Philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi in "Waiting for the Mahatma" by R.K Narayan

R.K.Narayan in his noted novel "Waiting for the Mahatma" delineates the philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi. Almost all the actions of this novel centre around his philosophy and all of the characters are seen motivated by his philosophy to free the country. And this philosophy is his philosophy of non-violence. It was a weapon he used to fight the odds, the evils and all the things bad with others and themselves, and this philosophy emerged as the powerful tool for positive social change.

Gandhi mainly focuses on the philosophy of non-violence but side by side he also includes other rules and regulations for establishing his philosophy and these sub philosophy includes Ahimsha, Absolute Truth, Satyagraha etc.

 

Gandhi’s Message of Nonviolence

Gandhi’s greatest contribution to humanity is his message of nonviolence as the way to peace, justice, and God. Gandhi took seriously the biblical commandments, “Thou shalt not kill” and “Love your enemies,” along with the Hindu tradition of ahimsa (non-killing), and applied this rejection of violence to his own heart and life as well as to South Africa, India and the world. But he taught that nonviolence is not just refusal to kill: it is the action of love and truth as a force for positive social change. Indeed, he insisted that nonviolence was the most active and powerful force in the world. Since he saw it as the force of God, the method of God, the power of God at work for good among the human race, he concluded that nonviolence is more powerful than nuclear weapons.

In this novel he says, "We, the citizens of this country, are all soldiers of a non-violent army."

Mahatma believed that they should drive away the British from India through non-violent way. And he explained how it could be practiced in daily life. He says in favour of non-violence that this procedure is very simple and people should have faith in oneself. And says that one should be aware of the fact that ones conduct should not cause “pain to other”.

When someone has wronged or has done something which appears to you to be evil, just pray for the destruction of that evil. Cultivate an extra affection for the person and you will find that you are able to bring about a change in him."

Mahatma does not believe that by maintaining a violent way they can attain freedom rather than he has some other opinion about this violent way.

According to his opinion, by arising sympathy to the enemy, one can establish friendship with his enemy. His philosophy is hate the sin not the sinner.

 

Mahatma also teach the people of India that at first they should make their heart pure so that only love can reside there. He believes  bitterness exists along with violence. So at first they should make their heart clean so that no hatred, and bitterness can exist there-

"I want you really to make sure of a change in your heart before you ever think of asking the British to leaves the shores of India. . . I want you to clear your hearts and minds and make certain that only love reside there, and there is no residence of bitterness for past history. Only then can you say to the British.”

 

While Gandhi was a brilliant political strategist and revolutionary, what set him apart from others was his unique reliance upon God in his public practice of nonviolence. Nonviolence for Gandhi was not just a tactic, but a spirituality, a way of life, the center of his religion. “Nonviolence succeeds only when we have a real living faith in God,” Gandhi insisted.

Gandhi preaches the theme of non-violence and tells the people to obey the rules of non-violence in such a way that the theme should cling to the heart. And he admonishes to not to let it go from their heart. Thus he compares it with a garment wear that we put on  and put off. He says, “non-violence is not a garment to be put on and off.” Rather it should be an inseparable part (of ) our very being.”

 

Absolute Truth:

“It is more correct to say that Truth is God than to say that God is Truth”  (Gandhi 2000, pp 35).

 

In this principle of non-violence Gandhi introduces technique of resistance to evil and untruth. His satyagraha is inspired by boundless love and compassion. It is opposed to sin, not sinner, the evil, not evil doer.

Gandhi says, “There is no half way between truth and non-violence on the one hand and untruth and violence on the other.”

Gandhi was a speaker of the truth and he does not like falsehood. As we see in this novel that when Sriram is waiting outside the hut of Mahatma, Bharati warns him that no one except close association is allowed to enter Bapuji’s presence. Sriram tells that he will tell that he is the friend of Bharati but Bharati denies and explains, “None except absolute truth speaker are allowed to come into Mahatma’s camp. People who come here must take an oath of absolute truth before going onto Mahatma’s presence.”

But for me, truth is the sovereign principle, which included numerous other principles. This truth is not only truthfulness in word, but truthfulness in thought also, and not only the relative truth of our conception, but the Absolute Truth, the Eternal Principle, that is God. There are innumerable definitions of God, because His manifestations are innumerable. They overwhelm me with wonder and awe and for a moment stun me. But I worship God as Truth only. I have2hatma Gandhi always insisted on Truth and Non-violence as the inseparable part of humanism.

 

Ahimsha: (to do no harm) SOME OF THE QUOTES REGADING AHIMSHA ARE GIVEN BELOW:

 

"If I have the slightest suspicion that your heart is not pure or that there is bitterness there, I'd rather have the British stay on. It's the lesser of the two evils."

“Whenever you are confronted with an opponent. Conquer him with love.”

 

“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible but in the end, they always fall - think of it, ALWAYS.”

 

 

Live Without Luxuries:

Mahatma does not like Luxurious life. He wanted to lead a life simply like thousands of other people. Narayan depicts in many situation where Mahatna did not accept the luxurious life rather he wanted to live with the poor fellow. We see at Magludi he does not accept the chairman’s proposal to live in his ‘Backingham Palace’ like house rather he stays in the sweeper colony.

Even we have seen that Gandhi walks bare foot and sits anywhere without hesitation. Even he wears handmade cloths.

He advocated daily use of the spinning wheel to make one’s own clothing, and a boycott against British clothing. He campaigned for the development of “constructive programs,” which would improve village life for ordinary, impoverished Indians. 

