For Global Peace with Social Justice in a Sustainable Environment

Daridranarayana and Mahatma Gandhi

Prof. Dr. Yogendra Yadav

Senior Gandhian Scholar, Professor, Editor and Linguist

Gandhi International Study and Research Institute, Jalgaon, Maharashtra, India

Contact No. – 09404955338, 09415777229

E-mail- dr.yadav.yogendra@gandhifoundation.net;

dr.yogendragandhi@gmail.com

Mailing Address- C- 29, Swaraj Nagar, Panki, Kanpur- 208020, Uttar Pradesh, India

Daridranarayana and Mahatma Gandhi

The signatories regard themselves as my followers. I invite them to follow the lead of the charkha. I have not ceased to lead that little, simple wheel which daily hums to me the distress of the masses. For better or for worse, I have staked my all on the charkha, for it represents to me Daridranarayana, God of and in the poor and in the downtrodden. 1 All-transcending and without form, God cannot be apprehended even through meditation. Meditating on the impersonal is hard for embodied beings so one should meditate on a manifestation of God in personal form. In this age and in this country, that form is Daridranarayana. The only way of meditating on Him is to serve the poor. There may be different ways of serving the poor, but in India the root cause of poverty is idleness and unemployment. In order that people may shake off their laziness, we should spin ourselves and persuade them also to spin and thereby provide them innocent employment. With every breath we take, we should utter this name, Daridranarayana, and should see him in our imagination pleased and smiling with satisfaction with every revolution of the spinning-wheel. 2

Well, I do not know. I know that I am selling khadi wherever I go, and there ends my work. Supposing you purchase from me millions of rupees worth of khadi and sink it into the sea, the sale is not vitiated. But the criticism is unfair. I know that some wear khadi for the occasion, but they do not disguise the fact. They appreciate the message of khadi, but they say they cannot exclusively wear it for a number of reasons. Am I to tell them, ‘You are no good? I can do without your khadi?’ No, no. My duty is to define our dharma in its fullness. Their duty is to follow it as much as they can. People deceive me, you say. I do not understand how they can harm me even if they do. I am but a self-appointed agent of Daridranarayana and I shall take from you only what you can give me. 3

Well has Gangadharrao said that mine is not a pleasure trip, but a business tour during which I expect to do substantial business for my principal Daridranarayana? Every function therefore should be in fitting with that setting. I have observed that often more local men travel with me than are necessary for the purpose of the mission and that motor-cars are hired without due regard to economy. Every item of expenditure should be previously and carefully thought out. 4 And last but not least, I must do my share of spinning, if I have but faith in its capacity to serve the poorest, so graphically described in Markham’s words reproduced in last week’s Young India. I must hawk Khadi. If I have the power, I must induce my neighbour to spin for the sake of Daridranarayana and if he or she wears foreign cloth, I must induce him or her to discard it. 5

You have tempted me with a bribe. But a bribery being an unlawful thing is always given in cash; whereas you have asked me to accept a credit note. However I rely upon cashing the note on presentation whether by me in person or by my successor in office as the representative of Daridranarayana. 6 The Exhibition, which it will be my privilege presently to declare open, is a right and proper kind of appeal. It is carefully designed so as to give you an ocular demonstration of what khadi meant and what it has already achieved. If its careful study conquers your reason, but in spite of the conviction of your reason, you find yourselves too weak to translate its dictates into action, then, indeed, let your affection for me give you heart and courage to overcome your weakness. For I stand before you as a self-chosen representative of the dumb, semi-starved, because workless, millions of India whom the late Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das appropriately called Daridranarayana. Every pice you contribute to the support of khadi, every yard of khadi you buy, means so much concrete sympathy shown by you for these millions. Let me then summarize the conclusions of workers in the service of Daridranarayana which you may test for yourselves if you will patiently study the literature that you will find on the Exhibition stalls as also the results of khadi activity which you will find demonstrated at those stalls. 7

