Shri Shyam (S.S. Gupta) commented as under:
I will be highly obliged to receive the references of the following quotes on Gita and of Gandhi Ji, needed for my research work.
1. The Bhagavad Geeta is the most beautiful and profound philosophical work in the world.
- W. Von Humboldt (German Philosopher)
2. In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy of the Bhagavad - Geeta, in comparison with which our modern world and its literature seem puny and trivial.
- Henry David Thoreau (American Philosopher)
3. I owed a magnificent day to the Bhagavad-Gita. It was the first of books; it was as if an empire spoke to us, nothing small or unworthy, but large, serene, consistent, the voice of an old intelligence which in another age and climate had pondered and thus disposed of the same questions which exercise us.
4. "The Bhagavad-Gita is an empire of thought and in its philosophical teachings, Krishna has all the attributes of the full-fledged monotheistic deity and at the same time the attributes of the Upanishadic absolute."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson (American Philosopher)
5. The Geeta is an excellent spiritual gift to the world. The essence of all the religions of world has been presented in this one book.
- Alberuni (Arabian Thinker)
6. "The Bhagavad-Gita is the most systematic statement of spiritual evolution of endowing value to mankind. It is one of the most clear and comprehensive summaries of perennial philosophy ever revealed; hence its enduring value is subject not only to India but to all of humanity."
- Aldus Huxley (American Thinker)
7. "When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and I see not one ray of hope on the horizon, I turn to Bhagavad-Gita and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow.
8. Geeta is not only my Bible or my Koran, it is more than that. It is my mother ……. When I am in difficulty and distress, I seek refuge in her bosom.
9. I wish, Geeta should not only be taught in national schools but should be taught in every school. For a Hindu boy or girl, not knowing Geeta should be a matter of embarrassment. It is true that the Geeta is a treatise of 'World Religion'.
10. When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face and I see not one ray of hope on the horizon, I turn to Bhagavad-Geeta and find a verse to comfort me; and immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. Those who meditate on the Geeta will derive fresh joy and new meanings from it, every day.' - Mahatma Gandhi (Father of the Nation, India)
REPLYDear Shri Guptaji: I do not dare to touch the life and work of Mahatma Gandhi. After studying Valmiki Ramayana, Vyasa Mahabharata and Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, I now have a deranged mind. I need some time to get back my courage. I am, at present caught up in three projects of mine. 1. Music. I am trying to present to my readers some soothing instruental music both in Hindustani and Carnatic Styles. This work you can see at:
Click to have a look at museyb.blogspot.com. 2. I have placed a search facility on Vyasa Mahabharata Sanskrit original and its English translation by Ganguly. As nobody is using the search facilities, I am myself using them. It is just like a cook eating his own preparations as nobody will eat them.
This you can see at my mahabharatayb.blogspot.com blog.
Click.
3. Recently, I have written two articles to Vaarta Telugu Newspaper about 1) Tenant farmers of Andhra Pradesh 2) Rupee depreciation. I am tightly engaged in writing some more Telugu articles on Foreign Investments into India, Inflation and other Indian Economic Problems..
However, I do not want to say a TOTAL NO to you. I paste below a 1925 speech of Mahatma Gandhi which contains his famous quote about Bhagavadgita.
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139. SPEECH AT MEETING OF MISSIONARIES
July 28, 1925
I had the pleasure of delivering an address before the
missionaries in Calcutta at Y.M.C.A. on 28th ultimo. I have been
supplied with shorthand notes of that address, and as it was of general
interest I reproduce below an abridgment of it. I have omitted
onsalient thought or expression, but I have omitted some descriptive
passages.
M. K. G.
No many of you perhaps know that my association with
Christians, not Christians so called but real Christians, dates from
1889, when as a lad I found myself in London; and that association
has grown riper as years have rolled on. In South Africa, where I
found myself in the midst of inhospitable surroundings, I was able to
make hundreds of Christian friends. I came in touch with the late Mr.
Spencer Watton, Director of South Africa General Mission, and, later,
with the great divine, Rew. Mr. A. Murray and several others.
My acquaintance, therefore, this evening with so many
missionaries is by no means a new thing. There was even a time in my
life when a very sincere and intimate friend of mine, a great and good
Quaker, had designs on me. (Laughter.) He thought that I was too
good not to become a Christian. I was sorry to have disappointed him.
One missionary friend of mine in South Africa still writes to me and
asks me, `How is it with you?' I have always told this friend that so far
as I know, it is all well with me. If it was prayer that these friends
expected me to make, I was able to tell them that every day the heart-
felt prayer within the closed door of my closet went to the Almighty
to show me light and give wisdom and courage to follow that light.
