Prayaschitta 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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Prayaschitta and Mahatma Gandhi

 

 

And as prayaschitta for our past sins, I expect every man and woman to spin for at least some time every day during leisure hours. I cannot be satisfied so long as I see that your dhotis are made of yarn from foreign countries. I promise you that if you wore the coarsest cloth as I wear you will be able to carry on your banking business well not only in India but also in Rangoon and other places. But if you wear fine garments for pleasure’s sake and if you decline to wear garments hand-spun and hand-woven by our sisters, then there will be no swaraj for India. Your purses and addresses are good if your intention is to carry out swadeshi. But they are perfectly useless unless your purses and addresses are given as an absolute and final step towards attainment of swaraj and redress for the Punjab and the Khilafat wrongs and the release of Ali Brothers. So, I hope that from tomorrow you will boycott all foreign clothes and use only hand-spun and hand-woven clothes. I hope also that there is no drink in your village. If there is, I hope you will drive away that curse. In Hinduism there is no such thing as untouchability and we are bound to treat our Panchama brothers as our own brothers. I see men here, as in Andhra, are fond of wearing diamond rings and ear-rings. I wish I could persuade you to return to your original simplicity and return all that to the Tilak Swaraj Fund or to any other Fund you like. I thank you once more for your kindness in presenting to me these addresses and purses and conclude with the hope that you will all follow the programme of swadeshi. 1

Shuddhi of those who can be identified neither as Hindus nor as Mussalmans or who have been recently declared converts but who do not know is even the meaning of conversion and who want to be known definitely as Hindus not conversion but prayaschitta or penance. The third aspect of shuddhi is conversion properly so called. And I question its use in this age of growing toleration and enlightenment. I am against conversion whether it is known as shuddhi by Hindus, tabligh by Mussalmans or proselytizing by Christians. Conversion is a heart-process known only to and by God. It must be left to itself. But this is no place for airing my views on conversion. Those who believe in it have a perfect right to follow their own course without let or hindrance, so long as it is kept within proper limits, i.e., so long as there is no force or fraud or material inducement and so long as the parties are free agents and of mature age and understanding. Those, therefore, who believe in shuddhi, have a perfect right to subscribe to the appeal. 2

I want to speak to you one word today. I want to know how many amongst you who have gathered today are Adi Karnataka’s. Many of your brothers and sisters have not come here. To you and to those who have not come I will say this. Much is being done for the uplift of your community. In your Mysore Parliament (the Representative Assembly), the Dewan has dwelt upon this in this address. I am also glad to hear that His Highness takes a great interest in the cause of the downtrodden of your province. I feel for your position. We have to consider ourselves Panchamas as prayaschitta for what we have done to a portion of our own brothers and sisters. 3 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! 4

Actually, when the element of punishment or violence enters into boycott or non-cooperation, it ceases to be a powerful weapon, because the one who inflicts it becomes an offender himself while the latter, believing that he has done prayaschitta for his acts becomes more confirmed in his viciousness and ready to repeat the offence, if occasion arises. It is because of this that till today the infliction of punishment or violence has not prevented sin or crime. I have therefore suggested in all my writings that the reformer should be pure and respectful and that all his acts should be non-violent or full of love. Thus I; have suggested that boycott should mean that we do not accept any service from the one who is boycotted; that we put up with inconvenience and deny him any special rights. However, we should render him service when the need arises. The person who is boycotted thus cannot attend a community feast. If we have made him a professor, that position should be taken away from him. If he is a teacher and we happen to be studying under him, we should discontinue doing so. If he happens to be our tenant, he should cease to be one. But if he is ill, he can avail himself of our services. If he is suffering from hunger for no fault of his, we should give him food. This is Just by way of illustration. In short, we should think consciously and should never wish or do to others what we do not wish done to ourselves. 5

 

References:

 

1. The Hindu, 26-9-1921
2. Young India, 6-1-1927
3. The Hindu, 18-7-1927
4. The Hindu, 10-9-1927 
5. Navajivan, 29-7-1928