UNIT 1
GANDHI’S VIEWS ON SOCIAL CHANGE
Structure
1.1 Introduction
Aims and Objectives
1.2 Why Social Change?
1.2.1 Models of People
1.2.2 The Functionalist Perspective
1.3 Social Change in India
1.3.1 Trivarnic to Chaturvarnic Society
1.3.2 Social Reformers
1.4 Gandhi and Social Change
1.5 Unconventional Techniques
1.5.1
1.5.2
1.5.3
1.5.4
1.5.5
1.5.6
Daridranarayan
Strain-free Nationalism
Abolition of Untouchability
Accepting Varnas and Denouncing Caste System
Reservation
Participation of Women
1.6 Summary
1.7 Terminal Questions
Suggested Readings
1.1
INTRODUCTION
Social change is a general term which refers to

A change in social structure: the nature, the social institutions, the social behaviour or
the social relations of a society, community of people and so on.

When behaviour patterns change in large numbers, and this change is visible and
sustained: once there is deviance from culturally-inherited values, rebellion against the
established system may result, leading to a change in the social order.

Any event or action that affects a group of individuals who have shared values or
characteristics.

Acts of advocay for the cause of changing society in a way subjectively perceived
as normatively desirable.
One of the most popular and succinct definitions of social change is supplied by Charles
Harper in his ‘Exploring Social Change’, where it is characterised as the “significant
alteration of social structure and cultural patterns through time.” He goes on to explain
that this social structure is made up of “a persistent network of social relationships” in
which interaction between people or groups has become repetitive (Harper, 1993, p.5).
The resultant changes can affect everything from population to the economy, which, as it
12
Gandhi’s Social Thought
so happens, alongside such others as industrialisation and shifting cultural norms and
values, are also established agents of social change.
The concept of social change implies measurement of some of the characteristics of a
group of individuals. While the term is usually applied to changes that are beneficial to
society, it may also result in negative side-effects and consequences that undermine or
eliminate existing ways of life that are considered positive.
Aims and Objectives
After reading this Unit, you would be able to understand

The concept and meaning of social change

Gandhi’s views on the necessity of social change

The techniques he propounded and practised to bring about a social change
1.2
1.2.1
WHY SOCIAL CHANGE?
Models of People
Generally there are two sources or dimensions of change. One source is non-systematic
change, such as climate change, some kind of technology innovation from the outside, or
changes forced by foreign countries.
The other source is a systems change. Eisenstadt (1973) argued that modernisation
required a basic level of free resources and the development of standardised and
predictable institutions, such as a stable but flexible market system and political process.
An additional requirement was that governing institutions be flexible enough to adapt to
the changes that come up. Most of the time, changes to society come about through
some combination of both systematic and non-systematic processes.
1.2.2
The Functionalist Perspective
Functionalists perceive society to be a system comprising various functions that operate
collectively to maintain order and stability. According to Talcott Parsons, one of the
leaders of this School, change stems from other social systems (through, for instance,
cultural influence, as in the case of English education in the former colonies of the British
Empire) and tensions and strains within the system itself, especially those related to
economic activities (Popenoe, 1995,p.137). Functionalism, writes Michael Haralambos,
holds that the economy is solely responsible for resolving societal problems, with
industralism playing an especially crucial role (Haralambos and Holborn, 2004, p.94). He
explains how, through production and various other economic activities, social change is
accelerated such that society has to adapt as a whole: a change in one part effects all
the others. These activities include improvements in technology, whereby new innovations
come to the fore, and trade with other countries. Social change in the functionalist view
can also occur at different levels, be it on a micro scale (involving the groups and people
within one’s immediate environment) or at a macro level (economic, political and
educational systems, for instance). Functionalists also believe that cultural norms and
values unite society, which is largely resistant to change, and thus ensure that change in
social structure is likely to be slow if it conflicts with entrenched cultural, religious or
political principles. The time frame of change also plays a significant role, and the
distinction between long-term and short-term change is important. According to Harper,
Gandhi’s view on Social Change
13
short-term changes, as in family developmental stages, may be obvious and easy to
comprehend, but they may not actually constitute changes at all in the long run (Harper,
1993, p.7).
1.3
SOCIAL CHANGE IN INDIA
Tradition-breaking influences, operative over a period of time, have weakened the links
which bound the various elements of the popular Indian society. Hinduism has developed
a sense of obligation to the social whole and committed to the principle of equality. The
provisions of the Constitution laying down fundamental rights, the reform of marriage and
inheritance laws, the change in the sacramental character of marriage, the rising to the
surface, economically and politically, of the submerged communities, have given it a further
shakeup. As a matter of fact, caste, the sheet anchor of popular Hinduism, has become
a negation of society. Three thousand aggregates of people, rigidly exclusive, aliens
socially to each other, neither inter-dining nor intermarrying, each claiming superiority over
the other, can never make an integrated nation. The way to progress is through the
widening of the circle of social activity and relationships and the collective consciousness
of social life is the inspiration for the highest forms of social endeavour. Enmeshed in the
interminable webs of the caste system the collective consciousness has tended to
disappear. Therefore, unless the chaos of castes is ended, it may not possible to explore
new ways to a homogeneous, creative and co-operative fellowship. Surprisingly enough,
while the abolition of castes has become a historical necessity, the psychological insecurity
produced by the weakening of some of the binding links of religion and tradition makes
people cling to castes.
1.3.1
Trivarnic to Chaturvarnic Society
When the curtain rises we find the country peopled by a number of heterogeneous
communities striving for integration. There is the open, pastoral, trivarnic Aryan society
with its simple religion, with no hint in the earlier hymns of the doctrine of transmigration
or of ideas concerning purity and pollution comparable to those of present day Hinduism.
There is the highly developed and differentiated urban society of the ‘Dasyus’. There is
a host of smaller peoples and tribes. Added to natural barriers are the psychological and
social barriers. The colour consciousness of the Aryans and the distinction between a
Dvija and an Advya begin the stratification. A new Varna, the ‘Shudra’ or artisan, is
added and the trivarnic society becomes chaturvarnic.
This schematic and theoretical division into four horizontal groups is an abstraction.
Endogamous groups rather than classes become the locus of status. Caste becomes a
reality, varna a valuable fiction. The extension of caste society becomes possible by its
accepting into its fold local groups and forcibly assigning to them subordinate places in
the hierarchy. Racial elements, powerful enough to resist assimilation and organised enough
to maintain their separateness, retain their identities reconciling themselves to the unedifying
position of non Dvijas and recognising the superiority of the Brahmin. Weaker groups are
relegated to a position outside the chaturvarnic order, made to move to the outskirts of
the village and held in a form of communal slavery which is as impersonal as it is
inhuman.
Freed of the drudgery of work, the Brahmin mind developed a thirst for knowledge.
Metaphysics and Philosophy are born. There are brilliant attempts to explain the world
through various hypotheses. Hindu speculation assumes greater subtlety. With the assumption
14
Gandhi’s Social Thought
that the world of perceptual knowledge was an illusion come further assumptions which
go to fashion the doctrine of Maya and Karma. The division of an individual’s life into
Brahmacharya, Grihasthya, Vanaprastha, and Sannyasa is a striking illustration of the
doctrine being carried to its logical limit. Life is to begin with mendicancy and end with
complete renunciation of the world and equally complete absorption in the self with a
view to attaining the bliss which worldly life does not and cannot vouchsafe.
Renunciation and not living is the end of life. On this structure of thought is superimposed
the caste system and this is linked with Karma. It validates the differences in status.
These ideas emanating from Brahmin centres of learning infiltrate into the different people
and tribes of India, each with its own traditions, customs and beliefs and create a bond
which no secular authority could provide, linking diverse beliefs into a consistent pattern
and laying the foundations of a common polity. To the emergence of this fusion and
synthesis, the Dravidian system contributes as much as the Aryan, as is evidenced by the
survival of Indus Valley religious ideas and forms in the Hinduism of today. It is to this
Aryan Dravidian confluence to which flow many other currents that we owe Hindu or
Indian civilisation. ‘Brahmavarta’, as a part of North India was known, expands into
Bharat extending from Kamrup to Kutch and Himalaya to Kanyakumari. The composite
civilisation becomes the heritage of all.
As society grows, more and more complex and horizontal mobility tends to become
vertical, elaborate rules of purity and pollution, both external and internal are formulated.
There are elaborate rules regulating marriage, property-relations and social intercourse.
The low born are barred from wells, schools, temples and not only their duties and
actions are woefully restricted but also their children are prevented from receiving the
education through which alone they could hope for social betterment. While a Brahmin
may legitimately aspire for moksha after death, those at the lower rungs of the ladder can
aspire only for the next higher step. The Varna-Dharma enforces upon the individual the
duty of following the very pattern of behaviour which fixes the position of his group in
the system and rewards him for so doing by making adherence to duty a pathway to
higher status in the next life on earth.
These beliefs and assumptions, it is hardly ever realised, are the products of a socio
economic order which took shape in a particular historical context. They are not born of
the inherent psychological traits of a distinct ethnic category. Many of these assumptions
have a social purpose. They make for stability. They are not divinely ordained, though
they are supposed to be so. But they have become an indivisible part of Hindu life and
continue to exercise a strong influence even when material conditions of life have
completely changed.
1.3.2
Social Reformers
Earlier, Mahavira and Gautama Buddha symbolised the revolt against ritualistic Brahminic
orthodoxy, emphasising the superiority of right conduct over meaningless ritual. During the
medieval period Ramanand, Kabir, Nanak, Raidas and many others stressed the
godliness of man and the sinfulness of denying him his status. In modern time, Vivekananda
emphasised that “the unique characteristics of Hindu Society, the caste, the joint family,
the rights of inheritance and the relationships arising out of them are social and legal and
not religious institutions”. Ram Mohun Roy attempted a reinterpretation of Hinduism, a
synthesis of the doctrines of the European Enlightenment with the ideas of the Upanishads.
Swami Dayanand found in the Vedas inspiration for universal brotherhood and a non-
Gandhi’s view on Social Change
15
metaphysical approach to God and society. But the Hindu society accepted these
changes; gradually the citadel of orthodoxy was held. It was the inherent weakness of the
Hindu society.
1.4
GANDHI AND SOCIAL CHANGE
This was the state of affairs when Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi emerged on the Indian
scene with his austerity, humility and saintliness. He was like a rishi of ancient times who
had stepped out of an epic. He had realised that it was not the British guns but our own
imperfections which kept us in bondage. He knew the weaknesses stemming from the
stratification of the caste system, regionalism, social injustice and ignorance. He was a
devout Hindu, a man of faith, deeply and sincerely religious. But his Hinduism was as
wide as the skies. To the minds conditioned by the ideas of the smritikaras, Kautilya and
Machiavelli and modern political thinking which separate the secular from the religious, his
assertion that life was indivisible and could not be divided into water tight compartments,
was like a breath of fresh air. For him there could be no hiatus between preaching and
practice. He always sought to correlate thought and action and, therefore, for him to
know was to act. Politics, he believed, had not only unavoidable contacts with ethics, it
was conterminous with it. He spoke in a language understood by the masses and because
mass understanding is at a low level, he had sometimes to make efforts to reach that
level. But he spoke with conviction, courage and transparent sincerity. “Truth” and “Nonviolence”, the two words to which he gave such wide currency, epitomised his ideas. He
observed:
It has been said that God is Truth, perhaps it is better said, Truth is God...
Non violence is the law of our species as violence is the law of the brute…..
Even good ends do not justify dubious means…..
Our real enemies are our fears, greeds and egoism...
We must change ourselves before we can change others...
The laws of family, of truth and love and charity are also applicable to groups, countries
and nations...
These are deemed to be wholly impractical concepts in politics. Yet, Gandhi lived in his
own life each one of them.
1.5
UNCONVENTIONAL TECHNIQUES
Gandhi never bothered about developing a well co-ordinated, internally consistent system
of thought. He went through a continuous process of evolution, correcting, modifying or
enlarging his ideas in the light of fresh experience. But he was bound more by the voice
of his conscience, by love of men, than deterred by fear of inconsistency. When he said
that Swaraj could not be granted “even by God but had to be earned”, he appeared to
reject the teleological view, but when he affirmed, in the context of political decisions, that
he was in the hands of God he appeared to confirm it. When he said that the Bihar
earthquake was a retribution for the sins of untouchability, Tagore remonstrated that
unscientific explanation of physical phenomena would deepen the element of unreason. He
was unrepentant and replied that man did not understand the ways of God. He shuddered
16
Gandhi’s Social Thought
when people touched his feet and once said that the cry “Mahatma Gandhi Ki Jai”
pierced his heart like an arrow. But when he decided to embark on a twenty-one day
fast from May 8, 1933, his second for the sake of the depressed classes, he said that
he did so, on a call from within.
‘I had gone to sleep the night before without the slightest idea of having to declare a fast
next morning. At about midnight something wakes me up suddenly, and then some voice
within or without I cannot say whispers, ‘Thou must go on a fast.’ ‘How many days?’
I ask. ‘Twenty-one days.’ ‘When do I begin?’ ‘You begin tomorrow.’
He went off to sleep after making the decision. During one of his tours the inhabitants
of a village told him that his auspicious presence had made the village well miraculously
fill with water. He reproved them:
You are fools. Beyond a doubt it was an accident. Suppose a crow sits on a palm tree
at the moment when the tree falls to the ground. Will you imagine that the weight of the
bird brought down the tree?
1.5.1
Daridranarayan
As a man whose most cherished desire, as he admits in his autobiography, was to see
God face to face and attain moksha, he found the way to it in his love of humanity, in
his ambition to be able to wipe every tear from every eye. While he appeared to agree
with the Marxian analysis that man’s commerce with matter, his economic life, his modes
of production and distribution of economic goods, influence on politics and ethics and
generally the social life of the community, he refused to believe that there was a necessary
correlation between the construction of a new social order and the destruction of the old
one or that the ‘economic’ was the only factor which mattered. He did not accept non
violence as a policy. He accepted it because he considered it more effective than
violence. He believed that the application of moral and psychological means in the form
of mass satyagraha to the regulation of group behaviour was a higher principle than the
application of mere violence or mere external pressure, such as a general strike. He was
a man resolved to refashion history with the weapons of love and truth, a man who had
found effectiveness in morality.
1.5.2
Strain-free Nationalism
During the 1920s and 1930s, Gandhi was busy trying to find a way to greater integration
of our people. He was the first to realise that like the constituent units of Germany and
Russia, but unlike those of the U.S.A., the linguistic regions of India had histories and
traditions which were of value and went far back in time. A composite, strong, strain free
nationalism would seek to safeguard these unbroken traditions and developed languages,
even welcome pride in them, when the primacy of national interests is so willingly
recognised. He had become, in himself, the embodiment of Indian nationalism and it
appeared to him, as to all, a reality beyond question. The two ideas of a national
language and linguistic States were not only, he felt, complementary but also they were
both necessary.
1.5.3
Abolition of Untouchability
The other link through which he wanted to forge greater unity and integration was through
the abolition of untouchability and the revival of the Chaturvarnic concept in all its
pristine purity. Men are born equal but they are also born with varying inclinations,
Gandhi’s view on Social Change
17
temperaments, attitudes and aptitudes. Their spiritual growths differ. Instead of letting
struggle and competition determine and categorise these differences, would it not be
infinitely better, he argued, if the Chaturvarna and heredity were accepted as a natural
regulatory principle. Month after month, week after week, he returned to the theme in his
Young India and, later, in Harijan. About untouchables he said:
“Socially, they are lepers, economically they are worse, religiously they are denied access
to places we miscall houses of God... If we do not efface untouchability, we shall be
effaced from the face of the Earth... The four varnas are fundamental, natural, essential,
while the innumerable castes and sub castes are excrescences…… (Young India, 08-121920; p.3). Varna fulfils Nature’s law of conservation of human and true economics... It
is the classification of different systems of self-culture. It is the best possible adjustment
of social stability and progress. It tries to include families of a particular way of purity
of life. Only it does not leave the decision whether a particular family belongs to a
particular type to the idiosyncrasy or interested judgments of a few individuals. It trusts
to the principle of heredity and being only a system of culture does not hold that any
injustice is done if an individual or a family has to remain in a group in spite of their
decision to change their mode of life for the better. Change comes very slowly in social
life and caste has allowed new groupings to suit the changes. These changes are quiet and
easy as a change in the shape of the clouds. It is difficult to imagine a more harmonious
adjustment... Caste does not connote superiority or inferiority. It simply recognizes
different outlooks and corresponding modes of life…. Caste is the classification of
different systems of self-culture. It is the extension of the principle of the family. Both are
governed by blood and heredity... Its value from the economic point of view was very
great. It ensured hereditary skill. It limited competition. It was a remedy against
pauperism. It had the advantage of trade guilds (ibid., 05-01-1921; p.2). It was man’s
experiment in social adjustment in the laboratory of Indian society. If we can prove it to
be a success it can be offered to the world as a leaven and as the best remedy against
heartless competition…Varna is inherent in human nature. Hinduism has reduced it to a
science... Caste, as at present, is a distortion. But in our eagerness to abolish the
distortion let us not abolish the original…. It is not a human invention but an immutable
law of nature, the statement of a tendency that is ever present and at work like Newton’s
Law of Gravitation…”
1.5.4
Accepting Varnas and Denouncing Caste System
Mahatma Gandhi uses varna and caste as interchangeable terms and believes that all
types of men can be categorised under four broad occupations: teaching, defending,
wealth producing and manual labour. He wrote: Such is the varna system which we are
trying to resuscitate. It is like Dame Parkington with a mop trying to push back the
Atlantic Ocean.
And Gandhi proved to be prophetic so far as the desired resuscitation was concerned.
While Gandhi elaborated and stressed his conception of caste and varna expecting the
Hindu conscience to catch up with the new thinking, he considered the eradication of
untouchability as a matter of the gravest urgency. His fast, which commenced on 20th
September 1932, as a protest against Ramsay Mac-Donald’s Communal Award, was a
historic event. But Gandhi was against any kind of separation since he considered it bad
for both Hindus and untouchables.
18
Gandhi’s Social Thought
And ultimately he came to the conclusion that caste had to go. He wrote:
‘The most effective, quickest and the most unobtrusive way to destroy caste is for the
reformers to begin the practice themselves, and when necessary take the consequences...
It is desirable that caste Hindu girls should marry Harijan husbands. That is better than
Harijan girls marrying caste Hindu husbands. If I had my way, I would persuade all caste
Hindu girls coming under my influence to marry Harijan husbands’.
On another occasion, he said that caste ought to go root and branch, if untouchability had
to be completely eradicated. Since he had finally come to that conclusion, he was
questioned, as to why he did not make anti-untouchability work part of a wider crusade
against the caste system, because, if the root was dug out the branches would wither
away themselves. Gandhi replied:
‘It is one thing for me to hold certain views, quite another to make my views acceptable
in their entirety to society at large. If I live up to 125 years, I do expect to convert the
entire Hindu society to my view’.
The social problem, apart from the problem of untouchables, it is generally held, is
economic. If the economic problem is rightly tackled the rest need not matter. It seems
to be a very superficial view. Gandhi’s dictum of the indivisibility of life supports that our
approach must be integrated and that while the economic and political must receive
adequate attention, the social may be ignored only at peril to both.
Today casteism has permeated political life to such an extent that the very structure of
our democracy is threatened. None appears to take note of this cancer. Tension is
mounting and yet the atmosphere of drift continues. The levers of caste are manipulated
by all those striving for political power not in the furtherance of an integrated nationalism
but for sectarian ends which weaken the composite fabric. What is needed is a
mobilisation of the nation’s moral and spiritual resources in a social and intellectual
crusade against this pernicious system which must be ended before it ends democracy.
The consciousness of the bond of unity must extend beyond caste and region.
1.5.5
Reservation
Gandhi was not happy at having had to accept reservation though he made it clear that
the fast was not directed against it. It was separate electorates he could not accept and
he was pleased when the Poona Pact ended them. The fast initiated an emotional churning
of Hindu society. It did not kill untouchability. It could not. Nor did segregation and
repression end. But untouchability forfeited public approval. It snapped a long chain that
stretched back into antiquity. Some links of the chain remained. But nobody would gorge
new links. Nobody would link the links.
This manifestation of the emotional upheaval found a concrete expression in the launching
of the Anti untouchability League on 30th September, 1932, which, later, when Gandhi
evolved the new term “Harijan”, became the Harijan Sevak Sangh. Many among caste
Hindus, however, were not happy. An all India agitation was launched against the Pact
aimed at preventing its inclusion in the Government of India Act.
1.5.6
Participation of Women
The Gandhi movement wrought another significant social reform. Women, even in the
purdah ridden areas of North India, attended his meetings in large numbers. Many
participated in the movement and courted imprisonment. If India today boasts of the
Gandhi’s view on Social Change
19
largest number of women legislators in the world the credit, in large part for the
revolution, goes to Gandhi. He did not, however, make a frontal attack against caste.
Initially he had felt that a reformed caste system could provide the links that would forge
Hinduism into a nation. But he was gradually disillusioned.
1.6
SUMMARY
Gandhi did not succeed in bringing about a radical change in the Hindu social order. He
did not aspire or work for it. But he did put untouchables on the road to emancipation.
The emancipation of the Hindu mind, which alone will herald the new order, must
necessarily be a long drawn and painful process. The class problem which calls for a
guarantee of the minimum necessaries of life, housing, employment, quality-integrated
neighbourhood school for all, cannot be separated from the caste problem which is the
problem of a moral and mental revolution. But time is running out. The deepening caste
distrust is not inevitable. What is needed is commitment to action on a massive scale, to
make democracy equally good for all, to promote increasing communication across caste
lines and to halt polarisation. And whatever action is proposed it must be in the Gandhian
way, an exercise of moral force. Many of the Gandhian ideas might not seem to be
relevant today. Gandhi would have outgrown them - but the idea of application of moral
force to change group behaviour will hold and the impact of this idea will be more
durable than appears today.
1.7
TERMINAL QUESTIONS
1.
Analyse the changes that have occurred in the Indian Society.
2.
Examine the Gandhian critique of social change.
SUGGESTED READINGS
Bandyopodhyaya, Jayantanuja., Social and Political Thought of Gandhi, Allied Publishers,
Bombay, 1969
Bhattacharyya, Buddhadeva., Evolution of Political Thought of Gandhi, Calcutta Book
House, Calcutta, 1969
Dhawan, Gopi Nath., The Political Philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi, Navajivan Publishing
House, Ahmedabad, 1962
Eisenstadt, S. N., Tradition, Change, and
London, 1973.
Modernity, Krieger Publishing Company,
Gandhi, M.K., An Autobiography or The Story of My Experiments With Truth, Navajivan
Publishing House, Ahmedabad, 1927
Haralambos, M, and Holborn, M., Sociology: Themes and Perspectives, Harper Collins
Publishers Ltd., London, 2004
Harper, C. L., Exploring Social Change, Engelwood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1993.
Harijan, A Journal of Applied Gandhism, 1933-1955, Garland Publishing Inc., New York
and London, 1973
20
Gandhi’s Social Thought
Irwin, S., Reshaping Social life, Routledge, Oxon, 2005.
Iyer, Raghavan, N., The Moral and Political Thought of Mahatma Gandhi, Oxford
University Press, Delhi, 1973
Pasricha, Seema., Caste Based Reservation in India, Deep and Deep Publications Pvt.
Ltd., New Delhi, 2006.
Popenoe, D., Sociology, Engelwood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1995.
Young India, 1919-31, Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad.
UNIT 2 CRITIQUE OF INDIAN SOCIAL ORDER
Structure
2.1 Introduction
Aims and Objectives
2.2 Dimensions of Social Order
2.2.1
2.2.2
2.2.3
2.2.4
Groups and Networks
Values and Norms
Power and Authority
Attainment of Social Order
2.3 Unity of Human Life
2.4 Core and Peripheral Values
2.5 Individual Reformation
2.6 Science and Technology
2.7 Scientific Value Relativism
2.8 Summary
2.9 Terminal Questions
Suggested Readings
2.1
INTRODUCTION
Social order refers to a set of linked social structures, institutions and practices which
conserve, maintain and enforce normal ways of relating and behaving. A social order is
a relatively stable system of institutions, patterns of interactions and customs, capable of
continually reproducing at least those conditions essential for its own existence. The
concept refers to all those facts of society which remain relatively constant over time.
These conditions could include not only property, exchange and power relations, but also
cultural forms, communication relations and ideological systems of values. Some of the
main principles of social order are: (1) The principle of dependence- it has an important
role in social order as a whole. It states that the more dependent a person is on a group,
the more likely they are to conform to group norms. This means that if a group means
a lot to a person, they will be more likely to do what it is that the group wants them
to; (2) the principle of visibility- it refers to the extent that the behaviour of group
members can be observed by other members of the group. The higher the observation
rate of a group is, the more likely the members of that group will follow the group’s
norms; (3) the principle of extensiveness- this states that the more norms and the more
important the norms are to a society, the better these norms tie and hold together the
group as a whole.
Aims and Objectives
After studying this Unit, you should be able to understand

The Nature of Indian Social Order and

The Gandhian Critique of the Indian Social Order.
22
2.2
2.2.1
Gandhi’s Social Thought
DIMENSIONS OF SOCIAL ORDER
Groups and Networks
In every society people belong to groups, such as businesses, families, religions, athletic
groups, or neighbourhood. The structure inside of these groups mirrors that of the whole
society. There are networks and ties between groups as well as inside of each of the
groups that create social order. Some people belong to more than one group, which
sometimes causes conflict. The individual may encounter a situation in which he or she has
to choose one group over the other. Many who have studied these groups believe that
it is necessary to have ties between groups to strengthen the society as a whole and to
promote pride within each group. Others believe that it is best to have stronger ties within
a group so that social norms and values are reinforced. Status can be based on a
person’s characteristics such as race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, region, occupation,
physical attractiveness, gender, education, age, etc. They are defined as a subculture
having a rather specific rank (or status) within the stratification system. That is, societies
tend to include a hierarchy of status groups, some enjoying high ranking and some low.
Inside of a status group there are more, smaller groups. For instance, one can belong to
a status group based on one’s race and a social class based on financial ranking. This
may cause strife for the individual in this situation when he or she feels they must choose
to side with either their status group or their social class.
2.2.2
Values and Norms
Values can be defined as internal criteria for evaluation. Values are also split into two
categories, there are individual values, which pertain to something that we think has worth
and then there are social values. Social values are our desires modified according to
ethical principles or according to the group we associate with: friends, family, or coworkers. Norms tell us what people ought to do in a given situation. Unlike values, norms
are enforced externally - or outside of oneself. A society as a whole determines norms,
and they can be passed down from generation to generation.
2.2.3 Power and Authority
An exception to the idea of values and norms as social order-keepers is deviant
behaviour. Not everyone in a society abides by a set of personal values or the group’s
norms all the time. For this reason it is necessary for a society to have authority. In
societies, those who hold positions of power and authority are among the upper class.
Norms differ for each class because the members of each class are raised differently and
hold different sets of values. Tension can form, therefore, between the upper class and
lower class when laws and rules are put in place(s) that do not conform to the values
of both classes.
2.2.4
Attainment of Social Order
There are currently two different theories that explain and attempt to account for social
order. The first theory is “order results from a large number of independent decisions to
transfer individual rights and liberties to a coercive state in return for its guarantee of
security for persons and their property, as well as its establishment of mechanisms to
resolve disputes.” The next theory is that “the ultimate source of social order as residing
not in external controls but in a concordance of specific values and norms that individuals
somehow have managed to internalize” (Hechter & Horne, 2003). Both the arguments for
how social order is attained are very different. One argues that it is achieved through
Critique of Indian Social Order
23
outside influence and control and the other argues that it can only be attained when the
individual willingly follows norms and values that they have grown accustomed to and
internalised. Gandhi belongs to the latter category.
2.3
UNITY OF HUMAN LIFE
Gandhi believed in the unity of human life, which is a synthetic whole. It cannot be
divided into separate, watertight compartments – religious, moral, political, economic,
social, individual and collective. All the seemingly separate segments are but different
facets of man’s life. They act and react upon one another. In reality, there can be no
problems that are purely moral, economic, political, social, individual or collective. They
are inextricably intertwined.
Division of human life into different compartments is often undertaken to facilitate analysis
and study. The artificial individual thus created has, however, no existence in real life. Any
knowledge derived from the study of such an individual will be partial and lopsided. It
will not be true to the integrated facts of life. If relied and acted upon, it will create in
the individual a split personality and in the social group a state of imbalance. Analysis and
study are not the ends of human life. Life, individual and collective, is meant to be lived.
Study and resultant knowledge are useful only in so far as they help man to act correctly
and live well and worthily. Every seer, prophet or reformer, seeks to find an integrated
way of life.
If life cannot be artificially divided in actual practice and if it is to be lived well and
worthily, it must be regulated in accordance with a plan or an integrated scheme. It must
be guided by certain basic principles and values. Bereft of them it would lack direction
and purpose. Human conduct is largely social conduct. If it lacks direction and purpose,
no expectations for the future can be built on it. Under such circumstances there is bound
to be uncertainty. If then, life is a unity, the principles and values guiding it must also be
properly unified and integrated. They must also form a coherent system. Gandhi’s own life
was lived in conformity with certain basic principles and was, therefore, integrated and co
ordinated. It made a harmonious whole. His teachings and schemes of reform also reflect
the same integration and co-ordination. There is a basic unity of purpose and aim.
2.4
CORE AND PERIPHERAL VALUES
The Gandhian thought is an all pervading universal system with some ideas representing
the essential core and others forming merely the peripheral values. Most probably, only
the core is significant enough to be of consequence to any society. Yet, strangely enough,
the core contributions are often forgotten and the peripheral values are followed. History
is full of illustrations of disciples of social and religious reformers endeavouring to enshrine
the peripheral preachings rather than the core values, which the reformers cherished above
all and wanted humanity to accept. This introduces cleavages between their actual
preachings and applications. And as time passes, the difference between the values which
they preach and the actual practice of the same in society becomes larger and larger.
If one has to alter a social order, it is necessary to try to change the important segments
of the society, namely the cultural system, social system and the personality system.
Without approaching these simultaneously, it will not be possible to alter the socio-cultural
order in a creative fashion. Gandhi wanted not only freedom for all but also a
transformation of the entire social order in this country. Political independence was only
24
Gandhi’s Social Thought
one of the Gandhian objectives. Thus the Gandhian thought essentially concerns itself with
the functioning of a society and its reformation and relates to the:
1.
acceptance of ahimsa as an end and a means, in all individual and social actions;
2.
acceptance of egalitarian values in social, economic and political institutions inspite of
contrary religio-cultural sanctions, simultaneously repudiating all bases of inequalities;
3.
belief in God alongwith the toleration of different religious faiths;
4.
continuous reformation of the individual in terms of the moral values of non violence;
and
5.
Fearless and selfless action in pursuit of truth and non-violence, with a capacity to
identify one’s own well being and happiness with that of the entire society.
All pronouncements of Gandhi can be related to one or the other of these. Let us analyse
how these represent an attempt on the part of Gandhi to alter the social order.
The Indian society, as a political entity, consists of different homogeneous and heterogeneous
cultural elements with predominating Hindu religious values and norms. Without entering
into an argument regarding the intrinsic qualities of a social order based on a caste
system, as it exists today, it is evident that caste generates inequalities of all sorts. As a
matter of fact, Hindu society is legitimately regarded as one of the best examples of a
hierarchical stratification of a social order intended to perpetuate inequalities. Gandhi
realised the injustice perpetuated on account of the practice of caste and hence took up
the question of untouchables. He offered fasts unto death for their better treatment. He
preferred to live with them wherever he went inspite of the palatial mansions put at his
disposal. His was a dedicated life for the upliftment of these poor social outcastes, who
were disowned and discarded by the caste Hindus. Whether it was Kashmir or Kerala,
Assam or Bombay, Gandhi was on the spot fighting for their cause. Gandhi’s Vaikom
Satyagraha was an eye-opener to the caste Hindus all over the country and was
responsible for arousing social consciousness in regard to the oppression and different
forms of exploitation of the lower castes, who were branded as ‘untouchables’. Gandhi
was not a mere Hindu social reformer and he was not satisfied by merely questioning the
practices of the Hindus. By his own living he demonstrated the extent of injustices in the
social practices and pointed out positive living. It was this dedication to the cause of
‘Harijans’ as he called them that prompted the Constituent Assembly to pay homage to
Gandhi and enshrine in the Constitution a provision to abolish untouchability. To Gandhi,
the practice of untouchability, i.e. keeping a section of humanity as not worth interacting
with, just because of their birth in some type of families, was violence. Oppression of any
form is, according to him, violent and liberation of the oppressed group is non-violent
provided such liberation is undertaken by noble means.
Gandhi was interested not only in social institutions like untouchability but also in
economic institutions. Gandhi’s concepts of aparigraha, daridranarayan, ‘trusteeship’,
‘swadeshi, ‘decentralisation’, ‘dignity of labour’, and above all his ideas of a ‘spinning
wheel economy’ are worth considering. Gandhi preferred economy with everyone working
and earning his daily bread by the sweat of his own brow. If capitalistic large scale
production was inevitable, he would allow it provided the accumulation of wealth was
done by non-violent means, for the sake of the poor. So, in both the institutions of caste
and property, Gandhi tried to introduce greater egalitarian values. The socially down-
Critique of Indian Social Order
25
trodden castes were also materially poor. In terms of caste or in terms of class the
untouchables were at the lowest rung of society. The plea for their upward mobility,
therefore, meant radical alteration of the existing social structure.
In regard to alteration of political institutions, Gandhi’s contributions are outstanding. His
insistence on satyagraha and ‘non violent resistance’ in political actions and on peaceful
resolution of conflicts, his struggle for swaraj and his preference for democracy, adult
franchise, decentralisation of power etc. have, indeed, made their impact on Indian
society. He ‘fought’ for the independence of this country, not out of enmity towards
Britain but because the political oppression of India by Britain was not good even for
Britain. His satyagraha movement for political freedom of this country was expected to
bring good both to India and Britain simultaneously. Gandhi had expressed often that if
by political independence of India, Britain were to suffer, Gandhi would not be happy
about it. But by removing the reins of oppression, the oppressed would be better off in
the Gandhian system.
So also is the case of the institution of religion. People accused Gandhi for adhering to
the Hindu concept of Ramarajya and other Hindu religion­­loaded ideas, but he was not
a Hindu of the ordinary kind. He had toleration of all faiths. His entire life is a triumphant
illustration of this cardinal principle of equality of religious faiths, which he tried to infuse
as a value among the followers of various religions. It might be, as he himself had
admitted, that due to his Hindu background and training, he internalised a greater dose
of Hindu social values. But if we accept the logic of religious equality, whatever religion
one adheres to it does not really matter. All religions lead to the same goal. Therefore,
in this sense, it did not matter whether he chose Hinduism, or Christianity, Buddhism or
Islam as his religion. In the Gandhian system, a true Hindu was also a true Christian and
a true Muslim and vice versa. But tolerance of different religious faiths became a scarce
value in contemporary society torn by strife and conflicts of many varieties arising out of
narrow religious affiliations. The dedicated work of Gandhi for communal harmony and
religious tolerance was an outstanding contribution towards building up social solidarity.
Thus both in the cultural and social systems Gandhi has tried to effect changes.
2.5
INDIVIDUAL REFORMATION
Gandhi was of the definite opinion that affecting changes in any one of these sectors alone
is not going to result in a transformation of society and, therefore, his emphasis on
individual reformation becomes extremely significant. If the individuals did not internalise
the new values enunciated by Gandhi, then, perhaps a radical transformation in the social
order would never have been realistic. The Gandhian insistence on individual reformation
is to be interpreted in this context. Character formation is one of the most important
tenets of Gandhism. In a society where caste norms control the individual from cradle to
grave, it will become impossible to introduce egalitarian values without taking care of the
individual right from the very early stages of his life. Personality development starts at zero
age. If in the first few years of life the child internalises certain age old values, cherished
by his family, and then, if we want him to incorporate certain values contrary to what
have been already internalised it will not only be a difficult task but also may create
problems of maladjustment. The de-socialisation function of modern education in a
backward society manifests the same difficulties. Gandhi’s insistence on character formation
and the scheme of basic education are the best illustrations of his anxiety to take care
of the child, right from the beginning. Even more important than formal education is the
26
Gandhi’s Social Thought
informal educative environment of the home. The home revolves a round the woman. In
India the women were an oppressed lot and without raising their status, no worthwhile
social change could be effected. Emancipation of women from the social ties to which
they were bound since generations has been another important Gandhian contribution in
this connection. It is they who are the repositories of a society’s culture and also the
agents of transmission of that culture to the children. Therefore, if the old values of
inequalities are to be altered, there is no solution till the woman, who is oppressed in the
house in the name of religion and caste, is liberated and educated. Hence Gandhi’s
lifelong and dedicated battle for the upliftment of the status of women in the country.
Alongwith this, his insistence on the individual reformation by strict adherence to
brahmacharya, non-stealing, telling the truth and observing non violence etc. were meant
to reinforce the transformation of character. The individual personality was to be moulded
in such a way as to become conducive for accepting the egalitarian values which he
propounded. Thus, Gandhi tried to approach the social order from different angles at the
same time. He wanted to transform the cultural, social and personality systems simultaneously
to usher in a social order of a more acceptable nature, so that an India of Gandhi’s
dreams would have come to exist.
2.6
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
A question may be asked as to what is the relevance of Gandhi in the modern world
which is characterised predominantly by an increasing use of science and technology in
man’s day to day life with consequential cultural and social changes. New technology
results in new norms and values and different ways of living. In a world which is
committed to the increasing use of technology there will be hardly any area that can be
isolated from technological influences. By its own logic, the development of technology
implies development in communication possibilities thus breaking down cultural barriers. It
should be increasingly difficult to create artificial cultural barriers. The natural consequence
of this would be greater chances of cultural diffusion; the propensity will be for all
societies of the world to accept in varying degrees more and more the use of technology.
India is no exception in this. It is in this context that we have to answer as to whether
the Gandhian ideas and contributions are relevant to bring about social progress.
It may be recalled that Gandhi was opposed to big machines, unchecked industrialisation
and urbanisation. It is well known that in this industry there are certain economies of
scale, which necessitate the use of big machines. If we are to increasingly accept
technology the natural corollary of it would be a greater use of big machines and large
factories. The result will be more industrialisation and urbanisation. In this situation, it may
sound strange to say that the Gandhian contributions are significant. Gandhi is not only
relevant in the context of increasing industrialisation and urbanisation of today’s society,
but also he is becoming more and more relevant even for tomorrow. Industrialisation has
not reduced inequalities. Democratic political systems of various types have not completely
eliminated serfdom. Political and social oppressions continue to be norms of human
society. So long as social differentiation continues to be an accepted form of human
society, there will be a necessity for infusing egalitarian values. Acceptance of technology
does not reduce differentiation; on the contrary it increases it. Increasing use of technology
and urbanisation has resulted only in greater heterogeneity, greater inequalities and greater
un-altruistically-oriented behaviours. Therefore, the need for following Gandhian propositions
is increasingly felt.
Critique of Indian Social Order
2.7
27
SCIENTIFIC VALUE RELATIVISM
Some positivistic attempts have been made to explain the relativity of values without
assuming any ultimate values. There is, for instance, what may be called the School of
Evolutionary Value Relativism (Hobhouse, T. H. Huxley, Julian Huxley) which argues that
values are relative to the biological evolution of man. There is the School of Historical
Value Relativism (Hegel, Marx) which maintains that values are relative to history as
determined by the World Spirit (Hegel) or Dialectical Materialism (Marx). Then there is
what may be called the School of Sociological Value Relativism (Auguste Comte,
Durkheim, Westermack) which holds that values are relative to a given society only. All
of these positivistic versions of the relativity of values are based on an incorrect
conception of the term relativity. If relativity means that values are wholly or primarily
determined by the biological solution of man, ethics actually loses all meaning and
substance, for in that case, human behaviour is organically determined; men are simply
driven to act as they do, and in the absence of the freedom of moral choice values have
no meaning. Similarly, if it is maintained that values are relative to history in the sense that
they are wholly or primarily determined by the World Spirit or the relations of production
in a given stage of history, then history is ordained with a dominant personality which
again robs men substantially of the freedom of moral choice, and values cease in fact to
be values. Finally, if it is stated that values are wholly or primarily determined by a given
social system, then the social system assumes the character of a controlling organism
above and beyond the range of human freedom and creativity, which it certainly is not;
the social system itself is largely the product of contemporary values. If on the other hand,
by the term relativity no determinism is implied, and a substantial freedom of choice with
regard to values is conceded, then values cease to be relative to anything except whatever
ultimate norms men in their freedom set for themselves. Logically, there is no other
solution to the problem of values except that of Scientific Value Relativism.
To Gandhi’s own mind, of course, the ultimate values are derivable from God; they are
in fact attributes of God. He wrote and spoke extensively on God, describing God as “an
indefinable mysterious Power” which “makes itself felt and yet defies all proof” and
“transcends speech and reason”. He even declared that “God will not be God if he
allowed Himself to be an object of proof by His creatures”, and that his own “faith runs
so much faster than my reason” that he could challenge the whole world and say that
“God is, was and ever shall be” (Harijan, 24-08-1947). But here Social Science must
part company with Gandhi. God may be a purely mental construction on the part of
hundreds of millions of people, the result of a variety of psychopathological factors
operating within man, or of mere linguistic confusion; or He may be the great Reality
which men from time immemorial have claimed to have experienced directly. But in so far
as the existence of God, as Gandhi admits, and as social scientists insist, cannot be
proved or disproved by reason and the so called direct experience of God cannot be
expressed in terms which are inter-subjectively transmissible, the concept of God is
irrelevant to Social Science. Indeed, Social Science emerged as science only after it
discarded God, as its starting point.
Similar is the case with the concept of revelation which Gandhi identifies as the “Voice
of God”. Gandhi’s extensive observations on God show that God reveals Himself through
some extra rational process to his votary, and that revelation constitutes an important
element in Gandhian thought. Indeed, Gandhi was not only fully conscious of this fact, but
also openly declared revelation to be a more effective means of arriving at the truth than
28
Gandhi’s Social Thought
reason. He explained once that upto 1906 he “simply relied on an appeal to reason.” But
his experiments with satyagraha in South Africa and his experience of British rule in India
gradually changed this view, until about 1920, when the conviction grew upon him that
in matters of fundamental importance the heart was more important than the head. Since
then he persistently claimed to hear the “Voice of God” and to base his most important
decisions on it. Some of his major fasts, he claimed to be the result of divine directions,
as well as the courses of action followed in some of the movements led by him. On
numerous occasions, in his life, he also claimed that his mission of spreading the message
of Non violence was a God-given one. On the occasion of his famous fast against the
Communal Award in 1932 he wrote: “My claim to hear the voice of God is no new claim
. . . His voice has been increasingly audible as years have rolled by. He has never
forsaken me even in my darkest hour”(ibid., 06-05-1933). A social scientist would argue
that once God is banished from the disciplined kingdom of Social Science, any
communication which may have transpired between him and his votary must be similarly
banished. What seems to be the Inner Voice may be that memory of father’s or mother’s
voice, or reflex thinking formed by a certain type of environment through habit, or a
mental reaction caused by disturbed expectations, or simply some form of auto hypnosis.
Like knowledge of God, knowledge of the Inner Voice is also inter-subjectively non
transmissible and, therefore, outside the range of the scientific method.
It is sometimes argued that the Inner Voice which Gandhi identifies as the Voice of God
represents intuition, which has a legitimate place in the scientific method and not revelation
which has not. Intuition is an accepted part of the scientific method in so far as it has
been used by great scientists to arrive at important conclusions and has played an
important role in the progress of science. On the occasion of his fast against the
Communal Award he gave a clear description of what happened when he heard the Inner
Voice or Voice of God in the following words: “I saw no form. I have never tried, for
I have always believed God to be without form. But what I did hear was like a Voice
from afar yet quite near. It was as unmistakable as some human voice definitely speaking
to me, and irresistible. I was not dreaming at the time I heard the Voice. The hearing of
the Voice was preceded by a terrific struggle within me. Suddenly the Voice came upon
me. I listened, made certain that it was the Voice, and the struggle ceased. I was calm.
The determination was made accordingly, the date and the hour of the fast were fixed.
Joy came over me” (ibid., 08-07-1933). This surely is a classical account of a revelation.
The difference between intuition and revelation is that while the former is not regarded as
an infallible method, its results being subject to verification by the more elaborate methods
of scientific investigation and apt to be rejected if found untrue through such methods,
revelation is regarded as an act of grace on the part of some supra human authority,
infallible and beyond the scope of scientific investigation; and this is obviously what
Gandhi is talking about.
Gandhi, of course, argues that revelation is also dependent on the strict adherence to a
method. “Just as for conducting scientific experiments”, he observes, “there is an
indispensable scientific course of instruction, in the same way strict discipline is necessary
to qualify a person to make experiments in the spiritual realm. Everyone should, therefore,
recognize his limitations before he speaks of his inner voice.” Therefore, says Gandhi,
those, who hope to find God must go through several vows, like those of truth,
brahmacharya (purity with special emphasis on continence), nonviolence, poverty and non
possession. “Unless you have imposed on yourselves the five vows,” he says “you may
not embark on the experiment at all” (Young India, 31-12-1931). But whatever be the
value of this method for obtaining revelation, it is certainly not the scientific method of
Critique of Indian Social Order
29
inquiry, and that is the only method on which this study is based. Nor would the omission
of the Inner Voice from the scope of any study seriously detract from the value of
Gandhian thought from the viewpoint of Social Science. Gandhi seldom justified his social
and political ideas in terms of the Inner Voice or other private experiences; whatever his
private belief and experience might be, for those to whom he transmitted his ideas, he
sought to adopt, almost invariably, that reason is the medium of communication.
The concept of soul used very often by Gandhi is also likewise outside the scope of
investigation. One of the English equivalents for satyagraha used by Gandhi is soul force.
He recommended the soul force (as superior to the force of arms) to both Hitler and his
European victims during the Second World War. About his own work in India, he said:
“My national service is part of my training for freeing my soul from the bondage of flesh
... Politics bereft of religion are a deathtrap because they kill the soul” (ibid., 03-041924). One of the reasons why Gandhi justified fasting as an important form of
satyagraha is that it purifies the soul. In his own words: “A genuine fast cleanses the body,
mind and soul. It crucifies the flesh and to that extent sets the soul free”(ibid., 24-031920). Similarly, Gandhi justifies nature cure and opposes the medical treatment of
diseases, on the ground that the soul is separate from the body and unaffected by bodily
ailments. But the existence of the soul like that of the Voice of God and of God Himself,
cannot be proved or disproved through the scientific method, and the concept has,
therefore, to be excluded by Social Science from its own sphere of inquiry.
In short then, Social Science cannot discuss values exactly in the same manner as Gandhi
does, all along the line. Discarding such concepts as God, the Voice of God or the soul,
a social scientist has to accept the ultimate values of Gandhi as working hypotheses, and
then show through empirical analysis whether the social order and the methods of socio
political action advocated by Gandhi are consistent with these values. When the empirical
implications of the ultimate values as understood by Gandhi have been analysed, the
reader may want to accept or reject the Gandhian ultimate values on the basis of his
analysis; but then it will be the reader and not the social scientist who will be judging the
ultimate values.
2.8
SUMMARY
Social differentiation and stratification are the fundamental processes of national societies.
These processes cause the existence of a multiplicity of groups (familial, racial, political,
economic, religious, occupational etc.) and values and norms of conduct which govern the
individuals but which differ from group to group. These differences in the values and
norms of groups are basically responsible for the different types of conflicts that exist in
society. It is the existence of these conflicts that often manifest themselves as hindrances
to social cohesion and change. Societal changes are warranted by cultural changes and
do not take place without some new factors, immanent or external, that affect a particular
socio-cultural milieu. In a society where conflict is a norm, social change can, however,
be ushered in by synthesising the conflicting cultural values and norms thus paving the way
for a new social order. It is precisely what Gandhi has done.
2.9
TERMINAL QUESTIONS
1.
Discuss the nature of the Indian Social Order.
2.
Examine the Gandhian Critique of Indian Social Order.
30
Gandhi’s Social Thought
SUGGESTED READINGS
Bandyopodhayaya, Jayantanuja., Social and Political Thought of Gandhi, Allied Publishers,
Bombay, 1969
Biswas, S. C., (ed.), Gandhi, Theory and Practice, Social Impact and Contemporary
Relevance, Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, Shimla, 1969
Gandhi, M.K., Hind Swaraj, Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad, 1975
Hardiman, David., Gandhi: In His Time and Ours, Permanent Black, Delhi, 2005
Harijan, A Journal of Applied Gandhism, 1933-55, Garland Publishing Inc., New York,
1973
Hechter, M., Hornw, C., Theories of Social Order, Stanford Press, Stanford, 2003.
Iyer, Raghavan N., The Moral and Political Thought of Mahatma Gandhi, Oxford
University Press, Delhi, 1973
Kripalani, J.B., Gandhi: His Life and Thought, The Publications Division, Ministry of
Information and Broadcasting , Government of India, New Delhi, 1971.
Parekh, Bhikhu., Gandhi’s Political Philosophy, Ajanta, Delhi, 1995.
Parel, Anthony J., (ed.), Hind Swaraj and Other Writings, Cambridge University Press,
1997
Sharma, Jai Narain., Alternative Economics, Deep & Deep, New Delhi, 2003
Terchek, Ronald J., Gandhi Struggling for Autonomy, Vistaar Publications, New Delhi,
2000
Young India, 1919-31, Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad.
UNIT 3
VARNASHRAMA DHARMA
Structure
3.1 Introduction
Aims and Objectives
3.2 Origins of the Concept of Varna
3.3 Varna in Post-Vedic Period
3.4 Parametres of Varnas
3.5 Gandhi on Varnashrama as Social Pattern
3.5.1
Varna as Hereditary Functionalism.
3.5.2 Demerits and Merits of the Caste (Jati) System.
3.6 Conclusion
3.7 Summary
3.8 Terminal Questions
Suggested Readings
3.1
INTRODUCTION
Gandhi stated that ‘varna is the law of heredity. Varna is not a thing that is superimposed
on Hindus, but men who were trustees for their welfare discovered the law for them. It
is not a human invention, but an immutable law of nature- the statement of a tendency
that is ever present and at work like Newton’s law of gravitation. Just as the law of
gravitation existed even before it was discovered, so did the law of varna’ (M.K.Gandhi,
Hindu Dharma, 1950, p.365). Gandhi views the system based on Varna as a classification
of different systems of self-culture and as the best possible adjustment of social stability
and progress and not as an arrogant superiority. He views the Varna dharma as an aspect
that satisfies the religious, social and economic needs of a community and that which leads
to the spiritual perfection. He reiterates that ‘varna is no man-made institution but the law
of life universally governing the human family. Fulfillment of the law would make life
livable, would spread peace and content, end all clashes and conflicts, put an end to
starvation and pauperization, solve the problem of population, and even end disease and
suffering’ (SWMG, vol.6, p.477). The Varna system as we see it today is a distorted
version, of high and low gradations and is vastly different from its original meaning and
purpose. Gandhi views Varnashrama dharma as a ceaseless search for truth that would
lead to spiritual evolution. Varna system preaches not the bifurcation of society but
enables one to follow one’s designated role in society. This Unit enables the learner to
understand the origins of the concept of Varna, its significance in the Vedic and PostVedic period, and its nuances. It also gives an account of Gandhi’s views on the subject.
Aims and Objectives
After studying this unit you should be able to understand

Varnashram dharma prevelant in India

Gandhian view of Varnashrama dharma
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Gandhi’s Social Thought
3.2
ORIGINS OF THE CONCEPT OF VARNA
This section intends to familiarise the learner with the origins of the concept of varna. This
will enable us to understand the background of the subject matter.
Brahmano’ sya mukham asid bahu rajanyah pritah!
Uru tal asya yad vaisyah padbhyam sudro ajayata!! (Rigveda, X. 90.12)
In the Rigveda, the earliest work in human history three classes of society are very
frequently mentioned, and named Brahma, Kshatra, and Visha. The first two represented
broadly the two professions of the poet-priest and the warrior-chief. The third division
was apparently a group comprising all the common people. It is only in one of the later
hymns, the celebrated Purushasukta that a reference has been made to four orders of
society as emanating from the sacrifice of the Primeval Being. The names of those four
orders are given there as Brahmana, Rajanya, Vaishya, and Shudra, who are said to have
come respectively from the mouth, the arms, the thighs, and the feet of the Creator. The
particular limbs associated with these divisions and the order in which they are mentioned
probably indicate their status in the society of the time, though no such interpretation is
directly given in the hymn.
This origin of the four classes is repeated in most of the later works with slight variations
and interpretative additions. The Taittiriya Samhita, for example, ascribes the origins of
those four classes to the four limbs of the Creator and adds an explanation. The Brahmins
are declared to be the chief because they were created from the mouth, punning on the
word ‘mukha’ (‘mouth’ and ‘chief’). The Brahmans’ only duties are to study and teach
the Vedas, to offer sacrifices and to offer, and above all to receive, gifts. The Rajanyas
are vigorous because they were created from vigour. It is the duty of the Kshatriyas to
give orders, to protect the people, to offer sacrifices through the medium of Brahmans
and to study the Vedas. The Vaishyas are meant to eat, referring to their liability to
excessive taxation, because they were created from the stomach, the receptacle of food.
Therefore they must raise livestock, cultivate the soil, engage in trade, and give alms, not
neglecting either the sacred rites or the study of the written word. The Shudra, because
he was created from the feet, is to be the transporter of others and to subsist by the
feet. They have only one essential task – to serve the higher castes. Outside this system
there are only barbarous or despised peoples who have no access to the religious and
social life of the Brahmanic world, that is to say, foreigners or Mlechchhas (Muir, John,
1976, p.16). In this particular account of the creation not only is the origin of the classes
interpreted theologically, but also a divine justification is sought to be given to their
functions and status. The creation theory is here further amplified to account for certain
other features of these social classes. God is said to have created certain deities
simultaneously with these classes. The Vaishya class, the commoners, must have been
naturally very large, and this account explains that social fact by a reference to the
simultaneous creation of Vishvedevas, all and sundry deities, whose number is considerable.
We are told that no deities were created along with the Shudra and hence he is
disqualified for sacrifice. Here again, the social regulation which forbade a Shudra to offer
sacrifice is explained as an incidental consequence of the creation. What all these myths
had in common was the tendency to assert that the caste system was the creation of
super-human agency with separate duties.
The fact that the four classes are described as of divine origin, although in a later hymn,
must be taken as a sufficient indication that they were of long duration and very well
Varnashram Dharma
33
defined, even though the exact demarcation of their functions, the regulations guiding their
inter-relations, and the extent of their flexibility may not be referred to in the main body
of the Rigvedic literature, which is avowedly of a liturgical nature.
3.3
VARNA IN POST-VEDIC PERIOD
The Brahmanic literature of the post-Vedic period, while reiterating that there are only four
varnas, mentions certain mixed castes (sankara jati) and also a group of out-cast classes
(antydvasayin). The sacred laws of the Aryas are designed to expound ‘varna-dharma’
i.e., the duties ostensibly of the four orders. The text-books of the different schools may
broadly be analysed into four parts. The first part, generally very short, deals with the
‘ashramas’ (four stages in individual life) and their duties; the second part, forming a large
portion of the book, really deals with ‘varna-dharma’. Much of the law is treated in this
section under the heading, “duties of the Kshatriya”. The two other parts deal with
expiatory acts and inheritance. Though the main bulk of the law is treated under ‘varnadharma’, the ‘Shudra’ does not figure much in these texts. The ‘varna-dharma’ of the
‘Shudra’ is such that it does not require elaborate regulation. It may justly be said that
the ‘Shudra’ was left to himself as far as his internal affairs were concerned. Their case
is provided for by the general dictum, that the peculiar laws of countries, castes, and
families may be followed in the absence of sacred rules (Vasishtha, 1882, p.4). The other
classes are considered derivative, and therefore so much beneath notice that only fourfold humanity is always alluded to and prevention of the confusion of these castes
(varnasaiikara) is considered as an ideal necessity. Mixtures of castes is regarded to be
such a great evil that it must be combated even though the Brahmins and the Vaishyas
have to resort to arms, a function which is normally sinful for them. As the outcastes were
deprived of the right to follow the lawful occupations of the twice-born men, and after
death, of the rewards of meritorious deeds, it follows that the lawgivers had no concern
for them. They were enjoined to live together and fulfil their purposes, sacrificing for each
other and confining other relations to themselves.
Among the four varnas, the old distinction of Arya and Shudra now appears predominantly
as Dvija and Shudia, though the old distinction is occasionally mentioned. The first three
varnas are called Dvijas (twice-born) because they have to go through the initiation
ceremony which is symbolic of rebirth. This privilege is denied to the Shudra who is
therefore called ‘ekajati’ (once-born). The word ‘jati’ which is here used for ‘varna’,
henceforward is employed more often to mean the numerous sub-divisions of a ‘varna’.
It is also the vernacular term for a ‘caste’. A rigorous demarcation of meaning between
‘varna’ and ‘jati’, the former denoting the four large classes and the latter only their subdivision cannot, however, be maintained. The word is sometimes indiscriminately used for
‘varna’.
The pre-eminence of the Brahmin was so great that the Mahabharata declared that really
speaking there was only one ‘varna’, viz., the Brahmin and the other varnas were merely
its modifications (Mahabharata, Shanti Parva, 50, 90). Though Gautama quotes the Vedic
texts which declare that the Kshatriyas assisted by the Brahmins prosper, and that the
union of the two alone upholds the moral order, yet he lays down that when a king and
a Brahmin pass along the same road the road belongs to the Brahmin and not to the
king. Vasishtha declares that the Brahmin’s King is Soma. The Mahabharata goes even
further, and emphasises the subordinate position of the Kshatriya, whose only support is
pronounced to be the Brahmin.
34
Gandhi’s Social Thought
The Mahabharata says that the Shudra can have no absolute property, because his wealth
can be appropriated by his master at will (ibid.) If the master of a Shudra has fallen into
distress, the latter shall be placed at the disposal of the poor master. The king is enjoined
to appoint only persons of the first three classes over villages and towns for their
protection.
The Sudras were not everywhere. In many parts of India, they had been rulers, and
slave-owners. The Buddhist literature speaks of Sudra kings. Even from the post-Vedic
literature, it will be seen that all Sudras were not slaves. Gautamadharma Sutra, for
instance, says that the Sudras could be merchants and exercise any trade or profession
they liked. They were not slaves as a caste. They became slaves only under circumstances
and conditions that made even the Brahmana a slave. The biggest slave owners on the
Malabar Coast were the Nairs or the Sudras. The severity index of Malabar slavery will
be seen from the fact that even after liberation, most of the Paraya and Pulaya slaves
preferred to stay with their masters in preference to and being taken to plantations to
slave under European planters. Though slavery was abolished there over a century ago,
even now descendants of the old slaves could be found living happily attached to the
descendants of their former masters. It is not due to their slave mentality; but it is due
to the advantages which they could still claim. The slaves there had never been menial
servants or household attendants of the masters. The untouchability and unapproachability
saved them from the horrors of the Negro slaves elsewhere. The slaves themselves were
not free from caste or jati restrictions among themselves. The Parayas, and the Pulayas,
for instance, had no social contact, intermarriage or inter-dining and between themselves,
they observed untouchability and unapproachability.
Facts being such, it is nothing short of absurdity to imagine that the Sudras were the
Dravidian slaves of the Aryans, and the degraded condition of the Sudras was due to
their Dravidian lineage. The Nairs of Malabar are as much Dravidians as the Parayas and
the Pulayas but they have always been masters and rulers. If the complexion of the
Parayas and Pulayas is darker than that of the Nairs or the Sudras, it is because that
the Paravas and the Pulayas like the Oraons and the Munaas of the north, lead an openair life, in a climate more humid than hot.
In the Santi-parva, Bhrigu makes the following statement:
“There is no difference of caste: this world, having been at first created by Brahma
entirely Brahmanic, became (afterwards) separated into castes in consequence of works.
Those twice-born men who were fond of sensual pleasure, fiery, irascible, prone to
violence, who had forsaken their duty and were red-limbed, fell into the condition of
Kshatriyas. Those twice-born who derived their livelihood from king, who were yellow,
who subsisted by agriculture and who neglected to practise their duties, entered into the
state of Vaisyas. Those twice-born who were addicted to mischief and falsehood, who
were covetous, who lived by all kinds of work, who were black and had fallen from
purity, sank into the condition of Sudras. Being separated from each other by these
works, the Brahmans became divided into different castes.”
This is different from what Manu has said. According to Manu-Smriti every one is born
a Sudra, action makes one a dvija, and knowledge of Brahma makes one a Brahmana.
According to both Manu and Bhrigu, the divisions into Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaisya and
Sudra are not according to birth or heredity (The Laws of Manu, 1886, p.2). It is
according to one’s own action guided by his inclination. Just as one could have become
a carpenter or a blacksmith, one could have become a Brahmana or Kshatriya by choice.
Varnashram Dharma
3.4
35
PARAMETRES OF VARNAS
Varna or Varnashrama distinctions might not have had any more significance than four
classifications like A, B, C and D or 1, 2, 3 and 4. It was not just in respect of human
beings that the ancient Hindus used the terms Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaisya and Sudra for
classification. It can be seen from the Silpasastras, or treaties on architecture, that they
used the same terms for classifying the land according to the extent and quality, and also
to signify certain constants 1, 3, 5, and 7 in certain formulas. They divided the land into
four Varnas, white, yellow, brown and black. The white soil they called Brahmana, yellow
soil Kshatriya, brown soil Vaisya and black soil Sudra. A plot of land, or an area whose
length was equal to breadth was called Brahmana, a plot whose length was one and oneeighth times the breadth they called Kshatriya, and those plots that had the length one and
one-sixth, and one and one-fourth times the breadth they called the Vaisya and Sudra
respectively. Then certain perimeters, which they derived from the length, hiding the
element of breadth by use of constants 1, 3, 5, and 7, they designated as Brahmana,
Kshatriya, Sudra and Vaisya.
Brahmana perimeter =
Kshatriya =
LX8 + 1
3
LX8 + 3
3
Sudra =
LX8 + 5
3
Vaisya =
LX8 + 7
3
where L = length.
Having forgotten the real significance of these formulae and classifications the orthodox
architects and the later day authors of the Silpasastras have been asserting that the
Brahmana Perimeter is to be used in the design of a Brahmana’s house and the Sudra
perimeter was for the Sudra’s house, and so on. If it were so, the dimensions of a
Brahmana’s house must be the smallest. Likewise if the colour qualification of the land
was exclusive the Brahmanas should live only on certain sea-coasts and desert regions,
while the rich black cotton growing tracts of central India should be exclusively for the
Sudras.
Manu represents the various castes as the result of mixed marriages between the four
original castes. According to him the four primitive castes, by intermarrying in every
possible way, gave rise to 16 mixed castes, which by continuing their intermarriages
produced the long list of the mixed castes.
The violation of caste rules may often create a new caste. Illegitimate or illegal sexual
relations may cause the nucleus of new caste formations; illegimate relation between a
Brahmana woman and a Sudra man may create a new caste. Dharmasastras as well as
the Arthasastras give many instances of such caste formations. In Kautilya’s Arthasastra
the following instances are given:
36
Brahman
Brahman
Kshatriya
Vaisya
Kshatriya
Ugra
Nishadha
Ambastha
Vaidekaka
Sudra
Sudra
Sudra
Gandhi’s Social Thought
father
father
father
father
father
father
father
father
father
father
father
father
and
and
and
and
and
and
and
and
and
and
and
and
Vaisya
Sudra
Sudra
Sudra
Brahman
Nishadha
Ugra
Vaidekaka
Ambastha
Brahman
Kshatriya
Vaisya
mother
mother
mother
mother
mother
mother
mother
mother
mother
mother
mother
mother
New Caste
Ambastha
Nishasha or Parasva
Ugra
Sudra
Sum
Kukkutaka
Pulkasha
Vainya
Kusilava
Ayogava
Kshatta
Chandala
Few of these castes are known now by these names. Evidently they have changed their
names or assumed new occupational names. A tendency to adopt occupational names will
be seen even in the Arthasastra; where it is stated that a Vainya, “becomes a Rathakara,
or chariot-maker, by profession ‘ members of this caste shall marry among themselves,
both in customs and avocations they shall follow their ancestors, they may either become
Sudras, if they are not born as Chandalas” (Kautiliya, 1976edn, p.165).
The mixed marriages such as these were once legitimate; the laws for disinheriting children
from such marriages were of later origin. Even the illegitimate sons known as Antaralas,
were to have equal divisions of inheritance in parity with legitimate sons. “In the case of
sons such as Suta, Magadha, Vratya and Rathakara, inheritance will go to the capable;
and the rest will depend upon him for sustenance. In the absence of the capable, all will
have equal shares”. But “partition of inheritance shall be made in accordance with the
customs prevalent in the country, caste, society (sangha), or the village of the inheritors”.
Most of these mixed castes are in reality the professions, trades, and guilds of a halfcivilised society. They did not wait for mixed marriages before they came into existence.
Professions, trades, and handicrafts had grown up without any reference to caste. Some
of their names were derived from towns and countries where certain professions were
held in particular estimation. Servants who waited on ladies were called Vaidehas, because
they came from Videha. In other cases the names of Manu’s castes were derived from
their occupations. The caste of musicians, for instance were called Venas from vina, the
lyre. Now it was evidently Manu’s object to bring these professional corporations in
connection with the old system of castes, assigning to each, according to its higher or
lower position, a more or less pure descent from the original castes, The Vaidyas, for
instance, or the physicians, evidently a respectable corporation, were represented as the
offspring of a Brahman father and a Vaisya mother, while the guild of the fishermen, or
Nishadas, were put down as the descendants of a Brahman father and a Sudra mother.
Thus a new system of caste came in of a purely professional character, though artificially
grafted on the rotten trunk of the ancient castes. This is the system which is still in force
in India, and which has exercised its influence on the state of Indian society for good and
evil.
Varnashram Dharma
3.5
3.5.1
37
GANDHI ON VARNASHRAMA AS SOCIAL
PATTERN
Varna as Hereditary Functionalism
Gandhi accepted the social philosophy of Varna. An equalitarian society based on active
mutual love and harmony was his goal and, hence, although he accepted the sociology of
the Varnashrama he refused to acknowledge any sense of distance and subordination
between the Varnas. According to him, the Hindu sociology of Varna eliminated unworthy
competition, was natural to man in his regenerate and civilised state and, although
determined by birth, could be retained only by the willing performance of the obligations
entailed by it. He thought of it as a functional organisation of society determined by
Nature or God and oriented to the realisation of the harmony of the community without
there being any sense of constraint and domination from the sections following intellectual
and military professions.
Several times he would use Varna and caste interchangeably and
attributed to
the latter an organic, functional and non competitive character. He wrote: “The spirit
behind caste is not one of arrogant superiority;
it is the classification of different
systems of self culture. It is the best possible adjustment of social stability and progress.
Just as the spirit of the family is inclusive of those who love each other and are wedded
to each other by ties of blood and relation, caste also tries to include families of a
particular way of purity of life (not standard of life, meaning by this term, economic
standard of life). Only it does not leave the decision, whether a particular family belongs
to a particular type, to the idiosyncracies or interested judgement of a few individuals”
(Young India, 29-12-1920).
Gandhi even regarded the Hindu social structure based on Varna to be true socialism. (i)
If the principle of Varna was followed in its original Vedic sense of functional organization,
(ii) if all members of society participated in bread labour, (iii) if all labour should carry
the same value, the primary wants of all being the same, then, according to Gandhi it was
nothing but socialism (Amrit Bazar Patrika, 03-08-1934).
Although a believer in Varna determined by birth, Gandhi was emphatic in stating that it
conferred no privilege and resulted in no social subordination. He wrote: “It is against the
genius of Hinduism to arrogate to oneself a higher status or assign others to a lower. All
are born to serve God’s creation, the Brahman with his knowledge, the Kshatriya with
his power of protection, the Vaishya with his commercial ability, the Shudra with his
bodily labour. This does not mean that a Brahman is absolved from bodily labour, but it
does mean that he is predominantly a man of knowledge and fitted by training and
heredity, to impart it to others. There is nothing again to prevent a Shudra from acquiring
all the knowledge he wishes. Only he will best serve with his body and need not envy
others their special qualities for service. A Brahman who claims superiority by right of
knowledge falls and has no knowledge. And so with the others who pride themselves
upon their special qualities, Varnashrama is self restraint and conservation and economy
of energy”(Young India, 06-10-1921, p.317).
He pleaded for the restoration of the essential principle on which the original Varna was
based – the elimination of competition and the realisation of the common good through
duties done in proportion to one’s attainments and faculties.
38
Gandhi’s Social Thought
It may be worth while to note here the difference between the ideas of Gandhi and
Dayananda with regard to Varna. Both claimed to champion the Varna in its Vedic sense
and both denounced the perversities of the caste system which is a degeneration of the
Varna. But, paradoxically enough, while the Brahmin Dayananda agreed that the determination
of Varna would be made in accordance with the criteria of Guna (qualities), Karma
(action), and Svabhava (psychological attainment or inherent nature), the western educated
Vaishya Gandhi was much more conservative and held that Varna would be determined
by heredity. While Dayananda quoted the Vedas in support of his view, Gandhi
interpreted the Gita word Srishtam (The Bhagavad Gita, IV, 13) as supporting the view
that the Varna is determined by birth.
3.5.2
Demerits and Merits of the Caste (Jati) System
Gandhi was candid enough, however, to recognise the grave social evils with which the
original Vedic Varna had become encumbered in the course of its evolution, and he
condemned in unmeasured terms the social enormities and perverse exploitation practised
in the name of caste superiority. The existing structure of innumerable castes was a
negation of the old Varna. It imposed unhealthy impediments on the growth of social
solidarity and hence was detrimental to the well-being of the Hindus as well as to the
development of nationalism. It encouraged complicated ritualism and ceremonialism, and
thus was a bar also to the development of genuine religious feeling. Hence Gandhi, who
recognised only the four Varnas as rational and fundamental, made a strong plea for the
abolition of the evils and injustices of the caste system.
But Gandhi generally took an evolutionary approach to history and social institutions, and
wanted to demonstrate the rationality of even the much condemned system of caste which
had been almost immanent in the historical evolution of the country. It is impossible to go
against the laws of one’s being. Neither an individual nor a society could take a
revolutionary leap and overturn the fundamental pattern of its action. Gandhi was a
reformer through and through, but he did not like to give a rough handling to social
patterns and institutions for the sheer delight of novelty and social experimentation. His
defence, in his earlier writings, of the sociological assumptions of the caste (as a
degeneration of the Vedic Varna) has to be seen in a historical perspective. He had
written: “The vast, organization of caste answered not only to the religious wants of the
community but it answered to its political needs. The villagers managed their internal
affairs through the caste system, and through it they dealt with any oppression from the
ruling power or powers. It is not possible to deny of a nation that was capable of
producing the caste system its wonderful power of organization” (Bose, N. K., 1959).
Gandhi defended the caste structure as a trade guild (Young India, 13-12, 1921, p.114).
It had these merits:
(I) It made possible the perpetuation of acquired professional skill through hereditary
transmission.
(II) It imposed restrictions on economic competition.
(III) It was an insurance against poverty. It regulated social service in the event of disease
and death. (Tendulkar, D.G., 1960, p.268)
(IV) It checked social disorganization.
Varnashram Dharma
3.6
39
CONCLUSION
Gandhi’s views regarding the Varna and the caste indicate his conservative historicism and
traditionalism. As a keen political leader, he knew very well that the foundations of long
accepted leadership especially in a tradition ridden country like India could lie only in the
social consensus of the majority of the people. Hence he could not afford to denounce
the principle of determination of one’s function by his birth. It is very true that he had
a flexible and resilient mind and had an infinite capacity to read new and even
revolutionary meanings into older concepts. Thus, when socialism became an emotion
stirring concept in Indian politics, Gandhi came out with the statement that the Varna
system was true socialism. He even stated that the Varna principle of functional
organisation would operate in the ideal society of Ramrajya. But while all the time, in his
later years, he was reading socialistic and functional notions into the traditional concept of
Varna, he could continue to adhere to the conservative and even reactionary doctrine that
an adult should follow the profession of his father because of psychological and other
environmental facilities. This latter notion of following one’s father’s profession has been
the deep foundation of the caste structure, as it has been conceived in the Brahmanical
Smritis and Shastras. Gandhi’s historicist conservatism is revealed in the view which he
held to the last that according to the law of Varna one has to earn his bread “by
following the ancestral calling.” It is clear that members of the backward and Scheduled
Castes would regard Gandhi’s view not only as a historicist apology but even reactionary.
Gandhi also seemed unaware of the contradiction involved in simultaneously bolstering up
the socialistic and the traditional interpretations of the Varna order.
There are indications that towards the end of his life, he said that in his ideal scheme of
Ramrajya there would be no place for a hierarchical structure based on castes and
classes. Gandhi also felt that as a result of marriages between caste Hindus and Harijans
“there will be only one caste, known by the beautiful name, Bhangi, that is to say, the
reformer or remover of all dirt” (Harijan 07-07-1946, p.212). He wrote: “Classless
society is the ideal, not merely to be aimed at but to be worked for and, in such society,
there is no room for classes or communities” (ibid., 17-02-1946, p.9). He began to
approve of and bless inter caste marriages (ibid., 04-03-1933, p.5). Perhaps it is correct
to state that Gandhi (at least towards the end of his life) accepted the concept of an
undifferentiated social structure. It appears that with the passage of time, Gandhi’s
historicist conservatism demonstrated in his defence not only of the ideal type of Varna,
but also to a certain extent, in the Hind Swaraj and other writings, of the caste in its
operative efficacy, slightly yielded place to some kind of radical social equalitarianism.
3.7
SUMMARY
Gandhi argued that castes are numerous and are man-made; they undergo constant
change. Similarly, Varnas are just four and not numerous. They do have sanction by the
Shastras [holy books]. Gandhi opined that this four-fold pattern exists everywhere but
people are not conscious of them. Rather this reflects on the following lines: one to impart
knowledge of God for the welfare of the world, another to protect the people against
manifold dangers, a third one to carry on the work of farming, etc., to sustain the
community and one class to work for these three classes. There is no feeling of high and
low to this division. Further, it is not understood as a great law of nature that leads to
the misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the concept. The changes are witnessed in
the changing patterns of the occupational choices of people. At present the significance of
40
Gandhi’s Social Thought
this varna system is on the wane, leading to destructive competition for gaining selfish
ends. Gandhi firmly opined that the law of nature was to follow the system and tread the
path of progress. He argued that the varna system in its pristine nature is pure and
necessary and without any distortions or discrimination. ‘This would be to the good of
India as well as the whole world’. (Harijanbandhu, 19 January, 1936, CWMG, Vol.LXII).
3.8
TERMINAL QUESTIONS
1.
What do you mean by Varnashrama dharma?
2.
Point out the difference between Varna and Caste.
3.
Examine Gandhi’s views on Varnashrama dharma.
SUGGESTED READINGS
Bandyopodhayaya, Jayantanuja., Social and Political Thought of Gandhi, Allied Publishers,
Bombay, 1969.
Bhattacharya, Buddhadeva., Evolution of Political Thought of Gandhi, Calcutta Book
House, Calcutta, 1969.
Bose, N. K., Selections from Gandhi, Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad, 1959.
Dhawan, Gopi Nath., The Political Philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi, Navajivan Publishing
House, Ahmedabad, 1962.
Gandhi, M.K., An Autobiography or The Story of My Experiments With Truth, Navajivan
Publishing House, Ahmedabad, 1927.
Gandhi, M. K., Removal of Untouchability, Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad,
1959.
Ghurye, G. S., Caste and Race in Inda, Kegan Paul, London, 1932.
Harijan, A Journal of Applied Gandhism, 1933-1955, New York and London: Garland
Publishing Inc.), 1973
Hutton, J. J., Caste in India, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1961.
Iyer, Raghavan N., The Moral and Political Thought of Mahatma Gandhi, Oxford
University Press, Delhi, 1973.
Kautilya, The Arthasastra, I. N. Rangarajan (ed.) Penguin Books Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi,
1976.
Mehta, Geeta S., Varna Vyavastha in Gandhian Thought, Gandhi Marg, Vol.27, no.2,
July-September, 2005, pp.157-164.
Muir, John., Mythical and Legendary Accounts of the Origin of Caste with an Enquiry
into its existence in the Vedic Age, Orient Publishers, New Delhi, 1976, Vol. I.
Pasricha, Seema., Caste Based Reservation in India, Deep and Deep Publications Pvt.
Ltd., New Delhi, 2006.
Tendulkar, D. G., Mahatma, Publications Division, Government of India, New Delhi,
1960, Vol. I.
The Laws of Manu, Buhler’s trans, in Sacred Books of the East (SBE) Clarendon Press,
Oxford, 1886.
Vasistha, Dharamasuta (Buhler’s trans, in Sacred Books of the East (SBE) Clarendon
Press, Oxford, 1882.
Young India, 1919-31, Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad.
UNIT 4
CRITIQUE OF MODERNITY
Structure
4.1 Introduction
Aims and Objectives
4.2 Modernity in India
4.3 Gandhi and Modernity
4.4 Problematising Modernity and Modernisation
4.5 The New History
4.6 Modernity and the Death of the Cosmos
4.7 Post-Modern Gandhi
4.8 Summary
4.9 Terminal Questions
Suggested Readings
4.1
INTRODUCTION
Modernity is a complex phenomenon, with a layered history of meanings. Its exact origin
in time and space remains a matter of controversy, but is generally acknowledged as
evident in the 17th century Europe. At the time it was confined, innocuously enough, to
a small group of philosophers-cum-scientists, who remained, on the whole, circumspect in
their presentations and public statements in view of the paranoia of the Church with
regard to innovative thought. Three names associated with certain momentous revolutions
in scientific and philosophical attitudes, Descartes, Bacon and Newton, have become
symbolic of the new approach to scientific learning which changed the face of the world.
It is characterised by the need to put all true propositions to a philosophic test
(methodological skepticism); the need to submit all truths about the world to a practical
test (experimental proof); the postulation of two fundamental spheres of mind and matter,
with the mathematical appropriation of one over the other; the assumption of a mechanical
uniformity and lawfulness in nature, and the goal of an anthropocentric assertion of power
over nature. Philosophical speculation had to be grounded in epistemology, which however
remained as prone to multiple interpretations as the earlier metaphysics. If reason was
subordinate to faith in the European Middle Ages, by the 17th century, it began to assume
primacy in the field of secular learning; it invaded ethics and politics in the 18th century,
overlooked belief in the 19th century and in the 20th century stood, without any further
obstacle to overcome, confronted with its own contradictions and limits.
Aims and Objectives
After studying this Unit, you should be able to understand:

The meaning and implications of Modernity and Post-Modernity.

The Gandhian Critique of Modernity
42
4.2
Gandhi’s Social Thought
MODERNITY IN INDIA
Modernity in India has hardly run a parallel course. Science and mathematics developed
during India’s classical period and continued well into what historians describe as the
‘medieval’ period, which supposedly lasted till the arrival of the British. During this period
the pre-existing social and cultural institutions did not disappear though they were indeed
disrupted or frozen. For whatever other historical reasons scientific learning ceased to
evolve, there was no struggle between lay and religious authority, no embargo on the
pursuit of knowledge imposed by ecclesiastical diktat. For the matter of that, there was
no ecclesium, either Hindu or Muslim to issue a comparable diktat.
For the Hindus the serpent symbolises desirable wisdom and knowledge. Man is
essentially divine, not a limited being burdened with original sin. The shastras offer a
choice of practices for the overcoming of egoism, and though human pride is denounced,
it is not feared. The aim of the temporal and religious powers in the subcontinent was
to maintain the order and equilibrium of the social and cosmic processes, to which
intellectual speculation hardly constituted a threat. The Indian civilisation was marked by
continuous cumulative, internally dialectical intellectual progress, but had fairly degenerated
into decadence and complacency on the eve of the Muslim entry into India.
The seeds of modernity, inextricably mixed with elements of western culture, were sown
for the first time in India not through theoretical curiosity, nor through a revolt against
received conventions, but through foreign imposition. This is not to deny that individual
intellectuals and reformers were at times genuinely moved to repair perceived deficiencies
in their own social or intellectual systems through creative interaction with new ideas, or
that the earlier pre-industrialised, pre-imperial Europeans had not treated Indian civilisation
with interest and respect. Later, however, the alien rulers laboured under the compulsive
need to justify their occupation of a foreign land, which entailed inducing suitable feelings
of inferiority and gratitude in the ruled. When the project of modernisation was taken up
more freely by the populace at large, or more precisely by the middle classes, the
motivation was not to subdue nature or break out of a mental straitjacket, but to master
the techniques which had made national defeat possible, to acquire the enabling skills,
political, economic and theoretical, for establishing equality with a perceived superior. In
the race for ‘catching up’, modernity as constituted by the free pursuit of knowledge
through untrammeled curiosity, self-assertion, anthropocentricism, was preached down by
leaders of society and not wrested from them as rights. Instead of the dynamism of a felt
revolt against restrictive domination, there has been an enervating, vapid imitation and
conformity in the realm of ideas. Social freedoms, egalitarianism and individualism found
more spontaneous takers in a society built on restraints, hierarchies and community values.
It is in these domains that reformers like Gandhi found spaces for social reform.
4.3
GANDHI AND MODERNITY
Gandhi is one of the most resolute critics of modernity in the twentieth century. He sees
modernity, unless unchecked, sweeping away everything that stands in its way as it tries
to take ‘charge of the world’. Taking charge of the world implies that we can know how
to organise the world (through science and rational, neutral theorising) and how to
implement our plans (through research, technology, and instrumental reasoning). At the
heart of modernity is a questioning of and dissatisfaction with the present and a faith that
the reason and the changes it fosters will lead to a progressively better future. In mounting
Critique of Modernity
43
his challenges, Gandhi confronts the foundational principles of the modern world and, in
their place, he offers an idealised conception of traditional life in rural India, which he
sees, providing an alternative to the complexity, materialism, and poverty he detects in
modern society.
The usual reading of Gandhi presents him as relentlessly antimodernist: Ramashray Roy,
for example, argues that “Gandhi’s critique of modern civilization is total” (Roy, 1985,
p.38). However, this is not the last word about his critique of modernity. Not only does
he write about the ways it can be part of the good society, but also his theory is also
closely tied to such modern concepts as autonomy and equality.
However much Gandhi builds on important modern conceptions such as secular equality
and universal rights, his encounters with modernity do not prompt him to merge it with
tradition. Unlike some of the leading Indian thinkers of the time, he does not want to
synthesise modernity and Hinduism or to self-consciously borrow aspects of modernity.
His reconceptualisation of autonomy and equality, allied as they are with community, duty
and cohesion, are oppositional to modern ones, and he seeks to buttress these goods by
mounting a critique of modernity and modernisation that is simultaneously conservative and
radical. He wants a reformed tradition to stand, erectly and resolutely, to confront
modernity. Only in this way, he reasons, can the dangerous elements of modernity be
exposed and the modern project be made to explain itself. In advancing his position,
Gandhi seeks to complicate modernity and rob it of its certainty.
He knows modernity and modernisation are here to stay, and he wants to question their
confident claims to truth. For him, the pressing challenge is to disturb what is settled in
the modern project in order to keep it from smothering the kinds of standards and
practices he considers essential to autonomy. In this way, he hopes to make room for
alternative logics that he thinks speak to the dignity and equality of persons in ways that
modernity, by itself, cannot. Gandhi’s alternatives come from traditions but, unlike most
conservatives and communitarians, he is not content to leave traditions where he finds
them, including his own.
4.4
PROBLEMATISING MODERNITY AND
MODERNISATION
In mounting his critique, Gandhi launches a broad indictment on modernity and modernisation
to expose them as constructions that come with heavy and often hidden costs. Uninterested
in debating the intellectual roots of modernity, he concentrated on its character and effects.
For him, modernity is powerfully seductive, and part of its attractiveness stems from its
proclivity to speak to what Gandhi considers a natural but partial aspect of the human
condition. In appealing to our basic needs as well as newly acquired ones, modernity
focuses on the immediate and the observable, matters that Gandhi thinks are necessary
but hardly the highest aspects of our lives. He sees modernity addressing a person’s
interests or wealth (artha) and desires (kama) (Young India, 2.6.1927) but ignoring
questions about a person’s responsibilities in the wider world (dharma). In his view,
modernity displaces other modes of thinking and moral points of reference, such as those
found in religion, tradition, and the folkways of rural societies. For him, these alternative
modes of knowledge are not merely one option among many ways of knowing; he sees
them addressing persistent moral issues about the nature of human beings in ways he
thinks modernity cannot. Gandhi believes that because modernity has only partial ways of
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Gandhi’s Social Thought
organising knowledge and guiding practice, at best, it offers slices of knowledge but
cannot collect its findings into a coherent whole. Moreover, he holds that modernity, fixed
on present performance, is unwilling to learn from the past and unconcerned about the
fate of the real human beings in the future. Working with these claims, Gandhi finds that
modernity does not have the resources to correct its own defects.
One problem Gandhi finds with modernity is that its standards are internal and, if it meets
the standards it has set for itself, it declares itself a success. Gandhi vehemently rejects
this. Goals and practices must be judged by more rigorous standards than provided by
artha and karma or production and consumption. For Gandhi, a person’s own tradition
as mediated by a person’s conscience provides men and women with grounded, external
standards to judge. Holding that modernity has only self-referential performance standards
to see how well it is doing, Gandhi finds that it is not alert to the costs it is assessing
on other goods.
With many other critics, he questions the modern belief that rationality provides the only
material we need to determine the truth. For Gandhi, the issue is not that rationality has
nothing to offer; he rejects traditional practices and ideas that he sees as ‘irrational’, such
as child marriages or untouchability. For him, however, reason can overstep what he takes
to be its appropriate boundaries; it cannot always be the sole arbiter to truth claims.
“Rationalism is a hideous monster when it claims for itself omnipotence. Attribution of
omnipotence to reason is as bad a piece of idolatry as is worship of stock and stone
believing it to be God. I plead not for the suppression of reason, but (an appreciation
of its inherent limits” (ibid, 02.06.1927).
In Gandhi’s account, there are some things we know apart from reason. Our love, trust,
forgiveness, and generosity do not flow primarily from reason. Indeed, for some rationalists
these feelings may be misplaced; but not for Gandhi. He sees these dispositions and the
actions that flow from them embodying the best in human beings. He also knows that the
opposite of these dispositions is not always reason. When love or trust is involved, the
choice is not invariably between them and reason, but between love and hate, or trust
and suspicion. To assume that reason should always be the arbiter is to misunderstand
both its strengths and limitations. Reason can speak to an impulse to love, for example,
but after a while reason is exhausted and has nothing more to say. We love or we do
not. Gandhi wants to untie love, trust and forgiveness from calculation and join them to
the developmental capacities of everyone.
As rationality is the hallmark of modernity, increased productivity and technological
innovations are the emblems of modernisation. New and ever-evolving methods of
production, transportation, and communication bring more new goods to more people and
promise even more in the future. Gandhi finds that many of the apparent successes of
modernity are not real successes at all because many of their purported benefits come at
terrible costs. He sees the success transforming society from a place of coherence and
community to one that is becoming increasingly unintelligible and impersonal and where
identities are becoming disjointed as time and space become fragmented. He argues that
industrialisation, the division of labour, and technological innovation contribute to severe
unemployment and poverty, depriving people of their ability to meet their basic needs.
Deeply troubled by what he takes to be the destruction of shared institutional practices
which enable individuals to challenge necessity collectively, he sees people increasingly
forced to address their basic needs on their own in the modern world. For this reason,
Critique of Modernity
45
Gandhi concludes that he knows that some aspects of modernity are good. “I have
examined its tendency in the scale of ethics” and finds, in making the material self the
basis of judging good and evil, “the spirit of it is evil” (Indian Opinion, 21.05.1920).
These concerns reflect his premise that modernity cannot harmoniously coexist with
tradition and, unless there is a constant struggle on the part of tradition to defend its core
principles and practices, modernity will win the day. Seeing modernity and modernisation
penetrating into every facet of life, he means to make his critique comprehensive.
4.5
THE NEW HISTORY
Gandhi reflects much Hindu thinking that emphasises that the past is embodied in tradition
rather than history. For Gandhi, it is possible to transport the past into present-day
activities with tradition; with history, however, the past remains past. Its distant subject
matter provides objects to be studied but does not have much to say about contemporary
action. Working with these assumptions, Gandhi seeks to make tradition a guide for daily
life, something he does not think possible with the chronologies and catalogues of great
events that dominate history. For him, the subject matter of history is about the way the
cosmic order has been disturbed and how the ordinary, peaceable relations among
individuals dissolve. On his account:
“History as we know it is a record of the wars of the world, and so there is a proverb
among Englishmen that a nation which has no history, that has no war, is a happy
nation…(if wars) were all that happened in the world, it would have been ended long
ago” (Harijan, 11.08.1940).
Gandhi complains that history, as the chronicle of violence, ignores the “natural activities”
of individuals. It does not record the day-to-day incidents of love and service. But
ordinary human beings, in their ordinary activities, are important to Gandhi, and he means
to show how tradition enables them to understand how to live in dignity, something he
finds missing in modern history. For Gandhi, replacing tradition with history means people
no longer have standards they can incorporate into their own lives. What they are given
in the meta-narrative of progress is the claim that the present is better than the past and
the future will be better still.
Fearing that many Indians are finding the meta-narrative attractive, Gandhi means to
challenge its validity as well as reveal its remainders. On Gandhi’s reading, traditional
Hinduism places activity over passivity, proclaims the importance of the ordinary, and is
concerned with how people lead a coherent, autonomous life nonviolently. More than that,
Gandhi wants to enable ordinary people to be heroes in their lives as they contend against
the forces of domination as well as with their own pride.
4.6
MODERNITY AND THE DEATH OF THE COSMOS
Whatever its story may be, modern history claims to be objective and neutral, penetrating
below and beyond the world of appearance and accident to unearth reality. Its claims to
truth, objectivity, and neutrality are what Gandhi most wants to challenge and part of his
project is to call into question the entire modern project. He continues this interrogation
when he takes up the issue of modern science.
Some of Gandhi’s most discordant comments concern his understanding and criticism of
modern science and technology. He is dismayed at the new and horrifying forms of death
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Gandhi’s Social Thought
and destruction that come with modern science, but that is not the primary reason he
attacks it. For him, its greatest danger comes from its mode of thinking; sweeping aside
alternative ways of understanding the cosmos, morality and oneself.
Gandhi sees the universalising impulse of modernity as inhospitable to plurality. In its
search for general rules, modern reason seeks to identify relevant variables and discard
superfluous ones that carry no explanatory weight. What remains outside of the realm of
the verifiable is unimportant to the enterprise that seeks to generate theory that can be
replicated with the same result by distant, neutral strangers. Gandhi fears that such an
outlook discounts not only traditional morality but also common sense and reason, and
ultimately the autonomous self, which becomes a remainder.
For Gandhi, modern science is wholly inadequate to serve as the epistemological arbiter
of how the discrete parts should be joined together. In his view, plurality simultaneously
requires distinctiveness and unity, individual integrity and cooperation. He is concerned that
the universalising impulse of modernity threatens diversity as well as enervates the quest
for moral judgement, and it does this with its emphasis on procedures that require
detachment and indifference. Such modern claims represent the antithesis of everything
Gandhi desires. Morality, in his account, is no more revealed through the scientific method
than through a blind faith in a sacred text.
Moral truth, he argues, is not discovered by disengagement or neutrality but comes
through an active involvement in the world, and he wants to apply the same ethical
standards to the institutionalised power of modern science that he assigns to his own
tradition. For him, any claim to the truth must show that its application contributes to the
harmony of the cosmos and individual autonomy and not to the loss of control of the
things that should be most important to people. As he sees it, “science is essentially one
of those things in which theory alone is of no value whatsoever.” What counts the most,
he claims, are the uses to which science is applied (The Hindu, 19.03.1925).
Gandhi rejects the premise that science and ethics are separate; that ethics only has
something to say when something goes wrong. He fears that such reasoning assigns
science the superior position, relegates ethics to a subordinate realm, and absolves people
of responsibility. For Gandhi, the primary issue is not how we “take charge of the world”
but how we live with nature and take control of ourselves. In challenging the modern
aspiration to conquer nature, Gandhi does not claim that every discovery of the modern
era falls somewhere between the valueless and the corrupt. On the contrary, he
acknowledges that certain scientific and technological discoveries should be incorporated
into Indian society, but only on the proviso that human beings control the process rather
than are controlled by it. Confronting modern science this way, he again shows he is more
concerned with its applications than with modern science itself.
In raising the objections he does, Gandhi seeks to challenge modernity, and he does this
by summoning allies that have been thought to have grown weary and paltry. Knowing
that modern science will not disappear, he wants to convince people that they must judge
the entire modern project by its consequences to the autonomy of persons. He wants
people to appropriate what is valuable in modernity, not in a random but in a deliberative
way, knowing their purposes in borrowing what they do. He knows fully well that there
is no turning back to an earlier time when science did not occupy the place it does today.
But he refuses to allow science to proceed without requiring its advocates to explain
themselves.
Critique of Modernity
4.7
47
POST-MODERN GANDHI
As early as 1909, in his seminal work Hind Swaraj, Gandhi had identified ‘modern
civilization’ and found it wanting. In doing so, he flew in the face of prevailing world
opinion. In 1909, Europe and the US were approaching the apogee of the belief in
progress. Confidence in the future abound. Accomplishments in science and technology
and the capacity to use them in benign and productive ways seemed to prove that
humans could master and harness nature, and direct and control social change. Before the
irrationality and carnage of World War I shattered the illusion that material and social
progress was inevitable and benign, progress seemed as certain as it was palpable. In
formulating his inner and outer critique of ‘modern civilization’ in Hind Swaraj, Gandhi
challenged this view of progress. In doing so, he became an early contributor to the
intellectual lineage of postmodernism.
Another way in which Gandhi’s thought foreshadowed postmodernism was its refusal to
privilege modernism’s commitment to the epistemology of universal truths, objective
knowledge and master narratives. Gandhi anticipates a good deal of postmodern thinking
by taking the view that, at best, humans can know partial and contingent truths. As a selfdeclared karma yogi, Gandhi’s epistemology was rooted in ‘truth in action’, a concept
that locates truth in the facts and circumstance of particular situations. Before launching a
satyagraha campaign, he thoroughly familiarised himself with its particular context. In a
process evocative of the discovery phase of a legal proceeding, he carefully investigated
the relevant circumstances-including the attitudes and motives of the contending parties.
The goal of the campaign was formulated with reference to the situation’s unique
problematic. In his first Satyagraha in South Africa, he coined the phrase, ‘the minimum
is the maximum’. His first major campaign in India, after returning from South Africa, at
Champaran in Bihar exemplifies this practice. As a Satyagrahi he practised firmness in the
pursuit of contextual or situational truth. And, as an adherent of the Jain doctrine of
Anekantavada, he viewed truth as many-sided and its understanding by the human mind
as ‘fleeting and fragmentary’.
Gandhi respected science as a form of truth and followed what he took to be scientific
methods. In his Autobiography, ‘The Story of My Experiments with Truth’, he used the
word ‘experiment’ quite deliberately in the title of the book. In a language suggestive of
Karl Popper’s about falsification, Gandhi wrote ‘I claim nothing (more for the experiments)
than does a scientist who, though he conducts his experiments with the utmost accuracy,
forethought and minuteness, never claims any finality about his conclusions, but keeps an
open mind regarding them’.
The claim that Gandhi held a partial and contingent view of truth, a view that resembled
the views of some postmodernists, has been contested by Indian scholars on Gandhi. Ajit
Kumar Jha, for example, expressed a widely accepted view when he argued: ‘To
describe (Gandhi) as a postmodernist is a gross misunderstanding of his philosophy. One
of the basic assumptions of postmodernism is the principle of ethical relativism. The
Mahatma, whose entire life was dedicated to experimenting with truth, believed, in the
absolute truth’ (Rudolph, 2006, p.6).
But are these allegations valid? What does Gandhi mean when he refers to absolute truth?
How does he use the term? Is it right to equate the situational truths of Satyagraha or
the partial and contingent truths of Gandhi’s ‘experiments with truth’ with ethical relativism?
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Gandhi’s Social Thought
Gandhi’s reasoning about truth starts with his commitment to the view that ‘truth is God’.
Gandhi makes clear in a variety of ways that seeking God, like seeking absolute truth,
is not the same as knowing God or knowing absolute truth. The absolute truth or God
could be approached but not known by mortals. Unlike those modernists who think that
they can know absolute truth in the form of objective truths and universal laws, Gandhi
thought that making such claims was to envy God and seek to be like Him.
Gandhi compared absolute truth to a diamond which could not be seen as a whole but
whose many facets or surfaces revealed partial truths. Another way to think of Gandhi’s
understanding of absolute truth is to liken it to infinity in calculus, that is, as a limit that
can be approached and approximated but not known or reached. The existence of infinity,
like the existence of absolute truth, provides a basis for reasoning and knowledge- about
mathematics and about truth. Gandhi sometimes invoked Euclid’s line to illustrate the
relationship between the ideal and the real. It was a line ‘without breadth….(that) no one
has so far been able to draw and never will. All the same it is only by keeping the ideal
in mind that we have made progress in geometry. What is true here is true of every ideal’
(Harijan, 9-1-1940).
For Gandhi, truth had several meanings and forms. It could be situational as in the goal
of a satyagraha; contextual and contingent as in the experimental truths found in his
autobiography; and absolute as in his commitment to ‘Truth is God’. In ‘The Story of
My Experiments with Truth’, Gandhi used the word ‘experiment’ to invoke a version of
modern science: ‘I claim nothing (more for the experiments) than does a scientist who,
though he conducts his experiments with the utmost accuracy, forethought and minuteness,
never claims any finality about his conclusions, but keeps an open mind regarding them.
I am far from claiming any finality or infallibility about my conclusions’. He goes on to
say, however, that ‘I do claim that my conclusions are absolutely correct, and seem for
the time being to be final. For if they were not, I should base no action on them for me,
truth is the sovereign principle not only the relative truth of our conception, but the
Absolute Truth that is God. I worship God as truth only’. But then he says that ‘I have
not yet found Him as long as I have not realized this Absolute Truth, so long must I hold
by the relative truth as I have conceived it. That relative truth must, meanwhile, be my
beacon, my shield and buckler’. This view of relative truth anticipates the postmodern turn
to the contingent certainty of contextual or situational truth.
Gandhi is postmodern too in his hermeneutics. He sought meaning in context, a
perspective he brought to the interpretation of practice and of texts. This can be seen in
the way he interpreted vegetarianism, a core practice for someone of his religion, caste
and family, and in the way he interpreted the Bhagavad Gita, a foundational text that
Gandhi put at the centre of his worldview. When it is said that his hermeneutics was
postmodern, this refers to the commitment to relative truth and to his avoidance of
modernist hermeneutics such as the self-evidence of foundational truths or the transparency
of universal meta-narratives and of scientific and objective truths that claim to be
independent of time, place and circumstance. Gandhi also avoided the hermeneutics of the
unselfconscious universalism of revealed, sacred and immemorial truth claimed for religious
texts.
Gandhi’s postmodern hermeneutics can also be seen in the way he addresses the question
of the literalness and/ or historicity of the perfection of Krishna. ‘Krishna of the Gita’, he
says, is perfection and right knowledge personified; but the picture is imaginary. “That
does not mean’, he is quick to add, ‘that Krishna, the adored of his people, never lived.
Critique of Modernity
49
But the perfection is imagined. The idea of a perfect incarnation is an aftergrowth’ (Desai,
1946, p.128).
His post-modernity is again evident in the way he discusses the idea of incarnation in
Hinduism in order to show that the point of Gita is not to show Krishna as perfection
incarnate but rather to show that ‘self-realization is the subject of the Gita.’ At the same
time Gandhi argues that the Gita’s author ‘surely did not write it to establish’ the doctrine
of self-realisation. The object of the Gita’, Gandhi continues, ‘appears to me to be that
of showing the most excellent way to attain self-realization. That matchless remedy is
renunciation of fruits of action’ (ibid, 129).
Unlike his turn-of-the century contemporaries in India, Gandhi did not succumb to the
allure of colonial modernity. Nor did he, like most of his contemporaries in Europe and
the US, succumb to the allure of modern civilisation’s claim of progress or to its siren
call of high modernism, that scientific knowledge and Enlightenment rationalism translated
into practice by technocrats, engineers, and managers made it possible for man to
conquer and command nature, perfect society, and replace poverty with abundance.
4.8
SUMMARY
The modern society that Gandhi surveys has become a place where efficiencies
overwhelm individuals, the household is under siege, artificialities abound, nothing is fixed,
and social practices and moral principles are increasingly uncomplimentary and often
contradictory. In such a world, he finds people are lost, and he wants to provide them
with materials that serve as a guide. In this way, he seeks to empower individuals to
guard their own autonomy in the confusion and dangers he detects in the modern world.
That Gandhi borrows much from modernity for his project cannot disguise his continued
dependency on tradition and his skepticism of modernity. His debts to modernity never
cancel his serious doubts about many of its central assumptions, particularly its faith in
progress and reason; its reliance on universalism, neutrality, and proceduralism; its
aspiration to control nature; its tolerance of violence; and its ready acceptance of change
and fragmentation. Indeed, Gandhi appeals to many because he borrows important
principles from modernity without letting modernity set the terms of his discourse. He
thinks that by struggling with modernity, he can chasten it. Gandhi’s struggle seeks to
force it to explain itself- to recognise that its answers must not only satisfy the criteria it
has established for itself, but also must speak to other logics as well.
4.9
TERMINAL QUESTIONS
1
What do you understand by Modernity and Post-Modernity?
2
Examine the Gandhian Critique of Modernity.
SUGGESTED READINGS
Desai, Mahadev., (ed.), The Gospel of Selfless Action or The Gita According to Gandhi,
Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad, 1946
Gandhi, M.K., An Autobiography or The Story of My Experiments with Truth, Navajivan
Publishing House, Ahmedabad, 1975edn.
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Gandhi’s Social Thought
Gandhi, M.K., Hind Swaraj, Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad, 1975edn.
Hardiman, David., Gandhi: In His Time and Ours, Permanent Black, Delhi, 2005
Harijan, A Journal of Applied Gandhism, 1933-55, Garland Publishing Inc., New York,
1973
Parel, Anthony J., (ed.), Hind Swaraj and Other Writings, Cambridge University Press,
1997
Roy, Ramashray, Self & Society, Sage, New Delhi, 1985
Rudolph, Lloyd & Susanne Hoeber Rudolph. Postmodern Gandhi and Others Essays ,
Oxford, New Delhi, 2006
Sharma, Jai Narain, Alternative Economics, Deep & Deep, New Delhi, 2003
Terchek, Ronald J., Gandhi Struggling for Autonomy, Vistaar Publications, New Delhi,
2000
Young India, 1919-31, Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad.
UNIT 5
HINDU- MUSLIM AMITY
Structure
5.1 Introduction
Aims and Objectives
5.2 Gandhian Approach to Hindu-Muslim Unity
5.2.1
5.2.2
5.2.3
5.2.4
Efforts for Communal Unity
Khilafat Movement
Rights of Minorities
Composite Nationalism
5.3 Issues Affecting the Hindu-Muslim Amity
5.3.1
5.3.2
5.3.3
5.3.4
5.3.5
Cow Protection
Music Before Mosques
Urdu-Hindi Controversy
Communal Riots: Causes and Social Implications
Failure of Coalition in Uttar Pradesh
5.4 Critical Assessment of Gandhian Approach
5.5 Summary
5.6 Terminal Questions
Suggested Readings
5.1
INTRODUCTION
Two most important goals of Mahatma Gandhi’s public life were the Hindu-Muslim unity
and the liquidation of untouchability. Gandhi repeatedly declared that these two goals were
dearer to him and even prior to the goal of swaraj, i.e., freedom. He believed that the
Hindu-Muslim unity is a prerequisite for India’s independence and nationhood. He did not
want swaraj without Hindu-Muslim unity. He wanted that in independent India both the
communities should not suppress each other. He had said that if this unity is established,
unity with other religious communities could be easily strengthened. He was successful to
a large extent in undermining, if not completely eradicating untouchability, as many
constitutional and administrative provisions/measures were enshrined for its abolition and to
improve the lives of these people. By contrast, Hindu-Muslim unity evaded Gandhi
throughout his life except for a brief period during the Khilafat agitation. Despite his
efforts to prevent it, the country had to accept partition and experience post-partition
communal killings as the price of freedom. There is more to it. Even after independence,
Gandhi continued to make gigantic efforts to achieve Hindu-Muslim unity. He became a
martyr in the process.
Notwithstanding this it must be acknowledged that no other leader has devoted so much
time and attention to the problem of Hindu-Muslim unity as Gandhi did. Unity between
Hindus and Muslims was almost an article of faith with him. He left no stone unturned
in his efforts to bring about that unity. He preached, he wrote, he negotiated, he fasted
and prayed for this unity, which eluded him.
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Gandhi wanted to address this problem in a different manner, i.e., on the principle of
“give and take”. Give and take, he said, is possible only when there is some trust
between the respective communities and their representatives. If the Hindus and Muslims
love each other, the gulf between them will disappear and it will lead towards unity;
because this unity does not exist, he said, the 17,000 Englishmen were able to rule over
three hundred millions of Indians.
Aims and Objectives
After reading this Unit, you would be able to understand

The efforts made by Gandhi to achieve Hindu-Muslim unity.

