February 7, 1915

Truthfulness, brahmacharya, non-violence, non-stealing and non-hoarding, these five rules of life are obligatory on all aspirants. Everyone should be an aspirant. A man’s character, therefore, is to be built on the foundation of these disciplines. Beyond doubt, they are to be observed by everyone in the world. Though a business man, one must never utter or practice untruth; though married, one must remain celibate; though keeping oneself alive, one can practise non-violence. It is difficult to be of the world and yet not to steal (to observe the rule of non-stealing) and not to hoard wealth or any other thing. One must, nevertheless, keep that as an ideal to be attained and have some limit in these respects; when the mind has begun to turn away from these things, one may even embrace the supreme renunciation.

Everyone who observes these vows will be able to find a way out of all perplexities.

[From Gujarati]
Bapuni Prasadi

[After March 14, 1915]²

BHAISHRI 5 M-³,

You are right in what you think about non-violence. Its essentials are daya⁴, akrodha⁵, aman⁶, etc. Satyagraha is based on non-violence. We saw this clearly in Calcutta and came to the conclusion that we should include it among our vows. The thought led to the further conclusion that we must observe all the yamas⁷ and that, if we do so by way of vows, we perceive the inner significance of non-violence. In my talks with hundreds of men here I place the various yamas above everything else.

I remembered this verse in Calcutta on this occasion and pondered deeply over it. I am absolutely clear in my mind that India’s deliverance and ours will be achieved through the observance of these vows.

In observing the vow of non-hoarding, the main thing to be borne in mind is not to store up anything which we do not require. For agriculture, we may keep bullocks, if we use them, and the equipment required for them. Where there is a recurring danger of famine, we shall no doubt store food-grains. But we shall always ask ourselves whether bullocks and food-grains are in fact needed. We are to observe all the yamas in thought as well, so that we shall grow more secure in them from day to day and come to think of fresh things to renounce. Renunciation has no limit to it. The more we renounce, the more we shall grow in the knowledge of the atman⁹. If the mind continues to move towards renunciation of the desire for hoarding and if in practice we give up hoarding as far as it is physically possible to do, we shall have kept the vow of non-hoarding.

The same is true about non-stealing. Non-hoarding refers to stocking of things not needed. Non-stealing refers to the use of such things. If I need only one shirt to cover myself with but use two, I am guilty of stealing one from another. For, a shirt which could have been of use to someone else does not belong to me. If five bananas are enough to keep me going, my eating a sixth one is a form of theft. Suppose we have a stock of 50 limes, thinking that among us all we would need them. I need only two, but take three because there are so many. This is theft.

Such unnecessary consumption is also a violation of the vow of non-violence. If, with the ideal of non-stealing in view, we reduce our consumption of things, we would grow more generous. If we do so, actuated by the ideal of non-violence, we would grow more compassionate. In assuring, as it were, every animal or living thing that it need have no fear on our account, we entertain compassion—love—for it. A man who entertains such love will not find any living being inimical to him, not even in thought. That is the most emphatic conclusion of the shastras and my experience as well.

The principle underlying all these vows is truth. By deceiving oneself, one may refuse to recognize an act of stealing or hoarding as such. Hence, by taking careful thought we can ensure at every step that truth prevails. Whenever we are in doubt whether a particular thing should be stored or not, the simple rule is not to store it. There is no violation of truth in renunciation. When in doubt about the wisdom of speaking, it is the duty of a man who has taken the vow of truth not to speak.

I want all of you to take only such vows as each one feels inclined to, of his own free will. I always feel that vows are necessary. But anyone may take them only when he himself feels the need and take only such as he wants to.

