The Philosophy and Life of Mahatma Gandhi - Essay Example

Mahatma Gandhi: A Bibliography Mahatma Karamchand Gandhi is widely considered as Indian independent movement father. Mahatma means great soul. Greatly referred to as “Father of the Nation” or fondly as “Bapu,” he is also called Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi as documented by India National Information Center, NIC (2012). During his 20-year work in South Africa, Gandhi sought to fight against discrimination, creating the concept of Satyagraha, which is a non-violent protest against social injustices. Gandhi’s simple lifestyle, minimal dress and obvious virtue while in India made people closely associate with him even as he fought to redeem India from the British rule and better the lives of poor Indians. Mahatma Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 in a seaside town known as Porbandar to Putlibai, the fourth wife of his father, Karamchand Gandhi. He was born into a caste that is privileged and thus accessed comprehensive education, though Deats and Jegen observe that “he did not do well in school” (2005, 17). His customarily arranged marriage in May 1883 to Katsurba Makhanji, also aged 13, bore them four sons. Despite obtaining admission to Samaldas College of the University of Bombay, Mahatma was not happy at the college, thus his quick acceptance to join the University College of London when the opportunity arose the same year, studying to become a barrister. Mahatma sought to fit into the English society by learning French, polishing his accent, buying new suits, taking up violin and dance classes and the likes. After three months, he found this a waste of money and time and opted drop the effort (Kuhn, 2011). He then seriously focused on his studies, leading a simple lifestyle for the rest of his three-year stay in London. It is during this time that Gandhi also learnt of his passion for vegetarianism. Whereas his Indian counterparts ate meat while in England, he remained a strict vegetarian as he had promised his mother (Martin, 2005). It was in his search for vegetarian food outlets that he found London Vegetarian Society of which he later became a member. The intellectual membership of the society exposed Gandhi to authors like Leo Tolstoy and David Thoreau. Additionally, this society caused Gandhi to read the epic poem with Hindu sacred texts known as Bhagavad Gita. This provided the foundation for his subsequent beliefs. He passed the bar in June 10 1891 and was back to India. In his attempt to practice law. He realized that during trial, he lacked self-confidence and knowledge on Indian law. He was thus grateful for the one-year opportunity accorded to work on a case in South Africa. Gandhi’s Philosophies In spite of the one-year contract, Gandhi spent the next 21 years in South Africa, rallying against social injustices and segregation. This followed his experience with apartheid which brewed activism in him and his attempts to fight against segregation (Kuhn, 2011). This saw him found the Natal Indian Congress, a political movement which fostered non-violent civil protest. He developed this when he returned to India in 1916, making the public aware of oppressive practices in 1918 as largely propagated by the British masters. He promoted the improvement of circumstances for the oppressed villagers leading to peaceful protests and strikes. This saw him become increasingly famous. The philosophy of non-violence by Gandhi promoted social change, not necessarily through force. As quoted by Martin, Gandhi noted that “he who cannot protect himself or his nearest and dearest or their honor by nonviolently facing death may and ought to do so by violently dealing with the oppressor” (2005). Martin (2005) clarifies that from this, Gandhi does not advocate for violence as a measure of last resort but that nonviolence activates the universal humanity spirit in all humans. Nonviolence activates true courage, faithfulness, integrity, loyalty and honor to truth and justice. Whereas use of force could not be prohibited, humans should look forward to gigantic truth, referred to as Satyagraha (NIC, 2012). This would ensure that use of force remains on the minimum necessary. According to Gandhi, legitimate social change in truly democratic societies comes through nonviolence. Additionally, such genuine democracies call for the reduction of the gap between the poor and the rich. In this postulate, Gandhi agrees with the argument by John Dewey, an American philosopher, which postulates that progress in democracy calls for democratization of politics and economic decision-making (Martin, 2005). The Gandhi philosophy appreciated that nonviolent world order is more than just a spiritual commitment but also institutionalized economically and politically. It became apparent from this philosophy that no legitimate democracy needs military apparatus as all democratic legislation could be applied to all individuals and institutions. Gandhi believed that militaries were meant for mass destruction and that democratic world government agents would be equipped in a similar fashion for apprehension of individuals who violate laws of the land (Martin, 2005). The constitution serves as an appropriate framework which parliaments use to determine the allowable weapons. It should, however, propagate the adoption of more nonlethal weapons with the advancement of technology. The constitution should primarily focus on the safety, freedom and security of citizens. Gandhi and Religion The meaning of religion in Hindu has complexities, but Gandhi sough to broaden its meaning to make it more universal. Bergunder refers to his religious ideas as “esoteric” as he believed in the connectivity of every religion with belief systems which were supported by rituals (2014, 398). Thus, Gandhi sought to do away with these rituals as much as possible. He believed in religion as a human institution meant to solve both practical and spiritual issues. According to Gandhi, “no religion represents the full and final truth about the divine, and… each contains moral and spiritual truths and becomes richer through dialogue” (Allen, 2008, 15). He had no definition for religion in definitive or exact language but sought to bring it closer to humans. He criticized the features of the