Evolution to Peace through the Penance of Speech: Gandhi in Speech and Silence
INSPIRATIONAL, 15 Jun 2015
P.K. Willey, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service
Truthful, pleasant and beneficial speech, as well as a study of the scriptures, is the austerity of speech. – M.K. Gandhi
At this time, most notably in the last decade, communications have become global in a sense that was unimaginable 30 years ago. Along with this, the ethical use of speech appears to have become buried in the snowstorm of social licenses, given to us by an increasing socialized acceptance of the abuse of speech. What is the ethical use of speech?
The goal of this article is to approach the governing law that sustains us, touched gently through the wise and ethical use of speech in the example of Gandhi; to cause reflection and self-reformation, beginning with the author; and to suggest means and methods to help human interactions move towards peace, through speech.
Speech here refers to all the manifested expressions of what is in our minds, through every media; this includes written words, pictures, art, digital communications and visuals, music, sound, all of the ways that we use our minds to reach each other. Speech touches every aspect of our lives; it is the tool in how we raise our children, how we view ourselves, what we feel education truly is.
The power of speech is inherently felt and universally recognized. Much of what is crucial to our lives and well being we demonstrate little awareness of. We behave as though ignorant of what has great power over us. It is so obvious, we ignore it. Like the air we breathe, we take it for granted, blithely pollute it, as well as accept its pollution, without giving much thought to our actions. And we suffer, our children suffer, all life on Earth suffers our neglect of this simple truth and our correspondent duty. Yet, for a healthy life and to cure diseases, we need clean air. So it is with our use of speech. Speech can be used to serve and spread harmony, healing, love, joy, to inspire, to bring peace; used incorrectly, it will bring sadness, disharmony, and most assuredly, its abuse can ravage minds until they seek an answer through war. Speech is the most potent tool or weapon that we have in our persons.
The harmony of our personal lives, society and the guarantee of worldwide peace is dependent upon the intelligent use of speech. To help maintain peace in society and among all aspects of human relations, speech has had careful prescriptions, restrictions and safeguards placed upon it, sanctioned some way in all religions, indigenous societies, and cultures.
Gandhi’s efforts towards aligning himself with this great law will be examined in order to begin this clarification. His contribution to the ethical use of speech is worth study. As a fellow human being, his life set a standard of effort in many spheres of action, which we all have the potential to achieve.
Gandhi’s use of speech, as well as silence, demonstrates his unending, relentless, and honest striving to be ever more perfectly in harmony with the truth he could perceive through his fidelity to his Conscience. In so doing, he demonstrated the purpose and intent of speech, as a gift to us from our Creator, whom or which he called truth, and many other names: love or ahimsa, the Law Giver, Allah, Rama, God, etc. He repeatedly was to say in one way or another:
“For me, the voice of God, of Conscience, of Truth, or the Inner Voice, or the ‘still small voice within’, mean one and the same thing.”[i]
Gandhiji loved making more and greater efforts continually in self-discipline and self-restraint. Penance to him, was nothing short of joy, for it forced him to humble himself in acknowledgement of the Creator within, which he held to be utterly inspiring. The purpose of any type of penance is purity, and truth. As Gandhi noted, “We are only to the extent that we are truthful.”
Even in Gandhi’s day, the power of truthful speech in society had long been in decline. He noted:
“In the old days, the word of mouth of illustrious persons was regarded as good as a bond. They concluded transactions involving millions by oral agreements. In fact, our entire social fabric rests upon the sanctity of the pledged word.”[ii]
It is important to note that Gandhi never claimed sainthood, or even discipleship, only the position of brother to the human family. As such, his efforts are open to critical discussion. We can argue, even posthumously, with someone who claims equality with us. Nonetheless, his effort at truthfulness, to become a genuinely truthful person, is humbling to all of us. He said,
“I always welcome an honest difference of opinion, for I have an open mind, and no axe to grind.”[iii]
Critically examined, through the lens of the penance of speech, it is clear that Gandhi worked in constant awareness of serving the truth within him through this aspect. His talks, writings, even his silence, were all part of his monumental effort to control and regulate the stream of the expression of speech, even through thought.
