This web site doesn't display advertising. Please consider making a donation.

Free texts and images.

February

Prabhudas'^[1] letter from the Ashram:

"I feel dull and listless as Devdas kaka^[2] is not here. The Ashram wears a desolate look when, Bapu, you are not with us. I feel so out of sorts !"

Gandhiji's reply :

Let alone me, there are many attractive features in the Ashram, and I wish you could discover them and feel happy. It is really deplorable, if the Ashram atmosphere is lively only when I am present there in body, because the body is sure to fall one day. If the presence of the soul could be felt, it always is there. The more we give up our attachment to the physical frame of the person we love, the purer and more expansive our love grows. If we can create round our ownselves that atmosphere, which we are striving to generate for the whole Ashram, then the Ashram will never appear insipid to us and we can, besides, bring about that cheerful atmosphere for the whole Ashram the earlier.

Inadvertently, the letter has gone above you. Whatever you cannot understand in it, get it explained by Chi. Chhaganlal (Gandhiji's nephew and the boy's father). Give the letter to others to read, because it happens to be one that could be helpful to all. You must preserve it, read and re-read it, and absorb in yourself every word of it.

Blessings,

Bapu.

In a letter to Devdas :

Deva (a short loving form), if you equip yourself fittingly enough to wear my mantle, nobody dare come in your way. Only, I wish you became strong enough to bear the burden. But don't be under the delusion that you have no innate fitness for the aspiration. Work itself is the best teacher, and, as we take up one task after another, we grow more fit to tackle our work ever more successfully.

To a gentleman from Ranchi (Bihar) :

He is a true Ashramite who observes the rules and disci-pline of the Ashram, though physically he may not be staying in it, and that man is an outsider who, living within the Ashram, deliberately flouts its rules.

Mrs. Jinrajdas (of the Theosophical Society of India) made Ba (Mrs. Kasturba Gandhi) a member of the All India Women's Conference and sent a card intimating the fact. Gandhiji wrote to her:

Mrs. Gandhi is an almost illiterate woman. She cannot even sign her name in English. Do you want mere names to adorn you register?

Mrs. Jinrajdas wrote back in a loving and gentle retort.

To her Gandhiji replied :

The sentence about Mrs. Gandhi's signature in English was unhappily worded. The complete thought has not been given in it. Mrs. Gandhi is not educated in any sense of the term. She can hardly read and write Gujarati. That she cannot even sign her name in English, was intended to convey to those who prize English education, the full measure of Mrs. Gandhi's unfitness to become a member of an association whose members are scholars, either in their own language or in English.

Letter from a former pupil of the Ashram, Sri. Vinayak Narhari Bhave^[3]:

"Param Priya (most venerated) Bapuji,^[4]

I left the Ashram a year ago to recoup my health. I had intended to stay in Vai for 2 or 3 months and then return, but though a whole year has passed away, nothing has been heard from me. Questions, therefore, may have arisen whether I am ever to come back and even whether I am alive or dead. I must admit, I am myself entirely to blame in the matter, I had, how- ever, written a letter or two to Mama^[5] requesting him to write to me immediately if any satyagraha was to be launched. I had told him, I would give up everything to join it, but otherwise I would stay on out of the Ashram, till I could fully gratify the longing that has kept me away. If anybody suspected that I was a deserter, even there the fault is mine alone, because I am averse to correspondence. I must, however, state here that the Ashram has not only captivated me, but I have also the ingrained conviction that I was verily born for this Ashram. Why, then, did I loiter away a whole year outside the Ashram precincts?

Early in my life, when I was only ten, I took a solemn vow to observe Brahmacharya^[6] and dedicate my life to the country. Later on, during my High School days, I was fascinated by the teachings of the Bhagawad Gita. My father, however, asked me to take up French as my Second Language, but that did not abate my zest to learn the Gita. I began to study Sanskrit privately at home that very day, and I was resolved upon studying the Vedanta and other books on philosophy whenever possible. When, with your permission, I came to Vai, I saw that there was an excellent opportunity for me to study the Vedanta. One, Sri Narayanshastri Marathe, a Brahmachari^[7] all his life, is teaching the Vedanta and other scriptures here. I was seized with a passion to learn the Upanishads etc. from him. Now let me write what I have done during all this time:

My work with respect to my craving for knowledge which kept me out so long:

Study of (1) The Upanishads, (2) The Gita, (3) Brahmasutra Shankarbhashya, (4) Manusmriti and (5) Patanjal Yogadarshan. I went through, besides, (1) Nyayasutra, (2) Vaisheshiksutra and (3) Yagnavalkyasmriti. My desire to study our religious books has now been fully gratified.

I can now read whatever I want to in Sanskrit without any extraneous aid.

Then about the recuperation of health for which I went to Vai: I had made it a rule to walk 10 to 12 miles. Then began grinding 6 to 8 seers (12 to 15 lbs.) cereals with a hand-mill, At present, I do 300 namaskars1^[8] and take a walk everyday for physical exercise. This has improved my health.

Re. my diet : I have never taken other condiments, but, for the first six months, I used to take salt. I am now on a saltless diet and I have taken a life-long vow to have only saltless and spiceless food. I have started taking milk. Many experiments proved that I cannot go without milk, but my desire to give it up, if possible, persists. For a month, I had nothing but milk, lemon and bananas, but I found that I was getting weak. This is my present diet : Milk 1½ lbs., jowar chapaties two, bananas 4 or 5, lemon 1, when available. When I come to the Ashram, I intend to regulate my diet on your advice. I am not tempted by any other food for the sake of its taste only. All the same, I cannot help feeling that my present diet is rather too luxurious. My daily expense over food, item by item, is about : bananas and lemon 4 pice, chapaties 2, milk 5, total 11. I want to know from you what changes I should make. You will please write to me.

Other things done :

Took classes in (1) the Gita. Free tuition to 6 students of the whole gospel with full explanation of the verses. (2) Jnyaneshwari (A big Marathi exposition on the Gita by St. Jnyaneshwar), 6 chapters, 4 students attended. (3) 9 Upnishads to 2 students. (4) Hindi propaganda : I do not know Hindi well myself, but I used to read Hindi newspapers to some students. (5) English to 2 students. (6) Excursions: nearly 400 miles on foot. Saw fortresses of historical fame such as Rajgarh, Sinhagarh, Torangarh etc. (7) Used to hold, during my tramps discourses on the Gita, which have come to 50 in all till now. Even now I propose to pad it to Bombay, and then take a train for Ahmedabad to rejoin the Ashram. A student, 26 years old, has been throughout with me in my journeys and he, too, is at present footing it out in my company. He is not inclined to study the Gita from anyone except myself. The latest date of my entry into the Ashram is Chaitra Sudi 1 (the New Year's Day in Maharashtra falling generally in April.) (8) I started at Vai an institution called the “Vidyarthi Mandal” (Students' Association) and founded a library in connection with it. We, fifteen students and myself, formed a club of hand-grinders and our earnings were used in buying books for the library. We offered the same rate (1 pice for 2 lbs.) as the local grinding mill, and thus could draw customers. Sons of even high class families were members of the club. Vai is a centre of orthodoxy and since the hand-grinders were all Brahmin students studying in the High School, we were ridiculed by the public as faddists and fools. All the same, our grinding club continued for 2 months. 400 books have been stocked in the library. (9) I tried very much to propagate the principles of the Ashram. (10) There is a group in Baroda of 10 to 15 friends who want to serve the people. I had started there an institution for the propagation of the mother tongue, 3 years before I joined the Ashram. I attended its Annual Celebration. (This 'celebration' means nothing more than a meeting for comparison of the notes of members as to the work accomplished and the work to be done). I put before them the idea of spreading Hindi, and I have every reason to believe that the institution will take up the work. Since you have begun an effort for the propagation of Hindi I may say that this institution in Baroda will be prepared to associate with you for the work.

