DAMODARAM SANJIVAYYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

VISAKHAPATNAM, A.P., INDIA

PROJECT TITLE

GANDHISM

SUBJECT

POLITICAL SCIENCE

NAME OF THE FACULTY

NIRMALA DEVI

Name of the Candidate U.UPENDRA

Roll No. 2016112
Semester 1

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would sincerely like to put forward my heartfelt appreciation to our respected Political Science
professor, Prof. Nirmala Devi for giving me a golden opportunity to take up this project regarding
“GANDHISM”. I have tried my best to collect information about the project in various possible
ways to depict clear picture about the given project topic.

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 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This project is purely Doctrinal and based on primary and secondary sources such as websites,
books, journals and internet sources. The referencing style followed in this project is BLUE BOOK
19th Edition's format of citation.This Research process deals with collecting and analyzing
information to answer questions. The Research is purely descriptive in its boundaries of the topic

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 ABSTRACT

Gandhism is a body of ideas of that describes the inspiration, vision and the life work
of Mohandas Gandhi. It is particularly associated with his contributions to the idea of nonviolence.
The two pillars of "Gandhism" were truth and non-violence.

Mahatma Gandhi was an intensely active personality. It is generally known that he lived an austere
life, practised strict vegetarianism and abstained from alcoholic drinks, tobacco and even the
milder stimulants like coffee and tea.Gandhisam is also called as civil resistance.

The main principals of gandhism are:-

Satya:- The main element of gandhism is satya,a Sanskrit word for truth.it refers to being truthful
in one's thought, speech and action.

Brahmacharya:- At the age of 36, Gandhi adopted the vow of brahmacharya, which isimportant
to Gandhi for not only purifying himself of any lust and sexual urges, but also to purify his love
for his wife.

Ahimsa:-Ahimsa means non violence.It was an important tenet of major religions like
Hinduism,Jainism and Buddhism.he held that non violence would rid a person from anger and
distructive impulses.

Khadi:-khadi was a homespun cloth.It was intended to help eradicate the evils of poverty, social
and economic discrimination.

Religion:- Gandhiji emphasizes that religions are not for separating men from one another but
rather for binding them.

Recently United Nations announced October 2nd as international day for non-violence; it is the
great recognition of ‘Gandhism’ at international level.

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Objective of the study

To analize the concept of Gandhism

To know the princples of Gandhism

To know the methods followed by the Gandhi

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CONTENTS

1. Introduction…………………………………………………..…………….6

2. Principals of gandhism……………………………………………….7 to 8

Satya………………………………………………………….………….9
Bhramacharya……………………………………………………..……10
Ahimsa…………………………………………….....……..…………..11
Khadi…………………………………………………………………….12
Religion…………………………………………………..………….13 to 14

3. The concept of satyagraha………………………………………...…………15

4. Techiques of satya graha……………………………………….………….16 to 17

5. Trusteeship……………………………………………………………………..18

6. Conclusion………………………………………………………..…………….19

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 INTRODUCTION

Gandhism and the gandhian way of life have been unique features of modern India. They are
assosoated with the teaching of Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhis mission in life was to purity, politics
,to rekindle faith and trust in mankind and to restore the dignity of mankind.Gandhian way of life
is closely related to doctrine of Sarvodaya. The Sarvodaya movement aims to reconstruct social
and political order on the ideas and teachings of Mahatma Gandhi.

