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TEACHINGS 
MAHATMA  GAN1HI 


He  look*  into  the  future  of  h'n   pnp\:  *>    t'sitly    a 
the  mysteries  of  the  human  mine/* 


he 


TEACHINGS 

OF 

MAHATMA   GANDHI 


EDITED    BY 

JAG  PARVESH  CHANDER 

WITH  A  FOREWORD    BY 

Dr.  RAJENDRA  PRASAD 

EX-PRESIDENT,    THE   INDIAN   NATIONAL    CONGRESS 


THE   INDIAN  PRINTING  WORKS 

KACHERI  ROAD  LAHORE 

Price  Rs.  /<?/-/- 


By  the  same  author, 

ETHICS  OF  FASTING 

TAGORE  AND  GANDHI  ARGUE 

GANDHI  AGAINST  FASCISM 

THE    UNSEEN  POWER 

GITA  THE  MOTHER 

THE  GOOD  LIFE 

THE  CONGRESS  CASE 

THE  PENSIVE  MOOD  (A  Collection  of  Poems) 


COPYRIGHTS    RESERVED    BY    THE    PUBLISHERS. 


Printtd  and  Published  ty  Mr,  Narain  Das  Kumar  at  the  Indian  Printing  Works 
Kaeheri  Ryd,  Lahore  :  Irt  Edition,  Sfpttmbir  1945. 


•    •    •    •    •    Foreword 

CURING   the  last  forty  years  or  more  of  his  most? 

'  busy  and  eventful  life,  Mahatma  Gandhi  has 
spoken  much,  and  written  a  great  deal,  on  a  large 
variety  of  subjects  of  great  interest  and  importance  to 
India  and  to  the  world  at  large.  His  writings  and  the 
reports  of  his  speeches  are  enshrined  in  the  columns 
of  newspapers  and  particularly  of  the  weeklies  which 
he  has  conducted.  It  is  difficult  to  find  out  his  views 
on  a  particular  subject  without  reference  to  old  files 
which  are  not  easily  available.  Only  some  of  his 
writings  have  been  published  in  book  form,  e.  g.,  My 
Experiments  with  Truth  and  Satyagraha  in  South  Africa. 
His  articles  in  Toung  India  were  published  in  3  volumes 
by  Mr.  S.  Ganesan.  His  speeches  have  also  been 
collected  and  published  by  Mr,  G.  Natcsan  But  all 
these  publications  are  out  of  date  as  they  were  publish- 
ed  several  years  ago.  Since  then  a  great  deal  more 
has  been  written 

Gandhiji  is  a  growing  personality  and  he  has 
never  allowed  himself  to  be  a  slave  of  consistency. 
His  latest  views  on  any  subject  are  therefore  $f 
great  importance  to  the  oublic.  Thev  are  not  easih 


6  FOREWORD 

available  in  a  handy  form.  Sjt.  Jag  Parvesh  Chander 
has  attempted  to  collect  together  his  writings  under 
appropriate  headings  in  a  chronological  order  in  this 
book.  One  can  at  a  glance  get  at  Gandhiji's  views 
on  a  particular  subject  and  see  the  development  of 
his  thoughts  on  that  subject  as  disclosed  in  his  own 
words  in  his  writings. 

The  book  will  prove  of  immense  help  to  any  seri- 
ous student  of  Gandhian  literature  as  a  book  of  refer- 
ence. That  Gandhiji  covers  a  vast  variety  of  subjects 
is  apparent  from  the  fact  that  the  book  contains  more 
than  340  headings  under  which  his  writings  and 
speeches  are  divided. 

The  compiler  has  devoted  much  time  and 
labour  and  I  hope  his  labours  will  be  appreciated  by 
the  public. 

RAJENDRA  PRASAD 


.    .    •    *  Introduction 

>HEN  man  forsakes  the  sacred  and  ancient  path 
of  Truth,  and  in  the  insolence  of  his 
evanescent  power  desecrates  all  that  is  holy  and  of  a 
permanent  value  in  the  land,  God  the  Merciful 
and  Jealous  Custodian  of  Right  sends  His  personal 
messengers  to  reinstate  in  the  human  breast  the 
eternal  and  fundamental  things  that  constitute  the 
greatness  of  Man.  And  these  are  the  things  that 
differentiate  him  from  the  beast  who  only  obeys  the 
law  of  the  jungle.  The  Creator,  through  His  inscrutable 
ways,  sees  that  man  must  remain  a  man  and  fulfil  btfs 
destined  mission.  The  purpose  that  lies  behind  this 

division  between  man  and  beast  must  be  realized. 

*      ~_ 
;    ^    These  prophets,  who  are  the  pride  of  the  age   in 

Which  they  are  born,  hold  communion  with  their  Master. 
The  divine  message  they  interpret  through  their 
intellect  and  translate  it  in  the  customary  human  langu- 
age for  the  benefit  of  the  world.  They  practise  in  their 
own  lives  what  they  preach  to  others.  They  keep 
aloft  and  burning  the  flame  of  Righteousness  amidst 
the  "encircling  gloom"  of  Greed,  Selfishness  and 
Expediency. 

The  twentieth  century  in  a  way  has  been  the 
blackest  chapter  m  the  history  of  mankind.  Violence 
has  been  the  guiding  star  of  modern  times.  Exploi- 
tatipii-  is  "the  nftt  &t ticl&  6f  faith  of  the  ruling  powers, 
Id  thii1  a^e^of  the's^-caUM  freedom,  a  major  portion 
'  population  is!  held  in  abjedt  slavery-. 


8  INTRODUCTION 

God  wanted  man  to  be  free  and  live  on  the 
basis  of  perfect  equality.  But  that  was  not  to  be. 
The  powers  that  were  given  to  man  for  nobler  purposes 
were  misused.  Intelligence  with  which  man  was 
blessed  was  wholly  used  in  a  way  that  negatived 
the  ambition  of  God.  Realising  the  hideous  sins 
that  man  was  committing,  God  sent  Gandhiji  to  warn 
the  misguided  ;  reform  the  wrong-doer  and  lead  the 
miscreants  to  the  right  path. 

To-day  the  world  may  not  admit  but  Gandhiji  is 
indisputably  the  latest  in  the  glorious  and  glittering 
line  of  the  prophets.  His  life  is  a  heritage  of  all  the 
good  that  his  predecessors  said  and  did.  The  earlier 
prophets  were  maligned  as  impostcrs  ;  their  teachings 
were  reviled  as  the  odd  fancies  of  an  obsessed  mind. 
They  were  persecuted,  stoned  and  even  crucified. 
Such  is  the  tragedy  of  life  !  Such  is  the  reward  that 
mankind  offers  to  its  guides,  friends  and  well-wishers  ! 
Gandhiji  too  has  suffered  much  at  the  hands  of  his 
cl  foes." 

But  undaunted  by  physical  tortures  the  prophets 
preach  the  divine  gospel  ;  unmindful  of  calumny  they 
work  for  the  uplift  of  those  who  besmear  the  dew-like 
purity  of  their  lives  ;  unconcerned  with  the  seeming 
failure  of  their  mission,  they  pursue  their  work  with  a 
zeal  that  baffles  the  critic. 

Posterity  repents  for  the  sins  committed  against 
them  and  spontaneously  enshrines  their  sublime  teach* 
ings  in  the  imperishable  Book  of  Life. 

Look  at  the  sufferings  of  Christ  and  look  at  the 
popularity  of  the  Bible  !  When  he  was  crucified,  the 
cross  became  a  symbol  of  the  fulfilment  of  the  spirit  of 


INTRODUCTION  9 

retribution.  To-day  the  Cross  is  worn  next  to  the 
heart.  It  serves  as  a  reminder  of  his  gospel.  The 
Cross  to  the  Christians  is  as  dear  as  the  heart  itself. 
Not  a  trumpet  was  beaten  and  not  a  bugle  was  blown 
to  honour  his  selfless  service.  But  to-day  millions  of 
bells  toll  from  the  belfry  storeys  in  the  praise  of  the 
Great  Teacher.  No  dirge  was  sung  at  his  funeral 
procession  but  to-day  every  Sunday  the  jubilant  air 
re-echoes  melodiously  the  soft  and  soothing  ntusic  of 
the  hymns  sung  to  invoke  the  mercy  of  Christ. 

To  me  at  least,  Gandhiji  is  as  big  a  prophet  as 
Christ  was,  or  for  that  matter  any  other  prophet.  It 
has  been  my  cherished  wish  to  condense  his  inspired 
thoughts  in  a  handy  book.  No  other  prophet  has 
written  or  spoken  so  much  as  Gandhiji  has  done.  The 
circumstances  in  which  he  is  living  have  forced  him 
to  do  so.  The  complexity  of  modern  life  demanded 
his  tackling  the  intricate  problems  that  face  mankind. 

For  an  ordinary  busy  man  engrossed  in  his  daily 
routine  work,  it  is  physically  impossible  to  acquaint 
himself  with  Gandhiji's  views  on  a  particular  subject. 
First,  even  the  Toung  India  and  the  Harijan  files  are  not 
available  in  the  market,  let  alone  the  expense  involved 
in  buying  them.  Secondly,  even  if  one  could  borrow 
from  a  friend,  the  difficulty  of  collecting  his  ideas  on 
any  subject  is  overwhelming.  So  much  so  that  one's 
enthusiasm  and  energy  needed  for  the  research  work 
will  vanish  by  the  time. 

Taking  these  facts  under  consideration  I  took 
upon  myself  the  task  of  classifying  Gandhiji's  writings 
and  speeches  under  different  heads  and  arrange  them 
alphabetically.  In  this  book  the  reader  has  just  to 


10  INTRODUCTION 

look  at  the  Contents  and  then  turn  over  to  the  particular 
pages  and  he  has  before  him  the  choicest  wisdotp  of 
Gandhiji. 

I  have  taken  utmost  care  to  avoid  repetition  of 
his  views.  The  best  and  the  most  necessary  quotations 
and  articles  are  given.  Selection  has  been  done  with 
devotion  and  pruning  with  diligence. 

The  book  has  a  unique  reference  value  and  is  in- 
dispensable both  to  his  admirers  and  critics. 

I  thank  Mr.  K.  L.  Chopra,  B.  A.,  one  of  the 
Managers  of  the  Bharat  Insurance  Co.  Ltd.,  Lahore 
for  helping  me  in  editing  some  of  the  portions  of  this 
book.  Though  he  is  an  insurance  man  primarily, 
he  has  an  acute  sense  of  discrimination  in  choosing 
and  placing  the  right  passage  in  its  fight  place. 

JAG  PARVESH  GRANDER 


CONTENTS 


ABUSE 

ACTION 

ADAPTABILITY 

ADORATION 

ADULTERY 


17 
17 
18 
18 
18 


ADVERTISE  M  E  N  T  S 

IMMORAL  ...   19 

AGITATION  ...  20 

ANGER  ...  20 

ANARCHY  ...  21 

ANGLO-INDIANS         ...  22 
ANIMALS  ...  23 

ANIMAL  SACRIFICES     25 
ART  ...  25 

B 

BEAUTY  ...  30 

BEGGARY  ...  30 

BHANGI  ...  31 

BIRTH  AND  DEATH  ...  34 
BIRTHS      AND      R  E- 

BIRTHS  ...  34 

BIRTH  CONTROL       ...  34 
BLUNT  NESS  ...  39 

BOYCOTT  OF  BRITISH 
.    GOODS  ...  39 

BRAHAMACHARYA    ...  40 
BRAVERY  ...  52 

BREAD-LABOUR  ...  53 

BRITISH  EMPIRE        ...  58 
BRITISH    GOVERN- 
MENT ...  59 
BRITISH       POLITICAL 
INSTITUTIONS        ...  60 


BRITISH  RULE  IN  INDIA  61 
'BUDDHISM  ...  64 

BUREAUCRACY  ...  67 

BUSSINESS  ...  68 

C 

CALAMITY  ...*69 

CAPITAL        AND 

LABOUR  ...  69 

CASTE  AND  VARNA...  70 
CAUSE  ...  72 

CEREMONIES  ...  72 

CHAOS  VS.  MISRULE     73 
CHARACTER  ...  74 

^CHARKHA  ...  77 

CHIVALRY  ...  84 

CHILDREN  ...  85 

CHRISTIANITY  ...  85 

CIVIL  DISOBEDIENCE    89 
CIVILITY  ...  92 

CLASS  WAR  ...  92 

CLEANLINESS  ...  93 

COERCION  ...  95 

COMMONSE\TSE  ...  96 

'COMMUNISM  ...  96 

COMMUNAL  PACTS...   104 
COMPLEXION  ...   104 

COMPROMISE  ...   104 

CONGRESS 
CONSCIENCE 
CONSISTENCY  ...  116 

CONSTITUENT 

ASSEMBLY  ...   117 

CONS  T  R  U  C  T  I  V  E 

PROGRAMME         ...  121 
CONTENTMENT        ...  128 


...  107 
...   114 


12 


TEACHINGS    OF   MAHATMA    GANDHI 


CONVERSION  ...   129 

CONVICTIONS  ...  130 

COUNCILS  ...   131 

COURAGE  ...  132 

COURTESY  ...  13,3 

COW        *  .-  133 

COWARDICE  ...  136 

CREED  ...   137 

CRITICISM  ...  138 

CROWD— INDIAN  ...  139 

CULTURE  ...   139 

CUNNING  ...  140 

CUSTOM  ...  140 

D 

DARSHAN  ...  140 

DEATH  ...  140 

DEATH  DUTIES  ...  144 
DEATH  SENTENCE  ...  145 

DEBT  ...   145 

DECEPTION  ...  145 

DEFEAT  ...  145 

"DEMOCRACY  ...  146 

DHURNA  ...  152 

DIAGNOSIS  ...   153 

DIFFERENCES  ...  153 
DISEASE                    *...  153 

DISCIPLINE  ...   153 
DIVIDE  AND  RULE...   155 

DOUBT  ...  156 

DOWRY  SYSTEM  ...   156 

DRINK  EVIL  ...   156 

DUMB  MILLIONS  ...  161 

DtfTY  ...  161 


EAST  AND  WEST  ...  164 

EATING  ...  163 

ECONOMICS  ...  163 

EDUCATION  ...  177 


EFFORT  ...  187 

EMBARRASSMENT  ...   188 

ENGLISHMEN  ...   133 

ERROR  ...   190 

EVIL  ...   195 

EXAGGERATION  ...   195 

EXERCISE  ...   196 

EXPEDIENCY  ...   196 

EXPERIMENTS  ...   196 

EXPLOITATION  ...   196 

F 

FAITFI  ...   197 

FASTING  ...  202 

FATE  ...  216 

FAULTS  ...  216 

FEAR  ...  217 

FOREIGN  CLOTH  ...  217 

FORGIVENESS  ...  221 
FOREIGN       MEDIUM 

OF  INSTRUCTION     222 

FRANKNESS  ...  225 

, FRAUD  ...  225 

FREEDOM  ...  226 

'FREEDOM  OF  INDIA  227 

FREE  TRADE  ...  235 

FRIENDSHIP  ...  235 

G 

GAMBLING  ...  238 

GANDHISM  ...  239 

GANDHIJI  LOOKS  AT 

HIMSELF  ...  240 

GENERALISATION  ...  243 

GENEROSITY  ...  244 

GITA  ...  244 

NGOD  ...  264 

^GOONDAISM  ...  282 

GOVERNMENT  OF 

INDIA  ...  282 

GRANTH  SAHIB  283 


CONTENTS 


13 


GREED 
GURU 


284 
284 


H 


HABIT  ...  286 

HARTAL  ...  286 

HELP  ...  286 

HEPLESSNESS  ...  287 

HIMALAYAS  ...  287 

HINDUISM  ...  287 
HINDU-MUSLIM 

UNITY  ...  297 

HINDUSTANI  ...  302 

HONOUR  ...  303 

HOPE  ...  303 

HUMAN  NATURE  ...  304 

HUMULITY  ...  305 
HUMA  N I  T  A  R  I A  N- 

ISM  ...  308 

HUMOUR  ...  308 

HUNGER  STRIKE  ...  309 


IDEAL  ...  310 

IDLENESS  ...  311 

IDOL- WORSHIP         ...  311 
[MITATION  ...  313 

IMPRISONMENT       ...  313 
INDIA  ...  315 

INDIA  N  C  I  V  I  L 

SERVICE  ...  316 

INDIAN  CT  V  I  L  I  Z  A- 

TION  ...  317 

INDIAN  STATES        ...  318 
INDIVIDUAL   FREE- 
DOM ...  321 
IN  DUSTR  1 A  L  1- 

ZATION  ...  321 

INERTIA  ...  325 


INNER  VOICE  ...  325 

INSTINCT  ...  326 

INTER-DEPEN  D- 

ENCE  ...  326 

INSURANCE  ...  327 

INTENTIONS  ...  327 

INTER-DINING  ...  327 

'ISLAM  ...  329 

INSTITUTIONS  ...  332 

I 

JAILS  ...  333 
JESUS  CHRIST  ...  335 

JEWELLERY  ...  337 

JOURNALISM  ...  338 
JURIES— TRIAL  BY  ...  338 

JUSTICE  ...  339 


'KARMA— LAW  OF    ...  340 

K1SAN  SABHAS          ...  342 

'KHADDAR  ...  343 


LANGUAGE  ...  345 

LAW  ...  347 

LAWYLRS  ...  347 

LAW  COURTS  ...  348 

LEADERS  ...  349 

LIBERTY  ...  350 

LIFE  ...  351 

LOVE  ...  351 

M 

MAHATMASHIP  ...  354 

MAN  ...  355 

MANLINESS  ...  358 

MANNERS  ...  359 

MARRIAGE  ...  359 


14 


TEACHINGS   OF   MAHATMA   GANDHI 


MASSES  ...  367 

MEANS_A.ND  END      ...  369 
MEASURES  BE  F  O  R  E 

MEN  ...  370 

MEETINGS  ...  371 

MINORITY    AND 

MAJORITY  ...  371 

MOBS  ...  373 

MODERN  CIVILIZA- 
TION ...  374 
MOKSHA  ...  375 
MONEY  ...  378 
MONEY  GIFTS  ...  379 
MONOTONY  ...  379 
MORALITY  ...  379 
MORAL  AUTHORITY  380 
MOTIVE  ...  380 
MUNICIPALITIES  ...  381 

N 

NATION  ...  382 

NATIONALISM  VS.  IN- 
TERNATIONALISM ...  382 
NATIONAL  DRESS     ...  383 
NATIONAL  FLAG       ...383 
NATIONAL   SER- 
VICE ...  384 
NATURE                     ...  385 
NOBILITY                 *...  385 
NON-CO-OPERA- 
TION                       ...  385 
NON-VIOLENCE        ...  404 

O 

OATH 

OPPONENTS 

OBSTINACY 

OPTIMISM 

ORGANISATION 


PAKISTAN 


423 
425 
426 
426 
427 

429 


PANIC  ...  438 
PASSIONS  ...  438 
PARTIES  ...  439 
PATIENCE  ...  439 
PATRIOTISM  ...  440 
'PEACE  ...  441 
PENANCE  ...  422 
PERFECTION  ...  442 
PERSEVERANCE  ...  442 
PETITION  WRITING  442 
PICKETING  ...  443 
PLAIN  SPEAKING  ...  444 
POLICY  ...  444 
POLITICS  ...  445 
POLITICAL  POWER...  446 
POLITICS  VS.  RELI- 
GION ...  446 
POVERTY  ...  447 
.POWER  ...  450 
PRAYER  ...  450 
PREACHING  ...  464 
PRINCIPLE  ...  464 
PRIESTS  ...  465 
PROGRESS  ...  465 
PROMISE  ...  467 
PROPAGANDA  ...  468 
PROSTITUTION  ...  468 
PROVINCIALISM  ...  470 
PUBLIC  FUND  ...  470 
PUBLI  C  I  N  S  T  I  T  U- 

TIONS  ...  471 

PUBLIC  OPINION  ...  472 

PUBLIC   WORKERS  ...  473 

PUNCTUALITY  ...  474 

PUNISHMENT  ...  474 

PURITY  ...  474 


QUALITY  VS.  QUANTI- 
TY ...  474 


GONTEITTS 


If) 


R 

RAMRAJ 

SEASON 

REBELLION 

REFORMER 

REGULARITY 


475 
476 
476 
477 
477 

—  77 

RELIC  ION  AND  REAS- 

ON ...  484 

RELIGIOUS  NEUTRAL- 


ITY ...  485 

REPENTANCE  ...  485 

REPRESSION  ...  485 

RESOLUTIONS  ...  486 

RETREAT  ...  486 

REVENGE  ...  4:6 

RICHES  ...  486 

RIDICULE  ...  487 

RIGHT  ...  487 


SACRIFICE  ...  488 

SATIHOOD  ...  491 

SATYAGRAHA         ...  492 
SCHOOLS  ...  503 

SCIENCE  ...  504 

SCORTCHED   EARTH 

POLICY  ...  505 

SCRIPTURES  ...  506 

SECTION  124-A  ...  506 

SELF-CONFIDENCE  ...  507 
SELF-EVOLUTION  ...  507 
SELF-HELP  AND 
MUTUAL  HELP  ...  507 
SELF-INTEREST  ...  508 
SELF-PURIFICATION  508 
SELF-REALIZATION...  509 
SELF-RESPECT  ...  510 

SEPARATE      ELECTO- 
RATES ...    510 


SERVICE  ...  511 
SHRADAHA    C  E  R  E- 

MONIES  ...  511 
SILENCE  ...  511 
SIN  ...  517 
SLAVERY  ...  518 
SMOKING  ...  520 
SOCIAL  BOYCOTT  ...  521 
SOCIAL  REFORM  ...  522 
SOCIAL  WORK  ...  523 
SPEECHES  ...  524 
SPEED  ...  524 
SPIRITS  ...  524 
SPIRITUALISM  ...  525 
STATE  ...  526 
STRENGTH  ..,  528 
STRIKES  ...  528 
1  STUDENTS  ...  529 
1  STUDENTS  AND  POLI- 
TICS ...  530 
SUBMISSION  ...  532 
SUFFERING  ...  532 
SUICIDE  ...  533 

SUSPICION  ...  535 

"SWADESHI  ...  535 

'SWARAJ  ...  540 


TAKLI 

TEMPLES 

TEMPTATION 

THOUGHTS 

TRUSTEESHIP 

TRUTH 


545 
545 
548 
549 
551 
351 


TUDSIDAS    RAMAY— 

ANA  ...  562 

U 

UNEMPLOYMENT  ...  565 
UNITARY  METHOD...  566 
UNTOUCHABILITY...  566 


1C 


TEACHINGS    OF   MAHATMA   GANDHI 


V 

VACCINATION 

573 

WICKEDNESS 
WIDOWHOOD 

598 
599 

VARNASHRAM  A 

WILL  POWER 

600 

DHARMA 

574 

WISDOM 

... 

600 

VEGETARIANISM     ... 

581 

'WOMAN 

.  .  . 

601 

VESTED  INTEREST  ... 

583 

WORK 

.  .  . 

610 

VICE 

584 

WORKING    COMMIT- 

VILLAGES 

584 

TEE 

610 

VIOLENCE 

585 

WORRY 

611 

l^ij^XUE  

587 

WRONG 

612 

VOTERS 

587 

Y 

VOWS 

w 

588 

YAJNA  OR  SACRIFICE 

612 

WESTERN     CIVILIZA 

t 

Z 

TION 

597 

TO  THE 

ZAMINDARS 

617 

TEACHINGS 

OF 

MAHATMA  GANDHI 


Abuse 

WE  should  meet  abuse  by  forbearance.  Human 
nature  is  so  constituted  that  if  we  take  absolutely  no  notice 
of  anger  or  abuse,  the  person  indulging  in  it  will  soon 
weary  of  it  and  stop.  — Toung  India  :  Nov.  26,  1928. 

<S>    <$>    <3> 

SUPPOSING  some  one  showers  abuse  on  us,  what  shall 
we  do  ?  We  will  not  ask  him  to  be  quiet,  but  will  shut  our 
own  ears.  Supposing  someone  calls  me  names,  shall  I  go 
to  his  house  and  receive  more  abuse  ?  I  wonder  if  you 
know  the  statute  of  the  three  monkeys  in  Kobe.  It  represents 
three  monkeys  with  closed  ears,  closed  mouth,  and  closed 
eyes,  eloquently  teaching  the  world  to  hear  no  evil,  to 
speak  no  evil,  and  to  see  no  evil.  — Hanjan  :  March  2,  1940. 

Action 

ALL  action  in  this  world  has  some  drawback 
about  it.  It  is  man's  duty  and  privilege  to  reduce  it,  and  while 
living  in  the  midst  of  it,  to  remain  untouched  by  it  as  much 
as  it  is  possible  for  him  to  do  so.  To  take  an  extreme 
instance,  there  can  perhaps  be  no  greater  contradiction  in 
terms  than  a  compassionate  butcher.  And  yet  it  is  possible 

17 


18         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

even  for  a  butcher  if  he  has  any  pity  in  him.  In  fact  I 
have  actually  known  butchers  with  gentleness  that  one 
would  hardly  expect  from  them.  The  celebrated  episode 
of  Kaushik  the  butcher  in  the  Mahabharata  is  an  instance  in 
point.  — Toung  India  :  Aug.  1,  1929. 

Adaptability 

ADAPTABILITY  is  not  imitation.     It 
means  power  of  resistance  and  assimilation. 

—Toung  India  :  Oct.  7,  1926. 

Adoration 

BLIND  adoration,  in  the  age  of  action  is 
perfectly  valueless,  is  often  embarrassing  and  equally  often 
painful.  — Toung  India  :  June  12,  1924. 

Adultery 

WHERE  there  is  a  non-violent  atmosphere, 
where  there  is  the  constant  teaching  of  ahimsa,  woman  will 
not  regard  herself  as  dependent,  weak  or  helpless.  She  is  not 
really  helpless  when  she  is  really  pure.  Her  purity  makes  her 
conscious  of  her  strength.  I  have  always  held  that  it  is 
physically  impossible  to  violate  a  woman  against  her  will. 
The  outrage  takes  place  only  when  she  gives  way  to  fear  or 
does  not  realise  her  moral  strength.  If  she  cannot  meet  the 
assailant's  physical  might,  her  purity  will  give  her  the 
strength  to  die  be/ore  he  succeeds  in  violating  her.  Take 
the  case  of  Sita.  Physically  she  was  a  weakling  before 
Ravana,  but  her  purity  was  more  than  a  match  even  lor 
his  giant  might.  He  tried  to  win  her  with  all  kinds  of 
allurements  but  could  not  carnally  touch  her  without  her 
consent.  On  the  other  hand,  if  a  woman  depends  on  her 
own  physical  strength  or  upon  a  weapon  she  possesses,  she 
is  sure  to  be  discomfited  whenever  her  strength  is  exhausted. 

—Harijan :  Jan.  14,  1940. 
<^    <^    ^ 

IT  is  my  firm  conviction  that  a  fearless  woman  who 
knows  that  her  purity  is  her  best  shield  can  never   be  dis- 


ADULTERY  19 

honoured.  However  beastly  the  man,  he  will  bow  In  shame 
before  the  flame  of  her  dazzling  purity, 

—Harijan:  March  1,  1942. 

<$><$>    <$> 

A  WOMAN  is  worthy  of  condemnation  only  when 
she  is  a  willing  party  to  her  dishonour.  In  no  case  are 
adultery  and  criminal  assault  synonymous  terms. 

—Harijan  :  March  1,  1942. 

<$><$><$> 

GOD  will  protect  their  honour.  When,  as  if  to  mock 
man,  her  natural  protectors  became  helpless  to  prevent 
Draupadi  from  being  denuded  of  her  last  piece  of  cloth,  the 
power  of  her  own  virtue  preserved  her  honour.  And  so 
will  it  be  to  the  end  of  time.  Even  the  weakest  physically 
have  been  given  the  ability  to  protect  their  Ovvn  honour. 
Let  it  be  man's  privilege  to  protect  woman,  but  let  no 
woman  of  India  feel  helpless  in  the  absence  of  mm  or  in 
the  event  of  his  failing  to  perform  the  sacred  duty  of  pro* 
tecting  her.  One  who  knows  how  to  die  need  never  fear 
any  harm  to  her  or  his  honour. 

—Young  India  :  Dec.  15,  192 1. 

<$>    <$>    <S> 

A  GII^L  who  rather  than  give  her  living  body  to  a 
would-be  ravisher  presents  him  with  her  corpse,  confounds 
him  and  dies  a  heroine's  death.  Hers  is  a  stout  heart  in  a 
frail  body.  —Harijan :  July  13,  1940 

Advertisements-Immoral 

I  DO  from  the  botom 

of  my  heart  detest  these  advertisements.  I  do  hold  that  it  is 
wrong  to  conduct  newspapers  by  the  aid  of  these  immoral 
advertisements.  I  do  believe  that  if  advertisements  should 
be  taken  at  all  there  should  be  a  rigid  censorship  instituted 
by  newspaper  proprietors  and  editors  themselves  and  that 
only  healthy  advertisements  should  be  taken.  The  evil  of 
ioanaQral  advertisements  is  overtaking  even  what  are  known 


20  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

as  the  iftost  respectable  newspapers  and  magazines.  That 
evil  has  to  be  combated  by  refining  the  conscience  of  the 
newspaper  proprietors  and  editors.  That  refinement  can 
come  not  through  the  influence  of  an  amateur 
editor  like  myself  but  it  will  come  when  their  own  con- 
science is  roused  to  recognition  of  the  growing  evil  or  when 
it  is  super-imposed  upon  them  by  a  government  represent- 
ing the  people  and  caring  for  the  people's  morals. 

—Toung  India  :  March  25,  1926. 

Agitation 

AGITATION  means  no  more  than 
movement  towards  something.  But  just  as  all  movement 
does  not  mean  progress,  so  does  an  agitation  not  mean 
success.  Undisciplined  agitation  which  is  a  paraphrase  of 
violence  of  speech  or  deed,  can  only  retard  national  growth 
and  bring  about  even  unmerited  retribution  such  as  the 
Jallianwala  Bagh  Massacre.  Disciplined  agitation  is  the 
condition  of  national  growth.  — Young  India  :  Dec.  31,  1919. 

<3>    <$>    <3> 

WELL-ORDERED,   persistent   agitation    is  the  soul 
of  healthy  progress.  — Toung  India:  Oct.  20,  1927. 

Anger 

ANGER  is  sort  of  madness  and  the  noblest 
causes  have  been  -damaged  by  advocates  affected  with 
temporary  lunacy.  — Toung  India  :  Sept.  27,  1919. 

<s>  <$>  <s> 

'CONQUER  anger,'  says  Lord  Buddha,  'by  non-anger  J 
But  what  is  that  'non-anger7  ?  It  is  a  positive  quality  and 
means  the  supreme  virtue  of  charity  or  love.  You  must  be 
roused  of  this  supreme  virtue  which  must  express  itself  in 
your  going  to  the  angry  man,  ascertaining  from  him  the 
cause  of  his  anger^,  Baking  amends  if  you  have  given  any 
cause  for  offence  and  then  bringing  home  to  him  the  error  of 
his  vay  and  convincing  him  that  it  is  wrong  to  be  provoked. 


ANGER  21 

This  consciousness  of  the  quality  of  the  soul,  and  deliberate 
exercise  of  it  elevate  not  only  the  man  but  the  surrounding 
atmosphere.  Of  course  only  he  who  has  that  love  will 
exercise  it.  This  love  can  certainly  be  cultivated  by  inces- 
sant striving.  — Young  India  :  June  12,  1928. 

<$><$>  <$> 

I  DO  sometimes  become  extremely  angry  with  myself 
but  I  also  pray  to  be  delivered  from  that  devil  and  ,  G3d  has 
given  me  power  to  suppress  my  anger. 

—Young  India  :  Nov.  12,  1931. 

<$>    <S>    <3> 

(£.    You  have  the  reputation  of  never  being  angry.    Is  that  true  ? 

A.  It  is  not  that  I  do  not  get  angry.  I  do  not  give 
vent  to  anger.  I  cultivate  the  quality  of  patience  as  anger- 
lessness,  and  generally  speaking  succeed.  But  I  only  control 
my  anger  when  it  comes.  How  I  find  it  possible  to  control 
it  would  be  a  useless  question,  for  it  is  a  habit  that  everyone 
must  cultivate  and  must  succeed  in  forming  by  constant 
practice.  — Harijan:  May  1,  1935. 

<£>   <S>   <$> 

I  KNOW  to  banish  anger  altogether  from  one's  breast 
is  a  difficult  task.  It  cannot  be  achieved  through  pure, 
personal  effort.  It  can  be  done  only  by  God's  grace. 

—Harijan :  Nov.  19,  1938. 

<$>  <$>  <$> 

HE  who  trifles  with  truth  cuts  at  the  root  of  ahirnsa. 
He  who  is  angry  is  guilty  of  ahimsa. 

—Young  India  :  Oct.  21,  1926. 

<s>  <$>  <$> 

ANGER  and  intolerance  are  the  twin  enemies  of 
correct  understanding,  — Harijan :  June  7,  1942. 

Anarchy 

THOUGH  anarchy    is    every    time  better 
than  slavery  it  is   a  state  which   I  would  not  only    hive 


2£  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

no  hand  in  consciously  bringing  into  being  but  which  I  am 
by  nature  unfitted  to  bring  about. 

—Young  India  :  Aug.  27,  1925. 
3>    <$>    <$> 

Anglo-Indians 

THOUGH   you     have    got   Indian. 

blood  of  which  you  need  be  proud  —  you  need  not  be 
ashamed  of  that  —  I  know  when  you  receive  a  reminder 
of  it  you  are  pained. 

—Toting  India  :  April  6,  1925. 


IF  you  cast  in  your  lot  with  the  masses  of  India  from 
which  you  have  sprung  there  is  nothing  but  hope  for  you, 
me  and  even  for  Government  to  whom  you  think  you  are 
bound  to  be  loyal. 

You  can  become  a  bridge  so  that  all  Indians  and  all 
Englishmen  may  cross  to  and  fro  without  either  feeling 
injured  or  hurt  or  feeling  any  degree  of  inconvenience. 
But  if  you  want  to  aspire  after  the  heights  of  Simla,  wel 
those  heights  are  unattainable  and  therefore  poverty  must 
be  your  lot,  and  also  the  lot  of  India.  An  important 
community  like  the"*  Anglo-Indians,  brave,  resourceful, 
you  are  going  to  perdition  simply  because  you  would 
not  see  the  plain  truth,  but  persist  in  an  impossible  attempt. 
In  this  process  you  are  cutting  yourselves  away  from  the 
masses.  Thus  you  have  been  ostracised  by  Indians  and 
Europeans  both.  I  would  therefore  ask  you  to  shed  this 
aping  habit,  to  think  for  the  masses,  merge  yourselves  into 
the  masses  so  that  they  can  be  lifted  and  we  can  show  to  the 
world  a  beautiful  specimen  of  Indian  humanity  in  which  all 
races  can  blend  and  mingle,  each  retaining  its  special 
admirable  characteristic,  each  keeping  every  bit  of  what 
is  best  in  it.  That  is  your  privilege,  if  you  will  exercise  it. 

—Young  India  :  April  13,  1925. 


ANIMALS  23 

Animals 

IF  our  sense  of  right  and  wrong  had  not 
become  blunt,  we  would  recognise  that  animals  had 
rights,  no  less  than  men.  This  education  of  the  heart  is 
the  proper  function  of  humanitarian  leagues.  I  know  that 
the  lower  creation  groans  under  the  arrogant  lordship  of 
man.  He  counts  no  cruelty  too  repulsive  when  he  wants  to 
satisfy  his  appetite,  whether  lawful  or  unlawful. 

— Speeches  and  Writings  of  Mahatma  Gandhi:  April  13,  1915. 

IF  the  beasts  had  intelligent  speech  at  their  com- 
mand, they  would  state  a  case  against  man  that  would 
stagger  humanity.  I  can  understand  the  shooting  of  wild 
beasts  which  come  to  annoy  us.  But  I  have  found  no 
cogent  reasons  advanced  ior  wasting  treasures  upon  organ- 
ising parties  for  satisfying  man's  thirst  for  blood. 

—Young  India  :  Jan.  13,  1920. 
<$><$>    <$> 

I  DO  believe  that  all  God's  creatures  have  the  right 
to  live  as  much  as  we  have.  Instead  of  prescribing  the 
killing  of  the  so-called  injurious  fellow-creatures  of  ours  as  a 
duty,  if  men  of  knowledge  had  devoted  their  gift  to  discover- 
ing ways  of  dealing  with  them  otherwise  than  by  killing 
them,  we  would  be  living  in  a  world  befitting  our  status  as 
men — animals  endowed  with  reason  and  the  power  of 
choojsing  between  good  and  evil,  right  and  wrong,  violence 
and  non-violence,  truth  and  untruth.  I  prefer  to  be  called  a 
coward  or  a  fool  or  wrose,  to  denying  for  the  sake  of  being 
considered  a  wise  man  what  I  believe  to  be  a  fundamental 
truth  of  life.  Marvellous  as  the  progress  of  physical  sciences 
undoubtedly  is,  it  only  humbles  us  and  enables  us  to  know 
that  we  know  hardly  anything  of  the  mysteries  of  Nature. 
In  the  spiritual  realm,  we  make  little  or  no  progress.  The 
physical  has  over-whelmed  the  spiritual  in  us.  We  hardly 
like  to  own  the  latter's  existence.  And  yet  the  question  of 
killing  and  non-killing,  of  man's  relation  to  his  human  fellow- 


24  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

creatures,  belongs  to  the  spiritual  realm.  Its  proper  solution 
will  surely  revolutionize  our  thought,  speech  and  action. 
Both  my  intellect  and  heart  refuse  to  believe  that  the  so- 
called  noxious  life  has  been  created  for  destruction  by  man. 
God  is  good  and  wise.  A  good  and  wise  God  cannot  be  so 
bad  and  so  unwise  as  to  create  to  no  purpose.  It  is  more 
conducive  to  reason  to  own  our  ignorance  and  assume  fhat 
every  form  of  life  has  a  useful  purpose  which  we  must 
patiently  strive  to  discover.  1  verily  believe  that  man's 
habit  of  killing  man  on  the  slightest  pretext  has  darkened 
his  reason  and  he  gives  himself  liberties  with  other  life  which 
he  would  shudder  to  take  if  he  really  believed  that  God  was 
a  God  of  Love  and  Mercy.  Anyway  though  for  fear  of 
death  I  may  kill  tigers,  snakes,  fleas,  mosquitoes  and  the 
like,  I  ever  pray  for  illumination  that  will  shed  all  fear  of 
death  and  thus  refusing  to  take  life  know  the  better  way  for 

"  Taught  bv  the  Power  that  pities  me 
I  learn  to  pity  them." 

—Harijan  :  Jan.  9,  1937. 


I  AM  not  opposed  to  the  progress  of  science  as  such 
On  the  contrary  the  scientific  spirit  of  the  West  commands 
my  admiration  and  if  that  admiration  is  qualified,  it  is 
because  the  scientist  of  -  the  West  takes  no  note  of  God's 
lower  creation.  I  abhor  vivisection  with  my  whole  soul.  I 
detest  the  unpardonable  slaughter  of  innocent  life  in  the 
name  of  science  and  humanity  so-called,  and  all  the 
scientific  discoveries  stained  with  innocent  blood  I  count  as 
of  no  consequence.  If  the  circulation  of  blood  theory  could 
not  have  been  discovered  without  vivisection,  the  human 
kind  could  well  have  done  without  it.  And  I  see  the  day 
clearly  drawing  when  the  honest  scientist  of  the  West,  will 
put  limitations  upon  the  present  methods  of  pursuing  know- 
ledge. Future  measurements  will  take  note  not  merely  of 
the  human  family  but  of  all  that  lives  and  even  as  we  are 
slowly  but  surely  discovering  that  it  is  an  error  to  suppose 


ANIMALS  25 

that  Hindus  can  thrive  upon  the  degradation  of  a  fifth  of 
themselves  or  that  people  of  the  West  can  rise  or  live  upon 
the  exploitation  and  degradation  of  the  eastern  and 
African  nations,  so  shall  we  realise  in  the  fullness  of  time, 
that  our  dominion  over  the  lower  order  of  creation  is  not 
for  their  slaughter,  but  for  their  benefit  equally  with  ours. 
For  I  am  as  certain  that  they  are  endowed  with  a  soul  as 
that  I  am.  —Young  India :  Dec.  17,  1925. 

<$>  <s>  <s> 

IT  is  an  arrogant  assumption  to  say  that  human 
beings  are  lords  and  masters  of  the  lower  creation.  On  the 
contrary,  being  endowed  with  greater  things  in  life,  they  are 
trustees  of  the  lower  animal  kingdom. 

— Young  India  :  March  13,  1926. 

Animal  Sacrifices 

I  HAVE  heard  it  argued  that  since 

the  stopping  of  animal  sacrifices  people  have  lost  the  warlike 
spirit.  There  were  animal  sacrifices  enough  in  Europe 
before  Christianity.  Europe  does  not  seem  to  have  lost  its 
warlike  spirit  because  of  the  stopping  of  degrading  and 
debasing  animal  sacrifices.  I  am  no  worshipper  of  warlike 
spirit,  but  I  know  that  warlike  spirit  is  not  to  be  cultivated 
by  the  slaughter,  in  a  terribly  cruel  manner,  of  helpless> 
innocent,  unresisting  dumb  fellow  creatures. 

—Young  India  :  Nov.  21,  1929. 

<$><$><$> 

IT  is  defaming  God  to  offer  animal  sacrifices  in 
temples.  What  God  wants,  if  He  can  be  said  to  want  any* 
thing,  is  the  sacrifice  made  by  a  humble  and  contrite  heart. 

—Harijan  :  April  5,  1942* 

Art 

WHO  can  deny  that  much  that  passes  for  science  and 
art  to-day  destroys  the  soul  instead  of  uplifting  it  and  instead 
of  evoking  the  best  in  us  panders  to  our  basest  passions  ? 

—Young  India  :  Aug.  11,  1927. 


26  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

FEW  people  who  have  devoted  themselves  to  art  are 
known  to  have  achieved  unique  blending  of  devotion  to  art 
and  pure  and  blameless  life.  We  have  somehow  accustom- 
ed overselves  to  the  belief  that  art  is  independent  of  the 
purity  of  private  life.  I  can  say  with  all  the  experience 
at  my  command  that  nothing  could  be  more  untrue.  As  I 
am  nearing  the  end  of  my  earthly  life,  I  can  say  that  purity 
of  life  is  the  highest  and  truest  art.  The  art  of  producing 
good  music  from  a  cultivated  voice  can  be  achieved  by 
many,  but  the  art  of  producing  that  music  from  the  har- 
mony of  a  pure  life  is  achieved  very  rarely. 

—Harijan  :  Feb.  19,  1938. 

<$>    <$>    <£ 

'  HOW  is  it,9  asked  Ramchandran,  'that  many  intelli- 
gent and  eminent  men,  who  love  and  admire  you,  hold 
that  you  consciously  or  unconsciously  have  ruled  out  of  the 
scheme  of  national  regeneration  all  considerations  of  Art  ?' 
*  I  am  sorry/  replied  Gandhiji,  <  that  in  this  matter  I  have 
been  generally  misunderstood.  There  are  two  aspects  of 
things, — the  outward  and  the  inward.  It  is  purely  a  mat- 
ter of  emphasis  with  me.  The  outward  has  no  meaning* 
except  in  so  far  as  it  helps  the  inward.  All  true  Art  is  thus 
the  expression  of  the  souL  The  outward  forms  have  value 
only  in  so  far  as  they  are  the  expression  of  the  inner  spirit 
of  man.' 

Ramachandran  hesitatingly  suggested  :  c  The  great 
aitists  themselves  have  declared,  that  Art  is  the  translation 
of  the  urge  and  unrest  in  the  soul  of  the  artist  into  words, 
colours,  shapes,  etc.  *  Yes  ',  said  Gandhiji,  <  Art  of  that 
nature  has  the  greatest  possible  appeal  for  me.  But  I  know 
that  many  call  themselves  as  artists,  and  are  recognised  as 
such,  and  yet  in  their  works  there  is  absolutely  no  trace  of 
soul's  upward  urge  and  uncest' 

*  Have  you  any  instance  in  mind  ?'  '  Yes,'  said 
Gandhiji,  c  take  Oscar  Wilde.  I  can  speak  of  him,  as  I 
was  in  England  at  the  time  he  was  being  much  discussed 
and  talked  about.9 


ART  27 

<  I  have  been  told,'  put  in  Ramachandran,  *  that 
Oscar  Wilde  was  one  of  the  greatest  literary  artists  of 
modern  times.' 

c  Yes,  that  is  just  my  trouble.  Wilde  saw  the  highest 
Art  simply  in  outward  forms  and  therefore  succeeded  in 
beautifying  immorality.  All  true  Art  must  help  the  soul 
to  realise  its  inner  self.  In  my  own  case,  I  find  that  I  can 
do  entirely  without  external  lorms  in  my  soul's  realisation. 
I  can  claim,  therefore,  that  there  is  truly  sufficient  Art  in 
my  life,  though  you  might  not  see  what  you  call  works  oi 
Art  about  me.  My  room  may  have  blank  walls  ;  and  I 
may  even  dispense  with  the  roof,  so  that  I  may  gaze 
out  upon  the  starry  heavens  overhead  that  stretch  in  an 
unending  expanse  of  beauty.  What  conscious  Art  of  man 
can  give  me  the  panoramic  scenes  that  open  out  before  me, 
when  I  look  up  to  the  sky  above  with  all  its  shining  stars  ? 
This,  however,  does  not  mean  that  I  refuse  to  accept  the 
value  of  productions  of  Art,  generally  accepted  as  such, 
but  only  that  I  personally  feel  how  inadequate  these  are 
compared  with  the  eternal  symbols  of  beauty  in  Nature. 
These  productions  of  man's  Art  have  their  value  only  so 
far  as  they  help  the  soul  onward  towards  self-realisation.' 

'  But  the  artists  claim  to  see  and  to  find  Truth  through 
outward  beauty,5  said  Ramchandran.  '  Is  it  possible  to  see 
and  find  Truth  in  that  way  ?  ' 

*  I  would  reverse  the  order,'  Gandhiji  immediately 
answered,  '  I  see  and  find  beauty  in  Truth  or  through 
Truth.  All  Truths,  not  merely  true  ideas,  but  truthful 
faces,  truthful  pictures,  or  songs,  are  highly  beautifuL 
People  generally  fail  to  see  Beauty  in  Truth,  the  ordinary 
man  runs  away  from  and  becomes  blind  to  the  beauty 
in  it.  Whenever  men  begin  to  see  Beauty  in  Truth,  then 
true  Art  will  arise.9 

Ramachandran  then  asked,  c  But  cannot  Beauty  be 
eparated  from  Truth,  and  Truth  from  Beauty  ?' 


28  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

c  I  should  want  to  know  exactly  what  is  Beauty ', 
Gandhiji  replied.  '  If  it  is  what  people  generally  un- 
derstand by  that  word,  then  they  are  wide  apart.  Is  a 
woman  with  fair  features  necessarily  beautiful  ?  '  '  Yes  ', 
replied  Ramachandran  without  thinking. 

c  Even  '  asked  Bapu,  continuing  his  question,  *  if  she 
may  be  of  an  ugly  character  ?  * 

Ramachandran  hesitated.  Then  he  said,  c  But  her 
face  in  that  case  cannot  be  beautiful.  It  will  always  be  the 
index  of  the  soul  within.  The  true  artist  with  the  genius 
of  perception  will  produce  the  right  expression.' 

'  But  here  you  are  begging  the  whole  question,' 
Gandhiji  replied,  '  You  now  admit  that  mere  outward 
form  may  not  make  a  thing  beautiful.  To  a  true  artist 
only  that  face  is  beautiful  which,  quite  apart  from  its 
exterior,  shines  with  the  Truth  within  the  soul.  There 
is  then,  as  I  have  said,  no  Beauty  apart  from  Truth.  On 
the  other  hand,  Truth  may  manifest  itself  in  forms 
which  may  not  be  outwardly  beautiful  at  all.  Socrates, 
we  are  told,  was  the  most  truthful  man  of  his  ^time  and 
yet  his  features  are  said  to  have  been  the  ugliest  in  Greece. 
To  my  mind  he  was  beautiful,  because  all  his  life  was 
a  striving  after  Truth,  and  you  may  remember  that 
his  outward  form  did'not  prevent  Phidias  from  appreciat- 
ing the  beauty  of  Truth  in  him,  though  as  an  artist  he 
was  accustomed  to  see  Beauty  in  outward  forms  also  !' 

4  But  Bapuji,5  said  Ramachandran  eagerly,  '  the  most 
beautiful  things  have  often  been  created  by  men  whose 
own  lives  were  not  beautiful.' 

'  That ',  said  Gandhin,  '  only  means  that  Truth  and 
Untruth  often  co-exist  ;  good  and  evil  are  often  iound 
together.  In  an  artist  also  not  seldom  the  right  perception 
of  things,  and  the  wrong  co-exist.  Truly  beautiful 
creations  come  when  right  preception  is  at  work.  If  these 
moments  are  rare  in  life  they  are  also  rare  in  Art/ 


ART  29 

All  this  set  Ramachandran  thinking  hard.  If  only 
truthful  or  good  things  can  be  beautiful,  how  can  things 
without  a  moral  quality  be  beautiful  ?  ',  he  said,  half  to 
himself  and  half  aloud.  Then  he  asked  the  question,  '  Is 
there  truth,  Bapuji,  in  things  that  are  neither  moral  nor 
immoral  in  themselves  ?  For  instance,  is  there  truth  in  a 
sunset  or  a  crescent  moon  that  shines  amid  the  stars  at 
night  ?  ' 

'  Indeed  ',  replied  Gandhiji,  *  these  beauties  are 
truthful,  inasmuch  as  they  make  me  think  of  the  Creator 
at  the  back  of  them.  How  also  could  these  be  beautiful, 
but  for  the  Truth  that  is  in  the  centre  of  creation  ?  When 
I  admire  the  wonder  of  a  sunset  or  the  beauty  of  the  moon 
my  soul  expands  in  worship  of  the  Creator.  I  try  to  see 
Him  and  His  mercies  in  all  these  creations.  But  even  the 
sunsets  and  sunrises  would  be  mere  hindrances,  if  they  did 
not  help  me  to  think  of  Him.  Anything  which  is  a  hind- 
rance to  the  flight  of  the  soul,  is  a  delusion  and  a  snare  ; 
even,  like  the  body,  which  often  does  hinder  you  in  the  path 
of  salvation.' 

6  I  am  grateful,'  exclaimed  Ramachandran,  <  to  hear 
your  views  on  Art,  and  I  understand  and  accept  them. 
Would  it  not  be  well  for  you  to  set  them  down  for  the 
benefit  of  the  younger  generation  in  order  to  guide 
them  aright  ?  ' 

1  That  ',  replied  Gandhiji  with  a  smil'e,  c  I  could 
never  dream  of  doing,  for  the  simple  reason  that  it  would 
be  an  impertinence  on  my  part  to  hold  forth  on  Art.  I 
am  not  an  art  student,  though  these  are  my  fundamental 
convictions.  I  do  not  speak  or  write  about  it,  because  I 
am  conscious  of  my  own  limitations.  That  consciousness 
is  my  only  strength.  Whatever  I  might  have  been  able  tc 
do  in  my  life  has  proceeded  more  than  anything  else  out  oi 
he  realisation  of  my  own  limitations.  My  functions  are 
different  from  the  artist's,  and  I  should  not  go  out  of  my 
way  to  assume  his  position.' 


30  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

•  So,  Bapuji,  Truth  is  the  main  thing/  said  Rama- 
chandran,  resuming  the  previous  day's  conversation, 
4  Beauty  and  Truth  are  not  separate  aspects  of  the  same 
thing.' 

'  Truth  ',  repeated  Gandhiji  with  greater  emphasis,  is 
the  first  thing  to  be  sought  for,  and  Beauty  and  Goodness 
will  then  be  added  unto  you.  Jesus  was,  to  my  mind,  a 
supreme  artist,  because  he  saw  and  expressed  Truth  ;  and 
so  was  Muhammad,  the  Koran  being  the  most  perfert 
composition  in  all  Arabic  literature, — at  any  rate,  that 
is  what  scholars  say.  It  is  because  both  of  them  strove 
first  for  Truth,  that  the  grace  of  expression  naturally 
came  in  ;  and  yet  neither  Jesus  nor  Muhammad  wrote 
on  Art.  That  is  the  Truth  and  Beauty  I  crave  for,  live  for 
and  would  die  for.'  —Young  India  :  Nov.  13,  1924. 

<S>    <*>    <3> 

TRUE  art  takes  note  not  merely  of  form  but  also 
of  what  lies  behind.  There  is  an  art  that  kills  and  an  art 
that  gives  life.  True  art  must  be  evidence  of  happiness, 
contentment  and  purity  of  its  authors. 

—Young  India  :  Aug.  11,  1921. 

B 

Beauty 

TRUE  beauty  consists  in  purity  of  heart. 

— My  Experiments  with  Truth  :  Page  38, 

Beggary 

MY  friendship  for  them  must  be  a  sorry 
affair  if  I  could  be  satisfied  with  a  large  part  of  humanity 
being  reduced  to  beggary.  Little  do  my  friends  know  that 
my  friendship  for  the  paupers  of  India  has  made  me  hard 
hearted  enough  to  contemplate  their  utter  starvation  with 
equanimity  in  preference  to  their  utter  reduction  to  beggary. 
My  Ahimsn  would  not  tolerate  the  id^a  of  giving  a  free  mea[ 
to  a  healthy  person  who  had  not  worked  for  it  in  some 


BEGGARY  31 

honest  way,  and  if  I  had  the  power  I  would  stop  every 
Sadavrat  where  free  meals  are  given.  It  has  degraded  the 
nation  and  it  has  encouraged  laziness,  idleness,  hypocrisy 
and  even  crime.  Such  misplaced  charity  adds  nothing  to 
the  wealth  of  the  country,  whether  material  or  spiritual,  and 
gives  a  false  sense  of  meritoriousness  to  the  donor.  How 
nice  and  wise  it  would  be  if  the  donor  were  to  open  institu- 
tions where  they  would  give  meals  under  healthy,  clean 
surroundings  to  men  and  women  who  would  work  for  them, 
I  personally  think  that  the  spinning  wheel  or  any  of  the 
processes  that  cotton  has  to  go  through  will  be  an  ideal 
occupation.  But  if  they  will  not  have  that,  they  may 
choose  any  other  work,  only  the  rule  should  be,  'No  labour, 
no  meal.'  — Toung  India  :  Aug.  13,  1925, 

<S>    <$>    <$> 

THE  grinding  poverty  and  starvation  with  which  oui 
country  is  afflicted  is  such  that  it  drives  more  and  more  men 
€very  year  into  the  ranks  of  the  beggars,  whose  desperate 
struggle  for  bread  renders  them  insensible  to  all  feelings  of 
decency  and  self-respect.  And  our  philanthropists,  instead 
of  providing  work  for  them  and  insisting  on  their  working  foi 
bread,  give  them  alms. — My  Experiments  with  Truth  :  Page  530 

Bhangi 

THE  ideal  bhangi  of  my  conception  would 
be  a  Brahmin  par-excellence,  possibly  even  excel  him. 
It  is  possible  to  envisage-the  existence  of  a  bhangi  without  a 
Brahmin.  But  without  the  former  the  latter  could  not  be, 
It  is  the  bhangi  who  enables  society  to  live.  A  bhangi  does 
ior  society  what  a  mother  does  for  her  baby.  A  mother 
washes  her  baby  of  the  dirt  and  insures  his  health.  Even 
so  the  bhangi  protects  and  safeguards  the  health  of  that 
entire  community  by  maintaining  sanitation  for  it.  The 
Brahmin's  duty  is  to  look  after  the  sanitation  of  the  soul, 
the  bhangi's  that  of  the  body  of  society.  But  there  is  a 
difference  in  practice  ;  the  Brahmin  generally  does  not  live 
up  to  his  duty,  the  bhangi  does  willy-nilly  no  doubt.  Socict) 


32  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

is  sustained  by  several  services.      The  bhangi   constitutes  the 
foundation  of  all  services. 

And  yet  our  woe  begone  Indian  society  has  branded 
the  bhangi  as  a  social  pariah,  set  him  down  at  the  bottom 
of  the  scale,  held  him  fit  only  to  receive  kicks  and  abuse,  a 
creature  who  must  subsist  on  the  leavings  of  the  caste-people 
and  dwell  on  the  dung-heap.  He  is  without  a  iriend,  his 
very  name  has  become  a  term  of  reproach.  This  is  shocking. 
It  is  perhaps  useless  to  seek  the  why  and  wherefore  of  it* 
I  certainly  am  unaware  of  the  origin  of  the  inhuman  con- 
duct, but  I  know  this  much  that  by  looking  down  upon  the 
bhangi  we — Hindus,  Mussalmans,  Christians  and  all — have 
deserved  the  contempt  of  the  whole  world.  Our  villages 
have  to-day  become  seats  of  dirt  and  insanitation  and  the 
villagers  come  to  an  early  and  untimely  death.  If  only  we 
had  given  due  recognition  to  the  status  of  the  bhangi  as 
equal  to  that  of  a  Brahmin  as  in  fact  and  justice  he  deserves, 
our  villages  to-day  no  less  than  their  inhabitants  would  have 
looked  a  picture  of  cleanliness  and  order.  We  would  have 
to  large  extent  been  free  from  the  ravages  of  a  host  of 
diseases  which  directly  spring  from  our  uncleanliness  and 
lack  of  sanitary  habits. 

I,  therefore,  make  hold  to  state  without  any  manner 
of  hesitation  of  dqubt  that  not  till  the  invidious  distinction 
between  the  Brahmin  and  the  bhangi  is  removed,  will  our 
society  enjoy  health,  prosperity  and  peace,  and  be  happy. 

What  qualities  should  such  an  honoured  servant  of 
society  exemplify  in  his  person  ?  In  my  opinion  an  ideal 
bhangi  should  have  a  thorough  knowlegde  of  the  principles  on 
sanitation.  He  should  know  how  a  right  kind  of  latrine 
is  constructed,  and  the  correct  way  of  cleaning  it.  He 
should  know  how  to  overcome  and  destroy  the  odour  of 
excreta  and  the  various  disinfectants  to  render  them 
innocuous.  He  should  likewise  know  the  process  of  con- 
verting night-soil  and  urine  into  manure. 


BHANGI  33 

But  that  is  not  all.  My  ideal  bhangi  would  know  the 
quality  of  night-soil  and  urine.  He  would  keep  a  close 
watch  on  these  and  give  a  timely  warning  to  the  individual 
concerned.  Thus,  he  will  give  a  timely  notic^e  of  the  results 
of  his  examination  of  the  excreta.  That  presuppposes  a 
scientific  knowledge  of  the  requirements  of  his  profession. 
He  would  likewise  be  an  authority  on  the  subject  of  disposal 
of  night-soil  in  small  villages  as  well  as  big  cities  and  his 
advice  and  guidance  in  the  matter  would  be  sought  for 
and  freely  given  to  society.  It  goes  without  saying  that  he 
would  have  the  usual  learning  necessary  for  reaching  the 
standard  here  laid  down  for  his  profession.  Such  ideal 
bhangi  while  deriving  his  livelihood  from  his  occupation, 
would  approach  it  only  as  a  sacred  duty.  In  other  words  he 
would  not  dream  of  amassing  wealth  out  of  it.  He  would 
consider  himself  responsible  for  the  proper  removal  and 
disposal  of  all  the  dirt  and  night-soil  within  the  area  which 
he  serves  and  regard  the  maintenance  of  healthy  and  sanitary 
condition  within  the  same  as  the  summum  bonum  of  his 
existence.  —Hanjan  :  Nov.  28,  1936. 


THE  bhangi  has  been  the  most  despised  of  the  Harijans 
because  his  work  has  been  regarded  as  the  most  degrading. 
But  we  forget  that  our  mothers  did  that  very  work  whilst 
we  were  babies  innocent  of  all  cleanliness.  If  that  work 
was  ignoble  the  bhangVs  would  be  ignoble  but  if  it  was 
noble  the  bhangi's  work  is  also  noble.  But  our  mothers 
cleaned  our  filth  because  we  were  their  babies,  because  they 
could  not  do  otherwise,  because  they  were  wrapped  up  in 
us  and  adored  their  ownselves  in  us.  Their  work  was 
thus  selfish.  The  volunteer  bhangVs  work  is  unselfish  and 
so  nobler  than  that  of  mothers.  And  if  I  revere  my  mother 
and  therefore  the  whole  of  womankind,  is  it  not  clear  that 
I  should  adore  the  volunteer  bhangi  even  more  ? 

^Harijan  :  Feb.  19,  1933- 


34  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

Birth  and  Death 

BIRTH  and  death  are  not  two  different  states,  but 
they  are  different  aspects  of  the  same  state.  There  is  as 
little  reason  to  deplore  the  one  as  there  is  to  be  pleased 
over  the  other. 

—Young  India  :  Nov.  20,  1924. 

Births  and  Rebirths 

I  AM  a  believer  in  previous  births  and  rebirths.  All 
our  relationships  are  the  result  of  the  sanskars  we  carry 
From  our  previous  births.  God's  laws  are  inscrutable  and 
are  the  subject  of  endless  search.  No  one  will  fathom  them. 

—Harijan  :  Aug.  18,  1940. 

Birth  Control 

THERE  can  be  no  two  opinions  about  the  necessity 
of  birth  control.  But  the  only  method  handed  down  from 
ages  past  is  self-control  or  Brahmacharya.  It  is  an  infallible 
sovereign  remedy  doing  good  to  those  who  practise  it. 
And  medical  men  will  earn  the  gratitude  of  mankind,  if 
instead  of  devising  artificial  means  of  bith  control  they 
will  find  out  the  means  of  self-control  The  union  is 
meant  not  for  pleasure  but  for  bringirg  forth  progeny. 
And  union  is  a  crime  when  the  desire  for  progeny  is 
absent. 

Artificial  methods  are  like  putting  a  premium  upon 
vice.  They  make  man  and  woman  reckless.  And  res- 
dectability  that  is  being  given  to  the  methods  must  hasten 
the  dissolution  of  the  restraints  that  public  opinion  puts 
upon  one.  Adoption  of  artificial  methods  must  result  in 
imbecility  and  nervous  prostration.  The  remedy  will  be 
found  to  be  worse  than  the  disease.  It  is  wrong  and 
immoral  to  seek  to  escape  the  consequences  of  one's 
acts.  It  is  good  for  a  person  who  over-eats  to  have  an 
ache  and  a  fast.  It  is  bad  for  him  to  indulge  his  appetite 
and  then  escape  the  consequence  by  taking  tonics  or 
other  medicine.  It  is  still  worse  for  a  person  to  indulge 


BIRTH  CONTROL  35 

in  his  animal  passions  and  escape  the  consequences  of  his 
acts.  Nature  is  relentless  and  will  have  full  revenge  for 
any  such  violation  of  her  laws.  Moral  results  can  only 
be  produced  by  moral  restraints.  All  other  restraints 
defeat  the  very  purpose  for  which  they  are  intended. 
The  reasoning  underlying  the  use  of  artificial  methods  is 
that  indulgence  is  a  necessity  of  life.  Nothing  can  be  more 
fallacious.  Let  those  who  are  eager  to  see  the  births  regulated 
explore  the  lawful  means  devised  by  the  ancients  and 
try  to  find  out  how  they  can  be  revived.  An  enormous 
amount  of  spade-work  lies  in  front  of  them.  Early  marri- 
ages are  a  fruitful  source  of  adding  to  the  population- 
The  present  mode  of  life  has  also  a  great  deal  to  do 
with  the  evil  of  unchecked  procreation.  If  these  causes 
are  investigated  and  dealt  with,  society  will  be  morally 
elevated.  If  they  are  ignored  by  impatient  zealots  and 
if  artificial  methods  become  the  order  of  the  day,  nothing 
but  moral  degradation  can  be  the  result.  A  society  that 
has  already  become  enervated  through  a  variety  of  causes 
will  become  still  further  enervated  by  the  adoption  of 
artificial  methods.  Those  men,  therefore,  who  are  light- 
heartedly  advocating  artificial  methods  cannot  do  better 
than  study  the  subject  afresh,  stay  their  injurious  activity 
and  popularise  Brahmacharya  both  for  the  married  and  the 
unmarried.  That  is  the  only  noble  and  straight  method* 
of  birth  control. 

— Young  India  :  March  12.  1924 

<$>    <$>    <$> 

I  AM  afraid  that  advocates  of  birth  control  take  it  for 
granted  that  indulgence  in  animal  passion  is  a  necessity  ol 
life  and  in  itself  a  desirable  thing.  The  solicitude  shown  foi 
the  fair  sex  is  most  pathetic.  In  my  opinion  it  is  an  insuli 
to  the  fair  sex  to  put  up  her  case  in  support  of  birtt 
control  by  artificial  methods.  As  it  is,  man  has  sufficiently 
degraded  -her  for  his  lust,  and  artificial  methods 


36  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

no  matter  how  well-meaning  the  advocates  may  be,  will 
still  further  degrade  her.  I  know  that  there  are  modem 
women  who  advocate  these  methods.  But  I  have  little 
doubt  that  the  vast  majority  of  women  will  reject  them 
as  inconsistent  with  their  dignity.  If  man  means  well  by 
her,  let  him  exercise  control  over  himself.  It  is  not  she 
who  tempts.  In  reality  man  being  the  aggressor  is  the 
real  culprit  and  the  tempter. 

—Toung  India  :  April  2,  1925* 
^>    <$>    <^ 

'YOU  seem  to  regard  a  beautiful  function  as  some- 
thing objectionable.  Two  animals  are  nearest  to  the  divine 
when  they  are  going  to  create  new  life.  There  is  some- 
thing very  beautiful  in  the  act,'  said  the  Swami. 

'Here  again  you  are  labouring  under  a  confusion/ 
said  Gandhiji.  'The  creation  of  a  new  life  is  nearest  the 
divine,  I  agree.  All  I  want  is  that  one  should  approach 
that  act  in  a  divine  way.  That  is  to  say,  man  and  woman 
must  come  together  with  no  other  desire  than  that  of 
creating  a  new  life.  But  if  they  come  together  merely  ta 
have  a  fond  embrace,  they  are  nearest  the  devil  Man 
unfortunately  forgets  that  he  is  nearest  the  divine,  han- 
kers after  the  brute  instinct  in  himself  and  becomes  less& 
than  the  brute/ 

'But  why  must  you  cast  aspersion  on  the  brute?' 

*I  do  not.  The  brute  fulfills  the  law  of  his  own  nature. 
The  lion  in  his  majesty  is  a  noble  creature  and  he  has  a 
perfect  right  to  eat  me  up,  but  I  have  none  to  develop  paws« 
and  pounce  upon  yon.  Then  I  lower  myself  and  become 
worse  than  the  brute.7 

—Harijan  :  Sept.  7,  1935. 
<£    <£>    <$> 

BIRTH  CONTROL  to  me  is  a  dismal  abyss.  It  amounts 
to  playing  with  unknown  forces.  Assuming  that  birth  control 
by  artificial  aids  is  justifiable  under  certain  conditions,  it 


BIRTH  CONTROL  37 

seems  to  be  utterly  impracticable  of  application  among  the 
millions.  It  seems  to  me  to  be  easier  to  induce  them 
to  practise  seh-control  than  control  by  contraceptives.  This 
little  globe  of  ours  is  not  a  toy  of  yesterday.  It  has 
not  suffered  from  the  weight  of  over-population  through 
its  age  of  countless  millions.  How  can  it  be  that  the 
truth  has  suddenly  dawned  up  on  some  people  that  it  is  in 
danger  of  perishing  of  shortage  of  food  unless  birth-rate 
is  checked  through  the  use  of  contraceptives. 

—Harijan  :  Sept.  14,  1935. 

<s>  <$>  <$> 

Once  the  idea  that  the  only  and  grand  function  of 
the  sexual  organ  is  generation,  possesses  man  and  woman, 
union  for  any  other  purpose  they  will  hold  as  criminal 
waste  of  the  vital  fluid  and  consequent  excitement  caused 
to  man  and  woman  as  an  equally  criminal  waste  of 
precious  energy.  It  is  now  easy  to  understand  why  the 
scientists  of  old  have  put  such  great  value  upon  the  vital 
fluid  and  why  they  have  insisted  upon  its  strong  trans- 
mutation into  the  highest  form  of  energy  for  the  benefit 
of  society.  They  boldly  declare  that  one  who  has  acquired 
a  perfect  control  over  his  or  her  sexual  energy  strengthens 
the  whole  being,  physical,  mental  and  spiritual  and  attains 
powers  unattainable  by  any  other  means. 

—Harijan  :  Dec.  12,  1935. 


THE  greatest  harm,  however,  done  by  the  propaganda 
lies  in  its  rejection  of  the  old  ideal  and  substitution  in  its 
place  of  one  which,  if  carried  out,  must  spell  the  moral  and 
physical  extinction  of  the  race.  The  horror  with  which 
ancient  literature  has  regarded  the  fruitless  use  of  the  vital 
fluid  was  not  a  superstition  born  of  ignorance.  What  shall 
we  say  of  a  husbandman  who  will  sow  the  finest  seed  in  his 
possession  on  stony  ground  or  of  that  owner  of  a  field  who 
will  receive  in  his  field  rich  with  fine  soil  good  seed  under 


38  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

conditions  that  will  make  it  impossible  for  it  to  grow  ?  God 
has  blessed  man  with  seed  that  has  the  highest  potency  and 
woman  with  a  field  richer  than  the  richest  earth  to  be 
found  anywhere  on  this  globe.  Surely  it  is  criminal  folly 
for  man  to  allow  his  most  precious  possession  to  run  to 
waste.  He  must  guard  it  with  a  care  greater  than  he  will 
bestow  upon  the  richest  pearls  in  his  possession.  And  so  is 
a  woman  guilty  of  criminal  folly  who  will  receive  the  seed 
in  her  life-producing  field  with  the  deliberate  intention  of 
letting  it  run  to  waste.  Both  he  and  she  will  be  judged 
guilty  of  misuse  of  the  talents  given  to  them  and  they  will 
be  dispossessed  of  what  they  have  been  given.  Sex  urge  is 
a  fine  and  noble  thing.  There  is  nothing  to  be  ashamed  of 
in  it.  But  it  is  meant  only  for  the  act  of  creation.  Any 
other  use  of  it  is  a  sin  against  God  and  humanity.  Contra- 
ceptives of  a  kind  there  were  before  and  there  will  be  here- 
after, but  the  use  of  them  was  formerly  regarded  as  sinful. 
It  was  reserved  for  our  generation  to  glorify  vice  by  calling 
it  virtue.  The  greatest  disservice  protagonists  of  contracep- 
tives are  rendering  to  the  youth  of  India  is  to  fill  their 
ininds  with  what  appears  to  me  to  be  wrong  ideology.  Let 
the  young  men  and  women  of  India  who  hold  her  destiny 
in  their  hands  beware  of  this  false  god  and  guard  the 
treasure  with  which  God  has  blessed  them  and  use  it,  if  they 
wish,  for  the  only  purpose  for  which  it  is  intended. 

—Harijan:  March  28,  1936. 

THE  protagonists  of  contraceptives  have  almost  set  up 
self-indulgence  as  their  ideal.  Self-indulgence  obviously  can 
never  be  an  ideal.  There  can  be  no  limit  to  the  practice 
of  an  ideal.  But  unlimited  self-indulgence,  as  everybody 
would  admit,  can  only  result  in  certain  destruction  of  the 
individual  or  the  race  concerned.  Hence  self-control  alone 
can  be  our  ideal,  and  it  has  been  so  regarded  from  the 
earliest  times. 

—Harijan :  Nov.  12,  1936. 


BRAHMACHARYA  41 

reaching  that  state  in  this  very  body.  I  have  gained  control 
over  the  body.  I  can  be  master  of  myself  during  my  wak- 
ing hours.  I  have  fairly  succeeded  in  learning  to  control 
my  tongue.  But  I  have  yet  to  cover  many  stages  in  the 
control  of  my  thoughts.  They  do  not  come  and  go  at  my 
bidding.  My  mind  is  thus  constantly  in  a  state  of  insurrec- 
tion against  itself. 

In  my  waking  moments,  however,  I  can  stop  my 
thoughts,  irom  colliding  with  one  another.  I  may  say  that 
in  the  waking  state  the  mind  is  secure  against  the  approach 
of  evil  thoughts.  But  in  the  hours  of  sleep,  control  over  the 
thoughts  is  much  less.  When  asleep,  the  mind  would  be 
swayed  by  all  sorts  of  thoughts,  by  unexpected  dreams,  and 
by  desire  for  things  done  and  enjoyed  by  the  flesh  before. 
Such  thoughts  or  dreams  when  unclean  are  followed  by  the 
usual  consequences.  Whilst  such  experiences  are  possible  a 
person  cannot  be  said  to  be  free  from  all  passion.  The 
deviation  is,  however,  diminishing,  but  has  not  yet  ceased. 
If  I  had  complete  mastery  over  my  thoughts  I  should  not 
have  suffered  from  the  diseases  of  pleurisy,  dysentery  and 
appendicitis  that  I  did  during  the  last  ten  years.  I  believe 
that  a  healthy  soul  should  inhabit  a  healthy  body.  To  the 
extent,  therefore,  that  the  soul  grows  into  health  and  free* 
dom  from  passion,  to  that  extent  the  body  also  grows  into 
that  state.  This  does  not  mean  that  a  healthy  body  should 
be  necessarily  strong  in  flesh.  A  brave  soul  often  inhabits  a 
lean  body.  After  a  certain  stage  the  flesh  diminishes  in  a 
proportion  to  the  growth  of  the  soul.  A  perfectly  healthy  body 
may  be  verv  fleshless.  A  muscular  body  is  often  heir  to  many 
an  ill.  Even  if  it  is  apparently  free  from  disease,  it  is  not  im* 
mune  from  infections,  contagions  and  the  like.  A  perfectly 
healthy  body,  on  the  contrary,  is  proof  against  all  these. 
Incorruptible  blood  has  the  inherent  virtue  of  resisting  all 
infections. 

Such  an  equipoise  is  indeed   difficult  of  attainment* 


40  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA   GANDHI 

LET  me  not  be  misunderstood.  The  Congress  has  a 
perfect  right  to  boycott  British  goods,  if  it  so  wishes.  But 
as  the  most  representative  assembly  in  India,  it  has  no  right 
to  expose  itself  to  ridicule  by  using  threats  which  it  cannot 
carry  into  effect. 

— Young  India  :  Jan.  5,  1928. 

Brahmacharya 

[The  following  is  Mahadev  DesaVs  translation  of  an  article  I  wrote 
on  this  delicate  subject  in  Nayajivan  of  25th  May  1924.  I  gladly  publish 
it  in  Toung  India  as  I  have  before  me  many  letters  Jrom  the  other  parts  of 
India  on  the  same  subject.  The  stray  thoughts  collected  together  in  the 
article  might  be  of  some  help  to  those  who  are  earnestly  striving  for  a  pure 
life.  My  inquireres  have  been  all  Hindus  and  naturally  the  article  is  add" 
ressed  to  them.  The  last  paragraph  is  the  msot  important  and  operative 
part.  The  names  Allah  or  God  carry  with  them  the  same  potency.  The 
idea  is  to  realise  the  presence  of  God  in  us.  All  sins  are  committed  in 
secrecy.  The  moment  we  realise  that  God  witnesses  even  our  thoughts  we 
shall  be  free.  M.K.G.] 

A  FRIEND  asks:  'What  is  Brahmacharaya  ?  Is  it  possible 
to  practise  it  to  perfection  ?  If  possible,  do  you  do  so.' 

The  full  and  proper  meaning  of  Brahmacharya  is  search 
of  Brahman.  Brahman  pervades  every  being  and  can  there- 
fore be  searched  by  diving  into  and  realising  the  inner  self- 
The  realiation  is  impossible  without  complete  control  of 
the  senses.  Brahmacharaya  thus  means  control  in  thought 
word  and  action,  of  all  the  senses  at  all  times  and  in  all 
places. 

A  man  or  a  woman  completely  practising  Brahmacharya 
is  absolutely  free  from  passion.  Such  a  one  therefore  lives 
nigh  unto  God,  is  Godlike. 

I  have  no  doubt  that  it  is  possible  to  practise  such 
Brahmacharaya  in  thought,  word  and  action  to  the  fullest 
extent.  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  I  have  not  yet  reached  that 
perfect  state  of  Brahmacharaya,  though  I  am  every  moment  of 
my  life  striving  to  reach  it.  I  have  not  given  up  hope  of 


BRAHMACHARYA  41 

reaching  that  state  in  this  very  body.  I  have  gained  control 
over  the  body.  I  can  be  master  of  myself  during  my  wak- 
ing hours.  I  have  fairly  succeeded  in  learning  to  control 
my  tongue.  But  I  have  yet  to  cover  many  stages  in  the 
control  of  my  thoughts.  They  do  not  come  and  go  at  my 
bidding.  My  mind  is  thus  constantly  in  a  state  of  insurrec- 
tion against  itself. 

In  my  waking  moments,  however,  I  can  stop  my 
thoughts,  irom  colliding  with  one  another.  I  may  say  that 
in  the  waking  state  the  mind  is  secure  against  the  approach 
of  evil  thoughts.  But  in  the  hours  of  sleep,  control  over  the 
thoughts  is  much  less.  When  asleep,  the  mind  would  be 
swayed  by  all  sorts  of  thoughts,  by  unexpected  dreams,  and 
by  desire  for  things  done  and  enjoyed  by  the  flesh  before. 
Such  thoughts  or  dreams  when  unclean  are  followed  by  the 
usual  consequences.  Whilst  such  experiences  are  possible  a 
person  cannot  be  said  to  be  free  from  all  passion.  The 
deviation  is,  however,  diminishing,  but  has  not  yet  ceased. 
If  I  had  complete  mastery  over  my  thoughts  I  should  not 
have  suffered  from  the  diseases  of  pleurisy,  dysentery  and 
appendicitis  that  I  did  during  the  last  ten  years.  I  believe 
that  a  healthy  soul  should  inhabit  a  healthy  body.  To  the 
extent,  therefore,  that  the  soul  grows  into  health  and  free- 
dom from  passion,  to  that  extent  the  body  also  grows  into 
that  state.  This  does  not  mean  that  a  healthy  body  should 
be  necessarily  strong  in  flesh.  A  brave  soul  often  inhabits  a 
lean  body.  After  a  certain  stage  the  flesh  diminishes  in  a 
proportion  to  the  growth  of  the  soul.  A  perfectly  healthy  body 
may  be  verv  fleshless.  A  muscular  body  is  often  heir  to  many 
an  ill.  Even  if  it  is  apparently  free  from  disease,  it  is  not  im- 
mune from  infections,  contagions  and  the  like.  A  perfectly 
healthy  body,  on  the  contrary,  is  proof  against  all  these. 
Incorruptible  blood  has  the  inherent  virtue  of  resisting  all 
infections. 

Such  an  equipoise  is  indeed  difficult  of  attainment. 


42         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

Otherwise  I  should  have  reached  it,  because  my  soul  is 
witness  to  the  fact  that  I  would  spare  no  pains  to  attain  to- 
this  perfect  state.  I^o  outward  obstacle  can  stand  between 
me  and  that  state.  But  it  is  not  easy  for  all,  at  least  for  me, 
to  efface  past  sanskaras.  But  the  delay  has  not  in  the  least 
dismayed  me.  For  I  have  a  mental  picture  of  that  perfect 
state.  I  have  even  dim  glimpses  of  it.  The  progress  achieved; 
fills  me  with  hope,  rather  than  despair.  But  even  if  I  depart 
from  this  body  before  the  hope  is  fulfilled,  I  would  not  think 
that  I  had  failed.  For  I  believe  in  rebirth  as  much  as  I 
believe  in  the  existence  of  my  present  body.  I  therefore 
know  that  even  a  little  effort  is  not  wasted. 

I  have  said  so  much  about  myself  for  the  simple  reason 
that  my  correspondents  and  others  like  them  may  have 
patience  and  self-confidence.  The  soul  is  one  in  all.  Its- 
possibilities  are  therefore  the  same  for  every  one.  With 
some,  it  has  manifested  itself,  with  others  it  has  yet  to  do  so. 
Patient  striving  would  carry  everyone  through  and  to  the 
same  experience. 

I  have  therefore  discussed  Brahmacharya  in  its  wider 
meaning.  The  ordinary  accepted  sense  of  Brahmacharya 
is  the  control  in  thought,  word  and  action  of  animal  passion. 
And  it  is  quite  proper  thus  to  restrict  its  meaning.  It  has 
been  thought  to  be^very  difficult  to  practise  this  Brahma- 
charya. This  control  of  the  carnal  desire  has  been  so  very 
difficult,  has  become  nearly  impossible,  because  equal  stress 
has  not  been  laid  on  the  control  of  the  palate.  It  is  also  the 
experience  of  our  physicians  that  a  body  enfeebled  by  disease 
is  always  a  favourite  abode  of  carnal  desire,  and  Brahma- 
charya by  an  enfeebled  race  is  difficult  to  practise 
naturally. 

I  have  talked  above  of  a  lean  but  healthy  body.  Let 
no  one  understand  me  to  have  deprecated  physical  culture* 
I  have  talked  of  Brahmacharya  in  its  perfect  aspect  in  my 
very  crude  language.  It  is  likely  therefore  to  be  misunder- 


BRAHMACHARYA  43 

stood.  But  one  who  would  practise  complete  control  of  all 
the  senses  must  need  welcome  the  waning  of  the  flesh.  With 
the  extinction  of  attachment  to  the  flesh,  comes  the  extinc- 
tion of  the  desire  to  have  muscular  strength. 

But  the  body  of  the  true  Brahmachari  is  bound  to  be 
exceptionally  fresh  and  .wiry.  This  Brahmacharya  is  some- 
thing unearthly.  He  who  is  not  swayed  by  carnal  desire 
even  in  his  sleep  is  worthy  of  all  adoration.  The  control  of 
every  other  sense  shall  be  'added  unto'  him. 

—Young  India  :  June  5,  1924r 

<3>   <S>    <3> 

I  PLACE  before  the  readers  a  few  simple  rules  which 
are  based  on  the  experience  not  only  of  myself,  but  of  many 
of  my  associates : 

(1)  Boys  and  girls  should   be   brought   up   simply   ancf 
naturally  in  the  full  belief  that   they   are  and   can   remain 
innocent. 

(2)  All   should  abstain  from  heating   and    stimulating 
foods,  condiments  such  as  chillies,   fatty,   and   concentrated 
food  such  as  fritters,  sweets  and  fried  substances. 

(3)  Husband  and  wife  should   occupy   separate   rooms 
and  avoid  privacy. 

(4)  Both  body   and   mind    should   be   constantly  and 
healthily  occupied. 

(5)  Early  to  bed  and  early  to   rise   should   be  strictly 
observed. 

(6)  All  unclean   literature  should  be  avoided.      The 
antidote  for  unclean  thoughts  is  clean  thoughts. 

(7)  Theatres,  cinemas,  etc.,   which   tend   to   stimulate 
passion  should  be  shunned. 

(8)  Nocturnal    dreams  need  not  cause  any  anxiety. 
A  cold  bath  every  time  fcr  a  fairly  strong  person  is  the 


**          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

finest  preventive  in  such  cases.     It  is  wrong  to  say  that  an 
occasional  indulgence   is  a  safeguard   against   involuntary 
dreams. 

(9)  Above  all,  one  must  not  consider   continence   even 
as  between  husband  and  wife   to   be  so   difficult   as   to   be 
practically  impossible.     On  the  contrary,  self-restraint   must 
be  considered  to  be  the   ordinary    and   natural   practice    of 

life. 

(10)  A  heartfelt  prayer   every   day  for    purity  makes 
one  progressively  pure. 

—Young  India:  Oct.  13,  1920. 


I  AM  being  inundated  with  letters  on  Brahmacharya 
and  rtieans  to  its  attainment.  Let  me  repeat  in  different 
language  what  I  have  already  said  or  written  on  previous 
occasions.  Brahmacharya  is  not  mere  mechanical  celibacy,  it 
means  complete  control  over  all  the  senses  and  freedom 
>rom  lust  in  thought,  word  and  deed.  As  such  it  is  the 
royal  road  to  self-realisation  or  attainment  of  Brahman. 

The  ideal  Brahmachari  has  not  to  struggle  with  sensual 
desire  or  desire  for  procreation  ;  ..  never  troubles  him  at 
all.  The  whole  world  will  be  to  him  one  vast  family,  he 
will  centre  all  his  ambition  in  relieving  the  misery  of 
mankind  and  the  desire  for  procreation  will  be  to  him  as 
gall  and  wormwood.  He  who  has  realised  the  misery  of 
mankind  in  all  its  magnitude  will  never  be  stirred  by  passion. 
He  will  instinctively  know  the  fountain  of  strength  in  him, 
and  he  will  ever  persevere  to  keep  it  undefined.  His 
humble  strength  will  command  respect  of  the  world,  and  he 
will  wield  an  influence  greater  than  that  of  the  sceptred 
monarch. 

But  I  am  told  that  this  is  an  impossible  ideal,  that 
I  dp  not  take  count  of  the  natural  attraction  between  man 
and  woman.  I  refuse  to  believe  that  the  sensual  affinity 


BRAHMACHARYA  45 

referred  to  here  can  be  at  all  regarded  as  natural;  in  that  case 
the  deluge  would  soon  be  over  us.  The  natural  affinity 
between  man  and  woman  is  the  attraction  between  brother 
and  sister,  mother  and  son  or  father  and  daughter.  It  is  that 
natural  attraction  that  sustains  the  world.  I  should  find 
it  impossible  to  live,  much  less  carry  on  my  work,  if  I  did 
not  regard  the  whole  of  womankind  as  sisters,  daughters  or 
mothers.  If  I  looked  at  them  with  lustful  eyes,  it  would  be 
the  surest  way  to  perdition. 

Procreation  is  a  natural  phenomenon  indeed,  but 
within  specific  limits.  A  transgression  of  those  limits 
imperils  womankind,  emasculates  the  race,  induces 
disease,  puts  a  premium  on  vice,  and  makes  the  world 
ungodly.  A  man  in  the  grip  of  the  sensual  desire  is  a 
man  without  moorings.  If  such  a  one  were  to  guide 
society,  to  flood  it  with  his  writings  and  men  were  to* 
be  swayed  by  them,  where  would  society  be  ?  And  yet 
we  have  the  very  thing  happening  to-day.  Supposing 
a  moth  whirling  round  a  light  were  to  record  the 
moments  of  its  fleeting  joy  and  we  were  to  imitate  it 
regarding  it  as  an  exemplar,  where  would  we  be  ?  No,  I 
must  declare  with  all  the  power  I  can  command  that 
sensual  attraction  even  between  husband  and  wife  is 
unnatural.  Marriage  is  meant  to  cleanse  the  hearts  of 
i  he  couple  of  sordid  passions  and  take  them  nearer  to 
God.  Lustless  love  between  husband  and  wife  is  not 
impossible.  Man  is  not  a  brute.  He  has  risen  to  a 
higher  state  after  countless  births  in  brute  creation. 
He  is  born  to  stand,  not  to  walk  on  all  fours  or  crawl. 
Bestiality  is  as  far  removed  from  manhood  as  matter 
from  spirit. 

In  conclusion  I  shall  summarise  the  means  to  its 
attainment. 

The  first  step  is  the  realisation  of  its  necessity. 
The  next  is  gradual  control  of  the  senses.  A  Brahmachari 


4£         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

must  needs  control  his  palate.  He  must  eat  to  live,  and 
not  lor  enjoyment.  He  must  see  only  clean  things  and 
close  his  eyes  before  anything  unclean.  It  is  thus  a  sign  of 
polite  breeding  to  walk  with  one's  eyes  towards  the  ground 
and  not  wandering  about  from  object  to  object.  A 
Brahmachari  will  likewise  hear  to  nothing  obscene  or  unclean, 
smell  no  strong,  stimulating  things.  The  smell  of  clean 
earth  is  far  sweeter  than  the  fragrance  of  artificial  scents 
and  essences.  Let  the  aspirant  to  Brahmacharya  also  keep  his 
hands  and  feet  engaged  in  all  the  waking  hours  in  health- 
ful activity.  Let  him  also  fast  occasionally. 

The  third  step  is  to  have  clean  companions — clean 
friends  and  clean  books. 

The  last  and  not  the  least  is  prayer.  Let  him  repeat 
Ramanama  with  all  his  heart  regularly  every  day,  and  ask 
for  divine  grace. 

None  of  these  things  are  difficult  for  an  average 
man  or  woman.  They  are  simplicity  itself.  But  their  very 
simplicity  is  embarrassing.  Where  there  is  a  will,  the 
way  is  simple  enough  ;  men  have  not  the  will  for  it  and 
hence  vainly  grope.  The  fact  that  the  world  rests  on  the 
observance,  more  or  less,  ^Brahmacharya  or  restraint  means 
that  it  is  necessary  and  practicable, 

—Young  India  :  April  29,  1926. 
<$><$><$> 

WHEN  your  passions  threaten  to  get  the  better  of  you 
go  down  on  your  knees  and  cry  out  to  God  for  help, 
Ramanama  is  an  infallible  help. 

—Young  India  :  Jan.  23,  1927. 

<s>  <s>  <$> 

^  LET  every  aspirant  after  a  pure  life  take  from  me  that 
an  impure  thought  is  often  as  powerful  in  undermining  the 
body  as  an  impure  act.  Control  over  thought  is  a  long 


BRAHMACHARYA  47 

painful  and  laborious  process.  But  I  am  convinced  that  no 
time,  no  labour  and  no  pain  is  too  much  for  the  glorious 
result  to  be  reached.  The  purity  of  thought  is  possible  only 
with  a  faith  in  God  bordering  on  definite  experience. 

—Young  India  :  Aug.  25,  1927. 

<$><$><$> 

THE  third  among  our  observations  is  Brahmacharya.  As  a 
matter  of  fact  all  observances  arise  from  Truth,  and  are 
there  to  subserve  Truth.  The  man,  who  is  wedded  to  Truth 
and  worships  Truth  alone,  proves  unfaithful  to  her,  if  he 
applies  his  talents  to  anything  else.  How  then  can  he 
minister  to  the  senses  ?  A  man,  whose  activities  are  wholly 
consecrated  to  the  realisation  cf  Truth,  which  requires  utter 
selflessness,  can  have  no  time  for  the  selfish  purpose  of 
rearing  children  and  running  of  a  household.  We  have  not 
had  a  single  example  of  any  one  realising  Truth  though  self- 
indulgence. 

Again,  if  we  look  at  it  from  the  standpoint  of  Ahimsa 
(Non-violence)  we  find  that  the  fulfilment  of  Ahimsa  is 
impossible  without  purity.  Ahimsa  means  Universal  Love, 
If  a  man  gives  his  love  to  one  woman,  or  a  woman  to  one 
man,  what  is  there  left  for  all  the  world  besides  ?  It  simply 
means :  c  We  two  first,  and  the  devil  take  all  the  rest  of 
them.'  As  a  faithful  wife  must  be  prepared  to  sacrifice  her 
all  for  the  sake  of  her  husband,  and  a  faithful  husband  for 
the  sake  of  his  wife,  it  is  clear  that  such  persons  cannot  rise 
to  the  height  of  Universal  Love,  or  look  upon  all  mankind 
as  kith  and  kin.  For  they  have  created  a  boundary  wall 
round  their  love.  The  larger  their  family,  the  farther  are 
they  from  Universal  Love.  Hence  one  who  would  obey  the 
law  of  Ahimsa  cannot  marry,  not  to  speak  of  gratification 
outside  the  martial  bond. 

Then  what  about  people  who  are  already  married  ? 
Would  they  never  be  able  to  realise  Truth?  Can  they  never 
offer  up  their  all  at  the  altar  of  humanity  ?  There  is  a  way 


48  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

out  for  them.  They  can  behave  as  if  they  were  not  married* 
Those  who  have  enjoyed  this  happy  condition  will  be  able 
to  bear  me  out.  Many  have  to  my  knowledge  successfully 
tried  the  experiment.  If  the  married  couple  can  think  of 
each  other  as  brother  or  sister,  they  are  freed  for  universal 
service.  The  very  thought  that  all  the  women  in  the  world 
are  one's  sisters,  mothers  or  daughters  would  at  once  ennoble 
a  man  and  snap  all  his  chains.  The  husband  and  wife  do- 
not  loose  anything  here,  but  only  add  to  their  resources  and 
even  to  their  family.  Their  love  becomes  free  from  the 
impurity  of  lust  and  so  grows  stronger.  With  the  disappear- 
ance of  this  impurity,  they  can  serve  each  other  better,  and 
the  occasions  for  quarrel  between  them  become  fewer. 
There  is  more  room  for  quarrels,  where  the  love  is  selfish 
and  bounded. 

When  once  we  have  grasped  these  fundamental  ideas, 
a  consideration  of  the  physical  benefits  of  chastity  becomes  a 
matter  of  secondary  importance.  How  foolish  it  is  intention- 
ally to  dissipate  vital  energy  in  sensual  enjoyment  ?  It  is  a 
grave  misuse  to  fritter  away  for  physical  gratification  that 
which  is  given  to  man  and  woman  for  the  full  development 
of  their  bodily  and  mental  powers.  Such  misuse  is  the  root 
cause  of  many  a  disease. 

Brahmicharya  is  to  be  observed  in  thought,  word  and 
deed.  This  applies  to  all  observances.  We  are  told  in  the 
Gita  and  our  experience  corroborates  the  remark,  that  the 
foolish  man,  who  appears  to  control  his  body,  but  is  nursing 
evil  thoughts  in  his  mind,  makes  a  vain  effort.  It  is  harmful 
to  suppress  the  body  if  the  mind  is  at  the  same  time  allowed 
to  go  astray.  Where  the  mind  wanders,  the  body  must 
follow  sooner  or  later.  It  is  necessary  at  this  stage  to 
appreciate  one  distinction.  It  is  one  thing  to  allow  the  mind 
to  harbour  impure  thoughts.  It  is  a  different  thing  altoge- 
ther if  it  strays  among  them  in  spite  of  ourselves.  Victory' 
will  be  ours  in  the  end,  if  we  non-co-operate  with  the  mind 


BRAHMACHARYA  49 

in  this  evil  process.  We  experience  every  moment  of  our 
life  that  while  the  body  is  subject  to  our  control,  the  mind  is 
not.  Hence  the  body  must  be  immediately  taken  in  hand, 
and  then  we  must  put  forth  a  constant  endeavour  to  bring 
the  mind  under  control.  We  can  do  nothing  rn^re,  nothing 
less.  If  we  give  way  to  the  mind,  the  body  and  the  mind 
will  pull  different  ways,  and  we  shall  be  false  to  ourselves. 
Body  and  mind  may  be  said  to  go  together,  so  long;  as  we 
continue  to  resist  the  approach  of  every  evil  thought. 

The  observance  of  Brahmacharyu  has  been  believed  to  be 
very  difficult,  almost  impossible.  Trying  to  fiad  a  reason 
for  this  belief,  we  see  that  the  term  Brahmaiharya  has  been 
understood  in  a  narrow  sense.  Mere  control  of  animal 
passion  has  been  thought  to  be  tantamount  to  observing 
tirahmacharya.  I  feel  that  this  conception  is  incomplete 
and  wrong.  Brakmachzyi  is  the  control  of  all  the  organs  of 
sense.  He  who  attempts  to  control  only  one  organ,  and 
allows  all  the  others  free  play,  is  bound  to  find  his  effort 
futile.  To  hear  suggestive  stories  with  the  ears,  to  see 
suggestive  sights  with  the  eyes,  to  taste  stimulating  food  with 
the  tongue,  to  touch  exciting  things  with  the  hands,  and 
then  at  the  same  time  to  try  to  control  the  only  remaining 
organ  is  like  putting  one's  hands  in  a  fire,  and  then  trying 
to  escape  burns.  He,  therefore,  who  is  resolved  to  control 
the  one  must  be  likewise  determined  to  control  the  rest.  I 
have  always  felt  that  harm  has  freen  done  by  the  narrow 
definition  of  Brahmacharya.  If  we  practise  simultaneous  self- 
control  in  all  directions,  the  attempt  is  scientific  and  easy  of 
success.  Perhaps  the  palate  is  the  chief  sinner.  Hence  we 
have  assigned  to  its  control  a  separate  place  among  the 
observances. 

Let  us  remember  the  root  meaning  of  Brahmackarya. 
Brahmicharya  means  charya  or  course  of  conduct  adapted  to  the 
search  of  Brahman  or  Truth.  From  this  etymological  meaning 
arises  the  special  meaning,  viz.  control  of  all  the  senses.  We 


50  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

must  forget  the  incomplete  definition  which  restricts  itself  to 
the  sexual  aspect  only. 

— Toung  India  :  Sept,  3,  1931. 

<$><$>   <S> 

AN  innocent  youth  is  a  priceless   possession   not   to   be 
squandered  away  for  the  sake  of  a   momentary   excitement, 
miscalled  pleasure. 

—Harijan  :  Sept.  21,  1935. 

<$><$><$> 

IF  the  mind  hankered  after  satisfaction  of  the  flesh  and 
the  body  resisted,  there  must  be  tremendous  waste  of  vital 
energy  leaving  the  body  thoroughly  exhausted. 

But  self-restraint  never  accrues  to  the  faint-hearted.  It  is 
the  beautiful  fruit  of  watchfulness  and  ccaselness  effort  in  the 
form  of  prayer  and  fasting.  The  prayer  is  not  vain  repetition 
nor  fasting  mere  starvation  of  the  body.  Prayer  has  to  come 
from  the  heart  which  knows  God  by  faith,  and  fasting  is 
abstinence  from  evil  or  injurious  thought,  activity  or  food. 
Stai  vation  of  the  body  when  the  mind  thinks  of  a  multiplicity 
of  dishes  is  worse  than  useless. 

—  Harijan  :  April  10,  1937. 

<3>    <$>    <S> 

CONTROL  over  the  organ  of  generation  is  impossible 
without  proper  control-over  all  the  senses.  1  hey  are  all 
inter-dependent.  Mind  on  the  lower  plane  is  included  in  the 
senses.  Without  control  over  the  mind  mere  physical  con- 
trol, even  if  it  can  be  attained  for  a  time,  is  of  little  or  no 
use. 

—Harijan  :  June  13,  1936. 

<*><$><$> 

MY  darkest  hour  was  when  I  was  in  Bombay,  a  few 
months  ago.  It  was  the  hour  of  my  temptation.  Whilst  I 
was  asleep  I  suddenly  felt  as  though  I  wanted  to  see  a 
woman*  Well  a  man  who  had  tried  to  rise  superior  to 


BRAHMACHARYA  51 

the  sex-instinct  for  nearly  40  years  was  bound  to  be  intensely 
pained  when  he  had  this  frightful  experience.  I  ultimately 
conquered  the  feeling,  but  I  was  face  to  face  with  the 
blackest  moment  of  my  life  and  if  I  had  succumbed  to  it, 
it  would  have  meant  my  absolute  undoing.  I  was  stirred 
to  the  depths  because  strength  and  peace  come  from  a 
life  of  continence.  Many  Christian  friends  are  zealous  of 
the  peace  I  possess.  It  comes  from  God  who  has  blessed 
with  the  strength  to  battle  against  temptation. 

—Harijan  :  Dec,  26,  1936- 

<£>    <S>    <$> 

RESTRAINT  never  ruins  one's  health.  What  ruins 
one's  health  is  not  restraint  but  outward  suppression.  A 
really  self-restrained  person  grows  eveiy  day  from  strength 
to  strength  and  from  peace  to  more  peace.  The  very  first 
step  in  self-restraint  is  the  restraint  of  thoughts. 

—Harijan  :  Oct.  28,  1937. 


THERE  should  be  a  clear  line  between  the  life  of  a 
Biakmachari  and  one  who  is  not.  The  resemblance  that  there 
is  between  the  two  is  only  apparent.  The  distinction 
ought  to  be  clear  as  daylight.  Both  use  their  eyesight,  but 
whereas  the  Brahwachari  uses  it  to  see  the  glories  of  God,  the 
other  uses  it  to  see  the  frivolity  around  him.  Both  use 
their  e  *rs,  but  whereas  the  one  hears  nothing  but  praises  of 
God,  the  other  feasts  his  ears  upon  ribaldry.  Both  often 
keep  late  hours,  but  whereas  one  devotes  them  to  prayer, 
the  other  fritters  them  away  in  wild  and  wasteful  mirth. 
Both  feed  the  inner  man,  but  the  one  only  to  keep  the 
temple  of  God  in  good  repair,  while  the  other  gorges  him- 
self and  makes  the  sacred  vessel  a  stinking  gutter.  Thus 
both  live  as  the  poles  apart,  and  the  distance  between  them 
will  grow  and  not  diminish  with  the  passage  of  time. 

—My  Experiments  With  Truth  :  Page  259. 


52  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

Bravery 

THE  brave  meet  death  with  a  smile  on  their   lips,    but 
they  are  circumspect  all  the  same. 

—Toung  India  :  Oct.  13,  1921. 


Bravery  is  not  a  quality  of  the  body,  it  is  of  the  soul..  I 
have  seen  cowards  encased  in  tough  muscle,  and  rare 
courage  in  the  frailest  body.  I  have  seen  big  bulky  and 
muscular  Zulus  bowing  before  an  English  lad  and  turning 
tail  if  they  saw  a  loaded  revolver  pointed  at  them.  I 
have  seen  Emily  Hobhouse  with  a  paralytic  body 
exhibiting  courage  of  the  highest  order.  She  was  the  one 
noble  woman  who  kept  up  the  drooping  spirits  of  brave 
Boer  generals  and  equally  brave  Boer  women.  The 
weakest  of  us  physically  must  be  taught  the  art  of  facing 
dangers  and  giving  a  good  account  of  ourselves. 

—Toung  India  :  Oct.  17,  1925. 


STRENGTH  of  numbers  is  the  delight     of  the     timid. 
The  valiant  of  spirit  glory  in  fighting  alone. 

And   the   valour*  of  the   spirit   cannot      be     achieved 
without  Sacrifice,  Determination,  Faith  and  Humility. 

—Toung  India  :  June  17,  1926. 

<S>    <$>    <3> 

A  WARRIOR  loves  to  die,  not  on  a  sick-bed,   but  on 
the  battle-field. 

—Young  India  :  Dec.  30,  1926. 


I  DO  not  want  any  cowardice  in   our  midst.     The 
heroism  of  ahimsa  cannot  be  developed    from  cowardice. 


BREAD-LABOUR  53 

Bravery  is  essential  to  both  himsa  and  ahimsa.  In  fact 
it  is  even  more  essential  in  the  latter  for  ahimsa  is  nothing 
if  it  is  not  the  acme  of  bravery. 

—Toting  India  :  Jan.  30,  1929* 
<$>    <£    <$> 

A  BRAVE  man  always  gives  credit  to  the  other  party 
for  its  bona  fides t 

—  Young  India  :  Mar.  19,  1931 

<s>  <$>  <s> 

THERE  is  no  bravery  greater  than  a  resolute  refusal  to 
bend  the  knee  to  an  earthly  power,  no  matter  how  great 
and  without  bitterness  of  spirit  and  in  the  fulness  of 
faith  that  the  spirit  alone  lives,  nothing  else  does. 

—Harijan  :  Oct.  15,  1938. 
<$><*><$> 

Bread-Labour 

"WHAT  is  your  view  on  what  Tolstoy  calls  *  Bread- 
labour  ?'  Do  you  really  earn  your  living  by  your  bodily 
labour  ?" 

Strictly  speaking  bread-labour  is  not  a  word  of 
Tolstoy's  coining.  He  took  it  from  another  Russian 
writer  Bbndarif,  and  it  means  that  everyone  is  expected 
to  perform  sufficient  body-labour  in  order  to  entitle  him 
to  it.  It  is  not  therefore  necessary  to  earn  one's  living 
by  bread-labour,  taking  the  word  in  its  broader 
sense.  But  everyone  must  perform  some  useful  body-labour. 

For  me  at  the  present  moment  spinning  is  the 
only  body-labour  I  give.  It  is  a  mere  symbol.  I  do  not 
give  enough  body-labour.  That  is  also  one  of  the  reasons 
why  I  consider  myself  as  living  upon  charity.  But  I  also 


54          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

believe  that  such  men  will  have  to  be  found  in  every 
nation  who  will  give  themselves  body,  soul  and  mind  to 
it  and  for  their  sustenance  throw  themselves  on  the 
mercy  of  their  fellow  men,  that  is,  on  God. 

—Toung  India  :  Nov.  5,  1925, 

<$><$><$> 

THERE  seems  to  be  some  confusion  about  the  principle 
of  bread-labour.  It  is  never  opposed  to  social  service. 
Intelligent  bread-labour  is  any  day  ihe  highest  form  of 
social  service.  For  what  can  be  better  than  that  a  man 
should  by  his  personal  labour  add  to  the  useful  wealth  of 
the  country  ?  '  Being  '  is  '  doing.  ' 

The  adjective  c  intelligent  '  has  been  prefixed  to 
1  labour '  in  order  to  show  that  labour  to  be  social 
service  must  have  that  definite  purpose  behind  it. 
Otherwise  every  labourer  can  be  said  to  render  social 
service.  He  does  in  a  way,  but  what  is  meant  here  is 
something  much  more  than  that.  A  person  who  labours 
for  the  general  good  of  all  serves  society  and  is  worthy 
of  his  hire.  Therefore,  such  bread-labour  is  not  different 
from  social  service.  What  the  vast  mass  of  mankind 
does  for  self  or  at  best  for  family,  a  social  servant  does 
for  general  good. 

— Harijan  :  June  1,  1935. 

<$>    <$>     <$> 

Brahma  created  His  people  with  the  duty  of  sacrifice 
laid  upon  them  and  said,  '  By  this  do  you  flourish.  Let  it 
be  the  fulfiller  of  all  your  desire.7../ He  who  eats  without 
performing  this  sacrifice  eats  stolen  bread/ — thus  says 
the  Gita.  *  Earn  thy  bread  by  the  sweat  of  thy  brow/ 
says  the  Bible.  Sacrifices  may  be  of  many  kinds.  One 
of  them  may  well  be  bread-labour.  If  all  laboured  for 
their  bread  and  no  more,  then  there  would  be  enough 
food  and  enough  leisure  for  all.  Then  there  would  be  no 
cry  of  over-population,  no  disease,  and  no  such  misery  as 


BREAD-LABOUR  55 

we  see  around.  Such  labour  will  be  the  highest  form  of 
sacrifice.  Men  will  no  doubt  do  many  other  things 
either  through  their  bodies  or  through  their  minds,  but 
all  this  will  be  labour  of  love,  for  the  common  good. 
There  will  be  then  no  rich  and  no  poor,  none  high  and 
none  low,  no  touchable  and  no  untouchable. 

This  may  be  an  unattainable  ideal.  But  we  need 
not,  therefore,  cease  to  strive  for  it.  Even  if  without 
fulfilling  the  whole  law  of  sacrifice,  that  is,  the  law  of 
our  being,  we  performed  physical  labour  enough  for  our 
daily  bread,  we  should  go  a  long  way  towards  the  ideal. 

If  we  did  so,  our  wants  would  be  minimised,  our  food 
would  be  simple.  We  should  then  eat  to  live,  not  live  to 
eat.  Let  anyone  who  doubts  the  accuracy  of  this  proposi- 
tion try  to  sweat  for  his  bread,  he  will  derive  the  greatest 
relish  from  the  productions  of  his  labour,  improve  his  health 
and  discover  that  many  things  he  took  were  superfluities. 

May  not  men  earn  their  bread  by  intellectual  labour  ? 
No.  The  needs  of  the  body  must  be  supplied  by  the  body. 
<  Render  unto  Caesar  that  which  is  Caesar's/  perhaps  app- 
]ies  here  well. 

Mere  mental,  that  is,  intellectual  labour  is  for  the  soul 
and  is  its  own  satisfaction.  It  should  never  demand  pay- 
ment. In  the  ideal  state,  doctors,  lawyers  and  the  like  will 
work  solely  for  the  benefit  of  society,  not  for  self.  Obedi- 
ence to  the  law  of  bread-labour  will  bring  about  a  silent 
revolution  in  the  structure  of  society.  Man's  triumph  will 
consist  in  substituting  the  strugle  for  existence  by  the 
struggle  for  mutual  service.  Thela*v  of  the  brute  will  be 
replaced  by  the  law  of  man. 

Return  to  the  villages  means  a  definite  voluntary  re- 
cognition flf  the  duty  of  bread-labour  and  all  it  connotes. 
But  says  the  critic,  *  Millions  of  India's  childern  are  to-day 
living  in  the  villages  and  yet  they  are  living  a  life  of  semi- 


56        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

starvation.'  This,  alas,  is  but  too  true.  Fortunately  we 
know  that  theirs  is  not  voluntary  obedience.  They  would 
perhaps  shirk  body-labour  if  they  could,  and  even  rush  to 
the  nearest  city  if  they  could  be  accommodated  in  it.  Com- 
pulsory obedience  to  a  master  is  a  state  of  slavery,  willing 
obedience  to  one's  father  is  the  glory  of  somhip.  Similarly 
compulsory  obedience  to  the  law  of  bread-labour  breeds 
poverty,  disease  and  discontent.  It  is  a  state  of  slavery. 
Willing  obedience  to  it  must  bring  contentment  and  health. 
And  it  is  health  which  is  real  wealth,  not  pieces  of  silver  and 
gold.  The  Village  Industries  Association  is  an  experiment 
in  willing  bread-labour. 

—Harijan   :  June  29,   1935 


SOME  of  the  simplest  things  that  Gandhiji  has  been 
saying  and  writing  seem  to  puzzle  and  perplex  people  v\ho 
ask  him  to  explain  what  he  could  possibly  have  meant. 
One  of  these  is  Gandhiji's  insistence  on  bread-labour.  It  is 
the  simplest  of  propositions  to  understand  that  if  everyone 
earned  his  bread  by  the  sv\eat  of  his  brow  there  would  be  na 
exploitation  and  no  over  work.  But  the  puzzle  to  some 
is  that  most  people  do  not  do  so.  The  lawyer  who  earns  his 
thousands  a  month  and  guineas  an  hour  does  no  body- 
labour  nor  do  many  other  professional  people  of  his  kind. 
But  sa)s  Gandhiji  to  the  puzzled  one  :  c  Why  worry  about 
those  who  do  not  do  body-labour?  I  have  never  imagined  that 
every  man  on  earth  will  earn  his  bread  by  the  sweat  of  his 
brow,  lut  I  have  simply  enunciated  the  golden  rule.  Are 
jcu  prepared  to  do  it  ?  If  you  are,  you  need  not  be  jealous 
of  the  man  \\ho  is  not  prepared  to  do  it  or  cannot  do  it.  I 
may  not  be  able  to  earn  what  fruit  and  milk  I  eat,  by  mere 
body-labour,  but  that  means  that  I  am  to  be  pitied,  the  rule 
is  not  affected.  Only  a  few  people  can  observe  Brahmachaiya 
but  should  they,  therefore,  be  jealous  of  the  millions  w  ho 


BREAD-LABOUR  57 

canno  t?        The  latter    may    be    pitied,    rather    than    be 
envied.'     M.  D, 

—Harijan  :  Aug.  3,  1935, 

<$>     <$>     <S> 

THE  law,  that  to  live  man  must  work,  first  came  home 
to  me  upon  reading  Tolstoy's  writing  on  bread-labour.  But 
even  before  that  I  had  begun  to  pay  homage  to  it  after 
reading  Ruskin's  Unto  This  Last.  The  divine  law,  that  man 
must  earn  his  bread  by  labouring  with  his  own  hands,  was 
fiist  stressed  by  a  Russian  writer  named  T.  N.  Bondarif. 
Tolstoy  advertised  it,  and  gave  it  wider  publicity.  In  my 
view,  the  same  principle  has  been  set  forth  in  the  third 
chapter  of  the  Gila,  where  we  are  told,  that  he  who  eats 
without  offering  sacrifice  eats  stolen  food.  Sacrifice  here 
can  only  mean  bread-labour. 

Reason  too  leads  us  to  an  identical  conclusion.  How 
can  a  man,  who  does  not  do  body-labour,  have  the  right  to 
eat  ?  '  In  the  sueat  of  thy  brow  shall  thou  eat  thy  bread/ 
says  the  Bible.  A  millionaire  cannot  carry  on  for  long,  and 
will  scon  get  tired  of  his  life,  if  he  rolls  in  his  bed  all  day 
long,  and  is  even  helped  to  his  food.  He  therefore  induces 
hunger  by  exercise,  and  help  himself  to  the  food  he  eats. 
If  every  one,  whether  rich  and  poor,  has  thus  to  take 
exercise  in  some  shape  or  form,  why  should  it  not  assume  the 
form  of  productive,  i.e.  bread  labour?  No  one  asks  the 
cultivator  to  take  breathing  exercise  or  to  work  his  muscles. 
And  more  than  nine  tenths  of  humanity  lives  by  tilling  the 
soil.  How  much  happier,  healthier  and  more  peaceful 
would  the  world  become,  if  the  remaining  tenth  followed  the 
example  of  the  over — whelming  majority,  at  least  to  the 
extent  of  labouring  enough  for  their  food  !  And  many  hard- 
ships, connected  with  agriculture,  would  be  easily  redressed, 
if  such  people  took  a  hand  in  it.  Again  invidious  distinctions 
of  rank  would  be  abolished,  when  every  one  without  ex- 
ception acknowledged  the  obligation  of  bread-labour.  It  is 


58          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

common  to  all  the  varnas.  There  is  a  world-wide  conflict 
between  capital  and  labour,  and  the  poor  envy  the  rich. 
If  all  worked  for  their  bread,  distinctions  of  rank  would  be 
obliterated;  the  rich  would  still  be  there,  but  they  would 
deem  themselves  only  trustees  of  their  property,  and  would 
use  it  mainly  in  the  public  interest. 

Bread-labour  is  a  veritable  blessing  to  one  who  would 
observe  Non-violence,  worship  Truth,  and  make  the  obser- 
vance of  brahmacharya  a  natural  act.  This  labour  can  truly 
be  related  to  agriculture  alone.  Bat  at  present  at  any  rate, 
everybody  is  not  in  a  position  to  take  to  it.  A  person  can 
therefore  spin  or  weave,  or  take  up  carpentry  or  smithery, 
instead  of  tilling  the  soil,  always  regarding  agriculture  how- 
ever to  be  the  ideal.  Every  one  must  be  his  own  scavenger. 
Evacuation  is  as  necessary  as  eating,  and  the  best  thing 
would  be  for  every  one  to  dispose  of  his  own  waste.  If  this 
is  impossible,  each  family  should  see  to  its  own  scavenging. 
I  have  felt  for  years,  that  there  must  be  something  radically 
wrong,  where  scavenging  has  been  made  the  concern  of  a 
separate  class  in  society.  We  have  no  historical  record  of 
the  man,  who  first  assigned  the  lowest  status  to  this  essential 
sanitary  service.  Whoever  he  was,  he  by  no  means  did  us  a 
good.  We  should  from  our  very  childhood,  have  the  idea 
impressed  upon  our  minds  that  we  are  all  scavengers,  and 
the  easiest  way  of  doing  so  is,  for  every  one  who  has  realised 
this,  to  commence  bread-labour  as  a  scavenger.  Scavenging, 
thus  intelligently  taken  up,  will  help  one  to  a  true  apprecia- 
tion of  the  equality  of  man. 

— From  Tervada  Mandir  :  Page  50. 

British  Empire 

NO  empire  intoxicated  with  red  wine  of  power  and 
plunder  of  weaker  races  has  yet  lived  long  in  this  world,  and 
this  British  Empire,  which  is  based  upon  organised  exploita- 
ti  on  of  physically  weaker  races  of  the  earth  and  upon  a 


BRITISH  GOVERNMENT  59 

continuous  exhibition  of  brute  force,  cannot  live  if  there  is  a 
just  God  ruling  the  universe. 

—  Young  India  :  Feb.  23,  1922. 


WHEREVER  you  turn  in  India  you  encounter  pitfalls. 
To  me  every  institution  —  be  it  the  most  philanthropic  —  run 
by  and  in  the  name  of  the  Empire  in  India  has  an  unmistak- 
able taint  about  it.  That  we  run  to  and  1m*  niDst  or  some 
of  them  is  no  test  of  their  goodness.  It  is  a  test  of  our 
helplessness,  short-sightedness  or  selfishness.  We  have  not 
the  courage  to  sacrifice  much  in  order  to  save  ourselves 
from  criminal  participation  in  sustaining  an  Empire  which  is 
based  on  fraud  and  force,  and  whose  chief,  if  not  one  aim  is 
to  perpetuate  the  pDlicy  of  ever-growing  exploitation  of  the 
so-called  weaker  races  of  the  earth. 

—Young  India  :  Dec.  13,  1928. 

British  Government 

THE  British  Government  is  never  and  nowhere  entirely 
or  even  chiefly  laid  on  force.  It  does  make  an  honest 
attempt  to  secure  the  good-will  of  the  governed.  But  it  does 
not  hesitate  to  adopt  unscrupulous  means  to  compel  the 
consent  of  the  governed. 

„  It  has  not  gone  beyond  the  c  Honesty  is  the  best  policy  * 
id?a.  It  therefore  bribes  you  into  consenting  to  its  will  by 
awarding  titles,  medals  and  ribbDns,  b/  giving  you  employ- 
ment, by  its  superior  financial  ability  to  open  for  its 
employees  avenues  for  enriching  themselves  and  finally  when 
these  fail,  it  resorts  to  force. 

—Young  India  :  June  30,  1920. 


60          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

I  MUST  dare  say  that  the  Mogul  and  the  Marathai 
Governments  were  better  than  the  Biitish,  in  that  the  nation 
as  a  whole  was  not  so  emasculate  or  so  impoverished  as  it  is 
to-day.  We  were  not  the  Pariahas  of  the  Mogul  or  the 
Maratha  Empire.  We  are  the  Pariahas  of  the  British 
Empire. 

—Toung  India  :  June  22,  192U 


WHAT  severer  condemnation  can  be  pronounced  upon 
the  British  Government  than  that,  for  the  commercial  greed 
of  the  British  nation,  it  has  emasculated  a  whole  people  ? 

—Toung  India  :  Nov.  17,  1920. 


IT  is  not  so  much  British  guns  that  are   responsible  for 
our  subjection  as  our  voluntary  co-operation. 

India  :  Feb.  9,  1921. 


British  Political  Institutions 

I  QUESTION  this  claim  to  exclusive  political  sense  that 
the  English  arrogate  to  themselves.  It  is  one  of  the  greatest 
superstitions  of  the  age  and  the  surprise  to  me  is  that  even 
the  most  level-headed  among  the  English  sometimes  succumb 
to  it.  There  is  much  in  British  political  institutions  that  I 
admire.  But  I  am  no  fetish  worshipper.  I  do  not  believe 
that  they  are  the  paragon  of  perfection  or  that  they  must  be 
adopted  by  India  at  any  price.  The  English  have  not  been 
able  to  make  a  perfect  success  of  them  even  in  their  own 
country,  much  less  to  demonstrate  that  they  are  the  best 
model  for  the  whole  world  to  adopt.  There  are  Englishmen 
who  admit  that  the  Mother  of  Parliaments  has  not  fulfilled 
all  the  expectations  that  were  entertained  of  her. 

—  Young  India  :  Mar.  28,  1929. 


BRITISH  RULE  IN  INDIA  61 

WHAT  is  excellent  in  British  political  institutions  is  there 
for  the  whole  world  to  see  and  copy*  The  British  need  not 
come  all  the  way  to  India  as  rulers  to  teach  us  political 
wisdom.  Whatever  is  worth  adopting  for  India  must  come 
to  her  through  the  process  of  assimilation,  not  forcible 
superimposition.  For  instance,  the  Chinese  possess  the 
cunning  of  the  hand  in  painting  which  is  all  their  own.  It  is 
there  for  the  whole  world  to  admire  and  imitate.  You  would 
not  expect  the  Chinese  to  come  and  take  possession  of  Eng- 
}and  to  teach  to  her  the  Chinese  fine  arts  ! 

—  Young  India  :  Mar.  28,  1929 

British  Rule  in  India 

I  LONG  for  freedom  from  the  English  yoke.  I  would  pay 
anv  price  for  it.  I  would  accept  chaos  in  exchange  for  it. 
For  the  English  peace  is  the  peace  of  the  grave.  Anything 
would  be  better  than  this  living  death  of  a  whole  people. 
This  satantic  rule  has  well  nigh  ruined  this  fair  land  materi- 
ally, morally  and  spiritually. 

—Toung  India  ;  Jan.  12,  1928. 

<$><$>     <$> 

IT  is  clear  that  the  riches  derived  from  the  tillers  of  the 
soil  are  not  a  voluntary  contribution  or  a  contribution  com- 
pelled for  their  benefit.  The  villagers  are  not  affected  by 
the  Pax  Britannica  so-called  ;  for  they  were  untouched  even 
by  the  invasions  of  Timur  or  Nadirshah.  They  will  remain 
untouched  by  anarchy  if  it  comes.  But  in  order  that  this 
enormous  contribution  may  be  exacted  without  resistance, 
violence  has  been  organised  by  the  British  Government  on  a 
scale  unknown,  before  and  manipulated  in  so  insidious  a 
manner  as  not  to  be  easily  seen  or  felt  as  such.  British  rule 
has  appeared  to  me  to  be  a  perfect  personification  of  violence. 
There  are  snakes  that  by  their  very  appearance  paralyse 
their  victims.  They  do  not  need  to  make  any  further  de- 
monstration of  their  power.  Even  so,  I  am  sorry  to  have  to 


62          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

say,  has  the  British  power  worked  upon  us  in  India.  Fright- 
fulness  is  not  a  word  of  Indian  coinage.  It  was  coined  by  a 
British  judge  in  order  to  bring  vividly  to  light  the  meaning  oi 
Jalianwala  Massacre.  And  we  are  promised  a  multiple,  if  we 
dare  lift  up  our  heads  and  say,  c  We  will  have  no  more  of 
this  loot  that  has  bled  India  dry.' 

Let  us,  too,  understand  how  organised  violence  works 
and  is  on  that  account  far  more  haimful  than  sporadic, 
thoughtless,  sudden  outburst.  Ordered  violence  hides  itself 
often  behind  camouflage  and  hypocrisy  as  we  see  them  work- 
ing through  the  declarations  of  good  intentions,  commissions, 
conferences  and  the  like,  or  even  through  measures  conceived 
as  tending  to  the  public  benefit  but  in  reality  to  the  benefit 
of  the  wrongdoer.  Greed  and  deceit  are  often  the  offspring 
as  they  are  equally  often  the  parents  of  violence.  Naked 
violence  repels  like  the  naked  skeleton  shorn  of  flesh,  blood 
and  the  velvety  skin.  It  cannot  last  long.  But  it  persists 
fairly  long  when  it  wears  the  mask  of  peace  and  progress 
so-called. 

Such  awe-inspiring  violence  concealed  under  a  '  golden 
lid  '  begets  the  violence  of  the  weak  which  in  its  turn  works 
secretly  and  sometimes  openly. 

—Young  India  :  Feb.  6,  1930. 


ENGLAND  will  never  make  any  advance  so  as  to  satisfy 
India's  aspriations  till  she  is  forced  to  it.  British  rule  is  no 
philanthropic  job,  it  is  a  terribly  earnest  business  proposition 
worked  out  from  day  to  day  with  deadly  precision.  The 
coating  of  a  benevolence  that  is  periodically  given  to  it 
merely  prolongs  the  agony. 

—Young  India  :  Feb.  28,  1929. 


MY  personal  faith  is  absolutely  clear.     I  cannot   inten- 
tionally hurt   anything  that  lives,  much   less  fellow  human 


BRITISH  RULE  IN  INDIA  63 

beings,  even  though  they  may  do  the  greatest  wrong  to  me 
and  mine.  Whilst,  therefore,  I  hold  the  British  rule  to  be  a 
curse,  I  do  not  intend  harm  to  a  single  Englishman  or  to 
any  legitimate  interest  he  may  have  in  India. 

I  must  not  be  misunderstood.  Though  I  hold  the  British 
rule  in  India  to  be  a  curse,  I  do  not,  therefore,  consider 
Englishmen,  in  general  to  be  worse  than  any  other  people 
on  earth.  I  have  the  privilege  of  claiming  many  Englishmen 
as  dearest  friends.  Indeed,  much  that  I  have  learnt  of  the 
evil  of  British  rule  is  due  to  the  writings  of  frank  and  cour- 
ageous Englishmen  who  have  not  hesitated  to  tell  the  un- 
palatable truth  about  that  rule. 

And  why  do  I  regard  the  British  rule  as  a  curse  ? 

It  has  impoverished  the  dumb  millions  by  a  system  of 
progessive  exploitation  and  by  a  ruinously  expensive  military 
and  civil  administration  which  the  country  can  never 
afford. 

It  has  reduced  us  politically  to  serfdom.  It  has  sapped 
the  foundations  of  our  culture.  And,  by  the  policy  of  ciuel 
disarmament,  it  has  degraded  us  spiritually.  Lacking  the 
inward  strength,  we  have  been  reduced,  by  all  but  universal 
disarmament,  to  state  bordering  on  cowardly  helplessness. 

—Young  India  :  Mar,  12,  1930, 


ALIEN  rule  is  like  a  foreign  matter  in  an  organic  body. 
Remove  the  poison  and  the  body  will  at  once  start  recupe- 
rating. We  do  not  want  the  freedom  of  India,  if  it  is  to  be 
bought  at  the  sacrifice  of  the  lives  of  others  —  if  it  is  to  be 
bought  by  spilling  the  blood  of  the  rulers.  But  if  any 
sacrifice  can  be  made  by  the  nation,  by  ourselves,  to  win 
that  freedom,  then  you  will  find  that  we  will  not  hesitate  to 


64          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

give  a  Ganges  mil  of  blood   to   HDW    in    India    in    order   to 
vindicate  ths  freedom  tint  ha*  b*ea  so  long  delayed. 

(From  a  speech  to  the  Independent  Labour  Party  ,  London.} 

—  Toung  India  :  Oct.  15,  1930. 


Q,  Don't  you  think  there  is  fear  of  the  different 
communities  violently  quarrelling  among  themselves  when 
the  British  withdraw  from  India  ? 

A.  I  have  compared  the  British  rule  to  a  wedge  and 
no  sooner  the  wedge  is  removed  than  the  divided  parts  will 
unite.  But  even  if  we  continue  to  fight  I  should  think  it  a 
godsend.  A  man  who  broods  on  evil  is  as  bad  as  a  man 
who  does  evil,  if  he  is  no  worse,  and  so  if  we  are  prevented 
from  running  at  one  another's  throats  simply  became  of  the 
superimposed  force  of  alien  rule,  the  sooner  that  force  is  re- 
moved the  better.  We  should  fight  harder  for  a  time  but 
we  should  unite  better  ultimately. 

—Young  India  :  Oct.  22,  1931  . 

Buddhism 

YOU  do  not  know,  perhaps,  that  one  of  my  sons,  the 
eldest  boy,  accused  me  of  being  a  follower  of  Buddha, 
and  some  of  my  Hindu  countrymen  also  do  not  hesitate 
to  accuse  me  of  speaking  Buddhistic  teachings  under 
the  guise  of  Sanatana  Hinduism.  I  sympathise  with 
my  son's  accusations  and  the  accusations  of  my  Hindu 
friends.  And  sometimes  I  feel  even  proud  of  bein^ 
accused  of  being  a  follower  of  Buddha,  and  I  have 
no  hesitation  in  declaring  in  the  presence  of  this  audience 
that  I  owe  a  great  deal  to  the  inspiration  that  I  have 
derived  from  the  life  of  the  Enlightened  One. 

It  is  my  deliberate  opinion  that  the  essential  part 
of  the  teachings  of  Budddha  now  forms  an  integral 
part  of  Hinduism.  It  is  impossible  for  Hindu  India  to-day 


BUDDHISM  65 

to  retrace  her  steps  and  go  behind  the  great  reformation 
that  Gautama  effected  in  Hinduism.  By  his  immense 
sacrifice,  by  his  great  renunciation  and  by  the  immaculate 
purity  of  his  life,  he  left  an  indelible  impress  upon  Hinduism, 
and  Hinduism  owes  an  internal  debt  of  gratitude  to  that 
great  Teacher.  And  if  you  will  also  forgive  me  for 
saying  so  and  if  you  will  also  give  me  the  permiss- 
ion to  say  so,  I  would  venture  to  tell  you  that  what 
Hinduism  did  not  assimilate  of  what  passes  as  Buddhism 
to-day  was  not  an  essential  part  of  Buddha's  life  and  his 
teachings. 

It  is  my  fixed  opinion  that  Buddhism  or  rather  the 
teaching  of  Buddha  found  its  full  fruition  in  India,  and  it 
could  not  be  otherwise,  for  Gautama  was  himself  a  Hindu  oi 
Hindus.  He  was  saturated  with  the  best  that  was  in 
Hinduism,  and  he  gave  life  to  some  of  the  teachings  that  were 
buried  in  the  Vcdas  and  which  were  overgrown  with  weeds, 
His  great  Hindu  spirit  cut  in  its  way  through  the  forest  of 
words,  meaningless  words,  which  had  overlaid  the  golden 
truth  that  was  in  the  Vedas.  He  made  some  of  the  words 
in  the  Vtdas  yield  a  meaning  to  which  the  men  of  his 
generation  were  utter  strangers,  and  he  found  in  India  the 
most  congenial  soil.  And  wherever  Buddha  went,  he  was 
followed  by  and  surrounded  not  by  non-Hindus  but  Hindus, 
those  who  were  themselves  saturated  with  the  Vtdic  laws. 
But  Buddha's  teaching  like  his  heart  was  all-expanding  and 
all-embracing  and  so  it  has  survived  his  own  body  and  swept 
across  the  face  of  the  earth.  And  at  the  risk  of  being 
called  a  follower  of  Buddha  I  claim  this  achievement  as  a 
triumph  of  Hinduism.  Buddha  never  rejected  Hinduism, 
but  he  broadened  its  base.  He  give  it  a  new  life  and  new 
interpretation.  But  here  comes  the  point  where  I  shall 
need  your  forgiveness  and  your  generosity,  and  I  want  to 
submit  to  you  that  the  teaching  of  Buddha  was  not 
assimilated  in  its  fullness  whether  it  was  in  Ceylon,  or  in 
Burma,  or  in  China  or  in  Tibet. 


66  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA   GANDHI 

You  and  those  who  call  themselves  Buddhists  out- 
side India  have  no  doubt  taken  in  a  very  large  measure 
the  teaching  of  Buddha,  but  when  I  examine  your  life  and 
when  I  cross-question  the  friends  from  Ceylon,  Burma, 
China  or  Tibet,  I  feel  confounded  to  find  so  many  inconsis- 
tencies between  what  I  have  come  to  understand  as  the 
central  fact  of  Buddha's  life  and  your  own  practice,  and  if  I 
am  not  tiring  you  out,  I  would  like  hurriedly  to  run  through 
three  prominent  points  that  just  now  occurred  to  me.  The 
first  is  the  belief  in  an  all-prevading  Providence  called  God. 
I  have  heard  it  contended  times  without  number  and  I  have 
read  in  books  also  claiming  to  express  the  spirit  of  Buddhism 
that  Buddha  did  not  believe  in  God.  In  my  humble 
opinion  such  a  belief  contradicts  the  very  central  fact  of 
Buddha's  teaching.  In  my  humble  opinion  the  confusion 
has  arisen  over  his  rejection  and  just  rejection  of  all  the  base 
things  that  passed  in  his  generation  under  the  name  of  God. 
He  undoubtedly  rejected  the  notion  that  a  being  called 
God  was  actuated  by  malice,  could  repent  of  His  actions, 
and  like  the  kings  of  the  earth  could  possibly  be  open  to 
temptations  and  bribes  and  could  possibly  have  favourites. 
His  whole  soul  rose  in  mighty  indignation  against  the  belief 
that  a  being  called  God  required  for  His  satisfaction  the 
living  blood  of  animals  in  order  that  He  might  be  pleased — 
animals  who  were  His  own  creation.  He,  therefore,  rein- 
stated God  in  the  right  place  and  dethroned  the  usurper 
who  for  the  time  being  seemed  to  occupy  that  White  Throne. 
He  emphasised  and  re-declared  the  eternal  and  unalterable 
existence  of  the  moral  government  of  this  universe.  He 
unhestitatingly  said  that  the  Law  was  God  Himself. 

God's  laws  are  eternal  and  unalterable  and  not  separate 
from  God  Himself.  It  is  an  indispensable  condition  of  His 
very  perfection.  And  hence  the  great  confusion  that 
Buddha  disbelieved  in  God  and  simply  believed  in  the  moral 
law,  and  because  of  this  confusion  about  God  Himself,  arose 
the  confusion  about  the  proper  understanding  of  the  great 
word  Nirvana.  Nirvana  is  undoubtedly  not  utter  extinctiuo. 


BUDDHISM  67 

So  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  understand  the  central  fact  of 
Buddha's  life,  Nirvana  is  utter  extinction  of  all  that  is  base 
in  us,  all  that  is  corrupt  and  corruptible  in  us.  Nirvana  is  not 
like  the  black,  dead  peace  of  the  grave  but  the  living  peace, 
the  living  happiness  of  a  soul  which  is  conscious  of  itself,  and 
conscious  of  having  found  its  own  abode  in  the  heart  of  the 
Eternal. 

The  third  point  is  the  low  estimation  which  the  idea  of 
sanctity  of  all  life  came  to  be  held  in  its  travels  outside  India. 
Great  as  Buddha's  contribution  to  humanity  was  in  resorting 
God  to  His  eternal  place,  in  my  humble  opinion  greatei 
still  was  his  contribution  to  humanity  in  his  exacting  regard 
for  all  life,  be  it  ever  so  low.  I  am  aware  that  his  own 
India  did  not  rise  to  the  height  thit  he  would  fain  have 
seen  India  occupy.  But  the  teaching  of  Buddha,  when  it 
became  Buddhism  and  travelled  outside,  came  to  mean  that 
the  sacredness  of  animal  life  had  not  the  sense  that  it  hud 
with  an  ordinary  man.  I  am  not  aware  of  the  exact 
practice  and  bslief  of  Ceylonese  Buddhism  in  this  matter, 
but  I  am  aware  what  shape  it  has  taken  in  Burma  and 
China.  In  Burma  especially  the  Burmese  Buddhists  will  not 
kill  a  single  animal,  but  do  not  mind  others  killing  the 
animals  for  them  and  dishing  the  carcases  for  them  for  their 
food.  Now,  if  there  was  any  teacher  in  the  world  who 
insisted  upon  the  inexorable  law  of  cause  and  effect  it  was 
inevitably  Gautama,  and  yet  my  friends,  the  Buddhists 
outside  India,  would,  if  they  could,  avoid  the  effects  of  their 
own  acts. 

—Toung  India  :  JVov.  24,  1927. 

Bureaucracy 

IT  is  contrary  to  my  nature  to  believe  in  the  depravity 
of  human  feelings.  But  there  is  so  much  evidence  about 
me  of  the  depravity  of  the  bureaucratic  mind  that  it  will 
stop  at  anything  to  gain  its  end. 

—Toung  India :  Oct.  20,  1921 . 


68  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

Business 

COMMERCIAL    bodies  can    never  be  democratic. 

—Toung  India  :  Oct.  1,  1925 


IT  is  wrong  to  think  that  business  is  incompatible  with 
ethics.  I  know  that  it  is  perfectly  possible  to  carry  one's 
business  profitably  and  yet  honestly  and  truthfully.  The 
plea  that  business  and  ethics  never  agree  is  advanced  only 
by  those  who  are  actuated  by  nothing  higher  than  narrow 
self-interest.  He  who  will  serve  his  own  ends  will  do  so 
by  all  kinds  of  questionable  means,  but  he  who  will  earn 
to  serve  the  community  will  never  sacrifice  truth  or  honesty. 
You  must  bear  in  mind  that  you  have  the  right  to  earn 
as  much  as  you  like  but  not  the  right  to  spend 
as  much  as  you  like.  Anything  that  remains  after 
the  needs  of  a  decent  living  are  satisfied  belongs  to 
the  community. 

—  Harijan  ;  May  4,  193\ 

<$><*><$> 

I  DO  not  hold  dishonest  practices  in  business 
to  be  warranted  or  excusable.  The  principle  of  uncondi- 
tional honesty  is  as  binding  in  this  as  in  any  other  field 
of  life,  and  it  is  up  to  a  business  man  never  to  compromise 
his  principle  no  matter  what  it  may  cost  him.  In  the 
end,  of  course,  honesty  pays,  though  that  can  hardly  be  a 
consideration  for  observing  it.  One  has  a  perfect  right  to 
fix  and  regulate  the  scale  of  prices  that  he  shall  charge 
from  a  particular  set  of  customers,  but  it  must  be  done 
according  to  a  clear  fixed  principle  and  not  out  of  mere 
opportunism  or  immoral  expediency.  There  should  be 
in  it  no  room  for  fraud,  sharp  practice  or  finesse,  to 
bamboozle  the  simple,  unsuspecting  customer. 

—Harijan  :  Mar.  13,    1937- 


CALAMITY  69 

c 

Calamity 

BY  nature  I  am  so  framed  that  every  calamity  moves 
me  irrespective  of  the  people  whom  it  may  overtake. 

-Harljan:S  ept.  22,  1910. 

Capital  &  Labour 

IN  the  struggle  between  capital  and  labour,  it  miy  be 
generally  said  that  more  often  than  not  the  capitalists  are  in 
the  wrong  box.  But  when  labour  comes  fully  to  realise  its 
strength,  I  know  it  can  become  more  tyrannical  than  capital. 
The  millowners  will  have  to  work  on  the  ternfs  dictated 
by  labour,  if  the  latter  could  command  intelligence  of  the 
former.  It  is  clear,  however,  that  labour  will  never  attain 
to  that  intelligence.  If  it  does,  labour  will  cease  to  be 
labour  and  become  itself  the  master.  The  capitalists  do  not 
fight  on  the  strength  of  money  alone.  They  do  possess 
intelligence  and  tact. 

Swaraj  as  conceived  by  me  does  not  mean  the  end 
of  king-ship.  Nor  does  it  mean  the  end  of  capital.  Accumu- 
lated capital  means  ruling  power.  I  am  for  the  establishment 
of  right  relations  between  capital  and  labour,  etc.  I  do  not 
wish  for  the  supremacy  of  the  one  over  the  other.  I  do  not 
think  there  is  any  natural  antagonism  between  them.  The 
rich  and  the  poor  will  always  be  with  us.  But  their  mutual 
relations  will  be  subject  to  constant  change.  France  is  a 
republic,  but  there  are  all  classes  of  men  in  France. 

—Young  India  :    Jan.  8,  1925. 

<s>  <s>  <s> 

I  HAVE  always  said  that  my  ideal  is  that  capital  and 
labour  should  supplement  and  help  each  other.  They 
should  be  a  great  family  living  in  unity  and  harmopy, 
capital  not  only  looking  to  the  material  welfare  of  the  labour- 
ers but  their  moral  welfare  also, — capitalists  being  trustees 
for  the  welfare  of  the  labouring  classes  under  them. 

India  :  Aug.  20,  1928. 


70         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

TRUE  social  economics  will  teach  us  that  the  working 
man,  the  clerk  and  the  employer  are  parts  of  the  same  indi- 
visible organism.  None  is  smaller  or  greater  than  the  other. 
Their  interests  should  be  not  conflicting  but  identical  and 
interdependent. 

—  Toting  India  :  May  3,  1928 

^    ^    3> 

ALL  capitalists,  according  to  some,  are  born  ogres.  But 
there  need  be  no  such  inherent  antipathy  between  the  two. 
It  is  an  erroneous  notion.  If  the  capitalists  are  apt  to  be 
proud  of  their  wealth,  the  working  men  are  apt  to  be  pioud 
of  their  numerical  strength.  We  are  liable  to  belayed 
and  intoxicated  by  the  same  passion  as  the  capitalists,  rnd  it 
must  be  our  prayer  that  both  may  be  free  from  that  passion. 

— Tourtg  India  :     Mar.  26,  193 1 . 

<$>   <3>   <$> 

NO  dcubt  capital  is  lifeless,  but  not  capitalists,  who  are 
amenable  to  conversion. 

—Harijan  :    May  8,  1937. 

Caste  and  Varna 

'  IN  your  Hinduism  do  you  basically  include  the  caste 
system  ?' 

4  I  do  not.  Hinduism  does  not  believe  in  caste.  I  would 
obliterate  it  at  once.  -But  I  believe  in  varnadharma  which  is  the 
law  of  life.  I  believe  that  some  people  are  born  to  teach  and 
some  to  defend  and  some  to  engage  in  trade  and  agriculture 
and  some  to  do  manual  labour,  so  much  so  that  these  occu- 
pations become  hereditary.  The  law  of  varna  is  nothing  but 
the  law  of  conservation  of  energy.  Why  should  my  son  not 
be  a  scavenger  if  I  am  one  ?' 

''  Indeed  ?    Do  you  go  so  far  ?' 

*  1  do,  because  I  hold  a  scavenger's  profession  in  no  way 
inferior  to  a  clergyman's/ 


CASTE  AND  VARNA  7i 

c  I  grant  that,  but   should   Lincoln   have  been   a  wood- 
chopper  rather  than  President  of  the  U.S.A.?' 

*  But  why  should  not  a  wood-chopper  be  a   President   of 
the  United  States  ?     Gladstone  used  to  chop  wood.' 

'  But  he  did  not  accept  it  as  his  calling.5 

'  He  would  not  have  been  worse  off  if  he  had  done  so. 
What  I  mean  is,  one  born  a  scavenger  must  earn  his  liveli- 
hood by  being  a  scavenger,  and  then  do  whatever  else  he 
likes.  For  a  scavenger  is  as  worthy  of  his  hire  as  a  lawyer  or 
your  Piesident.  That,  according  tome,  is  Hinduism.  There 
is  no  better  communism  on  earth,  and  I  have  illustrated  it 
with  one  verse  from  the  Upanishads  which  means  :  God 
pervades  all — animate  and  inanimate.  Therefore  renounce 
all  and  dedicate  it  to  God  and  then  live.  The  right  of  living 
is  thus  derived  from  renunciation.  It  does  not  say,  'When 
all  do  their  part  of  the  work  I  too  will  do  it.5  It  says,  c  Don5t 
bother  about  others,  do  your  job  first  and  leave  the  rest  to 
HIM.'  Vainadharma  acts  even  as  the  law  of  gravitation.  1 
cannot  cancel  it  or  its  working  by  trying  to  jump  higher 
and  higher  day  by  day  till  gravitation  ceases  to  work.  That 
effort  will  be  vain.  So  is  the  effort  to  jump  over  one  another. 
The  law  of  varna  is  the  antithesis  of  competition  which  kills.7 

(Conversation    between  Gandhiji  and  an  American  clergyman) 

—Harijan  :     Mar.  G,  1937 

<$><$><$> 

AS  for  caste,  I  have  frequently  said  that  I  do  not  believe 
in  caste  in  the  modern  sense.  It  is  an  excrescence  and  a 
handicap  on  progress.  Nor,  do  I  believe  in  inequalities 
between  human  beings.  We  are  all  absolutely  equal.  But 
equality  is  of  souls  and  not  bodies.  Hence,  it  is  a  mental 
state.  We  need  to  think  of,  and  to  assert,  equality  because 
we  see  great  inequalities  in  the  physical  world.  We  have 
to  realise  equality  in  the  midst  of  this  apparent  external 
inequality.  Assumption  of  superiority  by  any  person  over 
any  other  is  a  sin  against  God  and  man.  Thus  caste,  in  so 
ar  as  it  connotes  distinctions  in  status,  is  an  evil. 


72          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

I  do,  however,  believe  in  varna  which  is  based  on  here- 
ditary occupations.  Varnas  are  four  to  mark  four  universal 
occupations, — imparting  knowledge,  defending  the  defence- 
less carrying  on  agriculture  and  commerce,  and  performing 
service  through  physical  labour.  These  occupations  are 
common  to  all  mankind,  but  Hinduism  having  recognised 
them  as  the  law  of  our  being,  has  made  use  of  it  in  regulating 
social  relations  and  conduct.  Gravitation  affects  us  all, 
whether  one  knows  its  existence  or  not.  But  scientists  who 
knew  the  law  have  made  it  yield  results  that  have  startled 
the  world.  Even  so,  has  Hinduism  startled  the  world  by  its 
discovery  and  application  of  the  law  of  varna.  When  Hindus 
were  seized  with  inertia,  abuse  of  varna  resulted  in  innumer- 
able castes,  with  unnecessary  and  harmful  restrictions  as  to 
intermarriage  and  inter-dining.  The  varna  has  nothing  to 
do  with  these  restrictions.  People  of  different  varnas  may 
inter-marry  and  inter-dine.  These  restrictions  may  be  neces- 
sary in  the  interest  of  chastity  andhygiene.  Bat  a  Brahmin 
who  marries  a  Shudra  girl,  or  vice  vers-i,  commits  no  offence 
against  the  law  of  varna.  — Toung  India  :  Jan.  4,  1931. 

Cause 

NO  cause  can  survive  internal  difficulties  if  they  are 
indefinitely  multiplied.  Yet  there  can  be  no  surrender  in  the 
matter  of  principles  for  the  avoidance  of  splits.  You  cannot 
promote  a  cause  when  you  are  undermining  it  by  surren- 
dering its  vital  parft.  — Toung  India  :  Nov.  24,  1920. 

<$><$>    <3> 

A  CAUSE  has  the  best  of  success,  when  it  is  examined 
and  followed  on  its  own  merits.  Measures  must  always  in  a 
progressive  society  be  held  superior  to  men  who  are  after  all 
imperfect  instruments  working  for  their  fulfilment. 

— Toung  India  :  July  13,  1921. 

Ceremonies 

I  do  not  believe  in  ceremonies  except  to  the  extent  that 
they  awaken  in  us  a  sense  of  duty. 

—Toung  India  :  June  12,  1928. 


CHAOS  vs   MISRULE  73 

Chaos  vs  Misrule 

CHAOS  means  no  rule,  no  order.  Rule  or  order  can 
come,  does  come,  out  of  no  rule  or  no  order,  but  never 
directly  out  of  misrule  or  disorder  masquerading  under 
the  sacred  name  of  rule  or  order. 

If  I  were  compelled   to   choose   between    this  rule  and 
violence   I  would   give  my  vote   for  the  latter  though  I  will 
not,  I  could  not,    assist  a  fight  based  on   violence.     It  would 
be     a   matter   for   me   of  Hobson's   choice.     The   seeming 
quiescence   of  to-day   is  a  dangerous   form  of  violence  kept 
under  suppression   by   greater  violence   or  rather   readiness 
for   it.     Is  it  not   better  than    those,  who,  out  of  a   cowardly 
fear    of  death   or   dispossession,    whilst  harbouring  violence 
refrain  from  it,  should  do  it  and  win  freedom  from  bondage  or 
die   gloriously   in  the  attempt  to  vindicate  their  birthright  ? 

My  own  position  and  belief  are  clear  and  unequivocal. 
I  neither  want  the  existing  rule  nor  chaos.  I  want  true 
order  established  without  having  to  go  through  the  travail 
of  chaos.  I  want  this  disorder  to  be  destroyed  by  non- 
violence, i.  e.,  I  want  to  convert  the  evil-doers.  My  life 
is  dedicated  to  that  task.  And  what  I  have  written  in 
the  previous  paragraphs  directly  flows  from  my  knowledge 
of  the  working  of  non-violence  which  is  the  greatest  force 
known  to  mankind.  My  belief  in  its  efficacy  is  unshakeable 
so  is  my  belief  unshakeable  in  the  power  of  India 
to  gain  her  freedom  through  non-violent  means 
and  no  other.  But  this  power  of  hers  cannot  be  evoked 
by  suppressing  truth  or  facts,  however  ugly  they  may  for 
the  moment  appear  to  be.  God  forbid  that  India  should 
have  to  engage  in  a  sanguinary  duel  before  she  learns  the 
lesson  of  non-violence  in  its  fulness.  But  if  that  intermediate 
stage,  often  found  to  be  necessary,  is  to  be  her  lot,  it  will 
have  to  be  faced  as  a  stage  inevitable  in  her  march  towards 
freedom  and  certainly  preferable  to  the  existing  order 
which  is  only  so-called,  but  which  is  like  a  whited  sepul . 


74  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

chre    hiding  undiluted  violence  underneath. 

—Toung  India  :  Mar.  1,   1928.- 

<3>    <$>    <£ 

WE  are  so  very  much  fear-stricken  that  a  severance 
of  the  British  connection  means  to  us  violence  and  chaos. 
Well,  I  want  to  make  myself  clear  once  more.  Votary  as  I 
am  of  non-violence,  if  I  was  given  a  choice  between  being 
a  helpless  witness  to  chaos  and  perpetual  slavery,  I  should 
unhesitatingly  say  that  I  would  far  rather  be  witness 
to  chaos  in  India,  I  would  far  rather  be  witness  to 
chaos  in  India,  I  would  far  rather  be  witness  to  Hindus 
and  Musalmans  doing  one  another  to  death  than  that  T 
should  daily  witness  our  gilded  slavery.  To  my  mind  golden 
shackles  are  far  worse  than  iron  ones,  for  one  easily  feels 
the  irksome  and  galling  nature  of  the  latter  and  is  prone  to 
forget  the  former.  If,  therefore,  India  must  be  in  chains, 
I  \vculd  they  were  of  iron  rather  than  of  gold  or  other 
precious  metals. 

—  tcung  India  :  Jan.  16,  1920, 

Character 

THE  foundation  of  Satyagraha  as  of  nation  building 
is  undoubtedly  self-purification,  self-dedication,  selllessness. 
Let  each  one  ask  oneself,  'How  then  can  I  purify  myself  in 
terms  of  the  nation1  ?  Rectitude  of  private  character  is 
surely  the  beginning  of  the  structure.  If  my  private  character 
is  foul,  I  am  like  'a  sounding  brass  and  tinkling  cymbal.' 
If  then  I  am  not  right  inside,  I  must  this  very  instant  purge 
myself  and  be  a  fit  vessel  for  dedication.  Government 
cannot  help  me  or  interfere  with  me  here.  I  must  be  the  sole 
author  of  my  making  or  undoing. 

— Toung  India  :  April  7,  1927. 

<3>    <3>   <$> 

NO  religion  which  is  narrow  and  which  cannot  satisfy 
the  test  of  reason  will  survive  the  coming  reconstruction 
of  society  in  which  the  values  will  have  changed  and 


CHARACTER  75 

character  not  possession  of  wealth,   title  or  birth  will  be 
the  test   of  merit.  —Harijan  :  Mar.  8,  1942. 

THOUGH  the  external  may  have  its  usey  constituted  as 
I  am,  I  have  all  my  life  thought  of  growth  from  within. 
External  appliances  are  perfectly  useless  if  there  is  no  internal 
reaction.  When  a  body  is  perfect  within,  it  becomes  imper- 
vious to  external  adverse  influences  and  is  independent  of 
external  help.  Moreover  when  the  internal  organs  are 
sound  they  automatically  attract  external  help.  Hence  the 
•proverb  God  helps  those  who  help  themselves.  If  therefore 
we  would  all  work  to  bring  about  internal  perfection  we 
need  not  take  up  any  other  activity  at  all.  Sept.  4,  1924, 

—  Toung  India  : 

<$><$><$> 

AS  a  splendid  palace  deserted  by  its  inmates  looks  like 
a  ruin,  so  does  a  man  without  character,  all  his  material 
belongings  notwithstanding. 

—  Satyagraha  in  South  Africa  :  P.  356* 

3>    <S>    <$> 

ALL  our  learning  or  recitation  of  the  Vedas^  correct 
knowledge  of  Sanskrit,  Latin,  Greek  and  what  not,  will  avail 
us  nothing,  if  they  do  not  enable  us  to  cultivate  absolute 
purity  of  heart.  The  end  of  all  knowledge  must  be  building 
up  of  character.  —Toung  India  :  Sept.  8,  1927 


your  scholarship,  all  your  study  of  Shakespeare  and 
Wordsworth  would   be  in   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  iC 
you  will  cultivate  them, 

India  :     I  <  ] 


76  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

BUT  character  cannot  be  built  with  mortar  and  stone, 
It  cannot  be  built  by  other  hands  than  your  own.  The 
Principal  and  the  Professors  cannot  give  you  character  from 
the  pages  of  books.  Character  building  comes  from  their 
very  lives,  and,  really  speaking,  it  must  come  from  within 
yourselves. 

— Gandhiji  in  Ceylon  :  P.  85- 

<$>    3>    <S> 

PURITY  consists  first  of  all  in  possessing  a  pure  heart 
but  what  there  is  in  the  heart  really  comes  out  also  and 
is  shown  in  outward  acts  and  outward  behaviour.  And  a 
boy  who  wants  to  keep  his  mouth  pure,  will  never  utter 
a  bad  word.  Of  course,  that  is  quite  clear.  But  he  neither 
will  put  anything  into  his  mouth  that  will  cloud  his  intellect, 
cloud  his  mind,  and  damage  his  friends  also. 

—Gandhiji  in  Ceylon  :  P.  95. 

<3>    <$>    <3> 

A  CHIVALROUS  boy  would  always  keep  his  mind 
pure,  hu  eyes  strai^ut,  and  his  haads  unp>Ilutei.  You  do 
not  need  to  go  to  any  school  to  learn  these  fundamental 
maxims  of  life,  and  if  you  will  have  this  triple  character 
with  you,  you  will  build  on  a  solid  foundation. 

—Gandhiji  in  Cylon  :  P.  105. 

<3>    &    <3> 

A  MAN  of  character  will  make  himself  worthy  of  any 
position  he  is  given. 

—Young  India  :  Sep.  9,   1920. 

<£    <3>    <$> 

THERE  are  no  two  opinions  about  the  fact  that 
intellect  rather  than  riches  will  lead.  It  might  equally  be 
admitted  by  the  correspondent  that  the  heart  rather  than 
the  intellect  will  eventully  lead.  Character,  not  brains,  will 
count  at  the  crucial  moment. 

—Young  India  :  Sep.  19,  1921. 


CHARACTER  77 

PURITY  of  character  and  salavation  depend  on  purity 
of  heart. 

—  Toung  India  :  Mar.   15,  1921. 

<s>  <s>  <s> 

PUT  all  your  knowledge,  learning  and  scholarship  in 
one  scale  and  truth  and  purity  in  the  other  and  the  latter 
will  by  far  outweigh  the  other.  The  miasma  of  moral 
impurity  has  to-day  spread  among  our  schoolgoing  children 
and  like  a  hidden  epidemic  is  working  havoc  among  them. 
I  therefore  appeal  to  you,  boys  and  girls,  to  keep  your  minds 
and  bodies  pure.  All  your  scholarship,  all  your  study  of  the 
scriptures  will  be  in  vain  if  you  fail  to  translate  their 
teachings  into  your  daily  life.  I  know  that  some  of  the 
teachers  too  do  not  lead  pure  and  clean  lives.  To  them  1 
say  that  even  if  they  impart  all  the  knowledge  in  the  world 
to  their  students  but  inculcate  not  truth  and  purity  among 
them,  they  will  have  betrayed  them  and  instead  oi 
raising  them  set  them  on  the  downward  road  tn 
perdition.  Knowledge  without  character  is  a  power 
for  evil  only,  as  seen  in  the  instances  of  so  many  'talented 
thieves'  and  'gentlemen  rascals7  in  the  world. 

—Toung  India  :  Feb.  21,  1929, 

<$><$>    <£> 

CHARACTER  alone  will  have  effect  on  the  masses, 
Masses  will  not  argue.  They  will  simply  want  to  know  who 
are  the  .men  who  go  to  them.  If  those  men  have  credentials, 
the  masses  will  listen  to  them;  if  they  have  no  credentials, 
the  masses  will  not  listen. 

—  Toung  India  :  Dec.  29,  1933, 

Charkha 

I  PRESENT  you  with  the  SPINNING  WHEEL 
and  suggest  to  you  that  on  it  depends  India's  economic 
salvation.  It  is  no  sacrifice  to  learn  a  beautiful  art  and  to 
be  able  to  clothe  the  naked  at  the  same  time. 

—Toung  India*  Jan.  19,  1920, 


78  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

WITHOUT  a  cottage  industry  the  Indian  peasant 
is  doomed.  He  cannot  maintain  himself  from  the 
produce  of  the  land.  He  needs  a  supplementary 
industry.  Spinning  is  the  easiest,  the  cheapest  and  the  best. 

The  Queens  of  Europe  before  Europe  was  caught  in 
Satan's  trap,  spun  yarn  and  considered  it  a  noble  calling. 
The  very  words,  spinster  and  wife,  prove  the  ancient  dig- 
nity of  the  art  of  spinning  and  weaving.  'When  Adam 
delved  and  Eve  span,  who  was  then  a  gentleman,  also 
reminds  one  of  the  same  fact.  Not  on  the  clatter  of  arms 
depends  the  revival  of  her  prdsperty  and  true  independence. 
It  depends  mo^t  largely  upon  reintroduction,  in  every 
home  of  the  music  of  the  spinning  wheel.  It  gives 
-sweeter  music  and  is  more  profitable  than  the  execrable 
harmonium,  coucertina,  and  the  accordion. 

I  know  that  there  arc  friends  who  laugh  at  this  attempt  to 
revive  this  great  art.  They  rernined  me  that,  in  these  days  of 
mills,  sewing-machines  or  typewriters,  only  a  lunatic  can 
Jiope  to  succeed  in  reviving  the  rusticated  spinning  wheel. 
These  friends  forget  that  the  needle  has  not  yet  given 
place  to  the  sewing  machine  nor  has  the  hand  lost  its  cunn- 
ing in  spite  of  the  typewriter.  There  is  not  the  slightest 
reason  why  the  spinning  wheel  may  not  co-exist  with 
the  spinning  mill  even  as  the  domestic  kitchen  co-exists 
with  the  hotels.  Indeed  typewriters  and  sewing  machines 
may  go,  but  the  needle  and  the  reed  pen  will  survive. 
The  mills  may  suffer  destruction.  The  spinning  wheel  is  a 
national  necessity.  I  would  ask  sceptics  to  go  to  the  many 
ipoor  homes  where  the  spinning  wheel  is  again  supplement- 
ing their  slender  resources  and  ask  the  inmates  whether 
the  spinning  wheel  has  not  brought  joy  to  their  homes. 

—Toung  India  :  Aug.  18,  1920. 

<S>   <$>   <3> 

AGRICUTURE  and  hand-spinning  are  two  lungs  of 
the  national  body.  They  must  be  protected  against  con- 
sumption at  afly.cosL 

—Toung  India  .'July  13.   1921-. 


CHARKHA  79 

NO  one  has  ever  said  that  spinning  can  be  a  means 
of  livelihood  except  to  the  very  poor.  It  is  intended  to 
restore  spinning  to  its  ancient  position  as  a  universal 
industry  auxiliary  to  agriculture  and  resorted  to  by 
agriculturists  during  those  months  of  the  year  when 
agricultural  operations  are  suspended  as  a  matter  of 
course  and  cultivators  have  otherwise  little  to  do.  For 
the  present  all  people  alike  are  invited  to  devote  their 
leisnre  to  spinning  with  a  view  to  bringing  about  a 
complete  boycott  of  foreign  cloth  in  course  of  the  present 
year.  No  one  asks  an  able-bodied  labourer  who  can 
earn  twelve  annas  a  day  to  give  up  his  work  in  order 
to  take  to  spinning.  However,  people  are  so  poor  in 
many  parts  of  the  country  that  a  daily  wage  of  even 
three  annas  a  day  would  be  a  veritable  boon  to  them 
and  enable  them  to  tide  over  bad  seasons.  The  spinning 
wheel  is  capable  of  being  applied  as  a  complete  insurance 
against  famines  and  droughts.  Three  annas  again  is  only 
a  most  Cautious  and  conservative  estimate. 

— Toung  India  :  Aug.  4,  1921 

<3>    <$>    <S> 

Restoration  of  charkha  automatically  solves  that 
difficult  problem  of  enforced  emigration.  Land  alone  can- 
not support  the  poor  peasantry  of  India  even  if  there, 
was  no  assessment  to  be  paid. 

—Toung  India  :  Aug.  25,  1921. 
<$><$><$> 

ATTACKS  on  hand-spinning  notwithstanding,  I  cling 
to  the  belief  that  Swaraj  is  unattainable  without  the 
beautiful  art  becoming  universal  in  India.  The  reasoning 
applied  to  the  proposition  is  incredibly  simple.  India 
cannot  live  unless  her  homes  become  self-supporting.  They 
cannot  become  so  unless  they  have  a  supplementary 


80  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

occupation.  It  will,  therefore,  not  avail  if  all  our  cloth 
was  icainufacturcd  in  our  mills.  If  hand-spinning  became 
universal,  eveiy  home  would  get  a  share  of  the  crores  and 
without  any  complicated  machineiy.  And  India  is  able 
to  manufacture  all  her  o\vn  cloth.  It  is  understood  that, 
when  spinning  becomes  universal,  the  millions  of  weavers 
and  lacs  of  carders  will  revert  to  their  original  occupation. 
This  is  the  economic  aspect  of  hand-spinning. 

It  will  save  our  women  fiom  fcrced  violation  of 
their  purity.  It  will,  as  it  must,  do  away  with  begging 
as  a  means  of  livelihood.  It  will  umove  our  enfoiced 
idleness.  It  will  steady  the  mind.  And  I  verily  believe 
that,  when  millions  take  to  it  as  a  sacrament,  it  will 
turn  our  faces  Godward. 

This  is  the   moral    aspect    of  spinning. 

And  when  it  has  become  universal  and  traffic  in 
foreign  cloth  has  become  a  thing  of  the  past,  it  is  the 
surest  sign  that  India  is  earnest,  sober,  and  believes  in  the 
non-violent  and  religious  character  of  her  struggle. 

At  present,  outsiders  do  not  believe  in  our  ability  to 
boycott  foreign  cloth  and  to  manufacture  enough  for  our 
requirements  by  hand-spining  and  hand-weaving. 

But  when  it  becomes  an  established  fact,  India's  opinion 
too  will  become  an  irresistible  force,  and  if  necessary,  she 
can  then,  but  not  till  then  resort  to  Civil  Disobedience  in 
order  to  bend  a  recalcitrant  Government  to  its  will. 

This  is  the  political   aspect. 

—Tourg  India  ;  Sep.  22,  192 1. 

<$>   <3>   <$> 

IN  my  loneliness,  it  is  my  only  infallible  friend  and 
comforter.  May  it  be  so  to  the  reader. 

—Toung  India  :  Sep.  4,  1924, 


CHARKHA  81 

THE  winter  of  despair  can  only  be  turned  into  the 
sunshine  of  hope  for  the  millions  only  through  the  life- 
giving  wheel — the  charkha. 

—Young  India  :  Aug.  27,  1925. 

<3>    <$>    <$> 

ITS  message  is  one  of  simplicity,  service  of  man- 
kind, living  so  as  not  to  hurt  others,  creating  an  indissoluble 
bond  between  the  rich  and  the  poor,  capital  and  labour 
the  prince  and  the  peasant. 

—Young  India  :  Sep.  17,  1925. 

<$><$><$> 

THE  greatest  of  my  activities  is  the  charkha.  I  hold 
it  to  be  the  best  part  of  my  service — social,  political  and 
spiritual.  For  it  includes  these  branches  of  service.  My 
invitation  to  all  to  spin  if  only  for  half  an  hour  daily  for 
the  sake  of  the  starving  millions  of  this  land  makes  the 
movement  at  once  both  political  and  spiritual. 

He  who  spins  before  the  poor  inviting  them  to  do 
likewise  serves  God  as  no  one  else  does. 

—Young  India  :  Sep    24,  1925. 
<$><$><*> 

IT  is  the  one  thing  that  can  bring  a  ray  of  sunshine 
into  the  dark  and  dilapidated  dungeon  of  the  half-starved 
peasantry. 

—Young  India  :    Mar.  11,  1926. 

<$>    <3>    <:> 

FOR  me  nothing  in  the  political  world  is  more 
important  than  the  spinning-wheel.  I  can  recall  many 
occasions  when  I  have  postponed  other  matters  to  make 
room  for  a  discussion  on  the  spinning  wheel  as  the  central 
part  of  our  economics  or  politics. 

—Young  India  :  April  19,  1926. 

<3>    <$>    <S> 

I  think  of  the  poor  of  India  every  time  that  I  draw 
a  thread  on  the  wheel.  The  poor  of  India  to-day  have 
lost  faith  in  God,  more  so  in  the  middle  classes  or  the  rich. 
For  a  person  suffering  from  the  pangs  of  hunger,  and 


82  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

desiring  nothing  but  to  fill  his  belly,  his  belly  is  his  God. 
To  him  anyone  who  gives  him  bread  is  his  master.  Through 
him  he  may  even  see  God.  To  give  alms  to  such  persons, 
who  are  sound  in  all  their  limbs,  is  to  debase  oneself 
and  them.  What  they  need  is  some  kind  of  occupation, 
and  the  occupation  that  will  give  employment  to  millions 
can  only  be  hand-spinning.  But  I  can  instil  my  faith  in 
the  potency  of  hand-spinning  in  the  minds  of  the  toilers 
of  India  not  by  making  speeches  but  only  by  spinning 
myself.  Therefore,  I  have  described  my  spinning  as  a 
penance  or  sacrament.  And,  since  I  believe  that  where 
there  is  pure  and  active  love  for  the  poor  there  is  God 
also,  I  see  God  in  every  thread  that  I  draw  on  the  spinning- 
wheel. 

—Young  India  :  Mar.  20,  1926. 

<s>  <s>  <$> 

I  MAY  repeat  that  I  would  to-day  discard  the  spin- 
ning-wheel if  someone  shows  a  better  and  more  universal 
political  programme  than  hand-spinning.  But  up  to  this 
time  I  have  been  shown  none.  I  am  anxious  to  know 
if  there  is  any. 

