Part 7 (2/2)
It is a superst.i.tion and an unG.o.dly thing to believe that an act of a majority binds a minority. Many examples can be given in which acts of majorities will be found to have been wrong, and those of minorities to have been right. All reforms owe their origin to the initiation of minorities in opposition to majorities. If among a band of robbers, a knowledge of robbing is obligatory, is a pious man to accept the obligation? So long as the superst.i.tion that men should obey unjust laws exists, so long will their slavery exist. And a pa.s.sive resister alone can remove such a superst.i.tion.
To use brute-force, to use gun-powder is contrary to pa.s.sive resistance; for it means that we want our opponent to do by force--that which we desire but he does not. And, if such a use of force is justifiable, surely he is ent.i.tled to do likewise by us. And so we should never come to an agreement. We may simply fancy, like the blind horse moving in a circle round a mill, that we are making progress. Those who believe that they are not bound to obey laws which are repugnant to their conscience have only the remedy of pa.s.sive resistance open to them. Any other must lead to disaster.
READER: From what you say, I deduce that pa.s.sive resistance is a splendid weapon of the weak but that, when they are strong, they may take up arms.
EDITOR: This is gross ignorance. Pa.s.sive resistance, that is, soul-force, is matchless. It is superior to the force of arms. How, then, can it be considered only a weapon of the weak? Physical force men are strangers to the courage that is requisite in a pa.s.sive resister. Do you believe that a coward can ever disobey a law that he dislikes?
Extremists are considered to be advocates of brute-force. Why do they, then, talk about obeying laws? I do not blame them. They can say nothing else. When they succeed in driving out the English, and they themselves become governors, they will want you and me to obey their laws. And that is a fitting thing for their const.i.tution. But a pa.s.sive resister will say he will not obey a law that is against his conscience, even though he may be blown to pieces at the mouth of a cannon.
What do you think? Wherein is courage required--in blowing others to pieces from behind a cannon or with a smiling face to approach a cannon and to be blown to pieces? Who is the true warrior--he who keeps death always as a bosom-friend or he who controls the death of others? Believe me that a man devoid of courage and manhood can never be a pa.s.sive resister.
This, however, I will admit: that even a man, weak in body, is capable of offering this resistance. One man can offer it just as well as millions. Both men and women can indulge in it. It does not require the training of an army; it needs no Jiu-jitsu. Control over the mind is alone necessary, and, when that is attained, man is free like the king of the forest, and his very glance withers the enemy.
Pa.s.sive resistance is an all-sided sword; it can be used anyhow; it blesses him who uses it and him against whom it is used. Without drawing a drop of blood, it produces far-reaching results. It never rusts, and cannot be stolen. Compet.i.tion between pa.s.sive resisters does not exhaust. The sword of pa.s.sive resistance does not require a scabbard. It is strange indeed that you should consider such a weapon to be a weapon merely of the weak.
READER: You have said that pa.s.sive resistance is a speciality of India.
Have cannons never been used in India?
EDITOR: Evidently, in your opinion, India means its few princes. To me, it means its teeming millions, on whom depends the existence of its princes and our own.
Kings will always use their kingly weapons. To use force is bred in them. They want to command, but those who have to obey commands, do not want guns; and these are in a majority throughout the world. They have to learn either body-force or soul-force. Where they learn the former, both the rulers and the ruled become like so many mad men, but, where they learn soul-force, the commands of the rulers do not go beyond the point of their swords, for true men disregard unjust commands. Peasants have never been subdued by the sword, and never will be. They do not know the use of the sword, and they are not frightened by the use of it by others. That nation is great which rests its head upon death as its pillow. Those who defy death are free from all fear. For those who are labouring under the delusive charms of brute-force, this picture is not overdrawn. The fact is that, in India, the nation at large has generally used pa.s.sive resistance in all departments of life. We cease to co-operate with our rulers when they displease us. This is pa.s.sive resistance.
I remember an instance when, in a small princ.i.p.ality, the villagers were offended by some command issued by the prince. The former immediately began vacating the village. The prince became nervous, apologised to his subjects and withdrew his command. Many such instances can be found in India. Real home-rule is possible only where pa.s.sive resistance is the guiding force of the people. Any other rule is foreign rule.
