Chapter -11

Mahatma And Spirituality

2.1 'Mahztma' - The Great Soul.

In a forward Gandhiji wrote for 'The Sayings of Mohammad', on 24th March 1938 in

Calcutta , he expressed his feelings about spirituality thus:

"I am a believer in the truth of all the great religions of the world. There will not be no lasting peace on earth unless we learn not merely ta talerate but even to respect the other faiths as our own. A reverent study of the sayings of different teachers of mankind is a step in the direction of such mutual resptxtq'1

Such an esteem feeling could only come from a person whose soul has become

one with the Universal soul. For such a person, there is no difference between religions,

cultures, nationality, caste, gender or in m y form of creation; the created and the creator are

one and the same. Overall, Gandhiji spread the supreme messages of Unity and equality, the

dignity of labour and the supremacy of spirit over matter, and exhorted everybody to shed

Gandhiji claimed himself to be a 'Sangtani Hindu'. He says:

(i) 1 believe in the Vaas, the Upanipds, and all that goes by the name of Hindu Scriptures, and therefore in Avata6s and rebirth;

(ii) I believe in the Vapk'ma dharma in a sense, in my opinion, strictly V a i c but not in its popular and crude sense;

( iii) I believe in the protection of the cow in its much larger sense than the popular; and

(iv) 1 do not believe in idol -worship.

In addition to the above, in an article Gandhiji wrote to an american friend, 'Why I am a

Hindu'. He further writes:

"On examination I have found it to be the most tolerant of all religions known to me. Its freedom from dogma makes a forcible appeal to me in as much as it gives the votary the largest scope for self-expression.Not being an exclusive religion, it enables the followers of that faith not merely to respect all the other re1 igions, but it also enables them to admire and assimilate whatever may be good in other faithsV.2

True to the Indian spirit and tradition, Gandhiji consihred all religions to be

different paths to the same goal - God. Gandhiji had studied Christianity and Islam, and had

many Christian and Muslim friends. He tells us in his autobiography how certain aspects of

Christianity - the life and death of Jesus, the Sermon on the Mount, and the crystalline purity

of some christians, appealed to him. Similarly he read a translation of the Koran and the life

of the pmphet, and was struck by the courage with which he and his followers had faced the

humiliations and hardships heaped upon hem. Many years later, he advised his English

disciple, Miss Slade (Mirabhen) to read Koran and to find out 'gems' in it. Gandhiji, though

believed in the sacred scriptures of many religions, declined to be bound by any

interpretation, however learned that might be, if it was repugnant to reason or moral sense as

can be seen f b m his declaration that 'untouchabilityf is an ineffaceable blot which Hinduism

carries with it. He strongly questioned the Iatter day religious authority for sanctioning caste

system in Hinduism as he believed that VEdic Hinduism had no such social stratification

whezin a group of humans are classed as 'untouchables' and denied of basic human rights.

He strongly believed that there cannot be any moral argument in support of such a social

evi I . Gandhij i rightly declared:

"It is irreligious, not religion, to give religious sanction to a brutal custom"3

2.2. Religion Defined.

Every attempt to define religion will k futile as it is something which is to be

realized, lived and experienced. From the time immemorial religious thinkers have been

trying to define religion, but there are few definitions on religion which throw light on all the

important aspects of religion. To quote Dr. Ftadhakrishnan:

"Religion is a growth which is perennial and its evolution has gone on obeying h e primary Jaws of human progress. As religion is still in the process of growing and until the growth is completed an adequate defini- tion cannot be foundd.

Thus we can see that religion is a growing, dynamic and personal affair. Gandhiji

says that:

"For me every, the tiniest, activity is governed by what I consider to be my religionM5.

Hence religion is not what one gets after d i n g the scriptures of the world. It is not

what is grasped by the brain, but what the heart grasps. It is worth mentioning here t M the

concept of religion as handled in popular English today is drasticaily different from how

Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism etc. handled in the past. The Sanskrit term is

' D h m a ' for all these; which is a concept entirely different from the concept of religion.

Today we call them religion just for want of another word; and the term religion is indeed

unable to represent accurately what the word 'Dharma' stands for.

Let us now turn to discuss the etymological meaning of the term religion and certain

attempts made by certain thinkers to define religion. There are two versions about the

etymological meaning of the word 'religion'. One version holds the view that the word has

originated from the Latin word 'Religionis' where 're' means 'back' and 'Ligare' means 'to

bind'; so religion according to this view is something which unifies and harmonizes human

being into a community. Another meaning of the word 'religion' is that it originated from the

Latin word 'religm' meaning 'to restrain'. B d on this, we can assume that religion's

fundamental task is to restrain man born resorting to unacceptable thought, speech and

deeds. To achieve these aims. i. e., to 'unify' or 'to 'restrain ' human beings different

religions have developed different sets of beliefs which need to be adhered to by its

followers. Unquestioning, unswerving trust is expected in these revealed or enunciated

beliefs. The belief system of different religions assume 'sacredness' because of this

inviolability.

There had been various attempts to defjne religion thmugh different times.

According to lames Martineau:

"Religion is the belief in an everlasting living God, that is, in a divine mind and will ruling the universe and holding the moral relations with mankind"

Herbert Spencer defines religion thus:

" Religion is a recognition that all things are manifestation of a power which transcends our knowledge"7.

J.B.Frazer understands religion as:

"a propiation or conciliation of powers superior to man which are believed to direct and control the mume of nature and human lifen.$

According to Bradley:

"Religion is rather an attempt to express the complete reality of goodness

through aspect of our beingV9.

And, according to Mathew Arnold:

"Religion is ethics hcightmed, enkindled and lit up by feeling" 10.

Karl Marx developed the materialistic view point of religion and considered it a s an

instrument for the exploitation of the masses. For Marx, God and religion were the creations

of capitalistic mode of production to usurp the workers of their fare share. He accused the

capitalist of using religion to keep the workers 'druggdt so that they could be pacified by

mere promises of future happiness afkr death, in place of just wages for their work in this

life. He condemns religion and calls it the 'opium' of the masses. Karl Mam enumerates

many instances of unholy alliances between the religious authorities and people at the helm

of political power to exploit the working class. Accordingly, the whims and fancies of the

ruling class were expressed in the form of regulated religious prescriptions so as to be

believed by the oppressed class who become slaves, not only to the ruling class but also to

their conveniently arranged concepts of religion. Marx pointed out that throughout the

human history one constant factor was the exploitation of one class by another; and he

believed that once the exploitation ends God and religion also would come to an end.

From a Psychological point of view, religion is partly intellectual, partly emotional

and partly an act of the will. Sigmund Freud called religion as an illusion, as it incorporates

certain characteristic feelings and emotions such as wonder, awe, and reverence. According

to Freud, it is only the inherent human weakness which always look for an external support

system in the form of religion and God. He says, like a foetus, we need the womb of the

God; and like a child, we need a father ; like a teenager we need somebody with whom we

could fuse: and like helpless old people, we need somebody to look after us. Fraud feels that

once we get over our weaknesses and feel self-confident and independent, we would not

look for any God.

From a Sociological point of view, refigion is a creation of society to fulfill our

sociological needs. Emile Durkheim, a sociologist went to the extreme to assert that all

sacred values are in content social-collective and all profane values are individualistic. For

him, God is nothing but a metamorphic or symbolic expression of the collective values. Max

Weber tries to explain that the various aspects of religion arise to fulfil sociological and

historic needs, This means that religion has no independent existence of its own. Peter

Burger is of the opinion that religion is a world construction and plays the role of a sacred

canopy providing a shelter of security like the modern insurances do.

Looking at the various definitions and explanations about religion from different

view-points we can find that not sr single explanation is sufficient enough b explain all the

necessary elements of religion. They stress only one aspect or another excluding the other

aspects of religion. For example, Martineau has failed to recognize certain polytheistic

religions. Similarly Bradley and Arnold have identified religion with morality, They believe

that moral consciousness has an autonomy of its own and religion springs out of morality;

and in the hatwe of our moral consciousness there is direct eviden~e for the existence of

superhuman spirituality.

