IMPRESSIONS OF MAHATMA GANDHI
" Impressions of Gandhi ? You might well ask for someone's impression of the Himalayas."
- George Bernard Shaw
The life of Mahatma Gandhi is , as Shaw rightly said , is multifarious and multitudinous and the impressions cast by him on humanity as a whole is not only historic but epoch-making . He is like Himalaya on one head of the earth and coral-reef on the other end in the ocean coast lines and the sea ... generally people only say of good things and others say and do things but it was the man who did those things first that wanted to say and then said not in words but through action . His famous premise in the world thought is - '' my life is my mission . '' I feel to be sure that Gandhi Ji would be among very few in the world of these days and the days of very past who has expressed his thoughts on paper and in public and invited others on him , more than any to be written , read and discussed .......he himself has covered thousand of pages through ' Young India ' and ' Harijan " ....Gandhi Life and Work in English and in Hindi [ Gandhi wangmaya ] in 90 volumes are vast narratives of the activities of this little-great , poor-king .
No corner of human life and all around man has been left untouched and uninterpreted in real old and ancient style but extraordinarily fresh and new ........none could ever believe that what Jesus , Shri Ram , Lord Krishna and Lord Buddha said of heavenly thoughts would be materialized on this earth . But he did it and used his own life as an experiment and whole world accepted and recognized though in the beginning laughed at , criticized and disapproved . Here in this issue I would like to see very few aspect of Gandhian impressions on our (human) individual , social , political , religious -moral ,economical and national and international life .
ON INDIVIDUAL HUMAN BEING .
On planet earth man is the supreme creature and with best brain -power and exploring and discovering potentials . It seems , rather supposed that all flora and fauna , all natural resources re meant for the facilitation of better and happier life of human being . This by virtue of being the best man has the responsibility to follow the role of the Master who applies the rule of '' live and let live '' . He is expected (by Nature / God ) to harmonize his life with the all creature and creation around him and here comes the need of being non-violent to all others , the first principle that Gandhi Ji puts before us .The concept of Non-violence in very broader sense is to harm none living or non-living . This concept of non-violence / Ahimsa give out thereafter eight more rules to be followed viz . not having those thing in others share or possessions ( Asteya ) , not having more than your needs ( Aparigrha ) , following the rules of nature / ' Rit ' ( Brhmcharya ) , cleanliness of body and mind ( Shaucha ) , contentment with all that you hve ( Sntosha ) , accepting all that cold -hot , good-bad is inflicted upon you by nature and physical labour ( Tapah or Shrama ) and contemplation ( Swadhyay ) . If you follow these ten virtues only then and then you can claim yourself as true man , pure man and thus cant attain TRUTH , the ultimate reality . [ these all bows are said to be taken by Gandhi Ji fro m Jain - Philosophy and Patanjal -Yoga and these bows were the essential part of the evening prayer recited at the end of prayer and were binding to follow all those who lived in the Ashrm ]
Gandhi Ji was different from that idea of Marx where individual was committed to nation as human resource as he thought that man is the basic unit of society and state at large and if the unit is perfect society is all well and perfect .......the idea he took from '' RAM-RAJYA '' wherein all the citizens are honest , loving , kind , etc etc and that they did not need any administration ( compare the ultimate social status and state of Communism of Karl Marx ) ....what Marx wishes to do by State Gandhi Ji suggests ny sublimating the citizens of the state .
Truth was Gandhiji's favorite human value which inspired his autobiography "My Experiments with Truth " Satya Meva Jayate '' was his slogan. Youth must differentiate between truth and blind belief. Gandhiji wanted every individual and society to practice truth at any cost. He emphasised that all religions, philosophies, societies have unambiguously advocated truth. According to him truth was God and that truth must manifest itself in thought, word and deed. He did accept the path of truth will always be full of hardships, difficulties, sufferings, and sacrifices. To tell the truth one must be courageous. Youth must note that no society readily accepts any social transformation. Hence the students who are acting as agents for reformation will have to face public censure and the wrath of society. Self determination, strong will power and profound belief in one's conviction will help the youth to lead the society. Treading the path of truth is a continuous and unending process which has to be followed by every generation
ON SOCIETY AND SOCIAL STRUCTURE .
Gandhi Ji was neither supporter of socialism of Marx ( Communism ) nor Capitalism ( individual freedom to accumulate property ) . He gave an idea of trusteeship and Sarvodya ( uplift of all ).
As opposed to class struggle or using authority of state for equal distribution he wanted voluntary and willingly to return to the state or to the person who needed it ( Sarvodaya ) ...he got this idea from Leo Tolstoy , '' Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.'' ... he also parried this idea with ' Ram -Rajya , where every one knows well of his duties and rights and is also aware of the public good as a whole .
The idea or theory of 'Sarvodaya' is the greatest good of all through truth and non-violence became the ultimate goal of Gandhi in social welfare. His methods of working towards this goal were different from those of many other leaders and social reformers of his time ( communism and state socialism ). He took an integrated view of life and disapproved of dividing an individual's life into different compartments. Also the individual was looked upon by him not as a separate entity but as a constituent unit of society.
To Gandhi, the individual was as important, if not more, than the society, as he firmly believed that the happiness of the individual formed the constituent part of the happiness of the society. So, for him, social welfare meant the conscious submission of the individual and a voluntary contribution of one's possession to the society, which consisted of all, not a majority and, in return, the social system, built upon the principles of non-violence and democracy, was to give a complete guarantee for the maximum development of the individual's personality.
Gandhi also gave the impression of Swadeshi ( indigenous ) and Gram- Swraj ( Independent Villages as unit of state ) ......
