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Mahatma Gandhi An Adlerian Approach To His Personality
Mahatma Gandhi An Adlerian Approach To His Personality
MAHATMA GANDHI:
Dr Manuel Joseph
Early Years..........................................................................................................................1
Youth ..................................................................................................................................4
In England............................................................................................................................6
In South Africa....................................................................................................................7
Back in India........................................................................................................................9
Early Years
Soul, is the Indian spiritual and national leader and the prophet of non-violence in the
20th century. He was born as the youngest child of his father’s fourth wife on October 2,
He came from a family known for its ruling charism. Six generations of Gandhis
were home ministers or prime ministers of Kathiawar. His father Karamchand, prime
minister of Kathiawar, was an upright, just and eminently respected person with full of
human kindness. He fervently adhered to the rigid observance of the Hindu pieties. He
was in the habit of inviting to his house friends of various faiths to discuss matters of
faith. Though he did not have much in the way of formal education he was an able
administrator who knew how to steer his way between the capricious princes, their long
whose chief tenet is ‘ahimsa’(non-injury to all living beings). She did not care much for
finery and jewelry, divided her time between her home and the temple, fasted frequently
and wore herself out in days and nights of nursing whenever there was sickness in the
family.
Gandhi was born and grew up in a joint family which was shared by his father
with his five brothers and their household. His father was the head of the clan and he
looked after the well-being of every member of his clan. This might have contributed to
the style of living created in Gandhi’s ashrams-a life of mutual observations and intricate
discipline.
The above circumstances in which Gandhi grew up in his infancy and early
childhood largely influenced his personality and specially his religious outlook. As
Putlibai nursed her infant son she sang to him of the great heroes of Hindu Epics:
Ramayana and Mahabharata. One of the first words the child learned to pronounce was
that of Ram who occupies a special place in the hearts of Hindus. Years later at the end
of his life when the assassin’s bullets had pierced his body Gandhi with his last breath
murmured to the deity “Ram! Ram!”. He took for granted ahimsa, vegetarianism, fasting
for self-purification, and mutual tolerance between various creeds and sects.
As a young boy he watched his father holding the prime minister’s court daily in
his home. His profession and function was no secret to the little boy who playfully sat
himself in the prince’s place. Erikson records that when his father was not around, he
would remove the image of the reigning Prince from its customary stool and put
himself in its place. According to Adler, the last-born possess one advantage: a high
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passion for the young Mohan to fashion himself into a hero like the mighty characters of
Indian mythology. The religious and administrative tradition of the family paved the way
The situation of the youngest is unique in several ways. Being the last child of a
young mother and an aging patriarch gave him a central place in the family which made
him feel that his state was that of an elect being. He grew as the pet of his father and
mother and he intensely loved them. The care and love he conferred upon his ashram
members, untouchables, and the nation as a whole may be traced to the family context.
With several older models that set the pace, all of whom are bigger stronger and
more privileged than he is, the youngest is likely to experience strong feelings of
inferiority coupled with lack of independence. In the case of Gandhi, to add to this
child he felt shy, timid, and awkward. He is said to have complained to his mother of his
brothers beating him. These things may explain partly why he did not participate in any
sports or games. It is his motivation to gain power and strength is what attracted him to
eat meat- to become strong like the English who ate meat.
His elder sister describes him, “as restless as mercury’’ and “full of curiosity” and
endowed with a sense of originality and creativity. From his earliest days he was inward-
looking. What he saw there puzzled him as a good deal of what goes on in the external
world puzzled him. He turned his puzzlement over and over again in his mind. But he
went to no one else for answers. He liked resolving things for himself. He was just a
passable student and books did not thrill him. Gandhi once told Edward Thomson that he
was at his profoundest when he was seven or eight years old; later education and society
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clipped his wings. His father saw to it that his curiosity and initiative is not stifled. Thus
as a child. This creative self served as the source and strength in his later life to face the
Another conspicuous feature we find in young Mohan is his high ethical sense.
His adherence to truth is proverbial in India. He very jealously guarded his character.
The least little blemish drew tears from his eyes. Once when the educational inspector
visited the school, the teacher noticed a mistake on Mohandas’ spelling sheet and eager
to present a perfect record, hinted him to copy the exact spelling from his neighbor. He
did not. All except him were found to have spelt every word correctly.
Youth
In his youth with his father’s permission he went to see a play ‘Harishchandra’
his heart. In his autobiography he writes, “I could never be tired of seeing it. It haunted
me and I must have acted Harishchandra to myself times without number ‘why should
not all be truthful like Harishchandra’ was the question I asked day and night. To follow
truth and to go through all the ordeals Harishchandra went through was the one ideal it
inspired in me”.
Prompted by his friend Mehtab and as part of his experiments he visited a brothel.
There he found himself unable to say or do anything; he was in trepidation and was
forced out of the room by the prostitute. He went home and apologized to his wife
Kasturba (whom he married at the age of thirteen). It is the strong moral sense that
curbed his curiosity for experimentation with the unethical. The adolescent phase of
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Mohandas was also marked by petty thefts, furtive smoking, and meat-eating. “Never
again” was his promise to himself after each escapade and he kept his promise. Indeed he
Commitment to Truth was the governing principle of his life which gave his life
constant search for truth and living it. He believed in the power and efficacy of truth
which served as his fictional finalism. Indeed this shaped his style of life- the unique
pattern of traits, behaviors and habits which, when taken together, define the particular
route we have charted for ourselves in order to reach our life goal.
