faults in them. In order
to arrive at a proper estimate of a book it must be judged as a
whole. So much for external criticism. The internal test of a book
consists in finding out what effect it has produced on the majority
of its readers. Judged by either method the position of the Rama¬
yana as a book par excellence remains unassailable. This however
does not mean that it is absolutely faultless. But it is claimed on
behalf of the Ramayana that it has given peace to millions, has
given faith to those who had it not, and is even today serving
as a healing balm to thousands who are burnt by the fire of un¬
belief. Every page of it is overflowing with devotion. It is a

veritable mine of spiritual experience.

It is true that the Ramayana is sometimes used by evil-minded
persons to support their evil practices. But that is no proof of
evil in the Ramayana. I admit that Tulsidas has, unintentionally, as
I think, done injustice to womankind. In this, as in several other
respects also, he has failed to rise above the prevailing notions of
his age. In other words Tulsidas was not a reformer; he was only
a prince among devotees. The faults of the Ramayana are less a re¬
flection on Tulsidas than a reflection on the age in which he lived.

What should be the attitude of the reformer regarding the
position of women or towards Tulsidas under such circumstances ?
Can he derive no help whatever from Tulsidas? The reply is
emphatically ‘he can’. In spite of disparaging remarks about
women in the Ramayana it should not be forgotten that in it Tulsidas
has presented to the world his matchless picture of Sita. Where
would be Rama without Sita? We find a host of other ennobl¬
ing figures like Kausalya, Sumitra, etc., in the Ramayana. We
bow our head in reverence before the faith and devotion of Shabari
and Ahalya. Ravana was a monster but Mandodari was a sati.
In my opinion these instances go to prove that Tulsidasji was no
reviler of women by conviction. On the contrary, so far as his
convictions went, he had only reverence for them. So much for
Tulsidasji’s attitude towards women.

LETTER TO GANGABEHN ZAVERI

543

In the matter of the killing of Vali, however, there is room
for two opinions. In Vibhishana I can find no fault. Vibhishana
offered satyagraha against his brother. His example teaches us
that it is a travesty of patriotism to sympathize with or try to
conceal the faults of one’s rulers or country and to oppose them is
the truest patriotism. By helping Rama, Vibhishana rendered
the truest service to his country. The treatment of Sita by Rama
does not denote heartlessness. It is a proof of a duel between
kingly duty and a husband’s love for wife.

To the sceptics who feel honest doubts in connection with the
Ramayana, I would suggest that they should not accept anybody’s
interpretations mechanically. They should leave out such portions
about which they feel doubtful. Nothing contrary to truth and
ahimsa need be condoned. It would be sheer perversity to argue
that because in our opinion Rama practised deception, we too
may do likewise. The proper thing to do would lx to believe
that Rama was incapable of practising deception. As the Gita
says, “There is nothing in the world that is entirely free from
fault.” Let us, therefore, like the fabled swan who rejects the
water and takes only the cream, learn to treasure only the good
and reject the evil in everything. Nothing and no one is per¬
fect but God.

Young India, 31-10-1929

505. LETTER TO GANGABEHN Z^VERI

Gonda,
October 10, 1929

CHI. GANGABEHN,

As the President of the Stree Mandal you may be regarded as
being a person with a sense of responsibility. You have discretion,
wisdom and considerable experience of the world. You have seen
both prosperity and adversity. You are B.S 1 neighbour. Hence I
should like you to answer the following questions and guide me.

What do you know about B.’s wife? Does B. always do her
injustice ? I of course know the wrong he committed in beating
her for stealing cotton. My question, however, is about B.’s general
conduct. Do you believe the relations between B. and N. 2 to be
in some way impure? If so, on what basis do you hold it so?

l & 2 The names have been omitted.

544 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

It seems that the women talk a great deal about the two. Why
is that so? Our rule is that no one should say anything against
a person behind his or her back, that we should banish from our
mind any doubt that may arise against a person and that, if the
doubt is too strong to be banished, we ought to put it to the
person concerned and listen to him or her patiently in the matter
before any word on the subject escapes our lips anywhere else.
If I had not observed this rule, I would have had to part com¬
pany with a good many people. I often like writing to you, but
restrain my wish and content myself with the general letter I may
have written to the women.

How is Nanibehn Zaveri doing? She was to write to me
about something, but she never did. Has Pannalal been keeping
good health? Is agriculture prospering? Was any damage caused
by the locusts? I hope Mahesh does not do as much mischief
as he used to at the evening prayers.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 3097

506. LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI

Gonda,

October 10, 1929

CHI. CHHAGANLAL,

I send with this B.’s 1 letter for you to read. I enclose my
reply; read it and pass it on to him. Talk with him plainly. I
have found his letter quite frank. B. is certainly prone to anger,
but he has given me the impression of being a truthful man.

I have always believed his relation with N. 2 to be pure. I
came to know only recently that she is not his sister.

I see that B. had shown his letter to you. I need not, therefore,
send it. Write to me and tell me what injustice he did.

We have known from experience that many false rumours are
spread about the relations of other men and women. It is true
that sometimes these relations have been discovered to be impure.
But that is no reason for us to be shocked. Such things will go on
in the world. Our duty, therefore, is to examine every case with an
unprejudiced mind. So long as we have no strong reason to look

1 & 2 The names have been omitted.

LETTER TO A

545

at any such relation with suspicion, we should believe it to be
pure. There is always the risk of our being deceived if we act in
this manner, but it is any day better to run the risk of being de¬
ceived than of believing an innocent person to be guilty. Bear this
in mind in coming to your conclusion.

Blessings from
Bapu

[ps-]

I have not revised this.

Read the letter to Champa, so that you will find it easy to
come to a conclusion.

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 5454

507. LETTER TO A

Gonda,
October 10, 1929

DEAR FRIEND . . - 1 ,

I got your letter. There is nothing in it which need be kept
secret. You have admitted your error, and so nothing more need
be said about it.

A man has no right at all to beat any woman. Are men less
guilty towards their wives ? If, however, wives started beating their
husbands for every misdeed, we would see very few husbands alive.
If a woman has no such right, how can a man claim it? I do
not write all this to point out your fault, but only to open your
eyes so that you may feel the seriousness of your error still more
and refrain from repeating it.

Moreover, you observe brahmacharya even in relation to your
wife, so that it is all the more your duty to remain unaffected by
her/ You should forget the very thought that she is your wife.
You should regard her as your friend and serve her as best as
you can. If she stole cotton, you should have paid its price. If
she steals again, you can fix a maintenance allowance for her and

ask her to live separately from you. ^ .

Moreover, you had re silly rio right to use her cushion* bo

long as your relations are unhappy, you should never accept a
service or obligation from her, and in using her cushion you ac¬
cepted, if not a service, an obligation from her.

l The name has been omitted in the source..

41-35

546 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

I also place before you a rather subtle consideration. No per¬
son who wishes to observe brahmacharya should use any article be¬
longing to a woman towards whom impure feelings are likely to
be aroused in his heart. Especially, he should not use an article
like a cushion which she must have touched every day and which
the man may have used together with her when in an impure state
of mind. The vows which you have described are good. If they
do not forbid milk, you may benefit by taking milk or curds. Do
not take any vow which is beyond your strength. There is no
harm if you cannot take a vow, but it will do you much harm
if you take a vow and then are forced to give it up.

Have no fear at all if people talk ill of your relation with
. . If you can say, with your soul as witness, that their evil talk
has no basis in fact, you are safe. Have a frank talk with your wife.
If she goes on harassing you though you commit no fault, you
can be firm and tell her to go and live elsewhere. For the present,
you must let her live with you as atonement for your fault in your
relation to her and as a test of your capacity for tolerance. If you
have anything more to ask, let me know.

Blessings from

Bapu

[From Gujarati]

Bapuna Patro-7: Shri Chhaganlal Jo shine ^ pp. 160-1

508 . TELEGRAM TO JAWAHARLAL NEHRU

Barabanki,
October If 1929

Jawaharlal Nehru
Anand Bhavan
Allahabad

AS PREVIOUSLY ARRANGED SIKH LEAGUE MESSAGE 1 2
ALREADY SENT THROUGH SARDULSINGH LAHORE.

Gandhi

A.I.C.C. File No. 134E, 1929. Courtesy: Nehru Memorial Museum and
Library

1 The name has been omitted in the source.

2 Vide p. 537.

509. LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL J0SH1

Barabanki,

October II, 1929

CHI. CHHAGANLAL,

We have now come to Barabanki from Gonda. After bath,
we attend a meeting and then resume the tour. I, therefore, stop
here today. We shall spend the night at Hardoi. Pyarelal tells me
that he has asked for the post to be sent there.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 5455

510. SPEECH AT POLITICAL CONFERENCE, HARDOI

October 11, 1929

Mahatmaji in his speech said:

We are habituated to pass resolutions without acting on
them. I advise you to give up this mentality. This is one main
obstacle in our path of progress. Had we fulfilled our promises
of 1921, we should [havej attained swaraj long before. Another
occasion is approaching when we would be put to test and there
is a special responsibility on the people of this province as it is
your province which has given the President of the next Congress.
The responsibility is all the greater on the youth. Pandit Jawahax-
lal belongs to your province. At the same time, he is a youth.
If you want to preserve your prestige and his too, you have to act
as you say. You have already passed a resolution on untouchabi-
lity I hope you will pass similar resolutions on Hindu-Muslim
unity and boycott of foreign cloth, which is possible only if you use
khaddar. If you pass these resolutions, you have to abide by
them. I hope and pray that you be prepared for the great strugg e

before us.

The Bombay Chronicle, 14-10-1929

51L KHADDAR AND UNTOUCHABILITT: DUTY OF

INDIAN MUNICIPALITIES

Camp Hardoi,
October 12 , 1929

I have been asked by the Editor to answer the following ques¬
tion for this Gazette:

What can Indian municipalities do in the matter of khaddar and

untoucliability ?

My answer is as follows:

In the matter of khaddar a municipality can help—

First, by prescribing the use of khaddar for the uniform of
its employees. This will be effective only if the members will them¬
selves wear khaddar.

Secondly, by making all purchases of cloth for hospitals and
the like in khaddar only.

Thirdly, by introducing the takli and carding-bow in all the
schools under its control.

Fourthly, by removing all duty upon khaddar and by giving
grants to khaddar depots within municipal limits.

In the matter of untoucliability a municipality can help—

First, by promoting the reform by insisting upon inspectors of
municipal schools securing admission therein of a minimum num¬
ber of ‘untouchable 5 boys and girls.

Secondly, by opening model schools specially for the instruc¬
tion of ‘untouchable 5 children.

Thirdly, by opening night schools for grown-up ‘untouch¬
ables’.

Fourthly, by providing proper housing accommodation for all
the ‘untouchables’ in its employ.

Fifthly, by inducing trustees of temples to open them to ‘un¬
touchables’, and where this is not possible, by building attractive
temples in suitable places, specially for the use of ‘untouchables’,
but generally for public use, and encouraging the public to make
use of these temples in common with the ‘untouchables’.

Sixthly, by giving grants to schools, temples and clubs, etc.,
that would specially cater for ‘untouchables’.

Untouchability is perhaps the greatest evil that has crept into
Hinduism. The nearest approach to it to be found in the West was

KHADDAR AND UNTOUCHABILTY! DUTY OF INDIAN MUNICIPALITIES 549

untouchability of the Jews, who were confined to the ghettos. 1
o not now the historical origin of this disease. Socially it seems to
have arisen from the desire of the so-called superior classes to iso¬
late themselves from those whom they regarded as inferior. It is
the excrescence of varnashrama dharma which has been misrepre¬
sented as the caste system with which, as seen in the multitudin¬
ous castes of latter-day Hinduism, the original four divisions have
little to do.

Untouchability in its mildest form takes the shape of not
touching or having any social intercourse with the ‘untouchable 3 .
In its extreme form it becomes unapproachability and even invisibi¬
lity. The approach of a man within a defined distance or his very
sight in some parts of the extreme south pollutes the "‘superior 3
classes. The c unapproachables 3 and the ‘Invisibles 3 are very few
in number, whereas the ‘untouchables 3 are roughly estimated at
sixty millions. In my own opinion this is a highly exaggerated
estimate.

Though I regard myself as a staunch Hindu believing in and
having great veneration for the Vedas and the other Hindu religious
books, and though I claim, not as a scholar but as a religiously-mind¬
ed man, to have made a serious attempt to understand the Hindu
scriptures, I can discover no warrant for this brutal doctrine of
untouchability in it. Save for a few texts of doubtful authority in
smritis , the whole doctrine of c untouchability 3 is utterly repug¬
nant to the spirit of Hinduism whose glory consists in proclaiming
non-violence to be the basis of religion and which lays down the
bold formula that all life, including the meanest crawling beings,
is one.

But to a reformer like me this philosophical foundation of
Hinduism affords but little comfort in the face of the cruel fact
that professors of that religion regard innumerable fellow-beings
as beyond the pale of society solely on the ground of their birth
in a particular group of men and women in every way like them.