The greatest thmtt to religion comes from Marxism and it found many foIlowers

throughout the world. But Marxism is on retreat now and spirituality is gaining ground in

many areas of the world. Marx wanted to maintain materialism as the metaphysics of

marxism; and to a great extent, hc borrowed heavily h m Ludwig Feurbach to support his

theory. Marxian attempt of seeing the society through a sub-structure super-structure thesis,

where the economic substructure determines all other super-structure amount to gross

reductionism. Marxism struggles in vain to reduce everything ta economic stubstructure

where there is only one - way relation from sub-structure to super-structure.

The most formidable attacker of religion is not Karl Marx, but Sigmund Freud.

Freudian atheism is psychoanalytical in nature, so let us call it 'Psycho-analytical atheism'.

But even Freud's Psycho-analytical atheism suffers from major internal contradictions and

eventually collapses. In Mam. one could see the forerunner of 1% century positivist

tendencies. The Positivist Swial Scientists suffered from the 'euphoria ' of science. They

believed that one day, science would replace God. What happened to all these theories is a

matter of common sense to any average observer. They all eventually failed. No sciences

wodd either replace God or Religion as an institution of any given society because it is

co-existing and co-terminus with man.

As no satisfactoiy definition of religion is possible, we must remain satisfied with

certain elementary definitions of religion. A survey of numerous definitions and viewpoints

about religion would be more informing than any new definition or explanation that might

be given. That there are many religions in the world: and that all of them contain certain

essential characteristics to qualify being named as religion, is a fact. W e must be in a

position to draw a broad distinction between what is essential and what is not, between the

eternal and the ephemeral, between divine and human in every religion. Every religion has

some mission to fulfill and in all instances they aim at socio-collective harmony and welfare.

Dr. lPadhakrishnan observes that for religion to play a positive role in our life, we must

invariably realize the oneness of all religions.

"In order that religion may be perennial living force, one should esteem all the different creeds, doctrines and theories and realize that they are

like so many radii proceeding to the same centre"

If the above view is accepted, then surely we are in a position to describe (not

define) religion by assimilating all the essential ideas h m different religions. Hastings has

this to say:

"Religion is the individual's aspiration for the realization of an ideal intuitively felt. An analysis ofthe intuitive feelings would reveal that this is just another name for the numerous elements in our religious consciousness. It can be further shown that this is the non-rational counterpart of our idea of the infinite, This idea of the infinite comprehends everything, thus creating in the individua1 a sense of his unity or oneness with all. It is this that acts as a binding force among all, and probably is at the

basis of many of our higher social and political institutions" l 2.

Man is a finite-infinite being. He is never satisfied with what he gets through

ordinary experience in this mundane world. There is an 'inner cryi which impels him to

move onwards and to fmd out the means to achieve his goal i.e. redimtion of God within

himself. Thus:

"religious ideas and practices are consequences of this religious consciousness and not the cause reIigiousnas or of religion. In other words, religious consciousness is prior to religious ideas

and practicts"l 3.

Mainly studies on religion was conducted by philosophers and then the social scientists:

Positivistic social scientists. Though they did some very intense researches, both philosophy

and social sciences alike failed to do full justice ta religion. Philosophy created a philosophy

of Religion, which happened to be philosophy of one religion, namely Christianity. The

problem taken for philosophizing gives ample evidences to this. Philosophy looks for the

essence of all religions, which shaII not be study of religion. What is required is philosophies

44

of Religions. Social scientists on the other h d collected and edited volumes of information

on religion, but their approaches often failed to grasp the spirit of religion.

Modern studies on religion show that religion is something fundamental to the very

human existence itself. PvOrmn, by his very being as man has a fundamental longing towards

the supernatural,the transcendental. This fundamental longing for what is beyond is

co-existing and conterminous with man

Man had come through varying existential situations and knowledge societies during

his long journey through civilizations. During such journey of man from primitive man to

modern man, he had experienced various existential situations. And depending on different

such existential situations, his fundamental longing towards the transcendence.

As a matter of fact all the religious ideas, moral ideas etc. can be traced back to religious

consciousness indicating the primacy of ~ligious consciousness. In otherwords as Rudolph

Otto has c o d y said:

"The subject of religion involves the problem of personality and the deeper vicissitudes of life and thoughtw14.

Following the footsteps of Rudolph Otto, Cassian Agera of Harward says that

Religion is the fundamental intentionality of man towards the sacred. From day one of mm's

existence, this fundamental intentionality towards the sacred was an integral part of his

45

existence, no matter how different his existential situation used to be. This intentionality

manifested itself in many forms; depending on different existential situations in which man

found himse t f in. Given the epistemology of each stage, ihere formed religions, be it archaic,

ancient or Modern. Naturally therefore Religions are all the same in essential spirit.

23 Essentials Of Religious Beliefs.

A &lief in transcendental could be termed as one of the central principtes of religion,

though this belief assumes different forms. For some religions, it is an explicit and

straight-forward belief in a personal God who is the Creator, the supreme being atc, Some

religions are not much concerned about a God as such, they dimtly keep transcendence as

their goal, desideratum. Some treat the transcendental just as the ultimate reality, not

venturing to describe the infinite in a finite manner. However, common folks, no matter

which religion that they follow, do carry some kind of a common concept of God, for JI -

practical purposes. The famous hdian saying is significant here: "Ekam Sat, Vipra Bahudh'

Vadanti"- The tmth is only one; Scholars speak about it in different terns.

(i) Thus, different religions call Him by different names, but the underlying concept is One

Single Supreme Being who created the world and controls every a s p i of it. His attributes

are many - He is all-mighty, ail-knowing and all-pervasive. He is embodiment of power as

well as mercy; He rewards and punishes, He gives and takes life. He is beyond our

comprehension, and sometimes His ways are mysterious and inscrutable. h spite of all these,

His existence cannot be demonstrated. His existence is based on unswerving faith and those

who doubt about His presence will never be able to realize Him.

(ii) The belief in God is essentially a belief in the Unity of God. According to German

philosophers like Fitche, Kmt, ScheIIing and Fraubel, and also the teachings of Upanipds,

#

Sankara and Koran, there is one eternal law - The Law of Unity , that governs all

things, men and nature. Law of Unity states that in everything there works and stirs 'One

Life' given by God. God is one Ground or Substratum of all things. God is

all-comprehending, all-sustaining and is tht e s m e and meaning of the world. All things,

animate or inanimate, originate from One God. Man and nature are one. They are simply the

different forms of the Unity - which is God. There is Unity in diversity and diversity in

Unity.

"All things have come from Divine Unity (Gd) and have their origin in the Divine Unity" 15.

Ancient Indian sages were aware of this Unity of the Universe and they expressed it as

'Vasudhaiva Kuturnbakam'.

(iii) The third basic religious belief is that death is not the final end of man's life. It is only

the body that dies, and the body is not everything that constitutes a human being. According

to ancient hdian and Greek concepts, the body is but the temporary abode of the soul (spirit)

which is immortal and survives the dissolution of the body. The body is also often figured as

a garment which the soul puts on for its earthly sojourn and discards before its flight to its

heavenly home where it enjoys an everlasting life. The nature of man's afterlife, whether it is

going to IE one of bliss or of suffeting, depends entirely on his actions in this life.

(iv) The fourth basic religious belief is the belief in the scriptures as divine guidance to man.

Such a divine guidance has indeed been bestowed on man at a11 times and in all countries. It

is enshrined in the scriptures, the sacred books of religions, revealed to different people at

different times. Belief in Scriptures as part of God's beneficence to man is basic to all

religions. In the absence of such belief men will have nothing to guide them through the

trials and temptations of life. The source of all these scriptures being God himself, it is but

natural that their teachings are in essence the same with regard to beliefs and practices.

One could bring out three basic concepts which .could be treaied ss general to all

religions. They are concept of God, concept of suffering and concept of liberation or

salvation. In spite of finding the wmmonaIities, the study of religion has miles and miles to

go forward. Both philosophers and sociaf scientists failed to do justice to Religion. Social

sciences were out to collect data and they tried to make religion as fitting into their varying

perspectives, thus reducing reiigion into something quite different. They did commit the

fallacy of reductionism. On the other hand, the philosophers tried laoking for the essence of

all religions to generate a universal notion of religion thus missing the point and swapping

the spirit of religious pluralism. The contemporary world, both Chicago school and Haward

School make this mistake in spite of their much serious religious studies. What one need to

realize from the study of religions is the fundamental essence of all these religions and not

the possible commanalities among various religions. We must look at it as the fundamental

intentionality of human being towards the sacred. We ought to treat religion as autonomous,

dynamic and unique.