— Young  India  :  Feb.  17,  1927. 
<3>     <$><$> 

DO  you  know"  the  daily  income  per  head  of  our 
country  ?  Our  economists  say  that  it  is  one  anna  and  six 
pies,  though  even  that  is  misleading.  If  someone  were  to 
work  out  the  average  depth  of  a  river  as  four  feet  from  the 
fact  that  the  river  was  six  feet  deep  in  certain  places  and 
two  feet  in  others,  and  proceeded  to  ford  it,  would  he  not 
be  drowned  ?  That  is  how  statistics  mislead.  The  average 
income  is  worked  out  from  the  figures  of  the  income  of  the 
poor  man  as  also  of  the  Viceroy  and  the  millionaires. 
The  actual  income  will  therefore  be  hardly  three  pice  per 
head.  Now,  if  I  supplement  that  income  by  even  three 
pice  with  the  help  of  the  charkha,  am  I  not  right  in  calling 
the  charkha  my  Cow  of  Plenty  ?  Some  people  attribute 


CHARKHA  83 

superhuman  powers  to  me,  some  say  I  have  an  extraordinary 
character.  God  alone  knows  what  I  am.  It  is  also  possible 
to  disagree  about  the  efficacy  of  satyagraha,  but  I  do  not 
think  there  is  any  reason  for  disagreement  on  these  obvious 
facts  about  the  charkha.  If  someone  convinces  me  to-day 
that  there  is  no  poverty  in  India  that  there  are  few  in  India 
who  starve  for  want  of  even  a  few  pice  a  day,  I  shall 
own  myself  to  have  been  mistaken  and  shall  destroy  the 
spinning-wheel. 

—Toting  India  :  Feb.  17,  1927. 

<£    <&    <^ 

LITTLE  is  it  realised  even  by  the  best  workers  that  the 
message  of  the  wheel  means  a  complete  revolution  in  trie 
national  life.  Its  successful  delivery  means  a  solidly-knit, 
well-organised,  well-disciplined,  self-restrained,  self-con- 
tained, self-respecting,  industrious  and  prosperous  nation, 
no  member  of  which,  willing  and  ready  to  work,  ever  need 
starve. 

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. 

—Toung  India  :  Aug.  8,  1929. 

^    ^    ^ 

THERE  is  a  world  of  difference  between  spinning  for 
sacrifice  ani  spinning  lor  recreation.  I  would  advise  you 
to  observe  a  religious  silence  while  spinning.  It  would 
give  you  spiritual  peace  and  if  you  make  it  a  point  always 
to  spin  at  a  particular  fixed  hour,  it  will  automatically 
regulate  your  other  appointments  too  ani  hslp  you  to  a 
well-ordered  life. 

IT  is  the  symbol  of  the  natioi's  prosperity  and 
therefore  freedom.  It  is  a  symbol  not  of  commercial  war 
but  of  commercial  peace.  It  bears  not  a  message  of  illwill 
towards  the  nations  of  the  earth  but  of  good-will  and  seL- 


84         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

help.  It  will  not  need  the  protection  of  a  navy  threatening 
world's  peace  and  exploiting  its  resources,  but  it  needs  the 
religious  determination  of  millions  to  spin  their  yarn  in  their 
own  homes  as  to-day  they  cook  their  food  in  their  own 
homes,  I  may  deserve  the  curses  of  posterity  for  many 
mistakes  of  omission  and  commission,  but  I  am  confident  of 
earning  its  blessings  for  suggesting  a  revival  of  the  charkha. 
I  stake  my  all  on  it.  For  every  revolution  of  the  wheel 
spins  peace,  good-will  and  love.  And  with  all  that,  inasmuch 
as  the  loss  oi  it  brought  about  India's  slavery,  its  voluntary 
revival  with  all  its  implications  must  mean  India's  freedom. 

—Young  India  :  Dec.  8,  1921. 

<S>    <S>    <£ 

I  SEE  a  vital  connection  between  the  charkha  and  non- 
violence. Even  as  certain  minimum  qualifications  are 
indispensable  in  a  soldier  in  arms,  so  are  certain  other  and 
even  opposite  qualifications  indispensable  in  a  non-violent 
soldiei ,  i  t.,  a  sotyogrchi.  One  of  these  latter  is  adequate  skill 
in  tpimnrg  and  its  anterior  processes.  A  salyagrahi 
occupies  himself  in  productive  \\ork.  There  is  no  easier 
and  better  productive  work  for  millions  than  spinning. 
What  is  more,  it  has  been  an  integral  part  of  the  non- 
violent programme  since  its  commencement.  Civilisation 
based  on  non-violence  must  be  different  from  that  organised 
for  vicler.ee.  Let  net  Congressmen  trifle  with  this  funda- 
mental fact.  1  repeat  what  I  have  said  a  thousand  times 
that,  if  millions  spun  for  Swarcj  and  in  the  spirit  of  non- 
\ielcnce,  there  \vill  probably  be  no  necessity  for  civil  dis- 
obedience. It  will  be  a  constructive  effoit  such  as  the 
world  has  not  witnessed  before,  it  is  the  surest  methcd  of 
converting  the  enemy. 

—Harijan  :  Dec.  2,  1939. 

Chivalry 

I  SHOULD  never  think  of  reaping  Swaraj  out  of  British 
defeat.     It  would  be  anything  but  chivalry.     Mine  is,  there* 


CHRISTIANITY  8S 

fore,  not   misplaced.      Chivalry   is   a   vital  part   of  akiinn. 
Ahimsa  without  it  is  lame,  it  cannot  work. 

—Harijan  :  July  28,  19 to. 

Children 

CHILDREN  inherit  the  qualities  of  the  parents,  no  less 
than  their  physical  features.  Environment  does  play  an 
important  part,  but  the  original  capital  on  which  a  child 
starts  in  life  is  inherited  from  its  ancestors.  I  have  also  seen 
children  successfully  surmounting  the  efforts  of  an  evil  inheri- 
tance. That  is  due  to  purity  being  an  inherent  attribute 
of  the  soul. 

— My  Experiments  with  Truth  :  Page  381. 

Christianity 

INDIA  of  the  near  future  stands  for  perfect  toleration 
of  all  religions.  Her  spiritual  heritage  is  simple  living 
and  high-thinking.  I  consider  Western  Christianity  in 
its  practical  working  a  negation  of  Christ's  Christianity. 
I  cannot  conceive  Jesus,  if  he  was  living  in  the  flesh  in 
our  midst,  approving  of  modern  Christian  organisations, 
public  worship  or  modern  ministry.  If  Indian  Christians 
will  simply  cling  to  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  which 
was  delivered  not  merely  to  the  peaceful  disciples  but 
a  groaning  world,  they  would  not  go  wrong,  and  they  would 
find  that  no  religion  is  false,  and  that  if  all  live  according  to 
their  lights  and  in  the  fear  of  God,  they  would  not  need 
to  worry  about  organisations,  forms  of  worship  and 
ministry.  The  Pharisees  had  all  that,  but  Jesus  would 
have  none  of  it,  for  they  were  using  their  office  as 
a  cloak  for  hypocrisy  and  worse.  Co-operation  with  forces 
of  Good  and  Non-co-operation  with  forces  of  Evil 
are  the  two  things  we  need  for  a  good  and  pure  life, 
whether  it  is  called  Hindu,  Muslim  or  Christian. 

The  message  of  Jesus,  as  I  understand  it,  is  contained 
in  his  Sermon  on  the  Mount  unadulterated  and  taken 


86         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

as  a  \\hole,  and  even  in  connection  with  the  Sermon 
on  the  Mount,  my  own  humble  interpretation  of  the 
message  is  in  many  respects  different  from  the  orthodox. 
The  message,  to  my  mind,  has  suffered  distortion  in  the 
West.  It  may  be  presumptuous  for  me  to  say  so,  but 
as  a  devotee  of  truth,  I  should  not  hesitate  to  say  what 
I  feel.  I  know  that  the  world  is  rot  waiting  to  knowT 
my  opinion  on  Christianity. 

—  Tcvfig  India  :  Mar.  23,  1926. 


DR.  CRAKE,  an  American  clergyman,  wanted  to 
understand  Gandhiji's  attitude  towards  Christianity,  as  he 
had  heard  divers  representations  made  about  it,  and  he  also 
wanted  a  simple  statement  regarding  Gandhiji's  attitude 
to  religion  in  general. 

'I  shall  certainly  give  you  my  reaction  to  Chris" 
tianity,'  said  Gandhiji.  Even  \\hen  I  was  18,  I  came 
in  touch  with  good  Christians  in  London.  Before  that 
I  had  come  in  touch  with  what  I  used  then  to  call  'beef 
and  beer-bottle  Christianity,'  for  these  were  regarded  as 
the  indispensable  criteria  of  a  man  becoming  a  Chris- 
tian, with  also  a  third  thing,  namely  adoption  of  a 
European  style  of  dress.  Those  Christians  were  parodying 
St.  Paul's  teaching—  'Call  thou  nothing  unclean.'  I  went 
to  London,  therefore,  with  that  prejudice  against  Chris- 
tianity. I  came  across  good  Christians  there  who  placed 
the  Bible  in  my  hands.  Then  I  met  numerous  Chiistians 
in  South  Africa,  and  I  have  since  grown  to  this  belief 
that  Christianity  is  as  good  and  as  true  a  religion  as 
my  own.  For  a  time  I  struggled  with  the  question, 
'Which  was  the  true  religion  out  of  those  I  knew  ?'  But 
ultimately  I  came  to  the  deliberate  conviction  that  there 
was  no  such  thing  as  only  one  true  religion  and  every 
other  false.  There  is  no  religion  that  is  absolutely  perfect. 
All  are  equally  imperfect  or  irore  or  less  perfect,  hence  the 


CHRISTIANITY  87 

conclusion  that  Christianity  is  as  good   and  true   as  my  own 
religion.     But   so   also  about   Islam   or   Zoroastrianism   or 
Judaism. 

I  therefore  do  not  take  as  literally  true  the  text  that  Jesus 
is  the  only  begotten  Son  of  God.  God  cannot  be  the 
exculsive  Father  and  I  cannot  ascribe  exclusive  divinity 
to  Jesus.  He  is  as  divine  as  Krishna  of  Rama  or 
Mahomed  or  Zoroaster.  Similarly  I  do  not  regard  every 
word  of  the  Bible  as  the  inspired  word  of  God  even  as  I  do 
not  regard  every  word  of  the  Vedas  or  the  Koran  as  inspired. 
The  SUM  TOTAL  of  each  of  these  books  is  certainly  inspired 
but  I  miss  that  inspiration  in  many  of  the  things  taken 
individually.  The  Bible  is  as  much  a  book  of  religion 
with  me  as  the  Gita  and  the  Koran. 

[With  this  he  pointed  to  the  two  or  three  editions 
of  the  Koran  with  also  a  copy  of  the  Bible  lying  on 
bamboo-shelf  in  front  of  him.  He  had  read  numerous 
commentaries  on  the  Bible,  but  had  not  read  many  com- 
mentaries on  the  Koran,  and  that  is  why  there  was 
more  than  one  edition  now  in  front  of  him.] 

'Therefore,9  said  he,  CI  am  not  interested  in  weaning 
you  from  Christianity  and  making  you  a  Hindu,  and  I 
would  not  relish  your  designs  upon  me,  if  you  had  any, 
to  convert  me  to  Chritianity  !  I  would  also  dispute  your 
claim  that  Christianity  is  the  ONLY  true  religion.  It 
is  also  a  true  religion,  a  noble  religion,  and  along  with 
other  religions  it  has  contributed  to  raise  the  moral  height 
of  mankind.  But  it  has  yet  to  make  a  greater  contribution. 
After  all,  what  are  2,000  years  in  the  life  of  a  religion? 
Just  now  Christianity  comes  to  yearning  mankind  in  a 
tainted  form.  Fancy  Bishops  supporting  slaughter  in  the 
name  of  Christianity!' 

'But,*  asked  Dr.  Crane,  'when  you  say  that  all  religions 
are  true,  what  do  you  do  when  there  are  conflicting 
counsels  ?' 


88        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

'I  have  no  difficulty,'  said  Gandhiji,  'in  hitting  upon 
the  truth,  because  I  go  by  certain  fundamental  maxims. 
Truth  is  superior  to  everything  and  I  reject  what  conflicts 
with  it.  Similarly  that  which  is  in  conflict  with 
non-violence  should  be  rejected.  And  on  matters 
which  can  be  reasoned  out,  that  which  conflicts  with 
Reason  must  also  be  rejected.* 

'In  matters   which   can    be     reasoned    out  ?* 

'Yes,  there  are  subjects  where  Reason  cannot  take  us 
far  and  we  have  to  accept  things  on  faith.  Faith  then 
does  not  contradict  Reason  but  transcends  it.  Faith  is  a 
kind  of  sixth  sense  which  works  in  cases  which 
are  without  the  purview  of  Reason,  Well,  then, 
given  these  three  criteria,  I  can  have  no  difficulty  in 
examining  all  claims  made  on  behalf  of  a  religion.  Thus 
to  believe  that  Jesus  is  the  only  begotten  Son  of  God 
is  to  me  against  Reason,  for  God  can't  marry  and  beget 
children.  The  word  'son'  there  can  only  be  used  in  a 
figurative  sense.  In  that  sense  everyone  who  stands  in  the 
position  of  Jesus  is  a  begotten  son  of  God.  If  a  man  is 
spiritually  miles  ahead  of  us  we  may  say  that  he  is  in  a 
special  sense  the  son  of  God,  though  we  are  all  children 
of  God.  We  repudiate  the  relationship  in  our  lives,  whereas 
his  life  is  a  witness  to  that  relationship/ 

'Then  you  will  recognize  degrees  of  divinity.  Would 
you  not  say  that  Jesu£  was  the  most  divine  ?' 

'No,  for  the  simple  reason  that  we  have  no  data. 
Historically  we  have  more  data  about  Mahomed  than 
anyone  else  because  he  was  more  recent  in  time.  For 
Jesus  there  is  less  data  and  still  less  for  Buddha,  Rama  and 
Krishna;  and  when  we  know  so  little  about  them,  is  it 
not  preposterous  to  say  that  one  of  them  was  more 
divine  than  another  ?  In  fact  even  if  there  were  a  great 
deal  of  data  available,  no  judge  should  shoulder  the 
burden  of  sifting  all  the  evidence,  if  only  for  this  reason 


CIVIL  DISOBEDIENCE  89 

that  it  requires  a  highly  spiritual  person  to  guage  the  degree 
of  divinity  of  the  subjects  he  examines.  To  say  that 
Jesus  was  99  per  cent  divine,  and  Mahomed  50  per  cent, 
and  Krishna  10  per  cent,  is  to  arrogate  to  oneself  a  function 
which  really  does  not  belong  to  man/ 

— Harijan  :     Mar.  6,  1937. 

Civil  Disobedience 

I  HAVE  found  that  it  is  our  first  duty  to  render 
voluntary  obedience  to  law,  but  whilst  doing  that  duty 
I  have  also  seen  that  when  law  fosters  untruth  it  be- 
comes a  duty  to  disobey  it.  How  may  this  be  done  ? 
We  can  do  so  by  never  swerving  from  truth  and  suffering 
the  consequences  of  our  disobedience.  That  is  Civil  Dis- 
obedience. No  rules  can  tell  us  how  this  disobedience 
may  be  done  and  by  whom,  when  and  where,  nor  can 
they  tell  us  which  laws  foster  untruth.  It  is  only  ex- 
perience that  can  guide  us,  and  it  requires  time  and 
knowledge  of  facts. 

—Young  India  :   Sep.  13,  1919. 

<$>  <s>  <$> 

IN  Civil  Disobedience,  the  resister  sufters  the  con- 
sequences of  disobedience.  This  was  what  Daniel  did 
when  he  disobeyed  the  law  of  the  Medes  and  Persians. 
That  is  what  John  Bunyan  did  and  that  is  what  the 
ryots  have  done  in  India  from  times  immemorial.  It  is 
the  law  of  our  being.  Violence  is  the  law  of  the  beast 
in  us.  t  Self-suffering,  i.  £.,  civil  resistance,  is  the  law  of 
the  man  in  us.  It  is  rarely  that  the  occasion  for  civil 
resistance  arises  in  a  well-ordered  state.  But  when  it  does 
it  becomes  a  duty  that  cannot  be  shirked  by  one*  who 
counts  his  honour,  i.e.>  conscience,  above  everything. 

—Young  India  :  Oct.  21,  1921. 
<J>     <$>    <$> 

THOUGHTLESS  disobedience  means  disruption  of 
society. 

— Young  India  :    Oct.  19,  1921. 


90          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

CIVIL  disobedience  is  not  a  slate  of  lawlessness  and 
licence,  but  presupposes  a  law-abiding  spirit  combined  with 
self-restraint.  —T(ung  bdia  :Nov.  17,  1921. 

<$>  <s>  <3> 

SUBMISSION  to  the  state  law  is  the  price  a  citizen 
pays  for  his  personal  liberty.  Submission,  therefore,  to  a 
state  wholly  or  largely  unjust  is  an  immoral  barter  for 
liberty.  A  citizen  who  thus  realises  the  evil  nature  of 
a  state  is  not  satisfied  to  live  rn  its  sufferance,  and 
therefore  appears  to  the  others  who  do  not  share  his 
belief  to  be  a  nuisance  to  a  scciety  whilst  he  is  en- 
deavouring to  compel  the  state,  without  commiting  a 
moral  breach  to  arrest  him.  Thus,  considered,  civil  re- 
sistance is  a  most  poweiful  expression  of  a  souFs  anguish  and 
an  eloquent  protest  against  the  continuance  of  an  evil  state. 
Is  not  this  the  histoiy  of  all  reform  ?  Have  not  reformers, 
much  to  the  disgust  of  their  fellows,  discarded  even 
innocent  symbols  associated  with  an  evil  practice  ? 

—  Tcung  India  :   Nov.  10,  1921. 

<3>    <S>    <S> 

DISOBEDIENCE  to  be  civil  has  to  be  absolutely  non- 
violent, the  underlying  principle  being  the  winning  over 
of  the  opponent  by  suffering,  i.  et,  love. 

—Toung  India  :     Nov.  3,    1 92 1 . 

<s>  <s>  <s> 

PURE  Civil  Disobedience  must  not  be  carried  beyond 
the  point  of  breaking  the  unmoral  laws  of  the  country. 
Breach  of  the  laws-  to  be  civil  assumes  the  strictest  and 
willing  obedience  to  the  gaol  discipline,  because  disobedience 
of  a  particular  rule  assumes  a  willing  acceptance  of  the 
sanction  provided  fcr  its  breach.  And  immediately  a 
person  quarrels  both  with  the  rule  and  the  sanction  for 
its  breach,  he  ceases  to  be  civil  and  lends  himself  to  the 
precipitation  of  chaos  and  anarchy.  A  civil  lesister  is, 
if  one  may  be  permitted  such  a  claim  for  him,  a  philanthro- 
pist and  a  friend  of  the  state.  An  anarchist  is  an  enemy 
of  the  state  and  is,  therefore,  a  misanthrope. 

— Toung  India  :  Dec.  15,    1921« 


CIVIL  DISOBEDIENCE  91 

CIVIL  Disobedience  is  a  preparation  for  mute  suffering. 
Its  effect  is  marvellous  though  unperceived  and  gentle. 

—  Young  India  :  Dec.   22,  1921. 

<$>    <S>    <3> 

TO  expect  me  to  give  up  the  preaching  of  Civil 
Disobedience  is  to  ask  me  to  give  up  preaching  peace, 
which  would  be  tantamount  to  ask  me  to  commit  suicide. 

—  Young  India  :  Dec.  29,  1921. 

<s>  <s>  <s> 

CIVIL  Disobedience  has  to  be  civil  in  more  senses  than 
one.  There  can  be  no  bravado,  no  impetuousness  about  it. 
It  has  to  be  an  crdeied,  \\ell-thought-out,  humble  offering. 

—  Young  India  :  July  10,  1924. 

<$>  <s>  <$> 

CIVIL  Disobedience  means  capacity  for  unlimited 
suffering,  without  the  intoxicating  excitement  to  killing. 

—Young  India  :  Nov.  27,  1924. 

<3>    <S>    <S> 

PREPARATION     for      Civil      Disobedience      means 

discipline,  self-restraint,  a  non-violent    but     resisting   spirit, 

cohesion  and  above    all   scrupulous    and   willing  obedience 

to  the   known    laws    of  God    and    such    laws   of    man     as* 

are  in  furtherance  of  God's    laws, 

— Young  India  :  Dec.  26  ^  1924, 

<$><$>     <$>. 

CIVIL  resistance  to  wrong  is  not  a  new  doctrine 
or  practice  with  me.  It  is  a  life-long  belief  and  a  life- 
long practice.  To  prepare  the  country  for  civil  resistance 
is  to  prepare  it  for  non-violence.  To  prepare  the  country 
for  non-violence  is  to  organise  it  for  constructive  work, 
which  to  me  is  synonymous  with  the  spinning-wheel. 

—  Young  India  :  Aug.  6,   1925. 
&    Q>     & 

CIVIL  Disobedience  asks  for  and  needs  not  a  single 
farthing  for  its  support.  It  needs  and  asks  for  stout 
hearts  with  a  faith  that  will  not  flinch  from  any  danger 
and  will  shine  the  brightest  in  the  face  of  severest  trial. 
Civil  Disobedience  is  a  terrifying  synonym  for  suffering^ 


92  TEACHINGS  OF    MAHATMA  GANDHI 

But  it  is  better  often  to  understand  the  terrible  nature 
of  a  thing  if  people  will  truly  appreciate  its  benignant 
counterpart.  Disobedience  is  a  right  that  belongs  to  every 
human  being  and  it  becomes  a  sacred  duty  when  it 
springs  from  civility  or,  which  is  the  same  thing,  love. 

—Tomg  India  :  April  1,    1926. 

<S>     3>     <S> 

ALL  Civil  Disobedience  is  a  part  or  branch  of 
Satyagraha  but  all  Satyagraha  is  not  Civil  Disobedience. 

—Young  India  :  July  14,   1927. 

Civility 

EXPERIENCE  has  taught  me  that  civility  is  the 
most  difficult  part  of  Satyagraha.  Civility  does  not  here 
mean  the  mere  outward  gentleness  of  speech  cultivated 
for  the  occasion,  but  an  inborn  gentleness  and  desire  to 
do  the  opponent  good.  These  should  show  themselves 
in  every  act  of  a  Satyagrahi. 

—My  Experiments  with  Truth  :  P.  536. 

<$>  <$>  <s> 

INCIVILITY  should  be  answered  not  by  incivility 
3ut  by  a  dignified  and  calm  endurance  of  all  suffering 
n  the  name  of  God. 

—Toung  India  :  May  8,  1980. 

Class  War 

I  CAN,  most  decidedly,  avoid  class  war  if  only  the 
people  will  follow  the  non-violent  method.  By  the  non- 
violent method  we  seek  not  to  destroy  the  capitalist,  we 
seek  to  destroy  capitalism.  We  invite  the  capitalist  to 
regard  himself  as  a  trustee  for  those  on  whom  he  depends 
for  the  making,  the  retention  and  the  increase  of  his  capital. 
Nor  need  the  worker  wait  for  his  conversion.  If  capital 
is  power,  so  is  work.  Either  power  can  be  used  destructively 
or  creatively.  Either  is  dependent  on  the  other.  Immediately 
the  worker  realises  his  strength,  he  is  in  a  position  to  become 


CLASS  WAR  93 

a  co-sharer  with  the  capitalist  instead  of  remaining  his  slave. 
If  he  aims  at  becoming  the  sole  owner,  he  will  most  likely 
be  killing  the  hen  that  lays  the  golden  eggs.  Inequalities 
in  intelligence  and  even  opportunity  will  last  till  the  end  of 
time.  A  man  living  on  the  banks  of  a  river  has  any  day 
more  opportunity  of  growing  crops  than  one  living  in  an 
arid  desert.  But  if  inequalities  stare  us  in  the  face  the  essen- 
tial equality  too  is  not  to  be  missed.  Every  man  has  an 
equal  right  to  the  necessaries  of  life  even  as  birds  and  beasts 
have.  And  since  every  right  carries  with  it  a  corresponding 
duty  and  the  corresponding  remedy  for  resisting  any  attack 
upon  it,  it  is  merely  a  matter  of  finding  out  the  correspon- 
ding duties  and  remedies  to  vindicate  the  elementary 
fundamental  equality.  The  corresponding  duty  is  to  labour 
with  my  limbs  and  the  corresponding  remedy  is  to  non-co- 
operate  with  him  who  deprives  me  of  the  fruit  of 
my  labour.  And  if  I  would  recognise  the  fundamental 
equality,  as  I  must,  of  the  capitalist  and  the  labourer,  I  must 
not  aim  at  his  destruction.  I  must  strive  for  his  conversion. 
My  non-co-operation  with  him  will  open  his  eyes  to  the 
wrong  he  may  be  doing.  Nor  need  I  be  afraid  of  someone 
else  taking  my  place  when  I  have  non-co-operated.  For  I 
expect  to  influence  my  co-worker  so  as  not  to  help  the  wrong- 
doing of  his  employer.  This  kind  of  education  of  the  mass 
of  workers  is  no  doubt  a  slow  process,  but,  as  it  is  also  the 
surest,  it  is  necessarily  the  quickest.  It  can  be  easily  demon- 
strated .that  destruction  of  the  capitalist  must  mean  destruc- 
tion in  the  end  of  the  worker  and  as  no  human  being  is  so 
bad  as  to  be  beyond  redemption,  no  human  being  is 
so  perfect  as  to  warrant  his  destroying  him  whom  he  wrong- 
ly considers  to  be  wholly  evil. 

-7«Toung  India  :  Mar.  26,  1931. 

Cleanliness 

IT  is  a  superstition  to  consider  that  vast  sums  of  money 
are  required  for  effecting  sanitary  reform.  We  must  modify 
western  methods  of  sanitation  to  suit  our  requirements. 
And  as  my  patriotism  is  inclusive  and  admits  of  no  enemity 


94          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

or  ill-will,  I  do  not  hesitate,  in  spite  of  my   horror  of  western 
materialism,  to  take  from  the  West  what  is  beneficial  for  me. 

—  Young  India  :  Dec.  26,  1924- 


INDEED  sanitary  work  must  be  regarded  as  the  founda- 
tion of  all  volunteer  training. 

—  Toung  India  :  Jan.  1,   1925. 

<S>    <e>    <3> 

Q.  DON'T  you  have  anything  like  antipathy  for  filth 
and  dirt  ? 

A*  I  have  no  antipathy  against  dirty  people,  but  I 
have  a  horror  of  dirt.  I  should  not  eat  out  of  a  dirty  plate 
nor  touch  a  dirty  spoon  or  kerchief.  But  I  believe  in  remov- 
ing dirt  to  its  proper  place,  where  it  ceases  to  be  dirt. 

—Harijan:  May  11,  1939. 


DURING  my  wanderings  nothing  has  been  so  painful  to 
•me  as  to  observe  our  insanitation  throughout  the  length  and 
breadth  of  the  land.  I  do  not  believe  in  the  use  of  force  for 
carrying  out  reforms,  but  when  I  think  of  the  time  that  must 
elapse  before  the  ingrained  habits  of  millions  of  people  can 
be  changed,  I  almost  reconcile  myself  to  compulsion  in  this 
the  most  important  matter  of  insanitation.  Several  diseases 
can  be  directly  traced  to  insanitation.  Hookworm  for  ins- 
tance is  such  a  direct  result.  Not  a  single  human  being  who 
observes  the  elementary  principles  of  sanitation  need  suffer 
from  hookworm.  The  disease  is  not  even  due  to  poverty. 
The  only  reason  is  gross  igno^nce  of  the  first  principles  of 
sanitation. 

(  Cleanliness  is  next  to  godliness.'  We  can  no  more 
jain  God's  blessings  with  an  unclean  body  than  with  an 
andean  mind.  A  clean  body  cannot  reside  in  an  unclean 
3ity. 


COERCION  95 

Let  us  not  put  off  everything  till  Swaraj  is  attained 
and  thus  put  off  Swaraj  itself.  Swaraj  can  be  had  only  by 
brave  and  clean  people.  Whilst  the  Government  has  to 
answer  for  a  lot,  I  know  that  the  British  officers  are  not 
responsible  for  our  insanitation.  Indeed  if  we  gave  them 
free  scope  in  this  matter,  they  would  improve  our  habits  at 
the  point  of  the  sword.  They  do  not  do  so  because  it  does 
not  pay.  But  they  would  gladly  welcome  and  encourage  any 
effort  towards  improved  sanitation.  In  this  matter  Europe 
has  much  to  teach  us.  We  quote  with  pride  a  few  texts 
from  Manu  or  if  we  are  Musatmans  from  the  Outran.  We 
do  not  carry  even  these  into  practice.  Europeans  have 
deduced  an  elaborate  code  of  sanitation  from  the  principles 
laid  down  in  these  books.  Let  us  learn  these  from  them 
and  adapt  them  to  our  needs  aid  habits.  How  I  would 
love  to  see  not  ornamental  but  useful  sanitary  associations 
whose  members  will  deem  it  a  privilege  to  take  up  the 
broom,  the  shovel  and  the  bucket.  Here  is  great  national 
work  for  school-boys,  school  girls  and  collegiates  all  over 
India. 

—Young  India  :  Nov.  19,  1925, 

Coercion 

WE  may  not  use  compulsion  even  in  the  matter  of 
doing  a  good  thing.  Any  compulsion  will  ruin  the  cause. 

—Young  India:  April  17,  1930. 

THERE  can  be  no  coercion  in  Suuiraj.  A  non-co-opera- 
tor or  his  associate  who  uses  coercion  has  no  apology  what- 
soever for  his  criminality. 

—Toting  India  :    Nov.  24,  1921. 
<$><$>    <^ 

CONVERSION  is  our  motto,  not  coercion.  Coercion 
is  an  offspring  of  violence.  Conversion  is  a  fruit  of  non- 
violence and  love. 

—Young  India  :    Mar.  26,  1931 


96  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA    GANDHI 

Commonsense 

COMMONSENSE  is  the  realised  sense  of  proportion. 

—Young  India  :    July  4,  1929. 

Communism 

INDIA  does  not  want  Bolshevism.  The  people  are  too 
peaceful  to  stand  anarchy.  They  will  bow  the  knee  to  any 
one  who  restores  so-called  orde  r. 

— Toung  India  ;   Nov.  24,  1921. 
3>    <$>     <J> 

I  AM  yet  ignorant  of  what  exactly  Bolshevism  is.  I 
have  not  been  able  to  study  it.  I  do  not  know  whether  it 
is  for  the  good  of  Russia  in  the  long  run.  But  I  do  know 
that  in  so  far  as  it  is  based  on  violence  and  denial  of  God,  it 
repels  me.  I  do  not  believe  in  short-violent  cuts  to  success. 
Those  Bolshevik  friends  who  are  bestowing  their  attention 
on  me  should  realise  that  however  much  I  may  sympathise 
with  and  admire  worthy  motives,  I  am  an  uncompromising 
opponent  cf  violent  methods  even  to  serve  the  noblest  of 
causes.  There  is  therefore  really  no  meeting  ground  between 
the  school  of  violence  and  myself.  Bui  my  creed  of  non- 
violence not  only  does  not  preclude  me  but  compels  me  even 
to  associate  with  anarchists  and  all  those  who  believe  in 
voilence.  But  that  association  is  always  with  the  sole  object 
of  weaning  them  from  what  appears  to  me  to  be  their  error. 
For  experience  convinces  me  that  permanent  good  can  never 
be  the  outcome  of  untruth  and  voilence.  Even  if  my  belief 
is  a  fond  delusion,  it  will  be  admitted  that  it  is  a  fascinating 
delusion. 

—  Toung  India  :  Dec.  11,  1924 
<£    <$><$> 

Q.  WHAT  is  your  opinion  about  the  social  economics 
of  Bolshevism  and  how  far  do  you  think  they  are  fit  to  be 
copied  by  our  country  ? 

A.  I  must  confess  that  I  have  not  yet  been  able  fully 
to  understand  the  meaning  of  Bolshevism.  All  that  I  know 


COMMUNISM  97 

is  that  it  aims  at  the  abolition  of  the  institution  of  private 
property.  This  is  only  an  application  of  the  ethical  ideal 
of  non-possession  in  the  realm  of  economics  and  if  the  people 
adopted  this  ideal  of  their  own  accord  or  could  be  made  to 
accept  it  by  means  of  peaceful  persuasion  there  would  be 
nothing  like  it.  But  from  what  I  know  of  Bolshevism  it  not 
only  does  not  preclude  the  use  of  force  but  freely  sanctions  it 
for  the  expropriation  of  private  property  and  maintaining 
the  collective  state  ownership  of  the  same.  And  if  that  is 
so  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  the  Bolshevik  regime 
in  its  present  form  cannot  last  for  long.  For  it  is  my  firm 
conviction  that  nothing  enduring  can  be  built  on  violence. 
But  be  that  as  it  may  there  is  no  questioning  the  fact  that 
the  Bolshevik  ideal  has  behind  it  the  purest  sacrifice  of 
countless  men  and  women  who  have  given  up  their  all  for  its 
sake,  and  an  ideal  that  is  sanctified  by  the  sacrifices  of  such 
master  spirits  as  Lenin  cannot  go  in  vain  :  the  noble  example 
of  their  renunciation  will  be  emblazoned  for  ever  and 
quicken  and  purify  the  ideal  as  time  passes. 

—Young  India  :  May.  1,  1920. 

Q.  WHAT  in  your  opinion  ought  to  be  the  basis  of 
India's  future  economic  constitution  ?  What  place  will  such 
institutions  as  savings  banks,  insurance  companies,  etc., 
have  in  it  ? 

A.  According  to  me  the  economic  constitution  of 
India,  and  for  the  matter  of  that,  the  world  should  be  such 
that  no  one  under  it  should  suffer  from  want  of  food  and 
clothing.  In  other  words  everybody  should  be  able  to 
get  sufficient  work  to  enable  him  to  make  two  ends  meet. 
And  this  ideal  can  be  universally  realised  only  if  the  means 
of  production  of  elementary  necessaries  of  life  remain  in 
the  control  of  the  masses.  These  should  be  freely  available 
to  all  as  God's  air  and  water  are  or  ought  to  be ;  they 
should  not  be  made  a  vehicle  of  traffic  for  the  exploitation 


98  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

Mothers.  Their  monopolization  by  any  country,  nation  or 
group  of  persons  would  be  unjust.  The  neglect  of  this 
simple  principle  is  the  cause  of  the  destitution  that  we 
witness  to-day  not  only  in  this  unhappy  land  but  other 
parts  of  the  world  too.  It  is  this  evil  that  the  Khadi  move- 
ment is  calculated  to  remedy.  Savings  banks  and  insurance 
companies  will  be  there  even  when  the  economic  reforms 
suggested  to  me  have  been  effected  but  their  nature  will 
have  undergone  a  complete  transformation.  Savings  banks 
to-day  in  India  though  a  useful  institution  do  not  serve  the 
very  poorest.  As  for  our  insurance  companies  they  are 
of  no  use  whatsoever  to  the  poor.  What  part  they  can  play 
in  an  ideal  scheme  of  reconstruction  such  as  I  have 
postulated  is  more  than  I  can  say.  The  function  of  savings 
banks  ought  to  be  to  enable  the  poorest  to  husband  their 
hard-earned  savings  and  to  subserve  the  interest  of  the 
country  generally.  Though  I  have  lost  faith  in  most 
Government  institutions,  as  I  have  said  before,  savings 
banks  are  good  so  far  as  they  go  but  unfortunately  to-day 
their  services  are  available  only  to  the  urban  section  of  the 
community  and  so  long  as  our  gold  reserves  are  located 
Outside  India  they  can  hardly  be  regarded  as  trustworthy 
institutions.  In  the  event  of  a  war  all  these  banks  may 
become  not  only  utterly  useless  but  even  a  curse  to  the 
people  inasmuch  as  jhe  Government  will  not  scruple  to 
employ  the  funds  held  by  these  banks  against  the  depositors 
themselves*  No  Government  institution  can  be  depended 
upon  to  remain  loyal  to  the  interest  of  the  people  in 
emergency,  if  they  are  not  controlled  by  and  not  run  in  the 
interests  of  the  people.  So  long  therefore  as  this  primary 
condition  is  absent  banks  are  in  the  last  resort  additional 
links  to  keep  the  people  in  chains.  They  may  be  regarded 
as  an  unavoidable  evil  and  therefore  to  be  suffered  to  exist 
but  it  is  well  to  understand  where  we  are  in  respect  even  of 
such  harmless-looking  institutions. 

—Toung  India  :  Nov.  15,  1928. 


COMMUNISM  95 

I  HAD  made  the  working  man's  cause  my  own  long 
before  any  of  the  young  communists  here  were  born.  I 
spent  the  best  part  of  my  tims  in  South  Africa  working 
for  them,  I  used  to  live  with  them,  and  shared  their  joys  and 
sorrows.  You  must  therefore  understand  why  I  claim  to 
speak  for  labour.  I  expect  at  least  courtesy  from  you  if 
nothing  else.  I  invite  you  to  come  to  me  and  discuss  thing? 
with  me  as  frankly  as  you  can. 

You  claim  to  be  Communists,  but  you  do  not  seem  to 
live  the  life  of  communism.  I  may  tell  you  that  I  am 
trying  my  best  to  live  up  to  the  ideal  of  communism  in  the 
best  sense  of  the  term.  And  communism  does  not,  1  fancy, 
exclude  courtesy.  I  am  amongst  you  to-day,  within  a 
few  minutes  I  will  leave  you.  But  if  you  want  to  carry 
the  country  with  you,  you  ought  to  be  able  to  react  on  it  by 
reasoning  with  it.  You  cannot  do  so  by  coercion.  You 
may  deal  destruction  to  bring  the  country  round  to  your 
view.  But  how  many  will  you  destroy  ?  Not  tens  of  millions. 
You  may  kill  a  few  thousands  if  you  had  millions  with  your 
But  to-day  you  are  no  more  than  a  handful.  I  ask  you  to 
convert  the  Congress  if  you  can  and  to  take  charge  df  it, 
But  you  cannot  do  so  by  bidding  goodbye  to  the  elementary 
rules  of  courtesy.  And  there  is  no  reason  why  you  should 
be  lacking  in  ordinary  courtesy,  when  it  is  open  to  you  to 
give  the  fullest  vent  to  your  views,  when  India  is  tolerant 
enough  to  listen  patiently  to  anyone  who  can  talk  coherent- 

ly. 

The  truce  has  done  no  harm  to  the  labourers.  I  claim 
that  none  of  my  activities  has  ever  harmed  the  workers,  nor 
can  ever  harm  them.  If  the  Congress  sends  its  representative 
to  the  Conference,  they  will  press  for  no  Swaraj  other  than 
the  Swaraj  for  workers  and  peasants.  Long  before  the 
Communist  Party  came  into  existence  the  Congress  had 
decided  that  that  Swaraj  would  have  no  meaning  which  was 
not  the  'Swaraj  for  workers  and  peasants.  Perhaps  none  of  you 
workers  here  gets  less  than  a  monthly  wage  of  Rs.  20  but 


100         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

I  am  woi ling  for  winning  Swaraj  not  only  for  you  but  foi 
those  (oiling  and  unemployed  millions  who  do  not  get  even 
a  square  meal  a  day  and  have  to  scratch  along  with  a 
piece  of  stale  roti  and  a  pinch  of  salt.  But  I  do  not  want 
to  deceive  you ;  I  must  warn  you  that  I  do  not  bear  any 
ill  to  the  capitalists.  I  can  think  of  doing  them  no  harm. 
But  I  want,  by  means  of  suffering,  to  awaken  them  to  their 
sense  of  duty.  I  want  to  melt  their  hearts  and  get  them 
to  render  justice  to  their  less  fortunate  brethren.  They  are 
human  beings,  and  my  appeal  to  them  will  not  go  in  vain. 
The  histoiy  of  Japan  reveals  many  an  instance  of  ^  self- 
sacrificing  capitalists.  During  the  last  Satyagraha,  quite  a 
number  of  capitalists  went  in  for  considerable  sacrifice, 
went  to  jail  and  suffered.  Do  you  want  to  estrange  them  ? 
Don't  >ou  want  them  to  work  with  you  for  the  common 
end? 

— Young  India  :    Mar.  26,  1931. 


Q.  HOW  to  dispossess  people  of  ill-gotten  gains—  which 
is  what  the  Socialists  are  out  to  do  ? 

A.  Who  is  to  judge  what  gains  or  riches  are  ill-gotten 
or  well-gotten  ?  God  alone  can  judge,  or  a  competent 
authority  appointed  both  by  the  'haves'  and  the  'have  notsr 
can  judge.  Not  anyone  and  everyone.  But  if  you  say 
that  ALL  property  and  possession  is  theft,  all  must  give  up 
property  and  wealth.  Have  we  given  it  up?  Let  US  make 
a  beginning  expecting  the  rest  to  follow.  For  those  who 
are  convinced  that  their  own  possessions  aie  ill-gotten, 
thc-je  is  of  course  no  other  alternative  but  to  give  them  up. 

—  Harijan  :  Ang.  1,  1936, 


Q.     IS    not    the    Congress    veering    round    to    com- 


nuimsm  ? 


COMMUNISM  101 

A.  Has  it  ?  I  do  not  see  it.  But  if  it  does,  and  if  it 
is  not  the  Russian  model,  I  do  not  mind  it.  For  what 
does  communism  mean  in  the  last  analysis  ?  It  means  a 
classless  society  —  an  ideal  that  is  worth  striving  for.  Only 
I  part  company  with  it  when  force  is  called  to  aid  for 
achieving  it.  We  are  all  born  equal,  but  we  have  all  these 
centuries  resisted  the  Will  of  Gad.  The  idea  of  inequality, 
of  'high  and  low'  is  an  evil,  but  I  do  not  believe  in  eradicat- 
ing evil  from  the  human  breast  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet. 
The  human  breast  does  not  lend  itself  to  that  means. 

—Harijan:     Mar.  13,  1937. 
<$><$><$> 

VIOLENCE  is  no  monopoly  of  any  one  party.  I  know 
Congressmen  who  are  neither  socialists  nor  communists  but 
who  are  frankly  devotees  of  the  cult  of  violence.  Contrari- 
wise, I  know  socialists  and  communists  who  will  not  hurt  a 
fly  but  who  believe  in  the  universal  ownership  of  instruments 
of  production.  I  rank  myself  as  one  among  them. 

—Harijan  :  Dec.  10,  1938, 


ALL  your  literature  that  I  have  studied  clearly  says  that 
there  is  no  independence  without  resort  to  force.  I  know 
that  there  is  a  b3dy  of  communists  that  is  slovvly  veering 
round  -to  non-violence.  I  would  like  you  to  make  your 
position  absolutely  plain  and  abDve  bDard.  I  have  it  from 
some  of  the  literature  that  passes  under  the  name  of 
communist  literature  that  secrecy,  camouflage  and  the  like 
are  enjoined  as  necessary  for  the  accomplishment  of  the 
communist  and  especially  as  communism  has  to  engage  in 
an  unequal  battle  against  capitalism  which  has  organised 
violence  at  its  beck  and  call. 

—Harijan  :  Dec.  10,  1938. 


102  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

I   MAY  say   that   communists   have   not  made   mucl 
headway  yet  in  India,  and  I  somehow  feel  that  the  character 
of  our  people  will  not  easily   lend   itself  to   communist  me 
thods. 

—Harijan  :  April  13,  1940 

WHAT  do  you  think  of  communism  ?   Do   you  think 
it  would  be  good  for  India  ?' 

'  Communism    of  the   Russian   type,     that     is     com- 
munism which  is  imposed  on  a  people,  would  be   repugnant 
to  India.     I  believe  in   non-violent   communism/    answered 
Gandhiji. 

*  But  communism  in  Russia  is  against  private  property. 
Do  you  want  private  property  ?' 

'  If  .communism  came  without  any  violence,  it  would 
be  welcome.  For  then  no  property  would  be  held  by  any 
body  except  on  behalf  of  the  people  and  for  the  people.  A 
millionaire  may  have  his  millions,  but  he  will  hold  them  for 
the  people.  The  state  could  take  charge  of  them  whenever 
they  would  need  them  for  the  common  cause.' 

c  Is    there  any  difference  of  opinion  between   you   and 
Jawaharlal  in  respect  of  Socialism  ?' 

*  There    is,    but  it  is  a   difference    in    emphasis.     He 
perhaps  puts  an  emphasis  on  the   result,   whereas  I   put  on 
the  means.     Perhaps,  according  to   him,    I   am   putting    an 
ovei-empbasis   on   non-violence,    whereas     he,    though   he 
believes  in  non-violence,  would  want  to  have   Socialism   by 
other  means,  if  it  was  impossible  to  have  it  by  non-violence. 
Of  course  my   emphasis   on   non-violence   becomes   one   of 
principle.       Even   if  I    was    assured    that   we   could   have 
independence  by  means  of  violence,  I  should  refuse  to  have 
it.     It  won't  be  real  independence.' 

*  But    do  you  think    the   English   will  leave   India  to 
you  ard  go  back  peacefully  as  a  result  of  your  non-violent 

agitation  ?' 

'  I  do  think  so.' 


COMMUNISM  103 

'  What  is  the  basis  of  your  belief?' 

*  I  have  my  faith  in  God  and  His  Justice.' 

The  friend  seemed  to  be  deeply  impressed.  He  took 
the  words  down  and  said  :  c  You  are  more  Christian  than 
we  so-called  Christians.  I  will  write  these  words  down  in 
block  letters.' 

*  You   must/   said  Gandhiji,  '  otherwise  God  would    not 
be  the  God  of  Love  but  the  God  of  violence.'  (M.  D.) 

—HarijaniFeb.  13,  1937 
<$><$><$> 

I  HAVE  claimed  that  I  was  a  socialist  long  before 
those  I  know  in  India  had  avowed  their  creed.  But  my 
socialism  was  natural  to  me  and  not  adopted  from  any 
books.  It  came  out  of  my  unshakable  belief  in  non- 
violence. No  man  could  be  actively  non-violent  and  not 
rise  against  social  injustice,  no  matter  where  it  occurred. 
Unfortunately  Western  socialists  have,  so  far  as  I  know, 
believed  in  the  necessity  of  violence  for  enforcing  socia- 
listic doctrines. 

I  have  always  held  that  social  justice,  even  unto  the 
least  and  the  lowliest,  is  impossible  of  attainment  by  force. 
I  have  further  believed  that  it  is  possible  by  proper 
training  of  the  lowliest  by  non-violent  means  to  secure 
redress  of  the  wrongs  suffered  by  them.  That  means 
is  non-violent  non-co-operation.  At  times  non-co-operation 
becomes  as  much  a  duty  as  co-operation.  No  one 
is  bound  to  co-operate  in  one's  own  undoing  or  slavery. 
Freedom  received  through  the  effort  of  others,  however 
benevolent,  cannot  be  retained  when  such  effort  is  with- 
drawn. In  other  words,  such  freedom  is  not  real  freedom. 
But  the  lowliest  can  feel  its  glow  as  soon  as  they  learn 
the  art  of  attaining  it  through  non-violent  non-co- 
operation. 

—Harijan  :  April  20,  1940. 


104  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

ALL  Communists  are  not  bad,  as  all  Congressmen 
are  not  angels.  I  have,  therefore,  no  prejudice  against 
Communists,  as  such. 

Their  philosophy,  as  they  have  declared  it  to  me,  I 
cannot  subscribe  to. 

—Harian  :  Jan.  26,  1941. 

Commnunal  Pacts 

FREEDOM  will  not  come  through  parliamentary 
effort.  Therefore  communal  pacts,  while  they  are  good 
if  they  can  be  had,  are  valueless  unless  they  are  backed 
by  the  union  of  hearts,  without  which  there  can  be  no  peace 
in  the  land. 

—  Harijanijan.  25,  42. 

Complexion 


IT  is  a  law  of  nature  that  the  skin  of  races 
near  the  equator  should  be  black  And  if  we  believe 
that  there  must  be  beauty  in  everything  fashioned  by 
nature,  we  would  not  only  steer  clear  of  all  narrow 
and  one-sided  conceptions  of  beauty,  but  we  in 
India  would  be  free  from  the  improper  sense  of  shame 
and  dislike  which  we^  feel  for  our  own  complexion  if  it 
is  anything  but  fair. 

—  Satyagraha  in  South  Africa  :  Page  19. 

Compromise 

A  SATYAGRAHI  never  misses,  can  never  miss  a  chance 
of  compromise  on  honourable  terms,  it  being  always  assumed 
that  in  the  event  of  failure  he  is  ever  ready  to  offer 
battle.  He  needs  no  previous  preparation,  his  cards  are 
always  on  the  table.  Suspension  or  continuation  of  battle 
is  one  and  the  same  thing  to  him.  He  fights  or  refrains 
to  gain  precisely  the  same  end.  He  dare  not  always 


COMPROMISE  105 

distrust  his  opponents.  On  the  contrary  he  must  grasp 
the  hand  of  friendship  whenever  there  is  the  slightest 
protest. 

—Young  India  :   April  16,  1931  • 
<$>    <$>    <^ 

BUT  all  my  life  through,  the  very  insistence 
on  truth  has  taught  me  to  appreciate  the  beauty 
of  compromise.  I  saw  in  later  life  that  this  spirit  was 
an  essential  part  of  Satyagraha.  It  has  often  meant 
endangering  my  life  and  incurring  the  displeasure  of 
friends.  But  truth  is  hard  as  adamant  and  tender  as  a 
blossom. 

—  My  Experiments  with  Truth  :    Page  134. 


HUMAN  life  is  a  series  of  compromise,  and  it  is 
not  always  easy  to  achieve  in  practice  what  one  has 
found  to  be  true  in  theory.  Take  this  very  simple  case. 
The  principle  is  that  all  life  is  one  and  we  have  to  treat 
the  sinner  and  saint  alike,  as  the  Glti  says  we  have  to 
look  with  an  equal  eye  on  a  learned  Pandit  and  a  dog 
and  a  dog-eater.  But  here  I  am.  Though  I  have  not 
killed  the  snake,  I  know  I  have  been  instrumental  in 
killing  it.  I  know  that  I  should  not  have  done  so. 
I  know,  besides,  that  snakes  are  kshztrapals  (guardians  of 
the  field),  and  therefore  too,  I  should  not  have  helped  in 
killing  it.  But  as  you  see  I  have  not  been  able  to 
avoid  it.  But  it  is  no  use  my  thinking  that  I  CANNOT 
avoid  it.  I  do  not  give  up  the  principle  which  is  true 
for  all  time  that  all  life  is  one,  and  I  pray  to  God  that 
He  may  rid  me  of  the  fear  of  snakes  and  enable  me  to 
achieve  the  non-violence  necessary  to  handle  snakes  as  we 
handle  other  domestics.  Take  another  instance, 
again  a  very  simple  one.  I  know  that  as  a  villager  and 
as  one  who  has  made  it  his  business  to  promote  village 
crafts,  I  must  use  a  village-made  razor,  but  you  see  that 


106  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

I  am  using  a  foreign  one.  (Gandhiji  was  actually  having 
a  shave  when  these  teachers  arrived).  I  might  have 
got  a  village-made  razor,  if  I  had  written  to  friends  to 
procure  one  for  me.  But  I  thought  I  must  help  the 
village  barber,  no  matter  what  kind  of  razor  he  used. 
I  therefore  decided  to  cultivate  him,  and  put  up  with 
his  dirty  clothes  and  uncouth  instruments.  But  on  one 
thing  I  could  not  possibly  compromise.  He  said  he 
would  not  shave  Harijans  on  the  same  terms  as  he  was 
prepared  to  shave  me,  and  I  had  to  do  without  his 
services.  Now  you  find  me  having  a  shave  with  a 
foreign  razor,  though  it  is  open  to  me  to  procure  a 
village-made  one.  Here  there  is  obviously  an  indefensi- 
ble compromise.  And  yet  there  is  an  explanation. 
I  have  been  sticking  on  to  a  set  of  shaving  tackle  given 
me  by  a  loving  sister,  whose  gift  I  could  not  resist,  and 
whose  feelings  I  could  not  hurt  by  rejecting  the  foreign 
razor  and  insisting  on  having  a  village-made  one.  But 
there  it  is,  compromise  is  there.  I  do  not  commend 
it  for  imitation.  We  must  be  prepared  to  displease  the 
dearest  ones  for  the  sake  of  principle. 

There  are  eternal  principles  which  admit  of  no 
compromise,  and  one  must  be  prepared  to  lay  down  one's 
life  in  the  practice  of  them.  Supposing  someone  came 
and  asked  you  to  give  up  your  religion  and  to  embrace 
another  at  the  point  of  the  sword,  would  you  do  it  ? 
Supposing  someone  were  to  compel  you  to  drink  wine 
or  eat  beef,  cr  tell  a  lie,  would  you  not  rather  lay  down 
your  life  than  yield  to  the  ccercion  ?  No.  A  principle  is 
a  principle,  and  in  no  case  can  it  be  watered  down 
because  of  our  incapacity  to  live  it  in  practice.  We  have 
to  strive  to  achieve  it,  and  the  striving  should  be  conscious, 
deliberate  and  hard. 

I  am  not  in  the  habit  of  losing  co-workers.  I  go 
a  long  way  with  them  in  winning  their  afiection  and 
retaining  it.  But  there  does  come  a  limit  beyond  which 


CONGRESS  107 

my  compromise  doesfnot  and  cannot  and  should  not  go.  No 
compromise  is  worth  the  name  which  endangers  chances 
of  success. 

—Harijan  :  Nov.  18,  1939. 

<s>  <s>  <s> 

COMPROMISE  is  a  part  and  parcel  of  my  naiure. 
I  will  go  to  the  Viceroy  fifty  times,  if  I  feel  like  it. 
I  \\ent  to  Lord  Reading  whilst  Non-co-operation  was  going 
on.  I  would  not  only  go  to  the  Viceroy  when  invited 
but  I  would  even  seek  opportunities  to  ge  to  him,  if 
necessary.  You  must  know  that,  if  I  do  so,  I  do  it  in 
order  to  strengthen  our  cause  and  not  weaken  it.  It 
happened  so  with  General  Smuts.  At  the  last  moment 
I  telephoned  to  him.  He  put  the  receiver  down  in  anger 
but  1  thrust  myself  on  him.  As  a  result  he  relented 
and  I  \\as  in  a  stronger  position.  To-day  we  are  friends* 
I  cculd  not  have  fcught  the  Dutch  and  the  English  with- 
out lc\e  in  my  heart  for  them,  and  withcut  a  readiness  for 
ccmpicmise.  But  my  ccmprcmises  will  never  be  at  the 
cost  of  the  cause  or  of  the  country. 

—Harijan  :    Mar.  3,  1940. 

<s>  <s>  <s> 

ALL  compromise  is  based  on  give  and  take,  but 
there  can  be  no  give  and  take  on  fundamentals.  Any 
ccmpicmise  on  fundamentals  is  a  surrender.  For  it  is  all 
give  and  no  take. 

—Harijan  :  Mar.  30,  1940. 

<S>   <3>   <$> 

MY  life  is  made  up  of  compromises,  but  they  have 
teen  ccirpicmises  that  have  brcught  me  nearer  the  goal. 

—Harijan  :      May  4,  1940. 

Congress 

WE  wculd  have  been  nowhere  if  there  had  been 
no  Ccngress  to  agitate  for  the  rights  of  people. 

—Toting  India  :  Dec.  31,  191S. 


108  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

I  DO  not  consider  the  Congress  as  a  party  oragnisation, 
even  as  the  British  Parliament,  though  it  contains  all  parties, 
and  has  one  party  or  the  other  dominating  it,  from  time  to 
time,  is  not  a  party  organisation. 

—Young  India  :    April  28,  1920. 

<$><$><$> 

A  TRUE  Congressman  is  a  true  servant.  He  ever  gives, 
ever  wants  service.  He  is  easily  satisfied  so  long  as  his 
own  comfort  is  concerned.  He  is  always  content  to  take 
a  back  seat.  He  is  never  communal  or  provincial. 

His  country  is  his  paramount  consideration.  He  is 
brave  to  a  fault  because  he  has  shed  all  earthly  ambition, 
fear  of  Death  itself.  And  he  is  generous  because  he  is 
brave,  forgiving  because  he  is  humble  and  conscious  of 
his  own  failings  and  limitations. 

If  such  Congressmen  are  rare,  Swaraj  is  far  off  and 
we  must  revise  our  creed.  The  fact  that  we  have  not 
got  Suoaraj  as  yet  is  proof  presumptive  that  we  have  not 
as  many  true  Congressmen  as  we  want. 

—Toung  India  :  Nov.  19,  1925. 
<$><$><$> 

THE  Congress  is  no  preserve  of  any  single  individual. 
It  is  a  democratic  body  with,  in  my  opinion,  the  widest 
intelligent  franchise  the  world  has  ever  seen.  For  it 
gives  statutory  recognition  to  the  dignity  of  Iab3ur.  I 
wish  it  was  the  sole  test.  It  accommodates  all  shades  of 
opinion  save  violence  and  untruth. 

—Toung  India  :  June  25,  1925* 
<$><$><$> 

THE  Congress  does  not  prescribe  to  anybody  his 
religion.  It  is  a  sensitive  barometer  from  time  to  time 
registering  the  variation  in  the  temperament  of  palitically- 
minded  India.  No  Congressman  is  bound  to  act  con- 
trary to  his  political  religion. 

—Toung  India  :     Oct.  8,    1925. 


CONGRESS  109 

IT  is  a  gross  superstition  to  believe  that  one  can- 
not serve  effectively  without  the  Congress  prestige  at  one's 

back"  —Toimg  India  :   July  17,  1924, 

THE  Congress  is  the  power-house  from  which  all  the 
power  for  all  the  work  is  to  be  derived.  If  the  power- 
house is  rotten,  the  whole  national  work  must  be  necessarily 

so. 

—  Toung  India:  Jan.  10,  1929. 

<$><$><» 

WE  are  a  nation  passing  through  the  valley  of 
humiliation,  So  long  as  we  have  not  secured  our  freedom 
we  have  not  the  least  excuse  at  the  annual  stock-taking 
season  for  amusements,  riotous  or  subdued.  It  is  a  week 
of  serious  business,  introspection  and  heart  searching,  it 
is  a  week  for  evolving  national  policies  and  framing  pro- 
grammes for  giving  battle  to  a  power  perhaps  the  strongest 
and  the  most  vicious  the  world  has  ever  seen.  I  submit 
that  it  is  impossible  to  do  clear  thinking  or  to  evolve  pro- 
grammes political,  social,  economic,  and  educational  in 
the  midst  of  distraction,  noise,  rush  and  a  lavish  display  of 
boisterous  amusements  fit  enough  for  a  children's  pantomime, 
entirely  out  of  place  as  an  appendage  to  a  deliberative 
assembly  intent  on  preparing  .for  a  grim  life  and  death 


India  :  Jan.  10,  1929. 

<$>  <s>  <s> 

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 
organisation  it  must  survive  its  most  distinguished  members. 

—Toung  India :  Oct.  3,  1929; 


110  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

THE  Congress  is  the  only  truly  national  political 
organisation  in  the  country.  It  is  the  oldest  of  its  kiii.  It 
has  had  the  services  of  the  most  distinguished  sorn  and 
daughters  of  the  nation.  It  is  admittedly  the  ni33t  pDwerfu! 
organisation  in  the  land.  It  ought  not  to  be  difficult  \or 
such  a  body  to  expand  itself  and  find  its  flag  flying  in  every 
village. 

—Young  India  :     Oct.  10,  1929. 

<$>     <*>     <$> 

THE  Congress  is  not  an  organisation  to  enunciate 
theories,  but  to  anticipate  national  wants  and  wishes,  and 
forge  practical  sanctions  for  their  fulfilment. 

—Young  India  :    Jan.  9,  1930. 


THE  Congress  is  essentially  and  pre-eminently  a  Kisan 
•organisation.  It  also  endeavours  to  represent  the  %amindars 
and  the  propertied  classes,  but  only  to  the  extent  that  he 
interests  of  the  Kisans  are  not  prejudiced  thereby.  The 
Congress  is  nothing  if  it  does  not  represent  the  Kisans. 

—Young  India  :  Aug.  13,  1931. 

<$><$>    <3> 

IT  is  not  right  to.  say  that  the  Congress  is  a  Hindu 
organisation.  What  is  the»  Congress  to  do  if  Muslisms 
would  not  care  to  go  into  it  ?  The  Congress  is  based  on 
adult  franchise,  and  any  adult  Hindu  or  Musalrnan  can 
join  the  Congress.  No  community  is  excluded.  Ask  the 
Muslim  friends  who  are  members  of  the  Congress,  and  they 
will  tell  you  that  they  have  not  come  to  grief  by  having 
joined  the  Congress.  I  ask  you  therefore  not  to  suspect  that 
the  Congress  is  a  Hindu  organisation.  I  ask  every  one  of 
you  to  join  the  Congress  and  to  take  charge  of  it.  But  one 
cannot  take  charge  of  it  by  force.  It  can  be  done  only  by 
willing  service.  Ever  since  the  Congress  was  started,  those 
who  have  served  it  have  had  charge  of  it.  And  yet  the 


CONGRESS  111 

Congress  does  not  belong  only  to  them,  does  not  stand  only 
for  them,  it  belongs  to  and  stands  for  all.  It  is  the  Swaraj 
Government  in  embryo.  Its  prestige  is  ever  so  much 
superior  to  that  of  the  British  Government,  and  the  Congress 
President  is  greater  than  the  Viceroy.  Only  monied  people 
and  men  in  high  places  know  the  Viceroy.  One  needs  a 
motor-car  to  reach  the  Viceregal  House.  But  the  poorest 
man  knows  the  Congress  President  (at  present  Sardar 
Vallabhai)  and  can  walk  up  to  him.  The  Sardar  has 
dedicated  himself  to  the  service  of  the  country,  and  he  who 
serves  the  poor  is  great  in  the  eyes  of  God.  If  you  want  to 
be  in  power  under  Swaraj,  I  invite  you  to  assume  the  reins 
of  the  Congress  now  by  joining  it  in  large  numbers.  It  is 
the  most  powerful  organisation  in  the  country,  join  it.  We 
will  welcome  you. 

—Toung  India  :  April  16,  1931. 

<S>    <S>    3> 

THE  Congress  is  composed  of  ordinary  mortals.  They 
share  the  virtues  and  vices  of  the  nation  which  they  seek  to 
represent.  But  after  all  is  said  and  done,  it  will  not  be 
denied  that  it  is  the  oldest  political  organisation  in  the 
country,  it  is  the  most  representative  ;  it  has  drawn  to 
itself  the  best  talent  in  the  country,  it  has  the  highest 
amount  of  sacrifice  to  its  credit.  Above  all  it  is  the  one 
organisation  that  has  offered  the  greatest  resistance  to 
foreign  rule  and  exploitation. 

—Harijan:  June  18,  1938 

<s>  <s>  <s> 

LET  us  understand  the  functions  of  the  Congress.  Foi 
internal  growth  and  administration,  it  is  as  good  a  democratic 
organisation  as  any  to  be  found  in  the  world.  But  this 
democratic  organisation  has  been  brought  into  being  tc 
fight  the  greatest  Imperialist  Power  living.  For  this  external 
work,  therefore,  it  has  to  be  likened  to  an  army.  As  sue! 
at  ceases  to  be  democratic.  The  central  authority  possessei 


112         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

plenary  powers  enabling  it  to  impose  and  enforce  discipline 
en  the  various  units  \\oikirg  urder  it.  Provincial  organ- 
isaticrs  and  Fiovincial  Parliairentaiy  Boards  are  subject  to 
the  central  authority. 

It  has  been  suggested  that,  whilst  my  thesis  holds  good 
\vhenthereisactivewarintheshapeofthe  civil  resistance 
going  on,  it  cannot  whilst  the  latter  remains  under 
suspension.  But  suspension  of  civil  disobedience  does  not 
mean  suspension  of  war.  The  latter  can  only  end  when 
India  has  a  constitution  of  her  own  making.  Till  then  the 
Congress  must  be  in  the  nature  of  an  army.  Democratic 
Britain  has  set  up  an  ingenious  system  in  India  which,  when 
you  look  at  it  in  its  nakedness,  is  nothing  but  a  highly 
organised  efficient  military  control.  It  is  not  less  so  under 
the  present  Goveiment  of  India  Act.  The  Ministers  are 
mere  puppets  so  far  asf  the  real  control  is  concerned.  The 
collectors  and  the  police  who  c  sir  '  them  to-day,  may  at 
a  mere  command  from  the  Governors,  their  real  masters, 
unseat  the  Ministers,  arrest  them  and  put  them  in  a  lock-up. 
Hence  it  is  that  I  have  suggested  that  the  Congress  has 
entered  upon  office  not  to  work  the  Act  in  the  manner 
expected  by  the  framers,  but  in  a  manner  so  as  to  hasten 
the  day  of  substituting  it  by  a  genuine  Act  of  India's  own 
coining. 

Therefore  the  "Congress  conceived  as  a  fighting 
machine,  has  to  centralize  control  and  guide  every  depart- 
ment, and  every  Congressman,  however  highly  placed,  and 
expects  unquestioned  obedience.  The  fight  cannot  be 
fought  on  any  other  terms. 

They  say  this  is  Fascism,  pure  and  simple.  But  they 
forget  that  Fascism  is  the  naked  sword.  Under  it  Dr.  Khare 
should  lose  his  head.  The  Congress  is  the  very  antithesis 
of  Fascism,  because  it  is  based  on  non-violence  pure  and 
undefiled.  Its  sanctions  are  all  moral.  Its  authority 
is  not  derived  from  the  control  of  panoplied  blackshirts. 


CONGRESS  113 

Under  the  Congress  regime  Dr.  Khare  can  remain  the 
hero  of  Nagpur,  and  the  students  and  citizens  of  Nagpur, 
and  for  that  matter  other  places,  may  execrate  me  or/and 
the  Working  Committee  without  a  hair  of  the  demonstrators' 
heads  being  touched  so  long  as  they  remain  non-violent. 
That  is  the  glory  and  strength  of  the  Congress— not  its 
weakness.  Its  authority  is  derived  from  that  non-violent 
attitude.  It  is  the  only  purely  non-violent  political 
organization  of  importance,  to  my  knowledge,  throughout 
the  world.  And  let  it  continue  to  be  the  boast  of  the 
Congress  that  it  can  command  the  willing  and  hearty 
obedience  from  its  followers,  even  veterans  like  Dr.  Khare, 
so  long  as  they  choose  to  belong  to  it. 

—Harijan  :  Aug.  6,  1938, 

THE  Congress  endeavours  to  represent  all  communi- 
ties. It  is  not  by  design,  but  by  the  accident  of  Hindus 
being  politically  more  conscious  than  the  others,  that  the 
Congress  contains  a  majority  of  Hindus.  As  history 
proves  the  Congress  is  a  joint  creation  of  Muslims, 
Christians,  Parsis,  Hindus,  led  by  Englishmen,  be  it  said 
to  the  credit  of  the  latter.  And  the  Congress,  in  spite 
of  all  that  may  be  said  to  the  contrary,  retains  that 
character.  At  the  present  moment  a  Muslim  divine  is 
the  unquestioned  leader  of  the  Congress  and  for  the 
second  time  becomes  its  President.  The  constant  endea- 
vour of  Congressmen  has  been  to  have  as  many  members 
as  possible  drawn  from  the  various  communities,  and 
therefore  the  Congress  has  entered  into  pacts  for  the 
purpose  of  securing  national  solidarity.  It  cannot,  there- 
fore, divest  itself  of  that  function,  and  therefore,  although 
I  have  made  the  admission  that  the  Hindu  Mahasabha 
or  a  similar  Hindu  organisation  can  properly  have 
communal  settlements,  the  Congress  cannot  and  must  not 
plead  incapacity  for  entering  into  political  pacts  so  long 
as  it  commands  general  confidence. 

:  Feb.  24.  1940. 


114  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

THE  Congress  claims  to  be  the  custodian  of  all 
interests  even  of  English  interests,  in  so  far  as  they  would 
regard  India  as  their  home  and  not  claim  any  interests 
in  conflict  with  those  of  the  dum  millions. 

—Young  India  :   Oct.  15,  193U 

Conscience. 

THERE  are  times  when  you  have  to  obey  a  call 
which  is  the  highest  of  all,  i.  e.,  the  voice  of  conscience 
even  though  such  obedience  may  cost  many  a  bitter 
tear,  and  even  more,  separation  from  friends,  from  family, 
from  the  state  to  which  you  may  belong  from  all  that 
you  have  held  as  dear  as  life  itself.  For  this  obedience 
is  the  law  of  our  being. 

—Young  India  :  Mar.  18,  1919. 

<$>    <J>    <S> 

IN  matters  of  conscience,  the  law  of  majority  has  no 
place. 

—Young  India  :  Aug.  4,  1920. 

^N     ^S     ^$> 

THERE  is  a  higher  court  than  courts  of  Justice  and 
that  is  the  court  of  conscience.  It  supercedes  all  other 
courts. 

—Young  India  :  Dec.  15,  192L 
^S     ^^     ^N 

THE  human  voice  can  never  reach  the  distance  that 
is  covered  by  the  still  small  voice  of  conscience. 

The  only  tyrant  I  accept  in  this  world  is  the  still 
voice  within. 

—  Young  India:    Mar.  2,  1922. 

A  CORRESPONDENT  says  in  effect,  "Do  you  know 
what  you  have  done  by  continually  harping  on  conscience. 
I  find  youngsters  and  grown-up  people  talking  utter 


CONSCIENCE  115 

nonsense  under  cover  of  conscience.  What  is  more* 
youngsters  have  become  impudent  and  grown-up  people. 
unscrupulous  ;  can  you  not  prevent  this  mischief?  If  you* 
cannot,  please  withdraw  the  word  from  use  and  stop  the 
drivel  that  is  being  said  in  the  name  of  that  sacred 
but  much  abused  word.  Pray  tell  us  who  has  a  conscience  ? 
Do  all  have  it  ?  Do  cats  have  a  conscience  when  they 
hunt  to  death  poor  mice  ?" 

I  must  confess  that  the  charge  is  not  without 
substance.  But  he  has  presented  only  the  dark  side. 
Every  virtue  has  been  known  to  be  abused  by  the  wicked. 
But  we  do  not  on  that  account  do  away  with  virtue. 
We  can  but  erect  safe-guards  against  abuse.  When  people 
cease  to  think  for  themselves  and  have  everything  regulated 
for  them,  it  becomes  necessary  at  times  to  assert  the 
right  of  individuals  to  act  in  defiance  of  public  opinion 
or  law  which  is  another  name  for  public  opinion.  When 
individuals  so  act,  they  claim  to  have  acted  in  obedience 
to  the  conscience. 

I  entirely  agree  with  the  correspondent  that  youngsters 
as  a  rule  must  not  pretend  to  have  conscience.  It  is  a 
quality  or  state  acquired  by  laborious  training.  Wilfulness 
is  not  conscience.  A  child  has  no  conscience.  The 
correspondent's  cat  does  not  go  for  the  mouse  in  obedience 
to  the  call  of  conscience.  It  does  so  in  obedience  to 
its  nature.  Conscience  is  the  ripe  fruit  of  strictest  discipline. 
Irresponsible  youngsters  therefore  who  have  never  obeyed 
anything  or  anybody  save  their  animal  instinct  have  no 
conscience,  nor  therefore  have  all  grown-up  people.  The 
savages  for  instance  have  to  all  intents  and  purposes  no 
conscience.  Conscience  can  reside  only  in  a  delicately 
tuned  breast.  There  is  no  such  thing  therefore  as  mass 
conscience  as  distinguished  from  the  conscience  of  individuals. 
It  is  safe  therefore  to  say  that  when  a  man  makes  everything 
a  matter  of  conscience,  he  is  a  stranger  to  it.  It  is  a  truthful 
saying  that  Conscience  makes  cowards  of  us  all.'  A  con- 
scientious man  hesitates  to  assert  himself,  he  is  always 


1  16  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

humble,  never  boisterous,     always   compromising,     always 
ready   to  listen,     ever    willing,   even   anxious,   to     admit 
mistakes. 

The  correspondent  is  needlessly  agitated.  What  does 
it  matter  that  fifty  thousand  people  say  they  act  or 
refrain  for  conscience's  sake  ?  The  world  has  no  difficulty 
in  distinguishing  between  conscience  and  an  arrogant  or 
ignorant  assumption  of  it.  Such  men  would  have  acted  in 
similar  circumstances  exactly  as  they  would  under  cover  of 
conscience.  The  introduction  of  conscience  into  our 
public  life  is  welcome  even  if  it  has  taught  a  few  of  us 
to  stand  up  for  human  dignity  and  rights  in  the  face  of 
the  heaviest  odds.  These  acts  will  live  for  ever,  whereas  those 
done  under  shams  are  like  soap-bubbles  enjoying  a  momen- 
tary existence, 

—iToung  India  :    Aug.  21,  1924. 

I  DO  not  want  any  patronage,  as  I  do  not  give  any. 
I  am  a  lover  of  my  own  liberty  and  so  I  would  do  nothing 
to  restrict  yours.  I  simply  want  to  please  my  own  con- 

science, which  is  God. 

—Tovng  India  :  Jan.  6,  1927. 

^    ^    ^ 

WHAT  must  count  with  a  public  servant  is  the 
approbation  of  his  own  conscience.  He  must  be  like 
a  rudderless  vessel  who,  leaving  the  infallible  solace  of 
his  own  conscience,  ever  seeks  to  please  and  gam  the 
approbation  of  public.  Service  must  be  its  own  and 
sole  reward. 


Consistency 

CONSTANT  development  is  the  law  of  life,  and  a  man 
who  always  tries  to  maintain  his  dogmas  in  order  to  appear 
consistent  drives  himself  into  a  false  position. 

India  :  Sep.  21,  1928. 


CONSISTENCY  117 

THERE  is  a  consistency  that  is  wise  and  a  consistency 
that  is  foolish.  A  man  who  in  order  to  be  consistent 
would  go  bare-bodied  in  the  hot  sun  of  India  and 
sunless  Norway  in  mid-winter  would  be  considered  a 
fool  and  would  lose  his  life  in  the  bargain. 

—Young  India  :  April  4,  1929. 
<$><$><$> 

CHANGE  is  a  condition  of  progress.  An  honest  man 
cannot  afford  to  observe  mechanical  consistency  when 
the  mind  revolts  against  anything  as  an  error. 

— Young  India  :  Dec.  19,  1929, 

<3>    <$>    3> 

I  MUST  admit  my  many  inconsistencies.  But  since 
I  am  called  'Mahatma',  I  might  well  endorse  Emerson's 
saying  that,  'foolish  consistency  is  the  hobgoblin  of  little 
minds.'  There  is,  I  fancy  a  method  in  my  inconsistencies. 
In  my  opinion  there  is  a  consistency  running  through 
seeming  inconsistencies,  as  in  nature  there  is  a  unity 
running  through  the  seeming  diversity. 

—Young  India  :  Feb.  13,  1930. 

<$><$><$> 

MY  so-called  inconsistencies  arc  no  inconsistencies 
to  those  who  understand,  be  it  only  intellectually,  the 
implications  of  non-violence. 

— Young  India  :  April  24,  1931 

<$>    <$>    <$> 

I  MAKE  no  hobgoblin  of  consistency.  If  I  am 
true  to  myself  fom  moment  to  moment,  I  do  not  mind  all  the 
inconsistencies  that  may  be  flung  in  my  face. 

—Harijan  :Nov.  9,  193*. 

Constituent  Assembly 

PANDIT  Jawaharlal  Nehru  has  compelled  me  to 
tudy,  among  other  things,  the  implications  of  a  Constituent 


118         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

Assembly.  When  he  first  introduced  it  in  the  Congress 
resolutions,  I  reconciled  myself  to  it  because  of  my  belief  in 
his  superior  knowledge  of  the  technicalities  of  democracy. 
But  I  was  not  free  from  scepticism.  Hard  facts  have, 
however,  made  me  a  convert  and,  for  that  reason  perhaps, 
more  enthusiastic  than  Jawaharal  himself.  For  I  seem  to  see 
in  it  a  remedy,  which  Jawaharlal  may  not,  for  our  commu- 
nal and  other  distempers,  besides  being  a  vehicle  for 
mass  political  and  other  education. 

The  more  criticism  I  see  of  the  scheme,  the  more 
enamoured  I  become  of  it.  It  will  be  the  surest  index 
to  the  popular  feeling.  It  will  bring  out  the  best  and 
the  worst  in  us.  Illiteracy  does  not  worry  me.  I  would 
plump  for  unadulterated  adult  franchise  for  both  men 
and  women,  i.  e.,  I  would  put  them  all  on  the  register 
of  voters.  It  is  open  to  them  not  to  exercise  it  if  they 
do  not  wish  to.  I  would  give  separate  vote  to  the 
Muslims ;  but,  without  giving  separate  vote,  I  would,  though 
reluctantly,  give  reservation,  if  required,  to  every  real 
minority  according  to  its  numerical  strength. 

Thus  the  Constituent  Assembly  provides  the  easiest 
method  of  arriving  at  a  just  solution  of  the  communal 
problem.  Today  we  are  unable  to  say  with  mathematical 
precision  who  represents  whom.  Though  the  Congress 
is  admittedly  the  oldest  representative  organisation  on 
the  widest  scale,  it  is  open  to  political  and  semi-political 
organisations  to  question,  as  they  do  question,  its  over- 
whelmingly representative  character.  The  Muslim  League 
is  undoubtedly  the  largest  organisation  representing 
Muslims,  but  several  Muslim  bodies — by  no  means  all 
insignificant — deny  its  claim  to  represent  them.  But  the 
Constituent  Assembly  will  represent  all  communities  in 
their  exact  proportion.  Except  it  there  is  no  other  way 
of  doing  full  justice  to  rival  claims.  Without  it  there  can 
be  no  finality  to  communal  and  other  claims. 

Again  the    Constituent  Assembly  alone    can  produce 


CONSTITUENT  ASSEMBLY  119 

a  constitution  indigenous  to  the  country  and  truly  and 
fully  representing  the  will  of  the  people.  Undoubtedly  such 
a  constitution  will  not  be  ideal,  but  it  will  be  real, 
however  imperfect  it  may  be  in  the  estimation  of  the 
theorists  or  legal  luminaries.  Self-government  to  be  self- 
government  has  merely  to  reflect  the  will  of  the  people 
who  are  to  govern  themselves.  If  they  are  not  prepared 
for  it,  they  will  make  a  hash  of  it.  I  can  conceive 
the  possibility  of  a  people  fitting  themselves  for  right 
government  through  a  series  of  wrong  experiments,  but 
I  cannot  conceive  a  people  governing  themselves  rightly 
through  a  government  imposed  from  without,  even  as 
the  fabled  jackdaw  could  not  walk  like  a  peacock  with 
feathers  borrowed  from  his  elegant  companion.  A  diseased 
person  has  a  prospect  of  getting  \\ell  by  personal  effort. 
He  cannot  borrow  health  from  others. 

The  risks  of  the  experiment  are  admitted.  There  is 
likely  to  be  impersonation.  Unscrupulous  persons  will 
mislead  the  illiterate  masses  into  voting  for  wrong  men 
and  women.  These  risks  have  to  be  run,  if  we  are  to 
evolve  something  true  and  big.  The  Constituent  Assembly, 
if  it  comes  into  being — as  I  hope  it  will — as  a  result 
of  an  honourable  settlement  between  us  and  the  British 
people,  the  combined  wit  of  the  best  men  of  the  two 
nations  will  produce  an  Assembly  that  will  reflect  fairly, 
truly  the  best  mind  of  India.  Therefore  the  success  of 
the  experiment  at  the  present  stage  of  India's  history 
depends  upon  the  intention  of  the  British  statesmen  to 
part  with  power  without  engaging  India  in  a  deadly 
unorganised  rebellion.  For  I  know  that  India  has  become 
impatient.  I  am  painfully  conscious  of  the  fact  that 
India  is  not  yet  ready  for  non-violent  civil  disobedience 
on  a  mass  scale.  If,  therefore,  I  cannot  persuade 
the  Congress  to  await  the  time  when  non-violent  action 
is  possible,  I  have  no  desire  to  live  to  see  a  dog-fight 
between  the  two  communities.  I  know  for  certain  that 
if  I  cannot  discover  a  method  of  non-violent  action  or 


120         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

inaction  to  the  satisfaction  of  *he  Congress  and  there  is  no 
communal  adjustment,  nothing  on  earth  can  prevent  an 
outbreak  of  violence  resulting  for  the  time  being  in 
anarchy  and  red  ruin.  I  hold  that  it  is  the  duty  of  alj 
communities  ard  Englishmen  to  prevent  such  a  catastrophe  ^ 

The  only  way  out  is  a  Constituent  Assembly,  I 
have  given  my  own  opinion  on  it,  but  I  am  not  tied 
down  to  the  details.  When  I  was  nearly  through  with 
this  article,  I  got  the  following  wire  from  Syed  Abdulla 
Brelvi  :  "Cosiderable  misapprehensions  among  minorities 
(about)  Constituent  Assembly.  Strongly  urge  clarification 
details,  franchise,  composition,  methods  arriving  decision." 
I  think  I  have  said  sufficient  in  the  foregoing  to  answer 
Syed  Saheb's  question.  By  minorities  he  has  Muslims 
principally  in  mind  as  represented  by  the  Muslim  League. 
If  once  the  proposition  that  all  communities  desire  a 
charter  of  independence  framed  by  a  Constituent  Assembly 
and  that  they  will  not  be  satisfied  with  anything  else, 
is  accepted,  the  settling  of  details  surely  becomes  easy.  Any 
other  method  must  lead  to  an  imposed  constitution  mostly 
undemocratic.  It  would  mean  an  indefinite  prolongation 
of  imperialistic  rule  sustained  by  the  help  of  those  who 
will  not  accept  the  fully  democratic  method  of  a  Constituent 
Assembly. 

The  principal  hindrance  is  undoubtedly  the  British 
Government.  If  they  can  summon  a  Round  Table 
Conference  as  they  propose  to  do  after  the  war,  they 
can  surely  summon  a  Constituent  Assembly  subject  to 
'safeguards  to  the  satisfaction  of  minorities.  The  expression 
satisfaction  of  minorities'  may  be  regarded  as  vague. 
It  can  be  defined  beforehand  by  agreement.  The 
question  thus  resolves  itself  into  whether  the  British 
Government  desire  to  part  with  power  and  open  a  new 
chapter  in  their  own  history.  I  have  already  shown  that 
the  question  of  the  Princes  is  a  red  herring  across  the 
path.  European  interests  are  absolutely  safe  so  long  as 


CONSTRUCTIVE  PROGRAMME  121 

they  are  not  in  conflict  with  the  interests  of  India*- 
I  think  this  expression  finds  place  in  *  the  Irwin-Gandhi 
Pact. 

Look  at  the  question  from  any  standpoint  you  like, 
it  will  be  found  that  the  way  to  democratic  Swaraj 
lies  only  through  a  properly  constituted  Assembly,  call 
it  by  whatever  name  you  like.  All  resources  must,  there- 
fore, be  exhausted  to  reach  the  Constituent  Assembly 
before  direct  action  is  thought  01.  A  stage  may  be 
reached  when  direct  action  may  become  the  necessary 
prelude  to  the  Constituent  Assembly.  That  stage  is  not  yet. 

—Harijan  :  Nov.  25,  1  939. 

<e>    <$><$> 

I  BELIEVE  personally  that  it  is  the  most  satisfactory 
method  of  procedure  ;  but  do  not  forget  that  I  preserve 
an  open  mind  on  the  matter.  If  some  people  hold 
that  there  are  other  forms  of  procedure  which  are  more 
representative,  I  am  willing  to  be  convinced.  Today  I 
say  that  the  assembly  should  be  elected  on  adult  franchise, 
but  here  again  my  mind  is  open  to  alternative  proposals 
provided  these  proposals  have  the  backing  <ff  representative 
men. 

—Harijan  :  May  18,  1940. 

Constructive  Programme 

NATURE  abhors  a  vacum.  Therefore,  construction 
must  keep*  pace  with  destruction.  Even  if  all  the  titled 
friends  gave  up  their  titles,  and  if  schools,  courts  and 
Councils  were  entirely  deserted,  and  being  thus  embarrassed 
the  Government  abdicated  in  our  favour,  and  if  we  had  no 
constructive  work  to  our  credit,  we  could  not  conduct  Swaraj. 
We  should  be  entirely  helpless.  I  often  wonder  whether  it  is 
sufficiently  realised  that  our  movement  is  not  one  for  mere 
change  of  personnel  but  for  change  of  the  system  and  the 
methods. 

— Young  India  :  May  8,  1924, 


122          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

WHAT  unfortunately  I  notice  throughout  my  wander- 
ings is  that  many  Congressmen  do  not  care  so  much 
for  constructive  work  as  for  excitement  and  work  that 
will  bring  them  into  prominence  without  costing  them 
such  labour,  if  any  at  all  This  mentality  has  to  be 
changed,  before  we  can  have  a  steady  supply  of  workers. 
Everywhere  I  am  surrounded  by  healthy-looking  intelligent 
volunteers  who  spare  no  pains  to  make  me  comfortable 
and  who  under  the  impulse  of  service  do  not  mind 
working  day  and  night.  If  they  could  but  be  induced 
to  transfer  this  devotion  to  a  person  who  really  does  not 
need  all  that  volume  of  service  and  who  is  more  often 
than  not  embarrassed  by  such  attention,  to  the  cause  which 
he  represents,  the  problem  is  solved. 

—Young  India  :  May  16,  1929. 
<£    <$>   <S> 

I  KNOW  that  many  have  refused  to  see  any  connection 
between  the  constructive  programme  and  civil  disobedience. 
But  for  one  who  believes  in  non-violence  it  does  not  need 
hard  thinking  t^  realise  the  essential  connection  between  the 
constructive  programme  and  civil  disobedience  for  Swaraj. 
I  want  the  reader  to  mark  the  qualification.  Constructive 
programme  is  not  essential  for  local  civil  disobedience  for 
specific  relief  as  in  the  case  of  Bardoli.  Tangible  common 
grievance  restricted  to  a"  particular  locality  is  enough.  But  for 
such  an  indefinable  thing  as  Swaraj  people  must  have  pre- 
vious training  in  doing  things  of  All-India  interest.  Such 
work  must  throw  together  the  people  and  their  leaders  whom 
they  would  trust  implicitly.  Trust  begotten  in  the  pursuit 
of  continuous  constructive  work  becomes  a  tremendous  asset 
at  the  critical  moment.  Constructive  work  therefore  is  for 
a  non-violent  army  what  drilling,  etc.  is  for  an  army 
designed  for  bloody  warfare.  Individual  civil  disobedience 
among  an  unprepared  people  and  by  leaders  not  known 
to  or  trusted  by  them  is  of  no  avail,  and  mass  civil 
disobedience  is  an  impossiblity.  The  more  therefore  the 


CONSTRUCTIVE  PROGRAMME  123 

progress  of  the  constructive  programme,  the  greater  is  there 
the  chance  for  civil  disobedience.  Granted  a  perefectly 
non-violent  atmosphere  and  a  fulfilled  constructive  pro- 
gramme I  would  undertake  to  lead  a  mass  civil  disobedience 
struggle  to  a  successful  issue  in  the  space  of  a  few  months. 

—Young  India  :  June  9,  1930* 
<$>    <S>    <3> 

Q.     WHAT  is  the  relation  between  constructive  work 
and  Ahimsa  ?     Why  are  they  so    intimately  connected  ? 

A.  Well,  I  think  it  is  obvious  enough  that  Hindu-Mus- 
lim unity,  prohibition  and  abolition  of  untouchability, — are 
impossible  without  non-violence.  Remains  only  the  spinning 
wheel.  How  does  it  become  the  symbol  of  non-violence  ? 
As  I  have  already  explained,  the  essential  thing  is 
the  spirit  in  which  you  regard  it,  the  attributes  you  invest  it 
with.  It  is  no  quinine  pill  which  has  certain  inherent  proper- 
ties in  it,  apart  from  what  you  think  about  it.  The  spinning 
wheel  has  no  such  inherent  property.  Take  the  Gayatri  mantra. 
It  cannot  have  the  same  effect  on  non-Hindus  as  it  has 
on  me,  nor  can  the  Kalema  have  the  same  reaction  on  me 
as  it  has  on  the  Muslims.  Even  so  the  spinning  wheel 
in  itself  has  nothing  which  can  teach  ahimsa  or  bring 
Swaraj.  But  you  have  to  think  it  with  those  attributes 
and  it  is  transformed.  Its  obvious  value  is  the  service  of 
the  poor,  but  that  does  not  necessarily  mean  that  it  should 
be  a  symbol  of  non-violence  or  an  indispensable  condition 
for  Swaraj.  But  we  since  1920  connected  the  wheel  with 
Swaraj  and  non-violence. 

Then  there  is  the  programme  of  self-purification  with 
which  the  spinning  wheel  is  again  intimately  connected. 
Coarse  homespun  signifies  simplicity  of  life  and  therefore 
purity. 

Without  the  spinning  wheel,  without  Hindu-Muslim 
unityfand  without  the  abolition  of  untouchability  there  can 
be  no  civil  disobedience.  Civil  disobedience  pre-supposes 


124       TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA   GANDHI 

willing  obedience  of  our  self-imposed  rules,  and    without  it 
civil  disobedience  would  be  a  cruel  joke, 

— Harijan:]uly  13,  1939. 

IT  is  any  day  superior  to  civil  disobedience.  Civil 
disobedience  without  the  backing  of  constructive  effort 
is  neither  civil  nor  non-violent.  Those  who  do  con- 
structive work  merely  for  the  sake  of  civil  disobedience 
look  at  things  topsyturvy. 

—Harijan  :   April  6,  1940. 

A  CORRESPONDENT  writes  : 

"What  are  the  qualities  that  you  intend  to  inculcate 
in  people  by  laying  stress  on  the  constructive  programme  ? 
What  are  the  qualifications  necessary  for  a  constructive 
worker  in  order  to  make  his  work  effective  ?" 

The  constructive  programme  is  a  big  undertaking 
including  a  number  of  items  :  (1)  Hindu-Muslim  or 
communal  unity;  (2)  Removal  of  untouchability;  (3)  Prohibi- 
tion; (4)  Khadi;  (5)  Other  village  industries;  (6)  Village 
sanitation  ;  (7)  New  or  basic  education;  (8)  Adult  educa- 
tion ;  (9)  Uplift  of  women;  (10)  Education  in  hygiene 
and  health;  (11)  Propagation  of  Rashtrabhasha;  (12)  Culti- 
vating love  of  one's  awn  language;  (13)  Working,  for 
economic  equality.  This  list  can  be  supplemented  if 
necessary,  but  it  is  so  comprehensive  that  I  think  it  can  be 
proved  to  include  items  appearing  to  have  been 
omitted. 

The  reader  will  see  that  it  is  the  want  of  all 
these  things  that  is  responsible  for  our  bondage.  He 
will  also  see  that  the  constructive  programme  of  the  Congress 
is  not  supposed  to  include  all  the  items.  That  is 
understood  to  include  only  four  items,  or  rather  six,  now 
that  the  Congress  has  created  the  All  India  V|Jlage 
Industries  Association  and  the  Basic  Education  Board. 


CONSTRUCTIVE  PROGRA  MME  1 25 

But  we  have  to  go  further  forward,  we  have  to  stabilise  and 
perfect  ahimsa,  and  so  have  to  make  the  constructive  pro- 
gramme  as  comprehensive  as  possible.  There  should  be  no 
room  for  doubt  that,  if  we  can  win  Swaraj  purely  through 
non-violence,  we  can  also  retain  it  through  the  same  means. 
In  the  fulfilment  of  the  constructive  programme  lies  the  non- 
violent attainment  of  Swaraj. 

The  items  I  have  mentioned  are  not  in  order  of 
importance.  I  have  put  them  down  just  as  they  came  to 
my  pen.  Generally  I  talk  of  khadi  only  nowadays, 
because  millions  of  people  can  take  their  share  in  this 
work,  and  progress  can  be  arithmetically  measured. 
Communal  unity  and  the  removal  of  untouchability 
cannot  be  thus  assessed.  Once  they  become  part  of 
•daily  life,  nothing  need  be  done  by  us  as  individuals. 

Let  us  now  glance  at  the  various  items.  Without 
Hindu-Muslim,  i.e.  communal  unity  we  shall  always 
remain  crippled.  And  how  can  a  crippled  India  win 
Swaraj  ?  Communal  unity  means  unity  between  Hindus, 
Sikhs,  Mussalmans,  Christians,  Parsis,  Jews.  All  these  go 
to  make  Hindutsan.  He  who  neglects  any  of  these  com- 
munities does  not  know  constructive  work. 

As  long  as  the  curse  of  untouchability  pollutes  the 
mind  of  the  Hindu,  so  long  is  he  himself  an  untouchable 
in  the  eyes  of  the  world,  and  an  untouchable  cannot 
win  nonrviolent  Swaraj.  'The  removal  of  untouchability 
means  treating  the  so-called  untouchables  as  one's  own 
kith  and  kin.  He  who  does  treat  them  so  must  be  free 
from  the  sense  of  high  and  low,  in  fact  free  from  all 
wrong  class-sense.  He  will  regard  the  whole  world  as 
one  family.  Under  non-violent  Swaraj  it  will  be  impossible 
to  conceive  of  any  country  as  an  enemy  country. 

Pure  Swaraj  is  impossible  of  attainment  by  people 
who  have  been  of  or  who  are  slaves  of  intoxicating 
drinks  and  drugs.  It  must  never  be  forgotten  that  a  man 


126          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

in  the  grip  of  intoxicants  is  generally  bereft  of  the     moral 
sense. 

Everyone  now  may  be  said  to  believe  that  without 
khadi  there  is  no  just  and  immediate  solution  of  the  problem 
of  the  starvation  of  our  millions.  I  need  not  therefore  dilate 
upon  it.  I  would  only  add  that  in  the  resuscitation  of 
khadi  lies  the  resuscitation  cf  the  ruined  village  artisans. 
Khadi  requisites  (wheels,  looms,  etc.)  have  to  be  made  by 
the  village  carpenter  and  blacksmith.  For  unless  these 
requisites  are  made  in  the  village  it  cannot  be  self-contained 
and  prosperous. 

The  revival  of  khadi  presupposes  the  revival  of  all 
other  village  industries.  Because  we  have  not  laid  proper 
stress  on  this,  khadi-wearers  see  nothing  wrong  in  using 
other  articles  which  are  foreign  or  mill-made.  Such  people 
may  be  said  to  have  failed  to  grasp  the  inner  meaning 
of  khadi.  They  forget  that  by  establishing  the  Village 
Industries  Association  the  Congress  has  placed  all  other 
village  industries  on  the  same  level  as  khadi.  As  the 
solar  system  will  be  dark  without  the  sun,  even  so  will 
the  sun  be  lustreless  without  the  heavenly  bodies.  All 
things  in  the  universe  are  interdependent.  The  salvation 
of  India  is  impossible  without  the  salvation  of  villages. 

If  rural  reconstruction  were  not  to  include  rural 
sanitation,  our  villages  would  remain  the  muck-heaps  that 
they  are  today.  Village  sanitation  is  a  vital  part  of  village 
life  and  is  as  difficult  as  it  is  important.  It  needs  a  heroic 
effort  to  eradicate  age-long  insanitation.  The  village  worker 
who  is  ignorant  of  the  science  of  village  sanitation,  who 
is  not  a  successful  scavenger,  cannot  fit  himself  for  village 
service. 

It  seems  to  be  generally  admitted  that  without  the 
new  or  basic  education  the  education  of  millions  of  children 
in  India  is  well-nigh  impossible.  The  village  worker  hast 
therefore,  to  master  it  and  become  a  basic  education  teacher 
himself. 


CONSTRUCTIVE  PROGRAMME  127 

Adult  education  will  follow  in  the  wake  of  basic  education 
as  a  matter  of  course.  Where  this  new  education  has  taken 
root,  the  children  themselves  become  their  parents'  teachers. 
Be  that  as  it  may,  the  village  worker  has  to  undertake 
adult  education  also. 

Woman  is  described  as  man's  better  half.  As  long 
as  she  has  not  the  same  rights  in  law  as  man,  as  long 
as  the  birth  of  a  girl  does  not  receive  the  same  welcome 
as  that  of  a  boy,  so  long  we  should  know  that  India  is 
suffering  from  partial  paralysis.  Suppression  of  woman  is 
a  denial  of  ahimsa.  Every  village  worker  will,  thereiore, 
regard  every  woman  as  his  mother,  sister  or  daughter  as 
the  case  may  be,  and  look  upon  her  with  respect.  Only 
such  a  worker  will  command  the  confidence  of  the  village 
people. 

It  is  impossible  for  an  unhealthy  people  to  win  Swaraj. 
Therefore  we  should  no  longer  be  guilty  of  the  neglect 
of  the  health  of  our  people.  Every  village  worker  must 
have  a  knowledge  of  the  general  principles  of  health. 

Without  a  common  language  no  nation  can  come  into 
being.  Instead  of  worrying  himself  with  the  controversy 
about  Hindi-Hindustani  and  Urdu,  the  village  worker  will 
acquire  a  knowledge  of  the  rashtrabhasha,  which  should  be 
such  as  can  be  understood  by  both  Hindus  and  Muslims. 

Our  infactuation  for  English  has  made  us  unfaithful 
to  provincial  languages.  If  only  as  penance  for  this  un- 
faithfulness the  village  worker  should  cultivate  in  the 
villagers  a  love  of  their  own  speech.  He  will  have  equal 
regard  for  all  the  other  languages  of  India,  and  will  learn 
the  language  of  the  part  where  he  may  be  working^ 
and  thus  be  able  to  inspire  the  villagers  there  with  a  regard 
for  their  own  speech. 

The  whole  of  this  programme  will,  however,  be  a 
structure  on  sand  if  it  is  not  built  on  the  solid  foundation 
of  economic  equality.  Economic  equality  must  never  be 


128         TEACHINGS  OF  M  AH  ATM  A  GANDHI 

supposed  to  mean  possession  of  an  equal  amount  of  wordly 
goods  by  everyone.  It  does  mean,  however,  that  everyone  will 
have  a  proper  house  to  live  in,  sufficient  and  balanced 
food  to  eat,  and  sufficient  khadi  with  which  to  cover  him- 
self. It  also  means  that  the  cruel  inequality  that  obtains  to- 
day will  be  removed  ^by  purely  non-violent  means.  This 
question,  however,  requires  to  be  separately  dealt  with. 

—Harijan  :  Aug.  18,  1940- 

<S>    <S>    <$> 

BELIEVE  me  that  Swaraj  will  be  delayed  in  proportion 
to  our  failure  and  half-heartedness  in  carrying  out  the 
different  items  of  the  constructive  programme.  It  is  im- 
possible to  attain  Swaraj  non-violently  unless  there  is  self- 
purification.  — Harijan  :  July  28,  1940 

<$><$><*> 

IF  we  wish  to  achieve  Swaraj  through  truth  and  non- 
violence, gradual  but  steady  building  up  from  the  bottom 
upwards  by  constructive  effort  is  the  only  way.  This 
rules  out  the  deliberate  creation  of  an  anarchical  state  for 
the  overthrow  of  the  established  order  in  the  hope  of  throw- 
ing up  from  within  a  dictator  who  would  rule  with  a  rod 
of  iron  and  produce  order  out  of  disorder. 

— Harijan:  Jan.  18,    1942. 

Contentment 

MAN  falls  from  the  pursuit  of  the  ideal  of  plain  living 
and  high  thinking  the  moment  he  wants  to  multiply  his 
daily  wants.  History  gives  ample  proof  of  this.  Man's 
happiness  really  lies  in  contentment. 

He  who  is  discontented,  however,  much  he  possesses 
becomes  a  slave  to  his  desires.  All  the  sages  have  declared 
from  the  housetops  that  the  man  can  be  his  own  worst 
enemy  as  well  as  his  best  friend.  To  be  free  or  to  be  a 
slave  lies  in  his  own  hands. 

—Harijan :  Feb.  1,  1942. 


CONVERSION  129 


onverson 

I  WOULD  not  only  not  try  tq^  convert  but  would  not 
even  secretly  pray  that  anyone  should  embrace  my  faith.  My 
prayer  would  always  be  that  Imam  Saheb  should  be  a  better 
Mussalman,  or  become  the  best  he  can.  Hinduism  with 
its  message  of  Ahimsa  is  to  me  the  most  glorious  religion  in 
the  world,  as  my  wife  to  me  is  the  most  beautiful  woman 
in  the  world,  but  others  may  feel  the  same  about  their 
own  religion.  Cases  of  real  honest  conversion  are  quite 
possible.  If  some  people  for  their  inward  satisfaction  and 
growth  change  their  religion  let  them  do  so. 

—Young  India  :  June  27,  1927 

<$><$><$> 

I  HOLD  that  proselytising  under  the  cloak  of  humanita- 
rian work  is,  to  say,  the  least,  unhealthy.  It  is  most  certainly 
resented  by  the  people  here.  Religion  after  all  is  a  deeply 
personal  matter.  It  touches  the  heart.  Why  should  I 
change  my  religion  because  a  doctor  who  professes 
Christianity  as  his  religion  has  cured  me  of  some  disease  or 
why  should  the  doctor  expect  or  suggest  such  a  change 
whilst  I  am  under  his  influence  ?  Is  not  medical  relief  its 
own  reward  and  satisfaction  ?  Or  why  should  I  whilst  I 
am  in  a  missionary  educational  institution  have  Christian 
teaching  thrust  upon  me  ?  In  my  opinion  these  practices 
are  not  uplifting  and  give  rise  to  suspicion  if  not  even  secret 
hostility*.  The  methods  of  conversion  must  be  like  Caesar's 
wife  above  suspicion.  Faith  is  not  imparted  like  secular 
subjects.  It  is  given  through  the  language  of  the  heart. 
If  a  man  has  a  living  faith  in  him,  it  spreads  its  aroma  like 
the  rose  its  scent.  Because  of  its  invisibility,  the  extent  of 
its  influence  is  far  wider  than  that  of  the  visible  beauty  of 
the  colour  of  the  petals. 

I  am,  then,  not  against  conversion.  But  I  am  against 
the  modern  methods  vof  it.  Conversion  nowadays  has 
become  a  matter  of  business,  like  any  other.  I  remember 


130        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

having  read  a  missionary  report  saying  how  much  it  cost  per 
head  to  convert  and  then  presenting  a  budget  for  "the  next 
harvest." 

Yes,  I  do  maintain  that  India's  great  faiths  are  all 
sufficing  for  her.  Apart  from  Christianity  and  Judaism, 
Hinduism  and  its  offshoots,  Islam  and  Zoroastrianism  are 
living  faiths.  No  one  faith  is  perfect.  All  faiths  are  equally 
dear  to  their  respective  votaries.  What  is  wanted  therefore 
is  living  friendly  contact  among  the  followers  of  the  great 
religions  of  the  world  and  not  a  clash  among  them  in  the 
fruitless  attempt  on  the  part  of  each  community  to  show  the 
superiority  of  its  faith  over  the  rest.  Through  such  friendly 
contact,  it  will  be  possible  for  us  all  to  rid  our  respective 
faiths  of  short-comings  and  excresceness. 

It  follows  from  what  I  have  said  above  that  India  is  in 
no  need  of  conversion  of  the  kind  I  have  in  mind.  Con- 
version in  the  self-purification,  self-realisation  is  the  crying 
need  of  the  times.  That  however  is  not  what  is  ever  meant 
by  proselytising.  To  those  who  would  convert  India,  might 
it  not  be  said,  "Physician  heal  thyself?" 

—  Young  India  :  April  23,  1931. 

SURELY  conversion  is  a  matter  between  man  and  his 
Maker  who  alone  knows  His  creatures'  hearts.  And  con- 
version without  a  clean  heart  is,  in  my  opinion,  a  denial  of 
God  and  religion.  Conversion  without  clearfiness  of  heart 
can  only  be  a  matter  for  sorrow,  not  joy,  to  a  godly  person. 

—Harijan  :  Dec.  9,  1936^ 

CONVERSION  without  conviction  is  a  mere  change 
and  not  conversion  which  is  a  revolution  in  one's  life. 

—Harijan  :  Mar.  29,  1942. 

Convictions 

ONE  needs  to  be  slow  to  form  convictions,   but  once 


COUNCILS  131 

brmed  they  must  be  defended  against  the  heaviest  odds. 

—Young  India  :  Oct.  7,  1926. 

Councils 

LET  us  not  mistake  reformed  councils,  more  law  courts 
and  even  governorships  for  real  freedom  or  power.  They 
are  but  subtler  methods  of  emasculation. 

—Young  India  :  Sept.  22,  1920. 

<$><$><$> 

I  KNOW  for  certain  that  it  is  not  legal  subtleties, 
discussions  on  academic  justice  or  resolutions  of  Councils 
and  Assemblies  that  will  give  us  what  we  want. 

Councils  are  no  factories  for  making  stout  hearts.  And 
freedom  is  miasma  without  stout  hearts  to  defend  it. 

—Young  India  :  Dec.  15,  1921. 

<$><$><$> 

TO  enter  the  Councils  is  to  submit  to  the  vote  of  the 
majority,  i.e.,  to  co-operate.  If  then  we  want  to  stop  the 
machinery  of  Government,  as  we  want  to,  until  we  get 
justice  in  the  Khilafat  and  the  Punjab  matters,  we  must  put 
our  whole  weight  against  the  Government  and  refuse  to 
accept  the  vote  of  the  majority  in  the  Councils,  because  it  will 
neither  represent  the  wish  of  the  country  nor  our  own  which 
is  more  to  the  point  on  a  matter  of  principle.  A  minister 
who  refuses  to  serve  is  better  than  one  who  serves  under 
protest.  Service  under  protest  shows  that  the  situation  is 
not  intolerable. 

—Young  India  :  July  14,  1920. 

THE  legislatures,  central  and  provincial,  are  like  other 
institutions  powerful  and  tempting  devices  for  draining  India 
of  whatever  she  has  still  left. 

—Young  India  :  April  10,  1930. 


132          TEACHINGS  OF    MAHATMA  GANDHI 

THE  legislatures  are  but  a  pawn  in  the  game  of 
exploitation.  Ostrich-like  we  hide  our  heads  in  the  sand 
and  refuse  to  see  what  is  plain  as  a  pikestaff  to  the  onlooker. 

—Young  India  :  May  1,  1930. 
^N     ^S     ^^ 

I  DO  not  deny  that  legislatures  are  a  great  temptation, 
almost  like  liquor  booths.  They  hold  out  opportunities 
to  self-seekers  and  job-hunters.  But  no  congressman,  can 
go  with  that  sordid  object. 

—Harijan  :  May  1,  1937- 

THE  boycott  of  the  legislatures,  let  me  tell  you,  is  not 
an  eternal  principle  like  that  of  truth  or  non-violence.  My 
opposition  to  them  has  considerably  lessened,  but  that  does 
not  mean  that  I  am  going  back  on  my  former  position. 
The  question  is  purely  one  of  strategy,  and  I  can  only 
say  what  is  most  needed  at  a  particular  moment. 
Am  I  the  non-co-operator  I  was  in  1920?  Yes, 
I  am  the  same  non-co-operator.  But  it  is  forgotten  that 
I  was  a  co-operator  too  in  the  sense  that  I  non-co-operated 
for  co-operation,  and  even  then  I  said  that  if  I  could  carry 
the  country  forward  by  co-operation  I  should  co-operate. 
I  have  now  advised  going  to  the  legislatures  not  to  offer 
co-operation  but  to  demand  co-operation. 

—Harijan  :  May  1,  1937. 

I  HAVE  always  held  that  parliamentary  programme 
at  all  times  is  the  least  part  of  a  nation's  activity.  The 
most  important  and  permanent  work  is  done  outside. 

—Harijan  :  Jan.  25,  1942. 

Courage 

COURAGE  has  never  been  known  to  be  matter  of 
muscle,  it  is  a  matter  of  the  heart.  The  toughest  muscle 


COURTESY  133 

has  been  known    to  tremble  before  an  imaginary  fear.    It 
was  the  heart  that  set  the  muscle  a  trembling. 

—  Young  India  :  July  16,  1031. 

Courtesy 

WHEN  restraint  and  courtesy  are  added  to  strength,  the 
latter  becomes  irresistible. 

—  Young  India  :  Jan  19,  1922. 


COURTESY  should   not   be  mistaken  for  flattery  nor 
impudence  for  fearlessness. 

—  Young  India  :  June  12,  1924. 

^s    ^^    ^^ 

INTOLERANCE,  discourtesy,  harshness  are  not  only 
against  Congress  discipline  and  code  of  honour,  they  are 
taboo  in  all  good  sojiety  and  are  surely  contrary  to  the 
spirit  of  democracy. 

—Harijan  :    Aug.  14,  1937. 

Cow 

IT  must  be  an  article  of  faith  for  every  Hindu,  that 
the  cow  can  only  be  saved  by  Mussalman  friendship.  Let 
us  recognise  frankly,  that  complete  protection  of  the  cow 
depends  purely  upon  Mussalman  good-will.  It  is  as  im- 
possible to  bend  the  Mussalmans  to  our  will,  as  it  would 
be  for  them  to  bend  us  to  theirs.  We  are  evolving  the 
doctrine  df  equal  and  free  partnership.  We  are  fighting 
Dyerism  —  the  doctrine  of  frightfultfess. 

Cow  protection  is  the  dearest  possession  of  Hindu 
heart.  It  is  the  one  concrete  belief  common  to  all 
Hindus.  No  one  who  does  not  believe  in  cow  protection, 
can  possibly  be  a  Hindu.  It  is  a  noble  belief.  Cow 
protection  means  brotherhood  between  man  and  beast 
It  is  a  noble  sentiment  that  must  grow  by  patient  toil 
and  tapasya.  It  cannot  be  imposed  upon  any  one.  To 


134         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

carry  cow  protection  at  the  point  of  the  sword,  is  a  con- 
tradiction in  terms.  Rishis  of  old  are  said  to  have  per- 
formed penance  for  the  sake  of  the  cow.  Let  us  follow 
in  the  foot-steps  of  the  Rishis,  and  ourselves  do  a  penance, 
so  that  we  may  be  pure  enough  to  protect  the  cow  and 
all  that  the  doctrine  means  and  implies. 

—Young  India  \  Mar.  16,  1920. 

<$>    <J>   <$> 

FOR  me  the  cow  is  the  purest  type  of  sub-human  life. 
She  pleads  before  us  on  behalf  of  the  whole  of  sub-human 
species  for  justice  to  it  at  the  hands  of  man,  the  first  among 
all  that  lives.  She  seems  to  speak  to  us  through  her  eyes 
(let  the  reader  look  at  them  with  my  faith),  "you  are  not 
appointed  over  us  to  kill  us  and  eat  our  flesh  or  other- 
wise ill-treat  us,  but  to  be  our  friend  and  guardian.'* 

—Young  India  :  June  26,  1924. 

<$>  <s>  <s> 

WHEN  I  see  a  cow,  I  do  not  see  an  animal  to  be 
eaten.  It  is  for  me  a  poem  of  pity.  I  worship  it  and  I 
shall  defend  its  worship  against  the  whole  world. 

—Young  India  :  Aug.  28,  1924- 

<$>    <3>   <3> 

COW  protection  includes,  the  protection  and  service  oi 
both  man  and  bird  and  beast.  It  presupposes  a  thorough 
eschewal  of  violence.  A  Hindu,  if  he  is  true  Hindu,  may 
not  raise  his  hand  against  a  Mussalman  or  an  Englishman 
to  protect  the  cow. 

—Young  India  :  May  7,  1925. 

3>   <S>   <S> 

AN  untouchable  may  cry  and  raise  a  protest,  a  Hindu 
or  Mussalman  may  raise  a  protest  and  even  break  heads 
to  settle  a  grievance.  But  the  cow  is  entirely  at  our 
mercy.  She  consents  to  be  led  to  slaughter,  and  to  be 


COW  135 

embarked  for   Australia  and  gives  her  progeny   to   carry 
whatever  burden  we  want  it  to  carry,  in  sun  or   rain. 

— Young  India  :  May  7,  1925. 

$>  <s>  <s> 

THE  cow  means  not  merely  the  animal,  the  giver 
of  milk  and  innumerable  other  things  to  India,  but  it 
means  also  the  helpless,  the  downtrodden  and  the 
poor. 

— Young  Indi    :July  7,    1927 

<S>    <S>    <3> 

HINDUISM  believes  in  the  oneness  not  of  merely  all 
human  life  but  in  the  oneness  of  all  that  lives.  Its 
worship  of  the  cow  is,  in  my  opinion,  its  unique  contribution 
to  the  evolution  of  humanitarianism.  It  is  a  practical  applica- 
tion of  the  belief  in  the  oneness  and,  therefore,  sacredness  of 
all  life.  The  great  belief  in  transmigration  is  a  direct 
consequence  of  that  belief. 

—Young  India  :  Oct.  20,  1927. 

<S>     <2>     <$> 

THE  poverty  of  the  cow  is  reflected  in  the  poverty 
of  the  people. 

—  Young  India  :  Oct.  24,  1929 

ISLAM  in  India  cannot  make  a  better  gift  to  the  Hindus 
than  this  voluntary  self-denial.  And  I  know  enough  of 
Islam  to  be  able  to  assert  that  Islam  does  not  compel  cow- 
slaughter  and  it  does  compel  its  followers  to  spare  and 
respect  to  the  full  the  feelings  of  their  neighbours  whenever 
it  is  humanly  possible. 

—Young  India  ;  Jan.  5,  1928. 

<$><$><$> 

THE  cow  is  an  object  of  worship  and  veneration 
to  millions  in  India.  I  count  myself  among  them, 

—Harijan  :  Mar.  13,  1937. 


136  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

Q.  SHOULD  the  Mussalmans  have  the  freedom  to 
kill  cows  ? 

A.  As  a  Hindu,  a  confirmed  vegetarian,  and  a  wor- 
shipper of  the  cow  whom  I  regard  with  the  same  veneration 
as  I  regard  my  mother  (alas  no  more  on  this  earth)  I  main- 
tain that  Muslims  should  have  full  freedom  to  slaughter  cows, 
if  they  wish,  subject  of  course  to  hygienic  restrictions  and  in 
a  manner  not  to  wound  the  susceptibilities  of  their  Hindu 
neighbours.  Fullest  recognition  of  freedom  to  the  Muslims 
to  slaughter  cows  is  indispensable  for  communal  harmony, 
and  is  the  only  way  of  saving  the  cow.  In  1921  thousands 
of  cows  were  saved  by  the  sole  and  willing  efiorts  of  Muslims 
themselves.  In  spite  of  the  black  clouds  hanging  over  our 
heads,  I  refuse  to  give  up  the  hope  that  they  will  disperse 
and  that  we  shall  have  communal  peace  in  this  unhappy 
land.  If  I  am  asked  for  proof,  I  must  answer  that  my  hope 
is  based  on  faith  and  faith  demands  no  proof. 

—Harijan  :  April  27,  1940. 

3>    <S>    3> 

MOTHER  cow  is  in  many  ways  better  than  the 
mother  who  gave  us  birth.  Our  mother  gives  us  milk 
for  a  couple  of  years  and  then  expects  us  to  serve  her 
when  we  grow  up.  Mother  cow  expects  from  us  nothing 
but  grass  and  grain.  Our  mother  often  falls  ill  and 
expects  service  from  us.  Mother  cow  rarely  falls  ill. 
Hers  is  an  unbroken  record  of  service  which  does  not  end 
with  her  death.  Our  mother  when  she  dies  means  expenses 
of  burial  or  cremation.  Mother  cow  is  as  useful  dead  as 
when  she  is  alive.  We  can  make  use  of  every  part  of  her  bones 
of  her  body — her  flesh,  her  intestines,  her  horns  and  her 
skin.  Well  I  say  this  not  to  disparage  the  mother 
(vho  gives  us  birth,  but  in  order  to  show  you  the  substantial 
reasons  for  my  worshipping  the  cow. 

—Hatijan  :  Sept.  15,  1940. 

Cowardice 

COWARDS  can  never  be  moral. 

—Young  India  :  June  22,  1921. 


CREEDS  137 

BULLIES  are  always  to  be  found  where  there  are 
cowards. 

Cowardice  is  perhaps  the  greatest  vice  from  which 
we  suffer  and  is  also  possibly  the  greatest  violence, 
certainly  far  greater  than  bloodshed  and  the 
like  that  generally  go  under  the  name  of  violence. 
For  it  comes  from  want  of  faith  in  God  and  ignorance 
of  His  attributes.  But  I  am  sorry  that  I  have  not  the 
ability  to  give  the  knowledge  and  the  advice  that  the 
correspondent  would  have  me  to  give  on  how  to  dispel  cow- 
ardice and  other  vices.  But  I  can  give  my  own  testimony  and 
say  that  a  heartfelt  prayer  is  undoubtedly  the  most  potent  in- 
strument that  man  possesses  for  overcoming  cowardice  and 
all  other  bad  old  habits.  Prayer  is  an  impossibility  without 
a  living  faith  in  the  presence  of  God  within. 

—Young  India  :  Dec.  20,  1928. 


NON-VIOLENCE  and  cowardice  go  ill  together.  I 
can  imagine  a  fully  armed  man  to  be  at  heart  a  coward. 
Possession  of  arms  implies  an  element  of  fear,  if  not 
cowardice.  But  true  non-violence  is  an  impossibility 
without  the  possession  of  unadulterated  fearlessness. 

—Harijan  :  July  15,  1939. 

Creeds 

ARE  creeds  such  simple  things  like  the  clothes  which  a 
man  can  change  at  will  and  put  on  at  will  ?  Creeds  are  such 
for  which  people  live  for  ages  and  ages. 

—  Toung  India  :  July  21,  1921. 


WHEN  anything  assumes  the  strength  of  a  creed  it 
becomes  self-sustained  and  derives  the  needed  support  from* 
within. 

—  Young  India  :  ]*r\.  19,  1928. 


138  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

CRITICISM  of  public  man    is   a    welcome  sign  of 
public  awakening.    It  keeps  workers  on  the  alert. 

— Young  India  :  May  9,  1921. 


ALL  criticism  is  not  intolerance. 

—Young  India  :  Feb.  12,  1925. 

<^    ^    <£ 

HEALTHY  well-informed,  balanced  criticism  is  the 
azone  of  public  life.  A  most  democratic  Minister  is  likely 
to  go  wrong  without  ceaseless  watch  from  the  public. 

—Harijan  :  Nov.  13,  1925. 

3>    3>    <§> 

THROUGHOUT  my  life  I  have  gained  more  from  my 
critic  friends  than  from  my  admirers,  especially  when  the 
criticism  was  made  in  courteous  and  friendly  language. 

—  Young  India  :  Oct.  27,  1927. 
^^    ^S    ^> 
I  CAN  profit  by  criticism  never  by  praise. 

—Young  India  :  April  25,  1929. 

IT  is  good  to  see  ourselves  as  others  see  us.  Try  as  we 
may,  we  are  never  able  to  know  ourselves  fully  as  we  are, 
•especially  the  evil  side  of  us.  This  we  can  do  only  if  we  are 
not  angry  with  our  critics  but  will  take  in  good  heart  what- 
ever they  might  have  to  say. 

—Harijan  :  Mar.  6,  1937. 

Criticism 

DO  not  judge  others.  Be  your  own  judge  and  you 
will  be  truly  happy.  If  you  will  try  to  judge  others,  you 
are  likely  to  burn  your  fingers. 

—Harijan  :  July  28,  1940. 


CULTURE  139 

Crowd  Indian 

AN  Indian  crowd  is  the  most  managable  and  docile  in 
the  world.  But  it  needs  previous  preparation.  But  when 
we  have  not  had  it,  it  is  the  wisest  thing  not  to  bring 
together  crowds. 

—Toung  India:  Oct.  27,  1920. 

Culture 

CULTURE  of  the  mind  must  be  subservient  to  the 
heart. 

— Gandhiji  in  Ceylon  :  Page  146. 

<$>    <$><$> 

NO  culture  can  live,  if  it  attempts  to  be  exclusive. 
There  is  no  such  thing  as  pure  Aryan  culture  in  existence 
today  in  India.  Whether  the  Aryans  were  indigenous  to 
India  or  were  unwelcome  intruders,  does  not  interest  me 
much.  What  does  interest  me  is  the  fact  that  my  remote 
ancestors  blended  with  one  another  with  the  utmost  freedom 
and  we  of  the  present  generation  are  a  result  of  that  blend. 
Whether  we  are  doing  any  good  to  the  country  of  our  birth 
and  the  tiny  globe  which  sustains  us  or  whether  we  are  a 
burden,  the  future  alone  can  show. 

—Harijan  :  May  9,  1936. 

<$><$>    <3> 

CULTURE  without  labour,  or  culture  which  is  not  the 
fruit  of  labour,  would  be  *  Vomitoria  '  as  a  Roman  Catholic 
writer  says.  The  Romans  made  indulgence  a  habit,  and 
were  ruined.  Man  cannot  develop  his  mind  by  simply 
writing  and  reading  or  making  speeches  all  day  long. 

—Harijan  :  Aug.  1,  1936, 

A  NATION'S  culture  resides  in  the  hearts   and   in  the 

soul  of  its  people. 

—Harijan  :  Jan.  28,  1939 


140        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

Cunning 

I  BELIEVE  that  cunning  is  not  only  morally  wrong  but 
also  politically  inexpedient,  and  have  therefore  always 
discountenanced  its  use  even  from  the  practical  standpoint. 

— Satyagraha  in  South  Afriea  :  Page  318. 

Custom 

WE  must  gladly  give  up  custom  that  is  against  reason, 
justice,  and  religion  of  the  heart.  We  must  not  ignorantly 
cling  to  bad  custom  and  part  with  it  when  we  must,  like  a 
miser  parting  with  his  ill-gotten  hoard  out  of  pressure  and 
expedience.  —Young  India  :  Feb.  9,  1921. 

D 

Darshan 

LOVE  that  is  satisfied  with  touching  the  feet  of  its 
hero  and  making  noise  at  him  is  likely  to  be  comepara- 
siticaL  Such  love  ceases  to  be  a  virtue  and  after  a  time 
becomes  a  positive  indulgence  and  therefore  a  vice. 

— Toung  India  :  Oct.    20,    1920. 

<s>  <$><*> 

I  HAVE  a  horror  of  touching- the-feet  devotion.  It 
is  wholly  unnecessary  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. 

—  Toting  India  :  Sept.  5,  1929. 

Death 

FEAR  of  death  makes  us  devoid  both  of  valour 
and  religion.  For  want  of  valour  is  want  of  religious 
faith. 

— Young  India  :  April  11,  1919. 


DEATH  141 

WHY  should  we  be  upset  when  children  or  young 
men  or  old  men  die  ?  Not  a  moment  passes  when  some 
one  is  not  born  or  is  not  dead  in  this  world.  We  should  feel 
the  stupidity  of  rejoicing  in  a  birth  and  lamenting  a  death. 
Those  who  believe  in  the  soul— and  what  Hindu, 
Musalman  or  Parsi  is  there  who  does  not  ? — know  that 
the  soul  never  dies.  The  souls  of  the  living  as  well 
as  of  the  dead  are  all  one.  The  eternal  processes  of 
creation  and  destruction  are  going  on  ceaselessly.  There 
is  nothing  in  it  for  which  we  might  give  ourselves  up 
to  joy  or  sorrow.  Even  if  we  extend  the  idea  of  re- 
lationship only  to  our  countrymen  and  take  all  the  births 
in  the  country  as  taking  place  in  our  own  family,  how 
many  births  shall  we  celebrate  ?  If  we  weep  for  all  the 
deaths  in  our  country,  the  tears  in  our  eyes  would  never 
dry.  This  train  of  thought  should  help  us  to  get  rid 
of  all  fear  of  death. 

India,  they  say,  is  a  nation  of  philosophers;  and  we 
have  not  been  unwilling  to  appropriate  the  compliment. 
Still,  hardly  any  other  nation  becomes  so  helpless  in  the 
face  of  death  as  we  da.  And  in  India  again,  no  other 
community  perhaps  betrays  so  much  of  this  helplessness  as 
the  Hindus.  A  single  birth  is  enough  for  us  to  beside 
ourselves  with  ludicrous  joyfulness.  A  death  makes  us 
indulge  in  orgies  of  loud  lamentation  which  condemn  the 
neighbourhood  to  sleeplessness  for  the  night.  If  we  wish 
to  attain  Swaraj^  and  if  having  attained  it,  wish  to  make 
it  something  to  be  proud  of,  we  must  perfectly  renounce 
this  unseemly  fright.  — Young  India  :  Oct.  13,  1921. 

DEATH,  which  is  an  eternal  verity,  is  revolution, 
as  birth  and  after  is  slow  and  steady  evolution.  Death 
is  as  necessary  for  man's  growth  as  life  itself. 

— Young  India  :  Feb.  2,  1922. 

LIFE  persists  in  the  face  of  death. 

— Young  India  :  Oct.  23,  1924. 


142  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

DEATH  is  at  any  time  blessed  but  it  is  twice  blessed 
for  a  warrior  who  dies  for  his  cause,  i.  e.  truth.  Death 
is  no  fiend,  he  is  the  truest  of  friends.  He  delivers  us 
from  agony.  He  helps  us  against  ourselves.  He  ever 
gives  us  new  chances,  new  hopes.  He  is  like  sleep  a  s\\eet 
restorer.  Yet  it  is  customary  to  mourn  when  a  friend 
dies.  The  custom  has  no  operation  when  the  death  is  that 
of  a  martyr.  —Young  India  :  Dec.  20,  1926. 

<$><$>  <3> 

WHAT  a  comforting  thought  it  is  to  think  of  death, 
whenever  it  comes,  as  a  wise  plan  in  the  economy  of 
nature  ?  If  we  could  realise  this  law  of  our  being  and 
be  prepared  for  death  as  a  welcome  friend  and  deliverer 
we  should  cease  to  engage  in  the  frantic  struggle  for  life. 
We  shall  cease  to  want  to  live  at  the  cost  of  other 
lives  and  in  contempt  of  all  considerations  of  humanity. 
Such  realization  is  impossible  without  a  due  conception 
of  the  definite  and  grave  limitations  of  the  body  and 
an  abiding  faith  in  God  and  His  unchangeable  Law 
of  Karma.  —Young  India  :  May  12,  1927. 

3>  <S>  <S> 

AS  Hindus  we  ought  to  be  the  least  affected  by  the 
thought  of  death,  since  from  the  very  cradle  we  are 
brought  up  on  the  doctrines  of  the  spirit  and  the 
transitoriness  of  the  body.  — Young  India  :  Oct.  18,  1928. 

OUR  scriptures  tell  us,  that  childhood,  old  age 
and  death  are  incidents  only  to  this  perishable  body  of 
ours  and  that  man's  spirit  is  eternal  and  immortal.  That 
being  so,  why  should  we  fear  death  ?  And  where  there 
is  no  fear  of  death  there  can  be  no  sorrow  over  it 
either.  —Young  India  :  Dec.  13,  1928. 

^>     <$»     <$> 

I  WANT  you  all  to  shed  the  fear  of  death,  so  that 
when  the  history  of  freedom  comes  to  be  written,  the 


DEATH  143 

names  of  the  boys  and  girls  of  national  schools  and 
colleges  may  be  mentioned  therein  as  those  who  died 
not  doing  violence  but  in  resisting  it,  no  matter  by  whom 
committed.  The  strength  to  kill  is  not  essential  for  self- 
defence;  one  ought  to  have  the  strength  to  die.  When 
a  man  is  fully  ready  to  die  he  will  not  even  desire 
to  offer  violence.  Indeed  I  may  put  it  down  as  a 
self-evident  proposition  that  the  desire  to  kill  is  in  inverse 
proportion  to  the  desire  to  die.  And  history  is  replete 
with  instances  of  men  who  by  dying  with  courage  and 
compassion  on  their  lips  converted  the  hearts  of  their  violent 
opponents.  — Tcung  India  :  Jan.  23,  1930. 

+     +     + 

I T  is  as  clear  to  me  as  daylight  that  life  and  death 
are  but  phases  of  the  same  thing,  the  reverse  and  obverse 
of  the  same  coin.  In  fact  tribulation  and  death  seem  to 
me  to  present  a  phase  far  richer  than  happiness  or  life. 
What  is  life  worth  without  trials  and  tribulation,  which 
are  the  salt  of  life.  The  history  of  mankind  would  have 
been  a  blank  sheet  without  these  individuals.  What  is 
Ramayana  but  a  record  of  the  trials,  privations  and 
penances  of  Rama  and  Sita.  The  life  of  Rama,  after 
the  recovery  of  Sita,  full  of  happiness  as  it  was,  does, 
not  occupy  even  a  hundredth  part  of  the  epic.  I  want 
you  all  to  treasure  death  and  suffering  more  than  life 
and  to  appreciate  their  cleansing  and  purifying 
character.  — Tcung  India  :  Mar.  12,  1930. 

+  +  + 

I  AM  fatalist  enough  to  believe  that  no  one  can  put 
off  the  hour  of  death  when  it  has  struck.  Not  the  greatest 
medical  assistance  available  has  saved  kings  and  emperors, 
from  the  Jaws  of  Death.  — Harijan  :  Sept.  19,  1936.. 

<$>  <S>  $> 

IT  is  foolish  to  think  that  by  fleeing  one  can 
trick  the  dread  god  of  death.  Let  us  treat  him  as  a 
beneficient  angel  rather  than  as  a  dread  god.  We  must. 


144        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

face  and  welcome  him  whenever  he    comes. 

—  HarijaniJulyG,  1940. 
•+•    +    + 

LET  us  not  die  before  the    inevitable  hour   comes    as  it 
must  come  to  every  one  of  us,  war  or  no  war. 

—Harijan  :  July  6,  1940. 
-f-    •+-    -+- 

FOR  many  years  I  have  accorded  intellectual  assent 
to  the  proposition  that  death  is  only  a  %ig  change  in 
life  and  nothing  more,  and  should  be  welcome  when- 
ever it  arrives.  I  have  deliberately  made  a  supreme 
attempt  to  cast  out  from  my  heart  all  fear  whatsoever 
including  the  fear  of  death.  Still  I  remember  occasions 
in  my  life  when  I  have  not  rejoiced  at  the  thought  of 
approaching  death  as  one  might  rejoice  at  the  prospect 
of  the  meeting  a  long  lost  friend.  Thus  man  often 
remains  weak  notwithstanding  all  his  efforts  to  be  strong, 
and  knowledge  which  stops  at  the  head  and  does  not 
penetrate  into  the  heart  is  of  but  little  use  in  the  critical 
times  of  living  experience.  Then  again  the  stength  of 
the  spirit  within  mostly  evaporates  when  a  person  gets 
and  accepts  support  from  outside.  A  Satyagrahi  must  be 
always  on  his  guard  against  such  temptations. 

— Satyagraha  in  South  Africa  :   Page   286. 

Death  Duties 

IN  this  of  all  countries  in  the  world  possession  of 
inordinate  wealth  by  individuals  should  be  held  as  a 
crime  against  Indian  humanity.  Therefore  the  maximum 
limit  of  taxtion  of  riches  beyond  a  certain  margin  can  never 
be  reached.  In  England,  I  understand,  they  have  already 
gone  as  far  as  70  per  cent,  of  the  earnings  beyond  a  prescribed 
figure.  There  is  no  reason  why  India  should  not  go  to  a  much 
higher  figure.  Why  should  there  not  be  death  duties  ? 
Those  sons  of  millionaires  who  are  of  age  and  yet  in- 
herit their  parents'  wealth,  are  losers  for  the  very  in- 
heritance. The  nation  thus  becomes  a  double  loser.  For 


DEFEAT  145 

the  inheritance  should  rightly  belong  to  the  nation.  And 
the  nation  loses  again  in  that  the  full  faculties  of  the  heirs  are 
not  drawn  out,  being  crushed  under  the  load  of  riches. 

—Harijan  :  July  31,    1937. 

Death  Sentence 

I  DO  regard  death  sentence  as  contrary  to  ahitnsa. 
Only  He  takes  life  who  gives  it.  All  punishment  is 
repugnant  to  ahimsa.  Under  a  State  governed  according 
to  the  principles  of  ahimw,  therefore,  a  murderer  would 
be  sent  to  a  penitentiary  and  there  given  every  chance 
of  reforming  himself.  All  crime  is  a  kind  of  disease 
and  should  be  treated  as  such. 

—Harijan  :  Mar.  19,    1937. 

Debt 

HE  who  repays  a  debt  deserves  no  praise.  In  fact 
if  he  fails  to  do  so,  he  may  be  liable  to  prosecu- 
tion. 

—Harijon:  May  21,  1938. 

Deception 

ULTIMATELY  a  deceivpr  only  deceives  himself. 

—  My  Experiments  With  Truth  :  Page  430. 

Defeat 

HEROES     are    made   in     the     hour     of      defeat. 
Success     is,    therefore,     well     described     as     a    series      of 
glorious  defeats. 

—Young   India  ;Jan.  15,  1925. 


me. 


DEFE  AT   cannot  dishearten   me.     It  can  only  chasten 

—Tcunghdia  :  July  3,  1924. 
3>    <S>    <S> 
IT  is  the  spirit  that   defies   defeat. 

—  Youne  India  :  Sent.  27.    1928 


146         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

THE  word  'defeat'  is  not  to  be  found  in  my  dictionary, 
and  everyone  who  is  selected  as  a  recruit  in  my  army 
may  be  sure  that  there  is  no  defeat  for  a  Satyagrahi. 

—Harijan  :  Mar.  30,  1940. 
<$><§><$> 

A  SOLDIER  cannot  plead  difficulties  in  defence  of  his 
defeat.  —Harijan  :  Nov.  10,  1939, 

Democracy 

IN  some  respects,  popular  terrorism  is  more  antagonistic 
to  the  growth  of  the  democratic  spirit  than  the  Govern- 
mental. For  the  lattejr  strengthens  the  spirit  of  democracy 
whereas  the  former  kills  it.  Dyerism  has  evoked  a 
yearning  after  freedom  as  nothing  else  has.  But  internal 
dyersim  representing  as  is  will,  terrorism  by  a  majority 
will  establish  an  aligarchy  such  as  stifle  the  spirit  of 
all  free  discussion  and  conduct. 

—  Young  India  :  Feb.  23,  1921. 
^s    ^>    ^s 

INTOLERANCE  is  itself  a  form  of  violence  and  an 
obstacle  to  the  growth  of  a  true  democratic  spirit. 

—Toung  India  :  Sept.  29,  192L 

3>    <§>    <$> 

WHAT  Non-co-operation  is  fighting  among  other 
things  is  the  spirit  of  patronage.  We  must  have  the 
liberty  to  do  evil  before  we  learn  to  do  good.  Even  liberty 
must  not  be  forced  upon  us.  The  democratic  spirit 
demands  that  a  most  autocratic  minister  must  yield  to 
a  people's  will  or  resign  office.  —Toung  India  :  Oct.  25,  1921 

<$><$><$> 

THE  highest  form  of  freedom  carries  with  it  the 
greatest  measure  of  discipline  and  humility.  Freedom  that 
comes  from  discipline  and  humility  cannot  be  denied,, 
unbridled  licence  is  a  sign  of  vulgarity  injurious  alike 
to  self  and  one's  neighbours.  —Toung  India  :  June  3, 1926. 


DEMOCRACY  147 

ANY  secrecy  hinders  the  real  spirit  of   democracy. 

—Young  India  :  Sept.  16,  1926. 
<$><$><$> 

THE  spirit  of  democracy  is  not  a  mechanical  thing  to 
be  adjusted  by  abolition  of  forms.  It  requires  change  of  the 
heart. 

—Young  India  :  Mar.  16,  1927. 

<$>    <§>    <e> 

THERE  is  no  human  institution  but  has  its  dangers. 
The  greater  the  institution  the  greater  the  chances  of  abuse. 
Democracy  is  a  great  institution  and  therefore  it  is  liable  to 
be  greatly  abused.  The  remedy  therefore  is  not  avoidance 
of  democracy  but  reduction  of  possibility  of  abuse  to  a  mini- 
mum. 

—Harijan  :  May  7,  1931. 

<^  <s>  <^ 

A  POPULAR  state  can  never  act  in  advance  of 
public  opinion.  If  it  goes  against  it,  it  will  be  destroyed. 
Democracy  disciplined  and  enlightened  is  the  first  thing  in 
the  world.  A  democracy  prejudiced,  ignorant,  superstitious 
will,  land  itself  in  chaos  and  may  be  self-destroyed. 

—Harijan  :  July  20,  1931 . 
^^     ^S     ^S 

A  NATION  that  runs  its  affairs  smoothly  and 
effectively  without  much  state  interference  is  truly  demo- 
cratic. Where  such .  a  condition  is  absent,  the  form  of 
Government  is  democratic  in  name. 

—Harijan  :  Jan.  11,  1936. 

<§>     <$>     <$> 

IN  theory,  a  leader  of  democracy  holds  himself  at  the 
beck  and  call  of  the  public.  It  is  but  right  that  he  should 
do  so.  But  he  dare  not  do  so  at  the  sacrifice  of  the  duty 
imposed  upon  him  by  the  public. 

—Harijan  :   Oct.  9,  1937 


148          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

DEMOCRACY  of  the  west  is,  in  my  opinion,  only 
so-called.  It  has  germs  in  it,  certainly,  of  the  true  type.  But 
it  can  only  come  when  all  violence  is  eschewed  and  mal- 
practices disappear.  The  two  go  hand  in  hand.  Indeed 
malpractice  is  a  species  of  violence.  If  India  is  to  evolve  the 
true  type,  there  should  be  no  compromise  with  violence  or  un- 
truth. Ten  million  men  and  women  on  the  Congress  register 
with  violence  and  untruth  in  their  breasts  would  not 
evolve  real  democracy  or  bring  Swaraj.  But  I  can 
conceive  the  possibility  of  ten  thousand  Congressmen  and 
women  who  are  cent  per  cent,  true,  and  free  from  having 
to  carry  the  burden  of  innumerable  doubtful  companions 
bringing  Swaraj.  — Harijan  :  Sept.  3,  1938. 

<$>  <$>  <$> 

DEMOCRACY  must  in  essence,  therefore,  mean  the  art 
and  science  of  mobilising  the  entire  physical,  economic 
and  spiritual  resources  of  all  the  various  sections  of 
the  people  in  the  service  of  the  common  good  of  all. 

Service  of  the  family  has  been  the  motive  behind 
all  our  activities  hitherto.  We  must  now  learn  to  broaden 
our  outlook  so  as  to  include  in  our  ambit  the  service 
of  the  people  as  a  whole. 

We  are  familiar  with  several  conceptions  of  village 
work.  Hitherto  it  has  mostly  meant  propaganda  in  the 
villages  to  inculcate  upon  the  village  masses  a  sense  of 
their  rights.  Sometimes  it  has  also  meant  conducting 
welfare  activity  among  them  to  ameliorate  their  material 
condition.  But  the  village  work  that  I  have  now  come  to 
place  before  you  consists  in  educating  the  villager  in  his 
duties. 

Rights  accrue  automatically  to  him  who  duly  per- 
forms his  duties.  In  fact  the  right  to  perform  one's 
duties  is  the  only  right  that  is  worth  living  for  and 
dying  for.  It  covers  all  legitimate  rights.  All  the 
rest  is  grab  under  one  guise  or  another  and  contains 
in  it  seeds  of  himsa. 


DEMOCRACY  149 

The  Swaraj  of  my  conception  will  come  only  when 
all  of  us  are  firmly  persuaded  that  our  Swaraj  has  got 
to  be  won,  worked  and  maintained  through  truth  and 
ahimsa  alone.  True  democracy  or  the  Swaraj  of  the 
masses  can  never  come  through  untruthful  and  violent 
means,  for  the  simple  reason  that  the  natural  corollary 
to  their  use  would  be  to  remove  all  opposition  through 
the  suppression  or  extermination  of  the  antagonists. 
That  does  not  make  for  individual  freedom.  Individual 
freedom  can  have  the  fullest  play  only  under  a  regirne 
of  unadulterated  ahimsa. 

We  cannot  afford  to  have  discord  in  our  midst  if  we  are 
to  educate  the  people.  We  must  all  speak  with  one  voice. 
If  we  want  to  weld  the  various  sections  into  one  people  and 
that  is  the  sine  qua  non  of  democracy,  we  may  not,  in  rendering 
service,  make  any  distinction  between  those  who  took  part  in 
our  struggle  and  those  who  did  not. 

—Harijan  :  May  27,  1939. 

<£    <$>    <S> 

A  BORN  democrat  is  a  born  disciplinarian.  Demo- 
cracy comes  naturally  to  him  who  is  habituated  normally 
to  yield  willing  obedience  to  all  laws,  human  or  divine. 
I  claim  to  be  a  democrat  both  by  instinct  and  training. 
Let  those  who  are  ambitious  to  serve  democracy  qualify 
themselves  by  satisfying  first  the  acid  test  of  demo- 
cracy. Moreover,  a  democrat  must  be  utterly  selfless. 
He  must  think  and  dream  not  in  terms  of  self  or  party 
but  only  of  democracy.  Only  then  does  he  acquire  the 
right  of  civil  disobedience.  I  do  not  want  anybody 
to  give  up  his  convictions  or  to  suppress  himself.  I  do 
not  believe  that  a  healthy  and  honest  difference  of  opinion 
will  injure  our  cause.  But  opportunism,  camouflage  or 
patched  up  compromises  certainly  will.  If  you  must 
dissent,  you  should  take  care  that  your  opinions  voice  your 
innermost  convictions  and  are  not  intended  merely  as  a 
convenient  party  cry. 


150        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA    GANDHI 

Today  our  democracy  is  choked  by  our  internecine 
strife.  We  are  torn  by  dissensions — dissensions  between 
Hindus  and  Mussalmans,  Brahmins,  and  non-Brahmins, 
Congressmen  and  non-Congressmen.  It  is  no  easy 
task  to  evolve  democracy  out  of  this  mobocracy.  Let  us 
not  make  confusion  worse  confounded  by  further  introducing 
into  it  the  virus  of  sectionalism  and  party  spirit. 

I  value  individual  freedom  but  you  must  not  forget 
that  man  is  essentially  a  social  being.  He  has  risen 
to  this  present  status  by  learning  to  adjust  his 
individualism  to  the  requirements  of  social  progress. 
Unrestricted  individualism  is  the  law  of  the  beast  of  the 
jungle.  We  have  learnt  to  strike  the  mean  between 
individual  freedom  and  social  restraint.  Willing  submission 
to  social  restraint  for  the  sake  of  the  well-being  of  the 
whole  society,  enriches  both  the  individual  and  the  society  of 
which  one  is  a  member. 

—Harijan:  May  27,  1939. 
<$><$><*> 

Q.  WHY  do  you  say,  "Democracy  can  only  be  saved 
through  non-violence  ?  "  (The  questioner  was  an  American 
friend). 

A.  Because  democracy,  so  long  as  it  is  sustained  by 
violence,  cannot  provide- for,  or  protect  the  weak.  My 
notion  of  democracy  is  that  under  it  the  weakest  should 
have  the  same  opportunity  as  the  strongest.  That  can 
never  happen  except  through  non-violence.  No  country 
in  the  world  today  shows  any  but  patronising  regard  for 
the  -weak.  The  weakest,  you  say,  go  to  the  wall.  Take 
your  own  case.  Your  land  is  owned  by  a  few  capitalist 
owners.  The  same  is  true  of  South  Africa.  These  large 
holdings  cannot  be  sustained  except  by  violence,  veiled 
if  not  open.  Western  democracy,  as  it  functions  today, 
is  diluted  Nazism  or  Fascism.  At  best  it  is  merely  a 
cloak  to  hide  the  Nazi  and  the  Fascist  tendencies  of 
imperialism.  Why  is  there  the  war  today,  if  it  is  not 


DEMOCRACY  151 

for  the  satisfaction  of  the  desire  to  share  the  spoils  ?  It 
was  not  through  democratic  methods  that  Britain  bagged 
India.  What  is  the  meaning  of  South  African  democracy  ? 
Its  very  constitution  has  been  drawn  to  protect  the  white 
man  against  the  coloured  man,  the  natural  occupant. 
Your  own  history  is  perhaps  blacker  still,  in  spite  of  what 
the  Northern  States  did  for  the  abolition  of  slavery.  The 
way  you  have  treated  negro  presents  a  discreditable 
record.  And  it  is  to  save  such  democracies  that  the  war  is 
being  fought  !  There  is  something  very  hypocritical  about  it. 
I  am  thinking  just  now  in  terms  of  non-violence  and  trying 
to  expose  violence  in  its  nakedness. 

India  is  trying  to  evolve  true  democracy,  i.  e.  with- 
out violence.  Our  weapons  are  those  of  Satyagraha 
expressed  though  the  Charkha,  the  village  industries,  primary 
education  through  handicrafts,  removal  of  untouchability, 
communal  harmony,  prohibition,  and  non-violent  organisa- 
tion of  labour  as  in  Ahmedabad.  These  mean  mass  effort 
and  mass  education.  We  have  big  agencies  for  conducting 
these  activities.  They  are  purely  voluntary,  and  their  only 
sanction  is  service  of  the  lowliest. 

This  is  the  permanent  part  of  the  non-violent  effort. 
From  this  effort  is  created  the  capacity  to  offer  non- violent 
non-co-operation  and  civil  disobedience  which  may  culminate 
in  mass  refusal  to  pay  rent  and  taxes.  As  you  know, 
we  have  tried  non-co-operation  and  civil  disobedience  on 
a  fairly  large  scale  and  fairly  successfully.  The  experiment 
has  in  it  promise  of  a  brilliant  future.  As  yet  our 
resistance  has  been  that  of  the  weak.  The  aim  is  to 
develop  the  resistance  of  the  strong.  Your  wars  will 
never  ensure  safety  for  democracy.  India's  experiment 
can  and  will,  if  the  people  come  up  to  the  mark  or, 
to  put  it  another  way,  if  God  gives  me  the  necessary 
wisdom  and  strength  to  bring  the  experiment  to  fruition. 

-Hanjan  :  May  18,  1940. 


152         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

DEMOCRACY  is  not  a  state  in  which  people  act  like 
sheep.  Under  democracy  individual  liberty  of  opinion  and 
action  is  jealously  guarded,  — Harijan  :  May  7,  1942. 

^&     ^x     ^x 

IF  we  want  to  cultivate  a  true  spirit  of  democracy  we 
cannot  afford  to  be  intolerant.  Intolerance  betrays  want  of 
faith  in  one's  cause.  — Harijan  :  May  24,  1942. 

<$><$><$> 

EVOLUTION  of  democracy  is  not  possible  if  we 
are  not  prepared  to  hear  the  other  side.  We  shut  the 
doors  of  reason  when  we  refuse  to  listen  to  our  opponents 
or  having  listened  make  fun  of  them.  If  intolerance 
becomes  a  habit,  we  run  the  risk  of  missing  the  truth. 
Whilst  with  the  limits  that  nature  has  put  upon  our 
understanding,  we  must  act  fearlessly  according  to  the 
light  vouchsafed  to  us,  we  must  always  keep  an  open 
mind  and  be  ever  ready  to  find  that  what  we  believed 
to  be  truth  was,  after  all  untruth.  This  openness  of 
mind  strengthens  the  truth  in  us  and  removes  the  dross 
from  it  if  there  is  any.  — Harijan  :  May  31,  1942. 

Dhurna 

WE  must  refrain  from  sitting  Dhurna,  we  must  refrain 
from  crying  'shame,  shame*  to  anybody,  we  must  not  use 
any  coercion  to  persuade  opr  people  to  adopt  our  way.  We 
must  guarantee  to  them  the  same  freedom  we  claim  for 
ourselves.  — Toung  India  :  Feb.  9,  1921. 

<s>  <$><$> 

I  CALL  it  'barbarity1,  for  it  is  a  crude  way  xor  using 
coercion.  It  is  also  cowardly  because  one  who  sits  Dhurna 
knows  that  he  is  not  going  to  be  trampled  over.  It  is 
difficult  to  call  the  practice  violent,  but  it  is  certainly  worse. 
If  we  fight  our  opponent,  we  at  least  enable  him  to  return 
the  blow.  But  when  we  challenge  him  to  walk  over  us, 
knowing  that  he  will  not,  we  place  him  in  a  most  awkward 
and  humiliating  position.  — Toung  India  :  Feb.  2,  1922. 


DISCIPLINE  153 

Diagnosis 

A  TRUE  diagnosis  is  three-fourth's  the  remedy. 

— Harijan  :  June  24,  1939, 

Difference 

HONEST  differences  are  often  a  healthy  sign  of 
progress. 

Young  India  :  July  17, 1920. 

Disease 

A  PATIENT  can  ill  afford  to  conceal  his  disease.  If 
he  does  so  he  becomes  his  own  enemy. 

—Young  India  :  Feb.  2,  1928. 

Discipline 

DISCIPLINE  knows  no  rank.  A  king  who  knows  its 
value  submits  to  his  page  in  matters  where  he  appoints  him 
as  the  sole  judge.  — Young  India  :  Dec,  4,  1925. 

<s>  <s>  <$> 

THERE  is  no  deliverance  and  no  hope  without  sacrifice3 
discipline  and  self-control.  Mere  sacrifice  without  discipline 
will  be  unavailing.  — Toung  India  :  Jan.  9,  1926, 

<S>    <§>    <3> 

A  TRUE  soldier  does  not  argue,  as  he  inarches,  how 
success  is  going  to  be  ultimately  achieved.  But  he  is  con- 
fident that  if  he  only  plays  his  humble  part  well,  somehow 
or  other  the  battle  will  be  won.  It  is  in  that  spirit  that 
every  one  of  us  should  act.  It  is  not  given  to  us  to  know 
the  future.  .  But  it  is  given  to  everyone  of  us  to  know  ho\\ 
to  do  our  own  part  well.  Let  us  then  do  that  which  we 
know  is  possible  for  us  if  we  only  will. 

—  Young  India  :  May  17,  1927 
<$>     <^     <$> 

THERE  will  have  to  be  rigid  and  iron  discipline  before 
we  achieve  anything  great  and  enduring,  and  that  discipline 
will  not  come  by  mere  academic  argument  and  appeal  tc 
reason  and  logic.  Discipline  is  learnt  in  the  school  o: 
adversity.  —Young  India  :  June  24,  1928 


154        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

LET  it  not  be  said  that  we  are  a  people  incapable  of 
maintaining  discipline.  Indiscipline  will  mean  disaster,  and 
make  one  like  me  who  is  pinning  to  see  Swaraj  in  his  life- 
time perish  in  sorrow  and  grief. 

—Toting  India  :  Mar.  12,  1931. 

<$><£><$> 
WE  cannot  learn  discipline  by  compulsion. 

—Toung  India  :  Dec.  20,  1931. 

<$><$><$> 

DISCIPLINE  is  to  disorder  what  bulwarks  and 
embankments  are  to  storms  and  floods. 

—Toung  India  :  May  14,  1931. 

<$>    <$>    <$> 

NO  reliance  can  be  placed  upon  an  organization  which 
is  not  able  to  exercise  effective  control  over  its  members. 
Imagine  an  army  whose  soldiers,  under  the  false  belief  that 
they  are  advancing  the  common  cause,  adopt  measures  in 
defiance  of  those  taken  by  the  headquarters.  Such  action 
may  well  spell  defeat. 

—Harijan  :  Oct.  21,  1939. 

<$>     <§>     <$> 

IN  the  coming  struggle,  if  it  must  come,  no  half-hearted 
loyalty  will  answer  the  purpose.  Imagine  a  general  march- 
ing to  battle  with  doubting,  ill-prepared  soldiers.  He  will 
surely  march  to  defeat.  I  will  not  consciously  make  any 
such  fatal  experiment.  This  is  not  meant  to  frighten  Con- 
gressmen. If  they  have  the  will,  they  will  not  find  any 
instructions  difficult  to  follow.  Correspondents  tell  me  that 
though  they  have  no  faith  in  me  or  the  Charkha,  they  ply  the 
latter  for  the  sake  of  discipline.  I  do  not  understand  this 
language.  Can  a  general  fight  on  the  strength  of  soldiers 
who,  he  knows,  have  no  faith  in  him  ?  The  plain  meaning 
of  this  language  is  that  the  correspondents  believe  in  mass 
action  but  do  not  believe  in  the  connection  I  see  between  it 
and  the  Gharkha  etc.,  if  the  action  is  to  be  non-violent.  They 


DIVIDE  AND  RULE  155 

believe  in  my  hold  on  the  masses,  but  they  do  not  believe 
in  the  things  which  I  believe  have  given  me  that,  hold. 
They  merely  want  to  exploit  me  and  will  grudgingly  pay  the 
price  which  my  ignorance  or  obstinacy  (according  to  them) 
demands.  I  do  not  call  this  discipline.  True  discipline 
gives  enthusiastic  obedience  to  instructions  even  though 
they  do  not  satisfy  reason.  A  volunteer  exercises  his  reason 
when  he  chooses  his  general,  but  after  having  made  the 
choice,  he  does  not  waste  his  time  and  energy  in  scanning 
every  instruction  and  testing  it  on  the  envil  of  his  reason 
before  following  it.  He  is  "not  to  reason  why.*' 

—Harijan  :  Mar.  :<,  1940, 

Divide  and  Rule 

IN  the  first  place  they  (differences)  are  grossly  exag- 
gerated in  transmission  to  the  West.  In  the  second  place, 
they  are  hardened  during  foreign  control,  Imperial  rule 
means  divide  et  impera.  They  must  therefore  melt  with  the 
withdrawal  of  the  frigid  foreign  rule  and  the  introduction 
of  the  warmth  giving  sunshine  of  real  freedom. 

—Toung  India  :  July  2,1931. 

<S>    <t>    3> 

AFTER  all  the  discovery  that  India  is  governed  by 
the  'divide  arid  rule'  policy  was  made  in  the  tirst  instance 
not  by  an  Indian  but  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  by  an  English- 
man. It  -was  either  the  late  Allen  Ocatvius  Hume  or 
George  Yule  who  taught  us  that  the  empire  was  based  upon 
a  policy  of  divide  and  rule.  Nor  need  we  be  surprised  at  or 
resent  it.  Imperial  Rome  did  no  otherwise.  British  did  no 
otherwise  with  Boers.  By  a  system  of  favouritism  it  sought  to 
divide  the  Boer  ranks.  The  Government  of  India  is  based 
upon  distrust.  Distrust  involves  favouritism  and  favouritism 
must  breed  division.  There  are  frank  Englishmen  enough 
who  have  owned  this  fact. 

—Young  India  :  Aug.  12,  1926. 


156         TEACHINGS  OF   MAHATMA  GANDHI 

WE  will  continue  to  be  divided  so  long  as  the  wedge  of 
foreign  rule  remains  there,  and  sinks  deeper  and  deeper. 
That  is  the  way  of  the  wedge.  But  take  out  the  wedge  and 
split  parts  will  instantly  cojne  together  and  unite. 

—Young  India  :  Nov.  5,  1931. 

1  HAVE  no  doubt  that  if  British  rule  which  divides  us 
by  favouring  one  or  the  other  as  it  suits  the  Britishers  were 
withdrawn  to-day,  Hindus  and  Muslims  would  forget  their 
quarrels  and  live  like  brothers  which  they  are.  But  suppos- 
ing the  worst  happened  and  we  have  a  civil  war,  it  would 
last  for  a  few  days  or  months  and  we  would  settle  down  to 
business.  —Young  India  :  Nov.  19,  1931. 

Doubt 

DOUBT  is  invariably  the  result  of  want  or  weakness  of 
faith. 

— My  Experiments  With  Truth  :  Page  558. 

Dowry  System 

THE  parents  should  so  educate  their  daughters  that 
they  would  refuse  to  marry  a  young  man  who  wanted  a 
price  for  marrying  and  would  rather  remain  spinsters  than 
be  party  to  the  degrading  terms.  The  only  honourable 
terms  in  .marriage  are  mutual  love  and  mutual  consent. 

—Young  India  :  Jan.  15,  1927. 

Drink  Evil 

YOU  will  not  be  deceived  by  the  specious  argument  that 
India  must  not  be  made  sober  by  compulsion,  and  that 
those  who  wish  to  drink  must  have  facilities  provided  for 
them.  The  State  does  not  cater  for  the  vices  of  its  people. 
We  do  not  regulate  and  license  houses  of  ill-fame.  We  do 
not  provide  facilities  for  thieves  to  indulge  their  propensity 
for  thieving.  I  hold  drink  to  be  more  damnable  than 
thieving  and  perhaps  even  prostitution.  Is  it  not  often  the 
parent  of  both  ?  —Young  India  :  Feb.  23,  1922. 


DRINK  EVIL  157 

WHAT  about  the  education  of  the  children  ?  may  be 
the  question  asked.  I  venture  to  suggest  to  you  that  it  is  a 
matter  of  deep  humiliation  for  the  country  to  find  its 
children  educated  from  the  drink  revenue.  We  shall 
deserve  the  curse  of  posterity,  if  we  do  not  wisely  decide  to 
stop  the  drink  evil,  even  though  we  'may  have  to  sacrifice 
the  education  of  our  children.  But  we  need  not.  I  know 
many  of  you  have  laughed  at  the  idea  of  making  education 
self-supporting  by  introducing  spinning  in  our  schools  and 
colleges.  I  assure  you  that  it  "solves  the  problem  of  educa- 
tion as  nothing  else  can.  The  country  cannot  bear  fresh 
taxation.  Even  the  existing  taxation  is  unbearable.  Not 
only  must  we  do  away  with  the  opium  and  the  drink  revenue 
but  the  other  revenue  has  also  to  be  very  considerably 
reduced,  if  the  ever-growing  poverty  of  the  masses  is  to  be 
combated  in  the  near  future  , 

—Young  India  :  Jan.  12,  1925. 

<$><$><$> 

DRUGS  and  drink  are  the  two  arms  of  the  devil  with 
which  he  strikes  his  helpless  slaves  into  stupefaction  and 
intoxication.  — Young  India  :  April  12,  1926. 

<*>  <s>  <$> 

IN  India  there  can  be  no  reason  for  any  referendum 
because  drink  and  drug  habit  are  universally  recognised  as  a 
vice.  Drink  is  not  a  fashion  in  India  as  it  is  in  the  West. 
To  talk  therefore  of  a  referendum  in  India  is  to  trifle  with 
the  problem. 

—Young  India  :  April  22,  1926. 

<s>  <$>  <§> 

THERE  is  as  much  flaw  in  the  argument  that  it  is  an 
interference  with  the  right  of  the  people  as  there  would  be 
in  the  argument  that  the  laws  prohibiting  theft  interfere 
with  the  right  of  thieving.  A  thief  steals  all  earthly  possess- 
ions a  drunkard  steals  his  own  and  his  neighbour's  honour. 

—Young  India  :  Jan.  6,  1927. 


158  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

INDIA  is  the  most  promising  country  in  the  world  for 
carrying  out  total  prohibition  for  the  simple  reason  that 
addiction  to  drink  is  not  considered  respectable  or  fashion- 
able and  is  confined  only  to  a  certain  class  of  people. 

—Young  India  :  June  23,  1927. 

<§>  <*>  <s> 

I  HAVE  not  hesitated  to  give  my  opinion,  that  it  was 
a  wicked  thing  for  the  Imperial  Government  to  have 
transferred  this  the  most  immoral  source  of  revenue  to  the 
provinces  and  to  have  thus  made  this  tainted  revenue  the 
one  source  for  defraying  the  cost  of  the  education  of  Indian 
youth.  —Young  India  :  Sept.  8,  1927. 

<$>    3>    3> 

I  VENTURE  to  submit  that  prosecutions  are  the 
smallest  and  the  destructive  part  of  prohibition.  I  suggest 
that  there  is  a  larger  and  constructive  side  to  prohibition. 
People  drink  because  of  the  conditions  to  which  they  are 
reduced.  It  is  the  factory  labourers  and  others  that  drink. 
They  are  forlorn,  uncared  for,  and  they  take  to  drink. 
They  are  no  more  vicious  by  nature  than  teetotallers  are 
saints  by  nature.  The  majority  of  people  are  controlled  by 
their  enviornment.  — Young  India  :  Sept.  8,  1927. 

<3>   <$><$>, 

WHATEVER  may  be  true  of  countries  with  cold  climates 
I  am  sure  that  in  a  climate  like  ours  there  is  no  need  for 
drink  whatsoever.  Nothing  but  ruin  stares  a  nation  in  the 
face  that  is  a  prey  to  the  drink  habit.  History  records  that 
empires  have  been  destroyed  through  that  habit.  We  have 
it  in  India  that  the  great  community  to  which  Shri  Krishna 
belonged  was  ruined  by  that  habit.  The  monstrous  evil  was 
undoubtedly  one  of  the  contributory  factors  in  the  fall  of 
Rome.  If  therefore  you  will  live  decently  >ou  will  shun 
this  evil  whilst  there  is  yet  time. 

—Young  India  :  April  1 1,  1929. 


DRINK  EVIL  159 

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  realisation  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 
manufacture  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  red  water  is  far  more 
dangerous  than  rushing  to  raging  furnace  or  flooded  stream* 
The  latter  destroys  only  the  body,  the  former  destroys  both 
body  and  soul.  — Young  India  :  Aug.  8,  1929. 

IT  is  a  revenue  which  must  be  sacrificed  and  whilst  it 
lasts,  it  should  be  held  as  sacrosanct  and  be  wholly  dedica- 
ted to  the  purpose  of  eradicating  the  drink  evil.  But  today 
it  is  being  utilised  for  educating  our  children  with  the  result 
that  a  tremendous  barrier  has  been  put  against  this  necessary 
temperance  legislation.  People  are  made  to  think  that  they 
will  not  be  able  to  educate  their  children  if  this  revenue 
stops.  If  things  go  on  unchecked  like  this  a  whole  nation 
might  have  to  perish.  If  the  evil  spreads,  it  may  be  too 
late  to  undertake  legislation, 

—Young  India  :    April  1 1 ,  1929, 

WHEN  Satan  comes  disguised  as  a  champion  of  liberty, 
civilization,  culture  and  the  like,  he  makes  himself  almost 
irresistible.  —Young  India  :  July  11,  1929, 

<$><$><$> 

RUSHING  to  red  water  is  far  more  dangerous  thar 
rushing  to  raging  furnace  or  flooded  stream.  The  latter 
destroys  only  the  body,  the  former  destroys  both  body  and 
soul.  —Young  Mia  :  Aug.  8,  1929, 


160          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

THE  drink  curse  has  desolated  many  a  labourer's  home, 
There  is  no  halfway  house  between  drunkeness  and  prohibi- 
tion. Well-to-do  men  may  pretend  to  be  moderate.  But 
there  is  no  such  thing  as  moderation  possible  among 
labourers.  —Young  India  :  Oct.  31,  1929. 

<$><$>  <S> 

DRINK  and  drugs  sap  the  moral  well-doing  of  those 
who  are  given  to  this  habit.  Foreign  cloth  undermines  the 
economic  foundations  of  the  nation  and  throws  millions  oat  of 
employment.  The  distress  in  each  case  is  felt  in  the  home 
and  therefore  by  the  women.  Only  those  women  who  have 
drunkards  as  their  husbands  know  what  havoc  the  drink 
devil  works  in  homes  that  once  were  orderly  and  peace  giving. 

—Young  India:  April  10,  1930. 

<$>     <$>    <$> 
ALCOHOL  excites  the  nerves  and   narcotics  deaden  the 

sense  of  right  and  wrong.  — Young  India  :  July  25,  1931. 

<$><$><$> 

WHY  are  you  so  uncharitable  to  those  who  drink  ? 
asked  an  English  student. 

A  Because  I  am  charitable  to  those  who  suffer  from  the 
effect  of  the  curse. 

— Young  India  :  Nov.  12,  1931 
*&     <&     ^^ 

IF  I  was  appointed^dictator  for  one  hour  for  all  India, 
the  first  thing  I  would  do  would  be  to  close  without  com- 
pensation all  the  liquor  shops,  destroy  all  the  toddy 
palms  such  as  I  know  them  in  Gujrat,  compel  factory  owners 
to  produce  humane  conditions  for  their  workmen  and  open 
refreshment  and  recreation  rooms  where  these  workmen 
would  get  innocent  drinks  and  equally  innocent  amusements. 
I  would  close  down  the  factories  if  the  owners  pleaded  want 
of  funds.  Being  a  teetotaller,  I  would  retain  my  sobriety  in 
spite  of  the  possession  of  one  hour's  dictatorship  and  there- 
fore arrange  for,  the  examination  of  my  European  friends 
and  diseased  persons  who  may  be  in  medical  need  of  brandy 


DUTY  161 

and  the  like  at  State  expense  by  medical  experts  and  where 
necessary  they  would  receive  certificates  which  would 
entitle  them  to  obtain  the  prescribed  quantity  of  the  fiery 
waters  from  certified  chemists.  The  rule  will  apply  mutatis 
mutandis  to  intoxicating  drugs. 

For  the  loss  of  revenue  from  drinks,  I  would  straight- 
way cut  down  the  military  expenditure  and  expect  the 
Commander-in-Chief  to  accommodate  himself  to  the  new 
condition  in  the  best  way  he  can.  The  workmen  left  idle 
by  the  closing  of  factories,  I  would  remove  to  model  farms 
to  be  immediately  opened  as  far  as  possible  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  the  factories  unless  I  was  advised  during  that  brief 
hour  that  the  State  would  profitably  run  the  factories  under 
the  required  conditions  and  therefore  take  over  from  the 
owners.  — Young  India  :  June  25,  1931. 

<3>     <$><$> 

PURE  Swaraj  is  impossible  of  attainment  by  people  who 
have  been  or  who  are  slaves  of  intoxicating  drinks  and  drugs. 
It  must  never  be  forgotten  that  a  man  in  the  grip  of  intoxi- 
cants is  generally  bereft  of  the  moral  sense. 

—Harijan  :     Aug.  18,  1940. 

Dumb  Millions 

ALL  the  24  hours  of  the  day  I  am  with  them.  They 
are  my  first  care  and  last,  because  I  recognise  no  God  except 
the  God  that  is  to  be  found  in  the  hearts  of  the  dumb 
millions.  They  do  not  recognise  His  presence  ;  I  do.  And 
[  worship  the  God  that  is  Truth  or  Truth  which  is  God 
through  the  service  of  these  millions 

—Harijan:     Mar.   11,  1939. 

Duty 

EVERY  mistake  of  the  Government  helps.  Every 
xeglect  of  duty  on  our  part  hinders. 

—Young  India  :  Mar,  2,  1922. 


162         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

DUTY  will  be  merit  when  debt  becomes  a  donation, 

—Young  India  :  Mar.  18,  1926. 

IF  we  all  discharge  our  duties,  rights  will  not  be  far  to 
seek.  If  leaving  duties  unperformed  we  run  after  rights, 
they  will  escape  us  like  a  Will  O'  The  Wisp.  The  more  we 
pursue  them  the  farther  will  they  fly.  The  same  teaching 
has  been  embodied  by  Krishna  in  the  immortal  words  : 
Action  alone  is  thine.  Leave  thou  the  fruits  severely  alone. 
Action  is  duty  ;  fruit  is  the  right. 

—  Young  India  :  Dec.  25,  1927. 

