Part 75 (1/2)
Two hours after our arrival my companions and I were summoned to lunch The Mahatma was already seated under the arcade of the ashram porch, across the courtyard from his study About twenty-five barefooted SATYAGRAHIS were squatting before brass cups and plates
A coe brass pots containing CHAPATIS (whole-wheat unleavened bread) sprinkled with GHEE; TALSARI (boiled and diced vegetables), and a lemon jaetables, and oranges On the side of his plate was a large lump of very bitter NEEM leaves, a notable blood cleanser With his spoon he separated a portion and placed it onchildhood days when Mother had forced reeable dose Gandhi, however, bit by bit was eating the NEEM paste with as much relish as if it had been a delicious sweet incident I noted the Mahatma's ability to detach his mind from the senses at will I recalled the fa anesthetics, the saint had chatted cheerfully with his disciples throughout the operation, his infectious s his unawareness of pain
The afternoon brought an opportunity for a chat with Gandhi's noted disciple, daughter of an English admiral, Miss Madeleine Slade, now called Mirabai {FN44-3} Her strong, calm face lit with enthusiasm as she told me, in flawless Hindi, of her daily activities
”Rural reconstruction work is rewarding! A group of us go every ers and teach theiene We make it a point to clean their latrines and their ers are illiterate; they cannot be educated except by exaaily
I looked in adlishwoman whose true Christian hu work usually performed only by ”untouchables”
”I came to India in 1925,” she told me ”In this land I feel that I have 'co to return to my old life and old interests”
We discussed America for awhile ”I am always pleased and amazed,”
she said, ”to see the deep interest in spiritual subjects exhibited by the many Americans who visit India” {FN44-4}
Mirabai's hands were soon busy at the CHARKA (spinning wheel), omnipresent in all the ashrahout rural India
Gandhi has sound econoe industries, but he does not counsel a fanatical repudiation of all raph have played important parts in his own colossal life!
Fifty years of public service, in prison and out, wrestling daily with practical details and harsh realities in the political world, have only increased his balance, open-mindedness, sanity, and humorous appreciation of the quaint human spectacle
Our trio enjoyed a six o'clock supper as guests of Babasaheb Deshmukh
The 7:00 PM prayer hour found us back at the MAGANVADI ashrarouped in a se on a strawsun cast a last gleaht and the crickets had started The atmosphere was serenity itself; I was enraptured
A soleroup; then a GITA reading The Mahat prayer Such divine unison of thought and aspiration! A memory forever: the Wardha roof top ht o'clock Gandhi ended his silence The herculean labors of his life require him to apportion his ti this time was not via paper We had just descended fro room, simply furnished with square mats (no chairs), a low desk with books, papers, and a few ordinary pens (not fountain pens); a nondescript clock ticked in a corner An all-pervasive aura of peace and devotion Gandhi was bestowing one of his captivating, cavernous, alo,” he explained, ”I started aining time to look after my correspondence But now those twenty-four hours have become a vital spiritual need A periodical decree of silence is not a torture but a blessing”
I agreed wholeheartedly {FN44-5} The Mahatma questioned me about America and Europe; we discussed India and world conditions
”Mahadev,” Gandhi said as Mr Desai entered the rooea toht, he considerately handed me a bottle of citronella oil
”The Wardhaabout AHIMSA, {FN44-6} Swa our little group breakfasted early on a tasty wheat porridge with molasses and milk At ten-thirty ere called to the ashram porch for lunch with Gandhi and the SATYAGRAHIS
Today the etables, and cardarounds, on to the grazing land of a few imperturbable cows The protection of cows is a passion with Gandhi
”The cow toman's sympathies beyond his own species,” the Mahath the cow is enjoined to realize his identity with all that lives Why the ancient rishi+s selected the cow for apotheosis is obvious to iver of plenty Not only did she give riculture possible The cow is a poeentle animal She is the second mother to millions of mankind
Protection of the cow means protection of the whole dumb creation of God The appeal of the lower order of creation is all the more forceful because it is speechless”
Three daily rituals are enjoined on the orthodox Hindu One is BHUTA YAJNA, an offering of food to the anidoations to less evolved forms of creation, instinctively tied to bodily identifications which also corrode hu reason which is peculiar to humanity BHUTA YAJNA thus reinforces man's readiness to succor the weak, as he in turn is cos Man is also under bond for rejuvenating gifts of nature, prodigal in earth, sea, and sky The evolutionary barrier of incoels is thus overcome by offices of silent love
The other two daily YAJNAS are PITRI and NRI PITRI YAJNA is an offering of oblations to ancestors, as a syment of his debt to the past, essence of whose wisdo of food to strangers or the poor, symbol of the present responsibilities of man, his duties to contehborly NRI YAJNA by a visit to Gandhi's ashraht acco flowerlike faces atop the long-stemmed colorful SARIS! At the end of a brief talk in Hindi {FN44-7} which I was giving outdoors, the skies unloosed a sudden downpour Laughing, Mr Wright and I climbed aboard the car and sped back to MAGANVADI a silver Such tropical intensity and splash!+