Address During The Release Of A Set Of Commemorative Coin On The Occasion Of The 75Th Anniversary Of The Dandi March
New Delhi : 02-10-2005
Nobility in Mind:Righteousness
When I touch the commemorative coins of 100 Rupees, 50 Rupees and 1 Rupee, I reminded of a unique experience, which I had few years back that reveals how a single leader can inspire a large population. I happened to meet, in Delhi, the grand-daughter of Mahatma Gandhiji, Mrs Sumitra Kulkarni. She narrated to me an incident about her grandfather, which she personally witnessed.
Nobility in Mind
Each day, as you all are aware, Mahatma Gandhiji used have prayer meeting at a fixed time in the evening. After the prayers there will be a collection of voluntary gift for harijan welfare. The devotees of Gandhiji used to collect whatever given by the people of all sections and this collection is counted by the supporting staff of Gandhi family. The amount so collected will be informed to Gandhiji before his dinner. The next day, a bank man will come for taking this money. Once the bank man reported that there was a discrepancy of few paise in the money given to him and the money collected. Mahatma Gandhiji, on hearing this, went on fast telling that this is a donation for the poor and we have to account for every paise. Dear friends, his act of righteousness should be practiced by all of us. On this day, let us rededicate ourselves to practice righteousness in all our thoughts and actions.
Now I would like you to recite with me the divine hymn ? Righteousness :
Righteousness
Where there is righteousness in the heart,
there is a beauty in the character.
When there is beauty in the character,
there is harmony in the home.
When there is harmony in the home,
there is order in the nation.
When there is order in the nation,
there is peace in the world.
Friends, we can see a beautiful connectivity between heart, character, nation and the world.