Trevor Allis

SYBA Philo II
Notes/Gandhi
M. K. Gandhi’s Philosophy of Sarvodaya
In his autobiography Gandhi mentions “the magic spell of a book” that was to change his life
forever, this was the well-known British writer John Ruskin’s “Unto This Last” Gandhi translated
this book into Gujarati and titled it Sarvodaya which means Welfare of All or Universal Welfare.
Gandhi summarized the essential idea of Ruskin’s book in three lines
1. The good of the individual is contained in the good of all
2. A lawyer’s work has the same value as that of the barber’s
3. The life of artisans and farmers is worth living
There is great merging between sarvodaya and utilitarianism: both seek the common good.
However, they are different in that utilitarianism aims at the ‘greatest happiness for the
greatest number of people’, sarvodaya aims at the ‘upliftment of ALL’, not just the majority.
Sarvodaya therefore rejects utilitarianism on the following grounds
(a) utilitarianism is concerned with good/justice for the greatest number, it disregards
individual or minority rights in favour of the majority; sarvodaya on the other hand aims
at distributive justice based on equity. Sarvodaya takes into account the welfare of all in
the sense of reaching out to least privileged (women), the downtrodden (poor and
destitute) and the oppressed (dalits) in society.
(b) Utilitarianism could justify employing immoral and illegitimate means to attain the
‘greatest happiness’ – the ends justify the means; on the other hand, sarvodaya treats
the means as important as the ends. It encourages the employment of spiritual and
moral methods (ahimsa, satyagraha and civil disobedience) to bring about greater
welfare in society.
(c) Utilitarianism would never recommend that an individual sacrifice his life for the
common good; the true believer of sarvodaya must be ready, if required, to give up his
life for the greater good.
Gandhi was not a theoretical philosopher; he admitted that he was inconsistent in many of his
ideas but that did not bother him. As an activist, social reformer and political leader ACTION
was more important than being consistent in THEORY. Sarvodaya was not a theoretical concept
or idea that Gandhi wished to convince others about. The goal of sarvodaya was a practical goal:
the vision of a just social order, similar to Karl Marx’s idea of a Classless Society and Plato’s idea
of a Republic.
The ideal of sarvodaya incorporated several dimensions
(a) Social: to abolish existing social distinctions between persons based on class, caste, religion,
etc
(b) Economic: to minimize the economic disparity between rich and poor,
(c) Political: the decentralization of political power and decision making to the grassroots
(villages)
(d) Moral: the practice of non-violence, truth and civil disobedience
(e) Spiritual: realization of oneness with ultimate reality
Let us take a closer look at the philosophy of sarvodaya by addressing the following two
questions:
(a) What are the underlying assumptions of sarvodaya?
(b) How does Gandhi plan to bring about the social order envisaged under sarvodaya?
 Trevor Allis
SYBA Philo II
Notes/Gandhi
Spiritual Assumptions of Sarvodaya: Underlying Gandhi’s vision of an equitable and just society
were spiritual and moral assumptions. The spiritual basis of sarvodaya is contained in the
following (contentious) assumptions:-
1. Everything there is in the universe is created by God and therefore belongs to God. [The
assumption implies the rejection of the concept of private property including the
rejection of Capitalism]
2. Man is essentially a spiritual and moral being. [The assumption implies that we ought to
pay more attention to moral and spiritual development than to physical development]
3. Service to God is service to poor. [The assumption implies that religion is not about
rituals, sacrifices, idol worship, etc.]
Moral assumptions of Sarvodaya: Each of these assumptions has a significant practical
implication. It demands a certain way of life. This takes us to the moral basis of Sarvodaya.
1. Sarvodaya preaches renunciation which has a two-fold meaning. First, one must take
only what is necessary for the continuance of life, to lay claim to anything more than
what is needed is greed. Second, one must be steadfast in performance of one’s duty
without attachment or desire for the fruits of the action.
2. Means are more important than the ends. Ends no matter how noble do not justify
wrong means. [And what are those means?]
3. Satyagraha and ahimsa are the twin guiding principles of all our actions. An end achieved
through deceit and violence diminishes the moral worth of that end.
Having outlined the spiritual and moral assumptions of Sarvodaya, Gandhi proceeds to put it
into action. According to Gandhi, the ideal of Sarvodaya can be put into practice through
implementation of a Socialist ideology.
Gandhi’s Socialism
Though socialism in its origins is a 19 th century western concept, Gandhi’s version of it is
developed to suit the Indian social and economic conditions. As an economic ideology, Socialism
stands in opposition to Capitalism.
Goals or values of socialism vis-à-vis capitalism
1. The incentive to work hard in a capitalist economy is the individual good. In a socialist
economy, the incentive to work hard is to contribute to the common good [thus the
need for Trade Unions]
2. Capitalism encourages and fosters competition; socialism, on the other hand,
encourages co-operation.
3. The factors of production are in the hands of the capitalists whose primary aim is
maximization of profit For socialists, the primary aim is welfare maximization.
4. Capitalism is based on the institution of private property. Socialism believes that wealth
is produced by the collective effort and should therefore be owned by community, not
by private individuals. Socialism recommends state ownership or public ownership of
national resources.