2.4 Hindn (Indian) View Of Religion

In the previous few pages a brief idea about the general nature of religion has been

given, let us now look at the Hindu (Indian) view of religion. The term Hindu itself is much

mis I d i n g today, especially in the eyes of Western Scholars, the term 'Hindu' may stand for

a religion, though it really is a pointer towards people living in entire India. The term

Religion is also an alien concept to Indian spirituality. One may argue that Indian society

never had a religion as such. India was always a land of plurality of faiths, multiplicity of

customs, rituals, practices etc.; so different from one another, but strangely, very harmonious

and coexisting. It is because of this harmony and co-existence of such plurality of faith,

rituais, religious practices etc. that the outsiders thought it to ix one religion, a religion so

strange and different from the experiences of their own. The not at all contradicting

d i h c e s were termed different Dharmas within Indian society, but they all had the

essential substratum of deep spirituality and the desideratum transcendence.

Thus, for an Indian, religion is the central heme of his life, and this can be seen very

clearly from Swhi ~iv&band2s declaration:

"Each Nation, like each individual, has one theme in life, which is at its centre. I f any nation attempts to throw off its national vitafity, that nation dies. In India, religious life forms the centret'16.

Dr-Radhakrishnan also brings this idea out through the following words:

"Religion is a thing not dien to us: it has to be evolved out of us. It is always within us: with some consciousfy so, with others unconsciously. But it is always thereflf

The word 'Hindu' is most likely of Persian origin and is not found in any of the religious

books. To trace the origin of the word 'Hindu', we have to go back in history to the invasion

of India by the outsiders fiom the North and North-East. The outsiders used the word 'Hind'

to name the great river 'Indus' to the West; of course, the Vedic literature used term 'sindhu'

as appallative known for rivers in general throughout Indian History. So it is quite possible

that the word 'Endus' or ' Sindhu' became the common name used by outsiders for the land

they conquered.

Again, under the title 'Hinduism' is included diverse classes, views, beliefs, rituals, modes of

life etc. Raju P.T. notes that:

"There was no religion called Hinduism just as there were no Indians belonging to the same race or nationality regardless of their being inhabitants of America, the East Indies, West lndies or India" 18.

Hence it is dificult to define Hinduism. Some recent writers have defined 'Hindu' as:

"All natives of India who do not belong to Mussalman, Jain, Buddhist, Christian, Parsi, Jew md other known religions of the world and whose theology is written in Sanskrit Language"19.

This definition is not satisfactory, for it ignores the fact that Hinduism is not a religion in the

sense of the word as understood by Western Thinkers. An Indian thinker observes Hnduism

thus:

"Hinduism is that which a Hindu does, in other-words, it is a question of ritualistic and social obsewance"2O.

d. Hastings defines a Hindu:

"as a man who has not fallen from Hinduism, that is taken up the membership of any community like Christian or Muhammadan. The distinction &een Hindu and a non-Hindu is merely a provisional one ... Hinduism is an ever- changing society which may expand and take in races and peoples irrespective of their religious beliefs. What smieties it will absorb, depends entirely on the circumstancesQ1.

From the above quoted lines it becomes clear that the word 'Hindu' had only a

territorial significance. It only implied residence in a particular geographical area. Naturally

all the people like aboriginal tribes, savages, half-civilized people, the cultured Dravidans

and the Vedic people were all 'Hindust as they were sons of the same mother. Hinduism

came into existence due to the subtle unification of the different masses by a bond of

spiritual thought and realization. It is a collection of names for a variety of beliefs born in

India inclusive of both Buddhism and lainism.

Another word which is unique to lndian culture and philosophy is the word

' Dharma', which some Western thinkers mistakenly take synonirnousiy for 'religion' which

is not true. In India the word 'Dharma' is pregnant with deep rooted significance connoting

several senses.

Etymologically the word 'Dharma' is derived from the Sanskrit root, 'Dhar' meaning

'to support'. It is the all-supporting principle making for integrity and harmony in every

context. It is also defined as the established order, usage, institution, custom, prescription,

rule, dignity, virtue, moral spirit, good works, right, justice, law etc. According to Mahq?i

Manu;

"The whole Veda is (first) source of the sacred law,next the hditions and the virtuous conduct of those who know (veda further), as the

custom of the holy men and finally self-satisfactionW22.

Dharma as duty is the obligation on the part of every individual towards other members of

the society in which he is placed without any attachment to its fruits. D h m a as virtue is

universal and eternal. It means individual's will to cultivate a number of virtues such as

A$iriisa (non-violence), aparigrha (non-possession), ~arnabhsva (equability), Niskarn K m i

(detached activity), K & p a (tolerance) etc. as prescribed by lndian tradition.

Thus there is a difference between Hindu conception of Dharma and the European

conception of religion. 'Hindu' is a definite body and 'Hindu Dharma' is an indefinite thing

which the Hindus consider as their Dharma. Indian commentators have explained it as:

52

"denoting an act which prduces the quality of the soul called 'apurba', the cause of heavenly bliss and final liberationd3

Monior Wiliiams, on h e other hand, defines D h m a as:

"a particular body of traditional doctrines handed down through succession of teachers and also ' ~ & a ' or 'Mata' - that is particular views or opinions on religion and philosophy"24

But m f u l study of Hindu religion reveals that the word 'ma&' for religion cannot be used.

'Mata' means opinions, doctrine, theory, view etc. Monier Williams admitted a mistake in

identifying 'mata' for religion. But the Indians regard 'Dharma' as a t h q of reality guiding

our life. They make a clear cut distinction between the two. If this distinction is not

maintained, then people may think that Indian philosophy grew out of beliefs or dogmas

formulated by some ancient religious teacher. Keeping in view this distinction it will help us

to understand why Indian Philosophy still keeps religious bias, a bias towards spirituality.

Indian religion is a reflective way of life, and hence, ernMies philosophy also.

Dharma, is therefore, the law of life, the way of life, and that keeps running union

with the foundation of our beings. In this sense Dharma is the way of lilfe in accord with

reality. In hdian tradition religion and philosophy are not divided into watertight

compartments. They are regarded as the two states of the same human rtctivity. The aim of

both religion and philosophy is to uplift man and society to higher and nobler level and to

seek unity through diversity.

53

Commenting on the development of Indian religion P.T.hju observes that:

"The elements of Indian religion can be traced back to the pre-Aryan Mohanjadaro civilization in the Indus valley to about 3000 B.C or even earlier times which had a script but that had not been deciphered. Excavations reveal that people of that time had a meditative religion and

worshipped some mother ~oddess"25.

This view has been confirmed by Ernest Mackay:

"The worship of the mother Goddess is a very n w l y Indian cult and pmbabiy existed in the country long before the arrival of the Indus valley people. It is probably true also of tree worship. Animal worship is also inherent in most primitive communities and has existed in lndia or elsewhere for so long that its origin is untraceabledd.

Dr. S. Radhakrishnan also writes:

"There is hardly any height of spiritual insight or rational philosophy attained in this world that has it's parallel to the vast stretch that lies between the

early Vedic Seers and modern ~ t t i ~ a ~ i k a s " 2 7

Hence, we may come to the conclusion that the Indian religion is the oldest raion of

the world. But the Western attitude towards this fact is quite surprising.

Now, we may sum up our discussion on Hindu view of religion in the words o f Dr.

S. Rdhakrishnan:

"While fixed inteltectual beliefs mark off one religion fiom another, Hinduism sets itself no limits. Intellect is subordinate to intuition, dogma to

experienw, outer expression to inward realization. Religion is not the acceptance of academic abstractions or celebration of ceremonies, but a kind of life and experience. It is insight into the nature of reality (darsana) or experience of reality (anubhava). This experience is not our emotional thrills or a subjective fancy; but is the response of the whole personality , the integrated self to the centml reality. Relilgion is a specific attitude of the self itself and no others, though it is mixed up generally with intellectual views, aesthetic norms and moral valuationW28.

