truth than gold, greater fearlessness than pomp of power and wealth , greater charity than love of self. If we will but cleanse our houses, our palaces and temples of the attributes of wealth and show in them the attributes of morality, we can offer battle to any combination of hostile forces without having to carry the burden of a heavy militia. Let us seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and the irrevocable promise is that everything will be added unto us. These are the real economics.”[1]
Just before his death Mr. Gandhi engaged in one of his numerous fasts—his final fast being in the interest of Hindu-Muslim unity. “Why does Mr. Gandhi fast?” has been an other familiar question. Fasting is rooted deep in the religious history of India. Austerity, called tapas in Sanskrit, was practiced centuries before the birth of Christ, when religious devo tees punished themselves in unusual ways in the attempt to secure unusual powers generally for personal benefit. The Hindu sacred scriptures abound in instances of men, who, by torturing themselves, gained power over the gods or over other men.
Thus in the Ramayana (i. 57-66) we have the story of the king Vishvamitra, who resolved to compel the gods to make him a Brahmin, after having suffered humiliation at the hands of the Brahmin Vasishtha. For a thousand years he engaged in rigid austerities which attracted the attention of the gods, but his reward was not Brahminhood, but the designation of Rajarshi, or Royal Sage. Still Vishvamitra was not dismayed. He undertook a second thousand years of austerities and this time was rewarded by the plain title of Sage. The king was still unsatisfied. Following a policy of all or nothing at all, he returned to his austerities.
The gods, recognizing his determination, sent a nymph from heaven to lure the king from his path. Vishvamitra succumbed to her charms, and for ten years gave way to his passions. Then his eyes were opened, and though he had lost all the merit so laboriously gained, he began his quest anew.
Retiring to the Himalayas , he took the vow of chastity, and underwent another thousand years of austerities . By this
- ↑ Gandhi, M. K., India Of My Dreams (Compiled by R. K. Prabhu), Hind Kitabs Ltd., Bombay, pp. 92-93.