''After much thinking I have arrived at a definition of Swadeshi that, perhaps, best illustrates my meaning. Swadeshi is that spirit in us which restricts us to the use and service of our immediate surroundings to the exclusion of the more remote. Thus, as for religion, in order to satisfy the requirements of the definition, I must restrict myself to my ancestral religion. That is the use of my immediate religious surrounding. If I find it defective, I should serve it by purging it of its defects. In the domain of politics, I should make use of the indigenous institutions and serve them by curing them of their proved defects. In that of economics, I should use only things that are produced by my immediate neighbours and serve those industries by making them efficient and complete where they might be found wanting. It is suggested that such Swadeshi, if reduced to practice, will lead to the millennium, because we do not expect quite to reach it within our times, so may we not abandon Swadeshi even though it may not be fully attained for generations to come. India has had experience of..... village republics. I fancy that they were unconsciously governed by non-violence..... An effort has now to be made to revive them under a deliberate non-violent plan......(H, 4-8-1940, p. 240)
The best, quickest and most efficient way is to build up from the bottom..... Every village has to become a self-sufficient republic. This does not require brave resolutions. It requires brave, corporate, intelligent work.....(H, 18-1-1922, p. 4)
Independence must begin at the bottom. Thus, every village will be a republic or Panchayat having full powers. It follows, therefore, that every village has to be self-sustained and capable of managing its affairs even to the extent of defending itself against the whole world. It will be trained and prepared to perish in the attempt to defend itself against any onslaught from without. Thus, ultimately, it is the individual who is the unit.
This does not exclude dependence on and willing help from neighbours or from the world. It will be free and voluntary play of mutual forces. Such a society is necessarily highly cultured in which every man and woman knows what he or she wants and, what is more, knows that no one should want anything that others cannot have with equal labour.
This society must naturally be based on truth and non-violence which, in my opinion, are not possible without a living belief in God, meaning a self-existent, All-knowing living Force which inheres every other force known to the world and which depends on none and which will live when all other forces may conceivably perish or cease to act. I am unable to account for my life without belief in this all-embracing living light.
In this structure composed of innumerable villages there will be ever-widening, never-ascending circles. Life will not be a pyramid with the apex sustained by the bottom. But it will be an oceanic circle whose centre will be the individual always ready to perish for the village, till at last the whole becomes one life composed of individuals, never aggressive in their arrogance, but ever humble, sharing the majesty of the oceanic circle of which they are integral units. Therefore, the outermost circumference will not wield power to crush the inner circle, but will give strength to all within and derive its own strength from it. I may be taunted with the retort that this is all Utopian and, therefore, not worth a single thought. If Euclid's point, though incapable of being drawn by human agency has an imperishable value, my picture has its own for mankind to live.
Let India live for this true picture, though never realizable in its completeness. We must have a proper picture of what we want before we can have something approaching it. If there ever is to be a republic of every village in India, then I claim verity for my picture in which the last is equal to the first or, in other words, none is to be the first and none the last. In this picture every religion has its full and equal place. We are all leaves of a majestic tree whose trunk cannot be shaken off its roots which are deep down in the bowels of the earth. The mightiest wind cannot move it. In this there is no room for machines that would displaces human labour and would concentrate power in a few hands. Labour has its unique place in a cultured human family. Every machine that helps every individual has a place. But I must confess that I have never sat down to think out what that machine can be. I have thought of Singer's sewing machine. But even that is perfunctory. I do not need it to fill in my picture. ....[ quoted from selected works of M K Gandhi ]
.ON POLITICS
'' Men say I am a saint losing myself in politics. The fact is that I am a politician trying my hardest to become a saint.'' (Mahatma Gandhi )
Gandhi was not an Academic Political Philosopher and did not follow or attached him with any system or political thought from Plato to the present day but his political thought was based totally on his own philosophical trio of politics for welfare of public with morals and equality or equal opportunity ....he was against the modern common and widespread prevalent idea of Secular Politics , where religion has no role to play in politics . Gandhi Ji of the firm belief that there can not be justice with politics without religion . All his sayings were pouring from his deep feelings and sincere realization of the truth. He writes , '' Those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion is.''
Gandhi's political thought stems from different traditions, Eastern and Western. Though he had inherited many traditions he had not agreed in to with any one of them. He had picked up many traditional concepts from his immediate predecessors as well as from ancient texts. Gandhi did never claim to be an original thinker. But when we look into all his sayings we find a conceptual framework, common to a philosopher. Moreover, when we find that his theoretical formulations and practical pursuits are identical, we have every reason to accept him as a philosopher in the Indian sense. But unlike other philosophers and political scientists of both the East and the West, only he could emerge not only as the man of destiny of the nation but also as the man of the millennium.
Gandhi was a combinations of a prophet and a politician of the highest caliber. So he had combined within himself aspects of the Philosopher and politician.. It can be said that Gandhi considered politics as an instrument for the uplift of mankind in social, economic, moral and spiritual spheres. Gandhi himself admitted to his South African friend that his bent of mind was religious and not political. Romain Rolland in his biography of Gandhi written in 1924, had remarked that if Tilak would not have died Gandhi might have chosen a religious life rather than a political. TO Gandhi politics itself was his religion. He was opposed to politicizing religion. He was for spiritualizing religion but he was essentially a worldly man and never sought this own salvation secluded from the world. For him politics had encircled him like the coil of a snake. He must wrestle with the snake, there is no respite. He could have thought of avoiding politics, if without politics food and work could be provided to the hungry unemployed people of India. He strongly felt that without involving himself in politics it is not possible to remove socio-economic exploitation and political subjugation and thereby moral degradation of the people of Indian unless he involved himself in politics.
Gandhi had a vision of transforming the socially and morally degenerated and separated individuals in a manner where individuals can enjoy their freedom in a spirit altruism. To understand Gandhi's politics it is also necessary to understand Gandhi's concern for the cleavage between state and civil society. The community life is fast diminishing and civil society could not formulate any mechanism to control it.
A universal morality would emerge which would create an atmosphere for healthy political life. We should accept self-transformation as a continuous process. Gandhi was emphatic in saying that politics bereft of religion is a death trap which kills the soul. By spiritualization of politics, Gandhi meant something larger than our day to day life but not excluding world of day to day experiences. A community of persons on the process of self-realization be able to resist the corrupting influences of existing interests.
Even in Gandhi's life time great minds of the world saw in his work the promise of a new world. One of them is Romain Rolland (1866-1944) who wrote in his Mahatma Gandhi: The Man who Became One With the Universal Being (1924): "With Gandhi everything is nature, modest, simple, pure - while all his struggles are hallowed by religious serenity even in politics ;tics and fight and struggle for freedom from slavery in the world by non-violence and peace full movements ." Gandhi's gentle religious temper which was active in his politics was, however, observed as the best alternative in modern world .
