Notes about Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi
Mohandas Gandhi was born in 1869 into the top caste – his father was a prime minister in the prince’s court.
A college drop-out, Gandhi decided to study law abroad, in London. To feel more secure about being in a foreign land, Gandhi transformed himself into an English gentleman.
Despite his fancy rooms and impeccable English, Gandhi felt inauthentic and unhappy; his inner and outer selves were so different. He decided to give up privileges and live more simply. He became more self-reliant and happy. After he passed his law exams, he sailed home to India.
Gandhi decided to practice law in South Africa, where he experienced racism firsthand from white South Africans. Rather than quit the work and leave, Gandhi decided to change himself. He viewed every difficulty as an opportunity for service to others.
One of these “difficult opportunities” happened on a train where Gandhi was traveling first-class. A white male passenger demanded Gandhi sit third-class. When Gandhi refused, he was thrown off the train by a steward in the middle of nowhere on a cold night.
This experience inspired his theory of satyagraha, or peaceful resistance. Gandhi vowed to never give in to or use violence on others, and dedicated his life to bringing the peace of Moksha, or Heaven, to Earth.
The first nonviolence movement Gandhi led was in response to South Africa’s “Black Act,” which deprived black and Indian people of their civil rights. Over 500 people participated.
Gandhi and his followers continued to work for the rights of minorities in South Africa, doing legal work for free, and nursing this sick (such “dirty” work was normally done by Untouchables). Gandhi believed in the brotherhood of all mankind, regardless of caste. He said, “The whole world is my family.”
Gandhi brought his wife and four sons back to India in 1915 and began the struggle for India’s independence. He wanted to free India from British rule (India was Britain’s colony), and banish the prejudiced caste system that put untouchables in such poor favor. Gandhi explained that everyone is “children of God.”
By spreading his tactic of satyagraha (non-violent protest), Gandhi encouraged people to spin their own cloth so that they wouldn’t have to purchase British-made cloth. This white homespun cloth was called Kadhi. It was worn by millions of people and became the symbol of Indian independence.
Britain was furious about India’s noncooperation, and, in 1919, killed 379 Indians and wounded more than 1000 in the Amritsar massacre.
Gandhi applied his principle of satyagraha (peaceful protest) and got the entire country of India to basically shut down.
In 1922, Gandhi was imprisioned for preaching satyagraha, for defying British rule, and writing anti-British pamphlets. He was in prison for two years, but followers continuted to engage in peaceful protests.
Another instance of satyagraha was the salt march in 1930, where Gandhi led hundreds of thousands of marchers 200 miles to pick up a pinch of salt, a response to the British law that forbade Indians from making their own salt.
Mohandas was renamed “Mahatma,” which means “great soul.”
Gandhi was imprisoned for this act, and decided to protest his incarceration by going on a hunger strike. Britain did not want to be responsible for the death of such a beloved and famous man, and reluctantly agreed to a pact that protected the civil rights of Untouchables on the sixth day of Gandhi’s fast.
During WWII, Indians of Hindu faith and Indians of Muslim faith began a civil war over differences of culture and religion, which resulted in massacres, bloodshed, and destruction. Gandhi continued to practice satyagraha by walking barefoot through ravaged villages, preaching nonviolence.
On August 12, 1947, India finally won its independence from British rule. But India was divided into two separate countries: Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan.
Gandhi did not celebrate this independence, but went on a fast to remind Hindus and Muslims of the importance of showing understanding for each others’ beliefs. Gandhi almost died during this fast. Peace between the two religions was not to be.
In 1948, Gandhi was shot in the heart while walking to a prayer meeting. His last words were “I forgive you, I love you, I bless you.” Gandhi was cremated in New Delhi, and his ashes were spread at the junction of three holy rivers in India.
His followers are sure that he led a life so pure that his atman was freed from the cycle of samsara (reincarnation) and attained Moksha, the ultimate state of changeless bliss.