The Mind of Mahatma Gandhi : Compiled & Edited by R.K. Prabhu & U. R. Rao

Part 15 : Orbiter Dicta
XV. ORBITER DICTA SOURCES A An Autobiography or The Story of My Experiments with Truth: M.K. Gandhi : translated from Gujarati by Mahadev Desai :Navajivan Publishing House. Ahmedabad; vol. I, 1927; Vol. II, 1929; edition used: 1959 AA Asia and the Americas: Monthly Magazine published from New York. ABP Amrita Bazar Patrika: English daily published from Calcutta. AG Among the Great: Dilip Kumar Roy; introduction by S. Radhakrishnan; Nalanda Publication, Bombay, 1945; edition used; reprint: Jaico Publications, Bombay, 1950 AOA Ashram Observances in Action: Translated from Gujarati by V.G. Desai ; Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad,1955. BC The Bombay Chroni... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Part 14, Chapter 96 : Brotherhood: The World of Tomorrow
96. THE WORLD OF TOMORROW PERHAPS NEVER before has there been so much speculation about the future as there is today. Will our world always be one of violence? Will there always be poverty, starvation, misery? Will we have a firmer and wide belief in religion, or will the world be godless? If there is to be a great change in society, how will that change be wrought? By war, or revolution? Or will it come peacefully? Different men give different answers to these questions, each man drawing the plan of tomorrow’s world as he hopes and wishes it to be. I answer not only out of belief but out of conviction. The world of tomorrow will be, must be, a society based on nonviolence. That is the first law; out of it all other blessings will flow. It may seem a distant goal, an impractical Utopia. But it is not in the least unobtainable, since it can be worked for here and now. An individual can adopt the way of life of the future-the nonviolent way-without having t... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Part 14, Chapter 95 : Brotherhood: The Way to Peace
95. THE WAY TO PEACE (A) Disarmament I DO suggest that the doctrine [of nonviolence] holds good also as between States and States. I know that I am treading on delicate ground if I refer to the late War. But I fear I must, in order to make the position clear. It was a war of aggrandizement, as if have understood, on either part. It was a war for dividing the spoils of the exploitation of weaker races-otherwise euphemistically called the world commence... It would be found that, before general disarmament in Europe commences, as it must some day unless Europe is to commit suicide, some nation will have to dare to disarm herself and take large risks. The level of nonviolence in that nation, if that every happily comes to pass, will naturally have risen so high as to command universal respect. Her judgments will be unerring, her decision firm, her capacity for heroic self-sacrifice will be great, and she will want to live as much for other nations as for herse... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Part 14, Chapter 94 : Brotherhood: The Atom Bomb
94. THE ATOM BOMB There have been cataclysmic changes in the world. Do I still adhere to my faith in truth and nonviolence? Has not the atom bomb exploded that faith? Not only has it not done so, but it has clearly demonstrated to me that the twins constitute the mightiest force in the world. Before it the atom bomb is of no effect. The two opposing forces are wholly different in kind, the one moral and spiritual, the other physical and material. The one is infinitely superior to the other which by its very nature has an end. The force of the spirit is ever progressive and endless. Its full expression makes it unconquerable in the world. In saying this I know that I have said nothing new. I merely bear witness to the fact. What is more, the force resides in everybody, man, woman and child, irrespective of the color of the skin. Only, in many it lies dormant. But it is capable of being awakened by judicious training. It is further to be observed that, without th... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Part 14, Chapter 93 : Brotherhood: War and Peace
93. WAR AND PEACE My Participation in War EVEN AFTER introspection during all these years, I feel that, in the circumstances in which I found myself, I was bound to adopt the course I did both during the Boer War and the Great European War and, for that matter, the so-called Zulu ‘rebellion’ of Natal in 1906. Life is governed by a multitude of forces. It would be smooth sailing if one could determine the course of one’s actions only be one general principle whose application at a given moment was too obvious to need even a moment’s reflection. But I cannot recall a single act which could be so easily determined. Being a confirmed war resister, I have never given myself training in the use of destructive weapons in spite of opportunities to take such training. It was perhaps thus that I escaped direct destruction of human life. But so long as I lived under a system of Government based on force and voluntarily partook o... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Sarvodaya: This Satanic Civilization
47. THIS SATANIC CIVILIZATION IT IS my firm belief that Europe today represents not the spirit of God or Christianity but the spirit of Satan. And Satan’s successes are the greatest when he appears with the name of God on his lips. Europe is today only nominally Christian. In reality, it is worshiping Mammon. (YI, 8-9-1920, pp. 2–3) I am not aiming at destroying railways or hospitals, though I would certainly welcome their natural destruction. Neither railways nor hospitals are a test of a high and pure civilization. At best they are a necessary evil. Neither adds one inch to the moral stature of a nation. Nor am I aiming at a permanent destruction of law courts, much as I regard it as a ‘consummation devoutly to be wished... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Labor: The Gospel of Bread Labor
VIII. LABOR 40. THE GOSPEL OF BREAD LABOR Divine Law GOD CREATED man to work for his food, and said that those who ate without work were thieves. (YI, 13-10-1921, p. 325) The great Nature has intended us to earn our bread in the sweat of our brow. Every one, therefore, who idles away a single minute becomes to that extent a burden upon his neighbors, and to do so is to commit a breach of the very first lesson of ahimsa. Ahimsa is nothing if not a well-balance, exquisite consideration for one’s neighbor, and an idle man is wanting in that elementary consideration. (YI, 11-4-1929, p. 144–15) The law, that to live man must work, first came home to me upon reading Tolstoy’s writing on bread labor. But, even before that I had b... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Faith: The Gospel of Faith
IV. FAITH 13. THE GOSPEL OF FAITH IT IS faith that steers us through stormy seas, faith that moves mountains and faith that jumps across the ocean. That faith is nothing but a living, wide-awake consciousness of God within. He who has achieved that faith wants nothing. Bodily diseased, he is spiritually healthy; physically poor, he rolls in spiritual riches. (YI, 24-9-1925, p. 331) Without faith this world would come to naught in a moment. True faith is appropriation of the reasoned experience of people whom we believe to have lived a life purified by prayer and penance. Belief, therefore, in prophets or incarnations who have lived in remote ages is not an idle superstition but a satisfaction of an inmost spiritual want. (YI, 14-4-1927, p. ... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Freedom: What Swaraj Means to Me
65. WHAT SWARAJ MEANS TO ME Swaraj for me means freedom for the meanest of our countrymen... I am not interested in freeing India merely from the English yoke. I am bent upon freeing India from any yoke whatsoever. I have no desire to exchange ‘king log for king stork. (YI, 12-6-1924, p. 195) By Swaraj I mean the government of India by the consent of the people as ascertained by the largest number of the adult population, male or female, native-born or domiciled, who have contributed by manual labor to the service of the State and who have taken the trouble of having their names registered as voters. Real Swaraj will come, not by the acquisition of authority by a few, but by the acquisition of the capacity by all to resist authority w... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Freedom: Education
79. EDUCATION THE ANCIENT aphorism, ‘Education is that which liberates’ is a true today as it was before. Education here does not mean mere spiritual knowledge, nor does liberation signify only spiritual liberation after death. Knowledge includes all training that is useful for the service of mankind and liberation means freedom from all manner of servitude even in the present life. Servitude is of two kinds: slavery to domination from outside and to one’s own artificial needs. The knowledge acquired in the pursuit of this ideal alone constitutes true study. (H, 10-3-1946, p. 38) Knowledge of Living Today pure water, good earth, fresh air is unknown to us. We do not know the inestimable value of ether and the sun. If we ma... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)