But this untouchability will soon be a thing of the past.
Hindu society has become conscious of the hideous wrong done
to man by this sinful doctrine. Hundreds of Hindu workers are
devoting themselves to the uplift of these suppressed classes. Among
them may be named late Swami Shraddhanandji and the late Lala
Lajpat Rai. These, however, may not be regarded as orthodox.
Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviyaji, who is accepted by all Hindus
as an orthodox Hindu, has thrown in the weight of his great influ¬
ence on the side of reform. Everywhere one sees the process of
emancipation silently but surely and steadily going on. The so-

550 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

called higher-class Hindus are conducting schools and building
hostels for them, giving them medical relief and serving them in a
variety of ways. This effort is absolutely independent of the Gov¬
ernment and is part of the process of purification that Hinduism
is undergoing. Lastly, the Indian National Congress adopted re¬
moval of untouchability as a vital part of its constructive pro¬
gramme in 1920. It may not be superfluous to add that while
untouchability is undoubtedly a grave social wrong, it has no legal
sanction behind it. So far as I am aware, there is no legal
disability against the ‘untouchables’.

The reformer has still a stiff task before him in having to con¬
vert the masses to his point of view. The masses give intellectual
assent to the reformers’ plea, but are slow to grant equality in
practice to their outcaste brethren. Nevertheless, untouchability
is doomed, and Hinduism is saved. And, as I have indicated above,
our municipalities can do much to bring about this salvation.

M. K. Gandhi

The Calcutta Municipal Gazette , Fifth Anniversary Number, Saturday, 23rd
November, 1929; also S.N. 19854

512. LETTER TO AMAL HOME

Camp Hardoi,
October 12, 1929

DEAR FRIEND,

I have your two letters. I have not the leisure to write anything
of value for your Gazette. Nor have I much faith in anything I
may write bearing fruit. However I send you the enclosed 1 for
what it is worth.

Tours sincerely,

Enclosure.

Amal Home, Esq,.

Editor, “The Calcutta Municipal Gazette”

Central Municipal Office

Calcutta

From a copy: S.N. 15605

1 Vide the preceding item.

513. LETTER TO FREDERIC STANDENATH

Gamp Hardoi,
October 12, 1929

DEAR FRIEND,

I have your birthday greetings. I know that you are adver¬
tising me for all your work. Only I hope that you are not con¬
sciously or unconsciously exaggerating anything. Remember it is
always best to underrate the merits of friends. I must not write
to you more whilst I am continuously travelling. I am keeping
good health on milk, curds and fruits. I am not taking any
grains or pulses or vegetables yet.

Tours sincerely,

Frederic Standenath, Esq,.

Graz (In Syria)

Austria

From a photostat: S.N. 15654

514. LETTER TO HARI G. GOVID

Camp Hardoi,
October 12, 1929

DEAR FRIEND,

I thank you for your letter and the cutting 1 2 . You should ask
Mr. Holmes as to what is happening to the American Edition of

the Autobiography.

Tours sincerely,

Hari G. Govil, Esq.

India Society of America
1107 Times Building
New York. City

From a photostat: G.N. 1025

1 In reply to his letter (S.N. 15656) dated 6-9-1929

2 From New Tork Herald Tribune

515. LETTER TO TAGE BUNDGAARD 1

Gamp Hardoi,

October 12, 1929

DEAR FRIEND,

I am much touched by your kind invitation but I do not see
any chance of my being able to go to Denmark in the near future.

Tours sincerely,

Tage Bundgaard, Esq,.

Silkeborg, Denmark

From a photostat: S.N. 15185

516. LETTER TO ELEANOR M. HOUGH 2

Camp Hardoi,

October 12, 1929

DEAR FRIEND,

I have your letter. You will please excuse me for my inabi¬
lity to send you the introduction you want.

Tours sincerely,

Miss Eleanor M. Hough
2115 F Street, N.W.

Washington, D.C., U.S.A.

From a photostat: S.N, 15661

1 l n reply to his letter (S.N. 15184) dated August 1929. The addressee
had sent birthday greetings to Gandhiji and had invited him to visit Denmark
and, in particular, his native town which had a beautiful atmosphere.

2 In reply to her letter (S.N. 15660) dated August 30, 1929. Miss Hough
wanted Gandhiji’s endorsement of a study she planned to make in India, name¬
ly, “The Relation of the Co-operative Movement to Indian Nationalism”, it
being the subject of her doctoral dissertation at the George Washington Uni¬
versity. She wished to obtain a year’s scholarship for the purpose from the
Guggenham Memorial Foundation on the basis of Gandhiji’g endorsement of
the projected study.

517 . LETTER TO HENRY S . SALT 1

Gamp Hardoi,
October 12, 1929

DEAR FRIEND,

I was agreeably surprised to receive your letter. Yes, indeed
your book 2 which was the first English book I came across on vege¬
tarianism was of immense help to me in steadying my faith in vege¬
tarianism. My first introduction to Thoreau’s writings was I
think in 1907 or later when I was in the thick of passive resis¬
tance struggle. A friend sent me Thoreau’s essay on civil disobe¬
dience. It left a deep impression upon me. I translated a portion
of that essay for the readers of Indian Opinion in South Africa
which I was then editing and I made copious extracts from that
essay for that paper. That essay seemed to be so convincing and
truthful that I felt the need of knowing more of Thoreau and I
came across your life of him, his “Walden” and other short essays
all of which I read with great pleasure and equal profit.

Tours sincerely,

Henry S. Salt, Esq,.

21 Cleveland Road
Brighton (England)

From a photostat: S.N, 15663

1 In reply to his letter (S.N. 15662) dated September 18, 1929

2 A Plea for Vegetarianism; Salt had seen a mention of his book in Gandhi-
ji’s Autobiography. About forty years earlier, he had published a life of Tho-
reau Now he was handing over his material to an American friend Ramond
Adams who intended to write a fuller life of Thoreau. Salt had enquired if
Gandhiji had read anything of Thoreau’s and the extent to which he had
been influenced by it as on many subjects Gandhiji’s views seemed akin to

Thoreau’s.

518. LETTER TO K. V. SWAMP

Camp Hardoi,

October 12, 1929

DEAR FRIEND,

I was pleased to find that you were on the fair way to be cured
of your leprosy through Surya Namaskar. I would like you to report
to me again when the restoration is complete. It would be better
also if you could secure a medical testimony of the cure.

Tours sincerely,

SjT. Swami, B.A.

Merchant, Parlakimedi

From a photostat: S.N. 15665

519 . LETTER TO ADELE KA UFMAMJV

Camp Hardoi,

October 12, 1929

DEAR FRIEND,

I have your letter. If you do find your way to India I shall
welcome you to the Ashram.

Tours sincerely,

From a photostat: S.N. 15655

520 . LETTER TO C. VIJAYARAGHA VACHARIAR

Camp Hardoi,

October 12 , 1929

DEAR FRIEND,

I thank you for your letter enclosing copy of the proceedings
of the public meeting held on the 2nd instant at Salem. Mahadeo

1 In reply to his letter (S.N. 15664) dated September 12, 1929. The
addressee had been in an advanced state of leprosy when, he started Surya
Namaskar as described the by Chief of the State of Oundh in his book titled
Surya Namaskar . After 13 months of this exercise he had benefited greatly
and expected to be completely cured in another six months. Swami wanted
Gandhiji to publicize his case so that he could help other fellow-sufferers,

555

LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI

was telling me all about you but I was grieved to hear that you
were not yet enjoying the best of health. I hope however that this
will find you in better health.

Tours simmljs

SjT. G. VIJAYARAGHAVACHARIAR

The Arama, Salem
(S. India)

From a photostat: S.N. 15666

52L LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI

Hardoi,

October 12, 1929

CHI. CHHAGANLAL,

I got your letter. When you are busy and have nothing in
particular to write to me about, you need not write for the sake
of writing. In any case there would be other letters from the
Ashram. I would know from them that everything was all right.

If you let Dwarkanath remain, or keep him, we should pay
him Rs. 60. I think it would not be right to pay Rs. 150 to Din-
karrai at present. So long as both husband and wife live in the
Ashram, they will be saved much expenditure. They will have
no rent to pay. Their manner of living will also change somewhat,
so that, if they wish, they can easily reduce their future require¬
ments. If he has, therefore, no special requirements outside, I
would prefer to pay them Rs. 75 when we have had experience
of him and can send him anywhere without hesitation. Then he
may, if he wishes to save money, be paid Rs. 150. For the present
we should think of keeping him in the Ashram in the hope that he
will become an ideal dairy worker. We should, therefore, decide
to pay him according to our standard. The Managing Committee
may take all this into account and decide what it thinks best.

Blessings from
Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 5456

522. GUJARATIS' LOVE

When I am being inundated in every place by love, it would
be pointless and even invidious for me to measure or compare the
affection showered on me in the different regions. The best way
to acknowledge this debt of love is to imbibe it silently or, if one
may say so, to endure it. Though I know this, I cannot always
observe the rule. Where there are Gujaratis, they single me out for
favoured treatment and they do not expect me to repay my debt
of love even to the extent of my acknowledging it. One such re¬
cent incident took place in Kanpur which I cannot forget. There
the Gujaratis invited me to a separate meeting and considering
their numbers and the extent of their business they gave me quite
a decent sum when compared to the collections made there. The
amount was Rs. 1,152. But I am an avaricious man. The repre¬
sentative of the poor must perforce be avaricious. Therefore the
collections of the citizens of Kanpur struck me as meagre. I com¬
plained to Dr. Murarilal and he endorsed the complaint. It was de¬
cided to make collections in the city. It was after this was arranged
that I went to the meeting of Gujaratis. There also I lodged a simi¬
lar complaint. The meeting took up the complaint forthwith and
added Rs. l,039-14as-6 pies to the sum of Rs. 1,152. Apart from this,
the children and their teachers contributed Rs. 25-4 as. Thus, the
total collection amounted to Rs. 2,217-2as-6 pies. The money that
Gujarati women contributed is not included in this. I have all
the details before me but it is not necessary to give those names.
This article has not been written to record donations or names of
donors. It is the overflow of my feelings. There is no exaggeration
if I say that such love keeps me alive and increases my optimism.
One can expect Rs. 200 from the man who donates Rs. 100, but
not a pie from one who donates nothing. The Gujaratis who feed
me with this potion of love should not sit back contented. I have
written often and reiterate that foreign traders rule over us and
hence if Indian traders are vigilant, the winning of swaraj will be
child’s play. If gunmen were ruling over us, some revolutionaries
would have proved the necessity of guns. But where the Government
is carried on for the sake of trade, it can be easily seen that if trade
goes, the Government will also follow suit. That trade can be cap¬
tured in two ways: One is to become like the foreign trader, the
other is not to let that trade go on. Now his main trade is that in
cloth, the others are organized behind it. Many of his cargo

A RUINOUS VICE

557

ships are dependent on the cotton trade. And if the cotton trade
goes, the steamers too come down crashing. This is not my asser¬
tion but that of an English writer. Hence those Gujaratis and
other Indians who contribute money are to a small extent doing
atonement. True atonement consists in purifying one’s trade. The
giving up of a trade which harms the nation is alone the true
atonement. Those who contribute money say themselves that
they have become conscious of this. When those who have under¬
stood act according to that understanding, one should take it that
swaraj has been won. And this alone will be true swaraj.

This biggest of trades is in the hands of Gujaratis and Mar-
waris. Here the word 'Gujaratis’ should be understood in its larger
connotation as referring to those who speak the Gujarati lang¬
uage, so that the term includes all the people who live in Gujarat
such as Muslims, Parsis, Christians and others. Therefore, if these
two provinces wake up, the other provinces will surely do so of
their own accord. I daily look forward to that auspicious time.
The Gujaratis’ love for me fills me with the hope that their con¬
tribution towards this end will be a large one.

[From Gujarati]

Navajivan, 13-10-1929

523 . A RUINOUS VICE

A gentleman from distant Uganda writes: 1

We can call this a national vice. It betrays our rudeness and
apathy towards our neighbours. That this vice still persists despite
the awakening among us shows our indolence. It of course spreads
diseases and we are rightly maligned for it in the West.

This vice is contrary to religion. When I returned to our
country in the year 1915, this filthy habit had caught my attention
well enough and I tried to find out what the various religions had
to say about it. I do not remember where the collection of extracts
is at the moment. But during this tour I came^ across one or two
stanzas from the Hindu Shastras whose gist I give below:

1 The letter is not translated here. The correspondent had referred to the
Indians’ bad habit of spitting almost anywhere—near them, on the road or in
a railway carriage—and thereby causing the spread of infection through hies.
He had also alluded to the practice, prevalent in Paris, of carrying small boxes

for use as spittoons.

558

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

No one should urinate or defecate or spit into rivers
ponds, etc.

—Krishnayaj uneda

No one should urinate or defecate in the middle of a
village or a town or in temples, cremation grounds, open spa¬
ces, watering places or on roads.

—Charaka

One should not indulge in such acts as rubbing the nose
gnashing the teeth, biting the nails, cracking one’s finger-
joints, digging the ground [with one’s toe], plucking grass-
blades or playing with the earth, etc., etc.

—Charaka

From this we now see that that civilization has been destroy¬
ed. Or one may say that at the time when the above treatises were
written, these habits were prevalent among the people and there¬
fore the saints drew our attention to them. But these habits have
not been corrected till today. Whatever the state of affairs in the
past, we should devise remedies to get rid of them now.

