Communism and Geeta - DR Hs Sinha

A New Look at Communism 17
because they failed the external material objects as the

to grasp
mater alization' of human activity. In the lst Thesis on Feuerbach,
Marx writes: "The chief defect of all materialism upto now (includ-
ing Feuerbach's) is that the object, reality, what we apprehend
is understood the form of the 'object' or
only in
through our senses
Sense pe rception' but not as sensuous human activity, as practice,
the active
not subjectively. Hence in opposition to materialism,
does
side was developed abstractly by idealism, which, of course,
It is evident
not kno w the real sensuous activity as such.
that Marx did not enter into the arena to side with those who try
terms of the sub-atomic
to understand the external world either in
entities or of the sense-data. Nor he entered into such meta-
'sensuous objects'
physical superfluities as or distinguishing the
from the 'objects of thought'. For him, the 'practical activity
man', distinguished from the cognitive activity,
of as
was the real material reality', which the materialist should

take into account. Obviously, this activity includes man's subjecti-
well. Marx makes his position clear when he says
more
vity as
that Feuerbach's error was the failure to comprehend "the sensuous
world as the total living sensuous activity of the individuals com-
posing it.57 The classical and the mechanical materialists would not
agree to this position of Marx because here Marx is clearly asserting
that the material world is the materialization of human activity, the
externalization of 'humanity'. The idealists, if they like, can own
Marx because of his emphasis on the 'subjectivity', the "human
activity, but the only thing that has turned him to the camp of
materialists is his conviction that 'of course in all this, the priority
of external nature remains unassailed.38
From the above statements of Marx, it becomes clear that
the term 'materialism' in the philosophy of Marx does not have a
physical, mechanical or physiological connotation. It is only indi-
cative of an approach to the understanding of human history, in
contradistinction with the idealist approach. This approach is
reflected in the various writings of Marx. For example, at one
place, he says, "Man who is fundamentally a productive being,
produces mentally as well as materíally. As a worker he produces
non-cor ceptual objects in the course of "material life-process',
material activity', or 'mater.al production of life'.s9 Marx wanted
that this productive aspect of man which is for him the 'real life
Communism and Git
18
of man' must be given
process or 'practical developmental process
the human history. He, therefore,
priority in understanding that
materialism was
stressed that the fundamental principle of his
life is not determined by consciousness, but consciousness by
life.0 By this principle of materialism Marx wanted to emphasize
think or even cannot live without producing

the
that man cannot
is re-asserted at
material means of his existence. This position
another place where he says, "The mode of production of material1
life conditions the social, political and intellectual life process in
determines their
general. It is not the consciousness of man that
being, but on the contrary their social being that determines their
consciousness. These passages are indicative of his approach to
materialism that the practical aspect of life is prior to cognitive and
speculative aspect and that the role of man producing his means
of existence should be given priority in understanding the whole
course of human history.
Dynamics of Marx's materialism consists of a new approach to
the thinking about the laws operating in human history. This ap-
proach may be called 'dialectical'. Marx and Engels employed the
terms 'dialectic and 'dialectical method' in a substantive as well
as methodological sense. Elaborating what this actually meant
to them, Engels writes, "Thereby the dialectic of concepts itse!f
became more conscious retlex of the "dialectic motion of the real
world' and thus the dialectic of Hegel was placed
upon its head;
or rather off its head, on which it was
standing and placed upon
its feet."62 According to this, 'dialectical' is the
mode of the
movement of human history. The whole
process of human history
is moving
accordingto the dialectical
principle and, therefore,
the correct understanding of man's practical life on this earth can
come only if the laws of dialectical
operation are fully grasped.
It is the law ofmotion of human history. That is the
his materialism is called 'historical
reason that
materialism'.
Surprisingly enough, the expression "dialectical materialism' has
nowhere been used by Marx himself for his materialism. This
word was used
by Engels in his book Anti-Duhring and his
umous book Dialectics of Nature, presumably in his bid toposth-
link
the movement in human history with the
It was his bid to extend the
movements in nature.
hypothesis of the motion of man's
history to whole universe but this bid did not find much favour.
Now the Soviet communist writers on communism like

T. Borodulina, D. Chesnokov, G. Glezerman and G. Kursanov etc.,
in their writings continuously use the word 'historical materialism'
to denote the philosophical theory of Marx whereas the word
Dialectical Materialism' has become more prevalent in non-
communist writers on Marxism.
Without entering into this controversy, we should have no
objection in agreeing with Marx that 'dialectic' is a way of seeing
and understanding the history that takes the 'practical develop-
mental process as the primary datum and human thought process
as its reflex. Marx claimed it to be a radically new and unprece
dented way of thinking. He writes, "In the whole conception of
history upto the present, this real basis of history has either been
totally neglected or else considered as a minor matter quite irrele-
vant to the course of history."63 Thus speaking, the material basis
of the transcendence of man's alienated existence is to conceive
the human history as 'the world-creating activity' of mankind or
the "human activity of material production. It is in this sense only
that philosophy of communism may be more appropriately called
Historical Materialism.
Ethics of Communism
Marx came forward to attack the institutionalized preaching of
morality in his Manifesto. He advocates that, "Law, morality,
religion are to him (to labourer), so many bourgoise prejudices
behind which lurk in ambush just as many bourgoise interests.4
This statement of Marx, detached from its contextual significance
has often been quoted to show that communism has no concern
with morality. For example, Walter Kolarz holds Com-
munism does not know any morality per se and their morality is
liable to be changed with the shift in political and sociological
situation.65 But such an assessment of communism seems to be
based on superficial understanding. The indignation expressed by
Marx towards the ethical thinkers seems to be directed against
those who were vainly wasting their efforts in searching for the
meanings of ethical predicates instead of guiding the suffering
humanity out of the crisis. He expressed his irm conviction in
VIII and XI Theses on Feuerbach, wherein he said that "social
life is essentially practical," and "that philosophers have only
interpreted the world in various ways; the point, however, is to
Conimunism and Gita
20
all theoretical
wants to reject
shows that Marx
change it."E6 This of human conduct, as
discussions about the practical problems
moral theory
Marx avoided laying down an explicit
mere pedantary. the moralist
of
distrustful
because he hated preaching. "Deeply was reluctant
water and drinks wine, Marx
who usually preaches The principles of
ethical convictions explicitly.
to formulate his needed no dis-
matters that
and decency were for him
humanity
cussion-matters to be taken for
granted."*
to remove the misconception
Other Marxist thinkers also try
ccmmunist doctrine. *"In combat
about the ethical negativism in
sentimenta> moralizing'", says
the of ineffective and
ing excesses
that soon after his
Hook "Marx leaned so far backward
Sidney
death the myth became current that
he had no place for any ethics
in his philosophy of social activity."68
ethics in its conventional
Marx has not given any theory of
writers are correct in their
assessment
sense. Nevertheless, these
show that he was less
because the earlier writings of Marx clearly
moral thinker. His morality
of a social scientist and more of a
passes beyond the customary
level of searching for the inspiration
conviction that the
in scriptures. He, on the other hand, had a
criticism of religion ends with the precept that the supreme being
for man is man. His tone and emphasis is so much moralising
secularization of
that Buber saw in communism the socialist
communism
eschatology."5 Let us examine the moral doctrines of
in details.
Dissatisfaction with the Present form of Existence :
While analysing the content of Das Capital, it has already been
shown in great details that to Mark the present life, the life as it
existed in the age of capitalism, is full of misery and pains. Poverty
and exploitation are rampant in this world. Marx advocated that
this dehumanizing state is to be transcended in order to enter into
the realm of ideal existence, communism, which is free from all
human miseries.0 Such a despair over the hopeless disorder of earth
is the starting point of almost all the ameliorative disciplines,
Buddhism being foremost in them, of which the first Noble Truth is
sarvam dukham. It has also been shown that throughout the Das
Capital, Marx seems to be obsessed with a moral vision of reality
and a vision of this world as an arena of conflict between the forces
of good and evil. This attitude is typical of moral philosophies.
A New LooK at Communism
Nature of Evil
Writing the Introduction in 1843, Marx put forth the idea
that "human nature possesses no reality, that man exists
in this world as 'Unmensch' (Unman)."71 It was in this context
that Marx came to conclude that 'in sum, the proletariat is
a class that represents the complete loss of man and can only
regain itself, therefore, by the complete resurrection of man.* Here
complete loss of man' signifies the 'totally alienated 'man' who
does not know his real nature, does not know that he is 'man'
and he 'ought' to exist as 'man'. Marx reasserted the same thing
that man, the real man was deprived of the minimum that is
required for calling him as human being. According to the picture
of this 'unman' given by Marx, ""none of his senses exist any
longer and not only in his human fashion, but in an inhuman
fashion and therefore, not even in an inhuman fashion."3 Clearly
Marx had an image of man as to what he 'could be' and therefore,
he 'ought to be'. But he saw that in actual existence it was a far
cry from that image. This dehumanization of man was a conse
quence of alienation.
Thus Marx reached the conclusion that alienation is the prime
evil. Man is fighting to finish this debasing condition. Summa-
rizing the efforts made by various predecessors, Marx himself
pointed out that "the philosophers have conceived the whole
historical process as a process of self-alienation of man. 74 Once
this evil was apprehended, Marx tried to search for this evil in the
economic and political life of man. To develop the idea of 'aliena-
tion' as a social phenomenon as related to the practical life of man
was an original contribution of Marx. Even Engels has confessed
this fact. He says: "What I contributed, Marx could very well
have done without me. What Marx accomplished, I would not
have achieved. 75
This great achievement was the application of the concept of

alienation' to the field of political and economic activity of man.
In political field the State and in economic feld the division of
labour are the expressions of the alienation. Once the evil that
cause dehumanization of man was so clearly detected, it was easy
to wipe it out from the practical life. Accordingly, Marx started
working out the effective methods for that. Thus speaking, his
ethics is the ethics of finishing the alienated existence of man and
a
22 Communism and Gt
an ethics of man's return to himself as real man'. This is really

a revolutionary novelty of Marx to have brought forth the real
nature of human sufferings. Man suffcrs a torture of his existence
when he is alienated. Marx might have taken the idea of "aliena
tion' from old psychiatry where it meant 'loss of personal identity'.
The great psychiatrists of the day subscribe to this symptomatology
of mental sickness, that pathological personality has the feeling
of not being a moving force in his own life. According to Dr.
Karen Horney, the patient feels as if all his activities are
performed with a feeling. '1 am driven, instead of being a
driver. 76
Marx's description of a religious man as well as of the alienated

labour is the same as are the symptoms of severe alienation in
neurotic persons. Therapists of Freudian/Jungian school also find
their patients complaining that some unknown forces
their life, but in the last analysis these forces
are driving
come out to be the
psycho-dynamics of their own 'unconscious'. They are alienated
from their own unconscious which is
the ground of their own
being. This is the most original and humanistic
of Marx, contribution
highly significant
in understanding the suffering of
the modern man, that Marx borrowed this idea of
existence from psychiatry and made it alienated
a social
humanity. Such diagnosis of man's anxiety is problem of
other humanistic corroborated by
philosophies
thinkers a'so confirm that 'modern
of this age. The
existentialist
man's alienation is the central
problem."7 Heidegger lauds this contribution of
says "because Marx through his Marx when he
man, is aware of a experience of alienation of modern
fundamental dimension of
view of history is
superior to all history, the Marxist
other views.78
The
dehumanizing effect of alienation in all
practical life, has been walks of
elaborately worked out by Marx man's
philosophical
from
communism. When the worker in his
bis own nature, he becomes alienated
starts
duction as an experiencing the process of
to Marx, "he oppressive activity, as a loss of
freedom.
pro-
his animal
no
longer feels himself to be According
function-eating, freely active in any but
human functions drinking, procreating. And in his
he no longer feels
animal.7 Certainly eating, himself to be
drinking, anything but an
genuinely human functions. But what Marx procreating etc., are also
wants to lay stress on
is that these are the activities which serve man to realize his
dignity. If these are performed for their own sake then in the abs-
traction which separates them from the sphere of all other human
activity and turns them into sole and ultimate ends, these are
animal activities and these make a man no better than animals.
It means that alienated man as
worker, becomes something less
than human, for he is separated from his potential human
qualities. He is deprived of his humanity and he exists as 'unman'.
This happens under capitalism when man becomes increasingly
alienated from himself.
After analysing the facts of the
political economy, Marx raised
a
pertinent problem as to whom this alien
ectivity belongs and
who is the being whom the
other than himself. After a
working considers as a being
man
long deliberation on the issue, Marx
comes to the conclusion that
'the other' is not God as the
thinkers conceived falsely, but it can be religious
man himself. He
ed the idea saying
that, "not the god, not nature but express-
himself can be this alien only man
power over man. It
apprehended as another man outside himself, can be himself
hostile powerful man, i.e., and alien,
he called independent of him, a non-worker."30
Him
capitalist. Accordingly, when
humanity splits into two warring' capitalism prevails, the
opposite class as "the other'. This means classes, each considering the
modes of existcnce, the that under
whole humanity capitalist
mental sickness of the kind becomes a victim of
wanders on this carth described by Karen
alienated from his own real Horney Man
worker, who has totally been nature. A
nization, a proleterian devoid of alienated is a
non-man, a dehuma-
essential one, viz., the every human
productivity. To relieve
property save the
torture of humanity of this
alienation, the conditions under
dehumanized, will have to be removed which man has been
thus emerges in
Marxian account as the once for all. Alienation
and has to be done
away with
great problem of mankind,
Concept of Man
To understand
the real
must also know what
Marx means
significance of
alienation, one
onee
from which man by 'real' huna.n
feels alienated nature
according to the under capitalist society. Man,
ive description of Marx,
being, creator,
a is
fundamentally
and material a
produc-
production is the basic form of
Communism and Gzi
24
produced.
which other non-material forms are
his productivity, on
Mankind is endowed with a multitude of creative capacities, facul
ties ard drives which seek outlet in productive activity. Marx verily
called them his 'essential powers', his 'vital powers',

productive
in this context, the whole
powers and 'productive forces'. Seen
exoteric unfolding of
history of industry is, as Marx says, *"The
human essential powers and it is so understood, the human essence
of nature and natural essence of man are also understood."1
Accordingly, Marx tells us, ""the 'nature that develops in

as
human history and in the history of industrial progress is the real
nature of man."32 It is clear from this explanation of human nature
that man by nature is progressive and in exercising his faculties
on the inert nature, he goes on expressing his real essence. It
implies that 'the p:actical production of an objective word, the
working up of inorganic nature, is the expression of man as a
conscious species being. Marx tells us very clearly that "it is in
the working up of the objective world, therefore, that man first
really proves himself as a species being. This production is his
practical species life."83 Here the position of Marx becomes clear.
What he wants to convey is that man proves his authenticity of
existence when he is 'producing'. The nature that has progressed
around, is nothing but the objectified form of his own productive
activity, the projection of, the exteraalization of his "essence'. But
this productivity required unfcttered freedom. It is this fr
edom,
i.e., freedom to express and externalize his 'essence', which differ-
entiates man from the animals. The animal
he is dominated by his immediate
produces only when
physical needs. But man, as
Marx holds, ""can produce even when he is free from
and only truly produces in freedom physical need
therefrom."84
This process is reversed under the
condition of alienated
labour where man's whole conscious
being and life activity, 'his
essential being becomes a mere means to his
pro luces only to continue his existence, under the existence', and he
physical needs. This is the pressure of his
humanity in
existence in which only poor classbondage.
state of It is
not the
is under
the evil of alienation binds the whole bondage but
Marx himself points out: "It is not humanity in his snares.
the worker, but the non-
worker as well who is subject to the
conditions of alienation.
Bverything, which appears in the worker,
as an
activity of aliena-
Communism 25
ANew Look at
state of
in the non-worker, as a
tion, of estrangement, appears
alienation, of estrangement."35 Thus, under the dehumanizing
aliena
conditions of capitalism, the entire world becomes a field of
coes not allow the
tion. It is because the capitalist system
freedom to produce for the expression
of human nature, but
remains something else.
under it, the sole motive of production
The worker produces for his subsistence only. He produces
belly and for the
because he is to earn wages for filling his own
survival of his family.

of profit
his
The capitalist produces, under the sway
of surplus value and the
motive. His motive is the appropriation
one is free to realize his
satisfaction of his acquisitive mania. No
do not allow
real essence because the modes of capitalist economy
of man's nature.
the production for the sake of the projection
is sacrificed for the
When, therefore, the freedom of production
alienated from his
sake of limited motives, man feels estranged and
stands
essence. Thus, under capitalism, the whole humanity
alienated.
Nature of Human Bondage and Release :
Marx found the
Why does man become victim of alienation ?
the 'self-
ground or cause of alienation in the aggrandizing tendency,
Like an
infinitizing movement' in man, which he named 'Capital'.
ardent spokesman of non-attachment, he disdained the tendency of
U
acquisitiveness (Isan). Tucker rightly brings forth the position of
Marx. "Man is alienated from himself when he produces under the
tendencies
compulsion of egoistic need."6 So long as these egoistic
are dominant in him, his productive living has been a realm of
alienated labour. His activity has never been 'self-activity' by which
Marx means free creativity in which a person feels thoroughly at
home with himself and experiences his energies as his own. Explain-
ing the dynamics of human bondage, Marx explains: "the material
world around us is a materialisation of man's productive labour in
history. The world so created confronts its creators as an alien world
and a gigantic fetters upon them. Thus man's own deed becomes
an alien power opposed to him, instead of being controlled by
him.87 From such pronouncements of Marx, it becomes evicent that
under the influence of his own egoistic needs, man becomes slave
of the objects of his gratification. On this consideration, it can be
inferred that the forces of selfishness, egoistic needs, and greed are
a
Communism and Gua
26
dehumanized and
the main ingredients working behind man's
however,
alienated existence in the world as it exists. Popper,
on greed in
cautions us here not to search for too much emphasis
would say that
communism. He says that "the vulgar Marxists
Marx revealed hidden motives of greed and lust for material gain
behind the scene of human history, but Marx interpreted greed'
and profit motive as 'symptom' of the corruptive influence of
social system. "s8
Popper's assessment about the role of the forces of greed does
not appear to be correct. Marx is very clear on this point. Man can
look towards the objects of his creation either as a producer or as
a consumer. As producer, he can enjoy them as the expression of
his creativity'. This sort of enjoyment does not attach him to the
objects. But when he acts as consumer, he uses these objects as the
objects of his sensuous gratification'. It is this attitude of 'gratifica-
tion' that makes him dependent on the object and
puts on embargo
on his freedom. Had he not utilized these
object with the tendency
of gratification, he would not have become bound to
these things.
Thus speaking, the history of
production or externalisation is a
history of man's self-alienation.
According to Marx, "Man in history reifies himself in an
objective world of material things. He becomes object to himself in
this way and looks at himself in
a world that he has created. In
doing so, the objects, in which he has externalized
him as 'alien
beings' and what he sees when he looks at
himself, confront
the vast himself in
aggregate of these objects is an 'alien and
standing over against him."89 This is an hostile' world
Marx prefers to call it experience of bondage.
What a lofty moral
'object bondage'.0
mankind! In creating predicament Marx has placed before
the economic
gratification, man creates fetters upon goods
him.
for the
This
purpose of his
process of production under the
sway of profit takes
implies that the
loss and servitude to the object. In the form of 'a
mode of production advances, the more fact, the more the
capitalist
producers become. This
degeneration impoverished
takes place when
the real
treated not as a man but as an
Marx wants to lay object. The main point, onman is
emphasis, is that in which
objects, which are produced, become capitalism the material
worker himself. treated on a
Marx asserts that "the par with the
worker becomes an ever
cheaper 'commodity'. The devaluation of the human world increases
in direct relation with the increase in value of the world of
things."I No body would raise any doubt that this state, from
moral point of view, is highly undesirable state when 'man' is
treated just like 'a commodity' and most often his valuc is reckoned
less than the objects that he has created. This is an evil state of
existence.
Further according to Marx, the lust for accumulating money
keeps man bound to this present state of existence, capitalist society,
which is the dehumanized form of existence. When man becomes a
slave of the objects of his own creation, he wants to
reincorporate
them into himself in order to finish the 'otherness'. Thus a desire
to
own the objects
privately develops. In order to fulfil this desire,
the
objects are converted into money and into private property. But as
soon as the money comes into market and
into existence, it becomes itself a
private property comes
great source of human fall, his
degradation and his bondage. Condemning the lust for money as
something debasing, dehumanizing and the of bondage, Marx
source
writes, "Money is the alienated essence of man's work and his
being. This alien being rules over him and he worships it."32 When
a man is under the domination of
egoistic needs. he can act in a
practical way and create objects
practically only by subordinating
these products as well as his
activity to the power of this alien being,
viz., money. The attitude of Marx shows that
he thinks money to
be the source of human
misery
in his writings is that Marx
and his bondage. The notable thing
the worship of this
speaks money as the alien being and
of
'worldly god' as an evil that alienates man
from himself. It means that a
man in
the externalised bondage worships money as
potentiality of mankind andas an
almighty being,
which, according to the belief of the
upon its possessor. Marx
greedy, confers unlimited power
contemptuously quotes some passages
from Timons of Athens, in which
is yellowglittering. precious gold
apostrophied as
"Thou visible God'.83 This
reflects his indignation
for all those who make
money the sole motive of their life.
These are the
capitalists. Unmistakably the
also under
bondage of their dehumanized andcapitalists are
are
degenerated
mentality. degenerated
This sort of
the
indignation of the egoistic and profit motive
dominating note of communism in contrast to the
was
political
s
Communism and Gita
28
economy of his times. Marx reacted sharply to Adam Smith's
economists of his day
He took task
The Wealth of Nations. wealth ad
amass infinitum
forbelieving that the drive t0 which case money WAs
Was
e
'ethic' implicit in political economy in the
means of exercising
command over all the produce of labour M.
Marx
summed up the situation thus
"The less you eat, drink and read books ; tlie less you go to the
the
theatre, the dance hal, the public house, the less you think.
love, theorize, sing, paint, fence, elc., t.e more you save-the
greater becomes your treasure which neither moths nor dust will
devour your capital. The less you are, the more you have: the
less you express your own life, the greater is your alienated
life."4
He dubbed this sort of ideal of human life as the ethics
of
extortionate miser' and of the 'productive slave and ridiculed it, in
a highly satirical language.
Thus, theall-embracing passion of greed is seen by Marx a* an
utterly alien power or 'inhuman force that holds sway over the
whole of human existence',5 from which
man was to be liberated.
is with this premise that Marx It
clutches of greed.
sought to relieve
humanity from the
Liberation from Alienated Existence
Consequently the aim of communist revolution is to abolish the
general condition of
alienated existence. If men were to
themselves to a truly human elevate
real status, they will have to realize this
essence
productive beings. Although the alienated man is a
as
creature of the very social
he need not remain a conditions he himself has created, yet
prisoner of
pessimist nor an escapist. On thethose conditions. Marx is neither a
Wanted the contrary, he, as a practical
in which man'revolutionary transformation of this alienated man,
was
being. Although Marxeverywhere estranged from his own world
has so much nature ana
of human
world of
existence, yet he does not contempt
seek
for the present iorm
happiness, as, flight into the imaginay
do. He also according him, the religious man used
does not want
to
fantasy. The realm where a man to seek the pleasure in to
course, the the man must seek his true neuro
existing
isto realize his world. Marx reality 1s,
himself says. "The goal for
humanity,
categorical imperative to his human
nature and this carries e
ma
overthrow all the relations in which ma
is debased, enslaved, helpless, contemptible creature.*"7 It was for

the realization of this ideal, the idcal of ending man's alienation
from his life situation that Marx worked out the solutions through-
out.
out. Man was to replace the conditions of his enslavement by
creating new conditions of his freedom. This idea has been put
forth by Marx in German ldeology, wherein he advocated that the
change of self, in the revolutionary activity coincides with change
of the circumstances.s This means that Marx was giving a clarion
call to change the circumstances completely if man wants to
exist as man. Tte destruction of private property, which is the
source of all the dehumanization, is a condition sine qua non for
the transition to a new form of human existence. This he called
communism. By positive abolition of private property, which
hence-to-forth has worked as fetters, the human self-alienation wil
also come to an end. This would mean, in Marx's own words, "thc
return of man himself as a social, i.e., really human being, a
complete and conscious return which assimilates all the wealth of
previous development."39 Under the capitalists productive order,
the productive organs of man in society cannot
But in the communist society, men will
operate freely.
regain
their creative
potentialities. As Marx says, "the appropriation of a totality of
instruments of production is the development of a
capacities in the individuals themselves."00 totality of
Here Marx comes very close to maintain that
the aim of
human endeavour contains in the realization of all
the capacities
of human nature. To this
theory, which emphasizes the realiza-
tion of all the capacities of man, Rashdall
called 'self-realiza-
tion' 101 Thus the ethical theory of Marx can be
category of self-realization. To Marx, self-realization
placed under the
means
completion of the process of "self-development"" of
the emergence of "socialised species and
ideal in Das Capital saying that
humanity. Marx reasserts this very
only at the stage of communism,
does self-activity coincide with material
the development of individuals into life, which corresponds to
'complete individuals' and the
casting of of all natural limitations.10
Seen in this perspective, the
in a state of
communism is a vision of mankind
perfection. It combines a vision of an ideal social
order in which man returns to
himself fully realized and a belief in
the possibility of
realizing it. The sole quest of Marx secms to be
is debased, enslaved, helpless, contemptible creature."7 It was for

the realization of this ideal, the idal of ending man's alienation
from his life situation that Marx worked out the solutions through-
out. Man was to replace the conditions of his enslavement by
creating new conditions of his freedom. This idea has been put
forth by Marx in German Ideology, wherein he advocated that the
change of self, in the revolutionary activity coincides with change
of the circumstances.s This means that Marx was giving a clarion
call to change the circumstances completely if man wants to
exist as man. The destruction of private property, which is the
source of all the delhumanization, is a condition sine qua non for
the transition to a new form of human existence. This he called
communism. By positive abolition of private property, which
hence-to-forth haS worked as fetters, the human self-alienation will
also come to an end. This would mean, in Marx's own words, "the
return of man himself as a social, i.e., really human being,a
complete and conscious return which assimilates all the wealth of
previous development."" Under the capitalists productive order,
the productive organs of man in society cannot operate freely.
But in the communist society, men will regain their creative
potentialities. As Marx says, "the appropriation of a totality of
instruments of production is the development of a totality of
capacitiesin the individuals themselves."00
Here Marx comes very close to maintain that the aim of
human endeavour contains in the realization of all the capacities
of human nature. To this theory, which emphasizes the realiza-
tion of all the capacities of man, Rashdall called 'self-realiza
tion' 10 Thus the ethical theory of Marx can be placed under the
category of self-realization. To Marx, self-realization means
completion of the process of "self-development" of species and
the emergence of 'socialised humanity'. Marx reasserts this very
ideal in Das Capital saying that only at the stage of communism,
does self-activity coincide with material life, which corresponds to
the development of individuals into "complete individuals' and the
casting off of all natural limitations,10

Seen in this perspective, the communism is a vision of mankind
in a state of perfection. It combines a vision of an ideal social
order in which man returns to himself fully realized and a belief in
the possibility of realizing it. The sole quest of Marx seems to be
30 Communism and Gzi
to guide humanity to traverse the path from the 'world as it is'

to the 'world as it ought to be'. The vision of a perfect order of
the future remained integral to the communist social doctrine.
The central theme of Marx's ethical tenching views history of
world as a process by which man makes himself fully 'man'. The
act of world history' is the self-developmental process of man.
By 'man', Marx, however, does not mean 'this' or 'that' individual
man, but following Feuerbach, he means 'mankind' or 'human
species'. It means that for Marx, the act of world history is the
selfrealization of "Man' in his collective or generic sense. In his
opinion, the individual human life and species life of man are not
different things. He writes that "the determinate individual is
only a determinate species being."103
Marx clarifies his position further on this issue and
says,
Though a man is a unique individual, he is equally the 'whole', the
ideal whole, the subjective existence of
society as thought
and
experienced."104 Accordingly, the individual is a microcosm of life
of 'Man' or humanity at
generic scale. On Marxian consideration,
the pre-communist
history may be called the developmental pro-
cess or the act of
"becoming' of the species, and communism may
be described as the state of
veritable 'being' which begins when
the history of the capitalist
hence-to-forth
exploitation, i.e., the history as it has
existed, comes to an end 'as such'. It will be a
release from the snare of the history. The
will come to an end and with that temporalised pre-history
the era of man's
post-history will dawn on the earth. If man has existedtemporalised
all through
the unfolding of his
history in the state of self-alienation, in a
dehumanized condition, communism will
be his liberation
from this alienation. If this
process is seen as a whole, then it
may be said without reservations that
for Marx, history is a
cess of man's realization
of himself as man and pro
end is simply to become man's ultimate
fully man. It is man's
integration or retu rn of man to him. Man willgaining of self, the
viously enslaved inner productive powers and repossess his pre-
relieved from the thereby he will be
recover his lost
suffering conditions of alienated labour. He will
productive freedom in a new non-acquisitive life
of self-activity where the
productive
creation. Elaborating the nature of activity
will become a joyous
liberation from the bondage,
Engels writes that he whole sphere of the
conditions of life
which environ man and which have hitherto ruled man, now
comes under the dominion of control of man, who, for the first
time, becomes the real conscious 'Lord of Nature'. The extrane-
ous objective forces that have hitherto govern history pass under
the control of man himself. It is the ascent of man from the
Kingdom of necessity' to the 'Kingdom of freedom.10
It is clear, then, that Marx had a conception of the human
individual as he could be, and for this he has laid down the
practical means for realization. Marx upheld that religious method
of self-realization is pseudo-self realization, because in religion,
man does not realize himself. He merely dreams of it,106 It is by
breaking fetters in his real practical life that the real freedom will
be achieved. The fetter in practical life is the egoistic need and
the private property. Marx, therefore, advocates that it is "the
transcendence of private property that would mean the annihila-
tion of the alienated character of the objective world."107 Man's
creative powers, his capacity for self-perfection and self-realization
are practically unlimited, if the fetters, which so drastically imped-
ed this development, are abolished. In laying down the theoretical
foundation of his communist revolution, i.e., revolution to finish
the present conditions, he was guided by the Hegelian idea of
'negation of negation accord ing to which the birth of truth
required the death of given state of being. Hegel believed that
all forms are seized by the dissolving movement of reason which
cancels and alters them until they are adequate to their notion. "10s
Gita presents the same idea in other way saying that the out
moded manifestations are to be cast asunder in order to take on
others that are new.10This is a matter of common agreement
that truth will reveal itself by the destruction and supersession of
that phase which represents only a partial truth of man's existence.
Marx also wanted to elevate man from his partial existence to his
fullest developmentTherefore, the means, which follow from his
description of the communism, were such as may be conducive to
the transcendence of the world of private ownership by 'com-
munist action'. The sum and substance of the communist action
is to evolve some method by which working man may liberate
himself from alienation. This may be called the act of 'reappropria
tion'. This will be a practical action of "the seizure of the whole
alienated world at a single huge stroke'. Marx justified the appro
32 Communism und Git
priation by the mass of proletarians of all the material obje«
hat
man has created through the ages,
in his work The Hol
wherein he wrote that "the proletarian cannot regard these produo
of its self-externalization as being simpiy some ideal phantasmmuct
goria or mere externalization of self-consciousness and cannat
to destroy 'material' alienation through a purely inward spiritmal
seek
action.10 For removing the fetters in the practical life, the
source of lust and greed, which manifests in the form of 'pria
very
ate
property', will have to be finished, because he thought that it is
the sense of private possession that has defiled man.
He writes, "Private property has made us so stupid and
one
sided that an object is ours only when we have it, when it
for us as
exists
capital, or when we possess it directly."111 This
shows
that the lust for the ownership of an
object degrades man to do
every sort of crime against humanity. He loses all
sense of
humanity. Marx tells us that "for all the physical and
senses, therefore, the sense of spiritual
of all these senses, has
having, which is the simple alienation
been substituted."]l12
transcendence of private property will Accordingly,
the
bring
pation of all the human senses and attributes.u3
the complete emanci-
to As a corollary
this, when the private
appropriate every thing for property
is finished, man will not
try to
the socialization of himself. He will be socialized with
the property.
painted by Marx, this socialist man According to the vivid picture
self as 'social', the will be man returned to him-
"human' man. Man, in the end
revolution, will be freed from the of communist
he has laboured lust for wealth, in whose service
so far. It is
lesson that lust for clear that Marx is
money and wealth, which preaching the
property,
When this
1s the
source of our
miseries, and
he names
our alienated
priva
one with
prime source of alienation is finished, man existen
"Man',
the forces of
his
'species being' and the will becon
that the moralacquisitiveness will fall asunder. difference
creaeudent
It is thus
doctrine
theories of self-realization. of eviu
communism comes very clOse the
Sclf Realization Theory
When we
place the ethical
category of doctrine of communism
self-realization,
protagonists of this it becomes unac
necessary to reflect how other
e
theory have understood

it and whether oor not
not
Marxism approximates them. About the chief characteristic of
this tells us that the 'idea that man partly is
theory, Mackenzie
and wholly hopes to be, works underneath the theories of this
direction of
type. It is what he hopes to be that determines the
his growth in the theories of self-realization.1l4 If the whole des-
in the
cription of communism, as given by Marx, is evaluated
fits
light of this criterion provided by Mackenzie, then Marxism
well within the framework of self-realization theory. At this point,
to note that Marx deduced his philosophical
theories
it is relevant
from the theories of Hegel, and under his impact, it was
natural
for him to unconsciously or consciously adopt the Hegelian
standards in Ethics.
the ideal of
However, the Hegelian idealists have interpreted
self-realization suggested by Hegel with metaphysical moorings,
and in doing so, they have made the self' something mysterious.
realization of
Nevertheless the uniformity of views regarding the
the views of Marx and some
man qua man is clearly discernible in
us that
other Hegelian idealists. For example, Prof. Green tells
for any truest idea of what is best for man that can guide
our
a better
action is still a realization of that capacity for conceiving
state of himself."115 Accordingly, the expression of dissatisfaction
with the and striving for a better state of existence will

present
self-realization. Marx will go
bring a theory into the scope of
hand in hand with this view because this characteristic is clearly
discernible in his theory. Throughout Das Capital, Marx has been
existence and
expressing this discontent with the present state of
on Green's criterion also Marxism falls within the scope of
self-realization theories. Beyond this limit, Marx does not go with
Green and other Hegelian idealists to enter into the abyss of
metaphysical quandaries. Rashdall, however, tears off the
meta-
physical veil of self-realization. He confines himself to purely
ethical aspect of the theory of self-realization as the end of life. He
discusses the two meanings, in which this term is generally used,
some potentiality
viz., (i) that self-realization is the realization of
or capacity of the self which is at present unrealized or (ii) that
self-realization may be interpreted to mean an equal, all-round
development of one's whole nature-physical, intellectual,

sense also that Marx's theory can
fall
emotional.16 It is in this
under the category ofself-realization.
Communism and Gtua
34 made
made in
n this theory?
theory The
Marx has
has
differentia whi
differentia which
modification
what is the
the
What s e l f - r e a l i z a t i o n ,
of this theory, M.
larx
genus being other
protagonists
D
from 'man' for self:
distinguishes
Marx
substitute the word By
suggested to about 'self" He
mystery
has simply he solves all
realize is not somethi
this sort of
substitution,
which we
are to hing
the self ism a n ' himself
'man' himself.
would say
that but it
metaphysical,
something ealize in
to realiZe in practical
mysterious or
is. that m a n ought
communism have compelled
The aim of f e t t e r s which
breaking the
life that he is
'man' by his theory becomes a
'unman'. Thus speaking,

him to exist
as of various views
'man-realization',
wlhich in the light
theory of has very closa
of s e l f - r e a l i z a t i o n theory,
advocates
put forth by the of the ethical doctri.
approach. The central theme
afinity to their 'man's ultimate end is
summarised, that
communism can be
nes of
which he cannot be so long
as the
human,
simply to become fully
Tucker has rightly pointed
remains alienated
from himself. Prof.
God-realization but simply upon
not insist on
out that Marx does what he essentially
man actualizinghimself qua man, becoming
is.17 By emphasizing point of view, Marx very well brings
on this
of 'self-realization'.
his theory to fall within the sphere
communism brings us to state
This deliberation of the ethics of
in brief, that: (i) the communist ethics is a variety ofself-realization
needs' and 'greed' as
theory; (ii) communism considers 'egoistic
the enemy of man and a hindrance in his self-realization ; these
are the fetters which a man ought to bre ak, (iii) it is advocating
for a social order where attachment with the private property and
the criterion of money being the measure of man's dignity will be
negated, he is preaching something like aparigraha and an sakti, as
the pre-conditions for a man to become 'a communist man'.
The moral fervour in criticising the evils of industrial civilization,
the assertion of human activity as the material reality and the
emphasis on a moral richness of communist man--all these elements
would suffice to arrive at the conclusion that
communism nas
placed the moral uplift of man, the dealienation of the alienated
man, the liberation of humanity from the
bondage of lust
greed, as its prime concerns. Accordingly, the economical an
political implications of these ethical teachings are only of an
ary value. They serve only as mere means seco
and have an instru
mental value in so far as
they help in the realization of this goal
Communism 35
A New Look at
REFERENCES
4.
Historical and Social Philosoplhles, p.
1. Sorokin, P.A., Modern Nature of man, p. 181.
Karen, in Simon Doniger (Ed.),
2. Horney,
Communisnn, p. 26.
3. Afanasyev, V., Scientific Young Marx on Philo-
D. Easton and Kurt H. Guddat, Writings of
4. Loyd
39.
sophy and Society, p. 243.
Science and the Modern World., p.
5. Whitehead, A.N.,
12.
6. Afanasyev, V., Op. cit., p.
864.
7. Marx, K., Capital, p. 26.
K. and Engels, F., The German ldeology, p.
8. Marx,
9. Ibid., p. 114 (italics
nmine). "it is as professed
communism that
wr iters define
10. Some eminent Indian self-sufficient humanism, plus
economic dcterminism, plus
in Russia, and Raju,
atheism (Radhakrishnan, S.,
science and technology, plus
p. 37.
P.T., in The Concept of Man), 246 and
The Meeting of the East and West, p.
11. Northrop, F.C.S.,
Chap. 6.
151.
12. Sorokin, P.A., op. cit., p.
85.
13. Sorokin, P.A., op., cit., p. 221.
14. Wayper, C.L., Political Thought, p. 699.
15. Sabine, F.H., A History of
Political Theory (3rd Ed.), p.
271.
Collected Works, Vol. 25, p.
16. Lenin, V.I., Historical Materialism, p.
137.
and Lenin, On
17. Marx, Engels
Communist Manifesto (London
Edition), p. 5.
18. Marx, K. and Engels, F.,
Adventures of Ideas, p. 42.
Whitehead, A.N., Problems of Philo
19 Krikorin, Y.H., etc. (Ed.), Basic
20. Bronstein, Daniel J.,
sophy, p. 146. 204.
Philosophy and Myth in Karl Marx, p.
Tucker, Robert C., 25-31
21.
(Trans. and Ed. by T.B. Bottomore), pp.
Marx, K., Early Writings
22.
873.
23. Marx, K., Capital, p. Selected Correspondence, p.
102.
24. Marx, K. and Engels, F., 204-205.
Social Research, No. 2, Summer 1954, pp.
25. Karl Lowith in
651.
26. Marx, K., Capital, p. Idea, p. 182.
Robert C., The Marxian Revolutionary
27. Tucker,
685.
28. Marx, K., Capital, p.
346-347.
29. Marx, K., Capital, p.
30. Ibid., 235, 237, 239.
pp.
259, 270.
31. Ibid., pp.
390.
32. Tbid., pp. 381, 384, 439.
Selected Works, p.
33. Marx, K.,
p. 248.
34. Marx, K., Capital,
Ibid., 45-46, 47, 49.
pp.
35.
Ibid., p. 113.
36.
lbid., p. 189.
37.
38. Ibid., p. 846.
39. Ibid., pp. 677, 708.
36 Communism and Git
40. Ibid., pp. 551-552.
41. Ibid., p. 651.
42. Ibid., p. 741.
43. Tucker, Robert C., Philosophy and Myth in Karl Marx, p. 138,
44. Marx, Karl, Early Writings (Trans. and Ed. by Botomore, T.B.) p. 37.
45. Ibid., p. 605.
46. Tucker, Robert C., op. cit., p. 13.
47. Marx, K., Critique of Political Economy, p. 137.
48. Marcuse, Herbert, Reason and Revolution, (2nd Ed.), p. 273-74.
49. Das Capital, pp. 954-55.
S0. Engels, F., Anti-Duhring, pp. 420-421.
51. Ibid., p. 438.
S2. Tucker, Robert C., op. cit., pp. 158, 235.
53. Marx, K., Early Writings, p. 155.
54 Tucker, Robert C., op. cit., pp. 51-52.
55.
56.
Marx and Engels, German ldeology, p. 199.
bid., p. 197.
57. Ibid., p. 37.
58. Ibid., pp. 36-37.
59 Ibid., pp. 42, 64.
60. Ibid., p. 15.
61. Marx., K., Critique of Political Economy, p. 137.
62. Marx, K. and Engels, F., Selected
Works, Vol. II, p. 350.
63. Marx, K. and Engels, F., German Ideology, p. 30.
64. Marx, K. and Engels, F., Manifesto of the Commenist Party, p. 15.
65. Kolarz, Walter, Religion in Soviet Union, p. 26.
66. Marx, K. and Engels, F., German ldeology, p. 13.
67. Popper, K.R., The Open Society and its Enemies, Vol. II, pp. 187-88.
68. Hook, Sidney, From Hegal to Marx, p. 51.
69 Buber, Martin, Paths in Utopia, p. 10.
70. Marx, Engels,
Lenin., On Historical Materialism, pp. 38, 112, 296.
71. Marx, K., Introduction to the
Criticism of Hegelian Philosophy of
Right, 1843 quoted by Rotert
Marx, p. 113. Tucker-Philosophy and Myth in Kart
72. Marx Karl., Early Writings,
73. pp. 137-39.
Max, K., Economic and
14. Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, p.
Max, K., German ldeologY, p. 68. 117.
76. Honey, Karen, Neuroses and Human Works, Vol. II, p. 349.
77. Heinemann, Growth, pp. 159-160.
F.H., Existentialism and Modern
78. Heidegger, Martin, quoted in Soviet
Predicament, pp. 10-15. I
1960, p. 88. Survey, No. 33, July-Septemo

79. Marx, K.,
Economic and Philosophic
80. Marx, K., Early Manuscripts of 1844, p. 73.
81. Marx, K., Writings, pp. 90-91.
Early Writings, pp. 121-122.
82. Ibid., pp. 84, 122.
83. Ibid., pp. 88-89.

84. Marx, K., Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, p. 75.
85. Ibid., p. 83.
86. Tucker, Robert C., Philosophy and Myth in Karl Marx, p. 240.
87. Marx and Engels, German ldeology, pp. 22, 23, 25.
88. Popper, K.R., op. cit., p. 100
89. Marx, K., Early Writings, pp. 86, 89 (German Edition).
90. Ibid., p. 83.
91. Ibid., p. 121.
92. Ibid.
93. Marx, K., Early Writings, pp. 145, 147-148 (German Edition).
94. Marx, K., Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, p. 110.
95. Marx, K., Early Writings, p. 145 ff.
96. Ibid., p. 136.
97. Marx, Karl, MEGA, p. 615.
98. Marx and Engels, German Ideology, p. 198.
100. Marx and Engels, German ldeology, p. 6.
62.
101. Rashdall, H., The Theory of Good and Evil, Vol. II, p.
102. Marx, K., Capital, pp. 527, 685.
103. Marx, K., Early Writings, p. 117 (German Edition).
104. Ibid., p. 158.
Vol. II, pp. 140-141.
105. Marx, K., and Engels, F., Selected Works,
in Karl Marx, p. 99.
106. Tucker, Robert C., Philosophy and Myth
p. 26.
108. Marcuse, Herbert, Reason and Revolution (2nd Ed.),
j+rFäni yath vihya nav ni grhFti
naro
109. Bhagavadg+t, I1. 22, v s msi
parani.
110. Marx, K., MEGA, p. 254.
111. Ibid., p. 118.
112. Ibid., p. 119.
113. Ibid., pp. 115, 166. 197-198.
114. Mackenzie, J.S., A Manual of Ethics, pp.
p. 202.
Green, T.H., Prolegomena Ethics,
to
115.
62-63.
116. Rashdall, H., op. cit., pp. p. 99.
and Myth in Karl Marx,
117. Tucker, Robert C., Philosophy
Anasakti Yoga of Gita
Gita has meant different things to different people. But the

central theme of this great Scripture is unmistakably Anäsakti
Yoga the discipline of non-attachment in human performance.
Mahatma Gandhi has named his interpretation (Bhsya) of Gita
Anasakti Yoga. These two terms are co-extensive in this study
too.
For centuries Bhagavadgit has inspired the Indian Society and
fashioned its destiny according
to the tenets
It forms part of the all important, prasth na prescribed therein.
traya along witn
Upani_ads and Brahmasktras. Gita has guided man to the
ugnt
when his vision is darkened and
in his choosing the
blinded; when he faces coniics
right course of action. It represents the crisis
of moral
man who encounters the temptations of life vis-a-vis tne
social eal1."It tries to resolve the most important ethical quesion
which was worrying the mind of of
Arjuna, viz., the
deciding dharmasammüdhacetäh, 'what I ought to do quesi and wnat
ought not to do'"If the teachings of Gita
are understood truiy
the sense in which
that beyond the
Arjuna understood them, It will become evidee
Dot want to
solving of this ethical predicament, Gita
puzzle man unduly. When after a
the doubts of great delibera
Arjuna were removed, he did neither
world, nor he withdrew into
seclusion for meditating
renoun glory
on
t
Andsakti Yoga of Gitä 39
ethical preparedness for
of the Lord, but instead, he showed an
doing his allotted social job. Arjuna says

'nasto molhak smrtirlabdh tvatprsädänmyacyuta ,
sthitosmi gatasandehali karisye vacanann tava.
understanding (of my duty)
My delusion is gone, I have regained my
Krishna I, with all my doubts
through your kind courtesy. O
act upto your calling. And,
dispelled stand before you and I shall
to seek recourse to
even then the preceptor did not ordain him
and thereby to become immune
withdrawal, become a mendicant the
to social problems. The
warrior fought valiantly to change
conditions of his existence.
in this very sense that it is
There is a need to understand Gita
and desistence froma
concerned with the discharge of man's duty
the doctrine of An sakti Yoga
inaction. In practical life-situations,
as enunciated in Gita,
has a great ethical significance. Explaining
Bahm has rightly pointed out that
the connotative use of this term, 'disinterested
come to be called
what in modern thought has
of as 'non-attachment'. Since
action', is more commonly spoken
itself a good, maintaining an atti-
the attitude of non-attachment is
of bringing one closer to his
tude of indifference has the effect
for the disinterested
ultimate goal."2 This approach of searching
answers to the practical problems
of one's duty, has kept Gita very
about Gita that "neither the
close to Indian life. Dasgupta tells
works on philosophy, yet
Yoga-Vã_i_tha nor Gita are systematic their
no treatment of
Indian philosophy can legitimately ignore
out for this, is that
claims."3 The reason, as Dasgupta has pointed
frailties of attachment and desires, it
starting from the ordinary
lead a normal life of duties and respon-
tries to show how one can
contentment in a state of equinimity
sibilities and yet in peace and
between the
and in communion with God."* This sort of synthesis
Freudian terminology between
instinctual and the spiritual or in
those of super-ego is the pre-requisite
the demands of libido and
formation.
condition for balanced personality
towards life, has saved the Indian Society
This balanced attitude
the western world today. Freud
from mass neurosis that afilicts
even wonders,
"would not the diagnosis be justified that possibly
have become neurotic under the
even the whole of humanity
trend 25
pressure of civilizing the
Gita is categorical that whenever the righteousness wanes,
a
40 Communism and Gua
exploitation of the nobles goes to the extreme and the forces
of
evil have their sway, the moral connoisseur manifests itself into
some concrete human form and re-establishes the social cauil:
brium It is this moral optimism that has not allowed the impor.
tance of G.ta to mitigate. Annie Besant, rightly calls Gita 'a
e
scripture of the race, a life rather than a book. For each age it has
a new message for each civilization a new
record. The impor.
tance of Gita is too well recognised in ti.e Indian
milieu to need any further assertion.
socio-cultural
Various Interpretations of Gita

