• 3. Truth, spiritual knowledge, and sattva

I would now like to consider some of Gandhi’s observations on the truth and on the necessity of following the truth. The truth gives the individual the due contents and the due foundations in order that the individual can successfully develop the forces of good which are present in the individual. Gandhi expresses the following general considerations on truth:

‘[…] there can be no exception in the matter of following truth, for truth is God and, if exceptions were admitted in regard to it, God also would be sometimes truth and sometimes non-truth.’^[1]

This statement lies at the basis of Gandhi’s research: truth, which is God, ought to be followed. Truth is to be followed by everybody; there can be no exception to the general rule. The learning process is indispensable in order that the individual could follow the truth. Learning is an indispensable aspect of the process of education of individuals. Gandhi clearly states that everyone can reach spiritual knowledge; nobody is excluded. Understanding reality in all its aspects depends on spiritual knowledge:

‘It is stated in the Gita itself that everyone, whether a woman, a Vaisya or a Sudra, can acquire spiritual knowledge if they have devotion to God. All the same, learning should not be slighted. To understand any matter, one must have the knowledge which comes from learning.’^[2]

We can see the following contents in the quoted passage:

1. Spiritual knowledge comes from devotion to God.
2. Spiritual knowledge is available to everybody.
3. Learning is indispensable.
4. The knowledge which derives from learning the contents of the revelation lies at the basis of our understanding of everything.

The devotion to God is the basis for reaching spiritual knowledge. Learning proves to be the basis for the development of the individual. Spiritual knowledge can be reached, but the learning process is necessary; spiritual knowledge constitutes the foundation for the understanding of all aspects of reality. Gandhi’s general attitude towards revelation, truth, and the individual’s moral growth consists in the conviction that the knowledge of revelation modifies the mind of the individual. The meditation on the revelation will modify the individual.

The revelation acquaints the individual with another dimension of reality, i.e., with the dimension of the Divinity. Spiritual knowledge modifies the consideration of the reality which the individual has. The condition for improving sattva in the individual consists in developing his level of spiritual knowledge^[3]. The possibility, for the individual, of developing the good component in himself is clearly expressed in the following statement of Gandhi:

‘If a person overcomes rajas and tamas, he can create sattva. (All the three exist in us. We should make a special effort to cultivate that which we want to strengthen.)’^[4]

The positive development of the individual cannot be achieved without the individual’s effort and engagement. Gandhi’s intent and programme are already clear in this statement; constitutively, the three factors are within the individual; morally, the individual ought to decide which factor of his soul he wants to strengthen. The responsibility for achieving the morally correct development is up to the individual. If the individual wishes to strengthen sattva, the individual ought to follow and to accomplish the learning process: the learning process enables the individual to understand his condition in the world and his duties in the world.

Throughout his meditation on the Gita, Gandhi states that the individual can – at least up to a certain level – improve himself. There is, for the individual, no predetermination to become or to be evil. Everybody, as we shall see, is affected by limits as regards his moral development. These limits are due to the corporeal dimension; nonetheless, everybody can develop himself at least up to a certain level^[5].

One of the duties which the individual has during his corporeal life is to let sattva grow and to let rajas and tamas diminish; the composition which everyone finds in himself between sattva, tamas, and rajas should be shifted through one’s own education and consequent deeds to the advantage of sattva and to the disadvantage of rajas and tamas. Changing the individual towards a better moral condition means creating the foundations of a better society. The presupposition for obtaining the correct order of society is the correct order of the individual. The correct order of the individual needs to be found and built. As a result of the individual order, a change in society will take place. Without the correct individual order, there will not be any correct social order.

