SECTION I : Selected Letters

Gandhi Letter 45 : To Jamnalal Bajaj1

Sabarmati Central Prison,
Thursday Night,
16th March, 1922

CHI. JAMNALAL,

As I proceed in my search for truth it grows upon me that Truth comprehends everything. It is not in Ahimsa, but Ahimsa is in it. What is perceived by a pure heart and intellect is truth for that moment. Cling to it, and it enables one to reach pure truth. There is no question there of divided duty. But often enough it is difficult to decide what is Ahimsa. For instance, the use of disinfectants is Himsa, and yet we cannot do without it. We have to live a life of Ahimsa in the midst of a world of Himsa, and that is possible only if we cling to truth. That is how I deduce Ahimsa from truth. Out of truth emanate love, tenderness, humility. A votary of truth has to be humble as the dust. His humility increases with his observance of truth. I see this every moment of my life. I have a much vivider sense of Truth and of my own littleness than I had a year ago. The wonderful implication of the great truth 'Brahma Satyam Jaganmithya (Brahma is real, all else unreal) grows on me from day to day. It teaches us patience. This will purge us of harshness and add to our tolerance. It will make us magnify the mole-hills of our errors into mountains and minimize the mountains of others' errors into mole-hills. The body persists because of egoism. The utter extinction of the body of egoism is moksha. He who has achieved this will be the very image of Truth, or one may call it Brahman. Therefore the loving name of God is Dasanudasa (Servant of Servants).
Wife, children, friends, possessions—all should be held subservient to Truth. Each one of these should be sacrificed in the search for truth. Only then can one be a Satyagrahi. I have thrown myself into this movement with a view to making the observance of this principle comparatively easy, and it is with the same object that I do not hesitate to plunge men like you in it. Its outward form is Hind Swaraj. This Swaraj is being delayed because there is yet to be found a Satyagrahi of that type. This, however, need not dismay us. It should spur us on to greater effort.
You have made yourself my fifth son. But I am striving to be worthy. It is not an ordinary responsibility for an adopter. May God help me, and may I be worthy of it in this very life.
Bapuna Ashirvad,

To A Gandhian Capitalist, pp. 49-50

1. Jamnalal Bajaj (1889-1942)—A prominent businessman and industrialist; a close associate of Gandhiji; identified with many of his activities; social worker and philanthropist; treasurer of the Indian National Congress for many years. He chose a life of simplicity despite his wealth; Gandhiji called him his 'fifth son'.