Mahatma Gandhi was a great leader of man kind.He always emphasized his role as a citizen of the
world.His life was the story of dedication and sacrifice. The word Gandhism itself is vague. There
was hardly any ism in Gandhi. Ism means a clear cut philosophy. His whole life was an experiment
with truth. Gandhism is, in quite clear and simple words, an amalgam of Mahatma Gandhi’s views
and practices, actions. It consists of ideas, which Mahatma Gandhi presented before the world, and
his actions, which he described as his experiments with truth. We know he to the maximum
possible extent treated his individual life in accordance with his ideas, therefore, those who hold
merely his ideas to be the Gandhism, they are not correct. In this regard, Mahatma Gandhi cannot
be compared to Karl Marx whose thoughts are termed as Marxism. As the Mahatma has
simultaneously been a man of action, it is unfair if merely his ideas are named as Gandhism. 1
Now, after becoming reasonably familiar with the reality of the both, Gandhi and Gandhism, and
accepting their indivisibility from each-other, it will not be inappropriate if with the purpose of
analyzing the subject in hand in easy manner. Gandhism, as is evident from the short statement
quoted in the beginning of discussion in hand, is entirely based on Ahimsa, non-

1
L.S.rathhore,S.A.H.Haqqi, Political theory and organization,Eastern book company,pg-150

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violence. Ahimsa is the most ancient, perpetual, individual as well as social, and all-timely value.
It is a religion in grandeur. It is permanently present in human nature. Moreover, it is an essential
condition for existence, the basis of development and the achievement of goal in life. It is a soul
force, a virtue of the soul. The soul itself is a part of truth. Hence, being a permanent, eternal and
all-timely, and a virtue of the soul simultaneously, Ahimsa is a truth-based value; truth is perpetual,
it is permanent.2

PRINCIPALS OF GANDHISM

The first principle which guided all his thoughts and activities is the complete unity and integrity
of body, mind and soul in the individual human being. He was never tired of saying that the body
should be controlled by the mind and the mind by the soul. But this control is not to be achieved
by despising or neglecting either the body or the mind or in the mystic exaltation of the soul by
itself. He attached to physical health and well-being as much importance as to plain and logical
thinking or moral responsibility. He was one of the most logical and powerful writers; yet, he was
never tired of decrying all idle and purposeless playing with words and ideas or deification of
thought as such .

The second principle of Gandhian philosophy may be stated as follows: All social action should
be governed by the same simple set of moral values, of which the main elements are selflessness,
non-attachment, nonviolence and active service. It will take me too long to define and elaborate
his ideas in respect of each of these; but he believed that the growth of a mans personality is
proportionate to his faith in and practice of these virtues. This is possible only when he identifies
himself more and more with an ever-increasing circle till it embraces all humanity and even all
living beings. He judged the value and vitality of social institutions by their capacity to foster such
growth.

2
http://www.gandhism.org

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His third conviction was that no society, state or any other institution has any worth or importance
apart from its part in contributing to the growth of the individuals of which it is composed. The
State, the Nation, the community and other traditional groupings had no intrinsic value for him. In
the pages of Young Indis in the earlier years, he defended the caste system as a great scheme of
social and sexual discipline; but in the light of actual experience he abandoned it as an impractical
system, though to the end he believed in some kind of voluntary and ideal social groups based on
qualifications and capacity for service.

Faith in God is, according to Gandhi, the foundation of all moral values. He never defined God
and was prepared to allow every person to have his own idea of God. For himself, he was inclined
to think of Him as the Upanishadic Brahman. But, so long as a person believes in some source of
spiritual life and holds it superior to the material universe, he is a believer in God. Gandhi had no
objection even to a formal profession of agnosticism, so long as a person demonstrated by his
attachment to moral values that this outlook was essentially spiritual in essence.
I believe that the influence of Gandhi in the future will depend more and more on the realisation
that these fundamental principles constitute the core of his teachings and that all his actions were
merely illustrations of their application. He considered his life as a series of experiments with truth.
Therefore, it is his conception of truth that is central to his life and work. I do not claim that the
principles I have indicated exhaust his conception; but I believe that they constitute its basic
elements.3

3
www.mkgandhi.org/ebks/gandhi_relevance.pdf

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SATYA

Satya is the Sanskrit word for truth. It also refers to a virtue in Indian religion , referring to being
truthful in one's thought, speech and action. In the Vedas and later sutras, the meaning of the word
satya evolves into an ethical concept about truthfulness and is considered an important virtue It
means being true and consistent with reality in one's thought, speech and action.