[1] See The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi. XXXII (November 1926 – January 1927), p. 106.
[2] See The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi. XXXII (November 1926 – January 1927), p. 96.
[3] Only the individual who has improved the quality of sattva in himself can live with peace in mind:
‘Sattva, rajas and tamas, the three forces or modes of prakriti, drive everyone to action, whether he will or no. A tamasik man is one who works in a mechanical fashion, a rajasik man is one who rides too many horses, who is restless and is always doing something or other, and the sattvik man is one who works with peace in his mind. One is always driven to work by one or another of these three modes of prakriti or by a combination of them.’ (see The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi. XXXII (November 1926 – January 1927), p. 149).
The individual’s general orientation in life varies depending on the prevalence of the three factors which are in the individual. The individual’s behaviour depends on the factor which is prevailing within the individual. Knowledge is also a way of living too. The presence and the absence of knowledge is decisive for the development of the individual.
[4] See The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi. XXXII (November 1926 – January 1927), p. 316.
[5] If the individual allows tamas to flourish, the effect will be ignorance:
‘XIV 16. The fruit of sattvika action is said to be stainless merit; that of rajas is pain and that of tamas ignorance.’ (see Desai, The Gospel of Selfless Action or The Gita according to Gandhi, p. 329).
Only sattva brings about a morally positive result. Rajas produces pain, whereas tamas produces ignorance. The only remedy against ignorance is the learning process to be found in the Gita. The danger of ignorance is always present; if tamas is in the individual, and the consequence of tamas is ignorance, this means that the individual can become prey to ignorance unless sattva is strengthened, on the one hand, and unless tamas is limited, on the other hand. The elements of the composition cannot be changed, but the force of every element can be changed.

4. Foundations

The knowledge needed for the moral development of the individual is the knowledge of the principles of reality. Gandhi is searching for the foundation of the right moral behaviour. In order to learn the contents and norms of the right behaviour, the individual needs to know his nature and his condition in the reality. The individual needs to know the structure of his own nature to see whether, how, and to which extent he can influence and modify his nature. This modification of the individual cannot have the necessary contents if the individual does not meditate on the revelation of the Gita and if the individual does not lead his learning process by following the contents of the revelation. The contents of the Gita are necessary in order that the individual receives the due enlightenment. Without these contents, an appropriate individual education is not possible.

Gandhi is searching for a foundation of reality to find directions for political action. The possibility of coexistence in society finds its foundation in Atman being the common essence for everybody:

‘The Hindu belief in avatars may present a difficulty to some of us. Avatar means descent. Our descent means God’s descent too, for He is present in every creature and in every object^[6]. All this is His maya. All concrete things–our body, the material objects, all these–exist at definite points in space and time, but the atman was not born in time, it pervades all space and exists through all time^[7]. We do not know it by direct experience. If we wish to understand the principle known as God, either with the help of reason or through faith, we should first know the atman. What is it? So long as we live in ignorance, it is more distant than even the sky, but in our awakened state we cannot say that it is removed from us by even so much as an inch^[8]. It is that through which we came into being and through which we exist; if you believe that you are that, then “I” and “you” are identical–but only a person devoid of egotism can assert that^[9]. “I” and “you” are identical in the sense in which the ring and chain are in the final analysis but gold. Name and form are only for a moment; while things have them, they are no more real than a mirage. That into which things merge when they cease to have name and form is ever the same^[10].

And so Krishna says:

“Though I was never born in time, though I am the Lord of all creatures, I incarnate Myself and am born as a human being^[11].”

This is the essential nature of the atman^[12]. If we realize this truth, we would always act in conformity with that nature^[13]; we then act, though born as human beings, as if we were never born. If the atman in each of us is identical with the atman in everyone else, one atman born in a body means all of them born, and all others born means that one born too. This is a difficult idea to grasp. “This is maya,” says Shri Krishna, “and through it I incarnate Myself in this world time and again.”

We can follow reason only up to a point. What, then, does avatar mean? It is not as if God comes down from above. It would be right to say, if we can say it without egotism^[14], that each one of us is an avatar^[15]. The atman in every body is as potent as the atman in any other, though outwardly we see differences. In our awakened state all are one, though in our ignorant state we may seem separate existences^[16]. In real truth, there are not several, there is only one^[17].

If we constantly reflect over this essence named the atman, we shall regard no one as an enemy to be killed and shall have nothing to get angry about^[18]. We shall then see that anyone who hits us hits himself too.’^[19]

Atman is the foundation and principle through which every individual comes into existence and through which every individual remains in existence. Individuals are only temporary appearances, whereas Atman is the authentic reality. In order that the individual can recognise the authentic structure of reality, the individual needs to see that he is only a manifestation of the principle which is common to all individuals.

