E-Book - Mahatma Gandhi

88 Contextualising Gandhian Thoughtpath of moksha. Thus the reconciliation all the three paths ofjnans, karma and bhakti as a means for the attainment ofmoksha was one of the major contributions of Gandhi as itbrought ‘sacred’ and secular in continuum and not substitutingone for the other.However, the real challenge was how to engage oneselfin the pursuit of moksha while carrying on with day to dayactivities. In this respect, he underlined need for self-disciplineas an effective means for pursuing moksha. He stronglybelieved that though atman is ever pure and never gets stained,but in the embodied soul, there are both Godly and devilishtendencies inherent in it. In fact, they are continuously strivingfor supremacy. Thus, the real challenge is to establish thesupremacy of godly tendencies by subduing the devilish one.And that requires rigorous self discipline to subdue the demonsof kama (lust) krodha (anger) lobha (greed) and moha(delusion) and imbibing some of the Godly tendencies likelove, compassion and service-spirit. However, unlike thetraditional yogi, for a karmayogi it could not be an allconsumingpassionate pursuit of sadhana. Through selfdisciplineone has to reach a state of equanimity (samata) andanasakti (non-attachment) so that the pursuit of karmayogabecomes natural and spontaneous. Moving further on the sameroad, one has to perceive the feeling of unity of all beings in thedepth of his being. Not only that, a mental state of stability andequanimity would have to be achieved and strengthenedthrough imbibing living faith in God. And constant prayer willhave to be resorted to feel the presence of God in one’s beingand, thereby, intensify the process of self-purification. All thiswill lead one to atma sakshatakar (self-realisation) whichwould ultimately lead to the ‘vision of the ‘Supreme’ whichalone could finally stabilise his position in the ‘self’. But thedanger of spiritual ‘fall’ would be always lurking there, henceconstant effort and vigilance would be required to retain the