Bangalore, India
I want to tell you about my teacher who is still alive, and who has completed 116 years of his life. This gentleman taught Mahatma Gandhi the scripture, Bhagavad Gita, when he came back from South Africa.
The Bhagavad Gita often states that one must be equanimous. So he shared this incident of Mahatma Gandhi.
Mahatma Gandhi was the most compassionate person. He would not even drink cow's milk because he said the first right of the cow's milk goes to the calf. There was this one incident when they were milking the cow and a drop of blood came out because they had milked the cow too hard. From that day, he left drinking cow's milk and he would only have goat's milk.
My teacher was in Yerwada jail, along with Mahatma Gandhi. There were only three of them, Mahatma Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi’s wife Kasturba Gandhi, and my teacher.
This incident is of the last day of Kasturba Gandhi. She was on her death bed, and Mahatma Gandhi comes out of the room, and he says to my teacher, ‘Bangalori, today is the day of my trial. Today is the day to see how I can maintain my equanimity. How I can see everybody in the same way. Today is the day of my test.’
Saying this, he asked him to read the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. While he was reading the Bhagavad Gita, drops of tears were flowing down Bapu's (Mahatma Gandhi's) eyes. And that day Kasturba Gandhi left her body.
Mahatma Gandhi then realized that he had always imposed his will on his wife, and she had no will of her own. He said, 'She is the real saint because she served me till her last breath'. This is what Mahatma Gandhi said when Kasturba Gandhi left her body at the Yerwada jail.
Bhagavad Gita was Mahatma Gandhi's guiding light. He stood against religious conversion, but today nobody talks about it. He was against liquor, but nobody talks about it. He was against slaughtering of animals; he was the most compassionate person and said that we must follow Ahimsa (Non-violence).
Mahatma Gandhi would not even drink cow's milk because he said the first right of the cow's milk goes to the calf. There was also this one incident when they were milking the cow and a drop of blood came out because they had milked the cow too hard. From that day, he left drinking cow's milk and he would only have goat's milk.
Mahatma Gandhi was such an advocate of Ahimsa, and today India is the largest exporter of beef in the world. 7.8 million animals have been slaughtered in this country in the past couple of years.
It is a very sad thing that we celebrate Mahatma Gandhi's birthday, but we do not follow what he has said. So I think the youth of India should wake up, and follow the precepts of Ahimsa (non-violence). Follow his idea of compassion (compassion to animals), prohibition of intoxicants, and attend satsang. Mahatma Gandhi would conduct satsangs everyday. When we follow this, then we are honoring Mahatma Gandhi.
Also, no religious conversion. Mahatama Gandhi was against persuading people to change their religion, and all these things that are happening in India today.