In his presidential address at the annual session of the Indian National Congress held at Belgium in 1924. The Mahatma said at the end of his address: "Satyagraha is search for truth; and God is Truth. Ahimsa and Nonviolence is the light that reveals that truth to me. Swearer for me is a part of that truth"
.ON RELIGION ...
'' What is not moral can not be religious '' [ M K Gandhi ]
When we read the various statements of Gandhi on his theories of Religion it seems ambiguous and Equivocal = (open to two or more interpretations; or of uncertain nature or significance; or (often) intended to mislead ) but this shows that he does not use much logic and intellect to confuse him and others around ,instead he uses his extraordinary wisdom to follow his own and respect others in the equal and in the same spirit . say , he uses faith and devotion in matter of religion as it is Gold that always glitters and God is God equally distributed, everywhere and all the time .this is bare fact that he takes in-toto . some of his thoughts -
He believes in historical king Ram king of Ayoddhya son of Dashrath as God and his God as he calls God as Truth and equal to Allah in Muslims -
रघुपति राघव राजा राम ;पतित पावन सीताराम ::ईश्वर अल्ला तेरे नाम ; सबको सन्मति दे भगवान .
"I call myself a Sanatani Hindu, because I believe in the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Puranas, and all that goes by the name of Hindu scripture, and therefore in avataras and rebirth; I believe in the varnashrama dharma in a sense, in my opinion strictly Vedic but not in its presently popular crude sense; I believe in the protection of cow … I do not disbelieve in murti puja." (Young India)
"Hinduism as I know it entirely satisfies my soul, fills my whole being … When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and when I see not one ray of light on the horizon, I turn to the Bhagavad Gita, and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. My life has been full of tragedies and if they have not left any visible and indelible effect on me, I owe it to the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita." (Young India )
"I worship God as Truth only. I have not yet found Him, but I am seeking after Him. I am prepared to sacrifice the things dearest to me in pursuit of this quest. Even if the sacrifice demanded my very life, I hope I may be prepared to give it.
"I regard Jesus as a great teacher of humanity, but I do not regard him as the only begotten son of God. That epithet in its material interpretation is quite unacceptable. Metaphorically we are all sons of God, but for each of us there may be different sons of God in a special sense. Thus for me Chaitanya may be the only begotten son of God … God cannot be the exclusive Father and I cannot ascribe exclusive divinity to Jesus." (Harijan )
"I believe that there is no such thing as conversion from one faith to another in the accepted sense of the word. It is a highly personal matter for the individual and his God. I may not have any design upon my neighbour as to his faith, which I must honour even as I honour my own. Having reverently studied the scriptures of the world I could no more think of asking a Christian or a Musalman, or a Parsi or a Jew to change his faith than I would think of changing my own." (Harijan )
"I came to the conclusion long ago … that all religions were true and also that all had some error in them, and whilst I hold by my own, I should hold others as dear as Hinduism. So we can only pray, if we are Hindus, not that a Christian should become a Hindu … But our innermost prayer should be a Hindu should be a better Hindu, a Muslim a better Muslim, a Christian a better Christian." (Young India ) He said to one of his Christian friend in London , when asked about Christianity ....'' I like your Christ but I do not like your Christians as your Christian are so unlike your Christ '' He meant that all should follow their religion , scriptures , prophets and religious rules in word and spirit and be true to his own religion .
Gandhi ,thus is the only person ,who is a perfect Hindu but does not claim his religion better to others and respect others in the same spirit and still the champion to all those who are leaders ,thinkers and philosophers of different world religions .He seems ambiguous in theories but accepts these as such without any criticism or need of correction .if we all can follow him in the same spirit there can be one different world of peace ,love ,brotherhood and non-violence .others are preaching religion but he lived a religious man 's life ....
ON ECONOMY
Gandhi has been known as promoter of economic development through Swaraj and self‐reliant village economy He stood for economic wealth generation pursuing ethics and moral principles and ensuring equitable distribution among the members of society .Gandhi was not a professional economists and not an academician even but was a charismatic leader of the Indian National Movement with primary purpose of obtaining freedom from the colonial rule and restoring self confidence of the villagers, who make up most of India’s population. His economic thought was a part of this vision to begin with and yet when the movement gathered strength and the goal for independence was turning real, he became accommodating of the roles of entrepreneurs and other participant players of the economy from practical considerations which remained firmly rooted to the core value that economy and ethics were inseparable
Gandhi, true to his vocation of being leader of masses in India, enunciated his position on economics in the language of the people, rather than academic economists and so the economists never noticed that he was in fact, a great economist in his own right, and may well emerge as the greatest of them all. “when the history of economic thought in India of recent times comes to be written, Gandhi’s name will certainly occupy a place of honour in it … It does not matter in this context whether we call Gandhi as economist or not that is partly, at any rate, a question of definition of terms”. Gandhi was a charismatic leader of the Indian National Movement. He was inspired by Swaraj (self‐government) which for him, meant not just freedom from colonial rule but the achievement of self‐reliance and self respect, by the villagers who make up most of India’s population. His economics was a part of this vision, which ruled out industrialization on western lines as the ‘optimal’ path of economic development for India. His thought was to apply only to few selected aspects of that society but neglecting others but that is true of all economic models. While analyzing Gandhi, one is to keep the context of his writings in mind.
Gandhi’s thoughts are expressed as mostly they appeared in news papers and weekly journals young India , Navjiban and Harijan and were addressed to mass audience whose attention he tried to capture by making his points short and sharp, and exaggeration was price of successful journalism. Gandhi‘s writings were produced and published in the heat of political battle which led to simplified, sometimes oversimplified conclusions. Gandhi unlike most of the academicians, was penning his thoughts after living through multilingual, multi religious, multi-layered, multi ethical society robbed of its self respect and resigned to its fate. He was giving out his formulation in their context which perhaps insulated academicians and those bred on alien milieu would find difficult to assimilate and more so if his prescriptions come in the way as constraining force for the expansion of their economic designs. As an experimenter, he was ever willing to change his views and formulations and was not dogmatic. He was willing to change his views if he was wrong as he has averred in his preface to his work Hind Swaraj. In his view, he came to accept the usefulness of certain technologies which were commented upon by him adversely earlier and admitted that with appropriate restrictions, such technologies would be adaptable. Gandhi’s distinctive approach to economic issues is his extraordinary emphasis on the ethical concept of economic behaviour. He firmly believed that economics and ethical questions were inseparable. He was assertive that ethical and economic criteria must be considered together for either to be valid. According to him true economics never militates against the highest ethical standards just true ethics, to be worth its name, must be good economics. If the two cannot be reconciled either the concept of that ethic is false or economic interest takes the form of unmitigated selfishness and does not aim at collective welfare. Gandhi was aware that standard economic analysis failed to take ethical considerations into account and that economics itself had become largely irrelevant for either understanding behaviour or for existing as a policy. Thus, he argued, economist conduct into account but estimate prosperity from the amount of wealth alone. He likens the economics that disregards moral and sentimental considerations towards wax works that being life‐like still lack the life of living flesh. “If individual liberty goes then surely all is lost for if the individual ceases to count, what is left of society? No society can possibly be built on a denial of individual freedom. It is contrary to the very nature of man.