The correspondent regards as unacceptable two of the reme¬
dies adopted in the West. They are no doubt disgusting but how
can we hope for pleasant remedies when our body itself is a
storehouse of urine and excreta? We should perform these acti¬
vities in such a way that we ourselves and our neighbours are
spared the risk of spread of disease. Only this much is possible.
While walking on a public road, if one coughs and has to spit
out phlegm, there is no other way but to spit into a handkerchief
or a spittoon such as a clean box. If one has to spit into a hand¬
kerchief, the handkerchief which has been used once should be
folded and put into the pocket in such a way that neither the hand
nor the pocket gets soiled. Only a man who has got tuberculosis
and is obliged to spit very often needs to keep a small box. But
there are many occasions when it is not necessary to do so. When
we are seated in a train, one should take the trouble to spit out
of the window. When going along a road, one should seek a
lonely spot which is not frequented and spit, etc., in a bush or in
some corner there. To one who has the power of discriminating
between good and evil and who cares for the convenience of others,
easy solutions will readily suggest themselves. Before setting out on
a short or long journey, a thoughtful man will so arrange the calls
of nature as to cause the least inconvenience to others.

[From Gujarati]

Navajivan, 13-10-1929

524. LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHT

Moradabad,

October 13, 1929

CHI. CHHAGANLAL JOSHI,

Your letter of the 9th has been received here. It is surprising
that no letters from me were received there for two days. I have
to write to Bhansali every day. I have, therefore, not allowed a
single day to pass without writing to you. But as the place chan¬
ges every day, it may have happened that letters posted at succes¬
sive places may not have been received by you in the order in which
they were posted.

I am surprised to know that Ramachandra’s health has gone
down so much. Is the bread which they make all right now?
Jayadev came and saw me yesterday. In Hardwar he will be the
person in charge of arrangements for me. Devsharmaji will also
see me not later than tomorrow.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 5457

525. LETTER TO 1SHWARLAL JOSHI

Moradabad,
October 13, 1929

CHI. ISHWARLAL,

If Chhaganbhai permits you, you may certainly have one
year off. I would advise you to go to Madras. There you will
be able to communicate with people only in English. I would
put you in Rajagopalachari’s Ashram so that you may learn
English and also help him. One cannot learn English by reading
a book for eight hours. But one learns it easily if one speaks
and hears only English. That purpose is likely to be served there;
but if you can think of any other course, by all means follow it.

Blessings Jrwt

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: C.W. 9278. Courtesy: Ishwarlal Joshi

526 . SPEECH A T MO RAD AB AD

October 13, 1929

Amidst the cries of “Long Live Revolution” and ec Vande Malar am” 9
Mahatma Gandhi was received at the railway station by a large concourse of
people. He and his party stayed at the house of Moulvi Abdul Salam where a
grand dinner was given in his honour.

In the morning Mahatmaji performed the opening ceremony of the Brij-
ratan Hindu Public Library. He put to sale a chain attached to the library lock
which fetched Rs. 76.

On the town-hall grounds he received addresses from the municipal and
district boards and put to sale the caskets in which the addresses were pre¬
sented. He was very keen on the collection of funds while the audience wanted
to have a long speech on the burning problems of the day.

When a purse of Rs. 2,385 was presented to him he was requested to accept
it in the spirit in which Shri Krishna had accepted rice offered by Sudama.

Mahatma Gandhi, however, said that whereas Sudama had given his
all which consisted of only rice, Moradabad with its large population had contri¬
buted very little. He had received a telegram saying that Moradabad was not
prepared to offer a large purse, but received later a telegram from the students
saying that they were working hard to collect funds and were inviting him.
He asked where those students were then. If they could not offer a purse be¬
fitting the position of Moradabad why did they invite him?

Referring to the addresses, he said that the best use he could make of the
caskets was to sell them as he did not want them for himself.

He complained of a circular issued by the district board asking teachers
to see that their pupils abstained from talking of the freedom of the country.
He did not want to see their children wearing the chains of slavery and
characterized such a circular issued by a board with an elected chairman and
a majority of elected members as shameful. People generally got themselves
elected for personal gain which he condemned.

Referring to the municipal board address, he said that though it boasted
of the absence of communal friction he would call this state of affairs a mere
armed neutrality. He would like to see real love between the communities and
by having such love Moradabad could set an example to the whole of India.
It was doubly the duty of the young men of these provinces to make the Con¬
gress a huge success as India had successively selected two Presidents, father
and son, from U.P.

The Leader, 16-10-1929

527 . LETTER TO ASHRAM WOMEN

Hardwar,
Silence Day [October 14 , i$29] !

SISTERS,

Today we have arrived near the source of the Ganga. The
Ganga entering the plains is very near here. If we go further up
the river, we have to climb the hills.

Today being my day of silence, Kusum, Prabhavati and Kanti
have gone out with Devdas for sightseeing. Nature is bounti¬
ful here, but man has spoiled the place all over.

I end here today.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 3705

528 . LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI

Hardwar,
Silence Day, October 14, 1929

CHI. CHHAGANLAL,

I have received here two days’ post together.

You say you have enclosed Prithuraj’s letter, but you forgot
to do so. I do not see it with your letter.

You should not be indifferent about your health. If you are
getting low fever, you are bound to feel exhausted. I feel like
sending you away to Mussoorie. After sending you there, however,
I cannot keen you lone there and the visit would do no good.

I Slike ™ to go to Wardha or PudupaJayam. If you think
you require a cold climate, go to Almora. I think it will be enough
if you merely go out of the Ashram. You should not think, either,
that you can leave only if Ramniklal reaches there. If Narandas
aerees hand over the charge to him. I will persuade him if you
want me to do so. You should go away somewhere, somehow.

Never overtax your health.

I send the second letter from Chhaganlal, too, for your in¬
formation. Slowly he will start writing directly to you. He has

l From the reference to Gandhiji’s visit to Hardwar

41-36

562

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

always suffered from this kind of excessive diffidence. You should
tolerate it.

It is with my consent that the workers of the National
Women’s Council use foreign silk thread for embroidery on khadi.
I have once written about this in Navajivan. There is no need
to write about it again. Some reader may exaggerate the im¬
portance of the thing. We do use foreign thread for stitching
our clothes. Embroidery is one step further than the stitching of
dresses. At present we have reached the ground of khadi. In
beautifying that ground, we use foreign dyes and foreign thread.
Even so, I have opposed the proposal to stock such articles for sale
in khadi stores. I have not, however, opposed separate stalls for
such articles in exhibitions. No issue of principle is involved in
this; it is a question of practical wisdom, discretion and what is
feasible.

We must encourage, within certain limits, inter-provincial
marriages. I would regard it as essential that the husband and
the wife should learn each other’s language. This was so in
Rukhi’s marriage. In this case the husband docs possess a fairly
good knowledge of Gujarati. I do not mind if the other mem¬
bers of his family do not have such knowledge. When a man
and a woman marry at a mature age, the idea would be that
they should have a separate establishment of their own. The
members of the husband’s family cannot stand in the way of
their doing so. The wife ought not to be made to suffer at their
hands. In this case, moreover, the two languages arc nearly
alike. Hindi, again, being the national language, both know it.
In these circumstances, there is no possibility of any difficulty
arising for want of knowledge of a common language. I shall not,
however, elaborate this reasoning. It is of course necessary to
think before forming a connection with someone from another
province, but I see no need to ban such connections.

I had expected that I would get information about Kaki’s
death in today’s post, but there was none. I am sure I will
get some tomorrow. It is four days since Mahadcv’s telegram.

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 5458

529 . LETTER TO CHHAGAMLAL J0SH1

[After October 14, 1929 j 1

CHI. CHHAGANLAL,

Yesterday I got the post in the evening, two days’ post to¬
gether. I got Prithuraj’s letter too.

As for the problem of disposing of Gujarat’s khadi, we shall
discuss the matter when I arrive there, and after I have thought
about it I will write on the subject in Navajivan* It will not be
difficult to dispose of it. You need not get alarmed if a small
stock accumulates. It may prove useful at a time of difficulty.
Only, we should have the necessary facilities to store it.

You may certainly go to the Punjab. 2 The climate there will
become colder day by day and the cold will be more intense
than in Ahmedabad. You should, therefore, take sufficient warm
clothing and covering.

We shall certainly have to keep a watch over BhansalL
Narandas feels that you have no faith in his capacity for
work and that, deep in your heart, you do not want his help.
He even suspects that perhaps you do not wish his presence in
the Udyoga Mandir at all. I have written to him and told him
that this might possibly be his illusion. But, so long as he enter¬
tains this fear, he will not accept responsibilities with an open
heart. You alone can remove his suspicion. How, it is difficult

to say. . .

If the work in Vijapur goes on all right, I would advise

you not to worry about the slightly high cost of khadi for some
time. I am sending your letter to Chhaganlal. I feel that, when¬
ever anyone writes such a letter to me, it would be good if I
sent it to the person concerned. Anyone would understand the

frank sincerity behind your letter. ^

I see no need to invite a doctor to live permanently in the

Ashram. If the secretary’s notebook is maintained properly, it
would give the correct information about such matters. How
often in the course of a year do we require a doctors services?
A few visits, but in quick succession, may sometimes appear mimer-

1 From the reference to Prithuraj’s letter; vide the preceding item.

2 To attend the Lahore Congress; vide VoL XLII, “Letter to ChhaganM

Joshx”, p. 36.

564 -THE collected works OF MAHATMA GANDHI

ous. I do feel, however, that we should offer something to the
doctor, though I would not mind if he refused to accept anything.
Whatever he accepts will not be sufficient to cover his fees. The
only return we can make to him is through our vigilance, our self-
control, our daily growing spirit of service and our devotion to
duty. The very fact that the doctor comes every time we call
him shows that he looks upon us as worthy servants.

I shall have no objection if dispensaries are opened in places
where spinning work is going on. Only, we should take care to
see that the former do not overshadow the latter. Govindbabu’s
activity in this field certainly does that. I have an impression
that the Abhoy Ashram at Comilla has combined the two in a
beautiful manner.

What you write about the Maganlal Memorial is correct. I
suppose you will be there in Wardha, will you not?

Blessings from

Bapu

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 5477

550. LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI

Hardwar,
October 15 , 1929

CHI. CHHAGANLAL,

Jayanti should have reached here yesterday morning, but he
arrived in the evening. He had not been able to sleep the pre¬
vious night, and so at Saharanpur, where he should have changed
he was asleep and woke up after the station had been left be¬
hind. He travelled back to Saharanpur and lost time in that.

I had become impatient to hear more about Kaki’s death.
X got out from Jayanti as much information as he could give.
Shankar must have recovered now. Chhaganlal Gandhi’s letter
was left out yesterday; I enclose it today. Wherever you find an
error in his figures, please do draw his attention to it, and also
let me know about it. I suppose the matter about Kathor will
now be attended to after Diwali.

We are nearing the Diwali. When we were children, wc felt
right from the Dussehra day that the Diwali had arrived. We felt
sad on the new moon day, thinking that the Diwali was now over.
But we used to console ourselves with the thought that there was
still the Dev Diwali to be celebrated and neglected studies, etc.,

LETTER TO CHHAGANLAL JOSH1 565

till then. But at present the problem which we have to tackle Is
whether, after the Diwali, we should continue the common kitchen.
If there is anything about this which you think you should discuss
with me, do so. But you can even decide independently of me
if you wish to. The chief responsibility in this matter rests on the
women, and so they should think very carefully about the problem.
Let everyone among them think for herself whether she has found
advantage or disadvantage in the common kitchen. Do not hold
too many meetings or take too many days for coming to a decision.
Do not even spend too many hours. We gave the people freedom
to reconsider the matter after Diwali. That is why, though my
views are fixed, I have touched upon this matter so that all of
you may use without hesitation the freedom that was given. We
do not, however, wish to make it a subject for daily discussion.

Devdas requires an assistant in Jamia. He has come to
know that Ishvarlal wishes to go out of the Ashram in order to
learn English. He, therefore, suggested today that, if Ishvarlal
went to Jamia, he, Devdas, would get some help and would himself
teach the latter English. In Jamia Ishvarlal would not get the
kind of English atmosphere which he would in Rajajfs Ashram.
He would, however, get in Jamia the leisure which he would not at
the other place. Ask Ishvarlal. If he wishes, he may immediate¬
ly go to Delhi. Devdas will not be able to return to the place
quite so soon, so that for the present Ishvarlal will act as a sub¬
stitute for Devdas and teach the children spinning. By and by
Devdas will return there. I do not wish to press Ishvarlal on this
matter and ask him to go against his inclination. He may go only
if he wishes to. Devdas’s request was for Kanti, but I have
assumed that you would not be able to spare him. I also
that, if Kanti were to remain away from the dairy for a Jong time,
he would lose interest in it and also the knowledge which he has
acquired. In the end, therefore, he would succeed in neither
task. If Ishvarlal is not ready for this but some others are, let

me have their names.

[PS.]

I have not revised this.

From a photostat of the Gujarati: G.N. 5459

Blessings from

Bapu

531. LETTER TO GANGADEVI SANADHYA

Hardwar,

October 15, 1929

CHI. GANGADEVI,

How are you keeping now? I often remember you. Has
the doctor put off the operation? If the doctor suggests it, do
undergo it. Have no fear. How long do you sew these days?
How is Totaram’s eye?

