''The Story of My Experiments with Truth'' ( gu, Satya Na Prayogo athva Atmakatha, ) is the autobiography of
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
, covering his life from early childhood through to 1921. It was written in weekly installments and published in his journal ''Navjivan'' from 1925 to 1929. Its English translation also appeared in installments in his other journal ''
Young India
''Young India'' was a weekly paper or journal in English founded by Lala Lajpat Rai in 1916 and later published by Mahatma Gandhi. Through this work, Mahatma Gandhi desired to popularise India's demand of self-government or Swaraj.
It was publi ...
''.
It was initiated at the insistence of
Swami Anand and other close co-workers of Gandhi, who encouraged him to explain the background of his public campaigns. In 1998, the book was designated as one of the "100 Best Spiritual Books of the 20th Century" by a committee of global spiritual and religious authorities.
Starting with his birth and parentage, Gandhi has given reminiscences of childhood,
child marriage
Child marriage is a marriage or similar union, formal or informal, between a child under a certain age – typically 18 years – and an adult or another child.
*
*
*
* The vast majority of child marriages are between a female child and a ma ...
, relation with his wife and parents, experiences at the school, his study tour to London, efforts to be like the English gentleman, experiments in dietetics, his going to
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
, his experiences of colour prejudice, his quest for ''
dharma
Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for '' ...
'', social work in Africa, return to India, his slow and steady work for political awakening and social activities.
The book ends abruptly after a discussion of the Nagpur session of the Indian National Congress in 1915.
Background
In the early 1920s Gandhi led several civil disobedience campaigns. Despite his intention that they be peaceful, on several occasions, incidents of violence broke out. The colonial authorities charged him in 1922 with incitement, and specifically of stirring up hatred against the government, and, the result was a six year term of imprisonment. He served only two years, being released early on the grounds of ill health. Soon after, in the winter of 1925 at 56, Gandhi began writing his autobiography, on the example set by
Swami Anand. He serialized it in his own weekly ''
Navajivan'' (lit. ''New Life''). The autobiography was completed in February 1929.
Publication history
In the book's preface, Gandhi recalled that he had actually undertaken to sketch out his autobiography as early as 1921 but had to set the work aside due to his political engagements. He took on the labour, he informs us after his fellow workers had expressed a desire that he tell them something about his background and life. Initially he refused to adopt a book format, but then agreed to write it in a serialized form with individual chapters to be published weekly.
The autobiography was written and serialized over the period from 25 November 1925 to 3 February 1929 in 166 installments, which appeared in ''Navajivan''. The corresponding English translations were printed in ''
Young India
''Young India'' was a weekly paper or journal in English founded by Lala Lajpat Rai in 1916 and later published by Mahatma Gandhi. Through this work, Mahatma Gandhi desired to popularise India's demand of self-government or Swaraj.
It was publi ...
'', and reprinted in ''
Indian Opinion
The ''Indian Opinion'' was a newspaper established by Indian lawyer and future anti-colonial activist M. K. Gandhi (later known as the Mahatma). The publication was an important tool for the political movement led by Gandhi and the Natal Indian ...
'' in South Africa, and in the American journal ''Unity''. The
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
translation was published almost simultaneously in the Hindi edition of ''Navajivan''.
The original Gujarati version was published as the ''Satya Na Prayogo'' (lit. ''Experiments with Truth''), bearing the subtitle, ''Atmakatha'' (lit. ''The Story of a Soul''). The English version, ''An Autobiography'', bore the subtitle, ''Experiments with Truth''.
In the preface, Gandhi states:
It is not my purpose to attempt a real autobiography. I simply want to tell the story of my experiments with truth, and as my life consist of nothing but experiments, it is true that the story will take the shape of an autobiography. But I shall not mind if every page of it speaks only of my experiments.
''The Story of My Experiments with Truth'' was first published in the United States in 1948 by Public Affairs Press of Washington, D.C.
Contents
The introduction announces a pact he made with his readership, explaining both the circumstances behind, and the motivations for, his drafting the book. There follows a chronologically structured sequence beginning with a genealogical account of his parental background. He then explores memories of his childhood and youth, his time in South Africa, followed by a narration of the activities he engaged in after his return to India. The story stops abruptly in 1921, four years before he began to compose the autobiography. The final chapter deals with the meeting of the Indian National Congress at
Nagpur
Nagpur (pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, aːɡpuːɾ is the third largest city and the winter capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the 13th largest city in India by population and according to an Oxford's Economics report, Nag ...
and his rejection of the public acclaim he had received.
The book relates how Gandhi experimented on himself as he pursued his search for truth, truth being for him a synonym for God.
