SATYAGRAHA
1
His Excellency, the Viceroy was
visiting Benaras. The government officials, big and small, were busy readying
the city to welcome him. On the other hand the Congress had called for hartal.
This had rattled the officials. Yet the roads were being decorated with buntings,
the city spruced up, huge gates erected, offices decorated, a huge pandal was
being built; and at the same time the policemen, with bayonets mounted on their
rifles, were patrolling the streets. The officials were desperate to foil the
hartal, but the congressmen were determined to make it a success. If the
officials had brute force with them, the congressmen were confident of their
moral strength. This was an occasion to test who was going to carry the day.
Riding a horse, the magistrate was, from morning to evening, threatening
the shopkeepers ⎼ that he would send them to jail, have
their shops looted, and this and that.
The shopkeepers were pleading with folded hands, ‘Hazoor, you are the king and master
of our destiny. You can do anything you like, but we are helpless. The
Congressmen won’t let us live. They would sit on dharnas at our shops, jump
into a well, go on a fast. Who knows a few might die, which would blacken our
faces for ever. Hazoor, you would do us a great favour if you persuade the
congressmen. We aren’t going to lose anything if we don’t go on hartal. Many big people would be coming and if our
shops remain open we shall double our prices and sell dear. But we’re helpless
against these shaitans.
Rai Sahib Harnandan, Raja Lalchand, and Khan Bahadur Maulvi Mahmood Ali
were far more restless than the officials. Together with the magistrate, and also
individually, they were trying very hard.
They were calling the shopkeepers to their residences, persuading them, requesting
them, browbeating them, threatening the ekka and bagghi drivers, pleading with
the labourers. But these people were so cowed by a handful of congressmen that
they would not listen to any of them. So much so that the woman
vegetable-seller in the neighbourhood also said, ‘Hazoor, you may kill me.I
won’t open my shop. I won’t have my nose cut.’ Their worst fear was lest the
labourers, carpenters and blacksmiths engaged in erecting the pandal should
refuse to work. That would be disastrous. Rai Sahib said to the magistrate,
‘Hazoor, it is better to call shopkeepers from other cities and ask them to set
up a bazaar.’
Khan Sahib said, ‘Time is so short, it’s not possible to set up another
bazaar. Hazoor, arrest these congressmen and confiscate their property. Then
see how they don’t come to heel.’
Rai Sahib said, ‘People would be still more displeased if they are
arrested. Hazoor, tell the congressmen that if they call off the hartal they
would be given jobs. Majority of them are unemployed and would happily take the
bait.’
But the magistrate did not like any of the proposals. And only three
days were left for the Viceroy to arrive.
2
Al last Raja Sahib thought of a
stratagem: ‘Why shouldn’t we too employ moral force? After all, the
congressmen too make mountains of mole hills in the name of dharma and policy.
We should copy them and beard the lion in his den. We should look for a person
who should publicly vow that he would give up his life if the shops were not
kept open. But he must be a brahmin, and one who is well-known and respected in
the city.’ The others so liked the idea they jumped at it. Rai Sahib said, ‘Yes,
now we have won the battle. Well, which pandit would do? Pandit Gadadhar
Sharma?’
Raja Sahib said, ‘Oh no. Who cares for him? He only writes for
newspapers. No one in the city knows him.’
Rai Sahib said, ‘Isn’t Damdi Ojha
of this type?’
Raja Sahib retorted, ‘Oh no. Who knows him, except the college
students?’
Rai Sahib said, ‘Pandit Moteram Shastri?’
Raja Sahib said, ‘Yes, yes. Well thought of. He is the man we need. We
should call him. He’s a scholar. He lives by the rituals. And he is clever too.
If we can catch him the game is ours.’
Rai Sahib immediately sent a messenger
to Moteram’s house. Shastriji was at his puja then. As soon as he heard the
message he terminated the puja and got ready to go. Raja Sahib had sent for
him. It was a blessed opportunity. He said to his wife, ‘Today the moon seems
auspicious. Give me my clothes. Let me see why he has called me.’
His wife said, ‘Food is ready. Eat and then go. Who knows how long it
would take for you to return?’
