I.D SONI
When the news travelled to people that the great-soul Gandhi had passed on, they said to themselves, “Be still, our heart! Be still and listen!” They listened! The very vacant space had become vocal, it said to them, “There is no death to him who knows the meaning of Death!” Death doth not touch Gandhi. For he hath known the meaning of life: he hath known the meaning of death.
We are with them this morning to lay in sacred memory a few flowers of our love. They speak of him as Mahatma Gandhi: They speak of him as the “Father of the Nation”. And we know in other ways, too, have many spoken of this great one. We love to call him “Brother”! Brother Gandhi! A brother is a burden bearer. And Brother Gandhi had borne the burden of millions. In one of his books he says, “I would rather be torn to pieces than disown my brothers and sisters in suffering and pain!”
Brotherhood of Man- this is what we have forgotten, and so we find today peoples fighting one another, and nation, alike in East and West, still travelling along the path of violence and war. The great message of peace, of love, of fellowship, of brotherhood is the piteous need of all the nations: is it not, our piteous need in this country? In his heart burned a Flame: How many sleepless hours did he not spend thinking of the deep tragedy of India! The tragedy of the nation once mighty, now in poverty entered as an iron in his soul. There was sadness in his beautiful smile. As he went from place to place preaching his Gospel, they thought of the Man with a Lantern in the story. The man went from place to place lighting up dark corners and saying to everyone, “Where art thou?” And as they heard his voice, one by one they answered, “I am here”, and one by one they rose to follow the light. As Mahatma Gandhi moved from place to place, many awoke from their ease and indifference and followed the light. With a frail body but with truth and Love in his heart, Gandhi ji went from place to place to spread the message.
I personally salute Gandhi ji as a servant of the poor, as a brother of the poor, as a lover of the poor, as a devotee of the poor, oh! As a worshipper of the poor. The key-note to his wonderful life, a life of heroic deeds, of heroic achievements, of heroic aspirations, of heroic attainments, the secret of his life is his spirit of seva, the spirit of service and sacrifice. Gandhi ji’s has been a dedicated life, a life dedicated to the service of the poor, this martyred man, adored by millions, gives us the mantra of sacrifice. This prophet of peace had to spend years within the area of challenge and storm. But his life never failed to bear witness to that new freedom which is fellowship with the poor and oppressed. In the day we have in our hearts the humility and love which may make us true brothers of the Poor, in that day will India achieve her true freedom. The coming religion is worship of the poor. Mahatma Gandhi ji was a witness to that Religion. Therefore, God gave him the great leadership of the people. As we think of him this day, Our thoughts move out in the “Rebels” of Humanity, and we whisper to ourselves their message: ” Blessed are the crucified; for they shall emancipate the Nations”.
Religion, to Gandhi ji, was not creed but right life- a life of sympathy and love, of fellowship with the poor. His leadership was deeply rooted in his life. He bore witness to the spiritual values of India’s ancient heritage. His life reflected reverence for God and for all prophets and saints, and love for all creatures- men and birds and beasts. His life reflected the spiritual outlook which, indeed, was ever a mark of India’s saints. The difference between his outlook and that of communism was significant. Gandhi could sacrifice all but not his spiritual outlook; the communist would sacrifice all but not his power. As the years passed, Gandhi ji felt, more and more, that life’s true joy is not in earthly honours, and “greatness”, but in pursuit of the “little way”. To seek “greatness” is to run after the shadow-shapes which come and go.
To him, India was not a country apart, but a part of humanity. On one occasion, Gandhi ji spoke the following significant words. He said, my idea of Nationalism is that my country may become free and, if need be, the whole of my country may die, if only the human race may live”. To Gandhi ji, India was a part of humanity. Gandhi ji was filled, through and through, with Gita’s ideal of lokasangraha. ‘Sangraha’ means ‘welfare’. ‘Loka’ means ‘the world’, ‘humanity’. The welfare of humanity Gandhi ji sought: the welfare of humanity is what Gandhi ji worked for. This concept Gandhi ji never forgot. On one occasion, Gandhi ji said, “I am wedded to India, because I believe that India has a mission for the world”.
