Gandhiana-28: SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING, NEW DELHI, December 11, 1947

BROTHERS AND SISTERS,

A friend desires that the verses from the Koran we recite here should be explained. These verses are ancient. The Koran was composed by Mohammed Saheb—it was spoken by him, thirteen centuries ago. The extracts from it that we recite are considered sublime like our mantras. The very reading of it bestows merit on the reader. It is good to know the meaning, of course, but even without knowing it a correct recitation itself is of great value. I can now explain the substance of it. I do not know Arabic or Persian. I do possess a translation, but it is not here now. Tomorrow I can provide a literal translation. In substance, it is a prayer to God. God is one and the same, by whatever name we may call Him. Allah is one of His names. Then His attributes are described. He is called Rahim and Rehman but He is one God. It is then said that God alone can save us from Satan. Satan drags us down and makes us do evil deeds only God can save us from that fate. Man admits that he on his own does not do noble deeds but God prompts him to do so. Man is like a drop of water in a sea. If God does not save man Satan will devour him.

God is great.God is All there is. His mercy alone can save us. I should say that however much we may recite this prayer, ponder over it and follow its import it is not enough. You may ask why in that case Muslims indulge in such barbarous behaviour. But then do Christians who have made so much progress, who are learned, follow the teachings of the Bible? Where are the Christians that live according to the Bible? Where are the Hindus who conduct themselves according to the Gayatri? We recite from Ishopanishad, “All things are pervaded by the Lord”, meaning that God is in everything. He gives us everything. Whatever a man possesses has been given to him by God. We should renounce all and enjoy what we must. Nothing is ours.

House, property and everything is surrendered to God. It is a great thing. Then it is said that we should not be envious of others’ riches. We should not covet another’s wealth. Let the Hindus but conduct themselves according to this one single mantra. Let the whole world thus conduct itself. It is not for the Hindus alone. It does not even mention Hindus. Let the Sikhs conduct themselves according to the mantra. It is not as if they did not believe in it. If everyone conducted himself accordingly the tragedy we have been witnessing all around us could not have come to pass. Everyone is not wicked, nor is everyone an angel. We cannot say that all Sikhs are wicked while all Hindus are angels or that all Muslims are angels.

Another verse is from the Parsi scripture. The first mantra in the prayer proclaims obeisance to the Guru. It is followed by other verses in Sanskrit. Then there are bhajans. And yet we do not keep our hearts clean. It is a painful thing.

Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol.98

Gandhiana-27: AHIMSA TOWARDS ENEMIES

A correspondent says in substance:

Individual ahimsa I can understand. Corporate ahimsa between friends is also intelligible. But you talk of ahimsa towards avowed enemies. This is like a mirage. It will be a mercy if you give up this obstinacy of yours. If you do not, you will forfeit the esteem you enjoy. What is worse, you, being considered a Mahatma, mislead many credulous persons to their own and society’s harm.

Gandhiji’s Reply:

That non-violence which only an individual can use is not of much use in terms of society. Man is a social being. His accomplishments to be of use must be such as any person with sufficient diligence can attain. That which can be exercised only among friends is of value only as a spark of non-violence. It cannot merit the appellation of ahimsa. “Enmity vanishes before ahimsa”, is a great aphorism. It means that the greatest enmity requires an equal measure of ahimsa for its abatement. Cultivation of this virtue may need long practice, even extending to several births. It does not become useless on that account. Travelling along the route, the pilgrim will meet richer experiences from day to day so that he may have a glimpse of the beauty he is destined to see at the top. This will add to his zest. No one is entitled to infer from this that the path will be a continuous carpet of roses without thorns. A poet (Pritam ) has sung that the way to reach God accrues only to the very brave, never to the fainthearted. The atmosphere today is so much saturated with poison that one refuses to recollect the wisdom of the ancients and to perceive the varied little experiences of ahimsa in action. “A bad turn is neutralized by a good”, is a wise saying of daily experience in practice. Why can we not see that if the sum-total of the world’s activities was destructive, it would have come to an end long ago? Love, otherwise ahimsa, sustains this planet of ours.

This much must be admitted. The precious grace of life has to be strenuously cultivated, naturally so because it is uplifting. Descent is easy, not so ascent. A large majority of us being undisciplined, our daily experience is that of fighting or swearing at one another on the slightest pretext.

This, the richest grace of ahimsa, will descend easily upon the owner of hard discipline.

NEW DELHI, December 8, 1947
Harijan, 14-12-l947
Collected Works of Gandhiji, Vol.98