Blessings from

Bapu

Prom a photostat of the Hindi: G.N. 2541

ADDENDA

1. NOTE TO CHHAGANLAL JOSHI

[Before September 6, 2929] 1

Lest I forget, I shall note down just now:

1. Whatever the pressure of work, do not entrust any
responsible work to the new person.

2. Giving Bhagawanji account work just now will mean his

fall and ours.

3. Be firm and do what you think best about Jaisukhlal.

4. I will have a talk with Kasumba and explain the position

to her. I have had one with Umiya.

5. I have refused to agree to jaisukhlal’s appointment as an
agent. I have agreed to his appointment as a secretary, but
there is a great difference between the two.

6. Have a talk with me about the cow-protection work. Kanti
indeed works hard, but there is discontent below the surface. I have
pacified the people, but that is not right. If we want the dairy
to shine, Kanti will have to exercise restraint over his outside
activities’. If he does not, he will never get trained up and you
may be sure that the work done so far will come to nothing.
What would happen if Somabhai went to every place as an
observer? Apply his example to the case of the dairy.

If Somabhai looks after farming and acquits himself well in
the task, he also exercises restraint on himself; that is why the
agriculture work is safe in his hands. Parnerkar flies m the air
and that is why the dairy is not safe in his hands and no justice

is done to students.

[From Gujarati]

Bapuna Patro—7: Shri Chhaganlal Joshine, pp. 176-7

l According to the source, this was written sometime in September or

Octobef befoTe the addressee left the Ashram for Lahore. Evidently, the note
OctoDer Deiorc , d Gandhiji were at the Ashram. On

was written when t(mr Gandhiji left the Ashram for Bombay

September , pn * * * This may be read after “Indian

from where he went to Bhopal and Agra. I ms may uc

Culture”, 5-9-1929.

LETTER TO CHHAGAJVLAL JOSHI

[September 10, 1929] 1

CHI. CHHAGANLAL,

You must have received the mail sent yesterday. I completely
forgot to include the letter to Bhansali. 2 I remembered about it
late at night at 11 when retiring to bed and immediately rushed
Pyarelal in a car to post it after affixing a late fee stamp. It was
duly posted. I hope you got it.

Credit the amount received from New York in the Relief
Fund. I have just returned from a visit to Sanchi. I have
not yet seen the post. I will write if there is anything important.

How many attend the prayers? Is anyone enthusiastic about
committing a chapter of the Gita to memory ?

Blessings from

Bapu

[From Gujarati]

Bapuna Patro-7: Shri Chhaganlal Jo shine, p. 171

1 I n hie source the letter has been placed between the letters of October
19 and October 21, 1929. From the reference to Gandhijfs visit to Sanchi,
however, it is evident that the letter was written on September 10, 1929.
This may be read after “A Letter”, 9-9-1929.

2 This letter is not traceable. The source, however, in a footnote here
quotes a letter to Bhansali dated October 20, 1929, which is included in Vol.
XLII in its chronological order.

APPENDICES

APPENDIX I
GOSEVA SANGHA

The Cow-protection Conference held at Relgaum on 28th December 1924
resolved to found a permanent body called c All-India Cow-protection Associa¬
tion 5 and appointed a committee to frame a constitution for it. The Committee
met in Delhi on 26th and 28th January 1925, and the constitution drafted by it
was adopted with some amendments at a public meeting held in Madhavbag,
Bombay, on 28th April 1925. This c All-India Cow’-protection Association’,hav¬
ing not been able to command such public attention and sympathy as to entitle
it to be called an all-India organization, its members met at the Satyagraha
Ashram, Sabarmati, on 25th July, 1928, disbanded it and adopted the following
resolution:

“Inasmuch as the All-India Cow-protection Association has not been
able to command public attention and sympathy commensurate with the all-
India character it has claimed, and inasmuch as its activities have been con¬
fined to the slow spread of the objects of the Association and especially to help¬
ing to conduct a dairy and tannery at the Satyagraha Ashram in terms of
the objects of the Association, and inasmuch as the subscriptions and donations
are mainly confined to friends who are interested in the experiment, and inas¬
much as the numerous goshalas and pinjrapoles which were expected to respond
to and be affiliated to the Association have nearly entirely failed to do so, the
existing members of the Association resolve to disband it, and not retaining
the existence of the Association in any shape or form, to adopt the less preten¬
tious title of Goseva Sangha (Cow-service Society) and irrevocably to entrust the
affairs, management and control of the funds and stock of the Association to the
following Permanent Standing Committee of management of the Society
(For names of the members see below), with full powers to disburse the funds,
conduct the said experiments, to add to their number, to fill up vacancies caused
by the resignation or the death of a member, to expel a member by a majority
vote and otherwise carry out the objects of the expiring Association and to frame
a constitution and rule for the management of the Society and to make such
amendments thereof as may from time to time be required.”

In pursuance of this resolution the Standing Committee of the Gow-
service Association hereby adopts the following constitution for it:

The object of the Cow-service Association and the means by which it
shall carry on its work are identical with the object and the means of the late
All-India Cow-pro te ction Association, which are as follows:

570

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

Object

Whereas the Hindus have failed in cow-protcction which is an obligation
imposed on them by their religion, and whereas the cows in India and their
progeny are deteriorating day by day:

The All-India Cow-protection Sabha is formed for the proper fulfilment
of the religious obligation of cow-protection.

The object of the Sabha shall be to protect the cow and her progeny by all
moral means.

c Cow-protection’ shall mean the protection of the cow and her progeny
from cruelty and slaughter.

Note. It will be against the fundamental policy of the Sabha to bring
physical force or pressure to bear on those communities whose religion does
not prohibit, or regards as obligatory, cow-slaughter.

Means

The Sabha shall carry on its work by the following means:

1. by pleading with those who may be ill-treating cows, bullocks, etc.,
and by carrying on propaganda against such ill-treatment by means of leaf¬
lets, lectures, etc.;

2. by taking charge of diseased and disabled cows and oxen from their
owners wherever the latter cannot afford to maintain them;

3. by superintending and inspecting the administration of existing
pinjrapoles and cow-protection institutions, and by helping in their better orga¬
nization and management, as also by establishing fresh institutions;

4. by breeding model cows and draught cattle by means of cattle farms,
etc., and by providing clean and cheap milk through properly kept dairies;

5. by opening tanneries for tanning hides of dead cattle and thereby
stopping or reducing the export abroad of disabled cattle;

6. by enlisting men of character and education in the cause, and
founding scholarships, etc., for training them in the work;

7. by holding an inquiry into the causes of the disappearance of grazing
lands and into the advantages or disadvantages thereof;

8. by investigating into the necessity or otherwise of the practice of
castrating bulls, and if found necessary and useful, investigating into the possibi¬
lities of discovering a harmless method of castration or a wholesome modifica¬
tion in the present method;

9. by collecting funds; and

10. by taking whatever other steps as may be necessary for the work
of cow-protection.

Membership

Any person of the age of eighteen years, who subscribes to the object of
the Association, and

APPENDICES

571

1. who pays to the Association an annual subscription of five rupees;
or

2. who sends to the Association 12,000 yards of even and well-twisted
self-spun yarn; or

3. who sends to the Association every year two cow or bull hides whe¬
ther raw or tanned,

shall be a member of the Association.

Any person who pays to the Association in advance a consolidated amount
of Rs. 500 shall be a life-member of the Association.

Duties of Members

This Association has been conceived as a body of servants, who have not
so much rights as duties, or to whom duties should be as rights. The following

therefore shall be the duties of members:

1 . They shall, as far as may be, use only cow’s milk whenever they

have an occasion to use milk or milk products.

2 . Whenever they have to use leather articles for personal use they shall
use only the hides of dead cattle and never use the hides of slaughtered cows or
bullocks. With regard to other things made of leather, they shall also, as far

as may be, use only dead cattle hide.

3. If members keep cattle for milk, they shall keep cows only and not
buffaloes. They will reason with buffalo-keepers to replace buffaloes with cows.

4. They will carry the message of the Association to pinjrapoles, goshalas

and similar humanitarian organizations.

5 case they follow cow-keeping as a profitable occupation, they will

devote all profits beyond their maintenance to the cause of cow-protection so
long as cow-protection in India has not been placed on a satisfactory footing.
6 . They will induce moneyed men to take up dairying and tanning for

humanity’s sake. _ .

7 They will try to acquire the knowledge requisite for carrying on dairy-

ing or' tanning, and will, wherever possible, seek to maintain themselves
through the service of the cow.

Sympathizers

Any person, who, while approving of the duties laid on members is unable
to discharge them fully but is anxious to acquire the ability to shoulder
may be a sympathizer of the Association, provided that he fulfils the conditions

of membership in other ways.

Administration

The entire^administration of the Association shall vest in a Standing Com¬
mittee consisting of the following members:

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (President)

572

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

Rcvashanker Jagjivan Jhaveri (Treasurer)

Jamnalal Bajaj
Vaijnath Kedia
Manilal Vallabhji Kothari
Mahavirprasad Poddar
Shivlal Mulchand Shah
Parameshvariprasad Gupta
Dattatreya Balkrishna Kalelkar
Vinoba Bhavc

Chhaganlal Khushalchand Gandhi
Ghlraganlal Nathubhai Joshi
Narayandas Khushalchand Gandhi
Surendranath Jayasval
Chimanlal Narasinhadas Shah
Pannalal Balabhai Jhaveri
Yashvant Mahadcv Parnerkar
Valji Govindji Desai (Secretary)

with full powers to disburse the funds, to conduct dairying and tanning experi¬
ments and otherwise carry out the objects of the Association, to add to their
number, to fill up vacancies caused by the resignation or death of a member
or otherwise, to remove a member by a majority vote on proper and suffi¬
cient grounds, to frame a constitution and rules for the management of the
Association and to make such amendment thereof as may be required from time
to time.

Only members of the Association shall be eligible for appointment to and
continuance on the Standing Committee.

Five members shall form the quorum for a meeting of the Committee.

In case of emergency the President shall have the power of taking neces¬
sary action without waiting for calling a meeting of the Committee, and also
when there is no quorum at a meeting actually called. The President however
shall immediately inform the members of action thus taken.

Whenever it is difficult or unnecessary to convene a meeting of the Commit¬
tee, the Secretary shall have the power to circulate a resolution among members
and obtain their votes by correspondence. Such resolution shall be considered
as duly agreed to if none of the members objects. If a member does not reply
within a fortnight, he will be held to have waived his right to object.

The books of the Association shall be open to public inspection and shall be
audited by competent auditors every year. A statement of Recounts shall be
published every six months.

The treasurer shall be responsible for the accounts of all the receipts
and disbursements, all amounts exceeding one thousand rupees to be kept depo¬
sited in a bank of his approval.

appendices

573

All communications relating to the Association should be addressed to the
undersigned.

Udyoga Mandir
Sabarmati

Toung India , 6-6-1929

Valji Govecdji Desai
Secretary,

Cow-service Association 1

APPENDIX II

LETTER FROM SATIS CHANDRA DAS GUPTA

[Before August 24 f 1929]

bapu,

I have your letter on Niranjan Babu*s affairs* I welcome your decision
about him. I have been trying to help him in my own way. I suggested to
him that he should readjust his family obligations if he wants to stick to khadi
and avoid similar grief in future.

Kristodasji saw me yesterday. He told me about a letter Hemprabha
wrote to you. You took this letter to be a business one, being of the nature
of an invitation to you to take up the responsibility of Pratishthan’s ownership!
I laughed loudly and heartily over it, for it was a love letter, pure and simple.
Could love be so dull as to mistake it? And what was the origin of this? Hem¬
prabha felt an yearning to be near you and being unable to take the journey
and desiring all at Sodepur to be benefited by your presence, she desired that
you should regard Sodepur as your own place and grace it with your presence
for the spiritual uplift of all inmates.

But the matter of this letter was not all. I could not laugh away all the
rest that Kristodasji said. He reported to me the conversation he had with you
at Almora in which myself and Pratishthan were drawn in.

Niranjan Babu on his way back from Sabarmati met me. He also told me
about your sarcasm about my Utkal report which I did not then understand
at all, although what he said jarred painfully. Now after Kristodasjfs inter¬
view Niranjan Babu’s utterances become explicable. You have wronged
yourself hopelessly in all these. But let time pass.

As I woke up this morning and was going to the prayer-ground a thought
of Marcus Aurelius came across my mind and from the depth of my heart I
repeated, “Today I shall meet with blows. . . . But I cannot be injured by any¬
one of them.” At 2 p.m. Kristodasji came and blows there were sure enough.

My prommSg,
Satis

From a microfilm: S.N. 15194

APPENDIX HI

LETTER FROM M. R. JATAKAR

Lnvate 391 Thakurdwar,

Bombay,
August 23, 1929

DEAR MAHATMAJI,

I am writing this letter to you because I feel certain that you will not
misunderstand its motives. It is nowadays the fashion in Bombay to condemn,
as a communalist, any Hindu who happens to speak in favour of his community.
Mahommedan leaders, of course, are immune from this charge. I am sure that
you will not judge me by such a partial test.