As previously alluded to, the passage represents the foundation for the consideration of all individuals as being one and the same entity. The common nature of Atman is the foundation of the connection between living beings. Since individuals are mutually connected through the common nature of Atman, since their authentic essence is Atman, for an individual to commit injustice against other individuals means, on closer inspection, committing injustice against himself. Thus, the common nature of Atman represents the foundation of the individual’s solidarity with all other beings^[20]. The foundation of good behaviour lies in the truth of reality and in the structure of reality; the knowledge of the structure of reality gives the due foundation and the programme of the individual’s good behaviour. The fact that all individuals turn out to be, on closer inspection, one entity implies, for the individuals, that they ought to consider themselves as being Atman, i.e., as being manifestations of Atman. If they remained in the consideration of themselves as separate entities, they would refuse to reckon with God’s revelation. Since the essence of everybody is Atman, all individuals have the same essence; there is, on closer inspection, no separation between individuals. There is no enemy. No interpretation of the others as enemies is legitimate.

[6] God is not extraneous to the entities of the world; God is present in the entities of the world.
[7] As we can see from Gandhi’s text, a first difference emerges between concrete things and Atman; concrete things are enclosed in their spatial and temporal limits, whereas Atman is not limited by any spatial or temporal limit. If the individual is not able to acknowledge the existence and the presence of Atman, the individual will remain in the dimension of appearance. If the individual succeeds in acknowledging the existence and the presence of Atman, the individual will have the opportunity to see the existence of another dimension: he will be at least partially free from his limits.
[8] The interpretation of reality which the individual gives in an ignorant spiritual condition is completely different from the interpretation of reality which the individual gives when the individual has reached an enlightened spiritual condition.
[9] If an individual is not devoid of egotism, he is attached to the ego; consequently, he is not able to acknowledge that there are no differences between individuals. He is and will remain attached to an interpretation of the individuals as mutually separated entities, and he will not be able to see the individuals as particular concretisations of the same entity, i.e., of Atman.
[10] Atman is the permanent structure of the concrete entities; therefore, Atman is the foundation and the very nature of the things themselves. The dimension of the plurality of independent things turns out to be, on closer inspection, only a transitory appearance. Concrete things interpreted as a plurality of mutually separated things prove to be only a mirage. Thus, to interpret the plurality of things as the authentic dimension of reality amounts to confusing the appearance with the authentic reality.
[11] The intervention of Krishna in the world is due to the prevalence of Evil in the world. Krishna intervenes when Evil tends to prevail in the reality:
‘IV 7. For whenever Right declines and Wrong prevails, then O Bharata, I come to birth.’ (see Desai, The Gospel of Selfless Action or The Gita according to Gandhi, p. 193)
God intervening in the reality is proof of the moral insufficiency of individuals. Since, at least in certain periods of history, Right declines, God intervenes due to the moral worsening of the individual’s moral condition. There are, therefore, periods of history in which individuals degenerate as regards their moral level. Individuals are not able to solve the decline of Right by themselves; God’s intervention is therefore needed.
The aim of Krishna consists in the reaffirmation of Right:
‘IV 8. To save the righteous, to destroy the wicked, and to re-establish Right I am born from age to age.’ (see Desai, The Gospel of Selfless Action or The Gita according to Gandhi, p. 193)
Gandhi comments on this passage in the following way:
‘Here is comfort for the faithful and affirmation of the truth that Right ever prevails. An eternal conflict between Right and Wrong goes on. Sometimes the latter seems to get the upper hand, but it is Right which ultimately prevails. The good are never destroyed, for Right–which is Truth–cannot perish; the wicked are destroyed because Wrong has no independent existence. Knowing this let man cease to arrogate to himself authorship and eschew untruth, violence and evil. Inscrutable Providence–the unique power of the Lord–is ever at work. This in fact is avatara, incarnation. Strictly speaking there can be no birth for God.’ (see Desai, The Gospel of Selfless Action or The Gita according to Gandhi, p. 193)
