Personal

I lay claim to nothing exclusively divine in me. I do not claim prophetship. I am but a humble seeker after Truth and bent upon finding It. I count no sacrifice too great for the sake of seeing God face to face. The whole of my activity whether it may be called social, political, humanitarian or ethical is directed to that end. And as I know that God is found more often in the lowliest of His creatures than in the high and mighty, I am struggling to reach the status of these. I cannot do so without their service. Hence my passion for the service of the suppressed classes. And as I cannot render this service without entering politics, I find myself in them. Thus I am no master, I am but a struggling, erring, humble servant of India and there through, of humanity.I claim no perfection for myself. But I do claim to be a passionate seeker after Truth, which is but another name for God. In the course of that search the discovery of nonviolence came to me. I its spread is my life mission. I have no interest in living except for the prosecution of that mission.

I have been a willing slave to this most exacting Master for more than half a century. l His voice has been increasingly audible as year as have rolled by. He has never forsaken me even in my darkest hour. He has saved me often against myself and left me not a vestige of independence. The greater the surrender to Him, the greater has been my joy.

Q. Are you happy?

A. Ah! I can answer that question. I am perfectly happy.

Q. More happy than you were outside the village?

A. I cannot say, for my happiness is not dependent on external circumstances.