I have to make request to my student friends. In the measure in which you learn English learn the national language and leave the glamour of the foreign tongue. I am grateful to you for this address presented to me in Hindi printed in Devanagari script. In order to serve our Daridranarayana in our land you have given me a purse and I am grateful to you all. You have all, in your love, collected so much for me but it is no wonder. Wherever I go I meet such sincere love and service from you students of India. That is your dharma that is your duty. I ask why you would not help this fund. How much are you spending for your education and how many cities are there in the whole of Hindustan and how much money is being thrown away there? But do you know where those who live in cities get their money from? It is from the villages where there is only sorrow and where Daridranarayana lives. The money that you all spend for your education is all coming to you from your villages and you are being educated out of this sorrowful source. Twenty five crores of rupees are going for the evils of the country as drink and can you who live in the cities; can you not give two pies for your poor brothers and sisters in those villages? Let these two pies be your prayashchitta. Today, I see you all in foreign clothes and caps. Our sisters there are all in foreign cloth. Do not say they are made in Mysore, do not forget that the yarn is made outside your own country. Let me say this to you today. Go to the khadi depots and buy the caps for four annas or five annas and discard these costly caps and buy khadi and wear. That would be a service truly rendered. 8

You will then find not a little but a big corner in your hearts for them, and if you will keep it in a good, nice condition, you will utilize your knowledge for the benefit of the millions on whose labour your education depends. I shall utilize the purse you have given me for Daridranarayana. The real Daridranarayana even I have not seen, but know only through my imagination. Even the spinners who will get this money are not the real Daridranarayana who live in remote corners of distant villages which have yet to be explored. I was told by your professor that the properties of some of the chemicals will take years of experiments to explore. But who will try to explore these villages? Just as some of the experiments in your laboratories go on for all the twenty four hours, let the big corner in your heart remain perpetually warm for the benefit of the poor millions. 9

Those who want a message from me must not be surprised to receive the same message again and again; for, I have nothing new. Let the editor, the proprietor and the staff of The Searchlight as also the readers do their quota of work for the millions, that it, let them wear nothing but khadi; let them exclude all foreign cloth from their use; let them give as much as they can towards khadi work; and let them spin at least for half an hour good, even and weavable yarn and make a present of it to the All-India Spinners’ Association in the name of and on behalf of Daridranarayana. To know whether this message has at least been read by those concerned, I suggest their sending me contribution and telling me whether they have accepted and are acting in accordance with the message. If they do not appreciate the message, let them send me a postcard stating their objections and reasons. 10 Daridranarayana is insatiable and there is room enough in his belly for all the money and the ornaments you can give. The ornaments are your streedhan and you have a right to dispose it off as you like. Your real ornaments are your virtues, and you will be doing real service to the poorest of the land by disposing of part of your jewellery. 11

In order to serve the poor of the country you have given me a purse and address for which I thank you all. You know that this service of the poor is very vast, the poor men Daridranarayana has a big body, the biggest stomach. This Daridranarayana lives in the heart and the breath of the lowest and the poorest in the village huts. He lives far away from the towns, in the interior of your villages, he does not have even one single meal a day and yet you are raising your cities and towns from his money, from his toil and his earnings. You don’t get money from outside, from foreign trade; you only send it outside by your trade. Do you know how much cotton trade is being carried on, and how much cotton is being grown here; its cost in Egypt for instance and its cost here? It has been said that when a country sends out its raw materials to a foreign country there is no improvement for that country. There is one way however for some improvement of this grinding poverty and that is by khadi work. You may not send out your cotton. You may spin it and weave it into cloth and wear it. I know it is for this purpose you have given me this purse but you could have given more. If I were well I would at this moment go amongst you with the charkha and appeal to you to spin along with me always. Some of you, many of you today have worn khadi. I am thankful that you have given some money to the poor weavers but I ask you if you are going to wear it always. If not your giving me this purse is of no value. If you are to help the poor, if you are to perform your dharma irrespective of caste or creed, if you think and hope that your motherland should prosper, if you think of God, then wearing khadi is your duty, it is your dharma. Will you do it? 12