In answer to promises made to one of these Christian friends of
mine, I thought it my duty to see one of the biggest of Indian
Christians, as I was told he was,--the late Kali Charan Banerjee. I went
over to him--I am telling you of the deep search that I have
undergone in order that I might leave no stone unturned to find out
the true path--I went to him with an absolutely open mind and in a
receptive mood, and I met him also under circumstances which were
most affecting. I found that there was much in common between Mr.
Banerjee and myself. His simplicity, his humility, his courage, his
194 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI
truthfulness, all these things I have all along admired. He met me
when his wife was on her death-bed. You cannot imagine a more
impressive scene, a more ennobling circumstance. I told Mr. Banerjee,
`I have come to you as a seeker,'--this was in 1901--`I have come to
you in fulfilment of a sacred promise I have made to some of my
dearest Christian friends that I will leave no stone unturned to find out
the true light.' I told him that I had given my friends the assurance
that no worldly gain would keep me away from the light, if I could
but see it. Well, I am not going to engage you in giving a description
of the little discussion that we had between us. It was very good, very
noble. I came away, not sorry, not dejected, not disappointed, but I
felt sad that even Mr. Banerjee could not convince me. This was my
final deliberate striving to realize Christianity as it was presented to
me. Today my position is that though I admire much in Christianity,
I am unable to identify myself with orthodox Christianity. I must tell
you in all humility that Hinduism as I know it, entirely satisfies my
soul, fills my whole being and I find a solace in the Bhagavad Gita
and Upanishads that I miss even in the Sermon on the Mount. Not
that I do not prize the ideal presented therein, not that some of the
precious teachings in the Sermon on the Mount have not left a deep
impression upon me, but I must confess to you that when doubts
haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and when I see
not one ray of light on the horizon I turn to the Bhagavad Gita, and
find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the
midst of overwhelming sorrow. My life has been full of external
tragedies and if they have not left any visible and indelible effect on me, I owe it to the teaching of the Bhagavad Gita.
I have told you all these things in order to make it absolutely
clear to you where I stand, so that I may have, if you will, closer
touch with you. I must add that I did not stop at studying the
Bible and the commentaries and other books on Christianity
that my friends placed in my hands; but I said to myself, if I was to
find my satisfaction through reasoning, I must study the scriptures of
other religions also and make my choice. And I turned to the Koran.
I tried to understand what I could of Judaism as distinguished from
Christianity. I studied Zoroastrianism and I came to the conclusion
that all religions were right, but every one of them imperfect,
imperfect naturally and necessarily,--because they were interpreted
with our poor intellects, sometimes with our poor hearts, and more
often misinterpreted. In all religions, I found to my grief, that there
VOL.32 : 17 JUNE, 1925 - 24 SEPTEMBER, 1925 195
were various and even contradictory interpretations of some texts, and
I said to myself, `Not these things for me. If I want the satisfaction of
my soul, I must feel my way. I must wait silently upon God and ask
Him to guide me.' There is a beautiful verse in Sanskrit which says
`God helps only when man feels utterly helpless and utterly humble'.
Some of you have come from the Tamil land. When I was studying
Tamil, I found in one of the books of Dr. Pope a Tamil proverb
which means` God helps the helpless'. I have given you this life-
story of my own experience for you to ponder over.
You, the missionaries come to India thinking that you come to a
land of heathens, of idolators, of men who do not know God. One of
the greatest of Christian divines, Bishop Heber, wrote the two lines
which have always left a sting with me: "Where every prospect pleases,
and man alone is vile." I wish he had not written them. My own
experience in my travels throughout India has been to the contrary. I
have gone from one end of the country to the other, without any
prejudice, in a relentless search after truth, and I am not able to say
that here in this fair land, watered by the great Ganges, the
Brahmaputra and the Jumna, man is vile. He is not vile. He is as
much a seeker after truth as you and I are, possibly more so. This
reminds me of a French book translated for me by a French friend. It
is an account of an imaginary expedition in search of knowledge. One
party landed in India and found Truth andGod personified, in a little
pariah's hut. I tell you there are many such huts belonging to the
untouchables where you will certainly find God. They do not reason
but they persist in their belief that God is. They depend upon God
for His assistance and find it too. There are many stories told
throughout the length and breadth of India about these noble
untouchables. Vile as some of them may be, there are noblest
specimens of humanity in their midst. But does my experience
exhaust itself merely with the untouchables? No. I am here to tell you
that there are non-Brahmins, there are Brahmins who are as fine
specimens of humanity as you will find in any place on the earth.
