July 1918

Visit to the Satyagrahashram. Death of ?'s (an Ashramite) mother. 'If his family wanted to go home on that account,' Bapu thought, 'it would be merely to abide by an old custom and would mean to the Ashram an expense of Rs.80/- after their travelling alone. Public money could not be spent away like that. This family should not to be permitted to go home.' Bapu revealed to me this trend of his thinking as he was taking his meal the next day.

2-7-'18

Nadiad. Letter from Andrews. Quoting from a letter written seven years ago, he said that he was afraid that Bapu's activities were getting to be more and more overwhelmed by politics, and that Bapu was, therefore, likely to fall from his high spiritual estate. I too supported Andrews: "I also have somewhat the same kind of uneasy feeling." Bapu answered back, "Andrews does not understand my ideal. He imagines that my politics are like his. But despite all these multifarious activities, I am personally enjoying deep peace within. Only yesterday I taught the Ashramites the lesson of greater self-restraint."

Deodhar sent Bapu a report of 'Poona Sevasadan' (Service- Home at Poona) for the last eight years. Bapu wrote in acknowledgement :

• "My dear Deodhar,

I thank you for sending me your report of the Sevasadan work. It is a monument to your industry, nationalism of a constructive type and your love for service. The progress is indeed phenomenal. There is probably nothing quite like it in all India. If you have a lady teacher I want one, even two, to replace Avan-tikabai and Anandibai in Champaran.

And now for suggestions. A smattering knowledge of English is worse than useless. It is an unnecessary tax on our women. When we cease to make use of English where we ought not to use it, believe me, the Englishmen will talk to us in our own language, as they ought. Lord Chelmsford was quite pleased when I spoke at the Conference in Urdu. By all means teach a select few ladies all the English you can, so that they might translate the best English thought to their own sisters. This is what I call economy of language. I would, therefore, replace English by Hindi. The latter will liberalise the Deccan woman, who like the rest of her sisters, is to day parochial, and it will add to her usefulness as a national worker.

Harmonium is only a stage removed from the concertina. I should give them the vina and the sitar. These are cheap, national and infinitely superior to the harmonium. Lastly, I would like everyone to learn cotton-spinning and hand-weaving to the ex-clusion of fancy work. Through the instrumentality of two wor-kers, I have got 100 retias (spinning wheels) working, providing a livelihood for probably 300 women. When India regains her natural calm and quiet, definitely mills will be a thing of the past. We shall then find our Ranis (queens) spinning yarn of the finest count, as they used to before. I would like you to hasten that day. Believe me, we shall soon have a surfeit of these things.

The ordinary tendency is to move with the times. We, who must continually elect and select, may not always follow the time spirit; we may, we should, anticipate the future. He who runs may see, if he would also think, that the future is with handicraftsmanship. Anyway, you cannot go wrong by encouraging the women to go in for hand-spinning and weaving. They will be helping to clothe the naked.

I have given you more than you bargained for. Many thanks for giving Amritlal and Kesariprasad. Tell Mrs. Deodhar I shall expect her to come and stay in the Ashram for a few days.

Yours sincerely, M. K. Gandhi".

And this letter to Dr. Mehta :

"Bhaishri Pranjivan,

It is long since I wrote to you. I was carrying on so far with the money that I got locally and did not go abegging. But now I am in a pressing need. The construction work (of the Ashram buildings) is going on and I have already spent away Rs.40,000/-. And Rs.60,000 /- more will have to be spent, since 150 men and 20 handlooms have to be accommodated. Cloth-production is increasing by leaps and bounds. The strike at Ahmedabad has brought me in contact with many members of the weavers' communities. Nearly 300 women have already begun to spin. Yarn production will come to two maunds (80 lbs.) per day, I suppose, within a short time. All these women were totally unemployed so long, but now they are getting their daily bread. About 30 persons, weavers by caste, who stay outside the Ashram, are now back to their profession. Some of these are dheds (an untouchable' community). They had become labourers, but now they are self-respecting men with a steady independent professsion to stand upon. I see a great future for the hand-weaving industry, and I think it will play a significant part in national uplift. But I require a substantial amount of money for resuscitating it. It appears I shall have to spend Rs.10,000/- as a preliminary expense for the purpose. The national school also is of equal value. Even today, I think, the students of the school are superior to outsiders studying in the same standards.

I find that this school is going to require Rs.1000/- per month, though the present expenses are less. If I engaged myself in both these activities the results would indeed be much better, but even without me I see that they are flourishing. I wish you gave a large amount immediately and donated enough every year to fill up the deficit whatever it comes to. If you can do so, I will be free from worry. Of course, if you do not approve of these activities, I cannot ask and you must not give anything. But, if you think that they deserve to be supported give your donation, I pray, without stint.

You must be keeping in touch with my recruiting campaign, I think this to be the most difficult and the most important of all my activities. If I could succeed in it, the attainment of real Swaraj is but a corollary.

Vande Mataram, Mohandas"

This was a day of rest and quiet. Bapu spent the time in writing out many letters and called for Ramanbhai's1 'Raino Parvat' and 'Hasya Mandir' for perusal.

Letter to Devdas :

"I am so glad you are regular in correspondence. I too wish to be as regular, but you must not look forward to my letters with eagerness. Today, however, there is no letter from you. It was a pleasure to read your report of the dialogue about Mr. Natesan. You may do with it as you think best. The work you are at present engaged in is so momentous that it is perhaps not possible for you to realise all its possible repercussions at the present moment. Only a very clever and experienced teacher of riper years is usually employed for a work of your type. Even if such a one could be found, the question stands whether in a city like Madras a sufficient number of students would be forthcoming to take advantage of his presence. You will be solving a question of great national importance, if you succeed in giving, and the __________________ 1. A well-known Gujarati writer and social reformer. The first is a drama on the classical style and the second is mainly a book of humorous pieces.

people of the Madras Presidency in receiving, the gift of the knowledge of Hindi. That would mean constructing a bridge that joins Madras with other parts of India. An iron bridge over the spacious Ganga requires less skill and patience than you need to build that cultural bridge. All your innate and acquired proficiency will have to be requisitioned to make Hindi for beginners easy and pleasant to learn. To be able to do so, you must go through books on Hindi, Gujarati, English and Tamil grammar, whenever you find time. From them you are sure to get some clues to enable you to teach your students in a way by which they can learn much from a little trouble on your own part. You can, for instance, give them many words derived from the same root. It is easier to remember all the co-related words that way, than as individual unconnected words. I have already written to you to provide for the stay of some Northerners who intend to study Tamil and you may broach the subject to Natesan, Hanumantrao and others. Revashankar Sodha and Chhoturam have come back to the Ashram. That increases my responsibility, but I am glad of their return. Harilal has left Rajkot and will pass by Nadiad tonight. News has come of the death of 's mother. I wish you wrote a letter of condolence to him. I opened among the Ashramites a very sacred discussion about that news. I call it 'sacred' because everyone gave his or her view honestly, politely and as guided by his sense of religious duty. This was how I mooted the question : "Now will want to go home to be pre-sent at the condolence congregation of his relatives. That will mean an expense of rupees 80 to the Ashram. Can, or rather should, the Ashram bear it ? The man who has dedicated his life to his country, who has adopted the anchoretic creed of selfless humanitarian service, can never be bereft of his mother because all women, old enough, are his mothers. His father too never dies as each one of his elders is a father to him. Service is his wife and it is impossible that she can die. All others in the world are his sisters and brothers. It would be for him simply unreasoning obedience to an old custom, if he goes to the condolence congregation of only that mother who gave him birth. Should the Ashram money be wasted over observing that custom and kotowing to the world ? Without raising any opposition everyone quietly agreed that the amount must not be spent. Santok and Ba also were present. However, it was decided in the end that this rule should not be enforced in the present case and it should be left to the discretion of and behn, whether they might go home or not. Most probably they will.

Do you read any papers there ? May I send you some from here ?

Blessings Bapu"

Bapu went to the station at night to meet Harilal. He had first gone there in the evening but, Harilal did not pass by Nadiad in that train. 'I must go to see him' Bapu thought and went again to the station late at night. He found him sound asleep in a second class compartment. Harilal was not at all in the look-out for anyone who might want to see him at Nadiad. He had some talk with Bapu, but there was no warmth in it. Bapu came back sorely disappointed and grieved. "The very face of the boy has undergone a change and lost its colour"-that was his only comment followed by a sigh on his return. Only the previous day Bapu had written to Devdas, "All his (Harilal's) grace and sweetness have left him, but you must not feel worried or unhappy over it. It teaches us how low a man goes down when once he slides into sin or folly." Bapu, it seemed after this meeting, lost the last lingering touch of pride he had for Harilal as regards his independent spirit.

Bapu finished 'Raino Parvat.' It gave him as much pleasure as its first perusal would to any reader.

3-7-'18

Rest today also and its utilization in letter-writing as before. As he thought it an unwarrantable use of a public fund to spend Rs.35 per month after a cook, it was decided to dispense with his services and begin self-cooking. He began reading 'Hasyamandir.' I saw him thoroughly enjoying the humour of the book.

He was flooded with many letters which questioned the moral propriety of his recruiting campaign. The correspondents wanted him to explain how a man wedded to the creed of non-violence, as he was, could ever exhort others to plunge into violent warfare. The letters on this subject, which Bapu has written to Andrews especially, are so many as to make quite a dissertation on the subject. And they deserve a publication in book form. Miss Farring also had once written :

• "I have read your letter to the Viceroy. I cannot understand

how it can give full credit to your feelings as a passive resister or, if I may put it in another way, how can one who believes firmly, and has given his whole life for the sake of exercising passive resistance always and everywhere ask others to join the war and fight ?"

