MK Gandhi (1869 - 1948), India’s “Father of the Nation,” who spearheaded the country’s Freedom Movement for Independence from British Rule is known for his famous words of wisdom on God, life and religion. Here are some of the most noteworthy ones…
- Religion - a Matter of the Heart: "True religion is not a narrow
dogma. It is not external observance. It is faith in God and living in the
presence of God. It means faith in a future life, in truth and Ahimsa….
Religion is a matter of the heart. No physical inconvenience can warrant abandonment
of one's own religion."
- Belief in Hinduism (Sanatana Dharma): "I call myself a Sanatani
Hindu, because I believe in the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Puranas, and all
that goes by the name of Hindu scripture, and therefore in avataras and rebirth;
I believe in the varnashrama dharma in a sense, in my opinion strictly Vedic
but not in its presently popular crude sense; I believe in the protection
of cow … I do not disbelieve in murti puja." (Young India: June
10, 1921)
- The Teachings of the Gita: "Hinduism as I know it entirely
satisfies my soul, fills my whole being … When doubts haunt me, when
disappointments stare me in the face, and when I see not one ray of light
on the horizon, I turn to the Bhagavad Gita, and find a verse to comfort me;
and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. My life
has been full of tragedies and if they have not left any visible and indelible
effect on me, I owe it to the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita." (Young
India: June 8, 1925)
- Seeking God: "I worship God as Truth only. I have not yet found
Him, but I am seeking after Him. I am prepared to sacrifice the things dearest
to me in pursuit of this quest. Even if the sacrifice demanded my very life,
I hope I may be prepared to give it.
- The Future of Religions: No religion which is narrow and which cannot
satisfy the test of reason, will survive the coming reconstruction of society
in which the values will have changed and character, not possession of wealth,
title or birth will be the test of merit.
- Faith in God: "Everyone has faith in God though everyone does
not know it. For everyone has faith in himself and that multiplied to the
nth degree is God. The sum total of all that lives is God. We may not be God,
but we are of God, even as a little drop of water is of the ocean."
- God is Strength: "Who am I? I have no strength save what God
gives me. I have no authority over my countrymen save the pure moral. If He
holds me to be a pure instrument for the spread of non-violence in place of
the awful violence now ruling the earth, He will give me the strength and
show me the way. My greatest weapon is mute prayer. The cause of peace is
therefore, in God's good hands."
- Christ - a Great Teacher: "I regard Jesus as a great teacher
of humanity, but I do not regard him as the only begotten son of God. That
epithet in its material interpretation is quite unacceptable. Metaphorically
we are all sons of God, but for each of us there may be different sons of
God in a special sense. Thus for me Chaitanya may be the only begotten son
of God … God cannot be the exclusive Father and I cannot ascribe exclusive
divinity to Jesus." (Harijan: June 3, 1937)
- No Conversion, Please: "I believe that there is no such thing
as conversion from one faith to another in the accepted sense of the word.
It is a highly personal matter for the individual and his God. I may not have
any design upon my neighbour as to his faith, which I must honour even as
I honour my own. Having reverently studied the scriptures of the world I could
no more think of asking a Christian or a Musalman, or a Parsi or a Jew to
change his faith than I would think of changing my own." (Harijan: September
9, 1935)
- All Religions are True: "I came to the conclusion long ago
… that all religions were true and also that all had some error in them,
and whilst I hold by my own, I should hold others as dear as Hinduism. So
we can only pray, if we are Hindus, not that a Christian should become a Hindu
… But our innermost prayer should be a Hindu should be a better Hindu,
a Muslim a better Muslim, a Christian a better Christian." (Young India:
January 19, 1928)
