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  Nothing for myself 30-6-2001 
 
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Sadhu Vaswani believed that this world would not become new until we were able to produce men and women of true renunciation-men and women who would want nothing for themselves, who would be prepared to walk the way of self denial, the watchword of whose lives would be, “Nothing for myself, everything for others!”

Such a man was Mahatma Gandhi. He had a flourishing practice as a barrister. It is said he used to earn as much as Rs. 25,000/- a month which was regarded as a princely sum in those days! Yet when the call came to him, he renounced everything for the sake of the people whom he loved. He became an ‘ek langoti wala’.

He knew he had some gold which he had passed on to ‘Ba’-Kasturba, his wife-and he knew that Kasturba still kept the gold with herself. He had a talk with her. He said to her, “Ba, the time has come when we should renounce everything. I don’t want you to keep that gold with you.”

But Kasturba would hear nothing of it. She was adamant as she said, “This gold I have kept, for it will be useful to me on the day of marriage of my children. Who will give me gold when I need it?”

And Mahatma Gandhi said to her,He, for the love of whom we are renouncing everything-He will look after us. He will attend to our every need.” But Kasturba was not convinced. Mahatma Gandhi then called his children together. “You must go and persuade you mother to let go of this gold,” he urged them. And the children would not leave them mother alone till she had promised to give up the gold. So it was that the last bit of gold too was given away in the service of the people. Such a man, the man who wanted nothing for himself, the man who was prepared to walk the way of self-denial, was Mahatma Gandhi.


True patriotism will ultimately lead to renunciation.

Contributed by : vandemataram


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