Defining ‘Penance’ as Tapas
The word `penance’ is popularly associated in Christian theology with heavy repentance, suffering, self-denial, self-punishment. This is not the meaning of `penance’ here. Sanskrit offers developed definitions of different concepts and ways of being for placing oneself in harmony with the great ethical laws that govern life. The words `penance’ and `austerity’ are the closest English translations of a powerful metaphysical tool from humanity’s treasure chest of jewels for ethical awakening, called tapas in Sanskrit, (from the root tap – fire or burn). Tapas is the unceasing inner consecration and dedication to pure ideals. It can be seen also as a fiery or burning self-discipline. Tapasya is the spiritual radiance that comes to one who is engaged in tapas. A tapasvin is one who wholeheartedly undertakes tapas, and is necessarily following brahmacharya—the course of conduct that leads to awareness of truth.
Neither word conveys the sheer joy, the willingness, the inner dance, nor the righteous intention of tapas. The purpose and goal of tapas is to help us to break out of self-limiting forms of awareness, to enable us to enter into a larger sense of knowing and self-expansion. Our perception of reality changes, we start to choose and long for something which is infinitely more real than the false conditionings we have accepted for ourselves. Tapas produces a perceptible result, noticeably in the form of inner purification. Such results can only bring increasing wonder, peace, and contentment. Tapas is a sword to cut away inner dross. Not everyone needs to use the knife to carve or slice. Some can use it for spreading butter. Its use depends on the individuals’ inner atmosphere.
India’s spiritual treasure chest holds a recognition of three wide views of tapas: that of the physical body, of speech, and of the mind. Bodily tapas, when done intelligently, with an ethical and moral intention, helps to overcome the vacillations of the mind caused by minor discomforts. Physical tapas includes things like gaining the capacity to bear heat and cold with equanimity. This we see today on the world platform by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Monastics in his particular branch of Tibetan Buddhism, Gelug, keep at least one arm uncovered up to the shoulder at all times, in all weather, sickness or health. Successful bodily penance has the result of gaining mental control of the body, so as not to be unduly disturbed by it.
Mental tapas or penance, is more powerful than physical penance. The goal of mental tapas is to have a mind that is able to give love for hatred, to be considerate and just. Sw. Shivananda gave this description of mental penance:
“To keep a balanced mind in all conditions of life, to bear insult, injury and persecutions, to be ever serene, contented and peaceful, to be cheerful in adverse conditions, to have fortitude in meeting danger, to have presence of mind and forbearance, are all forms of mental tapas.”[iv]
As speech is so closely associated with the mind, it can be seen and said that intention of our speech, and the sounds that we make are the embodiment of our mind. Speech is far more subtle than the body. The means for this penance are likewise, far more subtle.
Tapas is also another view of yajna or sacrifice. Self-sacrifice really means to sacrifice our self-centered interest in a given situation: we give up our inner claims on the outcome or fruits of our actions. Self-sacrifice is the outcome of self-restraint. For example, as a penance in speech, when we curb our itching desire to retort, in what we may feel is perhaps an exceedingly justifiable situation, we have sacrificed the expression of our small self-gratification in doing so, for the interest of something larger (like a room-full of peace), and raised our own level of awareness. This small penance – the curbing of the retort – which has threads to revenge – has a definite and positive spiritual fruit, for anyone who tries. Self-sacrifice is the cornerstone of co-operation. It is most often in our Mothers that we see genuine self-sacrifice in operation. A Mother’s self-sacrifice is done naturally and joyously, epitomizing the best methodology of self-sacrifice – through caring and kind, supportive love.
