World of Philosophy

Author(s): Christopher Key Chapple, Intaj Malek, Dilip Charan, Sunanda Shastri, Prashant Dave
Publisher: Shanti Prakashan

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to achieve, - what I have been striving and pining to achieve these thirty years, - is self-realization, to see God face to face, to attain moksha. I live and move and have being in pursuit of this goal. All that I do by way of speaking and writing, and all my ventures in the political field, are directed to this same end." (The Story of My Experiments with Truth, "Introduction"). Gandhi did discuss in detail what he understood and meant by self-realization; but as he was more concerned with attaining moksha than analyzing it, he tried to develop appropriate means for realizing the goal he set for himself. Quintessentially, living according to the Moral Law i.e., engaging in moral action, is the way to self-realization.
Gandhi believed that although attaining self-realization might appear to be a formidable task it was the duty of all human beings to attempt it, for he considered every human being to be endowed with the potential for self-realization. It was not the prerogative of the siddha or the yogi; every creation could aim at and attain that goal. Life meant action or karma and it was by regulating karma that one can aspire to attain moksha. Gandhi wrote: "I firmly believe in the law of karma but I believe too in human endeavour. I regard as the summum bonum of life the attainment of salvation through karma by annihilating its effects by detachment. (Young India, Oct. 1928). Through this thoughtful statement with powerful metaphysical overtones Gandhi acknowledged his acceptance of the path of karma yoga - performance of one's duty with total detachment - advocated by the Bhagavad Gita as his chosen path to moksha. It may be relevant to recall here that the Gandhi entitled his interpretation of the Gita as Anasakti Yoga (and anasakti means total detachment).
This would naturally lead us to a consideration of the Indian ethical system of purushartha. But before moving on to a discussion of that, it is necessary to make clear Gandhi's basic premise in terms of values or moral principles. For Gandhi Truth and Nonviolence were absolute values / moral principles. They were his Categorical Imperatives. He had made it clear that Truth and Nonviolence were not two but one; they were like two sides of an unstamped metallic disc. Gandhi discovered nonviolence in his pursuit of Truth and therefore, he formulated the dictum: Truth is the end and nonviolence the means. For him Truth was what his inner voice, (that he believed to be the voice of God) told him. Gandhi distinguished between Absolute Truth which was the Ultimate Reality, which by its very nature and magnitude was indefinable and incomprehensible, and relative truths, which were truths as individuals perceived them from moment to moment which will, therefore, always be plural. Truth could be realized by living it i.e., by being truthful in thought, word and deed. For Gandhi Nonviolence was the only sure way to move through truths, from relative truths to the Absolute Truth. Thus, Truth and Nonviolence are absolute values for Gandhi.
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