Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, also knows as Mahatma Gandhi, was born on October 2, 1869 at Porbandar. He is known for his philosophy of Satyagraha (Truth and Ahimsa /non-violence). This philosophy, also known as Gandhian way of life, has changed the track of of Indian Freedom Movement. M K Gandhi taught formula the Freedom with Discipline and humility. He once wrote in Young India, "Freedom that comes from discipline and humility cannot be denied, unbridled license is a sign of vulgarity injurious alike to self and one's neighbour."
M K Gandhi, known to India as the Father of Nation, had transformed the Indian National Movement from "mass-less" movement to a "mass-based" movement.
He discovered the non-violent way, called Satyagraha, to resist the oppression. He didn't supported the idea that means can be justified if ends are right/good.
He related means with the ends as continuity. He believed if mean is wrong or immoral then how can one justify its end. He believed if end is to attain Satyagraha then mean should be non-violence, that is Ahimsa.
He said that he was against the evil but not against the evildoer. Instead of forcing someone or even evildoer to do something we desire, he laid the path of changing and winning the heart by love, also known as Hriday Parivartan.
Gandhi preferred love over hatred. He rejected the idea of not only physical violence but also mental violence, that is, not to even think about the violence or harming someone physically, mentally or by any other way.
M. K. Gandhi first used the concept of Satyagraha in Africa to solve the problems faced by Indian workers working there.
After returning to India, he led several successful movements and analyzed the use and power of Satyagraha in Indian context before actively entering into the Indian National Movement.
Few such movements include Kheda Satyagraha, Champaranya Satyagraha. The agitation against the Rowlatte Act of 1918 was the first all-India campaign that he was the part of.
Mohandas K Gandhi was termed as mass psychologist by many political thinkers. He knew the mass psychology very well. He preferred mass movement over individual agitation and also with Ahimsa as it would be difficult for British Government to suppress non-violent mass movement than the individual revolutionists.
Mahatma Gandhi had faith in the Indians as a whole and he was well aware of the power as well as the limitations of the mass movement. He knew when to start and when to stop the mass movement. He followed the policy of "Struggle and Truce" as he was well aware that masses couldn't resist for longer time. They need refreshment, direction. So he preferred to truce over continued struggle.
His "Struggle and Truce" policy was criticized by many Political leaders of the time including Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and also is being criticized even today. But Gandhi was always on his path, learning from mistakes, changing and improving the ability of the masses, he successfully led the Mass Movement to the freedom of India.
He was the leader who wanted true freedom- freedom from British, freedom from slavery, freedom from poverty, freedom from greed. He believed in religion. For him, the Truth was the religion. He was the man who first act and then speak about it.
Gandhi, apart from Indian Freedom Movement, has been inspiration to many Indians in their field of interests. Many politicians all over the world took inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi. These include Nelson Mandela, Barak Obama. The Great scientist of the Twentieth Century, Albert Einstein, once said, "Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth."
Gandhi didn't separated his work from his sayings. Gandhi, like any human being, did many mistakes. But he accepted those mistake with the great heart and learn from those mistakes. He believed that truth can be sought from different ways, viewpoints or angles. He didn't claim that what he said was the only truth. He believed in changing or we can say that updating and modifying his philosophy as he comes to the next level of truth.
M K Gandhi wrote a book called My Experiments With Truth. In this book he wrote how he developed his personality. In this book, he has accepted many of his mistakes and also told what he learned from those mistakes. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi,(Bapu), was the man far ahead of his time. His other books are :
Many authors have written on Gandhi, Gandhian way of Life, Gandhian Economy, Gandhian Philosophy. Few are:
Ramchandra Guha has written books on M K Gandhi and his influence on India. His books are :
- Gandhi: The Years That Changed the World
- India After Gandhi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy
- Gandhi Before India
Louis Fischer has written books on Gandhi. The book are :
There is much more to write about Mahatma Gandhi but it is more better to learn, adopt and follow his teaching in the journey of life.
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This blog was authored by the Admin at Exam Panacea.