My purpose in writing this letter to you is to make you acquainted with
the apprehensions of a very large body of Hindus (outside the Hindu Maha-
sabha) that any attempt at this time to vary the solution of the Hindu-
Muslim question adopted in the Nehru Committee’s report is fraught with far-
reaching consequences. I am sure, you are aware that many Hindus, who
were against the continuance of communal representation, accepted the Nehru
Committee’s solution as a kind of compromise for the sake of peace and
harmony. As I said in my speech at the Calcutta session of the All-Parties
Convention last December, with reference to Mahommedan demands, that com¬
promise had proceeded on four well-recognized principles, and that the demands
set up by the Mahommedans at the Calcutta session were flagrant variations
from those principles. These demands were then only five or six in number.
They have since risen to 14. Even when they were five or six, they were turned
down at Calcutta by an overwhelming majority of All-India delegates, including
Sikhs and Christians.

One of the grounds of their decision was that the Mahommedans were
divided, on these demands, into four well-known groups. Three of them were
against joint electorates at any price. It was therefore not clear on whose behalf
Mr. Jinnah spoke, and what bulk of the entire Mahommedan community would
be placated if his demands were conceded.

My own opinion in the matter is that it would be desirable for us all to
concentrate on the Nehru Committee’s report, accepting it on all essential
points. If any minor adjustments are needed in its proposals about the Hindu-
Muslim question, which, if met, have a possibility of being accepted by the bulk
of the Mahommedans, these may be considered when we reach the stage of fina¬
lity, I mean in the sense that the stage is arrived at when the representatives
of the Hindus, Mohommedans and Government meet and in a spirit of give and
take, arrive at a compromise which is final and forms the terms of our future

APPENDICES

575

Constitution. I refer to this feature of finality, because to me the danger of
making any further concessions to Mahommedans at this stage appears to be
great. The Government will clearly pick out all these concessions and make
them parts of a Constitution entirely different from the one of which they were
intended to be a part. Hindus then will be regarded as being estopped from rais¬
ing objections on the ground that the items objected to are a matter of agree¬
ment between Hindus and Muslims.

Past experience shows that this fear is not without justification apart from
what may have happened at and after the Lucknow Pact of 1916, I will quote
a very fresh instance. You will remember that Mr. Jin n a h , the Muslim League
spokesman at Calcutta, openly claimed that, although the separation of Sind
was, in the Nehru Committee’s report, conditional on India having the Constitu¬
tion recommended therein, Mahommedans ought to have the liberty of accepting
separation of Sind, even if Government made it a part of a totally different
Constitution. This makes clear the danger I am referring to.

I have good reasons to believe that Muslims will not get from Government
any undue privileges this time. A section of that co m munity is therefore an¬
xious to make it appear that the concessions they want have been agreed to by

the Congress. Hence the need of caution.

These are a few considerations which I thought it was my duty to res¬
pectfully urge on your attention. Perhaps you are yourself well aware of

them all.

Offering you my apology for disturbing you in this matter in the present
state of your health.

I am*

Tours sincerely*
M. R. J.

Mahatma Gandhi
Sabarmati

Jayakar’s Private Papers, Correspondence File No. 407, vi, pp. 149-51.
Courtesy: National Archives of India

SOURCES

Aaj : Hindi daily published from Banaras.

Bapuna Patro-7: Shri Chhaganlal Joshine (Gujarati): Ed. Chhaganla
Joshi, Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad, 1962.

Bapuna Patro-6: G.S. Gangabehnne (Gujarati): Ed. Kakasaheb
Kalelkar, Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad, 1960.

Bapuna Patro-5: Kum. Premabehn Kanlakne (Gujarati): Ed. Kakasaheb

Kalelkar, Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad, 1960.

Bapuna Patro-9: Shri Narandas Gandhine (Gujarati): Ed. Narandas
Gandhi, Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad, 1964.

Bapuni Prasadi (Gujarati): Tr. Mathuradas Trikumji, Navajivan
Publishing House, Ahmedabad, 1958.

[The) Bombay Chronicle : English daily published from Bombay.

(. A ) Bunch of Old Letters : Jawaharlal Nehru, Asia Publishing House,
Bombay, 1958.

[The) Calcutta Municipal Gazette : Fifth Anniversary Number, 23rd
November, 1929.

Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya, New Delhi: Central Museum
and Library of Gandhian Literature and documents; vide Vol.
I, p. 341 (January 1969 edition).

Hindi Navajivan : Hindi weekly edited by Gandhiji and published
from Ahmedabad.

[The) Hindu : English daily published from Madras.

[The) Hindustan Times : English daily published from New Delhi.

Jyotsna : Munshi Ajmeri Commemorative Issue, 1969, Sardar
Patel College, Chirgaon (Jhansi),

(The) Leader: English daily published from Allahabad.

Navajivan : Gujarati weekly edited by Gandhiji and published from
Ahmedabad.

Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi.

Prajabandhu: Gujarati weekly published from Ahmedabad.

Sabarmati Sangrahalaya: Library and records containing do¬
cuments relating to Gandhiji’s South African period and Indian
period up to 1933; vide Vol. 1, p. 341 (January 1969 edition).

SOURCES 577

Shikshan ane Sahitya: Weekly Supplement to Naoajivan started from
July 21, 1929.

'Young India (1919-1931): English weekly edited by Gandhiji and
published from Ahmedabad.

CHRONOLOGY

{June 1 — October 15, 1929)

June 1: Gandliiji was in Sabarmati Ashram, Ahmedabad.

June 12: Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt were sentenced to
transportation for life for throwing on April 8 “two bombs
in the Assembly”.

June 13: In Bareilly, at workers 5 meeting, Gandliiji discussed
question of Congress reorganization in terms of A.LC.C. re¬
solution.

June 14: At Nainital, spoke on khaddar, communal unity,, pro¬
hibition and the removal of untouch ability.

June 15: Visited Bhuwali.

June 16: In Tadikliet, spoke at Prem Vidyalaya anniversary
celebrations.

June 18: At Almora, addressed the Christian community.

June 20: In Almora, made a moving reference to Padam Singh’s
death.

June 21: Left Almora for Kausani.

June 27: At Kausani completed introduction to the Gujarati
translation of Bhagavad Gita .

July 2: Left Kausani.

July 4: Reached Kashipur in the morning and left for Delhi
in the evening.

July 5: In Delhi.

July 6: Reached Sabarmati Ashram.

July 23: Spoke at Kadi.

July 26: Reached Allahabad; attended Working Committee
meeting in Mayo Hall.

July 27: In Allahabad, moved compromise resolution on non¬
violent non-co-operation campaign which was passed by an
overwhelming majority in the Working Committee.

July 28: Message to Bombay Congress Muslim party meeting at
Congress House.

August 2: At Sabarmati Ashram, Gandhiji spoke on death
anniversary of Tilak.

CHRONOLOGY

579

August 11: Arrived in Bombay; attended a conference c in camera 5
at M. A. Jinnah’s place; discussed “matters of common inte¬
rest”; left for Ahmedabad in the night.

August 12: Returned to Ahmedabad; suffered from dysentery.

August 15: Gave up experiment of uncooked food; was under

medical treatment.

August 18: Elected President of the 44th session of the Congress,
Lahore.

August 20: Declined Congress Presidentship and suggested in¬
stead Jawaharlal Nehru’s name.

September 6: Left Ahmedabad for Bombay.

September 7: In Bombay. Opened Crafts Block at National
school, Ville Parle; laid foundation-stone of an ashram for
"Women; presided over meeting at the Vanita Vishram for
the blind; visited new building of A.I.S.A. Khadi Bhavan
at Kalbadevi.

September 9: Associated Press released Gandhiji’s appeal to mill-
workers to keep pending announcement of arbitrators’ deci¬
sion.

September 10: At Bhopal, Gandhiji spoke at public meeting;

visited Sanchi and left for Agra.

September 11: At Agra, spoke at public meeting; addressed

women’s meeting.

September 13: At Agra College, spoke to students.

September 18: Visited Dayalbagh.

September 20: At Mainpuri.

September 21: At Farrukhabad.

September 22: In Kanpur, spoke in reply to address by District

Board and Municipality; spoke in reply to address by Piece-
goods Merchants and Cloth Market Employees 5 Association.

September 24: Spoke at students’ meeting.

September 25: In Banaras, spoke at untouchables’ meeting; ad¬
dressed students of Hindu University.

September 26: Addressed two women’s meetings; spoke at Kashi
v Vidyapith; spoke at convocation, Kashi Vidyapith, left for

Lucknow.

September 27: In Lucknow, spoke at public meeting.

September 28: Spoke to Lucknow University students; spoke at

A.I.C.C. meeting.

580 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

September 29: Interview to the Free Press of India.

Jawaharlal Nehru was elected President for the Lahore Con¬
gress session.

October 1: Gandhiji was at Faizabad.

October 2: At Jaunpur.

October 3: At Azamgarh.

At Ghazipur.

October 4: At Gorakhpur.

October 8: At Basti.

October 9: Reached Manakpur at 10 a.m.; spoke at Raja Sahcb’s
palace; left for Gonda by car at 3 p.m.

October 10: At Gonda.

October 11: Reached Barabanki; at Hardoi addressed political
conference.

October 13: At Moradabad, performed the opening ceremony of
the Brijratan Hindu Public Library; spoke at public meeting.

October 14: Reached Hardwar.

October 15: At Hardwar.

INDEX OF TITLES

A.I.S.A. Prize, 242
About Navajivan } 185-7
Academic v. Practical, 515-6
Adharma in the Name of Sana tan a
Dharma, 267

Almora Impressions, 170-2

Among the Skeletons of Orissa, 167-9

Anasaktiyoga , 90-133

(An) Andhra Hero, 193-5

(The) Anglo-Indian, 330-1

Anguish of “a Hindu Youth”, 142-5

Anonymous Donations, 31

Answer to The Englishman , 508

(An) Apology, 26

Appeal to Mill-workers, 370-1

Appeal to Temple Trustees, 348-9

Arbitrators 9 Award, 283-4

Artlessness or Audacity?, 199-202

Assam Flood, 243

Atrocious, 17-9

Bardoli Enquiry Report, 39-41
‘Bitter as Poison 9 , 275-6
(The) Blind in India, 400-2
Bombay Milk Supply, 244-5
“British Trustees”, 242-3
Burma’s Contribution in 1926, 28
(A) Carding Enthusiast, 43
Carding or Archery, 341-3
Committee for Removal of Untouch-
ability, 3

Communications with Spirits, 383-4
Concerning God, 517-8
(The) Congress and Khadi, 74-6
Congress Organization, 350-1, 537-9
Consolidated Statement, 14-6
Convocation Address at Kashi
Vidyapith, Banaras, 463-6
Council-entry, 27
‘(The) Creative Delight 9 , 244

Destroy All Himsa, 158-9
(The) Devadasi, 337-8
Dhoti-oOT-Sola Hat, 25
Did Rama Shed Blood?, 278-9
Discussion with Workers, Agra, 389-90
Distress in Sind—an Appeal, 384-5
Does a Village Mean a Dunghill?,
445-8

Duty of Reformers, 50-2
Duty of the United Provinces, 501-2
(The) Efficacy of Vows, 272-4
Evil Customs in U.P., 386-7
(The) Evil of Purdah , 88-9
Experiment in Uncooked Food, 279-80
(A) Few Questions, 68-9
Fit for All to Read, 344
Flood Relief in Assam, 296
‘Food Faddists’, 34-6
For Self-spinners, 159-60
Foreign Sugar v. Khadi, 161-2
Foreign-cloth Boycott, 19-21, 172-3,
289-90

Forthcoming U.P. Tour, 351-3
Four Functions, 379-81
From British Guiana, 218-9
Fruit of Satyagraha, 277
Goseva Sangha, 10, 17
Gujarat’s Contribution, 3-4
Gujarat’s Duty, 28-9
Gujaratis’ Love, 556-7
(The) Hindu Wife, 493-5
How Love Acts, 472
How to Describe Their Majesty ?,
183-4

(A) Husband’s Duty, 268-9
Ideal Primary School for Children,
5-9

If Spinners Also Weave?, 184-5, 298,
364-5

582

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

Image Worship, 338-40
Incurable, 260-1
Indian Culture, 356-7
Instantaneous Effect, 167
Interview to: Free Press of India,
487; (The) Hindu , 281-2
‘Is Swaraj Worth Having? 9 , 238-9
Judge’s Indictment, 430-2
Karachi IChadi Bhandar, 5
(A) Kathiawari’s Wail, 320-3
(The) Kellogg Pact, 153-4
Khaddar and Untouchability: Duly of
Indian Municipalities, 548-50
Khadi and Boycott, 64-5
Khadi Guide, 38
Lakshmi Devi’s Story, 245-6
(A) Letter, 373

Letter to: A, 545-6; Adhikari, M.S.,
418; Aggarwal, Jagannath, 395;
Agrawal, Moolchand, 27, 190;
Ahmad,Ziauddin, 416; Alexander,
Horace, 315-6; Asa Singh,
532-3; Ashram Boys and
Girls, 521; Ashram Women, 60,
373, 412, 455, 487, 522, 561; Bajaj,
Jamnalal, 11-2; Banarasidas, L.,
439; Banerjec, Bhupendra Nath,
528; Bechar Bhanji, 238; Bhagwat,
A.K., 393; Bhanu Prasad, 439;
Birla, Basant Kumar, 505; Birla,
G.D,, 12, 12-3, 48, 148-9, 316,
327, 429-30; Bundgaard, Tage,
552; Chairman, Municipal Board,
Lucknow, 415; Chandiwala Brij-
krishna, 390, 475, 520, 533;
Ghandrakant, 293; Chaturvedi,
Banarasidas, 255, 411; Choksi,
NajuklalN., 180, 182, 269; Dabhi,
Fulsimha, 214; Das, Harish
Chandra, 510; Das Gupta, Satis
Chandra, 59, 169-70, 318, 319,
423-4; De Silva, O. B., 530; Desai,
Mahadev, 61-2, 72-3, 133-5, "453;