2.5 Background of Gandbiji's I d w on Religion

'The man who became one with the Universal Being' - this was the sub-title of

Roman Rolland's book, 'Mahatma Gandhi', published in 1924. Rolland wrote:

"One thing is certain, either Gandhi's spirit will triumph, or it will manifest itself again as were manifested centuries before, the Massiah and the ~uddha"29.

Twenty years later Albert Einstein could write of Gandhi:

"Generations to come, it may be, will scarcely believe, that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earW"'0.

Let us now look at the backround which helped in evolving such a 'Mal$ma'.

Mohandas Kararnchand Gandhi wets born in the complex Vaishcavite tradition of

Kathiawrtd in 1869 just twelve years after the suppression of 1857 revolution. The country

was, at that time mentally suffering the humiliation of the defeat. It was a period of subdued

resentment against the British Imperialism. The agony was still prevailing in the hearts of the

people who find no way to fight against the Britishers to make India fiee. In the mean-time

55

many public-spirited men started thinking that spiritual decline of their men was responsible

for political subjugation. Several religious institutions like Br@ma-samFij, Arya-sam5j and

Theosophical societies came into being to reform the mind of the people with a view to

making them aware of their rich ancestral religious traditions. This was a period of religious

renaissance. The gem of religious sentiment spread a11 over lndia by the time Gandhiji was

born.

Again, Kathiawad was the centre of Vai!~ava sect founded by Vallabhkh-qa.

Gandhij i's family followed this traditiond theistic faith of Vaishqavism. Ganhi's father Kaba

Gandhi and mother Puthlibhai were stern believers in God and used to visit temples and

saints. This might have imprinted religious impressions on the mind of Gandhi from his

very childhood. His grand-father, Oh-Bapu, apart from being a follower of Vallabhkh'&ya,

was also a- to '&-Charit Mkasl written by TulsidZs. This attraction passed on to

Kaba Gmdhi and ultimately to Gandhi, Gandhi studied 'Rimcharit MGas' too deeply and

this book created an indelible impression on him towards 'Remi from his very childhood.

Porbandur was also a meeting place of the people belonging to ail major religions of

the world. Eclecticism has k a m e a way of life and men worshipped as they pleased

without any interference from others. Kaba Gandhi had many friends among them and most

oRen these people belonging to various religious faiths held religious discussions in

Gandhi's residence. Gandhi listened to them. Gandhi also studied some Gujarati religious

books like RhZiyan, Bhagavad ~Tta and Manusmfl from the library of his father. Gandhi

l emt from his mother the Indian maxim - 'There is nothing higher than Truth'. He also

learnt that non-violence is the highest value (eimsa parama dharm*). Though this latter

was universally acknowledged mong the Hindus in all parts of India, it is most rigidly

practiced by the Vaishnava and particularly the Jains; the combined influence of all these

turned his native place Gujarat into the land of strictest vegetarianism. Gandhi grew in that

mosphere. It was Puthlibai's spirit of devotion, saintliness and unorthodoxy in regard to

religion that gave Gandhi's broad-minded religious spirit.

1

Gandhi was also influenced by two Hindu mythological dramas 'Sravqa Kurniiri'

and 'Wmish Chmd1-3, the morals of which Gandhi considered as of eternal value. He writes:

,' "Still both 'Hari~h Chands and 'Sravm K w t G ' are living qudities for me and I am sure I should be moved as before, if I were to read these plays again todayS 1.

Gandhi also got by heart two valuable religious books - 'Rim R d q a Stotra' and ' V i g u Piija'.

Rambai, a religious lady who used to look afier Gandhi during his childhood asked

him to repeat 'Ramnht in order to make himseif free from the fear of ghosts. This created

in Gandhi an ardent faith in &a so much so that he became fearless throughout his life.

Gandhiji learnt the art of practicing socid virtue from his fmily. For example, on

'untouchability' he writes:

"This idea was brought home to me by my bitter experience in South African struggle, it is not the fact that I was once a agnostic. It is equally wrong to think that T have taken my views from the study of Christian religious literature. These views date as far back as the time when I was

neither enamoured for nor as acquaintd with the ~ i b l e " ~ 2 .

On his own confession they date to the time when his mother asked him not to touch a

scavenger who came to clean his latrine.

In London Gandhi studied Edwin Arnold's translation on the Bhagavad ~ i t a - 'The

Song Celestial'. This book left immediate and life-long effect on-dhi. He writes:

"It opened to me a new view of life. It touched my spirit as perhaps it can only touch a child of the ~ast"33.

In another place Gandhiji writes about the deep attachment he had for ~ T t a :

"It is (the &ta) my mother. I lost my earthly mother who gave birth to me. But this eternal mother completely filled her place by my side ever since. She has never failed me. Whenever I am in difficulty or distress, I seek refuge in her bosom"34.

From the GL, Gandhi derived the eternal message of selfless action i.e. Nishkha

karma. His philosophy of life and religion were rooted in the Bhagavad ~yta. ~lta taught him

the idea that self-realization is possible only through righteous action and nonviolence.

Service to God also accompanies service to humanity. Every devotee must devote himself to

action in order to establish righteous and spiritual universe. Gandhi did not interpret the

Kurukshetra War as historical event, but:

"Under the guise of physical warfare, it described a duel perpetually going on in the hearts of mankind and the physical warfare was brought into make the description of the internal duel more thrilling. This preliminary intuition became more confirmed on close study of religion of ~ita"35.

Truly speaking, the ~ T t a taught him to be Karma=yGgi, non-violent and to cultivate the spirit

of self-surrender to God.

Gandhiji studied about all the major religions of the world. To him Buddha and

Christ were never theorists, they were activists, they were for direct action in accordance

with their ends. These two prophel never advocated force as a means of conquest. They

were never afraid of using moral force to fight against evil. He took them as apostles of love

and gentleness. Edwin Arnold's 'The Light of Asia1 gave him touching impression regarding

the life and teaching of Buddha. He followed the teachings of Buddha because Buddha was

opposed to caste-distinctions, sacraments, rituals etc. the practice of which brings forth

differences in individuals. Buddha was a source of inspiration to him because Buddha tried

to evolve new social values and accepted cosmic view of salvation. Gandhiji fully acceptsd

the eight-fold path of salvation of mankind enunciated by Buddha, particularly non-violence

as most appealing.

Gandhi studied the old 'Testament and also the new. He was much impressed by its

messages, especially the 'Sermon on the Mount'. The ideals of detachment to worldly

possessions, non-violence and universal love he derived from this. He was so impressed by

the 'Sermon on the Mount' that he expressed:

"Today supposing I was deprived of the ~ T t a and forget all its content but had a copy of the Sermons, I should derive the same joy from it as I do from the ~ h " . 3 6

Gmdhiji was aIso acquainted with Islamic Religion. He regarded it as a religion of

peace. Islam means in its way denial of selflannihilation of the self. This religion also

preaches complete surrender to God. The ideals of Islamic religion such as universal

brotherhod, self-sacrifice, social justice etc. influenced Gandhiji to a great extent. Islamic

religion appealed to him because this religion preaches that a Muslilm is one who performs

righteous actions, puts his life into danger and is over-powered to dedicate his life for truth.

During his stay in England he dso came into contact with Theosophists and their

literature dating to the movements for the Unity of all religions. Practically these

Theosophists persuaded him to study more about Hiduism- like the works of G?@ Ve'danta,

YGga, Jainism, and the books of S w h i VivZkananda who virtually preached the ideas of

V h t a in the West.

Gandhiji had been influenced immensely in developing his philosophy of religion

through contact with three contemporaries who captivated Gandhi by their social views on

religion. Raichand Bhai by his living contact, Tolstoy through his book 'The Kingdom of

God is Within You', and Ruskin through his b m k 'Unto This Last'.

Raichand Bhai, was a remarkable man, a jeweller, a poet and a saint rolled into one,

whom Gandhiji had known in Bombay. Gandhiji narrates about this man , who became a

Guru to him as follows:

"During the two years I remained in close contact with him, 1 felt in him every moment the spirit of vairagya (renunciation). One rare feature of his writing is that he always set down what he felt in his own experience. There is in them no trace of unreaIity. I never saw him being tempted by objects of pleasure or luxury in the world. There was a strange power in his eyes; they were extremeiy bright and free from any sign of impatience or anxiety. They bespoke of single-minded attention. Those qualities can exist only in a man of self-control. He disproved the prevalent idea that a man who is wise in the sphere of dharma will not be wise in the affairs of practical life. A student of philosophy of religion, he tried to practice what he be1ievedtf37.