Bapu's reply :

• "What am I to advise a man to do who wants to kill but is

unable owing to his being maimed ? Before I can make him feel the virtue of not killing, I must restore to him the arm he has lost. I have always advised young Indians to join the army, but had hitherto refrained from actively asking them to do so. Because I did not feel sufficiently interested in the purely political life of the country and in the war itself. But a difficult situation faced me in Delhi. I felt at once that I was playing with the greatest problem of life in not tackling the question of joining the army seriously. Either we must renounce the benefits of this State or help it to the best of our capacity to prosecute the war. We are not ready to renounce. Indians had a double duty to perform. If they are to preach the mission of peace, they must first prove their ability in war. This is a terrible discovery. But it is true. A nation that is unfit to fight cannot from experience prove the virtue of not fighting. I do not infer from this that India must fight. But I do say that India must know how to fight. Ahimsa is the eradication of the desire to injure or to kill. Ahimsa can be practiced only towards those that are inferior to you in every way. It follows, therefore, that to become a full Ahimsaist, you have to attain absolute perfection. Must we all then first try to become Sandows before we can love perfectly ? This seems to be unnecessary. It is enough, if we can face the world without flinching. It is personal courage that is an absolute necessity, and some will acquire that courage only after they have been trained to fight. I have put the argument most clumsily. I am passing through new experiences. I am struggling to express myself. Some things are still obscure to me, and I am trying to find words for others which are plain to me. I am praying for light and guidance and am acting with the greatest deliberation. Do please write and fight every inch of the ground that to you may appear untenable. That will enable me to find the way. Yours, Bapu"

The same day he wrote a letter to Maganlalbhai asking him to make the working of the Ashram regular and disciplined. He pointed out incisively the instance of the books:

"There should be no dalliance now in bringing the books from 's place to the Ashram. Other things lying with her must also be brought immediately. We seem to have taken a bad advantage of her goodness. Just because she does not speak out and insist on their removal, we stick to our old ways of procrastination. I wish you now did what you would, if she gave you 24 hours' notice for their removal. Nothing so good as giving ourselves such notices to shake off our lethargy."

Commenting at night on 'Raino Parvat' Bapu said : "Ramanbhai has spoiled his dramatic presentation by introducing the character of Vinavati. The drama has become at its end almost a propagandist pamphlet in favour of widow-marriage. The play itself is excellent no doubt, but this defect does creep in. He rose in the play to a great height of splendour, but fell from there at the end."

4-7-'18

Quiet today also till noon. Thakkar and Swami saw him. Brain-fagging discussion all the day long with the Swami on violence vs. non-violence. There was an intelligent, discerning and courteous letter from Prabhudas (a student of the Ashram school) today. He gives his impressions of the behaviour of his teachers during their tour to Mt. Abu. He has given a very life like picture of the situation.

Reply : "Chi. Prabhudas,

I have read your letter very carefully and with deep interest. You have done a very wise thing in speaking out what you feel. I am charmed with your letter as the language is quite polite, and your submission reveals the dignity of an independent spirit. It shows what courage you possess.

• *
• *

I did not know some facts at all. I had a hazy idea of the others, but your letter has shed a light that makes them distinctly visible. My apprehension of them was not clear enough to enable me to take any remedial action. The information you have given me arms one with the knowledge to do so.

• *
• *

If I am made a dupe, we (the Ashram) lose nothing. You, for instance, have suffered nothing as regards your progress in your strength of character or in your studies. No harm is done to us, if only we hitch our waggon to the star of spiritual greatness. The man who keeps his home hygienically clean has no fear of plague getting into his door. At least it cannot stay there for long, if it ever manages to steal into it. In the same way, if we keep ourselves morally clean, the plague of wickedness cannot remain in us for long, even if it succeeds in silently creeping into us at times. You must have observed that the faults of all those who have become closely connected with me have come to light soon or late.

With your permission, I wish to send your letter to all those you refer to. They will not vent their anger on you and they must not. We want you and others in the Ashram to give out what you feel and think. If possible, I will stay there for two nights and return here by the following morning train, so that we may have sufficient time to discuss the Ashram affairs. Blessings, Bapu" Letter to Mrs. Besant :

• "I search "New India" (Mrs. Besant's paper) in vain for an

emphatic declaration from you in favour of unconditional recruiting. Surely it must be plain that if every Home Ruler became an active Recruiting Depot, we would ensure the passing of the Congress-League Scheme with only such modifications as we agree to. I think this is the time when we must give the people the lead and not await their opinion. I would like to see you with your old fire growing the stronger in face of opposition. If we supplied recruits, we would dictate terms. But if we wait for the terms the War may close, India may remain without a real military training, and we should be face to face with a military dictatorship. This is taking the most selfish view of the situation, and self-interest suggests the course I have ventured to place before the country as the only effective course. I know you will not consider my letter as a presumption

Yours sincerely, M. K. Gandhi"

• "Dear Mr. Jinnah,

I do wish you would make an emphatic declaration regarding recruitment. Can you not see that if every Home Rule League became a potent Recruiting Agency, whilst at the same time fighting for constitutional rights, we should ensure the passing of the Congress-League Scheme, with only such modifications, if any, as we may agree to ? We would then speak far more effectively than we do today. "Seek ye first the Recruiting Office and everything will be added unto you." We must give the lead to the people and not think how the people will take what we say. What I ask for is an emphatic declaration and not a halting one.

I know you will not mind my letter. Yours sincerely, M. K. Gandhi"

Bapu has these days only one subject to talk about with all those who come to see him?recruitment. The chief points in that discussion are :

Meaning of Swaraj : Enjoyment of complete freedom without giving up the British connection. If we helped Britain in this War, we would gain the upper hand over Britain instead of Britain ruling over us as at present. It is very necessary that we take military training. "I have not come across a single individual in India who follows in practice the creed of non-violence as faithfully as I. I claim to be saturate with love. Nobody knows as many sins, as also the virtues, of the Englishman as I and as clearly as I. I would teach that man the art of violence who wants to learn how to fight and kill. If I can do nothing in this matter (of recruitment), you may take it as a proof that my spiritual endeavour is still not sufficiently rigorous for the purpose. He who does not know how to die without killing must learn the art by knowing first how to kill and face death."

There was a letter from an advocate, Ranga Iyer by name (now a Swarajist leader). When he met Bapu in Delhi, he had promised to hold 40 meetings in the mofussil in support of the Kaira Satyagraha. His letter expressed his regret at his failure in holding the meetings, as well as his congratulations to Bapu on the success of the struggle.

Reply :

• "Dear Mr. Ranga Iyer,

I thank you for your congratulations. I shall not misunderstand your inability to hold numerous meetings in the villages. I know how difficult the thing is. And yet without our penetration into the villages our Home Rule Schemes are of little value. With the people really at our back we should make our march to our goal irresistible. That we do not see such a simple truth is the saddest part of the tragedy being enacted in front of us. If you would get out of it, you would even at the risk of closing your paper learn Hindi and then work among the villages. I know you have laboured valiantly for your paper. But it was labour almost mis-spent. We must give the fruits of our Western learning to our millions, whereas we, circulating ideas among ourselves describe like the blindfolded ox the same circle1 and mistake it for motion forward.

Yours sincerely M. K. Gandhi"

5-7-'18

Day of rest to-day also. Read Morley (Recollections) Vol. II. There was a letter from Raojibhai's father in which he poured all the agony of his heart.

To him Bapu simply wrote :

"Bhaishri Manibhai,

I have received your letter, but I cannot help you. Time never fails to do His work and He will soothe your feelings."

To Devdas :

"I am worrying over your health. You know what is almost a tenet with us. Illness has to be given no quarter. To save ourselves from illness what is wanted is self-restraint and nothing else. It is impossible that our health can go down, if only we are careful about two things : temperance in eating and sufficient physical exercise."

To Natesan who was tending Devdas :

• "So Devdas is now receiving at your hands a nurse's attention

and care. I had hoped that Devdas would not behave so indecently as to fall ill. Pray thank Dr. Krishnaswami on my behalf for attending to Devdas. I hope for your sake that he will soon be himself again. I understand your mother's scruples. If you were strong enough, she would waive them in favour of Devdas and that would be a precedent for the future. You saw how nobly she behaved over Naicker ? You doubted your own ability to carry her with you. It is a habit into which we __________________ 1. The indigenous oil-pressing mill requires a blind-folded ox to turn round and round in a circle in order to rotate a long wooden pole in the centre which crushes the seeds.

reformers have fallen never to think of beginning with our own homes. We now find it difficult to mend ourselves. What was intended to be a letter of thanks has ended in a sermon. Please pardon the offence. I know you will wire, if there is anything serious with Devdas. Yours sincerely, M. K. Gandhi."

Shastriar has written to him :

• "I see from 'The (Bombay) Chronicle', your effort bids fair

to be a great success."

Bapu's answer:

• "I do not know what report you have read in 'The Chronicle'.

There is an official Recruiting Agent who has the effrontery to be my namesake. It may be a glowing report of his which you may have read. So far I have not a single recruit to my credit?apart from the co-workers who are all under promise to serve or to find substitutes. The task is most difficult. It is the toughest job I have yet handled in my life. However, it is yet too early to forecast any result. Yours sincerely, M. K. Gandhi."

6-7-'18

In answer to the question of Andrews, "How could you, a votary of non-violence, exhort others to take up arms and join this war ?" Bapu wrote to him:

• "As for my offer, you know that in my letter to Maffey I have

said I should kill neither friend nor foe. Regarding those who want to fight but wi l not?either out, of cowardice or spite against the British?what is my duty ? Must I not say, "If you can follow my path, so much the better, but if you cannot you ought to give up cowardice or spite and fight ?" You cannot teach Ahimsa to a man who cannot kill. You cannot make a dumb man appreciate the beauty and the merit of silence. Although I know that silence is most excellent, I do not hesitate to take means that would enable the dumb man to regain his speech. Do not believe in any government --- but Parliamentary Government is perhaps better than capricious rule. I think it will be clear to you that I shall best spread the gospel of Ahimsa, or Satyagraha, by asking the 'Himsak' (militant) men to work out their 'Himsa' in the least offensive manner; and may succeed, in the very act, in making them to realise the better worth of Ahimsa. If I have not made the position clear, you should try, if you can, to come down."

Then he wrote another letter to him on the same subject. I have not been able to copy it. But this, his latest letter on the subject, gives Bapu's views in full. It was written today :

• "My dear Charlie,

I have your letters. I prize them. They give me only partial consolation. My difficulties are deeper than you have put them. All you raise I can answer. I must attempt in this letter to reduce my own to writing. They just now possess me to the exclusion of everything else. All the other things I seem to be doing purely mechanically. This hard thinking has told upon my physical system. I hardly want to talk to anybody. I do not want even to write anything, not even these thoughts of mine. I am, therefore, falling back upon dictation to see whether I can clearly express them. I have not yet reached the bottom of my difficulties, much less have I solved them. The solution is not likely to affect my immediate work. But of the future I can now say nothing. If my life is spared, I must reach the secret somehow.

