| Awaken Bharata |
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| Books By David Frawley |
| THE IMPORTANCE OF KSHATRIYA DHARMA | |
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Reevaluation of Mahatma Gandhi
This discussion is certainly not meant to say that Mahatma Gandhi is responsible for the current corruption in India. Gandhi had an idealism and self-sacrifice that stands far above the opportunism of Indian politicians today, and which quality of service needs to be emulated again by everyone. Though he made mistakes, which even great people can, he did much that was good, and never acted out of selfishness or vindictiveness. His political non-violence is very important and should be a first resort, but it cannot be made into the whole of Kshatriya Dharma or of Hinduism. We should remember that the Indian independence movement was well under way before Gandhi and continued with the help of many other leaders, who did not always agree with Gandhi on various points, including his insistence on absolute non-violence. Tilak himself, who led the movement before Gandhi, disagreed with him in this regard. Hindu Dharma is many-sided and flexible in its approach and avoids any dogmatic absolutism, even about spiritual principles and practices like ahimsa. While making spiritual principles absolute can create a moral force that is appealing because of the simplicity of its logic, it inevitably breeds distortion because life cannot be reduced to black and white rules. It clouds people's thinking because it reduces everything to a single issue and thereby prevents any comprehensive examination. |
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