Gandhiji’s Penance in Speech
Gandhi had the guts and gumption to attach his mind to truth, and keep it there, no matter what anyone said or thought about him. He was unafraid to walk to his own drummer; despite the discomfort it caused his own notions, those of his family, or society at large. His first requisite for a truth seeker was fearlessness. He said, “Cowards can never be moral.”
In his autobiography, Gandhi shared his painful shyness and lack of self-confidence during his London years. He confessed he was often unable to speak publicly, with any sense of ease. Later, he found:
“My hesitancy in speech, which was once an annoyance, is now a pleasure. Its greatest benefit has been that it has taught me the economy of words. I have naturally formed the habit of restraining my thoughts. And I can now give myself a certificate that a thoughtless word hardly ever escaped my tongue or pen.”[v]
An adroit lawyer, his careful ‘certificate’ clause of ‘hardly ever’ was undoubtedly due to his personal relations. Gandhi kept himself mindful of his use of speech through many means. Of his handful of personal possessions, Gandhi cherished a gift given to him by friends from Japan, a set of three little monkeys, carved into caricatures of `see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil’ kept upon his desk. He strove to make sure that his words were spoken with thought and care, with respect to the ones he was speaking to, and with the greatest respect to the One, who was the life within him, who had given him the power of speech.
It was not until he became absolutely convinced of the reality of truth that he was able to shed all fearlessness, and his words began to reflect his certainty. This is an important realization in his life, much more so than the famed incident in Pietermaritzburg train station, which occurred June 7, 1893, 16 years earlier.
By 1909, Gandhi had become a representative of Indians in South Africa, considered `British’ by virtue of colonization, and with a deputation was on a third voyage from South Africa to England seeking Imperial intervention in the legal status of Indians in South Africa. This trip was again without any concrete success. On the way home to South Africa from England, he wrote a booklet, Indian Home Rule which later became known as Hind Swaraj. In this booklet, he outlined the reasons for self-rule and its broader implications for self-respect, dignity, and ethical education through satyagraha (the indomitable force of will that clings to truth in action for life and conflict resolution to restore justice and harmony). By this time, Gandhi had attained a level of inner peace and certitude. He wrote:
“My ideas about satyagraha had now matured and I had realized its universality as well as its excellence. I was therefore perfectly at ease. Hind Swaraj was written in order to demonstrate the sublimity of satyagraha and that book is a true measure of my faith in its efficacy. I was perfectly indifferent to the numerical strength of the fighters on our side.”[vi]
He had learned that if only one stands, with truth on his side, his army is a legion. This point in his life is a very profound one. He had attained absolute certainty in his ideals. He was convinced, through and through, in his being, of their reality. This is what some mystics call `surrender’ to God, the truth within. It was what made Gandhi totally fearless.
Gandhi was known to speak slowly, with due consideration for every word he uttered. Viceroy Lord Reading wrote a letter to his son about his meetings with Gandhi; including observations of Gandhi’s speech:
“I have had many opportunities of judging him… there is nothing striking about his appearance…and I should have passed him by in the street without a second look at him. When he talks, the impression is different. He is direct, and expresses himself well in excellent English with a fine appreciation of the value of the words he uses. There is no hesitation about him and there is a ring of sincerity in all that he utters… Our conversations were of the frankest; he was supremely courteous, with manners of distinction…He held in every way to his word in the various discussions we held.”[vii]
Vinoba Bhave, who sought to follow Gandhi’s precepts from his days of youth, said of Gandhi’s use of speech:
“It was not Bapu’s habit to use exaggerated speech; I can remember no other man who weighed his words with such care. We must therefore understand everything he said in the full meaning he gave it.”[viii]
“He was always very careful not to utter anything that was untruthful, that was not the fruit of deliberation. He was always engaged in political activity, yet the example he set of discipline of speech remains unique.”[ix]
It was an incredible gift to human culture world wide: Gandhi brought the power of truth back into public perception of speech. This anecdote from Vinoba shows how Gandhi’s mindful use of speech had a tremendous social effect in raising the awareness of truth in the environment around him:
“I remember how, during the agitation against the Rowlatt Act, when Bapu was stopped while on his way to the Punjab, it led to widespread disturbances in the Punjab and a wave of anger swept the country. There was violence and sabotage in Ahmedabad. Many houses were burnt. This made Gandhiji very sad. It was all against the tenets of nonviolence. I was at Sabarmati Ashram at the time. I was a young man of twenty-five. A few of us went to the riot-stricken city and the neighbouring villages and tried to persuade people to desist from violence. “Brother,” we said, “You have not done well. Gandhiji does not approve of it. He is distressed by it. Gandhiji does not wish you to act thus. He can never wish that you should indulge in arson and violence. When has he ever told you to do such things?”
