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terms of will power, Gandhiji was doubtless one of the finest
examples India has ever produced. But there is no evidence to show
that he grasped the need for, and logic of, state power. Not to
speak of his critics, he saw himself as a Ram bhakt. But, he was a
bhakt not of Ram in his totality, that is of Ram the warrior also,
but of Ram in his totality, that is of Ram as Purushottam Purusha,
that is, of Ram who set the ideal for ethical life.
This aspect of Gandhiji's personality
and of the idiom he used and popularized has been ignored. As a
result, it is generally not realized the bhakti uninterested in the
power dimension of life has informed the thinking of educated
Indians for centuries
As one of many constituents of Indian
spirituality before Muslim invasions and rule, bhakti was one
proposition; it was then accompanied by other spiritual currents as
well as an extensive search for, and exercise of, state power. As a
dominant current under Muslim rule,more often than not extremely
harsh and debilitating, it assumed an altogether different
significance. It doubtless helped protect Hindu culture in extremely
difficult circumstances, even if in an emasculated and rigid form.
But it also promoted escapism as a way of life.
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