Simply spiritual: The relationship of Sarala & Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi's relationship with his women followers has baffled his biographers, particularly his liking for Sarala Devi Chaudharani. Some biographers have interpreted their relationship as evidence that the Mahatma was human after all, as he too could be smitten by a woman. But a close and objective reading of the letters that Gandhi wrote to Sarala Devi reveal that their relationship was another instance of man-woman relationship as the Mahatma understood it.

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Sarala Devi was the daughter of the elder sister of Rabindranath Tagore. A highly educated woman for her times, she was strikingly beautiful and cultured. Was this enough to distract Gandhi from his path of bramhcharya?

The correspondence between Gandhi and Sarala Devi should be understood as a deliberation on the relationship between man and woman. The letters clearly reflect the mindset of both the personalities.

Mahatma Gandhi had the moral courage to tell the truth even about his feelings for the beautiful Sarala Devi because there was no ethical corruption in his mind. There was nothing 'confidential' in his life as he practiced what he preached.

Gandhi had written about his relationship with Sarala Devi in a letter to his friend Hermann Kallenbach, who was also a colleague from his days as a satyagrahi in South Africa. In a letter to Kallenbach dated August 10, 1920, Gandhiji wrote: “Our relation is beyond definition. I call Sarala Devi my spiritual wife. One friend has described it as a wedding based on knowledge.”

In his letters to Sarala Devi, Gandhi signs his letters sometimes as '__' and sometimes with 'Love'. Somewhere in his letters he has quoted verses from Bhagvad Gita, somewhere a hymn. In one letter, he has written an English translation of his favourite Gujarat hymn, 'Vaishnavajan'.

This raises the question whether the context in which the letters were written is so different from our times that they read differently for our generation.

Mahadev Desai's diaries, which are considered the most authentic source on the life of the Mahatma, throw some light on the relationship. There are many discussions, meetings and correspondence mentioned in the diaries which include the correspondence between Sarala Devi and Gandhi.

Sarala Devi was married to Pandit Rambhajdutt Chaudhary and the couple became Gandhi's followers in 1919. They put their son, Deepak, in the ashram school. Rambhajdutt Chaudhary was jailed by the British in 1919. Gandhi had gone to Lahore in that year where he was a guest of Sarala Devi from October 24 to October 28. He had also met Pandit Omkarnath Thakur there.

Later, Gandhi talked about his relationship with Sarala Devi at a public meeting in Ahmedabad which was held on February 27, 1920. She was also present at the meeting.

Gandhi said: “I found Saraladeviji in Punjab. I met her for the first time in 1910 and after that I met the couple in Haridwar. Saraladeviji had given me invitation to visit Punjab. I accepted the invitation, but was scared. When Saraladeviji invited me, she was 'viyogini' at that time. I was confused as to how to accept being welcome in the house of a 'Viyogini'? But I feel myself fortunate to share in somebody's pain. So I stayed at her place in Punjab. I accepted her services just as I would have taken them from my real sister. Hence, I am indebted to the sister. I touch the feet of that sister who is spreading my message in the country…”
How can anyone malign someone like Mahatma Gandhi after reading this?

— As rendered by Paras Jha from the original text