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September

7-9-'18

"When Bapu declared yesterday his resolve to go to the Ashram (Satyagrahashram), Maganlalbhai suggested that he should stay on for about four days more. Immediately he answered, "I cannot stay here any longer. I find this atmosphere dry and suffocating. No prayers to God here to delight one's ears on waking up in the morning, as they do in the Ashram. Hymns and God's name are a music to my ears. I was missing it for many days past, but since 4 O'clock, when I got up today, my restlessness at this keenly felt want grew and grew till I could not help bursting into tears. And in the evening when we want some quiet inside and out, there is that Parsi woman opposite whose screeches of the violin crash the ears."

That was yesterday. This evening also he asked me "Does she call it music when she scrapes her bow across the violin strings ? And I can enjoy a song even from a vagabond in the streets." The charm is lost if I tell you and you sing, but I would indeed wish you to form the habit of singing on self-inspiration."

To Charlie :

• "My dear Charlie,

I am daily getting better. Please have no anxiety for me. Though we do not meet in the body, communion of the spirit is ever there. Just at present I am doing a bit of reading. The book I am reading is a collection of remarkable essays on religion by Prof. Anandshankar Dhruva of the Gujarat College. You have seen him. The essays are pure gold. He is one of the greatest Sanskrit scholars of this Presidency. These essays have given me great comfort, and they help me more fully to realize the meaning of communion of the spirit, and it is in that deeper and fuller sense that I use the expression regarding ourselves.

As I have said before, I would not have you leave Bolpur on any account whatsoever. Your work is there and nowhere else at the present moment.

Why did you write that wretched introduction of yours to the Hindi book on emigration to the Colonies ? I have only just glanced at it and I feel that you have given an undeserved certificate. You do not want to give currency to inaccuracies, fulsome flattery and advertisements. I propose to go through the book carefully and note down for your edification some of the glaring inaccuracies contained in the work. There is really no merit in an author remaining unknown. He does not remain unknown to those who he wishes should know him. The introduction does credit to your heart. You are an Indian and as Lord Willingdon will say, you are always afraid to say 'no'. I would far rather that you retained the English characteristics and said 'no' when it is 'no' which should really be said. I suppose it is sometimes the privilege of love sternly to say 'no', I do not want to sermonise, but you must really reform yourself in this matter. Otherwise, I must pass on to you all the rascals I meet. You will then settle your accounts with Gurudev and them. With love to you all, Yours, Mohan"

To Shankarlal Banker :

"Your letter to Anasuyabehn tells me that you have kept back from me many facts about your health. You need not have done so. I wish you did not take undue freedom with your body on the strength of doctors' medicines. Lifelong experiences have taught me the need of self-restraint ever more forcefully. To satisfy the craving of the palate I played fast and loose with the body and I am now suffering from the punishment I richly deserve. I believe that 99% of cases of ill health can be traced to this one cause of want of control of the palate. I admit it is no easy thing to get that control. But real human effort worth the name lies in getting that control. It is easier to defeat the whole world than the enemies ensconced in the self. He, therefore, who succeeds in overcoming the enemies within will find it easy to conquer the world without. The Swaraj (swaraj=self-rule) which you and I and everyone else have to gain is really no other than this 'self-rule'. But what is the use of sermonising ? The essence of all teaching is this: You want to serve the country, and that you can do through the body. You cherish noble aspirations, but without adequate soul force the noblest aspiration is an airy nothing.

Vande Mataram, Mohandas"

9-9-'18

In a letter about his health to Ranchhodlal Patwari Bapu adds :

"I will find out 'Pataka' and go through the article about untouchability. I wish to understand the views of the opposite party thoroughly, and if I find that it is they who represent the real dharma, not I, I will not hesitate even for a moment to change my views. All the arguments which I have so far been confronted with are based on the dharma which custom enjoins. I have never heard till now a single argument supported by dharma pure and simple. And it is nothing but the religious aspect of the question that has made me propagate the removal of untouchability. The question has nothing to do with politics.

The movement will necessarily have a political effect, but I never had an eye on it. I would also like to add that I do not stand for 'no respect whatsoever to the dharma of custom'. Religion, i.e. pure dharma, is unchangeable and infallible. But traditional dharma can be changed with the change of circumstances. It would be sheer immorality today if we followed some of the precepts given in Manusmriti.1 We have quietly ignored them altogether."

