Baba's Storytime -A Lesson Gandhi Learnt

"If Gandhi, who was an ordinary person, was able to achieve greatness and world renown, it was because of the lessons in good behaviour which he learnt from his mother. The mother used to observe a vow: she would take her food only after the cuckoo sang in the morning. 

Once when Gandhi was a boy, the mother was waiting for a long time to hear the call of the cuckoo. Observing this, Gandhi went out of the house, imitated the call of the cuckoo and came in and told his mother that the cuckoo had sung and that she could take her food. The mother, who saw through her son's trickery, slapped him on the cheek and said, "You wicked fellow; what sin must I have committed to bear a son like you?" She felt sad that such a child should have been born to her. Her grief touched the heart of Gandhi.

From that moment Gandhi took a firm resolve never to utter a lie again. 

In his childhood, Gandhi used to be full of fear. There was a maid in his home called Rambha. Gandhi disclosed to her how he was always afraid. Rambha told him: "Child, always recite the name of Rama. By chanting Rama's name, your fear will go away." From that time Gandhi was always chanting the name of Rama. The habit of reciting Rama's name, which began in his boyhood, continued fight up to the moment of his passing. Nor was that all. 

By adhering to the chanting of Rama's name, Gandhiji was able to achieve his aim of winning the country's freedom by non-violent means. For such a life of purity and virtue, the parents were primarily responsible."

(Quoted from the Divine Discourses of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba)