The Story of my experiments with Truth

Treating life as an experiment is a process of not getting attached to the outcome but of continually asking “What is this telling me?”. Life is a series of experiments. An experiment is defined as a success if something is learned as a result of an experiment. The only time an experiment fails is if there is no learning. When that happens, the experiment is repeated until there is learning and new experiments can be performed based on what was previously learned.

Here are his favorite wonderful lines:

For a bowl of water give a goodly meal;
For a kindly greeting bow thou down with zeal;
For a simple penny pay thou back with gold;
If thy life be rescued, life do not withhold.
Thus the words and actions of the wise regard;
Every little service tenfold they reward.
But the truly noble know all men as one,
And return with gladness good for evil done.



'The Lord has bound me
With the cotton-thread of love,
I am His bondslave,'

sang Mirabai. And for him, too, he was bound by love of service.



Uttamchand Gandhi, was his grandfather and Karamchand Gandhi his father. Gandhiji was the youngest born by his last wife Putlibai at Porbandar (Sundampuri) on the 2nd October, 1869.

At Rajkot during school days, he never told a lie, used to be very shy, could not learn the art of 'copying', had distaste for reading beyond school books, but Harishchandra and Shravana were living realities and childhood inspirations, had a Child marriage to Kasturbai. Having read in books about the benefits of long walks in the open air, had formed a habit of walking, which continued through out his life.

The Gandhi’s were Vaishnavas, there was great opposition to meat-eating, but his mind was bent on the 'reform' and felt it would make him strong and daring and help fight British. This friend even took him to brothel, but he was saved, got into the habit of smoking, and was involved in Stealing . He confessed to his father who was bedridden by writing them, this was for him an object-lesson in Ahimsa. Soon after his father passed away, he regarded himself as a lustful, though a faithful, husband; his wife was pregnant then, but the child did not breath for more than 3-4 days. This was when he was 16years. He developed deep devotion to the Ramayana and regard the Ramayana of Tulsidas as the greatest book in all devotional literature. A Gujarati didactic stanza likewise gripped mind and heart. Its precept--return good for evil--became guiding principle. And he began numerous experiments in it.

At the age of eighteen he went to England being called to the bar, leaving behind his wife and baby of few months after passing the matriculation examination in 1887, he vowed not to touch wine, woman, and meat to get his mother’s permission. His experiments in England were conducted from the point of view of economy and hygiene. Towards the end of second year in England he came across two Theosophists, brothers who asked him to read Geeta. The book struck as one of priceless worth and regarded it as the book par excellence for the knowledge of Truth and regarded Sir Edwin Arnold's best. There were two conditions which had to be fulfilled before a student was formally called to the bar: 'keeping terms', twelve terms equivalent to about three years; and passing examinations. He passed examinations, was called to the bar on the 10th of June 1891, and enrolled in the High Court on the 11th. On the 12th sailed for home. But notwithstanding study, there was no end to helplessness and fear. Three moderns left a deep impress on his life: Raychandbhai by his living contact; Tolstoy by his book, The Kingdom of God is Within You; and Ruskin by his Unto this Last.

At Bombay High court, he could not follow the cases, and dozed off; so set up office in Rajkot. A Meman firm from Porbandar made tempting offer in South Africa, which was accepted as it gave opportunity of seeing a new country, and of having new experience. At Pretoria he gave his first speech and formed association to make representations to the authorities concerned in respect of the hardships of the Indian settlers, and offered to place at its disposal as much of time and service as was possible. Stay enabled to make a deep study of the social, economic, and political condition of the Indians in the Transvaal and the Orange Free State; though principal duty for the moment was to attend to the case of Dada Abdulla. Success helped him realized that the true function of a lawyer was to unite parties riven asunder, which he did for next 20 years. On the day of his farewell he read in the newspaper of a bill then before the House of Legislature, which sought to deprive the Indians of their right to elect members of the Natal Legislative Assembly. Farewell party was turned into a working committee. Thus God laid the foundations of life, and sowed the seed of the fight for national self-respect. Practice as a lawyer remained a subordinate occupation. The name 'Congress', was in bad odour with the Conservatives in England, and yet the Congress was the very life of India. With full explanation of reasons, the organization the Natal Indian Congress, came into being on the 22nd May. Carefully kept accounts are a sine qua non for any organization. He made the religion of service his own. In 1896 after 3 years, he got his wife and children. He propagated the plight of Africans, on his return and joined committees during his time in India. Loyalty, and aptitude for nursing was deeply rooted in his nature. Sir Pherozeshah helped him have first meeting in Mumbai, where Mr. Pestonji Padshah advised him not to return to Africa. He was unable to give Children enough attention and literary education as he was unwilling to send them into Christian schools and there were no Gujarathi schools in South Africa, so his sons had complaints against him in this matter. Human nature shows itself at its best in moments of trial. Love that bound him to the community was too strong to break.

On relief from war-duty, he felt that his work was no longer in South Africa but in India, and this time of return he was given more gifts but could not keep it so created a trust in favour of the community and appointed Parsi Rustomji and others trustees. In consultation with wife and children finally got rid of the heavy incubus. It was the year 1901, when the Congress met at Calcutta under the presidentship of Mr. (later Sir) Dinshaw Wacha. He attended it and was first experience. On return from Burma, he decided to travel India in 3rd class. Gokhale was very anxious that he should settle down in Bombay, practise at the bar, and help him in public work; he took chambers in Payne, Gilbert and Sayani's offices. Shorty he was called to South Africa again, there they were printing Indian Opinion from Phoenix. He also started Satyagraha there.

At the conclusion of the Satyagraha struggle in 1914, he received Gokhale's instruction to return home via London. So in July, with Kasturbai and Kallenbach he sailed for England. Where he was to participate in war, people questioned his Value of Ahimsa. It was such a joy to get back to the homeland after an exile of ten years.

Gokhale took f a promise that he should travel in India for gaining experience, and express no opinion on public questions until probation period is over. He did not officially become a member of the Society, but have been a member in spirit. He did not wear the sacred thread, as he saw no necessity for it, as countless Hindus remain Hindus without it. He considered it to be a symbol of spiritual regeneration. The Satyagraha Ashram was founded on the 25th of May, 1915 at Ahmedabd with twenty-five men and women weathering internal and external storms,

Desired to continue the constructive work for some years, to establish more schools, and to penetrate the villages more effectively, along with working for Champaran, Kheda peasants' question was being discussed, and had taken up the question of the mill-hands in Ahmedabad. On 6th April 1919, first All India Hartal was called when the Rowlatt Bill had been published as an Act. Began work on civil disobedience, Khilafat, cow protection, non-corporation, participation in Congress proceedings at Amritsar was real entrance into the Congress politics. Soon after Khadi was born, and people were asked to use looms. From its very inception the Khadi movement, Swadeshi movement as it was then called, evoked much criticism from the mill-owners. life from this point onward had been so public that there is hardly anything about it that people do not know. Moreover, since 1921 he worked in such close association with the Congress leaders that there was hardly any episode without referring to relations with them.

His experience convinced him that there was no other God than Truth. Only means for the realization of Truth is Ahimsa in mind, word and deed - farthest limit of humility. Love the meanest of creation as oneself and one cannot afford to keep out of any field of life. Without the slightest hesitation, and yet in all humility, he says those who say that religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion means. Without self-purification the observance of the law of Ahimsa must remain an empty dream; purification of oneself necessarily leads to the purification of one's surroundings. One has to become absolutely passion-free in thought, speech, and action; to rise above the opposing currents of love and hatred, attachment and repulsion.