His views on the issue of communalism and the rights of minorities.

Major criticisms of Gandhian approach to Hindu-Muslim unity.
5.2
GANDHIAN APPROACH TO HINDU-MUSLIM
UNITY
Throughout his political life, Gandhi worked for Hindu-Muslim unity. For building up this
unity he supported the Khilafat movement; the rights of minorities, the idea of composite
nationalism; and condemned the communal riots. Let us elaborate these.
5.2.1
Efforts for Communal Unity
Gandhi said, “I am striving to become the best cement between the two communities. My
longing is to be able to cement the two with my blood, if necessary. But, before I can
do so, I must prove to the Mussalmans that I love them as well as I love the Hindus”
(Young India, 25 September 1924, in Compiled & Edited by Rao, 1963, p.5). He called
Ali brothers as blood brothers. Hindu-Muslim unity does not mean unity only between
these two communities, but it means unity between all those who believe India to be their
home, no matter to what faith they belong. This unity will have a message for the world.
Like late poet Iqbal, Gandhi too believed that the Hindus and the Muslims have lived
together long under the shadow of the Mighty Himalayas and have drunk the waters of
the Ganges and the Yamuna. Despite having different religions, they lived for centuries in
peace. In defence, he quotes a line from Iqbal’s famous song: Majhab nahin sikhata
apasmen bair rakhna, meaning, religion does not teach us to bear ill-will towards one
another.
Hindu-Muslim unity was likened by Gandhi as a marriage, where both the Hindus and
Muslims should love each other with unconditional love. At another occasion, he called
Hindu-Muslim unity as a growing plant in its delicate infancy, requiring special care and
attention. Gandhi also advocated inter-faith and inter-cultural dialogue for achieving HinduMuslim amity. His theory of religious pluralism and the principle of equality of all religions,
which requires the tolerance of diversity of religions, was also part of his efforts towards
communal unity.
5.2.2
Khilafat Movement
Gandhi supported Khilafat movement to enlist Muslim support for swaraj. In fact, it was
Khilafat which introduced Gandhi to Indian Muslim masses. It led to the use of nonviolent cooperation movement for the first time in India due to Khilafat issue. This led
Hindu-Muslim Amity
53
to a new era of Hindu-Muslim cooperation. Slogans of “Hindu-Musalman ki jai” and
“Hindu-Musalman ek hai” resounded through the air. Although undoubtedly this was an
unprecedented effort for unity, it did not last for long. A detailed study of Khilafat
movement was covered in one of the preceding courses.
Addressing the students of Aligarh Muslim University, Gandhi made an impassioned appeal
to the University students to produce servants of the country and Islam like Gokhale.
Recalling the simplicity of the second Caliph Umar, he urged the students to emulate the
Caliph by shunning the use of soft silk garments and advised them to wear khadi. This
way, he said, they would establish a living bond between themselves and the millions of
India’s paupers. He asked them to consider themselves as custodians of India’s honour
and makers of Hindu-Muslim unity. He saw Khilafat as an issue of “just religious cause”
in addition to a major plank for Hindu-Muslim solidarity; he provided national leadership
to the movement and asserted that “a gesture of good will on the part of Hindus over
Khilafat was destined to procure a reciprocal response on the part of the Muslims”
(CWMG, Vol.22, 1966, pp.304-305).
The demise of the Khilafat hastened the breakdown of the precariously balanced
harmony between Muslims and Hindus, leading to the eruption of Hindu-Muslim riots. The
Mopalla (Muslim) rebellion (against Hindus and Christian landlords) in the Malabar region
and the Kohat riots are instances of political agitations degenerating into communal
violence owing to the mixing of religion with politics.
Many of Gandhi’s contemporaries and some scholars criticised the launching of Khilafat
movement as it emphasised pan-Islamism to an extent that Muslim’s identity was bound
to suffer (Jhingran, 2004, p.311). While some of them opined that only the Indian
Muslims got agitated and despondent at the fate of Turkey and Khilafat, others opined
that “the Khilafat Movement had been idealized as an anti-colonial movement. But its
main “achievement” was the turning away of Indian Muslims from a secular understanding
of politics, towards a religious and communalist one” (Jhingran, 2004, p.318). B.R.
Nanda’s observation highlights that communal unity due to Khilafat was not worth
appreciating, as the two campaigns – the restoration of Khilafat and the achievement of
India’s independence – were though joined, they never really merged into an integrated
struggle. The Indian National Congress and All India Khilafat Conference had separate
networks, two separate funds; they held their meetings separately and Gandhi is said to
have had no control over the Khilafat committees.
5.2.3
Rights of Minorities
Gandhi fought for the rights of minorities during freedom struggle. He said that without the
problem of minorities being solved, there is no swaraj for India. After Partition also he
appealed for Hindu-Muslim amity and asked both the communities not to swear by the
past, but turn the searchlight inwards and settle down to the fact that in Pakistan as well
as in Hindustan both Hindus and Muslims had to live together as common citizens. He
felt that it would be shameful indeed, if the majority in India thought that they have the
upper hand over minorities, “If the minority in India … is made to feel small on that
account, I can only say that this India is not the India of my dreams. In the India of
whose fashioning I have worked all my life, every man enjoys equality of status whatever
his religion is … What I wish India to do is to assure liberty of religious profession to
every single individual. Then only India can be great, for it is perhaps the one nation in
the ancient world which has recognized cultural democracy, whereby it is held that the
54
Gandhi’s Social Thought
roads to God are many, but the goal is one, because God is one and the same”
(Harijan, 31 August, 1947). For Gandhi the only non-violent solution to Hindu-Muslim
question is to let the minority communities take what they like. He even said that he
would not hesitate to let the minorities govern the country (Bakshi, 1987, p.58).
5.2.4
Composite Nationalism
Gandhi believed in composite nationalism. In his earliest writing, Hind Swaraj or Indian
Home Rule, Gandhi had declared in 1909 that:
India cannot cease to be one nation because people belonging to different religions live
in it. The introduction of foreigners [i.e., Muslims] does not necessarily destroy the nation;
they merge in it. … That country must have a faculty for assimilation. India has ever been
such a country. In reality, there are as many religions as there are individuals; but those
who are conscious of the spirit of nationality do not interfere in one another’s religion. If
they do, they are not fit to be considered a nation. If the Hindus believe that India should
be peopled only by Hindus, they are living in dreamland. The Hindus, the Mahomedans,
the Parsis and the Christians who have made India their country are fellow countrymen,
and they will have to live in unity, if only for their own interest. In no part of the world
are one nationality and one religion synonymous terms; nor has it ever been so in India
[Gandhi, 1938, pp.42-43].
On the question of inborn enmity between Hindus and Muslims, he further elaborated that
the phrase inborn enmity has been invented by the British. He wrote in Hind Swaraj that
the Hindus and Muslims lived in peace for centuries. Hindus flourished under Muslim
sovereigns and Muslims under the Hindus. Both the communities recognized that mutual
fighting was suicidal, and that neither party would abandon its religion by force. Their
peaceful living was disturbed by the British who made both of them quarrel (Gandhi,
1938, p.43).
Gandhi opposed the Partition of India. He declared “Vivisect me before you vivisect
India. You shall not do what even the Moghuls who ruled over India for over two
hundred years, did not do” (Harijan, 22 September 1940, p.294). According to him the
“two-nation” theory was an untruth. The vast majority of Muslims of India is converts to
Islam or is descendents of converts. They did not become a separate nation as soon as
they became converts. He further argued that a Bengali Muslim speaks the same
language that as a Bengali Hindu does, eats the same food, and has the same amusements
as his Hindu neighbour. They dress alike. He said it was often difficult to distinguish
between both of them. Some had common names like Iqbal. Again he said, when he first
met Jinnah, he did not know that he was a Muslim. He came to know his religion when
he learnt his full name. His nationality was written in his face and manner. At one point
he offered a sort of separation: “The Muslims must have the same right of selfdetermination that the rest of India has. We are at present a joint family. Any member
may claim a division”.
It must be noted that it is to the credit of Gandhi that Maulana Abul Kalam Azad could
serve as the President of Indian National Congress during its most crucial phase, 19401946, a period during which “partition debate” crystallised. The selection of Maulana
Azad was not merely a political pragmatic choice to contain the influence of Muslim
League but was rooted in his conviction that the nation does not belong to religious
majority alone. As Gandhi, while fasting, shortly before his death against the communal
outbreak in Delhi in 1948, clearly observed:
Hindu-Muslim Amity
55
From Cape Comorin to Kashmir and from Karachi to Dibrugarh in Assam, all Hindus,
Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, and Jews, who people this vast subcontinent and who have
adopted it as their dear motherland, have an equal right to it. No one has right to say
that it belongs to the majority community and the minority community can only remain as
the underdog.”
5.3
ISSUES AFFECTING THE HINDU-MUSLIM AMITY
Many important and serious issues affected the goal of achieving Hindu-Muslim unity
despite Gandhi’s sincere efforts. Let us study these in some detail.
5.3.1
Cow Protection
Cow protection or anti cow-slaughter was another major issue which divided the Hindus
and Muslims during Gandhi’s life time as much as it troubles in contemporary India. This
issue even led to inter-community riots. Gandhi considers that cow protection is central
to Hinduism. Hindus worship cows. To him the cow is the protector of India because,
being an agricultural country, she is dependent on the cow. The cow is also a most useful
animal in many ways. For him, “cow-protection means the protection of the weak and
the helpless…. Cow protection means brotherhood between man and beast”.
With the former being cow-worshippers and the latter being the beef-eaters, Gandhi
exhorted the Muslims to understand the religious sensibilities of Hindus and voluntarily
refrain from beef-eating. Gandhi also opposed the killings of cow-killers because such an
act is against the tenets of Hinduism, which believes in ahimsa or non-violence. We
should respect both the cow and our fellow-men. He considered that by fighting or killing
a fellow human being in order to save the cow, we become the enemy of the cow as
well as of the humankind. Gandhi sought voluntary Muslim support for cow protection.
It is gratifying to note that during the Khilafat agitation the Muslim League, under Hakim
Ajmal Khan’s Presidentship, carried a cow protection resolution at Amritsar. In 1921,
thousands of cows were saved by the willing efforts of Muslims. The Ali brothers, for the
sake of their Hindu countrymen, gave up eating beef in their homes. Gandhi highly
appreciated such measures. The Islamic law does prescribe the rites of sacrifice of
animals to be performed on the occasion of Id-ul zuha but nowhere does it prescribe that
only cow will be sacrificed for the same. More recently, Darul-Ulum Deoband (world
famous Sunni Islamic seminary in Uttar Pradesh) has issued a fatwa (religious opinion) not
to sacrifice cows on the occasion of Id-ul Zuha in the larger interest of communal amity,
thus echoing the Gandhian position on the subject.
5.3.2
Music before Mosques
In Gandhi’s opinion the question of music before mosques was as sore a point with the
Muslims as the cow-slaughter was with the Hindus. For the sake of communal amity,
Gandhi appealed to both the communities to respect the feelings and sensibilities of the
other and urged them to refrain from hurting each others’ sentiments on the basis of “give
and take”. He sought a spirit of cooperation and accommodation between both the
communities and asked them to refrain from playing music before the mosques. Gandhi
did not favour the use of force to stop music before the mosque or the cow-slaughter.
These cannot be stopped at the point of sword but only through voluntary measures, he
opined.
56
5.3.3
Gandhi’s Social Thought
Urdu-Hindi Controversy
The attitude of Gandhi towards the Hindi-Urdu controversy also caused much resentment
among the Muslims. The Congress Constitution, mainly drafted by Gandhi, recognised that
Hindustani, written in both Hindi and Urdu scripts, would be the country’s language. But
on 14 July 1927, he veered around to the view that so long as the Hindu-Muslim tension
lasted, there would be two scripts, but eventually there would be only one universal script
for the whole country. While presiding over the Hindi Sahitya Sammelan in 1935, he said
that Hindi or Hindustani should be the lingua franca of India and that Devanagiri script
was to be used for all Indian languages. Next year, at the Bhartiya Sahitya Parishad he
reiterated the same view, and also added erroneously that Urdu was the religious language
of the Muslims. When there were loud protests from Muslims against Gandhi’s partisan
stance, he modified his stand and reverted to the original formulation that India’s national
language would be Hindustani, written in both Devanagiri and Urdu scripts. But later he
also clarified that he had agreed to the use of two scripts “only as a temporary measure
– ultimately one script would be acceptable to all”.
5.3.4
Communal Riots: Causes and Social Implications
As to the causes of Hindu-Muslim riots, Gandhi said, “In my opinion, the riots are due
to the idiocy of both the communities (Harijan, 2 September, 1947). As to Hindu-Muslim
unity, he said that “Only when the Hindus and Muslims shed their fear and mutual
suspicion can unity of heart come”(Harijan, 26 January, 1947).
5.3.5
Failure of Coalition in Uttar Pradesh (UP)
When Gandhi attended the Second Round Table Conference, he was not only the sole
spokesperson for the Congress, but also he claimed to speak for the whole country.
When Nehru stated, “In the final analysis there are only two forces in India – British
imperialism and Congress representing Indian nationalism”, Jinnah strongly contested this
statement and said that there was a third force also, and that was the Muslim League.
This attitude of the Congress not only offended the Muslim League, but also it was a
challenge to the identity of the vast majority of the Muslims who were not with the
Congress and constituted only 3% of the total Congress members.
The Congress formed the Ministry in 1937 after the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.
The League had won 26 seats against 134 by the Congress. Jinnah, still a liberal, had
proposed an experiment of Congress-League Coalition in UP. An informal understanding
was reached that two ministerial berths would be offered to the League. Nehru and Azad
were opposed to this coalition. Nehru wanted only one berth to be offered to the
League. Ultimately it was decided that the League could be included in the ministry on
the condition that its MLAs would join the Congress Parliamentary Party and function
under the Congress discipline. Further, it was suggested that the Parliamentary Board of
the League in UP should be dissolved and the League members work for the success of
the Congress candidates in future election. These conditions were perceived as aiming at
the liquidation of the League in UP. There was widespread resentment among the Muslims
over this episode. This resulted in the increased membership of the League that stood at
1,330 in 1937, but which rose to one hundred thousand within a year, and two million
in 1944. This reflected the fears of uncertain future for Muslims in independent India.
Further, in Bombay, the Congress did not get an absolute majority and B.G. Kher, the
Congress Chief Minister designate, was in favour of inducting one Muslim League
Hindu-Muslim Amity
57
Minister. Jinnah too favoured the same but it was eventually turned down further
intensifying the fears of Muslim isolation (See CWMG, Vol. 65, p.231).
5.4
CRITICAL ASSESSMENT OF GANDHIAN
APPROACH
Many of Gandhi’s contemporaries as well as other scholars were very critical of his
approach to Hindu-Muslim unity. Let us look at these criticisms.
Gandhi heavily depended on moral and ethical force to achieve the unity between these
two religious communities. Although the question of Hindu-Muslim relations was a very
complex issue requiring a carefully designed and sensitive strategy for their proper
handling, Gandhi adopted a rather simplistic approach towards the two communities
together. He relied heavily on symbolic gestures, the “brotherhood” approach to promote
communal amity. He read the Gita and the Quran together at his prayer meetings,
observed purificatory fasts to remove communal venom, and propagated the belief that
true religion can only join people and not divide them. His reliance on prayers, fasts,
penance, appeal to common interests and higher sentiments did not appeal much for the
Muslims as these practices were rooted in Hindu religious tradition. Therefore, his “RamRahim”, “Hindu-Muslim bhai bhai”, and “heart unity” approach did not yield positive
results.
According to some scholars, Gandhi failed to solve the communal problem because he
lacked historical perspective (Khan, 1978 and Shah, 1970). He did not take into
account the hold that religion with its dogma, tradition, custom, ritual and historical
memories, has on the minds of men, in a pre-modern society. Gandhi assigned only a
derivative role to the cultural factor. He did not grasp the deeper social and cultural roots
of the Hindu-Muslim conflict. According to them, Gandhi placed the whole blame for the
communal problem on the British. He thus overlooked the fact that the British did not
create separatism. Gandhi’s approach to the communal problem also failed because he
overlooked the emergence of Muslim nationalism along with Indian nationalism. A more
valid criticism of the Gandhian approach by this group of authors is that it “was saintly
in the main and precisely on that account it was bound to fail” (Shah, 1970). Gandhi
thought that the Hindu-Muslim problem was essentially religious and so missed the social
aspect of the problem.
Gandhi’s use of Hindu symbols and legends as metaphors (such as tapasya, ahimsa,
Ram Rajya, maths, ashrams, bhajans etc.) in his public discourse did not go well with
the Muslims, though this approach reinforced his image as a Mahatma in the eyes of the
Hindu masses. In South Africa he had shown a rare sensitivity to this issue when he
turned down the suggestion to name his Farms maths or ashrams, as these words had
a “particularly Hindu connotation”. But his approach was different in India. Gandhi was
aware of the unfavourable Muslim reaction to his use of the Hindu idiom and told them,
“I warn my Muslim friends against misunderstanding me in my use of the word Ramraj.
By Ramraj I do not mean Hindu Raj. I mean by Ramraj Divine Raj, the Kingdom of
God. For me Rama and Rahim are one and the same deity” (Young India, September,
1924). This sort of assurance may be all right for an educated, liberal minded person, but
did not go well with the Muslim masses, especially when their leaders and the clergy
considered Gandhi as an advocate of Hindu interests (Gill, 2001, p.172).
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Gandhi’s Social Thought
Many times Gandhi appealed to Muslims in the name of Hindu religion, which caused
misgivings among the Muslims. Some of his appeals for unity only strengthened this
impression. For instance, in 1924, when large-scale riots followed the withdrawal of NonCooperation Movement, he wrote, “We shall have to go for tapasya, for self-purification,
if we want to win the hearts of Mussalmans”. Here the word “we” shows that he is
speaking as a Hindu, trying to win the hearts of the “other” party. Also it implies that
Hindu hearts are in right place and only Muslim hearts need to be won over. On an
earlier occasion he said, “…Hinduism will captivate Muslims by the power of its
compassion, which is its very essence…. We can win over the Muslims this very day if
we are sufficiently imbued with the spirit of brotherly love” (Rajmohan Gandhi, 1995,
p.97). Here he is relying on Hinduism’s power of compassion to win over the recalcitrant
Muslims. Simultaneously, he was also working as a social reformer of Hinduism to pug
it from the evil practice of untouchability. Therefore his passion for reforming Hindu
society made Muslims get an impression that he was a leader of Hindus only.
One of the criticisms of Gandhian approach is that in a deeply religious Indian society he
politicised religion by making politics a handmaid of religion. This produced many baneful
consequences. According to Ashish Nandy, India had a long tradition of solving many
local and social problems outside the political arena by such sub-systems as family,
panchayat, caste and community. Gandhi encouraged the politicisation of all these subsystems, and thus eroded their moral authority. It is true that by injecting religion into
politics Gandhi wanted to serve moral ends and wanted to bring ethical norms in public
life. But in the hands of lesser men and the masses, it produced dangerous results. Judith
Brown made a very cryptic remark in this regard: “Once religion let loose in politics, it
became uncontrollable and self-perpetuating; fear and violence bred fear and violence, and
prominent All India politicians could not contain it”. Similarly, Jawaharlal Nehru attributed
communalisation of Indian politics to “too much religiosity”. S.S. Gill writes that
“Gandhi’s attempt to use the religiously inspired movement of Khilafat to promote HinduMuslim unity ended up not only in communalizing politics, but also widening the gulf
between the two communities, and reviving the declining influence of Muslim clergy” (Gill,
2001, p.171).
As declared by himself, Gandhi was a devout sanatani Hindu. On rare occasions when
he was under great stress of grave provocation or acute despair, his religious preference
did break through his nearly impenetrable armour of secularism. His pro-Hindi and proDevanagiri script did great damage to his standing with the Muslims. As early as 1921
he said, “I can wield no influence over the Mussalman except through a Mussalman”. In
1924 he acknowledged that he could longer claim with any truth that he was a
spokesman for the Indian Muslims. The next year he wrote “I have ceased to regard
myself as an expert or an authority on the Hindu-Muslim question”. In 1940 he wistfully
recalled, “There was a time when there was not a Muslim whose confidence I did not
enjoy. Today I have forfeited that confidence and most of the Urdu press pours abuse
on me”. These were very depressing reflections for a man who never lost heart even
against the heaviest of odds. And much more distressing was his admission made in 1927:
“I dare not touch the problem of Hindu-Muslim unity. It has passed out of human
hands and has been transferred to God’s hands” (italics added). The fact of the
matter is that except for a brief Khilafat period, Gandhi could never establish much of
a rapport with the Muslims, and this had serious repercussions on the growth of HinduMuslim relations (Gill, 2001, p.176).
The deteriorating Gandhi-Jinnah Relations was another important reason which did not
Hindu-Muslim Amity
59
allow the Gandhian dream of forging Hindu-Muslim unity. Their relations were not cordial.
It must be noted that Gandhi started the Khilafat Non-Cooperation on 1 August 1920
without consulting the Congress. Tilak died a day before this event, and Gokhale passed
away few years before. The leadership mantle came to Gandhi. Having already acquired
the title of Mahatma helped him in commanding a great following and consolidated his
leadership in a short span of time. This came in clash with Jinnah’s ambitions. In
December 1920, at the Nagpur session of Congress, Gandhi got endorsement of his
Non-Cooperation movement. In fact, Jinnah deplored the Khilafat agitation which had
brought the conservative element to surface. The Khilafat leaders were also attacking
Jinnah for his “anti-Muslim” stand. In 1928, Jinnah fully supported the boycott of the
Simon Commission and attended the All Parties Conference to draft a new constitution
by a sub-committee under Motilal Nehru. At the Calcutta session of the Conference,
Jinnah proposed four amendments to the Nehru Report. These pertained to some
reservations and safeguards for the Muslims. He also made a passionate appeal for unity
and said, “If we cannot agree, let us at least agree to defer, but let us part as friends.
Believe me there is no progress for India until the Musalmans and Hindus are united, and
let no logic, philosophy or squabble stand in the way of coming to a compromise, and
nothing will make me more happy than to see a Hindu-Muslim union”. For his
extraordinary efforts in this regard, Sarojini Naidu used to describe Jinnah as the
“Ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity”. Regrettably, neither Jinnah’s amendments were
accepted, nor the matter deferred. “This is parting of the way”, he remarked later (Gill,
2001, p.188). All these factors are perceived as alienating the minority and led to wideranging differences between both the communities.
5.5
SUMMARY
Gandhi was the tallest leader of India who advocated Hindu-Muslim unity as a prerequisite for achieving swaraj. His approach to Hindu-Muslim amity was considered by
some scholars/ leaders (his contemporaries) as too saintly, moralistic and devoid of
historic realities. Some of the criticisms were no doubt harsh, but his intentions to achieve
communal unity cannot be faulted. His excessive reliance on religious appeal was criticised
by many. Gandhi was blamed for invoking religious sentiments for political purposes,
which allowed the space for fundamentalist elements to rise in the political system.
Gandhi had supported Khilafat movement with the sole purpose of bringing Indian
Muslims to the mainstream political struggle for independence. He appealed to both the
Hindus and Muslims to respect the religious sensibilities of each other. He advocated the
rights of minorities and believed in composite nationalism. He opposed partition of the
country on the basis of two-nation theory saying that Hindus and Muslims are not two
separate nations (qawms). This unit has discussed the reasons for the failure of achieving
communal amity, despite Gandhi’s sincere efforts. Notwithstanding Gandhi’s failure to
achieve Hindu-Muslim amity, in conclusion it can be said that his views on composite
nationalism, inter-faith dialogue and cooperation, ideas on cow slaughter and music before
mosques are relevant for resolving Hindu-Muslim tensions in contemporary India.
5.6
TERMINAL QUESTIONS
1.
What were the efforts made by Gandhi to achieve Hindu-Muslim unity?
2.
What were Gandhi’s views on the issue of communalism and the rights of minorities?
60
Gandhi’s Social Thought
3.
What were the reasons for Gandhi’s failure to achieve Hindu-Muslim unity?
4.
What are the major criticisms of Gandhian approach to Hindu-Muslim unity?
5.
Is Gandhian approach relevant to solve the contemporary tensions / problems
between Hindus and Muslims of India?
SUGGESTED READINGS
Alam, Anwar., “Gandhi, Hind Swaraj and Hindu-Muslim Relations”, Third Frame:
Literature, Culture and Society, Vol.1, No.4, 2008, pp.1-24
Bakshi, S.R., Gandhi and Hindu-Muslim Unity, Deep and Deep, New Delhi, 1987.
Gandhi, M.K., The Way to Communal Harmony, Complied and Edited by U. R.
Rao, Navjivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad, 1963.
—————, The Hindu-Muslim Unity, edited by Anand T. Hingorani,
Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay, 1965.
—————, Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule, Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad,
1938.
Gandhi, Rajmohan., The Good Boatman, Viking, New Delhi, 1995.
Gill, S.S., Gandhi: A Sublime Failure, Rupa and Co., New Delhi, 2001.
Jhingran, Saral., “Gandhi’s Approach to Hindu-Muslim Unity”, Gandhi Marg, Vol. 26, No.
3, 2004, pp.305-318.
Khan, Afaque., “Gandhian Approach to Hindu-Muslim Problem in India”, Radical Humanist,
Vol. 41, No. 12, March 1978, pp.11-16.
Shah, A. B., “Gandhi and the Hindu-Muslim Question”, Quest, Vol. 64, January-March
1970, pp.19-33.
Thomas, Antony., “Gandhi and the Communal Problem: Khilafat to Quit India”, Gandhi
Marg, Vol. 6, April, 1984, Reprinted in Subrata Mukherjee and Sushila Ramaswamy
(ed.), Facets of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol.4, (New Delhi, 1994), pp.310-333.
UNIT 6
COMMUNALISM
Structure
6.1 Introduction
Aims and Objectives
6.2 India’s Communal Problem in Historical Perspective
6.3 Gandhi on India’s Communal Problem
6.4 Swaraj First, Unity Later
6.5 Gandhi and the Partition of India
6.6 Summary
6.7 Terminal Questions
Suggested Readings
6.1
INTRODUCTION
No other leader in the history of freedom struggle aspired for the Hindu-Muslim Unity as
did Gandhi. It meant for him the unity of all, and a new beginning for a peaceful and nonviolent society. Gandhi took up the issue with a missionary zeal, trying to bring about unity
and integrity of the communities. This, he felt, was a necessary prerequisite for achieving
the larger goal of India’s independence. Nevertheless, he tried to balance the viewpoints
of the Hindus and Muslims through his unique approach, i.e. by trying to bridge the
differences between both the communities in the most amicable way and where necessary,
through his fasting. It was a peculiar method he adopted as atonement to the sin of
communal disharmony. Gandhi would be remembered as one of the messiahs, who
constantly strove for the communal unity in one of the most significant periods of the
nation’s history.
Aims and Objectives
After reading this Unit, you would be able to understand:

India’s communal problem from a historical point of view.

Gandhi’s views on the communal problem of India.

Gandhi’s opposition to the partition of India.
6.2
INDIA’S COMMUNAL PROBLEM IN HISTORICAL
PERSPECTIVE
For centuries, the Hindus and Muslims in India had lived in peace and harmony. Before
the advent of the British, religion and religious community had no political salience. The
society was divided into the ruling class and the subject class. It was the British who
accentuated the religious and cultural differences between the communities and tried to pit
one against the other. They maliciously designated the entire period from 1200 AD to
1757 AD as the period of Muslim rule over the Hindus whereas the fact was that the
62
Gandhi’s Social Thought
business of the state was carried on together by all communities whether immigrant or
indigenous. Moreover, the European historians portrayed this long period as one of the
subjugation and oppression of the Hindus. Thus, after the Battle of Plassey in 1757, they
claimed that the British rule was a Divine Providence for the Hindus as it had delivered
them from the tyranny of the Muslim rulers.
The accentuation of the religious and cultural differences between the Hindus and Muslims
and the consolidation of separate communal identities were aided not only by the
aggressive religious revivalist movements during the nineteenth century but also by the
deliberate British policy of promoting one community and downgrading the other,
particularly after the Revolt of 1857. After the failure of the Revolt, the Hindus had taken
full advantage of opportunities of modern education and employment created by the
British and improved their lot whereas the Muslims followed a policy of aloofness from
the British and suffered from degradation and backwardness. The huge imbalance created
between the two communities was one of the reasons for the alienation of Muslims from
the Indian National Congress. When the British saw a challenge to their supremacy from
the growing nationalism of the Hindu middle class, they applied the traditional policy of
divide-and-rule and the counterpoise of the natives by the natives. The grant of certain
safeguards (separate electorate and weightage) to the Muslim community under the
Morley-Minto Reforms of 1909 began a new era of Hindu-Muslim conflict as the
majority community considered any gain of the minority community as the loss of the
majority. A measure of the Hindu-Muslim political unity and cooperation was brought
about by the Congress-League Lucknow Pact of 1916 and the Khilafat and Noncooperation Movement, the movement that had joined together the Khilafat Committee,
the Muslim League, the Jamiat-ul-Ulama and the Indian National Congress under the
leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. However, the collapse of the Khilafat and Noncooperation Movement, the growth of extremist politics and a series of Hindu-Muslim
skirmishes on petty issues embittered the inter-community relations. A turning-point in
Indian politics came with the Montague Declaration of 1917 which changed the approach
of the majority towards the minority entirely as became evident later with the abandonment
by the Motilal Nehru Committee Report (1928) of the Congress-League pact of 1916.
Then came the next crucial phase in 1937 when the Indian National Congress won the
first general elections held for the provincial legislative assemblies under the Government
of India Act, 1935. Its steadfast and outright refusal to take the minority party into its
ministries heralded an era of full-fledged Congress-League confrontation and consequently,
the worsening of Hindu-Muslim relations. It was perhaps at this stage that the term
communalism was coined to describe the inter-party and inter-community antagonism.
During the period 1937-1947 no efforts could lead to an inter-party understanding and
a communal settlement. As a result, India got independence with the Partition of the
country in 1947.
6.3
GANDHI ON INDIA’S COMMUNAL PROBLEM
Before the ascendancy of Gandhi in the Indian politics almost all the prominent Congress
leaders including Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Hakim Ajmal Khan, Motilal Nehru, Lala Lajpat
Rai, Muhammad Ali Jinnah and others had fully acknowledged the multicommunal
character of the Indian polity and therefore believed in the Hindu-Muslim unity as a
perquisite of any political advance in India. This realisation had led to the conclusion of
the Lucknow Pact in 1916 which became possible because all the liberal leaders of both
parties were behind it. Gandhi, a disciple of the liberal Gokhale, too was a great
Communalism
63
champion of Hindu-Muslim unity and a believer in a composite plural Indian nation. There
can be no greater testimony of his universal liberal nationalism than Chapter X of his Hind
Swaraj. The following statement has been cited in the previous lesson, which needs
mention again in this context:
“In no part of the world are one nationality and one religion synonymous term; nor has
it ever been so in India. India cannot cease to be one nation because people belonging
to different religions live in it. The introduction of foreigners does not necessarily destroy
the nation, they merge in it. A country is one nation only when such a condition obtains
in it. That country must have a faculty for assimilation. India has ever been such a
country. In reality, there are as many religions as there are individuals, but those who are
conscious of the spirit of nationality do not interfere with one another’s religion. If they
do, they are not fit to be considered a nation. If the Hindus believe that India should be
peopled only by Hindus, they are living in dreamland. The Hindus, the Mahomedans, the
Parsees and the Christians who have made India their country are fellow-countrymen, and
they will have to live in unity if only for their own interest”.
About the alleged inborn enmity between Hindus and Muslims he wrote:
“That phrase has been invented by our national enemy [the British]. Before coming of
the British both parties ceased to quarrel and settled down to live in peace and realized
that neither party would abandon its religion by force of arms. With the advent of English
the quarrels recommenced. Hindus and Muslims originated from the same stock. All
religions are different roads leading to the same God. Wherein is the cause for
quarrelling?”
When the Khilafat and Non-Cooperation Movement fizzled out during 1923-24, the
reactionary forces were out to spread the rumour that Khilafat people’s real objective was
not the attainment of swaraj but inviting the Afghans to invade India and establish Muslim
raj/rule here. It was in 1923 that the All-India Hindu Mahasabha embarked upon a
radical programme of Shuddhi and Sanghatan which created much apprehension and
unrest among the Muslims. These people were believed to be in the forefront during
communal riots that took place in different areas of north India during 1924-1927. As
Sarkar points out, ‘communal bodies proliferated, and political alignments were made
increasingly on a communal basis’ (Sumit Sarkar, Modern India, 1983, p.233).
Gandhi became very perturbed at the turn of the events and the worsening of intercommunity relations. Gandhi retaliated by announcing a 21-day fast [18 September 1924
to 6 October 1924] as a measure of self-penance and prayers to end the Hindu-Muslim
strife. In an article published in the Young India of 5 June 1924, he tried to point out
the causes of recent spurt of Hindu-Muslim rioting which, according to him, were:
1.
The revolt of the Mopla tenants in Malabar against their caste Hindu landlords;
2.
Mian Fazl-i-Husain’s policy in the Punjab of giving government jobs to the Muslims
which provoked Hindu opposition;
3.
The Shuddhi and Sanghatan movement launched by the All-India Hindu Mahasabha;
4.
Slaughter of cows by the Muslims and playing of music by Hindu processions before
the mosques [during prayers] which provoked each other;
5.
During the inter-community rioting the Muslim “bullying” of the Hindus and Hindu
“cowardice” alienated the Hindus from the Muslims;
64
6.
Gandhi’s Social Thought
The feeling among the backward Muslims that Hindus will not deal with them fairly.
He then proceeded to propose the following measures to lessen the Hindu-Muslim
tensions and curb inter-community riots:
1.
Replacement of the rule of the sword by that of arbitration, that is, inter-community
disputes should be settled not by violent but by peaceful means;
2.
The spirit of non-violence should prevail over that of violence;
3.
The leaders of Hindu and Muslim communities should shed mutual distrust;
4.
Muslims should stop “bullying” and Hindus should cease to be “cowards”;
5.
Muslims should voluntarily give up cow slaughter to appease the Hindus;
6.
Recruitment to government jobs should be on the basis of merit and not on the basis
of communal quotas;
7.
Hindus and Muslims should voluntarily give up their respective Shuddhi and Tabligh
[preaching] movements;
8.
The communally-biased [Arya Samajist] section of the Punjab press should stop its
[provocative] communal writings.
Continuing this line in the Young India of 27 February 1930, he impressed upon the
satyagrahis [his followers] not to take part in communal rioting, to remain neutral or take
that side which appeared to be on the right, and try their best to restore communal
harmony as an integral part of the Gandhian Constructive Programme. Infact, Gandhi
reiterated this view by including the communal unity as one of the points in the agenda
of the Constructive Programme. For Gandhi, communal unity does not confine to the
political unity; it had much wider connotations. He called it as the unbreakable unity of
hearts.
6.4
SWARAJ FIRST, UNITY LATER
During his political career Gandhi appears to have approached the communal problem in
two definite ways. On the one hand he was disturbed by the deterioration of HinduMuslim relations and wanted to restore trust and communal harmony because without
communal unity swaraj was not possible. But on the other hand, ignoring the other mighty
factors behind the Hindu-Muslim divide, he laid the entire blame for the communal conflict
on the British policy of divide-and-rule. The British had established themselves in India by
taking the advantage of communal cleavages and by keeping them alive [Harijan, 2
December 1939]. He openly declared “I dare not touch the problem of Hindu-Muslim
unity. It has passed out of human hands, and has been transferred to God’s hands alone”
[Young India, 13 January 1927]. Again, he wrote: “God did not want me to take my
credit for the work and so I have now washed my hands. I am helpless. I have
exhausted all my effort” [Young India, 27 January 1927]. Again, he observed: “This unity
which I fondly believed in 1922 had been nearly achieved has, so far as Hindus and
Mussalmans are concerned . . . suffered a severe check. Mutual trust has given place to
distrust” [Tendulkar, The Mahatma, Vol. II, p.164]. In 1929 he wrote to Sarojini Naidu
that he wished to “realize her hope of realizing Hindu-Muslim union. But the wizard has
lost his wand. He feels helpless” [Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol. 40,
p.426]. Addressing the Minorities Committee of the Second Round Table Conference in
Communalism
65
London he said: “The solution of the communal tangle can be the crown of the Swaraj
Constitution and not its foundation”. This remained the Gandhi-Congress line throughout.
At the Second Round Table Conference, he came forward with a new thesis: Swaraj to
be won first and when India becomes free the communal problem will be solved of its
own.
Gandhi’s was a simplistic reading of the communal divide. More than British imperialism,
it appears, socio-economic disparity between the two was at its root. Gandhi looked at
it as merely a game of British imperialism. [See Young India of 13 June 1927; 27 June
1927; and the Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, volume 40, p.426]. According to
Tendulkar, Gandhi said in 1942 that “I want freedom immediately. Freedom cannot wait
for realization of communal unity” [G.D. Tendulkar, The Mahatma, Vol. VI, pp. 154164]. Accordingly, the Congress did not consult the Muslim League before launching the
“Quit-India” movement. In an interview with the special correspondent of the Reuters, he
said: “It would be a good thing if the British were to go today—thirteen months [i.e. from
then till the promised deadline of June 1948 for the transfer of power] means mischief
to India. . . . I have never appreciated the argument that the British want so many months
to get ready to leave. . . . I have often said before that the British will have to take the
risk of leaving India to chaos or anarchy. . . . The communal feuds you see here are
partly due to the presence of the British. If the British were not here, we would still go
through fire, but that would purify us” [Durga Das, ed., Sardar Patel’s Correspondence
1945-50. Vol. IV. Ahmedabad, Navjivan, 1972, pp. 348-349]. To Gandhi, Hindus and
Muslims were one community with subtle differences. He often preached to them to have
a change of heart towards each other for better in order to live harmoniously and as one
undivided community. His faith in this was unflinching and he is said to have brushed
aside, to quote Sarkar’s words, ‘the very idea of Hindus and Muslims belonging to
different nations with a gently-deprecating smile’ (Sumit Sarkar, 1983, p.438).
6.5
GANDHI AND THE PARTITION OF INDIA
For almost 30 years before 1947, the history of the Indian National Congress was woven
with the personality and theory and practice of Mahatma Gandhi. During his stay in South
Africa (1893-1914) he had already formulated his theory of Indian independence to be
attained through Satyagraha. Coming back to India in 1915 he renounced material life and
donned the mantle of an ascetic. This proved to be an asset in the sense he could
instantly connect to the masses, understand their mind, speak their language and mobilise
them for the national freedom cause. He did not don the mannerisms and modern
approach of his counterparts in the Congress. He relied more on the traditional outlook,
spiritual growth and the code of conduct he laid down for the Satyagrahis and others
encouraging them to work for communal unity.
Gandhi was opposed to the idea of Pakistan and the entailing Partition of India since the
day it was pronounced by the Muslim League in 1940. Many observers and analysts
have held that the so-called “two-nation” theory and the demand for a separate homeland
for the Muslim majority areas was merely a political weapon invented by Muhammad Ali
Jinnah to pressurise the Congress leadership and to extract maximum concessions from
them. Had Jinnah been really bent upon the division of India he would not have accepted
the Cabinet Mission Plan in 1946 without reservations. The Congress had accepted this
Plan with its own interpretations, not of its authors. The Congress had not merely serious
reservations about it but was against the very idea of a loose federal structure with
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Gandhi’s Social Thought
regional autonomy to units and sharing of power at the centre and the provinces. The
Plan was wrecked beyond doubt by the Congress and subsequently their hard line made
any rapprochement almost impossible. Thus the leadership on both the sides failed to
realise the merits of unity.
In the Harijan of 6 April 1940, Gandhi declared that his earlier statement that “there is
no swaraj without communal unity holds good today as when I first enunciated it in
1919.” In the issue of 4 May 1940, he wrote:”The partition proposal has altered the face
of Hindu-Muslim problem. I have called it an untruth. There can be no compromise with
it….” Again, in the issue of 22 September, he wrote: “Vivisect me before you vivisect
India.” The Congress in 1942 adopted Akhand Hindustan and fought the election of
1945-46 on this basis and won an overwhelming majority of the general seats. As late
as on 8 May 1947, Gandhi wrote to Mountbatten that “It would be a blunder of first
magnitude for the British to be a party in any way whatsoever to the division of
India.”[Transfer of Power, Volume X. p.667].
How and why did Gandhi climb down? Let us go back to Maulana Abul Kalam Azad,
the veteran Congress leader and the close confidante of Gandhi, Nehru and Patel. In his
India Wins Freedom (1988 editon), he narrates the whole story of Mountbatten thrusting
his Partition plan upon the Indian leaders and converting both Patel and Nehru to his
idea. Then all the three persuaded Gandhi to accept it. Azad tells that when he informed
Gandhi about the readiness of Patel and Nehru to accept it, Gandhi’s reaction was:
“What a question to ask! If the Congress wishes to accept partition it will be over my
dead body. So long as I am alive I will never agree to the partition of India. Nor will
I, if I can help it, allow Congress to accept” [A.K. Azad, India Wins Freedom (1988
edition), pp. 202-203]. But eventually he succumbed to the pressure of the arguments as
put forward by the leadership and not only surrendered but also lent his support to the
Resolution on the acceptance of the Partition put for the endorsement of the All-India
Congress Committee in its meeting held on 14 June 1947. But for Gandhi’s decisive
stand, Congress would have become a house divided against itself.
Why did Gandhi surrender over the issue of partition? It is widely believed that after
1945 when prospects of the transfer of power in India became confirmed Gandhi with
his agitational politics had become irrelevant in the eyes of his successors who were keen
to take hold of power as soon as possible and at whatever the price. That is why when
Gandhi was away in 1946 in the Eastern Bengal, the Congress leadership had behind his
back and without his consent passed a resolution proposing the partition of Punjab into
two parts to solve the communal problem there. That formula also implied the partition
of Bengal. So when in May 1947 a deal was made with the last Viceroy again behind
the back of Gandhi, he became aware of his own irrelevance. As a realist and a powerpolitician, he had no option but to submit to the wishes and interests of his disciples.
What happened during and after partition made Gandhi a sad and lonely person. On
humanitarian grounds, he had risen up against the massacre of Muslims in Delhi and
opposed their forcible eviction from their homes and hearths. He advised the Indian
Muslims to become the loyal citizens of the Indian Union and live in peace with their
neighbours. In the last year of his life he had expressed himself unequivocally in favour
of a secular state and had ruled out the introduction of religious instruction in public
schools and colleges. Towards the end of his life he had realised that perhaps communalism
in India was linked with casteism. Communalism cannot be eradicated unless casteism is
Communalism
67
eradicated first [Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol. 94, p. 113]. His last fast
in the defence of humanity and international morality was immediately successful in
attaining its objectives but did not please his reactionary detractors who blamed him solely
for partitioning the country. They unashamedly had forgotten their own role in the
unfolding of a political deadlock which was broken only by the acceptance of partition.
6.6
SUMMARY
This unit discussed the Gandhian approach to the communal problem. The liberal
approach of Gandhi towards the national and communal problem in British India, as
outlined in his Hind Swaraj, has been discussed briefly. He had been successful in uniting
the Hindus and Muslims under his leadership during the days of the Khilafat and NonCooperation Movement. But the subsequent collapse of the non-cooperation movement
and the abolition of Khilafat by the Turkish Grand National Assembly in 1924 had
depressed both the communities. The reactionary forces took full advantage of this
disarray and tried their best to drive a wedge between the two. Further, personalities,
political forces and their ideologies, and the intervention of a third party all played their
respective parts in the drama of Partition played during the period 1937-1947. Partition
was neither inevitable nor desirable. It was an unnatural partition resulting in the loss of
a million lives, displacement of millions of others, changing forever the equations between
the majority and minority communities and leaving behind a delicate issue that remains
unresolved to this day.
6.7
TERMINAL QUESTIONS
1.
Evaluate Gandhi’s analysis of India’s national and communal problem as outlined in
his Hind Swaraj.
2.
Do you agree with the Gandhian thesis that but for the British imperialist policy of
divide-and-rule Indian communities would not have quarreled?
3.
Critically examine Gandhi’s analysis of communal conflict in British India.
SUGGESTED READINGS
Gandhi, M.K., Hind Swaraj, Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad, 1938.
Gandhi, M.K., Communal Unity, Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad, 1949.
Gandhi, M.K., Way to Communal Harmony, Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad,
1963.
Gandhi, M.K., Hindu-Muslim Unity, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay, 1965.
Sarkar, Sumit., Modern India, 1885-1947, Macmillan India Limited, Madras, 1983.
UNIT 7
REFORMS IN RELIGIONS
Structure
7.1 Introduction
Aims and Objectives
7.2 Sources of Gandhi’s Religious Thought
7.3 Gandhi’s Concept of Religion
7.4 Gandhi and the Reconstruction of Hinduism
7.5 Gandhi and Other Religions
7.5.1 Gandhi on Buddhism
7.5.2 Gandhi on Christianity
7.5.3 Gandhi on Islam
7.6 Religious Pluralism: Equal Respect for All Religions
7.7 Summary
7.8 Terminal Questions
Suggested Readings
7.1
INTRODUCTION
“If a man reaches the heart of his own religion, he has reached the heart of the
others too”. Gandhi
M.G. Polak, Mr. Gandhi: The Man, London, 1931, p.41
“Personally, I think the world as a whole will never have, and need not have, a
single religion”. Gandhi
The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi (CWMG), Vol. 12, 30 May 1913, p. 94.
Religion was central to Mahatma Gandhi’s life, thought and work. Gandhi’s political
philosophy and political techniques are only two corollaries of his religious and moral
principles. It is a strange paradox that though Gandhi’s attitude to religion holds the key
to the understanding of his life and thoughts, its nuances and significance have been often
missed or underestimated by his admirers and critics. He has been often misunderstood
or deliberately misrepresented by his political opponents. On Gandhi’s seminal contribution
to religious and political thought, Sir Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, eminent philosopher and the
second President of India, wrote in 1939 that “The greatest fact in the story of man
on earth is not his material achievement, the empires he has built and broken, but
the growth of his soul from age to age in its search for truth and goodness. Those
who take part in this adventure of the soul, secure an enduring place in the history
of human culture. …The greatness of Gandhi is more in his holy living than in his
heroic struggles, in his insistence on the creative power of the soul and its lifegiving quality at a time when the destructive forces seem to be in the ascendant
[italics added]”(Radhakrishnan, 1998 edn, p.1).
Gandhi’s “religious message” holds key to the solution of many contemporary socio-
Reforms in Religions
69
religious and political crises the world over. If we adopt the Gandhian approach to
religion in our political system, the world (particularly India) will hopefully remain free from
religious and ethnic conflicts. “What made Gandhi the centre of so powerful a field of
spiritual force was the fact that his ideas were always incarnated in his actions” (John
Hick, Foreword to M. Chatterjee, 1983, p.ix). He lived his religion, i.e. Hinduism. Gandhi
does not believe in dogmatic, sectarian and ritualistic religion and was opposed to
institutionalised / organised religion. He interpreted the Hindu religious scriptures in rational
manner. He said “Nothing can be accepted as the word of God which cannot be tested
by reason or capable of being spiritually experienced”. Every formula of every religion had
to be subjected to the acid test of reason; no scriptural sanction was valid if it resulted
in unjust or inhuman practices, like the practice of untouchability or animal sacrifices.
Every claim made on behalf of revelation should be capable of being tested “on the anvil
of truth with the hammer of compassion”. Moreover, religious doctrines must appeal to
one’s conscience. His agenda of reforms was not confined to Hinduism alone. It applied
to other religions also  Christianity, Islam and Buddhism. His faith in religious pluralism
springs from the fact that he considers all religions as imperfect. In 1930 he said “… if
we are imperfect ourselves, religion as conceived by us must also be imperfect….
Religion of our conception, being thus imperfect, is always subject to a process of
evolution and reinterpretation”. Every living religion, he says, must have within itself the
power of rejuvenation if it wants to survive, otherwise it will become part of history. In
his quest for religious harmony, Gandhi advocated reforms in all religions.
Aims and Objectives
After reading this Unit, you would be able to understand:

The sources of Gandhi’s thoughts on reforming religions.

Gandhi’s reconstruction of Hinduism.