Nothing is or exists in reality except Truth. That is why Truth is perhaps the most important name
of God. In fact it is more correct to say that Truth is God, than to say that God is Truth. But as we
cannot do without a ruler or a general, such names of God as ‘King of Kings’ or ‘The Almighty’
are and will remain generally current. On deeper thinking, however, it will be realized, that Sat or
Satya is the only correct and fully significant name for God. And where there is Truth, there also
is knowledge which is true .Devotion to this Truth is the sole justification for our existence. All
our activities should be centred in Truth. Truth should be the very breath of our life. But without
Truth it is impossible to observe any principles or rules in life.

Generally speaking, observation of the law of Truth is understood merely to mean that we must
speak the truth. But we in the Ashram should understand the word Satya or Truth in a much wider
sense. There should be Truth in thought, Truth in speech, and Truth in action. To the man who has
realized this Truth in its fulness, nothing else remains to be known, because all knowledge is
necessarily included in it. What is not included in it is not Truth, and so not true knowledge; and
there can be no inward peace without true knowledge

In this connection it would be well to ponder over the lives and examples of Harishchandra,
Prahlad, Ramachandra, Imam Hasan and Imam Husain, the Christian saints, etc. How beautiful it
would be, if all of us, young and old, men and women, devoted ourselves wholly to Truth in all
that we might do in our waking hours, whether working, eating, drinking or playing, till dissolution
of the body makes us one with Truth? God as Truth has been for me a treasure beyond price; may
He be so to every one of us.4

4
Political science,Dr S.R.Myneni,Allahabad law agency,pg no 535

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BRAHMACHARYA:-

The full and proper meaning of Brahmacharya is search of Brahman. Brahman pervades every
being and can therefore be searched by diving into and realizing the inner self. This realization is
impossible without complete control of the senses. Brahmacharya thus means control in thought,
word and action of all the senses at all times and in all places. A man or woman completely
practising Brahmacharya is absolutely free from passion. Such a one therefore lives nigh unto God,
is Godlike. I have no doubt that it is possible to practise such Brahmacharya in thought, word and
action to the fullest extent.

Brahmacharya literally means that mode of life which lead to the realization of God. That
realization is impossible without practicing self-restraint. Self-restraint means restraint of all the
senses. But ordinarily brahmacharya is understood to mean control of sexual organs and prevention
of seminal discharge through complete control over the sexual instinct and the sexual organs. This
becomes natural for the man who exercises self-restraint all round. It is only when observance of
brahmacharya becomes natural to one that he or she derives the greatest benefit from it. Such a
person should be free from anger and kindhearted passion. The so called brahmacharis, that one
generally comes across, behaves as if their one occupation in life was the display of bad temper.
Brahmacharya means control of all the organs of sense. He, who attempts to control only one organ
and allows all the others free play, is bound to find his effort futile.5To hear suggestive stories with
the ears, to see suggestive sights with the eyes, to taste stimulating food with the tongue, to touch
exiting things with the hands, and then at the same time expect to control the only remaining organ,
is like putting one's hands in a fire, and then expecting to escape being burnt. He, therefore, who
is resolved to control the one must be likewise determined to control the rest.

"We must entirely forget the incomplete definition which restricts itself to the sexual aspect only”

5
www.mkgandhi.org

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AHIMSA

Ahimsa means 'not to injure' and 'compassion' The word is derived from the Sanskrit root hiṃs –
to strike, hiṃsa is injury or harm, a-hiṃsā is the opposite of this, i.e. cause no injury, do no
harm.[4][5]Ahimsa is also referred to as Non Violence and it applies to all living beings—including
all animals—according to many Indian religions

With Gandhi, the notion of nonviolence attained a special status. He not only theorized on it, he
adopted nonviolence as a philosophy and an ideal way of life. He made us understand that the
philosophy of nonviolence is not a weapon of the weak; it is a weapon, which can be tried by all.
Nonviolence was not Gandhi’s invention. He is however called the father of nonviolence because
according to Mark Shepard, “He raised nonviolent action to a level never before achieved.”