But Shastriji did not think it proper to keep the messenger waiting. It
was winter. He put on his green achkan edged with red lace; wrapped a zari
scarf round his neck; tied a banarasi turban on his head; wore a red broad-bordered
silk dhoti, put on his wooden sandals and moved out. His face radiated brahmanical
effulgence. From a distance one could see that a mahatma was on the move. Whosoever
met him on way bowed his head. Many shopkeepers touched his feet. Kashi’s fame
rested on his shoulders, otherwise who else was there. He is so gentle in his
behavior! He greets children with a smiling face. Donned in such magnificence he
reached Raja Sahib’s house. The three friends stood up to welcome him. Khan
Bahadur said, ‘How are you, panditji? Wallah! You deserve to be put in as showpiece
in an exhibition. You can’t be weighing less than ten maunds?’
Rai Sahib said, ‘For one maund of learning you need ten maunds of intelligence.
By the same rule, for one maund of intelligence a ten-maund body is essential.
Otherwise who would be able to carry that much weight?’
Raja Sahib interjected, ‘You people don’t understand. Intelligence is a
kind of nasal fluid. When the brain
can’t retain it, it descends into the body.’
Khan Sahib said, ‘I have heard from elders that fat people are enemies
of intelligence.’
Rai Sahib retorted, ‘You were weak in arithmetic, otherwise you would
have understood that if intelligence and body are 1 to 10 in proportion, the
fatter a man the heavier his intelligence would be.’
Raja Sahib concluded, ‘From this it is proved that fatter a man, the
duller he would be.’
Moteram said, ‘If with a fat head I can be invited by the state
officials, where is the need for a light head?’
After these light-hearted exchanges Raja
Sahib presented before Panditji their problem and also the solution they had in
their minds. He said, ‘Please understand that this year your future is entirely
in your hands. Perhaps no one would have gotten such a great opportunity to make
his future. If the hartal is stalled then, at the least, you won’t have to go and
beg at any door for your life time. Think of such a vow that the city should shudder
with fear. The congressmen have enhanced their power under the pretext of
dharma. Think of a stratagem that should provoke the religious sentiments of people.’
Moteram said in a serious tone, ‘This is not something difficult. I can perform feats that can bring down rain from the skies, subdue
the fury of epidemics, reduce or increase the price of grains. Defeating the
congressmen is no big thing. The English-educated gentlemen think they can do
things which no one else can do, but they know nothing of the secret arts.’
Khan Sahib responded, ‘Then, janab, we should say you are another God.
We did not know you have such powers, otherwise we would not have waited so
long.’
Moteram said, ‘I can discover buried treasures, call the ancestral
spirits. All I need is someone who values these powers. There is no dearth of adepts,
but only those who recognize them.’
Raja Sahib asked, ‘What shall we offer you for this service?’
‘Whatever you wish.’
‘Raja said. ‘Can you tell us what you would do?’
‘I would fast. And side by side with my fast there would be recitation
of mantras. Don’t call me Moteram hereafter if I don’t throw the whole city
into turmoil.’
Raja sahib asked, ‘So when?’
‘It can begin today itself. But before that I would need some money to
invoke the gods.’
There was no dearth of money. Panditji
got the money and returned home quite pleased. He narrated the whole story to
his wife. Worried, she said, ‘Why have you brought this trouble on your head?
If you are not able to withstand the pangs of hunger you will be shamed and
become the laughing stock of the city. Go and return the money.’
Moteram assured her, ‘Why won’t I be able to withstand hunger? Do you
think I am such a fool that I would sit on fast without any preparation? You
first arrange food for me. Buy imratis, laddus and rasagullas. I shall first
eat to the full. Then drink half a ser of cream. Then eat half a ser of
almonds. And top it all with a helping of creamy curds. How can hunger come to
trouble me? I won’t be able to even breathe for three days, forget hunger. By
that time the whole city would be in turbulence. The sun of our fortune has risen.
We would regret if we hold back now. If I am able to prevent the hartal we
shall roll in wealth. Even otherwise, what do we lose? We have already pocketed
one hundred rupees.’