Summary
Translator's preface
This section is written by
Mahadev Desai
Mahadev Haribhai Desai (1 January 1892 – 15 August 1942) was an Indian independence activist, scholar and writer best remembered as Mahatma Gandhi's personal secretary. He has variously been described as "Gandhi's Boswell, a Plato to G ...
who translated the book from
Gujarati
Gujarati may refer to:
* something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India
* Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat
* Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them
* Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...
to English. In this preface Desai notes that the book was originally published in two volumes, the first in 1927 and second in 1929. He also mentions that the original was priced at 1 rupee and had a run of five editions by the time of the writing of his preface. 50,000 copies had been sold in Gujarati but since the English edition was expensive it prevented Indians from purchasing it. Desai notes the need to bring out a cheaper English version. He also mentions that the translation has been revised by an English scholar who did not want his name to be published. Chapters XXIX–XLIII of Part V were translated by Desai's friend and colleague
Pyarelal Nayyar.
Introduction
The introduction is officially written by Gandhi himself mentioning how he has resumed writing his autobiography at the insistence of Jeramdas, a fellow prisoner in
Yerwada Central Jail
Yerwada Central Jail is a noted high-security prison in Yerwada, Pune in Maharashtra. This is the largest prison in the state of Maharashtra, and also one of the largest prisons in South Asia, housing over 5,000 prisoners (2017) spread over var ...
with him. He mulls over the question a friend asked him about writing an autobiography, deeming it a Western practice, something "nobody does in the east".
Gandhi himself agrees that his thoughts might change later in life but the purpose of his story is just to narrate his experiments with truth in life.
He also says that through this book he wishes to narrate his spiritual and moral experiments rather than political.
Part I
The first part narrates incidents of Gandhi's childhood, his experiments with eating meat, smoking, drinking, stealing and subsequent atonement. There are two texts that had a lasting influence on Gandhi, both of which he read in childhood. He records the profound impact of the play ''
Harishchandra
Harishchandra () is a legendary king of the Solar dynasty, who appears in several legends in texts such as the ''Aitareya Brahmana'', ''Mahabharata'', the ''Markandeya Purana'', and the ''Devi Bhagavata Purana''. The most famous of these storie ...
'' and says,"I read it with intense interest...It haunted me and I must have acted Harishchandra to myself times without number." Another text he mentions reading that deeply affected him was ''Shravana Pitrabhakti Nataka'', a play about
Shravan
Shravana Kumara () is a character mentioned in the ancient Hindu text ''Ramayana.'' He is best known for his filial piety towards his parents. He was killed accidentally by Prince Dasharatha.
Life
Shravana Kumara's parents, Shantanu and Gyanvan ...
's devotion to his parents. Gandhi got married at the age of 13.
In his words, "It is my painful duty to have to record here my marriage at the age of thirteen...I can see no moral argument in support of such a preposterously early marriage." Another important event documented in this part is the demise of Gandhi's father Karamchand Gandhi. Gandhi wrote the book to deal with his experiment for truth. His disdain for physical training at school, particularly gymnastics has also been written about in this part.
Part II
The second part of the book details Gandhi's experiences in the
Cape Colony
The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when i ...
during a period of tension between the different ethnic groups in the region. The Cape Colony was dominated by
British South Africans, while the neighboring
Orange Free State
The Orange Free State ( nl, Oranje Vrijstaat; af, Oranje-Vrystaat;) was an independent Boer sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeat ...
and
Transvaal Republic
The South African Republic ( nl, Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, abbreviated ZAR; af, Suid-Afrikaanse Republiek), also known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer Republic in Southern Africa which existed from 1852 to 1902, when it ...
were established by
Boers
Boers ( ; af, Boere ()) are the descendants of the Dutch-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled this area ...
, white settlers of Dutch descent who had migrated away from the Cape Colony further north in the early 19th century and established the two independent republics. Gandhi detailed the antagonistic relationships between the two
Afrikaner
Afrikaners () are a South African ethnic group descended from Free Burghers, predominantly Dutch settlers first arriving at the Cape of Good Hope in the 17th and 18th centuries.Entry: Cape Colony. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 4 Part 2: ...
republics and the Cape Colony along with his experiences of being
racially discriminated while in Africa. Indians had been
migrating to South Africa for decades to work on coffee and sugar plantations, and while they did not experience as much discrimination as the
Black population did, numerous discriminatory legislation had been put into place, effectively transforming Indian migrants into second-class citizens. Gandhi repeatedly experienced the sting of humiliation during his long African sojourn. The incident at Maritzburg, where Gandhi was thrown off the train has become justly famous. When Gandhi, as a matter of principle, refused to leave the first class compartment, he was thrown off the train. Later, Gandhi also had difficulty being admitted to hotels, and saw that his fellow-Indians, who were mostly manual laborers, experienced even more unjust treatment.
Very soon after his arrival, Gandhi's initial bafflement and indignation at discriminatory policies turned into a growing sense of outrage and propelled him into assuming a position as a public figure at the assembly of Transvaal Indians, where he delivered his first speech urging Indians not to accept inequality but instead to unite, work hard, learn English and observe clean living habits. Although Gandhi's legal work soon start to keep him busy, he found time to read some of Tolstoy's work, which greatly influenced his understanding of peace and justice and eventually inspired him to write to Tolstoy, setting the beginning of a prolific correspondence. Both Tolstoy and Gandhi shared a philosophy of non-violence and Tolstoy's harsh critique of human society resonated with Gandhi's outrage at racism in South Africa.