These qualities which Ciandhi admired in Raichand were the qualities he himself

tried to portray.

Gandhiji was influenced by Leo Tolstoy. The seed of thought and action, philosophy

of non-violence and the importance of manual labour was implanted by Tolstoy to germinate

in the mind of Gandhi. Gandhi says:

"The law that to live man must work first came to me upon reading Tolstoy's writing on 'Bread hbour"'38

He learnt that to towe humanity man must work and share in the production of the country.

Tolstoy's exhortation,'to get off the shoulders of our neighbourG greatly impressed him.

Tolstoy's "The Kingdom of God is Within You' questioned the traditional notion of

religion as concentrating on the rituals and not giving enough attention to inner spiritual

growth and social uplibent. According to Tolstoy 'religion' should manifest in one's

political, economic as well as social actions. He condemned the Church, for it perpetuated a

religious fraud in the name of Christ. He uses the expression 'The dead Church'. Tolstoy's

teaching influenced Gandhiji to the extent h i t he had this view about religion:

"religion which took no account of practical affairs and did not help to solve them was no religionM39

Referring to Ruskin's book 'Unto This Last', Gandhiji says that this was the book that

affectd him more than any other book. On a train journey in South Africa,fEom Durban to

Johannesburg he was so much hooked to this book that he was not able to sleep after

finishing it. The messages in the book kept on coming back to him and made him to decide

to change his life. Ruskin had argued that the me wealth of a community lay in the

well-being of a11 its members, the good of the individual being contained in the good of all,

'unto this last as unto thee1; that ail work had the same value, the barbers' no less than the

lawyers'; that the life of one who worked with hand, in the soil or at a craft, was the most

useful life. Later when Gandhiji translated the book into Gujrati, he narnd it Sarvzdaya

(meaning welfare of all), a word which has now gained wide currency in India as embodying

the Gandhian ideal of Socio-economic reform.

Gandhiji was influenced by the philosophy of Ruskin, particularly that aspect of the

philosophy which dealt with the synthesis of thought and action, of aim and ends, of

62

harmony attained between words, beliefs and action. Gandhiji found striking similarities

between his conviction and that of Ruskin. He says that he discovered some of his deepest

convictions reflected in the great book of Ruskin . Without doubt, we can say that Gandhiji's

social philosophy 'SarvEdaya' had its origin as a result of his reading of Ruskin's book 'Unto

This Last'. Gandhiji says that a vague idea of 'Sarvo'dya' (welfare of all) had been with him

ever since he got exposed to the teachings of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, but

concretization of this idea took place only after reading Ruskin's book.

It is true that Gandhiji was influenced by teachings of Western philosophy and

Religion, But we must note here that Gandhiji already had these ideas in his mind. The

living contact with these ideas only Sewed to strengthen his convictions. The inquisitive

mind of Gandhiji tried to learn and assimilate ideas from different religions and personalities

so as to make his philosophy more appealing to the whole world. The universal applicability

of Gandhiji's philosophy is evident fiom its successful use by many liberation movements in

Africa, South America and Martin Luther King in North America to empower blacks.

One could say that Gandhiji was a real Indian, a real Hindu: an archetype. An

authentic Indian accepts and assimilates whatever he is convinced of. Such acceptance and

assimilations are in the right spirit of Hindu Dharma; and precisely this is the greatness with

Hindu Dharma and Indianness. Naturally, then it becomes a real task for one to be

functioning as an Indian and Hindu culturally. Here, Hindu does not stand for religion, but

for culture. For the great mind of the Mwtma, the task of becoming and being the archetype

Hindu and Indian could be carried out with relative ease. For the vast majority, this is indeed

a tough terrain. But then, the very fact that M@'itma could personify the archetype gives

tremendous moral strength to many who are charmed by the desideratum, but who fear that

they might stumble: and skepticism lurks within them whether they could ever approximate

the desideratum. It is here that the Mal$tma functions as a living model to many: after all

not long before there lived a man who had practically demonstrated the archetype Indian.

Indeed it is a very comforting and soothing thought that the Mal@tma was not a legend; after

all it is not long before that he walked on this very earth.

2.6. Concept of God - The most outstanding fact about Gandhiji was that he was a man-god. He

had unshaken faith in himself. He was guided by this will, "The voice of inner conscious".

Gandhij i can be called a God-intoxicated man. He writes:

"lf 1 do not feel the presence of G d within me I feel so much misery and disappointment every day that I would be a raving maniac and

my destination would be the ~ o o ~ l e ~ d o

Mahatma Gandhi had an immovable faith in the existence of God. Faith in God was

the guiding star of dl his actions in any field; life without faith in god was unimaginable for

him. Gandhiji declared:

"1 am SurerofHisexistence than ofthe fact that you and Iare sitting in this room. Then I can also testify that I may live without air and water but not without Him. You may pluck out my eyes, but that cannot kill me.You may chop o f f my nose, but that will not kill me. But blast my belief in God, and I am deaddl.

Regarding the concept of God, D.M. Datta observes that Gandhiji assimilated his

idea of God from different religions, no doubt, but this only enriched his basic belief in

divinity he acquired from the Vaigqava family in which he was born. Datta says:

"Gandhi was rather a theist than an advaitinV4*

As Gandhi himself says;

"J am an advaitist and yet 1, support Dvaitism (dualism).The world is changing every moment and is therefore unreal, it has no permanent existence. But though it is constantly changing, it has something in it which persists and it is therefore to that extent real. I have therefore no objection to calling it real and unreal, and these king called anekanta vada or syadvada" 43

From the above statements Datta concludes that"

"His own words clearly show that he is not the advaitist in the sense of Sankarite who would neither support dualism nor the logic of syadvada" *.

But there are some statements made by Gandhi that lead us to think that he had

affirmed his faith in Vedanta. for example:

"I believe in Advaita, I believe in the -ntial unity of man and for that matter ofall that lives"45.

Again, Gandhi writes:

" I believe in the absolute one-ness of God and therefore also of humanity. Though we have many bodies, we have but one soul. The rays of the sun

are many through refraction but they have the same sourcet'46.

P.T. Raju in his book 'Idealistic Thoughts of India' writes:

"There is no doubt a b u t M&3tma Gandhi being an Absolutist and a Monist. For him God is the only Truth. He alone exists. Everything else is MZya. So we are all Sparks of Truth. The sum total of the sparks is indescribable as yet unknown truth, which is ~ o d " ~ 7 .

T.M.P. Mahadevan also holds that:

"The expressions that Gandhi use to indicate the nature of plenary reality is closely similar to those that are employed in advaita. The vaas describe Br@mq, says Gandhiji, "as not this, not this; but if He or It is not this, He or It is ... God is that indefinable something which we feel but I do not knowv4&

This controversy is based on certain misunderstanding about the

religio-philosophical basis of Indian tradition particularly of Advaita. If the function of

philosophy is to know the universe as a systematic unity, then advaitafs speculations are

designed in bringing about a spiritual conversion of the finite into the infinite by means of

knowledge. The finite here is asked to overcome its limitations in order to realize its time

nature through systematic knowledge. Advaita has prescribed the method of training

faculties of knowledge gradually through a number of defrnite stages in order that it may be

led towards what yet fail outside the scope. Human reasoning has necessarily to pass through

a series of tentative conclusions, each reasoning is valid for a particular stage, but they come

into conflict with each other when conditions under which they are valid is ignored. The

terms like Truth, Reality etc. that we find in advaita have always reference to particular

contexts, but indiscriminate use of them leads to serious difficulty. The right estimate of the

place of God in Advaita lies in its classification of experience into different level of

perfection - like Vy&+arika and Paramamarthica level of experience. If we do not try to

understand this distinction, the correct assessment of Advaita spirit of teaching is not

possible.