source [ Collected works of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol. 21 & Vol. 31, p. 27 ]
ON NON-VIOLENCE THE CARDINAL -VALUE
According to Gandhi Ji no activity in individual life , society , nation or world with whole humanity is ideal or perfect that is not justified by non-violence .
The Means to Ends are corrupt not the ends because the ends are the crops that we harvest .Means are the seeds and ends the fruits . as you show so shall you reap .the means ,smallest that may be ;should be pure and pious .
The more laws, more police , more inspection and more inquiry shows that we are growing more and more corrupt (call ourselves civilized).really to root out corruption we need more ,better and proper /right education .we have to make corrupt -proof individual . here Gandhi comes to our rescue .we should apply RIGHT means to achieve any thing in our life .
"माता सम देखहिं पर नारी ;धनु पराव विष ते विष भारी (रामचरितमानस में तुलसी )
our culture allows us to have one woman as wife and others as mothers and if we are not honest and moral (follow the western style ) we can suffer as ever .to love one person as wife or husband and to deceive her/him in love is moral meanness and worst of corruptions .a person who commits adultery is a criminal (Bible )
There are varieties of poisons and thousands ways to kill men but the money and the means that is not earnestly your is the most fatal than any .( and this poison i.e. corrupt money and means every one is striving to earn extraordinarily ,amazingly and deliberately .)
It has always seemed strange to me... the Virtues we admire viz. kindness , generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling, are the concomitants of failure in our society and those vices we condemn, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest, are the common clue to success. Vow ! we admire the first and strive for second for instant results seems to be success , although we know , these bring to us unending miseries .
Love begets love and hate begets hate. hate can not win hate but love wins hate . love does not win love but begets love . hate can neither win hate nor love it begets only hate and enmity . thus hate has nothing to win but love has to win but hate . love never does win love ;love begets love and love always sacrifices to other love . so violence has to be won only by non-violence . non-violence is relevant till the violence prevails . violence has to win but nothing .say violence has no winning power or potential .non-violence has it .
That is why in all religions Truth has been crowned. in our Vaidic scriptures it has been said " it is Truth that wins not the untruth " " सत्यमेव जयते नानृतम " . The weapon of Gandhi is non-violence ;the well thought theory as violence has no winning power ,it can defeat none ; it is born to be defeated only and non- violence is born to win violence . this is All-time ,Eternal Rule of Nature and no power can record it otherwise . this simple premise says - "Gandhi whose weapon is non-violence is eternal winner and therefore Gandhi is relevant till there is violence and war . peace does not go to war but see ! war always goes to peace (world history )
In any activity of life ,therefore , non-violence is the test. non-violence is next to truth . Gandhi says - truth is not known to us nor easily attainable .non-violence is real and practical truth to us . if you follow non-violence you follow the truth . therefore any action having the slightest tinge of violence can not be regarded as Right Means and the Ends thus achieved are devastating and ruinous . non-violence is the test of all the actions and means that gives us a perfect human trait . in Bible Jesus calls the man as the Salt of the Earth and this Salt in man is nothing but non-violence and love (positive of non-violence ) . the aim is to develop an individual as to make him feel and realize that he is the part of the whole humanity and in all activities he feels this Oneness . " सो अहम् अस्मि इति वृत्ति अखंडा " (तुलसी रामचरितमानस में ) और "सोअहम अस्मि " (ईशावाश्य उपनिषद /१६ ) " That I (also) am
''So we can conclude the Non-violence /Love is the Cardinal Virtue to MK.Gandhi that made him Mahatma ;The Great Soul and the cardinal Sin is all that is thought .done or behaved touched with violence .
ON PATRIOTISM , NATIONALISM AND INTERNATIONALISM
In Mahatma Gandhi’s patriotism and nationalism we do not see or find any narrow-mindedness or exclusiveness , but part of his search for truth through unity in diversity and through service. These were expressions of his Swadeshi and Gram Swaraj spirit, which seeks maximum independence i.e food of the nearer society as a part of the global good. He opines , “I am patriotic because I am human and humane. It is not exclusive. I will not hurt England and Germany to serve India” (CWMG 19:427). For nationalism he said: “Internationalism is possible only when nationalism becomes a fact….It is not nationalism that is evil, it is the narrowness, selfishness, exclusiveness which is the bane of modern nations which is evil (CWMG 27:255). To him nationalism was only a step towards internationalism.
He believed in the ideal of self-reliance , self independence along with that of interdependence and cooperation. He said: “Individual liberty and interdependence are both essential for life in a society. When a man has done all he can for the satisfaction of his essential requirements, he will seek the cooperation of his neighbours for the rest. That will be true cooperation” (CWMG 82:396). Even his struggle for India’s freedom was imbued with this spirit: “I want freedom of my country so that other countries may learn something from this free country of mine….so that the resources of my country may be utilized for the benefit of mankind” (CWMG 28:129).
The concept of sacrifice under Gandhian thinking became a continuous chain from the individual to the world. He described this in a idiom thus: “The logical conclusion of self-sacrifice is that the individual sacrificed himself for the community, the community sacrificed itself for the district, the district for the province, the province for the nation, and the nation for the world. A drop torn from the ocean perished without doing any good. If it remains a part of the ocean, it shared the glory of carrying on its bosom a fleet of mighty ships” (CWMG 86:23).
Mahatmaa Gandhi much earlier advocated WORLD CITIZENSHIP and followed it himself as now it has become very recent and prevailing thought and concept of '' WORLD A GLOBAL VILLAGE ''
" Impressions of Gandhi ? You might well ask for someone's impression of the Himalayas."