And finally, I must state how I have behaved as an inmate of the Ashram. These are our vows: Control of the palate : I have already dealt with this vow during my reference in this letter to my dietetic experiments. Non-possession : A wooden dish (thali), bowls, one “lota” (a smal jug) belonging to the Ashram, dhoti, a blanket and books comprise all my parapher-nalia. I have taken a vow not to use a shirt, a cap, and a coat. I wrap my upper body also with a dhoti. I use only hand-woven clothes. Swadeshi (exclusive use of articles made in one's own country) : I do not use a single foreign-made article (but only if “swadeshi” is not taken in the expanded sense which you gave it in your speech at Madras).

Truth, non-violence, brahmacharya: I am sure that I have strictly observed these vows to the best of my understanding of them.

What more shall I write? In my dreams and in my waking hours, only one question haunts me : "Will God deign to take service from me? With the greatest self-honesty I can say this much : I follow the rules of the Ashram (except one) and so, though the body may be roaming outside, I am, in reality, always in the Ashram. It is the ideal of my life. The one exception, alluded to above, is about self-cooking i.e. about making my 'chapaties' myself. I tried to observe that rule also, but could not do so in my tramps.

If any question of offering satyagraha arises, say against the hardships of the third-class passengers in railways, I will come immediately, otherwise I have given you above the latest date of my arrival in the Ashram.

What are the changes that have been made in the Ashram? How many students are there ? What is your scheme of national education, and what changes should I make in my diet ? I am longing for advice on all these points. And you must write the reply yourself, in your own hand. That is the earnest and insistent prayer of this “Vinoba”, your son, to whom you are no other than his revered father.

I will leave this town in a few days.

"A Hercules, a Samson!" burst out Gandhiji when he finished the letter. Another Gorakh, who has beaten his Machchandar^[9].

And this was the memorable reply from Bapuji :

I do not know what eulogistic epithet I must use for you. Your love and your character and your self-examination have enthralled me and made me a dotard. I am not competent enough to judge you. Your self-analysis is a good enough judgment about you for me also. I accept the father's position you give me, because you have satisfied almost all my expectations from a son. I believe that he is the true father who gives birth to a son of a more sterling worth. And he is the true son who becomes richer (in spiritual values) than his father. If the father is a lover of truth, strong in his resolves and acts and full of compassion, the son should possess these qualities in a greater degree. I can see that you have gained them all but I don't find that your achievement is due to any effort on my part. So the position you instal me on, I accept only as a gift of love from you. I will strive to be fit for that position and, when I turn out to be a Hiranya Kashyap^[10], you must offer civil disobedience against my orders as did Prahlad of yore.

You are right when you say that you have scrupulously observed the Ashram rules, even while remaining physically out of it. I had never entertained any doubts about your return. Mama had read to me, besides, your messages sent through him. May God endow you with a long life and may it be used for the uplift of India, is all I wish.

There is nothing I may suggest by way of a change in your diet, at least, at present. Do not give up milk for some time: you may even increase its quantity, if you find it necessary for health.

A satyagraha against the working of railways is unnecessary. What is needed are well-informed propagandists for the purpose. It is possible that a fight may have to be offered with regard to the plight of the peasants of the Kaira district. I am at present a rambler from place to place. In a day or two, I will have to go to Delhi.

More when we meet, All of us are eager to see you in our midst.

Blessings,

Bapu"

Bapu's ejaculation after writing the letter :

A really great soul. It has always seemed to me that deeds of previous lives have tied me very strongly with Madrasis and Maharashtrians. No Madrasis are now with me, but not a single Maharashtrian has ever disappointed me, and Vinoba is the high water-mark of Maharashtrian strength of character.

To Pandit Hridaynath Kunzru (a leading member of Gokhale's Servants of India Society) at the time of the Kumbha Mela^[11]. Extract from the letter:

Satyagrahashram, Sabarmati,

10-2-1918.

I am handling a most dangerous situation and am preparing to go to a still more dangerous. You will now understand why I have not gone to the Mela. I was looking forward to having an opportunity of seeing Hinduism at work, both in its devilish and divine character. The former, I know, cannot influence me, and I had relied upon the latter doing for me what it did for me at Hardwar. I was looking forward to meeting you, and preaching you a few homely sermons on the necessity of Servants of India, not making it a regular habit of getting ill almost every alternate month. But it was not to be.

Yours

M. K. Gandhi.

Letter from his sister (a widow) complaining against high prices, and the inconveniences she has to put up with in her house, and requesting that the remittance amount be increased.

Gandhiji's reply :

"Revered Sister,

Though I do not write to you, your image has never been out of my mind even for a moment. The fact that you are not staying with me is an ever-painful, incurable wound. You alone can heal it. If you live with me, the sight of your face would be for me a glimpse, however faint, of 'Ba' (their mother). But you have chosen to deprive me of that solace. My complaint against you is of a kind which time can never soften. You have made it a point never to let me have the chance to claim proudly that my sister stands by me in my work for the country. If I write to you, I can only heap reproaches on you, or pour out my soul's anguish, as in this letter. That also is a reason, why I am so slack in my correspondence with you. I know that these are hard times, but whence can I get more money to send you ? I have but to give you, whatever I can, from my friend's pocket. How can I have the face to request him to give me something more to send to you ? He may at once ask me, "Don't you think your sister must stay with you ? What answer can I give him then ? The world does not treat me as an 'untouchable outcaste, but for you I am one. About this painful subject, I can tell you only one thing : I am not living a whit more comfortably than you. Your troubles, therefore, do not appear unbearable to me. I feel not a trace of shame at the fact that you have to earn a supplementary income, by grinding corn for others. If you have the slightest pity for me, do come here; I beseech you. Make the Ashram your home and share in my work. You may be feeling distressed, at present, at the thought that you have no brother worth the name, but, if you do what I suggest, you will no longer feel the want of a brother, and you will find that you have not one but many. You will become a mother to many children besides. This is the Vaishnava dharma (worship of Lord Vishnu) in its pristine purity. So long as this truth does not dawn in you, we will have to bear the grief of separation from each other."