People answered, `You are too young to understand. Do we have to learn from you what Gandhiji says? Only Bhima understands what Yudhishthira means. Yudhishthira just speaks out. Bhima knows what the import of the speech is.‘[x]
Clearly they believed that a political leader’s utterances should be capable of two different interpretations…He should mean one thing and say another…Gandhiji, people thought in the beginning, perhaps did not quite mean what he said about nonviolence. May be he felt that the country was not ready for violent action and had to speak the language of nonviolence so as not to get on the wrong side of the law.
It was only when Gandhiji started on his Fasts to atone for the violence committed by the people, when he took suffering upon himself, that people realized that he was a leader of a special kind. The belief gradually deepened that Gandhiji meant what he said. The power of the word thus began to operate. It was a new phenomenon. Gandhiji’s penance created a new respect for the power of the word. This power of the word is a necessary condition for democracy.”[xi]
… If the power of the word becomes blunted, the power of arms will take its place. The power of the word springs from immaculate thinking. It does not call for increased outward activity. It is the result of inner cleansing.”[xii]
Yet, during Gandhi’s negotiations with Jinnah (Jinnah advocated for India to be divided into India and Pakistan), the trust in Gandhi’s words weakened with the influence of divisive political forces. Vinoba noted:
The public, as also political opponents and the Government, began to suspect that, though Gandhiji said one thing, he had perhaps in his mind something quite different. Just as Jinnah’s word was not trusted by the Hindus, there were Mussalmans who had lost faith in Gandhiji’s word. The power of the word had declined. The outcome was there for everyone to see. What happened in India at the time Swaraj (Independence) came was a direct consequence of the decline of the power of the word.
Gandhiji spent the time in acute suffering. People had ceased listening to him. Nevertheless it is beyond doubt that in public behaviour Gandhiji showed unique truth-minded-ness and made the power of the word gain in respect. I am not aware of anyone else who did as much for the purification of politics…Really speaking Gandhiji never practised politics. What he pursued could only be called service of the people.”[xiii]
The sound of Gandhi’s voice, which strove to align itself with truth, with the reality and harmony that sustains us all, ‘twanged’ throughout the world that had access to its amplification, which radio gave it. Maria Montessori, whom Gandhi went to see in Italy, 1931, to learn about her methods of education, told her young students and teachers who were waiting to hear Gandhi speak:
“I have a great thing to say to you—the Soul of Gandhi—that great Soul of which we are so conscious, is here with us incarnate in his bodily form. The voice which we shall soon have the privilege of hearing is that voice which sounds throughout the world. He speaks with love and not merely with his voice does he speak but with his whole life. Such a rare thing is this, that when it happens, every ear listens.”[xiv]
Hearing her tribute, Gandhi wept. After meeting Montessori, Gandhi sought to implement aspects of her ideas and outlook, that learning takes place all the time spontaneously, thus all life, and the whole home, and world, is a school, into his educational programs.