Both Tolstoy and Gandhi considered themselves followers of the
Sermon on the Mount
The Sermon on the Mount (anglicized from the Matthean Vulgate Latin section title: ) is a collection of sayings attributed to Jesus of Nazareth found in the Gospel of Matthew (chapters 5, 6, and 7). that emphasizes his moral teachings. It is ...
from the New Testament, in which Jesus Christ expressed the idea of complete self-denial for the sake of his fellow men. Gandhi also continued to seek moral guidance in the Bhagavad-Gita, which inspired him to view his work not as self-denial at all, but as a higher form of self-fulfillment. Adopting a philosophy of selflessness even as a public man, Gandhi refused to accept any payment for his work on behalf of the Indian population, preferring to support himself with his law practice alone.
But Gandhi's personal quest to define his own philosophy with respect to religion did not rely solely on sacred texts. At the time, he also engaged in active correspondence with a highly educated and spiritual Jain from Bombay, his friend Raychandra, who was deeply religious, yet well versed in a number of topics, from Hinduism to Christianity. The more Gandhi communicated with Raychandra, the more deeply he began to appreciate Hinduism as a non violent faith and its related scriptures. Yet, such deep appreciation also gave birth to a desire to seek inner purity and illumination, without solely relying on external sources, or on the dogma within every faith. Thus, although Gandhi sought God within his own tradition, he espoused the idea that other faiths remained worthy of study and contained their own truths.
Not surprisingly, even after his work assignment concluded, Gandhi soon found a reason to remain in South Africa. This pivotal reason involved the "Indian Franchise Bill", with which the Natal legislature intended to deprive Indians of the right to vote. No opposition existed against this bill, except among some of Gandhi's friends who asked him to stay in South Africa and work with them against this new injustice against Indians, who white South Africans disparagingly called "coolies." He found that racist attitudes had become deeply entrenched, especially in the two Boer republics, where they lived in the worst urban slums and could not own property or manage agricultural land. Even in Natal, where Indians had more influence, they were not allowed to go out after 9 p.m. without a pass, while in the Cape Colony they were not allowed to walk on the sidewalk. The new bill which prohibited Indians from voting in Natal only codified existing injustice in writing.
Although a last-minute petition drive failed to the Indian Franchise Bill from passing, Gandhi remained active and organized a much larger petition, which he sent to the Secretary of State for the Colonies in London, and distributed to the press in South Africa, Britain and India. The petition raised awareness of the plight of Indians and generated discussions in all three continents to the point where both the ''
Times of London
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' and the ''
Times of India
''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, t ...
'' published editorials in support of the Indian right to the vote. Gandhi also formed a new political organization called the Natal Indian Congress (a clear reference to the Indian National Congress), which held regular meetings and soon, after some struggles with financing, started its own library and debating society. They also issued two major pamphlets, ''An Appeal to Every Briton in South Africa'', and ''The Indian Franchise–An Appeal'', which argued in favor of eliminating discriminatory legislation targeting Indians. He was also thrown off of a train in South Africa when he didn't agree to move from his first class seat which he paid for.
Though, at first, Gandhi intended to remain in South Africa for a month, or a year at most, he ended up working in South Africa for about twenty years. After his initial assignment was over, he succeeded in growing his own practice to about twenty Indian merchants who contracted him to manage their affairs. This work allowed him to both earn a living while also finding time to devote to his mission as a public figure. During his struggle against inequality and racial discrimination in South Africa, Gandhi became known among Indians all around the world as "Mahatma," or "Great Soul."
Part III
In South Africa with the Family, the Boer War, Bombay and South Africa Again.
In 1896, Gandhi made a brief return to India and returned to his wife and children. In India, he published another pamphlet, known as the Green Pamphlet, on the plight of Indians in South Africa. For the first time, Gandhi realized that Indians had come to admire his work greatly and experienced a taste of his own popularity among the people, when he visited Madras, an Indian province, where most manual laborers had originated. Although his fellow-Indians greeted him in large crowds with applause and adulation, he sailed back to South Africa with his family in December 1896.
Gandhi had become very well known in South Africa as well, to the point where a crowd of rioters awaited him at Port Natal, determined that he should not be allowed to enter. Many of them also mistakenly believed that all the dark-skinned passenger on the ship that took Gandhi to Natal were poor Indian immigrants he had decided to bring along with him, when, in reality, these passengers were mostly returning Indian residents of Natal. Fortunately, Gandhi was able to establish a friendly relationship with numerous white South Africans so the Natal port's police superintendent and his wife escorted him to safety. After this incident, local white residents began to actually regard him with greater respect.