To his sister's daughter-in-law :

"Chi. Nirmala,

Read the above letter to Raliat. I wonder what I should write to you in the matter. There are so many avenues of work open for you here, that, if you come, I can make your life a poem of spiritual peace and beauty, and you will forget all your woes of widowhood. Some other women are already here to help me, but, unfortunately, I am deprived of your support, though you are my own. I shall not find fault with you, as I find fault with sister Raliat, because you have two elders to win the permission of ?your father and my sister. But if there is a driving urge in you to help me, you can not only secure the permission, but bring with you my sister Raliat also, as she cannot live a day without you by her side. I am pretty sure that you understand this point. Were Gokuldas (her deceased husband) alive, he would never have felt at ease with himself without being here with me. You can, therefore, give peace to his soul, if you stay here.

Ba (Kasturba Gandhi) is in Bihar and she often longs for your company. I will have to stay in these parts for sometime more".

12-2-'18

's letter : Expressing his feeling of shame for going to remarry within a short time of the death of his first wife, and his sadness at the thought that he could not observe mourning even for a year; but defending his action by such excuses as : if he did not bow down to the loving pressure of his dear ones, he would be misunderstood and would probably never get a second chance, in future, to remarry because of his obstinacy at present, etc.

"Bhai,

I have got your letter. It appears to me waste of energy to scourge you with words. There are some men who really want to extol themselves for their action, but they do so by appearing repentant for what they call their misbehaviour. You seem to be one of them at present. It may be acknowledged that you have a serviceable nature, which is out of the ordinary, and that is why you take part in public life. But in action you betray even greater weakness than a common man. First, you proclaimed that you felt deeply wounded by the loss of your wife, and that her parting words carved a deep impression on your mind. But soon the fact of the wound was forgotten, and the deep impression was erased altogether. If in the midst of loud lamentations, due to unbearable grief, a man suddenly bursts into laughter, he may be taken for a man gone mad or a play-actor. You, too, were lamenting but yesterday and are now revelling in laughter. Which of the two epithets then can apply to you ? Can that man be adjudged fit for public service, who cannot control his lust, who has not an iota of self-restraint ? And do not, please, sink lower than you have already done, by arguing that you are somewhat better than many others, who have done worse things and are still seen doing public service.

The retrograde step you have taken is about a matter of no small importance in the plank of social reform among us, Hindus. It is more essential that a Hindu widower observes at least some self-restraint than that a Hindu widow re-marries. You have lapsed from the fundamentals of Hinduism. If ever a Gujarat Seva Mandal (Service of Gujarat Society) is started and you want to be in close touch with it, it would be a serious moral question facing me, whether to accept you as a member thereof or not. It is not for me to judge you. That is only God's privilege and He alone can judge. But I will not, therefore, relinquish my right and duty to choose my life-companions.

Your action has exhibited to the world merely how superficial was the wound you had felt at your first wife's death, but to me, personally, the action has come as a serious shock. May God protect and enlighten you !

Mohandas Gandhi"

A flood of Mr. West's letters from Phoenix: It is difficult to conduct the 'Indian Opinion". It could be maintained only, if it was transferred to Durban and some practical, business-view was introduced in its working. That was his idea as well as of all others.

Reply :

• "My dear West,

12-2-'18

I hope you have received my letters. I have your two letters to acknowledge. I do not really know what to say. I have read Ritch's and De Beer's letters. From their standpoint, they are right. For me, you would better serve the work by being good agriculturists. Manilal's advice from Johannesburg does not appeal to me. He ought to be in Phoenix to manage the Gujarati portion. But, as I have said, you are the final arbiter and you should do what you think is best. So far as I am concerned, the property is as much yours as mine, and so is the cause.

Having said so much about Phoenix, I would like to speak to you about my activities here. The very fact that I write so little to you, show how busy I must be here. I think everybody wonders at my output of work. And nothing is of my seeking. I have taken up activities, as they have come to me. In Bihar, besides watching the legislative activity, I am opening and managing schools. The teachers are, as a rule, married people. And both husband and wife work. We teach the village children, give the men lessons in hygiene and sanitation, see the village women and persuade them to break through the Purdah and send their girls to our schools. And we give medical relief free of charge. Diseases are known and so are the remedies. We, therefore, do not hesitate to entrust the work to untrained men and women, provided they are reliable. For instance, Mrs. Gandhi is working at one such school, and she freely distributes medicine. We have, perhaps, by this time, relieved 3000 malaria patients. We clean village wells and village roads and thus enlist villagers' active co-operation. Three such schools have been opened and they train over 250 boys and girls under 12 years. The teachers are volunteers.

Then there is the work in Gujarat. It consists in carrying out the programme set forth in the Godhra and Broach addresses. At the present moment, I am trying to deal with imminent passive resistance. The activities in Gujarat are multifarious. Lastly, I am endeavouring to lead the movement for the release of the Ali brothers. I am evolving a programme for dealing with cow protection, hand-weaving and acceptance of Hindi as the lingua franca of India. Of course, the Ashram and the national school continue.

In all this, it is my good fortune to be well assisted. This activity involves a great deal of travelling.

The Ashram is beautifully situated on the banks of the Sabarmati river. We daily bathe in it. All the children can swim now. The school is under an able Principal, who was a distinguished Professor of the Gujarat College. The Ashram, of course, is under Maganlal's (Gandhiji's nephew and colleague in S. Africa) management. I do not know what is in store for the Ashram or the school. They are at the present moment popular institutions.

In all these activities, I often wish for the co-operation of the fellow-workers there. But I know it cannot be. But believe me, there is not a moment, when I do not think of one or the other of you. News of your exploits serve as apt illustrations for me. I am building on the experience gained there.

Please tell Mrs. West that she is not to consider, for one moment, that I have forgotten her or Granny. Nor have I forgotten the assurances given by me. New ties and new acquaintances cannot make me forget old ones.

This letter is not for publication. I do not wish to talk publicly of my activities.

With love, Yours' ever, M. K. Gandhi".

12-2-'18

• "My dear Parbathy,

You see I began your letter in Gujarati as I do not write in English to girls and boys. But I know that I must write to you in English. You will say, 'If you have provided for my Gujarati and Hindi tuition, I would have understood your Gujarati and Hindi letters also." You would be right, if you said so. I would however, say, 'If you had only gone with me or followed me to India, you would have been truly my daughter and learnt Hindi and Gujarati.'

Please tell Sam that I expect him to make of Phoenix an agricultural success. Do please write home all about your doings there. Radha and Rukhi have grown wonderfully. Rukhi looks almost as big as Radha. They have both made considerable progress in their tuition.

