Showing posts with label Self Rule. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Self Rule. Show all posts

Ascent to Spirituality


First and foremost question which strikes our mind instantly is the spiritual identity of a life. Life is restricted to the cycle of birth, development and death. The span between birth and death may be a prolonged one or may be followed by an immediate succession. Some fellow worshippers of knowledge understand this trend easily and consider the divine power as an immortal entity. Some other individuals remain in the clutch of confusion for a long time and fail to recognize the divine as any separate entity. Varieties of qualities in humans; such as intellect, knowledge, clarity of thought, forgiveness, truthfulness, control over the senses and mind, joy and sorrow, birth and death, fear and courage, non-violence, equanimity, contentment, austerity, charity, fame, and infamy; all develop from the supreme sense which implies a command upon memory, intellect and ego.[1] Combination of all such qualities may vary considerably. Combination of such qualities finalise the nature of an individual. Some of the combination may be wiser and some other combination may be demonic.

The yoga of devotion makes the individual linked to the divine power and with such inclination a devotee gains the sense of divine omnipresence quite easily. Such individual considers the diversity of all the living forms as a form radiated out from the divine. All such forms even remain restricted to the divine and get merged to the source after completion of life. It is similar to the act of the formation of clouds at the ocean bed and development of streams due to down pour from the clouds. All these acts jointly ensure the cyclic movement of water from ocean to mountains and again from mountains to oceans through streams. Intermediate results may be of many types and many forms, but the real identity of water droplet remains unchanged.

Whatever we acquire in the form of knowledge will enrich the society in different ways and even it will enrich our efforts of feeling the omnipresence of the divine power. Lord describes himself as an inseparable entity of different forms and capacities which remain prevalent in the surrounding. Lord Shiva, for an example, among Rudras is divine. Every individual in this universe are capable of feeling the oneness with the divine, but they may not be capable of accommodating the source as we may not be able to accommodate the sun in our immediate surroundings. We can feel the warmth and illumination of the sun from a safest distance. Before reaching the ground such radiation is even filtered by the realm of atmosphere. We are absolutely incapable of assimilating the ultraviolet radiations at even a fraction of a percent. Such radiations are competent enough in killing any life forms. On the other hand we cannot think about birth and manifestation of any life form without the sun.

The person having true knowledge of the cycle of creation and destruction keep faith on the divine power and start exploring the existence of such power within the self. Two types of individuals see such a divine power in two different ways: one can recognize it as an inseparable part of the self and other can recognize it as a separate entity having no linkage to the self.

It is more important for an individual to realise the Divine omnipresence; that sense is the only positive impulse which is capable enough in linking up the living form to the nature with perfect band of participatory efforts; such effort will bring desired results during every instances of the functional involvement of the individual in society. Vedic rituals, medicinal herbs, worships of all types and cultivation of knowledge are nothing but different aspects of realising the omni-presence of divine power.[2]   One can recognize the role of the divine power in different realms of creation and destruction.

Person having noble conducts in society remain there in the memory of individuals for a considerable time and may secure a prominent position in the history of development. Such an individual even secure a prominent position amongst nobles because of noble deeds. They even imply a notable influence upon the social conducts. Their contribution in terms of knowledge enrichment may even become the part of the treasure of Vedas. The only lord worshipped by people is the divine power or the creation element (Purush). Common individuals do not know that they worship the supreme creation elements in varying forms. All actions, conducts, rituals and worships should be aimed ultimately towards worshiping the supreme creation element (Purush).  We can even maintain our utter faith on the role of such a creation element in making the process of all the creations true.

Even sinners come out of the clutches of sin after knowing the ultimate fate of such sins and start residing in the process recognizing the presence of creator element (Purush) by the side of the holy creations. They even start recognizing the wider form of the divine manifestation and start delivering their duty in the society with an altered conducts. They quickly get the shelter of the divine and start defining their role in society.

The mighty wind blowing everywhere rests always in sky. In the same way all the organisms rest always in the divine lord and get manifested accordingly when time permits. At the end of one creation cycle all the organisms duly created will be merged into the realm of materials and energy and the entire collection of such kind of lump will be directed towards any of the black hole towards which the centrally located star system will feel the power of attraction. The situation of such a dramatic withdrawal of the diversity of creation may be initiated at any moment. None of the creations and destructions of any types are ever capable of binding the divine power in them. This creator power (the PURUSH element in accord to Sankhya Philosophy) remains independent of the realm of creation and destruction. It ensures the process without being involved actively in the entire process of manifestation. Buddhism adopted changes incorporated in Vedic rituals and other traditional doctrines, which remained in practice through Vedic, Sankhya and Yoga based rituals.[3]

Divine power of such a doer type may often remain non-recognisable because of the non-association of such power in the process of creation. We often recognize the intellect and soul holding such intellect as the creator element. The soul and intellect can have a reflection of the creator superconscious doer element but it cannot be ascribed directly as a doer. We also recognize the soul of an individual as a non-destroyable entity as that of the divine power.  It is similar to that of a stream of water joins the other and a beam of light joins the other. All such sources lose their individual identity before joining. Similar the thing is true regarding diffusion of soul in the surrounding when any individual dies. Band of energy get absorbed in the celestial collection and may be utilized at some other instances randomly during some other phases of creations.