As Gandhi resumed his work at the Natal Indian Congress, his loyalty to the
British Empire
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
guided him to assist them in the
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...
, which started three years later. Because Gandhi remained a passionate pacifist, he wanted to participate in the Boer War without actually engaging in violence so he organized and led an Indian Medical Corps which served with the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
in a number of battles, including the important
Battle of Spion Kop
The Battle of Spioen Kop ( nl, Slag bij Spionkop; af, Slag van Spioenkop) was a military engagement between British forces and two Boer Republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State, during the campaign by the British to r ...
in January 1900, a Boer victory.
During this period, Gandhi would remain supportive of the
British Empire
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
, and believed the
British Constitution
The constitution of the United Kingdom or British constitution comprises the written and unwritten arrangements that establish the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland as a political body. Unlike in most countries, no attempt ...
deserved the loyalty of all of Britain's subjects, including Indians. Gandhi saw discriminatory policies in the Cape Colony as a temporary aberration, and perceived British rule in India as being both beneficial and benevolent.
The armed conflict between the British and Boers raged on for over three years; despite the fact that Britain had occupied both the Orange Free State and the Transvaal Republic, thousands of Boers took to the hills to begin a
guerilla campaign against the British in the countryside. Gandhi expected that the British victory would overturn discriminatory legislation in South Africa and present him with an opportunity to return to India. He wanted to attend the 1901 meeting of the Indian National Congress, whose mission was to provide a social and political forum for the Indian upper class. Founded in 1885 with aid of Briton
Allan Octavian Hume
Allan Octavian Hume, CB ICS (4 June 1829 – 31 July 1912) was a British civil servant, political reformer, ornithologist and botanist who worked in British India. He was the founder of the Indian National Congress. A notable ornithologist, Hum ...
, the Congress had no real political power and expressed pro-British positions. Gandhi wanted to attend its meeting nevertheless, as he was hoping to pass a resolution in support of the Indian population in South Africa. Before he left for Bombay, Gandhi promised the Natal Indian Congress that he would return to support their efforts, should they need his help.
As Gandhi attended the 1901 Indian National Congress, his hopes came true. Gopal Krishna Gokhale, one of the most prominent Indian politicians of the time, supported the resolution for the rights of Indians in South Africa and the resolution passed. Through Gokhale, in whose house Gandhi stayed for a month, Gandhi met many political connections that would serve him later in life.
However, his promise to always aid his friends in Natal soon prompted him to return to South Africa, when he received an urgent telegram informing him that the Boers had formed a peaceful relationship with British South Africans and now held political sway in the Cape Colony as well; the telegram also informed him that this would be a severe setback in his attempt to overturn discriminatory legislation targeting Indian South Africans/
Gandhi travelled back to South Africa immediately and met with
Joseph Chamberlain
Joseph Chamberlain (8 July 1836 – 2 July 1914) was a British statesman who was first a radical Liberal, then a Liberal Unionist after opposing home rule for Ireland, and eventually served as a leading imperialist in coalition with the Cons ...
, Secretary of State for the Colonies, and presented him with a paper on the discriminatory policies instituted against the Indian population but Chamberlain instead rebuffed Gandhi and informed him that Indians living in South Africa would have to acceded to the will of the
Afrikaners
Afrikaners () are a South African ethnic group descended from Free Burghers, predominantly Dutch settlers first arriving at the Cape of Good Hope in the 17th and 18th centuries.Entry: Cape Colony. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 4 Part 2: ...
, who now were granted increased political power as a result of the formation of the
Union of South Africa
The Union of South Africa ( nl, Unie van Zuid-Afrika; af, Unie van Suid-Afrika; ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the Cape, Natal, Trans ...
as a
dominion
The term ''Dominion'' is used to refer to one of several self-governing nations of the British Empire.
"Dominion status" was first accorded to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the Irish Free State at the 1926 ...
.
Gandhi began to organize a fast response to this new South African political configuration. Instead of working in Natal, he now established a camp in the newly conquered Transvaal region and began helping Indians who had escaped from the war in that region, and now had to purchase overly expensive re-entry passes. He also represented poor Indians whose dwellings in a shantytown the authorities had dispossessed. Gandhi also started a new magazine, Indian Opinion, that advocated for political liberty and equal rights in South Africa. The magazine, which initially included several young women from Europe, expanded its staff around the country, increasing both Gandhi's popularity and the public support for his ideas.
At round same time, Gandhi read John Ruskin's book ''
Unto This Last ''Unto This Last'' is an essay critical of economics by John Ruskin, first published between August and December 1860 in the monthly journal ''Cornhill Magazine'' in four articles.
Title
The title is a quotation from the Parable of the Workers i ...
'', which maintained that the life of manual labor was superior to all other ways of living. As he adopted this belief, Gandhi chose to abandon Western dress and habits, and he moved his family and staff to a Transvaal farm called the Phoenix, where he even gave renounced the use of an oil-powered engine and printed ''
Indian Opinion
The ''Indian Opinion'' was a newspaper established by Indian lawyer and future anti-colonial activist M. K. Gandhi (later known as the Mahatma). The publication was an important tool for the political movement led by Gandhi and the Natal Indian ...