With love to you all,

M. K. Gandhi" (Signature in Tamil).

In loving admiration for Bapuji, I gave him the epithet 'The slave-hunter' in my talks with Pandyaji1.He goes on, I explained, catching some one or other, and yokes him to the national work, a passion of his life, which he pursues day and night. "No one could help getting tired of dilating upon his 'Lila' (the divine play of the Lord), and stopping the description by saying 'neti', 'neti'2?"I remarked. I then gave him some instances of his varied ways of capturing the quarry for his work: He won me over by pointing out how very fast I wrote, and yet in what charming hand; he added that my faults were completely forgiven in view of my good qualities. Then, the other day, he __________________

1. Sri Mohanlal Pandya, an erstwhile revolutionary, and so in the black book of the Government, became a convert to non-violence, and was a leader in the Kaira Satyagraha in 1918. He earned the honourable nickname of "dunglichor" (onion thief), for carrying away onions, from his own field, which the Govt. had confiscated. 2. 'not this', 'not this', a well-known Sanskrit expression, indicating the impossibility of giving a definition, comprising the attributes of God.

made Durga (Mahadevbhai's wife) fall for him, by establishing a father's relationship with her, and creating in her a sense of deep gratefulness through an exceedingly loving letter. His charming chats with Ansuyabehn and Sri Shankarlal Banker (another labour leader), and his unfailing invitation, on meeting them, to have their meals with him, captured them too, and they became his colleagues. Then one day, he pressed Vallabhbhai (Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel) to dine with him everyday in the morning also, and heartily appreciated his refusal to remarry, though his wife had died 12 years ago, and thus drew him into the orbit of his magnetic field. There was another way with him, besides, I added, and that was to share his most confidential secrets with some of us.

Last night he preferred to walk the whole distance (4 miles) from the Gujarat Club to the Ashram, despite the earnest entreaty of Ansuyabehn to let her take him there in her car. Many topics arose in our talks on the way.

As I am writing a commentary on his book 'Sarvodaya', I said, "There are some chapters in it which are really excellent in style and substance, but there are some others which appear slipshod." He readily accepted my criticism and observed, "Sometimes I used to have an itch to write and the output was really charming. But sometime when, on my return home thoroughly fagged after a whole day's honest work, somebody demanded from me a definite number of columns for the 'Indian Opinion', I would dictate to him, and even say that I did not approve of such and such sentences, but that it could not be helped, as I had no time to think out a better expression. It is quite possible that such parts fall flat."

"Letters from John Chinaman' is written in perfect King's English. Can the other books of G. Lowis Dickinson ever compare with it ?"

Then the topic changed. "One thing has pained me very deeply today. In fact, I am consumed with it. I have already written to A a letter that is written not in ink, but in the burning lava of my heart. But I am as deeply pained at Mrs. B's action as at Mr. A's. She had no right to indulge in procreation, after taking to a life of public service, undertaking heavy responsibilities and even accepting the position of the head of such a big educational institution as Of course, Mr. A also is to blame, but I am not blaming Mrs. B. either. I am only expressing my anguish at the happening, not at the person concerned. I had supposed that the couple had turned a new leaf in their lives and given up their old ways to lead a life of service. I was so happy a year ago, when I learnt that they had begun to do public work. I am as grieved to-day as I was elated then. How can such people ever be considered fit for public service ?"

Referring again to A in the morning Bapuji said "He had no right to enter public life. He should have gone to and spent his life there. But he did not go there and took to public service; but he made no sacrifice in doing so. What is his earning capacity after all ? Rs.25, 30, at the most 50. But to-day he draws from the institution an 'honorarium' which comes to Rs.200/- p.m. ! The respect and the high social status that he enjoys from his post in the institution, as well as from the help to individuals that he can render through the post, must necessarily be counted as a part of the honorarium."

Then at night: "I have never considered, and do not intend to consider, now or in future, any person as my disciple. But, on his own, he (A) goes on proclaiming to one and all, I am Gandhiji's disciple.' How can he call himself my disciple when he does such things ?"

Nothing can extenuate his action, except one possibility which C had pointed out: If he (A) never loved his wife, he had every right to remarry the very next day of his first wife's death. But then this our A was 'sunk in sorrow and gloom !'

15-2-'18

I read to-day Bapu's concise reproduction (in Gujarati) of Thoreau's 'Civil Disobedience' which first appeared in the 'Indian Opinion.' It deserves repeated reading and reflection. I write it down here (in Gujarati) verbatim. It was shipshaped before it was published again in India. It is the revised form that I copy :

PREFACE

Henry David Thoreau, one of the very few topmost sages of America, whose thought, word and deed were all in harmony, lived in the middle of the 19th century. In consequence of his firm adherence to truth, his thought was charged with as much power as his speech and act. His writings are a mine of excellent thoughts, from every word of which emanates sparks of divine fire. That is why millions read and ponder over them.

Here is a brief report of the incident, which brought about the writing of his booklet 'Civil Disobedience', a summary of which also I attempt to give:

He was a resident of Massachusetts, one of the States of the United States of America. He felt that the war, which the U.S.A. had then declared against Mexico, was against all canons of justice. Moreover, while he considered the system of slavery, then prevalent there, as a grave and cruel injustice against the Negroes, his State, not only tolerated the system, but supported the masters. He, therefore, resolved not to pay any tax to the State and thus, by declaring his opposition to its policy, offer civil disobedience against the State and cease to be a partner in the State's atrocities. In accordance with this resolve, he declared to the tax-collector, when he came to him, "You won't get a farthing from me, so long as my money is to be used for the expenses of the war or the purchase of slaves." The tax-collector was puzzled and shocked. "What should I do then ?" he asked. "Of course, you must resign; what else ?" Thoreau had, consequently, to go to jail. His friend, Emerson, went to see him there and said, "Why are you here, Henry ?" But why are you not here ?" countered Thoreau. This article is the expression of the thoughts that struck him in the jail. Historians say that among the chief reasons for the abolition of slavery in U.S.A., were Thoreau's going to jail voluntarily, and his publication of this pamphlet after his release. A perusal of this precis will show how apposite is the time for its publication, under the present situation of our country.

• "I heartily accept the motto? 'That government is best which

governs least.' Carried out, it finally amounts to this: 'That government is best which governs not at all.' Government is at best an expedient; and all governments are sometimes inexpedient. The objections which have been brought against a standing army, are many and weighty and deserve to prevail, but they may also be brought against a standing government. The standing army is only an arm of the standing government and cannot stand for a moment without the army. But we cannot see this; we are overwhelmed by the power of the State. But the fact remains that the subject maintains both the State and the army.

Governments thus show how successfully men can be imposed on, even impose on themselves. This government never of itself furthered any enterprise. It does not keep us free. It does not educate. The character inherent in the American people, has done all that has been accomplished, and it would have done somewhat more, if the government had not sometimes got in its way.

