|
|
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was a man
considered one of the great sages and prophets. He was held as another
Buddha, another Jesus, Indians called him the ‘Father of the Nation’. They
showered their love, respect and devotion on him in an unprecedented
measure. They thronged his way to have a glimpse of him,
to hear one world from his lips. They
applied on their foreheads the dust on the path he had trodden. For them, he
was almost an incarnation of God, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was a man
considered one of the great sages and prophets. He was held as another
Buddha, another Jesus, Indians called him the ‘Father of the Nation’. They
showered their love, respect and devotion on him in an unprecedented
measure. They thronged his way to have a glimpse of him, to hear one world
from his lips. They applied on their foreheads the dust on the path he had
trodden.
For them, he was almost
an incarnation of God, who had come to break the chains of their slavery.
The whole world bowed to him in reverence. Even his opponents held him in
great respect.
Mohandas Gandhi was,
however, not a great scholar, nor was he a great warrior. He was not born
with exceptional faculties. Neither was he a good orator, nor a great
writer. He did not claim anything exclusively divine in him. He did not
claim being a prophet or having superhuman powers. He considered himself an
 average man with average abilities. Born in a middle class Bania family in
an obscure princely State in a corner of India, he was a mediocre student,
shy and nervous. He could not muster courage to speak in public. His first
attempt at legal practice miserably failed.
But he was a humble seeker of Truth. He was a man with exceptional
sincerity, honesty and truthfulness. For him, understanding meant action.
Once any principle appealed to him, he immediately began to translate that
in practice. He did not flinch from taking risks and did not mind confessing
mistakes. No opposition, scorn or ridicule could affect him. Truth was his
sole guiding star. He was ever-growing; hence he was often found
inconsistent. He was not concerned with appearing to be consistent. He
preferred to be consistent only with the light within.
Mahatma Gandhi's autobiography Sathiya Sodhani
is one book which guides you as to what is right and wrong. Most
importantly, the author should have experienced all these. The original was
in Gujarati, and was later translated into English and other Indian
languages. The book is in five parts, beginning with his birth, up until the
year 1921. In the last chapter he writes, "My life from this point onward
has been so public that there is hardly anything about it that people do not
know...."
The introduction reads, "What I want to
achieve - what I have been striving and pining to achieve these thirty
years- is self- realization, to see God face to face, to attain Moksha. I
live and move and have my being in pursuit of this goal."
The book costs Rs. 20 being subsidized by the
Navajivan Trust, Ahmedabad.
|