Because of this reason material world moves through series of changes and one change is followed by series of other changes of varying degree and intensity.

Is there any clear distinction in the process of socialisation of human beings during which we may witness activation of a Divine Power (in the form of a Prophet or AVATARA) amongst us? What kind of indications may be there depending upon which we start claiming omnipresence of such power beside us during all instances? The Bhagavadgita highlighted it clearly during discourses in the fourth chapter.[4] Even the purpose of such manifestation is narrated by the Divine Power.[5] People, along with clear understanding of the ways and means of this divine manifestation, succeed in keeping oneself devoid of material attachment to the nature and remain contented thoroughly; by doing so they enjoy the optimum liberation.

Expectations in General

What we want from our immediate surrounding will finalise our comprehensive approach with which exploration of resources and technologies will be advanced. Our effort of linking up resources and technology will confer the effort with which we also want people to get associated with us. Our kind of will inflicted primarily with a sort of bias will generate a sort of agony in the mind of other community or ethnic group of any distant location. One sided aspiration of progress may even give birth to the sort of agony and misconduct. It may even give birth to group clashes and other oppressive conducts of varying types. We are witnessing similar kinds of unrest which are mushrooming at different out pockets of our society. We are, keeping pace with the progressive trend of conflicts, becoming bound to tackle such problems day by day. 

It is also obvious that replacement of armed forces by the acts and conducts of nonviolent resolution may not bring immediate result as some of the countries are badly inflicted with an intention of grabbing resources, lands and technologies of other states without taking care of the aspirations of people settled in the state. Violation of such kinds of basic rules may bring nations back to the war front as some of the leading nations remain indulged in such kind of proxy war, cold war and armed operations. Leadership characters of those conflicting states may also put other nations in trouble as the flow of resources, man power and currencies went on linked and interlinked day by day since last couple of decades. Bringing them out of such network will be easy to say but difficult to implement.

At some instances we may come across the situation during which some of the small and marginal stakeholders living within the jurisdiction of a state may claim that they are in the verge of extinction due to non-supportive policies of the Nation State. Lack of any kind of inclusiveness in the entire framework of development plan may give birth to such kind of separatism and unrest with which some of the states like India are suffering. Addressing all such wills and wishes while keeping the issues of National Security intact is really a matter of deep concern and is open for arranging an intensive study and scholastic interventions. We cannot go on dreaming about any rapid solution to such kinds of burning issues. Boroland of Assam, for an example, is receiving extensive in-migration of different types of Non-Boro Community and are agitating against such kind of state sponsored or some sort of illegal in-migrations. Their demand for a state to safeguard their cultural and social integrity is still a burning issue which puts even India Government in trouble.

We have examples of such kinds of unrest and agony in plenty. It also indicates that the state policy lacks some sort of inclusive efforts with which such kinds of issues would have been addressed effectively. Plans were made as a fraction of the large segments with an anticipation of gaining participation from the reference community but their faith, cultural blend and spiritual orientation utterly kept aside. It was also a plan inflicted with partial motive force of development which gained a negative response from the community members. Expectation of such type, as state planners are coining, should have some sort of comprehensive study and a kind of acculturation with which active participation of the community will be advanced. We are here to sort out such kinds of comprehensive planning process impregnated with resolutions of Peace and Nonviolence to make up our mind for comprehensive and collective progress.

To understand our expectations in a better way it would be better if we move on through an incident which was recorded during execution of a welfare activity at a village level. A farmer named Budhu received a pair of bullock from a nationalized bank. Because of certain health problem he has lost one bullock within a span of one year. Another unpaired bullock became useless. Bank wanted to recover the loan amount form him. He had two alternatives. With the help of the primary teacher of the nearby primary school he has submitted an application to the Branch Manager of the bank requesting him to provide a bullock or to take the living one back.

