We are too near the event–the great blow fell only
the day before yesterday–and our hearts are so full of grief that it will not
be Possible for us to undertake any detailed or detached appraisal of his life
and work. The whole world has been shocked with horror that a great soul, rare
in any age but unique in ours, has thus fallen. President Truman said that a
giant among men has fallen. This puny figure of seven stone was a giant among
men, measured by the greatness of his soul. By his side, other men, very
important and famous men, big in their own way, big in their space and time,
look small and insignificant. His profound sincerity of spirit, his freedom
from hatred and malice, his mastery over himself, his human, friendly,
all-embracing charity, his strong conviction which he shared with the great
ones of history that the martyrdom of the body is nothing compared with the
defilement of the soul, a conviction which he successfully put to the test in
many dramatic situations and now in this final act of surrender, show the
impact of religion on life, the impact of the eternal values on the shifting
problems of the world of time.
The inspiration of his life has been what is
commonly called religion, religion not in the sense of subscription to dogmas
or conformity to ritual, but religion in the sense of an abiding faith in the
absolute values of truth, love and justice and a persistent endeavour to
realise them on earth. Nearly fifteen years ago, I asked him to state his view
of religion. He expressed it in these Words:
“I often describe my religion as Religion of Truth.
Of late, instead of saying God is Truth, I have been saying Truth is God, in
order more fully to define my Religion....Nothing so completely describes my
God as Truth. Denial of God we have known. Denial of Truth we have not known.
The most ignorant among mankind have some truth in them. We are all sparks of
Truth. The sum-total of these sparks is indescribable, as yet–unknown–Truth
which is God. I am being daily led nearer to It by constant prayer.”
Even though Gandhi practised this religion with
courage and consistency, he had an unusual sense of humour, a certain
lightheartedness, even gaiety, which we do not associate with ardent religious
souls. This playfulness was the outcome of an innocence of heart, a spontaneity
of spirit. While he redeemed even the most fugitive and trivial moment from
commonness, he had all the time a remote, a far-away look. The abuses and
perversities of life did not shake his confidence in the essential goodness of
things. He assumed, without much discussion, that his way of life was clean,
right and natural, while our way in this mechanised industrial civilisation was
unnatural.
Gandhi’s religion was an intensely practical hope.
There are religious men who, when they find the troubles and perplexities of
the world too much for them, wrap their cloaks around them, withdraw into
monasteries or mountain-tops and guard the sacred fires burning in their own
hearts. If truth, love and justice are not to be found in the world, he can
possess these graces in the inviolable sanctuary of our souls. For Gandhi,
sanctity and service of man were inseparable.
“My motive [he says] has been purely religious. I
could not be leading a religious life unless I identified myself with the whole
of mankind; and this I could not do unless I took part in politics. The whole
gamut of man’s activities today constitutes an indivisible whole; you cannot
divide social, political and purely religious work into watertight
compartments. I do not know any religion apart from human activity.”
If Gandhi took to politics, it is because he looked
upon politics as a branch of ethics and religion. It is not a struggle for
power and wealth, but a persistent and continuous effort to enable the
submerged millions to attain the good life, to raise the quality of human
beings, to train them for freedom and fellowship, for spiritual depth and
social hormony. A politician who works for these ends cannot help being religious.
He cannot ignore the formative share of morality in civilisation or take the
side of evil against good. Owing no allegiance to the material things of life,
Gandhi was able to make changes in them. The prophets of spirit make history
just by standing outside history.
It is impertinent for any man to set about
reforming the universe. He must start his work from where he is. He must take
up the work that lies nearest to hand. When, on his return from
“The British want us to put the struggle on the
plane of machine-guns. They have weapons and we have not. Our only assurance of
beating them is to keep it on the plane where we have the weapons and they have
not.”
He took hold of ordinary men and women, men and
women who were an incredible mixture of heroism and conceit, magnificence and
meanness, made heroes out of them and organised an unarmed revolt against
British rule. He weaned the country from anarchy and terrorism and saved the
political struggle from losing its soul. The transfer of power on August 15,
1947, marked the end of that struggle. The fight was clean one, it was
completely free from any trace of racial bitterness or feeling. It has ended in
a settlement reached in a spirit of good temper and friendliness. The credit
for it is due to Gandhi.
Freedom for Gandhi is not a mere political fact. It
is a social reality. He struggled not only to free
“With every breath I pray God to give me strength
to quench the flames or remove me from this earth. I, who staked my life to
gain
When last I met him, early in December 1947, I
found him in deep agony and determined to do his utmost to improve the
relations among the communities or die in the process. He met his death while
engaged in this great work. It is the cross laid on the great hearted that they
exhaust themselves in sorrow and suffering so that those who come after them
may live in peace and security.