READER: Then you will say that it is not at all necessary for us to train the body?
EDITOR: I will certainly not say any such thing. It is difficult to become a pa.s.sive resister, unless the body is trained. As a rule, the mind, residing in a body that has become weakened by pampering, is also weak, and where there is no strength of mind, there can be no strength of soul. We will have to improve our physique by getting rid of infant marriages and luxurious living. If I were to ask a man having a shattered body to face a cannon's mouth I would make of myself a laughing-stock.
READER: From what you say, then, it would appear that it is not a small thing to become a pa.s.sive resister, and, if that is so, I would like you to explain how a man may become a pa.s.sive resister.
EDITOR: To become a pa.s.sive resister is easy enough, but it is also equally difficult. I have known a lad of fourteen years become a pa.s.sive resister; I have known also sick people doing likewise and I have also known physically strong and otherwise happy people being unable to take up pa.s.sive resistance. After a great deal of experience, it seems to me that those who want to become pa.s.sive resisters for the service of the country have to observe perfect chast.i.ty, adopt poverty, follow truth, and cultivate fearlessness.
Chast.i.ty is one of the greatest disciplines without which the mind cannot attain requisite firmness. A man who is unchaste loses stamina, becomes emasculated and cowardly. He whose mind is given over to animal pa.s.sions is not capable of any great effort. This can be proved by innumerable instances. What, then, is a married person to do, is the question that arises naturally; and yet it need not. When a husband and wife gratify the pa.s.sions, it is no less an animal indulgence on that account. Such an indulgence, except for perpetuating the race, is strictly prohibited. But a pa.s.sive resister has to avoid even that very limited indulgence, because he can have no desire for progeny. A married man, therefore, can observe perfect chast.i.ty. This subject is not capable of being treated at greater length. Several questions arise: How is one to carry one's wife with one? What are her rights, and such other questions? Yet those who wish to take part in a great work are bound to solve these puzzles.
Just as there is necessity for chast.i.ty, so is there for poverty.
Pecuniary ambition and pa.s.sive resistance cannot well go together. Those who have money are not expected to throw it away, but they are expected to be indifferent about it. They must be prepared to lose every penny rather than give up pa.s.sive resistance.
Pa.s.sive resistance has been described in the course of our discussion as truth-force. Truth, therefore, has necessarily to be followed, and that at any cost. In this connection, academic questions such as whether a man may not lie in order to save a life, etc. arise, but these questions occur only to those who wish to justify lying. Those who want to follow truth every time are not placed in such a quandary, and, if they are, they are still saved from a false position.
Pa.s.sive resistance cannot proceed a step without fearlessness. Those alone can follow the path of pa.s.sive resistance who are free from fear whether as to their possessions, false honour, their relatives, the government, bodily injuries, death.
These observances are not to be abandoned in the belief that they are difficult. Nature has implanted in the human breast ability to cope with any difficulty or suffering that may come to man unprovoked. These qualities are worth having, even for those who do not wish to serve the country. Let there be no mistake as those who want to train themselves in the use of arms are also obliged to have these qualities more or less. Everybody does not become a warrior for the wish. A would-be warrior will have to observe chast.i.ty, and to be satisfied with poverty as his lot. A warrior without fearlessness cannot be conceived of. It may be thought that he would not need to be exactly truthful, but that quality follows real fearlessness. When a man abandons truth, he does so owing to fear in some shape or form. The above four attributes, then, need not frighten any one. It may be as well here to note that a physical-force man has to have many other useless qualities which a pa.s.sive resister never needs. And you will find that whatever extra effort a swordsman needs is due to lack of fearlessness. If he is an embodiment of the latter, the sword will drop from his hand that very moment. He does not need its support. One who is free from hatred requires no sword. A man with a stick suddenly came face to face with a lion, and instinctively raised his weapon in self-defence. The man saw that he had only prated about fearlessness when there was none in him.
That moment he dropped the stick, and found himself free from all fear.
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