You say, "Indians as a race did repudiate it, blood, but with full consciousness in days gone by and deliberately took their choice to stand on the side of humanity." Is this historically true? I see no sign of it either in the Mahabharata, or the Ramayana even, not even in my favourite Tulsidas, which is much superior in spirituality to Valmiki. I am not now thinking of those works in their spiritual meanings. The incarnations are certainly described as blood-thirsty, revengeful and merciless to the enemy. They have been credited with having resorted to tricks also for the sake of overcoming the enemy. The battles are described with no less zest than now, and the warriors are equipped with weapons of destruction such as could be possibly conceived by the human imagination. The finest hymn composed by Tulsidas in praise of Rama gives the first place to his ability to strike down the enemy. Then take the Mohammedan period. The Hindus were not less eager than the Mohammedans to fight. They were simply disorganised, physically weakened and torn by internal dissensions. The code of Manu prescribes no such renunciation that you impute to the race. 'Buddhism conceived as a doctrine of universal forbearance signally failed, and if the legends are true the great Shankaracharya did not hesitate to use unspeakable cruelty in banishing Buddhism out of India. And he succeeded. Then the English. There has been compulsory renunciation of arms, but not the desire to kill. Even among the Jains the doctrine has signally failed. They have a superstitious horror of bloodshed, but they have as little regard for the life of the enemy as may European. What I mean to say is that they would rejoice equally with anybody on earth over the destruction of the enemy. All then that can be said of India is that individuals have made serious attempts with greater success than elsewhere to popularise the doctrine. But there is no warrant for the belief that it has taken deep root among the people.

You say further: "My point is that it has become an unconscious instinct, which can be awakened any time as you yourself have shown." I wish it was true. But I see that I have shown nothing of the kind. When friends told me here that Passive Resistance was taken up by the people as a weapon of the weak, I laughed at the libel, as I called it then. But they were right and I was wrong. With me alone and a few other co-workers, it came out of our strength and was described as Satyagraha, but with the majority it was purely and simply passive resistance which they resorted to, because they were too weak to undertake the methods of violence. This discovery was forced on me repeatedly in Kaira. The people here being comparatively freer talked to me without reserve, and told me plainly that they took up my remedy, because they were not strong enough to take up the other, which they undoubtedly held to be far more manly than mine. I fear that the people, whether in Champaran or in Kaira, would not fearlessly walk to the gallows or stand a shower of bullets and yet say in one case, 'We will not pay the revenue' and in the other, 'We will not work for you.' They have it not in them. And I contend that they will not regain the fearless spirit until they have received the training to defend themselves. Ahimsa was preached to man when he was in full vigour of life and able to look his adversaries straight in the face. It seems to me that full development of body force is a sine qua non of full appreciation and assimilation of Ahimsa.

I do not agree with you that India with her moral force could hurl back from her shores any combination of armies from the West or the East or the North or the South. The question is : 'How can she cultivate this moral force ?' Will she have to be strong in body before she can understand even the first principle of this moral force ? This is how millions blaspheme the Lord of the Universe every morning before sunrise :

"I am challengeless Brahma, not a collection of the five elements, earth etc."

' ¦ãªá ºãÆÚã ãä¶ãÓ?ã?Êã½ãÖâ ¶ã Þã ¼ãî¦ãÔãâÜã:'

"I am that Brahma whom I recall every morning as the Spirit residing in the innermost sanctuary of my heart,"

' ¹ãÆã¦ã: Ô½ãÀããä½ã ×ãäª ÔãâÔ¹ãì?Àªã¦½ã¦ã§Ìã½ãá'

"by whose grace the whole speech is adorned and whom the Vedas have described as 'Neti','Neti'."

' ÌããÞããñ ãäÌã¼ããã䶦ã ãä¶ããä?ãÊã㠾㪶ãìØãÆÖñ¥ã ¾ã¸ãñãä¦ã¶ãñãä¦ãÌãÞã¶ãõãä¶ãÃØã½ãã ÑãÌãñãÞãì: ã '

I say we blaspheme the Lord of the Universe in reciting the above verse, because it is a parrot recitation without any consideration of its grand significance. One Indian realising in himself all that the verse means is enough to repel the mightiest army that can approach the shores of India. But it is not in us today, and it wont come until there is an atmosphere of freedom and fearlessness on the soil. How to produce that atmosphere ? Not without the majority of the inhabitants feeling that they are well able to protect themselves from the violence of man and beast ? Now I think I can state my difficulty. It is clear that before I can give a child an idea of Moksha, I must let it grow into full manhood. I must allow it to a certain extent to be even attached to the body and then, when it has understood the body and so the world around it, may I easily demonstrate the transitory nature of the body and the world and make it feel that the body is given not for the indulgence of self but for its liberation. Even so must I wait for instilling into any mind the doctrine of Ahimsa i.e. perfect love, when it has grown to maturity by having its full play through a vigorous body. My difficulty now arises in the practical application of idea. What is the meaning of having a vigorous body ? How far should India have to go in for a training in arms-bearing ? Must every individual go through the practice, or is it enough that a free atmosphere is created, and the people will without having to bear arms etc. imbibe the necessary personal courage from the surroundings ? I believe that the last is the correct view, and, therefore, I am absolutely right as things are in calling upon every Indian to join the army, always telling him at the same time that he needs doing so not for the lust of blood, but for the sake of learning not to fear death. Look at this from Sir Henry Vane: I copy it from Morley's Recollections (Vol.II) : "Death holds a high place in the policy and behaviour of great communities of the world. It is the part of a valiant and generous mind to prefer some-thing before life, as things for which a man should not doubt, nor fear to die. True natural wisdom pursueth the learning and practice of dying well, as the very end of life and indeed he hath not spent his life ill that hath learnt to die well. It is the chiefest thing and duty of life. The knowledge of dying is the knowledge of liberty, the state of true freedom, the way to fear nothing, to live well, contentedly and peaceably. It is a good time to die when to live is rather a burden than a blessing, and there is more ill in life than good." "When his hour came, Vane's actual carriage on Tower Hill was as noble and resolute as his words," is Morley's commentary. There is not a single recruiting speech in which I have not laid the greatest stress upon this part of a warrior's duty. There is no speech in which I have yet said, 'let us go to kill the Germans.' My refrain is 'let us go and die for the sake of India and the Empire', and I feel that supposing that the response to my call is overwhelming and we all go to France and turn the scale against the Germans, India will then have a claim to be heard and then she may dictate a peace that will last. Suppose further that I have succeeded in raising an army of fearless men, they fill the trenches and with hearts of love lay down their guns and challenge the Germans to shoot them?their fellowmen. I say even the German heart will melt. I refuse to credit it with exclusive fiendishness. So it comes to this, that under exceptional circumstances war may have to be resorted to as a necessary evil, even as the body is. If the motive is right, it may be turned to the profit of mankind, and that an Ahimsaist may not stand aside and look on with indifference, but must make the choice and actively co-operate or actively resist.

Your fear about my being engrossed in the political strife and intrigues may be entirely set aside. I have no stomach for them, least at the present moment, had none even in S. Africa. I was in the political life because therethrough lay my own liberation. Montague said, 'I am surprised to find you taking part in the political life of the country.' Without a moment's thought I replied, 'I am in it because without it I cannot do my religious and social work' and I think the reply will stand good to the end of my life.

You can't complain of my having given you only a scrap of a letter. Instead of a letter, I have inflicted upon you what may almost read like an essay. But it was necessary that you should know what was passing in my mind at the present moment. You may now pronounce your judgment, and mercilessly tear my ideas to pieces where you find them to be wrong.

I hope you are getting better and stronger. I need hardly say that we shall all welcome you when you are quite able to undertake a journey.

With love, Mohan"

7-7-'18

Visited the Ashram last night. Spent the time in meeting the inmates and setting many internal questions of the Ashram. A Conference of the Ashramites was held to discuss Prabhudas's letter. Bapu elicited from those referred to in that letter their answers to Prabhudas's allegations. Arrived in Nadiad at night.

8-7-'18

Early in the morning he left for Navagam. It is ten and a half miles from Barejdi station, but he decided to foot out the distance. In the style of a soldier on march he held in his hand, as he walked, a round box containing what Kallenbach would be so glad to eat and what could match chocolates i.e., sweetballs made from groundnuts mixed with ghee and jaggery. He began to eat them and with a childlike joy observed : "I am going to take up the profession of a soldier. I have done many such things in Africa."

Our talk on the way first touched upon Dolatram's1 (Gujarati) drama 'Amarsatra'. He said, "Mahadev, 'Amarsatra' is definitely a good play. The 'shlokas' (stanzas in Sanskrit) also which appear in the latter part are quite good. The plot is worthless, but the play is well-written."

I demurred. "What can I say when I have not read it ? But his style is sure to be clumsy,"

Bapu : "What's your idea of a clumsy style ?"

I : "That style is clumsy where any thought which could have been expressed in a simpler language has been deliberately put in a language difficult to understand in order to show oneself ______________ 1. Dolatram Kriparam Pandya, a poet and dramatist, was fond of using Sanskrit rather than the popular Gujarati words.

off, where, in short, the style does not enhance the charm of the literary piece but becomes a brain exercise. And Dolatram Pandya has the reputation of being such a writer."

Bapu : "No. Whatever is difficult to understand is not necessarily clumsy."

I : "Dolatram is definitely wanting in that lucidity which Ramanbhai possesses."

Bapu : "True, but I won't call his style clumsy simply because the language is difficult. We don't call a language clumsy merely because it takes some time and thought to understand the meaning."

I : "That style is clumsy in which the language is deliberately made difficult without any need for making it so. Manilal's1 language is difficult, but not clumsy. Then there is Govardhanram2 who is ornate and high-flown, but he has been acclaimed as a classic writer of a chaste style."