PERFORMANCE  of  one's  duty  should  be  independent 
of  public  opinion.  I  have  all  along  held  that  one  is  bound 
to  act  according  to  what  to  one  appears  to  be  right  even 
though  it  may  appear  wrong  to  others.  And  experience  has 
shown  that  that  is  the  only  correct  course,  I  admit  that 
there  is  always  a  possibility  of  one's  mistaking  right  for 
wrong  and  lice  versa  but  often  one  learns  to  recognise  wrong 
only  through  unconscious  error.  On  the  other  hand  if  a 
man  fails  to  follow  the  light  within  for  fear  of  public  opinion 
or  any  other  similar  reason  he  would  never  be  able  to  know 
right  from  wrong  and  in  the  end  lose  all  sense  of  distinction 
between  the  two.  That  is  why  the  poet  has  sung  : 

The  pathway  of  love  is  the  ordeal  of  fire, 
The  shrinkers  turn  away  from  ir. 

The  pathway  of  ahim$a>  that  is  of  love  one  has  often  to 
tread  all  alone.  —Young  India  :  Oct  4,  1928. 

<$><$><$> 

A  MAN  can  give  up  a  right,  but  he  may  not  give  up  a 
duty  without  being  guilty  of  a  grave  dei  diction.  Unpopu- 
larity and  censure  are  often  the  lot  of  a  man  who  wants  to 
speak  and  practise  the  truth.  I  hold  it  to  be  the  bounden 
duty  of  a  Satyagrahi  openly  and  freely  to  express  his  opinions 


DUTY  163 

which  he  holds  to  be  correct  and  of  benefit  to  the  public 
even  at  the  risk  of  incurring  popular  displeasure  and  worse. 
So  long  as  I  believe  my  views  on  ahimsa  to  be  correct,  it 
would  be  a  sin  of  omission  on  my  part  not  to  give  expression 
to  them.  —Young  India  :  Oct.  18,  1928. 

<S>    <S>    <3> 

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.  —Young  India  :  Sept.  26,  1929. 

<s>  <*><$> 

OUR  people  have  not  yet  acquired  the  habit  of  doing 
their  duty  without  persistent  reminders  even  as  we  need  the 
loud  call  of  the  temple  bell  to  remind  us  that  there  is  Gad 
watching  over  us  and  summoning  us  to  prayer. 

—Young  India  :  Feb.  21,  1929 
^^    ^N    ^o 

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. 

—  Young  India  :  Aug.  22,  1929. 
3>     3>     <3> 

DUTY  well  done  undoubtedly  carries  rights  with  it, 
but  a  man  who  discharges  his  obligations  with  an  eye  upoii 
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. 

—Young  India  :  Oct.  10,  1929. 
<&    <$>    <$> 

RIGHTS  accrue  automatically  to  him  who  duly  per- 
forms his  duties.  In  fact  the  right  to  perform  one's  duties 
is  the  only  right  that  is  worth  living  for  and  dying  for.  It 
covers  all  legitimate  rights.  All  the  rest  is  grab  under  one 
guise  or  another  and  contains  in  it  seeds  of  himsa. 

—Young  India  :    Dec.  27,  1930. 


164         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

E 
East  and  West 

[The  following   is    an  extract  from   a    letter    addressed  by 
Gandhiji  to  a  friend  in  India  in  1909.  ] 

(1)  There  is  no  impassable    barrier    between    East    and 
West. 

(2)  There  is   no   such    thing   as  Western   or  European 
civilization,    but    there    is   a  modern    civilization    which    is 
purely  material. 

(3)  The  people  of  Europe,    before  they   were    touched 
by  modern    civilization,    had   much   in   common    wiih    the 
people  of  the  East  ;  anyhow  the  people  of  India,    and    even 
today   Europeans  who  are  not  touched   by   modern    civiliza- 
tion, are    far   better    able    to    mix    with    Indians    than    the 
offspring  of  that  civilization. 

(4)  It  is  not  the  British    people    who  are    ruling    India, 
but  it  is  modem  civilization,  through  its  railways,  telegraph, 
telephone   and     almost     every   invention    which   has   been 
claimed  to  be  a  triumph  of  civilization 

(5)  Bombay,    Calcutta   and   the   other    chief  cities  of 
India  are  the  real  plague  spots. 

(6)  If  British  rule  were  replaced    to-morrow   by   Indian 
rule  based  on  modern  methods,  India  would    be   no   better, 
except  that  she  would  be  able   then    to   retain   some  of  the 
money  that  is  drained  away   to   England  ;    but   then   India 
would  only  become  a  second  or   fifth    nation   of  Europe    or 
America. 

(7)  East  and  West   can   only   really   meet   when     the 
West  has  thrown   overboard   modern     civilization,     almost 
in  its  entirety.     They  can   also   seemingly  meet  when   East 
has   also   adopted   modern   civilization,   but   that     meetign 
would   be  an   armed   truce,   even  as  it  is    between,     sa'A 
Germany  and  England  both  of  which   nations  are    living   in 
the  Hall  of  Death  in  order  to  avoid  being  devoured   the   one 
by  the  other. 


EAST  AND  WEST  165 

(8)  It  is  simply  impertinence  for  any  man  or  any  body 
of  men  to  begin  or  to  contemplate  reform  of  the  whole  world. 
To  attempt  to  do  so  by  means  of  highly  artificial  and  speedy 
locomotion,  is  to  attempt  the  impossible. 

(9)  Increase  of  material  comforts,  it   may   be  generally 
laid  down,    does   not   in   any   way   whatsoever   conduce  to 
moral  growth. 

(10)  Medical   science   is  the   concentrated  essence    of 
black    magic.      Quackery   is   infinitely   preferable   to   what 
passes  for  high  medical  skill. 

(11)  Hospitals  are  the  instruments    that   the  Devil    has 
been  using  for  his  own  purpose,  in  order  to  keep  his   hold  on 
his  kingdom.     They  perpetuate  vice,  misery  and  degradation 
and  real  slavery.     I  was  entirely  off  the  track   when   I   con- 
sidered that  I  should  receive  a  medical  training.       It   would 
be  sinful  for  me  in  any  way  whatsoever  to    take   part   in   the 
abominations  that  go  on    in  the   hospitals.      If  there   were 
no  hospitals  for  venereal  diseases,    or   even  for  consumptives 
we   should    have   less   consumption,    and     less     sexual  vice 
amongst  us. 

(12)  India's   salvation     consists     in     unlearning     what 
she  has  learnt  during    the  past   fifty   years.      The   railways, 
telegraphs,  hospitals,  lawyers,    doctors,    and  such   like   have 
all  to  go,  and  the  so-called  upper   classes   have   to   learn   to 
live    consciously    and    religiously      and     deliberately     the 
simple  peasant   life,    knowing    it   to   be   a   life   giving   true 
happiness. 

(13)  India  should  wear   no     machine-made     clothing 
whether  it  comes  out  of  European  mills  or  Indian  mills. 

(14)  England  can  help  India  to  do    this   and    then   she 
will  have  justified  her  hold  on   India.      There   seems  to   be 
many  in  England  today  who  think  likewise. 

(15)  There   was  true  wisdom  in    the    sages    of    old 
having  so  regulated  society  as  to  limit  the  material  condition 
of  the  people  :  the  rude  plough   of  perhaps  five  thousand 


166  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

years  ago  is  the  plough  of  the  husbandman  today. 
Therein  lies  salvation.  People  live  long  under  such  con- 
ditions in  comparative  peace  much  greater  than  Europe 
has  enjoyed  after  having  taken  up  modern  activity,  and  I 
feel  that  every  enlightened  man,  certainly  every  Englishman, 
may,  if  he  chooses,  learn  this  truth  and  act  according 
to  it. 

It  is  the  true  spirit  of  passive  resistance  that  has 
brought  me  to  the  above  almost  definite  conclusions.  As 
a  passive  resister,  I  am  unconcerned  whether  such  a  gigantic 
reformation,  shall  I  call  it,  can  be  brought  about  among 
people  who  find  their  satisfaction  from  the  present  mad 
rush.  If  I  realize  the  truth  of  it,  I  should  rejoice  in 
following  it,  and  therefore  I  could  not  wait  until  the  whole 
body  of  people  had  commenced.  All  of  us  who  think  like- 
wise have  to  take  the  necessary  step,  and  the  rest,  if  we  are 
in  the  right,  must  follow.  The  theory  is  there  :  our 
practice  will  have  to  approach  it  as  much  as  possible. 
Living  in  the  midst  of  the  rush,  we  may  not  be  able  to 
shake  ourselves  free  from  all  taint.  Everytime  I  get  into 
a  railway  car  or  use  a  motor-bus,  I  know  that  I  am  doing 
violence  to  my  sense  of  what  is  right.  I  do  not  fear  the 
logical  result  on  that  basis.  The  visiting  of  England  is  bad, 
and  any  communication  between  South  Africa  and  India 
by  means  of  ocean-grey-hounds  is  also  bad  and  so  on. 
You  and  I  can,  and  may  olitgrow  these  things  in  our  present 
bodies,  but  the  chief  thing  is  to  put  our  theory  right.  You 
will  be  seeing  there  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men.  I, 
therefore,  feel  that  I  should  no  longer  withhold  from  you 
what  I  call  the  progressive  step  I  have  taken  mentally.  If 
you  agree  with  me,  then  it  will  be  your  duty  to  tell  the 
revolutionaries  and  every  body  else  that  the  freedom  they 
want,  or  they  think  they  want,  is  not  to  be  obtained  by 
killing  people  or  doing  violence,  but  by  setting  themselves 
right  and  by  becoming  and  remaining  truly  Indian.  Then 
the  British  rulers  will  be  servants  and  not  masters.  They 


EAST  AND  WEST  167 

will  be  trustees,  and  not  tyrants,  and  they  will  live  in 
perfect  peace  with  the  whole  of  the  inhabitants  of  India. 
The  future,  therefore,  lies  not  with  the  British  race,  but 
with  the  Indians  themselves,  and  if  they  have  sufficient 
self-abnegation  and  abstemiousness,  they  can  make  them- 
selves free  this  very  moment,  and  when  we  have  arrived 
in  India  at  the  simplicity  which  is  still  ours  largely  and 
Which  was  ours  entirely  until  a  few  years  ago,  it  will  still 
be  possible  for  the  best  Indians  and  the  best  Europeans 
to  see  one  another  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of 
India  and  act  as  the  leaven.  When  there  was  no  rapid 
locomotion,  teachers  and  preachers  went  on  foot,  from  one 
end  of  the  country  to  the  other,  braving  all  dangers,  not 
for  recruiting  their  health  (though  all  that  followed  from 
their  tramps),  but  for  the  sake  of  humanity.  Then  were 
Benares  and  other  places  of  pilgrimage  the  holy  cities, 
whereas  to-day  they  are  an  abomination. 

<$>    <£    <$> 

"I  do  not  hold  for  one  moment,"  Gandhiji  exclaim- 
ed, "that  East  and  West  cannot  combine.  I  think  the  day 
is  coming  when  East  must  meet  West,  or  West  meet  East, 
but  I  think  the  social  evolution  of  the  West  to-day  lies  in 
one  channel,  and  that  of  the  Indian  in  another  channel. 
The  Indians  have  no  wish  to-day  to  encroach  on  the  social 
institutions  of  the  Europeans  in  South  Africa.  (Cheers) 
Most  Indians  are  natural  traders.  There  are  bound  to  be 
trade  jealousies  and  those  various  things  that  come  from 
competition.  I  have  never  been  able  to  find  a  solution  of 
this  most  difficult  problem,  which  will  require  the  broad- 
mindedness  and  spirit  of  justice  of  the  Government  of 
South  Africa  to  hold  the  balance  between  conflicting 
interests. 

— (Fromafarewel  speech  at  Durban)  :  July  18,  1914. 

I  WOULD  heartily  welcome  the  Union  of  East  and 
West  provided  it  is  not  based  on  brute-force. 

—Young  India  :  Oct.  1,  1931. 


168  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

Eating 

ONE  should  eat  not  in  order  to  please  the  palate,  but 
just  to  keep  the  body  going.  When  each  organ  of  sense 
subserves  the  body  and  through  the  body  the  soul,  its 
special  relish  disappears,  and  then  alone  does  it  begin  to 
function  in  the  way  nature  intended  it  to  do. 

— My  Experiments  With  Truth  :  Page  393. 

Economics 

TRUE  economics  never  militates  against  the  highest 
ethical  standard,  just  as  all  true  ethics  to  be  worth  its 
name  must  at  the  same  time  be  also  good  economics. 
An  economics  that  inculcates  Mammon  worship,  and  enables 
the  strong  to  amass  wealth  at  the  expense  of  the  weak, 
is  a  false  and  dismal  science.  It  spells  death.  True 
economics,  on  the  other  hand,  stands  for  social  justice, 
it  promotes  the  good  of  all  equally  including  the  weakest, 
and  is  indispensable  for  decent  life. 

—Harijan  :  Oct.  9,    1937. 
<$><$><$> 

EVEN  though  I  am  a  layman,  I  make  bold  to  say 
that  the  so-called  laws  laid  down  in  books  on  economics 
are  not  immutable  like  the  laws  of  Medes  and  Persians, 
nor  are  they  universal.  The  economics  of  England  are 
different  from  those  of  Germany.  Germany  enriched  herself 
by  bounty-fed  beet  sugar.  England  enriched  herself  by  exploi- 
ting foreign  markets.  What  was  possible  for  a  compact  area 
is  not  possible  for  an  area  1,900  miles  long  and  1,500 
miles  broad.  The  economics  of  a  nation  are  determined  by 
its  climatic,  geological  and  temperamental  conditions.  The 
Indian  conditions  are  different  from  the  English  in  all 
these  essentials.  What  is  meat  for  England  is  in  many 
cases  poison  for  India.  Beef  tea  in  the  English  climate 
may  be  good,  it  is  poison  lor  the  hot  climate  of  religious 
India.  Fiery  whisky  in  the  north  of  the  British  Isles 
may  be  a  necessity,  it  renders  an  Indian  unfit  for  work 


ECONOMICS 

or  society.  Fur  coats  in  Scotland  are  indispensable,  they 
will  be  an  intolerable  burden  in  India.  Free  trade  for 
a  country  which  has  become  industrial,  whose  population 
can  and  does  live  in  cities,  whose  people  do  not  mind 
preying  upon  other  nations  and  therefore  sustain  the  biggest 
navy  to  protect  their  unnatural  commerce,  may  be  econo- 
mically sound  (though,  as  the  reader  perceives,  I  question 
its  morality).  Free  trade  for  India  has  proved  her  curse 
and  held  her  in  bondage. 

— Young  India:  Dec.  9,   1921. 
<£   <8>   <3> 

I  MUST  confess  that  I  do  not  draw  a  sharp  or 
any  distinction  between  economics  and  ethics.  Economics 
that  hurt  the  moral  well-being  of  an  individual  or  a 
nation  are  immoral  and  therefore  sinful.  Thus  the  econo- 
mics that  permit  one  country  to  prey  upon  another  are 
immoral.  It  is  sinful  to  buy  and  use  articles  made  by 
sweated  labour.  It  is  sinful  to  eat  American  wheat  and 
let  my  neighbour  the  grain  dealer  starve  for  want  of 
custom. 

—Young  India  :  Oct.  13,   1921. 
<$>    <$>    <3> 

APPLICATION  of  the  laws  of  economics  must  vary 
with  varying  conditions. 

— Young  India  :  July  2,    1931. 

<$><$>    <3> 

INDEED,  economics  that  ruins  one's  health  is  false, . 
because  money  without  health  has  no  value.  Only  that 
economy  is  true  which  enables  one  to  conserve  one's 
health.  The  whole  of  the  initial  programme  of  village  re- 
construction is,  therefore,  aimed  at  true  economy,  because  it 
is  aimed  at  promoting  the  health  and  vigour  of  the  villagers. 

—Harijan  :  Mar.  1,  1935. 
^s    <&    ^^ 

IMITATION  of  English  economics  will  spell  our 
ruin.  —  Young  India  :  June  21,  1919. 


170       TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

DOES  economic  progress  clash  with  real  progress  ?  By 
economic  progress,  I  take  it,  we  mean  material  advance- 
ment without  limit  and  by  real  progress  we  mean 
moral  progress,  which  again  is  the  same  thing  as  progress 
of  the  permanent  element  in  us.  The  subject  may 
therefore  be  stated  thus  :  Does  not  moral  progress  increase, 
in  the  same  proportion  as  material  progress  ?  .  know 
that  this  is  a  wider  proposition  than  the  one  before  us. 
But  I  venture  to  think  that  we  always  mean  the  large  one 
even  when  we  lay  down  the  smaller.  For  we  know 
enough  of  science  to  realize  that  there  is  no  such  thing 
as  perfect  rest  or  repose  in  this  visible  universe  of  ours. 
If,  therefore,  material  progress  does  not  clash  with  moral 
progress,  it  must  necessarily  advance  the  latter.  Nor  can 
we  be  satisfied  with  the  clumsy  way  in  which  some- 
times those  who  cannot  defend  the  large  proposition  put 
their  case.  They  seem  to  be  obsessed  with  the  concrete 
case  of  thirty  millions  of  India,  stated  by  the  late  Sir 
William  Wilson  Hunter  to  be  living  on  one  meal  a  day. 
They  say  that,  before  we  can  think  or  talk  of  their  moral 
welfare,  we  must  satisfy  their  daily  wants  With  these 
they  say,  material  progress  spells  moral  progress.  And  then 
is  taken  a  sudden  jump;  what  is  true  of  thirty  millions  is  true 
of  the  universe.  They  forget  that  hard  cases  make  bad  law. 
I  need  hardly  say  to  you  how  ludicrously  absurd  this 
deduction  would  be.  "No  one  has  ever  suggested  that 
grinding  pauperism  can  lead  to  anything  else  than 
moral  degradation.  Every  human  being  has  a  right  to  live 
and  therefore  to  find  the  wherewithal  to  feed  himself 
and  where  necessary  to  clothe  and  house  himself.  But 
for  this  very  simple  performance  we  need  no  assistance 
from  economists  or  their  laws. 

'Take  no  thought  for  the  morrow1  is  an  injunction 
which  finds  an  echo  in  almost  all  the  religious  scriptures 
of  the  world.  In  well-ordered  society  the  securing  of 
one's  livelihood  should  be  and  is  found  to  be  the  easiest 


ECONOMICS  171 

thing  in  the  world.  Indeed,  the  test  of  orderliness  in  a 
country  is  not  the  number  of  millionaires  it  owns,  but  the 
absence  of  starvation  among  its  masses.  The  only  state- 
ment that  has  to  be  examined  is,  whether  it  can  be  laid 
down  as  a  law  of  universal  application  that  material 
advancement  means  moral  progress. 

Now  let  us  take  a  few  illustrations.  Rome  suffered 
moral  fall  when  it  attained  high  material  affluence. 
So  did  Egypt  and  so  perhaps  most  countries  of  which 
we  have  any  historical  record.  The  descendants  and 
kinsmen  of  the  royal  and  divine  Krishana  too  fell  when  they 
were  rolling  in  riches.  We  do  not  deny  to  the  Rockefellers 
and  the  Carnegies  possession  of  an  ordinary  measure  of  mora- 
lity but  we  gladly  judge  them  indulgently.  I  mean  that  we 
do  not  even  expect  them  to  satisfy  the  highest  standard  of 
morality.  With  them  material  gain  has  not  necessarily 
meant  moral  gain.  In  South  Africa,  where  I  had  the 
privilege  of  associating  with  thousands  of  our  country- 
men on  most  intimate  terms,  I  observed  almost  invariably 
that  the  greater  the  possession  of  riches,  the  greater 
was  their  moral  turpitude.  Our  rich  men,  to  say  the  least, 
did  not  advance  the  moral  struggle  of  passive  resistance 
as  did  the  poor.  The  rich  men's  sense  of  self-respect 
was  not  so  much  injured  as  that  of  the  poorest.  If 
I  were  not  afraid  of  treading  on  dangerous  ground,  I 
would  even  come  nearer  home  and  show  how  that 
possession  of  riches  has  been  a  hindrance  to  real  growth. 
I  venture  to  think  that  the  scriptures  of  the  world  are  far 
safer  and  sounder  treatises  on  laws  of  economics  than 
many  of  the  modern  text-books.  The  question  we  are 
asking  ourselves  this  evening  is  not  a  new  one.  It  was 
addressed  of  Jesus  two  thousand  years  ago.  St.  Mark 
has  vividly  described  the  scene.  Jesus  is  in  his  solemn 
mood.  He  is  earnest.  He  talks  of  eternity. 
He  knows  the  world  about  him.  He  is  himself  the 
greatest  economist  of  his  time.  He  succeeded  in  econo- 
mising time  and  space — he  transcended  them.  It  is  to 


172         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

him  at  his  best  that  one  comes  running,  kneels  down, 
and  asks;  Good  Master,  what  shall  I  do  that  I  may 
inherit  eternal  life.  And  Jesus  said  unto  him  :  'Why 
callest  thou  me  good.  There  is  none  good  but  one,  i.e  9 
God.  Thou  knowest  the  commandments.  Do  not  commit 
adultery,  Dd  not  kill,  Do  not  steal.  Do  not  bear  false 
witness,  Defraud  not,  Honour  thy  father  and  mother.' 
And  he  answered  and  said  unto  him  :  *  Master,  all 
these  have  I  observed  from  my  youth/  Then  Jesus 
beholding  him  loved  him  and  said  unto  him  ;  'One  thing 
thou  lackest.  Go  thy  way,  sell  whatever  thou  hast  and 
give  to  the  poor,  and  thou  shall  have  treasure  in  heaven — 
come,  take  up  the  cross  and  follow  me.'  And  he 
was  sad  at  that  saying  and  went  away  grieved — for  he 
had  great  possession.  And  Jesus  looked  round  about  and 
said  unto  his  disciple  :  'How  hardly  shall  they,  that  have 
riches  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God/  And  the  disciples 
were  astonished  at  his  words.  But  Jesus  ans were th  again 
and  said  unto  them,  'Children,  how  hard  is  it  for  them 
that  trust  in  riches  to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God. 
It  is  easier  for  a  camel  to  go  through  the  eye  of  a  needle  than 
for  a  rich  man  to  enter  into  the  Kingdom  of  God  !'  Here  you 
have  an  eternal  rule  of  life  stated  in  the  noblest  words 
the  English  language  is  capable  of  producing.  But  the 
disciples  nodded  unbelief  as  we  do  even  to  this  day. 
To  him  they  said  as-  we  say  to-day  :  'But  look  how  the 
law  fails  in  practice.  If  we  sell  all  and  have  nothing, 
we  shall  have  nothing  to  eat.  We  must  have  money 
or  we  cannot  even  be  reasonably  moral.'  So  they 
state  their  case  thus  : — And  they  were  astonished  out 
of  measure,  saying  among  themselves  :  'Who  then  can 
be  saved.5  And  Jesus  looking  upon  them  said  :  'With 
men  it  is  impossible,  but  not  with  God,  for  with  God  all 
things  are  possible.'  Then  Peter  began  to  say  unto  him  : 
'Lo,  we  have  left  all,  and  have  followed  thee.1  And  Jesus  an- 
swered  and  said  :  'Verily  I  say  unto  you  there  is  no  man 
that  has  left  house  or  brethren  or  sisters,  or  fathei 


ECONOMICS  173 

or  mother,  or  wife  or  children  or  lands  for  my  sake  and 
Gospel's  but  he  shall  receive  one  hundredfold,  now  in 
this  time  houses  and  brethren  and  sisters  and  mothers 
and  children  and  land,  and  in  the  world  to  come, 
eternal  life.  But  many  that  are  first  shall  be  last 
and  the  last,  first.'  You  have  here  the  result  or  reward, 
if  you  prefer  the  term,  of  following  the  law.  I  have  not 
taken  the  trouble  of  copying  similar  passages  from  the 
other  non-Hindu  scriptures  and  I  will  not  insult  you  by 
quoting,  in  support  of  the  law  stated  by  Jesus,  passages 
from  the  writings  and  sayings  of  our  own  sages,  passages 
even  stronger,  if  possible,  than  the  Biblical  extracts  I 
have  drawn  your  attention  to.  ^  Perhaps  the  strongest  of 
all  the  testimonies  in  favour  of  the  affirmative  answer  to 
the  question  before  us  are  the  lives  of  the  greatest  teachers 
of  the  world.  Jesus,  Mahomed,  Buddha,  Nanak,  Kabir, 
Chaitanya,  Shankara,  Dayanand,  Ramakarishna  were  men 
who  exercised  an  immense  influence  over,  and  moulded 
the  character  of,  thousands  of  men.  The  world  is  the 
richer  for  their  having  lived  in  it.  And  they  were  all 
men  who  deliberately  embraced  poverty  as  their  lot. 

I  should  not  have  laboured  my  point  as  I  have 
done,  if  I  did  not  believe  that,  in  so  far  as  we  have  made 
the  modern  materialistic  craze  our  goal,  so  far  are  we 
going  down  hill  in  the  path  of  progress.  I  hold  that 
economic  progress  in  the  sense  I  have  put  it  is  antagonistic 
to  real  progress.  Hence  the  ancient  ideal  has  been  the 
limitation  of  activities  promoting  wealth.  This  does  not 
put  an  end  to  all  material  ambition.  We  should  still 
have,  as  we  have  always  had,  in  our  midst  people 
who  make  the  pursuit  of  wealth  their  aim  in  life.  But 
we  have  always  recognised  that  it  is  a  fall  from  the  ideal. 
It  is  a  beautiful  thing  to  know  that  the  wealthiest  among  us 
have  often  felt  that  to  have  remained  voluntarily  poor 
would  have  been  a  higher  state  for  them.  That  you  can- 
not serve  God  and  Mammon  is  an  economic  truth  of  the 


174        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

highest  value.  We  have  to  make  our  choice.  Western 
nations  are  to-day  groaning  under  the  heal  of  the  monster 
god  of  materialism.  Their  moral  growth  has  become 
stunted.  They  measure  their  progress  in  £.  s.  d.  American 
wealth  has  become  the  standard.  She  is  the  envy  of  the 
other  nations.  I  have  heard  many  of  our  countrymen  say 
that  we  will  gain  American  wealth  but  avoid  its  methods. 
I  venture  to  suggest  that  such  an  attempt,  if  it  were  made, 
is  foredoomed  to  failure.  We  cannot  be  'wise,'  temperate 
and  furious'  in  a  moment.  I  would  have  our  leaders  teach 
us  to  be  morally  supreme  in  the  world.  This  land  of  ours 
was  once,  we  are  told,  the  abode  of  the  gods.  It  is  not 
possible  to  conceive  gods  inhabiting  a  land  which  is  made 
hideous  by  the  smoke  and  the  din  of  mill  chimneys  and  fac- 
tories and  whose  roadways  are  traversed  by  rushing  engines, 
dragging  numerous  cars  crowded  with  men  who  know  not 
for  the  most  part  what  they  are  after,  who  are  often 
absent-minded,  and  whose  tempers  do  not  improve  by 
being  uncomfortably  packed  like  sardines  in  boxes  and  finding 
themselves  in  the  midst  of  utter  strangers,  who  would  oust 
them  if  they  could  and  whom  they  would,  in  their  turn,  oust 
similarly.  I  refer  to  these  things  because  they  are  held  to 
be  symbolical  of  material  progress.  But  they  add  not  an 
atom  to  our  happiness.  This  is  what  Wallace,  the  great 
scientist,  has  said  as  his  Deliberate  judgment:— 

In  the  earliest  records  which  have  come  down  to  us  from  the  past,  we 
find  ample  indications  that  general  ethical  considerations  and  conceptions, 
the  accepted  standard  of  morality,  and  the  conduct  resulting  from  these, 
were  in  no  degree  inferior  to  those  which  prevail  to-day. 

In  a  series  of  chapters  he  then  proceeds  to  examine  the 
position  of  the  English  nation  under  the  advance  in  wealth 
it  has  made.  He  says  :  'This  rapid  growth  of  wealth  and 
increase  of  our  power  over  Nature  put  too  great  a  strain 
upon  our  crude  civilisation,  on  our  superficial  Christianity, 
and  it  was  accompanied  by  various  forms  of  social  immora- 
lity almost  as  amazing  and  unprecedented.'  He  then 
shows  how  factories  have  risen  on  the  corpses  of  men, 


ECONOMICS 

women  and  children,  how,  as  the  country  has  rapidly 
advanced  in  riches,  it  has  gone  down  in  morality.  He 
shows  this  by  dealing  with  insanitation,  life  destroying 
trades,  adulteration,  bribery  and  gambling.  He  shows  how 
with  the  advance  of  wealth,  justice  has  become  immoral, 
deaths  from  alcoholism  and  suicide  have  increased,  the 
average  of  premature  births,  and  congenital  defects  has 
increased  and  prostitution  has  become  an  institution.  He 
concludes  his  examination  by  these  pregnant  remarks  : — 

The  proceedings  of  the  diverse  courts  show  other  aspects  of  the  result 
of  wealth  and  leisure,  while  a  friend  who  had  been  a  good  deal  in  London 
society  assured  me  that,  both  in  country  houses  and  in  London,  various 
kinds  of  orgies  were  occasionally  to  be  met  with,  which  would  hardly  have 
been  surpassed  in  the  period  of  the  most  dissolute  emperors.  Of  war,  too, 
I  need  say  nothing.  It  has  always  been  mor^or  less  chronic  since  the  rise  of 
the  Roman  Empire  ;  but  there  is  now  undoubtedly  a  disinclination  for  war 
among  all  civilized  peoples.  Yet  the  vast  burden  of  armaments  taken 
together  with  the  most  pious  declaration  in  favour  of  peace,  must  be  held  to 
show  an  almost  total  absence  of  morality  as  a  guiding  principle  among  the 
governing  classes. 

Under  the  British  aegis  we  have  learnt  much,  but  it  is 
my  firm  belief  that  there  is  little  to  gain  from  Britain  in 
intrinsic  morality,  that  if  we  are  not  careful,  we  shall 
introduce  all  the  vices  that  she  has  been  a  prey  to  owing  to 
the  disease  of  materialism,  We  can  profit  by  that  connec- 
tion only  if  we  keep  our  civilization,  and  our  morals  straight 
i.e.,  if,  instead  of  boas  ting  of  the  glorious  past,  we  express 
the  ancient  moral  glory  in  our  own  lives  and  let  our  lives 
bear  witness  to  our  boast.  Then  we  shall  benefit  her  and 
ourselves.  If  we  copy  her  because  she  provides  us  with 
rulers,  both  they  and  we  shall  suffer  degradation.  We  need 
not  be  afraid  of  ideals  or  of  reducing  them  to  practice  even 
to  the  uttermost.  Ours  will  only  then  be  a  truly  spiritual 
nation  when  we  shall  show  more  truth  than  gold,  greater 
fearlessness  than  pomp  of  power  and  wealth,  greater  charity 
than  love  to  self.  If  we  will  but  clean  our  houses,  our 
palaces  and  temples  of  the  attributes  of  wealth  and  show  in 
them  the  attributes  of  morality,  we  can  offer  battle  to  any 
combinations  of  hostile  forces  without  having  to  carry  the 


176  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

burden  of  a  heavy  militia.  Let  us  seek  first  the  Kingdom  of 
God  and  his  righteousness,  and  the  irrevocable  promise  is 
that  everything  will  be  added  unto  us.  These  are  real 
economics.  May  you  and  I  treasure  them  and  enforce 
them  in  our  daily  life. 

[A  lecture  delivered  by  Gandhiji  at  a  meeting  of  the  Muir 
Central  College  Economics  Society  Allahabad,  on  Dec.  22,  1916. | 

/^TN          %%          7*N 

WHAT  is  economically  wrong  cannot  be  religiously 
right.  In  other  words,  if  a  religion  cuts  at  the  very 
Fundamentals  of  economics  it  is  noi  a  true  religion  but 
only  a  delusion.  My  critic  on  the  other  hand  believes 
that  this  view  is  opposed  to  the  teachings  of  our  ancient 
scriptures.  I,  at  least,  am  not  aware  of  a  single  text  in 
apposition  to  this  view  nor  do  I  know  of  any  religious 
institution  that  is  being  maintained  in  any  part  of  the 
world  today  in  antagonism  to  the  elementary  principles 
of  economics.  As  for  nature,  any  one  who  has  eyes  can 
see,  that  it  always  observes  the  principle  that  I  have 
stated.  For  instance,  if  it  has  implanted  in  its  creation 
the  instinct  for  food  it  also  produces  enough  food  to 
satisfy  that  instinct  from  day  to  day.  But  it  does  not 
produce  a  jot  more.  That  is  nature's  way.  But  man, 
blinded  by  his  selfish  greed,  grabs  and  consumes  more 
than  his  requirements  in  defiance  of  nature's  principle, 
in  defiance  of  the  elementary  and  immutable  moralities 
of  non-stealing  and  non-possession  of  other's  property  and 
thus  brings  down  no  end  of  misery  upon  himself  and 
his  fellow-creatures.  To  turn  to  another  illustration,  our 
Shastras  have  enjoined  that  the  Brahman  should  give 
knowledge  as  charity  without  expecting  any  material 
reward  for  it  for  himself.  But  they  have  at  the  same  time 
conferred  upon  him  the  privilege  of  asking  for  and  receiving 
alms  and  have  laid  upon  the  other  sections  of  the  community 
the  duty  of  giving  alms,  thus  uniting  religion  and  economics 
in  a  common  bond  of  harmony.  The  reader  will  be  able  to 
find  further  instances  of  this  kind  for  himself.  The  religious 


EDUCATION  177 

principle  requires  that  the  debit  and  credit  sides  of  one's 
balance  sheet  should  be  perfectly  square.  That  is  also 
the  truest  economics  and  therefore  true  religion.  Whenever 
there  is  any  discrepancy  between  these  two  it  spells 
bad  economics  and  makes  for  unrighteousness.  That  is 
why  the  illustrious  author  of  the  Gita  has  defined  yoga 
as  balance  or  "evenness."  But  the  majority  of  mankind  do 
not  understand  this  use  of  economics  to  subserve  religion; 
they  want  it  only  for  amassing  "profits"  for  themselves. 
Humanitarian  economics,  on  the  other  hand,  for  which  I 
stand,  rules  out  "profits"  altogether.  But  it  rules  out  "deficit" 
no  less  for  the  simple  reason  that  it  is  utterly  impossible 
to  safe-guard  a  religious  institution  by  following  a  policy 
of  dead  loss.  —Young  India  :  Nov.  3,  1927. 

<$><$><$> 

VILLAGE  economics  is  different  from  industrial 
economics.  Human  economics  is  not  the  same  as  that 
of  exploitation  or  mere  dead  matter. 

—Young  India  :  June  11,  1931. 

Education 

PURITY  of  personal  life  is  the  one  indispensable  con- 
dition for  building  up  a  sound  education. 

—Young  India  :  Sept.  8,   1927 
^    ^    ^ 

LITERARY  training  by  itself  is  not  of  much  account. 
Remember  that  unlettered  persons  have  found  no  difficulty 
in  ruling  over  large  states.  President  Kruger  could  hardly 
sign  his  own  name. 

— Speeches  and  Writings  of  Mahatma  Gandhi  :  Page  213. 

^    3>     <$> 

LITERARY  education  is  of  no  value,  if  it  is  not  able 
to  build  up  a  sound  character. 

— Speeches  and  Writings  of  Mahatma  Gandhi  :  Page  214. 


178  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

WE  have  lost  much  of  our  self-respect,  on  account  of 
being  too  much  Europeanised.  We  think  and  speak  in 
English.  Thereby,  we  impoverish  our  vernaculars,  and 
estrange  the  feelings  of  the  masses.  A  knowledge  of  English 
is  not  essential  to  the  service  of  our  Motherland. 

—  Speeches  and  Waitings  of  Mahatma  Gandhi :  page  1 10. 

I  HAVE  always  felt  that  the  true  text  book  for  the 
pupil  is  his  teacher* 

— My  Expmmtnts  With  Truth  :  Page  412. 

CHILDREN  take  in  much  more  and  with  less  labour 
through  their  ears  than  through  their  eyes. 

— My  Expmmtnts  With  Truth  :  Page  412. 

IT  is  possible  for  a  teacher  situated  miles  away  to 
affect  the  spirit  of  the  pupils  by  his  way  of  living.  It 
would  be  idle  for  me,  if  I  were  a  liar,  to  teach  boys  to  tell 
the  truth.  A  cowardly  teacher  would  never  succeed  in 
making  his  boys  valiant,  and  a  stranger  to  self-restraint 
could  never  teach  his  pupils  the  value  of  self-restraint.  I 
saw,  therefore,  that  I  must  be  an  eternal  object-lesson  to  the 
boys  and  girls  Jiving  with  me.  They  thus  became  my 
teachers,  and  I  learnt  I  must  be  good  and  live  straight,  if 
only  for  their  sake.  I  may  say  that  the  increasing  discip- 
line and  restraint  I  imposed  on  myself  at  Tolstoy  Farm  was 
mostly  due  to  those  wards  of  mine. 

— My  Experiments  With  Truth  :  Page  414. 
^s    ^s    ^s 

IT  has  always  been  my  conviction  that  Indian  parents 
who  train  their  children  to  think  and  talk  in  English  from 
their  infancy  betray  their  children  and  their  country.  They 
deprive  them  of  the  spiritual  and  social  heritage  of  the 
nation,  and  render  them  to  that  extent  unfit  for  the  service 
of  the  country. 

—My  Experiments  With  Truth  :  Page  414. 


EDUCATION  179 

I  HAVE  heard  it  said  that  after  all  it  is  English- 
educated  India  which  is  leading  and  which  is  doing  all  the 
thing  for  the  nation.  It  would  be  monstrous  if  it  were 
otherwise.  The  only  education  we  receive  is  English 
education.  Surely  we  must  show  something  for  it.  But 
suppose  that  we  had  been  receiving  during  the  past  fifty 
years  education  through  our  vernaculars,  what  should  we 
have  to-day  ?  We  should  have  to-day  a  free  India,  we 
should  have  our  educated  men,  not  as  if  they  were  foreigners 
in  their  own  land  but  speaking  to  the  heart  of  the  nation  ; 
they  would  be  working  amongst  the  poorest  of  the  poor,  and 
whatever  they  would  have  gained  during  the  past  50  years 
would  be  a  heritage  for  the  nation.  Today  even  our  wives 
are  not  the  sharers  in  our  best  thought.  Look  at 
Professor  Bose  and  Professor  Ray  and  their  brilliant 
re-searches.  Is  it  not  a  shame  that  their  researches  are  not 
the  common  property  of  the  masses  ? 

—Young  India  :  Feb.  4,  1920. 
^N    ^x    ^N 

ENGLISH  is  a  language  of  international  commerce,  it  is 
the  language  of  diplomacy,  and  it  contains  many  a  rich 
literary  treasure,  it  gives  us  an  introduction  to  Western 
thought  and  culture.  For  a  few  of  us,  therefore,  a  know- 
ledge of  English  is  necessary.  They  can  carry  on  the 
departments  of  national  commerce  and  international 
diplomacy,  and  for  giving  to  the  nation  the  best  of  Western 
literature,  thought  and  science.  That  would  be  .the 
legitimate  use  of  English.  Whereas  today  English  has 
usurped  the  dearest  place  in  our  hearts  and  dethroned  our 
mother-tongues.  It  is  an  unnatural  place  due  to  our  un- 
equal relations  with  Englishmen.  The  highest  development 
of  the  Indian  mind  must  be  possible  without  a  knowledge 
of  English.  It  is  doing  violence  to  the  manhood  and 
specially  the  womanhood  of  India  to  encourage  our  boys 
and  girls  to  think  that  an  entry  into  the  best  society  is 
impossible  without  a  knowledge  of  English.  It  is  too 


180  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

humiliating  a  thought  to  be  bearable.      To  get   rid   of  the 
infactuation  for  English  is  one  of  the  essentials  of  Swaraj. 

—Toung  India  :  July  12,  1920. 

^^    ^^    ^^ 

I  HAVE  never  been  able  to  make  a  fetish  of  literary 
training.  My  experience  has  proved  to  my  satisfaction 
that  literary  training  by  itself  adds  not  an  inch  to  one's 
moral  height  and  that  character-building  is  independent  of 
literary  training.  I  am  firmly  of  opinion  that  the  Govern- 
ment schools  have  unmanned  us,  rendered  us  helpless  and 
Godless.  They  have  filled  us  with  discontent  and  providing 
no  remedy  for  the  discontent,  have  made  us  despondent. 
They  have  made  us  what  we  were  intended  to  become — 
clerks  and  interpreters.  —Toung  India  :  June  1,  1921. 

<S>    ^    <£ 

SO  many  strange  things  have  been  said  about  my  views 
on  national  education,  that  it  would  perhaps  not  be  out  of 
place  to  formulate  them  before  the  public. 

In  my  opinion  the  existing  system  of  education  is 
defective,  apart  from  its  association  with  an  utterly  unjust 
Government,  in  three  most  important  matters  : 

(1)  It  is  based  upon  foreign  culture  to  the  almost  entire 
exclusion  of  indigenous  culture. 

(2)  It  ignores  the  culture  of  the   heart   and   the   hand 
and  confines  itself  simply  to  the  head. 

(3)  Real     education   is  impossible   through  -a  foreign 
medium. 

Let  us  examine  the  three  defects.  Almost  from  the 
commencement,  the  text  books  deal,  not  with  things  the 
boys  and  the  girls  have  always  to  deal  with  in  their 
homes,  but  things  to  which  they  are  perfect  strangers. 
It  is  not  through  the  text-books,  that  a  lad  learns  what 
is  right  and  what  is  wrong  in  the  home  life.  He  is 
never  taught  to  have  any  pride  in  his  surroundings.  The 


EDUCATION  181 

higher  he  goes,  the  farther  he  is  removed  from  his  home, 
so  that  at  the  end  of  his  education  he  becomes  estranged 
from  his  surroundings.  He  feels  no  poetry  about  the  home 
life.  The  village  scenes  are  all  a  sealed  book  to  him.  His 
own  civilization  is  presented  to  him  as  imbecile^  barbarous, 
superstitious  and  useless  for  all  practical  purposes.  His 
education  is  calculated  to  wean  him  from  his  traditional 
culture.  And  if  the  mass  of  educated  youths  are  not 
entirely  denationalised,  it  is  because  the  ancient  culture  is 
too  deeply  embedded  in  them  to  be  altogether  uprooted 
even  by  an  education  adverse  to  its  growth.  If  I  had  my 
way,  I  would  certainly  destroy  the  majority  of  the  present 
text-books  and  cause  to  be  written  text-books  which  have 
a  bearing  on  and  correspondence  with  the  home  life,  so 
that  a  boy  as  he  learns  may  react  upon  his  immediate 
surroundings. 

Secondly,  whatever  may  be  true  of  other  countries,  in 
India  at  any  rate  where  more  than  eighty  per  cent,  of  the 
population  is  agricultural  and  another  10  percent,  in- 
dustrial, it  is  a  crime  to  make  education  merely  literary  and 
to  unfit  boys  and  girls  for  manual  work  in  after  life.  In- 
deed I  hold  that,  as  the  larger  part  of  our  time  is  devoted 
to  labour  for  earning  our  bread,  our  children  must  from 
their  infancy  be  taught  the  dignity  of  such  labour.  Our 
children  should  not  be  so  taught  as  to  despise  labour. 
There  is  no  reason  why  a  peasant's  son,  after  having  gone 
to  a  school,  should  become  useless,  as  he  does  become,  as 
agricultural  labourer.  It  is  a  sad  thing  that  our  schoolboys 
look  upon  manual  labour  with  disfavour,  if  not  contempt* 
Moreover,  in  India,  if  we  expect,  as  we  must,  every  boy 
and  girl  of  school-going  age  to  attend  public  schools,  we 
have  not  the  means  to  finance  education  in  accordance  with 
the  existing  style,  nor  are  millions  of  parents  able  to  pay 
the  fees  that  are  at  present  imposed.  Education  to  be 
universal  must  therefore  be  free.  I  fancy  that,  even  under 
an  ideal  system  of  government,  we  shall  not  be  able  to 


182         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

devote  two  thousand  million  rupees  which  we  should 
require  for  finding  education  for  all  the  children  of  school- 
going  age.  It  follows,  therefore,  that  our  children  must  be 
made  to  pay  in  labour  partly  or  wholly  for  all  the  educa- 
tion they  receive.  Such  universal  labour  to  be  profitable 
can  only  be  (to  my  thinking)  hand-spinning  and  hand- 
weaving.  But  for  the  purposes  of  my  proposition,  it  is 
immaterial  whether  we  have  spinning  or  any  other  form 
of  labour,  so  long  as  it  can  be  turned  to  account.  Only, 
it  will  be  found  upon  examination,  that  on  a  practical, 
profitable  and  extensive  scale,  there  is  no  occupation  other 
than  the  processes  connected  with  cloth-production  which 
can  be  introduced  in  our  cchools  throughout  India. 

The  introduction  of  manual  training  will  serve  a 
double  purpose  in  a  poor  country  like  ours.  It  will  pay 
for  the  education  of  our  children  and  '  teach  them  an 
occupation  on  which  they  can  fall  back  in  after-life,  if  they 
choose,  for  earning  a  living.  Such  a  system  must 
make  our  children  self-reliant.  Nothing  will  demoralise 
the  nation  so  much  as  that  we  should  learn  to  despise 
labour. 

One  word  only  as  to  the  education  of  the  heart.  I 
do  not  believe  that  this  can  be  imparted  through  books. 
It  can  only  be  done  through  the  living  touch  of  the 
teacher.  And,  who  are  the  teachers  in  the  primary  and 
even  secondary  schools  ?  Are  they  men  and  women  of 
faith  and  character  ?  Have  they  themselves  received  the 
training  of  the  heart  ?  Are  they  even  expected  to  take  care 
of  the  permanent  elements  in  the  boys  and  girls  placed 
under  their  charge  ?  Is  not  the  method  of  engaging 
teachers  for  lower  schools  an  effective  bar  against  character? 
Do  the  teachers  get  even  a  living  wage  ?  And  we  know 
that  the  teachers  of  primary  schools  are  not  selected  for 
their  patriotism.  They  only  come  who  cannot  find  any 
other  employment. 


EDUCATION  183 

Finally,  the  medium  of  instruction.  My  views  on  this 
point  are  too  well  known  to  need  re-stating.  The  foreign 
medium  has  caused  brain-fag,  put  an  undue  strain  upon 
the  nerves  of  our  children,  made  them  crammers  and  imi- 
tators, unfitted  them  for  original  work  and  thought,  and 
disabled  them  for  filtrating  their  learning  to  the  family 
or  the  masses.  The  foreign  medium  has  made  our 
children  practically  foreigners  in  their  own  land.  It  is  the 
greatest  tragedy  of  the  existing  system.  The  foreign 
medium  has  prevented  the  growth  of  our  vernaculars.  If 
I  had  the  powers  of  a  despot,  I  would  today  stop  the 
tuition  of  our  boys  and  girls  through  a  foreign  medium, 
and  require  all  the  teachers  and  professors  on  pain  of 
dismissal  to  introduce  the  change  forthwith.  I  would  not 
wait  for  the  preparation  of  text-books.  They  will  follow 
the  change.  It  is  an  evil  that  needs  a  summary  remedy. 

My  uncompromising  opposition  to  the  foreign  medium 
has  resulted  in  an  unwarranted  charge  being  levelled 
against  me  of  being  hostile  to  foreign  culture  or  the 
learning  of  the  English  language.  No  reader  of  Young 
India  could  have  missed  the  statement  often  made  by 
me  in  these  pages,  that  I  regard  English  as  the  language 
of  international  commerce  and  diplomacy,  and  therefore 
consider  its  knowledge  on  the  part  of  some  of  us  as  essential. 
As  it  contains  some  of  the  richest  treasures  of  thought  and 
literature,  I  would  certainly  encourage  its  careful  study 
among  those  who  have  linguistic  talents  and  expect  them 
to  translate  those  treasures  for  the  nation  in  its  vernaculars. 

Nothing  can  be  farther  from  my  thought  than  that  we 
should  become  exclusive  or  erect  barriers.  But  I  do 
respectfully  contend  that  an  appreciation  of  other  cultures 
can  fitly  follow,  never  precede,  an  appreciation  and  assimi- 
lation of  our  own.  It  is  my  firm  opinion  that  no  culture 
has  treasurers  so  rich  as  ours  has.  We  have  not  known  it, 
we  have  been  made  even  to  deprecate  its  study  and 
depreciate  its  value.  We  have  almost  ceased  to  live  it.  An 


184  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

academic  grasp  without  practice  behind  it  is  like  an 
embalmed  corpse,  perhaps  lovely  to  look ,  at  but  nothing 
to  inspire  or  ennoble.  My  religion  forbids  me  to  belittle 
or  disregard  other  cultures,  as  it  insists  under  pain  of  civil 
suicide  upon  imbibing  and  living  my  own. 

— Toung  India:  Sept.  1,  1921. 

^^    ^^    ^^ 

NATIONAL  education  to  be  truly  national  '  must 
reflect  the  national  condition  for  the  time  being. 

—Toung  India:  Mar.  12,  1925. 

THE  greatest  drawback  of  the  present  system  of 
education  is  that  it  does  not  bear  the  stamp  of  reality, 
that  the  children  do  not  react  to  the  varying  wants  of 
the  country.  True  education  must  correspond  to  the 
surrounding  circumstances  or  it  is  not  a  healthy  growth. 

—Young  India  :  Mar.  12,  1925. 

.     <£   3>   <§> 

IT^  is  an  education  which,  if  it  has  given  us  a  few  self- 
sacrificing  patriots,  has  also  produced  many  more  men  who 
have  been  willing  accomplices  with  the  Government  in 
holding  India  in  bondage.  — Toung  India  :  Dec.  23,  1926. 

3>    <$>    <$> 

THE  correspondent  seems  to  think  that  I  decry  the 
use  of  even  learning  English,  which  I  have  never  done. 
That  the  English  speaking  Indians  have  rendered  immense 
service  to  the  country  nobody  can  deny,  but  unfortunately 
it  is  equally  undeniable  that  further  progress  is  being 
blocked  by  us  English-speaking  Indians  refusing  to  learn 
the  language  of  the  masses  and  to  work  amongst  them  in 
accordance  with  methods  best  suited  to  them. 

—Toung  India:  Feb.  17,  1927. 
^    ^    <$> 

WHAT  is  literary  training  worth  of  if  it  cramp  and  con- 
fine us  at  a  critical  moment  in  national  life  ?  Knowledge 
and  literary  training  are  no  recompense  for  emasculation. 

—Toung  India  :  June  21,  1928. 


EDUCATION  185 

AMONG  the  many  evils  of  foreign  rule  this  blighting 
imposition  of  a  foreign  medium  upon  the  youth  of  the 
country  will  be  counted  by  history  as  one  of  the  greatest. 
It  has  sapped  the  energy  of  the  nation,  it  has  shortened  the 
lives  of  the  pupils.  It  has  estranged  them  from  the  masses, 
it  has  made  education  unnecessarily  expensive.  If  this 
process  is  still  persisted  in,  it  bids  fair  to  rob  the  nation  of 
its  soul.  The  sooner,  therefore,  educated  India  shakes 
itself  free  from  the  hypnotic  spell  of  the  foreign  medium, 
the  better  it  would  be  for  them  and  the  people. 

—Young  India  :  July  5,  1928. 

<$><$>    ^> 

EVERY  time  that  I  am  obliged  to  speak  in  the  English 
language  before  an  audience  of  my  countrymen,  I  feel 
humiliated  and  ashamed.  — Young  India  :  Jan.  13,  1927, 

<$><$>«> 

EDUCATION  should  be  so  revolutionized  as  to  answer 
the  wants  of  the  poorest  villager  instead  of  answering  those 
of  an  imperial  exploiter. 

—Hanjan  :     Aug.  21,  1937. 

<s>  <s>  <$> 

I  MUST  not  be  understood  to  decry  English  or  its 
noble  literature.  The  columns  of  Hat  if  an  are  sufficient 
evidence  of  my  love  of  English.  But  the  nobility  of  its 
literature  cannot  avail  the  Indian  nation  any  more  than  the 
temperate  climate  of  the  scenery  of  England  can  avail  her, 
India  has  to  flourish  in  her  own  climate,  and  scenery,  and 
her  own  literature,  even  though  all  the  three  may  bt 
inferior  to  the  English  climate,  scenery  and  literature.  We 
and  our  children  must  build  on  our  own  heritage.  If  we 
borrow  another,  we  impoverish  our  own.  We  can  nevei 
grow  on  foreign  victuals.  I  want  the  nation  to  have  the 
treasures  contained  in  that  language,  and  for  that  mattei 
the  other  languages  of  the  world,  through  its  owr 
vernaculars.  — Hanjan  :  Dec.  G*  1936, 


186  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

I  HOLD  that  true  education  of  the  intellect  can  only 
come  through  a  proper  exercise  and  training  of  the  bodily 
organs,  e.g.,  hands,  feet,  eyes,  ears,  nose  etc.  In  other 
words  an  intelligent  use  of  the  bodily  organs  in  a  child 
provides  the  best  and  quickest  way  of  developing  his 
intellect.  But  unless  the  development  of  the  mind  and 
body  goes  hand  in  hand  with  a  corresponding  awakening 
of  the  soul,  the  former  alone  would  prove  to  be  a  poor  lop- 
sided affair.  By  spiritual  training  I  mean  education  of  the 
heart.  A  proper  and  all-round  development  of  the  mind, 
therefore,  can  take  place  only  when  it  proceeds  pari  passu 
with  the  education  of  the  physical  and  spiritual  faculties  of 
the  child.  They  constitute  an  indivisible  whole.  According 
to  this  theory,  therefore  it  would  be  a  gross  fallacy  to 
suppose  that  they  can  be  developed  piecemeal  or  indepen- 
dently of  one  another. 

—Harijan  :     April  17,  1937. 
<$><$><$> 

MAN  is  neither  mere  intellect,  nor  the  gross  animal 
body,  nor  the  heart  or  soul  alone.  A  proper  and  har- 
monious combination  of  all  the  three  is  required  for  the 
making  of  the  whole  man  and  constitutes  the  true  economics 
of  education.  — Harijan  :  Dec.  19,  1938. 

^    <£    3> 

THE  craze   for  ever-changing   text-books   is   hardly    a 

healthy  sign  from  the  educational  stand-point.  If  text- 
books are  treated  as  a  vehicle  for  education,  the  living  word 
of  the  teacher  has  very  little  value.  A  teacher  who  teaches 
from  text  books  does  not  impart  originality  to  his  pupils. 
He  himself  becomes  a  slave  of  text  books  and  has  no  oppor- 
tunity or  occasion  to  be  original.  It  therefore  seems  that 
the  less  text  books  there  are  the  better  it  is  for  the  teacher 
and  his  pupils.  Text  books  seem  to  have  become  an 
article  of  commerce.  Authors  and  publishers  who  make 
writing  and  publishing  a  means  of  making  money  are 
interested  in  a  frequent  change  of  text  books.  In  many 
cases  teachers  and  examiners  are  themselves  authors  of 


EFFORT  187 

text  books.  It  is  naturally  to  their  interest  to  have  their 
books  sold.  The  selection  board  is  again  naturally  com- 
posed of  such  people.  And  so  the  vicious  circle  becojnes 
complete.  And  it  becomes  very  difficult  for  parents  to  find 
money  for  new  books  every  year.  It  is  a  pathetic  sight  to 
see  boys  and  girls  going  to  school  loaded  with  books  which 
they  are  ill  able  to  carry.  The  whole  system  requires  to  be 
thoroughly  examined.  The  commercial  spirit  needs  to  be 
entirely  eliminated  and  the  question  approached  solely  in 
the  interest  of  the  scholars.  It  will  then  probably  be  found 
that  75  per  cent,  of  the  text  books  will  have  to  be  consigned 
to  the  scrap-heap.  If  I  had  my  way,  I  would  have  books 
largely  as  aids  to  teachers  rather  than  for  the  scholars. 
Such  text  books  as  are  found  to  be  absolutely  necessary  for 
the  scholars  should  circulate  among  them  for  a  number  of 
years  so  that  the  cost  can  be  easily  borne,  by  middle  class 
families.  The  first  step  in  this  direction  is  perhaps  for  the 
State  to  own  and  organise  the  printing  and  publishing  of 
text  books.  This  will  act  as  an  automatic  check  on  their 
unnecessary  multiplication. 

—Harijan :  Sept.  9,  1939. 
^^    ^^    ^^ 

LITERARY  training  does  not  always  mean  expansion 
of  the  intellect.  Primarily  it  is  a  matter  of  memorising.  A 
letter  is  imprinted  on  the  brain  in  the  same  way  as  any  other 
picture.  But  literary  training  is  more  than  mere  reading. 

—Harijan  :  April  5,  1942. 

Effort 

I  KNOW  that  there  is  a  school  of  philosophy  which 
teaches  complete  inaction  and  futility  of  all  effort.  I  have 
not  been  able  to  appreciate  that  teaching,  unless,  in  order 
to  secure  verbal  agreement,  I  were  to  put  my  own  inter- 
pretation on  it.  In  my  humble  opinion,  effort  is  necessary 
for  one's  own  gfowth.  It  has  to  bs  irrespective  of  results. 
Ramdnami  or  some  equivalent  is  necessary,  not  for  the  sake 


188  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

of  repetition,  but  for  the  sake  of  purification,  as  an  aid  to 
effort,  for  direct  guidance  from  above.  It  is,  therefore, 
never  a  substitute  for  effort.  It  is  meant  for  intensifying 
and  guiding  it  in  proper  channel. 

*    —  Young  India  :  Oct.  21,  1926. 
^s    ^k    ^s 

IT  is  for  us  to  make  the  effort.  The  result  is  always 
in  God's  hands.  —Young  India  :  Mar.  12,  1931. 

<$><$><$> 

PROVIDENCE  has  its  appointed  hour  for  everything. 
We  cannot  command  results;  we  can  only  strive. 

—Harijan  :  May  6,  1939. 
<$><$><$> 

GLORY  lies  in  the  attempt  to  reach  one's  goal  and  not 
in  reaching  it.  — Harijan  :  April  5,  1942. 

Embarrassment 

IT  is  contrary  to  my  creed  to  embarrass  Governments 
or.  anybody  else.  This  does  not  however  mean  that  certain 
acts  of  mine  may  not  result  in  embarrasment.  But  I  should 
not  hold  myself  responsible  for  having  caused  embarrassment 
when  I  resist  the  wrong  of  a  wrong-doer  by  refusing  assis- 
tance in  his  wrong-doing. 

—Young  India  :  April  28,  1920. 

Englishmen 

AS  the  elephant  is  powerless  to  think  in  the  terms  of 
the  ant,  in  spite  of  the  best  intentions  in  the  world,  even  so 
is  the  Englishman  powerless  to  think  in  the  terms  of,  or 
legislate  for  the  Indian. 

— My  Experiments  With  Truth  :  Page  301. 

<$>    <$>    <$> 

ENGLISHMEN  have  an  amazing  capacity  for  self- 
deception.  —  Young  India  :  Dec.  20,  1920. 

<$><£><$> 

THE  average  Englishman  is  haughty,  he  does  not 
understand  us,  he  considers  himself  to  be  a  superior  being. 
He  thinks  that  he  is  born  to  rule  us.  He  relies  upon  his 


ENGLISHMEN  189 

forts  or  his  gun  to  protect  himself.  He  despises  us.  He  , 
wants  to  compel  co-operation,  i.  £.,  slavery.  Even  him  we 
have  to  conquer,  not  by  bending  the  knee,  but  remaining 
aloof  from  him,  but  at  the  same  time  not  hating  him  nor 
hurting  him.  It  is  cowardly  to  molest  him.  If  we  simply 
refuse  to  regard  ourselves  as  his  slaves  and  pay  homage  to 
him,  we  have  done  our  duty.  A  mouse  can  only  shun  the 
cat.  He  cannot  treat  with  her  till  she  has  filled  the  points 
of  her  claws  and  teeth.  At  the  same  time,  we  must  show 
every  attention  to  those  few  Englishmen  who  are  trying  to 
cure  themselves  and  fellow  Englishmen  of  the  disease  of 
race  superiority.  — Young  India  :  July  12,  1921. 

<*>    <$>    <$> 
Q.     WHAT  is   your   own   real    attitude  towards    the 

English  and  your  hope  about  England  ? 

A.  My  attitude  towards  the  English  is  one  of  utter 
friendliness  and  respect,  I  claim  to  be  their  friend,  because 
it  is  contrary  to  my  nature  to  distrust  a  single  human  being 
or  to  believe  that  any  nation  on  earth  is  incapable  of  re- 
demption. I  have  respect  for  Englishmen,  because  I 
recognise  their  bravery,  their  spirit  of  sacrific  for  what  they 
believe  to  be  good  for  themselves,  their  cohesion  and  their 
powers  of  vast  organisation.  My  hope  about  them  is  that 
they  will  at  no  distant  date  retrace  their  steps,  revise  their 
policy  of  exploitation  of  undisciplined  and  ill-organised 
races  and  give  tangible  proof  that  India  is  an  equal  friend 
and  partner  in  the  British  Commonwealth  to  come. 
Whether  such  an  event  will  ever  come  to  pass  will  largely 
depend  upon  our  own  conduct.  That  is  to  say,  I  have 
hope  of  England  because  I  have  hope  of  India.  We  will 
not  for  ever  remain  disorganised  and  imitative.  Beneath 
the  present  disorganisation,  demoralisation  and  lack  of 
initiative  I  can  discover  organisation,  moral  strength  and 
initiative  forming  themselves.  A  time  is  coming  when 
England  will  be  glad  of  India's  friendship  and  India  will 
disdain  to  reject  the  proferred  hand  because  it  has  once 
despoiled  her,  I  know  that  I  havfe  nothing  to  offer  in  proof 


190  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

of  my  hope.     It  is  based  on  an   immutable  faith.     And    it  is 
a  poor  faith  that  is  based  on  proof  commonly  called. 

—  Young  India  :  Mar.  29,  1925. 

<$><$><$> 

THERE  is  no  room    for  Englishmen  as  masters.     There 
is  room  for  them  if  they  will  remain  as  friends  and  helpers. 

—Young  India:  Feb.  11,  1926. 


MY  enemity  is  not  against  them,  it  is  against  their  rule. 
I  seem  to  be  born  to  be  an  instrument  to  compass  the  end 
of  that  rule.  But  if  a  hair  of  an  English  head  was  touched 
I  should  feel  the  same  grief  as  I  should  over  such  a  mishap 
to  my  brother.  I  say  to  them  as  a  friend,  'Why  will  you 
not  understand  that  your  rule  is  ruining  this  country  ?  It 
has  got  to  be  destroyed  even  though  you  may  pound  us  to 
powder  or  drown  us/  —  Toung  India  :  April  3, 


ENGLISHMEN  are  sportsmen.  They  have  ample 
sense  of  humour.  They  can  hit  hard  and  take  a  beating 
also  in  good  grace.  —  Harijan  :  Aug.  6,  1938. 

Error 

WHENEVER  I  see  an  erring  man,  I  say  to  myself  I 
have  also  erred;  when  I  see  a  lustful  man  I  say  to  myself,  so 
was  I  once;  and  in  this  way  I  feel  kinship  with  every  one  in 
the  world  and  feel  that  I  cannot  be  happy  without  the 
humblest  of  us  being  happy. 

—  Tcung  India  :  June  7,  1920 

<s>  <$>  <s> 

AN  error  does  not  become  truth  by   reason  of  multiplied 
propagation,  nor  does  truth   become  error    because   nobody 
see  it.  —  Young  India  :  Dec.  17,  1921. 


ERROR  191 

EVEN  as   wisdom    often    comes    from   the   mouths   of 
babes,  so  does  it  often  come  from  the   mouths  of  old    people. 
The  golden  rule  is  to  test    everything   in  the  light   of  reason 
and  experience,  no  matter  from  whom  it  comes. 

—Young  India  :  Dec.  25,  192L 

TO  err  is  human  and  it  must  be  held  to  be  equally 
human  to  forgive  if  we,  though  being  fallible,  would  like 
rather  to  be  forgiven  than  punished  and  reminded  of  our 
misdeeds.  — Young  India  :  Nov.  18,  1920. 

THE  only  virtue  I  want  to  claim  is  Truth  and  Non- 
violence. I  lay  no  claim  to  superhuman  powers.  I  want 
none.  I  wear  the  same  corruptible  flesh  that  the  weakest 
of  my  fellow  beings  wears,  and  am  therefore  as  liable  to  err 
as  any.  My  services  have  many  limitations,  but  God  has 
up  to  now  blessed  them  in  spite  of  the  imperfections. 

—Young  India  :  Feb.  16,  1922. 

CONFESSION  of  error  is  like  a  broom  that  sweeps 
away  dirt  and  leaves  the  surface  cleaner  than  before. 

—Young  India  :  Feb.  16,  1922. 

NEVER  has  man  reached  his  destination  by  persistence 
in  deviation  from  the  straight  path. 

— Young  India  :  Feb.  16,  1922. 

<§><$><$> 

ERROR  can  claim  no  exemption  even  if  it  can  be 
supported  by  the  scriptures  of  the  world. 

—Young  India  :  Feb.  26,  1925. 

A  MAN  of  truth  must  ever  be  confident,  if  he  has 
also  equal  need  to  be  diffident.  His  devotion  to  truth 


192          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

demands  the  fullest  confidence.  His  consciousness  of  the 
fallibility  of  human  nature  must  make  him  humble  and 
therefore  ever  ready  to  retrace  his  steps  immediately  he 
discovers  his  error.  It  makes  no  difference  to  his  confidence 
that  he  has  previously  made  Himalayan  blunders.  His 
confession  and  penance  make  him,  if  anything,  stronger 
ior  future  action.  Discovery  of  errors  makes  the  votary  of 
truth  more  cautious  of  believing  things  and  forming  con- 
clusions, but  once  he  has  made  up  his  mind,  his  confidence 
must  remain  unshaken.  His  errors  may  result  in  men's 
reb'ance  upon  his  judgments  being  shaken,  but  he  must 
not  doubt  the  truth  of  his  position  once  he  has  come  to  a 
conclusion.  It  should  further  be  borne  in  mind  that  my 
errors  have  been  errors  of  calculation  and  judging  men, 
not  in  appreciating  the  true  nature  of  truth  and  ahimsa 
or  in  their  application.  Indeed  these  errors  and  my 
prompt  confessions  have  made  me  surer,  if  possible,  of  my 
insight  into  the  implications  of  truth  and  ahimsa.  For  I 
am  convinced  that  my  action  in  suspending  Civil  Disobedi- 
ence at  Ahmadabad,  Bombay  and  Bardoli  has  advanced 
the  cause  of  India's  freedom  and  world's  peace.  I  am 
convinced  that  because  of  the  suspensions  we  are  nearer 
Swaraj  than  we  would  have  been  without,  and  this  I  say 
in  spite  of  despair  being  written  in  thick  black  letters  on 
the  horizon.  — Toung  India  :  Sept,  10,  1925. 


I  CLAIM  to  be  a  simple  individual  liable  to  err  like 
any  other  fellow  mortal.  I  own,  however,  that  I  have 
humility  enough  to  confess  my  errors  and  to  retrace  my 
steps.  — Toung  India  :  May  6,  1926. 


TO  err  is  human  ;  it  is  noble  after   discovery  to  correct 
the  error  and  determine  never  to  repeat  it. 

—Harijan  :  April  13,  1935 


ERROR  193 

TO  err,  eVen,  grievously  is  human.  But  it  is  human 
only  if  there  is  a  determination  to  mend  the  error  and  not 
to  repeat  it.  The  error  will  be  forgotten  if  the  promise  is 
fully  redeemed.  —Harijan  :  Feb.  6,  1937. 


I  CLAIM  to  have  no  infallible  guidance  or  inspiration 
So  far  as  my  experience  goes,  the  claim  to  infallibility  on 
the  part  of  a  human  being  would  be  untenable,  seeing  that 
inspiration  too  can  come  only  to  one  who  is  free  from 
the  action  of  pairs  of  opposites,  and  it  will  be  difficult  to 
judge  on  a  given  occasion  whether  the  claim  to  freedom 
from  pairs  of  opposites  is  justified.  The  claim  to  in- 
fallibility would  thus  always  be  a  most  dangerous  claim  to 
make.  This  however  does  not  leave  us  without  any  guidance 
whatsoever.  The  sum-total  of  the  experience  of  the  sages 
of  the  world  is  available  to  us  and  would  be  for  all  time 
to  come.  —  Young  India  :  Jan.  24,  1931. 

<$><$><$> 

WHEN  Non-co-operation  was  in  full  swing,  and  when 
during  the  course  of  the  struggle  I  confessed  to  an  error 
of  judgment,  a  friend  innocently  wrote  to  me  :  4Eveo  if 
it  was  an  error,  you  ought  not  to  have  confessed  it.  People 
ought  to  be  encouraged  to  believe  that  there  is  at  least  one 
man  who  is  infallible.  You  used  to  be  looked  upon  as  such. 
Your  confession  will  now  dishearten  them.5  This  made  me 
smile  and  also  made  me  sad.  I  smiled  at  the  correspondent's 
simpleness.  But  the  very  thought  of  encouraging  people 
to  believe  a  fallible  man  to  be  infallible  was  more  than  I 
could  bear. 

A  knowledge  of  one  as  he  is  can  always  do  good  to 
the  people,  never  any  harm.  I  firmly  believe  that  my 
prompt  confession  of  my  errors  have  been  all  to  the  good 
for  them.  For  me  at  any  rate  they  have  been  a  blessing. 

—  Harijan:  July  17,  1937 


194        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA    GANDHI 

IT  is  easier  not  to  do  a  thing  at  all  than  to  cease  doing 
it,  even  as  it  is  easier  for  a  life  abstainer  to  remain 
teetotaller  than  for  a  drunkard  or  even  a  temperate  man  to 
abstain.  To  remain  erect  is  infinitely  easier  than  to  rise 
from  a  fall.  —Harijan  :  Dec.  1,  1938. 

<5>     <$>     <S> 

ALL  sins  are  committed  in  secrecy.  The  moment  we 
realise  that  God  witnesses  even  our  thoughts  we  shall  be 
free.  —Hanjan  :  Jan.  17,  1939. 

<2>     «>     <S> 

I  BELIEVE  that  if  in  spite  of  the  best  of  intentions 
one  is  led  into  committing  mistakes,  they  do  not  really 
result  in  harm  to  the  world  or  for  the  matter  of  that  any 
individual.  God  always  haves  the  world  from  the  con- 
sequences of  unintended  errors  of  men  who  live  in  fear  of 
Him.  —  T^ung  *hdia  :  Jan.  3,  1939. 

3>     <S>     3> 

IT  is  my  firm  belief  that  not  one  of  my  known  errors 
was  wilful.  Indeed  what  may  appear  to  be  an  obvious 
error  to  oue  may  appear  to  another  as  pure  wisdom. 

—  Young  India  :  Jan.  3,  1939. 

<3>    <$>    <$> 

THERE  is  no  defeat  in  the  confession  of  one's  eiror. 
The  confession  itself  is  a  victory  -Hanjan  :  May  27,  1939. 

<$>     3>     <$> 

IT  is  best  to  own  the  error.  It  is  sure  to  add  to  GUI 
strength.  Error  ceases  to  be  error  when  it  is  corrected. 

Young  India  :  Mar.  2,    1940. 
<$>     <$>     <S> 

Q,.  IS  not  the  realisation  of  one's  error  and  the  resolve 
never  to  repeat  it  a  penance  in  itself?  Is  any  further 
penance  necessary  ? 

A.  Realisation  of  an  error,  which  amounts  to  a  fixed 
resolve  never  to  repeat  it,  is  enough  penance.  One  casts 


EVIL  195 

away  his  evil  habits  as  a  snake  casts  off  his  skin,  and  thus 
purifies  himself.  Such  self-purification  is  itself  complete 
penance  But  he  who  gets  into  the  habit  of  committing 
errors  cannot  easily  shed  it.  For  all  such,  penance  in  its 
accepted  sense,  if  undertaken  with  discrimination,  is  likely 
to  be  a  great  help.  —Harijan  :  Sept.  15,  1940. 

I  AM  always  ready  to  correct  my  mistakes.  A  full  and 
candid  admission  of  one's  mistake  should  make  one  proof 
against  its  repetition.  A  full  realization  of  one's  mistake  is 
also  the  highest  form  of  expiation.  —Harijan  :  April  6,  1940. 

^    ^    3> 

I  HAVE  always  held  that  it  is  only  when  one  sees  one's 
own  mistakes  with  a  convex  lens,  and  does  just  the  reverse 
in  the  case  of  others,  that  one  is  able  to  arrive  at  a  just 
relative  estimate  of  the  two. 

—  My  Experiments  Wiik  Truth  :  Page  575. 

Evil 

A  MAN  who  broods  on  evil  is  as  bad  as  a  man  who 
does  evil,  if  he  is  no  worse.  —Toung  India  :  Jan.  1,  1921. 

®    <£    ^ 

IT  is  easier  for  the  average  man  to  run  away  from  evil 
than  10  remain  in  it  and  still  remain  unaffected  by  it.  Many 
men  can  shun  grog-shops  and  remain  teetotallers,  but  not 
many  can  remain  in  these  pestilential  places  and  avoid  the 
contagion.  .  —Young  India  :  Aug.  6,  1925. 

<S>    3>    ^ 

FOR  me  the  fight  is  never  with  individuals  it  is  ever 
with  their  manners  and  their  measures. 

—Young  India  :  Dec.  31,  1931. 

Exaggeration 

A  CAUSE  can  only  lose  by  exaggeration. 

— Young  India  :  July  21,  1921- 


196          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

Exercise 

NO  matter  what  amount  of  work  one  has,  one  should 
always  find  some  time  for  exercise,  just  as  one  does  for  one's 
meals.  It  is  my  humble  opinion  that,  far  from  taking  away 
from  one's  capacity  for  work,  it  adds  to  it. 

—My  Experiments   With  Truth :  Page  287. 

Expediency 

I  HAVE  a  horror  of  the  word  'expediency'  because  of 
its  bad  odour.  As  a  rule,  expediency  is  often  opposed  to 
morality  and  does  not  exclude  the  use  of  violence. 

—Young  India  :  Dec.  12,  1921- 

Experiments 

He  who  would  go  in  for  novel  experiments  must  begin 
with  himself.  That  leads  to  a  quicker  discovery  of  truth, 
and  God  always  protects  the  honest  experimenter. 

—My  Experiments  With  Truth  :  Page  376- 

Exploitation 

EXPLOITATION  of  the  poor  can  be  extinguished  not 
by  affecting  the  destruction  of  a  few  millionaires,  but  by 
removing  the  ignorance  of  the  poor  and  teaching  them  to 
non- co-operate  with  their  exploiters  That  will  convert 
the  exploiters  also.  I  have  even  suggested  that  ultimately 
it  will  lead  to  both  being  equal  partners.  Capital  as  such 
is  not  evil ;  it  is  its  wrong  use  that  is  evil.  Capital  in  <ome 
form  or  other  will  always  be  needed. 

8  1940. 


FAITH  197 


Faith 

I  DO  not  claim  to  know  definitely  that  all  con- 
scious thought  and  action  on  my  part  is  directed  by  the 
Spirit.  But  on  an  examination  of  the  greatest  steps  that 
I  have  taken  in  my  life,  as  also  of  those  that  may  be 
regarded  as  the  least.  I  think  it  will  not  be  improper 
to  say  that  all  of  them  were  directed  by  the  Spirit. 

I  have  not  seen  Him,  neither  have  I  known  Him- 
I  have  made  the  world's  faith  in  God  my  own,  and  as  my 
faith  is  ineffaceable.  I  regard  that  faith  as  amounting 
to  experience.  However,  as  it  may  be  said  that  to 
describe  faith  as  experience  is  to  temper  with  truth, 
it  may  perhaps  be  more  correct  to  say  that  I  have  no 
word  for  characterizing  my  belief  in  God. 

—My  Experiments  With  Truth  :  Page  341. 

INDEED  one's  faith  in  one's  plans  and  methods  is  truly 
tested  when  the  horizon  before  one  is  the  blackest. 

—Young  India  :  April  3,  1924. 
<£    3>    <$> 
FAITH  knows  no  disappointment. 

—Young  India  :  July  24,  1924. 
^s    ^s    ^s 

THERE  is  no  cause  for  despondency  for  a  man  who  has 
faith  and  resolution.  — Young  India  :  Aug.  14,  1924. 

IT  is  poor  faith  that  needs  fair  wheather  for  standing 
firm.  That  alone  is  true  faith  that  stands  the  foulest 
weather.  — Young  India  :  Nov.  20,  1924. 

IT  is  a  poor  faith  that  is  based  on  proof  commonly 
called.  —  Young  India  :  Jan.  29,  1925. 


198  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

ONE'S  faith   has   got  to  be    bright    and     intelligent 
before  it  can  enkindle  faith  in  others. 

— Young  India  :  Oct.  22,  1925. 


BLIND   enthusiasm    and    blind    faith  can    lead    to    no 
lasting  good.  —Young  India  :  Oct.  22,    1925. 


IT  is  faith  that  steers  us  through  stormy  seas,  faith 
that  moves  mountains  and  faith  that  jumps  across  the 
ocean.  That  faith  is  nothing  but  a  living,  wide-awake 
consciousness  of  God  within.  He  who  has  achieved  that 
failh  wants  nothing.  *  —  Young  India  :  Sept.  24,  1925. 

<$><$><$> 

THE  more  I  live  the  more  I  realise  how  much  I 
owe  to  faith  and  prayer  which  is  one  and  the  same 
thing  for  me.  And  I  am  quoting  an  experience  not  limited 
to  a  few  hours,  or  days  or  weeks,  but  extending  over 
an  unbroken  period  of  nearly  40  years.  I  have  had 
my  share  of  disappointments,  uttermost  darkness,  counsels 
of  despair,  counsels  of  caution,  subtlest  assaults  of  pride;  but 
I  am  able  to  say  that  my  faith  —  and  I  know  that  it  is  still  little 
enough  by  no  means  as  great  as  I  want  it  to  be,  —  has  ulti- 
mately conquered  every  one  of  these  difficulties  up  to  now. 
If  we  have  faith  in  us,  if  we  have  a  prayerful  heart,  we 
may  not  tempt  God,  may  not  make  terms  with  him.  We 
must  reduce  ourselves  to  a  cipher. 

—  Young  India  :  Dec.  22,  1928. 


WANT  of  faith  is  the    father    of  an    innumerable 
brood  of  doubts.         f  —Young  India  :  Feb.  21,  1929, 


FAITH  199 

FAITH  cannot  be  given  by  anybody.  It  has  to 
come  from  within.  — Young  India  :  April  17,  1930. 

THAT  faith  is  of  litt'e  value  which  can  flourish 
only  in  fair  whether.  Faith  in  order  to  be  of  any  value 
has  to  survive  the  severest  trials.  Your  faith  is  a  whited 
sepulchre  if  it  cannot  stand  against  the  calumny  of  the 
whole  world.  —Young  India  :  April  25,  1929. 

AN  M.    B.    B.    S.   from    Mandalay   sends   a   string    of 
questions  of  which'  the  first  is  : 

"You  once  expressed  your  opinion  in  the  pages  of 
Young  India  that  faith  begins  where  reason  ends.  Then 
I  expect  you  will  call  it  faith,  if  a  person  believes  in  a 
thing  for  which  he  can  give  no  reasons.  Is  it  npt  then 
clear  that  faith  is  believing  unreasonably  ?  Do  you  think 
it  truth  or  justice  if  anybody  believed  in  anything  un- 
reasonable ?  I  think  it  is  folly  to  believe  in  that  way. 
I  do  not  know  what  your  barrister  mind  will  call  it. 
If  you  think  like  me  I  hope  you  will  call  faith  as  nothing 
but  folly." 

If  the  worthy  doctor  will  excuse  my  saying  so,  there 
is  in  his  question  a  clear  failure  to  understand  my  mean- 
ing. That  which  is  beyond  reason  is  surely  not  un- 
reasonable.  Unreasonable  belief  is  blind  faith  and  is 
often  superstition.  To  ask  anybody  to  believe  without 
proof  what  is  capable  of  proof  would  be  unreasonable 
as  for  instance  asking  an  intelligent  person  to  believe 
without  the  proof  that  the  sum  of  the  angles  of  a  trian- 
gle is  equal  to  two  right  angles.  But,  for  an  experienced 
person  to  ask  another  to  believe  without  being  able  to 
prove  that  there  is  God  is  humbly  to  confess  his  limi- 
tations and  to  ask  another  to  accept  in  faith  the  state- 
ment of  his  experience.  It  is  merely  a  question  of  that 
person's  credibility.  In  ordinary  matters  of  life  we 
accept  in  faith  the  word  of  persons  on  whom 


200  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

we  choose  to  rely  although  we  are  often  cheated.  Why 
may  we  not  then  in  matters  of  life  and  death  accept 
the  testinaoney  of  sages  all  the  world  over  that  there 
is  God  and  that  He  is  to  be  seen  by  following  Truth 
and  Innocence  (non-violeace)  ?  It  is  at  least  as  reasonable 
for  me  to  ask  my  correspondent  to  have  that  faith  in 
this  universal  testimony  a?  it  would  be  for  him  to  ask 
me  to  take  his  medicine  in  faith  even  though  many  a 
medicineman  might  have  failed  me.  I  make  bold  to  say 
that  without  faith  this  world  would  come  to  nought  in  a 
moment.  True  faith  is  appropriation  of  the  reasoned  experi- 
ence of  people  whom  we  believe  to  have  lived  a  life  purified 
by  prayer  and  penance.  Belief,  therefore,  in  prophets 
or  incarnations  who  have  lived  in  remote  ages  is  not  an 
idle  superstition  but  a  satisfaction  of  an  inmost  spiritual 
want.  The  formula,  therefore  I  have  humbly  suggested 
for  guidance  is  rejection  of  every  demand  for  faith  where 
a  matter  is  capable  of  present  proof  and  unqestioned 
acceptance  on  faith  of  that  which  is  itself  incapable  of 
proof  except  through  personal  exprience. 

—Young  India  :  14,  July  1927. 

<$><$>  <s> 

A  MAN  without  faith  is  like  a  drop  thrown  out  of 
the  ocean  bound  to  perish.  Every  drop  in  the  ocean 
shares  its  majesty  and  has  the  honour  of  giving  us  the 
ozone  oflife.  — Harijan  :  April  25,  1936. 

<e>  <$>  <S> 

WORK  without  faith  is  like  an  attempt  to  reach 
the  bottom  of  a  bottomless  pit .  — Harijan  :  Oct.  30,  1936. 

<3>    <$»    <$> 

DR.  MOTT  :  What  affords  you  the  greatest  hope  and 
satisfaction  ? 

Gandhiji  :  Faith  in  myself  born  of  Faith  in  God, 

Dr.  Mott  :  In  moments  when  your  heart  may  sink 
within  you,  you  hark  back  to  this  faith  in  God. 


FAITH  201 

Gandhiji  :  Yes.  That  is  why  I  have  always  described 
myself  as  an  irrepressible  optimist. 

—Harijan  :  Dec.  26,  1936. 
<e>    <S>    <3> 

FAITH  can  be  turned  into  knowledge  by  experience, 
and  it  can  come  only  through  the  heart  and  not  by 
the  intellect.  The  intellect,  if  anything,  acts  as  a  barrier 
in  matters  of  faith.  — Harijan  :  June  18,  1938, 

<S>     <S>     <$>, 

THE  greater  the  difficulties,  the  greater  should  be  our 
faith.  — Harijan  :  April  6,  1940. 

<$>  <s>  <s> 

REASON  is  a  poor  thing  in  the  midst  of  tempta- 
tions. Faith  alone  can  save  us.  Reason  appears  to  be 
on  the  side  of  those  who  indulge  in  drink  and  free  love. 
The  fact  is  that  reason  is  blurred  on  such  occasions. 
It  follows  the  instinct.  Don't  lawyers  ranged  on  opposite 
sides  make  reason  appear  to  be  on  their  side  ?  And 
yet  one  of  them  must  be  wrong,  or  it  may  be  that  both 
are.  Hence  faith  in  the  Tightness  of  one's  moral  position 
is  the  only  bulwark  against  the  attack  of  reason. 

There  is  no  such  thing  as  absolute  morality  for  all 
times.  But  there  is  a  relative  morality  which  is  absolute 
enough  for  imperfect  mortals  that  we  are.  Thus,  it  is 
absolutely  immoral  to  drink  spirituous  liquors  except  as 
medicine,  in  medicinal  doses  and  under  medical  advice. 
Similarly,  it  is  absolutely  wrong  to  see  lustfully  any 
woman  other  than  one's  wife.  Both  these  positions  have 
been  proved  by  cold  reason.  Counter  arguments  have 
always  been  advanced.  They  have  been  advanced  against 
the  very  existence  of  God  the  sum  of  all  that  is.  Faith 
that  transcends  reason  is  our  only  Rock  of  Ages.  My 
faith  has  saved  me  and  is  still  saving  some  from  pitfalls. 
It  has  never  betrayed  me.  It  has  never  been  known  to 
betray  anyone. 

—Harijan  :  Dec.  23,  1939. 


202  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

I  FANCY  I  see  the  distinction  between  you  and  me. 
You,  as  a  Westerner,  cannot  subordinate  reason  to  faith, 
I,  as  an  Indian,  caanot  subordinate  faith  to  reason  even 
if  I  will  You  tempt  the  Lord  God  with  your  reason;  I 
won't.  As  the  Gita  says:  Gjd  is  the  fifth,  or  the  unknown,  deciding 
factor.  —Harijan  :  Oct.  *3,  1939. 

<$><$><$> 

FAITH  is  the  function  of  the  heart.  It  must  be  enforced 
by  reason.  The  two  ar^  not  antagonistic  as  some  think. 
The  more  intense  one's  faith  is,  the  more  it  whets  one's 
reason.  When  faith  becomes  blind  it  dies. 

—Harijan  :  April  6,  1940. 
$>    <$>    <$> 

I  AM  a  man  of  faith.  My  reliance  is  solely  on  God. 
One  step  is  enough  for  me  The  next  step  He  will 
make  clear  to  me  when  time  for  it  comes. 

My  faith  is  not  a  sham  but  a  reality  greater  than? 
the  fact  that  I  am  penning  these  lines. 

—Harijan  :  Oct.  20,  1  940. 

Fasting 

A  MIND  consciously  unclean  cannot  be  cleaned 
by  fasting,  modifications  in  diet  have  no  effect  on  it.  The 
concupiscence  of  the  mind  cannot  be  rooted  out  except  by 
intense  self-examination,  surrender  to  God  and  lastly, 
grace.  But  there  is  an  intimate  connection  between  the 
mind  and  the  body,  and  the  carnal  mind  always  lusts 
for  delicacies  and  luxuries.  To  obviate  this  tendency 
dietetic  restrictions  and  fasting  would  appear  to  be 
necessary.  The  carnal  mind,  instead  of  controlling  the 
senses,  becomes  their  slave,  and  therefore  the  body  always 
needs  clean  non-stimulating  foods  and  periodical  fasting. 

—My  Experiments  With  Truth  :  Page  403. 

A  MAN  emerging  from  a  long  fast  should  not  be  in 
a  hurry  to  regain  lost  strength,  and  should  also  put  a 


FASTING  203 

curb  on  his  appetite.  More  caution  and  perhaps  more 
restraint  are  necessary  in  breaking  a  fast  than  in 
keeping  it.  — My  Experiments  With  Truth  :  Page  422. 

<$>    <£    ^ 

A  HARTAL  brought  about  voluntarily  and  without 
pressure  is  a  powerful  means  of  showing  popular  disapproval, 
but  fasting  is  even  more  so.  When  people  fast  in  a  religious 
spirit  and  thus  demonstrate  their  grief  before  God,  it  receives 
a  certain  response.  Hardest  hearts  are  impressed  by  it. 
Fasting  is  regarded  by  all  religions  as  a  great  discipline. 
Those  who  voluntarily  fast  become  gentle  and  purified  by 
it.  A  pure  fast  is  a  very  powerful  prayer.  It  is  no  small 
thing  for  lakhs  of  people  voluntarily  to  abstain  from  food 
and  such  a  fast  is  a  Satyagrahi  fast.  It  ennobles  individuals 
and  nations.  In  it  there  should  be  no  intention  of  exercis- 
ing undue  pressure  upon  the  Government.  But  we  do 
observe  that  like  so  many  other  good  acts  this  one  of  fasting 
too  is  sometimes  abused.  In  India  we  often  see  beggars 
threatening  of  fast,  fasting,  or  pretending  to  fast,  until  they 
receive  what  they  ask  for.  This  is  duragrahi  fasting  and  the 
person  so  fasting  degrades  himself  and  it  will  be  the  proper 
thing  to  let  such  people  fast.  It  is  false  kindness  to  give 
anything  under  pressure  of  such  fasting.  If  it  were  to  be 
otherwise,  fasting  may  be  resorted  to  even  for  securing  un- 
lawful demands.  Where  it  is  a  question  of  determining  the 
justice  or  otherwise  of  a  particular  act  there  is  no  room  for 
;ny  other  force  but  that  of  reason  regulated  by  the  voice 
of  conscience.  — Young  India  :  May  7,  1919. 

<$><$><$> 

THERE  is  nothing  so  powerful  as  fasting  and  prayer 
that  would  give  us  the  requisite  discipline,  spirit  of  self- 
sacrifice,  humility  and  resoluteness  of  will  without  which 
there  can  be  no  real  progress. 

— Young  India  :  Mar.  31,  1920-. 

IN  two  or  three  cases,  volunteers  visited     villagers,   and 


204  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

on  the  parents  hesitating  to  withdraw  their  children  from 
Government  schools,  sat  dhurana  and  fasted  until  the  bewild- 
ered parents  had  complied  with  their  request.  I  told  the 
workers  that  even  this  kind  of  pressure  bordered  on  violence, 
for  we  had  no  right  to  make  people  conform  to  our  opinion 
by  fasting.  One  may  conceivably  fast  for  enforcing  one's 
right  but  not  for  imposing  one's  opinion  on  another. 

—  Toung  India  :  Dec.  8,  1921 

<$><$>    <S> 

I  KNOW  that  the  mental  attitude  is  everything.  Just 
as  a  prayer  may  be  merely  a  mechanical  intonation  as  of  a 
bird,  so  may  a  fast  be  a  mere  mechanical  torture  of  the 
flesh.  Such  mechanical  contrivances  are  valueless  for 
the  purpose  intended.  Again,  just  as  a  mechanical 
chant  may  result  in  the  modulation  of  voice,  a  mechani- 
cal fast  may  result  in  purifying  the  body.  Neither  will 
touch  the  soul  within. 

But  a  fast  undertaken  for  fuller  self-expression,  for 
attainment  of  the  spirit's  supremacy  over  the  flesh,  is  a 
most  powerful  factor  in  one's  evolution. 

—Toung  India  :  Feb.  16,  1922. 
<$><$><$> 

ALL  fasting  and  all  penance  must  as  far  as  possible  be 
secret.  But  my  fasting  k  both  a  penance  and  a  punish- 
ment, and  a  punishment  has  to  be  public.  It  is  penance 
for  me  and  punishment  for  those  whom  I  try  to  serve,  for 
whom  I  love  to  live  and  would  equally  love  to  die.  They 
have  unintentionally  sinned  against  the  laws  of  the 
Congress,  though  they  were  sympathisers  if  not  actually 
connected  with  it.  — Toung  India  :  Feb.  16,  1922. 

(In  connection  with  Chauri  Chaura  Riots) 
<$><$><$> 

FASTING  in  Satyagraha  has  well-defined  limits.  You 
cannot  fast  against  a  tyrant,  for  it  will  be  a  species  of 
violence  done  to  him.  You  invite  penalty  from  him  for  dis- 
obedience of  his  orders  but  you  cannot  inflict  on  yourselves 


FASTING  205 

penalties  when  he  refuses  to  punish  and  renders  it  impossible 
for  you  to  disobey  his  orders  so  as  to  compel  infliction  of 
penalty.  Fasting  can  only  be  resorted  to  against  a  lover, 
not  to  extort  rights  but  to  reform  him,  as  when  a  son  fasts  for 
a  father  who  drinks.  My  fast  at  Bombay  and  then  at  Bardoli 
was  of  that  character.  I  fasted  to  reform  those  who  loved 
me.  But  1  will  not  fast  to  reform,  say,  General  Dyer,  who 
not  only  does  not  love  me  but  who  regards  himself  as  my 
enemy.  Am  I  quite  clear  ?" 

It  need  not  be  pointed  out  that  the  above  remarks  are 
of  a  general  character.  The  words  'tyrant'  and  'lover'  have 
also  a  general  application.  The  one  who  d  ^es  an  injustice 
is  styled  'tyrant.5  The  one  who  is  in  sympathy  with  you  is 
the  'lover.1 

There  are  two  conditions  attached  to  a  Satyagrahi  fasts. 
It  should  be  against  the  lover  and  for  his  reform,  not  for 
extorting  rights  from  him. 

1  can  fast  against  my  father  to  cure  him  of  a  vice,  but 
I  may  not  in  order  to  get  from  him  an  inheritance.  The 
beggars  of  India  who  sometimes  fast  against  those  who  do 
not  satisfy  them  are  no  more  Satyagrahis  than  children  who 
fast  against  a  parent  for  a  fine  dress.  The  former  are 
impudent,  the  latter  are  childish.  Young  India  :  May  1,  1924. 

<$><$><$> 

MY  religion  teaches  me  that  whenever  there  is  distress* 
which  one  cannot  remove,  one  must  fast  and  pray. 

—Young  India  :  Sept.  25,  1924. 

<s>  <s>  <$> 

THOUGH  almost  all  my  fasts  have  been  undertaken  for 
a  moral  purpose,  being  an  inveterate  diet  reformer  and  a 
believer  in  fasting  as  a  cure  for  many  obstinate  diseases,  I 
have  not  failed  to  note  their  physical  effects.  I  must,  how- 
ever, confess  that  I  have  not  made  any  accurate  observations 
for  the  simple  reason  that  it  was  not  possible  for  me  to 
combine  the  two.  I  was  much  too  pre-occupied  with  the 
moral  values  to  note  or  mind  the  physical. 

—Young  India  :  Dec.  17,  1925. 


206  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

FROM  a  layman's  and  from  a  purely  physical  stand- 
point, I  should  lay  down  the  following  rules  for  all  those 
who  may  wish  to  fast  on  any  account  what  soever  : 

1.  Conserve   your   energy   both   physical   and  mental 
from  the  very  beginning. 

2.  You  must   cease   to   think  of  food  whilst  you  are 
fasting. 

3.  Drink  as  much  cold  water  as  you  can,  with  or  with- 
out soda  and  salt,  but  in  small   quantities  at  a   time  (water 
should  be  boiled,  strained   and   cooled).     Do  not   be  afraid 
of  salt   and  soda,    because   most   waters  contain  both  these 
salts  in  a  free  state. 

4.  Have  a  warm  sponge  daily. 

5.  Tate  an  enema   regularly   during  fast.     You    will 
be  surprised  at  the  impurities  you  will  expel  daily. 

6.  Sleep  as  much  as  possible  in  the  open  air. 

7.  Bathing  in  the  morning  sun.     A  sun    and   air   bath 
is  at  least  as  great  a  purifier  as  a  water  bath. 

8.  Think  of  anything  else  but  the  fast. 

9.  No   matter   from    what   motive     you    are   fasting, 
during   this  precious    time,   think   of  your    Maker,    and  of 
your   relation    to  Him  and  His  other  creation,  and  you  will 
make  discoveries  you  may  not  have  even  dreamed  of. 

With  apologies  to  medical  friends,  but  out  of  the 
fulness  of  my  own  experience  and  that  of  fellow-cranks  I 
•say  without  hesitation,  fast  (1)  if  you  are  constipated,  (2) 
if  you  are  anaemic,  (3)  if  you  are  feverish^  (4)  if  you  have 
indigestion,  (5)  if  you  have  a  head-ache,  (6)  if  you  are 
rehumatic,  (7)  if  you  are  gouty,  (8)  if  you  are  fretting  and 
foaming,  (9)  if  you  are  depressed,  (10)  if  you  are  over- 
joyed ;  and  you  will  avoid  medical  prescriptions  and 
patent  medicines. 

Eat  only  when  you  are  hungry  and  when  you  have 
laboured  for  your  food.  — Young  India  :  Dec.  17,  1925. 


FASTING  207 

MY  religion  says  that  only  he  who  is  prepared  to 
suffer  can  pray  to  God.  Fasting  and  prayer  are  common 
injunctions  in  my  religion.  But  I  know  of  this  sort  of 
penance  even  in  Islam.  In  the  life  of  the  Prophet  I  have 
read  that  the  Prophet  often  fasted  and  prayed,  and  forbade 
others  to  copy  him.  Some  one  asked  him  why  he  did  not 
allow  others  to  do  the  thing  he  himself  was  doing.  'Because 
I  live  on  food  divine,'  he  said.  He  achieved  most  of  his  great 
things  by  fasting  and  prayer  I  learnt  from  him  that  only 
he  can  fast  who  has  inexhaustible  faith  in  God.  The 
prophet  had  revelations  not  in  moments  of  ease  and 
luxurious  living  He  fasted  and  prayed,  kept  awake  for 
nights  together  and  would  be  on  his  feet  at  all  hours  of 
the  night  as  he  received  the  revelations. 

The  public  will  have  to  neglect  my  fasts  and  cease  to 
worry  about  them.  They  are  a  part  of  my  being.  I  can 
as  well  do  without  my  eyes,  for  instance,  as  1  can  without 
fasts.  What  the  eyes  are  for  outer  world,  fasts  are  for  the 
inner.  And  much  as  I  should  like  the  latest  fast  to  be  the 
very  last  in  my  life,  something  within  me  tells  me  that  I 
might  have  to  go  through  many  such  ordeals  and,  who 
knows,  much  more  trying.  I  no  ay  be  wholly  wrong.  Then 
the  world  will  be  able  to  write  an  epitaph  over  my  ashes  : 
'Well  deserved  thou  fool.7  But  for  the  time  being  my 
error,  if  it  be  one,  must  sustain  me.  Is  it  not  better  that  i 
satisfy  my  conscience  though  misguided,  because  not  per- 
fectly pure,  than  that  I  should  listen  to  every  voice,  be  it  ever 
so  friendly  but  by  no  means  infallible  ?  if  I  had  a  Guru, — 
and  I  am  looking  for  one,  I  should  surrender  myself  body 
and  soul  to  him.  Bat  in  this  age  of  unbelief  a  true  Guru  is 
hard  to  find.  \  substitute  will  be  worse  than  useless, 
often  positively  harmful.  I  must  therefore  warn  all  against 
accepting  imperfect  ones  as  Gurus.  It  is  better  to  grope  in 
the  dark  and  wade  through  a  million  errors  to  Truth  than 
to  entrust  oneself  to  one  who  "  knows  not  that  he  knows 
not."  Has  a  man  ever  learnt  swimming  by  tying  a  stone 
to  his  neck  ? 


208          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

And  who  shall  lose  by  erroneous  fasting  ?  Of  course 
only  myself.  But  I  am  public  property,  it  is  said.  So  be 
it.  But  I  must  be  taken  with  all  my  faults.  I  am  a 
searcher  after  truth.  My  experiments  I  hold  to  be 
infinitely  more  important  than  the  best  equipped  Himalayan 
expeditions.  And  the  results  ?  If  the  search  is  scientific, 
surely  there  is  no  comparison  between  the  two.  Let  me 
therefore  go  my  way.  I  shall  lose  my  usefulness  the 
moment  I  stifle  the  still  small  voice  within. 

—  Young  India  :  Dec.  19,  1925. 

THERE  are  many  forms  of  Satyagraha,  of  which  fasting 
may  or  may  not  be  one,  according  to  the  circumstances 
of  the  case.  A  friend  has  put  the  following  poses  : 

cl  A  man  wants  to  recover  money  another  owes  him. 
He  cannot  do  so  by  going  to  law  as  he  is  a  non-co- 
operator,  and  the  debtor  in  the  intoxication  of  the 
power  of  his  wealth  pays  him  no  heed,  and  refuses 
even  to  accept  arbitration. 

If  in  these  circumstances,  the  creditor  sits  dhurna  at 
the  debtor's  door,  would  it  not  be  Satyagraha  ?  The 
fasting  creditor  seeks  to  injure  no  one  by  his  fasting. 
Ever  since  the  golden  age  of  Rama  we  have  been  follow- 
ing this  method.  But  I  am  told  you  regard  this  as 
intimidation.  If  you  do,  will  you  kindly  explain  ?  " 

I  know  the  correspondent.  He  has  written  from  the 
purest  motive.  But  I  have  no  doubt  that  he  is  mistaken 
in  his  interpretation  of  Satyagraha.  Satyagraha  can  never  be 
resorted  to  for  personal  gain.  If  fasting  with  a  view  to  recov- 
ering money  is  to  be  encouraged,  there  would  be  no  end  of 
scoundrels  blackmailing  people  by  resorting  to  the  means. 
I  know  that  many  such  people  are  to  be  met  with  in 
the  country.  It  is  not  right  to  argue  that  those  who 
rightly  resort  to  fasting  need  not  be  condemned  because  it 
is  abused  in  a  few  cases.  Any  and  every  one  may  not 
draw  his  own  distinction  between  fasting — Satyagraha — 


FASTING  209 

true  and  false.  What  one  regards  as  true  Satyagraha  may 
very  likely  be  otherwise.  Satyagraha,  therefore,  cannot  be 
resorted  to  for  personal  gain,  but  only  for  the  good  of  thers. 
A  Satyagrahi  should  always  be  ready  to  undergo  suffering 
and  pecuniary  loss.  That  there  would  not  be  wanting 
dishonest  people  to  reap  an  undue  advantage  from  the 
boycott  of  law-courts  practised  by  good  people  was  a 
contingency  not  unexpected  at  the  inception  of  Non-Co- 
operation. It  was  then  thought  that  the  beauty  of  Non- 
Co-operation  lay  just  in  taking  those  risks. 

But  Satyagraha  in  the  form  of  fasting  cannot  be  under- 
taken as  against  an  opponent.  Fasting  can  be  resorted  to 
only  against  one's  nearest  and  dearest,  and  that  solely  for 
his  or  her  good. 

In  a  country  like  India,  where  the  spirit  of  charity  or 
pity  is  not  lacking,  it  would  be  nothing  short  of  an  outrage 
to  resort  to  fasting  for  recovering  money.  I  know  people 
who  have  given  away  money,  quite  against  their  will,  but 
out  of  a  false  sense  of  pity.  The  Satyagrahi  has  therefore 
to  proceed  warily  in  a  land  like  ours.  It  is  likely  that  some 
men  may  succeed  in  recovering  money  due  to  them,  by 
resorting  to  fasting  ;  but  instead  of  calling  it  a  triumph  of 
Satyagraha,  I  would  call  it  a  triumph  of  Duragraha  or 
violence.  The  triumph  of  Satyagraia  consists  in  meeting 
death  in  the  insistence  on  truth.  A  Satyagrahi  is  always 
unattached  to  the  attainment  of  the  object  of  Satyagraha  ; 
one  seeking  to  recover  money  cannot  be  so  unattached.  I 
am  therefore  clear  that  fasting  for  the  sake  of  personal  gain 
is  nothing  short  of  intimidation  and  the  result  of  ignorance. 

—Toung  India  :  Oct.  7,  1926. 

OF  what  use  is  it  to  force  the  flesh  merely  if  the  spirit 
refuses  to  co-operate  ?  You  may  starve  even  unto  death  but 
if  at  the  same  time  the  mind  continues  to  hanker  after 
objects  of  the  sense,  your  fast  is  a  sham  and  a  delusion. 

—Young  India  :  Oct.  4,  1928. 


210        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

ONE  of  the  candidates  for  the  Khadi  service  went  in 
one  day  with  his  own  ailment.  He  said  he  was  very  much 
prone  to  anger  and  he  wanted  to  cleanse  himself  with 
fasting.  'I  warn  you,'  said  Gandhiji,  'that  fasting  is  not 
always  a  penance  for  sins.  Humble  surrender  to  God  is 
the  only  escape  from  sin,  and  all  fasting  except  when  it  is 
undertaken  to  help  that  surrender  is  useless.  I  would 
suggest  a  better  remedy.  Go  and  apologise  to  the  man 
you  were  angry  with,  ask  him  to  prescribe  the  penance  for 
you  and  do  that.  That  will  be  much  better  expiation  than 
fasting.'  The  friend  went  and  did  likewise.  But  what 
should  the  man  who  has  been  wronged  do  in  this  case  ? 
Simply  forgive  ?  Forgiveness,  we  have  been  told,  is  the 
ornanlent  of  the  brave,  but  what  is  that  forgiveness  ? 
Passivity  ?  Taking  the  blow  lying  down  ?  Is  that  the 
meaning  of  resisting  not  evil  ? 

This  was  the  subject  of  a  talk  one  evening  g.nd  I 
summarise  it  briefly  :  "This  talk  of  passive  non-resistance 
has  been  the  bane  of  our  national  life.  Forgiveness  is  a 
quality  of  the  soul,  and  therefore  a  positive  quality.  It 
is  not  negative.  'Conquer  anger,'  says  Lord  Buddha,  £by 
non-anger.'  But  what  is  that  'non-anger  ?'  It  is  a  positive 
quality  and  means  the  supreme  virtue  of  charity  or  love. 
You  must  be  roused  to  this  supreme  virtue  which  must 
express  itself  in  your  going  to  the  angry  man,  ascertaining 
from  him  the  cause  of  his  anger,  making  amends  if  you 
have  given  any  cause  for  offence  and  then  bringing  home 
to  him  the  error  of  his  way  and  convincing  him  that  it  is 
wrong  to  be  provoked.  This  consciousness  of  the  quality 
of  the  soul,  and  deliberate  exercise  of  it  elevate  not  only 
the  man  but  the  surrounding  atmosphere.  Of  course  only 
he  who  has  that  love  will  exercise  it.  This  love  can 
certainly  be  cultivated  by  incessant  striving."  (M.D.) 

—  Young  India  :  Jan.  11,  1928. 
^S    ^S    ^^ 
WE  have  it  in  our   sha*tras    that    whenever   things    go 


FASTING  211 

wrong,  good  people  and  sages  go  in  for  tapasya  otherwise 
known  as  austerities.  Gautama  himself,  when  he  saw 
oppression,  injustice  and  death  around  him,  and  when  he 
saw  darkness  in  front  of  him,  at  the  back  of  hin^,  and  each 
side  of  him,  went  out  in  the  wilderness  and  'remained  there 
fasting  and  praying  in  search  of  light.  And  if  such  penance 
was  necessary  for  him  who  was  infinitely  greater  than  all  of 
us  put  together  how  much  more  necessary  is  it  for  us 

—Young  India:  April  18,  1929. 

<$><$>     <3> 

FAST  is  the  last  weapon  of  a    Satyagraha    against  loved 
ones  —Young  India:  April  17,  1930. 

<$><$><$> 

STARVATION  of  the  body  when  the  mind  thinks  of  a 
multiplicity  of  dishes  is  worse  than  useless. 

9      —Young  Indian  April  17,  1930. 
^N    ^N    ^^ 

THE  physical  and  moral  value  of  fasting  is  being  more 
and  more  recognised  day  by  day.  A  vast  number  of  diseases 
can  be  more  surely  treated  by  judicious  fasting  than  by  all 
sorts  of  nostrums  including  the  dreadful  injections — dreadful 
not  because  of  the  pain  they  cause  but  because  of  the  in- 
jurious by-products  which  often  result  from  their  use.  More 
mischief  than  we  are  aware  of  is  done  by  the  drug  treat- 
ment. But.  not  many  cases  of  harm  done  by  fasting  can  be 
cited.  Increased  vitality  is  almost  the  universal  experience 
of  those  that  have  fasted  For  real  rest  for  body  and  mind 
is  possible  only  during  fasting.  Suspension  of  daily  work  is 
hardly  rest  that  the  overtaxed  and  overworked 
digestive  apparatus  needs  in  a  multitude  of  cases 
The  moral  effect  of  fasting,  while  it  is  considerable,  is  not 
so  easily  demonstrable  For  moral  results  there  has  to  be 
perfect  co-operation  from  the  mind.  And  there  is  danger 
of  self-deception.  I  know  of  many  instances  in  which 
fasting  undertaken  for  moral  results  has  been  overdone.  To  a 
limited  extent  it  is  a  most  valuable  agent  if  the  person  fasting 


212         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

knows  what  he  is  doing.  There  was  considerable  force  in 
the  warning  given  by  the  Prophet  against  his  disciples 
copying  his  fasting  over  and  above  the  semi-fasts  of  Ramzan. 
*My  Maker  sends  me  food  enough  when  I  fast,  not  so  to 
you/  said  the  Prophet.  Of  what  use  is  a  spiritual  fast  when 
the  spirit  hankers  more  after  food,  the  longer  the  body  is 
starved  ? 

—Young  India  :  Mar.  28,  1929. 
3>    <$>    <$> 

A  PARROT-LIKE  repetition  of  the  choicest  senti- 
ment and  mere  starvation  of  the  body  would  be  worse  than 
useless.  Prayer  and  fasting  avail  where  there  is  a  definite 
consciousness  of  the  presence  of  God  in  us,  even  as  we  have 
of  friends  living  under  the  same  roof.  Self-deception  will 
not  do. 

—Tiung  India  :  Aug.  13,  1931. 
<$>    <S>    <$ 

THE  question  asked  by  the  Village  Worker's  Training 
School  boys  was  regarding  the  fasts  undertaken  by  Gandhiji 
on  various  occasions.  There  were  those  for  the  redress  of 
public  wrongs,  as  distinguished  from  fasts  undertaken  to 
arouse  the  conscience  of  a  dear  one  or  an  intimate  co-worker 
or  those  undertaken  for  self-purification.  Some  of  these 
are  well  known,  e.  g.,  those  undertaken  at  the  time  of  the 
mill  labourer's  strike  in  ARmedabad  in  1918  ;  those  that 
followed  the  Ahmed abad  riots  in  1919,.  which  were  of  a 
purely  self-purificatory  character  :  the  Hindu-Muslim  Unity 
fast  of  1924;  and  the  three  Harijan  fasts  of  1932,  1933  and 
1934.  I  need  not  go  into  the  details  of  these.  But  there 
was  one  of  which  few  readers  are  likely  to  have  any  know- 
ledge. I  at  any  rate  had  certainly  no  definite  recollection 
of  it — and  which  has  not  been,  so  far  as  I  remember,  recorded 
anywhere.  That  was  the  first  occasion  of  self-suffering  in 
connection  with  a  public  movement,  and  I  must  share  with 
the  readers  the  details  given  by  Gandhiji  on  that  Sunday 
morning. 


FASTING  213 

It  was  in  1913.  The  Indian  Labourers  on  the  South 
Coast  of  Natal,  from  Durban  to  Isiping  went  on  strike  when 
they  came  to  know  of  the  miners'  strike  and  the  marchers' 
imprisonment.  They  all  knew  that  the  fight  had  developed 
into  one  for  their  emancipation  from  the  annual  poll  tax  of 
£3.  But  they  had  never  been  asked  to  go  on  strike.  For 
two  obvious  reasons.  For  one  thing  Gandhiji  Had  never 
intimately  known  the  labourers  on  the  South  Coast,  and 
secondly  it  was  physically  impossible  to  maintain  the 
thcRisands  of  labourers  and  it  would  be  most  difficult  to 
prevent  a  breach  of  the  peace.  But  the  news  of  suffering 
in  one  part  of  (he  country  and  in  jails  spread  like  wild  fire, 
and  there  was  no  stopping  these  labourers.  The  Govern- 
ment came  down  upon  them  with  a  heavy  hand.  All  kind 
of  pressure  was  put  upon  them  to  bring  them  back  to 
work,  and  the  slightest  resistance  was  answered  by  rifle  fire. 
These  events  were  followed  by  an  enquiry.  Gandhiji  was 
prematurely  released  from  jail.  When  he  learnt  of  these 
events,  he  imposed  on  himself  a  triple  vow  of  self- suffer  ing 
to  be  observed  until  the  £3  lax  was  abolished :  (1)  To 
adopt  the  labourer's  dress,  (i.e.  no  head-dcess,  but  only  a 
cloth  wrapped  round  the  waist  and  a  kutrd)\  (2)  To  walk 
barefoot  ;  (3)  To  have  only  one  meal  during  the  day  a 
meal  which  during  those  days  consisted  of  fruits  untouched 
by  fire.  This  penance  went  on  for  some  months  when  at 
last  the  settlement  came  and  the  tax  was  removed.  "I 
have  no  deubt,1'  said  Gandhiji,  "that  this  penance  willingly 
undertaken  and  cheerfully  gone  through  had  something  to 
do  to  bringing  about  the  settlement.  I  do  not  mean  to 
imply  that  it  had  any  direct  influence  upon  the  Union 
Government.  It  is  my  firm  belief  that  all  real  penances 
produce  unseen  but  sure  effects.  The  penance 
was  undertaken  for  self-purification,  for  sharing,  however 
humbly  in  the  suffering  of  the  strikers.  That  was  the  only 
way  in  which  I  could  prayerfully  appeal  to  God." 

"The  man  who  performs  such   penance  throws  himself 
wholly  and  solely  on  God.    He  does  not    undertake  such  a 


214          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

penance  lightly,  never  in  anger,  and  not  certainly  with  a 
view  to  winning  any  advantage  for  himself.  Then  it  must 
not  be  against  an  opponent  with  whom  there  is  no  bond  of 
affection.  Then  it  presupposes  personal  purity  and  a 
living  belief  in  non-violence  and  truth.  Obviously  there 
pan  be  no  room  for  pride  in  such  penance."  (M.  D.) 

—Harijan  :  Dec   12,  1936. 

<S>    <£>    <8> 

FASTING  is  an  institution  as  old  as  Adam.  It  has 
been  resorted  to  for  self-purification  or  for  some  ends  noble 
as  well  as  ignoble.  Buddha,  Jesus  and  Mohammad  fasted 
so  as  to  see  God  face  to  face.  Ramchandra  fasted 
for  the  sea  to  give  way  for  his  army  of  monkeys.  Parvati 
fasted  to  secure  Mahadev  himself  as  "her  Lord  and  Master. 
In  my  fasts  I  have  but  followed  these  great  examples  no 
doubt  for  ends  much  less  noble  than  theirs, 

—Harijan  :  Mar.  18,  1939. 

<3>    <3>    <$> 

FASTING  is  a  potent  weapon  in  the  armoury. 
It  cannot  be  taken  by  everyone.  Mere  physical  capacity 
to  take  it  is  no  qualification  for  it.  It  is  of  no  use 
without  a  living  faith  in  God.  It  should  never  be  a  mechani- 
cal effort  nor  a  mere  imitation.  It  must  come  from  the  depth 
of  one's  soul.  It  is  therefore  always  rare.  I  seem  to  be 
made  for  it.  It  is  noteworthy  that  not  one  of  my  colleagues 
on  the  political  field  has  Telt  the  call  to  fast.  And  I  am 
thankful  to  be  able  to  say  that  they  have  never  resented  my 
fasts.  Nor  have  fellow-members  of  the  Ashram  felt  the  call 
except  on  rare  occasions.  They  have  even  accepted  the 
restriction  that  they  may  not  take  penitential  fasts  without 
my  permission,  no  matter  how  urgent  the  inner  call  may 
seem  to  be, 

Thus  fasting  though  a  very  potent  weapon  has  neces- 
sarily very  strict  limitations  and  is  to  be  taken  only  by 
those  who  have  undergone  previous  training.  And,  judged 
by  my  standard,  the  majority  of  fasts  do  not  at  all  come 


FASTING  215 

under  the  category  of  Satyagraha  fasts  and  are,  as  they  are 
popularly  called,  hunger-strikes  undertaken  without  previous 
preparation  and  adequate  thought.  If  the  process  is 
repeated  too  often,  these  hunger-strikes  will  lose  what  little 
efficiency  they  may  possess  and  will  become  objects  of 
ridicule.  —Harijan  :  Mar.  18,  1939 

<$><$><$> 

FAST  is  in  my  blood  and  my  bones,  I  imbibed  it  with 
my  mother's  milk.  My  mother  fasted  if  someone  was  ill 
in  the  family,  she  fasted  if  she  was  in  pain,  she  fasted  in 
season  and  out  of  season.  How  can  I  her  son  do 
otherwise  ?  —Harijan  :  April  8,  1939. 

<$>  3>  <e> 

Q.  ARE  not  all  fasts  violent  ?  Do  I  not  coerce  a 
friend  when  I  try  to  prevent  him,  by  means  of  my  fast, 
from  doing  a  wrong  act  ? 

A.  Fasts  undertaken  according  to  the  rules  governing 
them  are  truly  non-violent.  There  is  no  room  there 
for  coercion.  If  a  friend  of  mine  is  going  astray,  and  if 
I  impose  suffering  on  myself  by  fasting  in  order  to  awaken 
his  better  instincts,  it  can  be  only  out  of  love.  If  the 
friend  for  whom  I  fast  has  no  love  in  him,  he  will  not 
respond.  If  he  has  it  and  responds,  it  is  all  to  the  good. 
This  is  how  I  would  analyse  his  act :  He  valued  his  love 
for  me  more  than  his  bad  ways.  Ihere  is  a  possible  risk, 
I  admit,  namely  that  as  soon  as  the  effect  of  the  fast  is 
over  he  would  be  tempted  to  go  back  to  his  old  ways.  But 
then  I  can  fast  again.  Ultimately  the  increasing  influence 
of  my  love  will  either  convert  the  friend  to  the  extent  of 
weaning  him  completely  from  his  evil  ways,  or  repeated 
fasts  may  lose  their  novelty,  blunt  his  mind,  and  make  it 
impervious  to  my  fasting.  It  is  my  conviction  that  a  fast 
undertaken  out  of  genuine  love  cannot  have  such  an  un- 
toward result.  But  because  such  a  result  is  not  impossible 
we  cannot  afford  to  disregard  this  pure  instrument  of 


216         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

moral  reform.  The  risk,  however,  makes  it  clear  that  he 
who  fasts  should  be  properly  qualified,  and  that  it  should 
not  be  lightly  undertaken.  — Harijan  :  Sept.  15,  1940. 

<£    <£    3> 

I  HAVE  however  been  driven  to  the  conclusion  that 
fasting  unto  death  is  an  integral  part  of  Satyagraha  pro- 
gramme, and  it  is  the  greatest  and  most  effective  weapon  in 
its  armoury  under  given  circumstance.  Not  every  one  is 
qualified  for  un  iertaking  it  without  proper  course  of  train- 
ing. —Harijan  :  July  26,  1942. 

Fate 

FATES  decide  my  undertakings  for  me.  I  never 
go  to  seek  them.  They  come  to  me  almost  in  spite  of  me. 
That  has  been  my  lot  all  my  life  long,  in  South  Africa  as 
well  as  ever  since  my  return  to  India. 

-Young  India  :    May  7,  1925. 

Faults 

THERE  is  no  one  without  faults,  not  even  men  of  God. 
They  are  men  of  God  not  because  they  are  faultless,  but 
because  they  know  their  own  faults,  they  strive  against 
them,  they  do  not  hide  them  and  are  ever  ready  to  correct 
themselves.  — Harijan  ;  Jan.  28,  1939. 

<$><§><$> 

WHEN  we  are  afraid,  it  is  our  ahimsa  that  is  at 
fault.  Love  and  weakness  cannot  co-exist. 

—Harijan  :  July  6,  1940. 

<s>  <$>  <s> 

I  AM  never  accustomed  to  weigh  my  sins  in  golden 
scales.  I  can  atone  for  them  only  if  I  make  a  mountain  of 
a  mole-hill.  The  reason  is  simple.  Man  can  never  see  his 
faults  in  proper  perspective,  and,  if  he  really  did  so, 
he  would  scarcely  survive  them.  The  remedy  is,  therefore, 
to  magnify  one's  shortcomings. 

—Harijan  :  Feb.  1,  1942. 


FEAR  217 

Fear 

THERE  is  only  one  Being,  if  Being  is  the  proper  term 
to  be  used,  whom  we  have  to  fear,  and  that  is  God  ?  When 
we  fear  God,  we  shall  fear  no  man,  no  matter  how  high- 
placed  he  may  be.  And  if  you  want  to  follow  the  vow  of 
truth  in  any  shape  or  form,  fearlessness  is  the  necessary 
consequence.  And  so  you  find,  in  the  Bhagwad  Gita,  fear- 
lessness is  declared  as  the  first  essential  quality  of  a  Brahman. 
We  fear  consequences,  and  therefore  we  are  afraid  to  tell 
the  Truth.  A  man  who  fears  God  will  certainly  not  fear 
any  earthly  consequences.  Before  we  can  aspire  to  the 
position  of  understanding  what  religion  is,  and  before  we 
can  aspire  to  the  position  of  guiding  the  destinies  of  India, 
do  you  not  see  that  we  should  adopt  this  habit  of  fearless- 
ness ?  or  shall  we  over-awe  our  countrymen,  even  as  we  are 
over-awed  ? 

— Speeches  and  Writings  of  Mahatma  Gandhi :     Page  813. 

<s>  4>  <$» 

FEAR  has  its  use,  but  cowardice  has  none.  I  may  not 
put  my  finger  into  the  jaws  of  a  snake,  but  the  very  sight 
of  the  snake  need  not  strike  terror  into  me.  The  trouble  is 
that  we  often  die  many  times  before  death  overtakes  us. 

—Harijan  :  Aug.  25,  1940, 

<s>  <$>  <s> 

WHERE  there  is  fear  there  is  no  religion. 

—Harijan  :  Aug>.  25,  1940; 

Foreign  Cloth 

IT  revives  black  memories  and  is  a  mark  of  shame, 
the  East  India  Company,  having  forced  it  on  us  and  is  an 
emblem  of  slavery. 

The  poor  should  not  be  given  these  for  they  ought  not 
to  be  dead  to  patriotism,  dignity  and  respect. 

— Young  India  :  July  28,  1921. 
^N    ^^    <& 

I  FEEL  that  it  was  right  and  wise  on  the  part  of  the 
sisters  who  gave  their  costly  clothing.  Its  destruction  was 


218          TEACHINGS  OF    MAHATMA  GANDHI 

the  most  economical  use  you  could  have  made  of  it,  even 
as  destruction  of  plague-infected  articles  is  their  most 
economical  and  best  use.  It  was  a  necessary  surgical  opera- 
tion designed  to  avert  more  serious  complaints  in  the  body 
politic.  —  Toung  India:  Aug.  11,  1921. 

<$><$>    <$> 

IN  burning  foreign  clothes,  we  are  burning  our 
taste  for  foreign  fineries.  The  effect  upon  India  would  have 
been  equally  disastrous,  if  Japan  instead  of  England  had 
tempted  us  in  the  first  instance.  The  motive  was  to  punish 
ourselves  and  not  the  foreigner.  We  are  boycotting  not 
British  but  all  foreign  cloth.  The  one  would  be  meaningless 
as  the  other  is  a  sacred  duty.  The  idea  of  burning  springs 
not  from  hate  but  from  repentance  of  our  past  sins.  A 
moment's  reflection  must  show  the  writer  that  burning 
must  make  us  earnest  and  thus  stimulate,  as  it  has  stimulat- 
ed, fresh  manufacture.  The  disease  had  gone  so  deep,  that 
a  surgical  operation  was  a  necessity.  The  ill-clad  or  the 
naked  millions  of  India  need  no  charity  but  work  that  they 
can  easily  do  in  their  cottages.  Have  not  the  poor  any 
feeling  of  self-respect  or  patriotism  ?  Is  the  gospel  of 
patriotism  only  for  the  well-to-do  ? 

— Toung  India:  Sept.  15,  1921. 

<s>  <$>  <s> 

EVERY  yard  of  foreign  cloth,  brought  into  India,  is  one 
bit  of  bread  snatched  out  of  the  mouths  of  the  starving  poor. 

—Young  India  :  Nov.  13,  1924. 
^^    ^^    *^ 

IT  is  as  much  a  duty  as  boycott  of  foreign  waters  would 
je  if  they  were  imported  to  substitute  the  waters  of  the 
Indian  rivers.  — Toung  India  :  Dec.  26,  1924, 

<$>   <3>   <^ 

IT  is  I  hold  the  duty  of  Great  Britain  to  regulate 
her  exports  with  due  regard  to  the  welfare  of  India,  as  it 
is  India's  to  regulate  her  imports  with  due  regard  to  her 


FOREIGN  CLOTH  219 

own  welfare.  That  economics  is  untrue  which  ignores  or 
disregards  moral  values.  The  extension  of  the  law  of  non- 
violence in  the  domain  of  economics  means  nothing  less  than 
the  introduction  of  moral  values  as  a  factor  to  be  considered 
in  regulating  international  commerce.  And  I  must  con- 
fess that  my  ambition  is  nothing  less  than  to  see  inter- 
national relations  placed  on  a  moral  basis  through  India's 
eftorts.  I  do  not  despair  of  cultivation  of  limited  mass 
non-violence.  I  refuse  to  believe  that  the  tendency  of 
human  nature  is  always  downward. 

—  Young  India:  Dec.  26,  1924. 

<3>    <$><$> 

IT  is  wrong  and  immoral  for  a  nation  to  supply,  for 
instance,  intoxicating  liquor  to  those  who  are  addicted  to 
drink.  What  is  true  of  intoxicants  is  true  of  grain  or  cloth, 
if  the  discontinuance  of  their  cultivation  or  manufacture  in 
the  country  to  which  foreign  grain  or  cloth  are  exported 
results  in  enforced  idleness  or  penury.  These  latter  hurt  a 
man's  soul  and  body  just  as  much  as  intoxication.  Depres- 
sion is  but  excitement  upside  down  and  hence  equally 
disastrous  in  its  results  and  often  more  so  because  we  have 
not  yet  learnt  to  regard  as  immoral  or  sinful  the  depression 
of  idleness  or  penury.  — Young  Indip,  :  Dec.  26,  1924. 

<$><$>    <S> 

I  CALL  the  Lancashire  trade  immoral,  because  it  was 
raised  and  is  sustained  on  the  ruin  of  millions  of  India's 
peasants.  And  as  one  immorality  leads  to  another,  the 
many  proved  immoral  acts  of  Britain  are  traceable  to 
this  one  immoral  traffic.  If  therefore  this  one  great  tempta- 
tion is  removed  from  Britain's  path  by  India's  voluntary 
effort,  it  would  be  good  for  India,  good  for  Britain  and,  as 
Britain  is  today  the  predominant  world  power,  good  even  for 
humanity.  — Young  India  :  Dec.  26,  1926. 

^    <$>    <$> 
LANCASHIRE   has   risen  on  the'    ashes    of   India's 


220          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

greatest  cottage  industry  and  it  is  sustained  by   the   exploita- 
tion of  the  helpless  millions  of  this  land. 

—Young  India  :  Jan.  23,  1927. 
<3>    <3>    <S> 

LANCASHIRE  is  the  Government  in  substance  ;  and 
to  grant  India  effective  protection  against  Lancashire  would 
be  almost  like  committing  suicide. 

—  Young  India  :  Jan,  23,  1927. 
<$>    <$>    <$> 

INDIA'S  pauperism  reduces  Lancashire  to  moral 
bankruptcy.  —Young  India  :  Jan.  23,  1927. 

<$><$><$> 

Q.     WHAT  is  your  opinion  about    the   importation    of 
foreign  goods  other  than  cloth  into  India  ?       Are    there  any 
foreign  commodities  which  you  would  like  to  see    immediate- 
ly laid  under  prohibition  ?     What  do  you    think    should    be 
the  nature  of  India's  foreign  trade  in  the  future  ? 

A.  I  am  m6re  or  less  indifferent  with  regard  to 
trade  in  foreign  goods  other  than  cloth.  I  have  never  been 
an  advocate  of  prohibition  of  all  things  foreign  because 
they  are  foreign.  My  economic  creed  is  a  complete  taboo 
in  respect  of  all  foreign  commodities  whose  importation  is 
likely  to  prove  harmful  to  our  indigenous  interests.  This 
means  that  we  may  not  Jn  any  circumstance  import  a 
commodity  that  can  be  adequately  supplied  from  our  own 
country.  For  instance  I  would  regard  it  a  sin  to  import 
Australian  wheat  on  the  score  of  its  better  quality  but  I 
would  not  have  the  slightest  hesitation  in  importing  oatmeal 
from  Scotland,  if  an  absolute  necessity  for  it  is  made  out, 
because  we  do  not  grow  oats  in  India.  In  other  words  I 
would  not  countenance  the  boycott  of  a  single  foreign 
article  out  of  ill-will  or  a  feeling  of  hatred.  Or  to  take  up 
a  reverse  case,  India  produces  a  sufficient  quantity  of 
leather  ;  it  is  my  duty  therefore  to  wear  shoes  made  out  of 
Indian  leather  only;  even  if  it  is  comparatively  dearer  and 
of  an  inferior  quality  in  preference  to  cheaper  and  superior 


FORGIVENESS  221 

quality  foreign  leather  shoes  Similarly  I  would  condemn 
the  introduction  of  foreign  molasses  of  sugar  if  enough  of 
it  is  produced  in  India  for  our  needs.  It  will  be  thus  clear 
from  the  above  that  it  is  hardly  possible  for  me  to  give  an 
exhaustive  catalogue  of  foreign  articles  whose  importation  in 
India  ought  to  be  prohibited.  I  have  simply  inculcated 
the  general  principle  by  which  we  can  be  guided  in  all  such 
cases  And  this  principle  will  hold  good  in  future  too  so 
long  as  the  conditions  of  production  in  our  country  remain 
as  they  are  today. 

—  Young  India  :  Nov.  15  ,  1928, 

<$>    <8>    <*> 

I  WANT  you  to  pledge  yourselves  not  before  me  but 
before  your  God  that  henceforth  you  are  not  going  to  use 
any  foreign  cloth,  that  you  are  going  to  give  up  foreign 
clothes  in  your  possession,  that  you  will  burn  them  even  as 
you  burn  rags  in  your  possession  which  may  require  to  be  dis- 
infected, even  as  a  drunkard  who  suddenly  becomes  teetotaller 
empties  his  cupboard  and  destroys  every  bottle  of  brandy 
and  whisky  in  his  possession,  no  matter  what  it  might  have 
cost  him.  You  will  count  no  cost  too  great  against  the 
cause,  the  liberty  and  honour  of  your  country. 

—  Young  India  :  Mar.  14,  1929. 

Forgiveness 

TO  forgive  is  not  to  forget.  The  merit  lies  in  loving 
in  spite  of  the  vivid  knowledge  that  the  one  that  must  be 
loved  is  not  a  friend.  There  is  no  merit  in  loving  an 
enemy  when  you  forget  him  for  a  friend. 

—Young  India  :  June  23,  1920. 

<^  <$><$> 

I  BELIEVE  tint  non-violence  is  infinitely  superior 
to  violence,  forgiveness  is  more  manly  than  punishment. 
Forgiveness  adorns  a  soldier.  But  abstinence  is  forgiveness 
only  when  there  is  th~  power  to  punish  :  it  is 
meaningless  when  it  pretends  to  proceed  from  a  helpless 


222  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHA1MA  GANDHI 

creature,     A  mouse  hardly  forgives    a    cat    when   it    allows 
itself  to  be  torn  to  pieces  by  her. 

—Toung  India  :  Aug.  11,  1920. 
<$><§>     <$> 

TO  err  is  human  and  it  must  be  held  to  be  equally 
human  to  forgive  if  we,  though  being  falliable,  would  like 
rather  to  be  forgiven  than  punished  and  reminded  of  our 
deeds.  —Toung  India;  Nov.  18,  1920. 

<£     <$>     <$> 

FORGIVENESS  is  a  quality  of  the  soul,  and  therefore  a 
positive  quality.  It  is  not  negative. 

—  Young  India  :  Jan.  12,  1928. 

THE  weak  can  never  forgive.  Forgiveness  is  the 
attribute  of  the  strong. 

— Toung  India  rDec.  16,  1929. 

Foreign  Medium  Of  Instruction 

I  AM  certain  that  the  children  of  the  nation,  that 
receive  instruction  in  a  tongue  other  than  their  own, 
commit  suicide.  It  robs  them  of  their  birth  right.  A 
foreign  medium  means  an  undue  strain  upon  the  young- 
sters, it  robs  them  of  all  originality.  It  stunts  their 
growth  and  isolates  them  from  their  home. 

English  is  a  language  of  international  commerce;  it 
is  the  language  of  diplomacy,  and  it  contains  many  a 
rich  literary  treasure,  it  gives  us  an  introduction  to 
Western  thought  and  culture.  For  a  few  of  us,  there- 
fore, a  knowledge  of  English  is  necessary  They  can  carry 
on  the  departments  of  national  commerce  and  interna- 
tional diplomacy,  and  for  giving  to  the  nation  the  best 
of  Western  literature,  thought  and  science.  That  would  be 
the  legitimate  use  of  English.  Whereas  today  English  has 
usurped  the  dearest  place  in  our  hearts  and  dethroned 
our  mother-tongues.  It  is  an  unnatural  place  due  to- 
our  unequal  relations  with  Englishmen.  The  highest  deve- 


FOREIGN  MEDIUM  OF  INSTRUCTION        223 

lopment  of  the  Indian  mind  must  be  possible  without  a 
knowledge  of  English.  It  is  doing  violence  to  the  man- 
hood, and  specially  the  womanhood  of  India,  to  encourage 
our  boys  and  girls  to  think  t  that  an  entry  into  the  best 
society  is  impossible  without  a  knowledge  of  English.  It 
is  too  humiliating  a  thought  to  be  bearable.  To  get 
rid  of  the  infatuation  for  English  is  one  df  the  essentials 
of  Swaraj.  —Young  India  :  Feb.  2,  192L 

^s    ^^    ^s 

TILAK  and  Ram  Mohan  would  have  been  far  greater 
men  if  they  had  not  had  the  contagion  of  English  learning. 
I  am  opposed  to  make  a  fetish  of  English  education.  I 
don't  hate  English  education.  When  I  want  to  destroy 
the  Government,  I  don't  want  to  destroy  the  English 
language  but  read  English  as  an  Indian  nationalist  would 
do.  Ram  Mohan  and  Tilak  (leave  aside  my  case)  were 
so  many  pigmies  who  had  no  hold  upon  the  people  com- 
pared with  Chaitanya,  Shankar,  Kabir  and  Nanak.  Ram 
Mohan  and  Tilak  were  pigmies  before  these  giants.  What 
Shankar  alone  was  able  to  do,  the  whole  arm^  of  English 
knowing  men  can't  do.  I  can  multiply  instances.  Was 
Guru  Govind  a  product  of  English  education  ? 

—Young  India  :  April  13,  192L 
<$><$><$> 

ENGLISH  education  has  emasculated  us,  constrained 
our  intellect,  and  the  manner  of  imparting  this  education 
has  rendered  Us  effeminate,  %  We  want  to  bask  in  the 
sunshine  of  freedom,  but  the  enslaving  system  emasculates 
our  nation.  Pre-British  period  was  not  a  period  of  slavery. 
We  had  some  sort  of  Swaraj  under  Moghul  rule.  In 
Akbar's  time  the  birth  of  a  Pratap  was  possible  and  in 
Aurangzeb's  time  a  Shivaji  could  flourish.  Has  150  years 
of  British  rule  produced  any  Partap  and  Shivaji? 

—Young  India  :    April  13,  1921. 
^N    ^^    ^^ 

A  FRIEND  asks  me  to  give  my  considered  view  on 
the  value  of  English  education  and  explain  my  talk  on  the 


224  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

rsands   at   Cuttack.     I    have  not   read    the    report    of  the 
•talk.     But  I  gladly  respond  to  the  friend's  wish. 

It  is  my  considered  opinion  that  English  education 
in  the  manner  it  has  been  given  has  emasculated  the  Eng- 
ilish-educated  Indian,  it  has  put  a  severe  strain  upon  the 
Indian  students7  nervous  energy,  and  has  made  of  us 
imitators.  The  process  of  the  displacing  the  vernacular  has 
t>een  one  of  the  saddest  chapters  in  the  British  connection. 
Ram  Mohan  Roy  would  have  been  a  greater  reformer  and 
JLokmanya  Tilak  would  have  been  a  greater  scholar,  if 
they  had  not  to  start  with  the  handicap  of  having  to  think 
in  English  and  transmit  their  thoughts  chiefly  in  English. 
Their  effect  on  their  own  people,  marvellous  as  it  was, 
'would  have  been  greater  if  they  had  been  brought  up 
under  a  less  unnatural  system.  No  doubt  they  both 
igained  from  their  knowledge  of  the  rich  treasures  of 
English  literature.  But  these  should  have  been  accessible 
to  them  through  their  own  vernaculars.  No  country  can 
become  a  nation  by  producing  a  race  of  translators.  Think 
of  what  would  have  happened  to  the  English  if  they  had 
not  an  authorised  version  of  the  Bible.  I  do  believe  that 
Chaitanya,  Kabir,  Nanak,  Guru  Coving  Singh,  Shivaji  and 
Pratap  were  greater  than  Ram  Mohan  Roy  and  Tilak. 
I  know  that  comparisons-  are  odious.  All  are  great  in 
their  own  way. 

But  judged  by  the  resists,  the  effect  of  Ram  Mohan 
and  Tilak  on  the  masses  is  not  so  permanent  or  far-reach- 
ing as  that  of  the  others  more  fortunately  born.  Judged 
by  the  obstacles  they  had  to  surmount,  they  were  giants; 
and  both  would  have  been  greater  in  achieving  results  if 
they  had  not  been  handicapped  by  the  system  under 
which  they  received  their  training.  I  refuse  to  believe 
that  the  Raja  and  the  Lokrnanya  could  not  have  thought 
the  thoughts  they  did  without  a  knowledge  of  the  English 
language.  Of  all  the  superstitions  that  affect  India,  none 
is  so  great  as  that  a  knowledge  of  the  English  language  is 


FRAUD  225 

necessary  for  imbibing  ideas  of  liberty  and  developing 
accuracy  of  thought.  It  should  be  remembered  that  their 
has  been  only  one  system  of  education  before  the  country 
for  the  past  fifty  years,  and  only  one  medium  of  expression 
forced  on  the  country.  We  have,  therefore,  no  data  be- 
fore us  to  what  we  would  have  b.en  but  for  the  educa- 
tion in  the  existing  schools  and  colleges.  This,  however, 
we  do  know  that  India  to-day  is  poorer  than  fifty  years 
ago,  less  able  to  defend  herself,  and  her  children  have  less 
stamina.  I  need  not  be  told  that  that  is  due  to  the  defect 
in  the  system  of  government.  The  system  of  education 
is  its  most  defective  part.  It  was  conceived  and  born  in 
error,  for  the  English  rulers  honestly  believed  the  indige- 
nous system  to  be  worse  than  useless.  It  has  been 
nurtured  in  sin,  for  the  tendency  has  been  to  dwarf  the 
Indian  body,  mind  and  soul.  —Toung  India  :  Dec.  16,  1921 

AMONG  the  many  evils  of  foreign  rule,  this  blighting 
imposition  of  a  foreign  medium  upon  the  youth  of  the 
country  will  be  counted  by  History  as  one  of  the  greatest. 
It  has  sapped  the  energy  of  the  nation,  it  has  shortened 
the  lives  of  the  pupils.  It  has  estranged  them  from  the 
masses,  it  has  made  education  unnecessarily  expensive. 
If  this  process  is  still  persisted  in,  it  bids  fair  to  rob  the 
nation  of  its  soul.  The  sooner,  therefore,  educated  India 
shakes  itself  free  from  the  hypnotic  spell  of  the  foreign 
medium,  the  better  it  would  be  for  them  and  the  people. 

—Toung  India  :  June  5,  1928. 

Frankness 

A  'NO  uttered  from  deepest  conviction  is  better 
and  greater  than  a  'yes'  merely  uttered  to  please, 
or  what  is  worse,  to  avoid  trouble. 

—  Toung  India:  Mar.  17,  1927. 

Fraud 

FRAUD   itself  is   a  species  of  violence. 

— Young  India  :  Mar.  20,  1930 


226        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

FORCE  always  includes  fraud,  non-violence  always 
excludes  it.  — Harijan  :  Oct.  13,  1937. 

Freedom 

FREEDOM  is  never  dear  at  any  price.  It  is  the 
breath  of  life.  What  would  a  man  not  pay  for  living. 

—Harijan  :  Dec.  10,  1938. 
3>   <3>   <S> 

FREEDOM  received  through  the  effort  of  others,  how- 
ever benevolent,  cannot  be  retained  when  such  effort  is 
withdrawn.  In  other  words,  such  freedom  is  not  real 
ireedom.  — Harijan  :  April  20,  1940. 

FREEDOM'S  battles  are  not  fought  without  paying 
heavy  prices.  Just  as  man  would  not  cherish  the  thought 
of  living  in  a  body  other  than  his  own,  so  do  nations 
not  like  to  live  under  other  nations  however  noble  and 
great  the  latter  may  be.  — Harijan  :  Aug.  18,  1940. 

INDIVIDUAL  freedom  alone  can  make  a  man  volun- 
tarily surrender  himself  completely  to  the  service  of 
society  ?  If  it  is  wrested  from  him,  he  becomes  an 
automaton  and  society  -is  ruined.  No  society  can  possibly 
be  built  on  a  denial  of  individual  freedom.  It  is  contrary 
to  the  very  nature  of  man.  Just  as  a  man  will  not  grow 
horns  or  a  tail  so  he  will  not  exist  as  man  if  he  has 
no  mind  of  his  own.  In  reality  even  those  who  do  not 
believe  in  the  liberty  of  the  individual  btlieve  fa  their 
own  modern  editions  of  Chenghiz  Khan  retain  their  own. 

—Harijan  :  Feb.  1,  1942. 

MY  conception  of  freedom  is  no  narrow  conception. 
It  is  co-extensive  with  the  freedom  of  man  in  all  his 
majesty.  — Harijan  :  June  7,  1942. 


FREEDOM  OF  INDIA  22* 

Freedom  of  India 

SPEAKING  with  a  full  sense  of  responsibility  over  my 
shoulders  I  know  the  tremendous  consequences  of  civil   dis- 
obedience and  of  no-tax   campaign   in  a  vast  country   like 
this, — a  country  which  has  undisciplined  masses, — but  a  man 
who  is  mad  as  I  am  now  after  freedom,  a  man  who  is  hungry 
after  freedom,— and  a  real   hunger   for   freedom  is  infinitely 
more  painful  than  hunger  for  mere  bread, — has  got  to  take 
tremendous  risks,  to  stake  everything  that  he  has  in  order  to 
gain  that  precious  freedom,  and  it  is  because   I   am  hungry 
for  that  freedom, — although  I  am  on  the  threshold  of  death, 
I    want    to   see  Swaraj  whilst  I    have   still   breath   in  me 
that  I  want  to  take  all  those  risks.     But   at   the  same   time 
I  want  to  take  every  precaution  and  therefore  I  shall   plead 
with  the  Government  and  the  powers  that  be,  and  shall  ask 
them  to  come  to  their  senses. — Young  India  :  March  14,  1929. 


>/-          V  v 

FREEDOM  is  not  worth  having  if  it  does  not  connote 
freedom  to  err  and  even  to  sin.  If  God  Almighty  has  given 
the  humblest  of  His  creatures  the  freedom  to  err,  it  passes 
my  comprehension  how  human  beings,  be  they  ever  so 
experienced  and  able,  can  delight  in  depriving  other  human 
beings  of  that  precious  right.— Young  India  :  March  12,  1931. 

I  LIVE  for  India's  freedom  and  would  die  for  it, 
because  it  is  part  of  truth.  —Young  India  :  April  3,  1924, 


THERE  is  no  freedom  for  India  so  long  as  one  man, 
no  matter  how  highly  placed  he  may  be,  holds  in  the 
hollow  of  his  hands  the  life,  property  and  honour  of  millions 
of  human  beings.  It  is  an  artificial,  unnatural  and  un- 
civilised institution.  The  end  of  it  is  an  essential  prelimi- 
nary to  Swaraj.  —Young  India  :  Nov.  13,  1924. 


228        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

IF  we  want  to  cultivate  a  true  spirit  of  democracy,  we 
cannot  afford  to  be  intolerant.  Intolerance  betrays  want  of 
faith  in  one's  cause.  — Young  India  :  Feb.  2,  1922. 

<$><$><$> 

THE  spirit  of  democracy  which  we  want  to  spread 
throughout  India  cannot  be  spread  by  violence  whether 
verbal  or  physical,  whether  direct,  indirect  or  threatened. 

—  Young  India  :  Feb.  23,  1922. 
^N    ^^    ^x 

DEMOCRACY  is  not  a  state  in  which  people  act  bke 
sheep.  Under  democracy,  individual  liberty  of  opinion 
and  action  is  jealously  guarded. — Young  India  :  Mar.  2,  1922. 

^S    ^N    ^N 

I  WORK  for  India's  freedom  because  my  Swadeshi  teach- 
es me  that  being  born  in  it  and  having  inherited  her  culture, 
1  am  fittest  to  serve  her  and  she  has  a  prior  claim  to  my 
service.  But  my  patriotism  is  not  exclusive  ;  it  is  calculated 
not  only  not  to  hurt  any  other  nation  but  to  benefit  all  in 
the  true  sense  of  the  word.  India's  freedom  as  conceived  by 
me  can  never  be  a  menance  to  the  world. 

—  Young  India  :  April  3,  1924. 

<$>    <^     <$> 

LET  the  youth  of  India  realise  that  the  death  of  Lalaji 
can  only  be  avenged  by  regaining  her  freedom.  Freedom 
of  a  nation  cannot  be  won  by  solitary  acts  of  heroism  even 
though  they  may  be  of  the  true  type,  never  by  heroism  so- 
called.  The  temple  of  freedom  requires  the  patient,  intelli- 
gent and  constructive  effort  of  tens  of  thousands  of  men 
and  women,  young  and  old.  — Young  India  :  Dec.  27,  1928, 

v^    ^^    ^^ 

I  SHALL  strive  for  a  constitution,  which  will  release 
India  from  all  thraldom  and  patronage,  and  give  her,  if  need 
be,  the  right  to  sin.  I  shall  work  for  an  India,  in  which 
the  poorest  shall  feel  that  it  is  their  country  in  whose  making 


FREEDOM  OF  INDIA  229 

they  have  an  effective  voice  ;  an  India  in  which  there 
shall  be  no  high  class  and  low  class  of  people,  an  India  in 
which  all  communities  shall  live  in  perfect  harmony.  There 
can  be  no  room  in  such  India  for  the  curse  of  untouchabi- 
lity,  or  the  curse  of  intoxicating  drinks  and  drugs.  Women 
will  enjoy  the  same  rights  as  men.  Since  we  shall  be  at  peace 
with  all  the  rest  of  the  world,  neither  exploiting,  nor  being 
exploited,  we  should  have  the  smallest  army  imaginable. 
All  interests  not  in  conflict  with  the  interests  of  the  dumb 
millions  will  be  scrupulously  respected,  whether  foreign  or 
indigenous.  Personally,  I  hate  distinction  between  foreign 
and  indigenous.  This  is  the  India  of  my  dreams  for  which  I 
shall  struggle  at  the  next  Round  Table  Conference.  I  may 
fail,  but  if  I  am  to  deserve  the  confidence  of  the  Congress, 
my  principals,  I  shall  be  satisfied  with  nothing  less. 

—Young  India  :    Sept.  10,  1931 
3>    <$>    3> 

WE   must  be  content  to  die  if  we  cannot   live  as   frei 
men  and  women.  — Young  India  :  Jan.  5,   1922 

<$><$><$> 

WE  seek  arrest  because  the  so-called  freedom  is  slavery. 
We  are  challenging  the  might  of  this  Government  because 
we  consider  its  activity  to  be  wholly  evil.  We  want  to 
overthrow  the  Government.  We  want  to  compel  its  sub- 
mission to  the  people's  will.  We  desire  to  show  that  the 
Government  exists  to  serve  the  people,  not  the  people  the 
Government.  Free  life  under  the  Goveroment  has  become 
intolerable,  for  the  price  exacted  for  the  retention  of 
freedom  is  unconscionably  great.  Whether  we  are  one  or 
many,  we  must  refuse  to  purchase  freedom  at  the  cost  of 
our  self-respect  or  our  cherished  convictions.  I  haye 
known  even  little  children  become  unbending  when  ait 
attempt  has  been  made  to  cross  their  declared  purpose,  be 
it  ever  so  flimsy  in  the  estimation  of  their  parents. 

—  rmino  India  !  TVc.  15     1Q9K 


230        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

INDIA'S  freedom  must  revolutionise  the  world's  out- 
look upon  Peace  and  War.  Her  impotence  affects  the 
whole  of  mankind.  —Toung  India  :  Sept.  17,  1925. 

<$>    <3>    <$> 

IT  is  true  indeed  that  India's  progress  in  the  direction 
I  desire  seems  to  have  come  to  a  pause  but  I  think  that  it 
only  seems  so.  The  little  seed  that  was  sown  in  1920  has 
not  perished.  It  is,  I  think,  taking  deep  root.  Presently 
it  will  come  out  as  a  stately  tree. 

—Toung  India  :  Sept.  17,  1925. 

<$><$><?> 

NO  man  is  indispensable  for  the  evolution  of  this  great 
and  ancient  land  of  Dharma.  Let  India  live  though  a  hun- 
dred Gandhis  have  to  perish.  — Toung  India  :  Oct.  18,  1925. 

<«>    <$><$> 

SELF-EXPRESSION  and  self-government  are  not 
things  which  may  be  either  taken  from  us  by  any  body  or 
which  can  be  given  us  by  anybody.  It  is  quite  true  that 
if  those  who  happen  to  hold  our  destinies,  or  seem  to  hold 
our  destinies  in  their  hands,  are  favourably  disposed,  are 
sympathetic,  understand  our  aspirations,  no  doubt  it  is 
then  easier  for  us  to  expand.  But  after  all  self-government 
depends  entirely  upon  our  own  internal  strength,  upon  our 
ability  to  fight  against  *  the  heaviest  odds. »  Indeed,  self- 
government  which  does  not  require  that  continuous  striving 
to  attain  it  and  to  sustain  it  is  not  worth  the  name.  I  have 
therefore  endeavoured  to  show  both  in  word  and  in  deed, 
that  political  self-government — that  is  self-government  for 
a  large  number  of  men  and  women, — is  no  better  than 
individual  self-government,  and  therefore  it  is  to  be  attained 
by  precisely  the  same  means  that  are  required  for  individual 
self-government  or  self-rule,  and  so  as  you  know  also,  I 
have  striven  in  India  to  place  this  ideal  before  the  people 
in  season  and  out  of  season,  very  often  much  to  the  disgust 
of  those  who  are  politically  minded  merely. 

—Toung  India  :  Dec.  1,  1927. 


FREEDOM  OF  INDIA  231 

COUNCILS  are  no  factories  for  making  stout  hearts. 
And  freedom  is  miasma  without  stout  hearts  to  defend  it. 

— Young  India  :  Dec.  15,  1921 

<*><§><$> 

SELF-GOVERNMENT  means  continuous  effort  to  be 
independent  of  government  control  whether  it  is  foreign 
government  or  whether  it  is  national.  Swaraj  government 
will  be  a  sorry  affair  if  people  look  up  to  it  for  the  regulation 
of  every  detail  of  life.  — Young  India  :  Aug.  6,  1925. 

<$><$><$> 

NO  paper  contribution  will  ever  give  us  self-govern- 
ment. No  amount  of  speeches  will  ever  make  us  fit  for 
self-government.  It  is  only  our  conduct  that  will  fit  us  for 
it.  — Speeches  and  Writings  of  Mahatma  Gandhi  :  P.  252 . 

IF  we  are  to  receive  self-government,  we  shall  have  to 
take  it.  We  shall  never  be  granted  self-government.  Look 
at  the  history  of  the  British  Empire  and  the  British  nation  ; 
freedom-loving  as  it  is,  it  will  not  be  a  party  to  give 
freedom  to  a  people  who  will  not  take  it  themselves. 

— Speeches  and  Writings  of  Mahatma  Gandhi :  Page  258. 


THE  object  of  our  non-violent  movement,  is  complete 
independence  for  India — not  in  any  mystic  sense  but  in 
English  sense  of  the  term — without  any  mental  reservation. 
I  feel  that  every  country  is  entitled  to  it  without  any 
question  of  its  fitness  or  otherwise.  As  every  country  is  fit 
to  eat,  to  drink  and  to  breathe,  even  so  is  every  nation  fit 
to  manage  its  own  affairs,  no  matter  how  badly.  Just  as  a 
man  with  bad  lungs  will  breathe,  with  difficulty,  even  so 
India,  because  of  her  ailments  may  make  a  thousand  mis- 
takes. The  doctrine  of  fitness  to  govern  is  a  mere  eyewash. 
Independence  means  nothing  more  or  less  than  getting  out 
of  alien  control.  — Young  India:  Oct.  15,  1931. 


232        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

IF  I  want  freedom  for  my  country,  believe  me,  if  I  can 
possibly  help  it,  I  do  not  want  that  freedom  in  order  that  I, 
belonging  to  a  nation  which  counts  one-fifth  of  the  human 
race,  may  exploit  any  other  race  upon  earth,  or  any  single 
individual.  If  I  want  that  freedom  for  my  country,  I  would 
not  be  deserving  of  that  freedom  if  I  did  not  cherish  and 
treasure  the  equal  right  of  every  other  race,  weak  or  strong,, 
to  the  same  freedom.  — Young  India  :  Oct.  1,  1931. 

<$><$><$> 

NOT  even  for  the  freedom  of  India  would  I  resort  to 
an  untruth.  — Young  India  :  Aug.  13,  l931t 

<$>     <$>     <3> 

MY  interest  in  India's  freedom  will  cease  if  she  adopts 
violent  means,  for  their  fruit  will  be  not  freedom  but 
slavery  in  disguise.  And  if  we  have  not  yet  attained  our 
freedom,  it  is  because  we  have  not  been  non-violent  in 
thought,  word  and  deed. 

1  live  for  India's  freedom  and  would  die  for  it,  because 
it  is  part  of  Truth.  Only  a  free  India  can  worship  the  true 
God.  —  Toung  India  :  April  3,  1924. 

<$>    <3>    <£ 

THE  British  people  must  realise  that  the  Empire  is  to 
come  to  an  end.  This  they  will  not  realise  unless  we  in 
India  have  generated  power  within  to  enforce  our  will. 
The  English  have  paid  dearly  for  their  freedom  such  as  it 
is.  They  therefore  only  respect  those  who  are  prepared  to 
pay  an  adequate  price  for  their  own  liberty. 

-~  Toung  India  :  Jan.  23,  1930. 
^    ^    ^ 

IF  we  were  not  under  the  spell  of  hypnotism  or  if  we 
were  not  being  acted  upon  by  that  great  force  inertia,  or 
want  of  self-confidence,  we  would  find  it  the  most  natural 
thing  to  breathe  the  air  of  freedom  which  is  ours  to  breathe* 

—Young  India  :  Mar.  14,  1929. 


FREEDOM  OF  INDIA  233 

WE  do  not  seek  our  independence  out  of  Britain's  ruin. 
That  is  not  the  way  of  non-violence. 

—Harijan  :  June  1,  1940. 
<$>    <£    <$> 

I  DO  not  want  Britain's  humiliation  in  order  to  gain 
India's  freedom.  Such  freedom,  if  it  were  attainable, 
cannot  be  manfully  retained.  — Harijan  :  Aug.  4,  1940. 

<$><$>     <S> 

I  CANNOT  think  of  anyone  wanting  less  than  In- 
dependence for  his  country  if  he  cau  get  it.  No  country  has 
ever  got  it  without  its  people  having  fought  for  it. 

—Harijan:  July  6,  1940. 

<3>    «>    <3> 

I  WANT  to  see  India  free  in  my  lifetime.  But  God 
may  not  consider  me  fit  enough  to  see  the  dream  of  life 
fulfilled.  Then  I  shall  quarrel,  not  with  him  but  with 
myself.  —Harijan  :  April  13,  1940. 

^N     ^S    ^> 

WHETHER  we  are  one  or  many,  we  must  refuse  to 
purchase  freedom  at  the  cost  of  our  self-respect  or  our 
cherished  convictions.  I  have  known  even  little  children 
become  unbending  when  an  attempt  has  been  made  to  cross 
their  declared  purpose,  be  it  ever  so  flimsy  in  the  estimation 
of  their  parents.  —Young  India  :  Dec.  15,  1921. 

<$><$><$> 

FREEDOM'S  battles  are  not  fought  without  paying  heavy 
prices.  Just  as  man  would  not  cherish  the  thought  of 
living  in  a  body  other  than  his  own,  so  do  nations  not  like 
to  live  under  other  nations  however  noble  and  great  the 
latter  maybe.  — Harijan  :  Mar.  16,  1940. 

Q,.  SUPPOSING  India  does  become  iree  in  your  life- 
time, what  will  you  devote  the  rest  of  your  years  to  ? 


234        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

A.  If  India  becomes  free  in  my  lifetime  and  I  have 
still  energy  left  in  me,  of  course  I  would  take  my  due  share, 
though  outside  the  official  world,  in  building  up  the  nation 
on  a  strictly  non-vio— i.t  basis.  — Harijan  :  April  27,  1940 

<>    <§>    <$> 

THROUGH  the  deliverance  of  India,  I  seek  to  deliver 
the  so-called  weaker  races  of  the  earth  from  the  crushing 
heels  of  western  exploitation  in  which  England  is  the 
greatest  partner.  — Young  India  :  Jan.  12,  1928. 

THERE  is  no  perpetual  night  on  God's  earth.  Ours  too 
will  have  its  ending.  Only  we  must  work  for  it. 

—Young  India  :  Mar.  11,  1926. 

<$>  <s>  <$> 

I  WOULD  like  to  see  India  free  and  strong  so  that  she 
may  offer  herself  as  a  willing  and  pure  sacrifice  for  the 
betterment  of  the  world.  The  individual,  being  pure, 
sacrifices  himself  for  the  family,  the  latter  for  the  village, 
the  village  for  the  district,  the  district  for  the  province, 
the  province  for  the  nation,  the  nation  for  all. 

—Young  India  :  Sept.  17,  1925. 

<^    <$><$> 

IN  any  event  India  free  cannot  deny  freedom  to 
any  son  of  the  soil.  It  gives  one  both  pain  and  surprise 
when  I  find  people  feeling  anxious  about  their  future 
under  a  free  India.  For  me  an  India  which  does  not 
guarantee  freedom  to  the  lowliest  of  those  born  not 
merely  within  an  artificial  boundary  but  within  its  natural 
boundary  is  not  free  India.  Our  fear  paralyses  our 
thinking  powers,  or  we  should  at  once  know  that 
freedom  means  a  state  at  any  rate  somewhat  better 
than  the  prsent  for  every  honest  man  or  woman.  It 
is  exploitors,  money-grabbers,  pirates  and  the  like  who 
have  to  fear  the  advent  of  freedom. 

—Young  India  :  Dec.  26,    1929. 


FRIENDSHIP  235 

LIBERTY  is  a  jilt  most  difficult  to  woo  and  please. 

— Young  India  :  Feb.  16,  1922. 

^S      ^^      ^^ 

WE   dare   not   enter    the   kingdom     of    liberty     with 
mere  lip  homage  to  Truth  and  Non-violence. 

—Young  India  :  Feb.  16,  1922. 


IT  would  be  a  thousand  times  better  for  us  to  be 
ruled  by  a  military  dictator  than  to  have  the  dictatorship 
concealed  under  sham  councils  and  assemblies.  They 
prolong  the  agony  and  increase  the  expenditure.  If  we 
are  so  anxious  to  live,  it  would  be  more  honourable 
to  face  the  truth  and  submit  to  unabashed  dictation 
than  to  pretend  that  we  are  slowly  becoming  free. 
There  is  no  such  thing  as  slow  freedom.  Freedom  is 
like  a  birth.  Till  we  are  fully  free,  we  are  slaves. 
All  birth  takes  place  in  a  moment. 

—  Young  India  :  Mar.  30,    1922. 

Free  Trade 

I  AM  an  out-and-out  protectionist.  I  hold  that 
every  country,  especially  a  poor  country  like  India,  has 
every  right  and  is  indeed  bound  to  protect  its  interest, 
when  it  is  threatened,  by  all  lawful  protective  measures 
and  to  regain  by  such  measures  what  has  been  lawfully 
taken  away  from  it.  — Toung  India]'.  Aug.  2,  1928. 

Friendship 

WHEN  a  slave  salutes  a  master  and  a  friend  salutes 
a  friend,  the  form  is  the  same  in  either  case,  but  there 
is  a  world  of  difference  between  the  two,  which  enables 
an  observer  to  recognise  the  slave  and  the  friend  at  once. 

— Satyagraha  in  South  Africa  :  Page  307. 

A  REFORMER  cannot  aftord  to  have  close  intimacy 
with  him  whom  he  seeks  to  reform.  True  friendship 


236        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

is  an  identity  of  souls  rarely  to  be  found  in  this  world* 
Only  between  like  natures  can  friendship  be  altogether 
worthy  and  enduring.  Friends  react  on  one  another. 
Hence  in  friendship  there  is  very  little  scope  for  re- 
form. 1  am  of  opinion  that  all  exclusive  intimacies 
are  to  be  avoided,  for  man  takes  in  vice  far  more  readily 
than  virtue.  And  he  who  would  be  friends  with 
God  must  remain  alone,  or  make  the  whole~world  his 
friend.  —  My  Experiments  With  Truth  :  Page  32. 

WHENEVER  my  contacts  with  strangers  have  been 
painful  to  friends,  I  have  not  hesitated  to  blame  them. 
I  hold  that  believers  who  have  to  see  the  same  God  in  others 
that  they  see  in  themselves,  must  be  able  to  live  amongst 
all  with  sufficient  detachment.  And  the  ability  to  live  thus 
can  be  cultivated,  not  by  fighting  shy  of  unsought  oppor- 
tunities for  such  contacts,  but  by  hailing  them  in  a  spirit 
of  service  and  withal  keeping  oneself  unaffected  by  them. 
—My  Experiments  With  Truth  :  Page  343. 

I  COULD  think  of  many  friends  who  have  been  a 
source  of  great  comfort  to  me  in  the  midst  of  trials 
and  disappointments.  One  who  has  faith  reads  in  them 
the  merciful  providence  of  God,  who  thus  sweetens 
sorrow  itself.  —  My  Experiments  With  Truth  :  Page.  439. 

SPIRITUAL  relationship  is  far  more  precious  than 
physical.  Physical  relationship  divorced  from  spiritual 
is  body  without  soul.—  My  Experiments  With  Truth  :  Page  472. 

<3>    3>    3> 

INSISTENCE  on  truth  can  come  into  play  when 
one  party  practises  untruth  or  injustice.  Only  then  can 
love  be  tested.  True  friendship  is  put  to  the  test  only 
when  one  party  disregards  the  obligation  of  friendship. 

—Toung  India  :  May  4,  1919. 


THE   test  of  friendship  is   assistance  in   adversity,  anh 
that    too,    unconditional  assistance.     Co-operation  whicd 


FRIENDSHIP  237 

needs  consideration  is  a  commercial  contract  and  not  friend- 
ship. Conditional  co-operation  is  like  adulterated  cement 
which  does  not  bind.  — Toung  India  :  Dec.  10,  1919. 

<$><$><$> 

MY  goal  is  friendship  with  the  world  and  I  can  com- 
bine the  greatest  love  with  the  great  opposition  to  wrong. 

—Young  India  :  Mar.  10,    1920. 

^>    ^N    ^s 

SELF-SUFFERING  is  the  truest  test  of  sincerity. 

—  Young  India  :  Sept  8,   1921. 

<$>    <$>    <$> 

IT  is  the  special  privilege  of  a  friend  to  own  the  other's 
faults  and  redeclare  his  affection  in  spite  of  faults. 

—Young  India  :  April  24,  1924 

FRIENDSHIP  presupposes  the  utmost  attention  to 
the  feelings  of  a  friend.  It  never  requires  consideration. 

—  Young  India  :  May  29,    1924. 

<$><$><$> 

WHY  should  mere  disagreement  with  my  views  dis- 
please me.  If  every  disagreement  were  to  displease, 
since  no  two  men  agree  exactly  on  all  points,  life  would 
be  a  bundle  of  unpleasent  sensations  and  therefore  a  perfect 
nuisance.  »On  the  contrary  the  frank  criticism  pleases  me. 
For  our  friendship  becomes  all  the  richer  for  our  dis- 
agreements. Friends  to  be  friends  are  not  called  upon 
to  agree  even  on  most  points.  Only  disagreement  must 
have  no  sharpness  much  less  bitterness  about  them. 

—Young  India  :  Nov.  5,    1925. 
^\    ^»    ^p 

FRIENDSHIP  that  insists  upon  agreement  on  all 
matters  is  not  worth  the  name.  Friendship  to  be  real 
must  ever  sustain  the  weight  of  honest  differences,  how* 


238       TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

ever  sharp  they  may  be.  — Young  India  :  Dec.  1,  1927. 

IF  those  who  Jove  cannot  transfer  this  love  to  the 
thing  for  which  I  stand,  their  love  is  blind  and  of 
little  value.  I  do  not  know  if  one  should  live  to  provide 
mere  enjoyment  for  friends.  Friendship  means  loving 
mutual  service,  and  sometimes  it  is  a  positive  disservice  to 
indulge  one's  friends  and  to  expose  them  to  temptations. 
And  if  theie  aie  friends  who  would  spend  lavishly  for  pro- 
viding luxuries  for  me,  but  would  not  spend  for  the  cause 
I  espouse,  it  is  my  clear  duty  to  resist  such  luxuries. 
Friends  to  be  friends  must  first  provide  me  with  neces- 
saries of  life  before  they  think  of  indulging  me  with 
luxuries,  and  Kbaddar  woik  is  a  vital  necessity  of  life 
for  me  more  vital  than  food.  — Tot  fig  India  :  Feb.  24,  1927. 

^P    ^P    ^^ 

A  FRIENDSHIP  which  exacts  oneness  of  opinion  and 
conduct  is  not  worth  much.  Friends  have  to  tolerate 
one  another's  ways  of  life  and  thought  even  though 
they  may  be  different  except  where  the  difference  is 
fundamental.  —Harijan  :  May  9,  1 940. 

^    ^    ^ 

THERE   can   be   no  friendship  between     the     brave 
and   the  effeminate.  —Harijan  :  May  23,  1940. 

G 
Gambling 

IN  a  way  it  is  worse  than  the  plague  or  the  quake. 
For  it  destroys  the  soul  within.  A  person  without  the 
soul  is  a  burden  upon  the  earth.  No  doubt  war  against 
gambling  is  not  so  simple  as  war  against  plague  or 
earthquake  distress.  In  the  latter  there  i$  more  or  less 
co-operation  from  the  sufferers.  In  the  former  the  sufferers 
invite  and  hug  their  sufferings.  To  wean  the  gambler 
from  his  vice  is  like  weaning  the  drunkard  from  the 


GANDHISM  239 

drink  habit.    This  war    against  gambling  is  therefore  an 
uphill  task.  —Harijan  :  June  15,  1935. 

