Maurice Frydman
Encyclopedia
Maurice Frydman aka Swami Bharatananda (1901 in Warsaw
, Poland - 9 March 1976, India), was an engineer and humanitarian who spent the later part of his life in India. He lived at the ashram of Mahatma Gandhi
and took an active part in India's fight for independence—notably in helping to draft a new constitution for the State of Aundh that became the Aundh Experiment
. He was a Polish Jew who subsequently converted to Hinduism
.
Frydman came to India in the late 1930s as a Jewish refugee
from Warsaw
. A successful capitalist, he was managing director of the Mysore State Government Electrical Factory in Bangalore
. Eventually he was won over by Hindu philosophy and became a sannyasi. Frydman was instrumental, along with Gandhi and the Raja of Aundh
, in helping to draft the November Declaration, which handed over rule of the state of Aundh from the Raja to the residents in 1938-9.
He became acquainted with one of the sons of the Raja of Aundh, and was well regarded by the Raja himself. According to the Raja's son, Apa Pant, "Frydman had great influence with my father, and on his seventy-fifth birthday he said, 'Raja Saheb, why don't you go and make a declaration to Mahatma Gandhi that you are giving all power to the people because it will help in the freedom struggle.'"
As a sympathiser with the Indian independence movement, the Raja accepted this idea. Frydman wrote a draft declaration, and the Raja and his son, Apa Pant, travelled to see Gandhi in Wardha, where the Mahatma drew up a new constitution for the state. The constitution, which gave full responsible government to the people of Aundh, was adopted on 21 January 1939. This "Aundh Experiment
" was a rare event in pre-independence India, where the rulers of princely states were generally reluctant to give up their power. After some initial hesitation among the populace of the state it proved to be very successful, lasting until the merger of the princely states into India in 1948.
While in India, Frydman became a disciple of Mahatma Gandhi and lived in his ashram, where he made the spinning wheel
that Gandhi himself used. Frydman used his engineering skill to create several new types of spinning wheels for Gandhi, which piqued his interest in finding the most efficient and economical spinning wheel for India.
He was close to Nehru, and was associated with Sri Ramana Maharshi
and J. Krishnamurti.
A longtime friend to Advaita guru, Nisargadatta Maharaj
, who considered him a Jnani, Maurice Frydman died in 1976 in India, with Sri Nisargadatta by his bedside. Frydman edited and translated Nisargadatta Maharaj's tape-recorded conversations into the English-language book I Am That, published in 1973.
Frydman helped Wanda Dynowska
, a Polish theosophist who came to India in the 1930s, to establish a Polish-Indian Library (Biblioteka Polsko-Indyjska). The library holds a collection of books aimed "to show India to Poland and Poland to India", containing translations from Indian languages to Polish and from Polish to English. During the 2nd World War he helped with the transfer of Polish orphans from Siberia, displaced there by the Soviets after their annexation of Eastern Poland to Siberia
in 1939-1941. They were moved from Siberia via Iran (with the Polish army of Gen. Władysław Anders) mainly to India, Kenya and New Zealand. After 1959 he helped Wanda Dynowska with Tibetan refugees in India.
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, Poland - 9 March 1976, India), was an engineer and humanitarian who spent the later part of his life in India. He lived at the ashram of Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , pronounced . 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement...
and took an active part in India's fight for independence—notably in helping to draft a new constitution for the State of Aundh that became the Aundh Experiment
Aundh Experiment
The Aundh Experiment was an early test of village-level self government in British India which began in 1938. Mahatma Gandhi, the Raja of Aundh, and Maurice Frydman helped to draft the November Declaration, which handed over rule of the state of Aundh from the Raja to the residents, and became law...
. He was a Polish Jew who subsequently converted to Hinduism
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
.
Frydman came to India in the late 1930s as a Jewish refugee
Jewish refugees
In the course of history, Jewish populations have been expelled or ostracised by various local authorities and have sought asylum from antisemitism numerous times...
from Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
. A successful capitalist, he was managing director of the Mysore State Government Electrical Factory in Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
. Eventually he was won over by Hindu philosophy and became a sannyasi. Frydman was instrumental, along with Gandhi and the Raja of Aundh
Aundh State
Aundh State was a princely state in British India, in the Deccan States Agency division of the Bombay Presidency. It was one of the Satara Jagirs, and was founded in 1699. It was founded by Parshuram Tryambak Pant Pratinidhi who was warrior during the period of Sambhaji Raje and Rajaram Maharaj...
, in helping to draft the November Declaration, which handed over rule of the state of Aundh from the Raja to the residents in 1938-9.
He became acquainted with one of the sons of the Raja of Aundh, and was well regarded by the Raja himself. According to the Raja's son, Apa Pant, "Frydman had great influence with my father, and on his seventy-fifth birthday he said, 'Raja Saheb, why don't you go and make a declaration to Mahatma Gandhi that you are giving all power to the people because it will help in the freedom struggle.'"
