Gandhi's religion, and his Ram

"Hey Ram!" As the world knows, these were Mahatma Gandhi's last words. But what is perhaps less widely known is that, long before his death, Bapu publicly declared that his lifelong philosophy of austerity would be tested in his last moments. If anything other than the name of Ram came out of his mouth, the world should assume that his philosophy had been a hoax.

It is not easy for anyone to make such a declaration and set such a difficult standard for themselves. Least of all for a flesh-and-blood human being. But those seeking truth and reformation have always been pure and fearless.

It was as if Gandhi's every moment was dedicated to the name of Ram. And yet, he was never seen performing aarti, lighting incense sticks, or standing at the door of a temple. He refused to accept the confinement of these customs and traditions, but held no aversion to those who did. He accepted everyone as they were.

Thus it becomes necessary to understand what was Bapu's religion, and who was his Ram? "Religion is truth," is always loudly chanted. But Gandhi used to say the opposite: "Truth is religion." Everyone's journey to truth, their path, is unique. Each person's experience will be different. His autobiography also talks about My Experiments with Truth. These were purely his experiences, which he does not impose on anyone. Therefore, he sets no criteria for anyone else, nor does he view them through his own lens.

The philosophy of 'truth is religion' is not new. The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad repeatedly defines religion as truth. Gandhi also set a standard for scriptures, smritis, and religious texts. He argued that if these texts were the source of discrepancies, it was a matter of our understanding.

Regaining the Mahatma’s legacy

The smritis are interpolations that can occur over a long period of time. But if someone could authentically prove that these scriptures justified discrepancies, he would refuse to accept them as scriptures because scriptures must stand the test of truth. Where there is truth, there can be no discrepancy. Therefore, a true scripture should stand the test of truth.

On 28 April 1946, in his newspaper Harijan, Gandhi clarified his faith in Ram. He wrote that his Ram was not the son of King Dasharath of Ayodhya. For him, Ram meant the eternal search for "truth". Since the public saw Ram's heroism as the closest to truthful conduct, they too embodied truth and practiced the repetition of the name Ram. Allah could also be used in place of Ram. He appealed to his Muslim comrades that if they saw Allah as the embodiment of truth, they should chant the name of Allah instead of Ram.

In his book Truth is God, he even said he defined Ram and Krishna as truth. These gods are described in the scriptures. However, he said he had no faith in those parts of the narrative that differed from the truth. He didn't consider those events to be true. He also said if someone could prove that these events were truly a part of their lives, then they would no longer be his heroes.

There was no place for selfishness or discrimination in his practice of his truth-seeking religion. In his prayer from the Sabarmati Ashram, 'O Ocean of Humility', God resides in the hut of the humble. Therefore, he could not imagine any politics without religion, ie, the pursuit of truth.

His instrument for the political process was, "Recall the face of the poorest and weakest person and ask your heart whether your action will benefit him in any way. That is, will Swaraj be attained by those millions whose stomachs are hungry and souls are unsatisfied?" Then you will see that doubt disappears and ego vanishes.

Perhaps that is why there is mention of secularism in the Constitution because religion, that is truth, is always absolute.