I know you have given me the purse because you want to serve the poor of the country not by actual food but by khadi work. You may not know how many poor people there are. Do you know how very big the stomach of Daridranarayana of our land is? Whatever you give him is not enough. You may not know him but he lives far away in the villages, out of sight of your cities and towns; you do not know him because so many of you, so many of the ladies here have all come in foreign cloth. Do you know that every rupee’s worth of Manchester cloth that you buy increases the daridrya of our land? When the people in the villages and huts are starving is it just that you should send away your wealth out of your land to distant Manchester? I want you all today to think well on this matter and I want you to feel this in your heart deeply. If you really feel the sense of grinding poverty of this land I want you to come to the conclusion that you ought not to go on wearing foreign cloth. Make a resolve today to do your bit by wearing khadi and by contributing your help to its cause, the cause of the poor. I may inform you with pleasure that when I appealed for help on behalf of this cause the ladies in the Mahila Seva Samaj at Bangalore threw away their jewels and ornaments. They knew that their chief ornament is their heart and that they are no true ornaments that adorn the body outside. 13

I consider that real service of the country and of God consists in serving the poor humanity, whom Deshbandhu Das rightly designated the Daridranarayana. Such service however must be whole-hearted. When I see students, my heart goes out to them. If your hearts are not free from taint, neither the colleges, nor the libraries, nor will this environment avail you. His heart is pure who, seeing one in distress, will himself feel distressed. In our country, one-tenth of the population has not as much as one meal a day. Have our students any idea of this? Having knowledge of this they are spending their time and money on cinemas, theatres, etc. Is this fair? Is this the way to serve the country? The education you are receiving in colleges is not for the poor of the country. Such education could serve its purpose only when it leads them to the service of the suffering millions. I therefore tell you that the real service of God consists in the service of humanity. For this end, wear khadi, and spin for half an hour a day. In your address you refer to my efforts to revive the charkha. If you merely praise me in the addresses, but do nothing yourselves to encourage spinning, it would be nothing short of fulsome flattery. I do not want to take more of your time. I have elsewhere spoken about the duties of students, and you can read them. I always pray to God that He prosper you, the youth of India, that He speed you in the service of the country. God bless you all. 14

There is no lack of efficiency among the people of Karnataka. You have a distinguished engineer, you have distinguished musicians, you have a distinguished artist, and many others that I could name in various other spheres. I want you now to produce a distinguished spinning expert. You have three khadi shops here. I wish you had need for them and even more, but today I know, and this meeting is an eloquent proof of it, that there is no need for three shops. Even many of you who are sympathetically inclined towards khadi are not wearing it. Have therefore instead of that three, one efficient khadi shop and organize it properly. There are many institutions where the charkha has been introduced. I was told that His Highness’ bodyguards were spinning, but I also know how inefficiently this work is going on. In all those institutions and for the bodyguards you must engage a spinning expert. Bad yarn, like bad music, is good for nothing. I would like to assure those who would serve Daridranarayana that there is music, art, economy and joy in the spinning-wheel. 15

You are doubly fortunate. You have a glorious climate and wonderful natural scenery, and you have a ruler, who from all accounts is good and benevolent and always thinking of the welfare of his people. In a State like this there should not be a single beggar or a single man suffering from starvation and impoverishment. I saw the Krishnarajasagara dam today and was delighted to see that wonderful engineering feat of Sir M. Vishveshvarayya, the second I am told of its kind in the world. In a home of such great enterprises I beg of you to make some provision for Daridranarayana. I thank you for the love you have showered on me, and I pray that I may be worthy of it. 16 I seek the co-operation, however, of all the lovers of khadi in order that its life-giving message can reach the remotest village. I hope that those who have the means will give, for and in the name of Daridranarayana, the most that they can, so that the organization which is slowly but surely growing in our villages and the revival the spinning-wheel has brought about may not die a lingering death. 17

Who would not be drawn to this wonderful temple of Indian art? But a representative of Daridranarayana like me may not indulge in that feast of eyes. All my time and my energy are consecrated to the service of the poor, and I confess that I should not have come to this place if Keshavdas had not promised a purse of Rs. 500. 18 It can be said of him that he gave his life for the sake of his country, and he himself lived and died for it. This is not a meeting in which I can speak to you at length. There is too much noise and it will be cruelty on my part to inflict a speech on you. It does me a great deal of good and gives me a good deal of pleasure to see to many smiling faces about me. But when I see in those faces what you and I will never see, the faces which have not even the ability to smile, my heart sinks within me; and when we contemplate God residing in those people without smiling faces, we recognize in him Daridranarayana. It is for the sake of Daridranarayana that you have given these purses and so far as I have been able to see and think there is the conviction growing upon me that the only way you can render service to Daridranarayana is through the spinning-wheel. We are suffering from the chronic disease which can be called want of work and the only work you can find for the millions in the seven lakhs of villages is the spinning wheel. But even the spinning-wheel has no force and no application unless you and I can make up our minds to discard all foreign cloth. You have done well in being exceedingly brief in your address. My faith in the other items of the constructive national programme is just as firm as in khadi. I know that the horizon before us is very black. But in spite of that horizon being black, there is hope. I reiterate my faith in the possibility and necessity of Hindu-Muslim unity. I reiterate also my belief that unless we Hindus rid ourselves of the curse of untouchability Hinduism will be waning. 19

