Gandhi the Man

Gandhi the Man  
Author(s) Eknath Easwaran
Language English
Genre(s) Politicians - India - Biography
Publisher Nilgiri Press; others
Publication date 1973; 1978; 1991; 2011; others
Pages 200 (2011); 179 (1997); 186 (1978); 157 (1973).
ISBN 9781586380557

Gandhi the Man is a biography of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi written by Eknath Easwaran. The book was originally published in the US in 1973. Several subsequent expanded editions have been published. Foreign (non-English) editions have also been published in several languages.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] The book has been reviewed in newspapers,[11][12] professional journals,[13][14] and websites. The subtitle of the 4th edition is How one man changed himself to change the world.

Contents

Topics covered

All US editions of Gandhi the Man contain four major parts entitled 1) The Transformation, 2) The Way of Love, 3) Mother and Child, and 4) Gandhi the Man. All US editions also contain numerous photographs. More recent editions contain a foreword by Michael Nagler and an Appendix by Timothy Flinders entitled "How Satyagraha Works." The 4th edition (2011) contains several pages of maps and chronology (timelines), and additional background notes.[15]

Reviews and influence

Reviews have appeared in the New York Post,[11] the San Francisco Chronicle,[12] The History Teacher,[13] and elsewhere.

In the New York Post, Bill McKibben wrote that Gandhi the Man "seems at first glance like pure hagiography, most notable for the wonderful photographs it contains. But it isn't a picture book - in fact,

in very few words, it comes closer to giving some sense of how Gandhi saw his life than any other account I have read. From the outside, his life looked like a political drama... But from the inside, Easwaran argues quite persuasively, it looked quite different. Gandhi mastered his own life - took charge of his mind and his body. As a result he knew no fear, only great and undifferentiated love for the rest of creation. And so he was able to powerfully affect that creation."[11]:4

A series on the life and works of
Eknath Easwaran
Translations
Spiritual Biographies
Commentaries: Indian
Commentaries: Christian
Books on Meditation
Daily Readers + Reference

Other works · Other influence

List of Written Works
 
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Blue Mountain Center of Meditation

In The History Teacher, Donald Cody wrote that "the book's uniqueness lies in the effective interspersing of some six dozen pictures throughout the relatively short text [...which] itself is biographical only in a very general way; the author's major goal is to reveal the spiritual dimensions of Gandhi's life.... Teachers and college students, in particular, will find the two or three hours spent with this book a rare inspirational experience. Even high school students who appreciate works with a spiritual focus will be affected by its profound message."[13]:269

Cody also wrote that "while the author describes [the] political struggle in considerable detail, he is more interested in showing that Gandhi did not see achieving India's freedom as his primary goal. In fact, had he not believed that British rule was particularly injurious to the Indian lower classes, he might not have involved himself in the independence movement at all."[13]:269

In the Bulletin of Science Technology & Society, Tonya Emeigh suggested that Gandhi the Man could be used for teaching humane attitudes towards farm animals.[14][16]

The publisher quoted influential religion scholar Huston Smith as stating that "This book belongs in every public library in the English-speaking world."[17]

Editions

The original edition was published by in 1973 by Glide Publications (San Francisco). Several later US editions were published Nilgiri Press. Other editions have been published in Chinese (PRC),[1][3] Czech,[4] Dutch,[5][6] German,[7][8] Korean,[9] and Persian (Iran/Farsi).[10]

English-language editions have been published in Canada, India, and the US. The US editions are:

Canadian edition:

Indian edition:

  • Eknath Easwaran (1997).[18] Gandhi the Man. Mumbai, India: Jaico. ISBN 8172245173, ISBN 9788172245177 (192 pages).

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Lynn Garrett (1998, Jan. 12). Gandhi in China. Publishers Weekly, v245 n2, p30. "Nilgiri Press... was surprised to receive an e-mail in September from the Sichuan Copyright Agency in the People's Republic of China, expressing interest in publishing a Chinese edition of its Gandhi the Man (especially since relations between China and India have not always been the best).... the book will be released in China on January 30" (p. 30).
  2. ^ Foreign editions of Nilgiri Press Books, http://www.easwaran.org/page/150, accessed 3 April 2010.
  3. ^ a b Eknath Easwaran (1998). 圣雄·甘地: 非暴力之父 (The Father of Nonviolence: Mahatma Gandhi) ISBN 780128125X, ISBN 9787801281258, (306 pages)
  4. ^ a b Eknath Easwaran (1999). Gándhí člověk: příběh jeho transformace (Gandhi the Man: The Story of his Transformation) (Bohumila Kučerová, trans.). Czech Republic: Volvox Globator. ISBN 8072072706, ISBN 9788072072705 (140 pages)
  5. ^ a b Eknath Easwaran (1983). Gandhi (Hilde Lichtendahl, trans.). Netherlands: Sirius en Siderius. ISBN 906441047X, ISBN 9789064410475
  6. ^ a b Eknath Easwaran (1997). Gandhi Een biografie Netherlands: Ankh-Hermes. ISBN 9020281240 ISBN 9789020281248 (paper)
  7. ^ a b Eknath Easwaran (1983). Der Mensch Gandhi. Germany:Grumann. ISBN 3924092133, ISBN 9783924092139 (184 pages).
  8. ^ a b Eknath Easwaran (1997). Der Mensch Gandhi. Sein Leben ist eine Botschaft (Gandhi the Man: His Life is a Message). Freiburg, Germany:Herder. ISBN 978-3451045646
  9. ^ a b Eknath Easwaran (2005). 비폭력이 가장 위대한 사랑이다 (Nonviolence is the Greatest Love) (박유진, trans.). Korea: 꿈꾸는돌. ISBN 8991159079, ISBN 9788991159075
  10. ^ a b Eknath Easwaran (2001). Rāh-i ʻishq: dāsitān taḥūl rūḥī mahātmā Gāndī (The Way of Love: The Story of Mahatma Gandhi's spiritual transformation) (Shahram Tabrizi, trans.). Iran: ققنوس، (Phoenix). ISBN 9643114112, ISBN 9789643114114 (190 pages).
  11. ^ a b c Bill McKibben (1989, May 21). New York Post, pp. 4-5. Review of Gandhi the Man, A Man to Match His Mountains, Meditation, The Mantram Handbook, and Conquest of Mind.
  12. ^ a b Patricia Holt (24 December 1997). "Images of Gandhi's progress toward greatness". San Francisco Chronicle: pp. C6. http://articles.sfgate.com/1997-12-24/entertainment/17763675_1_mahatma-gandhi-eknath-easwaran-international-acclaim. Retrieved 1 May 2010. 
  13. ^ a b c d Donald K. Cody (1981). "[Untitled review of Easwaran's Gandhi the Man]". The History Teacher 14 (2): 269. JSTOR 493276. 
  14. ^ a b Tonya Huber Emeigh (1988). "Humane education: Science, technology, and society in the English classroom". Bulletin of Science Technology & Society 8: 47–63. doi:10.1177/027046768800800111. 
  15. ^ See 4th edition, pp. 173-185. ISBN 9781586380557 (back cover text states these are new)
  16. ^ Emeigh suggests using the book with lessons about "World Farm Animals Day", designated as falling on October 2, Gandhi's birthday (see website World Farm Animals Day)
  17. ^ Back cover of 2011 edition of Gandhi the Man, ISBN 9781586380557
  18. ^ Eknath Easwaran (1997). Gandhi the Man. Mumbai, India:Jaico. ISBN 8172245173, ISBN 9788172245177