Because of its important place in the lndian thought and
cultural life, Gita has been interpreted by various India's
thinkers of east
and west. Interpretations and perspectives vary. Still the more it is
read the greater appears the possibility of fresh
The enthusiasts for action interpretation.
(karma), for knowledge (jnna) and for
devotion (bhakti) all find their
like any Sästra as Tilak special tenets in the Gita. Gita,
says: can have three types of
tions, viz., (i) Alhidaivika (theological), interpreta-
(ii) Adhytmika (meta-
physical), (ii) Aihibhautika
Both Comte, the father of(positivistic).
modern sociology and Feuerbach,
who has much influenced the
so
positivistic explanation of scripturesthought
the
of Marx, considered
Essence of Christianity and best.Feuerbach's
Khalil Jibran's work, The Son
book,
etc., are a few
important of Man,
humanistic version of attempts to present the secularised and
has been given Christianity. Such an orientation to Gita
by M.K. Gandhi in his
may be
remembered based his commentary Mahatma it
Before Samkara, teachings on the tenets of Gita.
Gita was considered
to be a treatise of
karmasamuccayaväda,"
man
which means that
should do his social
jnna*
with understanding, a
agent is duties, and
rational activity. Tilak's own
a the moral
activity of the
of
karmayoga, the Gospel of Action. approach to Gita is also tnat
on abstract The post Samkara
Titus, for spiritualism has led to emphasis
of India onexample, has been led to many serious misconceptiOus
the whole is other believe that "the value systen
sake is a
secondary Worldly. "Love for life, for its ow"
correct approach to the consideration."1
This is not, however, a
not, howeve
of understanding
very opening of the Indian
phrase Gita thought. i
'dharmak_etre kuruk_etre deno
Anãsakti Yoga of Giuä 41
practical life 'Kuruk_etra' in its true connotation, is pregnant with

deep sociological meanings. A.J. Bahm's view is that "Kuruk-
setra is the sphere of actual affairs." (Taken in this sense, the X
phrase comes to mean ksetre k_etre dharmamkuru) do your duties

commensurate with your social station and life-situation. Seen in
this light Indian thought is far from other-worldly. The Indian
thinkers have always been deliberating on the practical problems
of human sufferings. The removal of this evil has remained a
prime concern for the ancient Indian thinkers and the concept of
moksa (liberation) in all the systems represents a state in which it
is, in one sense or another, (this evil state of existence is) supposed
to have been invariably overcome.
E v e r y age writes philosophy according to its needs says :Mclver.
This has been done with Gita too, where the symbolism is preg
ant with rich meaning. Such varied interpretations of Gita are
possible because it contains a system of uninterpreted symbols.
Like a good logical system, the symbolism of Gita has been left
uninterpreted. A variety of interpretations are possible without
exhausting its richness.* Gopi tells us that a formal deductive
system consists of "axioms and theorems, some of whose unde-
fined and primitive terms are primitive symbols whose interpre
tation is completely extra-systematic."13 These extra-systematic
factors for interpretation of the symbols are provided by the socio-
cultural needs."The process of giving meaning to symbols, accord-
ing to the cultural context, has been recognised by the psychoana
lytic school as a natural process of human psyche. In Jungian
system, the symbols acquire their meaning in the semantical frame-
work of a particular socio-cultural thought-structure.4 Cassirer
also suggests that 'a symbol is a part of the human world of
meaning'.15 Thus speaking,"the symbols become the metaphors,
which can represent the accumulated experiences of a culture and
which are the symbolic representations of the cultural values of
any society. That is why that whenever these cultural conditions
change, the symbols acquire a new meaning and a new set of
values is placed in the system of these symbols. Accordingly, the
new interpretations are the expressions of the fact that Indian
genius has been highly sensitive to the cultural variations.
Gita of our Times :
Gita as interpreted by Gandhi is the Gita of our times. He
42 Communism and Gta
visualises the whole scene of Gita as an arena in which there is aan
inclinations represented by the Kauravas, who
army of lustful
believed in the misappropriation of the rights of others. On the
other side, there are the forces of righteousness in the form of
Pandavas. Thus in Ansakti Yoga, the antagonism between the
forces of good and evil has been represented. Gandhi, as this
shows, takes into cognisance that the present crisis is a moraB
crisis.
Marx also comes to express the similar views. He also presents
the modern conflict in same way. Summarizing the position of
Marx, Prof. Tucker points out that ""on the one side is the insati
able acquisitive urge, the alien power in man which transforms his
productive activity into alienated labour, detached and housed
in 'another man outside the worker'. He is capitalist, the embodi-
nt ofinhuman force. On the other hand are the embodiments
of rebellious productive power." This is the most appropriate ex-
position of the predicament of the modern man tortured under the
evil influence of industrial civilization. Thus, the true problem of
modern society has been well brought out by Ansakti
Yoga.
Symbolic Meaning of Gita
At this point, it is pertinent to
point out that Gandhi does not
believe in the historicity of Mahbhrata of
which Gita formsa
part The evidences to prove whether or not this war is a histori
cal event are to be
provided by the historians. But the question
of the authenticity of the
Mahbhärata war does not effect the
central problem of Gita, which is
a problem of man's contlict.
Modern man is to be
integrated with his essential nature
and internally. This fact that man is actually feeling thisexternaliy
type ct
separation from his real being in his
recognised, otherwise the whole work willpractical life will have to De
become
a
mythology having no practical utility. If Gita is a touseless ficti,
serve as a
practical guide for human conduct, there
Teal persons on this earth must be existing so
feeling deep-rooted crisis generated
despair and despondency for whose
making it a symbolic guidance it is meanl.
to a work of representation, are we
we not reducing
reaue
it
fiction ? Marx has an
an answer. He points out
that theconsciousness of good and evil willanswer. He poinis
good and evil forces are only be there
actually existing in actual life-situa
Anasakti Yoga of Gitä 43
Conscious-
"All consciousness is the consciousness of real life.
and
ness can never be any thing else than conscious being (Sein)
that the
the being of man in their real life-process."It means
of the
expression of the conflict in Gita must be the expression
existence of two conflicting classes of good and evil in real world.
datum reflected in philosophy. As
a
Real life is the primary
own body, he can
corollary to this, whatever, a man finds in his this
also search for that in the external world. Gandhi expresses
idea as yath pinde tathà brahmände."
This idea of man's consciousness reflecting the environmental
various other Indian
happenings has also been expressed by
conceives human body as a
systems. For example, Tantric S ktism
features of cosmos. The
microcosm, reproducing in itself the
Visävasära tantra also explicitly holds that the process of "self
elsewhere and what
is the process of nature and 'what is here is
is not here is not elsewhere (yadihsti tadanyatra, yannehsti
na
tatkvacit).22
Accordingly, the Arjuna of Gita's
An sakti Yoga must be
i.e., of somne
symbolic representative of a 'non-empty universe,
it is immaterial
Teally existing human group. Thus speaking. of Mah bh a-
whether or not we accept the historical authenticity
rata. Nevertheless we can accept the existence of a morally deg-
enerated society full of conflicts between the forces of lust, greed
the
and egoism and the forces of righteousness. Accordingly,
Mah bh rata does
Gandhi's upholding the allegorical charater of
of Gita. Gita
not make any difference to the moral implication
remains a manifestation of the real life of a society, which is full
of conflicts and it can ipso facto be applied to the present day
of Gita
situations also. What Feuerbach said of Hegel, is true
reflec-
that it is no more a philosopher's phantasy but a mystified
and in order to
tion of the actual state of affairs in the world,
understand the reality, we are to turn our gaze from the internal
to the external.
Social Philosophy of Anasakti Yoga

failed to
Dr. Radhakrishnan admits that Indian culture has
He says: *"The importance
give political expression to its ideals. theoreti-
of wealth and power to give expression to spirit, though
in this age
cally recognised,was not practically realized."*" Gandhi,
44
Communism and Git
however, took up the task of building a social
the Indian philosophy based on
heritage to fulfil the social need of the
Betai has shown in about 71 age. Dr. Ramesh
pages of his book,that
socialism to his removal of Gandhian
social though right from his
bility, has been deduced from the untoucha-
by other ancient teachings of Gita,
corroborated
scriptures.24 The fabric of the Gandhian
philosophy and even his political thought social
has been woven
the from
value-system of the
indigenous culture.
The task says,
Radhakrishnan
tical domination has "to evolve a method to finish
been worked by Gandhi, in poli-
the religious consonance with
traditions and mental
Gandhian Ansakti background of this
country."26
Yoga is the only available
Gita, which can serve as a
philosophical interpretation of
social system to be built
on it.
foundation for a sound
Tnfuence of Gita on Gandhi
Gandhi has worked out his
of social philosophy from
Ansakti, which meets the the doctrine
growing onslaught of the growing challenge
of the hour, the
explicitly recognised the materialistic civilization. He has
his profound
thought. He admits that influence of Gita in
satisfies my whole "Hinduism, as I know it
moulding
that I miss even in being and I find a solace in the
entirely
that "to-day, the
the Sermon on the Bhagavadgit
Mount.*26 He goes on further
Gita is not
more than
that-it is my only my Bible or my
Quran ; it 1s
mother."27
guide in all the situations, he In short, it was his
faced. practical
Ansakti a
Remedy for Modern
The idea of Problems
of Gita hasni_kma karma as the central theme
been verily of the ethics
the modern recognised implicitly by almost all
this direction. scholars. But Gandhi has gone
He has a step
forward in
is the explicitly
subject of the Gita as it is ofasserted that the self-realisation
less remedy is all
renunciation of fruits of scriptures," but "the
contribution and action "28 Therefore, match
to new
approach
originality
of
lies in
suggesting the means.
his rea
the Gandhi, it
individuals that a sound would be by renunciatory According
to be one of the social order can be spirit o
reasons that he calls built. This seems
Yoga and not karma-yoga." his rendering as
"Ansakt
Gandhiji bases his view on the woras
Andsakti Yoga of Gua
45
of Krishna. Quoted in Gita, these words are
andaritah karmaphalam Käryam karma karoti yah,
sa sanysi ca yogi ca, na niraguir na cäkriyah 29
It means he, who performs his duty without resorting

to the
fruits of his action, is a sanysi,
yogi and
a not one who does not
propitiate the sacred fire or who is actionless.
Accordingly, a
man, who is not discharging his social
duty and not contributing
to the social good, cannot be a moral
being. Thus, Ansakti Yoga
of Gita insists not on the renunciation of social
the sincere and honest discharge of one's social obligation,
but on
duties. By empha-
sizing on the Ansakti aspect, Gandhi's sole aim is to free the
modern man from those egoistic tendencies which are the
out-
come of materialist civilization and which
are at the root of our
present day social maladies.
Communism also more or less comes to the same
Summarizing their position, Prof. Tucker suggests thatposition.
when
communism dawns, "man will be liberated from the
acquisitive
drive, the obsession with wealth that had made him an alienated
being. He will be released from the tyranny of: (i) need and (ii) of
specialization."30 It implies that freedom from the lust and greed
will lead to a better social order.
The ultimate purpose of Gandhi in
writing this commentary
was the rediscovery and vindication of the
traditional faith with a
conviction that Gita is as relevant to the present
it was ever before. Gandhi predicament as
pre-supposes that the tragic predica-
ment of humanity in modern civilization is an
unbound lust for
aggrandisement and material pursuit, and therefore, Ansakti is
the remedy.
Philosophical Doctrines of Gita

The supreme purpose of human beings, as
pointed out in the
Anasakti Yoga of Gita, is self-realization or freedom and it is with
this end in view that the fruit of all action is to be
abandoned.3
Nonetheles, before rising for action, the warrior Arjuna has tried
to clarify
many philosophical doubts. Yet the main concern of Gita
remains to inspire Arjuna to face the crisis of his 1life-situation with
courage. Gita tells the moral agent that it is not life that matters,
it is the courage that you add to it. The goal of self-realization
and a call to cancel the unsatisfactory state of existence made
46 Communism and Gita
Gita a great moral treatise. The philosophical queries of Arjuna
are merely of secondary interest and the main concern of Gita
is not metaphysica.
Meaning of Brahma Nirvana

Here at this point some reader may draw our attention to
cert ain verses which refer the concept of Brahma-nirv na as the
goal of human life. For example, describing the characteristic of
Sthirapraina, the Gita tells us that itis a man whose senses are in
his control and who has established in . Brahman: Sthitaprajia
invariably gets Brahma-NirvFa 32 This word again occurs in fifth
chapter where we are told that "he who finds happiness only with-
in, rest only within that Yogi having become one with nature attains
to oneness with Brahman."33 Numerous other versess" refer to such
terms as brahmayoga-yukttmäa, madbhvamgatat, "brahmanis-
thita. These references to 'Braham' suggest that the ideal for man
is to realize something metaphysical called 'Brahman'.
The question naturally arises that if that Being is other than
man, how can the goal be called self-realization ? It would become
other-realization'. But the position would become clear when we
proceed further and we are told that 'he who sees Me everywhere
and everything in Me never vanishes from Me and I from him'.
The question, however, still remains that if man is to merge him-
self in some 'other' Being, it is self-annihilation and not self-
realization. It is the goal of human life, according to Gita, to
foster totalitarianism' where a man's personality is swallowed by
an 'absolute' totality. But Gita does. not warrant such conclusion.
It points out that "one is to seek to unite
himself with Atman
yunjato yogam ktmanah). "35 The problem takes a new orientation
now. If becoming one with one's Atman, and the realization
own
of Brahman are different ideals, then which is
two
superior ? l
they are one and the same thing, then there
should be identity
of Brahman and Atman, and by
realizing the 'essence of one's own
being', man will be realizing Brahma-NirvFa. So conceived,
Brahman' will not be 'the other', i.e., anything other than man's
own essence. It is the
only way of saving man from being swallo
wed by something 'other' or
terms are "Brahman and
something alien. Here the puzzling
Atman', which need proper understand-
ing in order to grasp fully that Gita does not
emphasize anything
47
Andsakti Yoga of Gira
thc
transcendental "the otherncss', but only lays emphasis
on
should learn to exist

sincerest realization that 'man is man' and he
as a "human being'.
It shall be
The Semantic quandries should not puzzle us.
relevant to point out that the authority of sstra lies in the spirit
and not the letter and surcly who gocs by the
letter is likcly to
make mistaken asscssments to misinterpret and to commit blun
of interpretation is to scan not
ders. In Gandhi's words: "the canon
the letter but to examine the spirit."37 What is then the real spirit
behind these terms like 'Brahmanirvana, brahmayoga-yuk tätmä'
ete? To search for an answer to this question, the Mahabhärata,
of which Gita forms a part, and the Upani_ads can serve as our
guide. Let us seek their help to resolve this mystery.

of ultimate
The Upani_adic seers have discussed the nature
it Brahman. A
reality from various points of view. They named
described in
deeper understanding of the nature of Brahman, as
various Upani_ads and in Mah bh rata, makes us convinced that
it is not something other than "Man' himself. Accordingly, what is
to be realized by a man in Brahmanirv Fa is nothing except than
the realization of his own essence. Br-hadranyaka Upanisad
declares that "whosoever worships another divinity (than his self)
thinking that he is one and (Brahman) another, he knows not.38
Another text refers that "the wise who perceive Him as abiding in
their self, to them belongs eternal happiness."30 These Upani_ads
tacitly refer to the fact that man should not search for his essence
anywhere outside him. Instead, he should try to know what he
really is. This realization, in Kantian words, is tantamount to
'treating humanity in his own person, as an end'. It means, it is
the realization of his own essence qua human being. Man is to
realize that he is an epitome of humanity. This is the realization
beyond which he should not try to go. That seems to be real
meaning behind the assertion of the Upani_ad that only ignorants
think that Brahman is something other than their own essence and
due to their ignorance, they worship some alien being. Man is
inspired here to worship "humanity, his own essence. When man
realizes his essential nature, then he becomes eligible to say that he
is Brahman (aharh brahmäsmi). To afirm that "I am human' is
logically equivalent to the affirmation that I am Brahman'. It is
only in this sense that man can search him (Brahman) abiding in
Communism and Gua
4
him. principle when
to the ultimate
the same meaning
Tagore gives which infinite is
the religion of man in
he says, "My religion is substantiates the view that
Mah bhärata
defined in humanity.40 but
Brahman cannot be anything 'other', that Brahman is nothing
Mah bh rata, "Guhyam brahma
man' himself." According to
[re_athataram hi kincit", meins
tadidam vo bravimi, na m nu_ t
is that) that nothing is higher
I tell you the secret of Brahman (it
of Upani_ads and Mahä-
than man'."" Putting these passages
clear that Brahman is nothing but
bharata, together, it becomes
human realization would mean man's
In the light of this, Brahman
term 'Man' to be used
realization of his lost unity with Man (the
in the sense in which it was used by Feuerbach in generic sense).
real
Feuerbach tells us that the 'generic man' the species is the
instance of the life
being and the individual is simply a particular
of the species-the humanity.4" It is obvious that Mah bhärata in
saying that 'na mmusat [resthataram' is using this term in the same
sense in which Feuerbach has used it, viz., the generic man or in
the sense in which the existentialists have used it as 'human
subjectivity'.
Accordingly, the problem of the existence of Brahma (Brahma
Satyam) is expressive of the intensity of man's anxiety to know
and feel that he exists. This has been emphasized by modern exis-
tentialists also and if whatever Mah bh rata has said, is rendered
into the words of Heidegger, it would come to mean that "there is
nothing beyond himself (man) that can solve the problem of man's
existence" Man's quest for this knowledge is the source of all his
existential anxieties. It is a quest for giving meaning to his exis-
tence, and in search of a remedy for this, he has been hunting
blindly. But the Upani_ads and Mahäbhrata and Gita want to
convey to him the same thing what Sartre would say that 'there is
no other universe except the human universe, the universe of
human subjectivity.44 Therefore, in self-realization or Brahma
Nirvana, man is not supposed to go anywhere else but to realize
his lost 'humanity'.
Taken this key to the understanding of the nature of Brahma-
NirvFa, all the mysteries about the ideal of human life become
very clear. For example, when a scholar goes to Yjñavalkya and
Anásakti Yoga of Gitä 49
asks him to explain Bralhman that is immediately present and

directly perceived. then Yäjiavalkya's reply is *this is your self".
This implies that according to the Upani_ad, every individual is the
epitome of the 'generic humanity' and humanity, which is an abs-
tract category, does not lie anywhere outside him. In fact, the
Brahman is considered the existence of all existences. Therefore,
Taittiriya Upani_ad is categorical that he, who considers Brahman
non-existent, questions his own existence.13 What man needs is to
find himself and his human essence. The Ch ndogya Upani;ad
also advocates the same idea, when Udd laka tells his son Sveta-
ketu: "That which is the subtle essence, this whole world has for
its self. That is the true, that is the self. That art thou Svetketu."4
This also points out that Brahman is not different from him and
he himself is an specimen of that.
The realization of Brahman means the realization of man's lost
unity with humanity. So long as a man is under the spell of be-
wilderment (my), he feels that he is alienated and is unable to
unite with the totality of existence. To finish this sense of separate-
ness and estrangement, Upani_sads also suggest the remedy that it
is possible by overcoming the duality of ätman and brahman.
"Where there is individuality, as it were, says Yjnavalkya, there
one sees another; there one understands another47 This means
that when a man views the reality from 'individualized' point of
view, he is involved into the tight bonds of finitude and limitation.
To him, my ätman appears to be different from your tman and
your from fis tman. This is the state of confrontation with 'the
other. But when one gets a universalized outlook, he sees
unity,
not separateness. Hesays I am brahma; you are brahma and all
are brahman'. Because as the Upani_ads confirm, 'he sees the uni-
versal in his own self; he sees all as the elfs The idea of
brahma-nirväFa, read in this context, conveys the idea that a
moral being is that who considers himself as well as others to be
human beings and none is considered mere stock and stone or
something other than man. Individual finds his solace "in the life
of the whole'. Gita thus, revolts against the alienation of man
Irom man and wants to inspire the moral agents to return to the
lost unity of mankind by shedding off the egoism and selfishness
generated by the attachme:t with particulars. This is the ideal of
humanization of social relations.
How this unity and universality of mankind, his species beine
isto be re-established? For this purpose, the man has to be made
to realize that in essence he is human' and that he 'oupht to
overcome the false conflicts created by the vested interests and
despisers of human race'. As Brhadranyaka Upanisad puts
forth this idea that "whoever knows this "T am Brahman'
this all. Even the gods cannot prevent him becoming
becomes
thus, for he
becomes their self."a" In this sense, when a man realizes
that he
is a human being, becomes conscious of his
essence, he works in
his practical life also to exist as 'man' on this earth. When
man so
realizes his dignity, he asserts his
historicity and instead of
owering h's love on extra-terrestrial beings, he starts
humanity. That is the reason that Upani_ad asserted that 'who- loving
ever worships another divinity (than himself) thinking that heis
one and Brahman
another, he knows not. He is like an animal to
the gods.*"50 Such a contempt as ancalling individual 'animal'is
highly significant. This refers to all those who
externalised 'being' thinking worship their own
under the spell of their
that it is
something super-natural
and super-human and 'other
ignorance,
than Man'. Why these individuals considered
are
may be two possible explanations to that: (i) when 'animals' ? There
separated from his fellow beings, he becomes devoid man becomes
tarian qualities. He is of all humani-
motivated solely by self-interest. In the
realm of such
egoistic individuals where human
human values are
lacking, considerations and
is the
quality of animal
definitely
there will be barbarism, which
debased and dehumanized, he world, or (ii) when a man himself 1s
is reduced to the
Whatever may be the level of animality.
worship another divinity, implication
'animal'
in calling such persons wh0
one thing is
asserts his realized
essence as a
clear that when man
is 'human being', he finds that there
no
higher plane of existence than the
Commenting on this passage of the universe of humanity.
writes, *The gods are not
pleased that men Upani_ad, Radhakrishnan
mate truth, for then
they would know the
should know the ult
gods hold and give up subordinate place the
making
gods, who do not like man to them offerings.51 Who are those
identical with the ultimate realize that he himself
reality (tman) 1
ordinate that ? These seem to (brahman)
to
be the
and everything is
suD
life-affirming humanistic values and persons who distort he
misinterpret the aphorisl
e
Andsakti Yoga of Gitã 51
of Upani_ad by raising the problems of transcendental nature.

For example, they may try to confuse by raising such issues as to
where 'he 'humanity' exists and as to whether this humanity is
separate or identical with man. These gods may be like the trans
cendental metaphysicians who are misguided by bad grammar and
who raise pseudo-questions regarding the metaphysical existence of
the Brahman apart from the realm of 'Man'. As Ayer has exposed
the fallacy, the source of searching for a separate realm of exis-
tence, "lies in the fact that in our language, sentences which
express existential propositions and sentences which express attri-
butive propositions may be of the same grammatical form and the
fact that they have the same grammatical appearance leads one to
assume that they are of the same logical type. "32 On the similar
mistaken assumption, the so-called gods might have created meta-

physical confusion that since 'man' (particular) exists, therefore,
there should also be a realm in which "Man'
(generic) exists. Or,
these gods may have been misguided by a
logical misconception
about the calculus of classes. They did not know that in
logic the
class 'man' is the set of individual members of that class, and the
domain of possible classes is called the 'universe ofdiscourse' or
simply the universe.33 Logically speaking, what we are calling 'the
class' is not another individual or
object, of the same type, as its
members, nor a
'property'; it is, as
Stebbing upholds, a set of
things that have property. Now on this account, if some one
says
man exists' (singular
proposition), he is asserting a logical
position. But on that account if some other person asserts pro- that
"humanity also exists', he is committing a confusion of this calculus
of classes, 'a category mistake' or
committing the fallacy of mis-
placed concreteness, because a class is to be regarded as the set of
individuals satisfying the propositional function
that defines the
class.5 Thus the statement
but it is a propositional
'humanity exists' is not a proposition,
function, which comes to mean that 'we
exist collectively' also.
Going beyond this and
nity' is a category like 'man', and that Brahmanstating that huma-
must exist in the
same sense in which 'man'
exists, is based on the confusion of
proposition' and propositional function'. The so-called
who are
metaphysician demagogues, seem to be creating this logical gods
confusion so that man may not know that
any other 'universe', but only the logic does not recognise
universe of their class, viz, their
52
Communism and Gi
the logico-metaphysical confiusio
sion
species being. Thus resolving
created by the despisers of humanity, il the upani_adic statements
about the identity of ätman and brahman, are read with the anho.
rism 'na mânusät are_ hataram,

then we may conclude that the
brahman of Upani_ads is non-difierent from the "universal huma-
nity'. In the light of this, there should be no objection if the kev
concepts 'tman' and 'brahman' are made co-extensive with 'man
and 'humanity', for applying them in social context and for extend-
ing their use in the field of social philosophy. The ideal of brahma
nirväna put forth by Gita would then come to be reinterpreted as
the desire of man for merging his transient, atomized, individuality
with the essence of collective humanity.
Of course, for this purpose, man will have to transcend his
alienated and isolated existence. he will transcend himself and his
de facto existence. But the word "transcendence', in this
context,
has no other meaning than what Sartre understands by this term.
Sartre uses this term without having
any metaphysical implications.
He says that "Man is all the time outside of
himself and it is
by
pursuing the transcendent aims that he himself is able to exist.
Man is himself the heart and centre of
his transcendence."56
Identity of Man and Divine:
The reflection the ideal of
on
pose and have a brief
brahma-nirvFa brings us to re-
glimpse about the nature of the 'ultimate
Reality and its relation with man. This
very helpful in concept of Brahman is
ultimate Real1ty. The
understanding
the relation of the individual to the
with the Brahman hasquestion

of the identi*y of the
always remained central for the individuar
seers, and has gushed out of
their hearts in the form of the
Upani_adic
tions like I am
Brahman'. This self is asser
also finds a Brahman57,
perfect identity between the etc. etc. Samkara
particularised man' in his assertion generic 'Man' and tne
According to him the limited and jivobrahnmaiva nkpara!
is also an
epitome of humanity and imperfect empirical human sc
non-different from it. Any therefore it is to be treatea
a
product of false differentiation between the two is
n
had great moral consciousness (ajñna). This type ot oach
import in two ways: (i) app
every man should be
considered a 1an being, firstly, it implieu
fication of
humanity. Kant also human i.e., an
exemp
advocate in his mora
P ra
R
Anãsakti Yoga of Git 53
tives, "Treat humanity, either in your own person or in the person

of others, always as an end," (ii) Secondly, it disproved the charge
of self-abnegation in Indian Philosophy. If the jiva is log.cally
identical to Brahman, then negation of one would mean the nega-
tion of other also. Consequently, what is cancelled are only those
iimitations and finitudes of individuality, the atomicity of exis-
tence, which are alien to the inherent unity of mankind.
The idea of treating man logically identical to divine, is a unique
feature of Indian thought. Western thinkers shirk to swallow this
pill and fail to understand the implications of this identity between
the absolute and the individual. On the contrary, in the wes ern
tradition, this type of identity between man and divine h.l» not
been considered desirable. Kierkegaard, for example, tells us in
true Christian spirit that "God and man are two
qualities, between
which there is an infiaite qualitative difference.
Every doctrine
which overlooks this difference is humanly
speaking crazy; under-
stood in goily sense, it is blasphemy."5 Karen Horney also does
not approve this approach and, therefore, castigatingly remarks,
"Self-deifying pride is the nucleus of the neurotic
type of persona-
lity. When a man
develops a set of coercive inner dictates by
which he seeks to mould himself into the absolute self, he
the actual or empirical self regards
alien and starts to despise it."39
as an
This type of
pronouncement is based on the gross misunde.-
standing because in asserting that 'I am Brahman' an individual
is shedding his dehumanized
condition and coming to realize that
he is a 'man'. This is an assertion of
"de-alienation'. However, the
idea of the unity of the human and
divine was present in German
traditions and it was derived by the
Prof. Tucker shows.00 These
Young Hegelians from Hegel, as
zation of this great
Hegelians took up the task of the reali
philosophy in practical life-situation as to how
man can become divine. This
idea has never been absent from Gita.
Gita has, at various
places, recognised this essential identity of
Atman and Brahman,o1 which
implies that
idealised humanity'. Gita points out todivinity
is nothing but
this logical identity inn
another way. It says that j+va is the
mean that the Lord can be
part of the Lord.2 Does it
cut into parts ? If
not, what does this
statement signify ? Commenting on this
verse, Radhakrishnan
explains that "this does not mean that the
division or partition into Supreme is capable of
fragments."63 Therefore, the individual is
54
Communism and Gtta
considered by him a movement of the Supreme,
plaining the amsa, Gandhi also upholds in his comn
nucleus. Ex-
Anäsakti Yoga, that "integral portion of the
Supreme is the ary,
rhis shows indi
vidual soul manifesting himself in every one." This
the word 'amsa' should not be taken here literally, others that
logical fallacy of false composition will be committed. ise he
say that Brahman is the generic "man' and When we
jiva is
the collection of jiva will not make a
individual,
separate man, Brahothe
Mill has cautioned us against such fallacious conclusions tan'
quotes numerous examples, to point out that men He
are not, when
brought together, converted into another kind of en
Gita clarifies its stand further and holds that substance 6
'he is undivided
yet seems to be divided among and
beings. When the Supreme io
incapable of division, how it is inhering in the particular jiva.
am brahma, Ir
you are brahman and others are
brahma, then eitlher
there are as
many "Supremes' as the individuals
Supreme has been divided into parts to inhere in are, or the
out this type of division. each. Gita rules
advocates that One Describing Sättvika knowledge. Gita
the
divided.$7 According toImperishable Being is seen undivided in the
wherever it is. How is it
Gita, the Supreme is present, as a whole,
accept that 'amsa' refers to possible This is possible only if we
?
in logical logical division of summum genus. It is
division only, and not in
sion, that the
predicate metaphysical or physical divi
of class can be
member of that class.s applied to each and every
Gita upholds this
that the Tord
abides in the hearts of al1." view also when it says
For this
Supreme will have to be taken as 'class' because purpoSC. nc
1s possible in case of a 'class logical division
ne ight of these assertions, weonly and not of an indivicdual. "
that the
relation of 'man' and may conclude that Gita recognis
membership' and every 'brahman' is a relation of Caass-
of carrying member of the class
of thepred1cate 'human' with it. There'humanity capable
resolving the various problems otlher way 1s no
part' except that of relating the

by treating this who Thus
speaking, the Jiva and division as 'logical
Ov
of lactual Brahman are only levels, viz., thee level level
individuals individuality'
two
are the
and that of the 'ideational Viz.,
nity A
ideational humanity.
All
ciple behind them. Iexistential manifestations hu al pri

al prin-
of
to this fact that am Brah
behind the false
man' and 'you aretnehmare
D
an' refer
om-
individuality, there
Anãsakti Yoga of Gitä 55
mon uniting principle at work. The scientists also uphold this posi-
tion that iacts are not mere facts but manifestation of some general
is the main problem of
principle and to discover that principle
induction.0 This unity behind the particulars or the particulris-
ed facts is, therefore, inferential. It cannot be 'perceptual'. It is
only when the facts transcended that this unity can be rational-
are
called
ly apprehended. Only in this sense the Brahman can be
transcendental. Therefore. Gita, along with the Upanisadic tradi-
tion, upholds that the identity betweeri self and Brahman is only
essential'. not "existential'. It is the empirical, the particularised
individual, that is humanity in bondage, the alienated existence
Nature of Jiva (Empirical Soul)
In Gita, the essential soul has been regarded as eternal, imperi-
shable, unborn and immortal. This reminds one of Spiroza,who
holds that individual modes perish, but the system, as a whole,
remains uneffected. This view echoes the voice of Kathopnisad,
which categorically asserts that "The knowing self is never born;
nor does he die at any time. He is unborn, eterna), abiding and
primeval.2 But this essential Self is actionless and a mere Sak_in
(witness) as recognised by the Katha, Mundaka and Svet[vatara
Upani_ads.73 Such quotations can be multiplied indefinitely. But
they all refer to a distinction made between Atman and Jva. Gita
also asserts the same truth as advocated by the Upani_ads. Accor-
ding to Gita, "the Purusa, residing in Prakrti, experiences the
gunas born of Prakrti; attachment to these gunas is the cause of
his birth in good or evil wombs."74 This implies that according to
Gita, materiality in its three manifestations, as gunas, is the cause
of human bondage. It points out that *sattva, rajas, and tamas
are the gunas sprung from prakrti, which keep the imperishable
dweller bound to the body."75 Here a question arises that when
Atman is unattached to the gunas of material prakrti, how it
becomes bound to the body by the three guFas. In this context
Gita brings in the principle of My. My creates finitude and
limitations, which keeps a man in bondage. In the fourteenth
verse of seventh chapter, Gita declares: "For this My divine delu-
sive mystery (mya) made up of the three gunas is hard to pierce;
but those who make Me their sole refuge pierce the veil.7" It is
under the spell of bewilderment that a man is involved in the mate-
Tiality and he fails to know his real essence. According to Gita,
Co mmunl sm and Gita
c r e a t e d
by
Mv
unique p0w
power
all; this bewilderme
m y s t e r y
to all;
56 d e l u s i v e
r e v e a l e d
changeless.
"77
From
the not and
by bbirthless bbe that
am
ytal)I
irth inferred
"veiled
Me
it m
it may
ay
(yogamayasamä
not
not
he
recognis o f the
r e c o g n i s e
My,
My,
is the product of
individuality,
does d e s c r i p t i o n
ind.
world
isolated
i s o l a t e d due to
of the
p r o d u c e d
this type
the is
clear
clear th
that when aa
makes it
it
which
ego,
empirical and
empirical
norance, w
ignorance,
Gita
makes
"
existence, he
e x i s t e n c o
the moces.
m
mood e s of
fost
bewilderment
material
fostering
m aterial
n m a t e r i a l
the the
the faculties for
with with
ment elf all his
level of
himself
uses gr
i d e n t i f i e s
dignity
and
to the level aa
gross
man
dobwn
wn
greatness,
He
comes
bondage, to realize his
his
forgets satistaction.
above the
a l t a c h m e n t to
attachment
egoistie To rise above
ab the
tiie
his hedonist.
rise
psychological
therefore,
guF tite.78
Gita ins.
S
must, become
one and to These
se
lost dignity, his
existence individuality.
mode of of false
material this veil be broken
man to pierce selfhood
must
the moral individual
pires enclosures
of the
ego
centric
a m a n for
the
in order to seek
liberation.
out that the striving of

been pointed
Brahma-nirvâna,
has already is said to be

It universality identical with
realization
own
of his his true being
make
self-realization. He wants to separation
created by
the the apparent
being by finishing
as
the universal separate
ego-consciousIicss
who make their baser or in

ignorance. Those who work with
and those
the centre of their activity, persons by ita.
condemnei as the depraved
ferior motives are the degenerat
same view about
Sartre holds more or less the kinds o
out that "all
infuence of material attachment. He points
including onesell al
as
lead to treat every man
materialism one e
that of predetermined reactions, in no way u
object, is, as a set
Tent from the patterns of qualities which constitute a
table, i chair
hedonisn
or a stone.,"" When man is dominated by egoistic
mate
hich is the only ethical theory consistent with mechanist
Tialism, he becomes victim of mine-1hine duality and the re real unity
1s lost sight of. So
long as this sense of otherness remains realm the
vidual remains
in bondage. This 1evel of his existence tence is
the
level,
ofcondicts which is governed by the law of dialects. * his
man faces the
Such
opposite, 'the other. S
duality of the
empirical ego and the anscendental ego
also found in Kant's divid-
ed idealism where is assumed to be

a
personality, a assumea t
'homo-noumenon' (Man-as-in-itsel
man Is
homo
phenomenon (Man-as-it-appears).
"ealm of
Kant left the re

Ansakti Yoga of Gitä 57
noumenon as sonmething mysterious,

which appeared quite impreg-
nable and, therefore, he could not establish any relation between
these two aspects of human personality. His ethics of categorical
imperative, however, would imply that the phenomenal self, the
sensuous self is to be moulded according to the dictates of the
noumenal self in order to seek moral perfection. Nevertheless, he
could not say anything about the relation between them. The
explanation furnished by Gita, therefore, seems to be more cogent.
When under the delusion of my, an individual feels that he is
different from the rest of the humanity, he is bound to feel
un
happy. This feeling of isolation by creating false sense of duality
negites the re lity of man as a Universal Self. The
otherness' is something negative. It is negative becausefeeling
of
it con-
fronts the man. It is negative because it
of Atman, and therefore, this
negates the absoluteness
negative must be destroyed if man
is to realize his real nature.
Samkara, therefore, calls the process of the liberation
as negation of the (mok_a)
negation
one's true nature, i.e., the(parihrtaparihra).
In order to realize
subjectivity, the bonds of materiality
(prakrti) are to be broken. The experience of being bounded
object has also been portrayed by Hegel as "an by an
tude, which is an experience of experience fini
of
In Gita also, the Jiva, which is
alienation."82
under the sway of
estranged and separated from his real essence Prakrti, asfeels
already been shown. For Indian thinkers, 'alienation' Brahman, has
the finitude created under is same as
the delusion of my.
bondage, because it is not content with the limitationsThis is felt as
his existence by nature or
by
imposed on
is an unhappy history. The 'apprehension of finitude
consciousness of self-estrangement', which
calls the "sorrow of
finitude"83 This unhappy state of existence Hegel
can be overcome
by finishing all sense of
personal possession, which creates the sensemine-thine, and of the
of 'otherness'. Gita
lays down the maxim that "the wise, who
have united their inte.li-
gence (with the Divine)
renouncing the
yields, reach the sorrowless state."*4 Here fruits, which their action
the writer of Gita is
correct in saying that an very
in
individual is not to abnegate himself
reaching the highest state, but he is to free himself from
attachment (sangavarjitah) in order to overcome the
He is to the estrangement.
transform himself into a socialized man by transcendin
Communism and Git
58
ultimate ideal
before the individuat
The
his psychological
egoism. discriminative
t
tendencies and the e
of all the
here is the negation that Gita
wanted a moral man n to
The illusion
apparent egoism 'otherness'. (ik_ate
yogayuk tätm sarvatr
illusion of f
pierce i the for the piercing of
Hegel also a d v o c a t e d
samadarsanai) (VI. 29). a i m of knowledge is to
otherness. He said, The "
the illusion of to us of its strange.
world that stands opposed
divest the objective in it, which means no more
find ourselves at hore
and to
ness, notion-to our inner
world back to the
than to trace the objective innermost self is 'Atman
to say that this
most self."85 Needless
is the principle of universality
behind the
in Indian systems, which
sensuous, psycho-biological individuality. Sartre
particularized,
is no human nature, but a 'human
rightly points out that "there
of these pronouncements, the rea-
universality'."86 In the context
lization that jiva is Atman gives real meaning to man's existence.
Man exists only in so far as he asserts that he is man. Sartre would
also substantiate this view that 'man exists only in so far as he
realizes himself'87 Kierkegaard also corroborates the doctrine of
Gita. He says that "the reality of every one's existence proceeds
thus from the 'inwardness' of man."s3 This inwardness, according
to the existentialist thinkers, is subjectivity. Verily, which is the
principle of subjectivity, universality and humanity, has been re-
ferred to as Atman throughout the text of Gita.
After this brief discussion about the philosophical problems
saised in Gita and the nature of the ideal suggested, we can
sum
marise our conclusions that: (i) Gita believes in the unity of hun an
existence. Whosoever exists on the human is an exempli-
plane,
fication of and an epitome of the same humanity; (i) the indivi-
dualism IS a
product of bewilderment and that in order to cancel
this bewilderment, a man is to pass from the narrow e
real eg0 to
humanity by transcending the false limitations of material
attachment and thereby removing the embargo imposed by
degenerated socio-economic
conditions: and (iii) the ideal
human
existence (paramavstha), the par excellent mode otstate o
living
paramagati) is state of man's realization of his lost unity the
mankind. w
Etbical Doctrines of Gita's
The verses of
Anasaki Yoga
Gita barring some narrative f m.ral
ones are Iull
Andsakti Yoga of Gta 59
teachings and these interpreted to serve as a guide for

can be
practical conduct. The very opening phrase of Gita 'dharmak_etre
and
kuruk_etre' may serve as a maxim of morality for the honest
situ-
sincere discharge of one's duty. Kuruk_etra is the actual life
dharma.
ation in which man is engaged in fighting the battle for
Virtue lies not in mere cognition of good and evil but in its pra-
ctice. The starting emphasis is that the field of dharma (dharma-
ksetra) is the field of actual practice. Marx also emphasized this
fact in VIIl Theses on Feuerbach that "Social life is essentially
practical. "89 Following this criterion, the discussion about the
meanings of moral predicates may be an intellectual luxury but it
is not a of moral excellence. Since all mysteries about
sign
dharma find their solution in the field of human practice, the
field should be real field of action. Gita, therefore, comes to
a
establish the reality of this world. It condemns those who deny
the reality of world ; they are called depraved souls (nastatm),
oligophrenics (alpabuddhayah), hypocrates (dambhamnamadnvitah)
etc.9 Only evil doers (ugrakarmanah) and devilish persons
persons
(asuräh) say that the world is unreal and without a base (asatyam
apratistharm te jagad hur an+óvaram).91
the mental
Accordingly, the world-denial is the outcome of
stress that the
perversity. In this way, Gita, at the very outset, lays
renuncia-
moral ideal cannot be realized by world-negation or bv
Gita
tion, but man is to seek his self-realization through praxis.
also starts with a denunciatory note against the sense of personal
in the opening verse
possession. The use of word 'mmakh'
the egoism and
mamakh pandav[ cai va) is the expression of
on the use of this
sense of personal possessiveness. Commenting
mineness is the result
Word, Radhakrishnan writes, ""This sense of
of aharmkära which is the source of evil.02 Here the Mamak ra or
selfishness on the part of the Kauravas which leads to the love of
It is worth noting that
power and domination has been exposed.
been deplored as
the persons having such sense of egoism, have
Che persons whose wits have been warped by greed (lobhopahata
scene of Gita is that the
cetasah) (L38). Accordingly, the opening
forces of greed and egoism are to be fought in actual life-situation
and be finished from this world, if man is to live with
they are to
that
dignity and autheznticity. Needless to emphasize again
Communism is also pitted against the forces of greed, responsible
60 Communism and G-t
for dehumanization.
The whole discourse of Gita starts with the crisis faced bu
Arjuna. This is not his personal problem, but, as Gandhi points
out, "every seeker has one time or another to pass through a con-
fict of duties, a heart churning.""3 This refers to the universalitu
of the problem. Arjuna, the fighter, represents any man in the
society, who feels this moral crisis and wants to solve it. Similarly.
the whole dialogue between Arjuna and Kry ia in Ist Chapter ends
with despair vi_äda' (Srikrsnrjuna samväde arjunavisäda yoga näma
prathamodhyya). This sort of distress, as Arjuna felt, is a drama-
tization of the recurring predicament of mankind. Radhakrishnan
rightly points out that "Man, on the threshold of higher life feels dis-
appointed with the glamour of world and yet illusions cling to him
and he cherishes them."94 The feeling of such
crisis, however, has
a great
significance for the amelio rative disciplines. The expression
of this type of existential
anxiety and moral despair is considered
to be a pre-requisite of moral
regeneration. "The moderr. existenti-
alism", says Sartre "also confronts man with a
choice. possibility of
Such a crisis also appears, as Prof. Tucker points out in
the moral
theory of Kant in the form ot an inner conflict or
natural dialect' of duty inclination.06 It appears from the
versus
pronouncements of various moral thinkers that such
with one's dissatisfaction
present state is necessary for his moral and soc1al
regeneration. Those who are engaged in
people. first of all make the improving the lot of tne
dition of their people aware of the miserable con
existence. Unless this misery and
their life situation is wretchediess o
reflected in their consciousness, they
prepare themselves to ca
conditions. This is what negate frustrating and dehumanizing
Buddha and
ing cannot be expected from those whoMarx also did. Moral str
with
the present. It is for the Socrates feel a 'piggish satisfacti e
higher path, In dissatisfied to traverse
moral man has expressing his despair, Arjuna, the representa
expressed the
Tegeneration. Arjuna of Gita isanxiety that his whole being needs
.refers
allegorically to the
asymbol (ninmitta), wh0
In this widespread dejection. disgust
way, Gita wants to anddespondel
social life a make us realize that
deep therc
the need of moral rooted crisis and the whole humanitPnds in stands
regeneration.
That the crisis of
Arjuna was the exprr ssion of man's ion,
a
Andsakti Yoga of Gira 61
and his atomized thinking, as
is evident from several
separated from the social situation,
pronouncements of Gita. In the battle field
of life, Arjuna is confronted with the forces f evil and
the lustful
tendencies (lobhopahatacetasal) (1.38), which have taken
to ransom
humanity
Radhakrishnan makes it evident that in his
depression,
Arjuna taces the world as a
stranger thrown into a threatening
chaos.7 This is the state of man's alienation. In Hegelian philo-
sophy, when the spirit as conscious subject (man) is confronted
with spirit as external object (the world), it is called the state
of
self-alienation' or 'self-estrangement'8 However, communism
finds this alienation when one is to confront the forces of
acquisi-
tiveness.
Separated and alienated from this social obligation, Arjuna was
expressing his concern more for his personal gain or loss. When a
man is under the spell of narrow egoism and is dominated
by the
sense of attachment (sakti), he leaves behind bis
'socialized self"
and measures everything in terms of his
personal considerations.
Accordingly, Arjuna's straightforward question was "what pleasure
can there be in slaying these sons of Dhrtar_tra
?"9 It appears
thatArjuna measuring his social duty in terms of material
was
comforts and discomforts. He was concerned with material
happi-
ness, as the standard of one's duty, when he said, "Thesel would
not kill, not even for the kingship of three worlds much less for
an earthly kingdom."100 This shows that his whole thinking was
polluted by hedonistic considerations. In the jargon of com-
munism, he was motivated by a 'capitalist mentality', as the
capitalists of Marxian concept are always guided by the monetary
and pecuniary motives.Arjuna was totally disregardful for the
ideals of human life', the id:als of dharma and his social responsi-
bilities. It was due to this sakti', the desire of measuring his
Worth in material terms, that made him forgetful of his obligation
to the society and generated despair in him. He was feceling him-
self alone, isolated and atomisized, as if his soul was circumscribed
into an aweful singleness. This was symptomatological of
alienation.
Thus, we can conclude that the problem of Gita is the pr blem
of man's a'ienation from his socia' context, under the sway of the
lorces of greed and attachment (sakti), and Ansakti Yoga finds
a solution for cance ling this.
Communism and Git
62
Fall
Dynamics of Human sources of
dehumanization, Gita comes in
the
Searching for conclusion that the attachment to
to the
the ultimate analysis of human
miseries. Explaining
is the cause
the material objects out: "In a man, brooding
Gita points
the whole dynamics, attachment to them springs up
of the senses,
on objects wrath', Wrath (in
and craving begets
attachment begets craving
loss of memory,
breeds stupefaction, stupefaction leads to
turn) ruin of r e a s o n spells
the reason and the
loss of memory ruins
once again raised as to
When the question is
utter destruction."101
a man to commit sin,
Gita tells that
what are the things that impel
out of the guna-rajas. It is the arch
it is "lust, it is wrath, born
Know this to be man's enemy here.
devourer, the arch sinner.
Käma esa krodha esa rajogurasamudbhavah;
Mah kano mahappma viddhyenam iha
vairinam."]02
It reminds one of the communist ethics which also says that the
real illusion of man is the pursuit of 'accumulating private pro-
perty', which has made him foolish. Gita is fore-running com-
munism in proclaiming the sense of possession as degrading and
dehumanizing. The attachment to the objects of sensuous gratifi-
cation is seen as the source of the fall of man. Once he becomes
victim of this, he can degrade himself to any degree. He may be
prepared to do any thing debasing. He may sell his own honour
and may bargain the honour of others to satisfy his material-lust.
When a greedy man, a man who is under the sway of lust and
greed, comes to fall, the depth of his fall cannot be measured. He
can make the whole society as hell for his own selfish ends. Gita
has, therefore, called them the gate of hell. According to the
deseription given in Gita, "kma' (lust), wrath (krodha) and lobha'
(greed) are the three gates which drag man to hell or hellish
torment:
trividharm narakasye' dam dvram
näsanam ätmanah;
kämah krodhas tath lobhas tasmäd etat trayam
In so saying, Gita is tyajet.03
nised by the
asserting a
psychological truth well recog¥
psycho-therapists that it is the desire of seeking
pleasure that generates frustration and the
tendencies if it is resultant destructi
thwarted. This
'Käma'
the source of all
frustration, which creates (libidinal tendency) is
pathogenic traits in a hellish torment and
the personality of man. Therefore, from
Anãsakti Yoga of Gita 63
point of a mentally healthy behaviour in society, this is an un-
desirable tendency. Gita has vehemently condemned those who
follow the path of lust and greed calling them the men of devilish
heritage. Gita says "Given to
insatiablelust, arrogance, pride
and conceit etc., these cruel scorner, lowest of mankind and vile,
I hurl down again and again into devilish womb and they sink
lower and lower in birth after birth."104 The contemptuous tone of
Gita shows that such persons are enemies of
humanity, as they
can put the whole humanity to ransom for the satisfaction « f their
lust and greed. Even those persons, whoo do good actions but do
so under the sway of some hedonistic and profit motive, are not
held in good esteem by Gita and they are despised as k m tmanah'
(the carnally-minded).10 Commenting on this pronouncement of
Gita, Dr. Radhakrishnan tells that "even the vedic sacrifices are
directed to the acquisition of material rewards, but the Gita asks
renounce all selfish desire and work."108 Without multiplying
such contemptuous and denunciatory verses, the evidence provided
here leads one to believe that according to Gita the actions
done with lust and greed are the source of human misery and those
who do work with proft motive are pitiable persons (krpamh
phalahetavah).107 The avoidance of kämya karma' is therefore, the
necessary corollary of this doctrine. Accordingly, Gita has repea-
tedly emphasized in various verses that actions with the motive
of personal profit and with attachment, should be verily avoid-
ed. s These actions lead t o bondage, t o conflicts and to neuroge-
nic frustrations. Describing the nature of k mya karma,

Pr bh kara points out that k mya duties have sensuous import or
an extraneous pleasure as their end. In either case there is a
kman or desire for a consequence, i.e., for a consequence other
than the act itself.10 According to this definition, some material
motive and hedonistic end is always involved in kämya karma. In
such actions, the consciousness for material advantage (istasãdha-
nata) is always present. It follows from this that according to
Gita, the desire for hedonistic pleasures cannot be the end of any
moral action. On the contrary, the actions which have such goods
as their end, are not considered moral actions at all.
Criticism of Hedonism
The quest for pleasure, as an end, is considered as a
psychological fact by the advocates of hedonism. As Freud
Communism and Gta
64
of m a n is
bent upon procuring
entire activity
tells us "the This activity is
controlled by
and avoiding pain. s t a t e m e n t s of facts
pleasure such descriptive
But
pleasure principle.11° normative
Accordingly,
principle.
a moral
serve as a
cannot tenet of psychological
hard to justify the
theorist will find it moral treatise rejects this
Gita, as a
hedonism. That is why, karma' o r the
karma'. Denouncing the 'k mya
theory of 'kämya not restricted to Gita
hedonistic ends in view,
is
actions done with realized that
west also many
ethical thinkers have
alone, but in limited to sensuous
to pleasure, we become
when we limit ourselves
that one can
because pleasure is some such notion
individuality, hedonism
his own pleasure. That is why, psychological
seek only theorists. In general,
attacks by the moral
has met with battering
the view that every person does,
as a
psychological hedonism is The only motive that
own pleasure in life.
macter of fact, seek his
desire to get pleasure. This approach
is effective in conduct is the
human conduct has not been found tenable
to the problems of
has rejected this theory after a
ethically. For example, Broad
"I conclude then, that the arguments
lengthy discussion saying that
and the doctrine is almost
for this doctrine are certainly fallacious
hedonism has also
certainly false."11 The theory of psychological
a sound
been rejected by Mackenzie on the ground of its not being
t h e o r y 112
When the hedonists are so cornered, they try to seek refuge in the
rising materialism today. But the adherents of psychological hedo-
nism will be shocked to learn that the communism also lends support
to Gita in deprecating the actions done with hedonistic motives and
the desire of surplus value. Surprisingly enough, the philosophical
materialism of Marx is equally opposed to the theory of psyc:olo-
gical hedonism. Communism advocates in general that passion of
greed is inhuman because it deprives man of freedom and thereby
dehumanizes him. But in very specific terms also, Marx has
criticised the theory of Bentham and Mill, who are considered to
be the best defenders of "kmya karma'. According to him, the
utilitarian ethics of Bentham is a monetary moral philosophy. In
Das Capital, Marx refers to Bentlham as "the
insipid, pedantic.
leather-tongued oracle of the commonplace bourgeoise intelligence
of the 19th century." He goes on to condemn Mill that "at no
time and in no century has the most
trivial commonplace eve
Anasakti Yaga of Gua 65
before strutted about with such appalling self-satisfaction."13 Like

Gita's rejections of Kmya Kärma, Marx rejects the principle of
utility as quite useless principle. It was the standpoint of Marx in
German deology also that the philosophy of pleasure cannot
serve as a sound theory. There he writes against hedonism that
the philosophy of pleasure has never been anything but the 'clever
phraseology' of certain social circles that have enjoyed the privilege
of pleasure.. More recently the philosophy of pleasure has been
elaborated in a new form by the bourgeoise utilitarian ethics.114
Continuing his attack further, Marx has despised this approach
as 'a flat and hypocritical doctrine'. It is on these moral considera-
tions that Gita has outrightly rejected the theory of 'Kämya
Kärma', i.e., the actions having hedonistic ends. Thus, we may
conclude that the attachment to the hedonistic pleasures, sense of
personal possession, greed are considered by Gita as the main
ingredients of human degradation, dehumanization and despair.
Way to Release :
If the attachment, greed and lust are the cause of fall, then
naturally a man can rise high by following the path of non-attach-
ment. Gandhi considers it to be the panacea for our troubles.
According to him, Gita advocates that 'matchless remedy is
renunciation of fruits of action'.1 Commenting on verse 47 of
discourse XVIII, Gandhi also emphasizes that the central teach-
ing of Gita is An sakti-abandonment of the fruit of action'.116
Released are those who have given up attachment (gatasaigasya
muktasya).117 According to Gita, he is happy on this earth, who
holds out against the flood tide of lust and wrath.118 This doctrine
is also called the doctrine of 'ni_kma karma yoga, because it
emphasizes that the action should be done without the lust of
pleasure or the greed of material reward. Acordingly, it brings
forth a sense of disinterestedness to bear upon the accomplishment
ofthe duties of life. The stress is that duty should be done with
the sense of discharging the assigned obligation (svadharma). The
Call to do one's duty without attachment has been given by Gita
at various places. In second chapter, Arjuna is told to act without
attachment.11 The calculations of the con sequences in advance in
the very discharge of the duty and weighing them in terms of
personal gain is a harmful tendency. The difficulty may arise as to
now one can foresee all the pleasurable and painful consequences
Communism and Gita
66
f l • t' ns or dcc1•si·ons , which need be guided by principles ·

o. us ac to fully certain of the future ? But on the other
How can we become . . . ct · .
. 1 b ·ng we cannot dissociate our m 1v1dual per-
b and as a soc1a e1 ' b . H
'
forrnances rom
f our relation to our fellow emgs. ow can, then
· . 1 res of others as well as ours m arriving • . .
at a
we calculate P easu . , d ·
. 1· ? Tl1ese interactions of pleasures ,rn pa, ns are so
social po icy I h ·b ·
. d tl t man cannot work out al t e poss, 1·1·1t1es of his
complicate 1a · . . d · .
actwn . •
or 111s no n-action · When ant1c1pate . . gams are not achieved ,
. 1 between the level of -asp1rat10n and level of actual
there 1s a ag . .
. t This gap puts preromm on personality by creating
ach 1evemen . . •, · 1
t . The best way therefore, 1s to act wit 1out making
frustra ions. '
fruits as their motive." . .
Pointing out that anasakti leads to ~1berat10n fr~m the ~nares of
materiality, Gita lays down the maxim of morality ; which says :
" Thou ever perform without attachment the work that you must
do ; for performing action "'.ithout attachment man attains to
Supreme."120 According to this assertion, the highest state of
haman existence (parama) will be that when the selfish motives and
egoistic interests will not regulate the human conduct. For the
realization of this end, the sources of greed, i.e., the acquisitive
mania will have to be finisked. This is the remedy of all the ills
ofsociety. Gita is very clear in _specifying this remedial measure.
In unequivocal terms, it tells that "the wise men, gifted with the
attitude of detachment, who renounce the . fruit of action, are
released from the bondage of birth and attain to the state, which
is free from all ills." 121 Verily, the highest state of human existence,
-will be achieved when humanity is got rid of the forces of the greed
and a lust for the material gains. This transformed state of man's
,future e.xistence appears to like that conceived by the founder of
, communism also where man will finish the capitalist mode of
running after acquisition of private possessions and private property
which is the source of all attachment. In present-day crisis, whe?
every one is after material pursuits, this doctrine of anasakti 15
the _true way to get the miseries of our society mitigated and then
to hb.erate the ~h_ole society fr~m the bondage and vag_aries 0 ;
. owmg matenahsm. Radhaknshnan
gr emphasizes this point, thu
f''f . t
· 1 man nses above his egoism and acts without selfish attachwen
only then he is truly :free.''122 According to this doctrine, what n1an
.ought to renounce, ts only his narrow limitations and his se\fish
Anasakti Yoga <>J Glta 67'
interest, if he wants to liberate himself from his alienat ion, and

from the bonds of compe titive goods. Thus speaking, the real
liberation is the release from the 'consti tutive conditi ons of actua-
lity' and from the 'illusion of psychological hedoni sm'.
ls the ideal of perform ance of di sin terested action a practic able
one ? If an ideal is utopia n, it cannot inspire the moral agent to
act accordingly. Gita has nowhe re doubte d its practic ability . In
verse No. Il I. 20, testimo ny of Janaka is quoted to prove its
authenticity.
But other thinke rs have also recognised that this ideal is practi-
cable . For example, Sidgwick is one of such thinkers, who up-
hold that "a certain degree of disinterestedness seems to be
necessary in order to obtain full enjoym ent." 123 Accordingly, a
man, who mainta ins throug hout an Epicur ean mood and fixes his
aim on his own pleasure, is liable to miss the full spirit of the
chase. Here comes into view what he called the fundam ental
parado x of hedonism. Rashda ll also corrob orates this view that
the existence of 'disinte rested affections' is not a myth but a
psychological fact. He says : "Reaso nable man, contem plating
the world as an impart ial specta tor, uninfluenced by private
desires or passions, would necessarily recognise benevolence as
that affection, which ought to be gratified in preference to merely
self-regarding desires. " 124 These thinke rs rightly uphold that the
scepticism about the practic ability of the non-at tached actions is
unwarr anted. Kant, in his doctrin e of catego rical impera tive, had
'b.een empha sizing that man can act with a sense of respec t for the
~Moral Law'. But his convic tion that the duty is a 'univer sal
comma nd' and that the genuin e ultima te rule of condu ct must
fulfil the condit ions of (i) 'univer sality' and (ii) consistency within
itself, is not correc t.
Gita would not subscr ibe to this approa ch, because accord ing
to Gita, the actions done for lokasa mgrah a are also non-at tached
act1ons:J'Gita points out, "Just as, with attachm ent, the un-
en]ightened perfor m all action, 0 Bharat a, even so, but unatta ched,
should the enlight ened man act, with a desire for the welfare of
human ity (lokas amgra ham)."~ By empha sizing on the moral
excellence of the duties done for the lokasa mgrah a, Gita has done
a great service in remov ing many miscon ception s . It has counte red
·the charge of blind asceticism on one hand and also of mecha ni-
+. T- W U ¥ ♦ iJ :I "1 ff Cr' $r' d iitW · ¥B'W •· :I #t 9'11C' ~:":'1'1D

