Snake Incident at the Phoenix Ashram

First Online: January 13, 2002
Page Last Updated: December 07, 2024

Long before Gandhi became famous, he was drawn by the ancient idea of hermitage (ashram) where men and wild animals had coexistence in natural surroundings. He founded a community-settlement with European and Indian friends near Durban (South Africa) on Tolstoyan principles. Comprising one hundred acres of fertile land, it had a school printing press, house of healing, flour mill, everything managed by hand! The colony was to be as much self-supporting as possible and life's material requirements were to be reduced to minimum. Hence from cultivation to publication, the inhabitants tried to manage everything, the natural way.

Life was very hard and everybody took turn to handle printing machine or flouring, drawing water and cleansing their own surroundings. Houses comprised of small huts, of corrugated iron with wooden structures in between. Water was scare and drinking water became a problem though a stream nearby helped washing and bathing activity. The stream had tree with overhanging boughs and one day, a big green mamba, one of the deadliest snakes in South Africa was noticed on the tree. Non-killing was a fundamental principle in Phoenix. So it was driven away. But a snake never lives alone, and no one knew how many were there in the vicinity and they crept coming in. Eventually an Indian colonist, brought a gun, shot the snake and kept vigil for the next two three days. He had two small kids and for him safety and life of the children were of greater importance than those of a snake. Gandhi seemed to have kept quiet. But as believer in ahimsa he used to narrate stories from puranas wherein dangerous creatures wrought no harm to people living in and near about hermitages. He used to recall the practice in India where bowls of milk are placed by mothers in sports frequented by snakes. The snakes partook milk and children could rejoice in immunity from attack by the snakes. This was the general belief. 

The snake and the children thus could have coexistence without mutual fear!

Gandhi's teaching had great influence on inmates of Phoenix colony. An European settler, a hunter and meat-eater and who frequented African jungles was naturally a gun trotter. He came under Gandhi's influence and gave up his earlier habits. He started living in the colony in the simple hut, assisting in community work, meditating and studying.

One day while going to his shed to fetch his bicycle, he saw two green mambas coiled up quite near it. Just before observing them, he must have disturbed them, for they were commencing to lift their head. He stood still and watched them uncurl themselves. The shed was narrow and small and too full of things, to allow him move, to avoid reptiles. He needed the bicycle urgently to go to Durban fourteen miles away. His first reaction naturally was to look for an implement to kill the reptiles. But suddenly he remembered his new faith, and tried to put himself to severest test. he thought, "Love overcometh all things, and man should fear nothing that God has created." So he kept his calm. Slowly he went towards the door and stood quietly. The snakes by now fully alert and awake, commenced to move. First one looked around, then glided towards him and then the door. He did not move or falter. The snake crept close by and went into the open. The second snake turned its head to right, then left and coming very close and almost touching him, also passed through the door, leaving the person unharmed.

Later this Gandhian left South Africa to continue his humanitarian work and teaching in Europe. He had by then trained himself to sleep with horrible poisonous spiders. Gandhi's teachings and his own faith in the principle of love had given him great strength.

Derived from Millie Graham Polak's book Gandhi, The Man.

See Also:

• The Crawling Royals -- They are feared, charmed, and worshiped; online exhibition on The Snakes in Indian Society