'' by hand-wheel, and performed agriculture labor using old, manual farming equipment. He began to conceive of his public work as a mission to restore old Indian virtue and civilization, rather than fall prey to modern Western influence, which included electricity and technology.
Between 1901 and 1906, he also changed another aspect of his personal life by achieving Brahmacharya, or the voluntary abstention from sexual relations. He made this choice as part of his philosophy of selflessness and self-restraint. Finally, he also formulated his own philosophy of political protest, called Satyagraha, which literally meant "truth-force" in Sanskrit. In practice, this practice meant protesting injustice steadfastly, but in a non-violent manner.
He put this theory into practice on September 8, 1906, when, at a large gathering of the Indian community in Transvaal, he asked the whole community to take a vow of disobedience to the law, as the Transvaal government had started an effort to register every Indian child over the age of eight, which would make them an official part of the South African population.
Setting a personal example, Gandhi became the first Indian to appear before a magistrate for his refusal to register, and he was sentenced to two months in prison. He actually asked for a heavier sentence, a request, consistent with his philosophy of self-denial. After his release, Gandhi continued his campaign and thousands of Indians burned their registration cards, crossing the Transvaal-Natal border without passes. Many went to jail, including Gandhi, who went to jail again in 1908.
Gandhi did not waiver when a South African General by the name of
Jan Christian Smuts promised to eliminate the registration law, but broke his word. Gandhi went all the way to London in 1909 and gathered enough support among the members of the British government to convince Smuts to eliminate the law in 1913. Yet, the Transvaal Prime Minister continued to regard Indians as second-class citizens while the Cape Colony government passed another discriminatory law making all non-Christian marriages illegal, which meant that all Indian children would be considered born out of wedlock. In addition, the government in Natal continued to impose crippling poll tax for entering Natal only upon Indians.
In response to these strikingly unjust rules, Gandhi organized a large-scale satyagraha, which involved women crossing the Natal-Transvaal border illegally. When they were arrested, five thousand Indian coal miners also went on strike and Gandhi himself led them across the Natalese border, where they expected arrest.
Although Smuts and Gandhi did not agree on many points, they had respect for each other. In 1913, Smuts relented due to the sheer number of Indians involved in protest and negotiated a settlement which provided for the legality of Indian marriages and abolished the poll tax. Further, the import of indentured laborers from India was to be phased out by 1920. In July 1914, Gandhi sailed for Britain, now admired as "Mahatma," and known throughout the world for the success of satyagraha.
Part IV
Part IV. Mahatma in the Midst of World Turmoil
Gandhi was in England when World War I started and he immediately began organizing a medical corps similar to the force he had led in the Boer War, but he had also faced health problems that caused him to return to India, where he met the applauding crowds with enthusiasm once again. Indians continued to refer to him as "Mahatma" or "Great Soul," an appellation reserved only for the holiest men of Hinduism. While Gandhi accepted the love and admiration of the crowds, he also insisted that all souls were equal and did not accept the implication of religious sacredness that his new name carried.
In order to retreat into a life of humility and restraint, as his personal principles mandated, he decided to withdraw from public life for a while spending his first year in India focusing on his personal quest for purity and healing. He also lived in a communal space with untouchables, a choice which many of his financial supporters resented, because they believed that the very presence of untouchables defiled higher-caste Indians. Gandhi even considered moving to a district in Ahmedabad inhabited entirely by the untouchables when a generous Muslim merchant donated enough money to keep up his current living space for another year. By that time, Gandhi's communal life with the untouchables had become more acceptable.
Although Gandhi had withdrawn from public life, he briefly met with the British Governor of Bombay (and future Viceroy of India), Lord Willington, whom Gandhi promised to consult before he launched any political campaigns. Gandhi also felt the impact of another event, the passing of Gopal Krishna Gokhale, who had become his supporter and political mentor. He stayed away from the political trend of Indian nationalism, which many of the members of the Indian National Congress embraced. Instead, he stayed busy resettling his family and the inhabitants of the
Phoenix Settlement
Inanda or eNanda ( isiZulu: ''pleasant place'', also possibly, ''level-topped hill'') is a township in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa that is situated 30 km north-west of the Durban CBD; it forms part of eThekwini, the Greater Durban Metropolita ...
in South Africa, as well as the Tolstoy Settlement he had founded near Johannesburg. For this purpose, on May 25, 1915, he created a new settlement, which came to be known as the Satyagraha ashram ( derive from Sanskrit word "Satya" means "truth" ) near the town of Ahmedabad and close to his place of birth in the western Indian province of Gujarat. All the inhabitants of the ashram, which included one family of untouchables, swore to poverty and chastity.
