The Sarvodaya Samaj of Gandhi : the Challenges before us
Reproduced below is the text of the keynote address delivered by me at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi at the International Conference on the theme :Clean India, Capable Leadership on
12 and 13 March (organized by Rajaghat Gandhi Samadhi Committee)
Let us begin this discussion by
reflecting on the advice of Gandhi: “Be the change you want to see in the
world”.
The one major question that would cross
our mind at this stage is to what extent can we adopt the core of this advice
of Gandhi when we debate “the India of Gandhi’s Dreams of a Sarvodaya Samaj” or
revisiting the kind of challenges that lie before us when any serious effort is
made towards the realization of the dreams of Gandhi.
It
may be admitted at this stage that in our preoccupation with small and big
things, inadvertently we allowed to push to the background many other important
aspects of our nation and India’s survival. All of a sudden the following vital
areas that threaten the very existence of this nation have become nobody’s
concern:
(a) The threats of terror groups (both home grown
and foreign) to India’s sovereignty,
(b) Slow pace of Poverty alleviation efforts to
ensure justice to all,
(c) The growing
inflation & black money,
(d) The spreading
violence,
(e) Atrocities
against women and weaker section,
(f) Distribution of lands to the landless
and employment to the unemployed.
This is the Truth of India today despite all the other
impressive and commendable achievements as a nation. How would have Gandhi
responded to these challenges?
Gandhi’s challenge
It is a fact that Gandhi continues to
challenge many postulations and keeps on reminding humanity that there is a
‘Truth’ beyond all what we perceive and hold to be ‘truth’. By making truth as
the axis of all his endeavors Gandhi was seeking the spirituality of truth itself
which is the very basis of science. He there by convincingly challenges those
who espouse the notion that spirituality and science need to be at war with
each other.
Here, Gandhi out-grows the
condescending position of a social scientist and revolutionary thinker and
social activist that was assigned to him by commentators and historians.
If science is ‘truth-seeking’, by making his
life “Experiments with Truth” Gandhi went far beyond the traditional parameters
of classifications. Gandhi who initially held the view that ‘God is Truth’
reversed it later as, ‘Truth is God’ there by asserting the supremacy of truth
over everything. He reminds us here of Einstein’s statement that imagination is greater than knowledge.
It is widely acknowledged that Gandhi
evolved a philosophy and life style which was permeated with spiritual
insights, scientific truth and practical wisdom. He did not see any difference
in them and when he asserted in his autobiography, ‘What I want to achieve –
what I have been striving and pining to achieve these thirty years– is self
realization, to see God face to face, to attain Moksha’, (page x) he was
restating the profound relationship between the spiritual and the material.
Gandhi was not interested in the argument whether religion is
forerunner of science or science has always been nurturing religion or religion
and spirituality are older to science. He could see how science out-grew the
importance of religion in the life of individuals as more and more intelligent men
of science and technology devoted their time in unraveling and developing
scientific truth and capability. The champions and custodians of the spiritual
domain relapsed into just meditative and contemplative life styles there by
becoming status quoits. Science and technology with its manifold focus and
application came into the daily life of people with surprising and hither to
unbelievable results. The primacy of religion steadily eroded while science
forged ahead with unstoppable speed and energy.
Science vs the moral fiber of the individual
This also implies that there is a greater
power within every human being in his/her consciousness. The outer world has
been effectively influenced by changing what is within us. The inner world
constitutes a vast reservoir of untapped energy which, if used diligently, has
the power to take on the material world. The courage to make every crisis into
an opportunity and every obstacle into a possibility springs from the inner and
spiritual fiber of the individual. Newton’s
Law of Motion, if taken in its
metaphorical sense, illustrates this argument further, “every object in the universe attracts every other object with a force
directly proportionate to the product of their masses and inwardly proportional
to the square of the distance between their centers”.
