Lives of freedom fighters → Mahatma Gandhiji

Mahatma Gandhiji

Mahatma Gandhi

Lineage

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born in Porbandar, on October 2, 1869. Mohan’s father, Karamchand Gandhi, was popularly known as Kaba Gandhi. His mother was Putlibai. In early years, his father was the Diwan of Porbandar, and after that he became the Diwan of Rajkot.

Education

Mohandas went to an elementary school in Porbandar, In Rajkot, he attended a primary school and later he matriculated from a high school; Mohandas then joined the Samaldas College in Bhavnagar. Meanwhile, his father had died in 1885. A friend of the family suggested that if young Gandhi hoped to take his father’s place in the state service, he had better become a barrister which he could do in England in three years. Gandhi jumped at the idea. Now, Mother Putlibai asked Mohan to take a vow not to eat meat, not to drink and not to live an immoral life; Gandhiji took this vow, and boarded a steamer for England. He passed his law examination and returned to India.

Significant incidents in Early life

Once he read the story of Shravana wherein Shravana used to carry his old and blind parents in two baskets slung on a bamboo yoke. Mohan was deeply touched by his devotion to his old parents. He resolved to be like Shravana and serve his parents.
Once Mohan saw a play depicting the life of King Harishchandra, who was willing to forego his kingdom and undergo all kinds of suffering for the sake of truth. Mohan was so deeply moved by this play that he was in tears. He decided never to swerve from the path of truth and be ever truthful and honest like Harishchandra.
Gandhi’s mother Putlibai observed everyday a vow known as ‘Kokila Vratha’. As soon as she completed the ritual, she would wait for the call of the Kokila (Indian Cuckoo) before her breakfast. She would not touch food until the Cuckoo sang in his sweet voice. One day, she kept waiting for a long time near the window, looking for some signs of the cuckoo, but alas she found none. Little Gandhi noticed his distressed mother near the window. He quickly drafted a plan in his head and went out of the house; imitated the cuckoo’s voice, and then ran inside the house to tell his mother, “Mother you can eat your food now as it has made its call.” Gandhi’s mother had been following this ritual for past many years. She quickly came to know about her child’s silly prank. Unable to contain her grief, she slapped Gandhi and wailed, “What sin have I committed that such a wicked liar should be born to me! Oh Lord!” Her misty eyes and broken heart moved Gandhi. That day he made a promise to her, “From this day, I will not utter falsehood. I will not do anything that would hurt my mother’s gentle heart”. Thus began his saga of truth.
In his childhood, young Gandhi was very timid. He feared to step in darkness, even in his own house. He feared ghosts, thieves and snakes. Rambha, a maid servant in his house once said to Mohan: `Why are you so much fearful? Remember Rama! Rama will always protect you. Fear never encounters him who remembers Rama.’ Mohan was deeply impressed by these words. He took to reciting the name of Rama.
During his stay in Rajkot, his Parsee and Muslim friends often visited his house and discussed the good in their religions. These debates created in him love for all religions.
Once the Inspector of schools came to visit his school. He wanted to test the boys, so he dictated a few English words to the boys. Mohan could not spell one of the words correctly. His teacher prompted him to copy that word from his neighbor’s slate, but Mohan didn’t as he did not like to cheat anybody. The result was that all the students except Mohan, spelt all the words correctly. The teacher scolded Mohan after the class and Mohan felt wounded. But deep inside him he knew that what he had done was right.
One of his friends convinced him that the British could rule India because they lived on meat which gave them the necessary strength. So Mohandas who came from a vegetarian family took to tasting meat clandestinely, for patriotic reasons. But after he had once swallowed a piece, he felt as if a live goat were bleating inside him; also he was averse to telling lies and deceiving his parents; so finally he decided not to touch meat again.

Contribution to Nation

Champaran and Kheda Satyagraha

Gandhiji went to Champaran at the request of poor peasants who were compelled by the British to grow indigo in 15% of their land and part with the whole crop for rent. The British also levied an oppressive tax. At that time, Kheda in Gujarat was also facing a similar situation. Gandhi started reformation of villages, building of schools, clean up of villages, construction of hospitals and encouraging the village leadership to denounce many social tribulations. The British arrested Gandhi on charges of creating unrest. However hundreds of people rallied and protested outside the police station. They demanded his release which the court unwillingly granted. During this agitation people addressed him as “Bapu”.

Non Co-operation Movement

One of the first series of non-violent protests nationwide was the Non Co-operation movement started by Gandhi. This movement officially started the Gandhian era in India. Thus, educational institutions were boycotted, foreign goods were boycotted, and people let go off their nominated seats in government institutions.

Civil Disobedience Movement

Gandhi again took off with another non-violent movement known as the Civil Disobedience Movement. This movement aimed at bringing the British administration to a stop by withdrawing support from everything. There was agitation against land revenue, abolition of salt tax, cutting down military expenditure, levying duty on foreign cloth, etc.

Quit India Movement

The Quit India Movement was launched under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi in August 1942 with the main aim of bringing the British to negotiate with the Indian leaders. It was a call for immediate independence of India and the slogan of “Do or Die” was adopted. However the leaders were arrested soon after Gandhi’s speech and were put in jail by British officials. Gandhi went on a fast for 21 days demanding the release of the leaders despite his failing health. The British had to release the leaders.

India’s Independence

After the Quit India Movement, the freedom struggle got even more intense and passionate. Entire India was united together in the movement for freedom. The cry of Purna Swaraj or complete independence was raised. After much sacrifices and efforts, India gained its independence on the 15th August, 1947

Father of the Nation

Mahatma Gandhiji is revered in India as the Father of the Nation. Much before the Constitution of Free India conferred the title of the Father of the Nation upon the Mahatma, it was Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose who first addressed him as such in his condolence message to the Mahatma on the demise of Kasturba.