Non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest
weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man. Destruction is not the law of the humans.
Man lives freely by his readiness to die, if need be, at the hands of his brother, never by killing
him. Every murder or injury, no matter for what cause, committed or inflicted on another is a crime
against humanity. Ahimsa is not the crude thing it has been made to appear. Not to hurt any living
things is no doubt a part of Ahimsa. But it is its least expression. The principle of Ahimsa is hurt
by every evil thought, by undue haste, by lying, by hatred, by wishing ill to anybody. It is also
violated by our holding on to what the world needs

At the root of Satya and Ahimsa is love. While making discourses on the Bhagavad-Gita, an author
says:
Truth, peace, righteousness and nonviolence, Satya, Shanti, Dharma and Ahimsa, do not exist
separately. They are all essentially dependent on love. When love enters the thoughts it becomes
truth. When it manifests itself in the form of action it becomes truth. When Love manifests itself

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in the form of action it becomes Dharma or righteousness. When your feelings become saturated
with love you become peace itself. The very meaning of the word peace is love. When you fill
your understanding with love it is Ahimsa. Practicing love is Dharma, thinking of love
is Satya, feeling love is Shanti, and understanding love is Ahimsa.

KHADI

khadi is a term for handspun and hand-woven cloth from mainly made out of cotton.

The cloth is usually woven from cotton and may also include silk, or wool, which are all spun into
yarn on a spinning wheel called a charkha

In India, Khadi is not just a cloth, it is a whole movement started by Gandhi. The Khadi movement
promoted an ideology, an idea that Indians could be self-reliant on cotton and be free from foreign
cloth and clothing

The journey of Khadi saw a major struggle for maintaining a balance between tradition and
modernity. Both these concepts played a pivotal role in shaping a new national identity for the
country. While tradition was indispensable for the nation to sustain its legitimacy and preserve the
culture, modern aspects of life could not be overlooked if the nation had to compete on a global
scale. Khadi was thus redefined in the following ways by its proponents which made the fabric
distinct and also added an element of flexibility to the idea of Khadi for it to sustain itself:

1. Khadi was seen as a presumably traditional product, as it was being produced by

traditional means and thus could be envisioned as a material artefact of the nation.
2. Moreover, Gandhian nationalists rendered Khadi a discursive concept by defining its
significance in terms of the contemporary politics and economics of swadeshi.
3. Finally and most importantly, Khadi became a visual symbol in the sense that it gave a
distinctiveness to Indian bodies by marking them exclusively in association with their
region, religion, class, group etc.

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Khadi has always evoked memories of India's great past before the British mills drove weavers
out of business and onto impoverished farms. Khadi thus serves as an appropriate example of
technology, independence and identity .Khadi shows how customary consumption logic of small
communities are intimately tied to larger regimes of value as defined and constructed by large-
scale politics.37 Gandhi actively encouraged people to interpret one another's clothes as a political
or personal belief. The result was that people became increasingly self-conscious about their public
image and found their clothing choices open to close scrutiny. Historians have emphasised the fact
that Khadi brought within its canopy the wealthy and the poor. This was certainly Gandhi's
intention and at some level he was successful. However, khadi itself had become diversified by
the fineness of its weave. We may conclude that if material culture is the primary focus of a study,
then human agency becomes the subject, for people manipulate objects such as clothes to define
themselves, and Khadi did exactly this.6

RELIGION:-

MAHATMA GANDHI AS a great leader has recognized the major religions of the world as
historical and cultural phenomena. Beyond these particular forms there is the religion of humanity
which is reflected as faith in the moral order. This religious belief, Gandhi held, is common to all
particular religions. He said: "The soul of religions is one, but it is encased in a multitude of forms."
For him, the moral order which governs the universe is Satya and the process by which life is
continued is ahimsa. All religions are nothing but appropriations of Satya under the condition of
cultural limitation and human finitude. Thus religions as cultural and historical phenomena are
more or less true. They are equal in the sense that no single religion has the absolute or exclusive
truth. He said: "Religions are different roads converging on the same point. What does it matter
that we take different roads as long as we reach the same goal? In reality, there are as many
religions as there are individuals7."According 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 a