Hindu religion which he deemed oppressive, including aspects of the caste’s chauvinism and intolerance. Therefore, religion was functional to him and an institution which could be misunderstood if one fails to relate it to God. With the increase in his fame, Gandhi also increased his political influence. In 1921, he was the leader of the Indian National Congress, a party he reorganized its constitution to align to the principle of Swaraj, this referring to wholesome political independence from British influence according to NIC (2012). He encouraged the boycotting of British institutions and goods with his propagation of mass civil disobedience leading to his arrest on March 10 1922. He was tried for sedition and served 2 of his 6-year sentence. While in incarceration, the Indian National Congress splintered and Gandhi was largely missing from the public after his February 1924 release from prison. However, he came back four years later in 1928 campaigning for India’s dominion status from the British. He is popularly remembered for leading the famous 250-mile march to the sea so as to collect own salt following the tax introduced on salt by the British in 1930 (Kuhn, 2011). Acknowledging the national political influence that Gandhi had, the British had to negotiate with him on numerous settlements in subsequent years which improved the lives of the untouchables, alleviated poverty and enshrined women rights (NIC, 2012). Ultimately, this saw the attainment of Gandhi’s goal of Swaraj. Gandhi’s End of Life In the course of his life, Gandhi faced six known assassination attempts. According to Kuhn (2011), the first was on June 25 1934 as he delivered a speech in Pune where Kasturba, his wife, was also present. No investigations were conducted for this attempt neither were any arrests made. However, Nathuran Godse, a fundamentalist Hindu against Gandhi’s tolerance for all religions and nonviolence acceptance, was widely linked to the attempt. At the early years of World War II, Gandhi increased his fight for India’s independence from the British. This caused worst of civil uprising through Gandhi’s Quit India Movement leading to his August 9 1942 arrest for which he spent two years at Pune’s Aga Khan Palace. According to Kuhn (2011), three months before he was released, his wife died in the same prison. On release, a second assassination attempt on Gandhi in May 1944 was certainly executed by Nathuran Godse who rushed towards Gandhi wielding a dagger only to be overpowered by worshipers. He was prosecuted. In September 1944, he again led Hindu activists to accost Gandhi at a train station. Though not drawn, the dagger found in his possession made this officially declared the third attempt on Gandhi’s life. The fourth attempt on Gandhi’s life was in form of a plotted train derailment using boulders near Bombay. This being the only train scheduled on the route for that time, it was believed that Gandhi was the target. He however escaped unhurt (Kuhn, 2011). Gandhi was put under pressure to accept the British’s partition of India into Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan. He reluctantly accepted this following the intense pressure on him as a way to avoid civil war, leading to India’s independence on August 15 1947 (Bergunder, 2014). Acknowledging the need for unity, Gandhi forged the unity between Hindus and Muslims. This unity effort however proved to be his undoing. Gandhi promoted the indemnity for lost territories to Pakistan as was dictated by the partition agreement. There was fear that this could be used by Pakistan to amass war arsenal thus opposed by parties in India. However, Kuhn (2011) documents that Gandhi managed to secure this payment which caused a fifth assassination attempt. This time, the bomb that was meant to cause panic and then the shooting of Gandhi went off prematurely and Godse escaped arrest. While on his way for a prayer meeting on January 30 1948 in Delhi, Godse shot Gandhi in the chest three times at close range. The news of Gandhi’s death sparked celebrations in Hindu strongholds as the rest of the world remained horrified by this death of a man who had five times been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. According to Kuhn (2011), Godse did not attempt to flee after the assassination and was arrested, prosecuted and executed on November 15 1949 at Ambala Jail. However, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, a Hindu extremist said to be the architect of the assassination was acquitted as a result of lack of evidence. In accordance to the Hindu custom, Gandhi was cremated and his ashes interred at the Aga Khan’s palace, the same place of his 1942 incarceration and wife’s death. The memorial of Gandhi has the epigraph, “Hé Rām,” which translated means “Oh God,” postulated to be the last words that he said before he died (Deats & Jegen, 2005, 143). The life of Gandhi has remained an inspiration to many, including the 20th Century liberationists Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar, Steve Biko and Nelson Mandela in South Africa and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in America. India celebrates his birthday on October 2 of every year as a national holiday, a date also adopted by the United Nations as the International Day of Nonviolence. References Allen, D. (Ed.). (2008). The philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi for the twenty-first century. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books. Bergunder, M. (2014). Experiments with theosophical truth: Gandhi, esotericism, and global religious history. Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 82 (2), 398 – 426. Deats, R. L. & Jegen, M. (2005). Mahatma Gandhi, nonviolent liberator: A biography. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press. Kuhn, B. (2011). The force born of truth: Mohandas Gandhi and the salt march, India, 1930. Minneapolis, MN: Twenty-First Century Books. Martin, G. T. (2005, February). The philosophy of nonviolence and world revolution through world law. Retrieved 3 June 2014 from http://www.radford.edu/~gmartin/Nonv%20and%20w.g.%20art.htm National Information Center. (2012, December 9). Gandhi Jayanti. Retrieved 4 June 2014 from http://www.archive.india.gov.in/spotlight/spotlight_archive.php?id=49 Read More