‘Mahatma’ is a Sanskrit word which literally means ‘Great Soul’. Gandhi was so entitled by the Nobel prize-winning poet Rabindranath Tagore in 1915.
It must be said that this was indeed a befitting accreditation for Gandhi; for those terse and thoughtful words, and noble and unpretentious endeavours, couldn’t have sprung from a greater soul than his.
Yet, he never basked in the honour of being bestowed with such a title. Many a times, he relinquished it for he believed that he was not deserving of a title so noble. Here are a few excerpts from his writings which illustrate this point.
The only virtue I claim is truth and non-violence. I lay no claim to superhuman powers. I want none. I wear the same corruptible flesh that the weakest of my fellow beings wear and am liable to err as any. My services have many limitations, but God has up to now blessed them in spite of imperfections.
The mahatma I leave to his fate. Though a non-co-operator I shall gladly subscribe to a bill to make it criminal for anybody to call me a mahatma and to touch my feet. Where I can impose the law myself, at the ashram, the practice is criminal.
The Unsaturated Reader 