You had never seen me, and you have during these four months never even come near me to receive a word of thanks from me. Yours was genuine selfless service. And let this service be to you an incentive to serve the cause I have been serving the cause of Daridranarayana. And as I read in today’s chapter a clear indication that the spinning-wheel affords us in India the highest instrument of universal service, I have placed the spinning-wheel before the country, and whenever your interest in the wheel flags you will turn to the Gita and replenish your faith. I know none of you, but I know full well the service you have rendered. It is not for me to reward you for it, it is beyond my power, and it is well that it is so. God alone can give the reward, and it is His covenant that He always rewards service truly and selflessly rendered. 20 To spin for the sake of Daridranarayana and to use nothing but khadi for the same reason is as much an act of pleasing God as it is that Hindus and Mussalmans should remain united together. Just as Hindu-Muslim unity binds the two together so does the thread that is spun on the spinning-wheel bind the millions of paupers of India to us, the middle class. At the present moment it is true that we do not cut their throats but it is equally true that in a sense we suck from the villagers their very life-blood. 21

I must not take up more of your time now. We have some work before us. You have given me this beautiful casket. I have received those silver plates presented to me with the addresses of the District Board and Municipality. It is now known all over India that I have nowhere to keep such plates and caskets in and that by my vow I am debarred from owning any possession on this earth. I regard these articles as having been given to me in order to enable me to auction them in your presence and to get what more money I can for Daridranarayana. They will therefore be put before you for auction, and I hope that those of you who can afford it will try to outbid one another. But all may not have come with enough money to take part in the bidding. For them there is another course. I know that all men and women present at this meeting have not contributed to this purse. It is possible that some of you who have contributed have not given to the best of your ability. In order to give you an opportunity to give anything you may wish to, at this meeting, volunteers would presently go in your midst to make collections. I hope that those of you who can and believe in spinning and khaddar will not spare yourselves in giving. Sisters all over India are in the habit of giving their jewellery also. I want all those who can to give for the sake of Daridranarayana. A pie given with a willing heart is just as welcome as the gold mohur. I thank you once more for your gift and for your addresses. 22

You love to get a little bit of a rag, or cocoanut, or anything that you can get as prasadam from temples from which, alas, all holiness has fled. I would ask you to transfer that spirit of humility and devotion to khaddar which is spun and woven in the living temple of Daridranarayana. Our temples have their proper place in our religion and society only in so far they enable us to reach out the hand of fellowship to the starving millions of India. But these very temples will be the instruments of forging our shackles if they become impassable barriers between the masses and us. If you will wear khaddar in true spirit you will purify yourselves and the temples. I need not explain to you now, how the removal of untouchability necessarily follows from this proposition. 23

I shall never be satisfied with all that you could give me! You have endorsed some of the work that it has been my privilege to do. You have mentioned with affection and reverence in your address the name of Daridranarayana and you, Sir (Principal), have and I have no doubt with utmost sincerity endorsed the claim that I have made on behalf of the spinning-wheel. Many of my distinguished and learned countrymen, I know, have rejected that claim, saying that the little bit of a wheel which was happily put away by our sisters and our mothers could never lead to the attainment of swaraj. And yet you have endorsed that claim and pleased me immensely. Though you, students, have not said as much in your address, yet you have said sufficient in it to warrant the belief that you have in your hearts a real corner for the spinning-wheel. 24