Critique of Capitalism: It is important to emphasize that Gandhi is not against the capitalists or
the industrialists as such for he recognizes their contribution to the creation, retaining and
increasing the amount of wealth. His problem with the capitalist and capitalism is:
 Trevor Allis
SYBA Philo II
Notes/Gandhi
(a) The emphasis on private ownership of property breeds inequality. So the only way to
abolish inequality, he believed, was to abolish private property.
(b) The emphasis on private property was interpreted to mean that capitalists can choose to
do whatever they wish with their property.
(c) Their sole aim capitalism is maximization of profit at the cost of the exploitation of the
poor; this in turn generates poverty, social inequality and conflicts.
(d) Production is determined by personal greed, not social necessity.
(e) It relies heavily on Industrialization which leads to the exploitation of the environmental
resources.
His basic principle is “Earth provides enough to satisfy everyman’s need but not for everyman’s
greed”. This links up with the moral assumption of renunciation (Take only what you need)
Trusteeship: From the above we can see that Gandhi was trying to spiritualize and moralize
economics. He attempts to achieve this though the idea of Trusteeship. A ‘trust’ is a group or
association of persons who manage and administer the use of property, money, etc. on the
behalf of another person or group of persons. A trustee is any such individual person. He based
the concept of Trusteeship on the first verse (sloka) of the Hindu sacred text, the Isopanishad,
according to which, one is asked to dedicate everything to God, and then use it only to the
required extent. Gandhi’s idea of Trusteeship arose from his faith in the ‘law of non-possession’.
What Gandhi is suggesting then is that capitalists – i.e. the owners of industries, businesses, etc
– hold and manage the wealth generated from their business for the larger benefit of the
society. This being so, it becomes the capitalist’s moral duty to return it to the society.
Convincing the industrialist to become trustees is not going to be easy at all. But it is not
impossible.
If the capitalist were persuaded that everything belonged to God, he would surrender his
acquisitions to God.
If he were persuaded that service to God is service to the poor, he would share his wealth with
the poor and needy.
If he were persuaded that means are more important than ends, he would not exploit the
working class
If he believed in self-discipline and self-restraint, he would take only what is needed.
Many commentators on Gandhi’s philosophy have remarked that trusteeship is not very
different from Marx’s communism. However, that is not necessary.
(a) Marxian communism was an idea that resulted from the industrial revolution – the
harsh, poor and inhuman working conditions. Gandhi’s theory of trusteeship emerged
against the background of British colonialism.
(b) Marxian socialism aims at the destruction of the capitalist class, where as the Gandhian
approach is not to destroy the institution but to reform it.
(c) Man, to Gandhi, is essentially an ethical-spiritual being and secondarily a socio-economic
being. For Marx, man is essentially and only a social and economic being.
(d) The most significant difference between Marx and Gandhi lies in the method they
recommend to achieve their goal. Marx does not rule out the use of violence, if need be,
to achieve the goal of a classes society. Gandhi’s method was strict non-violence.
 Trevor Allis
SYBA Philo II
Notes/Gandhi
Basically, Gandhi suggested Trusteeship as an answer to the economic inequalities of ownership
and income, a kind of non-violent way of resolving all social and economic conflicts prevalent in
the world. Therefore, man’s dignity, and not his material prosperity, is the centre of Gandhian
economics. Gandhian economics aims at an equitable distribution of material prosperity,
keeping only human dignity in view. Thus economics is dominated more by moral values.
Trusteeship is the basis on which one can work out an ideal combination of economics and
morality. In concrete form, the Trusteeship formula reads as follows:
1. Trusteeship provides a means of transforming the present capitalist order into an
egalitarian one.
2. It does not recognize any right of private ownership of property, except so far as it may
be permitted by society for its own welfare.
3. It does not exclude legislation of the ownership and use of wealth.
4. Under State-regulated Trusteeship, an individual will not be free to hold or use his
wealth for selfish satisfaction, in disregard of the interests of society.
5. Just as in the case of a decent minimum living wage, a limit should be fixed for the
maximum income that would be allowed to any person in society. The difference
between such minimum and maximum incomes should be reasonable and equitable and
variable from time to time, so much so that the tendency should be towards the
obliteration of the difference.
6. Under such an economic order, the character of production will be determined by social
necessity and not by personal greed.
Though this kind of socialism is difficult to achieve, Gandhi advocated it as he believed in the
basic strength of the goodness of man and the value of morals. All other “isms” address the
problem superficially, whereas Trusteeship strikes it at the root. As man advances from a
narrow sphere of personal satisfaction to the nobler concept of Universal Welfare (sarvodaya),
he marches closer towards self-realization.

Questions:
1. Highlight the spiritual and moral assumptions underlying Gandhi’s vision of sarvodaya.
2. In what respects does sarvodaya differ from utilitarianism on the one hand and Marx’s
goal of socialism on the other
3. What does Gandhi find objectionable about capitalism? What are his suggestions to
reform/humanize capitalism?
4. What is trusteeship? Comment on the practicality of trusteeship as a solution to the
socio-economic inequalities in India