Desai, Valji G., 526-7; Dcsh Raj,
420-1; Dikshit, V.V., 419; Dudha-
bhai, 457; Fisher, Frederick B.,
503; Fitter, K.A., 532; Gandhi,
Ghhaganlal, 506-7; Gandhi, Jam-
nadas, 535; Gandhi, Manilal and
Sushila, 47-8, 145-6, 282, 300, 369-
70, 488, 513-4; Gandhi, Naran-
das, 399, 489; Gandhi, Radlia,
440; Gancsan, K., 417; Gcdge,
Evelyn, 421-2; Ghosh, Bhupendra
Nath, 528; Giri Raj, 511-2, 529;
Govil, Hari G., 551 ; Govindanand,
Swami, 415; Gregg, R.B., 162-3;
Hardikar, N.S., 422; Hindhcde,

M. , 502; Home, Amal, 550;
Hough, Eleanor M., 552; Jagan¬
nath, 421, 480; Jagjivandas, 376;
Jairamdas Doulatram, 419-20,
480-1, 529-30; Jayakar, M.R., 254,
319; Jerajani, Vithaldas, 150;
Jha, Ganga Nath, 531; Joshi,
Ghhaganlal, 34, 45-7, 61, 63-64,
79-80, 135-6, 151, 151-2, 327, 358,
369, 371-2, 375-6, 388, 397-8, 410,
412-3, 413, 425-6, 427-9, 441-2,
443, 444, 451, 454, 455-6, 456-7,
457-8, 474-5, 478-9, 481, 483-4,
489-90, 492, 492-3, 507-8, 519,
522-3, 524-6, 534-5, 544-5, 547,
555, 559, 561-2, 563-4, 564-5, 568;
Joshi, Ishwarlal, 559; Joshi, Jetha-
lal, 136, 109, 214; Kannoomal,
418; Kanin,k, Pranabehn, 372-3,
440-1; Kashinath, 514; Kaufmann,
Adele, 554; Kedar, 394; Kham-
bhatta, Behramji, 60, 347; Khoja,
Dharamsimha Bhanji, 329; Krish-
nachandra, 149; Kumarappa, J.G.,
531; Lilavati, 45, 150; Malaviya,
Madan Mohan, 258; Malkani,

N. R„ 163, 235-6, 281, 426-7;
Mashruwala, Nanabhai. L, j 147,

INDEX OF TITLES

583

330; Mathuradas Purushottam,
450, 491; Mavlankar, G.V., 357,
424-5; Melton, Allen, 392-3; Mira-
behn, 78-9; Modi, Ramniklal, 299;
Modi, Tara, 13-4; Morarji, Shanti-
kumar, 236, 237, 255; Moreno,
Dr. H. W. B., 503-4; Mukherjee,
Satis Chandra, 397,512; Munnalal,
Fragment of, 508; Narasimham, B.,
438; Nehru, Jawaharlal, 13, 152-3,
205, 235, 256, 280, 314; Pandit,
Pratap S., 510; Pandit, Vasumati,
315, 325-6, 328, 340, 372, 424;
Parekh, Devchand, 253-4, 257,
270; Patel, Gordhanbhai I., 270-1;
Patel, Manibehn, 429; Patnaik,
Niranjan, 396; Paul, A. A., 394;
Poddar, Rameshwardas, 188, 246;
Prabhavati, 57, 80, 81, 170, 190,
205, 206, 283, 300-1, 301-2, 326;
(Sir) Purushottamdas Thakurdas,
257-8, 284, 527; Qureshi, Amina,
505; Reddy, Sir K.V., 304-5; (A)
Russian Correspondent, 188; Salt,
Henry S., 553; Sanadhya, Ganga-
devi, 566; Sanjivi, T.R., 395;
Sastri, V.S. Srinivasa, 213; Secre¬
tary, A.I.S.A., Ahmedabad, 416,
— Mirzapur, 479-80; Secretary,
Bengal Congress Committee, 437;
Secretary, G.I.P. Railway Union,
396; Shah, Fulchand K., 33, 137,
271-2, 328-9, 490; Sharma, Dr.
Hiralal, 359; Shivabhai, 491;
Shukla, Balkrishna, 393; Stande-
nath, Frederic, 551; Swami, K.V.,
554; Taramati Mathuradas
Trikumji, 488; TcherkofF, N.,
213; Tejumal, H.B., 509; Thakkar,
Madhavji V., 11, 14, 33, 48, 299,
327, 442-3, 512-3; Todd, Albert
M., 189; Tyabji, Abbas, 347;
Tyabji, Raihana, 271, 533-4;

Upadhyaya, Haribhau, 180-1,
237, 284; Vaidya, Gangabehn
190-1, 368, 411-2, 536; Venkate-
swarlu, D., 417; Vijayaragha-
vachariar, C., 554-5; Zaven,

Gangabehn, 543-4
Maharashtra Khadi Sangha, 262
Marriage and Its Rites, 402-5
Marriage and the Vedas, 44
Maurya Empire and Untouchability,
76

Meaning of the Term ‘Faddist’, 182-3
Message to: Bombay Children, 414;
Bombay Congress Muslim Party,
234; Kathiawar Youth Confer¬
ence, 365; Sikh League, 536
Mill-labour in Baroda State, 223-4
Mill-owners and Boycott, 156-8
My Dharma, 230-2
My Imperfections, 226-7
My Limitations, 378-9
My Notes, 55-6, 206-8, 251-3, 277-8,
323-5, 343, 365-7, 405-9, 485-6,
National Educational Institutions, 399-
400

Need for Far-sightedness, 297-8
Note(s), 22-3, 44-5, 66-8, 191-3,

222-3, 258-60, 287-9, 311-2, 332-7,
354-6, 382, 432-4, 470-2, 500-L
540-1, —(to) Chhaganlal Joshi,
236, 254, 567, —(on) Dispute
between Mill-owners and Workers,
359-63, —(to) Jaykrishna Bhansali,
486

(The) Old Story, 164-5, 312-3
On Increasing the Size of Jfmcgwm,
166-7

Our Choice, 309-11
Our School, 250-1
Ox 37. Bullock, 449-50
Pace of Boycott, 1-3
(A) Painful Story, 313-4
Pandit Nehru’s Appeal, 42-3

584

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

(A) Plea for Common Sense, 155
Production of Khadi in Gujarat, 212
Progress of Self-support Khadi, 226
Prohibition, 176-7
Prohibition Campaign, 265-6
(The) Pundit Sabha of Kashi, 177-8
(A) Quaint Address, 82-4
(A) Quandary, 138-40
Rashtriya Sangha and Self-support,
87-8

Raw v. Cooked Food, 52-4
Reason v. Authority, 468-9
Reason v. Faith, 435-6
Rebirth of the Spinning-wheel, 367-8
Reporters a Nuisance, 308
Resolution on Ajmal Jamia Fund, 375
Results of the Victory at Bardoli, 208-
9

(A) Ruinous Vice, 557-8
(The) Running Sore, 203-4
Rural Education, 295-6
“Sad Plight of Bulsar Bhangis”, 31-2
Scheme of Self-reliance, 345-6
Self-interest v. Supreme Good, 385-6
Self-supporting Education, 173-5
Sexual Perversion, 84-5
Sikhs in British Columbia, 202
Simplifying Marriage, 467-8
Smallpox and Cholera, 140-1
Some Religious Questions, 290-1
Some Telling Figures, 434-5
Speech: (at) A.I.C.C. Meeting,
Lucknow, 482-3; (at) Almora
70-2; (at) Banaras, 460-1; (to)
Christian Community, Almora,
62-3; (on) Compromise Resolu¬
tion, A.I.C.C. Meeting, Allaha¬
bad, 228-9; (at) Hindu University,
Banaras, 461-3; (at) Kanpur,
451-2; (at) Lucknow, 486; (to)
Lucknow University Students,
Lucknow, 482; (at) Moradabad,
560; (at) Naipital, 49-50; (at)

Piece-goods Merchants 5 Meeting,
Kanpur, 452; (at) Political Con¬
ference, Hardoi, 547; (at) Prcm
Vidyalaya, Tadikhct, 57-8; (at)
Public Meeting, Agra, 377-8, —
Allahabad, 179-80, —Banaras,

477-8, —Bhopal, 374-5, —Kadi,
215-7; (to) Students, Agra, 391-2,
—Kanpur, 458-60; (at) Tilak’s
Death Anniversary, Gujarat Vidya-
pith, 247-50; (at) Women’s
Meeting, Banaras, 476
Spinning Song, 498
Spinning v. Weaving, 26-7
Statement on Funds Collected in
Burma, 251
(A) Student, 56

(A) Suggestion Concerning Navajivan,
76-7

(Dr.) Sunderland’s Volume, 36-8
Sword of Damocles, 195-6
Sylhet Inundated, 175-6
Telegram to: Ansari, Dr. M. A., 81;
Bajaj, Jamnalal, 304; Banker,
Shankerlal, 523; Bhargava, Thakur-
das, 348; Birla, G.D., 74, 294, 301;
Das Gupta, Satis Chandra, 294,
317; Dutt, Krishnagopal, 303;
Ghosh, Prafulla Chandra, 256;
Indian Natioal Congress, Lahore,
303; Khadi Shop, Srinagar, 414;
Kloctzu, 82; Malaviya, M.M.,
304; Mangaldas Girdhardas, 524;
Naoroji, Khurshed, 294; Nehru,
Jawaharlal, 218, 546; Nehru,
Medial, 72, 77, 305; Patel, Valla*
bhbhai, 303; President, Congress
Committee, Karimganj, 73; Raja
of Kalakankar, 315; Rajagopala-
chari, C„, 302; Rajendra Prasad,
302; Rao, Nageshwara, 137, 181;
Secretary, Reception Committee,
UrPf Trade Union Conference,

INDEX OF TITLES

Kanpur, 317; Silcock, H.T., 514;
Swami, 63; Tandon, Purushottam-
das, 285; Thakkar, Amritlal, 283;
Udyoga Mandir, Sabarmati, 414
Testimonial to Munshi Ajmeri, 437
(The) Thousand-headed Monster,
495-7

Three Questions Put by a Youth, 484-
5

To a Correspondent, 472

Towards a Proper Wheel, 308

(A) Tragedy, 86-7

Tree Worship, 292-3

(A) True Hero, 381-2

Tulsidas, 541-3

Two Questions, 473-4

Two Values of a Rupee, 466-7

585

Unfired Food, 263-5, 285-6, 306-7
Unfired Food Experiment, 196-9
(An) Unfortunate Daugther, 160-1
Urban v. Rural, 219-22
(A) Vicious Book, 224-5
Wanted Self-conversion, 23-4
What Does Khadi Mean?, 518
What Has Been Done for the Antjajaly
233-4

What Is One’s Dharma ?, 209-11
What Should Municipalities Do ?,
29-30

Who Should Wear the Grown?, 239-
41

Widows and Widowers, 179-80
‘You Are Being Driven’, 498

Youth on Trial, 499-500

INDEX

Abdul Salam, Moulvi, 560
Abhoy Ashram, Gomilla, 564
Abu Bakr, 465
Achhutoddhar Mandal, 460
Action(s), 95, 98, 118; and delusion,
116; and devotion, 124; and God,
107; and inaction, 110, 111; and
knowledge, 113, 114; and sacri¬
fice, 113; and yoga, 103; attitude
of, 102; freedom by renunciation
of, 105; freedom from bondage not
gained by cessation of, 105; have
to be without attachment, 98; is
selfless service dedicated to God,
106; peace issues from, 126; renun¬
ciation of fruits of, 94-6; reveal¬
ing detachment and dispassion,
129; salvation through, 97; without
attachment, 115 and passim
Adam, 94

Adams, Ramond, 553 fn
Adhibhuta, 120
Adhidaiva, 120
Adhikari, M. S., 418
Adhiyajna, 120
Adhyatma, 120
Advaita, 50, 477
Aggarwal, Jagannath, 395
Agra Youth League, 377
Agrawal, Moolchand, 27, 190
Ahimsa, see non-violence
Ahmad, Ziauddin, 416
Ajmal Jamia Fund; resolution on,
375

Ajmeri, Munshi, 437
Akarma > 111 fn
Akha, Bhagat, 55
Alexander, 458
Alexander, Horace, 315

Ali, Abid, 234

Ali Brothers, 289, 319, 354; ban on,
470

All-India Desiibandiiu Memorial
Fund, 28

— — Spinners’ Association, 14,
23, 28, 83, 157, 159, 192, 201,
242,260, 262, 352, 353, 415, 416 fn,
422 fn, 434, 455, 471, 479, 480,
532; Council of, 22 ; khadi bhan-
dar of, 408-9, — at Kalbadcvi,
381; (its) Khadi Guide and report,