- George Bernard Shaw
The life of Mahatma Gandhi is , as Shaw rightly said , is multifarious and multitudinous and the impressions cast by him on humanity as a whole is not only historic but epoch-making . He is like Himalaya on one head of the earth and coral-reef on the other end in the ocean coast lines and the sea ... generally people only say of good things and others say and do things but it was the man who did those things first that wanted to say and then said not in words but through action . His famous premise in the world thought is - '' my life is my mission . '' I feel to be sure that Gandhi Ji would be among very few in the world of these days and the days of very past who has expressed his thoughts on paper and in public and invited others on him , more than any to be written , read and discussed .......he himself has covered thousand of pages through ' Young India ' and ' Harijan " ....Gandhi Life and Work in English and in Hindi [ Gandhi wangmaya ] in 90 volumes are vast narratives of the activities of this little-great , poor-king .
No corner of human life and all around man has been left untouched and uninterpreted in real old and ancient style but extraordinarily fresh and new ........none could ever believe that what Jesus , Shri Ram , Lord Krishna and Lord Buddha said of heavenly thoughts would be materialized on this earth . But he did it and used his own life as an experiment and whole world accepted and recognized though in the beginning laughed at , criticized and disapproved . Here in this issue I would like to see very few aspect of Gandhian impressions on our (human) individual , social , political , religious -moral ,economical and national and international life .
ON INDIVIDUAL HUMAN BEING .
On planet earth man is the supreme creature and with best brain -power and exploring and discovering potentials . It seems , rather supposed that all flora and fauna , all natural resources re meant for the facilitation of better and happier life of human being . This by virtue of being the best man has the responsibility to follow the role of the Master who applies the rule of '' live and let live '' . He is expected (by Nature / God ) to harmonize his life with the all creature and creation around him and here comes the need of being non-violent to all others , the first principle that Gandhi Ji puts before us .The concept of Non-violence in very broader sense is to harm none living or non-living . This concept of non-violence / Ahimsa give out thereafter eight more rules to be followed viz . not having those thing in others share or possessions ( Asteya ) , not having more than your needs ( Aparigrha ) , following the rules of nature / ' Rit ' ( Brhmcharya ) , cleanliness of body and mind ( Shaucha ) , contentment with all that you hve ( Sntosha ) , accepting all that cold -hot , good-bad is inflicted upon you by nature and physical labour ( Tapah or Shrama ) and contemplation ( Swadhyay ) . If you follow these ten virtues only then and then you can claim yourself as true man , pure man and thus cant attain TRUTH , the ultimate reality . [ these all bows are said to be taken by Gandhi Ji fro m Jain - Philosophy and Patanjal -Yoga and these bows were the essential part of the evening prayer recited at the end of prayer and were binding to follow all those who lived in the Ashrm ]
Gandhi Ji was different from that idea of Marx where individual was committed to nation as human resource as he thought that man is the basic unit of society and state at large and if the unit is perfect society is all well and perfect .......the idea he took from '' RAM-RAJYA '' wherein all the citizens are honest , loving , kind , etc etc and that they did not need any administration ( compare the ultimate social status and state of Communism of Karl Marx ) ....what Marx wishes to do by State Gandhi Ji suggests ny sublimating the citizens of the state .
Truth was Gandhiji's favorite human value which inspired his autobiography "My Experiments with Truth " Satya Meva Jayate '' was his slogan. Youth must differentiate between truth and blind belief. Gandhiji wanted every individual and society to practice truth at any cost. He emphasised that all religions, philosophies, societies have unambiguously advocated truth. According to him truth was God and that truth must manifest itself in thought, word and deed. He did accept the path of truth will always be full of hardships, difficulties, sufferings, and sacrifices. To tell the truth one must be courageous. Youth must note that no society readily accepts any social transformation. Hence the students who are acting as agents for reformation will have to face public censure and the wrath of society. Self determination, strong will power and profound belief in one's conviction will help the youth to lead the society. Treading the path of truth is a continuous and unending process which has to be followed by every generation
ON SOCIETY AND SOCIAL STRUCTURE .
Gandhi Ji was neither supporter of socialism of Marx ( Communism ) nor Capitalism ( individual freedom to accumulate property ) . He gave an idea of trusteeship and Sarvodya ( uplift of all ).
As opposed to class struggle or using authority of state for equal distribution he wanted voluntary and willingly to return to the state or to the person who needed it ( Sarvodaya ) ...he got this idea from Leo Tolstoy , '' Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.'' ... he also parried this idea with ' Ram -Rajya , where every one knows well of his duties and rights and is also aware of the public good as a whole .
The idea or theory of 'Sarvodaya' is the greatest good of all through truth and non-violence became the ultimate goal of Gandhi in social welfare. His methods of working towards this goal were different from those of many other leaders and social reformers of his time ( communism and state socialism ). He took an integrated view of life and disapproved of dividing an individual's life into different compartments. Also the individual was looked upon by him not as a separate entity but as a constituent unit of society.
To Gandhi, the individual was as important, if not more, than the society, as he firmly believed that the happiness of the individual formed the constituent part of the happiness of the society. So, for him, social welfare meant the conscious submission of the individual and a voluntary contribution of one's possession to the society, which consisted of all, not a majority and, in return, the social system, built upon the principles of non-violence and democracy, was to give a complete guarantee for the maximum development of the individual's personality.
Gandhi also gave the impression of Swadeshi ( indigenous ) and Gram- Swraj ( Independent Villages as unit of state ) ......