<£    <$>    3> 

I  KNOW  nothing  of  horse-racing.  I  have  ever 
looked  upon  it  with  horror  for  its  associations.  I  know 
that  many  men  have  been  ruined  on  the  race  course. 

But  I  must  confess  I  have  not  had  the  courage  to 
write  anything  against  it.  Having  seen  even  an  Aga 
Khan,  prelates,  viceroys,  and  those  that  are  considered 
the  best  in  the  land,  openly  patronising  it  and  spend- 
ing thousands  upon  it,  I  have  felt  it  to  be  useless  to 
write  about  it.  As  a  journalist  and  reformer,  my  functions 
is  to  call  public  attention  to  these  vices  about  which 
there  is  likelihood  of  public  opinion  being  created.  Much 
as  I  disapprove  of  vaccination,  I  deem  it  to  be  waste 
of  effort  to  draw  public  attention  to  the  evil.  I  must 
own  that  I  had  not  the  courage  to  bring  the  drink 
traffic  in  the  campaign  of  purification.  It  has  come 
unsought.  The  people  have  taken  it  up  of  their  own 
accord. 

But  betting  is,  I  apprehend,  more  difficult  to  deal 
with  than  drinking.  When  vice  becomes  a  fashion  and 
even  a  virtue,  it  is  a  long  process  to  deal  with  it. 
Betting  is  not  only  fashionable  but  is  hardly  regarded 
as  a  vice.  Not  so  drinking.  Fortunately,  it  is  still 
the  fashion .  to  consider  drinking  a  weakness,  if  not  posi- 
tively a  vice.  Every  religion  has  denounced  it  with  more 
or  less  vehemence.  But  betting  has  escaped  much  special 
attention.  Let  us  hope,  however,  that  the  vigilant 
public  will  find  a  more  innocent  recreation  than  attend- 
ing the  race  course,  and  thus  show  its  disapproval  of 
gambling  at  the  race  course.  — Young  India  :  April  27,  192L 

Gandhism 

LET  Gandhism   be  destroyed  if  it  stands    for  error* 
Truth   and   ahimsa  will  never  be  destroyed,  but  if  Gandhism 


240        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

is  another  name  for  sectarianism  it  deserves  to  be 
destroyed.  If  I  were  to  know,  after  my  death,  that 
what  I  stood  for  had  degenerated  into  sectarianism,  I 
should  be  deeply  pained.  We  have  to  work  away  silently. 
Let  no  one  say  that  he  is  a  follower  of  Gandhi.  It 
is  enough  that  I  should  be  my  own  follower.  I  know 
what  an  inadequate  follower  I  am  of  myself,  for  I  cannot 
live  upto  the  convictions  I  stand  for. 

—Harijan  :  Mar.  2,  1940. 

I  WOULD  ask  you  to  give  up  the  name  'Gandhi 
ites,'  and  Gandhism.  You  may  call  yourselves  ahimsaites, 
if  you  like,  but  '  Gandhi-ite '  is  meaningless.  Gandhi  is 
an  erring  mortal,  a  mixture  of  good  and  evil,  so  you 
cannot  go  by  the  name  'Gandhi-ites'.  Ahimsa  is  no  such 
adulterated  ore,  it  is  pure  gold.  — Harijan  :  Mar.  2,  1940. 

THEY  might  kill  me  but  they  cannot  kill  Gandhism. 
If  Truth  can  be  killed,  Gandhism  can  be  killed.  If  non- 
violence can  be  killed,  Gandhism  can  be  killed.  For 
•what  is  Gandhism  but  winning  Swaraj  by  means  of  truth 
and  non-violence  ?  — Young  India  :  April  2,  1931. 

THE  true  method  of  bestowing  affection  on  me  is 
to  copy  such  actions  of  mine  as  may  seem  to  be  worthy 
of  imitation.  No  higher  compliment  can  be  paid  to  a 
man  than  to  follow  him.  — Young  India  :  Mar.  4,  1919. 

Gandhiji  Looks  At  Himself 

I  AM  an  erring  mortal  like  you.  I  have  never 
even  in  my  dream  thought  that  I  was  a  Maha-atma 
(great  soul)  and  that  others  were  Alpa-atma  (little  souls). 
We  are  all  equal  before  our  Maker— Hindus,  Musalmans, 
Parsis,  Christians,  worshippers  of  one  God. 

-Harijan  :  Mar.  30,  1940. 


GANDHIJI  LOOKS  AT  HIMSELF  241 

FRIENDS  who  know  me  have  certified  that  I  am 
as  much  a  moderate  as  I  am  an  extremist  and  as  much 
conservative  as  I  am  a  radical.  Hence  perhaps  my  good 
fortune  to  have  friends  among  these  extreme  type  of 
men.  The  misture  is  due,  I  believe,  to  my  view  of 
akimta.  — Toung  India  :  April  6,  1931. 

<S>    <$>    <$> 

AS  for  my  leadership,  I  have  it,  it  has  ftot  come 
for  any  seeking,  it  is  a  fruit  of  faithful  service.  A 
man  can  as  little  discard  such  leadership  as  he  can 
the  colour  of  his  skin.  And  since  I  have  become  an 
integral  part  of  the  nation,  it  has  to  keep  me  with 
all  my  faults  and  shortcomings  of  some  of  which  I  am 
painfully  conscious  and  of  many  others  of  which  candid 
critics  thanks  be  to  them,  never  fail  to  remind  me. 

—Young  India  :  Feb.  13,  1930. 

<$>    <3>    <$> 

AS  a  matter  of  fact  my  writings  should  be  cremated 
with  rny  body.  What  I  have  done  will  endure,  not 
what  I  have  sdid  and  written.  I  have  oftea  said  recently 
that  even  if  all  our  scriptures  were  to  perish,  one  mantra 
of  Ishopanishad  was  enough  to  declare  the  essence  of 
Hinduism,  but  even  that  one  verse  will  be  of  no  avail 
if  there  is  no  one  to  live  it.  Even  so  what  I  have 
said  and  written  is  useful  only  to  the  extent  that  it  has 
helped  you  to  assimilate  the  great  principles  of  truth 
and  ahimsa.  *  If  you  have  not  assimilated  them,  my 
writings  will  be  of  no  use  to  you,  I  say  this  to  you 
as  a  Salyaqrahi  meaning  every  word  of  it. 

—Harijan  :  May  1,  1932. 

<^  <s>  <$> 

I  FLATTER  myself  with  the  belief  that  some  of 
my  writings  will  survive  me  and  will  be  of  service  to 
*he  causes  for  which  they  have  been  written. 

—Harijan  :  May  1,  1937. 


242          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

I  HAVE  received  a  cutting,  in  which  I  am  reported 
to  be  credited  with  being  a  messenger  of  God,  and  I 
am  asked  whether  I  claim  to  have  any  special  revelation 
from  God.  As  to  this,  the  latest  charge,  I  must 
disown  it.  I  pray  like  every  good  Hindu.  I  believe 
that  we  can  all  become  messengers  of  God,  if  we  cease  to 
fear  man  and  seek  only  God's  Truth.  I  do  believe  I  am 
seeking  only  God's  Truth  and  have  lost  all  fear  of  man. 
I  therefore  do  feel  that  God  is  with  the  movement  of 
Non-co-operation.  I  have  no  special  revelation  of  God's 
will.  My  firm  belief  is  that  He  reveals  Himself  daily 
to  every  human  being  but  we  shut  our  ears  to  the 
'still  small  voice.'  We  shut  our  eyes  to  the 
Pillar  of  Fire  in  front  of  us.  I  realise  His  omnipresence. 
And  it  is  open  to  the  writer  to  do  likewise. 

—Young  India  :  May  25,  1921. 
<S>    <$>    <$> 

SOME  of  my  correspondents  seem  to  think  that  I 
can  work  wonders.  Let  me  say  as  a  devotee  of  truth 
that  I  have  no  such  gift.  All  the  power  I  may  have 
comes  from  God.  But  He  does  not  work  directly.  He 
works  through  His  numberless  agencies.  In  this  case 
it  is  the  Congress.  All  the  prestige  that  I  have  is 
derived  from  that  of  the  Congress.  The  latter  derives 
it  from  its  creed.  If  Congressmen  deny  the  creed  of 
truth  and  non-violence,  the  Congress  loses  prestige.  I 
assure  them  that  my  virtues,  real  or  so-called,  will  not 
count  for  anything,  if  I  did  not  represent  the  Congress 
mind  —Toung  India  :  Oct.  8,  1924. 

3>    <3>    <£ 

I  AM  a  dreamer.  I  am,  indeed,  a  practical  dreamer. 
My  dreams  are  not  airy  nothings.  I  want  to  convert 
my  dreams  into  realities,  as  far  as  possible. 

—Harijan  :  Nov.  7,    1933. 
<$><$><$> 

I   LAY    claim  to  nothing   exculsively   divine   in   me. 


GENERALISATION  243 

I  do  not  claim  prophetship.  I  am  but  a  humble  seeker 
after  Truth  and  bent  upon  finding  it.  I  count  no  sacrifice 
too  great  for  the  sake  of  seeing  God  face  to  face.  The  whole 
of  my  activity  whether  it  may  be  called  social,  political, 
humanitarian  or  ethical  is  directed  to  that  end.  And 
as  I  know  that  God  is  found  more  often  in  the  low- 
liest of  His  creatures  than  in  the  high  and  n|ighty,  I 
am  struggling  to  reach  the  status  of  these.  I  cannot  do  so 
without  their  service.  Hence  my  passion  for  the  service 
of  the  suppressed  classes.  And  as  I  cannot  render  this 
service  without  entering  politics,  I  find  myself  in  them. 
Thus  I  am  no  master.  I  am  but  a  struggling,  erring  humble 
servant  of  India  and  there  through  of  humanity. 

There  is  already  enough  surperstition  in  our  country. 
No  effort  should  be  spared  to  resist  further  addition 
in  the  shape  of  Gandhi  worship.  Personally  I  have  a 
horror  of  all  adoration.  1  believe  in  adoring  virtue 
apart  from  the  wearer.  And  that  can  be  done  only 
after  the  wearer's  death.  Form  is  nothing.  It  is  perishable. 
Virtue  persists  and  incarnates  in  one  person  or  another. 
That  poor  Gonds  know  nothing  of  me  or  my  mission. 
I  know  I  have  no  power  to  give  any  person 
anything.  The  very  idea  of  my  spirit  visiting  and 
possessing  any  person  is  repugnant  to  me.  The  practice 
can  only  do  harm  and  lead  to  fraud.  I  urge  coworkers 
to  put  down  the  worship  the  correspondent  describes. 
It  is  a  sin  to  let  simple  folk  such  as  the  Gonds  to  be 
encouraged  in  the  practice  of  superstition. 

—  Toung  India  :  Sept.  11,  1924. 

Generalisation 

A  SEEKER  after  Truth  cannot  afford  to  indulge  in 
generalisation. 

Darwin  for  the  greater  part  of  his  book  Origin  of 
the  Species  has  simply  massed  fact  upon  fact  without  any 
theorising,  and  only  towards  the  end  has  formulated  his 


244          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

» 

conclusion  which,  because  of  the  sheer  weight  of  testimony 
behind  it,  becomes  almost  irresistible.  Yes  I  have  criti- 
cised even  Darwin's  generalisation  as  being  unwarran- 
ted. 

Science  tells  us  that  a  proposition  may  hold  good 
in  nine  hundred  ninety-nine  cases  and  yet  fail  in  the 
thousandth  case  and  thus  be  rendered  untenable  as  a 
universal  statement.  That  is  why  in  Jain  philosophy  so 
much  stress  is  laid  on  Syadvad.  A  proposition  must  not 
only  be  able  to  satisfy  the  analytical  test,  but  must  also 
be  proved  conversely  by  synthesis  before  its  universal 
validity  can  be  established.  —Harijan  :  July  6,  1940. 

Generosity 

EVEN  as  justice  to  be  justice  has  to  be  generous,  gene- 
rosity in  order  to  justify  itself  has  got  to  be  strictly  just. 

—Hanjan  :  Feb.  24,  1940. 

Gita 

A  FRIEND  puts  forward  the  following  poser  : 

The  controversy  about  the  teaching  of  the  Gita— whether  it  is  Himsa 
(violence)  or  Ahimsa  (non  violence)  will  it  seems  go  on  for  a  long  time. 
It  is  one  thing  what  meaning  we  read  in  the  Gita  or  rather  we  want 
to  read  in  the  Gita,  it  is  another  what  meaning  is  furnished  by  an  unbi- 
assed reading  of  it.  The  question  therefore  does  not  present  much  difficul- 
ty to  one  who  implicitly  accepts  Ahimsa  as  the  eternal  principle  of  life.  He 
will  say  that  the  Gita  is  acceptable  to  him  only  if  it  teaches  Ahimsa.  A 
grand  book  like  the  Gita  could,  for  him,  inculcate  nothing  grander  than 
the  eternal  religious  principle  of  Ahimsa.  If  it  did  not,  it  would  cease  to 
be  his  unerring  guide.  It  would  still  be  worthy  of  his  high  regard 
but  not  an  infallible  authority. 

In  the  first  chapter  we  find  Arjuna  laying  down  his  weapons,  under 
the  influence  of  Ahimsa ,  and  ready  to  die  at  the  hands  of  the  Kauravas. 
He  conjures  up  a  vision  of  the  disaster  and  the  sin  involved  in  Himsa.  He 
is  overcome  with  ennui  and  in  fear  and  trembling  exclaims  : 

*'  Oh  what  a  mighty  sin  we  are  up  to  !  " 

Shri  Krishna  catches  him  in  that  mood  and  tells  him  :  "  Enough  of 
this  high  philosophy.  No  one  kills  or  is  killed.  The  soul  is  immortal  and  the 
body  must  perish  Fight  then  the  fight  that  has  come  to  thee  as  a  matter  of  duty. 
Victory  or  defeat  is  no  concern  ofthi  •  Acquit  thyself  of  thy  task." 


GITA  245 

In  the  eleventh  chapter  the  Lord  presents  a  panoramic  vision  of  the 

Universe  and  says  : 

"  /  am  Kala,  the  Destroyer  of  the  Worlds,  the  Ancient  of  the  Days  ;  I  am  htr* 
engaged  in  my  tisk  of  destruction  of  the  worlds  Kill  thou  those  a1  ready  killed  by 
me.  Give  not  thyself  up  to  grief  ." 

Himsa  and  Ahimsa  are  equal  before  God.  But  for  man  what  is  God's 
message  ?  Is  it  this  :  *  Fight :  for  thou  art  sure  to  foil  thy  enemies 
in  the  field  ?'  If  the  Gita  teaches  Ahimsa  the  first  and  the  eleventh 
chapters  arc  not  consistent  with  the  rest  ;  at  any  rate  do  not  support  the 
Ahimsa  theory.  I  wish  you  could  find  time  to  resolve,  my  dWtbt. 

The  question  put  is  eternal  and  everyone  who  has  studied 
the  Gila  must  needs  find  out  his  own  solution.  And,  although 
I  am  going  to  offer  mine,  I  know  that  ultimately  one  is 
guided  not  by  the  intellect  but  by  the  heart.  The  heart 
accepts  a  conclusion  for  which  the  intellect  subsequently 
finds  the  reasoning.  Argument  follows  conviction.  Man 
often  finds  reason  in  support  of  whatever  he  does  or 
wants  to  do. 

I  shall  therefore  appreciate  the  position  of  those 
who  are  unable  to  accept  my  interpretation  of  the 
Gita.  All  I  need  do  is  to  indicate  how  I  reached  my 
meaning,  and  what  canons  of  interpretation  I  have 
followed  in  arriving  at  it.  Mine  is  but  to  fight  for  my 
meaning,  no  matter  whether  1  win  or  lose. 

My  first  acquaintance  with  the  Gita  was  in  1889,  when 
I  was  almost  twenty.  I  had  not  then  much  of  an  inkling  of 
the  principle  of  Ahimsa.  One  of  the  lines  of  the  Gujarati  poet 
Shamal  Bhatta  had  taught  me  the  principle  of  winning  even 
the  enemy  with  love,  and  that  teaching  had  gone  deep 
into  me.  But  I  had  not  deduced  the  eternal  principle 
of  Non-violence  from  it.  It  did  not  for  instance  cover 
all  animal  life.  I  had  before  this  tasted  meat  whilst  in 
India.  I  thought  it  a  duty  to  kill  venomous  reptiles 
like  the  snake.  It  is  my  conviction  today  that  even 
venomous  creatures  may  not  be  killed  by  a  believer  in 
Ahimsa.  I  believed  in  those  days  in  preparing  our- 
selves for  a  fight  with  the  English.  I  often  repeated  a 


246          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

Gujarati  poet's  famous  doggerel  :  'What  wonder  if  Britain 
rules  P  etc.  My  meat-eating  was  as  a  first  step  to  qualify 
myself  for  the  fight  with  the  English.  Such  was  my 
position  before  I  proceeded  to  England,  and  there  I 
escaped  meat-eating,  etc.,  because  of  my  determination  to 
follow  unto  death  the  promises  I  had  given  to  my 
mother.  My  love  for  truth  has  saved  me  from  many  a 
pitfall. 

Now  whilst  in  England  my  contact  with  two  English 
friends  made  me  read  the  Gita.  I  say  'made  me  read/ 
because  it  was  not  of  my  own  desire  that  I  read  it. 
But  when  these  two  friends  asked  me  to  read  the  Gita 
with  them,  I  was  ashamed  of  my  ignorance.  The  knowledge 
of  my  total  ignorance  of  my  scriptures  pained  me. 
Pride  I  think  was  at  the  bottom  of  the  feeling. 
My  knowledge  of  Sanskrit  was  not  enough  to  enable 
me  to  understand  all  the  verses  of  the  Gita  unaided. 
The  friends  of  course  were  quite  innocent  of  Sanskrit. 
They  placed  before  me  Sir  Edwin  Arnold's  magnificent 
rendering  of  the  Gita.  I  devoured  the  contents  from 
cover  to  cover  and  was  entranced  by  it.  The  last 
nineteen  verses  of  the  second  chapter  have  since  been 
inscribed  on  the  tablet  of  my  heart.  They  contain  for  me 
all  knowledge.  The  truths  they  teach  are  the  'eternal 
verities.'  There  is  reasoning  in  them  but  they  represent 
realised  knowledge. 

I  have  since  read  many  translations  and  many  com- 
mentaries, have  argued  and  reasoned  to  my  heart's 
content  but  the  impression  that  the  first  reading  gave 
me  has  never  been  effaced.  Those  verses  are  the  key 
to  the  interpretation  of  the  Gita.  I  would  even  advise 
rejection  of  the  verses  that  may  seem  to  be  in  conflict 
with  them.  But  a  humble  student  need  reject  nothing. 
He  will  simply  say :  'It  is  the  limitation  of  my  own 
intellect  that  I  cannot  resolve  this  inconsistency.  I  might 
be  able  to  do  so  in  the  time  to  come.'  That  is  how 


GITA  247 

he  will  plead  with  himself  and  with  others. 

A  prayerful  study  and  experience  arc  essential  for 
a  correct  interpretation  of  the  scriptures.  The  injunction 
that  a  Shudra  may  not  study  the  scriptures  is  not  entirely 
without  meaning.  A  Shudra  means  a  spiritually  uncultured 
ignorant  man.  He  is  more  likely  than  not  to  misinterpret 
the  Vedas  and  other  scriptures.  Everyone  cannot  solve 
an  algebraical  equation.  Some  perliminary  study  is  a 
sina  qua  non.  How  ill  would  the  grand  truth  CI  am 
Brahman*  lie  in  the  mouth  of  a  man  steeped  in  sin  1 
To  what  ignoble  purposes  would  he  turn  it  !  What  a 
distortion  it  would  suffer  at  his  hands. 

A  man  therefore  who  would  interpret  the  scriptures 
must  have  the  spiritual  discipline.  He  must  practise 
the  Tamas  and  Niyams — the  eternal  guides  of  conduct. 
A  superficial  practice  thereof  is  useless.  The  Shastras 
have  enjoined  the  necessity  of  a  Guru.  But  a  Guru  be- 
ing rare  in  these  days  a  study  of  modern  books  inculcat- 
ing Bhakti  has  been  suggested  by  the  sages.  Those  who 
are  lacking  in  Bhakti,  lacking  in  faith  are  ill-qualified  to  in- 
terpret the  scriptures.  The  learned  may  draw  an  elaborately 
learned  interpretation  out  of  them,  but  that  will  not  be  true 
interpretation.  Only  the  experienced  will  arrive  at  the 
true  interpretation  of  the  scriptures. 

But  even  for  the  inexperienced  there  are  certain 
canons.  That  interpretation  is  not  true  which  conflicts 
with  Truth.  To  one  who  doubts  even  Truth,  the 
scriptures  have  no  meaning.  No  one  can  contend  with 
him.  There  is  danger  for  the  man  who  has  failed  to 
find  Ahimsa  in  the  scriptures,  but  he  is  not  doomed. 
Truth— Saf — is  positive;  Non-violence  is  negative.  Truth 
stands  for  the  fact.  Non-violence  negatives  the  fact.  And 
yet  Non-violence  is  the  highest  religion.  Truth  is  self- 
evident;  Non-violenc  is  its  maturest  fruit.  It  is  contained 
in  Truth,  but  as  it  is  not  self-evident  a  man  may  seek  to  in- 
terpret the  Shastras  without  accepting  it.  But  his  acceptance 


248          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

of  Truth   is  sure   to  lead   him   to   the   acceptance   of  Non- 
ivolence. 

Renunciation  of  the  flesh  is  essential  for  realising  Truth. 
The  sage  who  realised  Truth  found  Non-violence  out  of  the 
violence  raging  all  around  him  and  said  :  Violence  is 
unreal,  Non-violence  is  real.  Realisation  of  Truth  is 
impossible  without  Non-violence.  Brahmacharya  (celibacy) 
Asetya  (non-stealing),  Aparigraha  (non-possession)  are  means 
to  achieve  Ahimsa.  Ahimsa  is  the  soul  of  truth.  Man 
is  mere  animal  without  it.  A  seeker  after  Truth  will 
realise  all  this  in  his  search  for  truth  and  he  will  then 
have  no  difficulty  in  the  interpretation  of  the  Shastras. 

Another  canon  of  interpretation  is  to  scan  not  the 
latter  but  to  examine  the  spirit.  Tulsidas's  Ramayana 
is  a  noble  book  because  it  is  informed  with  the  spirit 
of  purity,  pity  and  piety.  There  is  a  verse  in  it  which 
brackets  drums,  shudras,  fools  and  women  together  as  fit 
to  be  beaten.  A  man  who  cites  that  verse  to  beat  his 
wife  is  doomed  to  perdition.  Rama  did  not  only  beat 
his  wife,  but  never  even  sought  to  displease  her. 
Tulsidas  simply  inserted  in  his  poem  a  proverb  current 
in  his  days,  little  dreaming  that  there  would  be  brutes 
justifying  beating  of  their  wives  on  the  authority  of  the  verse. 
But  assuming  that  Tulsidas  himself  followed  a  custom 
which  was  prevalent  in  his  days  and  beat  his  wife, 
what  then  ?  The  beating  was  still  wrong.  But  the 
Ramayana  was  not  written  to  justify  beating  of  their 
wives  by  their  husbands.  It  was  written  to  depict 
Rama,  the  perfect  man,  and  Sita,  the  ideal  wife,  and 
Bharat,  the  ideal  of  a  devoted  brother.  Any  justification 
incidentally  met  with  therein  of  vicious  customs  should 
therefore  be  rejected.  Tulsidas  did  not  write  his  priceless 
epic  to  teach  geography,  and  any  wrong  geography 
that  we  happen  to  come  across  in  Ramayana  should  be 
summarily  rejected. 


GIT  A  249 

Let  us  examine  the  Gita  in  the  light  of  these 
observations.  Self-realization  and  its  means  is  the  theme 
of  the  Gita,  the  fight  between  two  armies  being  but 
the  occasion  to  expound  the  theme.  You  might  if  you 
like  say  that  the  poet  himself  was  not  against  war  or 
violence  and  hence  he  did  not  hesitate  to  press  the 
occasion  of  a  war  into  service.  But  a  reading  of  the 
Mahabharata  has  given  me  an  altogether  different  impress. 
The  poet  Vyasa  has  demonstrated  the  futility  of  war 
by  means  of  that  epic  of  wonderful  beauty.  What  he 
asks,  if  the  Kauravas  were  vanquished  ?  And  what  if 
the  Pandavas  won  ?  How  many  were  left  of  the  victors 
and  what  was  their  lot  ?  What  an  end  Mother  Kunti 
came  to  ?  And  where  are  the  Yadavas  to-day  ? 

Where  the  description  of  the  fight  and  justification 
of  violence  are  not  the  subject-matter  of  the  epic,  it  is 
quite  wrong  to  emphasise  those  aspects.  And  if  it  is  difficult 
to  reconcile  certain  verses  with  the  teaching  of  Non-violence, 
it  is  far  more  difficult  to  set  the  whole  of  the  Gita 
in  the  framework  of  violence. 

The  poet  when  he  writes  is  not  conscious  of  all 
the  interpretations  his  composition  is  capable  of.  The 
beauty  of  poetry  is  that  the  creation  transcends  the 
poet.  The  Truth  that  he  reaches  in  the  highest  flights 
of  his  fancy  is  often  not  to  be  met  within  his  life. 
The  life  story  of  many  a  poet  thus  belies  his  poetry. 
That  the  central  teaching  of  the  Gita  is  not  Himsa 
but  Ahimsa  is  amply  demonstrated  by  the  subject  begun 
in  the  second  chapter  and  summarised  in  the  concluding 
(18th)  chapter.  The  treatment  in  the  other  chapters  also 
supports  the  position.  Himsa  is  impossible  without  anger, 
without  attachment  without  hatred,  and  the  Gita  strives  to 
cany  us  to  a  state  beyond  Sattwa,  Rajas  and  Tamas,  a  state 
that  excludes  anger,  hatred,  etc.  But  I  can,  even  now  picture 
to  my  mind  Arjuna's  eyes  red  with  anger  every  time  he 
drew  the  bow  to  the  end  of  his  ear. 


250  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

It  was  not  in  a  spirit  of  Ahimsa  that  Arjuna  refused  to  go 
to  battle.  He  had  fought  many  a  battle  before.  Only  this 
time  he  was  overcome  with  false  pity.  'He  fought  shy  of  killing 
his  own  kith  and  kin.  Arjuna  never  discussed  the  problem  of 
killing  as  such.  He  did  not  say  he  would  kill  no  one,  even 
if  he  regarded  him  as  wicked.  Sri  Krishna  knows  everyone's 
innermost  thoughts  and  he  saw  through  the  temporary  in- 
fatuation ofArjuna.  He  therefore  told  him  :  "Thou  hast  already 
done  the  killing.  Thou  canst  not  all  at  once  argue  thyself  into  Non- 
violence. Finish  what  thou  hast  already  begun.9  If  a  passenger 
going  in  a  Scotch  Express  gets  suddenly  sick  of  travelling  and 
jumps  out  of  it,  he  is  guilty  of  suicide.  He  has  not  learnt 
the  futility  of  travelling  or  travelling  by  a  railway  train. 
Similar  was  the  case  with  Arjuna.  -Non-violent  Krishna 
could  give  Armna  no  other  advice.  But  to  say  that  the 
Gita  teaches  violence  or  justifies  war,  because  advice  to  kill 
was  given  on  a  particular  occasion,  is  as  wrong  as  to  say  that 
Himsa  is  the  law  of  life,  because  a  certain  amount  of  it  is 
inevitable  in  daily  life.  To  one  who  reads  the  spirit  of  the 
Gita,  it  teaches  the  secret  of  Non-violence,  the  secret  of  rea- 
lising the  self  through  the  physical  body. 

And  who  are  Dhritrashtra  and  Yudhishthira,  and 
Arjuna?  Who  is  Krishna?  Were  they  all  historical  characters  ? 
And  does  the  Gita  describe  them  as  such  ?  Is  it  true  that 
Arjuna  suddenly  stops  in  the  midst  of  the  fight  and  puts  the 
question  to  Krishna,  and  Krishna  repeats  the  whole  of  the 
Gita —  before  him  ?  And  which  that  Gita  that  Arjuna  forgot 
after  having  exclaimed  that  his  infatuation  was  gone  and 
which  he  requested  Krishna  to  sing  again,  but  which  he 
could  not,  and  which  therefore  he  gave  in  the  form 
Anugita  ? 

I  regard  Duryodhana  and  his  party  as  the  baser 
impulses  in  man,  and  Arjuna  and  his  party  as  the  higher 
impulses.  The  field  of  battle  is  our  own  body.  An  eternal 
battle  is  going  on  between  the  two  camps  and  the  poet  seer 


GITA  251 

has  vividly  described  it.  Krishna  is  the  Dweller  within,  ever 
wishpering  in  a  pure  heart.  Like  the  watch  the  heart 
needs  the  winding  of  purity  ;  or  the  Dweller  ceases  to  speak. 

Not  that  actual  physical  battle  is  out  of  the  question  • 
To  those  who  are  innocent  of  Non-violence,  the  Gita  does 
not  teach  a  lesson  of  despair.  He  who  fears,  who  saves  his 
skin,  who  yields  to  his  passions  must  light  the  physical  battle 
whether  he  will  or  not  ;  but  that  is  not  his  Dharma. 
Dharma  is  one  and  one  only.  Ahimsa  means  Moksha  and 
Moksha  is  the  realisation  of  Truth.  There  is  no  room  here 
for  cowardice.  Himsa  will  go  on  eternally  in  this  strange 
world.  The  Gita  shows  the  way  out  of  it.  But  it  also 
shows  that  escape  out  of  cowardice  and  despair  is  not  the 
way.  Better  far  than  cowardice  is  killing  and  being  killed 
in  battle. 

If  the  meaning  of  the  verses  quoted  by  the  correspondent 
is  not  still  clear,  I  must  confess  my  inability  to  make  it  so. 
Is  it  agreed  that  the  Almighty  God  is  the  Creator,  Pretector 
and  Destroyer  and  ought  to  be  such  ?  And  if  He  creates, 
He  has  undoubtedly  the  right  to  destroy.  And  yet  He  does 
not  destroy  because  He  does  not  create.  His  law  is  that 
whatever  is  born  must  die,  and  in  that  lies  His  mercy. 
His  laws  are  immutable.  Where  should  we  all  be  if  He 
changed  them  capriciously  ?  — Young  India  :  Nov.  12,  1925, 

<$><$><$> 

1  MUST  tell  you  in  all  humility  that  Hinduism,  as  I 
know  it,  entirely  satisfies  my  soul,  fills  my  whole  being,  and 
I  find  a  solace  in  the  Bhagavad  Gita  and  Upanishads  that  I  miss 
even  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  Not  that  I  do  not  prize 
the  ideal  presented  therein,  not  that  some  of  the  precious 
teachings  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  have  not  left  a  deep 
impression  upon  me  but  I  must  confess  to  you  that  when 
doubts  haunt  me  when  disappointments  stare  me  in  the  face, 
and  when  I  see  no  one  ray  of  light  on  the  horizon  I  turn  to 
the  Bhagavad  Gita  and  find  a  verse  to  comfort  me ;  and  I 


252  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

immediately  begin  to  smile  in  the  midst  of  overwhelming 
sorrow.  My  life  has  been  full  of  external  tragedies  and,  if 
they  have  not  left  any  visible  and  indelible  effect  on  me,  I 
owe  it  to  the  teaching  of  the  Bhagavad  Gita. 

(Form  an  address   to  the    Missionaries  in  Calcutta). 

—Young  India  :  Aug.  6,  1925. 

<3>    <$>    <$> 

THE  Gita  is,  in  my  opinion,  a  very  easy  book  to  under- 
stand. It  does  present  some  fundamental  problems  which 
are  no  doubt  difficult  of  solution.  But  the  general  trend  of 
the  Gita  is,  in  my  opinion,  unmistakable.  It  is  accepted  by 
all  Hindu  sects  as  authoritative.  It  is  free  from  any  form 
of  dogma.  In  a  short  compass  it  gives  a  complete  reasoned 
moral  code.  It  satisfies  both  the  intellect  and  the  heart. 
It  is  thus  both  philosophical  and  devotional.  Its  cippeal 
is  universal.  The  language  is  incredibly  simple. 

—Young  India  :  Aug.  5,  1927. 

<s>  <$><$> 

I  HAVE  not  been  able  to  see  any  difference  between 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  and  the  Bhagavad  Gita.  What 
the  Sermon  describes  in  a  graphic  manner,  the  Bhagavad 
Gita  reduces  to  a  scientific  formula.  It  may  not  be  a 
scientific  book  in  the  accepted  sense  of  the  term,  but  it  has 
argued  out  the  law  of  lave— -the  law  of  abandon  as  I  would 
call  it—in  a  scientific  manner.  The  Sermon  on  the  Mount 
gives  the  same  law  in  a  wonderful  language.  The  JVtw 
Testament  gave  me  comfort  and  boundless  joy,  as  it  came  after 
the  repulsion  that  parts  of  the  Old  had  given  me.  To-day 
supposing  I  was  deprived  of  the  Gita,  and  forgot  all  its 
contents  but  had  a  copy  of  the  Sermon,  I  should  derive  the 
same  joy  from  it  as  I  do  from  the  Gita. 

—Young  India  :  Dec.  22,   1927, 

<*>   3>   ^> 

Let  the  Gita  be  to  you  a  mine  of  diamonds,  as  it  has 


GITA  253 

been  to  me,  let  it  be  your  constant  guide  and  friend  on   life's 
way.     Let  it  light  your  path  and  dignify  your  labour. 

7  —Young  India  :  Feb.  2,  1928. 

It  has  been  my  endeavour  as  also  that  of  some  com- 
panions to  reduce  to  practice  the  teaching  of  the  Gita  as  I 
have  understood  it.  The  Gita  has  become  for  us  a  spiritual 
reference  book.  I  am  aware  that  we  ever  fail  to  act  in 
perfect  accord  with  the  teaching.  The  failure  is  not  due  to 
want  of  effort,  but  is  in  spite  of  it.  Even  through  the 
failures  we  seem  to  see  rays  of  hope.  The  accompanying 
rendering  contains  the  meaning  of  the  Gita  message  which 
this  little  band  is  trying  to  enforce  in  its  daily  conduct. 

Again  this  rendering  is  designed  for  women,  the 
commercial  class,  the  so-called  Shudras  and  the  like,  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.  In  spite  of  my 
Gujarati  being  unscholarly,  I  must  own  'o  having  the 
desire  to  leave  to  the  Gujaratis,  through  the  mother  tongue, 
whatever  knowledge  I  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  the  majority  can  understand  of  a  book  that  is 
regarded  as  unrivalled  for  its  spiritual  merit  and  so  with- 
stand the  overwhelming  flood  of  unclean  literature. 

This '  desire  does  not  mean  any  disrespect  to  the 
other  renderings.  They  have  their  own  place.  But 
I  am  not  aware  of  the  claim  made  by  the  translators  of 
enforcing  their  meaning  of  the  Gita  in  their  own  lives.  At 
the  back  of  my  reading  there  is  the  claim  of  an  endeavour  to 
enforce  the  meaning  in  my  own  conduct  ior  an  unbroken 
period  of  40  years.  For  this  reason  I  do  indeed  harbour  the 
wish  that  all  Gujarati  men  or  women  wishing  to  shape  their 
conduct  according  to  the  faith,  should  digest  and  derive 
strength  from  the  translation  here  presented. 


254         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

My  co-workers,  too,  have  worked  at  this  transla- 
tion. My  knowledge  of  Sanskrit  being  very  limited,  I 
should  not  have  full  confidence  in  my  literal  translation.  To 
that  extent  therefore  the  translation  has  passed  before  the 
eyes  of  Vinoba,  Kaka  Kalekar,  Mahadev  Desai  and  Kishori 
Lai  Mashruvala. 

II 

Now  about  the  message  of  the  Gita. 

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  duel 
that  perpetually  went  on  in  the  hearts  of  mankind  and  that 
physical  warfare  was  brought  in  merely  to  make  the  descrip- 
tion of  the  internal  duel  more  alluring.  This  preliminary  in- 
tuition became  more  confirmed  on  a  closer  study  of  religion 
and  the  Gita.  A  study  of  the  Maha'/iarta  gave  it  added  confir- 
mation. I  do  not  regard  tl-e  Mahabharta  as  a  historical 
work  in  the  accepted  sense.  The  Adiparva  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  their  in  described  may  be  historical, 
but  the  author  of  the  Mahabharta  has  used  them  merely 
to  drive  home  his  religious  theme. 

The  author  of  the  Mahabharta  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  repentance,  and  has  left  them  nothing  but  a 
legacy  of  miseries. 

In  this  great  work  the  Gita  is  the  crown.  Its  second 
chapter,  instead  of  teaching  the  rules  of  physical  warfare, 
tells  us  how  a  perfected  man  is  to  be  known.  In  the 
characteristics  of  the  man  of  the  Gita,  I  do  not  see  any  to 
correspond  to  physical  warfare.  Its  whole  design  is  incon- 
sistent with  the  rules  of  conduct  governing  the  relations 


GITA  255 

between  warring  parties. 

Krishna  of  the  Gita  is  perfection  and  right  know- 
ledge personified,  but  the  picture  is  imaginary.  That  does 
not  mean  that  Krishna,  the  adored  of  his  people,  never 
lived.  But  perfection  is  imagined.  The  idea  of  a  perfect 
incarnation  is  an  aftergrowth. 

In  Hinduism,  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. 
I  can  sec  nothing  wrong  in  this  procedure  ;  il  takes  nothing 
from  God's  greatness,  and  there  is  no  violence  done  to  truth. 
There  is  an  Urdu  saying  which  means  "  Adam  is  not  God 
but  he  is  spark  of  the  Divine  ."  And  therefore  he  who  is  the 
most  religiously  behaved  has  most  of  divine  spark  in  him.  It 
is  in  accordance  with  this  train  of  thought  that  Krishna 
enjoys  in  Hinduism,  the  status  of  the  most  perfect  incar- 
nation. 

This  belief  in  incarnation  is  a  testimony  of  man's 
lofty  spiritual  ambition.  Man  is  not  at  peace  with  himself 
till  he  has  become  like  unto  God.  The  endeavour  to  reach 
this  state  is  the  supreme,  the  only  ambition  worth  having. 
And  this  is  self-realisation.  This  self-realisation  is  the  subject 
of  the  Gita,  as  it  is  of  all  scriptures.  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-realisation.  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  ihzGita  even  at  the  risk  of  repetition. 

That   matchless     remedy   is  renunciation  of  xruits   of 
action. 

This   is  the   centre  round   which   the   Gita   is   woven. 


256          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

This  renunciation  is  the  central  sun,  round  which  devotion, 
knowledge  and  the  rest  revolve  like  planets.  The  body  has 
been  likened  to  a  prison.  There  must  be  action  where  there 
is  body.  No  one  embodied  being  is  exempted  from  labour. 
And  yet  all  religious  proclaim  that  it  is  possible  for  man,  by 
treating  the  body  as  the  temple  of  God,  to  attain  freedom. 
Every  action  is  tainted,  be  it  ever  so  trivial.  How  can  the 
body  be  made  the  temple  of  God  ?  In  other  words,  how 
can  one  be  free  from  action,  i.e.,  from  the  taint  of  sin  ?  The 
Gita  has  answered  the  question  in  decisive  language  :  "  By 
desireless  action  ;  by  renouncing  fruits  of  action  ;  by  dedicating  all 
activities  to  God,  i.e.,  by  surrendering  «neself  to  Him  body  and 


But  desirelessriess  or  renunciation  does  not  coaie 
for  the  mere  talking  about  it.  It  is  not  attained  by  an 
intellectual  feat.  It  is  attainable  only  by  a  constant  heart- 
churn.  Right  knowledge  is  necessary  for  attaining  renuncia- 
tion. Learned  men  possess  a  knowledge  of  a  kind.  They  may 
recite  the  Vedas  from  memory,  yet  they  may  be  steeped  in 
self-indulgence.  In  order  that  knowledge  may  not  run  riot, 
the  author  of  the  Gita  has  insisted  on  devotion  accompanying 
it  and  has  given  it  the  first  place  Knowledge,  without  devo- 
tion will  be  like  a  misfire.  Therefore,  says  the  Gita,  "  Have 
devotion,  and  knowledge  will  follow.''1  This  devotion  is  not  mere 
lip  worship,  it  is  wrestling  with  death.  Hence  the  Gita's 
assessment  of  the  devotee's  qualities  is  similar  to  that  of 
the  sages. 

Thus  the  devotion  required  by  the  Gita  is  no  soft- 
hearted effusiveness.  It  certainly  is  not  blind  faith.  The 
devotion  of  the  Gita  has  the  least  to  do  with  externals.  A 
devotee  may  use,  if  he  likes,  rosaries,  forehead  marks,  make 
offerings  but  these  things  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  selfless,  who  treats  alike  cold 
and  heat,  happiness  and  misery,  who  is  ever  forgiving,  who 
is  always  contented,  whose  resolutions  are  hrm,  who  has 


GITA  257 

dedicated  mind  and  soul  to  God,  who  causes  no  dread,  who 
is  not  afraid  of  others,  who  is  free  from  exultation,  sorrow 
and  fear,  who  is  pure,  who  is  versed  in  action  and  yet  remains 
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 
under  when  people  speak  ill  of  him,  who  loves  silence  and  solL 
tude  who  has  a  disciplined  reason.  Such  devotion  is  inconsist^ 
ent  with  the  existence  at  the  same  time  of  strong  attachments  9 

We  thus  see  that  to  be  a  real  devotee  is  to  realise 
onself.  Self-realisation  is  not  something  apart.  One  rupee 
can  purchase  for  us  poison  or  nectar,  but  knowledge  or 
devotion  cannot  buy  us  either  salvation  or  bondage.  These 
are  not  media  of  exchange.  They  are  themselves  the  thing 
we  want.  In  other  words,  if  the  means  and  the  end  are 
not  identical,  they  are  almost  so.  The  extreme  of  means 
is  salvation.  Salvation  of  the  Gita  is  perfect  peace. 

But  such  knowledge  and  devotion,  to  be  true, 
have  to  stand  the  test  of  renunciation  of  fruits  of  action. 
Mere  knowledge  of  right  and  wrong  will  not  make  one  fit 
for  salvation.  According  to  common  notions  a  mere  learned 
man  will  pass  as  a  pandit.  He  need  not  perform  any  service. 
He  will  regard  it  as  bondage  even  to  lift  a  little  lota.  Where 
one  test  of  knowledge  is  non-liability  for  service,  there  is  no 
room  for  such  mundane  work  as  the  lifting  of  a  lota. 

Or  'take  Bhakti.  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  interrupted.  This  Jbhakta  therefore  leaves  the  rosary 
only  for  eating,  drinking  and  the  like,  never  for  grinding 
corn  or  nursing  patients. 

But  the  Gita  says  :  "No  one  has  attained  his  goal 
without  action.  Even  men  like  Janaka  attained  salvation  through 
action.  If  even  I  were  lazily  to  cease  working,  the  world  would 
perish.  How  much  more  necessary  then  for  the  people  at  large  is  to 


258         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

engage  in  action  ?" 

While  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  incited  in  the  term  action.  Then  how  is  one  to  be  free 
from  the  bondage  of  action,  even  though  he  may  be  acting  ? 
The  manner  in  which  the  Gita  has  solved  the  problem  is, 
to  my  knowledge,  unique.  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  Gita.  He 
who  gives  up  action  falls.  He  who  gives  up  only  the 
reward  rises.  But  renunciation  of  fruit  in  no  way  means 
indifference  to  the  result.  In  regard  to  every  action  one 
must  know  the  result  that  is  expected  to  follow,  the  meaas 
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  of  his  action. 

Again,  let  no  one  consider  renunciation  to  mean 
want  of  fruit  for  the  renouncer.  The  Gita  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  Gita  is  the 
acid  test  of  faith.  He  who  is  aver  brooding  over  result 
often  loses  nerve  in  the  performance  of  his  duty.  He  be- 
comes impatient  and  then  gives  vent  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  given  to  objects  of  senses ;  he  is  ever  distracted, 
he  says  good-bye  to  all  scruples,  everything  is  right  in  his 
estimation  and  he  therefore  resorts  to  means  fair  and  foul 
to  attain  his  end. 

From   the  bitter    experiences  of  desire  for  fruit    the 


GITA  259 

author  of  the  Gita  discovered  the  path  of  renunciation  of 
fruit,  and  put  it  before  the  world  in  a  most  convincing 
manner.  The  common  .belief  is  t  jat  religion  is  always 
opposed  to  material  good.  "One  cannot  act  religiously  in 
mercantile  and  such  other  matters.  There  i\  no  placs  for  religion  in 
mch  pursuits i  religion  is  only  for  attainment  of  salvation"  we  hear 
many  worldly  wise  people  say.  In  my  opinion  the  author 
of  the  Gita  has  dispelled  this  delusion.  He  has  drawn  no 
*ine  of  demarcation  between  salvation  and  worldly  pursuits. 
On  the  contrary,  he  has  shown  that  religion  must  rule  even 
our  worldly  pursuits.  1  have  felt  that  the  Gita  teaches  us 
that  what  cannot  be  followed  out  m  day  to  day  practice 
cannot  be  called  religion.  Thus,  according  to  the  Gita^ 
all  acts  that  are  incapable  of  being  performed  without 
attachment  are  taboo.  This  golden  rule  saves  mankind  from 
many  a  pitfall.  According  to  this  interpretation  murder, 
lying,  dissoluteness  and  the  like  must  be  regarded  as  sinful 
and  therefore  taboo.  Man's  life  then  becomes  simple,  and 
from  that  simpleness  springs  peace. 

Thinking  along  these  lines,  I  have  felt  that  in 
trying  to  enforce  in  one's  life  the  central  teaching  of  the 
Gita,  one  is  bound  to  follow  Truth  and  Ahimsa.  When  there 
is  no  desire  for  fruit,  there  is  no  temptation  for  untruth  or 
Mimsa.  Take  any  instance  of  untruth  or  violence,  and  it 
will  be  found  that  at  its  back  was  the  desire  to  attain  the 
cherished  end.  But  it  may  be  freely  admitted  that  the  Gita 
was  not  written  to  establish  Ahims*.  It  was  an  accepted 
and  primary  duty  even  before  the  Gita  age.  The  Gita  had 
to  deliver  the  message  of  renunciation  of  fruit.  This  is 
clearly  brought  out  as  early  as  the  2nd  chapter. 

But  if  the  Git i  believed  in  Ahimsv  or  it  was  included 
in  desirelessness,  Why  did  the  author  take  a  war  like  illus- 
tration ?  When  the  Gita  was  written,  although  people 
believed  in  Ahimsa,  wars  were  not  only  not  taboo  but  nobody 
observed  the  contradiction  between  them  and  Ahimsa. 

In     assessing     the     implications    of    renunciation     oJ 


260  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

fruit,  we  are  not  required  to  probe  the  mind  of  the  author 
of  the  Gita  as  to  his  limitations  of  Ahimsa  and  the  like. 
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.  In  this  perhaps  lies  the 
greatness  of  the  poem  and  the  poet.  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 
expanded.  This  is  true  of  the  Gita.  The  author  has  him- 
self extended  the  meanings  of  some  of  the  current  words. 
We  are  able  to  discover  this  even  on  a  superficial  examin- 
ation. 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  Gita  continuous  concentration  on  God  is  the  king  of 
sacrifices.  The  third  chapter  seems  to  show  that  sacrifice 
chiefly  means  body  labour  for  service.  The  third  and  the 
fourth  chapters  read  together  will  give  us  other  meanings 
for  sacrifice  but  never  animal  sacrifice.  Similarly  has  the 
meaning  of  the  word  sannyasa  undergone  in  the  Gita,  a  trans- 
formation. The  sannyasa  of  the  Gita  will  not  tolerate 
complete  cessation  of  .all  activity.  The  sannyasa  of  the  Gita 
is  all  work  and  yet  no  work.  Thus  the  author  of  the  Gita 
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  w  rfare  is  consistent  with 
renunciation  of  fruit.  But  after  40  years1  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  perfect  observance  of  Ahirwa  in  every 
shape  and  form. 

The  Gita  is  not  an  aphoristic  work,  it  is  a  great 
religious  poerr.  The  deeper  you  dive  into  it,  the  richer 
the  meanings  you  get.  It  being  meant  for  the  people  at* 


GITA  261 

large,  there  is  pleasing  repetition.  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  fhis  treasure  any  meaning  he 
likes  so  as  to  enable  him  to  enforce  in  his  life  the  central 
teaching. 

Nor  is  the  Gita  a  collection  of  Do's  and  Don't s 
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  another  time,  and  in  another  place.  Desire  for 
fruit  is  the  only  universal  prohibition.  Desirelessress  is 
obligatory. 

The  Gita  has  sung  the  praises  of  knowledge,  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  : 

"Do  not  entrust  this  treasure  to  him  who  is  without  sacrifice , 
without  devotion,  without  the  desire  for  this  teaching  and  who  denies 
Ate.  On  the  other  hand,  those  who  will  give  this  precious  treasure 
to  My  devotees  will  by  the  fact  of  this  service  assuredly  reach  Me. 
And  those  who  being  free  from  malice,  will*  with  faith,  absorb  this 
teaching^  shall,  having  attained  freedom,  live  where  people  of  true 
merit  go  after  death'''  — Young  India  :  Aug.  6,  193L 

<£>     <$>     <t> 

TO-DAY  the  Gita  is  not  only  my  Bible  or  my  Qoran,  it 
is  more  than  that — it  is  my  mother.  I  lost  my  earthly  mother 
who  gave  me  birth  long  ago  ;  but  this  eternal  mother  has 
completely  filled  her  place  by  my  side  ever  since.  She 
have  never  changed,  she  has  never  failed  me.  When  I  am 
in  difficulty  or  distress,  I  seek  refuge  in  her  bosom. 

—Harijan  :  Aug.  24,  1939. 
<$>    <S>    <?> 

I  AM  a  devotee  of  the  Gita  and  a  firm  believer  in  the 
inexorable  Law  of  Karma.  Even  the  least  little  tripping  or 
stumbling  is  not  without  its  cause  and  I  have  wondered  why 


262         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

one  who  has  tried  to  follow  the  Gita  in  thought;  word  and 
deed  should  have  any  ailment.  The  doctors  have  assured 
me  that  this  trouble  of  high  blcod  pressure  is  entirely  the 
result  of  mental  strain  and  worry.  If  that  is  true,  it  is 
likely  that  I  have  been  unnecessarily  worrying  myself,  un- 
necessarily fretting  and  secretly  harbouring  passions  like 
anger,  lust,  etc.  The  fact  that  any  event  or  incident  should 
disturb  my  mental  equilibrium,  in  spite  of  my  serious  efforts, 
means  not  that  the  Gita  ideal  is  defective  but  that  my 
devotion  to  it  is  defective.  The  Gita  ideal  is  true  for  all 
time,  my  understanding  of  it  and  observance  of  it  is  full  of 
flaws.  —Harijan  :  Feb.  29,  1936, 

^    ^    ^ 

I  VERILY  believe  that  one   who  literally  follows  the 

prescription  of  the  Eternal   Mother  need   never  grow    old 

in  mind.     Such  a  one's  body  will  wither  in  due   course   like 

leaves  of  a  healthy  tree,  leaving  the  mind  as  young   and    as 

fresh  as  ever.  —Harijan  :  Feb.  29,  1936. 

I  HAVE  called  it  my  spiritual  dictionary,  for  it  has 
never  failed  me  in  any  distress.  It  is,  moreover,  a  book, 
which  is  free  from  sectarianism  and  dogma.  Its  appeal  is 
universal.  I  do  not  regard  the  Gita  as  an  abstruse  book. 
No  doubt  learned  men  can  see  abstruseness  in  everything 
they  come  across.  But  in  my  opinion  a  man  with  ordinary 
intelligence  should  find  no  difficulty  in  gathering  the  simple 
message  of  the  Gita.  —Harijan  :  Dec.  2,  1936. 

I  BELIEVE  in  the  Bible  as  I  believe  in  the  Gita.  I 
regard  all  the  great  faiths  of  the  world  as  equally  true  with 
my  own.  It  hurts  me  to  see  anyone  of  them  caricatured  as 
they  are  to-day  by  their  own  followers. 

—Harijan  :  Dec.  19,  1936. 
^y    ^S    ^» 

THE  detachment  prescribed  by  the  Gita  is  the  hardest 
thing 'to  achieve,  and  yet  it  is  so  absolutely  necessary  for 


GITA  263 

perfect  peace  and  for  the  vision  of  both   the  little  self  and 
the  greatest  self.  — Harijan  :  Feb.  6,  1937. 

<^    ^^    ^N 

Qj  IS  the  central  teaching  of  the  Gita  selfless  action  or 
non-violence  ? 

A.  1  have  no  doubt  that  it  is  Anasakti,  selfless  action. 
Indeed,  I  have  called  my  little  translation  of  the  Gita 
Anasakti  Yoga.  And  Anasakti  transcends  Ahimsa.  He  who 
would  be  anasakti  (selfless)  has  necessarily  to  practise  non- 
violence in  order  to  attain  the  state  of  selflessness.  Ahimsa 
is,  therefore,  a  necessary  preliminary,  it  is  included  in 
anasakti,  it  does  not  go  beyond  it* 

Qj     Then  does  the  Gita  teach  Hima  and  Ahimsa  both. 

A,  I  do  not  read  that  meaning  in  the  Gita.  It  is 
likely  that  the  author  did  not  write  it  to  inculcate  Ahimsa, 
but  as  a  commentator  draws  innumerable  interpretations 
from  a  poetic  text,  even  so  I  interpret  the  Gita  to  mean  that, 
if  its  central  theme  is  Anasakti  it  also  teaches  Ahimsa.  Whilst 
we  are  in  the  flesh  and  tread  the  solid  earth,  we  have  to 
practise  Ahimsa.  In  the  life  beyond  there  is  no  Himsa  or 
Ahimsa. 

(£.  But  Lord  Krishna  actually  counters  the  doctrine  o* 
Ahimsa.  For  Arjuna  utters  this  pacifist  resolve  : 

Better  I  deem  it,  if  my  kinsmen  strike. 

To  face  them  weaponless,  and  bare  my  breast. 

To  shaft  and  spear,  than  answer  blow  with  blow. 

And  Lord  Krishna  teaches  him  to   answer   "    blow 
for  blow." 

A.    There   I   join   issue  with    you.      Those   words    Oi 
Arjuna  were  words  of  pretentious  wisdom.     'Until  yesterday, 
says  Krishna  to   him,   'you  fought   your    kinsmen    with  deadly 
weapons  without  the  slightest  compunction.    Even  to-day  you  would 
strike  if  the  enemy  was  a  stranger  and  not  your  own  kith  and  kin? 


264        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA    GANDHI 

The   question    before  him    was   not   of  non-violence,     but 
whether  he  should  slay  his  nearest  and  dearest.     (M.  D.) 

—Harijan  :  Sept.  1,  1940. 

God 

A  struggle  which  has  to  be  previously  planned  is  not  a 
righteous  struggle.  In  a  righteous  struggle  God  Himself 
plans  campaigns  and  conducts  battles  A  Dharma-Yuddha 
can  be  waged  only  in  the  name  of  God,  and  it  is  only 
when  the  Saiyagrahl  feels  quite  helpless  is  apparently  on  his 
last  legs  and  finds  utter  darkness  all  around  him,  that  God 
comes  to  the  rescue.  God  helps  when  one  feels  oneself 
humbler  than  the  very  dust  under  one's  feet.  Only  to  the 
weak  and  helpless  is  divine  succour  vouchsafed. 

—  Satyagraha  in  South  Africa  :  Page  7. 


THERE  are  innumerable  definitions  of  God,  because 
His  manifestations  are  innumerable.  They  overwhelm  me 
with  wonder  and  awe  and  for  a  moment  stun  me.  But  I 
worship  God  as  Truth  only.  I  have  not  yet  found  Him, 
but  I  am  seeking  after  him.  I  am  prepared  to  sacrifice 
the  things  dearest  tome  in  pursuit  of  this  quest  Even  if 
the  sacrifice  demanded  be  my  very  life,  I  hope,  I  may  be 
prepared  to  give  it. 

—  My  Experiments  with  Truth  :  Page  4. 


IN  the  march  towards  Truth,  anger,  selfishness,  hatred, 
etc.,  naturally  give  way,  for  otherwise  Truth  would  be  im- 
possible to  attain.  A  man  who  is  swayed  by  passions  may 
have  good  enough  intentions,  may  be  truthful  in  word,  but  he  will 
never  find  the  Truth.  A  successful  search  of  Truth  means  complete 
deliverance  from  the  dual  throng  such  as  of  love  and  ha:ey  happiness 
and  misery. 

—  My  Experiments  with  Truth  :  Page  47. 


GOD  265 

IT  may  be  said  that  God  has  never  allowed  any  of  my 
own  plans  to  stand.  He  has  disposed  them  in  His  own 
way.  — My  Experiments  with  Truth  :  Page  307. 

<$>    <£    <£ 

I  THINK  it  is. wrong  to  expect  certainties  in  this  world 
where  all  else  bat  God  that  is  Truth  is  an  uncertainty.  All 
that  appears  and  happens  about  and  aroun  i  us  is  uncertain 
and  transient.  But  there  is  a  supreme  being  hidden  therein 
as  a  certainty,  and  one  would  be  blessed  if  one  would 
catch  a  glimpse  of  that  certainty  and  hitch  one's  waggon 
to  it.  The  quest  for  that  Truth  is  the  summum  bmum  of 
life.  —  My  Experiments  with  Truth  :  Page  308. 

<$>  <s>   <s> 

GOD  is  witness  above  and  He  is  just  enough  to 
chastise  every  double  dealing.  — Young  India  :  Feb.  9,  192  J. 

<$><$><$> 

IT  is  the  quality  of  our  work  which  will  please  God 
and  not  quantity.  —Young  India  :  Jan.  19,  1922. 

3>    <$>    <S> 

A  MAN  who  has  the  least  faith  in  God  and  His 
mercy,  which  is  His  Justice  cannot  hate  men,  though,  at 
the  same  time,  he  must  hate  their  evil  ways.  But  having 
abundant  evil  in  himself  and  ever  standing  in  need  of 
charity,  he  must  not  hate  those  in  whom  he  sees  evil. 

—Young  India  :  Jan.  26,  1922. 

I  WANT  to  see  God  face  to  face.  God  I  know  is  Truth. 
For  me  the  only  certain  means  of  knowing  God  is  non- 
violence —ahimsa — love.  I  live  for  India's  freedom  and 
would  die  for  it,  because  it  is  a  part  of  Truth.  Only  a  free 
India  can  worship  the  true  God.  I  work  for  India's  free- 
dom because  my  Swadeshi  teaches  me  thit  being  bora  in 
t  and  having  inherited  her  culture,  I  am  fittest  to  serve  her 
aind  she  has  a  prior  claim  to  my  service.  But  my  patriotism 


266         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

is  not  exclusive  ;  it  is  calculated  not  only  not  to  hurt  any 
other  nation  but  to  benefit  all  in  the  true  sense  of  the 
word.  India's  freedom  as  conceived  by  me  can  never  be 
a  menace  to  the  world.  — Tcung  India  :  April  3,  1924. 

<^    ^s    ^k 

My  trust  is  solely  in  God.  And  I  trust  men  only  be- 
cause I  trust  God.  If  I  had  no  God  to  rely  upon,  I  should 
be  like  Timon,  a  hater  of  my  species. 

— Young  India  :  Dec.  4,  1924, 

TO  me  God  is  Truth  and  Love ;  God  is  ethics  and 
morality  ;  God  is  fearlessness,  God  is  the  source  of  Light 
and  Life  and  yet  He  is  above  and  beyond  all  these.  God 
is  conscience.  He  is  even  the  atheism  of  the  atheist.  For 
in  His  boundless  love  God  permits  the  atheist  to  live.  He 
is  the  searcher  of  hearts.  He  transcends  speech  and  reason. 
He  knows  us  and  our  hearts  better  than  we  do  ourselves. 
He  does  not  take  us  at  our  word  for  he  knows  that  we  often 
do  not  mean  it,  some  knowingly  and  others  unknowingly. 
He  is  a  personal  God  to  those  who  need  His  personal  pre- 
sence. He  is  embodied  to  those  who  need  His  touch.  He 
is  the  purest  essence.  He  simply  is  to  those  who  have  faith*. 
He  is  all  things  to  all  men.  He  is  in  us  and  yet  above  and 
beyond  us  :  One  ma%  banish  the  word  'God'  from  the 
Congress  but  one  has  no  power  to  banish  the  thing  itself. 
What  is  a  solemn  affirmation  if  it  is  not  the  same  thing  as 
in  the  name  of  God.  And  surely  conscience  is  but  a  poor 
and  laborious  paraphrase  of  the  simple  combination  of 
three  letters  called  God.  He  cannot  cease  to  be  because 
hideous  immoralities  or  inhuman  brutalities  are  committed 
in  His  name.  He  is  long-suffering.  He  is  patient  but  He 
is  also  terrible.  He  is  the  most  exacting  personage  in  the 
world  and  the  world  to  come.  He  metes  out  the  same 
measure  to  us  that  we  mete  but  to  our  neighbours — men- 
and  brutes.  With  him  ignorance  is  no  excuse.  And  withal 
He  is  ever-forgiving  for  He  always  gives  us  the  chance  to 


GOD  267 

repent.  He  is  the  greatest  democrat  the  world  knows,  for 
He  leaves  us  'unfettered'  to  make  our  own  choice  between 
evil  and  good.  He  is  the  greatest  tyrant  ever  known,  for 
He  often  dashes  the  cup  from  our  lips  and  under  cover  of 
free  will  leaves  us  a  margin  so  wholly  inadequate  as  to 
provide  only  mirth  for  himself  at  our  expense.  Therefore 
it  is  that  Hinduism  calls  it  all  His  sport—  Lila,  or  calls  it  all 
an  illusion — Maya.  We  are  not,  He  alone  Is.  And  if  we 
will  be  we  must  eternally  sing  His  praise  and  do  His  will. 
Let  us  dance  to  the  tune  of  His  bansi—  lute,  and  all  would 
be  well.  —Young  India  :  Mar.  5,  1925. 

^    ^    <$> 

THE  divine  guidance  often  coriies  when  the  horizon 
is  the  blackest.  — Young  India  :  Aug.  27,  1925. 

PERFECTION  is  the  exclusive  attribute  of  God  and 
it  is  indescribable,  untranslatable.  I  do  believe  that  it  is 
possible  for  human  beings  to  become  perfect  even  as  God 
is  perfect.  It  is  necessary  for  all  of  us  to  aspire  after  that 
perfection,  but  when  that  blessed  state  is  attained,  it  be- 
comes indescribable,  indefinable. 

—Yiung  India  :  Sept.  22,  1927. 
^^    ^^    ^y 

MANKIND  is  notoriously  too  dense  to  read  the  signs 
that  God  sends  from  time  to  time.  We  require  drums  to 
be  beaten  into  our  ears,  before  we  should  wake  from  our 
trance  and  hear  the  warning  and  see  that  to  lose  oneself  in 
all  is  the  only  way  to  find  oneself. 

—Young  India  :  Aug.  25,  1927: 

<*>  <$>  <s> 

THOUGH  we  may  know  Him  by  a  thousand  names, 
He  is  one  and  the  same  to  us  all. 

—Young  India  :  Nov.  25,  1926. 

THERE  is  an  indefinable  mysterious  Power  that 
pervades  everything.  1  feel  it,  though  I  do  not  see  it. 


268          TEACHINGS  OF    MAHATMA  GANDHI 

It  is  this  Unseen  Power  which  makes  itself  felt  and  yet 
defies  all  proof  because  it  is  so  unlike  all  that  I  perceive 
through  my  senses.  It  transcends  the  senses. 

But  it  is  possible  to  reason  out  the  existence  of  God  to 
a  limited  extent.  Even  in  ordinary  affairs  we  know  that 
people  do  not  know  who  rules  or  why  and  how  he  rules. 
And  yet  they  know  that  there  is  a  power  that  certainly 
rules.  In  my  tour  last  year  in  Mysore  I  met  many  poor 
villages  and  I  found  upon  inquiry  that  they  did  not  know 
who  ruled  Mysore.  They  simply  said  some  god  ruled  it. 
If  the  knowledge  of  these  poor  people  was  so  limited  about 
their  ruler,  I,  who  an  infinitely  lesser  than  God,  than  they, 
than  their  ruler,  need  not  be  surprised  if  I  do  not  realise 
the  presence  of  God,  the  King  of  kings.  Nevertheless  I  do 
feel  as  the  poor  villagers  felt  about  Mysore  that  there  is 
orderliness  in  the  universe,  there  is  an  unalterable  Law 
governing  everything  and  every  being  that  exists  or  lives. 
It  is  not  a  blind  law  ;  for  no  blind  law  can  govern  the 
conduct  of  living  beings;  and  thanks  to  the  marvellous 
researches  of  Sir  J.  C.  Bose,  it  can  now  be  proved  that  even 
matter  is  life.  That  Law  then  which  governs  our  life  is  God. 
Law  and  the  Law-giver  are  one.  I  may  not  deny  the  Law 
or  the  Law-giver,  because  I  know  so  little  about  It  or  Him. 
Even  as  my  denial  or  ignorance  of  the  existence  of  an 
earthly  power  will  avail  -me  nothing,  so  will  not  my  denial 
of  God  and  His  Law  liberate  me  from  its  operation  ; 
whereas  humble  and  mute  acceptance  of  divine  authority 
makes  life's  journey  easier  even  as  the  acceptance  of  earthly 
rule  makes  life  under  it  easier. 

I  do  dimly  perceive  that  whilst  everything  around  me 
is  ever-changing,  ever-dying  there  is  underlying  all  that 
change  a  living  power  that  is  changeless,  that  holds 
altogether,  that  creates,  dissolves  and  recreates.  That 
informing  power  or  spirit  is  God.  And  since  nothing  else 
I  see  merely  through  the  senses  can  or  will  persist,  He 
alone  is. 


GOD  269* 

And  is  the  power  benevolent  or  malevolent  ?  I  see  if 
as  purely  benevolent.  For  I  can  see  that  in  the  midst  of 
death  life  persists,  in  the  midst  of  untruth  truth  persists,  in 
the  midst  of  darkness  light  persists.  Hence  I  gather  that  God 
is  Life,  Truth,  Light.  He  is,  Love.  He  is  the  Supreme  God. 

But  He  is  no  God  who  merely  satisfies  the  intellect  if, 
He  ever  does.  God  to  be  God  must  rule  the  heart  and', 
transform  it.  He  must  express  Himself  in  even  the  smallest 
act  of  His  votary.  This  can  only  be  done  through  a  definite- 
realisation  more  real  than  the  five  senses  can  ever  perceive. 
Meanwhile  I  invite  the  correspondent  to  pray  withi 
Newman  who  sang  from  experience  : 

Lead,  kindly  light  amidst  the  encircling  gloom, 

Lead  Tftou  me  on  ; 
The  night  is  dark  and  I  am  jar  from  home, 

Lead  1  hou  me  on  ; 
Keep  Thou  my  feet,  I  do  not  ask  to  see 

The  distant  scene  ;  one  step  enough  for  me. 

—Young  India  :  Oct.  11,  1928. 

<3>    <S>    <$> 

IF  you  would  ask  Him  to  help  you,  you  would  go  to 
Him  in  all  your  nakedness,  approach  Him  without  reserva- 
tions, also  without  fear  or  doubts  as  to  how  He  can  help 
a  fallen  being  like  you.  He  Who  has  helped  millions  who 
have  approached  Him,  is  He  going  to  desert  you  ?  He 
makes  no  exception  whatsoever,  and  you  will  find  that 
every  one  of  your  prayers  will  be  answered.  The  prayer  of 
even  the  most  impure  will  be  answered.  I  am  telling  this 
out  of  my  personal  experience.  I  have  gone  through  the 
purgatory.  Seek  first  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  and  every- 
thing will  be  added  unto  you.  — Young  India  :  March  1,  1929. 

GOD  never  ordains  that  only  things  that  we  like 
should  happen  and  things  that  we  do  not  like  should  not 
happen,  —Young  India  :  Oct.  11,  1928.. 


270        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

THE  following  is  taken  from  a  letter  from  Bengal  : 

"I  had  the  privilege  to  go  through  your  article  on  birth  control  with  the 
heading  'A  youth's  difficulty.' 

"With  the  original  theme  of  your  article,  I  am  in  full  agreement.  But, 
in  that  article  you  have  expressed  in  a  line  your  sentiment  of  God. 
You  have  "aid  that  it  is  the  fashion  nowadays  for  yoiingmen  to  discard  the 
idea  of  God  and  they  have  no  living  faith  in  a  living  God. 

"But  may  I  ask  what  proof  (which  must  be  positive  and  undisputed) 
can  you  out  forth  regarding  the  existence  of  God  ?  Hindu  philosophers  or 
ancient  Rishis,  it  seems  to  me,  in  their  attempt  to  describe  the  Swntupa,  or 
realitv  of  Ishwara  have  at  least  come  to  the  conclusion  that  He  is  indescrib- 
able and  veiled  in  Maya  and  so  on.  In  short,  they  have  enveloped  God  in 
an  impenetrable  mist  of  obscurity  and  have  further  complicated,  instead 
of  simplifying  the  complicated  question  of  God,  I  do  not  dare  deny  that 
a  true  Mahatma  like  you  or  Sri  Aurobindo,  or  the  Budha  and  Shankrirachar- 
iya  of  the  past  may  well  conceive  and  realise  the  existence  of  such  as 
God  Who  is  far  beyond  the  reach  of  ordinary  human  intellect. 

"But,  what  have  we  (the  general  mass),  whose  coarse  intellect  can  never 
penetrate  into  the  unfathomable  deep,  to  do  with  such  a  God  if  we  do  not 
feel  his  presence  in  our  midst?  If  He  is  the  Creator  and  Father  of  us  all,  why 
do  we  not  feel  His  presence  or  existence  in  every  beat  of  our  hearts  ?  If  He 
cannot  make  His  presence  felt,  He  is  no  God  to  me.  Further,  I  have  the 
question— if  He  is  the  Father  of  this  universe,  does  He  feel  the  sorrows  of  H:s 
children  ?  Tf  he  feels  so,  then  why  did  He  work  havoc  and  inflict  so  much 
misery  on  His  children  by  the  devastating  quakes  of  Bihar  and  Quetta  ? 
Why  did  He  humiliate  an  innocent  nation — the  Abyssinians  ?  Are  the 
Abyssinians  not  His  sons  ?  I?  He  not  Allmighty  ?  Then  whv  could  He 
not  prevent  these  calamities.  ?  You  carried  on  a  non-violent  truthful 
campaign  for  the  independence  of  my  poor  Mother  India  and  you  implored 
the  helo  of  God,  But,  t  think,  that  help  has  been  denied  to  you  and  that 
ttrong  force  of  materialism,  which  never  depends  on  the  help  of  God,  got 
bhe  better  of  vou  and  you  were  humiliated  and  you  have  sunk  into  the 
background  by  forced  retirement.  If  there  was  a  God,  He  would  certainly 
teve  helped  vou,  for  your  cause  was  indeed  a  deserving  one.  I  need  not 
nultiply  such  instances. 

"  So,  it  is  not  at  all  surprising  that  young  men  of  the  present  day  do 
lot  believe  in  God,  because  thay  do  not  want  to  make  a  supposition  of  God— 
hev  want  a  real  living  Gzd.  You  have  mentioned  in  your  article  of  a  living 
aith  in  a  living  God.  1  shall  feel  highly  gratified  and  I  think  you  will  be 
endering  a  great  benefit  to  the  young  world,  if  you  put  forth  some  posi- 
ive,  undeniable  proof  of  the  existence  of  God.  I  have  the  confidence 
hat  you  will  not  more  mystify  the  already  mystified  problem,  ani  will 
brow  some  definite  light  on  the  matter.'* 

I  very  much  fear  that  what  I  am  about  to  write  will  not 


GOD  271 

remove  the  mist  to  which  the  correspondent  alludes. 

The  writer  supposes  that  I  might  have  realised  the 
existence  of  a  living  God.  I  can  lay  no  such  claim. 
But  I  do  have  a  living  faith  in  a  living  God  even  as 
I  have  a  living  faith  in  many  things  that  scientists  tell  me. 
It  may  be  retorted  that  what  the  scientists  say  can  be 
verified  if  one  followed  the  prescription  given  for  realising 
the  facts  which  are  taken  for  granted.  Precisely  in  that 
manner  speak  the  Rishis  and  the  Prophets.  They  saw  any- 
body following  the  path  they  have  trodden  can  realise  God. 
The  fact  is  we  do  not  want  to  follow  the  path  leading  to 
realisation  and  we  won't  take  the  testimony  of  eye-witnesses 
about  the  one  thing  that  really  matters.  Not  all  the 
achievements  of  physical  sciences  put  together  can  compare 
with  that  which  gives  us  a  living  faith  in  God.  Those  who 
io  not  want  to  believe  in  the  existence  of  God  do  not 
believe  in  the  existence  of  anything  apart  from  the  body. 
Such  a  belief  is  held  to  be  unnecessary  or  the  progress  of 
humanity.  For  such  persons  the  weightiest  argument  in 
proof  of  the  existence  of  soul  or  God  is  of  no  avail.  You 
cannot  make  a  person  who  has  stuffed  his  ears,  listen  to, 
much  less  appreciate,  the  finest  music.  Even  so  can  you 
not  convince  those  about  the  existence  of  a  living  God  who 

do  not  want  the  conviction. 

i 

Fortunately  the  vast  majority  of  people  do  have  a 
living  faith  in  a  living  God.  They  cannot,  will  not,  argue 
about  it.  For  them  "It  is."  Are  all  the  scriptures  of  the 
world  old  women's  tales  of  superstition  ?  Is  the  testimony 
of  the  Rishit,  and  the  Prophets  to  be  rejected  ?  Is  the 
testimony  of  Chaitanya,  Ramakrishna  Parmahansa,  Tukaram, 
Dhyandeva,  Ramdas,  Nanak,  Kabir,  Tulsidas  of  no  value  ? 
What  about  Rammohan  Roy,  Davendranath  Tagore, 
Vivekanand — all  modern  men  as  well  educated  as  the  tallest 
among  the  living  ones  ?  I  omit  the  living  witnesses  whose 
evidence  would  be  considered  unimpeachable.  This  belief 
in  God  has  to  be  based  on  faith  which  transcends  reason. 


272        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA    GANDHI 

Indeed  even  the  so-called  realisation  has  at  bottom  an  ele- 
ment of  faith  without  which  it  cannot  be  sustained.  In  the 
very  nature  of  things  it  must  be  so.  Who  can  transgress  the 
limitations  of  His  being?  I  hold  that  complete  realisation 
is  impossible  in  this  embodied  life.  Nor  is  it  necessary.  A 
living  immovable  faith  is  all  that  is  required  for  reaching  the 
full  spiritual  height  attainable  by  human  beings.  God  is  not 
outside  this  earthly  case  of  ours.  Therefore  exterior  proof  is 
not  of  much  avail,  if  any  at  all.  We  must  ever  fail  to 
percehe  Him  through  the  senses,  because  He  is  beyond  them. 
We  can  feel  Him,  if  ue  will  but  withdraw  ourselves,  from  the 
senses,  the  divine  music  is  incessantly  going  on  within 
ourselves,  but  the  Icud  senses  drown  the  delicate  music  which 
is  unlike 'and  infinitely  superior  to  anything  we  can  perceive 
or  hear  with  our  senses. 

The  writer  wants  to  know  why,  if  God  is  a  God  of 
mercy  and  justice.  He  allows  all  the  miseries  and  sorrows  we 
see  around  us.  I  can  give  no  satisfactory  explanation.  He 
imputes  to  me  a  sense  of  defeat  and  humiliation.  I  have  no 
such  sense  of  defeat,  humiliation  or  despair.  My  retirement, 
such  as  it  is,  has  nothing  to  do  with  any  defeat.  It  is  no 
more  and  no  less  than  a  course  of  self-purification  and  self- 
preparation.  I  state  this  to  show  that  things  are  often  not 
what  they  seem.  It  may  be  that  what  we  mistake  as  sorrows, 
injustices  and  the  like  are  not  such  in  truth.  If  we  could 
solve  all  the  mysteries  of  the  universe,  we  would  be  co- 
equals  with  God.  Every  drop  of  the  ocean  shares  its  glory 
but  is  not  the  ocean.  Realising  our  littleness  during  this 
tiny  span  of  life,  we  close  e.vcry  morning  prayer  with  the 
recitation  of  a  verse  which  means:  Misery  so-called  is  no 
misery  nor  richs  so-called  riches.  Forgetting  (or  deny- 
ing)  God  is  the  true  misery,  remembering  (or  faith  in) 
God  is  true  riches.  -  Barijan  :  June  13,  1940. 

^S       ^»       <y 

IF  God  was  a  capricious  person   instead   of  being   the 
changeless  and  unchangeable  living  Law,  He  would   in  shee 


GOD  273 

indignation  wipe  out  all  those  who  in   the  name  of  religion 
deny  Him  and  His  Law.  —Young  India  :  July  11,  1929. 

Q;  HOW  can  we  serve  God  when  we  do  not  know  God? 
A.  We  may  not  know  God,  but  we  know  his  creation 
Service  of  His  creation  is  the  service  of  God. 

Q.    But  how  can  we  serve  the  whole  of  God's  creation? 

A.  We  can  but  serve  that  part  of  God's  creation  which 
is  nearest  and  best  known  to  us.  We  can  start  with  our 
next  door  neighbour.  We  should  not  be  content  with  keep- 
ing our  courtyard  clean,  we  should  see  that  our  neighbour's 
courtyard  is  also  clean.  We  may  serve  our  family,  but  may 
not  sacrifice  the  village  for  the  sake  of  the  family.  Our 
own  honour  lies  in  the  preservation  of  that  of  our  own 
village.  But  we  must  each  of  us  understand  our  own 
limitations.  Our  capacity  for  service  is  automatically  limited 
by  our  knowledge  of  the  world  in  which  we  live.  But  let  me 
put  it  in  the  simplest  possible  language.  Let  us  think  less  of 
ourselves  than  our  next  door  neighbour.  Dumping  the 
refuse  of  our  courtyard  into  that  of  our  neighbour  is  no 
service  of  humanity,  but  disservice.  Let  us  start  with  the 
service  of  our  neighbours.  —Harijan  :  Aug.  22,  1936. 

<§>    3>    3> 

A  FRIEND  inquired  if  Gandhiji's  aim  was  just  humani- 
tarian in  sitting  down  in  the  village,  just  serving  the  villagers 
as  best  as  he  could. 

"I  am  here  to  serve  no  one  else  but   myself,'7   said 
Gandhiji,  "to  find  my  own  self-realisation  through  the  service 
of  these  village  folk.  Man's  ultimate  aim  is  the  realisation  of 
God,  and  all  his  activities,— social,  political,  religious,— ha v- 
to  be  guided  by  the  ultimate  aim  of  the  vision  of  God.    The 
immediate  service  of  all  human  beings  becomes  a  necessary 
part  of , the  endeavour  simply  because  the  only  way  to  find 
God  is  to  ee  Him  in  His  creation  and  be  one  with    it.    This 


274       TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

can  only  be  done  through  one's  country.  I  am  a  part  and 
parcel  of  the  whole,  and  I  cannot  find  Him  apart  from  the 
rest  of  humanity.  My  countrymen  are  my  nearest 
neighbours.  They  have  become  so  helpless,  so  resourceless 
so  inert  that  I  must  concentrate  on  serving  them.  If  I 
could  persuade  myself  that  I  should  find  Him  in  a 
Himalayan  cave  I  would  proceed  there  immediately.  But 
I  know  that  I  cannot  find  Him  apart  from  humanity/9 

Q.  But  some  comforts  may  be  necessary  even  from 
man's  spiritual  advancement.  One  could  not  advance 
himself  by  identifying  himself  with  the  discomfort  and 
squalour  of  the  villager. 

"A  certain  degree  of  physical  harmony  and  comfort  is 
necessary,  but  above  a  certain  level  it  becomes  a  hindrance 
instead  of  help.  Therefore  the  ideal  of  creating  an  unlimited 
number  of  wants  and  satisfying  them  seems  to  be  a  delusion 
and  a  snare.  The  satisfaction  of  one's  physical  needs,  even 
the  intellectual  needs  of  one's  narrow  self,  must  meet  at  a 
certain  point  a  dead  stop,  before  it  degenerates  into  physical 
and  intellectual  voluptuousness.  A  man  must  arrange  his 
physical  and  cultural  circumstances  so  that  they  do  not 
hinder  him  in  his  service  of  humanity,  on  which  all  his 
energies  should  be  concentrated."  — Harijan  :  Aug.  29,  1936. 

~  <£    ^ 

A  PROFESSOR  of  Islamia  College  came  with  a  ques- 
tion that  was  troubling  him  and  troubling  many  of  the  pre- 
sent generation— belief  in  God.  What  was  the  basis  of  his 
belief  if,  Gandhiji  had  it,  as  he  knew  he  had  it  ?  What  was 
the  experience  ?  "It  can  never  be  a  matter  for  argument," 
said  Gandhiji.  If  you  would  have  me  convince  others  by 
argument  I  am  floored.  But  I  can  tell  you  this  that  I  am 
surer  of  His  existence  than  of  the  fact  that  you  and  I  are 
sitting  in  this  room.  That  I  can  also  testify  that  I  ma  y 
live  without  air  and  water  but  not  without  Him.  You  may 
pluck  out  my  eyes,  but  that  cannot  kill  me.  You  may 
chop  off  my  nose,  but  that  will  not  kill  me.  But  blast  my 


GOD  275 

belief  in  God,  and  I  am  dead.  You  may  call  this  a  super- 
stition, but  I  confess  it  is  a  superstition  that  I  hug  even  as  I 
used  to  hug  the  name  of  Rama  in  my  childhood  when  there 
was  any  cause  of  danger  or  alarm.  That  was  what  aa  old 
nurse  had  taught  me." 

"But  you   think    that   supersitition   was  necessary  for 
you  ?" 

"Yes,  necessary  to  sustaih  me." 

"That  is  all  right.     May  I  now  ask  if  you  had  anything 
like  a  prophetic  vision  ?" 

"I  do  not  know  what  you  call  a  vision  and  whom  you 
will  call  prophetic.  But  let  me  give  you  an  experience  in 
my  life.  When  I  announced  my  fast  of  21  days  in  jail  I  had 
not  reasoned  about  it.  On  retiring  to  bed  the  previous 
night  I  had  no  notion  that  I  was  going  to  announce  the  next 
morning  a  fast  01  21  days.  But  in  the  middle  of  the  night 
a  Voice  woke  me  up  and  said  :  'Go  through  a  fast.'  'How 
many'  ?  I  asked,  *21  days/  was  the  answer.  Now  let  me 
tell  you  that  my  mind  was  unprepared  for  it,  disinclined  for 
it.  But  the  thing  came  to  me  as  clearly  as  anything  could 
be.  Let  me  tell  you  one  thing  more  and  I  have  done. 
Whatever  striking  things  I  have  done  in  life  I  have  not  done 
prompted  by  reason  but  prompted  by  instinct — I  would  say 
God.  Take  the  Dandi  Salt  March  of  1930.  I  had  not  the 
ghost  of  a  suspicion  how  the  breach  of  the  Salt  Law  would 
work  itself  out.  Pandit  Motilalji  and  other  friends  were 
fretting  and  did  not  know  what  I  would  do  ;  and  I  could 
tell  them  nothing,  as  I  myself  knew  nothing  about  it.  But 
like  a  flash  it  came,  as  you  know  it  was  enough  to  shake 
the  country  from  one  end  to  the  other.  One  last  thing. 
Until  the  last  day  I  knew  nothing  about  announcing  the  6th 
of  April  1919  as  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer.  But  I  dreamt 
about  it — there  was  no  Voice  or  Vision  as  in  1930 — And  I 
felt  it  was  just  the  thing  to  do.  In  the  morning  I  shared  it 
/vith  G.  R.  and  announced  it  to  the  country  you  know  with 


276        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

what  a  wonderfully  spontaneous  response." 

—  Harijan  :  May  14,  1938. 

IF  one  wishes  to  walk  in  the  fear  of  God,  one  should  be 
indifferent  about  popular  praise  or  blame. 

—  Harijan:  May  7,  1940. 

EVERYONE  has  faith  in  God  though  everyone  does  not 
know  it.  For  everyone  has  faith  in  himself  and  that  multi- 
plied to  nth  degree  is  God.  The  sum  total  of  all  that  lives 
is  God.  We  may  not  be  God  but  we  are  of  God  even  as 
a  little  drop  of  water  is  of  the  ocean.  Imagine  it  torn  away 
from  the  ocean  and  flung  millions  of  miles  away.  It  becomes 
helpless  torn  from  its  surroundings  and  cannot  feel  the 
might  and  majesty  of  the  ocean.  But  if  some  one  could 
point  out  to  it  that  it  is  of  the  ocean,  its  faith  would  revive, 
it  would  dance  with  joy  and  the  whole  of  the  might  and 
majesty  of  the  ocean  would  be  reflected  in  it. 

—  Harijan  :  }\we  3,  1939. 


EVER  since  its  commencement,  the  world,  the  wise 
and  the  foolish  included,  has  proceeded  upon  the  assumption 
that,  if  we  are,  God  is  and  that,  if  God  is  not,  we  are  not 
And  since  belief  in  God  is  treated  as  a  fact  more  definite 
than  the  fact  that  the  Sun  is.  This  living  faith  has  solved 
the  largest  number  of  puzzles  of  life.  It  has  alleviated  our 
misery.  It  sustains  us  in  life,  it  is  our  one  solace  in  death. 
The  very  search  for  Truth  becomes  interesting,  worth  while 
because  of  this  belief.  But  search  for  Truth  is  search  for 
God.  Truth  is  God.  God  is,  because  Truth  is.  We 
embark  upon  the  search,  because  we  believe  that  there  is 
Truth  and  it  can  be  found  by  diligent  search  and  meticu- 
lous observance  of  the  well-known  and  well-tried  rules  of 
the  search.  There  is  no  record  in  history  of  the  failure 
of  such  search.  Even  the  athiests  who  have  pretended  to 
dfebelieve  in  God  have  believed  in  Truth.  The  trick  they 


GOD  277 

have  performed  is  that  of  giving  God    another  not  a  new 
name ;   His   name   are   Legion.     Truth     is  the   crown   of 

them  all. 

What  is  true  of  God  is  true,  though  in  a  less  degree, 
of  the 'assumption  of  the  truth  of  some  fundamental  morali- 
ties/ As  a  matter  of  fact  they  are  implied  in  the  belief 
in  God  or  Truth.  Departure  from  these  has  landed  the 
truants  in  endless  misery.  Difficulty  of  practice  should  not 
be  confused  withx  disbelief.  A  Himalayan  expedition  has 
its  prescribed  conditions  of  success. 

I  do  not  regard  God  as  a  person.  Truth  for  me  is 
God,  and  God's  Law  and  God  are  not  different  things  or 
facts,  in  the  sense  that  an  earthly  king  and  his  law  are 
different.  God  is  an  idea,  Law  Himseli.  Therefore  it  is 
impossible  to  conceive  God  as  breaking  the  Law.  He 
therefore  does  not  rule  our  actions  and  withdraw  Himself. 
When  we  say  He  rules  our  actions,  we  are  simply  using 
human  language  and  we  try  to  limit  Him.  Otherwise  He 
and  His  Law  abide  everywhere  and  govern  everything. 
Therefore  I  do  not  think  that  He  answers  in  every  detail 
every  request  of  ours,  but  there  is  no  doubt  that  He  rules 
our  actions,  and  I  literally  believe  that  not  a  blade  of  grass 
grows  or  moves  without  His  will.  This  free  will  we  enioy  is 
less  than  that  of  a  passenger  on  a  crowded  deck. 

Harijan  :   Dec.  2,  1939- 

Q; — Do  yOU  feel  a  sense 'of  freedom  in  your  communion 

with  God  ? 

A. — I  do.  I  do  not  feel  cramped  as  I  would  on  a 
board  full  of  passengers.  Although  I  know  that  my  freedom 
is  less  than  that  of  a  passenger,  I  appreciate  that  freedom 
as  I  have  imbibed  through  and  through  the  central  teaching 
of  the  Gita  that  man  is  the  maker  of  his  own  destiny  in  the 
sense  that  he  has  freedom  of  choice  as  to  the  manner  in 
which  he  uses  that  freedom.  But  he  is  no  controller  ol 
results.  The  moment  he  thinks  he  is,  he  comes  to  grief. 

—Harijan  :  March  23,  1940 


278        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

NOT  every  person  can  know  God's  will.  Propei 
training  is  necessary  to  attain  the  power  to  know  God's 
will.  —Harijan  :  April  27,  1940, 

IT  is  through  Truth  and  Non-violence  that  I  can  have 
some  glimpse  of  God.  Truth  and  Non-violence  are  my 
God,  They  are  the  obverse  and  reverse  of  the  same  coin. 

—Harijan  :  July  29,  1940. 

^^     ^S     ^N 

WITH  God  as  our  Commander  and  Infallible  Guide 
where  is  there  cause  for  any  fear  ? 

—Harijan  :  Aug.  25,  1940. 

<§>    <$>    <$> 

MAN  is  nothing  Napoleon  planned  much  and  found 
himself  a  prisoner  in  St.  Helena.  The  mighty  Kaiser 
aimed  at  the  crown  of  Europe  and  is  reduced  to  the  status 
of  a  private  gentleman.  God  had  so  ?  willed  it.  Let  us 
contemplate  such  examples  and  be  humble. 

—Young  India  :  Oct.  9,  1924 

<3>    <$>    <$> 

RELIANCE  upon   the   sword    is     wholly     inconsisten 
with  reliance  upon  God.  — Young  India  :  Dec.  30,  1925-* 

<3>   <$>    <$> 

WITH  men  nothing  may  be  possible,  for  God  nothing 
is  impossible.  — Young  India  :  Feb.  9,  1926. 

<s>    <£    <$> 

WE  are  but  straws  in  the  hands  of  God.  He  alone 
can  blow  us  where  He  pleases.  We  cannot  oppose  His 
wish.  He  has  made  us  all  to  unite,  not  to  remain  apart 
for  ever.  — Young  India  :  May  15,  1924. 


GOD  tries   His  votaries  through  and    through,     but 
never  beyond  endurance.     He  gives  them    strength   enough 


GOD  279 

to  go  through  the  ordeal  He  prescribes  for  them. 

— Young  India  :  Feb.  19,  1925. 
3>    3>    3> 

IF  we  can  but  throw  ourselves  into  His  lap  as  our  only 
Help,  we  shall  come  out  scatheless  through  every  ordeal 
that  the  Government  may  subject  us  to.  If  nothing 
happens  without  His  permission,  where  is  the  difficulty  in 
believing  that  He  is  trying  us  even  through  this  Govern- 
ment ?  I  would  take  our  complaints  to  Him  and  be  angry 
with  Him  for  so  cruelly  trying  us.  And  He  will  soothe  us 
and  forgive  us,  if  we  will  but  trust  Him.  The  way 
to  stand  erect  before  the  tyrant  is  not  to  hate  him,  not  to 
strike  him,  but  to  humble  ourselves  before  God  and  cry 
out  to  Him  in  the  hour  of  agony. 

—Young  India  :  Dec.  15,  1921 

<$><$><$> 

GOD  sometimes  does  try  to  the  uttermost  those  whom. 
He  wishes  to  bless.  — Young  India  :  June  21,  1931. 

<s>  <$>  <$> 

OF  all  my  Tamil  lessons  one  proverb  at  least  abides 
with  me  as  an  evergreen.  Its  literal  meaning  is,  'God  is 
the  only  Help  for  the  helpless.7  The  grand  theory  of 
Satyagraha  is  built  upon  a  belief  in  that  truth.  Hindu 
religious  literature  is  full  of  illustrations  to  prove  the  truth. 

—Young  India  :  Feb.  19,  1925. 

3>   <3>   <S> 

I  CAN  certainly  say  though  every  one  else  may  forsake 
you,  God  never  forsakes  people  in  distress.  When  I  studied 
Tamil  many"  years  ago,  I  came  across  a  proverb  which  I 
cannot  forget.  This  is  it  :  "Tikkattravannukka  Daivamed- 
hune,77  which  means "  for  those  who  are  helpless,  God  is 
the  Help." 

""    WE  must  learn,  each  one  of  us,  to  stand  alone.     God 
only  is  our  infallible  and  eternal  guide. 

— Young  India  :  Sep.  29,    1921. 


280       TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

GOD  helps  the  Helpless,  not  those  who  believe  they  can 
do  something.  —Toung  India  :  Feb.  28,  1922. 

^^    ^^    ^^ 

A  SCAVENGER  who  works  in  his  service  shares  equal 
distinction  with  a  king  who  uses  his  gifts  in  His  name  and 
as  a  mere  trustee.  Unlike  as  among  us  very  imperfect 
beings,  in  His  Durbar  the  motive  rather  than  the  act 
itself  decides  its  quality.  He  knowing  the  intention  as  much 
as  the  act,  judges  the  act  according  to  the  intention. 

—Toung  India  :  Nov.  25,  1926. 

IN  the  divine  account-books  only  our  actions  are  noted 
not  what  we  have  read  or  what  we  have  spoken. 

—Toung  India  :  Jan.  7,  1925. 

<$>    <$>    <$> 

GOD  keeps  an  accurate  record  of  all  things  good  and 
bad.  There  is  no  better  accountant  on  earth. 

—Harijan  :  Sept.  21,  1934. 

<$>    <$><$> 
GOD  requires  the  purest  sacrifice. 

— Toung  India  :  Feb.  9,  1927. 

-  <S>    <£    <$> 

BRAHMACHARI  means  searcher  after  God,  one  who 
conducts  himself  so  as  to  bring  himself  nearest  to  God  in  the 
least  possible  time.  And  all  the  great  religions  of  the 
world,  however  much  they  may  differ,  are  absolutely  one 
on  this  fundamental  thing  that  no  man  or  woman  with 
an  impure  heart  can  possibly  appear  before  the  Great  White 
Throne.  —  Toung  India  :  Sept.  8,  1927. 

<$><$>    <$> 

GOD  is  a  very  hard  taskmaster.  He  is  never  satisfied 
with  fire-works  display.  His  mills  although  they  grind 
surely  and  incessantly,  grind  excruciatingly  slow,  and  He 


GOD  281 

is  never  satisfied  with  hasty  forfeitures  of  life.  It  is  a 
•sacrifice  of  the  purest  that  He  demands,  and  so  you  and 
I  have  prayerfully  to  plod  on,  live  out  the  life  so  long  as 
it  is  vouchsafed  to  us  to  live  it. 

—Young  India  :  Sept.  22,  1927. 

<S>    3>    <S> 

I  AM  inundated  with  letters  from  young  men  who 
write  frankly  about  their  evil  habits  and  about  the  void 
that  their  unbelief  has  made  in  their  lives.  No  mere 
medical  advice  can  bring  them  relief.  I  can  only  tell  them 
that  there  is  no  way  but  that  of  surrender  to  and  trust  in 
God  and  His  grace.  Let  us  all  utilise  this  occasion  by  giving 
the  living  religion  in  our  lives  the  place  it  deserves.  Has 
not  Akhobhagat  said  — 

Live  as  you  will,  but  so 
As  to  realise  God.    x 

—Young  India  :  Aug.  28,  1928. 


RAMA-NAM  is  not  for  those  who  tempt  God  in  every 
way  possible  and  ever  expect  it  to  save.  It  is  for  those 
who  walk  in  fear  of  God,  who  want  to  restrain  themselves 
and  cannot  in  spite  of  themselves 

—Young  India:]  an.  30,  1925. 

<$><$><$> 

NEVER-THELESS  there  are  those  who  are  struck  with 
doubt  arid  despair  For  them  there  is  the  Name  of  God. 
It  is  God's  covenant  that  whoever  goes  to  Him  in  weakness 
and  helplessness,  him  He  will  make  strong.  'When  I  am 
weak,  then  I  am  strong,1  as  the  poet  Surdas  has  sung. 
Rama  is  the  strength  of  the  weak.  This  strength  is  not  to 
be  obtained  by  throwing  oneself  on  His  name.  Rama  is 
but  a  synonym  of  God.  You  may  say  God  or  Allah  or 
whatever  other  name  you  like,  but  the  moment  you  trust 
naught  but  Him,  you  are  strong,  all  disappointment  dis- 
appears. —  Young  India  :  June  1,  1925. 


282        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

THOSE  who  put  their  implicit  faith  in  Him  cannot 
but  reach  their  aims.  — Toung  India  :  Nov.  1,  1925. 

<$>    <$>    <S> 

BUT  as  I  am  a  believer  in  God,  as  I  never  for  a  moment 
lose  faith  in  Him,  as  I  content  myself  with  the  joy  and 
sorrow  that  He  wills  for  me,  I  may  feel  helpless,  but  I  never 
lose  hope.  —Toung  India  :  Jan.  27,  1 927. 

Goondaism 

EVEN  the  goondas  are  part  of  us  and  therefore  they 
must  be  handled  gently  and  sympathetically.  People 
generally  do  not  take  to  goondaism  for  the  love  of  it.  It  is 
a  symptom  of  a  deeper-seated  disease  in  the  body  politic. 
The  same  law  should  govern  our  relations  with  internal 
goondaism  that  we  apply  in  our  relations  with  the  goondaism 
in  the  system  of  Government.  And  if  we  have  felt  that 
\ve  have  the  ability  to  deal  with  that  highly  organised 
goondaism  in  a  non-violent  manner  how  much  more  should 
we  feel  the  ability  to  deal  with  the  internal  goondaism  by 
the  same  method  ?  — Toung  India  :  May  7,  193  L 

Government  of  India 

NO  conquest  by  force  of  arms  is  worth  treasuring,  if 
it  is  not  followed  by  cultural  conquest,  if  the  conquered  do 
not  hug  their  chains  and  regard  the  conqueror  as  their 
benefactor,  The  different  forts  of  India  are  no  doubt  a 
continuous  reminder  of  the  British  might.  But  the  silent 
conquest  of  the  mind  of  educated  India  is  a  surer  guarantee 
of  British  stability  than  the  formidable  forts. 

—  Toung  India  :  Aug.  12,  1926. 

<3>   <$>    <s> 

WHEREAS,  in  truth  a  Government  that  is  ideal 
governs  the  least.  It  is  no  self-government  that  leaves  noth- 
ing for  the  people  to  do.  That  is  pupilage— our  present 
stage.  —Toung  India  :  Aug.  27,  1925, 


GOVERNMENT  OF  INDIA  285 

WE  have  no  King.  We  have  a  rule  masquerading 
under  the  sacred  name  of  law.  Rulers  are  many.  They 
come  and  go.  The  rule  abides.  But  it  is  corrupt,  mis- 
chievous, soul-destroying  rule  which  has  to  be  ended  at 
any  cost.  —Young  India  :  Feb.  23,  1928. 

<*><$><$> 

THE  logical  outcome  of  the  Government  policy  is  to 
Europeanise  India  and  immediately  we  have  become 
Europeanised,  our  English  masters  will  gladly  hand  over 
the  reins  of  Government  to  us.  We  would  be  welcomed  as 
their  willing  agents.  I  can  have  no  interest  in  that  deadly 
process  save  to  put  the  whole  of  my  humble  weight  against 
it.  My  Swaraj  is  to  keep  in  tact  the  .genius  of  our  civilisa- 
tion. I  want  to  write  many  new  things  but  they  must  be 
all  \\ritten  on  the  Indian  slate.  I  would  gladly  borrow 
from  the  West  when  I  can  return  the  amount  with  decent 
interest. 

The  Councillors  want  their  fares  and  extras,  the 
ministers  their  salaries,  the  lawyers  their  fees,  the  suitors 
the  decrees,  the  parents  such  education  for  their  boys  as 
would  give  them  status  in  the  present  life,  the  millionaires 
want  facilities  for  multiplying  their  millions  and  the  rest 
their  unmanly  peace.  The  whole  revolves  beautifully  round 
the  central  corpoiation.  It  is  a  giddy  dance  from  which 
no  one  cares  to  free  himself  and  so,  as  the  speed  increases> 
the  exhilaration  is  the  greater.  But  it  is  a  death-dance  and 
the  exhilaration  is  induced  by  the  rapid  heart  beat  of  a 
patient  who  is  about  to  expire.  — Toung  India  :  Feb.  9,  1922* 

<3>    <$>    <S> 

THE  best  use  we  can  make  of  this  Government  is  ta 
ignore  its  existence  and  to  isolate  it  as  much  as  possible 
from  our  life,  believing  that  contact  with  it  is  corrupting 
and  degrading.  — Toung  India  :  Nov.  17,  1921. 

Granth  Sahib 

I  HOLD  Granth  Sahib  in  high  reverence.     Several  parts 


284       TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

of  it  have  passed  into  our  daily  speech.  So  far  as  my 
reading  of  it  goes,  it  inculcates  faith,  valour  and  invincible 
belief  in  the  ultimate  triumph  of  right  and  justice. 

—  Young  India  :  March  19,  1931. 

Greed 

TO  take  what  is  required  may  be  profitable  ;  to  have 
more  given  to  you  is  highly  likely  to  be  a  burden.  To 
overload  a  stomach  is  to  court  slow  death. 

—Harijan  :  July  13,  1940. 

Guru 

I  SAY  that  it  is  not  within  me  to  be  anybody's  Guru. 
I  have  always  and  will  always  disclaim  this  title.  I,  who 
am  in  search  of  a  spiritual  Guru,  how  can  I  arrogate  to 
myself  the  title  of  a  Guru  ?  I  cannot  even  think  of  being 
anybody's  political  guru  in  the  sense  that  I  applied  the 
term  to  the  late  Mr.  Gokhale,  for  I  am  but  an  infant  in 
politics. 

To  be  a  guru  I  must  be  myself  flawlessly  perfectr  which 
I  can  never  claim  to  be.  —Young  India  :  July  27,  1921. 

<^    <$>   <§> 

IF  I  had  a  Guru,  and  I  am  looking  for  one,  I  should 
surrender  myself  body  and  soul  to  him.  But  in  this  age  of 
unbelief  a  true  Guru  is  hard  to  find.  A  substitute  will  be 
worse  than  useless,  often  positively  harmful.  I  must  therefore 
warn  all  against  accepting  imperfect  ones  as  Gurus.  It  is 
better  to  grope  in  the  dark  and  wade  through  a  million 
errors  to  Truth  than  to  entrust  oneself  to  one  who  "knows 
not  that  he  knows  not."  Has  a  man  ever  learnt  swimming 
by  tying  a  stone  to  his  neck  ? 

—Young  India  :  Dec.  3,  1925. 


conception  of  a  Guru  is  perhaps  not  of  the  ordinary. 
Nothing  but  perfection  will  satisfy    me.     I  am  in  search  of 


GURU  285 

one  who,  though  in  the  flesh,  is  incorruptible  and  unmoved 
by  passion,  free  from  the  pairs  of  opposites,  who  is  Truth 
and  Ahimsa  incarnate  and  who  will  therefore  fear  none  and 
be  feared  by  none.  Every  one  gets  the  Guru  he  deserves 
and  strives  for.  The  difficulty  of  finding  the  Guru  I  want 
is  thus  obvious.  But  it  does  not  worry  me  :  for  it  follows 
from  what  I  have  said,  that  I  must  try  to  perfect  myself 
before  I  meet  the  Guru  in  the  flesh.  Till  then  I  must 
contemplate  him  in  the  spirit.  My  success  lies  in  my 
continuous,  humble,  truthful  striving.  I  know  the  path. 
It  is  straight  and  narrow.  It  is  like  the  edge  of  a  sword. 
I  rejoice  to  walk  on  it.  I  weep  when  I  slip.  God's  word 
is  :  '  He  who  strives  never  perishes/  I  have  implicit  faith 
in  that  promise.  Though  therefore  from  my  weakness  I 
fail  a  thousand  times,  I  will  not  lose  faith  but  hope  that 
I  shall  see  the  Light  when  the  flesh  has  been  brought  under 
perfect  subjection  as  some  day  it  must. 

—  Young  India  :  Jan.  3,  1928. 

<$><$><$> 

I  HAVE  called  Gokhale  my  political  guru.  But  ia 
spiritual  matters,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  I  have  not  yet  found 
any  one  to  whom  I  could  completely  surrender  myself  and 
whose  opinion  I  could  implicitly  and  unquestioningly  accept 
as  I  could  Gokhale's  in  politics.  Perhaps  I  am  not  yet  ripe 
for  a  spiritual  guru  because  I  believe  that  the  spiritual  guru 
comes  to  you  of  himself,  in  fact  seeks  you  out  when  you  are 
ready  for  him.  —Toung  India  :  Sept.  20,  1928. 

I  BELIEVE  in  the  Hindu  theory  of  Guru  and  his  im- 
portance in  spiritual  realization.  I  think  there  is  a  great 
deal  of  Truth  in  the  doctrine  that  true  knowledge  is  im- 
possible without  a  Guru.  An  imperfect  teacher  may  be 
tolerable  in  mundane  matters,  but  not  in  spiritual  matters 
only  a  perfect  gnani  deserves  to  be  enthroned  as  Guru, 
There  must  therefore  be  ceaseless  striving  after  perfection, 


286        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

For  one  gets  the  Guru  that  one  deserves.  Infinite  striving 
after  perfection  is  one's  right.  It  is  one's  own  reward.  The 
r«est  is  in  the  hands  of  God. 

— My  Experiments  With  Truth  :  Page  114. 

H 

Habit 

MAN'S  destined  purpose  is  to  conquer  old  habits,  to 
overcome  the  evil  in  him  and  to  restore  good  to  its  rightful 
place.  —Toung  India  :  Dec.  20,  1928. 

<$><$>    <^ 

WE  cannot,  in  a  moment,  get  rid  of  habits  of  a  life- 
time* —Harijan:  Oct.  5,  1934* 

Hartal 

HARTAL  is  an  aticient  Indian  institution  for  expressing 
national  sorrow  and  hartal  is  the  best  method  of  marking  our 
strong  disapproval  of  the  action  of  the  Government.  It  is  a 
means,  more  powerful  than  monster  meetings,  of  exrpressing 
national  opinion.  — Toung  India  :  May  6,  1919. 

3>    3>    <3> 

HARTAL  forcibly  brought  about  cannot  be  considered 
Satyagrahi  hartal.  In^  any  thing  Satyagrahi  there  should  be 
purity  of  motive,  means  and  end. 

—Young  India:  Jan.  12,  1920. 

HARTAL  must  not  be  made  cheap.  It  must  be  used 
only  for  rare  occasions.  — Toung  India  :  March  10,  1920. 

Help 

CONDITIONAL  assistance  is  like  adulterated  cement 
that  does  not  bind.  — Toung  India  :  -Dec.  3,  1919. 

^  ^  ^ 

HE  would  be  a  bad  helper  who,  when  hailed  to  bring 
a  bucketful  of  water  to  quench  a  fire,  brought  it  after  even 

the  ashes  had  been  removed. 

Ymm*  imj;»  .  T««    o   1000 


HINDUISM  287 

WHERE  I  cannot  help,  I  must  resolutely  refuse  to 
hinder.  —Young  India  :  June  25,  1925. 

Helplessness 

IT  is  only  because  we  have  created  a  vicious  atmos- 
phere of  impotence  round  ourselves  that  we  consider  our- 
selves to  be  helpless  even  for  the  simplest  possible  things. 

—Young  India  :  June  20,  1929. 

Himalayas 

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  envelopes 
you  leaves  nothing  more  to  be  desired.  I  wonder  whether 
the  scenery  of  these  hills  and  the  climate  are  to  be  sarpassed, 
if  equalled,  by  any  of  the  beauty  spot  of  the  world.  After 
having  been  for  nearly  three  weeks  in  the  Almoda  hills,  I  am 
more  than  ever  amazed  why  our  people  need  to  go  to 
Europe  in  search  of  health. 

—Young  India  :  July  11,  1929. 

Hinduism 

In  dealing  with  the  problem  of  untouchability  during  the 
Mardar  Tour  I  have  asserted  my  claim  to  being  a  Sanatani 
Hindu  with  greater  emphasis  than  hitherto,  and  yet  there 
are  things  which  are  commonly  done  in  the  name  of 
Hinduism,  which  I  disregard.  I  have  no  desire  to  be  called 
a  Sanatani  Hindu  or  any  other,  if  I  am  not  such.  And  I 
have  certainly  no  desire  to  steal  in  a  reform  or  an  abuse 
under  cover  of  a  great  faith. 

It  is  therefore  necessary  for  me  once  for  all  distinctly  to 
give  my  meaning  of  Sanatana  Hinduism.  The  word 
Svnatana  I  use  in  its  natural  sense. 

I  call  myself  a  Sanatani  Hindu,  because, 

(1)  I  believe  in  the  Vedav>  the  Upanishads,  the 
Puranas  and  all  that  goes  by  the  name  of  Hindu  scriptures, 
and  therefore  in  avataras  and  rebirth. 


288          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

(2)  I  believe  in  the   Varnasharama  dharma  in  a  sense    in 
my  opinion   strictly  Vedic,  but    not   in   its  present   popular 
and  crude  sense. 

(3)  I  believe  in  the  protection  of  the  cow    in  its  much 
larger  sense  than  the  popular. 

(4)  I  do  not  disbelieve  in  idol-worship. 

The  reader  will  note  that  I  have  purposely  refrained  from, 
using  the  word  divine  origin  in  reference  to  the  Vedas  or 
any  other  scriptures.  For  I  do  not  believe  in  the  exclusive 
divinity  of  the  Vedas.  I  believe  the  Bible,  the  Koran  and 
the  ZendAvesta  to  be  as  much  divinely  inspired  as  the 
Vedas.  My  belief  in  the  Hindu  scriptures  does  not  require 
me  to  accept  every  word  and  every  verse  as  divinely  inspired 
Nor  do  I  claim  to  have  any  first-hand  knowledge  of  these 
wonderful  books.  But  I  do  claim  to  know  and  feel  the 
truths  of  the  essential  teaching  of  the  scriptures.  I  decline 
to  be  bound  by  any  interpretation,  however  learned  it  may 
be  if  it  is  repugnant  to  reason  or  moral  sense.  I  do  most 
emphatically  repudiate  the  claim  (if  they  advance  any  such) 
of  the  present  Shankaracharyas  and  Shastris  to  give  a 
correct  interpretation  of  the  Hindu  scriptures.  On  the 
contrary,  I  believe  that  our  present  knowledge  of  these 
books  is  in  a  most  chaotic  state.  I  believe  implicitly  iij  the 
Hindu  aphorism,  that  no  one  truly  knows  the  Shastras  who- 
has  nor  attained  perfection  in  Innocence  (Ahimsa),  Truth 
(Satya]  and  Self-control  (Brahmacharya]  and  who  has  not  re- 
nounced all  acquisition  or  possession  of  wealth.  I  believe 
in  the  institution  of  Gurus,  but  in  this  age  millions  must  go 
without  a  Guru,  because  it  is  a  rare  thing  to  find  a  combina- 
tion of  perfect  purity  and  perfect  learning.  But  one  need 
not  despair  of  ever  knowing  the  truth  of  one's  religion* 
because  the  fundamentals  of  Hinduism  as  of  every  great 
religion  are  unchangeable,  and  easily  understood.  Every 
Hindu  believes  in  God  and  His  Oneness,  in  rebirth  and  salva- 
tion. But  that  which  distinguishes  Hinduism  from  every  other 
religion  is  its  cow  protection,  more  than  its  Varnashrama. 


HIDUISM  289 

Varnashrama,  is  in  my  opinion,  inherent  in  human 
nature,  and  Hinduism  has  simply  reduced  it  to  a  science. 
I  -  does  attach  to  birth.  A  man  cannot  change  his  varna 
by  choice.  Not  to  abide  by  one's  varna  is  to  disregard  the 
law  of  heredity.  The  division,  however,  into  innumerable 
castes  is  an  unwarranted  liberty  taken  with  the  doctrine. 
The  four  divisions  are  all-sufficing. 

I  do  not  believe  that  interdining  or  even  intermarriage 
necessarily  deprives  a  man  of  his  status  that  his  birth  has 
given  him.  The  four  divisions  define  man's  calling,  they 
do  not  restrict  or  regulate  social  intercourse.  The  divisions 
define  duties,  they  confer  no  privileges.  It  is,  I  hold, 
against  the  genius  of  Hinduism  to  arrogate  to  oneself  a 
higher  status  or  assign  to  another  lower.  All  are  born  to 
serve  God's  creation,  a  Brahman  with  his  knowlege,  a 
Kshatriya  with  his  power  of  protection,  a  Vaishya  with  his 
commercial  ability  and  a  Shudra  with  bodily  labour.  This, 
however,  does  not  mean  flat  a  Brahman,  for  instance,  is 
absolved  from  bodily  labour,  or  the  duty  of  protecting  him- 
self and  others.  His  birth  makes  a  Brahman  predominantly 
a  man  of  knowlege,  the  fittest  by  heredity  and  training  to 
impart  i  t  to  others.  There  is  nothing,  again,  to  prevent  the 
Shudra  from  acquiring  all  the  knowledge  he  wishes.  Only, 
he  will  best  serve  with  his  body  and  need  not  envy  others 
their  special  qualities  for  service.  But  a  Brahman  who  claims 
superiority  by  right  of  knowledge  falls  and  has  no  know- 
ledge. And  so  with  the  others  who  pride  themselves  upon 
their  special  qualities.  Varnashrama  is  self-restraint  and 
conservation  and  economy  of  energy. 

Though  therefore  Varnashrama  is  not  affected  by  inter- 
dining  or  intermarriage,  Hinduism  does  most  emphatically 
discourage  interdining  and  intermarriage  between  divi- 
sions. Hinduism  reached  the  highest  limit  of  self  restraint. 
It  is  undoubtedly  a  religion  of  renunciation  of  the  flesh,  so 
that  the  spirit  may  be  set  free.  It  is  no  part  of  Hindu's 
duty  to  dine  with  his  son.  And  by  restricting  his  choice  of 


290          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

a  bride  to  a  particular  group,  he  exercises  rare  self-restraint* 
Hinduism  does  not  regard  a  married  state  as  by  any 
means  essential  for  salvation.  Marriage  is  a  'fall*  even  as 
birth  is  a  'fall.'  Salvation  is  freedom  from  birth  and 
hence  death  also.  Prohibition  against  intermarriage  and 
interdining  is  essential  for  a  rapid  evolution  of  the  soul. 
But  this  self-denial  is  no  test  of  varna.  A  Brahman  may 
remain  a  Brahman,  though  he  may  dine  with  his  Shudra 
brother,  if  he  has  not  left  off  his  duty  of  service  by  know- 
ledge. It  follows  from  what  I  have  said  above,  that  res- 
traint in  matters  of  marriage  and  dining  is  not  based  upon 
notions  of  superiority.  A  Hindu  who  refuses  to  dine  with 
another  from  a  sense  of  superiority  misrepresents  his  Dharma. 

Unfortunately  to-day,  Hinduism  seems  to  consist 
merely  in  eating  and  not  eating.  Once  I  horrified  a  pious 
Hindu  by  taking  toast  at  a  Mussalman's  house.  I  saw  that 
he  was  pained  to  see  me  pouring  milk  into  a  cup  handed  by 
a  Mussalman  friend,  but  his  anguish  knew  no  bounds  when 
he  saw  me  taking  toast  at  the  Mussalman's  hands.  Hindu- 
ism is  in  danger  of  losing  its  substance,  if  it  resolves  itself 
into  a  matter  of  elaborate  rules  as  to  what  and  with  whom 
to  eat.  Abstemiousness  from  intoxicating  drinks  and 
drugs,  and  from  all  kinds  of  foods,  especially  meat,  is  un- 
doubtedly a  great  aid  to  the  evolution  of  the  spirit,  but  it 
is  by  no  means  an  end  in  itself.  Many  a  man  eating  meat 
and  with  everybody,  but  living  in  the  fear  of  God  is  nearer 
his  freedom  than  a  man  religiously  abstaining  from  meat 
and  many  other  things,  but  blaspheming  God  in  every  one 
of  his  acts. 

The  central  fact  of  Hinduism  however  is  cow  protec- 
tion. Cow  protection  to  me  is  one  of  the  most  wonderful 
phenomena  in  human  evolution.  It  takes  the  human  being 
beyond  his  species.  The  cow  to  me  means  the  entire  sub- 
human world.  Man  through  the  cow  is  enjoined  to  realise 
his  identity  with  all  that  lives.  Why  the  cow  was  selected 
for  apotheosis  is  obvious  to  me.  The  cow  was  in  India  the 
best  companion.  She  was  the  giver  of  plenty.  Not  only 


HINDUISM  291 

did  she  give  milk,  but  she   also   made   agriculture   possible. 
The  cow  is  a  poem  of  pity.     One  reads  pity   in    the   gentle 
animal.     She  is  the  mother  to  millions  of  Indian    mankind* 
Protection  of  the  cow  means    protection  of  the  whole   dumb 
creation  of  God.     The  ancient  seer,  whoever  he  was,    began 
with    the     cow.     The     appeal     of     the     lower     order     of 
creation  is  all    the    more   forcible    because   it   is  speechless. 
Cow     protection  is     the   gift   of  Hinduism   to   the   world., 
And  Hinduism  will  live  so  long  as  there  are  Hindus    to   prch 
tect  the  cow. 

The  way  to  protect  is  to  die  for  her.  It  is  a  denial  oi 
Hinduism  and  Ahimsa  to  kill  a  human  being  to  protect  a  cow- 
Hindus  are  enjoined  to  protect  the  cow  by  their  tapasya,  by 
self-purification,  by  self-sacrifice.  The  present-day  cow 
protection  has  degenerated  into  a  perpetual  feud  with 
the  Mussalmans,  whereas  cow  protection  means  conquering 
the  Mussalmans  by  our  love.  A  Mussalman  friend  sent  me 
some  time  ago  a  book  detailing  the  inhumanities  practised 
by  us  on  the  cow  and  her  progeny  ;  how  we  bleed  her  to 
take  the  last  drop  of  milk  from  her,  how  we  starve  her  to 
emaciation,  how  we  ill-treat  the  calves,  how  we  deprive 
them  of  their  portion  of  milk,  how  cruelly  we  treat  the 
oxen,  how  we  castrate  them,  how  we  beat  them,  how  we 
overload  them.  If  they  had  speech,  they  would  bear 
witness  to  our  crimes  against  them  which  would  stagger  the 
world.  *  By  every  act  of  cruelty  to'our  cattle,  we  disown 
God  and  Hinduism.  I  do  not  know  that  the  condition  of  the 
cattle  in  any  other  part  of  the  world  is  so  bad  as  in  unhappy 
India.  We  may  not  blame  the  Englishman  for  this.  We 
may  not  plead  poverty  in  our  defence.  Criminal  negligence 
is  the  only  cause  of  the  miserable  condition  of  our  cattle. 
Our  Panjrapolts,  though  they  are  an  answer  to  our  instinct 
of  mercy,  are  a  clumsy  demonstration  of  its  execution. 
Instead  of  being  model  dairy  farms  and  great  profitable 
national  institutions,  they  are  merely  depots  for  receiving 
decrepit  cattle. 


292          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

Hindus  will  be  judged  not  by  their  tilaks.  not  by  the 
correct  chanting  of  mantras,  not  by  their  pilgrimages,  not  by 
their  most  punctilious  observance  of  rules  but  by  their 
ability  to  protect  the  cow.  Whilst  professing  the  religion  of 
cow  protection,  we  have  enslaved  the  cow  and  her  progeny, 
and  have  become  slaves  ourselves. 

It  will  now  be  understood  why  I  consider  myself  a 
Sanatani  Hindu.  I  yield  to  none  in  my  regard  for  the  cow. 
I  have  made  the  Khilafat  cause  my  own,  because  I  see  that 
through  its  preservation  full  protection  can  be  secured  for 
the  cow.  I  do  not  ask  my  Mussalman  friends  to  save  the 
cow  in  consideration  of  my  service.  My  prayer  ascends 
daily  to  God  Almighty,  that  my  service  of  a  cause  I  hold 
to  be  just  may  appear  so  pleasing  to  Him,  that  he  may 
change  the  hearts  of  the  Mussalmans,  and  fill  them  with 
pity  for  their  Hindu  neighbours  and  make  them  save  the 
animal  the  latter  hold  dear  as  life  itself. 

I  can  no  more  describe  my  feeling  for  Hinduism  than 
for  my  own  wife.  She  moves  me  as  no  other  woman  in 
the  world  can.  Nor  that  she  has  no  faults  :  I  daresay,  she 
has  many  more  than  I  see  myself.  But  the  feeling  of  an 
indissoluble  bond  is  there.  Even  so  I  feel  for  and  about 
Hinduism  with  all  its  faults  and  limitations.  Nothing 
elates  me  so  much  as*  the  music  of  the  Gita  or  the  Ramayana 
by  Tulsidas,  the  only  two  books  in  Hinduism  I  may  be  said 
to  know.  When  I  jfancied  I  was  taking  my  last  breath,  the 
Gita  was  my  solace*.  I  know  the  vice  that  is  going  on  to- 
day in  all  the  great  Hindu  shrines,  but  I  love  them  in 
spite  of  their  unspeakable  failings.  There  is  an  interest 
•which  I  take  in  them  and  which  I  take  in  no  other.  I  am  a 
reformer  through  and  through.  But  my  zeal  never  takes 
me  to  the  rejection  of  any  of  the  essential  things  of  Hindu- 
ism. I  have  said  I  do  not  disbelieve  in  idol  worship.  An 
idol  does  not  excite  any  feeling  of  veneration  in  me.  But 
I  think  that  idol  worship  is  part  of  human  nature.  We 
hanker  after  symbolism.  Why  should  one  be  more  com- 


HINDUISM  293 

posed  in  a  church  than  elsewhere  ?  Images  are  an  aid  to 
worship.  No  Hindu  considers  an  image  to  be  Gad.  I  do 
not  consider  idol  worship  a  sin. 

ft  is  clear  from  the  foregoing,  that  Hinduism  is  not 
an  exclusive  religion.  In  it  there  is  room  for  the 
worship  of  all  the  prophets  of  the  world.  It  is  not  a  mis- 
sionary religion  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the  term.  It  has 
no  doubt  absorbed  many  tribes  in  its  fold,  but  this  absorp- 
tion has  been  of  an  evolutionary,  imperceptible  character. 
Hinduism  tells  every  one  to  worship  God  according  to  his 
own  faith  or  Dharma,  and  so  it  lives  at  peace  with  all  the 
religions. 

That  being  my  conception  of  Hinduism,  I  have  never 
been  able  to  reconcile  myself  to  untouchab>lity.  I  have 
always  regarded  it  as  an  excrescence.  It  is  true  that  it  has 
been  handed  down  to  us  from  generations,  but  so  are  many 
evil  practices  even  to  this  day.  I  should  be  ashamed  to 
think  that  dedication  of  girls  to  virtual  prostitution  was  a 
part  of  Hinduism.  Yet  it  is  practised  by  Hindus  in  many 
parts  of  India.  I  consider  it  positive  irreligion  to  sacrifice 
goats  to  Kali  and  do  not  consider  it  a  part  of  Hinduism. 
Hinduism  is  a  growth  of  ages.  The  very  name,  Hinduism, 
was  given  to  the  religion  of  the  people  of  Hindusthan  by 
foreigners.  There  was  no  doubt  at  one  time  sacrifice  of 
animals  offered  in  the  name  of  religion.  But  it  is  not 
religion,"  much  less  is  it  Hindu  religion.  And  so  also  it 
seems  to  me  that  when  cow  protection  became  an  article 
of  faith  with  our  ancestors,  those  who  persisted  in  eating 
beef  were  ex-communicated.  The  civil  strife  must  have 
been  fierce.  Social  boycott  was  applied  not  only  to  the 
recalcitrants,  but  their  sins  were  visited  upon  their  children 
also.  The  practice  which  had  probably  its  origin  in  good 
intentions  hardened  into  usage,  and  even  verses  crept  in 
our  sacred  books  giving  the  practice  a  permanence  wholly 
undeserved  and  still  less  justified.  Whether  my  theory  is 
correct  or  not,  untouchability  is  repugnant  to  reason  and 


294        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

to  the  instinct  of  mercy,  pity  or  love.  A  religion  that 
establishes  the  worship  of  the  cow  cannot  possibly  counten- 
ance or  warrant  a  cruel  and  inhuman  boycott  of  human 
beings.  And  I  should  be  content  to  be  torn  to  pieces  rather 
than  disown  the  suppressed  classes.  Hindus  will  certainly 
never  deserve  freedom,  nor  get  it  if  they  allow  their  noble 
religion  to  be  disgraced  by  the  retention  of  the  taint  of 
untouchability.  And  as  I  love  Hinduism  dearer  than  life 
itself  the  taint  has  become  for  me  an  intolerable  burden. 
Let  us  not  deny  God  by  denying  to  a  fifth  of  our  race  the 
right  of  association  cm  an  equal  footing. 

—Young  India  :  Sept.  29,  1920. 

<S>    <?>    <3> 

LET  me  for  a  few  moments  consider  what  Hinduism 
consists  of,  and  what  it  is  that  has  fired  so  many  saints 
about  Vihom  we  have  historical  record.  Why  has  it 
contributed  so  many  philosophers  to  the  world  ?  What 
is  it  in  Hinduism  that  had  so  enthused  its  devotees 
for  centuries  ?  Did  they  see  untouchability  in  Hinduism 
and  still  enthuse  over  it?  In  the  midst  of  my  struggle 
against  untouchability  I  have  been  asked  by  several 
workers  as  to  the  essence  of  Hinduism.  We  have  no 
simple  Kalema,  they  said,  that  we  find  in  Islam,  nor 
have  we  J  hn,  Chapters  3  —  16  of  the  Bible.  Have 
we  or  have  we  not  something  that  will  answer  the 
demands  of  the  most  philosophic  among  the  Hindus 
or  the  most  matter-of-fact  among  them  ?  Some  have 
said,  and  not  without  good  reason,  the  Gayatri  answers 
that  purpose.  I  have  perhaps  recited  the  Gayatri  Mantra 
a  thousand  times,  having  understood  the  meaning  of 
it.  But  still  it  seems  to  me  that  it  did  not  answer  the 
whole  of  my  aspirations.  Then  as  you  are  aware  I 
have,  for  years  past,  been  swearing  by  the  Bhagwad  Gita, 
and  have  said  that  it  answers  all  my  difficulties  and  has 
been  my  Kamadhenu,  my  guide,  my  open  sesame,  on 
hundreds  of  moments  of  doubts  and  difficulty.  I  can- 
not recall  a  single  occasion  when  it  has  failed  me. 


HINDUISM  295 

But  it  i§  not  a  book  that  I  can  place  before  the  whole 
of  this  audience.  It  requires  a  prayerful  study  before 
the  Kamadhenu  yields  rich  milk  she  holds  in  her 
udders. 

But  I  have  fixed  upon  one  Mantra  that  I  am  going 
to  recite  to  you  as  containing  the  whole  essence  of 
Hinduism.  Many  of  you,  I  think,  know  the  Ishopamshad. 
I  read  it  years  ago  with  translation  and  commentary. 
I  learnt  it  by  heart  in  Yervada  Jail.  But  it  did  not 
then  captivate  me,  as  it  has  done  during  the  past  few 
months,  and  I  have  now  come  to  the  final  conclusion 
that  if  all  the  Upanishads  and  all  the  other  scriptures 
happened  all  of  a  sudden  to  be  reduced  to  ashes,  and 
if  only  the  first  verse  in  the  Ishopanishads  were  left  intact 
in  the  memory  of  Hindus,  Hinduism  would  live  for 
ever. 

Now  this  Mantra  divides  itself  in  four  parts.  The 
first  part  is. 

All  this  that  we  see  in  this  great  Universe  is  pervaded  by 
God.  Then  come  the  second  and  third  parts  which  read 
together,  as  I  read  them  : 

I  divide  these  into  two  and  translate  them  thus  : 
Renounce  it  and  enjoy  it.  There  is  another  rendering  which 
means  the  same  thing  :  Enjoy  what  He  gives  you.  Even 
so  you  can  divide  it  into  two  parts.  Then  follows 
the  final  and  most  important  part,  which  means  :  Do  not 
covet  anybody's  wealth  or  possession.  All  the  other  Mantras 
of  that  ancient  upanishad  are  a  commentary  or  .an  attempt 
to  give  us  the  full  meaning  of  the  first  Mantra. 
As  I  read  the  Mantra  in  the  light  of  the  Gita  or  the 
Gita  in  the  light  of  the  Mantra  I  find  that  the  Gita 
is  a  commentary  on  the  Mantra.  It  seems  to  me  to 
satisfy  the  cravings  of  the  socialist  and  the  communist. 
I  venture  to  suggest  to  all  who  do  not  belong  to  the 
Hindu  faith  that  it  satisfies  their  cravings  also.  And  if 
it  is  true— and  I  hold  it  to  be  true-— you  need  not 


296         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

take  anything  in  Hinduism  which  is  inconsistent  with 
or  contrary  to  the  meaning  of  this  Mantra.  What  more 
can  a  man  in  the  street  want  to  learn  than  this  that 
the  one  God  and  Creator  and  Master  of  all  that  lives 
pervades  the  Universe  ?  The  three  other  parts  of  the  Mantra 
follow  directly  from  the  first.  If  you  believe  that  God 
pervades  everything  that  He  has  created  you  must  believe 
that  you  cannot  enjoy  anything  that  is  not  given  by 
Him.  And  seeing  that  he  is  the  Creator  of  His  number- 
less children,  it  follows  that  you  cannot  covet  anybody's 
possession.  If  you  think  that  you  are  one  of  His  numerous 
creature,  it  behoves  you  to  renounce  everything  and  lay 
it  at  His  feet.  That  means  the  act  of  renunciation  of 
everything  is  not  a  mere  physical  renunciation  but  repre- 
sents a  second  or  new  birth.  It  is  a  deliberate  act, 
not  done  in  ignorance.  It  is  therefore  a  regeneration. 
And  then  since  he  who  holds  the  body  must  eat  and 
drink  and  clothe  himself,  he  must  naturally  seek  all  that 
he  needs  from  Him.  And  he  gets  it  as  a  natural 
reward  of  that  renunciation.  As  if  this  was  not  enough 
the  Mantra  closes  with  this  magnificent  thought  :  Do  not 
covet  anybody's  possession.  The  moment  you  carry  out  these 
precepts  you  become  a  wise  citizen  of  the  world,  living  at 
peace  with  all  that  lives.  It  satisfies  one's  highest  aspirations 
on  this  earth  and  hereafter.  No  doubt  it  will  not  satisfy 
the  aspirations  of  him  who  does  not  believe  in  God  and 
His  undisputed  sovereignty.  It  is  no  idle  thing  that  the 
Maharaja  of  Travancore  is  called  Padmabhadas.  It  is  a  great 
thought  we,  know  that  God  himself  has  taken  the  title  of  Das- 
anudas  Servant  of  servants.  If  all  the  princes  would  call  them- 
selves servants  of  God,  they  would  be  correctly  describing 
themselves,  but  they  cannot  be  servants  of  God  unless 
they  are  servants  of  the  people.  And  if  zamindar's  and 
moined  men  and  all  who  have  possessions  would  treat 
themselves  as  trustees  and  perform  the  act  of  renunciation 
that  I  have  described,  this  world  would  indeed  be  a  blessed 
world  to  live  in,  — Harijan  :  Jan.  30,  1937. 


HINDU-MUSLIM  UNITY  297 

God  the  Ruler  pervades  all  there  is  in  this  Universe. 
Therefore  renounce  and  dedicate  all  to  Him  and  then  enjoy  or 
use  the  portion  that  may  fall  to  thy  lot.  Never  covet  anybody^ 
possessions, 

Hindu-Muslim  Unity 

IT  consists  in  our  having  a  common  purpose,  a  common 
goal  and  common  sorrows.  It  is  best  promoted  by  co- 
operating to  reach  the  common  goal,  by  sharing  one 
another's  sorrows  and  by  mutual  toleration. 

—Tarnf  India  :  Feb.  25,  1920. 

<$><$><§> 

DIVIDED,  we  must  ever  remain  slaves.  This  unity, 
therefore,  cannot  be  a  mere  policy  to  be  discarded  when  it 
does  not  suit  us.  We  can  discard  it  only  when  we  are 
tired  of  Swaraj.  Hindu-Muslim  unity  must  be  our  creed 
to  last  for  all  time  and  under  all  circumstances. 

Nor  must  that  unity  be  a  menace  to  the  minorities — 
the  Parsees,  the  Christians,  the  Jews  or  the  powerful  Sikhs. 
If  we  seek  to  crush  any  of  them,  we  shall  some  day  want 
to  fight  each  other.  — Young  India  :  Dec.  2,  1920. 


Every  body  knows  that  without  unity  between  Hindus 
and  Mussalmans,  no  certain  progress  can  be  made  by  the 
nation.  —Toung  India  :  July  28,  1921. 

<3>    <S>    <$> 

THAT  unity  is  strength  is  not  merely  a  copybook 
maxim  but  a  rule  of  life,  is  in  no  case  so  clearly  illustrated 
as  in  the  problem  of  Hindu- Muslim  Unity.  Divided  we 
must  fall.  Any  third  power  may  easily  enslave  India  so 
long  as  we  Hindus  and  Mussalmans  are  ready  to  cut  each 
other's  throats.  Hindu-Muslim  Unity  means  not  unity 
only  between  Hindus  and  Mussalmans  but  between  all 


298         TEACHINGS  OF   MAHATMA  GANDHI 

those   who  believe    India    to  be   their   home,    no  matter  to 
what  faith  they  belong.  —Toung  India  :  May  11,  1921. 

^N    ^>    ^^ 

WHAT  can  be  more  natural  than  that  Hindus  and 
Mussalmans  born  and  bred  in  India  having  the  same 
adversities,  the  same  hopes,  should  be  permanent  friends, 
brothers  born  of  the  same  Mother  India  ?  The  surprise  is 
that  we  should  fight,  not  that  we  should  unite. 

—Tcung  India  :  Aug.  21,  1924. 


I  AM  striving  to  become  the  best  cement  between  the 
two  communities.  My  longing  is  to  be  able  to  cement  the 
two  with  my  blood,  if  necessary. 

—  Toung  India  :  Sept.  25,  1924. 

<$>    3>    <S> 

IF  the  Hindus  and  the  Mussalmans  rid  themselves  of 
mutual  distrust  and  fear,  there  is  no  power  that  can  stop 
their  freedom.  We  are  the  makers  of  our  own  slavery. 

—Young  India  :  Jan.  27,  1927. 

<^    <$>    <*> 

WE  may  think  we  are  living,  but  disunited  we  are 
worse  than  dead.  Tfre  Hindu  thinks  that  in  quarrelling  with 
the  Mussalman  he  is  benefiting  Hinduism,  and  the  Mussalman 
thinks  that  in  fighting  a  Hindu  he  is  benefiting  Islam.  But 
each  is  ruining  his  faith.  —  Toung  India  :  Jan.  27,  1927. 

^    <J>    <$> 

IT  is  a  sign  of  weakness,  not  of  fitness  for  Swaraj  to  go 
to  the  foreign  ruling  power  to  arbitrate  between  us  or  to 
enforce  the  peace  between  us  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet. 

—  Toung  India  :  June  16,  1927. 

IF  it  could  be  achieved  by  giving  my  life,  I  have  the 
will  to  give  it  and  I  hope  I  have  the  strength  for  it.  I 


HINDU-MUSLIM  UNITY  299 

should  with  the  greatest  joy  undertake  an  indefinite  fast, 
as  I  very  nearly  did  at  Delhi,  in  1924,  if  it  would  melt  and 
change  the  stony  hearts  of  Hindus  and  Mussalmans. 

—Toung  India  :  June  16,  1927. 

THIS  unity  among  all  is  no  new  love  with  me.  I  have 
treasured  it,  acted  up  to  it  from  my  youth  upward.  When 
I  went  to  London  as  a  mere  lad  in  1889  I  believed  in  it  as 
passionately  as  I  do  now.  When  I  went  to  South  Africa 
in  1893  I  worked  it  out  in  every  detail  of  my  life.  Love  so 
deep  seated  as  it  is  in  me  will  not  be  sacrificed  even  for 
the  realm  of  the  whole  world, 

—Toung  India  :  Feb.  20,  1930. 


I  HAVE  never  dreamt  that  I  could  win  Swaraj  merely 
through  my  effort  or  assisted  only  by  the  Hindus.  I  stand 
in  need  of  the  assistance  of  Musalmans,  Parsis,  Christians, 
Sikhs,  Jews  and  all  other  Indians.  I  need  the  assistance  even 
of  Englishmen.  But  I  know  too  that  all  this  combined  assist- 
ance is  worthless  if  I  have  not  one  other  assistance  that  is 
from  God.  All  is  vain  without  His  help.  And  if  He  is  with 
this  struggle  no  other  help  is  necessary.  But  to  realise  His 
help  and  guidance  in  this  struggle,  I  need  your  blessings, 
the  blessings  of  all  communities. 

—Toung  India     April  3,  1930. 


THE  only  non-violent  solution  I  know  is  for  the 
Hindus  to  let  the  minority  communities  take  what  they 
like.  I  would  not  hesitate  to  let  the  minorities  govern 
their  country.  This  is  no  academic  belief.  The  solution 
is  attended  with  no  risk.  For  under  a  free  Government 
the  real  power  will  be  held  by  the  people. 

—Young  India  :  April  24,  1930. 


300        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA    GANDHI 

LET  all  of  us  Hindus,  Mussalmans,  Parsis,  Sikhs, 
Christians  live  amicably  as  Indians,  pledged  to  live  and  die 
for  our  motherland.  Let  it  be  our  ambition  to  live  as  the 
children  of  the  same  mother,  retaining  our  individual 
faiths  and  yet  being  one,  like  the  countless  leaves  of  one 
tree.  "  —Young  India:  April  23,  1931. 

<$><*><*> 

THAT  we  have  prepared  the  ground  for  Hindu- 
Muslim  unity  I  have  not  the  slightest  doubt.  During  the 
Khilafat  days  it  seemed  to  be  near  accomplishment,  and 
then  suddenly  our  hopes  seemed  to  have  been  dashed  to 
pieces.  But  was  darkness  ever  an  endless  or  permanent 
phenomenon  of  Nature  ?  Indeed  can  it  exist  without 
light  ?  The  deeper  the  darkness  the  nearer,  I  think,  is  the 
dawn,  the  deeper  the  gloom  the  nearer  is  the  approach  of 
cheer-giving  light.  The  severest  illness  is  not  without  its 
end.  If  not  recovery,  death  ends  the  agony.  The  present 
agony,  for  aught  we  know,  is  nearing  its  end.  It  is  deeper 
because  the  problem  is  more  keenly  realised  today  then  it 
was  during  the  Khilafat  agitation.  That  agitation  had  its 
origin,  it  may  perhaps  be  truly  said,  in  me.  Today  though 
the  Hindu  Muslim  question  wears  an  ugly  face  it  belongs 
very  largely  to  the  people,  and  therein  lies  my  hope  for  a 
permanent  peace  out  of  the  present  wanton  violence. 
People  must  get  tired  of  mutual  slaughter.  In  1920-21  we 
had  just  a  passing  glimpse  of  Hindu  Muslim  unity  as  it 
would  be  when  completely  achieved.  The  effect  can 
never  vanish  completely,  though  ugly  elements  which  have 
come  upon  the  surface  may  shake  one's  faith  for  the 
moment.  Don't  say  to  me  that  Hindu  Muslim  unity  which 
was  so  near  in  1921  has  receded  very  far;  you  will  then 
say  the  same  thing  about  prohibition,  khadi,  Swaraj.  But 
it  is  not  correct  to  say  so.  All  these  things  are  nearer  to- 
day for  the  work  done  in  1920-21. 

—Harijan  :  Dec.  15,  1936. 


HINDU-MUSLIM  UNITY  301 

FOR  good  or  for  ill,  the  two  communities  are  wedded  to 
India,  they  are  neighbours,  sons  of  the  soil.  They  are 
destined  to  die  here  as  they  are  born  here.  Nature  will 
force  them  to  live  in  peace  if  they  do  not  come  together 
voluntarily.  — Harijan  :  Oct.  29,  1938. 

<$><$>     <S> 

<c  WOULD  not  the  march  to  full  responsible  govern- 
ment be  more  rapid,  if  the  Muslims  were  taken  along?'7 
"Of  course  it  would  be,"  replied  Gandhiji.  "  Personally  I  do 
not  want  anything  which  the  Muslims  oppose.  But  I  have 
faith  that  the  solution  of  the  Hindu-Muslim  tangle  will 
come  much  sooner  than  most  people  expect.  I  claim  to  be 
able  'to  look  at  the  whole  position  with  a  detached  mind. 
There  is  no  substance  in  our  quarrels.  Points  of  difference 
are  superficial,  those  of  contact  are  deep  and  permanent. 
Political  and  economic  subjection  is  common  to  us.  The 
same  climate,  the  same  rivers,  the  same  fields  supply  both 
with  air,  water  and  food.  Whatever,  therefore,  leaders, 
Mahatmas  and  Maulanas  may  say  or  do,  the  masses,  when 
they  are  fully  awakened,  will  assert  themselves  and  combine 
for  the  sake  of  combating  common  evils. 

(i  The  effect  of  the  Socialist  and  Communist  propaganda 
too  is  to  bring  the  masses  of  both  the  communities  together 
by  emphasizing  identity  of  interests.  I  have  my  differences 
with  them,  but  I  cannot  withhold  my  admiration  for  their 
endeavaur  to  demolish  the  superstition  that  keeps  the 
different  communities  apart."  — Harijan  :  Dec.  31,  1938. 

<$>«><$> 

BRITAIN  has  hitherto  held  India  by  producing  before 
the  world  Indians  who  want  Britain  to  remain  in  India  as 
ruler  and  arbiter  between  rival  claimants.  These  will 
always  exist.  The  question  is  whether  it  is  right  for  Britain 
to  plead  these  rivalries  in  defence  of  holding  India  under 
subjection,  or  whether  she  should  now  recognize  the  mistake 
and  leave  India  to  decide  upon  the  method  of  her  own 
government,  —Harijan  :  Oct.  21,  1939, 


302        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

ABSOLUTE  protection  of  the  rights  of  minorities  is  a 
greater  concern  of  the  Congress  than  it  ever  can  be  of  Great 
Britain.  The  Congress  dare  not  seek  and  cannot  get  justice, 
if  it  is  not  prepared  to  do  itself.  To  be  above  suspicion 
is  the  only  way  open  to  non-violent  organisations.  But 
British  policy  may  make  a  just  solution  impossible  at  the 
present  moment.  — Harijan  :  Oct.  28,  1939. 

<$><$><$> 

WE  must  prove  to  the  Muslim  countrymen  and  to  the 
world  that  the  Congress  docs  not  want  independence  at 
the  sacrifice  of  a  single  legitimate  interest,  be  it  Muslim  or 
other.  We  may  leave  no  stone  unturned  to  carry  the 
minorities  with  us.  This  meticulous  care  for  the  rights  of 
the  least  among  us  is  the  sine  qua  non  of  non-violence. 

—Harijan  :  Dec.  2,  1939, 

<*><$><$> 

TIME  is  a  merciless  enemy,  if  it  is  also  a  n^erciful 
friend  and  healer.  I  claim  to  be  amongst  the  oldest  lovers 
of  Hindu-Muslim  unity  and  1  remain  one  even  today.  I 
have  been  asking  myself  why  every  whole-hearted  attempt 
made  by  all  including  myself  to  reach  unity  has  failed,  and 
failed  as  completey  that  I  have  entirely  fallen  from  grace 
and  am  described  by  some  Muslim  papers  as  the  greatest 
enemy  of  Islam  in  Ijidia.  It  is  a  phenomenon  I  can  only 
account  for  by  the  fact  that  the  third  power,  even  without 
deliberately  wishing  it,  will  not  allow  real  unity  to  take 
place.  Therefore  I  have  come  to  the  reluctant  conclusion 
that  the  two  communities  will  come  together  almost  im- 
mediately after  the  British  power  comes  to  a  final  end  in 
India.  —Harijan  :  June  21, 1942. 

Hindustani 

WHAT  is  Hindustani  ?  There  is  no  such  language 
apart  from  Urdu  and  Hindi  Urdu  has  sometimes  been 
called  Hindustani.  It  means  a  scientific  blend  of  Hindi  and 
Urdu.  There  is  no  such  written  blend  extant.  But  it  is 


HOPE  303 

the  common  speech  of  the  unlettered  millions  of  Hindus 
and  Muslims  living  in  Northen  India.  Not  being  written, 
it  is  imperfect,  and  the  written  language  has  taken  two 
different  turns  tending  to  widen  the  difference  by  each 
running  away  from  the  other.  Therefore  the  word  Hindus- 
tani means  Hindi  and  Urdu.  — Harijan  :  Feb.  1,  1942. 

Honour 

NO  cost  is  too  heavy  for  the  preservation  of  one's 
honour,  especially  religious  honour. 

—Young  India  :  Aug.  11,  1920. 

<$><$><§> 

I  WOULD  prefer  total  destruction  of  myself  and  my 
all  to  purchasing  safety  at  the  cost  of  my  manhood. 

—Young  India:  May  25,  192L 

<$><$><$> 

ONE  who  knows  how  to  die  need  never  fear  any  harm 
to  her  or  his  honour.  — Young  India  :  Dec.  15,  1921. 

<:>«><$> 

IT  is  known  by  this  time  that  I  spare  neither  friend 
nor  foe  when  it  is  a  question  of  departing  from  the  code  of 
honour.  — Young  India  :  March  2,  1922. 

^>     <$>     <$> 

IT  is  any  day  better  to  stand  erect  with  a  broken  and 
bandaged-  head  than  to  crawl  on  one's  belly,  in  order  to  be 
able  to  save  one's  head.  — Young  India  :  April  2,  1925. 

<s>  <$>  <s> 

IMPRISONMENTS,  forfeitures  deportation,  aeath 
must  all  be  taken  in  the  ordinary  course  by  those  who 
count  honour  before  everything  else. 

—Young  India  :  May  31,  1928. 

Hope 

I  NEVER  give  up  hope  so  long  as  there  is  the  least 
chance.  —Young  India  :  July  13,  192K 


304  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

IF  we  had  no  faith  in  the  ultimate  God,  we  would 
lose  all  hope.  — Toung  India  :  May  14,  1931. 

Human  Nature 

THE  most  practical,  the  most  dignified  way  of  going 
on  in  the  world  is  to  take  people  at  their  word,  when 
you  have  no  positive  reason  to  the  contrary.  I  refuse  to 
believe  that  the  tendency  of  the  human  nature  is  always 
downward.  — Toung  India  :  Dec.  26,  1926. 

<$><$><$> 

MEN  like  me  cling  to  their  faith  in  human  nature  and 
expect  to  bend  even  the  haughty  English  spirit,  all  appear- 
ances to  the  contrary  notwithstanding. 

—  Toung  India  :     Feb.  3,  1927. 
<$><$><*> 

I  AM  more  concerned  in  preventing  the  brutalisation 
of  human  nature  than  in  preventing  the  sufferings  of  my 
own  people.  I  have  often  gloated  over  the  sufferings  of 
my  own  people.  I  know  that  people  who  voluntarily 
undergo  a  course  of  suffering  raise  themselves  and  the 
whole  of  humanity,  but  I  also  know  that  people,  who 
become  brutalised  in 'their  desperate  efforts  to  get  victory 
over  their  opponents,  or  to  exploit  weaker  nations  or  weaker 
men  not  only  drag  down  themselves  but  mankind  also.  And, 
it  cannot  be  a  matter  of  pleasure  to  me  or  anyone  else  to  see 
human  nature  dragged  in  the  mire.  If  we  are  all  sons  of 
the  same  God,  and  partake  of  the  same  divine  essence, 
we  must  partake  of  the  sin  of  every  person  whether  he  be- 
longs to  us  or  to  another  race.  You  can  understand  how 
repugnant  it  must  be  to  invoke  the  beast  in  any  human 
being.  —Tounglndia  :  Oct.  29,  1931. 

<S>    <S>    3> 

I  BELIEVE  that  the  sum-total  of  the  energy  of  man- 
kind is  not  to  bring  us  down  but  to  lift  us  up,  and  that  is 
the  result  of  the  definite,  if  unconscious,  working  of  the 


HUMILITY  305 

law  of  love.  The  fact  that  mankind  persists  shows  that 
the  cohesive  force  is  greater  than  the  disruptive  force,  cen- 
tripetal force  greater  than  centrifugal.  And  inasmuch  as  I 
know  only  of  the  poetry  of  love,  you  should  not  be  sur- 
prised that  I  trust  the  English  people.  I  have  often  been 
bitter  and  I  have  often  said  to  myself,  u  When  will  this 
camouflage  end  ?  When  will  these  people  cease  to  ex* 
ploit  these  poor  people  ?1?  But  instinctively  I  get  the  re- 
ply :  "That  is  the  heritage  that  they  have  had  from 
Rome.7'  I  must  conduct  myself  in  accordance  with  the 
dictates  of  the  Law  of  Love,  hoping  and  expecting  in  the 
long  run  to  affect  the  English  nature. 

—  Young  India  :     Nov.  11,  1931. 

<$>    <3>    <S> 

MAN'S  nature  is  not  essentially  evil.  Brute  nature  has 
been  known  to  yield  to  the  influence  of  love.  You  must 
never  despair  of  human  nature. 

—Young  India  :     Nov.  5,  1938. 

^^    <^    ^^ 

HUMAN  nature  will  only  find  itself  when  it  fully 
realizes  that  to  be  human  it  has  to  cease  to  be  beastly  or 
brutal.  Though  we  have  the  human  form,  without  the 
attainment  of  the  virtue  of  non-violence  we  still  share  the 
qualities  of  our  remote  reputed  ancestor  the  ourangou- 
tang.  *  —Harijan  :  Oct.  8,  1938. 

3>    3>    <$> 

MY  belief  in  the  capacity  of  non-violence  rejects  the 
theory  of  permanent  inelasticity  of  human  nature. 

— Harijan  :  June  7,  1942. 

Humility 

TAKE  water,  which  in  its  solid  state  remains  on  the 
earth;  it  cannot  ascend  until  it  is  rarefied  into  steam. 


306  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

But  once  it  is  rarefied  into  steam  it  rises  up  in  the 
sky  where  at  last  it  is  transformed  into  the  clouds  which 
drop  down  in  the  form  of  rain  and  fructify  and  bless 
the  earth.  We  are  like  water,  we  have  to  strive 
so  to  rarefy  ourselves  that  all  the  ego  in  us  perishes 
and  we  merge  in  the  infinite  to  the  eternal  good  of 
all  —Young  India  :  Jan,  12,  1928, 

«><$><$> 

THE  first  condition  of  humaneness  is  a  little  humanity 
and  a  little  diffidence  about  the  correctness  of  one's 
conduct  and  a  little  re-ceptiveness. 

—Toung  India  :  Sept.  20,  1928. 
^P    ^o    ^» 

HUMILITY  cannot  be  an  observance  by  itself- 
For  it  does  not  lend  itself  to  being  deliberately  practised. 
It  is,  however,  an  indispensable  test  of  ahimsa.  In  one 
who  has  ahimsa  in  him  it  becomes  part  of  his  very 
nature. 

A  preliminary  draft  of  the  rules  and  regulations  of 
the  Satyagraha  Ashram  was  circulated  among  friends,  includ- 
ing the  late  Sir  Gurudas  Banerji.  He  suggested  that 
humility  should  be  accorded  a  place  among  the  observances. 
This  suggestion  could  not  then  be  accepted  for  the  same 
reasons  as  I  am  mentioning  here. 

But  although  humility  is  not  one  of  the  observances,  it 
is  certainly  as  essential  as,  and  perhaps  even  more  essential, 
than  any  one  of  them.  Only  it  never  came  to  any  one  by 
practice.  Truth  can  be  cultivated  as  well  as  love.  But  to 
cultivate  humility  is  tantamount  to  cultivating  hypocrisy. 
Humility  must  not  be  here  confounded  with  mere  manners 
or  etiquette.  One  man  will  sometimes  prostrate  himself 
before  another,  although  his  heart  is  full  of  bitterness, 
against  the  latter.  This  is  not  humility,  but  cunning. 


HUMILITY  307 

A  man  may  repeat  Ramanana^  or  ttll  his  btads  all  the  day 
long,  and  move  in  society  like  a  sagt;  but  if  he  i& 
selfish  at  heart,  he  is  not  meek  but  o>niy  hypocritical, 

A  humble  person  is  not  himself  conscious  of  hi$ 
humility.  Truth  and  the  like  perhaps,  admit  of  measure- 
ment, but  not  humility.  Inborn  humility  can  never 
remain  hidden,  and  yet  the  possessor  is  unaware  of  itsf 
existence.  Tbe  story  of  Vasishtha  and  Vishvamitra 
furnishes  a  very  good  case  in  point  Humility  should 
make  the  possessor  realise  that  he  is  as  nothing.  Directly 
one  imagines  oneself  to  be  something,  there  is  egotism. 
If  a  man  who  keeps  observances,  who  is  proud  of  keep- 
ing them,  will  lose  much  if  not  all  of  their  value. 
And  a  man  who  is  proud  of  his  virtue  often  becomes 
a  curse  to  society.  Society  will  not  appreciate  it,  and 
he  himself  will  fail  to  reap  any  benefit  from  it.  Only 
a  little  thought  will  suffice  to  convince  us  that  all  creatures 
are  nothing  more  than  a  mere  atom  in  this  universe. 
Our  existence  as  embodied  beings  is  purely  momentary; 
what  are  a  hundred  years  in  eternity  ?  But  if  we 
shatter  the  chains  of  egotism,  and  melt  into  the  ocean 
of  humanity,  we  share  its  dignity.  To  feel  that  we  are 
something  is  to  set  up  a  barrier  between  God  and 
ourselves;  to  cease  feeling  that  we  are  something  is  to  be- 
come one  with  God.  A  drop  in  the  ocean  partakes  of 
the  greatness  of  its  parent,  although  it  is  unconscious  of 
it,  but  it  is  dried  up  as  soon  as  it  enters  upon  an 
existence  independent  of  the  ocean.  We  do  not  exaggerate 
when  we  say  that  life  on  earth  is  a  mere  bubble. 

A  life  of  service  must  be  one  of  humility.  He  who 
would  sacrifice  his  life  for  others  has  hardly  time  to 
reserve  for  himself  a  place  in  the  sun.  Inertia  must 
not  be  mistaken  for  humility,  as  it  has  been  in  Hinduism. 
True  humility  means  most  strenuous  and  constant 


308         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

endeavour  entirely  directed  towards  the  service  of  humanity. 
God  is  continuously  in  action  without  resting  for  a 
single  moment.  If  we  would  serve  Him  OF  become 
one  with  Him,  our  activity  must  be  as  unwearied  as 
His.  Iheie  maybe  momentary  rest  in  store  for  the  drop 
which  is  separated  from  the  ocean,  but  not  for  the  drop 
in  the  ocean,  which  knows  no  rest.  The  same  is  the 
case  with  ourselves.  As  soon  as  we  become  one  with  the 
ocean  in  the  shape  of  God,  there  is  no  more  rest  xor 
us,  nor  indeed  do  we  need  rest  any  longer.  Our  very 
sleep  is  action.  For  we  sleep  with  the  thought  of  God  in  our 
hearts.  TLis  leMlesMiess  constitutes  true  test.  This  never 
ceasing  agitation  holds  the  key  to  peace  ineffable.  This 
supicmc  state  of  total  surrender  is  difficult  to  describe 
but  not  beyond  the  bounds  of  human  experience.  It 
has  been  attained  by  many  dedicated  souls  and  may 
be  attained  by  ourselves  as  well.  This  is  the  goal  which 
we  of  the  Sayagraha  Ashram  have  set  before  ourselves  ; 
all  our  observances  and  activities  are  calculated  to  assist 
us  in  reaching  it.  We  shall  reach  it  some  clay  all  unawares 
if  we  have  truth  in  us.  — Teravda  Mandir. 

Humanitarianism 

HUMAN1TARIANISM  without  knowledge  is  futile 
and  may  even  be  harmful.  —Harijm  :  June  19,  1937. 

<£    <£    ^ 

MERE  learning,  mere  humanitarianism  divorced 
from  actual  experience  may  spell  disaster  to  the  cause 
sought  to  be  espoused.  —Harijan  :  July  1,  1939. 

Humour 

Q.    DO  you  think  a  sense  of  humour  is  necessary    in 
life? 


HUNGER-STRIKE  309 

If  I  had  no  sense  of  humour,  I  would  long  ago 
have  committed  suicide. 

—Harijan  :     Dec.  12,  1928. 

Hunger-Strike 

THERE  should  be  no  hunger-strike  on  any  account. 
Though  there  are  circumstances  conceivable  in  which 
a  hunger-strike  may  be  justified,  hunger-strike  in  order 
to  secure  release  or  redress  of  grievances  is  wrong. 

—Harjan  :     April  23,  1938. 

<$>    <$>    <$> 

HUNGER-STRIKE  has  positively  become  a  plague.  On 
the  slightest  pretext  some  people  want  to  resort  to  hunger- 
strike.  It  is  well,  therefore,  that  the  Working  Committee 
has  condemned  the  practice  in  unequivocal  terms,  so  far  at 
least  as  hunger-strike  for  discharge  from  imprisonment  is 
concerned.  The  Committee  should  have  gone  further  and 
condemned  also  the  practice  of  forcible  feeding.  I  regard 
forcible  feeding  as  an  undue  liberty  with  the  human  body 
which  is  too  sacred  to  be  trifled  with,  even  though  it  belongs 
to  a  prisoner.  No  doubt  the  State  has  control  over  the 
bodies  of  its  prisoners  but  never  to  the  extent  of  killing  their 
soul.  That  control  has  well-defined  limits.  If  a  prisoner 
decides  to  starve  himself  to  death,  he  should,  in  my  opinion, 
be  allowed  to  do  so.  A  hunger-strike  loses  its  force  and  dig- 
nity, when  it  has  any,  if  the  striker  is  forcibly  fed.  It  be- 
comes a  mockery  if  somehow  or  other  sufficient  nourishment 
is  poured  down  the  throat,  whether  through  the  mouth  or 
nose.  Of  course,  the  mind  instinctively  revolts  against 
feeding  through  the  nose.  But  I  understand  that  after  a  few 
days'  practice  the  process  ceases  to  offend  the  subject  himself. 
Where  a  prisoner  offers  violent  resistance  the  matter  becomes 
difficult.  But  cases  of  such  resistance  are  rare.  It  is  not  pos- 


310        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA   GANDHI 

sible  to  keep  up  effective  resistance  for  any  length  of  time. 
A  determined  resister  will  of  course  die  at  the  very  first  at- 
tempt and  thus  frustrate  it.  But  such  resistance  requires  great 
daring  and  reckless  defiance  of  death.  In  any  case  it  is  my 
firm  conviction  that  the  method  of  forcible  feeding  should 
be  abandoned  as  a  relic  of  barbarism.  I  know  that  some 
prisoners  welcome  forcible  feeding  for  the  empty  glory  of 
being  regarded  as  hunger-strikers.  Jailors  have  often  told 
me  that  such  prisoners  would  deplore  stoppage  of  forcible 
feeding.  I  am  told  that  under  the  existing  law  jail  authori- 
ties are  bound  to  resort  to  forcible  feeding  if  reasoning  fails. 
I  would  recommend  amendments  of  such  legislation  if  any. 

—Harijan  :  Aug.  19,  1939, 

I 

Ideal 

WHEN  a  man  works  for  an  ideal,  he  becomes  irresis- 
tible. —Young  India  :  July  28,  1920. 

IDEALS  must  work  in  practice,  otherwise  they  are  not 
potent.  —  Young  India  :  Jan.  27,  192L 

<$><$><$> 

THE  virtue  of  an  ideal  consists  in  its  boundlessness. 
But  although  religious  ideals  must  thus  from  their  very 
nature  remain  unattainable  by  imperfect  human  beings, 
although  by  virtue  of  their  boundlessness  they  may  seem 
ever  to  recede  farther  away  from  us,  the  nearer  we  go  to 
them,  still  they  are  closer  to  us  than  our  very  hands  and 
feet  because  we  are  more  certain  of  their  reality  and  truth 
than  even  of  our  own  physical  being.  This  faith  in  one's 
ideals  alone  constitutes  true  life,  in  fact  it  is  man's  all  in  all. 

—Harijan  :  Dec.  20,  1927. 


IDOL- WORSHIP  311 

IF  I  am  to  make  an  ever-increasing  approach  to  my 
ideal,  I  must  let  the  world  see  my  weaknesses  and  failures 
so  that  I  may  be  saved  from  hypocrisy  and  so  that  even 
for  very  shame  I  would  try  my  utmost  to  realise  the  ideal. 
The  contradiction  pointed  out  by  the  friend  also  shows  that 
between  the  ideal  and  practice  there  always  must  be  an 
unbridgeable  gulf.  The  ideal  will  cease  to  be  one  if  it 
becomes  possible  to  realise  it.  The  pleasure  lies  in  making 
the  effort,  not  in  its  fulfilment.  For,  in  our  progress 
towards  the  goal  we  even  se$  more  and  more  enchanting 
scenery.  — Harijan  :  July  12,  1937. 

<£>    <^    <£ 

THE  reality  is  always  present  before  me,  but  my  striv- 
ing is  always  to  reach  the  ideal.  Euclid's  straight  line 
exists  only  in  our  conception,  but  we  have  always  to  postu- 
late it.  We  have  always  to  strive  to  draw  a  true  line 
corresponding  to  Euclid's  imaginary  line. 

—Harijan  :     Sept.  8,  1940. 

Idleness 

PURITY  of  mind  and  idleness  are  incompatible. 

—Harijan  :     Oct.  22,  1938. 

Idol-Worship 

I  DO  not  disbelieve  in  idol-worship.  An  idol  does  not 
excite  any  feeling  of  veneration  in  me.  But  I  think  that 
idol-worship  is  part  of  human  nature.  We  hanker  after 
symbolism.  Why  should  one  be  more  corfaposed  in  a 
church  than  elsewhere  ?  Images  are  an  aid  to  worship. 
No  Hindu  considers  an  image  to  be  God.  I  do  not  consi- 
der idol- worship  a  sin.  — Toung  India  :  Sept.  29,  1920. 

IDOLATRY  is  permissible  in  Hinduism   when  it  sub* 


312         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

serves  an  ideal.     It  becomes  a  sinful   fetish  when   the   idol 
itself  becomes  the  ideal.          —Toung  India  :    June  21,  1923. 

<$>    <£>    <$> 

I  AM  both  an  idolator  and  an  iconoclast  in  what  I 
conceive  to  be  the  true  sense  of  the  terms.  I  value  the 
spirit  behind  idol-worship.  It  plays  a  most  important  part 
in  the  uplift  of  the  human  race.  And  I  would  like  to 
possess  the  ability  to  defend  with  my  life  the  thousands  of 
holy  temples  which  sanctify  this  land  of  ours.  My  alliance 
with  the  Musalmans  pre-supposes  their  perfect  tolerance 
for  my  idols  and  my  temples.  I  am  an  iconoclast  in  the 
sense  that  I  break  down  the  subtle  form  of  idolatory  in  the 
shape  of  fanaticism  that  refuses  to  see  any  virtue  in  any 
other  form  of  worshipping  the  Diety  save  one's  own.  This 
form  of  idolatry  is  more  deadly  for  being  more  fine  and 
evasive  than  the  tangible  and  gross  form  of  worship  that 
identifies  the  Deity  with  a  little  bit  of  a  stone  or  a  golden 
image.  —Toung  India  :  Aug.  28,  1924. 

^    <>>    <$> 

PROPER  worship  is  not  image  worship,  it  is   the   wor- 
ship of  God  in  the  image.  — Harijan  :  Feb.  16,  1935. 

^N    ^^    ^N 

Q.  I  AM  a  Hindu  student.  I  have  been  great  friend 
with  a  Muslim,  but  we  have  fallen  out  over  the  question  of 
idol-worship.  I  find  solace  in  idolworship  but  I  cannot 
give  an  answer  to  my  Muslim  friend  in  terms  of  what  may 
be  called  convincing.  Will  you  say  anything  on  idolwor- 
ship in  Harijan  ? 

A.  My  sympathies  are  botti  with  you  and  your  Mus- 
lim friend.  I  suggest  your  reading  my  writings  on  the 
question  in  Toung  India  and,  if  you  feel  at  all  satisfied,  let 
your  Muslim  friend  read  them  too.  If  your  friend  has  real 
love  for  you,  he  will  conquer  his  prejudice  against  idol- 


IMPRISONMENT  315 

worship.  A  friendship  which  exacts  oneness  of  opinion  and 
conduct  is  not  worth  much.  Friends  have  to  tolerate  one 
another's  ways  of  life  and  thought  even  though  they  may  be 
different,  except  where  the  difference  is  fundamental  May 
be  your  friend  has  come  to  think  that  it  is  sinful  to  associate 
with  you  as  you  are  an  idolater.  Idolatry  is  bad,  not  so 
idolworship.  An  idolater  makes  a  fetish  of  his  idol.  An 
idolworshipper  sees  God  even  in  a  stone  and  therefore 
takes  the  help  of  an  idol  to  establish  his  union  "with  God. 
Every  Hindu  child  knows  that  the  stone  is  the  famous 
temple  in  Benares  is  not  Kashi  Vishwanath.  But  he  be- 
lieves that  the  Lord  of  the  Universe  does  reside  specially  in 
that  stone.  This  play  of  the  imagination  is  permissible  and 
healthy.  Every  edition  of  the  Git  a  on  a  bookstall  has  not 
that  sanctity  which  I  ascribe  to  my  own  copy.  Logic  tells 
me  there  is  no  more  sanctity  in  my  copy  than  in  any 
other.  The  sanctity  is  in  my  imagination.  But  that  im- 
agination brings  about  marvellous  concrete  results.  It 
changes  men's  lives.  I  am  of  opinion  that,  whether  we 
admit  it  or  not,  we  are  all  idol-worshippers  or  idolators,  if 
the  distinction  I  have  drawn  is  not  allowed.  A  book,  a 
building,  a  picture,  a  carving  are  surely  all  images  in 
which  God  does  reside,  but  they  are  not  God*  He  who 
says  they  are  errs.  .  —Harijan  :  March  9,  1940. 