Gandhi used the written word to reach the minds of millions with his thoughts, which he kept doggedly pointed towards the expression of pure ideals. He saw that in each and every aspect of social functioning there is an ethical core which could be honoured or deviated from:
“A Journalist’s peculiar function is to read the mind of the country and to give definite and fearless expression to that mind.”[xv]
He sought to not only inform the public mind, but to ‘reform’ it, in light of the universally inherent ideals that he was experiencing within himself. He founded his first newspaper in South Africa, Indian Opinion, later in India he established Navajivan (New Life), and Harijan (Child of God, the name he used to create an awareness in India’s class stratified society of the equality of the down trodden, now known as untouchables, and self-referred to as Dalits – the depressed). He recognized the ethical role of the press in informing society truthfully, with an eye towards its upliftment:
“The Press is called the Fourth Estate. It is definitely a power, but to misuse that power is criminal.[xvi]
Gandhi’s use of Silence in the Penance of Speech
Gandhi loved the practice of silence. Silence is natural to us, profoundly simple and powerful. Through keeping silence Gandhi sought mental solitude and as far as possible, social solitude. Silence creates our own portable cave of peace and quiet within us. It was in silence that Gandhi could touch the forms of speech – thought, feeling, awareness, that were often drowned out through other forms of speech. He told friends:
“The Divine Radio is always singing, if we could make ourselves listen to it, but it is impossible to listen without silence.”[xvii]
Silence, Gandhi found, was beneficial physically and spiritually. It provides inner stillness from the vibratory effects of the voice in the body. People in ill health can easily attest to the strain and exhaustion that normal speech causes to the bodily system. Gandhi became uncompromising in keeping his weekly day of silence. The entire world became aware that it was on Monday. To a friend who was urging him to speak to him on a Monday, he gently rebuked in a hand written note:
“My silence gives me peace of mind. It helps my sadhana [spiritual effort]. If I broke my silence to please you, I would have to break it for others also. So please understand and stop urging me to speak.”[xviii]
For Gandhi, observing silence in the later years of his life became a physical necessity. He cited the following reasons why silence was also physically important to him:
“There is a perceptible drop in blood-pressure when I observe silence; medical friends have therefore advised me to take as much silence as I can.
There is no doubt whatsoever that after every silence I feel recuperated and have greater energy for work. The output of work during silence is much greater than when I am not silent.
The mind enjoys a peace during silence which it does not without it. That is to say, the decision to be silent itself produces a soothing effect on me. It lifts a burden off my mind. My experience tells me that silence soothes the nerves in a manner no drugs can. With me it also induces sleep.
To produce the effect I have described, silence has to be liked. No one, therefore, need be silent out of love or imitation or merely for the knowledge that it produces on me or the effect described by me. The best things would be to take silence on medical advice. Needless to say, that here I do not refer to the spiritual need and effects of silence.”[xix]
During May 14–29, 1944, Gandhi took 15 days of silence as his health was bad. He rejoiced in it. In a prepared speech at a communal prayer meeting, he shared the ways silence helped him to experience harmony within himself:
What a good thing is silence! I have personal experience of it. The joy one derives from silence is unique. How good it will be, if everyone observed silence for some time every day!
Silence is not for some great men; I know that whatever one person is able to do can be done by everyone, given the effort. There is a saying amongst us that through silence everything can be achieved. There is much truth in this saying.[xx]
When Gandhi attended the Indian Round Table conference, of the Federal Structure Committee in UK, 1931, an observer, Rt. Hon. Vincent Sankey shared his observation notes about Gandhi’s use of speech and silence:
“The first meeting of the Committee was held at St. Jame’s Palace, London, on September 14th. It was Mr. Gandhi’s silence day, and he did not utter a single word. On Tuesday, the 15th, he made his first speech, the following note was made at the time:
‘Mr. Gandhi spoke very slowly and deliberately, 57 words a minute. He spoke for nearly an hour without a note. He put his hands together and seemed to pray before he began. He sat next to me. He wore sandals, a loin cloth, and a large white shawl or cape. He asked for independence for India and control of army and finance.’