Bapu : "All right. But has not Manilal often used difficult expressions where plainer ones would have sufficed equally well ? "

"I don't think so," I insisted. The talk stopped there. Then I asked him, "Who, do you think among the English writers, has a clumsy style ?"

Bapu : (after a little thinking) : "We can't say. We have never been taught any clumsy writers."

I : "Not Johnson, I suppose ?"

Bapu : "Certainly not."

"But" I put in with a meaning smile. "Austin's Jurisprudence' may be termed clumsy ?" "I, for one, haven't felt it ________________ 1. Besides being a playwright and a champion of orthodoxy, Manilal Nabhubhai Dwivedi was a distinguished philosopher with a large number of books to his credit. 2. Govardhanram Madhavram Tripathi was a profound scholar, chiefly known for his 'Saraswatichandra' in 4 volumes, wherein he uses the vehicle of the framework of a novel to give to Gujarat 'an encyclopaedia' of social, metaphysical, political and literary thinking. The first volume made quite a sensation on its publication.

tedious. He has a style of his own, which I found very interesting" Bapu returned :

"Can you say" I objected, "it has the same felicity as Dicey (Dicey's 'Law of the Constitution') ?

"No," he agreed. "You are right there. It (Jurisprudence) has not the smoothness and flow of Dicey."

Then after some time, "Have you read Stephens' 'Digest of Evidence' ?" Bapu continued, "I am simply charmed with the book. We must reproduce in our language all these law books also. But our lawyers ! Which of them ever wants to speak in Gujarati? They are blissfully ignorant of the fact that the translation of such splendid law books into Gujarati would give a great fillip to the people's awakening. And our noted literary writers have yet to see the light as to what they should really do. They will translate worthless books, but does it ever strike them that they should do something in this direction?something that would rouse the nation ?"

I said, "I have decided to read Dolatram Pandya now?after our talk. It will be one of my top priorities. I was sure that you would take up that book. That was why I got it out from the Library for you."

Bapu remarked : "I will read all such Gujarati books as I can lay my hands upon. I have made up my mind to go through the worst trash, if it is written in Gujarati. But with one exception. I cannot stomach the Gujarati translation of the Bible. The fact is that it goes against the grain to tolerate the same thing in poor language, what one has been delighted to read in a wonderful style for years together. The work of translating the Bible fell to the lot of foreign missionaries. The result was that a book that scales a towering height in spirituality and is at the same time a masterpiece in English literature turned out a parody of the original in Gujarati. But it has never dawned in the mind of a single leading Gujarati writer to translate that book. I wonder when any of them will get the inspiration !"

"But now let us close this subject and come to recruiting", he then said : "Did you read again my letter to Andrews ? I

want you to be a critic. Did you find no point whatsoever in it which would provoke you to take up the cudgels against me ? I wish Polak were here with me today. He would fight every inch of the ground before conceding any of my points, compel me to think deeply and draw me out to a firm and final decision."

So I began to put forth my objections against his letter to Andrews : "Would the man who understands that the Indweller is apart from the body and who lives a life consistent with his knowledge, ever be swept off his feet by the infatuation of driving back the invading hordes of foreigners ?"

Bapu : "No, he would not. But he would certainly possess the power to do so. It's different matter whether he uses it or abstains."

I : "Do you mean to say that in this climate of foreign domination there is no individual in the whole of India who has realized the Self? If that is your belief, the old quarrel between us raises up its head again. I for one have a deep-rooted conviction that there are such men. They are entirely indifferent about these mundane matters. They don't care a rap whether there is an invasion of India or a conflagration that burns it up."

Bapu : "There may be, I don't know. But I have my doubts."

I : "Am I then to understand you to mean that political serfdom blocks the way to Self-realization ? You know you have asserted that you have entered the political arena to reach that goal ?"

Bapu : "Yes, that's true in my case. I am prepared however to say that there may be individuals here and there in whose case political subjection may not come in the way of Self-realization. But what about the people at large ?"

I : "I am speaking for stray individuals only. The public is never going to win spiritual freedom en masse."

Bapu : "I agree. About the masses you are right. I hold, at the same time, the firm belief that it is impossible that even such a self-realized Master (jnyani), who has taken a vow of silence, can remain an unaffected witness and refuse to influence

the atmosphere even with his thought, if he be in Ahmedabad in the midst of a revolution so ablaze as this one. I don't think there can exist men who remain so indifferent."

"Let us then drop the subject, and agree to differ." I replied. "There seems to be no meeting point there between us." Then I said, "You call the maimed and decrepit as 'bereft of senses.' Do you think they have lost even the subtle senses along with their physical ?"

Bapu : "No, I am talking only of those who are deprived of their subtle senses also. Even that man who has lost his hands and feet is not free from the cruel desire of killing others."

I : "Then that point must be clarified. Can you say that with the loss of any of the senses even the hankering after enjoyment through them leaves the man ?" Bapu : "No, not at all. The impotent are consumed with lust even more than others."

I : "Then I have another difficulty. I wonder how these people are going to imbibe in six months the courage you want them to possess. I am afraid even after returning from the Front, they will lapse into their old spinelessness." In the evening our talks took a different turn.

"Bapu," I said, "I very much fear that after all your stress and strain the thing will end in smoke, we may not have to go to the Front at all. I feel they will not have any need of our recruits because the War will end before our preparations for going to the Front are complete."

Bapu : "What a happy consummation that, if things turn out as you say ! But even that simple possibility we people are too blind to anticipate. But more than all this, it is the question of the Mohammedans that pricks me like a thorn. I wonder how I am going to be able to win them over to love and non-violence! They are steeped in hatred. I see my own weaknesses now more and more glaringly. I am feeling that I have begun this work without the necessary degree of spiritual power in myself for it. If I had kept myself aloof and silent, there would have been no qualms and nothing to worry over. But I have been on many rostrums preaching non-violence and belauding its grandeur. If, from my sermons, somebody now takes it into his head to refuse to go to the War 'since Gandhi has taught him non-violence.' I would feel deeply distressed. For that reason alone I have taken up this work (of recruitment). I am out to show what real non-violence means."

After a seven miles' walk we reached Navagam. The people indulged in loud talks but no meeting could be held. His letter to Devdas (given further on) shows how he was affected by those talks. Then in the evening we walked back six and a half miles to reach the station (Barejdi). In the train Bapu read the (Montford) Reform Scheme, a copy of which was given to him by Indulal. After reading it Bapu remarked: "There's no doubt they (the Britishers) have made a strenuous effort (to satisfy India). The Scheme should be accepted. We can, if we have the capacity, use it to draw much power out of it and make a great progress. It will betray only our own weakness, if we refuse to accept the Scheme. Chelmsford deserves the credit for all this. For myself I have been doting on him since our first contact. What a fine thing if we criticised the defects in the Scheme and supplied recruits at the same time ! The next day he wrote a letter to Jinnah in which he said :

• "What a grand thing it would be if we recruited and at the same

time insisted on amendments in the Montford Scheme !"

He wrote many letters today, the first being this one to Maganlal :

"You may do whatever you should to keep Mu.1 Khushalbhai and Devibhabhi2 quiet and contented. I confess to an uneasy feeling that Pra=bhudas's and others' dining there is fraught with unhappy results. Keshu and Radha may be resenting it and feeling aggrieved. You may do what you think best after a careful and detached consideration over the matter which it deserves."

• * * *

__________________ 1. Mu-Murabbi, a prefix of respect to an elder. 2. Bhabhi-brother's or cousin's wife

Letter from Harilal, accusing Bapu. He says that Bapu's letter to Narottam Seth shows how cruel Bapu is to his own son and that his present plight makes it impossible for him to be a recruit.

Bapu's Reply : "I have your letter. My letter is definitely 'cruel', if it is cruelty to say what I honestly feel. Even now I feel certain that the world will not believe in your innocence. Whatever you may have talked to him at Sakchi, Narottam Seth could never have formed from it the impression that you were going to use his money for speculation. You have gone on piling up blunder upon blunder. You were not content with losing 10,000 rupees. But it is no use arguing with you. May God give you the light ! If I have erred, I am open to correction still. If you can, you may even now show me how and where I err.

Blessings, Bapu,"

To Devdas : "Mr. Natesan's wire has removed the anxiety which your silence was causing me. Now you have to spot the centre of your illness and take care that you do not fall ill again. What did your Hindi students do during your illness ? Did any of them visit you ? Did any continue their study ?

I have not yet been able to secure even one recruit. That shows how low our country has fallen.

The press telegram you read in the papers there was a comedy of errors. There is some Government recruiting official who bears my name and his success was mistaken for mine. My failure in the recruiting campaign till now shows that the people are not prepared to follow my advice. They are quite willing to take service from me when I espouse a cause which they like. But that is exactly what should be. It is from service that the duty and privilege of advice arises. Three years' service?and that too in scattered areas?is no service. All the same my recruiting campaign was the only right and possible course for me to take. I was in need of the mental satisfaction and peace which the consciousness of having already begun to do my duty gives me. And the work does go on still. I only showed what the result was upto the present.

Blessings, Bapu"

Dattatreya, son of Mr. Dabholkar a lawyer, presented Rs.4/-, the amount of his first month's scholarship, to the Ashram with a covering letter to explain how he was able to send the amount.

Bapu's reply :

"Chi. Dattatreya,

Let me congratulate you for standing first in the Annual Examination of Standard V. As in your studies, I wish you to maintain the first rank in good character also. I am glad you have contributed the first instalment of your scholarship to the Ashram. When I go there, I will explain to the boys and girls the full implication of a donation from one such as you. The fact that he imbues you with the benevolent spirit is a splendid heritage your father is bestowing upon you. You must develop that quality.

Blessings, Mohandas Gandhi."

17-7-'18

A compromise was arrived at with regard to the Reform Scheme. After delivering fiery harangues, both Mrs. Besant and Tilak agreed with the Moderate Party's stand. That was why Shastriar wrote the following letter :

• "I marvel at Mrs. Besant and Tilak taking up a position very

near yours and mine after having written as they have done in the Press. I do not like all this talk about abstention from the Congress. I do not understand it."