It is an honest opinion. It will be a great national tragedy if the khadi movement turns out to be that and you will have been direct contributors to the tragedy and participators in that crime. It will be a national suicide. If you have no living faith in the charkha, reject it. It would be a truer demonstration of your love; you will open my eyes and I shall go about my way crying hoarse in the wilderness: “You have rejected the charkha and thereby you have rejected Daridranarayana.” But save me and save yourselves the pain, the degradation and the humiliation that await us if there is any delusion or camouflage about this. This is one thing. But there are many things more in your address. 25 Therefore when you give money for the service of Daridranarayana, whatever you give will be unsatisfactory because your work has a bearing on India’s poverty-stricken millions. You are taking away the money of the poor and the prayaschitta after the commission of the sin lies when you discharge your duties to those whom you took your money. So if you are going to perform the true dharma, I beg of you to take to khadi business. This is you work and not my work. Though I am myself born a Bania I have given up business. Therefore I have got to learn business from you. Moreover, the biggest business in India has now fallen into my hands and so if you take up this work from my hands, there will be no need to beg throughout the country. You have given me a welcome address in Hindi and I thank you for it. There is a Hindi Pracharak Sabha in South India. The money for it comes from North India now and then. In this work Marwaris have given large amounts of money. I beg of you now to make this your own work. You should not depend upon North India for finance and will have to do it actively yourselves. There is another duty still for you, cow-protection. Gujaratis and Marwaris have taken a prominent part. I must tell you that the work cannot be done by money alone. You have got the Shastra knowledge about this and that is more necessary than money. If you do not open dairies and tanneries in the various parts of the country this work can never be done properly. You are traders in all parts of India. You should make friends with all the people of the country. Do not think of them as strangers. Think of them as sons and daughters of the same country. If you think one a Punjabi, another a Bengali, Marwari, Gujarati and so on, no good will result. May God give you wisdom and desire to serve! 26

If they have capacity for growth, of real life and character within them, it must be manifested by some definite, visible, outward signs. And speaking along these lines, it was in 1918 that I made a discovery or call it re-discovery that is, India was really one compact society or one nation and if the component parts of the society, the individuals, were also actuated with one mind and if they had feelings for the lowest and the humblest among them, they must show some universal sign which could be adopted by every man and woman, girl or boy. Hence you find me tirelessly preaching the message of the spinning-wheel which I have considered the message of Daridranarayana, and asking you to give me all your best for the charkha. 27

Every time that we take our khaddar garment early in the morning to wear for going out we should remember that we are doing so in the name of Daridranarayana and for the sake of saving the millions of India. If we have the khadi spirit in us we should serve ourselves with simplicity in every walk of life. Khadi spirit means illimitable patience. For those who know anything of production of khaddar know how patiently those spinners and weavers have to toil. Even so must we have patience while spinning the thread of swaraj? Khadi spirit means also equally illimitable faith. So must we have that illimitable faith in truth and non-violence ultimately conquering every obstacle in our way? Khadi spirit means fellow-feeling with every living being on earth. It means the complete renunciation of everything that is likely to harm our fellow creatures. And if we are to cultivate that spirit amongst the millions of our countrymen, what a land this India of ours would be! 28 You give it in the name of and for the sake of Daridranarayana. It has therefore a constant call on your purse. Let me then hope that you will not be remiss in your efforts on behalf of khadi, that you will make up your Hindi, because you have got a Hindi Prachark here and that you will make up your Sanskrit, and let me also commend to your attention the addresses that I have given to students in other places and let me ask you to understand the message in those addresses. 29

But that also shows to you how I am khadi-mad. When I begin to talk of khadi I can talk about it endlessly if I get patient listeners; for I know that in khadi lies the economic salvation of our starving brethren and sisters scattered in seven hundred thousand villages and I wish that I can induce you to think that life is a burden to you as it is a burden to me so long as there exists in India a single man or woman who starves for want of work. I am passing so many days, precious days, in Chettinad with the high hope of being able to evoke the best of your benevolence on behalf of Daridranarayana. I want you therefore to give the most that you can and not the least you have. 30

You can well afford to give four times as much whereas the Adi-Dravida boys could give four times as much whereas the Adi- Dravida boys could hardly afford to give as much as they have given. Nevertheless I am thankful for whatever you have been able to give for Daridranarayana out of a willing heart. I wish to start my remarks by repeating the offer I made yesterday, at last night’s meeting. I want to expose to you this beautiful piece of art prepared in your own place, and the yarn of this beautifully fine muslin which I call khadi was spun by Mr. Chokkalingam of this place. I had the pleasure of seeing the very different processes through which he passed his cotton before he could draw his thread so fine as the threads from which this khadi piece is woven. And if you had witnessed his handicraft you would have envied with me and with me you would have also been proud of his art. 31