Here the eatables were arranged. And there Pandit Moteram had the
announcement made through the crier that in the evening in the Town Hall ground
Pandit Moteram was going to speak on the political problems of the country and
all were invited. People became curious. Panditji always remained aloof from
political matters. Today he would speak on these issues. We should go and
listen. Panditji was a respected figure in the city. At the appointed time a
few thousand people crowded the ground. Panditji went there well prepared. His
stomach was so full that it was difficult for him to walk. As soon as he arrived
the spectators stood up and greeted him.
Moteram started, ‘Citizens, tradesmen, seths, and mahajans, I have heard
that on an appeal from the congressmen you have decided to go on hartal during
the Laat Sahib’s auspicious visit. Isn’t this the height of ungratefulness? If they wanted they could have you blown up
by a cannon fire, or have the whole city dug up. They are the rulers, no
jokers. They give you so much leeway, take pity on your wretchedness, and you
are behaving like the cow that goes on despoiling a field because no one dare
touch her. If the Laat Sahib wanted they could stop the train service, the
postal service and block the movement of goods. What would you do then? If they
wished they could send the whole city to jail. What would you? Where can you
run away from them? Do you have a place to hide? So if you have to live in this
country and under their rule why do you become such a nuisance? Remember your
lives are in their fists. If they let out infectious worms there would be utter
chaos in the city. You are trying to stop a storm with a broom. Beware! If you
shut your shops I shall stop eating and give up my life right here...’
One of the spectators expressed his doubt, ‘Maharaj, it would not take
less than a month for your breath to go out. Nothing would happen in three
days.’
Moteram thundered, ‘Breath does not reside in the body, it resides in
the universe. If I wished I could give up my life at this very moment using my
yogic powers. I have warned you. Now it is up to you to decide. If you listen
to me, you will prosper. If you don’t, you will be guilty of murder and won’t
be able to show your face anywhere in the world. Now see, I am going to sit right
here.’
3
When this news spread in the city,
people were stupefied. This new move by the officials dumbfounded them. The
congress workers said: ‘This is nothing but imposture. The agents of the
government have bribed the pandit to stage this hoax. When all their strategies
failed – the army, the police, the law – they have invented this fraud. This is
nothing but the bankruptcy of politics. Otherwise, panditji is not such a
patriot that he should sit on fast unto death anguished at the state of the
country. Let him die of hunger. He would break down in two days. We must
destroy this new move root and branch. If this strategy succeeds, then, let us
be clear, the authorities would get a new weapon which they would use again and
again. Janata is very naïve and would be taken in by this jackal-howl.’
But the city’s traders, who generally live in dread of religion, were so
rattled that these words had no effect on them whatever. ‘Sahib, we earned the government’s
ire because of you, were ready to suffer losses, gave up our living, many of us
became bankrupt, became shame-faced before officials. In the past wherever we
went we were treated with courtesy by the authorities. Now we are pulled and
pushed in the trains and no one listens to us. Whatever might be our earnings,
the tax is imposed by the weight of our account books. We have faced all that
and will continue to do that. But we cannot accept your leadership in matters
of religion. When a learned, highborn, dharma-abiding brahmin is giving up food
and water, how can we eat and sleep peacefully. If he dies, how shall we face God?’
In brief, the congressmen failed to convince them. A deputation of the
traders presented itself before panditji at nine o’clock in the evening.
Panditji had eaten to his fill but eating like that was not something unusual
for him. Ordinarily twenty days in a month he was invited to a feast and eating
beyond one’s capacity is something normal. In competition with other invitees,
their taunts, also pressed by the hosts, and, above all, tempted by the
delicious dishes one has a tendency to overeat. Panditji’s appetite had always been
passing such tests again and again. So now, as the time for the meal drew near
his conscience was beginning to wobble. It is not that he was troubled by
hunger, but when it was meal time his heart began to long for food if his
stomach wasn’t on the point of bursting and close to indigestion. That is what
troubled shastriji now. He wanted to
call out for some hawker and eat something but the officials had deputed many
policemen there for his personal security. None of them was ready to move away.