Gandhi aware of his physical limitations resorted to strive for spiritual strength
(soul force)to overcome his inferiority. With the same weapon, he prevailed against the
might of the British empire later in his adult years. In Gandhi this lifestyle was firmly
implanted in the early years of his life influenced by his own heredity, family and socio-
cultural background. He continued to learn new ways of expressing this life style
As Gandhi grew up in an environment steeped in love, mutual give and take and
societal concerns, his own innate social instinct easily directed him to the selfless service
of fellow human beings. This led to the development of social interest in him. He
enjoyed helping his mother in house hold chores and took upon himself the privilege of
nursing his father in his old age. He habitually acted as peacemaker whenever his friends
quarreled. This social feeling and sense of solidarity later enabled him to identify with
the humankind and an empathy for each member of the human race. He personally went
to the millworkers of England to apologize for the inconvenience caused to them because
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of his swadeshi movement (refusal to buy clothes imported from Britain and to use self-
made clothes). Then the millworkers became unemployed. Gandhi could feel the misery
of those workers.
Ramrajya -an ideal community was his dream in life. He committed himself
totally and selflessly to the service of his fellowmen without expecting anything in
influenced him radically). Even when national leaders were busy celebrating the
Independence in the imperial city of Delhi, Gandhi was not there; he was in the remote
accept any position in the independent India, he politely refused and continued to work
Based on life-style attitudes Adler has formulated four personality types. Gandhi
evidently belongs to the fourth category-the socially useful type. This type of individual
is the epitome of psychological health in Adler’s system. such a person embodies both a
high degree of social interest and a high level of activity. Gandhi was a man of untiring
energies. The collected edition of his writings which run to ninety volumes bears ample
testimony to his untiring work. Amidst the stormy struggle for freedom he managed to
write prolifically. Even when he discussed serious matters with political leaders he could
In England
At the age of 19, Gandhi arrived in London to study law. Gandhi took his studies
seriously, but during the three years of stay there his main preoccupation was with
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personal and moral issues. After three months of lesions in elocution, dancing and violin
There he was introduced to the Bible, Bhagavadgita and the English vegetarians
who included socialists and humanitarians like Edward Carpenter, Fabians like George
Bernard Shaw, and Theosophists like Annie Besant. The interaction and ideas from these
to his politics.
In South Africa
crisis. During stressful times the true life-style emerges, and a person is seen for what he
or she is. A person who possesses inner strength and courage will likely use these
pampered style of life will act in socially ineffective ways, no matter how socially
oriented he or she appears to be at other times. The behavior can then be seen for what it
Having returned to India in 1891, his efforts to practise law met with almost no
success. So he was forced to accept an year’s contract from an Indian firm Natal South
Africa. Africa was to present Gandhi challenges and opportunities that he could hardly
have conceived. Almost immediately upon his arrival in south Africa Gandhi became the
victim of racial discrimination. while traveling to Pretoria he was thrown out of a first
class railway compartment because he was a non-white. He spent the whole night
shivering and brooding over what happened, at Pietermaritzburg station. In the further
course of the journey he was beaten up by the whit driver of a stagecoach because he
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would not travel on the footboard to make room for a European passenger. These
humiliations were the daily lot of Indian traders and laborers in Natal. What was new
was not his experience but his reaction. As insults heaped upon him he decided not to
accept injustice and pledged to defend his dignity as an Indian and as a man. Later he
recalls this journey from Durban to Pretoria as one of the most creative experiences of
much interest in politics. He studied the conditions in which his countrymen lived and
tried to educate them on their rights and duties. In 1894 he founded the Natal Indian
Congress to organize the Indian community. In 1906 Gandhi concluded that devotion to
community service required him to relinquish the desire for children, wealth and live the
life of one retired from the household cares. He considered his vow of brahmacharya-
The struggle in South Africa lasted for more than seven years. There he first
applied the novel techniques of non-violent resistance and satyagraha and found its
effectiveness. Though south Africa did not treat him kindly, by drawing him into the
vortex of its racial problem, it provided him with a setting in which his unique creative
self could unfold itself. It transformed him into a leader of men freeing him from
shyness, nervousness and cowardice. He left South Africa in 1914 as a seasoned political
leader.
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Back in India
any other country. He refashioned the Indian National Congress into an effective political
1924 he tried the weapon of fasting to arouse the people into following the path of non-
violence. In 1930 he launched a satyagraha against the tax on salt which led to the arrest
of more than 60,000 persons. Gandhi brought together the major strands in India’s
that proved more effective than revolutionary violence, and a mode of revitalizing
traditional ideals that provided sanction for fundamental change. He exercised his
creative, supportive effort in winning over opponents. Thanks to his vision and moral
force India achieved Independence but against his advice partition of India was accepted
. He threw heart and soul into the task of healing the scars of communal riots touring
the riot-torn areas. When persuasion failed he went on a fast. He won at least two of
spectacular triumphs in Calcutta and in January 1948 in Delhi. A few days later on
January 30 while he was on his way to his evening prayer meeting in Delhi, he was shot
Casting aside all earthly glory and sacrificing his own self to the point of
forgetting his family, he achieved true Mahatmahood and became the uncrowned king of
India by seeking his peace in the happiness of others. He was the catalyst if not the
initiator of three of the major revolutions of the 20th century: the revolutions against
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colonialism, racism and violence. It was inevitable that Gandhi’s role as a political
leader loom larger in public imagination but the main spring of his life lay in religion. In
his autobiography, ‘The Story of my Experiments with Truth’, he writes, “What I have
been striving and pining to achieve these thirty years is to see God face to face.
influenced the shaping of his personality. His creative self organized and integrated these
multiple elements into a unique combination. The constant search for and surrender to
Truth(God) was the governing goal that provided unity and direction for this integration.
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