But I want you to realize in all significance the fact that I come before you as a self-chosen humble servant and representative of Daridranarayana. I want you to understand that what you have given me is not given and not to be given to feed my vanity and my ambitions, but to clothe and feed Daridranarayana who is knocking every day, in season and out of season, at your doors. I have come to you to wake you up to a sense of duty by the starving millions on whom and on whose labour you and I are living. Even your money, your jewellery, your rings and your necklaces can be of no earthly use to me unless both men and women will wear khadi and nothing but that. This collecting of purses for the spinning-wheel is only a brief and intermediate interval When every man and woman in India naturally takes to khadi as they all take to the grains that are grown on India’s plains there will be as little use for these collections as there is for collection in order to carry on propaganda for cultivating rice and wheat in India. And it is open to you today to shorten that interval as much as you like by adopting khadi, every one of you; and in order to saturate our atmosphere with the spirit of the spinning-wheel, it is necessary for you, all the sisters who are sitting in front of me, to take up the spinning-wheel and if you will, it can become a symbol of your purity and your independence. And it is equally necessary for men to take up the spinning-wheel as a sacrificial rite. I cannot cheapen khadi and I cannot popularize khadi unless I have an army of expert spinners from men who and who alone can penetrate the villages and reinstate the spinning-wheel by giving necessary instruction and by doing the organizing work. 32

The khadi pieces are too artistic, too fine and too long for a self-chosen representative of Daridranarayana as I claim to be. I call them very beautiful pieces of art and I would tempt you if you would be tempted to take them from me and keep them as treasures in your beautiful town. At Karaikudi where I got two pieces of khadi, home-spun and home-woven, I sold one piece at Rs. 1,001 and the other at Rs. 101. And I mention these things to you in order to tell you that I had entertained much higher hopes of Madura than what Madura has up to now done. It shows that evidently you who could have done much better have not understood the full importance of the message of the spinning-wheel. 33 But then there are other partners also in this company of Daridranarayana and these are the spinners and the weavers. The spinners, I know, are not in this meeting. I happened to know that there are some weavers here. I want to tell the weavers who are here and want them to give my message to those who are not here that I grieve to hear that there are some weavers here addicted to drink and gambling. In the firm of Daridranarayana there is really no room for drunkards and gamblers. Drink is an evil which has desolated thousands of homes throughout the world, and it behoves weavers who have anything to do with khadi that they at least will not defile their bodies with drink. A man under the influence of drink forgets the distinction between wife and sister. I hope, therefore, that the young men in Tirupur will bestir themselves and work in the midst of those who are given to drink and by gentle persuasion wean them from the drink habits. 34

I want to go to Ceylon and finish all the programmes that have been arranged there. I was to serve the Daridranarayana of Ceylon also as I have been serving here. So on account of all these reasons please excuses my abrupt departure tomorrow from Mangalore by sea. 35 Finally, those who have not contributed enough money may do so even now. If there are my ladies who want to present any jewels to Daridranarayana they may do so. As regards my sisters I will tell you this—your ideal is Sita Devi. Just as she was beautiful in her natural form so also you should not desire the help of ornaments to aid your beauty. Moreover it is not good for you to wear ornaments while there are many of your sisters starving for food and work. Those who give a jewel worth Rs. 100 will provide food for sixteen hundred of their poor sisters for one day. These sisters do not beg. I do not give money to a beggar. I take full work from them. In Tamil Nadu, Travancore and other places many sisters and small children have given me various jewels and ornaments. I thank you all and may God bless you to understand what all I have said! 36