But, I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government, which it is the duty of every man to demand. A majority rule is not always likely to be in the right. This imperception is the root of many an injustice. Can there be a govt. in which majorities do not virtually decide right and wrong but conscience ? Must the citizen resign his conscience to the legislator ? Why has every man a conscience then ? I think we should be men first and subjects afterward. It is not desirable to cultivate respect for the law, so much as for the right. The only obligation, which I have a right to assume, is to do what I think right. Law never made men a whit more just; and by means of their respect for it, even the well-disposed are daily made the agents of injustice. A common and natural result of an undue respect for law is that you may see a file of soldiers marching in admirable order to a war, and submitting quietly to military commands, against their wills, against their consciences. Now what are they ? Men at all ? Or small movable magazines, at the service of an unscrupulous man in power ? They put themselves on a level with wood and earth and stones. They command no more respect than men of straw. They have the same sort of worth only as horses and dogs. Others as legislators, lawyers, ministers and representatives claim to serve the State chiefly with their heads. But I see that they are as likely to serve the devil, without intending it, as God. A very few?as heroes, patriots, martyrs, reformers in the great sense-serve the State with their consciences, and so necessarily resist it, for the most part, and they are commonly treated as enemies by it. A wise man will only be useful as a man, and will not submit to be 'clay' and 'stop a hole to keep the wind away'.

How does it become a man to behave toward this American government to-day? I answer that he cannot, without disgrace, be associated with it. I cannot, for an instant, recognize that political organisation as my government, which is the slaves' government also. All men recognise the right to resist the government , when its tyranny is great and unendurable. But some say that such is not the case now. Why ? Because not they, but others are the victims. All machines have their friction and I should not make a stir about this. But when the friction comes to have its machine, and oppression and robbery are organised, it is not too soon for honest men to rebel and revolutionize.

Man must do justice, cost what it may. If I have unjustly wrested a plank from a drowning man, I must restore it to him, though I drown myself. He that would save his life in such a case, shall lose it. This people must cease to hold slaves, and to make war on Mexico, though it cost them their existence as a people.

We are accustomed to say, that the mass of men are unprepared; but improvement is slow, because the few are not materially wiser or better than the many. It is not so important that many should be as good (brave) as you, as that there be some absolute goodness somewhere; for that will leaven the whole lump. There are thousands who are, in opinion, opposed to slavery and to war, who yet in effect do nothing to put an end to them; who, esteeming themselves children of Washington and Franklin, sit down with their hands in their pockets and do nothing. What is the price current of an honest man and patriot to-day ? They hesitate, they regret and sometimes they petition. But they do nothing in earnest and with effect. They will wait, well-disposed, for others to remedy the evil, that they may no longer have it to regret.

There are nine hundred and ninety-nine patrons of virtue to one virtuous man. But it is easier to deal with the real possessor of a thing, than with the temporary guardian of it.

Even voting for the right is doing nothing for it. It is only expressing to men feebly your desire that it should prevail, and has no value. A wise man will not leave the right to the mercy of chance, and wish it to prevail through the power of the majority. Alone, he will fight for it. There is but little virtue in the action of masses of men. When the majority shall at length vote for the abolition of slavery, it will be because there is little slavery to be abolished by their vote. Only his vote can hasten the abolition of slavery, who asserts his own freedom by his vote.

It is not a man's duty, as a matter of course, to devote himself to the eradication of any, even the most enormous, wrong. But it is his duty, at least, to wash his hands of it.

How can a man be satisfied to entertain an opinion merely, and enjoy it, if he does not put it in practice ? If you are cheated out of a single dollar, you do not rest satisfied with saying that you are cheated; but you take effectual steps at once to obtain the full amount, and see that you are never cheated again. Action from principle, the perception and the performance of right, changes things and relations. It is essentially revolutionary. It not only divides States, it divides families and friends, aye, it divides the individual, separating the diabolical in them all from the divine. It is the service of Truth and the service of all through Truth.

Unjust laws exist; shall we be content to obey them or transgress them at once ? Men generally think that they ought to wait, until the majority is persuaded to alter them; that if they resist, the remedy would be worse than the evil. But if that happens, it is the fault of the government itself, and not of the transgressors of unjust laws.

I know this well, that if one thousand, if one hundred, if ten men, ? if ten honest men only, ?ay, if one HONEST man, in this State of Massachusetts, ceasing to hold slaves, were actually to withdraw from his co-partnership with the State, by refusing to pay his taxes and be locked up in the country jail therefore, it would be the abolition of slavery in America.

He must see that, at any rate, he does not lend himself to the wrong he condemns, and not wait till men of his view constitute a majority. He is not alone. It is enough if he has God on his side, without waiting for others. Any man, more right than his neighbours, constitutes a majority already.

I meet the State government directly and face to face, once in a year-no more -in the person of the tax gatherer. And the simplest, the most effectual, and, the indispensablest mode of treating with it, on this head, is to deny it then. If a thou-sand men were not to pay their tax-bills this year, that would not be a violent measure, as it would be to pay them, and enable the State to commit violence.

I know that when one brave man goes to jail, for not paying his tax-bill, that day the citadel of slavery is breached. For it matters not how small the beginning may seem to be. What is once well done, is done for ever. But we love better to talk about it; that we say is our mission. Reform keeps many scores of newspapers in its service, but not one man.

Under a government which imprisons unjustly, the true place for a just man is a prison. The proper place to-day, the only place which Massachusetts has provided for her freer and less desponding spirits, is in her prisons. For it is the only house in a slave State, in which a free man can abide with honour. If any think that their influence would be lost there, and their voices no longer afflict the ear of the State, they do not know by how much truth is stronger than error, nor how much more eloquently and effectively he can combat injustice, who has experienced a little in his own person. A minority is powerless, while it conforms to the majority; it is not even a minority then; but it is irresistible, when it clogs by its whole weight.

When I converse with my freest neighbours, I perceive that they dread the consequences, to their property and families, of disobedience to the State. For my own part, I should not like to think that I ever rely on the protection of the State. It costs me less, in every sense, to incur the penalty of disobedience to the State than to obey. I should feel as if I were worthless in that case.

I have paid no po -tax for six years. I was put into a jail once on his account, for one night; and, as I stood, considering the walls of solid stone and the door of wood and iron, I could not help being struck with the foolishness of that institution, which treated me as if I were mere flesh and blood and bones. It did not realize that, if there was a wall of stone for me between me and my townsmen, there was a still more difficult one for them to climb or break through, before they could get to be as free as I was. I did not, for a moment, feel confined. I felt as if I alone, of all my townsmen, had paid the tax and was free. I could not but smile to see how industriously they locked the door, and left me free for my meditations, which were really all that was dangerous. As they could not reach me, they had resolved to punish my body; just as boys, if they cannot come at some person, against whom they have a spite will abuse his dog. And I saw that the State was half-witted; it was timid even in punishing my body, and I lost all my remaining respect for it." x x x

A gentleman came from Baroda and stayed for a few days in the Ashram. He had long talks with Bapuji and then, before he left, after serious deliberation, he took a vow to return on Thursday next, and devote his life to national service. But from Baroda, he wrote a letter to the effect that he had decided not to go to the Ashram as, on second thoughts, he had realized that his family would then be put to serious trouble and might have even to starve.