Reply :

• "Dear Mr. Shastriar,

I am glad you were able to go to Bombay. I think it will be most valiant of you, if you can attend the Congress. I must confess I sympathise with the Panditji's (Pandit Malaviya) attitude, if it is truly reported of him. Indeed, for him it will be one of the boldest acts of his life to refrain from appearing on a Congress platform.

What I feel is this. How can I appear in an assembly which, I know, is to be misled and in which the principal movers do not believe what they say, and will denounce in the Press the very Resolutions for which they would have voted ! I know there is the other side. But for the moment I lean towards abstention.

I hope you are keeping well.

Yours sincerely, M. K. Gandhi"

Then this letter to Hanumantrao :

• "I have been thinking of writing to you for a long time, but

my recruiting peregrinations have seriously interfered with my correspondence. Today happens to be an off day and is being devoted to letter-writing. I thank you most heartily for all you have done and are doing for Devdas. In everyone of his letters Devdas has mentioned your affection for him. In this illness, he tells me, you have been a real friend. I shall now select Hindi candidates for Tamil tuition.

I know that my recruiting campaign was bound to pain friends for a variety of reasons, political as well as religious. But I know that both are wrong in their condemnation. My views have been before the country for a long time. But it is always one's actions that matter, rarely his speech. But I may not, therefore, summarily dismiss their objections. They are honest in their statements and they criticise out of affection. It is my practice of Ahimsa and failure to get our people even to understand the first principles of Ahimsa that have led to the discovery that all killing is not Himsa, that sometimes practice of Ahimsa may even necessitate killing and that we as a nation have lost the true power of killing. It is clear that he who has lost the power to kill cannot practise non-killing. Ahimsa is a renunciation of the highest type. A weak and effeminate nation cannot perform this grand act of renunciation, even as a mouse cannot properly be said to renounce the power of killing a cat. It may look terrible, but it is true that we must by a well-sustained conscious effort regain this power and then, if we can only do so, deliver the world from the travail of Himsa by a continuous abdication of this power. I cannot describe to you in sufficiently telling language the grief I often used to feel, as I watched my failure to carry conviction about Ahimsa even to the members of the Ashram. Not that they were unwilling listeners, but I could perceive, as I now think plainly, that they had not the capacity for apprehending the truth. It was like singing the finest music to ears untuned to any music. But today practically everyone in the Ashram understands it, and is aglow with the expectation that Ahimsa is a renunciation out of strength and not out of weakness. It is not possible to make any distinction between or-ganised warfare and individual fighting. There must be an organised opposition and, therefore, even organised bloodshed, say in the case of bandits. The noblest warrior is he who stands fearless in the midst of immense odds. He then feels not the power to kill, but he is supremely triumphant in the knowledge that he has the willingness to die when by taking to his heels he might easily have saved his life. I do believe that we shall have to teach our children the art of self-defence. I see more and more clearly that we shall be unfit for Swaraj for generations to come, if we do not regain the power of self-defence. This means for me a re-arrangement of so many ideas about self-development and India's development. I must not carry the point further than I have done today. You are an earnest seeker. I am most anxious that you should understand this new view of Ahimsa. It is not a fall but it is a rise. The measure of love evoked by this discovery is infinitely greater than ever it was before. Yours sincerely, M. K. Gandhi"

18-7-'18

A letter to Anandshankar :

"Sujna Bhaishri,

I have your letter. From your vast and varied study of philosophy, could you not find out a single remedy that would give you unalloyed happiness and absolution from all human sorrows such as those you mention illnesses and deaths of our dear ones, the stunning fall of a window of a railway carriage on our hand or the striking of our foot against a stone? Or is it only an expert physician that can give you the panacea? You may answer this question not now, but only when we meet together after your recovery. And the mill-workers are patient by nature and they can and will wait. (Sri. Anandshankar was the arbitrator). If you believe that prayers are answered, do please pray to God that your hand may speedily regain its old efficiency. Let me add that many of the workers have already begun to draw not 35% but 50% increase in their wages. Ambalalbhai (a mill-owner) has told me that he is going to whisper something into your ears. He has already done so to me, but it would be best if you hear it from his own lips.

Vande Mataram, Mohandas"

Jagjivandas N. Mehta, poor man, came here (Nadiad Anathashram) and fell a victim to fever. His purse also was stolen before he left.

Bapu's letter :

"I was sorry to learn that your coat with your purse in it was stolen here. It has been with you something like, "When troubles come, they come not single spies but in battalions." There is certainly some thief among the residents in this Anathashram. There had been two or three previous cases. Somebody ought to have warned you, but it never entered into anybody's head to do so ! You must have completely regained your health by now, I presume. I was able to find time only today to write to Jivrajbhai. I send the letter herewith. You may, if you approve of it, forward it to him.

It was only this time that I had some inkling into the character of your business. The way you have procured money for starting it appears to me fraught with evil. If you think my advice worth listening to, I may say you must immediately wind up your business, return the amounts to the contributors and find out some service for yourself. I can never imagine that you would find it difficult to get an employment. And if you want to lead a life of simplicity, the Ashram doors are open. But the offer should not be taken as an inducement. You may, if you like, do what the world calls purushartha (manly effort?for money here), but that should be done only if you have your own money to begin with. The longer you delay in doing what you must, the greater you will have to repent in the end.

Man suffers because he invites suffering. That is the universal rule. But the deeper I understand the trammels of your family, the more clearly I see that you people provide a most glaring instance of the rule. I wish you stopped that self-inflicted suffering and were content with only those troubles that fell to your lot. You must not put on yourself a burden heavier than necessary and must keep all your dealings and contacts above board. Bapa (father) crushes himself with miseries of his own making. When he is leading a religious life, why should he be so beset with greed ? And why should you give him any encouragement in his craze ?

We would be happier than the Gods on high, if only we are as eager to serve the commands of the Voice within us, as we are to tow the line with public opinion. Happiness is standing at our doors waiting for our invitation. But we are too blind to recognise its presence and we go out seeking for it hither and yon. But why should you be among those who make this futile and weary search ?

And this to his wife :

"Dear sister,

Your sorrow was an unbearable sight to me. And yet, I could trace lines of innocent cheerfulness on your face, which I could not either on Bapa's or in Jagjivandas's. That smile has captured my heart and has impelled me to write the above letter to Jagjivanbhai. I pray, both of you may read it again and again and ponder over it till it soaks in, and then, you may start your purushartha hand in hand. That letter is for both of you."

22-7-'18

To Dr. Mehta :

• "It was not without deep cogitation that I took in hand this

recruiting campaign. The work is as difficult as it is capable of bearing great results, and can only be compared with that of breathing new life into dead bodies. Just the same the effort has but to be made. It seems that the public is getting very good training through the campaign. Can you spare Jamnadas for the work ? "

To Punjabhai :

"Sujna Punjabhai,

What we have been taking for religion is not real religion. In the name of Ahimsa we are practicing Himsa of an ugly type. Afraid of the very sight of blood, we are everyday drying up our own blood with fear. It is impossible for the (cowardly.) bania to practise the sublime principle of Ahimsa. Religion does not mean dry renunciation or feeding ants with corn-flour, as is the practice with some Jains. There can neither be moksha (absolution), nor even the perception of the Indweller without overcoming our infatuation for the tabernacle. If you are convinced of this truth, and if you desire to have a glimpse of the right path to Self-realization, you must identify yourself with the Ashram. You may supervise the construction work now going on and replace Maganlal immediately. I know you will need an attendant, you can have Parasram, but Maganlal must be relieved anyhow, I see. But first you must withdraw into yourself and find out whether your mind and heart accept my suggestion. Only when its propriety is as clear and as undeniable to you as daylight, should you join the Ashram. If you have seen the light from what I have said, you will enjoy great peace of mind in the Ashram work. If there is only a superficial acceptance, you will soon get tired. You three?yourself, Fulchand and Maganlal? may confer over my suggestion. But first you must make sure of your own ground.

Bhagwatsmarana,1 from Mohandas"

To Mr. Polak :

• "I am undergoing a revolution in my outlook upon life. As it

seems to me, some old cobwebs are falling away. But of this when I have more time." There was a letter from Govind Malaviya, youngest son of Pandit Malaviyaji. It showed his distrust of the Reform Scheme and questioned the propriety of co-operation with the Government and of Bapu's recruitment drive.

Bapu's reply :

"It was a delight to get a letter from you. We can and we must give vent to all our pent-up emotion before one whom we regard as our elder. You have done the right thing in writing to me. I do not know what atrocities are perpetrated by the Government in their recruiting campaign. But the more harrowing they are, the greater the need for me to take up that work in my hands.

The Montague-Chelmsford Scheme appears to me very good as a basis for later improvement. Its defects can be repaired by agitating against them. But whatever the merits of the Scheme, I am convinced that we must take an active part in fighting this war. We do not join the Army in order to confer an obligation on the British nation, but to serve our country under the conviction that it stands to gain by our step. What shall I say of the miserable condition of India ? I see clearly that the immediate attainment of true Swaraj is not possible for her. I believe that our enrolment in the Army is thrice blessed. We will imbibe courage and heroism, learn something of the art of warfare and, by aiding in their hour of trial those whose partners we intend to be, prove ourselves all the fitter for ____________________ 1. 'Remembrance of the Lord.' A term of greeting among the devout.

being accepted as such. So what we must do is to resist their atrocities on the one hand and on the other to share in their troubles. I wish you gave this question a deep and quiet consideration. I suggest that you send this letter to Devdas and discuss the subject with him, who will explain my view at greater length.

Your well-wisher, Mohandas Gandhi"

A letter on the Reform Scheme from Balwantrai Thakore (a Gujarati writer) framed in English. He makes some suggestions including that of opening a Military College. "Responsible Government, to use a violent image, is like marriage" he adds.

Bapu's reply :

"I have got your letter. I see the necessity of moving for the introduction of a Section in our Criminal Procedure Code, ?when we have our own Parliament, of course?to the effect that 'if any individual, hereinafter called the first party, talks with or writes to another individual, hereinafter called the second party, even though this second party knows the regional language of the first party, then the offender, i.e. the first party, shall be awarded six months' rigorous imprisonment at the minimum.' Please be good enough to let me know your view on this bill and also what should be done to him who commits the offence during the pendency of Swaraj.

