| Some musings |
 |
| On Autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi: written 11/27/2006 I recently finished reading autobiography of Mohan Das Karamchand Gandhi, famously known as Mahatma Gandhi. I was so much captivated by his open and honest narrative that I would have wanted to finish that book in one go if it were possible. It was much like reading a religious book. It touches your soul. No wonder that he is called a Mahatma (Great Soul). Only a great soul can be so honest, pure hearted, and willing to devote his entire life for great causes. Instead of calling his book autobiography, he chose to describe it as "Story of My Experiments with Truth". At one point he says that in order for one to be able to experience truth, one has to be humbler than the dust he/she steps on. What a contrast to the common beliefs of today's world where most people are arrogant, and humility is perceived as weakness rather than a virtue. This reminds me of a Nepali poet who wrote - where does not a branch full of fruits bow down? (Phaleko hango najhukeko kaha chha ra) . Clearly, only the branches without fruit are stiff and straight. Gandhi talks about his experiments with dietetics. Having come from a Gujrati vegetarian family, he always despised meat and dairy products - even milk. He was so steadfast in his beliefs that he would not touch them even when he was told by his doctor that he could lose his life if he did not take them, at the time he was ill. He would rather die than violate his rules he had set for himself. He would not budge from his beliefs. It would be inconceivable for an ordinary person to go to these lengths. He saw fasting as a way of purifying the soul. He asserts that fasting made him more tolerant. For instance, once when he found out that some kids in his Ashram had lied about something, he was deeply troubled and somewhat angry at those kids. So, in order to make them realize how hurt he was by their conduct, he decided to fast. But, interestingly enough, his anger towards those kids was gone by virtue of his fasting. Having read the Hindu religious epic, Gita, and some books on Shree Krishna, I could see many parallels between those religious teachings and Gandhi's beliefs. One that stands out is the idea of renunciation. Geeta stresses quite a bit about renouncing the pleasures of the physical world. Shree Krishna books also talk at length about the importance of controlling the desires of our senses. Shree Krishna books advise people not to indulge in sense gratification - meaning not to do things in order to please the senses. Our sense organs want to be pleased - for example the eyes want to see beautiful things, our ears want to hear melodious sounds, tongue wants to taste delicious delicacies, nose wants to sniff pleasant aroma, so on and so forth. We are advised not be the slaves of our senses. Rather, we must control our senses and be a master of them. This ensures that we have lasting pleasure and happiness, whereas sensual pleasures are momentary and temporary. There is no end to our physical and material wants. We never have enough! That is because all material things are illusions (maya). Pursuing those temporary things in a frenzied manner only leads to frustration and disappointment. So, in order to have inner peace and happiness, one must turn inside oneself. Only spiritual realization can guarantee inner peace. What good is all the wealth in the world if you dont have peace of mind. Well, these very core ideas seem to be Gandhi's ideals. To that end, he made every effort to make his life as simple as possible. Another thing that impressed me was that he was a pious soul, always at the service of the poorest and the downtrodden. He mentions instances in which he tended to people with communicable and fatal diseases, such as plague, when there were outbreaks of the disease, without a care for his personal safety. It was quite possible that he could have contracted the disease and succumbed to it. But, he put his duty to serve above his personal safety. Well, service is the greatest religion of all is what is taught by major religions at large. Here I can't but think about some Hindu people who burn away a fortune in "Homs" and "Yagyas".They could have instead spent that sum to feed a number of poor and hungry people. My rationale says that the person would gain more "dharma" by serving the poor rather than wasting money in such rituals. From his narratives it is clear that Gandhi was a well read person. He mentions quite a few books that he had read. Many books in his reading list included books on religion and philosophy. It would not be an exaggeration to say that Gandhi was a philosopher too. It is my belief that reading shapes a person's thinking to a great extent. I was amazed by the sheer number of books Gandhi had read. One thing worth mentioning here is that Gandhi had deep regard for and faith in the Bhagwad Gita. He says that he had faith in and fascination for the