Just like science and scientists, who believe
that there is nothing impossible in life, Gandhi held on to truth like a baby
clinging to its mother. When he emphasized the power of love, compassion,
truth, nonviolence, even many of his close friends raised their eyebrows. Many
had reservations about his plans to take on nonviolently the mightiest Empire
of the day. His claim that India could win the freedom without resorting to
violence and war was also met with mixed reaction. His ideas were described
impractical, naïve, or even dubbed as ‘A
Mid-Summer Night’s Dream’.
Undisturbed by these barbs,
Gandhi pursued his ‘Experiments with Truth’ with the precision and devotion of
a scientist. He was guided by the
teachings of Gita and the assertion
of Thoreau who wrote, “I know of no more
encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life
through conscious endeavor”.
What is important is the ability
of every human being to nurture their spirit and inner resources and allow to
transcending the walls and fences that hold them captive. Whoever is able to
assert their mental and spiritual freedom will eventually emerge as liberated
souls. John Milton’s words corroborate this: “the mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, and
a hell of heaven”.
Gandhi’s seminal contribution lies in the
area of blending science and spirituality as revealed in the philosophy and
practice of Satyagraha. The
Satyagraha as enunciated by Gandhi seeks to integrate spiritual values,
community organization and self reliance with a view to empower individuals,
families, group, villages, towns and cities. Robert Payne in his perceptive
study of Gandhi remarks, “Gandhi was continually experimenting with truth and
inventing new forms of force. And just as Satyagraha was never “truth force”,
so it was never “nonviolence” or “passive resistance”, although it included
them in its ever-widening orbit.
What Gandhi had in mind from the beginning
was something essentially positive, an outgoing of spiritual power and
purification through suffering. The legendary King Harishchandra, who
sacrificed his kingdom, his wealth, his wife and child, in order to honor the
word given by him, was an example of Satyagraha. Gandhi had seen the play when
he was a boy, and it made a deep impression on him. “Why should not all be truthful life Harishchandra? This is what I
asked myself day and night”, he wrote in his autobiography. “To follow truth and to go through all the
ordeals Harishchandra went through was the one ideal it inspired in me”. By
the force of truth and by the willingness to sacrifice everything he possessed
he overcame all obstacles. In Gandhi’s mind truth and sacrifice were close
bedfellows (p 477).
Kireet Joshi, an eminent scholar has
argued,
“It does not occur to us that our Indian culture has developed over
millennia a multi-sided science through the pursuit of which faculties which
lie above the ranges of physical senses and rational intelligence can be
developed. This science has developed assured methods resulting from the
principles, powers and processes that govern experiences and realizations of
the highest possible objects of knowledge. This science is, what Swami
Vivekananda called, science par-excellence. This is Indian Yoga, developed and
matured by Rishis and yogins in an unbroken chain throughout the history of
India right up to our own times. This yoga has been looked upon as practical
psychology and yogic methods have something of the same relation to the
customary psychological workings of man as has the scientific handling of the
natural force of electricity or of steam to the normal operations of steam and
of electricity. And they, too, are formed upon a knowledge developed and
confirmed by regular experiment, practical analysis and constant result.
Indeed, yoga is a science – an intuitive science – which deals with the ranges
of psychological and spiritual being and discovers greater secretes of
physical, psycho-physical and other higher worlds. As in physical sciences, so
in yoga, the object is an assured method of personal discovery or living
repetition and possession of past discovery and a working out of all the things
found.
Spirituality is thus not a matter merely of sporadic or occasional
experience, but a matter of authentic possession of knowledge and effective
power of realization and action. It is on the basis of this science that we can
bridge he gulf that seems to be existing between science and spirituality. It
is on the basis of the yogic knowledge that one can confidently hope to seek
enlargement of physical sciences and also to develop the required power of
transformation of human limitations, human passions, human ignorance and all
the frailties which are found in human nature”.