To Devdas (after giving a gist of the letter to Dr. Ray and of the setback in health owing to the wrong quality of food taken) :

"You know I have always been opposed to the use of pulses for weak constitutions. You also know that personally I fear that oils are difficult to digest. But all the doctors suggested

_____________________ 1. Code of Manu. Smriti: "The body of traditional or memorial law (civil or religious) given by human authors." Apte's Dictionary. 'Smriti' is opposed to 'Sruti'?'revealed knowledge' of the Vedas, Upnishads etc. and as is even traditionally regarded as inferior to Sruti.

mung, (the most digestible pulse) or its watery extract and also some oil for me. Owing to my vow not to take milk, it is difficult to rebuild a wrecked body without providing it some fat and protein. The fat and protein in milk are easily assimila-ted in blood but not the fat in oils. Every pulse contains pro-tein, but that protein is indigestible. All the same I took both mung and oil. I now think that it was a mistake. Such mistakes are bound to happen in my search for a suitable substi-tute for milk. I see that oil of some kind or other is an unavoidable necessity. I have, therefore, to find out in what quantity it has to be taken so as to be digestible. In that search there are sure to be occasional set-backs in health."

Harilal's letter :

"I find that self-cooking is one of the ways of self-development, but it takes up much time."

Reply :

"It is certainly a fact that self-cooking takes one's time, but I believe that that time is not wasted. And it is usually not true to say that one could have put the time to a better use. More than that time is daily wasted by 95% of men. And even this percentage is a charitable estimate of the number of persons who waste it. The man who cooks by himself, when heavily pressed with work, finishes his cooking with almost incredible quickness. I will give you my own example. In England, when I to study hard, I used to spend not more than half an hour all told for preparing my morning and evening meals. In the morning I used to make some porridge which took exactly 20 minutes. If I prepared something in the evening, it would be a soup, which required only a little watching and no stirring. So the only time I spent after the soup would be for mixing the ingredients. I would then put the mixture on the stove and, while sitting by its side to watch it, read some book. Occasionally students from Banaras visit me. I ask them what they do about their food. Most of the Brahmin students cook by themselves. One of them told me he prepared khichri (rice and lentil mixed) for the morning and took it with milk and some condi-ment. The while he was eating his khichri, he could easily bake his chapattis, which he took with milk in evening. He would spend three quarters of an hour in all after cooking both his meals. This is an extreme case I know. I do not wish that you should have only such simple meals, but I give you this instance to show that one can comfortably manage to cook for oneself without spending much time over it. That student had a healthy and robust constitution because all the nourishment that the body needs, he got from khichri, milk or curd and some condiment. The man who can get excellent milk or curd can afford to care little for any other dish. You need not assume that I wish you to continue to cook for yourself for ever. But I have written all this in order that, if it came to that, you may do your own cooking without feeling uneasy and sighing over waste of time when you do so. What I really mean to say is this. There can be nothing to say against you if on re-establishing yourself you call Chanchi back to you and enjoy within limits the pleasures of the palate and other senses. Only you should take care never to repeat the mistake you have committed. I wish you did not hanker any more after getting rich very quickly.

Just think of Sir Ratan Tata who died, of Sorabji who sped off so suddenly, of Dr. Jivraj who is on his death-bed. Where the body is so prone to succumb and in so short a time, why all this rush and tumble? Why this craze for getting rich ? You may certainly be as rich as you can by a determined effort in normal ways, but make a firm resolve not to give up the path of truth in your attempt to earn money. Instead of aiming too high, you may make a practicable resolve and you have my full approval for earning as much as you can.

Blessings, Bapu"

Dr. Ray's letter: Some pulses contain several ingredients of milk such as casein, fat, milk, sugar etc. Green peas and masoor (a pulse) contain them in the largest measure. Mhoua-seed oil also contains them, but it is difficult to get a really good substitute for milk. If Gandhiji abstained from milk for economic reasons he should not do so, because many cows yield more milk than their calves can drink. He then quotes the Sanskrit injunction, 'Even hard drinks may be taken as medicine when necessary'. As an old friend he earnestly appeals to Gandhiji to begin taking milk.

Bapu's Reply :

• "The milk problem with me is not quite so simple as you have

stated it. It is not regard for the calf that in my illness prevents me from taking milk, but I have taken a definite vow not to take milk or its products even in illness, and I feel that it is better to die than to break a vow knowingly and deliberately taken. Every consequence that I am taking today was before me when I took the vow. I knew too that it was most difficult to find a substitute for milk. Can you not refine some of our oils so as to make them easily digestible ? You know that American chemists have done so with cotton-seed oil. Cotton-seed oil without being refined is not edible, but now people take it with impunity. I do not say that they have refined it to the extent I want, but that is a question of degree. Yours sincerely, M. K. Gandhi"

20-9-'18

Bapu's health is now very satisfactory. He has begun to walk to the prayer-ground. He even visited Durga in her sick-bed and delivered short speeches. And his correspondence work, of course, goes on. The national school of the Ashram has undergone a total transformation. Sarojini Naidu is going to preside over the Students' Conference in Bihar.