Reply :

"Your letter makes painful reading. The facts that you state in it, had not been out of your mind, when you took the vow. It was your duty to keep the vow, once you took it, even if your family was starved to death in consequence. It is only men of firm resolve, who can mould a nation. Others do not deserve to be classed among 'men.' Nobody urged you to take the vow. You had ample time, besides, for the fullest consideration of its possible effects on your family. This is nothing but weakness, which is a common failing with us and is at the root of our very slow progress. The object of writing this letter is not to induce you to keep your vow now. Even if you come here, you would be rejected. You must engage yourself in the maintenance of your family, repent your sin and humbly spend a homely, quiet life now. Vande Mataram, Mohandas Gandhi."

"Bhaishri Dahyalal,

I have your card. Many thoughts throng in my mind at the news of Bhai Amritlal's untimely death. And Bhai Navalram tells me just now that, besides him, some of your other colleagues also have lost their lives, in the service of the plague patients there. If that is so, I see, in their deaths, an occasion not to grieve for, but to rejoice over. We all would like to die such a glorious death. Our saying, "What more could one desire than death on the battle-field? ?is very apposite here. The body is sure to fall one day, when it gets worn out. We would even wish that it did so. Let us, therefore, have the faith to believe that Amritlal, Motilal and other colleagues will, in due course, assume new and fitter bodies and serve India through them in future.

Give my condolences to the bereaved family of Amritlal. You will do a service, if you make efforts to send Motilal's widow here, as soon as possible. Vande Mataram, M. K. Gandhi"

16-2-'18

"Chi. Devdas,

I came here for a day but, it seems, I will have to stay on for a month. I wanted to go to Delhi today, but shall have to go to Nadiad instead for the work of the Kaira peasants. Thousands would be put to a serious loss, if I left the work here just now. The people would collapse in despair. Such being the case, I am detained here for the present. All the same, my hope persists that I shall be able to free myself from the work here in 10 days. You are never out of my mind. I know you are full of life, and can take an interest in many different things. Had you been here with me, you would have seen the glory and grandeur of Truth every moment. Pursuit of truth is the only legacy I can bequeath. I believe that wealth to be inexhaustible and, for the man who knows its worth, invaluable. He would neither ask nor even wish for any other heritage. As far as I know you, you have been able to assess the true value of this heritage and are in love with it. This morning, however, I dreamt that you cheated me. You took out some currency notes from the cash box, got them changed and squandered away the money. I came to know of it all, and was sore distressed and irritated. But just then I woke up. I found that it was merely an ugly dream and thanked God heartily. But it shows my infatuation for you. On your part, you want me to have it. You need not be seriously afraid that this excessive fondness will wear off completely during the remaining span of my life. I am making serious efforts to have an equibalanced love for one and all. All the same, my hope remains that your response to it will be greater than that of others.

I do not write a separate letter to Chi. Chhotelal and Chi. Surendra. You can, if you like, give this letter to them to read; or you can just give the necessary news. There is no harm, if you do not let them read the letter, as it is a sacred private talk between father and son, and so worth treasuring for you alone.

Blessings, Bapu."

To Anandibai?a lady volunteer of Champaran (Bihar) on the death of her brother's wife (in Marathi) :

"I am deeply grieved to hear of the death of your sister-in-law. But I know you are quite aware of the immortal Soul within us. You need not, therefore, be reminded of the truth that life and death are, really speaking, two sides of the same coin. And yet it has become the second nature of man, to feel unhappy at the death of some dear one. I wish to share in your grief and to give you as much peace as can. For persons like you who have decided and resolved to lead a life of service, there is only one proper way to mourn the loss of a beloved one, and that is to be all the more devoted to service.

Yours, Mohandas Gandhi,"

21-2-'18

As Secretary of the National Education Promotion Society, Mr. Arundale had made a request for an article for the National Education Week they were celebrating. It was first intended that the following reply be sent :

• "I have your letter. Just now I am immersed in one or two

difficult matters. Thoughts do not come to me for the asking. I have to make my mind play upon a subject, before I can write anything readable in it. I can merely say that I shall bear your letter in mind and try to give you something. The odds are that I shall fail, unless the things I am handling are finished before their expected period."

Then it was found that the latest date given for the article in Mr. Arundale's letter was 20-2-'18. So he exclaimed, "Good.

That solves the problem." Write to him, "We received your letter only yesterday, and it was impossible to send you an article, before the date specified in your letter." In a letter to Mr. Sly1 also, written about the same time, he had said, "Anything dropping out, is a positive relief."

21-2-'18

To Miss Winterbottom2

• "I have allowed weeks to pass by, without writing to you, but

you know the reason why. Before telling you something about my activity, I want to answer an important question you have asked?a question which shows how closely you have been follo-wing my doings, in this part of the world. You have reminded me of what I used to say in London, viz., that benign autocracy was the best form of government, and have asked me how I reconcile my activity in connection with the Home Rule Movement here. I still retain the position held by me in London. But that form of government is an impossibility today. India must pass through the throes of Parliamentary Government, and, seeing that it is so, I naturally support a movement which will secure the best type of Parliamentary Government and replace the present bastardism, which is neither the one nor the other. What is more, I take part in the movement, only to the extent that I can enforce and popularize principles which, I know, must permeate all systems, if they are to be of any use. In Natesan's publication, a copy of which I have taken the liberty to send on to you, there is a translation of my address to the Gujarati Political Conference, which will more fully illustrate what I mean. I have delayed for one week, hoping to deal with other matters. I must, however, no longer do so, but take some other opportunity of writing further. Yours sincerely, M. K. Gandhi". ______________

1. President of the Champaran Inquiry Committee appointed by the Government. 2. An old friend of Gandhiji, who had helped him in England.

"Bhai Gordhanbhai,

Pujya (respected) Ansuyabehn, Bhai Shankarlal Banker and I have returned just now from a meeting of the weavers. They say that millowners want them to sign some agreement, in return for a payment of 8 annas to each. I have advised them not to give their signatures, without showing the document to their advisers. I have also told them that, in a day or two, we will suggest the proper increment that they should demand from millowners. If they follow the advice, and agree to ask for the payment we suggest, it will be all to the good for them. I respectfully submitted yesterday to the members of the mill-owners' group an explanation of where I come in the picture, and what responsibility I have to discharge in the matter. I feel that the principle of arbitration has taken deep root among us, and it would be a tragedy for one and all, if the workers lose their faith in it. I cannot, therefore, renounce the duty that has fallen upon me, without my seeking it. Bhai Shankarlal Banker and Vallabhbhai Patel concur completely. It would be very undesirable for the workers, for you and for the public, if they have to remain idle for a long time, with their prospects unsettled all the while. Bhai Banker has brought with him from Bombay the rates of payment there, for different kinds and grades of work. I shall feel obliged, if you can send me immediately a statement of the corresponding rates that prevail here. On my part, I would wish the millowners to let us know the rates of payment to different sections, which they consider reasonable, stating, of course, that this co-operation from them did not mean that they were bound to accept the rates we may demand. If anyone of you presented himself at our deliberations and gave us your point of view, our resolution, whatever it be, was bound to be more well-informed. I have no class prejudices, and am not partial to the workers because they are workers. But I have a love for justice, and since it is often found to be on the side of workers, I happen to plead for them. Hence the general belief that I am partial to them. I am incapable of doing any harm to the great cotton industry of Ahmedabad. I hope, therefore, that your Association will give us every help in this difficult matter. I pray you will send your reply immediately, as I have told the workers that I will, if possible, declare the outcome of our deliberations on Wednesday at the latest.

