Great Modern Exemplars---Mahatma Gandhi

In Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948), Hinduism found a great exponent of its basic principles of Truth, nonviolence, and selfless service.

His whole life in the political field was saturated with the religious spirit, with profound faith in God and in the basic goodness of the people, a faith which he inherited from the spirit of religion. He neither entered into a temple nor worshiped any deity. No image or symbol was used by him during his prayers. He never used patriotic songs in his prayers, either. He was a believer in the Formless God, but he never discouraged others from following other paths. His nonconformism was never superficial. He respected the spirit of religion in all earnestness, but not the letter of it.

In his life the world witnessed a fascinating drama of unremitting endeavor to attain perfection in life. His life was a long and continuing struggle in which he added bit by bit and piece by piece to the stature of his personality. Like a devout Hindu his ultimate spiritual goal was moksha or freedom. He said,

"I have no desire for the perishable kingdom of earth. I am striving for the Kingdom of Heaven, which is spiritual deliverance." (Mahatma Gandhi: 100 Years, ed. S. Radhakrishnan, New Delhi: Gandhi Peace Foundation, 1968, p. 14)

When we study the splendid mosaic of Gandhi's thoughts and deeds what strikes us most is his steadfast reliance on Truth and its benevolent power. Truth was the foundation of and the background to his religious life. His intrepid spirit made bold experiments to practice Truth in all areas of life. His application of the concept of righteousness to political struggles and national problems made him one of the greatest interpreters of Hindu dharma. The purity of his methods were never vitiated by the desire for quick results or by hunger for success at any cost. His imagination was totally free from crookedness of any kind. He was an untiring and relentless exponent of moral force. This moral force was to him not something vague and indeterminate, but an immediate and compelling condition. He taught that nonviolence ought to be the law of the human species even as violence, aggression, and assault were the law of the brute and that the dignity of man required his utter obedience to the higher values of the spirit.

Gandhiji's life was verily a demonstration of the triumph of the human spirit over the overwhelming odds of the unrighteous and the amoral. He made his life a laboratory of the soul in which a rediscovery of the supremacy of spiritual principles was made and proclaimed.

Religion was to him the rudder of the ship of life. He wanted nothing but the spiritual empire of freedom and bliss. His method of gaining it was through selfless work, love and prayer. He himself said that prayer saved his life, that without it he would have been a madman long before. This was not ordinary prayer, but a deep attitude of seeking guidance from God at every breath of life, the earnest spiritual search to find God in life as we face it from moment to moment. Regarding the tremendous impact on society of this spiritual art of seeking communion with God, Arnold Toynbee says:

"Gandhiji had a vast amount of daily business to transact. Under present-day conditions, that is the fate of any leader of any great movement. Yet Gandhiji was never too busy to withdraw temporarily from business affairs for recurrent periods of contemplation. If he had not made this his practice, he would not, I suppose, have been able to go on doing his business, because his spells of contemplation were the source of his inexhaustible spiritual strength. In setting apart those times of contemplation, Gandhiji was being true, not only to himself, but to India. His practice on this point is something that is characteristic of the Indian tradition. . . .

Gandhiji's example shows that it is possible to do arduous practical work without allowing one's spiritual life to be smothered and choked by the cares of the world. More than that, Gandhiji demonstrated that this inspiration is what makes practical activity bear fruit and not work havoc.

This is, I believe, the greatest lesson that India has to teach the present-day world. Western Christendom did recognize and practice the virtue of contemplation to some extent in the Western Middle Ages. Since then we have almost entirely lost this spiritual art, and our loss is serious, because the art of contemplation is really another name for the art of living. So now we turn to India. This spiritual gift, that makes Man human, is still alive in Indian souls." (V. Raghavan, The Great Integrators (New Delhi: Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Patiala House, 1969) p. 250)

  Part 13   Vedanta 101

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Books by Swami Tathagatananda:

1. The Vedanta Society of New York -- A Brief History, 2000
2. Mahabharat--Katha (Bengali), 1998
3. Ramayan Anudhyan (Bengali), 1996
4. Healthy Values of Living, 1996
5. Meditation on Swami Vivekananda, 1994
6. Meditation on Shri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda, 1993
7. Glimpses of Great Lives, 1989
8. Shubha Chinta (Bengali), 1988
9. Smaran--Manan (Bengali), 1987

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