________________
77
cannot deceive the loved one, he does not fear or frighten him or her. WUGT (Gist of life) is the greatest of all gifts. A man who gives it in reality, disarms all hostility. He has paved the way for an honourable understanding. And none who is himself subject to fear can bestows that gift He must therefore be himself fearless. A man cannot then practise Ahinsa and be a coward at the same time. The practice of Ahimsa calls forth the greatest courage It is the most soldierly of of soldier's virtues General Gordon has been represented in a famous statue as bearing only a stick. This takes us far on the road to Alimsa. But a soldier, who needs the protection of even a stick, is to that extent so much the less a soldier. He is the true soldier who knows how to die and hold his ground in the midst of a hail of bullets Such a one was Ambarish who stood his groud without lifting a finger, though Durvasa did his worst The Moors who were being powdered by the French gunners, rushed into the gun's mouths with 'Alah on their lips,' showed much the same type of courage. Only theirs was the courage of desperation Ambarish's was due to love Yet the Moorisb valour, readiness to die, conquered the gunners. They frantically waived their hats, ceased firing and greeted their erstwhile enemies as comrades And so the South African passive resisters in their thousands were ready to die rather than sell their honour for a little personal ease This was Ahimsa in its active form. It never barters away honour. A helpless girl in the hands of a follower
