Gandhi: An Autobiography - The Story of My Experiments With Truth

564 Pages·1993·30.317 MB·English

by  Mohandas Karamchand (Mahatma) Gandhi

GANDHI
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
THE STORY OF MY EXPERIMENTS WITH TRUTH
WITH A FOREWORD BY SISSELA BOK
*THE ONLY AUTHORIZED AMERICAN EDITION
Digitized by the Internet Archive
2014
in
https://archive.org/details/autobiographystOOgand

AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY

MOHANDAS
K.
GANDHI
My
The Story of Experiments with Truth
TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL IN GUJARATI
BY MAHADEV DESAI
WITH A FOREWORD BY
SISSELA BOK
BEACON PRESS BOSTON
/
Beacon Press
25 Beacon Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02108-2892
Beacon Press books
are published under the auspices of
the Unitarian Universalist Association ofCongregations.
First Beacon paperback edition published in 1957
Foreword © 1993 by Beacon Press
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States ofAmerica
04 03 02 01 13 12 11 10
This edition ofGandhi's autobiography is published by arrangement with the
Navajivan Trust and is the only authorized American edition. The Navajivan
Trust was founded by Gandhi, and all royalties earned on this book are paid
to it by the publisher for use in carrying on Gandhi's work.
LibraryofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gandhi, Mahatma, 1869-1948.
[Satyana prayogo athava atmakatha. English]
An autobiography the story ofmy experiments with truth
: /
Mohandas K. Gandhi translated from the original in Gujarati by
;
Mahadev Desai with a foreword by Sissela Bok.
;
p. cm.
Includes index.
Originally published: 1957.
ISBN 0-8070-5909-9
1. Gandhi, Mahatma, 1869-1948. 2. Statesmen—India—Biography.
I. Desai, Mahadev H. (Mahadev Haribhai), 1892-1942. II. Title.
DS481.G3A3 1993
954.03'5'092—dc20
[B] 93-19758
CIP
CONTENTS
Chapter Page
FOREWORD (Sissela.Bok).... xi
TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE (Mahadev Desai) xix
INTRODUCTION ... xxiii
.PART....
I
I BIRTH AND PARENTAG.E ... 3
II CHILDHOOD 6
III CHILD MARRIAGE 8
.11
IV PLAYING THE HU.SBAN.D ...
: .14
V AT THE HIGH SCHOOL ....
. . .
VI A TRAGEDY 19
VII A TRAGEDY (Contd.) 22
VIII STEALING AND A.TONE.MENT... 25
.
LX MY FATHER'S DEATH AND MY DOUBLE
...
SHAME 28
X GLIMPSES OF RE.LIGI.ON ... 31
XI PREPARATION FOR ENGLAND... .. 35
XII OUTCASTE ..... 39
XIII IN LONDON AT LAST 42
.
XIV MY CHOICE ..... 45
XV PLAYING THE ENGLISH GENTLEMAN 48
.
XVI CHANGES .... 52
.55
XVII EXPERIMENTS IN DIETETICS
. .
XVIII SHYNESS MY SHIELD 59
.63
XIX THE CANKER OF UNTRUTH
. .
XX ACQUAINTANCE WITH RELIGI.ONS.. .. 67
xxi ftiM? to xm\ • •... 70
XXII NARAYAN HEMCHANDRA ... 72
XXIII THE GREAT EXHIBITION 76
—
XXIV 'CALLED' BUT THEN? 78
XXV MY HELPLESSNESS .81
. . .
PART
II
.87
RAYCHANDBHAI
III HOW I BEGAN LIFE .. .. .. ..9903
III THE FIRST CASE
IV THE FIRST SHOCK . . . .96
. . .
V PREPARING FOR SOUTH AFRICA 100
. .
VI ARRIVAL IN NATAL .102
. . .
VII SOME EXPERIENCES .105
. . .
v
VIII ON THE WAY TO PRETORIA . . .109
IX MORE HARDSHIPS .113
. . .
X FIRST DAY IN PRETORIA .118
. .
XI CHRISTIAN CONTACTS .122
. . .
XII SEEKING TOUCH WITH INDIANS 125
. .
XIII WHAT IT IS TO BE A *COOLIE' .128
XIV PREPARATION FOR THE CASE 131
. .
XV RELIGIOUS FERMENT .135
. . .
XVI MAN PROPOSES, GOD DISPOSES 138
. .
XVII SETTLED IN NATAL .141
. . .
XVIII COLOUR BAR .145
. . . .
XIX NATAL INDIAN CONGRESS .148
. .
XX BALASUNDARAM .153
. . .
XXI THE £ 3 TAX . . . . .155
XXII COMPARATIVE STUDY OF RELIGIONS 158
.
XXIII AS A HOUS.EHOL.DER.....162
. . .
XXIV HOMEWARD .165
. .... .
XXV IN INDIA 168
XXVI TWO PASSIONS .172
.
XXVII THE BOMBAY MEETING.....175
. .
XXVIII POONA AND MADRAS .178
. . .
XXIX ' RETURN SOON' 180
PART in
RUMBLINGS OF THE STORM .185
I . .
THE STORM .188
II . . . .
III THE TEST . . . . .191
IV THE CALM AFTER THE STORM 196
. .
V EDUCATION OF CHILDREN .199
. .
VI SPIRIT OF SERVICE .202
— . . .
VII BBRRAAHHMMAACCHHAARRYYAA—I . . . ..220084
VIII II . . .
IX SIMPLE LIFE .212
. . .
X THE BOER WAR .214
. . . .
XI SANITARY REFORM AND FAMINE RELIEF 217
.
XII RETURN TO INDIA .219
. . .
XIII IN INDIA AGAIN .222
. . .
XIV CLERK AND BEARER .225
. . .
XV IN THE CONGRESS .227
. . .