His belief in religious pluralism and principle of respect for all religions.
7.2
SOURCES OF GANDHI’S RELIGIOUS THOUGHT
Gandhi grew up in a devout and educated Vaishnavite family in a religious atmosphere
and in formative years, was exposed to strong Jain influences. Gandhi’s father being a
public official had numerous visitors to the house  Muslim, Jain, Christian, and Hindu;
Gandhi’s closest companion in early experiments with truth was a Muslim classmate.
Gandhi was administered vows by a Jain monk, who was a close acquaintance of
Gandhi’s, while he was leaving for England. His mother belonged to a Pranami sect,
followers of the Gujarat saint, Mahamati Prannath, who taught equal respect for Hindu
and Muslim beliefs, synthesising the two. The Pranami temples had no images and
worshipped God without form. An 18th century report indicates that the centre of worship
for Pranamis was a bed with a turban on it and on either side a stool with the Quran
and a stool with the Puranas. Till the age of twenty, his knowledge of Hinduism was
extremely limited and read the Gita on persuasion to do so in England by theosophists,
when they invited him to read Sir Edwin Arnold’s, The Song Celestial, the English
rendering of Gita. Sir Edwin’s The Light of Asia, the story of Buddha’s life, renunciation
and teachings, his introduction to the Bible, The New Testament, particularly, the Sermon
on the Mount, went straight to his heart. In his autobiography, he said that “the idea of
returning love for hatred and good for evil captivated me”. Gandhi acknowledged the
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Gandhi’s Social Thought
influence of three ‘moderns’ Leo Tolstoy, John Ruskin and Raichandra (Gandhi called
him as Rajchandrabhai) in shaping his religious thinking. Rajchandrabhai, a Gujarati Jain,
had given a sense of direction to Gandhi’s religious quest. Gandhi admired him for his
renunciation and the former was Gandhi’s mentor on his conception of religions. He taught
him that it is the way a man lived, not the recital of a verse or the form of a prayer
which made him a good Hindu, a good Muslim or a good Christian. Though he was a
Jain, he restored Gandhi’s faith in Hinduism. He also explained “the doctrine of the many
sidedness of religious truth”. He regarded different faiths like any walled enclosures in
which men and women confined themselves. On the meaning of religion he said “Dharma
does not mean any particular creed or dogma. Nor does it mean reading or learning by
rote books known as shastras (sacred texts) or even believing all that they say”; rather
Dharma is the quality of the soul present in every human being. Dharma is the means
by which we can know ourselves. No organized religion is a special repository of
dharma. We may accept this means from wherever we get it whether from India or
Europe or Arabia” (CWMG, Vol. 32, p.11). So, Rajchandrabhai enabled Gandhi to find
the answer to the question he had been struggling with since his childhood, i.e. “Which
was the one true religion that he could adopt and reject the other as false”. To answer
this Rajchandrabhai said “Religion is not an ‘ism’ and it is not merely intellectual
knowledge or belief in any set of doctrines, but an innate attribute of the soul. It enables
to define the human duties in life and establish correct relationship with the fellow beings.
Religion is the means of the self realization or realization of the true nature of self” (Anju
Jhamb, 2006, p.292). He used to say that the real test of spiritual progress was the
extent to which one could translate one’s belief in day to day life. His influence on Gandhi
was greatest as far as his concept of religion was concerned. In fact, Gandhi’s idea of
“religion which underlies all religions” has its source in him (Gandhi, 2006, p.42).
7.3
GANDHI’S CONCEPT OF RELIGION
Gandhi’s notion of religion was unique. It transcended all historical religions.
Let me explain what I mean by religion. It is not the Hindu religion, which I certainly
prize above all other religions, but the religion which transcends one’s very nature, which
binds one indissolubly to the truth within and which ever purifies. It is the permanent
element in human nature which counts no cost too great in order to find full expression
and which leaves the soul utterly restless until it has found itself, known its Maker and
appreciated the true correspondence between the Maker and itself [CWMG: Vol.17,
p.406].
This Gandhian manifesto on religion contains five main points: religion transforms our
nature, it binds us with Truth, it purifies us, it establishes the “correspondence” between
us and our “Maker”, and it transcends all historical religions. Gandhi’s idea of religion
transcends sectarian boundaries. It is a living spiritual experience which cannot be
conceptualised or verbalised. “The one religion,” writes Gandhi “is beyond speech” (Parel,
2006, pp.100 and 102). In essence, to Gandhi “true religion is not narrow dogma. It is
not external observance. It is faith in God, and living in the presence of God, it means
faith in future life, in truth and in ahimsa. There prevails today a sort of apathy towards
these things of the spirit. Our temples appear today to be meant only for the simple and
the ignorant. Few visit the real temples of God. Let the educated class take up the
work of reform in this direction” (Young India, 28-8-1928). Thus Gandhi expands the
horizons of religion with an endless vision of the ‘All Serene’ and advises to nurse the
Reforms in Religions
71
living spirit of God present within each one of us in the society. The central focus of
Gandhian framework of religion is always man. The wellbeing of man is the
touchstone of effectiveness of religion. He went so far as to say that the only way to
find God was to “see Him in His Creation and be one with it”. If religion is an
awakening, it embraces humanity.
7.4
GANDHI AND THE RECONSTRUCTION OF
HINDUISM
Before Gandhi, many eminent persons like Raja Rammohan Roy (founder of Brahmo
Samaj) and Dayanand Saraswati (founder of Arya Samaj) attempted to reform Hinduism.
Gandhi appreciated the Brahmo Samaj movement for its crusade against sati and
polytheism and the campaign for the widow remarriage. He felt that it brought all the
good from the Christianity and the Islam. In fact, it rationalised and liberalised Hinduism.
It has cultivated toleration for the other faiths (Young India, 30-8-1928). Gandhi was
highly critical of Arya Samaj movement. He wrote:
“I have read Satyartha Prakash, the Arya Samaj Bible…. I have not read a more
disappointing book from a reformer (Dayanand Saraswati) so great. He had claimed to
stand for truth and nothing less. But he has unconsciously misrepresented Jainism, Islam,
Christianity and Hinduism itself. One having even cursory acquaintance with these faiths
could easily discover the errors into which the great reformer strayed. He had tried to
make narrow one of the most tolerant and liberal faiths on the face of the earth. And an
iconoclast though he was, he has succeeded in enthroning idolatry in the subtlest form. He
has idolised the letter of the Vedas and tried to prove the existence in the Vedas of every
thing known to Science” (CWMG, Vol. 19, p.153).
He was critical towards Arya Samaj although its success was greater; he felt that its
appeal was limited by its very belligerence and sectarianism.
But Gandhi’s reformist agenda was far more comprehensive than that of any of his
predecessors. He was very radical in certain matters. He was convinced that Hindu
society needed moral regeneration, “a new system of ethics” and was certain that this new
framework of ethics could not be developed out of the available resources of Hindu
traditions alone. Some of its fundamental values were sound and represented its greatest
contribution to mankind. However, they have been traditionally defined in negative, passive
and asocial terms and required reinterpretation and reform. According to Gandhi, Hinduism
could, therefore, greatly benefit from the moral ‘insights’ and ‘truths’ discovered by other
religious traditions including Buddhism, Jainism, Judaism, Islam and Christianity (Parekh,
1999, p.23). Thus Gandhi adopted a liberal, rational method to radically redefine,
deconstruct and reconstruct the orthodox Hindu traditions.
Gandhi makes a distinction between the idea of religion, which is timeless, and religion as
institution, which is time-bound. It was the institution of religion which he wanted to
reform as it had evolved many social practices like the practice of untouchability, animal
sacrifice, lower status to women etc., which had no scriptural sanction. He reshaped and
redefined the time-honoured concepts of Hinduism.
It must be kept in mind that Gandhi does not recognise the sole authority of the modernday interpreters of the traditional Hindu scriptures. He did not think that they were
meeting the criterion of “experiencing the truth” that they were interpreting. In his view
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they did not practice the necessary virtues- truth, non-violence, celibacy, and detachment
in sufficient degree. Their status as gurus therefore could no longer be recognised. It was
a rare thing today, he remarked, to find in them a combination of purity of life and depth
of learning. The “millions” therefore have to go without their help (CWMG, Vol.21,
p.246).
Gandhi’s first major attack on Hinduism was with regard to the practice of untouchability.
He considered it as a heinous crime against humanity. He emphasised that caste had
nothing to do with religion. It was a later excrescence on what originally been basically
the principle of division of labour and of duties. For him untouchability had no sanction
in Hindu scriptures. When B. S. Mooneji, the Mahasabha leader, tried to prove that
untouchability was an integral part of Hinduism, Gandhi retorted: “Happily for me, my
Hinduism does not bind me to every verse because it is written in Sanskrit… in spite of
your literal knowledge of the Shastras, yours is a distorted kind of Hinduism. I claim in
all humility to have lived Hinduism all my life” (Singh, 2003, p.56).
Similarly, on the position of women, his views were far ahead of his time and brought
a large number of women into public life. “Woman is the companion,” he affirmed as
early as 1918, “with equal mental capacities… and she has the same right of freedom and
liberty.” He advocated equal legal status and the right of vote for women. The oft-quoted
text, “for women there can be no freedom”, ascribed to Manu, he dismissed it as an
interpolation, and if it was not an interpolation, he could only say that, in Manu’s days,
women did not have the status they deserved (Nanda, 1995, p.132).
Gandhi also opposed animal sacrifices and described it as irreligious. Wherever popular
religion was on the wrong track in his opinion, Gandhi did not hesitate to speak out
boldly. On the occasion of the Calcutta Session of the Congress Party in 1901 he visited
the Kali temple and was repelled by the sight of goats being slaughtered leading to “rivers
of blood”, saying that he considered this to be “positive irreligion” and that he did “not
consider it to be part of Hinduism” (Chatterjee, 1983, pp.28-29).
The most innovative interpretations of Gandhi pertain to his understanding of Gita or the
story of Mahabharata. His interpretations were novel, unorthodox and based on
reasoning, morality and common sense. No book, however sacred, he said, could be
limited to a single interpretation irrespective of time and place; the meanings of great
writings were subject to a process of evolution. Gandhi put forward the view that the
great epics, the Mahabharata and Ramayana were allegorical and not historical works.
The real object of the Gita, as he understood it, was to point to the goal of selfrealisation and to show that Nishkama karma (detached activity) was the way to achieve
the goal. He did not accept the traditional interpretation of the Gita as the poetic
presentation of Lord Krishna’s exhortation to Arjuna, the warrior, to go forward and meet
his cousins in combat; the battlefield of Kurukshetra was only a symbol of the battle
between good and evil which rages in every human heart, Duryodhan and his associates
being the baser impulses in man, Arjuna and his party the higher impulses, and Krishna
“the dweller within”. To those who insisted on taking the story of Mahabharata literally,
Gandhi pointed out that if the story was taken at its face-value, the Mahabharata had
demonstrated the futility of violence: the war had ended in universal devastation in which
the victors had been no better off than the vanquished. Thus Gandhi does not agree with
the interpretation that Gita believes in violence (Nanda, 1995, pp.130-31).
Gandhi challenged the age-old notions and prejudices with impunity. He did not believe
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in miracles and never encouraged superstition in any form. On miracles he said, “What
was the good of overturning nature? He did not think of God in anthropomorphic terms
as Truth for him was God” and God’s law and God were not different things or facts
in the sense that an earthly king and his law were different (Singh, 2003, p.58).
When Gandhi’s interpretations were called in question, he dismissed his critics by
suggesting that the text on which they relied could be an interpolation. However, he did
not make any claim that his interpretations are infallible. He wrote: “The opinions I have
formed, and the conclusions I have arrived at are not final. I may change them tomorrow”
(Nanda, 1995, p.135).
In sum, Gandhi’s concept of religion had little in common with what generally passes for
organised religion: dogmas, rituals and rites, superstitions and bigotry. It is interesting to
note that Gandhi rarely visited temples and did not build any temples in his ashrams.
Indeed, his religion was simply an ethical framework for the conduct of daily life. He
considered Hinduism as having some fundamental beliefs like the supreme reality of God,
the unity of all (life) and the value of ahimsa (love) as a means of realising God. In this
bedrock religion, there was no scope for exclusiveness or narrowness.
7.5
GANDHI AND OTHER RELIGIONS
For Gandhi all the major religions in the world are equal in the sense that they are all
true. They are supplying a felt want in the spiritual progress of humanity. He assigns
divinity to all religions. No religion is perfect. He said: “… if we are imperfect ourselves,
religion as conceived by us must also be imperfect…. Religion of our conception, being
thus imperfect, is always subject to a process of evolution and reinterpretation” (Chatterjee,
1983). Gandhi advocated reforms in other religions of the world. He wanted that the
followers of different religions should reinterpret the precepts of their beliefs in the light
of rationality and should get rid of any interpolations that have crept into their faiths. He
rejects the claim of maulvis (Muslim theologians) and Christian clergy to give final
interpretation to the messages of Islam and Christianity. Both these messages have to be
interpreted in the lives of those who are living these messages in silence and in perfect
dedication. Let us study how Gandhi perceived / interpreted the other religions.
7.5.1
Gandhi on Buddhism
Gandhi does not regard Buddhism as an independent religion but considers it as a part
of Hinduism. In his view Buddha did not give the world a new religion; he gave it a new
interpretation. Buddha taught not to take life (as in animal sacrifice) but to give life. True
sacrifice was not of others but of self. Gandhi considered the Buddha as the greatest
preacher of peace. He wrote: “I have the greatest veneration for the Buddha. He is one
of the greatest preachers of peace. The gospel of the Buddha is the gospel of love”
(Harijan, 28-8-1938). Buddha understood Nirvana (salvation) in a different way.
“Nirvana is undoubtedly not utter extinction. So far as I (Gandhi) was able to understand
the central fact of Buddha’s life Nirvana is utter extinction of all that is base in us.
Nirvana is not like the black dead peace of the grave, but the living peace, the living
happiness of a soul which is conscious of itself and conscious of having found its own
abode in the heart of Eternal” (Young India, 24-11-1927). The Buddhist contribution to
humanity lies in its teaching to regard for all life. Sanctity of life-whether human or animalwas upheld by Buddhism.
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King Ashoka sent missionaries to different lands for the propagation of Buddhism, and
spread that religion in Ceylon (Sri Lanka), China; Burma (Myanmar); and other countries.
A distinctive beauty of Hinduism was revealed during this process: no one was converted
to Buddhism by force. People’s minds were sought to be influenced only by discussion
and argument and mainly by the pure conduct of the preachers themselves. The
reformation that Buddha attempted was remarkable. He taught us to defy appearances
and trust in the final triumph of Truth and Love. According to Gandhi, this was his
(Buddha’s) matchless gift to Hinduism and to the world (Iyer, 1991, pp.139-40, 144-45).
7.5.2
Gandhi on Christianity
Gandhi tells us in his autobiography how certain aspects of Christianity- the life and death
of Jesus, the Sermon on the Mount and the crystalline purity of some Christians appealed
to him. The verses of New Testament, concerning the Sermon on the Mount, went
straight to his heart, which read: “But I say unto you that ye resist not evil but whosoever
shall smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue
thee at the law and take away the coat, let him have thy cloak also”. He appreciated
the beauties of Christianity. He called Jesus the “Prince of Satyagrahis” (Nanda, 1995,
p.140), as he employed non-cooperation against the hypocrites, the liars and men drunk
with pride. He opposed, all alone, the mighty Roman Empire for the sake of moral
principles. Christianity has had a very considerable influence as they imparted education
of a high order.
Despite his great love for Christianity, Gandhi had many objections to the prevailing
orthodox understanding of this belief. He reinterpreted and rediscovered the original creed
of Christ. He could not subscribe to the view that Jesus was the only begotten Son of
God and only those believing in him could attain salvation. He said God cannot be the
exclusive father and that he cannot ascribe exclusive divinity to Jesus. According to him,
Jesus was one like Krishna or Rama, the Buddha or Mohammed and the belief that Jesus
was the only son of God is an invention of the theologians. Gandhi says that this invention
contradicts Jesus’ own teaching implied in the words spoken to his hearers: “I go to your
Father and my Father”, and the emphatic declaration of John: “Now are we the sons of
God” (Wynne-Tyson, 1961, p.234).
Gandhi’s criticisms of Christianity were influenced by his readings of the works of Tolstoy,
Edward Maitland and Anna Kingsford. Like Tolstoy, Gandhi does not accept the immoral
doctrine of vicarious atonement. He does not think that it was ever taught by Jesus. There
is no basis whatever for moral responsibility in the belief that one’s sins can be forgiven
through the suffering of someone else and such an idea implies injustice in the Godhead
we are supposed to worship. Voicing his objection, he wrote in his autobiography: “If this
be the Christianity acknowledged by all Christians, I cannot accept it. I do not seek
redemption from the consequences of my sin. I seek redemption from sin itself, or rather
from the very thought of sin. Until I have attained that end, I shall be content to be
restless” (Gandhi, 1929, p.104).
Gandhi also opposed the doctrine of proselytisation. He chided Christian missionaries for
their “irreligious gamble” for converts. He opposed conversion from one religion to
another. Mirabehn (Miss Slade) was never converted to Hinduism. Similarly, Richard
Gregg, who wrote extensively on non-violence and stayed in his ashram, was called
Govind, but never became a Hindu. He disallowed conversions in his Ashrams. The
reason why he opposed proselytisation was because he recognised that all faiths are true
and divinely inspired. Gandhi believed that Jesus and his message did not belong only to
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Christians or to any community; He and his lessons belonged to the whole world. Once
he had told Mrs. Polak that to be a good Hindu was to be good Christian and that there
was no need to “become” a Christian in order to be “a believer in the beauty of the
teachings of Jesus or to try to follow his example” (Chatterjee, 1983, p.52).
7.5.3
Gandhi on Islam
Gandhi appreciated Islam for its two distinctive contributions to India’s national culture –
firstly, for its unadulterated belief in the oneness of God and secondly, for its practical
application of the truth of the brotherhood of man for all believers. Gandhi read a
translation of the Quran and the life of the Prophet Mohammed, and was struck by the
humiliations and hardships heaped upon him and his followers. In fact, Gandhi had
advised Mirabehn, his English disciple, who had been reading the Upanishads, to read the
Quran, and assured her that she would find many “gems” in it.
When Gandhi was told that Islam and its Prophet had prescribed the use of sword in
certain circumstances, Gandhi replied: “I suppose most Muslims will agree. But I read
religion in a different way. Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan derives his belief in non-violence
from the Koran… I derive my belief in non-violence from the Gita, whereas others who
read violence in it. [Even] if I came to the conclusion that the Koran teaches violence,
I would still reject violence…. It is enough that my non-violence is independent of the
sanction of scriptures” (CWMG, Vol. 64, p.399). At another place Gandhi expressed his
view that in the Quran, “non-violence is enjoined as duty, violence is permitted as a
necessity” (Nanda, 1995, p.140).
7.6
RELIGIOUS PLURALISM: EQUAL RESPECT FOR
ALL RELIGIONS
Religion was viewed by Gandhi as the cementing foundation of the human community, for
he believed that various religions were beautiful flowers from one garden or branches of
the gigantic tree that all of them were equally true. “The Allah of Islam”, Gandhi wrote
in 1938 in Harijan, “is the same as the God of the Christians and the Isvara of the
Hindus. Living faith in this God means equal respect for all religions. It would be the
height of intolerance – and intolerance is a species of violence – to believe that your
religion is superior to other religions”. He said institutional religions were roads that led
to the same destination (Parel, 1997, p.53). Or, they were the rivers that flowed into the
same ocean (CWMG, Vol.7, p.338).
Gandhi was highly influenced by the Jain theory of anekantavada, the many-sidedness of
the reality. He applied this theory to his concept of religion. That is why he said that
many religions exist because there is many-sidedness of truth. All of them are equal in the
sense that no single religion has the absolute or exclusive truth. Gandhi quoted the saint
Narasimha that the different shapes into which gold was beaten gave rise to different
names and forms; but ultimately it was all good. God’s grace and revelation were not the
monopoly of any race or nation; they descended equally upon all who waited upon God.
The one true religion, he asserted, subsequently became many “as it passed through the
human medium” (CWMG, Vol. 44, p.166). In other words, God had revealed himself to
the whole of humanity. At the same time, humanity expressed the meaning of the received
revelation differently, depending on language and culture. The unity of religious truths was
guaranteed because of their divine source, but their diversity became unavoidable because
of culture, and the philosophical or theological systems that arose from them (Parel, 2006,
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p.108). So, no religion was “absolutely perfect. All are equally imperfect or more or less
perfect” (Cited in Singh, 2003, p.63). Gandhi says that religious pluralism is part of Indian
culture, as we read in Rig Veda: “To what is One, sages give many a title”. According
to the Gita, humans could approach God by different paths: “In whatsoever way any
come to Me, in that same way I grant them favor” (Parel, 2006, p.108).
Equal respect for all religions recognises the equality of all religions (sarvadharma
samanatva). Gandhi saw two great values in the theory of religious pluralism. In the first
place, it provided an objective basis for religious toleration within the state, and in the
second place it supplied the foundation for the dialogue between religions (Parel, 2006,
p.108). Moreover, as Gandhi wrote “Looking at all religions with an equal eye, we would
not only not hesitate, but would think it our duty, to blend into our faith every acceptable
feature of other faiths” (Gandhi, From Yeravda Mandir, Ahmedabad, 1935, p.55). “My
approach to other religions”, he wrote, “therefore, is never as a fault-finding critic but as
a devotee hoping to find the like beauties in other religions and wishing to incorporate in
my own the good I may find in them and miss in mine” (Iyer, 1986-87, Vol.1, p.544).
According to Gandhi, all religions are essentially identical because (a) it is the truth /God
that inspires all religions; (b) all seek truth; they are different paths to the same goal; (c)
all believe in moral order / a universe governed by moral law; this law is truth / God;
(d) all affirm the same fundamental morality; and religion is essentially morality (nonviolence, truth, love); (e) all respect a higher power; (f) all religions have served in
embellishing mankind, all have produced great saints - i.e. self-sacrificing persons. The
Buddha, Christ, Mohammad, Guru Nanak all lived lives of self-sacrifice and renunciation.
So, there was an underlying unity in all religions. Gandhi said, “I don’t believe in the
exclusive divinity of the Vedas. I believe the Bible, the Koran and the Zend Avesta to
be as much divinely inspired as the Vedas (Jhamb, 2006, pp.300-301).
Critique of Gandhi’s Concept
Gandhi had many critics. Among the British critics were Archbishop Cosmo Lang and
Lord Reading, the Viceroy of India. The former described him, in a letter to Lord Irwin,
as “a mystic, fanatic and anarchist”, and the latter wrote after his first meeting with
Mahatma that “Mr. Gandhi’s religious and moral views are… admirable, but…difficult to
understand the practice of them in politics” (Nanda, 1995, p.127). The leaders of the
Muslim League, the protagonists of the two-nation theory, disliked Gandhi’s insistence that
the function of religion was to unite rather than divide people, and religion was an
unsatisfactory basis for nationality. Three left-wing critics M.N.Roy, R.P.Dutt and
Namboodiripad- have accused Gandhi of exploiting religion to rouse the masses, and then
deliberately curbing their political consciousness in the interest of the Indian bourgeoisie.
Many of his own supporters were uncomfortable with the moral constraints he imposed
on the struggle with the British.
7.7
SUMMARY
Gandhi was one of the outstanding religious pioneers of all times. Several Christian leaders
have spoken of him as the greatest since the time of Jesus (keithahn, 1949, p.86). M.
N. Roy, a communist and Radical Humanist, who had been sharply critical of Gandhi’s
‘religious approach to politics’, confessed later that he had failed to detect the secular
approach of the Mahatma beneath the religious terminology and that essentially Gandhi’s
message had been “moral, humanist, cosmopolitan”. The greatest contribution of Gandhi
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is that he strengthened the concept of secularism in India. Though he was deeply religious,
he was against any proposal for a State religion even if the whole population of India had
professed the same religion. He looked upon religion as a personal matter: “The State
would look after your secular welfare, health, communications, currency and so on, but
not your or my religion. That is everybody’s personal concern” (Harijan, 22-9-1946).
His first biographer, Joseph Doke, wrote that his religious views were too closely allied
to Christianity to be entirely Hindu, and too deeply saturated with Hinduism to be called
Christian. His sympathies were so wide and catholic that the formulae of sects appeared
meaningless (Parel, 2006, p.110). In his lifetime he was variously labelled, a Sanatanist
Hindu, a renegade Hindu, a Buddhist, a theosophist, a Christian and a “Christian
Muhammadan”. He was all these and even more.
7.8
TERMINAL QUESTIONS
1.
What were the sources of Gandhi’s thoughts on reforming religions?
2.
Why and how did Gandhi reconstruct Hinduism? How did he try to reconcile the
concept of “violence” in Gita, justification of varna system and the practice of
untouchability?
3.
What reforms Gandhi suggests in other religions of India, especially Christianity, Islam
and Buddhism?
4.
Why did he believe in religious pluralism and in the principle of respect for all
religions?
SUGGESTED READINGS
Chatterjee, Margaret., Gandhi’s Religious Thought, Macmillan, New Delhi, 1983.
——————, Gandhi and the Challenges of Religious Diversity – Religious Pluralism
Revisited, Promilla & Co. Publishers, New Delhi, 2005.
The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, 100 vols. Publications Division,
(Government of India), New Delhi, 1958-1989.
Gandhi, M. K., The Story of My Experiments With Truth, Navjivan Publishing House,
Ahmedabad, 1929.
————-., Hind Swaraj and Other Writings, edited by Anthony J. Parel,
Cambridge University Press, New Delhi, 1997.
Iyer, Raghavan N., (ed.), The Moral and Political Writings of Mahatma Gandhi, Oxford
University Press, New Delhi, 1991.
—————., (ed.), The Moral and Political Writings of Mahatma Gandhi, 3 Vols.
Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1986-87.
Jayabalan, A., “Mahatma Gandhi’s Discovery of Religion”, Gandhi Marg, January-March
2003
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Gandhi’s Social Thought
Jhamb, Anju., “Gandhi on Religion”, in Surjit Kaur Jolly, (ed.), Reading Gandhi, Concept
Publishing House, New Delhi, 2006.
Keithahn, Ralph Richard., “Mahatma Gandhi’s Revolutionary Religion”, The Visva Bharti Quarterly, 1949.
Nanda, B. R., “Gandhi and Religion”, Gandhi Marg, Vol.12, No.1, 1990, reprinted in
B. R. Nanda, (ed.), Mahatma Gandhi 125 Years, Indian Council of
Cultural Relations / New Age International Publishers Ltd., New Delhi, 1995.
Parel, Anthony J., Gandhi’s Philosophy and the Quest for Harmony,
Cambridge University Press, New Delhi, 2006.
Parekh, Bhikhu., Colonialism, Tradition and Reform  An Analysis of Gandhi’s Political
Discourse, (Revised Edition), Sage Publications, New Delhi, 1999.
Singh, Amar., Religion in Politics – Gandhian Perspective in the Present Context, Deep
and Deep, New Delhi, 2003.
Wynne-Tyson, Esme., “Gandhi’s Rediscovery of Christianity”, Gandhi Marg, Vol.5,
No.2, April 1961.
UNIT 8
TRUTH IS GOD
Structure
8.1 Introduction
Aims and Objectives
8.2 ‘God is Truth’ to ‘Truth is God’
8.3 Absolute Truth and Relative Truth
8.4 Truth in Thought, Speech and Action
8.5 Means of Achieving Truth
8.5.1 Non-violence (Ahimsa)
8.5.2 Satyagraha
8.6 Summary
8.7 Terminal Questions
Suggested Readings
8.1
INTRODUCTION
The concept of ‘Truth is God’ is central to Gandhi’s philosophical, spiritual and political
thought. It is one of those profound ideas which reflect the essence of Gandhian thought.
Gandhi was deeply influenced by various religious traditions in India like Hinduism,
Buddhism and Jainism where the search for truth was common. It is widely held that
Gandhi was not a systematic philosopher but one who could read the pulse of the people,
capture the imagination of masses and visualise the implications of his ideas and actions.
Like in all his other concepts, here too, one may witness interconnectedness between
ideas, utterances and action. His experiments with truth were not meant to be inwardlooking exercises in search of God, as was often the case with religious people in India.
His search was conducted in the public domain, practised in community living, and was
as connected to the world outside as to complex beliefs within him. Gandhi adhered to
truth in his everyday life and involved other people in his experiments. His ‘truth was a
unique combination of a personal style of life and a technique for tackling injustices….’
(Chatterjee, pp.58-59). Gandhi’s exposition of truth carries this logic of his thought
forward when he says that truth must be adhered to in one’s thought, speech and action.
Gandhi never questioned the existence of truth; it only had to be discovered.
The importance of truth in Gandhi’s life and ideas can be gauged from the fact that truth
is the basis of moral law and religious order. But it cannot be subordinated to any
particular religious order; nor is it a substitute for God. For him, it helps in understanding
what God means (Chatterjee, p.58). It is also the axle that hinges his constant search for
right action. The assertion ‘Truth is God’ establishes the preeminence of truth over a
particular religion. Truth is seen as the basis of all religions and hence more fundamental,
morally absolute and in essence supremely irrefutable (Pradhan, pp.36-37). Although
Gandhi equates truth with God, his concept is devoid of theological implications, for he
does not intend to confine truth to any particular religion.
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Gandhi’s Social Thought
Gandhi places importance on truth as an ontological category. In fact, Gandhi’s entire set
of ideas have ontology as their basis and is reflected in the centrality accorded to the
question of human existence (Alam, p.2). In his formulation Truth is God, he is making
both an ontological as well as epistemological point. Ontologically, truth sustains all
existence and being (sat = being), it means that the essence of God consists of truth.
Epistemologically, the essence of God can be captured through truth, and that the only
way to approach God is through truth (Sayeed, p.99). In fact, ‘Truth is God’ is similar
to the ontological equation Satya – Brahman of the Upanishads, although Satya in the
Upanishads is much more than an ontological term; it was a philosophical truth. For
Gandhi, ‘the search for truth is the dharma of Hinduism, that Truth is God, and that God
is the essence of the Vow’ (Rothermund, pp.97-99).
Aims and Objectives
After reading this Unit, you will be able to:

understand the essence of Gandhi’s concept of Truth;

know the reasons for Gandhi’s reformulation of God is Truth to Truth is God;

understand the features, facets and moral basis of the concept of Truth ;

appreciate the practice of Truth in thought, speech and action; and

know about the means of attaining truth – Ahimsa and Satyagraha.
8.2
‘GOD IS TRUTH’ TO ‘TRUTH IS GOD’
Truth is not independent of our moral values. Likewise, truth is not merely a cognitive
notion; it is much more than that. Gandhi had initially stated that God is Truth. Gandhi
reversed his statement God is Truth to Truth is God sometime in 1929. Gandhi evolves
as a thinker when he moves from God is Truth to Truth is God. He explains that it is
a culmination of his relentless search for Truth. He initially approached Truth through love
but found soon enough that human love in terms of passion may have a tendency to
degrade because it sometimes involves association with flesh. He also felt uneasy with the
formulation of God as love because the latter can have varied meanings in different
situations but the meaning of Truth did not suffer from such inconsistencies. There is more
consensus and clarity on what is truth than what love means. Truth spontaneously
resonated with everyone, even the atheists who were passionate seekers of Truth
themselves. His exposition of the idea of Truth struck a chord with the followers of every
religious sect, and non-followers as well, because it is the basis of one’s quest that no
one can deny. It is the inclusiveness of the idea Truth is God that enabled Gandhi to
make a distinction from his earlier statement God is Truth and he explains that this earlier
statement excluded atheists who did not believe in God but were staunch votaries of truth.
Truth as an equivalent of God was an unacceptable proposition for atheists because of
their conviction, but there was a certain kind of moral earnestness that made them serious
seekers of truth in the same manner as those who believed in the existence of God. The
moment one expresses Truth as an attribute of God, it is construed to be a dispassionate
search for reality, devoid of any religious connotations – dogmatic or otherwise. He refers
to an atheist acquaintance and says how he disarmed the latter by referring to him as a
‘truth-fearing man, and not a God-fearing man’ (Gandhi’s address in Lausanne, Switzerland,
31 December 1931, reproduced in Ramana Murti, pp.73-74). Pandit Nehru also
Truth is God
81
acknowledged himself to be a follower of religion if it meant search for truth though he
was impatient with the religious systems when they brought conflicts in their wake
(S.K.George, 1949, p.97). The notion Truth is God includes everyone, agreed to by all,
and disagreed by none as it reflects Truth’s undivided quality.
Secondly, there are a number of difficulties in describing God no matter how we attempt
it. But in many religions (Hinduism and Islam) God alone is and nothing else exists.
‘Nothing is or exists in reality except Truth. That is why sat or satya is the right name
for God. In fact, it is more correct to say that Truth is God than to say that God is
Truth… On deeper thinking, however, it will be realized that sat or satya is the only
correct and fully significant name for God.’ Hence, he believes that the definition Truth is
God is most satisfying and appropriate without excluding those who may approach God
differently (Ramana Murti, 1970).
Thirdly, Truth has most qualities that God exemplifies: fearlessness, conscience, beyond
sensory perception. Yet Gandhi believes that God is Truth leads in a way to the rejection
of truth itself. In Hinduism, God alone exists and nothing else whereas etymologically the
meaning of the term Truth, derived from the word Sat, is the one that exists. “The word
satya comes from sat, which means “to be”, “to exist”. Only God is ever the same
through all time. A thousand times honour to him who has succeeded, through love and
devotion for satya, in opening out his heart permanently to its presence. I have been but
striving to serve that truth.” (Gandhi, cited in Ramana Murti, p.61). The expression God
is Truth eliminates the possibility of the existence of Truth if one were to believe in
Hinduism and Islam. Hence, the expression Truth is God is more appropriate as it does
not exclude the existence of Truth or does not conflict with our belief in the oneness and
exclusive existence of God. In fact, since God alone represents eternal being - the
fundamental reality - He is the truth. Here, Gandhi releases his concept of Truth from
theological connotations so that it is not sucked into any single religious system.
Fourthly, Sayeed gives a philosophical explanation to the reformulation of the idea of God
is Truth by Gandhi. He claims that this reformulation was not a casual or more elegant
expression preferred by Gandhi. It was to represent a deeper insight in the sense that the
“assertion ‘Truth is God’ was an attempt to express an insight which sought to state a
substance-attribute relation”. In God is Truth, Truth becomes an attribute of God, one of
the many attributes that God may represent. In this proposition, God is the substance, the
fundamental core, and Truth is the attribute, one of the ways in which that substance can
be understood. To thus “relegate truth to just one of the attributes of God is to fail to
understand the nature of reality in question”. When the assertion is reformulated to Truth
is God, Truth becomes the primary attribute, the fundamental core. In fact, Truth is the
essence of God (Sayeed, pp.97-99).
8.3
ABSOLUTE TRUTH AND RELATIVE TRUTH
Gandhi thought that there is an absolute Truth1, which he identified with God, devoid of
all imperfections and inconsistencies. Absolute Truth is total and all-embracing. But this
absolute Truth is indescribable, neither easily cognisable nor easily attainable. In fact, what
we ordinarily realise is relative truth and not absolute Truth. But at any given point of
1
When Gandhi refers to absolute truth or the ultimate reality and equates it with God, he uses Truth
with a capital T. In references to relative truth or individual’s understanding of truth, it is written with
a small t.
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time, that (relative truth) becomes the whole truth. If we do not easily understand the
absolute truth in our normal course of thought, it does not mean that it does not exist.
Since absolute Truth is very difficult to reach, one must constantly and relentlessly strive
towards realising it by acting in accordance with the truth as we see it. Since our efforts
are imperfect in nature, Gandhi calls them (those efforts) as experiments with truth
(Sayeed, p.87).
For Gandhi, truth is not a monolithic concept. It is plural in its essence, many-sided in
its facets and is given to varied interpretations. Truth has spiritual, moral and metaphysical
dimensions. Since our understanding of truth is relative, incomplete and fragmentary, our
vision of truth is partial. Reality can be cognized in many different ways all of which are
equally valid (Richards, p.7). Therefore we must respect others’ understanding of truth,
truth as they see it, which might be different from our own perception of it. Our
imperfection in understanding absolute Truth warrants us to be tolerant towards others’
perception of truth and their actions based on it. This tolerance towards others having a
different point of view later becomes the source of Gandhi’s insistence on non-violence
as a means of achieving truth. Akeel Bilgrami believes that Gandhi believed in moral
judgement but did not wish to extend or advocate his judgement or action as the correct
method to attain truth in a given situation. He did not believe in formulating it as a
principle to be followed by others. However, Gandhi’s rigour in following what he held
to be the morally correct path often set an example for others and was far more effective
in practice.
Many have argued that Gandhi’s notion of truth is not merely an epistemic issue or of
theoretical concern alone. He transformed absolute truth of the philosophical sat to the
relative truth of ethical principle capable of being tested and applied (Joan Bondurant,
cited in Erikson, p.413). His idea of truth has moral and spiritual dimension of relevance
to both individual and collective action. It is the overarching moral law that rules every
other positive or man-made law enacted by the state (see Alam, pp.6, 9). If a man-made
law is seen as contradicting the moral law, disobedience to such state law would be
perfectly legitimate. The characteristics of Truth are that it is absolute, eternal, objective,
beyond our sensory perceptions and difficult to reach the perfection. It is for this reason
that Gandhi calls his search for truth as experiments. Absolute Truth is objective in nature,
one that does not change with the changing perceptions. On the other hand, actual truth
or relative truth is subjective in nature; it is not the same for each one of us and it
changes according to our perception. Absolute Truth is central to a faith but it is not
unique to any one religion or religious tradition. It is a universal value equated with all
religions because it is God. If Truth is a superior value, then it is an objective to be
attained, not an expediency to be employed.
Truth is to be attained and achieved in both private and public realm, at the level of the
individual and the collective. In fact, as a logical extension of this reading of Gandhi’s
notion of truth, it is held that politics was the most natural vocation chosen by Gandhi
as it lent him space in public domain within which he could experiment with truth. He saw
religion (dharma here connotes both religion and one’s sense of duty towards moral law)
and politics as inseparable when he said, ‘I do not believe that the spiritual law works
in a field of its own. On the contrary, it expresses itself only through the ordinary activities
of life. It thus affects the economic, the social and political fields’ (Gandhi, Young India,
cited in Rothermund, p.98) Gandhi saw a natural unity and interconnectedness in spiritual,
moral and political dimensions of his experiments with truth. If truth is the highest morality
in itself then it is apparent that for Gandhi this was the essence of dharma.
Truth is God
8.4
83
TRUTH IN THOUGHT, SPEECH AND ACTION
Gandhi said that God appears not in person but in action. He advocated truth in thought,
truth in speech and truth in action. Truth for him was not merely a philosophical concept;
it was the basis of moral life and acted as a link between moral principles and our actions
so that moral life can be attained in practice. His quest for truth involved ‘not only bhakti
yoga, that is the discipline of prayer and devotion, but also karma yoga that is, the
discipline of action’ (Richards, p.13). The primacy of putting moral principles (those that
we hold as of paramount importance) into practice is to drive home the fact that truth
as the moral law is to be adhered not in thought alone but that it has to be translated
into action. Only then can one say that one has tried to live a moral life. There is an
inevitable connection between thought, speech and action insofar as truth is concerned.
“Truth is taken by Gandhi as the supreme principle of moral life since it is the law that
regulates all human actions. All actions are judged as morally good if they are based on
truth… Gandhian morality could be called the morality of truth.” (Pradhan, p.37). In our
thoughts and intentions, in our words and gestures and in our decisions and actions there
is no scope for straying from the path of Truth as we perceive it. However, what we can
comprehend as truth is only partial truth. We cannot see beyond it but by following the
path of partial truth, gradually, we will be able to experience the complete, absolute truth.
Since truth is the basis of all moral principles and actions, it is the supreme law and
higher than any man-made law. Moral law based on truth is the trump law that overrides
every other law in the same way as, say in a game of cards, the trump card overrules
(trumps) every other card. Since truth as moral law is never wrong, ahimsa as a moral
principle derived from it can never be wrong or unsuccessful. Truthful action, for Gandhi,
was “governed by the readiness to get hurt and yet not hurt – action governed by the
principle of ahimsa” (Erik Erikson, p.412) to which we will now turn.
8.5
8.5.1
MEANS OF ACHIEVING TRUTH
Non-violence (Ahimsa)
Satyagraha and non-violence are paths to realise truth. These methods may or may not
succeed in empirical terms but they are corollary of truth and hence they can never be
wrong. For Gandhi, non-violence is not merely a strategy to be employed to seek success
in political action; it is rather the only moral method possible to attain relative truth. Nonviolence is not only a moral method but is also a moral principle derived from truth. If
ahimsa is seen merely as a tactic, it would make us believe that violence is right but
cannot be employed as a tactic. Gandhi believed non-violence as the law of the universe,
of every species and therefore, it cannot go wrong or be unsuccessful. Gandhi’s
contention was that a means based on the natural law of the universe cannot run counter
to our idea of truth. Truth is the end (goal) and non-violence is the means. Since ends
and means are controvertible, a truthful person, by definition, is a non-violent person and
vice versa. Non-violence automatically flows from truth. ‘While truth is the bed-rock
principle, non-violence follows as a corollary’ (Pradhan, p.38). He believes in nonviolence as the supreme duty and understands it in the broadest sense.
The need for ahimsa as a means for realising truth has two bases. Firstly, a seeker of
truth must be a humble person and humility forbids the use of force. One cannot impose
one’s will on others; or make others alter their perception of truth by sheer verbal or
other force. Himsa or violence runs counter to love, compassion and humility which are
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the attributes of truth. Ahimsa is an eternal principle because human existence depends on
it. Secondly, ahimsa should be adopted not because it is a means to achieve truth but
because it is the only method in arriving at truth and the most effective one too. It is in
conformity with the law of the universe and hence bound to be successful. Non-violence
fortifies the principle of existence because of its moral character. “Non-violence is the
greatest force man has been endowed with. Truth is the only goal he has. For God is
none other than truth. Truth cannot be, never will be, reached except through nonviolence” (Iyer, p. 240).
Non-violence here is not to be understood as not killing alone; it means abstinence from
any evil thought, hatred, vengeance, and wishing ill to others. Non-violence here is not
only a refusal to inflict physical harm on others; it was also ‘a determination not to violate
another person’s essence’ (Erikson, p.412). Positively, ahimsa would involve love and
goodwill towards others. Non-violence inheres and subsumes mutual love and respect for
human life. It makes allowance for human progress. Adopting the path of non-violence will
aid the realisation of truth because it respects others’ life and instills a sense of love
towards all existence. Ahimsa is the moral law that defines human existence in the same
manner as violence is the law of the brute. Non-violence is meant to be practised not
by the weak and infirm but by the strong for ‘only the strong knows the limits of the
physical strength’. One needs to know the boundaries of violence to realise non-violence.
‘The might of non-violence is far superior to the total strength of violence in the world’
(Pradhan, p.44).
Gandhi believed that non-violence required self-discipline of the body and mind since it
might entail suffering and stretch one’s patience to the limit in its wake. He prescribes that
those who make individual search for truth must go through several vows or ‘five
restraints’ to strengthen one’s mind and body to be able to realise truth. They are: the
vow of truth or satya, the vow of brahmacharya (celibacy), of non-violence, of nonstealing (asteya or poverty), and of non-possession (aparigraha). Although these vows
were sacrosanct for a satyagrahi, Gandhi allowed non-observance of some of those vows
if he felt that it was done in good faith. There are instances where he allowed his Bengali
friends to eat non-vegetarian food when strict vegetarianism over an extended period of
time affected their health and efficiency. Non-stealing and non-possession were interpreted
as allowing oneself to possess the bare minimum that was needed for survival. Having
anything more than what minimum needs warranted would amount to stealing. Gandhi felt
that through such rigorous self-control and abstinence, a satyagrahi (the civil resister) must
be able to ‘compel reverence and love even of the opponent by the purity of his life, the
utter selflessness of his mission and the breadth of his outlook’ (Cited in Rothermund,
p.105). In fact, he says that when someone lied before him he felt more angry with
himself rather than with the offender because it made him realise that untruth still existed
somewhere deep in him. It also made him aware of his own incompleteness, and inability
in perfecting the path of satyagraha, that there was still an element of untruth remaining
in him, so as not to be able to compel the offender to speak the truth.
8.5.2
Satyagraha
Satyagraha had a broader meaning than one can see in its literal translation. It was to
mean both the insistence on truth and a method of holding on to that truth. Satyagraha
for Gandhi meant fighting oppression through voluntary suffering. It was not physical force.
One who believes in and lives by satyagraha should harbour no ill-will towards anyone,
Truth is God
85
should not utter harsh word about anyone, should not inflict harm on an adversary, and
not seek destruction of opponents. This would be observance of satyagraha in thought,
speech and action. At no time and in no circumstance can the use of arms be permitted
in satyagraha; the struggle must be a constant reminder that it is based on truth and
highest form of non-violence (Iyer, pp.309, 314-315). In fact, where conditions of
satyagraha like non-violence, insistence on truth, selfless suffering were not met, Gandhi
termed it as duragraha (dur = evil and agraha = insistence). Duragraha is defined as
the abuse of satyagraha. It involves both the use of force or coercion and ‘the persistence
of wrong doing’. “Whatever is done with a selfish motive cannot be called satyagraha.
That would be like insisting on untruth. …two things are essential for satyagraha. One
is that the point on which we insist should be truth and another that our insistence should
be necessarily non-violent” (Iyer, p.328.)
Satyagraha is premised on voluntary self-control, discipline and restraints as its prerequisites.
Since Gandhi regarded Truth as a moral duty of every person, insistence on truth
(satyagraha) at every stage was important. Just as non-violence involves the vow of truth,
satyagraha involves non-violence, love, sacrifice and the like. Satyagraha must be followed
in private and public domain, in political and non-political sphere, so that there is no
sphere or space left where actions based on untruth may occur. One who follows the
path of truth does so in every action and at every stage and in all circumstances. Since
the path of truth is full of suffering, satyagraha is understood to be suffering, struggle and
sacrifice for which a satyagrahi must for ever prepare himself. If need be, he must be
ready to lay down his life for truth. When satyagraha is used as a political weapon, it
has the inherent ability to succeed but it must never be used to force and coerce the
opponent to fall in line. The moment an element of coercion finds its way into satyagraha,
it ceases to be a means of achieving truth.
A seeker of truth, one who serves truth with utmost humility, will never suffer defeat
because truth always triumphs. Even when it appears that a satyagrahi has failed, it is only
an appearance. The result may not be a desired one but it is a victory in itself.
Satyagraha is an infallible remedy. Eventually, it is the truth that prevails over untruth.
Therefore, even in the face of difficulties, a satyagrahi must never give up his path of
truth, for this path is only for the brave and never for a coward. Many, who aspire to
follow truth scrupulously, hardly succeed in doing so even in the limited sphere of speech.
So vow of truth is no easy matter.
8.6
SUMMARY
Let us briefly recapitulate here the main aspects of Gandhi’s conception of truth. It is now
fairly clear from what has been discussed in the preceding pages that truth is central to
his entire thought and life. There is a logical interconnectedness in all his ideas which is
reflected in his notion of truth as well. It is a moral and religious idea but is devoid of
any theological connotations. Truth, for Gandhi, is the basis of all religions and it is not
specific to any single or particular religion.
Truth has both ontological and epistemological connotations. Truth is the only means that
helps us to be cognisant of God and truth is also the only means that allows us to access
Him. However, truth is an important and an irrefutable category even for those who do
not believe in God, but are earnest seekers of truth, because it is not merely a way of
reaching God but is a moral value that must be pursued and achieved. Gandhi makes a
distinction between absolute truth and relative truth. Absolute truth is objective, unchanging,
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neutral, and independent. Relative truth is subjective, particular, mutable and personspecific. Gandhi accords importance to both these categories in that absolute truth is not
easily attainable and therefore, one must constantly endeavour to reach it through relative
truth as we see and understand it.
Gandhi began with the formulation ‘God is Truth’ and moved to ‘Truth is God’ later on.
He assigns many reasons for this shift such as the need to include atheists who are
seekers of truth, God as love being problematic because love is subjective (one that
means different thing to different people) besides having a tendency to degrade due to its
association with flesh, and that in Hinduism and Islam, God alone is and nothing else
exists.
Gandhi identifies non-violence (ahimsa) and satyagraha as the two means of achieving
truth. Truth is to be attained in thought, speech and action. Since non-violence is the law
of our species, it is always in accordance with nature. What is natural can never be
against truth. A non-violent person must be a humble man and must exercise five restraints
to discipline his mind and body. Satyagraha as the other means of attaining truth
advocates speaking truth at all times and is related to non-violence as a practice.
Satyagraha can never fail. It is bound to succeed although in the short run the results may
seem to be to the contrary. Satyagraha and non-violence are predicated upon each other.
One cannot work without the other.
8.7
TERMINAL QUESTIONS
1.
Highlight the importance of the concept of truth in Gandhian thought.
2.
Discuss the various reasons as to why Gandhi believes that Truth is God is a better
formulation than God is Truth.
3.
What is the difference between absolute truth and relative truth?
4.
How do you relate truth in thought, speech and action to the concept of ahimsa?
5.
Define satyagraha and underline its importance as a means of achieving truth.
GLOSSARY
Epistemology – It is the theory of knowledge concerned with the nature, sources and
limits of knowledge. ‘What can we know and how do we know it?’ The question about
knowledge can be divided into four main groups – concerning its nature, its types, what
is known and its origin.
Metaphysics (Ontology) – The question of metaphysics arise out of, but go beyond,
factual and scientific questions about the world. A central part of metaphysics is ontology
that is used to refer to philosophical investigation of existence, of study of being. Ontology
borders on philosophy of religion with questions like: Does anything exist necessarily?
Ontology helps us in seeking clarity about the nature of reality.
Truth is God
87
SUGGESTED READINGS
Alam, Javeed., ‘Introduction’, Social Scientist, vol. 34, nos. 5-6, 2006, pp.1-16.
Chatterjee, Margaret., Gandhi’s Religious Thought, Macmillan, New Delhi. Chapter 4 on
‘Experiments with Truth’, 1983, pp 58-74.
Diwakar, R. R., “Gandhi: From ‘God is Truth’ to ‘Truth is God’”, Gandhi Marg,
February, 1983, pp.617-626.
Ericsson, Eric., Gandhi’s Truth: On the Origins of Militant Non-violence, W. W. Norton,
New York, 1969.
George, S.K., ‘Basic Religion: A Study in Gandhiji’s Religion’ in Kshitis Roy, ed., Gandhi
Memorial Peace Number, Shantiniketan: The Visva Bharati Quarterly, 1949.
Iyer, Raghavan., (ed)., The Essential Writings of Mahatma Gandhi, Oxford University
Press, New Delhi, 1993.
Nehru, Jawaharlal., ‘The Pilgrim in Quest of Truth’ in B. R. Nanda, ed., Mahatma Gandhi
– 125 Years, ICCR/ New Age International Publishers, New Delhi, 1995.
Pradhan, R.C., ‘Making Sense of Gandhi’s Idea of Truth’, Social Scientist, vol. 34, nos.
5-6, 2006, pp. 36-49.
Ramana Murti, V. V., (ed)., Gandhi – Essential Writings, Gandhi Peace Foundation, New
Delhi, 1970.
Richards, Glyn, The Philosophy of Gandhi, Curzon Press, Richmond, Surrey, 1991.
Rothermund, Indira N., ‘Mahatma Gandhi and Hindu Tradition’ in Subrata Mukherjee and
Sushila Ramaswamy, ed., Facets of Mahatma Gandhi, vol. 4, Deep and Deep, New
Delhi, 1994.
Sayeed, Syed A., ‘Ethics of Truth: Non-Violence and Truth’, Social Scientist, vol. 34,
nos. 5-6, 2006, pp.84-103.
UNIT 9
GANDHI’S VIEWS ON WOMEN
Structure
9.1 Introduction
Aims and Objectives
9.2 Gandhi on Women and India’s Future
9.3 Ahimsa, Satyagraha and Woman
9.4 Freedom and Women
9.5 Summary
9.6 Terminal Questions
Suggested Readings
9.1
INTRODUCTION
To Gandhi, women, whom we call abala (weak), when becomes sabala (empowered),
all those powerless becomes empowered. To him ‘to call them (women) abala is to
condemn the inherent strength of women; in my view it is an insult to them. If we peruse
the history …we shall come across marvellous instances of bravery shown by women.
They not only exhibited their bravery through arms, but by building up their moral courage
they developed immense strength. If women resolve to bring glory to the nation, within
a few months they can totally change the face of the country because (of) of the spiritual
background (of women)’.Herein Gandhi placed importance to the role of women in
independence, in the reconstruction of the society and in its over all progress.
Aims and Objectives
This Unit would enable you to understand