¥-""' :II! .. - -· 1,,,. "' ..... ' "\ 1 • ' ~ ~ • ' J
CQmmunisrn and Gzta
6-B . , _ . s~rrifice for 1th~ sake of sacrifice

al nerforJ1l3UCe of
ones pui
1
ty. -r-"'
•
· J· 1·
J"nuld sacrifice 11s persona mterests
· .•
c ,, "" · f Gita. Qne s ,--i l R
is .not the ~o~ P ' ';. t·O r some h~Bher goa . as hd all has
. • tendeJ1c1es
t "s~lf ,sac,ri6o~ f.or its ow;n sa ke 1s
·
•
and egQJ$t1~ · always
118
c<'rrectly poit?~~.4 oµt ti ,t . · tl1e ~bJ:.e ct for which the sacrifice is
A • nmora + JS ' '
irrati-Ol~~l ~n 4 u"'"·l'j"r. • · value "12 6 By s;;tcrjfich1g one's perso nal
· · · ·t ds mor.a1 · ·
"a4~ ,tJwt giv~ t. • ' od tbe ~acrifice becomes valuable . It
• ts for ,ome socm 1 80 , '
inter~, .. · · · f ma,J)itv thijt gjyes mora 1va 1ue to an action
iS t}m~ ,-)1e weJf~~ Q 1~Uur . ;
. ' . , ere Kantian formalism. '
and 11.ot m .l rnPS foirwar.4 tp 9-eJend t Jw theory an asakti'
1
J.3r.adley a ~9 .c,ou"N'
· · · ·h· .. ·ojnt of v~ew. Hjs approac h 1s · h h
. .
t • at edonistic
fro»i A,Jl Ot e.r iP. , . . . . . f
· rnomentar:v ~µ.4 the.lr pursu,1,t ~ a wastc;1ge o moral
p~as»rei ~r;e I-AA , I-~ · ' , './ ' ' • B dl ,, I
· ,d . r~ because in i4i.~ en~il~~s pur~1:11t, ~.s ra ey says : Vv e
c;n f:flV9"1 "' . • · fi d "127
~~e no~ r9:ull/c;t ou,r~,~lv~~ .~IJ.4 we ~re n,ot s;at1s . ~ .
•
What 1s
thfP Ul, ~e pf p:qr~ujµ,g tµ,c;m? !herefqr~, action ought to be
4011-~ . w~~~ th~ s~o~, pf pi~ .\wfg~p.~ ~p,f s s,ocjal obligation.
7
lle~.li~jns ~~.al .QlllY ~ µi~n "7ttb Q\~o-1phn.ed sen,se can perform
fCt~9~ wj~c;)Ui \h.e l9~t of ~~t~rial pl_ e~sµre~, Gita devotes full
5j~$ pllJpl~r ~o th~ .9is.c,9ijr~.e fl~ to how the senses c~n be trained
~ a,ct wii~oui a~ta9~uw~t. ij:q.t :;;qrprisin~ly .e nough, Marx also,
~j~ r,1.t,~ th.~ ~.a~~ fq.~a as \h.~t of Gita. M,.a rx advocates that all
t.hat i9aq be '}~~iev.e~ jp. th~ dir~c.t jon of maldni us more free is to
q/lld/J.~f th,~~(~\1,m~p) metab(;)lisqi ra,tionally, 128 and by rational
~tJ!fRJ, be .lJl~~ni "wiip. a miniipllqt exp enditure of energy and
1
~ Ad!tjp.q~, AW~t qj&~i~ ~Jld ~dequ.at~ to human nature so

~ t I{~~)' ~~lp a m~n to. r.e~ch t,b,e kipgd,om of fre.edoxp which
~It;!> ty,wiq
n"f~
~l}: $p)!~re 9~ pro_iw, Il)l/,t~rial production." 12'_ Thus
_JJB~ Mftl: #f,re~~ w~t4 c;i1t~ th~t control on senses (rn driya
lirt)tr ~e~~l fQr _t)1e . T/:ith:zat.101). of the lofty ends of hurnan
dQJJpt t,h e ig .1 0 ~ ~his discussion, it would not he justified to
· . .. ~ p1,ict1¥p.b1J,1tv 1Qf the tt h d . ( - k ·) nd
ilw;~ m~rw ffl ,f 4 00· n-a <\.C e · actions anasa t i a
~·it!!Y
"
wretcb~ c tfp ~~a.q to th~ reJea~,e fro.m miserable aD<l

1
• 9 , , r - ,,..~ O ~~J,te11ic;e.
l)o; (f/ lff.? of ((q,:mn : ,
'J'he }JlQs;tj ~iJniA~.ant . . he
~ rfQ,m.t~c~ ;of Pi:~AA ,· ~fPij,ou~c.~~~n.t 1n con~ext of tin
4f~R~ c~~t,r Qf , ..,fflQ. k~rma, ha$ been laid down ..
prJIJ~IPI~ QI !liiin~r::· It, .W C~JJsi1kr~<:I \o be the .
~n~ hl'JU:n,a~ ~'Apt,· ' ' J}~S,S ~c\Y.mo clown the imperative, I(! ':
'essen:~!
_t
., ,,,, 9n il1 ;n · ~ u1ts
· .~R ~ 1~ ~hy, prov1n,ce, never the fr
i • · · ··
t'
Artasakti Yoga
o f G1ta
69
thereof . "1so T h ts is really . . \
th e level o f
hum an amb . a key prm
. c1p ~ w h.ic h p u ts e m b a rg o d
tt m n s a n d a • t' tl
failure o f a m T h e s u c c d
an
. . a re m a n 's efforts d o·es n o t d e p
st 1~-~ ions. 'h e ss
. d iv id u a l abn
t~~:;,d a c t w i~ th is
o th e r v a ri a b le end
s w h ic h c a n o n t e in ll d M a n
ut
s f f f e T h ts
~ tt ~ t ·helple.s
tr u th in m in
is n e it h e t de
d if
tcrrntt1ism n
he
n o t b e c o n tr
w a n ts ~o a v o a e . .. .
id fr u str a t1 o
ns
s p u p p ~ t in o r a b id to
·fitp\ication o th e hands of re d u c e m a n to
f th is a s s e rt io th e . c ir c u m s
~ f ,ature a c n is th a t m ta nces. The
11 c o rd in g to h an cannot c
change th e is oWl'l c o n v h a n g e th e la w
n a tu ra l la w s e n ie n c e . E :e s
the a rb it ra ry a t H is disc n God canno~
p o w e rs o f G retion._ P u t,t
'' th e L o rd cte o d a ls o , G it 1ng ~ m b a rg
a'.tes n e it h ~ r a s p e ctfically p o in o on
neith'eT does th e ag~rtcy n 0 ts o u t th a t
he c o n n e c t r a c ti o n fo
a t work.'•131 a c ti o n w it h it s r th e w o tl d .;
1 f th e la w s fr u it s . I t i's
able, it is roeT a te s o im m u ta n a tu r e th a t ts
ely a d a y -d re b le , ob'jecti
course a c c o rd a m to th in k v e a n d in e x o r -
in g to th e c th a t n a :t u re
man s h o u ld li o n v e n ie n c e o w il l c h a n g e
m it h is p ro v f a tn a n . O n its
h is choice, ta in c e o n ly upto th e c o n tr a r y ,
k in g in to c o th e r a ti o n a
as far a s k n o n s id e ra ti o n l e x e rc is e o f
w n to h im . th e o p ~ ra ti o
p ~ rm u ta ti o n s No one can ii o f th e s e la w s :
a n d c o m b in work out a
chemrieal a n a ti o n s o f n a ll th e p o s s ib le
d b io -p h y s io tu r a l e v e n ts
wish.fill th in k lo g ic a \ la w s . T h e p h y s ic
rn g o f an: in d o f n a tu r e w il o-
iv id u a l. T h e l n o t c a re fo
prepared to s re fo re , m a r th e
uffer fo r h is n w il l
M-a11 suffers fo w ro n g fu l c h o ic e s h a v e to be
r h is o w n ig .
Lewis also p n o ra ti c e a n d
o in ts o u t th h is o w n w to
troubles a te a :t a t le a s t h a lf n g c h o ic e s .
c re a te d b y th o f th e w o rl
a n d p u rs u e w ose who do d 's a v o id a b le
h a t w o u ld n o not know w
t s a ti s fy th e m h a t th
th e social la w
s c a n n o t l:>e if th e y h a d it 132 e y w a n t,
cics o f a n y s u b je c te d to . S im il a rl
in d iv id u a l. th e w h im s y,
cannot be p I n s h o rt , th e q a n :d id io s y n c ra -
ro v e d in a n y u e s ti o n s o f
the s n s p e n s io fi nal s e n s e . u lt im a te e n d s
n o f a c ti o n Undet such
T h e re fo re , is n e it h e r c ir c u m s ta n c e s ,
th.e in d iv id u p r a c ti c a b le
le g it im a te fr a l s h o u ld a n o r d e s ir a b le
e e d o m u p to d ju s t th e .
~ o rr y in g fo r th e e x e rc is e d o m a in o f
th e p ro b le m o f h is o w n h is
in th e e v e n ts of causal de c h o ic e w it h
o f n a tu r e . te r m in is m out
S id g w ic k h a o r in d e te r m
Uia't: t ~ q u
e s ti o n o f d e s ta k e n g r in is m
t:ha n lt te rm in is m is e a t p a in to
has been th o m u c h less im show
agr,ee w it h th u g h t to b e . 8 We
13 p o r ta n t to e th ic s
am . i& m a x im o f
m
c a n , th e re fo
a n sows, h e o ra li ty a s a d re v e fy w e n
should b e re a v o c a te d in G
d y to r e a p ·. it a . 'w h a te v e·
B u t in sow r
ing, h e c a n~
~ tie ~ t.,.,-.,... tt ,
.....
w -r .- w _ .. .. .. .,
'li't - :i:s: t .,. . ., .. ,s t
70 Commun ism and Gita
exercise his choice fullyi

Through this lofty principle of karma, Gita al so wants to say
that social responsibilities mu~t be discharged irrespective of one's
personal ambition s, fears or temptatio ns. ln tod ay's context,
when people are becoming more and more prone to calcul ating
the conseque ntal gains, the rnoral implicati on of thi s pr inciple
becomes all the more relevant. It countera cts the all round craze
of seeking more and more profit. Commun ism also consi dered
that such tendency is the outcome of a degenera ted state of
society. Accordingly, profit motive should be avoided in social
obligations. The growing trend of money-m aking is harmful.
It is so because those, who work simply in order to make more
money, will not be primarily interested in their jobs, and the
quality of their work is liable to deteriora te. A morally discip-
lined and socially enlightened man will regard his work as a source
of intellectual and moral excellence and a source of genuine
happines s. Therefor e, for gaining real happines s, there should
be no selfish purpose behind our actions. It does not mean that
man should becoll!e blind and immune to the social conseque nces
t of his evil deeds. The principle implies that conseque nces will
follow accordin g to the operative laws of nature. Gandhiji
rightly puts forth his views on this issue, when he says : " To be
detached from the fruits of action is not to be ignorant of them
or to disregard or disown them. To be detached is never to
abandon action, because the contemp lated result may not
follow. On the contrary , it is proof of the immovab le faith in th e
134
certainty of the contemp lated re~ult followin g in due course."
This interpret ation seems to be truly expressiv e of the spirit of the
law of karma.
Concept of Moral Freedom :
The restrictio n on the domain of the moral agent to the
exercise of his choice has another great implicat ion of moral
import. The freedom is exPrcisin g his choice has been guaranteed
in this maxim to the moral agent without any interfere nce. Such
freedom is an essential postulate of mora lity. This gives im mense
liberty to man to decide his fate and build his fortune. The law
of karma implies that every thing, happines s and misery, h eaven
and hell depend on one's own action and a man need not to beg
the gods for boon or gift.
Aniisakti Yoga of Glta 71
Sartre is more assertive on this issue when he says that "m a n

is nothing else but what he makes of himself." 1 36 This is the fir st
principle of Sartre's existentialism and this is the real meaning of
Jaw of karma also.
Another important point on which this law lays emph as is,
is that it imbibes the sense of responsibility in the ind ividua l. T he
courage to bear the failures and to take responsibility o f the
,consequences of one's deed is a moral courage-a cou rage of
conviction. When a man has been granted freedom to buil d hi s
fate, why to transfer the blame to others ? It is a sympto m of
pathological disorder. It is the patient of Paranoia, who suffers
from the delusions of persecutions and with a fairly con st:1nt
pattern of symptoms, he feels that the whole world is hostile to
him. He generally has the complaint that "they are the cause of
all his failures and frustrations." 136 Such maladjusted, p :ithological
and abnormal persons find themselves incapable of leadin g tension-
free life. In modern times, the psycho-analyti cal therapy a ims to
lay bare before this individual that it is no other external force but
his own subconscious that is troubling him. On knowing that the
soµrce of trouble was lying in his own libidinous tendenc ies, the
patient becomes cured and rehabilitated . Similar therapeutic role,
this law of ni~kama karma plays in the moral life. When an in-
dividual comes to realize that he himself is the cause of his own
degeneration, he becomes prepared for remedying the situation by
his own efforts and it is in the realization of this fact that h0
becomes the maker of his own destiny. Arjuna is made to realize
that even · God cannot improve the lot of those people who :u e not
themselves prepared to alter their life-situation . Man may seek
inspiration from here or there, but in the end, he himself will have
to work out the remedy. This requires the regaining of fa ith in
one's own freedom and his own potentialities. By realizing his self-
confi.dence, a man realizes his lost dignity, and thereby he proves
that he is really existing on human plane. Sartre also expresses
the same opinion that "man will attain existence when he is what
he proposes to be." 137 This is what follows from his dictum 'man
is condemned to be free' and this is what this )aw of ni~ka ma
karma would also lead to, in its last logical consequence.
A life-affirming Philosophy :
The theory of non-:attached action does not preach anywhere the
r-
l 72
Communis,n an d Gzta
us that it is o I
f renu ncia tion of world. The desp air of Arju na tells _Y
ctio a that a man seeks flight fro m tnl11s
I
f
·n
l tlle mom ents of acut e deje.
wor ld. This is sym ptom atic of abn orm a 1ty
the men tal mec hani sms .of with draw al, and .
1
.
that the patient
_ses
of den ying .the reau11ty,
.
ions . This is an un-
I etc ., as a mea ns to avoi d the ~eu r~ge.ntc tens
r term s th at th
heal thy sym pt'Jm. Gita tells A rJun a m very clea
I who are una bk to face thei r _life-si~uation
are 'unm a~~; :
(Hrdayadaurbalya,n) ( IJ .3). An evas ive attit ude of runn ing away
I .
from the field of one 's duty 1s cons1 ere
of the nob les' {anaryaja~fam) (11.2). Gita warn;)
'd d b Y G.1ta to be 'unw orth
such pers ons thZt
I
I
if they leav e thei r allo tted task , they will
Add ress ing the mor al agen t, Gita says : "If you
r ight eou s fight, then faili ng in you r duty and
be mor ally depraved.
will not fight this
losi ng you r honour
reco unt the story of
you will incu r sin. The wor ld will for- eve r
race is worse th an
youc disg race ; and for a man of hon our , disg
y and mor al courage
dea th. " 138 It is unb eho ving a man of inte grit
_wor ds of Marx,
to run awa y from adv ersi ties. The poin t, in the
vidu al to transform
shou ld t ·e to chan ge it. Gita exh orts the indi
them to finish and
the life- situ atio n by vali antl y figh ting aga inst
I yam tyak tvot frnha
secu re ulti mat e vict ory (k~u dram hrd aya dau rbal
itio n that in order to
I para mta pa). 139 Mar x also held the sam e pos
tran sfor m the 'unm an' into 'ma n', the spec
ima gina ry wor ld crea ted by r..::ligion, will not
purp ose, the life- situ atio n wil.l hav e to be
ulat ive flight into the
be desi rabl e. For this
cha nge d. 140 'Revolu-
the sum and sub-
tien i~in g the wor ld to finis h alie nati on' is also 11
The ses on Feu erb ach wri tten by Marx .1'
stan ce of the-· Fou rth
uad e Arju na , the
The aim of Git a. also is the sam e, tha t is to pers
n and finis h the con-
mor al age nt to revo lu.ti oniz e his life -situ atio
ns whi ch are the sou rce of his con fron tati on. 142 This life-
ditio
to end in Gita . ~his
affir min g purp ose is wor king from beg inni ng th
fute s thos e, who call 1nd ian phil oso phy a phil oso phy of wi ·
re
the Ind ian wisdom has
d raw al or of life- neg atio n. On the con trar y,
very clea r in con dem ning thos e, who desp ise thei r rou nd ane
been
righ t for a rnoral
responsibilities. Git a poin teql y tells tha t it is not
.
man to reno unc e one 's allo tted task.14a
iati on of obligations
The real renu ncia tion is not the ren unc
frui ts ther eof (Ka~;~
(Ka ~m~ S~n yasa ) but .the.ren unc iati on of the
yas in is a man, ·ts
pha lasa nya sa). Acc ord ing to tie Git a a san
ing on the frUI
perfQrm·s ~ll epli gato ry actiOJ:lS,_ w,ith o~t dep end
A'lfastikti Yoga of Gltii 73
tlicreof (VI. 1). The parasites, who live on unearned income and
neglect their contribution to society, cannot be called sanyasin.
According to the words of Gita , sanyasin is not the man, who
negl,ects the sacrificial fire nor he who neglects action. Working out
its sociologic11l impqcation. G andhi opines that fire may be taken
to mean all possi-ble instrllments of action .1'1-1 Thus speaking, Gita
wants to convey that those, who are not part icipating in the pro-
ductive process of the society are not the social persons. Similarly
a. yogi is not conceived as a man who withdrawing from the
"coHective modes of production' goes to forests, or a mart who plays
physical acrobats. But, according to Gita, yogi is a man who j5
not attached either to the objects of senses or to actions and who
sheds all selfish purposes (Sarvasamkalpasan1yiisz) (VI. 4) . For this
-purpose, a man needs to discipline himself to resist the allurements
and b1.its. Man is not instigated to seek refuge in forests but he is
inspired to live in this very world, but in such a way that he does
not downgrade himself, when temptations are presented. A disci-
plined man, as Gita tells us, moves among the sense objects with
the senses weaned from likes and dislikes. 145 Thi·s attitude shows
that a man does not leave the world of objects, but simply leaves
the desire to misappropriate them. This is the prime requirement
in communis-m also. In the opinion of present author, no social
order can function well unless the people acquire this attitude.
Thus, it is not a life-negating but a life-affirming requirement.
On the basis of all this discussion, we can uphold that the ethics
of Gita: is not a life-denying ethics, but it is a call to transform
this world in order to make i.t fit for dignified living
Concept of Dharma
Dharma, a Key concept of Gita has great ethical significance.
Gita opens with the very word 'dharmak~etre'. But greater still
is the significance of it when Gita affirms that the need of
establishing dharma remains the supreme need in every age
(dharmasamsthapa-niirthtiya sarhbhaviimi yuge-yuge). 146 What is this
dharma, for the establishment of which the Divine forces manifest
themselves? This seems to be very important question. Apart
from the concept of dharma, Gita refers to 'svadharma' also. 147 ls
svadharma a subjective principle or has it some socio-ethical con-
notatiou ? These are the natur l questions that may trouble every
74 Com mun ism and Gtta
wiH be discussed in
enq uiri ng mind. The question of dha rma
det ails in a late r chapter.
ut sva dha rma is tha t
But the general form ula laid by Git a abo
the context of his social
each should discharge his obligations in
the society , which can-
situation.~/ The moral dat a is provided by
in vacuum nor they
not be ignored. Hu ma n beings do not live
hin gne ss'. Du rkh eim has
can derive the rules of conduct from 'not
selves (in deriving our
rightly suggested tha t "we should concern our
h mo ral fact s inst ead of abs trac t form ula e .1 ~ In Git a
duties) wit
righteousness (dharm a-
also, the field of deciding the questions of
('
I
I .
~etra), and therefore,
k~etra) is the practical field of action (kuruk
be und ers too d only in
me ani ng of the mo ral imperatives sho uld
has rightly said tha t
con tex t of life-situation. Rad hak rish nan
or the social duty, our
'<whether we loo k at the metaphysical tru th
thro ugh the performance
par t is clear. It is possible to rise hig her
of one 's dut y in righ t spirit. ''
149 The futility of sea rch ing for the
the hum an situ atio n has
meanings of mo ral predicates apa rt fro m
thin ker s of today. In
been well bro ugh t out by all the positivist
ral efficacy as a rule of
this light, 'sva dba rma ' has a gre at mo
social obl iga tion .
'dh arm a' in every age
So far as the que stio n of re-e stab lish ing
to save the mo rali ty from
is concerned, this is req uire d in ord er
Every age adjusts the
sink ing into som eth ing stat ic and dog ma tic.
duc t acc ord ing to the
mo ral cod es and pra ctic al rules of con
ma te ideal to be realized
req uire me nt of tha t age, alth oug h the ulti
mu nis t the ory also, the
progressively is not los t sigh t of. In com
in cap ital ist stage and
feu dal ins titu tion s bec om e deg ene rati ve
y' but the ulti ma te ideal
the refo re mu st be disc ard ed as 'rea ctio nar
by em pha sizi ng on the
of com mu nis m is not Jost sigh t of. Thu s
in con son anc e with the
re-e stab lish me nt of a new social cod e
ion , Git a adv oca tes a
necessities of hist ory and hum an life -sit uat
a of a com ple ted system
pro gre ssiv e mo rali ty. Alt hou gh the ide
mo ral efforts to the
rem ain s an ide al, yet we are to brin g our
es the sim ilar views. He
app rox ima tion of tha t. Mil ne also express
of hum an his tory , the
say s : "O n a teleological inte rpr eta tion
es and pla ces app ear as
_various soc ial mo rali ties of diff ere nt tim
dua l dev elo pm ent of a
suc ce:sive app rox ima tion s in the gra
ach iev ed wh en different
uni ver sal hum an mo rali ty, wh ich will be
har mo nio us life on one
soc ieti es are uni ted tog eth er -i nto the
Anasakti Yoga of G,ta
75
universal human society." 150 Never
theless, the progressive rea-
lization of this ideal goes on fro
m age to age. G ita advocates
that the decayed and out-moded ins
titutional manifestations sho uld
yid J place to new . When som
e old institutions die, we should no t
lament over the slow dying of the old
order ,1 51 bec ause it is the
firm conviction of Gi ta tha t new
life comes only by dea th of the
old152 and tha t the essences, which are
impregnable, imperishable,
do no t die. 153 This att itu de saves the
morality from becoming re-
actionary, customary and ritualistic.
This bri ef survey of the ethical doctrin
es of the An asa kti Yo ga
of Gi ta leads us to the conclusion
tha t its emphasis is on practical
life. Such a pra cti cal guide to rai
se the hu manity to the higher
plane of dignified living by pierci
ng the bo nd s of egoism and
att ach me nt is mo st needed tod ay wh
en ma n sta nds bewildered, con-
fused and oppressed by the do ub ts
of ann ihi lat ion . Th e emptiness
and profaneness of pre sen t-d ay life
can no t be cur ed by abs tra ct
sermonizing. Gita rep ud iat es the sep
ara tio n of the ory fro m pra cti ce
and vice-versa. It ho lds tha t "on ly
fools spe ak of Siiritkhya (know-
ledge) and yog a (pr act ica l discipline)
as sep ara te fro m eac h oth er.154
In mo ral life, the ory can no t be divorc
ed fro m practice no r pra cti cal
morality can fun cti on wi tho ut
rat ion al app reh ens ion of the
situ ati on and on e's ob lig ati on .
In ord er to get success in mo ral
endeavours an d sociological tra nsf orm
ati on , Kr~l).a, the guide an d
Arjuna, the pra cti cal executer, 'th
e hu ma n sensuous activity'
should joi n tog eth er (ya tra yogesv
ra~ kHrJO yat ra piirtho dhanur-
dhara~) and wh ere the y joi n
tog eth er, as Gi ta assures the ma n-
kind, the re are for tun e, vic tor y, pro
spe rity .155 In the lig ht of thi s,
the criticism of Ma rx tha t' the ph
ilo sop her s hav e onl y int erp ret ed
the wo rld in var iou s ways, the po int
, however, is to cha nge it, doe s
no t app ly to the ph ilo sop hy of
Gi ta. In Gi ta, no dem arc ati on
line has been dra wn bet we en sal vat
ion an d the worldly life. Th e
pre sen t wr ite r agrees wi th the con
clu sio ns dra wn by Ga nd hij i tha t
'Gi ta is no t a the ore tic al tre ati se.
It is a living bu t sile nt gui de
whose dir ect ion s on e has to un der sta 156
\ nd .
References
1. BhagavadRitii, :XVUJ. 73.
2. Bahm, A.J., The Bhagaradgitii or
the Wisdom of Krishna, p. 10.
3. Da sgu pta , S.N ., History of Indian
Pliilosopliy , Vol. II, p. vii.
-
C ommunistn and Gita
76
4. ftriid., p. 501'.
5. Freud, S., Ctrillzatio11 and its Disconten ts , p. 141.
6. Bhagawidgitii., IV. 7.
7. Quoted in The Gospel of l.i/e by Brooks, F.T., p. v.
8. iilak, 8.G., Gita RaltasJa (Hindi 13th Ed.), p. 63.
9. Ibid .. p. 11.
10. Titu.;, H.H., Ethics for Toda:y, p. 51'0.
JI. Balun, A.J., op. cit., pp. 17-18.
12. Mciver, R.M. and Page, C.H., Socie1y, p. 506.
13. Copi, l.M., Symbolic Logic (3rd Ed.), p. 185.
14. Jacobi , Jolande, Psycholo gy of C.G. Jung, p. 127 ff.
J.3. Cassirer, E., An Essay on Man, p. 3'2.
16. Desai, Mahadev a, The Gi'[{I A1ccorditrg to Ga,n dhi, p. f35' .
17. Tucker, Robert C., Philosopl ry and Myth in, Karl fe1arx-, Jir. 146.
18.Desai, Mahadev a, op. ci-t., p. 127.
19. Marx, K., and Engels, F., Gaman Ideology, p. 14.
20. Desai, Mahadev a, The Gira A('('ordiiz:; ro Gandhi, p. 209.
2'1. Renou , L., Religions of Ancient J,tdia, p. 60.
22. Woodrof fe, Sir John, bttroduct wn to Ta,ttra fiistra, p. 34.
It 23. Radhakri shna.n, S., Eastern R ,!f.·g ion a,td Wastem Thought, p. 55.
24. Betai (Dr) Ramesh, Gita a,u1 Ga11dhii1 ; pp. 165-183, 204-256.
25. Radhakr ishnan, S., Eastem Rel(t;ion and Western Thought, p. 56.
f 26. Gandhi, M.K., Young India, 6-8-192S.
27. Gandhi, M.K., Harijan, 24-8-1934.
f 28. Desa:i, Mahadev a, op. cit., p. 129.
2.9. Bhagavatglta, VI. I.
30. Tucker, Robert C., Marxian Revolutionary idea, p. 220.
31. Tlte Gita According to Gandhi, p. 161.
j.z. Gua, II.72
3'3'. Gita, V. 24, 25, 26.
l
f
34. Gita~ lV. 6; V. 19, 20, 21; VI. H>.
35. Gila, VI. 30.
36. Gita, VI. 19
I 31. Young India, 12-11-1925.
l js-_ Brhodarai_1yaka Up. (Trans. by Radhakr ishnan, S.), 1.4.10.
39. Svettisvatara Up. (Trans. by Radhala ishnali, S.), 6.12.
40~ Tag·0re, Itabindra Ftath, Religion of Man, p. 9'1.
41. Mahabharata (quoted) Radhaikrishnan, S-. and Raju, P.T., The Concept uf
Mav, p. 9.
42. Feuerbac h, Ludwig, The Essence of Christianity, p. xvi.
43. Sartre, Jean Paul, Existenti alism and Humanism, p. 12.
44, Ibid., p. 55.
4.5. Taittiriya Upaifntid, VI. 1 : Asannev a sa bhavati asad brahmeti veda cet.
46. Chandogya Uptm/fad, XVII.vi.7.
)
47. Brhad. Up.-, II. iv. 14.
48. Brhad. Up., IV; iv. 23.
I
I
' • 5
At1a&akti Y-oga of.Gita 77

49.Brhad, Up. II. 1. 4.
Brhad Up. , II.1.4 . : Atha yo'n yam deva tamu paste _ _ ..
50. ' nyo sava nyo ham asm1 tma
sa veda yath a pa~ure va1i1 sa deva nam.
51. Radh akris hn a,1, S. , The Princ ipal Upani~ad ;, pp. 168-69.
52. Ayer , A.J., Lang uage Truth and Logi c , (2 nd Ed .) 1960, p. 42.
Cohe . . .
53. n, M.R . and Nage l Erne .,t, An / ,11r0J uctio 11 to L ogic
and Scien tific
Meth od, p. 122.
54. Steb bing , L.S. , A Modern /11/rodu,c fion to Logic , p. 455 .
55. Ibid. , Thus the quan tifie d gene r,a l state men t 'hum anity exis,t s' is logic ally
equi vale nt'to sayin g that all the mem bers of
t:he class ' hum anity ' have the
prop erty of ~xist ence . It may be form uJa.t
ed as ' given any x in the
unive rse, if x is hum an, then x ha~ the prop erty
of ex.isle~~ ~.'
56. Sartr e, J.P., op . .cH., p. 55.
57. Brhad Up. , I. iv. 10 and II, v. 19 (aya matm .a brah ma).
58. Kier kega ard, Sore n, The Sickn ess.l./nto O,ec,1th. p. 207.
59. Kare n. Horn ~y, Nt:LJr..oses an.d H.l!man Gr o,-.,..th, p. 1 }2.
. ti>. TJ1ck~r, R.ob.e rt C., Philosoph y and Myth in .Karl Mqr x, pp . :H, 80
.
61. Gita, IV. 3.5.
62. Gita, XV. 7 (mam aiva mso jival oke jivab huta 9 sana tana ~).
63. Radh akris hnan , S., Blzagavadgita, p. 328.
64. Desa i, Ma~~4eV;a, (Trl;lQ.S.) The Gita 4c;cprd_ing ,t o Gand
hi, p. 341.
65. Mm, .J.S., A Sn(emp f LPgi c, Ch.a p. VI, VIJ.
66. Gita, XIII . 16 avib hakt am .c a bhutel?u vibba.l<.ta
m iva c.a sthit am.
67. Gita, XVI II. 20 : sarva bhut e~u y,ena ikarh
bhav ama vyay m ik~a te
avibh a:kta m vili,b akt,e~.l}. taj jiian arp vidd hi raj,a
sam.
68. Cohe n, M.R . and Nage l, E., An Intro ducti on to Logi
c and Scientific Meth od,
pp. 241-43.
69. Gita, XVI II, 61, I~va ra~ sarva .bhu tanar h
h;dd ese'r j un.a ti~th ati.
70. Steb bing , L.S. , op . cit., p. 243 ff.
71. Gita , II. 20 and 21. (nitya,}:t s~sy a(o' yari:i
pura no)
72. Ka{h opan iiad (Tra ns. by Rad hakr ishn
an) 1.2.18.
73. Kath a. 1.3.1. and 1.3.4 ; M~1Jr/.a.k.a IIJ.I
.2, and Sveta, IV. 6
74. Gita,' XIII . 41.
75. Gita, XIV . 5 : sattv am rajas tama iti
gui:ial) prak ;ti samb hava h
niba dhna nti mah abah o dehe dehi nam avya yam
76. .(ij/g , VIU .. 14 : Qc;l,~v j hy ~~a gµ_Q_a may-
i mam a mayi;i dura tyay a.
77. Gila., VlJ. i$.
7~. -(;j1ij, XJV . Zo (gµp_an etan q,titya trin dehi deha s;.:rn1 \1db
lnva n)
79. Gita, XVI . .10-13; 18-19.
BO. S.artr.e, l.f ., op. cit., p. 4,5.
ijj. ~nt , Imm.an,uel, f1-1.11damP,ntal Prinr:ip/es of the Metaphysics of
pp. 77-7$. Ethic s,
~2. Hege l, G .W.F ., Phe1JQf!1eno.log y of Mind (Tra ns.
by Baill ie), p. 97.
83. Hege l, G.W .F., Scien ce of Logic,. Vol. I, p . 143.
l 84. D-~l>ii, M~llad.eva., The Oita Accordir,g ro Gar1dlii,
lI p . is2. (Gita, II, 51)
I 85. Hege l, G.W .F., Logi c of Hegel (TP\ ns. l;>y W.
\ Wall ac.~). p. 335.
I
l
!
t
.-
. , ; .
··--- -- ~-----::;
~ ~ - -l
Commu nism and Gtta
18
Sartre, J.P., op. cit., p. 46,
86.
87. Ibid., P· 4l.
88. Ibid., 1'· 6. . . . 011 Historical M't1rcria/ism, p. l 3.
89.
Marx, Engels, Lenin,
90. Gita , X Vl. 9-.10
91. Gira, XV_\8.an S Bhagavad gitil, p. 81.
92. Radhakn s rn ' .,Tl Gita According to Gandlii, p. 135.
Desai, Mahadev a, re • - 96
93.
Radhakri sbnan, S., Bhagavadg1ta, p. .
94.
cit. p. 25. ,n/ty and Myth in Karl !vlarx, p. 57 .
95. Sartre, J ·p ., op ~ Pl .
96. Tucker, Robert C., u 1osoi- - -
hakrishn an S., Bhagavadg1ta, p. 97. .
97. Rad b rt. 'c Philosophy and Myth in Karl Marx, p. 49.
98. Tucker, Ro e .,
. I 36 (Antisakti Yoga bha~ya). h- )
99. G ua, . , . ._
G' I 35 (Anasakt i Yoga b a~ya •
100. ~ta, · 62 . sangat sarhjayate kama}:l kamat krodho bh1 Jayate
101. G,ta, !~·
1 63
=· krodhad bhavati sai_nmohal] sa~-~hat smrtiv~bhrama~ ;
smrtibhramsad buddhm aso buddhm asat pral)a~yati.
102. Gita, III. 37.

21. _
103. Gila, XVI. i Yoga bha~ya).
. XVI 10, 11 , 12' 19 ' and 20 (Aniisakt. ct_
104. Gua, •
Gita, II. 43, kamatmanal] svargaparal] Janmaka rmaphal apra am .
.105.
106. Radhakrishnan,
s., Bhagavadgitii, p. 117.
•.
107. Gita, IL 49 (Anasakll Yoga bha~ya) ~mat); II. 38; III. 9; III. 19; III. 25;
Gita, u. 51 (phalam tyaktva mani
108.
v. 10-11.
109. Maitra, S.K., The Ethics of the Hmdus, p. 33.
uo. Freud, S., General Introduction to Psycho-analysis, p. 311.
111. Broad, C.D., Five Types of Ethical Theories, p. 237.
112. Mackenzie, J.S., A Manual of Ethics, p. 168.
114. 'Marx, K., German Ideology, pp. 396-397.
115. Desai, Mahadev a, The Gita According to Gandhi, p . .129.
116. Ibid., p. 377.
117. Gita, IV. 23.
118. Gita, V. 23 (Kamak rodhodb havam vegam sa yukta9 sa sukhi n arah).
119. Gita, JI. 48 (yogasthah kuru karmaQi sangam tyaktva dhananja ya).
120. Gita, JU. 19: (tasmlid asakta~ salatem kiiryari1karma samiicara ; asak
to hylicaran kurma paramiipnoti puruiab).
121. Gita, ll. 51 : (Karmajarh . buddhiy ukta hi phalarh tyaktva mani~inab;
janmabandha vinirmukta}:l padam gacchan ty anamayam).
122. Ra.dhakrishnan, S., Eastern Religion and Western Thought, p. 95.
123. Mackenzie, J.S., A Manual of Ethics, pp. 56-57.
124. Rashdall, H., op. cit., Vol, I, p. 51,
125. Desai, Mahadeva, The Gita According to Gandhi, p. 184. (Gita, III. 25).
126. _Rashdall, H., op. cit., Vol, IJ, p, 70.
127. Bradl~y, F.H., Ethical Studies (2nd Ed., 1927), p. 96.
An asa kti Yoga of Gira
79
128. l t is signifi can t to note th at
in Ind ia n a nd Bu ddh ists
hum an b o dy has bee n veril y tra dilf o ns, t h is
com pared wit h cha rio t to
Reaso n. ln Git a a lso , thi s an be gui ded by
a log y has bee n presen ted.
]29 . M ar x, K., Das Capital, Vo l.
Ill , p. 355 (Br ac ket ed min e).
130. Gitu. 11. 47 (K ann a1)ye va· dhi
kar as te ma pha le~u k ada can
131. Gita, V. 14: (n a kart rtva 1i1 na a) .
kar ma i:ii lok asy a sr ja ti pra
bhu ~; na
ka rm ap h a las a 1hyo ga rh sva bha
132 . Tit us. H ., op . c it. , p. 159 . vas tu pra va rtat e).
133 . Bro ad , C. D. , Fire Types of Eth
ica l Thtol'ies, pp. 192-205.
134. Ga ndh i , M. K. , Young India , 15.
3.1928.
135. Sar tre, Jean Pau l, op . cit. , p. 28.
1.56. Page , James D., Abn ormal Psy
cholog y, pp. 287-288.
137. Sartre, J.P. , op. cit., p. 28 .
138 . Gita, II. 34. (Aniisakti Yoga).
139. Gita, 11. 3.
140. Ma rx, K. and Engels, F., Germa
n Ideology , pp. 33, 34, 37
141. Marx, Engels, I:.enin , Un Histor
ical Materialism, p. 12.
142. Gita, IV. 42 ; XI . 34.
143 . Gita, XVIIT. 7 ; II. 36.
144. Desai, Ma had eva , The Gita Acc
ording to Gandhi, p. 228.
145. Gita, II. 64 : (ra gad ve~ viy uk tais
tu vi~ayan indriyais-caran ; atm
vidheyatma prasadamadhigacch avasyair
146. Gita, IV. ati) .
8.
147. Gita, II. 31, 32 ; III . 35 ; XV III.
47.
148. Du rkh eim , Emile, The Division
of Lab our in Society (1933), p.
149. Ra dha kri shn an, S., Bhagavadg 411.
itii, p. 114.
150. Milne, A.J.M., The Social Philos
ophy of English Idealism, p. 65.
151. Gira, II. 11 (asocyan aL·t~"1\ll
,1-.,
1.52. Gita, II. 22. (vasamsi jirQam yat -i?.~ ). _ . _. , _ .
1ra v1haya, navaru grhQatl naro
153. Gita, II. 17 (vinasarh avyayasya para[).1).
' sya na kascit kartum arhati)
154-. Gira, v. 4 (Sarhkhya yogau prt
hak bala}:l pravadante na paQdita
155. Gita, XVIII. 78. J:i).
156. Ga ndh i, M.K. Harijan, 3-9-19
31.
3
o s o p h ic a l a n d C u lt u r a J
Phil
Infli1en1ces
in g man
fo r th e re m ov al of hu m an bo nd ag e an d m ak
Th e se ar ch go in g on sin c.e th e da
wn of
ita tio ns ha s be en
free fr om his lim ev er y so ci et y, se er s, thinkers
,
er y ag e an d in
ci vi liz at io n, an d jn ev m ad e th ei r co nt rib ut io n to the
er s ha ve
pr op he ts an d ph ilo so ph tie s to pe rf ec t.i on . K r~r:i.a, th e
m hi s fra ili
efforts to -r ai se m an fr o, t~.
t at
- th e te ac hi ng th at he wa
s
, ha s po in te d ou
n3 :u at or of th e G ita ne w , bu t it ha s be en hand
ed
no t so m et hi ng
·de liv er in g th er e. was, e welfare
po st er ity th ro ug h a su cc es siv e Iineag.e fo r th
down to the nd ed do w n in su cc es sio n,
the
sa ys : "T hu s ha
of hu m an ity . G ita ps e of tim e it dw in dJ ej away
in
; w ith lo ng la
ro ya l sages le ar nt it
this w or ld ." dhub;
am paro mp artip riipt am imam rtijaNayo vi
Ev
ne ha m ahat ii yogo na f/a b paramtapa (I V. 2).
sa ka/e ned by the crisis in fro
nt of
is no t ne w on e, oc ca sio
' 'th e doctrine th e law
n
of universal ap pl ic at io 1
st at em en t of )
Arjuna, but (the re the welfare of th e people.
''
memorial f 0r
foHowed from the time im an d th e restoration of ancient
redisc ov ery
The teaching is a
I wisdom.
A man obviously ca nn ot
th e
cu
pa
t
st
hi
.
m
N
se
ei
lf
th
off the intellectual and
er En gels, no r Marx did.
socio•cuJtural heritage of an tra di tio n, the philosophical
ou d of th e G er m
Th ey were bo th pr
I he rit ag e of K an t an d Heg
al.
Pliilosophicat and Cultura
l Tnfluences
81
Ac.cordingly. it beco m es
esse nt i al to ha ve a br
. fo rm ative influence ief survey of th e
s on M ar xism . A br
conditions is al so es ie f su rvey of th e cu ltu ra l
se nt ia l which exercise
m ouldi ng th e G an dh d th ei r influ ence in
ia n th ou gh t in so fa
additing of ne w in te rp re r as it has led to th e
ta ti ons to th e old wisd
form ·o f An asakti Y og a o m of G ita . in the
.
Philosophical and Cultura
l Influences on Marx
O rth od ox co m m un is ts
su pp or t th e te ne ts of
ten acity of th e religio us Mar xism wi th a
zeal. Th ey observe a
towards th e ba sic te ac sancti fy ing at tit ud e
hi ng s of M ar xi sm an
'C om m an dm en ts '. Th d tre at tb em like th e
e re su lt is, th at to an or
op po ne nt is no t m er el y th od ox M arxi st , an
in er ro r, bu t in 'si n' .
tude ha s so m et im es Su ch do gm at ic at ti·
m ad e it difficult to
various so ur ce s w hi ch di sc er n co rre ct ly th e
in sp ire d th e fo un de rs
fo tm ul at in g th ei r do ct rin of co m m un ism in
e.
Arnold To yn be e, a di st
in gu is he d hi st or ia n of
tr.ied to sh ow th e di st in ct m od er n tim es ha s
iv e Je w ish in sp ira tio n
he says, ha s given an ap of Marxism. 2 Marx~
oc al yp tic vi sio n of th
which is in ev ita bl e. Th e vi ol en t re vo lu tio n
is 'in ev ita bi lit y' co m
'inevitable decree of pa re s well w ith th e
G od ' as en un ci at ed
Petersen tra ce s or ig in Jewish tra di tio ns r
in of M ar xi sm to
Acc.ording to hi m "t he sociological gr ou nd sr
ir do ct rin e is no t so m et
is derived in all its pa hi ng m ys te rio us bu t
rt s fr om th e em pi ric al
the universe. " 3 In hi s stu dy of society an d
bi d to give a ph ilo so ph
predicts th e in ev ita bl y of hi sto ry which
e do w nf al l of ca pi ta li~
soe,ialism Marx ha s tri ed m an d th e ad ve nt of
to pr op ou nd a full-fledg
al m os t al l th e as pe ct s of ed system co ve rin g,
m an 's pr ac tic al life. Sc
eeonomjst of 20 th ce nt hu m pe te r, a gr ea t
ur y su bs ta nt ia te s th \s
nomics, so ci ol og y, po lit fact an d says : ' 't co-
ic al th eo ry , hi sto ry an
mixed in hi s sweeping an al ys 4 d ph ilo so ph y ar e all
is ." Ja m es Bo na r po in
taeory of su rp lu s va lu e ts ou t " th at th e
was al re ad y pr es en t in
-eessor,s of M ar x ... Similarly t~. the English pr ed e-
e vivid de sc rip tio n of
v1ew of hi sto ry at al l th e th e ec on om ic·
sta ge s of de ve lo pm en t
·Marx was al re ad y gi ve n approxinrnt~ng
\ by ''L as sa lie ", w ho wa
There ar e th in ke rs , w ho find s no t Hegelian. "a
no th in g or ig in al bu t a
various ideas in fil tra tin g " ju m bl e of
\ ~card shows with gr ea t cl
in th e do ct rin e of Mar
x. Fo r example,
aborati.>n th at tLe id_
lllterpretation of po lit ic ea of e~onomic
s, lin ka ge of th e st at e
w ith class mterests
\
I
f
' t\
l 82 Communism and Gzta

I
l
I
l _ s come to Marx through a long line of
.' II and property sySiem ha Mach iavelli Locke c1 nd James Mad is ''a
f Aristotle to ' ' h· · ·
heritage rom th at ' 'Marx freely borrowed 1s 1de 1s from
Cohen •also· feels s St · Simon ' Fourier etc. whom he
t · 1s as we 11 a ,
lbourgo1se htS oriat . . 11 uman fa ilings of borrowers, belitt led as
with the 1 chara~tenshtic riod from October 1842 to March 1843
· During t e pe '
utoptans. d 't r of a radical paper known as 'Rhei-
M rx worked as an e I o 'fi d. . l
.a . , Marx then had to write prolI c e 1ton a s on all
nische Zeitung · bl ms Due to his wide reflection in these
the important pro e · . d C
. .
ed 1tona1s, M arx llad to cover various · fiel s. 11 onsequently,
h · it
becomes a d .ffi
I cu It J'ob to analyse
. and sift . .out a t e . mflu ences
b ing proJ·ected mto these wntmgs. That is
.that were e k' ''d · wh y, the
total complex of Marxism app~ars to Soro m a umpmg ~round
r
.1or nu mberless atomistic socio-cultural phenomena, · Iwh ich ·re-
t resent the different systems-in fact a congenes or cong emeratron
pf German French and English heritage. " 8 These three sources of
i 0 ' .
.M arxism have been well recogmzed by VJ. Lenm also.
. 9
Influences of Classical Materialism :

Historical materialism of Marx is widely different from the
classical mechanistic materialism . Marx enriched western
materialistic philosophy with the achievements of German classical
. phi losophy, especially of Hegel's system, which, in its turn, has
led to the materialism of Feuerbach. 10 According to Lenin , the
main achievement of Germans was dialectics. Apart from the use
· of dialectical method, Marx deepened and developed philosoph ical
materialism to its all sociological implications. Epistemologically
he extended 'the cognition of nature' to include the 'cognition of
human society'. Distinguishing the stand-point of new materialism
of Marx from that of the classical materialists, Lenin pointed out
that, "just as man's knowledge reflects nature wh ich exists inde-
pendently of him, so man's social knowledge (his var ious views and
doctrines-philosophical religious political and so forth) reflects the
~- economic system of society. "11 Communism is not an outgrowth
of the classical materialism. But an applicat ion of Hegel 's dialect
on the ~rench Mat_er(alism. Marx has exposed the defects of the
mecha~1cal materialism particularly its French vrrs ion in his
Eleventh Theses on Feuerbach
cIass1cal
. matenahsm • . . nature •swall• 81.s mam. b . t · e ·s tha t in
o Jee 1v 1
. ' ows man.
J'ldlosophical and Cultural Influences
83
Marxism accepts the fun dam enta l prio rity
of natu re but in con -
trad istin ctio n with old materialists it thin
ks tha t nat ure is a
,dialectically developing entity which undergo
es qua lita tive ch an gee;
also. Ma rx comes close to the Sam khy
a system s of Ind ian
Philosophy where the mah ab/z uta, the obje
cts grow only in pro -
portion with the reflection of puru~a into
pra krti and despite all
its binding cha ract er, it does not swallow
puru~a. Such a cate-
_gorical assertion of the role of 'ma n',
who for Marx, is funda-
mentally a pro duc tive being, makes his mat
erialism fit to be called
·' anth rop omo rph isti c idealism'.
But Ma rx was allergic to the use of
term idealism for his
-philosophy, because the Ger man idealism
over-estimated the role
of ideas in hum an affairs. It generated a
con seq uen t tendency to
..assume tha t the con cep ts which emerge
in various peri ods of
.history, inh eren tly evolve from one ano
ther in a logical con -
tinuum. Ma rx bitterly con dem ned this atti
tud e of idealism which
despised the pro duc tive activity of man
kin d. He was so muc h
embittered wit h the metaphysics of idealism
tha t he join ed han ds
with his colleague Engels and join tly bela bou
red "to settle acc oun t
with thei r form er phi loso phi c conscience." 12
Accordingly, des pite
so much sim ilar ity with the idealist app
roa ch, it would not be
justified to put him und er the roo f of
'Ide alis t Cam p'. Ma rx
might hav e sou ght help from the Fre nch mat
erialism in his bid to
settle scores wit h Abs olut e Idealists. But
he could not reconcile
him-self with the pure mechanistic modes of
the materialism.
Marx put s 'ma n' in the cen tre of his philoso
phical endeavours,
and not the ontological stat us or the pro blem
of the analysis of the
external world. He him self says : "Th e
immediate task of philo-
sophy, which is in the service of history,
is to unm ask hum an
self-alienation in its secular form now tha
t it has been unm ask ed
in the sacred form. 13 The difference from the
classical materialist
doctrines which reduce everything to phy
sico-chemical and bio-
physiological laws and ther eby und erm ine
the imp orta nce and
dignity of man 'as a living pro duc er of
his material modes of
existence', becomes qui te obvious. Wh at Ma
rx wanted to assert
in his materialism is tha t man can not think, and
can not live at all,
without pro duc ing the material means of life
and tha t the material
modes of his existence should be given prio
rity in und
i!is other activities, viz., his thinking and philosophis erstanding
ing. In sho rt
I • ·a ...., - -
__________._
..;,. .,,. ,_ e, '
,
~ \ J
Comm unism and Gita
84
• materialism is the 'asser tion of human factor '
the crux o f M arx1an
. • · 1· ,
and 1t may very we 11 be called the 'huma nised maten a ism.
The French Working Class :
•·
Summ anzmg tl. e ,11 ree source s of Marx ism, which were duly
1 " ,, .
·
recogmse yd b Leni·n as well , Eric Roll states that En glish utili-
. . .
· ·
tanam sm, French socialist thoug ht and, the begm nmg ot Germ an
radicalism were the inspir ation of Marx s yout h ., ,14 . M arx took his.
·
philosophical ideas from Germ an soil and synth esize? other influ-
ences into that basic frame -work . The great sy~thes1s came when
he found the prolet arian of Franc e as the practi cal executors of
his pl.lilosophical comm unism . ~ar~ jubilan~ly procl aimed 'just
as philosophy finds in the prole tanat its mater ial weap on, the pro-
letariat finds in philos ophy its spirit ual weap on.' 15 The revolu-
tionary fervour of the Frenc h worki ng class came to the knowledge
of Marx after his intellectual conta ct with Frenc h writers.
1-(egel and Feuerbach