M. K. Gandhi"

26-2-'18

After a long deliberation, it was decided this evening that the question of the spinning department be waived, for the present, and the weaving section be advised to ask for an increment of 35% to their wages for the month of July, and be allowed to declare a strike, if their demands were not accepted. It was also resolved that, in case of a strike, the labour leaders should visit the strikers individually at their homesteads, spend long hours with them in friendly chats and thus, by showing their oneness with them, keep up the spirits of the strikers. This idea of the identification of the higher with the lower class, caught Bapu's fancy and, with a good-humoured gibe at Ansuyabehn, he said : "So now get out of your Stately mansion, and be a sister to the lowly?the women workers."

A letter1 on the Kaira situation :

"I have read your letter to the Gujarat Sabha. It is the duty of all of us to work for the ryots of the Kaira District. I believe the Gujarat Sabha is not worth its name, if it did not take up this question.

I myself am largely responsible for the advice that is being given to the peasants there. Their case is that the crop this year is less than 4 annas (one-fourth of the standard yield), and that the Government has always agreed not to collect land-revenue if it came to below 4 annas. If the Government refuse to heed the peasants' cry of distress, they have only one remedy left with them. They should refuse to pay the land-revenue, and allow their goods to be sold for the default. If they did not take this step, the fact of the payment itself would mean that they were in the wrong. _________________ 1. The name of the addressee could not be found out?Editor.

The assessment of revenue has but to be, and is, based upon the productive capacity of the soil. It is clear that no revenue could be demanded on barren tracts of land. The Government regulation that payment be made in instalments, is not at all a favour conferred on the peasants. It is but the outcome of sheer necessity.

I see every possibility of a gulf remaining between your views and those of the Gujarat Sabha. But it is only a part of a public man's business to put up with such differences. Both the views may be put before the public, which may then make its own choice.

That there is nothing illegal in courteously refusing to pay a tax, and allowing the authorities to collect the amount through attachment of property, is to me as good as an axiom. Yours Mohandas.

26-2-'18

• My dear Devadhar,

I have your two letters and the report. I do feel that you have unconsciously injured the cause, and have allowed your-self to be made a tool in Mr. Pratt's hands. You have based your statement, about the under-valuation on the part of the raiyats (ryots), on totally insufficient data. Amritlal Thakkar, who went into details, does not think that 3½ annas is an under-valuation. You know that the official valuation has undergone a manipulation.

And how can it be said that substantial concessions have been made, when we know that not a single concession has yet been made ? He was simply playing with us, when Mr. Pratt said that postponement would be granted when the rabi (winter crop) was not over 25% (4 annas). Do you realize that rabi does not include cotton, tobacco, tuvar (lentil) and diveli (castor seed) ?

Where was the necessity of publishing the report at all ? When I entered upon the scene, you might well have left the judging of the movement of publication to me.

Lastly, why think that we can gain only what the officials give? Why not feel that we must get what we deserve?

I feel that you are not doing justice to yourself or the cause you handle by attempting too much. You are ailing. You have more irons in the fire than you can handle. You should have boldly said you could not undertake the inquiry.

I know you will not misunderstand my letter. I love you too well to do you conscious injustice. The best expression I can give to my regard for you, is to open out the door to my heart and let you see what there is. No friend can do more. He who does less, is so much the less a friend.

You ought to listen to my prayer and give Amritlal to the work in Gujarat. He will render greater service to the Society (Servants of India Society), because he will shine most in the work in Gujarat. The Council work can be done somewhat by a man who has a head about him. The pariah work can only be done by a man with a heart to guide his head. Amritlal is that man.

Yours sincerely, M. K. Gandhi

27-2-'18

"Chi. Ramdas,

I am worrying over you these days. I read disappointment writ large in your letters. With a painful inferiority-complex, you feel that you are uneducated and are nowhere in the world. Were you here with me, I would nestle you under my wings and give you solace and strength. I think it is due to my own defect that I cannot satisfy you. Knowing that all my faults were committed unconsciously, you will please forgive me. Children can legitimately claim very special rights from their parents. They are always in a state of helplessness before them. One mistake on the part of a parent may mean fading, for a whole life, the opening bud of the child's soul. Our scriptures have raised parents to the pedestal of Godhood. It is not always that parents, who can discharge such a great responsibility, are born in this world. They are most often too earthy, and they leave a legacy of that earthiness to their progeny. Thus, with every new generation, there is greater selfishness and grossness. What makes you think yourself an unfit son? Do you see that your unfitness means mine also? And I don't propose to let others judge me an unfit person. How is it possible for you to be unfit then? You are not going to give up truth, in your greed for wealth, though you will, of course, try to earn. And you are sure to keep up the code of righteous and self-restrained living, though you may wish to marry. So I, for one, will always regard you as a worthy son.

You need not apologise to me. You have not disappointed me. I wish you came here, after finishing your work on hand there. I will certainly take part in your wedding ceremony, and if you want academic education, I will help you there also. If only you build an iron constitution, we will successfully cope with everything else. As the situation stands at present, we are all miles away from one another. You are there, Manilal at Phoenix, Deva at Badaharva, Ba at Bhitiharva, Harilal in Calcutta and I, a traveller, always on the wheels. May be, this disruption of the family is our contribution to national service, and a necessary state in the evolution of our souls. Be that as it may, let us cheerfully bear with what has fallen to our lot.

Bapu's blessings."

Giving in his morning prayer speech today an account of the situations that have arisen out of the Kaira Satyagraha and the strike of the mill-workers, he said: "I have always been saying that it is not a government alone against which Satyagraha can be launched. It can be offered against anything and everybody and under all situations. We are at present witnessing examples of this maxim. While there is a Satyagraha on foot in Kaira against the government, in Ahmedabad it is offered against the rich and, in the matter of untouchability, it is carried on against some of our scriptural texts. I feel that in everyone of these matters, success is bound to come to us, because Truth is definitely on our side. The Government has been overweening and insolent in the Kaira affair, and there was no go for us except to offer Satyagraha. If we don't win there, the fault will lie with our own imperfections, and not with the principle itself. Our Satyagraha succeeded in Bihar, because there I fell in with a team of workers, who were the salt of the earth. I see that there is not as much purity here; nevertheless, I have got more than I had bargained for. In Ahmedabad also a splendid situation has arisen. I would like to share with you something that the Collector told me yesterday. I have not given it out anywhere else, but the Ashram, I think, is the right place where I can do so. And he did not say it for the sake of politeness, as a conventional compliment. It came out of his heart. He declared, "This is the first time in my life, when I see a fight between employers and workers carried on with so much love and regard for each other." I too feel that I have never seen such cordiality, as exists here between two fighting forces. You saw that, though belonging to the opposite camp, Ambalalbhai came here yesterday to dine with us. And, when I gave him a rather pressing invitation to have his meal with us tomorrow also, he could see my purpose and immediately accepted it. Could there be an affinity between opponents more charming than this ? I think we are not going to be defeated in this fight, if we have firmness, purity and single-minded purpose to a degree sufficient for the occasion. I cannot keep you fully in touch with all that is going on in the struggle, but it is a training in self-control for you to reconcile yourselves to this situation. Only, we must always be ready and prepared to do our part of the work, whatever it be, if we are called upon to do it, and for all that we have but to cultivate firmness and self-control."

