GANDHI AND HIS CONTRIBUTION TO WORLD PEACE

Eastbourne, Sussex: Machandra Publications, 1968. First Edition. 8vo, publisher's original orange wraps, pictorially decorated and printed in black on the upper cover. 15 pp. A fine copy, essentially as pristine, occasionally a notation or mark in the margins. VERY SCARCE FIRST EDITION. This is the full text of the speech that Mr. Ramachandra delivered at the inauguration of Mahatma Gandhi Centenary Celebration on 2nd October 1968, in Oslo, Norway. Also included here is the full speech that he delivered at the 1968 World Constitutional Convention held at Interlaken, Switzerland.
The author says of his subject: "Gandhi was essentially a man of action, a Nishkamya Karma-Yogi,to use the phraseology of the great Hindu Scripture, Bhagawad-Gita. But the roots of his writings and action ran into the spiritual realm: and yet he was more intellectual than emotional compared to other great leaders of India. He was a practical idealist....he was a freedom fighter. As such, his field of action was mainly political." Gandhi said Participation in politics was only an extension of my social activity. I could not be leading a religious life unless I identified myself wit the whole of mankind, and that I cold not do so unless I took part in politics. The whole gamut of man's activities today constitutes an indivisible whole. You cannot divide social, economic and purely religious work into water-tight compartments. I do not know any religion apart from human activity; the spiritual law does not work in a field of its own but expresses itself through the ordinary activities of life.'