Transcendence of duality with all its forms is the fundamental characteristic of

Paramahica experience. This experience destroys the very recognized cannon of human

knowledge because in paramkthica level of experience the subject-object duality is not

there. It is absolutely non-dual or ultra-relational experience. Human knowledge always

involves subject-object relation i.e. relational and discursive. As reality transcends

subject-object duality, it cannot be known through discursive knowledge. So to bridge over

the wide difference between finite and infinite Advaita prescribes the method of gradually

training the finite faculties though different stages of approximation to what is yet beyond

their scope. Hence, our relationd knowledge undergoes transmutation leading ultimately to

the absolute experience. The aim of this methd is not to remove the defects of discursive

knowledge but it suggests a rigomus intellectual scrutiny as an indispensable generative

condition of Absolute experience where reality alone stands self-revealed.

"The rigorous intellectual scrutiny is like temporary scaffolding which has an indispensable function while the construction is not completed, the discursive knowledge prepares the path to intuitation and is therefore an important propaedeutics to Absolute experiencet*49.

Advaita never dismissed the world of experience as wholly unreal. It is unreal only

from the Pararnirthica level of experience. It is not real means it is not as real as Brahman. . . However it has its phenomenal reality.

From the above discussion we can ascertain the place of God in Advaita.

"God as an Omniscient and Omnipotent Being possessing personality and perfection and as such inspiring and satisfying religious sentiments of humanity has a genuine place in it. Such a God is also real as the individual centre of experience, or as the world of common experience, our moral striving, our aspirations, our happiness and misery. Neither He nor the minds and the material things are mere illusions. The fact that they are absolutely non-existent from the standpoint of higher experience, does not mitigate against the genuine relativity of our experience as it is now"50.

"That reality is ultra-relational, above all determinations, is the central point of advaita. But at the same time it is also conscious of the relational character of dl thinkings. It follows from these two propositions that ultra-relational is inconceivable to us. Yet logical thought, being an indispensable stage in the process of raising the ultra-relational Absolute, the unthinkable has to be brought under the condition of thought by means of attributing to it what does not really belong to it i.e. super-imposition. The Bmlpap thought absolutely distinctless is to be conceived as MEya, Sakti, Prdqiti of the Omniscient Lord, Thus super-imposition, what is but another name for accommodation to the conditions of discursive thought, occupies a prominent place at the Advaita method of stimulating thought to go beyond itself5 1.

It is not proper to think that V a i ~ ~ a v a theism is incompatible with advaita. Among

/ Advaitans even we find Vai~gavas, SaivZs and others. Vaishnava Advaitans believe that

ultimate reality is nondual but prefer Vishqu for their personal deity. T.M.P. M W e v a n

observes that:

/ "To the Advaitan Niri ana is God, even as Siva is. The heads of Monastic orders established by g ahkara even to this day conclude that messages etc. that they issue with NhEyana smtiti ... many a classical workers of Advaita begins with an invocation to ~ishqu-~&&ana or to one of his ~vatiirs"52.

Gandhiji described his Riima as the eternal, unborn, the one without a second.

"To him R h a is not sectarian. Because R h a and Krishna are regarded as avatk, both belong to the Indian cultural tradition as a whole. Even Saikara recognizes the greatness of Rha-name. I repeatedly adore that name ( R h a ) which is the nature of T a r k a - B W q gnd which Lord giva

whisper K h a , h a , Rha in the root of the one during the lmt /.,I53 moments of one's life at Kasl .

So it is clear that even a Vai*qava can be an Advaitin. It i s not the case that one who

believes in personal deity or God cannot convince that ultimate reality to ncmdual. But

Advaitin seeks to go beyond theisms. The absolute reality appear as personal in order to

explain the Universe and as the object of adoration of man.

The concept of God in Advaita is quite pertinent and precious for advaita experience. There

is also great need for grace and prayer, olnd is quite consistent with Advaita conviction.

4.kara also holds that:

"It is by knowledge caused by God's w e that release. is gained. He who has resorted to God as the sole refuge gains the eternal Vai5~ava status through God's grace"54.

It is true that Gandhi started his life as a conventional believer in personal God but later on

as he grew up he came to be convinced of the highest truth of nondual spirit. Gandhiji was

an dvaitin is proved when he says:

"I do not regard God as a person ... In truth there is no being as B*ma or &a. The only reality is newer B r a m q . This is one total and all-embracing Absolute, indescribable, Truth is God. The other things are relatively trueN55.

2.7 Relation Of Man To God

Man has occupied a unique position in Gandhiji's Philosophy. He bet ieved that man

has a great future and is evolving towards a higher and noble destiny. He knew the power of

69

man. Man is not only endowed with physical M y which is liable to decay according to the

law of nature, but also consciousness, will, emotion rtnd similar other mental qualities which

are the expressions ufthe indestructible spirit or sou1 present in him. So Gandhiji declared it

to be a rare thing to be born as a man. Hence, to make best use of his human life, he

dedicated his life to raise human beings into a higher spiritual plane and to remove the

suffering of humanity in general.

Gandhiji dealt with the problem of the relation of Man to God not from his own

perspective but h r n the traditional and progwssive Hindu thought pwhlar ly Advaita

stmghmd by Christianity and Islam. But D.M. Datta observes that:

"G-i h+es to keep his conception of man and God mobile and dynamic by thinking of God as force, as life etc, as if to make him &nit of divergent lines of manifestation, incamtion and inspirationd6.

To be precise Gandhiji never entered into the intricacies of the exact relation &tween man

and God. He shows a decis'ive preference for simplicity as against mmpkxity. He triwJ to

solve the problem in ar Migious way. He regarded the individuals Med@ 'together in an

inseparable relatiun. Gmdhiji says, on the one hand the IndlvkU is the supme

consideration and on the dw hand:

"I believe in om abdrrte wlenesbi. of God and therefore of humanity. Though we have m y bodies we have one soul. The rays of the sun are many through ernion, but they have the same source"57.

This statement of Gandhi is perfectly in accordance with the positivistic vkdktic view.

Gandhiji measured and appreciated the greatness of human nature. To him it is only

man who is able to reconstruct his inner being to attain supreme power. Advaita also

acknowledges the greatness of man in recognizing the power of intuition to attain salvation.

It is not the 'egot that is identical with Brahman. 'I m Bralpa?' means there is no '1' but

there is B r w q alone. So Gandhi declares:

"TO feel that we are something is to set up a banier between God and ourselves, to cease feeling that we are something is to become one with ~ o d " 5 8 .

Gmdhiji made certain statements as to the relation of man to God having striking

similarity with Vaishqavite theistic thoughts. But he was mostly influenced by VivEkGnanda

in consonance with the modern Western Monists who emphasized that 'all this is nothing

but Bralpant. He was mostly influenced by the humanitarian attitude of Christianity and

inculcated the idea of Man-God mar-NGyq) and regarded the service to suffering

humanity as the best worship of God md as the path of salvation. Gandhiji also accepted this

idea wholeheartedly and practiced it throughout his life.

Religion in India is a life to be lived, not a thing to be accepted or beliefs to be

adhered to. Gandhiji accepted this idea and as a practical idealist followed the service to

humanity as an approach to the divine. Gandhiji utilised this new positive ideas to modem

India by assimilating them in thought, living them in life and giving them social and political

shape.

According to Gandhiji:

"God resides in human form, in every particle of this creation, every-thing that is on earth59.

This presence of God implies that man has reason, morality and freedom of will. But these

help only to a certain extent in his march towards his goal. So it is through intuition or 'inner

voice' that supreme power can be attained. Therefore, he asked man to lead his life listening

to the dictates of his conscience (i.e. the inner voice of God). To Gandhiji man is the

architect of his own fate. He must be able to understand his particular nature and try to

perfect it. With a view to attaining perfection he must not ignore truth, neglect conscience

and indulge in animal passions. He must try to cultivate the quality of love, goodness and

abiding joy believing that 'the divine power within us are infinite'. So he asked the people to

follow the ideals of the ~ y t a - Raise yourself, by yourself, do not depress yourself, you are

your friend, you are your foe. Man is free to choose m y path, either the path of degradation

or the path of upliftment. Gandhiji advised man to remove bad impulses in order to raise

himself above brutish life.

"The brute by nature knows no self-restraint. Man is man only because he is capable of and only in so far as he exercises self-restraintdo.