The manner, in which in the post-independence era in India,
Satyagraha is being used or misused, has also raised very serious issues. In a
large measure almost all categories of people in India resort to some form of
Satyagraha to ventilate their grievances and to wrest their rights. It is
amazing to see how this instrument is being used now by political parties, from
the extreme right to the left, trade unions, youth organizations, women
activists, religious groups, parliamentarians, law-enforcing agencies, lawyers
and even judges in their efforts to ensure what each of this category calls 'justice'.
Many
sensitive souls point out that there is nothing 'Gandhian' in their approach
and they are abusing the enormous potentials of this matchless weapon. One of
the paradoxes today is that the same instrument is being mercilessly used to
denounce all what Gandhi stood for also. Satyagraha, unfortunately, has become
in the hands of a large segment of politicians, trade unionists and others a
powerful instrument to settle scores and get their demands accepted. And in
this game the concept and practice of Satyagraha which Mahatma Gandhi gifted to
humanity has become one of the most vulgarized, misused and least understood
concepts and practice. However, Satyagraha, which is central to the
understanding of Gandhi's thought and work, continues to attract people in a
large measure. Let us for a moment take a look at what Gandhi himself said
about it:
·
"For the past thirty years I have been preaching
and practicing Satyagraha. The principles of Satyagraha, as I know it today
constitute a gradual evolution.
·
Satyagraha differs from Passive Resistance as the
North Pole from the South, The latter has been conceived as a weapon of the
weak and does not exclude the use of physical force or violence for the purpose
of gaining one's end, whereas the former has been conceived as a weapon of the
strongest and excludes the use of violence in any shape of form.
·
The term Satyagraha was coined by me in South Africa
to express the force that the Indians there used for full eight years and it
was coined in order to distinguish it from the movement then going on in the
United Kingdom and South Africa under the name of Passive Resistance.
·
Its root meaning is holding on to truth, hence
Truth-force, I have also called it love-force or soul-force. In the application
of Satyagraha I discovered in the earliest stages that pursuit of
truth did not
admit of violence being inflicted
on one's opponent but, that he
must be weaned
from error by patience and
sympathy. For what appears to be truth
to the one may appear to be error to the other. And patience means
self-suffering. So the doctrine came to
mean vindication of truth not by infliction of suffering on the opponent but on
one's self.
The
axis of the wheel consists of Truth and Nonviolence. While the wheel has four
spokes, the inner circle next to the axis, consists of Strength, Love, Knowledge and Food. On the outer circle, there are Guide to Health, Sociology, Art of Teaching
and Economics. The outer-most circle has twelve segments, viz., Service to Harijans, Uplift of Women,
Casteless Society, Love of Mother tongue, Nai Talim, Propagation of Hindi,
Khadi, Equality, Village Development, Detachment, Healthy Village and Village
Cleanliness.
Development of social
structures and individual empowerment take place only when there is a
meaningful interaction among the various parts that constitute the wheel. The
wheel which relies on the spiritual and material capacity and strength of the
individual and the fortitude and the general ethos of the society gathers
momentum as it moves on. This movement is the journey to peace.
Morality and the challenge of
civilization
Many Americans now accept that
the September 11 events are to be viewed in the general emerging scenario. They
also point out that US must bear a lot of responsibility for its contribution
to the present situation. The US foreign and economic policies towards
developing and least developing countries must be revised drastically.
Americans have given primacy to materialism, consumerism and individualism at
the cost of spiritualism and lost their ability to feel concerned for each
other.
Gandhi, as is known fairly now,
tried to infuse the fresh air of spiritualism in every domain of human
endeavor, including politics. He earned the name of a saint trying to
spiritualize politics. His mantra was to wipe away tears from every eye.
Religion
is meant to be an advocate of peace. But we know that the biggest of wars have
been fought in the name of religion. There are many of us who would not like a
world to be partitioned on the basis of religions, creed, castes and money.
Such a world of peace demands an attitudinal change. In such a world the strong
will not exploit the weak, the rich will not harm the poor, and the privileged
will not ignore the underprivileged.
Gandhiji
had stated that the very essence of our civilization is that we give permanent
place to morality in all our efforts--public or private. The ancient Vedic
philosophy of “Sarva Dharma Samabhav” or Respect for all religions” formed the
basis of Gandhiji’s religious humanism.
