Essays

The religious and social ideas adopted and developed by Gandhi, first during his period in South Africa from 1893 to 1914, and later in India, are collectively referred as Gandhian Philosophy. Later Gandhians like Vinoba Bhave and Jayaprakash Narayan further developed these ideas. Views of' Martin Luther King Jr. can also be studied in this light. The philosopliy of d.iudlii exists on several planes—the spiritual or religious, moral, political, economic, social, individual and collective. Though spiritual or religious element, and God, are at its core, truth and non- violence arc  the twin c;irdin;il principles of Gandhi's thought.

For Gandlii, truth or satya is the relative truth of truthfulness in word and deed, and (he absolute truth—the Ultimate Reality. This ultimate truth is God (a.s God is also Truth) .mil morality—the moral laws and code—its basis. Non violence or ahisa, fo from meaning mere peacefulness or the absence of overt violence, is understood by Gandhi to denote active love—the pole opposite of violence, or himsa, in every sense.

Gandhi's non-violence stems from two main points. First, since all life is one, all violence committed towards another is violence towards oneself, towards the collective, whole self, and thus self-destructive and counter to the universal law of life, which is love. Second, had violence been more powerful than non-violence, humankind would have long ago succeeded in destroying itself. Hence, Gandhi believed that ahimsa is the most powerful force in existence and regarded non-violence or love as the highest law of humankind.

Gandhian thought, is not a rigid, inflexible doctrine, but a set of beliefs .Hid principles which are applied differently according to the historical and social setting. Interpretation of the principles underwent mind evolution during Gandhi's lifetime. In his search after Truth, Gandhi discarded many ideas and leant many news things. What he was concerned with was his readiness to obey the call of Truth, his God, from moment to moment. In coming to grips with Gandhi's way of thinking it is most important to understand that the perception of truth undergoes an ongoing process of refinement which is evolutionary in

In Gandhi's thought the emphasis is on practical idealism. It   Perfect. Truth and perfect non-violence can never be attained while the spirit is embodied. Though this philosophy is set in the Indian social context. it can be certainly considered as universal and timeless.  Gandhians hold that the ideals of truth and non-violence, which underpin the whole philosophy, are relevant to all humankind.

Gandhian philosophy holds all religions to be worthy of equal respect and in one sense to be equal. As all are creations of mortal and imperfect human. Beings, no single religion can embody or reveal the whole or absolute truth. Hence, despite being fundamentally religious, this philosophy has a universal nature because its religious position stresses not so much the Hindu interpretation of reality as the beliefs which are common to all major religions, and that commonality itself.

This philosophy is also compatible with the view that humankind is undergoing gradual moral evolution. While conflict is seen as inevitable, in fact not always undesirable, violence as the result of conflict is not regarded as inevitable. In other words, the philosophy states that human beings do have the capacity to resolve conflict non- violently. Liberation from a violent society may be difficult and might require many decades or longer, but it is not an impossible ideal.

Gandhi's thought was conceived, to a great extent, out of action and .is; i guide to action, by a man of action. He hesitated to write about anything of which he did not have personal, first-hand experience. In the sense of it being a call to action, Gandhi's thought can also be seen as an ideology. Its objective is to transform the individual and society simultaneously (rather than in sequence, as Marxism describes), in accordance with the principles of truth and non-violence. The historic Rask before humankind is to progress towards the creation of a non- violent political, economic and social order by violent struggles the social goal was described by Gandhi as sarvodaya, a term he coined, meaning the welfare of all without exception. In the Gandhian or non-violent social order, economic and political questions are also seen from the moral or humanistic perspective. The welfare of human beings, not of systems or institutions, is the ultimate consideration.

Gandhi was in favour of political decentralization, to prevent massive concentrations of political power in the hands of too few. He wanted to distribute the power in the hands of many. The Gandhian political order takes the form of a direct, participatory democracy, operating in their structure from the base village-level tier upward through the district and state levels to the national (and international) level. Similarly, economic decentralization was favoured to prevent massive concentrations of economic power in the hands of too few, and again, to distribute it in the hands of many. Therefore villages, which are anyway geographically decentralized, become the basic economic units. However, where unavoidable, certain industries may be organized on a more centralized basis, and their ownership and control come under the umbrella of the state.

Cooperation encouraged to minimize competition and exploitation in the economic sphere. Production has to be carried out on the basis of need rather than sired. Importance was given to recognition of the dignity of labour and the greater purity of rural life. The practice of extensive self-reliance by individuals, villages, regions and the nation was advocated, Gandhi visualized a society in which oppression on the basis of race, caste rl.iss, language, gender or religion was absent. He also advocated a deep respect for Mother Nature, which necessitated an economic system based upon the preservation rather than destruction of the natural environment.

Gandhi's philosophy would in; incomplete without the mention of Satyagraha. It is a technique or tool of non-violent action developed by Gandhi in  south Africa to give the Indians population there a weapon with which to  resist the injustices being perpetrated upon it by the colonial government. But satagraha can be practiced in any cultural environment. It involves .i applying the forces of both reason and conscience simultaneously.  Non-cooperation the tasting are the primary methods in a Satyagnifia campaign undertaken in the belief in the underlying goodness of the opponent, and in his or her ability to acknowledge the injustice of the action and to cease the injustice, or at least to compromise However, there can be no Satyagraha in a cause which is not indisputably just and truthful. To sum up, truth, nonviolence, Sarvodaya and Satyagraha and their significance constitute Gandhian philosophy.