2,7.1 individual Self- The problem of self is most persistent and one of the difficult

problems of philosophy. This persistent interest is borne out of the fact that there is nothing

so dear to man as the self. Man being a finite-infinite being his moral problem cannot be

solved kfore the true nature of self is discovered. In fact knowiedge of the self is the key to

attain knowledge of the universe. Hence, the wisest people of Greece declared 'Gnoti

senation ', which means 'know thyself. In India Brhdmyaka Upanishad puts it - Atmba

dra$avy+ st6vya-niddidhyz-sivyah' (verify the self, 0 Moitreyi should be realized and for

this purpose it should be heard about, thought about and constantly dwelt upon). It is the

duty of every man to know the nature of the self with the help of experience. Gandhiji, being

a religious man, could not but try to understand the nature of the self with the help of

experiences and thinkers of the past and the present. His conception of 'swaraj' is a

testimony to this. Gandhiji defined it as 'the complete disciplined rule from within'.

Awrding to Gandhiji an individual is composed of body and soul. While the body

is subject to decay being the victim of natural law; the soul is indestructible and immortal. It

is unborn in time, eternal and all-pervasive. Gandhiji defines soul as that through which we

come into being and through which we exist. The so-called individual souls are only fake

appearances due to identification with the minds and badies. To him just as,

"rings and chains are but gold, 'I' and 'You' are identical. Name and form are no more real than a mirage. That into which things merge when they

cease to have name and form is ever the same61.

It is due to our ignorance that we see many souls. But to the awakened, one eternal principle

which runs through all the individual's is alone real. Individual souls are identical with god

when the element of '1' completely disappears and the cause of the world-appearance is

'Gya'. in his own words:

"lndividual soul or '$vat though ignorance i s regenerated with false notions of 'I' and 'Mine'. It is viewed as something different from the eternal and self-luminous consciousness which in it's immanent, inner controller as that reflection of that consciousn ss, is identical with mind and it's states are i associated with the seds,~gnorance. So long as this 'ego' or 'I' exists rebirth will take place. A man who is convinced that really one God done exists, becomes one with God, and is liberatedM62.

According to Gandhiji individuality is due to Karma which is the pduct of Avidya.

The'Law of Karma' that has been substituted by God governs the world and God does not

interfere with its operations. Individual is responsible for his acts and God is the assisting

medium conceiving the fruits of action. He does not oblige my one to do this or that - Works

of a single existence have to be atoned for several succeeding ones. Even when the

atonement for the past is completed, fresh 'Karma' may accumulate and lead to the cycle of

births and death. Moral life is an un-remitting flow of activity which knows no exhaustion. It

may take endless terms due to the variety of the demands of the conditions of human life.

This process goes on for ever until the perfect knowledge is gained which consumes the

seeds ofkarma'and makes rebirth impossible. Those guilty of wicked deeds take birth in the

evil order of beings. By 'Karma' Gandhi means the merits and demerits of past deeds. It

means also body as long as the body is connected with the soul. So long as the man cannot

get rid of cycle of births and deaths he is subject to the law of Karma, total renunciation of

Karma is not possible to him.

According to Gandhiji, the human soul is independent of the M y . Our body may be

shattered to dust, still there is something in us which survives and it is this which determines

our future life. Death is a final transformation of this entity, an indispensable transformation

of the present state. Birth is also a sign of the same process of change. This change belongs

to the body only but not to the soul. Birth and death merely refer to the union of the soul

with the body and separation from it. Individuals will have to change the endless circuit of

birth and death, until they rise from eternal life by spiritual insight. The supreme end or

ultimate realm of human life rests on deliverance from these cycles of birth and death.

"Man should aspire to realize the self and therefore be concerned only with the activities that promote spiritual welfaret'63.

2.7.2 M6ba or Liberation.

Moksa or liberation form the pivot to all teachings of Gandhiji. In his autobiography

he emphatically says that his entire mission of life is to attain salvation. To him human

beings can grasp only a part of the meaning of MGkga, the rest only can be experienced.

Indian philosophers also differ in regard to their conception of the ultimate state. Except the

Ciirv5kas they all agree on the point that reality of such a state cannot be denied.

"Philosophers of lndia have differed in their conception of ultimate state in which the highest end is realizdt'64.

75

Gandhiji accepted this philosophical notion on simple faith, thinking that:

"so long as the finite is still in the stage of discipline, the eternality of liberation remains a mere article of faith or sastredrstiM65

Gandhi defined M6k5a or liberation in a traditional way:

"MGkq means deliverance from having to assume the endless succession of various bodies from the resulting sufferingM66.

Now means freedom from birth, escaping the cycles of birth and death md

deliverance from evil. Gandhiji writes:

"As a Hindu 1 believe that MGk* is kedom from birth by breaking the bonds of flesh by becoming one with ~ o d " ~ 7 .

Indian Wisdom had prescribed more than one path to attain m'okp. They could be

termed as te~hniques of transcendence in philosophical terms. Bhakti, YGga, Tantra, Karma,

Jfigina etc. are some such 'mkgis' or techniques of transcendence. The four values of

Purusharthiis are yet another means of attaining m6kp - Among the four values - Dharma,

Artha, Kama and M 6 k ~ - the last value is an automatic one. If one persues the first three

values,then the fourth value is automatically achieved.

According to Gandhi, there are two kinds of Iiberation.

"One is destruction of one's body after which, however, the necessity of born again and again remains for ever. The other Nirv'tna is Br*ma- Nirv'ana, which is state of void. But this void is in regard to the external world, within it all bliss of illumination"68.

Gandhiji believed in VidEba mukti i,e. deliverance after death. It means freedom

from birth. The question of release from bondage exists as long as the soul is connected with

body. It is attained through rigorous intellectual discipline leading to the destruction of the

intellect. In this state the ego ceases to exist, hence no survival of the body. We realize

Bratpan in the Br+mi-state and once we attain this state we become free from ignorance.

In this state our world view of experience becomes trarnsfigured in the institution of

B d p a n . This is Bdrna-Nirv* or liberation. A man who attains this state is described by

Gandhi as a Y5gi. Th is knower of the self is one having the sky as the only roof, living in a

jungle and looking upon snakes and scorpions as his friends. To Gandhi a YCgi i s one who

has attained freedom, who has controlled his mind, is completely free from ail desires, sees

the Atman through h a n , lives for ever content in the Ztman. These descriptions of Gandhi

,' remind us of Sarikara who said: M&p is not the dissolution of the world but only

disappearance of false outlook.

According to Gandhi, it is not possible for a man to realize absolute Truth. Gandhiji

holds this view because humanitarian attitude makes him to think so. To him individual

salvation is not possible until the entire mankind does not attain it. As there are infinite

number of selves it i s not possible for all of them to attain salvation at a time. He holds the

view:

"I do not believe that individual may gain spiritually and those that surround him suffer. I do believe in the essential unity of man and for that matter of all lives. Therefore, I believe that if one gains spiritually, the whale world gains with him and if one falls, the whole world falls to that extentU69.

Elsewhere he expresses the same conviction:

"Man will ever remain imperfect and it will be his part to try to be perfect. So that perfection in love or non-possession will remain an unattainable ideal as we are alive but towards which we must ceaselessly strive" 70

Gandhiji holds that whatever be the functioning of our mind or capacity,each of us

has some limited ideas of Truth as he sees it. He has to act upon it regardless of

consequences and with unselfish motive and not compromising with what he himself

considers as opposition to truth. At first he must be satisfied with relative truth. And if he

goes on working following this principle then this will serve him as beacon light and assist

him in the realization of the supreme Truth. Relative truths must be regarded as stepping

stones towards the realization of the Supreme Truth. Gandhiji advises everyone of us to

strive for perfection though we may fall short of it. To him man should derive satisfaction

from the effort to realize his idealpot in the attainment. He says:

"The goal ever recedes from us, the greater this progress, the greater the recognition of our unworthiness. Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainrnentf71.

This idea of Gandhi is similar to the view of Advaita where we find that :

"God has neither to be expressed in speech, nor in written discourse though we have to rationalize on Him in order to direct the souls to Him and stimulate it to rise from thought to vision1'72.

To Gandhiji M 6 k ~ or liberation is not a mere concept. It is a fact to be realized here

in this life and if not possible then one should strive for it in some other births. He is

optimistic about the fact that only man, being a spiritual being, has got the capacity for

striving to attain perfection in life. So the mission of human life should be perfection in life,

i.e. salvation. The way of freedom is neither by object entreaty nor by revolting violence.

