6
IS GANDHI A MAHATMA ?
Is Gandhi a Mahatma ? I am sick of this question. There are two reasons why this question annoys me. Firstly, I hate all the Mahatmas and firmly believe that they should be done away with. I am of the opinion that their existence is a curse to the nation in which they are born.
The reason why I say so is because they try to perpetuate blind faith in place of intelligence and reason.
Secondly, I do not know what exactly people understand by the word Mahatma.
Even then since the Editor of the ‘Chittra’ seems to be so adamant on getting a reply from me, I have decided to make earnest efforts to answer this question.
Generally speaking according to an ordinary Hindu in order to pass as Mahatma a person must have three things, namely his robe, his character and his particular doctrine. If these qualities are taken as a criterion for judging a Mahatma then in the eyes of ignorant and uneducated persons who look towards other for salvation Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi can be called a Mahatma. It is very easy for anybody to become a Mahatmas in India by merely changing his dress. If you are wearing an ordinary dress and leading an ordinary life even if you perform extraordinary noble deeds, nobody takes any notice of you. But, a person who does not behave in normal manner and shows some peculiar trends and abnormalities in his character, he becomes a saint or a Mahatma. If you put on a suit or ordinary dress and do something, people would not even like to look at you. But if the same person discards his clothes, run about naked, grows long hair, abuses people and drinks dirty water from the gutters, people fall at his feet and begin to worship him. In these circumstances if Gandhi becomes Mahatma in India there is nothing surprising. Had these things been practised in any other civilised country, people would have laughed at him. To a casual observer Gandhi’s teachings appear to be very sweet and appealing. Truth and Non-violence