SOURCE: An introduction to The Moral and Political Writings of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol. I, edited by Raghavan Iyer, Oxford at the Clarendon Press, 1986, pp. 1-12.

In the following excerpt, Iyer presents an overview of Gandhi's teaching.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was too modest to be comfortable with the title of 'Mahatma', and too candid to be readily understood by his contemporaries. Throughout his life he saw himself and his ideas distorted or oversimplified by others. Patiently, he kept on affirming and amplifying his ideals so that those who cared might comprehend. Politically, he sought to touch people's hearts so as to awaken their faith both in themselves and in his abiding vision of social transformation. At the same time, he was able to sidestep those contentious pundits who prefer verbal combat to patient assimilation or courageous experimentation. Through his remarkable capacity for self-criticism, his freedom from the complex reactions...