6
shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/2719/9/09_chapter%202.pdf
7
L.S.rathhore,S.A.H.Haqqi, Political theory and organization,Eastern book company,pg no-153

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future life, in truth and ahimsa. He understood the fact that religion is a binding force which
ultimately calls "to accelerate the process of realization of fundamental unity. He gives a simile of
a faithful husband who would love no other woman. Even her faithlessness would not wean him
from his faith. The bond is more than blood relationship, so is the religious bond if it is worth
anything. It is a matter of the heart.

As we live in an environment of violence-culture, religious fundamentalism and fanaticism, it is

quite relevant to recall the words of Mahatma Gandhi: "My religion has no geographical limits.
My religion is based on truth and nonviolence. My religion forbids me to hate anybody. Religion
is not for separating people but to bind them.' That was Mahatma's religion, true Religion of Love
and Tolerance

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THE CONCEPT OF SATYAGRAHA

The main function of a Satyagraha is not to injure the enemy by any means. It is an appeal to the
enemy either through reason or by a gentle rational argument. It is something like a sacrifice of
the self. Satyagraha has two positive features, viz., it showers blessings on those who practice it
and secondly, it blesses those individuals against whom Satyagraha is practiced.

Techniques of Satyagraha:

Non-cooperation:
Gandhi was of the opinion that injustice prevails in the society only when both, the government
perpetuates and the people extend their cooperation. Once this cooperation is withdrawn, then the
entire system paralyses. It is widely accepted that even the most despotic leader cannot continue
for long if he lacks the consent of his subjects. Non-cooperation is, therefore, one of the weapons
of Satyagraha to force the unjust and immoral power to rectify his mistakes. The main goal of non-
cooperation is to strike the imagination of people as well as the social ostracism. The social
ostracism is a kind of social boycott against those who defy public opinion. Gandhi suggested in
a limited sense, picketing as another weapon that relies on the force of public opinion. Non-
cooperation cannot be regarded as a negative creed, but it is very much a positive philosophy of
constructive and social development.8

Civil Disobedience:
According to Gandhi, civil disobedience is an effective and bloodless substitute for the armed
revolt. This is another method of violating the established order of the state in a non-violent and

8
http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/essay/satyagraha-essay-on-gandhis-concept-of-satyagraha/40288/

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peaceful fashion. However, necessary care has to be taken to make the entire act more sincere,
respectful and principled.

It should never be carried out with ill-will and hatred. It needs careful planning and practice and
without this the entire act might lose its vitality and significance. Those who practice civil
disobedience, according to Gandhi, must ensure that the violence and general lawlessness would
not break out as it could disturb the peaceful environment in society.9

Hijrat:
Etymologically, the term implies voluntary exile from ones permanent place of habitation. One of
the main reasons for the people to resort to Hijrat is when they feel oppressed either due to loss of
self-respect or honourable living; they attempt to migrate permanently to other places. In simple
terms, it is a protest against the oppressor. Gandhi suggested this measure to the Harijans mainly
due to their oppression, especially by the dominant classes in some places.

The Chaura Chauri incident prior to independence was a valid example of the Harijans and the
Dalits who have taken the route of permanent exile as a form of their protest. Hijrat is, therefore,
another non-violent method of protest that attempts to make the oppressor realize his inhuman and
unjust acts of behaviour against the poor, the weak, just and innocent people.

Fasting:
This was another strong weapon suggested by Gandhi in his non-violent struggle for freedom.
However, he was clear that this act of fasting must not be used as and when, and at every occasion.
He stated that unwarranted use of the device would lose its importance, and for this reason he
suggested that it must be sparingly used.