          The application was of a peculiar type. This incident took place in a village under Nimdih Block of Saraikela, Jharkhand.  Logically Budhu admitted his problem and requested a support from the financial institution. Bank had no such provision of allocating fund for a single bullock or to take the live bullock back. Because of that reason application of Budhu was kept aside. He appeal for a solution remained buried under the heap of pending applications.           After a gap of five years, a new bank officer took the charge of that branch. By that time loan amount which remained in the name of Budhu became a major amount. By paying such amount one can purchase two pairs of bullock similar to those assigned to Budhu. The scheme under which Budhu received such support was under the scheme of Integrated Rural Development Scheme sanctioned by the Government. The matter went to the judiciary. Coming out of the problem and giving any adequate remedy was not in the hand of Bank, Government or even Budhu himself. The only annoying thing happening was the expenses upon the bullock which had no adequate financial return.

          There was another Ashram School Teacher working in the locality. He was even popular amongst villagers because of his timely services. He came to know about the incident. The fellow teacher used to move frequently in the surrounding villages. Because of that reason he had another farmer like Budhu having only one bullock alive. He had arranged a meeting of both the farmer to sort out the problem. Both the farmer decided to work together in a condition of exchanging bullocks for alternate period of six months. Legal proceedings went in the favour of Budhu. There was adequate scope for Budhu to take another pair of bullock from the bank. But the offer was not considered fruitful by the fellow farmer because of his bitter experiences that he went through recently.

          This incident tells us about the limitations of the support services of bank, government or any other welfare institutions. Coming out of the boundary for delivering timely relevant service requires flexibility. The kind of such flexibility is lacking in the present day system of support mechanism. Ultimately farmer, other socially active group and social workers came close to sort out a solution which can give immediate ease to the victim. Because of lack of certain technological input, the problem became a big one. There are instruments that can be handled efficiently even by using a single bullock. That sort of technology was absolutely unknown to both the farmers as well as to the officials.  Installation of any system, monitoring of the same for a stipulated time span, giving support services to the reference group for a selected period of time and helping the person in gaining adequate pace in the production practices are some of the components which should have adequate place in the planning of extending any financial support. Loss of any kind at any place should be considered as a loss to the Nation State.

It is absolutely clear that people involved in the welfare activities rarely bring themselves perfectly in the forefront with adequate enthu; they even lose regulations upon the system due to complications of the planning and implementation process of schemes; lack of spiritual blend in the entire system of financial regulation and execution of the same is another matter of serious concern.

 


[1] Bhagvadgita X – 4-5;

[2] Bhagvadgita IX – 15-18:

Cultivators of knowledge worship supreme lord as an entity. They recognize the diversified forms of such divine power at different instances. Divine power is the worship, Vedic chanting, the fire , the butter and the rituals. Divine is the object of knowledge, the creator element and the Pranava (Om). It is the basis of everything that we see. It has its presence as a creator as well as destroyer element in the universe.

[3] Tadeusz Skorupski (2015). Michael Witzel (ed.). Homa Variations: The Study of Ritual Change Across the Longue DurĂ©e. Oxford University Press. pp. 78–81. ISBN 978-0-19-935158-9.

[4] “Whenever there is a decline in righteousness and a corresponding increase in unrighteousness, The Lord manifest and become active amongst us on earth”

……The Bhagavadgita IV 7.

[5]  “Lord manifest and dwell amongst us to fulfill various purposes; it is not confirmed but can be proposed; to protect the righteous, to annihilate the wicked, and to re-establish the principles of dharma; the Divine Lord appear on this earth, time to time and age after age” ….. The Bhagavadgita IV 8

 

Freedom and Self Rule

THERE IS no such thing as slow freedom. Freedom is like a birth. Till we are fully free, we are slaves. All birth takes place in a moment.[1]

Gilded Slavery

Golden fetter are no less galling to a self-respecting man than iron ones. The sting lies in the fetters, not in the metal. [2]  To my mind golden shackles are far worse than iron ones, for one easily feels the irksome and galling nature of the latter, and is prone to forget the former. If, therefore, India must be in chains, I would they were of iron rather than of gold or other precious metals.[3]

Right To Freedom

Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err and even to sin. If God Almighty has given the humblest of His creatures the freedom to err, it passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving other human Beings of that precious right. [4] As every country is fit to eat, to drink and to breathe, even so is every nation fit to manage its own affairs, no matter how badly.[5]  Superimposed control is bad any day….. When this control is removed, the nation will breathe free, it will have the right to make mistakes. This ancient method, of progressing be making mistakes and correcting them, is the proper way. [6]

