Vaishali Institute Research Bulletin 4

Author(s): R P Poddar
Publisher: Research Institute of Prakrit Jainology & Ahimsa Mujjaffarpur

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Vaishali Institute Research Bulletin No. 4
sense in my opinion, strictly Vedic but not in its present popular and crude sense (3) I believe in the protection of the cow in its much larger sense than the popular; (4) I do not disbelieve in idol worship".
Gandhi believed that the essence of Hinduism is contained in the following verse:
I savasyamidam sarvam, yatkinca Jagatyām jagat : Ten tyktena bhuñjithā mā grdhaḥ kasyid dhanam
In this verse, Gandhi found not only the transcendence and immanence of God, but that God is the "unchallengeable master of everything you possess." He writes, "this mantra tells me that I cannot hold as mine anything that belongs to God, and if my life and that of all who believe in this mantra has to be a life of perfect dedication, it follows that it will have to be a life of continual service of our fellow-creatures. This I say is my faith and should be the faith of all who call themselves Hindu."4
ment.
Gandhi was in favour of varanäśrama in its original sense. Originally it was only a division of labour in society and a sort of economic arrangeThe four social groups were instituted by the smṛis the priestly class devoted to studies and religious pursuits leading pure and simple lives, the ruling and the soldier class, the commercial and wealth-producing class, and the serving class (Brahmana, Ksatriya, Vaisya, and Śūdra). These social groups were of a flexible nature and in consonance with the aptitudes and abilities of people. But later, the whole system fell into abuse and became watertight compartments holding the free life of man to static ransom. During the age of Dharmasastras and later, there developed a number of sub-divisions within the four castes and today we see hundreds of castes and sub-castes in Hindu society. In actual life, these rigid divisions of caste often lead to cruel injustice and discrimination.
Gandhi was the foremost to realise the terrible abuses that had crept into Varṇāśrama Dharma and to offer relentless battle against them. In his very insistence on Truth and Non-violence, he focused the attention on the cruelities of the present caste system. The caste system was, he thought, opposed to the basic concept of love. Therefore, he emphasised that the Hindu should break loose from the shackles of the past, retain all the good elements and mercilessly disregard the rest. He often declared that unless
3. Young India: 6.10.1921.
4.
Harijan 30.1.1937.