Imitation 

IMITATION  is  the  sheerest  flattery. 

—Young  India  :     Mar.  21,  1925. 

Imprisonment 

IF  one  has  committed  an  offence,  he  must  plead 
guilty  and  suffer  the  penalty.  If  he  has  not  and  is  still 
found  guilty,  imprisonment  for  him  is  no  disgrace. 

—Young  India:  Mar.  12,1919. 


314         TEACHINGS  OF   MAHATMA  GANDHI 

FOR  me,  solitary  confinement  in  a  prison  cell  without 
any  breach  on  my  part  of  the  code  of  Non-co-opera- 
tion, or  private  or  public  morals,  will  be  freedom.  For 
me,  the  whole  of  India  is  a  prison,  even  as  the 
master's  house  is  to  his  slave.  A  slave,  to  be  free,  must 
continuously  rise  against  his  slavery,  and  be  locked  up 
in  his  master's  cell  for  his  rebellion.  The  cell-door  is 
the  door  to  freedom.  I  feel  no  pity  for  those  who  are 
•suffering  hardships  in  the  goals  of  the  Government.  In- 
nocence under  an  evil  Government  must  ever  rejoice  on 
the  scaffold.  —Young  India  :  Jan.  12,  1920. 

<$>  <s>  <s> 

IMPRISONMENTS  must  not  inspire  fear  in  us. 
Under  an  unjust  Government,  imprisonments  of  innocent 
men  must  be  regarded  as  their  ordinary  lot  even  as  disease 
is  the  ordinary  state  of  persons  living  in  insanitary  con- 
ditions. The  Government  will  cease  to  imprison  us  when 
we  cease  to  fear  imprisonments.  The  Government  will 
cease  to  exist  or  (which  is  the  same  thing)  will  reform 
itself,  when  its  most  frightful  punishments,  even  Dyerism, 
fail  to  strike  us  with  fear  — Young  India  :  May,  4,  1921. 

<$>    <$>    <$> 

I  AM  convinced  that  it  is  not  argument  but  suffer- 
ing of  the  innocent  that  appeals  both  to  the  persecutor 
and  the  persecuted.  — Toung  India  :  Dec.  8,  1921. 

<S>    3>    <3> 

WE  seek  arrest  because  the  so-called  freedom  is  slavery. 

— Toung  India:  May  15,  1921. 

<$><$><§> 

IMPRISONMENTS,  forfeitures,  deportations,  death 
must  all  be  taken  in  the  ordinary  course  by  those  who 
•count  honour  before  any  thing  else. 

—Toung  India  :   May  31,  1928. 


IMPRISONMENTS  315 

IN  my  opinion,  the  ability  to  go  to  jail  is  of  far  less 
consequence  than  ability  and  the  readiness  to  observe  in 
their  fulness  the  conditions  about  Hindu-Muslim-Sikh- 
Parsi-Christian  unity,  about  untouchability  and  hand-spun 
khadi.  Without  a  due  fulfilment  of  those  conditions,  we 
shall  find  that  all  our  going  to  jail  is  bravado  and  so 
much  wasted  effort.  Self-purification  is  the  main  considera- 
tion in  seeking  the  prison.  Embarrassment  of  the  Gov- 
ernment is  a  secondary  consideration.  It  is  my  unalter- 
able conviction  that,  even  though  the  Government  may 
not  feel  embarrassed  in  any  way  whatsoever  by  the 
incarceration  or  even  execution  of  an  innocent,  unknown 
but  a  purified  person,  such  incarceration  will  be  the  end 
of  that  Government.  Even  a  single  lamp  dispels  the 
deepest  darkness.  —Young  India  :  Feb.  9,  1922. 

<S>   3>   <$> 

JAILS  are  no  gate-way  to  liberty  for  the  confirmed 
criminal.  They  are  temples  of  liberty  only  for  those  who 
are  innocence  personified.  The  execution  of  Socrates  made 
immortality  a  living  reality  for  us, — not  so  the  execution 
of  countless  murderers.  There  is  no  warrant  for  suppos- 
ing that  we  can  steal  Swaraj  by  the  imprisonment  of 
thousands  of  nominally  non-violent  men  with  hatred,  ill- 
will  aad  violence  raging  in  their  breasts, 

—Young  India  :  Mar.  2,  1922* 

<S>   <s>   <S> 

IMPRISONMENTS,  forfeitures,  deportations,  death 
must  all  be  taken  in  the  ordinary  course  by  those  who 
count  honour  before  anything  else. 

—Young  India  :  May  31,  1928. 

India 

I  HAVE  recognised   that   the  nation  has    the  right, 


316         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

if  it  so   wills,   to    vindicate   her  freedom   even   by   actual1 
violence.     Only   then   India  ceases   to  be   the  land  of  my 
love,   though   she   be   the  land   of   my    birth,   even   as   I 
should  take  no  pride  in  my  mother  if  she  went  astray. 

India  :  Jan.  12,  1920, 


INDIA  must  learri  to  live  before  she  can  aspire  ^to 
die  for  humanity.  —Toung  India  :  Oct.  13,  1921. 

<*><*>«> 

INDIA  of  the  near  future  stands  for  perfect  tole- 
ration of  all  religions.  Her  spiritual  heritage  is  simple 
living  and  high  thinking.  —Toung  India  :  Dec.  12,  1922. 

<$>    <$>    <S> 

AS  it  is,  everything  in  India  attracts  me.  It  has 
everything  that  a  human  being  with  the  highest  possible 
aspirations  can  want.  —  'loung  India  :  Feb.  21,  1929. 

<s>  <$>  <$> 

AN  India  prostrate  at  the  feet  of  Europe  can  give  no 
hope  to  humanity.  An  India  awakened  and  free  has  a 
message  of  peace  and  goodwill  to  a  groaning  world. 
Congress  does  not  consider  India  to  be  a  sickly  child 
requiring  nursing,  outside  help,  and  other  props. 
4  -  -Young  India:  Mar.  12,  1931. 

Indian  Civil  Service 

THE  Indian  Civil  Service  is  the  most  highly  paid 
service  in  the  world,  and  that  more  than  a  third  of  the 
revenue  is  absorbed  by  the  military  service.  Imagine 
the  state  of  a  family  which  has  to  devote  a  third  of  its 
income  for  paying  its  door-keepers. 

—Toung  India  :  June  22,  1921. 


INDIAN  CIVIL  SERVICE  317 

THE  LC.S.  is  not  really  the  Indian  Civil  Service, 
it  is  the  E.C  S.  the  English  Civil  Service.  I  say  this 
knowing  that  there  are  Indians  in  the  service.  Whilst 
India  is  a  subject  nation,  they  cannot  but  serve  the  in- 
terests of  England.  But  supposing  India  secures  freedom, 
and  supposing  able  Englishmen  are  prepared  to  serve 
India,  then,  they  would  be  truly  national  servants.  At 
the  present  time,  under  the  name  of  LC.S. ,  they  serve  the 
exploiting  Government.  In  a  free  India,  Englishmen 
will  come  out  to  India  either  in  a  spirit  of  adventure, 
or  from  penance,  and  willingly  serve  on  a  small  salary  and 
put  up  with  the  rigours  of  Indian  climate  instead  of  being 
a  burden  on  p)or  India,  whilst  they  draw  inordinately 
laarge  salaries  and  try  to  live  there  in  extra  English  ex- 
travagance, and  reproduce  even  the  English  climate. 
We  would  have  them  as  honoured  comrades,  but  if  there 
is  even  a  lurking  desire  to  lord  ii  over  us,  and  behave  as 
a  superior  race,  they  are  not  wanted. 

—  Young  India  :  Nov.  12,  1931. 

luiiaa  Civilization 

THE  true  Indian  civilisation  is  in  the  Indian 
villages.  The  modern  city  civilisation  you  find  in  Europe 
and  America,  and  in  a  handful  of  our  cities  which  are 
copies  of  the  Western  cities  and  which  were  built  for  the 
foreigner,  and  by  him.  But  they  cannot  last.  It  is  only 
the  handicraft  civilisation  that  will  endure  and  stand  the 
test  of  time  But  it  can  do  so  only  if  we  can  correlate  the 
intellect  with  the  hand.  The  late  Madhusudan  Das  used  to 
say  that  our  peasants  and  workers  had,  by  reason  of  work- 
ing with  bullocks,  become  like  bullocks  ;  an  1  be  was  right, 
We  have  to  lift  them  from  the  state  of  the  brute  to  the 
state  of  man,  and  that  we  can  do  only  by  correlating  the 
intellect  with  the  hand.  Not  until  they  learn  to  work 


318       TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

intelligently  and  make  something  new  every  day,  not  until 
they  are  taught  to  know  the  joy  of  work,  can  we  raise  them 
from  their  low  estate.  —Harijan  ;  March  30,  1940. 

Indian  States 

THE  imperial  power  has  used  them  as  pawns  in 
its  game  of  exploitation. 

They  are  least  able  to  resist  the  illegitimate  and 
insidious  pressure  that  is  brought  ft)  bear  upon  them 
from  time  to  time.  They  must  therefore  realize  that 
the  increase  of  peoples  power  means  decrease  of  the 
humiliating  influence  described  by  me. 

—  Young  India  :  Nov.  17,   1921. 


THAT  Prince  is  acceptable  to  me  who  becomes  a 
Prince  among  his  people's  servants.  The  subjects  are  the 
real  master.  —  Young  India  :  Jan.  8,  1925. 


IF  the  states  persist  in  their  obstinacy  and  hug 
their  ignorance  of  the  awakening  that  has  taken  place 
throughout  India,  they  are  courting  certain  des- 
truction. I  claim  to  be  a  friend  of  the  States.  Their 
service  has  been  an  heirloom  in  my  family  for  the  past 
three  generations,  if  not  longer.  I  am  no  blind  worshipper 
of  antiquity.  But  I  am  not  ashamed  of  the  heirloom. 
All  the  States  may  not  live.  The  biggest  ones  can  live 
only  if  they  will  recognise  their  limitations,  become  servants 
of  their  people,  trustees  of  their  welfare  and  depend 
for  their  existence  not  on  arms,  whether  their  own  or 
British,  but  solely  on  the  goodwill  of  their  people,  Faithless- 
ness will  feed  the  fire  of  violence  that  one  feels  smouldering 
everywhere.  If  the  States  are  badly  advised  and  they  rely 


INDIAN  STATES  319 

upon  organised  violence  for  resisting  the  just  demands  of 
their  people,  ahimsa,  so  far  generated  in  the  country  as  a 
means  of  redressing  social  injustice,  will  not  protect  them.  It 
had  grown  into  a  Himalayan  oak,  it  would  have  passed 
any  test  however  severe.  But  sad  to  confess,  it  has 
not  gone  deep  enough  into  the  Indian  soil. 

—Harijan  :  Sept.  17,  1938. 
^N    <&    <& 

CONGRESS  non-intervention  in  the  affairs  of  the 
States  was  conceived  in  1920  and  has  been  more  or  less 
its  policy  since  that  time  in  spite  of  many  on-slaughts 
made  on  it.  But  I  see  that  it  has  become  the  fashion  in 
the  States  to  quote  against  the  Congressmen  the  self-imposed 
restraint  even  when  there  is  any  attempt  to  criticise  or 
offer  advice  or  help.  It  is  therefore  necessary  to  examine 
the  implications  of  non-intervention.  It  was  never  regarded 
as  a  principle.  It  was  a  limitation  imposed  on  itself 
by  the  Congress  for  its  own  sake  and  that  of  the  people 
of  the  States.  The  Congress  had  no  sanction  behind 
its  resolution  regarding  the  States.  Its  advice 
might  be  ignored,  its  intervention  resented  and  the 
people  of  the  States  might  be  harassed  without  gaining 
anything.  There  was  certainly  a  friendly  motive  behind 
that  policy.  It  was  a  wise  recognition  of  the  limited 
capacity  of  the  Congress  for  doing  good.  The  restraint 
exercised  by  the  Congress  in  this  and  many  other  ways 
has  given  "it  a  prestige  and  power  which  it  would  be 
unwise  for  it  not  to  use.  Any  hesitation  in  this  respect 
would  be  like  that  of  the  foolish  steward  who  would 
not  use  the  talents  which  were  placed  at  his  disposal. 
Up  to  a  point  the  ,  States  are  beginning  to  recognise 
the  power  of  the  Congress  be  it  ever  so  reluctantly.  It  is  be- 
coming sufficiently  clear  that  the  people  of  the  States  are 
looking  to  the  Congress  for  guidance  and  help.  I  think  that  it 


320       TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

is  the  duty  of  the  Congress  to  give  them  the  guidance 
and  help  wherever  it  can.  I  wish  I  could  convince 
every  Congressman  that  the  prestige  and  power  of  the 
Congress  are  in  ekact  proportion  to  its  inner  purity, 
its  sense  of  exact  justice  and  its  all-round  goodwill. 
If  the  people  of  the  States  feel  safe  in  entrusting  their 
welfare  to  the  Congress,  the  Princes  should  feel  equally 
safe  in  trusting  the"  Congress.  All  the  prestige  built  up 
by  patient  effort  of  years  will  certainly  br  undermined, 
if  the  warnings  uttered  by  me  to  the  Congressmen  go 
unheeded. 

Even  at  the  risk  of  tiresome  repetition  let  me  say 
to  the  people  of  the  States  that  they  must  not  set  much 
store  by  the  Congress  help.  It  is  not  enough  that  they 
are  truthful  and  non-violent.  It  is  necessary  also  for 
them  to  know  their  own  capacity  for  suffering.  Liberty 
is  a  dame  exacting  a  heavy  price  from  her  wooers. 
And  unless  there  are  many  who  are  prepared  to  pay 
the  price,  the  few  enthusiasts  that  are  to  be  found 
everywhere  would  do  well  to  conserve  their  energy. 
They  will  do  well  to  undertake  constructive  service  of 
the  people  without  having  an  ambitious  political  programme. 
The  ability  to  gain  political  ends  will  surely  come 
from  constructive  service.  Wisdom  and  patience  will 
give  them  a  power  which  in  time  will  become  irresistible. 
6  —Harijan  :  Oct.  1,  1938. 

<^    <^    <$> 

People  say  that  I  have  changed  my  view,  that 
I  say  today  something  different  from  what  I  said  years 
ago.  The  fact  of  the  matter  is  that  conditions  have 
changed.  I  am  the  same.  My  words  and  deeds  are 
dictated  by  prevailing  conditions.  There  has  been  a 
gradual  evolution  in  my  environment  and  I  react  to 
it  as  a  Satyagrahi.  — Harijan  :  Jan.  28,  1939. 


INDUSTRIALIZATION  321 

THE  policy  of  non-intervention  by  the  Congress  was, 
in  *ny  opinion,  a  perfect  piece  of  statesmanship  when  the 
people  of  the  States  were  not  awakened.  That  policy  would 
be  cowardioe  where  there  is  an  all-round  awakening  among 
tfce  people  of  the  States  and  a  determination  to  go  through 
a  long  course  of  suffering  for  the  vindication  of  their  just 
rights.  Whenever  the  Congress  thinks  it  can  usefully 
intervene,  it  must  intervene.  — Harijan  :  Jan.  28,  1939, 

3>    <$><$> 

I  VENTURE  to  suggest  that  the  best  gurantee  of  their 
status  consists  not  in  the  treaties  with  the  British  but  in  the 
goodwill,  contentment  and  co-operation  of  their  own  people 
and  the  friendship  of  the  people  of  non-State  India. 

— Harijan  :  Aug.  4,  1940. 

Individual  Freedom 

If    the    individual     ceases    to    count,     what    is    left   of 
society  ?  Individual  freedom  alone  can  make  a  man  voluntarily 
surrender    himself  completely    to    the  service  of  society.     If 
it    is    wrested    from    him,  he    becomes    an    automaton   and 
society  is    ruined.     No  society   can    possibly    be    built  on  a 
denial    of  individual   freedom.     It    is    contrary   to  the  very 
nature  of  man.     Just   as    a  man  will  not  grow  horns   or  a 
tail,  so  he  will  not    exist  as  man  if  he    has    no    mind    of  his 
own.     In    reality   even   those  who    do    not  believe  in   the 
liberty  of  the  individual  believe  in  their  own. 

—Harijan  :  Feb.  1,  1942. 

Industrialization 

A  SOCIALIST  holding  a  brief  for  macnmery  asked 
Gandhiji  if  the  Village  Industries  Movement  was  not  meant 
to  oust  all  machinery. 

"  Is  not  this  wheel  a  machine  ?"  was  the  counter  question 
that  Gandhiji,  who  was  just  then  spinning,  gave  in  reply. 

"  I  do  not  mean  this  machine,  but  I  mean  bigger 
machinery." 


322  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

*c  Do  you  mean  Singer's  sewing  machine  ?  That  too 
is  protected  by  the  Village  Industries  Movement,  and  for 
that  matter  any  machinery  which  does  not  deprive  masses 
of  men  of  the  opportunity  to  labour,  but  which  helps  the 
individual  and  adds  to  his  efficiency,  and  which  a  man  can 
handle  at  will  without  being  its  slave.'7 

"  But  what  about  the  great  inventions  ?  You  would 
have  nothing  to  do  with  electricity  ?" 

"  Who  said  so  ?  If  we  could  have  electricity  in  every 
village  home,  I  should  not  mind  villagers  plying  their  im- 
plements and  tools  with  the  help  of  electricity.  But 
then  the  village  communities  or  the  State  would  own  power- 
houses, just  as  they  have  their  grazing  pastures.  But 
where  there  is  no  electricity  and  no  machinery,  what  are 
idle  hands  to  do  ?  Will  you  give  them  work,  or  would  you 
have  their  owners  cut  them  down  for  want  of  work  ? 

"  I  would  prize  every  invention  of  science  made  for  the 
benefit  of  all.  There  is  a  difference  between  invention  and 
invention.  1  should  not  care  for  the  esphixiating  gases  capable 
of  killing  masses  of  men  at  a  time.  The  heavy  machinery  for 
work  of  public  utility  which  cannot  be  undertaken  by 
human  labour  has  its  inevitable  place,  but  all  that  would 
be  owned  by  the  State  and  used  entirely  for  the  benefit  of 
the  people.  I  can  have  no  consideration  for  machinery 
which  is  meant  either  to  enrich  the  few  at  the  expense  of 
the  many,  or  without  cause  to  displace  the  useful  labour 
of  many. 

"  But  even  you  as  a  socialist  would  not  be  in  favour  of 
an  indiscriminate  use  of  machinery.  Take  printing  presses. 
They  will  go  on.  Take  surgical  instruments.  How  can 
one  make  them  with  one's  hands  ?  Heavy  machinery 
would  be  needed  for  themi  But  there  is  no  machinery  for 
the  cure  of  idleness,  but  this,"  said  Gandhiji  pointing  to  his 
spinning  wheel.  "  I  can  work  it  whilst  I  am  carrying  on 
this  conversation  with  you,  and  am  adding  a  little  to  the 


INDUSTRIALIZATION  323 

wealth  of  the  cou  try*     This  machine  no  one  can  oust." 

—Harijan  :  June  22,  1935. 
<$>   <3>    <$> 

DEAD  machinery  must  not  be  pitted  against  the 
millions  of  living  machines  represented  by  the  villagers 
scattered  in  the  seven  hundred  thousand  villages  of  India, 
Machinery  to  be  well-used  has  to  help  and  ease  human 
effort  The  present  use  of  machinery  tends  more  and  more 
to  concentrate  wealth  in  the  hands  of  a  few  in  total  dis- 
regard of  millions  of  men  and  women  whose  bread  is  sna- 
tched by  it  out  of  their  mouths.  — Harijan  :  Sept.  14,  1935. 

<S>    <:>    <$> 

DON'T  you  see  that  if  India  becomes  industrialized, 
we  shall  need  a  Nadirshah  to  find  out  other  worlds  to 
exploit,  that  we  shall  have  to  pit  ovcrselves  against  the  naval 
and  military  powers  of  Britian  and  Japan  and  America,  of 
Russia  and  I  day  ?  My  head  reels  to  think  of  these  rivalries. 
No,  I  am  clear  that  whilst  this  machine  age  aims  at  con- 
verting men  into  machines,  I  am  aiming  at  reinstating  man 
turned  machine  in  his  original  estate. 

—Harijan  :  Nov.  30,  1935. 

<$>    <3>    <$> 

A  FACTORY  employs  a  few  hundreds  and  renders 
thousands  unemployed.  I  may  produce  tons  of  oil  from  an 
oil-mill,  but  1  also  drive  thousands  of  oil-men  out  of  employ- 
ment. I  call  this  destructive  energy,  whereas  production  by 
the  labour  of  millions  of  hands  •  is  constructive  and  conducive 
to  the  common  good.  Mass  production  through  power  driven 
machinery,  even  when  state-owned,  will  be  of  no  avail. 

But  why  not,  it  is  asked,  save  the  labour  of  millions,  and 
give  them  more  leisure  for  intellectual  pursuits.  ?  Leisure  is 
good  and  necessary  upto  a  point  only.  God  created  man 
to  eat  his  bread  in  the  sweat  of  his  brow,  and  I  dread  the 
prospect  of  our  being  able  to  produce  all  that  we  want,  in- 
cluding our  food-stuffs  out  of  a  conjurer's  hat. 

—Harijan  :  May  16,  1936 


324        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

"Are  you  against  large  scale  production  ?"  Gandhiji 
answered,  "I  never  said  that.  This  belief  is  one  of  the  many 
superstitions  about  me.  Half  of  my  time  goes  in  answering 
such  things.  But  from  scientists  I  accept  better  knowledge. 
Your  question  is  based  on  loose  newspaper  reports  and  the 
like.  What  I  am  against  is  large  scale  production  of  things 
villagers  can  produce  without  difficulty/7 

Q.  Do  you  think  that  cottage  industries  and  big  indus- 
tries can  be  harmonized. 

A.  Yes,  if  they  are  planned  so  as  to  help  the  villages. 
Key  industries,  industries  which  the  nation  needs,  may  be 
centralized.  But  then  I  would  not  choose  anything  as  a 
'key  industry'  that  can  be  taken  up  by  the  villages  with  a 
little  organizing.  For  instance,  I  did  not  know  the  possibili- 
ties of  handmade  paper.  Now  I  arn  so  hopeful  that  I  believe 
that  every  village  can  produce  its  own  paper,  though  not  for 
newspapers,  etc.  Supposing  the  State  controlled  paper- 
making  and  centralized  it,  1  would  expect  it  to  protect  all 
the  paper  that  villages  can  make. 

Q,.     What  is  meant  by  protecting  the  villages  ? 

A.  Protecting  them  against  the  inroads  of  the  cities. 
At  one  time  cities  were  dependent  on  the  villages.  Now  it  is 
the  reverse.  There  is  no  interdependence.  Villages  are 
being  exploited  and  drained  by  the  cities. 

Q  Don't  the  villages  need  a  lot  of  things  that  the 
cities  produce  ? 

A.  I  wonder.  In  any  case,  under  my  scheme,  nothing 
will  be  allowed  to  be  produced  by  cities  which  can  be 
equally  well  produced  by  the  villages.  The  proper  function 
of  cities  is  to  serve  as  clearing  houses  for  village  products. 

Q.  Can  we  harmonize  cloth-mill  activity  with  hand- 
loom  production  ? 

A.  So  far  as  I  know,  my  answer  is  an  emphatic  'no'. 
All  the  cloth  we  need  can  easily  be  produced  in  the  villages. 


INDUSTRIALIZATION  325 

Q.     But  the  number  of  mills  is  increasing, 

A.     That  is  a  misfortune. 

—Harijan  :  June  28,1939. 

3>    <£    <3> 

God  forbid  that  India  should  ever  take  to  industrialism 
after  the  manner  of  the  West.  The  economic  imperial- 
ism of  a  single  tiny  island  kingdom  (England)  is  to- 
day keeping  the  world  in  chains.  If  an  entire  nation  of  300 
millions  took  to  similar  economic  exploitation,  it  would 
strip  the  world  bare  like  locusts.  Unless  the  capitalists  of 
India  help  to  avert  that  tragedy  by  becoming  trustees  of  the 
welfare  of  the  masses  and  by  devoting  their  talents  not  to 
amassing  wealth  for  themselves  but  to  the  service  of  the 
masses  in  an  altruistic  spirit,  they  will  end  either  by  destroy- 
ing the  masses  or  being  destroyed  by  them. 

—Harijan  :  Jan.  28,  1939. 

Inertia 

STRANGE  as  it  may  appear,  the  fact  remains  that 
people  find  the  easiest  of  things  often  times  to  be  the  most 
difficult  to  follow.  The  reason,  to  borrow  a  term  from  the 
science  of  physics,  lies  in  our  inertia.  Physicits  tell  us  that 
inertia  is  an  essential,  and  in  its  own  place  a  most  useful 
quality  of  matter.  It  is  that  alone  which  steadies  the 
universe  and  prevents  it  from  flying  off  at  a  tangent.  But 
for  it  the  latter  would  be  a  chaos  of  motion.  But  inertia 
becomes  an  incubus  and  a  vice  when  it  fies  the  mind 
down  to  old  ruts.  — Harijan  :  July  21,  1940. 

Inner  Voice 

THIS  ability  to  hear  and  obey  that  Voice  gives  me  what 
ever  power  1  may  have  and,  has  enabled  me  to  render  some 
little  service  to  the  country.  You  will  not  have  me  at  this 
time  of  my  life  to  change  my  course  and  listen  to  any  other 
voice  but  the  Inner.  — Young  India  :  Jan.  23,  1930* 


326       TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

Q.     DOES    the  Inner  Voice   mean    the  'message   of 
God?' 

A  The  Inner  Voice  may  mean  a  messsage  from  God  or 
from  the  Devil,  for  both  or  wrestling  in  the  human  breasts. 

Acts  determine  the  nature  of  the  Voice. 

—Young  India  :  Feb.  13,  1930. 

Instinct 

MY  instinct  has  not  betrayed  me  even  once. 

—Harijan  :  July  20,  1940. 

Inter- dependence 

SELF-dependence  is  a  necessary  ideal  so  long  as  and  to 
the  extent  that  it  is  an  aid  to  one's  self-respect  and  spiritual 
discipline.  It  becomes  an  obsession  and  a  hinderance  when 
it  is  pushed  beyond  that  limit,  On  the  other  hand  inter- 
dependence when  it  is  not  inconsistent  with  one's  self-respect 
is  necessary  to  bring  home  to  man  the  lesson  of  humility  and 
the  omnipotence  of  God.  One  must  strike  a  golden  mean 
between  these  two  extremes.  A  fanaticism  that  refuses  to 
discriminate  is  the  negation  of  all  ideal. 

.    —Toung  India  :  March.  21,  1929. 

<$>   <3>   <*> 

Inter-dependence  is  and  ought  to  be  as  much  the  ideal 
of  man  asself-sufficiency.  Man  is  a  social  being.  Without 
inter-relation  with  society  he  cannot  realise  his  oneness  with 
the  universe  or  suppress  his  egotism.  His  social  inter-depen- 
dence enables  him  to  test  his  faith  and  to  prove  himself  on 
the  touchstone  of  reality.  If  man  were  so  placed  or  could 
so  place  himself  as  to  be  absolutely  above  all  dependence  on 
his  fellow-beings  he  would  become  so  proud  and  arrogant  as 
to  be  a  veritable  burden  and  nuisance  to  the  world.  De- 
pendence on  society  teaches  him  the  lesson  of  humility. 
That  a  man  ought  to  be  able  to  satisfy  most  of  his  essential 


INSURANCE  327 

needs  himself  is  obvious  ;  but  it  is  no  less  obvious  to  me  that 
when  self-sufficiency  is  carried  to  the  length  of  isolating 
oneself  from  society  it  almost  amounts  to  sin.  A  man  can- 
not become  self-sufficient  even  in  respect  of  all  the  various 
operations  from  the  growing  of  cotton  to  the  spinning  of  the 
yarn.  He  has  at  some  stage  or  other  to  take  the  aid  of  the 
members  of  his  family.  And  if  one  may  take  help  from  one's 
own  family  why  not  from  one's  neighbours  ?  Or  otherwise 
what  is  the  significance  of  the  great  saying  :  c  The  world  is 
my  family  ?'  —Young  India  :  Mar.  21,  1929 

<$>    ^    <$> 

IT  is  man's  social  nature  which  distinguishes  him  from 
the  brute  creation.  If  it  is  his  privilege  to  be  indepen- 
dent it  is  equally  his  duty  to  be  inter-dependent.  Only  an 
arrogant  man  will  claim  to  be  independent  of  every  body 
else  and  be  self-contained.  — Young  India  :  April  25,  1929. 

Insurance 

I  DID  insure  my  life  in  1901  and  a  short  time  after  I 
gave  up  the  policy  because  I  felt  that  I  was  distrusting  God 
and  making  my  relatives  in  whose  behalf  the  policy  was  taken 
dependent  upon  me  or  the  money  I  might  leave  them  rather 
than  upon  God  and  themselves.  The  opinion  arrived  at 
when  I  gave  up  the  policy  has  been  confirmed  by  subsequent 
experience.  —Young  India  :  Mar.  14,  1929. 

Intentions 

BEFORE  the  throne  of  the  Almighty,  man  will  be 
judged  not  by  his  acts  but  by  his  intentions.  For  God 
alone  reads  our  hearts.  — Harijan  :  Mar.  16,  1940. 

Inter-dining 

INTERDRINKING,  inter-dining,  inter-marrying,  I  hold 
are  not  essential  for  the  promotion  of  the  spirit  of  democracy. 
I  do  not  contemplate  under  a  most  democratic  constitution. 


328        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

universality  of  manners  and  customs  about  eating,  drinking 
and  marrying.  We  shall  ever  have  to  seek  unity  in  diversity, 
and  I  decline  to  consider  it  a  sin  for  a  man  not  to  drink  or 
eat  with  any  and  every-body.  In  Hinduism,  children 
of  brothers  may  not  intermarry.  The  prohibition  does  not 
interfere  with  cordiality  of  relations,  probably  it  promotes 
healthiness  of  relationships.  In  Viashnava  households,  I 
have  known  mothers  not  dining  in  the  common  kitchen,  nor 
drinking  from  the  same  pot,  without  their  becoming  exclu- 
sive, arrogant,  or  less  loving.  These  are  disciplinary  restraints 
which  are  not  in  themselves  bad.  Carried  to  ridiculous 
extremes,  they  may  become  harmful,  and  if  the  motive  is  one 
of  arrogation  of  superiority  the  restraint  beco ones  an  indul- 
gence, therefore  hurtful.  But  as  time  goes  forward,  and  new 
necessities  arid  occasions  arise,  the  custom  regarding  inter- 
drinking,  inter-dining,  and  inter-marrying  will  require 
cautious  modifications  or  rearrangement. 

— Toung  India  :  Aug.  12,  1920. 

<S>    <£>    <S> 

THIS  question  of  inter-dining  is  a  vexed  one  and  in  my 
opinion  no  hard  and  fast  rules  can  be  laid  down.  Per- 
sonally, I  am  not  sure  that  inter-dining  is  a  necessary 
reform.  At  the  same  time  ,  I  recognise  the  tendency  to- 
wards  breaking  down  the  restriction  altogether.  1  can  find 
reasons  for  and  against  the  restriction.  I  would  not  force 
the  pace.  I  do  not  regard  it  as  a  sin  for  a  person  not  to  dine 
with  another  nor  do  I  regard  it  as  sinful  if  one  advocates  and 
practises  inter-dining.  I  should,  however,  resist  the  attempt 
to  break  down  the  restriction  in  disregard  of  the  feelings  of 
others.  On  the  contrary,  I  would  respect  their  scruples  in 
the  matter.  —Toung  India  :  April  30,  1925. 

<$><$>    <$> 

INTER-DINING  and  inter-caste  marriage  are  in  no 
way  essential  for  the  promotion  of  the  spirit  of  brotherhood 
or  for  the  removal  of  untouchability.  At  the  same  time,  a 


ISLAM  329 

super-imposed  restriction  would  undoubtedly  stunt  the 
growth  of  any  society,  and  to  link  these  restrictions  to  Varna 
Dharma  or  caste  is  undoubtedly  prejudicial  to  the  freedom 
of  the  spirit  and  would  make  Varna  a  drag  upon  religion. 

—Harijan  :  April  29,  38. 

<?>    3>    <$> 

RESTRICTIONS  on  inter-dining  have  no  vital  con- 
nection with  Varma  Dharma.  They  were,  in  my  opinion 
hygienic  rules  in  origin.  Given  a  proper  confirmation  with 
the  rules  of  cleanliness  there  should  be  no  scruple  about 
dming  with  anybody.  — Harijan  :  Feb.  13,  1937. 

Islam 

IF  I  understand  the  spirit  of  Islam  properly,  it  is 
essentially  republican  in  the  truest  sense  of  the  term. 

— Toung  India  :Ju]y  21,  1920. 

<$    3>    <» 
ISLAM  is  a  noble  faith.     Trust  it  and  its  followers, 

—  Young  India:  Aug.  4,  1920. 

<$>   <£>   3> 

I  DO  regard  Islam  to  be  a  religion  of  peace  in  the 
same  sense  as  Christianity,  Budhism  and  Hinduism  are.  No 
doubt  there  are  differences  in  degree,  but  the  object  of  these 
religions  is  ^pcace.  I  know  the  passages  that  can  be 
quoted  from  the  Koran  to  the  contrary.  But  so  is  it 
possible  to  quote  passages  from  the  Vedas  to  the  contrary. 
What  is  the  meaning  of  imprecations  pronounced  against 
the  Anryas  ?  Of  course,  these  passages  bear  to-day  a  differ- 
ent meaning,  but  at  one  time  they  did  wear  a  dreadful 
aspect.  What  is  the  meaning  of  the  treatment  of  untouch- 
ables by  us  Hindus  ?  Let  not  the  pot  call  the  kettle  black. 
The  fact  is  that  we  are  all  growing.  I  have  given  my  opinion 
that  the  followers  of  Islam  are  too  free  with  the  sword.  But 
that  is  not  due  to  the  teaching  of  the  Koran.  That  is  due  in 


330        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

my  opinion  to  the  environment  in  which  Islam  was  born* 
Christianity  has  a  bloody  record  against  it,  not  because 
Jesus  was  found  wanting,  but  because  the  environment  in 
which  it  spread  was  not  responsive  to  his  lofty  teaching. 

These  two,  Christianity  and  Islam,  are,  after  all,  religions 
of  but  yesterday.  They  are  yet  in  the  course  of  being  inter- 
preted. I  reject  the  claim  of  Maulvis  to  give  a  final  interpre- 
tation to  the  message  of  Mahomed,  as  I  reject  that  of  the 
Christian  clergy  to  give  a  final  interpretation  to  the  message 
of  Jesus.  Both  are  being  interpreted  in  the  lives  of  those 
who  are  giving  these  massages  in  silence  and  in  perfect  self- 
dedication.  Bluster  is  no  religion,  nor  in  vast  learning  stored 
in  capacious  brains.  The  Seat  of  religion  is  in  the  heart.  We 
Hindus,  Christians,  Musalmans  and  others  have  to  write  the 
interpretation  of  our  respective  faiths  with  our  own  crimson 
blood  and  not  otherwise. — Young  India  :  July  10,  1924. 

<*><$>     <$> 

MY  association  with  the  noblest  of  Mussalmans  has 
taught  me  to  see  that  Islam  has  spread  not  by  the  power  of 
the  sword,  but  by  the  prayerful  love  of  an  unbroken  line  of  its 
saints  and  fakirs.  Warrant  there  is  in  Islam  for  drawing  the 
sword  :  but  the  conditions  laid  down  are  so  strict  that  they 
are  not  capable  of  being  fulfilled  by  everybody.  Where  is 
the  unerring  general  urorder  Jehad  ?  Where  is  the  suffering, 
the  love  and  the  purification  that  must  precede  the  very 
idea  of  drawing  the  sword  ?  Hindus  are  at  least  as  much 
bound  by  similar  restrictions  as  the  Musalmans  of  India. 
The  Sikhs  have  their  recent  proud  history  to  warn  them 
against  the  use  of  force.  We  are  too  imperfect,  too  impure 
and  too  selfish,  as  yet  to  resort  to  an  armed  conflict  in  the 
cause  of  God  as  Shaukat  Ali  would  say.  Will  a  purified  India 
ever  need  to  draw  the  sword  ?  — Young  India  :  Aug.  14,  1924. 

<$>    <$>    <3> 

ISLAM  is  not  a  denial  of  God.  It  is  a  passionate  avowal 
of  one  Supreme  Deity.  Not  even  its  worst  detractors  have 
accused  Islam  of  atheism.  — Young  India  :  Aug.  21,  1924. 


ISLAM  331 

In  my  writings  about  Islam  1  take  the  same  care 
of  its  prestige  that  I  do  of  Hinduism.  I  apply  the  same 
method  of  interpretation  to  it  that  I  apply  to  Hinduism. 
I  no  more  defend  on  the  mere  ground  of  authority  a 
single  text  in  the  Hindu  scriptures  than  1  can  defend 
one  from  the  Quran.  Every  thing  has  to  submit  to 
the  test  of  reason.  Islam  appeals  to  people  because 
it  appeals  also  to  reason.  And  in  the  long  run  it  will 
be  found  that  any  other  method  would  land  one  in 
trouble.  There  are  undoubtedly  things  in  the  world 
which  transcend  reason.  We  do  not  refuse  to  bring 
them  on  the  anvil  of  reason  but  they  will  not  come 
themselves.  Uy  their  very  nature  they  defy  reason. 
Such  is  the  mystery  of  the  Deity.  It  is  not  incon- 
sistent with  reason,  it  is  beyond  it. 

—  Toung  India:  March  4>6,   1925. 
0     3>     <£> 

I  CERTAINLY  regard  Islam  as  one  of  the  in1* 
spired  religions,  and  therefore  the  Holy  Quarn  as  an 
inspired  book  and  Muhammad  as  one  of  the  prophets. 
But  even  so  I  regard  Hinduism,  Christianity,  Zoroastrinism 
as  inspired  religions.  The  names  of  many  of  them  have 
been  already  forgotten,  for  the  simple  reason  that  those 
religions  and  those  prophets  related  to  the  particular 
ages  for  which  and  peoples  for  whom  they  flourished. 
Some  principal  religions  are  still  extant.  After  a  study 
of  those  religious  to  the  extent  it  was  possible  for  me, 
I  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that,  if  it  is  proper  and 
necessary  to  discover  an  underlying  unity  among  all 
religions,  a  master-key  is  needed.  That  master-key  is 
that  of  truth  and  non-violence.  When  I  unlock  the 
chest  of  a  religion  with  this  master-key,  I  do  not  find 
it  difficult  to  discover  its  likeness  with  other  religions.  When 
you  look  at  these  religions  as  so  many  leaves  of  a  tree 
they  seem  so  different,  but  at  the  trunk  they  are  one. 
Unless  and  untill  we  realize  this  fundamental  unity, 


332        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

wars  in  the  name  of  religion  will  not  cease.  These  are 
not  confined  to  Hindus  and  Mussalmans  alone.  The 
pages  of  world  history  are  soiled  with  the  bloody  accounts 
of  these  religious  wars.  Religion  can  be  defended  only 
by  the  purity  of  its  adherents  and  their  good  deeds, 
never  by  their  quarrels  with  those  of  other  faiths. 

— Harijanijuly  13,  1940. 

Institutions 

IT  is  not  that  I  harbour  disloyalty  towards  anything 
whatsoever,  but  I  do  so  against  all  untruth,  all  that 
is  unjust,  all  that  is  evil.  This  I  want  to  make  clear 
as  I  do  not  want  to  sail  under  false  colours.  I  remain 
loyal  to  an  institution  so  long  as  that  institution  conduces 
to  my  growth,  to  the  growth  of  the  nation.  Immediately 
I  find  t|j3t  the  institution  instead  of  conducing  to  its 
growth  impedes  it,  I  hold  it  to  be  my  bounden  duty 
4o  be  disloyal  to  it.  — Young  India  :  Aug.  13,  1925. 

<$><*><$> 

ALL  public  institutions  are  public  trust  and,  those 
who  are  in  charge  of  them  have  often  times  to  harden 
their  hearts  and  rigorously  collect  all  debts  owing  to  the 
trust  and  their  charge.  Leniency  in  the  management 
of  public  trust  is  a  misplaced  virtue  and  may  often 
amount  to  an  unpardonable  breach. 

—Young  India  :  Oct.  8,  1925. 

<S>    <$>    <$> 

BUT  as  I  have  so  often  pointed  out  laws  are 
made  by  institutions  for  self  preservation  not  for  suicide. 
When  therefore,  they  hamper  their  growth  they  are  worse 
than  useless,  and  must  be  set  aside. 

— Young  India  :  Oct.  8,  1925. 

<$><*><$> 

EVERYONE  joining  an  institution  owes  it  to  obey 
the  rules  framed  by  the  management  from  time  to 
time.  When  any  new  rule  is  found  irksome,  it  is  open 


JAILS  333 

to  the  objector  to  leave  the  institution  in  accordance 
with  the  provisions  made  for  resignation.  But  he 
may  not  disobey  them  whilst  he  is  in. 

—Harijan  :  July  13,  1940. 

Jails 

JAILS  are  no  gate- way  to  liberty  for  the  confirmed 
criminal.  They  are  temples  of  liberty  only  for  those 
who  are  innocence  personified.  The  execution  of  Socrates 
made  immortality  a  living  reality  for  us,  not  so  the 
execution  of  countless  murderers.  There  is  no  warrant 
for  supposing  that  we  can  steal  Swaraj  by  the  imprison- 
ment of  thousands  of  nominally  non-violent  men  with 
hatred,  ill-will  and  violence  raging  in  their  breasts. 

— Young  India  :  Mar.  2,    1922. 

<3>    <$>    <S> 

IT  is  now  therefore  clear  that  a  civil  resister's. 
resistance  ceases  and  his  obedience  is  resumed  as  soon 
as  he  is  under  confinement.  In  confinement  he 
claims  no  privileges  because  of  the  civility  of  his  dis- 
obedience. Inside  the  jail  by  his  evemplary  conduct  he 
reforms  even  the  criminals  surrounding  him,  he  softens 
the  hearts  of  jailers  and  others  in  authority.  Such  meek 
behaviour  springing  from  stength  and  knowledge  ulti^ 
mately  dissolves  the  tyranny  of  the  tyrant.  It  is  for 
this  reason  that  I  claim  that  voluntary  suffering  is  the 
quickest  and  the  best  remedy  for  the  removal  of  abuses 
and  injustices.  — Young  India  :  Dec.  29,  1921, 

<J>    <$><$> 

GAOL  discipline  must  be  submitted  to,  until  gaol 
government  itself  becomes  or  is  felt  to  be  corrupt 
and  immoral.  But  deprivation  of  comfort,  imposition  of 
restriction  and  such  other  inconveniences  do  not  make 
gaol  government  corrupt.  It  becomes  that,  when  prisoners 
are  humiliated  or  treated  with  inhumanity  as  when  they 


334        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

are  kept  in  filthy  dens  or  are  given  food  unfit  for 
human  consumption.  Indeed,  I  hope  that  the  conduct 
of  Non-co-operators  in  the  goal  will  be  strictly  correct, 
dignified  and  yet  submissive.  We  must  not  regard 
gaolers  and  warders  as  our  enemies,  but  as  fellow  human 
beings,  not  utterly  devoid  of  the  human  touch  Our 
gentlemanly  behaviour  is  bound  to  disarm  all  suspicion 
or  bitterness.  I  know  that  this  path  of  discipline,  on 
the  one  hand,  and  fierce  defiance,  on  the  other,  is  a 
very  difficult  path,  but  there  is  no  royal  road  to  Swaraj. 
The  country  has  deliberately  chosen  the  narrow  and 
the  straight  path.  Like  a  straight  line,  it  is  the  short- 
est distance.  But  even  as  you  require  a  steady  and 
experienced  hand  to  draw  a  straight  line,  so  are  steadi- 
ness of  discipline  and  firmness  of  purpose  absolutely 
necessary,  if  we  are  to  walk  along  the  chosen  path 
with  an  unerring  step.  — Young  India  :  Dec.  15,  1921. 

<S>   <$>   <$> 

MERE  fillings  of  the  jails  would  not  bring  India 
freedom.  Even  thieves  and  criminals  go  to  prison, 
but  their  prison  going  has  no  merit.  It  is  the  suffer- 
ing of  the  pure  arid  innocent  that  tells.  It  is  only 
when  the  authorities  are  compelled  to  put  into  prison 
the  poorest  and  the  Inost  innocent  citizens  that  a  change 
of  heart  is  forced  ^  upon  them.  A  Satyagrahi  gce>  to 
prison,  not  to  embarras  the  authorities  but  to  convert 
them  by  demonstrating  to  them  his  innocence.  You 
should  realize  that  unless  you  have  developed  the  moral 
fitness  to  go  to  prison  which  the  law  of  Satyagraha  de- 
mands, your  jail  going  will  be  useless  and  will  bring 
you  nothing  but  disappointment  in  the  end.  A  votary 
of  non-violence  must  have  the  capacity  to  put  up  with 
the  indignities  and  hardships  of  prison  life  not  only 
without  retaliation  or  anger  but  with  pity  in  his  heart 
for  the  perpetrator  of  those  hardships  and  indignities. 


JESUS  CHRIST  335 

PRISONERS  must  be  treated  as  defectives  and  not  as 
criminals  to  be  looked  down  upon.  Warders  should  cease 
to  be  the  terrors  of  prisoners,  and  the  jail  officials  should 
be  their  friends  and  instructors.  — Harijan:  July  31,  1937. 

Jesus  Christ 

Q.  I  SHOULD  be  obliged  to  hear  from  you  your 
attitude  to  the  personality  of  Jesus. 

A.  I  have  often  made  it  clear.  1  regard  Jesus  as  a 
great  teacher  of  humanity,  but  I  do  not  regard  him 
as  the  only  begotten  son  of  God.  That  epithet  in  its 
material  interpretation  is  quite  unacceptable.  Metaphori- 
cally we  are  all  begotten  sons  of  God,  but  for  each  of 
us  there  may  be  different  begotten  sons  of  God  in  a 
special  sense.  Thus  for  me  Ghaitanya  may  be  the  only 
begotten  son  of  God. 

Q,.  But  don't  you  believe  in  the  perfection  of  human 
nature,  and  don?t  you  believe  that  Jesus  had  attained 
perfection  ? 

A.  I  believe  in  the  perfectibility  of  human  nature. 
Jesus  came  as  near  to  perfection  as  possible  To  say 
that  he  was  perfect  is  to  deny  God's  superiority  to  man. 
And  then  in  this  matter  I  have  a  'theory  of  my  own. 
Being  necessarily  limited  by  the  bonds  of  flesh,  we  can 
attain  perfection  only  after  dissolution  of  the  body. 
Therefore  -God  alone  is  absolutely  perfect.  When  he 
descends  to  earth,  He  of  His  own  accord  limits  himself. 
Jesus  died  on  the  Gross  because  he  was  limited  by  the 
flesh.  I  do  not  need  either  the  prophecies  or  the  mira- 
cles to  establish  Jesus'  greatness  as  a  teacher.  No  hing 
can  be  more  miraculous  than  the  three  years  of  his 
ministry.  There  is  no  miracle  in  the  story  of  the 
multitude  being  fed  on  a  handful  of  loaves.  A  magi- 
cian can  create  that  illusion.  But  woe  wroth  the  day 
on  which  a  magician  would  be  hailed  as  the  Saviour 


336        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

of  humanity.  As  for  Jesus  raising  the  dead  to  life, 
well  I  doubt  if  the  men  he  raised  were  really  dead. 
I  raised  a  relative's  child  from  supposed  death  to  life, 
but  that  was  because  the  child  was  not  dead,  and 
but  for  my  presence  there  she  might  have  been  cremated. 
But  I  saw  that  life  was  not  extinct.  I  gave  her  an 
enema  and  she  was  restored  to  life.  There  was  no 
miracle  about  it,  I  do  not  deny  that  Jesus  had  certain 
psychic  powers  and  he  was  undoubtedly  filled  with  the  love 
of  humanity.  But  he  brought  to  life  not  people  who  were 
dead  but  who  were  believed  to  be  dead.  The  laws  of  nature 
are  changeless,  unchangeable,  and  there  are  no  miracles  in 
the  sense  of  infringement  or  interruption  of  Nature's 
laws.  But  we  limited  beings  fancy  all  kinds  of  things 
and  impute  our  limitations  to  God.  We  may  copy  God, 
but  not  He  us.  We  may  not  divide  Time  for  Him. 
Time  for  Him  is  eternity.  For  us  there  is  past,  present 
and  future.  And  what  is  human  life  of  a  hundred 
years  but  less  than  a  mere  speek  in  the  eternity  of 
Time  ?  —Harijan  :  April  17,  1937. 

<$><$><$> 

I  say  in  one  sentence  that  for  many  years  I  have 
regarded  Jesus  of  Nazareth  as  one  amongst  the  mighty 
teachers  that  the  word  has  had,  and  I  say  this  in  all 
humility.  I  claim  humility  for  this  expression  for  the 
simple  reason  that  this  is  exactly  what  I  feel.  Of  course, 
Christians  claim  a  higher  place  for  Jesus  of  Nazareth 
than  as  a  non-Christian  and  as  a  Hindu  I  have  been 
able  to  feel.  I  purposely  use  the  word  'feel'  instead 
of  give,  because  I  consider  that  neither  I,  nor  anybody 
else  can  possibly  arrogate  to  himself  the  claim  of  giving 
place  to  a  great  man.  The  great  teachers  of  mankid  have 
had  the  places  not  given  to  them,  but  the  place  has 
belonged  to  them  as  a  matter  of  right,  a  matter  of 
seivice  that  they  have  rendered;  but  it  is  given  to  the 
lowest  and  humblest  amongst  us  to  feel  certain 
things  ahead  certain  people. 


JEWELLERY  337 

The  relation  between  great  teachers  and  ourselves 
is  somewhat  after  the  style  of  relation  between  a  husband 
and  wife.  It  would  be  a  most  terrible  thing,  a  tragic 
thing,  if  I  was  to  argue  out  intellectually  for  myself 
what  place  I  was  to  give  to  my  wife  in  my  heart. 
It  is  not  in  my  giving,  but  she  takes  the  place  that 
belongs  to  her  as  a  matter  of  right  in  my  heart.  It  is 
a  matter  purely  for  feeling.  Then,  I  can  say  that  Jesus 
occupies  in  my  heart  the  place  of  one  of  the  great 
teachers  who  have  made  a  considerable  influence  on  my 
life.  — Gandhiji  in  Ceylon  :  Page  146. 

Jewellery 

I  WILL  far  rather  sec  the  race  of  man  extinct  than 
that  we  should  become  less  than  beasts  by  making  the 
noblest  of  God's  creation  the  object  of  our  lust. 

—Young  India  July  21,  1921. 

<3>    <S>    <$> 

SURELY,  it  is  easy  enough  to  realise  that  so  long  as 
there  are  millions  of  men  and  women  in  the  country  starving 
for  want  of  food  because  of  want  of  work,  the  sisters  have  no 
warrant  for  possessing  costly  jewels  for  adorning  their  bodies, 
or  often  for  the  mere  satisfaction  of  possessing  them. 

—  Young  India  :  April  5,  1928. 

<$><$><$> 

IN  this  country  of  semi-starvation  and  insufficient 
nutrition  of  practically  eight  per  cent,  of  the  people,  the 
wearing  of  jewellery  is  an  offence  to  the  eye. 

-Harijan:  Dec.  22,  1933. 
<S>    <$>    <j> 

The  real  ornament  of  woman  is  her  character,  her 
purity.  Metal  and  stones  can  never  be  real  ornaments. 
The  names  of  women  like  Sita  and  Damyanti  have  become 
sacred  to  us  lor  their  unsullied  virtue,  never  for  their 
jewellery,  if  they  wore  any,  — Harijan  :  June  12,  1934. 


338        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

Journalism 

IN  the  very  first  month  of  Indian  Opinion,  I  realized 
that  the  sole  aim  of  Journalism  should  be  service.  The 
newspaper  press,  is  a  great  power,  but  just  as  an  unchained 
torrent  of  water  submerges  whole  country-sides  and  devas- 
tates crops,  even  so  an  uncontrolled  \  en  serves  but  to  destroy. 
If  the  control  is  from  without,  it  proves  more  poisonous  than 
want  of  control.  It  can  be  profitable  only  when  exercised 
from  within.  If  this  line  of  reasoning  is  correct,  how  many 
of  the  journals  in  the  world  would  stand  the  test?  But  who 
would  stop  those  that  are  useless  ?  And  who  should  be  the 
judge  ?  The  useful  and  the  useless  must,  like  good  and  evil 
generally,  go  on  together,  and  man  must  make  his  choice. 

—  My  Experiments  with  Truth  :  Page  349. 

Trial  by  Juries 

I  AM  unconvinced  of  the  advantages  of  jury  trials  over 
those  by  judges.  Incoming  to  a  correct  decision,  we  must  not 
be  obsessed  by  our  unfortunate  experience  of  the  judiciary 
here,  which  in  political  trials  has  been  found  to  be  notori- 
ously partial  to  the  Government.  At  the  right  moment 
juries  have  been  found  to  fail  even  in  England.  When 
passions  are  roused,  juries  are  affected  by  them  and  give 
perverse  verdicts.  Nor  need  we  a.ssume  that  they  are  always 
on  the  side  of  leniency.  I  have  known  juries  finding  prisoners 
guilty  in  the  face  of  evidence  and  even  judge's  summing  up 
to  the  contiary.  We  must  not  slavishly  copy  all  that  is 
English.  In  matters  where  absolute  impartiality,  calmness 
and  ability  to  sift  evidence  and  understand  human  nature 
are  required,  we  may  not  replace  trained  judges  by  un- 
trained men  bought  together  by  chance.  What  we  must 
aim  at  is  an  inconuptible,  impartial  and  able  judiciary  right 
from  the  bottom.  I  regard  village  panchayats  as  an  in- 
stitution by  itself.  Hut  thanks  to  the  degradation  of  the 
caste  system  and  the  evil  influence  of  the  present  system 


JUSTICE  339 

of  Government  and  the  growing  illiteracy  of  the 
masses  this  ancient  and  noble  institution  has  fallen  into 
desuetude,  and  where  it  has  not,  it  has  lost  its  former  purity 
and  hold.  It  must,  however,  be  revived  at  any  cost,  if  the 
villages  arc  not  to  be  ruined.  —Young  India  :  Aug.  27,  193U 

Justice 

ALL  the  world  over  a  true  peace  depends  not  upon 
gun-powder  but  upon  pure  justice.  When  Government 
perpetrate  injustice  and  fortify  it  by  the  use  of  arms, 
such  acts  are  a  sign  of  anger  and  they  add  injustice 
to  injustice.  If  people  also  become  angry  by  reason 
of  such  acts  on  the  part  of  Government,  they  resort  to 
violence  and  the  result  is  bad  for  both,  mutual  ill-will 
increases.  But  whenever  people  regard  particular  acts 
of  Government  as  unjust  and  express  their  strong  dis- 
approval by  self-suffering,  Government  cannot  help  grant- 
ing redress.  This  is  the  way  of  Saiyagraha* 

—  Young  India  :  May  9,  1919, 

^S     ^S     ^S 

JUSTICE   as    between   Europeans   and    Indians    is     a 
rare  commodity.  —Young  India  :  August  14,  1924. 


I  HAVE  said  enough  in  these  columns  to  show 
that  justice  is  practically  unobtainable  in  the  so-called 
courts  of  justice  in  India.  —  Young  Ind  a  Sept.  19,  1929  • 

<$>  <$>  <s> 

TODAY  it  is  the  luxury  of  the  rich  and  the  joy 
of  the  gambler.  —Harijin  :  Aug.  21,  1937. 

<$><£<$> 

MY  experience  has  shown  me  that  we  win  justice 
quickest  by  rendering  justice  tu  the  other  party. 

—  My  Experiments  with  Truth  :  Page  225. 


340        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA    GANDHI 

K 
Law  of  Karma 

Q.  IF  you  believe  in  the  Law  of  Karma  then  your 
killing  of  the  calf  was  a  vain  attempt  to  interfere  with 
the  operation  of  that  law. 

I  firmly  believe  in  the  law  of  Karma,  but  I  believe 
too  in  human  endeavour.  I  regard  as  the  summnm 
bonum  of  life  the  attainment  of  salvation  through  Karma 
by  annihilating  its  effects  by  detachment.  If  it  is  a 
violation  of  the  Law  of  Karma  to  cut  short  the  agony 
of  an  ailing  animal  by  putting  an  end  to  its  life,  it 
is  no  less  so  to  minister  to  the  sick  or  try  to  nurse 
them  back  to  life.  And  yet  if  a  man  were  to  refuse 
to  give  medicine  to  a  patient  or  to  nurse  him  on  the 
ground  of  Karma,  we  would  hold  him  to  be  guilty  of 
inhumanity  and  himsa.  Without  therefore  entering  into 
a  discussion  about  the  eternal  controversy  regarding  pre- 
destination and  free-will,  I  will  simply  say  here  that  I 
deem  it  to  be  the  highest  duty  of  man  to  render  what 
(litile  service  he  can).  (The  calf  was  poisoned  at  the  instruc- 
tion of  Gandhiji  when  it  was  in  agony  and  could  not  be 
saved  from  suffering.)  -  Young  India:  Oct.  18,  1928 

<$>    <3>    <3> 

Now  to  come  to  the  question  of  renunciation  versu* 
action  :  I  believe  in  the  doctrine  of  renunciation  bul 
I  hold  that  renunciation  should  be  sought  for  in  and 
through  action.  That  action  is  the  sine  qua  non  of  life 
in  the  body,  that  the  Wheel  of  Life  cannot  go  on  ever 
for  a  second  without  involing  some  sort  of  action  goe* 
without  saying  Renunciation  can  therefore  in  these 
circumstances  only  mean  detachment  or  freedom  of  th< 
spirit  from  action,  even  while  fhe  body  is  engaged  ir 
action.  A  follower  of  the  path  of  renunciation  seeks  to  attair 
it  not  by  refraining  from  all  activity  but  by  carrying  i 


LAW  OF  KARMA  341 

on   in   a   perfect   spirit  of     detachment  and   altruism    as 
a  pure    trust.     Thus  a   man     may   engage    in     farming, 
spinning,    or   any   other   activity   without   departing    from 
the   path   of  renunciation   provided   one  does     so   merely 
for   selfless    service   and    remains   free   from   the    taint     of 
egoism   or     attachment.     It  remains  for  those     therefore 
who   like   myself  hold    this    view   of  renunciation   to    dis- 
cover  for  themselves   how   far   the   principle   of  ahimsa    is 
compatible    with   life    in    the  body   and     how   it   can     be 
applied     to  acts    of  every  day  life.     The  very  virtue    of  a 
dharma   is  that  it  is    universal,    that    its   practice    is    not    the 
monopoly    of  the   few,    but   must   be    the    privilege  of  all. 
And   it   is    my  firm   belief  that   the   scope   of  Truth   and 
Ahimsa   is   world-wide.     That    is  why    I   find    an    ineffable 
joy     in   dedicating   my   life   to     researches     in  Truth     and 
Ahimsa   and    I   invite    others    to    share    it    with    me    by  do- 
ing like-wise.  —Young  India  :  Oct.  25,    1928. 

I  AM  a  believer  in  previous  births  and  rebirths. 
All  our  relationships  arc  the  result  of  the  umkars  we 
carry  from  our  previous  births.  God's  laws  are  inscrut- 
able and  are  the  subject  of  endless  search.  No  one 
will  fathom  them,  —Harijan  :  Aug.  18,  1940. 

<$>    <3>    <S> 

SO  many  things  have  happened  in  my  life  for 
which  I  had  intense  longing,  but  which  I  could  never 
have  achieved  myself.  And  I  have  always  said  to  my 
co-workers  that  it  was  in  answer  to  my  prayer.  I  did 
not  say  to  them  it  was  in  answer  to  my  intellectual  effort 
to  lose  myself  in  the  Divinity  in  me  !  The  easiest  and 
the  correct  thing  for  me  was  to  say  "  God  has  seen 
me  through  my  difficulty/' 

"But  that  you  deserved  by  your  Karma.  God  is 
Justice  and  not  Mercy.  You  are  a  good  man  and 
good  things  happen  to  you,11  contended  Dr.  Fabri. 


342          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

No  fear.  I  am  not  good  enough  for  things  to  happen 
like  that.  If  I  went  about  with  that  philosophical 
conception  of  Karma,  I  should  often  come  a  cropper. 
My  Karma  wculd  not  come  to  my  help.  Although  I 
believe  in  the  inexorable  Law  of  Karma  I  am  striving 
to  do  so  many  things,  every  moment  of  my  lif  is  a 
strenuous  endeavour,  which  is  an  attempt  to  build 
up  more  Karma>  to  undo  the  past  and  add  to  the  present. 
It  is,  therefore,  wrong  to  say  that  because  my  past  is 
good,  good  is,  happening  at  present.  The  past  would 
be  soon  exhausted  and  I  have  to  build  up  the  future 
with  prayer.  I  tell  you  Karma  alone  is  powerless. 
ifc!gnite  this  match,"  I  say  to  myself,  and  yet  I  cannot 
if  there  is  no  co-operation  from  without.  Before  I  strike 
the  match  my  hand  is  paralysed  or  1  have  only  one 
match  and  the  wind  blows  it  out.  Is  it  an  accident 
or  God  or  Higher  power  ?  Well  1  prefer  to  use  the 
language  of  my  ancestors  or  of  children.  I  am  no 
better  than  a  child.  We  may  try  to  talk  learnedly  and 
of  books,  but  when  it  comes  to  brass  tacks — when  we 
are  face  to  face  with  a  calamity — we  behave  like  children 
and  begin  to  cry  and  pray  and  our  intellectual  belief 
gives  no  satisfaction  !  — Harijan  :  Aug.  19,  1939, 

Kisan  Sabhas 

MY  opinion  is  clear-out,  having  worked  among 
the  kisans  and  labourers  all  my  life.  There  is  nothing 
constitutionally  wrong  in  the  Congress  allowing  the  Kisan 
Sabbas  to  work  independently  nor  in  allowing  the 
office-bearers  of  the  Kisan  Sabhas  to  be  office-bearers 
of  the  Congress,  for  they  will  come  in  the  usual  way. 
But  my  study  of  separate  kisan  organizations  has  led 
me  definitely  to  the  Conclusion  that  they  are  not  work- 
ing for  the  interests  of  the  kisans  but  are  organized  only 
with  a  view  to  capturing  the  Congress  organization. 
They  can  do  even  this  by  leading  the  kisans  along 


KHADDAR  343 

the  right  channels,  but  I  am  afraid  they  are  mislead- 
ing them.  If  the  kisans  and  their  leaders  will  capture 
the  Congress  by  doing  nothing  but  authorised  Congress 
work,  there  is  no  harm.  But  if  they  do  so  by  making 
false  registers,  storming  meetings  and  so  on,  it  would 
be  something  like  Fascism. 

"But  the  main  question  is  whether  you  want  the 
Kisan  Sabhas  to  strengthen  the  Congress  or  to  weaken 
it,  to  use  the  kisan  organization  to  capture  the  Congress 
or  to  serve  the  kisans,  whether  the  Sabha  is  to  be  a 
rival  organization  working  apparently  in  the  name  of 
the  Congress  or  one  carrying  out  the  Congress  programme 
and  policy.  If  it  is  really  a  rival  organization  and 
Congress  organization  only  in  name,  its  strength  and  energy 
will  be  utilized  in  resisting  the  Congress  and  those 
of  the  Congress  will  be  utilized  in  resisting  the  Kisan 
Sabha,  with  the  result  that  the  poor  kisans  will  be 
ground  between  the  two  mill-stones. 

—Harijan  :  April  23,  1938. 

Khaddar 

SO  long  as  the  taste  persists,  so  long  is  complete  renun- 
ciation impossible.  And  boycott  means  complete  renuncia- 
tion. We  must  be  prepared  to  be  satisfied  with  such  cloth 
as  India  can  produce,  even  as  we  are  thankfully  content  with 
such  children  as  God  gives  us.  I  have  not  known  a  mother 
throwing  away  her  baby  even  though  it  may  appear  ugly 
to  an  outsider.  So  should  it  be  with  the  patriotic  women 
of  India  about  Indian  manufactures. 

—  Young  India  :  July  6,  1921. 

<§><$><$> 
Q.  WHY  do  you  emphasise  Khaddar  and  not  Swadeshi  ? 

Is  not  Swadeshi  the  principle  and  Khaddar  a  mere  detail? 

A.  I  do  not  regard  Khaddar  to  be  a  detail.  Swadeshi  is  a 
theoretical  term.  Khaddar  is  the  concrete  and  central  fact 


344        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

of  Swadeshi.  Swadeshi  without  Khaddar  is  like  the  body 
without  life,  fit  only  to  receive  a  decent  burial  or  cremation. 
The  only  Swadeshi  cloth  is  Khaddar.  If  one  is  to  interpret 
Swadeshi  in  the  language  of  and  in  terms  of  the  millions  of 
this  country,  Khaddar  is  a  substantial  thing  in  Swadeshi 
like  the  air  we  breathe.  The  test  of  Swadeshi  is  not  the  univ- 
ersality of  the  use  of  an  article  which  goes  under  the  name 
of  Swadeshi,  but  the  universality  of  participation  in  the  pro- 
duction or  manufacture  of  such  article.  Thus  considered 
mill-made  cloth  is  Swadeshi  only  in  a  restricted  sense.  For, 
in  its  manufacture  only  an  infinitesimal  number  of  India's 
millions  can  take  part.  But  in  the  manufacture  of  Khaddar 
millions  can  take  part.  The  more  the  merrier.  With 
Khaddar,  in  my  opinion,  is  bound  up  the  welfare  of  millions 
of  human  beings.  Khaddar  is  therefore  the  largest  part  of 
Swadeshi  and  it  is  the  only  true  demonstration  of  it.  All  else 
follows  from  it.  India  can  live,  even  if  we  do  not  use  brass 
buttons  or  tooth  picks  made  in  India.  But  India  cannot 
live  if  we  refuse  to  manufacture  and  wear  Khaddar.  Khaddar 
will  cease  to  have  this  paramount  importance  when  a  more 
profitable  employment  is  discovered  for  the  idle  hours  of 
India's  millions. 

Q.  Good  Khaddar  is  costly  and  the  ordinary  variety   is 
ugly. 

A.  I  deny  that  any  Khaddar  is  ugly.  Want  of  the  dead- 
sameness  of  a  machine-made  article  is  not  a  sign  of  ugliness* 
but,  it  is  a  sign  of  life,  even  as  absence  of  sameness  in  the 
millions  of  leaves  of  a  tree  is  no  sign  of  its  ugliness.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  it  is  the  variety  about  the  leaves  which  gives 
a  tree  its  life-like  beauty.  I  can  picture  a  machine-made 
tree  whose  every  leaf  would  be  absolutely  the  same  size.  It 
would  look  a  ghastly  thing,  because  we  have  not  yet  ceased 
to  love  the  living  tree.  And,  why  should  the  cost  of 
Khaddar,  good  or  bad,  worry  us  if  every  penny  we  pay  for 
it  goes  directly  into  the  pockets  of  the  starving  millions  ? 
My  experience  is  that  in  the  majoiity  of  cases  where  people 


LANGUAGE  345 

have  taken  to  Khaddar  they  have  revised  their  tastes  a  bout 
dress.  Though  Khaddar  may  be  dearer  per  yard  than 
the  same  quality  of  Manchester  calico,  the  rejection  of 
superfluous  clothing  more  than  balances  the  extra  cost. 

—Young  India  :  June  17,  1926. 

<J>    <$>    <S> 

Khaddar  delivers  the  poor  from  the  bonds  of  the  rich 
and  creates  a  moral  and  spiritual  bond  between  the  classes 
and  the  masses.  It  restores  to  the  poor  somewhat  of  what 
the  rich  have  taken  from  them. 

—Young  India  :  March  17,  1927. 

<£>    <*>    <$> 

KHADDAR  economics  is  wholly  different  from  the 
ordinary.  The  latter  takes  no  note  of  the  human  factor* 
The  former  wholly  concerns  itself  with  the  human.  The 
latter  is  frankly  selfish,  the  former  necessarily  unselfish. 
Competition  and  therefore  prices  are  eliminated  from  the 
conception  of  Khaddar.  There  is  no  competition  between 
hotels  and  domestic  kitchens.  It  never  enters  into  the  head 
of  the  queen  of  the  house  to  calculate  the  cost  of  her  labour, 
the  floor  space,  etc.  She  simply  knows  that  to  conduct  the 
domestic  kitchen  is  as  much  her  duty  as  it  is  to  bring  up  • 
children.  If  she  were  to  count  the  cost,  the  logic  of  facts 
will  irresistibly  drive  her  to  the  destruction  of  her  kitchen  as 
well  as  her  children.  Some  have  done  both.  But  thank 
God  the  cult  makes  no  promise  of  appreciable  increase.  It 
is  our  innate  laziness  which  prevents  us  from  seeing  that  we 
sinned  against  Indian  humanity  when  we  destroyed  the 
domestic  wheel.  Let  us  repent  of  our  sin  and  return  to  the 
peace-giving  wheel.  — Young  India  :  July  16,  1931., 


Language 

IN  one  respect   all  languages   are    incomplete.    Man's 
reason  is  limited  and  language  fails  him  when  he  begins   to 


346         TEACHINGS  OF    MAHATMA  GANDHI 

talk  of  God  and  Eternity.  Human  reason  controls  human 
speech.  It  is,  therefore,  limited,  to  the  extent  that  reason 
itself  is  limited,  and  in  that  sense  all  languages  are  incom- 
plete. The  ordinary  rule  regarding  language  is  that  a 
language  takes  shape  in  accordance  with  the  thoughts  of  its 
wielders.  If  they  are  sensible,  their  language  is  full  of  sense, 
and  it  becomes  nonsense  when  foolish  people  speak  it. 
There  is  an  English  proverb,  "A  bad  carpenter  quarrels  with 
his  tools."  Those  who  quarrel  with  a  language  are  often 
like  the  bad  carpenter.  — Young  India  :  Oct.  20,  1917. 

<s>  <s>  <s> 

A  LANGUAGE  that  borrows  unstintingly  from  the 
others  without  harming  its  special  characteristic  will  be 
enriched,  even  as  the  English  language  has  become  enriched 
by  free  borrowing.  — Harijan  :  Feb.  1,  1942. 

<3>    <$>    <3> 

A  LANGUAGE  becomes  what  its  speakers  and  writers 
make  it.  English  had  no  merit  apart  from  what  Englishmen 
made  it.  In  other  words,  a  language  is  a  human  creation 
and  takes  the  colour  of  its  creators.  Every  language  is 
capable  of  infinite  expansion.  — Harijan  :  Feb.  8,  1942. 

<*><£><£ 

I  DO  not  want  my-house  to  be  walled  in  on  all  sides 
and  my  windows  to  be  stuffed.  I  want  the  cultures  of  all 
the  lands  to  be  blown  about  my  house  as  freely  as  possible. 
But  I  refuse  to  be  blown  off  my  feet  by  any.  I  refuse  to 
live  in  other  people's  houses  as  an  interloper,  a  beggar  or  a 
.slave.  — Young  India  :June  1,  1921. 

^o       ^^       ^o 

THERE  never  was  a  greater  superstition  than  that  a 
particular  language  can  be  incapable  of  expansion  or 
of  expressing  abstruse  or  scientific  ideas.  A  language  is  an 
exact  reflection  of  the  character  and  growth  of  its  speakers. 

—Young  India  :  June  5,  1928- 


LAW  347 

MAN  is  neither  mere  intellect,  nor  the  gross  animal 
body,  nor  the  heart  or  soul  alone.  A  proper  and  harmo- 
nious combination  of  all  the  three  is  required  for  the  making 
of  the  whole  man  and  constitutes  the  true  economics 
and  education. 

— Speeches  and  Writings  of  Mahatma  Gandhi  :  Page  213. 

Law 

JUSTICE  that  love  gives  is  a  surrender,  Justice  that 
law  gives  is  a  punishment.  —  Toung  India  :  Jan,  9,  1925. 

PEOPLE  seem  to  think,  that  when  a  law  is  passed 
against  any  evil,  it  will  die  without  any  further  effort. 
Tliere  never  was  a  grosser  self-deception.  Legislation  is 
intended  and  is  effective  against  an  ignorant  or  a  small 
evil-minded  minority  ;  but  110  legislation  which  is  opposed 
by  an  intelligent  and  organised  public  opinion,  or  under 
cover  of  religion  by  a  fanatical  minority,  can  ever  succeed. 

—Young  India  :  July  7,  1927. 

<$><$><$> 

ONCE  a  law  is  enacted,  many  difficulties  must  be  en- 
countered before  it  can  be  reversed.  It  is  only  when  public 
opinion  is  highly  educated  that  the  laws  in  force  in  a  country 
can  be  repealed.  A  constitution  under  which  laws  are 
modified  or  repealed  every  now  and  then  cannot  be  said 
to  be  stable  or  well  organised. 

—Satyagraka  in  South  Africa  :  Page  140. 

Lawyers 

IN  England,  in  South  Africa,  almost  everywhere  I 
feave  found  that  in  the  practice  of  their  profession,  lawyers 
are  consciously  or  unconsciously  led  into  untruth  for  the 
sake  of  their  clients.  An  eminent  English  lawyer  has  gone 
€0  far  as  to  say  that  it  may  even  be  the  duty  of  a  lawyer 


348        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA    GANDHI 

to  defend  a  client  whom  he  knows  to  be  guilty.  Th  ere  I 
disagree.  The  duty  of  a  lawyer  is  always  to  place  before 
the  judges  and  to  help  them  to  arrive  at  the  truth,  never 
to  prove  the  guilty  as  innocent. 

—Gandhiji  in  Ceylon  :  Page  85. 

o>  <s>  <s> 

A  TRUE  lawyer  is  one  who  places  truth  and  service  in 
the  first  place  and  the  emoluments  of  the  profession  in  the 
next  place  only.  —Harijan  :  Nov.  26,  1938. 

Law  Courts 

TRULY  speaking  I  am  in  no  love  with  fighting  in  law 
courts.  Victory  there  does  not  depend  on  the  truth  of 
your  case.  Any  experienced  vakil  will  bear  me  out  that  it 
depends  more  on  the  judge,  the  counsel,  and  the  venue  of 
the  court.  In  English  there  is  a  proverb  that  it  is  always 
the  man  with  the  longest  purse  that  wins.  And  there  is 
a  good  deal  of  truth  in  this,  as  there  is  exaggeration  in  it. 

—Young  India  :  June  17,  1919. 

<$><$><$> 

I  HAVE  not  a  shadow  of  doubt  that  society  will  be 
much  cleaner  and  healthier  if  there  was  less  resort  to  law 
courts  than  there  is.  The  rush  after  the  best  council  is 
undignified. 

If  one  has  committed  an  offence,  he  must  plead 
guilty  arid  suffer  the  penalty.  If  he  has  not  and  is  still 
found  guilty,  imprisonment  for  him  is  no  disgrace. 

—Young  India  :  Dec.  3,  1919. 

<$>  <s>  <§> 

IF  we  were  not  under  the  spell  of  lawyers  and  law 
courts  and  if  there  were  no  touts  to  tempt  us  into  the 
quagmire  of  the  courts  and  to  appeal  to  our  basest  passions, 
we  would  be  leading  a  much  happier  life  than  we  do  today. 
Let  those  who  frequent  the  law-courtsr— the  best  of  them- 


LAW  COURTS  349 

bear  witness  to  the  fact  that  the  atmosphere  about  them  is 
foetid.  Perjured  witnesses  are  ranged  on  either  side,  ready 
to  sell  their  very  souls  for  money  or  for  friendship's  sake. 
But  that  is  not  the  worst  of  these  courts.  The  worst  is 
that  they  support  the  authority  of  a  government.  They 
are  supposed  to  dispense  justice  and  are  therefore  called  the 
palladile  of  a  nation's  liberty.  But  when  they  support  the 
authority  of  an  unrighteous  Government,  they  are  no 
longer  palladile  of  liberty,  they  are  crushing  houses  to  crush 
a  nation's  spirit.  Such  were  the  martial  law  tribunals  and 
the  summary  courts  in  the  Punjab.  We  had  them  in  their 
nakedness.  Such  they  are  even  in  normal  time  when  it  is 
a  matter  of  dispensing  justice  between  a  superior  race  and 
its  helots.  This  is  so  all  the  world  over  Look  at  the  trial 
of  an  English  officer  and  the  f.ircical  punishment  he  received 
for  having  deliberately  tortured  inoffensive  negroes  at 
Nairobi.  Has  a  single  Englishman  suffered  the  extreme 
penalty  of  the  law  or  anything  like  it  for  brutal  murders  in 
India  ?  Let  no  one  suppose  that  these  things  would  be 
•  changed  when  Indian  judges  and  Indian  prosecutors  take 
the  place  of  Englishmen.  Englishmen  are  not  by  nature 
corrupt.  Indians  are  not  necessarily  angels.  Both  succumb 
to  their  environment.  There  were  Indian  judges  and 
Indian  prosecutors  during  the  martial  law  regime,  who 
were  generally  guilty  or  just  as  bad  as  the  Englishmen. 
Those,  who  tortured  the  innocent  women  in  Amritsar,  were 
Indians,  if  it  was  a  Bosworth  Smith  in  Manianwala  who 
insulted  its  women. 

—Young  India  :  Oct.  6,  1920, 
<$>    <$»    <3> 

If  we  will  cease  to  be  slaves  we  must  cease  to  rely  for 
protection  upon  the  British  bayonet  or  the  slippery  justice 
of  law  courts.  —  Toung  India  :  April  2,  1925. 

L  eaders 

COURAGE,  tendurance,  fearlessness  and  above  all  self- 
acrifice   are    the    qualities   required    of     our     leaders.     A 


350        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

person  belonging  to  the  suppressed  classes  exhibiting  these 
qualities  in  their  fulness  would  certainly  be  able  to 
lead  the  nation;  whereas  the  most  finished  orator,  if  he 
has  not  these  qualities,  must  fail. 

—Young  India  :  Sept.  29,  1921. 

<$>  <s>  <s> 

ALL  cannot  become  leaders,  but  all  can  be  bearers. 

—  Young  India  :  Sept.  29,  1921. 

<£    <S>    <$> 

IN  well  ordered  organisations  leaders  are  elected 
for  convenience  of  work,  not  for  extra  ordinary  merit. 
A  leader  is  only  first  among  equals.  Some  one  may 
be  put  first,  but  he  is  and  should  be  no  stronger  than 
the  weakest  link  in  the  chain. 

—  Young  India  :  Dec    8,   1921. 
^>    ^^    ^^ 

A  LEADER  is  useless  when  he  acts  against  the 
promptings  of  his  own  conscience.  Harijan  :  Dec.  12,  1937. 

Liberty 

WHERE  a  choice  has  to  be  made  between  liberty 
and  learning,  who  will  not  say  trut  the  former  has  to 
be  preferred  a  thousand  times  to  the  latter. 

The  youths  whom  -I  called  in  1920  from  cidatels. 
of  slavery — their  schools  and  colleges — and  whom  I  advised 
that  it  was  far  better  to  remain  unlettered  and  break 
stones  for  the  sake  of  liberty  than  to  go  in  for  a 
literary  education  in  the  chains  of  slaves  will  probably 
be  able  now  to  trace  my  advice  to  its  source 

—  My  Expcrimmts  with  Truth  :  Page  248* 

4  <$><$> 

Death  in  the  fight  is  a  deliverencc,  and  prison,  a 
gateway  to  liberty. 

Religious  freedom,  like  liberty,  becomes  licence  when 
it  is  indulged  in  at  the  expense  of  the  health  and  salety 
of  others,  or  in  contravention  of  the  principles  of  decency 


LOVE  351 

or  moral  ity.  If  you  want  to  claim  unrestricted  and 
absolute  liberty  for  yourselves,  you  must  choose  to  retire 
from  society  and  take  to  solitude. 

—Harijan  :  Feb.  18,  1939. 

Life 

TO  enjoy  life  one  should  give  up  the  lure  of  life: 

—Harijan  :  March  1,  194% 

<*><$><$> 

TO  deprive  a  man  of  his  natural  liberty  and  to 
deny  to  him  the  ordinary  amenities  of  life  is  worse  than 
starving  the  body.  It  is  starvation  of  the  soul — the  dweller 
in  the  body.  Harijans  are  a  powerful  illustration  of  this 
process  of  starvation  of  the  soul. 

—Harijan  :  Oct.  26,  1934; 

Love 

WHERE  love  is,  there  God  is  also. 

— Saiyagraha  in  South  Africa  :    Page  360 

<£>    <S>    <£ 

WHAT  barrier  is  there  that  love  cannot  break  ? 

—My  Experiments  with  Truth  :  Page  222; 

<+><*><?> 
THE  only  way  love  punishes  is  by  suffering. 

—Young  India  :  Feb.  16,  1922, 

<*><?><$> 

AFFECTION  cannot  be  manufactured  or  regulated 
by  law.  If  one  has  no  affection  for  a  person  or  system 
one  should  be  free  to  give  the  fullest  expression  to  his 
disaffection,  so  long  as  he  does  not  contemplate,  promote 
or  incite  violence.  —Young  India  :  Mar.  15,  1922. 

<$>  3>  <$> 

IT  is  perfectly  true,  I  must  admit  it  in  all  humility, 
that  however  indifferently  it  may  be,  I  endeavour  to 
represent  love  in  every  fibre  of  my  being.  I  am  impatient 


352        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

to  realise  the  presence  of  my  Maker,  who  to  me  embodies 
truth,  and  in  the  early  part  of  my  career  I  discovered 
that  if  I  was  to  realise  Truth  I  must  obey,  even  at 
the  cost  of  my  life,  the  Law  of  Love. 

—Young  India:  Nov.  16,  1931. 
<$>    <£>    <$> 

HATRED  ever  kills.  Love  never  dies.  Such  is  the 
vast  diffierence  between  the  two.  What  is  obtained  by 
love  is  retained  for  all  time.  What  is  obtained  by  hatred 
proves  a  burden  in  reality,  for  it  increases  hatred. 

— Toung  India  :  May  10,    1919. 
<£    <$>    <$> 

IT  may  be  long  before  the  law  of  love  will  be 
recognized  in  international  affairs.  The  machineries  of 
governments  stand  between  and  hide  the  hearts  of  one 
people  from  those  of  another. 

—  Toung  India  :  June  23,  1919. 
<*><$>    <$> 

THE  test  of  love  is  tapasya  and  tapasya  means 
self- suffering.  —  Toung  India  :  June  12,  1922. 

<S>    <$»    <£ 

WITHOUT  truth  there  is  no  love,  without  truth 
it  may  be  affection,  as  for  one's  country  to  the  injury 
of  others;  or  infatuation,  as  of  a  young  man  for  a  girl* 
or  love  may  be  unreasoning  and  blind,  as  of  ingnorant 
parents  for  their  children.  Love  transcends  all  animality 
.and  is  never  patrial. 

True  love  is  boundless  like  the  ocean  and  rising 
and  swelling  within  one  spreads  itself  out  and  crossing  all 
boundaries  and  frontiers  envelops  the  whole  world. 

—  Toung  India  :  Sept.  20,  1928. 
<$><$><$> 

LOVE  never  claims,  it  ever  gives.  Love  ever  suffers, 
•never  resents,  never  revenges  itself. 

—  Toung  India:  July  9,  1925. 


LOVE  353 

TO  surrender  is  not  to  confer  favour.  Justice  that 
love  gives  is  a  surrender,  justice  that  law  gives  is  a 
punishment.  What  a  lover  gives  transcends  justice.  And 
yet  it  is  always  less  than  he  wishes  to  give  because  he 
is  anxious  to  give  more  and  frets  that  he  has  nothing 
left.  —Young  Mia  :  July  9,  1925. 

<$><$><$> 

HAVING  flung  aside  the  sword,  there  is  nothing 
except  the  cup  of  love  which  I  can  offer  to  those  who 
oppose  me.  It  is  by  offering  that  cup  that  I  accept 
to  draw  them  close  to  me.  I  cannot  think  of  permanent 
enmity  between  man  and  man,  and  believing  as  I  do 
in  the  theory  of  rebirth,  I  live  in  the  hope  that  if  not 
in  this  birth,  in  some  other  birth,  I  shall  be  able  to 
hug  all  humanity  in  friendly  embrace. 

—Young  India  :  April  2,  1931. 

I  AM  quite  conscious  of  the  fact  that  blind  surrender 
to  love  is  often  more  mischievous  than  a  forced  surrender 
to  the  lash  of  the  tyrant.  There  is  hope  for  the  slave 
of  the  brute,  none  for  that  of  love.  Love  is  needed  to 
strengthen  the  weak,  love  becomes  tyrannical  when  it 
exacts  obediene  from  an  unbeliever. 

--Young  India  :  Oct.  13,  1921. 

<$><$><$> 

A  LOVE  that  is  based  on  the  goodness  of  those 
whom  you  love  is  a  mercenary  affair,  whereas,  true 
love  is  self-suffering  and  demands  no  consideration.  It 
is  like  that  a  model  Hindu  wife,  Sita  for  instance,  who 
loved  her  Rama  even  whilst  he  bid  her  pass  through  a 
raging  fire.  It  was  well  with  Sita,  for  she  new  what 
she  was  doing.  She  sacrificed  herself  out  of  her  strength, 
not  out  of  her  weakness.  Love  is  the  strongest  force 
the  world  possesses  and  yet  it  is  the  humblest  imagin- 
able. —Young  India  :  Aug.  20,  1925. 


354  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

TRUTH  quenches  untruth.  Love  quenches  anger, 
scli- suffering  quenches  violence.  This  eternal  rule  is  a 
rule  not  for  saints  only  but  for  all. 

—Harijan  :  Feb.  1,  1942. 

<$><$>    <S> 

IT  is  my  firm  belief  that  it  is  love  that  sustains 
the  earth.  There  only  is  life  where  there  is  love.  Life 
without  love  is  death.  Love  is  the  reverse  of  the  coin 
of  which  the  obverse  is  Truth. 

It  is  my  firm  faith  and  it  is  my  experience  of 
forty  years  that  \ve  can  conquer  the  world  by  truth 
and  love. 

The  root  of  Non-co-operation  is  in  Satyagraha,  which 
is  love.  The  Law  of  Love,  call  it  attraction,  affinity, 
cohesion,  if  you  like,  governs  the  world.  Life  persists 
in  the  face  of  death.  The  universe  continues  in  spite 
of  destruction  incessantly  going  on.  Truth  triumphs  over 
untruth*  Love  conquers  hate.  God  eternally  triumphs 
over  Satan.  —Young  India  :  Oct.  23,  1924. 

<S>    <£    <$> 

THE  more  efficient  a  force  is,  the  more  silent  and 
the  more  subtle  ii  -is.  Love  is  the  subtlest  force  in  the 
world.  —Young  India  :  Oct.  4,  1924. 

M 

Mahatmaship 

MY  Mahatmaship  is  worthless.  It  is  due  to  my  out- 
ward activities,  due  to  my  politics  which  is  the  least  part  of 
me  and  is  theicfore  evanescent.  What  is  of  abiding  worth 
is  my  insistence  on  tiuth,  non-violence  and  Brahmacharya 
which  is  the  real  part  of  me.  That  permanent  part  of  me, 
however,  small  is  riot  to  be  despised.  It  is  my  all.  1 
prize  even  the  failuies  and  disillusionmcnts  which  are  but 
steps  towards  success.  —Young  India  :  Dec.  2,  1921. 


MAHATMASHIP  355 

THE  Mahatma  I  must  leave  to  his  fate.  Though  a 
non-co-operater  I  shall  gladly  subscribe  to  a  bill  to  make  it 
criminal  for  anybody  to  call  me  Mahatma  and  to  touch  ray 
feet.  Where  I  can  impose  the  law  myself,  i.e.,  at  the 
Ashram^  the  practice  is  criminal. 

—  Toting  India  :  March  17,  1927. 

<$>  <s>  <s> 

THANK  God  my  much  vaunted  Mahatmaship  has 
never  fooled  me.  — Toung  India  :  Jan.  12,  1930. 

<$><•><$> 

Q.  Are  you  really  a  Mahatma  ? 

A.  I  do  not  feel  like  being  one.  But  I  do  know  that 
I  am  among  the  humblest  of  God's  creatures. 

Q.  If  so,  will  you  define  the  word  Mahatma  ? 

A.  Not  being  acquainted  with  one  I  cannot  give  any 
definition. 

Q.  If  not,  did  you  ever  tell  your  followers  that  you 
aie  not  one  ? 

A.  The  more  I  repudiate,  the  more  it  is  used. 

-  — Toung  India  :  Oct.  27,  1931. 

Man 

I  HAVE  found  by  experience  that  man  makes  his  plans 

to  be  often  upset  by  God,  but,  at  the  same  time  where  the 

ultimate  goal  is  .the  search  of  Truth,  no  matter  how  a  man's 

plans  aie  frustrated  the  issue    is  never   injurious    and   often 

better  than  anticipated. 

— My  Exf,erimtnts  with  Truth  :  Page  37J?. 
<3>    <S>    <£ 

ALL  men  are  imperfect,  and  when  imperfection  is 
observed  in  some  one  in  a  larger  measure  than  in  others, 
people  are  apt  to  blame  him.  But  that  is  not  feir.  Man 
can  change  his  temperament,  can  control  it,  but  cannot 
eradicate  it.  God  has  not  given  him  so  much  liberty.  If 
the  leopard  can  change  his  spots  then  only  can  man  modify 
the  peculiarities  of  his  spiritual  constitution. 

— Satjagrah  in  South  Africa  :  Page  212. 


356  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

MAN  is  a  fallible  being.     He  can  never  be  sure  of  his 
steps.  —Young  India  :  Sept.  25.  1924. 

<s>  <*>  <$> 

PROGRESS  is  man's  distinction,  man's  alone,  not 
beasts.  Man  has  dicrimination  and  reason.  Man  does 
not  live  by  bread  alone,  as  the  brute  does.  He  uses  his 
reason  to  worship  God  and  to  know  Him,  and  regards  the 
attainment  of  that  knowledge  as  the  sumnun  bonum  of  life. 
The  brute,  if  he  can  be  said  to  worship  God,  does  so  in- 
voluntarily. The  desire  to  worship  God  is  inconceivable 
in  the  brute,  while  man  can  voluntarily  worship  even  Satan. 
It  must  therefore,  be  and  is,  man's  nature  to  know  and  find 
God.  When  he  worships  Satan,  he  acts  contrary  to  his 
nature.  Of  course,  I  will  not  carry  conviction  to  one  who 
makes  no  distinction  between  man  and  the  brute.  To  him 
virtue  and  vice  are  convertible  terms.  While  to  the  man 
whose  end  and  aim  is  realisation  of  God,  even  the  functions 
of  eating  and  drinking  can  be  natural  only  within  certain 
limits.  For  having  knowledge  of  God  as  his  end,  he  will 
not  eat  or  drink  for  the  sake  of  enjoyment,  but  solely  for 
sustaining  the  body.  Restraint  and  renunciation  will 
therefore  always  be  his  watch-words  even  in  respect  of  these 
functions. 

And  if  it  is  man's  nature  to  know  and  find  God, 
sexual  indulgence  should  be  contrary  to  his  nature,  and 
complete  renunciation  of  it  will  accord  best  with  his  mission. 
For  realisation  of  God  is  impossible  without  complete  re- 
nunciation of  the  sexual  desire.  It  is  not  man's  duty  to 
develop  all  his  faculties  to  perfection  ;  his  duty  is  to  develop 
all  bis  God-ward  faculties  to  perfection  and  to  suppress 
completely  those  of  contrary  tendencies. 

—  Young  Mia  :  June  26,  1926^ 

«>    <*>    3> 

MAN  has  reason,  discrimination,  and  free-will  such  as 
it  is.  The  brute  has  no  such  thing.  It  is  not  a  free  agent, 


MAN  357 

and  knows  no  distinction  between  virtue  and  vice,  good  and 
evil.  Man,  being  a  free  agent,  knows  these  distinctions, 
and  when  he  follows  his  higher  nature  shows  himself  far 
superior  to  the  brute,  but  when  he  follows  his  baser  nature 
can  show  himself  lower  than  the  brute. 

—Young  India  :  Jume  3,  1926. 
<$><$><*> 

MAN  is  not  all  body  but  he  is  something  infinitely 
higher.  — Young  India  :  April  14,  1927 

<3>     <£>     <S> 

OF  all  the  animal  creation  of  God,  man  is  the  only 
animal  who  has  been  created  in  order  that  he  may  kn«w  his 
maker.  Man's  aim  in  life  is  not  therefore  to  add  from  day  to 
to  day  his  material  prospects  and  to  his  material  possessions 
but  his  predominant  calling  is  from  day  to  clay  to  come 
nearer  his  own  Maker.  — Young  India  :  Oct.  20  1927 

<$><$><*> 

Q.  IS  man  a  special  creation  of  God  ? 

A.  Man  is  a  special  creation  of  God  precisely  to  the 
extent  that  he  is  distinct  from  the  rest  of  His  creation 

—  Young  India  :  Fcb    13,  '!930 
<$><$><$> 

MAN  is,    undoubtedly,    an   artist    and    create      Un 
doubtedly  he  must  have  beauty  and,  therefore,  colour      H 
artistic  and  creative  nature  at  its  best    taught  him   tn   !?* 
criminate,  and  to  know  that  any  conglomeration  of 
was  no    mark  of  beauty,  nor  every  sense  of  enim,™ 
in  iueir.     His  eye  for  it  taught  nln  ££"% 
usefulness      Thus,  he  learnt  at  an  early  stage  of  h,™  ell  " 
tion  that  he  was  to  eat  not  for  its  own  sake   as    som,      r 
still  do,  but  he  should    eat    to    enable    him  ^   Z      A,™ 
later  stage   he  learnt  further  that  there  was  neither'  heL^ 
norjoym  living  for  its  own  sake,  but  that  be   must   j£?  2 
serve  his  fellow  creatures  and  through  the«  his  Maker 

—Harijan  :  April  4,  'l936. 


358         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

MAN'S  estate  is  one  of  probation.  During  that  period 
he  is  played  upon  by  evil  forces,  as  well  as  good.  He  is 
ever  prey  to  temptations.  He  has  to  prove  his  manliness 
by  resisting  and  fighting  temptations.  He  is  no  warrior 
who  fights  outside  foes  of  his  imagination,  and  is  powerless 
to  lift  his  little  finger  against  the  innumerable  foes  within, 
or  what  is  worse,  mistakes  them  for  friends. 

—Harijm  :  April  4,  1936. 

<S>     <J>     <$> 

TH  E  main  purpose  of  life  is  to  live  rightly,  think 
rightly  tact  rightly  :  the  soul  must  languish  when  we  give 
all  our,  hought  to  the  body.  —Haryan  :  Feb.  27,  1936. 

<3>     <S>     <*> 

IT  is  man's  special  privilege  and  pride  to  be  gifted 
with  the  faculties  of  head  and  heart  both,  that  he  is  a  think- 
ing no  less  than  a  feeling  animal  as  the  very  derivation  of 
the  word  shows  ;  and  to  renounce  the  sovereignty 

of  reason  over  the  blind  instincts  is,  therefore,  to  renounce 
a  man's  estate.  In  man  reason  quickens  and  guides  the 
fetluig,  in  brute  the  soul  lies  ever  dormant.  To  awaken 
the  heart  is  to  awaken  the  dormant  soul,  to  awaken  reason, 
and  to  inculcate  discrimination  between  good  and  evil. 

—Haryan  :  Nov.  21,  1936. 
<$><$><*> 

MAN'S  destined  purpose  is  to  conquer  old  habits,  to 
over-come  the  evil  in  him  and  to  restore  good  to  its  rightful 
place.  If  religion  does  not  teach  us  how  to  achieve  this 
conquest,  it  teaches  us  nothing.  But  there  is  no  royal  road 
to  success  in  this,  the  truest  enterprise  in  life.  Cowardice 
is  perhaps  the  greatest  vice  from  which  we  suffer  and  is  also 
possibly  the  greatest  violence,  certainly  far  greater  than 
bloodshed  and  the  like  that  generally  go  under  the  name 
of  violence.  For  it  comes  from  want  of  faith  in  God  and 
ignorance  of  His  attribute.  —Harijan  :  Dec.  12,  1937. 

Manliness 

MANLINESS  consists  not  in  bluff,  bravado  or  lordi- 
ness.  It  consists  in  daring  to  do  the  right  and  facing 


MANLINESS  359 

consequences,    whether   it  is  in   matters  social,  political   or 
other.    It  consists  in  deeds,  not  in  words. 

— Young  India  :  Jan.  24,  1929. 

MANLINESS  consists  in  making  circumstances  sub- 
serve to  ourselves.  These  who  will  not  heed  themselves 
perish.  To  understand  this  principle  is  not  to  be  impa- 
tient, not  to  reproach  fate,  not  to  blame  others.  He  who 
understands  the  doctrine  of  self-help  blames  himself  for 
failure.  —Harijan  :  June  25,  1936. 

Manners 

AFTER  all,  manners  and  methods  change  with  the 
times.  We  must  grow  with  our  years.  What  was  good 
enough  for  our  babyhood  cannot  be  good  enough  for 
manhood.  —Young  India  :  July  14,  1920. 

Marriage 

IN  India,  it  must  be  held  to  be  a  crime  to  spend 
money  on  dinner  and  marriage  parties,  tamashas  and  other 
luxuries  as  long  as  millions  of  people  are  starving.  We 
would  not  have  a  feast  in  a  family  if  a  member  was  about 
to  die  of  starvation.  If  India  is  one  family,  we  should 
have  the  same  feeling  as  we  would  have  in  a  private  family. 

—Young  India  :  Dec.  22,  1920. 
<3>    3>    <:> 

THOSE  who  want  to  perform  national  service,  or 
those  who  want  to  have  a  glimpse  of  the  real  religious 
life,  must  lead  a  celibate  life,  no  matter  if  married  or  un- 
married. Marriage  but,  brings  a  woman  closer  together 
with  the  man,  and  they  become  friends  in  a  special  sense, 
never  to  be  parted  either  in  this  life  or  in  the  lives  that  are 
to  come.  But  I  do  not  think  that,  in  our  conception  of 
marriage,  our  lusts  should  necessarily  enter. 

—Young  India:  Dec.  2,  1921. 

Every  girl,  every  Indian  girl,  is  not  born  to  marry.  I 
can  show  many  girls  who  are  to-day  dedicating  themselves 


360         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

to  service  instead  of  serving  one  man.  It  is  high  time  that 
Hindu  girls  produce  or  reproduce  an  edition  and,  if 
possible,  a  glorified  edition  of  Parvati  and  Sita. 

— Gandhiji  in  Ceylon  :  Page  146. 

Q.  ARE  you  against  the  institution  of  marriage  ? 

*  I  shall  have  to  answer  this  question   at   some  length, 
said  Bapu,  '  The  aim  of  human  life  is  Moksha.    As  a  Hindu, 
I  believe  that  Moksha  is  frcedem  from  birth,  by  breaking  the 
bonds  of  the  flesh,  by  becoming  one   with    God.      Now 
marriage  is  a  kindrance  in  the  attainment   of  this   supreme 
object,    in   as    much   as   it   only  tightens  the  bonds  of  flesh. 
Celibacy   is    a   great  help,  inasmuch    as   it   enables   one    to 
lead   a   life   of  full   surrender   to  God.     What  is  the  object 
generally  understood   of  marriage,   except    a   repetition    of 
one's  own  kind  ?     And  why  need  you   advocate    marriage  ? 
It    propagates   itself.     It    requires  no  agency  to  promote  its 
growth.' 

*  But  must  you  advocate  celibacy  and  preach  it   to   one 
and  all  ?' 

4  Yes,'  said  Gandhiji. — Ramachandran  looked  pre- 
plexed, — 'Then  you  fear  there  will  be  an  end  of  creation  ?' 
4  No.  The  extreme  logical  result  would  be  not  extinction 
of  the  human  species,  but  the  transference  of  it  to  a  higher 
plane.' 

6  But  may  not  an  artist  or  a  great  genius  leave  a  legacy 
of  his  genius  to  posterity  through  his  own  children  ?' 

*  Certainly  net,'   said  Bapu,   with  emphasis,  c  He  wil  I 
have  more  disciples  than  he   can   ever   have   children  ;  and 
through  those  disciples  all  his  gifts  to  the  world  will  be  hand- 
ed down  in  a  way  that  nothing  else  can  do  it.     It   will   be 
the   soul's  marriage  with  the  sipirit  :   the  progeny  being  the 
disciple, — a   sort  of  divine  procreation.     No.  !      You  must 
leave  marriage  to  take  care  of  itseh.    Repetition  and  not 


MARRIAGE  36V 

growth  would   be   the  result  ;  for  lust  has  come  to  play  the 
most  important  part  in  marriage.' 

'Mr.  Andrews'  said  Ramachandran,  '  docs  not  like 
your  emphasis  on  celibacy.' 

'  Yes,  I  know,'  said  Gandhiji,  *  that  is  the  legacy  of 
Protestantism.  Protestantism  did  many  good  things,  but 
one  of  its  few  evils  was  that  it  ridiculed  celibacy.' 

'  That  '  rejoined  Ramachandran,  *  was  becasue  it  had; 
to  fight  the  deep  abuses  in  which  the  clergy  of  the  age  had 
sunk.' 

c  But  all  that  was  not  due  to  any  inherent  evil  of  celi- 
bacy,' said  Bapu,  'It  is  celibacy  that  has  kept  Catholicism 
green  up  to  the  present  day.7  (M.  D.) 

—  Young  India  :  Nov.  13,  1924* 
<$><$><*> 

Married  life  would  be  intolerable,  as  it  does  become, 
when  one  partner  breaks  through  all  bonds  of  restraint. 
Marriage  confirms  the  right  of  union  between  two  partners 
to  the  exclusion  of  all  the  others  when  in  their  joint  opinion 
they  consider  such  union  to  be  desirable  but  it  confers  no 
right  upon  one  partner  to  demand  obedience  of  the  other 
to  one's  wish  for  union.  What  should  be  done  when  one 
partner  on  moral  or  other  grounds  cannot  conform  to  the 
wishes  of  the  other  is  a  separate  question.  Personally,  if 
divorce  was  the  only  alternative  I  should  not  hesitate  to 
accept  it,  rather  than  interrupt  my  moral  progress, — assum- 
ing that  I  want  to  restrain  myself  on  purely  moral  grounds. 

—Young  India  :  Oct.  8,  1925i 

<^     <S>     <3> 

A  correspondent,  whom  I  know  well,  raises  an  issue 
I  take  it,  for  purely  academic  interest  because  I  know  the 
views  he  has  set  out  are  not  his.  *  Is  not  our  present  day 
morality  unnatural  ?>  he  asks.  If  it  was  natural  it  should 
have  been  the  same  everywhere  in  all  ages,  but  every  race 
and  community  seems  to  have  its  own  peculiar  marriage 


362  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

laws  and  in  enforcing  them  men  have  made  themselves  worse 
than  beasts.  For  diseases  which  are  unknown  amongst 
animals  are  quite  common  amongst  men  ;  infanticide, 
abortions,  child-marriages,  which  are  impossible  in  the  brute 
creation,  are  the  curse  of  the  society  that  holds  up  marriage 
as  a  sacrament,  and  no  end  of  evil  results  have  sprung 
from  what  we  uphold  as  laws  of  morality.  And  the  miserable 
condition  of  Hindu  widows — what  is  it  due  to,  but  to  the 
existing  marriage  laws  ?  Why  not  go  back  to  nature,  and 
take  a  leaf  out  of  the  book  of  the  brute  creation  ? 

I  do  not  know  whether  the  advocates  of  free  love  in 
the  West  resort  to  the  argument  summarised  above  or 
have  any  stronger  reasons  to  put  forth,  but  I  am  sure  that 
the  tendency  to  regard  the  marriage-bond  as  barbarous  is 
distinctly  Western.  If  the  argument  is  also  borrowed  from 
the  West,  there  is  no  diffiulty  about  meeting  it. 

It  is  a  mistake  to  institute  a  comparison  between  man 
and  the  brute  and  it  is  this  comparison  that  vititates  the 
whole  argument.  For  man  is  higher  than  the  brute  in  his 
moral  instincts  and  moral  institutions.  The  law  of  nature 
as  applied  to  the  one  is  different  from  the  law  of  nature  as 
applied  to  the  other.  Man  has  reason,  discrimination,  and 
free  will  such  as  it  is.  The  brute  has  no  such  thing.  It 
is  not  a  free  agent,  and  knows  no  distinction  between  virtue 
and  vice,  good  and  evil.  Man,  being  a  free  agent,  knows 
these  distinctions,  and  when  he  follows  his  higher  nature 
shows  himself  far  superior  to  the  brute,  but  when  he  follows 
his  baser  nature  can  show  himself  lower  than  the  brute. 
Even  the  races  regarded  as  the  most  uncivilised  on  earth 
accept  some  restriction  on  sexual  relations.  If  it  be  said 
that  the  restriction  is  itself  barbarous,  then  freedom  from 
all  restraints  should  be  the  law  of  man.  If  all  men  were  to 
act  according  to  this  lawless  law,  there  would  be  perfect 
chaos  withra  twenty  four  hours.  Man  being  by  nature 
more  passionate  than  the  brute,  the  moment  all  restraint 
is  withdrawn,  the  lava  of  unbridled  passion  would  over- 


MARRIAGE  363 

spread  the  whole  earth  and  destroy  mankind.  Man  is 
superior  to  the  brute  inasmuch  as  he  is  capable  of  self- 
restraint  and  sacrifice  of  which  the  brute  is  incapable. 

Some  of  the  diseases  that  are  so  common  at  the  present 
day  are  the  result  of  infringement  of  marriage  laws.  I 
should  like  to  know  a  single  instance  of  a  man  strictly 
observing  the  restraint  of  the  marriage  bond  having  suffered 
from  the  diseases  the  correspondent  has  in  mind.  Infanti- 
cide, child-marriages  and  the  like,  are  also  the  result  of  the 
breach  of  marriage  laws.  For  the  law  lays  down  that  a 
man  or  woman  shall  choose  a  mate  only  when  he  or  she 
bas  come  <rf  age,  is  healthy,  and  capable  of  restraint,  and 
desires  to  have  progeny.  Those  who  strictly  obey  this  law, 
and  regard  the  marriage  bond  as  a  sacrament,  have  never 
in  occasion  to  be  unhappy  or  miserable.  Where  marriage 
s  a  sacrament,  the  union  is  not  the  union  of  bodies  but  the 
mion  of  souls  indissoluble  even  by  the  death  of  either 
party.  Where  there  is  a  true  union  of  souls,  the  re- 
marriage of  a  widow  or  widower  is  unthinkable,  improper 
and  wrong.  Marriages,  where  the  true  law  of  marriage  is 
ignored,  do  not  deserve  the  name.  If  we  have  very  few 
true  ^  marriages  now-a-days  it  is  not  the  institution  of 
marriage  that  is  to  blame,  but  the  prevailing  form  of  it, 
which  should  be  reformed. 

The  correspondent  contends  that  marriage  is  no  mora' 
>r  religious  bond  but  a  custom,  and  a  custom  which  i5* 
>pposed  to  religion  and  morality  and  hence  deserves  to  be 
Abolished.  I  submit  that  marriage  is  a  fence  that  protects 
religion.  If  <the  fence  were  to  be  destroyed  religion  would 
?o  to  pieces.  The  foundation  of  religion  is  restraint  and 
marriage  is  nothing  but  restraint.  The  man  who  knows 
no  restraint  has  no  hope  of  self-realisation.  I  confess  it  may 
be  difficult  to  prove  the  necessity  of  restraint  to  an  atheist 
or  a  materialist.  But  he  who  knows  the  perishable  nature 
of  flesh  from  the  imperishable  nature  of  the  spirit,  instinc- 
tively knows  that  self-realisation  is  impossible  without  self- 


364          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

discipline  and    self-restraint.     The   body   may    either  be   a 

play-ground   of  passion,    or  temple  of  self-realisation.  If  it 

is  the  latter,  there  is  no   room    there   for  libertinism.  The 
spirit  needs  must  curb  the  flesh  every  moment. 

Woman  will  be  the  apple  of  discord  where  the  marriage 
bond  is  loose,  where  there  k  no  observance  of  the  law  of 
restraint.  If  men  were  as  unrestrained  as  the  brutes  they 
would  straightway  take  the  road  to  destruction.  I  am 
firmly  of  opinion  that  all  the  evils  that  the  correspondent 
complains  of  can  be  eradicated  not  by  abolishing  marriage 
but  by  a  systematic  understanding  and  observance  of  the 
law  of  marriage. 

I  agree  that  whereas  amongst  some  communities- 
marriage  is  permitted  amongst  very  near  relations,  it  is 
prohibited  among  other  communities,  that  whereas  some 
communities  forbid  polygamy  some  permit  it.  Whilst  one 
would  wish  that  there  was  a  uniform  moral  law  accepted 
by  all  communities,  the  diversity  does  not  point  to  the 
necessity  of  abolishing  all  restraint.  As  we  grow  wise  in 
experience  our  morality  will  gain  in  uniformity.  Even 
today  the  moral  sense  of  the  world  holds  up  monogamy  as 
the  highest  ideal  and  no  religion  makes  polygamy  obligatory. 
The  ideal  remains  unaffected  by  the  relaxation  of  practice 
according  to  time  and  place. 

I  need  not  reiterate  my  views  regarding  re-marriage  of 
widows,  as  I  consider  re-marriage  of  virgin  widows  n»t  only 
desirable  but  the  bounden  duty  of  all  parents  who  happen 
to  have  such  widowed  daughters. 

—Toting  India  :  June  3,  1926. 

<$><$><$> 

MY  ideal  of  a  wife  is  Sita,  and  of  a  husband' 
Rama.  But  Sita  was  no  slave  of  Rama,  Or,  each  was- 

slave   of  the  other The   wife     has   a   perfect    right    to 

take    her   own    course,    and   meekly  brave  the  consequences 
when    she   knows   herself  to  be   ia  thje    right,  and   when 


MARRIAGE  365 

her  resistance  is  for  a  nobler  purpose. 

—Young  India:  Oct.  21,  1926. 

<$><$>    <3> 

FOR  rn^,  the  married  state  is  as  much  a  state  of  dis- 
cipline as  any  other.  Life  is  duty,  a  probation.  Married 
life  is  intended  to  promote  mutual  good,  both  here 
and  hereafter.  It  is  meant  also  to  serve  humanity. 
When  one  partner  breaks  the  law  of  discipline,  the 
right  accrues  to  the  other  of  breaking  the  bond.  The 
breach  here  is  moral  and  not  physical.  It  precludes 
divorce.  The  wife  or  the  husband  separates  but  to 
serve  the  end  for  which  they  had  united.  Hinduism 
regards  each  as  absolute  equal  of  the  other.  No  doubt 
a  different  practice  has  grown  up,  no  one  knows  since 
when.  But  s~j  have  many  other  evils  crept  into  it. 
This,  however,  I  do  not  know  that  Hinduism  leaves 
the  individual  absolutely  free  to  do  what  he  or  she 
likes  for  the  sake  of  self-realisation,  for  which  and  which 
alone  he  or  she  is  born.  —Young  India  :  Oct.  21,  1926. 

<$><$><» 

MARRIAGE,  for  the  satisfaction  of  sexual  appetite 
is  no  marriage.  It  is  vyabhichara — concupisence.  Today's 
ceremony,  therefore,  means  that  the  sexual  act  is  per- 
mitted only  when  there  is  a  clear  desire  by  both  for 
a  child.  The  whole  conception  is  sacred.  The  act  has, 
therefore,  to  be  performed  prayerfully.  It  is  not  preceded 
by  the  usual  courtship,  designed  to  provide  sexual  excite- 
ment and  pleasure.  Such  union  may  only  be  once  in  a 
life-time,  if  no  other  child  is  desired.  Those  who  are 
not  morally  and  physically  healthy  have  no  business 
to  unite,  and  if  they  do,  it  is  vyabhichara — concupisence. 
You  must  unlearn  the  lesson,  if  you  have  learnt  it 
before,  that  marriage  is  for  the  satisfaction  of  animal 
appetite.  It  is  <a  superstition. 

—Young  India  :  April  24,  1927. 


366          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

THE  very  purpose  of  marriage  is  restraint  and 
sublimation  of  the  sexual  passion.  If  there  is  any  other 
purpose:  marriage  is  no  consecration,  but  marriage  for 
other  purposes  besides  having  progeny. 

—Toung  India  :  April  24,  1927. 


MARRIAGE  outside  one's  religion  stands  on  a 
different  footing.  Even  here,  so  long  each  is  free  to 
observe  his  or  her  religion,  I  can  see  no  moral  objection 
to  such  unions.  But,  I  do  not  believe  that  these  unions 
can  bring  peace.  They  may  follow  peace.  I  can  see 
nothing  but  disaster  following  any  attempt  to  advocate 
Hindu-Muslim  unions,  so  long  as  the  relations  between 
the  two  remain  strained.  That  such  union  may  be  happy 
in  exceptional  circumstances  can  be  no  reason  for  their 
general  advocacy.  Inter-dining  between  Hindus  and 
Mussalmans  does  take  place  even  now  on  a  large  scale. 
But  that  again  has  not  resulted  in  promoting  peace.  It  is 
my  settled  conviction  that  intermarriage  and  inter-dining 
have  no  bearing  on  communal  unity.  The  causes  of  discord 
are  economic  and  political  —  and  it  is  these  that  have  to  be 
removed.  There  is  -inter-marriage  and  inter-dining  in 
Europe,  but  the  Europeans  have  fought  amongst  themselves 
as  we  Hindus  and  Mussalmans  have  never  fought  in  all 
history.  Our  masses  have  stood  aside, 

—  Toung  India  :  June  4,  1931. 


I  DO  not  envisage  the  wife,  as  a  rule,  following 
an  avocation  independently  of  her  husband.  The  care 
of  the  children  and  the  upkeep  of  the  household  arc 
quite  enough  to  fully  engage  all  her  energy.  In  a  well- 
ordered  society,  the  additional  burden  of  maintining  the 
family  ought  not  to  fall  on  her.  The  man  should  look 


MASSES  367 

to  the   maintenance  of  the  family,  the  woman  to  household 
management;  the  ttvo  thus  supplementing  and  coplimenting 
each  other's  labours.  —Harijan  :  Oct.  12,  1934. 


BETWEEN  husband  and  wife  there  should  be  no 
secrets  from  one  another.  I  have  a  very  high  opinion 
of  the  marriage  tie.  I  hold  that  husband  and  wife 
merge  in  each  other.  They  are  one  in  two  or  two  in 
one.  —Harijan  :  March  9,  1940. 


MARRIAGE  is  a  natural  thing  in  life,  and  to 
consider  it  derogatory  in  any  sense  is  wholly  wrong. 
The  ideal  is  to  look  upon  marriage  as  a  sacrament 
and  therefore  to  lead  a  life  of  self-restraint  in  the  married 
state.  Marriage  in  Hinduism  is  one  of  the  four  Ashramas* 
In  fact  the  other  three  are  based  on  it.  But  in  modern 
times  marriage  has  unfortunately  come  to  be  regarded 
purely  as  a  physical  union.  The  other  three  Ashramas 
are  all  but  non-existent.  —Harijan  :  March  22,  1942 

Masses 

THE  educated  class,  lovers  of  Swaraj,  must  freely 
mix  with  the  masses.  We  dare  not  rejer*  *  single 
member  of  the  community.  We  shall  make  progress 
only  if  we  carry  all  with  us. 

—Speeches  and  Writings  of  Mahatma  Gandhi  :  Page  212* 


WE  regard  them  (masses)  as  our  main-stay,  for  it  is 
they  who  have  to  attain  Swaraj.  It  is  neither  the  sole 
concern  of  the  monied  men  or  that  of  the  educated- 
class.  Both  must  subserve  their  interest  in  any  scheme 
of  Swaraj.  —Young  Mia  :  April  20,  1920. 


368          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

MY  faith  in  the  people  is  boundless.  Theirs  is  an 
amazingly  responsive  nature.  Let  not  the  leaders  distrust 
them.  — Young  India  :  Sept.  8,  192C 

<3>    <$»<$> 

THE  masses  are  by  no  means  so  foolish,  or  unitelllgent 
as  we  sometimes  imagine.  They  often  perceive  things 
with  their  intution,  which  we  ourselves  fail  to  see  with 
our  intellect.  But  whilst  the  masses  know  what  taey 
want,  they  often  do  not  know  how  to  exppress  their 
wants  and,  less  often,  how  to  get  what  they  want. 
Herein  comes  the  use  of  leadership,  and  disastorous 
results  can  easily  follow  a  bad,  hasty,  or  what  is  worse, 
selfish  lead.  —Young  India  :  Nov.  3,  1920. 

<3>    <*> 

THE   Congress  must  progressively  represent  the  masses. 
They    are    as   yet    untouched    by   politics.     They    have    no 
political    consciousness    of  the    type   our   politicians    desire. 
Their    politics    are   confined    to     bread    and     salt    I    dare 
not   say    butter,    for   millions   do    not    know    the     taste     of 
ghee   or    even  oil.     Their  politics  are  confined  to  communal 
adjustments.    It     is  right    however     to    say    that     we     the 
politicians     do     represent     the     masses     in    opposition    to 
•Government.     But   if  we   begin   to   use   them   before    they 
are    ready    we    shall   cease    to    represent    them.     We  must 
•first    come   in   living    touch   with    them    by     working     for 
them   and  in   their  midst.     We   must    share    their  sorrows, 
•understand    their   difficulties  and    anticipate     their     wants. 
'With     the     pariahas  must      be     pariaha     and     see     how 
*we     feel     to     clean     the     closets     of    the     upper     classes 
and     have    the      remains    of    their    table     thrown    at    us. 
We   must   see   how    we   like  being   in  the  boxes,  miscalled 
houses,   of  the   labourers   of  Bombay.     We  must  indentify  • 
ourselves   with  the   villagers    who    toil  under    the   hot  sun 
beating  on  their   bent  backs  and  see   how   we    would  like  to 
drink   water  from    the   pool    in    which  the   villagers  bathe, 
wash  their  clothes  and  pots  and  in   which  their  cattle  drink 


MASSES  369 

and  roll  Then  and  not  till  then  shall  we  truly  represent 
the  masses  and  they  will,  as  surely  as  I  am  writing 
this,  respond  to  every  call. 

We  cannot  all  do  this,  and  if  we  are  to  do  this,  good-bye  to 
Vwaraj  for  a  thousand  years  and  more,"  some  will  say.  I  shall 
sympathise  with  the  objection.  But  I  do  claim  that 
some  of  us  at  least  will  have  to  go  through  the  agony 
and  out  of  it  only  will  a  nation  full,  vigorous  and  free 
be  born.  I  suggest  to  all  that  they  should  give  their 
mental  co-operation  and  that  they  should  mentally  iridentify 
themselves  with  the  masses,  and  as  a  visible  and  tangible 
token  thereof,  they  should  earnestly  spin  for  at  least  thirty 
minutes  per  day  in  their  name  and  for  their  sake.  It 
will  be  a  mighty  prayer  from  the  intelligentia  among  the 
Hindus,  Mussalmans,  Parsis,  Christians  and  others  of 
India,  rising  up  to  Heaven  for  their,  that  is,  India's 
deliverance. 

— Young  India  :  Sept.  11,  1924. 

<3>    3>   <$> 

I  CLAIM  to  know  my  millions.  All  the  24  hours 
of  the  day  I  am  with  them.  They  are  my  first  care 
and  last,  because  I  recognise  no  God  except  the  God 
that  is  to  be  found  in  the  hearts  of  the  dumb  millions. 
They  do  not  recognise  His  presence;  I  do.  And  I  wor- 
ship the  God  that  is  TrutH  or  Truth  which  is  God 
through  the  service  of  these  millions. 

—Harijan:  March  H,  1939. 

Means  And  End 

WE  are  merely  the  instruments  of  the  Almighty's 
will  and  are  therefore  ignorant  of  what  helps  us  forward 
and  what  acts  as  an  impediment.  We  must  thus  rest 
satisfied  with  a  knowledge  only  of  the  means  and  if 
these  are  pure,  we  can  fearlessly  leave  the  end  to  rake 
care  of  itself.  — Saiyagraha  in  South  Africa  :  Page  480. 


370        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

FOR  me  it  is  enough  to  know  the  means.  Means 
and  end  are  convertible  terms  in  my  philosophy  of  life. 

—  Young  India  :  Dec.  26,  J924. 
<$>    3>    <S> 

THEY  say  'means  are  after  all  means'.  I  would 
say  'means  are  after  all  everything'.  As  the  means  so 
the  end.  Violent  means  will  give  violent  Swaraj.  That 
would  be  a  menace  to  the  world  and  to  India  herself. 
There  is  no  wall  of  separation  between  means  and  end. 
Indeed  the  Creator  has  given  us  control  (and  that  too  very 
limited;  over  means  none  over  the  end.  Realisation  of  the 
goal  is  in  exact  proportion  to  that  of  the  means.  This  is  a 
proposition  that  admits  of  no  exception. 

—Harijan  :  Feb.  28,  1937. 

<$>    3>    <3> 

FOR  over  50  years  I  have  trained  myself  never  to 
be  concerned  about  the  result.  What  I  should  be  con- 
cerned about  is  the  means,  and  when  I  am  sure  of  the 
purity  of  the  means,  faith  is  enough  to  lead  me  on. 
All  fear  and  trembling  melt  away  before  that  faith. 

—Harijan  :  Sept.  22,  1940 

Measures  Before  Men 

MEASURES  must  always  in  a  progressive  society  be 
held  superior  to  men,  who  are  after  all  imperfect  in- 
struments, working  for  their  fulfilment. 

—Young  India  :  July  18,  1921. 
<$>    <$>    <£> 

If  we  want  to  serve  India  we  must  put  measures 
before  men.  The  latter  come  and  go,  but  causes  must 
survive  even  the  greatest  of  them. 

— Young  India  :  June  5,  1924. 

THE    cause   is     everything.     Those    even    who     are 


MINORITY  AND  MAJORITY  371 

dearest     to     us     must   be   shunted     for   the   sake  of     the 
cause.  — Toung  India  rjune  12,  1924. 

Meetings 

IF  we  confine  our  activities  for  advancing  Swardj 
only  to  holding  meetings,  the  nation  is  likely  to  suffer 
barm.  Meetings  and  speeches  have  their  own  place  and 
time.  But  they  cannot  make  a  nation. 

—Toung  India  :  Nov.  3,  1921. 

Minority  and  Majority 

IT  will  be  the  duty  of  the  majority  to  see  to  it 
that  minorities  receive  proper  hearing  and  are  not  other- 
wise exposed  to  insults.  Swaraj  will  be  an  absurdity 
if  individuals  have  to  surrender  their  judgment  to 
majority.  — Toung  India  :  Dec.  8,  1921. 

<3>    <?>    <3> 

THE  reader  does  not  know  that  in  South  Africa 
I  started  with  practical  unanimity,  reached  a  minority 
of  sixty-four  and  even  sixteen,  and  went  up  again  to 
a  huge  majority.  The  best  and  the  most  solid  work 
was  done  in  the  wilderness  of  the  minority. 

—Yt.ung  India  :  March  2,  1922- 

<s>  <s>  <> 

A  LIVING  faith  cannot  be  manufactured  by  majority. 

—Toung  India  :  March  16,  1922. 

CORRUPTION  is  the  bane  of  governments  by 
majority.  — Tovng  India  :  Sept.  4,  1924. 

<S>  ^>  <:> 

POWER  that  is  sought  in  the  name  of  service  and 
can  only  be  obtained  by  a  majority  of  votes  is  a  delusion 
and  snare  to  be  avoided,  especially  at  the  present 
moment.  — Toung  India:  Sept.  11,  1924. 


372        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

THERE  is  at  the  present  moment  a  note  of  des- 
|x>ndency  in  the  air  over  the  number  of  Congress 
members.  The  complaint  is  that  the  members  have  been 
never  so  few  as  today.  The  complaint  would  be  reason- 
able if  the  franchise  being  the  same  the  response  was 
less  than  before.  It  would  also  be  reasonable,  if  the 
influence  of  the  Congress  was  to  be  measured  by  the 
number  of  members.  Opinions  would  undoubtedly  differ 
as  to  the  measure  to  be  applied  for  gauging  the  Congress 
influence.  For  me  there  is  one  measure.  I  attach  the 
highest  importance  to  quality  irrespective  almost  of 
quantity,  the  more  so  for  Indian  conditions.  In  the 
midst  of  suspicion,  discord,  antagonistic  interests  super- 
stition, fear,  distrust  and  the  like  there  is  not  only  no 
safety  in  numbers  but  there  may  be  event  danger  in 
them.  Who  does  not  kno\v  how  often  numbers  have 
embarrassed  us  during  the  past  four  years  ?  Numbers 
become  irresistible  when  they  act  as  one  man  under 
exact  discipline.  They  are  a  self- destroying  force  when 
each  pulls  his  own  way  or  when  no  one  knows  which 
way  to  pull. 

I  am  convinced  that  there  is  safety  in  fewness  so  long 
as  we  have  not  evolved  cohesion,  exactness  and  intelligent 
CQ-operation  and  responsiveness.  One  virtuous  son  is  better 
than  one  hundred  loafers.  Five  Pandavas  were  more 
than  a  match  for  one  hundred  Kauravas.  A  disciplined 
army  of  a  few  hundred  picked  men  has  time  without 
number  routed  countless  undisciplined  hordes.  A  few 
members  fully  satisfying  the  Congress  test  can  give  a 
good  account  of  themselves,  whereas  one  million  members 
nominally  on  the  Congress  register  may  not  be  worth 
the  register  itself.  —Toung  India  :  April  30,  1925. 

<S>  <S>  <S> 

IN  a  popular  instituuon,  it  must  be  opinion  of  the 
majority  that  must  coun*.  But  I  have  always  held  that 
when  a  respectable  minority  objects  to  any  rule  of 


MOBS  373 

conduct,  it  would  be  dignified  for  the  majority, 
and  would  conduce  to  the  good  of  the  Congress,  for 
the  majority  to  yield  to  the  minority.  Numerical  strength 
savours  of  violence  when  it  acts  in  total  disregard  of 
any  strongly  felt  opinion  or  a  minority.  The  rule  of 
majority  is  perfectly  sound,  only  where  there  is  no  rigid 
insistence  on  the  part  of  the  dissenters  upon  their  dissent 
and  where  there  is  on  their  behalf  a  sportsmanlike 
obedience  to  the  opinion  of  the  majority.  No  organisation 
can  run  smoothly  when  it  is  divided  into  camps,  each 
growling  at  the  other  and  each  determined  to  have 
its  own  way  by  hook  or  by  crook. 

—  Toung  Mia  :  Nov,  9,  1929, 

Mobs 

PERSONALLY  I  do  not  mind  Governmental  fury  as 
I  mind  mob  fury.  The  latter  is  a  sign  of  national  dis- 
temper and  therefore  more  difficult  to  deal  with  than  the 
former  which  is  confined  to  a  small  corporation.  It  is 
easier  to  oust  a  Government  that  has  rendered  itself  unfit 
to  govern  than  it  is  to  cure  unknown  people  in  a  mob  of 
their  madness.  But  great  movements  cannot  be  stopped 
altogether  because  a  Government  or  a  people  or  both  go 
wrong.  We  learn  and  profit  through  our  mistakes  and 
failures.  No  general  worth  the  name  gives  up  a  battle 
because  he  has  suffered  reverses,  or  which  is  the  same  thing, 
made  mistakes.  —Young  India  :  July  28,  1920. 

<S>     <S>     <$> 

THE  greatest  obstacle  is  that  we  have  not  yet 
emerged  from  the  mobocratic  stage.  But  my  consolation 
lies  in  the  fact  that  nothing  is  so  easy  as  to  train  mobs,  for 
i  he  simple  reason  that  they  have  no  mind,  no  premeditation. 
They  act  in  a  frenzy. 

They  repent  quickly.  Our  organised  Government 
does  not  repent  of  its  fiendish  crimes  at  Jallianwala,  Lahore, 


374        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

Kasur,  Akalgarh,  Ramnagar,  etc.  But  I  have  dtawn 
tears  from  repentant  mobs  at  Gujranwala  and  everywhere 
a  frank  acknowledgment  of  repentance  from  those  who 
formed  the  mob  during  that  eventful  month  of  April. 
Non-co-operation  I  am  therefore  now  using  in  order  to 
evolve  democracy.  — Toung  India  :  Sept.  8,  1920. 

Modern  Civilization 

I  AM  no  indiscriminate  superstitious  worshipper  of 
all  that  goes  under  the  name  of  ancient  !  I  never  hesitated 
to  endeavour  to  demolish  all  that  is  evil  or  immoral,  no 
matter  how  ancient  it  may  be,  but  with  that  reservation 
I  must  confess  to  you  that  I  am  an  adorer  of  ancient  in- 
stitutions, and  it  hurts  me  to  think  that  a  people  in  their 
rush  for  everything  mordern  despise  all  their  ancient 
traditions  and  ignore  them  in  their  lives. 

We  of  the  East,  very  often,  hastily  consider  that  all 
that  our  ancestors  laid  down  for  us  was  nothing  but  a 
bundle  of  superstitions,  but  my  own  experience,  extending 
now  over  a  fairly  long  period,  of  the  inestimable  treasures 
of  the  East  has  led  me  to  the  conclusion  that,  whilst  there 
may  be  much  that  was  superstitious,  there  is  infinitely 
more  which  is  not  only  not  supersititious,  but  if  we  under- 
stand it  correctly  and  reduce  it  to  practice,  gives  life  and 
enobles  one.  Let  us  not,  therefore,  be  blinded  by  the 
hypnotic  dazzle  of  the  West. 

Again,  I  wish  to  utter  a  word  of  caution  against  your 
believing  that  I  am  an  indiscriminate  despiser  of  every- 
thing that  comes  from  the  West.  There  are  many  things 
which  I  have  myself  assimilated  from  the  West.  There 
is  a  very  great  and  effective  Sanskrit  word  for  that  parti- 
cular faculty  which  enables  a  man  always  to  distinguish 
between  what  is  desirable,  and  what  is  undesirable,  what 
is  right  and  what  is  wrong,  that  word  is  known  as  viveka. 

— Gandhiji  in  Ceylon  :  Page  105» 


MOKSHA  375 

Moksha 

WHAT  I  want  to  achieve,  —  what  I  have  been  striving 
and  pining  to  achieve  these  thirty  years,  —  is  self-realisation, 
to  see  God  face  to  face,  to  attain  Moksha.  I  live  and  move 
and  have  my  being  in  pursuit  of  this  goal.  All  that  I  do 
by  way  of  speaking  and  writing,  and  all  my  ventures  in  the 
political  field,  are  directed  to  this  same  end. 

From  the  introduction  to  The  Story  of  My 
Experiments  with  Truth. 


A  friend  inquired  if  Gandhi)?  s  aim  was  mst  humanitarian  in 
sitting  down  in  the  village,  just  serving  the  villagers  as  best  as  he 
could. 

"  I  am  here  to  serve  no  one  else  but  myself,"  said 
Gandiji,  "  to  find  my  own  self-realisation  through  the 
service  of  these  village-folk.  Man's  ultimate  aim  is  the  rea- 
lisation of  God,  and  all  his  activities,  —  social,  political, 
religious,  —  have  to  be  guided  by  the  ultimate  aim  of  the 
vision  of  God.  The  immediate  service  of  all  human  beings 
becomes  a  necessary  part  of  the  endeavour  simply  because 
the  only  way  to  find  God  is  to  see  Him  in  His  creation  and 
be  one  with  it.  This  cannot  be  done  except  through  one's 
country.  I  am  a  part  and  parcel  of  the  whole,  and  I 
cannot  find  Him  apart  from  the  rest  of  humanity.  My 
countrymen  *  are  my  nearest  neighbours.  They  have  be- 
come so  helpless,  so  resourceless,  so  inert  that  I  must 
concentrate  on  serving  them.  If  I  could  persuade  myself 
that  I  should  find  Him  in  a  Himalayan  cave,  I  would 
proceed  there  immediately.  But  I  know  that  I  cannot  find 
Him  apart  from  humanity.'* 

Qj  But  some  comforts  may  be  necessary  even  for  man's 
spiritual  advancement.  One  could  not  advance 
himself  by  identifying  himself  with  the  discomfort 
and  squalor  of  the  villager. 


376        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

A.  A  certain  degree  of  physical  harmony  and  comfort 
is  necessary,  but  above  a  certain  level  it  becomes  a  hind- 
rance instead  of  help.  Therefore  the  ideal  of  creating  an 
unlimited  number  of  wants  and  satisfying  them  seems  to  be 
a  delusion  and  a  snare.  The  satisfaction  of  one's  physical 
needs,  even  the  intellectual  needs  of  one's  narrow  self,  must 
meet  at  a  certain  point  a  dead  stop  before  it  degenerates 
into  physical  and  intellectual  voluptuousness.  A  man  must 
arrange  his  physical  and  cultural  circumstances  so  that  they 
do  not  hinder  him  in  his  service  of  humanity,  on  which  all 
his  energies  should  be  concentrated. 

—Harijan  :  Aug.  29,  1936. 


I  WANT  to  see  God  face  to  face.  God  I  know  is 
Truth.  For  me  the  only  certain  means  of  knowing  God  is 
non-violence — ahimsa — love.  I  live  for  India's  freedom  and 
would  die  for  it,  because  it  is  part  of  Truth.  Only  a  free 
India  can  worship  the  true  God.  I  work  for  India's  free- 
dom because  my  Swadeshi  teaches  me  that  being  born  in  it 
and  having  inherited  her  culture,  I  am  fittest  to  serve  her 
and  she  has  a  prior  claim  to  my  service.  But  my  patriotism 
is  not  exclusive  :  it  is  calculated  not  only  not  to  hurt 
any  other  nation  but  to  benefit  all  in  the  true  sense  of 
the  word.  India's  freedom  as  conceived  by  me  can  never 
be  a  menace  to  the  world.  — Young  India  \  April  3,  1924. 

<$><$><$> 

I  do  not  consider  myself  worthy  to  be  mentioned  in  the 
same  breath  with  the  race  of  prophets.  I  am  a  humble 
seeker  after  Truth.  I  am  impatient  to  realise  myself,  to 
attain  Moksha  in  this  very  existence.  My  national  service 
is  part  of  my  training  for  freeing  my  soul  from  the  bondage 
of  flesh.  Thus  considered,  my  service  may  be  regarded  as 
purely  selfish.  I  have  no  desire  for  the  perishable  kingdom 
of  earth.  I  am  striving  for  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  which 
is  Moksha.  To  attain  my  end  it  is  not  necessary  for  me  to 


MOKSHA  377 

seek  the  shelter  of  a  cave.  I  carry  one  about  me,  if  I 
would  but  know  it.  A  cave-dweller  can  build  castles  in  the 
air  whereas  a  dweller  in  a  palace  like  Janak  has  no  castles  to- 
build.  The  cave-dweller  who  hovers  round  the  world  on 
the  wings  of  thought  has  no  peace.  A  Janak  though 
living  in  the  midst  of  (  pomp  and  circumstance  '  may  have 
peace  that  passeth  understanding.  For  me  the  road  to 
salvation  lies  through  an  incessant  toil  in  the  service  of  my 
country  and  there  through  of  humanity.  I  want  to  identify 
myself  with  everything  that  lives.  In  the  language  of  the 
Gita  I  want  to  live  at  peace  with  both  friend  and  foe. 
Though  therefore  a  Musalman  or  a  Christian  or  a  Hindu 
may  despise  me  and  hate  me,  I  want  to  love  him  and  serve 
him  even  as  I  would  love  my  wife  or  son  though  they  hate 
me.  So  my  patriotism  is  for  me  a  stage  in  my  journey  to 
the  land  of  eternal  freedom  and  peace.  Thus  it  will  be  seen 
that  for  me  there  are  no  politics  devoid  of  religion.  They 
subserve  religion.  Politics  bereft  of  religion  are  a  death- 
trap because  they  kill  the  soul. 

—  Young  India  :  April  3,  1924. 


The  aim  of  human  life  is  Moksha.  As  a  Hindu  I 
believe  that  Moksha  is  freedom  from  birth  by  breaking  the 
bonds  of  the  flesh,  by  becoming  one  with  God.  Now 
marriage  is  a  hindrance  in  the  attainment  of  this  supreme 
object,  inasmuch  as  it  only  tightens  the  bonds  of  flesh. 
Celibacy  is  a  great  help  inasmuch  as  it  enables  one  to  lead 
a  life  full  of  surrender  to  God. 

—Young  India  :  Nov.  20,  1924. 


Moksha  is  liberation  from  impure  thought.  Complete 
extinction  of  impure  thought  is  impossible  without  ceaseless 
penance.  There  is  only  one  way  to  achieve  this.  The 
moment  an  impure  thought  arises,  confront  it  with  a  pure 
one.  This  is  possible  only  with  God's  grace,,  and.  God's 


378        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

grace  comes  through  ceaseless  communion  with  Him  and 
complete  self-surrender.  This  communion  with  Him  in 
the  beginning  be  just  a  lip  repetition  of  His  name  even 
disturbed  by  impure  thoughts.  But  ultimately  what  is  on 
the  lips  will  possess  the  heart.  And  there  is  another  thing  to 
bear  in  mind.  The  mind  may  wander,  but  let  not  the  senses 
wander  with  it.  If  the  senses  wander  where  the  mind  takes 
them,  one  is  done  for.  But  he  who  keeps  control  of  the 
physical  senses  will  some  day  be  able  to  bring  impure 
thoughts  under  control Impure  thoughts  need  not  dis- 
may you.  We  are  monarchs  of  the  domain  of  effort.  God 

is  the  sole  Monarch  of  the  domain  of  Result You  know 

what  to  do  to  create  a  pure  atmosphere  about  you.  Spare 
diet,  sight  fixed  on  the  earth  below,  and  impatience  with 
oneself  to  the  extent  of  plucking  the  eye  out  if  cit  offends 
thee.' 

(From  a  letter  written  to  Jamanalal  Bajaj  by  Gandhiji) 

—Harijan  :  Feb.  22,  1942. 

Money 

I  HAVE  seen  from  experience  that  money  cannot  go 
as  far  as  fellow-feeling,  kind  words  and  kind  looks  can.  If 
a  man,  who  is  eager  to  get  riches  gets  the  riches  from 
another  but  without  sympathy,  he  will  give  him  up  in  the 
long  run.  On  the  other  hand,  one  who  has  been  con- 
querred  by  love  is  ready  to  encounter  no  end  of  difficulties 
with  him  wha  ^as  given  him  his  love. 

— Satyagraha  in  South  Africa  :  Page  340. 

<$><$><$> 

I  HAVE  never  known  a  good  cause  backed  by  good 
men  ever  to  have  died  for  want  of  funds,  only  we  often 
mistake  a  bad  cause  for  good  and  bad  men  for  good  and 
then  complain  that  the  cause  fails  for  want  of  funds. 

—Young  India  :  Feb.  21,  1929. 


MORALITY  379 

Money-Gifts 

MONEY-GIFTS  are  hardly  ever  a  sure  indication  of 
love.  In  fact  in  our  epics  we  have  the  story  often  told  of 
God  refusing  the  richest  presents  from  those  having  great 
possessions,  and  preferring  to  eat  the  coarse  morsel  lovingly 
given  by  a  devotee. 

—  Young  India  :  April  18,  1929. 

Monotony 

MONOTONY  is  the  law  of  nature.  Look  at  the  mono- 
tonous manner  in  which  the  sun  rises.  And  imagine  the  cat- 
astrophe that  would  befall  the  universe,  if  the  sun  became 
capricious  and  went  in  for  a  variety  of  pastime.  But  there 
is  a  monotony  that  sustains  and  a  monotony  that  kills.  The 
monotony  of  necessary  occupation  is  exhilarating  and  life- 
giving.  An  artist  never  tires  of  his  art.  A  spinner  who  has 
mastered  his  art  will  certainly  be  able  to  do  s*  ^ined  work 
without  fatigue.  There  is  a  music  about  th  die  which 

the  practised  spinner  catches  without  fail. 

—Young  India  :  Jai      ">,  1921. 

Morality 

AS  soon  as  we  lose  the  moral  basr ,  we  cease  to  De 
religious.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  religion  overri  ing 
morality.  Man,  for  instance,  cannot  be  untruthful,  ~r  L  or 
incontinent  and  claim  to  have  God  on  his  side. 

— Young  India  :  Nov.  2^, 

<£>    <$><$> 

THE  morals,  ethics  and  religion  are  convertible 
terms.  A  moral  life,  without  reference  to  religion,  is  like 
a  house  built  upon  sand.  And  religion,  divorced  from 
morality,  is  like  '  sounding  brass,  good  only  for  making  a 
noise  and  breaking  heads.7  Morality  includes  truth,  ahimsa 
and  continence.  Every  virtue  that  mankind  has  ever 
practised  is  referable  to,  and  derived  from,  these  three 


380        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

fundamental  virtues.  Non-violence  and  continence  are 
again  derivable  from  Truth,  which  for  me  is  God. 

—Harijan  :  Oct.  3,  1936. 
<3>    <$><$> 

THAT  which  is  opposed  to  the  fundamental  maxims 
of  morality,  that  which  is  opposed  to  trained  reason  cannot 
be  claimed  as  Shastra  no  matter  how  ancient  it  may  be. 

—Harijan:  Dec.  16,  1937. 
<$><$><$> 

MORALITY  which  depends  upon  the  helplessness 
of  a  man  or  woman  has  not  much  to  recommend  it. 
Morality  is  rooted  in  the  purity  of  our  hearts. 

—Harijan  :  June  8,  1940. 

Moral  Authority 

MORAL  authority  is  never  retained  by  any  attempt  to 
hold  on  to  :  It  comes  without  seeking  and  is  retained 
without  cF  —Young  India  :  Jan.  29,  1925, 

Motivr 

PU         *^otives    can   never   justify    impure    or     violent 
';on     '  —Toting  India  :  Dec.  18,  1924. 

<$>    <S>    <S> 

T)  come  now  to  the  question    of  motive,    whilst    it    is 
true  mental   attitude   is  the  crucial  test  of  Ahimsa,  it  is 

no*  ,ole  test.  To  kill  any  living  being  or  thing  save  for  his 
o  .1$  own  interest  is  himsa,  however  noble  the  motive  may 
oti.  ^wise  be.  And  a  ma  ^  who  harbours  ill-will  towards 
another  is  no  less  guilty  of  himib  because  for  fear  of  society 
or  want  of  opportunity,  he  is  unable  to  translate  his  ill-will 
into  action.  A  reference  to  both  intent  and  deed  is  thus 
necessary  in  order  finally  to  decide  whether  a  particular 
act  or  abstention  can  be  classed  as  ahimsa.  After  all  intent 
has  to  be  inferred  from  a  bunch  of  correlated  acts. 

— Young  India  :  Oct.  18,  1928. 


MUNICIPALITIES  381 

THE    rmmeat   there   is   suspicion    about    a     person's 
motives,  everything  he  does  becomes  tainted. 

— Toung  India  :  Mar.  12,  1920. 

Municipalities 

NATIONAL  Government  is  dependent  upon  purity   of 
the  Government  of  our  cities. 

—  Toung  India  :  Nov.  3,  1921. 

<s>  <$>  <s> 

Municipalities  are  perhaps  the  greatest  fraud  palmed 
off  upon  India.  The  Government  has  hitherto  used  them 
for  consolidating  its  power.  But  where  the  citizens  are 
united,  they  can  attain  the  muncipal  home-rule  in  a 
moment.  —Toung  India  ;  Jan.  26,  1922. 

<s>  <$>  <s> 

I  consider  myself  a  lover  of  Municipal  life.  I 
think  that  it  is  a  rare  privilege  for  a  person  to  find  himself 
in  the  position  of  Municipal  Councillor,  but  let  me  note 
down  for  you  as  a  man  of  some  experience  in  public  life 
that  one  indispensable  condition  of  that  privilege  is  that 
Municipal  Councillors  dare  not  approach  their  office  from 
interested  or  selfish  motives.  They  must  approach  their 
sacred  task  in  a  spirit  of  service. 

—  Toung  India  :  March  28,  1929. 

<3>    <3>    <S> 

THE  one  thing  which  we  can  and  must  learn  from  the 
West  is  the  science  of  Municipal  sanitation.  By  instinct 
and  habit  we  are  used  to  village  life,  where  the  need  for 
corporate  sanitation  is  not  much  felt.  But  as  the  Western 
civilisation  is  materialistic  and  therefore  tends  towards  the 
development  of  the  cities  to  the  neglect  of  villages  the 
people  of  the  West  have  evolved  a  science  of  corporate 
sanitation  and  hygiene  from  which  we  have  much  to  learn. 
Our  narrow  and  tortuous  lanes,  our  congested  ill-ventilatpd 
houses,  our  criminal  neglect  of  sources  of  drinking  water 


382        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

require  remedying.  Every  Municipality  can  render  the 
greatest  service  by  insisting  on  people  observing  the  law  of 
sanitation.  It  is  a  superstition  to  consider  that  vast  sums 
of  money  are  required  for  effecting  sanitary  reform.  We 
must  modify  western  methods  of  sanitation  to  suit  our  re- 
quirements. And  as  my  patriotism  is  inclusive  and  admits 
of  no  enmity  or  ill-will,  I  do  not  hesitate,  in  spite  of  my 
horror  of  Western  materialism  to  take  from  the  West  what 
is  beneficial  for  me.  And  as  I  know  Englishmen  to  be 
resourceful,  I  gratefully  seek  tBeir  assistance  in  such  matters. 
For  instance,  1  owe  to  Poore  my  knowledge  of  the  cheapest 
and  the  most  effective  method  of  disposal  of  human  excreta. 
He  has  shown  how  by  our  ignorance  or  prejudice  we  waste 
this  precious  manure  Excreta  are  not  dirt  in  their  proper 
place  and  when  they  are  properly  handled.  Dirt,  as  the 
English  say,  is  *  matter  misplaced.  ' 

—Toung  India  :  Dec.  26,  1924. 

N 

Nation 

BEFORE  we  become  a  nation  possessing  an  effective 
voice  in  the  councils  of  nations,  we  must  be  prepared  to 
contemplate  with  equanimity,  not  a  thousand  murders  of 
innocent  men  and  worsen  but  many  thousands  before  we 
attain  a  status  in  the  world  that  shall  not  be  surpassed  by 
any  nation.  —Toung  India  :  April  7,  1920. 

NATIONS  are  born  out  of  travail  and  suffering. 

—  Toung  India:  Nov.  19,  1920. 

WHAT  is  true  of  the  individual  will  be  tomorrow  true 
of  the  whole  nation  if  individuals  will  but  refuse  to  lose 
heart  and  hope.  —Young  India  :  April  7,  1927. 

Nationalism  vs.  Internationalism 

IN  my  opinion,  it  is  impossible  for  one  to  b-  inter- 
nationalist without  being  a  nationalist.  Internationalism 


NATIONAL  FLAG  383 

is  possible  only  when  nationalism  becomes  a  fact,  i.e.,  when 
people  belonging  to  different  countries  have  organised 
themselves  and  are  able  to  act  as  one  man.  It  is  not 
nationalism  that  is  evil,  it  is  the  narrowness,  selfishness, 
exclusiveness  which  is  the  bane  of  modern  nations,  which  is 
evil.  Each  wants  to  profit  at  the  expense  of,  and  rise  on, 
the  ruin  of  the  other.  Indian  nationalism  has,  I  hope, 
struck  a  different  path.  It  wants  to  organise  itself  or  to 
find  full  self-expression  for  the  benefit  and  service  of  huma- 
nity at  large.  Any  way,  there  is  no  uncertainty  about  my 
patriotism  or  nationalism.  God  having  cast  my  lot  in  the 
midst  of  the  people  of  India,  I  should  be  untrue  to  my 
Maker  if  I  failed  to  serve  them.  If  I  do  not  know  how 
to  serve  them  I  shall  never  know  how  to  serve  humanity. 
And  I  cannot  possibly  go  wrong  so  long  as  I  do  not  harm 
other  nations  in  the  act  of  serving  my  country. 

—Young  India  :  June  18,  1925. 

National  Dress 

I  WEAR  the  national  dress  because  it  is  the  most 
natural  and  the  most  becoming  for  an  Indian.  I  believe 
that  our  copying  of  the  European  dress  is  a  sign  of  our 
degradation,  humiliation  and  our  weakness,  and  that  we 
are  committing  a  national  sin  in  discarding  a  dress  which 
is  best  suited  to  the  Indian  climate  and  which,  for  its 
simplicity,  art  and  cheapness,  is  not  to  be  beaten  on  the 
face  of  the  earth  and  which  answers  hygienic  require- 
ments. Had  it  not  been  for  a  false  pride  and  equally 
false  notions  of  prestige,  Englishmen  here  would  long  ago 
have  adopted  the  Indian  costume. 

— Speeches  and  Writings  of  Mahaima  Gandhi  :  Page  117. 

National  Flag 

A  FLAG  is  a  necessity  for  all  nations.  Millions  have 
died  for  it.  It  is  no  doubt  a  kind  of  idolatry  which  it 
would  be  a  sin  to  destroy.  For  a  flag  represents  an  ideaL 


384       TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

The  unfurling  of  the  Union  Jack  evokes  in  the  English 
breast  sentiments  whose  strength  it  is  difficult  to  measure. 
The  Stars  and  Stripes  mean  a  world  to  the  Americans. 
The  Star  and  the  Crescent  will  call  forth  the  best  bravery 
in  Islam.  —Young  India  :  April  13,  1921. 

<*><$><$> 

IT  was  reserved  for  a  Punjabee  to  make  a  suggestion 
that  at  once  arrested  attention.  It  was  Lala  Hansraj  of 
Jullunder  who,  in  discussing  the  possibilities  of  the  spinning 
wheel,  suggested  that  it  should  find  a  place  on  our 
Swaraj  Flag.  — Toung  India  :  April  13,  1921. 

<*><*><$> 

I  AM  the  author  of  the  flag.  It  is  dear  to  me  as  life. 
But  I  do  not  believe  in  flag  waving.  This  flag  represents 
unity,  non-violence,  and  identification  through  the  charkha 
of  the  highest  with  the  lowliest  in  the  land.  Any  insult 
,to  the  flag  must  leave  a  deep  scar  on  an  Indian  breast. 

—Harijan  :  April  17,  1938. 

National  Service. 

WE  want  an  army  of  whole-time  workers.  In  a  poor 
.country  like  India,  it  is  not  possible  to  get  such  workers 
without  pay.  I  see  not  only  no  shame,  but  I  see  credit  in 
accepting  p^y  for  national  work  honestly  and  well  done. 
We  shall  have  to  engage  many  paid  whole -time  worker 
when  Swaraj  is  established.  Shall  we  then  feel  less  pride  in 
belonging  to  the  Swaiaj  service  than  Englishmen  do  in 
belonging  to  the  India  Civil  Service  ? 

—  Toung  India  :  July  10,  1924. 

<$>    <s>    <$> 

LET  there  be  no  shame  about  accepting  remuneration* 
A  labourer  is  worthy  of  his  hire.  And  he  is  no  less  selfless 
because  he  accepts  remuneration.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  a 
most  selfless  man  has  to  give  his  all  to  the  nation  body, 
mind  and  soul.  And  he  has  still  to  feed  himself.  The 
nation  gladly  feeds  such  men  and  won»en  and  yet  regards 


NATURE  385 

them  as  selfless.  The  difference  between  a  voluntary  worker 
and  a  hireling  lies  in  the  fact  that  whereas  a  hireling  gives 
his  service  to  whosoever  pays  his  price,  a  national  voluntary 
worker  gives  his  service  only  to  the  nation  for  the  cause  he 
believes  in  and  he  serves  it  even  though  he  might  have  to 
starve.  —Young  India  :  May  19,  1929. 

Nature 

NATURE  abhors  a  vacuum.  Therefore,  construction 
must  keep  pace  with  destruction. 

—  Young  India  :  May  8,  1 924, 
<$><$><$> 

NATURE  abhors  weakness 

—  Young  India  :  Jan.  13,  1927, 

Nobility 

LIGHT  brings  light,  not  darkness,  and  nobility  done 
with  a  noble  purpose  will  be  twice  rewarded. 

—Toung  India  :  Oct.  13,  1920. 

Non-co-operation 

THE  primary  object  of  Non-co-operation  is  nowhere 
stated  to  be  paralysis  of  the  Government.  The  primary 
object  is  self-purification.  Its  direct  result  must  be  paralysis 
of  a  Government  which  lives  on  our  vices  and  weaknesses. 

—Young  India  :  April  20,  1920. 

,      3>    <$>    <$> 

<  THE  movement,'  says  Sir  William,  '  is  purely  destruc- 
tive, and,  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  ascertain,  con- 
tains no  element  of  constructive  ability.7  It  is  undoubtedly 
destructive  in  the  knse  that  a  surgeon  who  applies  the 
knife  to  a  diseased  part  may  be  said  to  make  a  destructive 
movement.  This  destructive  movement  bears  in  it  the 
surest  seed  of  construction  as  the  surgeon's  knife  contains 
the  seed  of  health.  Is  temperance  destructive  ?  Are 
national  schools  springing  up  everywhere  destructive  ?  Arc 
the  thousands  of  spinning  wheels  destructive  of  a  nation'* 


386        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

prosperity  ?  They  will  destroy  foreign   domination   whether 
it  hails  from  Lancashire  or  is  threatened  from  Japan. 

—Young  India  :  April  20,  1920. 

<$>  <s>  <$> 

NON-CO-OPERATORS  are  to  be  blessed  for  turning  the 
fury  of  an  outraged  people  from  Englishmen  to  the  system  they 
are  called  upon  to  administer.—  Young  India  :  April  20,  1920. 

<$>     <$><$> 

MY  friend  objects  to  my  statement  that  Non-co-opera- 
tion is  not  anti-Government,  because  he  considers  that 
refusal  to  serve  it  and  pay  its  taxes  is  actually  anti-Govern- 
ment. I  respectfully  dissent  from  the  view.  If  a  brother 
has  fundamental  differences  with  his  brother,  and  association 
with  the  latter  involves  his  partaking  of  what  in  his  opinion 
is  an  injustice,  I  hold  that  it  is  his  brotherly  duty  to  refrain 
from  serving  his  brother  and  sharing  his  earnings  with  him. 
This  happens  in  everyday  life.  Prahlad  did  not  act  against 
his  father  when  he  declined  to  associate  himself  with  the 
latter's  blasphemies.  Nor  was  Jesus  anti-Jewish  when  he 
declaimed  against  the  Pharisees  and  the  hypocrites,  and 
would  have  none  of  them.  In  such  matters,  is  it  not  the 
intention  that  determines  the  character  of  a  particular  act  ? 
It  is  hardly  correct  as  the  friend  suggests  that  withdrawal 
of  association  under  general  circumstances  would  make  all 
government  impossible.**  But  it  is  true  that  such  withdrawal 
would  make,all  injustice  impossible. 

—  Taunt  India  :  May  19,  1920. 

<$><$>«> 

I  CONSIDER  Non-co-operation  to  be  such  a  power- 
ful and  pure  instrument  that,  if  it  is  enforced  in  an  earnest 
spirit,  it  will  be  like  seeking  first  the  Kingdom  of  God  and 
everything  else  following  as  a  matter  of  course.  People  will 
then  have  realized  their  true  power.  They  would  have 
learnt  the  value  of  discipline,  self-control,  joint  action,  non- 
violence, organisation  and  everything  else  that  goes  to  make 
a  nation  great  and  good,  and  not  merely  great. 

—Young  India  :  June  2,  1920. 


NON-CO-OPERATION  387 

NON-CO-OPERATION  in  itself  is  more  harmless  than 
Civil  Disobedience,  but  in  its  effect  it  is  far  more  dangerous 
for  the  Government  than  Civil  Disobedience. 

—Toting  India  :  July  28,  1920. 
^s    ^s    ^s 

THERE  is  no  instrument  so  clean,  so  harmless  and 
yet  so  effective  as  Non-co-operation.  Judiciously  hauled  it 
need  not  produce  any  evil  consequences.  And  its  intensity 
will  depend  on  the  capacity  of  the  people  for  sacrifice. 

—  Young  Mia  :  June  30,  1920. 

<S>    <$>    <3> 

I  HAVE  most  carefully  read  the  manifesto  addressed 
by  Sir  Narayan  Chandavarkar  and  others  dissuading  the 
people  from  joining  the  Non-co-operation  movement.  1 
had  expected  to  find  some  solid  argument  against  Non-co- 
operation,  but  to  my  great  regret  I  have  found  in  it  nothing 
but  distortion  (no  doubt  unconscious)  of  the  great  religions 
and  history.  The  manifesto  says  that  *  Non-co-operation 
is  deprecated  by  the  religious  tenets  and  traditions  of  our 
motherland,  nay,  of  all  the  religions  that  have  saved  and 
elevated,  the  human  race.  I  venture  to  submit  that  the 
Bhagwad  Gita  is  a  gospel  of  Non-co-operation  between  the 
forces  of  darkness  and  those  of  light.  If  it  is  to  be  literally 
interpreted,  Arjun  representing  a  just  cause  was  enjoined 
to  engage  in  bloody  warfare  with  the  unjust  Kauravas. 
Tulsidas  advises  the  Sant  (the  good)  to  shun  the  Asant  (the 
evil-doer).  The  Zendavesta  represents  a  perpetual  duel 
between  Oriruzd  and  Ahriman,  between  whom  there  is  no 
compromise.  To  say  of  the  Bible  that  it  taboos  Non-co- 
operation is  not  to  know  Jesus,  a  Prince  among  passive 
resisters,  who  uncompromisingly  challenged  the  might  of  the 
Sadducees  and  the  Pharisees  and  for  the  sak*  of  truth 
did  not  hesitate  to  divide  sons  from  their  parents.  And 
what  did  the  Prophet  of  Islam  do  ?  He  non-co-operated 
in  Mecca  in  a  most  active  manner  so  long  as  his  life  was 
not  in  danger  and  wiped  the  dust  of  Mecca  off  his  feet 
when  he  found  that  he  and  his  followers  mic^ht  haw 


388        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA    GANDHI 

uselessly  to  perish,  and  fled  to  Medina  and  returned  when 
he  was  strong  enough  to  give  battle  to  his  opponents. 
The  duty  of  Non-co-operation  with  unjust  men  and  kings  is 
as  strickly  enjoined  by  all  the  religions  as  is  the  duty  of 
CO-operation  with  just  men  and  Kings.  Indeed  most  of  the 
scriptures  of  the  world  seem  even  to  go  beyond  Non-co- 
operation and  prefer  violence  to  effeminate  submission  to  a 
wrong.  The  Hindu  religious  tradition  of  which  the  mani- 
festo speaks  clearly  proves  the  duty  of  Non-co-operation. 
Prahalad  dissociated  himself  from  his  father  Meerabai  from 
her  husband.  Bibi  Shahan  from  her  brutal  brother. 

—Young  India  :  Aug.  4,  1920. 
<$>   <3>   <$> 

THE  movement  of  Non-co-operation  is  neither  anti- 
Christian  nor  anti-English  nor  anti-European.  It  is  a 
struggle  between  religion  and  irreligion,  powers  of  light  and 
powers  of  darkness.  —Toung  India  :  Sept.  8,  1920. 

ENLIGHTENED  Non-co-operation  is  the  expression  of 
anguished  love.  —Toung  India  :  Nov.  20,  1920. 

NON-VIOLENT  Non-co-operation  will  and  must 
remain  the  creed  of  theu  nation  that  has  grown  weary  of 
camouflage,  humbug,  and  honeyed  words. 

India  :  Nov.  17,  1920. 


YOU  cannot  raise  this  great  nation  to  its  full  height  by 
the  unclean  methods  of  secrecy.  We  must,  by  boldly  carry- 
ing on  our  campaign  in  the  light  of  the  blazing  sun  of 
openness,  disarm  the  secret  and  demoralising  police  depart- 
ment. Non-co-operation  is  nothing  if  it  des  not  strike  at 
the  root.  And  you  strike  at  the  root  when  you  cease  to 
water  this  deadly  tree  of  the  British  Government  by  means  of 
open  and  honourable  Non-cooperation. 

—Toung  India  :  Dec.  1,  1920. 


NON-CO-OPERATION  389 

NON-CO-OPERATION  is  an  attempt  to  awaken  the 
masses  to  a  sense  of  their  dignity  and  power.  This  can  only 
be  by  enabling  them  to  realize  that  they  need  not  fear 
brute  force,  if  they  would  but  know  the  soul  within. 

—Young  India  :  Dec.  1,  1920. 

HITHERTO  we  have  looked  up  to  the  Government  to 
do  everything  for  us,  and  we  have  found  it  almost  wholly 
irresponsive  in  everything  that  matters.  We  have  therefore 
been  filled  with  blank  despair.  We  have  ceased  to 
believe  in  ourselves  or  the  Government.  The  present  move- 
ment is  an  attempt  to  change  this  winter  of  our  despair  into 
the  summer  of  hope  and  confidence.  When  we  begin  to 
believe  in  ourselves,  Englishmen  will,  I  promise,  begin  to 
believe  in  us.  Then,  and  not  till  then,  is  there  any  hope  of 
co-operation  between  the  Government  and  us.  The  existing 
system  of  government,  it  will  be  found  upon  analysis,  is 
based  upon  a  scientific  study  of  our  weaknesses,  which  have 
rather  been  promoted  by  it  than  reduced.  Non-co-opera- 
tion is,  therefore,  as  much  a  protest  against  our  own  weak- 
ness, as  against  the  inherent  corruption  of  the  existing  system, 
British  and  Indian,  we  become  impure  by  belonging  to  it. 
The  withdrawal  from  it  of  one  party  purifies  both.  I  invite 
even  the  sceptics  to  follow  the  programme  of  Non-co-opera- 
tion as  a  trial,  and  I  promise  that  there  will  be  Swaraj  in 
India  during  the  year,  if  the  programme  is  carried  out 
in  its  fulness.  —Young  India  :  Dec.  15,  1920. 

<$><$><§> 

NON-CO-OPERATION  is  not  a  movement  of  brag, 
bluster,  or  bluff.  It  is  a  test  of  our  sincerity.  It  requires 
solid  and  silent  self-sacrifice.  It  challenges  our  honesty  and 
our  capacity  for  national  work.  It  is  a  movement  that  aims 
at  translating  ideas  into  action.  And  the  more  we  do,  the 
more  we  find  that  much  more  must  be  done  than  we  had 
expected.  And  this  thought  of  our  imperfection  must  make 
us  humble.  *  —Young  India  :  Jan.  12,  1921. 


390         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

THE  movement  of  self-government  cannot — must  not — 
be  made  to  depend  upon  one  man.  I  have  but  presented 
India  with  a  new  and  matchless  weapon,  or  rather  an  ex- 
tended application  of  an  ancient  and  tried  weapon.  She 
must  reject  or  accept  it  for  her  own  use.  I  cannot  use  it  for 
her,  I  can  use,  have  used  it,  for  myself  and  feel  free. 
Others  have  done,  and  feel  likewise.  If  the  nation  uses 
the  weapon,  she  becomes  free. — Toung  India  :  April  6,  1921. 

^>    3>    <$> 

I^HAVE  said  repeatedly  that  I  am  acting  towards  the 
Government  as  I  have  acted  towards  my  own  dearest  rela- 
tives. Non-co-operation  on  the  political  field  is  an  extension 
of  the  doctrine  as  it  is  practised  on  the  domestic  field. 

—  Toung  India  :  April  20,  1921. 

IT  is  directed  not  against  men  but  against  measures. 
It  is  not  directed  against  the  Governors,  but  against  the 
system  they  administer.  The  roofs  of  Non-co-operation  lie 
not  in  hatred  but  in  justice,  if  not  in  love. 

— Toung  India  :  May  25,  1921. 

WE  had  lost  the  power  of  saying  'no'.  It  had  become 
disloyal,  almost  sacrilegious  to  say  'no'  to  the  Government. 
This  deliberate  refusal  to  co-operate  is  like  the  necessary 
weeding  process  that  a  cultivater  has  to  resort  before  he 
sows.  Weeding  is  as  necessary  to  agriculture  as  sowing. 
Indeed,  even  whilst  the  crops  are  growing,  the  weeding  fork, 
as  every  husbandman  knows,  is  an  instrument  almost  of 
daily  use.  The  nation's  Non-co-operation  is  an  invitation  to 
the  Government  to  co-operate  with  it  on  its  own  terms  as  is 
every  nation's  right  and  every  good  government's  duty. 
Non-co-operation  is  the  nation's  notice  that  it  is  no  longer 
satisfied  to  be  in  tutelage.  —  Toung  India  :  June  1,  1921. 

IN  my  humble  opinion,  rejection  is  as  much  an  ideal  as 
the  acceptance  of  a  thing.  It  is  as  necessary  to  reject 
•untruth  as  it  is  to  accept  truth.  All  religions  te^ch  that  two 


NON-CO-OPERATION  391 

opposite  forces  act  upon  us  and  that  the  human  endeavour 
consists  in  a  series  of  eternal  rejections  and  acceptances. 
Non-co-operation  with  evil  is  as  much  a  duty  as  co-operation 
with  good.  — Young  India  :  June  1,  192 1» 

<S>    3>    <$> 

THIS  campaign  of  Non-co-operation  has  no  reference 
to  diplomacy,  secret  or  open.  The  only  diplomacy  it  admits 
of  is  the  statement  and  pursuance  of  truth  at  any  cost. 

.      —Young  India  :  June  8,  1921. 
<S>    <$>    <$> 

NON-CO-OPERATION  is  beyond  the  reach  of  the 
bayonet.  It  has  found  an  abiding  place  in  the  Indian 
heart.  Workers  like  me  will  go  when  the  hour  has  struck, 
but  Non-co-operation  will  remain. 

— Young  India  :  June  8,  1921. 

<S>    3>    <$> 

THE  movement  of  Non-co-operation,  is  nothing,  if  it 
does  not  purify  us  and  restrain  our  evil  passions. 

—Young  India  :  Sept.  15,  1921. 
<$><$><$> 

THE  secret  of  Non-violence  and  Non-co-operation  lies 
in  our  realizing  that  it  is  through  suffering  that  we  are  to 
attain  our  goal.  What  is  the  renunciation  of  titles,  councils, 
law  courts,  schools  but  a  measure  (very  slight  indeed)  of 
suffering  ?  The  preliminary  renunciation  is  a  prelude  to  the 
larger  suffering — the  hardships  of  a  goal  life,  and  even  the 
final  consummation  on  the  gallows,  if  need  be.  The  more 
\ve  suffer  and  the  more  of  us  suffer,  the  nearer  we  are  to  our 
cherished  goal. 

