…Even now I pray every moment of my life for God’s grace and inspiration.
Nevertheless, I had even then called on people to turn their back on Western civilization….
But, by rejection of Western civilization I never meant, nor do I mean even today, shunning everything English or hating the British. I revere the Bible. Christ’s Sermon on the Mount fills me with bliss even today…Even so, I think that we would be well-advised to reject Western civilization, that it is our “dharma”1 to do so.
By Western civilization I mean the ideals which people in the West have embraced in modern times and the pursuits based on these ideals. The supremacy of brute force, worshipping money as God, spending most of one’s time in seeking worldly happiness, breathtaking risks in pursuit of worldly enjoyments of all kinds, the expenditure of limitless mental energy on efforts to multiply the power of machinery, the expenditure of crores on the invention of means of destruction, the moral righteousness which looks down upon people outside Europe,—this civilization in my view, deserves to be altogether rejected.
1 Religion, moral law, duty
All the characteristics of “Ravanarajya”1 described by Tulsidas2 are to be found in British rule and that is why I describe it by that name. There is no anger in this, nor “righteous indignation.” It is a conclusion which I have reached in all calmness of mind. It is not my intention to suggest that every Englishman or English officer is a devil. Every officer, however, works as part of a Satanic machine and, therefore, whether intentionally or unintentionally, becomes an instrument of injustice, deception and repression. If, holding this belief, I were to conceal it, I would be betraying truth. It is not bad manners to call a thief a thief or a sinner a sinner, nor is it abuse in the manner of an uncultured peasant. On the contrary, if the words have been uttered with sincerity they can be an expression of love.
If in my life I have tried to practise anything with unswerving devotion it is non-violence, truth and brahmacharya. I alone know how difficult it is to practise these. I believe that I have succeeded fairly well in following all the three in action and speech.
1 The kingdom of the devil on earth
2 A saint
…You can rise only through supreme effort. And when you have done that you will attain limitless effulgence. It is a great enterprise. You are competent to undertake it, for all souls have the same attributes. If only you lift the veils, you can see for yourself your powers. The key to this…is in the “yamaniyamas.”
“Yama” is a duty or observance enjoined by religion.
“Niyama” is a voluntary acceptance of that discipline.
[5] commonly known “yamas”: non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing, brahmacharya (or, celibacy), non-possession.
The ten “niyamas” include penance, alms-giving, study, restraint, fasting, observing silence.
I do dimly perceive that whilst everything around me is ever-changing, ever-dying, there is underlying all that change a Living Power that is changeless, that holds all together, that creates, dissolves, and re-creates. That informing Power or Spirit is God. And since nothing else I see merely through the senses can or will persist, He alone is.
And is this Power benevolent or malevolent? I see it is as purely benevolent. For I can see that in the midst of death life persists, in the midst of untruth truth persists, in the midst of darkness light persists. Hence I gather that God is Life, Truth, Light. He is Love. He is the Supreme God.
I know, too, that I shall never know God if I do not wrestle with and against evil even at the cost of life itself. I am fortified in the belief by my own humble and limited experience. The purer I try to become the nearer to God I feel myself to be. How much more should I be near to Him when my faith is not a mere apology, as it is today, but has become as immovable as the Himalayas and as white and bright as the snows on their peaks?
…When, therefore, the prophets of the world preached that there was no remission of sin without shedding of blood, they uttered what was a law of nature. We, who are prone to self-indulgence, often basely misrepresent the law, giving it a coarse meaning beyond which we are incapable of looking, and fancy the text has no bearing whatsoever on self-effacement, but…the text we have quoted can bear only one meaning if it is also to bear fruit, namely, that the shedding of blood means shedding of our own blood, sacrificing our own little selves for the common good of all. In short, it means a realization of the unity of life… From the unity of national life to the unity of all life is but a question of degree, but…that must be the goal of us all…
…If, however, there is such a thing as truth and purity in the world, I wish to state categorically that woman has within her sufficient strength to preserve her chastity. The woman who calls upon Rama when in danger will surely be protected by Him. Which evil man will dare to approach a woman who is prepared to die? Her very eyes will shine with such light that any vicious man will be unnerved by it.
The power to die everyone has but few desire to use it. When someone wishes to dishonour a woman, when a man is in danger of being overmastered by lust, such a man and woman have a right to commit suicide. It is indeed their duty to do so. Those who have the necessary strength of mind can do it with ease. Even in the grip of no matter how strong a person, any man or woman can kill himself or herself by biting off the tongue or, if the hands are free, by pressing the wind-pipe. If a person is prepared to risk death, no matter how securely he or she is tied,—tied to a tree—he can struggle himself free provided he does not mind broken bones. The strong overpower the weak because the latter cling to life and, therefore, do not resist to the point of death. A black ant sitting on a lump of jaggery will rather let its leg be broken than allow itself to be dragged away from it. If a child pulls very hard, its parents let go of its hand for fear that the arm may get dislocated. Every person has the strength necessary to let any limb of his be broken, but he cannot endure the resulting pain, the pain of dying. It is, however, the duty of every man or woman fighting for freedom to be ready to suffer this pain. If we pray to God daily for such strength, we shall surely receive it. I urge every sister to pray thus on arising every morning: “O God, keep me pure, give me strength to preserve my chastity, strength to preserve it even at the cost of my life. With Thee as my Protector, whom need I fear?” Such a prayer made with a pure mind will surely protect every woman.
Page 1