We
have a lot to learn from animal world. Swans and Penguins remain faithful to
their water life long. Bees, Ants and
Birds form the disciplined social groups. Elephants have a joint family system
caring for each other. Even the Crows care for the injured mate. If only all of
us care for each other and follow the same voice of Gandhiji, the world would
be a better place to live in for everyone. The aim of religion is not to fill
the empty vessel but to turn the eye of soul towards the light to evolve a
common understanding of all religions and their relevance to achieve peace by working
collectively.
It is said that science emerged
as a revolt against the Age of faith. Science gradually helped heralding the
Age of Renaissance. Science is also hailed as a major phase in human history.
It was argued in many quarters that it posed a major threat to the very
existence of human kind.
Spiritual vs Material living
Spiritual
living is responsible living. Gandhi said, “I am responsible not only for
myself but for all of you just as all of you are responsible for me”. When we
live truly selfless life, we never think in terms of personal profit or
pleasure but always in terms of global prosperity and world peace. For even
these grand goals ultimately depend not on government but on selfless efforts
of little people like you and me of the long run, friendly persuasion is the
only effective teacher. Human beings can always grow”. If the man gains
spirituality, Gandhi said, “the whole world gains with him”.
Gandhi
used a number of symbols and concepts in his long public career in both South
Africa and India in his efforts to usher in a new era of clean politics and
orderly development. There was no pretension or hypocrisy about him. He never
asked others to do anything which he did not do, It is history how he conducted
his affairs. He never treated even his own children in any special manner from
other children. In the Ashram
settlements they also grew up along with the other children, sharing same kind
of food and other facilities and attending the same school. When a scholarship
was offered to him for one of his sons to be sent to England for higher
education, instead of giving it to his own children, Gandhi gave it to some
other boy. Of course, he invited strong
resentment from two of his sons and there are many critics who believe that
Gandhi neglected his own children and he was not an ideal father. The voluntary
abdication of his highly attractive income from his legal profession and taking
to a simple life and his profound conviction of equality of all men and women
show the essential Gandhi who grew into a Mahatma.
The casteless and
classless society he was striving to establish aims at the realization of both
material and spiritual prosperities. He
described the society that he was aiming as Ram Rajya. Non-Hindus and a section
among his admirers failed to understand what he meant by Ram Rajya, Gandhi
said, "By Ram Rajya, I do not mean Hindu Raj, I mean by Ram Rajya, a
Divine Raj the Kingdom of God." His faith in God was unshakeable. His god
was not a personal god. He repeatedly
chanted Ram nama but asserted that his Ram is not the Lord of Ayodhya. His Ram
is the Almighty God which guides him to noble action and whose presence can be
felt everywhere. The Ram Rajya he was advocating was an ideal social order
where an ideal King Rules over his subjects without any distinction whatsoever.
Truth dharma and justice will be the dominant characteristics of such a
society. Both the Pandit and the poorest of the poor will have equal say in the
governance. Nobody will be
discriminated against anybody,
Ram Rajya – an Utopia ?
The Ram Rajya of Gandhi's dream was not an Utopia
where idealism alone will prevail. There was much in common if one can stretch
it between Plato's ideal Republic and Gandhi's “Ram Rajya” though Tolstoy's
influence on Gandhi could be discernible in formulating his vision of a new
society. The major difference between the approaches of Gandhi and Plato is
that while Plato is philosophical Gandhi is pragmatic and down to earth a
realist.
For Gandhi rights and
duties are complementary and a citizen who is not conscious of his duties has
no right to think of his rights. Similarly, Gandhi believed, "There can be
no Ram Raj in the present state of iniquitous inequalities in which only a few
roll in riches, while the masses do not get even enough to eat", does this
Gandhian passion for social justice remain a far cry? No one knows. The ruler,
in the modern context the state, like Lord Ram, Gandhi's ideal King- is
Custodian of not only the physical domain of the people but also an inspirer of
his people to higher realms of spiritual attainments.