There are Brahmins today in India who are embodiments of self-
sacrifice, godliness, and humility. There are Brahmins who are
devoting themselves body and soul to the service of untouchables,
with no expectation of reward from the untouchables, but with
execration from orthodoxy. They do not mind it, because in serving
pariahs they are serving God. I can quote chapter and verse from my
experience. I place these facts before you in all humility for the
196 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI
simple reason that you may know this land better, the land to which
you have come to serve. You are here to find out the distress of the
people of India and remove it. But I hope you are here also in a
receptive mood and, if there is anything that India has to give, you
will not stop your ears, you will not close your eyes and steel your
hearts, but open up your ears, eyes and, most of all, your hearts to
receive all that may be good in this land. I give you my assurance
that there is a great deal of good in India. Do not flatter yourselves
with the belief that a mere recital of that celebrated verse in St. John
makes a man a Christian. If I have read the Bible correctly, I know
many men who have never heard the name of Jesus Christ or have
even rejected the official interpretation of Christianity will, probably,
if Jesus came in our midst today in the flesh, be owned by him more
than many of us. I therefore ask you to approach the problem before
you with open-heartedness, and humility.
I was engaged in a friendly conversation with some missionaries
this morning. I do not want to relate that conversation. But I do want
to say that they are fine specimens of humanity. They did not want to
misunderstand me, but I had to pass nearly one hour and a half in my
attempt to explain to them that, in writing what I had written, I had not
written anything in a spirit of ill will or hatred towards Englishmen. I
was hard put to it to carry that conviction. In fact, I do not know
whether I carried that conviction to them at all. If salt loseth its
savour, wherewith will it be salted? If I could not drive home the truth
that was in me to the three friends who certainly came with open
minds, how should I fare with others? It has often occurred to me that
a seeker after truth has to be silent. I know the wonderful efficacy of
silence. I visited a Trappist monastery in South Africa. A beautiful
place it was. Most of the inmates of that place were under a vow of
silence. I enquired of the Father the motive of it and he said that the
motive was apparent. `We are frail human beings. We do not know
very often what we say. If we want to listen to the still small voice that
is always speaking within us, it will not be heard if we continually
speak.' I understood that precious lesson. I know the secret of silence.
I do not know just now as I speak to you whether it would not have
been wise if I had said nothing to those friends beyond saying, `We
shall know each other better when the mists have rolled away.' As I
speak to you, I feel humiliated. Why did I argue with these friends?
But I say these things to you, first of all, to make this confession and,
secondly, to tell you also that, if you will refuse to see
VOL.32 : 17 JUNE, 1925 - 24 SEPTEMBER, 1925 197
the other side, if you will refuse to understand what India is
thinking, then you will deny yourselves the real privilege of service.
I have told my missionary friends, `Noble as you are, you have
isolated yourselves from the people whom you want to serve.' I
cannot help recalling to you the conversation I related in
Darjeeling at the Missionary Language School. Lord Salisbury was
waited upon by a deputation of missionaries in connection with China
and this deputation wanted protection. I cannot recall the exact words,
but give you the purport of the answer Lord Salisbury gave. He said,
"Gentlemen, if you want to go to China, to preach the message of
Christianity, then do not ask for assistance of temporal power. Go
with your lives in your hands and if the people of China want to kill
you, imagine that you have been killed in the service of God". Lord
Salisbury was right. Christian missionaries come to India under the
shadow, or, if you like, under the protection of a temporal power,
and it creates an impassable bar.
If you give me statistics that so many orphans have been
reclaimed and brought to the Christian faith, I would accept them, but
I do not feel convinced thereby that it is your mission. In my
opinion, your mission is infinitely superior to that. You want to find
men in India and if you want to do that, you will have to go to the
lowly cottages not to give them something, might be to take
something from them. A true friend as I claim to be of the
missionaries of India and of the Europeans, I speak to you what I
feel from the bottom of my heart. I miss receptiveness, humility,
willingness on your part to identify yourselves with the masses of
India. I have talked straight from my heart. May it find a response
from hearts.
At the end of the address questions were invited. The most
important questions and their answers are given below :
Q.How do you think should the missionaries indentify themselves with
the masses?
A. The question is somewhat embarrassing. But I would venture
to say, `Copy Charlie Andrews.'
Another in the audience asked :
What definite work would you suggest that a missionary should do for and
among the masses?
A. Since I have been challenged I must unhesitatingly answer,
`The Spinning-wheel.' You naturally laugh, but if you knew the
198 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI
masses as I do, you will look upon this very simple instrument of
torture (here Mr. Gandhi produced the takli he carries with him) with
seriousness. You cannot present the hungry and famished masses with
God. Their God is their food. General Booth knew what he was doing
when at his numerous depots the first thing he did to the hungry men
and women who flocked there was to give them a plate of soup.
Before he would give them their next meal, he called upon them to
make splinters for his match factory, and then he introduced them to
God. The famished millions are famishing not because there is not
enough food produced in India, but because they have no work to do.
