Selected Letters of Gandhi : Part-1

YERAVDA MANDIR


Chapter-44: Faith and Understanding

....The intelligence becomes keener as faith grows deeper. Indeed the Gita teaching seems to be this that it is for God to endow us with understanding, while it is for man to become richer and richer in faith. We have to grasp the implication of faith (shraddha) and understanding (buddhi), but this grasp too is obtained not by study of definition but by real humility. He who thinks that he knows nothing. He who thinks that he knows nothing acquires knowledge in God’s time. Even Almighty God cannot pour a single drop of water into a pitcher that is full to the brim. We have therefore every day to stand before God as beggars with empty hands. This is covered by our observance of aparigraha, that is non-possession or poverty.

Translated from Gujarati