Nīr-Kṣīr Viveka: Discerning the Truth of Spirituality in Gandhi’s Thought and Actions

Abstract

In his work, Arvind Sharma daringly asserts the fundamental place of spirituality in Mohandas K. (“Mahatma”) Gandhi’s personal life and social and political activism. Sharma avoids any theoretical frameworks to elucidate Gandhi’s spirituality; but rather, he takes the reader through events in Gandhi’s life, his personal practices, and political actions that had synthesized the spiritual and political through living the apparent paradox of a saint-politician. Critiques of Gandhi’s spiritual practices attest to the fact that he remains a challenge to scholars as well as practitioners of nonviolence who seek to separate his political theories, nonviolent strategies, and social concerns from his spiritual commitments. Sharma claims that discerning the truth of his life—mixed as nīr (political, social, mundane) and kṣīr (spiritual, service, love, quest to see God)—mandates not ignoring his “Mahatma side” (kṣīr), the primary source of his fearlessness and strength (mental, physical, and public), notwithstanding many critiques that may render it as only an aberration.