At this moment panditji’s huge brain was trying to figure out how to get rid of
these devils. They had deputed these people for no reason. He wasn’t a prisoner
who would run away.
The authorities had perhaps made this arrangement to prevent the congressmen
from attempting to drive away panditji. Who knows the tricks they would play?
They might let loose a dog upon him, or start throwing stones at him. It was
their duty to protect panditji from such
unfair and insulting acts.
Panditji was caught in this dilemma when a deputation of the traders
came to meet him. Panditji, lying on his elbows, straightened up. The leaders
touched his feet and said, ‘Maharaj, why have you brought this trouble on us?
We are ready to submit to your orders. Please rise, and break your fast. We did
not know you were going to sit on this fast, or we would have appealed to you earlier.
Now please be kind to us. It is 10 o’clock now.
We won’t go against your wishes.’
Moteram replied, ‘The congressmen would ruin you altogether. They would
themselves sink and take you along. You would be the losers if the bazaar is
shut. How does it matter to the Sarkar? If you give up your job, you would die
of hunger. How does it matter to the Sarkar? You would go to the jail and be
made to do hard labour. How does it
matter to the Sarkar? I wonder why these people are bent upon cutting their own
noses to hurt others. Don’t be misled by these false leaders. Why, wouldn’t you
keep your shops open?’
The seth leading the deputation said, ‘Maharaj, how can we assure you
until we have consulted all the people in the city? If the congressmen begin to
loot who would come to our aid? Please
get up and eat. We shall let you know our decision tomorrow after consultations
with all.’
Moterram said, ‘All right, then come after your meeting.’
When the deputation was about to go back in disappointment panditji
asked, ‘Has any one got snuff?’
Someone handed him over a box.
4
Once all the people had departed,
Moteram asked the constables, ‘Why do you stand here?’
They said, ‘Under orders from the sahib. What can we do?’
Moteram said, ‘You go away.’
They replied, ‘If we go away, we would lose our jobs. Would you feed us
then?’
Moteram retorted, ‘I say go away. Otherwise I too would go away. I’m not
a prisoner that you should stand on guard like this.’
‘Go away? How dare you?’
‘Why not? Have I committed a crime?’
‘All right. Just you try.’
Panditji rose in his brahmanical rage
and pushed one of the constables with such force the fellow fell down far away.
The other constables lost heart. They had imagined panditji to be a fatty pulp.
But when they saw how strong he was they slunk away.
Now Moteram looked around to find some hawker so that he could buy something
to eat. Then he realized if the hawker opened his mouth, people would ridicule
him. No, he should do it so cleverly that he is not found out. One’s
intelligence is tested on such occasions. In no time he found out the solution
to this problem.
By chance at this very moment he saw a hawker passing by. It was past
eleven. Silence reigned all around. Panditji summoned the hawker.
The hawker said, ‘Tell me what you want. Sure, you’re hungry. Fasting is
properly the work of sadhus. It is not for us.’
Moteram said angrily, ‘Don’t bark. I’m no less than a sadhu. I can, if I
wish, remain without food and water for months. I have called you to borrow
your lamp. Let me see. I can see something crawling there. I am afraid it might
be a snake.’
The hawker handed over the lamp to
panditji. Moteram began to move and look here and there on the ground. Then the
lamp slipped from his hand and was extinguished and the oil spilled. Panditji
kicked it so that any oil left in the lamp was also spilled.
The hawker held the lamp and shook it and said, ‘Maharaj, there’s not a
drop of oil left in this. I would have sold something during this time. Now you
have added this problem.’
‘Bhaiya, what can I do? It just slipped. Shall I cut off my hands? Here
is the money, go and get oil from somewhere.’
The hawker took the money and said, ‘All right. I won’t come here after
buying the oil’
Panditji said, ‘Keep your box of sweets here. Hurry up and get some oil, otherwise
I might be bitten by a snake and the blame will fall on you. There certainly is
some animal here. There, see it is creeping. It has disappeared. Run, boy,
bring the oil. In the meantime I shall take care of your box. If you suspect me,
take your money with you.’