After a while, Gandhi became influenced by the idea of Indian independence from the British, but he dreaded the possibility that a westernized Indian elite would replace the British colonial government. He developed a strong conviction that Indian independence should take place as a large-scale sociopolitical reform, which would remove the old plagues of extreme poverty and caste restrictions. In fact, he believed that Indians could not become worthy of self-government unless they all shared a concern for the poor.
As Gandhi resumed his public life in India in 1916, he delivered a speech at the opening of the new Hindu University in the city of
Benares
Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.
*
*
*
* The city has a syncretic tr ...
, where he discussed his understanding of independence and reform. He also provided specific examples of the abhorrent living conditions of the lower classes that he had observed during his travels around India and focused specifically on sanitation.
Although the Indians of the higher-castes did not readily embrace the ideas in the speech, Gandhi had now returned to public life and he felt ready to convert these ideas to actions. Facing the possibility of arrest, just like he always did in South Africa, Gandhi first spoke for the rights of impoverished indigo-cultivators in the Champaran district. His efforts eventually led to the appointment of a government commission to investigate abuses by the indigo planters.
He also interfered whenever he saw violence. When a group of Ahmedabad mill workers went on strike and became violent, he resolved to fast until they returned to peace. Though some political commentators condemned Gandhi's behavior as a form of blackmail, the fast only lasted three days before the workers and their employers negotiated an agreement. Through this situation, Gandhi discovered the fast as one of his most effective weapons in late years and set a precedent for later action as part of satyagraha.
As the First World War continued, Gandhi also became involved in recruiting men for the
British Indian Army
The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...
, an involvement which his followers had a difficult time accepting, after listening to his passionate speeches about resisting injustice in a non-violent manner. At this point, although Gandhi still remained loyal to Britain and enamored with the ideals of the British constitution, his desire to support an independent home rule became stronger. As time passed, Gandhi became exhausted from his long journey around the country and fell ill with
dysentery
Dysentery (UK pronunciation: , US: ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications ...
. He refused conventional treatment and chose to practice his own healing methods, relying on diet and spending a long time bedridden, while in recovery in his ashram.
In the meantime, the unrest in India increased exponentially with news of the British victories over the Ottoman Empire during the
Middle Eastern theatre of the First World War
The Middle Eastern theatre of World War I saw action between 29 October 1914 and 30 October 1918. The combatants were, on one side, the Ottoman Empire (including the majority of Kurdish tribes, a relative majority of Arabs, and Caucasian ''Ta ...
. The prospect of the only major Muslim power in the world ceasing to exist was an unacceptable proposition to many Indian Muslims.
After the end of the war, the British colonial government decided to follow the recommendations of the Rowlatt Committee, which advocated the retention of various wartime restrictions in India, including curfews and measures to suppress free speech. Gandhi was still sick when these events took place and, although he could not protest actively, he felt his loyalty to the British Empire weaken significantly.
Later, when the Rowlatt Act actually became law, Gandhi proposed that the entire country observe a day of prayer, fasting, and abstention from physical labor as a peaceful protest against the injustice of the oppressive law. Gandhi's plea generated an overwhelming response as millions of Indians did not go to work on April 6, 1919.
As the entire country stood still, the British colonial government arrested Gandhi, which provoked angry crowds to fill the streets of India's cities and, much to Gandhi's dislike, violence erupted everywhere. Gandhi could not tolerate violence so he called off his campaign and asked that everyone return to their homes. He acted in accordance with his firm belief that if satyagraha could not be carried out without violence, it should not take place at all.
Unfortunately, not all protesters shared Gandhi's conviction as ardently. In Amritsar, capital of the region known as the Punjab, where the alarmed colonial authorities had deported the local Hindu and Muslim members of the Congress, the street mobs became very violent and the colonial government summoned Brigadier-General
Reginald Dyer
Colonel Reginald Edward Harry Dyer, CB (9 October 1864 – 23 July 1927) was an officer of the Bengal Army and later the newly constituted British Indian Army. His military career began serving briefly in the regular British Army before tra ...
to restore order. Dyer prohibited all public meetings and instituted public whippings for Indians who confronted the police. A crowd of over ten thousand people gathered for religious purposes, and Dyer responded with bringing his troops there and opening fire without warning. Tightly packed together, the protesters had nowhere to run from the fire, even when they threw themselves down on the ground the fire was then directed on the ground, ceasing only when Dyer's troops ran out of ammunition. Hundreds died and many more were wounded.
This unfortunate occurrence became known as the
Jallianwala Bagh massacre
The Jallianwala Bagh massacre, also known as the Amritsar massacre, took place on 13 April 1919. A large peaceful crowd had gathered at the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, Punjab, to protest against the Rowlatt Act and arrest of pro-independence ...