Though I am going to Ceylon as a self-chosen representative of Daridranarayana and therefore in the high hope of filling the begging-bowl, I have long looked forward to visiting the historic island. I nearly went there in 1901 but God had willed otherwise. I am a labourer and would love to make the acquaintance of Ceylon labourers to whom Ceylon owes its present condition. 37 The only consolation that I have in receiving all these gifts and kindness from you is that it is all being done for the sake of Daridranarayana; and seeing that I regard myself as but a humble trustee for the millions of paupers of India I not only feel no shame or humiliation in receiving these gifts, but I feel impelled by your generosity and kindness to ask for more. Rich and generous though you may be it is really not possible for any single corporation to fill the millions of mouths of Daridranarayana and if there are any of you who have not given at all or given in a miserly fashion I appeal to you to open out your purses and give as much as you can on behalf of Daridranarayana. I can conceive of no better investment for wealthy Indians whether in India or outside; and let not your generosity end with merely giving money. If you will establish a living bond with these dumb millions you must wear khadi. It is produced by the hands of those starving men. If you will continue on these lines you will find that it will become necessary for you, if you are to have that bond continuously with the dumb millions, to purify your lives. And, wherever there is pure love there is charity and wherever there is personal purity there immediately arises cohesion in that society. You will find that one step in your advancement towards purity leads on to another. 38

I tender my hearty thanks for your address as also for what I hope is a generous purse for Daridranarayana. Those of you who are Indians are not unaware of the meaning of Daridranarayana but the Burmese students may not perhaps know its significance. Daridranarayana is one of the millions of names by which humanity knows God who is unnamable and unfathomable by human understanding, and it means God of the poor, God appearing in the hearts of the poor. It was the name used in one of his intuitive and sacred moments by the late Deshbandhu Das. It is not a name adopted by me out of my own experience, but it is a heritage from Deshbandhu. He used the word in connection with the mission to which among several others my life is dedicated; I mean the gospel of the charkha or the spinning-wheel. I know there are still many who laugh at this little wheel and regard this particular activity of mine as an aberration. In spite of the criticism and ridicule which is levelled at it I adhere to the gospel of the spinning-wheel as one of my most substantial activities, and I feel certain as I am certain that I am addressing you at the present moment that a time is coming when all the scoffing will cease and the scoffers will kneel and pray with me that the spinning-wheel may find an abiding place in the desolate homes of the underfed, starving millions of India. 39

You have presented me Rs. 1,170. I know you can pay more. In Andhra Desha men wear jewels like women. Ladies are afraid of coming out to see me, because when they come I look at their jewellery. I have taken their jewellery. When crores of people are starving there is no room for others to wear jewellery. They must give away all jewellery to Daridranarayana. 40 Daridranarayana is the aptest name for God. So long as a single such person is denied the darshan of Vishwanath, God cannot dwell there. The untouchables are not allowed to enter the place. If any untouchable does go to Vishwanath temple, it is only when “God” is especially kind that his bones remain intact. If you wish to meet God, then serve the Daridranarayana. You have given me Rs. 1,286. It is better than giving me nothing. But if you do not use khadi for the sake of Daridranarayana then what’s the use of giving this money? 41 As Daridranarayana is the name given, I trust the performance too will match the name. In the present times if a raja brings out a paper for his subjects he has to be doubly careful. If he considers himself the master, the subjects are brought to ruin, but by regarding himself as their servant he uplifts both himself and the subjects. 42

I must, therefore, appear not as the English would have me but as my representative character demands. I represent the Congress because and in so far as it represents Daridranarayana, the semi-starved almost naked villager. And if I represent the landed or monied or educated Indians, I do so to the extent that they identify themselves with Daridranarayana and desire to promote his interest. I can therefore appear neither in English costume nor in that of the polished Nehrus. In spite of the closest bond between us it would have been just as ludicrous for me to dress as Pandit Motilalji did as it would have been for him to appear in loin cloth. My loin cloth is an organic evolution in my life. It came naturally, without effort, without premeditation. My duty, as I conceive it, will then be, if I succeed in reaching London, to add nothing more to the loin-cloth than the climate peremptorily demands. I should be guilty of discourtesy to the English if I deceived them by appearing not as I am but as I may think or friends may think they would have me to be. I should fail at the very beginning of my mission, if I commenced by deception. It may please for the time being, it must offend in the end. If I am to win their hearts as I want to, I can do so only by being cent per cent truthful. Truth is like the sun. It will melt the icy mountain of suspicion and distrust. 43

