Karl Marx, a great political thinker, famously declared, “Religion is the opium of the masses,” but he also said “Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of the heartless world, and the soul of the soulless condition” (Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right, 1844). But Gandhiji, influenced by Tolstoy and Ruskin, had realised the strength of religious spirituality, and saw that even an imperialist like the South African General Smuts’ heart could be changed.
Arriving in India in 1915, Gandhiji, as advised by his mentor Gopalkrishna Gokhale, travelled throughout India with a copy of the Ramayana in hand. He saw that “Rama and Khadi” were the strongest weapons he could wield to shake up the mighty British empire and to lift the gloom off Indian society.
Perhaps influenced by the Ramayana, Gandhiji wore minimal clothes, stayed in Bhangi colonies, and began his discourses and speeches with the song Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram, originally written by Lakshmanacharya (or Tulsidas?). He spun into it Eshwar Allah tero naam/Sab ko sanmati de Bhagavan/Ram Rahim Karim Samaan/Hum sab hain unke santaan, set to music by Pandit V D Pulskar, to unite Hindus and Muslims in the cause of freedom. He found Rama in his walking stick and his Khadi Cheerumudi (plant fibre). Inspired by Rama embarking on Vanavasa, Gandhi marched to Dandi, he and his followers singing Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram along the route— Rama and Khadi became the salt of the Independence movement.
How could Gandhiji achieve such a miracle? While the political stalwarts of the pre-Independence era were seized with the immediate truth of being under foreign yoke, in Rama, Gandhi discovered the truth of power and how different it is from the power of truth.
Already in Bengal and in Maharashtra, Bankim Chandra’s Vande Mataram and Ma Durga, and Bal Gangadhar Tilak’s Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav had sprouted the seeds of the Independence movement, albeit at the regional level in these states. But Gandhiji realised that Ram is embedded in the psyche of Indians, yet posed no difficulty between Hindus and Muslims. He noted that Hindus who greeted each other with ‘Ram, Ram’ had no difficulty returning the Muslim greeting with “Wa-Alaikum Salaam.” He also took note of the chant “Ram naam satya hain” accompanying a Hindu’s final journey. He found his answer in Rama— as a symbol of truth and righteousness.
Rama abandons the luxury of power, though his rationalist brother Lakshmana admonishes him: “Cowards”, believe in God and fate; the strong and the honest do not care for it, and should fight against it. Rama’s reply is firm. “Just for the sake of power by any means, I shall never earn the kingdom through unrighteous means (Ayodhyakanda).
Rama advises Bharata. “You shall rule in consultation with a Council of Ministers, even if they oppose you when you dominate and your governance becomes anti-people, neglecting to protect the meek Patitas” (Ayodhyakanda). To Gandhi, Rama is “Patita-pawana”— uplifter of the downtrodden -- foremost. To emulate him to “wipe the tears of the last man” was the goal and purpose of political freedom and self-governance.
Sita advises the victory-drunk Hanuman not to kill the Rakshasa women because they had only obeyed their master Ravana in their actions, and if Hanuman were to kill them, what difference, she asks, would remain between him and the Rakshasa.
To Rama, the ethics and morality of the means employed were as important as the ethics and morality of the ends to be achieved. Even when Rama has to wage a war, before he does so, he advises Ravana to desist from that path. After the war, Rama instructs Vibhishana to perform the last rites of Ravana with appropriate respect, saying “Hatred should end; one should not hate a person though one should fight the destructive values he stood for” (Yuddhakanda).
Thus Rama, who was all over the religious and cultural skies of India, became such a force that even progressive rationalists like Nehru, Patel, Bose, Kriplani, Aruna Asaf Ali, JP, Lohia, and conservatives like Rajaji, K M Munshi and Rajendra Prasad would sit together with the masses to sing Ram Dhun, cutting across religion, regionality, caste and creed. It was no anathema for secular stalwarts like Abul Kalam Azad, Saifuddin Ali Kichloo and even the Muslim masses, for Gandhi knew that even the great poet Iqbal said “Ram Mera Sikandar” in his song.
Gandhiji declared, “Whether the Rama of my imagination ever lived or not, the ancient ideal of Rama Rajya is undoubtedly one of true democracy, which ensures equal rights alike to a pauper and a prince.” (Harijan, Sept 19, 1929)
Gandhiji’s ‘controversial’ actions, like withdrawing Satyagraha after the Naukhali incident, the Salt Satyagraha, his fight against bigotry, his demand that newly independent India pay Pakistan the money (Rs 55 crore) as agreed during Partition, his “hate the rule but not the ruler” concept, and ultimately his succumbing to the bullets of Nathuram Godse with ‘Hey Ram’ on his lips, should be understood in the context of Rama’s ideology of truth and righteousness. Gandhiji used Ram (and Rahim) to unify India to fight for a common goal.
But today, Rama has been made into a Lalla, but not a living light. Rama is used to cause fissures in our society, and Rama and Ma Durga were even brought to the election battlefield to fight against each other. Are Gandhi and Rama relevant to today’s hate-filled world, waging war within and without? But it is also a historical reality that truth and ethical means win in the end. ‘Gandhi’s Rama’ may be an utopian ideal, but he is the best instrument available to the helpless masses who are suppressed by the brutal truth of power. The ‘Shanta Rama’ of Gandhi, the iconic freedom fighter who united our multiple crises-ridden country, should be used to create a real welfare society, of which the country had dreamt at the dawn of Independence.
(The writer is an educationist and author, and former Vice President of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee)