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  This Dover edition, first published in 1983, is an unabridged republication of the edition published by Public Affairs Press, Washington, D.C., 1948, under the title Gandhi’s Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth.

  Manufactured in the United States of America

  Dover Publications, Inc., 31 East 2nd Street, Mineola, N.Y 11501

  Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

  Gandhi, Mahatma, 1869–1948.

  Autobiography: the story of my experiments with truth.

  Translation of: Satyanā prayogo athavā ātmakathā.

  Originally published: Washington : Public Affairs Press, 1948.

  1. Gandhi, Mahatma, 1869—1948. 2. Statesmen—India—Biography. I. Desai, Mahadev H. (Mahadev Haribhai), 1892—1942. II. Title. III. Title: Story of my experiments with truth.

  DS481.G3A348 1983 954.03’4’0924 [B] 83-5353

  9780486117515

  Table of Contents

  DOVER BOOKS ON HISTORY, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCE

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  INTRODUCTION

  PART I

  I - BIRTH AND PARENTAGE

  II - CHILDHOOD

  III - CHILD MARRIAGE

  IV - PLAYING THE HUSBAND

  V - AT THE HIGH SCHOOL

  VI - A TRAGEDY

  VII - A TRAGEDY

  VIII - STEALING AND ATONEMENT

  IX - MY FATHER’S DEATH AND MY DOUBLE SHAME

  X - GLIMPSES OF RELIGION

  XI - PREPARATION FOR ENGLAND

  XII - OUTCASTE

  XIII - IN LONDON AT LAST

  XIV - MY CHOICE

  XV - PLAYING THE ENGLISH GENTLEMAN

  XVI - CHANGES

  XVII - EXPERIMENTS IN DIETETICS

  XVIII - SHYNESS MY SHIELD

  XIX - THE CANKER OF UNTRUTH

  XX - ACQUAINTANCE WITH RELIGIONS

  XXI -

  XXII - NARAYAN HEMCHANDRA

  XXIII - THE GREAT EXHIBITION

  XXIV - ‘CALLED’—BUT THEN?

  XXV - MY HELPLESSNESS

  PART II

  I - RAYCHANDBHAI

  II - HOW I BEGAN LIFE

  III - THE FIRST CASE

  IV - THE FIRST SHOCK

  V - PREPARING FOR SOUTH AFRICA

  VI - ARRIVAL IN NATAL

  VII - SOME EXPERIENCES

  VIII - ON THE WAY TO PRETORIA

  IX - MORE HARDSHIPS

  X - FIRST DAY IN PRETORIA

  XI - CHRISTIAN CONTACTS

  XII - SEEKING TOUCH WITH INDIANS

  XIII - WHAT IT IS TO BE A ‘COOLIE’

  XIV - PREPARATION FOR THE CASE

  XV - RELIGIOUS FERMENT

  XVI - MAN PROPOSES, GOD DISPOSES

  XVII - SETTLED IN NATAL

  XVIII - COLOUR BAR

  XIX - NATAL INDIAN CONGRESS

  XX - BALASUNDARAM

  XXI - THE £ 3 TAX

  XXII - COMPARATIVE STUDY OF RELIGIONS

  XXIII - AS A HOUSEHOLDER

  XXIV - HOMEWARD

  XXV - IN INDIA

  XXVI - TWO PASSIONS

  XXVII - THE BOMBAY MEETING

  XXVIII - POONA AND MADRAS

  XXIX - ‘RETURN SOON’

  PART III

  I - RUMBLINGS OF THE STORM

  II - THE STORM

  III - THE TEST

  IV - THE CALM AFTER THE STORM

  V - EDUCATION OF CHILDREN

  VI - SPIRIT OF SERVICE

  VII - BRAHMACHARYA—I

  VIII - BRAHMACHARYA—II

  IX - SIMPLE LIFE

  X - THE BOER WAR

  XI - SANITARY REFORM AND FAMINE RELIEF

  XII - RETURN T
O INDIA

  XIII - IN INDIA AGAIN

  XIV - CLERK AND BEARER

  XV - IN THE CONGRESS

  XVI - LORD CURZON’S DARBAR

  XVII - A MONTH WITH GOKHALE—1

  XVIII - A MONTH WITH GOKHALE—II

  XIX - A MONTH WITH GOKHALE—III

  XX - IN BENARES

  XXI - SETTLED IN BOMBAY?

  XXII - FAITH ON ITS TRIAL

  XXIII - TO SOUTH AFRICA AGAIN

  PART IV

  I - ‘LOVE’S LABOUR’S LOST’?

  II - AUTOCRATS FROM ASIA

  III - POCKETED THE INSULT

  IV - QUICKENED SPIRIT OF SACRIFICE

  V - RESULT OF INTROSPECTION

  VI - A SACRIFICE TO VEGETARIANISM

  VII - EXPERIMENTS IN EARTH AND WATER TREATMENT

  VIII - A WARNING

  IX - A TUSSLE WITH POWER

  X - A SACRED RECOLLECTION AND PENANCE

  XI - INTIMATE EUROPEAN CONTACTS

  XII - EUROPEAN CONTACTS (Contd.)

  XIII - ‘INDIAN OPINION’

  XIV - COOLIE LOCATIONS OR GHETTOES?

  XV - THE BLACK PLAGUE—I

  XVI - THE BLACK PLAGUE—II

  XVII - LOCATION IN FLAMES

  XVIII - THE MAGIC SPELL OF A BOOK

  XIX - THE PHŒNIX SETTLEMENT

  XX - THE FIRST NIGHT

  XXI - POLAK TAKES THE PLUNGE

  XXII - WHOM GOD PROTECTS

  XXIII - A PEEP INTO THE HOUSEHOLD

  XXIV - THE ZULU ‘REBELLION’

  XXV - HEART SEARCHINGS

  XXVI - THE BIRTH OF SATYAGRAHA

  XXVII - MORE EXPERIMENTS IN DIETETICS

  XXVIII - KASTURBAI’S COURAGE

  XXIX - DOMESTIC SATYAGRAHA

  XXX - TOWARDS SELF-RESTRAINT

  XXXI - FASTING

  XXXII - AS SCHOOLMASTER

  XXXIII - LITERARY TRAINING

  XXXIV - TRAINING OF THE SPIRIT

  XXXV - TARES AMONG THE WHEAT

  XXXVI - FASTING AS PENANCE

  XXXVII - TO MEET GOKHALE

  XXXVIII - MY PART IN THE WAR

  XXXIX - A SPIRITUAL DILEMMA

  XL - MINIATURE SATYAGRAHA

  XLI - GOKHALE’S CHARITY

  XLII - TREATMENT OF PLEURISY

  XLIII - HOMEWARD

  XLIV - SOME REMINISCENCES OF THE BAR

  XLV - SHARP PRACTICE?

  XLVI - CLIENTS TURNED CO-WORKERS

  XLVII - HOW A CLIENT WAS SAVED

  PART V

  I - THE FIRST EXPERIENCE

  II - WITH GOKHALE IN POONA

  III - WAS IT A THREAT?

  IV - SHANTINIKETAN

  V - WOES OF THIRD CLASS PASSENGERS

  VI - WOOING

  VII - KUMBHA MELA

  VIII - LAKSHMAN JHULA

  IX - FOUNDING OF THE ASHRAM

  X - ON THE ANVIL

  XI - ABOLITION OF INDENTURED EMIGRATION

  XII - THE STAIN OF INDIGO

  XIII - THE GENTLE BIHARI

  XIV - FACE TO FACE WITH AHIMSA

  XV - CASE WITHDRAWN

  XVI - METHODS OF WORK

  XVII - COMPANIONS

  XVIII - PENETRATING THE VILLAGES

  XIX - WHEN A GOVERNOR IS GOOD

  XX - IN TOUCH WITH LABOUR

  XXI - A PEEP INTO THE ASHRAM

  XXII - THE FAST

  XXIII - THE KHEDA SATYAGRAHA

  XXIV - ‘THE ONION THIEF’

  XXV - END OF KHEDA SATYAGRAHA

  XXVI - PASSION FOR UNITY

  XXVII - RECRUITING CAMPAIGN

  XXVIII - NEAR DEATH’S DOOR

  XXIX - THE ROWLATT BILLS AND MY DILEMMA

  XXX - THAT WONDERFUL SPECTACLE!

  XXXI - THAT MEMORABLE WEEK!—I

  XXXII - THAT MEMORABLE WEEK!—II

  XXXIII - A HIMALAYAN MISCALCULATION

  XXXIV - ‘NAVAJIVAN’ AND ‘YOUNG INDIA’

  XXXV - IN THE PUNJAB

  XXXVI - THE KHILAFAT AGAINST COW PROTECTION?

  XXXVII - THE AMRITSAR CONGRESS

  XXXVIII - CONGRESS INITIATION

  XXXIX - THE BIRTH OF KHADI

  XL - FOUND AT LAST!

  XLI - AN INSTRUCTIVE DIALOGUE

  XLII - ITS RISING TIDE

  XLIII - AT NAGPUR

  FAREWELL

  INDEX

  A CATALOG OF SELECTED DOVER - BOOKS IN ALL FIELDS OF INTEREST

  INTRODUCTION

  I agreed to write my autobiography at the instance of some of my co-workers. Scarcely had I turned over the first sheet when riots broke out in Bombay and the work remained at a standstill. Then followed a series of events which culminated in my imprisonment at Yeravda. Sjt. Jeramdas, who was one of my fellow-prisoners there, asked me to put everything else on one side and finish writing the autobiography. I replied that I had already framed a programme of study for myself, and that I could not think of doing anything else until this course was complete. I should indeed have finished the autobiography had I gone through my full term of imprisonment at Yeravda, for there was still a year left to complete the task, when I was discharged. Swami Anand has now repeated the proposal, and as I have finished the history of Satyagraha in South Africa, I am tempted to undertake the autobiography for Navajivan. The Swami wanted me to write it separately for publication as a book. But I have no spare time. I could only write a chapter week by week. Something has to be written for Navajivan every week. Why should it not be the autobiography? The Swami agreed to the proposal, and here am I hard at work.