God is not an extra-worldly entity. God is not an entity which is completely extraneous to reality, in general, and to the dimension of the individuals, in particular. God incarnates Himself and intervenes in the reality of human beings when Right becomes weaker and Wrong becomes stronger. Therefore, God, at least on some occasions of particular gravity, leads the dimension of the individuals. As regards the relationships between individuals and Divinity, Gandhi expresses on the Bhagavad Gita IV 12 the following observations:
‘Gods, as indicated before, must not be taken to mean the heavenly beings of tradition, but whatever reflects the divine. In that sense man is also a god. Steam, electricity and the other great forces of Nature are all gods. Propitiation of these forces quickly bears fruit, as we well know, but it is short-lived. It fails to bring comfort to the soul and it certainly does not take one even a short step towards salvation.’ (see Desai, The Gospel of Selfless Action or The Gita according to Gandhi, p. 196)
[12] Gandhi seems to interpret Atman and God as the same entity. Moreover, following a non-dualistic interpretation of reality, Gandhi identifies the individuals with Atman. Furthermore, he extends the status of avatar to all the individuals.
[13] From the recognition of the contents of the truth, the individual would act in conformity with the contents of the truth; to understand the truth means acting immediately in conformity with the truth. Gita’s teaching transmits norms for the right individual behaviour. The presupposition for arriving at the knowledge of these norms is the individual’s will to meditate on the Gita and to learn the truth. The individual ought to be ready to engage himself in the activity of learning the contents of the revelation.
[14] This insertion sounds like a kind of admonishment. The fact that all individuals are avatars of God may not lead the individuals to any feeling of egotism; the individual may not have self-admiration, vanity, or self-centredness because he is an avatar of God.
[15] Gandhi does not limit the notion and condition of avatar only to Krishna; he assigns the condition of avatar to all individuals. All individuals, without exception, are avatars of God. This is the root of all individuals; individuals seem to be separated from each other, but, on closer inspection, they turn out to be a unity: they are all one and the same entity; they are manifestations of the same principle.
[16] To be noted is the difference between appearance and reality. It seems that individuals have a mutually separate existence; this is false since, on closer inspection, all individuals prove to be one and the same entity.
[17] The knowledge of Atman is the condition of liberation from the condition of ignorance. The specific knowledge which frees from ignorance is the knowledge of Atman. The knowledge of the structure of reality and of the condition of the individual in the reality gives the needed orientation, but it is always the individual who ought to decide on his own life direction. Choice and responsibility are up to the individual.
‘V 16. But to them whose ignorance is destroyed by the knowledge of Atman, this their knowledge, like the sun, reveals the Supreme.’ (see Desai, The Gospel of Selfless Action or The Gita according to Gandhi, p. 218)
This kind of knowledge gives moral formation:
‘V 17. Those whose intellect is suffused with That, whose self has become one with That, who abide in That, and whose end and aim is That, wipe out their sins with knowledge, and go whence there is no return.’ (see Desai, The Gospel of Selfless Action or The Gita according to Gandhi, p. 218)
The knowledge frees the individual from the sins and from the transmigration of the soul.
[18] The authentic nature of every individual is Atman. Since Atman is common to all individuals, there is no authentic separation between individuals, and there is no real enemy.
[19] I quoted some sentences of this passage at the beginning of my investigation (see The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi. XXXII (November 1926 – January 1927), pp. 188–189).
[20] The knowledge of Atman gives the due formation for becoming free from lust and from wrath:
‘V 26. Rid of lust and wrath, masters of themselves, the ascetics who have realized Atman find oneness with Brahman everywhere around them.’ (see Desai, The Gospel of Selfless Action or The Gita according to Gandhi, p. 222)
Reaching the due moral composition of the soul makes the individual able to become master of his own self.
‘VI 7. Of him who has conquered himself and who rests in perfect calm the self is completely composed, in cold and heat, in pleasure and pain, in honour and dishonour.’ (see Desai, The Gospel of Selfless Action or The Gita according to Gandhi, p. 228)

The process of learning the foundations of reality is necessary for the individual so that he can arrive at the knowledge of his own condition. The individual cannot remain in the condition in which he was born if he wishes to reach due moral development. The individual ought then to direct his behaviour through the knowledge which he has reached.