How Mr. Gandhi managed to stand the physical and mental strain of that Conference has always been a marvel to me. Without fail, he was there at the beginning and he remained till the end of the day’s work. A note made at the time tells me that on some days as many as 87,000 words were spoken.”[xxi]
Sankey’s observations also indicate the keen interest that people had about Gandhi. Gandhi advised others to consider taking silence for spiritual benefit:
“The vow of silence helps in the search for truth. To keep it, one should refrain from speaking or from communicating anything by writing, or do it only for immediate practical purposes.”[xxii]
Closely intertwined with oral silence is also physical and mental solitude. For people busy in community life, physical solitude is a real treat once one develops a taste for it. Gandhi advised friends and co-workers who were followers of the Vishnu sect to experience the joys of it of keeping silent for some hours each day, or more:
“One who cultivates solitude will never be unhappy anywhere, for he sees only Vishnu in all places…With some effort, everybody can cultivate such love of solitude…Try and cultivate it.”[xxiii]
It is in silence, that the subtle form of speech, our thoughts, and the movements behind them, take place. Gandhi was to eventually see that the things we think are exceedingly powerful in both their inward and outward effects upon ourselves, others, and our environment. His yearnings for humanity and situations manifested itself most poignantly to him in prayer. He noted:
“My greatest weapon is mute prayer.”[xxiv]
Gandhi’s disciplined regard for speech in his lifetime, reaffirmed to millions, their own inherent ethics; his personal example awakened millions to the necessity of revitalizing and moving towards this ideal. He saw that by themselves, the opportunity for people to become aware of the ethical use of speech needed the support of not only culture, but governance:
“Teaching of fundamental ethics is undoubtedly a function of the state.”[xxv]
Holding public media as well as governance accountable for the actualization of ethics in social and political life, as individuals we are challenged by his example to come to our own understanding. Encouraging an Indian public besotted with colonialism’s velvety dreams, Gandhi goaded individuals to make their own inquiry, to their own conscience, and start their own quests for harmony:
“Man is the maker of his own destiny, and I therefore ask you to become makers of your own destiny.”[xxvi]
Conclusively
Gandhi demonstrated through his life an acute awareness of the ethical role of speech, and clearly observed his own penance of speech and silence. The questions we face now are, how can we help a youthful generation exposed to the abuse of speech through innumerable licenses? How can we help them to know the inner and outer sanctity, cleanliness, and peace that comes from thought and speech striving ever for harmony with truth within themselves? How can we impart an appreciation of silence?
The cord between the generations has been frayed if not broken, and almost made irrelevant by technology’s advances, particularly in communication devices, means, and methods of using them. Technology and development of business for resource exploitation, has made the skills of one generation almost useless to the next. The inner passing down of knowledge, of how to live and be, is most affected.
Our own awareness of the penance of speech is perhaps one of the ways. This story from the wealth of Jewish ethics on speech told to me years ago, and reworked through the my life experience, is one that may help our children to reflect, in the brief moments of silence that their days allow them:
The Rabbi’s Feathers
There was a man who had a difference of opinion with the Rabbi in his community when he was a young boy. He nursed the resentment, and as he aged, he spoke badly of the Rabbi to his friends, family, and even with casual acquaintances. At the very least, he would let a smirk drop on his face when the Rabbi’s name was mentioned. When the days of his bodily strength had left him, his mind became less distracted from the external details of his life, and his attention began to turn within, where he faced his conscience. He started to feel tremendous remorse for all the little and big mean things he had said about the Rabbi. One day, his conscience goading him, he went to the Rabbi’s house and remorsefully told him how he had been speaking about him for so many years, ardently promised to never do so again, and sought his forgiveness.
The Rabbi embraced him with sincere forgiveness. Tearfully, his heart now filled with love, the repentant man asked the Rabbi what he could do to atone for his mistakes.