Ramchandra may have been a man of great prowess, performed innumerable feats and killed hundreds of thousands of monsters, but no one would think of him today if he had not had such devoted men as Lakshmana and Bharata to follow him. The point, if Ramchandra had had no more than extraordinary strength as a fighter, his greatness would have been forgotten after a while. There have been many brave warriors who killed monsters as he did. There has been none among them whose fame and greatness are sung in every home. Ramchandra possessed power of some other kind which he could induce into Lakshmana and Bharata and in virtue of which the latter became great men of austerities. Singing in praise of their austerities, Tulsidasji asked who else, if Bharata had not been born and practised austerities unattainable even by great sages, would have turned an ignorant man like him to Rama? This is as much as to say that Lakshmana and Bharata were the guardians of Rama’s fame, that is, of his teaching. Moreover, austerities are not everything. For, if Lakshamana went without food or sleep for 14 years, so did Indrajit¹⁰. But the latter did not know the true significance of austerities which Lakshmana had learnt from Rama; on the contrary, he possessed a nature which inclined him to misuse the power earned through austerities and so came to be known merely as a monster and suffered defeat at the hands of Lakshmana, the man of self-mastery, a lover of God and seeker of deliverance. In the same way, however great the ideal of Gurudev¹¹, if there is no one to implement that ideal, it will remain hidden in the profound darkness of the ages. Conversely, if there are any to put it into practice, it will spread its light multiplied many times over. The steps which one has to climb in order to practise an ideal constitute tapas. One should realise, therefore, how very necessary it is to bring tapas—discipline—into the life of children.

[From Gujarati]
Gandhijini Sadhana; also Mahatma Gandhijina Patro

April 27, 1915

MR. CHAIRMAN AND DEAR FRIENDS,

Madras has wellnigh exhausted the English vocabulary in using adjectives of virtue with reference to my wife and myself and, I may be called upon to give an opinion as to where I have been smothered with kindness, love and attention, I would have to say: it is Madras. (Applause.) But, as I have said so often, I believe it of Madras. So it is no wonder to me that you are lavishing all these kindnesses with unparalleled generosity, and now the worthy President of the Servants of India Society—under which Society I am going through a period of probation—has, if I may say so, capped it all. Am I worthy of these things? My answer from the innermost recesses of my heart is an emphatic “No”. But I have come to India to become worthy of every adjective that you may use, and all my life will certainly be dedicated to prove worthy of them, if I am to be a worthy servant.

And so it is that you have sung that beautiful national song¹³, on hearing which all of us sprang to our feet. The poet¹⁴ has lavished all the adjectives that he possibly could to describe Mother India. He describes Mother India as sweet-smelling, sweet-speaking, fragrant, all-powerful, all-good, truthful, a land flowing with milk and honey, and having ripe fields, fruits and grains, and inhabited by a race of men of whom we have only a picture in the great Golden Age. He pictures to us a land which shall embrace in its possession the whole of the world, the whole of humanity by the might or right not of physical power but of soul-power. Can we sing that hymn? I ask myself, “Can I, by any right spring to my feet when I listen to that song?” The poet no doubt gave us a picture for our realisation the words of which simply remain prophetic, and it is for you, the hope of India, to realise every word that the poet has said in describing his Motherland of ours. To-day I feel that these adjectives are very largely misplaced in his description of the Motherland, and it is for you and for me to make good the claim that the poet has advanced on behalf of his Motherland.

You—the students of Madras as well as students all over India—are you receiving an education which will make you worthy to realise that ideal and which will draw the best out of you, or is it an education which has become a factory for making Government employees or clerks in commercial offices? Is the goal of the education that you are receiving that of mere employment whether in the Government departments or other departments? If that be the goal of your education, if that is the goal that you have set before yourselves, I feel and I fear that the vision which the poet pictured for himself is far from being realised. As you have heard me say perhaps, or as you have read, I am and I have been a determined opponent of modern civilization. I want you to turn your eyes today upon what is going on in Europe and if you have come to the conclusion that Europe is today groaning under the heels of the modern civilization, then you and your elders will have to think twice before you can emulate that civilization in our Motherland. But I have been told: “How can we help it, seeing that our rulers bring that culture to our Motherland?” Do not make any mistake about it at all. I do not for one moment believe that it is for any rulers to bring that culture to you unless you are prepared to accept it, and if it be that the rulers bring that culture before us, I think that we have forces within ourselves to enable us to reject that culture without having to reject the rulers themselves. (Applause.) I have said on many a platform that the British race is with us. I decline to go into the reasons why that race is with us, but I do believe that it is possible for India if she would but live up to the tradition of the sages of whom you have heard from our worthy President, to transmit a message through this great race, a message not of physical might, but a message of love. And then, it will be your privilege to conquer the conquerors not by shedding blood but by sheer force of spiritual predominance. When I consider what is going on today in India, I think it is necessary for us to say what our opinion is in connection with the political assassinations and political dacoities. I feel that these are purely a foreign importation which cannot take root in this land. But you the student would have to beware, lest mentally or morally you give one thought of approval to this kind of terrorism. I, as a passive resister, will give you another thing very substantial for it. Terrorise yourself; search within; by all means resist tyranny wherever you find it; by all means resist encroachment upon your liberty, but not by shedding the blood of the tyrant. That is not what is taught by our religion. Our religion is based upon ahimsa, which in its active form is nothing but love, love not only to your neighbours, not only to your friends but love even to those who may be your enemies.