We are too deeply entangled in our own past
misdeeds; we are caught in the web we had ourselves spun according to the laws
of our own twisted ethics. Communal differences are yet a wound, not a sepsis.
But wounds have a tendency to produce sepsis. If this tendency is to be checked
we must adhere to the ideals for which Gandhi has lived and died. We must
develop self-restraint; we must refrain from anger and malice, intemperance of
thought and speech, from violence of every kind. It will be the crown of his
life work, if we settle down as good neighbors and adjust our problems in a
spirit of peace arid good will. The way to honour his memory is to accept and
adopt his way of approach, the way of reconciliation and sympathetic adjustment
of all differences.
When the strife of these days is forgotten, Gandhi
will stand out as the great prophet of a moral and spiritual revolution without
which this distracted world will not find peace. It is said that non-violence
is the dream of the wise while violence is the history of man. It is true that
wars are obvious and dramatic and their results in changing the course of
history are evident and striking. But there is a struggle which goes on in the
minds of men. Its results are not recorded in the statistics of the killed and
the injured. It is the struggle for human decency, for the avoidance of
physical strife which restricts human life, for a world without wars. Among the
fighters in this great struggle, Gandhi was in the front rank. His message is
not a matter for academic debate in intellectual circles. It is the answer to
the cry of exasperated mankind which is at the cross-roads, which shall
prevail, the law of the jungle or the law of love? All our world organisations
will prove ineffective if the truth that love is stronger than hate does not
inspire them. The world does not become one simply because we can go round it
in less than three days. However far or fast we may travel, our minds do not
get nearer to our neighbours! The oneness of the world can only be the oneness
of our purposes and aspirations. A united world can only be the material
counterpart of a spiritual affinity. Mechanical make shifts and external
structures by themselves cannot achieve the spiritual results. Changes in the
social architecture do not alter the minds of peoples. Wars have their origins
in false values, in ignorance, in intolerance. Wrong leadership has brought the
world to its present Misery. Throughout the world there seems to be a black-out
of civilised values. Great nations bomb one another’s cities in order to obtain
the victory. The moral consequences of the use of the atom bomb may prove to be
far more disastrous than the bomb itself. The fault is not in our stars but in
ourselves. Institutions are of little avail unless we are trained to obey our
conscience and develop brotherly love. Unless the leaders of the world discover
their highest human dignity in themselves, not in the offices they hold, in the
depth of their own souls, in the freedom of their conscience, there is no hope
for the ordered peace of a world-community. Gandhi had the faith that the world
is one in its deepest roots and highest aspirations. He knew that the purpose
of historical humanity was to develop a world-civilisation, a world-culture, a
world-community. We can get out of the misery of this world only by exposing
the darkness which is strongly entrenched in men’s hearts and replacing it by
understanding and tolerance. Gandhi’s tender and tormented heart heralds the
world, which the United Nations wish to create. This lonely symbol of a
vanishing past is also the prophet of the
Gandhi has paid the penalty of all who are ahead of
their time, misunderstanding, hatred, reaction, violent death. “The light
shineth ill darkness and the darkness comprehendeth it not.” The struggle
between light and darkness, between love and hate, between reason and unreason
which is at the heart of the cosmic is shown up by this most moving tragedy of
our age. We made Socrates drink death; we nailed Jesus to the Cross; we lighted
the faggots that burnt the mediaeval martyrs. We have stoned and killed our
prophets. Gandhi has not escaped the fate of being misunderstood and hated. He
has met his death facing the forces of darkness, of ultimate reason and through
it has increased the powers of light, love and reason. Who knows if
Christianity would have developed had Jesus not been crucified? Gandhi’s death
was a classical ending to his life. He died with the name of God on his lips
and love in his heart. Even as he received the bullet wounds he greeted his
murderer and wished him well. He lived up to what are preached. Possessed and
inspired by the highest ideals of which human nature is capable, preaching and
practicing fearlessly the truth revealed to him, leading almost alone what
seemed to be a forlorn hope against the impregnable strongholds of greed and
folly, yet facing tremendous odds with a calm resolution which yielded nothing
to ridicule or danger, Gandhi presented to this unbelieving world all that is noblest
in the spirit of man. He illumined human dignity by faith in the Eternal
significance of man’s effort. He belongs to the type that redeems the human
race.
We have killed his body but the spirit in him which
is a light from above will penetrate far into space and time and inspire
countless generations for nobler living.
yad-yad vibhutimat sattvam
srimad urjitam eva va
tad-tad evavagaccha tvam
mama tejo amsasambhavam.
* An address delivered in