Assignment on Gandhi

Q1. What aspects of his mother’s incorporated in his own personality?

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Gandhi

In his formative years, Mahatma Gandhiji (alia Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi) was influenced by his mother Putlibai, who imparted in him a strong sense of personal ethics and compassion that is conveyed by his belief that India’s salvation depends on the sacrifice and enlightenment of her women India’s salvation depended on the sacrifice and enlightenment of her women. He contended that his mother left an “outstanding impression on his memory”, which was nothing short of “saintliness”. He tried to identify himself with his apparently weak, deeply religious, traditional and self-confident mother. He thought of his mother as the first satyagrahi because of her fasting and self-penalization, which she did without flinching. Besides, he was influenced by his mother’s piety towards Jainism and incorporated many of Jain ideas and practices like ascetism, self-purification through fasting etc. Gandhiji’s spiritual bent of mind seems to have come from his mother. His devotion to women began with his devotion to his mother and later, motherhood became increasingly his model for liberation of India and his own life. This was manifested by Gandhiji’s strict allegiance to the vow of not having meat he made to his mother when he left for London. Gandhiji believed that fundamentally, man and woman are one. He tried to highlight the importance of women in a patriarchal society and his efforts were aimed at the rediscovery of women as a civilized force in human society. He profoundly stated that the woman is the incarnation of Ahimsa. Q2. Describe in brief the Brahmanic tradition that Maharashtrian Chitpavans like Nathuram Godse represent? Nathuram Godse, came from Maharastra, where Brahmanic dominance was particularly strong. He belonged to the community of Chitpavan Brahmins, which were one of the rare Brahmin communities with a glorious history of valour on the battlefield. This coupled with the absence of marital castes like the Rajputs endowed the Chitpavans with a sense of historical superiority over other contemporary Brahmans like the Deshasth Brahmans. They were the rich mix of the traditional prerogatives of the priestly Brahmans and the kingly Kshatriyas. Because of their vibrant historical background, the Chitpavans saw themselves as the upholders of a tradition of Hindu resistance against the Muslim occupation of India. . It was on this reconstructed and self-created tradition that a part of the Maharashtrian elite built up their anti-British

nationalism. They perceived themselves as the rigidly religious, previously powerful, now weakened, competitors of the British. So terrorism directed against the Raj came naturally to them. Their aim was redemption of their lost glory. However, since the colonization of India by the British, much of the Chitpavan’s glory and social standing had diluted. 20 th century literature describes the Chitpavans as inordinately frugal, untrustworthy, given to conspiratorialism, phlegmatic, hard-working, and a penchant for cleanliness and intelligence among their attributes. They were also described to be attached to conventional ideas of social status and had a dream of reinstating the hegemony of the traditional social leadership. Q3. Starting from his association with Gandhi’s civil disobedience movement in 1929-30 to floating his newspaper Hindu Rashtra, describe in brief his political associations with various organization. Nathuram Godse, though having failed to matriculate was well read and had first-hand knowledge of the traditional religious texts like Bhagvad Gita, Patanjali Yogasutra etc. He was also well read in history, politics, sociology and in particular, Gandhi’s writings, along with the works of then major figures like Swami Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo, Tilak and Gokhale. All this manifested his zeal for being involved in the social and political circles of then India. After a brief period in Gandhi’s civil disobedience movement in 1929-30, Nathuram became at the age of 20 an active and ardent member of the Hindu Mahasabha, a small political party, and of the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh, a paramilitary wing of the Hindu Mahasabha. Both groups supported the cause of Hindu revivalism and tried to articulate the Hindu search for self-esteem, besides having a covert intention of reinstating the supremacy of the traditional social leadership or at least contain its humiliation. The ideas of these parties resonated with those of Godse, who was rigidly religious, and interpreted Krishna’s teachings to Arjuna during the Mahabharata from a martial perspective. Over time, his fervour and zeal for Hindu nationalism propelled him to become the Secretary of the RSS Poona branch. However, he did not find the RSS militant enough and resigned soon, forming a new organization called Hindu Rashtra Dal. He then purchased the newspaper Agrani , later changed to Hindu Rashtra to propagate his political views, and his strong dislike of Gandhi, which he articulated through acerbic pieces that Gandhi was emasculating the Hindus.

