Contrary to his general practice Gandhi made no prior public announcement of his experiment nor did he take his followers into confidence about his real reasons for undertaking it. Perhaps that would have defeated its purpose or perhaps he was worried that he might not be allowed to launch it. Anyway word got around leading initially to a wave of what he called “small talks whispers and innuendos” and eventually to an extremely strong public reaction.
Fully aware of the way Vishvamitra Vyasa and other great rishis had been defeated by the sexual impulse even after hundreds of years of penance and self-mastery many of his colleagues and friends began to suspect the worst. Some of his followers mostly Gujarati broke off relations with him; two editors of Harijan resigned in protest; some started “non-cooperation” with him; Sardar Patel was “very angry” and refused to speak to him; Vinoba Bhava wrote to him a letter of disapproval; his son Devdas wrote a highly emotional and critical letter; his devoted stenographer Parsuram left his service; Kishorelal Mashruwala and others who had remonstrated against a similar practice earlier were implacably and noisily hostile; Pandit Nehru was disturbed; and several friends demanded to see him for a satisfactory explanation.
Criticisms of Gandhi’s conduct were broadly along the following lines. First it set a bad example to others. Second it threatened to weaken the foundations of social morality outrage public opinion and represented a dharma. Third he had begun the experiment in secret. Fourth he had a duty to submit his “advanced” ideas to public discussion before acting on them. Fifth his experiment had no sanction in the Hindu religious tradition Sixth it was wholly pointless as it did not seem to have beneficial effects either on his immediate surroundings or on the nation as a whole. And finally it involved an emotional and spiritual exploitation of innocent and gullible women and implied that women were inferior. This last point was stressed by Professor N.K.Bose Ganghi’s interpret secretary in his resignation letter.
In his view Gandhi had taken no account cither of its deleterious effects on Manu or of the jealousy and “hysteria” it aroused in the other women around him who all felt possessive about him and feared rejection. He also reminded Gandhi of Freud’s view that men were often motivated by deep unconscious desires at variance with their conscious intentions and which even the most searching introspection often failed to uncover.
Gandhi was unrepentant. He acknowledged that his actions had cost him his dearest societies but insisted that the “whole world may forsake me but I dare not leave what hold is the truth for me”. He could be making a mistake but “must realize it myself”. His action might disillusion his followers who might now think badly of him and wonder if he was really a Mahatma. “I must confess the prospect of being so debunked greatly pleases me” Gandhi rejoined.
Although Gandhi himself did not put the point this way his thought during these intensely agonizing periods reveals a tendency latent in his earlier years but not fully manifest until now. He was determined to control the violence raging all around him. He was convinced that as a national leader he was responsible for its occurrence. He was also convinced that all violence ceased in the presence of nonviolence. He therefore concluded that if only he could eliminate all traces of violence and aggression within himself he would be able to exert a quiet and “contagious” force and sent out vibrations that would conquer the violence of his countrymen. Accordingly he turned his attention inward and probed his psyche. He seems to have concluded that though he had eliminated all traces of violence within himself one still remained. As we saw earlier he associated sexuality with violence and aggression. So long as he was conscious of himself as a male elements of aggression and violence were bound to remain even if he was not conscious of them. The only way Out was to cease to be a male to become a woman.
His final sexual experiment with Manu was an attempt to become and to test that he had succeeded in becoming. This was why he said that he wanted to become a “mother” to Mana. This was also why unlike his earlier experiments he now asked her to keep a diary and show it to him every day He was convinced that if he had really become a woman she could not feel sexually stimulated in his presence and wanted to be sure that was how she felt.
Gandhi’s experiment also linked up with another powerful stand in the Hindu especially the Vaishnavlte tradition He had striven all his life to become a-beautiful soul worthy of divine anugraha. He had eliminated all “imputes” and become as perfect as it was within his power to become. He had even surrendered his male identity and the last residual source of Violence He could go no further and had to await divine grace. If God thought him a fit vehicle he would do His work through him otherwise he stood helpless. That might perhaps explain why having himself earlier described his experiments as prayog he called them yojna. Unlike a prayog a yojna signified total self-surrender plaintive prayer and desperate cry for help.
It could seem that most of Gandhi’s critics were persuaded by his arguments. They restored their relations with him and said both privately and in public that they had done him a grave injustice.
(Azad Academy Journal Oct-31; 1989 which acknowledged it to the The Times of India).
Article extracted from this publication >> September 6, 1991