The only work for the millions is the spinning-wheel. I know the
Industrial Mission House in Calcutta. It is good in its way, but it does
not touch even the fringe of the question. The problem is how to take
work to the cottages of these men, cottages which are scattered over a
surface 1,900 miles long and 1,500 broad. They will not take the
spinning-wheel unless they learn the art themselves and unless they
spin to set an example to these men who have lost faith in themselves
and faith in everything and everybody. And the spinning-wheel is
useless unless you and I wear khaddar. Hence it is that I have not
hesitated to say to Lord Reading or to Lord Willingdon that I will not
be satisfied unless they and their orderlies are dressed from top to toe
in khaddar.
A third inquirer asked :
Q Do you definitely feel the presence of the living Christ within you?
A. If it is the historical Jesus, surnamed Christ, that the inquirer
refers to, I must say I do not. If it is an adjective signifying one of the
names of God, then I must say I do feel the presence of God--call
him Christ, call him Krishna, call him Rama. We have one thousand
names to denote God, and if I did not feel the presence of God within
me, I see so much of misery and disappointment every day that I
would be a raving maniac and my destination would be the Hooghli.
Young India, 6-8-1925
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ybrao a donkey continues:
I furnish below a link to Gandhiserve.org which contains nearly 100 volumes of the Complete Works of Mahatma Gandhi.
www.gandhiserve.org/cwmg/VOL032.PDF. This link is for the download of vol. 32 of Gandhiji's writings which contain the above quote.
HOW TO SEARCH GANDHIJI'S VOLUMES AT GANDHISERVE.ORG?1. Go to Google search. Type your search words in the search window. e.g. geeta is "my bible" koran site:gandhiserve.org. Google will search and give you the result.
2. Click the result and go to Gandhiserve.org. The quote is in Vol.64 of the Complete Works. When you click the link you will get a download of vol.64 which is a pdf file. You can view it using Adobe Reader, if you work in Windows Environment. If you work in linux/ubuntu, you can use a document viewer or pdfedit.
I paste the quote below for your use:
This paragraph is translated from the Hindi report in Harijan Sevak. What
follows in reproduced from Harijan. It appeared under the title "Gita --The Mother".
254 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI
the Vedas? No. The Bhagavata? No. Devipurana? No. Early in my
childhood I had felt the need of a scripture that would serve me as an
unfailing guide through the trials and temptations of life. The Vedas
could not supply that need, if only because to learn them would
require fifteen to sixteen years of hard study at a place like Kashi, for
which I was not ready then. But the Gita, I had read somewhere, gave
within the compass of its 700 verses the quintessence of all the
Shastras and the Upanishads. That decided me. I learnt Sanskrit to
enable me to read the Gita. Today the Gita is not only my Bible or
my Koran; it is more than that--it is my mother. I lost my earthly
mother who gave me birth long ago; but this eternal Mother has
completely filled her place by my side ever since. She has never
changed, She has never failed me. When I am in difficulty or distress,
I seek refuge in Her bosom. Often in the course of my struggle
against untouchability, I am confronted with conflicting opinions
delivered by doctors of learning. Some of them tell me that
untouchability as it is practised today has no sanction in Hinduism
and they bless my efforts to eradicate it; but there are some others
who maintain that untouchability has been an essential part of
Hinduism from the very beginning. Which authority should I follow
under the circumstances? I feel absolutely at sea. The Vedas and the
smritis are of no avail to me. I then approach the Mother and say,
"Mother, these learned pundits have put me in a predicament. Help
me out of my perplexity." And the Mother, with a smile, says in
reply: "The assurance 1 held out by me in the ninth chapter is not
meant for the Brahmins only, but for the sinner and the outcaste, the downtrodden and the disinherited, too.' ....
.
(ybrao a donkey is continuing):
If you are seriously interested in digging up all the 100 volumes, I suggest the following procedure:
Download all the 100 volumes to a special Gandhiji folder which you open. Convert them into txt format. Text files open fast. They allow you some editing to remove superfluous matter. Search, find and replace are convenient. If you are a linux/ubuntu user, you can type the commandline 'pdftotext -layout input.pdf. You will get good text file in the same folder. You can play with it. If you are using windows Adobe Reader, you can open the file and extract text from it.
Right now, I dare not to touch Mahatma Gandhi, lest I should find something unbecoming of the Father of the Nation.
Firstly, I apologise to my readers who relish only English texts, as I am converting this blog into a trilingual blog. మొట్టమొదటగా నేను, ఆంగ్లం మాత్రమే చదివే నా పాఠకులకు క్షమాపణ వేడుకుంటున్నాను. ఎందుకంటే నేను నాబ్లాగ్ ను త్రిభాషా బ్లాగ్ గా మారుస్తున్నాను. सर्व प्रथम, मै मेरे केवल अंग्रेजी पढने वाले पाठक महोदय को क्षमा की प्रार्धना कर रहा हुं। क्यों कि मै इस ब्लाग को त्रिभाषा सूत्र के अनुसार तीन भाषाएं की ब्लाग बना रहा हुँ।