Letter to her :

• "Dear sister,

From the inquiries you have made about me I know that you know about my humiliation, I mean my illness. I am getting better but am too weak yet to move about beyond a few minutes' stroll on the verandah. Much as I should like to be with you at Poornea, as the men there desire my presence, it is impossible for me to do so. I hope, however, that you are going to behave yourself and deliver your address in Hindi or Urdu, whatever the national language may be called. Let the young men learn through your example the value of cultivating their mother tongue, for to them Hindi or Urdu is not only the national language, but the mother tongue. Do let me have a line. Yours etc., M. K. Gandhi"

Mr. Pundalik was subjected to Third degree methods in Bihar, but he remained unmoved and gave fearless and truthful answers to the Police Superintendent. Bapu's advice to him as to what he should do in future :

"Bhaishri Pundalik,

I read all your letters very carefully. The answers you gave were all excellent. The heroism that lies in quietly putting up with the insults of the Superintendent is greater than that in paying him back in the same coin. Your dignified forebearance will cause the Superintendent a hundred times greater suffering than your insulting replies would have done. He is simply eager to see you get excited and burst out into an unbecoming language.

Now about your questions. If you get a written notice from the Government to leave the Pathshala (school) or Bhitiharva, you may wire to me after leaving it. If the Superintendent calls you again for further questioning, you may continue to give him answers in the way you have done. Tell him the whole truth. There is absolutely nothing wrong in telling him all that I write to you. I have the fullest faith in your veracity. M. K. Gandhi"

21-9-'18

A big article by Dr. Pranjivandas Mehta. From a speech by Mr. Montague, Dr. Mehta took the hint and immediately wrote out a big long article covering 33 pages in favour of granting Swaraj to Gujarat. He pleads for the fitness of Gujarat for Swaraj on the grounds of its excellence in arts and crafts, its political acumen, its religious-mindedness etc. Bapu commented, 'O, the Doctor! He never knows how to be brief and to the point. He simply ignores my advice in the matter.'

Bapu's reply to him by wire :

• "Consider article should not be published. If published,

absolutely necessary omit reference about special fitness of Gujarat. Writing fully."

Letter to him :

"I have carefully gone through your article. I have sent you two wires, yesterday and to-day, about it. Your idea is excellent but there is no chance of its implementation in the present circumstances. No other province will support your contention. You may not know that Bengal is secretly working hard in order to be the first province to get complete Swaraj for itself. Which Gujarati will not be ready to try to make Gujarat lead all others in the enjoyment of Swaraj ? Your suggestion was put by Mr. Sharma in a somewhat different form in the Central Assembly, but it was, I must say very undeservedly, laughed out by all other members. Montague respected it, however, but declared that it was not the business of British Officers to make such important changes. They should best be left to the consideration of the new representative councils going to be formed under the Montford Scheme. So much about your suggestion.

The arguments you have advanced to show the superiority of Gujarat will create only bitterness among other provinces. Your plea will raise a storm of controversy. Maharashtra can adduce stronger claims for Swaraj. Madrasis may declare that they have been steeped in the ways of the West and, therefore, none could beat them in the fitness for Swaraj. Gujarat on the contrary, has been generally looked down upon by others as a politically backward province, and the same arguments which you put forth in our favour can be used against us. But there is also no reason to get disappointed with these counter-arguments. What is necessary is to think over the advisability of starting an activity for Swaraj of the kind you suggest in the present climate. After giving due consideration to all this, you may write to me what you think best. I am ready to put your idea into practice.

Vande Mataram, Mohandas"

Today Bapu is in unusually high spirits. He began reading "The Pilgrim's Progress" to the Ashram children during the evening prayers :

"Well, dear children, who is the author of this book ? John Bunyan. Do you know who he was ? Like Prahladji,1 he was a brave man, firm in his resolve, and made to suffer atrocities for upholding truth. He was confined to jail for many years. And as our Tilak Maharaj wrote 'Gita Rahasya' during the period of his incarceration, so did Bunyan write this book, 'The Pilgrim's Progress', in jail. Call it the soul's pilgrimage or progress or elevation?whatever you like?but he wrote this book on that subject.

As we have expositions of the Bhagwadgita, so this is in reality an exposition of the Bible. But it is more than even an exposition. It is really an allegory that clarifies the most beautyful portion of the Bible. The book is ranked very high among the master-pieces of English literature and is put almost side by side with the Bible itself. Bunyan has used such simple and charming language, that he is regarded in all countries where English language is spoken as the author of a wonderful book for children. But even greater than this is the fact which has been stated in its Introduction.