One word more in connection with the same thing. I think that if we were to practise truth, to practise ahimsa, we must immediately see that we also practise fearlessness. If our rulers are doing what in our opinion is wrong, and if we feel it our duty to let them hear our advice even though it may be considered sedition, I urge you to speak sedition—but at your peril. You must be prepared to suffer the consequences. And when you are ready to suffer the consequences and not hit below the belt, then I think you will have made good your right to have your advice heard even by the Government.

I ally myself with the British Government, because I believe that it is possible for me to claim equal partnership with every subject of the British Empire. I today claim that equal partnership. I do not belong to a subject race. I do not call myself a member of a subject race. But there is this thing: it is not for the British governors to give you; it is for you to take the thing. I want and I can take the thing. That I want only by discharging my obligations. Max Muller¹⁵ has told us—we need not go to Max Muller to interpret our own religion but he says, our religion consists of the four letters “D-u-t-y” and not the five letters “R-i-g-h-t”. And if you believe that all that we want can grow from better discharge of our duty, then think always of your duty and fighting along those lines, you will have no fear of any man, you will fear only God. That is the message that my master—if I may say so, your master, too—Mr Gokhale has given to us. What is that message then? It is in the constitution of the Servants of India Society and that is the message by which I wish to be guided in my life. The message is to spiritualise the political life and the political institutions of the country. We must immediately set about realising its practice. The students cannot be away from politics. Politics is as essential to them as religion. Politics cannot be divorced from religion. Politics divorced from religion becomes debasing. Modern culture and modern civilization are such politics.¹⁶ My views may not be acceptable to you, I know. All the same I can only give you what is stirring me to my very depths. On the authority of my experiences in South Africa, I claim that your countrymen who had not that modern culture but who had that strength of the Rishis¹⁷ of old, who have inherited the tapascharya¹⁸ performed by the Rishis, without having known a single word of English literature and without knowing anything whatsoever of the present modern culture, they are able to rise to their full height. And what has been possible for the uneducated and illiterate countrymen of ours in South Africa is ten times possible for you and for me today in this sacred land of ours. May that be your privilege and may that be my privilege! (Applause.)

Speeches and Writings of Mahatma Gandhi

Modern civilization is a curse in Europe as also in India. War is the direct result of modern civilization. Every one of the powers was making preparations for war.

[Before May 20, 1915]²⁰

This is only a draft printed for circulation among friends for their comments.²¹ It is not intended as a statement for the Press.²² SATYAGRAHASHRAM?²³
DESHSEVASHRAM?
SEVAMANDIR?

The object of the Ashram is to learn how to serve the motherland one’s whole life and to serve it.

The Ashram consists of three classes: Controllers, Novitiates and Students.

The Controllers believe that, in order to learn how to serve the country, the following observances should be enforced in their own lives and they have been trying to do so for some time.

It is not enough for a person under this vow that he does not ordinarily resort to untruth; such a person ought to know that no description may be practised even for the good of the country. One should consider the example of Prahlad in order to understand how one should behave towards elders such as parents in the interests of Truth.

It is not enough to refrain from taking the life of any living being. He who has pledged himself to this vow may not kill even those whom he believes to be unjust; he may not be angry with them, he must love them; thus, he would oppose the tyranny whether of parents, governments or others, but will never kill or hurt the tyrant. The follower of truth and non-violence will offer satyagraha against tyranny and win over the tyrant by love; he will not carry out the tyrant’s will but he will suffer punishment even unto death for disobeying his will until the tyrant himself is won over.