Anand, Swami, 63, 90, 91, 424
Anasaktiyoga ; prefatory note to, 90-101
Anasuyabeiin, see karabiiat, Anasuya-
bchn

Anderson, 40

Andrews, G.F., 135, 162, 191, 202,
218, 493, 498

Anglo-Indian League, 330, 331
Anglo-Indians; 504; definition of the
phrase, 330-1
Annapurniaii, M., 193
Ansari, Dr. M.A., 81, 197, 314,

374, 375 fn

Anti-U ntouc hability Movement, 495
Anti-Vaccination League, 191
Antyaja Ashram, Chhaya, 409,

— —, Vartoj, 409

■— Committee, 490
Antyajas, 3, 33, 233-4, 490; and self-
purification, 366-7; funds for ser¬
vice of, 409; temple at Elichpur
thrown open to, 324-5. See also

UNTOUCHABLES

Aparigraha , 117, 230/n; and parigraha,
190

Appasaiieb, 410, 491
Arctic Home , 249

INDEX

587

Arjuna, 101 to 110, 112 to 114, 118
to 122, 124 to 126, 129, 133
Arnold, Sir Edwin, 91
Arrah, C., 301

Arya Samaj, 224-5, 233 fn, 234
Arya Samajists, 258, 267
Asa Singh, 532
Asar, Lakshmibas, 358
Asar, Lilavati, 45, 150
Ashram, see satyagraha ashram,
Sabarmati

Asiatic Labour Conference, 530, 531
fn

Asprishyata Nivarak Mandal, 349
Assam Flood Relief Fund, 255 fn, 442
Assembly Bomb Case, 152
Associated Press, 191
Atman , 103, 104, 107, 109, 119, 127,
151; and body, 101, 102, 371-2;
and Brahman, 116; and self, 118,
119; distinction between body
and, 126 and passim
Attachment, 104, 106, 110 fn. 111
fn, 112, 114; actions have to be
without, 98; and sin, 115; free¬
dom from, 107

Aum; and performance of rites of
sacrifice, charity and austerity by
brahmavadins , 132

Aum Tat Sat; a formula of dedica¬
tion of all work to God, 132
Autobiography, 551, 553 fn
Avesta, see zend avesta
Avestana Javahiro, 532 fn
Ayodhyaprasad, 524

Bajaj, Jamnalal, 3, 11, 66, 145, 304,
324, 335, 348, 372, 375 fn, 381, 387,
430, 461, 467, 483
Bal, see kalelkar, Bal
Balfour, 187
Balkrishna, 367

Banarasedas, L., 439
Banerjee, Bhupendra Nath, 528
Banke Dyal, 259

Banker, Shankerlal, 193, 410, 424,
523

Bardoli Agitation, 261

— Inquiry Report, 39-41, 260-1

— Satyagraha, 164, 208-9, 277; a
modest forerunner, 323

Bardoli Satyagrahano Itihas, 344
Bawazir, Imamsaheb, 481, 505
Bechar Bhanji, 238
Benarasidas, 480
Bhagat Singh, 152 fn, 153 jn
Bhagavad Gita, 61, 64, 72, 73, 79 to
81, 90, 92, 95, 97, 98, 102, 103, 105,
115, 122, 133, 135, 148, 170, 177,
178, 194, 206, 209, 328, 404, 436,
468, 469, 475, 519, 521, 543, 568;
and untouchability, 477 ; cannot be
made compulsory in national
schools, 66-7 ; concept of yajrn in,
366; devotion envisaged by, 96 ; dis¬
course summing up the teaching of,
132-3; first acquaintance with, 91;
message of, 93-101 ; not an aphori¬
stic work, 100; not a collection of
Do’s and Don’t’s, 100; not written
to establish ahimsa, 99; perfect
peace as salvation in, 96; self-
realization the object of, 94
Bhagavan, see god
Bhagavandas, Dr,, 463
Bhagawanji, see pandya, Bhagawanji
Bhagini Samaj, 406
Bhagwat, A,K., 393
Bhakti, see devotion
Bhaktibehn, 137

Bhansau, 136, 358, 399, 410, 559,
563, 568

Bhansali, Jaykrishna, 486
Bhanu Prasad, 439
Bhantjshankar, 479

588

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

Bharat Kala Parishad, 500
Bhargava, Dr. Gopichand, 480
Bhargava, Thakurdas, 348
Bhatt, Nanabhai, 48
Bhave, Vinoba, 93, 111 fn, 151, 324,
506

Bhimjibhai, 222, 223
Bhopatkar, 349
Bible, 66, 445, 542
Birla, Basant Kumar, 505
Birla, G.D., 12, 44, 48, 74, 148, 284,
294, 301, 316, 327, 429, 437
Blind, 380-1; emancipation of, 400-2
Body; and atman , 101, 102, 371-2;
and mind, 106, 111, —purity of,
117; and yogic practices, 117; dis¬
tinction between atman and, 126;
eyes are the principal gates of,
115; meant to subserve the highest
end, 129 and passim

— Labour; and sacrifice, 99
Bombay Central Relief Fund, 384
Bondage, 114; freedom from, 97, 102,

105, 106; release from, 124
Borah, 309

Bose, Subhas Chandra, 12, 175, 275,
276, 319

Botha, Gen., 482

Boycott; and khadi, 64-5; of courts
and liquor, 193; of foreign cloth,
42, 64, 172-3, 202, 252, 289-90,
336-7, 353, 502, 547, — and Con¬
gressmen, 29-30, — and produc¬
tion of khadi, 1-3, 4, — intensive
propaganda for, 21, — (a) means
to swaraj, 377, — programme for,
19-20, — swadeshism implied in,
433; of foreign goods, 216; relies
upon conversion, not on compul¬
sion, 452

— Movement, 87, 88; and mill-
owners, 156-8

Bradlaugh, Charles, 37

Brahmabhulas , 178

Brahmacharya , 53, 69, 119, 230/rc, 232,
386, 459, 546; and students, 391;
in relation to one’s wife, 545
Brahman, 103, 105, 112, 115, 116,
119 to 122, 126 to 128, 130,
132, 184, 279; and atman , 116;
as adhyatma and all karma, 120;
nature of, 120-1; neither as being
nor as non-being, 127 and passim
Brahman Maha Sammclan, 258
Brahman Sabiia, 349
Brahmanas, 132
Braynk, 420, 480
Brelvi, 234
Bright, 37

Brijratan HrNou Public Library, 560
Broomfield, 39, 41, 260, 261
Broomfield-Maxwell Report, 333
Buch, Ghandrashankar, 5
Buddha, 143, 465
Budiiabiiai, 454, 525, 526
Bundgaard, Tage, 552
Burke, 37

(The) Calcutta Municipal Gazette, 548,
550

Captain, Perinbehn, 150

Carpenter, Mary, 37

Caste System; many vices current in,

142

Celibacy, 117
Ciiaitanya, 62, 143
Cham an Kavi, 429
Champa, 545
Ciianakya, 76 fn
Ciiandan, 251

Chandiwala, Brijkrislma, 62,146, 520,
533

Ciiandrakant, 293
Ciiarkiia, see spinning-wheel
— Sangiia, 207, 385

index

589

Chatterjee, Ramananda, 17, 19, 36,
38, 179, 287, 334
Chatterji, Principal, 450 fn

Chhaganbhai Pitambardas, 215, 255.
411

Ci-ihatrapati, Hariprasad, 380, 400,
401

Chhatrapati, Dr. Nilkanthrai, 380
Chhaya, Prof., 529
Ghhotelal, 47, 398, 414, 429
Child-marriage(s), 203-4; and un-
touchability, 215-6
Child-widows, 313-4
Chinoy, 74, 75
Chinubhai, 454
Chiranjilal, 411

Chitalia, Karsandas, 380, 398, 405,
406

Choksi, Moti, 180, 186, 269
Ghoksi, Najuklal N., 180, 186, 269
Cholera, 140-1
Choudhry, Gopabandhu, 87
Christ, Jesus, 121 fn, 465, 469
Christian (s), 50, 62, 66, 72, 378,
469, 477, 557; message to, 392
Christian Century , 498
Civil Disobedience, 275
Civilization; spirit of old Indian,
469; Western, 220
Cloth Dealers’ Association, Delhi, 1
Gobden, 37

Compromise Resolution, 228-9
Concentration; better than know¬
ledge, 126
(The) Congress , 193
Congress Bulletin , 152
Congress Members, see congressmen
— Muslim Party, Bombay, 234
Congressmen, 156, 157, 195, 202,
228-9, 259, 303, 377, 379, 423,
432, 470, 478, 539; and boycott
programme, 19, 29-30; and

constructive programme, 20-1; duty

of, in Bulsar, 32; of legislatures,
Motilal Nehru’s appeal to, 42-3
Constructive Programme; and Con¬
gressmen, 20-1
Cornelius, 421
Cotton, Sir Henry, 37
Council(s), 312; entry into, 27;
members resigning their seats in,
228-9; Motilal Nehru’s appeal to
Congress members in, 42-3

— Programme, 378
Cow Exhibition, 493

— Service, 450
Cow-protection, 17, 216-7
Cow-slaughter, 216-7, 450; an un¬
economic proposition, 452

Cows; inquiry into facts and figures
about, 524
Curtis, 445

Dabhi, Fulsimha, 214
Dadachanji, F. K., 532 fn
Dahxbehn, see patel, Dahibehn
Dakshinamurti Bhavan, 48
D aridranarayana , 16, 49, 71, 244, 461
to 463, 477, 505
Das, C.R., 229
Das, Harish Chandra, 510
Das, Jatindra Nath, 528, 534
Das, Sajanikanta, 18
Das Gupta, Hemprabhadevi, 317, 318,
423

Das Gupta, Satis Chandra, 59, 87,
169, 226, 294, 317 to 319, 3%,
423, 512, 540
Dashkroi, 135
Dave, Jugatram, 250
Dayananda, Swami, 143,225, 258,267
Dayaram Topandas, 5
De Silva, O.B», 530
Delusion, 102, 129; and action, 116;
cause for vain distinction, 1§I

590

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

caused by absence of mental and
physical purity, 117; not for yogi,
122

Desai, Dr. Harilal, 306, 308, 316
Desai, Dr. Hariprasad V., 51, 410
Desai, Kusumbehn, 47, 136, 146, 205,
369, 413, 506, 561

Desax, Mahadev, 39, 40, 47, 61, 72,
90 fit, 93, 101/«, 104 fn, 105 fn,
109 fn, 110 fn, 112 fn, 117 fn,
118 fn, 121 fn, 133, 152, 164, 165,
176, 205, 323, 344, 453, 479, 484,
554, 562

Desai, Valji G., 136, 209, 455, 479,
525, 526

Desh Raj, 420, 421, 480
Deshbandhu Khadi Fund, 483
Detachment, 105, 107, 130; and self,
115; as abandonment of fruit of
action, 133; not possible without
spiritual knowledge, 481 and
passim

Dev, Shankarrao S., 262
Devadasi Bill, 337-8
— System, 171; appeal for removal
of, 337-8

Devotion, 97, 100, 104, 123-4, 436,
486; and faith, 96; and knowledge,
95, 96; and reason, 96; and un¬
attached action, 122; and univer¬
sal form of Lord Krishna, 125;
exposition of the secret of, 119;
without skill in action, 124 and
passim

Devsi-iarmaji, 559

Dharana (Concentration) ; as consti¬
tuent of sanyama, 112 fn
Dharma, 54, 55, 69, 72, 130, 144, 234,
404, 445; absolute, ideal, practical
and relative, 449; and ahimsa,
227; and karma, 209; and un-
touchability, 409; of sacrificial
spinners, 207; of volunteers, 466;

with reference to Ashram life,
230-2. See also religion
Dhritarashtra, 101
Dhyana (Meditation) ; as constituent
of sanyama, 112 fn

Diet, 458, 475, 513, 520; and Jains,
210; experiments in, 34-6, 52-4,
59, 135, 146, 148, 163, 180-1,
196-9, 214, 430, 502, —and milk¬
less food, 285-6, 423-4, —and un¬
cooked food, 190, 209 fn, 263-5,
279-80, 306-7, —and use of honey,
210-1, 316, —taking uncooked

food suspended, 299 to 301, 302 fn;
fruitarian and milklcss, 169-70
Dikshit, V.V., 419
Disarmament ; and Kellogg Pact, 153-4
Diwan Giiand, Principal, 458 fn
Dominion Status, 154, 282, 470
Draupadi, 161, 269
Drinking; brought about the destruc¬
tion of Yadavas, 49. See also prohi¬
bition

Dudabhai, 326, 411, 457, 458
Durbar Saiieb, 137, 257
Durrani, F.K., 224-5
Duryodiiana, 522
Dutt, Krishnagopal, 191, 303
Dutta, 152 fn, 153 fn
Duty, 108, 140 and passim
Dyer, Gen., 379

Economics of Khaddar, 219 fn
Education; and removal of vices
among students and teachers, 84-
5; modem system of, 529; primary,
not knowledge of alphabet, 6-7,
—received from mothers, 7, —(a)
sketch of, 7-9; rural, 295-6; self-
supporting, 173-5; should be made
self-sustaining, 71
Eknath, 348

