An Epistle to Gandhi: Rediscovering the path of Truth and Non-Violence
Dear Bapuji,
Christopher Marlowe famously addressed his dream-lover, Helen of Troy, as “the face that launched a thousand ships and burnt the topless towers of Ilium.” But dear Bapu, may I address you instead as “the soul that launched thousands of human minds that nurtured truth and non-violence for the benefit of mankind”? You inspired men and women across the East and West. You ignited the lamp of hope and humanism in the darkest hours of despair and inhumanity. You gave life to great movements that changed the course of history. You continue to inspire countless known and unknown individuals in both their public and private lives. Dear Mahatma, I am but one such humble mortal whom you inspire in this life.
Bapu, you wrote in the preface to your celebrated work Hind Swaraj: “In my search after Truth, I have discarded many ideas and learnt many new things. Old as I am in age, I have no feeling that I have ceased to grow inwardly or that my growth will stop at the dissolution of the flesh.” It is this unending search for truth of yours that inspires me most. You taught me that the search for truth is the only pursuit worthy of life, and your own life has been a glorious experiment in that direction. I humbly believe that this experiment with Truth is the essence of real education.
A Moral Vision
Here I am reminded of an anecdote: the Sufi saint Jalaluddin Rumi was once asked by his master Shams-e-Tabrizi, “What is the purpose of education?” Rumi answered: “To enable the disciple to live a moral life.” Tabrizi replied: “Education is to enable the student to become what he has learnt.” As a guru, you too taught us the same. You showed the world that the ultimate purpose of education is the moral and physical perfection of the student. Such moral perfection is indispensable for the survival of this planet, which today suffers from both moral and physical turbulence. Your later-day disciple, Martin Luther King Jr., rightly observed that our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power, and that we have “guided missiles and misguided men.” These misguided men with guided missiles threaten to bring about Doomsday. Mahatma, only your principles of Truth and Non-violence can save this planet from that fate.
Bapu, people of the world are increasingly turning parochial—divided by ethnicity, religion, and nationality. In this context, your words ring with renewed relevance: “A votary of Ahimsa cannot subscribe to the utilitarian formula of the greatest good of the greatest number. He will strive for the greatest good of all and die in the attempt to realize the ideal. He will, therefore, be willing to die, so that the others may live.” This principle of Sarvodaya inspires me to be universal in spirit and to distance myself from all narrow parochialisms.
Martin Luther King Jr. once said: “Christ gave us the goals, and Mahatma Gandhi, the tactics.” Bapu, I believe Christ was a revolutionary who challenged the might of the Roman Empire with the spiritual weapons of Truth and Non-violence. You gave the oppressed the tactics of Satyagraha and Non-Cooperation as a spiritual armoury for liberation from social, political, and spiritual bondage. You designed Satyagraha as a substitute for violence and taught that non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as cooperation with good. As the world turns increasingly tyrannical and unjust, your principles and tactics grow ever more relevant.
The Remedy of Non-Violence
Mahatma, terrorism is the ferocious menace haunting today’s world. Three astonishingly similar dates from contemporary history illustrate its magnitude, cause, and remedy:
- September 11, 2001: Al-Qaeda attacks the World Trade Centre in New York, killing 2,996 and injuring over 6,000.
- September 11, 1973: Chile’s democratically elected President, Salvador Allende, known for pro-people policies, is ousted by troops backed by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.
- September 11, 1906: You launched your first Satyagraha in South Africa, before 3,000 Indians in Johannesburg, organizing a strategy of non-violent resistance against racist policies.
The second date exposes the root of terrorism—the crushing of people’s aspirations by imperialist powers for elite interests. The first date shows the wrong response—the killing of innocents in retaliation for injustice. The third date offers the remedy—Satyagraha based on Truth and Non-violence. You rightly observed: “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” Alas, terrorists remain bent on blinding the world. Yet you reminded us that non-violence is not the weapon of the weak, but of the strong and the brave. I pray one day both imperial oppressors and terrorists will realize the truth of your words. When the world turns violent, Bapu, you inspire us to be calm and serene.
A place among Prophets
Lord Mountbatten rightly observed: “Mahatma Gandhi will go down in history on par with Buddha and Jesus Christ.” Romain Rolland said of you: “For many, he was like a return of Christ. For others, for independent thinkers, Gandhi was a new incarnation of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and of Tolstoy, denouncing the illusions and crimes of civilization, and preaching to men the return to nature, to simple life, to health.”
Bapu, you are the true spiritual descendant of Buddha and Christ. Like them, you will continue to inspire millions, in thought and deed, in epochs yet to come.
Yours lovingly, A Gandhian Ekalavya
(The author is Deputy Law Secretary, Government of Kerala).