It is well-nigh impossible to observe these two vows unless celibacy too is observed; and for this vow it is not enough that one does not look upon another woman with a lustful eye, one has so to control the animal passions that they will not be moved even in thought; if one is married, one will not have sexual intercourse even with one’s wife, but, regarding her as a friend, will establish with her a relationship of perfect purity.

Until one has overcome the palate, it is difficult to observe the foregoing vows, more especially that of celibacy. Control of the palate should therefore be treated as a separate observance by one desirous of serving the country and, believing that eating is only for sustaining the body, one should regulate and purify one’s diet day by day. Such a person will immediately, or gradually, as he can, leave off such articles of food as may tend to stimulate animal passions.

It is not enough not to steal what is commonly considered as other men’s property. One who has pledged himself to this vow should realize that Nature provides from day to day just enough and no more for one’s daily needs by way of food and so hold it theft to use articles of food, dress, etc., which one does not really need and live accordingly.

It is not enough not to possess and keep much, but it is necessary not to keep anything which may not be absolutely necessary for the nourishment and protection of our body: thus, if one can do without chairs, one should do so. He who has taken this vow will always bear this in mind and endeavour to simplify his life more and more.

Two other vows follow from the foregoing.²⁴

The person who has taken the vow of Swadeshi will never use articles which conceivably involve violation of truth in their manufacture or on the part of their manufacturers. It follows, for instance, that a votary of truth will not use articles manufactured in the mills of Manchester, Germany or India, for he cannot be sure that they involve no such violation of truth. Moreover, labourers suffer much in the mills. The generation of tremendous heat causes enormous destruction of life. Besides, the loss of workers’ lives in the manufacture of machines and of other creatures through excessive heat is something impossible to describe. Foreign cloth and cloth made by means of machinery are, therefore, tabooed to a votary of non-violence as they involve triple violence. Further reflection will show that the use of foreign cloth can be held to involve a breach of the vows of non-stealing and non-possession. We follow custom and, for better appearance, wear foreign cloth in preference to the cloth made on our own handlooms with so little effort. Artificial beautifying of the body is a hindrance to a brahmachari and so, even from the point of view of that vow, machine-made cloth is taboo. Therefore, the vow of Swadeshi requires the use of simple clothing made on simple handlooms and stitched in simple style, foreign buttons, cuts, etc., being avoided. The same line of reasoning may be applied to all other articles.

He who is acted upon by fear can hardly observe the vows of truth, etc. The Controllers will, therefore, constantly endeavour to be free from the fear of kings or society, one’s caste or family, thieves, robbers, ferocious animals such as tigers, and even of death. One who observes the vow of fearlessness will defend himself or others by truth-force or soul-force.

According to Hindu religion as traditionally practised, communities such as Dhed, Bhangi, etc., known by the names of Antyaj, Pancham, Achhut and so on, are looked upon as untouchable. Hindus belonging to other communities believe that they will be defiled if they touch a member of any of the said communities and, if anyone does so accidentally, he thinks that he has committed a sin. The founders of the Ashram believe that this practice is a blot on Hindu religion. Themselves staunch Hindus, they believe that the Hindu race will continue to add to its load of sin so long as it regards a single community as untouchable. Some of the consequences of this practice have been terrible. In order to be free from this sin, the Ashram inmates are under a vow to regard the untouchable communities as touchable; actually one Dhed family was staying in the Ashram, and it is still there, when the third edition of these rules was being drawn up. It lives exactly in the same condition as others in the Ashram do. This vow does not extend to association for purposes of eating. All that is desired is the eradication of the evil of untouchability.

The Ashram does not follow the varnashram dharma. Where those in control of the Ashram will take the place of the pupils’ parents and where life-long vows of celibacy, non-hoarding, etc., are to be observed, varnashram dharma has no scope. The Ashram inmates will be in the stage of sanyasis²⁷ and so it is not necessary for them to follow the rules of this dharma. Apart from this, the Ashram has a firm belief in the varnashram dharma. The discipline of caste seems to have done no harm to the country; on the contrary, rather. There is no reason to believe that eating in company promotes brotherhood ever so slightly. In order that the varnashram dharma and caste discipline might in no way be undermined, the Ashram inmates are under no obligation, whenever they stir out, to subsist on fruits if they cannot cook their own food.

