Gandhi was a great experimenter in a new field of ethics. He felt that God was truth and truth God, and to be a votary of Truth, one should be devoted to Ahimsa, that is, non-violence in word, deed and thought. To see the all pervading spirit of Truth, face to face, one must be able to love all creation as oneself.
He purified himself in many ways. He put these ideas into practice in his daily life. He loved the lowest man in Hindu society – the untouchable. In fact, he took in his ashram many untouchables.
He fought for the right of the down-trodden man and succeeded in giving him a decent place in Hindu society. Based on the principles of Ahimsa, he invented the Satyagraha (civil disobedience) movement in Africa and continued to resort to this movement in India, again and again, whenever he wanted to oppose the British administration.
One of Gen. Smut's secretaries said "How can we lay hands upon you? I often wish you took to violence like the English strikers, and then we would know at once how to dispose of you. But you will not injure even your enemy. You desire victory by self-suffering alone and never transgress your self-imposed limits of courtesy and chivalry. And that is what reduces us to sheer helplessness."
At the end of a big meeting at Johannesburg, a man was standing in the shadow of the outer door of the hall. Gandhi noticed him, went quickly to him and locking his arm in his, he said something to him in a quiet voice, and walked away with him.
"What did the man do?" one of his men asked.
"Yes, he wanted to kill me. He thinks that I am acting traitorously towards our people, that I am intriguing with the Government against them, pretending to be their friend and leader."
"He ought to be arrested. Why did you let him go like that? He must be mad."
"No, he is not mad; only mistaken; after I had talked to him, he handed over to me the knife he had intended to use on me. He wanted to kill me but he had not the courage to do so. If I had him arrested, I should have made an enemy of him. As it is, he will now be my friend." – A case of winning over an enemy by Ahimsa!
While out on a morning walk in a jail, a black ant got on Gandhi's foot and began sucking his blood. Gandhi allowed it to suck as much blood as it could. "It too is a creature of God. It was sucking my blood for its existence" he thought within himself. He would not therefore brush it off. As a result of this, he had fever and had to be in bed for a couple of days.
"My Ahimsa will also be perfect if I could die suddenly peacefully with axe blows on my head" he said.
"I have always been dreaming of such a death and I wish to treasure the dream. How noble that death will be – a dagger attack on me from one side, an axe blow from another, a lathi administered from yet another direction and kicks and blows from all sides and, if in the midst of these, I could rise to the occasion and remain non-violent and peaceful and could ask others to act and behave likewise, and finally I could die with cheer on my face and a smile on my lips."
He realized his dream. He was shot by an assassin and fell down dead with "Ram, Ram" on his lips. Well did he adhere to his gospel of Ahimsa while dying unprotected and undefended in the presence of thousands of people gathered for prayers.