Gandhi’s views on women

The qualities of ahimsa and satyagraha inherent in woman

The role and contribution of women to freedom struggle.
9.2
GANDHI ON WOMEN AND INDIA’S FUTURE
Gandhi firmly opined that ‘India’s salvation depends on the sacrifice and enlightenment of
her women’. While narrating about women’s position, he was of the opinion that just as
fundamentally man and woman are one, their problem must be one in essence. The soul
in both is the same. The two live the same life, have the same feelings. Each is a
complement of the other. The one cannot live without the other’s active help.”
Gandhi recognised that women were made subordinate to man through several social
practices and that these have conditioned women’s thought process. He writes: “somehow
or other man has dominated woman from ages past, and so woman has developed an
inferiority complex. She has believed in the truth of man’s interested teaching that she is
inferior to him. But the seers among men have recognized her equal status.”
Gandhi’s View on Women
89
Gandhi, however, has recognised the essential need of gender-based division of labour in
certain areas of social lives. To him: “there is no doubt that at some point there is
bifurcation between man and woman. Whilst both are fundamentally one, it is also equally
true that in the form there is a vital difference between the two. Hence the vocations of
the two must also be different. The duty of motherhood, which the vast majority of
women will always undertake, requires qualities which man need not possess. She is
passive, he is active. She is essentially mistress of the house. He is the bread-winner. She
is the keeper and distributor of the bread. She is the care-taker in every sense of the
term. The art of bringing up the infants of the race is her special and sole prerogative.
Without her care the race must become extinct.”
To him man has specific duties too, which are to be performed for the son’s stability. In
his opinion it is degrading both for man and woman that woman should be called upon
or induced to forsake the hearth and shoulder the rifle for the protection of that hearth.
It is a reversion to barbarity and the beginning of the end. In trying to ride the horse that
man rides, she brings herself and him down. The sin will be on man’s head for tempting
or compelling his companion to desert her special calling. There is as much bravery in
keeping one’s home in good order and condition as there is in defending it against attack
from without. The division of the spheres of work being recognised, the general qualities
and culture required are practically the same for both the sexes.
9.3
AHIMSA, SATYAGRAHA AND WOMAN
Gandhi acknowledged the influence of women in his life, his mother and wife, in the
formation of his opinion on women. The image of his devout mother, pious and patience
personified, influenced Gandhi to a great extent. He found immense determination in her
person and greatly admired the religious qualities in her. Her steadfast devotion to God
and household duties impressed him thoroughly. He recollects in his Autobiography that
she would take the hardest vows and keep them without flinching. Further, Gandhi had
no qualms in admitting his follies as a husband. His wife Kasturba also came to play an
important part in his life both personally and professionally. She was courageous,
determined and displayed enormous patience. Even as child, she was independent in her
thinking and actions which surprised and also to an extent, annoyed Gandhi as a young
husband eager to establish his authority over his wife. Gandhi also acknowledges that
Kasturba displayed a great resolve of Satyagraha. She would resist the undue demands
of her husband with firm resolve, in a non-violent manner, while at the same time doing
her duties without fail. Later she proved to be active Satyagrahi, fighting the mighty British
power along with thousands of people in their fight for freedom of the nation.
To Gandhi ‘woman is the true incarnation of Ahimsa’. To him, the realities of life are to
be conditioned by the practice of Ahimsa. Therefore, men and women are placed with
a combination of morality and sacrifice. He recognised that women would emerge as
leaders of the society because of their high moral values and sense of sacrifice that would
be guided by Ahimsa and Satyagraha. He writes: “My contribution to the great problem
lies in my presenting for acceptance of truth and ahimsa in every walk of life, whether
for individuals or nations. I have hugged the hope that in this woman will be the
unquestioned leader and, having thus found her place in human evolution, she will shed
her inferiority complex. If she is able to do this successfully, she must resolutely refuse
to believe in the modern teaching that everything is determined and regulated by the sex
impulse. I have suggested…that woman is the incarnation of ahimsa. Ahimsa means infinite
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Gandhi’s Social Thought
love, which again means infinite capacity for suffering. Who but woman, the mother of
man, shows this capacity in the largest measure? She shows it as she carries the infant
and feeds it during nine months and derives joy in the suffering involved. What can beat
the suffering caused by the pangs of labour? But she forgets them in the joy of creation.
Let her transfer that love to the whole of humanity, let her forget that she ever was or
can be the object of man’s lust. And she will occupy her proud position by the side of
man as his mother, maker and silent leader. It is given to her to teach the art of peace
to the warring world thirsting for that nectar. She can become the leader in satyagraha
which does not require the learning that books give but does require the stout heart that
comes from suffering and faith.”
According to Gandhi, woman is the emblem of Ahimsa/non-violence- “weak in
striking…strong in suffering”; she had come to occupy a pivotal position in his plan of
Satyagraha. He wanted to convert her self-sacrifice and suffering into Shakti-power. In
South Africa, as well as in India’s non-violent struggle for independence, women had
played an equal part with men, if not greater. The deepest inspiration in his own life had
been the piety and penance of his devout mother. His heart yearned for the “suppressedhalf” of humanity. As he contemplated the scene around him, especially in India, a piteous
spectacle met his gaze: “The physique of our girls is ruined through false modesty. We
forget that the girls of today are the mothers of tomorrow. At a tender and critical stage
in her development when she needs a mother’s understanding love and guidance most,
she is given a step-motherly treatment as if she had sinned against society in growing up
and must needs be suppressed. She is made a victim of hide-bound social rules and
conventions. She can’t stir out, play, take outdoor exercise. The same about dress. She
is made to follow the mode, put in tight laces, which deform her body and stunt her
growth. She is kept in ignorance of the basic facts of life and in consequence dumbly
suffers from various ailments through false modesty. The psychological harm that it does
is even worse than the physical. She looks grey and old when she should be carefree
and happy as a bird. It is a heat-rending spectacle. If in respect of their food, dress and
conduct, conversation and reading, study and recreation, our girls could be brought up in
nature’s healthy simplicity and allowed to grow in freedom, untrammelled by anything but
the limits of natural modesty, they would rise to the full height of their stature and once
more present us with a galaxy of heroes and saints such as India had boasted in the past.
I have dreamt of such a race of ideal women who will be India’s pride and the guarantee
of her future.” He saw no hope for India’s emancipation while her womanhood remained
unemancipated (Joshi, 1998).
9.4
FREEDOM AND WOMEN
Gandhi has always advocated freedom for women, women’s equal status in the society
and their participation for the equal status in the society and their participation in the
struggle for freedom of the nation. To quote him: “I passionately desire the utmost
freedom for our women. I detest child marriages. I shudder to see a child widow, and
shiver with rage when a husband just widowed contracts with brutal indifference another
marriage. I deplore the criminal indifference of parents who keep their daughters utterly
ignorant and illiterate and bring them up only for the purpose of marrying them off to
some young man of means. Notwithstanding all this grief and rage, I realize the difficulty
of the problem. Women must have votes and an equal legal status. But the problem does
not end there. It only commences at the point where women begin to affect the political
deliberations of the nation.”
Gandhi’s View on Women
91
The Ideal of Marriage
Gandhi was not only a Universalist, he was also an idealist. He has given a lot of
importance to the spiritual dimension of marriage and the husband and wife relationship.
To him, “The ideal that marriage aims at is that of spiritual union through the physical. The
human love that it incarnates is intended to serve as a stepping stone to divine or
universal love. The wife is not the husband’s bond slave, but his companion and his
helpmate, and an equal partner in all his joys and sorrows-as free as the husband to
choose her own path.”
Child Marriage
Gandhi was against child marriage. To him it is an out of sin and breach of trust on the
part of the parent. He questioned: “What is kanyadan in the case of little children? Has
a father any rights of property over his children? He is their protector not owner. And
he forfeits the privilege of protecting when he abuses it by seeking to barter away the
liberty of the ward… The least that a parent, who has so abused his trust as to give in
marriage an infant to an old man in his dotage or to a boy hardly in his teens, can do,
is to purge himself of his sin by remarrying his daughter when she becomes widowed.
Such marriages should be declared null and void from the beginning.” He suggested that
the minimum marriageable age of a girl should be 20 years. To him: “Twenty years is
early enough even in India. It is we who are responsible for the precocity of the girls,
not even the Indian climate, because I know girls of the age of twenty who are pure and
undefiled and able to stand the storm that may rage round. Let us not hug that precocity
to ourselves”. He suggested the youth to break the caste order to abolish the system of
child marriage. He significantly has tried to eradicate social ills with social intervention. In
this regard his suggestion to the Brahmin youths was extremely revolutionary. It is
depicted in this reaction to the desire for child marriage of the youths. “Some Brahman
students tell me that they cannot follow this principle, that they cannot get Brahman girls
sixteen years old, very few brahmans keep their daughters unmarried till that age, the
Brahman girls are married mostly before 10,12 and 13 years. Then I say to the Brahman
youth, “Cease to be a Brahman, if you cannot possibly control yourself. Chose a grown
up girl of 16 who became a widow when she was a child. If you cannot get a Brahman
widow who has reached that age, then go and take any girl you like. And I tell you that
the God of the Hindus will pardon that boy who has preferred to marry out of his caste
rather than ravish a girl of twelve. When your heart is not pure and you cannot master
your passions, you cease to be an educated man. You have called your institution a
premier institution. I want you to leave up to the name of the premier institution which
live must produce boys who will occupy the front rank in character. And what is
education without character and what is character without elementary personal purity?
Brahmanism I adore. I have defended Varnashrama Dharma. But Brahmanism that can
tolerate untouchability, virgin widowhood, stinks in my nostrils. It is a parody of
Brahmanism. There is no knowledge of Brahman therein. There is no true interpretation
of the scriptures. It is undiluted animalism. Brahmanism is made of sterner stuff.” Though
this suggestion of Gandhi was to a Brahmin youth, it applied equally to all those youth
to whom he vigorously advocated to break or abolish the practice of child marriages.
The Dowry System
Gandhi was against the practice of dowry system. To him, the root cause of this practice
is linked to the practice of caste system. He suggested that this system has to go. Gandhi
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Gandhi’s Social Thought
was also against the system of dowry. He termed it as nothing but the sale of girls. That
there should be caste even amongst the lowest categories was deplorable and he would
strongly advise them to abolish all caste-distinctions amongst themselves. And in this they
should bear in mind the opinion the speaker had often expressed that all caste-distinctions
should be abolished, and there should be only one caste, namely, bhangis and all Hindus
should take pride in being called Bhangis and nothing else.
Marriage must cease to be a matter of arrangement made by parents for money. The
system is intimately connected with caste. So long as the choice is restricted to a few
hundred young men or young women of a particular caste, the system will persist no
matter what is said against it. The girls or boys or their parents will have to break the
bonds of caste if the evil is to be eradicated. Therefore, Gandhi has emphasised the role
of education and educational institutions for breaking the caste and the dowry system. He
suggested that the education should help in developing a strong character that will
revolutionise the mentality of the youth of the nation. He also advocated providing good
education to girls and their equal say in matters of their marriages.
“There should be work done in the schools and colleges and amongst the parents of girls.
The parents should so educate their daughters that they would refuse to marry a young
man who wanted a price for marrying and would rather remain spinsters than be party
to the degrading terms. The only honourable terms in marriage are mutual love and mutual
consent.”
Gandhi felt that when child marriages were abolished, naturally there would be few, if
any, young widows. As a general rule he was for one man one wife for life, and one
woman one husband for life. Custom had familiarised women in the so-called higher
castes with enforced widowhood. Contrary was the rule with men. He called it a
disgrace, but whilst society was in that pitiable condition, he advocated widow remarriage
for all young widows. He believed in equality of the sexes and, therefore, he could only
think of the same rights for women as men.
The Choice of Mates and Social Interference
Gandhi had very liberal idea about the selection of mate for marriage. As he was against
the caste system, he was also against the interference of the society on the choice of the
individual in has/her mate selection. In his opinion, “such marriages as are interdicted in
a particular society cannot be recognized all at once or at the will of the individual. Nor
has society or relatives of parties concerned any right to impose their will upon and
forcibly curtail the liberty of action of the young people who may want to contract such
marriages. No one had a right forcibly to prevent them from marrying each other if they
wanted to. Society could at the most refuse to recognise the marriage. But it was the
height of tyranny to drive them to suicide”.
Gandhi was for a regeneration of new societal values. However this process of
regeneration could not be done in isolation. He wanted the youth to generate public
opinion for such a change. He also expected the society to be open to the change. In
his own words: “Marriage taboos are not universal and are largely based on social usage.
The usage varies from province to province and as between different divisions. This does
not mean that the youth may ride rough-shod over all established social customs and
inhibitions. Before they decide to do so, they must convert public opinion to their side.
In the meantime, the individuals concerned ought patiently to bide their time, or if they
cannot do that calmly and quietly face the consequences of social ostracism.
Gandhi’s View on Women
93
At the same time it is equally the duty of society not to take up a heartless, step-motherly
attitude towards those who might disregard or break the established conventions. In the
instance described by my correspondent the guilt of driving the young couple to suicide
certainly rests on the shoulders of society if the version that is before me is correct.”
Gandhi was in favour of inter-religious marriages. He, however, at the same time said that
each party should retain his or her own religion. He had no instances in mind where the
parties had clung to their respective faiths up to death, because these friends whom he
knew had not yet died. He had, however, under his observation men and women
professing different religions and each clinging to his or her own faith without abatement.
As to civil marriages, he did not believe in them but he welcomed the institution of civil
marriage as a much needed reform for the sake of reform.
Marriage and Love
To Gandhi, marriage is a natural thing in life, the ideal is to look upon marriage as a
sacrament and therefore to lead a life of self-restraint in the married estate. Marriage in
Hinduism is one of the four ashramas. In fact the other three are based on it.
For Gandhi, marriage is not simply for satisfaction of biological need. It has a longer
function to perform. To him spiritual development ought to be given the first place in the
choice for marriage, service should come next, family considerations and the interest of
the social order should have the third place, and mutual attraction or ‘love’ the fourth and
the last place in the
order. This means that ‘love’ alone, where the other three
conditions are not fulfilled, should not be held as a valid reason for marriage. At the same
time, marriage where there is no love should equally be ruled out even though all the
other conditions are fully complied with.
Divorce
Gandhi had firm views about divorce. He remarked that “Marriage confirms the right of
union between two partners to the exclusion of all the others when in their joint opinion
they consider such union to be desirable, but it confers no right upon one partner to
demand obedience of the other to one’s wish for union. What should be done when one
partner on moral or other grounds cannot conform to the wishes of the other is a
separate question. Personally, if divorce was the only alternative, I should not hesitate to
accept it, rather than interrupt my moral progress, assuming that I want to restrain myself
on purely moral grounds.”
Child Widow and Widow Remarriage
Gandhi was extremely concerned about the plights of widows in India. However, the
conservative outlook of the Indian society has blind eye towards this social evil. Gandhi
was very forceful in argument on this issue. He points out that “We cry out for cowprotection in the name of religion, but we refuse protection to the girl widow. In the name
of religion we force widowhood upon our three lakhs of girl widows who could not
understand the import of the marriage ceremony. To force widowhood upon little girls is
a brutal crime for which we Hindus are daily paying dearly. Voluntary widowhood
consciously adopted by a woman who has felt the affection of a partner adds grace and
dignity to life, sanctifies the home and uplifts religion itself. Widowhood imposed by
religion or custom is an unbearable yoke and defiles the home by secret vice and
degrades religion.” Gandhi wanted that the society should rid itself of this poison of
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enforced widowhood. The reform must begin with much earnestness and courage. He
supported the idea of widow re-marriage.
“Widow-remarriage is no sin-if it be, it is as much a sin as the marriage of widower is.
All widowhood is not holy. It is an adornment to her who can observe it. If this sister
has the courage, then let her speak out her mind to her uncle and brothers and seek their
help. If they cannot assist in the marriage, then the sister will have to quit their house and
take refuge in some widow-remarriage institution”.
The Purdah
A long section of the Indian women has been the victims of the practice of purdah. It
has resisted not only their participation in the public life, but has also deprived them of
the opportunity for self-development, self-expression, social, economic and political well
being; Gandhi was against the practice of purdah. The conservative view has always taken
the place for the maintenance of women’s chastity to strictly adhere to the practice of
purdah system. To him “Chastity is not a hot-house growth. It cannot be protected by
the surrounding wall of the purdah. It must grow from within, and to be worth anything
it must be capable of withstanding every unsought temptation.
And why is there all this morbid anxiety about female purity? Have women any say in
the matter of male purity? We hear nothing of women’s anxiety about men’s chastity. Why
should men arrogate to themselves the right to regulate female purity? It cannot be
superimposed from without. It is a matter of evolution from within and therefore of
individual self-effort.”
Gandhi was warned by some Muslim critics against speaking on the purdah. He had
therefore some hesitation in speaking about it. But he took heart when he turned round
and saw that many Hindu women observed it and that numerous Malaya Muslim women
of whom he had many friends did not observe the purdah. He also knew many
distinguished Muslim women of India who did not observe it. Lastly the real purdah was
of the heart. A woman who peeped through the purdah and contemplated a male on
whom her gaze fell violated the spirit behind it. If a woman observed it in spirit, she was
truly carrying out what the great Prophet had said.
He advised women to “refuse to be the slaves of your own whims and fancies, and the
slaves of men. Refuse to decorate yourselves, don’t go in for scents and lavender water;
if you want to give out the proper scent, it must come out of your heart, and then you
will captivate not man, but humanity. It is your birthright. Man is born of woman; he is
flesh of her flesh and bone of her bone. Come to your own and deliver your message
again”.
Population Control and Women
For Gandhi extensive human development is absolutely necessary for proper utilisation of
manpower of the country. Therefore, he advocated the development of agriculture with
proper land system and supplementary industry. His view on population control is unique.
“If it is contended that birth control is necessary for the nation because of overpopulation, I dispute the proposition. It has never been proved. In my opinion, by a
proper land-system, better agriculture and a supplementary industry, this country is
capable of supporting twice as many people as there are today. But I have joined hands
with the advocates of birth control in India from the standpoint of the present political
condition of the country.”
Gandhi’s View on Women
95
On the question of the mother whose health is drained away by too many children and
for the sake of children themselves he mentions that ‘Women should have to resist their
husbands. If contraceptives are resorted to, frightful results will follow, if man and woman
will be living for sex alone they will become soft-brained, unhinged, infact mental and
moral wrecks’.
9.5
SUMMARY
No other leader during the course of freedom struggle has given a prominent place and
position to women as did Gandhi. He had immense faith in their determination, spirit of
service and sacrifice. He disapproved of the male domination over women and the
former’s resolve to suppress the latter. He constantly spoke about the equality of men and
women. He advised women to refuse to serve as men’s slaves and have an identity and
respect of their own. He abhorred child marriages and encouraged widow re-marriages.
He wanted that women also should be given education at par with men, have access to
health care and help in sustaining the traditional values and culture. Gandhi was for a
regeneration of new societal values. However this process of regeneration could not be
done in isolation. He wanted the youth to generate public opinion for such a change. He
also expected the society to be open to the change and give a prominent place to
women. Gandhi has always advocated freedom for women, women’s equal status in the
society and their participation in the struggle for freedom of the nation.
9.6
TERMINAL QUESTIONS
1.
What kind of freedom did Gandhi envisage for women?
2.
According to Gandhi, women are custodians of values and culture. Substantiate your
arguments.
3.
Can Gandhi be called a feminist? Give your own arguments.
SUGGESTED READINGS
Bose, Nirmal Kumar., ‘Selections from Gandhi’, Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad,
1948.
Joshi, Pushpa., ‘Gandhi on Women’, Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad, 1988
Kheda Vartaman, CWMG, Vol. XV, pp.290-93, 21-5-1919.
Young India, CWMG, Vol.XX, pp.409-11, 21-07-1921.
CWMG, Vol.XXIV, pp.74-76, 18-05-1924.
CWMG, Vol.XXIV, pp.381-82, 13-07-1924.
CWMG, Vol.XXXV, pp.419-20, 25-12-1927.
CWMG, Vol.XLII, pp.4-6, 17-10-1929.
Young India, Vol. X, no-12, p.350, 18-10-1928.
Young India, Vol. XLII, p.340.
UNIT 10
GANDHI’S VIEWS ON DEPRESSED
CLASSES
Structure
10.1 Introduction
Aims and Objectives
10.2 Defining Depressed Classes
10.3 Gandhi on Depressed Classes
10.4 Gandhian Plan of Integrating Depressed Classes
10.5 Critique of Gandhi’s views
10.6 Summary
10.7 Terminal Questions
Suggested Readings
10.1 INTRODUCTION
The Depressed Classes occupied a central place in Gandhi’s social thought. Since
childhood, Gandhi’s sensitive mind was touched by the sufferings of the Depressed
Classes. He was very much concerned about untouchability in the name of caste system
in Hinduism. It was not Hinduism but its abuses which pained Gandhi’s heart. He strongly
advocated that without social and material improvement of those people who are treated
as untouchables India cannot attain true ‘swaraj’. Gandhi called for strengthening the
social cohesiveness and therefore, tried to integrate various sections of the society for the
social regeneration of India and subsequently the attainment of ‘swaraj’. In this Unit we
will explain, in historical context, Gandhi’s views on the Depressed Classes and his
articulation of concern for them. We will also discuss the methods suggested by Gandhi
to address their problems and the varied responses to his approach.
Aims and Objectives
After reading this unit, you should be able to

Define as to what is meant by Depressed Classes

Explain Gandhi’s views on Depressed Classes

Understand Gandhi’s ways of addressing the problems of the Depressed Classes

Analyse different responses to Gandhi’s attitude towards the Depressed Classes.
10.2 DEFINING DEPRESSED CLASSES
Caste being considered as an integral part of the Hindu social system promoted social
hierarchy and in the name of the Shastras to maintain ritual purity, a large section of the
Hindu society was categorised as untouchables. The term Depressed Classes refers to the
untouchables who belong to the lowest rung of the Hindu caste hierarchy and were
Gandhi’s View on Depressed Classes
97
referred as ‘Achhuts’, ‘Panchamas’, ‘Antyajas’, etc. and they were placed outside the
four castes. Though these people were very much part of the Hindu social system, they
were denied access to the Hindu temples and faced religious and social disabilities.
Economically, people belonging to the Depressed Classes were mostly landless labourers
or engaged in menial occupations like scavenging, leather work, etc. Since the last decade
of the 19th century, the term Depressed Classes came into use in official parlance.
V.R.Shinde, a social reformer from Maharashtra, formed “The Depressed Classes Mission
Society of India” and wrote in 1906 that ‘the term Depressed Classes does not include
the comparatively blessed human beings, hordes of whom are still defiantly standing
outside the pale of civilization in India…’ (The Indian Social Reformer, (29 July 1906).
The socio-religious reform movements in India like Brahmo Samaj, Prarthana Samaj, Arya
Samaj, etc. tried to draw our attention to such social disabilities and appealed for
eradicating the social prejudices. There was also growing awareness among a section
within the Depressed Classes to assert for removing social disabilities and ask for their
rightful place in society and endow them their legitimate rights to education and government
jobs. Jotirao Govindrao Phule, a shudra himself and a social reformer of the 19th century,
in his book Gulamgiri, exposed the inhuman laws under the guise of religion to keep the
lower castes always under the subjugation of the upper castes. Dr. B.R.Ambedkar, who
was influenced by Phule’s ideas, tried to explain the hollowness of the caste system and
questioned the religious basis of the origin of untouchables. The efforts made by the
British government to enumerate the Depressed Classes separately in the census of India
and to make special provisions for their educational and material development encouraged
the mobilisation of the Depressed Classes in different provinces since late 19th century.
The Depressed Classes started demanding representation in various legislative bodies,
admission of their children in all schools, reservation in government jobs and expressed
their solidarity towards the British for protection of their rights. Initially the British
government was not keen to interfere in the socio-religious matters of the indigenous
society. However, since early 20th century there was change in the British attitude
towards the problems faced by the Depressed Classes and started taking pro-active
policies to protect their interests. The Government of India Act of 1919 made provision
for nomination of Depressed Classes in the provincial legislative councils. In the light of
this brief background on the Depressed Classes, we would discuss the views of Mahatma
Gandhi on them.
10.3 GANDHI ON DEPRESSED CLASSES
Till the emergence of Gandhi as the leader of Indian National Congress the nationalist
leaders refrained from taking up issues pertaining to remove social disabilities. Gandhi,
from his childhood days, was very much concerned with the removal of untouchability. In
his opinion ‘Untouchability has made Indians untouchables in the whole world and those
who wanted to see the condition of untouchable Indians should go to South Africa and
realize what untouchability meant’ (Gandhi’s speech at Ranchi, 17-9-1925). He was also
of the opinion that without integrating the vast sections of the Depressed Classes in the
Hindu society and without removing untouchability, it would be difficult to achieve
‘swaraj’. ‘Swaraj for me means freedom for the meanest of our countrymen. If the lot
of the Panchama is not improved, when we are all suffering, it is not likely to be better
under the intoxication of Swaraj…. I am not interested in freeing India merely from the
English yoke. I am bent upon freeing India from any yoke whatsoever. I have no desire
to exchange King Long for King Stork. Hence for me the movement of swaraj is a
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Gandhi’s Social Thought
movement of self purification’. (Untouchability and Swaraj, Young India, June 1924).The
Satyagraha Ashram founded by Gandhi in 1915 resolved to abolish untouchability. ‘In
Hinduism’, Gandhi said, ‘there is no sanction for treating a single human being as
untouchable. In the estimation of a Brahmana knowing and living his religion, a Shudra is
as good as himself. The Bhagavad Gita has nowhere taught that a Chandala is in any way
inferior to a Brahmana’ (Young India, 1921). In reply to those who defended untouchability
by referring to the Shastras, Gandhi advocated that not letters but the spirit of the
Shastras which talk about universal humanism should govern our social relations. In place
of using terms like ‘untouchables’, ‘panchamas’, ‘antyaja’, etc., Gandhi coined the term
‘Harijan’, meaning ‘Children of God’ because he was of the opinion that other expressions
were derogatory. Gandhi brought the issue of untouchability at the centre of Indian
politics.
“...The Congress has, from its very commencement, taken up the cause of the so-called
untouchables. There was a time when the congress had at every annual session as its
adjunct the Social Conference, to which the late Ranade dedicated his energies, among
his many other activities. Headed by him you will find, in the programme of the Social
Conference, reform in connection with the untouchables taking a prominent place. But in
1920, the Congress took a large step and brought in the question of the removal of
untouchability as a plank on the political platform, making it an important item of the
political programme. Just as the Congress considered Hindu-Muslim unity - thereby
meaning unity amongst all the classes - to be indispensable for the attainment of swaraj,
so also did the Congress consider the removal of the curse of untouchability as an
indispensable condition for the attainment of full freedom. The position the Congress took
up in 1920 remains the same today; and so you will see the Congress has attempted
from its very beginning to be what it described itself to be, namely, national in every sense
of the term” (Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, vol.XLVIII, September1931January 1932).
Although Gandhi was critical of untouchability and the restrictions on inter-marriage and
inter-dining in the name of caste, he was not opposed to Chaturvarna. He argued that
‘Varnas…have been sanctioned by the Shastras. Whether or not people are conscious of
them, they do exist all over the world as we see. There are everywhere these four
classes: one to impart knowledge of God for the welfare of the world, another to protect
the people against manifold dangers, a third one to carry on the work of farming, etc.,
to sustain the community and one class to work for these three classes. There is no
feeling of high and low to this division’ (Harijanbandhu, 19 January, 1936, CWMG,
Vol.LXII). To Gandhi, in Varnashrama, each member belongs to a particular occupational
group and is performing functions accordingly having equal status. At the same time he
reminded that imposition of various social restrictions in the name of caste was distortion
of Varnashrama. Gandhi wrote in Harijan, ‘the moment untouchability [in its present form]
goes, [the] caste system itself will be purified, that is to say, according to my dream, it
will resolve into the true Varnadharma, the four divisions of society, each complementary
of the other and none inferior or superior to the other, each is necessary for the whole
body of Hinduism as any other’ (Harijan, 7 July 1946). Gandhi’s views and writings on
Varnashrama have already been highlighted in one of the preceding Units.
Untouchability
To Gandhi, the continuance of untouchability meant a slow destruction overtaking the
Hinduism. This is nothing but the disintegration which Hinduism is going through. As and
Gandhi’s View on Depressed Classes
99
when this disintegration becomes rapid and imposing, it would be difficult to restrain it.
Gandhi gives his argument in the following words:
“And why do I say that untouchability is a curse, a blot and a powerful poison that will
destroy Hinduism? It is repugnant to our sense of humanity to consider a single human
being as untouchable by birth. If you were to examine the scriptures of the world and
the conduct of peoples other than Hindus, you would not find any parallel to the
untouchability I have brought to your attention just now. I can well understand a person
being untouchable whilst he is performing a task which he himself would feel makes him
untouchable. For instance a nurse, who is nursing a patient who is helpless and
bleeding… soiling his clothes and suffering from a disease giving out from his body a foul
smell, such a nurse whilst she is nursing such a patient is untouchable. But when she has
washed herself, she becomes as touchable as ourselves. She is not only just as fit to
move in society as any of us, but she is also adorable for the profession which she
follows. She is worthy of our respect and, so long as we have ranks in our society, she
must occupy a very high place amongst us.”
Gandhi also gave the example of Dr.B.R.Ambedkar, who belonged to the Depressed
Classes but intellectually superior to thousands of intelligent and educated caste Hindus.
Gandhi’s argument was that the latter should not be judged because of his caste, as he
deserves equal respect and dignity as any other caste Hindu for his intellectual acumen
and ability. Gandhi further states,
“If we had not been habituated to think that untouchability by birth is an integral part of
Hinduism, we would not conduct ourselves towards fellow human beings as many of us
conduct ourselves even today.”
Gandhi severely condemned the argument that untouchability has a religious sanction and
is allowed according to the tenets of Hindu Shastras. He says,
“Untouchability is a phenomenon which is peculiar to Hinduism only and it has got no
warrant either in reason or in the Shastras, and what little I have studied of the Shastras
and what I have been told by people who have made a deeper study of them shows
that there is no warrant for untouchability by birth in Hinduism. I have not the time now
to go into the Shastric precepts. Nor is it necessary at this time of the day to give you
Shastric proofs for my statement. But what is necessary is that if you are satisfied that
untouchability is a blot on Hinduism and that there is a danger of its destroying Hinduism,
you must set about removing it.”
To Gandhi, one way of removing the curse of untouchability was to bring about a change
in our everyday conduct. It does not express itself in enthusiastically touching an
untouchable to prove one’s sincerity to remove it. Rather, the conduct should be regulated
in a manner that will make it absolutely evident to them that a better day has dawned
for them all. For instance, says Gandhi,
“You will begin by taking the Harijans along with you to the temple if you are in the habit
of going to a temple. But if you discover that you will not be allowed into the temple
along with your Harijan companions, then if you have the living belief that I have that
untouchability is wrong, you will shun that temple as you shun a scorpion of fire. You will
then believe with me that such a temple is not inhabited by God” (Harijan, 20 June,
1936, CWMG, Vol.LXIII).
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Gandhi’s Social Thought
Going by the above arguments, one can easily understand as to how Gandhi tried to
address the issue of untouchability without challenging the Varnashrama and its religious
basis. To remove untouchability what he prescribes is a change in the social attitude
towards lower castes by considering them as equal to others. His approach was to bring
change in the minds of higher castes by exposing the hollowness of untouchability. His
thinking was to remove the notion of untouchability without much change in the Hindu
social structure. Gandhi wrote that regarding a brahmana and a scavenger as equals does
not mean that you are not showing respect to a true brahmana that is due to him, but
that the brahmana and the scavenger are equally entitled to our service, that we accord
to the scavenger the same rights of sending his children to public schools, of visiting public
temples, of the use of public wells, etc., on the same basis as these rights are enjoyed
by any other Hindu. To Gandhi ‘God is light, not darkness, God is love, not hate, God
is Truth, not untruth. God alone is great. We His creatures are but dust. Let us be humble
and recognize the place of the lowliest of His creatures’ (Young India, June 1924).
Instead of attacking religion through religious appeal, Gandhi wanted to open the eyes of
the upper castes towards the injustices and abuses in the name of the caste system. He
was very much concerned about bringing cohesiveness within Hinduism when there was
challenge from outside to create divisions within the Hindus.
10.4 GANDHIAN PLAN OF INTEGRATING THE
DEPRESSED CLASSES
In place of constitutional safeguards and legal provision for the protection of the
Depressed Classes, Gandhi gave more emphasis on educating people to treat the
underprivileged as equal and to allow them into temples, schools and common wells.
Gandhi firmly believed that without integrating various sections of Indian people in the
movement against the British, it would be difficult to achieve political freedom. In
December 1920 at Nagpur, in the Annual Session of Indian National Congress, Gandhi
said, ‘the movement of non-co-operation can only succeed by complete co-operation
amongst the people themselves, this Congress calls upon the public associations to
advance Hindu-Muslim unity and the Hindu delegates of this Congress to call upon the
leading Hindus to settle all disputes between Brahmins and non-Brahmins wherever they
may be existing and to make a special effort to rid Hinduism of the reproach of
untouchability, and respectfully urges the religious heads to help the growing desire to
reform Hinduism in the matter of its treatment of the suppressed classes’ (Cited in
A.C.Pradhan, The Emergence of the Depressed Classes, p.47). The Working Committee
of the Congress Party later constituted a sub-committee to draw action plan for the
betterment of the condition of the Depressed Classes throughout the country. In 1924, as
president of the Belgaum session of the Indian National Congress, Gandhi brought a
resolution asking the members to pay more attention to the needs of the Depressed
Classes. The Belgaum Congress also supported the satyagrahis at Vaikom in the
Travancore state where the local satyagrahis were demanding the access of the untouchables
to the roads near the temple. Gandhi himself visited the place in 1925 and urged upon
the local authorities to declare the road open for the untouchables. It is considered in
history as the first major demonstration of the Congress volunteers for the cause of the
Depressed Classes.
In 1930, when Gandhi launched the Civil Disobedience Movement, he again reminded the
Congress workers that the rights of the Depressed Classes cannot be overlooked for the
Gandhi’s View on Depressed Classes
101
cause of ‘swaraj’. Many leaders of the Depressed Classes being not convinced of
Gandhi’s approach towards the grievances of the Depressed Classes represented directly
to the British government for their rightful representation in various representative bodies.
In its response, the government agreed to the demand for special electorate for the
Depressed Classes. Gandhi was not in favour of special representation of the Depressed
Classes because he was of the view that the problem of the Depressed Classes needs
to be addressed through measures of general socio-cultural improvement. So, in the
Round Table Conference in London which Gandhi attended as the Congress representative,
he opposed the idea of special representation of the Depressed Classes. Gandhi wrote,
‘so far as Hinduism is concerned separate electorate would simply vivisect and disrupt it.
For me the question of these classes is predominantly moral and religious…I feel that no
penance that caste Hindus may do can, in any way, compensate for the calculated
degradation to which they have consigned the depressed Classes for centuries. But I
know that separate electorate is neither penance nor any remedy for the crushing
degradation they have groaned under’ (CWMG, Vol.LXIX). Gandhi vowed to resist
separate electorate for the Depressed Classes threatening to take recourse to fast till
death. Though in principle Gandhi was opposed to the reservation of seats, for the sake
of a compromise with the leaders of the Depressed Classes, agreed to accept an
agreement for reservation of seats in joint electorates between the caste Hindus and
Depressed Classes. After hard bargaining the Depressed Classes leaders agreed to accept
the reservation of seats in legislative bodies through joint electorate. Then finally in the
Government of India Act, 1935 provision was made for reservation of 151 seats in the
provincial legislatures.
People within the Congress were critical of Gandhi’s emphasis on the Depressed Classes
issue when the focus should be more on the Civil Disobedience movement. But for
Gandhi the integration of the Depressed Classes into the Hindu society was of utmost
importance. Once Gandhi was asked as to why he is not thinking for the improvement
of the condition of starving peasants, as an improvement in the condition of peasants
would automatically improve economic condition of the Harijans. In reply Gandhi said,
‘Unfortunately the betterment of the economic condition of peasants will not necessarily
include the betterment of that of the Harijans. The peasant who is not a Harijan can rise
as high as he likes and opportunity permits him, but not so the poor suppressed Harijan.
The latter cannot own and use land as freely as the savarna peasant… therefore, a
special organization for the service of Harijans is a preemptory want in order to deal with
the special and peculiar disabilities of Harijans’ (CWMG, Vol.LVIII).
In 1932 Gandhi established the Harijan Sevak Sangh to initiate Constructive Programme
for the social and material development of the Depressed Classes. The Harijan Sevak
Sangh started a journal titled ‘Harijan’ to create awareness in society for the welfare of
the Depressed Classes. Instead of adopting a confrontationist line, Harijan Sevak Sangh
believed in pursuing caste Hindus for a change of heart and strongly advocated for the
removal of untouchability and wanted legislation for temple entry. Commenting on Gandhi’s
emphasis on temple entry movement, D.R.Nagaraj has argued that ‘The political
interventionist and realist in him had understood the deeper craving for temples among
Harijans in the absence of other strong alternatives’ (D.R.Nagaraj, ‘Self-purification
versus Self-respect, p.373). During 1933-1934 Gandhi travelled various parts of the
country to educate people about the need for temple entry and removal of untouchability.
In 1930s when he devoted himself to the Harijan movement he expanded its scope by
incorporating the village development in it. He wrote in Harijan,
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‘Some readers have taken exception to the way in which the columns of “Harijan” are
being occupied with the development of the village industries scheme, and some other
[sic] have welcomed the change in what they had thought was a monotony of presentation.
Either opinion is probably hasty. Any problem connected with the welfare of village as a
whole must be intimately related to the Harijans, who represent over a sixth part of
India’s population. If a village gets good rice and flour, Harijans will benefit by the change
as much as the rest of the population. But there is a special sense in which Harijans will
benefit. Tanning and the whole of the raw hide work is their monopoly and economically
this will occupy the best part of the new scheme’ (Harijan, Vol.11, December 1934).
As part of his Constructive Programme, Gandhi wanted to provide quality education to
the children of the Depressed Classes so that they can stand on equal footing with the
upper castes. He tried to arouse the conscience of caste Hindus by emphasising the
equality of thought and deed. By weaving khadi and cleaning own toilet he wanted to
attach dignity to such jobs. He desired to remove the rigidities in minds considering some
occupations as below the dignity. He was opposed to the idea of conversion to any other
religion to get rid of the caste system. He appealed to promote cleanliness, to improve
methods of scavenging and tanning, to encourage parents to send children to schools, to
abolish untouchability, in order to uplift the Depressed Classes. Gandhi, through village
reconstruction, provided the key to improve the material condition of the poor and the
socially oppressed people.
10.5 CRITIQUE OF GANDHI’S VIEWS
In his own times Gandhi faced strong opposition from a section within the Congress
(considered as orthodox Hindus) for his approach towards the cause of the Depressed
Classes. In their opinion, the need of the hour was political emancipation and once it is
achieved social emancipation would automatically follow. They were also not inclined to
go against the prevailing Hindu social system for the sake of integrating the Depressed
Classes. They were opposed to any special provision for the reservation of seats for the
Depressed Classes in the legislative bodies because they believed that this would divide
the Hindus. Even people questioned his appeal for removal of untouchability and
expressed their concern about the survival of Hinduism in the hands of Gandhi. During
Gandhi’s Harijan tour during 1933-34, orthodox Hindus staged demonstrations against
Gandhi in places such as Nagpur, Amaravati, Akola, Guruvayur, Belgaum, Puri, Pune,
Ahmedabad, Benares, Allahabad, etc. Reporting on Gandhi’s campaign for temple entry
and removal of untouchability, the official report noted: ‘As for the Sanatanists it is
doubtful if Gandhi’s eloquence has converted one of them. At Poona, another centre of
Hindu orthodoxy, the orthodox section of Hindus carefully avoided him. At Benares the
Sanatanists publicly burnt his portrait.’ (Cited in A.C.Pradhan).
The Depressed Classes responded in different voices to Gandhian initiatives for social and
material development of the Depressed Classes. Although there were people within the
Depressed Classes who found in Gandhi an advocate for eradicating the social evils,
many were skeptical of the outcome of Gandhian initiatives. Most prominent among such
Depressed Class leaders was Dr. B.R.Ambedkar. Gandhi tried to address the problem of
untouchability without attacking the caste system and through self-purification he desired
to remove untouchability. Ambedkar wanted to develop an independent identity for the
Depressed Classes and to do away with the caste system. Ambedkar wrote in the first
issue of Harijan,
Gandhi’s View on Depressed Classes
103
‘The out-caste is a by-product of the caste-system. There will be outcastes as there are
castes. Nothing can emancipate the outcastes except the destruction of the caste-system.
Nothing can help to save Hindus and ensure their survival in the coming struggle except
the purging of this odious and vicious dogma…’ (Harijan, Vol.I, 1933).
To Ambedkar, more than untouchability it is important to understand the problems of
untouchables. He was not agreeable to the Gandhian suggestion of treating untouchability
as a religious question. Ambedkar was opposed to the paternalistic attitude of Gandhi and
other Congress leaders towards the Depressed Classes and asserted that the Congress
has done nothing to help the Depressed Classes in their struggle against the Hindu
orthodoxy. He strongly advocated for special electorate for the Depressed Classes so that
they have their own representatives in the legislative bodies to protect their interests. The
book written by Ambedkar, ‘What the Congress and Gandhiji have done to the
Untouchables’ familiarises one with Ambedkar’s reservations about Gandhi’s prescriptions
towards the problems faced by the Depressed Classes. The Unit on Poona Pact (Course1) familiarises the learner on the subject concerned.
D.R.Nagaraj argues that ‘one should take the village-centred vision of Gandhiji and treat
it with Ambedkarite distrust of the rural society to cure its romantic excesses. The lower
castes in India have nowhere else to go, and their will to transform the existing rural
society should be strengthened’ (D.R.Nagaraj). While making any appraisal of Gandhi,
it is essential to keep in mind that the major concern of Gandhi was to put up a united
challenge against the British and for that he wanted to develop a cohesive voice based
on a sense of equality and self- respect. Gandhi realised as to how the British cleverly
used a social problem of the Hindus into a political weapon to stem the tide of Indian
nationalism.
10.6 SUMMARY
Gandhi had the ability to harmonise and unite the differing perceptions and voices to
achieve the desired goal. By being sensitive to the sufferings of the Depressed Classes
and also understanding the growing social consciousness as well as the political strength
of the Depressed Classes, Gandhi tried to bridge the gap between the upper and the
lower castes. Without opposing the varna system and challenging the religious beliefs,
Gandhi appealed to the dominant castes to learn to respect human values and treat all
equally. Focusing on the removal of untouchability, access to temples, education for the
children of lower castes, dignity of labour and village reconstruction, Gandhi wanted to
bring about the social and material improvement of the Depressed Classes. The uniqueness
of Gandhi’s social thought lies in its emphasis on social integration and equality for all.
10.7 TERMINAL QUESTIONS
1.
How do you define the ‘Depressed Classes’? Elaborate Gandhi’s views on them.
2.
How did Gandhi envisage the integration of the Depressed Classes?
3.
Critically examine Gandhi’s views on Depressed Classes.
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SUGGESTED READINGS
Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Publications Division, Government of India.
Nagaraj, D.R., ‘Self-purification versus Self-respect: On the Roots of the Dalit Movement’,
in A.Raghuramaraju (ed.), Debating Gandhi- A Reader, Oxford University Press, New
Delhi, 2006, pp. 359-388.
Nanda, B.R., Gandhi and His Critics, Oxford University Press, Delhi, 1985.
Pradhan, A.C., The Emergence of the Depressed Classes, Bookland International,
Bhubaneshwar, 1986.
UNIT 11
GANDHI’S VIEWS ON CHILDREN AND
YOUTH
Structure
11.1 Introduction
Aims and Objectives
11.2 Gandhi on Children
11.3 Education of Children
11.4 Gandhi on Youth
11.5 Constructive Work and Country’s Service
11.6 Summary
11.7 Terminal Questions
Suggested Readings
11.1 INTRODUCTION
Gandhi‘s views on children and youth constitute an interesting aspect in the holistic realm
of national freedom struggle. His intention was to spell out the aspects of best upbringing,
parental care, and development of the intellect and good conduct that would help in
evolving into a good human being. For this, the basic foundation in the childhood should
be apt. To him, children were the real practitioners of truth and non-violence. Their
innocence captivated Gandhi. His letters to the members of his family reveal his absolute
affection for children and guidelines regarding their diet, hygiene and health. Similarly,
Gandhi had an unflinching faith in the youth of the nation as the whole nation depended
on their ability to achieve freedom in all spheres. He encouraged them to adopt truth and
non-violence in their struggle for freedom and also advised them not to give in to vices
and violence. He recommended the ekadasha vratas to the youth so that they could
achieve purity of body, mind and soul. To him, they represented hope for the future
wherein India would achieve greater heights as an apostle of truth and non-violence.
Aims and Objectives
This Unit will enable you to understand

Gandhi’s views on children

Education of children

Gandhi’s views on youth

The youth’s contribution towards the national regeneration
11.2 GANDHI ON CHILDREN
The child is- infact all children are- unconscious worshippers of truth and hence they go
on advancing. We should, therefore, become children, that is to say, we should shed all
fear and worship truth. We should do that which our heart believes to be true.
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Mahatma Gandhi
(Navajivan, 24-11-1929, CWMG, vol.42, pp.207-8).
Gandhi immensely loved children and viewed them as true followers of truth. Their
innocence captivated him and he was often moved by their pure actions and thoughts. As
he observed, ‘if we could become innocent like children, and derive our meanings from
innocent observations like theirs, we could spare ourselves much trouble, many disputes
and much waste of time. And our intellect would become increasingly keener’. Gandhi
wanted all the adults to follow this aspect of children in order to rid themselves of any
problem and solve them in most amicable manner, just as a child does in innocence. He
further observes that it is not easy to become like a child for it involves shedding any
untruthful element in one’s thought and behaviour. He says, “it is not easy for a person
advanced in age to become and continue to be, like a child, innocent and simple and a
conscious worshipper of truth. But it is our duty to do so. The perfect incarnation of God
as conceived by Hinduism is the child Krishna. Jesus said, ‘wisdom flows from the
mouths of babes and sucklings. He said to those who desired salvation, become like
children” (CWMG, vol.42, pp.207-8).
Upbringing of Children
Gandhi was firm in his opinion that for the upbringing of the children, parents should have
a proper of rearing and nursing of babies. Necessary care has to be taken to bring them
up and monitor their growth. He said the following in this context: I am convinced that
for the proper upbringing of children the parents ought to have a general knowledge of
the care and nursing of babies. At every step I have seen the advantages of my careful
study of the subject. My children would not have enjoyed the general health that they do
today, had I not studied the subject and turned my knowledge to account. We labour
under a sort of superstition that the child has nothing to learn during the first five years
of its life. On the contrary the fact is that the child never learns in after life what it does
in its first five years. The education of the child begins with conception. The physical and
mental states of the parents at the moment of conception are reproduced in the baby.
After birth the child imitates the parents, and for a considerable number of years entirely
depends on them for its growth (CWMG, vol.39, p.165; also see Autobiography).
Gandhi also observes thus: ‘the truth is that most of us are scarcely fit to be parents.
Why should those who have not learnt the science of child-care bring children into the
world?’ Gandhi acknowledges the role of the home environment that plays a great part
during the growing up years. Children inherit certain qualities from their parents and in
some cases, have successfully surmounted the difficulties of an evil inheritance. He
attributes it to the purity of the soul. During his stay in South Africa, Gandhi became
teacher to his children as well as to those living at Tolstoy Farm. Gandhi insisted on
character building as the proper foundation of children’s education; he felt that ‘if the
foundation was firmly laid, I was sure that the children could learn all the other things
themselves or with the assistance of friends’ (CWMG, vol.39, p.267; See also
Autobiography).
Diet and Cleanliness
Gandhi insisted on administering a proper diet to the children and that which does not
hurt the delicate system of the child. In a letter to one of his associates, he writes thus:
‘a mother should know how to take care of the children’s teeth. Their food not be very
soft and should not contain too much starch. They should have sugar and jaggery in very
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107
small quantity only. Instead they may be allowed to suck juice from lots of sugarcane in
the season. When the season is over, the children may be given fruits containing sugar,
like figs, munakka, dates, etc. moreover, the mother should stand by the side of the
children when they brush their teeth in the morning and teach them to clean the teeth with
the babool stick vigorously…they should be taught to gargle properly after every meal
and to massage the teeth and gums with their fingers’ (CWMG, vol.53, pp.224-5).
Substituting sugar for jaggery is harmful and should be avoided. Children should be fed
increasing quantities of fresh fruit to keep them in the best of their health, strength and
vigour. Gandhi advises against giving caffeinated drinks like tea and coffee to children.
Gandhi deemed it essential for parents to pay special attention to the cleanliness aspects.
The following points should be kept in mind in this context:
(1) Their teeth should be clean. They should be made to rinse them every morning and
again before retiring at night.
(2) Their hair should be clean. It should be cut short and washed and brushed every
day. No oil need be used.
(3) Their nails should be clean, clipped from time to time and always washed clean.
(4) Their clothes and shoes should be neat and tidy.
(5) Their satchels and books should be clean; they should handle books with clean
hands.
We need hardly add that it will accrue to the benefit of the children if these rules are
kept in mind and made to follow them.
Gandhi observed that physical tidiness and cleanliness should be the first lesson as
cleanliness will ensure that children do not get infected with contagious diseases.
Parental Care
Gandhi believed that a child’s health depends greatly on the condition of the mother. A
mother should have a healthy diet in order to ensure the good health of the child. Gandhi
advises not to give medication drugs to the child in case of a child’s illness as it will be
risking its life due to the toxic effect of the medicine. Gandhi also advises against getting
panicky in case of a child’s illness as it will have a harmful effect on the child’s health.
Gandhi advocates a higher role for father as the child learns to observe the behaviour of
parents in the growing up years. Parents are endowed with a delicate responsibility of
bringing up the children; therefore, it is mandatory for the parents to conduct themselves
with purity of conduct so that they can teach the children the virtues of purity and
honesty. Thus the parents have the responsibility of ensuring their children’s physical and
mental well-being. It is very important for parents to exercise self-control so that the
young minds are not corrupted by indecent thoughts and actions. The ideal way to
achieve this is to practise ‘Vanaprasthashrama’. Gandhi wants parents to conduct themselves
thoughtfully so that children follow them taking them as role models. India’s future, Gandhi
said, lies in the hands of parents. Gandhi wanted parents to teach children the virtues of
truth and non-violence. He gives the example of Prahlada, a virtuous child of the demon
king Hiranyakashipu, who resisted his father’s cruelty calmly and not violently. Gandhi
was also against the separation of young children from their parents.
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Obedience to Parents
“It is one’s duty to obey one’s parents. They are one’s teachers. They are God. Shravana
achieved his salvation by regarding his parents as God. While obeying his father’s orders,
Rama gave up his kingdom”. Gandhi believed in conducting with devotion towards
parents; he considered obedience to them as the greatest virtue. The very impression of
the mythological figure Shravana made a permanent imprint in his mind during his
childhood and he made constant efforts to live up to this ideal all his life. He
acknowledged that whatever he achieved in his life was due to his devotion to his parents
and the fruit of their blessings. He called for establishing a pure environment where the
children would have complete faith in their parents. Children should strictly obey their
parents and should consult them regarding their actions and clear doubts whether it is
conforming to one’s moral duty. He was strictly against belittling parents and disobeying
the parents’ commands. Where there are differences between the parents and their offsprings, they may be endured or both should conduct themselves by tolerating mutual
differences. Also, parents should not expect their grown up sons and daughters to always
obey them. He strictly forbids the parents to desist from threatening their children either
through blackmailing them emotionally or by being obdurate.
Child Marriages
Gandhi thoroughly discouraged child marriages as the age is not ripe for the boys and
girls into a matrimonial relation. At a young age the physical and mental capacities of the
children do not develop and this renders them incapable of handling the pressures that
come with the marriages. Gandhi’s experience of his early marriage at a tender age and
the resultant difficulties made him discourage this practice vehemently. Early marriage
would also divert the attention of the young children towards physical intimacy, which, in
itself, is detrimental to the growth of the children. He called upon the parents not to
compel their children to enter into a marriage when they are unprepared for it; young
boys and girls should be attending school or constructive workshops and not be saddled
with the duties of a household. Where parents insist on not following this, he did not find
it unreasonable if the children disregarded parental authority and followed the light of
reason and conscience (Young India, 3-1-1929).
Preference for Male Child
Gandhi considered the preference for male child as invidious and wrong and that the birth
of a son or a daughter should be welcome alike. He writes in Harijan thus: ‘Hindu
Shastras certainly show a marked bias in favour of the male offspring. But this originated
at a time when physical warfare was the order of the day and adequate man-power was
a sine qua non of success in the struggle for existence….but if we regard marriage as a
sacrament, there is room in it only for one offspring, and that is why in our shastras, the
first offspring is described as dharmaja, i,e., duty-born, all subsequent issues being
referred to as kamaja, i.e., lust-born. I make no distinction between son and daughter’
(Harijan, 5-6-1937). Gandhi further notes that, ‘in this age when men and women are
supposed to have and should have equal rights they should be rated equally. Why should
there be such jubilation at the birth of a son? And why should there be sorrow when a
daughter is born? Both of them have an equal right to live. The world can go on only
with the existence of both. But a belief which has taken deep roots from ancient times
cannot be suddenly wiped out by one or more individuals writing against it. Only when
knowledge that enables us to distinguish between good and bad spreads in Hindu society
Gandhi’s View on Depressed Classes
109
and women are truly respected will such incidents be averted’ (Harijanbandhu, 26-91937; from Gujarati translation).
11.3 EDUCATION OF CHILDREN
To Gandhi, good education of children was of utmost importance for it sows in them the
seeds of humanity, love and respect that would enable them to become good human
beings upon their growth. The basics should start from religious sources as these values
are taught to one from the very childhood; a child also observes traditional practices at
home and follows up with them throughout his or her life. Gandhi advocated an education
that insists on character building and spirit of service.
Religion
Gandhi remarks that all those who have firm faith in their religion are strong, not weak.
He suggested that the boys and girls should be taught that they are not weak. Children
have their religion to strengthen them. Following any religion means belonging to God.
‘We must inculcate this in our children from the time they start showing some understanding.
You must tell your children that the place of religion is in their hearts and it is not in your
power to protect it. I have taught my children that they must protect their own religion’
(Speech at Prayer Meeting, 30-9-1947, New Delhi). Gandhi felt that children should be
conveyed the message of Gita at a very young age as it is the prime time to understand
and imbibe such concepts.
Development of Intellect
Gandhi felt that little children do not need the assistance of the books so much as they
need the assistance of teachers. Since there is a shortage of trained teachers, the primers
should be designed to assist the teachers rather than children. He wanted that the
literature for children should be a universally accepted original contribution to the methods
of teaching children of a country so vast and so poor as ours. He did not approve of
expensive European models as they serve little purpose in this regard. A gentle and
vigilant teacher should gently coax and teach the children habits of discipline ‘so that their
reason, being freed from the control of their senses, would become from the very
childhood their guide’. It is no discipline to tell the children to follow a hero. No habit
is cultivated thereby. The children who are taught to slavishly do things become sluggish.
And if perchance another schoolmaster displaces from the throne their hearts the hero
presented to them by the predecessor, they are likely to become unhinged and useless in
after-life. Whereas, if from the very commencement, whatever is placed before them is
reasoned out for them, and then examples of great men having done noble deeds placed
before them to strengthen their resolve or support their reason, they are likely to develop
into strong hardy citizens who, under difficult circumstances, will be able to render a good
account of themselves (Young India, 29-7-1926). This is precisely how their intellect
would develop. Further children should be educated in a way to inculcate the sense of
morality and make them freedom-loving and self-reliant. Teacher should establish a
spiritual relationship with the children and give them proper moral instructions. This is the
key to education. Children’s education should consist of physical, mental and spiritual
aspects and this would compensate the existing deficiencies in the education system.
Teachers should teach and encourage students to give up the practice of untouchability so
that the inherent deficiencies in the social system are wiped out.
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Corporal Punishment
Gandhi, in reply to a school teacher’s question regarding following the non-violent way of
handling the erring students said the following: ‘I am quite clear that you must not inflict
corporal punishment on your children or pupils. You can punish yourself, if you like and
are qualified, in order to melt your children’s or pupils’ hearts. The non-violent method
invariably succeeded. When a bond is established between a teacher and his pupils, the
latter will generally yield before their teacher’s suffering for their sake. Non-violence does
not compel you to keep in your school a student who does not carry out disciplinary
rules’ (Harijan, 13-7-1940; CWMG, vol.72).
Child Labour
Gandhi suggested imposing prohibition against employment of children of school going age
in factories. He opined that childhood be spent in acquiring education and not in working
in factories to sustain the family from the effects of poverty. Child labour is now a major
factor of menace wherein thousands of children in India are employed in factories to earn
livelihood. Trafficking of children has become a common offence that robs children of their
innocence and makes them work through hard labour at a tender age.
Spinning
Gandhi recommended spinning for children too. He wanted that women and children up
to the age of twelve to spare time for spinning and other processes of khadi production.
Even if children devoted four hours to cleaning, carding and spinning, enough khadi could
be produced. Gandhi envisaged this task for children with the simple aim of inculcating
the spirit of service and sacrifice, which he associated with spinning to be inculcated at
a young age. This, in turn, would prepare them for not only the political freedom but also
the social and economic freedom through spinning khadi. Spinning and charkha, for
Gandhi, symbolised the nationalist spirit.
Similarly he also requested the parents to give their children ‘education in the essentials
of the dharma (moral duty), teach them non-cooperation with sin and the use of the
weapon of non-violence and obtain their blessings in this sacred task (freedom
struggle)….the Viceroy’s goodwill will not help us to win swaraj but the blessings of the
pure-hearted children certainly will’ (Navajivan, 11-9-1921).
11.4 GANDHI ON YOUTH
In an individual’s life, the time of youth constitutes the most crucial phase for it is in this
phase that the possibilities of following a disciplined way of life or go towards a wayward
behaviour determines the way of life or future course of action. Therefore, Gandhi wanted
the youth to engage in constructive work, educate the villagers and imbibe morally
superior values. To Gandhi, the youth are the agents of social change. They have the
capacity to establish an ideal society based on the immortal principles of truth and nonviolence. Gandhi had an important message for the youth which would be studied under
various rubrics in the following paragraphs.
Violence and vices
One of the most telling effects of violence, according to Gandhi, reflected in the violent
methods they choose to settle scores or conflicts. Reacting to the assassination of
Mr.Saunders, a British official killed by the youth and the subsequent violent reaction on
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111
some leaders of Punjab, Lajpat Rai, Gandhi has openly criticised the revengeful tactics
that involved violence. He found their intentions misplaced, having no relevance as
violence begets violence. He stated emphatically that the freedom of the nation cannot be
attained by resorting to violence. He observed that ‘the temple of freedom requires the
patient, intelligent and constructive effort of tens of thousands of men and women, young
and old. Acts such as we are deploring decidedly retard the progress of this quiet
building. When it does nothing else, it diverts the attention of the countless builders’
(Young India, 27-12-1928). His Hind Swaraj is an account of his message to the Indian
Youth whose motives were misplaced while deciding the methods of attaining the
independence. He also advised the youth not to give in to the evils habits like drinking
as these habits cloud the reasoning and wisdom of the youth. He suggested the path of
morality, spirituality, non-violence and self-discipline. According to Gandhi, the seven social
sins include:

Politics without principles

Wealth without work

Pleasure without conscience

Knowledge without character

Commerce without morality

Science without humanity

Worship without sacrifice
He warned the youth not to drift apart and observe the above-mentioned factors as
crucial to understand. As has already been mentioned in some of the lessons in the
previous courses, Gandhi suggested ‘Ekadasha vratas’ to be observed by the youth to
lead a disciplined life.
Gandhi was also against the youth adopting the culture that has violence inherently. He
rues about the cultural and political degradation of the west and warns the youth not to
adopt these as role models. As he said, ‘my hope lies in the youth of the country. Such
of them as are prey to the vice are not vicious by nature. They are helplessly and
thoughtlessly drawn to it. They must realize the harm it has done them and society. They
must understand too that nothing but a rigorously disciplined life will save them and the
country from utter ruin. Above all, unless they visualize God and seek His aid in keeping
them from temptation, no amount of dry discipline will do them much good’ (Young India,
9-7-1925). Gandhi had message for the students too that has been dealt with in one of
the following Units.
Disregard for age
Gandhi felt it is quite natural that the youth has little patience with the older generation.
Due to the gap, the attitudes and thoughts differ between both the generations. At the
same time, he was against the belittling of the elders by the youth for no reason or on
the reasons of outdated thinking of the older generation. He states that ‘it is the fashion
in some quarters nowadays for the young to discredit whatever may be said by old
people. I am not prepared to say that there is absolutely no justification for this belief.
But I warn the youth of the country against always discounting whatever old men or
women may say for the mere fact that it is said by such persons. Even as wisdom often
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comes from the mouths of babes, so does it often come from the mouths of old people.
The golden rule is to test everything in the light of reason and experience, no matter from
where it comes’ (Harijan, 28-3-1936). Gandhi himself set an example of such devotion
to elders much before he became a prominent public figure. His devoted service to his
father and his firm resolve not to break the vows administered to him at the behest of
his mother before leaving for England for higher studies stand as good examples to
emulate.
National Militia and Military Training
Gandhi supported the idea of national militia only under swaraj because people cannot be
made to adopt non-violence under compulsion. Therefore, it is necessary that they learn
the ways of meeting national crisis by non-violent means. He said that ‘it is one thing to
adopt non-violence for a specific purpose in a time of crisis, and quite another thing to
advocate its adoption by all for all time as a philosophy of life. But I lack the strength
for such a mission. I may not therefore resist the formation of a national militia’. Gandhi
considered the militia as unnecessary but had doubts about convincing others about it. At
the same time, Gandhi disapproved the idea of the youth taking military training from then
government as most likely that would have to be used against their own brethren. Since
they owe allegiance to the Military, they would be compelled or ordered to train guns at
their own countrymen. They would come under the hypnotic spell of the force and
conform to it under all circumstances, sometimes even against national interests. The
youth, under the oath of allegiance to the corps, would be more loyal to the British
(Young India, 10-1-1929). Post-independence, Gandhi preferred to have a minimum
armed force for the country.
11.5 CONSTRUCTIVE WORK AND COUNTRY’S
SERVICE
The Constructive Programme, Gandhi’s blueprint for the social regeneration of India, has
provided a great opportunity to the youth to take part in the constructive work and do
immense service to the nation. Gandhi especially called upon the youth to undertake the
task for they are the real torchbearers of the future, in whose hands India had great
future. Gandhi wanted the youth to make village life their goal and not the city life. He
wanted that the rural life, which has its roots in the ancient civilisation of India, be
redeemed by the youth of the nation as he felt that real progress of India lies in its
villages. Gandhi felt that it could be possible only if the youth of the country would
undertake this onerous task to ‘reconstruct their life and pass every day of their vacation
in the villages surrounding their colleges or high schools’ (Young India, 7-11-1929). He
called upon the youth ‘who are dissatisfied with their existing surroundings and outlook to
study these two great national institutions (All-India Spinners’ Association and National
Educational Institutions) which are doing silent but most effective constructive work and
which present the youth of the country an opportunity both for service and for honourable
maintenance…let them penetrate the villages and find an unlimited scope for service,
research and true knowledge’ (Ibid.,). Gandhi aimed at national liberation and development
through constructive work. He remarked that ‘today the reins of the nation are in the
hands of the youth. It is up to them to strive unitedly for the independence of the country’
(CWMG, vol.42, p.352).
Gandhi believed that every nation depends a great deal on its youth. Youth organisations
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113
help a great deal in going ahead with good work. He said that ‘it is helpful to have good
young men coming forward, for it is they alone who can venture to experiment. The
members of these youth organizations will be able to achieve many great things, if they
work with sincerity and with the sole intention of doing the right thing for their country’
(Indian Opinion, 28-4-1906). He observed that ‘a nation whose youths discard restraint,
courtesy, humility and tolerance courts destruction. Their responsibility is greater than that
of old people because the latter have given whatever they could or as much as they
wished to give (to the nation). Youths are today shaping the new order and making fresh
contributions’ (Navajivan, 5-12-1926; CWMG, vol.32, p.388).
He called upon the youth to contribute towards education, prohibition, health and hygiene
and teach the villagers the benefits of all these. He also felt that it is their duty to take
up such constructive work. To undertake such service, Gandhi suggested to the youth to
banish all evil thoughts from their mind and take up service of the country as the motto
of their life. The Amrita Bazar Patrika reports that ‘he (Gandhi) referred to noncooperation movement as nothing but a movement for self-purification and advised them
(youth) to surrender themselves to God’s will (CWMG, vol.27, pp.11-12). He advised
them to take up spinning and use the charkha with a spirit of sacrifice and service and
spiritually achieve communion with God in the process.
In the course of national freedom struggle, Gandhi assigned greater role to the youth
especially in the non-cooperation movement. He said that ‘they can supply recruits in
large numbers in the civil disobedience campaign. They can, moreover, help to carry the
message of independence to every nook and corner of the land. They can usefully picket
foreign cloth and liquor shops. Those of its members who are unable to participate
actively in the present campaign can render good service in the realm of social reforming,
popularizing khaddar and swadeshi articles, in pushing forward prohibition propaganda,
etc.’ (The Hindu, 25-3-1930; CWMG, vol.43, pp.117-8). Gandhi advised the youth to
‘shed moral weakness and speak out their thoughts with courage and yet with humility
and restraint’ (CWMG, vol.38, p.139). In his address to the youth during the Youth week
at Ahmedabad, Gandhi advised the students not to ‘insult the teachers or utter bitter
words. Harsh words do no good. They will only create bitterness. And if there is hard
work combined with courtesy, you will do credit to yourselves and your name will be
cherished in future history. Be courteous at heart as well. Your struggle is a peaceful one,
and whatever the provocation, you may not cross the limits of peacefulness’ (Prajabandhu,
13-1-1929, translation from Gujarati; CWMG, vol.38, pp.334-335). Most importantly,
Gandhi wanted the youth to help the farmer in elevating his miseries. Though he found
the youth having enthusiasm to do such service, he cautioned the youth not to carry on
just with fervour but serve the farmers with patience, self-confidence, physical strength,
capacity to withstand heat, cold, etc., and the willingness to get training (Navajivan, 2212-1929; CWMG, vol.42, p.303).
11.6 SUMMARY
Gandhi’s fondness for children made him express his views on each and every minute
detail regarding their upbringing, education, health, cleanliness and finally their little but
valuable contribution towards freedom struggle via simple tasks like assisting in spinning.
He wanted that the best of education-physical, mental and spiritual-be provided to them
so that they would become good human beings in their life. His views on the youth depict
with much clarity as to how he envisioned a greater role for them not only in the political
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struggle for independence but also in the social and economic regeneration of India. Apart
from that Gandhi envisaged a strict code of conduct for both young men and women thus
giving immense importance to the character building. To him, only those who have purity
in character can contribute towards the all round development of the self, community and
subsequently of the nation.
11.7 TERMINAL QUESTIONS
1.
‘Children are the true practitioners of truth and non-violence’. Enumerate Gandhi’s
views on children in this context.
2.
What are Gandhi’s views on children’s education?
3.
What role did Gandhi envisage for the youth in the national regeneration of India?
SUGGESTED READINGS
Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Publications Division, Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting, Government of India, New Delhi (Select Volumes).
UNIT 12
GANDHI’S VIEWS ON LABOUR
Structure
12.1 Introduction
Aims and Objectives
12.2 Economic Ideals of Gandhi
12.2.1 Trusteeship Theory
12.2.2 Bread Labour
12.2.3 Dignity of Labour, Labour Rights and Duties
12.3 Views on Industrial Relations
12.3.1
12.3.2
12.3.3
12.3.4
12.3.5
Conflict between Labour and Capital
Employer-Employees Relationship
Trade Unions
Workers’ Struggle: Strikes
Conflict Resolution
12.4 Other Working Provisions
12.4.1
12.4.2
12.4.3
12.4.4
Wages and Profit
Working Hours
Working Conditions
Child and Women Labour
12.5 Relevance of Gandhi’s Views on Labour in the 21st Century
12.6 Summary
12.7 Terminal Questions
Suggested Readings
12.1 INTRODUCTION
Gandhi’s views on labour are part and parcel of his basic economic ideas evolved from
his broad political, sociological and philosophical ideals. These ideals are directed to the
moral development of human beings, real economic progress, provision of basic needs for
life and existence, economic self-sufficiency and the guarantee of economic freedom,
justice and equality. Further, most of his views on labour have been guided by his strong
belief in the trusteeship theory deep rooted in the 1st verse of Isopanishad and Srimad
Bhagavad-Gita. Thus, it is desirable to have a background of the basic economic ideas
of Gandhi and an introduction to his trusteeship principle. Gandhi’s views about labour
are scattered in his writings. In this Unit, for the sake of simplicity of analysis, these
views will be presented under the sub-heads – bread labour, industrial relations, conflict
between labour and capital, dignity of labour, employer-employee relationship, trade
unions, rights and duties of labour, strikes, conflict resolutions, wages and profit, working
conditions, working hours, child labour, women labour, etc.
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Aims and Objectives
After going through this unit, you will be able to:

Describe the economic ideals of Mahatma Gandhi

Understand the basic tenets of trusteeship theory

Explain Gandhi’s views on different dimensions of labour

Understand the Gandhian views on conflict between labour and capital and measures
to resolve the conflict.

Examine the relevance of Gandhi’s views on labour in the 21st century.
12.2 ECONOMIC IDEALS OF GANDHI
Truth, non-violence and sarvodaya based maximisation of social welfare that invariably
includes individual welfare, is the guiding principle of all social action and policy in
Gandhi’s stream of thought. To him, welfare includes material as well as spiritual. Full
employment, economic equality and swadeshi constitute three major objectives of Gandhian
economic system. Therefore, he advocated reduction in economic inequalities. To
Gandhi, wealth does not mean welfare. His is the economics of basic human needs
including food, clothing and shelter. He was against the concentration and acquisition of
wealth beyond a point. According to him, it was necessary to voluntarily reduce wants
particularly when majority of the people are living below poverty line. Gandhian
economics is highly interlinked with ethics.
“Economics that hurts the moral well being of an individual or nation is immoral, and
therefore, sinful. True economics never militates against the highest ethical standard, just
as all true ethics to be worth its name must at the same time be also good economics”
(Ghosh, 2007).
Gandhi advocated decentralised and market-negotiated economic system wherein economic
decisions are taken by individuals. Under such a system, private property exists and
production is owned by either private firms or by cooperatives of workers and farmers.
Material incentives for the least paid numbers of the society and moral incentives for elite
have been recommended as motivating force in the production process. Gandhi was
against the use of labour-supplanting machinery in a labour surplus economy like India.
Machinery is permissible if it does not deprive masses of people of the opportunity of
labour, if it increases efficiency, and does not make people slaves.
In Gandhi’s view, true economics cannot ignore moral values. The basic purpose of his
meta-economics was to achieve economic self-sufficiency by restricting meta-needs. His
idea was to save the labour force from being de-humanised by the onslaught of industrial
civilisation of his time.
12.2.1
Trusteeship Theory
Trusteeship theory is deep-rooted in the 1st verse of Isopanishad and is the guiding
principle in the Gandhian scheme of thought to resolve the labour problems. The theory
envisages that rich should hold all their property in trust for the poor and expand it for
their benefit. Similarly, each labourer should consider himself to be a trustee for the
welfare of his fellow labourers. Thus, the trusteeship theory is not unilateral and does not
Gandhi’s View on Labour
117
imply superiority of the trustee. It is perfectly a mutual affair and each believes that his
own interest is best safeguarded by safeguarding the interest of the other. This extension
of trusteeship principle is based on Bhagavad Gita’s following verse:
“May you propitiate the Gods and may the Gods propitiate you, and may you reach the
highest good by this mutual propitiation”.
‘There is no separate species called Gods’, according to Gandhi in universe, ‘but all who
have the power of production and will work for the community using the power, are
gods-labourers no less than the capitalists’ (Harijan, 25-6-1938). To Gandhi, truth and
non-violence have been basic means to address labour problems.
12.2.2
Bread Labour
Labour had four components (1) Bread Labour (ii) Intellectual labour, (iii) Labour as an
instrument for self-actualisation, (iv) Labour as a method of service to others. The term
‘Bread Labour’ coined by T.M. Bondaref, (a Russian Writer) and widely published by
Tolstoy was well accepted by Gandhi. He stipulates that “man must earn his bread by
labouring with his own hands”. According to Gandhi, the principle of bread labour is
identical to the principle of sacrifice contained in the 3rd chapter of Srimad BhagavadGita that ‘…he who eats without offering sacrifice eats stolen food’. A man does not
have the right to eat without doing any physical labour. According to Gandhi, minimum
physical labour must be performed by everybody from the philosopher to ordinary labour.
Obligation of bread labour by all, in the eyes of Gandhi would obliterate the conflict
between capital and labour and the rich would deem themselves only trustees of their
property. Further, it also minimises our wants. Intellectual work is important and has an
undoubted place in the scheme of life. But physical labour is necessary and nobody
should be exempted from it.
The performance of labour or work in the spirit of Yajna as depicted in Srimad
Bhagavad-Gita leads to self-actualisation. ‘Yajna’ refers to an act directed at the
welfare of others, done without desiring any return for it. Performance of all activities of
life in the spirit of renunciation dedicated to the cause of society leads to freedom and
immortality.
12.2.3
Dignity of Labour, Labour Rights and Duties
Gandhi had high respect for the dignity of labour and firmly believed that labouring with
one’s body i.e. with hands and bodies is the law of one’s being and there was no reason
why one should hesitate and feel dissatisfied with one’s labour. A nation may do without
millionaires and without its capitalists, but it can never do without its labour.
To receive higher wage for his labour is labourer’s right and to work to the best of his
ability for the wages he receives is his duty. Since Gandhi, during his experiments, found
that labour discharges its obligation more effectively and more conscientiously than the
master who has corresponding obligations towards the labourers, it becomes necessary for
labour to find out how far labour can impose its will on the master. The best way, in
this regard according to him is that, labourers should understand their rights and the
methods to get them enforced. For that they need proper education and training. He
should remain non-violent even under grave circumstances of provocation. Drinking and
gambling must be given up entirely.
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12.3 VIEWS ON INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
The relationship between the worker on the one hand and his/her employer on the other
constitutes the industrial relations. How the management treats its workers and how
workers work in the interest of their employers is the essence of industrial relations. The
trade unions and employers/employers’ associations are the principal parties in industrial
relations. Government also plays an important role in protecting the interests of workers
and helping to resolve the conflicts whenever they arise. The strikes by the trade unions
and lockouts by the employers are the important form of industrial disputes/conflicts.
Therefore, the ways and means of resolution of industrial conflicts/disputes become the
important components of industrial relations. Gandhi offered his views on all these
dimensions of industrial relations. Let us begin with his views on conflict between labour
and capital.
12.3.1
Conflict between Labour and Capital
Conflict can broadly be divided into four categories: economic, political, social and
methodological. The conflict between rich and poor, between labour and capital, between
highly developed and backward regions and between the rural and urban areas are
economic in nature. Gandhi recognised the conflict between the working class and the
capitalists. He witnessed the exploitative nature of capitalist method of production in terms
of dehumanised working conditions, alienation of workers, unfairly low wages and high
incidence of unemployment caused by use of labour saving machinery. Conflict between
labour and capital arises precisely due to two reasons – dependency with unequal power
relations and goal incompatibility; dependency and unequal power, in the sense that the
workers have to sell their labour power to earn subsistence and reproduce their labour
power, which is a perishable commodity. The workers have low opportunity cost and
do not own the means of production. Their bargaining power is much weaker and is
completely dependent on their capitalist. This gives the capitalist the opportunity to
exploit the labour. Thus, the exploitation of factory workers by way of payment of lower
wages than what their productivity permits is the important source of conflict between
workers and management. Capitalism distorts human dignity, liberty and equality. The
workers are dehumanised, deprived and frustrated (Ghosh, 2007).
The goal incompatibility envisages that capitalists want to maximise profit but the labourers
want to maximise higher wages and better working conditions. Genesis of conflict,
according to Gandhi, is more due to the imbalance in the system where material factors
are given excessive importance at the cost of moral factors.
12.3.2
Employer – Employee Relationship
Gandhi advocated harmonious relationship between employers and employees with strong
support to fair and just treatment to the workers. He vehemently argued for payment of
fair wages to the labourers and went to the extent that “A labourer should prefer a state
of utter starvation rather than to work at insufficient wage making it impossible to observe
the primary laws of morality”. At the same time he insisted that the workers are obliged
to treat the business of their employers as their own business and devote their honest and
undivided attention.
Regarding employer-employee relationship, Gandhi viewed that workers’ success lies in
the success of the employees, and in their defeat, the defeat of employers. If workers’
demand for hike in wages is accepted by the employers, it will satisfy the workers and
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119
they will remain ever grateful towards them. It will be beneficial for both of them.
Gandhi, therefore, advised the employers to willingly regard workers as the real owners
of the concerns which they have created. They should consider it as their duty to equip
the employees with sound education drawing out the intelligence dormant in them.
Workers have to realise their strength that no part of the world can do anything without
workers. However workers’ success depends upon their truthfulness, courage, sense of
justice and control over anger etc.
Gandhi was of the opinion that whereas it is quite proper on the part of the labourers
to insist upon their rights and privileges, it is imperative for them to recognise the
obligations that every right carries with it. They can have the right to insist upon adequate
wages, human treatment from their employees, proper and good sanitary lodgings and
they are duty bound to fulfil their commitments and obligations to the organisations they
are working in. “If workers make a demand merely because they feel they have the
strength to do so, regardless of the employers’ condition, it will mean that they have
succumbed to the modern demonical justice. Mobilising forces by employers against the
workers is like raising “an army of elephants against ants.”
In the event of destruction resorted to by the strikers in their enterprises, the mill owners
are advised to offer the full control of the concerns to the strikers. In this manner, the
employers would not lose anything and their action will avoid opposition and will earn the
blessings of the workers. It would be an intelligent use by the capitalists of their
resources and honest dealing in regard to the employees whom they would have
converted into honourable partners.
Exploitation of the poor can be prevented not by destruction of a few millionaires but by
removing the ignorance of the poor and teaching them to non-cooperate with their
exploiters. It will convert the exploiters and will ensure equal partnership among them.
According to Gandhi, capital per se is not evil. It is its wrong use that is evil. Capital
in some or other form will always be needed. However, capitalists will exist only as
trustees.
12.3.3
Trade Unions
Labour plays a crucial role in Gandhian economics. He favoured the formation of trade
unions in different places. The activities of trade unions should be based on non-violence,
truth and arbitration. Trade unions are expected to safeguard the rights and interests of
their members. They should arrange for the education- both general and scientific- for
both men and women through night schools. Hospital, crèche, maternity home should be
attached to every centre and education for the children of labour need to be arranged.
They should be able to support themselves during strikes.
Gandhi organised labour in Ahmedabad on the basis of non-violence and democratisation
and demonstrated it as a role model to run all the trade union organisations on the lines
of Ahmedabad model. Trade unions should aim to elevate the labour to its deserved
status. The intellectual and moral height of labour should be raised by sheer merit to
make him a capable master of means of production.
12.3.4
Workers’ Struggle: Strikes
Strikes, in Gandhi’s opinion, are an inherent right of the workers for the purpose of
securing justice. However, the moment the employers accept the principle of arbitration,
resorting to strike must be considered as a crime. As labourers become organised,
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strikes must be few and far between. As the labourers’ mental and collective development
progress, the principle of arbitration replaces the principle of strikes. To seek justice
without resorting to violence, and by an appeal to the good sense of the capitalist by
arbitration is lawful means. A strike should be spontaneous and be not manipulated.
There should be perfect cooperation amongst the strikers. It should be peaceful and
there should be no show of force. The strikers should take up work either singularly or
in cooperation with each other, in order to earn their bread.
For successful strike, there must be a perfect correspondence between labour, the labour
leader and the adviser of the labour leader. If the perfect correspondence lacks, the
strike is bound to fail. The secret of success, according to Gandhi, lies in the
indispensable golden rule that labourers must find their own support. The workers’
struggle depends solely on the justice of their demand and the rightness of their action.
Even if the demand is just and the workers use injustice to get the demand fulfilled, tell
falsehood, cheat or coerce, they will fail in spite of all their sufferings. Gandhi was
against mixing of political and economic strike. “Political strike must be treated on their
own merits and must not be mixed with or related to economic strikes.”
During the lockouts resorted to by the employers, the workers should not:
(i) remain idle as idle resort to mischief, (ii) pass time by sleeping during the day or in
gambling, (iii) go to the mills during the continuance of the lock-out. They should
(i)utilise some of their time in cleansing their houses (ii) spend time in reading books and
increasing their knowledge and also teach the illiterates, (iii) those who know the art of
tailoring, cabinet making or wood carving and engraving can find work for themselves, (iv)
spend their time in learning some new and easy occupation.
12.3.5
Conflict Resolution
A struggle fought on the basis of true justice is beneficial to both sides. According to
Gandhi, a struggle based on truth coupled with a sense of justice having no malice
towards the employers is not only bound to succeed but will also generate good relations
between the workers and the employers. To Gandhi in a struggle for truth, both sides
need not be followers of truth. Even if one side keeps to the truth, the struggle for truth
will succeed. If we fight non-violently and do not lose courage, we are bound to
succeed in the end. Cooperation between labour and capital work wonderfully. But that
can happen only when labour is intelligent enough to cooperate with itself and then offer
cooperation with capital on terms of honourable equality.
These conflicts can be resolved by educating the workers, and building organisation
among them and thereby enabling them to realise their strength. Organised and enlightened
labour can only dictate their terms. Gandhi believed that strong hearts, enlightened minds,
and willing hands can brave all odds and remove all obstacles. The capitalists and
labourers have to seek and win the cooperation of each other. However, this does not
mean that labourers should accept exploitation. Workers’ internal strength will make
exploitation impossible.
The root cause of conflict between labour and management, according to Gandhi, lies in
misconception and ignorance about each other’s duties and obligations. The moment the
management realises its true function and labour its inherent strength, the struggle ends and
relations become cordial. In order to fulfil their real functions, capitalists are expected to
act as servants of society and not as exploiters. Their wealth, power and brains must
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be utilised for the welfare of workers who toil and sweat for them. As trustees of the
society, capitalists are expected to look after their material and moral welfare. Believing
in the fundamental equality of the capitalists and labourers, Gandhi argued to change the
attitude of capitalist section. Similarly, Gandhi advised labour to shed their inferiority
complex and realise their true worth and dignity. All conflicts between capital and labour
end, if the labour is made aware of the fact that without its collaboration capital is utterly
helpless. The sensitisation of labour towards its labour power will enable it to dictate its
terms to the capitalists. Keeping in view the inter-dependent nature of capital and labour
in the production process, Gandhi was of the view that capital and labour should
supplement, help and come close to each other in unity and harmony. Gandhi does not
believe in the supremacy of one over the other. By way of mutual cooperation, both can
progress.
Gandhi was against the political use of labourers. Labour strikes may be resorted for the
betterment of labourers and regulation of prices of their products. However, due care
needs to be taken to ensure that: (i) the cause of the strike must be just, (ii) there should
be practical unanimity among the strikers, (iii) strikers should be able to maintain
themselves during the strike period without falling upon union funds, (iv)there is not
enough other labour to replace strikers.
In the following situations, Gandhi suggested, not to take recourse to strikes.
(i)
if the capitalists are open to arbitration,
(ii) if there is not a real grievance,
(iii) if the persons concerned are not able to support themselves out of their own savings
or by engaging in some temporary occupations such as gardening, spinning and
weaving.
(iv) strikers must fix an unalterable minimum demand and declare it before embarking
upon the strike. In Gandhi’s view, there is no room for violence in terms of
intimidation, incendiarism or otherwise in civil strike.
If an employee or a group of employees go on leave without proper sanction constitutes
violence, according to Gandhi, due to committing a breach of contract of his service.
12.4 OTHER WORKING PROVISIONS
12.4.1
Wages and Profit
Gandhi was of the view that enough wages should be paid to the workers. Enough
wages, according to him, refer to the wage level that enables them to maintain themselves
and to educate their children decently. Resorting to non-violence and appeal to the good
sense of the capitalists by arbitration are lawful means to get enough wages. Gandhi was
of the view that the profits of the big concerns must bear relation to the wages of the
workers. As labourers become more organised, they will fight for due adjustment of
prices of manufacturers to the making of which they contribute so much labour.
Thereafter there will be no question of mills charging exorbitant prices just to swell the
shareholders’ dividends irrespective of the interest of the working man or the consumer.
There should be a respectable proportion between dividends, wages and prices.
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12.4.2
Working Hours
Gandhi advocated the reduction of working hours from twelve to ten. He was of the
view that reduction of working hours from twelve to ten will put labourers in better health
and it will not reduce the total output. “When mill hands learn to identify themselves with
the interest of the mill-owners, they will rise and with them will rise the industries of the
country”. He, therefore, argued that the mill owners reduce the hours of labour to ten
and the mill hands to give as much work in ten hours, as they have been doing in twelve.
12.4.3
Working Conditions
Gandhi was of the view that workers should devote their hike in wages in education of
their children and the hours saved in reading the books. The employers may open
economical restaurants for the working men where they can get pure milk and wholesome
refreshment. They can open reading rooms and provide homeless amusements and games
for them. The unions should also attempt to arrange and create similar type of facilities.
Mere increase in wages need not necessarily satisfy the workers. What is important is
by what means they get wage increases and how they spend it. A satisfactory solution
of the condition of labour must include the following:
(i)
The hours of labour must leave the workmen some hours of leisure.
(ii) They must get facilities for their own education
(iii) Provision should be made for an adequate supply of milk, clothing and necessary
education for their children.
(iv) There should be sanitary dwellings for the workmen.
(v) They should be in a position to save enough to maintain themselves during their old
age.
12.4.4
Child and Women Labour
Gandhi was against child labour. The children upto the age of 16 years, according to
him, must be in the schools and they should not be engaged in earning wages. The
engagement of child labour reflects their misuse and a sign of national degradation and
hence should be stopped.
Similarly Gandhi preferred women to be good householders and devote their time in
looking after the family and children in a better manner. He was of the view that
labouring of husband and wife for mere maintenance reflects national degradation.
According to him, it is like a bankrupt living on his capital.
12.5 RELEVANCE OF GANDHI’S VIEWS ON LABOUR
IN THE 21ST CENTURY
The relevance of Gandhi’s basic principles i.e. non-violence, truth, satyagraha, cooperation,
and trusteeship as a means to attain harmonious industrial relations and resolve the conflict
between labour and capital in the 21st century are questioned on the following grounds:
(i)
The proposition of trusteeship theory as a way to solve most of the labour problems
is based on the belief in essential goodness of human nature whereas in practice, we
observe selfishness in human nature. Under such circumstances, it becomes difficult
to put many of the Gandhi’s ideas into practice.
Gandhi’s View on Labour
123
(ii) When a few who ought to hold the economic power in trust for others from whom
they derive it, use it for their own cause, and to the detriment of the rest, the
inevitable result will be the deprivation of the few. Under such a situation, Gandhi’s
advocacy for trusteeship theory and cooperation between employer and employee
will not work.
(iii) In the materialistic worldview wherein maximum consumption, utility maximisation,
wealth acquisition and expansion are highly valued, the success of trusteeship theory
and Satyagraha appears to be difficult.
(iv) The caste-ridden social stratification and vote bank politics in the name of caste and
religion further widens the gap between different communities making Gandhian way
of solving the problems more difficult.
The experiment with truth and non-violence was proposed to be carried out in a system
that became explosively violent and aggressive not only during alien rule but also against
the internal socio-economic inequalities, exploitation and injustice. Even Gandhi himself
could not control the mob-violence in the case of outbreak of violence in August 1942.
Inspite of the above arguments, certain Gandhian views on labour are/ will be relevant in
the 21st century in the following manner.
(i)
In the wake of rapid changes in the information technology and consequent speed up
of globalisation process, competition has become a key factor for entrepreneurs’
survival in the global market. For that bringing efficiency and productivity have
become unavoidable for entrepreneurs, which in turn, demand the cooperation
between employers and employees. It is, therefore in the changed context of 21st
century challenges that Gandhi’ view about cooperation between employers and
employees has become highly relevant. Similarly, in order to update the workers
with the fast changes in the technology, workers need to be trained and retrained
from time to time.
(ii) The developed countries have opted for the materialistic approach as a way of life
and the developing countries are being tempted to move towards that direction. A
careful scrutiny of the facts will reveal that this materialistic approach, to a significant
extent, has been instrumental in generating the passions for more and more goods.
The roots of today’s serious problems (like climatic change, environmental degradation,
widening gap between the rich and the poor, jobless growth, tensions, etc.) lie in
adhering to this approach in an unquestioning manner. In such a situation, Gandhi’s
advice to control the excessive consumption and minimising the wants is the need of
the hour and highly relevant.
(iii) Gandhi was not simply an ideologue. He was a practitioner and demonstrated the
efficacy of non-violence, truth, Satyagraha and cooperation, by putting an end to the
labour exploitation of Indigo workers under ‘Tinkathia’ system in Champaran by way
of satyagraha and non-violent means. Organising the labour in Ahmedabad and his
several movements in South Africa for the cause of labourers illustrate the working
of his ideas in practice.
(iv) Gandhi’s ideas against child labour are relevant and international agencies like
International Labour Organisation and UNICEF have passed conventions against
child labour. Various NGOs and other national and international agencies have also
been working towards the elimination of the child labour.
(v) Similarly, Gandhi’s views on wages and strikes have been well-endorsed by different
organisations and are and will be relevant in the 21st century.
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12.6 SUMMARY
Gandhi’s views on labour are part and parcel of his economic ideals and trusteeship
theory based on truth, non-violence, non- possession and welfare of all. As a
background, it is desirable to have an overview of his basic economic ideas and
trusteeship principle in mind before knowing Gandhi’s views on labour. In the Gandhian
stream of thought, economics and ethics are interlinked. Trusteeship theory has been the
guiding force for harmonious relationship between the employer and the employees.
Labour has four components – (i) bread labour (manual labour), (ii) intellectual labour, (iii)
labour as an instrument, and (iv) labour as a method of service for others. Gandhi had
high respect for the dignity of labour. The dependency of labour on capital with unequal
power relations and goal incompatibility are the two important reasons for the conflict
between labour and capital. Gandhi advocated cordial relationship between capital and
labour by way of fair and just treatment to the labourers. He favoured the formulation
of trade unions in different places. He recognised the strikes as an inherent right of the
workers for securing justice with the rider that the moment employers accept arbitration,
strike must be considered as a crime. He was for the payment of enough wages to the
workers and a respectable proportion between dividends, wages and prices. Gandhi
advocated reduction of working hours from twelve to ten hours. He was against child
labour, and argued for improvement in working conditions. Gandhi’s views about
cooperation between the employer and employees, elimination of child labour, workers’
right to strike, curbing consumption, fair wages to the workers etc. are/ will be highly
relevant in the 21st century.
12.7 TERMINAL QUESTIONS
1.
State the meaning of the term ‘welfare’ in Gandhian perspective.
2.
Identify the different components of labour.
3.
State the important labour rights and duties identified by Gandhi.
4.
Give two fundamental reasons for the conflict between labour and capital.
5.
List the Gandhian prescriptions for harmonious industrial relations. How can a strike
resorted by the workers be successful?
6.
How can a conflict between management and labourers be resolved?
SUGGESTED READINGS
Ghosh, B.N., Gandhian Political Economy (Alternative voices in contemporary economics),
chapters 5 and 6, pp. 115-174, Ashgate Publishers (TD, Hamshiri (England), 2007.
Hingorani, Anand T., (ed), Gandhi for 21st century, vol. 17 – Capital and
M.K. Gandhi, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mumbai, 1998.
Labour by
Gandhi, M.K., Bread Labour (The Gospel of work) compiled by Ravindra Kelkar,
Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad, 1960.
Sriman Narayan., Relevance of Gandhian Economics, Navajivan Publishing House,
Ahmedabad, 1970.
Diwan, Romesh, and Mark Lutz., (ed), Essays in Gandhian Economics, Gandhi Peace
Foundation, New Delhi, 1985.
UNIT 13
GANDHI’S VIEWS ON HEALTH
Structure
13.1 Introduction
Aims and Objectives
13.2 Gandhi’s Vegetarianism
13.3 Key to Health
13.3.1 Food Values and Diet
13.3.2 Five Elements
13.4 Nature Cure
13.4.1 Hydrotherapy
13.4.2 Ramanama and Nature Cure
13.5 Prohibition (Evils of Intoxicants)
13.6 Brahmacharya/ Celibacy
13.7 Summary
13.8 Terminal Questions
Suggested Readings
13.1 INTRODUCTION
Gandhi’s views on health including diet reforms, vegetarianism and other issues are as
fascinating as his ideas on the most important political or social issues. One of the unique
features of this experiment is that Gandhi closely related these as essential conditions
towards harmonious and compassionate way of life. Gandhi’s strict adherence to these
may be understood from two dimensions. One relates to his belief that certain dietary
aspects are an inherent component of the Hindu culture and the other relates to treading
the path of a moral and spiritual life. The influence of the Vaishnava and Jain traditions
is quite implicit in Gandhi’s experiments with vegetarianism. It is categorised into three
stages: ‘the first stage is characterised by an aversion to the breaking of vows, the second
by a fuller appreciation of vegetarianism and the third by his desire for a life of simplicity
and self-control’ (Rao,S, p.444). This Unit highlights some of the experiments carried on
by Gandhi in vegetarianism, diet reforms and nature cure and how he related his
experiments to a higher level of individual achievement.
Aims and Objectives
After reading this Unit, you would be able to understand

