The Story of My Experiments with Truth

The Story of My Experiments with Truth

Cover page of 1993 reprint by Beacon Press.
Author	Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
Original title	સત્યના પ્રયોગો અથવા આત્મકથા
Translator	Mahadev Desai
Country	India
Language	Gujarati
Series	None
ISBN	(India) (United States – authorised edition with forward by Sissela Bok, Beacon Press 1993 reprint) (Dover Publications 1983 reprint of 1948 Public Affairs Press edition)
Original text	[[s:gu:સત્યના પ્રયોગો અથવા આત્મકથા|સત્યના પ્રયોગો અથવા આત્મકથા]] at Gujarati
Translation

The Story of My Experiments with Truth is the autobiography of Mohandas K. Gandhi, covering his life from early childhood through to 1921. It was written in weekly instalments and published in his journal Navjivan from 1925 to 1929. Its English translation also appeared in installments in his other journal Young India. It was initiated at the insistence of Swami Anand and other close co-workers of Gandhi, who encouraged him to explain the background of his public campaigns. In 1999, the book was designated as one of the "100 Best Spiritual Books of the 20th Century" by a committee of global spiritual and religious authorities.

This section is written by Mahadev Desai who translated the book from Gujarati to English in 1940. In this preface Desai notes that the book was originally published in two volumes, the first in 1927 and second in 1929. He also mentions that the original was priced at ₹1 (1.6¢ US) and had a run of five editions by the time of the writing of his preface. 50,000 copies had been sold in Gujarati but since the English edition was expensive it prevented Indians from purchasing it. Desai notes the need to bring out a cheaper English version. He also mentions that the translation has been revised by an English scholar who did not want his name to be published. Chapters XXIX-XLIII of Part V were translated by Desai's friend and colleague Pyarelal.

The introduction is written by Gandhi himself mentioning how he has resumed writing his autobiography at the insistence of Jeramdas, a fellow prisoner in Yerwada Central Jail with him. He mulls over the question a friend asked him about writing an autobiography, deeming it a Western practice, something "nobody does in the east". Gandhi himself agrees that his thoughts might change later in life but the purpose of his story is just to narrate his experiments with truth in life. He also says that through this book he wishes to narrate his spiritual and moral experiments rather than political.

The first part narrates incidents of Gandhi's childhood, his experiments with eating meat, smoking, drinking, stealing and subsequent atonement. There are two texts that had a lasting influence on Gandhi, both of which he read in childhood. He records the profound impact of the play Harishchandra and says,"I read it with intense interest...It haunted me and I must have acted Harishchandra to myself times without number." Another text he mentions reading that deeply affected him was Shravana Pitrabhakti Nataka, a play about Shravana's devotion to his parents. Gandhi got married at the age of 13. In his words, "It is my painful duty to have to record here my marriage at the age of thirteen...I can see no moral argument in support of such a preposterously early marriage." Another important event documented in this part is the demise of Gandhi's father Karamchand Gandhi. Gandhi wrote the book to deal with his experiment for truth. His disdain for physical training at school, particularly gymnastics has also been written about in this part.