The birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, “The Father of the Nation” and one of the most influential persons of the twentieth century, is celebrated as the International Day of Non-Violence by the UN. A befitting honour indeed, to the great soul who lived his teachings.
Gandhi was not just a political leader; he was a social reformer and a spiritual person too. He lived his teachings in the true sense. His life includes some really valuable teachings like the principles of honesty, non-violence, punctuality and simplicity. An honest person is true to himself and to the world. Where there is honesty, there is truth. His actions are pure. He can never think of doing anything dishonest or of lying.
Gandhi was the greatest advocate of non-violence, and he proved that it is non-violence that pays, by getting us our much-needed freedom using non-violent means. His words, “There are many causes that I am prepared to die for, but no cause that I am prepared to kill for” bring out how much he valued non-violence. He also believed, “An eye for an eye will only make the world blind.” So he never believed in taking revenge by waging wars of bloodshed. He was a true votary of multi-religious identity. As per him, “Even as a tree has a single trunk, but many branches and leaves, there is one religion- Human religion- but many numbers of faiths.” He further said, “The essence of all religions is one, only their approaches are different.” Though he drew inspiration from The Gita, and remained a devout Hindu, he was open to influences of all religions. He said, “I want the cultures of all lands to blow about my house freely as possible, but I refuse to be blown off my feet by any.”
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