Introduction
For students of Kerala history and the Indian Renaissance, the Temple Entry Proclamation of 1936 is a watershed moment. But to truly understand its significance, we must look at how Mahatma Gandhi interpreted it.
On January 17, 1937, shortly after the Proclamation was made, Gandhiji visited Haripad to address the people. In this profound speech, he did not just congratulate the Travancore royalty; he provided a spiritual justification for equality. He famously quoted the first verse of the Ishopanishad, arguing that since God pervades every atom of the universe, no human being can claim superiority over another, and no one can be excluded from the House of God.
Below is the full text of that historic speech. It serves as a powerful reminder that our social reforms were deeply rooted in the true essence of our culture.
SPEECH AT HARIPAD
January 17, 1937
At this meeting I would love to detain you for a few minutes on the message of Hinduism I gave to the meeting in Quilon last night. I ventured at that meeting to say that the whole of Hinduism could be summed up in the first verse of Ishopanishad. I suggested then that if all other Hindu scriptures happened to be reduced to ashes and to go out of the memory of men and if only that one verse were to abide with us, the destruction would be no loss. Hinduism would even then remain with us. The original Sanskrit of the mantra is perhaps as easy as anybody learning Sanskrit could possibly wish. This Upanishad enjoys the reputation of being part of the original Vedas. It is the shortest Upanishad known to us. But, as I have said, if we had only the first verse of of that Upanishad remaining with us, it would be enough to supply all our wants. Let me repeat that mantra in my faulty Sanskrit pronunciation:
ईशावास्यमिदं सर्वं यत्किंच जगत्यां जगत् तेन त्यक्तेन भुंजीथा मा गृधः कस्यस्विद्धनम् ।
Those who know a little bit of Sanskrit will find that there is nothing abstruse there that you find in other Vedic mantras, and its meaning is simply this: All that there is in this Universe, great or small, including the tiniest atom, is pervaded by God, known as Creator or Lord. Isha means the Ruler, and He who is the Creator naturally by very right becomes the Ruler, too. And here in this verse the seer has chosen no other epithet for the Deity but that of the Ruler, and he has excepted nothing from His jurisdiction. He says everything that we see is pervaded by the Deity, and from that naturally the other parts of the mantra follow. Thus he says: Renounce everything, i.e., everything that is on this Universe, the whole of the Universe, and not only this tiny globe of ours, renounce it. He asks us to renounce it as we are such insignificant atoms that if we had any idea of possession it would seem ludicrous. And then, says the rishi, the reward of renunciation is भुंजीथा, i.e., enjoyment of all you need. But there is a meaning about the word ‘enjoy’—you might as well say use, eat, etc.,—but it means that you may not take more than is necessary for your growth. Therefore this enjoyment or use is limited by two conditions. One is the act of renunciation or, as the author of the Bhagavata would say, enjoy in the spirit of कृष्णार्पणमस्तु सर्वम्. And every day in the morning everyone who believes in Bhagavata Dharma has to dedicate his thoughts, words and deeds to Krishna, and not until he has performed that daily act of renunciation or dedication has he the right of touching anything or drinking even a cup of water. And when a man has performed that act of renunciation and dedication, he derives from that act the right of eating, drinking, clothing, and housing himself to the extent necessary for his daily life. Therefore take it as you like, either in the sense that the enjoyment or use is the reward of renunciation, or that the renunciation is the condition of enjoyment, renunciation is essential for our very existence, for our soul. And as if that condition given in the mantra was incomplete, the rishi hastened to complete it by adding: ‘Do not covet what belongs to another.’ Now I suggest to you that the whole of the philosophy or religion found in any part of the world is contained in this mantra, and it excludes everything contrary to it. According to the canons of interpretation, anything that is inconsistent with Shruti—and the Ishopanishad is a Shruti—is to be rejected altogether.
Now I should like to apply this mantra to our own condition in virtue of the Proclamation. Whilst I have unstintingly associated myself with your rejoicings over this great Proclamation and in tendering my thanks and congratulations to His Highness, Her Highness and their Dewan, in terms of this mantra I am obliged also to say that this Proclamation is a tardy carrying out of the behest contained in this verse of the Ishopanishad that I have recited. Only yesterday we were unfit to call ourselves Hindus. For if all that there is in the Universe is pervaded by God, that is to say, if the Brahmin and the Bhangi, the learned man and the scavenger, the Ezhava and the Pariah, no matter what caste they belong to—if all these are pervaded by Lord God, in the light of this mantra, there is none that is low, all are absolutely equal, equal because all are the creatures of that Creator. And this is not a philosophical thing to be dished out to Brahmins or Kshatriyas, but it enunciates an eternal truth which admits of no reduction, no dilution. Therefore the Maharaja himself and the Maharani are not one whit superior to the lowliest being in Travancore. We are all creatures and servants of one God. If the Maharaja is the first among equals, as he is, he is so not by right of overlordship but by right of service. And therefore how nice, how noble it is that that very Maharaja is called ‘Padmanabhadas’. It is a proud title and I congratulate those who bestowed that title on the Maharaja of Travancore. Therefore when I told you that the Maharaja or the Maharani were not one whit superior to any one of us I told you what was the actual truth accepted by their Highnesses themselves. And if that is so, how can anyone here dare to arrogate superiority to himself or herself over any other human being? I tell you, therefore, that if the mantra holds good, if there is any man or woman here who believes that the temples are defiled by those called avarnas, that person I declare would be guilty of a grave sin. I tell you that the Proclamation has purified our temples of the taint that had attached to them.
I would like the mantra I have recited to be enshrined in the hearts of all our men and women and children, and if this contains, as I hold, the essence of Hinduism, it should be inscribed on the portals of every temple. Don’t you then think that we should be belying that mantra at every step if we excluded anyone from those temples? Therefore if you will prove yourselves deserving of the gracious Proclamation and if you will be loyal to yourselves and to those who preside over your destinies, you will carry out the letter and spirit of this Proclamation. I regard it as such a great spiritual act that it ought to remove scepticism from the hearts of sceptics or doubt from the hearts of those who doubted the truth of Hinduism or religion itself. Rightly understood this Proclamation should dispel the ignorant atheism of so-called atheists. From the date of the Proclamation the Travancore temples, which, as I once said, were not abodes of God, have become abodes of God, since no one who used to be regarded as untouchable is any more to be excluded from them. I therefore hope and pray that throughout Travancore there may be no man or woman who will abstain from going to the temples for the reason that they have been opened to those who were regarded as Pariahs of society.
Citation & Reference
- Source: Mahatma Gandhi, “Speech at Haripad,” The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, vol. 64 (New Delhi: Publications Division, 1976), 263.
- Original Publication: Harijan, January 30, 1937.
- Online Source: GandhiServe – CWMG Vol 64