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[[File:820px-Mahatma-Gandhi, studio, 1931.jpg|thumb|Studio photograph of Mohandas K. Gandhi, London, 1931]] | |||
[[File:Gandhi and Laxmidas 2.jpg|thumb|Gandhi and his brother Laxmidas]] | [[File:Gandhi and Laxmidas 2.jpg|thumb|Gandhi and his brother Laxmidas]] | ||
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== Disillusionment with religion == | == Disillusionment with religion == | ||
His parents’ example of devotion notwithstanding, Mohan became disillusioned with religion at an early age. He saw the caste problems, the dominant and rapacious Hindu priests, the oppression of women, and the fact that one-fifth of | His parents’ example of devotion notwithstanding, Mohan became disillusioned with religion at an early age. He saw the caste problems, the dominant and rapacious Hindu priests, the oppression of women, and the fact that one-fifth of India—the untouchables—were treated as less than human, and he knew that there must be a better way. He began to “incline somewhat towards atheism.” | ||
But far from “turning him off” to religion, Mohandas’ anti-religious sentiments quickened his interest and he listened attentively to his father’s frequent discussions with Muslim and Parsi friends on the differences between their faiths and Hinduism, seeking meaning beyond tradition and ritual, selecting a bouquet of ideas appealing to his soul. At that time, he wrote, “one thing took deep root in me—the conviction that morality is the basis of things and that truth is the substance of all morality.” | But far from “turning him off” to religion, Mohandas’ anti-religious sentiments quickened his interest and he listened attentively to his father’s frequent discussions with Muslim and Parsi friends on the differences between their faiths and Hinduism, seeking meaning beyond tradition and ritual, selecting a bouquet of ideas appealing to his soul. At that time, he wrote, “one thing took deep root in me—the conviction that morality is the basis of things and that truth is the substance of all morality.” | ||
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Since his “curriculum of study was easy, barristers being humorously known as dinner barristers,” he had plenty of spare time. He studied the classics and became fluent in English and Latin. And in the midst of these secular studies, religion unexpectedly reentered his life. | Since his “curriculum of study was easy, barristers being humorously known as dinner barristers,” he had plenty of spare time. He studied the classics and became fluent in English and Latin. And in the midst of these secular studies, religion unexpectedly reentered his life. | ||
[[File:Gandhi-1891.jpeg|thumb|upright|Ghandi in London (1891)]] | |||
In 1889, a friend convinced him to read the Bhagavad-gita, the sacred book of Hinduism, which he had never examined before. It made a lasting impact. “The book struck me as one of priceless worth. The impression has ever since been growing on me with the result that I regard it today as the book par excellence for the knowledge of Truth.” | In 1889, a friend convinced him to read the Bhagavad-gita, the sacred book of Hinduism, which he had never examined before. It made a lasting impact. “The book struck me as one of priceless worth. The impression has ever since been growing on me with the result that I regard it today as the book par excellence for the knowledge of Truth.” | ||
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He experimented much with the correct food, exercise, rest, and various disciplines for the ''brahmachari'' (one who practices ''brahmacharya''), but in all of his life, he never once repined once he had taken his final vow. He also attributed the evolution of his philosophy of nonviolence to the fact that he had taken the brahmacharya vow. | He experimented much with the correct food, exercise, rest, and various disciplines for the ''brahmachari'' (one who practices ''brahmacharya''), but in all of his life, he never once repined once he had taken his final vow. He also attributed the evolution of his philosophy of nonviolence to the fact that he had taken the brahmacharya vow. | ||
[[File:Gandhi Johannesburg 1905.jpg|thumb|upright|Gandhi in front of his law office, Johannesburg (1905)]] | |||
== Experiments with civil disobedience == | == Experiments with civil disobedience == | ||
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In July of 1914, their champion returned to India, leaving the schoolroom of South Africa where he had learned life’s most important lessons. Tempered in the fire of service, armed with the force of Truth, he was now ready for his calling, soon to be revealed in its full magnitude. | In July of 1914, their champion returned to India, leaving the schoolroom of South Africa where he had learned life’s most important lessons. Tempered in the fire of service, armed with the force of Truth, he was now ready for his calling, soon to be revealed in its full magnitude. | ||
[[File:Gandhi besant madras1921.jpg|thumb|upright|Gandhi with Annie Besant, President of the Theosophical Society, Madras (1921)]] | |||
== Social reform in India == | == Social reform in India == | ||
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<blockquote>I agreed to take goat’s milk. The will to live proved stronger than the devotion to truth.... But I cannot yet free myself from that subtlest of temptations, the desire to serve, which still holds me.</blockquote> | <blockquote>I agreed to take goat’s milk. The will to live proved stronger than the devotion to truth.... But I cannot yet free myself from that subtlest of temptations, the desire to serve, which still holds me.</blockquote> | ||
== The struggle for Indian independence == | == The struggle for Indian independence == | ||
