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マハトマ ガンディー(MAHATMA GANDHI) はこのように言った。
“You can chain me,
you can torture me, you can even destroy this body, but you will never imprison my mind.”
”あなたが私を鎖でつなぎ、拷問にかけ、この体を打ち砕くことさえできても、あなたは、決して、私の魂を監禁することはできない。”
これは正に、日本の武士道精神に近い。
ガンディー自身が日本の”武士道”という考えとその言葉を知っていたかどうかはわからないが、彼が当時の日本人精神の立派さをよく理解していたことが分かる。ガンディーは日露戦争における日本軍人の戦いぶりに感激していたのだ。その彼の感激ぶりが、ガンディーが当時書いていたインディアン
オピニオン(”The Indian Opinion”) という、今で言う”ニュースレター”の中に、大変よく表れているので、ここで紹介したい。このことを知っている日本人はまずいないであろう。
“The Indian Opinion” by Mahatma Gandhi (1905)
Port Arthur is fallen. The words have a world of meaning. We are told that the siege of Port Arthur has been the most brilliant known to modern history, and well it might be. There were heroes fighting with an invincible determination not to yield.
General Stoessel and his brave band have become immortal, even as was Leonidas and his three hundred Spartans. “Stranger, tell Sparta here her sons are laid. Such was her law, and we that law obeyed—is an epitaph every school-boy knows. And yet, at this juncture, it comes to one’s lips with a freshness all its own. Indeed, for the lion-hearted General, one might wish, though the thought of the cruel and unnecessary butchery it would have involved is appalling, that he had carried out his defiant and haughty answer to General Nogi, that he would not yield whilst a single man in the garrison was left alive. But the General’s decision not to sacrifice any more human lives, does credit to his heart, and takes nothing away from his heroism.
The siege of Port Arthur has not parallel in modern history. The Spartan defense was lastingly brilliant, but on a very small scale. The only analogy possible is to be found in the wars of the Greek and the Indian epics. During the siege of Port Arthur, as in the epic wars, the fight was between thousands on either side—each side fighting with a fixity that would brook no yielding. Human blood was spilt like water, with terrible recklessness. Brigades were annihilated, vessels with their living cargo sunk. Living thousands replaced the dying or the deal, with lightning speed, without questioning, and without murmuring. In the words of Tennyson, “Theirs was to do or die,” and not to ask the reason why.
If Stoessel be a hero among heroes, what shall be said of Nogi and Togo? The offensive is ever held to be far more difficult than the defensive. The Japanese navy had its grim work cut out from the very start. Fortresses that were said to be impregnable had to be taken, though the taking meant the dyeing red of the ocean. And well the Japanese zessels [vessels] did their work. Togo would not take ‘No’ for answer. Now we understand the meaning of his messages to General Stoessel not to resist. Togo knew what he was about when he penned his humane request to his brother fighter.
The Japanese have shown a rare combination of daring, decision, generosity, and humanity. The Mikado, so soon as he heard of the surrender of Port Arthur, flashed across the cable a message of congratulation to the immortal defender of Port Arthur, and instructed General Nogi that the remnant of the garrison was to be allowed to leave with full military honours.
In spite of all the glory and the halo surrounding this unique siege, does it not suggest some very sad reflections? What could justify such bloodshed? Was not so much valour worthy of a better cause? Is man divine or brutish, when, for the sake of a strip of land, he makes himself responsible for loss of precious lives? Is it real civilization, this awful butchery at the bidding, apparently, of two men who are called Emperors? Will this never end? These are questions more easily asked than answered. And for the time being, we must simply be satisfied with having done the easier thing of the two.
There is a moral for our countrymen to be drawn from this stupendous struggle and this beginning, let us hope, of the end. The Japanese, by sheer force of character, have brought themselves into the forefront of the nations of the world. They have shown unity, self-sacrifice, fixity of purpose, nobility of character, steel courage, and generosity to the enemy. They have proved the truth of the adage that “Heaven helps those who help themselves.”
Whether here, in South Africa, or in India, we have to copy our neighbours, and most of our difficulties will be solved. It is right that we should insist on our rights being granted, but it is very essential that we should remove all within us that may be a hindrance to the granting thereof.
Nogi: 乃木 希典（のぎ まれすけ、1849年- 1912年）は、日本の武士（長府藩士）、軍人、教育者。日露戦争における旅順攻囲戦の指揮や、明治天皇の後を慕って殉死したことで国際的にも著名である。
Togo: 東郷 平八郎（とうごう へいはちろう、1848年 - 1934年）は、日本の幕末から明治時代の薩摩藩士、軍人。日露戦争では、旗艦「三笠」に座乗して第一太平洋艦隊の基地である旅順港の攻撃や黄海海戦をはじめとする海軍の作戦全般を指揮する。
Stoessel: アナトーリイ・ミハーイロヴィチ・ステッセリ（Anatolii Mikhailovich Stoessel、1848年- 1915年）は、ロシア帝国の軍人。陸軍中将。1904年からの日露戦争においては旅順要塞司令官、ロシア関東軍司令官。旅順攻囲戦で日本陸軍と戦った。
レオニダス1世（紀元前489年–紀元前480年）はアギス朝のスパルタ王である。テルモピュライの戦いに300人のスパルタ兵士と共に参戦し、200万以上と伝えられるペルシア軍にも互角以上に渡り合い、最期は壮絶な死を遂げた。その名声はギリシア中に轟き、スパルタ随一の英雄とされた。
臨済禅の教えの中に、「体は借り物であり、たとえ体が滅びつぶ. れても、自分は滅びない」という思想がある。自分自身は生死に関わりなく存在するというものである。そういう地点にまで行き着かないと、生き残れないのが戦国時代の武士というものであった。自分がいかに生き、いかに死ぬかといった究極の問いかけを、インドのマハトマ ガンディーは毎日し続けていた。世界の２５％を支配していた大英帝国に向かって、武器一つなしで戦った精神は、正に、死を覚悟で突撃していった日本人の武士道精神そのものである。 （続） |