, it outraged the British public almost as much as Indian society. The authorities in London eventually condemned Dyer's conduct, forcing him to resign in disgrace. The effect the massacre had on Indian society became even more profound as more moderate politicians, like Gandhi, now began to wholeheartedly support the idea of Indian independence, creating an intense climate of mutual hostility. After the massacre, Gandhi eventually obtained permission to travel to Amritsar and conduct his own investigation. He produced a report months later and his work on the report motivated him to contact a number of Indian politicians, who advocated for the idea of independence from British colonial rule.
After the massacre, Gandhi attended the Muslim Conference being held in Delhi, where Indian Muslims discussed their fears that the British government would abolish the
Ottoman Caliphate
The Caliphate of the Ottoman Empire ( ota, خلافت مقامى, hilâfet makamı, office of the caliphate) was the claim of the heads of the Turkish Ottoman dynasty to be the caliphs of Islam in the late medieval and the early modern era. D ...
. Indian Muslims considered the Caliphs as heirs of Mohammed and spiritual heads of Islam. While the British government considered abolition a necessary effort to restore order after the First World War, the Muslim population of the British Empire viewed it as an unnecessary provocation. Gandhi urged them not to accept the actions of the British government. He proposed a boycott of British goods, and stated that if the British government continued to insist on the abolition of the Caliphate, Indian Muslims should take even more drastic measures of non-cooperation, involving areas such as government employment and taxes.
During the months that followed, Gandhi continued to advocate for peace and caution, however, since Britain and the Ottomans were still negotiating their peace terms. Unlike more nationalistic politicians, he also supported the
Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms for India, as they laid the foundation for constitutional self-government. Eventually, other politicians who thought the reforms did not go far enough had to agree with Gandhi simply because his popularity and influence had become so great that the Congress could accomplish little without him.
While the British government remained determined to abolish the Ottoman Caliphate, they also continued to enforce the
Rowlatt Act
The Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act of 1919, popularly known as the Rowlatt Act, was a law that applied in British India. It was a legislative council act passed by the Imperial Legislative Council in Delhi on 18 March 1919, indefinitel ...
resolutely. Even Gandhi became less tolerant towards British colonial policies and in April 1920, he urged all Indians, Muslim and Hindu, to begin a "non-cooperation" protest against British policies by giving up their Western clothing and jobs in the colonial government. As a personal example, on August 1, he returned the kasar-i-hind medal that he had received for providing medical service to wounded British soldiers during the Second Boer War. He also became the first president of the Home Rule League, a largely symbolic position which confirmed his position as an advocate for Indian Independence.
In September 1920, Gandhi also passed an official constitution for the Congress, which created a system of two national committees and numerous local units, all working to mobilize a spirit of non-cooperation across India. Gandhi and other volunteers traveled around India further establishing this new grass roots organization, which achieved great success. The new
Governor-General of India
The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 1 ...
Lord Reading, did not dare to interfere because of Gandhi's immense popularity.
By 1922, Gandhi decided that the initiative of non-cooperation had to transform into open civil disobedience, but in March 1922, Lord Reading finally ordered Gandhi's arrest after a crowd in the city of
Chauri Chaura
Chauri Chaura (''Pargana:'' Haveli, Tehsil: Gorakhpur) is a town near Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. The town is located at a distance of 16km from Gorakhpur, on the State Highway between Gorakhpur and Deoria. The town railway station is loc ...
attacked and assassinated the local representatives of British colonial government. Gandhi, who had never encouraged or sanctioned this type of conduct, condemned the actions of the violent crowds and retreated into a period of fasting and prayer as a response to this violent outburst. However, the colonial government saw the event as a trigger point and a reason for his arrest.
Part V
The British colonial authorities placed Gandhi on trial for
sedition
Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, estab ...
and sentenced him to six years in prison, marking the first time that he faced prosecution in India. Because of Gandhi's fame, the judge, C.N. Broomfield, hesitated to impose a harsher punishment. He considered Gandhi clearly guilty as charged, despite the fact that Gandhi admitted his guilt and even went as far as requesting the heaviest possible sentence. Such willingness to accept imprisonment conformed to his philosophy of satyagraha, so Gandhi felt that his time in prison only furthered his commitment and goals. The authorities allowed him to use a spinning wheel and receive reading materials while in prison, so he felt content. He also wrote most of his autobiography while serving his sentence.
However, in Gandhi's absence, Indians returned to the jobs they had previously spurned and their every day routines. Even worse, the unity between Muslims and Hindus, which Gandhi advocated so passionately, had already begun to fall apart to the point where the threat of violence loomed large over many communities with mixed population. The campaign for Indian independence could not continue while Indians themselves suffered disunity and conflict, all the more difficult to overcome in a huge country like India, which had always suffered religious divisions, as well as divisions by language, and even caste.
Gandhi realized that the
British government
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, image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg
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, caption = Royal Arms
, date_es ...
had lost the will and power to maintain their empire, but he always acknowledged that Indians could not rely simply on the weakening of Britain in order to achieve independence. He believed that Indians had to become morally ready for independence. He planned to contribute to such readiness through his speeches and writing, advocating humility, restraint, good sanitation, as well as an end to child marriages.