Individual Freedom

It is my certain conviction that no man loses his freedom except through his own weakness.[7] I value individual freedom, but you must not forger that man is essentially a social being. He has risen to his present status by learning to adjust his individualism to the requirements of social progress. Unrestricted individualism is the law of the beast of the jungle. We have to learn to strike the mean between individual freedom and social restraint. Willing submission to social restraint for the sake of the well-being of the whole society enriches both the individual and the society of which one is a member. [8]

If this [individual liberty] goes, then surely all is list, for, if the individual ceases to count, what is left of society? Individual freedom alone can make a man voluntarily surrender himself completely to the service of society. If it is wrested from him, he becomes an automaton and society is ruined. No society can possible be built on a denial of individual freedom. It is contrary to the very nature of man. Just as a man will not grow horns or tail, so he will not exist as man if he has no mind of his own. In reality, even those who do not believe in the liberty of the individual believe in their own. Modern editions of chenghiz khan retain their own.[9]

Concept Of Freedom

My conception of freedom is no narrow conception. It is co-extensive width the freedom of man in all his majesty.[10]  Every individual must have the fullest liberty to use his talents consistently with equal use by neighbours, but no one is entitled to the arbitrary use of the gains from the talents. He is part of the nation or, say, the social structure surrounding him. Therefore, he can use his talents not for self only but for the social structure of which he is but a part and on whose sufferance he lives.[11]

Will To Be Free

No tyrant has ever yet succeeded in his purpose without carrying the victim with him, it may be, as it often is, by force. Most people choose rather to yield to the will of the tyrant than to suffer for the consequence of resistance. Hence does terrorism form part of the stock-in-trade of the tyrant. But we have instances in history where terrorism has failed to impose the terrorist’s will upon his victim. [12] Even the most despotic government cannot stand except for the consent of the governed, which consent is often forcibly procured by the despot. Immediately the subject ceases to fear the despotic force, his power is gone.[13]  The moment the slave resolves that he will no longer be a slave, his fetters fall. He frees himself and shows the way to others. Freedom and slavery are mental states. Therefore, the first thing is to say to yourself; ‘I shall no longer accept the role of a slave. I shall not obey orders as such, but shall disobey them when they are in conflict with my conscience.’

The so-called master may lash you and try to force you to serve him. You will say; ‘No, I will not serve you for your money or under a threat.’ This may mean suffering. Your readiness to suffer will light the torch of freedom which can never be put out.[14]

Price Of Freedom

Whether we are one or many, we must refuse to purchase freedom at the cost of our self-respect or our cherished convictions. I have known even little children become unbending when an attempt has been made to cross their declared purpose, be it ever so flimsy in the estimation of their parents.[15]  We must be content to die if we cannot live as free men and women. [16]

Man has to thank himself for his dependence. He can be independent as soon as he wills it.[17]

Freedom is never dear at any price. It is the breath of life. What would a man not pay for living?[18] Freedom For Lowliest

It gives me both pain and surprise when I find people feeling anxious about their future under a freed India. For me an India which does not guarantee freedom to the lowliest of those born, not merely within an artificial boundary but within its natural boundary, is not free India.

Our fear paralyses our thinking powers, or we should at once know that freedom means a state, at any rate some what better than the present for every honest man or woman. It is exploiters, money-grabbers, pirates and the like who have to fear the advent of freedom. [19]

I shall strive for a constitution which will release India from all thralldom and patronage, and give her, if need be, the right to sin. I shall work for an India in which the poorest shall feel that it is their country, in whose making they have an effective voice; an India in which there shall be no high class and low class of people; an India in which all communities shall live in perfect harmony. There can be no room in such an India for the curse of untouchability, or the curse of the intoxicating drinks and drugs. Women will enjoy the same rights as men.

Since we shall be at peace with all the rest of the world, neither exploiting, nor being exploited, we should have the smallest army imaginable. All interests not in conflict with the interests of the dumb millions will be scrupulously respected, whether foreign or indigenous. Personally, I hate distinction between foreign and indigenous. This is the India of my dreams… I shall be satisfied with nothing else.[20]

No Exploitation

If I want freedom for my country, believe me, if I can possibly help it, I do not want that freedom in order that I, belonging to a nation which counts on-fifth of the human race, may exploit any other race upon earth, or any single individual. If I want that freedom for my country, I would not be deserving of that freedom if I did not cherish and treasure the equal right of every other race, weak or strong, to the same freedom. [21]

Men aspiring to be free can hardly think of enslaving others. If they try to do so, they will only be binding their own chains of slavery tighter. [22]

Independence of my conception means nothing less than the realization the "Kingdom of God" within you and on this earth. I would rather work for and die in the pursuit of this dream, though it may never be realized. That means infinite patience and perseverance.