I understand your view as to how military expenditure could be reduced. But you are counting the chicken before they are hatched. That question (military expenditure) hangs upon the circumstances that prevail when we get Swaraj. "Is 'the realization of responsible self-government through progressive Stages', not the right pronouncement ?" You ask. I too think that Swaraj is a process of transformation, but the question is of the speed of the process. And an engagement necessarily precedes marriage. In England, moreover, the period of courtship is often very long. So your smile of marriage seems inapt from both (the moderate and the extremist) points of view. Revolution means immediate and complete transformation in any condition of the country. Such metamorphosis in political conditions has in the past never been brought about by peaceful methods. So the expression 'a peaceful revolution' is a contradiction in terms. But what India wants is both peace and revolution i.e., immediate or revolutionary change in her political condition. The question, therefore, is how both these ends could be served ? (My method of Satyagraha gives the answer).

I can quite understand your request that your letters may not be made public use of, and your wishes shall be respected. But let us hope that after a short time the situation will change and make it no longer necessary for anybody (any Government servant) to write "Private" at the top of his envelope.

I am here in a village today for some inquiry. I had some time to spare, and what better use could I put it to than in spending it on a joke with you? There is still some work to do and I am here for some time. Since you are still doubtful about the propriety of the Satyagraha struggle in Kaira, I invite you to come here and remove your doubts by personal inquiry. To my knowledge you are the only one, still left, whose doubts have not yet been quelled.

Vande Mataram, Mohandas"

Bapu is having a sabbath here in Navagam. Instead of flocking to him as before, people avoid seeing him. They are very much afraid of his recruiting campaign. Bapu, therefore, kept himself cheerful by effort through sallies like the one quoted above. From Vallabhbhai's report that even the 'Letter to Wilson' was being read by the people here, Bapu was reminded of Sir Subramaniyam. Hence this letter to him :

• "I hope you will not regard this letter as a presumption on my

part. I had long felt that your language was unrestrained and not worthy of a yogi. Your charges have appeared to me to be in many respects reckless. In my humble opinion you would have rendered much greater service to the country than you have, if you had been as unscrupulously truthful as you have been frank and fearless. In you an unguarded and an uncharitable expression would be an untruth. Your policies are not of the demagogue. They are religious. I beseech you to give the country a pure example of an Indian gentleman. It is in your power to do so."

24-7-'18

Navagam. Letter from Vinoba (Vinoba Bhave) saying that as Maharashtrian teachers cannot bring Bapu's ideals perfectly to fruition in Gujarat, a school should be opened in Maharashtra itself in order to utilize fully their services.

Bapu's Reply :

"Your thought-provoking letter. My ideal is exactly what you state it to be. It is also completely true that no other than a Gujarati teacher can realize my ideal for a school in Gujarat. But when such a Gujarati teacher is not available, the use of a Deccani teacher need not be ruled out. Even for Gujarati boys, I would any day prefer a Deccani teacher with high moral principles to a Gujarati one without them. At least, at present, it is difficult to procure Gujarati teachers who would follow my ways. If you go away, Sanskrit would have to be dropped from the subjects for study, or Kaka Kalelkar (also a Deccani) would have to be asked to revert to teaching it. That is the sad state of the Ashram at present. So the only course left is for you to continue teaching Sanskrit and follow the Ashram ideal as best you can.

It is my earnest desire?my longing even?to enter into Maharashtra, but the time is not ripe. I do not possess the necessary fitness for it. We have not with us a sufficient number of Maharastrians for that purpose. But can it not be a part of the Divine Scheme that you and Kaka and Mama must come into my inner circle ? My happy relationship with Deshpande (one of the foremost to open a national school), my faith in the Servants of India Society, my inordinate love, call it fascination if you like, for Maharashtra, the great help the Maharashtrians rendered me in Champaran, the arrival of the musical artiste for the Ashram from Maharashtra, the impending admission of Mr.Kotwal's sister into the Ashram, acquaintance with Bhai Narayan Rao?this whole chain of events is to my mind an augury of something remarkable to be done in Maharashtra at my hands some future day.

But, "If God did not dispose, What human beings propose, Each would kill his foe, his friend remain?"1

So, with all my earnest aspiration for it, who knows what is hidden in the womb of time ?2

I will bear in mind your desire, but I see its impracticability just at present. That you are a 100% Ashramite is beyond the possibility of a doubt.

?Bapu"

"Chi. Devdas,

This letter makes painful reading for you. Bhai Sorabji3 died in Johannesburg after a short but severe illness. We have ________________ 1. Gujarati lines by Narasinh Mehta, a foremost saint-poet of Gujarat and regarded as the father of modern Gujarati poetry. 2. What an irony of fate that while it was a Maharashtrian who killed Gandhiji, it is also a Maharashtrian, this same Vinobaji, the addressee, who is the most famous example of Gandhiji's spiritual ideals ! 3. Sorabji Shapurji Adajania proved himself a first rate Satyagrahi in the South African Struggle. He had made a deep study of the principle of Satyagraha and could, therefore, be a valuable adviser during the progress of the fight. Gandhiji says that the characteristic traits of Sorabji's advice were quiet decision, politeness, generosity and sobriety. He was chosen as a fit Satyagrahi to receive a scholarship donated by Dr. Mehta after the end of the fight. The idea was to enable him to proceed to England, study law, return as barrister and, thus equipped, step into the shoes of Gandhiji as a leader of the South Africa Indians. He knew Gokhale already in South Africa, but in England he came in closer contact and won Gokhale's heart outright. Gokhale had even pressed him to join the Servants of India Society. He returned to South Africa, set up his practice and also began to serve his community. His simplicity, his guilelessness and his sociability soon made him a popular figure loved by one and all. The sudden death of this young man, so loving and so promising, in the prime of his youth?he was only 35 then?was a great shock to Gandhiji, as is but natural.

indeed overcome the fear of death, more or less, but a death such as this cannot but be distressing. The hope entertained by all of us that Sorabji would be a shield of South African Indians against their troubles and achieve great things has been dashed to pieces. The whole community is sunk in gloom as cables from South Africa clearly indicate. God's ways are inscrutable. Action never evaporates into thin air. However trivial, it never fails to bear its fruit, good or bad. And what we call 'accidents' are really no accidents at all. Only to us, ignorant human beings, they appear as accidents. Nobody dies before his due time. And what is death, but only the final transformation of a material object?the body?which always undergoes changes ? Death does not cause entire obliteration. The Self within?the soul?is immortal. It is only the physical encasement?the body?that undergoes transformation, but the Soul is immutable. All this knowledge is quite enough to enable us to be at peace with ourselves. But it is such incidents that plump the depth of our assimilation of that knowledge. As for Sorabji, he has joined the hallowed galaxy of the immortals. All his acts in life have only heightened the glory of his country. If we always discharge our duties properly, his departure from our midst would be no cause for helpless regret. Bereavement ceases to leave us desolate when the death of our dear one only spurts us on to more vivid consciousness of our duty."

25-7-'18

"Bhaishri Raojibhai,

You were wise in writing to me. You may ask me whatever you like when we meet, but it is your letter that calls for a written answer, and that helps you in thinking over your problem. There is not a shred of doubt in my mind that you are fully discharging your duties towards Manibhai (Raojibhai's father) as well as towards your family. In fact, it is this con-viction which enables me to bear your separation. If you stayed with them, I believe, you would only spoil your own and their interests. You cannot do any good to Vimla, if you live in Sojitra and do what Manibhai wants you to. But your voluntary banishment from your home is an act of spiritual austerity for you which will develop your strength of character and will thereby enable you to render really good service to the members of your family. It is a genuine Satyagraha?not a quarrel?which you have started against Manibhai, and no Satyagraha can ever be a morally wrong action. It is not your hatred against Manibhai that keeps you away from him, but your love. It was out of love that Mirabai bid a good-bye to her husband, and it was love that impelled Buddhadeva to leave his beloved and devoted wife as well as his dear parents to start on a journey unto the Unknown. Shivabhai's case is at par with yours. Suppose you returned from the War, hale and hearty, might not the state of your family have improved by then ? Might you not be fitter then than now to look after your children ? Our object in going to the War is not to enable us to enjoy more worldly comforts afterwards, but to bring to an end our own and the country's misery. Even an error committed in such an attempt does not turn out (morally) harmful in the end.

It is impossible that a meeting with me would lead to your, or for that matter, anybody's peace of mind. There is bound to be turmoil so long as we are engaged in washing out all the dirt from our character. What we really ought to aim at is not an arid peace of mind, but an inner quiet in the midst of an outer upheaval. When we wash our clothes, we beat them against the washing stone, but we know that our act means cleanliness and are, therefore, happy about the act. Vande Mataram, Mohandas"

"Chi. Maganlal,

Raojibhai has alarmed you and so have I Raojibhai. He read into a sentence of mine more than was meant.

