Why Not Gandhism?
In recent times, we had a phenomenon called Mahatma Gandhi. He led a war of the Indian people against foreign rulers in the most unusual way, unparalleled in the annals of war history. A war represents violence. But this war was fought by nonviolence. The world was amazed by the power of this means and its outcome, and by the undaunted spirit of the leader. The weapons he wielded, apart from nonviolence, were truthfulness, simplicity and righteousness. It prompted Louis Mountbatten to think that Mahatma Gandhi’s name would go down in history along with those of Jesus Christ and Gautama Buddha who have religious orders named after them. So why not start one in the name of Gandhi? Youth might believe that Gandhi was part of mythology, confirming Einstein’s view: “Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as Gandhi ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth.” Some others believe, following the celluloid Munna Bhai’s gandhigiri, that the spirit of Gandhi could be used for realising anything, including romantic dreams. Let’s have another tryst with destiny.
He Had Aura
Atma is always mahatma as all of us have it in us. When evolution comes to a certain level of dharana (concentration), and the individual is continuously seized by that higher thought, he is a mahatma. Each one of us at some point of time, at least for some moments, are mahatmas. M K Gandhi had an aura about him. Reportedly, his skin would glow like gold — that there was something very special about him. If anyone was a mahatma, it was Gandhi. He might have been stubborn, even strange, but he wielded great influence on people and he lived his life as he spoke and taught — because whatever he said, he did.
Visionary Saint
Gandhiji propounded the technique of nonviolence and practised it till his last breath; yet he died a violent death. He once said, “People call me mahatma, but I need to be convinced that I am one and that will happen when I utter my last words.” Did he have a premonition that he would go this way? If he did, then he was a mahatma. His last words were, ‘Hey Ram.’
Gandhiji propounded the technique of nonviolence and practised it till his last breath; yet he died a violent death. He once said, “People call me mahatma, but I need to be convinced that I am one and that will happen when I utter my last words.” Did he have a premonition that he would go this way? If he did, then he was a mahatma. His last words were, ‘Hey Ram.’
A true soul lives and dies for others, as Gandhi did. Gandhi worked hard to unify the region’s Muslims and Hindus through nonviolence. I salute the visionary on his birthday.
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