Rövid leírás:
Mahatma Gandhi was one of the most influential, yet enigmatic, figures of the twentieth century. Gandhi’s Passion is the story of his arduous, inspiring life and his paradoxical legacy. Hailed by millions as the father of modern India, Gandhi never held office in free India’s government. In waging his struggle against racial discrimination in South Africa and British domination over India, Gandhi always insisted on non-violent ‘love’ towards his adversaries. He embraced suffering with yogic passion and rejected modern urban society, urging others to live according to India’s ancient roots of rural self-sufficiency. Mahatma Gandhi was worshipped by Hindus as a virtual god, but was assassinated by a Brahman of his own faith. The book ends by exploring Gandhi’s nation and international impact, especially in light of modern India’s present-day nuclear-armed, industrial state.
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Hosszú leírás:
Mahatma Gandhi passionately courted suffering thoroughout most of his life. The intensity of Gandhi’s yogic resolve to dedicate himself to the nationalist struggle for liberating India from British imperial rule inspired millions of ordinary people to follow his passionate lead on the arduous road to freedom. Gandhi taught his followers to set aside fear of prison, physical punishment, or death, while at the same time insisting that violence had no place in the Satyagraha campaign, arguing that non-violence or love was the essence of God.
Early influenced by the non-violence teachings of Jainism, Jesus Christ, and Buddha, Gandhi insisted throughout the last six decades of his life on the primacy of love for one’s adversary in any conflict, convinced that this mighty power would ultimatle disarm the cruelest enemy. He developed passionate techniques of non-violent struggle against the racial and political discrimination and injustice first in South Africa and then in India. In addition to his political leadership, Gandhi was also a religious reformer, who worked to try to remove the stain of untouchability from Hinduism’s outcasts. Inspired by Ruskin, Tolstoy and Thoreau, he also renounced industrial violence and pollution and took up cotton-spinning, revitalizing India’s handicrafts industry, which had been all but destroyed by foreign industrial competition.
Paradoxically, though hailed as free India’s father, Gandhi was never invited by his closest Congress disciples to join them in running India’s first government. And though he was worshipped by millions of Hindus as their virtual god, a Brahman of his own faith, supported by many others, assassinated him. Gandhi’s face adorns India’s currency today and his birthday is still nationally celebrated, yet the long-term impact of his message of love and non-violence is unclear in modern India’s nuclear-armed industrial state.
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Tartalomjegyzék:
Preface
Introduction
Midnight in Calcutta
Dawn in Gujarat
The Impact of Victorian London
Brief Interlude at Home
Early Traumas and Triumphs in South Africa
Between Two Worlds
Satyagraha in South Africa
Victory through Suffering
The Impact of World War I
Post-War Carnage and Nationwide Satyagraha
Cotton Spinning
Rising of the Poison
The Road Back to Satyagraha
The Salt March and Prison Aftermath
From Prison to London and Back
Imprisoned Soul of India
Return to Rural Uplift
Prelude to War and Partition
War and Peaceful Resistance
War Behind Bars
No Peace
Walking Alone
Freedom’s Wooden Loft
Great Soul’s Death in Delhi
His Indian Legacy
His Global Legacy
Notes
Bibliography
Index