If India is satisfied with the mere attainment of political independence and there is nothing better for me to do you will find me retiring to the Himalayas leaving those who wish to listen to me to seek me out there. [23]

In concrete terms... The independence should be political, economic and moral.

‘Political ‘ necessarily means the removal of the control of the British army in every shape and form. ‘Economic’ means entire freedom from British capitalists and capital, as also their Indian counterpart. In other words, the humblest must feel equal to the tallest. This can take place only by capital or capitalists sharing their skill and capital with the lowliest and the least.

‘Moral’ means freedom from armed defence forces. [24]

Means Of Peace

India has never waged war against any nation. She has put up, sometimes, ill-organized or half-organized resistance in self-defence pure and simple. She has, therefore, not got to develop the will for peace. She has that in abundance whether she knows it or not.

The way she can promote peace is to offer successful resistance to her exploitation by peaceful means. That is to say, she has to achieve her independence. … by peaceful means. If she can do this, it will be the largest contribution that any single nation will have made towards world peace. [25]

I personally would wait, if need be, for ages rather than seek to attain the freedom of my country through bloody means. I feel in the innermost recesses of my heart, after a political experience extending over an unbroken period of close upon thirty-five years, that the world is sick unto death of blood-spilling. The world is seeking a way out, and I flatter myself with the belief that perhaps it will be the privilege of the ancient land of India to show that way out to the hungering world.

I have, therefore, no hesitation whatsoever in inviting all the great nation of the earth to give their hearty co-operation to India in her mighty struggle. It must be a sight worth contemplating and treasuring that millions of people have given themselves to suffering without retaliation in order that they might vindicate the dignity and honour of the nation. I would far rather that India perished than that she won freedom at the sacrifice of truth. [26]

It would not satisfy my soul to gain freedom for India and not to help in the peace of the world. I have the conviction in me that, when England ceases to prey upon India, she will also cease to prey upon other nations. At any rate, India will have not part in the blood-guilt. [27]

Meaning Of India's Independence

….India’s freedom must revolutionize the world’s outlook upon Peace and War. Her impotence affects the whole of mankind. [28]  My ambition is much higher than independence. Through the deliverance of India I seek to deliver the so-called weaker races of the earth from the crushing heels o Western exploitation…. [29]  National independence is not a fiction. It is as necessary as individual independence. But neither, if it is based on non-violence, may ever be a menace to the equal independence of the nation or the individual as the case may be. As with individual and national independence, so with the international. The legal maxim is equally moral. Sic utere tuo ut alienum non laedas*. It has been well said that the universe is compressed in the atom. There is not one law for the atom and another for the universe.[30]

International Co-operation

I want co-operation between nations for the salvaging of civilization, but co-operation presupposes free nations worthy of co-operation. [31]

Freedom Of Exploited Races

When I am gone India will be free and, not only India, but the whole world will be free. I do not believe that the Americans or English are free. They will not be free so long as they have the power to hold the coloured nations in subjection. I know my purpose and I know what freedom is. English teachers taught me its meaning, and I must interpret that freedom according to what I see and have experienced.

Freedom of India will demonstrate to all the exploited races of the earth that their freedom is very near and that in no case will they, henceforth, be exploited. [32]

* ‘So use your own property as not to injure the rights of another’.

Swaraj for me means freedom for the meanest of our countrymen .. I am not interested n freeing India merely from the English yoke. I am bent upon freeing India from any yoke whatsoever. I have no desire to exchange ‘king log for king stork. [33]

By Swaraj I mean the government of India by the consent of the people as ascertained by the largest number of the adult population, male or female, native-born or domiciled, who have contributed by manual labour to the service of the State and who have taken the trouble of having their names registered as voters.

Real Swaraj will come, not by the acquisition of authority by a few, but by the acquisition of the capacity by all to resist authority when it is abused. In other words, Swaraj is to be attained by educating the masses to a sense of their capacity to regulate and control authority. [34]

Self-government means continuous effort to be independent of government control, whether it is foreign government or whether it is national. (YI, 6-8-1925, p. 276)

 

The word Swaraj is a sacred word, a Vedic word, meaning self-rule and self-restraint, and not freedom from all restraint which ‘independence’ often means. (YI, 19-3-1931, p. 38)

 

Swaraj For The Poor

The Swaraj of my-our-dream recognizes no race or religious distinctions. Not is it to be the monopoly of the lettered persons or yet of moneyed men. Swaraj is to be for all, including the former, but emphatically including the maimed, the blind, the starving, toiling millions. (YI, 1-5-1930, p. 149)

 

The Swaraj of my dream is the poor man’s Swaraj. The necessaries of life should be enjoyed by you in common with those enjoyed by the princes and the moneyed men. But that does not mean that they should have palaces like theirs. They are not necessary for happiness. You or I would be lost in them. But you ought to get all the ordinary amenities of life that a rich man enjoys. I have not the slightest doubt that Swaraj is not Poorna Swaraj until these amenities are guaranteed to you under it. [35]

… What we mean and want through Poorna Swaraj ……is an awakening among the masses, a knowledge among them of their true interest and ability to serve that interest against the whole world, ….. harmony, freedom from aggression from within or without, and a progressive improvement in the economic condition of the masses… [36]

Real Swaraj must be felt by all-man, woman and child. To labour for that consummation is true revolution,. India has become a pattern for all exploited races of the earth, because India’s has been an open, unarmed effort which demands sacrifice from all without inflicting injury on the usurper. The millions in India would not have been awakened but for the open, unarmed struggle. Every deviation from the straight path has meant a temporary arrest of the evolutionary revolution. (H, 3-3-1946, p. 31)

No Majority Rule

It has been said that Indian Swaraj will be the rule of the majority community, i.e., the Hindus. There could not be a greater mistakes than that. If it were to be true, I for one would refuse to call it Swaraj and would fight it with all the strength at my command, for to me Hind Swaraj is the rule of all people, is the rule of justice. Whether, under rule, the ministers were Hindus or Musalmans or Sikhs and whether legislatures were exclusively filled by the Hindus or Musalmans or any other community, they would have to do even-handed justice. [37]

Today our minds are clouded by delusion. In our ignorance, we quarrel with one another and indulge in rowdyism against our own brethren. For such as these there is neither salvation not Swaraj. Self-discipline or rule over self is the first condition of self-rule or Swaraj. [38]

Freedom Of Expression

In a vast country like this, there must be room for all schools of honest thought. And the least, therefore, that we owe to ourselves, as to others, is to try to understand the opponent ‘s view-point and, if we cannot accept it, respect is as fully as we expect him to respect ours. It is one of the indispensable tests of a healthy public life and, therefore, fitness for Swaraj. [39]

Freedom of speech and pen is the foundation of Swaraj. If the foundation stone is in danger, you have to exert the whole of your might in order to defend that single stone. [40]

Achievement Of Swaraj

I have had the hardhood to say that Swaraj could not be granted even by God. We would have to earn it ourselves. Swaraj from its very nature is not in the giving of anybody. [41]

Swaraj is the abandonment of the fear of death. A nation which allows itself to be influenced by the fear of death cannot attain Swaraj, and cannot retain it if some-how attained. [42]

Swaraj can never be a free gift by one nation to another. It is a treasure to be purchased with a nation’s best blood. It will cease to be a gift when we have paid dearly for it. … Swaraj will be a fruit of incessant labour, suffering beyond measure. [43]

Surely Swaraj will not drop from the clouds. It will be the fruit of patience, perseverance, ceaseless toil, courage and intelligent appreciation of the environment. [44]

For me the only training in Swaraj we need is the ability to defend ourselves against the whole world and to live our natural life in perfect freedom, even though it may be full of defects. Good government is no substitute for self-government. [45]

The pilgrimage to Swaraj is a painful climb. It requires attention to details. It means vast organizing ability, it means penetration into the villages solely for the service of the villagers. In other words, it means national education, i.e., education of the masse. It means an awakening of national consciousness among the masses. It will not spring like the magician’s mango. It will grow almost unperceived like the banyan tree. A bloody revolution will never perform the trick. Haste here is most certainly waste. [46]

One sometimes hears it said: ‘Let us get the government of India in our own hands and everything will be all right.. There could be no greater superstition than this. No nation has thus gained its independence. The splendor of the spring is reflected in every tree, the whole earth is then filled with the freshness of youth. Similarly, when the Swaraj spirit has really permeated society, a stranger suddenly come upon us will observe energy in very walk of life, he will find national servants engaged, each according to his own abilities, in a variety of public activities. (SW, p. 146)

Basis In Self-Sacrifice

Swaraj can be maintained only where there is a majority of loyal and patriotic people to whom the good of the nation is paramount above all other considerations what-ever including their personal profit. [47]

My Swaraj will be… not a result of murder of others but a voluntary act of continuous self-sacrifice. My Swaraj will not be bloody usurpation of rights, but the acquisition of power will be a beautiful land natural fruit of duty well and truly performed. It will…provide amplest excitement of the Chaitanya type, not of the Nero type…. It can come often does come, when the horizon is the blackest. But I know that it will be preceded by the rise of a class of young men and women who will find full excitement in work, work and nothing but work for the nation. [48]