As a sympathiser with the Indian independence movement, the Raja accepted this idea. Frydman wrote a draft declaration, and the Raja and his son, Apa Pant, travelled to see Gandhi in Wardha, where the Mahatma drew up a new constitution for the state. The constitution, which gave full responsible government to the people of Aundh, was adopted on 21 January 1939. This "Aundh Experiment
Aundh Experiment
The Aundh Experiment was an early test of village-level self government in British India which began in 1938. Mahatma Gandhi, the Raja of Aundh, and Maurice Frydman helped to draft the November Declaration, which handed over rule of the state of Aundh from the Raja to the residents, and became law...
" was a rare event in pre-independence India, where the rulers of princely states were generally reluctant to give up their power. After some initial hesitation among the populace of the state it proved to be very successful, lasting until the merger of the princely states into India in 1948.
While in India, Frydman became a disciple of Mahatma Gandhi and lived in his ashram, where he made the spinning wheel
Spinning wheel
A spinning wheel is a device for spinning thread or yarn from natural or synthetic fibers. Spinning wheels appeared in Asia, probably in the 11th century, and very gradually replaced hand spinning with spindle and distaff...
that Gandhi himself used. Frydman used his engineering skill to create several new types of spinning wheels for Gandhi, which piqued his interest in finding the most efficient and economical spinning wheel for India.
He was close to Nehru, and was associated with Sri Ramana Maharshi
Ramana Maharshi
Sri Ramana Maharshi , born Venkataraman Iyer, was a Hindu spiritual master . He was born to a Tamil-speaking Brahmin family in Tiruchuzhi, Tamil Nadu. After experiencing at age 16 what he later described as liberation , he left home for Arunachala, a mountain considered sacred by Hindus...
and J. Krishnamurti.
A longtime friend to Advaita guru, Nisargadatta Maharaj
Nisargadatta Maharaj
Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj , born Maruti Shivrampant Kambli, was an Indian spiritual teacher and philosopher of Advaita , and a Guru, belonging to the Inchgiri branch of the Navnath Sampradaya....
, who considered him a Jnani, Maurice Frydman died in 1976 in India, with Sri Nisargadatta by his bedside. Frydman edited and translated Nisargadatta Maharaj's tape-recorded conversations into the English-language book I Am That, published in 1973.
Frydman helped Wanda Dynowska
Wanda Dynowska
Wanda Dynowska Polish writer, translator, social activist, promoter of intercultural exchanges between India and Poland, jogini, foundress of the Indian-Polish Library.-Biography:...
, a Polish theosophist who came to India in the 1930s, to establish a Polish-Indian Library (Biblioteka Polsko-Indyjska). The library holds a collection of books aimed "to show India to Poland and Poland to India", containing translations from Indian languages to Polish and from Polish to English. During the 2nd World War he helped with the transfer of Polish orphans from Siberia, displaced there by the Soviets after their annexation of Eastern Poland to Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
in 1939-1941. They were moved from Siberia via Iran (with the Polish army of Gen. Władysław Anders) mainly to India, Kenya and New Zealand. After 1959 he helped Wanda Dynowska with Tibetan refugees in India.
Further reading
- Allen, Charles; Dwivedi, Sharada. Lives of the Indian Princes. London: Century Publishing (1984). ISBN 0 7126 0910 5.
- Alter, Joseph S. Gandhi's Body. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2000. ISBN 9780812235562.
- Ballhatchet, Kenneth, and David D. Taylor. Changing South Asia. Published for the Centre of South Asian Studies in the School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London, by Asian Research Service, 1984.
- Frydman, Maurice. Gandhiji, His Life and Work. Bombay: Karnatak Publishing House, 1944.
- Frydman, Maurice. I Am That, Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj. Chetana Publishing, Bombay, 1973. ISBN 0-89386-022-0.
- Frydman, Maurice. The World Federation and the Indian National Congress. Aundh Publishing Trust, 1944.
- Gandhi, Mahatma. The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi "A Discussion with Maurice Frydman", p. 320.http://www.gandhiserve.org/cwmg/VOL069.PDF
- Pant, Apa. An Unusual Raja: Mahatma Gandhi and the Aundh Experiment. Sangam Books, 1989. ISBN 978-0861317523.
- Rothermund, Indira. The Aundh Experiment: A Gandhian Grass-roots Democracy. Somaiya, 1983. ISBN 978-0836411942.
External links
- Interview mentioning Maurice and an Image at David GodmanDavid GodmanDavid Godman is widely acknowledged to be one of the leading authorities on the life, teachings and disciples of Ramana Maharshi, the renowned Indian sage who lived and taught for more than fifty years at Arunachala, a sacred mountain in Tamil Nadu, India...
website.