Meeting with Gandhiji - Excerpts from “A Succinct Biography”
- mahendramangalam
- Nov 25, 2024
- 4 min read
Updated: Jan 27
The details of the conversation between the great men remained a complete secret, since no one else was allowed inside. Even till long after Gandhiji’s demise, the Acharya did not reveal anything about the conversation, in spite of the repeated requests of ardent, interested devotees. But later some details came out. About a year after the return of His Holiness to Kanchi, after the prolonged tour on foot, for six years, a letter was published in the name of a Professor Swaminathan, in an issue of Statesman (Calcutta). The professor was then editing the works of Mahatma Gandhi. The letter contained some details about the conversation between the Acharya and Gandhiji. The letter was perused by His Holiness. Sri Neelam Raju Venkateseshayya, (then editor of Andhra Prabha) had often entreated the Acharya to narrate details of the conversation between the Acharya and Gandhiji in 1927. But the Acharya Swami, once(years ago) told Sri Seshayya, “You have been always asking me about my talk with Gandhiji. None except the two of us knows anything about our talk. Now Gandhiji is no more. Suppose, I reveal the details of our conversation, will it not give rise to a doubt about its truth in the minds of Gandhiji’s followers?”. Sri Seshayya felt that a great secret of dharma had been revealed by the Acharya.
In the letter published in the Stateman giving some details regarding the conversation between the two gret men , it was stated that Gandhiji had informed Sri Kishore Lal Masurvala, a resident of Gandhiji’s ashrama and Srimati Ganga Ben Vaidya, about some of the details of his talk with the Kanchi Acharya. In the middle of June 1985, Sri Venkataseshayya was summoned to Kanchi. When he reached Kanchi, His Holiness asked him to read the letter published in the Statesman and then said to him, “Now that some parts of the talk that transpired between Gandhiji and me have been published, I shall comply with your repeated requests concerning the same”. (The conversation between His Holiness and Sri Seshayya was in Telugu language and it has been translated into English)
A Summary of the Acharya – Gandhiji Conversation:
A=Acharya, G=Gandhi
A: “I appreciate your pointing out about a good thing to mankind. Energy is essential for leading a righteous life. Danger only will result by leading a life based on physical entities bereft of religion.”
G: “Yes, I do understand”.
A: “Our Bharat is one of the very ancient countries of the world. Our country is endowed with old, excellent learning and with an ancient culture. In the past, people followed the social dictum of Varnashrama Dharma, they were engaged in the activities assigned to them, and thereby protected their dharma and enjoyed happiness in the world and in the next”.
G: “Modern society is different from the society of the past. Will it be possible to go along with the ancient ideals of social life?”
A: “ The quality of cold water is different from the quality of hot water. If both get mixed they will loose their natural characteristics and become useless. Society of course will not be uniform. For instance take a mango tree. It has several branches. In these branches flowers blossom and mangoes emerge at different times. But the tree is only one. Society is, like the tree, only one. Even as the different branches and the trunk combine into tree, all castes together form society. Nowadays, politicians enter the fields of religion and society and try to make in roads into them and to change them. And this had weakened our religion, and altogether changed the smooth running of the world”.
G: “I concur with the opinion of your Holiness”.
A: “What is the necessity for the removal of untouchability?”
G: “Among the people of Bharatadesa, besides Hindus, there are Muslims, Christians, and also some other religionists. Hence it seems to me that untouchability needs to be removed, what does your Holiness think about entry of the untouchables into temples”?
A: “Temples are sacred places. They are intended for those who believe that God is enshrined in the Sanctum sanctorum of the temple. The Agamas extol the sacred nature of the temples. Those who do not have faith in the Agama Shastras and those who do not accept the principles enunciated by the Agamas in connection with the purity and sanctity of the temple are decidedly unfit for entering our temples”.
(Later after a talk between the two for more than twenty minutes over other problems, almost towards the end, the conversation turned on to the murder of Swami Sraddhananda).
A: ‘I suppose, you know about how Swami Sradddhananda has been killed by a Muslim recently”.
G: “Yes. In the present condition of our land how can we attain unity amidst Hindus and Muslims”.
A: “In case a Hindu kills you or me in the future, can we hate the entire Hindu community on that count?”
(In the letter of Sri Swaminathan published in the Statesman(1985), he has hinted that Rajaji expressed to his friends, the prophetic remark of His Holiness immediately after the assassination of the Mahatma).
The above is an excerpt from “Pujya Sri Mahaswamy Divya Charitram” by Sri Sambamoorthi Shastrigal, Sri Kuppuswamy Iyer, “Sollin Selvan” P. N. Parasuraman – 1957
Vijaya Yatra
The peetathipathis of Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam had taken upon themselves as part of their pontifical duties, traveling around, giving audience to people, giving them advice and encouraging their spiritual growth.
Our Swamigal also wanted to take on such a journey after becoming the Peetathipathi.
