The Mahatma and The Yogi

As the luck would have it, i got the opportunity to attend the book launch event of the eminent Indian historian Ramchandra Guha's 'Gandhi Before India' and while listening to his ever-engaging talk on his book and Gandhiji, a thought crossed my mind. 

When Gandhiji was being hailed all across the world as the Mahatma - the Great Soul, there was another Indian being heralded globally for his Yoga teachings and was acknowledged as the Yogi - the saint - Paramahansa Yogananda! And both shared deep mutual admiration and reverence. Yoganandaji got to meet the Mahatma in 1936 during his trip to India when he was invited by Gandhiji to his Wardha Ashram. The divine meeting of the two God-blessed souls is historic; if one was admired as the Political Master then the younger one was acclaimed as the Spiritual Master! And these two have been clearly the best Indian gifts to the world! If Gandhiji gave the principles of Non-violence and Truth as tools towards any struggle, then Yoganandaji taught the ancient vedic Yoga to the humanity! How i wish i were born in their times ... :) 

Here i share a tribute to the Mahatma by the Yogi, which he wrote much before meeting his spiritually-political idol.

Mahatma Gandhi
by Swami Yogananda East-West, April, 1932

At Gethsemane, out of that perishable confinement of the body of Jesus, they let loose His spirit so that it could be free to roam in the hearts of many people, and kindle their ignorance, dispelling the night as they awakened.

Oh, Gandhi! The prison walls have become a temple by Thy Presence!! And Thou art more dangerously eloquent by Thy Silence!! Thy physical voice is muffled ‘neath the prison vaults, but Thy silent voice of Spirit is loosened, and is beating the drums of universal sympathy and attention, to rouse the races slumbering in hatred, in political selfishness, in greed for possession, in mutual deceptions, and in brother making war preparations against brother.

Gandhi! Politically crucified, Thou art not only the savior of a race, of India, but also of all the selfish, hatred-stricken races of the world. And now there comes Thy prison, like a Judas, to take Thee away from us, but Thy prison shall be Thy best message bearer, the greatest preacher of Thy truth for all times, and Thy supreme slave to build a mansion of love for Thy truth and Thee in the heart of each race.

Gandhi! Thy Bible, all the warriors of futurity will read and follow, and therein learn to combat, not their brothers, but the Satan of Ignorance and all his army.

Gandhi! Thy saintliness, and the fragrance of the unfading flower of Thy determination, will charm the menacing fire of cannon, until they sing instead the Freedom of India through Peace.

Gandhi! Thy flute of peace will tune the wild beasts of political misunderstandings in the race! Just as God did not choose to use His miraculous powers to discipline man, but chose love instead, so Thou has chosen the path of love, not force, that mightiest love to free India. For Thy love will awaken love, will melt gunpowder, selfishness, political strife, hatred, wars, fighting airplanes, bombs, machine guns, and armies into the consistency of All-Freeing Love.

Oh Gandhi! Thy Love will build the United States of the World, and Thy seal will be in every heart!

...........

*(1) “The Self shines forth like a sun in those who have banished ignorance by wisdom.”—Bhagavad Gita V

Wish Russians had met my Grandfather ...

One of the fondest memories of my grandfather is he asking me to recite the Bhagavad Gita when we visited him and Naniji during our summer holidays. He would smilingly listen to me struggling as a kid to read those amazing verses from the book most of which I hardly understood. It was only at a later stage in life that I developed the necessary mental capabilities to appreciate the Gita. And, perhaps that is the reason why I find the Gita to be one of the most fundamental thoughts on Art of Living and Life per se!

The Gita is so comprehensive and profound that one marvels at the deep intellect of the civilization which formulated it many thousands of years before the rest of the world could crawl out of the caves! One has to read it to grasp it and it is not complicated at all. The Gita talks in a very simple language to the humanity. The ideology is complete; the belief is universal. And a look at all other philosophies of the world makes one realize that every worldly thought stemmed out of the Gita itself – besides the other immensely intense scriptures on philosophy – and religion - which were incidentally penned down during the thriving era of the Indus Valley civilization and which was the foundation of the later period – now modern - Hinduism.

Therefore to call the Gita a militant book with mercenary motives and thus initiating its ban in Russia seemed hugely novice. Thanks to the timely action by the minister of external affairs and the wise intervention of the Russian prime minister that the bizarre move by one of the courts in the erstwhile USSR could be halted. (Coincidentally, the Indian minister is the Gita’s chief protagonist’s namesake – Krishna!) … Well, Thank you, Mr. Putin; it has saved your country from renouncing a knowledge treasure in absence of adequate exposure to the Gita.

This brings me to the fundamental of the issue: why is the world so ignorant about most of the things it possesses? Why in spite of the so-called shrinking of the planet earth and the boundaries becoming so-called irrelevant in today’s inter-connected world that we still seem to know almost nothing about anything belonging to the so-called “others”? Why has the world remained so myopic in views in spite of being inhabited by the more evolved of the species called the Homo sapiens?

In making humans more civilized gradually, one of the major contributions has been of the various world religions. (I am no proponent of any form of organized/structured religion; nevertheless I firmly believe in the oneness of the creator and It being at the helm of the Life.) And that is the reason why we see religion being at the core of evolution of all human civilizations since the beginning of the time. (I also appreciate the contrary: that the various religions were at the core of destruction of all human civilizations and continue to be the main reason for most of the deaths and defeats in today’s world.) One has to know the religion being followed by a particular human race to understand its behavior and beliefs. Moreover, knowledge of the numerous world religions opens one’s eyes and widens one’s mental horizons. Because then you realize that essentially all religions are the same with a similar central theme and therefore all humans are same. And that it is immensely foolish to fight over narrow ideologies like creed, caste, or colour. And the ways of the world look so absurdly limited that it makes you wonder if we can really qualify to label ourselves as “civilized” claiming to have broader views and basic intellect when compared to the lesser mortals i.e. animals.

Coming back to the principal issue of the proposed Gita ban throws some challenges to us Indians. In spite of Hinduism being the first of the evolved religions of the world, we Indians have not been able to take it to the world. It is high time India took progressive steps to make the world understand the nuances of this great religion. (I also accept its flawed interpretation and practice by many.) Once aware, no one would ever propagate banning and branding of the Gita as violent. (I actually feel like LOL!) Instead, in increasing fractured world, the knowledge of the Gita would show all humans the way to a real Life.

Here I also like to LOL at the fellow Indians. Because howsoever high ground we might have taken upon the news of the pending ban on the Gita and would have felt hurt and betrayed and would have laughed and wondered at the limited general knowledge of the related Russians in the case, we wouldn’t have looked withinwith the realization that we too hardly understand the Gita. In fact when it is discussed – and its verses get quoted routinely – I feel like cringing with horror at the lack of awareness amongst the Indians. Every body has his or her own interpretation of the text and most of them are absolutely faulty and twisted to suit one’s selfish interests. For most of the Indians the Gita is a “religious book” to be “worshipped” but not “practiced” as the former is sufficient to cleanse one of his or her sins. We are famous for meting out the same “revered” treatment to all other supremely authored ancient religious books – whether it is the Ramayana or the Mahabharata or the Upnishads or the Puranas or others. Same is the scene with people following other religions. (And seeing people behave in all other parts of the world as well in the name of religion, I am sure the same is being practiced elsewhere also.)

WOW! Then why blame the Russians alone? They are yet to read the Gita and understand the idea. And that is the reason why I wish all the ignorants of the world – including the Indians and the Russians – had met my grandfather …

Happy reading the Gita J