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After a few successful trials of ''Satyagraha'', he issued a call for widespread civil disobedience for April 18, 1919. But the nation could not control itself. Nonviolence quickly deteriorated into riots when British mounted police accosted the crowds of passive demonstrators. The Indians retaliated brutally, igniting widespread atrocities and massacres on both sides, especially in the northern province of the Punjab. | After a few successful trials of ''Satyagraha'', he issued a call for widespread civil disobedience for April 18, 1919. But the nation could not control itself. Nonviolence quickly deteriorated into riots when British mounted police accosted the crowds of passive demonstrators. The Indians retaliated brutally, igniting widespread atrocities and massacres on both sides, especially in the northern province of the Punjab. | ||
“I had committed a grave error,” Gandhi wrote, “in calling upon the people ... to launch upon civil disobedience prematurely, as it now seemed to me.” Taking the blame for his “Himalayan miscalculation,” Gandhi embarked upon a five-day fast. From 1924–27, he held aloof from political activity and devoted himself to a constructive program of Hindu-Muslim amity, removal of untouchability, and popularization of ''khadi''. | “I had committed a grave error,” Gandhi wrote, “in calling upon the people ... to launch upon civil disobedience prematurely, as it now seemed to me.” Taking the blame for his “Himalayan miscalculation,” Gandhi embarked upon a five-day fast. From 1924–27, he held aloof from political activity and devoted himself to a constructive program of Hindu-Muslim amity, removal of untouchability, and popularization of ''khadi''. | ||
[[File:Gandhi Salt March.jpg|thumb|Gandhi during the Salt March (1930)]] | |||
After 1927, he again began campaigning for ''Swaraj''—alternating between jail, political activity, protest through fasting, and ashram life. If Gandhi campaigned wholeheartedly for ''Swaraj'', then he campaigned “wholesouledly” for the eradication of untouchability. “Swaraj is a meaningless term, if we desire to keep a fifth of India under perpetual subjugation and deliberately deny to them the fruits of national culture.” | After 1927, he again began campaigning for ''Swaraj''—alternating between jail, political activity, protest through fasting, and ashram life. If Gandhi campaigned wholeheartedly for ''Swaraj'', then he campaigned “wholesouledly” for the eradication of untouchability. “Swaraj is a meaningless term, if we desire to keep a fifth of India under perpetual subjugation and deliberately deny to them the fruits of national culture.” | ||
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<blockquote>With each fast, each boycott, and each imprisonment (by a British Raj which feared to leave him free, feared even more that he would die on their hands and enrage all India), Gandhi came closer to his goal of a free India. With the same weapons he got in some blows at his favorite social evils—untouchability, liquor, landlord extortions, child marriages, the low status of women.</blockquote> | <blockquote>With each fast, each boycott, and each imprisonment (by a British Raj which feared to leave him free, feared even more that he would die on their hands and enrage all India), Gandhi came closer to his goal of a free India. With the same weapons he got in some blows at his favorite social evils—untouchability, liquor, landlord extortions, child marriages, the low status of women.</blockquote> | ||
[[File:Gandhi Jinnah 1944.jpg|thumb|Gandhi and Jinnah, Bombay (September 1944)]] | |||
It was much easier, however, for the population of India to accept a campaign for freedom than to accept an overturning of their ancient traditions. Consequently, as World War II and what ''Time'' called this “most colossal experiment in world history” drew to a close, fewer and fewer were willing to institute his social reforms. From 1946–47, the British government, represented by Lord Mountbatten, the Indian National Congress, headed by Jawaharlal Nehru and advised by Mohandas Gandhi, and the All-India Muslim League, headed by Mohammed Ali Jinnah, negotiated to find the best possible means for ''Swaraj''. | It was much easier, however, for the population of India to accept a campaign for freedom than to accept an overturning of their ancient traditions. Consequently, as World War II and what ''Time'' called this “most colossal experiment in world history” drew to a close, fewer and fewer were willing to institute his social reforms. From 1946–47, the British government, represented by Lord Mountbatten, the Indian National Congress, headed by Jawaharlal Nehru and advised by Mohandas Gandhi, and the All-India Muslim League, headed by Mohammed Ali Jinnah, negotiated to find the best possible means for ''Swaraj''. | ||
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Perhaps some would cite as his greatest fault his inability to reconcile himself to the belief that anyone could be the relentless embodiment of evil—even to the death of his dreams and his dharma in that frail form. Thus he did not take strong measures against Jinnah. His system had no immediate answer for such a confrontation with the enemy of his life’s mission—except a recess until the next round in the next life when karma as the Law of Love—outplayed in the effects set in motion by his cause—would afford him another opportunity—this time to love and win. | Perhaps some would cite as his greatest fault his inability to reconcile himself to the belief that anyone could be the relentless embodiment of evil—even to the death of his dreams and his dharma in that frail form. Thus he did not take strong measures against Jinnah. His system had no immediate answer for such a confrontation with the enemy of his life’s mission—except a recess until the next round in the next life when karma as the Law of Love—outplayed in the effects set in motion by his cause—would afford him another opportunity—this time to love and win. | ||
[[File:Gandhi and Nehru in 1946.jpg|thumb|Gandhi with Jawaharlal Nehru at the All India Congress, Bombay, 1946. Nehru became the first Prime Minister of India the following year.]] | |||
== Political philosophy == | == Political philosophy == | ||