For the last 3 or 4 days, it has become a rule with us to go to bed late at 12 midnight or even 0.30 a.m. and wake up early at 3 or 4 a.m., without even a wink of sleep by daytime. He (Bapu) got up very early this morning also, and finished writing some very remarkable letters, one of which (to Ramdas) has been given above. The following is another such, in which he has handled the question of the Ali brothers' release. In a tone full of regret, he expresses his inability to go to the Ali brothers, because he is held up here in the strike of the mill workers and the question of the Kaira peasants. The letter is written to Janab (Mr.) Shuaib Qureshi, editor of the "New Era".

• Dear friend,

"I am ashamed of myself. I am most anxious to be there. Yet the facts seem to have conspired against me. The strike is still on, and it is of such a delicate nature that I dare not leave it. The Kaira affair, too, involving as it does the rights of several lakhs of people, demands my attention. I know that delay about the Ali brothers is dangerous. I, therefore, stay where I am till I feel free. I know you will not have me do otherwise. Will you please apologise to Maulana Saheb ? Do please keep me informed of what goes on there.

Yours sincerely, M. K. Gandhi."

28-2-18

• Dear Mr. Pratt,

"Your frank talk of yesterday encourages me to send you this letter.

The following is the position throughout India. A new order of things is replacing the old. It can be established peacefully, or it must be preceded by some painful disturbances. What it will be, lies largely in the hands of Civil Servants like yourself, more than in those of the King\'s representatives quite at the top. You desire to do good, but you rule, not by the right of love, but by the force of fear. The sum-total of this energy of the Civil Service represents to the people the British Constitution. You have failed, probably not through any fault of your own, to interpret it to the people, as fully as you might have. The result is the people dread your power to punish, and they miss the good you desire to do. The Home Rulers, so named, have become impatient of your authority. They are a rapidly increasing power. They find no difficulty in showing to the people the dreadful side of the Civil Service rule. The people welcome them as deliverers. With nothing but love of the land and distrust of the officials to guide them, they spread ill-will. The order you represent knows this only too well, and it naturally resents this insult. And so the gulf widens. I presumptuously believe that I can step into the breach, and may succeed in stopping painful disturban-ces, during our passage to the new state of things. I want, at the end of it, to see established, not mutual distrust and the law of force, but mutual trust and the law of love. I can only do so, if I show the people a better and more expeditious way of righting wrongs. It is obviously bad, if they submit to your order through fear and harbour ill-will. It is worse, if misguided, they resort to violence. The only loyal and truly uplifting course for them is to show their disapproval, by disobeying your order, which they may consider to be unjust, and by knowingly and respectfully suffering the penalty of their breach. I venture to think that advice to do so, can be safely tendered in almost every conceivable case of a felt wrong, provided that all other recognised remedies have been previously tried. I wish you could see the viewpoint submitted by me. You will, I know, forgive me for my presumption in writing this letter. Of course, I have written irrespectively of the Kaira trouble. It is highly likely that I shall have the privilege of working with you on a more non-contentious platform. But I feel that it is better that you should know me with all my limitations.1 Yours sincerely, M. K. Gandhi" __________________

1. During the Kaira Satyagraha, Mr. Pratt was the Commissioner of Nor-thern Division (Gujarat), and he had made serious efforts to suppress the movement. Then he went to England on furlough, from where he wrote the following letter to Gandhiji, which suggests what favourable impression peaceful Satyagraha creates upon the minds of the Government officers concerned in the long run : 18-2-'20

• Dear Mr. Gandhi,

During my absence from India, I have been in fairly close touch with Indian affairs through the newspapers, both English and Indian, and a week or two ago when I read the account of your speech in the Amritsar Congress, in which you and Mr. Jinnah were fighting the battle of trust and co-operation against suspicion and disappointment, I felt that I would like to write and congratulate you on the stand you took. I write this purely as a private individual. Our relations in the past have not been altogether harmonious. Speaking for myself only, I feel sure that there have been hard thoughts and hard words against you, which were not justified. But the future matters far more than the past, and I wish to grasp the hand of fellowship and co-operation, in the same spirit in which you exten-ded it in your admirable speech. I hope, though I cannot be sure, that I will return to Ahmedabad at the end of March, and I look forward to the pleasure of meeting you in India. Yours sincerely, F. Pratt"

1. ↑ Grand-nephew of Gandhiji, who stayed with him since his early childhood.
2. ↑ Devdas was Gandhiji's youngest son.
3. ↑ Now of international fame as the “Bhoodan” (land-gift) and Sarvodaya, leader, Acharya Vinoba Bhave. Gandhiji had selected him for the honour of being the first to begin individual civil disobedience during the Second World War on the strength of his great purity of character.
4. ↑ Bapuji=respected father. Gandhiji used to be called “Bapu” by millions.
5. ↑ Mama Phadke, an earliest inmate of the Ashram, who has devoted his life to the service of the Depressed Classes.
6. ↑ Brahmacharya=lit. walking in the Way of the Lord; hence perfect continence. Hence Brahmachari= bachelor, in thought, word and deed.
7. ↑ It has been the Hindu traditional conviction that its scriptures and metaphysical truths cannot be rightly grasped except by a highly exalted soul.
8. ↑ Bows, a particular physical exercise involving bows to the sun.
9. ↑ Learning that his guru Machchandar had fallen into temptations, Gorakh took the form of a street-singer and sang only one line: "See Machchandar, Gorakh has come". The song roused Machchandar from his spiritual stupor, and it was thus the disciple beat the guru in his own field.
10. ↑ Power corrupted this king who, in his vanity, forbade God's worship and enjoined his own. His son, Prahlad, was a devotee of God and, though quite a child, disobeyed his father. Lord Vishnu takes a “man-lion” form, kills the king and saves the devotee.
11. ↑ A big congregation of the Hindu monks and sannyasins held on specific sacred days every 3, 6 or 12 years in specific holy towns. Hundreds of thou-sands of lay pilgrims visit the town at that time, which becomes the scene of a stupendous mela (fair).