It is the belief of the Controllers that no nation or any group thereof can make real progress by abandoning its own language; they will, therefore, use their own language. As they desire to be on terms of intimacy with their brethren from all parts of India, they will also learn the chief Indian languages; as Sanskrit is a key to Indian languages, they will learn that too.

The Controllers believe that body labour is a duty imposed by nature upon mankind. Such labour is the only means by which man may sustain himself; his mental and spiritual powers should be used for the common good only. As the vast majority in the world live on agriculture, the Controllers will also devote some part of their time to working on the land; when that is not possible, they will perform some other bodily labour.

The Controllers believe that one of the chief causes of poverty in the land is the virtual disappearance of spinning-wheels and handlooms. They will, therefore, make every effort to revive this industry by themselves weaving cloth on handlooms.

Politics, economic progress, etc., are not unconnected matters; knowing that they are all rooted in religion, the Controllers make an effort to learn and teach politics, economics, social reform, etc., in a religious spirit and work in these fields with all the zeal that they can command.

Those who are desirous of following the foregoing programme but are not able immediately to take the necessary vows may be admitted as Novitiates. It is obligatory upon them to conform to all the observances which are followed by Controllers the while that they are in the Ashram. They will acquire the status of Controllers when they are able to take the necessary vows for life.

1 Any children, whether boys or girls, from four years and upwards may be admitted with the consent of their parents.²⁸
2 Parents will have to surrender all control over their children.
3 Children will not be permitted to visit their parents for any reason until the whole course of study is finished.
4 Students will be taught to observe all the vows intended for the Controllers.
5 They will receive instruction in religion, agriculture, handloom-weaving and letters.
6 Instruction in letters will be through the students’ own languages and will include History, Geography, Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, Economics, etc., the learning of Sanskrit, Hindi and at least one Dravidian language being obligatory.
7 English will be taught as a second language.
8 Urdu, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Devnagari and Gujarati scripts will be taught to all.
9 The Controllers believe that the whole course will be completed in ten years.²⁹ Upon reaching the age of majority, students will be given the option of taking the vows or retiring from the Ashram. This will make it possible for those to whom the programme has not commended itself to leave the Ashram.
10 They will exercise this option at an age when they will require no assistance from their parents or guardians.
11 Every endeavour will be made from the very beginning to see that, when they leave, they will be strong enough to have no fear what they would do for their maintenance. 12 Grown-up persons also may be admitted as students.
13 As a rule, everyone will wear the simplest and a uniform style of dress.
14 Food will be simple. Chillies will be excluded altogether and generally no condiments will be used excepting salt, pepper and turmeric. Milk, ghee and other milk products being a hindrance to a celibate life and milk be often a cause of tuberculosis and having the same stimulating qualities as meat, they will be most sparingly use, if at all. Meals will be served thrice a day and will include dried and fresh fruits in liberal quantities. All inmates of the Ashram will be taught the general principles of hygiene.
15 No holidays will be observed in this Ashram but, for one and a half days every week, the ordinary routine will be altered and everyone will have some time to attend to his private work.
16 During three months in the year, those whose health permits it will be taken on a tour, on foot for the most part, of India.
17 Nothing will be charged either from Students or Novitiates towards their monthly expenditure, but parents or the members themselves will be expected to contribute whatever they can towards the expenses of the Ashram.

Administration of the Ashram will rest with a body of Controllers. The Chief Controller will have the right to decide whom to admit and to which category.

The expenses of the Ashram are being met from moneys already received by the Chief Controller or to be received from friends who may have some faith in the Ashram.

The Ashram is accommodated in two houses on the banks of the Sabarmati, Ahmedabad, on the road to Sarakhej across the Ellis Bridge.

It is expected that in a few months, about 250 acres of land will be acquired in the vicinity of Ahmedabad and the Ashram located thereon.

Visitors are requested to observe all the Ashram rules during their stay there. Every endeavour will be made to make them comfortable; but the management will be thankful to them if they bring with them their bedding and utensils for meals, as the Ashram rules permit the stocking of only a minimum of articles.

Those parents who intend sending their children to the Ashram are advised to pay a visit to the Ashram. No boy or girl will be admitted before he or she has been duly tested.