The hawker was caught in a dilemma. If
he took out the money from his box, panditji would be offended thinking this
man does not trust him. If he left it behind who knows the pandit might turn
dishonest. No one remains steadfast in his conduct for ever. In the end, he
decided to leave his box there leaving it to fate. As soon as he walked away
towards the market, panditji surveyed the box and was disappointed. Not many
sweets were left. Only five or six items and there was no chance of pilfering one
or two out of these. He might be caught. Panditji thought this small amount
would not help. It would only fuel his hunger. It would be like a lion tasting
blood. This sin is tasteless. He came and resumed his seat. But after a while
he felt the urge again. This would assuage his craving to some extent. However meagre
food is after all food. He got up and had just swallowed the first laddu, when
he saw the hawker coming swiftly holding the lighted lamp in his hand. It was
important to finish off all the sweets before he reached. He quickly put two
sweets in his mouth and was still munching them when the devil came very close.
He put four items in his mouth and swallowed them whole. The hawker was still
at a little distance. He picked up all the remaining sweets and swallowed them.
Now he could neither munch them nor swallow them. The hawker was moving towards
him like a motor car, holding the lamp. And when he came face to face with him,
panditji gulped down all that was in his mouth. But after all he was human, and
not a crocodile. His eyes began to water, his body became unsteady and he began
to cough. The hawker extended his hand to hand over the lamp. Saying, ‘Take
this and look around. You are out here to fast and yet afraid of death. Why
worry? Even if you die, the Sarkar would take care of your family.’
Panditji was so angered that he wanted to give a dressing down to this
rogue but he was unable to speak. He took the lamp and pretended to look for
something here and there.
The hawker said, ‘Why did you want to take sides with the Sarkar?
Tomorrow there would a day- long meeting and it would be night before something
is decided. By then you will begin to see butterlies.’
Saying this he walked away. And panditji went to sleep after a few bouts
of coughing.
5
The next day the traders began their
consultations. The congressmen too became active. Members of the peace
committee also pricked up their ears. This looked a clever move to browbeat
these harmless banias. The pandit-samaj held their own meeting and decided that
pandit Moteram had no right to interfere in political matters. What had they to
do with politics? With the result the whole day was spent in these debates and
no one cared to think of panditji. People were openly alleging that panditji
had accepted a bribe of one thousand rupees to sit on hunger strike. Poor
panditji passed the night turning and twisting and when he woke up in the
morning he felt as if his body had become a corpse. If he stood up he saw
darkness in front and his head reeled. It was as if someone was scraping his
stomach. His eyes were fixed on the road in the hope that someone would be coming
to appeal to him to give up his fast. The time for evening prayer was spent
waiting like this. He always ate something after the evening prayer. Today he
did not have even a drink of water. Who knows when that propitious moment would arrive?
Then he felt angry at the panditayan. She must have eaten her fill and slept.
And even now she would be eating something. But she did not care to think of
him, whether he was dead or alive. She could have brought some mohan-bhog on
the pretext of meeting him. But who cares? She has pocketed the money and would
do the same with whatever we get. She has fooled me.
To sum it up, panditji waited the whole day and yet no one came to
persuade him. People thought that panditji had conducted this imposture after
receiving a bribe. The idea that
panditji had perpetrated this hoax was preventing them from asking him to give up his fast.
6
It was nine o’clock at night. Seth Bhondumal,
who was the leader of the trader community, said with great determination,
‘Agreed that panditji had taken this step out of a selfish motive, yet this
does not reduce the suffering a human being undergoes without food and drink.
It is against our dharma that we should sleep peacefully on a full stomach and
a brahmin should fast because of us. If he has acted against dharma, he would
get punished for that. Why should we turn our backs on our duty?’
The
congress minister said, ‘I have said whatever I had to. You are the community’s
leader. We shall accept whatever you decide. All right, I shall accompany you.
You would see some semblance of dharma in me too. But I have one request to
make: You allow me to go to him all alone and talk to him for ten minutes. You
can wait at the gate and come in when I return.’ No one objected and this
request was accepted.