The formulative influence of Comm unism came from German
philosophy itself, and the basic frame -work of his philosophic al
communism, which served as 'spirit ual weap on' for worki ng class
remained Hegelian in its origin . The Hegel ian origin of the philo-
sophical doctrines of Marx is reflected from the prolif ic writings
of various conte mpora ry thinke rs. Prom inent amon g them are
Sidney Hook , who has worke d out the Hege lian influence in great
details in his book From Hegel to Marx , and R. Coop er, in hi~
work The Logical Influence of Hegel on Marx . These writers have
endeavoured to show that the germs of social ism were alread y con-
~ined in Hegel's philos ophy. Not only this but Hegel ian idealists
hke Harts horn, etc., have also conce ived the 'Reali ty, as ' Social
Proceis' • This is indicative of the fact that the social ist eggs have
alrea~ y been ha_tched in Germ an ideali sm by the 'Impe rial Pro-
fess?r Hegel. It is now a well recog nized histor ical fact that the
straite st sect of scientific social ism repre sente d by Marx and
Engels spran g from the philos ophy of Hegel . What Marx did was
that he conve rted the Hegel ian philo sophy of Histo ry into a social
t beo_ry .
~arx borr? wed the 'Diale ctical Meth od', and the concept
of_h•~toncal n~cess1ty from Hegel and made them the funda m ental
princi ples of his theory to reach the goal of 'socia lism inevitable'.
l'h'i/osophica/ and Cultural Influences 85
Working out the Hegelian influence more elaborately, Prof. Tucker

·shows that "Marx translated the Hegelian phenomenology into
·scientific terms, following a lead given by Feuerbach. " 16
A. comparative study of the Marxian and Hegelian Schemes
:Shows that dialectical method of Marx arose as a metamorphoses
-0f Hegel, i.e., turning Hegel back upon his feet. Marx himself has
-claimed : "My dialectical method is fundamentally different from
Hegel's own and is even its opposite. For Hegel it is the process
.of thought, which he even converts into an independent subject.
For me. on the contrary, ideas are cn\y the material facts turned
·up side down in the human head. The mystified look of the
Hegelian dialectic was criticised by me nearly thirty years ago." 17
This shows that Marxian system is a demystified version of Hege-
lianism. Engels also recognised the fundamental Hegelian influence
-0n Marx. Reviewing Marx's Critique of Political Economy, Engels
makes a reverential reference to Hegel and says : "This epoch-
making conception of history was the direct theoretical premise for
the new materialist outcome." 18 Recognising that Communism is
the secularised version of Hegel's philosophy, Engels goes on to
:Say, "So powerful a work as the Hegel's philosophy, could not be
disposed of by simply being ignored. It had to be 'sublated' in its
-own sense, that is the sense that while its form had to be annihi-
Aated through criticism, the new content which had been won
through it had to be saved." 1 \1 Accordingly, 'annihilating its idealist
form and filling into it the economic contents', was the historic
.accomplishment of Marx.
It was a firm conviction of Engels that scientific socialism was
-essentially a German product, and that it could only have come
into being in the nation whose classical philosophy had kept alive
the tradition of conscious dialectic, i.e., Germany. 20 This much
indebtedness to German classical philosophy, which culminated in
Hegel is a clear indication that Marx and Engels both were eager
to search for the real inspiration in Hegelian philosopLy itself.
They, however, wanted to discover as to what was the secret of
its greatness. It may be inferred from it that in formulating
his theory, Hegelian philosophy influenced him most.
Hegel's Phenomenology of Mind was the work that deeply impress-
-ed Marx. About this work, Marx maintained, "Th~ phenomenology
is a criticism in a concealed, unself·clarified and mystifying form.
However, it) so far as it firmly grasp~ _the alienation of man, even
if n,a,i appears only in the form of sp1r~t, all the elements of cr iti.
cism are hidden in it."21 Marx fascm~ted - by the charm of this
book undertook to invert phenomenology m order to find out it
conc;~\\ed meaning and to tear off its mystifying form. This tas~
was accomplished by Marx in his philosophic communism . A
deep ret\ection into his theory clearly shows that Marxis m was
indeed born as a metamorphosis of Hegelianism. The key to this
demystification and metamorphoses comes from Feuer bach. The
'inverted Hege\ianism' was the teaching of Feuerbach and there-
from it has slipped into Marxism and became a basic part of it.22
When Marx was writing his "Theses on Feuerbach", he was
fascinated by bold attempt of Feuerbach to invert Hegel , and
unravel the secrets of that. Marx saw in Feuerbach the 'anti-Hegel'
who accomplished single handedly the revolutionary over-throw
of the 'great system' of Hegel. This sort of penetration into the
secrets of Hegel could not be achieved by any of the disciples of
Hegel. They saw it with awe and sanctifying attitude. That is ,, hy,
in his doctoral thesis, Marx had referred to Hegel's discipl e~as
'captives of the system, and 'minds held fast in its fetters.'
In Feuerbach's method of 'transformational criticism,' 23 Marx
found the key to liberation from that captivity. This method came
to Marx as a great revelation. Marx became so much enchan ted
with this revelation that he advocated this methodology as the real
road to truth_. About this new discovery, Marx wr0te : "l advise
you specu1ative theologians and philosophers to rid yourselves of
the notions and preconceptions of the old speculative philosophy,
if you want to get to things as they are in reality, i.e., to th~ tru th.
And there 1s no other road to truth than the road through the
·'brook of fire' (Feuerbach). Feuerbach is the purgatory of our
tirne." 24 Engels also admitted that Feuerbach's book Essence of
Christianity had a liberating effect, as it placed materialism on th e
throne again. About the influence of that book of Feuerbach, he
writes : "Its main them: seems to be that "nothing exists outside
nature and man, and the higher beings our religious fanta sies ha\'~
created, are only 1he fantastic reflection of our own essence."2J
Thl··s-· great d'iscovery ·mto the
h 'led
real meaning of Heoel's sy st em was.
at .
as a great intellectual achievement. Engels
b . d th 15
· tory saymg · . "The spell was haile d
vie . broken ; the 'system' Jade
was exp
Phi/o'Sophical and Cultural Influences 87
and cast aside. . . Enthusias m was general ; we all became at once

Feuerbach ians. " 26
What was Feuerbac h's revolutio nary achievem ent which made
Engels so jubilant? It was h is search for the laten t meaning of
Begeli,:rnism. Feuerbac h brought into light the 'latent', the under-
lying or symbolic meaning which Hegel ian philosoph y _indirectly
reveals. To arrive at the truth, according to Feuerbac hia r: di s-
covery, one has only to turn Hegel' s key propositio ns upsid e down
or right way up. Like logical law of conversio n, the method of
transform ational criticism also requires to put the pred icate in
place of the subject every where. 27 Thus speaking, the metho J of
transposit ion of subject and predicate is sufficient t o turn specula-
tive philosoph y upside down and to arrive at the truth in its un-
concealed pure, manifest form. Accordin gly, the Hegel 's proposi-
tion 'man is the revealed God' can be transform ed into Feuerbac h's
propositio n 'God is the revealed man' and so on. Feuerbac h, in
this way, turned Hegel upside down. Marx followed him in this
pivotal operation by extending the applicatio n of this method to
aU the spheres of Hegelian ism. On the basis of this wide applica-
tion of Feuerbac h's method, many eminent Marxists ha,,c recog-
nized that "Marx in the decisive years between 1841 and 1844 was
a Feuerbac hian. " 23
Out of many other things that influenced Marx in formulati on
of his communi sm, the most importan t was the Feuerbac hian idea
that not God but man is essentiall y a creative being, who derives
joy from productiv e activity voluntari ly pe,·forme d. Elaborati ng
his idea aoout man, Feuerbac h wrote :
"In activity man feels himself free, unlimited , happy : in
passivity limited, oppressed , unhappy. Activity is the positiv~
sense of one's personali ty ... and the happiest the most blissful
activity is that which is productiv e. Hence this attribute of
the species-p roductiv e activity- is assigned to God, that is
reaHzed and made objective as divine activity. Man realizes
his creativity in the imaginati on by projectin g God as the
supreme creative being without knowing that God is his own
externalis ed humanity . " 29
This idea is the central theme of communi sm, pervading almost
all the writings of Marx. However , Marx carried this idea to other
fields of Hegelian ism. After learning from Feuerbac b the method
◄
88 Communism and Gzta

of transform ation al criticism, Marx made the philo soph y of
history
as developed by Hegel , his model ,~ and cons tructed
his own
system of com mun ism by con verti ng Hegel. Thro ugh this
method ,
Hege l's Phenomenology of M 1:1d beca me a kind of the 'phen
omena.
logy• of man. r his was the origi nal achie veme nt of Marx
tbat he
trans form ed the ph iloso phy of history, as the histo ry of man,
not
of Absolute. When Hegel was so inverted , then Marx realiz
ed that
"in its esote ric form , it is a 'revolutio:1ary ' gospel of the
apoth eo-
sis of man. u 3 t Acco rding ly, Marx disco vered with the
help of
Feuerbac hian meth od that Hege l's philo soph ical religion , in
essen ce
was the religion of man . In the form of Abso lute, it was
found'
to cont ain 'them e of man 's soar ing into the unlim ited '. This
is the
them e which is work ing behin d the conc ept of man in
the philo-
soph y of com mun ism. Acco rding ly, in his desire to
become
Absolute~ man want s to brea k his finitu de , his limit ation
s. Marx
foun d that this secre t was also cont aine d in Hege l's own
writings if
Hege liani sm is read thro ugh Feue rbac h. Hege l once wrot
e : " By
pride he fell ; by pride he shall rise again . The hand that
inflicts
the wou nd is also the hand that heals it. " 32 Afte r remo
ving the
myst ifyin g elem ent from it, the real hidd en mean ing
of this
Hege lian state men t beco mes clear that Hege liani sm is
a religion
of self- wors hip. Its fund amen tal them e is given in Hege
l's image
of man that 'man ' aspir es to he God hims elf, and histo ry
is a pro-
cess of man 's attai ning to full self- cons ciou snes s as 'Man
'. Thus
the inve rted Hege liani sm beco mes the com mun i5m of Marx
.
From this deep root ed impa ct of Feue rbac h on his thou
ght, it
may not be infer red that Marx cross ed the floor of his intel
lectual
herit age. Alth ough Mar x iearn t so muc h from Feue rbac
h, yet he
neve r shoo k off his Hege lian fram e-wo rk. For the
dept h of
thou ght, he alwa ys turn ed back to Hege l. Com parin g the
relati ve
posi tion of both , he write s in one of his lette rs in 1865 : "
Com pare d
with Hege l, Feue rbac h is very poor . All the same , he
was epoch-
mak ing after Hege l beca use he laid stres s on certa i 1 poin
ts which
were disag reeab le to the Chri stian cons ciou snes s but impo
rtant for
the prog ress of critic ism and whic h Hege l had left in myst
ic semi-
obsc urity ."33 Here Mar x is appl audi ng in effect that Hege
l was a
gian t of thou ght who had pene trate d into the truth
and that
Feue rba~ h is only instr ume ntal in the clari ficat ion
of Hegel's
1 laten t meaning.
41
f
Phllosophical and Cultura l I,~fluences 89
It becomes evide1H from this sut1vcy of the historical developm en t

,of the philosophical commu :1ism that Marx in hi s philosophi ca l
communism has restated in a clear and scientific form, what H.egel
had already said before him in a confused and mystified form.
Influenc e <~l English l'olitica / Economy :
After having resolved the mystery of the Hegelian philosophical
concepts like 'Dialect ic', 'Necessity', etc. under the infbenc e of
French genius embodied in Feuerbach, it became easy to apply the
method of inverted Hegelianism to other fields of man's practical
life, the most importa nt being the field of Political Economy. When
Marx read Adam Smith's Wealth of Nation, he realized that
Hegelianism was also fundamentally a doctrine about economics.
In Marx own words : "Hegel has the point of view of modern
political economy. " 3 ' lt means that what Marx found in Adam
Smith's economics was already contained in a mystified form in
Hegel's philosophy. In so saying, Marx went a step further than
Feuerbach. Feuerbach had said that Hegelianism was esoteric
psychology. Marx said, 'it is esoteric econom ics-ma n's life is an
economic produce r." 35 This revelation also led him to search for
man's alienation in his practical life, i.e., in his life as a material
producer.
Hege] stopped at religious alienation but Marx applied his mind
in search for economic alienation as well. He started searching as
to where existed that dehumanised man, the 'unman ' in real practi-
cal life, who stands in need of regeneration. This he found in the
industrial society and capitalist economy of England, of which a
highly disparaging account he presented in his Das Capital. We
have already seen under his theory of communism that the Capital
of Marx presents a distressing image that the economic life of a
capitalist society is the prime locus of human self-alienation, where
man lives in a state of egoism. Instead of producing cooperatively .
and for the welfare of the species, as a whole, egoistic men appro-
priate the product ive power of the species in the form of money.
This appropr iation from the productive process, which is called
private property, was the main or the sole cause of human misery.
Accordingly, his coni:ern to finish these conditio ns was the practi-
cal and applied aspect of his theory of man which he had already
formulated af.er tearing off the veil of mystery from Hegelianism.
Communism and Gita .
90
. .
Caprta 1' M arx criticized the system of
In his magnutn
•
°pustheDasbasis
. of 1 ·s Hegelian
11
. .
mfluences.
l . .
t 1s m
liberal production on · h' ~·, atism beca me m ature when
Y say th at 1s so - . .
this sense that we ma E . h economy Thus speakm g, it
• H
.· 1· ·sm to the ng11s · .
he apphed ege iani ·v d from the E ng\1sh
. b ·iticism that Marx rece1 e
was the mfluence Y ci . · flection to work o ut preci sely
1 . ·res a little more re . .
economy. t requi . y helped in the formul ati on of
f t of Enghsh econom .
what a~ ors . ·11 1 d to the domain of the his to ry of
commumsm. This w1 ea us
economic thought. • · 1· , t h t
A survey of the basic maxims of communism g1v~s a g ,m_p ve a
his theory was the out-come of protest and a re~ct1on agamst the
gross m . d'1v1'd ua 1·sm
1 of the 19th century, which was based on
(i) free competition and (ii) private property. The shar~est att~ck
that Marx made, was on the pessimist school _of economists, wh1,~~
discovered the antagonism between the cap1ta!s ~n?
~orkmen. ,
With the help of their hypothetical 'Law of D1m1mshmg _Return ,
the protagonists of pessimist school drew a dismal conclus10~. th at
there was a definite limit to the production of the necess1t1es of
life beyond which it cannot be increased and therefore, mankind
had no prospects of bettering its lot.
To substantiate these gloomy conclusions, there appeared the
revised Edition of Malthus book An Essay on the Principles of
Population which sho~ed a tendency of sex to over-come the
means of subsistence. In nut-shell Malthus concluded that hunger
will ·always remain the basic problem of humanity unless some
restraints were imposed to check the vagaries of the blind instinct
of sexuality. Malthus held, that "the people must comprehend
that they are themselves the cause of their poverty, due to thei r
own incorrigible habits." 37 This attitude of Malthusians was duly
substantiated by the views of economists like Adam Smith and
Ricard o . who also utilized the inexorable laws of eco no mics to
j~stify the ~essimistic view of society. These pronouncem ents rro-
v1ded the rich classes with a good pretext for dissociating them -
selve~ ~rom the fate of the working class and let them alw ays
rem~m in drudgery. The demoralizing influence of Malthus aroused
a ~1de . s~;ead indignation and gave rise to a spate of furie s
st
agam it. When Marx came to read Malthus he could not bear
the endless horror of th · . . '
e capita 11st society Considering Malthu, to
Qe a con fi rmed ideolo · 1 · ·
gica weapon used by the bourgeois to fight
Philosophical and Cultural Influcnces 91
against the social revolution and to demoralise the workers, Marx

and Engels anathematized him and cursed his populat on theory
with great gusto. They vehemently condemned him as 'the
vulgar
economist', 'Sycophant of the bourgeois', 'the contemptible
Malthus', 'the fundamental meanness of his outlook', 'a libel on
the human race, *this repulsive blasphemy against man and nature
etc.30 The whole gamut of Malthusian theory was woven around
the assumption that man is living with unlimited wants in the
world of limited resources. No solution to this problem was
available with English economists of that day. Disgusted with this
Malthusian horror, Marx invoked the German wizard Hegel and
in order to check the vagaries of Malthusian
theory, he suggested
a perfect control over the allocation of
resources and over the
distribution of economic goods till a society of abundance is
created. Thus speaking, the idea of the collapse of this
corrupt
system and its replacement by dictatorship of the Proletariat in
the transitory period, was the conclusion of his
applying Hegel to
the liberal economy. The Dialectic of
'Hegel's Historical March',
was potent enough to that the forces of production
pronounce
will inevitably' work for the self-destruction of
capitalism.,0
Engels also supported Marx in his predicting the end of this
dehumanising system. He proclaimed that ""under the guidance of
the blind invisible hands, the
humanity will take a leap from the
'realm of necessity' into the 'realm of freedom'." Such
optimistic
Vision of the future, was obviously necessary to raise the morales
of the alienated worker, the
'unman', who wanted to become
man. But the English economy was incompetent to provide this
elevating encouragement to worker. Thus, through Marx, Hege
11anism came to the rescue of the alienated man and dehumanized
worker of the Industrial society. On the basis of this, it may be
Bad that Das Capital pronouncing the knell of capitalist system of
competitive production and private property, is the application of
Heg's concept of 'historical necessity' to remedy the evil conse
cuces of the doctrines of the 'Pessimist School of Economists'.
h e rise of the English 'Laissez faire' system, which produced
unbearable dismal conditions in the economic lifc of society and
C gave impetus to powerful currents of individual economic
etition, was driving its strength from the Darwinian doctrine.
ne laissez faire man was the business class that wanted to be free
92 Communism and Giuä
under the guise of the slogan of consumers sovereignty.
In effect
they wanted freedom to make money as they saw fit. Titus
that "their demand for freedom (they used the phrase s
faire-let alone), led to a new individualism. They said 'mensez
be free to express his self-interest. **It is evident that behind
laissez faire' slogan, i.e., under the guise of the the
slogan of
individual's freedom, the vested interestS wanted to eniov
briddled freedom to un
exploit people and to earn profit. The laissez
faire economists including Mill and Bentham argued in
their theory from the Darwinian Law of Natural
favour of
selection and o
the 'survival of the fittest'. The application of
Darwin's law in
Econom'cs led them to discourage all the collective
favour of the distressed, as all such efiorts tended to
efforts in
the weakness by protecting the inferiors. perpetuate
Thus, the Laws of
Darwin put a scientist's seal of confirmation on the
horror. When Darwin's book The
Malthusian
Origin of Species was first
published, it was appreciated by Marx, because as Marx pointed
out,i3 the idea of 'struggle among the
contending species served, as
a
support in the natural science, for his theory of class
history. Engels also applauded this theory of Darwin struggle
in
and said,
Darwin transferred the socio-economic
it was transferred back struggle to nature whence
again to society (by Marx) to prove the
eternal laws of society'."44
But when the drastic
Tealized in the economic
implications of Darwinian law were
field, both of them were greatly dismayed.
Darwin's principle of
'prolific reproduction' and individual
variation', substantiated the conclusions of Malthusian Essay on
Demography that the natural state of common is of
poverty and insecurity. It become essential masses extre
for these pioneers o
communism to save the
nization. Engels, suffering humanity from further aenu
therefore, drew a line of defence against
operation of Darwinian curse
and"tocriticising
approach, he cautioned his followers avoid, in the r inian
the nteth of
communism itself, the with
ccnfusion of physics (physical no
economics."3 What he wanted of
natural and avoid was that the 1a
to
physical
the 'productive sciences should not be used in oreting
behaviour of man'.
Marx also in criticising the This materialiSm
mechanical
"int
was the stand-p
Lenin
e trans*
of
of
also
point
also
cautioned the thinkers. ns-
that "biological ideas should

no
Philosophical and Cultural Influences 93
ferred to the domain of social sciences."4 The way in which the

Darwin's law of prolific reproduction' operates, leads to the
natural corollary that nature was producing the species in abun-
dance and out of that enormous production she was selecting only
a few by eliminating many. This enormous waste of the natural
resources, which was a consequence of the laissez faire economy,
was due to the fact that nature was behaving in a very chaotic
manner. Neither Darwin's law nor the liberal economy of the
Utilitarians were in a position to provide any plan to nature. Such
plan was, however, available in the Hegel's theory of 'Planned
March of History', which always fascinated Marx. Therefore, to
counteract the dehumanizing effects of laissez faire and of the
blind operation of the laws of nature, Marx threw the aura of
Hegelianism to arrest the unwarranted wastage of resources in the
liberal competitive society. In a planned society, the resources
will not be wasted like this. This is the final phase of communism.
Thus the final theory of communism grew by negative criticism of
the English economy.
To conclude, the basic framework of communism is the secular-
ized re-reading of Hegelian Philosophy. The other influences of
French socialism, Feuerbach's materialism, and 19th
century
English liberalism have been synthesized into basic thought
structure. The postulates and axioms of the philosophical com
munism have been worked out 'apriori' by the method of trans-
formational criticism of Hegel and the empirical facts of the
British economy were adjusted into that system. In this
way,
communism is the repository of Hegelian philosophy and thereby
it carries with it the who!e intellectual and cultural traditions
of Germany in its background.
Socio-Cultural Influences on the Modern Commentaries of Gita

Various Commentaries on Gita
Gita has guided the path of Indian people at various critical

moments of the cultural history of India. It has been a source of
Perennial inspiration and whenever darkness has engulfed the
sOcial and cultural life of India, Gita has shown the light from a
Dew
perspective. Since every crisis has its own unique features,
Communism and Giti
94
it calls for
a unique
approach to resolve it.
Accordingly, Gita
Accordi
according to the
the intelligentia
interpreted by of
has been Still has not exhausted hthe rich-
it has
it
from age to age.
the society treatise.
of this great
of the symbolism
ness
Radhakrishnan has rightly said

that "if the hold which
work
clue to its importance tha
on the
mind of man 1S any the
Gita is the most influential work in Indian thought.47 It
has is due to
this wide spread influence of this philosophico-cthical treatise that
among prasth natraya.

It is one of the
it occupies a place three
pillars of Hindu culture. Actually every great teacher, who anted
to inspire the people when visions were darkened, put forth the
teaching of Gita in consonance with the demand of his age
and
according to his perspective as to how he diagnosed the crisis.
Thus, every commentary on Gita represents a new perspective
corresponding to the socio-cultural exigencies.The survey of the
varied interpretations becomes, therefore, interesting, because
every study reveals the depth and charm of the Gita as well as of
the interpretor as to how he apprehended the socio-cultural crisis
and remedied it.Every interpretation has its own unique signi
ficance in the socio-cultural context. To understand their relative
importance is to understand the fact that social and cultural
problems cannot be reduced to one single formula but the com-
plexity of social situation demands a variety of approaches for its
equilibrity. We, therefore, start with a synoptic survey of the
interpretations of the ancients and moderns before reckoning the
social and cultural influences which worked on the present com"
mentary by Gandhiji.
Among the ancient commentators, the names of Samkar
Ramänuja, Madhusüdana Sarswati, and Vallabha are very
important. All these thinkers have inteipreted the
Gita in the contextual teachin
scheme of their general philosophical
thought. Samkara's Gitäbhsya echoes the philosopand
spiritual doctrines which are contained in hissame metaphysic the
ten Principal
Upani_ads. In Sarnkara's commentarie. he
mokya, the
summum bonum of commentary, mo
human life, has been
perience of the re-union of
Atman conceiveu Seems
separate only due to with Brahman, w

The ignorance.
Guäbhdsya of Rmnuja is
of Gita n
general doctrine of interpretation

accordance with his an a
vi[i_dvaita. I t is more
more
Philosophical and Cultural Infiuences
95
work on bhakti and theism, as
compared to the work of
Samkara,
which lays exclusive emphasis on jüäna.
Acarya Madhusiidana Sarsvati's commentary on Gita is named as
Gadharthadipikä. He divides Gita into
Karma Kända,
and jnmkända and places bhakti Upäsanäkända
(bhagvadbhaktini_thä)
middle and considers it to be the dispeller of all in the
Vallabhite calamities. The
interpretationis contained in
Gitätatparya grantha and
Amritatarangini Tik. This school also
lays stress on bhakti as
the supreme method for self-realization.
This apart, the
mentaries of Yamuncrya and com
Mdhaväcrya
an account of Gita in theistic manner.
have also
presented
All these commentaries
Doint out that the concern of the ancient
thinkers was more
spiritual. They kept the spiritual traditionsvery high and saved
the society from the onslaught of the barbaric
forces which threat-
ened the culture of this land. This bhakti tradition is
also conti-
nued in the mediaval commentaries of which
Jnäne[vari is widely
influential.
In modern period, various scholars have
to the teachings of Gita. The new
given new dimensions
commentaries have not taken
away the glory of the ancient interpretations but have added a
new
cultural dimension to make the cultural
panorma more comn-
prehensive. Among tbe eminent commentaries of our age, the
commentaries written by Tilak, Sri Aurobindo, Dr Radhakrishnan
and Mahatma Gandhi occupy very important
place. In his epoch
making work Gita Rahasya, Tilak looks upon Gita as science of
Karma-Yoga. Very clearly, he shows that Karma-Yoga fused
with spiritual knowledge and devotion, is the true
purpose of
Gita" According to Tilak, Gita preaches that "all world-affairs
should be carried on,"4° and it is in this *mphasis that lies the
originality of Tilak's bh_ya. This contribution of Tilak will be
fauded because of its impact on the practicallife of Indians whom
he aroused from the dogmatic slumber of social indolence and
political inertia.
Radhakrishnan's views on Gita are contained in his Indian Philo-
sophy0 and an Introduction to lhis book Bhagavadgit. When the
western scholars were spreading great prejudices against the cul
tural values of India and a frontal attack was being made on our
raditions by distorting their meanings, India needed a Sanskrit
SCholar, who may be Indian by culture and inheritance but who
Communism and Git
96
our cultural values according to the

may be able to interpret
western methods of interpretation. Radhakrishnan's commentary
fultils this socio-cultural requirement. With a view to dispelling
all the misconceptions spread about Indian culture in the western
seholars, Dr. Radlhakrishnan points out that "the context in which
the Gita is said to be delivered points out how its central purpose
is to solve the problem of life and stimulate right conduct.
Another most important interpretations of Gita comes fromn
Sri Aurobindo, the prophet of the gnostic society. In his magai-
ticient commentary Essays of the Gita, he emphasizes an integral
approach towards thhe problems concerning the personality of man
and the progress of civilization towards superman. He points out
clearly that in leading a 'divine life, "the first-step is Karma-Yoga.
the seldess sacrifice of works, the second is jnäna-yoga, the self
realization... The last step is Bhakti-yoga."6z This integrated
approach saves personality from disintegration and tight compart-
mentalisation and lays emphasis that for a balanced growth an
integral approach towards the intellectual, the socio-ethical, and
psycho-biological progress of mankind is needed. It is evident
from this very brief account of various commentaries on Gita that
its fundamental tenetshave eternal, values which can be used for
the solution of intellectual, spiritual, emotional and cultural crisis
with equal effectiveness. This brings us to evaluate the fourth
commentary of our age as to what were the problems of society
which inspired Mahatma Gandhi to write his own
commentary,
viz. Ansakti Yoga.
Cultural Influences on Gandhi's Commentary

Apart from the various commentaries, which have their own
value in the socio-cultural and spìritual unlift of
has been given a new
our
society, Gita
sociological orientation in Ansakti
Yoga by M.K. Gandhi. What factors led him to
interpretatíon to Gita's lofty teachings ? In order togive this new
these influences we shall have to understand
understand the general cultural
conditions and the factors, which were
the ideas of the interpretor, M.K. responsible for moulding
Gandhi.
At the outset, it
may be recalled
that while
Gandhi did n«t recognize that it was a historical interpreting Gita,
work. He is of
Philosophical and Cultural Influences
97
the opinion that under the guise of the physical warfare, it describ-
ed the dual that perpetually went on in the hearts of mankind.53
Whether the characters ol Gita are historical entities or not, is not
much relevant, but the fact remains that the symbolic representation
of the characters also reflects the conflict in the life situation. Marx
would say that 'it is the real historical movement which is turning
the world upside down that is reflected into the consciousness of
man'. This is true in case of Gita, because it has always been consi-
dered a practical guide. In the light of this, by calling it allegorical
in the new interpretation Ansakti Yoga, the interpreter has not
projected his subjective fantasies, but has tried to reflect the same
historical movement going on under our very eyes. Thus Ansakti
Yoga reflects the problems of the common masses of this
age.
Gandhi never. said that he was projecting his own repressed ten-
dencies and idiosyncracies in this new bhsya but he has
rated various social and cultural influences in
incorpo-
giving new
dimensions to the old values. A brief survey of these factors will
make the matter more elaborate and may help in correct assessS
ment of these influences.
No Communist Influence:
Sometimes the impact of Marxism and of the Russian
is worked out on Gandhi's thought because ideology
Gandhi gave a theory
of socialism. Such conclusion is drawn on
many other
evidences. Gandhi lived in an era when the success of the sporadic
October
Revolution, 1917 was widely felt. He was also waging a relentless.
fight against the imperialist manoeuvres. On this basis,
believed that Lenin
as the inspirer
and leader of a mass
movement,
Gandhi was a revolutionary." Similarly, S.A. Dange, the leader
of Indian Communist
movement also advocated that Gandhism
was needed for this
country. Dange said, "it is necessary to revive
his militant defiance of the
octopus of the State power and wealth,
Dis defence of the
dignity of man especially the poor, the daridra-
arayana and the oppressed.50 On such grourds, some persons
Dght be misled to think that Gandhian thought is the product of
Communist doctrines with something minus and something plus.
Dut the actual fact is quite contrary to this. Gandhi continued to
test the ideology of communism as a creed of sakti and atheism,
and of
violence. A great pioneer of communist movement in India,
98 Communism und Gt7t
Sardesai has rightly assessed the situation. He concludes that

"those who say that Gandhism is Communism minus violence,
forgetthat Gandhi reciprocated to the basic antipathy of

fully
communists towards him by a similar antipathy towards
Marxism."57 Thus, it cannot be said that Gandhi tried to inject
the communist influences in his commentary.
Tndian Renaissance :
At the time when Gandhi wrote his commentary on Gita, the

under tie political servitude of the imperialists. The
country was
were not
genius of this ancient land was challenged. The masses
but were also
only groaning under the yoke of political slavery,
facing economic exploitation of the resources which is
a necessary
accompaniment of imperialism and colonialism. This apart,

an
was also on in the sphere of religion and culture.

going
onslaught
The fact that this alien rule was bent upon to finish the ancient
religion of this land is evident from the declaration of
India
Mangles, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the East
"Provi-
Company, who stated in the British Parliament in 1857,
dence has entrusted the extensive empire of Hindustan to England,
end of
that the banner of Christ should wave triumphant from one
India to the other. Every one must exert all his strength that there
may be no dilatoriness on any account in continuing, in the

Christian."58
country the work of making all India
With a view to obliterate the culture of this land,the foreigners
were to misrepresent the traditions of this land
intentionally trying
and deliberate attempts were being made to magnify the dark spots
India
of Indian ethos. Histories like The Cambridge History of
are a distorted version of Indian chronicles,
the sole aim of which
a nation historically determin-
seems to be to show that India was
ed to be conquered and ruled by the aliens. Similar other histories

freedom
were also used to demoralise the forces of the insurgent
movement. The enemies of Indian culture thought that the new
instructions in the
system of English education imparting academic
of
humanities and sciences would help to foster a feeling
inferiority among the people and a contempt for their own culture
and tradition which was necessary to glorify British rule. Lord
the
Macaulay's 'Minute on Education' written in 1834, reflected
contemptuous manner in which the new ruling class treated the
Philosophical and Culural Infuences
99
age old traditions and culture and
the various Indian
The grave danger to the Indian
culture from the languages.59
has also been recognised western onslaught
by a great historian like
pointed out that "Hindu civilization is one of the tenToynbee. He
lizations of world, although it is under living civi-
or assimilation
threat of either annihilation
by West. "0 This situation of the
was greatly cultural onslaught
challenging for the Indian genius. Indian
was proud of its
great cultural heritage, which was intelligentsia
nation and which wanted to re-assert lying in hiber-
not died.
itself. The soul of India had
Radhakrishnan rightly says that "her
not completely political subjection has
deprived her of her soul."el When
she with a great gusto to reassert
rose the crisis came,
her greatness. It rose in the
form of many social and
cultural reformers. The Indian
sance gave birth to a Renais-
galaxy of such persons as Swami
Vivekanand, Aurobindo, Rabindra Nath Daya Nand,
also a product of this Tagore, etc. Gandhi was
Renaissance. All these pioneer thinkers came
forward to reinterpret and
the ancient wisdom of this thereby
to re establish the lost
land. glory of
In this new cultural
uprise,
historical role, i.e., the
the imperialist rule also played its
role of producing its own
Bringing out how the British rule in India contained grave diggers.
of its
own germs
destruction, Marx wrote in 1853 in very clear
ing classes of Great Britain have terms, "The rul-
had, till now, but an accidental,
transitory, and exceptional interest in the
aristocracy wanted to conquer it, the progress of India. The
the moneycracy to plunder it and
millocracy to undersell it."*2 This is a historical fact that in
their bid to
satisfy their lust for money and
power, the alien rule
plundered the economic resources of India. They
native industry. destroyed the
cal currents in
According to Marx, who was
watching the politi-
India report
England itself, "the historic pages of their rule in
hardly anything beyond that
Tegeneration hardly transpires through adestruction. The work of
SOon the tables were heap of ruins."*3 But
turned against the imperialist rulers. When the
rulers discovered that the
transformation of India into a productive
country was of vital importance to them,
they established large
Scale modern industry resulting from the railway system. The
ndustrial progress and the faster means of communication fostered
4
political unity. It brought
together the masses of India and also
exercised a blow on those factors upon which rested the Indian

caste system, which was a decisive impediment to Indian progress
and Indian power. The industrial progress of India proved more
to the Renaissance and to the intensification of revolt
conducive
against colonialism.
On cultural front also, Indians strengthened their position. The
religious and cultural forces of Indian society expressed great cJn-
cern over the growing influence of westernism. The so-called wel-
fare activities of the foreign missioaries were also viewed with
Suspicion as having some ulterior motive behind them. Expressing
his indignation against the
exploitors under the garb of religion,
Gandhi wrote, "Poverty has not been misused and
exploited more
by anyone else than the Christian proselytisers."64 However, des-
pite this vexation and resentment it remained a fact that zeal with
which the missionaries conducted their
evil customs like
campaign against various
untouchability, child marriage, etc. roused the
social consciousness of the
people of India. They helped in the for-
mulation of new patterns of social
thinking and activity in India.
Rightly observed Dr. Sarma when he said that "it must be
ed that the emphasis, which our contess
social
religious leaders, have laid on
service, is due to the object-lesson provided by Christian
missions."s6 India rediscovered her soul with new
The Indian culture is a vitality.
can be drawn to
powerful armoury whence from weapons
counteract any threat to its survival.
The sociolo-
gical history of India would reveal that the
the alien ralers has risen in counter-force against
every period of
movement, which is based on the old history the shape of
a in
Accordingly, the Indian thinkers started values of the people.

ancient values in the light of the reinterpreting their own
new demands.
ever they found They linked, what-
progressive,
and rejected every such
with the cultural
heritage of this land,
thing, which was found detrimental to the
national spirit and which
ed from the very life of strangulated the cultural values blossom-
the people. Such
tion of the new values into an attitude of
the basic framework of assimila-
has been
considered of great cultural Indian heritage
says: "Any mental production is significance by Sorokin. He
terned by each civilisation or conditioned, moulded, and pat
basically different sujer-systemsuper-system
of culture
in its own way. Eacn
truth. A:cordingly, if any has its own
system or
ideology wants to
prevail, it must
Philosophical and Cultural Influences 101
either be the product of the cultural conditions of India herself or

must be linked with the value system rooted in the soil of this
country. Gandhi realized this necessity and thought that no society
can detach itself from its historical background in living conti-
nuity. Thus, the Indian soul found its new expression in the field
of social thought that Gandhi presents in An sakti Yoga. It mav
be concluded that Gandhian commentary on Gita carries th
impact of Indian Renaissance on it.
Other Infuences on Gandhi:
As we study the new interpretation given to Gita by Gandhi in
his Ansakti Yoga, we find that apart from the general conditions
of Indian Renaissance, Gandhi's other experiences have influenced
this interpretation. In reciprocation, Gita has also deeply shaped
and infiuenced Gandhi's philosopby of action. It is under the
infuence of these factors that Gandhiji claims that ""he ascribes to
the Gita, a totally new meaning from that ordinarily given."7 By
the time the Ansakti Yoga was published (12-3-1930), Gandhi
incorporated various infuences in his thought-scheme. The vai-
shnava influence was inherited by him from his family.3 When
Gandhi went to England, he was deeply influenced by New Testa-
ment. He writes in his autobiography, *The New Testament
produced a different impression, especially the 'Sermon on the
Mount' which went straight to my heart. I compared it with
Gita."° This shows that the basic foundations of Gandhi were
laid in Indian culture and he compared, with a spirit of assimila-
ion and synthesis, the other great traditions of world. Thereafter,
Gandhi read the books of Tolstoy, specially The Gospel in Brief,
hat to Do, which made a deep impression on him. Gandhi says
Tbegan to realize more and more the infinite possibilities of
universal love.""0 But while receptive to these infuences, Gita
emained his prime guide. He admits this explicitly and says: "I
already had faith in the Gita, which had a fascination for me.
Now I realized the necessity of diving deeper into it."71
aking Gita as an infallible guide of conduct', Gandhi read
any other treatises and scriptures. But he points out that it was
USkin's Unto This Last, that left lasting impression on him.
Cording to Gandhi's own confession, "the book was impossible
a y aside. I determined to change my life in accordance with
102 Communism and Guä
the ideals of the book."72 But even after such aa profound

influence, the foundational inspiration of his convictions came
frem his Hindu heritage. It was only a rediscovery of his ideals
that he traced in this book. Gandhi writes: "I believe that
I
discovered of my deepest convictions' reflected in this

*ome
me and made
great book of Ruskin and that is why it so captured
me transform my life."** The main teachings
of Ruskin, which had
of the
laudable influence on Gandhji, were (i) that the good
individual is contained in the good of all; (ii) that a lawyer's
work has the same value asthe barber's, inasmuch as all have
(iii) that
the same right of earning their livelihood from that work;
a life o r labour, i.e., the life of the
tiller of the soil and the handi-
that Gandhi tried to
craftsman is the life worth living.74 It is clear
into practice in his life, because it
put the teachings of Ruskin found present in
tallied with his own convictions, which he already
Gita and other Indian scriptures.
his first acquaintance
According to Gandhi's own statement, translation by Sir
the verse
with Gita began in 1888-89 with
as many translations
as he
Edwin Arnold, but later on he read
commentaries and interpreta-
could lay hold of.75 Out of various
the 'Karma-Yoga' of Tilak,
tions of Gita that Gandhiji read,
on Gandhi. He
himself says
seems to have left great influence
non-attached
that he read it reverentially.76 His emphasis
on
of Gita seems to be the

action (an sakti) as the prime teaching
which came to him fromn
development of idea of Karma-Yoga, reflected in a categorical
Gita is
Tilak. Gandhi's firm faith in
to a letter from a revolutionary
assertion that he made in ieply
Therein Gandhi writes "I owe much to
Sachindranath Sanyal.
Buddha. I still somehow or
other fancy
Tolstoy and much to
the true meaning of the teachings
that 'my philosophy' represents shown
Gita."77 Now in a very elaborate study, Dr. Betai has
of the from
of Gandhiji have been deduced
how almost all the teachings
the fundamental tenets
of Gita.78
becomes evident that the basic
From this brief description, it
of Gandhi and his philosophy of life,
came
structure
thought ideals into that.
blend various noble
from Gita and he tried to It is
is the net outcome of this great synthesis.
The An sakti Yoga
to the various
the philosophy of Gita, re-rendered according
high the
interactions. Gita itself asserts that the "essences,
cultural
Philosophical and Cultural Infuences 103
essential principles never die ; but like the discarding of old

garments, and wearing the new, only their manifestation
changes."?® In Ansakti Yoga, the essential principles of Gita, which
carry behind them the vast panorama of the Upanisadic and epic
traditions of various philosophical ideals and cultural heritages
of India, have been revivified and reproduced
suit the modern conditions.
(punar-janma) to
References
. Desai, Mahadeva, The Gita According to Gandhi; Also Radha
krishnan, S., Bhagavadgit, p. 152. All great teachers like Gautam, the
Buddha, and Mahävira, Sarmkara and Rmnuja are content to affirm
that they are only restating the teachings of their former masters.
2. Toynbee, Arnold., A Study of History, Vol. II, p. 178.
3. Peterson, William., The Realities of World Communism, p. 26.
4. Schumpeter, Josheph, Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy, (2nd Ed.),
p. 1.
5. Bonar, James, cit., p. 349.
op. (Mr, Brij Narain, a great economist has
also brought out in his book "Marxism is Dead' the deep impact of
Bazard
on the Marxian
Thought.
6.Beard, Charles A., The Economic Basis of Politics, Chap. 3.
7. Cohen, M.R., Faith of a Liberal in Selected Essays (New York, Holt
etc. 1946).
8. Sorokin, P.A., Modern Historical and Social Philosophies, p. 148.
9. Marx, Engels, Lenin, On Historical Materialism, p. 454.
11. Ibid., pp. 453-4.
12. Marx, K., Critique of Political Economy, p. 13.
13. Marx, K., Early Writings, pp. 43-4.
14. Eric Roll, A History of Economic
15.
Thought, p. 254.
Marx, K., Toward the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right, p. 263.
16. Tucker, Robert C., Marxian Revolutionary ldea, pp. 7-8.
18. Marx andEngels, Selected Works, Vol. I, p. 372.
19. Ibid., Vol. 11, p. 333.
20. Bonar, James, op. cit., p. 328.
21. Marx,
K., Early Writings, p. 202. (Tn. Bottomore).
22. Wetter, Gustava A., Dialectical Material:sm, p. 11.
23. Tucker, Robert C., Philosophy and Myth in Karl Marx, p. 86.
24. Marx, K., Mega, p. 175.
25. Marx, K. and Engels, F., Selected Works, Vol. II. p. 333.
26. Ibid.
27. Tucker, Robert C., op. cit., p. 86
28.
Hook, Sidney, From Hegel to Marx, p. 272.
104
29. Feucrbach, Ludwig, The Essence of

Communism and Ga
30. Marx, K., Early Writings, p. 195 T.
Christianity, p. 218.
31. Marx, K., MEGA, p. 428.
32. Hegel, G.W.F., Logic of Hegel, p. 5.
33. Marx, K. and Engels, F., Selected Correspondence, p. 169.
34. Marx, K., MEGA, p. 15S7.
35. lbid.
36. Gide, Charles, and Rist Charles, A History of
Economie
(VII Ed.), p. 434.
37 Ibid., p. 150 and Foot-note, p. 134.
38. Ibid., p. 145.
39 Ronald, Mcek L., Marx and Engels on Malthus, pp. 60
40. Communist Manifesto. The whole of the manifesto and 115-53
is charged it
such pronouncements. th
41. Engels, F., Anti-Dulhring, pp. 309-10.
42. Titus, H.H., op. cit., p. 14.
44.
Correspondence,
Engels, F., Dialectic of Nature, p. 208.
pp. 125-6.
45. Marx, K. and Engels, F., Selected Correspondence, p. 411.
46. Lenin, V.I., Materialism and Empirio-Criticism, p. 284.
47.
Radhakrishnan, S., Bhagavadgit-Introduction, p. 1.
48. Tilak, B.G., Gita
49. Ibid., p. 698.
Rahasya-Introduction.
50. Radhakrishnan, S., Indian
51. Ibid., p. 529. Philosophy, Vol. I, p. 532.
52. Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, p. 43.
53. The Gita According to
54. Gandhi, p. 127.
Marx, K., Selected Correspondence, p. 15.
55. Rao, M.B., The Mahatma: A Marxist
56. Ibid., p. 5. Symposium, p. 17.
57. Ibid., p. 18.
58. Damodaran, K., Indian Thought-A Critical Survey, p. 338.
59. Theodore De Bary, Sources
60. Toynbee, of Indian Tradition, pp. 596-/.
61.
Arnold., op. cit., Vol. IV, pp. 1-2.
Radhakrishnan, S., Eastern Religion and Western Thought,
62. Marx, K., The
Future Results of British Rule in India, P. In d
Works, Vol. 1, p. 496. dr
63. id.
64. Gandhi, M.K.,, Harijan, 6-3-1937.
65. Sarma, D.S., Renalssance of
66. Hinduism, p. 639.
Sorokin, P.A., op. cit., pp. 306-307.
67. Gandhi, M.K., Young India, 5-4-1926.
68.
Gandhi, M.K., My
69. Ibid., pp. 90-3, Experiments Wth Truth, pp. 1-13.
70. Ibid., pp. 197-8.
71. Ibid., pp. 322-4.
72. Ibid., pp. 364-5.
Philosophical and Cultural
Infhuences 105
73. 1bid.
74. Tbid
75. Gandhi, M.K., Preface to Ansakti
76. Desai, Yoga, p. 14.
Mahadeva, The Gita
According
77. Gandhi, M.K., Young India,
to
Gandhi, p. 126.
78. Betai, Ramesh S., Gita and 12-2-1925
79. Gita, 11. 22.
Gandhiji, pp. 204-56.
The Ideal Social Order
Both communism and Gita

to release man from his alie-
nated existence. What would propose
be the ideal social order in wlhich
man would seek his
Summun bonum ? What is the form of
existence beyond the realm of future
necessity, contradictions and
Communism have their own answers. con
flicts. Both Gita and
Communist Social Order

The ideal order of
man's social existence, as
Marx can be brought out 0y
understood into two
SOciety in which the alienated phases: (i) the lower phase o
his humanity. This man will strive for the realization of
is called
transitory 'Socialism. This is also called the
period of the "dictatorship of the
higherphase in which man will
This is called
proletariat
exist after his full ( The
that the State "Communism' . It is in the final transfcrma ism

will 'wither stage of comn
class struggle will away', division of labour,
source of finish, and the private leadhe
The ideadehumanization will be property whien
of the
withering abolished.
concern for human freedom. away of the state reflects Marx'ldmoral
for freedom it Hegel in his system, that
that
is
Something, which isnecessary that we should feel no
no
nasesence
presen
ol
not
ourselves,1 because the limtions tions' o r
107
being limited by the other are
the
Tetained this idea in his signs of human bondage. Marx
of man from his 'species
theory of alienation. For Marx alienation
being is a social
generated characteristics and separation from socially
when he conceived the propensities.
'world-self"
But
Hegel went wrong
as a
totality',3 the political implications of 'self-comprehending
type of 'totalitarianism'. The which lead to the worst
position. "The point of Marx's purpose of Marx was to
remedy this
analysis is to reidentify the true
subject (the acting individual, living in the 'real'
and to trace the
process of his material world)
institution of the State.4 'objectification' in the political
Accordingly, the State is
conceived
as an
political activity.
This alienation takes alienated form of
of Marx himself. "the
State power makes
place when, in the words
itself
relation to society whose mere instrument
in
it was
independent
ed to be."5 Once it has
come into originally intend-
the vested being, it is
perpetuated foster to
interests, and accordingly, it is, as Marx
it, "simply the oficial
form of the himself called
According to this view, the State antagonism
becomes
in civil society."*
an instrument
continuing the class struggle from above. The for
with the
help of the existing social order of possessing class,
producing class to transformproduction,
the efforts of the resists all
the the society. This
This is
repressive function that they assign to 1he
wants to realize his State. But man
necessary to
productive freedom and for
that it becomes
break the
man's creative repressive bonds. Marx did not like that
freedom should be subjected to the iron
political expediency. He made laws of
his position very clear when
said, "In order to free he
their creative from the
uespotic regime of production (and) inpowers
order,
existing
therefore, assert
Tbemselves as individuals, they must to
he wanted overthrow the State."* What
to say
in this assertion was, that
Teally "human' by sheding when man becomes
off his inhuman
not stand in need of tendencies, he will
any control from any political
hus, the withering
away of the State is not a
authority.
ecessity. It is due to the political but a moral
misunderstanding this moral postulate
nat many superfluous theories about the
of
have flooded the 'withering away' of State
market. For example, a great cconomist
ises, after analysing communism, likke
comes to hold that it "is a
prOgramme of transforming the economic life and
constitution
of society accorling to a d:finel ileal. Acording'y, he sees
communism as som: economic order in which all private propert
will come to an end. With the abolitio of class interests
and
private property, the political institution, which has so far defen
dei it, will not be needed. Such an analysis of the Marxian theorv
of State is put forth on the grounds that Marx considered the
political institutions to be an element of the superstructure and
thus generally dependent on the operative forces in a
society's
economic structure. This is, however, not the whole story. Marx
had a complex view of the relations between economic and
political
forces. No doubt, Marx upheld the view that "the
totality of the
Telations of production constitutes the economi:
structure of
society, the real foundation. The modes of production determine
the general characteristic of the social,
political and spiritual
process of life."9
But, it may be recalled that this of
type determinism is
in the realm of dialectical necessily only. Beyond that theoperative
mic factors will cease to determine econo-
human conduct and,
grou ds on which State therefore
it will not be the economic
away, but according to the will wither
the negation of the logical law of
Quantified Negation.
economic determinism will negate the
institutions such. Marx has referred
as political
to this
places various ways,
in point at various
nist point of view, it is suggesting thereby that from the commu-
something
working behind the formation of more than
economics which is
Writes: "Every 'economic'
a new social order.
order. Marx
a social
phenomenon phenomenon is at the same time always
and the existence
economy
there are presupposes a definite
kind
of a particular kind of
of society."10 It
certain social means that
wither away. All
confusion
exigencies, which require the State 1o
we
ignore the antecedent of about the theory of State arises, when
may be formulated to Marxian conditional
alienated existence in read as : "If
man is to be
proposition,
whien
his freed from his
to wither away."
Without
practical life, then State must be made
cannot be
logically affirming the antecedent, the
abolition of State is affirmed. Marx expresses the consequetn
as a
social required to assertexpresses view that
view
the xistence of man
announces being. Marx writes,
the
existence o
when the proleta
1things, it merely dissolution of the hitherto proletariat
announces the, secret existing
of its own oruc of
existei
The ldeal Social Order 109
It shows that man does not exist as a social being so long as the
State authority regulates his conduct from above. Once the rule of
law is accepted as a matter of social
habit, the force automati-
cally dwindles away. It is a moral mode of existence like the
Kingdonm of the ends' of Kant. Marx is
very clear on this point
inXth Theses on Feuerbach wherein he writes: "The
of the old materialism is 'civil' society ; tke standpoint
standpointof the new
materialism is human society or socialized
humanity."12
Marx does not talk of an 'economised humanity' but he talks of
society of such individuals, who have realized their essence as
species being. In the civil society, man exists as an atomizedd
individual with his egoistic interest. It is
intrinsically a sphere of
unrestrained egoism, where each man is pitted against every other.
Under these conditions of acute
order and man, if he wants to live in
competition, State enforces an
harmony, has to subordinate
himself to that political agency, tke State.
civil society also requires the State to
Hegelian concept of
the embodiment of 'universal
regulate the life of man, as
rights'. In Hegelian account, there
fore, the State is presented as something severed from the lives of
individuals in civil society. This severed existence of
State
appeared, as a sphere of man's alienation. According to Marx,
man, as a citizen in the modern state, is but an idealization of the
real man and hence an 'abstraction'.
he treated State, as the foundation of
Hegel's mistake was, that
civil society, whereas the
truth is just the
contrary, i.e., that the civil society is the founda
tion of State, and State is
nothing but the externalization of the
powers of the species. But it exists as a
special political organism,
separating itself from the society and dominating over it.
Engels explains : "Once historically established, the political
power is endowed with a movement of its own and strives for as
much independence as possible."13 This 'special organism' of poli-
tical rule is considered by Marx to b2 a "parasitic growth on the
Ody of society." This type of the "parasitic excrescence was to
be finished
by destroying the underlying causes of that. The
Continued existence of the State has a great degenerative effect on
an, Criticising such mode of dehumanized existence, Marx goes
Deyond politics and bases his argument on moral considerations.
He writes
When the political State achieves fully develo ped form, ma
110 Communism knd Gita
not only in thoughts, in consciousnesS but in reality, in lif
leads a double life, heavenly and earthly, a life in the political
community, in which he recognises himself as a communal
being, and a life in civil society, in which he acts as a private
person, treats others as a means, reduces himself to the role of
a means and becomes the plaything of the alien forces."15
It is, therefore, to end this condition of immoral living, viz..
living as 'mere means', which will have to be finished by makino
reflecting Kantian
the State wither away. Here tacitly, Marx is reilecting Kantian
categorical imperative that when man treats others as means or
allows himself to be treated as mere means, then that is an
immoral condition, which needs to be remedied. The cure for
this political alienation is that the repressive organs of the old
government power should be amputed and its legitimate functions
may be restored to the responsible agents of society. This is the
state of "the return of man to himself as a social, i.e., really
human being. a complete and conscious return which assimilates
all the wealth of previous development."16 By this, man wil
repossess the social power that has hitherto forth been externalised
in the political institutions. When the 'real' individual takes back
into himself the abstract citizen of the State, and as individual
man, in his individual labour and in his individual relations,
becomes a 'species being', then no political authority will be
needed. Marx further clarifies "when man
recognizes and organizes
his forces propres as social forces and so ceases to
separate social
power from himself in the form of political
human emancipation take place."17
power-only then wil
to Machiavelli's position that
Tacitly, Marx is going back
natural man, being grossly egoistic,
competitive and atomized individuality, needs a strong political
authority, which may put his selfish tendencies under control.
difference is that Machiavelli thinks that n
and selfish and, therefore, he will man, by nature is
egols
always stand in need of strong
political authority, the absolute State. But Marx is
optimistic and
hopes that man will realize his essence, the social nature one du)
Then, he will be freed from the acute
competition for the goou
he will give up his acquisitive and egoistic needs. Visualizing
future mode of human
course of
existence, Marx writes: *When, l
development, class distinctions
have
production has been concentrated in the hands disappearcuation
of a vast asso tion
111
of the whole nation, the public power will lose its
political
character,"3and as a consequent of that, having become super
fuous, the State will by itself wither away.
Dictatorship of the Proletariat:

In order to reach the final stage of the communist
society where
State will be rendered superfluous, mankind will have to
pass the
ordeals of the lower phase of communism, viz., socialism.
This
transitory stage will be needed as a 'means' to prepare man for his
final jump to communism. Writing in the
Critique of The Gotha
Programme, Marx points out that, "between capitalist and
communist society lies the period of the revolutionary transforma-
tion of the one into the other.
Corresponding to this is also a
political transition period in which the State can be nothing but the
revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat."10 This stage cannot
be bypassed, because man will need
adequate training in order to
enable him to enter the 'realm of freedom'.
from capitalism, mankind can pass According to Lenin,
directly only to socialism.*20
During this transitional period, all the prerequisites for final
viz., a highly developed material and technical basis and stage,
social relations between man and man, will be improved
achieved. Freed
from the capitalist exploitation,
sift out as to who are
humanity will need a pause too
eligible to traverse the higher path and who
are not.
Although so much emphasis has been laid on the inevitability and

ecessity of this socialist stage of development by Marx and Engels
both, in the course of history's planned march to communism,
yet
they have made very vague statements about the
political set up,
the type of and
government the constitution of this
What they have tried to show, is that it is a form ofworkers
State.
to endure polity destined
through the entire historical epoch of 'transition to
Communism and that this 'dictatorship of revolution', would have
a short
life at the close of man's pre-history. In The Class
in
Struggle
France, Marx proclaimed : "This socialism is the declaration of
the class dictatorship of the
proletariat as the necessary transit
Point to the abo ition of class distinctions generally."1 He further
Confirmed the transitory character of this stage, in one of his
letters to his friend. Marx in that letter declared inter alia that
This
dictatorship itself constitutes only the transition to the abolition
112
Communism and Git
of all classes and to classless society.4 The
intermediary st.
between the realm of necessity and realm of freedom is conc
as the period of
revolutionary transformation, ived,
during which th
State can be nothing but the revolutionary
dictatorship of the
proletariat.?a
All this shows that although the
transitory stage of
was so
important in the march towards the ideal socialdictatorshin
order
the founders of communism were not t
interested to go into
of this phase, because of its detail
the politicians to play with this
transitory character and left it
for
vague and uncertain idea.
whole controversy in Marxists' circles The
today is
ing out of concrete forms of this stage. The regarding the work.
blue print of only clue about the
dictatorship
is found in one of the
letters of Engels.
Writing on Gotha Programme, Engels wrote to one of his contem-
poraries: "So long as the proletariat stilluses the
not use it in the interests of State, it does
its adversaries and
freedom, but in order to hold
down
as' soon as it becomes possible to
freedom the State as such ceases to speak of
it is evident that like all exist."24 From this statement
previous historical forms of the State, the
proletarian State was also
looked
nunism as an instrumentality of upon by the founders of com
class struggle.
workers' State is a means of Accordingly, the
crush the adversaries. holding
to down a class in society and
must wither away when However, being a
repressive force, it
man becomes morally perfect and the
repressive techniques are not needed. These
not make the position of Marx clear about pronouncements do
continuation of State. the necessity of the
There may be two
lower phase' of implications and justification for positing this
communism or the
would exist as long as the
evil
'dictatorship'.
exists. This is the negative
Either State
of State, function
according
when evil is
to which State
exists because evil exists and
eliminated, it will not be needed. As a second
native, exists for
it a
making
function of State. This man a social
being. This is the
distinction did not
posi
Marx although it occupy any attento
has great
was less political
political and more ethical, because implications. His con
when an individual he had a faith that
this prepares himself for his final
dictatorship will realisatio
disappear. Marx himself
contention when he said expressed this
himself expresseu
that in place of the old geois
boU
T13
society, with its classes and class antagonism, we shall have an
association in wh.ch the free deve
lopment of each is the pre-condi-
tion for the free development of all.25
What is State:
A question may be raised here that when the idea of
this 'dictator-
ship' was so insignificant that Marx did not like to
waste his
efforts in working out its details, was it at all
necessary for his
theory to postulate this ? If at all this stage was essential,
assigned it only a transitory role and thought that it should why Marx
wither
away after performing its function ? The answer to this
can be traced in Marxian concept of alienation as problem
political feld which appears in the form of State. According applied to
to
Marxian concept, State is the expression of man's alienated exis-
tence. In"Gotha Programme", Marx clarifies,
State'By the word what he mears by
"State is meant the Government
or the State in so far as it forms a machine
special organism
from society through. the division of labour."2" In separated
State, Marx wants to finish this artificial finishing the
separation between the
political power and the society from which it has arisen. The State
machinery, viz., the bureaucracy, is the product of society, but when
this machinery starts
exploiting the society itself, the social forces
must revoltagainst that. Society is much above the government
machinery. Inverting the Hegel's idea of State by his method
of transformational criticism, Marx arrived at
the conclusion that.
the State is a manifestatioa, an
outgrowth of civil society. Hegel
proceeded from the State and turned man into a
subjectified State.
But democracy must
proceed from man, and it would turm the
State into an objectiied man. How can man's own
form be allowed to swallow man's objectified
dignity. Marx retorted, on this
ground, against the State. He wrote: "Just as religion does not
create man, but man creates
religion, so the political systemn
does not create the people, but rather the people create the
political system,"27
This statement of Marx has a great significance, because he
wants to cut the political power to size. When the executive
Power in the so:ety becomes so corrupt and despotic that it starts
thinking itself quite separate from the people, then it asserts itself
5 a
specially privileged class: When it applies the laws not for
114 Communism and Gta
human welfare but simply for tlhe sake of the letter of tho
md the humanity is crucified at the altar of blind and ahw
laws, it becomes a tyranny. This type of the outgrowth ma
State, in the opinion of Engels, "an organization of the possese
class for its protection against the non-possessing class.""28 M
is, therefore, justified in asking for the end of such State
in so far as it feels itself separated from the demos.
machine
Mill, a con-
temporary of Marx also advocated that State can be and should
democratically converted into an instrument for be
the
Social
improvement of the living cond ition of masses.
But Marx's zeal for freedom
as a human value was
intense that it led him to conclude supreme
that the continued SO
State is incompatible with the realization of existence of
be realized only if the State is
freedom. This could
replaced by com munes. In com.
mune, Marx found a revolutionary substitute and a
movement to destroy the State as
'parasitic
revolutionary
body of society. What are these communes 7 In excrescence' on the
to August Bebel, one of his letter
Engels clarified that "they would
replace 'State' everywhere by 'community' a propose to
word (Gemeinwesen) which good old German
word 'commune.° The can very well represent the French
that the 'State' will witherposition becomes clear that in
away, Marx and Engels wanted advocating
the 'separateness' to finish
between the political
munity. It signifies the end of authority and the com-
and the social. It is 'alienation' between the political
in this sense that
place to 'Communes. In State will
ultimately
so characterizing "State' and its yield
away, Marx withering
30cial body alladvocated
the forces
that the communes would
restore "to the
feeding upon and clogginghitherto
the
absorbed by the State
free movements parasitic
concept of
community living of
society."30 The
the freedom is
considered
and consistent witn
growth
which is considered pf man than the idea more
of
to be 'a separate 'State' machinery,
nation."3 and powerful section of the
When man becomes conscious of
prepared to break the fetters community living and ne
imposed on him, then he of political alienation which
i
becomes fully State a

higher phase of
society. Only then, the capable of entering
What are then the
ne
phase of human outlines of the communist communism is achieved

history ? society,
inal tne
The Ideal Social Order 115
Socialization of man
According to the view of marx. final stage of human existençe
will be achieved in the communist social order when man will be
from the
Hberated vagariesof his dehumanised conditions. If the
capitalist system was the negation of humanity, the transition period
may at best be called 'negation of negation'. But this is not a
positive state of affairs. It is merely "blowing off the bondage.
We have already seen that it is considered a necessary pre
condition for the emancipation of man. The cancellation of the
capitalism and its replacement by the proletarian state, is a pre-
requisite for clearing the way for his free and genuine human
development. What is then the positive side of it. Marx tells us
that "at the stage of final communism, man is to be affirmed in
the objective world, not only in the act of thinking but with all
his senses."*In the tacit reference to the process of affirming men
in the act of thinking only, Marx seems to have been indicating that
previous theories like Christianity have been showing man the
vision of distant 'Kingdom of God', but they were Utopian.
This higher phase of communism is a stage of the jump of
humanity 'from the realm of necessity' into the 'realm of freedom'.
As against the imaginary affirmation of man in an extra-terrest-
rial world of religion, Marx wanted to affirm man's existence as a
species being. According to the image of this ideal social order
projected in Das Capital, we can say that "it is a society of freedom
with common ownership of the means of production, consciously
using their individual powers of labour as a social function."33 It
is sometimes conceived as the perfectly socialised stage of humanity.
In the 10th Thesis, on Feuerbach, Marx pointed out that "the
standpoint of new materialism is human society, or soeialized
humanity."3* When the humanity is socialized, what Marx seems
to say, the difference between the 'egoism and altruism' will be
obliterated. This has been a great problem for all the ethical
thinkers of utilitarian school, may it be Mill's utilitarianism, or
Sidgwlck's rational utilitarianism. Mill tried to resolve this

problem with the help of his principle of utility, i.e., 'the maxi-
mum happiness of maximum number,' and Sidgwick posited the two
of 'rational self-love' and 'rational benevolence. But
principles
these attempts led to paradox, which Sidgwick called the "duality
in his communist
of practical reason'. Marx resolved this problem
----------
The Ideal Social Order [17
commit all sorts of sins against humanity . This type of contempt ·

for wordly accumulations is found in al mo5t all the religious dis-
courses, which shows that private property can b.! as well endeJ in
the naml! of religion as in the na me of commu nism . The differ-
ence is that religion neg1tes the private pro;,erty o :1 ly in im 1gina-
tion whereas communism finishes th is stigm a in p ractical life.
The final stage or communism may thus be descr ibed as 'pos itive
transcen1eoce of private p iop~rty. M :n, in com:nunist soc iety,
wlll be Iib~rat:d from the compulsive acquisitive mania that has
dominated the lives of m!n throughout the whole process of their
development upto capitalism and has turned them into sinners.
Inner Dynamics of Communist Society :
. What will be the laws regulating this 'so:ialized hum3.nity' ? The

S~e haying withered away, some sort of regulatory laws are
needed to ~eep the so:ial cohe;io:1. Nothing has b.!en said by
¥arx any~here about ,the q 1,1estion of · planning. the distribution
~f goods, the organisation of p11blic services or about the commu-
nal living arrangements. Marx has laid down the guideline of
eommunis~ in his formula '[!:9ro each accordin g to his ability
18 each according to his need'_. The contemporary communISt
thinkers call it the fundamental principle of comniunism. 38
Marx as~~med . while laying down this principle that after having
realiz_~ ~is real nature, man will not need any external authority
·to regulate his co~duct. Man~ of Marxian _c oncept, being essentially
a produ~r, will produce material goods for the sheer expression
<>f his productive nature. Marx believed that man produces even
~ hen h~ is free from physical need. From this, it can be inferred
~9at ~ , under communism, will produce to realize his inner
.essence an4 to express his 'svabhava'. It will be an inner moral
o.bligation for him. After producing the material goods in abund-
ance, he will arrange his affairs not accprding to economic
.f?I poHtical laws, but according to law of aesthetics. 39 Commtmist
'hinken ~iihtly hold that_the m~xim " 'fr~m each according to his
,~bilitf, under communism becomes also a kind of morality
for ~itizeni gradually to acquire th~ habit of obsc_rving the rules
,qf the, c~mqiu~iit way of life."'° When. ma~ becQtnCS so m11ch
,~or•!~ that becomes to
it.·~ ~- , . , .his· · ~, l)abit
>,
act according tQ the_
v-,
r~ui.rcments of morai ·1aw,
. . .. t ,
will
·there
J. .. ... ..
be . no n·eed of any political

, •
118 Co m m un ism an d G°
ttlj,
11,ftct,. ons or thc codified rules of ec on om ic s. T hu s
. sp ea k in g, the
eo m m un ,s t soc1•e ty p·resupposes , as A fa na sy ev a 1so 11
'in es in . . . te s u i; , a
man, wh o co mb himc;clf sp ir itu al ri ch
. ne ss , m or al pu' rit. y
and physic "
al per1ect1on. HU .
Socio-Political Institutions
:
Marx describes th e final
l
st ag e of co m m un is m
'socialized ~umanity_' ~h , as co nsi stin g of
at is •a classless,_ st~t~l
structureless · co\lectlv1t ess, an d ge ne r_all y _a
y of co m ?l et e 1nd1v1
ha rm on y with themselv quals, w ho live 1n
es an d w ith ea ch ot he
' light is th ro w n on th e r'. B ey on d thi s, little
in st itu tio na l se t up in
ln presenting · su ch a ne th e co m m un is t society.
ga tiv e de sc ri pt io n of
hu m an exis~cnce, M ar th e final ph ase of
x se em s to.. ha ve ta ci tly
. p f tll e :~~l tim at e', w hi as su m ed th e nature
ch ca nn ot be pr ec is el
- ~ this in dc fc rm in at e y de sc ri be d. It is due
co nc ep tio n of th e co
the l?eliefs e~pr~ssed by m m un is t society that
· ie ith et ic 6~ ro m an tic'
M ar x ap pe ar :to be ve ry be au tif ul
·beliefs . . In .th e· ·b ac kg , bu t
d~ a~ ay · ~i tK ! St at e, pr iv at e
1
ro un d of hi s de sire to
pr op·e rt y', 'divisi'on of
'ilier·~1,y'·i6 put' an en d t6 the la bo ur and
'de hu rt la ni ze d co nd iti on
ms
iii~i~' sbe.. to h~ \he ho pe or
"'ca~t1ng·.th e de vl l on ce
s of existence,
t~~ woif~. It i{ liis fon:
1
fo r all ou t of
( ll)Re· ln~t fiy ei i~ in at in
9! f,~ed / ~~n w"i)~-b ~c o~ ~ a' ni ~r ai
,· be i1_ 1g
g the source
~hemt ~f ¥a rx , .· Po pp er ·point . R id ic ul in g th e ut op ian
~· out~ · "t he an ar ch is
on~e i~ t~e S~~~' t~~ 'p t dr ea m t that
m u, t ~ur~ ·ou \ · well_. An
~l ii~ c~ l· ~f ,te m . w as de st ro ye d, everything
<! M at x · · d'r ea m t a
~an!!~~~g t~~-~evil ~y -~~st'f pying· si m ila r dr ea m of
. ~o ~e v~ r~~~ch v,~e~d~
.
t he ec o~ om ic sy st em .' ' 42
· si ~l 'le: ~n d ha ~t y · co
~ b~ ~l a~ n ~h~ti pr~cise nc lu si on s ar e bound
· pr ed ic tio n' s . ar e tr ie d
~~~ ~f ex~~ten~e•.l A's'a m 'a ab ou t th e future
ttb r of fa c( w he ne ve r
. ~ ~ expl~ine~ i~ ~he · th e in de te rm in ate
ca te go rie•s of de te rm
~~nclus1o~s follow. K an in at e, m an y fan ciful
, . . .• .
~~~n .~re ap~~ied t~ . . ,
•. , ; . t w ar ne d th at: ·r
1 th e · ca t· eg · f phen o·
no um en or i~ ·it ·is bo on es o
~~tan~~•~• ; Th~t s~erris un d to lead into
any precise d to be r'e-aso·ri w hy M ar
· ·•·· ·• x w an te d to avoid
• · .t t. •. ,-, • crip~ion 'of
1
JDI1I u 10 n, in, ~sth

, •• : . •
th e so c1
• • .
· •·r
0 Mar '. e ' com · . . ,· )' •' ..0-. po ' '
ht ic al st ru ct ur e of th
e
nt st so ci et y. Sinc:e th
1
~ w
:
as th
. , ,
e ,
t ~~ .,rn
· .;~ga · · • .. ,'tj~• ·, · ,. ra ~s c~ d ·'
l l • 1• • e pr im e cone"
•"' 1n m g 01 self. he d"d · n cpcc of al ie na te d ex is te
· -· '. • · •,
nc e and t he
•
'1 · .,,.. 1 i •• ~. c ·.,.• : • .- ., 1. · ,, · :· .. ...
~ t: ar •nrmt · f ~· · · n~,.u) ~o t ~o .
~COl)tfa-~ryt ·atbl1·1iJe
ef it' · ne ce ss ar y to la a
Qi}f; . . ~ O_. ~~~. ce~m,~~, . .. . . . y downthe
·
r·.· };·" :' ,., · · 1 ~ P!ace, he II~ 1nstitut1ons. 0~ .
, I. t i. Il )'l no 1p . d ou
,. ' )' te t c··1ear·ly •• "T he sociah st 1
I .f ~ ~• i i
•
.•' .,
.. .
l },
_.
\'s. I ' ;, ' ,
'
1 J<P
need not concern themselves with dev
ising pro gra mm es for fut ure ·
but have only to give an acc oun
,,,s
t of wh at passes before the ir
eyes.
Marx, being a pra ctic al ma n, did not
like the wo rki ng ma n
to indulge into fanciful speculations
abo ut the libe rate d sta te of
roan's existence, for the fear of the wo
rke r losing his zea l to bre ak
the bondage and to strive for libe rati
on in practical life . Ma rx
warned the working class against wastin
g the ir energies in the se
•speculations abo ut the future. Ma rx
writes : "th ey (workers) have·
•no ideals to realize, bu t to set free the
elements of the new society-
wlth which old collapsing bourgeoise
society is pre gna nt. " 44 Sin ce·
it is neither practically pre dic tab le nor
it is scientifically ten abl e
to work out the precise sha pe of the
future social events, it is
better to tak e car e of the pre sen t con
diti ons , and the fut ure will
take care of it by itse lf. Th ere for e, Ma
rx tho ugh t it pro per to wo rk
out only the out line s and the fra me wo
rk int o which the wo rki ng.
details will be filled by the pos teri ty
itself. Co nce ptu aliz ing the-
whole picture of the fut ure social ord
er and sum ma rizi ng the:
whole position abo ut the· com mu nis t soc
iety, Ma rx writes :
"Herc for the ·· first tim e his nat ura l
existence is his hum an
.c~istencc ·an d nat ure has · bec om e ma
n for him . Th us soc iety ·
is the.. com ple te ess·e ntia l uni ty of ma
n wit h nat ure , the tru e ·
resurrection:· of nat ure , the achieved
nat ura lism of ma n an ~
the achieved hum ani sm of nat ure ."'5
lua l Social Order according to Git a
Anasakti Yo ga of ·Gi ta does not rev
eal any dic hot om y of the ·
so,clal ord ers· as com mu nis m has pu
t for th in the for m of hig her
and lo~ef phases. Fo_r com mu nis t thin
ker s the society is fa~ abq ve ·
the . Go ver nm ent , the Sta te and the
pol itic al machinery. 1f the
todal forces are weak, the sta te will bec
om e a tyr ant and will
,exploit the people. Git a also acc ept s
this sociolog1Cal tru th, and
aims more to bui ld a stro ng society
of libe rate d and enl igh ten ed '
~rsons'. Th at is why Git a doc s not
discuss political pro ble ms .· :
Fo r a superficial onl ook er, the Git a
ma y not pre sen t any' sou nd
tocial theory. Bu t a closer and dee per
ana lys is of the me ani ngs of
various verses of Gi ta rea d wit h the
key aph sm s, sup plie d by
M~abhirata~ reveals it is pre gna nt wit h an oriorg
ani c the ory of
~i~tY, ..·, The mystery 'i cnt res rourid the
. , .,
.·
con cep t of Bra hm an which.
: 1 , •• ' •
¥ .. :?:J \; A 00 4 g c
-
I
l
! f
~
ll. 120 Communism and Gira
. I.
1
l remained a supra-mundane, transcendental Being because of th
-orientation given ~Y. the spiritu~list.c thinkers . Such a supra~
rational, trans-empirical and qualttyle!'>s Absolute, the Brahma
did r,ot serve any practical purpose at all. The practical d iscipl in:
.0 f Gita requires that the ideal must be such a:; may serve t he
practical needs of mankind. Some practical formul ae must, the re-
fore, be searched within the philosophy of Gita 's Anasakti Yoga.
There is nothing to be sceptic about this, because the practical
considerations hav.: been the dominating mark of ' ndiao thought.
The philosophy in , India has originated under the pressure of a
practical need engendered by the presence of moral and phys ical
evil in, life. It was due to the myst fled interpretation of the
Op~ni~ads that some pioqs hands erected the dead walls of a deep
mJ$:tcrY and m;;.ct'e whole philosophical system something devoid
of practlce.
Jn the West, a mystifying horror was created by the grandio se
-sysc~m of Hegel. It reQl_ained an unresolved puzzle till Feuerb::i ch
used
...... his
. ~method
. . . of . transformational criticism' and tore off the
veil of my_stery. Und~r his hand, the God of Hegel became ' Man· .
ln hi_s, E_ss.enre of C.~riJtian/ry, Feuerba-;;h transform:d Hegel and
JTe-read ~is apboris,;ns in a demystified way. He said, "Therefore,
!in the B~ing ,of God, it is only thy own being, which is object to
thee and .what. pr~sents its.!lf before thy consciousness is simply
what lies behind it.''•6
What Feuerbach did for demystifying Hegel, Mahabharata has
done for unravelling He n:iystery of Brahman of the Upani~adic
tho.u ght.. ~eveafing' the secret of Brahm-in, Mahabharata proclaims
i~t, ,t here . ·,s
~othing higher (superior) .than man (na mam iJti t
sr,eif./iataram·h, kincit). This co·n cept of Brahman is the purgatory
o( a.11 the mystifications· anC, obscurities. Gita forms an integral
p~r~ of Mahabharata, apd. w~ h·a ve no reasons to believe that th e
aiJthQr 9f .~ ahab~arata . b~oke the logical . law of identity nn~
comm'ided the'faUacy ·or equ1voc'ation by using the term 'Brah~i an
in apy o'ther' 'connotat'ioti; The . demystifying clarification gi\'eO
b,x ~~h.i'~hira·ia,, enables"\is to substitute the ·word 'Man, for
"Brahn1an~ . , ,. ,;_:· · ·-· ·
'i' • • i : ... J ,.~C ." • '~· 1, I 1.,-t ' , • • ( ) , •• ~ ! l ~ l
Th~ "<>rP 'M~n• .can ~~ ).ise~ )h j_ts. generic ~r collective sense,

I
{ as bwnialJ,!lllli~~tfvj.ty, .or. !P.~iS.P~C!~.J?~il}S~. Su~h use of the terOl
i-s very ,~mmori even otdinary ·language. ~h~n- we· say 'Man in
I
l
j
Th e Ideal So ci al Ord
er
1 21
is the crown of crea
tion', we use the wor
'humanity' . Underst d to stand for th e
ood in this sense, c\a~s
realizing himself, hi it is th e man, who
s true humanity, in 1s
-realization. T he cons th e process of se lf-
istency in the use of
and the continuity of the te rm 'B ra hm an
th ou gh t in G it a de m '
Brahma·mrvarya of an ds th at th e aim
G it a is to make m of
humanity. As alread an perfectly on e w
y discussed, Brhad it h
Chandogya Upani~ad araQyaka U pani ~a d
co nt ai n various vers an d
to show th at m an es, which are suffic
himself is B ra hm an ient
identity of Brahman in his essence. T
and m an ha s been he
differs from Atman verily shown. B ra hm
only in th e sense an
of all internal reality th at A tm an is th e es
, -whereas B ra hm an sence
unity of mankind. st an ds fo r th e tr an sc
D am od ar an , af te r en de nt
U pa ni ~d s, also com a detailed survey
es to co nc lu de th at of th e
th e hu m an being. " 67 "B ra hm an is no th in
g bu t
T ak in g th is key co I
'
nc ep t fr qm M ah ab ha •
discern th at G it a pr ra ta , we ca n very w
es en ts -lh e or ga ni c th eo ry of soci ell ,-
e _evcnt ch ap te r of et In .th e ·~
th e G it a, th e D iv in
ArJuna in ~ hu m an fo e pr es en ts itself .b
rm. G it a sa )'S : "T ~fpre ~
whole universe in it s he n :did far:i<J~y.a ,.s
m an if ol d divisions ga ee th e J
,r-
o f th at G od of gods ," 48 th er ed _as on e in .t he - · /
C om m en ti ng on th is bo dy
opines th at "G it a ~t _:verse., Radbakr,is.h na
ands fo r an or ga ni c n
concep\ion of socie.t as ag ai ns t an at om is ti c
y ." '9 Mahabharata su
th at th e w,orld of m or bs ta nt ia te s th is co nt
ta ls, 1s an in te rd ep en en ti on
tavan martyalokal;i de nt or ga ni sm (san
pa gh ii-
U,1>anha~ als~ .whiie, descrasparam apiisrita~). 50 T he M an du ky a
ri bi ng th e fo ur st at es
t}\at "w or ld ·m.a ni fc of self, co rr ob or at es
st ed in w ak i~ g st at
p~r,on.',' 51 H un dr ed e is V ir at or th e C
of su ch verses fill os m ic
which suggest th at so th e Upani~adic text
ciety is an 'o rg an is :;,
1eprescnts th e ess~nc m ' (p ur u ~a). Si nc e
c of upani~ads, we G it a
upbold1~g th at th e do ca n ha ve no ob je ct
ct ri ne o f th e A ~a sa io n in
on the pr in ci pl e th kt i Y og a of G it a is
at th ba se d
sy~tem"... ac co rd in g to e reality is a social system. "A , so ci al
S or ok in , "i s an or
P9~~~se1 .a set of en ga ni se d gr ou p th at
fo rc ed , obli~at~ry
<!~tails t~~ righl~, pu ti es iaw no rm s de fi ni ng
in
, so ci al pp si ti qn , an
iti.Jnen'.i~~• to w ~f da on e ·a no th er d fu nc ti o~ s of ea ch o f
t\~ .~ P 9 j_ie,d character
d.eriotcs in Oita . ..,•
an d th e w or ld at la
of' th e gr ou p th at th rg c. " 52 It is
e co nc_c pt o~ 'o rg an is
. m'
,
7
122
C o m m u n is m
Organic Tlieo and Gira
· · ry :
·· ln a r y p o in
F r o ~ anh o r t of v
plurabty, t e l s in d iv id u a li iew, e v e ry m a n sees th
arc n o t empirgros ty b u t th e s
ic a ll . o c ia l a n d p e factua\
y o bserved. h · s y c h ic bond
H u. m.
e 's emp1.·n.c1.s m th a t h e tr ie T h is w a s ht fe m hf a n -1 . s
,
. d to ti \e
cmp1n;ca1 mo d s T h e social . . s c a re o r t e re a _d ,sease of
. c u n it y is a m a tt e f . t, o n s in h·,s
s1on. Ho w th e existence o . r o r a ti o n a l ap
f o th e r s is to b
problem for
th e po_sitivis e p r o v e d ?. T h ' •preh.en-
. sism due to ts w h · is is St\\\ a
so1tp th e ir o v e r- e o a~e a g a in ~1:1 d a ·
Arjuna is, t~ m p h a s is o n g a in led _to
erefore, cle " e m p tn c a1
tbcse ·y o u r arly to ld th observat,on.
own eyes. a t y o u c_
T h e ·ratic;>nal I giv~ y o u th a ~ n ot se_e me wit
I inability o f -t
tb e fc\t _u n iw
insig:tit is
~e mcch~nistic a n consid~red
d .e m
e e y e s d iv
d iv in e , b e c
in e (d1vyam )."s3
a u s e it is
h
IJ · a n ~ th_a t is p ir ic a l m o d e the
the underly th e re a s o n s to conceptua
ing · u n it y , th a t in o r d lize
modes. m a n h a s to tr a e r to apprehend
i n s c e n d h is
H a rt s h o rn a m echanistic
lso a d v o c a te
c~pitica:Uy tc
aUz;w\e~ :l l c ··.sts th e view th a t so ciaL_ u
cwithotit. .-exp
er'ienc'e. · T h
l'.ys·:·. " N o th in g n it y is not
·c a n b e
Therefore: .the · e : m fo:i s o c ia l
cteatures'-. '"are m u m · o f e x p e r ie n c e is that is
vtsion\ 'wnicn · :social if . th 'feeling'.
be t1:Uc:\~··in
w :
a a g iv e tf t~ Arjun·a: . to e y f e e l. " 5' T h is
type of
'Whitenc:'a&'s s~e th e o r g a
pr~hensiv"c :u
n:1ty as' \V h it
ta ttguagc a 'p r e n ic u n it y ' may
e h h e n s iv c
un:ifitation ·
as ·w d tk in g 'b e h ind: exp\'ain:s ·•is a p r o c e s s o f n it y '. The
c a u
i
ty~~ - ~f ?rehe
rcai,i~t~~~
i'isidn,
o f b~~· ,~n~
i~-.,~o d···-th e a td m
facto~ ·t h '. k p ro
ic in d iv id u
c c s s o f r e a li
a ti
prehensive
o n .' 55 This
plurality . b~ ~r\yirtg :·, ic ti v 1 ty z a ti o n . l t is·
\ ~.o d_c~. T b is '' . b ~ h it id th the
t~c f a ~ ~ha(~
1
W h it e liit idia11 c o n c e p t e in te r\ o c ked

I \ a n ·'in~iv~_d u
'i t can' 1re a li z is S\:lggestiv
orga~JC . U~ e•'h in \s e \f b e of
\ th e ·m o ra l att y _ ~~ :;_martl~
.i ii d : ! G ita'$ y re a \i z a ti 0 n
· ··•· · ·· giving ' th e 'd iv in e ' ·w
t
. ~. · . , gents · c o n { o f th e
society,,_IS a
. .·. .,... . ~~~i h
·t . c 1 d e a th · · , · sion to
\ T h . .,m a. tt e r o f realizat1 a t th e p r e
1·. :.
I
. e
organism 18 n v_,e~: --~~man
tha~ . to n . '. ·: h e n s iv e ·unit· y 0 f
to ·tn:e re tl e c ot ·cxchisive t ·soci~ty n ia y b e c o m er :· ·, ·. · .·
f ·1 .. • d: :· 0 p a r e d to a
there are.· •.·,m . tt a . T h liv ing
\
t o r g a n ic <'· u. n·, .
1vaen"y·~t1hn...~ ~ ig
in
~ t f r ~ ' th e
·
1 s id e a o c
R e
c u ·
r r e d very ea r\y
1 ty .,
·•,11,,;, ·n· d': ,. .,,..:e r g · w h· p u b li c o f P la to .
;· •
P o in ti, n o ou !1 • •·•? r e g·a. . . · . · In w
. . p.
" rc J c
t ~the -itt ""'ti ...c..ted th'. "d r d e d _th e h u'm a' n . ,as esa~n,
e n i can,ce . ,..e _ 1 e~ - o
s
o n th e ·p o in
f o o r ·
·· ·
f ., . •ocie· ty'd _ .
~ ju it th ·a to m 1 st1 ah
of··w1.·•,;,;;.1..•..i-·•,!·,w~••~,,e,.,..re. ici,,•.o· a'f. 11t1• se 1.a·~···. : ,1~ ;•~c.!'., M.._a.·c.k·,enzc1.em.d1v1er'-u' c\elYar·
m'e"m·btr · s· ·· · · 1 .. . t ·
1s _
'· m· t' n g ;a\l ne
. · v
lVing· bo\dy"'common ,·h~C a' n1
~ \~ ...
u ~ ll a
·; is·' c o m p o s e d , a 1 t
t
~·o we rnus
7--- -·!".-' :•·' ·-.. ,._____.. ._______ -~-
.,--

' l ,
12J:
acknowledge a similar unity among the members of a human ].

socie·t y." 56 Milne also lends support to thii view. "Society", he:
says, •'is organic in its nature and finite individual is a member of
social whole. " 57
In the light of these various conceptions of organic unity
available here, we may infer that according to the indications
provided by Gita, society must be regarded as a unity, in fact, as
an organic unity. The parts of it are necessary to each other,
~s the parts of an organism are. The human organism through
which the divine revealed itself was indicative of this inter-
dependence of the members of society. ,
' Surprisingly enough, the Marxist view of society is also ..
more or less the same in which the society has been seen
as a 'self'. Prof. Tuc~er has ~ightly concludeq that in .
the Marxis~ theory_ of society, "the possessing class and
$ .e proletariat ~lass represent one and the same human
self-alienation: " 58 In communism, society has been treated as a
self-system and the two antagonistic classe~ are conceived as
collective expression of the conflicting forc~s within the ·same self-
systcin. _C ommunist theory thus subscribes to the organic
conception o( society.
·. Some of the scholars specially those of the Spencerian school of v
thought/hav e carried this· analogy beyond its legitimate limits~
This has been the·source of'many confusions about' the organic
theory.of · society. ' The theory is· meant to convey only the inter-
dependence of the mem~ers. · Ma~y sociologi'sts like. ~oin~e etc. )
have shown. that . the · umty of society and the part1c1pation of
individual within it are to be thought 'in terms of organism. 59
The organic concept of society wo·u1d·not give rise to any objection·
if we use it only to personify a society, e g., 'Russia is marching:
ahead', 'Mentality of Pakistan is not understanda ble', or as the
jurists u11e :t he term in 'jurisprudence' when they call a corpora-
tion or. society as 'legal persori'. In jurisprudence, any real or
imaginary beings can ·be called a 'legal person', who for the·
purpose of legal reasoning. are treated in greater or lesser degree·
in the same · way as human :.bein·gs. It is •in this sense that
associations are 'also considered as 'persons'. Beyond this limit, this
liypotliesis should not'·be . legitimately extended. Mclver is right
in sayintthat "so long as. in·fact we merely · compare a group or.-
'
' ·....
~ ~~.,~.......
_,,.. ,,......,,,.._,f~..,,...., ....... .......,...~.,.,..,.!'.,, ...,, -. - --
..,.,..... ,.. • .,. :,eq -- ti'¼li. ~ :I:= :, 1 4 I;' \ \. J _J I
1
,
124
· Comtiiun!lsm and Gtra
. .'. ... . . , , an
-c'.o~t;nu~~t!,~o rcie organ1sm in order t~ . bri~g. o
,
u
soc1 ~ty as ~nte . pendel)CC ·of ind1vidua\s ~1t_hm t sue~ aspects of
system, we ~
re
usfog a simple th e ~ntty of Socia\
an d somet1mes he\p
ana logy. H80 fu\
Gita ha's" used
_, , . h' 'd.ea is ana\ogica ~xp~~ss·1~
th 1 · · ·
convey t e 1 that moral hfe n. m th"lS very
'· t ' (amsal' The 1~ possible sen se to
soctc y w .
hole idea of ~va · • · h o n ly as a m ember of
· l
--of ·this truism• tha·.t m.an . . . ·1·
d arma 1S
h' a so a n expre ssion
can rea lf b
isni, his ·isotated ~~e . 1ms~ . Y ~u b\1m
narrow indiv idua\ ' ,
·th~ sod al' s·ystem an d atomized existe atm g hi"
. ·Mi\rie also \e nce , be fore
-says that '~by vir nds s~pp~~t ~o
tu th is co ntention and
•whole the soci e of h,is being \~ e tn ~ ~ r o f
I
al · nature of the ~ he
-sp~a~in' g"/ Gita ~S . md1v1dua\ 1s d o_rgan~~61 soci al
erived . Thus
human ·rotni lo "the _analogy 0~ th~ ~ivine ~a
C~ '
· convey the o n
~nd thereby it-c r~amc concepti ifesting itse\~ in
m o n
--ot al\ tht · membperhasizes·that there is functional inotef rdthe society
:\ s and that the ependence
deriv~d by his ' pa social nature o
t I .' • J • '
rtaking the o
,.,
in rganic unity. f man is to be
Dil·~ne Nature _o f ~ l '
I
Socie~y .:
. Another. proble
\I m may crop up
society. ls social .here . about th
} system divine 1 e divinity of th
· why the social sy T o this pertine e
itI -good . soluti,ori \
Religious.Lift. T
stem assumed th
·. in Durkheim's
e divine form
_b o o k The · Ele
nt question as to
, we find a ve
ry
here, :the,society mentary Form
ing_all the ·~uthQ , has been conc s of
t:ity .to comman eived of as poss
-~ o ra l.authority d o f~ god arid ess-
\I . D u ,tkheim writes o .th is au thority is
1~ f society : " T h
hol~s Q ~ · conscie e em
nces .is due .muc pire which
:\ ~of ~ h ie ~ it has
whtcb .tt -is invcs
· nity lies' •
the privilege th
ted."~ 2 · It is in
h less _to the p
an to th e mo
this moral auth
ra
h y sical supremacy
l authority wi th
.I
ority that the 'd
A ~ rd ingty;.we ivi·
can -say..~hat ·.in
syJtcm -,th;i t -pr~ 'di~inc' form it
ented itself \l.cf_or was the 'soci a·i
-~d~res~mg _AtJ c th e moral
ag
\ ~sySlcm·. In ·ord er
una, as·. a,;:~ym
boliscd or person ent. Kni:ia was
to ified form of soci
t ~tween_ · Arju~- und~ ts\and · the signift~ance o f al
Durkheim•, ~ k -.· _, .an4 Knl)a, ,we on the dialogue
\
_, · · · . ·. ~ • f ,tn,µrkhc · ·. · · ··ce- again s.eek help from
! J ~'~o'. 1J ~ ~ -~:t~~ ,m ,ughtly ::tells . so · t'1
1
1
•
r,o~ ,1 lf th c;,tpoutha :·of tho
us · that " it , 1s
I :.P ! ~~n,e~~4,:tJ.•:J~ se ~hQ ~r~ th c,e)
--~~srv· 1 e ty ,w h om
. . ., ' · w:_e,_-. ,u,._ca_ . _b. ·"'~· •h em in our
on1 e . ~Jl'.if~tati~ "i~ :n...Q··.10
:, ·,l. ·fit d~c -m f; 1Jij m ,,e3
,\. 1!'•J·i tthan . theea.rmg . " e . 'fhus
. _ - so cial . systetll pe
, ,, .. . :
. r-
The Ideal Socia l Orde r
125
~e,no cracy of the Enli~htcned
: I •
The ethic al impli catio n of the theor y of Gita is that indiv idual
shoul d seek l~is perfe ction by an active partic ipatio n in the system
.
In the last disco urse of Gita Arjun a is persu aded to subla te
his
perso nality to the socia l whole . The verse 5ays : ''On Me fix
thy
mind , t__) ~e bring thy devot ion (manm anii bhava madb hakto
mady ajt mam nama skuru ). " 64 The idea behin d this verse seem
s to be
that real digni ty come s to man when he leaves the ego-c entric
consi derat ion and acts with a sense of devo tion that he is doing
some thing for socie ty. Muir head also echoe s the same idea when
be say~ _that "indi ~idua lity must be soug ht for not ·in separ ation
from the whol e but in the whol e-hea rted accep tance of a defin
ite
statio n withi n 'it. " 65 Wha t woul d then be the best arran geme nt
of
the instit ution s throu gh whic h the indiv idual s can merg e· their
egoism in the socia l sy~tem by finding their prope r place in that
?"
,For th.i_s purpo s!, Gita has sugge sted t.h e four- fold strati ficati on
of
socie ty. _s.-., says Oita·, '~The order· of the four- fold van:iac;
was
. cr:eated ,by Me accor ding to the differ ent _gur:ias and karm
a of
~ach. '.'~5 This. is the demo cratic princ iple of free choic e whic
h
~llow_s ~v~ry indiv idual to contr ibute his mite 'acco rding ·to
his-
- conge nital abilit ies' (~vabhiivajena). Radh akris hnan has
very,
corr~ctly ,p ointe.~ ·out .that .'.'dem ocrac y is not the stand ardiz ation
of ,every one . so · as to oblite rate a,U pecul iarity . This woul d
be
.• 9.iGtator~hip.7~~'. Pemo cracy , o~ the (!~her hand , requi res the
equa1
· right _of aJ,l ,to the <;levelopment of their r.espective innat e ·capac
_ity
and the ta,lent with whic h .n ature has endow ed them . Thus
, ~-h e
fpur-fol<;i schem e of Oita af;Tojc;ls the oppo rtuni ty to every indiv
i-
. dual. to man-i.fest- what ever is ~ojqu e in him, and there by recog
nises
his.o ignity ·as. a_'socia l being '.-- ~eco gniti on of man' s digni ty,
that
is, _the _recogn ition of the Jact. that every indiv idual is equal ly capa-
. -}?,le ~f maki ,ig contr ibuti on to socie ty in his own way is
one of
. .\he ,essential cond, itions of demo cracy . Demo cracy is not mer~
ly a
form of gove rnme nt but it is a way of life that rests essentially
on
moral. found ation s whic h requi re us, in the word s of Titus , "to
• resp~ct a,~ d deve.lop 'the free spi_rit of,,!!1an, · whic h. is respo
nsibl e
fot a~l · progr es~ in hum~ n histo ry. The ~rgam c theor ~ ser~e s
;bot,h Jhe purpo ses in _G ita ; it pro~i des a sourc e ·o f m-o ral ~bhgat1on
. _by prov.id,ing ,a ~ocial conte xl in t_h e fo~m ·. o_f the organ ic syste ~
,an~ .it ~{SC> kcep,s · tbe con~ U~•~ f ,\ he ind1v1dual d~ly regul ateJ
10
, 12 6 '
Commun ism and G11a
-so far as he finds him sel f as an
.
int erd ~p en de nt pa'r t of s .
·Th is is a positive check on 11ce .
nt1ousness. 8 .m d u ethics , in ge0 cie ty
recognises tha t the ind ivi du al ha s ·
the po we r to ac t on his nera\,
acc ou nt as well as to co ntr ol wi
. thi n lim its, his own futur own
.
as to aid oth ers also 1n expressmg t h e1r .
ow n po we r. Titus sube, so
tiates this vie · w an d say
. selfi h
s: "T h e H'1n d u p h'tlosophe rs seemstan.
.agree tha t ov erc om mg s ness ts . neces . ord er
.
on e's tru e self. " 69 Th is . sary 1n
. to re 1.to
ass ess me nt ts tru e 1n case of the a 1ze
-conception · of Gi.ta, b eca use . . h org .
1t 1s t rou gh the orgc1.nim an isf
1c
co nc ep tio n tha t the ide a o f mt . d
er ep en de nc e an d social inteICr-
-action of the ind ivi du al en titi
es ca n be mo re approxim atel y
-conveyed.
Moral Basis of Democracy :
Fo r the successful fun ~ l_Oning of
de mo cra cy , it is essential that
I the de mo s sho uld be n16~l\ ly str
on g an d int ell ect ua lly enlightened.
l People sho uld realize theit ~ocial
-democracy is an expres~ion of
res po nsi bil itie s. An y weakness of
the im pe rfe cti on of hu ma n nature
l An ide al for m of de mo cra cy ca
fre ed fro m the ir fra ilti es, the
n be ach iev ed if the people are
.
tem pta tio ns of mo ne y and power.
If the de mo s an d the ir rep res en tat
ive s for ge t the principles of parti-
cip ati on in soc ial life, the y wi
ll tak e rec ou rse to propagand a
th at rep lac es pri nc ipl es. In
pro pa ga nd a, wi tho ut principle
the re is no thi ng bu t me re mu d-s lin s,
gin g. Me n of int eg rity then with·
dr aw fro m thi s mu d-s lin gii rg ga
me -an d ev en tua lly social life itse
De mo cra cy the n ,de ge ne rat es int lf.
o the 'ru le of the ignobles'.
To saf eg ua rd a:gainst thi s ·pe tri
fic ati on , the Gi ta presents the
co nc ep t of tho se ide al pe rso ns,
I wh o are fre e fro m the banefu
inf lue nc e of the tem pta tio ns . Gi l
ta -ve ril y cal ls the m 'Sthitapraj~a
".Y og i' an d 'gu,;,atita'. An en lig ',
hte ne d pe rso n, acc ord ing to Git
i is tha t wh o 'ha s co ntr oll ed his inc a,
lin ati on s,7 ° a yo gi ha s been des~
, cri be d aa tha t wh o ha s fre ed
him sel f fro m the possessions
ten de nc y -to possess71 (niraslrapa _an
rigrahal)), an d a ' gur:ia- t-t 1 ' is a
a
ma n wh o, the -em bo die d on e, tra .
ns ce nd s the thr ee bo nd s of_ ma~~s
ria Jit y, wh iqh ate bo rn · of ' ,hi
s co nta ct wi th
sen sua liti ee-.'"~,A de ep er un de rst an din g of all the the
bo dy , viz ., •
se tra itS, p_
5
cri be d by Gi ta, lea ds us to be r~te
lie ve th at the se are the pre req ~; be
char~cteristjcs of an 'en lig hte n• d..
• em os ' and the :people sbou ctioO
im bib ed wi th them if the d e m
~ ins tit uti on s ~:-e to fun
--~ - > Ji i Ai!i