''After much thinking I have arrived at a definition of Swadeshi that, perhaps, best illustrates my meaning. Swadeshi is that spirit in us which restricts us to the use and service of our immediate surroundings to the exclusion of the more remote. Thus, as for religion, in order to satisfy the requirements of the definition, I must restrict myself to my ancestral religion. That is the use of my immediate religious surrounding. If I find it defective, I should serve it by purging it of its defects. In the domain of politics, I should make use of the indigenous institutions and serve them by curing them of their proved defects. In that of economics, I should use only things that are produced by my immediate neighbours and serve those industries by making them efficient and complete where they might be found wanting. It is suggested that such Swadeshi, if reduced to practice, will lead to the millennium, because we do not expect quite to reach it within our times, so may we not abandon Swadeshi even though it may not be fully attained for generations to come. India has had experience of..... village republics. I fancy that they were unconsciously governed by non-violence..... An effort has now to be made to revive them under a deliberate non-violent plan......(H, 4-8-1940, p. 240)
The best, quickest and most efficient way is to build up from the bottom..... Every village has to become a self-sufficient republic. This does not require brave resolutions. It requires brave, corporate, intelligent work.....(H, 18-1-1922, p. 4)
Independence must begin at the bottom. Thus, every village will be a republic or Panchayat having full powers. It follows, therefore, that every village has to be self-sustained and capable of managing its affairs even to the extent of defending itself against the whole world. It will be trained and prepared to perish in the attempt to defend itself against any onslaught from without. Thus, ultimately, it is the individual who is the unit.
This does not exclude dependence on and willing help from neighbours or from the world. It will be free and voluntary play of mutual forces. Such a society is necessarily highly cultured in which every man and woman knows what he or she wants and, what is more, knows that no one should want anything that others cannot have with equal labour.
This society must naturally be based on truth and non-violence which, in my opinion, are not possible without a living belief in God, meaning a self-existent, All-knowing living Force which inheres every other force known to the world and which depends on none and which will live when all other forces may conceivably perish or cease to act. I am unable to account for my life without belief in this all-embracing living light.
In this structure composed of innumerable villages there will be ever-widening, never-ascending circles. Life will not be a pyramid with the apex sustained by the bottom. But it will be an oceanic circle whose centre will be the individual always ready to perish for the village, till at last the whole becomes one life composed of individuals, never aggressive in their arrogance, but ever humble, sharing the majesty of the oceanic circle of which they are integral units. Therefore, the outermost circumference will not wield power to crush the inner circle, but will give strength to all within and derive its own strength from it. I may be taunted with the retort that this is all Utopian and, therefore, not worth a single thought. If Euclid's point, though incapable of being drawn by human agency has an imperishable value, my picture has its own for mankind to live.
Let India live for this true picture, though never realizable in its completeness. We must have a proper picture of what we want before we can have something approaching it. If there ever is to be a republic of every village in India, then I claim verity for my picture in which the last is equal to the first or, in other words, none is to be the first and none the last. In this picture every religion has its full and equal place. We are all leaves of a majestic tree whose trunk cannot be shaken off its roots which are deep down in the bowels of the earth. The mightiest wind cannot move it. In this there is no room for machines that would displaces human labour and would concentrate power in a few hands. Labour has its unique place in a cultured human family. Every machine that helps every individual has a place. But I must confess that I have never sat down to think out what that machine can be. I have thought of Singer's sewing machine. But even that is perfunctory. I do not need it to fill in my picture. ....[ quoted from selected works of M K Gandhi ]
.ON POLITICS
'' Men say I am a saint losing myself in politics. The fact is that I am a politician trying my hardest to become a saint.'' (Mahatma Gandhi )
Gandhi was not an Academic Political Philosopher and did not follow or attached him with any system or political thought from Plato to the present day but his political thought was based totally on his own philosophical trio of politics for welfare of public with morals and equality or equal opportunity ....he was against the modern common and widespread prevalent idea of Secular Politics , where religion has no role to play in politics . Gandhi Ji of the firm belief that there can not be justice with politics without religion . All his sayings were pouring from his deep feelings and sincere realization of the truth. He writes , '' Those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion is.''
Gandhi's political thought stems from different traditions, Eastern and Western. Though he had inherited many traditions he had not agreed in to with any one of them. He had picked up many traditional concepts from his immediate predecessors as well as from ancient texts. Gandhi did never claim to be an original thinker. But when we look into all his sayings we find a conceptual framework, common to a philosopher. Moreover, when we find that his theoretical formulations and practical pursuits are identical, we have every reason to accept him as a philosopher in the Indian sense. But unlike other philosophers and political scientists of both the East and the West, only he could emerge not only as the man of destiny of the nation but also as the man of the millennium.
Gandhi was a combinations of a prophet and a politician of the highest caliber. So he had combined within himself aspects of the Philosopher and politician.. It can be said that Gandhi considered politics as an instrument for the uplift of mankind in social, economic, moral and spiritual spheres. Gandhi himself admitted to his South African friend that his bent of mind was religious and not political. Romain Rolland in his biography of Gandhi written in 1924, had remarked that if Tilak would not have died Gandhi might have chosen a religious life rather than a political. TO Gandhi politics itself was his religion. He was opposed to politicizing religion. He was for spiritualizing religion but he was essentially a worldly man and never sought this own salvation secluded from the world. For him politics had encircled him like the coil of a snake. He must wrestle with the snake, there is no respite. He could have thought of avoiding politics, if without politics food and work could be provided to the hungry unemployed people of India. He strongly felt that without involving himself in politics it is not possible to remove socio-economic exploitation and political subjugation and thereby moral degradation of the people of Indian unless he involved himself in politics.
Gandhi had a vision of transforming the socially and morally degenerated and separated individuals in a manner where individuals can enjoy their freedom in a spirit altruism. To understand Gandhi's politics it is also necessary to understand Gandhi's concern for the cleavage between state and civil society. The community life is fast diminishing and civil society could not formulate any mechanism to control it.
A universal morality would emerge which would create an atmosphere for healthy political life. We should accept self-transformation as a continuous process. Gandhi was emphatic in saying that politics bereft of religion is a death trap which kills the soul. By spiritualization of politics, Gandhi meant something larger than our day to day life but not excluding world of day to day experiences. A community of persons on the process of self-realization be able to resist the corrupting influences of existing interests.
Even in Gandhi's life time great minds of the world saw in his work the promise of a new world. One of them is Romain Rolland (1866-1944) who wrote in his Mahatma Gandhi: The Man who Became One With the Universal Being (1924): "With Gandhi everything is nature, modest, simple, pure - while all his struggles are hallowed by religious serenity even in politics ;tics and fight and struggle for freedom from slavery in the world by non-violence and peace full movements ." Gandhi's gentle religious temper which was active in his politics was, however, observed as the best alternative in modern world .
In his presidential address at the annual session of the Indian National Congress held at Belgium in 1924. The Mahatma said at the end of his address: "Satyagraha is search for truth; and God is Truth. Ahimsa and Nonviolence is the light that reveals that truth to me. Swearer for me is a part of that truth"
.ON RELIGION ...
