Gandhi’s vast spiritual universe of devotion has gained greater relevance: Prof. Tolpadi

Mahatma Gandhi stands among India’s greatest philosophers. His distinctive philosophy and his vast spiritual universe of devotion have gained even greater relevance today than ever before, said Rajaram Tolpadi, retired professor of Mangalore University.

He delivered a special lecture on ‘Gandhiji and Rashtra Kavi Govinda Pai’, organised by Rashtra Kavi Manjeshwara Govinda Pai Memorial Trust at Gilivindu, the residence of Pai in Manjeshwar, Kasaragod district, Keralam, on Friday (October 2).

Speaking about Gandhiji’s devotional depth, he said that the Mahatma’s prayer meetings featured devotional songs such as Vaishnava Janato Tene Kahiye and Raghupati Raghav Rajaram, revealing a profound radiance of bhakti. A sincere devotee of Rama, Gandhiji saw both Eshwar and Allah as manifestations of the divine. Gandhiji represented the finest modern expression of India’s bhakti tradition, simultaneously standing as one of the country’s foremost philosophers, Prof. Tolpadi noted.

‘Gandhiji must return’

S. Sujeesh, assistant professor of Kannada at Manjeshwara Govinda Pai Government College, said that in Govinda Pai’s poem written after India attained Independence — Varusha 14 neenu namage bidugade nidi… Mahatma, you should have lived longer; you lived beyond death, Mahatma, you are blessed… — one finds a yearning for Gandhiji’s return, meaning the return of Gandhian thought.

For Pai, Gandhiji was not merely a leader of the freedom struggle. He was the embodiment of truth, non‑violence, sacrifice, simplicity, social equality, and humaneness, he said.

The poem questions whether the India Gandhi envisioned — an India of Ramarajya, truth, non‑violence, and human values — has truly been built. Freedom, Pai suggests, is not merely liberation from foreign rule; true freedom is when every individual receives dignity, equal opportunity, and the right to live fully, he said.