There has been no change in my ideals. I have passed through many a bitter experience since my arrival in India, and yet my views have not undergone any change. We have only very little to learn from the West. The rot that I happened to observe at various places in our country has not brought about any change in my fundamental convictions, nor has this War set me thinking afresh. Only what was hazy and latent has become clearer to my view. Nothing has, as yet, induced me to think that we must adopt Western civilization, nor have I seen the necessity of taking to hard drinks or non-vegetarian food. What has cut me to the quick is the perception that the teachings of Swaminarayan1 and Vallabhacharya2 have made us completely unmanly. They deprived men of their power of self-defence. It was certainly good that their followers gave up drinking, smoking etc. But such renunciation is not an ideal by itself, it is only a means. If a smoker is a man of good character, his helpful company should be sought and his virtues emulated, while a nonsmoker right from his birth ought to be shunned, if he is a profligate. The love taught by Swaminarayan and Vallabhacharya is effeminate sentimentality. True love cannot grow out of it. They had not even an inkling of the true spirit of Ahimsa. Ahimsa3 is the stabilization of the fleeting urges of the mind. Ahimsa has to be practiced primarily in the relationship of one man with another, but there is not even a scent of this chief characteristic of Ahimsa in the writings of these two religious leaders. They were born during the dark periods of our history and they could not overcome the limitations of their environments. Their influence has spread most widely in Gujarat. Tukaram and Ramdas too were religious leaders, but they influenced Maharashtra quite differently. There is 'purushartha' (manly endeavour) in abundance in the Abhangas4 of Tukaram and the Shlokas5 of Ramdas and they too were Vaishnavas. Let us not mix up the two and misunderstand the teachings of Vallabha and Swaminarayan as ______________________ 1. Swaminarayan flourished in the twilight stage of the 19th century and his sect is almost wholly confined to Gujarat. 2. Vallabhacharya, though an all-India religious leader, has perhaps the largest following in Gujarat. 3. Gandhiji defines Ahimsa here in the exact words which Patanjali uses to define Yoga. 4. Special forms of poetic expression. 5. Sanskrit Couplets.

the same as those of Vaishnavism. The Vaishnava faith is much more ancient. I have now begun to see, what I did not till now, viz., there can be Ahimsa even in Himsa. That is the great change in my thinking. Formally I did not fully realize the duty of physically stopping a taper from committing an atrocious deed, or of giving a finishing drug to a dog suffering from a disease that tortured him or of killing a rabid dog. There is real Ahimsa in all this Himsa. Such Himsa pertains to the body, not the mind. Brahmcharya means overcoming our passion and that is our ideal, but we do not bring up our sons in a way that would make them impotent. That is the state of brahmacharya wherein a man has conquered the sexual urge, even though he remains physically quite virile. In the same way our children must be physically very strong. If they cannot completely give up mental Himsa, they can be taught to imbibe real Ahimsa by letting them commit Himsa, i.e., by allowing them to use their fighting power. The message of Ahimsa has been proclaimed by Kshatriyas (warriors) and delivered to Kshatriyas, not to poltroons.

I adhere to the difference I have shown between the West and East, and it remains a great difference. Western civilization is self-willed, ours self-restrained. If we commit violence, it will be only when it becomes unavoidable and its object will be lokasangraha (public weal). The West will commit violence in order to exploit others and without any self-restraint. It is not a departure from my old ways, if I take part in parliamentary and other such institutions. My work there is only along my old line; since it is aimed at keeping these institutions under proper restraint. If you read my article on the Montford Scheme, you will see this point confirmed in it. I am not?and I can never be?interested in such activities and schemes. But I can propagate my ideals by taking part in them. When the time came for me to choose between remaining in that activity at the cost of my ideals or giving it up, I decided to get away from it. I think this answers your doubts. I cannot spend more than a day with you and cannot explain everything in that time. Hence I have written all this for you to meditate over and to ask for greater clarification, if doubts still persist. I am staying here at Navagam for some time more. I wanted to leave the place today, but indications show that I can't."

29-7-'18

When Maganlalbhai went to Allahabad, he left the charge of the Ashram to Punjabhai.

Letter to him :

"Sujna Bhaishri Punjabhai,

You have come to a sound decision. Every vritti (ripple in the mind) as well as pravriti (activity, because it comes forth from vritti) aimed at the attainment of paramartha (the Highest Objective) is in reality nivritti (subsidence of vritti; i.e. serenity) and hence a step to Moksha (final beatitude).

To serve others is to make an attempt to attain paramartha, because it needs purushartha (spiritual endeavour) to draw away one's concentration from one's own little self and fix it on the good of others. Service of the Ashramites to the best of your capacity should give you boundless joy. There is no day when some one or other in the Ashram is not suffering from illness. To look after these invalids and cheer them up with your visits, to play with the kids and keep them happy and cheerful-in these and such other activities, no cause can arise for a quarrel or for uneasiness. It is only this way that a man can know (i.e. realize) the Self. With just a little experience you will see the truth of what I say. Do please make it a daily practice to sit by the bedside of Bhuvarji and other patients."

Wonderful letter from Principal Rudra : His son was app-ointed a Second Lieutenant in the War. His son-in-law got first class in tripos in Natural Science. Sudhir's splendid work. Rudra is happy over this series of joyful events and invites Bapu to share the joy of the family.

Reply :

• "Dear Mr. Rudra,

I thank you for letting me share your happiness. Sudhir is a brick. Yes, he is doing good work, and so are the other boys, each in his own line. It is a result of orderly training.

While you approve of my recruiting campaign, Charlie is fighting it out with me. He thinks it is just likely that I am deluding myself. He thinks that this activity of mine may injure my service to the cause of Ahimsa. I have taken it up to serve that very cause. I know that my responsibility is great. It was equally great when I was under the supine feeling that recruiting was not my line. There was a danger of those who put faith in my words at becoming or remaining utterly unmanly, falsely believing that it was Ahimsa. We must have the ability in the fullest measure to strike and then perceive the inutility of brute force and renounce the power. Jesus had the power to consume his enemies to ashes, but he refrained and permitted himself to be killed for he so loved (etc.)

Yours sincerely, M. K. Gandhi" "My dear Kastur,

I know you are pining away for a stay with me, but I feel that things which we must do have got to be done, and at present you must stay there and not with me. There are so many children in the Ashram. If you be a mother to them, you will no longer feel the pain of separation from your sons. In the autumn of your life, the least you may do is to expand your love. The more you shower your love on the Ashramites and the more devotedly you serve them, the greater will grow the fount of joy springing from within you. You must make it a rule to see the sick early in the morning and attend on them. You may yourself prepare the special diet that each may require or see that it is prepared. Then there are the Deccani sisters. You must mingle with them freely, fondle their children, take them for a walk with you, in short, do everything to create the impression in their minds that they are not kept out of your circle. You must also see that they gain in health.

You can moreover profit by Nirmala's company. Religious and other elevating talks will help you both. You can make her read Bhagwata1 to you. She will enjoy the reading herself. If you thus engross your mind in the service of others, you will always feel happy and cheerful, I assure you. And, above all, you must see that Punjabhai is comfortably provided with as regards his food and lodging in the Ashram.

Mohandas"

A letter to C. F. Andrews :

• "My dear Charlie,

I must indulge myself again. I begin to perceive a deep meaning behind the Japanese reluctance to listen to the message of the prophet from a defeated nation. War will be always with us. There seems to be no possibility of the whole human nature becoming transformed. Moksha and Ahimsa are for individuals to attain. Full practice of Ahimsa is inconsistent with the possession of wealth, land or rearing of children. There is real Ahimsa in defending my wife and children even at the risk of striking down the wrongdoer. It is perfect Ahimsa not to strike him but intervene to receive his blows. India did neither on the field of Plassey. We were a cowardly mob warring against one another, hungering for the (East India) Company's silver and selling ourselves for a mess of pottage. So have we remained, more or less?more rather than less?upto today. There was no Ahimsa in their miserable performance, notwithstanding examples of personal bravery and later corrections of the exaggerated accounts of those days. Yes, the Japanese reluctance was right. I do not know sufficiently what the fathers of old did. They suffered, I expect, not out of their weakness, but out of their strength. The rishis of old stipulated that their religious practices were to be protected by the Kshatriyas. Rama protected Vishwamitra from

_____________________ 1. A devotional-cum-philosophical treatise dealing with the exploits of Lord Krishna.

the Rakshasas disturbing his meditations. He could later on dispense with this protection. I find great difficulties in recruiting, but do you know that not one man has yet objected because he would not kill? They object because they fear to die. The unnatural fear of death is ruining the nation. For the moment I am simply thinking of the Hindus. Total disregard of death in a Mohammedan lad is a wonderful possession.

I have written a coherent letter today, but I have given you indications of my mental struggles.

Do you know that Sorabji is dead? He died in Johannesburg. A life full of promise has come to an abrupt end. The ways of God are inscrutable.

With deep love, Yours, Mohan"

To Devdas :

"It is all very well and delightful to live in a village in summer, but the question is whether it would be equally so in monsoon. For a fastidious man like myself, it would be a trial to go in that season from one place to another in a village. My repugnance for uncleanliness is heightening. If the latrine is even slightly dirty. I would feel uneasy. Even here, as I go out in open but quite secluded spots to ease myself, I carry with me a shovel. I dig a pit and after using it fill it up with the dug-out earth and only then return. I see that the neglect of this simple rule causes innumerable diseases and breeds millions of flies. And I also see that those who have not my nausea for unclean habits can quite enjoy village life even in monsoon. Last night two groups of devotional singers came to me. Their instruments must have cost them from 5 to 10 rupees only. There were dholaks, manjiras, kartals, and one-stringed tambours. With these simple and cheap instruments they created a heaven of delightful music. All their hymns sang only Sri-Krishna's glory. His unfailing supply of clothing to Draupadi (to save her honour). His infliction of humiliation on the proud prince Duryodhana by refusing to accept the latter's invitation to a princely entertainment, his preference to go self-invited to the low-caste Vidura and enjoy leafy vegetables that were immediately available, and other remarkable incidents of His life have been woven into poetry in such simple and sweet language that they cannot but wing the singer and the listeners to exalted heights of love and devotion. But why this exuberant outpouring of devotion for Sri Krishna ? To me at least it seems that this extraordinary veneration must have arisen owing to His heroic spirit and benevolent and sympathetic heart. It was because of His pre-eminent powers that the small state of the Pandavas won the laurels of victory, the wicked Kauravas were destroyed and the suppressed subjects heaved a sigh of a relief from tyranny. That was why poets were inspired to sing of His exploits and He became one of the Immortals. While He did not cringe to Duryodhana whose power and pelf could not tempt Him, He, the King of Dwarka, heartily relished the few grains of rice presented to Him by the destitute Sudama, His brother-disciple long long years ago. That shows the vast expense of His love and simplicity. In the depiction of the life of Sri Krishna, the poet has the last word in poetic and spiritual beauty. There is no doubt that a man of His profound intelli- gence and wisdom did really live in the past. I wish you could read the whole Mahabharata in its original language, Sanskrit. The perusal will give you that superb delight which I have been deprived of. But what have I been doing ? I began with village life and glided into the life of Sri Krishna ! Last night's haunting music carried me away into the reflection on His life. To me it was more charming than even our own Ashram music, as it was at once spontaneous and melodious. It was not loud music besides. The dholak etc. were played softly. The full moon provided an ethereal background. We were all sitting under a tree. They all wore rustic dresses, were squatting upon simple gunny-bag sheets and were peasants to the core. They had sweated the whole day and had then gathered for innocent and elevating recreation through God's remembrance. I addressed one of them and said, "Brother, you seem to be steeped in this enjoyment." He said, "What better thing could we do, sir ? Instead of wasting our time in idle talk, we use it in hymns and group singing." They belonged to the Baraiya community and as such they would be usually looked down upon as boors, but they were not so in the least. They might be regarded as unlettered but certainly they were not uncultured. I felt that if the educated class identified itself with them and infused a new spirit, they were capable of proving themselves equal to any task they might be entrusted with. They have real knowledge par excellence. But we must know how to harness their energies. We are, however, like carpenters who quarrel with their tools. The letter has now grown fairly long. Send it to Manilal when you have done with it. I don't know when next I shall be able to write such a long letter. Today there is some time to spare and my brain is filled with thoughts, which I emptied partly. I could be said to have made you a partner of my heritage, if you too felt from this letter something of my joy last night. Just as we claim for a share in government from the British, so, if I could give you some share of what I have got, I would be released from my (moral) debt.

