Shortly after the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, around 1948 or 1949, Srila Prabhupada wrote an essay titled Interpretation of the Bhagavad-gita. During this period there were funds being collected for a memorial to honor Gandhi, and there were many opinions as to what the best use of the funds would be. Srila Prabhupada seized upon this situation, as always, to present pure Krishna consciousness. He identified Gandhi with the teachings of the Bhagavad-gita and said, “If you really want to honor Gandhi don’t make some big material arrangement, a hospital or a big statue of him, but spread the teachings of Bhagavad-gita which he stood for.”
Letter to: Gandhi Memorial Fund
Calcutta
5 July, 1949
The Secretary
The Board of Trustees of Mahatma Gandhi Memorial National Fund,
New Delhi.
Dear Sir,
With reference to the invitation issued by your Board, for suggestions for the administration of the Fund, I beg to inform that Gandhiji's memorial can fittingly be perpetuated by a continued effort to keep in motion his spiritual movements. I beg to suggest most humbly to your board that Gandhiji, minus his spiritual activities, is an ordinary politician. The Congress institution is already in the waning for neglecting Gandhiji's spiritual movement which was the main pillar of his universal popularity. By claiming the Indian state as secular we should not sacrifice Gandhiji's spiritual movement which is different from communal religiosity. You may do everything for commemorating his memory living but if you do not accelerate his spiritual movement, his memory will be soon as dead as has been the lot of other politicians.
Mahatma Gandhi, although he was always busy with his political activities, never missed to attend to his daily prayer meetings in the evening. This rule he observed punctually even a few seconds before his assassination. To give a fitting memorial to Mahatma Gandhi we must follow and propagate this particular line of spiritual activities and must daily read a chapter from Bhagavad-gita in congregation. Bhagavad-gita is the world recognized philosophy of Indian culture and the favorite scripture of Mahatma Gandhi. He was a great follower of this great philosophy like other great saints and he was therefore a great devotee of Rama and Krishna and for this only he was raised to such an exalted position of a saint amongst the statesmen during his very life time. The Gandhi Memorial National Fund should be utilized for training up the people in general in this line of daily prayer in different places of Gandhi memorial buildings and other similar important places. Such qualities being developed, people in general will give up the habit of imitating others but they will live and act freely, boldly and rightly like Mahatma Gandhi and that will bring real freedom of life, individually or collectively.
By all the above processes Mahatma Gandhi wanted to establish a greater human society. His idea of a casteless society could only be given a shape under the guidance of the principles of Bhagavad-gita…The Bhagavad-gita gives a clear idea of doing this work and the Gandhi Memorial Fund should be utilized mainly for this purpose.
Gandhi’s Social and Spiritual Upliftment through Bhagavad-gita
Leaving aside all his other activities in the political field, the following principles which he adopted sincerely in his mature old age, are in essence derived from the teachings of Bhagavad-gita for practical application in the matter of social and spiritual upliftment of the present order of things. They are as follows:
1. Leaders and politicians may take lessons from the life of Mahatma Gandhi, who was undoubtedly a great and busy politician, with respect to his daily evening prayer meeting and regular recitation of the text of Bhagavad-gita. He followed this principle of life most faithfully, even up to the last moment of his lamented life. People in general and the leaders in particular, may follow the footprints of Mahatma Gandhi, if they at all want to do some good to their followers. Such regular habit of reciting the reading of the Bhagavad-gita makes one able to get rid of the demoniac way of life and gradually rise up to the plane of pure devotional life of the god. When such devotional life is enriched by recitation of Bhagavad-gita, all the good qualities of the god automatically overcome the reciter without any extraneous effort on his part. Those who have developed such existence of life, generally known as spiritual life, are called Mahatmas in the language of Bhagavad-gita.
2. The temple entry movement of Mahatma Gandhi is another attempt to deliver people in general from spiritual degradation, and by such movement, the mass of people can be saved from gliding down to the lowest status of demoniac life. Even when he was at Noakhali during the dark hours of the partition days, he never hesitated to reinstall the deities of Radha and Krishna, and by such examples, he had done immense good for the people in general. Leaders and politicians may take lessons from this particular incidence of his life. It may be said in this connection that there are thousands and thousands of Vishnu temples all over India. And these temples were originally meant for enlightening the mass of people in spiritual values so that they can live in peace and harmony with higher aim of life.
3. Mahatma Gandhi started the Harijan movement in order to raise the status of the fallen people either by social injustice or otherwise. But such pious movement may not be restricted only amongst the Bhangis and Chamars who are proclaimed as such for their unclean habits or in some cases by social injustice, but such movement may be extended amongst those, whose mentality is more degraded than the lowest of the Bhangis and Chamars. Harijan means the associate of God Himself. People who are of the mentality of Chamars and Bhangis both in habit and dealings can never be promoted to the position of Harijans unless and until such persons are helped to go up to the place of the Harijans by the approved method of rules made by actual Harijans such as Arjuna, Prahlada, Dhruva Maharaja, Yamaraja, Bhishma, Janaka, Narada, etc. There is no bar for anyone to rise up to the position of Harijan, and this is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita.
2. The temple entry movement of Mahatma Gandhi is another attempt to deliver people in general from spiritual degradation, and by such movement, the mass of people can be saved from gliding down to the lowest status of demoniac life. Even when he was at Noakhali during the dark hours of the partition days, he never hesitated to reinstall the deities of Radha and Krishna, and by such examples, he had done immense good for the people in general. Leaders and politicians may take lessons from this particular incidence of his life. It may be said in this connection that there are thousands and thousands of Vishnu temples all over India. And these temples were originally meant for enlightening the mass of people in spiritual values so that they can live in peace and harmony with higher aim of life.
3. Mahatma Gandhi started the Harijan movement in order to raise the status of the fallen people either by social injustice or otherwise. But such pious movement may not be restricted only amongst the Bhangis and Chamars who are proclaimed as such for their unclean habits or in some cases by social injustice, but such movement may be extended amongst those, whose mentality is more degraded than the lowest of the Bhangis and Chamars. Harijan means the associate of God Himself. People who are of the mentality of Chamars and Bhangis both in habit and dealings can never be promoted to the position of Harijans unless and until such persons are helped to go up to the place of the Harijans by the approved method of rules made by actual Harijans such as Arjuna, Prahlada, Dhruva Maharaja, Yamaraja, Bhishma, Janaka, Narada, etc. There is no bar for anyone to rise up to the position of Harijan, and this is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita.
Mahatma Gandhi strictly followed the four primary principles necessary for the public leader, brahmana, king, and the transcendentalist and they are as follows:
1. Not to associate illegitimately with women.
2. Refrain from animal slaughter.
3. Refrain from intoxication including drinking of tea and smoking of cigarettes.
4. To act not on speculative and gambling enterprises.
2. Refrain from animal slaughter.
3. Refrain from intoxication including drinking of tea and smoking of cigarettes.
4. To act not on speculative and gambling enterprises.
Unfortunately many of the so-called followers of Mahatma Gandhi are positively addicted to all the above mentioned four principles of immoral habits and still they are passing as the disciples of Mahatma Gandhi.
As one Englishman had said of Mahatma Gandhi, "He is either a saint amongst the politicians or a politician amongst the saints."
As one Englishman had said of Mahatma Gandhi, "He is either a saint amongst the politicians or a politician amongst the saints."
According to the highest authority Lord Krishna, Mahatma is He, who has taken shelter of Krishna cent per cent!
Visit ISKCON Bangalore Websites:
No comments:
Post a Comment