Freedom does not descent upon people as a gift fiom above, but they have to raise

themselves to it by their own effort.

Gandhiji holds that man's ultimate aim is realization of God, and all his activities,

social, political and religious, have to be guided by this ultimate aim, for he accepts the

metaphysical position of the identity of God and the self. 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 become one with it. This can be done only by

service to all. Being part and parcel of the whole, one cannot find Him apart from Humanity.

And Gandhiji's God is myriad-formed; he never fails to see God in any situation in which

man places himself. Gandhiji saw Him in the people around, so all departments of life, all

walks of life are filled with Iiis presence. No part of life is devoid of relevance for

redemption, no compartment purely profane. One's everyday life is never capable of being

separated from one's spiritual being. Gandhiji felt that he could save ordinary man through

his involvement in politics. As he says:

"I felt compelled into political fiekl because 1 found 1 could not do even social work without touching politicsM73.

References

1 .Suhrawardy Abdujla, 'The Sayings of Muhammed', Forward by Gandhi,Gdword Books, New Delhi, 1997.

2. Gandhi Smiriti Darshan Samiti - 'Gandhi and Glob1 Non-Violent Transformation' 1994, p73.

3. Anupam Sengupta,'TwoGreats'Me~ublishin&ornpany, Ghaziabad, 2001, p.94.

4. Dr.Radhakrishnan R.S., 'Glimpses of World Religion' Jayco Publishing House, Bombay, 1966, p.9.

5. Krishna Kripalini, 'Gandhi: A Life', National Bcak Trust, India, 1991 ,p. 139.

6 , Hastings James, 'Encydopedia of Religion md Ethics' Vol.VI1.p. 140.

1 1 .Radhakrishnan R.S., 'Glimpses of World Religions' Jayco Publishing House,Bornbay 1966, p. 1 .

12. Hastings James, 'Encyclopedia of religion and Ethics' Vol.VI,p.699.

1 3. Kutty M.S. 'Philosophical Interpretation of Religion' 3rd Session, Indian Philosophical Congress, Patiala 1 978,p. 122.

14. Hastings James, 'Encyclopedia ofReligion and Ethics' Vo1.10,p.662.

1 5. Aggarwal J.C. 'Theory and Principles of EducationYikas Publishing House Pvt.Ltd., - ( 19th ed.) New Delhi, 1995,~. 144,

16. Jagmohan, ' Waiting for a Vivekananda', Indian Express, 9th August, 1 998.

8 1

17. Radhakrishnan S.'Mahatma Gandhi: Essays and Reflections', Jayco Publishing House, 1995, p.23 1.

18. Raju P.T.' Philosophical Traditions of India',George Af lan, and Unwan, 1971, p.31.

19. Hastings J. 'Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics', Vol.VI, p.698.

20. Ibid, p.699.

2 1. Ibid. p.699

22. Raju P.T. 'Philosophical Traditions of India', George Allen and Unwan, 197 1 , p.26.

23. Hastings J,'Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics' Vol.VI,p.699.

24. Ibid, p. 699.

25. Ibid, p. 699.

26. Raju P.T. 'Philosophical Traditions of India', George Allen and Unwan, 197 1, p.28.

27. Dr. Radhakrishnan R.S . 'Eastern Re1 igion and Western Thought', ( z ~ ed.),Oxford Univ-Press, 1940,p.28.

28. Radhakrishnan R.S. 'Hindu View of Life', George Allen and Unwan, 1974, p.13.

29. Nanda B. R. 'Gandhi and His Critics', (Preface), Oxford Univ.Press, Delhi, 1985.

30. Nanda B. R. 'Gandhi and Global Non-Violent Transformation', Gandhi Smiriti and Darsana Samiti, New Delhi,1994, p.79.

3 1. Vyas R.N.'Mahatma Gandhi - His Philowhy of Devotion' Asian Publishing Service, New Delhi, 1985. p.57

32. Shmashru Rajan 'Gandhi: The Man and The Mahatma', 'Rajan, Chandigarh, p.7.

33. Vyas R.N. 'Mahatma Gandhi - His Philosophy and Devotion' Asian Publishing Service, New Delhi, 1985, p. 11.

34. Lekshmi Kumari M. 'Mother, Upon Thee I Mediatel,lndian Express, No. 20, 1 999, Trivandrurn, p.6.

35. Desai Mahadev, 'Gita According to Gandhi', (4th ed.,) N.P.H. Ahmedabad, 1956, p.127.

36. Ibid. p. 127.

37. Nan& B.R. 'Gandhi and Global Non-Violent Transformation' Gandhi Smriti Darsan Samiti, New Delhi, 1994, p.62.

38. Madhavan T.M.P and Saraja C.V. 'Contemporary Indian Philosophy', Sterling Publishers, Pvt.Ltd.,New Delhi, 1993, p.72

39. Nanda B.R. 'Gandhi and Global Non-Violent Transformation' Gandhi Smriti Darsan Samiti,New Delhi, 1994, p.69.

40. Verma K.M.P. 'Philosophy of Religion', Classical Publishing Co., New elhi, 1982, p.66.

4 1. Shutri Prabha S h m a 'Gandhian Holistic Economics', Concept Publishing Co., New Delhi, 1992, p.70.

42. Datta D.M. 'The Philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi, University of Calcutta, 1968, p.35.

45. Sreevmv R.S. 'The Contemporary Indian Philosophy' Sterling Publisher Pvt-Ltd., New Delhi, 1983, p.22.

46. Ibid. p.22

47. Raju P.T. 'Idealist Thoughts of lndiaf,George Allen and Unwan, Ltd., London, 1952, p.252

48. Sreevastav R.S. 'Contemporary lndian Philosophy, Sterling Publishers Private Ltd., New Delhi, 1983.

49. Kalidas Bhattacharya 'Recent Indian Philosophy', Vol.1, Progressive Publishers, Calcutta, 1 968, p.373.

52. Sreevastav R.S. 'The Contemporary Indian Philosophy', Sterlig Publishers Pvt.Ltd., New Delhi, 1983, p.381.

5 5 . Collected Works of Mahatma gandhi, Vol.12,Publication Division of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govt. Of India, 2 nd Edition, 1969, p. 162.

56. Datta D.M. 'The Philosophy of Mahatma Gandhil,University of Calcutta, 1968, p.70.

57. Bose N.K. 'Selections From Gadhi', Navjevan Publishing ouse,Ahmedabad, 1948, p.25.

58. Sreevastav R.S, 'The Contemporary Indian Philosophy', Sterling Publishers Ltd., New Delhi, 1983, p.3 1.

59. Removal of Untouchability, Vol. 12, Publiction Division of Min. Of Information and Bmadcation, Govt. Of India, 2nd Ed., 1969, p. 106.

60. Gandhi M.K. 'An Autobiography' - My Experimenl with Truth, NPH Ahmedabad, 1 95 l , p.387.

6 1. Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol. 12, Publication Division of Min. of information and Broadcasting, Govt. of India,2nd Ed., 1969, p. 189.

62. hid. Vo1.13.p.487

64. Mukherjee A.G. 'Self, Thought and Reality', The Indian Press Publication Pvt. Ltd., Allahabad, 2nd ed. 1957, p.367.

66. Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol,l2,p.92,Publication Div. of Min. of Information and Broadcasting, Go-of India, 2nd ed., 1969, p. 189.

67, Dr.Shanna N. '20th Century Indian Philosophers', Banarus Hindu University Press, pp.52-53.

68. Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi', Vo1.32, Publication Division of Min. of Information a d Broadcasting, Govt. of India,2nd Ed., 1969, p.233.

69. Varma K.M.P,,'Philosophy of Religion' Classical Publishing Co.,New Delhi, 1982, p.67.

70. Bose N. K. 'Selections from Gandhi', Navjeevan Publishing House, A hmedabad, 1948, p 20 .

72. Mukherjee A.C. ' Self, Thought and Reality', The Indian Press Publication Pvt-Ltd., Allahabad,2nd Ed., 1957, p. 380.

73. Chacko K.C. 'Metaphysical Implications of Gmdhian Thought', Mittal Publications, Delhi, 1986, p. 15.