Furthermore, the fact that everybody is an avatar of God entails that every individual is – at least partially – a spiritual entity; since every individual is Atman, no individual can be reduced to corporeal elements. Every individual proves to be as such, on closer inspection, something other than corporeal components. Since every individual is, in his own nature, an avatar of God, he ought to develop the spiritual factor in himself and limit his other elements. Since all individuals share the common nature of Atman, concord and reciprocal agreement, on the one hand, and not mutual discord and disagreement, on the other hand, ought to be the guiding principles of the members of society^[21]. Hence, the authentic foundation of human nature proves to be the principle of correct behaviour for the individual and for society.

The comprehension that there is no separate existence is a turning point in the life of the individual. The individual ought to understand that the reality which he immediately has before himself is only an appearance. A way of education is needed for the individual to see reality as it is and not as it appears. Through the revelation of Krishna, the individual transcends history and experience; therefore, he acquires a different orientation towards history and experience in comparison with the orientation which he had before. The general life orientation of the individual in the reality before the revelation of the Gita is completely different from the general life orientation of the individual in the reality after this revelation.

The revelation is, for the individual, the road towards transcending the particularity of his own position. By reaching the awareness that he is Atman and that, likewise, every individual is Atman, the individual becomes able to transcend the particularity of his own condition. The individual transcends the specific situation in which he is living, since he arrives at the understanding that plurality is only an appearance. Thus, the individual is transformed through the acquisition of the knowledge of reality into an entity which is different from the entity which he originally was, since his outlook on reality has completely changed.

The individual changes through the Gita. The individual transcends the sense reality since, after the revelation, he knows that there is another dimension beyond the sense dimension. His consideration of reality is completely different from the initial way of interpreting reality. There is an individual before the revelation, and there is an individual after the revelation. For the enlightened individual, reality ceases to be the dimension of the here and now and the dimension of the particularities. The enlightened individual can recognise the presence of Atman in everybody. All reality thus becomes for him a unity; the individual is now able to see that reality is a unity. If the individual manages to see himself in the whole reality and the whole reality in himself, the individual will have no ground of contraposition to the reality since he will have understood that the whole reality is only apparently but not authentically external to himself. The individual will be able to understand that reality is he and that he is reality. In order to reach this point of spiritual formation, a long process will be needed.

The principle of non-violence, too, has its foundation in the revelation, as we can see in the following passage:

‘One should see oneself in the whole world and the world in oneself, and act towards others accordingly. The ideal of non-violence also had its origin in this realization that, when human life as such is full of suffering, we should cause suffering to none.’^[22]

Only spiritual knowledge and the process of learning can give the individual the right way of education. Without the sphere of truth, without assimilation to the contents obtained through this process, the individual cannot organise his behaviour on the basis of the illumination given by truth. Only truth can give the individual the instructions for correct behaviour, but the process of attaining truth presupposes an apprenticeship in the process of knowledge and education. The individual will have to follow an arduous path before being able to arrive at the correct mental disposition towards reality. Understanding reality requires a long process of meditation and of self-education^[23].

[21] This attitude could be extended to the relationships between countries too. The detachment from the ego means and implies detachment from any attitude of separation between the individuals. The individual’s detachment from the attitude of mutual separation between individuals and the corresponding attitude of unification of all individuals in Atman can function as an alternative against all the attitudes which support a condition of separation between entities.
[22] See The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi. XXXII (November 1926 – January 1927), p. 270.
[23] Gandhi’s text Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule gives many elements as regards the development of Gandhi’s meditation on the concept of self-rule: self-rule can be attained exclusively through a process of self-education. Self-rule will then be the foundation of a correct home rule. Gandhi’s structure of thought is common to Hind Swaraj and to the Discourses on the “Gita”: a path of introspection, of meditation and of self-education is needed in order that the individual can reach an appropriate disposition for the political activity. Without an appropriate formation, the individual cannot be duly prepared for the political activity. Self-government is needed for a correct political government. For an analysis of the contents of Hind Swaraj I deeply recommend, for instance, Anthony Parel’s inquiry published in the volume Gandhi ‘Hind Swaraj’ and Other Writings, and Kumar Rahul’s study Gandhian Swaraj. A theory of self-knowledge.

Autore: Gianluigi Segalerba