'' What is not moral can not be religious '' [ M K Gandhi ]
When we read the various statements of Gandhi on his theories of Religion it seems ambiguous and Equivocal = (open to two or more interpretations; or of uncertain nature or significance; or (often) intended to mislead ) but this shows that he does not use much logic and intellect to confuse him and others around ,instead he uses his extraordinary wisdom to follow his own and respect others in the equal and in the same spirit . say , he uses faith and devotion in matter of religion as it is Gold that always glitters and God is God equally distributed, everywhere and all the time .this is bare fact that he takes in-toto . some of his thoughts -
He believes in historical king Ram king of Ayoddhya son of Dashrath as God and his God as he calls God as Truth and equal to Allah in Muslims -
रघुपति राघव राजा राम ;पतित पावन सीताराम ::ईश्वर अल्ला तेरे नाम ; सबको सन्मति दे भगवान .
"I call myself a Sanatani Hindu, because I believe in the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Puranas, and all that goes by the name of Hindu scripture, and therefore in avataras and rebirth; I believe in the varnashrama dharma in a sense, in my opinion strictly Vedic but not in its presently popular crude sense; I believe in the protection of cow … I do not disbelieve in murti puja." (Young India)
"Hinduism as I know it entirely satisfies my soul, fills my whole being … When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and when I see not one ray of light on the horizon, I turn to the Bhagavad Gita, and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. My life has been full of tragedies and if they have not left any visible and indelible effect on me, I owe it to the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita." (Young India )
"I worship God as Truth only. I have not yet found Him, but I am seeking after Him. I am prepared to sacrifice the things dearest to me in pursuit of this quest. Even if the sacrifice demanded my very life, I hope I may be prepared to give it.
"I regard Jesus as a great teacher of humanity, but I do not regard him as the only begotten son of God. That epithet in its material interpretation is quite unacceptable. Metaphorically we are all sons of God, but for each of us there may be different sons of God in a special sense. Thus for me Chaitanya may be the only begotten son of God … God cannot be the exclusive Father and I cannot ascribe exclusive divinity to Jesus." (Harijan )
"I believe that there is no such thing as conversion from one faith to another in the accepted sense of the word. It is a highly personal matter for the individual and his God. I may not have any design upon my neighbour as to his faith, which I must honour even as I honour my own. Having reverently studied the scriptures of the world I could no more think of asking a Christian or a Musalman, or a Parsi or a Jew to change his faith than I would think of changing my own." (Harijan )
"I came to the conclusion long ago … that all religions were true and also that all had some error in them, and whilst I hold by my own, I should hold others as dear as Hinduism. So we can only pray, if we are Hindus, not that a Christian should become a Hindu … But our innermost prayer should be a Hindu should be a better Hindu, a Muslim a better Muslim, a Christian a better Christian." (Young India ) He said to one of his Christian friend in London , when asked about Christianity ....'' I like your Christ but I do not like your Christians as your Christian are so unlike your Christ '' He meant that all should follow their religion , scriptures , prophets and religious rules in word and spirit and be true to his own religion .
Gandhi ,thus is the only person ,who is a perfect Hindu but does not claim his religion better to others and respect others in the same spirit and still the champion to all those who are leaders ,thinkers and philosophers of different world religions .He seems ambiguous in theories but accepts these as such without any criticism or need of correction .if we all can follow him in the same spirit there can be one different world of peace ,love ,brotherhood and non-violence .others are preaching religion but he lived a religious man 's life ....
ON ECONOMY
Gandhi has been known as promoter of economic development through Swaraj and self‐reliant village economy He stood for economic wealth generation pursuing ethics and moral principles and ensuring equitable distribution among the members of society .Gandhi was not a professional economists and not an academician even but was a charismatic leader of the Indian National Movement with primary purpose of obtaining freedom from the colonial rule and restoring self confidence of the villagers, who make up most of India’s population. His economic thought was a part of this vision to begin with and yet when the movement gathered strength and the goal for independence was turning real, he became accommodating of the roles of entrepreneurs and other participant players of the economy from practical considerations which remained firmly rooted to the core value that economy and ethics were inseparable
Gandhi, true to his vocation of being leader of masses in India, enunciated his position on economics in the language of the people, rather than academic economists and so the economists never noticed that he was in fact, a great economist in his own right, and may well emerge as the greatest of them all. “when the history of economic thought in India of recent times comes to be written, Gandhi’s name will certainly occupy a place of honour in it … It does not matter in this context whether we call Gandhi as economist or not that is partly, at any rate, a question of definition of terms”. Gandhi was a charismatic leader of the Indian National Movement. He was inspired by Swaraj (self‐government) which for him, meant not just freedom from colonial rule but the achievement of self‐reliance and self respect, by the villagers who make up most of India’s population. His economics was a part of this vision, which ruled out industrialization on western lines as the ‘optimal’ path of economic development for India. His thought was to apply only to few selected aspects of that society but neglecting others but that is true of all economic models. While analyzing Gandhi, one is to keep the context of his writings in mind.
Gandhi’s thoughts are expressed as mostly they appeared in news papers and weekly journals young India , Navjiban and Harijan and were addressed to mass audience whose attention he tried to capture by making his points short and sharp, and exaggeration was price of successful journalism. Gandhi‘s writings were produced and published in the heat of political battle which led to simplified, sometimes oversimplified conclusions. Gandhi unlike most of the academicians, was penning his thoughts after living through multilingual, multi religious, multi-layered, multi ethical society robbed of its self respect and resigned to its fate. He was giving out his formulation in their context which perhaps insulated academicians and those bred on alien milieu would find difficult to assimilate and more so if his prescriptions come in the way as constraining force for the expansion of their economic designs. As an experimenter, he was ever willing to change his views and formulations and was not dogmatic. He was willing to change his views if he was wrong as he has averred in his preface to his work Hind Swaraj. In his view, he came to accept the usefulness of certain technologies which were commented upon by him adversely earlier and admitted that with appropriate restrictions, such technologies would be adaptable. Gandhi’s distinctive approach to economic issues is his extraordinary emphasis on the ethical concept of economic behaviour. He firmly believed that economics and ethical questions were inseparable. He was assertive that ethical and economic criteria must be considered together for either to be valid. According to him true economics never militates against the highest ethical standards just true ethics, to be worth its name, must be good economics. If the two cannot be reconciled either the concept of that ethic is false or economic interest takes the form of unmitigated selfishness and does not aim at collective welfare. Gandhi was aware that standard economic analysis failed to take ethical considerations into account and that economics itself had become largely irrelevant for either understanding behaviour or for existing as a policy. Thus, he argued, economist conduct into account but estimate prosperity from the amount of wealth alone. He likens the economics that disregards moral and sentimental considerations towards wax works that being life‐like still lack the life of living flesh. “If individual liberty goes then surely all is lost for if the individual ceases to count, what is left of society? No society can possibly be built on a denial of individual freedom. It is contrary to the very nature of man.
