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FRAGMENTS OF A PRISONER S DIARY
Freedom, of course, is a relative concept, always and everywhere. It is limited by the circumstances of life. One is free in so far as he can control those circumstances. Man's superiority over other animals consists of the ability to exercise this control to an ever increasing extent. But the biological advantage is not realised to any appreciable degree, except in favourable social conditions. Indeed, under adverse social circumstances, man possesses much less freedom than lower animals, notwithstanding his biological superiority. This tragic fact of human existence is explained in India by the doctrine of karma. This is a doctrine of social slavery.
For five years and more, I lived among about two thousand prisoners. They represented practically all the strata of Indian society, except the top most ones. The great majority of them were in jail for crimes committed under the pressure of adverse circumstances, in which the bulk of Indian people live. Those circumstances are not created by them. Thev did not choose to live in circumstances that breed crimes. Yet, there were few among those victims of adverse social conditions who did not believe that it was their fate to be in jail. The more sophisticated ones ascribed their sorrow and suffering to karma or the Will of God. Fatalism represents the popular conception of the law of karma.
According to this doctrine, everyone must
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