The  earlier  and  the  more  clearly  we  recognise  that  it  is 
not  big  meetings  and  demonstrations  that  would  give  us 
victory,  but  quiet  suffering,  the  earlier  and  more  certain  will 
our  victory  be.  —Young  India  :  Sept.  29,  1921. 

INTOLERANCE  is  itself  a  form  of  violence  and  an 
obstacle  to  the  growth  of  a  true  democratic  spirit.     Arro- 


392        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA    GANDHI 

gant  assumption  of  superiority  on  the  part  of  a  Non-co- 
operator  who  has  undergone  a  little  bit  of  sacrifice  or  put  on 
Khadi  is  the  greatest  danger  to  the  movement.  A  Non-co- 
operator  is  nothing  if  he  is  not  humble.  When  self-satisfac- 
tion creeps  over  a  man,  he  has  ceased  to  grow  and  therefore 
has  become  unfit  for  freedom.  He  who  offers  a  little  sacrifice 
from  a  lowly  and  religious  spirit  quickly  realises  the  miserable 
littleness  of  it.  Once  on  the  path  of  sacrifice,  we  find  out 
the  measure  of  our  selfishness,  and  must  continually  wish  to 
give  more  and  not  be  satisfied  till  there  is  a  complete  self- 
surrender. 

And  this  knowledge  of  so  little  attempted  and  still  less 
done  must  keep  us  humble  and  tolerant.  It  is  our  exclusive- 
ness  and  the  easy  self-satisfaction  that  have  certainly  kept 
many  a  waverer  away  from  us.  Our  motto  must  ever  be 
conversion  by  gentle  persuasion  and  a  constant  appeal  to  the 
head  and  the  heart.  We  must  therefore  be  ever  courteous 
and  patient  with  those  who  do  not  see  eye  to  eye  with  us.  We 
must  resolutely  refuse  to  consider  our  opponents  as  enemies 
of  the  country.  —Young  India  :  Sept.  29,  1921. 

<s>  <$>  <s> 

THE  scheme  of  Non-co-oparation  or  Swtdeshi  is  not  an 
exclusive  doctrine.  My  modesty  has  prevented  me  from 
declaring  from  the  house-top  that  the  message  of  Non-co- 
operation, Non-violence  and  Swedeshi,  is  a  message  to  the 
world.  It  must  fall  flat,  if  it  does  not  bear  fruit  in  the  soil 
where  it  has  been  delivered.  At  the  present  moment  India 
has  nothing  to  share  with  the  world  save  her  degradation, 
pauperism  and  plagues.  Is  it  her  ancient  Shastras  that  we 
should  send  to  the  world  ?  Well  they  are  printed  in  many 
editions,  and  an  incredulous  and  idolatrous  world  refuses  to- 
look  at  them,  because  we,  the  heirs  and  custodians,  do  not 
live  them.  Before,  therefore,  I  can  think  of  sharing  with 
the  world,  I  must  possess.  Our  Non-co-operation  is  neither 
with  the  English  nor  with  the  West.  Our  Non-co-operation 
is  with  the  system  the  English  have  established,  with  the 


NON-CO-OPERATION  39$ 

material  civilisation  and  its  attendant  greed  and  exploitation 
of  the  weak.  Our  Non-co-operation  is  a  retirement  within 
overselves.  Our  Non-co-operation  is  a  refusal  to  co-operate 
with  the  English  administrators  on  their  own  terms.  We 
say  to  them,  'Come  and  co-operate  with  us  on  our  terms, 
and  it  will  be  well  for  us,  for  you  and  the  world/  We  must 
refuse  to  be  lifted  off  our  feet.  A  drowning  man  cannot  sam 
others.  In  order  to  be  Jit  to  save  others,  we  must  try  to  save  our- 
selves. Indian  nationalism  is  not  exclusive,  nor  aggressive, 
nor  destructive.  It  is  health-giving,  religious  and  "therefore 
humanitarian.  India  must  learn  to  live  before  she  can 
aspire  to  die  for  humanity.  The  mice  which  helplessly  find 
themselves  between  the  cat's  teeth  acquire  no  merit  from 
their  enforced  sacrifice.  —Young  India  :  Oct.  13,  1921. 

^    ^>    $> 

HITHERTO  the  people  have  been  the  football  of 
officials  or  so-called  representatives.  Non-co-operation  en- 
ables the  people  to  become  the  players  in  the  game.  Re- 
presentatives must  represent  or  they  perish. 

—  Young  India  :  Oct.  27,  1921. 
<$><$><$> 

I  HAVE  said  repeatedly  that  this  movement  is  not  in- 
tended to  drive  out  the  English;  it  is  intended  to  end  or  mend 
the  system  they  have  forced  upon  us. 

— Young  India  :  Nov.  17,  1921, 

<*>  <s>  <$> 

NON-CO-OPERATION  is  not  a  passive  state,  it  is  an 
intensely  active  state,  more  active  than  physical  resistance  01 
violence.  Passive  resistance  is  a  misnomer.  Non-co-opera- 
tion in  the  sense  used  by  me  must  be  non-violent  and  there- 
fore neither  punitive  nor  vindictive  nor  based  on  malice,  ill- 
will  or  hatred.  It  follows  therefore  that  it  would  be  sin  foi 
nie  to  serve  General  Dyer  and  co-operate  with  him  to  shoo 
innocent  men.  But  it  will  be  an  exercise  of  forgiveness  O] 
love  for  me  to  nurse  him  back  to  life,  if  he  was  suffering  fron 
physical  malady.  I  would  co-operate  a  thotasandi  times,  wit] 


'394         TEACHINGS  OF   MAHATMA  GANDHI 

this  Government  to  wean  it  from  its  career  of  crime,  but  I 
will  not  for  a  single  moment  co-operate  with  it  to  continue 
that  career.  And  I  would  be  guilty  of  wrong-doing  if  I 
retained  a  title  from  it  or  "  a  service  under  it  or  supported  its 
law  courts  or  schools."  Better  for  me  a  begger's  bowl  than 
the  richest  possession  from  hands  stained  with  the  blood 
of  the  innocents  of  Jallianwala.  Better  by  far  a  warrant  of 
imprisonment  than  honeyed  words  from  those  who  have 
wantonly  wounded  the  religious  sentiment  of  my  seventy 
million  brothers.  —  Young  India  :  July  24,  1924. 


NO  big  or  swift  movement  can  be  carried  on  without 
bold  risks,  and  life  will  not  be  worth  living,  if  it  is  not 
attended  with  large  risks.  Does  not  the  history  of  the  world 
show  that  there  would  have  been  no  romance  in  life,  if  there 
had  been  no  risks  ?  It  is  the  clearest  proof  of  a  degenerate 
atmosphere  that  one  finds  respectable  people,  leaders  of 
society,  raising  their  hands  in  horror  and  indignation  at  the 
slightest  approach  of  danger  or  upon  an  outbreak  of  any 
violent  commotion.  We  do  want  to  drive  out  the  beast  in 
man,  but  we  do  not  want  on  that  account  to  emasculate 
him.  And  in  the  process  of  finding  his  own  status,  the  beast 
in  him  is  bourjd,  now  and  again,  to  put  up  his  ugly  appear- 
ance. As  I  have  often  stated  in  these  pages,  what  strikes  me 
down  is  not  the  sight  of  blood  under  every  conceivable  cir- 
cumstance. It  is  blood  split  by  the  Non-co-operator  or  his 
supporters  in  breach  of  his  declared  pledge,  which  paralyses 
me  as  I  know  it  ought  to  paralyse  every  honest  Non-co- 
operator.  —  Young  India  :  Dec.  15,  1921. 

<$>    <$>    <S> 

OUR  present  Non-co-operation  refers  not  so  much  to  the 
paralysis  of  a  wicked  government  as  to  our  being  proof 
against  wickedness.  It  aims  therefore  not  at  destruction  but 
at  construction.  It  deals  with  causes  rather  than  with 
symptoms.  *—Young  India  :  Dec.  22,  1921. 


NON-CO-OPERATION  395 

IT  is  unlawful  for  a  Non-co-operator  even  to  wish  ill  to 
his  enemies.  —Toung  India  :  Dec.  22,  1921. 

NON-CO-OPERATION  is  a  method  of  cultivating 
public  opinion,  —  Toung  India  :  Dec.  29,  1921. 

^N    <^    ^N 

OURS  is  a  struggle  in  which  we  are  pledged  to 
make  all  sacrifice  and  exact  none.  We  must  voluntarily 
though  temporarily,  embrace  poverty,  if  we  will  banish 
pauperism  and  pariahdom  from  the  land.  The  sacrifice 
of  the  ease  by  a  few  of  us  is  nothing  compared  to  the 
reward  which  is  in  store  for  us,  viz,  the  restoration 
af  the  honour  and  prosperity  of  this  holy  land. 

—  Toung  India:  Jan.   12,   1922. 
0    &   <S> 

ONE  true  and  perfect  Non-co-operator  is  any  day 
better  than  a  million  No-co-operator  so-called. 

—Toung  India  :  Jan.  19,  1922. 
^N    ^^    ^^ 

CO-OPERATORS  do  not  see  that  the  action  of  the 
Govt.  is  like  that  of  a  man,  who  refuses  to  give  food 
to  a  hungry  man  and  then  threatens  to  shoot  him 
whilst  he  is  attempting  to  help  himself. 

—Toung  India  :  Jan.  26,  1922. 
^    <^    Q 

NON-CO-OPERATION  and  Civil  Disobedience  are 
but  different  branches  of  the  same  tree  called  Satyagraha 
It  is  my  Kalpadara  —  my  Jam-i-jfam  —  the  Universal  Provider. 
Satyagraha  is  search  for  Truth;  and  God  is  Truth. 
Ahimsa  or  Non-violence  is  the  light  that  reveals  that 
Truth  to  me.  Swaraj  for  me  is  part  of  that  Truth. 

—Young  India  :  Dec.  26,    1924. 


BEHIND  my  non-co-operation  there  is  always  the 
keenest  desire  to  co-operate  on  the  sightest  pretext  even 
with  the  worst  pf  opponents.  To  me,  a  very  imperfect 


396        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

mortal,  ever  in  need  of  God's  grace,  no  one  is  be- 
yond redemption.  — Young  India  :  Jan.  4,  1925. 

<$><$><$> 

I  HAVE  said  that  I  am  a  non-co-operator.  I  call  myself 
a  civil-resister  and  both  words  have  come  to  posses  a 
bad  odour  in  the  English  language  like  so  many  other 
English  words  but  I  non-co-operate  in  order  that  I  may 
be  able  to  co-operate.  I  cannot  satisfy  myself  with 
false  co-operation,  anything  inferior  to  24  carats  gold. 
My  non-co-operation  does  not  prevent  me  from  being 
friendly  even  to  Sir  Michael  O7  Dwyer  and  General 
Dyer.  It  harms  no  one,  it  is  non-co-operation  with  evil, 
with  an  evil  system  and  not  with  the  evil  doer.  My 
religion  teaches  me  to  love  even  an  evil  doer,  and  my 
non-co-operation  is  but  part  of  that  religion 

—Young  India. :  Aug.  20,  1925. 

<$>    <$>    <$> 
NON-CO-OPERATION     is     not     only   my    political 

but  it  is  also  my  domestic  and  social  religion.  Voluntary 
and  health  giving  co-operation  is  impossible  without  the 
possibility  of  non-co-operation  at  a  certain  stage  and 
under  certain  conditions.  — Young  India  :  Oct.  8,  1925. 

<3>    <S>    <S> 

REASONED  and  willing  obedience  to  the  laws  of 
the  state  is  the  first  ICSSOH  in  Non-co-operation. 

The  second  is  that  of  tolerance.  We  must  tolerate 
many  laws  of  the  State,  even  when  they  are  incon- 
venient. A  son  may  not  approve  of  some  orders  of  the 
father  and  yet  he  obeys  them.  It  is  only  when  they 
are  unworthy  of  tolerance  and  immoral  that  he  dis- 
obeys them.  The  father  will  at  once  understand  such 
respectful  disobedience.  In  the  same  way  it  is  only  when 
a  people  have  proved  their  active  loyalty  by  obeying 
the  many  laws  of  the  State  that  they  acquire  the  right 
of  Civil  Disobedience. 

The  third  lesson  is  that  of  suffering.   He  who    has 


NON-CO-OPERATION  397 

not  the  capacity  of  suffering  cannot  non-co-operate.  He 
who  has  not  learnt  to  sacrifice  his  property  and  even 
his  family  when  necessary  can  never  non-co-operate.  It 
is  possible  that  a  prince  enraged  by  non-co-operation 
will  inflict  all  manner  of  punishments.  There  lies  the 
test  of  love,  patience,  and  strength.  He  who  is  not 
ready  to  undergo  the  fiery  ordeal  cannot  non-co-operate. 

—Toung  India  :  Jan.  8,  1925. 

<S>     <$>     <$> 

THE  movement  of  Non-violent  Non-co-operation  has  no- 
thing in  common  with  the  historical  struggles  for  freedom  in 
the  West.  It  is  not  based  on  brute  force  or  hatred.  It  does  not 
aim  at  destroying  the  tyrant.  It  is  a  movement  of  self- 
purification.  It  therefore  seeks  to  convert  the  tyrant. 
It  may  fail  because  India  may  not  be  ready  for  mass 
non-violence.  But  it  would  be  wrong  to  judge  the 
movement  by  false  standards.  My  own  opinion  is  that 
the  movement  has  in  no  wise  failed.  Non-violence  has 
found  an  abiding  place  in  India's  struggle  for  freedom. 
That  the  programme  could  not  be  finished  in  a  year's  time 
merely  shows  that  the  people  could  not  cope  with  a 
mighty  upheaval  during  such  a  short  time.  But  it  is 
a  leaven  which  is  silently  but  surely  working  its  way 
among  the  masses.  — Young  India  :  Feb.  11,  1926. 

<s>  <$>  <s> 

THERE  is  no  doubt  about  it  that  whenever  free- 
dom comeS,  it  will  come  through  some  application  of  Non- 
co-operation  including  Civil  Disobedience. 

— Toung  India  :  March  18,  1926. 

<$>  <s>  <s> 

Q,.  IT  has  been  suggested  in  Bombay  that  you  went 
to  the  Government  uninvited,  in  fact  you  forced  your- 
self upon  his  attention.  If  so,  was  it  not  co-operation 
even  without  response  ?  What  could  you  have  to  do  with 
the  Governor,  I  wonder  ? 

A.  My  answer  that  I  am  quite  capable  even  of  forc- 
ing myself  upon  the  attention  of  my  opponent  when  I 


398        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

have  strength.  I  did  so  in  South  Africa.  I  sought  inter- 
views after  interviews  with  General  Smuts  when  I  knew  that 
I  was  ready  for  battle.  I  pleaded  with  him,  to  avoid  the  un- 
told hardships  that  the  Indian  settlers  must  suffer,  if 
the  great  historic  march  had  to  be  undertaken.  It  is 
true  that  be  in  his  haughtiness  turned  a  deaf  ear,  but 
I  lost  nothing.  I  gained  added  strength  by  my  humility. 
So  would  I  do  in  India  when  we  are  strong  enough 
to  put  up  a  real  fight  for  freedom.  Remember  that 
ours  is  a  non-violent  struggle.  It  pre-supposes  humility. 
It  is  a  truthful  struggle  and  consciousness  of  truth  should 
give  us  firmness.  We  are  not  out  to  destroy  men.  We 
own  nc  enemy.  We  have  no  ill-will  against  a  single 
soul  on  earth.  We  mean  to  convert  by  our  suffering. 
I  do  not  despair  of  converting  the  hardest-hearted  or 
the  most  selfish  Englishman.  Every  opportunity  of  meet- 
ing him  is  therefore  welcome  to  me. 

Let     me     distinguish.     Non-violent    Non-co-operation 
means     renunciation     of    the    benefits   of  a    system     with 
which    we    non-co-operate.     W7e     therefore    renounce     the 
benefits   of  schools,    courts,    titles,    legislatures    and    offices 
set   up    under   the   system.     The   most   extensive   and  per- 
manent    part     of  cur   JSTon-co-operation   consists   in      the 
renunciation   of  foreign    cloth    which     is     the     foundation 
for     the     vicious   system     that    is   crushing     us     to     dust. 
It    is    possible   to   think  of  other  items  of  Non-co-operation. 
But      owing     to      our     weakness     or     want     of        ability 
we     have     restricted      curselves     to     these     items      only. 
If    then      I     go     to     any     cfficial     for     the    purpose    of 
seeking      the     benefits      above     named      I        co-operate. 
Where     as      if    I      go     to      the     meanest     cfficial      for 
the   purpose   of   converting  him,  say  to   Khcddar,   or   wean- 
ing  him    fjcm    his    service   or   persi  ding  him  to  with  draw 
his  children  from  Govt.  schools,  I  fulfill  my    duty  as  a   non- 
co-operator.     1    should    fail  if  I  did  not  go  to  him  with  that 
definite  and  direct  purpose.      —Toung  India  :  May.  27,  1926- 


NON-CO-OPERATION  399 

It  is  my  humble  opinion  that  within  the  last  two 
generations  our  country  has  not  gained  as  much  as  it  has 
gained  since  the  advent  of  Non-violent  Non-co-operation. 
I  entertain  no  doubt  whatever  as  to  the  verdict  of 
history  upon  Non-violent  Non-co-operation.  It  is  also 
my  certain  belief,  that  every  student  who  left  his  school 
sr  college  or  every  Government  servant  who  left  what 
passes  as  public  services  has  gained  immeasurably  and 
lost  nothing  by  having  done  so.  That  public  services 
in  spite  of  non-co-operation  Ijave  riot  been  abandoned, 
that  Government  schools  have  not  been  abandoned  by 
our  boys  is  no  demonstration  whatsoever  of  the  failure 
of  my  doctrine,  even  as  because  men  and  women  are 
not  all  votaries  of  truth,  truth  cannot  be  challenged  as 
to  its  efficacy  or  soundness.  —  Toung  India  Oct.  20  1927. 

<s>  <?>  <s> 

IF  co-operation  is  a  duty,  I  hold  that  non-co- 
operation also  under  certain  conditions  is  equally  a  duty, 

—Tow<g  India  :  Oct.  27,  1927, 

<$><$><*> 

THE  many  years  that  have  passed  have  left  me  utterly 
unrepentant  for  having  asked  those  boys  to  come  out 
of  those  institutions,  and  I  am  firmly  of  opinion  that 
those  who  responded  to  the  call  served  their  land,  and 
I  am  sure  the  future  historian  of  India  will  record 
their  sacrifice  with  approval.  — Toung  India  :  Nov.  10,  1927, 

<$><$><$> 

THE  mass  awakening  that  took  place  in  1920  all 
of  a  sudden  was  perhaps  the  greatest  demonstration  oi 
the  efficacy  of  non-violence.  The  Government  has  lost 
prestige  never  to  be  regained.  Titles,  law-courts,  education- 
nal  institutions  no  longer  inspire  the  awe  they  did  in  1920. 

— Toung  India  :  Nov.  10,  1927. 
^S     <^^    ^S 

NON-CO-OPERATION  is  not  allopathic  treatment, 
it  is  homeopathic.  The  patient  does  not  taste  the  drops  given 
to  him.  He  is  sometimes  even  incredulous,  but  if  the  homeo- 


400          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

paths  are  to  be  trusted,  the  tasteless  drops  or  the  tiny  pills  of 
homeopathy   are  far   more   potent    than   ounce     dozes   or 
choking   pills  of  allopathy.   I    assure   the   reader    that  the 
effect    of  purifying      Non-co-opeiation    is     more     certain 
than  the  effect  of  homeopathic  medicine. 

—Toung  India  :  Feb.  9,  1928. 
<$><$>     <$> 

THE  following  is  from  a  God-fearing  political  friend 
whom  everybody  knows  : 

"You  must  have  shouldered  the  responsibility  of  making 
difficult  decisions  many  a  time  in  your  life,  but  the  responsi- 
bility which  the  Ramgarh  Congress  Resolution  has  entrusted 
you  with  is  the  gravest  of  all.  The  future  of  India,  nay  of 
the  world,  depends  upon  it. 

"You  are  far  above  me  in  wisdom  and  experience.  But 
I  feel  you  are  very  hard  upon  yourself.  The  experiments 
that  you  sometimes  carry  on  in  your  search  of  Truth, 
involving  yourself  and  thousands  of  others,  make  me 
gasp. 

"I  have  been  closely  following  your  experiments  in 
Ahimsa  and  Satyagraha  and  read  carefully  every  word  that 
you  write.  You  feel  that  these  weapons  are  effective  for 
establishing  the  right  and  putting  down  the  wrong  in  the 
world.  But  I  tell  you  these  weapons  of  yours  have  been 
and  are  being  abused  in  the  world.  The  reason  for  it,  I 
think,  is  this  that  once  the  people  begin  to  feel  the  strength 
of  these  weapons  the  latent  hatred  in  their  hearts  comes  to 
the  surface  and,  armed  with  these,  becomes  ten  times,  even 
a  hundred  times,  more  potent  for  mischief.  That  is  bound  to 
do  great  harm  to  the  country,  and  it  may  take  ages  to  undo 
it.  Non-co-operation  has  become  a  curse  in  every-day  life. 
Its  ill  effects  are  seen  in  family  circles,  in  associations,  in 
business,  in  factories  and  in  Government  offices. 

"The  most  unfortunate  part  is  this  that  those  who  are  in 
the  wrong  are  using  this  weapon  against  those  who  are  in 


NON-CO-OPERATION  401 

the  right.  An  unworthy  son  or  an  unworthy  daughter,  a 
father  on  the  wrong  path,  a  miserly  businessman  or  mill- 
owner,  a  dishonest  worker,  all  these  resort  to  non-co-operation 
to  defend  their  indefensible  conduct.  My  experience  is  that 
those  who  are  in  the  right  are  perplexed  and  paralysed  by 
your  weapon.  Non-co-operation  hits  one  from  behind  and 
in  a  manner  more  deadly  than  the  deadliest  weapon.  Twice 
I  have  seen  it  used  in  connection  with  political  movements 
in  India,  and  it  brings  tears  to  my  eyes  whenever  I  see  you 
about  to  resort  to  it.  Having  learnt  its  use  from  you,  selfish 
people  use  it  in  your  name  in  order  to  gain  their  selfish  ends, 
and  bring  misery  upon  thousands  of  people.  Therefore  I 
beg  of  you  not  to  employ  this  weapon  in  politics.  It  may 
get  us  some  rights,  but  it  spreads  hatred  among  mankind, 
not  love.  We  are  too  imperfect.  You  are  a  wise  man,  you 
are  a  man  of  God.  Pray  God  that  He  may  show  you 
another  way. 

UI  request  you  not  to  embarrass  the  British  in  any  way 
while  they  are  engaged  in  this  life  and  death  struggle.  But 
I  know,  by  itself  the  Congress  will  not  have  the  patience  to 
do  so,  though  it  may  under  your  advice.  The  ill-will  and 
the  hatred  that  would  be  let  loose  if  non-co-operation  is 
started  and  the  communal  bitterness  to  which  it  may  give 
rise,  would  have  an  adverse  effect  upon  the  war  and  expose 
India  to  greater  danger. 

ulf  Congressmen  must  embarrass  the  British,  I  feel  they 
should  go  back  to  offices  in  the  provinces  and  should  face  the 
British  Government  with  a  dilemma  at  every  step  in  the 
Provincial  and  the  Central  Assemblies.  This  is  the 
only  right  course  and  it  tells  upon  the  British  public. 

"Again  we  have  to  solve  the  Hindu- Muslim  problem. 
For  that  we  should  call  a  conference  of  all  the  communal 
leaders  and  party  leaders.  If  we  make  an  effort  beforehand, 
we  might  become  united  by  the  time  the  Government  is 
willing  to  call  the  Constituent  Assembly.  No  time  should  be 
lost.  JThc  demands  of  the  Mussalmans  will  mount  up  as 


402          TEACHINGS  OF  MA&ATMA  GANDHI 

time  goes  on.  I  am  certain  God  will  help  us  to 
attain  unity  if  we  try  for  it  in  right  earnest  and  without 
delay.  God  has  put  the  reins  of  the  country  in  your  hands  ; 
you  alone  can  make  or  or  mar  her  fate/* 

The  writer  is  one  of  the  most  earnest  among  us.  He 
has  presented  one  side  of  the  picture,  but  like  all  one-sided 
picture,  this  also  is  misleading. 

Every  powerful  thing  is  liable  to  misuse.  Opium  and 
arsenic  are  most  potent  and  useful  drugs.  And  they  lend 
themselves  to  great  abuse.  No  one  has  for  that  reason 
suggested  the  stopping  of  their  good  use.  If  Non-co-operation 
has  lent  itself  to  abuse  in  some  cases,  in  many  cases  its  wise 
use  has  proved  absolutely  efficacious.  A  thing  has  to  be 
judged  by  its  net  effect.  The  net  effect  of  Non-violent  Non- 
co-operation  has  been  of  the  greatest  benefit  to  India.  It  has 
brought  about  an  awakening  among  the  masses  which  would 
probably  have  taken  generations  otherwise.  It  has  preven- 
ted bloodshed  and  anarchy  and  on  the  whole  improved  the 
relations  between  the  Britishers  and  ourselves.  There  is  a 
better  mutual  understanding  because  there  is  better  mutual 
respect  than  ever  before.  And  yet  our  Non-co- 
operation has  been  indifferently  non-violent.  I  hold 
that  Non-co-operation  i&  of  universal  use.  Well  applied,  its 
use  in  politics  can  wholly  displace  the  use  of  barbarous 
weapons  of  mutual  destruction.  The  thing  to  do,  therefore, 
is  not  to  restrict  its  use  but  to  extend  it  care  being  taken  that 
it  is  used  in  accordance  with  the  known  laws  regulating  its 
use.  Risk  of  misuse  has  undoubtedly  to  be  run.  But  with 
the  increase  in  the  knowledge  of  its  right  use,  the  risk  can  be 
minimised. 

One  safe  thing  about  non-co-operation  is  that  in  the  end 
its  abuse  recoils  more  upon  the  users  than  upon  those  against 
whom  it  is  used.  Its  abuse  is  the  greatest  in  domestic  rela- 
tions because  those  against  whom  it  is  used  are  not  strong 
enough  to  resist  the  abuse.  It  becomes  a  case  of  misapplied 
affection.  Doting  parents  or  wives  are  the  greatest  victims. 


NON-CO-OPFRATION  403 

These  will  learn  wisdom  when  they  realise  that  affection  does 
not  demand  yielding  to  extortion  in  any  form.  On  the  coa~ 
trary  true  affection  will  resist  it. 

The  writer  suggests  the  usual  parliamentary  progfimm^ 
with  obstruction.  Its  futility,  when  it  is  not  backed  by  readi- 
ness for  Non-co-operation  and  Civil  disobedience,  has  bee; 
fully  demons  r.tecL 

So  far  as  the  British  are  concerned  I  have  already  said 
that  I  will  do  nothing  to  embarrass  them.  I  am  strainiog 
every  nerve  to  avoid  a  conflict.  But  they  may  make  it 
inevitable.  Even  so,  I  am  praying  for  a  mode  of  application 
which  will  be  effective  and  still  not  embarrassing  in  the 
sense  of  violent  outbreaks  throughout  the  country. 

Here  I  must  say  that,  whilst  it  is  true  that  active  co- 
operation on  the  part  of  Congressmen  is  not  yet  much  in 
evidence,  of  passive  co-operation  on  their  part  there  is.  jao 
lack.  Violent,  sporadic  eruptions  on  the  part  of  the  people 
would  have  paralysed  my  effoit  to  gather  together  forces  of 
non-violence  in  an  effective  manner.  As  it  is,  the  restraint 
which  they  have  exercised  fills  me  with  hope  for  tbt 
future. 

Hindu-Muslim   Unity   is   a  morsel   by   itself.      But  my 
friend  is  on  the  wrong   track   when   he   suggests   that  unity 
should  be  hastened  for  fear  of  Muslims  raising  their  demand^. 
Demands  against  whom  ?     India  is   as  much   theirs   as  any- 
body else's      The  way   to   unity  lies   through  just  demands 
once 'for  all,  not   through   ever-increasing   demands   whether 
just  or  unjust.     The  demand  for  partition  puts  an  end  to  all 
effort  for  iunity  for  the  time  being.     I  hold    that  communal 
understanding  is  not  a    pre-requisite    to   the   British  .  doing 
justice,  on  their  part.     When  they   feel  that  they   want  .to 
recognise 'India's  right  of  self-determination,  all  the  difficul- 
ties that  they  put  forth  as  obstacles  in   their  path   will   melt 
awaytlike   ice  before   the  sun's  rays.      The  right  of  self- 
determination  means  the  right  of  determination   by  every 


404          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

group  and  ultimately  every  individual.  The  demand  for  a 
Constituent  Assembly  presumes  that  the  determinations  of 
the  groups  and  individuals  will  coincide.  Should  it  happen 
otherwise  and  partition  become  the  fashion,  either  we  shall 
have  partition  or  partitions  rather  than  foreign  rule*  or  we 
shall  continue  to  wrangle  among  ourselves  and  submit  to  for- 
eign rule,  or  else  have  a  proper  civil  war.  Anyway  the  present 
suspense  cannot  continue.  It  has  to  end  one  way  or  the 
other.  I  am  an  optimist.  I  have  every  hope  that  when 
we  come  to  grips,  Hindus,  Muslims,  and  all  others  will  throw 
in  their  weight  in  favour  of  India  which  all  will  claim  as 
their  o,wn. 

—Harijan  :  Aug.  18.  1940. 

Non-violence 

AHIMSA  is  not  the  crude  thing  it  has  been  made  to 
appear.  Not  to  hurt  any  living  thing  is  no  doubt  a  part  of 
ahimsa. 

But  it  is  its  least  expression.  The  principle  of  Ahimsa  is 
hurt  by  every  evil  thought,  by  undue  haste,  by  lying,  by 
hatred,  by  wishing  ill  to  anybody.  It  is  also  violated  by 
one's  holding  on  to  what  the  world  needs.  But  the  world 
needs  even  what  we  eat  day  by  day.  In  the  place  where  we 
stand  there  are  millions  of  micro-organisms  to  whom  the 
place  belongs,  and  who  are  hurt  by  our  presence  there. 
What  should  we  do  then  ?  Should  we  commit  suicide  ? 
Even  that  is  no  solution,  if  we  believe,  as  we  do,  that  so  long 
as  the  spirit  is  attached  to  the  flesh,  on  every  destruction  of 
the  body  it  weaves  for  itself  another.  The  body  will  cease 
to  be  only  when  we  give  up  all  attachment  to  it.  This 
freedom  from  all  attachment  is  the  realisation  of  God  as 
Truth.  Such  realisation  cannot  be  attained  in  a  hurry.  The 
body  does  not  belong  to  us.  While  it  lasts,  we  must  use  it 
as  a  trust  handed  over  our  charge.  Treating  in  this  way 
the  things  of  the  flesh,  we  may  one  day  expect  to  become 
free  from  the  burden  of  the  body.  Realising  the  limitations 


NON-VIOLENCE  405 

of  the  flesh,  we  must  day   by   day    strive   towards   the  ideal 
with  what  strength  we  have  in  us. 

It  is  perhaps  clear  from  the  foregoing,  that  without  A/iimsa 
it  is  not  possible  to  seek  and  find  Truth.  Ahimsa  and  Truth 
are  so  intertwined  that  it  is  practically  impossible  to  disentan- 
gle and  separate  them.  They  are  like  the  two  sides  of  a  coin, 
or  rather  of  a  smooth,  unstamped  metallic  disc.  Who  can 
say,  which  is  the  obverse  and  which  is  the  reverse  ?  Never- 
theless Ahimsa  is  ths  means  ;  Truth  is  the  end.  Means  to  be 
means  must  always  be  within  our  reach,  and  so  Ahimsa  is  our 
supreme  duty.  If  we  take  care  of  the  means,  we  are  bound 
to  reach  the  end  sooner  or  later.  When  once  we  have 
grasped  this  point,  final  victory  is  beyond  question.  What- 
ever difficulties  we  encounter,  whatever  apparent  reverses 
we  sustain,  we  may  not  give  up  the  quest  for  Truth  which 
alone  is  being  God  Himself.  — From  Yeravda  Mandir. 

<S>    <$>    <$> 

LITERALLY  speaking,  Ahimsa  means  non-killing, 
But  to  me  it  has  a  world  of  meaning  and  takes  me  intc 
realms  much  higher,  infinitely  higher,  than  the  realm  tc 
which  I  would  go,  if  I  merely  understood  by  Akimsa,  non- 
killing.  Ahimsa  really  means  that  you  may  not  offend 
anybody,  you  may  riot  harbour  an  uncharitable  thought 
even  in  connection  with  one  who  may  consider  himself  to 
be  your  enemy.  Pray  notice  the  guarded  nature  of  this 
thought ;  I  do  not  say  "  whom  you  consider  to  be  your 
enemy  ",  but  "  who  may  consider  himself  to  be  your 
enemy."  For  one  who  follows  the  doctrine  of  Ahimsa  there 
is  no  room  for  an  enemy  ;  he  denies  the  existence  of  an 
enemy.  But  there  are  people  who  consider  themselves  to 
be  his  enemies,  and  he  cannot  help  that  circumstance. 
So,  it  is  held  that  we  may  not  harbour  an  evil  thought  even 
in  connection  with  such  persons.  If  we  return  blow  for 
blow,  we  depart  from  the  doctrine  of  Ahimsa.  But  I  go 
further.  If  we  resent  a  friend's  action  or  the  so-called 
enemy  7s  action,  we  still  fall  short  of  this  doctrine.  But 


*06         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

when  I   say,   we   should   not   resent,     I   do    not   say    that 
we  should   acquiesce  :    but  by   resenting    I    mean     wish- 
ing that  some   harm   should   be   done    to   the    enemy,    or 
that  he   should    be   put   out    of  the  way,  not  even  by  any 
action  of  ours,  but  by  the  action  of  somebody   else,    or,    say, 
by  Divine  agency.     If  we   harbour   even  this  thought,  we 
depart  from  this  doctrine  of  Ahimsa.     Those    who  join    the 
Ashram   have   to   literally  accept   that  meaning.     That  does 
not  mean  that  we  practise  that  doctrine  in  its  entirety.     Far 
from  it.     It  Is  an  ideal  which  we  have   to   reach,    and    it    is 
an  ideal  to    be   reached   even    at    this   very  moment,  if  we 
arc  capable  of  doing  so.     But   it   is   not   a   proposition    in 
geometry  to  be  learnt  by  heart ;  it  is  not   even   like   solving 
difficult  problems   in   higher   mathematics  ;  it   is   infinitely 
more   difficult    than   solving  those  problems.     Many  of  you 
have  burnt  the  midnight  oil  in  solving    those   problems.     If 
you   want   to  follow   out  this  doctrine,  you  will  have  to   do 
much  more  than  burn  the  midnight  oil.     You  will   have   to 
pass  many  a  sleepless  night,  and  go  through  many  a  mental 
torture  and  agony  before   you   can   reach,    before   you   can 
even   be   within   measurable  distance  of  this  goal.     It  is  the 
goal  and  nothing  less  than  that,  you   and   I    have    to  reach, 
if  we  want  to   understand   what  a  religious  life  means.     I 
will  not  say  much  more  on  this  doctrine   than   this  :  that   a 
man  who  believes  in  -the   efficacy   of  this   doctrine  finds   in 
the   ultimate   stage,  when  he  is  about  to  reach  the  goal,  the 
whole   world   at   his   feet, — not   that   he  wants   the   whole 
world   at   his   feet,    but   it  must  be  so.     If  you  express  your 
love — Ahimsa — in   such   a   manner   that   it   impresses   itself 
indelibly  upon  your  so-called  enemy,    he   must   return   that 
love.     Another   thought   which   comes   out   of  this  is  that, 
Under  this  rule,  there  is  no  room  for  organised   assasinations, 
and  there  is  no  room  for  murders   even   openly   committed, 
and   there   is   no  room   for  any    violence     even     for     the 
sake    of    your     country,     and     even   for     guarding      the 
bonour  of  precious  ones  that  may  be  under  your  change. 
After  ally  that  would   be  a  poor   defence  of  the  honour. 


NON-VIOLENCE  407 

This  doctrine  of  A  kirns a  tells  us  that  we  may  guard  the 
honour  of  those  who  are  under  our  charge  by  delivering 
ourselves  into  the  hands  of  the  man  who  would  commit  the 
sacrilege.  And  that  requires  far  greater  physical  and 
mental  courage  than  the  delivering  of  blows.  You  may 
have  some  degree  of  physical  power, — I  do  not  say  cour- 
age— and  you  may  use  that  power.  But  after  that  is  ex- 
pended, what  happens  ?  The  other  man  is  filled  with 
wrath  and  indignation,  and  you  have  made  him  more  angry 
by  matching  your  violence  against  his  :  and  when  he  has 
done  you  to  death,  the  rest  of  his  violence  is  delivered 
against  your  charge.  But  if  you  do  not  retaliate,  but 
stand  your  ground,  between  your  charge  and  the  opponent, 
simply  receiving  the  blows  without  retaliating,  what 
happens  ?  I  give  you  my  promise  that  the  whole  of  the 
violence  will  be  expended  on  you,  and  your  charge  will 
be  left  unscathed.  Under  this  plan  of  life  there  is  no 
conception  of  patriotism  which  justifies  such  wars  as  you 
witness  to-day  in  Europe. 

(From  an  address  to  the  T.  M.  C.  A.  Madras)  :  Feb.  16,  1916 

<8>    <S>    <S> 

IN  this  age  of  the  rule  of  brute  force,  it  is  almost 
impossible  for  any  one  to  believe  that  any  one  else  could 
possibly  reject  the  law  of  the  final  supremacy  of  brute 
force.  And  so  I  receive  anonymous  letters  advising  me 
that  I  must  not  interfere  with  the  progress  of  Non-co- 
operation, even  though  popular  violence  may  break  out. 
Others  come  to  me  and,  assuming  that  secretly  I  must  be 
plotting  violence,  inquire  when  the  happy  moment  for 
declaring  open  violence  is  to  arrive.  They  assure  me 
that  the  English  will  never  yield  to  anything  but 
violence  secret  or  open.  Yet  others,  I  am  informed, 
believe  that  I  am  the  most  rascally  person  living  in 
India,  because  I  never  give  out  my  real  intention  and  that 
they  have  not  a  shadow  of  a  doubt  that  I  believe  in  violence 
just  as  much  as  most  people  do. 


408          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

Such  being  the  hold  that  the  doctrine  of  the  sword 
has  on  the  majority  of  mankind,  and  as  success  of  Non- 
co-operation  depends  principally  on  absence  of  violence 
during  its  pendency  and  as  my  views  in  this  matter  affect 
the  conduct  of  a  large  number  of  people,  I  am  anxious  to 
state  them  as  clearly  as  possible. 

I  do  believe  that,  where  there  is  only  a  choice  bet- 
ween cowardice  and  violence,  I  would  advise  violence. 
Thus  when  my  eldest  son  asked  me  what  he  should  have 
done,  had  he  been  present  when  I  was  almost  fatally 
assaulted  in  1908,  whether  he  should  have  run  away  and 
seen  me  killed  or  whether  he  should  have  used  his  physical 
force  which  he  could  and  wanted  to  use,  and  defended 
me,  I  told  him  that  it  was  his  duty  to  defend  me  even  by 
using  violence.  Hence  it  was  that  I  took  part  in  the  Boer 
War,  the  so-called  Zulu  rebellion  and  the  late  War. 
Hence  also  do  I  advocate  training  in  arms  for  those  who 
believe  in  the  method  of  violence.  I  would  rather  have 
India  resort  to  arms  in  order  to  defend  her  honour  than 
that  she  should  in  a  cowardly  manner  become  or  remain  a 
helpless  witness  to  her  own  dishonour. 

But  I  believe  that  non-violence  is  infinitely  superior  to 
violence,  forgiveness  is  more  manly  than  punishment. 
Forgiveness  adorns  a  soldier.  But  abstinence  is  forgiveness 
only  when  there  is  the  power  to  punish  ;  it  is  meaningless 
when  it  pretends  to  proceed  from  a  helpless  creature.  A 
pnouse  hardly  forgives  a  cat  when  it  allows  itself  to  be  torn 
to  pieces  by  her.  I  therefore  appreciate  the  sentiment  of 
those  who  cry  out  for  the  condign  punishment  of  General 
Dyer  and  his  ilk.  They  would  tear  him  to  pieces  if  they 
could.  But  I  do  not  believe  India  to  be  helpless.  I  do 
not  believe  myself  to  be  a  helpless  creature.  Only  I  want 
to  use  India's  and  my  strength  for  a  better  purpose. 

Let  me  not  be  misunderstood.  Strength  does  not  come 
from  physical  capacity.  It  comes  from  an  indomitable 
will.  An  average  Zulu  is  any  way  more  than  a  match 


NON-VIOLENCE  409 

for  an  average  Englishman  in  bodily  capacity.  But  he 
flees  from  an  English  boy,  because  he  fears  the  boy's 
revolver  or  those  who  will  use  it  for  him.  He  fears 
death  and  is  nerveless  in  spite  of  his  burly  figure./  We 
in  India  may  in  a  moment  realise  that  one  hiindred 
thousand  Englishmen  need  not  frighten  three  hundred 
million  human  beings.  A  definite  forgiveness  would 
therefore  mean  a  definite  recognition  of  our  strength. 
With  enlightened  forgiveness  must  come  a  mighty  wave 
of  strength  in  us,  which  would  make  it  impossible  for  a 
Dyer  and  a  Frank  Johnson  to  heap  affront  upon  India's 
devoted  head.  It  matters  little  to  me  that  for  the 
moment  I  do  not  drive  my  point  home.  We  feel  too 
down-trodden  not  to  be  angry  and  revengeful.  But  I 
must  not  refrain  from  saying  that  India  can  gain  more 
by  waiving  the  right  of  punishment.  We  have  better  work 
to  do,  a  better  mission  to  deliver  to  the  world. 

I  am  not  a  visionary.  I  claim  to  be  a  practical  idealist. 
The  religion  of  non-violence  is  not  meant  merely  for  the 
Rishis  and  saints.  It  is  meant  for  the  common  people 
as  well.  Non-violence  is  the  law  of  our  species  as  violence 
is  the  law  of  the  brute.  The  spirit  lies  dormant  in  the 
brute  and  he  knows  no  law  but  that  of  physical  might. 
The  dignity  of  man  requires  obedience  to  a  higher  law — to 
the  strength  of  the  spirit. 

I  have  therefore  ventured  to  place  before  India  the 
ancient  law  of  self-sacrifice.  For  Satyagraha  and  its 
off-shoots,  Non-co-operation  and  Civil  Resistance,  are 
nothing  but  new  names  for  the  law  of  suffering.  The 
Rishis,  who  discovered  the  law  of  non-violence  in  the  midst 
of  violence,  were  greater  geniuses  than  Newton.  They 
were  themselves  greater  warriors  than  Wellington.  Having 
themselves  known  the  use  of  arms,  they  realised  their  use- 
lessness  and  taught  a  weary  world  that  its  salvation  lay  not 
through  violence  but  through  non-violence. 

Non-violence  in  its  dynamic  condition  means   conscious 


410         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

suffering.  It  does  not  mean  meek  submission  to  the  will 
of  the  evil-doer,  but  it  means  the  putting  of  one's  whole 
soul  against  the  will  of  the  tyrant.  Working  under  this  law 
of  our  being,  it  is  possible  for  a  single  individual  to  defy 
the  whole  might  of  an  unjust  empire  to  save  his  honour,  his 
religion,  his  soul  and  lay  the  foundation  for  that  empire's 
fall  or  its  regeneration. 

And  so  I  am  not  pleading  for  India  to  practise  non- 
violence, because  she  is  weak.  I  want  her  to  practise  non- 
violence being  conscious  of  her  strength  and  power.  No 
training  in  arms  is  required  for  realisation  of  her  strength. 
We  seem  to  need  it,  because  we  seem  to  think  that  we  are 
but  a  lump  of  flesh.  I  want  India  to  recognise  that  she 
has  a  soul  that  cannot  perish  and  that .  can  rise  triump- 
hant above  every  physical  weakness  and  defy  the  physical 
combination  of  a  whole  world.*  What  is  the  meaning 
of  Rama,  a  mere  human  being,  with  his  host  of  mon- 
keys, pitying  himself  against  the  insolent  strength  of 
ten-headed  Ravan  surrounded  in  supposed  safety  by  the 
raging  waters  on  all  sides  of  Lanka  ?  Does  it  not  mean 
the  conquest  of  physical  might  by  spiritual  strength  ? 
However,  being  a  practical  man,  I  do  not  wait  till  India 
recognises  the  practicability  of  the  spiritual  life  in  the 
political  world.  India  considers  herself  to  be  powerless 
and  paralysed  before  ~the  machine-guns,  the  tanks  and  the 
aeroplanes  of  the  English.  And  she  takes  up  Non-co- 
operation out  of  her  weakness.  It  must  still  serve  the 
same  purpose,  namely,  bring  her  delivery  from  the  crush- 
ing weight  of  British  injustice,  if  a  sufficient  number  of 
people  practise  it. 

I  isolate  this  Non-co-operation  from  Sinn  Feinism,  for, 
it  is  so  conceived  as  to  be  incapable  of  being  offered 
side  by  side  with  violence.  But  I  invite  even  the  school 
of  violence  to  give  this  peaceful  Non-co-operation  a  trial. 
It  will  not  fail  through  its  inherent  weakness.  It  may 
fail  because  of  poverty  of  response.  Then  will  be  the 


NON-VIOLENCE  411 

time  for  real  danger.  The  high-souled  men,  who  are 
unable  to  suffer  national  humiliation  any  longer,  will 
want  to  vent  their  wrath.  They  will  take  to  violence. 
So  far  as  I  know,  they  must  perish  without  delivering 
themselves  or  their  country  from  the  wrong.  If  India 
takes  up  the  doctrine  of  the  sword,  she  may  gain 
momentary  victory.  Then  India  will  cease  to  be  the 
pride  of  my  heart.  I  am  wedded  to  India  because  I  owe 
my  all  to  her.  I  believe  absolutely  that  she  has  a 
mission  for  the  world.  She  is  not  to  copy  Europe 
blindly.  India's  acceptance  of  the  doctrine  of  the  sword 
will  be  the  hour  of  my  trial.  I  hope  I  shall  not  be  found 
wanting.  My  religion  has  no  geographical  limits.  If 
I  have  a  living  faith  in  it,  it  will  transcend  my  love  for 
India  herself.  My  life  is  dedicated  to  service  of  India 
through  the  religion  of  non-violence  which  I  believe  to 
be  the  root  of  Hinduism. 

Meanwhile,  I  urge  those  who  distrust  me,  not  to 
disturb  the  even  working  of  the  struggle  that  has  just 
commenced,  by  inciting  to  violence  in  the  belief  that 
I  want  violence.  I  detest  secrecy  as  a  sin.  Let  them 
give  Non-violent  Non-co-operation  a  trial  and  they  will  find 
that  I  had  no  men  taj  ^reservation  whatsoever. 

—  Young  India  :  Aug,  11,  1920. 

<$>    <s>    <S> 

I  WOULD  rather  have  India  resort  to  arms  in 
order  to  defend  her  honour  than  that  she  should  in  a 
cowardly  manner  become  or  remain  a  helpless  witness 
to  her  own  dishonour,  —  Young  India  :  Aug.  11,  1920. 


THE   spirit  of  non-violence  necessarily  leads  to  humi* 
lity.    Non-violence  means  reliance  on     God,    the    Rock 


412  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

of  Ages.   If  we   would  seek  His   aid,  we   must    approach 
Him  with  a  humble  and  a  contrite  heart. 

—Young  India  :  Jan.  12,   1921* 


I  STILL  believe  that  man,  not  having  been  given 
the  power  of  creation,  does  not  possess  the  right  of 
destroying  the  meanest  creature  that  lives.  The  prero- 
gative of  destruction  belongs  solely  to  the  creator  of 
all  that  lives.  •  I  accept  the  interpretation  of  Ahimsa 
namely  that  it  is  not  merely  a  negative  state  of  harm- 
lessness  but  it  is  a  positive  state  of  love,  of  doing  good 
even  to  the  evil-doer.  But  it  does  not  mean  helping 
the  evil-doer  to  continue  the  wrong  or  tolerating  it  by 
passive  acquiescence.  On  the  contrary,  love,  the  active 
state  of  Ahimsa  requires  you  to  resist  the  wrong-doer 
by  dissociating  yourself  from  him  even  though  it  may 
offened  him  or  injure  him  physically.  Thus  if  my 
son  lives  a  life  of  shame,  I  may  not  help  him  to  do 
so  by  continuing  to  support  him;  on  the  contrary,  my 
love  for  him  requires  me  to  withdraw  all  support  from 
him  although  it  may  mean  even  his  death.  And  the 
same  love  imposes  oix.  me  the  obligation  of  welcoming 
him  to  my  bosom  when  he  repents.  But  I  may 
not  by  physical  force  compel  my  son  to  become  good* 
That,  in  my  opinion,  is  the  moral  of  the  story  of  the 
Prodigal  Son.  —Young  India  :  Jan.  19,  1921. 


INDIA'S  past  training  for  ages  I  mean  the  train- 
ing of  the  masses,  has  been  against  violence.  Human  nature 
in  India  has  advanced  so  far  tha*  the  doctrine  of  Non- 
violence is  more  natural  for  the  people  at  large  than  that  of 
violence. 

— Towg  India  :  Jan,  26,  1922. 


NON-VIOLENCE  413 

IT  has  been  my  belief  and  practice  for  over  forty 
years  deliberately  to  practise  the  doctrine  of  N>n- 
resistance  to  evil,  not  to  retaliate.  Taere  are  m^re  in- 
stances than  one  in  my  public  life  when,  with  the 
ability  to  retaliate,  I  have  refrained  from  doin?  so  and 
advised  friends  to  do  like  wise.  My  life  is  dedicated 
to  the  spread  of  that  doctrine.  I  read  it  in  the  teach- 
ing of  all  the  greatest  teachers  of  the  world,  Zoroaster, 
Mahavir,  Daniel,  Jesus,  Mahomed,  Nanak  and  a  host 
others.  Indeed,  I  am  not  sure  that  we  do  justice  to 
Moses  when  we  impute  to  him  the  doctrine  of  retaliation 
in  the  sense  that  he  mide  it  obligatory  on  his  followers 
to  exact  an  eye  for  an  eye  and  a  tooth  for  a  tODth. 
It  may  be  my  wish  that  is  father  to  the  thought.  But 
I  do  think  that  in  an  age  when  people  were  unrestrain- 
ed in  their  appetite  for  the  enemy's  blood,  Moses  re- 
stricted retaliation  to  equal  measure  and  no  more. 

—  Toung  India  :  Fcb  9,  1922, 


THE  only  virtue  I  want  to  claim  is  Truth  and 
Non-violence,  I  lay  no  claim  to  superhuman  powers. 
I  want  none.  I  wear  the  same  corruptible  flesh  that 
the  weakest  of  my  fellow  beings  wear,  and  am  there- 
fore as  liable  to  err  as  as  any.  —  Toung  India  :  Feb.  16,  1922. 


FOR  me,  I  am  positive  that  neither  in  the  Koran 
nor  in  the  Mahabharata  there  is  any  sanction  for  and 
approval  of  the  triumph  of  violence.  Though  there  is 
repulsion  enough  in  Nature  she  lives  by  attraction. 
Mutul  love  enables  Nature  to  persist.  Man  does  not 
live  by  destruction.  Self-love  compels  regard  for  others. 
Nations  cohere,  because  there  is  mutual  regard  among 


414          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

the  individuals  composing  them.  Some  day  we  must 
extend  the  national  law  to  the  universe,  even  as  we 
have  extended  the  family  law  to  form  nations — a  larger 
family.  God  has  ordained  that  India  should  be  such 
a  nation.  For  so  far  as  reason  can  perceive,  India  can- 
not become  free  by  armed  rebellion  for  generations.  India 
can  become  free  by  refraining  from  national  violence.  India 
has  now  become  tired  of  rule  based  upon  violence. 
That  to  me  is  the  message  of  the  plains.  The  people 
of  the  plains  do  not  know  what  it  is  to  put  up  an 
orgainsed  armed  fight.  And  they  must  become  free,  for 
they  want  freedom.  They  have  realised  that  power 
seized  by  violence  will  only  result  in  their  greater  grinding. 

—Young  India  :  March  2,  1922. 

<$>    <J>    <$> 

I  AM  sorry  that  I  find  a  nervous  fear  among 
some  Hjndus  and  Mahomedans  that  I  am  undermining 
their  faith  and  that  I  am  even  doing  irreparable 
harm  to  India  by  my  uncompromising  preaching  of 
non-violence.  They  ?eem  almost  to  imply  that  violence 
is  their  creed.  I  touch  a  tender  spot  if  I  talk  about 
extreme  non-violence  in  their  presence.  They  confound 
me  with  texts  from  the  Mahabharata  and  the  Koran 
eulogising  or  permitting  violence.  Of  the  Mahabharata  I 
can  write  without  restraint,  but  the  most  devout 
Mahomedan  will  not,  I  hope,  deny  me  the  privilege 
of  understanding  the  message  of  the  Prophet.  I  make 
bold  to  say  that  violence  is  the  creed  of  no  religion 
and  that,  whereas  non-violence  in  most  cases  is  obligatory 
in  all,  violence  is  merely  permissible  in  some  cases. 

—Young  India  :  March  2,  1924. 
^o     ^k     «^ 

MY  interest  in  India's  freedom  will  cease  if  she 
adopts  violent  means,  for  their  fruit  will  be  not  free- 
dom but  slavery  in  disguise. 

— Young  India  :  April  3,  1924. 


NON-VIOLENCE  415 

VIOLENT  means  will  give  violent  Swaraj.  That 
would  be  a  menace  to  the  world  and  to  India  herself. 

-Young  India  .-July  17,  1924 
<$><$><$>  . 

IT  would  be  a  calamity  if  by  my  obstinacy 
I  stand  in  the  way  of  the  country's  progress  by  other 
means,  so  long  as  they  are  not  positively  mischievous 
and  harmful.  I  should  for  instance  rise,  even  if  I  was 
alone  against  methods  of  actual  violence.  But  I  have 
recognised  that  the  nation  has  the  right,  if  it  so  wills, 
to  vidicate  her  freedom  even  by  actual  violence.  Only 
then,  India  ceases  to  be  the  land  of  my  love  even^ 
though  she  be  the  land  of  my  birth,  even  as  I  should* 
take  no  pride  in  my  mother  if  she  went  astray. 

—  Toung  India  :  Nov.  20,  1924. 

<$>  <s>  <$> 

MY  religion  is  based  on  Truth  and  Non-violence. 
Truth  is  my  God.  Non-violence  is  the  means  of  realising* 
Hicr.  —Toung  India  :  Jan.  8,  1925. 

<$><•>    <3> 

AHIMSA  and  Truth  are  as  my  two  lungs.  I  cannot 
live  without  them.  — Toting  India  :  Oct.  21,  1926.. 

<$>     <$>     <$> 

ANGER  is  the  enemy  of  Ahimsa ;  and  pride  is  a 
monster  that  swallows  it  up.  — Toung  India  :  Oct.  21,  1926. 

<S>     $>     <$> 

HE  who  trifles  with  truth  cuts  at  the  root  of  Ahimsa. 
He  who  is  angry  is  guilty  of  Ahimsa. 

—  Toung  India  :  Oct.  21.  1926V 
<$><$>    3> 

AHIMSA  is  the  religion  of  a  Kshatriya.  Mahavir  was 
Kshatriya,  Buddha  was  a  Kshatriya,  Rama  and  Krishna 
were  Kshatriyas  and  all  of  them  were  votaries  of  Ahimsa* 
We  want  to  propagate  Ahimsa  in  their  name.  But  to-day 
Ahimsa  has  become  the  monopoly  of  timid  Vaishyas  and 
that  is  why  it  has  been  besmirched.  Ahimsa  is  the  extreme 


416  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

limit  of  forgiveness.     But  forgiveness  is   the   quality  of  the 
brave.     Ahimsa  is  impossible  without  fearlessness. 

— Young  India  :  Oct.  21,  1926. 

AHIMSA  is  a  weapon  of  matchless  potency.  It  is  the 
summum  bonum  of  life.  It  is  an  attribute  of  the  brave, 
in  fact  it  is  their  all.  It  does  not  come  within  the  reach  of 
the  coward.  It  is  no  wooden  or  life-less  dogma,  but  a  living 
and  a  life-giving  force.  It  is  the  special  attribute  of  the 
soul.  That  is  why  it  has  been  described  as  the  highest 
dharma  (law). 

Ill-will  cannot  stand  in  its  presence.  The  sun  of  Ahimsa 
carries  all  the  hosts  of  darkness  such  as  hatred,  anger  and 
malice  before  himself.  — Young  India  :  Sept.  6,  1928. 

AHIMSA  is  not  mere  non-killing.  A  person  who 
remains  smugly  satisfied  with  the  non-killing  of  noxious  life 
but  has  no  love  in  his  heart  for  all  that  lives  will  be 
counted  as  least  in  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven.  True  love 
is  boundless  like  the  ocean  and  rising  and  swelling  within 
one  spreads  itself  out  and  crossing  all  boundries  and 
frontiers  envelops  the  whole  world. 

-  Young  India  :  Sept.  20,  1928. 

AHIMSA  is  not  the  way  of  the  timid  or  the  cowardly. 
It  is  the  way  of  the  brave  ready  to  face  death.  He  who 
perishes  sword  in  hand  is  no  doubt  brave,  but  he  who  faces 
death  without  raising  his  little  finger  and  without  flinching 
is  braver.  For  fear  of  being  beaten  is  a  coward  and 
no  votary  of  Ahimsa.  He  is  innocent  of  Ahimsa.  He, 
who  for  fear  of  being  beaten,  suffers  the  women  of  his  house- 
hold to  be  insulted,  is  not  manly  but  just  the  reverse. 
He  is  fit  neither  to  be  a  husband  nor  a  father,  nor  a  brother. 
Such  people  have  no  right  to  complain. 

He,  who  cannot  protect  himself  or  his  nearest  and 
dearest  or  their  honour  by  non-violently  facing  death,  may 


NON-VIOLENCE  417 

and  ought  to  do  so  by  violently  facing  death,  may  and 
ought  to  do  so  by  violently  dealing  with  the  oppressor. 
He  who  can  do  neither  of  the  two  is  a  burden.  He  has 
no  business  to  be  the  head  of  a  family.  He  must  either 
hide  himself,  or  must  rest  content  to  live  for  ever  in  help- 
lessness and  be  prepared  to  crawl  like  a  worm  at  the 
bidding  of  a  bully.  —Toung  India  :  Oct.  11,  1928- 

<$><$><$> 

TO  me  it  is  one  of  the  most  active  forces  in  the 
world.  It  is  like  the  sun  that  rises  upon  us  unfailingly 
from  day  to  day.  Only  if  we  would  but  understand  it,  it 
is  infinitely  greater  than  a  million  suns  put  together.  It 
radiates  life  and  light  and  peace  and  happiness. 

—  Toung  India  :  April  18,  1929. 
<£>    <$>    <$> 

IT  is  infinitely  greater  than  the  gems  and  the  diamonds 
people  prize  so  much.  It  can  become,  if  you  will  make 
wise  use  of  it,  your  own  saving  and  the  saving  of  mankind. 

—  Toung  India:  April  18,  1929. 
<$><$><$> 

WHERE  the  Law  of  Ahimsa  reigns  supreme,  there 
should  be  no  jealousy,  no  unworthy  ambition,  no  crime. 

— Young  India  :  April  18,  1929. 

NON-VIOLENCE  and  cowardice  are  contradictory 
terms.  Non-violence  is  the  greatest  virtue,  cowardic^  the 
greatest  vice.  Non-violence  springs  from  love,  cowardice 
from  hate.  Non-violence  always  suffers,  cowardice  would 
always  inflict  suffering.  Perfect  non-violence  is  the  highest 
bravery.  Non-violent  conduct  is  never  demoralising,  cow- 
ardice always  is.  — Toung  India :  Oct.  31,  1929. 

^^    ^S    ^^ 

NON-VIOLENCE  cannot  be  taught  to  a  person  who 
fears  to  die  and  has  no  power  of  resistance.  A  helpless, 
mouse  is  not  non-violent  because  he  is  always  eaten  by 
pussy.  He  would  gladly  eat  the  murderess  if  he  could,  but 


418         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

he  ever  tries  to  flee  from  her.  We  do  not  call  him  a  coward, 
because  he  is  made  by  nature  to  behave  no  better  than  he 
does.  But  a  man  who,  when  faced  by  danger,  behaves  like 
a  mouse,  is  rightly  called  a  coward.  He  harbours  violence 
and  hatred  in  his  heart  and  would  kill  his  enemy  if  he  could 
without  being  hurt  himself.  He  is  a  stranger  to  non-violence. 
AH  sermonizing  on  it  will  be  lost  on  him.  Bravery  is 
foreign  to  his  nature.  Before  he  can  understand  non-vio- 
lence he  has  to  be  taught  to  stand  his  ground  and  even 
suffer  death  in  the  attemp"  to  defend  himself  against  the 
aggressor  who  bids  fair  to  overwhelm  him.  To  do  otherwise 
would  be  to  confirm  his  cowardice  and  take  him  furthur 
away  from  non-violence.  Whilst  I  may  not  actually  help 
anyone  to  retaliate,  I  must  not  let  a  coward  seek  shelter 
behind  non-violence  so-called.  Not  knowing  the  stuff  of 
which  non-violence  is  made  many  have  honestly  believed 
that  running  away  from  dangei  every  time  was  a  virtue 
compared  to  offering  resistance  especially  when  it  is  fraught 
with  danger  to  one's  life.  As  a  teacher  of  non-violence  I 
must  so  far  as  it  is  possible  for  me,  guard  against  such  an 
unmanly  belief. 

Non-violence  is^  the  greatest  force  at  the  disposal  of 
mankind.  It  is  mightier  than  the  mightiest  weapon  of 
destruction  devised  by  the  ingenuity  of  man.  Des- 
truction is  not  the  law  of  the  humans.  Man  lives  freely 
only  by  his  readiness  to  die,  if  need  be,  at  the  hands  of  his 
brother,  never  by  killing  him.  Every  murder  or  other 
injury,  no  matter  for  what  cause,  committed  or  inflicted  ou 
another  is  a  crime  against  humanity. 

But  I  see  quite  clearly  that  this  truth  about  non-violence 
cannot  be  delivered  to  the  helpless.  They  must  be  taught 
to  defend  themselves. 

The  sceptic  then  argues :  "  You  cannot  teach  non- 
violence to  the  weak  and  you  dare  not  take  it  to  the  power- 
ful. Why  not  admit  that  it  is  a  futile  creed  ?  r"  The  answer 


NON-VIOLENCE  419 

is,  non-violence  can  be  effectively  taught  only  by  living  it. 
When  there  is  an  unmistakable  demonstration  of  its  power 
and  efficacy  the  weak  will  shed  'their  weakness  and  the 
mighty  will  quickly  realize  the  valuelessness  of  might  and 
becoming  meek  acknowledge  the  sovereignty  of  non-violence. 
It  is  my  humble  effort  to  show  that  this  is  no  unattainable 
goal  even  in  mass  action.  —Harijan  :  July  20,  1935 

NON-VIOLENCE  is  not  a  quality  to  be  evolved  or 
expressed  to  order.  It  is  an  inward  growth  depending  for 
sustenance  upon  intense  individual  effort. 

—  Toting  India  :  April  23,  1938. 

<s>  <$>  <s> 

SHOULD  India  take  to  the  sword,  she  would  cease  to 
be  the  India  of  my  dreams  and  I  should  like  to  betake  me 
to  the  Himalayas  to  seek  rest  for  my  anguished  soul. 

—Harijan  :  Oct.    15,  1938. 

<$><$><*> 

NO N- VIOLENCE  is  a  quality  not  of  the  body  but  of  the 
soul.  Once  its  central  meaning  sinks  into  your  being,  all  the 
rest  by  itself  follows.  -Harijan  :  Nov.  5,  1938. 

^N    ^N    ^s 

THIS  non-violence  is  not  a  mere  passive  quality.  It 
is  the  mightiest  force  God  had  endowed  man  with. 
Indeed,  possession  of  non-violence  distinguishes  man  from 
the  brute  creation.  It  is  inherent  in  every  human  being, 
but  in  most  it  lies  dormant.  Perhaps  the  word  non-violence 
is  an  inadequate  rendering  of  ahimsa  which  itself  was  an 
incomplete  connotation  of  all  lies  was  used  for  conveying.  A 
better  rendering  would  be  love  or  goodwill.  Violence  was 
to  be  met  by  goodwill.  And  goodwill  came  into  play  only 
when  there  was  ill-will  matched  against  it.  To  be  good  to 
the  good  is  an  .exchange  at  par.  A  rupee  against  a  rupee 
gives  no  index  to  its  quality.  It  does  when  it  is  matched 


420         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

against  an  anna.     Similarly   a  man   of  goodwill   is  known 
only  when  he  matches  himself  against  one  of  ill-will. 

—Harijan  :  Nov.  19,  1938. 

<?>    <S>    <£> 

I  AM  here  to  tell  you,  with  fifty  years'  experience  of 
non-violence  at  my  back,  that  it  is  an  infinitely  superior 
•power  as  compared  to  brute  force.  An  armed  soldier  relies 
on  his  weapons  for  his  strength.  Take  away  from 
Mm  his  weapons  for  his  strength — his  gun  or  his  sword,  and 
he  generally  becomes  helpless.  But  a  person  who  has  truly 
realized  the  principle  of  non-violence  has  the  God-given 
strength  for  his  weapon  and  the  world  has  not  known  any- 
thing that  can  match  it.  Man  may,  in  a  moment  of 
unawareness  forget  God,  but  He  keeps  watch  over  him  and  r 
protects  him  always.  — Harijan  :  Nov.  19,  1938. 

<$><$>     <$> 

TO  consider  the  opponent,  or,  for  the  matter  of  that, 
anybody,  even  in  thought,  as  your  enemy  would,  in  the 
parlance  of  non-violence  or  love,  be  called  a  sin.  Far  from 
seeking  revenge,  a  votary  of  non-violence  would  pray  to 
God  that  He  might  bring  about  a  change  of  heart  of  his 
opponent  and  if  that  does  not  happen  he  would  be  prepared 
to  bear  injury  that  his  opponent  might  inflict  upon  him, 
not  in  a  spirit  of  cowardice  or  helplessness,  but  bravely  with 
smile  upon  his  face.  I  believe  in  the  ancient  saying 
that  non-violence  real  and  complete  will  melt  the  stoniest 
hearts.  —Harijan  :  Nov.  19,  1938. 

^x  ^^  ^^ 

THE  hardest  metal  yields  to  sufficient  heat.  Even  so 
must  the  hardest  heart  melt  before  sufficiency  of  the  heat  of 
non-violence.  And  there  is  no  limit  to  the  capacity  of  non- 
violence to  generate  heat.  — Harijan  ;  Jan.  7,  1939. 

IT  was  only  when  I  had  learnt  to  reduce  myself  to  a 
zero  that  I  was  able  to  evolve  the  power  of  Satayagraha  in 
South  Africa.  Ahimsa  must  express  itself  through  acts  of 


NON-VIOLENCE  421 

selfless  service  of  the  masses.  I  cannot  think  of  a  better 
symbol  of  or  medium  for  its  expression  than  the  spinning 
wheel. 

Ahimsa  is  a  science.  The  word  'failure'  has  no  place 
in  the  vocabulary  of  science.  Failure  to  obtain  the  expected 
result  is  often  the  precursor  to  further  discoveries. 

—Harijan  :  May  6,  1939 

3>    ^    <$> 

YOUR  ahimsa  to  be  effective  must  shine  through  your 
speech,  your  action,  your  general  behaviour.  A  votary  of 
ahimsa  must  cultivate  a  habit  of  unremitting  toil,  sleepless 
vigilance,  ceaseless  self-control.  — Harijan  :  May  6,  1939>. 

HIMSA  did  not  merely  mean  indulgence  in  physical 
violence  ;  resort  to  trickery,  falsehood,  intrigue,  chicanery 
and  deceitfulness — in  short,  all  unfair  and  foul  means-cprne 
under  the  category  of  kimsa,  and  acceptance  of  ahimsa 
whether  as  a  policy  or  a  creed  necessarily  implied  renuncia- 
tion of  all  these  things. 

A  votary  of  ahimsa  has  therefore  to  be  in-corruptible, 
fair  and  square  in  his  dealings,  truthful,  straightforward  and 
utterly  selfless.  He  must  have  also  true  humility. 

—Harijan  :  May  20,  1939 

<5>     <$>     <3> 

JUST  as  one  must  learn  the  art  of  killing  in  the 
training  for  violence,  so  one  must  learn  the  art  of  dying 
in  the  training  for  non-violence.  Violence  does  not  mean 
emancipation  from  fear,  but  discovering  the  means  of 
combating  the  cause  of  fear.  Non-violence,  on  the  other 
hand,  has  no  cause  of  fear.  The  votary  of  non-violence 
has  to  cultivate  the  capacity  for  sacrifice  of  the  highest 
type  in  order  to  be  free  from  fear.  He  recks  not  if  he 
should  loose  his  land,  his  wealth,  his  life.  He  who  has 
not  overcome  all  fear  cannot  practise  ahimsa  to  perfection' 
The  votary  of  ahimsa  has  only  one  fear,  that  is  of  God 
He  who  seeks  refuge  in  God  ought  to  have  a  glimpse  oi 


422          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

the  Atman  that  transcends  the  body,  and  the  moment  one 
has  glimpse  of  the  Imperishable  Atman  one  sheds  the  love 
of  the  perishable  body.  Training  in  non-violence  is  thus 
diametrically  opposed  to  training  in  violence.  Violence 
is  needed  for  the  protection  of  things  external,  non-violence 
is  needed  for  the  protection  of  the  Atman,  for  the  protection 
of  one's  honour. 

The  badge  of  the  violent  is  his  weapon-spear  or 
sword,  or  rifle.  God  is  the  shield  of  the  non-violent. 

—Harijan  :  Sept.  1,  1940. 

AHIMSA  in  theory  no  one  knows.  It  is  as  indefinable 
as  God.  But  in  its  working  we  get  glimpses  of  it  as  we 
have  glimpses  of  the  Almighty  in  his  working  amongst  and 
through  us.  — Harijan  :  March  2,  1940. 

IT  is  the  law  of  love  that  rules  mankind.  Had 
violence,  i.e.,  hate,  ruled  us,  we  should  have  become 
extinct  long  ago.  And  yet  the  tragedy  of  it  is  that  the  so- 
called  civilized  men  and  nations  conduct  themselves  as  if 
the  basis  of  society  was  violence.  — Harijan  :  April  13,  1940. 

3>    <S>    <$> 

I  HAVE  been  practising  with  scientific  precision  non- 
violence and  its  possibilities  for  an  unbroken  period  of  over 
fifty  years,  I  have  applied  it  in  every  walk  of  life,  domestic, 
institutional,  economic  and  political.  I  know  of  no  single 
case  in  which  it  has  failed.  Where  it  has  seemed  sometimes 
to  have  failed,  I  have  ascribed  it  to  my  imperfections.  I 
claim  no  perfection  for  myself  but  I  claim  to 
be  a  passionate  seeker  after  Truth,  which  is  but 
another  name  for  God.  In  the  course  of  that  search  the 
discovery  of  non-violence  came  to  me.  Its  spread  is  my 
life  mission.  I  have  no  interest  in  living  except  for  the 
prosecution  of  that  mission.  —Harijan  :  July  6,  1940. 

NON-VIOLENT  strength  comes  from  construction, 
not  destruction.  —Harijan  :  Jan.  25,  1942. 


OATH  425 

WE  dare  not    exchange    non-violence    even  for  Swaraj. 
For  Swaraj  thus  got  will  be  no  true  Swaraj. 

—Harijan  :  Jan.  25,  1942. 

<$>  <$>  <s> 

THIS  however  I  can  say  from  the  house  top  that  I  am 
as  confirmed  a  believer  in  non-violence  as  I  have  ever  been. 
The  Congress  Resolution  of  the  8th  August  is  definitely 
against  Fascism  in  every  shape  or  form.  It  extends  co- 
operation in  war  efforts  under  circumstances  which  alone 
can  make  effective  and  nation  wide  co-operation  possible. 

(From  a  letter  to  Lord  Linlithgow)  :  Jan.  29,  1943. 

0 
OATH 

SHRI  SHIVAPRASAD  GUPTA,  the  great  philanthro- 
pist of  Benares,  writes  : 

"After  hearing  the  Harijan  of  May  1st  read  to  me, 
I  have  been  pondering  over  the  note  'Gandhi  Seva 
Sangh  and  Legislatures.'  I  re-read  it  today,  I  also 
read  the  Weekly  Letter,  but  I  could  not  give  rest 
to  the  surging  thought  rising  in  my  mind. 

The  last  paragraph  of  the  note  reads  :  'It  is  not 
a  religious  oath  and  so  far  as  I  understand  the 
Constitution,  it  is  wholly  consistent  with  the  demand 
for  immediate  and  concrete  independence/  The 
following  are  the  questions  that  arise  in  my 
mind  : 

1 .  Are  oaths  of  several  and  different  kinds  ? 

2.  Can  an  oath  taken  in    the  name  of  God,   or  in 
the  alternative  form  where  one  has  to  affirm  solemnly, 
be    classed   in    two    categories,    'religious  oath  and 
non-religious  oath?' 

3.  What  is    the    governing    idea  behind  a  non- 
religious  oath  ? 

4.  How  can  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  person 
of  a  king  be  consistent  with   'the  demand  for  immed- 


424          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

iate  and  concrete  independence?'  This  demand, 
at  least  to  me,  means  depriving  the  same  sovereign 
of  his  sovereignty. 

I    would    very    much    like    your  answer  to   these 
pertinent  questions." 

My  answer  to  the  first  and  the  second  questions  is 
'Yes*.  The  answer  to  the  other  two  questions  may  be 
gathered  from  what  follows. 

An  oath  may  be  taken  in  the  name  of  God  and  yet 
may  not  be  styled  religious.  An  oath  that  a  witness  takes 
in  a  court  of  law  is  a  legal  not  a  religious  oath,  breach  of 
which  would  carry  legal  consequences.  An  oath  taken  by 
members  of  Parliament  may  be  called  a  constitutional  not 
a  religious  oath,  breach  of  which  may  involve  mundane 
consequences.  Breach  of  a  religious  oath  carries  no  legal 
consequences,  but  in  the  opinion  of  the  taker  does  carry 
divine  punishment.  This  does  not  mean  that  any  of  the 
three  varieties  of  oaths  is  less  binding  than  the  others  on  a 
conscientious  man.  A  conscientious  witness  will  tell  the 
truth,  not  for  fear  of  the  legal  consequence,  but  he  will  do 
so  in  every  case.  The  legislator's  oath  has  an  interpretation 
in  terms  of  the  Constitution  which  prescribes  the  oath. 
The  interpretation  may  be  given  in  the  Constitution  itself 
or  may  grow  up  by  usage.  So  far  as  I  understand  the 
British  Constitution,  the  oath  of  allegiance  simply  means 
that  the  legislator  will  in  pushing  forward  his  policy  or 
point  conform  to  the  Constitution.  I  hold  that  it  is  open 
to  the  legislator  consistently  with  his  oath  under  the 
British  Constitution  to  adopt  measures  in  the  legislature 
for  complete  independence.  That  to  my  mind  is  the 
saving  grace  of  the  British  Constitution.  I  fancy  that  the 
members  of  the  Union  Parliament  of  South  Africa  take 
substantially  the  same  oath  as  the  members  in  India,  but 
it  is  open  to  that  Parliament  today  to  declare  complete 
independence  without  any  violation  of  the  oath  of  alleg- 
iance. It  is  because  I  have  a  profound  conviction  that 


OATH  425 

the  British  Constitution  in  theory  permits  of  the  fulfilment 
of  the  highest  ambition  of  an  individual  or  the  nation  of 
which  he  is  a  member  that  I  advised  the  Working  Com- 
mittee to  accept  my  formula  for  office  acceptance.  And 
it  is  in  the  same  conviction  that  I  am  struggling  to  get  the 
British  Government  to  respond  to  it.  I  am  painfully  con- 
scious that  they  would  prolong  the  agony  to  the  breaking 
point.  But  I  know  that  if  we  have  faith  and  grit  we  shall 
win  at  every  point  and  reach  our  goal  without  shedding  a 
drop  of  blood.  The  British  people  apply  the  same  laws 
to  the  game  of  politics  that  they  apply  to  the  game  of 
football  which  I  believe  is  their  invention.  They  give  no 
quarter  to  the  opponent  and  ask  for  none.  The  fundamen- 
tal difference  in  our  case  is  that  we  have  abjured  the  use 
of  arms.  This  has  confounded  them.  They  do  not  believe 
our  prostestations.  They  do  not  mind  our  agitation  for 
complete  independence  so  long  as  we  keep  it  within  the 
constitutional  limit.  What  else  can  the  legislators  do  or  are 
they  to  do  inside  their  assemblies  ?  They  may  not  take 
their  pistols  in  their  pockets.  That  would  be  a  flagrant 
breach  of  the  oath  and  also  the  law.  Shri  Shivaprasad 
Gupta  need  not  worry  himself  over  the  propriety  of  the 
oath  by  Congressmen.  If  the  agitation  for  complete  in- 
dependence was  inconsistent  with  the  oath,  surely  the 
British  Government  themselves  would  have  raised  that 
preliminary  objection  even  to  the  candidature  of  Con- 
gressmen. —Harijan  :  May  22,  1937. 

<3>   <j>   <S> 

I  SEE  the  clearest  possible  distinction  between  the 
oath  or  affirmation  that  a  person  takes  before  a  court  of 
law,  a  legislature,  and  before  his  God  perhaps  daily  at  the 
time  of  rising  and  retiring.  They  have  different  functions, 
different  incidences.  —Harijan  :  June  26,  1937. 

Opponents 

I  WANT  you  to  feel   like   loving    your    opponents  and 


426         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

the  way  to  do  it  is  to  give  them  the  same  credit  for  honesty 
of  purpose  which  you  would  claim  for  yourself. 

And  immediately  we  begin  to  think  of  things  as  our 
opponents  think  of  them  we  shall  be  able  to  do  them  full 
justice.  I  know  that  this  requires  a  detached  state  of  mind, 
and  it  is  a  state  very  difficult  to  reach.  Nevertheless  for  a 
Sutyagrahi  it  is  absolutely  essential.  Three  fourths  of  the 
miseries  and  misunderstandings  in  the  world  will  disappear, 
if  we  step  into  the  shoes  of  our  adversaries  and  understand 
their  standpoint.  We  will  then  agree  with  our  adversaries 
quickly  or  think  of  them  charitably. 

— Young  India  :  March  19,  1925. 

AN  OPPONENT  is  entitled  to  the  same  regard  for  his 
principles  as  we  would  expect  others  to  have  for  ours. 
Non-violence  demands  that  we  should  seek  every  oppor- 
tunity to  win  over  opponents.  —Harijan  :  May  43  1940, 

Obstinacy 

I  AM  not  conscious  of  being  obstinate-  Those,  who 
know  me,  have  always  credited  me  with  an  ample  faculty 
for  compromise  though  they  have  found  rne  unyielding  on 
matters  of  principle  — Harijan  :  May  4,  1935. 

Optimism 

I  am  an  irrepressible  optimist,  but  I  always  base  my 
noptimismon  solid  facts.  —Young  India  :  Oct.  23,  1924. 

I  am  an  irrepressible  optimit  because  I  believe  in 
myself.  That  sounds  very  arrogant :  does  it  not  ?  But  I  say  it 
from  the  depth  of  my  humility.  I  believe  in  the  supreme 
power  of  God.  I  believe  in  Truth  and  future  of  humanity. 
I  trust  in  God  who  knows  how  to  confound  the  wisdom  of 
men.  He  is  a  consumate  Jadugar  and  I  have  placed 
myself  in  His  Hands.  He  is  a  hard  task-master.  He  would 


ORGANISATION  427 

accept  nothing  short  of  the  best  you  are  capable  of.  I  am 
an  optimist  because  I  expect  many  things  from  myself.  I 
have  not  got  them  I  know,  as  I  am  not  yet  a  perfect  bemg. 
If  I  was  one,  I  should  not  even  need  to  reason  with  you. 
When  I  am  a  perfect  being  I  have  simply  to  say  the  word 
and  the  nation  will  listen.  I  want  to  attain  that  perfection 
by  service.  — Young  India  :  Aug.  13,  1925. 

.  ^    ^.  ^ 

1  am    an  irrepressible   optimist.      No  scientist  starts  his 

experiments  with  a  faint  heart.      I    belong  to    the   tribe    of 
Columbus  and  Stevenson,  who  hoped    against  hope   in    the 
face  of  heaviest  odds.     The  days  of  miracles  are   not   gone. 
They  will  abide  so  long  as  God  abides. 

— Harijan  :  June  15,  1940. 

Organisation 

MY  experience  has  taught  me  that  no  movement  ever 
stops  or  languishes  for  want  of  funds.  This  does  not  mean 
that  any  temporal  movement  can  go  on  without  money,  but 
it  does  mean  that  wherever  it  has  good  men  and  true  at  its 
helm,  it  is  bound  to  attract  to  itself  the  requisite  funds.  On 
the  other  hand,  I  have  also  observed  that  a  movement 
takes  its  downward  course  from  the  time  that  it  is  afflicted 
with  a  plethora  of  funds.  When  therefore  a  public  institu- 
tion is  managed  from  the  interest  of  investments,  I  dare  not 
:all  it  a  sin  but  I  do  say  that  it  is  a  highly  improper  pro- 
cedure. The  public  should  be  the  bank  for  all  public 
institutions,  which  should  not  last  a  day  longer  than  the 
public  wish.  An  institution  run  with  the  interest  of  accumu- 
lated capital  ceases  to  be  amenable  to  public  opinion  and 
becomes  autocratic  and  self-righteous. 

— Sataygraha  in  South  Africa  :  Page  252. 

<s>  <*>  <s> 

AN  organisation  has  every  right  to   prescribe   penalties 
for  a  breach  by  its  members  of  self-imposed  conditions. 

India  ;  July  10,  1924. 


428  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

I  KNOW  no  organisation  that  has  died  for  want  of 
funds.  Organisations  die  always  for  want  of  men  i.e. 
honesty,  efficiency  and  self-sacrifice. 

—Young  India  :  June  3,  1926. 

<s>  <$>  <s> 

NO  organisation  can  be  run  with  success  if  its  mem- 
bers, especially  its  officers,  refuse  to  carry  out  its  policy  and 
hold  on  to  it  in  spite  of  opposition  to  it.  For  winning 
Swaraj  one  requires  iron  discipline. 

—  Young  India  :  Aug.  28,  1926. 
<$>    <§>    <$> 

LET  us  not  forget  that  organisations  are  meant  for  the 
service  of  the  people,  and  not  the  people  for  the  service  of 
the  organisations.  — Young  India  :  Aug.  18,  1927. 

<s>  <$>  <s> 

DISTORTED  notions  of  superiority  and  inferiority 
have  given  rise  to  indiscipline  in  almost  all  the  national, 
organisations.  Many  people  think  that  to  abolish  distinc- 
tions of  rank  means  passport  to  anarchy  and  licence. 
Whereas  the  meaning  of  abolition  of  distinctions  should  be 
perfect  discipline, — perfect  because  of  voluntary  obedience 
to  the  laws  of  the  organisation  to  which  we  may  belong, 
i.e.  the  laws  of  our  being.  For  man  is  himself  a  wonderful 
organisation  and  what  applies  to  him  applies  to  the  social 
or  political  organisations  of  which  he  may  be  a  member. 
And  even  as,  though  the  different  members  of  the  body  are 
not  inferior  to  any,  they  are  voluntarily  subject  to  the 
control  of  the  mind,  whilst  the  body  is  in  a  healthy  st  t^,  so 
have  the  members  of  an  organisation,  whilst  none  is  superior 
or  inferior  to  any  other,  to  be  voluntarily  subject  to  the 
mind  of  the  organisation  which  is  the  head.  An  organisa- 
tion which  has  no  directing  mind  and  which  has  no  members 
co-operating  with  the  mind,  suffers  from  paralysis  and 
i*i  in  a  dying  condition.  — Young  India  :  May  3,  1928* 

^    ^    ^ 

AN  organisation  weakens  if  its   members  continuously 


PAKISTAN  429 

seek    indulgence.      I    know     that     procrastination    among 
members  is  the  bane  of  most  institutions. 

—Toung  India  :  Aug.  8,  1929. 

ORGANISATIONS,  like  men,  if  they  are  to  command 
respect  and  grow,  must  have  a  sense  of  honour  and 
must  fulfil  their  promise.  — Toung  India  :  Jan  23,  1930. 

NO  movement  or  organization  having  vitality  dies 
from  external  attack.  It  dies  of  internal  decay. 

—Harijan  :  April  11,  1936. 

NO  movement  or  activity  that  has  the  sure  foundation 
of  purity  of  character  of  its  workers,  is  ever  in  danger  to 
come  to  an  end  for  want  of  funds.  — Harijan  :  Nov.  28,  1936. 


Pakistan 

IN  my  opinion,  India  is  today  one  nation,  even  a 
Italy  or  France  is  ;  and  this  I  maintain  in  spite  of  a  vivid 
and  painful  knowledge  of  the  fact,  that  Hindus  and 
Musalmans  are  murdering  one  another,  that  Brahmins  and 
Non-brahmins  are  preparing  for  a  similar  battle,  and  that 
both  Brahmins  and  Non-brahmins  exclude  from  their 
purview  the  classes  which  both  have  left  no  stone  unturned 
to  suppress.  But  I  have  known  similar  quarrels  in  families 
and  in  other  nations.  It  has  often  seemed  to  me,  that  a 
family  connection  is  necessary  to  establish  a  good  ground 
for  a  quarrel.  —Toung  India  :  Aug.  11,  1927. 

^s  ^^  ^^ 

BUT  though  we  may  quarrel  and  murder  one  another 
though  we  have  numerous  languages  and  still  more  numer- 
ous dialects,  India  is  geographically  one,  and  we  are  and 
have  been  only  one  people.  Those  speaking  the  same 
language  have  been  known  before  now  to  belong  to 
different  nationalities,  and  those  that  have  fought  among 


430          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

themselves  like  dogs  have  been  known  to  belong  to  one 
nation.  The  fact  is  that  oneness  of  speech  and  absence  of 
internal  feuds  are  no  indispensable  test  of  nationality. 

—  Young  India  :  July  30,  July  193L 

<$><$><$> 

A  MUSLIM  friend  writes  a  long  letter  which  pruned 
down  reads  as  follows  : 

cc  The  chief  difficulty  that  stands  in  your  way  of  right 
thinking  is  that  your  heart  has  so  hardened  by  looking  at 
and  interpreting  things  in  the  light  of  your  self-assumed 
principles,  that  you  cannot  bring  to  bear  an  open  mind  on 
anything,  howsoever  valuable  it  may  be. 

u  If  God  ha?  not  appointed  you  as  His  Messenger,  what 
you  say  or  teach  cannot  be  claimed  to  be  a  word  of  God. 
No  one  would  contest  the  truthfulness  of  truth  and  non- 
violence as  teachings  of  the  prophets  and  principles  of  very 
high  spiritual  value,  but  their  true  understanding  and 
application  require  a  soul  that  is  in  direct  communion  with 
God.  Any  person  who  has  only  polished  his  soul  by 
suppressing  or  acting  against  the  desires  and  cravings  of  the 
flesh  and  the  self  is  not  a  prophet. 

"  The  fact  thatjyou  stand  as  a  teacher  of  the  world  and 
claim  to  have  diagnosed  the  disease  from  which  the  world  is 
suffering,  and  proclaim  that  the  truth  of  your  choice  and 
practice  and  the  non-violence  of  your  convictions  and  appli- 
cations are  the  only  cures  for  the  afflicted  world,  betrays  your 
utter  disregard  and  misconception  of  the  truth.  You  admit 
you  make  mistakes.  Your  non-violence  is  actually  a  concealed 
violence  as  it  is  not  based  on  actual  spiritual  life  and  is  not 
the  earnest  of  true  inspiration  from  God. 

"  As  a  true  believer,  and  in  pursuance  of  that  teaching 
of  Islam  which  enjoins  on  every  Muslim  to  convey  the  truth 
to  every  human  being,  I  would  request  you  to  clear  your 
mind  of  all  complexes,  to  place  yourself  in  the  position  of  an 


PAKISTAN  431 

ordinary  human  being  who  wants  to  learn  and  not  to    teach 
and  to  become  a  real  seeker  after  truth. 

"  If  you  wish  to  find  out  the  truth,  I  would  request  you 
to  study  the  Quran  and  the  life  of  the  Prophet  Mohamed 
(Peace  of  God  be  upon  him)  written  by  Shebli  Nomani  and 
M.  Sulaiman  Nadwi  with  an  open  mind. 

u  As  for  unity  among  the  different  communities  inhabit* 
ing  India,  it  can  never  come  in  terms  of  a  single  nation. 
Broad-minded  toleration  of  each  other's  religion  and 
practises  and  an  agreement  based  on  the  recognition  of  the 
Muslims  as  a  nation  with  their  own  complete  code  of  life 
and  culture  to  guide  them  and  an  equality  of  status  in 
political  life,  shall  bring  harmony  and  peace  to  India." 

I  have  omitted  no  argument  used  by  the  writer. 

I  have  not  hardened  my  heart.  I  have  never  claimed 
to  be  a  messenger  of  God  except  in  the  sense  in  which  all 
human  beings  are.  I  am  a  mortal  as  liable  to  err  as  any 
other.  Nor  have  I  claimed  to  be  a  teacher  but  I  cannot 
prevent  admirers  from  calling  me  a  teacher  or  a  Mahatma, 
as  I  cannot  prevent  traducers  from  calling  me  all  sorts  of 
names  and  ascribing  to  me  vices  to  which  I  am  a 
stranger.  I  lay  both  praise  and  blame  at  the  feet  of  the 
Almighty  and  go  my  way. 

For  the  information  of  my  correspondent,  who  is  a 
schoolmaster  in  a  high  school,  I  may  say  that  I  have 
reverently  studied  the  works  he  mentions  and  also  many 
other  works  on  Islam.  I  have  more  than  once  read  the 
Quran.  My  religion  enables  me,  obliges  me,  to  imbibe  all 
that  is  good  in  all  the  great  religions  on  the  earth.  This 
does  not  mean  that  I  must  accept  the  interpretation  that  my 
correspondent  may  put  upon  the  message  of  the  Prophet  of 
Islam  or  any  other  Prophet.  I  must  use  the  limited 
intelligence  that  God  has  given  me  to  interpret  the  teachings 
bequeathed  to  mankind  by  the  Prophets  of  the  world.  I 


1*32  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

am  glad  to  find  that  my  correspondent  agrees  that  truth  and 
non-violence  are  taught  by  the  holy  Quran.  Surely  it  is  for 
him,  as  for  every  one  of  us  to  apply  these  principles  to  daily 
life  according  to  the  light  given  to  us  by  God. 

The  last  paragraph  in  the  letter  lays  down  a  dangerous 
doctrine.  Why  is  India  not  one  nation.?  Was  it  not  one 
during,  say,  the  Moghul  period  ?  Is  India  composed 
of  two  nations  ?  If  it  is,  why  only  two  ?  Are  not 
Christians  a  third  Parsis  a  fourth,  and  so  on  ?  Are 
the  Muslims  of  China  a  nation  separate  from  the  other 
Chinese  ?  Are  the  Muslims  of  England  a  different  nation 
from  the  other  English  ?  How  are  the  Muslims  of  the 
Punjab  different  from  the  Hindus  and  the  Sikhs  ?  Are  they 
no  tall  Punjabis,  drinking  the  same  water,  breathing  the 
same  air  and  driving  sustenance  from  the  same  soil  ?  What 
is  there  to  prevent  from  following  their  respective  religious 
practises  ?  Are  Muslims  all  the  world  over  a  separate 
nation  ?  Or  are  the  Muslims  of  India  only  to  be  a  separate 
nation  distinct  from  the  others  ?  Is  India  to  be  vivisected 
into  two  parts,  one  Muslim  and  the  other  non-Muslims?  And 
what  is  to  happen  to  the  handful  of  Muslims  living  in  the 
numerous  villages  where  the  population  is  predominantly 
Hindu,  and  conversely  to  the  Hindus  where,  as  in  the 
frontier  Province  or  Sind,  they  are  a  handful  ?  The  way 
suggested  by  the  correspondent  is  the  way  of  strife.  Live 
and  let  live.  Mutual  forbearance  and  toleration  is  the  law 
of  life.  That  is  the  lesson  I  have  learnt  from  the  Qjiran,  the 
Bible,  the  %end  A  vesta  and  the  Gita. 

—Harijan  :  Oct.  28,  1939. 


PAKISTAN  433 

AS  a  man  of  non-violence  I  cannot  forcibly  resist  the 
proposed  partition  if  the  Muslims  of  India  really  insist 
upon  it.  But  I  can  never  be  a  willing  party  to  the  vivi- 
section. I  would  employ  every  nbn-violent^  means  to 
prevent  it.  For  it  means  the  undoing  of  centuries  of  work 
done  by  numberless  Hindus  and  Muslims  to  live  together 
as  one  nation.  Partition  means  a  patent  untruth.  My 
whole  soul  rebels  against  the  idea  that  Hinduism  and  Islam 
represent  two  antagonistic  cultures  and  doctrines.  To 
assent  to  such  a  doctrine  is  for  me  denial  of  God.  For  I 
believe  with  my  whole  soul  that  the  God  of  the  Quran  is 
also  the  God  of  the  Gita,  and  that  we  are  all,  no  matter 
by  what  name  designated,  children  of  the  same  God.  I 
must  rebel  against  the  idea  that  millions  of  Indians  who 
were  Hindus  the  other  day  changed  their  nationality  oji 
adopting  Islam  as  their  religion. 

But  that  is  my  belief.  I  cannot  thrust  it  down  the 
throats  of  the  Muslims  who  think  that  they  are  a  different 
nation.  I  refuse,  however,  to  believe  that  the  eight  crores 
of  Muslims  will  say  that  they  have  nothing  in  common  with 
their  Hindu  and  other  brethren.  Their  mind  can  only  be 
known  by  a  referendum  duly  made  to  them  on  that  cleat 
issue.  The  contemplated  Constituent  Assembly  can  easily 
decide  the  question.  Naturally  on  an  issue  such  as  this 
there  can  be  no  arbitration.  It  is  purely  and  simply  a 
matter  of.  self-determination,  I  know  of  no  other  conclusive 
method  of  ascertaining  the  mind  of  the  eight  crores  of 
Muslims.  —Harijan  :  April  13,  1940. 

^  ^  ^ 

THE  partition  proposal  has  altered  the  face  of  the 
Hindu-Muslim  problem.  I  have  called  it  an  untruth. 
There  can  be  no  compromise  with  it.  At  the  same  time 
I  have  said,  that,  if  the  eight  crores  of  Muslims  desire  it, 
no  power  on  the  earth  can  prevent  it,  notwithstanding 
opposition  violent  or  non-violent.  It  cannot  come  by 
honourable  agreement. 


434         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

That  is  the  political  aspect  of  it.  But  what  about  the 
religious  and  moral  which  are  greater  than  the  political  ? 
For  at  the  bottom  of  the  cry  for  partition  is  that  belief 
that  Islam  is  an  exclusive  brotherhood,  and  anti-Hindu. 
Whether  it  is  against  other  religions  it  is  not  stated.  The 
newspaper  cuttings  in  which  partition  is  preached  describe 
Hindus  as  practically  untouchables.  Nothing  good  can 
come  out  of  Hindu  or  Hinduism.  To  live  under  Hindu 
ilile  is  a  sin.  Even  joint  Hindu- Muslim  rule  is  not  to  be 
thought  of.  The  cuttings  show  that  Hindus  and  Muslims 
are  already  at  war  with  one  another  and  that  they  mu$t 
be  prepared  for  the  final  struggle. 

Time  was  when  Hindus  thought  that  Muslims  were 
the  natural  enemies  of  Hindus.  But  as  is  the  case  with 
Hinduism,  ultimately  it  comes  to  terms  with  the  enemy 
and  makes  friends  with  it.  The  process  had  not  been 
completed.  As  if  nemesis  had  overtaken  Hinduism,  the 
Muslim  League  started  the  same  game  and  taught  that 
there  could  be  no  blending  of  the  two  cultures.  In  this 
connection  I  have  just  read  a  booklet  by  Shri  Atulanand 
Ghakrabarti  which  shows  that  ever  since  the  contact  of 
Islam  with  Hinduism  there  has  been  an  attempt  on  the 
part  of  the  best  mind  of  both  to  see  the  good  points  of 
each  other,  and  to  emphasise  inherent  similarities  rather 
than  seeming  dissimilarities.  The  author  has  shown  Islamic 
history  in  India  in  a  favourable  light.  If  he  has  stated 
the  truth  and  nothing  but  the  truth,  it  is  a  revealing  booklet 
which  all  Hindus  and  Muslims  may  read  with  profit.  He 
has  secured  a  very  favourable  and  reasoned  preface  from  Sir 
Shaafat  Ahmed  Khan  and  several  other  Muslim  testimon- 
ials. If  the  evidence  collected  there  reflects  the  true 
evolution  of  Islam  in  India,  then  the  partition  propaganda 
is  anti-Islamic. 

Religion  binds  man  to  God  and  man  to  man.  Does 
Islam  bind  only  Muslim  to  Muslim  and  antagonise  the 
Hindu?  Was  the  message  of  the  Prophet  peace  only  for 


PAKISTAN  435 

and  between  Muslims  and  war  against  non-Muslims  and 
Hindus  ?  Are  eight  crores  of  Muslims  to  be  fed  with  thai 
which  I  can  only  describe  as  poison  ?  Those  who  are 
instilling  the  poison  into  the  Muslim  mind  are  rendering 
the  greatest  disservice  to  Islam.  I  know  that  it  is  no  Islam. 
I  have  lived  among  Muslims  not  for  one  day  but  closely 
and  almost  uninterruptedly  for  twenty  years.  Not  one 
Muslim  taught  me  that  Islam  was  an  anti-Hindu  religion. 

8  —Harijan :  May  4,  1940. 

AN  English  friend  writes  thus  : 

"It  is  still  reasonable  at  present  fo  proceed  on  the 
assumption  that  the  Muslims  would  accept  something  a 
good  deal  less  than  'Pakistan*.  But  the  trouble  is  that  the 
longer  the  time  that  elapses  without  any  compromise 
being  reached,  the  stronger  and  more  insistent  will 
be  the  cry  for  'Pakistan',  for  that  in  the  end  civil  war  or 

Sartition  will  be  the    only    alternatives.     I    think  the  view 
eld  by  some  that   there  is  nothing  to   be  done  but  to  wait 
upon  events  is  fatal.     It  is  up  to  the    British    now   to  use 
all  their  powers  of  persuasion  and  statesmanship  to  compel 
the  parties  to  settle. 

"The  crux  of  the  matter  is  who  is  to  control  power  at 
the  Centre-Hindus  or  Muslims  ?  Over  this  the  Congress 
must  be  prepared  to  make  great  concessions.  The  principles 
of  parliamentary  democracy  and  majority  rule  must  be 
jettisoned.  They  are  not  applicable  when  two  distinct 
civilisations  have  got  to  live  down  together.  Majority  rule 
from  the  Muslim  point  of  view  will  mean,  or  at  any  rate, 
contain  the  menace  of  the  dominance  of  one  civilisation 
over  the  other.  If  the  Congress  does  not  recognize  this 
quickly,  I  am  afraid  partition  will  become,  if  not  the  only 
alternative,  the  best  one  which  will  give  you  an  idea  of  how 
bad  the  other  alternatives  will  be  ! 


great 


"If  the  Congress  can  be    brought   to  see  the  need  for 
t  concessions  on    this   point,    I    am  sure   compromise 


4S6       TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA   GANDHI 

solutions    can    be   found.      I  hold    this    necessity    to    be 
vital." 

Of  course  the  British  Government  can  do  much.  They 
have  done  much  by  force.  They  can  make  the  parties 
come  to  a  solution  by  force.  But  they  need  not  go  so 
for.  What  they  have  done  hitherto  is  to  prevent  a  proper 
solution.  In  proof  of  my  statement  I  commend  the 
esteemed  correspondent  to  the  columns  of  the  Harijan.  The 
only  thing  the  British  Government  have  to  do  is  to  change 
their  attitude.  Will  they  ?  They  can  retain  their  hold  on 
India  only  by  a  policy  of  divide  and  rule.  A  living  unity 
between  Muslims  and  Hindus  is  fraught  with  danger  to 
their  rule.  It  would  mean  an  end  of  it.  Therefore  it 
seems  to  me  that  a  true  solution  will  come  with  the  end 
of  the  rule,  potentially  if  not  in  fact. 

What  can  be  done  under  the  threat  of  Pakistan  ?  If 
it  is  not  a  threat  but  a  desirable  goal,  why  should  it  be 
be  prevented  ?  If  it  is  undesirable  and  the  means  only  for 
Muslims  to  get  more  under  its  shadow,  any  solution  would 
an  unjust  solution.  It  would  be  worse  than  no  solution. 
Therefore  I  am  entirely  for  waiting  till  the  menace  is  gone. 
India's  independence  js  a  living  thing.  No  make-believe 
will  suit.  The  whole  world  is  in  the  throes  of  a  new  birih. 
Anything  done  for  a  temporary  gain  would  be  tantamount 
to  an  abortion. 

I  cannot  think  in  terms  of  narrow  Hinduism  or  narrow 
Islam.  I  am  wholly  uninterested  in  a  patchwork  solution. 
India  is  a  big  country,  a  big  nation  composed  of  different 
cultures,  which  are  tending  to  blend  one  another,  each 
complimenting  the  rest.  If  I  must  wait  for  the  completion 
of  the  process,  I  must  wait.  It  may  not  be  completed  in 
my  life.  I  shall  love  to  die  in  the  faith  that  it  must  come 
m  the  fullness  of  time.  I  should  be  happy  to  think  that  I 
had  clone  nothing  to  hamper  the  process.  Subject  to  this 
condition  I  would  do  anything  to  bring  compromise,  but 


PAKISTAN  43' 

th^ey  arc  compromises  that  have  brought  m<5  nearer  the  goal. 
Pakistan  cannot  be  worse  than  foreign  domination.  I  have 
lived  under  the  latter  though  not  willingly.  If  God  so 
desires  it,  I  may  have  to  become  a  helpless  witness  to  the 
undoing  of  my  dream.  But  I  do  not  believe  that  the 
Muslims  really  want  to  dismember  India. 

— Harijan  :  May  4,  1940. 

Q.  ARE  you  right  in  conceding  the  right  of  self 
determination  to  Muslims  in  a  matter  so  vitally  affecting 
others  also,  ri(  Hindus,  Sikhs,  etc.  Supposing  the  majorit) 
of  the  Muslims  decide  in  favour  of  partition  in  terms  o 
the  Muslim  League  resolution,  what  happens  to  the  self- 
determination  of  Hindus,  Sikhs,  etc.,  who  will  be  minorities 
in  the  Muslim  States  ?  If  you  will  go  on  like  this,  where 
will  be  the  end  of  it  ? 

A!  Of  course  Hindus  and  Sikhs  will  have  the  same 
right.  I  have  simply  said  that  there  is  no  other  non-violent 
method  of  dealing  with  the  problem.  If  every  component 
part  of  the  nation  claims  the  right  of  self-determination  for 
itself,  there  is  no  one  nation  and  there  is  no  independence.  I 
have  already  said  that  Pakistan  is  such  an  untruth  that  it 
cannot  stand.  As  soon  as  the  authors  begin  to  work 
out,  they  will  find  that  it  is  not  practicable.  In  any  case 
mine  is  a  personal  opinion.  What  the  vast  Hindu  masses 
and  the  others  will  say  or  do  I  do  not  know.  My  mission 
is  to  work  for  the  unity  of  all,  for  the  sake  of  the  equal 
good.  —Harijan  :  May  18,  1940. 

Q.  YOU  have  said  in  Harijan  that  "if  the  eight  crores 
of  Muslims  desire  partition,  no  power  on  earth  can  prevent 
it.1'  Does  it  not  strike  you  that  25  crores  of  non^Muslirns 
too  might  have  a  say  in  the  matter  ?  Does  not  your 
statement  imply  that  you  put  a  premium  on  the  opinion 
of  the  Muslims  while  underrating  that  of  the  Hindus  ? 

A.    I  have  only  given   my    opinion.    If  the    majority 


438       TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

of  Hindus  or  Christians  or  Sikhs  or  even  Parsis,  small 
though  their  number  is,  stubbornly  resist  the  express  wish 
of  the  duly  elected  representatives  of  eujht  crores  of 
Muslims,  they  will  do  so  at  the  peril  of  a  civil  war.  This 
is  not  a  question  of  majority  or  minority  If  we  are  to 
solve  our  problems  non-violently,  there  is  no  other-way. 
I  say  this  not  because  the  eight  crores  happen  to  be 
Muslims,  I  would  say  the  same  if  the  eight  crores  were 
any  other  community.  —Harijan  :  May  25,1940. 

Panic 

PANIC  is  the  most  demoralising  state  anyone  can  be 
in.  There  never  is  any  cause  for  panic.  One  must  keep 
heart  whatever  happens.  War  is  an  unmitigated  evil.  But 
it  certainly  does  one  good  thing,  it  drives  away  fear  and 
brings  bravery  to  the  surface.  Several  million  lives  must 
have  been  already  lost  between  the  Allies  and  the  Germans. 
They  have  been  wasting  blood  like  water.  Old  men, 
women  both  old  and  young,  and  children  in  Britain  and 
France  are  living  in  the  midst  of  imminent  death.  But 
there  is  no  panic  there.  If  they  were  seized  by  panic,  that 
would  be  an  enemy  more  dreadful  than  German  bullets, 
bombs  and  poison  gas.-  Let  us  learn  from  these  suffering 
nations  of  the  West  and  banish  panic  from  our  midst.  And 
in  India  there  is  no  cause  whatsoever  for  panic.  Britain 
will  die  hard  and  heroically  even  if  she  has  to.  We  may 
hear  of  reverses,  but  we  will  not  hear  of  demoralisation. 
Whatever  happens  will  happen  in  an  orderly  manner. 

—Harijan  :  June  8,  1940. 

Passions 

HUMAN  passions  are  fleeter  even  than  the  wind  and 
to  subdue  them  completely  requires  no  end  of  patience. 

-Tout*  India  :  Oct.  15.  1927. 


PATIENCE  439 

Parties 

YOU  suggest  the  desirability  of  unity.  I  think  unity 
of  goal  we  have.  But  parties  we  shall  have — we  may  not 
find  a  common  denominator  for  improvements.  For  some 
will  want  to  go  further  than  others.  I  see  no  harm  in  a 
wholesome  variety.  What  I  would  rid  ourselves  of,  is  dis- 
trust of  one  another  and  imputation  of  motives.  Our  be- 
setting sin  is  not  our  differences,  but  our  littleness.  We 
wrangle  over  words,  we  fight  often  for  shadow  and  lose  the 

substance It  is  not  our  differences   that  really  matter. 

It  is  the  meanness  behind  that  is  ugly. 

— Toung  India  :  Feb.  1  1920. 

THERE  is  room  enough  in  our  country  for  as  many 
parties  as  there  are  honest  men. 

— Toting  India  :  Dec.  8,  1921. 

I  HAVE  repeatedly  observed  that  no  school  of  thought 
can  claim  a  monopoly  of  right  judgment.  We  are  all 
liable  to  err  and  are  often  obliged  to  revise  our  judgments. 
In  a  vast  country  like  this,  there  must  be  room  for  all 
schools  of  honest  thought.  And  the  least  therefore  that  we 
owe  to  ourselves  as  to  others  is  to  try  to  understand  the 
opponent's  view-point  and,  if  we  cannot  accept  it,  respect 
it  as  fully  as  we  would  expect  him  to  respect  ours.  It  is 
one  of  the  indispensable  tests  of  a  healthy  public  life  and , 
therefore  fitness  for  Swaraj.  If  we  have  no  charity,  and  no 
tolerance,  we  shall  never  settle  our  differences  amicably  and 
must  therefore  always  submit  to  the  arbitrament  of  a  third 
party  i.e.,  to  foreign  domination. 

—Young  India  :  April  17,  1924. 

Patience 

TO  lose  patience  is  to  lose  the  battle. 

—Towig  India :  Dec.  12,  If 20. 


TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

IF  patience  is  worth  anything,  it  must  endure  to  the 
end  of  time.  And  a  living  faith  will  last  in  the  midst  of 
the  blackest  storm.  —  Young  India:  Jan.  7,  1926. 

Patriotism 

FOR  me  patriotism  is  the  same  as  humanity.  I  am 
patriotic  because  I  am  human  and  humane.  It  is  not  ex- 
clusive. I  will  not  hurt  England  or  Germany  to  serve 
India.  Imperialism  has  no  place  in  my  scheme  of  life. 
The  law  of  a  patriot  is  nqt  different  from  that  of  the 
patriarch.  And  a  patriot  is  so  much  the  less  a  patriot  if 
be  is  a  lukewarm  humanitarian.  There  is  no  conflict 
between  private  and  political  law.  My  patriotism  is  not 
exclusive:  it  is  calculated  not  only  not  to  hurt  any  other 
nation  but  to  benefit  all  in  the  true  sense  of  the  word. 
India's  freedom  as  conceived  by  me  can  never  be  a  menace 
to  the  world,  —Young  India  :  April  3,  1924. 

THE  first  thing  is  that  my  mission  is  not  merely  brother- 
hood of  Indian  humanity.  My  mission  is  not  merely  free- 
dom of  India,  though  today,  it  undoubtedly  engrosses 
practically  the  whole  of  my  life  and  the  whole  of  my  time. 
But  through  realisation, of  freedom  of  India  I  hope  to  realise 
and  carry  on  the  mission  of  brother-hood  of  man.  My 
patriotism  is  not  an  exclusive  thing.  It  is  all-embracing  and 
I  should  reject  that  patriotism  which  sought  to  mount  upon 
the  distress  or  the  exploitation  of  other  nationalities.  The 
conception  of  my  patriotism  is  nothing  if  it  is  not  always  in 
every  case  without  exception  consistent  with  the  broadest 
good  of  humanity  at  large.  Not  only  that  but  my  religion 
and  my  patriotism  derived  from  my  religion  embrace  all 
life.  I  want  to  realise  brother-hood  or  identity  not  merely 
with  the  beings  called  human,  but  I  want  to  realise  identity 
with  all  life,  even  with  such  beings  as  crawl  on  earth.  I 
waijf,  if  I  don't  jpve  you  a  shock,  to  realise  identity  with 
even  the  crawling  things  on  earth,  because  we  claim 


PEACE  441 

common  descent  from  the  same  God,  $nd  that  being  so,  all 
life  in  whatever  form  it  appears  must  be  essentially  one. 

—Toting  India  :  April  4, 1929. 

YOU  cannot  serve  both  self  and  country.  Service  01 
self  is  strictly  limited  by  that  of  the  country,  and  hence  ex- 
cludes a  living  beyond  the  means  of  this  absolutely  poor 
country.  To  serve  our  villages  is  to  establish  Swaraj. 
Everything  else  is  but  an  idle  dream. 

— Young  India  :  Dec.  26,  1929. 

THERE  never  can  be  any  conflict  between  the  real 
interest  of  one's  country  and  that  of  one's  religion.  Where 
there  appears  to  be  any,  there  is  something  wrong  with  one's 
religion  ;  i  et  one's  morals.  True  religion  means  good 
thought  and  good  conduct.  True  patriotism  also  means 
good  thought  and  good  conduct.  To  set  up  a  com- 
parison between  two  synonymous  things  is  wrong. 

— Young  India  :  Jan  9,  1930. 
^^    ^>    ^> 

I  AM  a  humble  servant  of  India,  and  in  trying  to  serve 
India,  I  serve  humanity  at  large.  I  discovered,  in  my  early 
days,  that  the  service  of  India  is  not  inconsistent  with  the 
service  of  humanity.  As  I  grew  older  in  years,  and  I  hope 
also  in  wisdom,  I  saw  that  the  discovery  was  well  made, 
and  after  nearly  50  years  of  public  life,  I  am  able  to  say  to- 
day that  my  faith  in  the  doctrine,  that  the  service  of  one's 
nation  is  not  inconsistent  with  the  service  of  the  world,  has 
grown.  It  is  a  good  doctrine.  Its  acceptance  alone  will 
ease  the  situation  in  the  world,  and  stop  the  mutual  jeal- 
ousies between  nations  inhabiting  this  globe  of  ours. 

—Young  India  :  Nov.  7,  1933. 

Peace 

I  AM  a  man  of  peace.  I  believe  in  peace.  But  I  do 
not  want  peace  at  any  price.  I  do  not  want  the  peace  that 
you  find  in  the  grave  :  but  I  do  want  that  peace  which  you 


442         TEACHINGS  OF   MAHATMA  GANDHI 

find  embedded  in  the  human  breast,  which  is  exposed  to 
the  arrows  of  a  whole  world,  but  which  is  protected 
from  all  harm  by  the  Power  of  the  Almighty  God. 

— Young  India  :  Jan.  19,  1922. 

THE  way  of  peace  is  the  way  of  truth.  Truthfulness  is 
even,  more  important  than  peacefulest 

-rTowig  India  :  May  20,  1925. 

EACH  one  has  to  find  his  peace  from  within.  And 
peace  to  be  real  must  be  unaffected  by  outside  circumstan- 
ces. — Toung  India  :  Nov.  19,  1929. 

Penance 

PENANCES  with  me  are  no  mechanical  acts.  They  are 
done  in  obedience  to  the  "inner  voice." 

— Toting  India  :  April  2,  1931. 

Perfection 

NO  human  being  is  so  bad  as  to  be  beyond  redemption 
no  human  being  is  so  perfect  as  to  warrant  his  destroying 
him  whom  he  wrongly  considers  to  be  wholly  evil. 

—  Toung  India  :  March  26,  1931. 

Perseverance 

PERSEVERANCE  opens  up  treasures  which  bring 
pcrenial  joy.  — Harijan  :  April  5,  1942. 

Petition  Writing 

I  DO  wish  as  a  practised  draughtsman  to  warn 
writers  of  petition,  whether  they  be  pleaders  or  otherwise,  to 
think  of  the  cause  they  may  be  expousing  for  the  time  being. 
I  assure  them  that  a  bare  statement  of  facts  unembellished 
with  adjectives  is  far  more  eloquent  and  effective  than  a 
narrative  glowing  with  exubercnt  language.  Petition  writers 
must  understand  that  they  address  busy  men,  not  necessarily 


PICKETING  443 

sympathetic,  sometimes  prejudiced,  and  almost  invariably 
prone  to  sustain  the  decisions  of  their  subordinates.  Peti- 
tions have  to  be  read  and  analysed  by  public  workers  and 
journalists  who  have  none  too  much  time  at  their  disposal* 
I  make  a  present  of  my  valuable  experience  to  young 
patriots  whe  wish  to  try  the  art  of  advocating  public  cause 
by  writing  petitions  or  otherwise.  I  hfti  the it  privilege  of 
serving  under  the  late  Mr.  Gokhale  and  for  a  time  under  the 
G.O.ML  of  India.  Both  told  me  that  if  I  wanted  to  be 
heard  I  must  be  brief,  I  must  write  to  the  point  and  adhere 
to  facts,  and  never  travel  beyond  the  cause  under  notice, 
and  I  must  be  most  sparing  in  my  adjectives  And  if 
some  success  has  attended  my  effort  it  is  due  to  my  accep- 
tance of  the  golden  advice  given  to  me  by  the  two  illustrious 
deceased.  —  Toung  India  :  Jan.  12,  1920. 

Picketing 

PICKETING  in  its  nature  must  be  temporary,  but  it  is 
like  what  a  stimulant  is  in  medicine.  Drink  is  more  a 
disease  than  a  vice.  I  know  scores  of  men  who  would 
gladly  leave  off  drink  if  they  could. 

Inspite  of  the  temptation  having  been  put  away  at  their 
instance,  I  have  known  them  to  steel  drink.  I  do  not, 
therefore,  think  that  it  was  wrong  to  have  removed  the 
temptation.  Diseased  persons  have  got  to  be  helped  against 
themselves.  If  I  have  a  son  who  is  addicted  (say  to  gam- 
bling, and  a  gambling  company  imposes  itself  on  me  to 
tempt  my  boy,  I  have  either  violently  to  knock  the  company 
down  or  to  post  watches  at  its  offices,  in  order,  if  possible,  to 
shame  my  son  into  not  going  there.  It  is  true  that  there 
are  other  gambling  companies  some  distance  from  my  place. 
Still  I  take  it,  I  would  be  held  in  the  right  in  having  posted 
a  watch  at  the  company's  door.  I  must  make  it  difficult  for 
my  son  to  gamble.  What,  for  instance,  should  the  public 
do,  if  the  state  were  to  build  palaces  in  every  street  for 
women  of  ill-fame,  and  issue  to  them  licences  to  ply  their 


444        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

trade  ?  Will  it  not  be  its  duty,  unless  it  destroys  these 
palaces  inhabited  by  vice,  to  quarantime  them  and  warn 
the  public  of  the  danger  of  falling  an  easy  prey  to  the  temp- 
tation forced  on  it  ?  I  recognise  the  necessity  of  using  only 
men  and  women  of  character  as  pickets  and  of  guarding 
against  violence  being  offered  to  those  who  insist  on  drinking 
in  the  face  of  public  opinion.  Picketing  is  a  duty,  a  citizen 
must  discharge,  when  he  is  not  helped  by  the  state.  What 
is  a  police  patrol,  if  it  is  not  picketing  against  thieves  ? 
The  police  use  the  gun,  when  the  thief  betrays  an  inclination 
to  break  into  another's  house.  A  picket  uses  the  pressure 
of  shame,  i.e.,  love,  when  he  warns  a  weak  brother  against 
the  dangers  of  the  drink  evil.  — Toung  India  :  Jan.  13,  1920. 

<$><$><$> 

PEACEFUL  picketing  does  not  mean  that  so  long  as  no 
physical  violence  is  used,  any  kind  of  pressure  could  be 
exercised.  The  picketers'  duty  is  merely  to  wara  drinkers 
against  the  vice  of  drink,  not  molest  them  or  otherwise  pre- 
vent them  if  they  will  not  listen.  If  we  may  force  temper- 
ance upon  the  people  believing  it  to  be  good  for  them,  the 
English  administrators  and  their  Indian  supporters  are 
certainly  performing  an  analogous  operation.  They  too 
force  the  present  system  on  us  well  believing  that  it  is  good 
for  us.  I  would  rather  have  India  to  be  free  than  sober  if 
freedom  has  to  buy  sobriety. 

—Young  India  :  Feb.  23,  1922' 

Plains-peaking 

IF  plain-speaking  were  rudeness,  I  am  simply  saturated 
with  it.  —Harijan  :  April  20,  1935. 

Policy 

LET  us  understand  the  distinction  between  policy  and 
creed.  A  policy  may  be  changed,  a  creed  cannot.  But 
either  is  as  good  as  the  other  whilst  it  is  held. 

—Toung  India  ;  July  30,  1931. 


POLITICS  445 


Politics 

THE  politician  in  me  has  never  dominated  a  single 
decision  of  mine,  and  if  I  seem  to  take  part  in 
politics,  it  is  only  because  politics  encircle  us  to-day 
like  the  coil  of  a  snake  from  which  one  cannot  get  out, 
no  matter  how  much  one  tries.  I  wish  therefore  to  wrestle 
with  the  snake,  as  I  have  been  doing  with  more  or  less 
success  consciously  since  1894,  unconsciously  as  I  havp 
now  discovered,  ever  since  reaching  years  of  discretion. 
Quite  selfishly,  as  I  wish  to  live  in  peace  in  the 
midst  of  a  bellowing  storm  howling  round  me,  I  have 
been  experimenting  with  myself  and  my  friends  by  in- 
troducing religion  into  politics.  Let  me  explain  what 
I  mean  by  religion.  It  is  not  the  Hindu  religion  which 
I  certainly  prize  above  all  other  religions,  but  the 
religion  which  transcends  Hinduism,  which  changes 
one's  very  nature,  which  binds  one  indissolubly  to 
the  truth  within  and  which  ever  purifies.  It 
is  the  permanent  quality  in  human  nature  which 
counts  no  cost  too  great  in  order  to  find  full 
expression  and  which  leaves  the  soul  utterly  restless 
until  it  has  found  itself,  known  its  Maker  and  appre- 
ciated the  true  correspondence  between  the  Maker  and 
itself.  —Young  India  :  May  8,  1920. 

<$><$><$> 

POURING  ridicule  on    one's   opponent   is   an     app- 
roved method  in  "  civilized  politics!11 

—  Toting  India  :  Sept.  1,    1920. 

<$>   <$>   <3> 

I  HAVE   sacrified   no   principle   to   gain    a     political 
end.  —Town  I^a  :  March  12,    1925, 


OURS  is  a  movement  of  self-purification.  There  are 
some  who  think  that  morality  has  nothing  to  do  with 
politics.  We  do  not  concern  ourselves  with  the  character 


446       TEACHINGS  0*  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

of  our  leaders.  The  democracies  of  Europe  and 
Aaperiea  steer  clear  of  any  notion  of  morality  having 
artfthing  to  do  with  politics.  Bad  characters  are  often 
great  intellects,  and  they  can  manage  certain  affairs 
wefl  enough  by  the  force  of  their  intellect.  The  private 
character  of  some  of  the  leading  men  of  the  House  of 
Commons  will  not  bear  examination.  We  too  have  often 
carried  on  our  political  movement  in  the  same  fashion. 
We  did  not  concern  ourselves  with  the  morals  of  the 
Congress  delegates  or  leaders.  But  in  1920  we  struck  an 
entirely  new  departure  and  we  declared  that  since  truth 
and  non-violence  were  the  sole  means  to  be  employed 
by  the  Congress  to  reach  its  goal,  self-purification  was 
necessary  even  in  political  life.  —Young  India  :  Jan.  23,  1930 

Political  Power 

TO  me  political  power  is  not  an  end  but  one  ol 
the  means  of  enabling  people  to  better  their  condition 
in  every  department  of  life.  Political  power  means 
capacity  to  regulate  national  life  through  national  re- 
presentatives. If  national  life  becomes  so  perfect  as  to 
become  self-regulated,  no  representation  is  necessary. 
There  is  then  a  state  of  enlightened  anarchy.  In  such 
a  state  every  one  is  his  own  ruler.  He  rules  himself  in  such  a 
manner  that  he  is  never  a  hindrance  to  his  neighbour. 
In  the  idle  state  therefore  there  is  no  political  power  because 
there  is  no  State.  But  the  ideal  is  never  fully  realised  in  life. 
Hence  the  classical  statement  of  Thoreau  that  that  Govern- 
ment is  best  which  governs  the  least.— Harij an :  Dec.  2,  1938. 

Politics  vs,  Religion 

I  THINK  the  political  life  must  be  an  echo  of  private 
life  and  that  there  cannot  be  any  divorce  between  the 
*wo.  —Toung  India  :  July  11,  1925. 

I  HAVE   always  said  that  my  politics  are  subservieni 


POLITIES  VS.  KJ&L-itiiuw  447 


to  my  religion.  I  have  fotifi^  myfidf  in  them,  as  I 
could  not  live  my  religion  fife  (i.  e.)  a  life  of  service, 
without  being  affected  by  them.  I  should  discard  them 
today  if  they  hindered  it.  I  cannot  therefore  subscribe 
to  the  doctrine  that  I  may  not,  being  a  political  leader 
deal  with  matters  religious.  —  Toung  India  :  July  19  1924. 

FOR  me  there  is  no  politics  without  religion—  not 
the  religion  of  the  supcrstitous  and  the  blind  religion 
that  hates  and  fights,  but  the  Universal  Religion  of 
Toleration.  Politics  without  morality  is  a  thing  to  be 
avoded.  Then  says  the  critic,  I  must  retire  from  all 
public  activity.  Such  however  is  not  my  experience.  I 
must  try  to  live  in  society  and  yet  remain  untouched 
by  its  pitfalls.  —  Toung  India  :  Nov.  27,  1924. 

TODAY  there  is  not  much  open  opposition  to  the  idea, 
though  there  are  many  who  secretely  believe  that  politics 
should  have  nothing  to  do  with  morality.  That  is  why  our 
progress  is  so  slow  and  in  some  respects  even  nil.  If  we  had 
acted  up  to  our  creed  of  1920,  we  should  not  have  taken 
nine  years  to  arrive  at  the  present  stage.  If  Swaraj  was  not 
meant  to  civilize  us,  and  to  purify  and  stabilise  our  civilisa- 
tion, it  would  be  nothing  worth.  The  very  essence  of  our 
civilisation  is  that  we  give  a  paramount  place  to  morality  in 
ail  our  affairs,  public  or  private.  —  Toung  India.  Jan.  23,  1930. 

YOU  must  understand  that  I  cannot  isolate  politics 
from  the  deepest  things  of  my  life,  for  the  simple  reason  that 
nay  politics  are  not  corrupt,  they  are  inextricabely  bound  up 
with  Non-violence  and  Truth.  As  I  have  said  often  enough  I 
would  far  rather  that  India  perished  than  that  she  won 
freedom  at  the  sacrifie  of  truth.  —  Toung  India  :  Oct.  1,  1931. 

Poverty 

THE  curse  of  the  poor  has  destroyed  nations,  has  de- 
prived kings  of  their  crowns  and  the  rich  of  their  riches* 


448        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA    GANDHI 

Retributive  justice  is  inexorable.     The  blessings  of  the    poor 
have  made  kingdoms  flourish. 

Riches  arc  no  test  of  goodness.     Indeed  poverty   is    the 
only   test.     A  good  man  voluntarily  embraces  poverty. 

—Young  India  :  Nov.  19,  1925, 
<$><$>    <8> 

EVERY  palace  that  one  sees  in  India  is  a  demonstration 
not  of  her  riches  but  of  the  isolence  of  power  that  riches 
give  to  the  few,  who  owe  them  to  the  miserably  requited 
labours  of  the  millions  of  the  paupers  of  India. 

—Young  India  :  July  7,  1927. 

<$>  <s>  <$> 

NON-POSSESSION  is  allied  to  Non-stealing.  A  thing 
not  originally  stolen  must  nevertheless  be  classified  as  stolen 
property,  if  one  possesses  it  without  needing  it.  Possession 
implies  provision  for  the  future.  A  seaker  after  Truth, 
a  follower  of  the  Law  of  Love  cannot  hold  anything  against 
tomorrow.  God  never  stores  for  the  morrow.  He  never 
creates  more  than  what  is  strictly  needed  for  the  moment. 
If  therefore  we  repose  faith  in  His  providence,  we  should 
rest  assurred  that  He  will  give  us  every  day  our  daily  breadr 
meaning  everything  that  we  require.  Saints  and  devotees, 
who  have  lived  in  such  faith,  have  always  derived  a  justifi- 
cation for  it  from  their  experience.  Our  ignorance  or 
negligence  of  the  Divine  Law,  which  gives  to  man  from  day 
to  day  his  daily  bread  and  no  more,  has  given  rise  to  in- 
equalities with  all  the  miseries  attendant  upon  them.  The 
rich  have  a  superfluous  stoie  of  things  which  they  do  not 
need,  and  which  are  therefore  neglected  and  wasted  ;  while 
millions  are  starved  to  death  for  want  of  sustenance.  If 
each  retained  possession  only  of  what  he  needed,  no  one 
would  be  in  want,  and  all  would  live  in  contentment.  As 
it  is,  the  rich  are  discontented  no  1(  ss  than  the  poor.  The 
poor  man  would  fain  become  a  millionaire  and  the  millio- 
naire a  multi-millionare.  The  rich  should  take  the  initiative 
in  dispossession  with  a  view  to  a  universal  diffusion  of  the 


NON-POSSESSION  449 

spirit  of  contentment.  If  only  they  keep  their  own  property 
within  moderate  limits,  the  starving  will  be  easily  fed,  and 
will  learn  the  lesson  of  contentment  along  with  the  rich. 
Perfect  fulfilment  of  the  ideal  of  Non-possession  requires 
that  man  should,  like  the  birds,  have  no  roof  over  his  head, 
no  clothing  and  no  stock  ot  food  for  the  morrow.  He  will 
indeed  need  his  daily  bread,  but  it  will  be  God's  business, 
and  not  his,  to  provide  it.  Only  the  fewest  possible,  if  any 
at  all.  can  reach  this  ideal.  We  ordinary  seekers  may  not 
be  repelled  by  the  seeming  impossibility.  We  must 
keep  the  ideal  constantly  in  view,  and  in  the  light  thereof 
critically  examine  our  possessions,  and  try  to  reduce  them* 
Civilisation,  in  the  real  sense  of  the  term,  consists  not  in  the* 
multiplication,  but  in  the  deliberate  and  voluntary  reduction 
of  wants.  This  alone  promotes  real  happiness  and  content- 
ment, and  increases  the  capacity  for  service.  Judging  by 
this  cnterion,  we  find  that  in  the  Ashram  we  possess  many 
things,  the  necessity  for  which  cannot  be  proved,  and  we 
thus  tempt  our  neighbours  to  thieve. 

From  the  standpoint  of  pure  Truth,  the  body  too  is  a 
possession.  It  has  been  truly  said  that  desire  for  enjoyment 
creates  bodies  for  the  sdul.  When  this  desire  vanishes  there 
remains  no  further  need  for  the  body,  and  man  is  free  from 
the  vicious  cycle  of  birth  and  deaths.  The  soul  is  omnipre- 
sent ;  why  should  she  care  to  be  confined  within  the  cagelike 
body,  or  do  evil  and  even  kill  for  the  sake  of  that  cage  ?  We 
thus  arrive  at  the  ideal  of  total  renunciation,  and  learn  to 
use  the  body  for  the  purposes  of  service  so  long  as  it  exists, 
so  much  so  that  service,  and  not  bread,  becomes  with  us  the 
staff  of  life.  We  eat  and  drink,  sleep  and  wake,  for  service 
alone.  Such  an  attitude  of  mind  brings  us  real  happiness, 
and  the  beatific  vision,  in  the  fulness  of  time.  Let  us  all 
examine  ourselves  from  this  standpoint. 

We  should  remember  that  Non-possession  is  a  principle 
applicable  to  thoughts,  as  \yell  as  to  things.  One  who  fill* 
his  brain  with  useless  knowledge  violates  that  inestimable 


450  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

principle.  Thoughts,  which  turn  us  away  from  God,  or  do 
not  turn  us  towards  Him,  constitute  impediments  in  our 
way*  In  this  connection  we  may  consider  the  definition  of 
knowledge  contained  in  the  13th  chapter  of  the  Gita.  We 
are  there  told  that  humility  (amanitvarri) ,  etc.,  constitute 
knowledge,  and  all  the  rest  is  ignorance.  If  this  is  true, — 
and  there  is  no  doubt  that  it  is  true, — much  that  we  hug  to- 
day as  knowledge  is  ignorance  pure  and  simple,  and  there- 
fore only  does  us  harm,  instead  of  conferring  any  benefit. 
Jt  makes  the  mind  wander,  and  even  reduces  it  to  a  vacuity, 
and  discontent  flourishes  in  endless  ramifications  of  evil. 
Needless  to  say,  this  is  not  a  plea  for  inertia.  Every  moment 
of  our  life  should  be  filled  with  mental  or  physical  activity. 
But  that  activity  should  be  sattvikay  tending  to  Truth.  One 
who  has  consecrated  his  life  to  service  cannot  be  idle  for  a 
single  moment.  But  one  has  to  learn  to  distinguish  between 
good  activity  and  evil  activity.  This  discernment  goes 
naturally  with  a  single-minded  devotion  to  service. 

— From  Teravda  Mandir. 

Power 

POWER  is  of  two  kinds.  One  is  obtained  by  the  fear 
of  punishment  and  the  other  by  «arts  of  love.  Power 
based  on  love  is  a  thousand  times  more  effective  and 
permanent  than  the^one  derived  from  fear  of  punishment. 

—  Toung  India  :  Jan.  8,    1925. 

<$><$>   <3> 

POWER  invariably  elects  to  go  into  the  hands  of 
strong.  That  strength  may  be  physical  or  of  the  heart 
or,  if  we  do  not  fight  shy  of  the  word,  of  the  spirit.  Stength 
of  the  heart  connotes  soul  force.  Let  it  be  remembered  that 
physical  force  is  transitory  even  as  the  body  is  transitory.  But 
the  power  of  the  spirit  is  permanent,  even  as  the  spirit 
is  ever  lasting.  — Harijan  :  Feb.  1,  1942. 

Prayer 

HERE     is    a    letter      written  by  a    student  to     the 


PRAYER  451 

Principle  of  a   national   instution    asking  to     be     excused 
from  attending  its  prayer  meetings  : 

"I  beg  to  state  that  I  have  no  belief  in  prayer,  as  I  do  not 
believe  in  anything  known  as  God  to  which  I  should  pray,  I 
never  feel  any  necessity  of  supposing  a  God  for  myself.  What  do 
I  lose  if  I  do  not  care  for  Him  and  calmly  and  sincerely  work  my 
own  schemes  ? 

"So  far  as  congregational  prayer  is  concerned,  it  is  of  no 
usf.  Can  such  a  huge  mass  of  men  enter  into  any  mental  con- 
centration upon  a  thing,  however  trifling  it  may  be  ?  Are  the 
little  and  ignorant  children  expected  to  fix  their  fickle  attention 
on  the  subtlest  ideas  ot  our  great  scriptures,  God  and  soul  and 
equality  of  all  men  and  many  other  high-sounding  phrases  ? 
This  great  performance  is  required  to  be  done  at  a  particular 
time  at  the  command  of  a  particular  man.  Can  love  for  the 
jo-called  Lord  take  its  root  in  the  hearts  of  boys  by  any  such 
mechanical  function  ?  Nothing  can  be  more  repugnant  to  reason 
than  to  expect  the  same  behaviour  from  men  of  every  tem- 
perament. Therefore,  prayer  should  not  be  a  complusioo.  Let 
those  pray  who  have  a  taste  for  it  and  those  avoid  who  dislike 
it  Anything  done  without  conviction  is  an  immoral  and 
degrading  action." 

Let  us  first  examine  the  worth  of  the  last  idea.  Is  it  an 
immoral  and  degrading  act  to  submit  to  discipline  before  one 
begins  to  have  conviction  about  its  necessity  ?  Is  it  immoral 
and  degrading  to  study  subjects  according  to  the  school 
syllabous  if  one  has  no  conviction  about  its  utility  ?  May  a 
boy  be  excused  from  studying  his  vernacular  if  he  has 
persuaded  himself  that  it  is  useless?  It  is  not  true  to  say 
that  a  schoolboy  has  no  conviction  about  the  things  he  has  to 
learn  or  the  discipline  he  has  to  go  through  ?  His  choice  is 
exhausted  if  he  had  it,  when  he  elected  to  belong  to  an 
institution.  His  joining  one  means  that  he  willingly 
submits  to  its  rules  and  regulations.  It  is  open  to  him  to  leave 
it  but  he  may  not  choose  what  or  how  he  will  learn. 

It  is  for  teachers  to  make  attractive  and  intelligible  what 
to  the  pupils  may  at  first  appear  repulsive  or  uninteresting. 


452          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

It  is  easy  enough  to  say,  'I  do  not  believe  in  God 
for  God  permits  all  things  to  be  said  of  Him  with  im- 
punity. He  looks  at  our  acts.  And  any  breach  of  His 
Law  carries  with  it,  not  its  vindictive,  but  its  purify- 
ing, compelling  punishment.  God's  existence  cannot  be, 
does  not  need  be  proved.  God  is.  If  He  is  not  felt, 
so  much  the  worse  for  us.  The  absence  of  feeling  is  a 
disease  which  we  shall  some  day  throw  off  nolens  volens. 

But  a  boy  may  not  argue.  He  must  out  of  sense 
of  discipline  attend  prayer  meeting  if  the  institution  to 
which  he  belongs  requires  such  attendance.  He  may 
respectfully  put  his  doubts  before  his  teachers.  He  need 
not  believe  what  does  not  appeal  to  him.  But  if  he  has 
respect  for  his  teachers  he  will  do  without  believing  what  he  is 
asked  to  do  out  of  fear,  not  out  of  churlishness,  but  with  the 
knowledge  that  it  is  right  for  him  so  to  do  and  with 
the  hope  that  what  is  dark  to  him  to-day  will  some 
day  be  made  clear  to  him. 

Prayer  is  not  an  asking.  It  is  a  longing  of  the 
soul.  It  is  a  daily  admission  of  one's  weakness.  The 
tallest  among  us  has  a  perpetual  reminder  of 
his  nothingness  before  death,  disease,  old  age,  accident, 
etc.  We  are  living  in  the  midst  of  death.  What  is 
the  value  of  'working  for  our  own  schemes7  when  they 
might  be  reduced  to  naught  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye 
or  when  we  may  be  equally  swiftly  and  unawares  be 
taken  away  from  them  ?  But  we  may  feel  strong  as  a 
rock,  if  we  could  truthfully  say  'we  work  for  God  and 
His  scheme.'  Then  all  is  as  clear  as  day-light.  Then 
nothing  perishes.  All  perishing  is  then  only  what  seems. 
Death  and  destruction  have  then,bvt  only  then,  no  reality 
about  them.  For  death  or  destruction  is  then  but  a 
change.  An  artist  destroys  his  picture  for  creating  a 
better  one.  A  watch  maker  throws  away  a  bad  spring 
to  put  in  new  and  useful  one. 

A    congregational   prayer  is   a  mighty    thing.     What 


PRAYER  453 

'    v  I 

we  do  not  often  do  alone,  we  do  together.  Boys  do 
not  need  conviction.  If  they  merely  attend  in  obedience 
to  the  call  to  prayer  without  inward  resistence,  they 
feel  the  exaltation,  But  many  do  not.  They 
are  even  mischievous.  All  the  same  the  uncon- 
scious effect  cannot  be  resisted.  Are  there  ftot  boys 
who  at  the  commencement  of  their  career  were  scoffers 
but  who  subsequently  became  mighty  believers  in  the 
efficacy  of  congregational  prayer  ?  It  is  a  common 
experience  for  men  who  have  no  robust  fkith  to  seek 
the  comfort  of  congregational  prayer.  All  who  flock  to 
churches,  temples,  or  mosques  are  not  scoffers  or  humbugs. 
They  are  honest  men  and  women.  For  them  congre- 
gational prayer  is  like  a  daily  bath,  a  necessity  of  thrir 
existence.  These  places  of  worship  are  not  a  mere  idle 
superstition  to  be  swept  away  at  the  first  opportunity. 
They  have  survived  all  attacks  up  to  now  and  are  likely 
te  persist  to  the  end  of  time. — Young  Jndia  :  Sept.  23,  1926. 

<$>  <§>  <s> 

NO  act  of  mine  is  done  without  prayer.  Man  is  a 
fallible  being.  He  can  never  be  sure  of  his  steps. 
What  he  may  regard  as  an  answer  to  prayer  may  be  an 
echo  of  his  pride.  For  infallible  guidance  man  has  to 
have  a  perfectly  innocent  heart  incapable  of  evil.  I 
can  lay  no  such  claim.  Mine  is  a  struggling,  striving, 
erring,  imperfect  soul.  But  I  can  rise  only  by  experi- 
menting upon  myself  and  others.  I  believe  in  absolute 
oneness  of  God  and  therefore  also  of  humanity. 
What  though  we  have  many  bodies  ?  We  have 
but  one  Soul.  The  rays  of  the  sun  are  many 
through  refraction.  But  they  have  the  same  source.  I 
cannot,  therefore,  detach  myself  from  the  wickedest  soul 
nor  may  I  be  denied  identity  with  the  most  virtuous. 
Whether,  therefore,  I  will  or  not,  I  must  involve  in  my 
experiment  the  whole  of  my  kind.  Nor  can  I  do  with- 
out experiment.  Life  is  but  an  endless  series  of  experiments 

— Young  India  :  Sept.  25,   1942, 


454  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

DRAUPADI,  when  she  found  that  not  even  her  five 
husbands  could  help  her,  cried  out  in  agony  to  Krishna,  the 
only  help  of  the  helpless,  and  he  heard  her  prayers.  Even 
so  shall  I  work  away  to-day  and  cry  in  the  name  of  the 
dumb  millions  of  India,  and  I  am  sure,  my  prayers  will  be 
heard  one  day.  — Young  India  :  Sept.  6,  1926. 

3>    3>    ^ 
A  MEDICAL  graduate  asks  : 

"What  is  the  best  form  of  prayer?  How  much  time 
should  be  spent  at  it  ?  In  my  opinion  to  do  justice  is  the 
best  form  of  prayer  and  one  who  is  sincere  about  doing 
justice  to  all,  does  not  need  to  do  any  more  praying.  Some 
people  spend  a  long  time  over  Sandhya  and  95  per  cent  of 
them  do  not  understand  the  meaning  of  what  they  say.  In 
my  opinion  prayer  should  be  said  in  one's  mother  tongue. 
It  alone  can  affect  the  soul  best.  I  should  say  that  a  sincere 
prayer  for  one  minute  is  enough.  It  should  suffice  to  promise 
God  not  to  sin." 

Prayer  means  asking  God  for  something  in  a  reverent 
attitude.  But  the  word  is  used  also  to  denote  any  devo» 
tional  act.  Worship  is  a  better  term  to  use  for  what  the 
correspondent  has  in  mind.  But  definition  apart,  what  is  it 
that  millions  of  Hindus,  Musalmans,  Christians  and  Jews 
and  others  do  every  day  during  the  time  set  apart  for  the 
adoration  of  the  Maker  ?  It  seems  to  me  that  it  is  a  yearn* 
ing  of  the  heart  to  be  one  with  the  Maker,  an  invocation 
for  His  blessing.  It  is  the  attitude  that  matters,  not 
words  uttered  or  muttered.  And  often  the  association  of 
words  that  have  been  handed  down  from  ancient  times  has 
an  effect  which  in  their  rendering  into  one's  mother-tougue 
they  will  lose  altogether.  Thus  the  Gayatri  translated  and 
recited  in,  say,  Gujarati,  will  not  have  the  same  effect 
as  the  original.  The  utterance  of  the  word  Rama  will 
instantaneously  affect  millions  of  Hindus,  while  the  word 
God,  although  they  may  understand  the  meaning  will  leave 
tliem  untouched.  Words  after  all  acquire  power  by  long 


PRAYER  455 

usage  and  sacredncss  associated  with  their  use.  Thtrt  is 
much,  therefore,  to  be  said  for  the  retention  of  the  old 
Sanskrit  formulae  for  the  most  prevalent  mantras  or  verses. 
That  the  meaning  of  them  should  be  properly  understood 
goes  without  saying. 

There  can  be  no  fixed  rule  laid  down  as  to  the  time 
these  devotional  acts  should  take.  It  depends  upon  indivi- 
dual temperament.  These  are  precious  moments  in  one's 
daily  life  The  exercises  are  intended  to  sober  and  humble 
us  and  enable  us  to  realise  that  nothing  happens  without 
His  will  and  that  we  are  but  'clay  iri  the  hands  of  the 
Potter.'  These  are  moments  when  one  reviews  one's 
immediate  past,  confesses  one's  weakness,  asks  for  forgiveness 
and  strength  to  be  and  do  better*  One  minute  may  be  enough 
for  some,  twenty-four  hours  may  be  too  little  for  others.  For 
those  who  are  filled  with  the  presence  of  God  in  them,  to 
labour  is  to  pray.  The  life  is  one  continuous  prayer  or  act 
of  worship.  For  those  others  who  act  only  to  sin;  to  indulge 
themselves,  and  live  for  self,  no  time  is  too  much.  If  they 
had  patience  and  faith  and  the  will  to  be  pure,  they  would 
pray  till  they  feel  the  definite  purifying  presence  of  God 
within  *hem.  For  us  ordinary  mortals  there  must  be  a 
middle  path  between  these  two  extremes;  We  are  not  so 
exalted  as  to  be  able  to  say  that  all  our  acts  are  a  dedica- 
tion nor  perhaps  are  we  so  far  gone  as  to  be  living  purely 
for  self.  Hence  have  all  religions  set  apart  times  far  general 
devotion.  Unfortunately  these  have  nowadays  become 
merely  mechanical  and  formal,  *where  they  are  not  hypo- 
critical. What  is  necessary,  therefore,  is  the  correct  attitude 
to  accompany  these  devotions, 

For  definite  personal  prayer  in  the  sense  of  asking  God 
for  something,  it  should  certainly  be  in  one's  own  tongue. 
Nothing  can  be  grander  than  to  ask  God  tb  make  us  juitly 
towards  everything  that  lives.  —Young  India  :  June  10, 


THERE  is  an  etertii!  *truggle  i-aging  in  mto's   bttwt 


TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

Between  the  powers  of  darkness  and  of  light,  and 
he  who  has  not  tfye  sheet-anchor  of  prayer  to  rely 
upon  will  be  a  victim  to  the  powers  of  darkness.  The 
man  of  prayer  will  be  at  peace  with  himself  and  with  the 
whole  world,  the  maft  who  goes  about  the  affairs  of  the 
world  without  a  prayerful  heart  will  be  miserable  and 
will  bate  the  world  also  miserable.  Apirt  therefore  from 
its  bearing  on  main's  condition  after  death  prayer  has  incal- 
culable Valiie  for  man  in  this  world  of  the  living.  Prayer  is 
the  oiily  means  tjf  bringing  about  orderliness  and  peace  and 
repose  in  bur  daily  acts.  We  inmates  of  the  Ashram  who 
came  here  in  search  of  Truth  and  for  insistence  on  truth 
professed  to  believe  in  the  efficacy  of  prayer,  but  had  never 
up  to  now  made  it  a  matter  of  vital  concern.  We  did  not 
bestdw  cm  it  the  care  that*  we  did  on  other  matters.  I 
aivoke  from  my  slumbers  one  day  and  realised  that  I  had 
bden  iyoefully  negligent  of  my  duty  in  the  matter.  I  have, 
therefore,  Suggested  measures  of  stern  discipline  and  far 
from  being  any  the  worse,  I  hope  we  are  the  better  for  it: 
is  so  obvious.  Take  care  of  the  vital  things  and  other  thi  gs 
\Vlll  tiake  care  of  themselves.  Rectify  one  angle  of  a  square 
afad  other  angles  will  be  automatically  right. 

Begin  theiefore  your  day  with  prayer,  and  make  it  so 
soulful  that  it  may  remain  with  you  until  the  evening. 
Close  the  day  with  prayer  so  that  you  may  have  a  peaceful 
night  free  from  dreams  and  nightmares.  Do  not  worry 
about  the  form  of  prayer.  Let  it  be  any  form  ,  it  should 
be  stuih  as  can  put  into  communion  with  the  divine.  Only, 
whatever  be  the  form,  let  not  the  spirit  wander  while  the 
words  of  prayer  run  out  of  your  mouth. 

r  Prayer  has  been  the  saving  of  my  life.  Without  it  I 
should  have  been  a  lunatic  long  ago.  My  autobiography 
will  tell  you  that  I  have  had  my  fair  share  of  th?  bitterness, 
public  apd  private  experiences.  They  threw  me  into  tem- 
porary despair,  but  if  I  was  able  to  get  rid  of— it  was 
because  of  prayer.  Npw  I  may  tell  you  th^t  pray  or  has  not 


PRAYER  457 

been  part  of  my  life  in  the  sense  that  truth  has  been.  It 
came  out  of  sheer  necessity,  as  I  found  myself  in  a  plight 
when  I  could  not  possibly  be  happy  without  it.  And  the 
more  my  faith  in  God  increased,  the  more  irresistible  be- 
came yearning  for  prayer.  Life  seemed  to  be  dull  and 
vacant  without  it.  I  had  attended  the  Christian  service  'in 
South  Africa  but  it  'had  failed  to  grip  me.  I  C6u\d  not 
join  them  in  prayer.  They  supplicated  God,  but  I  could 
not  do  so,  I  failed  egregioUsly.  I  started  with  disbelief  in 
God  and  prayer  and  until  at  a  later  stage  in  lift  I  diet  not 
feel  anything  Hkfe  a  void  in  life.  But  at  that  stage  I  felt 
that  &s  food  was  indispensable  for  the  body  so  was  prayer 
indispensable  for  the  soul.  In  fact  food  foir  the  body  is  not 
so  necessary  as  prayer  for  the  soul.  For  starvation  is  often 
necessary  in  order  to  keep  the  body  in  health,  but  there 
is  no  such  thing  as  prayer  starvation.  You  cannot  possible 
have  a  surfeit  of  prayer.  Three  of  the  greatest  teachers  of 
the  world— Buddha,  Jesus,  Muhammad — have  left  unim- 
peachable testimony,  that  they  found  illumination  through 
prayer  and  could  not  possibly  live  without  it.  But  to  come* 
n'eaWr  home  millions  of  Hindu  and  Musalmans  and  Chris- 
tians find  their  oWy  solace  in  life  in  prayer.  Either  yoir 
vote  them  dovvn  as  liars  or  self-deluded  people.  Well, 
then  I  will  say  that  this  lying  has  a  charm  for  me,  a  truth- 
seeker.  It  is  "  lying  "  that  has  given  me  that  mainstay 
or  staff  of  life,  without  which  I  could  not  bear  to  live  for  a 
moment.  In  spite  of  despair  staring  me  in  the  face  on  the 
political  horizon,  I  have  never  lost  my  peace.  In  fact  1 
have  found  people  who  envy  mv  peace.  That  peace,  I  telt 
ybti,  comes  from  prayer.  I  am  not  a  man  of  learning,  but 
I  humbly  clairri  to  be  a  man  of  prayer.  I  am  indifferent  as  to 
the  form.  Every  ohe  is  a  Jaw  unto  himself  in  that  respect. 
But  there  are  some  well-marked  roads,  and  it  is  safe  to 
walk  along  the  beaten  tracks,  trod  by  ancient  teachers, 
Well,  I  have  giveh  my  personal  testimony.  Let  every  one 
tfrv  and  find  that1,  afe  a  result  of  daily  prayer,  he  adds  some 


458          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

thing  new  to  his  life,  something  which   nothing  can  be 
compared." 

"  But,"  youth  asked  the  question,  "  Sir  whilst  you  start 
with  belief  in  God,  we  start  with  unbelief.  How  are  we 
•to  pray." 

"  Well,  "  said  Gandhiji,  "  it  is  beyond  my  power  to 
induce  in  you  a  belief  in  God.  There  are  certain  things 
which  are  self*  proved  and  certain  which  are  not  proved  at 
all.  The  existence  of  God  is  like  a  geometrical  axiom.  It 
may  be  beyond  our  heart  grasp.  I  shall  not  talk  of  an 
intellectual  grasp.  Intellectual  attempts  are  more  or  less 
failures,  as  a  rational  explanation  cannot  give  you  the 
faith  in  a  living  God.  For  it  is  a  thing  beyond  the  grasp 
of  reason.  It  transcends  reason.  There  are  numerous 
phenomena  from  which  you  can  reason  out  the  existence 
of  God,  but  I  shall  not  insult  your  intelligence  by  offering 
you  a  rational  explanation  of  that  type.  I  would  have  you 
brush  aside  all  rational  explanations  and  begin  with  a 
simple  childlike  faith  in  God.  If  I  exist,  God  exists.  With 
me  it  is  a  necessity  of  my  being  as  it  is  with  millions.  They 
may  not  be  able  to  talk  about  it,  but  from  their  life  you 
can  see  that  it  is  a  part  of  their  Hie,  I  am  only  asking  you 
to  restore  the  belief  that  has  been  undermined.  In  order 
to  do  so,  you  have  to  unlearn  a  lot  of  literature  that  dazzles 
your  intelligenqe  and  throws  you  off  your  feet.  Start  with 
the  faith  which  is  also  a  token  of  humility  and  an  admission 
that  we  know  nothing,  that  we  are  less  than  atoms  in  this 
universe.  We  are  less  than  atoms,  I  say,  because  the  atom 
obeys  the  law  of  its  being,  whereas  we  in  the  insolence  of 
our  ignorance  deny  the  law  of  nature.  But  I  have  no 
argument , to  address  to  those  who  have  no  faith. 

"  Once  you  accept  the  existence  of  God,  the  necessity 
for  prayer  i$  unescapable.  Let  us  not  make  the  astoiinding 
claim,  that  our  whole  Jife  is  a  pirayer,  and  therefpre  wie 
ne<jd  not  sit  down  at  a  particular  hour  to  pray.^  Even  mej)i 
who  were  all  their  time  in  tune  witft  '  the  Infinite  did  not 


PRAYER  459 

make  such  a  claim.  Their  lives  were  a  continuous  prayer, 
and  yet  for  our  sake,  let  us  say,  they  offered  prayer  at  set 
hours,  and  renewed  each  day  the  oath  of  loyalty  to  God. 
God  of  course  never  insists  on  the  oath,  but  we  must  renew 
our  pledge  every  day,  and  I  assure  you  we  shall  then  be  free 
from  every  imaginable  misery  in  life  "  'M.  D.) 

— Young  India  :  Sep.  24,  1931. 
^s    ^^    ^^ 

GANDHIJI  had  enough  time  to  think  and  write  during 
his  recent  visit  to  Abbottabad,  especially  as  he  was  kept 
free  of  many  engagements  and  interviewers.  But  even 
there  he  had  some  interviewers— not  of  the  usual  type 
interested  in  politics  or  topics  of  the  day,  but  of  the 
unusual  type  troubled  with  ultra  mundane  problems. 
History  has  it  that  discourses  on  such  problems  used  to  take 
place  in  this  region  hallowed  of  old  by  the  steps  of  the 
followers  of  Buddha.  One  of  the  interviewers  of  Gandhiji 
described  himself  as  a  follower  of  Buddha,  and  discussed  a 
problem  arising  out  of  his  creed.  He  is  an  archaeologist  and 
loves  to  live  in  and  dream  of  the  past.  Dr.  Fabri— for  that 
is  his  name — has  been  in  India  for  many  years.  He  was  a 
pupil  of  Prof.  Sylvan  Levy  and  came  out  as  an  assistant  to 
the  famous  archaeologist  Sir  Aurel  Stein.  He  served  in  the 
Archaeological  Department  for  many  years,  helped  in 
reorganizing  the  Lahore  Museum,  and  has  some  archaeo- 
logical work  to  his  credit.  Delving  deep  in  Buddhistic 
lore  has  turned  him  into  a  stark  rationalist.  He  is  a 
Hungarian  and  had  in  the  past  corresponded  with  Gandhiji 
and  even  sympathetically  fasted  with  him.  He  had  come 
to  Abbottabad  specially  to  see  Gandhiji. 

He  was  particularly  exercised  about  the  form  and 
content  of  prayer  and  would  very  much  like  to  know  what 
kind  of  prayer  Gandhiji  said.  Could  the  Divine  Mind  be 
changed  by  prayer  ?  Could  one  find  it  out  by  prayer  ? 

"  It  is  a  difficult  thing  to  explain  fully  what  I  do  when 
I  pray,  "  aaid  Gandhiji.  c<  But  I  must  try  to  answer  your 


460         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

question.  The  Divine  Mind  is  unchangeable,  but  that 
Divinity  is  in  everyone  and  everything— animate  and  in- 
ariiaiatfc.  The  meaning  of  grayer  is  that:  I  want  to  evoke 
that  Divinit^r  within  me.  Now  I  may  have  that  intellectual 
corivictidn,  but  not  a  living  touch,  And  so  when  1  pray  for 
Swaraj  or  Independence  for  India  I  pray  or  wish  for 
adequate  pow'er  tb  gaifr  that  Swaraj  or  to  make  the  largest 
contribution  I  can  towards  winning  it,  and  I  maintain  that 
1  can  get  that  power  in  answer*  to  prayer/'  :  ' 

"  Then  you  are  not  justified  in  calling  it  prayer.  To 
pray  means  to  beg  or  demand/7  said  Dr.  Fabri. 

"  Yes,  indeed.  You  may  say  I  beg  it  of  myself,  of  my 
Higher  Self,  the  Real  Self  with  whkh  I  have  not  yet 
achieved  complete  identification.  You  may,  therefore,  des- 
cribe it  as  a  continual  longing  to  lose  oneself  in  the  Divinity 
which  comprises  all." 

"  And  you  use  an  old  form  to  evoke  this  ?" 

"  I  do.  The  habit  of  a  lifetime  persists,  and  I  would 
allow  it  to  be  said  that  I  pray  to  an  outside  Power.  I  am 
part  of  that  Infinite,  and  yet  such  an  infinitesimal  part  that 
I  feel  outside  it.  Though  I  give  you  the  intellectual 
explanation,  I  feel,  with  identification  with  the  Divinity,  so 
small  that  I  am  nothing.  Immediately  I  begin  to  say  I 
do  this  thing  and  that  thing  I  begin  to  feel  my  unworthi- 
ncss  and  nothingness,  and  feel  that  someone  else,  some 
Higher  Power,  has  to  help  me.'* 

"  Tolstoy  says  the  same  thing.  Prayer  really  is  com- 
plete meditation  and  melting  into  the  Higher  Self,  though 
one  occasionally  does  lapse  in  imploration  like  that  of  a 
child  to  his  father.1' 

*  Pardon  me,"  said  Gandhiji,  cautioning  the  Buddhist 
doctor,  "  I  vfrould  not  call  it  a  lapse.  It  is  more  in  the 
fitness  Of  things  to  say  that  I  pray  to  God  who  exists  some- 
where* up  in  the  clouds,  afcd  the  more  distant  He  is,  the 


PRAYER  461 

greater  is  my  longing  for  Him  and  ftnd  myself  ip  His  pre- 
sence in  thought.  And  thought  a$  you  kijpw  has  a  greater 
velocity  than  light.  Therefore,  the  distance  between  me 

Sid  Him,   though   so   incalculably    great,     is     obliterated, 
e   is  far  and  yet  so  near." 

"It  becomes  a  matter  of  belief  but  some  people 
like  me  are  cursed  with  an  acute  critical 
faculty,"  said  Dr.  Fabri.  "For  me  there  is  no- 
thing higher  than  what  Buddha  taught,  and  no  greater 
master.  For  Buddha  alone  among  the  teachers  of  the 
world  said  :  'Don't  believe  implictly  what  I  say.  Don't 
accept  any  dogma  or  any  book  as  infallible.  There  is 
for  me  no  infallible  book  in  the  world,  inasmuch  as 
all  were  made  by  men,  however  inspired  they  may  have 
been.  I  cannot  hence  believe  in  a  personal  idea  of  God 
a.  Maharaja  sitting  on  the  Great  White  Throne  listening 
to  our  prayers.  I  am  glad  that  your  prayer  is  on  a 
different  level." 

Let  it  be  said  in  fairness  to  the  savant  that  he  is  a 
devotee  of  the  Bhagawad  Gita  and  the  Dhammapada,  and 
those  are  the  two  scriptures  he  carries  with  him.  But 
he  was  arguing  an  extreme  intellectual  position.  Even 
here  Gandhiji  caught  him  from  being  swept  into  the 
torrent  of  his  logic. 

"Let  me  remind  you,"  said  Gandhiji,  "that  you  are 
again  only  partially  true  when  you  say  my  prayer  is  on  a 
different  level.  I  told  you  that  the  intellectual  convic- 
tion that  I  gave  you  is  not  eternally  present  with  me. 
What  is  present  is  the  intensity  of  faith  whereby  I  lose 
myself  in  an  Invisible  Power.  And  so  it  is  far  truer 
to  say  that  God  has  done  a  thing  for  me  than  that  I 
did  it.  So  many  things  *have  happened  in  my  life  for  which 
I  had  intense  longing,  but  which  I  could  never  have 
achieved  myself.  And  I  have  always  said  to  my 
co-workers  it  was  in  ans^ef  to  my  prayer.  I  »flid  not 
say  to  them  it  was  in  answer  to  my  intellectual  effort 


462         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

to  lose  myself  in  the  Divinity  in  me  !  The  easiest  and 
the  correct  thing  for  me  was  to  say,  'God  has  seen 
me  through  my  difficulty1." 

"But  that  you  deserved  by  your  Karma.  God  i& 
Justice  and  not  Mercy.  You  are  a  good  man  and  good 
things  happen  to  you,  "  contended  Dr.  Fabri. 

"No  fear.  I  am  not  good  enough  for  things  ta 
happen  like  that.  If  I  went  about  with  that  philosophical 
conception  of  Karma,  I  should  often  come  a  cropper. 
My  Karma  would  not  come  to  my  help.  Although  I 
believe  in  the  inexorable  Law  of  Karma,  I  am  striving 
to  do  so  many  things,  every  moment  of  my  life  is 
strenuous  endeavour,  which  is  an  attempt  to  build  up 
more  Karma,  to  undo  the  past  and  add  to  the  present. 
It  is  therefore  wrong  to  say  that  because  my  past 
is  good,  good  is  happening  at  present.  The  past 
would  be  soon  exhausted,  and  I  have  to  build  up  the 
furture.  I  tell  you  Karma  alone  is  powerless.  Ignite  thi& 
match,  I  say  to  myself,  and  yet  I  cannot  if  there  is  no  co- 
operation from  without.  Before  I  strike  the  match  my 
hand  is  paralysed  or  I  have  only  one  match  and 
the  wind  blows  it  off.  Is  it  an  accident  of  God  or 
Higher  Power  ?  Well,  I  prefer  to  use  thf  language  of 
my  ancestors  or  of  children.  I  am  no  better  than  a 
child.  We  may  try  to  talk  learnedly  and  of  books,  but 
when  it  comes  to  brass  tacks— when  we  are  face  to  face  with 
a  calamity — we  behave  like  children  and  begin  to  cry 
and  pray  and  our  intellectual  belief  gives  no  satisfaction  !" 

"I  know  very  highly  developed  men  to  whom  be- 
lief in  God  gives  incredible  comfort  and  help  in  the 
building  of  character,"  said  Dr.  Fabri.  ciBut  there  are  some 
great  spirits  that  can  do  without  it.  That  is  what  Bud- 
dhism has  taught  me." 

"But  Buddhism  is  one  long  prayer,"  rejoined 
Gandhiji. 


PRAYER  463 

"Buddha  asked  everyone  to  find  salvation  for 
himself.  He  never  prayed,  he  meditated/'  maintained 
Dr.  Fabri. 

"Call  it  by  whatever  name  you  like,  it  is  the  same 
thing.  Look  at  his  statues." 

"But  they  are  not  true  to  life,"  said  the  archaeolo 
gist  questioning  the  antiquity  of  these  statues.  "They  are 
400  years  later  than  his  death." 

"Well,"  said  Gandhiji,  refusing  to  be  beaten  by  a 
chronological  argument,  "give  me  your  own  history  of 
Buddha  as  you  may  have  discovered  it.  I  will  prove 
that  he  was  a  praying  Buddha.  The  intellectual  con- 
ception does  not  satisfy  me.  I  have  not  given  you  a 
perfect  and  full  definition  as  you  cannot  describe  your 
own  thought.  The  very  effort  to  describe  is  a  limitation 
It  defies  analysis  and  you  have  nothing  but  scepticism 
as  the  residue." 

Was  it  of  such  people  that  Pope   wrote  : — 

With  too  much  knowledge  for  the   sceptic  side. 
With  too  much  weakness  for  the  stoic's  pride. 
He  hangs  between  ;  in   doubt  to  act,  or  rest  : 
In  doubt  to  deem  himself  a  god  or  beast. 
In  doubt  his  mind  or  body,  to  prefer  ; 
Born  but  to  die,  and  reasoning  but  to  err 
Sole  judge  of  truth,  in  endless  error  hurled. 
The  glory,  jest  and  riddled  of  the  world. 

But  to  proceed.  "What  about  the  people  who  cannot 
pray  ?n  asked  Dr.  Fabri. 

"Be  humble !  said  Gandhiji,  "I  would  say  to  them 
and  do  not  limit  even  the  r£al  Buddha  by  your  own  con- 
ception of  Buddha.  He  could  not  have  ruled  the  lives  of 
millions  of  men  that  he  did  and  does  to-day  if  he  was 
not  humble  enough  to  pray.  There  is  some  thing  in- 
finitely higher  than  intellect  that  rules  us  and  even  the 


464          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

-sceptics.  Their  scepticism  and  philosophy  do  not  help 
them  in  critical  periods  of  their  lives.  They  need  some- 
thing better,  something  outside  them  that  can  sustain 
4 hem.  .And  so  if  someone  puts  a  conundrum  before  me 
I  say  to  him,  'You  are  not  going  to  know  the  mean* 
ing  of  God  or  prayer  unljess  you  reduce  yourself  to  a 
Cipher.  You  must  be  humble  enough  to  see  that  in  spite 
of  your  greatness  and  gigantic  intellect  you  are  buj:  a 
speck  in  the  universe.  A  merely  intellectual  conception 
of  the  things  of  life  is  not  enough.  It  is  the  spiritual  con- 
ception which  eludes  the  intellect,  and  which  alone  can 
-give  one  satisfaction.  Even  monied  men  have  critical 
periods  in  their  lives;  though  they  are  surrounded  by 
•everything  that  money  can  buy  and  affection  can  give, 
they  find  at  certain  moments  in  their  lives  utterly  dis- 
tracted. It  is  in  these  moments  that  we  have  a  glimpse 
of  God,  a  Vision  of  Him  who  is  guiding  every  one  of  our 
steps  in  life.  It  is  prayer." 

"You  mean  what  we  might  call  a  true  religious 
experience  which  is  stronger  than  intellectual  conception,'* 
said  Dr.  Fabri,  "Twice  in  life  I  had  that  experience,  but  I 
have  since  lost  it.  But  I  now  find  great  comfort  in  one  or  two 
sayings  of  Buddha  :  'Selfishness  is  the  cause  of  sorrow.'  'Re 
member  monks,  everything  is  fleeting.'  To  think  of  these 
takes  almost  the  place  of  belief." 

"That  is  prayer,"  repeated  Gandhiji  with  an  insist- 
ence that  could  not  but  have  gone  home. 

—Harijm  Aug.  19,  1939. 

Preaching 

AN  ounce  of  practice  is  more  than  tons  of  preaching:. 

—Toung  India  :  June  25,  1931. 

Principle 

THERE  is  no  principle  worth  the  name  if  it  is  not 
wholly  good.  —flung  India  :  May  21,  1925. 


PROGRESS  465 

Let  no  one  charge  me  with  ever  having  abused  or 
encouraged  weakness  or  surrunder  on  matter  of  principle. 
But  I  have  said,  as  I  say  again,  that  every  trifle  must  not  be 
dignified  into  a  principle.  „  — Young  India  :  Oct.  22,  1925. 