The Rabbi gave him a sharp knife and a large pillow filled with the softest of goose down feathers. He told him to go to the top of his barn, and slash open the pillow with a knife and throw the feathers into the wind.
The man did as he was told, the feathers flew everywhere: some got caught in air currents and were carried up high and away into the sky. Mission accomplished, the man returned to the Rabbi – somewhat mystified, but glad for his redemption – and reported the deed as done.
The Rabbi then told him, “Now, my dear friend, please collect back all of the feathers.”
The man looked at him piteously, “But that is impossible, my beloved Rabbi! I do not even know where and how they have all gone!”
The Rabbi looked at him gravely, and said, “And so it is with your spicy words, my friend. Although you are sad about what you have done, the damage from your words is also not recollectable. They have spread everywhere, and we know not even how far, and what influence they have had.”
Once we start to engage our social and political institutions to observe ethics in speech, peace will begin to unfold. Individual recognition of our own inherent longing for peace through the penance of speech is our first step.
NOTES:
[i] Gandhi, M.K. (1955). Truth is God. Navajivan: Ahmedabad: 29.
[ii] Tendulkar, D.G. (1920). Mahatma: Life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, New Delhi. 2:364.
[iii] Ibid. 2:284.
[iv] URL: http://www.nandhi.com/tapas.htm. As seen Dec. 2011.
[v] Gandhi, M.K. (2007). The Story of My Experiments with Truth. Navajivan, Ahmedabad.
[vi] Gandhi, M.K. (1956–1983). Collected works of Mahatma Gandhi. Navajivan: Ahmedabad.29: 186–188.
[vii] Tendulkar, D.G. (1920). Mahatma: Life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, New Delhi. 2:42.
[viii] Bhave, V. (). Thoughts on Education. Sarva Seva Sangh Prakashan, Varanasi: 59.
[ix] Bhave, V. (). Vinoba on Gandhi. Sarva Seva Sangh Prakashan, Varanasi: 26.
[x] This analogy is taken from two brothers, characters in the epic, Mahabharata. Yudhishthira was known for justice and righteousness. Bhima, his younger brother, for his physical strength and valour. Growing-up with the ethical discourses of any true religion, spawns awareness and reflection on righteousness, right from the cradle.
[xi] Ibid. 27-29.
[xii] Ibid. 95.
[xiii] Ibid. 29.
[xiv] Gandhi, M.K. (1956–1983). Collected works of Mahatma Gandhi. Navajivan: Ahmedabad. 48: 149
[xv] Ibid. 36: 369.
[xvi] Tendulkar, D.G. (1920). Mahatma: Life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, New Delhi. 7: 375.
[xvii] Gandhi, M.K. (1955). Truth is God. Navajivan: Ahmedabad: 60.
[xviii] Gandhi, M.K. (1956–1983). Collected works of Mahatma Gandhi. Navajivan: Ahmedabad. 72: 112.
[xix] Ibid. 70: 286.
[xx] Ibid. 83: 44.
[xxi] Radhakrishnan, S. (2005). Mahatma Gandhi: Essays and Reflections. Jaico, Mumbai: 266.
[xxii] Gandhi, M.K. (1956–1983). Collected works of Mahatma Gandhi. Navajivan: Ahmedabad. 31: 528.
[xxiii] Ibid. 57: 36.
[xxiv] Tendulkar, D.G. (1920). Mahatma: Life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, New Delhi. 5:21.
[xxv] Gandhi, M.K. (1955). Truth is God. Navajivan: Ahmedabad: 151.
[xxvi] Gandhi, M.K. (1956–1983). Collected works of Mahatma Gandhi. Navajivan: Ahmedabad. 26: 294.
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P.K. Willey, Ph.D. has researched speech in the contexts of religion, science, society, and folklore and written a book, Discovering the Penance of Speech. The author’s blog – www.earthethics.org.in will be hosting more articles on ethics and penance of speech.
This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 15 Jun 2015.
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