Synopsis
Gandhi’s thought on non-violent political action and his programs for social reconstruction have
been subjects of scholarly debates, often sharp, for long. More recently, visual and literary
representations of Gandhi that remind people of the meanings of an extraordinarily complex life
have also received attention (Ramaswamy 2021). Little consideration, however, has been given to
Gandhi’s own aesthetic sensibility informed his moral journey. The general perception of
Gandhi is as a man of action with a utilitarian approach even to art and literature. Yet as he
expresses at the end of his “autobiography,” he saw his “Experiments with Truth” as a source of
rasa (aesthetic delight). Scattered throughout his writings are references to ethical actions as things
of beauty and avenues to reach perfect harmony. His almost obsessive stress on simplicity also had
an aesthetic dimension. Art historian Stephanie Chadwick compares Gandhian simplicity-based
aesthetics with the minimalist art of American painter Barnett Newman in the early to mid-
twentieth century. Chadwick suggests that even though the two men never met in their aesthetics
they share a concern for inclusiveness and equality (Chadwick, 2014). The fascination with Gandhi
as a public figure may see ebb and tide in the coming times. What an exploration of his writings and
exchanges give us a glimpse into is something personal and deeper – an understanding of a moral
journey intricately tied to an aesthetic journey. In my presentation, I will discuss how Gandhi’s
writings reflect a search for the unity of truth, goodness, and beauty. They suggest that in his
journey, moral action was a path to realize that unity. In Gandhi’s view, moral action, in fact, was in
service of the goal of experiencing rasa.

Bio
Neelima Shukla-Bhatt is a professor of Religion and South Asia Studies at Wellesley College,
Wellesley, MA, USA. She obtained her Ph.D. in the Study of Religion from Harvard University in 2003.
She is the author of Narasinha Mehta of Gujarat: A Legacy of Bhakti in Songs and Stories (2015) and
co-author with Surendra Bhana of A Fire that Blazed in the Ocean: Gandhi and Poems of Satyagraha
in South Africa, 1909-1911 (2011). She has published numerous articles in peer-reviewed books
and journals focusing mainly on the devotional poetry of medieval India and women’s religious
expressions.