A  PRINCIPLE  is  the  expression  of  perfection,  and  as 
imperfect  beings  like  us  cannot  practise  perfection,  we  devise 
every  moment  limits  of  its  compromise  in  practice. 

— Young  India  :  Oct.   21,  1926. 
3>    <£    <3> 

ILL-DIGESTED  principles    are  if      anything,    worse 

than  ill-digested  food,  for  the   latter     harms  the  body  and 

there  is  cure  for  it,   whereas  the   former  ruin   the  soul  and 

here  is  no  cure  for  it.  — Harijan  :  May   1,  1937. 

^    ^    ^ 

A  PRINCIPLE  is  a  principle,  and  in  no  case  can  it  be 
watered  down  because  of  our  incapacity  to  live  it  in 
practice.  We  have  to  strive  to  achieve  it,  and  the  striving 
should  be  conscsious,  deliberate  and  hard. 

—Harijan  :  Nov.  18,  1939. 

Priests 

IT  is  a  painful  fact,  but  it  is  a  historical  truth,  that 
priests  who  should  have  been  the  real  custodians  of  religion 
have  been  instrumental  in  destroying  the  religion  of  which 
they  have  been  custodians.  — Youn&  India  :  Oct.  20,  1927. 

Progress 

PROGRESS  is  to  be  measured  by  the  amount  of 
suffering  undergone  by  the  smferer.  The  purer  the  suffer- 
ing, the  greater  is  the  progress. 

—Young  India:  June  16,  1920. 

PROGRESS  towards  Swaraj  will  be  in  exact  proportion 


466         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

to  increase  in  the  number  of  workers  who  will  dare  to  sacri- 
fice their  all  for  the  cause  of  the  poor. 

— Young  India  :  June  20,  1926. 

^    3»    <$> 
HEALTHY  discontent  is  the  prelude  to  progress. 

—Young  India  :  Aug.  1,  1929, 

THE  road  to  any  progress  is  strewn  with  such  difficulty, 
and  the  story  of  man's  accent  in  the  scale  of  evolution  is 
co-extensive  with  the  history  of  the  successful  over-coming 
of  these  difficulties.  Take  the  story  of  the  attempts  to 
conquer  the  Himalayas.  The  higher  you  go,  the  steeper 
becomes  the  climb,  the  more  difficult  the  ascent,  so  much 
so  that  its  highest  peak  still  remains  unvanquished.  The 
enterprise  has  already  exacted  a  heavy  toll  of  sacrifice.  Yet 
every  year  sees  fresh  attempts  made,  only  to  end  in  failure 
like  their  predecessors.  All  that  has,  however,  failed  to 
damp  the  spirit  of  the  explorers.  If  that  is  the  case  with 
the  conquest  of  the  Himalayas,  what  about  the  conquest  of 
self,  which  is  a  harder  job  by  far,  even  as  the  reward  is 
richer  ?  The  scaling  of  the  Himalayas  can,  at  best,  give  a 
temporary  feeling  of  elation  and  triumph.  But  the  reward 
of  the  conquest  of  s"felf  is  a  spiritual  bliss  that  knows  no 
waning,  and  grows  ever  more  and  more. 

—Harijan  :  March  20,  1937. 

IF  an  individual  can  observe  a  certain  rule  of  conduct 
it  follows  that  a  group  of  individuals  can  do  likewise.  It 
is  necessary  for  me  to  emphasise  the  fact  that  no  one  need 
wait  for  anyone  else  in  order  to  adopt  a  right  course. 
Men  generally  hesitate  to  make  a  beginning  if  they  feel  that 
the  objective  cannot  be  had  in  its  entirety.  Such  an 
attitude  of  mind  is  in  reality  a  bar  to  progress. 

—Harijan  :  Aug.  25,  1940. 


PROMISE  467 

Promise 

I  AM  fully  convinced  that  no  body  of  men  can  make 
themselves  into  a  nation  to  perform  great  task  uftles*  they 
become  as  true  as  steel  and  unless  their  promises  come  to  bfe 
regarded  by  the  world  like  the  law  of  the  Medes  and  Persians 
inflexible  and  unbreakable. 

— Speeches  and  Writings  of  Mahatma  Gandhi :  Page  119* 

MY  own  opinion  and  that  of  many  others  is  that  pro- 
mises or  vows  are  necessary  for  the  strongest  of  us.  A 
promise  is  like  a  right  angle  not  nearly  but  exactly  90°* 
The  slightest  deflection  makes  it  useless  for  the  grand  pur- 
pose that  the  right  angle  serves.  A  voluntary  promise  1$ 
like  a  plumb  line  keeping  a  man  straight  and  warning  him 
when  he  is  going  wrong.  Rules  of  general  application  d6 
not  serve  the  same  purpose  as  an  individual  vow.  We! 
find  therefore  the  system  of  declarations  followed  in  all  targe 
and  well  conducted  institutions.  The  Viceroy  has  to  'take 
the  oath  of  office.  Members  of  Legislatures  have  to  do 
likewise  all  the  world  over,  and  in  my  opinion  rightly  so. 
A  soldier  joining  an  army  has  to  do  likewise.  Moreover  a 
written  undertaking  reminds  one  of  what  one  has  promised 
to  do.  Memory  is  a  very  frail  thing.  The  written  worrf 
stands  for  ever.  —Yaung  India  :  Dec.  12,  1925. 

WE  have  in  this  country  a  habit  of  making  promises 
in  a  fit  of  enthusiasm,  keeping  them  for  a  time,,  and  then 
forgetting  altogether.  — Toung  India  :  July  7,  1927. 

ABOVE  all  keep  yourselves  pure  and  clean,  and  learn 
to  keep  your  promise*  even  at  the  cost  of  life. 

—Young  India  :  Nov.  10,  1927. 

I  BELIEVE  in  the  necessity  of  the  performance  of  one's 

promises  at  all  costs.  —Young  India  :  March  27,  192$. 


468          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

BREACH  of  promise  is  a  base  surrender  of  truth. 

—Young  India  :  May    I,  1929. 

JJREACH  of  a  promise  is  no  less  an  act  of  insolvency 
than  a  refusal  to  pay  one's  debt. 

—Toung  India  :  Sept.  16,  1930. 

TO  my  knowledge,  thr  ughout  my  public  and  private 
career,  I  have  never  broken  promise. 

—Harijan  :  April  22,  1939. 

Propaganda 

PRACTICE  is  the  best  speech  and  the  best  propa- 
ganda. 

Black  flags,  noisy  slogans,  and  hurling  of  stones  and 
shoes  have  no  place  in  educative  and  destructive  propa- 
ganda. —Harijan  :  Sept.  9,  1939. 

Prostitution 

OF  all  the  evils  for  which  man  has  made  himself  res- 
ponsible, none  is  so  degrading  so  shocking  or  so  brutal  as 
his  abuse  of  the  better  half  of  humanity  to  me,  the  female 
sex,  not  the  weaker  sex.  It  is  the  nobler  of  the  two,  for  it 
is  even  to-day  the  embodiment  of  sacrifice,  silent  suffering, 
humility,  faith  and  knowledge.  A  woman's  intution  has* 
often  proved  truer  than  man's  arrogant  assumptipn  of 
superior  knowledge.  There  is  method  in  putting  Sita  before 
Rama  and  Radha  before  Krishna. 

— Toung  India  ;  Nov.  17,  1921, 
3>    <$>    <$> 

THEY  are  driven  to  a  life  of  shame.  I  am  satisfied 
that  they  do  not  go  to  it  from  choice.  And  the  beast  in 
man  has  made  the  detestable  crime  a  lucrative  profession. 

—Toung  India  :  Dec.  18,  192L 

OF  all  the  addresses  I  received  in  the  South  the  most 
touching  was  <$fae  on  behalf  of  the  Devadasis— a  euphemisn* 


PROSTITUTION  469 

for  prostitutes.  It  was  prepared  and  brought  by  people 
who  belong  to  the  clan  from  which  these  unfortunate  sisters 
are  drawn.  I  understood  from  the  deputation  that  brought 
the  address  that  reform  from  within  was  going  on  but  that 
the  rate  of  progress  was  still  slow.  The  gentleman  who 
led  the  deputation  told  me  that  the  public  in  general  was 
apathetic  to  the  reform.  The  first  shock  I  received  was  at 
Gocanada.  And  I  did  not  mince  matters  when  I  spoke  'to 
the  men  of  that  place.  The  second  was  at  Barisal  where  I 
met  a  large  number  of  these  unfortunate  sisters.  Whether 
they  be  known  as  Devadasis  or  by  any  other  name,  the 
problem  is  the  same.  It  is  the  matter  of  bitter  shame  aind 
sorrow,  of  deep  humiliation,  that  a  number  of  women  have 
to  sell  their  chastity  for  man's  lust.  Man  the  law-giver, 
will  have  to  pay  a  dreadful  penalty  for  the  degradation  he 
has  imposed  upon  the  so-called  weaker  sex.  When  woman, 
freed  from  man's  snares,  rises  to  the  full  height  and  rebels 
against  man's  legislation  and  institutions  designed  by  him, 
her  rebellion,  no  doubt  non-violent,  will  be  none-the-less 
effective.  Let  the  Indian  man  ponder  over  the  fate  of  the 
thousands  of  sisters  who  are  destined  to  a  life  of  shame  for 
his  unlawful  and  immoral  indulgence.  The  pity  of  it 
is  that  the  vast  majority  of  the  men  who  visit  these  pestilen- 
tial haunts  are  married  men  and  therefore  commit  a  double 
sin.  They  sin  against  their  wives  to  whom  they  have  sworn 
allegiance  and  thdy  sin  against  the  sisters  whose  purity  they 
are  bound  "to  guard  with  as  much  jealousy  as  that  of  their 
own  blood  sisters.  It  is  an  evil  which  cannot  last  for  a 
single  day,  if  we  men  of  India  realise  our  own  dignity. 

If  many  of  the  most  respectable  among  us  were  not 
steeped  in  the  vice  this  kind  of  indulgence  would  be  regard- 
ed as  a  greater  crime  than  the  stealing  of  a  banana  by  a 
hungry  man  or  the  picking  of  a  pocket  by  a  youngster  who 
is  in  need  of  money.  What  is  worst  and  more  hurtful  to 
society— to  steal  property  or  to  steal  the  honour  of  a 
woman?  Let  me  not  be  told  that  the  public  woman  is  a  party 


470          TEACHINGS  QF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

to  the  sale  of  her  honour,  but  not  the  millionaire  on  the 
race-course  whose  pocket  is  picked  by  a  professional  pick- 
pocket. Who  is  worse—  an  urchin  who  picks  a  pocket  or 
a  scoundrel  who  drugs  his  victim  and  then  makes  him  singn 
away  the  whole  of  his  property  ?  Does  not  man  by  his 
subtle  and  unscrupulous  ways  first  rob  woman  of  her  noblest 
instinct  and  then  make  her  partner  in  the  crime  committed 
against  her  ?  Or  are  some  women,  like  Panchamas  born  to 
a  life  of  degradation  ?  I  ask  every  young  man  married  or 
unmarried  to  contemplate  the  implications  of  what  I  have 
written.  I  cannot  write  all  I  have  learnt  about  this  social 
disease,  this  moral  leprosy.  Let  his  imagination  fill  in  the 
rest  and  then  let  him  recoil  with  horror  and  shame  from 
the  sin  if  he  has  himself  been  guilty  of  it.  And  let  every 
pure  man,  wherever  he  is,  do  what  he  can  to  purify  his 
neighbourhood.  I  now  that  the  second  part  is  easier 
written  than  practised.  It  is  a  delicate  matter.  But  for 
its  very  delicacy  it  demands  the  attention  of  all  thoughtful 
men.  Work  among  the  unfortunate  sisters  must  be  left 
everywhere  to  experts.  My  suggestion  has  reference  to 
work  among  the  visitors  to  these  houses  of  ill-fame. 

— loung  India  :  April  16,  192  K 

Provincialism 

TO    attain   Swaraj  implies  the  cultivation  of  a  spirit 
of  self-sacrifice,  including  the  sacrifice  of  provincialism. 

Provincialism  is  a  bar  not  only  to  the  realisation  of 
national  Swaraj,  but  also  to  the  achievement  of  provincial 
autonomy.  Women  perhaps  are  more  responsible  than  men 
1w  keeping  up  this  narrow  spirit.  Variety  is  worth  cherish- 
ing up  to  a  certain  limit,  but  if  the  limit  is  exceeded, 
amenities  and  customs  masquerading  under  the  name  of 
varietv  are  subversive  of  nationalism, 

y  -Young  ludia  :  Feb.  2,  1928, 

Public  Fund 

LET  me,  however,  in  conclusion,  warn  the  public  rfial 


PUBLIC  INSTITUTIONS  471 

the  safety  of  the  public  fund  lies  more  in  an  intelligent 
vigilance  of  the  public  than  in  the  strict  integrity  of  those 
who  are  in  charge  of  fund.  Absolute  honesty  of  the 
trustees  is  a  necessity,  but  public  inertia  is  a  crime.  Ig- 
norant criticism  must  not  be  mistaken  for  intelligent  vigi- 
lance. What  I  have  found  that  some  publicmen,  with  a 
knowledge  of  account-keeping,  make  it  a  point,  now  and 
again,  of  overhauling  the  administration  of  public  fund* 
and  bringing  the  administrators  to  book. 

— Yourg  India:  Aug.  20,   1925, 

A  PUBLIC  fund  becomes  public  property  and  there- 
fore every  member  of  the  public  is  entitled  to  know  iq 
detail  the  administration  of  such  funds. 

— Young  India :  Feb.  24,  1927 

I  DO  not  think  any  one  can  beat  me  in  my  passior 
for  guarding  and  expending  public  money  like  a  miser.  The 
reason  is  obvious.  Public  money  belongs  to  the  pool 
public  of  India  than  whom  there  is  none  poorer  on  earth, 

—Young  India  :  April  16,  1931 

Public  Institutions 

IT  has  become  my  firm  conviction  that  it  is  not 
good  to  run  public  institutions  on  permanent  funds.  A 
permanent  fund  carries  in  itself  the  seed  of  the  moral  fall 
of  the  institution.  A  public  institution  means  an  institution 
conducted  with  the  approval,  and  from  the  funds  oi 
the  public.  When  such  an  institution  ceases  to  have 
public  support,  it  forfeits  its  right  to  exist.  Institutions 
maintained  on  permanent  funds  are  often  found  to  ignore 
public  opinion,  and  are  frequently  responsible  for  acts 
contrary  to  it.  In  our  country  we  experience  this  at 
every  step.  Some  of  the  so-called  religious  trusts  have 
ceased  to  render  any  accounts.  The  trustees  have  become 
the  owners  and  are  responsible  to  none.  I  have  no 
doubts  that  the  ideal  is  for  public  institutions  to  live, 


472          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

like  nature,  from  day  to  day.  The  institution  that  fails 
to  win  public  support  has  no  right  to  exist  as  such. 
The  subscriptions  that  an  institution  annually  receives 
are  a  test  of  its  popularity  and  the  honesty  of  its  manage- 
ment, and  I  am  of  opinion  that  every  institution  should  sub- 
mit to  that  test.  But  let  no  one  misunderstand  me.  My 
remarks  do  not  apply  to  the  bodies  which  cannot,  by 
their  very  nature,  be  conducted  without  permanent 
buildings.  What  I  mean  to  say  is  that  the  current 
expenditure  should  be  found  from  subscriptions  voluntarily 
received  from  year  to  year. 

—  My  Experiments  with  Truth  :  Page  243. 

Public  Opinion 

PUBLIC  opinion  alone  can  keep  a  society  pure  and 
healthy. 

— Young  India  ;  Dec.  18,    1920. 

^  ^  <s> 

LEGISLATION  in  advance  of  public  opinion  is  often 
worse  than  useless.  Non-co-operation  is  the  quickest 
method  of  creating  public  opinion. 

—Toung  India  :  Jan.  29,  1921. 

FOR   me  every  ruler  is  alien  that  defies  public  opinion. 

—Toung  India  :  April  24,  1924. 

<$>    <£    <3> 

PUBLIC  opinion  cannot  be  aroused  over  grievances 
that  cannot  be  verified  and  traced  to  their  sources. 

—Toung  India  :  May  5,  1927. 

HEALTHY  public  opinion  has  an  influence  of  which 
we  have  not  realised  the  full  significance.  Public  opinion 
becomes  intolerable  when  it  becomes  violent  and  aggres- 
sive. 

— Toung  India  :  May  7,  1931. 


PUBLIC  WORKERS  473 

A  POPULAR  state  can  never  act  in  advance  of 
public  opinion.  If  it  goes  against  it,  it  will  be  destroyed. 

—  Young  India  ;  July  30,  1931. 
^S    ^k    ^S 

THE  evolution  of  public  opinion  is  at  times  a  tardy 
process  but  it  is  the  only  effective  one. 

—Young  India  :  June  9,  1925. 

Public  Workers 

I  AM  used  to  misrepresentation  all  my  life.  It  is 
the  lot  of  every  public  worker.  He  has  to  have  a  tough 
hide.  Life  would  be  burdensome  if  every  misrepresentation 
had  to  be  answered  and  cleared.  It  is  a  rule  of  life 
with  me  never  to  explain  misrepresentation  except  when 
the  cause  requires  correction.  This  rule  has  saved  much 
rime  and  worry. 

—Young  India  :  May  27,  1926, 
^^     ^^     ^^ 

FINALLY  a  servant  of  the  people  should  never 
fear  or  give  way  to  bitterness  if  he  finds  himself  a 
victim  of  misunderstanding,  whether  unintentional  or  wilful. 
The  acts  of  men  who  have  come  out  to  serve  or  lead  have 
always  been  misunderstood  since  the  beginning  of  the  world 
and  none  can  help  it.  To  put  up  with  these  misrepresenta- 
tions and  to  stick  to  one's  guns  come  what  might, — this  is  the 
essence  of  the  gift  of  leadership.  Misunderstandings  have  been 
my  lot  ever  since  I  entered  public  life,  and  I  have  got  inured 
to  them. 

—Toung  India  :  Aug.  12,  1927. 

THERE  is  in  modern  public  life  a  tendency  to 
ignore  altogether  the  character  of  a  public  worker  so 
long  as  he  works  efficiently  as  a  unit  in  an  adminis- 
trative machinery.  It  is  said  that  everybody's  character 
is  his  own  private  concern.  Though  I  have  known  this 
view  to  have  been  often  taken  I  have  never  been  able 
to  appreciate,  much  less  to  adopt  if .  I  have  known 


474         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

the    serious   consequences    overtaking     organizations  that 

have  counted   private   character   as   a   matter  of  no  con- 
sequence. 

—Harijan  :  Nov.  7,  1936, 

Punctuality 

I  ATTACH  the  greatest  importance  to  punctuality 
in  our  programme  as  it  is  a  corrollary  of  non-violence. 

—Harijan  :  Nov.  12,  1938. 

Punishment 

I  KNOW  that  thrusting  my  finger  into  a  furnace 
will  surely  burn  it  and  still  I  thrust  it;  my  suffering  is 
no  punishment,  it  is  the  natural  consequence  of  my 
action.  Punishment  depends  upon  the  will  of  the  judge. 
Natural  consequences  are  independent  of  any  person's 
will. 

—Harijan  :  Sept.  3,  1938, 

<$><$><$> 

PUNISHMENT  is  God's,  who  alone  is  the  Infallible 
Judge.  It  does  not  belong  to  man  "with  judgement  weak." 

Harijan  :  Jan.  12,  1939. 

Purity 

IT  is  my  faith,  based  on  experience,  that  if  one's  heart 
is  pure,  calamity  brings  in  its  train  men  and  measures 
to  fight  it  "  —My  Experiments  with  Truth  :  Page  355. 

Q 
Quality  'Vs.  Quantity 

STRENGTH  of  numbers  is  the  delight  of  the  timid. 
The  valiant  of  spirit  glory  in  fighting  alone.  And  you 
are  all  here  to  cultivate  that  valour  of  the  spirit.  Be 
you  one  or  many,  this  valour  is  the  only  true  valour, 
all  else  is  false.  And  the  valour  of  the  spirit  cannot  be 
achieved  without  Sacrifice,  Determination,  Faith  and 
Humility,  -~~Toung  India  ;J*rac  17,  1926- 


RAMRAj  475 

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  prophets,  Zoraster,  Buddha,  Jesus,  Mahomed  — 
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  \\as  on  their  side, 
they  never  felt  lonely.  You  may  recall  the  occasion  when 
pursued  by  numerous  enemies  Abu  Bakr,  who  was  accom- 
panying 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  companion  by  saying  :  'No,  Abu  Bakr, 
we  are  three,  for  God  is  with  us  ?'  Or,  take  the  invincible 
faith  of  Vibhishan  and  Prahlad.  I  want  you  to  have  that 
same  living  faith  in  yourselves  and  God. 

—  Young  India  :  Oct.  10,  1929. 


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.  —  Toung  India  :  Nov.  14,  1929r 

R 

Ramaraj 

I  WARN  my  Musalman  friends  against  misunderstand- 
ing me  in  my  use  of  the  words  'Ramaraj.'  By  Ramaraj  I  da 
not  mean  Hindu  Raj.  I  mean  by  Ramaraj  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  rightness.  Whether 
Rama  of  my  imagination  ever  lived  or  not  on  this  earth, 
the  ancient  ideal  of  Ramaraj  is  undoubtedly  one  of  true 


476          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

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  Ramaraj.  —Young  India  :  Sept.  19,  1929. 

Reason 

Intellect  takes  us  along  in  the  battle  of  life  to  a 
certain  limit  but  at  the  crucial  moment  it  fails  us.  Faith 
transcends  reason.  It  is  when  the  horizon  is  the  darkest  and 
human  reason  is  beaten  down  to  the  ground  that 
faith  shines  brightest  and  comes  to  our  rescue.  It  is 
such  faith  that  our  youth  requires  and  this  comes  when 
one  has  shed  all  pride  of  intellect  and  surrendered  one 
self  entirely  to  His  will,  — Young  India  :  March  21,  1929. 

RATIONALISTS  are  admirable  beings,  rationalism 
is  a  hideous  monster  when  it  claims  for  itself  omnipotence. 
Attribution  of  omnipotence  to  reason  is  as  bad  a  piece  of 
idolatry  as  is  worship  of  stock  and  stone  believing  it 
to  be  God.  —Young  India  :  Dec.  12,  1936. 

TRUTH  is  superior  to  everything  and  I  reject  what 
conflicts  with  it.  Similarly  that  which  is  in  conflict 
with  non-violence  "should  be  rejected.  And  on  matters 
which  can  be  reasoned  out,  that  which  conflicts  with 
Reason  must  also  be  rejected.  There  are  subjects  where 
Reason  cannot  take  us  far  and  we  have  to  accept 
things  on  faith.  Faith  then  does  not  contradict  Reason 
but  transcends  it.  Faith  is  a  kind  of  sixth  sense  which 
works  in  cases  whicty  are  without  the  purview  of 
reason.  —Young  India  :  March  6,  1937. 

Rebellion 

REBELLION  in  a  just  cause  is  a  duty,  the  extent 
of  opposition  being  determined  by  the  measure  of  the 
injustice  done  and  felt.  —  Yowg  India  :  June  2,  1920. 


RELIGION  477 

Reformer 

A  REFORMER  cannot  always  afford  to  wait.  If 
he  does  not  put  into  force  his  belief  he  is  no  reformer. 
Either  he  is  too  hasty  or  too  afraid  or  too  lazy.  Who  is  to  ad- 
vise him  or  provide  him  with  a  barometer  ?  You  can  only 
guide  yourself  with  a  disciplined  conscience,  and  then  run  all 
risks  with  the  protecting  armour  of  truth  and  non-violence. 
A  reformer  could  not  do  otherwise. 

—Toung  India  :  Nov.  12,  11931. 

Regularity 

IT  is  universal  experience  that  a  boy  with  regular 
habits  does  twice  the  amount  of  work  than  a  boy  doe» 
who  works  irregularly.  — Toung  India :  Dec.  3,  1925~ 

Religion 

I  DO  not  like  the  world  tolerance  but  could 
not  think  of  a  better  one.  Tolerance  may  imply 
gratuitous  assumption  of  the  inferiority  ot  other  faiths* 
to  one's  own,  whereas  ahimsa  teaches  us  to  entertain  the 
same  respect  for  the  religious  faiths  of  others  as  we 
accord  to  our  own,  thus  admitting  the  imperfection 
of  the  latter.  This  admission  will  be  readily  made 
by  a  seeker  of  Truth,  who  follows  the  Law  of 
Love.  If  we  had  ,  attained  the  full  vision  of 
Truth,  we  would  no  longer  be  mere  seekers,  but  would 
have  become  one  with  God,  for  Truth  is  God,  But 
being  only  seekers,  we  prosecute  our  quest,  and  are 
conscious  of  our  imperfection.  And  if  we  are  imperfect 
ourselves,  religion  as  conceived  by  us  must  also  be 
imperfect.  We  have  not  realised  religion  in  its  perfection, 
even  as  we  have  not  realised  Godt,  Religion  of  our 
conception,  tyeing  thus  imperfect,  is  always  subject  to  a 
process  of  evolution  and  reinterpretatiom  Progress  towards- 
Truth  towards  God,  is  possible  only  because  of  such  evolu- 


478         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

tion.  And  if  all  faiths  outlined  by  nisn  are  imperfect,  the 
question  of  comparative  merit  does  not  arise.  All  faiths 
constitute  a  revelation  of  Truth,  but  all  are  imperfect 
and  liable  to  error.  Reverence  for  other  faiths  need 
not  bind  us  to  their  faults.  We  must  be  keenly  alive 
to  the  defects  of  our  own  faith  also,  yet  not  leave  it 
on  that  account,  but  try  to  overcome  those  defects. 
Looking  at  all  religions  with  an  equal  eye,  we  would 
not  only  not  hesitate  but  would  think  it  our  duty  to 
blend  into  our  faith  every  acceptable  feature  of  other 
faiths. 

The  question  then  arises.  Why  should  there  be  so 
many  different  faiths  ?  The  Soul  is  one,  but  the  bodies 
Which  She  animates  are  many.  We  cannot  reduce  the 
number  of  bodies,  yet  we  recognise  the  unity  of  the 
Soul.  Even  as  a  tree  has  a  single  trunk, 
but  many  branches  and  leaves,  so  is  there  one  true 
and  perfect  religion,  but  it  becomes  many, 
as  it  passes  through  the  human  medium.  The 
one  religion  is  beyond  all  speech.  Imperfect  men  put 
it  into  such  language  as  they  can  command,  and 
their  words  are  interpreted  by  other  men  equally  im- 
perfect. Whose  interpretation  is  to  be  held  to  be  the 
right  one  ?  Everyboby  is  right  from  his  own  standpoint 
but  it  is  not  impossible  that  every  body  is  wrong. 
Hence  the  necessity  for  tolerance,  which  does  not  mean* 
indifference  towards  one's  own  faith,  but  a  more  intelligent 
and  purer  love  for  it.  Tolerance  gives  us  spiritual 
insight,  which  is  as  far  from  fanaticism  as  the  north 
pole  from  the  south.  True  knowledge  of  religion  breaks 
down  the  barriers  between  faiths  and  faith.  Cultivation 
of  tblerence  for  other  faith  will  impart  to  us  a  truer 
understanding  of  our  own. 

Tolerence  obviously  does  not  disturb  the  distinction 
between  right  and  wrong,  or  gpoJ  and  evil.  The 
reference  here  throughout  is  naturally  to  the  principle 


RELIGION  479 

faiths  of  the  world.     They    are  all   based  on     common 
fundamentals.  They  have  all  produced  great  saints- 

— Taravda  Mmdir  :  Chapter  X. 

THE  acceptance  of  the  doctrine  of  Equality  of 
Religions  does  not  abolish  the  distinction  between  religion 
and  irreligion.  We  do  not  propose  to  cultivate  toleration  for 
irreligion.  That  being  so  some  people  might  object  that  there 
would  be  no  room  left  for  equi-mindedness,  if  everyone 
took  his  own  decision  as  to  what  was  religion  and 
what  was  irreligion.  If  we  follow  the  Law  of  Love, 
we  shall  not  bear  any  hatred  towards  the  irreligious 
brother.  On  the  contrary,  we  shall  love  him,  and 
therefore  either  we  shall  bring  him  to  the  error  of 
his  ways  or  he  will  poipt  out  our  error,  or  each  will 
tolerate  the  others  difference  of  opinion.  If  the  other 
party  does  not  observe  the  Law  of  Love,  he  may  be 
violent  to  us.  If,  however  we  cherish  real  love  for 
him,  it  will  overcome  his  bitterness  in  the  end.  AH 
obstacles  in  our  path  will  vanish,  if  only  we  observe 
the  golden  rule  that  we  must  not  be  impatient  with 
those  whom  we  may  consider  to  be  in  error,  bat 
must  be  prepared,  if  need  be  to  suffer  in  our  own  person. 

— Yaravda  Mandir  :  Chapter  XL 

LET  me  explain  what  I  mean  by  religion.  It  is  not 
the  Hindu  religion  which  I  certainly  prize  above  all  other 
religions,  but  the  religion  which  transcends  Hinduism,  which 
changes  one's  very  nature,  which  binds  one  indissolubly  to 
the  truth  within  and  which  ever  purifies.  It  is  the  permanent 
element  in  human  nature  which  counts  no  cost  too  great  in 
order  to  find  full  expression  and  which  leaves  the  soul  utterly 
restless  until  it  has  found  itself,  known  its  maker  and  appre- 
ciated the  true  correspondence  between  the  Maker  and 
itself  —  Young  India  :  May  12,  1920. 

AS  soon  as  we  loose    moral  basis,  we  cease  to  be 


480         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

religious.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  religion  overriding 
morality,  man  for  instance,  cannot  be  untruthful,  cruel,  or 
incontinent  and  claim  to  have  God  on  his  side. 

— Toung  India  :  Nov.    24,  1921. 

RELIGION  is  a  matter  of  the  heart.  No  physical 
inconvenience  can  warrant l  abandonment  of  one's  own 
religion.  —Toung  India  :  Oct.  27,  192Q. 

RELIGION  is  more  than  life.  Remember  that  his  own 
religion  is  the  truest  to  everyman  even  if  it  stands  low  in  the 
scales  of  philosophical  comparison. 

—Toung  India  :  Aug.  28,  1924. 

<s>  <§><$> 

MY  religion  is  based  on  truth  and  non-violence. 
Truth  is  my  Cod.  Non-violence  is  the  means  of  realising 
Him.  —Toung  India  :  Jan.  8,  1928. 

IN  nature  there  is  fundamental  unity  running  through 
all  the  diversity  we  see  about  us.  Religions  are  given  to 
mankind  so  as  to  accelerate  the  process  of  realisation  of 
fundamental  unity.  — Toung  India  :  Aug.  20,  1934. 

ONE'S  own  religion  is  after  all  a  matter  between  one- 
self and  one's  Maker  and  no  one  else's. 

—Toung  India  :  Aug.  20,  1924. 

RELIGION  worth  the  name  can  only  be  saved  by 
purity,  humility  and  fearlessness  of  the  uttermost  typfr 
among  its  professors.  It  is  the  only  shuddhi  and  only  pro- 
paganda. —  Toung  India:  June  16,  1927- 

IN  matters  of  religion  I  am  against  any  state  inter- 
ference. —Toung  India  :  July  7,  1927. 

ALL  the  religions  of  the  world,    while  they   may   differ 


RELIGION  481 

in  other  respects  undoubtedly  proclaim  that  nothing  livts  in 
this  world  but  truth.  — Toung  India  :  Oct.  20,  1927. 

IT  is  a  painful  fact,  but  it  is  a  historical  truth,  that 
priests  who  should  have  been  the  real  custodians  of  religion 
have  been  instrumental  in  destroying  the  religion  of  which 
they  have  been  coustodians.  — Toung  India  :  Oct.  20,  1927. 

^^    ^>    ^N 

LET  no  one  even  for  a  moment  entertain  the  fear  that 
a  reverent  study  of  other  religions  is  likely  to  weaken  or 
shake  on'es  faith  in  one's  own.  The  Hindu  system  of  philo- 
sophy regards  all  religions  as  containing  the  elements  of 
truth  in  them  and  enjoins  an  attitude  of  respect  and 
reverence  towards  them  all.  This  of  course  presupposes 
regard  for  one's  own  religion.  Study  and  appreciation  of 
other  religions  need  not  cause  a  weakening  of  that  regard  ; 
it  should  mean  extension  of  that  regard  to  other  religions. 

—Toung  India  :  Dec.  6,  1928. 

TO  me  religion  means  truth  and  Ahimsa  or  rather  truth 
alone,  because  truth  includes  ahimsa,  ahimsa  being  the 
necessary  and  indispensable  means  for  its  discovery. 

—Toung  India  :  Dec.  6,  1928. 


IN  the  Congress  we  must  cease  to  be  exclusive  Hindus 
or  Musalmans  or  Sikhs,  Parsis,  Christians,  Jews.  While  we 
may  staunchly  adhere  to  our  respective  faiths,  we  must  be 
in  the  Congress  Indians  first  and  Indians  last.  A  good 
Hindu  or  a  good  Musalman  should  be  a  better  Hindu  or  a 
better  Musaiman  for  being  a  lover  of  his  country.  There 
never  can  be  any  conflict  between  the  real  interest  of  one's 
country  and  that  of  one's  religion.  Where  there  appears  to 
be  any  there  is  something  wrong  with  one's  religion,  i.  *., 
one's  morals.  True  religion  means  good  thought  and  good 
conduct.  True  patriotism  also  means  good  thought  and 


482         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

good   conduct.      To  set    up  a    comparison   between  two- 
synonymous  things  is  wrong.       — Toung  India  :  Jan.  9,  1930. 

THE  Allaha  of  Islam  is  the  same  as  the  God  of  Christians 
and  the  Ishwara  of  Hindus.  Even  as  there  are  numerous  name& 
of  God  in  Hinduism,  there  are  many  names  of  God  in  Islam. 
The  name  do  not  indicate  individuality  but  attributes  and 
little  man  has  tried  in  his  humble  way  to  describe  mighty 
God  by  giving  Him  attributes,  though  He  is  above  all  attri* 
butes,  Indescribable,  Immeasurable.  Living  faith  in  this 
God  means  acceptance  of  the  brotherhood  of  mankind. 
It  also  means  equal  respect  for  all  religions.  If  Islam 
is  dear  to  you,  Hinduism  is  dear  to  me.  The  closest 
though  very  incomplete  analogy  for  religion  I  can  find  is. 
marriage.  It  is  or  used  to  be  an  indissoluble  tie.  Much 
more  so  is  the  tie  of  religion.  And  just  as  a  husband  does 
not  remain  faithful  to  his  wife,  or  wife  to  her  husband, 
because  either  is  conscious  of  some  exclusive  superiority  of 
the  other  over  the  rest  of  his  or  her  sex  but  because  of  some 
indifinable  but  irresistible  attraction  so  does  one  remain 
irresistbly  faithful  to  one's  own  religion  and  find  ful  satisfac- 
tion in  such  adhesion.  And  just  as  a  faithful  husband  does 
not  need  in  order  to  sustain  his  faithfulness  to  consider  other 
women  as  inferior  to"  his  wife,  so  does  not  a  person  belonging 
to  one  religion  need  to  consider  others  to  be  inferior  to  his 
own.  To  pursue  the  analogy  still  further,  even  as  faith- 
fulness to  one's  wife  does  hot  presuppose  blindness  to- 
her  shortcomings,  so  does  not  faitfulness  to  one's 
religion  persuppose  blindness  to  the  shortcomings  of 
the  religion.  Indeed  faithfulness  certainly  demands 
a  keener  perception  of  shortcomings  and  therefore 
a  livelier  sense  of  the  proper  remedy  for  their  removal. 
Taking  the  view  I  do  of  religion,  it  is  unneces- 
sary for  me  to  examine  the  beauties  of  Hinduism.  The 
reader  may  rest  assured  that  I  am  not  likely  to  remain  a 
Hindu  if  I  was  not  conscious  of  its  many  beauties.  Only 
for  my  purpose  they  need  not  be  exclusive.  My  approach 


RELIGION  483 

to  other  religions,  therefore,  is  never  as  a  Fault-finding  critic 
but  as  a  devotee  hoping  to  find  the  like  beauties  in  the  other 
religions  and  wishing  to  incorporate  in  my  own  the  good  I 
may  find  in  them  and  miss  in  mine. 

—Htrijan  :  Aug.  12,  1938. 

I  BELIEVE  in  the  fundamental  truth  of  all  great  religi- 
ons of  the  world.  I  believe  that  they  are  all  God-given,  and 
I  believe  that  they  were  necessary  for  the  people  to  whom 
these  religions  were  revealed.  And  I  believe  that,  if  only 
we  could  all  of  us  read  the  scriptures  of  the  different  faiths 
from  the  standpoint  of  the  followers  of  those  faiths,  we 
should  find  that  they  were  at  bottom  all  one  and  were  all 
helpiul  to  one  another.  — Harijan  :  Feb.  10,  1934. 

<^    <$><$> 

RELIGION  deals  with  the  science  of  the  soul. 
Great  as  the  other  forces  of  the  world  are,  if  there  is  such 
a  thing  as  God,  soul  force  is  the  greatest  of  all.  We  know 
as  a  matter  of  fact  that  the  greater  the  force  the  finer  it  is. 
Hitherto  electricity  has  held  the  field  among  the  finer 
physical  powers.  And  yet  nobody  has  seen  it  except 
through  its  wonderful  results.  Scientific  speculation 
dares  to  talk  of  a  force  finer  even  than  that  of  electricity. 
But  no  instrument  devised  by  man  has  been  able  to  know 
anything  .positive  of  soul  force  or  spiritual  force.  It  is  on 
that  force  that  the  true  religious  reformer  has  hitherto 
relied. 

—Harijan  :  Aug.  22,  1936. 

*jp  &    &    & 

RELIGION  is  a  matter  of  life  and  death.  A  man 
does  not  change  religion  as  he  changes  his  garments.  He 
takes  it  with  him  beyond  the  grave.  Nor  does  a  man  pro- 
fess his  religion  to  oblige  others.  He  professes  a  religion  be- 
cause he  cannot  do  otherwise.  A  faithful  husband  loves  his 
wife  as  he  would  love  no  other  woman.  Even  her  faith- 
Jessness  would  not  wean  him  from  his  faith.  The  bond  is 


484        TEACHINGS,  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

mere  than  blood-relationship.     So  is  the  religious  bond  if  it 
is  worth  anything.     It  is  a  matter  of  the  heart. 

—Harijan  :  Jan.  17,  1937. 
^P    ^^    ^^ 

TRUE  reKjfism  is  not  a  narrow  dogma.  It  is  not  ex- 
ternal observance.  It  is  faith  in  God,  and  living  in  the 
presence  of  God,  it  means  faith  in  a  future  life,  in  truth  and 
tMmsa.  There  prevails  to-day  a  sort  of  apathy  towards  these 
(things  of  the  spirit.  Our  temples  appear  today  to  be  meant 
only  for  the  simple  and  the  ignorant.  Few  visit  real  temples 
of  God.  Let  the  educated  class  take  up  the  work  of  leform 
in  this  direction.  — Harijan  :  Aug.  30,  1938. 

^&        ^&        ^O 

TO  try  to  root  out  religion  itself  from  society  is  a  wild 
goose  chase.  And  were  such  an  attempt  to  succeed,  it 
Would  mean  the  destruction  of  society.  Superstitions,  evil 
customs  and  other  imperfections  creep  in  from  age  to  age 
and  mar  religion  for  the  time  being.  They  come  and  go. 
Bui  religion  itself  remains.  Because  the  existence  of  the 
world  in  a  broad  sense  depends  on  religion.  The  ultimate 
difinition  of  religion  may  be  said  to  be  obedience  to  the  Law 
of  God.  God  and  His  law  are  synonymous  terms.  There- 
fore God  signifies  aa  unchanging  arid  living  law.  No  one 
has  ever  really  found  Him.  But  avatars  and  prophets 
have,  by  means  of  their  'tapasya*  given  to  mankind  4  faint 
glimpse  of  the  Eternal  Law.  — Harijan  :  Aug.  25,  1940. 

Religion  and  Reason 

I  REJECT  any  religious  doctrine  that  does  not  appeal 
lo  reason  and  is  in  conflict  with  morality. 

— Young  India:  :  July  21,  1920. 
<£>    4&    ^^ 

I  HAVE  found  that  mere  appeal  to  reason  does  not 
answer  where  prejudices  are  age  long  and  based  on  supposed 
religious  authority.  Reason  has  to  be  strengthened  by  suffer- 
ing and  suffering  opens  the  eyes  of  understanding. 

— TounR  India  :  Dec.  14,  1928. 


REPRESSION  4«5 

EVERY  formula  of  every  religion  has  in  this  age  of 
reason,  to  submit  to  the  acid  test  of  reason  and  universal 
assent  '  —Young  India :  Feb.  26,  1925* 

BUT  religion  that  takes  no  count  of  practical  affairs  and 
does  not  help  to  solve  them,  is  no  religion, 

—Young  India  :  May  7,  1925. 

RELIGION  without  the  backing  of  reason  and  en- 
lightenment is  a  worthless  sentiment  which  is  bound  to  die 
of  inanition.  It  is  knowledge  that  ultimately  gives  aahf* 
ation.  — Young  India  :  May  7,  1925. 

Religious  Neutrality 

IN  free  India  every  religion  should  prosper  on  terms 
of  equality,  unlike  what  is  happening  today.  Christianity 
being  the  nominal  religion  of  the  rulers,  it  receive^ 
favours  which  no  other  religion  enjoys.  A  Government 
responsible  to  the  people  dare  not  favour  one  religion  over 
another.  —Harijan  :  Dec.  30,  1939. 

Repentance 

A  GLEAN  confession,  combined  with  a  promise  never 
to  commit  the  sin  again,  when  offered  before  one  who  has 
the  right  to  receive  it,  is  the  purest  type  of  repentance. 

— My  Experiments  with  Truth  :  Page  41 2» 

Repression 

REPRESSIONi  if  it  does  not  cow  us  down,  if  it  doe? 
not  deter  us  from  our  purpose,  can  but  hasten  the  advent 
of  Swaraj,  for  it  puts  us  on  our  mettle  and  evokes  the  spirit 
of  self-sacrifice  and  courage  in  the  face  of  danger.  Repres* 
sion  does  for  a  true  man  or  a  nation  what  fire  does  for 
gold.  —Toung  India  :  Dec.  26,  192*4 

ACCORDING  to  the  science  of  Satyagraka,  the 
greater  the  repression  and  lawlessness  on  the  part  of 


4K       TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

authority,  the  greater  should  be  the  suffering  courted  by 
the  victims.  Success  is  the  certain  result  of  suffering  of  the 
pctremest  character,  voluntarily  undergone. 

—Young  India  :  May  8,  1930. 

REPRESSION  is  really  an  oxygen  draught. 

— Young  India  :  Dec.  17,  1931. 

Resolutions 

IT  would  conduce   to   national   progress   and   save  a 

great  deal  of  time  and  trouble  if  we  cultivated  the  habit   of 

never  supporting  the  resolutions  either  by  speaking  or  voting 

for  them  if  we  had  not  either  the  intention  or  the  ability   to 

carry  them  out.        x  —Toung  India  :  March  7,  1929. 

Retreat 

RETREAT  itself  is  often  a  plan  of  resistence  and  may 
be  a  precursor  of  great  bravery  and  sacrifice.  Every 
retreat  is  not  cowardice  which  implies  fear  to  die* 
Of  course  a  brave  man  would  more  often  die  in 
violently  or  non-violently  resisting  the  aggressor  in  the 
latter' s  attempt  to  oust  him  from  his  property,  but  he  will 
be  no  less  brave  if  wisdom  dictates  present  retreat. 

—Harijan  :  April  12,  1942, 

Revenge 

YOU  have  now  perhaps  learnt  that  the  best  way  of 
resisting  injury  is  never  to  injure  the  injurer,  but  ever  to 
refuse,  no  matter  how  much  suffering  the  refusal  costs  us, 
to  do  his  will  when  w&  know  it  to  be  wrong. 

— Young  India  :  May  28,  1931. 

Riches 

I  KNOW  that  generally  speaking  it  is  the  experience  of 
the  world  that  possession  of  gold  is  inconsistent  with  the 
possession  of  virtue;  but  though  such  is  the  unfortunate 
experience  in  the  world  it  is  by  no  means  an  inexorable 
law;  We  have  the  celebrated  instance  of  Janaka,  who, 


RIGHT  487 

although  he  was  rolling  in  riches  and  had  a  limitless  power, 
being  a  great  prince,  was  still  one  of  the  purest  men  of  his* 
age.  And  even  in  our  own  age  I  can  cite  from  my  own 
personal  experience  and  tell  you  that  I  have  the  good 
fortune  of  knowing  several  moneyed  men  who  do  not  find  it 
impossible  to  lead  a  straight  pure  life.  What  is  possible. 
For  these  few  men  is  surely  possible  for  every  one  of  you. 
And  I  wish  that  my  word  can  find  an  abiding  place  in  your 
heart  and  know  how  much  good  it  will  do  you  and  the 
society  in  which  you  are  living.  — Young  India  :  Oct.  6,  1927. 

LET  not  possession  of  wealth  be  synonomous  with 
degradation  and  profigacy.  — Toung  India  :  Oct.  6,  1927. 

<$>    <$>    <•> 

THE  rich,  monied  class  ought  to  use  their  God-given 
wealth  for  philanthropic  purposes. 

—Toung  India:  March  1,  1928. 

Ridicule 

RIDICULE  is  like  repression.  Both  give  place  to 
respect  when  they  fail  to  produce  the  intended  effect. 

—Toung  India  :  Dec.  2,  1921. 

Right 

Proved  right  should  be  capable  of  being  vindicated  by 
right  means  as  against  the  rude  i.e.,  sanguinary,  means.  Man 
nay  and  should  shed  his  own  blood  for  establishing  what 
ne  considers  to  be  his  right.  He  may  not  shed  the  blood  of 
his  opponent  who  disputes  his  cright.' 

— Harijan  :  Jan.  2,  1930. 
3>    <$>    ^ 

"A  MORAL  right,  if  there  is  any  such  thing,  does  not 
need  any  asserting  and  defending.7' 

"  And  is  there  anything  like  a  moral  right  ?  Give  me 
an  illustration  " 

"Have  I  not  a  moral  right  to  speak  ?J> 


4«8        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA    GANDHI 

"  It  is  not  a  moral  right  but  a  legal  right.  There  is 
no  right  but  is  legal.  Divorced  from  legality,  moral  right  id 
a  misnomer.  And  therefore  you  either  enforce  a  right  or 
fight  for  it.  Whereas  nobody  asserts  one's  duty.  He 
humbly  performs  it.  I  shall  take  an  illustration.  You  are 
here.  You  feel  like  preaching  to  me  the  Gospel.  I  deny 
the  right  and  ask  you  to  go  away.  If  you  regard  praying 
for  me  a  duty,  you  will  quietly  go  away  and  pray  for  me. 
But  if  you  claim  the  right  to  preach  to  me,  you  will  call 
the  police  and  appeal  to  them  for  preventing  my  obstructing 
you.  That  leads  to  a  clash.  But  your  duty  no  one  dare 
question.  You  perform  it  here  or  elsewhere,  and  if  your 
prayers  to  God  to  change  my  heart  are  genuine,  God  will 
change  my  heart.  What  Christianity,  according  to  my 
interpretation  of  it,  expects  you  to  do  is  to  pray  to  God  to 
change  my  heart.  Duty  is  a  debt.  Right  belongs  to  a 
creditor,  and  it  would  be  a  funny  thing  indeed  if  a  devout 
Christian  claimed  to  be  a  creditor  !" — Harijan  :  April,  6  1937. 
(From  a  conversation  between  Gandhi  ji  and  a  Christian.) 

s 

Sacrifice 

NO  cost  is  too  heavy  for  the  preservation  of  one's 
honour,  especially  religious  honour.  Only  they  will 
ssacrifice  who  cannot  abstain.  Forced  sacrifice  is  no 
acrifice.  It  will  not  last.  A  movement  lacks  sincerity 
when  it  is  supported  by  unwilling  workers  under  pressure* 
The  Khilafat  Movement  will  become  an  irresistible 
force  when  every  Musalman  treats  the  peace  terms  as 
an  individual  wrong.  No  man  waits  for  others  help 
or  sacrifice  in  matters  of  private  personal  wrong.  He 
seeks  help  no  doubt,  but  his  battle  against  the  wrong 
goes  on  whether  he  gains  help  or  not.  If  he  has  justice 
on  his  side,  the  divine  law  is  that  he  does  get  help.  iGod  is 
the  help  of  the  helpless.  When  the  Pandava  brothers  were 
unable  to  help  Draupadi,  God  came  to  the  rescue  and  saved 
her  honour.  The  Prophet  was  helped  by  God  when  he 
Deemed  to  be  forsaken  by  men. — Toitng  India  :  Aug.  11,  1920. 


SACRIFICE  469 

WHEN  self-satisfaction  creeps  over  a  man,  he  has 
ceased  to  grow  and  therefore  has  become  unfit  for 
freedom.  He  who  offers  a  little  sacrifice  from  a  lowly 
and  religious  spirit  quickly  realises  the  miserable 
littleness  of  it.  Once  on  the  path  of  sacrifice,  we  find 
out  the  measure  of  our  selfishness,  and  must  continually 
wish  to  give  more  and  not  be  satisfied  till  there  is. 
a  complete  self-surrender.  — Toung  India  :  Sept.  29,  1921. 

A  LITTLE  reflection  would  however  show  that 
self-sacrifice  must  not  be  allowed  to  excuse  a  crime. 
Not  even  self-immolation  can  be  allowed  to  support  a 
bad  or  an  immoral  cause.  He  would  be  a  weak  father 
who  would  permit  his  child  to  play  with  fire  because 
the  child  is  hunger-striking  for  the  permission. 

— Toung  India  :  Dec.  18,  1924. 
^    ^    ^ 

SELF-SACRIFICE  of  one  innocent  man  is  a  million 
times  more  potent  than  the  sacrifice  of  million  men 
who  die  in  the  act  of  killing  others.  The  willing 
sacrifice  of  the  innocent  is  the  most  powerful  retort  to 
insolent  tyranny  that  has  yet  been  conceived  by  God  or 
man.  —Toung  India  :  Feb.  12,  1925, 

^^    ^^    ^^ 

THERE  is  no  necessary  charm  about  death  on 
the  gallows;  often  such  death  is  easier  than  a  life  of 
drudgery  and  toil  in  malarious  tracts. 

I  suggest  to  my  friend  the  revolutionary  that 
death  on  the  gallows  serves  the  country  only  when 
the  victim  is  a  'spotless  lamb.' 

— Toung  India  :  April  9,  1925. 

^N     ^x     ^S 

NO  sacrifice  is  worth  the  name  unless  it  is  a  joy* 
Sacrifice  and  a  long  face  go  ill  together.  Sacrifice  is 
'making  sacred.7  He  must  be  a  poor  specimen  of  huma- 
nity who  is  in  need  of  sympathy  for  his  sacrifice.  Buddbfc 


490        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA    GANDHI 

renounced  everything  because  he  could  not  help  it.  To 
have  anything  was  a  torture  to  him.  The  Lokamanaya 
remained  poor  because  it  was  painful  for  him  to  possess 
riches.  Andrews  regards  the  possession  of  even  a  few 
rupees  a  burden,  and  continually  contrives  to  lose  them 
if  he  gets  any.  I  have  often  told  him  that  he  is  in 
need  of  a  caretaker.  He  listens,  he  laughs  and  repeats 
the  same  performance  without  the  slightest  contrition. 
Madar-i-Hind$  is  a  terrible  goddess.  She  will  exact  the 
willing,  nye,  even  the  unwilling  sacrifice  of  many  a  young 
man  and  young  woman  before  she  deigns  to  say.  'Well  done 
my  childern  you  are  free.'  We  are  as  yet  playing  at  sacrifice. 
The  reality  has  still  to  come.  — Toung  India  ;  June  25,  1925. 

WE  are  all  creatures  of  circumstances.  Brought  up 
only  to  work  as  servants  under  constant  constraint  and 
with  all  initiative  killed  in  us,  we  cannot  respond  to 
the  call  for  self-sacrifice,  for  love  of  the  country  above 
love  of  self  or  family,  for  service  without  distinction. 

—Young  India  :  Dec.  10,    1925. 

THAT  sacrifice  which  causes  pain  loses  its  sacred 
character  and  will  break  down  under  stress.  One  gives  up 
things  that  one  considers  to  be  injurious  and  therefore 
there  should  be  pleasure  attendant  upon  the  giving  up. 
Whether  the  substitute  is  effective  or  not  is  a  different 
question  altogether.  If  the  substitute  is  effective,  it  is 
no  doubt  well,  but,  it  is  well  also  even  if  the  sub- 
stitute is  ineffective.  It  must  lead  to  an  effort  to 
procure  a  bettter  substitute,  but  surely  not  to  a  return 
to  what  has  been  given  up  after  full  knowledge  and 
experience  of  its  harmfull  character. 

—Toung  India  :  July  15,  1926. 

THE  world  is  touched  by  sacrifice.  It  does  not 
fhen  discriminate  about  the  merits  of  a  cause.  Not  so 


SATIHOOD  491 

God.    He  is   all    seeing.    He   insists    on  the    purity     of 
the  cause  and  on  adequate  sacrifice  therefore. 

—  Young  India  :  April  3,  1930 

^    0    <3> 

THE  law  of  sacrifice  is  uniform  throughout  the 
world.  To  be  effective  it  demands  the  sacrifice  of  the 
bravest  and  the  most  spotless. 

—Young  India  :  April  21,  1930. 
^s    ^s    ^^ 

SWARAJ  won  without  sacrifice  cannot  last  longi 
I  would  therefore  like  our  people  to  get  ready  to  make 
the  highest  sacrifice  that  they  are  capable  of.  In  true 
sacrifice  all  the  suffering  is  on  one  side-one  is  required  to 
master  the  art  of  getting  killed  without  killing,  of  gaining  life 
by  losing  it.  May  India  live  up  to  this  mantra. 

—Young  India  :  May  8,  1930 
<$>    <3>    <S> 

GENTLENESS,  self-sacrifice  and  generosity  are  the 
exclusive  possession  of  no  one  race  or  religion. 

—  Young  India  :  Aug.  3,  1930. 

Satihood 

SATIHOOD  is  the  acme  of  purity.  This  purity  can- 
not be  attained  or  realised  by  dying.  It  can  be  attained 
ootf  through  constant  striving,  constant  immolation  ol 
the  spirit  from  day  to  day.  — Young  India  :  May  21,  1931. 

A  SATI  has  been  described  by  our  ancients,  and 
the  description  holds  good  to-day,  as  one  who  ever 
Bxed  in  her  love  and  devotion  to  her  husband,  signali- 
ses herself  by  her  selfless  service  during  her  husband's 
lifetime  as  well  as  after,  and  remains  absolutely  chaste 
in  thought,  word  and  jdeed.  Self-immolation  at  the 
death  of  the  husband  'is  mot  a  sign  of  enlightenment, 
but  of  gross  ignorance  as  to  the  nature  of  the 
sooL  Th«  -soul  is  immortal,  tu&changeable  and  immanent 


492         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

It  docs  not  perish  with  the  physical  body  but  jourfteys 
on  from  one  mortal  frame  to  another,  till  it  completely 
emancipates  itself  from  earthly  bondage.  The  truth  of 
it  has  been  attested  to  by  the  experience  of  countless 
sages  and  seers,  and  can  be  realised  by  any  one  wha 
may  wish  to  even  to-day.  How  can  suicide  be,  then, 
justified  in  the  light  of  these  facts  ? 

Again,  true  marriage  means  not  merely  unipn  ot 
bodies.  It  connotes  the  union  of  the  souls  too.  If  mar- 
riage meant  no  more  than  a  physical  relationship,  the 
bereaved  wife  should  be  satisfied  with  a  portrait  or  a 
waxen  image  of  her  husband.  But  self-destruction  is 
worse  than  futile.  It  cannot  help  to  restore  the  dead 
to  life,  on  the  contrary  it  only  takes  away  one  more 
from  the  world  of  the  living. 

—  Tcung  India  :  May  12,  1931. 

Satyagraha 

THE  very  nature  of  Satyagraha  is  such  that  the 
fruit  of  the  movement  is  contained  in  the  movement 
itself.  Satyagraha  is  based  on  self  help,  self-sacrifice 
and  faith  in  God. 

— Safyagraha    in    South  Africa  :  Page  282. 

<S>    3>    <$> 

THE  humility  of  a  Satyagrahi  knows  no  bounds. 
He  does  not  let  slip  a  single  opportunity  for  settlement, 
and  he  does  not  mind  if  any  one  therefore  looks  upon 
him  as  timid.  The  man  who  has  faith  in  him  and 
the  strength  which  flows  from  faith,  does  not  care  if 
he  is  looked  down  upon  by  others.  He  relies  solely 
upon  his  internal  strength.  He  is  therefore  courteous 
to  all,  and  thus  cultivates  and  enlists  world  opinion 
in  favour  of  his  own  cause. 

— Satyagraha  in  South  Africa  :  Page  442. 

<$>    0    3> 
SATYAGRAHA  is    a  priceless  and  matchless  weapon 


SATYAGRAHA  493 

and   those   who  wield  it  are   strangers   to     disappointment 
or  defeat*  — Satyagraha  in  South  Africa  :  Page   511. 

<^    <$><$> 

THE  end  of  a  Satyagraha  campaign  can  be  des- 
cribed as  worthy,  only  when  it  leaves  the  Satyagrahis 
stronger  and  more  spirited  then  they  are  in  the  beginn- 
ing — My  Experiments  with  Truth  :  Page  538. 

<$><$><$> 

THE  hope  of  India  lies  in  Satyagraha.  And  what 
is  Satyagraha  ?  It  has  often  been  described.  But  just 
as  the  sun  cannot  be  fully  described  even  by  the  my- 
riad tongued  Sheshnaga,  so  also  the  sun  of  Satyagraha 
cannot  be  adequately  described.  And  though  we  always 
see  the  sun  but  know  really  very  little  of  it,  even  so 
we  do  ever  seem  to  see  the  sun  of  Satyagraha,  but  we  know 
precious  little  about  it.  — Satyagraha  Leaflets. 

<$><$>  <§> 

IN  the  course  of  the  Satyagraha  struggle  in  South 
Africa  several  thousand  indentured  Indians  had  struck 
work.  This  was  a  Satyagraha  strike  and  therefore,  en- 
tirely peaceful  and  voluntry.  Whilst  the  strike  was  go- 
ing on,  a  strike  of  a  European  miners,  railway  employ- 
ers, etc,  was  declared.  Overtures  were  made  to  me  to 
make  common  cause  with  the  European  strikers.  As  a 
Satyagrahi,  I  did  not  require  a  moment's  consideration 
to  decide  not  to  do  so.  I  went  further  and  for  fear 
of  our  strike  being  classed  with  the  strike  of  Europe- 
ans, in  which  methods  of  violence  and  the  use  of  arms 
found  prominent  place,  ours  was  suspended  and  Satya- 
graha from  that  moment  came  to  be  recognized  by  the 
Europeans  of  South  Africa  as  a  humble  and  honest 
:novemeat  and,  in  the  words  of  General  Smuts,  a  "con- 
stitutional movement."  — Young  India  :  April  18,  1919. 

SATYAGRAHA  is  like  a  banian  tree  with  innumer- 
able branches.  Civil  disobedience  is  one  such  branch. 


494        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

Satya  (truth)  and  Ahimsa  (non-violence)  together  make  the 
parent  trunk  from  which  all  innumerable  branches  shoot 
out.  We  have  found  by  bitter  experience  that  whilst 
in  an  atmosphere  of  lawlessness  civil  disobedience  found 
ready  acceptance,  Satya  (truth)  and  Ahimsa  (non-violence) 
from  which  alone  civil  disobedience  can  worthily  spring 
have  commanded  little  or  no  respect.  Ours  then  is  a 
herculian  task,  but  we  may  not  shirk  it.  We  roust 
fearlessly  spread  the  doctrine  of  Satya  and  Ahimsa  and! 
then  and  not  till  then,  shall  we  be  able  to  undertake 
mass  Satyagraha.  — Toting  India  :  May  1,  1919. 

^s    ^^    ^s* 

FOR  the  past  thirty  years  I  have  been  preaching 
and  practising  Satyagraha.  The  principles  of  Satyagraha> 
as  I  know  it  to-day,  constitute  a  gradual  evolution. 

The  term  Satyagraha  was  coined  by  me  in  South 
Africa  to  express  the  force  that  the  Indians  there  used 
for  full  eight  years,  and  it  was  coined  in  order  ta 
distinguish  it  from  "the  movement,  then  going  OB  in 
the  United  Kingdom  and  South  Africa  under  the  name 
of  Passive  Resistance. 

Its  root  meaning  is  holding  on  to  truth;  hence,, 
Truth-force.  I  have  also  called  it  Love-force  or  Soul- 
force.  In  the  application  of  Satyagraha  I  discovered* 
in  the  earliest  stages  that  pursuit  of  truth  did  not  admit 
of  violence  being  inflicted  on  one's  opponent  but  that 
he  must  be  weaned  from  error  by  patience  and  sympathy. 
For  what  appears  to  be  truth  to  the  one  may  appear 
to  be  error  to  the  other.  And  patience  means  self-suffer- 
ing. So  the  doctrine  came  to  mean  vindication  of  truth 
not  by  infliction  of  suffering  on  the  opponent,  but  one's 
own  self. 

Satyagraha  differs  from  Passive  Resistance  as  the 
North  Pole  from  the  South.  Tfie  latter  has  been  concei- 
ved as  a  weapon  of  the  weak  and  does  not  exclude 
the  use  of  physical  force  or  violence  for  the  purpose  of 


SATYAGRAHA  495 

gaining  one's  end;  where  as  the  former  has  been  con- 
ceived  as  a  weapon  of  the  strongest  and  excludes  th< 
use  of  violence  in  any  shape  or  form. 

When  Daniel  disregarded  the  laws  of  the  Medes  and 
Persians  which  offended  his  conscience  and  meekly  suffer 
ed  the  punishment  for  his  disobedience,  he  offered  Satya- 
graha  in  its  purest  form.  Socrates  would  not  refrain 
from  preaching  what  he  knew  to  be  the  truth  to  the 
Athenian  youth,  and  bravely  suffered  the  punishment 
of  death.  He  was  in  this  case,  a  Satyagrahi.  Prahlad 
disregarded  the  orders  of  his  father  because  he  consider- 
ed them  to  be  repugnant  to  his  conscience.  He  un- 
complainingly anil  cheerfully  bore  the  tortures  to  which 
he  was  subjected  at  the  instance  of  his  father.  Mirabai, 
who  is  said  to  have  offended  her  husband  by  following  her 
own  conscience  was  content  to  live  in  separation  from  him  and 
bore  with  quiet  dignity  and  Designation  all  the  injuries  that 
are  said  to  have  been  done  to  her  in  order  to  bend  her 
to  her  husband's  will.  Both  Prahlad  and  Mirabai  practised 
Satyagraha.  It  must  be  remembered,  that  neither 
Daniel  nor  Socrates,  neither  Prahlad  nor  Mirabai  had 
any  ill-will  towards  their  prosecutors.  Daniel  and  Socrates 
are  regarded  as  having  been  model  citizens  of  the  States 
to  which  they  belonged,  Prahlad  a  model  son,  Mirabai 
a  model  wife. 

This  doctrine  of  Satyagraha  is  not  new;  it  is  merely 
an  extension  of  the  rule  of  domestic  life  to  the  political. 
Family  disputes  and  differences  are  generally  settled 
according  to  the  law  of  love.  The  injured  member  has 
so  much  regard  for  the  others  that  he  suffers  injury 
for  the  sake  of  his  principles  without  retaliating  and  with- 
out being  angry  with  those  who  differ  from  him.  And 
as  repression  of  anger,  self-suffering  are  difficult  processes 
he  does  not  dignify  trifles  into  principles,  but,  in  all 
non-essentials,  readily  agrees  with  the  rest  of  the  family 
and  thus  contrives  to  gain  the  maximum  of  peace  for 


496         TEACHINGS  OF  M&HATMA  GANDHI 

himself  without  disturbing  that  of  the  others.  Thus  his 
action,  whether  he  resists  or  resigns,  is  always  calculated 
to  promote  the  common  welfare  of  the  family.  It  is 
this  law  of  love  which,  silently  but  surely  governs  the  family 
for  the  most  part  throughout  the  civilized  world. 

I  feel  that  nations  cannot  be  one  in  reality  nor 
can  their  activities  be  conducive  to  the  common  good 
of  the  whole  humanity,  unless  there  is  this  definition 
and  acceptance  of  the  law  of  the  family  in  national 
and  international  affairs,  in  other  words,  on  the  political 
platform.  Nations  can  be  called  civilized,  only  to  the 
extent: that  they  obey  this  law. 

This  law  of  love  is  nothing  but  a  law  of  truth. 
Without  truth  there  is  no  love;  without  truth  it  may 
be  affection,  as  for  one's  country  to  the  injury  of  others; 
or  infatuation,  as  of  a  young  man  for  a  girl;  or  love 
may  be  .unreasoning  and  blind  as  of  ignorant  parents 
for  their  children.  Love  transcends  all  animality  and 
is  never  partial.  Satyagraha  has,  therefore,  been  des- 
cribed as  a  coin,  on  whose  face  you  read  love  and 
on  the  reverse  you  read  truth.  It  is  a  coin  current 
everywhere  and  has  indefinable  value. 

Satyagraha  is  self-dependent,  It  does  not  require 
the  assent  of  the  opponent  before  it  can  be  brought  into 
play.  Indeed  it  shines  out  most  when  the  opponent 
resists.  It  is,  therefore,  irresistible.  A  Satyagrahi  does 
not  know  what  defeat  is  for  he  fights  for  truth  with- 
out being  exhausted.  Death  in  the  fight  is  a  deliver- 
ance, and  prison,  a  gate-way  to  liberty. 

It  is  called  also  soul-force,  because  a  definite  re- 
cognition of  *the  soul  within  is  a  necessity,  if  a  Satya- 
grahi  'is  to  believe  that  death  does  not  mean  cessation 
of  struggle,  but  a  culmination.  The  body  is  merely  a 
vehicle  for  self-expression;  and  he  gladly  gives  up  the 
body,  when  <its  existence  is  an  obstruction  in  the  way 


SATYAGRAHA  497 

of  the  opponent  seeing  the  truth,  for  which  the  Satya- 
grahi  stands.  He  gives  up  the  body  in  the  certain 
faith  that  if  anything  would  change  his  opponent's  view 
a  willing  sacrifice  of  his  body  must  do  so.  And  with 
the  knowledge  that  the  soul  survives  the  body,  he  is 
not  impatient  to  see  the  triumph  of  truth  in  the  present 
body.  Indeed,  victory  lies  in  the  ability  to  die  in  the 
attempt  to  make  the  opponent  see  the  truth  which 
the  Satyagrahi  for  the  time  being  expresses. 

And  as  a  Satyagrahi  never  injures  his  opponent 
and  always  appeals,  either  to  his  reason  by  gentle  argu- 
ment, or  his  heart  by  the  sacrifice  of  self,  Satyagraha 
is  twice  blessed,  it  blesses  him  who  practises  it,  and 
him  against  whom  it  is  practised. 

It  has,  however,  been  objected  that  Satyagraha,  as 
we  conceive  it,  can  he  practised  only  by  a  select  few. 
My  experience  proves  the  contrary.  Once  its  simple 
principles— adherence  to  truth  and  insistence  upon  it  by 
self- suffer  ing — are  understood,  anybody  can  practise  it. 
It  is  as  difficult  or  as  easy  to  practise  as  any  other 
virtue.  It  is  as  little  necessary  for  its  practice  that 
everyone  should  understand  the  whole  philosphy  of  it, 
as  it  is  for  the  practice  of  total  abstinence. 

After  all,  no  one  disputes  the  necessity  of  insisting  on 
truth  as  one  sees  it.  And  it  is  easy  enough  to  understand 
that* it  is  vulgar  to  attempt  to  compel  the  opponent 
to  its  acceptance  by  using  brute  force ;  it  is  discredit- 
able to  submit  to  error  because  argument  has  failed 
to  convince,  and  that  the  only  true  and  honourable 
course  is  not  to  submit  to  it  even  at  .the  cost  of  one's 
life.  Then  only  can  the  world  be  purged  of  error,  if 
it  ever  can  be  altogether.  There  can  be  no  compromise 
with  error  where  it  hurts  the  vital  being. 

But,  on  the  political  field,  the  struggle  on  behalf 
of  the  people  mostly  consists  in  opposing  error  ia  the 


498         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

shape  of  unjust  laws.  When  you  have  failed  to  bring 
the  error  home  to  the  lawgiver  by  way  of  petitions 
and  the  like,  the  only  remedy  open  to  you,  if  you  do 
not  wish  to  submit  to  it,  is  to  compel  him  to  retrace 
his  steps  by  suffering  in  your  own  person,  i.e.,  by 
inviting  the  penalty  for  the  breach  of  the  law. 
Hence,  Satyagraha  largely  appears  to  the  public  as- 
civil  disobedience  or  civil  resistence.  It  is  civil  in  the 
sense  that  it  is  not  criminal. 

The  criminal,  i.  e.,  the  ordinary  law-breaker  breaks 
the  law  surreptitiously  and  tries  to  a  void  the  penalty;, 
not  so  the  civil  resister.  He  ever  obeys  the  laws  of  the 
State  to  which  he  belongs,  not  out  of  fear  of  the  sanctions, 
but  because  he  considers  them  to  be  good  for  the 
welfare  of  society.  But  there  come  occasions,  generally 
rare  when  he  considers  certain  laws  to  be  so  unjust 
as  to  render  obedience  to  them  a  dishonour,  he  then 
openly  and  civilly  breaks  them  and  quietly  suffers  the 
penally  for  their  breach.  And  in  order  to  register  hi* 
protest  against  the  action  of  the  law-giver,  it  is  open 
to  him  to  withdraw  his  co-operation  from  the  State 
by  disobeying  such  other  laws  whose  breach  does  not 
involve  moral  turpitude.  In  my  opinion,  the  beauty  and 
efficacy  of  Satyagraha  are  so  great  and  the  doctrine 
so  simple  that "  it  can  be  preached  even  to  children^ 

(From  the  Report  of  the  Commissioners  appointed  by  the 

Indian  National  Congrtssty* 

WITH  Satya  combined  with  Ahimsa  you  can  bring  the 
world  to  your  feet.  Satyagraha  in  its  essence  is  nothing 
but  the  introduction  of  truth  and  gentleness  in  the  political, 
w.,  national  life.  —Young  India  :  March  10,  1920. 

SATYAGRAHA  is  not  predominantly  civil  disobedience 
but  a  quiet  and  irresistible  pursuit  of  truth.  On  the  rare* 


SATYAGRAHA  499 

occasions  it  becomes  civil  disobedience.  But  conscious  and 
willing  obedience  must,  in  the  case  of  a  large  body  of 
workers,  precede  it.  — Young  India  :  Jan.  12,  1922. 

<S>    <8>    <$> 

SATYAGRAHA  is  never  adopted  abruptly  and  never 
till  all  other  and  milder  methods  have  been  tried. 

— Young  India  :  Jan.  11,  1929. 
<S>    <S>    <$> 

IT  is  undertaken  not  from  a  belief  in  human  aid  but  it 
is  based  upon  an  unquenchable  faith  in  God  and  His  justice. 
And  God  is  both  gentle  and  hard.  He  tries  us  through  and 
through  to  the  last  suffering  point  but  He  js  so  gentle  as 
never  to  test  us  to  the  breaking  point. 

—Young  India  :  Feb.  18, 1926. 
^^    <^    ^^ 

NO  power  on  earth  can  make  a  person  do  a  thing 
against  his  will.  Satyagraha  is  a  direct  result  of  the  recog- 
nition of  this  great  Law  and  is  independent  of  number? 
participating  in  it.  — Young  India  :  Feb.  18,  1926. 

<S>    <$>    <£> 

SATYAGRAHA,  cannot  be  resorted  to  for  persona] 
gain,  but  only  for  the  good  of  others.  A  Satyagrahi  should 
always  be  ready  to  undergo  suffering  and  pecuniary  loss. 

—Young  India  :  Sept.  30,  1926, 

3>  <s>  <§> 

*  SATYAGRAHA  struggle  requires  no  prestige  save  that 
of  truth,  and  no  strength  save  that  of  self*suflering  which 
comes  otily  from  an  immovable  faith  in  one's  cause  and 
from  a  completely  non-violent  spirit. 

Impatience  is  a  phase  of  violence.  A  Satyagrahi  has 
nothing  to  do  with  victory.  He  is  sure  of  it,  but  he  has  also 
to  know  that  it  comes  from  God.  His  is  but  to  suffer. 

—Young  India  :  Oct.  18,  1927. 

THE  fact  is  that  batyagrstha  presupposes  the  livimr 


500          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

presence  and  guidance  of  God.  The  leader  depends  not  on 
his  own  strength  but  on  that  of  God.  He  acts  as  the  Voice 
within  guides  him.  Very  often  therefore  what  are  practical 
politics  so-called  are  unrealities  to  him,  though  in  the  end  his 
prove  to  be  most  practical  politics. 

—Young  India  :  Aug.  2,  1928. 

SATYAGRAHA  presupposes  self-discipline,  self-control 
self-purification,  and  a  recognised  social  status  in>  the  person 
offering  it.  A  Satyagrahi  must  never  forget  the  distinction 
between  evil  and  evil  doer.  He  must  not  harbour  ill-will  or 
bitterness  against  the  latter.  He  may  not  even  employ 
needlessly  oifei^sive  language  against  the  evil  person,  how- 
ever unrelieved  his  evil  might  be.  For  it  should  be  an 
article  of  faith  with  every  Satyagrahi  that  there  is  none  so 
(alien  in  this  world  but  can  be  converted  by  love.  A  Satya- 
grahi 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  prayer- 
ful self-introspection  and  self-analysis  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  o**t  to  lead 
a  crusade.  In  self-purification  and  penance  lies  half  the 
victory  of  a  Satyagrahi.  A  Satyagrahi  has  faith  that  the 
silent  and  undemonstrative  action  of  truth  and  love  produces 
far  more  permanent  and  abiding  results  than  speeches  or 
such  other  showy  performances. 

But  although  Satyagraha  can  operate  silently,  it  requires 
certain  amount  of  action  on  the  part  of  a  Satyagrahi. 
A  Satyagrahi,  for  instance,  must  first  mobilise  public  opinion 
against  the  evil  which  he  is  out  to  eradicate,  by  means  of  a 
wide  and  intensive  agitation.  When  public  opinion  is  suffi- 
ciently roused  against  a  social  abuse  even  the  tallest  will 
not  dare  to  practice  or  openly  to  lend  support  to  i|.  An 


SATYAGRAHA  501 

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  in- 
dicates 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-operation  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  the  society.  For  all 
practical  purpose  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.  — Young  Indf^;  Aug.  28,  1929. 

^^    ^^    ^^ 

SATYAGRAHA  literally  means  insistence  on  truth. 
This  insistence  arms  the  votary  with  matchless  power.  This 
power  or  force  is  connoted  by  the  word  Satyagraha.  Satya- 
graha,  to  be  genuine,  may  be  offered  against  one's  parents 
against  wife  or  one's  children,  against  rulers,  against  fellow 
citizens  even  against  the  whole  wo'rld. 

Such  a  universal  force  necessarily  makes  no  distinc- 
tion between  kinsmen  and  strangers,  young  and  old, 
man  and  woman,  friend  and  foe.  The  force  to  be  so 
applied  can  never  be  physical.  There  is  in  it  no  room 
for  violence.  The  only  force  of  universal  application 
can,  therefore,  be  that  of  ahimsa  or  love.  In  other 
words  it  is  Soul  Force. 

Love  does  not  burn  others,  it  burns  itself.  There- 
fore, a  Satyagrahi  i.  e.,  a  civil  resister  will  joyfully  suffer 
even  unto  death. 

It  follows,  therefore,  that  a  civil  resister,  whilst  he 
will  strain  every  nerve  to  compass  the  end  of  the  exist- 
ing rule,  will  do  no  intentional  injury  in  thought, 
word  or  deed  to  the  person  of  a  single  Englishman. 

—Toting  India  :  Feb.  27,  1930. 


502          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

THE  Satyagrahi  whilst  he  is  ever  ready  for  fight 
must  be  equally  eager  for  peace.  He  must  welcome  any 
honourable  opportunity  for  peace.  The  essential  condition 
of  a  compromise  is  that  there  should  be  nothing  humiliating, 
nothing  panicky  about  it. 

Whilst  however  a  Satyagrahi  never  yields  to  panic 
or  hesitancy,  neither  does  he  think  of  humiliating  the  other 
party  of  reducing  it  to  an  abject  surrender.  He  may  not  swerve 
from  the  path  of  justice  and  may  not  dictate  imposible 
terms.  He  may  not  pitch  his  demands  too  high,  neither 
may  he  pitch  them  too  low. 

—  Young  India  :  March  19,    1931. 

t    ^    ^ 

I   AM     myself    daily   growing     in  the   knowledge   of 

Satyagraha.  I  have  no  text  book  to  consult  in  time 
of  need,  not  even  the  Gita  which  I  have  called  my 
•dictionary.  Satyagraha  as  conceived  by  me  is  a  science 
in  the  making.  It  may  be  that  what  I  claim  to  be 
a  science  may  prove  to  be  no  science  at  all  and  may 
well  prove  to  be  the  musings  and  doings  of  a  fool, 
if  not  a  mad  man.  It  may  be  that  what  is  true  in 
Satyagraha  is  as  ancient  as  the  hills. 

—Harijan  :  Sept.  24,  1938. 
<S>    <3>    <S> 

Q.  IF  some  of  the  Socialists  and  Communists  who 
did  not  believe  in  God  could  be  Satyagrahis  ? 

A.  I  am  afraid  not.  For  a  Satyagrahi  has  no  other 
stay  but  God,  and  he  who  has  any  other  stay  or  de- 
pends on  any  other  help  cannot  offer  Satyagraha.  He 
may  be  a  passive  resister,  non-co-operator  and  so  on, 
but  not  a  true  Satyagrahi.  It  is  open  to  you  to  argue 
that  this  excludes  brave  comrades,  whereas  it  may  in- 
clude men  who  profess  a  belief  in  God  but  who  in 
the  daily  lives  are  untrue  to  their  profession.  I  am 
not  talking  of  those  who  are  untrue  to  their  profes- 
sion, 1  am  talking  of  those  who  are  prepared  in  the* 


SATYAGRAHA  503 

name  God  to  stake  their  all  for  the  sake  of  their 
principle.  Don't  ask  me  again  why  I  am  enunciating 
this  principle  today  and  did  not  do  so  20  years  ago, 
I  can  only  say  that  I  am  no  prophet  but  an  erring  mortal, 
progressing  from  blunder  towards  truth.  'What  about 
the  Buddhists  and  Jains,  then  ?'  someone  has  asked. 
Well,  I  will  say  that  if  the  Buddhists  and  Jains  raise 
this  objection  themselves,  and  say  that  they  would  be 
disqualified  if  such  a  strict  rule  were  observed,  I  should 
say  to  them  that  I  agree  with  them. 

But  far  be  it  from  me  to  suggest  that  you  should 
believe  in  the  God  that  I  believe  in.  May  be  your 
definition  is  different  from  mine,  but  your  belief  in  that 
God  must  be  your  ultimate  mainstay.  It  may  be  some 
Supreme  Power  or  some  Being  even  indefinable,  but 
beliei  in  it  is  indispensable.  To  bear  all  kinds  of  tor- 
tures without  a  murmur  of  resentment  is  impossible 
for  a  human  being  without  the  strength  that  comes 
from  God.  Only  in  His  strength  we  are  strong.  And 
only  those  who  can  cast  their  cares  and  their  fears 
on  that  Immeasurable  Power  have  faith  in  God. 

—Harijan  :  June  3,  1939. 

Schools 

THERE  is  no  doubt  that  the  safest  and  the  most 
honourable  course  for  the  student  world  is  to  leave  Gov- 
ernment schools  and  colleges  at  any  cost.  But  the  next 
best  course  for  them  is  to  hold  themselves  in  readiness 
to  be  thrown  out  whenever  a  conflict  occurs  between  the 
Government  and  the  people,  — Toung  India  :  Feb.  16,  1928. 

IT  is  my  conviction  that  our  schools  and  colleges, 
instead  of  making  us  manly,  make  us  obsequious,  timid 
indecisive  and  ballastless.  Manliness  consists  not  in  bluff, 
bravado  arlordiness.  It  consists  in  daring  to  do  the  light* 


504         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

and  facing   consequences,    whether  it   is   in  matters   social, 
political  or  other.     It  consists  in  deeds  not  in  words. 

—Young  India  :  Jan.  31,  1929. 

IT  is  gross  superstition  to  suppose  that  knowledge  can 
be  obtained  only  by  going  to  schools  and  colleges.  The 
world  produced  brilliant  students  before  schools  and 
colleges  came  into  being.  There  is  nothing  so  ennobling  or 
lasting  as  self-study.  Schools  and  colleges  make  most  of  us 
mere  receptacles  for  holding  the  superfluities  of  knowledge. 
Wheat  is  left  out  and  mere  husk  is  taken  in.  I  do  not  wish 
to  decry  schools  and  colleges  as  such.  They  have  their 
use.  But  we  are  making  altogether  too  much  of  them. 
They  are  but  one  of  the  many  means  of  gaining  knowledge. 

—Young  India  :  June  25,  193L 

<s>  <$><$> 

A  SCHOOL  or  a  college  is  a  sanctuary  where  there 
should  be  nothing  that  is  base  or  unholy.  Schools  and 
colleges  are  factories  for  the  making  of  character. 

—Young  India  :  July  30,  1931. 

Science 

I  AM  not  opposed  to  the  progress  of  science  as  such. 
On  the  contrary,  the  scientific  spirit  of  the  West  commands 
my  admiration,  and  if  that  admiration  is  qualified,  it  is 
because  the  scientist  of  the  West  takes  no  note  of  God's 
lower  creation.  I  abhor  vivisection  with  my  whole  soul. 
I  detest  the  unpardonable  slaughter  of  innocent  life  in  the 
name  of  science  and  humanity  so-called,  and  all  the  scienti- 
fic discoveries  stained  with  innocent  blood  I  count  as  of  no 
consequence.  If  the  circulation  of  blood  theory  could  not 
have  been  discovered  without  vivisection,  the  human  kind 
could  well  have  done  without  it.  And,  I  see  the  day  clearly 
dawning  when  the  honest  scientist  of  the  West  will  put 
limitations  upon  the  present  methods  of  pursuing  knowledge. 
Futiirc  measurements  will  take  note  jiot  merely  of  the  human 


SCORTCHED  EARTH  POLICY  505 

family  but  of  all  that  lives  and  even  as  we  are  slowly  but 
surely  discovering  that  it  is  an  error  to  suppose  that  Hindus 
can  thrive  upon  the  degradation  of  a  fifth  of  themselves,  cr 
that  peoples  of  the  West  can  rise  or  live  upon  the  exploi- 
tation and  degradation  of  the  Eastern  and  African  nations, 
so  shall  we  realise,  in  the  fulness  of  time,  that  our  dominion 
over  the  lower  order  of  creation  is  not  for  their  slaughter, 
but  for  their  benefit  equally  with  ours.  For,  I  am  as  certain 
that  they  are  endowed  with  a  soul,  as  that  I  am. 

—Young  India  :  Dec.  17,  1925, 
<$>    <$><$> 

WHO  can  deny  that  much  that  passes  for  science  and 
art  today  destroys  the  soul  instead  of  uplifting  it  and  instead 
of  evoking  the  best  in  us  panders  to  our  basest  passions  ? 

—Young  India  :  Jan.  23,  1922. 

Scortched  Earth  Policy 

THERE  is  no  bravery  in  my  poisoning  my  well  or 
filling  it  in  so  that  my  brother  who  is  at  war  with  me  may 
not  use  the  water.  Let  us  assume  that  I  am  fighting  him 
in  the  orthodox  manner.  Nor  is  there  sacrifice  in  it,  for  it 
does  not  purify  me,  and  sacrifice,  as  its  root  meaning 
implies,  presupposes  purity.  Such  destruction  may  be 
likened  to  cutting  one's  nose  to  spite  one's  face.  Warriors 
of  old  had  wholesome  laws  of  war.  Among  the  excluded 
things*  were  poisoning  wells  and  destroying  food  crops. 
But  I  do  claim  that  there  are  bravery  and  sacrifice  in  my 
leaving  my  wells,  crops  and  homestead  intact,  bravery  in 
that  I  deliberately  run  the  risk  of  the  enemy  feeding  him- 
self at  my  expense  and  pursuing  me,  and  sacrifice  in  that 
the  sentiment  of  leaving  something  for  the  enemy  purifies 
and  ennobles  me.  — Harijan  :  April  12,  1942. 


SCORTCHED  earth  policy  is  a  self-defeating  measure. 

—Harijan  :  April)  19*  1942. 


506          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

Scriptures 

I  EXERCISE  my  judgment  about  every  scripture, 
including  the  Gita.  I  cannot  let  a  scriptural  text  supersede 
my  reason.  Whilst  I  believe  that  the  principal  books  are 
inspired,  they  suffer  from  a  process  of  double  distillation. 
Firstly  they  come  through  a  human  prophet,  and  then 
through  the  commentaries  of  interpreters.  Nothing  in  them 
comes  from  God  directly.  Matthews  may  give  one  version 
of  one  text  and  John  may  give  another.  I  cannot 
surrender  my  reason  whilst  I  subscribe  to  divine  revelation. 
And  above  all,  the  letter  killeth,  the  spirit  gioeth  life.  But  you 
must  not  misunderstand  my  position.  I  believe  in  Faith 
also,  in  things  where  reason  has  no  place,  e.  g.9  the  existense 
of  God.  No  argument  can  move  me  from  that  faith,  and 
like  that  little  girl  who  repeated  against  all  reason  'yet  we 
are  sever?  I  would  like  to  repeat,  on  being  baffled  in  argu- 
ment by  a  very  superior  intellect,  'Yet  there  is  God.'  (M.D.) 

—Harijan  :  Dec.  5,  1936. 

Section  124-A 

SECTION  124-A  is  hung  over  our  heads  like  the  sword 
of  Damocles  whether  we  are  feasting  or  fasting. 

—Young  India  :  July  18,  1929. 

DISAFFECTION  has  been  described  by  a  commenta- 
tor 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  affection  for  the  Government  as  it  is  today 
established. 

It  is  a  rape  of  the  word  'law'  to  say  that  it  is 
a  Government  established  by  'law7.  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.  —  Young  India  :  July  18,  1929. 


SELF-HELP  AND  MUTUAL  HELP  507 

Sfelf-confidence 

THE  history  of  the  world  is  full  of  instances  of  men 
who  rose  to  leadership,  by  sheer  force  of  self-confidence, 
bravery  and  tenacity.  We  too,  if  we  sincerely  aspire  to 
Swaraj  and  are  impatient  to  attain  it,  should  have  similar 
self-confidence.  — Young  India  :  March  20,  1930. 

Self-evolution 

I  DO  not  realise  that  I  am  staking  a  whole  nation  for 
self-evolution.  For  self-evolution  is  wholly,  consistent  with 
a  nation's  evolution.  A  nation  cannot  advance,  without  the 
units  of  which  it  is  composed  advancing  and  conversely  no 
individual  can  advance,  without  the  nation  of  which  he  is  a 
part  also  advancing.  — Young  India  :  March  26,  1931. 

Self-help  and  Mutual  help 

SELF-HELP  is  the  capacity  to  stand  on  one's  legs 
without  anybody's  help.  This  does  not  mean  indifference 
to  or  rejection  of  outside  help,  but  it  means  the  capacity  to 
be  at  peace  with  oneself,  to  preserve  one's  self-respect,  whom 
outside  help  is  not  forthcoming  or  is  refused.  A  farmer  who 
rejecting  friends,  help,  insists  on  tilling  his  own  soil,  making 
his  own  implements,  gathering  his  own  harvest,  spinning 
and  weaving  his  own  cloth  and  building  his  own  house, 
all  by  himself,  must  be  either  foolish  or  self- conceited  or  bar- 
barous. Self-help  includes  bread-labour  and  means  that 
every  man  shall  earn  his  bread  in  the  sweat  of  his  brow. 
Hence  a  man  who  works  in  his  field  for  eight  hours  daily  is 
entitled  to  help  from  the  weaver,  the  carpenter,  the  black- 
smith or  the  mason.  It  is  not  only  his  right,  it  is  his  duty  to 
seek  the  help  of  these,  and  they  in  their  turn  benefit  by  the 
agriculturist's  labour  in  the  field.  The  eye  that  would 
dispense  with  the  help  of  the  hands  does  not  practise  self- 
help,  but  is  conceited  and  self-deceived.  And  as  the  differ- 
ent members  of  the  body  sre  self-reliant  so  far  as  their  own 


508         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

functions  are  concerned  and  yet  are  mutually  helpful  and 
mutually  dependent,  so  are  we  three  hundred  million 
members  of  the  Indian  body  politic,  each  following  the  rule 
of  self-help  in  performing  his  own  function,  and  yet  co- 
operating with  one  another  in  all  matters  of  common 
interest.  Only  then  can  we  be  said  to  be  servants  of  the 
country  and  only  then  do  we  deserve  to  be  called 
nationalists.  —Young  India  :  May  13,  1926. 


NATIONS  are  born  after  much  travail.  Either  we 
must  die  like  flies  in  an  armed  rebellion  than  submit  to 
military  autocracy  and  in  the  distant  and  dim  future  hope 
to  have  democratic  rule  ;  or  by  patient,  natural,  unperceiv- 
ed  suffering  evolve  as  a  self-ruling  self-  respecting  nation. 

{—Young  India  :  July  24,  1924. 

<$><$><$> 

Self-interest 

CONSIDERATIONS  of  self-interest  drive  shame  away 
and  mislead  men  out  of  the  straight  and  narrow  path. 

— Satajagraha  in  South  Africa  :  Page  214. 

<$>  <$>  <s> 

WE  must  evolve  the  capacity  for  going  on  with  our 
programme  without  the  leaders.  That  means  self-government. 
And  no  government  in  the  world  can  possibly  put  a  whole 
nation  in  prison,  it  must  yield  to  its  demand  or  abdicate  in 
favour  of  a  government  suited  to  that  nation. 

—  Young  India  :  Oct.  27,  1920. 

Self-purification 

HAVING  travelled  in  Ceylon  and  now  fairly  long 
enough  in  Burma  I  feel  that  we  in  India  have  perhaps  more 
fully,  though  by  no  means  as  fully  as  possible,  interpreted 


SELF-REALIZATION  509 

the  message  of  the  Buddha  then  you  have  done.  We  have 
it  in  our  Shastras  that  whnever  things  go  wrong,  good 
people  and  sages  go  in  for  tapasya  otherwise  known  as 
austeries.  Gautama  himself,  when  he  saw  oppression, 
injustice  and  death  around  him,  and  when  he  saw  darkness 
in  front  of  him,  at  the  back  of  him  and  each  side  of  him 
went  out  in  the  wilderness  and  remained  there  fasting  and 
praying  in  searcih  of  light.  And  if  such  penance  was 
necessary  for  him  who  was  infinitely  greate  than  all  of 
us  put  together,  how  much  more  necessary  is  it  for  us,  no 
matter  whether  we  are  dressed  in  yellow  or  not  ?  My 
friends,  if  you  will  become  torch  bearers  lighting  the  path  of 
a  weary  world  towards  the  goal  of  ahimsa,  there  is  no  other 
way  out  of  it,  save  that  of  self-purification  and  penance. 

—Toung  India  :  April  18,  1929. 
<3>    <S>    <$> 

THIS  gospel  of  self- purification  that  has  been  made  so 
familiar  to  us  during  the  last  ten  years  thanks  to  the  non-co- 
operation movement  was  something  startingly  new  to  this 
friend  and  he  seemed  to  feel  as  if  a  new  star  had  'swum  into 
his  ken/  Gandhiji  continued.  "This  spiritual  weapon  of 
self-purification  intangible  as  it  seems  is  the  most  potent 
means  for  revolutionising  one's  environment  and  for  loosen- 
ing external  shackles.  It  works  subtly  and  invisibly  ;  it  is 
an  intensive  process  and  though  it  might  often  seem  a 
weary  and  long  drawn  out  process,  it  is  the  straightest 
way  to  liberation,  the  surest  and  the  quickest,  and  no 
effort  can  be  too  great  for  it.  What  it  requires  is  faith— an 
unshakable,  mountain-like  faith  that  flinches  from  nothing." 
(M.D.)—rwng  India  :  March  28,  1929. 

Self-realization 

TO  develope  the  spirit  is  to  build  character  and  to  en- 
able one  to  work  towards  a  knowledge  of  God  and  self- 
realization. 

I  am  familiar  with  the  superstition  that  self-realisation 
is  possible  only  in  the  fourth  stage  of  life,  i.e.  sannyasa 


510          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

(renunciation).  But  it  is  a  matter  of  common  knowledge 
that  those  who  defer  preparation  for  this  invaluable 
experience  until  the  last  stage  of  life  attain  not  self-realiza- 
tion but  old  age  amounting  to  a  second  and  pitiable  child- 
hood, living  as  a  burden  on  this  earth. 

— My  Experiments  with  Truth  :  Page  413, 

Self-respect 

DIGNITY  of  the  soul  and  self-respect  are  interpreted 
differently  by  different  persons.  I  am  aware  that  self- 
respect  is  often  misinterpreted.  The  over-sensitive  man 
may  see  disrespect  or  hurt  in  almost  everything.  Such 
a  man  does  not  really  understand  what  self-respect  is. 
That  has  been  my  experience  in  many  cases.  But  no 
harm  accrues  even  if  a  non-violent  man  holds  mistaken* 
notions  of  self-respect.  He  can  die  cheerfully  for  the 
sake  of  what  he  believes  to  be  his  dignity  and  self- 
respect.  Only  he  has  no  right  to  injure  or  kill  the 
supposed  wrong-doer.  — Harijan  :  Aug.  18,  1940.- 

Separate  Electorates 

SEPARATE  electorates  to  the  untouchables  will1 
assure  them  bondage  in  perpetuity.  The  Musalmans 
will  never  cease  to  be  Musalmans  by  having  separate 
electorates.  Do -you  want  the  untouchables  to  remain 
*  untouchables1  for  ever  ?  Well,  the  separate  elctorates 
would  perpetuate  the  stigma.  What  is  needed  is  destruc- 
tion of  untouchability,  and  when  you  have  done  it,  the 
bar  sinister  which  has  been  imposed  by  an  insolent 
'superior'  class  upon  an  'inferior'  class  will  be  destroyed. 
When  you  have  destroyed  the  bar  sinister,  to  whom 
will  you  give  the  separate  electorates  ?  Look  at  the  history 
of  Europe.  Have  you  got  separate  electorates  for  the  work- 
ing classes  or  women  ?  With  adult  franchise,  you  give 
the  untouchables  complete  security.  Even  the  orthodox. 
Hindus  would  have  to  approach  them  for  votes. 

— Tounz  India  :  Nov.  12,   1931, 


SILENCE  511 

SEPARATE  electorates  have  resulted  in  the  separa- 
tion of  hearts.  They  presupposed  mutual  distrust  and 
conflict  of  interests.  They  have  tended  to  perpetuate 
differences  and  deepen  the  distrust. — Harijan  :  Jan.  25,  1942, 

Service 

SERVICE  which  is  rendered  without  joy  helps 
neither  the  servant  nor  the  served.  But  all  other 
pleasures  and  possessions  pale  into  nothingness  before 
service  which  is  rendered  in  a  spirit  of  joy. 

— My  Experiments  with  Truth  :  Page  215* 

Service  is  no  mushroom  growth.  It  presupposes  the  will1 
first,  and  then  experience. 

— My  Experiments  with  Truth  :  Page  274, 

THAT  service  is  the  noblest  which  is  rendered  for  its 
own  sake.  —Young  India  :  Feb.  24,  1925, 

3>    <$>    ^ 

REAL  affection  is  not  shown  through  praise; 
but  through  service.  Self-purification  is  a  preliminary 
process,  an  indispensable  condition  of  real  service. 

—Toting  India  :  March  14,  1929i 

Shraddha  Ceremonies 

PERSONALLY  I  do  not  believe  in  the  Shraddha 
ceremony  as  commonly  understood  among  us  in  India 
and  although  I  remember  having  performed  Shraddha 
at  a  time,  I  have  given  up  the  practice  long  since, 
for,  as  I  wrote  to  a  correspondent  recently  in  reply  to 
a  question  of  his,  I  believe  that  the  only  true  way 
of  celebrating  the  Sharaddha  of  one's  ancestors  is  con- 
stantly to  ponder  over  and  translate  into  daily  life 
their  good  qualities.  •  —Toung  India  :  Sept.  20,  1928; 

Silence 

I  MUST  say  that,  beyond  occasionally  exposing  me 
to  laughter,  my  constitutional  shyness  has  been  no  dis- 


512          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

advantage  whatever.  In  fact  I  can  say  that,  on  the 
contrary,  it  has  been  all  to  my  advantage.  My  hesitancy 
in  speech,  which  was  once  an  annoyance,  is  now  a 
pleasure.  Its  greatest  benefit  has  been  that  it  has  taught  me 
the  economy  of  words.  I  have  naturally  formed  the 
habit  of  restraining  my  thoughts.  And  I  can  now 
give  myself  the  certificate  that  a  thoughtless  word  hard  - 
ly  ever  escapes  my  tongue  or  pen.  I  do  not  recollect 
ever  having  had  to  regret  anything  in  my  speech  or 
writing.  I  have  thus  been  spared  many  a  mishap  and 
waste  of  time.  Experience  has  taught  me  that  silence 
is  part  of  the  spiritual  discipline  of  a  votary  of  truth. 
Proneness  to  exaggerate,  to  suppress  or  modify  the  truth 
wittingly,  or  unwittingly  is  a  natural  weakness  of  man  and 
silence  is  necessary  in  order  to  surmount  it.  A  man  of  few 
words  will  really  be  thoughtless  in  his  speech,  he  will 
measure  every  word.  We  find  so  many  people  impatient  to 
talk.  There  is  no  chairman  of  a  meeting  who  is  not  pestered 
with  notes  for  permission  to  speak.  And  whenever  the 
permission  is  given  the  speaker  generally  exceeds  the 
time-limit,  asks  for  more  time,  and  keeps  on  talking 
without  permission.  All  this  talking  can  hardly  be  said 
to  be  of  any  benefit  to  the  world.  It  is  so  much 
waste  of  time.  My  shyness  has  been  in  reality  my 
shield  and  buckler.  It  has  allowed  me  to  grow.  It 
has  helped  me  in  my  discernment  of  truth. 

—  My  Experiments  with  Truth  :  Page  84. 

IT  has  often  occurred  to  me  that  a  seeker  after 
truth  has  to  be  silent.  1  know  the  wonderful  efficacy 
of  silence.  I  visited  a  monastery  Trappist  in  South 
Africa.  A  beautiful  place  it  was.  Most  of  the  inmates 
of  the  place  were  under  a  vow  of  silence.  I  enquired 
of  the  fatfier  the  motive  of  it  and  he  said  that  "the  motive 
is  apparent.  We  are  frail  human  beings.  We  do  not 
know  very  often  what  we  say.  If  we  Want  to  listen 
to  the  still  small  voice  that  is  always  speaking  within 


SILENCE  513 

us,  it  will  not  be  heard  if  we  continually  speak.77  I 
understood  that  precious  lesson.  I  know  the  secret  of 
silence.  — Young  India  :  Aug.  6,  1925. 

<$>    <$>    <3> 

THERE  are  occasions  when  silence  is  wisdom. 

—Toung  India  :  Oct.  17,  1929. 

1  BELIEVE  that  it  often  becomes  the  duty  of 
every  public  man  to  be  silent  even  at  the  risk  of 
incurring  unpopularity  and  even  a  much  worse  penalty 
as  it  undoubtedly  becomes  his  duty  to  speak  out  his 
rnind  when  the  occasion  requires  it,  though  it  may  be 
at  the  cost  of  his  life.  —Toung  India  :  Oct.  17,  1929. 

<$><*><$> 

AS  I  do  nothing  except  with  an  ultimate  spiritual 
end  in  view,  this  silence  obviously  carried  with  it 
its  spiritual  advantage.  Silence  is  essential  for  one 
whose  life  is  an  incessant  search  for  truth  But 
such  silence  is  a  much  more  serious  affair  than  this. 
Even  writing  as  a  means  of  communication  must  stop. 
Truth  would  speak,  if  it  must,  in  every  act  and  not 
through  the  written  word.  —Harijan  :  April  27,  1935. 

<S>    <3>    <$> 

THERE  is  another  merit  in  silence  which  these 
bur  weeks  demonstrated  to  me  unmistakably.  I  am 
prone  to  anger  like  anyone  else,  but  I  can  successfully 
juppress  it.  Well  I  found  out  that  silence  helps  one  to 
;uppress  one's  anger  as  perhaps  nothing  else  does.  How 
s  one  to  give  vent  to  one's  wrath  if  one  is  silent  ? 
Nfot  by  eyes.  Surely  not  be  physical  violence,  when 
>ne  is  pledged  to  non-violence.  Not  by  writing,  for 
;he  wrath  would  disappear  in  the  very  process  of 
writing. 

There  are  number  of  other  uses  of  silence  that  1 
:ould  mention,  but  these  should  suffice.  Let  me  tell 


514         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

you  that  I  was  not  looking  forward  to  the  termination 
of  this  silence.  I  was  dreading  it,  and  I  should  often 
like  to  go  into  silence,  if  not  quite  for  a  month  or  months,  at 
least  for  brief  periods. 

No  wonder  Carlyle  wrote  :  Speech  is  silvery,  but  silenee 
is  golden.  — Harijan  :  April  17,  1935. 

<3>    ^    <S> 

WELL  I  should  like  to  leave  you  a  message  of  silence* 
Speech  without  the  backing  of  experience  based  on  action 
will  lack  chastity  and  refinement.  I  would  ask  you  to 
curb  your  tongues  and  make  use  of  your  hands  and 
feet  for  the  service  of  the  community.  After  you  have 
done  so  for  a  few  years,  you  will  speak  the  speech 
that  counts  and  never  fails.  — Harijan  :  May  4,  1935. 

<$><$><$> 

Q.  THE  greatest  thing  you  have  ever  done  is  the  ob- 
servance of  your  Monday  silence.  You  illustrate  thereby  the 
storing  up  and  releasing  of  power  when  needed.  What  place 
has  it  continued  to  have  in  the  preparation  of  your  spiritual 
tasks  ? 

A.  It  is  not  the  greatest  thing  I  have  done,  but 
it  certainly  means  a  great  thing  to  me.  I  am  now 
taking  silence  almost  every  day.  If  I  could  impose 
on  myself  silence  for  more  days  in  the  week  than 
one  I  should  love  it.  In  Yervada  Jail  I  once 
observed  15  days'  silence.  I  was  in  the  seventh  heaven 
during  that  period.  But  this  silence  is  now  being  utilized 
to  get  through  arrears  of  work.  It  is  a  superficial 
advantage  after  all.  The  real  silence  should  not  be 
interrupted  even  by  writing  notes  to  others  and  carrying 
on  conversation  through  them.  The  notes  interrupt  the 
sacredness  of  the  silence  when  you  should  listen  to  the 
music  of  the  spheres.  That  is  why  I  often  say  that 

silence  is  a  fraud  ^Hmj®n  :  Dec.  29,   1936. 


SILENCE  515 

IT  has  now  become  both  a  physical  and  spiritual  neces- 
sity for  me.  Originally  it  was  taken  to  relieve  the  sense  of 
frustration.  Then  I  wanted  time  for  writing.  After,  how- 
ever, I  had  practised  it  for  some  time  I  saw  the  spiritual 
value  of  it.  It  suddenly  flashed  across  my  mind  that  that 
was  the  time  when  I  could  best  hold  communion  with  God. 
And  now  I  feel  as  though  I  was  naturally  built  for  silence. 
Of  course  I  may  tell  you  that  from  my  childhood  I  have 
been  noted  for  my  silence.  I  was  silent  at  school,  and  in 
my  London  days  I  was  taken  for  a  silent  drone  by  friends. 

—Harijan  :  Dec,  10,  1938. 

<S>    <$>    <S> 

1.  THERE  is   a   perceptible  drop   in   blood   pressure 
when  I    observe   silence.      Medical   friends   have   therefore 
advised  me  to  take  as  much  silence  as  I  can. 

2.  There   is   no   doubt     whatsoever   that  after  every 
silence  I  feel  recuperated  and  have  greater  energy  for   work. 
The  output  of  work  during   silence   is   much   greater  than 
when  I  am  not  silent. 

3.  The  mind  enjoys  a  peace   during   silence   which    it 
does  not  without  it.     That  is  to  say,  the  decision  to  be  silent 
itself  produces  a  soothing  effect  on  me.     It  lifts  a  burden  off 
my  mind.     My  experience  tells  me  that  silence  soothes  the 
nerves  in  a  manner  no  drugs  can.     With  me  it  also  induces 
sleep. 

Caution  :  I  have  noticed  in  the  jails  that  prisoners  go 
moody  when,  deprived  of  company,  they  have  to  observe  en- 
forced silence.  To  produce  the  effect  I  have  said  that 
silence  has  to  be  liked.  No  one,  therefore,  need  be  silent 
out  of  love  of  imitation  or  merely  for  the  knowledge  that  it 
produces  on  me  the  effect  described  by  me.  The  best  thing 
would  be  to  take  silence  on  medical  advice.  Needless  to  say 
that  here  I  do  not  refer  to  the  spiritual  need  and  effects  of 
silence.  —Harijan :  Oct;  28, 1939* 


516        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

WHEN  Shri  Sarat  Chandra  B(3se  was  here  the  other  day 
t  asked  him  if  he  had  been  to  Segaon.  He  said  that  he  had 
been  and  had  a  long  talk  with  Gandhiji,  but  all  that  Gandhiji 
had  said  to  him  was  contained  on  a  slip  of  the  newspaper  : 
"Give  my  love  to  all  the  members  of  the  family.'7  Then 
he  proceeded.  "  I  asked  Mahatmaji  if  he  was  going 
to  continue  his  silence  in  Delhi.  The  reply  was  a  nod  of 
assent.  I  then  asked  him  if  he  would  continue  it  in  the 
Frontier  Province  also.  Again  he  noded  assent.  Amazing, 
is  it  not," 

I  do  not  know  how  all  this  is  going  to  be,  but  I  am  sure 
his  keenest  desire  is  to  continue  the  silence  indefinitely. 
Several  times,  during  this  period  of  silence  he  has  written  : 
f£What  a  mercy  I  am  silent  !"  There  is  no  doubt  it  has  given 
him  immeasurable  joy  and  freedom  from  what  may  have 
been  many  an  unhappy  moment  of  angry  outburst. 

When  one  comes  to  think  of  it  one  cannot  help  feeling 
that  nearly  half  of  the  misery  of  the  world  would  disappear 
if  we  fretting  mortals  knew  the  virtue  of  silence.  Befory 
modern  civilisation  came  upon  us,  at  least  six  to  eight  hours 
of  silence  out  of  twenty-four  were  vouchsafed  to  us.  Modern 
civilisation  has  taught  us  to  convert  night  into  day  and 
golden  silence  into  brazen  din  and  noise.  What  a  great 
thing  it  would  be  If  we  in  our  busy  lives  could  retire  into 
ourselves  each  day  for  at  least  a  couple  of  hours  and  prepare 
our  minds  to  listen  into  the  voice  of  the  Great  Silence.  The 
Divine  Radio  is  always  singing  if  we  could  only  make  our- 
selves ready  to  listen  to  It,  but  it  is  impossible  to  listen  in 
without  silence.  St  Teresa  has  used  a  charming  image  to 
sum  up  the  sweet  result  of  silence  : 

"You  will  at  once  feel  your  senses  gather  themselves  to- 
gether ;  they  seem  like  bee?  which  return  to  the  hive  and  there 
ahut  themselves  up  to  work  at  the  making  of  honey  :  and  this  will 
take  place  without  effort  or  care  on  your  part.  God  thus  rewards 
the  violence  which  your  soul  has  been  doing  to  itself  ;  and  gives 
to  it  such  a  domination  over  the  senses  that  a  sign  is  enough 


SIN  517 

when  it  desires  to  recollect  itself,  for  them  to  obey  and  so 
gather  themselves  together.  At  the  first  call  of  the  will  they 
come  back  more  and  more  quickly.  At  last  afcer  many  and 
many  exercises  of  this  kind  God  disposes  them  to  a  state  of 
absolute  repose  and  of  perfect  contemplation." 

—  Harijan  :  Dec.  12,  1937. 

Sin 

MAN  and  his  deed  are  two  distinct  things.  Whereas  a 
good  deed  should  call  forth  approbation  and  a  wicked  deed 
disapprobation,  the  doer  of  the  deed,  whether  good  or 
wicked  always  deserves  respect  or  pity  as  the  case  may  be. 
4  Hate  the  siri  and  not  the  sinner  '  is  a  precept  which 
though  easy  enough  to  understand  is  rarely  practised,  and 
that  is  why  the  poison  of  hatred  spreads  in  the  world. 

This  ahirnsa  is  the  basis  of  the  search  lor  truth.  I  am 
realizing  every  day  that  the  search  is  vain  unless  it  is 
founded  on  ahimsa  as  the  basis.  It  is  quite  proper  to  resist 
and  attack  a  system,  but  to  resist  and  attack  its  author  is 
tantamount  to  resisting  and  attacking  oneseli.  For  we  are 
all  tarred  with  the  same  brush,  and  are  children  of  one  and 
the  same  Creator,  and  as  such  the  divine  powers  within  us 
are  infinite.  To  slight  a  human  being  is  to  slight  those 
divine  powers.  —My  Experiments  with  Truth  :  Page  327% 

<S>    <3>    <S> 

A  HIDDEN  sin  is  like  poison  corrupting  the  whole 
body.  The  sooner  the  poison  is  thrown  off,  the  better  it  is  for 
society.  And  just  as  a  bit  of  arsenic  mixed  with  milk 
renders  it  none  the-less  vitiating  for  the  addition  of  pure 
milk,  so  also  do  good  deeds  in  a  society  tail  to  cover  unex- 
piated  sins  — Young  India  :  Jan.  12,  1927. 

<$>  <$>  <$> 

*RE  thou  certain,  none  can  perrish,  trusting  Me,'  says 
the  Lord,  but  let  it  not  be  understood  to  mean  that  our  sinfc 
will  be  washed  away  by  merely  trusting  Him  without  any 


518       TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

striving.  Only  he  who  struggles  hard  against  the  allure- 
ments of  sense  objects,  and  turns  in  tears  and  grief  to  the 
Lori,  will  be  comforted,  —Toung  India  :  Jan.  12,  1928. 

Slavery 

I  WISH  you  could  realize  that  the  destiny  of  our 
beloved  land  lies  not  in  us,  the  parents,  but  in  our  children. 
Shall  we  not  free  them  from  the  curse  of  slavery  which  has 
made  us  crawl  on  our  bellies  ?  Being  weak,  we  may  not 
have  the  strength  or  the  will  even  to  throw  off  the  yoke. 
But  shall  we  not  have  the  wisdom  not  to  leave  the  cursed 
inheritence  to  our  children  ?  —Toung  India  :  Nov.  3,  1920. 

^N    ^s    ^N 

THE  slave  owner  is  always  more  hurt  than  the  slave. 

— Young  India  :  Nov.  10,  1930. 

OUR  slavery  is  complete  when  we  begin  to  hug  it. 

—Toung  India  :  Nov.  24,  1920. 

RATHER  die  begging  than  live  in  bondage. 

—  Toung  India  :  April  13,  1921. 

FROM  childhood  up  a  slave-mentality  is  sedulously 
cultivated  in  us.*  And  if  we  cannot  think  freely,  how  can  we 
act  freely  ?  We  are  alike  slaves  of  the  caste,  of  a  foreign 
education,  and  of  an  alien  government.  Every  one  of  the 
facilities  provided  us  have  become  our  fetters. 

—Young  India  :  Feb.  4,  1926. 

A  SLAVE  is  a  slave  because  he  consents  to  slavery. 

—Toung  India  :  Feb.  4,  1926- 

GOLDEN  fetters  are  no  less  galling  to  a  self-rerpecting 
man  than  iron  ones  ?  The  sting  lies  in  the  fetters,  not  in  the 
metal.  —Young,  India  :  June  6,  1929* 


SLAVERY  519 

IT  is  only  because  we  have  created  a  vicious  atmosphere 
of  impotence  round  ourselves  that  we  consider  ourselves  to 
be  helpless  even  for  the  simplest  possible  things. 

—Young  India  :  June  20,  1929. 

VOTARY  as  I  am  of  non-violence,  if  I  was  given  a 
choice  between  being  a  helpless  witness  to  chaos  and  per- 
petual slavery,  I  should  unhesitatingly  say  that  I  would  far 
rather  be  witness  to  chaos  in  India,  I  would  far  rather  be 
witness  to  Hindus  and  Musalmans  doing  one  another  to 
death  than  that  I  should  daily  witness  our  gilded  slavery.  To 
iny  mind  golden  shackles  are  far  worse  than  iron  ones,  for 
one  easily  feels  the  irksome  and  galling  nature  of  the  latter 
and  is  prone  to  forget  the  former.  If  therefore  India  must 
be  in  chains,  I  would  they  were  of  iron  rather  than  of  gold 
or  other  precious  metal.  —Young  India  :  Jan.  16,  1930. 

FOKlEIGN  domination  is  undoubtedly  responsible  for 
many  evils,  but  we  need  to  remember  that  many  pre-existing 
evils  were  also  a  potent  cause  of  that  domination.  Therefore 
the  mere  throwing  off  of  the  foreign  yoke,  whilst  it  is  as  es- 
sential as  life  breath,  will  never  be  the  cure  all. 

—Young  India  :  Feb.  27,  1930. 

JUST  as  a  man  would  not  cherish  the  thought  of  living 
in  a  body  other  than  his  own,  so  do  nations  not  like  to  live 
under  other  nations  however  noble  and  great  the  latter  may 
be  — Harijan  :  March  16,  1942. 

HOW  can  one  be  compelled  to  accept  slavery  ?  I 
simply  refuse  to  do  the  master's  bidding.  He  may  torture 
me,  break  my  bones  to  atoms,  and  even  kill  me.  He  will 
then  have  my  dead  body,  not  my  obedience.  Ultimately, 
therefore,  it  is  I  who  am  the  victor  and  not  he,  for  he  has 
failed  in  getting  me  to  do  what  he  wanted  done. 

—Harijan ;  June  7,  1942 


520        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA    GANDHI 


Smoking 

EVER  since  I  have  grown  up,  I  have  never  desired  to 
smoke  and  haye  always  regarded  the  habit  of  smoking-  as 
barbarou?,  dirty  and  harmful.  I  have  never  understood  why 
there  is  such  a  rage  for  smoking  throughout  the  world.  I 
cannot  bear  to  travel  in  a  compartment  full  of  people 
smoking.  I  become  choked. 

— My  Experiments  with  Truth  :  Page  213 

I  HAVE  a  horror  of  smoking  as  I  have  of  wines, 
Smoking  I  consider  to  be  a  vice.  It  deadens  one's  conscience 
and  is  often  worse  than  drink,  in  that  it  acts  imperceptibly. 
It  is  a  habit  which  is  difficult  to  get  rid  of  when  once  it  seizes 
hold  of  a  person.  It  is  an  expensive  vice.  It  fouls  the  breath, 
discolours  the  teeth  and  some  time  even  causes  cancer.  It  is 
an  unclean  habit.  —Young  India  :  Jan.  13,  1921, 

<$><§>     <§> 

SMOKING  is  in  a  way  a  greater  curse  than  drink,  in- 
as  much  as  the  victim  does  not  realise  its  evil  in  time.  It  is 
not  regarded  as  a  sign  of  barbarism,  it  is  even  acclaimed  by 
civilised  people.  I  can  only  say,  let  those  who  can,  give  it 
up  and  set  the  example.  —  Young  India  :  Feb.  4,  1926 

<$><$>  <s> 

I  SHALL  now  proceed  to  say  something  about  cigarette 
smoking  and  coffee  and  tea  drinking.  They  are  not  necessities 
of  life.  There  are  some  who  manage  to  take  ten  cups  ol 
coffee  a  day.  Is  it  necessary  for  their  healthy  development 
and  for  keeping  them  awake  for  the  performance  of  their 
duties  ?  If  it  is  necessary  to  take  coffee  or  tea  to  keep  them 
awake,  let  them  not  drink  coffee  or  tea  but  go  to  sleep.  We 
must  not  become  slaves  to  these  things.  But  the  majority 
of  the  people  who  drink  coffee  or  tea  are  slaves  to  them 
Cigars  and  cigarettes,  whether  foreign  or  indigenous,  must  be 
avoided.  Cigarette  smoking  is  like  an  opiate  and  the  cigars 
that  you  smoke  have  a  touch  of  opium  about  them.  They 
get  to  yotir  herves  and  you  cannot  leave  them  afterwards, 


SMOKING  521 

How  can  you  foul  your  mouth  by  converting  it  into  a 
chimney  ?  If  you  give  up  these  habits  of  smoking  cigars 
and  cigarettes  and  drinking  coffee,  and  tea  you  will  find  out 
for  yourselves  how  much  you  are  able  to  save.  A  drunkard 
in  Tolstoy's  story  is  hesitating  to  execute  his  design  of  murder 
so  long  as  he  has  not  smoked  his  cigar.  But  he  puffs  it,  and 
then  gets  up  smiling  and  saying,  "What  a  coward  ami/3 
takes  the  dagger  and  does  the  deed.  Tolstoy  spoke  from 
experience.  ,He  has  written  nothing  without  having  had 
personal  experience  of  it.  And  he  is  much  more  against 
cigars  and  cigarettes  than  against  drink.  But  do  not  make 
the  mistake  that  between  drink  and  tobacco,  drink  is  a  lesser 
evil.  No.  If  cigarettes  is  Beelzebub,  then  drink  is  Satan. 

—Young  India  :  Sept.  15,  1927. 
<£    <$><$> 

IF  every  smoker  stopped  the  dirty  habit,  refused  to  make 
of  his  mouth  a  chimney,  to  foul  his  breath,  damage  his 
teeth  and  dull  his  sense  of  delicate  discrimination  and  make 
a  present  of  his  savings  to  some  national  cause,  he  would 
benefit  both  himself  and  the  nation. 

—Toung  India  :  July  5,  1929. 

Social  Boycott 

SOCIAL  Boycott  is  an  age-old  institution.  It  is  coeval 
with  caste.  It  is  the  one  terrible  sanction  exercised  with 
great  effect.  It  is  based  upon  the  notion  that  a  community 
is  not  bound  to  extend  its  hospitality  or  service  to  an  ex- 
communicate. It  answered  when  every  village  was  a  self- 
contained  unit,  and  the  occasions  of  recalcitrancy  were  rarfc. 
But  when  opinion  is  divided,  as  it  is  to-day,  on  the  merits  of 
Non-co-operation,  when  its  new  application  is  having  d\  trial, 
a  summary  use  of  social  boycott  in  order  to  bend  a  minority 
to  the  will  of  the  majority  is  a  species  of  unpardonable 
violence.  If  persisted  in,  such  boycott  is  bound  to  destroy 
the  movement.  Social  boycott  is  applicable  and  effective 
when  it  is  not  felt  as  a  punishment  and  accepted  by  tfie 


522         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

object  of  boycott  as  a  measure  of  discipline.  Moreover, 
social  boycott  to  be  admissible  in  a  campaign  of  Non- 
violence must  never  savour  of  inhumanity.  It  must  be  civi- 
lised. It  must  cause  pain  to  the  party  using  it,  if  it  causes 
inconvenience  to  its  object,  Thus,  depriving  a  man  of  the 
services  of  a  medical  man,  as  is  reported  to  have  been  done 
in  Jhansi,  is  an  act  of  inhumanity  tantamount  in  the  moral 
code  to  an  attempt  to  murder.  I  see  no  difference  in 
murdering  a  man  and  withdrawing  medical  aid  from  a  man 
who  is  on  the  point  of  dying.  Even  the  laws  of  war,  I 
apprehend,  require  the  giving  of  medical  relief  to  the  enemy 
in  need  of  it.  —Young  India  :  Feb.  16,  1921. 

WE  must  not  resort  to  social  boycott  of  our  opponents. 
It  amounts  to  coercion.  Claiming  the  right  of  free  opinion 
and  free  action  as  we  do,  we  must  extend  the  same  to  others. 
The  rule  of  majority,  when  it  becomes  coercive,  is  as  intole- 
rable as  that  of  a  bureaucratic  minority.  We  must  patiently 
try  to  bring  round  the  minority  to  our  view  by  gentle  per* 
suasion  and  arguments.  — Young  India  :  Jan.  26,  1922. 

<§><$><§> 

OSTRACISM  is  violent  or  peaceful  according  to 
the  manner  in  which  it  is  practised.  A  congregation 
may  well  refuse  to  recite  prayers  after  a  priest  who 
prizes  his  title  above  his  honour.  But  the  ostracism 
will  become  violent  if  the  individual  life  of  a  person 
is  made  unbearable  by  insults,  innuendoes  or  abuse. 
The  real  danger  of  violence  lies  in  the  people  resorting 
to  Non-co-operation,  becoming  impatient  and  revengeful. 

— Young  India  :  April  28,  1920. 

Social  Reform 

THE  sooner  it  is  recognised  that  many  of  our  social 
evils  impede  our  march  towards  Swaraj,  the  greater  will  be 
our  progress  towards  our  cherished  goal.  To  postpone  social 
reform,  till  after  the  attainment  of  Swaraj  >  is  not  to  know  the 
meaning  of  Swaraj.  —Young  India  :  Jijne  28,  1929, 


SOCIAL  WORK  523 

THERE  is,  I  know,  a  section  who  says  that  political 
freedofa  must  be  won  first  and  social  reform  would  follow 
later.  It  is  a  wrong  idea^  and  certainly  inconsistent  with 
one  who  would  win  Swarw  by  non- violent  means 

—Harijan  :  Feb.  1,  1942. 

Social  Work 

SOCIAL  service  to  be  effective  has  to  be  rendered 
without  noise.  It  is  best  performed  when  the  left  hand 
knoweth  not  what  the  right  is  doing. 

—Speeches  and  writings  of  Mahatma  Gandhi :  Pages  397. 

INDIA  whose  chief  disease  is  her  political  servitude 
recognises  only  those  who  are  fighting  publicly  to  remove  it 
by  giving  battle  to  a  bureaucracy  that  has  protected  itself 
with  a  treble  line  of  entrenchment— army  and  navy,  money 
and  diplomacy.  She  naturally  does  not  know  her  self-less 
and  self-effacing  workers  in  other  walks  of  life,  no  less  useful 
than  the  purely  political.  —  Young  India :  Dec.  12,  1920. 

I  MUST  say  that  the  service  of  the  so-called  "untouchables* 
does  not  rank  with  me  as  in  any  way  subordinate  to  any 
kind  of  political  work.  Just  a  moment  ago  I  met  two  mis- 
sionary friends,  who  drew  the  same  distinction  and  therefore 
came  in  for  some  gentle  rebuke  from  me.  I  suggested  to  them 
that  my  work  of  social  reform  was  in  no  way  less  than  or 
subordinate  to  political  work.  The  fact  is,  that  when  I  saw 
that  to  a  certain  extent  my  social  work  would  be  impossible 
without  the  help  of  political  work,  I  took  to  the  latter  and 
only  to  the  extent  that  it  helped  the  former.  I  must  there- 
fore confess  that  work  of  social  reform  or  self-purification  of 
this  nature  is  a  hundred  times  dearer  to  me  than  what  is 
called  purely  political  work.  —  Young  India  :  Aug.  6,  193L 


524        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA    GANDHI 

Speeches 

IT   is  contended    that  it  is  courage,    it   is   undoubtedly 
wisdom,  to  restrain  the  tongue  whilst  one  is    unprepared    for 
action.     Mere  brave  speech    without    action   is   lettimg   off 
useless  steam.     Speech  is  necessary  for  those  who  are  dumb- 
struck.    Restraint  is  necessary  for  the  garrulous. 

—Harijan :  Sep.  30,  1939.. 

<S>    <S>     <$> 

YOLJ  cannot  get  Swaraj  by  mere  speeches,  shows,  pro- 
cessions, etc.  What  is  needed  is  solid,  steady,  constructive 
work,  what  the  youth  craves  for  and  is  fed  on  is  only  the 
former.  —Harijan  :  Jan.  12,  1940^ 

Speed 

SPEED  is  not  the  end  of  life.  Man  sees  more  truly  and 
lives  more  truly  by  walking  to  his  duly. 

—Harijan  :  Sep.  30,  1939.. 

Spirits 

» 

I  NEVER  receive  communications  from  the  spirits  of 
the  dead.  I  have  no  evidence  warranting  a  disbelief  in  the 
possibility  of  such  communications.  But  I  do  not  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 
communications.  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 
weaned  frpm  such  unlawful  attachment.  So  much  for  tht 
harm  done  to  the  spirits. 


SPIRITULISM  525 

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  :  Sept,  12,  1929 

Spiritulism 

WE  often  confuse  spiritual  knowledge  with  spiritual 
attainment.  Spirituality  is  not  a  matter  of  knowing  scrip- 
tures and  engaging  in  philosophical  discussions.  It  is  a  matter 
of  heart  culture,  of  immeasurable  strength.  Fearlessness  is 
the  first  requisite  of  spirituality.  Cowards  can  never  be 
moral.  — Harvan  :  June  22,  1921 

<$>    <$>    <& 

I  DO  not  believe  as  the  friend  seems  to  do  that  an  in- 
dividual may  gain  spiritually  and  those  who  surround  him 
suffer.  I  believe  in  advaita,  I  believe  in  the  essential  unity 
of  man  and  for  that  matter  of  all  that  lives.  Therefore  I 
believe  that  if  one  man  gains  spiritually,  the  whole  world 
gains  with  him  and  if  one  man  falls  the  whole  world  falls 
to  that  extent.  I  do  riot  help  opponents  without  at  the  same 
time  helping  myself  and  my  co-workers. 

—Young  India  :  Dec.  4,  1924. 

<^    <$>    <$> 

JUST  as  this  physical  purification  is  necessary  for  the 
health  of  the  body,  even  so  spiritual  purification  is  necessary 
for  the  health  of  the  soul.  In  fact  the  necessity  for  physical 
cleanliness  is  in  inverse  proportion  to  the  necessity  for  spiri- 
tual cleanliness.  That  is  to  say,  spiritual  cleanliness  means 
automatic  physical  cleanliness.  Have  we  not  heard  that  a 
Yogi's  body  emits  a  frequent  smell  ?  The  'fragrant'  smell 
means  here  the  absence  of  bad  smell. 

—Young  India  :  July,  1925;. 


526        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

BUT  I  am  not  so  stupid  as  to  think  that  I  or  any  single1 
person  can  supply  the  spiritual  needs  of  his  neighbour. 
Spiritual  needs  cannot  be  supplied  through  the  intellect  or 
through  the  stomach  even  as  the  needs  of  the  body  cannot 
be  supplied  through  the  spirit.  One  can  paraphrase  the 
famous  saying  of  Jesus  and  say  "Render  unto  the  body  that 
which  is  its,  and  unto  the  spirit  that  which  is  its.77  And  the 
only  way  I  can  supply  my  neighbour's  spiritual  needs  is  by 
living  the  life  of  the  spirit  without  even  exchanging  a  word 
with  him.  The  life  of  the  spirit  will  translate  itself,  into 
acts  of  love  for  my  neighbour.  —  Harijan  :  June  12,  1937., 


IT  is  my  own  firm  belief  that  the  strength  of  the  soul 
grows  in  proportion  as  you  subdue  the  flesh, 

—  Young  India  :  Oct.  23,  1924. 

<$>    <$>    <$> 

FAR  more  indispensable  than  food  for  the  physical. 
body  is  spiritual  nourishment  for  the  soul.  One  can 
do  without  food  for  a  considerable  time,  but  a  man 
of  the  spirit  cannot  exist  for  a  single  second  without 
spiritual  nourishment.  —-Haiijan  :  April  8,  1939. 

<$>  <s>  <s> 

I  DO  believe  the  most  spiritual  act  is  the  most 
practical  in  the  true  sense  of  the  term. 

—Harijan  :  July  I,  1939^ 

State 

A    GOVERNMENT    is     an    instrument    of    service 
only  in   so  far   as  it   is  based  upon  the  will   and  consent 
of  the  people.     It   is  an   instrument    of  oppression   whem 
it    enforces     submission    at   the    point    of  the    bayonet. 
Oppression    therefore  ceases  when  people    cease    to    fear 

bayonet.  —Young  India  :  Oct.  22,  1919. 


STATE  527 

A  GOVERNMENT  that  is  loyal  to  the  governed 
commands  their  loyalty  as  a  matter  of  course. 

—  Young  India  '  Oct.  27,  1919t 

IN  truth  a  Government  that  is  ideal  governs  the  least. 
It  is  no  self-government  that  leaves  nothing  for  the 
people  to  do.  That  is  pupilage — our  present  state. 
But  if  we  are  to  attain  Swaraj,  a  large  number  of 
us  must  outgrow  enforced  nonage  and  feel  our  adole- 
scence. We  must  govern  ourselves  at  least  where  there 
is  no  deadly  opposition  from  armed  authority.  The 
constructive  programme  is  the  test  of  our  capacity  for  self- 
government.  If  we  impute  all  our  weaknesses  to  the 
present  Government,  we  *hall  never  shed  them. 

—Young  India  :  Aug.  27,  1925 

SUBMISSION  to  the  state  law  is  the  price  a 
citizen  pays  for  his  personal  liberty.  Submission  there- 
fore, to  a  state  wholly  or  largely  unjust  is  an  immoral  barter 
for  liberty.  —Young  India  :  Jan.  13,  1927. 

<^  <$><$> 

PEOPLE  are  the  roots,  the  state  is  the  fruit.  If  the 
roots  are  $weet,  the  fruits  are  bound  to  be  sweet. 

—Young  India  ;  Feb.  2,  1928; 

WHEN,  therefore,  there  is  only  a  caricature  ofi 
responsible  government,  things  can  be  much  worse  than 
under  a  frankly  and  purely  autocratic  government.  The 
latter  not  depending  upon  the  votes  of  any  class  can. 
afford  to  be  impartial  to  all.  The  former  dare  not. 

—Young  India  :  July  8,  1926.. 

A  MAN  is  generous  when  he  does  something  a 
bis  own  expense.  Governments  can  do  nothing  at  thtfc 


.528          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

own  expense.  But  they  always  succeed  in  making 
people  believe  that  they  are  generous  even  when  they 
are  barely  or  less  than  just.  Justice  is  like  a  debt 
which  has  to  be  discharged.  — Harijan  :  Oct.  12,  1937. 

<3>    <S>    <S> 

I  AM  no  believer  in  the  doctrine  that  the  same 
power  can  at  the  same  time  trust  and  distrust,  grant 
(liberty  and  repress  it.  — Harijan  :  Jan.  12,  1939 

Strength 

STRENGTH  does  not  come  from  physical  capacity. 
tit  comes  from  an  indomitable  will. 

—  Toung  India  :  Aug.  11,   1920. 

Strikes 

WHILST  I  have  pleaded  for  the  removal  of  restrictions 
on  the  speech  and  movements  of  students,  I  am  not 
able  to  support  political  strikes  or  demonstrations. 
Students  should  have  the  greatest  freedom  of  expression 
and  of  opinion.  They  may  openly  sympathise  with  any 
political  party  they  like.  But,  in  my  opinion,  they 
may  not  have  freedom  of  action  whilst  they  are  study- 
ing. A  student  cannot  be  an  active  politican  and  pursue  his 
studies  at  the  same  time.  It  is  difficult  to  draw  hard 
and  fast  lines  at  the  time  of  big  national  upheavals 
Then,  they  do  not  strike  or,  if  the  word  'strike7  can 
be  used  in  such  circumstances,  it  is  a  wholesale  strike; 
it  is  a  suspension  of  studies.  Thus,  what  may  appear 
to  be  an  exception  is  not  one  in  reality. 

—  Toting  India  :  Oct.  2,  1927. 

I  THINK  I  have  written  often  enough  against 
strikes  by  students  and  pupils  except  on  the  rarest  of 
occasions.  I  hold  it  to  be  quite  wrong  on  the  part 
of  students  and  pupils  to  take  part  in  political  de- 
wipnstrations  and  party  politics.  Sach.  ferment  inter- 


STUDENTS  529 

feres   with  serious   study   and   unfits     students     for     solid 
work  as  future  citizens.  — Harijan  :  June  15,  1938. 

^    <£    <S> 

IN  a  country  groaning  as  India  is  under  foreign 
rule,  it  is  impossible  to  prevent  students  from  taking 
part  in  movements  for  national  freedom.  All  that  can 
be  done  is  to  regulate  their  enthusiasm,  so  as  not  to 
interfere  with  their  studies.  They  may  not  become 
partisans,  taking  side  with  warring  parties.  But  they 
have  a  right  to  be  left  free  to  hold,  and  actively  to 
advocate,  what  political  opinion  they  choose.  The 
functions  of  educational  institutions  is  to  impart  education 
to  the  boys  and  girls  who  choose  to  join  them,  and 
there  through  to  help  to  mould  their  character,  never 
to  interfere  with  their  political  or  other  non-moral 
activities  outside  the  school-room. 

—Young  India  :  Jan.  24,  1929. 

Students 

I  am  an  autumnal  leaf  on  the  tree  that  might 
fall  off  at  any  moment;  the  tdbchers  are  the  young 
sprouts  that  would  last  longer,  but  fall  off  at  their 
proper  time;  but  you,  the  students,  are  the  branches 
that  would  put  forth  new  leaves  to  replace  the  old 
ones.  — Speeches  and  Writings  of  Mahatma  Gandhi  :  Page  510. 

<$>  <s>  <s> 

HOW  can  we  understand  the  duty  of  students  to- 
day ?  We  have  fallen  so  much  from  the  ideal.  The 
parents  take  the  lead  in  giving  the  wrong  direction. 
They  feel  that  their  children  should  be  educated  only 
in  order  that  they  may  earn  wealth  and  position. 
Education  and  knowledge  are  thus  being  prostituted  and 
we  look  in  vain  for  the  peace,  innocence  and  bliss 
that  the  life  of  student  ought  to  be.  Our  students 
are  weighed  down  with  cares  arid  worries  when  they 
should  really  be  careful  for  nothing.  They  have  simply 
to  receive  and  to  assimilate.  They  should  know  only 


530         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

to  discriminate  between  what  should  be  received  and 
what  rejected.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  teacher 
to  teach  his  pupils  discrimination.  If  we  go  on 
taking  in  indiscriminately,  we  would  be  no  bet- 
ter than  machines.  We  are  thinking,  knowing  beings 
and  we  must  in  this  period  distinguish  truth  from  un- 
truth, sweet  from  bitter  language,  clean  from  uuclean  things, 
and  so  on  But  the  student's  path  to-day  is  strewn 
with  more  difficulties  than  the  one  of  distinguishing 
good  from  bad  things.  He  has  to  fight  the  hostile  atmosphere 
around  him.  Instead  of  the  sacred  surroundings  of  a 
Rishi  Guru's  Ashrama  and  his  paternal  care,  he  has  the 
atmosphere  of  broken-down  home  and  the  artificial 
surroundings  created  by  the  modern  systems  of  education. 
The  Rishis  taught  their  pupils  without  books.  They  only 
gave  them  few  Mantras,  which  the  pupils  treasured  in, 
their  memories  and  translated  in  practical  life.  The 
present-day  student  has  to  live  in  the  midst  of  heap* 
of  books,  sufficient  to  choke  him. 

— Young  India  :  Jan.  29,   1925u 

THE  base  imitation  of  the  West,  the  ability  to 
speak  and  write  correct  and  polished  English,  will) 
not  add  one  brick  to  the  Temple  of  Freedom.  The 
student  world,  which  is  receiving  an  education  far  too 
expensive  for  starving  India,  and  an  education  which 
only  a  miscroscopic  minority  can  ever  hope  to  receive- 
is  expected  to  qualify  itself  for  it  by  giving  its  life- 
blood  to  the  nation.  Students  must  become  pioneer* 
in  conservative  reform,  conserving  all  that  is  good' 
in  the  nation  and  fearlessly  ridding  society  of  the  in- 
numerable abuses  that  have  crept  into  it. 

—Young  India  :  June  9,  1927L 

Students  and  Politics 

ALL    the  world  over  students  arc    playing:    a.  most 


STUDENTS  AND  POLITICS  531 

important  and  effective  part  in  shaping  and  strengthening 
national  movements.  It  would  be  monstrous  if  the  students 
of  lawflia  did  less.  —Toung  India  :  Feb.  9, 1928. 

THE  correspondent  has  written  in  the  hope  of  my  con- 
demning the  participation  by  the  student  world  in  active 
political  work.  But  I  am  sorry  to  have  to  disappoint  him. 
He  should  have  known  that  in  1920-21  I  had  not  an  incon- 
siderable share  in  drawing  students  out  of  their  schools  and 
colleges  and  inducing  them  to  undertake  political  duty 
:arrying  with  it  the  risk  of  imprisonment.  I  think  it  is  their 
:lear  duty  to  take  a  leading  part  in  the  political  movement 
of  their  country.  They  are  doing  so  all  the  world  over. 
In  India  where  political  consciousness  has  till  recently  been 
unfortunately  confined  in  a  large  measure  to  the  English 
educated  class,  their  duty  is,  indeed,  greater.  In  China  and 
Egypt  it  was  the  students  who  have  made  the  national 
movement  possible.  They  connot  do  less  in  India. 

—Toung  India  :  March  29, 1928. 
<$>    <$><$> 

THE  students  should  know  that  the  cultivation  of 
nationalism  is  not  a  crime  but  a  virtue. 

—Harijan   :  Sep.  18,  1937. 

STUDENTS  cannot  afford  to  have  party  politics. 
They  may  hear  all  parties,  as  they  read  all  sorts  of  books, 
but  their  business  is  to  Assimilate  the  truth  of  all  and  reject 
the  balance.  That  is  the  only  worthy  attitude  that  they 
can  take. 

Power  politics  should  be  unknown  to  the  student 
world.  Immediately  they  dabble  in  that  class  of  work,  they 
:ease  to  be  students  and  will,  therefore,  fail  to  serve  the 
:ountry  in  its  crisis.  — Harijan  :  Jan.  26,  1941. 

3>  ^  <8> 

OUR  real  strength  must    lie  in  the  people  doing  in 


532          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

normal  times  the  things  they  did  in  abnormal    times  under 
the  severe  pressure  of  public  opinion  or  worse. 

—  Young  India  :May  14,  1931. 

Submission 

SUBMISSION  to  convention  in  trivial  matters  in 
which  there  is  no  danger  of  deceiving  others  or  oneself  is 
often  desirable  and  even  necessary.  But  submission  in 
matters  of  religion,  especially  where  there  is  a  positive 
repugnance  from  within  and  a  danger  of  deceiving  our 
neighbours  and  ourselves,  cannot  but  be  debasing, 

— Young  India  :  Sep.  1,  1927. 

<§>    <$>    <$> 

WHAT  is  readily  yielded  to  courtesy  is  never  yielded  to 
force.  Submission  to  a  courteous  request  is  religion,  sub- 
mission to  force  is  irreligion.  — Harijan  :  March  12,  1936. 

Suffering 

REAL  suffering  bravely  borne  melts  even  a  heart  of 
stone.  Such  is  the  „  potency  of  suffering,  or  tapasa.  And 
there  lies  the  key  to  Satyagraha, 

— Satyagrahai  n  South  Africa  :  Page  212. 

<£    <S>    <$> 

SUFFERING  cheerfully  endured  ceases  to  be  suffering 
and  is  transmitted  into  an  ineffable  Joy.  The  man  who 
flies  from  suffering  is  the  victim  of  endless  tribulation  before 
it  has  come  to  him,  and  is  half-dead  when  it  does  come. 
But  one  who  is  cheerfully  ready  for  anything  and  everything 
that  comes,  escapes  all  pain  ;  his  cheerfulness  acts  as  an 
anaesthetic.  —Young  India  :  Oct.  13,  193 L 

<*><$><$> 

THE  hardest  heart  and  the  grossest  ignorance  must 
disappear  before  the  rising  sun  of  suffering,  without  anger 

—  Youm  India  :  Feb.  19,  1925. 


SUICIDE  $33 

THE  conviction  has  been  growing  upon  me, 
that  things  of  fundamental  importance  to  the  people  are 
not  secured  by  reason  alone  but  have  to  be  purchased  with 
their  suffering.  Suffering  is  the  law  of  human  beings,  war 
is  the  law  of  the  jungle.  But  suffering  is  infinitely  more 
powerful  than  the  law  of  the  jungle  for  converting  the 
opponent  and  opening  his  ears,  which  are  otherwise  shut  to 
the  voice  of  reason.  Nobody  has  probably  drawn  up  more 
petitions  or  exposed  more  forlorn  causes  than  I  and  I  have 
come  to  this  fundamental  conclusion  that  if  you  want  some- 
thing really  important  to  be  done,  you  must  not  merely 
satisfy  the  reason,  you  must  move  the  heart  also.  The 
appeal  of  reason  is  more  to  the  head  but  the  penetration 
of  the  heart  comes  from  suffering.  It  opens  up  the  inner 
understanding  in  man.  Suffering  is  the  badge  of  the 
human  race,  not  the  sword.  — Toung  India  :  Nov.  5,  1931. 

<$><$><$> 

JOY  comes  not  out  of  infliction  of  pain  on  others  but 
out  ofpain  voluntarily  borne  by  ourself. 

—  Toung  India  :  Dec.  31.  1931. 

Suicide 

BUDDHA  had  excused  monks  who  committed  suicide, 
"What  would  you  say  to  the  right  of  man  to  dispose  of  his 
life  ?  Life  as  life  I  hold  of  very  little  importance,"  or 
Fabri  asked. 

1<I  think,"  said  Gandhiji,  "that  man  has  a  perfect 
right  to  dispose  of  his  life  under  certain  circumstances.  A 
co-worker,  suffering  from  leprosy,  knowing  that  his  disease 
was  incurable  and  that  his  life  was  as  much  an  agony  for 
those  who  had  to  serve  him  as  it  was  for  him,  recently 
decided  to  end  his  life  by  abstaining  from  food  and  water, 
I  blessed  the  idea.  I  said  to  him  :  clf  you  really  think  you 
can  stand  the  trial,  you  may- do  so.'  I  said  this  to  him  for  I 
knew  how  different  it  is  to  die  by  inches  from,  say,  suddenly 
killing  oneself  by  drowning  or  poisoning,  And  my  warning 
was  fully  justified,  for  someone  tempted  him  with  the  hope 


534         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

that  there  was  one  who  could  cure  leprosy,  and  I  now  hear 
that  he  has  resumed  eating  and  put  himself  under  his 
treatment  !" 

"The  criterion,  "  said  Dr.  Fabri,  "seems  to  me  to  be 
that  if  one7s  mind  is  completey  obscured  by  pain,  the  best 
thing  for  him  would  be  to  seek  nirvana.  A  man  may  not  be 
ill  but  he  may  be  tired  of  the  struggle." 

"No,  no,"  said  Gandhiji,  correcting  him  as  he  was  again 
running  away  with  the  thought  that  his  view  was  identical 
with  Gandhiji's.  "My  mind  rejects  this  suicide.  The 
criterion  is  not  that  one  is  tired  of  life,  but  that  one  feels  that 
one  has  become  a  burden  on  others  and  therefore  wants  to 
leave  the  world.  One  does  not  want  to  fly  from  pain  but 
from  having  to  become  an  utter  burden  on  others.  Other- 
wise one  suffers  greater  pain  in  a  violent  effort  to  end  one's 
agony.  But  supposing  I  have  a  cancer,  and  it  is  only  a 
question  of  time  for  me  to  pass  away,  I  would  even  ask  my 
doctor  to  give  me  a  sleeping  draught  and  thereby  have  the 
sleep  that  knows  no  waking.'7 

Dr.  Fabri  got  up  to  go  with  the  parting  wish  that 
there  may  be  many  more  years  of  helpful  activity  left  for 
Gandhiji. 

"No,"  said  Gandhiji,  with  a  hearty  laugh,  "according 
to  you  I  should  have  no  business  to  stay  if  I  feel  I 
have  finished  my  task.  And  I  do  think  I  have  finished 
mine  !" 

"No,  I  am  convinced  that  you  can  serve  humanity  for 
many  more  years.  Millions  are  praying  for  your 
life.  And  though  I  can  neither  pray  nor  desire  any- 
thing—/' 

"Yes/'  said  Gandhiji  interrupting  him,  "the  English 
language  is  so  elastic  that  you  can  find  another  word  to  say 
the  same  thing." 

"Yes/*  said  Dr.  Fabri,  "I  can  unselfishly  opine  that  you 
have  many  years  before  you." 


SWADESHI  535 

"Well  that's  it.  You  have  found  the  word  !  Here  too 
let  me  tell  you  there  is  the  purely  intellectual  conception  of 
a  man  being  unable  to  live.  If  he  has  not  the  desire  to  live, 
the  body  will  perish  for  the  mere  absence  of  the  desire  to 
live."  —Harijan  :  Aug.  19,  1939. 

^    ^    ^ 

Q.  IT  has  been  said  that  the  "will  to  live"  is  irration- 
al ;  being  born  of  a  deluded  attachment  to  life.  Why  is 
then  suicide  a  sin  ? 

A.  The  will  to  live  is  not  irrational.  It  is  also 
natural.  Attachment  to  life  is  not  a  delusion.  It  is  very 
real.  Above  all,  life  has  a  purpose.  To  seek  to  defeat  that 
purpose  is  a  sin.  Therefore  suicide  is  very  rightly  held  to 
be  a  sin.  —Harijan  .June  1?  1940, 

Suspicion 

I  BELIEVE  in  trusting.  Trust  begets  trust.  Suspicion  is 
foiled  and  only  stinks.  He  who  trusts  has  never  yet  lost  in 
the  world.  A  suspicious  man  is  lost  to  himself  and  the  world 
Let  those  who  have  made  of  non-violence  a  creed  beware  of 
suspecting  opponents.  Suspicion  is  the  brood  of  violence. 
Non-violence  cannot  but  trust.  I  must  at  any  rate,  refuse 
to  believe  anything  against  anybody,  much  less  against  my 
honoured  fellow  workers,  unless  I  have  absolute  proof. 

—Toung  India  :  June  4,  1925. 

THE  canker  of  suspicion  cannot  be  cured  by  argu- 
ments or  explanations. — Satyagraha  in  South  Africa  :  Page  285. 

Swadeshi 

WE  do  not  realise  that  Swaraj  is  almost  wholly  obtain- 
able through  Swadeshi.  If  we  have  no  regard  for  our 
respective  vernaculars,  if  we  dislike  our  clothes,  if  our  dress 
repels  us,  if  we  are  ashamed  to  wear  the  sacred  Shikha,  if  our 


336          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

food  is  distasteful  to  us,  our  climate  is  not  good  enough,  our 
people  uncouth  and  unfit  for  our  company,  our  civilization 
faulty  and  the  foreign  attractive,  in  short,  if  everything 
native  is  bad  and  everything  foreign  pleasing  to  us,  I  should 
not  know  what  Swaraj  can  mean  for  us.  If  everything 
foreign  is  to  be  adopted,  surely  it  will  be  necessary  for  us  to 
continue  long  under  foreign  tutelage,  because  foreign 
civilisation  has  not  permeated  the  masses.  It  seems  to  me 
that,  before  we  can  appreciate  Swaraj,  we  should  have  not 
only  love  but  passion  for  Swadeshi.  Every  one  of  our  acts 
should  bear  the  Swadeshi  stamp.  Swaraj  can  only  be  built 
upon  the  assumption  that  most  of  what  is  national  is  on 
the  whole  sound.  If  the  view  here  put  forth  be  correct, 
the  Swadeshi  movement  ought  to  be  carried  on  vigorously. 
Every  country  that  has  carried  on  the  Swaraj  movement 
has  fully  appreciated  the  Swadeshi  spirit.  The  Scotch 
Highlanders  hold  on  to  their  kilts  even  at  the  risk  of  their 
lives.  We  humourusly  call  the  Highlanders  the  'petticoat 
brigade.5  But  the  whole  world  testifies  to  the  strength  that 
lies  behind  that  petticoat  and  the  Highlanders  of  Scotland 
will  not  abandon  it,  even  though  it  is  an  inconvenient 
dress,  and  an  easy  target  for  the  enemy.  The  object  in 
developing  the  foregoing  argument  is  not  that  we  should 
treasure  our  faults,  but  what  is  national,  even  though 
comparatively  less  agreeable  should  be  adhered  to,  and 
that  what  is  foreign  should  be  avoided,  though  it  may  be 
more  agreeable  than  our  own.  That  which  is  wanting  in 
our  civilization  can  be  supplied  by  proper  effort  on  _  our 
part.  —Young  India  :  Nov.  3,  1917. 

3>    ^    <$> 

TO  use  foreign  articles  rejecting  those  that  are  manu- 
factured in  India  is  to  be  untrue  to  India.  It  is  an  un- 
warranted indulgence.  To  use  foreign  articles  because  we 
do  not  like  indigenous  ones  is  to  be  a  foreigner.  It  is 
obvious  that  we  cannot  reject  indigenous  articles,  even  as 
we  cannot  reject  the  native  air  and  the  native  soil  because 


SWADESHI  537 

they  are  inferior  to  foreign  air  and  soil. 

— Young  India  :  May  13,  1919j 

AFTER  much  thinking,  I  have  arrived  at  a  definition 
of  Swadeshi  that  perhaps  best  illustrates  my  meaning. 
Swadeshi  is  that  spirit  in  us  which  restricts  us  to  the  use  and 
service  of  our  immediate  surroundings  to  the  exclusion  of  the 
more  remote.  Thus,  as  for  religion,  in  order  to  satisfy  the 
requirements  of  the  definition,  I  must  restrict  myself  to  my 
ancestral  religion,  that  is,  the  use  of  my  immediate  religious 
surroundings.  If  I  find  it  defective,  I  should  serve  it  by 
purging  it  of  its  defects.  In  the  domain  of  politics  I  should 
make  use  of  the  idigenous  institutions  and  serve  them  by 
curing  them  of  their  proved  defects.  In  that  of  economics 
I  should  use  only  things  that  are  produced  by  my  immediate 
neighbours  and  serve  those  industries  by  making  them 
efficient  and  complete  where  they  might  be  found  wanting, 
It  is  suggested  that  such  Swadeshi,  if  reduced  to  practice, 
will  lead  to  the  millenium.  And  as  we  do  not  abandon  oui 
pursuit  after  the  millenium,  because  we  do  not  expect  quite 
to  reach  it  within  our  times,  so  may  we  not  abandon 
Swadeshi,  even  though  it  may  not  be  fully  attained  for 
generations  to  come.  — Young  India  :  June  21,  1919, 

<$>     <$>     <5> 

I  WANT  to  see  God  face  to  face.  God  I  know  is  Truth, 
For  me  the  only  certain  means  of  knowing  God  is  non- 
violence— ahimsa — love.  I  live  for  India's  freedom  and 
would  die  for  it,  because  it  is  part  of  Truth.  Only  a  free 
India  can  worship  the  true  God.  I  work  for  Indians  free- 
dom because  my  Swadeshi  teaches  me  that  being  born  in  it 
and  having  inherited  her  culture,  I  am  fittest  to  serve  hei 
and  she  has  a  prior  claim  to  my  service.  But  my  patriotism 
is  not  exclusive  ;  it  is  calculated  not  only  'not  to  hurt  any 
other  nation  but  to  benefit  all  in  the  true  sense  of  the  word. 
India's  freedom  as  conceived  by  me  can  never  be  a  menace 
to  the  world.  —foung  India  :  April  2, 1924. 


538         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

MY  definition  of  Swadeshi  is  well  known.  I  must  not 
serve  my  distant  neighbour  at  the  expense  of  the  nearest. 
It  is  never  vindictive  or  punitive.  It  is  in  no  sense  narrow, 
for  I  buy  from  every  part  of  the  world  what  is  needed  for 
ray  growth.  I  refuse  to  buy  from  anybody  anything  how- 
ever nice  or  beautiful  if  it  interferes  with  my  growth  or 
injures  those  whom  Nature  has  made  my  first  care.  I  buy 
useful  healthy  literature  from  every  part  of  the  world. 
I  buy  surgical  instruments  from  England,  pins  and  pencils 
from  Austria  and  watches  from  Switzerland.  But  I  will 
not  buy  an  inch  of  the  finest  cotton  fabric  from  England  or 
Japan  or  any  other  part  of  the  world  because  it  has  injured 
and  increasingly  injures  the  millions  of  the  inhabitants  of 
India.  I  hold  it  to  be  sinful  for  me  to  continue  to  buy  the 
cloth  spun  and  woven  by  the  needy  millions  of  India's 
paupers  and  to  buy  foreign  cloth,  although  it  may  be 
superior  in  quality  to  the  Indian  hand-spun.  My  Swadeshi 
therefore  chiefly  centres  round  the  hand-spun  Khaddar  and 
extends  to  every  thing  that  can  be  and  is  produced  in  India. 
My  nationalism  is  as  broad  as  my  Swadeshi,  I  want  India 
to  rise  so  that  the  whole  world  may  be  benefitted.  I  do  not 
want  India  to  rise  on  the  ruin  of  other  nations.  If  therefore 
India  was  strong  and  able,  India  would  send  out  to  the 
world  her  treasures  of  art  and  health-giving  spices,  but  will 
refuse  to  send  out  opium  or  intoxicating  liquors  although 
the  traffic  may  bring  much  material  benefit  to  India. 

— Toung  India  :  May  12,  1925. 
^x    ^P    ^^» 

SWEDESHI  does  not  mean  drowning  oneself  in  one?s 
own  little  puddle,  but  making  it  tributary  to  the  ocean,  that 
is,  the  nation.  And,  it  can  claim  to  contribute  to  the  ocean 
only  if  it  is  and  keeps  itself  pure. 

—Toung  India  :  Feb.  2,  1928. 

RULE  of  the  best  and  the  cheapest  is  not  always  true. 
Just  as  we  do  not  give  up  our  country  for. one  with  a  better 


SWADESHI  539 

climate  but  endeavour  to  improve  our  own,  so  also  may  we 
not  discard  Swadeshi  for  better  or  cheaper  foreign  things. 
Even  as  a  husband  who  being  dissatisfied  with  his  simple 
looking  wife  goes  in  search  of  a  better  looking  woman  is 
disloyal  to  his  partner,  so  is  a  man  disloyal  to  his  country 
who  prefers  foreign  made  things  though  better  to  country 
made  th  ngs.  The  law  of  each  country's  progress  demands 
on  the  part  of  its  inhabitants,  preference  for  their  own  pro- 
ducts and  manufactures.  — Toung  India  :  May  30,  1929. 

AS  regards  the  definition  of  a  Swadeshi  company,  I 
would  say  that  only  those  concerns  can  be  regarded  as 
Swadeshi  whose  control,  direction  and  management  either 
by  a  Managing  Director  or  by  Managing  Agents  are  in 
Indian  hands.  I  should  have  no  objection  to  the  use  of 
foreign  capital,  or  to  the  employment  of  foreign  talent, 
when  such  are  not  available  in  India,  or  when  we  need 
them, — but  only  on  condition  that  such  capital  and  such 
talents  are  exclusively  under  the  control,  direction  and 
management  of  Indians  and  are  used  in  the  interests  of 
India.  —Harijan  :  March  26,  1938. 

<$>   <3>   <$> 

IF  I  have  to  use  the  adjective  'true'  before  Swadeshi* 
a  critic  may  well  ask,  'Is  there  also  false  Swadeshi  ?'  Un" 
fortunately  I  have  to  answer  'yes.'  As,  since  the  days  o* 
khadiy  I  am  supposed  to  be  an  authority  on  Swadeshi, 
numerous  conundrums  are  presented  to  rne  by  correspon- 
dents. And  I  have  been  obliged  to  distinguish  between  the 
two  kinds  of  Swadeshi.  If  foreign  capital  is  mixed  with 
indigenous,  or  if  foreign  talent  is  mixed  with  indigenous,  is 
the  enterprise  Swadeshi  ?  There  are  other  questions 
too.  But  I  had  better  reproduce  the  definition  I  gave  to  a 
Minister  the  other  day.  "Any  article  is  Swadeshi  if  it  sub- 
serves the  interests  of  the  millions,  even  though  the  capital 
and  talent  are  foreign  but  under  effective  Indian  control.11 
Thus  khadi  of  the  definition  of  the  A.  I.  S.  A.  would  be 


540          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

true  Swadeshi  even  though  the  capital  may  be  all  foreign, 
and  there  may  be  Western  specialists  employed  by  the 
Indian  Board.  Conversely  Bata's  rubber  or  other  shoes 
would  be  foreign  though  the  labour  employed  may  be  all 
Indian  and  the  capital  also  found  by  India.  The  manu- 
factures will  be  doubly  foreign  because  the  control  will  be 
in  the  foreign  hands  and  the  article,  no  matter  how  cheap 
it  is,  will  oust  the  village  tanner  mostly  and  the  village 
mochi  always.  Already  the  mochis  of  Bihar  have  begun  to 
feel  the  unhealthy  competition.  The  Bata  shoe  may  be  the 
saving  of  Europe  :  it  will  mean  the  death  of  our  village 
shoe-maker  and  tanner.  I  have  given  two  telling  illustra- 
tions, both  partly  imaginary.  Fur  in  the  A.  I.  S.  A.  the 
capital  is  all  indigenous  and  the  whole  of  the  talent  also. 
But  I  would  love  to  secure  the  engineering  talent  of  the  west 
to  give  me  a  village  wheel  which  will  beat  the  existing  wheels, 
through  deep  down  in  me  I  have  the  belief  that  the  improve- 
ments that  indigenous  talent  has  made  are  by  no  means  to 
be  despised.  But  this  is  a  digression.  I  do  hope  that 
those  ministers  and  others  who  guide  or  serve  the 
public  will  cultivate  the  habit  of  distinguishing  between 
true  and  false  Swadeshi. 

—Harijan  :  Feb.  25,  1939. 

Swaraj 

WE  get  what  Government  we  deserve.  When  we  im- 
prove, the  Government  also  is  bound  to  improve.  Only 
when  we  improve  can  we  attain  Swaraj. 

—  Young  India  :  N«v.  10,  1920 

<$><$><*> 

THE  Swaraj  that  I  dream  of  will  be  a  possibility  only 
when  the  nation  is  free  to  make  its  choice  both  of  good  and 
evil  and  not  be  good  at  the  dictation  of  an  irresponsible, 
insolent,  and  godless  bureaucracy. 

—Young  India  :  Dec.  8,  1920. 


SWARAJ  541 

IF  India  could  make  a  successful  effort  to  stop  this 
drain — sixty  crores  of  rupees  annually  paid  by  us  for  piece- 
goods,  she  can  gain  Swaraj  by  that  one  act. 

—Young  India  .-Jan.  19,  1921. 

<s>  <$>  <$> 

OUR  civilization,  our  culture,  our  Swaraj  depend 
not  upon  multiplying  our  wants —self-indulgence,  but  upon 
restricting  our  wants — self-denial. 

—  Young  India  :  Feb.  23,    1921. 
^s    ^s    ^& 

I  SHOULD  be  a  bad  representative  of  our  cause,  if  I 
went  to  any  body  to  ask  for  Swaraj  I  have  had  the  hardihood 
to  say  that  Swaraj  could  not  be  granted  even  by  God.  We 
would  have  to  earn  it  ourselves,  Swaraj  from  its  very 
nature  is  not  in  the  giving  of  anybody. 

—Young  India  :  May  25,  1921. 
<$><$><$> 

SWARAJ  means  ability  to  regard  every  inhabitant  of 
India  as  our  own  brother  or  sister 

— Young  India  :  Sep.  15,  1921. 

<s>  <§>  <s> 

SAWARAJ  is  the  abandonment  of  the  fear  of  death.  A 
nation  which  allows  itself  to  be  influenced  by  the  fear  of 
death  cannot  attain  Swaraj,  and  cannot  retain  it  if  some- 
how attained.  — Young  India  :  Oct.  13,  1921. 

<$>    <3>    <S> 

FIGHT  for  SWARAJ  means,  not  mere  political  awaken- 
ing, but  an  all  round  awakening — social,  educational  moral, 
economic  and  political.  — Gandhi ji  in  Ceylon  :  Page  146. 

<$><$><§> 

EVERY  yard  of  yarn  spun  or  khaddar  woven  is  a 
step  towards  Swaraj.  —Young  India  :  April  3,  1924,, 

<$>  <s>  <s> 

A  SWARAJ  Government  means  a  Government  establish- 


542         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

cd  by  the  free-joint  will  of  Hindus,  Mussalmans  and  others. 
Hindus  and  Mussalmans>  if  they  desire  Swaraj,  have  per- 
force to  settle  their  differences  amicably. 

—Young  India  :  May  12,  1924. 
^>    ^^    ^N 

SWARAJ  for  me  means  freedom  for  the  meanest  of  our 
countrymen. 

I  am  not  interested  in  freeing  India  merely  from  the 
English  yoke.  I  am  bent  upon  freeing  India  from  any  yoke 
whatsoever.  I  have  no  desire  to  exchange  king  4Iog  for 
king  stork.1  Hence  for  me  the  movement  of  Swaraj  is  a 
movement  of  self-purification.  —  Toung  India  :  June  12,  1924. 

<3>    <S>    <3> 

I  SUGGEST,  therefore,  that  there  is  no  substitute  for 
Swaraj,  and  the  only  universal  definition  to  give  it  is, 
that  status  of  India  which  her  people  desire  at  a  given 
moment.  —  Toung  India  :  July  17,  1924. 

<$>    <*>    <$> 

REAL  Swaraj  will  corne  not  by  the  acquisition  of  authori- 
ty by  a  few  but  by  the  acquisition  of  the  capacity  by  all  to 
resist  authority  when  it  is  abused.  In  other  words, 
Swaraj  is  to  be  attained  by  educating  the  masses  to  a  sense 
of  their  capacity  to  regulate  and  control  authority. 

—Toung  India  :  Jan.  29,  1925. 

HINDU-Muslim  Unity,  khaddar  and  removal  of  un- 
touchability  are  to  me  the  foundation  for  Swaraj.  On  that 
firm  foundation  it  is  possible  to  erect  a  structure  nobler 
than  which  the  world  has  not  seen.  Anything  without 
that  foundation  will  be  like  a  building  built  on  sand. 

India  :  April  2,  1925. 


HE  who  has  sacrificed  his  all  for  Swaraj   has     certainly 
attained  it  for  himself  —Toung  India  :  Oct.  22,  1925. 

SWARAJ  is  not  meant  for  cowards,  but  for   those   who 


SWARAJ  543 

would  mount  smilingly  to  the  gallows  and  refuse  even   tc 
allow  their  eyes  to  be  bandaged. 

— Toting  India  :  Feb.  14,    1929 

YOU   cannot  get  Swaraj   by   mere  speeches,   shows, 

processions,  etc.  What  is  needed  is  solid,  steady,  constructive 

work;  \\hat  the  youth  craves  for  and  is   fed   on  is  only  the 

former.  —Young  India  :  Sep.  5,  1929, 

YOU  say  that  complete  independence  is  an  indifferent 
rendering  for  Purana  Swaraj.  What  then  is  the  real  mean- 
ing of  Purana  Swaraj. 

Proper  translation  I  cannot  give  you.  I  do  not  know 
any  word  or  phrase  to  answer  it  in  the  English  language — 
I  can,  therefore,  only  give  an  explanation.  The  root  mean- 
ing of  Swaraj  is  self-rule,  "Swaraj"  may,  therefore,  be  render- 
ed as  disciplined  rule  from  within  and  purana  means  "com- 
plete". "Independence*"  has  no  such  limitation.  Indepen- 
dence may  mean  licence  to  do  as  you  like.  Swaraj  is  positive. 
Independence  is  negative.  Purana  Swaraj  does  not  exclude 
association  with  any  nation,  much  less  with  England.  But 
it  can  only  mean  association  for  mutual  benefit  and  at  will. 
Thus,  there  are  countries  which  are  said  to  be  independent 
but  which  have  no  Purana  Swaraj,  e.  g.  Nepal.  The  word 
Swaraj  is  a  sacred  word,  a  Vedic  word,  meaning  self-rule 
and  self-restraint,  and  not  freedom  from  all  restraint  which 
"independence"  often  means.  —Toung  India  :  March  19,  193L 

^    ^    ^ 

IT  has  been  said  that  Indian  Swaraj  will  be  the  rule  of 
the  majority  community,  i.  e.  the  Hindus.  There  could  not 
be  a  greater  mistake  than  that.  If  it  were  to  be  true,  I  for 
>ne  would  refuse  to  call  it  Swaraj  and  would  fight  it  with  all 
he  strength  at  my  command,  for  to  me  Hind  Swaraj  is  the 
•ule  of  all  the  people,  is  the  rule  of  justice.  Whether  under 
that  rule  the  ministers  were  Hindus  or  Musalmans  or  Sikhs* 
and  whether  the  legislatures  were  exclusively  filled  by  the 


544         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

Hindus  or  Mussalmans  or  any  other  community,  they  would 
have  to  do  even  handed  justice.  And  just  as  no  community 
in  India  need  have  any  fear  of  Swaraj  being  monopolised  by 
any  other,  even  so  the  English  should  have  no  fear.  The 
question  of  safe-guards  should  not  arise  at  all.  Swaraj  would 
be  real  Swaraj  only  when  there  would  be  no  occasion  for 
safe-guarding  any  such  rights. 

—  Young  India  :  April  16,  1931. 

<$><$><$> 

I  CLAIM  to  live  for  the  semi-starved  paupers  of  India 
and  Swaraj  means  the  emancipation  of  these  millions  of 
skeletons.  Parana  Swaraj  denotes  a  condition  of  things  when 
the  dumb  and  the  lame  millions  will  speak  and  walk.  That 
Swaraj  cannot  be  achieved  by  force,  but  by  organisation  and 
unity.  —Young  India  :  April  28,  1931. 

