The Wheel of life and the Vedas- 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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The Wheel of life and the Vedas- Mahatma Gandhi 

 

Pandit Satavalekar of Aundh wrote in 1922 a booklet in Hindi called i.e., Charkha in the Vedas, and favoured me with a copy whilst I was resting in the Yeravda jail. I glanced then through its pages and with interest, but asked myself what good would it be to us in this age of so-called advancement to know that the charkha was to be found in the Vedas. Everybody knows that our remote ancestors spun and wove in their cottages even as they did so many other things. But we no longer do them. So I said to myself. The booklet, I hastily concluded, was not of much practical value and I laid it aside. On the sick-bed I have again an opportunity of turning, so far as my strength permits, to quiet studies. Another book of Pandit Satavalekar (of which more hereafter) has attracted me to his writings, and he has now favoured me with another copy of the booklet in question. I observe that it has undergone a second edition.

I have read it this time more carefully, and I find that the mantras cited by the author from the Vedas demonstrate not merely the fact that our ancestors in those times were spinning and weaving, but they present, perhaps, a, for us, novel way of looking at the wheel. Here is what may be called the key mantra for spinners and weavers from Rig-Veda (X. 53-6) quoted by the author: I give a free rendering as follows: Having spun the thread and given it a shining colour, weave it without knots, and so guard the pathways which the enlightened have chalked out, and thinking well, lead posterity unto the divine light, or (according to the author’s rendering) bring forth divine progeny. This truly is the work of poets. If the translation is at all correct and the author has not merely given his own rendering but has reproduced Griffith’s translation also in his booklet the mantra proves not merely the existence of spinning and weaving in the Vedic times, but that it was the calling of the noblest men and women as well of the humblest. It was one of the pathways which wisdom hath prepared and to guard which was the work of poets. Little did I know when I humbly presented the charkha to our Poet as a sacrificial rite, that I had behind me the authority of what is understood to be the oldest Veda? I commend the mantra to all those who are engaged in reviving this ancient and sacred industry and art. Let them thoughtfully recite this mantra whilst doing their sacrificial spinning. Let them treasure it in their hearts and keep their faith unshaken even in the face of disappointments and reverses in their forward march. I cannot resist quoting another beautiful mantra from the booklet: This is again from the Rig-Veda (X. 130-1).

It means: Hundred and one artists are working at the sacrifice which through the myriad threads overspreads the earth. Here are the elderly guardians. They watch the processes saying, “Weave on here, and do this right there.” Thus we see that spinning and weaving was regarded as a sacrifice even in those ancient days and commanded the protecting care of the elders. The author shows abundant evidence that both spinning and weaving were done by men as well as women. In fact the industry was as universal as farming. He shows too that the sartorial art was well advanced in those times. There were different dresses prescribed for different occasions as also for different states. If the farmer had his langoti, royalty had its robe. There is mention of colours, fringes and gold borders. The author has also shown that some of the most beautiful metaphors have been taken from the language of spinners and weavers. I must resist the temptation to quote more extracts from this thoughtfully written booklet. There is a mantra which proves that the soldiers of those days were not above doing these processes; that the bridegroom’s garment was always made by the bride as is still the custom in Assam. There is one thing; however, the author leaves to other research scholars in the Vedic lore to discover. So far as he has been able to study the Vedas, he has not found a single equivalent for cotton as he has for wool and silk. He is, therefore, unable to say whether in those days our ancestors had only woolen and silken garments or whether they had already discovered the cotton fibers.

 

Reference:

Young India, 2-6-1927