Relevance of Gandhi’s Talisman
It
may be of use here to remember in this context the advice Gandhi gave to the
new rulers of India, which is now known as Gandhi's Talisman. Gandhi said in
his advice:
"I will give you a talisman,
whenever you are in doubt or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the
following test:
Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man whom you may have seen
and ask yourself if the step you -contemplate is going to be of any use to him,
Will he gain anything by it? Will it restore him to a control over his own life
and destiny? In other words, will it lead to Swaraj for the hungry and
spiritually starving millions?
In India, in our anxiety
to interpret, deify or denounce Gandhi – overtly, covertly or subtly – either
Gandhi became an icon with a large segment of opinion makers, political
leadership, journalists, writers, and researchers. To them even critical
analysis of Gandhi was anathema. A kind of institutionalized ritualism grew
around almost everything associated with Gandhi.
Vinoba Bhave, Jawaharlal Nehru and Jaiprakash Narain as exemplars of
Satyagraha
Three
leaders, in three different ways, moved away from the institutionalization and
deification of Gandhi and gave courageous interpretation of Gandhi’s Satyagraha
in the context of the emerging scenario. They are Acharya Vinoba Bhave, Pandit
Jawarharlal Nehru and Jaiprakash Narain. The bold initiatives of Vinoba Bhave
in interpreting Gandhi, the visionary leadership provided by Jawaharlal Nehru
in consolidating the fruits of freedom
and knitting India and the magnificent role played by Jaiprakash Narain
in galvanizing the youth, the constructive workers and in this process himself
emerging a sort of inspired conscience-keeper in the post Gandhian era. I am
conscious this is an observation which will be hotly contested by many. Well,
let us discuss.
Gandhi,
thus conceived and evolved Satyagraha, both as a 'science in the making' and as
a 'surgery of the soul' while Vinoba Bhave tried to transform the Gandhian
legacy of Satyagraha into a way of life and a mode of action, Civil
Disobedience or Passive Resistance, which acquired new depth and meaning with
Gandhi was gradually transformed into Satyagraha, a powerful instrument both in
individual and societal transformation with morality, ethics, spirituality,
religious insights humanism.
After Gandhi & Vinoba
Bhave in India Satyagraha over the years has become more of a strategy or
methods or tactics in the hands of agitating activists of various hues. The
extending tentacles of consumerism and materialism also seem to have made
serious inroads. The failure of
Constructive Program which Gandhi had nurtured with great care to sustain and
energies the small but significant initiatives taken by individuals fell short
of expectations after Gandhi.
The decline and misuse of Satyagraha
The general decline of
morality and the near death of religions and the coming into being of new set
of values which are essentially the gift of science and technology have
rendered the Gandhian vision of social change at least in the eyes of the
champions of unlimited material growth out of date. Coupled with this emerging
scenario is the romantic notion entertained by the Gandhian thinkers about the
invincibility or the all time relevance of Satyagraha to solve all human
problems under all circumstances. It is
naive to believe that Satyagraha will be effective in all circumstances. While
Satyagraha has degenerated and being vulgarized in India, the relevance of it
as a mode and tactics for social and political and social action is
increasingly felt in other parts of the world. This indicates that it is
equally naive to believe that Satyagraha is dead.
Satyagraha sprouts in cultures abroad
The
seeds of Satyagraha are sprouting in many parts of the world and what is
required is perhaps a creative adaptation rather than blind imitation,
Satyagraha, as Gandhi demonstrated has infinite possibilities and has emerged
now as a powerful instrument for the moral resurrection and it should appeal to
the Gandhi in each one of us in our efforts to discover ourselves and be of
help to the fellow human beings. The contemporary decay of Satyagraha in India
may be due to the fact that there is no Gandhi with us now but the fact cannot
be brushed aside that he lives with his ideas and the noble example he provided
and inspiration that he offers.