127
successfully an d on som e sou
nd pri nc ipl es. Th e pri nc ipl e of
du ct for the m is to dis ch arg e co n-
the ir du tie s wi th a sense of
att ach me nt. no n-
Su mm ari zin g the se ch ara cte
ris tic s, as lai d do wn by Gi
may say tha t a mo ral ly tra ine d ta, we
pe rso n will be a ma n of sec
un de rst an din g (sthitaprajna), ure
rea dy to pe rfo rm his du tie
honesty an d int eg rity (yogi), s wi th
an d will tra nsc en d all the ma
tem pta tio ns (gu']atita), which ter ial ist ic
ins tig ate him to ad op t co rru
means of living. He will be pti ve
an anasakta. Gi ta suggests tha
persons, lib era ted fro m the na t suc h
rro w sensualities an d ins tin ctu
. will pu t aw ay all the cra vin gs ali tie s,
tha t ari se in the ir mi nd (pr
k
. yadii kamansarvanpiirtha ma ajahati
nogatiin) (II . 55). Al tho ug h the
per son s will give up the ten de se
nc y of ex plo itin g pe op le an d
_ma kin g mo ne y un de r the ga the reb y
rb of soc ial service, ye t the y
\ . wi thd raw fro m the wo rld . Gi
ta ass ert s thi s an d tells, "th
will no t
e discip-
lined sou l will mo ve am on g
sense ob jec ts (vi~ayanindriyais
.with the senses we an ed fro m lik caran)
es an d dislikes (ragadve~aviyuk
. (II. 64 )." It me an s tha t all sor taiM
ts · of tem pta tio ns will be off
the m in the for m of mo ne y ered to
an d po we r bu t the pe op le
democratic fun cti on ing an d in in the ir
the dis ch arg e of the ir du tie s
.p9 t be all ow ed to be co me the sho uld
vic tim of the se pe tty am bit ion
_µfe. Sim ila rly , .when a ma n is s of
co ntr ibu tin g his sha re to the
. he sho uld car e mo re for society,
pri nc ipl es tha n for the person
per$onal .pr eju dic es .an d prefer alities,
ences. La yin g do wn the po stu
of.dem o~ rac y, Gi ta fur the r lat es
tells us tha t "th e enlightened
confuse the mi nd of the un ma y no t
en lig hte ne d, wh o are att ach
act ion " (na buddhi bheda ed to
m janayedajnanam karma sangin
(Ill. 26). am)
Ac cor din g to Gita, the fight in .
de mo cra cy sho uld be for pri
. pies only an d the masses sho nci -
uld no t be confused by fal
pro pa ga nd a or by me re vo te- sified
cat ch ing slogans. Th ose who
.the un ed uc ate d ma sse s by confuse
false pro pa ga nd a are no t on
tncmics. of de mo cra cy bu t of ly the
society as well. Th e tra ine
intelligentsia an d en lig hte ne d d
sta tes me n sho uld no t withdraw
iJldolence or ina cti on , bu t the int o
y sho uld be the active guide
Utereby_.,Ute. co nsc ien tio us pa s an d
rti cip an ts in the social life.
moral apnt, the se sta tes me n As a
will act in a very responsible
. b,,0:iUf,..the ir co nd uc t an d the ma nn er,
ir examples are to be :al low
,,U\t41rog~IlY. Gi t~ says : "w ha te• ed by
er the be st ma n does~ 1s also do
ne
'
t
I 128 Com mu nis m a,1d ~
Git a
by oth er ma n ; wh at exa mp le he
set~, the w_orld foll ow s _,,73 This
is a very hig h ma xim of dem ocr atic
soc iety . lf the peop\e's
representatives, the legislators, the
s~atesm~n and the social
edu cat ors are cor rup t, the whole gen era
tion will bec om e cor r upt .
The ir pre cep ts will have no effect on
the new gen era tion , bu t
the con trar y the you nge r gen era tion wil 00
l res ort to all sor ts of co r-
rup tion and quo te the se ald erm en of
soc iety as the ir example.
If dem ocr acy is not to co}lapse und
er ,the bur den of its own
weaknesses, !ho se at the hel m · s_hould
be me n of exempl ary
cha rac ter in the ir social affairs. Git a
doe s not free even men of
knowledge fro m the soc ial obl iga tion 74
s. Ma ny a fail ure of the
den,tocr~cy can be tra ced to the
fac t tha t intellectuals
wjt hdr aw into ivo~y tow ers .an ~ the
inte llec tua l and spir itual
4~1Qless the n befalls the soc iety . It is,
the ref ore , . inc um ben t on
m~n.. _o f Jmowledge not to wit hdr aw but to
gui de effectively when
i~~ po}i_ti~jans ~g<;> ast ray :. and the
I sta t~~ en _ wi_ll .a ct for t,h e vie lfar e

ma sse s are bei ng -misguided .
f.re¢ _from· t~!S'· :- nar row ego ism ; suc h :enl
igh ten ed persons and
of the · soc iety . -Git a ordains :
~:J"tJSt:3$, _wjtJ:l atta chr uen t, th_e une nli ght
Q ff~arjlta; ; eve n so, b~t .. una ttac hed sho
ene d · per for m all actions,
uld the ·enl igh ten ed act
with_~ 4esi_re for the welfare ·o f hum ani
ty. " 75' Suc h instances and
4~ ri_pliQns_· caO: _b e tnu-l"ftpli'ed wh ere
· Git a exp res ses its faith in
., ~n . ~n_d _ µis . {allibility, 'the : two· fou
nda tio ns on -wh ich a sound
'_ 9~.a;n9.c~~cy ;.c an be· b_as~d. ·To tra in · suc
h · per son s -in democr atic
· tr~ di_t{ons, ~l_l th~ ; social' ins titu tio ns .
will wo rk ih an' ide al soc iety.
~~ ,a.~tj-. Yo g:1:of Oit a· adv oc~ tes dem
ocracy of the enlightened
~1,,o,r3s an ide al.s oci al ord ~r.
J:l.qtU~f! of Sta te .Au tho ritx ,: .
- ~ j ... • , • • • , ' • • • .• • J •
·- .-~-As ·we have alre ady ·see n in the beg inn ing , pol itic al
,I
pro ble ms did

never, bot bet the :'a uth or, ,of Qit a.
t Th e pre sup pos itio n seems to ~e
that_•~ the ,pe opl e are .m_orJlllY. stro n·g
anrd we ll tra ine d in democra~ic
tra dit ion s, thc ·sta te . m~ chi ner y · can not
go wro ng. -Si mil arly , Git a
presuppo5es tha t for a 'ma n - wh o is law
· unt o him sel f, nei the r anY
e1 tra neo_µs -,. law is needed, no r he
has any fea r of the stat e
coercion: ,This seems to · . be ihe con sid
era tio n · on acc oun t of
wh ich Gjt a left ,_ the :po liti cal ,pr ob le~
unt ouc hed .
Alexand~r Pope has aJso ·ex pre sse d-· the
H e s'!:lly·"- • · ''F , ~ ide a in ano the r waY.
· ·· ... ., · _, ,or ·
,orms :of Go ver nm entJ'le t fools ·co nte st ; w·hate ver
r:
The Ideal Social Order 129
is administered best is best." The morally enlightened'] people

wiU themselves manage the organisational structure of their socio-
political institutions. However, we find a reference in the
]1,fahabharata of which the Gita forms part, that "there was once
a time when there was no state nor a sovereign. " 76 The state was
created when anarchy prevailed and is in fact a negative institution,
which came into existence, because there was evil. It will continue
so long as there is evil.
What was the regulative force when the state was not there?
That force can still Eerve as regulative of human conduct _if state
withers away. We are told in Mahabharata that it was dharma
that protected the life of people in the absence of the state power
(rajya). 77 In this way, Mahabharata advocates the supremacy of
socio-ethical laws over the political institutions. Gita, like other
lndian scriptures, also recognises the superiority of dharma, which
is more effective to protect the civil society and create law-
abidingness even when the political authority is not functioning.
The emphasis is on safeguarding the social fabric.
No one will doubt that obedience to some law is necessary condi-
tion of corporate and civilised life for the promotion of the common
social interest. For the morally depraved, it will be legal law, the
police force, whereas for the moral man, it will be ethical convic-
tion. Thus, the existence of state will be a requirement for those~
w'ho are socio-paths and delinquents. However, the strong social
frolices can challenge the state power when it goes corrupt. This.
is the morale behind the fall of Duryodhana. The author
of Gita has projected Duryodhana as ·corrupt and greedy
(lobhopahatacetasab) (II. 38), and a tyrant (atatayinaM (II. 36). His
faU is indicative of a moral dynamics that a "social force in the
forms of some Avatatra78 awakens and destroys the corrupt and
tyrant state machinery, specially when it starts pursuing the ends
which are against common good and when it fails to maintain a
:System of rights which are necessary for the free development of
the individual. There is also an implicit assumption in Gita that
the corrupt authority may be replaced by the alternative authority
supported by dharma. Thus speaking, the state machinery can
be regulated by rigid moral regulations and the social forc.:es.
The derelictions can be effectively cured by public censure.
Morris Ginsberg comes closer to this position when he s~ys that
I 30 Co mm un is=
"' anc{ Clt a
" . _d tlie ory of jus tic e wi
a soun ll inv olv e a de fin itio n of th . .
withi11 wh ich the Sta te po b .
we r ma y e _ri g 1~tl y exe rci e 11rn 1t
sect .''7o
Acco rd. It. \ gly ' if the soc iet y is to be ba sed on Justi ce , t hen the
l .
s11ou -Id derive its po we r .fro m the pe op e ac tm .
g thr ou
Slute
. I•t -if slio uld b e sub jec t to 1. . _ .
law se 1m1tat1ons. T l11.s 1s . gh law, and
. possib\ .
a del no cra tic set -up on ly wh ere the we ll- tra me e 1n
exerci se ch eck on the tyr an • d pe op le
ny o t sta te au t l1o rity an d can
lim ita tio ns on it. Ma rx als o ~is
ua lis ed tha t wh en ~ta te is repl
by co mmun es, the pe op le w1l a~:~
~ be ab le to _exerci se_ the ir
mo re effectively thr ou gh un po wer
ive rsa l fra nc his e. Di scussi
dimensions of rea l de mo cra cy . ng ti
, Ma rx h1 ms el f wr ite .
s : " Un ive rsal
1e
suffrage gives all the me mb ers
of civ il soc iet y a po liti c al ex iste
and , the ref ore , ipso fac to eli mi nce
na tes the 'po lit ica l' as a sep
category.'•so In the li'ght of the ara te
ab ov e, the co nc ep t of the peo
· force as a reg ula tiv e for ce is far ples'
su pe rio r to the ide a of ' wither
· away of sta te' . In thi s wa y, ing
Gi ta do es no t sid e wi th tho se
tha t sun sho uld ba nis h fro m wh o say
the sk y be ca us e it sometim
becomes co ve red in clo ud s. If es
sta te ma ch ine ry is be ing abu
the mo ral ly str on g pe op le sh ou sed ,
ld ch oo se an oth er governm
reg ula te the aff air s an d the reb ent to
y ex erc ise the ir effective con
ov er the executive po we r. trol
Private Property :
Freedom ca nn ot ex ist in the so
cie tie s wh ere a few persons
· appropriate all the soc ial pr od
uc t. Th us , in ord er to give
share in na tio na l we alt h an d wi equ al
th a view to see tha t every one
ma y be ab le to sat isf y his
pr im ary ec on om ic needs,
essential to wa tch tha t the ec on it is_
om ic res ou rce s an d \he means
,production sho uld no t be ow ne d ot
pri va tel y. M arx de no un ced th
~oUtical eco no my , be ca us e it inc e
or po rat es the pri va te proper
mto th e ve ry ess en ce of ma n. 81 t~
Th e au tho r of Gi ta con den11
no t on ly th e 'corpus' of po sse ssi '~
on bu t the 'animus possidcnd1
~lso. In the op en ing verse of
' - k- h' h Gi ta the us e of the "".0rd
_man:ia a • as .b ee n ma de by '
Kauravas, wh o ha ve be en sy_n1b 0 l1sed
in -Gita as th e for ces of gre ,,,s
tha t the very sen s f , · ed (lobh op ah atacetasab) 10
. Th is s~ ,. t
· e O m1ne11es· s' 1s. the • ·5 ev1d1.. 11
so ur ce of evi l. I t 1
fro m th e expo stula tor y att f
itu de of Gi ta th at the ve ry 0
~r :o na l owne_rship is dis tas tef ide ,~ r
ul an d de ro ga tor y to the ~ut 1
it · Th e enhghtened persons ~ ~ : ;d
of Gi ta an d the mo ral ly dts cip 11
131
. will never desire to br in
persons\ ov"11ership R g th e ec on om ic go od
.a dh ak ri sh na n m or e spec s un<ler th ei r
Persona " · ifica\ly su gges ts th a t
.such person S "c ov et no th in g an d ar e Je .
alou s o f no ne " •s2
Comparing th e de m on
ic an d th e d ,vine pe rs .
th at those who have on s, G ita a ls o u~ h o \d
th e pr id e of pe rs on al s
.1 - , ·t h) ar w ea lth (d ha na m an am a-
.uam I a. ' e de m on ic al pe rs on s, w he re as th e fr ee
ness (alolupatva111) is th . do m fr om CO \ et -
e sign of d1. vm .
e ch ar ac te r. Ba . A ll t h
th at G ita detests th e
co nc ep t of priva.te ese s h ow
of ossession. T he th in ownersh1~ ~n d th_e se
gs sh ou ld be enJoyed os_e
;e th at an in di vi du al is no an d ut ili se d w it h t~1s
sen t th ei r ow ne r. T he
. olution of ab ol iti on co m m un is t
m ay fini•sh t h e , corp
of pr iv at e pr op er ty
~ossessions' only bu t G us
it a w an ts to fi ni s?
very intention to ho ld th e animus _domini, th
as ow ne r. Fo r tl ns e
forth th e id ea of 'a pa ri pu rp os e, G it a ha s pu
gr ah a) or pu tt in g aw t
There are ce rt ai n sp ay ev er y po ss es si on 84
ecific re fe re nc es in .
reflect over th e pr ob le ot he r sc ri pt ur es w hi
m of th e pr iv at e ow ch
far as th e pr iv at e pr op ne rs hi p of pr op er ty .
er ty is co nc er ne d, th So
Bhagavata w he re in it e H in du vi ew is gi ve
ha s be en sa id th at w n in
only on so m uc h as w e ha ve a le gi ti m at e ri gh t
ou ld sa tis fy ou r ex is
desires m or e, he is a te nt ia l ne ed s. If an y on e
th ie f de se rv in g pu ni
jalharam to.vat svattavarh sh m en t (yavad m ry
hi dehiniim adhikarh et a
darJ,qam arhate). 85 T hu s, yo ' bh im an ye ta sa st en
no on e ha s a ri gh t ov o
-one's ri gh t is lim ite d to er th e su rp lu s, bu t
on ly as m uc h as hi s so
This is a hu m an qu al ci al re qu ir em en ts ar e.
ity th at he ca n ad ju
desires to th e so ci al co st hi s re qu ir em en ts
nt ex t. M ar x al so ad an d
.and says th at "o ur de vo ca te s th e si m il ar vi
sires an d pl ea su re s sp ew
measure th em , th er ef or ri ng fr om so ci et y : w
e, by so ci et y an d no e
-serve fo r th ei r sa tis t by th e ob je ct s w hi
fa ct io n. " 86 In view ch
at th e expense of so ci of th is , to en jo y w ea
et y is co ns id er ed by lt h
'T~erefore, G it a says G it a a so ci al cr im e.
: "A m an w ho ap pr
W·l.thout co nt ri bu tin g op ri at es fr om so ci et
hi s sh ar e to so ci al y
iociety di sp ro po rt io na go od an d ta ke s fr om
te ly , is a th ie f. "" 7 O
pro~o_uncements, G an n th e ba si s of su
dh ij i ha s tr aced hi ch
trad1t1ons_. H e writes s so ci al is m in In di
: "S ~c ia lis m was_ n~ t an
of t~e. misuse of th e bo rn w ith th ~ di sc ov
ca pi ta l by ca pi ta lis er y
jciahs_m, even co m t. A s I ha ve co nt en
m un is m is ex pl ic it de d
,80Pan1~ad88 (lsavasya in th e fi rs t ve rs e
of
midarh sarvam yatkin
';:otyaktena bhunjithal;z ca ja ga ty li7 h jagat •
mii grdhab kasyasvidd
G an dh i's in te rp re ta ti hanam). A ,~ co rd in i
on , th is ve rs e m ea ns
th at w e see th is
LV
132 Communism
and G-it ii
great universe as pervaded by God. Renounce it and .
' l l . enJoy it D
not covett anybody s wea t 1 or possession . 80 These vers . · o
. . f l l . h. h es tndi cate
that misappropr 1at1on o wea t 1 1s 1g ly disparagin
. d 1 " . g accord .1ng
to Indian thinkers, an , t 1ere1ore, 1t must be finished.
,Jin a highly denunciato ry tone, Gita devotes as many aseJev
. . d" . . h
verses to exp~ess its m 1gnat1~n agamst t ose who make indu! en
or lust as their sole goal (Kamopabl wgaparama ) , who seek gence
fully to ama5s wealth (anyayenar thasancayon), wb unlaw.
. .. . 'd - o have
unsatisfiab le acqms1tive mania , u,rpuram kamam), and wh ,
. . . f tl1elf . persona l wealth (dhanam . o are
full o f 10tox1cat10n o anama-
dam,itiib-}.90 These are more or less the same characteris tic wh ·
. , . 1· , !Ch
1farx attnbuted to the capita 1st .
Kr~1.1a's call to the effect that these depraved souls (nastat.
mana~), and lowest of mankind (nariidhama ba) are to· · be
eliminated from the society (vinasaye ca du~krt iim) , is an
assertion of the fact that social forces must manifest thernseh·es
in every age for the purpose of condemnin g the desire for priYate
ownership and the creed of money worship. Numerous verses of
Gita suggest that nobody should be allowed to m, opolise the
eco.nomic resources for personal and private use. All should
equally utilise them for the public good (lokasaingraha). The
Gita's concept of non-attach ment is a guarantee that man will
not. fall victim to the acquisitive mania and will not appropria te
I the property. The idea of finishing the 'corpus' private ownership
still leaves a great lacuna that the 'animus', the intention to
possess and desire to misapprop riate still remains. If tbe tendency
of lust and greed is still there, and if man has not learnt to contr?I
111
his sensuous desires, then th~ abolishing or private property \\ •
not be sufficient, because he will commit sin against the publt~
prorerty and will misuse or misapprop riate it for his own perso~; t
t 1
benefit at the cost of society. Gita, therefore, rightly suggeS s
the very desire to possess should be finished. . t of
th 11
The significanc e of the concept can be grasped in e lidg c"
• , • 1 en "'
Salmond's theory of Legal Sanctions . In the Junspn rule
. ' operates upon desire. 01 If 'A' is about t O break a t\vo
'S anct,on
. . 1 ' . between
ffer the
o f 1mperat1ve aw, A' shall have the chotce
pains-either 'A' should keep within the law and us su a~ the th
. f · · . s . elf can 'A' l1 ould bre,
pain o not gettmg t~e illegal advantage or be fl
law and suffer the pain of punishme nt. Thus deslfe its
>
1he Ideal Social Order 133

source of pain . Accordingly , it is not only the 'Actus Reus·, the
actual act of expropriatio n , but the 'mens rea' the guilty
mindedness and the desire to misappropr iate the surplus value is
to be negated if the crimes against society are to be checked. This
is the standpoint of Gita's An asakti doctrine. "Rid of desires and
possession", suggests Gita, "a man can discharge his duties
sincerely". 92 Such freedom from longing for possession is an
ethical state and not a material condition. However, the idea
behind all this is that a man must control the appetite for
possession and free himself from the tyranny of belongings. In
that case, the very desire to have private property and the motive
of private ownership of means of production will end . Thus
speaking, the ideal of the 'anasakti' and the ideal of 'aparigraha '
is not restricted upto the mere abolition of the corpus of private
property but to the cessation and eradication of the very 'animus'
thereof, which compels one to exploit. This will be wrong to
assume that the tendencies cannot be cured. Since the tendencies
are not uncaused, these can be finished . in toto, because anytµing
which has a cause, can be destroyed, As a matter of fact, they
all arise due to a kind of asakti, i.e., attachment arising out of
the false knowledge of the self, its relation with other man and
with objects. If the degenerativ e and dehumanizi ng consequences
(vi~ayadofadarsana) of the private ownership of wealth are
exposed, it will lead to anasakti.
From all this discussion, a conclusion may be rightly drawn that
Gita suggests a type of social order in which the economic goods
.. will be used for common good ; everything will be so used by the
agents as it is not their private property but it has. social owner-
ship, and each individual ~ill· discharge his social task (svadharma)
freely according to his talents and functional capacity. By what-
ever 'ism' it may be called.
References
1. Hegel, G.W.F., Logic of Hegel, p. 49.
2. Meyer, Alfred G., Marxism, The Unity of Theory and Practice, p. 57.
3. Hegel, G .W.F., Philosophy of History, p. 104.
4. Giddens, Anthony, Capitalism and Modern Social Theory, p. 5.
5. Marx and Engels, Selected Works, Vol. T, pp. 483-484.
6. Marx, K., The Poverty of Philosophy, p. 190.
7. Marx, K., German Ideology, p. 78.
0. ..
. gnw; ; z ;; ¥¥ J' M M :W Q CA .&,1 - f ~::ii "'·"' ot;J ~
• - ..... · - - ...... ia-... \ 1 • • \ \
134
C om m un ism and G
zta
M' Lu dwig vo n, Social
8. ,ses, K Critique i.rn1, p. 32.
9. M ant, ·• of Political Econ
omy (N ew Y or k
Li brary, 1904), p . I nter-n at iona1
11.
10. M ar . K M EG A pp . \20-121.
Marxx, K ·• £a d v W' l'i
1 1· [ .' K ., an d. En ge ls tin gs, PP· 58 - 59 ·
12. M ar x, •• F. German Ideolo
l3 . M ar x, K . an d En ge ' ' g y , \'.'· 199.
ls , F. , Selected Co
of Oct ober 27, 1890 rr espon dence (L . ct tcr to C . Schm
l 4. M ar x, En gels , Le ni), P • 4e O·. . . .
idt
n , On H,stor,cal M
15. 1u,·, ar x, K ., ta rl y Writin r? s, p. 13 at er ia l,s m , p. 12 8.
16 . (T ra ns . B ot to m or
M ar x, K ., MEGA, e) .
P- 1s 5.
17 . lb id ., p. 59 9.
18 . M arx, K .. an d En
l
I E d.), p . 76 .
ge ls , F. , M an ife st
o o f th e C om m un
ist Pa rty (S oviet
I 19. M ar x, K . an d En ge
ls , F. , Selected W
20 .· Le ni n, V .I ., Colle or ks , V ol . II I , p.
cted W or ks , V ol . 26.
21. M ar x, Engels , Le ni 24 , pp . 84 -8 5.
n, On Historical M
22. M ar x, K . an d En ge at er ia li sm , p. 111.
ls , F ., Selectf!d Cor
23~ M ar x an d En ge ls , respondence , p . 57
Selected W or ks , V .
24 . M ar x an d En ge ls , ol . II , p. 30 .
Selected Correspon
25 . M ar x an d En ge ls , dence , p •.337.
Selected W or ks , V
26. M ar x, K . an d En ge ol . I, p. 54.
ls , F. , Se le ct ed W
27. or ks , V ol . II , p .
\ 28.
M ar x, K ., Writings
173-174.
of the Young M ar
x on Philosoph y an
31.
d Societ y, pp.
En ge ls , F. , T he O
ri gi n of Fa m il y,
M ar x an d ·E ng el s, Pr iv at e Pr op er ty
Selected W or ks , V an d th e St ate in
29. M ar x, K . an d En ge ol . II , p. 291.
ls , F ., Se le ct ed C
30 . M ar x, K . an d En ge orrespondence, p.
ls , F. , Se le ct ed W 337.
31. M ar x, K ., C iv il W or ks , V ol . l, pp .
ar in Fr an ce , in M 520-521.
V ol . I, p. 484. ar x an d En ge ls ,
Selected Works ,
32. M ar x, K ., M.t.GA,
p. 119.
33. M ar x, K ., an d En
ge l;, F ., Se le ct ed
34 . M ar x, En ge ls an d W or ks , V ol . II , pp
Le ni n, O n H is to ri . 144-145.
35 . M ar x, K., Selected ca l M at er ia lis m , p
W or ks , V ol . l, p. ,5 . 13.
36. M ar x, K . an d En ge 4.
37 ls , F. , Se le ct ed W
.. M ar x, En ge ls , L en or k. f, V ol . II , p.
144.
38. Afanasyev S Soc,in , On H is to ri ca l M at er ia lis m , p.
, •, ·at·lS 150.
39 . M ar x, K ., M l: m an d Com m um.sm
G A, p. 8 . , p. 126.
40. 8
A f~nasyev, S. , Soci
41. l bld. , p. 133. alism an d C om m un
is m p 127
42. ~ op er . K .R ., op • . .
. cit., pp . 333-334.
43. .Marx, ~ .• Po ve rt y ()
f P hi ks op hy , p.
44. ar x, K ., Selectecl 13 6.
45. M arx, K ., MEGA W o! ks , V ol . I, p. 523.
46. , p. 126.
Fe ue rb ac h Ludw
47 D am d ' ' , i Th
. o aran K In $, e Essence o f
48 . Gita, XI. 13 \~ - dia Th C hr i., tia ni ty p 23
k ." · ou g ht : A C . ' . 0.
asa ti Yoga bha~ya ri tic al Su rv ey , p. 53.
).
F i 4 Iv
135
The /deal Social Order
49.Jladhakrl i. hn on, S., lJhagavarlRrtil, p . 161.
50. M;11t11bMratn , X U. 298. 17 (Hindi version).
Western Thought , p . 124 ff.
~1. Radhakrls hnnn , S., I!' ,stern Re/lg /rm and
52. Soro l, in, P.A., op. cit., p. 2')2.
53. Gita, XI. R.
54. Hart shorn, Rn1/ lty as r1 Sot/a l Process, p . 34.
World, p . 81.
55. Whl1 ehca d, A.N ., Srle11re and the Modem
56. Mackenzi<i, .J.S., A Manual of /.:.'t/,/cs , p. 279.
/fsl, Idealism, p . 63 .
57. Miln e, A.J .M., A Soda / /'/,i/o wpl, y of E111J
of Karl Mar x, p. 175.
58. Tucker, Rohen C. , Phllo sop/, y and MJ t/1
59. Mciver & Pa ge, Socie ty, p. -1J .
60. lhid ., p. 44.
61. Miln e, A..J .M., op. cit., p. 63.
of Re /ig lou .s Life (19 15), p. 207.
62. Durk heim, E mile, The Elementary Form •,
63. Ibid ., p. 208.
64. Gita, XVIII. 65 (Anii.1-ak l/ Yoga bha~ya).
65. Muirhead , J.H. , Elem ems of £ 11,/c:; , p. 178.
gur:ia karm avib haga sa t. ).
66. Gita, JV. 13 (Cfiturvaroyarh may a Sma rh
p. 83.
67. Radhakrishn an, S., The Hindu Vitw of Life,
68. Titus, H.H ., op. cit., p. 418.
69. Titus, H.B ., op. cit., p. 511 ff.
yarthebhyaf:i sarh hara te).
70. Gita, II. 58 (Anlisaktl Yoga) (indriyar;Ji indri
71. Gita, VJ. JO (And 1·akt/ Yo,((a).
72. Sr/nw dbha l{ava dgfla (Hin di), XIV . 19-20.
ddeve'taro janaf:i sa yatp ra-
73. Gita, III. 21 : (yad yada cara ti src~~hastatta
m!Qath kurute loka stad anuv artat e).
14. The Gita According to Gandhi, p. 187.
75. Gita, III. 25 (AnaJakt/ Yoga . bha~ya).
rajyarh na rajas inna ca
16. Mahlib/ta ,ata (Un ti parva), 58. 14 (na vai
daQdo na daod ikal) ).
~ant esma para spar am).
77. Ibid ., 58. 14 (dharme,;iaiva prajaf:i sarv arak
of se>me extra ordi nary
78. Avatllra§, for Gan dhi, are ·the emb odim ent
, 6-8-1931.
service to man kind -Ga ndh i, M.K., Young India
79. Morris, Ginsberg,.Justlce in SocietJ', p. 70.
phy and Soci ety, p. 202.
80. Marx, K., Writings of Young Mar x on P.'1iloso
ns. Bott omo re).
81. Marx, K., Earl y Writings, pp. 137 ff. (Tra
82. Rad hakr ishn an, S., Bhagai·adglta, p. 126.
83, Srimadbhagavadf!ita (Hin di), XVI . 17 ; 2.
84. Gita, IV. 21 and VI. 10.
· 85. B!tagavata, VU. 14.8.
Vol. I, p. 94.
86, Marx, K. and Engels, F., Se.'ected Works,
87. Gita, HI. 12 (Aniisakt/ YoKa bha~ya).
88, Gan dhi, M.K ., flarlja11, 20.2-1937.
Vol. IU, pp. 105-106.
89. Gan dhi, M.K ., In Sea ·ch of 1he Supreme,
90. Gita, XVI. 9-19. (A11t1Ja~ti Yoga).
.
91. Salm ond, Jurisprudence, 9th Ed., pp. 26-27
92. Tire Gita According tq Gandhi, VI, 10.
e a ~ +- WWW W WWW - W W Mi 1(4'.i* a:\W' W, Z$ "i4} iw/' ::'¾"'""',.;, if.' .1

.,,J. , . a ;, , ~
._ •"' - - •"- ,. ...,. ""',. ~ in
i
I
Concept o f Social Justi

ce
So cial ju st ic e is on e of
th e 1nost cr uc ia l co nc
T he gross in eq ua lit ie s er ns of our tim es.
ar e b~ in g ve he m en tly
where. Ru ss el l is re pr es co nd em ne d en ry·
en ta tiv e of th es e vo ic es
un even di st rib ut io n ca us w he n , he says : " An
es en vy an d ha tr ed in
an d fear an d ha tr ed in th e less fortun ate
th e m or e fo rt un at e. " 1
fo rtu na te s, w ho ar e al so Th e fe ar in the more
ca lle d th e cl as s of 'h
be en ge ne ra te d by th av es ' , might hav_e
· ei r ow n un co ns ci ou s, th e re po si to ry of th
sins ag ai· ns t hu m an ity
. Th· e masses,. ho w ev · un
eir
de r
dr ud ge ry an d ba ne.fut er , ar e gr o aning
a · liv in g c. on di tio ns . Th e w ea lth y
suuenn g fr om m en ta l to rt ur e, are a_lso
· d · al w ay s aw ar e of th e 101 P en d1n"
·
d an ge r o f bem g . . ci
. . ep nv ed of th et r po ss es si.on s. • of cr1a nt
m.ult1-nat1on ag gr eg at es , eq Th e rise 0
ui pp ed w ith tr em en do ce
d 1st ur be d th e gl ob al eq . . . us re so ur s' ha .
s
. u1 hb nu m . Th e gr ow th of a Pecult ar
nexu s of rig ht s an d du tie s w hi ch ,
fo rm ' is th e ou tc om e of t l1e c ompl e~
. s of co rp or at iv e st at e, ·th erto
an d pr iv at e pr op er ty as
u;nknown ty pe s of la bo ur , we ll as ht
ha ve ·pr oj ec te d ne w ve . f . eq tl ,\, 1l·_
ties. W e are 11vmg 1n . · · rs io ns O
in . . •ust
a w or ld where fe w m en · th
de ss er ts, mighty na tio receive el l .J\\er
· hb ns w ag e un ju st w ar s ag ai ns th strl
ne1g ou rs an d th e bo un ty of t eir '~ g
na tu re is un fa irl y d1·st -b te d urn 11
th e pe op le of th e ea rth n ~ to 1aY ,
. Th e so ~i a\ pro1.Jlem
5 in ou r Ul i d st
.., !l a
,Concept of Social Justice
137
,result in and are in larg e part the resu lt of inju
stice, unfa irne ss and
1inequa 1ity.
Part of the difficulty in ame lior atin g these con
diti ons lies in our
,inability or unwillingness to obta in accu rate
factual desc ript ion
.and causal exp lana tion of men 's con duc t and
part ly in our lack of
.reflections as to how our inst itut ions rea\\y wor
k. But an equ ally
,perplexing par t of the difficulty in ove rcom
ing injustice is the
-seeming abst ract ness , inst abil ity and vari ega
ted desc ript ion of the
ideals of justice. Nev erth eles s, the social thin
kers are brin ging to
,light eno rmo us inst anc es of indi vidu al and
inst itut iona l injustice.
In doing so, they assu me cert ain social idea ls,
whi ch help them in
·.making thei r eva luat ions . It, ther efor e,
brin gs befo re us the
l)roblem 'wh at facts abo µt men and soci
ety mus t a theo ry of
justice and equ ality take into acc oun t'?'
Com mun ism and Git a bot h hav e given thei r
own social ideals,
.and on the basis of that , we are now in a pos
itio n to con side r wha t
do these ideals say abo ut the pr Jble m of soci
al just ice ? How far
·the juri dica l syst em und er the idea l soci
al ord er sug gest ed by
-communism and also by the Ana sak ti Yog a
of Git a will app rox i-
mate to just ice and how the lega l inst itut ions
will imp lem ent the
jura l laws, is a que stio n for com para tive juri
spru den ce to decide.
Hence, it -is not rele van t to the disc ussi on
of soci al just ice from
'Sociological and ethi cal poi nt of view ; just ice
can not be equ ated
with legal and juri stic laws. Bec ause , som etim
es the law itse lf may
be unju st or unju stly adm inis tere d. Wh at are
then the dim ens ions
-of iOcial just ice ?
Justice and Dharma :
After discussing in deta:il vari ous pro blem s,
whi c_h can fall und er
the ~cope of just ice, a grea t juri spru den t, Gin sbe
rg put s all thes e
into thre e form s. Briefly stat ed, thes e are
(i) con trol of pow er or
lath er arbi trar y exercise of it ; (ii) dist ribu
tion of the mea ns of
well-being ; and (iii) pro visi on for the com pen
sati on of inju ries . 2
·tak en all thes e thre e form s toge ther , just ice
will app rox ima te to
the con cep t of Dha rma in lrid ian tho ugh t. Dha
rma , in the sens e
-0f mor al just ice, stre sses on the wor th of hum an
pers ona lity and
on the righ t of man to the con diti ons , nec essa
ry for his pers ona l
fulfilment. The first form of just ice is con cern
ed with the poli tica l
order. In the prec edin g cha pter , it has bee
n discussed tha t und er
communism, there will be no state, but during the transi tion

period, humanity will have to pass through the ordeal of 'dictator -
ship of the proletariat'. Gita also conceives of the society where
the democracy of the enlightened people prevails. What type of
the constitutional set up-the executive, the judiciary, the legisla-
tive-wil l meet the requirements of justice in the two alternative
ideal social orders, has neither been worked out by Marx no r by
the author of Gita. It appears that their sole concern was to stress
on the 'freedom of man' as a producer of goods. Accordingly, any
political system, which hampers the productive freedom of man,
will be considered undesirable and unjust. How the control is to
be exercised on the arbitrary use of power? Whether it s'1ould be
done by decentralization of power or by replacing the state
authority by social units, i.e. communes etc.? These are the
questions, which have been left solely for the posterity to decide .
The first form of justice, viz., the just exercise of the-
political power and keeping the ·state within its legitimate
jurisdiction, has been left indeterminate after laying down the
broader guidelines and moral considerations. The third form of
justice is concerned with the remedies, which a society will provide
to an individual when his civil rights have been eroded. This is a
question for the Law of Torts to discuss and decide. It is the·
second one, which is concerned with the problem of assuring an
equitable distribution of the conditions without which none of the-
major ideals can be attained. Ginsberg has, therefore, rightly·
pointed out about the problem of social justice that "it is the
problem of assuring an equitable distribution of means. ' 3°
Accordingly, social justice seeks to distribute the products of
society so that all men may have an opportunity for self-develo_p-
~ent. Using, Aristotelian terminology, we can say that social
Justice approximates 'distributive justice'. In the light of these
nd
observat1ons, it will be relevant to evaluate the communism a
the, Anasakti Yoga of Gita as to how they deal with the proble!1l
of social justice, i.e., the problem of the distribution of goods.
Distributive Justice and Communism :
Many have assumed that the distributive justice is the chief
val~e underl~in~ the _value judgement, pronounced by Mar(i
agamst the existing society. His indictment of capitalism and ca
_Concept of Social Justice
139"
f r its replacement wi th
co m m un ism is generally
c: nc er n for justice in th e at tri bu te d to ~is.
sense of a fa ir di st rib ut
io n of m at er ia l
go Ods · It is na tu ra l th at wh en su ch qu es tio ns ar e as ke d
th er e ou gh t to be a wo rld as to
re vo lu tio n ? an d on wh a_ · d d . wh.y
pronounced th at th e pr t sta n ar_ it 1s
es en t social sy ste m is ev
believe th e 'di str ib ut iv e il ?, on e 1s led ~o
ju sti ce ' to be th e th em
theory. Laski, for ex am pl e of commu~1st.
e, writes th at "t he m ai n
he (Marx) was moved wa pa ss io n by wh ic h
s th e pa ss io n fo r ju sti ce 4
eminent th in ke rs lik e E. . " So m e ot he r
H . Ca rr , Li nd sa y an d Si
br in g fo rth th e pa ss io n dn ey H oo k al so
fo r ju sti ce in th e pr on ou
Acc~rding to th es e wr ite rs nc em en ts of M ar x. 0
, th e et hi cs of M ar x
express a de m an d fo r di d no t m er el y
social ju sti ce bu t a spec
dependent up on th e ob je ific ki nd of ju sti ce
ct iv e po ss ib ili tie s cr ea te
T,he ce nt ra l th em e of co d by ca pi ta lis m .
m m un is m to m an y a
is the fight for social ju sti gr ea t m in ds th en
ce an d fo r th e eq ua l
goods. di st rib ut io n of
However, a cl os e ex am in
at io n of th e do ct rin e
would rev~al th at 'd ist rib of co m m un is m
ut iv e ju sti ce ' ne ve r oc
im po rta nt pl ac e in th is th cu pi ed su ch an
eo ry . Th e m isc on ce pt io n
fighter fo r ju sti ce ar ise s fro th at M ar x w as a
m hi s us e of th e w or d 'ex
ventionally as so ci at ed w ith pl oi ta tio n' co n-
in ju sti ce . H e defines ca pi
of pr od uc tio n fo un de d ta lis m as a w ay
on th e 'ex pl oi ta tio n' of w
accumulation of ca pi ta l. ag e- la bo ur fo r th e
H is th eo ry of ex pl oi ta
cretely a th eo ry of 'su rp lu tio n is m or e co n-
s va lu e': If th e pr in ci pl e
un de r ca pi ta lis t ec on om y of 'su rp lu s value->
is pr ov ed un te na bl e, hi s
ex pl oi ta tio n will al so fa ll wh ol e th eo ry of
as un de r. En ge ls cl ea rly
' pr ob le m is th at of 'su rp lu st at es th ei r ke y
s va lu e'. H e wr ite s :" Th
tio n of ca pi ta l an d Ja bo ur e ex pl oi ta tiv e re la -
is ex pr es se d in su rp lu s va
pl oi ta tio n is co ns id er ed by lu e. " 6 Th is ex -
th em as th e ba sic ev il,
r,e vo lu tio n will en d by ab w hi ch th e so ci al
ol is hi ng th e ca pi ta lis tic
du ct io n. It is ev id en t m od es of pr o-
th at in th is pr on ou nc em
no t on th e fa ir or un fa ir, en t th e em ph as is is
eq ua l or un eq ua l di st rib
bu t on th e el im in at io n ut io n of g ' od s,
of a m od e of pr od uc tio
th.e sole motive. Fo r M ar x, n in w hi ch pr of it is
as w e ha ve al re ad y se en
a system of th e 'ac cu m ul at io , ca pi ta lis m is
n of ca pi ta l an d de hu m
man', an d in as ki ng fo r th an is at io n of
e el im in at io n of ca pi ta lis
emphasizing th e ne ed m , he is ac tu al ly
of a sy ste m , wh ic h wi
~otive an d ac qu isi tiv en es ll re m ov e pr of it
s, as th e m ot iv at in g fa
tlon. After a th or ou gh study of ct or s in pr od uc -
D as Capital, it be co m
es all th e
a:~
140 Com mu nism and Gzta

mo re evi den t tha t Marx dism isse d the slo
gan of 'fai r dis trib utio n'
.-as 'ob sol ete ver bal rub bis h'. He vio len
tly reje cte d all the sug ges-
tion s tha t the stru ggl e bei ng rag ed by the
wo rki ng clas s has to do
with dist ribu tive just ice. The onl y pos
sib le sol utio n of such a
·COl'lfiic t was the end ing of it by abo liti on
of the for ce tha t made
the two hos tile ent itie s out of one , i.e.
, lab our and ca pita l out of
manki nd. Pro f. Tuc ker see ms to be rig ht
in his assess me nt that
" the issue for Ma rx was not jus tice
but ma n's loss of hi mself
·un der ens lav em ent and deh um ani zin g for
ce and his rec ove ry of
him self by the tota l van qui shm ent of
this for ce. " 7 It is obvious
fro m his des crip tion of com mu nis m tha
t Ma rx wa nte d ma n to
-tra nsc end his lim itat ion s, wit hou t wh
ich the exp loit atio n can not
end .
Fur the r it also can be see n tha t Ma rx wa
s ave rse to the idea of
-dis trib utiv e jus tice . If we em pha size the
'jus t dis trib utio n', 'fair
dis trib utio n', i.e. , the 'dis trib utiv e jus tice
', the n the ver y c nce pt of
jus tice implies mu tua l adj ust me nt of cla
ims bet we en con ten din g
-ind ivid ual s an~ gro ups wit hin the exi stin
g sys tem and , the refore,
·thi s adj ust me nt wil l me an a· com pro mis e
wit h the for ces of evil.
Tha t was the rea son on acc oun t of wh ich
Ma rx ridi cul ed the idea
-0f just ice as 'uto pia n'. He wri tes : "It
was in gen era l a mistake
(of vul gar socialism) to ma ke a fuss abo
ut socal led dis trib ution
.and put the prin cip al stre ss on it." 8 Eng
els also ma de a denuncia-
tor y not e aga ins t tho se, wh o bel iev ed tha
t ' 'the cap ital ist' s mode
-of pro duc tion is qui te goo d and can rem
ain in existen ce, but the
-capitalist's mo de of dis trib utio n is evil 9
." In the ir indictm ent
.aga ins t the seekers of 'dis trib utiv e jus
tice ', the fou nde rs of com·
mu nism were obv iou sly refe rrin g to the
soc iali sm of Sa int-Sim on
and Fou rier in Fra nce and Ro ber t Ow
en in Eng lan d, which was
'dis trib utio n orie nte d' and was con cer
ned wit h the pro blem of
'un eve n dis trib utio n in soc iety '. Ma rx was
ver y mu ch con vinced
tha t und er the sway of gre ed, pro fit mo tive
and acq uis itiv ene ss the
po~sess~ng class can go to any ext rem
e in doing the thin gs that
·sat isfy its me gal om ani a . Das Capital p ain
ts the dis par aging pict ure
.as to wh at e~t ent a ma n can bec om e
inh um an, wh en the sole
_motiv~ of his acti vity b eco me s the acq
uis itio n of pr ivat e capital.
Th at 18 why Ma rx was alle rgic to the ver
y talk of 'jus tice' under
·s uch sy stem of pro duc tion . He also den
oun ced all hi s con tempor ·
:ary soc iali sts for usi ng the pse udo -co nce
pts . He ridicule d the
Concept of Social Justice 141'
slogans of 'fair distribution', 'equ:1l right', and 'undiminished

proceeds of labour'. as meaningless ph ra seology. Rejecting all
these slogans as 'obsolete verbal rubbish', Marx said, •·the German
party's hard won realistic outlook should not be perverted by
ideological non-sense about 'right' and other trash so common
among the democrats and French socialists. " 10 Such denunciatory
attacks were made by Marx on Proudhanism also, which upheld
the position that wage workers were being robbed under capitalism,
of something that 'rightfully' belonged to them. Engels came
forward to corroborate the stand of his partner in exposing the
futility of the idea of justice. He says : "To go on talking about
the idea of justice in relation to economic matters (as Proudhan
does) is to create the same hopeless confus:on, as would be creat-
ed, for instance, in modern Chemistry, if the terminology of the
phlogiston theory were to be retained." 11 It would be tantamount
to saying that the distribution oriented socialism was an unscient ific
approach according to him. The ridiculing attitude towards the
'application of ideal of justice to economic relations' has been
verily expressed by Marx in his various other writings, 12 which
shows that he was not in favour of making this distributive justice
. as the raison d'etre of communism.
Moral Positivism :
From what has been stated above, it also becomes clear why
Marx did not like the idea of justice to be discussed. He believed
that in every age the standards of morality and justice have their
connotation according to the relations of production of that age.
This may be called 'moral positivism', according to which the
moral institutions of an ag~ ar~ nothing but the r , fleet ion of the
economic forces around them. The standards of 'ought' are
nothing more than the ideological ratio:rnlization of 'isness'.
Marx affirms this positivis n in saying that "Law, morality, religion
are so many bourgeois prejudices behind which lurk in ambush
just as many bourgeo :s interests.'' 13 In Marxian vocabulary, the se
terms are consijereJ i:!eoloical, which means that they are part
of the conceptual system through which a particular social and
economic order expresses itself in man's consciousness. In the
light of this typ.e of economic determinism, each mode of produc
tion will have its o,, n mode of distribution and as a consequence
142 Com mu nis m and c- _
l( Cl
of tha t its ow n forn \ and crit erio n

of equ alit y. The eviden ces
of this' typ e of n1oral pos itiv ism ar:
, ~ou nd _at var iou s pl aces in
Ma rx' s own. wri ting s. He say s tha t
ngh t can n eve r be higher
tha n the eco nom ic stru ctu re· of soc iety
and its cul tur al develop-
me nt the reb y det erm ine d." 14
Accord ing ly, it wo uld be me ani ngl ess to
pas s any tru e jud gement
of righ t or wro ng, jus t or unj ust on
it fro m som e oth er poi nt of
view. Acc ord ing to the def init ion of cap
ital ism giv en by Marx,
the cap ital ist mo des of pro duc tion are
suc h tha t und er the m, man
is mo ved solely by his acq uis itiv e
des ire. Con seq uen tly, the
~pi ta\i st, und er the forc e of this acq
uis itiv e ma nia , is bou nd to
exp loit . Lab our also bec om es com pel
led to sell its humanity
und er the forc e of mo ney . Thi s sta te
of affa irs wil l con tinu e and
mu st con tinu e till cap ital ist sys tem and
its ma in ing red ien ts, the
very forc es of lus t and gre ed are neg ate
d. It me ans tha t there is
no inju stic e if the cap ital ist mis app ~op
riat es the sur plu s value,
I bec aus e his mo de of pro duc tion is suc h

acc ept s -thi s pos itio n. His sur plu s val
val ue, wh ich its use cre ates dur ing a wo
of a day 's lab our pow er." Ma rx uph
unj ust in it. He say s : ''So mu ch the bet
as he can not hel p it. Marx
ue the ory say s tha t " the
rki ng day is twi ce the value
old s tha t the re is nothing
ter for the pur cha ser but
it is now ise an inju stic e to sell er."15 The
sam e thin g is cor firmed by
Engels in his Anti-Duhring.16 Ma rx did not
app rov e of the approach
cf the oth er sch ool s of soc iali sm nor of
the refo rmi sts, who vainly
tho ugh t tha t dis trib utiv e refo rms can be
intr odu ced in the existing
f sys tem by ma kin g the dis trib utio n of goo
ds mo re equ itab le. The
l
i cap ital ist mo de of dis trib utio n is inh
um an and evil and on this
mo ral con sid era tion , Ma rx and Eng els
adv oca ted the complete
t abo litio n of bou rge ois pro per ty and cap ital
t ist sys tem . Hen ce M~r:<
\ den oun ced oth er soc iali st thin ker s as
f
'uto pia ns'. It was a wild -
goose cha se to thin k tha t wit hou t cha ngi
I ng the cap italist systc IIl
l of pro duc tion , the exp loit atio n will com
e to an end .
\ Justice under Cum mun ism : ·
On this bas is, it ma y be said tha t

\
.J
just ice' in an eco ~om ic sys tem , wh ere per
b e foun d 1.
talk ing of 'distributi ve
se it was imp ossibl e_ tod
, s a use 1ess euo
cc
rt. Bu t a rele van t 'que stio n may b e 1·•use
1 I
j
her e. Wil l not the hig her pha se of com '
mu nis t soc iety be a ~eal.CO
of dist ribu tive just ice ? An d Ma rx tell s
us to our great d 1s01 ' 1Y
\
\
\.!.
Concept of Social Justice 143
that 'it will not '. In des crib ing com
mu nis t ide al, Ma rx has n? t
raised the pro ble m of the dis trib utio n
of goo ds. At one pla ce, _m
bis cri tiqu e of Gotha Programm e, M_arx
co~ceives o~ a new sC'c ial
. ·der the hig her pha se of co mm uni st
01 , soc iety , whi ch sha ll d awn
.after the enslaving sub ord ina tio n of the ind ivid
u a l to the d 1v1s
· · ·
_1o n
,of lab our has van ish ed and ant ith esis
bet we en me nta l and p hys ica l
labour has ended. Un der the com mu
nis t soc iety , the pro duct ive
for ces will also be inc reased due to the
all rou nd dev elo pm ent of
the individual and all the spr ing s of
co- ope rat ive we alth will flow
mo re abu nda ntly . In a ver y rom ant
ic ton e, Ma rx wri tes : " On ly
the n the nar row hor izo ns of bou rge
ois rig ht be cro sse d in its
,entirety and soc iety ins crib es on its ban
ner s fro m each acc ord ing to
his abi lity to each according to his
needs." 17 Th e las t por tio n of
this aph ori sm was the slo gan of Fre nch
Soc iali sm als o. Sin ce the
French Socialism was 'dis trib uti on- ori
ent ed' , and thi s ma xim has
been ado pte d in its ori gin al for m, som
e thi nke rs, on thi s bas is,
have been led to bel iev e tha t it is
a pri nci ple of 'dis trib uti ve
jus tice '. The y for get tha t suc h dis trib
uti on- ori ent ed int erp ret atio n
of this ma xim rais es ma ny pro ble
ms . Fo r exa mp le, one ma y
ask, are all the nee ds of a ma n lim ited
to his bio log ica l sat isfac-
tio n? Bu t the com mu nis t thi nke rs
do no t res tric t the m to the se
narrow hor izo ns.
Ma n, acc ord ing to the m, wil l nee
d ma ny thi ngs to "w ide n,
to enr ich and to pro mo te his ind
ivi dua l exi ste nce . " H 1 Th en
what types of the nee ds ma n wil l be
abl e to sat isfy in ord er to
pro mo te his exi ste nce ? So me of his
ban efu l nee ds ma y be inj uri ous
to the welfare of oth ers . Wi ll it be dec
ide d in eco nom ic ter ms ?
Th e reoly is aga in in neg ativ e. A Sov
iet sch ola r tell s us tha t "th e
for ma tion of hea lth y and rea son abl
e nee ds pre sup pos es a stru ggl e
against per nic iou s nee ds wh ose sat
isfa ctio n fre que ntl y lea ds to
mis dem ean our s tha t cla sh wit h the
sta nda rds of com mu nist
morality." 19 Th us, the dis trib uti on of
eco nom ic goo ds wil l no t
be the cri ter ia of the sat isfa ctio n of
nee d and the que stio n of
economic jus tice will no t ari se. Mo
reo ver , wh en the com mun ist
S<lciety will be a rea lm of 'ab und anc
e', the dis trib uti on wil l no t be
·made acc ord ing to the law s of eco nom
ics , viz ., the law of sub sti-
t utio n and law s of equ im arg ina l
uti lity , wh ich ope ra te in the
,society wh ere the · pro ble m of dis trib uti
on ma y rea lly puz zle.
1'-he crit erio n of "ea ch acc ord ing to his
nee d", the r, for e. can no t
Com mu nism und Gita
144
e jus tice '.
b e und ers too d as a c rite rion of 'dis trib utiv
nd a nce will P .
The co, ntrm nis t so ciet y wit h its sup t:r- abu
the citi zen in the rovide
gen ero usly not onl y for nll the nee ds of t_ter
o f foo d, she lter , clo thin g, but wil l, as we are told . a lso " pma rov 1de
. I I. d cult u ral
I ed~ eryt in~ nee ed for his
him no less genedrofus y _w1t 1 1
nc 11 a nd sati sfyi ng lif ,, _0
adv anc em ent , an or 111s 1ea mg a
wh ere the re is sup er- ab undan cee. of
It is na tur al tha t in a soc iety
. . .
acc ord mg to commu .st
goo ds and wh ere ma n adJ u,ts his nee ds · le o f di st rib utin,
· c1p
.
aht y, t l1er e w1·11 not b e nee d ed any pnn 0
1nor
req uir e . pro pe r trai ning ~
Wh at this s~c iety ':"ill nee d?. It wil l
a~c e wit h social good, and
ma n to adJ ust h1_s nee ds 1n co~ son
ial ord er.
har n1o niz e the m wit h the com mu nis t soc
of com mu nis m the n was
Fun dam ent al pas sio n of the fou nde rs
utiv e jus tice ' .~ Di stribut ive
not a pas sio n for ·ec ono mic or dis trib
com mu nis m. Pro f. Tucker
jus tice occ upi es a sec ond ary pla ce in
r's ma teri a l imprisonm ent
righ tly tell s us tha t "th e end ing of wo rke
of his deh um anization. " ~1
was inc ide nta l to the rea l goa l, the end ing
My th of Economic Equ alit y :.
rpr ete d as an attempt
Co mm uni sm has oft en bee n mis inte
as the que stio n of form al
tow ard s the cre atio n of equ alit ies. So far
eve r dis put ed, on eth ical
equ alit y is con cer ned , nob ody has
equ al. Sim ilar ly, nob ody
gro und s, the rig ht of eve ry one to b~
ry ma n to the minim um
will que stio n the equ al rig ht of eve
n of 'sub stan tive ' or the
con diti ons 'of life. Bu t wh en the que stio
stio n of equ al distribut ion
'pro por tion ate ' equ alit y, i.e. , the que
es wh at is the mea suring
of goo ds aris es, the n the pro ble m com
utiv e jus tice overlap s into
rod to this . Thu s the que stio n of dis trib
stio n of the equ alit y of ma n. Som e comrn uni_st
the rea lm of the que
on eco nom ic equ ality in
thin ker s try to sea rc 1 for an emphasi<;
1
law of inc rea sin g rn i~ery

Marxism in the ext ens ive trea tm~ nt of the
given by Ma rx in Dav Cap ital . The
rein Ma rx sta ted : " Absol~ te
tion is th e accumulation
gen era l law of cap ital ist acc um ula
iety and a sim ulta neoue.s
of wea lth at one pol e of soc .tgnoranc,,~~
. f tor me nt, slav ery.
acc um ula tion o pov erty . lab our , 01
ral deg rad atio n at the opp osit e . P ~;ere
bru tali sati on and mo
in the eco nomic sp1 litY
Ine qua liti es no cou bt are cle arly vis ible
ses sio n ' . Bu t willre reaeqL .: tic,
spe cia lly in the sph ere .of. 'pri vat e pos 1,
ty ? To be mo
com e by the me re abo llt1 on of pro per
"o n practical consideratjon~,
the inequality will have to
tolerated as a necessary ev il." 23 be
Rigid eq ua liz ati on may discou rag
·creative en de av ou r, an d initia e
tive an d decrease efficiency.
absolute equality of pe r ca pit a If
dis tri bu tio n is introduced, the
those who co ntr ibu te less, bec aus n
e they are weak. infirm etc. , wi
get more ,n rew ard because of the ir mo re
ne ed s, viz ., the need
ll
for medicines etc. an d thu s wi
ll draw ad dit ion al benefit wi tho
corresponding ad dit ion al wo rk. ut
Th is will cause inequality in
distribution, an d ine qu ali ty in
tre atm en t.
Distribution of Happiness :
To resolve the pro ble m of
the 'ec on om ic eq ua lity ', two
alternatives ma y be possible :
(i) tha t goods are dis tri bu ted
counting the he ad s, or (ii) the by
eco no mi c goods are nationalis
and every ind ivi du al is given eq ed
ua l op po rtu nit y to utilise the
·for his de ve lop me nt. Th e fir m
st alt ern ati ve was suggested
·Bentham also in the for m by
of his calculus which crude
asserted the pri nc ipl e of 'every ly
on e of co un t for one an d nobo
for more tha n on e'. Bu t so on dy
it was realised by his successor
tha t the pL asu re of So cra tes ca Mill
nn ot be eq ua ted with the pleasu
of a pig. Re ali zin g the difficulty re
of cru de uti lita ria nis m. Ra shd
had to modify the pri nc ipl e of all
uti lita ria nis m to read as "ev ery
· body's good to be tre ate d as of
eq ua l value with the like good
-every ·o ne ·else ... 24 Bu t thi s ref of
orm ula ted pri nc ipl e of Ra shd
does no t lead to 'ec on om ic eq all
ua lity ' because the good of a
,cannot be me asu red in eco no ma n
mi c terms. If physico-biologic
capacities differ an d eco no mi c al
eq ua lity is enforced on the m.
%nay become eq ua lly un ha pp y. they
Similarly, a ma n, who is worki
-,in · a res ear ch lab ora tor y ng
ma y ne ed mo re ec~nomic go
conduct his hig he r res ear ch , tha ods to
n a ma n tilling a farm, or a ma
who is imbecile. Th e society will n
do ub ly suffer by tre ati ng the m
· economically eq ua l.
Bu t when we co me to the sec
ond pri nc ipl e, the principle of
·,_ giving equal op po rtu nit y, the sam
e difficulty is faced. Given eq ua
opportunity to uti \is e·t he pu bli l
c go od , som e pe op le may co nsu
·an d apprQpriate mo re so as to me
cre ate de art h for oth ers . If ' eq
-O~portu~ ty' is ma de the cri ter ua l
ion of eq ua lity , tl:e~ the quest
·Wi ll agatn \)e rai sed , ho w ion
ca n we ch an ge the cond1t1ons
.i\\ving in · tho rem ote reg ion s of of a ma n,
Sa ha ra de ser t to ma tch with
the
146 Communism and Glta
facilities available to a. man living in the __fertile regions of the

lndo·Gangetic plane. Thus, every man will have to avail th
opportunity according to the available conditions and the talk 0;
perfect equality in opportunity will be a utopian scheme.
After a great deliberation on this issue, Rashdall came to the
coiiclusion that ' 'the concept of 'equality of opportun ity' cannot
be pushed to its logical consequences without absurdity." 25 Thus
speaking, the unequal opportunities and unequal di stribu tion of
economic 'goods' may lead to more equal distribution of good.
Rashdall, therefore, suggested that "some inequality is a condition
of we\l-being." 26 Even Kant, the great equalitarian in the realm
of moral decisions, has emphasized the blessings involved in the
fact of human inequality. "He saw," as Popper brings out, "in
the variety and individuality of human characters and opinions one
of the main conditions of moral as well as material progress." 27
Such advocates of communism, who vainly claim that communism
will create 'economic equality', will be greatly dismayed to learn
that even the communist thinkers do not find the economic
equality practicable.· In one of his speeches dated 26-1-1934 when
Stalin was convincing the workers to surrender some of their
wages to meet the cost of administration and the salaries of the
managerial staff, he said, "in actual practice, it is time it was
28
understood that Marxism is an enemy of equalization." The
context of the speech, where equality is being denied, is the
context of economic equality between the wages of the 'Managers'
and those of workers. It does not mean that Stalin also denied
the equality of man qua man.. From this ' it is evident th at '
communism does not believe in the equalization of wages, viz.,