As Tulsidasji declares for his Ramayana, the Introduction states that everyone without exception will read the book in future. And it is really as charming as Ramayana. While elders are sometimes perplexed, little children take an absorbing interest in Ramayana. In the same way this book also is one that _____________________ 1. Son of Hiranyakashipu, the demon King, who tortured him for being a devotee of Lord Vishnu.

can captivate the hearts of children. But now, instead of dilating upon its virtues, we will enjoy the book itself. See ! He says, "While I was groping in the dense forest of this world." Our seers also have called the world a dark and deep wood, and so does this author. He says, "While rambling in that dense jungle, he felt very tired and came across a deep cave. This fatigue was not of the body so much as of the soul. He had reflected deeply, learnt many things from many wise men, but still he could not get at the truth he was seeking eagerly. He felt bewildered and was downcast, both in body and in spirit. Out of sheer exhaus- tion he fell asleep. And then he dreamt. Whom did he see in the dream? Do you know it, Rukhi ??A man with tattered clothes. Now, dears, will you tell me what was Sudama's dress when he went to see Shree Krishna ? Did he wear, as rich persons do, a dhoti with a fine silk border, a long coat with gold and silver threads, a costly charming crimson turban of the imposing Deccani style and a long folded strip of cloth with a golden border dangling fashionably from the shoulder ? No, not at all. Sudama wore simply old and worn-out clothes, as did this man in the dream. Well, Rukhi, do you know what Sudama had put on ? You may not be knowing it but I do because I was born in Porebundar, the town in which Sudama lived. And now, in what direction, was Sudama's face turned? Was he looking wistfully back at the home he had left ? Certainly not. Sudama was on his way to meet his Lord and his eyes were riveted in that direction. In the same way this our pilgrim had set this face against the world and started on the road to an unknown destination.

And what was it that he was carrying on his shoulder ? Do you remember, Rukhi, that labourer who used to come to our Ashram when we were staying at Kochrab carrying a bag, full 200 lbs. in weight on his back, and perspiring profusely ? He used to be so bent down with the burden that it would be ridiculous if I asked him to stand straight. This pilgrim also was groaning under a heavy load. And he had a book in his hand. The book was no other than the Bible?his one support. As he read it, tears trickled down his cheeks. Do you know my dears, the story of Gopichand ? As that king Gopichand was having his bath in the open marble-paved courtyard within the palace, his mother was looking down at him from the balcony overhead and tears from her eyes fell straight upon the body of the king. The king was surprised. 'The day is bright and clear and whence these drops ?' he wondered. He looked up and saw that it was his mother's eyes that were raining tears on him. But why she was weeping so much, I will tell you some other day. What I want to say is that this pilgrim also was shedding tears like that mother of king Gopichand. The pilgrim has started on his journey to his Heavenly Father's abode. He was surcharged with love and devotion for Him, and that was why tears were running down from the abundance of his heart".

24-9-'18

To Nanubhai :

"There is no reason as yet to dismiss from our minds the idea of our going to the Front as it is no longer possible now. But I have been seeing more and more the signs of that eventuality. We need not think that actual fighting is the only method that enables us to cultivate heroism. We can do so even without engaging ourselves in a bloody battle. War is indeed a powerful way, but only one of the ways, to make us brave. At the same time it is as faulty as it is powerful. We can become heroes with entirely flawless means. If, from the fight everyone has to wage against the demands of the body, a man gains enough power to defeat the dark forces of the soul, he becomes a real hero without taking part in any war.

Vande Mataram, Mohandas"

To Shuaib Qureshi :

• "I wish I had sufficient strength in my fingers and my wrist

to give you my own hieroglyphics. As it is, I must rest content with the help of a friendly wrist and equally friendly fingers. You know all about the Committee to investigate the Brothers' case. We are creeping, whether the motion is upward or downward I do not know. For a Satyagrahi all motion is upward. If the Government have meant well, it is well for us all. If they have meant ill, by the infallible law of causation it must react upon them and, therefore, it must go ill with them and not with us, the only condition being that we do not act even as they. It is only because in the vast majority of cases we meet evil by evil that it continues to grow like weeds. Resist not evil is the law of our being. We come into the world with a double nature, that of the brute and man. The latter has continually to gain ascendancy over the former. But this is a digression, and or me a diversion, which, however, I do not wish to indulge in this letter. To return to our immediate purpose, I am keeping in close touch with the Brothers through Mr. Ghate."

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