As we enter the new millennium with its hopes,
anxieties and with a new set of values different from that of the century which witnessed the
triumph of some of the Gandhian methods and tactics, what is required is an
honest examination of the entire gamut of
the 'experiments' Gandhi conducted
and instead of trying to harp on the efficacy of them lock, stock and
barrel and entertain
hopes of the adoption of these ideals, methods and
tactics in all societies and at all times we should act in conformity with the
Gandhian assertion 'one step enough for me.
The need to reinvent Satyagraha
What Malcom Maclure in his recent
study of Satyagraha points out assumes importance in this context: "There
is no clear verdict on the degree to which Gandhi's experiments were
scientific. But there can be little doubt that his experiments were more
scientific than Mao's "experiments" Why? If we can identify what made
Gandhi's Satyagraha to some degree genuinely scientific, then perhaps
Satyagraha can become still more scientific in future and have growing impact
in increasingly scientific world".
Let
me quote a paragraph from an earlier observation of mine for your
consideration:
“The Core of Satyagraha is action.
This means, we have to go beyond rituals and the Centenary of the Satyagraha,
therefore, calls for honest introspection and serious restructuring of our
national priorities to achieve the social, economic and cultural goals Gandhi
lived and died for. Gandhi left an unfinished agenda behind him for his nation
to complete.
The time has come for us
to unite for a challenging common cause once again. This requires bold
initiatives to usher in ‘Swaraj for the hungry and spiritually starving
millions’, as Gandhi exhorted us in the now-famous Talisman. This will be
possible only through a creative adaptation and reinventing the Satyagraha
along Gandhin lines”. (From the keynote
paper presented at the World Peace Forum Conference at University of British
Columbia, Vancouver, Canada).
At a
time when Indian Nation is facing a crisis of sorts it wouldn’t be out of place
to ponder over some of the “Promises” those who fought for Indian independence,
made to this nation. Gandhi who shaped and led the freedom movement from the
front also produce counter effects and need not necessarily promote what was
expected.
The
ushering in of the Panchayati Raj institutions after an agonizing delay of over
50 years was a bold initiative which the nation has undertaken belatedly. The
Gandhian vision of power to the people,
grass-root level planning, involvement of the so-called powerless in shaping
their future and offering legitimate role for women to play equal role in the
formulation of policies and programme of their village, in turn, has had far-reaching effects in their own personal
and family life- these aspects were all enshrined in the Gandhian vision of
Panchayati Raj’.
Though
there is much to be desired in the manner in which these institutions have come
into existence now, it is a great opportunity for the Indian women. The best
example of how Panchayati Raj’ could empower women is provided by Kerala where
a magnificent demonstration of women’s capacity to play responsible roles in
the economic, social, political and educational life of state is being provided
by several thousand women to whom Panchayati Raj has offered leadership roles.
The three factors which stand out in this metamorphosis are, education,
awareness creation and opportunities. Women are no longer the pale shadow of
men nor are they timid or frightened. In several instances men have been pushed
to defensive roles by enlightened and empowered women of the area. Probably
what is required at all India level is the emulation of the Kerala model of
women empowerment. Gandhiji had dreamt of such a situation and now the country
can legitimately feel proud that at least in one area his dreams are becoming a
reality. Emphasized among many other things are equality of opportunities to all
irrespective of anyone’s colour, gender, language, social or religious
affiliations.
Gandhi
who brought thousands of women in to his movement visualized a free India where
they will get equal opportunities in all spheres of activities and where their
voice would be respected and prevailed, but then as in many other aspects,
Gandhi’s passionate pleas and bold initiatives to ensure gender equality where
better pills to the male-dominated society. Cry of India women for justice
cannot also be dismissed as imaginary, but then, social orders allow
substantial changes only as process of general development. Just like economic
development or political changes are the results of socio-political pressure
and require awareness and understanding in order to sustain, women empowerment
and subsequent disappearance of gender inequality have to be the logical
extension of the social matrix which is constantly under pressure and
consequential change. Empowerment as a process is not something that is to be
missed; it is a reflection of logistic and natural extension of cohesive
strength which enthuses large movements from cell to cell. Once this process is
set in motion it is difficult to stop it nor will it be possible to retard it.