INDEX

591

End; and means, 96, 98
(The) Englishman , 508
Evolution, 99
Excreta; utility of, 446-8

Faith, 114, 119; and Bkagavad Gita ,
100, 101; and devotion, 96; and
reason, 340, 435-6; no service with¬
out, 113; renunciation is test of,
98

Fasting ; and dharma, 291; under¬
taken only against a wrong, 192
Fawcett, 37
Fisher, Frederick B., 503
Fitter, K.A., 532

Flood; in Assam, 243, 287-8, —and
Bengal, 222-3; in Sind, 312, 354,
365-6, —and appeal for funds, 384
— Relief; in Assam, 296
Foreign Cloth, 49, 82, 87, 157, 375,
434, 452, 467, 471, 476; boycott of,
1-3, 19-21, 42, 64, 163, 172-3, 202,
216, 252, 289-90, 336-7, 350, 353,
502, 547, —and mill-owners, 156-
7, — a means to swaraj, 377, —
swadeshism implied in, 433; need
for self-conversion of habitual
wearers of, 23-4

-Boycott Committee, 1, 29,

172-3, 336, 466; facts and figures
collected by, 434-5; programme of,
19-20

-Day, 20

— Goods; burning of, and common
sense, 155

Forgiveness; cultivating the spirit of,
115

Forward , 12
Fox, 37

Fox, George, 278 fn
Fraser, Marjory Kennedy, 498
Free Press of India, 487

Freedom, 239; and action, 110;
and the ascetic, 116; and duty,
101; and self-discipline, 117; and
service, 113; by renunciation of
action, 105; from bondage, 128,
132; from existence, 101

G.I.P. Railway Union, 396
Gauara, 151
Galileo, 516

Gandhi, ChhaganlaJ, 14, 47, 63, 64,

455, 456, 474, 489, 506, 507, 522,
561, 563, 564

Gandhi, Devdas, 47, 62, 146, 205,
300, 370, 376, 475, 488, 514, 565
Gandhi, Harilal, 134 fn, 300
Gandhi, Indira, 235
Gandhi, Jamnabehn, 47, 146, 150,
369, 412

Gandhi, Jamnadas, 399, 453, 535
Gandhi, Kanti, 46, 492, 561, 565, 567
Gandhi, Kashi, 14

Gandhi, Kasturba, 35, 47, 146, 328,
492

Gandhi, Keshu, 13, 148
Gandhi, Maganlal, 11 fn, 13 fn, 148,
150, 208, 342

Gandhi, Manila!, 47, 145, 147, 282,
300, 305, 369, 376, 488, 513
Gandhi, Manu, 440
Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand; and
dispute between Labour Union
and Mill-owners* Association
(Ahmedabad), 270 fa, 370-1;
discontinued ta kin g uncooked
food, 294; drenched in rain and
got fever, 135; on death of Padam
Singh, 134

_Ashram, at Tiruchcagodu 559

Gandhi, Narandas, 60, 358* 399, 430,
413, 425, 427, 429, 444, 456, 479,
489, 523, 535, 561, 563

592

THE COLLECTED WORRS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

Gandhi, Nimu, 282, 300, 370
Gandhi, Prabhudas, 62, 146, 147,

300, 506

Gandhi, Purushottam, 47, 146, 399,
489

Gandhi, Radha, 440
Gandhi, Ramdas, 47, 145, 282, 300,
370

Gandhi, Rasik, 148
Gandhi, Rukhi (Rukmini), 11, 145,
147, 440, 562

Gandhi, Santok, 11, 145, 399, 440,
479

Gandhi, Sushila, 47, 145, 147, 282,
300, 305, 330, 369, 370, 488, 513
Gandhi, Umiya, 440, 506
Ganesan, 137 fn
Ganesan, K., 417
Gangabehn, 507
Gargi, 476
Garibaldi, 389
Gaurang, 348

Gedge, Miss Evelyn, 421, 531
George III, 37
George V, 37

Ghosh, Bhupendra Nath, 528
Ghosh, Prafulla Chandra, 222, 256
Gibbon, 248

Gidwani, Acharya A.T., 5
Gidwani, Choithram, 427
Giri, Maitri, 191
Giriraj, 79, 136, 510, 511, 529
The Gita according to Gandhi , 90 fn ,
101 fn, 104/n

Gita Rahasya , 91 fn, 247, 249
God, 57, 58, 62, 96, 104, 108, 110,
112, 116, 123, 128, 131 to 133,
184, 227, 307, 321, 329, 374, 435,
436, 459, 462, 463, 465, 476, 517-
8; and action, 106, 107; and the
bhakta , 126; and inaage-worship,
292-3; and incarnation, 94; as
birthless and changeless, 120; body

as temple of, 95; directing and
immanent power, 124-5; Doer and
non-Doer, Enjoyer and non-
Enjoyer both, 117; Doer of all ac¬
tions, 111; is no Doer, 115; service
of, through service of mankind,
122

Gokhale, Gopal Krishna, 243
Gokulbi-iai, 407

Golden Rule Foundation, New
York, 503

Good; and evil in Bhagavad Gita, 101
and passim

Gopalrao, Sundaram, 34 to 36, 51,
52, 169, 369, 428, 444
Gopiciiand, Dr., sec bhargava, Dr.
Gopichand

Goraksxiamandal, 63 fn
Goseva Sangiia, 10, 17, 136
Govil, Hari G., 551
Govind, See Gregg, R.B., ,

Govindanand, Swami, 415, 416, 426
Govindji, 328, 474, 520
Govindbabu, 507, 564
Gregg, R.B., 135, 162, 219, 220,
472

Gregg, Mrs. R.B., 162
Grihasthashrama; not meant for indul¬
gence and gratification of the
senses, 386

Guggenham Memorial Foundation,
552 fn

Gujarat Famine Fund, 312
— Flood Relief Fund, 366
Gujarati Grammar, 248
Gunas, 105 to 107, 110, 129; and
prakriti and purusha, 127, 128;

manipulations of, 120 and passim
Gunatita ; description of, 129-30

Hampden, 37
Hand-spinning, 201

INDEX

593

Happy Home for the Blind, Tardeo,

380

Hardikar, Dr., 423
Hardikar, N.S., 422
Haribhai, 48
Harihar, 526
Harinama, 509

Hariprasad, see desai, Dr. Hariprasad
V.

Harishghandra, 493

Harjivan, see kotak, Harjivan

Hasmukhrai, 410, 479

Hastings, Warren, 37

Higginbottom, Prof., 394

Hindhede, M., 502

Hindi, 216; propagation of, 386,

—in Bengal, 411; Tilak’s love for,
248

Hindi Navajivan^Sy 27, 62, 149, 161 fn 9
203, 237, 267, 290, 356, 373,
387, 412

(The) Hindu , 285; interview to, 281-2
Hindu(s), 32, 50, 63, 66, 67, 72, 89,
144, 178, 225, 234, 238, 289, 324,
377, 378, 402 fn> 477, 513, 549,
550; and cow-protection, 217; and
Muslims, 4, 374-5; and untouch-
ability, 3, 4, 348-9; and untouch¬
ables, 335

Hindu Mahasabha, 233 fn, 234,
267, 349

— Scriptures, see shastras
— Society, 325, 477, 494; and un-
touchability, 549; its slavery to
convention, 142; Vedas and mar¬
riages in, 44

Hindu-Muslim Relations, 83, 84,

240 353

___ — Unity, 64, 289, 321, 339, 374,

513 547

Hinduism, 177, 178, 183, 225, 461,
and caste system, 549; and griha-
sthashrama, 386; and Hindu wife

depending on mercy of hex
husband, 493-5; and incarnation,
94; and untouchability, 50, 171,
215, 233-4, 335, 374-5, 460, 477,
497, 549-50; philosophical founda¬
tion of, 549

Hirani, Ramji Jutba, 409
Hirji, 64

History of British Rule (SunderlaTs), 66

Holland, Sir R.E., 332, 333

Holmes, 551

Home, Amal, 550

Hough, Eleanor M., 552

Hume, A.O., 37

Hume, Rev. R.A., 191

Hume, Ruth P., 191

Husain, Zakir, 374, 375 fn

Husband; duty of, 268-9

Hutheesing, Krishna, 13

Idealism; spiritual, and modernism,
220

Idolatry; Mirabehn asked to give up,
78-9; a social evil, 292
Imperishable Unmanifest, brahman
Inaction; and action, 106, 110, 111
Independence; and Lahore Congress,
282

India in Bondage: Her Right to Freedom
(J.T. Sunderland's), 18, 287; said
Rabindranath Tagore, 36-8; pros¬
cription of, 334. See also chatter-
jee, Ramanand

Indian National Congress, 1,21,29,
57, 83, 152, 157, 175, 177, 200,
202, 220, 248, 257, 337, 415, 460,
547 550, 560; accounts of the
Bengal Committee 429-30; AH-
Iadia Committee of, 3,42,43,199,
228-9, 282, 378, 379, 499, — and

Foreign-cloth Boycott Committee,

19-20, —and Triple Constructive

41-38

594

THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI

Programme, 377; and communal
unity, 477; and khadi, 74-5;
and prohibition, 49; Anti-
untouchability Committee of,
335, 348; boycott of, by Sikh
League, 536; Calcutta session of,
and Council-entry, 27; Central
Relief Committee of, 175; Constitu¬
tion of, and Khadi clause, 75;
Gujarat Provincial Committee of,
384,—Resolution of, 28-9; Lahore
session of, 228-9, 563 fn, — and
Independence, 282, — and national
satyagraha, 337, — exhibition at,
457, 479, 480, — Presidentship

of, 281, 303, 305, 487; member¬
ship of, 50, 75; organization of,
353, 537-9, — and foreign-cloth
boycott, 350-1; Presidentship of,
235, 239-41, 379, 482-3, 501; pro¬
gramme of, 216, 478, 482, 483,
— Motilal Nehru on implementa¬
tion of, 42-3; Relief Committee
of, 426; reorganization of, 377;
Utkal Provincial Committee of,
373; Working Committee of, 134,
228-9, 432, 437, — meeting of, 73,
— to consider Council work, 72 fn
Indian Opinion, 76 fn, 146, 186 fn, 369,
553

Indian Princes’ Rule ; consistent with
the evolution of true democracy,
374

Indian Spiritualist Society, Bombay,

383

Indian States Conference, 500
Indians; in Africa, 218-9, —in
Kenya, 382

Indu, see gandhi, Indira
Inner Voice, 139
Ireland, 493
IsHVARLAL, 565
Islam, 225

Jagannath, 421, 480
Jagjivandas, 371, 375, 376, 457; his
efforts in connection with milk
supply to Bombay, 527
Jains, 67; and non-violence, 209-10
J AIR AMD as Doulatram, 1, 336, 419,
427, 480, 529
Jaisuichlal, 567
Jaivardhan J AIR AMD AS, 530
Janaka, 97

Jangabaiiadur Singh, 236 fn
Jasani, Nanalal, 33, 251
Jatin, 453

Jayakar, M. R., 40, 254, 319
Jayanti, 523

Jayaprakasii Narayan, 81, 170, 206,
283, 301

Jerajani, Vithaldas, 22, 150,208, 408,
423

Jetiialal Govindji, see sampat,
Jcthalal Govindji
Jethalal Virji, 254 fi
Jews, 378, 549
Jiia, Ganga Nath, 531
Jhaveri, Revashanker Jagjivan, 242,
257, 329, 347

Jinnah, Mohmed Ali, 256, 289, 319
Jiva, 127; and prakriti, 131; and Siva,
128; the Vital Essence, 119
Jivanmuktas, 496
Jnanayoga, 105
Jnanesiivar, 348

Josiii, Chhaganlal, 34, 45, 61, 63, 79,
90>, 135, 151, 236, 254, 299, 327,
358, 369, 371, 375, 376, 388, 397,
410, 412, 413, 424, 425, 427, 441,
443, 444, 451, 454 to 457, 474,
478, 481, 483, 489, 492, 507, 519,
522, 524, 534, 544, 547, 555, 559,
561, 563, 564, 567, 568
Josiii, Ishwarlal, 559
Josiii, Jethalal, 136, 189, 214
Joshi, Mohan, 134

INDEX

Jugalkishore, Acharya, 158
Justice ; in Indian courts, 430-2

Kabir, 143, 348

Kaki, see kalelkar, Mrs. D.B.

Kalakankar, Raja of, 315

Kalelkar, Bal, 443

Kalelkar, D.B., 46, 73, 79, 80, 93,

133, 152, 187, 206, 207, 295, 300,

328, 343, 367, 410, 523
Kalelkar, Mrs. D.B., 523, 535, 536,

562, 564
Kalpaka, 395
Kamala, 387
Kannoomal, 418
Kantak, Premabehn, 372, 440
Kapadwanj Seva Sangh, 293 fn
Karma, 112, 115, 130; and Brahman,

120; and dharma, 209 and passim.

Internet Archive Audio

Featured

Top

Images

Featured

Top

Software

Featured

Top

Books

Featured

Top

Video

Featured

Top

Mobile Apps

Browser Extensions

Archive-It Subscription

Save Page Now

Full text of "The Collected Works Of Mahatma Gandhi Vol-Xli"

See other formats