  But a God-fearing friend had his doubts, which he shared with me on my day of silence. “What has set you on this adventure?” he asked. “Writing an autobiography is a practice peculiar to the West. I know of nobody in the East having written one, except amongst those who have come under Western influence. And what will you write? Supposing you reject tomorrow the things you hold as principles today, or supposing you revise in the future your plans of today, is it not likely that the men who shape their conduct on the authority of your word, spoken or written, may be misled? Don’t you think it would be better not to write anything like an autobiography, at any rate just yet?”

  This argument had some effect on me. But it is not my purpose to attempt a real autobiography. I simply want to tell the story of my numerous experiments with truth, and as my life consists of nothing but those experiments, it is true that the story will take the shape of an autobiography. But I shall not mind, if every page of it speaks only of my experiments. I believe, or at any rate flatter myself with the belief, that a connected account of all these experiments will not be without benefit to the reader. My experiments in the political field are now known, not only to India, but to a certain extent to the ‘civilized’ world. For me, they have not much value, and the title of ‘Mahatma’ that they have won for me has, therefore, even less. Often the title has deeply pained me, and there is not a moment I can recall when it may be said to have tickled me. But I should certainly like to narrate my experiments in the spiritual field which are known only to myself, and from which I have derived such power as I possess for working in the political field. If the experiments are really spiritual, then there can be no room for self-praise. They can only add to my humility. The more I reflect and look back on the past, the more vividly do I feel my limitations.

  What I want to achieve,—what I have been striving and pining to achieve these thirty years,—is self-realization, to see God face to face, to attain Moksha.1 I live and move and have my being in pursuit of this goal. All that I do by way of speaking and writing, and all my ventures in the political field, are directed to this same end. But as I have all along believed that what is possible for one is possible for all, my experiments have not been conducted in the closet, but in the open, and I do not think that this fact detracts from their spiritual value. There are some things which are known only to oneself and one’s Maker. These are clearly incommunicable. The experiments I am about to relate are not such. But they are spiritual, or rather moral, f
or the essence of religion is morality.

  Only those matters of religion that can be comprehended as much by children as by older people, will be included in this story. If I can narrate them in a dispassionate and humble spirit, many other experimenters will find in them provision for their onward march. Far be it from me to claim any degree of perfection for these experiments. I claim for them nothing more than does a scientist who, though he conducts his experiments with the utmost accuracy, forethought and minuteness, never claims any finality about his conclusions, but keeps an open mind regarding them. I have gone through deep self-introspection, searched myself through and through, and examined and analysed every psychological situation. Yet I am far from claiming any finality or infallibility about my conclusions. One claim I do indeed make and it is this. For me they appear to be absolutely correct, and seem for the time being to be final. For if they were not, I should base no action on them. But at every step I have carried out the process of acceptance or rejection and acted accordingly. And so long as my acts satisfy my reason and my heart, I must firmly adhere to my original conclusions.

  If I had only to discuss academic principles, I should clearly not attempt an autobiography. But my purpose being to give an account of various practical applications of these principles, I have given the chapters I propose to write the title of The Story of My Experiments with Truth. These will of course include experiments with non-violence, celibacy and other principles of conduct believed to be distinct from truth. But for me, truth is the sovereign principle, which includes numerous other principles. This truth is not only truthfulness in word, but truthfulness in thought also, and not only the relative truth of our conception, but the Absolute Truth, the Eternal Principle, that is God. There are innumerable definitions of God, because His manifestations are innumerable. They overwhelm me with wonder and awe and for a moment stun me. But I worship God as Truth only. I have not yet found Him, but I am seeking after Him. I am prepared to sacrifice the things dearest to me in pursuit of this quest. Even if the sacrifice demanded be my very life, I hope I may be prepared to give it. But as long as I have not realized this Absolute Truth, so long must I hold by the relative truth as I have conceived it. That relative truth must, meanwhile, be my beacon, my shield and buckler. Though this path is strait and narrow and sharp as the razor’s edge, for me it has been the quickest and easiest. Even my Himalayan blunders have seemed trifling to me because I have kept strictly to this path. For the path has saved me from coming to grief, and I have gone forward according to my light. Often in my progress I have had faint glimpses of the Absolute Truth, God, and daily the conviction is growing upon me that He alone is real and all else is unreal. Let those, who wish, realize how the conviction has grown upon me; let them share my experiments and share also my conviction if they can. The further conviction has been growing upon me that whatever is possible for me is possible even for a child, and I have sound reasons for saying so. The instruments for the quest of truth are as simple as they are difficult. They may appear quite impossible to an arrogant person, and quite possible to an innocent child. The seeker after truth should be humbler than the dust. The world crushes the dust under its feet, but the seeker after truth should so humble himself that even the dust could crush him. Only then, and not till then, will he have a glimpse of truth. The dialogue between Vasishtha and Vishvamitra makes this abundantly clear. Christianity and Islam also amply bear it out.