An empowered organism is motivated and surcharged instrument of genuine awareness.
“As I
travelled through the land we were greatly impressed by the part women played
in the political life of India in the struggle for independence and that many
of them had gone to jail like the men. Gandhi also worked to liberate women
from the bondage of Hindu and Muslim traditions” wrote Coreta Scott King after
her historic visit to India with her illustrious husband, Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. in 1959.
What Indian women have been able to
achieve is to be understood in the larger perspective. What needs to be done
has also to be understood properly.
Lessons from Gandhi and Vinoba
Those
who claim that the present movements for socio-political changes are inspired by Gandhi may well remember the
following:
(1) Satyagraha was never used by Gandhi to score
political points.
(2) Gandhi’s satyagraha movement was
principle-centered and spiritually
guided.
(3) Gandhi’s satyagraha was never aimed as a
coercive tactic.
(4) Gandhi was never carried away by emotional
considerations.
(5) Gandhi’s language, body language and
activities were dignified and always left room for dialogue and reconciliation.
(6) Gandhi’s satyagraha always highlighted moral
principles.
(7) Gandhi had the courage to withdraw his
movement when he realized that unprincipled elements would infiltrate and would
use the base for selfish or opportunistic goals.
It seems we as a nation had ignored
the seven deadly sins identified by a reader and which Gandhi as an editor reproduced in the
columns of his news paper. They are :
(1) Wealth without work,
(2) Pleasure without conscience,
(3) Knowledge without character,
(4) Commerce without morality,
(5) Science without humanity,
(6) Religion without sacrifice and
(7) Politics without principle.
If we read this, keeping in mind
Gandhi’s much misunderstood statement on modern civilization, one cannot help
feeling that Gandhi was prophetic in his vision and assessments. When he
described the emerging civilization as soulless, he was criticized. The warning
he issued through ‘Hind Swaraj’ was dismissed even without proper discussions.
His spiritual successor Vinoba Bhave’s effort to integrate social action
nurtured in humanism and spirituality and centuries-old wisdom of the land that
well-being and happiness lies in striving to achieve Jai Jagat and Vasudeiva Kudumbakam were all viewed as crowded
judgment and his great work as freak initiatives.
Let
me conclude this discussion by quoting a paragraph from one of my earlier
presentations on January 31st 1997 :
“Gandhi’s economic thoughts were
also largely shaped by India’s spiritual tradition and his own practical
experience. He firmly believed that economics like all other fields of human
activities could not be divorced from ethics and religion. Moksha (Salvation)
the Summum bonum, the ultimate
goal of all human endeavour could be attained only through a fair practice of dharma
(religion), artha (economy), and Kama (desire). Alwin
Toffler, the celebrated author of Future
Shock and the Third Wave
makes a very interesting study of the various options available to humanity. He
says there are at the moment three waves, the Capitalist, Marxian and the
Gandhian. While the capitalist model is built on exploitation, the Marxian
model depends on violence, confrontation and conflict the Gandhian model is
based on the desire to provide a better life. The nonviolent model which is
creative and constructive offers social justice and peace, the hallmark of
sustainable development.”
Had
the revolutionary steps Vinobaji undertaken along with Jayaprakash Narayan to
realize Gandhi’s dream of India been continued, the Sarvodaya Samaj dreamt by
Gandhi would have been a reality. Social justice and equality to all were the
corner-stones of the new social order. The
Sarvodaya Samaj Gandhi advocated and strove for would have effectively
prevented and eliminated the seeds of corruption, and general decay of moral,
ethical and spiritual values, both in public and private life.
Let us draw inspiration from Gandhi that undying-optimism and
courage of conviction are the most dependable arrows in the armory of
nonviolent soldiers in their spirited efforts for change, and change is the law
of nature.