After his imprisonment ended, he resumed his personal quest for purification and truth. He ends his autobiography by admitting that he continues to experience and fight with "the dormant passion" that lie within his own soul. He felt ready to continue the long and difficult path of taming those passions and putting himself last among his fellow human beings, the only way to achieve salvation, according to him.
"That is why the worlds' praise fails to move me; indeed it very often stings me. To conquer the subtle passions is far harder than the physical conquest of the world by the force of arms,"
Gandhi writes in his "Farewell" to the readers, a suitable conclusion for an autobiography that he never intended to be an autobiography, but a tale of experiments with life, and with truth.
Reception
The autobiography is noted for its lucid, simple and idiomatic language and its transparently honest narration.
The autobiography itself has become a key document for interpreting Gandhi's life and ideas.
In his essay "
Reflections on Gandhi
"Reflections on Gandhi" is an essay by George Orwell, first published in 1949, which responds to Mahatma Gandhi's autobiography ''The Story of My Experiments with Truth''. The essay, which appeared in the American magazine ''Partisan Review'', dis ...
" (1949),
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitar ...
argued that the autobiography made clear Gandhi's "natural physical courage", which he saw as later confirmed by the circumstances of
his assassination; his lack of feelings of envy, inferiority, or suspiciousness, the last of which Orwell thought was common to Indian people; and his lack of racial prejudice. Noting the circumstances of the book's serialisation, Orwell argues it "is not a literary masterpiece, but it is the more impressive because of the commonplaceness of much of its material." Orwell found the book to indicate that Gandhi "was a very shrewd, able person who could, if he had chosen, have been a brilliant success as a lawyer, an administrator or perhaps even a businessman."
In a 1998 interview, Gujarati writer
Harivallabh Bhayani
Harivallabh Chunilal Bhayani (26 May 1917 – 11 November 2000) was a linguist, researcher, critic and translator from India.
Biography
Bhayani was born on 26 May 1917 in Mahuva to Dasa Shrimali Jain Sthanakvasi family of Chunilal. His paren ...
mentioned this work as the most important work, together with
Govardhanram Tripathi
Govardhanram Madhavram Tripathi (; 20 October 1855 – 4 January 1907) was an Indian Gujarati language novelist of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is known for his four volume novel, '' Saraswatichandra'', acclaimed as one of the mas ...
's ''
Saraswatichandra'', to have emerged in Gujarat in the last 50 years.
[ ]
Influences
Gandhi wrote in his autobiography that the three most important modern influences in his life were
Leo Tolstoy
Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...
's ''
The Kingdom of God Is Within You
''The Kingdom of God Is Within You'' ( pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform rus, Царство Божие внутри вас, Tsárstvo Bózhiye vnutrí vas) is a non-fiction book written by Leo Tolstoy. A Christian anarchist philosophical treat ...
'',
John Ruskin
John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English writer, philosopher, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and politi ...
's ''
Unto This Last ''Unto This Last'' is an essay critical of economics by John Ruskin, first published between August and December 1860 in the monthly journal ''Cornhill Magazine'' in four articles.
Title
The title is a quotation from the Parable of the Workers i ...
'', and the poet
Shrimad Rajchandra
Shrimad Rajchandra (11 November 1867 – 9 April 1901) was a Jain poet, mystic, philosopher, scholar and reformer. Born in Vavaniya, a village near Morbi, he claimed to have recollection of his past lives at the age of seven. He performed '' ...
(Raychandbhai).
Editions in print
*India –
*United States – authorized edition with foreword by
Sissela Bok
Sissela Bok (born Myrdal; 2 December 1934) is a Swedish-born American philosopher and ethicist, the daughter of two Nobel Prize winners: Gunnar Myrdal who won the Economics prize with Friedrich Hayek in 1974, and Alva Myrdal who won the Nobel Pea ...
, Beacon Press 1993 reprint:
*Dover Publications 1983 reprint of 1948 Public Affairs Press edition:
Notes
Citations
Sources
*
*
*
External links
*
*
* (critical edition)
*
National Institute of Technology Calicut
National Institute of Technology Calicut (NIT Calicut or NITC), formerly Regional Engineering College Calicut, is a public technical university and an institute of national importance governed by the NIT Act passed by the Parliament of India. ...
,
Kozhikode
Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second la ...
Nalanda Digital Lib.*
''An Autobiography or The Story of my Experiments with Truth'', full text
*Read onlin
''The Story of My Experiments with Truth''-
Gandhi Heritage Portal
The online Gandhi Heritage Portal preserves, protects, and disseminates original writings of Mohandas K. Gandhi and makes available to the world the large corpus of “Fundamental Works” which are useful for any comprehensive study of the life ...
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Story Of My Experiments With Truth
Books about Mahatma Gandhi
Indian autobiographies
20th-century Indian books
Political autobiographies
Nonviolence
Gujarati-language books
Books about activism
Literature first published in serial form