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.)

Freedom: Foreign Settlements in India
69. FOREIGN SETTLEMENTS IN INDIA (a) GOA Time for Change THE LITTLE Portuguese Settlement which merely exists on the sufferance of the British Government can ill afford to ape its bad manners. In free India, Goa cannot be allowed to exist as a separate entity in opposition to the laws of the free State. Without a shot being fired, the people of Goa will be able to claim and receive the rights of citizenship of the free State. The present Portuguese Government will no longer be able to rely upon the protection of British arms to isolate and keep under subjection the inhabitants of Goa against their will. I would venture to advise the Portuguese Government of Goa to recognize the signs of the times and come to honorable terms with the inhabit... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Faith: All-embracing
17. MY HINDUISM IS NOT EXCLUSIVE All-embracing FOR ME Hinduism is all-sufficing. Every variety of belief finds protection under its ample folk. (SW, p329) I can no more describe my feelings for Hinduism than for my own wife. She moves me as no other woman in the world can. Not that she has no faults; I dare say she has many more than I see myself. But the feeling of an indescribable bond is there. Even so I feel for and about Hinduism with all its faults and limitations. (YI, 6-10-1921, p318) ...Hinduism is not an exclusive religion. In it there is room for the worship of all the prophets in the world. It is not a missionary religion in the ordinary sense of the term. It has no doubt absorbed many tribes in its fold, but this absorption has... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Labor: Strikes: Legitimate and Illegitimate
42. STRIKES : LEGITIMATE AND ILLEGITIMATE Arbitration First I KNOW that strikes are an inherent right of the working men for the purpose of securing justice, but they must be considered a crime immediately the capitalists accept the principle of arbitration. (YI, 5-5-1920, p. 6) Strikes and Politics Strikes are the order of the day. They are a symptom of the existing unrest. All kinds of vague ideas are floating in the air. A vague hope inspires all, and great will be the disappointment if that vague hope does not take definite shape. The labor world in the India, as elsewhere, is at the mercy of those who set up as advisers and guides. The latter are not always scrupulous, and not always wise even when they are scrupulous. The laborers are... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Freedom: All-Round Village Service
77. ALL-ROUND VILLAGE SERVICE THE REAL India lies in the 7,00,000 villages. If Indian civilization is to make its full contribution to the building up of a stable world order, it is this vast mass of humanity that has….to be made to live again. (H, 27-4-1947, p. 122) We have to tackle the triple malady which holds our villages fast in its grip: (I) want of corporate sanitation; (ii) deficient diet; (iii) inertia ... They [villagers] are not interested in their own welfare. They don’t appreciate modern sanitary methods. They don’t want to exert themselves beyond scratching their farms or doing such labor as they are used to. These difficulties are real and serious. But they must not baffle us… We must have an unquen... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Faith: The Meaning of God
14. THE MEANING OF GOD Law-giver and Law GOD MAY be called by any other name so long as it connotes the living Law of Life-in other words, the Law and the Law-giver rolled into one. (H, 14-4-1946, p80) God Himself is both the Law and the Law-giver. The question of anyone creating Him, therefore, does not arise, least of all by an insignificant creature such as man. Man can build a dam, but he cannot create a river. He can manufacture a chair, but it is beyond him to make the wood. He can, however, picture God in his mind in many ways. But how can man who is unable to create even a river or wood create God? That God has created man is, therefore, the pure truth. The contrary is an illusion. However, anyone may, if he likes, say that God is n... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)