Mahatma Gandhi and acts of redemption

The concept of Redemption is not new to many religions, including Christianity, Judaism and other faiths. Eastern religions such as Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, etc also emphasis the importance of Redemption. According to Christianity redemption refers to the deliverance of Christians from sin. In the matter of salvation at the fag end of one's life or after death, the question of contravention has wide connotation against which human power is helpless. The Hindu concept of Prāyaścitta, one of the corrective measures in dharmaśāstra refers to actions to expiate one's errors or sins, such as adultery by a married person. It is a Sanskrit word meaning "atonement, penance, expiation". In Judaism, redemption has a different meaning and it refers to God, redeeming the Israelites from their various exiles, including the final redemption from the present exile.

Gandhiji, the Apostle of non-violence and the inventor of Satyagraha to deal with difficult political problems, being religious, had a strong belief in in the concept of Redemption. Says he: "I do not seek redemption from the consequence of my sin; I seek to be redeemed from sin itself or rather from the very thought of sin. Until I attained that end, I shall be content to be restless"

According to Mahatma Gandhi:

01. Redemption will not come to us on it own accord; Nor does it occur overnight out of nowhere. If we create necessary conditions, redemption is not far of from us.

02. The fundamental requisites are self-purification and obedience to God, the Almighty. Yo can't expect the Almighty to help you unload your sin and get the tag as "Redeemer" unless you try hard and offload the sins you carry on your head.

03. Every body is prone to making mistakes; so to err is human, but you can make confessions and convert your mistake into stepping stones for further progress in your life.

04. It will be mere futile to wipe out sins by mere mouthing of condemnation. Confessing an error, the moment it is brought to light, is equal to purging it out.

05. A mere repentance is the purest form of confession with a solemn promise never to commit the sin at any cost in one's life..

06. The very act confession is something like sweeping a dirty floor with a broom, resulting in a cleaner surface. In the same way, our dirty mind gets back its sheen and shines better before.

07. In the the case of unscrupulous persons, such sins don't touch their heart. Hence they lag behind in morality and have no peace of mind till they hit the grave.

08. God does not know the discernible difference between the sinner and saint and to him both are equal and have equal justice. Going backward or forward is their choice. Here, they subject themselves to the Karma concept. For example, the moment if a saint thinks he is superior to the sinner, he loses his sainthood and is much worse than the sinner who knows not what he is doing.

08. If a man is living behind a veil of mistakes and sins and does not show any sign of forgiveness, he is living fraud and sinks deep in the abyss.

09. Man is neither brute nor God. Realizing his folly and mistakes committed wittingly or unwittingly, he mast take recourse in Redemption

10. Repentance and self purification are the means to achieve it. True repentance is an essential requisite of prayer.

Tit-Bits:

India then and today. www.santabanta.com

Do our nethas / politicians across India have scant respect for the Mahatma? Nope. The more years go by, the farther our leaders are moved away from his noble teachings. What a quirk of irony? People wish both Nehru and Gandhi would take new avatars, come to India set the mess right.