ARTICLES : About Maharma Gandhi

Read articles written by very well-known personalities and eminent authors about their views on Gandhi, Gandhi's works, Gandhian philosophy and it's relevance today.


Gandhi Meditating

ARTICLES


About Gandhi
(Dimension of Gandhi)

  1. Gandhi - An Example in Humility and Service
  2. Gandhi's Model of Masculinity in the Backdrop of Colonial India
  3. From Absolute to the Ordinary
  4. Gandhi and Communication: Respecting One's Feelings and Those of The Other
  5. The Journalist in Gandhi
  6. Gandhi's Last Painful Days
  7. The Mahatma As A Management Guru In The New Millennium
  8. What Champaran gave to Gandhi and India's freedom struggle
  9. MAHATMA GANDHI : A real friend
  10. Gandhi, Parchure and Stigma of leprosy
  11. The woman behind the Mahatma
  12. Reflections on Gandhi
  13. Inspired By Mahatma Gandhi's Autobiography
  14. Mahatma Gandhi
  15. In the Early Days with Gandhi
  16. Gandhi's Human Touch
  17. Using And Abusing Gandhi
  18. Gandhi: The Leader
  19. The Sacred Warrior
  20. Gandhi The Prisoner- A Comparison
  21. Are Gandhi And Ford On The Same Road?
  22. Attack on Gandhi
  23. The Essence of Gandhi
  24. Gandhi's Illustrious Antecedents
  25. Ink Notes
  26. Peerless Communicator
  27. Other Gandhis: Aung San Suu Kyi
  28. Gandhi Through The Eyes of The Gita
  29. Gandhi's Source of Inspiration
  30. Tarring The Mahatma
  31. Gandhi, Globalization, and Quality of Life
  32. Gandhi And Globalisation
  33. Gandhi's Revolutionary Genius
  34. Mahatma Gandhi
  35. Who Is Mahatma?
  36. What I Owe To Mahatma Gandhi
  37. The Gentle Revolutionary
  38. Gandhi: The Practical Idealist
  39. Gandhi & Lenin
  40. A Note on Marxist Interpretation of Gandhi
  41. Gandhiji & The World
  42. Gandhi's Legacy
  43. Gandhi's Epic Fast
  44. Gandhi : The Mahatma
  45. How Gandhi Came To Me?
  46. Gandhian Influence on Indian Writing in English
  47. Rural Myth, Urban Reality
  48. August 15, 1947 - From Bondage To Freedom
  49. Mahatma Gandhi and His Contemporary Artists
  50. Gandhi in The Global Village
  51. The Last Day of Mahatma Gandhi
  52. Gandhi: India and Universalism
  53. Gandhi in Sharper Focus
  54. Gandhi on Corresponding Duties/ Rights
  55. Love for Humanity : A Gandhian View
  56. Gandhiji and The Prophet
  57. Mahatma Gandhi - A Protagonist of Peace
  58. Last Words of Mahatma Gandhi
  59. Lessons for Social Work
  60. Rabindranath Tagore and Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
  61. The Message of Gandhi
  62. Gandhiji's Weeklies : Indian Opinion, Young India, Harijan
  63. M. K. Gandhi- The Student
  64. What Mahatma Gandhi Did To Save Bhagat Singh
  65. How Mahatma Gandhi's martyrdom saved India

