“If I had the power I would stop every sadavrata where free meals are given.” ~ Gandhi, Young India, August 13, 1925

Before we conclude that Gandhi was hard-hearted toward India’s many beggars, consider his reasoning—“It has encouraged laziness, idleness, hypocrisy, and even crime. Such misplaced charity adds nothing to the wealth of the country”—and his alternative: “institutions where they would give meals . . . to men and women who would work for them. . . ‘No labor, no meal.’” Dignity is paramount for him, always, and actual solutions rather than temporary alleviations of poverty or whatever problems. There is even a concept in the Bhagavad Gita, applied to Arjuna’s refusal to engage in the battle he has lived for: karpanya dosha, or “misplaced pity.” This would be an example, and he applied it even to Hindus who had nothing after the terrible communal riots in Bihar. Nothing, that is, except their dignity.

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About Daily Metta

Stephanie Van Hook, the Metta Center’s executive director, launched Daily Metta in 2015 as a way to share Gandhi’s spiritual wisdom and experiments with nonviolence.

Our 2016 Daily Metta continues with Gandhi on weekdays. On weekends, we share videos that complement Michael Nagler’s award-winning book, The Search for a Nonviolent Future: A Promise of Peace for Ourselves, Our Families, and Our World. To help readers engage with the book more deeply, the Metta Center offers a free PDF study guide.

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