I must congratulate you on your proposed visit to Calcutta for the purpose of ending the custom of purdah among the sisters there. Purdah is not only a superstitious obsession; I feel it also smacks of sin. Purdah from whom? Are all men steeped in lust? Cannot women retain her purity without observing purdah? Purity is a state of mind. It ought to come spontaneously to all men. In this age of reason women should serve Daridranarayana if they wish to protect their dharma. They should also educate themselves. Service of Daridranarayana implies propagation of khadi, spinning, etc. Harijan service implies washing off the stain of untouchability; both of these noble activities are God’s work. And education can never be acquired while retaining the purdah. 44

As it is, I have always had good relations with everyone in India, including businessmen and other rich people. I have been constantly receiving financial help from them for the poor in the country, for Daridranarayana, for Harijans and others. But I feel it is necessary to make it clear that although I am friendly with the princes, officers, business men and the rich, I never forget that I am a representative of the workers. It is my constant prayer to God that I may not, in any way disgrace myself as representative of workers, and, I may not ask anything for myself from the rich class. I believe that I have led fifty years of my public life in this spirit. I do believe that businessmen, the wealthy men and princes are inseparable limbs of India. My duty does not demand that I should destroy one of these limbs in order to serve Daridranarayana. My experience of many years has strengthened my belief that even if it is possible to liquidate these classes, Daridranarayana is not going to benefit by it. What I desire and what is uppermost in my thoughts and dreams is that I should help as much as is possible in bringing about unity among all these classes, and devote my utmost energy to this cause. It is also my experience that so far I have not by such activities harmed Daridranarayana.

I have seen that when I approach the poor, they accept me as one of them and shower affection on me. And even now, I shall do for them whatever is possible. Having laid the foundation-stone of this building, I take it that you would not turn me away empty-handed whenever I approach you for the much needed help for the Daridranarayana. I presume that, as representatives of the Indian business community, you would not resort to dubious trade practices, would not exploit Daridranarayana and would see that their rights are not violated at your hands. I expect that you would not indulge in any trade which may harm Daridranarayana. I know that all businessmen in India do not carry on their business in this spirit. I also know that all the rich people do not use their wealth as if it really belonged to the poor. In spite of that I am sure the number of rich persons who desire to be the trustees of their wealth is increasing. They are striving hard and also succeeding in their efforts. If we treat these rich people with decency, they would fulfil the expectations we have of them. What benevolence would not teach them today, selfishness would teach them tomorrow? Experience shows that altruism and self-interest can be blended in trade. Genuine artha is that alone which includes paramartha. This is the teaching of all the religions of the world. Religion has only come into existence to teach us that we human beings who are eddying in lives current should find solace in serving each other and while doing so satisfy our physical needs within limits. I know of no religion which says that God has given right to man to indulge in physical pleasure in utter selfishness. History reveals that any individual or society that lives only for indulging in pleasure in destroyed. The world does not even remember them. But it constantly remembers, exalts and immortalizes those who devote their lives to the service of humanity. 45

There is a struggle going on between Daridranarayana and Harijan: Which includes the other? Thoughtlessly the answer would be, ‘of course, Harijan’. But a moment’s reflection shows that Daridranarayana is the larger form. Harijans are undoubtedly Daridranarayana but they are ranked the lowest by the well-to-do. Hence they are the nearest and dearest to Hara or Hari God. For, has He not called Himself Servant of His servants? And whom will He serve most, if not those who are the most neglected by the world? Daridranarayana however includes, besides Harijans, all those many millions who are not branded outcastes from their birth. Therefore, service of Harijans necessarily includes that of Daridranarayana, but that of Daridranarayana may not always be also service of Harijans. Writers for Harijan will, therefore, do well always to bear this distinction in mind. For they should remember that the Harijan is a weekly wholly devoted to the Harijan cause and, therefore, excludes everything that has no bearing on that cause either directly or indirectly. It is necessary to bear this distinction in mind, since I am devoting its columns freely to many matters which I have appeared to have hitherto excluded from them. The fact is that during the hurricane tour I had little leisure to think, as I am now doing, of many efforts at construction, much less to write about them. For their all-round amelioration, there is limitless scope. Do they not represent numerically a large part of humanity and, in point of usefulness, rank perhaps the highest in society? Indian humanity would soon disintegrate, if they suddenly ceased to do the work they are doing at present with the brand of the outcaste on their foreheads for reward. 46

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