See the world through Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of truth
As we celebrate Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary on October 2, let us remember the great soul with truth and honesty. As a Gandhian myself, I have attended many programmes at his statue in Phoolbagh in Kanpur. Whenever I stand there, I feel dwarfed by his looming image.
Yet Gandhiji has many detractors today. Noted historian Prof Ramachandra Guha recently wrote an interesting article on the present anti-Gandhi brigade. One way of belittling Gandhiji is by giving more importance to other freedom fighters, he says.
The other way of attacking Gandhiji is by blaming him for the Partition of India, for being soft on Muslims, for not trying to save Bhagat Singh from the hangman’s noose, or for his alleged diffidence to dalit rights.
I am not a historian, and was born after Gandhiji died. But I am convinced that the character assassination is being propelled by those who are inimical to his core values of truth, non-violence and communal harmony.
Another method of playing down Gandhiji is by reducing him to an icon for sanitation or cleanliness! I tell people that we don’t need Gandhiji’s spectacles; we need his vision.
This brings me to the man’s own autobiography ’The Story of My Experiments with Truth’, written in 1925, when he was just 56. Notice the two keywords – experiments and truth. An experiment, by its very nature, is indicative of a process, a search, a journey. It does not have a sense of finality.
This is typical of Gandhiji’s humble nature, as also of the subject that he addresses – truth.
It takes me back 2000 years to the Lord Jesus Christ. While on trial before the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate, the latter asked him “What is truth?” (Jn 19:38).Jesus was wise enough not to answer; because any definition of truth, as with love, would be grossly inadequate.
For Gandhiji truth was primordial and pre-eminent. In the introduction to his autobiography he has this to say: “I simply want to tell the story of my numerous experiments with truth … For me truth is the sovereign principle … the Absolute Truth, the Eternal Principle, that is God … I worship God as truth only. I have not yet found him … Truth must be my beacon, my shield, my buckler … This path is straight and narrow, and sharp as the razor’s edge”. His choice of words is similar to the New Testament (cf Eph 6:14, Mat 7:13-14).
Gandhiji is often referred to as the Mahatma, a freedom fighter or a political activist. This, however, is contrary to how he sees himself. Let us listen to him in his own words: “My experiments in the political field are now known not only to India, but to a certain extent to the ‘civilised’ world. For me, they have not much value; and the title of ‘Mahatma’ that they have won for me has, therefore, even less”.
He sees his political actions as emanating from his spiritual prowess, saying that it is his experiments in the spiritual field “from which I have derived such power as I possess for working in the political field”.
He calls his experiments “spiritual, or rather moral, for the essence of religion is morality”. It is this spiritual strength that makes him say “The seeker after truth should be humbler than the dust”.
This is a far cry from the spiritual or political leaders of today. Humility, morality and truth are not virtues for them.
As an ordinary Gandhian, and the one who cares for his country, I will choose his vision of truth over symbolism.
IT TAKES ME BACK 2000 YEARS TO THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. WHILE ON TRIAL BEFORE THE ROMAN GOVERNOR PONTIUS PILATE, THE LATTER ASKED HIM “WHAT IS TRUTH?” (JN 19:38).