The minister had worked in the police department for long. He had a good
understanding of human failings. He straight away went to the bazaar and bought
sweets worth five rupees. He had their flavours enhanced, and dressed them up with silver leaf and put in a leaf-bowl. Then he moved to propitiate the
angry brahma-dev. He put some cool water in a small earthen pot and mixed it with kewra water. Both the leaf-bowl and the pot were sending out wafts of
tantalizing smell. Who does not know the appetizing power of a delicious smell? This makes even a satiated person feel hungry, not to talk of one who is
hungry.
At this time panditji was lying nearly unconscious on the ground. He had
not got anything to eat last night. Those small items of sweets pilfered from
the hawker’s box didn’t count at all. He had nothing to eat in the afternoon
and now too the time for eating was past. Hunger did not now make him restless
out of hope but it made him listless out of hopelessness. His whole body had
become limp. So much so that he was unable even to open his eyes. He was trying
to open them again and again but they would close by themselves. His lips had
become dry. The only sign of life was his soft sighs. He had never faced such a
calamity. He would get indigestion two-to-four times in a month but he would
bring it under control by swallowing hud-like powders. But even during bouts of
indigestion he had never given up eating. He had already showered abuses on the
citizens of the town, the peace committee, the Sarkar, God, the congressmen and
his wife. He had no hope of help from any of them. And now he did not have the
strength to stand up and walk to the bazaar. He was sure he was going to give
up the ghost tonight. The life-string is not a rope that would not snap after
many pulls.
Mantriji called out, ‘Shastriji.’ Moteram opened his eyes even as he lay
on the ground. His heart was so filled with pain as if a crow had snatched away
a piece of sweet from a small boy.
Mantriji placed the bowl of sweets in front of him along with the water
pot. Then he said, ‘How long shall you lie like this?’
The smell from the pot worked like elixir on panditji. He rose and
sat down and said, ‘Let’s see how long it takes to decide.’
Mantriji said, ‘There won’t be any decision. The meeting went on for the
whole day and nothing came out. Laat Sahib would come sometime in the evening
tomorrow. Who knows the state you would be in by that time? Your face has
become altogether pale.’
‘What can one do if I have to die here? Is there any kalakand in the
bowl?’
‘Yes. There are all varieties of sweets. I had them specially made to be
sent as a gift to a relation.’
‘That’s why they smell so good. Just open the bowl.’
Mantrji smiled and opened the leaf-bowl.
Panditji started eating the sweets with his eyes. Even a blind man, having
found his sight, would not watch the world with such fascination. His mouth
began to water. Mantrji said, ‘Had you not been on fast I would have let you
taste a few. I have bought five sers of these.’
‘Then they must be very delicious. I haven’t eaten kalakand for many
days.’
‘You have brought this trouble on you for no reason. If you die, what
use would the money be?’
‘What to do? I’m caught in a net. I would have eaten these sweets as a
snack.’ Feeling the sweets with his hands he added, ‘Must be from Bhola’s
shop?’
‘Try a few.’
‘How can I? I am bound by my vow.’
‘Just try. The pleasure you get at this moment you won’t get even if you
get one lakh rupees. No one is going to tell anyone.’
‘I’m not afraid of anyone. I’m dying here for food and no one cares.
Then why should I worry? Come, give me the bowl. Go and tell them that shastriji
has broken his fast. Let the bazaar and the trade be consigned to fire. I don’t care
about anything. When no one is following their dharma why should I be bound by it?’
Saying this panditji drew the bowl
towards himself and began to eat with both hands. In no time the bowl was half
empty. The seths were waiting at the gate. Mantriji went to them and said, ‘Go
and see the fun. Our people would neither have to open the bazaar, nor
supplicate before anyone. I have solved all the problems. This is the strength
of the congress.’
It was a moonlit night. People came here and saw that panditji was lost
in eating the sweets with the same intensity as a mahatma is lost in his
meditation.
Bhondumal said, ‘Panditji, I touch your feet. We were on our way. Why
did you do it in haste? We would have thought of a plan which would have served
our purpose without your breaking your vow.’
Moteram said, ‘My purpose has been served. This kind of joy cannot be
obtained even with heaps of wealth. If you care, call for the same amount of sweets
from the shop.’
---
(Madhuri, Hindi, December 1923)