<$><$><$> 

ONCE  I  said  in  spinning  wheel  lies^Swaraj,  next  I  said 
in  prohibition  lies  Swaraj.  In  the  same  way  I  would  say  in 
cent  per  rant.  Swadeshi  lies  Swaraj.  Of  course,  it  is  like 
the  blind  man  describing  the  elephant.  All  of  them  are  right 
and  yet  not  wholly  right.  — Harijan  :  Dec.  12,  1935. 

<$>     <S>    <$> 

WITHOUT  overcoming  lust,  man  cannot  hope  to  rule 
over  self.  And  without  rule  over  self,  there  can  be  no  Swaraj 
or  Rama  Raj.  Rule  of  all  without  rule  of  oneself,  would 
prove  to  be  as  deceptive  and  disappointing  as  a  painted  toy 
mango,  charming  to  look  at  outwardly  but  hollow  and 
empty  from  within.  — Harjan  :  April  25,  1936. 

<$>     <S>     <S> 

IT  is  therefore  clear  to  me  as  daylight  that  real  Swaraj, 
whenever  it  comes  to  us,  will  have  to  be  not  a  donation 
rained  on  us  from  London,  but  a  prize  earned  by  hard  and 
health-giving  non-co-operation  with  organized  forces  of 
evil.  —Harijan  :  Nov.  10,  1940. 


TEMPLES  545 


Takli 

IT  is  the  solace  of  the  perturbed  heart  and  a 
mute  companion.  The  wheel  sings  to  you  and  may 
therefore  distract  your  attention.  The  takli  is  eloquent 
in  its  very  muteness,  and  in  that  way  is  perhaps  a 
fitter  representative  of  the  dumb  millions.  Try  it  and 
you  will  experience  the  same  joy  that  many  of  us 
do.  —Young  India  :  April  24,  1930. 

Temples 

IF  anyone  doubts  the  infinite  mercy  of  God,  let 
him  have  a  look  at  these  sacred  places.  How  much 
"hypocricy  and  irreligion  does  the  Prince  of  Yogis 
suffer  to  be  perpetrated  in  His  holy  name  ?  He  proclaim- 
ed long  ago. 

1  Whatever  a  man  sows  that  shall  he  reap.'  The 
Law  of  Karma  is  inexorable  and  impossible  of  evasion. 
There  is  thus  hardly  any  need  for  God  to  interfere. 
He  laid  down  the  law  and,  as  it  were  retired. 

— My  Experiments  with  Truth  :  Page  298. 

CHURCHES,  mosques  and  temples,  which  cover  so 
tnuch  hypocricy  and  humbug  and  shut  the  poorest  out 
of  them,  seem  but  a  mockery  of  God  and  His  worship 
when  erne  sees  the  eternally  renewed  temple  of  worship 
under  the  vast  blue  canopy  inviting  every  one  of  us  ta 
real  worship,  instead  of  abusing  His  name  by  quarrel* 
iiBg  in  the  name  of  religion.  — Young  India  :  March  5,  194-2* 


OUR  temples  are  not    meant     for    show     but    for 


546          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

expression   of  humility     and   simplicity  which   are   typicaB 
of  a  devotional  mood.  — Young  India  :  Dec.  12,  1927. 

^>    ^&    ^^ 

I  DO  not  regard  the  existence  of  temples  as  a  sin 
or  superstition.  Some  form  of  common  worship,  and  a 
common  place  of  worship  appear  to  be  a  human  necessi- 
ty. Whether  the  temples  should  contain  images  or  not 
is  a  matter  of  temperement  and  taste.  I  do  not  regard 
a  Hindu  or  Roman  Catholic  place  of  worship  contain- 
ing images  as  necessarily  bad  or  superstitious  and  a 
mosque  or  a  Protestant  place  of  worship  being  good 
or  free  from  superstition  merely  because  of  their 
exclusion  of  images.  A  symbol  such  as  a  Cross  or  a 
book  may  easily  become  idolatrous  and  therefore  super- 
stitous.  And  the  worship  of  the  image  of  Child  Krishna 
or  Virgin  Mary  may  become  ennobling  and  free  of 
all  superstitions.  It  depends  upon  the  attitude  of  the 
heart  of  the  worshiper.  — Young  India  :  Nov.  5,  1925. 

<$>    <$> 

BITTER   experience  has   taught   me  that   all  temples 
are  not   houses   of  God.     They   can     be    habitations    off 
the   devil.     These   places   of  worship  have  no   value    un- 
less the     keeper     is     a     good     man    of    God.     Temples,, 
mosques,  churches  are  what  man  makes  them   to  be. 

—Young  India  :  May  19,    1927, 

I  HAVE  a  letter  from  a  Jaffna  Hindu  telling  me 
that  there  are  some  temples  in  this  place  where  you* 
have  dances  by  women  of  ill-fame  on  certain  occassions. 
If  that  information  is  correct,  then  let  me  tell  you  that 
you  are  converting  temples  of  God  into  dens  of  prostitution., 

A  temple  to  be  a   house  of  worship,  to  be  a  temple 
,of    God    has    got    to     conform     to   certain   well-defined* 
limitations.    A   prostitute   has  as  much  right  to    go     to- 
ft house  of  worship  as   a  saint.    But  she    exercises  that 
right    when   she    enters    the    temple  to    purify    herselL 


TEMPLES  547 

But  when  the  trustees  of  a  temple  admit  a  prostitute 
under  cover  of  religion  or  under  cover  embellishing 
the  worship  of  God  then  they  convert  a  house  of  Gdd 
into  one  of  prostitution.  And  if  any  body  no  matter 
how  high  he  may  be  comes  to  you  and  seels 
to  justify  the  admission  of  women  of  ill-fame  into  your 
temples  for  dancing  or  any  such  purpose,  reject  him 
and  agree  to  the  proposal  that  I  have  made  to  you, 
If  you  want  to  be  good  Hindus,  if  you  want  to  wor- 
ship God,  and  if  you  are  wise,  you  will  fling  the 
doors  of  all  your  temples  open  to  the  so-called  untouch- 
ables, God  makes  no  distinction  between  His  worshippers. 
He  accepts  the  worship  of  these  untouchables  just  as 
well  and  as  much  as  that  of  the  so-called  touchables 
provided  it  conies  from  the  bottom  of  the  heart. 

—Young  India  :  Dec,  25,  1927. 
<3>    <$><$> 

IN  imagination  my  mind  travelled  back  to  the 
pre-historic  centuries  when  they  began  to  convey  the 
message  of  God  in  stone  and  metal.  I  saw  quite 
clearly  that  the  priest,  who  was  interpreting  each 
figure  in  his  own  choice  Hindi,  did  not  want  to  tell 
me  that  each  of  those  figures  was  God.  But  without 
giving  me  that  particular  interpretation  he  made 
me  realize  that  these  temples  were  so  many  bridges 
between  the  Unseen,  Invisible  and  Indefinable  God  and 
ourselves  who  are  infinitesimal  drops  in  the  Infinite 
Ocean.  We,  the  human  family,  are  not  all  philoso- 
phers. We  are  of  the  earth  very  earthy,  and  we  are 
riot  satisfied  with  contemplating  the  Invisible  God. 
Somehow  or  other  we  want  something  which  we  can 
touch,  something  which  we  can  see,  something  before 
which  we  can  kneel  down.  It  does  not  matter  whethti 
it  is  a  book,  or  an  empty  stone  building,  or  a  stone 
building  inhabited  by  numerous  figures.  A  book  ifiM 
satisfy  some,  an  empty  building  will  satisfy  some  others,  and 
many  others  will  not  be  satisfied  unless  they  see  something 


$48  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

inhabiting  these  empty  buildings.  Then  I  ask  you  to  approach 
these  temples  not  as  if  they  represented  a  body  of  supersti- 
tions. If  you  will  approach  these  temples  with  faith  in  them 
you  will  know  each  time  you  visit  them  you  will  come 
away  from  them  purified,  and  with  your  faith  more  and  more 
in  the  living  God. 

It  depends  upon  our  mental  condition  whether  we 
gain  something  or  do  not  gain  anything  by  going  to  the 
temples*  We  have  to  approach  these  temples  in  a 
humble  and  penitent  mood.  They  are  so  many  houses 
of  God.  Of  course  God  resides  in  every  human  form, 
indeed  in  every  particle  of  His  creation,  everything 
that  is  on  this  earth.  But  since  we  very  fallible  mor- 
tals do  not  appreciate  the  fact  that  God  is  every- 
where, we  impute  special  sanctity  to  temples  and  think 
I  hat  God  resides  there.  And  so  when  we  approach 
these  temples  we  must  cleanse  our  bodies,  our  minds 
and  our  hearts  and  we  should  enter  them  in  a  prayer- 
ful mood  and  ask  God  to  make  us  purer  men  and 
purer  women  for  having  entered"  their  portals.  And  if 
you  will  take  this  advice  of  an  old  man,  this  physi- 
cal deliverance  that  you  have  secured  will  be  a  de- 
liverance of  the  soul  —Harijan  :  Jan.  13,  1937. 

Temptation 

THERE  are  some  actions  from  which  an  escape 
is  a  god-send  both  for  the  man  who  escapes  and  for 
those  about  him  Man,  as  soon  as  he  gets  back  his 
consciousness  of  right,  is  thankful  to  the  Divine  mercy 
for  the  escape.  As  we  know  that  a  man  often  succumbs 
tp  temptation,  however  much  he  may  resist  it,  we  also 
know  that  Providence  often  intercedes  and  saves  him 
in  Spite  of  himself  How  all  this  happens  how  far  a 
man  is  free  and  how  far  a  creature  of  circumstances — 
how  far  freewill  comes  into  play  and  where  fate 


THOUGHT 

enters    on   the  scene,— all  this     is  a    mystery    and     will 
remain  a  mystery         —  My  Experiments  with  Truth  :  Page  37. 

Thought 

SO  long  as  thought  is  not  under  complete  control 
of  the  will,  Brahmacharya  in  its  fullness  is  absent. 
Involuntary  thought  is  an  affectation  of  the  mind,  and 
curbing  of  thought,  therefore  means  curbing  of  the 
mind  which  is  even  more  difficult  to  curb  than  the 
wind.  Nevertheless  the  existence  of  God  within  makes 
even  control  of  the  mind  possible.  Let  no  one  think 
that  it  is  impossible  because  it  is  difficult.  It  is  the 
highest  goal  and  it  is  no  wonder  that  the  highest 
effort  should  be  necessary  to  attain  it. 

— My  Experiments  with  Truth  :  Page  259. 

I  FEEL  thankful  to  God  that  for  years  past  I 
have  come  to  regard  secrecy  as  a  sin,  more  especially 
in  politics.  If  we  realised  the  presence  of  God  as  a  wit- 
ness to  all  we  say  and  do,  we  would  not  have  any- 
thing to  conceal  from  anybody  on  earth.  For  we  would 
not  think  unclean  thoughts  before  our  Maker,  much  less 
speak  them.  It  is  uncleanliness  that  seeks  secrecy  and  dark- 
nes?.  The  tendency  of  human  nature  is  to  hide  dirt,  we  do 
not  want  to  see  or  touch  dirty  things  :  we  want  to  put  them 
out  of  sight.  And  so  must  it  be  with  our  speech.  I  would 
suggest  that  we  should  avoid  even  thinking  thoughts  we 
would  hide  from  (he  world.  —Toung  India  :  Dec.  12,  1922. 

THE  potency  of  thought  unsuppressed  but  unembodi* 
ed  is  far  greater  than  that  of  thought  embodied  that  is 
translated  into  action.  And,  when  the  action  is  brought 
under  due  control,  it  reacts  upon,  and  regulates  the  thought 
itself.  Thought  thus  translated  into  action  becomes  a 
prisoner  and  is  brought  under  subjection. 

— Young  India  :    Jan.  12,  1927. 


550        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

ALWAYS  aim  at  complete  harmony  of  thought  and 
word  and  deed.  Always  aim  at  purifying  your  thoughts 
and  everything  will  be  well.  There  is  nothing  more  potent 
than  thought.  Deed  follows  word  and  word  follows  thought. 
The  word  is  the  result  of  a  mighty  thought,  and  where  the 
thought  is  mighty  and  pure  the  result  is  always  mighty  and 
pure,  —Harijan  :  April,  24,  1937. 

<$>   <S>    <£ 

MODERN  scientists  recognize  the  potency  of  thought 
and  that  is  why  it  is  said  that  as  a  man  thinks  so  does  he 
become.  One  who  always  thinks  of  murder  will  turn  a 
murderer,  and  one  who  thinks  of  incest  will  be  incestu- 
ous. On  the  contrary  he  who  always  thinks  of  truth  and 
non-violence  will  be  truthful  and  non-violent,  and  he  whose 
thoughts  are  fixed  on  God  will  be  godly. 

1      -  Harijan  :  Jan,  11,  1936. 

<s>  <$>  <s> 

TRUTH  has  been  the  very  foundation  of  my  life. 
Brahmachaiya  and  Ahimsa  were  born  later  out  of  truth.  What- 
ever, therefore,  you  do,  be  true  to  yourselves  and  to  the 
world.  Hide  not  your  thoughts.  If  it  is  shameful  to  reveal 
them,  it  is  more  shameful  to  think  them. 

-Harijan  :  April  24,  1937. 

<S>    <$>    3> 

A  DISSOLUTE  character  is  more  dissolute  in  thought 
than  in  deed.  And  the  same  is  true  of  violence.  Our 
violence  in  word  and  deed  is  but  a  feeble  echo  of  the  surging 
violence  of  thought  in  us.  —Harijan  :  June  17,  1939. 

<$><$>    <S> 

MAN  often  becomes  what  he  believes  himself  to  be. 
If  I  keep  on  saying  to  myself  that  I  cannot  do  a  certain 
thing,  it  is  possible  that  I  may  end  by  really  becoming  in- 
capable of  doing  it.  On  the  contrary,  if  I  have  the  belief 
that  I  can  do  it,  I  shall  surely  acquire  the  capacity  to  do  it 
even  if  I  may  not  have  it  at  the  beginning. 

—Harijan  :  Sep.    1,  1940. 


TRUTH  551 

Trusteeship 

THE  trusteeship  theory  is  not  unilateral,  and  does  not 
in  the  least  imply  superiority  of  the  trustee.  It  is,  as  I 
have  shown,  a  perfectly  mutual  affair,  and  each  believes 
that  his  own  interest  is  best  safeguarded  by  safeguarding 
the  interest  of  the  other.  'May  you  propitiate  the  gods  and 
may  the  gods  propitiate  you,  and  may  you  reach  the  highest 
good  by  this  mutual  propitiation,'  says  the  Bhagawad  Gita. 
There  is  no  separate  species  called  gods  in  the  universe,  but 
all  who  have  the  power  of  production  and  will  work  for 
the  community  using  that  power  are  gods — labourers  no 
less  than  the  capitalists.  — Harijan  :  June  25,  1938. 

<s>  <s>  <$> 

IF  the  trusteeship  idea  catches,  philantrophy,  as  we 
know  it,  will  disappear.  A  trustee  has  no  heir  but  the 
public.  In  a  state  built  on  the  basis  of  non-violence,  the 
commission  of  trustees  will  be  regulated.  Princes  and 
Zamindars  will  be  on  a  par  with  the  other  men  of  wealth. 

—Harijan  ;  April  13,  1948* 

Truth 

THE  word  Safya  (truth)  is  derived  from  Sat  which 
means  being.  And  nothing  is  or  exists  in  reality  except  truth. 
That  is  why  Sat  or  Truth  is  perhaps  the  most  important 
name  of  God.  In  fact  it  is  more  correct  to  say  that  Truth 
is  God,  than  to  say  that  God  is  Truth.  But  as  we  cannot  do 
without  a  ruler  or  a  general,  names  of  God  such  as  King  of 
kings  or  the  Almighty  are  and  will  remain  more  usually 
current.  On  deeper  thinking,  however,  it  will  be  realised 
that  Sat  or  Satya  is  the  only  correct  and  fully  significant  name 
for  God. 

And  where  there  is  Truth,  there  also  is  knowledge,  pure 
knowledge,  Where  there  is  no  Truth,  there  can  be  no  true 
knowledge.  That  is  why  the  word  Chit  or  knowledge  is  asso- 
ciated with  the  name  af  God.  And  where  there  is  true  know- 
ledge, there  is  always  bliss  (Ananda}.  Sorrow  has  no  place 


552          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

there.  And  even  as  Truth  is  eternal,  so  is  the  bliss  derived 
from  it.  Hence  \ve  know  God  as  Sat-chit-ananda,  one  who 
combines  in'  Himself  Truth,  Knowledge  and  Bliss. 

Devotion  to  this  Truth  is  the  sole  reason  for  our  exist- 
ence. All  our  activities  should  be  centered  in  Truth.  Truth 
should  be  the  very  breath  of  our  life.  When  once  this  stage 
in  the  pilgrim's  progress  is  reached,  all  other  rules  of  correct 
living  will  come  without  effort,  and  obedience  to  them  will 
be  instinctive.  But  without  Truth  it  would  be  impossible 
to  observe  any  principles  or  rules  in  life. 

Generally  speaking,  observing  the  Jaw  of  Truth  is'mere- 
]y  understood  to  mean  that  we  must  speak  the  truth.  But 
we  in  the  Ashram  understand  the  word  Satya  or  Truth  in  a 
much  wider  sense.  There  should  be  Truth  in  thought, 
Truth  is  speech,  and  Truth  in  action.  To  the  man  who 
has  realised  this  Truth  in  perfection,  nothing  else  remains 
to  be  known,  because  all  knowledge  is  necessarily  included 
in  it.  What  is  not  included  in  it  is  not  Truth,  and  so  not 
true  knowledge  ;  and  there  can  be  no  inward  peace  without 
true  knowledge.  If  we  once  learn  how  to  apply  this  never- 
failing  test  of  truth,  we  will  at  once  be  able  to  find  out  what 
is  worth  being,  what  is  worth  seeing  and  what  is  worth 
reading. 

But  how  is  one  to  realise  this  Truth,  which  may  be 
likened  to  the  philosopher's  stone  or  the  cow  of  plenty  ?  By 
single-minded  devotion  (Abhyas)  and  indifference  to  every 
other  interest  in  life  Vairagja — replies  the  Bhaghwadgita.  In 
spite,  however,  of  such  devotion,  what  may  appear  as  truth 
to  one  person  will  often  appear  as  untruth  to  another 
person.  But  that  need  not  worry  the  seeker.  When 
there  is  honest  effort,  it  will  be  realised  that  what  appears  to 
be  different  truths  are  like  apparently  different  countless 
leaves  of  the  same  tree.  Does  not  God  Himself  appear  to 
different  individuals  in  different  aspects  ?  Still  we  know  that 
He  is  One.  But  Truth  is  the  right  designation  of  God » 
Hence  there  is  nothing  wrong  in  every  one  following  Truth 


TRUTH  55S 

according  to  one's  lights.  Indeed  it  is  one's  duty  to  do  so. 
Then  if  there  is  a  mistake  on  the  part  of  any  one  so  follow- 
ing Truth,  it  will  be  automatically  set  right.  For  the  quest  of 
Truth  involves  tejto— self-suffering,  sometimes  even  unto 
death.  There  can  be  no  place  in  it  for  even  a  trace  of  self- 
interest.  In  such  selfless  search  for  Truth  no  body  can  lose 
his  bearings  for  long.  Directly  one  takes  to  the  wrong  path 
one  stumbles,  and  is  thus  redirected  to  the  right  path. 
Therefore  the  pursuit  of  Truth  is  True  Bhagkti  (devotion). 
It  is  the  path  that  leads  to  God,  and  therefore  there  is  no 
place  in  it  for  cowardice,  no  place  for  defeat.  It  is  the 
talisman  by  which  death  itself  becomes  the  portal  to  life 
eternal. 

In  this  connection  we  should  ponder  over  the  lives  and 
examples  of  Harishchandra,  Prahlad,  Ramchandra,  Imams 
Hassan  and  Hussian,  the  Christian  Saints,  etc.  How 
beautiful  it  would  be,  if  all  of  us,  young  and  old,  men  and 
women,  devoted  ourselves  wholly  to  Truth  in  all  that  we 
might  do  in  our  waking  hours,  whether  working,  eating, 
drinking  or  playing  till  pure  dreamless  sleep  claimed  us  for 
her  own  ?  God  as  Truth  has  been  for  me  a  treasure  beyond 
price,  may  He  be  so  to  every  one  of  us. 

—Young  India  :  July  30,  1931. 

<S>    3>    <3> 

MORALITY  is  the  basis  of  things  and  truth  is  the  sub- 
stance of  all  morality. 

— My  Experiments  with  Truth  :  Page  37.. 

<$>    <3>    ^ 

TRUTH  is  like  a  vast  tree  which  yields  more  and  more 
fruit,  the  more  you  nurture  it.  The  deeper  the  search  in  the 
mine  of  truth,  the  richer  the  discovery  of  the  gems  buried 
there,  in  the  shape  of  openings  for  an  ever  greater  variety  of 
service.  — My  Experiments  with  Truth  :  Page  268. 

IN  the  inarch  towards  Truth,  anger,  selfishness,  hatred, 
etc.,  naturally  gives  way,  for  otherwise  Truth  would  be 


554          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

impossible  to  attain.  A  man  who  is  swayed  by  passions 
may  have  good  enough  intentions,  may  be  truthful  in  word, 
but  he  will  never  find  the  Truth.  A  successful  search  for 
Truth  means  complete  deliverance  from  the  dual  throng 
such  as  of  love  and  hate  happiness  and  misery. 

—My  Experiments  with  Truth  :     Page  428. 


A  DEVOTEE  of  Truth  may  not  do  anything  in  deference 
to  convention.  He  must  always  hold  himself  to  correction, 
and  whenever  he  discovers  himself  to  be  wrong  he  must 
confess  it  at  all  costs  and  atone  for  it. 

— My  Experiments  with  Truth  :    Page  429. 

<s>  <$>  <s> 

NOT  truth  simply  as  we  ordinarily  understand  it,  that 
as  far  as  possible,  we  ought  not  to  resort  to  a  lie,  that  is  to 
say,  not  truth  which  merely  answers  the  saying,  "Honesty  is 
the  best  policy" — implying  that  if  it  is  not  the  best  policy, 
Ave  may  depart  from  it.  But  here  truth  as  it  is  conceived, 
means  that  we  have  to  rule  our  life  by  this  law  of  Truth  at 
any  cost.  And  in  order  to  satisfy  the  definition  I  have 
drawn  upon  the  celebrated  illustration  of  the  life  of  Prahlad. 
For  the  sake  of  truth,  he  dared  to  oppose  his  own  father,  and 
he  defended  himself,  not  by  retaliation,  by  paying  his  father 
back  in  his  own  coin,  but  in  defence  of  Truth,  as,  he  knew 
it  :  he  was  prepared  to  die  without  caring  to  return  the 
blows  that  he  had  received  from  his  father  or  from  those  who 
were  charged  with  his  father's  instructions.  Not  only  that  : 
he  would  not  in  any  way  even  parry  the  blows  :  on  the 
contrary,  with  a  smile  on  his  lips,  he  underwent  the  innume- 
rable tortures  to  which  he  was  subjected,  with  the  result 
that,  at  last,  Truth  rose  triumphant,  not  that  Prahlad 
suffered  the  tortures  because  he  knew  that  some  day  or  other 
in  his  very  life-time  he  would  be  able  to  demonstrate  the 
infallibility  of  the  Law  of  Truth.  The  fact  was  there;  but 
if  he  had  died  in  the  midst  of  tortures,  he  would  still  have 


TRUTH  555 

adhered  to  Truth.     That  is  the  Truth  which  I  would  like  to 
follow.— Speeches  and  Writings  of  Mahatma  Gandhi,  :  Page  2  13. 

<§>    <$>    <S> 

MY  desire  is  to  close  this  life  searching  for  truth,  acting 
truth  and  thinking  truth  and  that  alone  and  I  request  the 
blessings  of  the  nation  that  that  desire  of  mine  may  be 
fulfilled.— Speeches  and  Writings  of  Mahatma  Gandhi  :  Page  223. 

EVERYTHING  appears  to  me  to  be  lifeless  without 
truth.  I  am  convinced  that  untruth  will  never  benefit  the 
country,  and  even  if  untruth  seems  to  bring  immediate 
benefit,  I  firmly  believe  that  truth  ought  never  to  be  abon- 
doned.  I  have  grasped  this  truth  ever  since  I  learnt  to  think 
for  myself,  and  I  have  been  trying  to  put  into  practice  for 
the  last  40  years.  And  still  I  feel  that  I  have  not  been 
uniformly  successful  in  preserving  unity  in  thought,  word  and 
deed.  But  what  matters  it  ?  Ideals  seem  to  recede  from  us 
as  we  approach  them.  Manliness  lies  in  accelerating  our 
motion  towards  them  all  the  more.  'We  fall  to  rise,  are 
baffled  to  fight  better?'  It  will  suffice  simply  if  we  never 
turn  our  backs.  —Toung  India  :  Sept.  13,  1919. 

MOREOVER  there  are  not  many  fundamental  truths, 
but  there  is  only  one  fundamental  truth  which  is  Truth  it- 
self, otherwise  known  as  Non-violence.  Finite  human  be- 
ings shall  never  know  in  its  fulness  Truth  and  Love  which  is 
in  itself  infinite.  —Toung  India  :  May  5,  1920. 

I  AM  a  humble  but  very  earnest-seeker  after  Truth. 
And  in  my  search,  I  take  all  fellow-seekers  in  uttermost 
confidence  so  that  I  may  know  my  mistakes  and  correct 
them.  I  confess  that  I  have  often  erred  in  my  estimates 
and  judgments.  —Toung  India  :  May  5,  1920. 

I  CLAIM  to  be  a  humble  servant  of  India  and 
humanity,  and  would  like  to  die  in  the  discharge  of  such 


556         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

service.  I  have  no  desire  to  found  a  sect.  I  am  really  too 
ambitious  to  be  satisfied  with  a  sect  for  a  following.  For 
I  represent  no  new  truths.  I  endeavour  to  follow  and  re- 
present Truth  as  I  know  it.  I  do  claim  to  throw  a  new 
light  on  many  an  old  Truth.— Toung  India  :  May,  12,  1920. 

IF  truth  is  violent,  I  plead  guilty  to  the  charge  of 
violence  of  language.  But  I  could  not,  without  doing 
violence  to  truth,  refrain  from  using  the  language  I  have 
regarding  General  Dyer's  action. 

— Toung  India  :  Sept.  29,  1920. 

IF  it  was  a  good  thing  to  scale  the  heights  of  Mt. 
Everest,  sacrificing  precious  lives  in  order  to  be  able  to  go 
there  and  make  some  slight  observations,  if  it  was  a  glorious 
thing  10  give  up  life  after  life  in  planting  a  flag  in  the  utter- 
most  extremities  of  the  earth,  how  much  more  glorious 
would  it  be  to  give  not  one  life,  surrender  not  a  million  lives 
but  a  billion  lives  in  search  of  the  potent  and  imperishable 
truth  ?  —  Toung  India  :  Oct.  6,  1920. 

HE  who  does  not  know  what  it  is  to  speak  the  truth 
is  like  a  false  coin  valueless.  —Toung  India  :  Oct.  6,  1920. 

I  AM  but  a  seeker  after  Truth.  I  claim  to  have  found 
the  way  to  it.  I  claim  to  be  making  a  ceaseless  effort  to  find 
it.  But  I  admit  that  I  have  not  yet  found  it.  To  find 
Truth  completely  is  to  realise  oneself  and  one's  destiny  to 
become  perfect.  I  am  painfully  conscious  of  my  imperfec- 
tions, and  therein  lies  all  the  strength  I  possess,  because  it 
is  a  rare  thing  for  a  man  to  know  his  own  limitations. 

—  Toung  India  :  Nov.  17,  192  K 

ABSTRACT  truth  has  no  value,  unless  it  incarnates 
in  human  beings  who  represented  it  by  proving  their  readi- 
ness to  die  for  it.  Our  wrongs  live  because  we  only  pretend 


TRUTH  557 

to  be  their  living  representatives.  The  only  way  we  can 
prove  our  claim  is  by  readiness  to  suffer  in  the  discharge 
of  our  trust.  —Young  India  :  Dec,  22,  1921. 

^    ^    ^ 

We  must  speak  the  Truth   under  a  shower  of  bullets. 

_  Young  India  :  Jan.  5,  1922. 

NO  veil  of  darkness  can  ever  cover  up  truth  from  view 
for  all  time.  —  Young  India  :  Jan.  12,  1922. 

LET  the  opponent  glory  in  our  humiliation  or  so  call- 
ed defeat.  It  is  better  to  be  charged  with  cowardice  and 
weakness  than  to  be  guilty  of  denial  of  our  oath  and  sin 
against  God.  It  is  million  times  better  to  appear  untrue  be- 
fore the  world  than  to  be  untrue  to  ourselves. 

— Young  India  :  Feb.  16,  1922. 

TRUTH  is  superior  to  man's  wisdom. 

— Young  India  :  July  3,  1924. 

MY  religion  is  based  on  truth  and  non-violencei  Truth 
is  my  God.  Non-violence  is  the  means  of  realising  Him. 

_  Young  India  :  Jan.  8,  1924. 

,THE  way  of  peace  is  the  way  of  truth.  Truthfulness 
is  even  more  important  than  peacefulness.  Indeed,  lying  is 
the  mother  of  violence.  A  truthful  man  cannot  long  remain 
violent.  He  will  perceive  in  the  course  of  his  search  that 
he  has  no  need  to  be  violent  and  will  further  discover  that 
so  long  as  there  is  the  slightest  trace  of  violence  in  him,  he 
will  fail  to  find  the  truth  he  is  searching. 

There  is  no  half  way  between  truth  and   non-violence 

on  the  one  hand  and  untruth  and  violence  on   the  other. 

We  may  never  be  strong  enough  to  be  entirely    non-yiotent 

in  thought,  word  and  deed.  But  we  must  keep  non-violence 


558          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

as  our  goal  and  make  steady  progress  towards  it.  The  attain- 
ment of  freedom  whether  for  a  man,  a  nation  or  the  world, 
must  be  in  exact  proportion  to  the  attainment  of  non- 
violence by  each.  Let  those,  therefore,  who  believe  in  non- 
violence as  the  only  method  of  achieving  real  freedom, 
keep  the  lamp  of  non-violence  burning  bright  in  the  midst 
of  the  present  impenetrable  gloom.  The  truth  of  a  few 
will  count,  the  untruth  of  millions  will  vanish  even  like 
chaff  before  a  whiff  of  wind.  — Young  India  :  May  20,  1925. 

<$><$>     <S> 

WITH  reference  to  my  removal  of  certain  passages 
from  a  correspondent's  letter  recently  published,  he  thus 
complains  : 

"In  spite  of  the  expurgation  you  have  thought  fit 
to  effect  in  my  letter  I  may  claim  that  in  all  my 
letters  to  you,  especially  where  communal  questions 
are  involved,  I  have  tried  to  observe  not  the  'prudent' 
maxim,  (which  means  in  brief  'speak  not  the  unpleasant 
truth')  although  it  be  found  in  most  of  our  received  texts  of 
Manu,  but  the  saying  of  William  Lloyd  Garrison,  the 
American  slave-liberator,  which  has  stood  for  many  years 
at  the  head  of  the  Indian  Social  Refoimer  of  Bomby  as  its 
motto  :  I  will  be  as  harsh  as  truth,  and  as  uncompromis- 
ing as  justice,"  etc. 

I  do  not  mind  harsh  truth  but  I  do  object  to  spiced 
truth 

Spicy  language  is  as  foreign  to  truth  as  hot  chillies  U> 
a  healthy  stomach.  The  passages  removed  by  me  were  not 
necessary  to  elucidate  the  meaning  of  the  correspondent  or 
give  point  to  it.  They  were  offensive  without  being  useful 
or  necessary.  There  seems  to  be  in  fashion  to  think  that 
in  order  to  be  truthful  one  must  use  harsh  language;  whereas 
truth  suffers  when  it  is  harshly  put.  It  is  like  wanting  tt> 
support  strength  :  Truth  being  itself  jfully  strong  is  in- 
suited  when  an  attempt  it  made  to  support  its  harshness.  I 


TRUTH  559 

see  no  conflict  between  the  Sanskrit  text  and  Garrison's 
motto  quoted  by  the  correspondent.  In  my  opinion  the 
Sanskrit  text  means  that  one  should  speak  the  truth  in 
gentle  language.  One  had  better  not  speak  it,  if  one  can- 
not  do  so  in  a  gentle  way;  meaning  thereby  that  there  is  not 
truth  in  a  man  who  cannot  control  his  tongue.  In  other 
words,  truth  without  non-violence  is  not  truth,  but  untruth. 
Garrison's  motto  requires  to  be  interpreted  in  terms  of  his 
own  life.  He  was  one  of  the  gentlest  of  men  of  his  time. 
Mark  his  language.  He  will  be  as  harsh  as  truth,  but 
since  truth  is  never  harsh  but  always  gentle  and 
beneficial,  the  motto  can  only  mean  that  Garrison  would  be 
as  gentle  as  truth  but  no  more.  Both  the  texts  have  ralation  to 
the  inner  state  of  the  speaker  or  writer,  not  to  the  effect  that 
will  be  produced  upon  those  to  whom  the  speech  or  the 
writing  is  addressed.  The  Indian  Social  Reformer  is  rarely,, 
if  ever,  harsh.  It  tries  to  be  fair  though  often  jumps  to 
conclusions  in  a  hurry  and  is  obliged  later  to  revise  its  esti- 
mate of  men  and  things.  In  these  days  of  surrounding 
bitterness  one  cannot  be  too  cautious.  After  all  who  knows 
the  absolute  truth  ?  It  is  in  ordinary  affairs  of  life,  only 
a  relative  term.  What  is  truth  to  me  is  not  necessarily  truth 
to  the  rest  of  my  companions.  We  are  all  like  the  blind 
men  who  on  examining  an  elephant  gave  different  descrip- 
tions of  the  same  animal  according  to  the  touch  they  were 
kable  to  have  of  him.  And  they  were  all,  according  to  their 
own  lights  in  the  right.  But  we  know  also  that  they  were 
all  in  the  wrong.  Everyone  of  them  fell  far  short  of  the 
truth.  One  cannot  be  too  insistent  therefore  upon  the 
necessity  of  guarding  oneself  against  bitterness.  Bitter- 
ness blurs  the  vision  and  to  that  extent  disables  one 
from  seeing  even  the  limited  truth  that  the  physically  blind 
men  in  the  fable  were  able  to  do. 

—Young  India  :  Sept.  17,    1925. 

TRUTHFULNESS  is  the  master-key.     Do  not  lie  under 


560  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

any  circumstances  whatsoever.  Keep  nothing  secret,  take 
your  teachers  and  your  elders  into  your  confidence  and  make 
a  clean  breast  of  everything  to  them.  Bear  ill-will  to  none, 
do  not  say  an  evil  thing  of  anyone  behind  his  back,  above 
all  'to  thine  own-self  be  true5,  so  that  you  are  false  to  no  one 
else.  Truthful  dealings  even  in  the  least,  little  things  of  life 
is  the  only  secret  of  a  pure  life.  —Toung  India:  Dec.  25/1925. 

<$>    ^    ^ 

EVERY  truth  is  self-acting  and  possesses  inherent 
strength.  I  therefore  remain  unperturbed  even  when  I  find 
myself  grossly  misrepresented.  — Toung  India  :  Dec.  11,  1924. 

I  AM  nothing  but  a  mere  lump  of  earth  in  the  hands  of 
the  Potter.  Truth  and  Love — Ahmisa — is  the  only  thing  that 
counts.  Where  this  is  present,  everything  right  is  in  the 
end.  This  is  a  law  to  which  there  is  no  exception.  It  would 
be  very  bad  indeed  that  Gujrat  or  India  should  look  up  to 
me  and  sit  with  folded  hands.  Let  her  worship  Truth  and 
Love,  look  up  to  that  divine  couple,  employ  servants  like 
myself  so  long  as  they,  tread  the  strait  and  narrow  path  and 
check  them  when  they  swerve  from  it. 

—Toung  India  :  Aug.  18,  1927. 

I  WILL  not  sacrifice  truth  and  ahimsa  even  for  the 
deliverance  of  my  country  or  religion.  This  is  as  much  as 
to  say  that  neither  can  be  so  delivered. 

—Toung  India  .  Oct.  13,  1927. 

ALL  the  religions  of  the  world,  while  they  may  differ  in 
other  respects  unitedly  proclaim  that  nothing  lives  in  this 
world  but  truth.  —  Toung  India  :  Oct.  20,  1927. 

<J>    ^    <^ 

FIRHAD  in  his  quest  of  Shiri a  wore  away  his  life  in 
breaking  rocks,  shall  we  do  less  for  our  Shirin  of  Truth, 
without  which  service  is  not  ?  —  Toung  India  :  Sep.  20,  1928. 


TRUTH  561 

THOSE  who  join  me  in  ,my  experiments  in  Truth  seek- 
ing are  not  my  "test-tubes,"  they  are  my  valued  fellow- 
workers,  sharing  with  me  the  joy  that  the  search  for  Truth 
brings  as  no  other  search  does. 

6  —Young  India  :  March  25,  1931. 

IF  observance  of  truth  was  a  bed  of  roses,  if  truth  cost 
one  nothing  and  was  all  happiness  and  ease,  there  would  be 
no  beauty  about  it.  We  must  adhere  to  truth  even  if  the 
heavens  should  fail.  %  —Young  India  :  Sept.  27,  1928. 

I  HAVE  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  I  should,  if  there 
could  be  such  a  choice,  most  decidedly  sacrifice  the  country 
for  Truth  which  to  me  is  God.  1  further  hold  that  no  indivi- 
dual or  nation  has  ever  gained  by  the  sacrifice  of  Truth  — 
there  is,  therefore,  no  such  thing  as  sacrifice  of  country  for 
Tmth.  —Young  India  :  March  26,  1931. 

TRUTH  is  not  truth  merely  because  it  is  ancient.  Nor 
it  is  necessarily  to  be  regarded  with  suspicion  because  it  is 
ancient.  There  are  some  fundamentals  of  life,  which  may 
not  be  lightly  given  up  because  they  are  difficult  of  enforce- 
ment in  one's  life.  —Harijan  :  March  14,  1936. 

TRUTH  and  non-violence  are  not  for  the  dense.  Pur- 
suit of  them  is  bound  to  result  in  an  all  round  growth  of  the 
body,  mind  and  heart.  If  this  does  not  follow,  either 
truth  and  non-violence  are  untrue,  or  we  are  untrue  and 
since  the  former  is  impossible  the  latter  will  be  the  only  con- 
clusion. The  whole  of  the  constructive  programme — including 
handspinning  and  handweaving,  Hindu  Muslim  Unity,  re- 
moval of  untouchability,  prohibition — is  in  pursuit  of  truth 
and  non-violence.  —Harijan  :  May  8,  1937. 

IS  it  not  a  fact  that  untruth  and  dishonesty  often  win 
in  life  ? 


562         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

A.  That  certainly  is  not  my  experience.  They  often 
seem  to  win,  but  if  you  dive  a  little  deeper  you  will  find 
that  in  reality  truth  wins.  But  if  the  victory  of  truth  was 
always  easy  and  self-evident  truth  would  not  have  the 
value  it  has,  and  the  observance  of  truth  would  be  no  merit. 

—Harijan  :  May  28,    1938, 

THE  way  of  truth  is  straight  and  narrow,  and  it  is  our 
duty  to  point  it  out  whenever  there  is  an  opportunity. 

—Harijan  :  May  28,  1938v 

WE  do  not  always  know  wherein  lies  our  good.  That 
is  why  it  is  best  to  assume  that  good  always  comes  from 
following  the  path  of  truth.  —Harijan  :  May  28,  1938, 

I  HAVE  often  said  that  I  would  not  sell  truth  for  the 
sake  of  India's  deliverence  much  less  would  I  do  so  for  win- 
ing Muslim  friendship.  —Harijan  :  May  27,  1939. 

<£    ®    ^ 

ONLY  truth  quenches  untruth,  Love  quenches  anger,  self- 
suffering  quenches  violence.  This  enternal  rule  is  a  rule  not 
for  saints  only  but  for  all.  Those  who  observe  it  may  be  few 
but  they  are  the  salt  of  the  earth,  it  is  they  who  keep  the 
society  live  together  not  those  who  sin  against  light  and 
truth.  —Harijan  :  Feb.  1  1942. 

Tulsidas  Ramayana 

SEVERAL  frknds  on  various  occasions  have  addressed 
to  me  criticims  regarding  my  attitude  towards  Juki 
Ramqyana.  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  not  you  see  how  Tulsidas  has  disparaged 
womankind,  defended  Rama's  unchivalarous  ambuscade  on 
Vali,  praised  Vibhishan  for  betrayal  of  his  country,  and 


TULSIDAS  RAMAYANA  5« 

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  compen- 
sates for  everything  else  ?  If  it  is  so  then  we  venture  to 
suggest  that  you  have  no  qualification  for  the  task.  ' 

I  admit  that  if  we  take  the  ciriticisms  of  every  point 
individually  they  will  be  found  difficult  to  refute  and  the 
whole  of  the  Ramayana  can  in  this  manner,  be  easily  con- 
demned. 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  indicate  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  Veda;, 
the  Bible  and  the  Koran  have  not  been  exempt  from  condem- 
nation. 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  criti- 
cism. The  internal  test  of  a  book  consists  in  finding  out 
what  effect  it  has  produted  on  the  majority  of  its  readers. 
Judged  by  either  metfaod  the  position  of  the  Ramayana  as 
a  book  par  excellence  remains  unassailable.  This,  however, 
does  not  mean  that  it  is  absolutely  faultless.  But  it  is  claim- 
ed on  behalf  of  the  Ramayana  that  it  has  given  peace  to 
millions,  has  given  faith  to  those  who  had  it  not,  and  i$ 
even  today  serving  as  a  healing  balm  to  thousands  who 
are  burnt  by  the  fire  of  unbelief.  Every  page  of  it  » 
flowing  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*  Bat 
that  is  no  proof  of  evil  in  the  Ramayana.  I  admit  that  Tub*- 
das  has,  unintentionally  as  I  think,  done  injustice  to  woma»- 
kind.  In  this,  as  in  serveral  other  respects  also,  he 


564          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

tailed  to  rise  above  the  prevailing  notions  ol  Jus  age.  In 
other  words,  Tulsidas  was  not  a  reformer;  he  was  on  ly  a 
prince  among  devotees.  The  faults  of  the  Ramayana  are  less 
a  reflection  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  ennobling  figures  like  Kaushalya,  Sumitra  etc., 
it!  (he  Ramayana.  We  bow  our  head  in  reverence  before 
the  faith  and  devotion  of  Shabari  and  Ahalaya.  Ravana 
was  a  monster  but  Manododari  was  a  sati.  In  my  opinion 
these  instances  go  to  prove  that  Tulsidas  was  no  reviler  of 
women  by  conviction.  On  the  contrary,  so  far  his  convic- 
tions went,  he  had  only  reverence  for  them.  So  much  for 
Tubidasji's  attitude  towards  women. 

In  the  matter  of  the  killing  of  V*li,  however,  there  is 
rbom  for  two  opinions.  In  Vibhishan  I  can  find  no  lault. 
Vibhishan  offered  Satyograha  against  his  brother.  His  ex- 
ample teaches  us  that  it  is  a  travesty  of  patriotism  to  sympa- 
thise with  or  try  to  conceal  the  faults  of  one's  rulers  or 
country  arid  to  oppose  them  is  the  trust  patriotism.  By 
helping  Rama,  Vibhishan  rendered  the  truest  service  to 
his  country.  The  treatment  of  Sita  by  Rama  does  not 
devote  heartlessness.  It  is  a  proof  of  a  duel  between  kingly 
duty  and  a  husband's  love  for  his  wife. 

To  thfc  sceptics  who  feel  honest  doubts  in  connection 
with  the  R&msywa,  I  would  suggest  th£t  they  should  not 
accfept,  anybody's  interpretations  mechanically.  They  should 
tekvc  out  Such  portions  about  Which  they  feel  doubtful. 


UNEMPLOYMENT  565 

Nothing  contrary  to  truth  and  ahirwa  need  be  condoned. 
It  would  be  sheer  perversity  to  argue  that  because  in  o*jr 
opinion  Rama  practised  deception,  we  too  may  do  likewise. 
The  proper  thing  to  do  would  be  to  believe  that  Rama  was 
incapable  of  practising  deception.  As  the  Gita  says.  There  •» 
nothing  in  the  world  that  is  entirely  free  from  fault.  Let  us  there- 
fore 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  perfect  but 
God.  —Young  India  :  Oct.  31,  1929. 

u 

Unemployment 

IN  one  of  his  talks  to  the  students  of  the  Village  Workers* 
Training  School,  Gandhiji  pointed  out  the  difference  between 
the  problem  of  unemployment  in  this  country  and  that    in 
Western  countries.    "  In  one  sense,"  he  said,  "  the  problem 
of  unemployment  in  our  country  is  not  so  difficult  <is  in  other 
countries.     The  mode  of  life  is  a  great  factor.    TJ*he  western 
employed  worker  must  have  warm  clothing,  boots  or  shoes 
and  socks  like  the  rest  of  the  people,  w  he  must  have   a  warm 
house  and  many  other  things  incidental  to  the  cold  climate. 
We  do  not  want  all  these  things.     I  have  indeed  wept'  to  see 
the  stark  poverty  and  unemployment  in  our  country,  but   I 
must  confess  our  own  negligence  and  ignorance  are  'largely 
responsible  for  it.     We  do  not  know  the  dignity  of  labour  as 
such.    Thus  a  shoemaker  will   not    <Jo    anything  beyond, 
making  his  shoes,  he  will  think  that  all  other  labour  is  below 
his  dignity.     That  wrong  notion  rtwst  go/*  There  is  enougfy 
employment  in  India  for  all  who  will   wort  with  their  hands 
and  feet  honestly.     God  has  given  everyone  the  capacity,  to 
work  and  earn  more  than  his  daily  br^ad,  and  Whoever  is 
ready  to  use  that  capacity  is  sure  to   find  work.    No  labour 
is  top  mean  for  one  who  wants  to  earn  an  honest  penny. 
The  only  thing  is  the  readiness  to  use  the  tiands 
that  God  Has  given  us.     (M.  D.)    —ttariiah  :'Dec: 


566          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

Unitary  Method 

j 

IN  a  well-regulated  family  the  relations  are  governed  by 
the  unitary  method.  Thus  a  father  gives  to  his  children  not 
a*  a  result  of  a  pact.  He  gives  out  of  love,  a  sense  of  justice 
without  expecting  any  return  therefor.  Not  that  there  is 
none.  But  everything  is  natural,  nothing  is  forced.  Nothing 
is  dime  out  of  fear  or  distrust.  What  is  true  of  a  well  regu- 
lated family  is  equally  true  of  a  well-regulated  society  which 
is  but  an  extended  family.  — Harijan  :  Feb.  1,  1942. 

Untouchability 

IT  is,  to  my  mind,  a  curse  that  has  come  to  us,  and  as 
long  as  that  curse  remains  with  us,  so  long  I  think  we  are 
bound  to  consider  that  every  affliction  that  we  labour  under 
in  this  sacred  land  is  a  fit  and  proper  punishment  for  this 
great  and  indelible  crime  that  we  are  committing.  That  any 
person  should  be  considered  untouchable  because  of  his  call- 
ing passes  one's  comprehension. 

— Speeches  and  Writings  of  Mahatma  Gandhi  :  Page  217, 

A  RELIGION  that  establishes  the  worship  of  the  cow 
cannot  possibly  countenance  or  warrant  a  cruel  and  inhu- 
man boycott  of  human  beings.  And  I  should  be  content  to 
be  torn  to  pieces  rather  than  disown  the  suppressed 
classes.  Hindus  will  certainly  never  deserve  freedom,  nor 
get  it  if  they  allow  their  noble  religion  to  be  disgraced  by 
the  retention  of  the  taint  of  untouchability.  And  as  I  love 
Hinduism  dearer  than  life  itself,  the  taint  has  become  for  me 
an  intolerable  burden.  Let  us  not  deny  God  by  denying  to 
a  fifth  of  our  race  the  right  of  association  on  an  equal 
footing-  —  Toung  India  :  Sep.  29,  1920. 

IF  it  was  proved  to  me  that  this  is  an  essential  part  of 
Hinduism,  I  for  one  would  declare  myself  an  open  rebel 
•gainst  Hinduism  itself.  —  Toting  India  :  Nov.  2,  1920. 


UNTOUGHABILITY  567 

Thus,  whilst  I  am  prepared  to  defend,  as  I  have  always 
done,  the  division  of  Hindus  into  four  castes,  as  I  have  so 
often  said  in  these  columns,  I  consider  untouchability  to  be 
a  heinous  crime  against  humanity.  It  is  not  a  sign  of 
self-restraint  but  an  arrogant  assumption  of  superiority.  It 
has  served  no  useful  purpose  and  it  has  suppressed  as  nothing 
else  in  Hindiusm  has,  vast  numbers  of  the  human  race  who 
are  not  only  every  bit  as  good  as  ourselves,  but  are  rendering 
in  many  walks  of  life  an  essential  service  to  the  country.  It 
is  a  sin  of  which  the  sooner  Hinduism  purges  itself  the  better 
it  is  for  itself,  if  it  is  to  be  recognised  as  an  honourable  and 
elevating  religion.  I  know  no  argument  in  favour  of  its 
retention  and  I  have  no  hesitation  in  rejecting  scriptural 
authority  of  a  doubtful  character  in  order  to  support  a 
sinful  institution.  Indeed  I  would  reject  all  authority  if  it  is 
in  conflict  with  sober  reason  or  the  dictates  of  the  heart. 
Authority  sustains  and  ennobles  the  weak  when  it  is  the 
hand- work  of  reason,  but  it  degrades  them  when  it  supplants 
reason,  sanctified  by  the  still  Small  voice  within. 

— Young  India  :  Dec.  8,  1920. 

WE  can  do  nothing  without  Hindu-Muslim  Unity  and 
without  killing  the  snake  of  untouchability.  Untouchability 
is  a  corroding  poison  that  is  eating  into  the  vitals  of  Hindu 
society.  Varanashram  is  not  a  religion  of  superiority  and 
inferiority.  No  man  can  consider  another  man  as  inferior 
to  himself.  He  must  consider  every  man  as  his  blood-brother. 
It  is  the  cardinal  principle  of  every  religion. 

—  Toung  India  :  Feb.  23,  1921. 

UNTOUCHABILITY  is  the  sin  of  the  Hindus.  They 
must  suffer  for  it,  they  must  purify  themselves,  they  must  pay 
the  debt  that  they  owe  their  suppressed  brothers  and  sisters. 
Theirs  is  the  shame  and  theirs  must  be  the  glory  when  they 
have  purged  themselves  of  the  black  sin.  The  silent  loving 
suffering  of  one  single  pure  Hindu  as  such  will  be  enough  to 


568         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

melt  the  heart  of  millions  of  Hindus  :  but  the  sufferings  of 
thousands  of  non-Hindus  on  behalf  of  the  untouchables  will 
leave  the  Hindus  unmoved.  Their  blind  eyes  will  be  opened 
by  outside  interference,  however,  well-intentioned  and 
generous  it  may  be  ;  for  it  will  not  bring  home  to  them  the 
sense  of  guilt.  On  the  contrary,  they  would  probably  hug 
the  sin  all  the  more  for  such  interference.  All  reform  to  be 
sincere  and  lasting  must  come  from  within. 

— Young  India  :  May  1,  1924. 

MANY  sincere  and  otherwise  noble-minded  Hindus  con- 
sider untouchability  as  a  part  of  the  Hindu  creed  and  would 
therefore  regard  the  reformers  as  outcastes.  If  untouch- 
ability was  a  part  of  the  Hindu  creed,  I  should  decline  to 
call  myself  a  Hindu  and  most  decidely  embrace  some  other 
faith  if  it  satisfied  my  highest  aspirations.  Fortunately  for 
me,  I  hold  that  untouchability  is  no  part  of  Hinduism.  On 
the  contrary  it  is  a  serious  blot  upon  it,  which  every  lover  of 
it  must  sacrifice  himself  to  remove.  Suppose,  however,  I 
discovered  that  untouchability  was  really  an  integral  part  of 
of  Hinduism,  I  should  have  to  wander  in  the  wilderness 
because  the  other  creeds  as  I  know  them  through  their 
accepted  interpreters  would  not  satisfy  my  highest  aspira- 
tions. — Young  India  :  April  24,  1924. 

HINDUS  living  as  they  do  in  glass  houses  have  no  right 
to  throw  stones  at  their  Mussalman  neighbours.  See  what 
we  have  done,  are  still  doing,  to  the  suppressed  classes  !  If 

*  Khaffir  ?  is  a  term  of  opprobrium,  how    much   more  so   is 

*  Chandal  '  ?     In  the  history  of  the   world  religions,  there  is 
perhaps  nothing  like  our  treatment  of  the   suppressed  classes* 
The  pity  of  it  is    that   the   treatment  still   continues.     God 
does  not  punish  directly.     His  ways  are  inscrutable.     Who 
knows  that  all  our  woes  are  not  due  to   that  one  black  sin  ? 

—  Young  India  :  May  29,  1924. 


UNTOUCHABILITY  569 

THE  scriptures  proclaimed  that  there  is  n©  distinction 
between  a  Brahmin  and  a  Scavenger.  Both  have  souls  ; 
both  have  five  organs  of  sense.  —  Young  Indie,  :  Jan.  8,  1925. 

THE  fight  against  untouchability  is  a  religious  fight. 
It  is  a  fight  for  the  recognition  of  human  dignity.  It  is  a 
fight  for  a  mighty  reform  in  Hinduism.  It  is  a  fight  against 
the  entrenched  citdatels  of  orthodoxy. 

—Young  India  :  Feb.  55.  1925. 

IN  the  eyes  of  God  there  are  no  touchables  and  untouch- 
ables. Brahmans  are  called  Brahmans  not  for  their  superi- 
ority, not  for  their  ability  to  lord  it  over,  but  because  of 
their  ability  to  serve  mankind  by  their  knowledge  and  by 
their  ability  to  efface  themselves  in  the  act  of  serving. 
Theirs  is  the  privilege  and  theirs  the  duty,  of  serving  their 
fellow  men  and  they  cannot  do  so  to  the  full,  unless  they  re- 
nounce every  earthly  reward.  —Young  India  :  Sept.  22,  1927. 

UNTOUCHABILITY  poisons  Hinduism  as  a  drop  of 
arsenic  poisons  milk.  —Young  India  :  Oct.  20,  1927. 

<$>  <s>  <s> 

YOU  must  remember  that  all  the  great^religions  of  the 
world  are  at  the  present  time  in  the  melting  pot.  Let  us 
not  ostrich-like  hide  our  faces  and  ignore  the  d  anger  that 
lies  at  the  back  of  us.  I  have  not  a  shadow  of  doubt  that 
in  the  great  turmoil  now  taking  place  either  untouchability 
has  to  die  or  Hinduism  has  to  disappear.  But  I  do  know 
that  Hinduism  is  not  dying,  is  not  going  to  die,  because  I 
see  untouchability  is  a  corpse  struggling  with  its  last  breath 
to  hold  on  for  a  little  while.  —Young  India  :  Oct.  20,  1927. 


THAT  is  the  lesson  that  comes  down  to  us  from  South 
Africa  too.  A  just  nemesis  has  descended  upon  us  there. 
Just  as  we  are  treating  our  brothers  here,  our  kith  and  kin 


570         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

are  being  treated  as  Pariahas  and  Bhangis  in  South  Africa. 
The  moment  we  purge  ourselves  of  the  sin,  the  moment  we 
are  free  from  the  curse  of  untouchability,  you  will  find  the 
jhackles  dropping  off  our  countrymen  in  South  Africa. 

—Taung  India  :  Jan.  13,  1927. 

UNTOUCHABILITY  is  undoubtedly,  a  difficult  point 
among  the  masses.  It  does  however  appeal  to  them,  only 
it  appeals  in  a  way  we  do  not  like.  They  hug  the  exclusive- 
ness  which  they  have  inherited  for  ages.  But  if  we  cannot, 
by  our  purity,  unselfishness  and  patience,  cure  them  of  the 
disease,  we  must  perish  as  a  nation.  The  sooner  every 
political  reformer  realises  the  fact,  the  better  it  is  for  him 
and  the  country.  We  must  refuse  to  give  up  the  struggle 
or  postpone  it  till  after  Swaraj.  Postponement  of  it  means 
postponement  of  Swaraj.  It  is  like  wanting  to  live  without 
lungs.  Those  who  believe  that  Hindu-Muslim  tension  and 
untouchability  can  be  removed  after  Swaraj  are  living  in 
the  dream  land.  They  are  too  fatigued  to  grasp  the 
significance  of  their  proposition. 

—Young  India  :  Aug.  14,  1924. 
<^    <8>    <£ 

THE  Hindu  reformers  have  undertaken  the  work  not 
as  patrons,  not  to  do  the  favour  to  the  untouchables, 
certainly  not  to  exploit  them  politically.  They  have  under- 
taken the  task,  because  their  conception  of  Hinduism  prem* 
ptorily  demands  it.  They  have  either  to  leave  Hinduism  or 
to  make  good  the  claim  that  untouchability  is  no  part  of  it 
but  that  it  is  an  excrescence  to  be  rooted  out. 

—Young  India  :  April  17,  1930. 

AN  untouchable  who  lives  his  Hindusim  in  the  face  of 
persecution  at  the  hand  of  those  Hindus  who  arrogate  to 
themselves  a  superior  status  is  a  better  Hindu  than  the  self- 
styled  superior  Hindu,  who  by  the  very  act  of  claiming 
superiority  denies  his  Hinduism. — Young  India  :  June  4,  1925. 


UNTOUCHABILITY  571 

WHO  can  deny  that  the  custom  of  untouchability  is 
immoral,  barbarous  and  cruel. —  Young  India  :  Dec.  24,  1925. 

ITS  removal  is  calculated  to  purge  Hinduism  of  the 
greatest  evil  that  has  crept  into  it,  without  touching  the 
great  system  of  division  of  work. — Young  India,  :  Feb.  11,  1925. 

THIS  removal  of  untouchability  is  not  to  be  brought 
about  by  any  legal  enactment.  It  will  only  be  brought 
about  when  the  Hindu  conscience  is  roused  to  action, 
and  of  its  own  accord  removes  the  shame.  It  is  a  duty  the 
touchables  owe  to  the  untouchables. 

—Young  India  :  June  30,    1927. 

<$>  <s>  <s> 

IT  is  a  weedy  growth  fit  only  to  be  weeded  out,  as  we 
weed  out  the  weedes  that  we  see  growing  in  wheat  fields  or 
rice  fields,  —  Young  India  :  Oct.  20,  1927. 

I  SPEAK  with  a  due  sense  of  my  resposibility  that  this 
untouchability  is  a  curse  that  is  eating  into  the  vitals  of 
Hinduism,  and  I  often  feel  that  unless  we  take  due  precau- 
tions and  remove  this  curse  from  our  midst,  Hinduism  itself 
is  in  danger  of  destruction.  That  in  this  age  of  reason,  in 
this  age  of  wide  travel,  in  this  age  of  a  comparative  study 
of  religions,  there  should  be  found  people,  some  of  whom 
are  educated,  to  uphold  the  hideous  doctrine  of  treating  a 
single  human  being  as  an  untouchable,  unapproachabe,  or 
wnseeable  because  of  his  birth,  passes  my  comprehension. 
As  a  lay  humble  student  of  Hinduism  and  claiming  to  be 
one  desirous  of  practising  Hinduism  in  the  spirit  and  to  the 
letter  let  me  tell  you  that  1  have  found  no  warrant  or 
support  for  this  terrible  doctrine.  Let  us  not  deceive  our- 
selves into  the  belief  that  everything  that  is  written  in 
Sanskrit  and  printed  in  Shastra  and  has  any  binding  effect 
upon  us.  That  which  is  opposed  to  the  fundamental 
maxims  of  morality,  that  which  is  opposed  to  trained  reason, 


572  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

cannot  be  claimed  as  no  matter  how  ancient  it  may 
be.  There  is  enough  warrant  for  the  proposition  that  I 
have  just  stated  in  the  Vedas,  in  the  Mahabharata  and  in 
the  Bhagad  Gita.  —Young  India  :  Oct.  20,  1927. 

<^  <^  ^> 

LET  me  not  forget  the  so-called  untouchables,  the 
classes  that  we,  Hindus,  have  been  guilty  of  suppressing. 
Shall  we  not  have  the  vision  to  see  that  in  suppressing  a 
sixth  (or  whatever  the  number)  of  ourselves,  we  have  de- 
pressed ourselves  ?  No  man  takes  another  down  a  pit  with- 
out descending  into  it  himself  and  sinning  in  the  bargain. 
It  is  not  the  suppressed  that  sin.  It  is  the  suppressor  who 
has  to  answer  for  his  crime  against  those  whom  he  suppres- 
ses. —Young  India  :  March  29,  1928. 

<$><$>  <3> 

PATIENCE  with  evil  is  really  trifling  with  evil  and 
with  ourselves.  — Young  India  :  Oct.  10,  1927. 

$>    <S>    <:> 

UNTOUCHABILITY  attaching  to  birth  or  calling  is 
an  atrocious  doctrine  repugnant  to  the  religious  sense  of 
man.  —Young  India  :  Oct  3,  1929. 

<£     <$>    <$> 

LET  those  who  are  present  here  today  understand  that 
we  have  not  been  able  yet  to  win  Swaraj  because  of  the 
load  of  sin  that  we  are  still  carrying  on  our  backs.  If  all 
the  so  called  "touchable"  Hindus  did  real  penance  for  hav- 
ing wronged  their  "untouchable"  brethren,  Swaraj  would 
be  automatically  in  our  hands.  And  pray  understand  mei;e 
removal  of  physical  untouchability  does  not  mean  expiation. 
The  removal  of  untouchability  means  the  removel  of  all 
distinctions  of  superiority  and  inferioHty  attaching  to  fc>irth. 
Varnashramadharma  is  a  beautiful  institution,  but  if  it  is 
used  to  buttress  up  social  superiority  of  one  section  over 
another,  it  will  be  a  monstrosity.  Let  removal  of  untouch- 
ability result  from  a  living  conviction  that  all  are  one,  ip 
the  eyes  of  God,  that  the  Father  in  Heaven  will  deal  with,  y$ 
all  with  even-handed  justice.  — Young  India  :  Aug,  63  193J,. 


UNTOUCHABIL1TY  573 

SEPARATE  electorates  to  the  untouchables  will  en- 
sure them  bondage  in  perpetuity.  The  Musalmans  will 
never  cease  to  be  Musalmans  by  having  separate  electorates. 
Do  you  want  the  untouchables  to  remain  "untouchables'* 
for  ever  ?  Well  the  separate  electorates  would  perpetuate 
the  stigma.  What  is  needed  is  destruction  of  untouchability 
and  when  you  have  done  it;  the  bar  sinister  which  has  been 
imposed  by  an  insolent  "superior"  class  upon  an  "inferior" 
class  will  be  destroyed.  When  you  have  destroyed  the  bar 
sinister,  to  whom  will  you  give  the  separate  electorates? 
Look  at  the  history  of  Europe.  Have  you  got  separate 
electorates  for  the  working  classes  or  women  ?  With  adult 
franchise,  you  give  the  untouchables  complete  security. 
Even  the  orthodox  Hindus  would  have  to  approach  them 
for  votes.  —Young  India  :  Nov.  12,  1931. 

<*>  <$>  <$> 

Q,  DON'T  you  think  that  the  whole  Harijan  problem 
is  in  the  last  anaylises  an  economic  problem,  and  that  the 
moment  you  improve  the  Harijans'  economic  status  you 
solve  the  problem  ? 

A.  No.  You  may  solve  the  economic  problem,  but  un- 
happily the  Harijan  problem,  which  is  essentially  that  of 
the  eradication  of  a  disease  in  Hinduism,  will  not  be  solved 
thereby.  Dr.  Ambedkar  who  is  economically  much  better  off 
than  most  of  us  is  still  regarded  as  an  untouchable. 

—Harijan  :  July  4,  1934. 

V 

Vaccination 

I  A  M  and  have  been  for  years  a  confirmed  anti- 
vaccinationist  but  I  recongnise  that  I  must  not  expect 
public  support  for  my  views.  Anti-vaccinaiton  has  no 
backing  from  the  orthodox  medical  opinion.  A  medical  man 
who  expresses  himself  against  vaccination  loses  castCr  Tre- 
mendous pecuniary  interests  too  have  grown  round  vaccina- 
tion. A  sort  6f  temporary  immunity  '  from  small  p6&  i* 


574  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

gained  by  vaccinatio  *  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  small  pox, 
which  the  person  who  has  the  filthy  vaccine  injected  into  his 
body  gets.  It  will  be  thus  to  the  end  of  the  world. 

—  Young  India  :  July  18,   1928. 

Varnashrama  Dharma 

A  FAIR  friend  writes  : 

"A  fellow  traveller  drew  my  attention  to  the  message  of 
yours  to  the  Rajput  Parishad  ofVartej,  By  reading  it,  a 
protest  which  was  lying  suppressed  in  the  subconscious 
level  of  the  mind  made  its  way  to  the  surface  and  claimed 
a  hearing.  Man  is  one  who  does  manan  or  thinking.  So  I 
hope  you  will  be  tolerant  to  a  fellow-thinker  and  give  an 
attentive  hearing  to  thoughts  that  may  run  counter  to  your 
habitual  ones.  These  thoughts  had  occurred  at  the  first 
sight  of  the  Sabarmati  Ashram  with  its  weaving  shed  in  1920 
had  disappeared  and  reappeared  off  and  one,  till  of  late 
they  have  been  busy  building  a  permanent  abode  in  my 
mind  for  which  your  message  to  the  Rajputs  has  supplied 
the  straw  for  the  last  brick. 

"In  a  place  where  the  whole  station  was  lined  from  one 
end  to  the  other  with  volunteers  dressed  in  military  style 
with  swords  hanging  at  their  sides,  where  the  whole  air 
was  redolent  with  reminiscences  of  bravery  and  chivalry 
of  men  of  the  military  caste  of  India,  was  not  your  message 
urging  them  in  a  way  to  substitute  the  music  of  your  wheel 
for  the  music  of  their  sword,  a  preaching  of  the  dharma  of 
of  your  cast  to  all  cast  ad  absurdum  like  the  Christian 
missionary  ?  Should  you  not  rather  like  the  sages  of  ancient 
India  exhort  a  Brahman  to  be  a  true  Brahman,  a  Kshatriya 
to  be  an  ideal  Kahatriya  and  a  Vaisha  to  be  a  model 
Vaisha  ?  The  insignia  of  the  Brahman  is  the  book  or  pen. 


VERNASHRAMA  DHARMA  575 

of  the  Kshatriyha  the  sword,  and  of  the  Vaishya  the  wheel 
or  plough.  You  may  well  pride  yourself  in  being  called  a 
weaver  or  an  agriculturist  as  thereby  you  are  true  to  the 
natural  tendencies  of  your  jati  or  to  Vaishya  dhaima.  But 
why  would  you  a  Hindu  a  believer  in  Varnashrama  princi- 
ples help  in  the  degradation  of  a  Brahman  or  a  Kshatriya 
by  instisting  on  their  accepting  Vashya  dharma  and  rejecting' 
or  neglecting  their  respective  jati  dharmos  ?  Can  a  Kshatriya 
not  serve  and  protect  the  poor  even  in  these  days  but  in  the 
Vaishya  way  ? 

The  great  men  of  India  have  always  upheld  swadharmai 
for  each  individual  temperament.  You  are  the  first  ofi 
them  to  preach  the  throwing  in  of  the  dharmas  of  all  people 
into  the  same  melting  pot  and  thereby  Vaishyaising  the 
whole  nation.  Uplift  the  Vaishyas  by  all  means  but  pray 
do  not  pull  the  Brahmans  and  the  Kshatriyas  by  their  leg&> 
Spiritualise  your  caste  people  but  do  not  materialise  the 
men  of  other  casts  by  turning  them  into  spinners  and* 
weavers  with  the  spell  of  your  personality.  To  my  think- 
ing a  Vinoba  and  a  Balkoba  would  have  rendered  more 
potent  service  to  the  nation  as  pure  Brahmans  with  their 
intellects  fully  developed  rather  than  as  spiritual  weavers 
which  you  have  turned  them  into." 

I  have  not  reproduced  the  whole  of  the  letter  but  1 
have  given  the  cream  of  it.  The  rest  is  a  commentary  on 
the  extract  quoted  by  me.  The  friend  is  born  and  claims 
to  be  a  Hindu  even  as  I  claim  to  be  one.  As  I  have 
regarded  spinning  to  be  superior  to  sectional  reli- 
gions, I  had  hoped  that  I  would  not  be  misunderstood 
by  cultured  friends.  But  it  was  not  to  be.  The  friend  teJJs 
me  she  is  not  the  only  one  to  oppose  the  charkha.  1  must 
therefore  endeavour  patiently  to  examine  the  argument.  I 
have  noted  in  the  course  of  my  journalistic  experience  dat- 
ing from  1904  that  most  of  the  criticism  received  by  editors  is 
based  upon  an  imperfect  understanding  of  an  opponent's, 
statement.  In  the  case  in  point  if  only  the  friend  bad 


576        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

borne  in  mind  that  I  had  presented  that  mess- 
age of  the  wheel  not  to  be  Hindus  alone  but  to  all  Indians 
<withont  exception,  to  men  and  women,  to  Mussalmans, 
Parsis,  Chiristians,  Jews,  Sikhs  and  all  others  who  claimed 
to  be  Indians,  she  would  have  written  differently.  She 
would  then  have  inferred  that  I  had  placed  before  the 
people  of  India  something  which  not  only  did  not  come  in 
conflict  with  the  several  religions  but  which  in  so  far  as  it 
was  taken  up,  added  lusture  to  one's  own  religion  and  in 
Hinduism  to  one's  own  varna  or  caste.  Mine  therefore  I 
claim  to  be  a  method  not  of  confusion  but  cleansing.  I 
ask  no  one  to  forsake  his  own  hereditary  dharma  or  occu- 
pation but  I  ask  every  one  to  add  spinning  to  his  natura- 
occupation.  The  Rajputs  of  Kathiawad  knew  this. 
They  asked  me  whether  I  wanted  them  to  give  up  their 
swords.  I  told  them  I  wanted  them  to  do  no  such  thing. 
On  the  contrary,  I  added,  I  wanted  each  one  of  them  to 
possess  a  trusty  sword  so  long  as  long  as  they  believed  in  it. 
But  I  certainly  told  them  that  my  ideal  Rajput  was  he 
who  defended  without  the  sword  and  who  died  at  his  post 
without  killing  A  sword  may  be  snatched  from  one,  not 
so  the  bravery  to  die  without  striking.  But  this  is  by  the 
way.  For  my  purpose,  it  is  enough  to  show  that  the  Raj- 
puts were  not  to  give  up  their  calling  of  protecting  the 
weak.  Nor  do  T  want  the  Brahman s  to  give  up  their 
vocation  as  teachers  I  have  suggested  to  th£m  that  they 
become  better  teachers  for  sacrificial  spinning.  Vinoba 
and  Balkoba  are  better  Brahmans  for  having  become  spin- 
ners and  weavers  and  scavengers.  Their  knowledge  is 
more  digested.  A  Brahman  is  one  who  knows  God.  Both 
these  fellow-workers  are  nearer  to  God  today  by  reason  of 
their  having  felt  for  and  identified  themselves  through  spin- 
ning with  the  starving  millions  of  India.  Divine  knowledge 
is  not  borrowed  from  books.  It  has  to  be  realised  in  one- 
self. Books  are  at  best  an  aid,  often  even  a  hindrance.  A 
learned  Brahman  had  to  learn  divine  wisdom  from  a  God- 
fearing butcher. 


VARNASHRAM  A  DHAKMA  577 

What  is  this  Varnashrama  ?  It  is  not  a  system  of 
watertight  compartments.  It  is  a  recognition  to  me  of  a 
scientific  fact  whether  we  know  it  or  not.  A  Brahman  is 
not  only  a  teacher.  He  is  only  predominantly  that.  But 
a  Brahman  who  refuses  to  labour  will  be  voted  down  as  an 
idiot.  The  Rishis  of  old  who  lived  in  the  forests  cut  and 
fetched  wood,  tended  cattle  and  even  fought.  But  their  pur- 
suit in  life  was  pre-eminently  search  after  Truth.  Similarly  a 
Rajput  without  learning  was  good  for  nothing  no  matter  how 
well  he  wielded  the  sword.  And  a  Vaishya  without  divine 
knowledge  sufficient  for  his  own  growth  will  be  a  veritable 
monster  eating  into  the  vitals  of  society  as  many  modern 
Vaishyas  whether  of  the  East  or  the  West  have  become. 
They  are,  according  to  the  Gita  'incarnations  of  sin  who 
live  only  for  themselves.'  The  spinning  wheel  is  designed 
to  wake  up  every  one  to  a  sense  of  his  duty.  It  enables 
everyone  better  to  fulfil  his  dharma  or  duty.  When  a  vessel 
is  running  on  smooth  waters,  work  on  board  is  exquisitly 
•divided.  But  when  it  is  caught  in  the  grip  of  a  violent 
storm  and  is  about  to  sink,  every  one  has  to  give  a  helping 
hand  to  the  necessary  work  of  life-saving. 

Let  us  also  bear  in  mind  that  with  the  rest  of  the  world 
India  finds  herself  in  the  deadly  coil  of  the  mercantile 
cobra.  It  is  a  nation  of  shop-keeping  soldiers  that  claims 
to  rule  her.  It  will  tax  all  the  resources  of  all  her  best 
Brahmans  to  unwind  India  from  that  coil.  Her  learned  men 
and  her  soldiers  will  therefore  have  to  bring  their  learning 
and  their  prowess  to  bear  upon  the  mercantile  require- 
ments of  India.  They  must  therefore,  in  order  to  be  able 
faithfully  to  carry  out  their  dharma,  learn  and  practise 
spinning. 

Nor  have  I  the  least  hesitation  in  recommending  hand- 
weaving  as  a  bread  winning  occupation  to  all  who  are  in 
need  of  an  honest  occupation.  To  the  Brahmans,  the 
Kshalnyas  and  others,  who  are  at  the  present  momemt 
not  following  their  hereditary  occupation  but  are  Engaged 


578         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

in  the  mad  rush  for  riches,  I  present  the  honest  and  (for 
them)  selfless  toil  of  the  weaver  and  invite  them  with  a 
view  to  returning  to  their  respective  dharmas  to  be  satisfied 
with  what  little  the  handloom  yields  to  them.  Just  as  eat- 
ing, drinking,  sleeping  etc.  are  common  to  all  castes  and 
all  religions,  so  must  spinning  be  common  to  all  without 
exception  whilst  the  confusion,  selfish  greed  and  resulting 
pauperism  persist.  Mine  therefore,  is  a  method  not  of  mak- 
ing Varnasankara— confusion  worse  confounded — but  it  is 
one  of  making  Varnashram-cleansing  more  secure* 

—Young  India  :  Sep,  22,  1927. 

<§>  <s>  <s> 

IN  his  speech  at  Cuddalore,  Gandhiji  spoke  at  length 
on  the  Brahman  Non-Brahman  problem  : 

You  have  drawn  my  attention  to  the  existence  of  the 
dissensions  between  the  Brahmans  and  the  Non-Brahmans? 
and  asked  nee  to  find  out  a  solution.  As  a  Non-Brahman 
myself,  if  I  could  remove  the  dissensions  by  forfeiting  my 
life,  I  should  do  so  this  very  moment.  But  God  is  a  very 
hard  taskmaster.  He  is  never  satisfied  with  fire-works 
display.  His  mills,  although  they  grind  surely  and  incessant- 
ly, grind  excruciatingly  slow,  and  He  is  never  satisfied  with 
hasty  forfeitures  of  life.  It  is  a  sacrifice  of  the  purest  that 
He  demands,  and  so  you  and  I  have  prayerfully  to  plod  on, 
live  out  the  life  so  long  as  it  is  vouchsafed  to  us  to  live  it.  I 
have  said,  only  very  recently  in  Madras,  that  whenever  you 
want  me  to  take  part  in  your  deliberations,  or  want  me  to 
advise  you,  you  will  find  me  at  your  disposal.  I  have  no 
clear-cut  solution  for  this  difficult  question.  I  confess  to 
you,  that  I  do  not  even  now  know  the  points  of  differences 
between  the  two.  I  tried  to  draw  out  some  Non-Brahmans, 
who  came  to  me  on  Nandi  Hill,  and  they  promised  to  see 
me  in  my  tour  and  place  all  the  points  of  difference  before 
me.  I  must  confess  to  you  that  I  am  no  wiser  about  the 
Bra hn: an  side  of  the  question.  And  will  as  the  Brahmans 


VARNASHRAM  A  DHARMA  570 

are,  I  admit  they  have  not  told  me  what  the  differences  are, 
fully  well  knowing  what  my  opinion  would  be  about  all 
these  questions.  As  you  are  aware,  though  a  Non-Brahman 
myself  I  have  lived  more  with  them  and  amongst  them 
than  amongst  Non-Brahmans,  and  on  that  account 
some  of  my  Non-Brahman  friends  suspect  me  of  having 
taken  all  my  colouring  from  Brahman  friends.  I  have 
a  shrewd  suspicion,  that  the  Non-Brahman  friends  consider 
that  I  am  not  to  be  accepted  as  a  hope  for  a  proper  solution 
and  so  I  find  myself  in  the  happy  position  of  being 
isolated  by  both  the  parties,  a  position  which  in  the  present 
state  of  my  health  suits  me  admirably.  But  all  the  same 
I  give  you  my  assurance  that  I  for  my  part  hold  myself  in 
readiness  to  be  wooed  by  either  party.  And  I  assure  you  too, 
that  I  shall  not  plead  physical  unfitness. 

But  I  have  for  both  the  parties  two  counsels  of  perfec- 
tion which  I  can  lay  before  you.  To  the  Brahman  I  will 
say  :  "Seeing  that  you  are  repositories  of  all  knowledge  and 
embodiments  of  sacrifice  and  that  you  have  chosen  the  life 
of  mendicancy,  give  up  all  that  the  Non-Brahman  wants 
and  be  satisfied  with  that  they  may  leave  for  you/'  But 
the  modern  Brahman  would,  I  know,  summarily  reject  my 
Non- Brahman  interpretation  of  his  dharma.  To  the  Notf- 
Brahman  I  say  :  "Seeing  that  you  have  got  numbers  on 
your  side,  seeing  that  you  have  got  wealth  on  your  side, 
what  is  it  that  you  are  worrying  about  ?  Resisting  as  you 
are,  and  as  you  must,  untouchability,  do  not  be  guilty  of 
creating  a  new  untouchability  in  your  midst.  In  your  haste, 
in  your  blindness,  in  your  anger  against  the  Brahmans,  you 
are  trying  to  trample  under  foot  the  whole  *  of  the  culture 
which  you  have  inherited  from  ages  past.  With  a  stroke  of 
the  pen,  may  be  at  the  point  of  the  sword,  you  are  impatient 
to  rid  Hinduism  of  its  bed-rock.  Being  dissatisfied  and 
properly  dissatisfied  with  the  husk  of  Hinduism,  you  are  in 
danger  of  losing  even  the  kernel,  life  itself.  You  in  your 
impatience  seem  to  think  that  there  is  absolutely  nothing  to, 


580          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

be  said  about  Varnashrama.  Some  of  you  are  ready  even  to 
think  that  in  defending  Varnashrama  I  am  also  labouring 
under  a  delusion.  Make  no  mistake  about  it.  They  who  say 
this  have  not  even  taken  the  trouble  of  understanding  what  I 
mean  by  Varnashrama" 

It  is  universal  law,  stated  in  so  many  words  by  Hindu- 
ism. It  is  a  law  of  spiritual  economics.  Nations  of  the  West 
and  Islam  itself  unwittingly  are  obliged  to  follow  that  law. 
It  has  nothing  to  do  with  superiority  or  inferiority.  The 
customs  about  eating,  drinking  and  marriage  are  no  integral 
part  of  Varnashrama  Dharma.  It  was  a  law  discovered  by 
your  ancestors  and  my  ancestors,  the  rishis  who  saw  that  if 
they  were  to  give  the  best  part  of  their  lives  to  God  and  to 
the  world,  and  not  to  themselves,  they  must  recognise  that 
it  is  the  law  of  heredity.  It  is  a  law  designed  to  set  free 
man's  energy  for  higher  pursuits  in  life.  What  true  Pson- 
Brahmans  should  therefore  set  about  doing  is  not  to  under- 
mine the  very  foundations  on  which  they  are  sitting,  but  to 
clean  all  the  sweepings  they  have  gathered  on  the  founda- 
tion and  make  it  perfectly  clean.  Fight  by  all  means  the 
monster  that  passes  for  Varnashrama  to-day,  and  you  will 
find  me  working  side  by  side  with  you.  My  Varnashrama 
enables  me  to  dine  with  anybody  who  will  give  me  clean 
food,  be  he  Hindu*  Muslim,  Christian,  Parsi,  whatever  he  is. 
My  Varnashrama  accommodates  a  pariah  girl  under  my  own 
roof  as  my  own  daughter.  My  Varnashrama  accommodates 
maay  Panchama  families  with  whom  I  dine  with  the 
greatest  pleasure,— to  dine  with  whom  is  a  privilege.  My 
Varnashrama  refuses  to  bow  the  head  before  the  grea- 
test potentate  on  earth,  but  my  Varnashrama  compels  me  to 
bow  down  my  head  in  all  humility  before  knowledge,  before 
purity,  before  every  person,  where  I  see  God  face  to  face. 
Do  not  therefore  swear  by  words  that  have,  at  the  present 
moment  become  absolutely  meaningless  and  obsolete.  Swear 
all  you  are  worth,  if  you  like,  against  Brahmans  but  never 
against  Brahmanism,  and  even  at  the  risk  of  being  under- 


VEGETARIANISM  581 

stood  or  being  mistaken  by  you   to   be  a   pro-Brahman,     I 
make   bold   to   declare   to  you  that  whilst  Brahmans  have 
many  sins  to  atone  for,  and  many  for  which  they  will  receive 
exemplary  punishments,  there    are  to-day  Brahmans  living 
in  India  who  are  watching   the  progress   of  Hinduism  and 
who  are  trying  to  protect  it  with  all  the   piety   and   all   the 
austerity  of  which  they  are  capable.     Them  you  perhaps  do 
not  even  know.     They   do  not   care   to  be  known.   ^  They 
expect  no  reward,  they  ask  for  none.     Their  work  is  its  own 
reward.     They  work  in  this  fashion  because  they   must.      It 
is  their  nature.     You  and  I  may  swear  against  them   for  all 
we  are  worth,  but  they  are  untouched.     Do   not   run   away 
with  the  beleif  that  I  am  putting  in    a   plea  for  Brahmans, 
Vakils  and    Ministers  and  even  Justices  of  the  High   Courts 
in   India.     I  have   not    thought  of  them  in  my  mind  at  all. 
What,  therefore,    both  Brahmans   and   Non-Brahmans  and 
for  that  matter  everybody  who  wants  India  to  progress  has 
to  do,  is  to  sweep  his  own  house  clean.       I  therefore  suggest 
to  Non-Brahmans,  who   have   not   yet   lost   their   heads,  to 
think  out  clearly  what  it  is  that  they  are  grieved    over,  and 
make  up  your  minds  and  fight  for  all  they  are  worth  to  re- 
move those  grievances.    I  recognise  however  that  I  have  thil 
evening  entered  upon  an  academic  discussion.      Not  know* 
ing  the  merits  of  their  quarrels,  I  do  nothing  else.      But  in 
my   own   humble   opinion,   I   have   indicated   the  lines  of 
action  for  both   and  within  the   limits  of  your  capacity, 
it  is  open  to   you  to   make  use  of  it  in  any  manner  you* 
like. 

Vegetarianism 

THE  real  seat  of  taste  is  not  the  tongue  but  the  mind. 
— My  Experiments  with  Truth  :  Page  77. 

ABSTEMIOUSNESS  from  intoxicating  drinks  and 
drugs,  and  from  all  kinds  of  foods,  especially  meat, 
is  undoubtedly  a  great  aid  to  the  evolution  of  the  spirit,  but 
it  is  by  no  means  an  end  in  itself.  Many  a  man  eating  meat 


582          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

and  with  everybody,  but  living  in  the  fear  of  God  is  nearer  his 
freedom  than  a  man  religiously  abstaining  from  meat  and 
many  other  things,  but  blaspheming  God  in  every  one  of 
his  acts.  —Young  India  :  Sept.  29,  1920. 

IT  is  generally  known  that  I  am  a  taunch  vegetarian 
and  food  reformer.  But  it  is  not  equally  generally  known  that 
Ahmisa  extends  a?  much  to  human  beings  as  to  lower  ani- 
mals and  that  I  freely  associate  with  meat-eaters. 

I  would  not  kill  a  human  being  for  protecting  a  cow,  as 
I  will  not  kill  a  cow  for  saving  a  human  life,  be  it  ever  so 
precious.  Needless  to  say  I  have  authorised  no  one  to 
preach  vegetarianism  as  a  part  of  Non-Co-operation. 

—Young  India  :  May  18,  1921. 

I  DO  not  regard  flesh-food  as  necessary  for  us  at  any 
stage  and  under  any  clime  in  which  it  is  possible  for  human 
beings  ordinarily  to  live.  I  hold  flesh-food  to  be  unsuited  to 
our  species  We  err  in  copying  the  lower  animal  world  if 
we  are  superior  to  it.  Experience  teaches  that  animal  food  is 
unsuited  to  those  who  would  curb  their  passions. 

But  it  is  wrong  to  over  estimate  the  importance  of  food 
in  the  formation  of  character  or  in  subjugating  the  flesh. 
Diet  is  a  powerful  factor  not  to  be  neglected.  But  to  sum 
up  all  religion  in  terms  of  diet,  as  is  often  done  in  India,  is  as 
wrong  as  it  is  to  disregard  all  restraint  in  regard  to  diet  and 
to  give  full  reins  to  one's  appetite.  Vegetarianism  is  one  of 
the  priceless  gifts  of  Hinduism.  It  may  not  be  lightly  given 
up.  It  is  necessary  therefore  to  correct  the  error  that  vege- 
tarianism has  made  us  weak  in  mind  or  body  or  passive  or 
inert  in  action.  The  greatest  Hindu  reformers  have  been 
the  activest  in  their  generation  and  they  have  invariably 
been  vegetarians.  Who  could  show  greater  activity  than  say 
Sfcankara  or  Dayanand  in  their  times  ? 

—Young  India  :  Oct.  7,  1926. 


VESTED  INTEREST  583 

THE  golden  rule  to  be  observed  always  in  this  connec- 
tion is  that  you  can  never  be  too  severe  in  dealing  with 
yourself  but  you  must  be  deliberately  liberal  in  judging 
others.  For,  experience  has  shown  that  no  matter  how 
severe  we  may  try  to  be  with  regard  to  ourselves,  we  shall, 
in  the  result,  still  be  found  to  have  acted  partially  towards 
ourselves,  for  the  simple  reason  that  our  unconscious  bias 
always  prepossesses  us  in  our  favour  and  seldom  allows  the 
test  to  be  carried  beyond  our  capacity  for  endurance.  But 
in  the  case  of  others  we  do  not  know  their  weaknesses  and 
limitations,  which  are  known  only  to  God  who  alone  can 
read  our  hearts.  There  is  therefore  always  a  danger,  with 
all  our  desire  to  be  liberal,  of  our  being  betrayed  into  a 
hollow  harshness  and  intolerance  when  we  proceed  to  apply 
our  personal  standards  to  others  ;  and  paradoxical  though  it 
may  sound,  the  more  liberal,  the  more  patient,  the  more 
considerate  we  are  in  such  cases,  the  quicker  the  results  are 
likely  to  be  ;  they  will  certainly  be  more  permanent  and 
lasting.  —  Harijan  :  March  1,  1937* 

Vested  Interest 

EVERYONE  who  knows  anything  of  public  finance 
knows  how  extravagant  this  Government  is  and  how  heavy 
is  the  load  of  debts  that  is  crushing  the  nation.  Everyone 
knows  also  what  concessions  have  been  given  to  foreigners  in 
utter  disregard  of  the  national  interest.  These  cannot 
demand,  dare  not  expect  recognition  from  Independent  India 
under  the  much  abused  name  of  vested  interests.  All  vested 
interests  are  not  entitled  to  protection.  The  keeper  of  a 
gambling  den  or  of  a  brothel  has  no  vested  interest.  Nor 
has  a  Corporation  that  gambles  away  the  fortunes  of  a 
nation  and  reduces  it  to  impotence. 

—Toung  India  :  Jan.  9,  1930. 

IF  we  contemplate  examining  so-called  vested  rights 
in  the  light  of  India's  interests,  it  is  not  because  of  racial 


584          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

prejudice  but  because  of  vital  necessity.     Their  vested  rights 
may  not  smother  nascent  indigenous  enterprise. 

—Young  India  :  April  16,  1931. 

Vice 

WRONG  like  vice  flourishes  in  secrecy.  It  dies  of  sun 
light.  -  Toung  India  :  Feb.  2,  1922. 

<s>  <$><$> 

IT  is  easier  for  the  average  man  to  run  away  from  evil 
than  remain  in  it  and  still  remain  unaffected  by  it.  Many 
men  can  shung  gog-shops  and  remain  tea-totallers,  but  not 
many  can  remain  in  these  pestilential  places  and  avoid  the 
contagion.  — Toung  India  :  Aug.  6,  1925. 

<$><§><$> 

VICE  pays  a  homage  to  virtue,  and  sometimes  the  way 
it  chooses  is  to  expect  virtue,  not  to  fall  from  its  pedestal 
even  whilst  vice  is  rampant  round  about. 

—Toung  India  :  Jan.  16,  1930. 

^S       ^o       <§> 

CRIME  and  vice  generally  require  darkness  for  prowl- 
ing. They  disappear  when  light  plays  upon  them. 

—Harijan  :  Dec.  31,  1933. 

Villages 

WE  have  /until  a  little  ago  concentrated  on  work 
in  cities  and  we  have  arranged  our  plans  according  to 
the  needs  of  cities.  We  have  to  reverse  the  process  now. 
The  cities  are  capable  of  taking  care  of  themselves.  It  is 
the  villages  we  have  to  turn  to.  We  have  to  disburse  them 
of  their  prejudices,  their  superstitions,  their  narrow  outlook 
and  we  can  do  so  in  no  other  manner  than  that  of  staying 
amongst  them  and  sharing  their  joys  and  sorrows  and 
spreading  education  and  intelligent  information  amongst 
them.  —  Toung  India  :  April  30,  1931. 


VIOLENCE  585 

I  HAVE  been  saying  that  if  untouchability  stays, 
Hinduism  goes  ;  even  so  I  would  say  that  if  the  village 
perishes  India  will  perish  too.  It  will  be  no  more  India. 
Her  own  mission  in  the  world  will  get  lost.  The  revival  of 
the  village  is  possible  only  when  it  is  no  more  exploited. 
Industrialization  on  a  mass  scale  will  necessarily  lead  to 
passive  or  active  exploitation  of  the  villagers  as  the  problems 
of  competition  and  marketing  come  in.  Therefore  we  have 
to  concentrate  on  the  village  being  self-contained,  manufac- 
turing mainly  for  us.  Provided  this  character  of  the 
village  industry  is  maintained,  there  would  be  no  objection 
to  villagers  using  even  the  modern  machines  and  tools  that 
they  can  make  and  can  aftord  to  use.  Only  they  should  not 
be  used  as  a  means  of  exploitation  of  others. 

—Harijan  :  Aug.  29,  1936. 
<$><$><$> 

INDIA  lives  in  her  villages,  not  in  her  cities. 

—Harijan  :  Sept.  19,  1936. 

<s>  <$>  <§> 

THE  key  to  Swaraj  is  not  with  the  cities  but  with  the 
villages.  When  I  succeed  in  ridding  the  villages  of  their 
poverty,  I  have  won  Swaraj  for  you  and  for  the  whole  of 
India.  —Harijan:  Nov.  11,  1936. 

Violence 

BRUTE  force  has  been  the  ruling  factor  in  the  world 
for  thousands  of  years,  and  mankind  has  been  reaping  its 
bitter  harvest  all  along.  He  who  runs  may  read.  There 
is  little  hope  of  anything  good  coming  out  of  it  in  the 
future.  If  light  can  come  out  of  darkness,  then  alone  can 
love  emerge  from  hatred. 

— Satyagraha  in  South  Africa  :  Page  289 

IF  India  makes  violence  her  creed  and  I  have  survived, 
I  would  not  care  to  live  in  India.  She  will  cease  to  evoke 
any  pride  in  me.  My  patriotism  is  subservient  to  my  reli- 


586         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

gion.  I  cling  to  India  like  a  child  to  its  mother's  breast, 
because  I  feel  that  she  gives  me  the  spiritual  nourishment  I 
need.  She  has  the  environment  that  responds  to  my  highest 
aspiration.  When  that  faith  is  gone,  I  shall  feel  like  an 
orphan  without  hope  of  ever  finding  a  guardian.  Then 
the  snowy  solitude  of  the  Himalaya  must  give  what  rest  it 
:an  to  my  bleeding  soul.  —Young  India  :  April  6,  1922. 

<*>  <s>  <s> 

TO  use  violence  for  securing  rights  may  seem  an  easy 
path,  but  it  proves  to  be  thorny  in  the  long  run.  Those 
who  live  by  the  sword  die  also  by  the  sword.  The  swimmer 
often  dies  by  drowning.  —Young  India  :  June  8,  1921. 

EXPERIENCE  convinces  me  that  permanent  good 
can  never  be  the  outcome  of  untruth  and  violence.  Even  if 
my  belief  is  a  fond  delusion,  it  will  be  admitted  that  it  is  a 
fascinating  delusion.  —Young  India  :  Dec.  11,  1924. 

HOWEVER  much  I  may  sympathise  with  and  admire 
worthy  motives,  I  am  an  uncompromising  opponent  of 
violent  methods  even  to  serve  the  noblest  of  causes. 

—Young  India  :  Dec.  11,  1924. 

<$>  <s>  <s> 

JUST  as  certain  as  personal  abuse,  irritating  conduct, 
lying,  causing  hurt  and  murder  are  symbols  of  violence, 
similarly  courtesy,  inoffensive  conduct,  truthfulness  etc.,  are 
symbols  of  non-violence.  —Young  India  :  Dec.  26,  1924. 

EVEN  if  I  was  assured  that  we  could  have  independence 
by  means  of  violence,  I  should  refuse  to  have  it.  It  wont 
be  real  independence.  —Harijan  :  Feb.  13,  1937. 

I  DO  not  believe  in  eradicating  evil  from  the  human 
breast  at  point  of  bayonet.  The  human  breast  does 
aot  lend  itself  to  that  means.  —Harijan  :  March  13,  1937. 


VIRTUE  587 

Virtue 

THE  world,  though  not  itself  virtuous  pays  an  uncons- 
cious homage  to  virtue.  — Toung  India  :  Feb.  2,  1928« 

<$><$»<$> 

LET  us  not  seek  to  prop  virtue  by  imagining  hellish 
torture  after  death  for  vice  and  houris  hereafter  as  a  reward 
for  virtue  in  this  life.  If  virtue  has  no  attraction  in  itself 
it  must  be  a  poor  thing  to  be  thrown  away  on  the  dung 
heap.  Nature,  I  am  convinced  is  not  so  cruel  as  she  seems 
to  us,  who  are  so  often  filled  with  cruelty  ourselves.  Both 
heaven  and  hell  are  within  us.  Life  after  Death  there  is, 
but  it  is  net  so  unlike  our  present  experiences  as  either  to 
terrify  us  or  make  us  delirious  with  joy.  'He  is  steadfast 
who  rises  above  joy  and  sorrow.'  says  the  Gita.  'The  wise 
are  unaffected  either  by  death  or  life.  These  are  but  faces 
of  the  same  coin/  — Young  India  :  Oct.  25,  1928. 

<$>    <$>    <3>  ir 

THERE  comes  a  time  in  man's  life  when  virtue  itself 
becomes  vice.  Virtue  which  was  virtue  in  its  time,  when  torn 
from  the  purpose  to  which  it  was  dedicated,  becomes  vice. 

If  our  liberty  of  speech  is  chocked,  the  movement  for 
the  freedom  of  our  country  from  bondage  is  choked.  Then 
.;he  virtue  of  sell-restraint  is  going  to  become  vice. 

—Harijan  :  Sept.  22,  1940. 

<s>  <$>  <$> 

TO  trast  is  a  virtue.    It  is  weakness  that  begets  distrust. 

—Young  India  :  Dec.  31,  1919  . 
<$>     <$> 

We  should  cease  to  grow  the  moment  we  cease  to  dis- 
criminate between  virtue  and  vice. 

— Young  India  :  Sept.  15,  1921. 

Voters 

MY  attempt  is  to  point  out  that  we  need  an  electorate, 
which  is  impartial,  independent  and  intelligent.  If  the 


588          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANBHI 

electors  do  not  interest  themselves  in  national  aflfcirs  and 
remain  unconcerned  with  what  goes  on  in  their  midst,  and 
if  they  elect  men  with  whom  they  have  private  relations  or 
Whose  aid  they  need  for  themselves,  this  state  of  things  can 
do  no  good  to  the  country  ;  on  the  contrary,  it  will  be 
harmful.  —Young  India  :  June  9,  1920^ 

Vows 

INTERPRETATION  of  pledges  has  been  a  fruitful 
source  of  strife  all  the  world  over  no  matter  how  explicit 
the  pledge,  people  will  turn  and  twist  the  test  to  suit  their 
own  purposes.  They  are  to  be  met  with  among  all  classes  of 
society,  from  which  the  rich  down  to  poor,  from  the  prince 
down  to  the  peasant.  Selfishness  turns  them  blind,  and 
by  the  use  of  the  ambiguous  middle  they  deceive  themselves 
and  seek  to  deceive  the  world  and  God.  One  golden  rule 
is  to  accept  the  interpretation  honestly  put  on  the  pledge  by 
the  party  administering  it.  Another  is  to  accept  the  inter- 
pretation of  the  weaker  party,  where  there  are  two  interpre- 
tations possible.  Rejection  of  these  two  rules  gives  rise  to 
strife  and  inequity  which  are  rooted  in  untruthfulness.  He 
who  seeks  truth  alone  easily  follows  the  golden  rule.  He 
need  not  seek  learned  advice  for  interpretation. 

— My  Experiments  with  Truth  :  Page  79* 
<&    ^»    «£> 

THE  importance  of  vows  grew  upon  me  more  clearly 
than  ever  before.  I  realized  that  a  vow,  far  from  closing 
the  door  to  real  freedom,  opened  it.  Upto  this  time  I  had  not 
met  with  success  because  the  will  had  been  lacking,  because 
I  had  no  faith  in  myself,  no  faith  in  the  grace  of  God,  and 
therefore  my  mind  had  been  tossing  on  the  bosterous  sea  of 
doubt.  I  realized  that  in  refusing  to  take  a  vow,  man  was 
drawn  into  temptations,  and  that  to  be  bound  by  a  vow 
was  like  a  passage  from  liberatism  to  a  real  monogamous 
marriage.  I  believe  in  effort,  I  do  not  want  to  bind  myself 
with  the  vows,  is  the  mentality  of  weakness  and  betrays  a 


VOWS  589 

subtle  desire  for  the  thing  to  be  avoided  or  where  can  be  the 
difficulty  in  making  a  final  decision.  I  vow  to  flee  from  the 
serpent  which  I  know  will  bite  me,  I  do  not  simply 
make  an  effort  to  flee  from  him.  I  know  that  mere  effort 
may  mean  certain  death,  mere  effort  means  ignorance  of  the 
certain  fact  that  the  serpent  is  bound  to  kill  me.  The  fact, 
therefore,  that  I  could  rest  content  with  an  effort  only, 
means  that  I  have  not  yet  clearly  realized  the  necessity  of 
definite  action.  'But  supposing  my  views  are  changed  m  the 
future,  how  can  I  bind  myself  by  a  vow  ?'  such  a  doubt 
often  deters  us.  But  that  doubt  also  betrays  a  lack  of  clear 
perception  that  a  particular  thing  must  be  renounced. 
That  is  why  Nishkulanand  has  sung. 

^Renunciation  without  aversion  is  not  lasting.1 

Where  therefore  the  desire  is  gone,  a  vow  of  renuncia" 
tion  is  the  natural  and  inevitable  fruit. 

— My  Experiments  with  Truth  :  Page  255. 

<$><$>    <^ 

PERSONALLY  I  hold  that  a  man,  who  deliberately  and 
intelligently  takes  a  pledge  and  then  breaks  it,  forfeits  his 
manhood.  And  just  as  a  copper  coin  treated  with  mercury 
not  only  becomes  valueless  when  found  out  but  also  makes 
its  owner  liable  to  punishment,  in  the  same  way  a  man  who 
lightly  pledges  his  word  and  then  breaks  it  becomes  a 
man  of  straw  and  fit$  himself  for  punishment  here  as  well  as 
hereafter.  — Sataygraha  in  South  Africa  :  Page  165, 

<$>    <S>    <£> 

I  KNOW  that  pledges  and  vows  are,  and  should  be, 
taken  on  rare  occasions.  A  man  who  takes  a  vow  every 
now  and  then  is  sure  to  stumble. 

— Salayagraha  in  South  Africa  :  Page  116. 

3>    <S>    <S> 

WHEN  once  a  man  has  pledged  himself  he  need  not 
hesitate  to  pledge  himself  a  hundred  times.  But  yet  it  is  no 


590         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

uncommon  experience  to  find  men  weakening  in  regard  to» 
pledges  deliberately  taken  and  getting  perplexed  when  asked 
to  put  down  a  verbal  pledge  in  black  and  white. 

— Satayagraha  in  South  Africa  :  Page  186. 

<S>    3>    0 

A  VOW  is  a  purely  religious  act  which  cannot  be 
taken  in  a  fit  of  passion.  It  can  be  taken  only  with 
a  mind  purified  and  composed  and  with  God  as 
witncss.  —Toung  India  :  Jan.  21,  1919. 

ACTS  which  are  not  possible  by  ordinary  self-denial, 
become  possible  with  the  aid  of  vows  which  require 
extraordinary  self-denial.  It  is  hence  believed  that  vows  can 
only  uplift  us.  —Young  India  :  Jan.  28,  1919. 

<S>    3>    <3> 

IT  is  certainly  better  not  to  take  a  vow  than  having 
taken  it  to  break  it  ;  one  cannot  be  too  cautious  about  taking 
vows.  But  we  hold  that  the  vast  mass  of  mankind  need  the 
binding  force  of  pledges.  They  build  up  a  man's  character. 
They  are,  on  the  one  hand,  a  recognition  of  the  fickleness  of 
the  human  nature  and,  on  the  other,  an  additional  help  to 
strong  minds.  Every  one  recognises  the  excellent  effect 
produced  by  temperance  pledges.  With  the  support  derived 
from  such  pledges  many  have  succumbed  to  the  temptation 
to  drink.  A  vow  is  fixed  and  unalterable  determination  to 
do  a  thing,  when  such  a  determination  is  related  to  some- 
thing noble  which  can  only  uplift  the  man  who  makes  the 
resolve.  A  vow  is  to  all  other  indifferent  resolves  what  a 
right  angle  is  to  all  other  angles.  And  just  as  a  right  angle 
gives  an  invisible  and  correct  measure,  so  does  a  man  of 
vows,  rightly  followed,  gives  of  himself  an  unvariable  and 
correct  measure.  —  Young  India  :  June  28,  1919. 

ONLY  he  can  take  great  resolves  who  has  indomit- 
able faith  in  God  and  has  fear  of  God. 

— Harijanijuly  17,  1938. 


VOWS  591 

MY  religion  teaches  me  that  a  promise  once  made  or  a 
vow  once  taken  for  a  worthy  object  may  not  be  broken. 

—Young  India:  Sept.  9,  1924. 
<S>    <$>    <3> 

IT  is  easy  enough  to  take  a  vow  under  a  stimulating 
influence.  But  it  is  difficult  to  keep  to  it  especially  in  the 
midst  of  temptation.  —Young  India  :  Jan.  22,  1925. 

<$><$><$> 

MY  own  opinion  and  that  of  many  others  is  that  pro- 
mises or  vows  are  necessary  for  the  strongest  of  us.  A 
promise  is  like  a  right  angle  not  nearly  but  exactly  90 
degrees.  The  slightest  deflection  makes  it  useless  tor  the 
grand  purpose  that  the  right  angle  serves.  A  voluntary 
promise  is  like  a  plumb  line  keeping  a  man  straight  and 
warning  him  when  he  is  going  wrong.  Rules  of  general 
application  do  not  serve  the  same  purpose  as  an  individual 
vow.  We  find  therefore  the  system  of  declaration  followed 
in  all  large  and  well  conducted  institutious.  The  Viceroy 
has  to  take  the  oath  of  office.  Members  of  legislatures  have 
to  do  likewise  all  the  world  over,  and  in  my  opinion  rightly 
so.  A  soldier  joining  an  army  has  to  do  likewise.  More- 
over, a  written  undertaking  reminds  one  of  what  one  has 
promised  to  do.  Memory  is  a  very  frail  thing.  The 
written  word  stands  for  ever. 

—  Young  India  :  Oct.  1,  1925. 

A  CORRESPONDENT  who  seems  to  be  a  regular  and 
careful  reader  of  J\avajiwan  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  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  1  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 


592          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

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  sterner  stuff.  But  when  even  the  acknowledged 
leaders  of  the  country  are  seen  hourly  breaking  their 
resolutions,  what  can  one  expect  from  the  rank  and  life  ? 
What  are  lesser  mortals  like  myself  to  do  ?  Would  you 
kindly  icsolve  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  essential  qualities  ? 
An  agreement  is  nothing  but  a  mutual  interchange  of  vows  ; 
simultaneously  one  enters  into  a  pledge  when  one  gives  one's 
word  to  another. 

In  old  days,  the  word  of  most  of  illustrious  persons 
was  regarded  as  good  as  a  bond.  They  concluded  trans- 
actions involving  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  regu- 
larly 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  and  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 


VOWS  595 

our  calender  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  overweaning  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  forgoe  the  pleasure  of  an  occasional  cup  for 
nothing  ?"  A  person  who  argues  like  this  will  never  be 
weaned  from  his  addiction. 

To  shirk  taking  of  vows  betrays  indecision  and  want  of 
resolution.  One  never  can  achieve  anything  lasting  in  this 
world  by  being  irresolute.  For  instance,  what  faith  can  you 
place  in  a  general  or  a  soldier  who  lacks  resolution  and 
determination,  who  says,  'I  shall  keep  guard  as  long  as  I 
can  ?'  A  householder,  whose  watchman  says  that  he  would 
keep  watch  as  long  as  he  can,  can  never  sleep  in  security. 
No  general  ever  won  victory  by  following  the  principle  of 
being  vigilant  so  long  as  he  could. 

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  un- 
stability,  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 


594          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

vow  can  be  made  conditional  without  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  per- 
formance 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-indul- 
gence, 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  of  the  objection  raised; 
"How  can  I  resign  from  Government  service  when  I  have 
made  a  covenant  with  it  to  serve  it  ?"  Or  again,  "How  can 
I  close  my  liquor  shop  since  I  have  bound  myself  by  contract 
to  run  it  lor  five  years  ?"  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'  of  the  country  and  cited  their 
so-called  fickleness  to  justify  his  position.  This  sort  of 
reasoning  only  betrays  weakness.  Once  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  prefection.  They  occupy  the  position  of  emi- 
nence 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 
hink  of  their  shortcomings.  No  son  can  be  called  a  worthy 
$on  of  his  father  who  only  imbibes  the  shortcomings  of  his 


VOWS  595 

parents  or  pleads  inability  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  unworthy.  A  worthy 
son  is  he  who  would  liquidate  their  debts  and  increase  the 
legacy  left  by  them.  —Young  India  :  Aug.  22,  1929. 

3>    <S>    <3> 

Q.  ALL  agree  that  mechanical  repetition  of  prayers  is  worse 
than  useless.  It  acts  as  an  opiate  on  the  soul.  I  often 
wonder  why  you  encourage  repetition  morning  and 
evening  of  the  eleven  great  vows  as  a  matter  of  routine- 
May  not  this  have  a  dulling  effect  on  the  moral  consci* 
ousness  of  our  boys  ?  Is  there  no  better  way  of  incul . 
eating  these  vows  ? 

A.  Repetitions  when  they  are  not  mechanical  produce 
marvellous  results.  Thus  I  do  not  regard  the  rosary  as  a 
superstition.  It  is  an  aid  to  the  pacification  of  a  wandering 
brain.  Daily  repetition  of  the  vow  falls  under  a  different 
category.  It  is  a  daily  reminder  to  the  earnest  seeker  as  he 
rises  and  retires  that  he  is  under  the  eleven  vows  which  are 
to  regulate  his  conduct.  No  doubt  it  will  lose  its  effect  if  a 
person  repeats  the  vows  mechanically  under  the  delusion 
that  the  mere  repetition  will  bring  him  merit.  You  mac 
ask,  "Why  repeat  the  vows  at  all  ?  You  know  that  you  havy 
taken  them  and  are  expected  to  observe  them."  There  is 
force. in  the  argument.  But  experience  has  shown  that  a 
deliberate  repetition  gives  stimulus  to  the  resolution.  Vows 
are  to  the  weak  mind  and  soul  what  tonics  are  to  a  weak 
body.  Just  as  a  healthy  body  needs  no  tonics,  a  strong  mind 
may  retain  its  healh  without  the  need  of  vows  and  the  daily 
reminder  thereof.  An  examination  of  the  vows  will,  how- 
ever, show  that  most  of  us  are  weak  enough  to  need  their 
assistance.*  —Harijan  :  May  27,  1936. 

Q.     I  AM  a  genuine  seeker  after  brahamacharya.   But  in  spite 
of  all  my  prayerful  effort  I   am    sinking  deeper  and 


5%        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

deeper  into  self-indulgence.  I  cannot  blame  my  part- 
ner for  it.  My  circumstances  do  not  permit  me  to 
enforce  the  rule  about  segregation. 

You  advocate  and  believe  in  the  efficacy  of  vows.  You 
have  said  in  Harijan  that  "for  the  weak  in  mind  and 
soul  vows  are  like  tonics."  But  how  will  you  adminis- 
ter this  tonic  to  a  case  like  mine  who  has  not  the 
strength  of  will  to  carry  out  the  vow  he  has  taken  ? 
Had  I  such  a  strong  will,  the  necessity  for  taking 
vows  would  not  have  arisen. 

A.  Let  me  bluntly  tell  you  that  I  do  not  believe  in  your 
genuineness,  not  that  you  are  wilfully  lying.  You  are  un- 
consciously ungenuinc.  If  you  are  genuine,  you  will  at 
least  observe  the  rules  of  the  game.  You  give  up  your  case 
when  you  say  you  cannot  segregate  yourself  from  your  wife 
for  want  of  room.  I  have  never  heard  such  an  excuse.  If  you 
take  the  vow,  you  must  at  least  produce  the  necessary 
atmosphere  around  you  for  its  observance.  Everyone  who 
has  successfully  carried  out  the  vow  has  invariably  observed 
this  first  condition.  If  you  are  living  in  only  one  room,  you 
should  go  elsewhere  or  send  away  your  wife  or  have  a 
relative  to  sleep  in  the  same  room.  The  question  is  how  "far 
you  are  determined.  It  may  be  that  you  want  to  observe 
brahamacharya  because  you  have  read  much  about  it  and 
would  like  to  be  classed  among  brahamacharis.  I  know  many 
such  young  men.  [f  that  is  your  case,  you  should  not  make 
the  attempt.  One  must  have  a  burning  desire  to  live  that 
life.  If  you  have  it,  you  will  adopt  the  measures  that  all 
aspirants  have  invariably  adopted.  You  are  then  bound  to 
succeed.  —  Harijan  :  June  29,  1940. 

<3>    <*>    <S> 

YOUR  capacity  to  keep  your  vow  will  deperfd  .on  the 
purity  of  your  life.  A  gambler  or  a  drunkard,  or  a  dissolute 
character  can  never  keep  a  vow. 

—Harijan  :  Nov.  11,  1936. 


WESTERN  CIVILIZATION  597 

w 

Western  Civilization 

I  DO  not  think  that  everything  Western  is  to  be  reject- 
ed. I  have  condemned  the  Western  civilisation  in  no  measur- 
ed terms.  I  still  do  so,  but  it  does  not  mean  that  everything 
Western  should  be  rejected.  I  have  learnt  a  great  deal  from 
the  West  and  I  am  grateful  to  it.  I  should  think  myself  un- 
fortunate if  contact  with  and  the  literature  of  the  West  had 
no  influence  on  me.  — Young  India  :  Oct.  21,  19?ft 

<3>    <$>    <$> 

IF  any  one  thinks  that  the  people  in  the  West  are  in- 
nocent of  humanity  he  is  sadly  mistaken.  The  ideal  of  hum- 
anity in  the  West  is  perhaps  lower,  but  their  practice  of  it  is 
very  much  more  thorough  than  ours.  We  rest  content  with 
lofty  ideal  and  are  slow  or  lazy  in  its  practice.  We  are  wrap- 
ped in  deep  darkness,  as  is  evident  from  ,our  impoverished 
cattle  and  other  animals.  They  are  eloquent  of  our  irreligion 
rather  than  of  religion.  —Young  India  :  Oct.  21,  1926, 

<S>     <5>     <S> 

THE  distinguishing  characteristic  of  modern  civilisation 
is  an  indefinite  multiplicity  of  human  wants.  The  charac- 
teristic of  ancient  civilisation  is  an  imperative  restriction 
upon  and  a  strict  regulating  of  these  wants  The  modern  or 
Western  insatiableness  arises  really  from  want  of  a  living 
faith  in  a  future  state  and  therefore  also  in  Divinity.  The 
restraint  of  ancient  or  Eastern  civilisation  arises  from  a 
belief,  often  in  spite  of  ourselves,  in  a  future  state  and  the 
existence  of  a  Divine  Power.  The  record  condensed  above  is 
a  warning,  if  we  will  take  it,  against  a  blind  imitation  of  the 
West,  which  one  sees  so  often  in  the  city  life  of  India  and 
especially  among  the  educated  classes.  Some  of  the  imme- 
diate and  brilliant  results  of  modern  inventions  are  too  mad- 
dening to  resist.  But  I  have  no  manner  of  doubt  that  the 
victory  of  man  lies  in  that  resistance.  We  arc  in  danger  <tf 


598         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

bartering    away    the    permanent    good    for   a   momentary 
pleasure.  — Young  India  :  June  2,  1927. 

<:><$><$> 

WISDOM  is  no  monopoly  of  one  continent  or  one  race. 
My  resistance  to  Western  civilisation  is  really  a  resistance  to 
its  indiscriminate  and  thoughtless  imitation  based  on  the 
assumption  that  Asiatics  are  fit  only  to  copy  everything 
that  comes  from  the  West.  I  do  believe,  that  if  India  has 
patience  enough  to  go  through  the  fire  of  suffering  and  to 
resist  any  unlawful  encroachment  upon  its  own  civilisation 
which,  imperfect  though  it  undoubtedly  is,  has  hitherto 
stood  the  ravages  of  time,  she  can  make  a  lasting  contribu- 
tion to  the  peace  and  solid  progress  of  the  world. 

—Young  India  :  Jan.  12,  1928. 

<S>    <$>    <3> 

THE  whole  of  the  Europen  system  is  based  on  mutual 
distrust  and  fear.  Well  did  Wallace  the  contemporary  of 
Darwin  say  that  the  amazing  material  progress  of  the  West 
made  little  or  no  difference  in  the  moral  condition  of 
the  peoples  of ,  the  West.  Even  liberty  in  many  cases  is  a 
misnomer.  —Toung  India  :  Feb.  14,  1929t. 

<S>    <$>    <3> 

I  WOULD  neartily  welcome  the  union  of  East  and 
West  provided  it  is  not  based  on  brute  force. 

—Toung  India  :  Oct.  1,  1931. 

Wickedness 

ONE  may  detest  the  wickedness  of  a  brother  withou 
hating  him.  Jesus  denounced  the  wickedness  of  the  Scribes, 
and  the  Pharisees,  but  he  did  not  hate  them.  He  did  not 
enunciate  this  law  of  love  for  the  man  and  hate  for  the  evil 
in  him  for  himself  only,  but  he  taught  the  doctrine  for  uni- 
versal practice.  Indeed,  I  find  it  in  all  the  scriptures  of  the 
world.  —  Young  India  :  July  14,  1921. 


WIDOWHOOD  599 

'JUDGE  not  lest  ye  be  judged  is  a  golden  rule.'  Those 
whom  we  regard  as  wicked  as  a  rule  return  the  compliment 
and  in  their  turn  accuse  us  of  what  we  charge  them  with. 
But  here  again  I  quite  grant  the  proposition  that  if  one  re- 
gards another  as  irrevocably  wicked,  one  is  bound  ordinarily 
to  non-co-operate  with  him,  for  unfortunately  many  things 
are  regulated  purely  by  one's  mental  condition.  If  I  mis- 
take a  rope  for  a  snake,  I  am  likely  to  turn  pale  with  fright 
much  to  the  amusement  of  the  bystander  who  knows  that 
it  is  but  a  rope.  —  Young  India  :  Dec.  26,  1924. 

<$>    <$>    <3> 

AFTER  all  no  one  is  wicked  by  nature.     And  if  others 
are  wicked,  are  we  the  less  so  ?  —  Harijan  :  March  30,  1940 

Widowhood 

IF  a  young  man  of  18  being  widowed  could  re-marry 
why  should  not  a  widow  of  that  age,  have  the  same  right  ? 
Voluntary  enlightened  widowhood  is  a  great  asset  for  any 
nation,  as  enforced  ignorant  widowhood  is  a  disgrace. 

—Young  India  :  May  2,  1929. 


.THE  curse  of  every  widow,  who  is  burning  within  to 
re-marry  but  dare  not  for  fear  of  a  cruel  custom,  descends 
upon  Hindu  society  so  long  as  it  keeps  the  widow  under  an 
unforgivable  bondage.  —  Young  India  :  May  2,  1929. 


I  HAVE  repeatedly  said  that  every  widow  has  as  much 
right  to  re-marry  as  every  widower.  Voluntary  widowhood 
is  a  priceless  boon  in  Hinduism;  enforced  widowhood  is  a 
curse.  And  I  very  much  feel  that  many  young  widows; 


600  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

if  they  were  absolutely  free,  not  so  much  from  the  fear  of 
physical  restraint  as  from  the  opprobrium  of  Hindu  public 
opinion,  would  re-marry  without  the  slightest  hesitation. 

—Harijan  :  June  22,  1935. 

Will  Power 

STRENGTH  does  not  come  from  physical  capacity. 
It  comes  from  an  indomitable  will. 

—Young  India  :  Aug.  11,  1920. 

<$>  <s>  <$> 

STREAM  becomes  a  mighty  power  only  when  it  allows 
itself  to  be  imprisoned  in  a  strong  little  reservoir  and  pro- 
duces tremendous  motion  and  carries  huge  weights  by  per 
mining  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  imprisoned,  controlled  and  set 
free  in  strictly  meaured  and  required  quantities. 

—Toung  India  :  Oct.  3,  1929. 

Wisdom 

EVEN  as  wisdom  often  comes  from  the  mouths  of  babes 
so  does  it  often  come  from  the  mouths  of  old  people.  The 
golden  rule  is  to  test  everything  in  the  light  of  reason  and 
experience,  no  matter  from  whom  it  comes. 

—Harijan  :  March  28,  1936. 


NOT  mad  rush,  but  unperturbed  calmness  brings  wis- 
dom. This  maxim  holds  as  true  today  as  when  it  was  first 
propounded  ages  ago.  —Harijan  :  Oct.  12,  1934. 

<$><$><$> 

WISDOM,  it  is  said,  often  comes  from  the  mouths  of 
babes  and  sucklings.  It  may  be  a  poetic  exaggeration,  but 


WOMAN  601 

there  is  no  doubt    that    sometimes   it   does   come     through 
babes.     Experts  polish  it  and  give  it  a  scientific    shape. 

—Harijan  :  Dec.  2,  1937. 


IT  is  unwise  to  be  too  sure  of  one's  own  wisdom.  It 
is  healthy  to  be  reminded  that  the  strongest  might  weaken 
and  the  wisest  might  err.  —  Harijan  :  Feb.  17,  1940. 

Woman 

WOMAN,  I  hold,  is  the  personification  of  self-sacrifice, 
but,  unfortunately,  to-day,  she  does  not  realise  what  a 
tremendous  advantage  she  has  over  man.  As  Tolstoy  used 
to  say,  they  are  labouring  under  the  hypnotic  influence  of 
man.  If  they  would  realise  the  strength  of  non-violence,  they 
would  not  consent  to  be  called  the  weaker  sex. 

—  India's  Case  For  Swaraj  :  Page   401. 


IT  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  a  human  being  with- 
out education  is  not  far  removed  from  an  animal.  Educa- 
tion, therefore,  is  necessary  for  women  as  it  is  for  men.  Kot 
that  the  methods  of  education  should  be  identical  in  both 
cases.  In  the  first  place,  our  State  system  of  education  is 
full  of  error,  and  productive  of  harm  in  many  respects.  It 
should  be  eschewed  by  men  and  women  alike.  Even  if  it 
were  free  from  its  present  blemishes,  I  would  not  regard  it 
as  proper  for  women  from  all  points  of  view.  Man  and 
woman  are  of  equal  rank,  but  they  are  not  indentical. 
They  are  a  peerless  pair,  being  supplementary  to  one 
another;  each  helps  the  other,  so  that  without  the  one  the 
existence  of  the  other  cannot  be  conceived,  and,  therefore, 
it  follows  as  a  necessary  corrollary  from  these  facts,  that 
anything  that  will  impair  the  status  of  either  of  them  will 
involve  the  equal  ruin  of  them  both.  In  framing  any  scheme 


€02          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

of  women's  education,  this  cardinal  truth  must  be  constantly 
kept  in  mind.  Man  is  supreme  in  the  outward  activites  of 
a  married  pair,  and,  therefore,  in  is  the  fitness  of  things 
he  should  have  greater  knowledge  thereof.  On  the 
other  hand,  home  life  is  entirely  the  sphere  of  woman,  and, 
therefore,  in  domestic  affairs,  in  the  upbringing  aud  edu- 
cation of  children,  women  ought  to  have  more  knowledge, 
Not  that  knowledge  should  be  divided  into  watertight  com- 
partments, or  that  some  branches  of  knowledge  should  be 
closed  to  anyone;  but  unless  courses  of  instrucation  are  based 
on  a  discriminating  appreciation  of  these  basic  principles, 
the  fullest  life  of  man  and  woman  cannot  be  developed. 

—  Speeches  and  Writings  of  Mahatma  Gandhi  :  Page  423. 


WOMAN  is  the  companion  of  mant  gifted  with  equal 
mental  capacities.  She  has  the  right  to  participate  in  very 
minutest  detail  in  the  activities  of  man,  and  she  has  an 
equal  right  of  freedom  and  liberty  with  him. 

—  Speeches  and  Writings  of  Mahatma  Gandhi  :  Page  423. 

<3>   <$>   <$> 

I  WILL  far  rather  see  the  race  of  man  extinct  than 
chat  we  should  become  less  than  beasts  by  making  the 
noblest  of  God's  creation  the  object  of  our  lust. 

—  Young  India  :  July  21,  1921. 


WOMAN  must  cease  to  consider  herself  the  object  of 
man's  lust.  The  remedy  is  more  in  her  hands  than  man's. 
She  must  refuse  to  adorn  herself  for  men,  including  her 
husband,  if  she  will  be  an  equal  partner  with  man,  I  can- 
aot  imagine  Sita  ever  wasting  a  single  moment  on  pleasing 


WOMAN  603 

Rama  by  physical  charms.      — Young  India, :  July  21,  1921. 

OUR  one  limb  is  paralysed.  Women  have  gat  to  come 
up  to  the  level  of  man.  As  I  said  to  the  ladies  at  a  meet- 
ing to-day,  they  may  not  copy  man  in  all  the  wildness  of 
his  nature,  but  they  must  come  to  the  level  of  man  in  all 
that  is  best  in  him.  —Toung  India  :  Dec.  1,  1927. 

<s>  <$><$> 

IF  you  want  to  play  yourt  part  in  the  world's  affairs 
you  must  refuse  to  deck  yourselves  for  pleasing  man.  If  I 
was  born  a  woman,  I  would  rise  in  rebellion  against  any 
pretention  on  the  part  of  man  that  woman  is  born  to  be  his 
plaything.  I  have  mentally  become  a  woman  in  order  to 
steal  into  her  heart.  I  could  not  steal  into  my  wife's  heart 
until  I  decided  to  treat  her  differently  than  I  used  to  do, 
and  so  I  restored  to  her  all  her  rights  by  dispossessing 
myself  of  all  my  so-called  rights  as  her  husband.  And  you 
see  her  to-day  as  simple  as  myself.  You  find  no  necklaces, 
no  fineries  on  her.  I  want  you  to  be  like  that.  Refuse  to 
be  the  slaves  of  your  own  whims  and  fancies,  and  the  slaves 
of  men.  Refuse  to  decorate  yourselves,  don't  go  in  for 
scents  and  lavender  waters  ;  if  you  want  to  give  out  the 
proper  scent,  it  must  come  out  of  your  heart,  and  then  you 
will  captivate  not  man,  but  humanity.  It  is  your  birthright. 
Man  is  born  of  woman  ,  he  is  flesh  of  her  flesh  and  bone  of 
her  .bone.  Come  to  your  own  and  deliver  your  message 
again,  —Toung  India  :  Feb.  20,  I920« 

THE  economic  and  the  moral  salvation  of  India 
rests  mainly  with  you.  The  future  of  India  lies  on  your 
knees,  for  you  will  nurture  the  future  generation.  You  can 
bring  up  the  children  of  India  to  become  simple,  God-fear- 
ing and  brave  men  and  women,  or  you  can  coddle  them  to 
be  weaklings,  unfit  to  brave  the  storms  of  life  and  used  to 
foreign  fineries  which  they  would  find  it  difficult  in  after- 
life to  discard. '  — Toung  India  :  Aug.  1, 192 1§ 


604         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

EQUALITY  of  the  sexes  does  not  mean  equality  of 
occupations.  There  may  be  no  legal  bar  against  a  woman 
hunting  or  wielding  a  lance.  But  she  instinctively  recoils 
from  a  function  that  belongs  to  man.  Nature  has  created 
sexes  as  compliments  to  each  other.  Their  functions  are 
defined  as  are  their  forms.  — Harijan  :  Dec.  25  1939* 

WOMAN  is  nothing  if  she  is  not  self-sacrifice  and 
purity  personified.  — Young  India  :  Nov.  19,  1925. 

<3>    <$>    <S> 

WOMAN  is  the  incarnation  of  ahimsa.  Ahimsa  means  in- 
finite love,  which  again  means  infinite  capacity  for  suffering. 
Who  but  woman,  the  mother  of  man,  shows  this  capacity 
in  the  largest  measure?  She  shows  it  as  she  carries  the  infant 
and  feeds  it  during  nine  months  and  drives  joy  in  the  suffer- 
ing involved.  What  can  beat  the  suffering  caused  by  the 
pangs  of  labour  ?  But  she  forgets  them  in  the  joy  of  creation. 
Who,  again  suffers  daily  so  that  her  babe  may  wax  from  day 
to  day  ?  Let  her  transfer  that  love  to  the  whole  of  humanity, 
let  her  forget  that  she  ever  was  or  can  be  the  object  of  man's 
lust.  And  she  will  occupy  her  proud  position  by  the  side  of 
man  as  his  mother,  maker  and  silent  leader.  It  is  given 
to  her  to  teach  the  art  of  peace  to  the  warring  world  thirst- 
ing for  that  nectar r  She  can  become  the  leader  in  Satyagraha 
which  does  not  require  the  learning  that  books  give  but 
does  require  the  stout  heart  that  comes  from  suffering  and 
faith. 

I  am  uncompromising  in  the  matter  of  woman's  rights. 
In  my  opinion  she  should  labour  under  no  legal  disability 
not  suffered  by  man,  I  should  treat  the  daughters  and  sons 
on  a  footing  of  perfect  equality. 

-Toung  India:  Oct.  17,  1929. 

WOMAN  has  circumvented  man  in  a  variety  of  ways 
in  her  unconsciously  subtle  ways,  as  man  has  vainly  and 


WOMAN  605 

equally  unconsciously  struggled  to  thwart  woman  in  gaining 
ascendancy  over  him.  The  result  is  a  stalemate.  Thus 
viewed,  it  is  a  serious  problem  the  enlightened  daughters  of 
Bharat  Mata  are  called  upon  to  solve.  They  may  not  ape 
the  manner  of  the  West,  which  may  be  uited  to  its  environ- 
ment. They  must  apply  methods  suited  to  the  Indian 
genius  and  Indian  environment.  Theirs  must  be  the  strong, 
controlling,  purifying,  steadying  hand,  conserving  what  is 
best  in  our  culture,  and  unhesitatingly  rejecting  what  is  base 
and  degrading.  This  is  the  work  of  Sitas,  Draupadis 
Savitris  and  Damayantis,  not  of  amazons  and  prudes. 

—Toting  India  :  Oct.  17,  1928. 

<s>  <$>  <s> 

HINDU  culture  had  erred  on  the  side  of  excessive 
subordination  of  the  wife  to  the  husband,  and  has  insisted 
on  the  complete  merging  of  the  wife  in  the  husband.  This 
has  resulted  in  the  husband  somtimes  usurping  and  exerci- 
sing authority  that  reduces  him  to  the  level  of  the  brute. 

—Young  India  :  Oct.  23,  1929. 
<3>    <?>    <S> 

MAN  has  regarded  woman  as  his  tool  She  has  learned 
to  be  his  tool,  and  in  the  end  found  this  easy  and  pleasurable 
to  be  such,  because  when  one  drags  another  in  his  fall  the 
descent  is  easy*  — Hanjan  :  Jan.  25,  1936 

<3>    <S>    <S> 

TO  call  Ja  woman  a  member  of  the  weaker  sex  is  a 
libel.  In  what  way  is  woman  the  weaker  sex,  I  do  not 
know.  If  the  implication  is  that  she  lacks  the  brute  instinct 
of  man,  or  does  not  possess  it  in  the  same  measure  as  man 
the  charge  may  be  admitted.  But  then,  woman  becomes' 
as  she  is,  the  nobler  sex.  If  she  is  weak  in  striking,  she  is 
strong  iii  suffering.  I  have  described  woman  as  the  em- 
bodiment of  sacrifice  and  ahimsa.  She  has  to  learn  not  to 
rely  on  man  to  protect  her  virtue  or  her  honour.  I  do  not 
know  a  single  instance  of  a  man  having  ever  protected  the 
virtue  of  a  woman  He  cannot,  even  if  he  would.  Rama 
certainly  did  not  protect  the  virtue  of  Sita,  not  rhe  five 


606  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

Pandawas  of  Draupadi.  Both  these  noble  women  protected 
their  own  virtue  by  the  sheer  force  of  their  purity.  No 
person  loses  honour  or  self-respect  but  by  his  consent.  A 
woman  no  more  loses  her  honour  or  virtue,  because  a  brute 
renders  her  senseless  and  ravishes  her,  than  a  man  loses  his 
because  a  wicked  woman  administers  to  him  a  stupefying 
drug  and  makes  him  do  what  she  likes. 

—Harijan  :  Nov.  14,  1936 

<$><$>    <£ 

1  SUGGEST  that  before  you  put  your  pens  to  paper, 
think  of  woman  as  your  own  mother,  and  I  assure  you  the 
chasest  literature  will  flow  from  your  pens,  even  like  the 
beautiful  rain  from  heaven  which  waters  the  thirsty  earth 
below.  Remember  that  a  woman  was  your  mother,  before 
a  woman  became  your  wife.  Far  from  quenching  their 
spiritual  thirst,  some  writers  stimulate  their  passions,  so 
much  so  that  poor  ignorant  women  waste  their  time  wonder- 
ing how  they  might  answer  to  the  description  our  fiction 
gives  of  them.  Are  detailed  description  of  their  physical 
form  an  essential  part  of  literature.  I  wonder  ?  Do  you  find 
anything  of  the  kind  in  the  Upanishads,  the  Quran  or  the 
Bible  ?  And  yet,  do  you  know  that  the  English  language 
would  be  empty  without  the  Bible  ?  Three  parts  Bible,  and 
one  part  Shakespeare  is  the  description  of  it.  Arabic  would 
be  forgotten  without  the  Quran.  And,  think  of  Hindi 
without  Tulsidas.  Do  you  find  in  it  anything  like  what  you 
find  in  the  present-day  literature  about  women. 

—Harijan  :  Nov.  21,  1936* 

<§><$><$> 

I  BELIEVE,  in  the  proper  education  of  women.  But  I 
do  not  believe  that  woman  will  not  make  her  contribution 
to  the  world  by  mimicing  or  running  a  race  with  man. 
She  can  run  the  race  but  she  will  not  rise  to  the  great 
heights  she  is  capable  of  by  mimicing  man.  She  has  to  be 
the  complement  of  man.  —Harijan  :  Feb.  27,  1937. 


WOMAN  607 

MAN  has  converted  her  into  a  domestic  drudge  and  an 
instrument  of  his  pleasure,  instead  of  regarding  her  as  his 
helpmate  and  better  half  !  The  result  is  a  semi-paralysis  of 
our  society.  Woman  has  rightly  been  called  the  mother  of 
the  race.  We  owe  it  to  her  and  to  ourselves  to  undo  the 
great  wrong  that  we  have  done  her. — Harijan  :  Feb.  12,  1939. 

<$><$><$> 

ONLY  the  toad  under  the  harrow  knows  where  it 
pinches  him.  Therefore,  ultimately,  woman  will  have  to 
determine  with  authority  what  she  needs.  My  own  opinion 
is,  that  just  as  fundamentally  man  and  woman  are  one,  their 
problem  must  be  one  in  essence.  The  soul  in  both  is  the 
same.  The  two  live  the  same  life,  have  the  same  feelings. 
Each  is  a  complement  of  the  other.  The  one  cannot  live 
without  the  other's  active  help. 

But,  somehow  or  other,  man  has  dominated  woman 
from  ages  past,  and  so  woman  has  developed  an  inferior- 
ity complex.  She  has  believed  in  the  truth  of  man's  inter- 
ested teaching  that  she  is  inferior  to  him.  But  the  seers 
among  men  have  recognised  her  equal  status. 

—Harijan  ;  Feb.  24,   1940. 
<s>    <S>    <$> 

IN  my  opinion,  it  is  degrading  both  for  man  and 
woman,  that  woman  should  be  called  upon  or  induced  to- 
forsake  the  hearth,  and  shoulder  the  rifle  for  the  protection 
of  that  hearth.  It  is  a  reversion  to  barbarity  and  the 
beginning  of  the  end.  In  trying  to  ride  the  horse  that  man 
rides,  she  brings  herself  and  him  down.  The  sin  will  be  on 
man's  head  for  tempting  or  compelling  his  companion  to 
desert  her  special  calling.  There  is  as  much  bravery  in 
keeping  one's  home  in  good  order  and  condition,  as  there  is 
in  defending  it  against  attack  from  without. 

—Harijan  :  Feb.  24,  1940, 
^    ^    ^ 

THERE  is  as  much  reason  for  man  to  wish  that  he  was 
born  a  woman,  as  for  woman  to  do  otherwise.  But  the 


<608  TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

wish  is  fruitless.     Let  us  be  happy  in  the  state   to  which   we 
are  born,  and  do  the  duty  for  which  nature  has  destined  us. 

—Harijan  :  Feb.  24,  1940. 

<*><$><$> 

WHERE  there  is  a  non-violent  atmosphere,  where 
there  is  the  constant  teaching  of  ahimsa,  woman  will  not 
regard  herself  as  dependent,  weak  or  helpless.  She  is  not 
really  helpless  when  she  is  really  pure.  Her  purity  makes 
her  conscious  of  her  strength.  I  have  always  held  that  it  is 
physically  impossible  to  violate  a  woman  against  her  will. 
The  outrage  takes  place  only  when  she  gives  way  to  fear,  or 
does  not  realise  her  moral  strength.  If  she  cannot  meet  the 
assailiant's  physical  might,  her  purity  will  give  her  the 
strength  to  die  before  he  succeeds  in  violating  her.  Take 
the  case  of  Sita.  Physically  she  was  a  weakling  before 
Ravana,  but  her  purity  was  more  than  a  match  even  for  his 
giant  might.  He  tried  to  win  her  with  all  kinds  of  allure- 
ments but  could  not  carnally  touch  her  without  her  consent. 
On  the  other  had,  if  a  woman,  depends  on  her  own  physical 
strength,  or  upon  a  weapon  she  possesses,  she  is  sure  to  be 
discomfited  whenever  her  strength  is  exhausted. 

— Harijan  :  Sept.  1,  1940. 

<s>  <s>  <$> 

WOMAN  is  described  as  man's  better  half.  As  long  as 
she  has  not  the  same  rights  in  law  as  man,  as  long  as  the 
birth  of  a  girl  does  not  receive  the  same  welcome  as  that 
of  a  boy,  so  long  we  should  know  that  India  is  suffering 
from  partial  paralysis.  Suppression  of  woman  is  a  denial 
of  Akimsa.  —Harijan  :  Aug.  18,  1940. 

<$>    <3>    <£ 

IT  is  my  firm  conviction  that  a  fearless  woman  who 
fcnows  that  her  purity  is  her  best  shield  can  never  be  dis- 
honoured. However  beastly  the  man,  he  will  bow  in  shame 
before  the  flame  of  her  dazzling  purity. 

— Harijan  :  March  1,  1942. 


WOMAN  609 

WOMAN  is  the  companion  of  man,  gifted  with  equal 
mental  capacities.  She  has  the  right  to  participate  in  every 
minutest  detail  in  the  activities  of  man  and  she  has  an 
equal  right  of  freedom  and  liberty  with  him, 

—Speeches  and  Writings  of  Mahatma  Gandhi :  Page  213. 

WOULD  that  woman  realize  the  power  she  has 
latent  in  her  for  good,  if  she  has  also  for  mischief.  It  is  in  her 
power  to  make  the  world  more  livable  both  for  her  and  her 
partner  whether  as  father,  son  or  husband,  if  she  would 
cease  to  think  of  herself  as  weak  and  fit  only  to  serve  as  a 
doll  for  man  to  play  with.  If  society  is  not  to  be  destroyed 
by  insane  wars  of  nation  against  nations  and  still  more 
insane  wars  on  its  moral  foundations,  the  woman  will  have 
to  play  her  part  not  manfully,  as  some  are  trying  to  do,  but 
womanfully.  She  won't  better  humanity  by  vying  with  man 
•n  his  ability  to  destroy  life  mostly  without  purpose. 
1  —Harijan  :  Nov.  16,  1936. 

I  AM  firmly  of  opinion  that  India's  salvation  depends 
on  the  sacriace  and  enlightment  of  her  women.  In  many  of 
the  women's  meetings  I  used  to  address,  I  emphasised  the 
facts  that  when  we  wanted  to  speak  of  our  ancient  heroes 
and  heroines  or  gods  and  godesses  we  would  name  the  latter 
first  e.g.,  Sita  Ram,  Radha  Krishna  and  not  Ram  Sita  or 
Krishna  Radha.  This  practice  is  not  without  its  signifi- 
cance. Women  used  to  be  honoured  and  their  work  and 
worth  were  regarded  as  of  special  value.  Let  us  continue 
the  tradition  in  letter  and  spirit.  —Harijan  :  Dec.  27,  1936. 

MORE  often  than  not  a  woman's  time  is  taken  up, 
not  by  the  performance  of  essential  domestic  duties,  but  in 
catering  for  the  egoistic  pleasure  of  her  lord  and  master  and 


610        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA    GANDHI 

for  her  own  vanities.  To  me,  this  domestic  slavery  of 
woman  is  a  symbol  of  our  barbarism.  In  my  opinion,  the 
slavery  of  the  kitchen  is  a  remanant  of  barbarism  mainly.  It 
is  high  time  that  our  womankind  was  freed  from  this 
incubus.  Domestic  work  ought  not  to  take  the  whole  of  a 
woman's  time.  — Harijan  :  June  8,  1940. 

Work 

WE  shall  be  judged  not  by  our  words,  but  solely  by 
our  deeds.  —Toung  India  :  March  18,  1919. 

<^  <$>  <s> 

INDEED  a  sincere  worker  prefers  work  to  responsibility 
of  office  and  by  not  being  on  the  executive  escapes  the 
terrible  wranglings  that  take  place  therein. 

—Young  India  :  July  3,  1924. 

<s>  <s>  <s> 

TIME  must  work  in  their  favour,  for  it  always  does  in 
favour  of  honest  and  industrious  workers. 

—Toung  India  :  May  21,  1925. 

<$>  <s>  <s> 

PRAYERFUL  well-meaning  effort  never  goes  in  vain, 
and  man's  success  lies  only  in  such  an  effort.  The  result  is 
in  His  hands.  *  —Toung  India  :  June  17,  1926. 

Working  Committee 

THE  Congress  is  a  paramount  authority.  The  Working 
Committee  is  its  creature.  — Harijan  :  April  9,  1931. 

^     ^    ^ 

I  ATTEND  the  Working  Committee  meetings  not  to 
identify  myself  with  its  resolutions  or  even  its  general  policy. 
I  attend  in  the  pursuit  of  my  mission  of  non-violence.  So 
long  as  they  want  my  attendance.  I  go  there  to  emphasize 
non-violence  in  their  acts  and  through  them  in  those  of 
Congressmen.  We  pursue  the  same  goal.  They  all  of  them 
would  go  the  whole  length  with  me  if  they  could,  but  they 


WORRY  611 

want  to  be  true  to  themselves  and  to  the  country  which  they 
represent  for  the  time  being,  even  as  I  want  to  be  true  to 
myself.  I  know  that  the  progress  of  non-violence  is  seemingly 
a  terribly  slow  progress.  But  experience  has  taught  me  that 
it  is  the  surest  way  to  the  common  goal.  There  is  deliverance 
neither  for  India  nor  for  the  world  through  clash  of  arms. 
Violence,  even  for  vindication  of  justice,  is  almost  played 
out.  With  that  belief  I  am  content  to  plough  a  lonely 
furrow,  if  it  is  to  be  my  lot  that  I  have  no  co-sharer  in  the  out 
and  out  belief  in  non-violence.  — Harijan  :  Aug.  26,  1939. 

<s>  <s>  <§> 

SO  far  as  the  Working  Committee  is  concerned,  I  do 
attend  its  meetings  whenever  I  am  required  to  do  so.  I  do 
influence  its  decision  in  the  matters  that  may  be  referred 
to  me  and  never  in  any  others.  Many  sittings  of  the  com- 
mittee I  do  not  attend  at  all.  Of  many  of  its  resolutions,  1 
ha\e  no  knowledge  except  after  they  are  passed  and  that 
through  the  press.  This  was  the  arrangement  when  I  first 
severed  my  legal  connection  with  the  Congress.  What  hold  I 
have  on  the  committee  is  purely  moral.  My  opinion  pevails 
only  to  the  extent  that  I  carry  conviction.  Let  me  give  out 
the  secret  that  often  my  advice  makes  no  appeal  to  the 
members.  For  instance,  if  I  had  my  way,  the  Congress  would 
be  reduced  to  the  smallest  compass  possible.  It  would  consist 
of  a  few  chosen  servants  removable  at  the  will  of  the  nation 
but  getting  the  willing  co-operation  of  the  millions  in  the 
programme,  they  may  put  before  the  nation.  But  this  is  too 
drastic  and  too  undemocratic  for  Congressmen. 

—Harijan  :  Aug.  12,  1939, 

Worry 

THERE  is  nothing  that  wastes  the  body  like  worry,  and  one 
who  has  any  faith  in  God  should  be  ashamed  to  won*) 
about  anything  whatsoever.  It  is  a  difficult  rule  no  doubt  foi 
the  simple  reason,  that  faith  in  God  with  the  majority  oi 
mankind  is  either  an  intellectual  belief  or  a  blind  belief,  a 


612        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA    GANDHI 

kind  of  superstitious  fear  of  something  indefinable.  But  to 
ensure  absolute  freedom  from  worry  requires  a  living  utter 
faith  which  is  a  plant  of  slow,  almost  unperceived,  growth  and 
requires  to  be  constantly  watered  by  tears  that  accompany 
genuine  prayer.  They  are  the  tears  of  a  lover  who  cannot 
brook  a  moment's  separation  from  the  loved  one,  or  of  the 
penitent  who  knows  that  it  is  some  trace  of  impurity  in  him 
that  keeps  him  away  from  the  loved  one. 

—  Young  India  :  Sept.  1,  1927. 
<S>    <$>    3> 

WHY  worry  one's  head  over  a  thing  that  is  inevitable? 
Why  die  before  one's  death?  —  Young  India  :  Nov.  27,  1936 

Wrong 

MY  soul  refuses  to  be  satisfied  so  long  as  it  is  a  helpless 
witness  of  a  single  wrong  or  a  single  misery.  But  it  is  not 
possible  for  me  a  weak,  frail,  miserable  being,  to  mend 
every  wrong  or  to  hold  myself  free  of  blame  for  all  the 
wrong  I  see.  The  spirit  in  me  pulls  one  way,  the  flesh  in  me 
pulls  in  the  opposite  direction.  There  is  freedom  from  the 
action  of  these  two  forces,  but  that  freedom  is  attainable 
only  by  slow  and  painful  stages.  I  cannot  attain  freedom  by 
a  mechanical  refusal  to  act,  but  only  by  intelligent  action 
in  a  detached  manner.  This  struggle  resolves  itself  into  an 
incessant  crucification  of  the  flesh  so  that  the  spirit  may 
become  entirely  free.  —Toung  India  :  Nov.  17,  1921. 

Y 
Yajna  or  Sacrifice 

WE  make  frequent  use  of  the  word  yajna.  We  have 
raised  spinning  to  the  rank  of  a  daily  mahayajna  (primary 
sacrifice).  It  is  therefore  necessary  to  think  out  the  various 
implications  of  the 


Yajna  means   an  act  directed  to   the   welfare  of  others, 
done  without  desiring  anv  return  for  it.  whether  of  a    tern- 


YAJNA  OR  SACRIFICE  613 

widest  sense,  and  includes   thought  and  word,   as  well   as 
deed.     'Others'  embraces  not  only  humanity   but  all  life. 

Therefore,  and  also  from  the  standpoint  of  ahimsa,  it  will 
not  be  ayajna  to  sacrifice  lower  animals  even  with  a  view 
to  the  service  of  humanity.  It  does  not  matter  that  animal 
sacrifice  is  alleged  to  find  a  place  in  the  Vedas.  It  is  enough 
for  us  that  such  sacrifice  cannot  stand  the  fundamental  tests 
of  Truth  and  Non-violence.  I  readily  admit  my  incompe- 
tence in  Vedic scholarship.  But  the  incompetence,  so  far  as 
this  subject  is  concerned,  does  not  worry  me,  because  even 
if  the  practice  of  animal  sacrifice  be  proved  to  have  been  a 
feature  of  Vedic  society,  it  can  form  no  precedent  for  a  votary 
of  ahimsa. 

Again,  a  primary  sacrifice  must  be  an  act  which  con- 
duces the  most  to  the  welfare  of  the  greatest  number  in  the 
widest  area,  and  which  can  be  performed  by  the  largest 
number  of  men  and  women  with  the  least  trouble.  It  will 
not  therefore  be  yajna,  much  less  a  mahqyyna,  to  wish  or  to 
do  ill  to  anyone  else,  even  in  order  to  serve  a  so-called 
higher  interest.  And  the  Gita  teaches,  and  experience  testi- 
fies, that  all  action  that  cannot  come  under  the  category  of 
yajna  promotes  bondage. 

The  world  cannot  subsist  for  a  single  moment  without 
yajna  in  this  sense,  and  therefore  the  Gita,  after  having  dealt 
with  true  wisdom  in  the  second  chapter,  takes  up  in  the 
third  the  means  of  attaining  it,  and  declares  in  so  many 
words  that  yajna  came  with  the  Creation  itself.  This  body 
therefore  has  been  given  us  only  in  order  that  we  may  serve 
all  Creation  with  it.  And,  therefore,  says  the  Gita,  he  who 
eats  without  offering  yajna  eats  stolen  food.  Every  single 
act  of  one  who  would  lead  a  life  of  purity  should  be  in  the 
nature  of  yajna.  Tajna  having  come  to  us  with  our  birth, 
we  are  debtors  all  our  lives,  and  thus  for  ever  bound  to 
serve  the  universe.  And  even  as  a  bondslave  receives  food, 
clothing  and  so  on  from  the  master  whom  he  serves,  so  should 


61*          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

we  gratefully  accept  such  gifts  as  may  be  assigned  to  us  by 
the  Lord  of  the  Universe.  What  we  receive  must  be  called 
a  gift  ;  for  as  debtors  we  are  entitled  to  no  consideration  for 
the  discharge  of  four  obligations.  Therefore  we  may  not 
blame  the  Master  if  we  fail  to  get  it.  Our  body  is  His  to  be 
cherished  or  cast  away  according  to  His  will.  This  is  not  a 
matter  for  complaint  ;  on  the  contrary,  it  is  a 
natural  and  even  a  pleasant  and  desirable  state,  if  only  we 
realise  our  proper  place  in  God's  scheme.  One  does  indeed 
need  strong  faith,  if  one  would  experience  this  supreme 
bliss.  Do  not  worry  in  the  least  about  yourself  y  leave  all  worry  to 
God,  —  this  appears  to  be  the  commandment  in  all  religions. 

This  need  not  frighten  anyone.  He  who  devotes  him- 
self to  service  with  a  clear  conscience  will  day-by-day  grasp 
the  necessity  for  it  in  greater  measure,  and  will  continually 
grow  richer  in  faith.  The  path  of  service  can  hardly  be 
trodden  by  one,  who  is  not  prepared  to  renounce  self-interest 
and  to  recognise  the  conditions  of  his  birth.  Consciously  or 
unconsciously  everyone  of  us  does  render  some  service  or 
other.  If  we  cultivate  the  habit  of  doing  this  service  deli- 
berately, our  desire  for  service  will  steadily  grow  stronger, 
and  will  make  not  only  for  our  own  happiness,  but  that  of 
the  world  at  large.,  —  From  Yeravda  Mandir, 


I  WROTE  about  yajna  last  week,  but  feel  like  writing 
more  about  it.  It  will  perhaps  be  worthwhile  further  to  con- 
sider a  principle  which  has  been  created  along  with  mankind. 
Yajna  is  a  duty  to  be  performed,  or  service  to  be  rendered,  all 
the  twenty  four  hours  of  the  day,  and  hence  a  maxim  like 
fl^pCT^iq-  ^gfj  f*4j^*i  :  |  is  inappropriate,  if  ^T^ri*  has  any 
taste  of  favour  about  it.  To  serve  without  desire  is  to  favour 
not  others,  but  ourselves,  even  as  in  discharging  a  debt  we 
serve  only  ourselves,  lighten  our  burden  and  fulfil,  our  duty. 
Again,  not  only  the  good,  but  all  of  us  are  bound  to  place  our 
resources  at  the  disposal  of  humanity.  And  if  such  is  the  law, 
as  evidently  it  is,  indulgence  ceases  to  hold  a  place  in  life  and 


YAJNA  OR  SACRIFICE  615 

gives  way  to  renunciation.     The  duty  of  renunciation  differ- 
entiates mankind  from  the  beast. 

Some  object,  that  life  thus  understood  becomes  dull  and 
devoid  of  art,  and  leaves  no  room  for  the  householder.  But 
renunciation  here  does  not  mean  abandoning  the  world  and 
retiring  into  the  forest.  The  spirit  of  renunciation  should 
rule  all  the  activities  of  life.  A  house-holder  does  not  cease 
to  be  one,  if  he  regards  life  as  a  duty  rather  than  as  an  in- 
dulgence. A  Merchant,  who  operates  in  the  sacrificial 
spirit,  will  have  crores  passing  through  his  hands,  but  he 
will,  if  he  follows  the  law,  use  his  abilities  for  service.  He 
will  therefore  not  cheat  or  speculate,  will  lead  a  simple  life, 
will  not  injure  a  living  soul  and  will  lose  millions  rather  than 
harm  anybody.  Let  no  one  run  away  with  the  idea,  that 
this  type  of  merchant  exists  only  in  my  imagination.  Fortu- 
nately for  the  world,  it  does  exist  in  the  West  as  well  as  in 
the  East.  It  is  true,  such  merchants  may  be  counted  on 
one's  fingers'  ends,  but  the  type  ceases  to  be  imaginary,  as 
soon  as  even  one  living  specimen  can  be  found  to  answer  to 
it.  All  of  us  know  of  a  philanthropic  tailor  in  Wadhwan. 
I  know  of  one  such  barber.  Every  one  of  us  knows  such  a 
weaver.  And  if  we  go  deeply  into  the  matter,  we  shall 
come  across  men  in  every  walk  of  life,  who  lead  dedicated 
lives.  No  doubt  these  sacrificers  obtain  their  livelihood  by 
their  work.  But  livelihood  is  not  their  objective,  but  only 
a  by-product  of  their  vocation.  Motilal  was  a  tailor  at  first 
and  continued  as  tailor  afterwards.  But  his  spirit  was 
changed,  and  his  work  was  transmuted  into  worship.  He 
began  to  think  about  the  welfare  of  others,  and  his  life  be- 
came artistic  in  the  real  sense  of  the  term.  A  life  of  sacrifice 
is  the  pinnacle  of  art,  and  is  full  of  true  joy.  Yajna  is  no 
yajna  if  one  feels  it  to  be  burdensome  or  annoying.  Self 
indulgence  leads  to  destruction,  and  renunciation  to  immor- 
ality. Joy  has  no  independent  existence.  It  depends  upon 
our  attitude  to  life.  One  man  will  enjoy  theatrical  scenery, 
another  the  ever  new  scenes  which  unfold  themselves  in  the 


616        TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

tsky.  Joy,  therefore,  is  a  matter  of  individual  and  national 
education.  We  shall  relish  things  which  we  have  been 
aught  to  relish  as  children.  And  illustrations  can  be  easily 
cited  of  different  national  tastes. 

Again,  many  sacrificcrs  imagine  that  they  are  free  to 
receive  from  the  people  every  thing  they  need,  and  many 
things  they  do  not  need,  because  they  are  rendering  disin- 
terested service.  Directly  this  idea  sways  a  man,  he  ceases 
to  be  a  servant,  and  becomes  a  tyrant  over  the  people. 

One  who  would  serve  will  not  waste  a  thought  upon  his 
own  comforts,  which  he  leaves  to  be  attended  to  or  neglected 
by  his  Master.  He  will  not  therefore  encumber  himself 
with  everything  that  comes  his  way,  he  will  take  only 
what  he  strictly  needs  and  leave  the  rest.  He  will  be 
calm,  free  from  anger  and  unruffled  in  mind  even  if  he  finds 
himself  inconvenienced.  His  service,  like  virtue,  is  its  own 
reward,  and  he  will  rest  content  with  it. 

Again,  one  dare  not  be  negligent  in  service,  or  be  behind 
hand  with  it.  He,  who  thinks,  that  one  must  be  diligent 
only  in  one's  personal  business,  and  unpaid  public  business 
may  be  done  in  any  way  and  at  any  time  one  chooses,  has 
still  to  learn  the  very  rudiments  of  the  science  of  sacrfice. 
Voluntary  service  of  others  demands  the  best  of  which  one 
is  capable,  and  must  take  precedence  over  service  of  self.  In 
fact,  the  pure  devotee  consecrates  himself  to  the  service  of 
humanity  without  any  reservation  whatever. 

— From  Yerwada  Mandir. 

YATNA  is  a  word  full  of  beauty  and  power.  Hence 
with  the  growth  of  knowledge  and  experience  and  with  the 
change  of  time  its  meaning  is  likely  to  grow  and  change. 
Tajna  literally  mean  worship;  hence  sacrifice;  hence  any 
sacrifical  act  or  any  act  of  service.  And  in  this  sense  every 
age  may  and  should  have  its  own  particular  Tajna. 

For  mankind  lives  by  Tajna,  sacrifice.  But  all  the  Tajnas 
described  in  the  Shastras  cannot  and  should  not  be  revived. 


TO  THE  ZAMINDARS  617 

Some  of  the  rites  that  go  under  that  name  cannot  be  de- 
fended. I  even  doubt  whether  the  meaning  that  is  put  upon 
some  of  those  rites  to-day  was  ever  put  upon  them  in  Vedic 
times  and  even  if  there  be  no  room  for  doubt,  some  of  them 
cannot  stand  the  test  of  reason  or  morality.  Those  versed  in 
the  scriptures  say  that  in  ancient  times  our  ancestors  perform- 
ed human  scrifices.  Are  they  possible  today  ?  And  a  horse 
sacrifice  would  be  ridiculous.  Again  it  is  needless  to  can- 
vass whether  yajnas  purify  the  air  or  not;  for  the  value  of 
a  religious  rite  cannot  be  measured  by  considering  whether 
it  produces  a  result  like  purifying  the  air.  Modern  science  is 
likely  to  be  more  helpful  in  devising  means  for  purifying  the 
air.  The  principles  are  absolute  and  irrespective  of  space  and 
time.  Practices  change  with  place  and  time. 

— Young  India  :  May  13,  1926. 


To  The  Zamindars 

THE  Congress  will  stand  by  you  certainly.  But  you 
will  have  to  make  your  life  correspond  to  your  surroundings. 
In  Bengal  some  years  ago  I  was  the  guest  of  a  Zamindar 
who  served  me  my  milk  and  fruit  in  gold  bowls  and  plates. 
The  good  host  naturally  thought,  that  he  was  doing  me  the 
greatest  honour  by  placing  before  me  his  costliest  plates.  He 
could  not  know  what  was  passing  through  my  mind.  "Whers 
did  he  get  these  golden  plates  from  ?  I  was  asking  myself, 
and  the  answer  I  got  was:  "From  the  substance  of  the  ryots.'* 
How  then  could  I  reconcile  myself  to  those  costly  luxuries  ? 
I  would  not  mind  your  using  gold  plates  provided  your 
tenants  were  comfortable  enough  to  afford  silver  plates, 
but  where  their  life  is  one  long  drawn  out  agony,  how  dare 
you  have  those  luxuries  ?  You  will  remember,  how,  fifteen 
years  ago,  on  the  occasion  of  the  opening  of  the  Hindu 
University,  I  shocked  the  Rajas  and  Maharajas  by  a  reference 
to  their  glittering  pomp  and  glory,  and  raised  quite  an  up- 
roar. My  views  are  the  same  today;  only  experience  and  life 


618          TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

among  the  humble  folk  have  confirmed  them  all  the   more. 

—Young  India  :  May  28,  1931, 

^^    ^^    ^^ 

THE  Zamindars  would  do  well  to  take  the  time  by 
the  forelock.  Let  them  cease  to  be  mere  rent  collectors. 
They  should  become  trustees  and  trusted  fnends  of  their 
tenants.  They  should  limit  their  privy  purse.  Let  them 
forego  the  questionable  requisites  they  take  from  the  ten- 
antain  shape  of  forced  gifts  on  marriage  and  other  occasions 
or  nazrana  on  transfer  of  holdings  from  one  kisan  to  an- 
other or  on  restoration  to  the  same  kisan  after  eviction  for 
non-payment  of  rent.  They  should  give  them  fixity  of 
tenure,  take  a  lively  interest  in  their  wellfare,  provide  well 
managed  schools  for  their  childern,  night  school  for  adults, 
hospitals  and  dispensaries  for  the  sick,  look  after  the  sanita- 
tion of  villages  and  in  a  variety  of  ways  make  them  feel 
that  they  the  Zamindars  are  their  true  friends  taking  only 
a  fixed  commission  for  their  manifold  services.  In  short 
they  must  justify  their  position.  They  should  trust  Congress- 
men. They  may  themselves  become  Congressmen  and 
know  that  the  Congress  is  a  bridge  between  the 
people  and  the  Government.  All  who  have  the 
true  welfare  of  the  people  at  heart  can  harness  the 
services  of  the  Congress.  Congressmen  will  on  their  part 
see  to  it  that  kisans  scrupulously  fulfil  their  obligations  to 
the  Zamindars.  I  mean  not  necessarily,the  statuary  but  the 
obligations  which  they  have  themselves  admitted  to  be  just. 
They  must  reject  the  doctrine  that  their  holdings  are  absolu- 
tely theirs  to  the  exclusion  of  the  Zamindars.  They  are  or 
should  be  members  of  a  joint  family  in  which  the  Zamindar 
is  the  head  guarding  their  rights  against  encroachment. 
Whatever  the  law  may  be,  the  Zamindar  to  be  defensible 
must  approach  the  conditions  of  a  joint  family. 

—  Young  India  :  May  28,  1931, 

<$»    <§>    <$> 

"THE  difference  between  your  view  and  mine  is  based 
on  the  question  whether  the  Zamindari  System  is  to  be 


TO  THE  ZAMINDARS  619 

mended  or  ended.  I  say  it  should  be  mended,  and  if  it 
cannot  be  mended,  it  would  end  itself.  You  say  that  it  is 
incapable  of  being  mended."  In  these  words  Gandhiji  sum- 
med up  the  difference  between  the  Socialist  school,  and  what 
may  be  called  the  Satyagrahi  school,  before  an  informal 
meeting  of  Calcutta  Congressmen.  At  the  root  of  the  various 
questions  that  arise  on  the  subject  lies  this  fundamental 
difference,  and  the  answers  to  those  questions  naturally 
reflect  the  philosophy  which  the  replier  holds.  Thus  one 
of  the  questions  that  puzzles  many  is  : 

"The  Zamindars  and  mahajans  are  the  instruments  of 
the  bureaucracy.  They  have  always  sided  with  it  and  are 
an  obstacle  to  our  progress  and  freedom.  Why  should  not 
the  obstacle  be  removed  ?" 

To  this  Gandhiji's  reply  reflecting  his  philosophy  was 
this;  "They  are  indeed  part  and  parcel  of  the  bureaucracy. 
But  they  are  its  helpless  tools.  Must  they  for  ever  remain 
so  ?  We  may  do  nothing  to  put  them  away  from  us.  If  they 
change  their  mentality,  their  services  can  be  utilized  for  the 
nation.  If  they  will  not  change,  they  will  die  a  natural 
death.  If  we  have  non-violence  in  us,  we  will  not  frighten 
them.  We  have  to  be  doubly  careful  when  the  Congress 
has  power." 

Q. — But  cannot  we  say  the  system  of  zamindari  is  an 
anachronism  and  should  go,  by  non-violent  means  of 
course  ? 

A. — Of  course  we  can.  The  question  is  'must  we  ?T 
Why  can  we  not  say  to  the  Zamindars,  "These  are  the 
evils  which  we  ask  you  to  remove  yourselves  ?"  I  admit  that 
this  presumes  trust  in  human  nature. 

Q. — Would  you  say  that  the  permanent  settlement 
should  remain  ? 

A. — No,  it  has  to  go.  The  way  to  make  the  kisans 
happy  and  prosperous  is  to  educate  them  to  know  the  reason 


620         TEACHINGS  OF  MAHATMA  GANDHI 

of  their  present  condition  and  how  to  mend  it.  We  may 
show  them  the  non-violenet  way  or  the  violent.  The  later 
may  look  tempting,  but  it  is  the  way  to  perdition  in  the  Jong 
run. 

Q. — But  don't  you  agree  that  the  land  belongs  to  him 
who  tills  it  ? 

A. — I  do.  But  that  need  not  mean  that  the  zamin- 
dar  should  be  wiped  out.  The  man  who  supplies 
brains  and  metal  is  as  much  a  tiller  as  the  one  who  labours 
with  his  hands.  What  we  aim  at,  or  should,  is  to  remove 
the  present  terrible  inequality  between  them. 

Q. — But  the  mending  process  may  be  very   long. 

A — Seemingly  the  longest  process  is  often    the   shortest. 

Q. — But  why  not  parcel  out  the  land  among  the  tillers  ?* 

A. — That  is  a  hasty  thought.  The  land  is  today  in 
their  hands.  But  they  know  neither  their  rights  nor  how 
to  exercise  these.  Supposing  they  told  neither  to  move  out  of 
the  land  nor  to  pay  the  dues  to  the  zamindar,  do  you  think 
their  misery  would  be  over  ?  Surely  much  will  still  re- 
main to  be  done.  I  suggest  that  that  should  be  undertaken 
now  and  the  rest  will  follow  as  day  follows  night. 

—Harijan  :  April  23,  1938. 


i-ND 


JUST  OUT  ! 

TAGORE  &  GANDHI  ARGUE 

Edited  by  JAG  PARVESH  CHANDER 


Interchanges  of  thought  between  Rabin- 
dranath  Tagore  and  Mahatma  Gandhi  on 
several  important  issues,  and  their  distinc- 
tive traits  of  outlook  are  revealed  in  this 
book,  which  contains  a  carefully  gleaned 
collection  of  articles  and  letters  represen- 
tative of  the  two  leaders'  viewpoints.  The 
subtle  shades  that  distinguished  their  atti- 
tude and  approach  to  political  and  econo. 
mic  problems  and  the  difference  in  their 
ideas  on  topics  like  Non-co-operation,  the 
Charkha  cult  and  students'  role  in  politics, 
afford  an  interesting  study,  in  the  light  of 
the  common  bonds  that  held  them  to- 
gether. —  The  Hindu  :  Madras. 

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NOW  READY 


ETHICS    OF     FASTING 

M.  K.  GANDHI 

Edited  by  JAG  PARVESH  CHANDER 

Ethics  of  Fasting  is  the  first  comprehensive  book  on 
the  Gandhian  philosophy  of  fasting.  The  necessity  of 
fasts  is  not  understood  by  modern  men  and  women. 
Gandhiji  has  attached  the  greatest  importance  to  fasting 
in  his  evervday  round  of  life.  An  occasional  fast  serves 
as  an  antidote  to  an  over- worked  stomach.  Its  efficacy 
is  acknowledged  and  advised  even  by  the  physicians. 
Fasting  is  also  the  best  method  of  self  purification. 
When  passions  are  controlled,  the  soul  thrives  and 
prospers  ;  fasting  is  the  surest  way  to  eradicate  the 
pestilence  of  beastly  passions.  Gandhiji  has  also  used 
fasting  successfully  to  reform  individuals  and  the  society. 

Fasting  is  closely  interlinked  with  the  practice  of 
non-violence.  There  is  no  stronger  weapon  than 
fasting  in  the  armoury  of  a  Satyagrahai.  The  book 
expounds  the  views  of  Mahatma  Gandhi  in  a  very 
crystal  clear  manner. 

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