9
Political science by DR.S.R.Myneni,pg no -539

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Gandhi was of the opinion that those who are spiritually fit and have purity of mind and thought,
humility, discipline and faith should alone undertake fasting. It should not be viewed as the
physical stamina, but the spiritual content of fasting that gives it greater significance and
credibility.

Gandhi also expressed the opinion that if those who have no moral character undertake fast for
either legitimate or illegitimate purpose, they would only devalue the act. He, therefore, suggested
that the technique must be used with great caution and restraint.

Strike:
The last device a Satyagraha uses is the strike demanding justice for legitimate cause as well as
the redressal of grievances. Strike is considered a voluntary suffering undertaken for the
transformation of the erring opponent. Gandhi was not in favor of Marxist principle of class war
and forceful takeover of the means of production from the bourgeoisie.

He was of the opinion that a firm or an industry is like a trust either under the capitalists and the
labour. A strike is meant to end injustice, inefficiency, corruption and short-sightedness of the
capitalists. However, in strikes adequate care has to be taken to ensure that it remains non-violent
as well as peaceful and makes their demands meaningful, just and feasible.

Therefore, it can be stated that Satyagraha is a weapon for justifying individual rights as against
the oppressive, coercive attitude of the Britishers. Gandhi initially used this weapon in South
Africa and owing to its success there, he applied the same in India during the freedom struggle.
His firm belief in two mighty weapons, namely, Satya and Ahimsa, made it clear to the entire
world that the path of righteousness and justice would one day make anybody or any nation
powerful on the earth.

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TRUSTEESHIP

Trusteeship is a socio-economic philosophy that was propounded by Gandhi. It provides a means

by which the wealthy people would be the trustees of trusts that looked after the welfare of the
people in general. This concept was condemned by socialists as being in favor of the landlords,
feudal princes and the capitalists, opposed to socialist theories.

Gandhi believed that the rich people could be persuaded to part with their wealth to help the poor.
Putting it in Gandhiji's words "Supposing I have come by a fair amount of wealth – either by way
of legacy, or by means of trade and industry – I must know that all that wealth does not belong to
me; what belongs to me is the right to an honourable livelihood, no better than that enjoyed by
millions of others. The rest of my wealth belongs to the community and must be used for the
welfare of the community." Gandhiji along with his followers, after their release from the prison
formulated a "simple" and a "practical" formula where Trusteeship was explained.

Trusteeship is the very stuff of life, the material of which life is made because life ultimately
consists of relationships. There is no life without relationship. Relationship is the essence of life
and trusteeship is calculated to promote relationship among men whose interests and whose roles
seem to be conflicting. That, to my mind, is the very fundamental truth about trusteeship. So
trusteeship is the very condition of our existing together

Trusteeship was Gandhiji's peculiar contribution to the technique of social change. He called it
"the technique of change of heart."

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CONCLUSION

Gandhi was a moral revolutionary .He felt that satyagraha could revolutionise social ideals. The
twin princples of his thought were truth and non violence.He was greatest exponent of the theory
and practice of nonviolence. He stood for the sovereignty of the moral authority of the people.

Gandhi’s views could at best be criticized from the angle of idealism. Critics may even style his
theory as utopian and impracticable. But Gandhi aimed to reform the individual and society. The
strength of Gandhi lies not in preaching but putting his ideas into practice.

That is why Dr.Rajendra Prasad once said “ What made Gandhi almost unique among leaders of
men was his capacity to harmonise and coordinate widely different, and sometimes even opposite
point of view.The greatest contribution of politics, and hence, Gandhi is dead, long live
Gandhism.”10

10
L.S.rathhore,S.A.H.Haqqi, Political theory and organization,Eastern book company,pg no-156

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books:-

Political science by S.R.Myneni

Political theory and organization by L.S.Rathore,H.A.S.Haggi

Websites:-

www.gandhism.org

www.mkgandhi.org

www.yourarticallibrary.com

www.wikipedia.org

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