Blessings, Bapu"

29-7-'18 Nadiad

"Bhaishri Kishorilal,

This letter is for you and Bhai Narhari. Whatever the gravamen of the charge, if any, of Bhai Narayanrao, re. want of emotional integration between the Gujaratis and the Deccanis in our Ashram, it is our duty to reform ourselves and remove the grievance. Ours is a field for the practical application of Ahimsa. The first step you must take is for you all to confer together and find out how far the accusation is justified. Our Gujarati women must make conscious and strenuous attempts to mix freely with their Deccani sisters in the Ashram. But the most essential thing is for the Gujarati children to be entirely free from any prejudice or discrimination against the Deccani children and chum up with them. You need not make a scare of what I say, but you must give it a quiet consideration and do the needful.

As regards your view about the prayers I submit this point for you to think over: We should not be so over-conscious of our inability as to make it impossible for us to undertake any work at all. Let us start the work of teaching with the capacity we possess and, by effort, go on removing the defects that we may come to detect in us. What would I do, with my little knowledge of Sanskrit, if it happens that I am required to teach it ? I know quite well that it is a misuse of the word to call my knowledge of Sanskrit as 'knowledge.' But in the absence of an abler teacher, I would certainly take up the work and go on improving my grasp of the subject. It was this way that Parnell learnt up the intricacies of the procedure of the House of Commons and became a foremost leader of the Irish Opposition. But you always think only of your inability and are afraid to begin anything. Don't you think you would feel happier, if you employ in any work that falls to your lot all the capacity you possess and finish it the best way you can ?

How should children be trained to gain strength and power ? It appears, it is a very tough problem to teach them to defend themselves without their becoming aggressive and insolent. Till now they were only asked to meekly bear with any body's assault. Can the same teaching be given now ? What would be the psychological effect of such advice ? Would they grow to be brave and forgiving or turn out cowards ? I confess the poverty of my intelligence to get at the right answer, and I wish you to use your brains in the matter. I must admit I am caught up in the tangle of various thorny questions of this sort arising from my perception of this new facet of Ahimsa. I have not been able to discover a single master-key to all these intricate problems and that key has got to be found out. Should we ask our boys to give two slaps in return for the one given to them ? Or should our boy be taught to bear with a slap from a weaker boy, but resist stronger one and dare to suffer severer thrashing ? What should be done by a man when a government official beats him ? When our boy is beaten should he bear the blows quietly and afterwards seek our advice ? Or should he do what he thinks best then and there ? And then bear the consequences whatever they be of his own independent thinking ? These throublesome quandaries arise in the mind when we discard the old royal road in Ahimsa of turning the other cheek. But is this old way the right answer simply because it is the easier advice to give ? Or shall we discover the correct solutions of these problems only when we venture to take untrodden paths of thinking which are necessarily beset with dangers and possible falls ? Numerous streaks of foot-tracks verging in different direction?with some of them appearing to go even downward? meet the eye from the base of a Himalayan peak. But an experienced guide takes us right to the top through many ascents and descents. You can never reach the top of any hill through a straight and ever ascending track. Can the path to perfect Ahimsa be equally full of troubles and trials and rises and falls? Save me ! O God ! Save me !

Vande Mataram, Mohandas."

• "My dear Millie,

Sorabji is no more. A cable has just arrived from Johannesburg giving the sad news. There is nothing striking about this death. Many like Sorabji have died before and now. But Sorabji has played such an important part in our lives that his sudden death comes like a rude shock. It is only one's faith in the indestructibility of energy and continuity of effort that reconciles one to activity in life. An event is a shock when we do not understand its purpose and its reasonableness. But in God's plan, I suppose, there is nothing unreasonable and nothing purposeless."

• "Dear Mr. Shastriar,

Thakore has just arrived. He tells me, you were again down with illness. You need a cruel doctor who would mercilessly order a complete fast and water treatment. But you can expect nothing but licenced murders from that most empirical of professions. Whenever I hear of your illness, I feel like shooting some doctor or other but my Ahimsa comes in the way. Happily for you and India, I have no parliamentary ambition. Otherwise I should introduce a Bill disqualifying people getting continuously ill from membership.

Here is a cable from Polak. I cannot understand its full significance. But I suppose there is no danger of the Scheme being rejected by the country."

31-7-'18 Nadiad

"Chi. Manilal,

There is no letter from you for some time past. I am sending herewith a letter from Mr. Sam for your perusal and consideration. Whatever be his fault, I am afraid, you have unnecessarily vented your wrath on him and even exhibited strong ill-feeling. What I do not like is not the fact of your attempt to preserve your right, but the peremptory method of incivility you employed. You could have saved yourself from anger even while insisting on having the management in your hands. None of them (Sam and Mr. West) has gained in money by their stay with us. Nor has anyone of them misappropriated any amount. And what crime has Devibehn (sister of Mr. West), of all persons, committed ? That Mr. West as well as Mr. Sam have lost the means to educate their children is an extremely unhappy result. I feel you have made them the scapegoat of your resentment against me. You have ceased even to visit them. You must never do like that. I think you must beg their pardon?but only if you see the propriety of the step yourself, not in order to please me. It will appear to me nothing but quite the right thing to do for you, if you insist on maintaining your independence in any work you take up. I believe I have given you many reasons for getting bitter against me. I wish you will forgive me for my acts. I ordered you about from one place to another and your regular education was put on the shelf. But you can forgive me from your heart only if you really feel that all this was unavoidable. I have spent my whole life in a struggle to know myself, and to find out what my duty really is. My work has been crowned with success and has conferred laurels on me, because I have put into practice whatever I believed, and have thus been saved from many a blunder. But on superficial thinking, on looking at my work from the worldly point of view, I have indeed spoiled your interests and done you harm. Just as I became myself the victim of my spiritual experiments, so did Ba and you, the sons. But Ba has seen the wisdom of my experiments, and so has earned a superior kind of wealth which no other woman possesses. You have not yet completely understood the propriety of my action, and hence there remains a sense of grievance in your mind and consequent bitterness of feeling. I still maintain now as before that no father could have discharged his duty towards his sons and served them as well as I have. I made you partners and inheritors of my spiritual experiences. What more can a father do? I could have become exclusive, ploughed a solitary furrow in the field of the search for truth and left you all to follow the ways of the world. Had I done so, no connecting link between us would have remained, and ours would have been the same plight as of the sister whose name is Gokibehn. For myself, I could have done nothing else than what I have done, because I would have stuck to the search for truth and you would have been thrown out of the path, an eventuality not at all good for you. If you ponder over what I have stated here in a quite detached mood, you will succeed in allaying your present resentment against me. You may take a leaf out of Harilal's book. There has been a parting of the ways between him and me. Harilal's life is now totally cut off from mine. The father-and-son relationship could be said to really exist only when the lives of both are attuned to each other and each is a help and a prop of the other. I cannot now take any interest in Harilal's life and he cannot in mine. But he is more sinned against than sinning, because what leads his intellect astray is his karma (fate which is the resultant of the deeds of previous lives). I have no ill-feeling for Harilal, but the fact remains that the tie that used to bind us together has been snapped, and the sweetness of the relationship between father and son lost. But that is how in many cases the worldly life rumbles along. The only extraordinary feature in my case is the fact that I could not attract Harilal to my path of a truth-seeker and he dropped away from it. Out of sheer foolishness Harilal has thrown away about 30,000 rupees of his employer; has given in writing a statement that stains his name and has lost his job. He is not in jail simply because the world considers him my son. You have continued to align yourself with my way of life, but with an attitude of dissatisfaction. You think you cannot afford to get out of it, but you do not fully like to be in it. That is why you are fidgety. If you can somehow persuade yourself to be content with your walk of life, you can gain the peace of mind which, at present, you have not. It is certain that I have not intentionally spoiled your chances. Whatever I have done about you has been done out of the conviction that I was doing the right thing for you. Is this fact not enough to remove your grudge against me? I have been only pleased at the frank avowal of your views. The whole management must now have come into your hands, I suppose."

"My dear Kastur,

Your sorrow is my sorrow. Were it possible to take women with me, I would have certainly asked you to join me. But why should you feel so out of sorts at the idea of my physically going away from you? We have learnt how to remain happy even in separation. Moreover, if God wills, we will meet again. There are many good things to do in the Ashram, and if you concentrate on them you are certain to feel happy."

Nadiad 31-7-'18

• My dear Devi,

What a tragedy this death of Sorabji ! I was feeling most comfortable about South Africa and hoping that now that Sorabji was there all would be well. My hopes have come to nothing.

I do not know what you all think of my recruiting activity. I am working all the time at it, my argument is briefly this: India his lost the power to strike. She must learn to strike before she can voluntarily renounce the power of striking. She may never renounce. Then she will be as bad as West, or better still the modernists. Today she is neither. The ancients in India knew the art of warfare? the art of killing?and yet reduced the activity to a minimum, and taught the world that it is better to refrain than to strike. Today I find that everybody is desirous of killing, but most are afraid of doing so or powerless to do so. Whatever is to be the result, I feel certain that the power must be restored to India. The result may be carnage. Then India must go through it. Today's condition is intolerable.

Yours, Bhai"

---