·the economic equalization'.
Dispelling all the misconceptions about the notion of equality
Engels differentiated the bourgeois demand for equality froD1 the
· demand for equality, and then specifically P0111 · ted
pro letanan .
out th at, ''the real content of the proletarian demand for equal_,tY 1
is the demand for the 'abolition of classes'. Any demand, whic!
0 0
goes beyond that, of necessity passes into absurdity ."~ Th. ':
according to Engels, equality does not mean 'economic equal_,tY
. h . 1·t is a
m t e realm of micro-economics which as they see .'. 05
'
· means the 'equality' to overthrow
vu· 1gan'tY, but it the con d1t1°1, t
of dehumanising existence'. Marx has nowhere asserted t i ,1
14 7
Concept of Social Justice
has he emphasized the 'equa
lity
aH me n ha ve 'eq ua l ab ilit y' no r
ed s'. Th ere for e, it wo uld be unjustified to carry the
of ne
ma xim to pro ve 'ec on om ic equality' on the basis of
communist very principle from each
t ine qu ali ty is inh ere nt in the
.that. In fac ds.
to each according to his nee
according to his ability an d
ana sye v, ~,m od ern ~o mm un ist thi nk er accepts this factual reality
Af el
d ass ert s, Pe op le dif fer fro m each oth er by the occupation, lev
an
ed uc ati on , wa y of thi nk ing , ch ara cte r an d many oth er
of
ns. " 30
Af an asy ev fur the r red efines the Ma rxi an concept
indicatio
"W ha t is we alt h, if no t the absolute bringing to light
of wealth, prerequisites except
ati ve tal en ts wi tho ut an y
of man's cre nt of all
preceding his tor ica l de31 velopment, i.e ., the developme
n
ma n po we rs as su ch ." If thi s is the definition of 'w ea lth ', the
hu
tal k of 'ec on om ic eq ua lity ' as the aim of co mm un ism only
any
distorts its essence.
Equality is Spiritual :
co nc ep t of ec on om ic eq ua lity is clearly a myth. When men
The
cal ly an d int ell ect ua lly , the n wh at does the ir 'eq ua lity '
differ physi u-
ich ca n be conceived in comm
signify? Th e on ly equality, wh ing
ing the bo nd s of the dehumaniz
nism, is the eq ua lity of bre ak
itio ns. It me an s tha t it is in possessing the hu ma n dignity
cond
all me n are eq ua l. He arn sh aw elaborates the no tio n of
tha t
s : "I n co nfl ict wi th the sam e co rpo rea l an d spiritual
'equality' thu
e enigmas of life an d destiny, all
foes, in co nte mp lat ion of the sam
, which distinguish ma n from
men are eq ua l, an d differences
dw ind le int o im pe rce pti biJ ity. 32 Th e po sit ion of Ma rx
man
ge ls sti ll go es be yo nd thi s. They assert tha t the only
and En
wh ich co .m mu nis m rec og nis es is tha t all men are
equality,
hu ma n beings. In Ka nti an
.equal in. realising tha t they are
to mean tha t they are equal in
language, we ma y ren de r this
lising tha t the y all are eq ua lly capable to become the members
rea
'K ing do m of En ds '. In the op ini on of the present au tho r,
of the
l equality.
this is no t ec on om ic bu t sp iri tua
ta
Social Justice and Equality in Gi
no t lay down a 'need-orient~d'
The An asa kti Yo ga of Gi ta does ta
mu la as the ba sis of 'di str ibu tiv e jus tic e'. Th e au tho r of Gi
for
ed the pit fal l int o w_ hich the vague co nc ep t of 'ea ch
has avoid
,.!,j - I ij.
• = Wftt E)t!f iZC4 C:ti OJ)
'Wf'w.' • •
,--... ...-,. upp ,.... ,
_..
•
- -..- 11: ..a;,, \ n. 1 I!: 1
El; 1 lJ;; t , - J _
.._
148
r
i
f Communism
(
I
ac co rd in g to hi s ne ed ' and G11 a
' m ay tak e. Th e ne ed of an
be in in ve rse pr op or tio · n to h' b 'l' . ind ivi d
ts a 1 1t1es an d to l11s · co
society Th er ef or e, Gi ta nt rib utua' t ma. Y
. de cr ee s th at no on e wi ll
en joy th e be ne fit of hi be a ll ion to
ow
un les s he ha s co nt rib . s sh
.
ar e fro m th e ne t pr od uc t of the ed. t0
ut ed hi s du e sh ar e to th
of society. Th os e, wh o l 1v . ' e pr od uc tiv e societY
d . ,
as tlu.ev es . o 1ta· sa ys : "H e onh un ea. rn e thin. co me s , ar e condpre oce ss
. e w _o enJoy_s .~1r gt'fts · mn
in g au gh t un to th em 1s
ve nl
wi th ou t ren dered-
. y a th ief . 33
Th us sp ea kin g t h
wh o do no t wo rk fo r so cie . , ose
ty , ha ve no ng ht to ta ke
it. Th is pr in cip le wi ll pr es an yt hi ng fr '
up po se th at in di vi du als
will cla im fr~rn
th e so cie ty on ly as m uc h
need or ien ted fo rm ul a is ad
cr op s up . W ho wi ll ju dg
as is co m m en su ra te to th
op te d, pr ob le m of m ea su
ei r wo rk . If
re me nt of needs
tl:
e as to wh at ar e th e ne ed
du al or a clasc; ? Th is m s of an indivi ·
ea su re m en t m ay di ffe r fro
in di vi du al. m individu al to
In o :-d er , th er ef or e. to ch
ec k th e va ga rie s of th e
h as off.!r.!J th e fo rm :.i la of 'ne ed s', Gita
ap ar igr a.'zu. 34 Th e un de rly
in Gi ta is th at on ly an un in g assum ption
en lig ht en ed eg oi st wi ll
s~are of ot he rs. Bu t th e ap pr op ri ate the
m en of su pe rio r so cia l
m ak e us e or' th e we al th in integrity wi ll
th e pu bl ic in ter es t. 'A pa
fo r th is ty pe of th e at tit ud rig ra ha ' stand s
e of in di ffe re nc e to wa rd
Ac co rd in g to In di an eth s ac cu mu lat ion.
i ics , ap ar ig ra ha ar ise s fro
ne ss th at all m at er ia l po ss m th e co nscious·
f es sio n is ta in te d by th e
fa ul t of de ceit
i an d cr ue lty etc . 35 Th is wa
s th e sta nd po in t of Pr ou
en un ci at ed th at 'pr op er ty dh an also. who
is th ef t'. 311 W he n th e de sir
pr ia te th at wh ich leg iti ma tel e to misa ppro-
y be lo ng s to ot he rs is su
wi ll ta ke fro m th e so cie bl ate d, the roan
ty on ly as m uc h as is
di sc ha rg e of hi s alJ ot ted ne ed ed fo r the
so cia l du ty . G ita ho ld s :
m en , wh o ea t th e re sid ue of "T he righ~e~~1~
th e sa cr ifi ce , ar e fre ed fro 3
Ac co rd in gl y, a m an is fU pp m a ll sin .
os ed to ta ke fro m th e
of so cie ty as m uc h as is lef gr os s products
t af te r in ve sti ng it in to th
e pr od uc ti~e
P rocess of th e so cie ty . Th is se em s to be th
m od er n pr ot ag on ist s of e id ea l pr oj ec ted by t e
co m m un ism , wh o up ho ld · mu
ni st so cie ty , "t he ne ed s th at in co,~ d·
of ev er y pe rs on wi ll be
be ha vi ou r in th e sp iri tru ly hu ma n ~: ts
t of th e lo fty pr in cip les
m or aH ty will its elf be an of co mm un so
in ne r ne ed . " 38 W he n th
r~g~Jated in th e s~ rv !ce ~f e ne ed s ~~~se d,
t~ e s~ci~ty. an d th e _desires
th e pr ob le m of d1str1but1ve ar e so ;/; Ill of
JU st1 ce wi ll no t ar ise . Th e pr o of 111e
d 1ist tib ut iv e rrJiJstice arises
on ly wh en m an is in 0nd
b age
~n.,,c~t p[\$t;J.C.~~1 Ju.$t ice 149
cortl etitive goods. Bu_t for. a, man~ W~(? p~r f?r~

s ~\ ~ h ~s, ob_li~., :.
: p ''t·o n's with out preconceiving 111s per son
tory ac 1 al pro fit, ther e JS no
· - blem The aut hor of Gita ·
sug ges ts tha t a soc •ia11ze
· d
sue11 pro -.
~has ill-will towards non e ; he will be friendly . ma-qt
.
and compass10n3: e,
( d ,esta sarvabhutaniim mai tra~ karw:,a eva ca). 39
a ;h~ use of word 'maitral:i' is very significant
_here, bec au,s:e
among friends eve ryth ing is held in com mo n - thei r plea sure s as
.
W!\l a-s their p1in 5, and ther efor ~, the
pro blem ~f fa_1r or_ un fa!"'· ·
distribution does not cro p up. Thi s wo~d re~
m.d s_of _Aristotle s
famous dictum tha t if frie nds hip prev ails ,
Justice will not b
needed, but if •justice prevails, frie nds hip will
still be a boo n.
1
Gita's' emphasis is on this aspeGt. Acc ord 1
ingly, if the, so~ia,l

sentiment 1s aroused and men ·are mad e to
feel frie.n qly to eac};i
other, the pro blem of distribut~ve just ice will not
be rais~d . Thi s, is
the message of Ani isak ti yog a. ·
Justice and Sva dha rma :
But the whole que stio n of just ice has bee n seen
in Git a from
totally different perspective. Her e the que
stio n of righ ts has not
been raised but inst ead , it has bee n pre sup pos ed
tha t if eve ry one
discharges the duties of his social stat ion (sva
dha rma ) sinc erel y;
t~e rights will aut01µatica\ly fl.ow from them .
Apa rt from socieLy,
a man by , him self has no righ t to any thin g wha
teve r. He deri ves
his rights when he is a par t of social whole. Ma
cke nzie , ther efo re,
rigbtly points out , "he has a righ t only to tha t
whi ch it is for the
go.od of the whole tha t he sho uld hav e." 40 The
refo re, the form ula
adopted in Ind ian trad itio ns is tha t 'let every one
tak e care of hi~
duties and the rights will auto mat ical ly tak e care
of them selv es'.
Acc.ording to Git a, it is 'by per form ing acti on
wit hou t atta chm ent
~hat man atta ins the sup rem e' (asa kto hyiicara
n kar ma par ami i-
pnc,ti puru1aM.'1 Thi s stat eme nt implies tha t
if ma n is to see k the
highest stat e of his existence, and if he wan
0 ts to reai ize an
?tim um of the socialized con diti ons , the n he
sho uld tak e .pre cau -
tto~ that he is not violating his dut ies tow ard s
1 the soc iety . If the
:~cial equilibrium is to be mai ntai ned , every
one mu st disc har.ge
~~s duty sincerely. It natu rall y follows tha t if som eon e in
soc iety 'is
:o_t ~etti~~ his rig~t.~, his d~e sha~e, th~ n so~
ewh er~ som e boq·y
as _broken the cliam of d1schargmg his soc
ial obl igat ion . The
$Octal order will fun ctio n und isru pted if every
one · is doi ng his
d or k. Th e emphasis is laid
al\otte w on it in th ird ch ap te r when
Git
says , .• u 00 th ou th y all ot ted tas k " (my '
atarrz k ur u ka rm a tvam) 4a
This allotted task is no t to be . •2
pe rfo rm ed fo r pr of it motiv
the sake of satisfying th e selfi e or fo r
sh ends. .
In such discharge of wo rk , he
sh ou ld no t lo ok to others
whether or no t they ar e di as to
sc ha rg in g th ei r jo b since
others are negligent of th rely. 'The
eir du ty ', is no excuse
for no t doing his own jo for a man
b. Gita, th er ef or e, tells
one's own duty, bereft_ of us " Better
m er it th an an ot he r's well-
better is de ath in th e discha performed ;
rge of on e's du ty ; an ot he
fraught with da ng er ." 43 r's duty is
.· Interaction of rights an d
duties als o follows fro m
organic conception of society. the Gita' s
Unless th e in di vi du al realiz
organic interdependence, his es the
ego-centric ac tio ns m ay co
disturb th e social equilibriu ntinue to
m, wh ich is th e raison d'etre
justice. Gi ta tells us clearl of social
y th at if every in di vi du al dis
social responsibility sincerel charges his
y an d ho ne stl y, th en a perfe
social existence ca n be ac hi ev ct state of
ed ."
The norms of social justice
ar e br ok en by th e crimina
want to, ap pr op ria te everyt ls who
hing fo r th ei r ow n selfish
reserves th e severest words fo ends. Gita
r th em ; do om ed to devilish
(asur'im yoni-:-mapanna) (X wombs
VI.20) ar e th os e wh o say
gain,ed today; this as pi ra tio n 'this have I
shall I no w at ta in ; this
mine; this likewise be mine wealth is
he re in af ter . ' 45
Th e whole society is a
web of re lat io ns sustaine
_sv'!'1harma, in which rights wi d by the
ll oc cu py th e se co nd ar y
Gi ta !-he social justice, i.e., th place. In
e di str ib ut iv e ju stice is dependent on
.thc .dJschar,ge of svadharma.
Th is is a fa r su pe rio r conception t~
.th~t. suggested by communism
, viz., 'fr om ea ch accordin
abahty to each according to g to ~- 1~
his ne ed '. Th e co m m un ist
approximate Gita, if it is re -re dictun1 ,, il
nd er ed to re ad th at 'because eac lt
,acco rd ing to .his ability', 'th
er ef or e, ea ch ac co rd in g to
Thr~l1gh th ~ law of Ka rm a, his ne ed' ..
Gi ta offers to th e individu
als 1 ~~
1
freed~m to enJoy th e goods
in su ch a way as m ay be
~e dl.SCharge of th eir dh ar m helpful ~e
a. This m ea ns th at man
l!~en equal op po rtu ni , in pr should .
cities. Beyond th· ty th
in cip le to realize his hidde
n caP~
. . '
In t he words of Ra18, • e princip b
le of eq ua lit y ca nn ot e 5 tche · tre
. · dh ak · ,.11 , .y . and
no t to ca pa ci ty ."' ' · ns na n 'eq ua lit refers to oppo rtun1t)'
·
151
Concept of Social Justice
osed in Gita.
It is the equa lity of essence, which has been prop
"he who sees
Humanity speaks thro ugh the mou th of Krg1a that
from Me
Me, -everywhere and everything in Me, never vanishes
not I from him. "
47
This would com e to mea n that all men have
g their appa rent
the same essential prin cipl e of hum anit y underlyin
e hum an dignity
individualities. Gita wan ts to convey that the sam
ed men will take
can be found in every indi vidu al. The enlig hten
.
this fact into cogn isan ce in all thei r so cial dealings
that he denies
It is only whe n man beco mes spir itua lly blind
Such an asse rtion
humanity of othe rs in prac tical cons ider ation s.
ntal prin ciple
of the equality of men is the asse rtion of the fund ame
to the prac tical
of dem ocra cy also. Whe n this prin cipl e is appl ied
an beings qua
life-situation, it is tant amo unt to say that all hum
exercise thei r free
human beings shou ld have equa l opp ortu nity to
inist ratio n they
choice to dete rmin e as to wha t sort of adm
also have equa l
consider mos t suita ble for them . The y shou ld
r capa citie s and
freedom to select thei r prof essio n acco rdin g to thei
h man is to be
aptitudes. If the adm inis trati on plan s as to whic
n that men are
fixed in which job- perf orm ance , then it wou ld mea
vast mac hine by
being trea ted like cogs and nuts to be fixed in a
fascism, which
some skilled mec hani cs. Suc h attit ude grows from
of righ t to decide
despises the masses and denies them the equa lity
fact, the denial
their soci o-po litic al fate. This is, as a mat ter of
of regi men ta-
of equality. Dem ocra cy does not perm it this type
has equa l righ t to
tion, but rath er expresses a faith that every man
lity, which man
assert him self as a hum an bein g, the only equa
i.e., the equa lity
ought to striv e for, is ethi cal and spir itua l equa lity,
equa litie s are
to realise that '/ am a human being'. All othe r
subordinate to and deri vato ry from it.
References
133.
1.Russell, B., Human Society in Ethics and Politics, p.
2. Ginsberg, Morris, Jujt/ce in Society, p. 73.
3. Ibid., p. 37.
4. Laski, Harold J., Karl Marx, p. 46.
83.
S. Carr, E.H., Karl Marx : A Study In F"naticism, p.
Lindsay, A.G., Karl Marx's Capital, p. 144.
Sidney Hoo k, From Hegel to Marx, p. 53.
6. Marx, K., and Engels, F., Selected Works, Vol. I, p. 558.
·7. Tucker, Robert C., Philosophy and Myth in Karl .Marx, p. 222.
151 CommuniJm and Glta
8. Ma rx, K. an d En ge ls,
F., Se lec ted Wo rks , Vo l. II,
9. En ge ls, F., Anti-Duhrln pp . 23-24.
g, pp . 443, 445.
JO. Marx , K. , an d En ge ls,
F., Se lec ted Wo rks , Vo l. II,
11. Ibid. , Vol. I, pp . 624-6 p. 23.
25.
}2. Marx, K., Capital, pp
. 59 -60 ; Se lec ted Correspo
Selected Works, Vo l. II, pp ndence, p. 128 ; and
. 20, 23, 24.
13. Marx, K. , Economic an
d Philosophi,: Ma nu scr ipt s
14. Marx, K., Selected Wo of /84 4, p. 129,
rks , Vo l. II, p. 23.
15. Marx, K. , Capital, p. 188
.
16. En ge ls, F., Anti-Duhring, p.
305.
17. Marx, K. , Se lec ted Wo rks ,
Vo l. II, p. 23 .
18. Marx, K. , Communist Ma nif
est o, p. 119.
19. Af an asy ev , V. , Scientific
Co mm un ism , p . 325.
20. Afanasyev, V. , Socialism a,id
Co'11muriism, p. 128.
21. Tu ck er, Ro be rt C., op
. cit ., p . 22.
22. Marx, K. , Capital, p.
714.
23. Gi nsb erg , Mo rri s, op .
cit ., p. 99.
24. Rashda11, H. , Th eo ry of
Go od an d Evil, Vo l. I, p. 22.
25 . Ra sh da ll, op cit ., p. 23 2.
1.
26 . Ibi d., p. 233.
27. Po pp er, Ka rl, Th e Op
en So cie ty an d itJ En em ies
28 . Sta lin , Jose::,h, Prob , Vo l. II, p . 357.
lems of Le nin ism , p. 63 5.
29. Marx, En ge ls, Le nin
, On Hi sto ric al Ma ter ial ism
30. Af an asy ev , V. , Scien , p. 207.
tific Co mm un ism , p . 297.
31 . Ibi d., p . 292.
32 . He arn sh aw , F .,
Democracy at the Cr oss wa
33. Gita, 111. 12 (A na ys, p. 33.
sa kti Yoga Bh a~ ya ) (ta ird
bh uii kte ste na ev a sa~ ). aW ina pra dayai bh yo yo
34 . Gita, IV . 21 (ty
ak ta sar va pa rig rah al] .) ; VI
35 . Ma itr a, S.K., . 10 (N ira sir ap ari gra ha l:i)
Th e Eth ics of the Hindus, p.
36 . Pr ou dh an , P.J., 198.
W11at is Prop ert y? An
Rig ht and Government, pp En qu iry into the Principles of
37 . Gita, 111. 13 (A na . 25 6-2 57 .
sak ti Yoga Bha~ya) (Yajiias
sar va kilbi,aH;i). i~tasina}:i san to mucyante
38. Af an asy ev , V.
, Scientifi c Co mm un ism , p.
39. Gita, XI I. 13 32 6.
(A na sak ti Yoga bh a~ ya ).
40. Ma ck en zie , J.S .,
A Mu nu al of Ethics, p. 29
41. Gila, lll . 19 (A 0.
na sak ti Yoga).
42. Gita. HI . 8 (H
ind i ve rsi on ).
43 . Gua (Aniisak
t/ Yoga bh a,y a), III . 35.
44. Srimadbhaga vad
gita (H ind i), XV UI . 45
san sid dh im lab ha te na rah (sv e sve ka rm aQ ; abhirata
). ~
44. G tta · ( - k
Anasa ti Yoga) , XV I,· 13 (id . --
am ad ya ma ya lab dh 1m · a 111 pra
psy e ma norat ha m; ida m
ast i'
im . )
46 . Ra dh ak · da m ap i me bh av isy ati pu na r dh
-
ns ha n, S., & stu n Religion . . an arn ·
47. Gita, Vl an d We ste rn Th 368
. 30 (A na ,ak tl Yoga bh itr a) ou gh t, P· ·
.
6
V ar na Vyavastha vs.
Classless Society
Varna Vyavastha
r var1).a)
The conc ept of the four -fold division of society (catu
t with the
_is a much mali gned one and considered not consisten
on the othe r
norms of social justi ce. The Ana sakt i-Yoga of Gita
of gur;a and
_hand, emphasizes its need on the basis of variety
scheme, is
.karma. The who le social system, according to this
gur;a karm avi-
·divided into four strat a (catu r var,;zyam may a srf/a m
.bhagasaM.1 The histo rian s, anth ropo logi sts,
sociologists, and
controvertial
Indian ihin kers . in gene ral have a11 subjected this
y we are
:subject ·to their criti cal gaze . In this pres ent stud
yse it, as
11.ot concerned with its real origin. Let us anal
, and then
·1~ has com e dow n to be accepted in Gita
sless society.
·-Compare it with the com mun ist ideal of a c1as
~ita takes · it for gran ted that the four-fold division (varT}as)
as of the
~as"cr~·ated acco rdin g to the different gur;as and karm
serted
~ndividual mem bers of society. The principle has been re-as
~~a.triyas~
itf!he··cfosing chap ter whe re the dut.ie.s of Br_ahma1,1as,
mna te
Vaisyas and Sud ras • kre:_. distr ibut ed(, accord-mg to their
,.
.
-
,
~ ~~ ..,_,_+,,__
'r-::.~rtw-.,il
rd "' t:
f '
....:;- =
1 t
.
ar,".,
~
·- ---"""·-..,;._.-•:---:-
. • _;:.._.
..r-'
..--
:~
~
._.._
.... ·~-
- ... _
'IS-...
._, ~"'l\ i, ~ _,...,.,_
,', 1
... ~ ..,.,~
''l O \ - •.;, -
.J I
154 Comr11t111is111 a11<J Gtta
qua lific atio n.• Thi s sort of crit erio n serv
:s ns a g_ui_de fo r social
stra tific atio n, role assi gnm ent, and ther eby
tor sus tam mg the idea\
ord er of soci ety in Ind ian ')Ocial tho ugh t. Sin
ce Git a inco rpor ates
I the essence of Up.{ni~ads, epic and oth
I
er phi loso phi cal t radi tion.-;
we hav e no reas on to dou bt tha t the aut
hor of Git a, bcror~
ado ptin g this crit erio n, had not tak en all the
theo ries curre nt at
tha t time, viz. , the theo ry of met aph ysic al
orig in , the skin theory,
the theo ry of her edit ary dete rmi nati on of stat
us etc. into conside -
rati on befo re arri ving at the theo ry of gu~a-ka
rma as the basis of
van:ia. Acc ord ingl y, ther e sho uld be no obj
ecti on in hol d in g that
out of all the theo ries of van::ia-vyavastha
, Git a sub scri bes to the
theo ry tha t gur:ia-karma are the bas is of van
:ia sys tem a n d rejec ts
all othe rs. Wh at this crit erio n sug ges ts and
wha t is its significa nce,
is a pro blem to be exa min ed in deta il.
Uniformity not tenable :
Git a sub scri bes to the prin cipl e of the uni
ty of man kind . A
yogi, acc ord ing to Git a, is one , who has
bec ome one with the
Atman in all the crea tion (sar va bhu tatm a
bht'1tam a ). 3 The same
prin cipl e of uni ty has bee n furt her asse
rted : "H e who sees Me
everywhere and eve ryth ing in Me , nev er van
ishe s from Me nor l
from him (yo mam pas yati sarvatra sarvarh
ca may i pasyati tasy ci'
ham na pra,µuyiimi sa ca me na pra7Jasyati)." 4
But a uni ty doe s not mea n abs olu te uni form
ity so as to reduce
all the vari etie s to neg atio n. Wh iteh ead
war ned not to con fuse
betw een 'uni ty' and 'uµi form ity' . He said
, "Th e Gos pel . of
Uni form ity is dan ger ous for soc ial pro
gre ss. A diversificati on
amo ng hum an com mu niti es is esse ntia
l for the pr,.vision of
ince ntiv e to hum an spir it." 5 If all men
she d thei r inherent
'dif fer~ ntia ', the soc iety wil l be a dul l, and
mo not ono us lum p a nd
not a real livi ng_uni ty wit h rich nes s of per son
alit ies. .
Ald ous Hux ley has pre sen ted a car icat ure
of suc h a society 111
his boo k, The Brave New World. He con ceiv
es of a soc iety, wit~
stan dar dise d inh abit ants , who thin k, feel
·lJI terests an(\ act alik e ; th eir
are sam e and so are the ir opi nio ns. Obv iou · suchcl-
sly, 111
soci etie s, the civi liza tion wou ld nev er adv
anc e and cult ure wou l
alw ays rem ain rud ime ntar y. Will it be pos
sibl e to tole rate such
,tat e ~f affa irs and its bor edo m of mo not ony
? It is, the~~fore,a~~
und ers, rab le etatc for men , who hav e 'var
ian t indi vidu alit ies,
~he indiv~du.,_l djffer~nces_of g~Qa and karnu1.
. ..
Jtarf}a Vyavastha vs. Classless Soc iety
155
It was in the primitive societies tha t 'lik ene
ss' was con side red to
be the dom inan t con diti on of soci al cohesio
n. But , as Du rkheim
rightly points out , "in mo re adv anced soc
ieties where members
possess some individuality, wit h mo re elabora
te divi sion of lab our,
the structure is bui lt on difference as wel
l as like nes s." 0 T ribal
societies where the occupa tions are not spe cial
ised and d ivis ion of
labour is rudimentary pro ve the poi nt. Any
one ther e can eke out
his existence by doing any job . But as civiliza
tion adv ances, soc ial
roles get demarcated . A general survey of
cul tura l ant hropology
shows tha t as the division of lab our pro cee
ds, the ind ivid uals ten d
more and more to develop the ir distinctive
functions and genuine
personalities. But the social coh esio n is still
mai nta ine d. Dur khe im
explains this phe nom eno n thu s : thro ugh this
division of lab our,
'"society acquires an organic rather a mec han
ical uni ty" . 7 7
The theory of varrJ,a vyavastha is the exp

ression 7 0f the sam e
synthesis of the fun ctio nal differences of
ma n and the org anic
uni of the society. Rad hak rish nan says
"hu ma n society is an
organic whole, the par ts o which are nat ura
·a way "tfiat each par t fulfillmg 1ts d1stmct1ve funyctioepe n en m sue
n con ditions tlie·
... fulfilment · of the functi on by the rest
and vice versa." 8 G ita
·convinces tiso f the efficacy of this sor
t of special stratification.
Accordingly, whe n the par ts of the soc ial org
ani sm discharge the ir·
allotted function, they pro vid e a goo d scheme
fo r the ind ivid ual to
select his task acc ord ing to his ow n nat
ure (svabhavaprabhavair
gWJ,ai/:z). 9 Thu s cho osin g the ir pla ce in the
voc atio nal inst itut ion s
of their choice, me n can disc har ge the ir resp
ective social obliga-
tions more skilfully. The pro ble m of mis
fits will not arise By
wilful selection of the ir roles, the individuals
it is assumed, can feel
a sense of unity wit h the society. The ind
ivid ual can merge his-
atomized individuality into the larg er con tex
t of hum ani ty thro ugh
some intermediary gro ups . Inte gra ted
and har mo niz ed , the se
institutionalized gro ups con trib ute to the
healthy growth of bot h
the society as well as the individuals. In sup
por t of Gita.'s org anic ·
theory of the society Rad hak rish nan sum s
up : "sp irit ual wisdom,
COmb·ned wit h executive pow er plu s
skilled pro duc tion and
devoted service are ind ispe nsa ble elements
of any social ord er." 10 •
Accordingly, it wou ld be an und esir abl
e effort to enf orc e an
\lnwarranted uni form ity on man kin d. The
day whe n ma n is-
reduced to 'rob ot' to act in a perfectly uni form man
ner , will be aTh.
k~~-~ ----. .·--. ..,-.-l'io-,lt _-__:.,;;_

l
I
\ 116. C om m un is m
and Gltd
~n 1o rtu nat e day an.,d th en it w ou ld be a so
r-
. "b·eings Fo r a . hu _' · .·· ci et y of ro bo ts
h uman m an h
so ci et y' t e ·va ne . not of
_ • · .f f ga te
tempera m en t~ · th e ·
in di vi du al d 1 er en ce . d la st
• s m ta le nt an d a es anct
-roust be ho no ur ed . P·t1tu
·
de
Vat'.la and Caste :
Th e criter_ion of de te rm
in in g on:e.'s st at u~ ac
tkarma, S;\Ves th is th c? rd in g to his gu na.
eo ry of so ci al st ra tif
-crude ca~ieisrn. D if fe i.c at 1o n fr om falling int
re nt ia tin g betwee11 o
·po in ts_ou t th at '\vb.~n ca st e an d class, M
st at us is _whql}y_ pr eµ clver
.are_ bo ~ to th ei r lo et er m in ed so th at me
t in th e_ir lif e w it ho ut n
-then cla&s ta ke s th an y ho pe of changing it,
'} . . e_
. e~. tre \Il e.. fo rm qf ca st 11
-elaborate di&cus.s io n, e. " Pr ab hu , in his
, .
-ca'itC (jati) an d. varr:ia
h~ s. al s.o
' . re co g~(
i~
. ed th e di st in ct io n between
. Acc;or_d in g to hi s vi
tiv el y a m or e rig id s_o ew , "a ca st e is compara-
ci al cl as s, to w hi ch
-class be co ~e s w el l-n tr an si ti on fr om anot
ig h an im po ss ib ili ty 12 her
principle of bi rt h is no ." W e ha ve seen that the
t th e cr it er io n of th e
"T he emphasis he re is so ci al division in Gita.
on _gu:9a an d ka rm a.
in ab ou t 14 ver~es th at G it a re pe at ed ly stresses
m en ri se an d fa ll in
·th e pr ep on de ra nc e of th is w or ld according
th re e_gur:ias in th ei to
• have· be~n pr es en te r na tu re 13
. These gu r:ias
d as th ~ th re e te nd en
,j on of bi rt h C:leterm ci es of pr ak rt i. The crite·
ining on e' s so ci al ro le
-evident th at G it a ne ve is ru le d ou t. It becomes
r co nf us ~s varT}a w it
var1_1a vy av as th a, to_ h ja ti. Accordingly , th
w hi ch G it a su bs cr e
w ilh th e petrified an d ib es , ca nn ot be confus
de ge ne ra te d ca st e st ed
-Oay In di an society. ru ct ur e of th e presen
t
. In ideal society, ac co
rd in g to G it a, th e
karma determines th e ro pr in ci pl e of gur:ia an
le of st ra tif ic at io n. D !
' -a ~ ?Y-his bi rt h in ig ni ty do es no t comet.
~ pa rt ic :u la r lin ea ge , bu
t 0
?h ~t iQ n tQ th e
d1gn1ty of ma so ci al syst~m. G an dh ij i pu ts it ap tly , •' th
t by discharging on;a;
· .
~u pe no r ,tatus,, n Th co m es f.rom hi.s ca pa . •
e r t
ci ty fo r su vice , 00
-e m· o,m en t th e su pe .
-- . · pe ri or ser it
l>ccomes wo1 th t~ be tr am ri or st at us 1s • rogated,
pl ed un de r fe et . ,,1 4 ar _ kti
y 0u~ dc~rmined by te m T he cl as s of An as a be
~e ra m en t an d vo ca
-eq ted WJ th ~ caste de ti on sh ou ld not
te rm in ed by bi rt h.
Psycho-Social Efficacy oi
f Va . _.
r"l)a .
.m Th~ effica
ke- , ~y Or th is• sy st em
w ill de pe ho loS
• al
1
c
a up of m an an d th nd on th e psyc f the
e vo ca tio na l ·o r ec on
om ic st ru ct ur e o
'Yat~i}f J'iyllVh.t'fltlI ·vs. Classless Society
157
society. Commenting on the efficacy of varna system Radha-
krisbnan suggests that ''it canno t be regarded as anything more·
than insistence on a variety of ways in which the social purpo se
ca'll be carried out. Functional groupings will never be out of
date. 1 ' 16 In order to make every one find his social position accord-
ing to his nature (svabhiivaniyatam) (XVIII. 47), a correct under-
standing of human psychology becomes essential.
The Western psychologists, like Adler, Jung, Freud, Allport,
Vernon etc. have been maintaining that individualf> differ in their
personality traits, in aptitu de, and in the level of intelligence.
The latest meth0ds of testing the intelligence and aptitude have
a~o proved that every person is not fit for every job because
individuals differ in their innate endowment and capabilities.
Accordingly, the best adjust ment would be to adopt in life those
lines of activities for which a person is best suited by virtue of his
intelligence and aptitu de, taste and tempe ramen t.
The idea of such 'intelligence testing' may appear disparaging
to . those scholars who interp ret Marxism as a denial of all
the
i'nnate differences. But these persons may be shocked to learn that
"the modern comm unist thinke rs have also confirmed on pschologi-
;ca~gr,ounds the theory of individual differences. For example, the
act that men differ according to their temperaments, has been
·well recognise y oviet psyc 1a rrsts. They uphol t 1at the
- "mdividual features of personality are associated with tempera-
ments. Fedotov tells us that "the tempe ramen ts influence thinking,
,volition and other psychic processes." 16 Accordingly, the men of
different temperaments will manif est different traits in their per-
:Sonality, wb.ich, in turn, may influence their social activity.
Fedotov prese ,i ts the theory of Pavlov in a new light, recognising
the four types of tempe ramen ts and four personality types resembl-
·ing to that : (i) choleric, (ii) sanguine, (iii) phlegmatic (iv) melan-
cholic.11
Thr01.lgh the institu tion of vari:ias, the individuals, with their tem-
peramental differences, will be able to express their individuality in
its sociological contex t. Such an expression will depend on the vary-
ing qualities of independence of judgement, degree of initiative and
~he ·strength of their character. Gita recognizes this psychological fact
.lb.at 0 all creatures follow their nature (prakrtin1yiinti bhutani).'' 18
'This is to say the individuals will act according to their natural
. .'-.3 ---~,.,...,_--- ~
Communism and G
lta
J58 _d their aptitude. Accordingly, if th
, t"lents an . ey
ies_ their " t their life-vocation according to th .
ten den ' C
d to se1ec . d •r e1r
t aUowe ctet·ological traits an 1 constraints a
.are no· - d chara d• re
tempcran1enta1an ·n nlY help to create ma1a Justed personalitie
ut on this_these, w1 fotl at the society will also suffer, because ths.
p ence o , , . l . e
As a consequ f duty by the vocat10na misfits wi ll lea
. . rformance o d . i. e
ui,wilhng pe . 1 If-done. Therefore, a goo social system w·ill
. · 1 duties ,a . • .
their soc,a temperamental differences mto con sideration
take these .. d h " .
have tO • t s this pos1t10n an says t at mo re highly
substant1a e .
Mciver . . supply a far greater variety and ran ge of
· d soc1et1es
organise f cupation of interests and of opportunities 1l
t cts · o oc ' · ·
-con ~ ' th'18 variety of contacts comprises the general and
Obviously,
. h els in which the differences • • 1 d· · ·
mvo ve m the md1vidu.
specific c ann ' .
. n appropriately find their fulfilment.
a1ity, ca · · · R hd 11
Coming from psychology to ethics, 1t 1s as ~ , who says
"the perfection of human society demands the mteraction of
·many different types of human excellcnc_es, mo~al as well as
inteUectual." 20 This means that not only m vocat10nal field , but
in moral considerations also there should be certain departments
-0f conduct in which a certain type of conduct only becomes right.
• In moral judgements, the society should take this fact into con·
-sideration that certain conduct is practically possible only for the
persons of a certain temperament.
In view of widely recognised formula of psychological differ·
-cnces, Anasakti Yoga of Gita has given due consideration to the
human factors in laying down the code of duties accord ing to the
gu'}as of a man, which is a code of var,:za duties. In an ideal soci:tl
0rd_er, th ese temperamental differences
will not be crushed under
an ~ron law of totalitarian planning. The man will.contribute to the
soci~l good only if he is working willingly and thereby f~eling that
he 1s not a fra - d . . ·l .,n
"each '" gmente personahty. According to Gita, '' 1. _
man •eels compl t b .
dutv th .· en· h · e e a sorpt1on in the performance Of h1':
n e shall · . · t:
samsiddhirh , bh win perfection" (sve sve karmmzyabhirar ··
,a ate naraM.n
Svadharma and ur arl)as :
It is on th .
d,siferences. thate basis
.
of th.18
psychological principle of
. d. ,jdu:11
1nn . 5
th 0 tta has I 'd · cribe
at better is death . ai stress on svadharma. It pres . ,e
· in th· e d.tscharge of one's duty (sva dhOJII
blYEi i?t ,..
\
·"at'Ja Vyavasthd vs. Classless Society 159
..nidhanam sreya~). 22 If a mah having aptitu de for intellectual
work is asked to do farme r's job and a man having an aptitu de
.for farming is posted to do intellectual work, then the society will
-suffer from the unhealthy consequences, and the social equilibrium
also will be disturbed. Durin g these days of advanced technology,
this type of the classification becomes all the more obvious. Accord-
ingly, when Gita classifies the personality types according to
_gu1Ja and karma and then prescribes certain avenues for selecting
their social roles, then it is, as a matte r of fact, conveying that in
.an ideal social order, there should neithe r be conscriptions, nor
Tegimentation, but freedom to develop according to one's capacities.
Varl)as as the Levels of Realization :
Varr:ia Vyavastha can also have its efficacy in the process of ~
·self-realization, which is the process of realiz ation of individual's
'tost unity with manki nd. A questi on may be raised here. When a
·man starts in search of the actual izatio n of his social nature and
when he strives for seeking his perfection by doing the duty
:according to his nature , does he find appro priate institutions for
that ? Does social order permi t the variou s levels of realisation ?
-Gita has an affirmative answer to this. This perfection can be
achieved, according to Gita, "by offering the worship of his duty to
Rim who is the movin g spirit of all beings and by whom all this is
-pervaded," 23 i.e., to the huma nity and to society. Man can realize
himself by offering his services to the social system. Milne
ssupports this conten tion and holds that 'a man realizes himself
through the contri bution s that he makes to the system, in his
WQrk, in his leisure pursu its and in his interests, in his person al
·relatioils.' 24 This type of assert ion presupposes that the social order
mu-st, in turn, have variou s levels of- realization conforming to
various types of obligations. These have been duly provided by
<Jlt.a in the form of the types of social functions to which the
individuals should confo rm in accord ance with their natura l
,endowments.
A long list of the social functions, which the different van.ms
'Will perform has been laid down in verses 42-44 of the eighteenth
' '
-ch.apter of Gita. These duties coincide with minor modifications,
With the ancien t iadian classification of the van~a dharm a. Among
l he sev,eral duties, presc rib;d therei n, the most comm endab le are :
Communiym and Glta·,
t.( 60 ..· I d e (jnanaril vijnan a~) for . Brahmai:ia .

~rorpasation of knoW(l-J.t grabhava) for a kK~atn-y. a· ·; and agricu ltu re,
protec t :;va ) f ,
Y
capaci ty
.
to . d trade (Kr~ig aura ~yava l).1Jya or a vaisaya
· · · f · f h ·
anin1al . ~Isl d who has not received m1tia (10n !n an_Y o t e above,
h bandry an
The unsk1 e , b his manual Jabour panca ryatmaka).
'i~ supposed to serve Y
Moral Basis of VarrJas : . .
h me of social o bl1gat1ons stands for the
The four-fol d . sc ise the service of huma nity. · A s R ad hakri shnan
motto that voca t ton .
· . u h' 'dea of vocati on, as service, never encour
aged
omts out, t is 1 • · d b d
P . f ork as a degradmg serv1tu e, to e one. purely
the notion o w , work becomes a busmess and
nornl ·c motive "25 When . .
r rorn t he eco
rce of J·oy and inner
·
sat1sfa ct10n, then the worker wants
, , not a sou Th · ·
to escape from it to seek satisfaction eh,ewhere. 1s IS the state
of demoralisation. The principle of van:ia dharm a conve ys the
I same idea that morality means the contri bution to the true good
of society, and as Rashdall rightly suggests : " it lies in tr.e
of
1 principle of specialisation chat acter ."
26
is based on the recognition of the fact that, in general, the highest

The four-fold division
:amount of good cannot be realised by each individual and for

that a comprehensive synthesis of the person s of various skills is
needed. It is the requirement of demo cracy also that each should
be allowed to develop the best in him by finding proper oppor·
tunity in . the social system for that. If we are to respec t the
'perso~al!ty', which is the requir ement of highest morality, then
the prmciple of uniqueness should also be recognised, so th at each
may be free to tread towards the ideal accor ding to his own
characteristics · It ··is th rough this . varna vyava stha that the mdin- . -·
duals can realize a f t· 1 · · h
~ unc 10na umty. When a man realises thatb t
15 a member of a syst h' . ·
r""'th • . . em, w tch IS not inimical to his nature - ut .
~ er ts prov1dmg d sion ot hi)
talents and fi f · a equate avenu es for the expres
01
identifying h~r :l~en t of his capacities, he feels elevate d in3
~~e wit~ th at. Thus, the conce pt of varn a dharro
1
is l\e:1,,,~u1 1'
·1•n g1v1ng V 1 , . · •
·:.-·..,.. )1'
log1st has voicei s· -~ ue to _ones life. Fedo, the Soviet psycho ,
of a person and 1· _1m1 ar•feelings in saying that "the social statu)
. · \lS concrete I' 1 ' awa.
r~-
ness and evaluati f . ~ e in societ y depen ds on his
..
G'ta'1 ° on h1s posit'ton. "27 This is in agreement ' v1th.
s stance. In the 1. h · 1s
th 1g t of th·18 , the varna vyavastha of Gita
e assertion of th
e fact that society .is the source of rnoral
,V<tr7]_a Vyavastha vs!, Classless Society
161
obligation, and ma n dra ws his obliga
~ion by bec om ing aw are of his
position in society.
Var1Ja and Division of Powers :
The principle of varl)a can be app
lied mu tat is mutandis can be
applied to answer a nagging pro ble m
of ou r era , nam ely tha t of con -
centration of pow er. Wh en an indivi
dual or a gro up of ind ivi dua ls
grab power and bec om e cor rup t they
_ dra g the masses _into de~~ada-
tion. Principle of van::ia vya vas tha
ma de ope rat ive fac1htates
decentralization of pow er. Van::ia vya
vas tha dem and s tha t fun cti ons
should be divided acc ord ing to inh ere
nt cap aci ty of the ind ivi dua ls.
Accordingly, the spi ritu al and int
ell ect ual po we r (eq uiv ale nt to
Church in West), pol itic al po we r (St
ate) and the eco nom ic po we r
should no t be con cen tra ted at on e pla
ce in the han ds of on e gro up .
Different groups sho uld wield these
different pow ers so tha t the y
may exercise effective che ck on the
tyr ann y of eac h oth er. In the I
absence of thi s pri nci ple , the might
masses to the level of dum b-d riv en
y dic tat ors ma y red uce the ,f ·
Vari:ia system wo uld be a sign of
cat tle .
hea lth y social ord er. Th e
q
principle of vari:ia vya vas tha conceives t 1
of a society in wh ich the
highly complex and developed ins titu
without losing the ir int ern al aut on om
tio ns ma y wo rk in har mo ny •', I I\
y. Th is typ e of the division.
of power between the 'sacredotium' ~
and 'imperium' was the ha lt- '1
'. I
i'
mark of the Co nci lia r Mo vem ent I
of the me die val Eu rop ean

history. Th e jur isd ict ion s were mu tua
lly set tle d on the basis of the·
principle 're nd er un to Ca esa r the thi
ngs tha t are Ca esa r's and un to t
God the things tha t are Go d's '. Th l
.•I
\
e varq.a vya vas tha can als o pu t.
the constitutional lim ita tio n on the ~ 1
exercise of the po we r by tho se
who are considered com pet ent for it. I ii
•
. 1
Var7Ja Vy ava sth ii-A Sociological
Ne ces sity : ' l
The description of varq.a vya vas tha

, as pro vid ed in Gi ta, in its
sociological im pli cat ion s, po int s to
the ric hne ss of soc ial life. It
presents a con tra st wh ich len ds cha
rm to har mo ny . lt rej ect s any
scheme of life wh ich att em pts to red
uce eve ryt hin g to a un ifo rm ity
_of any kin d and the reb y thr eat ens
the essential vit ali ty of soc ial
life. Ha rts ho rn tells us tha t "an y pro
po sal to uni ver sal ise str ict
equality is per hap s a pro po sal
'to ren der lifo ins ip d' in thi s
r~p ect .''is Th us spe aki ng, for a
successful fun cti on ing of the
161
Commun'is.,,, (l
, -
t\tmu,.,'la~
."1•.
~
. •..,t
tt \~ h u ·o
l
·il or V(li1)aS wil\ be most he "46'ltq
bas provided , lp fu\.
Radhaknsbnan v a n o u s g ro u d
d at character of this scberoe.119 T h is n s to show t
etnocr ic . in its essence . sc h e m e of var n h_
den\ocrattcf al\ , because it c
. and also sug p re su p p o se s the spiritu . a is
""iu a\ity o . roen.
M
gests th a t every a\
the right to gtow .0 his own way. . h u m a n being
. . . 'd \' t , T h u s, v a n ;a v
the m ..
d1v1 ua 1 Y in its positive sense H yav a sth a hon ot11as
\hie; strati'ficat·,o n is th a t 1. .
.
. owever , c111. ef 1rs
t recogmses h mer it f
t a t a11 w o rk . 0
1s social\
useful. . d th e four-fo Y
To my mm • ld
. . 'fi d iv is io n h a s a n o th e r
s1gm cance. The d h a rm a is c o deepe
. . n si d e re d to b e a
susta.mm • the society
g lf 1t is so , th e princ ip\e ofr
nality in this • n. th e re m u st b
principle to sa e some poten
societies may v e society. fr o .
go to decay m d~struct1on . 'T ·
factors : (i ) Ajn a n d to u lt im a he
ana (lack o f te ru m due
standards o f kno in te ll e c tu a l ex to four
wledge) ; (ii) a cellence and
and scarcity o f th b h a v a (s h o rt a fa \\en
e necessities o f g e o f material
lessncss and th life; (iii) a d h goods
e condition o a rm a (general
utilisation o f reso f anomy) ; a \aw -
urces a n d ta le n d (iv) alasya
hazards which m n ts ). T o c o u (no n-
ay jeopardise th n te ra c t these
society will nee e su rv iv a l o f a four
d four types o social order, ev
efforts. f c o n c e n tr a te er y
d a n d well-org
(i ) To keep th
anized
e intellect.ual
devoted to th e ca st a n d a rd s h ig h
use· o f higher re , a b a n d o f sc
may be called se a rc h e s, will ho\ars ,
brahmaJ).as. T b e needed. T
. cu \t u ra \ values h e y will c re a te hey
. Even to d a y n e w intellectu
is pos!ib\e, the w h e n g lo b a l u al and
problem o f b ra ti li z a ti o n o f kn
cern, because it ex in -d ra in is vie ow\edge
hausts al\ the c wed w it h gra
admini~trative m re a ti v e ta le n ts ve con-
achinery to sa . (i i) The stro
p ro ~ iv e force ve society fr o ng
without which m lawlessness
f~ c !• 0 n wel_l. (i th e p ro d u c ti v is a
ii) SimHar\y th e process cann
e sin ot
di,tnbutors wil
tb l always b e ne cere a n d devoted producers and
c ~an-made sh e d e d if th e e
ortage o f e c o conomic crisis nd
an.d_ (,v~ Labour n o m ic g o o d s a
power in any is to b e overc o
ut1hsat1on of th society will c n,e,
resort e av ai la ble resources o u n te ra ct the non_-
· te\\ .ed to, th th If v a rn a vyav
en as, h:, 15
decl· ectuda\ ' p o \'1t'ic \ c societv1 c a n b e· sa v e d fr o·m
ID
• g
" •ne ue to a and economic crises any impenur1in
~heme r . alothnesC! as well as th
· ·· · ·
ike var,:ia vyavasth ~ . a n
d' . d ,
m
e gener,a\
4 wi\l always nbcee. Accord .mg \Y, son1. ee
ole
applicable and
oper Hti v
163
itfv~:Mi-~\f t\,.e -so6i~fi~~- Fc;t' th~ effi~ient dperafi'6'ii of this sclieme,
,6etbiitit sptcialisatio'fr of tne vatious• functi'6ns will' ber equally
_fntpetatNt. tltte He's the justification· for its continued existence
-in all the times and in all the societies.
,Classless Society under Communism
- The concept of the classless society is one of the most contro-
·versial themes of communism. Marx and Engels categorically
.i sserted : "The history of all hitherto existing societies is the
history of class struggles. " 30 Accordingly, if humanity is to get
-rid of the existing miseries, then this class-division will have to
:go. Marx· asserted in very explicit terms that he wanted to prove
.inter alia that "dictatorship itself constitutes the transition to the
abolition of all classes and to a classless society." 31 To understand
·the significance of these pronouncements, it becomes essential to
ask what does· the notion of 'class' signify. Mciver tells us that
·c·,social classes are more or less spontaneous formations expressive
-0f so~ial attitude." 32 According to this description, the class
system will influence the whole mode of life and thinking within
the community. But this· is not the sense in which the concept of
·'class' and class-struggle has been used in communism.
Iii formulating his theory of communism, Marx started from
the position that the forces of lust, greed and acquisitiveness have
bifurcated the humanity into two camps, one of those is of the
~xploiters, who expropriate the goods for their personal ends and
11ie other is that of the explofred who have been denied all the
,means of subsistence, nay even their humanity. Thus, the whole
·, ociety, as Marx tells us, stands "divided into a 'non-working'
minority class of owners and non-owning majority class of
Workets.,' 33 This is an inexorable law of social dynamics that an
incessant conflict is going on between them. In this conflict, the
~ pjtalist class by virtue of its ownership and contr'ol of the means
·o,f production becomes able to appropriate the producers' surplus
.~roduct as private property. Chesnokov, a communist p~ilos?pher
!ells us that "the division of society into classes, which 1s the
-~?~t fundamental and profound division of people in a society is
~ased on the rule of private property." 34 The emergence 0 ~ a
l)olarised class structure is the historical process of the expropna-
· C01:nmunism
·, .
and Gtit a.
· ;, '- ,
product1·0 n.
''64 contro1
of their · mea . · ns of
.l . · that Marx said that all history
-4.
Producers froil rat10 n
h
· · of t 9 . · · 'd
f class struggle and tba~ the futur e
t1on-, . 00 this cons• e O
It was • history .
bencetoforth t~ th:ill end this anta gon ism .
. rounist society
co111
b d
1·s a Class : f sses is the key to t e un erstandin oo
Wha t o ca 1
5t ruggle l, yet the prec ise
Although · l processes pre-communist leve
the at . .
ies a secondary importa nce m the
of all the socia p 'Kl ' . an
. . of 'class'Voccu .1 Mar x uses the term asse m
definition · mte · 11 1
writi· 'ngs of Marx. en Yt the end of his ec:tua career that
. e It · was a
equ1voca1sens · h oblem of defining his term precisel y. It,
e pr • ~ d I
h confronted t that he took its mea nmg 1or gran te . n one of
e
ars "N d. .
however, appeWey demeyer ' in 1852 , he wro te, o ere 1t 1s.due
. letters to . .
his classes m modem society,
· ~ discovering the existence of ,, ~ Th' h
tome1or 3
~s means t at .\Lux
nor yet the struggle between them . "
Some .referenc es
·adopted the concept in its prevalent connotat10?.
analysis of 1he
suggest hat he was trying upon a systematic
which he left
,concept of class, in the last volume of Das Capital
there, it appe ar~
incomplete at the time of his death. But even
t. 36 What, then
that section on 'The Classes' is a mere fragmen
a rding to ,heir
I
! ,constitute class? ·1s it a division of people acco
The communist
occupation, educat'ion, political views etc. ?
I •
not 'classes'Y
theoreticians tell us that these are· 'gro ups ',
ative, but one
W~at~ver Marx has said about 'class' 'is mainly neg
-~hmg 15 clear from his negative definition that
fhis classes are not
I
this position and
income groups. Anthony Giddens sub stan tiat es
I
-alfs? h,olds th at "class must not be iden tified with either sourc~
. . ..ss
o mcome or the .functio na1 pos.ition 1n the divi sion of labo ur.
r Jf th· •t . . ..
II is en enon is adopt ed' th en it wou ld mea n that the class
distincta·on can be finis . · • f
,- hed b ing the disc repa ncy 0
incomes It 1·8 ob v1ou . Y ehm mat
· s that M . es;
as _merely 'obsolet , an d ,utop ~rx, reJe cted all such approach ' I ··
e I
.
.m Marxian sense th tan • n ord er to become a· c ,a~sin
th e matters of the, e grou ps m us t h ave antagonistic relation~
d· .
millions of fami· liespl~o uctton, Mar,c poi nts out ' "In so far ase
. • th · ive unde a·t· f existenc
that d.1v1d
fi
e e1r mode of ·I' r econom . .ic con 1 ions o .
rom those of the oth tfe, their mterests and their culture
hostile contra~t
to the latter, they former classes and put them in
i a class "3) 1 means tha t hostility Of t he,r
l · t
I ,
I
I
I
r "
165
J/ar~a P'yavastnd vs. Classless Society
ard s ea ch oth er is on e of the con•ditions and the other
attitude tow
ir int ere sts in the mo de of production should also be
is that the . 1 term s of the conflicting
nm a so . de fin es 'clas s' in
dive1:gent: Le co rj ing to him, "the classes
pr od uc tiv e pro ce ss. Ac
Jelat.ions 111 the can appropriate the labour
pe op le, on e of wh ich
are groups of definite
ent places they occupy in a
of anotl1er owing to the differ40 t we can
tem of socia l ec on om ics . " It is in this context tha
sys t "capitalists
t the ca pit ali sts for m a class. Marx affirms tha
say tha it of
e
· co no mi c co mp eti tio n wi th each other in the pursu
are in
the ma rk et, " 41
bu t the y form a 'single class', becau se
profit in ass''.
co mp ell ed to ca rry on a struggle against another 'cl
t,hey are existence of various and
M arx als o rec og nis es the
Similarly, classes,4 2 but these groups
rd ina te gr ad ati on s in all
variable subo pa rti cular cia·ss. The classes
the ho mo ge ne ity of a
,do not disturb ividuals
M arx ian co nc ep t are co ns tituteJ by the grouping of ind
of erty
ing to the ir rel ati on to the · private ownership of prop
·accord
tn the means of production.
ur. :
Classes a~d Division of Labo
y
the M arx ian co nc ep t of a class ·is based on · the pro·pert
Since
it be co me s ne ce ssa ry to · ref lect in brief on the process of
Telations,
of the pr iva te pr op ert y and its dehumanizing effects.
,emergence cre ation of a large mass of
cte d in Da s Ca pit al, the
Marx has proje n for the
pe rty les s· wa ge lab ou re r ·as· a necessary preconditio
pro law of
the ca pit ali sm . He wr ite s : "T he absolute general
xise of le
ac cu mu lat ion is the ac cu mulation of wealth at one po
-Capitalist
an d a sim ult an eo us ac cumulation of poverty at the
of society that produces its own
wh ere . dw ell s the cla ss
epposite pole, t when
al. " 43 Marx wants to say tha
I pro du ct in the
ali st
fo
mo
rm
de s
of •ca
of
pit
pr od uction prevail in the socie
ty, ~he
·the ca pit e
hu ma nit y is sh arp ly d• ivid ed into two mutually exclusiv
·.whole of is founded upon a class
sp ea kin g, ca pit ali sm
dasses. Thus or the working class .on the one
the pr ol eta ria t
division between These
bo ur ge ois or the ca pitalist class on ~he .oth~r. th
hand an d
ard s the dis tnbuti~n of e
co nf lic t as reg
el.asses are in endemic Marx himself pomts _out,
I fruits of
~wages ori ·the
ind
by the bitter str