Himself a servant of all, he wanted India to be a servant of humanity. The idea of exploitation, of one nation dominating another was alien to Gandhi ji’s nature. For Gandhi ji stood for the great ideal of lokasangraha, of seva, services. He lived for humanity and died for humanity. Gandhi ji awakened millions- in a quiet way. Everything truly great is a quiet thing. Institutions may rise and fall. Kingdoms make noise, crush and crash noise. But the quiet power of this singular man- a hero of the silent way- continues calling attention, and moves on from strength to strength. In this tumultuous age, Gandhi ji’s faith in the one Divine Spirit was wonderful. Many deny Him, but Gandhi ji raised his voice to rebuke the sceptic and the scoffer. Gandhi ji reproclaimed the ancient message, “His Name, who can name? He is A-nama. The unnamable. Yet I believe in Him! My brother! You dare not silence the heart!” The Earth and the great stars proclaim Him as the immortal! Look within your heart and see the Eternal secret within you.
Among the pictures drawn from the lives of the truly great ones of humanity, there be three on which our thoughts have rested, from time to time, in the chaos and conflict of these days. One is the picture of Krishna wiping the tears of an outcast women, saying to her, “Weep not, my child! I am with thee.” The second is the picture of Jesus on the cross, crying: “Eloi! Eloi!” “My God! My God!” The third is the picture of Gandhi struck by the bullets of an Indian brother and, while falling backward, mortally hurt, quietly praying the mystic word of the ancient Rishi, “Hey Rama! Hey Rama!” “O Rama! O Rama!” When, on that fateful thirtieth day of January, 1948, the news of his martyrdom travelled far and wide in every corner of this great country, everyone felt sad. Gandhi ji served India and clung in faith and reverence to the lord of love.
Gandhi ji was a brother to all. He never thought of the sins of the people who worked against him. A rich lawyer with an income of ten to twelve thousand rupees, he renounced everything to take up the cause of the poor. He became an advocate of the poor people. Gandhi ji became poor for the sake of the poor. Like saint Francis of Assisi, he embraced poverty in order to serve the people.
Gandhi ji saw the village-folk ill-fed, ill-clad, malaria-ridden, fear-ridden; he saw the village-folk dying! They are dying at this hour, too. Gandhi ji was a brother of the poor and lowly, of the outcaste and the untouchables, not in words but in deeds of life. On one occasion he said, ‘If’ after death, I am to be re-born, I should wish to be one of the Untouchables, so that I may share their sorrows and serve them.” What love in the heart of this man of God, this servant of humanity, this mighty interpreter and exemplifier of India’s true spiritual culture, which most of us are forgetting today!
It seems to us that Mahatma Gandhi is a voice of God to the modern world. To India and other nations of the East, to India and all the wandering peoples of the West- wandering from violence to violence-Beloved Gandhi ji gave the message which is Anicent India’s message to the modern world. The message was a call to New Freedom! And the call come from the depths of a dedicated heart, “O children of God! You cannot build a welfare state, until you cultivate the soul!” May we not say that in the kingdom of free India there should be no aliens? And yet, and yet, the thought has come to us painfully, again and again in this Free India, we feel that we are alien! Let us shake hands of fellowship and brotherhood, one with the other. Let us strive to understand the life and teaching of Brother Gandhi. He was a true brother: therefore is he a Mahatma, a great soul. He was a true brother: therefore is he become one of the shining lights of the humanity. And the light of his life, the light of love, shall, grow from more to more in the coming days. It seems to us that Gandhi ji is a voice of God to the modern world: say not Gandhi is dead.” Our aching eyes behold the tragedy of the East and West and we exclaim: “Beloved Gandhi! India hath need of thee! And the world hath need of thee!”
(The writer is President, Home of Aged & Infirm, Ambphalla, Jammu)