Gita. He realized that he had to dig deeper into it. He had one or two translations of the Gita, by means of which he tried to understand the original Sanskrit verses. He made it a point to remember one or two verses a day by heart, everyday during his morning ablutions. Thus he had memorised thirteen chapters of the Gita by heart! One can not but marvel at this kind of faith and commitment! He writes, "... to me Gita had become the infallible guide of conduct. It became my dictionary of daily reference. Just as I turned to English dictionary for the meanings of English words that I did not understand, I turned to this dictionary of conduct for a ready solution to all my troubles and trials. Words like 'aparigraha' (non-possession) and 'samabhava' (equability) gripped me." Then, he goes on to describe his quandary, as to how to cultivate and preserve the equability (treating everyone as equal) that was preached by the Gita. He asks how could one treat those "insulting, insolent and corrupt officials [of the British rule at that time in India]", his former co-workers who raised meaningless opposition, and men who were always good to one, equally. Common sense would tell us otherwise - that they are not to be treated equally. And, on 'aparigraha' (non-possession) aspect of the Gita teachings, he wonders how one can fully embrace non-possession when body itself is a form of possession. Well, if he were to follow the Gita wholeheartedly, he wonders if he had to destroy all the cupboards of books he had. After all he was in possession of those books, contrary to the teachings of the Gita. It was not obvious for him how to interpret the holy teachings of the Gita. He asked himself if he was to give up all he had and follow Him (God). For him, straight came the answer: " I could not follow Him unless I gave up all I had." Then, his study of English law (as he was a barrister trained in London) came to his rescue. He goes on to write,"Snell's (an author) discussion of the maxims of Equity came to my memory. I understood more clearly in the light of the Gita teachings the implication of the word 'trustee'....I understood the Gita teaching of non-possession to mean that those who desired salvation should act like the trustee who, though having control over great possessions, regards not an iota of them as his own. It became clear to me as daylight that non-possession and equability presupposed a change of heart, a change of attitude. " After this great revelation for him, he let the insurance policy he had bought some time earlier to lapse, reasoning that the God who had created him as well as his wife, and children would take care of them in the event that something happened to him. It was a gesture of complete surrender to God. Gandhi was an extremely shy person in his formative years, so much so that someone had to read his speeches for him, because he would tremble at the idea of speaking even before an audience of a few people. He would write very impressive speeches, though. It seems to me that Gandhi was pulled into the field of politics by his desire to help his people to restore their rights and dignity as humans. It is worth noting that Indians were treated as subhumans by their British rulers not only at home but in South Africa as well, where he started his career and professional life. Gandhi himself was subjected to such treatments in South Africa. In South Africa, Indians were called names, such as "coolie" (Baggage carriers in railway stations), and "sami" (distorted form of 'Swami', meaning the master) in a derogatory sense. Gandhi was called the "coolie barrister" in South Africa. Indians were not allowed to travel first or the second class in trains. During the time Gandhi was there, laws were due to be passed to curtail the rights of Indians there. He proposed that they should unite in opposition to the bill, so the bill did not pass and become law. The Indians in South Africa unanimously chose Gandhi as their representative and leader for this crusade, because they trusted him wholeheartedly given his honest nature, pure heart. Gandhi gave birth to new and revolutionary ideas called non-violence and non-co-operation. He showed the world the power of non-violence by successfully freeing India from the British rule by peaceful means, which would hardly have been possible by violent tactics. Violence begets violence, and spirals into an unbreakable cycle. I happen to believe that many armed struggles in different parts of the world today can take a cue from Gandhi's non-violence ideals. World would have been a better place if we as a civilization would adopt Gandhi's principles. There would not be conflicts, hatred, and meaningless cut throat competition, violence in the name of religion, etc. and they would be replaced by harmony, love, and peace, and we as a human race would fare better! Let's hope for that realization to dawn on us sooner rather than later... -Himalaya Kakshapati |
| Himalaya Kakshapati |