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"Why did I not see the bars before? Because I was engrossed in some purpose, to watch the parade. Mahatma Gandhiji was a prisoner in this very jail, but because he had a purpose, a fresh way of thinking, he never saw the jail's bars as bondage. Though the world called him a prisoner, he was a free man. He used to say, 'I am not in a prison; I am in a palace!?”
Gurudev told the inmates how Gandhiji had used his time and energy to teach the other prisoners how to weave khadi cloth. "When the officials would not permit him to teach, in those hours he would keep silence. Every moment of his time was put to the best use. Two and a half years later, when the Viceroy intervened on his behalf and officials came and told him, 'Gandhiji, you are free. You may go home now,' he answered, 'What? I cannot go now. Still there are eight days to complete my course for these men. I will not go yet.'
“The officials were confused. “Then you have to pay rent in order to stay!' they insisted. Ultimately, they compelled him to leave. So what I want to say is your attitude, your purpose, your meaning, is what makes you see bars as bars, or, as challenges to bring out your energy for a positive cause.”
In particular, Gurudev was concerned with helping the men realize that once they were freed from the jail, they were free to live a new life without the slightest trace of revenge or anger toward those who had sent them to jail. He reminded them, “It was your own unrestrained emotions that brought you here. Don't shift the blame onto others. There are no old scores to settle. Revenge is a poison. Don't let this poison spoil the rest of your life. Throw it out. Let it go. Erase, forgive, and forget.”
He then gave the example of Koshalraj whose small kingdom was about to be invaded by a neighboring king Kashiraj who could not control his greed for more land and power. At the prospect of war, rather than subject his people to bloodshed, Koshalraj decided to abdicate and leave the kingdom to Kashiraj and spend the rest of his days living as a poor man in the forest. Though Kashiraj became king, he remained unhappy, because he was filled with envy for the way in which the people continued to love and revere their former king. He 216
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