The Vaishnava Ideal - Ravhavan Iyer

A true Vaishnava is he

Who is moved by others’ sufferings;

Who helps people in distress, And feels no pride for having done so.

Respectful to everyone in the world,

He speaks ill of none;

Is self-controlled in action, speech and thought—

Twice-blessed the mother who bore such a one.

He has an equal-seeing eye, and is free from all craving, Another’s wife is to him a mother;

His tongue utters no untruth, And never his hand touches another’s wealth.

Moha and maya have no power over him,

In his mind reigns abiding detachment;

He dances with rapture to Rama’s name—

No center of pilgrimage but is present in his person.

A man he is without greed and cunning,

And purged of anger and desire;

Offering reverence to such a one, says Narasainyo1,

Will bring release to seventy-one generations of one’s for bears2.

Is ever active in bringing relief to the distressed,

takes no pride in doing so, is

respectful to all,

speaks ill of none,

is self-controlled in speech, in action and in thought,

holds all in equal regard,

has renounced desires,

is loyal to one woman, his wife,

is ever truthful,

keeps the rule of non-stealing, is beyond the reach of maya, is, in consequence, free from all desire,

is ever absorbed in repeating Rama's name,

and, as a result, has been sanctified,

covets nothing,

is free from guile,

from the urge of desire and from anger.

Here Narasinh, the best among the Vaishnavas, has given pride of place to non-violence. This means that a man who has no love in him is no Vaishnava. One who does not follow truth and has not acquired control over all his senses is not a Vaishnava. He teaches us in his prabhatiyan that one does not become a Vaishnava simply by studying the Vedas, by following the rules of varnashram, by wearing a string of basil seeds or the tilak mark. All these things can be the origin of sin. Even a hypocrite may wear a string of beads or put the tilak mark or study the Vedas or keep repeating Rama’s name with his lips. But such a one cannot follow truth in his life, cannot, without giving up his hypocrisy, help people in distress or be self-controlled in speech, action and thought.

I invite everyone’s attention to these principles, since I still continue to receive letters regarding Antyajas. The advice I receive from one and all is that, if I do not exclude Antyajas from the national schools, the movement, for swaraj will end in smoke. If I have even a little of the true Vaishnava in me, God will also vouchsafe me the strength to reject the swaraj which may be won by abandoning the Antyajas.

The resolution, to the effect that the Antyajas cannot be excluded from any place which is open to members of other classes or communities, is not mine but that of the senate as a whole. I welcome the resolution. Had the senate not passed it, it would have been guilty of adharma.

The resolution lays down nothing new. One to the same effect is actually in operation in the existing schools. The Congress, a body which the Vaishnavas respect, has also passed such a resolution. They have not opposed it. I realize, however, that they honor me by criticizing me for having a hand in a resolution of this kind. The point of their argument is that others may violate dharma but that I, especially, should not do so. This is very gratifying to me.

I have been endeavoring to show that dharma requires that we do not look upon Antyajas as untouchables. Old veils prevent us from seeing that we are guilty of adharma in acting to the contrary. Just as, through such veils, British rule cannot see its own Satanism, so also, thanks to them, some of us are unable to see the chains of slavery which bind us. I think it my duty to reason with such people patiently.

But I cannot stand hypocrisy and sophistry. I saw in Gujarati an account of a talk I had with Maharajshri3, as also the comments on it. I have been very much pained by both. I seldom comment on views expressed in newspapers. In fact I scarcely read papers. But the Gujarati is a widely read paper and it claims to present the sanatan dharma in its true nature. Hence I am pained whenever I find in it even the least element of unfairness. A friend has sent me a cutting giving the report of my talk with Maharajshri and the criticism on it. I see in both an attempt, deliberate or otherwise, to prove adharma to be dharma. I shall explain next time what this is.

© `The Essential Writings of Mahatma Gandhi’ by Raghavan Iyer, published (1998) by Oxford University Press, YMCA Library Building, Jai Singh Road, New Delhi 110 001.

1 Narasinh Mehta (1414-79); saint-poet of Gujarat.
2 This poem formed part of the daily prayers at the Ashram.
3 Goswami Shri Gokulnathji Maharaj, religious head of the Vaishnavas in Bombay.

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