BOOKS REVIEWS > Prayer

 

PRAYER : M. K. Gandhi, Compiled and Edited by Chandrakant Kaji

 

Published by : Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad, India

 

Pages : 228

 

Price : Rs. 50/-

 

ISBN-81-7229-150-7.


About the Book:

“Lead, Kindly light

Lead, Kindly light, amid the circling gloom,

Lead thou me on!

The night is dark, and I am far from home;

Lead thou me on……Cardinal Newman.

Every religion preaches that man is not man if he praises not his maker. “Prayer” by Gandhi is an extraordinary selection of speeches and writings about the meaning and necessity for the prayers. This book Gandhi has explained the necessity of prayers and by what means true worship can be achieved. The book seeks to emphasize that the only help of the helpless is prayer and it is a medium of repentance and secret of self-control.

Man’s need for prayers is as great as his need for bread. Man’s senses of sight and hearing can be used for evil purposes but prayers help man to use them for good purposes such as to contemplate the vision of God and to hear devotional songs.

In the concluding chapters of this book Gandhi says, “If someone fires bullets at me and I die without a groan and with God’s name on my lips then you should tell the world that he was a real Mahatma (A Great Soul).”

Prayer is nothing else, but an intense longing of the heart. You may express yourself in private or in public; but to be genuine, the expression must come from the deepest recesses of the heart.

Gandhi emphasized that the modern generation, Should not regard fasting and prayer with skepticism or distrust. The greatest teachers of the world have derived extraordinary powers for the good of humanity and attained clarity of vision through fasting and prayer. Much of this discipline is wasted because instead of it being a matter from the heart, if it is often resorted to for stage effect.