The Book Uneven and Disconnected, but I Hope That It Has Not Done So

The Book Uneven and Disconnected, but I Hope That It Has Not Done So

Mahatma Gandhi Mahatma Gandhi Essays and Reflections on his life and works Presented to him on his Seventieth Birthday October 2, 1939 Edited By : S. Radhakrishnan Published by: George Allen & Unwin Ltd. Museum Street, London www.mkgandhi.org Page 1 Mahatma Gandhi PREFACE Owing to the distracted condition of the world – a war in the East and a near- war in Europe – and my absence from India since the end of last year, it has not been possible to get together all the persons who would have been glad to join in this world tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his seventieth birthday. The different essays and reflections, each with its individual character, might be expected to make the book uneven and disconnected, but I hope that it has not done so. Almost every page is knit together by a central and never forgotten theme, the challenge and message of Gandhi to the contemporary world. By general admission something is wrong with it. We are living in a singular moment of history, a moment of crisis, in the literal sense of the word. In every branch of our activity, material and spiritual, we seem to have arrived at a critical turning-point. Those who have surveyed the scene have given us different answers about the cause and cure of our ailing civilization. Gandhi tells us that we, who constitute the social order, are the disease and we must change, if civilization is to improve. Those who read these pages will be impressed by the fundamental unity between Gandhi’s theory and practice, the exquisite harmony of his life and work, which is the very essence of sincerity. It marks him our as one of the outstanding personalities, not only of our time but all the time. The contributions are arranged in alphabetical order. A few of Gandhi’s most distinctive utterances which are more than local and temporary importance are brought together in an Appendix. The Editor thanks Mr. Stephen Hobhouse for his kindness in reading the proofs and for seeing the work through the press. S.R. www.mkgandhi.org Page 2 Mahatma Gandhi INTRODUCTION GANDHI'S RELIGION AND POLITICS By SIR S. RADHAKRISHNAN (University of Oxford) The greatest fact in the story of man on earth is not his material achievements, the empires he has built and broken, but the growth of his soul from age to age in its search for truth and goodness. Those who take part in this adventure of the soul secure an enduring place in the history of human culture. Time has discredited heroes as easily as it has forgotten everyone else; but the saints remain. The greatness of Gandhi is more in his holy living than in his heroic struggles, in his insistence on the creative power of the soul and its life-giving quality at a time when the destructive forces seem to be in the ascendant. I. Religious Basis of Politics Gandhi is known to the world as the one man more than any other who is mainly responsible for the mighty upheaval of the Indian nation which has shaken and loosened its chains. Politicians are not generally reputed to take religion seriously, for the values to which they are committed, such as the political control of one people by another, the economic exploitation of the poorer and weaker human beings, are so clearly inconsistent with the values of religion that the latter could not be taken too seriously or interpreted too accurately. But for Gandhi, all life is of one piece. "To see the universal and all pervading Spirit of Truth face to face one must be able to love the meanest of creation as oneself. And a man who aspires after that cannot afford to keep out of any field of life. That is why my devotion to Truth has drawn me into the field of politics; and I can say without the slightest hesitation and yet in all humility, that those who say that religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion means!" Again, "I have no desire for the perishable kingdom of earth, I am striving for the kingdom of heaven, which is spiritual deliverance. For me the road to salvation lies through incessant toil in the www.mkgandhi.org Page 3 Mahatma Gandhi service of my country and 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. So my patriotism is for me a stage on 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." 1 If man as a political being has not been much of a success, it is because he has kept religion and politics apart, thus misunderstanding both. For Gandhi there is no religion apart from human activity. Though in the present circumstances of India Gandhi happens to be a political revolutionary who refuses to accept tyranny or acquiesce in slavery, he is far from the uncompromising type of revolutionary whose abstractions force men into unnatural and inhuman shapes. In the acid test of experience he remains, not a politician or a reformer, not a philosopher or a moralist, but someone composed of them all, an essentially religious person endowed with the highest and most human qualities and made more lovable by the consciousness of his own limitations and by an unfailing sense of humour. 1. C. F. Andrews, Mahatma Gandhi-His Own Story, pp. 353-4, 357 (George Allen & Unwin). www.mkgandhi.org Page 4 Mahatma Gandhi II. Religion as Life in God Whatever opinion we may hold of God, it is impossible to deny that He means something of supreme importance and absolute reality to Gandhi. It is his faith in God that has created in him a new man whose power and passion and love we feel. He has the feeling of something close to him, a spiritual presence which disturbs, embarrasses and overwhelms, an assurance of reality. Times without number, when doubts disturb his mind, he leaves it to God. Was there a response from God? No and Yes. No, for Gandhi does not hear anything said even by the most secret or the most distant of voices; yes, because he has a sense of reply, the appeased, satisfied feeling of one who has received an answer. It is indeed from the nature of the reply which is so eminently rational that he recognizes that he is not the victim of his own dreams or hallucinations. "There is an indefinable, mysterious power that pervades everything. I feel it though I do not see it. 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 is proved not by extraneous evidence but in the transformed conduct and character of those who have felt the real presence of God within. Such testimony is to be found in the experiences of an unbroken line of prophets and sages in all countries and climes. To reject this evidence is to deny oneself." 1 "It can never be a matter for argument. 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. I can also testify that I may live without air and water but not without Him. You may pluck out my eyes, but that will not kill me. You may chop off my nose, but that will not kill me. But blast my beliefs in God and I am dead." 2 In consistency with the great spiritual tradition of Hinduism, Gandhi affirms that when once we rise from the grossness to which the flesh is prone into the liberty of spirit, the view from the summit is identical for all. We have to climb the mountain by different paths, from the points where we happen to be, but that which we seek is the same. "The Allah of Islam is the same as the God of www.mkgandhi.org Page 5 Mahatma Gandhi the Christians and the Isvara of the Hindus. Even as there are numerous names of God in Hinduism, there are many names of God in Islam. The names 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 attributes, Indescribable, Immeasurable. Living faith in this God means equal respect for all religions. It would be the height of intolerance— and intolerance is a species of violence—to believe that your religion is superior to other religions and that you would be justified in wanting others to change over to your faith." 3 His attitude to other religions is not one of negative toleration but of positive appreciation. He accepts Jesus' life and work as a supreme illustration of the principle of non-violence. "Jesus occupies in my heart the place of one of the great teachers who have made a considerable influence on my life." He appreciates the character of the prophet Mohammad, his fervent faith and practical efficiency, the tender compassion and suffering of Ali. The great truths emphasized by Islam, intense belief in God's overruling majesty, puritanic simplicity of life, ardent sense of brotherhood and chivalrous devotion to the poor are accepted by him as fundamental to all religions.

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