source [ Collected works of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol. 21 & Vol. 31, p. 27 ]
ON NON-VIOLENCE THE CARDINAL -VALUE
According to Gandhi Ji no activity in individual life , society , nation or world with whole humanity is ideal or perfect that is not justified by non-violence .
The Means to Ends are corrupt not the ends because the ends are the crops that we harvest .Means are the seeds and ends the fruits . as you show so shall you reap .the means ,smallest that may be ;should be pure and pious .
The more laws, more police , more inspection and more inquiry shows that we are growing more and more corrupt (call ourselves civilized).really to root out corruption we need more ,better and proper /right education .we have to make corrupt -proof individual . here Gandhi comes to our rescue .we should apply RIGHT means to achieve any thing in our life .
"माता सम देखहिं पर नारी ;धनु पराव विष ते विष भारी (रामचरितमानस में तुलसी )
our culture allows us to have one woman as wife and others as mothers and if we are not honest and moral (follow the western style ) we can suffer as ever .to love one person as wife or husband and to deceive her/him in love is moral meanness and worst of corruptions .a person who commits adultery is a criminal (Bible )
There are varieties of poisons and thousands ways to kill men but the money and the means that is not earnestly your is the most fatal than any .( and this poison i.e. corrupt money and means every one is striving to earn extraordinarily ,amazingly and deliberately .)
It has always seemed strange to me... the Virtues we admire viz. kindness , generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling, are the concomitants of failure in our society and those vices we condemn, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest, are the common clue to success. Vow ! we admire the first and strive for second for instant results seems to be success , although we know , these bring to us unending miseries .
Love begets love and hate begets hate. hate can not win hate but love wins hate . love does not win love but begets love . hate can neither win hate nor love it begets only hate and enmity . thus hate has nothing to win but love has to win but hate . love never does win love ;love begets love and love always sacrifices to other love . so violence has to be won only by non-violence . non-violence is relevant till the violence prevails . violence has to win but nothing .say violence has no winning power or potential .non-violence has it .
That is why in all religions Truth has been crowned. in our Vaidic scriptures it has been said " it is Truth that wins not the untruth " " सत्यमेव जयते नानृतम " . The weapon of Gandhi is non-violence ;the well thought theory as violence has no winning power ,it can defeat none ; it is born to be defeated only and non- violence is born to win violence . this is All-time ,Eternal Rule of Nature and no power can record it otherwise . this simple premise says - "Gandhi whose weapon is non-violence is eternal winner and therefore Gandhi is relevant till there is violence and war . peace does not go to war but see ! war always goes to peace (world history )
In any activity of life ,therefore , non-violence is the test. non-violence is next to truth . Gandhi says - truth is not known to us nor easily attainable .non-violence is real and practical truth to us . if you follow non-violence you follow the truth . therefore any action having the slightest tinge of violence can not be regarded as Right Means and the Ends thus achieved are devastating and ruinous . non-violence is the test of all the actions and means that gives us a perfect human trait . in Bible Jesus calls the man as the Salt of the Earth and this Salt in man is nothing but non-violence and love (positive of non-violence ) . the aim is to develop an individual as to make him feel and realize that he is the part of the whole humanity and in all activities he feels this Oneness . " सो अहम् अस्मि इति वृत्ति अखंडा " (तुलसी रामचरितमानस में ) और "सोअहम अस्मि " (ईशावाश्य उपनिषद /१६ ) " That I (also) am
''So we can conclude the Non-violence /Love is the Cardinal Virtue to MK.Gandhi that made him Mahatma ;The Great Soul and the cardinal Sin is all that is thought .done or behaved touched with violence .
ON PATRIOTISM , NATIONALISM AND INTERNATIONALISM
In Mahatma Gandhi’s patriotism and nationalism we do not see or find any narrow-mindedness or exclusiveness , but part of his search for truth through unity in diversity and through service. These were expressions of his Swadeshi and Gram Swaraj spirit, which seeks maximum independence i.e food of the nearer society as a part of the global good. He opines , “I am patriotic because I am human and humane. It is not exclusive. I will not hurt England and Germany to serve India” (CWMG 19:427). For nationalism he said: “Internationalism is possible only when nationalism becomes a fact….It is not nationalism that is evil, it is the narrowness, selfishness, exclusiveness which is the bane of modern nations which is evil (CWMG 27:255). To him nationalism was only a step towards internationalism.
He believed in the ideal of self-reliance , self independence along with that of interdependence and cooperation. He said: “Individual liberty and interdependence are both essential for life in a society. When a man has done all he can for the satisfaction of his essential requirements, he will seek the cooperation of his neighbours for the rest. That will be true cooperation” (CWMG 82:396). Even his struggle for India’s freedom was imbued with this spirit: “I want freedom of my country so that other countries may learn something from this free country of mine….so that the resources of my country may be utilized for the benefit of mankind” (CWMG 28:129).
The concept of sacrifice under Gandhian thinking became a continuous chain from the individual to the world. He described this in a idiom thus: “The logical conclusion of self-sacrifice is that the individual sacrificed himself for the community, the community sacrificed itself for the district, the district for the province, the province for the nation, and the nation for the world. A drop torn from the ocean perished without doing any good. If it remains a part of the ocean, it shared the glory of carrying on its bosom a fleet of mighty ships” (CWMG 86:23).
Mahatmaa Gandhi much earlier advocated WORLD CITIZENSHIP and followed it himself as now it has become very recent and prevailing thought and concept of '' WORLD A GLOBAL VILLAGE ''
