Himalaya and Mahatma Gandhi

[Prof. Dr. Yogendra Yadav]

Prof. Dr. Yogendra Yadav

Senior Gandhian Scholar, Professor, Editor and Linguist

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

Contact No. – 09404955338, 09415777229

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Himalaya and Mahatma Gandhi 

Sometimes this expenditure in Europe is sought to be justified on the plea that Princes go there for the benefit of their health. This plea is perfectly ludicrous. No one need, in the search of health, leave a country where Himalaya, the king of mountain, exercises undisturbed sway, and which is watered by such mighty rivers as the Ganges, the Indus, and the Brahmaputra. A country where millions of men enjoy perfect health should be enough to supply the Princes, needs on that score. 1

If the leaders and the country have wearied of me, I should retire to the Himalayas. By the Himalayas I do not mean the Dhavalgiri Hills, I mean the Himalaya in my heart. It would be easy for me to find a cave in that Himalaya and live there. Even this I will not myself seek, it will come seeking me. The devotee does not himself go to God. If he did, he would not be able to bear His dazzling light. Hence God Himself comes down to His devotees and appears to them in the form in which they have adored Him. My God knows that I am impatiently awaiting His coming; a mere sign from Him will suffice for me.”With a frail thread has Hari tied me, and I turn the way He pulls me.” So sang Mirabai. I am Mirabai’s disciple, and so I may also sing this song after making the necessary change in the gender of the pronoun. I should always hold myself ready to be pulled by such a thread. That is why I am always drawing out thread and reminding my “roving mind” that it should always be ready to set out for its homeland. It matters little whether that homeland be a cave in my heart or some unknown country. Whatever the place to which I retire, He will be present there and, therefore, I shall have nothing to fear. 2      

Next I met Gokhale. I found him on the Fergusson College grounds. He gave me an affectionate welcome, and his manner immediately won my heart. With him too this was my first meeting, and yet it seemed as though we were renewing an old friendship. Sir Pherozeshah had seemed to me like the Himalaya, the Lokamanya like the ocean. But Gokhale was the Ganges. One could have a refreshing bath in the holy river. The Himalaya was unsalable, and one could not easily launch forth on the sea, but the Ganges invited one to its bosom. It was a joy to be on it with a boat and an oar. Gokhale closely examined me, as a schoolmaster would examine a candidate seeking admission to a school. He told me whom to approach and how to approach them. He asked to have a look at my speech. He showed me over the college, assured me that he was always at my disposal, asked me to let him know the result of the interview with Dr. Bhandarkar, and sent me away exultantly happy. In the sphere of politics the place that Gokhale occupied in my heart during his lifetime and occupies even now was and is absolutely unique. 3

Faith is like the Himalaya Mountains which cannot possibly change. No storm can possibly remove the Himalaya Mountains from their foundations. I am daily praying for strength from God to be able to say to God, when Hindus disappoint me, ‘Although Thy own creation has disappointed me, I still cling to Thee as a babe clings to the mother’s breast.’ And I want every one of you to cultivate that faith in God and religion. It is my conviction that all the great faiths of the world are true, are God-ordained and that they serve the purpose of God and of those who have been brought up in those surroundings and those faiths. I do not believe that the time will ever come when we shall be able to say there is only one religion in the world. In a sense, even today there is one fundamental religion in the world. But there is no such thing as a straight line in Nature. Religion is one tree with many branches. As branches you may say religions are many; as tree Religion is one. 4

 

References:

1. Young India, 8-1-1925
2. Navajivan, 20-12-1925
3. Autobiography
4. Harijan, 26-1-1934