(1) An effort is being made to see that everyone in the Ashram gets up at 4 o’clock. The first bell rings at 4.
(2) It is obligatory on all, except those who are ill, to get up at 4.30. Everyone finishes bathing by 5.
(3) 5 to 5.30: Prayers and readings from holy books.
(4) 5.30 to 7: Breakfast of fruits, such as bananas.
(5) 7 to 8.30: Manual work. This includes drawing water, grinding, sweeping, weaving, cooking, etc.
(6) 8.30 to 10: School work.
(7) 10 to 12: Meal and cleaning of utensils. The meal consists of dal, rice, vegetables and rotlis for five days. On two days, there are rotlis and fruits.
(8) 12 to 3: School work.
(9) 3 to 5: Work, as in the morning.
(10) 5 to 6: Meal and cleaning of utensils. The meal mostly follows the same pattern as in the morning.
(11) 6.30 to 7: Prayers, as in the morning.
(12) 7 to 9: Study, receiving visitors, etc.

Before nine, all children go to bed. At ten the lights are put out.

For school work, the subjects of study at present are Sanskrit, Gujarati, Tamil, Hindi and Arithmetic. Study of History and Geography is included in that of languages.

No paid teachers or servants are employed in the Ashram.

In all, the Ashram has at present 35 inmates. Four of them live with their families. There are five teachers to look after teaching. Permanent members of the Ashram include two from North India, nine from Madras Presidency and the rest are from Gujarat and Kathiawar.

[From Gujarati]
From photostats of printed leaflets: S.N. 6187 and S.N. 6189

¹ Son of Anandbehn, Gandhiji’s sister

² From the references to Calcutta and Tagore, the letter appears to have been written after Gandhiji’s first visit to Shantiniketan and Calcutta after his arrival in India. Gandhiji left Calcutta on March 14, 1915. In Gandhijini Sadhana it is stated that this was written after February, 1915; however, in Mahatma Gandhijina Patro, this letter is published as from Madras with the date Vaishakh Sud 11, which corresponds to April 25, 1915.

³ This superscription in a letter addressed to Maganlal Gandhi is unusual. It is reproduced as in Mahatma Gandhijina Patro.

⁴ Compassion

⁵ Freedom from anger

⁶ Freedom from the desire to be respected

⁷ Any great moral or religious duty or observance. The yamas are usually said to be ten, but their names are given differently by different writers. Generally they include truthfulness, non-violence, compassion, celibacy, etc.

⁸ “If Bharata had not been born, imbued with the ambrosia of love for Sita and Rama, then who would have practised such self-control and strict observance, continence, restraint and rigorous vows as scarce enter the imagination of sages?” Ayodhya Kanda (Second Book) of Tulsidas’s Ramayana (Hill’s translation).

⁹ The Self

¹⁰ Meghanad, son of Ravana, who had earned the name of Indrajit by his victory over Indra, chief of the gods.

¹¹ Rabindranath Tagore

¹² In reply to the Madras students’ address, V. S. Srinivasa Sastri presiding

¹³ The proceedings had begun with the “Vande Mataram” song, all standing.

¹⁴ Bankim Chandra Chatterji

¹⁵ (1823-1900), German orientalist

¹⁶ These two sentences are from The Hindu, 28-4-1915.

¹⁷ Sages

¹⁸ Penance

¹⁹ This was revised and published as third edition on November 7, 1915.

²⁰ The Ashram, as stated in the third edition, was established on May 20.

²¹ Vide “Letter to Ranchhodlal Patwari”, 5-6-1915 and “Letter to Purshottamdas Thakurdas”, 8-6-1915.

²² These sentences were replaced in the third edition by: “Some revisions have been made in this edition in the light of suggestions from friends or experience.” The revisions were as indicated in the footnotes.

²³ The third edition appeared under this title, with the following note below it: (Established in Ahmedabad on Vaishakh Vad 6, Thursday, May 20, 1915).

²⁴ Omitted in the third edition

²⁵ This and the paragraph on Varnashram were added in the third edition.

²⁶ The organisation of society into four castes, each with a distinctive function, and the division of life into four stages

²⁷ Those who, in the last stage of life, have renounced the world

²⁸ This was replaced in the third edition by: “Boys and girls under twelve years of age will not be admitted if their parents do not join at the same time.”

²⁹ This sentence was omitted in the third edition.

³⁰ Added in the third edition