Mohandas to Mahatma - Experiments with Truth

Who was M.K. Gandhi? Indians know him as 'Bapu', or the 'Father of the nation.' What makes him so? Was it his experiments in the political field? Or was it his experiments in the spiritual field? He is known as 'Mahatma' Gandhi. However this title actually pained him deeply, and he did not attach much value to it. Gandhiji's goal that he had been striving to achieve for decades, was none other than Moksha, or self-realization. His life's journey was a quest for truth itself, as the sovereign and eternal principle. Gandhiji placed Truth above any perception of God. He worshiped God as truth only, not in the form of deity. His goal was the absolute truth, however until he was able to realize the absolute, he held on steadfast to the relative truth as conceived by him. This assumption of relative truth as it occured to him at any given point in time, and acting on it constituted his 'Experiments with truth.' Depending on whether his experiments failed or succeeded, he modified his perceptions in accordance with reality.


Some people think that he was born a Mahatma and was some kind of superhuman person. He was anything but superhuman. His human flaws made his achievements all the more exemplary. Gandhijis experiements in his early days saw him eat meat, steal coppers from servants, smoke cigarettes, steal gold from his brother etc. He was able to forgive himself and develop the courage to move on despite numerous failings. He undertook penance for his failed experiments. He took full responsibility for stray incidents of violence in the freedom struggle during movements of noncooperation initiated by him and fasted as penance. Other leaders would have just blamed others but that was not Gandhiji's style.


Gandhiji's qualities are relevant in today's times as much as during the freedom struggle. He was the first leader to walk the talk when it came to Christ's teachings of turning the other cheek. He appealed to people's sense of morals, ethics and justice instead of using violence. In that sense, he had great faith in dharma even when everyone else believed that only might is right. He is one of the greatest leaders the world has ever seen to live the messages of equality, tolerance of all religions, compassion, and justice. He changed the country and the world, one person at a time. He was able to do this by changing himself. He developed the ability to control his own mind and senses through his experiments. Also, he was a Karma Yogi who performed actions never for his selfish motives but for the well being of all including those who persecuted him. This gave him tremendous mental strength and equanimity. He pointed out similarities in the teachings of the Gita, Bible, Koran etc and contributed immensely to harmony among people from different castes, religions, and communities.

Dharma & Truth

The concept of dharma is unique to eastern philosophies and religions. It encompasses the wide concepts of duty, righteousness, action, truth, and law. Dharma signifies the obligation, binding upon every man who desires that his action should bear fruit, to submit himself to the laws that govern the universe and to direct his life in consequence. That obligation constitutes his duty.”Thus, dharma covers the eternal order of universe as well as any particular situation in the life of a human being. The holistic conceptualization of dharma suggests that any human activity, including inaction, potentially has wide reaching consequences.

There are religious texts,scriptures, and treatises on law that relate to Dharma, but these are some times contradictory to each other. The best way that one can understand the concept of dharma is through the words and actions of Krishna, particularly in the Mahabharata and the Bhagavad Gita. The Bhagavad Gita links the concepts of dharma and karma yoga. Krishna tells Arjun that it his dharma to fight against adharma without any expectation of reward or without regard for the result of the war. Whether he will win or lose is immaterial. The only thing in his control is his karma or action, which is to fight. The rationale of the actions and behavior of Krishna are puzzling to everyone. Arjuna, his close friend and disciple is able to follow Krishna's instructions and perform actions in the war only due to his faith in Krishna, although his mind and reason are not fully convinced. He questions Krishna again and again (although very respectfully) through different stages of the war even though Krishna has already explained all reasons for why Arjuna should fight and what his duty is. Arjuna is able to stay on the path of dharma during the Mahabharata war only because he has Krishna as his mentor and guide throughout.

However every time Krishna's instructions are simple from the point of view of karma yoga. Any other way of understanding dharma will be too complex for the mind to comprehend. The simplest way to stay on the path of dharma is by doing your duty without expectation for reward or without attachment to the result. By following this path of karma yoga, one will also acquire knowledge and wisdom and the ability to discriminate between what is right and wrong.

Truth is of relevance not on its own but only in the context of dharma. Dharma over rides truth in the Mahabharata. Krishna asks Yudhistira to be technically truthful (not technically lie) and tell Drona that Ashwatthama (the elephant) is dead. Krishna's rationale of this is that Drona is the biggest enemy of dharma in the war of dharma versus adharma and to remove such a barrier to dharma is dharma. The Mahabharata tells us that the adharmic are often as strong as or stronger than the dharmic. This may be because they are not constrained by any moral code, and may in fact, be victors in most battles and wars in the short term. It is therefore necessary to evolve strategies to fight them, taking advantage of their weaknesses. The world is not a level playing field. Those who are not on the path of dharma take short cuts to acquire knowledge, pleasure, revenge, wealth, and power by usurping what is not rightfully theirs. The dharmic route is a certain and permanent one but typically takes longer. The wise ones play to their own strengths and the opponent's weaknesses in a war of dharma versus adharma.