Page:Speeches And Writings MKGandhi.djvu/982

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44 nrstinix ll holy soul," as he has been called by the Rev. F. B. Meyer, the modesty, humility and utter selbaonegation of whole lifs provide a lesson for all who have eyes to see, ears to hear and an understand. ing spirit How he starved and fasted and sought to purify his physical na ure, is to well the story of a man to whom self-suffering is a daily joy and delight. And he did not subdue his body at the cost of his spirituality, as is the habit of so many self-tormentors, but his siul grew in exultation as he felt himself free to express his higher nature and to devote greater energy to the service of his country- men. He has been a true Bhakta, a devotee of the most earnest and humble type. Praise has always been painful and distasteful to him, though he has been lavish of it as regards his fellow- workers. Every action of his life has been performed in the service of that Divine Essence that has so profoundly permeated his own being --·from the grinding of wheat in his own home to the plant- ing of fruit trees, the teaching of little children and the serving of his cuuntrymen at the Kumbha Mela at Hardwar. THE PERSONALITY OF THE MAN But it is the majestic personality of the man Mohandas Gandhi, that overshadows his comparatively insignificant phy- siqne. One feels oneself in the presence of a moral giant, whose pelluc.o soul is a clear, still lake, in which one sees Truth clearly mirrored. His is the meekness that has turned away with a thousand times, and that has disarmsd oppo- nents even when most hostile. Unarmed for war, he yet has conqniered peace, for his weapons have been the age.old arms of moral fervour, calm determination, spiritual exaltation, sacrifice of the lower self, service of his fellowmen, lowliness, sieadlastness, and an overwhelming love bestowed equally upon every living thing. A movement with such a man at its heart could not but succeed, and so the Passive Resistance struggle same to an end ami freed its greatest exponent for still greater service on a wider stage. Meanwhile, he has fixed the lines of growth of his countrymen in South Africa. indicated the path and means of patriotic development for his countrymen in the Mctherland, rallied the best of European sentiment to the South African Indian cause, developed the possibilities of Passive Resistance, and added yet one more name to the Golden Scroll of those who have deserved well of their country and of mankind. ’ Yet this is not the whole man. You cannot say this is hs, that is he. All that you can say with certainty is that he is hers, he is there. Everywhere his influence reigns, his authority rules, his elusive personality pervades; and this must be ec, for it is true of all great men that they are incalculabls, beyond denniticn. ".l‘hey partake of the nature of the Illimitabls and the Eternal from