Life and Doctrines of Mahatma Gandhi
Gandhi spent most of his life advocating non-violence and truth and led the Indian people to their freedom with his doctrines and principles of peace and humility. A British educated lawyer, Gandhi was very much aware of the problems and sufferings of his country men even while living abroad. He began to actively participate in freedom movements even while he was in South Africa and gave the ideas of peaceful civil disobedience movement during a time when thee movement was going in India for freedom.
This was the beginning of a new life for Gandhi who was later to be named as Mahatma Gandhi or the Father of the Nation for his civil rights and freedom movements and protests again oppression and discrimination. Gandhi believed in truth and peace and these were his doctrines that governed his life and quest for liberty even in the most difficult of times.
When Gandhi came to his homeland after his studies, he began the full fledge movements against the suffering, oppression and discrimination of the poor classes, but all this was done peacefully and with a message of non-violence. Even though he was sent to jail on many occasions due to his fearless and straightforward speeches, yet it could not discourage him from his mission and his principles. Even in the worst of conditions and scenarios, he practiced humility, peace and truth.
Gandhi lived his life as a very simple man. After he returned to India from South Africa, he stopped using western clothing that he associated with wealth and success and began to wear a simple dress of dhoti and shawl that he spun himself. According to him, buying simple clothes from Indians meant an economic blow to British economy.
A firm believer of Hindu philosophy, he lived a very simple life, in an ashram that did not depend on any one else for donation and was self-sufficient in its needs. He was a devout Hindu and practiced Hinduism all his life. He believed all religions to be equal and extensively read about them all.
It would not be wrong to say that Gandhi’s doctrines of love, peace and non-violence turned many against him. It was once such extremist Hindu who killed Gandhi, accusing him of weakening India by insisting on paying Pakistan, the other newly formed state after being separated from united India in 1947. Gandhi was shot dead on January 30, 1948 while he was talking his nightly public walk on the grounds of Birla Bhavan, meaning Birla House in New Delhi. “Hey Ram”, meaning “Oh God” are commonly believed to the last words that Gandhi uttered before he died.
After Gandhi’s death, Jawaharlal Nehru addressed the nation and said: “Friends and comrades, the light has gone out of our lives, and there is darkness everywhere, and I do not quite know what to tell you or how to say it. Our beloved leader, Bapu as we called him, the father of the nation, is no more. Perhaps I am wrong to say that; nevertheless, we will not see him again, as we have seen him for these many years, we will not run to him for advice or seek solace from him, and that is a terrible blow, not only for me, but for millions and millions in this country.”
No doubt, Mahatma Gandhi is called the ‘Father of the Nation’ as he led the Indian nation from the British rule. In no other country we see the struggle for independence so fierce and strong that in the end, British finally had to surrender to the opposing forces and in this struggle, Gandhi played his role to the fullest. From all the principle movements for independence, Gandhi was the one who guided and counseled the nation in the worst of times. It was due to his advice that the nation kept calm and non-violent and was finally able to achieve a separate homeland.
It is said that Nehru followed Gandhi’s doctrines that led him to formulate the fundamental rights for all Indian citizens including the minorities in the constitution. Also, it was upon Gandhi’s principles that the rights of women and poor were specially looked into, to honor his memory and service to his country.