Q4. What are the similarities and dissimilarities between Gandhi and Godse at the level of manifest political style? Similarities: 

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Both were courageous nationalists contending that the problem of India was in short, the problem of the Hindus as they constituted the majority. Both were allegiant to the idea of an undivided and free India and expressed sadness and anguish at the partition of India. Both felt that austerity was a necessary part of political activity. Both believed in a casteless society and democratic polity Both of them lived like a hermit, having renounced the contemporary pleasures of life. Both of them considered themselves as santani Both were in favour of mobilizing the Indian Muslims for the nationalist cause by making some concessions to their leadership.

Differences: 

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Godse considered totally irrational Gandhi’s emphasis on political ethics, soul force and the moral supremacy of the oppressed over the oppressor. Godse’s interpretation of Krishna’s teachings to Arjuna during the Mahabharata was from the martial side, whereas Gandhis’s was from the spiritual side Godse believed that politics was a rational zero-sum game, whereas Gandhi believed it to be a collaboration for the betterment of all. Godse’s Hinduism was different from Gandhi. Gandhi felt Hinduism was a life style and an open-ended system of universal ethics which would continuously integrate new inputs. For Godse, salvation of Hindus lay in giving up their syntheticism and ideological openness and in being religious in the fashion of politically successful societies. Godse looked at history as a chronological sequence of real events, and noticed India was ruled by Muslims or Christians for over 1000 years. He felt Hindus were humiliated and this had to be redressed. Gandhi seldom cared about the past and Muslim domination of India meant nothing to him, prompting Godse to famously refer to Gandhi as ‘Father of Pakistan’

Q5. After killing Gandhi, Nathuram Godse reportedly said that he had done his duty like Arjuna in the Mahabharata whom Krishna advised to kill his own relatives because they were evil. What supporting props about the society in general and Gandhi in particular could Nathuram may have cited to justify his remark?

After the partition, which had a telling effect on Gandhiji’s psyche, he contended that he was responsible for what was happening to India and that God, after deliberately blinding him awakened him to his mistake. Gandhi died, according to his own scenario, which were a manifestation of his forebodings. He had yearned for a violent death while preaching pacifism. the hands of one who was apparently a zealot, a religious fanatic, a typical assassin with a typical background, educated and intelligent, but an under-achiever. Godse was still relatively young, was coming from the middle class and yet from a group which was a displaced elite and with a long record of failures. Godse also had the fear of sexuality, idealization of parents, ideological rigidity and constriction of emotions. This was the kind of society in which Nathuram Godse was born, grew and died. Godse and his associates’ decision to kill Gandhi was certainly determined by the circumstances of Partition and the death of Hindus in the course of the communal violence of 1947. But, during his trial, Godse also made clear that there was an ideological element to the decision: “I had never made a secret of the fact that I supported the ideology of the school that was opposed to that of Gandhi. I firmly believed that the teachings of absolute ahimsa as advocated by Gandhi would ultimately result in the emasculation of the Hindu community and thus make the community incapable of resisting the aggression or inroads of other communities, especially the Muslims.” By his own admission, Godse belonged to an ideological stream fed by Hindu nationalism and political violence against Gandhi, a school of thought that began with B.G. Tilak and was perpetuated by “Tilakites” such as V.D. Savarkar, Godse’s mentor. Godse’s interpretation of the Mahabharata also has similarities with Tilak’s Gita Rahasya. At the end of his trial, Godse said: “In fact, honour, duty and love of one’s own kith and kin and country might often compel us to disregard non-violence. Arjun had to fight and slay quite a number of his friends and relations, including the revered Bhishma, because the latter was on the side of the aggressor.