The background aspects of Gandhi’s vegetarianism

Gandhi’s immense faith in nature cure methods and

How he relates these experiments to achieve health and harmony in life.
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13.2 GANDHI’S VEGETARIANISM
It is necessary to understand the background of Gandhi’s experiments and adherence to
vegetarianism and other key aspects of health before we understand the interconnectedness
of these experiments with that of Satyagraha. The soul-force, he felt, requires an
enormous strength and this is rooted through self-control and self-restraint with regard to
one’s diet. Rather this was viewed as a beginning of sattvik life and an attempt towards
greater self-realisation.
Three important phases that relate to this aspect include his family, his stay in England and
his desire to lead an austere life. Gandhi was oriented towards vegetarianism in his early
life due to parental influence. On a sporadic rebellious moment, he was misguided into
having meat by one of his friends who convinced him (Gandhi) that eating meat was a
necessary condition to remain strong and healthy. He indulged in this for a year after
which the guilt of cheating his parents overpowered him and made him resolve never to
touch meat in his life again. Further, before leaving for England, he was administered an
oath not to touch wine, women and meat; it is commendable that Gandhi never violated
this oath in his lifetime. Secondly, his discovery of vegetarian movement in England and
his subsequent membership in the vegetarian society of England made him take it up as
a lifetime mission. Salt’s ‘Plea for Vegetarianism’ was one of the influencing factors
towards this direction apart from his love for other beings. Through his membership and
writings, he greatly contributed to its cause and often contested the widespread belief that
vegetarian food contributed to the weak body constitution of the Hindus. His religious
beliefs added to his fervour. His views were further accentuated when his family too
showed firmness in their resolve towards vegetarianism by refusing to take anything except
vegetarian diet even in their severe sickness, as against the doctor’s advice to do so.
Thirdly, Gandhi came to the conclusion during the satyagraha struggle that as a part of
quest for truth and ahimsa, one needs to control their passions and adopt a sattvik life.
This, he felt, was possible by adhering to simplicity and self-control in diet and in this,
fasting and restricting diet became more embedded in his scheme of things.
Gandhi closely relates ahimsa and religion with his diet experiments. His Vaishnava way
of life convinced him that Hinduism is antithetical to eating meat and also as a firm
believer in non-violence, he abhorred the killing of animals in order to please one’s palate.
The unity of all life implies the love for all life including the life of all living beings, whether
human or not. Having the capacity to reason and think, a man is bound to respect other
creatures too in this creation of God, thus denying to himself the right to take away the
life of an animal. For example, he pleaded for cow protection. This moral aspect,
combined with harmonious living, is what constitutes the essential foundation of truth.
Gandhi had a firm moral conviction that ‘as a man eats, so shall he become’. He wanted
each individual to reason and come to conclusion as to what suits his palate. It is neither
to be based on faith nor to be based on other’s influence. Through experimentation, an
individual subjects himself to self-control and non-craving for delicious food. For such a
seeker, ‘restraint in quantity and quality is as essential as restraint in thought and speech’
(Autobiography, p.273).
Gandhi attributed moral basis to his concept of vegetarianism. He disapproved converting
from vegetarian to meat-eating simply on health grounds. The moral consists in adhering
to vegetarianism at all costs. A deviation means selfishness and a ‘selfish basis would not
serve the purpose of taking a man higher and higher along the paths of evolution’ (Moral
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127
Basis for Vegetarianism, p.26). Gandhi gives us the example thus: ‘the basis of my
vegetarianism is not physical, but moral. If anybody said that I should die if I did not take
beef-tea or mutton, even under medical advice, I would prefer death. That is the basis
of my vegetarianism’. Being a food fetish and giving in to temptations of palate too serve
no purpose and act as obstacles in our quest for truth, for it negates the spirit of purpose
and also ruins us bodily. Gandhi further adds that, ‘man is more than meat. It is the spirit
in man for which we are concerned. Therefore, vegetarians should have the moral basisthat a man was not born a carnivorous animal, but born to live on the fruits and herbs
that the earth grows’. Gandhi argues that we should be concerned more with the moral
consequences of being vegetarian rather than physical consequences; he laments that man
fails to see the reasoning in this and continues to consume meat.
13.3 KEY TO HEALTH
Gandhi constructively indulged in reading and writing during the long detentions he spent
in prisons during the freedom struggle years. On one such detention in 1942 in the Aga
Khan Palace in Poona, Gandhi spent his time writing a treatise on various aspects of
health. Aptly titled as ‘Key to Health’, it gives us a deep insight into Gandhi’s knowledge
on the subject and his experiments with diet for a better health and disposition. By
observing the prescribed rules himself and by prescribing them to others, Gandhi thus
‘unlocked the gates leading him to health’.
Gandhi emphasised that ‘man has come into the world in order to serve God and his
creation. Keeping this point of view in front of him, man acts as a guardian of his body.
It becomes his duty to take such care of his body as to enable it to practice ideal of
service to the best of its ability’ (Key to Heath, p.3). A healthy body leads to a healthy
mind and a healthy disposition thus enables a man to do the tasks assigned to him.
Gandhi defines a healthy man as the one whose body is free from disease, carries on his
normal activities without fatigue and whose mind and senses are in state of harmony and
poise. It is imperative to have a thorough knowledge of one’s body and health to maintain
certain high standards of health. The importance assigned to the elements i.e. earth, water,
ether, light and air has been clearly reiterated by Gandhi in his discourses and he duly
stresses on its right use through self-discipline and restraint and service to others. Gandhi
advises us to refrain from abusing it for selfish purposes and self-indulgence. He likens the
body to a ‘machine that depends on the harmonious activity of the various component
parts, where if even one of the essential parts is out of order, it comes to a halt’.
13.3.1
Food Values and Diet
In his opening lines on ‘Moral Basis of Vegetarianism’, Gandhi opined that man requires
food as much as he needs air and water. When food is considered as life, it is to be
healthy and easy to digest. While the medical fraternity recommends both vegetable and
animal food (meat), there is also an equally strong opinion that the physiological and
anatomical evidence shows that man is best suited for vegetarian food.
Regarding food, Gandhi appealed for vegetarian food, consisting mainly of fruits (fresh as
well as dry) and vegetables. He advocated vegetarian diet for digestion purposes. His
contempt for meat and milk stems from his belief that they bring with them the defects
of animal from which they are derived. They too are afflicted by diseases and therefore,
the consumption of the meat would spell doom for health. Later, departing from his
original opinion, Gandhi included in his scheme of diet milk (especially of goat) and milk-
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products such as curds and butter for protein value. He hoped that with some useful
research, a scientist can surely suggest a vegetable as a supplement to milk and meat.
Without this, man will continue to consume both, thus endangering not only his health but
also the life of the animal.
Gandhi viewed cereals as necessary but not to include in the meals as they contain high
amounts of starch. While sieving of the flour has to be avoided, for the simple reason that
it removes vital salts and vitamins, rice need not necessarily has to be polished. Cereals
need proper cleansing and to remove inedible portion, rice has to be pounded. For an
effective digestion, proper mastication of the food is necessary. It ensures a thorough
mixing of food and saliva, which is vital for digestion. Whole-wheat flour ground in one’s
own chakki is superior and healthy since it contains bran.
While there is widespread belief that pulses, beans and lentils should be consumed by all,
in reality it is required only for those who do manual work and those who cannot afford
to drink milk and cannot do without pulses. Pulses are much harder to digest and have
to be taken in smaller amounts. Many a time, even the availability of fruits and vegetables
is not easy; a fair amount of leafy vegetables is necessary for health reasons and should
be consumed in raw state and any cooking would destroy its natural good taste. Fruits
and milk for breakfast gives full satisfaction. A liberal amount of fresh fruit and fresh
vegetables form the main part of our diet. Fresh fruits may be home-grown like wild
berries, which may be used for local consumption.
A certain amount of fat is necessary for the body which may be acquired from pure ghee
or fresh oil. Gandhi considered the availability of adulterated ghee and oil as matter a
shame and sorrow. The preference for sweet things, milk puddings and milk sweets was
highly disapproved by him and the ghee used in making such items was nothing but
thoughtless extravagance. They are not only unnecessary but also harmful except when
they are taken in minimum quantity.
Gandhi also advocated the use of honey and gur in daily intake of food for they make
healthy substitutes to refined sugar. Gandhi also favoured the western method of gathering
honey, which is done in a cleaner and not forceful manner. Gur is an important product
that can be taken up by villagers without which their children may be deprived of the
stamina. The making and usage of gur is also economically viable for the villagers.
Regarding the use of condiments, Gandhi considered salt as a necessary ingredient for the
body that needs to be supplemented in small quantities. But he was averse to the use of
spices like chillies, pepper, mustard and asafoetida as they cater mainly to the palate.
These condiments destroy the natural flavour and purity of the vegetables and food thus
making it unfit for consumption.
Gandhi sternly forbade the intake of tea and coffee for their harmful results. Since the tea
leaves contain harmful elements of tannin, they affect the mucous lining of stomach and
intestine, thus leading to serious digestive ailments. He was equally disinclined towards
coffee and cocoa as they provide no healthy benefits. Instead his prescription for a
healthy nourishing drink was honey and lemon with hot water as a substitute for tea and
coffee.
13.3.2 Five Elements
Gandhi stressed the significance of five elements in the working of the human body, the
impact of which is crucial for our sustenance.
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129
1)
The air ensures necessary ventilation and purification to our body and for this, one
has to know the art of breathing. The air should be fresh, and one needs to cultivate
the habit of sleeping in the open to derive maximum benefit. The choice of a suitable
locality and house, though, is limited, one has to insist upon the house being welllighted and well-ventilated.
2)
Nature provides us with ample amount of water and to keep healthy, one must take
pure water. Gandhi advises the use of boiled water for a perfect health and is to be
carried with us during our travels. Gandhi strictly forbade and considered unfit the
using of water from shallow wells and or deep wells with a staircase leading down
to water level. The appearance or taste of water is no visible proof of their purity.
3)
Ether (or Akash) simply connotes a vacant space or empty space surrounding the
earth. This empty space is filled with air and is necessary for maintaining or regaining
our health. Gandhi feels that this infinite nature enables us to make a contact with
the spatial elements, which in turn contribute to improvement in health, contentment
and peace of mind. Resting under this blue canopy, he argues, will have a soothing
effect on mind and purge any evil or impurity in mind.
4)
The use of earth in the form of mud collected from its surface was considered as
an effective health medicine for bowel movements, headaches, boils, fever and as a
cure for scorpion bite. The Ashrams were experimenting grounds where the soil was
dried, pounded and passed through sieve for various medication purposes.
5)
Unlike other elements, the use of sunlight- a source of heat and light- was the least
used and neglected. The sun-baths act as general tonics for health and accelerate the
metabolism. Gandhi felt that exposure to the morning sun is one of the fastest
remedies to tuberculosis.
13.4 NATURE CURE
Nature cure, Gandhi explains, ‘is an ideal mode of life and presupposes ideal living
conditions in towns and villages. The name of God is the hub around which the Nature
Cure system revolves’. Some of the astounding ideas of Gandhi on nature cure methods
derive from his own faith on the system and also from the creative ideas drawn from
Just’s ‘Return to Nature’. Gandhi relied on nature cures even for severest of ailments; he
conducted some of the consistent experiments, often on the verge of risk but emerged
successful owing to faith and providence. His Autobiography depicts some interesting
instances where he refused to give up his faith regarding nature cure treatments. His family
complied with his methods and his everlasting faith in God made him sail through some
of the worst crises. Instances may be recalled the way he treated his son’s fractured hand
or nursing back his wife’s health. As seen in the earlier section, Gandhi had firm faith in
the use of five elements and often recommended them to the inmates of his Ashrams. He
even personally supervised and nursed some of the patients to good health with much
consistency. He was averse to knocking on the medical doctor’s door for small and
severe ailments. He considered doctors as those professionals who make a ‘show of their
knowledge and charge exorbitant fees; their preparations, which are intrinsically worth a
few pence, cost shillings. The populace, in its credulity and in the hope of ridding itself
of some disease, allows itself to be cheated’. He also strongly felt that doctors induced
us to indulge, which in turn, have incapacitated us to lose control over minds and unfit
to render service. Gandhi’s adherence to nature cure and reliance on the five elements is
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a result of the profound care he attaches to human body and health. With literally no
practical guidance from anyone except himself, he experimented with diet regulations and
long hours of walk to maintain perfect health. Some of the methods as adopted by him
are given in the following paragraphs.
13.4.1
Hydrotherapy
Kuhne’s book on Nature Cure and especially the recommendations of the hydrotherapy
had a telling impact on Gandhi. The experiments with hydrotherapy included hip baths,
friction baths, and even the use of wet sheet packs. Gandhi’s observations consisted of
a positive impact on the patients suffering from insomnia and other diseases. Gandhi
recommended wet sheet packs to patients suffering from high fever, small pox and skin
problems. Gandhi also brought to the fore the therapeutic effects of hot water and the
use of iodine as effective cures on swollen and bruised areas. Even the scorpion bites
have been treated with hydrotherapy and Gandhi found it to be the most useful method
of ensuring quick relief to the patient. Likewise, Gandhi was quick to take up the
remedial effects of steam, a valuable therapeutic agent in cases of rheumatism and joint
pains. A traditional method of steam bath, which is cost effective, has been described in
detail in his treatise on Nature Cure. Gandhi never once regretted his decision to adopt
nature cure methods especially the earth and water treatments. He believed that ‘a wellregulated diet, water and earth treatment and similar household remedies’ can work
wonders; the one who cannot recuperate without doctor’s advice, he felt, not only curtails
his life by becoming the slave of his body instead of remaining its master, loses selfcontrol and ceases to be a man’.
13.4.2
Ramanama and Nature Cure
In one of the instances as mentioned in Gandhi’s Autobiography, one may take note of
Ladha Maharaj of Bileshwar, who was said to have got cured of leprosy not by any
medicine but by applying bilva leaves and Ramanama. The chanting of Ramanama, as
enunciated by one of his caretakers, had been an unfailing habit in Gandhi’s life.
Ramanama was not only a ‘surest remedy for all the ills but also meant deriving help from
an incomparable power’, which is capable of removing all pain. Gandhi clarifies that each
individual may choose the name of God in a form that appeals to him the most.
Through constant contemplation on God and a strict observance of rituals along with
scriptural readings man is capable of attaining a balanced state of mind that would help
in overcoming various obstacles. It is this faith that stood Gandhi in difficult times. It
would be pertinent to quote what he said in this context: ‘when a man comes to that
complete living faith in the Unseen power and has become free from passion, the body
undergoes internal transformation. It needs constant vigil and practice; unless God’s grace
descends upon one, human effort comes to naught’ (Nature Cure, p.36).
Gandhi interprets nature cure as an ideal treatment for man, for he is equipped with mind
and soul in addition to his body. Thus Ramanama is an unfailing remedy that needs to
be taken up not as parrot-like but as a soul reaching out to God and calling him with
all his faith to give him the strength. An individual laden heavily with devotion and faith
in God needs no other treatment. By taking up Ramanama as a sovereign remedy, Gandhi
asserted, ‘we would be a land of healthy individuals, not the land of epidemics and illhealth that we are today’. The might of Ramanama could be used only for good cause
for it responds to the heart of pure and to the one who resolves to attain purity; selfindulgence, superstition and deceit are major obstacles in seeking the remedy through
Gandhi’s View on Health
131
Ramanama. Since man’s body is regarded as the temple of God, an unhealthy living
amounts to desecrating it. Pure and hygienic living and balanced diet are sure ways to
realise the supreme and a wise and thoughtful man treads this path with the strength of
Ramanama in his heart and soul. Gandhi gives us one of the most beautiful interpretations
of freedom from ailments through Ramanama. For example, ‘Ramanama cannot perform
a miracle of restoring a lost limb. It can perform the still greater miracle of helping you
enjoy an ineffable peace inspite of the loss you live and rob death of its sting and the
grave its victory at the journey’s end’.
A faithful devotee of God easily imbibes spirituality and salvation and enthrones God in
his heart. He is also steadfast in his devotion to the five elemental forces of nature as he
is to God, for God manifests in nature. This obedience is way of self-discipline that leads
to a healthy body and mind and the ensuing small ailments are done away through
Ramanama. To sum up in Gandhi’s words, Ramanama transforms the body into vital
energy, which is equated with accumulated wealth, but ‘it is in the power of Ramanama
alone to make it a running stream to ever-increasing spiritual strength ultimately making a
fall impossible’.
13.5 PROHIBITION (EVILS OF INTOXICANTS)
Gandhi was favourable towards prohibition of intoxicants like alcohol, tobacco, opium and
bhang and ganja that are used in India. These harmful drinks not only incapacitate man
in his thinking and reasoning but also ruin him and those around him. Gandhi was pained
by the conditions of Indians in South Africa who took to the habit of drinking in the
booths, while they were prohibited to do so in their houses. Some of the women too
were no exception to drinking, thus wasting all their hard earned income on this vicious
habit. The most respected English gentlemen too had been influenced by this evil habit,
never succeeding in their efforts to give it up. Gandhi witnessed similar conditions in India
too where the rich, princes and youth as well as the ordinary labour led pitiable life due
to this malevolent habit. Since alcohol ruins man physically, morally and intellectually,
Gandhi was against its use in all its forms. He also considered Tadi as harmful and
ruinous to health but subsequently discovered that fresh nira as a healthy drink to
substitute breakfast. He found the palm jaggery prepared out of nira to be an effective
substitute to sugarcane jaggery.
Gandhi was equally critical about opium that makes a man dull, drowsy and lazy. It also
robs a man of decency and makes him stoop to the lowest levels of human behaviour.
Similarly, the use of tobacco is worse, and Tolstoy, whom Gandhi admired the most, calls
it the worst of all intoxicants. Smoking, an expensive habit, makes a man bankrupt,
callous and careless. Gandhi agrees with Tolstoy that ‘a smoker keeps on committing
minor crimes which generally pass unnoticed’. Likewise, Gandhi considers that ‘drugs and
drinks are the two arms of the devil which he strikes his helpless slaves into stupefaction
and intoxication’ (Young India, 22-4-1926, p.146).
Gandhi pleaded for total prohibition as the only measure to save the people from the
curse of drinking, as prosecutions amount to a smaller measure of prohibition. Fears of
loss of revenue or a pretext of miserable condition of living is one of the worst forms
of encouraging this evil habit. To Gandhi, cut-down in the military expenditure was a
better means of saving revenue rather than encouraging drinking. He opined that the
revenue accumulated through this is one of the worst forms of degrading taxation; the tax
and the ‘excise makes people pay for their own corruption, moral, mental and physical’.
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Gandhi laments at the public opinion’s inactive role in seeking prohibition and also
expresses his disappointment with the government, which failed to realise that ‘honest
prohibition gives a dignity and prestige’ to it.
To this day, no other leader in the history of modern India has effectively addressed this
issue as Gandhi did seventy years ago. Neither the public nor the government has taken
an active initiative in countering this menace barring women in rural areas. It is time to
remember what Gandhi pertinently said in this regard: ‘Our freedom will be the freedom
of slaves if we continue to be victims of the drink and drug habit. Is any cost too much
to establish complete prohibition in all the Provinces?’ (Harijan, 24-12-1938, p.396).
13.6 BRAHMACHARYA/CELIBACY
By brahmacharya or celibacy, Gandhi meant that ‘mode of life which leads to the
realisation of God. That realisation is impossible without practising self-restraint’. He
stressed for a complete control over senses, sexual desires and organs and enumerated
its merits including freedom from anger and passion. Gandhi interrelated health and
brahmacharya as he considers the conservation of vital energy as the real key to health.
Since marriage is a union between two hearts, the couple who practise self-restraint are
worthy of being considered as brahmacharis. Gandhi advocated that the vital energy is
crucial for one’s health and enables the individual ‘to utilise it for enhancing one’s mental,
physical and spiritual energy’. Self-restraint also leads to control over palate and mind and
enables man to undertake physical labour and mental exertion with equal ease.
Gandhi suggests five rules for the conservation of energy. (1) As sexual desire has roots
in one’s thought, it is ideal to fill the thoughts with good and useful ideas; further, the
repetition of God’s name and constant contemplation on God are sure methods to yield
victory. (2) Reading and talking are two key factors to attain control over mind. Reading
of erotic literature and indecent talk do not help in developing self-restraint but infuse
animal passions. (3) Cleanliness and hygiene, hard physical labour, yogic exercises are
imminent positive measures to exercise self-restraint. A healthy recreation or physical
labour is necessary to keep idleness at bay. (4) Since man becomes what he eats,
restraint of palate is crucial. The diet should be appropriate, healthy and well balanced
just to sustain the body without which one becomes a slave of animal passions. (5)
Gandhi suggested that ‘man should look upon every woman as his mother, sister or
daughter; similarly a woman should look upon every man as her father, brother or son’.
A real seeker and follower of brahmacharya easily overcomes the greatest of all passions
as the observance of these rules becomes a necessary part of their life.
Gandhi disapproved early marriages for they cannot establish mutual mental communion
between the partners. In his Autobiography he reveals that his own marriage was a case
in point where they were married at an early age of thirteen and how his thoughts centred
on the aspects of physical pleasures that the marriage brought with it. The guilt of giving
in to lust while his father was ill plagued his mind for a long time. His resolve towards
brahmacharya may be well understood from the fact that he steered clear of such
passions during his stay in South Africa where he dedicated his creative energies towards
struggle for the betterment of society.
Gandhi was of the view that marriage enables the partners to make a progressive moral
rise and this establishes true conjugal love. Gandhi was highly critical of the use of
contraceptives as a means of birth control measures. Birth control by self-restraint,
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according to him, was best not only from a woman’s point of health but also as an
effective form of regulating population. Artificial form of birth control is unhealthy in the
sense it destroys the desire to exercise self-restraint. The joy of self-restraint and true
renunciation absolves them of animal passions thus leading to true companionship of souls.
13.7 SUMMARY
Gandhi’s views on vegetarianism, nature cure and celibacy underscore the significance of
a healthy life a man ought to follow. His constant experiments with diet and nature cure
have inspired the beginning of a nature cure clinic in a rural area called Urli-Kanchan that
stands as a testimony of his influence on his followers. It is important to note that in these
experiments too he led from the front and came out successful in his endeavours. The
measures suggested by him ensure not short term gains but inculcate long term benefits
of self-discipline. The chanting of God’s name was the supreme remedy for him and it
is apt to end it in his own words wherein he says, ‘how strange that we run after
physicians who are mortal themselves, but forget Ram, the immortal, eternal and neverfailing physician!’
13.8 TERMINAL QUESTIONS
1.
What, according to Gandhi, constituted the moral aspect of vegetarianism?
2.
Examine the importance of food values and five elements as stressed by Gandhi.
3.
Discuss Gandhi’s views on nature cure. How important is Ramanama in this
discourse?
4.
Write a short note on:
a)
Prohibition of intoxicants
b)
Brahmacharya
SUGGESTED READINGS
Gandhi, M.K., Key to Health, Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad, 1948.
Gandhi, M.K., Nature Cure, Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad, 1954.
Gandhi, M.K., The Moral Basis of Vegetarianism, Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad,
1959.
Gandhi, M.K., Prohibition At Any Cost, Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad, 1960.
Seshagiri Rao, K.L., Aspects Of Gandhi’s Vegetarianism, in V.T.Patil (ed), New Dimensions
and Perspectives in Gandhism, Inter-India Publications, New Delhi, 1989, pp. 443-448.
Shriman Narayan., Mahatma-The Atomic Man, Somaiya Publications Pvt.Ltd, Bombay,
1971.
UNIT 14 GANDHI’S VIEWS ON EDUCATION
Structure
14.1 Introduction
Aims and Objectives
14.2 Gandhi’s Philosophy and Aim of Education
14.3 Education and Personality Development
14.4 Basic Education (Nai Talim/New Education)
14.5 Experiments in Education
14.6 Education of Adults, Women and The Deprived Sections
14.7 Message to the Students
14.8 Summary
14.9 Terminal Questions
Suggested Readings
14.1 INTRODUCTION
Education is one of the most defining features in the life of an individual. It enables one
to acquire literacy, to analyse the situations with logic and wisdom and also use it greatly
for individual as well as social development. Education, in this context, is more a way of
life, a crucial instrument in character-building, which enables us to determine the course
of our thoughts and actions and also achieve goals and ideals of life. It is this logic to
which Gandhi attached greater importance. He was undeniably one of the greatest
proponents of modern education in India and his scheme of education sought to further
the moral, individual, social, political and economic progress of man. His scheme of
education aimed at the truthful and non-violent way of life and the ultimate goal of selfrealisation. His methods were simple and practical and this was evident in his scheme
of education.
Aims and Objectives
After reading this Unit, you would be able to understand

Gandhi’s philosophy and aim of education

Gandhi’s efforts towards imparting basic and higher education

the relevance attached to moral and spiritual development

the significance of education as imparted to different sections of society
14.2 GANDHI’S PHILOSOPHY AND AIM OF
EDUCATION
Gandhi was a firm believer in the essential unity of man and all lives. His faith in God,
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truth and non-violence enabled him to lead a much disciplined life and attain a spirit of
moral superiority in all his actions. He envisioned a society free of exploitation and
injustice and a social structure based on moral and equitable principles. His steadfast
reliance on his principles all through his life, even under adverse circumstances made it
possible for him to translate his ideals into practice. In his work on the Educational
Philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi, M.S.Patel aptly summarises Gandhi’s philosophy of
education in these words: ‘with the object of realizing his ideal of a spiritual society as
a stepping-stone to the realisation on God or truth, Gandhiji evolved an educational
system as a dynamic side of his philosophy. There is a unity running through his concrete
schemes and plans, making them a complete system of philosophy’ (p.16).
Before we begin to understand Gandhi’s views on education, it is necessary to know the
background of the educational system which was introduced during the British rule. By the
end of 19th century, the modern education system totally replaced the old and indigenous
system of India. The system in the villages that ran public institutions like temples,
monasteries, hospitals and schools were replaced with the advent of British and gave way
to the adoption of English language, destroying the indigenous culture and found an
immediate acceptance from the younger generation. ‘The system divorced the child from
his social surroundings, created new castes, laid emphasis on literary education, and there
was a neglect of mass education’ (M.S.Patel, p.79). Gandhi’s theory of education evolved
against these glaring discrepancies.
What did Gandhi mean by true education if we were to understand his philosophy of
education? Writing in Harijan, 1937, Gandhi explained as to what he understood by
education: ‘by education, I mean an all-round drawing out of the best in child and manbody, mind and spirit. Literacy is not the end of education nor even the beginning. It is
one of the means whereby man and woman can be educated’. Gandhi was more
concerned with what the education has to offer to the individual in terms of development
and not its tools and subjects. To him, education is also an ‘awakening of the soul’, and
‘strengthening the inner voice’. True education, as he opined, brings about a harmonious
functioning of the body, heart, mind and soul and stimulates the spiritual, intellectual and
physical faculties. He felt that an undue emphasis on any one of these factors not only
negates the basic principles of education but also retards the development of the self.
Gandhi highly disapproved of the education system in India as being harmful, wasteful,
unethical and artificial. ‘Most of the boys’, he said, ‘are lost to the parents and to the
occupation to which they are born. They pick up evil habits, affect urban ways and get
a smattering of something which may be anything but education’. He prescribed vocational
and manual training for such individuals for they constituted the best method of educating
a child or individuals. Since it involved productive work and proficiency in the method of
learning, it would in turn help them in concentrating on their curriculum. He thus sought
to make manual training the means of literary and intellectual training and also a selfsupporting system, having an economic value. To quote Patel again, Gandhi proposes to
‘accord dignity to labour, ensure modest and honest livelihood and alter the characters
and language through which education is imparted’. True education needs to be imparted
through non-violence, without which exploitation and acquisition may take the lead.
The above views of Gandhi coincide with ‘bread and butter’ scheme and aim of
education, wherein education is put to use to acquire basic necessities of life. The
fulfillment of basic needs obviously translates into aiming for higher ideals in life devoid of
materialism. This scheme would act as an insurance against unemployment, wherein the
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individuals lead a self-supporting life, or turn to hereditary occupations. Learning while
earning or vice versa is one of the basic components of the self-supporting system.
Gandhi attached much importance to the cultural aspect of education, wherein the inner
culture must be reflected in one’s speech and conduct towards others. Thus it is not an
intellectual work but the quality of the soul. There is no room for pride, prejudice, vanity
or falsehood in this culture. Gandhi successfully experimented with this scheme during his
stay at Phoenix and Tolstoy Farms in South Africa. He himself directly supervised the
education of children in the farms, and their all-round development. He laid greater
emphasis on hand, heart and head than on reading, writing and arithmetic. Further,
‘modulation of voice is as necessary as the training of the hand. Physical drill, handicrafts,
drawing and music should go hand in hand in order to draw the best out of boys and
girls and create in them a real interest in their tuition’. He played a great role in imparting
such education and training to the young inmates of the Farms and shouldered the
responsibility of training them via compulsory physical training through musical drill.
True education, as Gandhi envisioned, also focuses on social welfare. He never diverted
the goal of education from rural reconstruction. He was in favour of the youth serving the
villages and attaining ‘sarvodaya’ (upliftment of all). Social service is an inherent component
of education, which has to be taken up especially during the vacation period. Gandhi was
also in favour of the young people teaching the villagers the importance of hygiene and
health; this in itself is a key ingredient of social service that includes his holistic perspective
of the well-being. Gandhi viewed social service as an inherent part of education. Some
of his words deserve to be quoted in this context: ‘The end of all education should surely
be service, and if a student gets an opportunity of rendering service even whilst he is
studying, he should consider it as a rare opportunity and treat it not really as a suspension
of his education but rather its complement’ (Young India, 13-10-1927).
Jospeh Mukalel propounds that the entire spectrum of Gandhi’s social, spiritual and
educational outlook was primarily founded on the basic principles of Hinduism as
practised in Ancient India and other virtues that were imbibed in the cultural spectrum of
India from time to time. In sum, some of the key features of this include self-realisation,
God-realisation, truth, non-violence, conduct of human life, righteousness, discipline,
physical training, craft learning and most importantly, to treat all living beings with respect,
compassion, humility and love. To Gandhi, these features were the most essential in
attaining Swaraj whereby he integrated the individual virtues with that of the welfare of
society and nation.
14.3 EDUCATION AND PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT
The ultimate aim of education is character development, which is a sure stepping stone
to nation-building. Gandhi propounded that one of the most essential qualities towards this
end is the purity of personal life, which is ‘an indispensable condition for building a sound
education’. He rendered the recitation of Vedas, Sanskrit, Latin or Greek as irrelevant ‘if
they do not enable us to cultivate absolute purity of heart’. The end of all knowledge,
according to him, must be building up of character. This formation of personal and
spiritual character constitutes the part of his concept of holistic education. Gandhi himself
serves as a fine example of this concept, constantly attempting to emerge as a better
human being. As Mukalel observes, ‘Not only had Gandhi a concrete conception of such
a personality but also he possessed a personality of the kind he wanted others to develop
(p.198). To quote him again, the Gandhian conception of personality is a holistic
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137
personality in which every aspect, attitude and aptitude is given a balanced development
and his concept of education puts the highest importance on the formation of the
individual’s personality which will be capable of subsuming the highest and ultimate ideals
of human life (p.198).
14.3.1 Character-Building
The Gandhian vision of education, as mentioned earlier, has character-building as one of
its aims. It is the education that guides and enables an individual to develop into a better
human being and provides direction in the diverse aspects of human development. Gandhi
made several references to religion as the sole guide from which he drew various
examples to mould his attitude and views. Similarly, education, he felt, is the right medium
in directing the formation of character. Altruism and other centredness constitute some of
the pillars of human character. This is ingrained in the concept of service to others,
including community service and service to the needy and deprived sections. Thus, he
deemed that the development of inner nature was a necessary element in character.
Education also enables an individual to develop tolerance, love and humaneness which are
necessary preconditions to imbibing the virtues of non-violence. Love, according to
Gandhi, is akin to non-violence and truth. They are not only essential for cultivating purity
of heart but also essential in rendering service to the society. Gandhi often reminded the
students the positive effect of these qualities through right education. To say it in his
words, ‘your education should be built on the foundation of truth and love. Unless this
is done, your education will be rendered useless’ (To the Students, p.113). His teachings
to the students stand testimony to his abiding interest in directing the new generation
towards nation-building. In the Gandhian scheme of character-building, righteousness,
passion for self-help and attitude of peace are some of the astounding qualities that can
be developed through right education.
14.3.2 Moral and Spiritual Development
Education makes it possible to develop a balanced personality and Gandhi rightly insisted
on morality and spirituality as necessary ingredients for such development. No other leader
has so passionately advocated the importance of moral and spiritual development as
Gandhi did. Gandhi drew heavily from his life experiences and adhered to the notion of
moral superiority throughout his life. He advocated faith in God as the first step towards
the right education and often lamented the waning belief of the youth in God.
Gandhi firmly believed that apart from imparting physical and mental training to a child,
training in the moral and spiritual aspects are also crucial to personality development.
While teaching the students at the Farms in South Africa, he made constant endeavours
towards this training. He relied primarily on religious books and acquainted the students
with a general knowledge of the scriptures; he strongly believed in the futility of imparting
any training without the training of spirit and without any knowledge towards God and
self-realisation. He trained the young minds through the recitation of hymns and verses
from various scriptures and imparted moral training based on such readings. He realised
the significance of a good teacher in imparting such education. He abhorred misconduct
on the part of students and corporal punishment by teachers. His sole aim was to build
moral and spiritual character through love, tolerance and non-violence. To set himself as
an example, he often resorted to fasting to bring about a positive change in the attitude
of the pupils.
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Gandhi aimed at creating a set of youth who would ‘uphold these ideals in their daily
lives, and at the same time, devote themselves to the service of the people and the
liberation of the country’ (Avinashilingam, p.12). He advocated celibacy to channel their
energies towards right direction. His advice to teachers was also based on similar
principles, without which they would be rendered incapable of providing right guidance to
their students. He highly disapproved the reading of erotic literature by students that
robbed them of their wisdom and reason and indulged them in sensuous pleasure. Gandhi
did not attach undue importance to any one particular religion but treated them equally.
For it is the tolerance, truth and non-violence that constitute first steps towards spiritual
development. Prayer was an essential part of Gandhian scheme of education. Gandhi also
advocated leading an ethically upright life and making it a firm basis of all actions. The
stress on inner-voice and value-oriented views, as laid by Gandhi, was a method towards
inculcating the religious and spiritual principles in students and making them realise their
existential significance. Education that enables the students to elevate themselves to the
highest spiritual order was considered as the right education by Gandhi.
14.4 BASIC EDUCATION
14.4.1
Wardha Conference on Basic Education, 1937
Gandhi envisaged a social order devoid of exploitation and the one based on nonviolence, truth and a morally upright one. This was scheme of Swaraj, wherein education
has a primary role in determining the future of the younger generation. Gandhi’s ideas on
education, called the Basic National Education scheme, which he had been voicing in
Harijan for many years, have been put forward in the All India National Education
Conference in Wardha on 22nd - 23rd of October, 1937. His ideas were a departure
from the orthodox thinking and were revolutionary in those prevalent times. His questions
revealed the concern he had regarding the education system: (1) English was the medium
of instruction, creating huge gap between the highly educated and the many uneducated.
Emphasis should be laid on mother-tongue as medium of instruction (2) absence of
vocational training and manual training (3) wasteful expenditure on primary education with
little or no result. Gandhi proposed the extension of primary education for atleast seven
years, introducing of profit-yielding vocation, introduction of spinning, carding, dyeing,
tailoring, toy-making, book-binding and paper making, making the State Universities look
after the arena of education and making them examining and self-supporting bodies.
Gandhi dealt with both primary and higher education in his proposals and insisted on
rooting out exploitation and following non-violence.
The Conference thereafter constituted a committee of leading educationists to look into the
concerns and address the solutions. The committee submitted its report and some of the
features of the Report are enumerated as follows. It considered and recommended (1)
free compulsory education for all boys and girls upto fourteen years (2) education through
craft and productive work, with systematic and scientific method (3) self-supporting
scheme with the State Universities providing for infrastructure like school buildings, books,
furniture etc., (4) educating through mother-tongue as the medium of instruction, introducing
the child to its rich heritage and culture and instilling in him the right ethical and moral
values (5) exposition of the cult of non-violence in education (6) making the students
understand the ideals of citizenship, to understand their rights, duties and obligations as
members of civilised communities and (7) introducing the idea of cooperative community
with social service as the dominating motive. The scheme gave birth to the system of Nai
Talim, as envisaged by Gandhi.
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14.4.2 Nai Talim/ New Education
Gandhi displayed a keen sense for change in the education pattern and discussed at length
as to the genesis and implementation schemes. He referred to it as the synthesis between
vocation and education as he had viewed it. In this context, he reiterated the necessity
of both vocational and literary training; he realised the importance of literary training
through vocational training for it would then cease to be drudgery and also literary training
would have a new content and new usefulness. Gandhi did not assign primary importance
to the English language but insisted on learning one’s own language first, thus stressing the
need to impart education in one’s mother-tongue. He had enormous reservations regarding
English education and opined that ‘to give millions a knowledge of English is to enslave
them’. He was also of the opinion that the English-knowing Indians have not hesitated to
cheat and strike terror into people (Hind Swaraj, 1908, ch. 18).
Gandhi’s scheme of basic education consisted of taking up takli to produce yarn,
proceeding to spinning. Lessons were to be imparted in agriculture, pottery, and correlating
the counting of yarn to basic arithmetic and history. He explained the purpose as imparting
‘education of the body and the mind and the soul through handicraft that is taught to the
children’ (Harijan, 11-6-1938). To sum it up in his own words, it is ‘an intelligent use of
the bodily organs in a child that provides the best and quickest way of developing his
intellect’.
The concept of basic education as enunciated by Gandhi is rooted in the Indian culture
and therefore, has its direct source from the prevalent conditions in India. Severely
battered for centuries because of various invasions and colonial rule, India was left poor
and disfigured to a great extent. Gandhi was pained by the ignorance and poverty of
masses and was genuinely concerned with uplifting them from their miserable living
conditions. Since the educated class was manipulated by the colonial rulers to exploit its
masses, India’s culture and ideals were relegated to the background. It is apt to quote
Avinashilingam in this context: ‘the educated received their education through the medium
of a foreign language and oblivious of their own culture, lived a life modeled after the
pattern of the foreign masters. There grew a big gulf between the so-called educated and
the uneducated’ (p.67). Gandhi was the first to openly discuss the causes for degeneration
and sought to revive the manual labour that would ensure a sure means of income and
also upheld the dignity of labour. He also advocated decentralisation of production and
distribution for it distributed the wealth equally and resuscitated the village and craft
industries. Through health and hygiene initiatives taken by the students, curative measures
to healthy living were ensured. Since he envisioned this role for the students and put the
onus on them for developing the living standards in villages, Gandhi highlighted the overall
social development as the aim of basic education.
14.5 EXPERIMENTS IN EDUCATION
Gandhi’s experiments with education began during his stay in South Africa. John Ruskin’s
‘Unto This Last’ made a profound impact on Gandhi. He was deeply impressed by the
concepts of the good of all and that the life of a labour is the life worth living. He
radically translated his impressions towards living a simple life and thus started the Phoenix
Settlement and Tolstoy Farm with community living as one its basic principles. The Farms
soon converted into little villages with many of the inmates following an ethically right and
self-supporting community living, with the reduction of material requirements. Gandhi
himself took up the training and educating of the boys and girls, who belonged to different
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communities. He carried out his experiments with true character formation as the sole aim.
The curriculum knowledge included teaching of history, arithmetic, geography and Sanskrit;
‘it was a training in the temperament to accept the simplicity of the physical and social
climate, in a spirit of self-denial and sacrifice, keeping in mind the needy and poor whom
they wished to imitate in actual life’ that became the focus of Gandhi’s concept of
education years later (Mukalel, p.92). His Ashrams are also exemplary models of selfdiscipline and high moral values.
14.5.1 Champaran Schools
Champaran, the land of indigo plantations, presented the dismal state of living and abject
poverty and ignorance. While the workers led a pathetic life, their children too were
engaged in work for a pittance. The villages were afflicted by unhealthy and unhygienic
conditions. Gandhi undertook the onerous task of transforming them through a group of
committed workers. He opened primary schools in six villages and instructed the teachers
to impart lessons in hygiene and health, moral habits and good manners, apart from
teaching of language and numerals. The volunteers imparted self-help programmes,
launched medical drive to treat ailments, improved health and surroundings, and constantly
endeavoured to sensitise the villagers about good living conditions. Gandhi’s efforts
towards transforming the rural areas serve as an example of the true purpose of
education.
14.5.2 National Schools
Gandhi’s vision for national schools as the tools for the attainment of Swaraj consisted of
communal unity, propagating the significance of charkha and abolishing the curse of
untouchability. Spinning was a symbol of labouring for the country, patriotism and useful
toil. Gandhi aimed at the revival of cottage industry by introducing spinning and craftmaking as methods of education. Gandhi also insisted on imparting such education through
one’s mother-tongue, making it a vehicle of one’s thoughts and ideas. He emphasised the
manual and industrial training, thus making it ‘an intelligent approach, a more valuable aid
to the intellect than an indifferent reading of literature’ (Young India, 21-6-1928).
Gandhi’s proposals in the Wardha conference were a blueprint for the national basic
education system.
14.5.3 Gujarat Vidyapith
The ‘National University of Gujarat’ or Gujarat Vidyapith, as is popularly known, was
established in 1920 and serves as a perfect example of a National University as visualised
by Gandhi. It was a protest against British injustice, and a vindication of national honour.
As Gandhi said, ‘it draws its inspiration from the national ideals of a united India’. It
aimed at the ‘unique ideal of achieving a united India shedding all the caste and communal
differences’ (Mukalel, p.101). With a highly value-oriented education as its base, the
university became the centre of Indian vedic culture and education, and fostered the
students as Satyagrahis in the process of attaining Swaraj and future nation-building.
Gandhi himself taught the students and explained the significance of all religions. Gandhi
envisioned the university as a symbol of nationalist ideas and wanted other universities to
emulate the Vidyapith.
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141
14.6 EDUCATION OF ADULTS, WOMEN AND THE
DEPRIVED SECTIONS
Gandhi’s views on education do not confine to basic and higher education. He was
equally concerned about the education of women and the marginalised sections. He was
appalled at the mass illiteracy that plagued India during his time. He counseled the
students to render education service too in order to enable people to raise their living
conditions. Some of his ideas provide an insight into what he envisaged for India and its
teeming millions.
14.6.1 Adult Education
Gandhi was deeply pained at the mass illiteracy in India. He called it as ‘India’s sin and
shame and must be liquidated’ (Harijan, 5-6-1937). He advocated teaching the masses as
to how to read and write and ‘drive out the ignorance through carefully selected teachers
with an equally carefully selected syllabus, according to which, they would educate the
adult villagers’ mind’ (Ibid.). The literacy campaign, as he viewed, should not begin and
end with the knowledge of alphabets but provide useful knowledge. Sensing the villagers’
reluctance and inability to learn, he advised the teachers or volunteers to make the
teaching easy by correlating to the villagers’ daily needs and wants and to teach in a way
as to increase their appetite for knowledge. The arithmetic, geography, history or literary
knowledge may be taught in a manner that is useful in their everyday life, reading or
writing letters. Teach the craft first and then give the letter, was his method. One of the
ardent followers of Gandhi, Shriman Narayan elucidates this point in much clearer terms.
He recalls what Gandhi had taught: ‘adult or social education should be an education for
life and not merely the knowledge of three Rs. For example, the first lesson will be how
to care for bullocks, etc. The powers of the hand must be developed. It is disastrous to
develop the powers of the brain alone. Our so-called adult education of today is no
education’. He viewed the adult education as a matter of teaching ‘the art of living. A
man who masters the art of living has become a complete human being’.
14.6.2 Women’s Education
Voicing his opinion regarding the reasons for illiteracy among women, Gandhi wrote in
Harijan, 1939, thus: ‘As for illiteracy among women, its cause is not mere laziness and
inertia as in the case of men. A more potent cause is the status of inferiority with which
an immemorial tradition has, unjustly branded her. The result is a semi-paralysis of our
society. Woman has rightly been called the mother of the race. We owe it to her and
to ourselves to undo the great wrong that we have done her’ (Harijan, 18-2-1939).
Depriving women of their desire to education would only mean ruining their equal status
with men; Gandhi opined that woman, being a caretaker of the entire household and in
domestic affairs, in the upbringing and education of children, ought to have more
knowledge (Speeches and Writings of Mahatma Gandhi, 20-2-1918, pp.425-6). If they
desire to have knowledge of English language, they may do so by joining the schools for
men. Gandhi was keen on the education of the girls and was against the child marriages,
dowry system and also the purdah system. Education is one of the most potent tools of
empowering women, which is capable of releasing them from ignorance, superstition and
evil social customs. He kept the question of co-education as open and opined that it is
still in an experimental stage. Gandhi felt that women, if educated, would break the
shackles of enforced widowhood, prostitution, dowry system, economic bondage and
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marital slavery. He envisioned a greater role for them in the national freedom struggle and
remains the most authentic voice for women’s rights and liberation.
14.6.3 Education of the Untouchables/Deprived Sections
Gandhi considered the education of the deprived sections as the most difficult task since
it involved the most basic tasks like appraising the importance of hygiene and cleanliness
to them. In this mission, the Harijan Sevak Sanghs played crucial role in educating these
deprived sections. Gandhi elaborated on how to teach these children and make them
repositories of cleanliness. ‘The preliminary training should consist in teaching children
manners, good speech and good conduct’ and release them from the miserable state of
conditions they live in. Gandhi himself set an example by taking one such child to his
ashram at Kochrab, and taught cleanliness as one of the most basic features of good
living conditions. Gandhi assigned an important role for the teachers in this task and
favoured giving detailed instructions to the teachers via pamphlets in their languages. The
Sanghs also need to play a crucial role as ‘the programme involves care in the selection
of teachers and the training of the staff’ to undertake this onerous task of educating the
deprived sections.
14.7 MESSAGE TO THE STUDENTS
Gandhi’s ‘Message to the Students’ envisions their role in nation-building and service to
society. Time and again, Gandhi apprised them of their constructive role in determining the
future of a society based on the principles of truth, non-violence, moral and human values.
He considered fearlessness as the most fundamental quality without which the goals of
Swaraj and Swadeshi remain unfulfilled. He campaigned for spirituality as the highest
virtue in this materialistic civilisation and society and taught the students virtues of such
values. Love for motherland, mankind and mother-tongue are crucial elements that need
to be fostered. Gandhi advised the students to get rid of the infatuation with the English
language and not let the Western culture and standards encroach upon their life.
Gandhi stressed on personal purity, character-building, celibacy, duty towards parents,
faith in God, religion and scriptures and Gita to be the guiding forces of the youth. The
Gospel of charkha and spinning was effectively backed by Gandhi and advised them to
teach this art to all as a symbol of Swadeshi. Gandhi advised the students to become
‘pioneers in conservative reform, conserving all that is good in the nation and fearlessly
ridding society of the innumerable abuses that have crept into it. They can and must study
and discuss social and economic questions, which are as important to our generation as
the highest political question. A nation-building programme can leave no part of the nation
untouched’ (Young India, 9-6-1927).
Gandhi wanted the students to be truthful in all times and even under adverse circumstances.
Faith in God, he reiterated, would help them fight against untruthfulness, un-charitableness,
violence and sensuality. Offering incessant prayers to God for help in controlling the evil
thoughts and Gita, according to Gandhi, offers some of the most viable solutions to the
problems. Gita, he said, ‘is free from any form of dogma, it gives a complete, reasoned
moral code and satisfies the intellect and heart. Its appeal is universal and calls upon us
to dedicate ourselves body, mind and soul to pure duty, and not become mental
voluptuaries at the mercy of chance desires and undisciplined impulses’.
Gandhi advised the girl students against copying the western culture or English language
for these are no standards of a ‘modern girl’ image. He also cautioned them against the
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143
unruly behaviour of men and advised them to initiate a crusade against the rude behaviour
of the students. He opined that girls should fight against the evil customs and make
themselves strong enough to resist dishonour. A strong public opinion should be created
in condemnation of the degrading practice of dowry, and young men who soil their fingers
with such ill-gotten gold, should be ex-communicated from society. He wanted the parents
of the young girls to educate them towards this direction and set the terms of mutual love
and consent as the only honourable terms in marriage (Young India, December 27, 1928).
One of the most scintillating examples of Gandhi’s teachings to the students includes their
service to villages. He wanted them to penetrate into villages and find an unlimited scope
for service, research and true knowledge and realise the importance of a rural civilisation.
‘It cannot and should not be replaced with urban civilisation. Instead of memorizing their
lessons during vacations, the students should reconstruct their life, and pass everyday of
their vacation in villages surrounding their colleges and high schools’. Gandhi believed in
the sanctity of rural life and was against any form of urban civilisation overtaking the
former completely. He drew up model code for students and advised them to take part
in the Constructive Programme. Finally, it is apt to conclude with what he expected from
the students in their national service. A student, Gandhi said, ‘must be the embodiment of
simple-living and high thinking. He must be discipline-incarnate. His pleasure should be
derived from his studies. What can be a greater pleasure than that a student marches
from knowledge to more knowledge?’ (Harijan, 17-8-1947).
14.8 SUMMARY
Gandhi’s concept of education is highly relevant to this day. He had clearly voiced the
concerns of the deteriorating education system, about the necessity of craft-centred
training, building up of character, issues of unemployment, student unrest and relevant
message to the students. To this day, many of these issues have remained unaddressed,
inspite of several educational reforms. Akin to the issue of politics, Gandhi did not annul
the relation between religion and education. Rather, it was a constructive means to
inculcate cultural and moral values as prescribed in various texts and the best way to
practice the virtues. With the moral and spiritual values taking a backseat, the educational
standards as envisioned by Gandhi have been taking a downward slide. The only plausible
answer seems to be a national regeneration of the Gandhian values that would highly
unburden the system from its inherent contradictions.
14.9 TERMINAL QUESTIONS
1.
Briefly outline Gandhi’s philosophy and aim of education.
2.
What did Gandhi envision for the improvement of basic education in India?
3.
Examine in detail Gandhi’s experiments with education.
4.
Write short notes on:
a)
Adult Education
b)
Moral and spiritual development via education
c)
Gandhi’s Message to Students
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SUGGESTED READINGS
Patel, M.S., The Educational Philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi, Navajivan Publishing
House, Ahmedabad, 1953.
Gandhi, M.K., Towards New Education, Navajivan Publishing House, 1953, (ed by
Bharatan Kumarappa).
Mukalel, Joseph C., Gandhian Education, Discovery Publishing House, New Delhi, 1997.
Shriman Narayan, Mahatma Gandhi, The Atomic Man, Somaiya Publications Pvt.Ltd,
Bombay, 1971.
Avinashilingam, Gandhian Experiments in Education.
UNIT 15
GANDHI’S VIEWS ON LANGUAGE
Structure
15.1 Introduction
Aims and Objectives
15.2 National Language
15.3 English Language and Mother Tongue
15.4 Hindi Language and Hindustani
15.5 All India Common Script
15.6 Linguistic Problem and Education
15.7 Summary
15.8 Terminal Questions
Suggested Readings
15.1 INTRODUCTION
‘Our language is the reflection of ourselves, and if you tell me that our languages
are too poor to express the best thought, then I say that the sooner we are wiped
out of existence, the better for us’.
M.K.Gandhi
Language, as a medium of expression, holds much importance in the communication
process in our day to day life. It is a phenomenon that absorbs and assimilates the words
from different cultures, regions and people and thus plays an important role especially in
a multicultural society. India is one such example, where several languages are in vogue.
India has been a land of diverse cultures since centuries. The advent of different races
and communities from time to time has had a major impact on its culture, enriching it in
literature, language and arts and has been an accommodating ground for all. In course of
time, several discordant views and opinions have arisen regarding the issue of language
and linguistic issues that played a key role, with many of them finding place in the official
language status list. India has the very division of its states on linguistic basis in the postindependent era that highlights the problems some of which have remained unsolved to
this day. Gandhi’s views on the issue of language and his suggestions to overcome the
problems based on linguistic matters deserve to be taken with much sincerity. He rightly
acknowledged it as a problem and detested giving it secondary importance.
Aims and Objectives
After reading this unit, you would be able to understand:

Gandhi’s concepts and views on language

His efforts and suggestions towards evolving a national language

Gandhi’s concerns and suggestions towards working for a common script

How his views had an underlying message of unity amidst diversity.
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15.2 NATIONAL LANGUAGE
As Peter Brock says, ‘Gandhi was primarily a man of action, but he never underestimated
the power of words. Thus, we need not be surprised that throughout most of his adult
life he was intensely interested in the development of India’s literary languages. These
tongues, which had sunk into varying states of moribundity by the outset of the nineteenth
century, had then been forced to retreat before the advance of the English language
sponsored by India’s foreign rulers’ (p.129). Gandhi firmly held that language needs to be
imbued with spirit if we were to become free from foreign rule. To put it in his words,
‘we cannot get the freedom we want through foreign language, for the simple reason that
we are not able to use it effectively’.
With the advent of the British and the usage of English language as the official language
for communication, the provincial languages of India were relegated to the background.
Gandhi strongly believed that the neglect of our provincial languages amounted to nothing
short of our disservice to the nation. If the large component of the masses were to
understand the significance of ‘Swaraj’, no other language except their mother-tongue is
effective to convey the message to them. Swaraj, as Gandhi felt, is based on nonviolence. Through non-violence, “an individual makes his own direct contribution to the
Independence Movement. The masses cannot do this fully unless they understand every
step with all its implications. This is impossible unless every step is explained in their own
languages”.
Gandhi reasoned that if English were to be our national language, it needs to be taught
as a compulsory subject in the schools. Pondering over the issue of English as the national
language, Gandhi firmly held that it cannot occupy that status for the following reasons.
The requirements of a national language, as put forward by Gandhi, are as follows:
1. It should be easy to learn for government officials
2. It should be capable of serving as a medium of religious, economic and political
intercourse throughout India.
3. It should be easy to learn for the whole of the country.
4. In choosing this language, considerations of temporary or passing interest should not
count.
15.3 ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND MOTHER TONGUE
Since English cannot and does not match up with the above-mentioned requirements,
Gandhi opined that it is unfit to become the national language of India. Moreover, the
religious nuances cannot be taught in any language other than one’s own mother-tongue.
English, as Gandhi felt, is not an easy language to learn for the masses who are more
conversant and familiar with their mother-tongue. Though superficially English language did
find some place in the communication process, Gandhi felt that this status was purely
temporary, devoid of long-term usage possibility. Gandhi disapproved the very idea of
making English the national language as a ‘sign of weakness and betrays ignorance’. He
further elaborated on the ‘shameful spectacle of congressmen insisting on speaking in
English and compelling others to do likewise’. Gandhi found the English language as an
element obstructing the progress of India towards her goal, as some of its educated
people have thoroughly come under the spell of the language.
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147
Gandhi dispelled the misnomer that he is against the English language. He felt that ‘India
needs the English in national affairs. It will certainly be required for imperial affairs. It will
remain the language of diplomacy between different states within the Empire’. He clarified
that he bore no hatred towards the language and intended to limit its usage by not taking
it up on a massive scale. Gandhi deeply yearned to create such no place in any of the
political or social conferences in the Congress or in the Provincial Assemblies. Gandhi
deeply lamented the fascination and unreasonable attraction for the English language
among the leaders. He felt that it would create a wide gulf between those know the
language and those who do not know it.
Gandhi also thoroughly disapproved of the attitude among English educated people and
eminent men who ‘hastily generalize in favour of English as the national medium’. Elevating
its status in an undue manner is neither a credit worthy task nor conducive to the growth
of a true democratic spirit. Gandhi’s firm opinion was that the ‘greatest service one can
render society is to free ourselves and it from the superstitious regard we have learnt to
pay to the learning of the English language. This belief in the necessity of English has
enslaved us. It has unfitted us for true national service’. He felt that it not only isolated
one from the masses but also caged and imprisoned one towards learning and memorising
strange words and their pronunciation. It is, he considered, a national tragedy with no
parallel in history and also causing an irreparable injury-both moral and intellectual-to our
great nation.
Gandhi found it absurd that for the convenience of few officials, the English language has
to be mastered by millions of people. That the language failed to impress the population
as the lingua franca of India stands testimony to the fact that it is favoured by few people;
and where there is no mastery over the language, it is bound to lose respect from the
masses. Gandhi proclaimed that to get rid of the infatuation for English is one of the
essentials of ‘Swaraj’.
English vs Mother Tongue
While Gandhi approved the English language as a language of international commerce and
diplomacy, he discerned the fact that it has ‘usurped the dearest place in our hearts and
dethroned our Mother Tongues’ (Young India, 1921). He likened the mother-tongue to
mother. But as he observed, ‘we do not have that love for it, as we have for our
mother’. Further it strained the nervous energy of the students, making them mere
imitators. Gandhi was saddened at the plight of the vernaculars that were given no
importance. Though he acknowledged the gaining of the knowledge of the English
literature, he preferred passing the same through vernaculars. He insisted that ‘no country
can become a nation by producing a race of imitators’ (Young India, 1921).
Voicing his opinion on Mother Tongue, Gandhi said ‘I must cling to my mother tongue
as to my mother’s breast, in spite of its short comings. It alone can give me the life-giving
milk’ (Harijan, 1946). Citing the example of Russia, which has achieved the scientific
progress without the knowledge of English, Gandhi reiterated that it is the mindset that has
created the gulf: ‘It is our mental slavery that makes us feel that we cannot do without
English. I can never subscribe to that defeatist creed (Ibid)’.
It is significant to note that Gandhi himself set an example by adhering to his mothertongue, Gujarati, in all his writings. The ‘Hind Swaraj’, ‘Autobiography’ and ‘Sarvodaya’
(Translation of John Ruskin’s ‘Unto This Last’) were all written in Gujarati by him. He
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advised those Indians who go overseas to follow the example of Englishmen- as they (the
British) follow their own mother-tongue (i.e. English). This is a duty which will contribute
to India’s progress. There is nothing very difficult in this course. He also approved the
learning of other provincial languages by people. For example, a Gujarati may learn
Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, Hindi etc. If we spend only half the effort we do in learning
English in the learning of Indian languages, there will be born a new atmosphere in the
country and a good measure of progress will be achieved. He was saddened that even
Gujaratis should use English as the medium of conversation among themselves. He added:
‘We have impoverished our mother tongue because of our love for English. We demean
ourselves by insulting our language’. He considered it a matter of shame that those who
know English boast of their proficiency in the language than in their own mother-tongue
in favour of English. In his opinion, ‘those who have to serve their country and do public
work, will have to find time for their mother tongue. If English can only be learnt at the
expense of the mother tongue, it would be in the interest of the country that one does
not learn English at all’ (Gandhi’s article written in London, in 1909 - Mother Tongue and
National Language).
Measures to promote Mother Tongue:
Gandhi thoroughly favoured making the mother-tongue the medium of instruction. He
suggested the following measures to bring it into effect:
1.
Those who know English must not use English in their dealings with one another either consciously or unconsciously.
2.
Those who know two languages, for example English and Gujarati should put before
the people good English books and thought.
3.
Educational institutions should prepare their own text-books.
4.
The rich must help in establishing a large number of vernacular medium schools at
various places.
5.
The Conferences and educational institutions should urge the government to impart
education only through the mother tongue.
6.
Further, the courts and legislative assemblies should transact in vernaculars.
7.
Employment should be offered to all without discriminating on the basis of the
knowledge of English. Only through instructions in vernaculars, a nation progresses
and has far-reaching positive consequences for its future.
Gandhi reaffirmed his love for mother-tongue thus: ‘Swaraj should not mean the imposition
of one language over those who speak different languages. Primary importance ought to
be given only to the mother tongue. Only secondary importance can be given to Hindi,
the common language of India. Real inspiration and elevation can come only through the
mother tongue’.
15.4 HINDI LANGUAGE AND HINDUSTANI
Gandhi was in favour of making Hindi, the national language. Most of the languages
derive their origin from Sanskrit, and so does Hindi. Since English offers no sure or
substantial means of a livelihood, the place of honour may be accorded to Hindi. As he
said, ‘it has been estimated that the number of Hindus and Mussalmans speaking and
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149
understanding Hindi-Hindustani exceeds two hundred millions. Would not the 11 million
men and women of Karnataka (for Example) like to learn a language that is spoken by
200 millions of their own brothers and sisters?’ Gandhi recommended devoting few hours
in a day to learn the language. Since Hindi also has its origin in Sanskrit, the process of
learning a new language is rendered easy. This would also ensure the establishment of
inter-provincial contacts without much use for English. Gandhi did not differentiate
between Hindi, Hindustani or Urdu. While the grammar is same, it is the script that made
the difference. Nevertheless they denote only one language. As he said, ‘If we were to
refer to the lexicons of these languages, we should find that most of the words are the
same…. barring the questions of script’. Though Gandhi respected and appreciated the
provincial languages, he did not accord them the national language or ‘Rashtrabhasha’
status mainly because of the wider reach of Hindi and the easiness it accords to the one
who learns it. He reiterated that Hindi or Hindustani or even Urdu and written in
Devanagari or Urdu script, could be and was the only possible common medium (Harijan,
1937).
Hindi language, as Gandhi opined, fulfilled all the five requirements of the national
language. He defined Hindi as the language that is spoken by the Hindus and Muslims
in the North written in either Devanagari or Urdu script. In spite of the Hindus making
it Sanskritised or Muslims making it Persianised, he found no difficulty in making it as a
legible language for communication. He appealed to the people from the South to make
special efforts to learn Hindi in conscience with their patriotic spirit. This would also
ensure that the national language reaches provinces making the communication easy.
Just as he dismissed the distinction between Hindus and Muslims, Gandhi refused to make
distinction between Hindi and Urdu. He advised them not to reject the Sanskrit or Persian
blending of the language and ‘establish a harmonious blend of the two as beautiful as the
confluence of the Ganga and the Yamuna and last forever’. He dismissed the controversy
surrounding Hindi-Urdu debate and advised the people not to fight over the issue of
script. The harmonious exchange of the Sanskrit and Persian words would not only enrich
and strengthen the language but also would bring Hindus and Muslims closer together.
Gandhi suggested the following measures to promote Hindi as the national language:

There should be a handy book [self-explanatory] to meet the needs of those who
want to learn Hindi.