Auden is a modern poet or Modernism in Auden

Both thematically and structurally, Auden’s poems show the very essence of modernism. The characteristics that are needed to consider him as a modern poet are all in profusely blended in his poems. In the following passages, I have tried to demonstrate the elements of modernism both thematically and structurally to prove him as a modern poet.

Formal/Stylistic characteristics:

Symbolism and Imagery:

In terms of Formal/Stylistic characteristics, Auden is also a modern poet. He uses in his poetry a wide range of Imagery, symbolism and other figures of speech. He adopted the style of symbolism in order to represent his experience in the modern world.

In Petition, he represents the old, decaying and rotten Western civilization as the house of the deads. Praying to God, he writes:

 

“Harrow the house of the dead; look shining at

New style of architecture, a change of heart.”

 

Auden’s landscape imagery is, also modern. In the poem entitled In Memory of W.B.Yeats, he represents the atmosphere of the then Europe as follows:

 

“In the nightmare of the dark

All the dogs of Europe bark,

And the living nations wait,

Each sequence in his hate.”

 

 

Metre and Versification:

 

The most peculiar quality of the modern poetry is the poet’s tendency is to experiment with different kinds of metre and versification. Auden is also modern in this respect. He has experimented with free verse, blank verse, the ballad metre etc. In this connection Lawrence Durrell Observes:

 

“He tried his hand at everything, from jazz lyrics in two-four time, to free verse; and all his production are stamped with authority and feeling of mastery over his medium.”  (Durrell, 1952)

 

Thematic Characteristics:

 

War and violence:

Auden’s social concerns are mostly expressed in the context of war. Auden is an avid observer of war. He surveys different social, political, and economic upheavals caused by World Wars. He argues that most of the ills of the contemporary society results from war., Modern age is marked by violence and war. Auden says that war and violence had always been in the primitive age but they were not as brutal as the modern savages. In “The Shield of Achilles”, he says,

“Iron-hearted man-slaying Achilles

Who would not live long.”

 

In “In Memory of W. B Yeats”, he refers that all Europe is in the grip of the terror of war and the bloodthirsty leaders of Europe are threatening each other. Nations live in isolation in constant dread of each other,

“In the nightmare of the dark

All the dogs of Europe bark,

And the living nations wait,

Each sequence in his hate.”

 

Auden is here indicating that all the European nations are crying for war, like the dogs barking loudly. There is no fellow-feeling among the European nations. Rather they are separated from each other by their hatred.

 

Mendelson writes in an essay entitled “Auden’s Revision of Modernism” that the poet “welcomed into his poetry all the disordered conditions of his time”

 

Barrenness:

 

Auden shows the barrenness of modern age as well as the modern human soul.  Auden refers that Modern age is totally barren without any feature

 

"A plain without a feature, bare and brown,

“No blade of grass, no sign of neighborhood”

Nothing to eat and nowhere to sit down."

 

Auden’s description of modern souls also likens the waste land of Eliot. Human souls are infertile and incapable of love. Forster in “A Passage to India”, says,

 

“Everything exists, nothing has value.”

 

 

Auden portrays that modern soul are hollow. Their mind are unable to communicate their emotions and their heart are like "the desert” where the

 

“the seas of pity lie

Locked and frozen in each eye’’

 

Human Suffering and Lack of Morality: Auden portray in his poems modern people’s lack of morality. In Musée des Beaux Arts Auden presents the philosophical truth about human suffering.. Moreover, people generally remain indifferent to the pain and suffering of an individual. While a man suffers, others are engaged in their usual labour In Musee Des Beaux Arts; the poet upholds the lack of morality through the mythical incident of Icarus Here he shows that in the human suffering. “Human is indifferent”. The painting painted by Brueghels shows that while some people of the worlds suffer, others are busy doing their work. The pains are generally so much absorbed in their lives that they remain unconcerned rather people eat, drink and enjoy and the children enjoy and play without any concern. This human condition leads our poet to the worlds of suffering. Auden says,

 

“While someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along.”

…

There always must be

Children who did not specially want it to happen”

 

Icarus had the intention to fly to the sun. In order to put his ambition into practice, he tries to reach the sun with the help of artificial wings made of feather and wax. But after flying a little distance, his wings melted and he fell down head-long into the sea,

 

”the ploughman may

Have heard the splash, the forsaken cry,’’

 

And the expensive delicate ship must have seen,

 

“Something amazing, a boy fallen out of the sky

Had somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on.”

 

But no one comes to rescue and pays no attention rather all become busy with their own tasks. Actually this is the highlighted mentality of the modern man which is diagnosised in Auden’s poetry

 

“how everything turns away

Quite leisurely from the disaster;”

 

Auden portrays that modern people have lost their love or sympathy towards other. Even when a man dies, they do not care about it but continues their daily life style.

 

Richard Hoggart says, “Auden combines an intense interest in the human heart with a desire to reform society and he thinks over psychological ills greater than our political”

The above mentioned passages indicate that Auden in a true modern poet expressing the very ideals of modernity through his poems. Both thematically and structurally, his poems are landmark in modernism.

 

References:

01.   Richard Hoggart, (1951), Auden: An Introductory Essay. Retrieved from books.google.com

02.  Mendelson, Retrieved from www.pabooks.libraries.psu.edu

03.  Lawrence Durrell (1952), A Key to Modern British Poetry, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.