Question

“Saint Kabir was the forerunner of Mahatma Gandhi”? Explain.

Answer 1

Answer:

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Explanation:

There is a marked similarity between the goals and approaches o Kabir and the Mahatma to the two issues. Both derived their inspiration from their religious faith. Like Kabir, Gandhi also believed in the presence of God in every soul; and both called their God Ram, meaning a formless Absolute (Nirguna Brahman). The second common source of inspiration for both the saints was their natural humaneness. The third similarity between the two was their rational approach to these social and moral issues. We have seen how Kabir argued rationally for the equality of all living beings on biological grounds. Similarly, Gandhi declared that for him reason is the ultimate test for accepting or rejecting any scripture.12 Fourth, both lamented that no one listens to them. The refrain of many a song of Kabir is that 'I am shouting but no one listens to me. They have all gone mad.’ The talks of Gandhi after the prayer meetings (prarthana pravachana), especially during the terrible Hindu - Muslim riots accompanying independence and partition, mainly consist of this lament: 'I am repeatedly telling them (not to kill their brothers), but no one listens to me.’ The pathos in his simple Hindi language, the piognancy of his pain are to be felt, and not written down. Kabir did not feel this pain when he talked of Hindus and Muslims taking the name of their respective gods and then killing each other because he could be angry at those fools. But anger was not in the nature of Gandhi. Above all, he was facing a situation of mutual massacre by Hindus and Muslims which was unprecedented in the history of India. Gandhi could only appeal and cry.