Without a large, very large, army of self-sacrificing and determined workers, real progress of the masses I hold to be an impossibility. And without that progress, there is no such thing as Swaraj. Progress towards Swaraj will be in exact proportion to the increase in the number of workers who will dare to sacrifice their all for the cause of the poor.[49] Without a large, very large, army of self-sacrificing and determined workers, real progress of the masses I hold to be an impossibility. And without that progress, there is no such thing as Swaraj. Progress towards Swaraj will be in exact proportion to the increase in the number of workers who will dare to sacrifice their all for the cause of the poor. (YI, 24-6-1926, p. 226)

Through Truth And Nonviolence

If we wish to achieve Swaraj through truth and non-violence, gradual but steady building-up from the bottom upwards by constructive effort is the only way. This rules out the deliberate creation of an anarchical state for the overthrow of the established order in the hope of throwing up from within a dictator who would rule with a rod of iron and produce order out disorder. [50]

We have all-rulers and ruled-been living so long in a stifling, unnatural atmosphere that we might well feel, in the beginning, that we have lost the lungs for breathing the invigorating ozone of freedom. If the reality comes in an orderly, that is, a non-violent manner, because the parties feel that it is right, it will be a revealing lesson for the world. [51]

Genius Of Our Civilization

My Swaraj is to keep intact the genius of our civilization. I want to write many new thing but they must be all written on the Indian slate. I would gladly borrow from the West when I can return the amount with decent interest. [52]

If Swaraj was not meant to civilize us, and to purify and stabilize our civilization, it would be nothing worth. The very essence of our civilization is that we give a paramount place to morality in all our affairs, public or private. [53]

MY FAITH in human nature is irrepressible and, even under the circumstances of a most adverse character I have found Englishmen amenable to reason and persuasion, and as they always wish to appear to be just even when they are in reality unjust, it is easier to shame them then others into doing the right thing. [54]

My personal religion… enables me to serve my countrymen without hurting Englishmen or, for that matter, anybody else. What I am not prepared to do to my blood-brother I would not do to an Englishmen. I would not injure him to gain a kingdom. But I would withdraw co-operation from him if it became necessary, as I had withdrawn from my own brother (now deceased) when it became necessary. I serve the Empire by refusing to par-take in its wrong. [55]

I am not anti-English; I am not anti-British; I am not anti-any Government; but I am anti-untruth, anti-humbug, and anti-injustice. So long as the Government spells injustice, it may regard me as its enemy, implacable enemy. (SW, p. 523)

No one will accuse me of any anti-English tendency. Indeed, I pride myself on my discrimination. I have thankfully copied many things from them. Punctuality, reticence, public hygiene, independent thinking and exercise of judgment and several other things I owe to my association with them. [56]

My nationalism is not so narrow that I should not feel for ….[Englishmen’s] distress or gloat over it. I do not want my country’s happiness at the sacrifice of other country’s happiness. (YI, 15-10-1931)

There is no bitterness in me. I claim fellowship with the lowest of animals. Why not, then, with Englishmen with whom we have been bound, for good or ill, for over a century and amongst whom I claim some of my dearest friends? You [Englishmen] will find me an easy pro-position, but if you will repel my advances, I shall go away, not in bitterness, but with a sense that I was not pure enough to find a lodgment in your hearts. (ibid, p. 310)

My love of the British is equal to that of my own people. I claim no merit for it, for I have equal love for all mankind without exception. It demands no reciprocity. I own no enemy on earth. That is my creed. [57]

…No Indian has co-operated with the British Government more than I have for an unbroken period of twenty-nine years of public life, in the face of circumstances that might well have turned any other man into a rebel……

I put my life in peril four times for the sake of the Empire; at the time to the Boer War, when I was in charge of the Ambulance corps whose work was mentioned in general Buller’s dispatches; at the time of the Zulu Revolt in Natal, when I was in charge of a similar corps; at the time of the commencement of the late war, when I raised an Ambulance corps and, as a result of the strenuous training had a severe attack of pleurisy; and lastly, in fulfillment of my promise to Lord Chelmsford at the War Conference in Delhi, I threw myself in such an active recruiting campaign in Kaira District, involving long and trying marches, that I had an attack of dysentery which proved almost fatal. I did all this in the full belief that acts such as mine must gain for my country an equal status in the Empire. [58]

