By Angela Govila

“An eye for an eye only leaves the whole world blind”.

I am always startled every time I think of the essence of this statement and of the astounding strength of a simple man who not only transformed himself into the Mahatma, but also helped force the British Empire out of India without firing a single shot. In the military age, he proved that the powerless had power and that force of arms would never prevail against force of spirit. I am talking about Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi; popularly know as Mahatma Gandhi.

India is known to have a rich culture. When the British Empire took control of India in the 17th century, the face of the country changed forever. The atrocities of the British trampled ancient traditions in an attempt to “civilize” the natives of India. As you can well imagine, Indians suffered greatly for hundreds of years. Nobody was able to push the British out of India. This changed when a small man, born on October 2nd, 1869, stood up and said “Enough!” This man became known the world over as Gandhi, the mahatma or “Great Soul” of India.

Gandhi was married at the early age of 13. In 1888, he set sail for England, where he had decided to pursue a degree in law. At the age of 24, this shy young lawyer moved to South Africa with his wife. One incident which had a major impact in his life was when he was thrown out of a first-class railway compartment, though he held a first-class ticket. It was then he learned the terrifying force and fury of European racism, and how far Indians were from being considered as human beings. He assembled the local Indian population and encouraged them to take a closer look at the conditions they were living in. One protest meeting after another led him to gain their confidence. He recognized violence to be a never ending downward spiral for nations. Hence, he organized campaigns of “passive resistance” to protest against mistreatment by whites and finally gained a few civil liberties for Indians which at first seemed impossible. It is in South Africa that he first coined the term “satyagraha” to signify his theory and practice of non-violent resistance.

Gandhi once said, “Truth is my religion and ahimsa is the only way of its realization.” “Satya” which means truth in Sanskrit implies love, and “Agraha” implies firmness. He thus called the Indian movement– Satyagraha– which meant the firmness of truth and love or non-violence. Part of his inspiration for this method came from Russian writer Leo Tolstoy and American writer Henry Thoreau.

After 21 years of practicing law in South Africa he returned to India at the age of 45. To experience the oppressive conditions of villagers, he traveled around in India. He traveled third class in trains frustrated by their rudeness, dirtiness, and ignorance of his fellow passengers. With his continued efforts he learnt to live among the villagers as one of them.

In a meeting with the legendary poet, Rabindra Nath Tagore, he was addressed as Mahatma, “a great soul,” and since then the Indian population called him by that name. Following World War I, he spread his policy of non violence throughout India gaining millions of followers. His interventions earned a considerable reputation, and he rapidly ascended to the helm of national politics.

Many may wonder why he plunged into politics leaving his successful practice. He once stated that he is a seeker of truth and is am impatient to reach self-realization, to attain moksha in this life, to be in the Kingdom of Heaven. He claimed that his national service is part of his training for freeing his soul from the bondage of flesh. Thus he considered his service to be regarded as purely selfish.

Gandhi was powerfully attracted to the texts of the major religious traditions; and it is in London that he was introduced to the Bhagavad Gita -- the religious text of the Hindus. He believed that the killing of man or beast is an unforgivable sin. He taught that the weapon that could be used was the conscience of the aggressor. These teachings have rooted from Hinduism. Hinduism teaches to stay away from temptation through various exercises that test one’s ability to perform a difficult task; this devitalizes a person and causes him to act on a non-violent level. Hence, non violence is, to some degree, in the tradition of Hinduism.

Gandhi himself once stated, “Mere knowledge of right and wrong will not make one fit for salvation…the Gita says: ‘No one has attained his goal without action…’” Acting well on his principles, Gandhi called upon all Indians to engage in non-violent disobedience against the British Government by withdrawing from government jobs, schools, and colleges. The magnitude of this act was seen when many cities were held at a standstill as the governmental system was unable to act. Such was the power of non-violent protest. Gandhi himself was arrested shortly thereafter, tried on charges of sedition, and sentenced to imprisonment for six years. However, owing to his bad health he was released from prison earlier.

Segregation of society was one of his primary concerns. He never accepted the argument that Hindus and Muslims constituted two separate elements in Indian society. Thus, over the following years, he worked hard to preserve Hindu-Muslim relations, and in 1924 he observed, from his prison cell, a 21-day fast when Hindu-Muslim riots broke out at a military barracks on the Northwest. This was to be of his many major public fasts. In 1939 after At the age of 63, this frail man with the strength of changing the fate of a country commenced the so-called Epic Fast—fast unto death, The reason — he did not want separate electorates for the oppressed class of what were then called untouchables and wanted to prevent permanent divisions within Hindu society.

On 15th August 1947, India finally gained freedom from 200 years of British rule. The Gandhian principles had won! Alas Gandhiji was not happy with the partition of India and Pakistan and this broke this tore him apart.He himself called this day as a “spiritual tragedy” and spend it fasting.

On January 30,1948 Gandhi woke up at his usual hour, 3:30 a.m. The day passed as usual, starting with morning prayers, then onto answering letters, meeting people, and so on. At around, 4:30 p.m. on his way to the prayer meetings, a stocky young man in a khaki bush jacket pushed through the crowd, and when he was directly in front of Gandhi, he fired three shots into the Mahatma at point-blank range. The Mahatma’s hands folded in friendly greeting, descended slowly. “Hey Ram” (Oh God) he murmured, and sighed softly as the frail body slumped to the ground. And as Jawarlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, said  “The light has gone out of our lives and there is darkness everywhere…”

Even though he is gone, Gandhi’s principles and spirit lives on. His influence certainly spreads the globe. In India, he is rightly called the Father of Nation. Without him, the Indians might still be held under British rule. Without him, many might not have been inspired to fight racism or imperialism non-violently.

In the words of Albert Einstein, all I would like to say is “Generations to come, it may be, will scarcely believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth”.