(...Contd)

This, to my mind, is Gandhiji’s philosophy of life. This was his “Kingdom of Heaven.” It was the service of Daridranarayana, God of the poor man, who works in the factory and the field, who is the path-maker and the breaker of stones. In all this, Gandhiji did not believe or say that he was keeping any new religion before the people. He insisted that he was only placing before them the essence of all religions bereft of the ceremonial forms of worship. Humanitarian service rendered to the poor and the needy is service rendered to God.
There will be the physically handicapped, the maimed and the blind, unable to earn their livelihood. There will also be the mentally sick, who commit suicide even in the affluent countries where they enjoy all the physical comforts available in modern times. Ennui and boredom can sometimes prove to be worse than want and suffering. In affluent societies where the government gives unemployment doles or old age pensions to the needy, where does the money come from?
It comes from the tax paid mainly by those who earn more than their requirements, and the rich. This only means that charity is institutionalised in the state. One way or the other there will always be persons in need of help. It is the duty therefore of those who can afford it to help the poor, the physically handicapped and the mentally sick.
Gandhiji, therefore, was not keeping before his people and those of the world something new, but what has been the essence of all religions, the service of the sick, the poor and the needy, “the lowliest and the lost.”