Love for Humanity : A Gandhian View

By Dr. Ravindra Kumar

Through the ages, philosophers, scholars and thinkers have been writing about love for fellow beings. But even two of them have not been in unanimity in this regard. Each and every one of them had his own view or definition of love. Karl Marx [1818-1863] and his teacher George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel [1770-1831] had two different views of love. They looked at it with two different angles. Those who are familiar with Hegel's views of love they know how confused he was in this regard? Similarly, Karl Marx, despite infinite love of Johanna Bertha Julie [Jenny: 1814-1881] towards him, defined it in different way.
Besides philosophers and thinkers, the founders, pro-founder and preachers of religious-communities have also talked of love and some of them at length. They have connected it with high moral values like human-unity, service, equality and protection. The name of Jesus Christ, Prophet Muhammad and Guru Nanak Dev can particularly be mentioned in this context. Love and affection to all humanity occupies a unique place in ancient Indian philosophy, spiritual thinking and traditions. It has been defined excellently and matchlessly there. Especially its sensitivity and effects, which besides attracting attention has become a subject of curiosity for so many all over the world, are worth mentioning.
Hence, undoubtedly, love is the vital issue and if we desire to analyze concepts related to it, or explain its effects and experiences, we need to produce volumes and that too with all possibilities of not arriving at any concrete conclusion in this regard. Therefore, accepting effect, importance and vitality of love, if we analyze the issue in hand, it will be appropriate. Like other great men, Mahatma Gandhi also wrote occasionally about love for all human beings. He did not believe in discrimination on grounds of caste, color, creed or religion. To him all humans under the sky are children of God and thus have right to be loved and cared equally. Moreover, in his writings and speeches, he not only discussed it, but, side-by-side mentioned its importance in man's life. In this context in one his inscriptions he went to the extent of saying, "If you want to give a message to the West, it must be the message of love." [Harijan, April 20, 1947]
Although the above short statement of the Mahatma is a part of his speech in the Inter-Asia Relations Conference1, but the way he conveyed the message of love having equality-based teachings of great men and particularly those of pro-founders of various religious-communities was, and is, worth mentioning. He had exhorted people to establish mutual equality by hearts. He had also called the attention of people from the West to connect love with wisdom and argument. His call was a clear expression of his broad-based perception of love.
Not only this, Gandhi's stress on going forward on pathway to love in an atmosphere of mutual respect for each-other's feelings, explicated his desire for certainty of love free from egotism, prejudice and selfishness. He had put forth, 'An atmosphere of mutual respect [of each-other's sentiments] and trust is the first step in this direction.'
Hence, making equality and mutual respect of one-another's sentiments the basis of love, Mahatma Gandhi added a new dimension to its practical aspect, it doesn't matter if we agree to his viewpoint of love or not, or if it seems us significant and important in current perspective or not. Also it doesn't matter if Gandhi's views are considered relevant by us partly only, but, they undoubtedly remind us their minutely study and analysis.
Further, the first aspect of Gandhian concept of love could be traced in its indivisible association with truth. In other words, truth unconditionally pervades in love; therefore, it becomes boundless. To quote Gandhi himself, 'True love is boundless like the ocean and rising and swelling within one spreads itself out and crossing all boundaries and frontiers envelops the whole world.' [Young India, September 9, 1928]
Secondly, love of Gandhi's conception is connected to service. In his own words, 'Service is not possible unless it is rooted in love; in Ahimsa.'
In fact, Gandhi stressed on connecting humility with service. As humility itself is a high moral value and one of the superior characteristics of human beings, it is necessary that in service through humility love for all living beings, and particularly for humanity remains intact. It is also necessary for the reason that sacrifice is inevitable in love; in it priorities remain for others' pleasure and prosperity, even readiness to sacrifice one's life for others. Particularly, in context of humility Mahatma Gandhi has put forth, 'A life of service must be one of humility. He, who would sacrifice his life for others, has hardly time to reserve for himself a place in the sun.'2 [India of My Dreams, page 63]
Thirdly, in Gandhism love is the basis of peace. In other words, pathway to peace goes through love. There is a broad concept in its root and without a doubt it could be connected to Gandhi's commitment to Ahimsa. Moreover, those who are familiar with Gandhi's ideas they well know that he sees Ahimsa in love; for him non-violence and truth are two sides of the same coin, and reaching the truth is the ultimate goal of human life.
Hence, love is the ornament of life and simultaneously an unambiguous and practical way to human unity. Moreover, it is the pathway to peace. That is why; Gandhi has said, 'We shall go from love to love and peace to peace'. For, until at least crores from all the corners of the world are covered with that love and peace for which, the whole world is hungering. [Young India, November 19, 1931]
Hence, love must multiply many folds, because 'love breeds love'; and leads human beings towards their true union.

Dr. Ravindra Kumar is a former vice chancellor of CCS University of Meerut, India.


References:


  1. Held under the chairmanship of Sarojini Naidu in New Delhi in the first week of April, 1947
  2. Clarifying the point Gandhi further said, 'Inertia must not be mistaken for humility as it has been'. True humility means most strenuous ad constant endeavour entirely directed to the service of humanity.