Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

My Experiments with Truth.

Part- I Birth & childhood

• Youngest among siblings , born to Putlibhai and Karamchand Gandhi at Porbandhar on October 2nd 1869.

• Growing up with a devout mother and the Jain traditions of the region influenced him.

• Compassion to sentient beings, vegetarianism, fasting for self-purification, and mutual tolerance between individuals of different creeds.

• Inspired by Shravana and Harishchandra

Marriage

• Gandhiji got married at the age of 13 to Kasturba in an arranged child marriage

• Kasturba was illiterate unlike her husband but was an independent girl.

Education

• Gandhi got versed with different religions and had faith in the Ram Raksha

• After passing matriculate exams, Gandhiji went to England for further learning.

Important incidents

• Tragedies came across in friendship, communication and loss of dear ones.• The death of his father and his condition after that.• Out-casted for going to England, took three vows ( not to touch wine, woman and meat) before leaving for England• Nervous about adjusting to the British ways of living as he was not a meat eater or alcoholic. • Religiously followed vegetarianism • Kept a daily log of his expenditure, followed throughout, capable handling of public funds later never leading to any deficit.

Meeting with Dr. Mehta and Jagjivan

• Was shocked to know about his mother’s death • Met Dr.Mehta, who introduced him to Shri. Revashankar

Jagjivan and later to Raychand• Was in awe with Raychand’s his memory feats, his

knowledge about scriptures, burning passion for self realization

Problem in the caste

• The storm in the caste was still brewing over foreign voyage• Caste was divided into 2 groups: - one which readmitted &- other hell bent on keeping Gandhiji out• Gandhiji was taken to Nashik to take bath in the sacred river &

arranged caste dinner• After which he was readmitted to the caste

Shifting to Bombay and return to Rajkot

• Advised to go to Bombay & gain experience of High court• But had to return back because of his incompetency• Upon return, started drafting memorials, earning 300/-• His brother was charged for wrong advice by political

agent• His attempts to solve the issue turned futile• Received an offer to visit South Africa, met Sheth Abdul

Karim

In South Africa

• He was called “coolie barrister” instead of “Indian barrister”• Got Islamic & Christianity knowledge from Abdul & Baker• Studied the condition of Indian settlers deprived of rights• Settled in Natal & formed Natal Indian congress; Made

comparative study of religion• Returned to India after 3 years & prepared green pamphlets• Arranged meeting at Poona & Madras to discuss the issues• Soon with the help of Abdul Karim, returned to SA

Part- II

• The Boer war- Gandhiji had personal sympathy for Boers , but he participated in the defence of British Empire. He set up by organizing 1100 volunteers and served in the Indian Ambulance Corps

• Worked on sanitary reforms and famine relief- undertook house to house inspection during plague in Durban

• Return back to India- he went on a tour of India, traveling in third class compartment of the train in order to study for himself the habits and difficulties of the poor.

• He settles in Bombay for work with his family and moves again to South Africa after receiving a cable for his return.

• The first voyage of family along with Gandhi to south Africa

• He decided to completely dedicate his life to human service.

• He used to attend hospitals daily for two hours to clean the wounds of the patients and even clean toilets

• Gandhiji , even started an improvised school for the children of Satyagrahi parents in South Africa.

• Gandhiji made a thorough learning about Brahmacharya and the concept of moksha

• At this time he developed the concepts of Brahmacharya, Non-violence and Satyagraha which later helped in the battle against British rulers in India.

Part- III

Part IV

Part V

Values of Gandhiji

• He believed that the most important battle to fight was overcoming his own demons, fears, and insecurities.

• Gandhi summarized his beliefs first when he said "God is Truth".

• He would later change this statement to "Truth is God".

• Thus, Satya (Truth) in Gandhi's philosophy is "God".

Truth (Satya)

• The concept of nonviolence and nonresistance has had many revivals in Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Christian contexts.

• Gandhiji explains his philosophy in this book. He was quoted as saying:

• "There are many causes that I am prepared to die for but no causes that I am prepared to kill for."

•

Non – Violence (Ahimsa)

• The idea of vegetarianism is deeply ingrained in Hindu and Jain traditions in India.

• Before leaving for London, Gandhi promised his mother, that he would abstain from eating meat & taking alcohol.

• He wrote the book The Moral Basis of Vegetarianism and wrote several articles on the subject.

• He believed that vegetarianism was the beginning of his deep commitment to Brahmacharya

Vegetarianism

Values of Gandhiji

• Spiritual and practical purity—largely associated with celibacy and asceticism. Gandhiji saw brahmacharya as a means of becoming close with God and as a primary foundation for self realization.

• He mentions his battle against lustful urges and fits of jealousy with his childhood bride, Kasturba.

• He felt it his personal obligation to remain celibate so that he could learn to love, rather than lust. For Gandhi, Brahmacharya meant "control of the senses in thought, word and deed."

Brahmacharya (Self – Discipline)

• Gandhi earnestly believed that a person involved in social service should lead a simple life

• Gandhi spent one day of each week in silence. He believed that abstaining from speaking brought him inner peace.

• This influence was drawn from the Hindu principles of mauna (Sanskrit:मौ�नं� – silence) and shanti (Sanskrit:शां��ति – peace). He dressed to be accepted by the poorest person in India, advocating the use of homespun cloth (khadi).

Simplicity

• Gandhi was born a Hindu and practised Hinduism all his life, deriving most of his principles from Hinduism.

• He believed all religions to be equal, and rejected all efforts to convert him to a different faith.

• Gandhi believed that at the core of every religion was truth and love (compassion, nonviolence and the Golden Rule).

Faith

Values of Gandhiji

• We should not hoard anything that we do not need today. Gandhiji told that, “The less you possess, the less you want, the better you are.

• And better for what? Not for your enjoyment of this life but for enjoyment of personal service to your fellow beings; service to which you dedicate yourself, your body, soul and mind.”

Aparigraha (Non – Possession)

• Gandhiji strongly believed that every person in the world is similar. Nobody is bound by religion or caste

• Because of him, we are now living in the secular country in which every person is free to celebrate his festivals and free to adopt another religion from which he is inspired.

Equality (Sarva Dharma Samanta)

• Gandhiji always wear Swadeshi cloths which were made of ‘Khadi’.

• Gandhiji advocated that one should always buy ‘Swadeshi’ cloths. From that our own country men get more revenue and that will help our country to grow.

Swadeshi (Use Locally Made Goods)