There should be a standard Hindustani dictionary, to prepare a Hindustani grammar
and such other reference books for the use of various provinces.

There should be text-books in Hindustani for use in schools.

There should be books in simple Hindustani.

These books should be written by learned and experienced writers.

There should be trained good Hindi teachers to take up the task of teaching Hindi
in the Southern provinces.

There should be good books on the Hindi grammar.

Congress workers and leaders should promote Hindi in National Councils.

In the legislative bodies too, the proceedings should be conducted in Hindi.

The newspapers too should promote the language.
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
In courts too, the provincial as well as national languages must be used to administer
justice.

Most importantly there should be constant devotion and efforts towards application
of the process.

The educated class and the press should make valuable contribution without which
the attainment of ‘Swaraj’ will remain distant (Hindi Sahitya Sammelan, Indore,
1918).
Gandhi felt that it is a national necessity to recognise Hindi or Hindustani as the national
language. He appealed to the people speaking Dravidian languages to learn sufficient
Hindustani to enable to follow the Congress proceedings and also devote time to learning
Hindi. ‘The Dravidians being in a minority, should learn the common language of the rest
of India than the rest should learn Tamil, Telugu, Kanarese and Malayalam in order to
be able to converse with Dravidian India… Let no Dravidian think that learning Hindi is
at all difficult. A little time taken from the recreation hour daily and in a systematic manner
will enable an average man to learn Hindi in one year’. Further he states that ‘our
greatest assembly cannot be a real object lesson to the masses unless it speaks to them
in a language which the largest number can understand. I appreciate the difficulty of the
Dravidians, but nothing is difficult before their industrious love for the Motherland’ (Young
India, 1921). Gandhi made this a part of achieving ‘Swaraj’; ‘if it is to be for and of
the starting millions of the illiterate millions, of the illiterate women, of the suppressed
‘untouchables’, Hindi is the only possible common language’ (Young India, 1931). Citing
the Russian example, Gandhi remarked that, ‘even before the Revolution, they (Russians)
resolved to have all their text-books in Russian. That really prepared the way for Lenin’s
revolution’. He pleaded the Congress leaders to take a cue from it and establish real
mass contacts. This is not possible ‘until the congress decides to have all its deliberations
in Hindi and of its provincial organizations in the provincial languages’. Gandhi explained
the reason for his insistence in a most beautiful way. ‘It is not that I am making a fetish
of language. It is not that I would refuse to have Swaraj if I could have it at the cost
of our language, as indeed I should refuse to have it at the cost of Truth and Nonviolence. But I insist so much on language because it is a powerful means of achieving
national unity, and the more firmly it is established, the broader based will be our unity’
(Harijan, 1937).
Hindi vs Hindustani
Giving a clarification on his usage of the term ‘Hindi-Hindustani’, Gandhi explained that
it is meant to broaden the definition of Hindi to include Urdu. It is apt to quote his words
in this context: ‘we must remember that the word Hindi is not of Hindu coinage; it was
coined after the Muslim advent to describe language which the Hindus of the North spoke
and studied. Why now this quarrel over words when Hindi is defined to include the
variations spoken and written by Hindus and Mussalmans?’ His logic also included the
Dravidian perception of Hindi language. By including different provincial words, there
would be a richer vocabulary that is acceptable to all. He rejected any rigid stance on
the part of any community regarding the usage of the language; a blend of Hindi, Urdu
and Sanskrit, Gandhi felt, would bury the mutual suspicion and unite our hearts, a basic
criteria for forging unity. Adopting a language known under three names, as the interprovincial language, he said, would also enable different communities to show their mutual
respect and toleration. He also opined that by breaking the provincial crust, one can
reach the core of all-India nationalism. Therefore, in his opinion, Hindi and Hindustani
Gandhi’s View on Language
151
encompassed the holistic view. He also insisted on making the knowledge of Hindustani
compulsory if we are to promote the common medium of expression.
Gandhi assigned major responsibilities to the Hindustani Prachar Sabha, whose mission is
to spread the message far and wide to all the corners of the country that the national
language of India is not English but Hindustani, that is Hindi+Urdu. Everyone should learn
or even acquaint themselves with both forms of Hindustani. He envisioned a greater role
for the Sabha whose task was to persuade all Hindi-knowing people to learn Urdu and
to create necessary facilities for it. He proclaimed that ‘if living Hindustani is ever to be
born, it will be only when Hindi and Urdu voluntarily come together and merge in each
other to form one whole’ (Harijansevak, 9-8-1942). As Gandhi reiterated, ‘a seeker of
truth cannot afford to write or speak to please anybody. During my long search after truth
in all things which have come my way, I know that I have hardly ever succeeded in
convincing all of the correctness of my position regarding the matters then in question. In
the matter of Hindi propaganda, if I have displeased certain Muslim friends, I have no
less displeased Hindu friends’ (Harijan, 15-8-1936).
Hindi vs Urdu
The question of Hindi-Urdu issue bears a repetitive version of Hindi vs Hindustani debate.
All the three denote same language spoken in the North by Hindus and Mussalmans, with
the script in Devanagari or Persian. Hindi was the name used to denote this language
much before the word ‘Urdu’ came into usage; Gandhi recommended the usage of
Sanskrit, Persian or Arabic words so as to curb mutual distrust and aloofness ‘till our
hearts become one and we are all proud of India as our country, rather than provinces’.
He dissociated the common language issue from religious differences and called for
enrichment of the common language. He felt that there should be no ugly rivalry regarding
this and it is the duty of the scholars to ensure the unity.
15.5 ALL INDIA COMMON SCRIPT
Gandhi was firmly convinced that there should be one script for all the Indian languages
and had opined ‘Devanagari’ as the most eligible one. He was also aware of the ‘HinduMuslim madness’ that acted as a major hindrance in this potential reform. He very well
knew the constraints, which the proposal posed considering the existence of other scripts
like Bengali, Gurmukhi, Gujarati, Telugu and so on. On the positive side, he envisioned
the unison of one script as a step forward that would help solidify the country and bring
the provinces into closer contact. Since Devanagari script fulfills the requirements of an
easy adaptability, it would facilitate the spread of one language. A compulsory learning of
the script in all schools serves the purpose of promoting it. So long as the Hindus and
Muslims usher in the real unity, it would result in ‘all acts of mutual toleration, affection
and courtesy and learning of one another’s language’ (Young India, 1927).
Gandhi firmly believed that Devanagari, either reformed or as it is, has a wider appeal
in India. Devanagari, as he believed, ‘is easier for the millions of Hindus and even
Muslims to learn because the provincial scripts are mostly derived from Devanagari’.
While Hindus have to learn Devanagari to read their scriptures, Muslims learn Arabic for
the purpose of learning the Holy Koran, apart from their knowledge of Hindi-Hindustani.
Therefore the movement for universalizing the Devanagari script has a sound basis’.
Gandhi was highly aware of the limitations of this proposal as it requires a ‘true mass
awakening. It cannot be manufactured’. He envisioned a greater role for the national
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workers who could help in hastening the process (Harijan, 1939). The responsibility also
lies with those who are engaged in literacy campaigns. Further, the educated people
should come together to decide on one script and its universal adoption, for ‘to the
millions who are illiterate it is a matter of indifference what script is prescribed to them’.
The Roman Script
Gandhi thoroughly disapproved using the Roman Script to learn, read or write to have
knowledge of the vernaculars. Moreover the Roman Script is incompatible with Devanagari
and Urdu and the protagonists of this Script would displace the former. It would be of
no help to those who learn the scriptures in their provincial scripts nor would they need
it. Its introduction, he felt, would only be superimposition, which can never be easily
adaptible. He dismissed having a bias against the Roman script and viewed it as a
compromised option as against any merit. It would not ever serve the purpose of a
neutral script as long as the Hindus and Muslims are apart.
Gandhi also dismissed the allegations of appeasement for his proposals on having both
Devanagari and Urdu scripts. His concern, as he reiterated, was ‘to select the script
which might be advantageous to the nation as a whole without wishing any injustice’. It
would not be correct to hold that the adoption of the Nagari script would be harmful to
Muslim interests. He did not favour the Boycott of the Urdu script as it would amount
to discrimination. Gandhi was fully aware of the communal antagonism such moves would
create. He hoped for getting rid of the ‘incubus of English language and the Roman
script’, which would help in classifying the misconceptions and in realising the futility of
such controversies (Harijan, 11-1-1948). Gandhi ruled out appeasement measures while
approving the possibility of conciliatory steps.
15.6 LINGUISTIC PROBLEM AND EDUCATION
The question of national language and the medium of expression in education has been
an unresolved issue for many a decade. M. S. Patel draws our attention to this problem
that has been engaging the attention of the government since the dawn of independence.
As he says, ‘we cannot fail to appreciate the contribution which English has made to
modern Indian thought by opening up new fields of intellectual and cultural activity. The
modern ideas of liberty and self-determination were first implanted in the Indian soil
through the English language. No nation under modern conditions can hope to participate
in world affairs, unless a proportion of her citizens command the knowledge of a language
like English’ (M. S. Patel, The Educational Philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi, pp.218-219).
The report of the Radhakrishnan Commission (University Education Commission, p. 316)
also endorses this view but with an addition of the harm done to the provincial languages
while assigning a predominant position to the English. Nevertheless, the abolition of English
was not at all favoured considering its widespread reach. Gandhi’s opinion contradicts the
above as he often felt that our Education should have been more systematic and the boys
free from the burden of having to learn their subjects through a foreign medium’
(Autobiography, p.30). Much before he discussed the language issue, Gandhi set an
example, while in South Africa, where he did not deprive the children the advantages of
formal expression in their mother-tongue, Gujarati inspite of living in an alien country.
At the educational conference in Wardha in 1937, Gandhi took up the issue of medium
of instruction and a resolution was passed which suggested the medium of instruction to
be the mother-tongue. He was in favour of giving the rightful place to the regional
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153
languages in education. Speaking at Belgaum Congress in 1924, Gandhi expressed his
anguish at the neglect of the vernaculars and Hindustani: ‘the tendency in many national
institutions still is to neglect the vernaculars and Hindustani. Many teachers have not
realized the necessity of imparting instruction through vernaculars or Hindustani’ (Young
India, 26-12-1924). Gandhi lent his full support to the ‘Hindustani Prachar Sabha’ that
intended to promote Hindustani. He envisioned its objectives towards preparing a
standard Hindustani dictionary, text books, conducting examinations, adopting it as a
compulsory subject of teaching and conducting schools, libraries, reading rooms and
teacher’s training schools and so on (M. K. Gandhi, Thought on National Language,
1956, pp. 111-113).
Gandhi, in his message to the students, stressed on their learning their vernacular
languages, so that they can engage in rendering great service to their nation by respecting
their mother-tongue. He disapproved of their learning a foreign language (English) at a
very young age, or even using the English language learning as a passport for procuring
jobs. He advised them to search for the virtuous traits in their own mother-tongue, and
not to enslave themselves to the culture and language of a foreign land.
15.7 SUMMARY
In this Unit, you have understood the significant views expressed by Gandhi with regard
to language and as to how they play a key role in shaping up one’s thoughts and ideas.
Gandhi’s message underlying his views- as expressed in terms of mother-tongue or All
India common script or using the vernacular language in the official proceedings and
documentation of important public offices or even the learning of Hindi language by the
people in the far away Southern part of India- is the message of unity among diverse
cultures. He did not, in anyway, give undue preference to any language. His concern was
to promote Indian culture and unity and he appealed for the same in various conferences
and meetings. He could foresee the problems arising out of language issues, views and
opinions among different people and earnestly endeavoured to sort them out in the best
possible way. Language is one of the major issues among the contemporary problems
faced by India. In today’s education system, where English language has been playing a
prominent role, the vernaculars have been relegated to the background. Gandhi had
forewarned the nation regarding its ills, which is a major hindrance towards achieving
‘Swaraj’. Gandhi’s views, in this context, serve as warning not to perpetuate the problems
further and find out harmonious ways to solving them.
15.8 TERMINAL QUESTIONS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What are Gandhi’s views on mother-tongue? What were the measures suggested by
him to promote one’s mother-tongue?
How important was national language to Gandhi? Did he foresee any role for English
as the national language?
Enumerate as to how Gandhi differentiated Hindi and Hindustani languages. What
was their importance in his language scheme?
Write a brief note on Gandhi’s views on an All India Common Script.
Write short notes on the following:
a) Roman Script
b) Linguistic problem and Education
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SUGGESTED READINGS
M. K. Gandhi., Thoughts on National Language, Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad,
1956.
M. K. Gandhi., Our Language Problem (Edited & Published by Anand T. Hingorani),
Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan, Bombay, 1965.
Patel., M.S., the Educational Philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi, Navajivan Publishing
House, Ahmedabad, 1953
M. K. Gandhi, An Autobiography or The Story of My Experiments with Truth, Navajivan
Publishing House, Ahmedabad, 1929.
Mohan Rao, U.S., The Message of Mahatma Gandhi, Publications Division, Ministry of
Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, New Delhi, 1968.
Gandhi, M.K., Constructive Programme, Its Meaning and Place, Navajivan Publishing
House, Ahmedabad, 1941.
UNIT 16
GANDHI’S VIEWS ON NATURE AND
ENVIRONMENT
Structure
16.1 Introduction
Aims and Objectives
16.2 Gandhi on Environment
16.2.1 Environmental Crisis
16.2.2 Spiritual Basis of Environmentalism
16.3 Gandhi’s Critique of Modern Civilisation
16.4 Man-Nature Relationship
16.5 Voluntary Simplicity
16.6 Village vs Urban Life
16.7 Importance of Nature Cure
16.8 Post-Gandhian Era
16.9 Summary
16.10 Terminal Questions
Suggested Readings
16.1 INTRODUCTION
“The Earth has enough resources for our need but not for our greed.”
This most often quoted phrase by Gandhi depicts his concern for nature and environment.
Much before the convening of any of the international conferences like the Stockholm
Conference of 1972 or the Rio Earth Summit of 1992 and almost a hundred years ago,
Gandhi has voiced his concern for environment. The concern was evident in his speeches,
writings and his messages to the workers. It is apt to note that he was the “World’s early
environmentalist in vision and practice” (Pravin Sheth, The Eco-Gandhi and Ecological
movements (http://www.mkgandhi.org/environment/environment.htm). Much before any
modern environmentalist, writes A. Mukherjee, Gandhi had cautioned the world about the
problems of large-scale industrialisation, which we are confronting today. His seminal
work, Hind Swaraj, written a hundred years ago in 1909 warned of the dangers the
world is facing today in the form of environmental destruction and the threat to the planet.
It is interesting to note that ‘the British who turned Hind Swaraj as seditious are also
party to the conventions and treaties concerning environment. ‘Gandhi’s Hind Swaraj was
a warning against growing consumption, materialism and wrong model of development’
(Ramjee Singh, p.129), about which the world is concerned in our contemporary times.
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Aims and Objectives
After reading this unit, you would be able to understand:

Gandhi’s views on the ills of modern civilisation.

His views on man-nature peaceful relationship.

His concept of simple life and reduction of wants.

The developments in the post-Gandhian era.
16.2 GANDHI ON ENVIRONMENT
16.2.1
Environmental Crisis
Before we study Gandhi’s views at length, it is necessary to note the background that
serves as the catalyst for understanding Gandhi’s views. The Industrial Revolution has
greatly changed the face of European civilisation including heavy industrialisation, pursuit of
capitalist pattern of economy, exploitation of labour and injudicious use of natural
resources. It has given to human society tremendous material pleasure and prosperity that
was eventually pursued by other nations. At the same time, it has also imperceptibly done
irreparable loss to mankind. Reckless and limitless pursuit of industrialisation by all nations
is now posing serious problems for very existence of not only man but also for all living
creatures and all kinds of species on our Planet (S. K. Jha, see Mahatma Gandhi- An
environmentalist with a Difference (http://www.mkgandhi.org/environment/environment.htm).
Population explosion, mass poverty, over-utilisation of renewable resources, overuse of
fertilizers leading to water pollution, rapid industrialisation, global warming, desert formation,
deforestation, emission of harmful substances into air causing air pollution, industrial and
synthetic wastes, nuclear hazards that are more man-made in nature are all causing
irreparable damages to our planet. As the environmental consciousness spread worldwide,
there were meetings including the Stockholm Conference, the United Nations Conference
on Environment and Development and so on that recognised the need to use the natural
resources judiciously so as to ensure a safe future for the coming generations. The ‘Union
of Concerned Scientists’ stated that the human beings and the natural world are on a
collision course. Human activities inflict harsh and often irreversible damage on the
environment and on the critical resources. It calls for a great stewardship to halt further
damage and mutilation of the planet and also called for reducing the over-consumption to
reduce the pressure on global environmental resources (Ramjee Singh, pp.129-130).
Gandhi precisely called for the same measures in a prophetic tone.
16.2.2
Spiritual Basis of Environmentalism
Gandhi’s views on environment consist of moral, spiritual and non-violent dimensions. To
him, the hallmark of development of man consisted not in materialism or consumerism but
in spiritual self-realisation, a character heavily loaded with morality and non-violence. The
craving for materialistic wants was alien to him for it hindered the path to one’s
realisation. His simple living and high thinking reiterated his love for all living beings, which
is the very manifestation of God’s creation. His concept of non-violence thus encompassed
all living beings and embodied the eternal values of life in his thought and actions. As
Gandhi said, ‘My ethics not only permits me to claim but requires me to own kinship with
not merely the ape but the horse and the sheep, the lion and the leopard, the snake and
the scorpion…’ (M.K.Gandhi, Truth, Navajivan, Ahmedabad, 1952, p.10). He insisted
Gandhi’s View on Nature and Environment
157
on the eternal sacredness of life that included a tree, plant or a cow. ‘Indeed his love
towards all life constitutes his attempt to realize the Vaishnava ideal ‘Vasudevam Sarvamidam’
(Everything is HE) (Benoy Gopal Ray, Gandhian Ethics, Ahmedabad, 1950, p.8)
Gandhi was greatly influenced by Adolph Just’s book ‘Return to Nature’ that further
strengthened his conviction that if a man desires to live a wholesome life, he will have to
share his life with not only humans but all living beings - birds, animals, plants and the
whole ecosystem. Man must return to nature what he takes from her. He abhorred
violence, in any form, towards animals or other living beings. Gandhi thus expressed his
sense of the unity of all life. He wrote in Harijan in 1937, “I do believe that all God’s
creatures have the right to live as much as we have.”
Gandhi was a great believer in advaita (non-duality) and in the essential unity of man and
all lives (Young India, 1924). Thomas Weber brings an interesting perspective on how
Arne Naess, who was thoroughly influenced by Gandhian philosophy, interprets the link
between self-realisation and non-violence. Weber’s interpretation is as follows:
1.
Self-realisation presupposes a search for truth.
2.
All living beings are one
3.
Himsa (violence) against oneself makes complete self-realisation impossible
4.
Himsa against a living being is Himsa against oneself and.
5.
Himsa against a living being makes complete self-realisation impossible (T. Weber,
Gandhi and Deep Ecology, Journal of Peace Research, vol.36, No.3, May 1999).
The ancient Indian religious philosophy, thought and action and practices point out to
a harmonious relation between man and other living beings. Gandhi was an ardent
believer of this philosophy of Vedanta, a combination of spiritual faith and scientific
thought.
16.3 GANDHI’S CRITIQUE OF MODERN CIVILISATION
Gandhi was undoubtedly a visionary who could foresee the ills of industrialisation and
modernisation. He was ‘an early critic of the dehumanising character of modern industrial
civilisation. It is in the context of new value orientation and the quest for human survival
threatened by environmental and ecological crisis that the re-discovering of Gandhi’s
warning of ‘industrialise and perish’ has to be seen’ (Savita Singh, pp.58-59). His Hind
Swaraj depicts his understanding of the chaos the modern civilisation would usher in.
Having witnessed the human devastation that industrialisation had caused in England, he
warned us of the impending dangers of an urban industrial society. He was baffled at the
thought of India being heavily industrialised and its culture eroded through dehumanising.
He wrote in Young India (20-12-1928, p.422), ‘God forbid that India should ever take
to industrialism after the manner of the West. The economic imperialism of a single tiny
Kingdom (England) is today keeping the world in chains. If an entire nation of 300
millions (India’s population in 1928) took to similar economic exploitation, it would strip
the world like locusts’. He further elaborates, that ‘to make India like England and
America is to find some other races and places on earth for exploitation. So far it
appears that the western nations have divided all the known races outside Europe for
exploitation and that there are no new world to discover, what can be the fate of India
trying to ape the west?’
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Gandhi firmly believed that India lives in its villages. And to erode its village’s culture and
civilisation via technology, machinery and industrialisation, to him, amounts to sin. He
warned the youth not to be carried away by the glitter of the modern civilisation because
‘its defects are well known but not one of them is irremediable’. He advocated village
life as the goal, as India is an inheritor of rural civilisation. Therefore, the intentions of the
youth may be ill founded if they were ‘to uproot it and substitute for it an urban
civilisation’ (Young India, 7-11-1929). He was also against the use of machinery that is
meant to displace people from their livelihood means. He was thoroughly in favour of
promoting Charkha, hand machinery as against “the machinery that displaces the labour
of those who cannot otherwise be employed. What we must dread is huge machinery run
not by hand but by non-human power such as steam, electricity, etc’ (4-10-1929 in a
letter to Shri Giriraj).
Regarding the urbanisation, Gandhi expressed his views as follows: ‘it is a process of
double drain from the villages. Urbanisation in India is slow but sure death for her villages
and villagers. It can never support 90% of India’s population, which is living in her
7,00,000 villagers (number of villages in 1934). To remove from these villages tanning and
such other industries is to remove what little opportunity there still is for making skilled
use of the hand and head. And when the village handicrafts disappears, the villagers
working only with their cattle on the field, with idleness for six or four months in the year,
must be reduced to the level of the beast and be without proper nourishment either of
the mind or the body, and, therefore without joy and without hope’ (Harijan, 7-9-1934).
To him the modern civilisation, therefore, with its explicit or implicit stress on unabated
exploitation of resources, multiplication of wants, production for the market and consumption
is satanic (Hind Swaraj, p.33) The best practice, as he suggested, was ‘instead of
welcoming machinery as a boon, we should look upon it as an evil, it would ultimately
go’ (Hind Swaraj, p.84). Adopting this modern civilisation and life-style negates one’s
spirituality and morality. He was concerned that ‘this civilisation takes note neither of
morality nor of religion. Immorality is often taught in the name of morality. Civilisation
seeks to increase bodily comforts, and it fails miserably even in doing so’ (Hind Swaraj,
pp.32-33). Civilisation, as he perceived it, is that mode of conduct which points out to
man the path of duty; to observe morality to attain mastery over our mind and passions
(Hind Swaraj, p.53). Having a moral and religious basis in our civilisation, he expressed
‘there will naturally be progress, retrogression, reforms and reactions but one effort is
required and that is to drive out Western civilisation. All else will follow’ (Hind Swaraj,
p.80).
16.4 MAN-NATURE RELATIONSHIP
Nature, according to Gandhi, is a source and force of inspiration and not exploitation. In
one of his correspondence letters he writes, ‘Nature suffices for my inspiration. Have I
not gazed and gazed at the marvellous mystery of the starry vault, hardly ever tiring of
that great panorama? Beside God’s handiwork, does not man’s fade into insignificance?’
(to D.K.Roy, letter dated 2 February, 1924; quoted in Desai’s Diary, vol.IV, p.27).
Contrary to this view, today, the relationship between man and nature is that of a complex
problem both at local and global level. Population, poverty and unabated development
have threatened the pristine nature. ‘The world is ever in a process of change and the
human activities had made it very difficult to maintain relative stability for long periods of
time. The earth has become very small in relation to the demands that men make upon
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159
it’ (Vinod Kumar Verma, Harmony with Nature in Ramjee Singh,et al, p.134). The
unabated development had extracted most injudiciously the natural capital- water, land,
forests, etc. leading to a series of environmental crisis like depletion of ozone layer,
pollution etc. Thus man has set on the mission of global environmental destruction that has
reached alarming proportions. To express it in Gandhian ideology and philosophy, man has
adopted violent measures to take abundantly from nature. Gandhi fervently appealed to
men to desist from exploiting others and inflicting violence on them. It pervades all living
beings including nature and natural resources. Gandhi was against disturbing the nature and
ecological system that provides health and fertility to all.
The traditionalists have always looked at nature as the divine manifestation and this view
nurtured their attitudes and values, which were inimical to the exploitation of nature. All
the religions of the world have been basically nature friendly (Savita Singh, pp.54-55). In
ancient scriptures and texts, nature including trees, animals and other living beings were
given enormous importance. The primitive man lived in close relation with nature and with
steady evolution, nature became man’s permanent companion. Gandhi appealed for its
conservation and frugal use, adhering to the Indian tradition of venerating the Mother
Earth. He often said that man had no power to create life; therefore he has no right to
destroy life. Since man has higher mental faculties of wisdom and reason, he should be
more compassionate to the lower beings. Gandhi practiced what he preached. He built
his Ashrams on waste lands (Savita Singh, p.61) adjacent to villages, emphasised keeping
the home and surroundings clean and maintaining health and hygiene. Jha rightly summarises
that, ‘Gandhi fully understood the primordiality of man-nature relationship and his theory
and philosophy of life, society and politics are in consonance with it. It is this
understanding of, and reverence for the salience and senility of nature for human existence
which makes him an environmentalist par excellence’ (S. K. Jha, see URL).
Gandhi believed in the universal co-existence and subscribed to the principle of reverence
for all lives. His non-violence in this way is universal law of life and it manifests in love
for all creatures (Ibid). Gandhi’s vision thus has a clear and decisive moral and spiritual
dimension in its approach to nature. The problems related to ecology, technology, poverty
and western civilisation were addressed by Gandhi long ago. Gandhi, writes Pravin Sheth,
warned against three uninterrupted movements which create the problem of environmental
degradation.

Unhindered urbanisation requiring pillage of natural environment

Unchecked industrialisation and imbalance in nature and

Profit motives of capitalist system at the cost of developing nations. He expected a
balanced approach all along the line so as to threat neither man nor nature (Pravin
Sheth, Green plus Gandhi, p.59).
Gandhi firmly opposed the western view of man’s conquest of nature. He warned against
man’s overpowering over nature that might result in his alienation to natures’ system. He
also cautioned against using nature for unlimited mass production and consumption
purposes. Gandhi’s vision of upliftment of all Sarvodaya, implies a healthy development
and environment than can be evolved by man to ensure his harmonious existence with
nature and other living beings. What he preached and practiced corresponds to what we
today call as eco-friendly measures and living in harmony with nature.
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16.5 VOLUNTARY SIMPLICITY
Gandhi’s scathing attack on industrialisation and modern civilisation was a forewarning to
all about the ills of consumerism. Gandhi foresaw the mad rat race for the luxuries of life
and the enslavement of the individual by the modern consumerist society (Ambarish
Mukherjee, p.2). Gandhi once remarked that ‘the mind is a restless bird; the more it gets
the more it wants and still remains unsatisfied. The more we indulge our passions, the
more unbraided they become’. Similarly, Gandhi wanted men to disentangle themselves
from the tentacles of the modern machine culture and opt for simple living as against
materialistic comforts and luxuries. Gandhi warned against making nature a victim of
human’s greed and unlimited indulgence. The pursuit of western lifestyle, he believed,
would dehumanise man and eventually destroy man as well as nature. He advised men
to ‘shun machinery, the chief symbol of modern civilisation that represents a great sin’. He
detested India setting the goals of the West in its cultural and developmental arena.
Gandhi warned thus, ‘ what is good for one nation situated in one condition is not
necessarily good for another differently situated, one man’s food is another man’s poison’.
Kamala Chowdhary observes that behind Gandhi’s approach to consumerism was his
concern for the poor and his praise for a simple way of life. Civilisation in the real sense
of the term, consists not in the multiplication of wants but in the deliberate and voluntary
reduction of wants as Gandhi had said (K. Chowdhary, p.28). It is further elaborated thus
‘the golden rule is to resolutely refuse to have what the millions cannot. The first thing
to cultivate the mental attitude that we will not have possessions or facilities denied to
millions’. He firmly believed in learning to put a curb on material wants (Ibid, p.29). ‘The
incessant search for material comforts and their multiplication is such an evil: and I make
bold to say that the Europeans themselves will have to remodel their outwork if they are
not to perish under the weight of the comforts they are becoming slaves’.
Gandhi’s approach to nature revolves around the concepts of ‘need’ and ‘greed’;
therefore the bounties of nature can be used only according to our needs. Gandhi was
neither a proponent of theory on nature and environment nor was an activist to protest
against deforestation or dams or nuclear reactors. ‘But he did much more than this; he
led a life which was in complete harmony with his surroundings, with himself as with
others, with his values as with his environment. There were absolutely no contradictions
in his thoughts and in his way of life’ (Savita Singh, p.60).
He was very much concerned about the sharing of resources by all. As he said, ‘ I
venture to suggest that it is the fundamental law of nature, without exception that nature
produces enough for our wants from day-to-long, and if only everybody took enough for
himself and nothing more, there would be no pauperism in this world’.
That Gandhi practised what he preached reflected in his simple and austere life. He firmly
rejected the concept of multiplication of wants and found it to be negating the selfrealisation goal of individual. He forewarned the humanity that, ‘a time is coming when
those, who are in the mad rush today of multiplying their wants, vainly thinking that they
add to the real substance, real knowledge of the world will retrace their steps and say:
what have we done?’ (M. K. Gandhi, Industrialise and Perish, Navajivan, Ahmedabad,
1962, p.5)
Gandhi was called saint or an ascetic who rejected the material comforts and an urban
society and chose to live an austere life. He honestly translated his ideas into action by
setting up his Ashrams that reflected a simple life. In South Africa, The Phoenix Settlement
Gandhi’s View on Nature and Environment
161
and the Tolstoy Farm set the precedent for selfless, simple community life based on these
ideals. Two examples may be quoted from his life that depict his sincerity in following his
ideals. He consciously used the minimum requisite water from the freely flowing and
unpolluted river Sabarmati, adjacent to his Ashram. He justified his action by explaining
that the river water belongs to all, so that everyone can have a share from it. He
encouraged his followers and himself practised the use of scrapes of paper for writing
brief notes and reversed envelop for reuse to send letters (Pravin Sheth, see URL).
Gandhi’s philosophy of simple living is reflected in his ‘eleven vows’ or ‘Ekadash Vrat’
-non-violence, truth, non-stealing, brahmacharya, non-avarice, physical labour, control of
palate, religious harmony, fearlessness, Swadeshi and untouchability. His direct personal
action speaks volumes about his thoughts and actions in tandem: ‘Help all you can on big
things but do some little things yourself. Sit down to eat with an untouchable, give up
something, start work with the peasants, live in a village, learn to spin, plant a tree etc’.
The above serves a perfect example of leading an austere life and a life of self denial to
realise the supreme goal of self realisation and truth’ (Kamala Chowdhary, p.39). One of
the best examples may be quoted from what he said in one context: ‘I hate privilege and
monopoly. Whatever cannot be shared with the masses is taboo to me’. This reiterates
not only his simple life but also his empathy with the large number of poor masses in
India. His emphasis on village upliftment, health and hygiene through Constructive Programme
could be interpreted and extended in the context of environmental conservation.
16.6 VILLAGE Vs URBAN LIFE
Gandhi disapproved the concept of industrialised urban cities wherein material comforts
and extensive use of machinery occupy a prominent place. He insisted on developing the
village, teaching the villagers the importance of health, hygiene, sanitation and education to
bring about positive change in their lives. His scheme of development included elimination
of poverty through self-sufficiency in villages, promotion of village, small-scale industries,
handicrafts and the use of local resources. Ramjee Singh aptly says, ‘Gandhian model of
technology and development is based more on renewable resources like animal, water, oil
and solar energies etc. and less on non-renewable ones. It does not lead to environmental
pollution or disturbs the ecological balance’ (Ramjee Singh, pp.135-136). He insisted on
reducing waste rather than becoming a ‘waste-centric’ society. ‘Industrialisation, as he
firmly observed, is going to be a curse for mankind. It cannot provide jobs for millions,
it would be creating pollution problems’.
Gandhi favoured developing thousands of cottage and village industries as they would
provide an outlet for the creative faculties and resourcefulness of the people. This would
help in solving the unemployment problems while assuring jobs to the needy and addition
to the nation’s wealth. The village development would also arrest the mass migration of
the villagers to cities in search of employment, thus avoiding any stress on urban
resources. Much can be interpreted in today’s context where the migration from village
to the cities has placed enormous stress on the supply of water and electricity resources
apart from the congestions due to lack of space and cropping up of urban slums, where
the inhabitants live in inhuman conditions with no provisions for health and hygiene. The
Gandhian model of development is based largely on the use of renewable resources that
are abundant in villages, which has village as its centre, decentralised and agriculturecentered. Gandhi explained the reasons for his insistence on village-oriented development.
‘If I preach against the enjoyment and ask men and women to go back to the simple
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life epitomised in the Charkha, I do so because I know, that without an intelligent return
to simplicity, there is no escape from our descent to a state lower than brutes’. ‘My
machinery’, he said, ‘must be of the elementary type which I can put in the homes of
the millions.’
Gandhi also viewed the growth of cities and urban life as representing evil that has
brought misfortune to India. ‘The British have exploited India through its cities. The latter
have exploited the villages. The blood of the villagers is the cement with which the edifice
of the cities is built. I want the blood that is today inflating the arteries of the cities to
run once again in the blood vessels of the villages’. It is this exploitation that Gandhi
thoroughly opposed and held in contempt of the city life. ‘Voluntary simplicity, nonpossession, Swadeshi and decentralisation are the vital requirements of founding the ideal
society of Gandhi’s dream, a non-aggressive society in which peace would reign as a way
of life. Gandhi believed that it would be possible only in village development and
prosperity. The small scale model and decentralisation would help in rural development
and achievement of smaller harmonious communities. This is very much in contrast to the
urban life where a mechanical and mechanised outlook pervades the political, social,
economic and cultural spheres. It was this logic that justifies Gandhi’s advocating ‘the
adoption of decentralised village Swaraj along the traditional lines and not along the line
followed by the West’. His dream was to guide the nation towards well knit villages with
panchayats and co-operatives, autonomous in their areas of operation but interlinked with
one another in a spirit of co-coordinated effort for mutual good’ (Savita Singh, p.214).
Gandhi aimed at the regeneration of villages and society and ultimately of individual. He
envisioned a strong India through self-support, self-reliance as against temptations and
exploitation. It is possible only through integrating Charkha, Khadi and village industries
that symbolise Gram Swaraj. This interrelated and mutually interdependent society as
visualised by Gandhi may be termed as what one of his close associates R. R. Diwakar
called as ‘ecological humanism’ combining the spiritual and ethical perspectives.
An interesting parallel may be drawn to what Noel Brown, then Director of United
Nations Environment Programme (1987) said in the famous publication ‘Only one Earth’:
‘The need for establishing a new spiritual and ethical base for human activities on earth
has never been greater – as the deterioration of our planetary home makes the protection
of the human environment a new global imperative. Gandhi discussed all long his life
through his various experiments about this notion of human societies built on fragile
ecological foundations. Through his village development and small community concepts, he
provided some of the most basic and plausible solutions to the crisis pervading the nations
today. His insistence on and adherence to simple living and high thinking is the essence
of what we now call ‘sustainable development in human societies”.
16.7
IMPORTANCE OF NATURE CURE
Gandhi’s reverence for nature and his advocacy for using the natural resources frugally
stems from his concept of unity of man with all, including other living creatures. He
implemented these ideals in real life with sincerity to evolve a sustainable society. He
brought forth a close link between nature and the existence of man; he appealed for
respecting the five elements of nature – Earth, Water, Ether, Sunlight and Air, without
which the human existence would be jeopardised.
Gandhi’s View on Nature and Environment
163
Nature is very important for health purpose. The science of natural therapeutics is based
on a use of the same five elements, in the treatment of disease, which constitute the
human body. These are earth, water, ether, sunlight and air… they can be utilized for
health purposes’ (Key to Health, pp.57-58). Nature cure treatment, he believed, ‘brings
us nearer to god. I will have no objection whatever if we could do even without it. The
meaning of nature cure is to go nearer Nature God’ (Sevagram, 9-1-1945). This again
is closely related to the village life which Gandhi advocated persistently. ‘My nature cure
is designed solely for villagers and villages. There is no place in it for microscope, X-ray,
and similar things. Personal hygiene and healthy living are of primary importance’ (Harijan,
11-8-1946). ‘It brings about a positive outlook in one’s life and is bound to benefit all
the villages and ultimately the whole of India’ (Harijan, 2-6-1946). Living close to nature,
he reiterated, is an ideal mode of life and assures absolute purity, both inner and outer,
with no scope for illness. According to Gandhi, man’s body is composed of the five
natural elements, the most important among them being air. He disliked violating these
elements that result in an unhealthy living. He noted in Harijan, ‘Anyone who fouls the air
by spitting about carelessly, throwing refuse and rubbish or otherwise dirtying the ground
sins against man and nature. Man’s body is the temple of God. Anyone who fouls the
air that is to enter that temple desecrates it’ (Harijan, 7-4-1946).
Gandhi further advocates a simple and satvik diet to maintain one’s health. He fervently
pleaded for vegetarianism and detested meat-eating. Man is more than meat, he said, and
it is the spirit in man for which we are concerned since man was not born a carnivorous
animal; he was bound to live on fruits and herbs the earth grows and which is available
in plenty in nature. He refused to budge from this stance even in times of illness. His
experiments with nature cure treatment and abstinence from meat-eating may be interpreted
in terms of his love and non-violence towards other living beings.
16.8 POST-GANDHIAN ERA
There has been a radical change in the world regarding the concern for environment and
man-nature relationship. The situation today is no different from that of the Gandhian era.
Mans’ greed and urge to accumulate has multiplied and so has man’s assault on the
natural resources. The unabated extraction from the nature has given way to new complex
problems that threaten the natural capital all over the world. The adopting of liberalised
market policies, expansion of the cities, sluggish growth in villages and the migration of
village population to urban areas, unlimited consumption patterns have all resulted in
threatening the life-supporting systems and the carrying capacity of the earth in more than
one way. The international and regional organisations along with the government and nongovernmental bodies are now taking up damage control measures but most of them still
remain to be half hearted efforts. There have been seminal works on the subject such as
Rachel Carson’s’ ‘Silent Spring’ (1962), E. F. Schumacher’s ‘Small in beautiful’, Brundtland’s
Report ‘Our Common Future’ (1987), and J. C. Kumarappa’s ‘Economy of Permanence’.
They underlined the importance of the integrity of development and environment instead
of development vs environment debate. Various Conventions, Treaties and Conferences,
The Rio Earth Summit (1992) and the Climate Change Conference had stressed on the
concepts of social justice and communitarian values to evolve the culture of respect for
life in all forms. The eco-movements like Green Peace, Chipko Andolan and Narmada
Bachao Andolan have all adopted the non-violent means to highlight the gravity of the
problem in their movements. Gandhi, once considered as orthodox or backward and
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Gandhi’s Social Thought
idealistic with little practical approach and whose writings were termed seditious is now
being hailed as one of the most vocal proponents and environmentalists of this century.
His concept of ‘respect for nature’, simple living and voluntary reduction of wants has
become all the more relevant for India and the world in the present times. The
development patterns and the liberalised economy have had some negative imprints on its
ecological system. The West has been rather slow in absorbing the meaning of these
concepts. Nevertheless, both in the West and East, the Gandhian thought has been gaining
prominence in recent years though the visible impact of it is yet to unfold before us.
Though his ideas could be put into practice for the cultural and ecological benefits and
survival, the governmental policies and bureaucratic management still pose major challenges
for India, apart from the widespread consumerist culture and rapid urban expansion. The
Gandhian ideas and methods offer much scope to handle the environmental crisis with a
sensitive non-violent approach. Pravin sheth exudes confidence that a ‘judicious blending
of the greens (in the west) and Gandhi (east), at the level of thought and action, can help
to usher us in a post-modern age and post-industrial eco-cultured society’ (Sheth, p.66).
16.9 SUMMARY
The present environmental crisis that has gripped the world needs an immediate and
effective damage control strategy if we are to ensure our peaceful healthy existence. The
Gandhian approach gives us plenty of opportunities to overcome the crisis. A frugal living
and Spartan life may not be feasible for the present generation but a consideration with
rationality and sensibility towards translating these ideas into practice would help in saving
the planet earth from the impending disasters. The eco-friendly technologies and measures
adopted by public, the institutional support, for example judiciary, the efforts of nongovernmental organisations and civil society help in preserving the environment. Gandhi
belonged to that school of thought where remedy was preferred to cure. He worked out
a worthwhile alternative for man’s peaceful, purposeful and happy existence. Gandhi is an
ardent champion of a life pattern based on simplicity, slowness and smallness and
successfully implemented it. This is what made him an environmentalist with a difference
(S.K. Jha, see URL).
16.10 TERMINAL QUESTIONS
1.
Discuss Gandhi’s critique of Modern Civilisation.
2.
How important is Man’s relationship with Nature in Gandhi’s view?
3.
What does voluntary simplicity mean to Gandhi?
4.
What are the parallels Gandhi drew between village and urban life?
5.
Write short notes on the following:
a) Importance of nature in Gandhi’s scheme
b) Environmental Crisis
Gandhi’s View on Nature and Environment
165
SUGGESTED READINGS
Singh, Ramjee., the Gandhian Vision, Manak Publications Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 1998.
Sheth, Pravin., Theory and Praxis of Environmentalism: Green plus Gandhi, Gujarat
Vidyapeeth, Ahmedabad, 1994.
Singh, Savita., Global Concern with Environmental Crisis and Gandhi’s Vision, A. P. H.
Publishing Corporation, New Delhi, 1999.
Gandhi, M. K., Hind Swaraj, Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad, 1938.
Gandhi, M. K., Nature Cure, Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad, 1954.
Ramjee Singh, S. Jeyapragasam and Dashrath Singh.,(ed), Aspects of Gandhian Thought,
Indian Society of Gandhian studies, 1994.
Gandhi, Ecology and Environment, Gandhi Centre, Visakhapatnam, 2004.
Weber, Thomas., Gandhi and Deep Ecology, Journal of Peace Research, Vol. 36, No3, May 1999.
Website Sources
1.
Pravin Sheth, The Eco-Gandhi and Ecological movements (http://www.mkgandhi.org/
environment/environment.htm)
2.
www.gandhi-manibhavan.org/
3.
Jha, Sreekrishna, Mahatma Gandhi – An environmentalist with a Difference (http://
www.mkgandhi.org/environment/environment.htm).
166
Gandhi’s Social Thought
SUGGESTED READINGS
Banerjee, Samir., Notes from Gandhigram: Challenges to Gandhian Praxis, Orient
Blackswan, New Delhi, 2009
Bartolf, Christian., Tolstoy, Gandhi and the Ethics of Vegetarian Food, Gandhi
Information, Zentrum, Berlin, 1996
Bose, N K., My Days With Gandhi, Orient Longman, New Delhi, 1974
Brock, Peter., Mahatma Gandhi as a Linguistic Nationalist, Mayur Publications, Delhi,
2005
Chakarabarty, Bidyut., (ed), Communal Identity in India: Its Construction and
Articulation in The Twentieth Century, Oxford University Press, Delhi, 2005
Chakrabarti, Mohit., Gandhian Dimensions of Education, Daya Publishing House, Delhi,
1990
Chakravarty, Gargi., Gandhi: A Challenge to Communalism, Eastern Book Center,
New Delhi, 1987
Chandra, Muzaffar., Rights, Religion and Reform: Enhancing Human Dignity Through
Spiritual and Moral Transformation, Taylor & Francis, London, 2002
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Search for Identity a Twentieth Century Anthology, Sage Publications, New Delhi,1998
Dwivedi, Surendranath., Thoughts on Gandhi and Social Change, Gandhi Smriti and
Darshan Samiti, New Delhi, 1995
Ferguson, John., War and Peace in The World’s Religions, Oxford University Press,
Oxford, 1978
Gandhi, M K., Capital and Labour, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay and Gandhi
Peace Foundation, New Delhi,1970 ( edited and published by Anand T Hingorani)
Gandhi, M K., God is Truth, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay, 1971(edited and
compiled by Anand T Hingorani)
Gandhi, M K., Health Wealth and Happiness, Bharatiya Karmayogi Samaj, New Delhi,
1980
Gandhi, M K., Hindu Muslim Tension: Its Cause and Cure, Navajivan Publishing
House, Ahmedabad, 1925
Joshi, Divya., (ed), Gandhi on Environment, Mani Bhavan Gandhi Sangrahlaya, Mumbai,
2003
Gandhi, M K., My Varnashrama Dharma, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Delhi, 1965 (edited
by Anand T Hingorani)
Gandhi, M K., My Views on Education. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay, 1970
Suggested Readings
167
Gandhi, M K., Our Language Problem, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay, 1965 (edited
and published by Anand T Hingorani)
Gandhi, M K., Pathway to God, Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad, 1971
(Compiled by M S Deshpande)
Gandhi, M K., Social Service Work and Reform, Vol-1 & 2, Navajivan Publishing
House, Ahmedabad, 1976 (edited and compiled by V B Kher)
Gandhi, M K., The Prefaces, Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad, 1961
Gandhi, M K., To The Students, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay, 1965 (edited and
Published by Anand T Hingorani)
Gandhi, M K., Varnavyavastha, Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol 80.
Gandhi, M K., Women’s Role in Society, Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad, 1959
(Compiled by R K Prabhu)
Gangrade ,K D., Overviews of Indian Education, Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti,
New Delhi, 1999
Gangrade, K D, Gandhian Path to Development, International Center of Gandhian
Studies, New Delhi, 1997
Gangrade, K D., Gandhian Ideal Development and Social Change (Theory and
Practice), Northern Book Center, New Delhi, 1991
Gangrade, K D., Youth and Society: A Study of Old and Young Generation, Gandhi
Smriti and Darshan Samiti, New Delhi, 1999
Gora, Lavanam., and Lindley, Mark., Gandhi as We Have Known Him, Gyan Publishing
House, New Delhi, 2005
Grover, Verinder., (ed), Gandhi and Politics in India, Deep and Deep Publications,
New Delhi, 1987
Gupta, Shanti Swarup., Economic Philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol-10, Concept
Publishing Company, New Delhi, 1994
Hingorani, Anand T., (edited and published), Man v. Machine, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan,
Bombay, 1966
Hingorani, Anand T., (edited and published), Modern v. Ancient Civilization, Gandhi
Peace Foundation, New Delhi, 1970
Hingorani, Anand T., (edited and published), My Picture of Free India, Bharatiya Vidya
Bhavan, Delhi, 1965
Homer, Jack A., (ed), The Wit and Wisdom of Gandhi, The Beacon Press, Boston,
1951
Jaitly, Jaya., Gandhi and Women’s Empowerment, Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti,
New Delhi, 1999
168
Gandhi’s Social Thought
Kalelkar, Kaka., Religious Harmony: Urge of the Age, Gandhi Hindustani Sahitya
Sabha, New Delhi, 2006
Khoshoo, T N, and John S Moolakkattu., Mahatma Gandhi and The Environment:
Analysing Gandhian Environmental Thoughts, Tata Energy and Resources Institute,
New Delhi, 2009
Khoshoo, T N., Gandhi and The Environment, World Wide Fund for Nature, New
Delhi, 1996
Kumar, S B., Environmental Problems and Gandhian Solutions, Deep and Deep
Publications, New Delhi, 2002
Kumarappa, Bharatan., (edited and compiled), The Removal of Untouchability, Navajivan
Publishing House, Ahmedabad, 1959
Kumarappa, J C., Economy of Permanence: A Quest for a Social Order Based on
Non-Violence, Megan Sangrahalaya Samiti, Wardha, 1948
Kwatra, Suman., Satyagraha and Social Change, Deep and Deep Publications, New
Delhi, 2001
Lester, Muriel., Gandhi a Wise Man, Sumit Enterprises, New Delhi, 2003
Markovits, Claude., The Un-Gandhian Gandhi, Permanent Black, Delhi, 2003
Mazumdar, Bharti., (ed), Gandhi on Communal Harmony, Mani Bhavan Gandhi
Sangrahalaya, Mumbai, 2003
Mendelsohn, Oliver., and Vicziany, Marika., Untouchables: Subordination, Poverty and
The State in Modern India, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1998
Naidu, CHM., Mahatma Gandhi and Hindu-Muslim Unity During Transfer of Power
and Partition of India, Manak Publications, New Delhi, 2005
Nanda, B R., Mahatma Gandhi 125 years: Remembering Gandhi, Understanding
Gandhi, Relevance of Gandhi, Indian Council for Cultural Relations & New Age
International Publishers, New Delhi, 1995
Natarajan, P B., A Century of Social Reform in India, Asia Publication House,
Bombay, 1959
Nayar, Pyarelal, and Sushila Nayar., Mahatma Gandhi: The Birth of Satyagraha, vol3, Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad, 1997
Oddie, A Geoffrey., Popular Religious Elites and Reforms: Hookswinging and Its
Prohibition in Colonial India, 1800-1894, Manohar Publishers and Distributors, New
Delhi, 1995
Pandey, B P., (ed), Gandhi and Economic Development, Radiant Publisher, New Delhi,
1991
Panikkar, K N., (ed), Communalism in India, History ,Politics and Culture, Manohar
Publications, New Delhi, 1991
Paranjape, Makarand., Decolonization and Development: Hind Swaraj Revisioned,
Sage Publications, New Delhi, 1993
Suggested Readings
169
Prabhu, R K., (compiled), India of My Dreams, Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad,
1959.
Prasad, Rajendra., At The Feet of Mahatma Gandhi, Hind Kitabs, Bombay, 1955
Pulickan, Jacob., and Geeta Shukla., Gandhi for Youth, Gandhi Smriti and Darshan
Samiti, New Delhi, 1997
Quigley, Declan., Interpretation of Caste, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1999
Radhakrishnan, N., Gandhian Perspective on Education, Ramachandran Institute of
Non Violence, Thiruvananthapuram, 1999
Rau, Shankar C N., Sociology of Indian Society, S Chand and Company Ltd, Delhi,
2004
Richards, Glyn., Gandhi’s Philosophy of Education, Oxford University Press, New
Delhi, 2001
Robinian, Rowena., Sociology of Religion in India, Vol-3, Sage Publication, New Delhi,
2004
Rosen, Steven J., Essential Hinduism, Praeger Publisher, Westport (USA), Greenwood
Publishing Group, 2006
Shah, Ghanshyam., Social Movements in India:
Publications, New Delhi, 1990
A Review of Literature, Sage
Shattuck, T Cybelle., and Ninian Smart., Hinduism, Religions of the World, Prentice
Hall publishers, New Jersey (USA), 1999
Shiva, Vandana., Ecology and The Politics of Survival: Conflict Over Natural
Resources in India, Sage Publications, New Delhi, 2000
Singh, Ramjee., Gandhian Vision, Manak Publication, Delhi, 1998
Sinha, Manoj., Modernization and Ecology: A Gandhian Perspective, New Delhi,
2003
Tripathi, S., Gandhi His Life and Views, Anmol Publication, New Delhi, 2007
Vettickal, Thomas., Gandhian Sarvodaya: Reading a Realistic Utopia, National Gandhi
Museum in Association with Gyan Publishing House, New Delhi, 2002
Vijaya, Prasad., Untouchable Freedom: A Social History of a Dalit Community,
Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2001
Weber, Thomas., Shanti Sena: Philosophy, History and Action, Orient Blackswan,
Hyderabad, 2009
Zakaria, Rafiq., Discovery of God, Popular Prakashan, Bombay, 2000
(Compiled by Ms.Raunak Ahmad, Research and Training Assistant, School of
Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Studies, Indira Gandhi National Open University,
New Delhi)