Mahatma Gandhi and spirituality

Mahatma Gandhi considered religion, spirituality, morality, and ethics, in fact, all activities of life, whether personal or public, to be integrated into the search for self-realization. He said in the introduction to his Autobiography: “What I want to achieve… what I have been striving and pining to achieve for 30 years—is self-realization, to see God face to face, to attain Moksha.”
About Gandhi, Einstein said, “Centuries hence people would scarce believe that such a man actually walked on earth, in flesh and blood.”
Gandhiji was a highly disciplined person, totally against wastage, of time, money and paper, in particular. Where paper was concerned, he would, for example, preserve little bits of paper to write notes on. Where money was concerned, he always travelled third class in train. And where time was concerned, he had a famous pocket watch tucked into his waist that he frequently consulted.
Gandhi dressed to be accepted by the poorest person in India, advocating the use of homespun cloth (khadi).
Gandhi spent one day of each week in silence. He believed that abstaining from speaking brought him inner peace and made him a better listener.
In the Gita, Krishna says that man must leave his mortal coil with the name of the Lord on his lips. And that precisely is what Gandhi did. He fell down saying “Hey Ram” twice. Stressing how firmly he was committed to Namasmarana, Gandhi once declared, “My breath may stop, but my chanting will not.”
Swami often says, “Follow the Master. Your Conscience is the Master.” That precisely is what Gandhi did all the time. Here is an example. In the early thirties of the twentieth century when Gandhi started the famous Satyagraha or Non-Co-operation movement, he envisaged it as a totally non-violent struggle. But within days of the start of Satyagraha, some extremist elements participating in the freedom struggle attacked a Police Station in Chauri Chaura, torched the building, and burnt alive, many policemen. Gandhi was very upset by this incident. He immediately called off the struggle, went on a fast for self-atonement – Gandhi often did this – and declared that he had committed a Himalayan blunder in ordering that particular campaign.
What is remarkable is that Gandhi’s political struggle became a spiritual journey for him. Here are a few examples: Once, Gandhi decided to agitate against the punitive salt tax imposed by the British, which caused great hardship to the poor. He then launched what has since come to be known as the Salt Satyagraha. He asked people to march to the sea shore, collect some sea water, evaporate it and make salt. This was to be the sign of protest and the declaration that when God had gifted the sea, man had no right to levy punitive taxes and amass wealth. So, protest marches to the sea-shore were organised all over the long coast line of India on a particular day, and Gandhi himself prepared to lead one such march from the village of Dandi in Gujarat. This event has since come to be known as the Dandi March.
At the beginning of the Dandi March, Gandhi addressed the marchers and in that speech he drew pointed attention to the importance of the means as well as the end. These days, many people try to justify illegal and even immoral actions on the ground that the end objective is good. Gandhi correctly held that the means are as important as the end and that BOTH must be good. To emphasise this, he quoted the last Sloka of the Gita, comparing Krishna to the Pure End, and Arjuna to the sacred means. Gandhi declared that the Gita says where Krishna and Arjuna are both present there would be victory. In practical terms this means that the means as well as the end must be good.
On August 14th 1947, Pakistan was born and on the following day India became free from British rule. There were violent riots all over North India preceding this historic day – in fact violence continued even after, for quite some time. On 15th August, people all over India rejoiced in celebration of the moment they had waited for, for nearly a hundred years in fact. But Gandhi was no where near the festivities. He was in Noahkali in rural Bengal, the scene of violent atrocities. Gandhi who was then well past seventy, was walking on the fields from village to village comforting the grieving ones.
Gandhiji showed how the Gita could be applied even in politics. The Gita says that one should not hate anybody. Gandhi meticulously followed this injunction of the Lord. He always asserted that his quarrel was with only British Imperialism and not the British people. Thus, when he went to England for the Round Table Conference, he made a special trip to Lancashire to address the mill workers there. What for? There is an interesting story behind this visit.
Everyone knows that the average Indian wears a dhothi. In the old days, the dhothi used to be made in India by Indian weavers using the yarn produced by villagers. When the British started ruling India, they saw a huge market for the sale of dhothis. Thus, many mills sprang up all over Lancashire to make dhothis for sale in India. Thanks to the finer quality and aggressive marketing, literally millions of Indians lost their livelihood till Gandhi came and launched a strong movement urging people to buy only Indian-made dhothis. It was now the turn of the British textile industry to go out of business and the mill workers of Lancashire who became jobless began to hate Gandhi. That is why Gandhi made a special point of visiting Lancashire and explaining the correct facts to the mill workers so that they understood that he did not hate them or have anything personal against them.
There was a natural admiration for Gandhi amongst the intellectuals even though they sometimes disagreed with him. For instance, when Gandhi once appeared in a court to be tried for sedition before a British Judge, the Judge spontaneously rose in his seat when prisoner Gandhi was brought in!
Gandhi was not born a Mahatma; but one fine day, he resolved firmly that he would be wedded to Truth. And that was the turning point. That is why he titled his autobiography as MY EXPERIMENTS WITH TRUTH. Rabindranath Tagore accorded the title “Mahatma” (great soul) to Gandhiji in the year 1920.
In the words of Mahatma Gandhi – “When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and when I see not one ray of light on the horizon, I turn to the Bhagavad Gita, and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. My life has been full of tragedies and if they have not left any visible and indelible effect on me, I owe it to the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita”.

FREEDOM FIGHTERS