Autocratic Rule

Originality there could be none in a close monopoly organization like the Government of India*. it is the largest autocracy the world has known. Democracy has been reserved only for great Britain. And when it rules and exploits millions belonging to other races, it becomes an unmitigated evil. It corrupts the whole island with the idea that such exploitation is the best thing for an enlightened democracy to do. It would be well to remember this fundamental fact, if I have correctly estimated it. If we recognize this, while dealing with the immediate problem, we shall be patient with the present actors. There is no call here for patience with the evil. [59]

 

Any friend, who is a real friend, and who comes in a spirit of service, not as a superior, is bound to be welcome. India, when she has come into her own, will need all such assistance. The distrust of Englishmen… is there. It won’t disappear even by transporting Indian students to England. You have got to understand it and live it down. It has its roots in history. [60]

 

… So far Indians have known Englishmen only as members of the ruling race-supercilious, when they are not patronizing. The man in the street makes no distinction between such an Englishmen and a good, humble European, between the Empire-builder Englishman of the old type that he has known and the new type that is now coming into being, burning to make reparation for what his fore-fathers did. (ibid, p.61)

 

A New Chapter

I can’t forget that the story of Britain’s connection with India is a tragedy of unfulfilled promises and disappointed hopes. We must deep an open mind. A seeker of truth will never begin by discounting his opponent’s statement as unworthy of trust. So I am hopeful, and indeed, no responsible Indian feels otherwise. This time I believe that the British mean business. But the offer [of independence] has come suddenly…..

 

…The tide of bitterness had risen high and that is not good or the soul…. This is milestone not only in India’s history and Britain’s but in the history of the whole world…. [61]

 

 



[1] (YI, 9-3-1922, p. 148)

[2] (YI, 6-6-1929, p. 188)

[3] (YI, 16-1-1930, p. 17)

[4] (YI, 12-3-1931, p. 31)

[5] (YI, 15-10-1931, p. 305)

[6] (H, 21-12-1947, p. 477)

[7] (ICS, p. 209)

[8] (H, 27-5-1939, p. 144)

[9] (H, 1-9-1942, p. 27)

[10] (H, 7-6-1942, p. 183)

[11] (H, 2-8-1942, p. 249)

[12] (YI, 9-6-1920, p. 3)

[13] (YI, 30-6-1920, p. 3)

[14] (H, 24-2-1946, p. 18)

[15] (YI, 15-2-1921, p. 418)

[16] (YI, 5-1-1922, p. 5)

[17] (H, 11-1-193.6, p. 380)

[18] (H, 10-12-1938, p. 368)

[19] (YI, 26-12-1929, p. 421)

[20] (YI, 10-9-1931, p. 255)

[21] (YI, 1-10-1931, p. 278)

[22] (H, 13-4-1947, p. 106)

[23] (HSt, 1-4-1940)

[24] (H, 5-5-1946, p. 116)

[25] (YI, 4-7-1929, p. 218)

[26] (YI, 1-10-1931, p. 281)

[27] (YI, 3-12-1931, p. 380)

[28] (YI, 17-9-1925, p. 322)

[29] (YI, 12-1-1928, p. 13)

[30] (YI, 30-1-1930, p. 37)

[31] (YI, 12-11-1931, p. 353)

[32] (BC, 18-4-1942)

[33] (YI, 12-6-1924, p. 195)

[34] (YI, 29-1-1925, p. 41)

[35] (YI, 26-3-1931, p. 46)

[36] (YI, 18-6-1931, p. 147)

[37] (YI, 16-4-1931, p. 78)

[38] (H, 28-4-1946, p. 111)

[39] (YI, 17-4-1924, p. 170)

[40] (H, 29-9-1940, p. 306)

[41] (YI, 25-5-1921, p. 164)

[42] (YI, 13-10-1921, p. 326)

[43] (YI, 5-1-1922, p. 4)

[44] (YI, 27-8-1925, p. 297)

[45] (YI, 22-9-1920, p. 1)

[46] (YI, 21-5-1925, p. 178)

[47] (YI, 28-7-1921, p.238)

[48] (YI, 27-8-1925, p. 297)

[49] (YI, 24-6-1926, p. 226)

[50] (H, 18-1-1942, p. 4)

[51] (H, 7-4-1946, p. 70)

[52] (YI, 26-6-1924, p. 210)

[53] (YI, 23-1-1930, p. 26)

[54] (YI, 7-1-1920, p. 2)

[55] (YI, 5-5-1920, p. 4)

[56] (YI, 6-3-1930, p. 80)

[57] (BC, 9-8-1942)

[58] (YI, 27-10-1920, p. 1)

[59] (H, 17-2-1946, p. 12)

[60] (H, 31-3-1946, p. 60)

[61] (H, 14-4-1946, p. 90)