us tri
on e
al
ug
sid
gle
pr
e
od
be
an
uc
tw
d
tio
ee
pr
n
n.
of
As
its
ca
on
pit
the other are determmed
ali st and worker. ,,,4 In _th~
1
• hc •o1ass - th at owns the cap1ta
ad, ._
"MVle pro cess of '-ptoductmn, ·t
be~omes _dpm.i~J\
µi, Tp.~ ,:-~~ul~ is
th~ , 'm o re im p o v er is
h ed th e w ~ rk
tQ.~i m,o,~e .the cap
itaHsm grow
· te d· fr o m er ~ b e c o m e . T
separa _ ~
th e p ro d u c t o f h1
s o w n la b o u r
h e Work ~ I
class e~prop~ia an d the er . 1s
te.s ¢ .e _e n o rm o
· u s w e~ lt h p ro d u c Own1ng
11}0 des o f p.ro d u ct io n . T h e e d by ca pitalist
co m m o d it y , 1an . • w o.r k er 1.s t~ ~
d as Marx. sh "
at ed as a m a rk , b
o w s, th e w o
ch ea p er cQmmc;
,dity ~he n;iore rk e r becomesetccv l le
~tate o f m an '~ 4 g o o d s h e cr ea
~ h u m an iz ed ~ ~ te s ." 46 TLis is t~
' F ro m th _is ·bri n d it io n w h ic h m u st en r
~f d~scrip.tio _n o d . e
fl~~-s~s, ~t l?~~ f _th e p ro c e ss
o~es ev.id~Jlt tq o f th e creati on of
r
·0 th~ qi:vi~
ipn o f la b o µ r b
e_
.a~ th e cl as se s
ar e the pr oduc
T h e :WP.r~Ft, .\ h t ~ e e n tw o g ro t
ro ¥ g h h i_s la b o u p s o f th e individu
u r_, ~~ts to m als.
nat':\r~, '114 -~~~ o d i_fy th e wor ld
c.apj~-~~i~~ ~~c~µs of
e ,
.ali~nate -~he )V.q
i:kcf fr91A _p.js pr9d of p is ac q u is it iv en es s, acb to
p,o in ts ,C?¥l, "wh~ '1c~s~ so m u c h
~ j,~ ~ m b ~ d i.e d so th at , as Marx
}~~-g~r h,if pwn." 48 •~ i1:} th e p ro d u c
~he p re c p m:~ ~ n t o f h is labour is
division w o rk s i~ no
in th e sp h er e o f t ~ o ci et ie s, th is type
th e emergence o m at er i~ ) p r9 d µ of the
f th e cl as se s o n c ti o n . Elaboratin
p o in ts o u t th a t th e b a si s o f su c g
" th e d iv is io n · h a division, Mar:
~~w~en ,capital ~l o f la b o u r im p li <.
}d laQ,o-µ,: a n d th es th e division
i~s~lf."_1.7 Thµ$ th e <;liffer~nt fo rm
~ .c la ss div.i$i.on s of
~~Pf~$iP.n .oJ ~h.e of th~ so ci et y is property
QiYisiQn .o f la b the pr ime
fa<tt wh~9 b.e ~a:ys o u r. BJigel~ co
that f'i t is th ~ la rr o b o ra te s this
li~s .~t th ~ r~.ot 9. w p f .div.ision o
f tp.e divijjQn in to f labour. whic?
·the ~Qcial d iy is io n cl as se s. "~ 8 Acc
ordingly , i~ 15
.of la b o u r in th
4~t~rmiJles the ~la e p ro d u c ti v e pr
ocess wh 1~h
ssrs tn 1 ct µ re o f
to_ th e c~p~r~e~~e so ci et y . T h is ,
o f .o.t b ~ t!M S:S, w h ic in tu rn , gives nse
Ti~l th.~ capitalis h is th e ex p er ie
t m o d es of p ro d n ce o_f bou<lag:f
abenatipn of ·,the u c ti o n co n ti n u
.M· ar· v's w o rk e-r & o m h e, this. type ln
t
.c o n ce p , ·' a1· is p r.
o d u c t will contmu~
A
.
·lab.our. ln explicit 1enati~n' is .in se p f\ ra b le fr o m th d. .s1-on of
te rm s h e states e ivi ."
._but..t ~ alie~ated fo •' th e d !v is io n o th111
r~ o f h u m a n. acih f la b o u r is no _ c:,
a ~ ly ,i a , th fo!
·alsen_ated exJ.stent:ceJnation o,f th e cl as se s is th e ex
1ity. ''f9 T h u s,
in tl:eu\t17 ~:
of m a n k in d . p ression °
fl n f ~~,~,, thrl 'Df v,~
lp e r 1011
·
~·rLqbJ.>Ur :
~t,pit.Ali:~J~f:ed ·
· ·'
"l lJ te iw ~ 9.f -W.J\ '
r
~ ,\Ill '. ~ll)•Q~ 9¥~r~A'1
.e ~Y ,
t h
Jl, w.h.icb. i~ p ~ rp et u at d un de
e nisatioP
· · · ' ~ J e fa •.~ s
4.1D¥ J•~ii\li-.ti,is>n ,.Jf~'H>l:utio,p.~r.y reorg~nus th-~
U ,\\\,. p ro<),~c\i9n•
1 ·
167
Jl-OfJ!iJ ·Y.yavastha :v.r. ·Classless Socie ty
of
fot111••tion of a classless society is necessary for the abolition
of
the division of labou r and the_reby ending the ali~nated f~n~
view
human existence. Anth ony Gidd ens also subs tanti ates this
that "the expansion of the division of labo ur is60 synonymous with
the·growth of alienation and priva te prop erty. "
Alt-hough all class societies are built arou nd a prim ary line of
division between two antag onist ic classes, yet in the capitalist
ed,
s()Ciety. as Marx puts it, their relat ion becomes that of "nak
shameless. direct bruta l explo itatio n. "
61
Consequently while the
s of
c,a:pitalist class accumulates more and more wealth, the wage
level.
the working class can never rise far abov e subsistence
te
Therefore, the abolition of the division of labo ur is the prerequisi
te .as well as the expression of the alienation.
h
This state .of affairs cann ot be trans cend ed t,ll a class, whic
represents the universal essence of man, emerges with class
nd
consciousness -and with a deter mina tion to finis'i th·e very grou
isi-
of the class division, that is the priva te prop erty and the acqu
tA'cness. When the new orde r is achieved, it will
end the
Efforts
expropriation and there with the antag onism of the classes.
ers,
ar~ to be made to achieve this. This will need a grou p of work
es the
who a-:-e ready to over throw the system, which perp etuat
,
division between man and man. For this, the idea of communism
asa classless society, was projected. Emphasizing the need of such
unism
adas s of workers, Marx writes : "whi le the idea of comm
has been expressed a hund red times in histo ry, the real pos1,ibility
0: a commul'list revo lutio n presu ppos es the existence of a revolu-
tionary class. " 52 With the over throw of capitalism, the division
.of Jabour will be finally aboli shed and man will be released from
the bond of class-categorisation. Marx spares no words to
fODdemn this class struc ture ~ "All the houses of Euro pe are now
lnarted with the myst eriou s red cross. History is the judg e-its
to
~uti oner , the prolc taria n."63 In saying so, Marx wants
again st
Present the future revo lutio n as an act of retrib utive justice
a-civilization which is so crim inal in 1.:haracter that it deserved
~n g leas than 'exec ution ' and capit al puni shme nt.
&lie Pf Speciali~atlon ;
it~b y v.:as-Marx ·IO disgusted with c.lass divisio~ that ~e thou ght
•in-. 1ble that ihae. classes can.exist sidc,by aid,ei? ·G idde ns has
'l tt \
I
l 168
. "U der this system
an ·-answer_. l 1n• ., \abc
,0 1't h ,can1ta
,... \I!>
.
of productwn, the
mr itself; he al
.
.Communis,n
work.e
ienate s it . Th r ex
0
nd Gi1i
I'
. is t'
th \ of th .
ts 1· . ,,s ch an & t1
r~"elves ' r. ea e va ue . a 1e natt0n. ,1 Mar x e Pr "
more spec1uc r · son It is due to this . . . . . I
11· rn se\f ,e. ,l\c
· d1 v1s1 on t
wage \a· t,om. becomes transformed m . ha t " th gives ;
to . e cap· 1
. "" 'rc a si m p le m
roductive 1v e that does no t ha . ' on oton llali 1t
Il I. .P
in tellectua1
.
th e pers
:te
-o na
sp
fa
lity
cu lti es ' ' 1t means th
·
65
of a man fragmen
. .
ve to use 111
at the d1. v1. s1. on of
ted by makm .
g hi
1e
m
ns e
la
an
b
b
oct,\. yvu1
ou r rnakor
of son ec ialized Job m th,e a
PP en da e,e
}
"fy total process of so .
Jus tl i
· ng as 'd
to why he cons1 er d h 'd" . . ci al prod g
Marx writes that •it e •t e 1v1s1011 of labour' uct1on
serves "t o mutilat • a~ev1\
degrade him to th e the worker m
e level o~ an appe to a rra gm en;
the content of wor ndage o~ a machi
k by his agony, ne, de str o,;
spiritual potentialitie and all~nate him
s o: th~ labour-pro fr om the
to convey is that cess." .i 6 Wh at Mar
unde,r capitalist x wan,\
becomes highly spec society, the divisi
ialized and the w on of \aboUi
i some sort of specializ
general developmen
ed dexterity at th
orkers are forced
e cost of the al\ ro
to de ve\o?
l produce, he can
t of his personal
produce only in
ity. Whatever he
the large-scale fa
und an d
wantsto
becomes impossible
I for him to develo cto ries. h

independently. lt, ho p the producti ve
wever, increases activ ity
trial production. T tbe relative mas
he capitalist goes s of ind u~·
thereby keeping the o n perpetuatin g
working men und it an d
I q>ndemning the de
Marx pointed out ~
humanizing eff~ct
er the bonds of m
s o f the division
achin~ s.
of \about
"Jus.. . ·
t as it was written
I lhat they were Je

la~ur brand the man
capital. ,,s,
W hat Marx
upon the brow
hovah's property
ufacturing w o ;k
o f the chosen peornk
so does the divi
er as the property th
sion °
of ~
.
1
!' '
la.bour, man bewcoants to emphas ·. .
ize here 1s that due to d'Ivision J·°(
of prod.u.· ,..t1.0 mes a slave to mach
.c,.fti•~• · · ,.. d n_ an d ines u n d er capt·ta\ist n10,
I ·rW1Jl.St s es1re he becomes a 'mea .

· f -tion l1(
the fe"'' ·p· d . · fo r ... n s' to th e sati s al . w
I · ~ . ro ucttve acqu1sttlVeness. Ther
n-opls al . .
essence of man the
ef o re , in or der to r~ ,
. . 111 t1st enll ·
1
A~rdingsotoat.hta. cks h
'"411r ·
• ' sp ec ia lisation . . . tion •
_t .e evil effects o .
•
tnto its sep. ts view ''th f occupatlona\ s?ecia\1 5-\
.
• .
~ivid·ual . laara te f ra t' ' e m an u fa ct u re r sp . p e,\c h tr~1,\e'
bo c •o~al .operat . hts u to ~1
IJfe.,to, a ion s, al lo t each o . f th es e .
p
·
urer as lits hfe - call hill11 or

ing an d thus chai
a
. . .
.
""'CUlar, tl> } ''5& ns nd

· · 0 .. -Not only' th • . t.1on a
lh~
is spec1a hsa
,Vdr~a ,Yyavcistlta vs. Classless Society ..
169
-0ivision of \ab ou t is a bon dag e
•for the wo rke r, bu t th rou gh the
division of lab our , oth er cla ss als
o bec om es subjec ted to t he too ls
-0f its pro duc tio n. The bou rge ois becom
es bou nd to hi s own capi ta l
and his ow n thi rst for pro fits . lt wa
s in this con tex t tha t Ma rx called
the com mu nis t rev olu tio n as an act
of 'un ive rsa l em ancipa tio n '.
Disgust with machines :
Explaining the dyn am ics as to
how the division of lab our is
,evil and how it causes deg ene rat ion ,
Ma rx sta rts wit h his ma jor
premises tha t "th e mo tiv e for ce
of cap ital ist pro duc tio n is a
passionate hu nt for val ue or urg e
tow ard s abs olu te enr ich me nt. " 59
Th e lab our pro ces s und er the cap
ital ist sys tem is a pro duc tiv e
-activity per for me d as a wage lab
our in the service of a dri ve to
in.finite acc um ula tio n of cap ital
. Th is lab our -po we r of an
.individual is the agg reg ate of bod
ily and me nta l cap aci ties of the
human beings. Wi th thi s lab our pow
er, the wo rke r pro duc es
·'surplus val ue' . Bu t the greedy cap
ital ist pur cha ses ma chi ner y out
-of the sur plu s pro fit an j the reb y tur
ns the ' living lab our ' int o
-dead. Ma rx describes thi s pro ces
s vividly : "B y tr'1nsforming
money int o com mo dit ies wh ich
for m the ma teri al ·elements of a
new pro duc t or serve as fac tor s in
the lab our process, and by
incorporating livi ng lab our pow er
wit h the ir dea d substance, the
-capitalist tra nsf orm s val ue int
o cap ital . " 60 Th e mo re the
mechanized indu~tries pro duc e, the
mo re grows the greed of
the cap ital ist as the cap ital ist is "a
greed inc arn ate ". Th us, und er
the pressure of his acquisitive dri ve,
he goes on repeating the
tam e process of con ver tin g sur plu s
lab our into dea d machines and
the vicious circle goes on. Th e
pro lon gat ion of this process
oeyoJ1d a lim it makes it a per pet uat ini
process of creating surplus
value. Ma rx com es to up'.1old
tha t "th e end and aim, the
dr,ivin g force of cap ital ist pro duc tio
n is an end eav our to pro mo te
to the utt erm ost the self-expansion
of cap . " 61
By this me tho d of the mechanized ital pro duc tio n, it becomes
possible to cre ate large am oun t of
surplus value, and therefore, it
lead:s to the ma xim um possible exp
loit atio n of the lab our power by
the capitalist. Once the lus t for profit
becomes the motivating
force, the cap ital ist becomes so inh
u'man th~t ~e t~ies to suck as_
t»clleh from lab our ers energy as possib
le. In Ma rx s own words,
~'i ;lpital, i» its unb rid dle d passion
for · self-expansion, develops a
1lt I
Ce>.mmunism and Gita
Ui9 ,
' . ,.. s l•bQ,\J•t ' ~ iaipul.s~ ,to ,iu ck labour dry'
a,i ,
Cff' .
eed for ,M ,·ng 1blood o·f ·1abour. "6 2 Th
• .Jtp~for th.e,i·v ·
• · · e mo ra1or· a
".arnpire \h1_rs:ou~ pre~cher• . ists
hav~ also been warnmg m
and the ~h i nd dehurnanizmg effects of an ag ain st
the undes,r~b:~ cannot help
But the capdita is ·ncreasing
t it. He, being th e embodim
th e fo rc es of greed
ent of
~ intro uces 1 mechanisation of th e labou
gr~ r proce ss
to sat'.ts fy h'is 'unbriddled passion for surplus value, an
• ,
. thi's process . lo1es hi. h . .

d the
labourer, in · s um am ty , vzs-a• vis the
machines. Marx .points ou' .
.
t that m th e la rg e sc al e in '
on du str y ba sed
UJ) ma... chine ·production, "t he inst
ru m en t of hb ou r co me
confront th~ worlcer .d1.1ring s to
·.the labour process as ca
}f.bo~r whic~ _cgnt.rols ·the Jiv pital, as de ad
ing labour power and su
There can be no •Vehement ck it dr y."63
,I
••• .,
criticism of th e evil eff
ects of the
' .. ' ••
machine-or~ie,Q.~d ~ivilisat~n
an d large scale in du str y
showJ thJlt .M.ari Wa.$ read as this. This
y to finish th e machine
iqd1_1sn-i,-I civ,iJjz.iiop if it -orie nte d
eeme$ in conflict with
value$. , . the hum an
He r~J)J:at~~f CQndemns .t he
te nd en cy of th e capita
preft:rencc; lo machines ovor list to give
hu m an beings as th e
tb,e c~pital'. Th, more .the lu 'despotism of
wo st fo r w ea lth in creases the more the
, b.rker. sin int
¥ · · o ·po- v.erty-. Th
· 1,,. •
o 1ectd la"'ou , e m ac hm es whi•ch ar' e nothm · g but
• to d · iqd · : .r ' ()r ,,the surplus pr '
m oduced by the labours tur
like ead. ca · pt•~•l'' 5t art Wctg · • ned
hin
. an mc'Ql)pus :th . . . g do wn up on their own creato
his tools d ·' · e. ca.pi . . rs
tah st at ta ch es m or e importance to
labour po~J\, the ma• ~h mes d· · · ·
W~
A. • · • ·.. ;o m m at e th e hv mg embodn· nen ts of
sphere of ~,pitr. al'~nalo g\c
· · all- y. spea k.mg. Marx
of his <>wn ha~~~!,r."~uc;tion says that ,..in the
, m an is do m in at ed by_
t~ t the prntt 1"'- ·· hat may be
the cre atu ~e
't·r ~" '~..,,r the m or e de gr ad g than th 15
.he cnetgy' -tQ Ute $u ~
rrcAd. rn
. _e~s whatever he prod • I11··
fa~• his own qreat cqU;is,t,ve uces spendin g >
m an ia of the capitalist
!<>ea ?n increasing~:d th~ m~~hine and th en
\ I
l
I .
l
•
bav,uia sold
re d ~ , . .~i..·11 ProdOX
";
"'Owly to h~Jng· r111
~ and tfldtl\U~y m
uctj
at · p
. · ena or 'personified
s. Bu t still the
ploitmg ,thcm . "T he v· t'munsatisfied lu~t
w · ve Powers to th e ic 1 '
" sa ys Mat.\,
inhuman force, is..
. , ,•0
II · WO ,r ,i
taib,tQCJ'k labour tun J
1
· ) •aon_ · Un d.c r ,
t he d . e·
itingl ·. es po t1 sin of . - t ystefll,
I " ""itu.d JlJ)f!, l, i11 · driv,.,." d~ro ca 1
pita 1s s
:yed in the monster's
\•
•1'.-
n, '• dt.,......a .
,1. .. -~
...,.,_ .,.,.. n- 1.lti on an~ d. dccwwr
. a- - an
d
de .
deadlY
by ss o
t_
:.
· .,,.aMtnt :a··-.. lll1,.lfe...Pn f ep er . into an a
~~ ' ;- ro m w he re there
I
cape•
~ ne t. tbe; ;l., ..t , .of ta
1
is no es th t
kr an ce ,
7
f~ f..ffYf'l·tn-a 1v~. ~lassless Society )7l
· Wi~I·~ ~r J>~c~mes compe lled fQr a world-wide rebellion to overthrow

t:111s ~~spc;>tlJ,m .. The . lustful deeds of capitalist become the cause
of Jns own destruc tion. As Marx puts it, "What the bourgeois,
therefore, produc es above all is its own grave diggers . Its fall and
yictory of the proleta riat are equally inevitable. 00
11
Proletariat Class :
The existence of this dehum anized group is a prerequisite of
r~v9lution. Marx himsel f writes : "An oppressed class is the vital
_<;_o)ldition for every society founde d on the antagonism of
~c;.i~ss~.s. " 117 This does not, however, mean that every poor and
:oppr~s ed man forms the proleta riat class. The Manifesto defines
·* is ~la~,s ~s "a class withou t proper ty". This proleta riat alone
is considered the revolu tionary c}ass, because it can stand
fac;~ ~.9 fa~~ with the bourgeoi~. In defining the main characteris-
68
tic~ ~f ,t his class, Marl{ soµght inspira tion from Hegel. Hegel's
he<,,ry also laid down that the moder n civil society had a
p~gerol,1,$ tet;1d~ncy to the concen tration of disproportionate wealth
i.n-. ~r A~w h~.n,9_s, at 9ne pole and the creation of a rabble of
J¥tµP.~r~ at t~e other. But Hegel clearly pointed out that "poverty
itself does not make a rabbl~, for, a rabble is created only when
.th~r~ i$ j9ined to povert y a dispo~ition of mind, an inner
indi_BP.a~io.n ~gains t t.h e rich, again~t society, ~gainst the govern-
m~i ~tc." 0 Ac~ordingly, t)li.s cla~s i~ not only the yictim of
exploitation, but also un_rec9ncile4 t<;> i~s lot. While writing his
b)trpdq ction to Hegel's Philosophy of Right, Mar;,t adopted the
id~a, ffo~ b.im 3,nd g~ve hi~ own v~rsion about the proletariat.
~JlfJ .wt,tcs : "It is proud, r.eseotfuJ and defiant, possessipg that
:t~voJµiipmuy v~lour which hurls in the face of the ~dvers~ry~ t,~,~-
.lA'OlCllt ch~llcqge, 'I aP,l nothin g, but I have to b~ ev~ry~hmg · .
fl>.ll..s, i.t is ~laJs which is aware of his 'dehum am~au on , an~ is
t,~ y to transform it. When it take~ over the means of productto~
Mt) lhe private property is finished, the capitalist_ will be ~manc1-
P.J l~ fr9qi bis unbridled lust and the ':orke~ w1~l be_ hbernted
fJPn>,·the alienate? existen ~e, hi~ d~humaniied hfe·$ttuatton.
· t k of Marx tQ mak~-
· ·' · · , ·.
The search for such ~la$, was the main ~s
his philoso phy .true and practical and his ideal of classleshs sohc1ety
t- I' . s
1zable, as against the utopian ,
- i~UJJ;,UM~!P,§ JN;tl}jJ;l ,i_l}e
. who harp1d upon t et eme-
.
~QrrJJpt ~y~~l1}• ,n
~. th UW}t of {his,.
C '
17] Coinm1mfsm cur<
/ r,
u 11n
·t\,e \')to etana t c·\ass renreset\ted the te
' • I I
I \ ,' ,
t
, of thls. t' nro\eta • , , " a\ asp

t
111 the au\~sence ,rat,ons () f humnn .
·. rm t, tl1e . ••
utophU'I!;, use
't
. \ ., .<-on
vam to. p ,, o~ \," rehoion an : , ..
•, .
d
1
to nir .y.
r n o d .
t)Oht1cs for th e . . . 1
\')tob\em ·of n\(enat\on. Comm . &o \ut, on of ll, 111.

" true µhi\ osoph)"' tm1sn:1 the p . . cir
. . 1 ok ta rn
unn1a~~s t\:ese 1\\ " 1. . 1n •()r il: iHc1
and act and shat) e us1ons. t ma k
his re a\1ty hke n n·urn \.:~ .n., l111 t th in k
n.d h as come to , ~ho has been
,a re as on so th a t he ll1 sillu sinn ctl
and therefore, ro w1\\ rev olve ro
und his true su u ·1 l u nd him self
l')trsons, who h n. ' n t \,c \.1gh
av e the consciou t of thi s, the'
-0ught to re aHze sness that th ~y n
themselves as m re men
workers . t\ccord en, are the cla anti they
ing\y, it is the ss-co nsciou s
tt uth ; it on\y k proletariat o n ly
n? WS that dignit th H t know s
the
bondage : £ \abo y of m1n \ies in
rating the ro\e overtluowin g hi
1>tocess of se\f-r that this class ~
ea\is ation, .Mar wil\ pll\y in th
"Pl1ilosopl1y ca nn x says : e
ot be made a re
th e prolet ariat, aliry without
the poletariat ca th e abo
pl1ilosophy bein g nnot be abolish liti on ~{
made a reality ." 7 ed without
Matx und erlines :
1)to\ctariat the co the ro\e of his
urage to fight th philosophy in
e dehumanizing giving th e
-expropriates · the \ife -situatio11 ancl
expropriators, .
ment of a c\ass\es and thereby ach
s communist so ieve the establish·
1 his .is ~ matte ciety.
r of strange c
~hoing t~e satne oincidence th a
aphorism at wh t communism is
' / atra ,:°?esvqr~ ich G it a conclu
~ des. Gita says :
. J~yo bhuu r dhru kH~o yatra plirtho dl1'murdhora
vanltir matirama ~i ; tatra frirvi·
i his mean~ that ma."?3
K success on the p
Ars.dn. a, the spm ·· ath of tea\isati
on lies only w
t~ a\ weapon, finds it hen
-con~~~ 0nd ent A s material weap
r3u~a, ,.mwi\ling on in ArJ·0 '.' ~\.
· d tions, and to fig
un er the catcoo try mg to reconcile him ht against his degru<li~g
·
1ng w · f, se\f in recluse do
as to tu"r ryh'O proletari.at'. The ro '
es not f,\\\
t hat he sh n im m · , le th at K rs n a was P' .1y·
S ince A •ould b.e d to a proletariat' by making· ·h· ·
· us
rea_ 'Y t? rebel ag im consc\O
1hrougb ·~ :n ~ ~~ ainst his· demora
Gita . is only a
m
lise d condit· io· ns ·
-under the dc~ul edium (n im it ta ),
\lm, .~1ta wants it roean s_ t~a~
-degenerativ e . to inspire all th
. md.a~,zmg co ose who are ~\V
·. .·.. ·con · tt1on. •s •and anditionhs to break the bonds ot th l:ir
Var ,;ra· V"avas'h4 ssert t cmselves .
d C as 'man ,.
. ". . ., an ·lassie , . . .
s~ s
e ·the·~· . . • <>ci·ety .•
' What 'would b
~osition ·of c'atur
vart_'\a if the clas .
sless s0 cietY
JC
r
va,,,a -Vyavastha vs. Classless Society 17~

i • ' '
f Marx is esta blish ed ? A clos er anal ysis of both the

theories.
low s that thes e sche mes do not com e into conf
lict with each
other. In the phil osop hy of Mar x, a conc ept like
that of dha rma
as a regulative forc e over the pow ers of acqu isitiv enes
s, is abse nt..
The class conflict on the basi s of the prop erty relat
ions will arise
only in a perv erte d and dise ased soci ety. If the
forces of the
community are so stren gthe ued, the expl oiter s will not
be able to
play their dirty role .. If ea_ch _indi:idual disc har~
es his func tion
,-qith this idea that he 1s ded1 catm g 1t to the soci
al who le, the
conflict of inter ests will not arise . Mar xian theo ry, ther
efor e, can be
best applied to the perv erse soci eties whe re peop le
have forg otte n
their dhar ma. In an idea l soci al orde r, the van:ia
vyav asth a can
ope.rate with out com ing into cont radi ctio n with the class
less society.
The classes of Mar x are excl usiv ely base d on prop erty
relat ions
and not on gu9-a and karm a. But this appr oach
leaves muc h to
be desired. The iden tific ation of the soci al strat ifica
tion with the
economic divis ion is not soci olog icall y adeq uate . 74 Even
if the two
antagonistic classes are abol ishe d, the prin ciple of svad
harma will
still be a requ irem ent of com mun ist soci ety for soci
al cohe renc e.
The unity and solid arity of a class in Mar xian cons
ider ation is
largely a prod uct of class -stru ggle . No reas on has
been given by
Ma~x why the indi vidu als, who form the prol etar iat
class today~
should retai n thei r unit y whe n the com mon class enem
y has ceased.
Any ·laten.t inter est may divi de the prev ious ly unit ed
prol etar iat.
Popper attac ks M·u xian conc ept of classless soci ety
and says :
"Ma rx has assu med (falsely) that class cons ciou snes s
is a thin g that
I can be accu mula ted and after ward s stor ed ; that it
the forces that prod uced it." 75 Pop per' s criti cism igno
that in the com mun ist soci ety ther e will be no prol
can surv ive
res. how ever
etar iat clas s
in the sense in whic h Mar x conc eive d it, viz., a 'deh uma
nise d but
ready to revo lt' clas s. Pop per has draw n atten tion to the
inhe rent
need to which the com mun ist soci ety will stan d i.e.,
the prin cipl e
of jts very subs isten ce and cohe sion . This prin ciple
has been wen
laid down in varl )a vyav asth a. Ther efor e, even in
com mun ist
·society varl)a vyav asth a can func tion effectively.
Here a criti cism may be raise d that Mar x and Enge
ls were
against prof essio nal spec ialis ation . Mar x has been
repe ated ly
saying that divis ion of labo ur is a host ile social relat
ion of man to
tnan, and class war is the mult iplic ation of this host ility
on the
WflW 11-r,,
l
I I
ti¥.
.. 1. r·~cttl~: ~ow
.,:A -~ ' ,,
CdflfrttiiWi:rrn and Gl\fa.
1
djil's't~d with the vartia vyavasth'a

ft _c~nf d~ff:tent' inrtate tetnperaments to handle
1
·td:, :,1 reijuir'e~ th~ met\ 6 th~ whole p·osition will be clear if we
w.Jrent vo~atiortS. But . 0. 'division' and 'distribution' The
.Ome . . tiort betwee . ·
snake subtle d1sttnc . rding to guna and karma is not a
. of work acco . h. f .
-0iatribut1on . , Each man dischargmg 1s unction allotted
4division of humanity .
to hin1 is fully humah~·h ·s indivisible, is called 'ma.ya' (bewilder-
. d. .de that w tc t
To tVt . • ' ht Therefore, to say that t h e class ' division',
. t) in Indian thoug .
men . oken is the same as the 'd.1s tn'b ut1on .
of work'
of which . Marx has sp ' · k Th h · 1·s an
, nature wi11 be m1sta en. e umarnty
tccordtng to one s ' .
. . . 'bl h leness and due to his selfish mterests, the capitalist
mdw1s1 e w o d· · f ·
wants to divide it by denying human_ con ttions o existence to
'labour. This is called negation in Marxian system. But such an
~ffort will be mayii or adhyiiropaTJ,a in Indian thought because he is
trying to impose false divisions where they do not exist. In can-
celling the class division, therefore, the negation created by the
capitalist will be negated but the principle of the rational distribu-
tion of work will not be destroyed. So far as the question of
professional specialisation is concerned, it is admitted that some·
times the communist -thinkers spoke in such a way as it appeared
to. come in conflict with van:1a vyavastha. Engels, for example,
wntes: ." ... man is divided. All other physical and mental faculties
:are sacrificed to the,development of one single activity. " 76 Marx
also~ denounced the ptofess10na · l specta · 1·1satton
· · as "enslaving· subord'1-
nat10~ o( man to the·division-of labour. "77
This idea was based o h. , . . ..
-of lab " n is assumption that every social d1v1S10D
our en1orces occu t' l' . . . .
writes in Germ ld . pa Iona spec1ahsat1on as a way of hfe. He
an eo/ogy "f
man has a p t· ' or, as soon as labour is divided, each
ar 1cular excl ·
,upon him from •wh· h uslve sphere of activity, which is force d
does not want
to 1ic heh' cannot
. escape ... he must remam · so, 1·r l1e
the practice preval oste· is means of livelihood."78 But what will be
-say ,, . en tn comm . . . . .
s, the communist st u~1st society ? Explammg this, Marx
te nd ency to beco age will liberate the natural human
oth me a un·
.. er tomorrow·, to hunt . iversal man to do one thing today an d
r~ar cattl · in the
bas b. . e _in the evenin . . .morning, fish in the afternoon,
be een voiced by Engelg, cnt1c1se after dinner. "79 Similar sche01e
no Iona• · , 8• He -says• "I
· cvr any profess· .
· n time to come there will
tonal porters or architects ... the roan who
t '~ t'yM"a~lht! .,-y-_ Cla.,s less
So ci et y 175
ff an hO Uf gi v~ in st ru ct io
f or ba fo r a pe rio d ns as an ar ch ite ct , will
un til also pu sh a
barrow hi s ac tiv ity a~ a rc hi te ct
. . d ,,so Because w he n m is on ce m o re
an is lib er a te .
fr om th e d riv ·
.ceq~.,reulation, he will
pr od uc e
d e for
accutn in or de r to re al is e hi s na
. tu re as a
be' g with m an ifo ld
cr ea tive capac1.t•e .
s.
:u t in1practicability of
th is ap pr oa ch is so ob vi
ba td ly any ar gu m en t ou s th at it ne ed s
t~ re fu te it. As Pr of
t th at "s ee in g th e diffi . Tu_ck er ha s po in te d
culty th at a so un d so ci
:~ tb out specialis ati on . th et y ca nn ot w or k
er e is tren d in So vi et M
th at M ar x was op po se d ar xi st s of de ny in g
to oc cu pa tio na l sp ec ia liz
life.'"s1 1h e co nf us io n se em at io n as a w a y of
s to h ave be en ca us ed
of 'world-s el f' pe rf ec tin g by H eg el 's id ea
its po w er in every di re ct
''W ha t po w er s it in he re nt io n. H eg el w ro te :
ly possesses, w e le ar n
of pr,oducts an d fo rm fr om th e va rie ty
at io ns w hi ch it or ig in
his influence si m pl y re pl at es ." 82 M ar x, un de r
ac ed th e w or d 'm an ' fo
be forgot th at in su ch r 'wor ld -s el f'. B ut
pr op os iti on s as "m an
producer de ve lo pi ng its is a fr ee co ns ciou s
po w er in ev er y di re ct
have used th e te rm 'm io n" , he sh ou ld
an ' in th e Fe ue rb ac hi
generic sense, to m ea n an se ns e i.e ., in th e
hu m an ra ce , th e spec
stood, it w ou ld m ea n ies. Co rr ec tly un de r-
th at 'h um an ity ' in its
' totality of so ci et y' an co nn ot at io n as th e
d no t th e 'in di vi du al
developing its po w er in m an ' is m an ife st in g,
ev er y di re ct io n. G ita ha
this as pe ct th at th e in s al so em ph as iz ed
di vi du al ca n se ek hi s pe
bis pr od uc tiv e ac tiv ity rf ec tio n by su bl at in g
to th e de m an ds of th e
in this sense, th e ar ch sy st em . U nd er st oo d
ite ct w ill be re al iz in g
same hu m an va lu es , w hi in hi s ow n way th e
ch th e po rt er be re al iz
this co nf us io n be tw ee n in g in h is ow n. If
'M an ' an d 'm an ' is re m
l)ronouncements, it will ov ed fr om M ar x' s
ac co m m od at e th e varT}a
vyavastha an d th e
I
.svadharma, w ith ou t de st
ro yi ng its ow n ch ar ac te
ris tic .
References
I 1.
2.
Gita, IV . 13.
Gi ta, XVIII. 41 (A n.i sa
'ai Yoga).
3. Gi ta, V. 7,
4· Gitu , VI . 30 (A na sa ktl Yo
S' W ga).
' .h'1t~hea d, A. N. , Sc
ience an d M od em Wur lcl
:6. D~ rk he im , Emile , 7'/;e , p . 259.
l, lb1d., p. 399. Di vision of lc,buto- i11 So de ty , pp . -i 1--D .
~-. R.~dhakrishnan, S., H .,1d
Otta, XVIII. 41.
11 View of l.ij'e, p. 76 .
\
\
!
l · ·: Commu,:iism
and ~
I .
lo· Radhaknshnan, 8 ., Eartern Religion and .Wes
tern Thought, p,
Gttii'
.
11 . Mclver an· d Pag..e Society, P· 35 6• 356
12. Pra.bhu , P ·H The' Hindu Soci•a l o · .
., g rganisa t w
· n ' p 324
.
13· . Gita XIV..4-l · . .
,dh' M K Youn ,
14.. Gan ,, ·
· .,
g India, 24-1 \-19
_7
15· Radhakrishnan, S., Bhage. dgita p 161.
16. Portonov, A A and FedotVJov, ' •
D.D., Psy•ch · .
17. Ibid., pp. 33 • · iatry, p. 334.
8 4-335.
1 G ira , UL 33 (Ana V )
· Mclver and sakti 'oga .

19.
P ag e, op, cit., P• 52
20. Rashda\1 , H., op. cit., Vol. I, p. ·
l\ . ti ita, X V ll 141 ff.
l. 45 (Anasakti )
22. Gira, 111.35 Yo ga ·
.
Tlte Gita Accordi
. ~ -. Milne, A ng io G.andhi, p.
.J.M ., The Social 377 (XVUI. 46
P ).
25 . Radhakris hi lo sophy o f English
hnan, S., Hindu Idealism, p . 39.
26. Rashdall, View o f Life, p.
H ., op. cit., Vol 80 .
27. Protonov, A . II , p. 148
.A. and Fedot_ov,
28 . Hartshorn D.D., op. cit.,
, Charles, op. ci p. 330 .
29 . . Radhakrishn t., p. 47.
an, S., Eastern R
30. Marx and E eligion and Wes
ngels, Manifesto tern Thou ght, p.
3l. Marx, Eng o f the Communis 367 ff.
\ 32. Mciver an
els, Lenin, On H
d Page, Society,
istor!cal Materia
t Party , p. 40.
lism, p. 284.
i 33. Maix, K.
34. Chesnokov
and Engels, F .,
p . 348.
German Ideology
, D ., Historical , p. 69.
35. Marx, K. an Materialism, p .
d Engels, F ., Se 20 2.
36. Marx, K., lected Correspon
Das Capital, Vol dence, p. 57.
37 . Chesnokov . U l, pp. 8 6 ~ 6 3
, D., _op. cit., p. .
38. Giddens, A 202.
nthony, Capitalis
39. Marx, K . an m and Modern So
d Engels, F ., Se cial Theory, p . 37
40. Lenin, V.l., lected Works, V .
Collected Wo,ks, ol . I, p. 334.
41. Marx, K. an Vol. 29, p. 421.
d Engels, F ., Ger
42. Marx, K. man Ideology, p
an . 69.
43 . Marx, K., Cd Engels, F ., Communist Man ife
apital, p. 714. sto, p. 132.
44. Marx, K., E
45 . lb id ., p. 40 arly Writings, p. 69.
.
46 . Ibid ., p. 12
2.
47, Marx, K. and E
48· ng
Engles, F., Antl- els, F., German Ideology, pp. 22
D , 65.
49. Marx, K., MEG uhring, p. 418.
,◄, p. 18\.
~· Giddens, Anthony
, op
. Marx, K., Commun . cit., p. 23 .
52. Marx K and E ist Manifesto, p. 135.
I 53
54•
55 .
M 'K .
1. ens, . nt
n \ F
ge
O~~~' ' aAnd Engels, ·• Guman Ideology, pp . 51, 62
s, F., le. ted W
hony, op. ciSe orks, Vol. I, p.
.
Marx, K. and Ena t., p, 49 , · 36 0.
56 M ·K 1s p
. . .e
ant, ., Capital, , ,, Selected Wo"ks ,
Vol. I, p. 645. Vol. I, p. 102.
Jlyt11'astha vs. Classless Society 177
var~a
Mar,, K., Capitol, pp. 381-82.
s1. £ nge1~, F ., Anti Duliririg, p. 436 .
.58. Marx, K., Capital, pp . 137-38.
59,
6(). Ibid., p. 189.
61.
Ibid., pp. 346-47.
Jbid., pp. 235, 237, 239, 259, 270.
62.
63. Ibid. , pp. 451-52.
64, Ibid., p. 685.
65, )bid., pp. 347, 244.
66. Marx, Engels, Lenin, On Historical Materialism, p . 94.
67. Tbid., p. 82.
68. Ibid., p. 93.
~9. Hegel, G.W.F., PMlosophy of Right, pp. 150, 277.
70. Marx, K., Towards the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right, p. 263.
71. Ibid., p. 263.
72. Ibid., p. 266.
73. •Gita, XVIII. 78.
74. Mciver and Page, Society , p. 349.
75. Popper, K .R., op. cit., p. 138.
76. Engels, F., Anti-Duhri'lg, pp. 435-36.
77. Marx, K. and Engels, F., Selected Works, Vol. 11, p. 23.
78. Marx, K., German Ideology, p. 22.
79. Ibid., p. 22.
80. Engels, F., Anti-Duhring, p. 87.
81. Tucker, Robert C., The Marxian Revolutionary Idea, p. 20.
82. Hegel, G.W.F., Phi/Mophy of History, p. 73.
7
Id e a ls o f H u m a n Life
s
gin g a sy ste m, the an aly sts an d the an aly tic al sociologist
In jud
rse to an aly sin g the ex ist ing ins tit uti on s. They make
tak e rec ou and
on the ba sis of the fac tua l da ta
pr ed ict ion s in so cia l co nte xt ta
pr on ou nc e the ir jud ge me nt ab ou t tha t. Bo th Ma rx an d Gi
the n
isf ied wi th su ch a de scr ipt ive analysis. Fo r them, the
fee l dis sat po rtu nit ies to ma n for
m lie s in its pro vid ing op
wo rth of a sy ste in a
f-a ctu ali za tio n. W ha t va lue s an ind ivi du al will realize
sel worth
fo r his sel f-d ev elo pm en t ? On thi s de pe nd s the mo ral
sys tem
cia l sy ste m. Th us , for bo th the se ph ilo so ph ies , it is the
of th at so n the
the no rm ati ve ev alu ati on tha
ide al th at is mo re rea l for we
lly ex ist ing ins tit uti on s. It is fro m this po int of view tha t
ac tua
dy wh at en ds an d wh at va lue s of life are pu t before man
ma y stu
by ea ch of the se sy ste ms .
tual
Ideal M or e Significant tha n Ac
no t a ch an ce pro du ct. I-le lives with ce rta in ends to
M an is before
Hz e, wh ich ke ep him ins pir ed . A ma n wh o ha s no ideal
rea be a
fin ds his ex ist en ce me an ingless. He feels him sel f to
him
' the ea rth . M an is no t bo rn
'
wi th a pu rpo se, bu t it is by
bu rd en on ing to his existence. The
ide al, tha t he ad ds me an
pu rsu ing so me s or
rth of a ma n's life do es no t de pe nd on ho w mu ch he eat
wo
tdeals pf Human Life 179
4,~\fl~\Wl\iP;~i9.~n~µ1.t'les, but on what ~re the ide~ls for which he

is 1i-v1ng. When mh an ~hoofs~sb so°!e ideal for him, he exercises
the choice from t e pomt o etter and 'worse'.
_ Marx and _Git~ have both placed certain ideals in their philo-
:~ophies to msp1re a man to regulate his conduc t according to
1
them. Both, however, ~ome to agree on one point that in marching

~}read towards the highest goal, the lower is to be sublimated by
-the higher. It does not, however, mean that the lower self is to be
ne,gated. Radha krishn an suggests that the ''lower self is not to be
<iestroyed. It can be used as helper if it is held in check. " Similar
1
-0pinion has been expressed by Marx when he says that the "laws of
a-nimal society cannot be applied to human society."2 Man's
~nduc t is regulat ed by . much more dignified norms than the
l)onnal animality. In this way, Marx and Gita both recognise the
dignity of man.
· The Teleological Approach :
The materialistic aspect of Marxis m has been over-emphasized
in such a distort ed manne r that sometimes it has led to a misunder-
stand_ing that his_system was not value-oriented. Even Lenin and
Kautsky believed that the scientific socialism of Marx was different
fr.om the 'ethica l sociali sm' of others.
: Prof~ Tucker has shown that "Marx was a teleologist and ethical
idealist; he has moral conten ts like the idea that the historically
inevitable is morall y desirab le. " 3 Werne r Stark also suppor ts the
contention that "Marx was an idealis t," i.e., one who lays more
4
emphasis on the ethical ideal. These thinke rs do not consider him

a· metaphysical idealis t. Nor do they think that ideas are prior
in ordering the objecti ve world. Marx is an idealist in ethical sense
t4at the ideal is higher than the facts and that the facts ought to
be oriented toward s and judged throug h that ideal. His ideal of
-communism was the sole measu ring rod to judge how far a his-
t~rical stage is approx imatin g it. The actual serves only as a .ste~-
Pmg stone for the ideal. To Marx, the most fundam ental thmg 1s
to liberate the individ ual from the bonds of his alienated existence
Bo_ that he may realize his e~sential nature as 'produ cer'. Every-
thing else. is to be approx imated to this. Marx has always appla~d-
tg;.t~t conduc t as 'progre ssive', which confor ms to the progres~ive
. t-e.~hzation of the ideal lying ahead. Marxis m thus has a teleological
_,.
180 Communism and G'tta
interpreta tion . · _
Similarly, ill Anasa kt . . __
on Brahmanirvana , pe
pursuit for ot he r thin
t -y og a o~ ~ ~ :' .)
rfectt~tl (Sams1 11
~heli
_, it oe
em ph as
. .
is is laid
gs, wht~h a m an veri s no t . deny the
ful living on th is ea ly ne~ds ~or his su cces
rt h. G ita ha s ~~ w s.
pursuit of pr os perity he re 1nd1cated t~ at
is n~! a ~eg1t1mat the
Radhakrishnan te lls e human_ as~1ratio
us th at th e H m du n.
the realm of desires co de of pr ac tice lin
with th e pe rs pe ct iv e ks uI>
together the kingdo m o f th e et er na l. It
s of ea rt h an d he av binds
there should be a synt en ." 0 In a b_al ance
hesis of th e m un da d life,
realization of th e hu ne pr os pe ri ty and
m an dignity. B ot h the
munism have pr ov id A na sa kt i Y og a and
ed gr ou nd s fOt' th e com-
various values of life. in di vi du al to realiz
T he po in t fo r co ns e the
as to what are the id id er at io n, therefore
eals, which ar e pl ac , is
by communism and ed be fo re th e indi
by G it a. vi dual
·
Communism, a Societ
y o f Abundance :
It is generally believe
d th at th e id ea l to
munism is th e em an be realized by com
ci pa ti on of n1an fr -
But this ideal requires on1 ec on om ic wor
to be m or e el ab or at ries.
bas conceived m an es el y un de rs to od . N
sentially as 'p ro du ce farx
begin to "d istinguish r' . }l e writes th at
themselves fr om an men
begin to pr od uc e th in1als, as so on as
ei r m ea ns o f su bs they
considered by th ei r is te nc e, a st ep whi
physical or ga ni sa ti on 8 ch is
This esse nt ia l na tu re ."
of m an re m ai ns un
no t free. W he n men re al iz ed when he
ar e freed fr om th e is
acquisitiveness , they bo nd s of th e forces
will na tu ra ll y pr od uc of
essence. T hey will e in or de r to realize
cr ea te th e co nd it io their
goods. T his is tb e co ns o f ab un da nc e
nc ep ti on o f th e en d of the·
th at men will realiz of econon1ic emanci
e un de r co m m un is m pation
tell us th at " co m m . T he co m m un is t th
un inkers
always be full to th e is m is a cu p of ab un da nc e, which
br im ." 7 01 u st
Unity with Mankind :
However, to li m it th e
ho ri zo ns o f th e co m
economic fr eedo m w m un is t ideal to mer
ill no t be justified. N e-
fr om econ om ic worri o do ub t th at th e free
es is on e of th e fo re m doin
realizat ion of an y hi os t co nd it io ns for th
gher goal o f life. N e-
men sh ould first cr ea o on e w ou ld also de
te th e co nd it io ns ne ny th at
cessary fo r th ei r ve s
ry u r-
u hl: iil ?5 '.r i ,
►
ldtals of Human Lif e
181
viva\ bef ore rea lizi ng the lof ty inte
ll ect ual and mo ral values . Bu t
to stop sho rt i t the level of eco nom
ic sat isfa ctio n is not the
com mu nis t ide al.
communist ideal as Economic Emanc
ipation
Th e Sum mu m Bon,.mi of hum an life
, com mu nis m pl aces bef ore
roan, is his release fro m the bon dag
e of his deh um ani zed existence.
Fro m the rea lm of necessity, he is
sup pos ed to jum p int o the
realm of fre edo m. Th is rea lm of fre
edo m, acc ord ing to com mu nis t
'thinkers, den ote s ''th e ind ivi dua l's fre
edo m to par tici pat e cre ativ ely
in social pro duc tio n, the cre atio n of ma
ter ial and spi ritu al values
and the for ma tio n of new soc ial rel
atio ns, to dev elo p and imp rov e
,culturally and mo ral ly. " 8 Th us spe
aki ng, the com mu nis t idea\ is
:n ot ,confined to the eco nom ic fre edo
m onl y. Pro gre ssi ng ahe ad
toward s the hig her typ e of soc iety
, wh en ma n rea che s com -
munism, he "ac qui res gen uin e spi ritu
al fre edo m" 9 als o. It is for
the rea liza tio n of thi s fre edo m tha
t a ma n oug ht to stri ve for .
The final con dit ion of ma n will be
to go bey ond all ow ner shi p,
-and bey ond the pro per ty pri nci ple .
Th us spe aki ng, the hig hes t
ideal for ma n is to go bey ond all lim
itat ion s and fin itu de. De scr ib-
ing the nat ure of the hu ma n bon
dag e, Ma rx poi nts out tha t
''al ien ate d lab our is the ant ith esi s of
the fre e, spo nta neo us cre ati-
vity,, in wh ich ma n rea lize s his
nat ure as ma n. Th is lab our
·process, wh ere the pro duc tio n of obj ect
is tak en as los s of obj ect
toa n alie n pow er, is an act ivi ty of suf fer
ing . It is ser vit ude ." 10
Accordingly, in ord er to bre ak the
bon dag e, the ma n, wh o has
lo.st the .c rea ted wo rld to the for ces of gre
ed, mu st per for m an act
·of rea ppr opr iat ion in ord er to cha nge
his life -sit uat ion . Th is is
the rea l me ani ng of Engels' dictum
tha t communism will give
,.'freedom fro m the snare of the realm
of nec ess ity' '. Wh en the
bonds of his ser vit ude are bro ken , the
ind ivi dua l 'm an' can me rge
himself wit h the spe cie s-b ein g-' Ma n'.
Th us, the ideal to be rea lize d
in communism, is the ideal of becom
ing fully 'M an' . In bri ef, it
,has been described by the com mu nis
t thi nke rs tha t ''th e new
IOCiety dev elo ps a ful l•b loo ded act ive ma
n- a man, wh o is ent itle d
to say "Humani nil a me allenum puto"
(N oth ing hu ma n is alien
~ me). 11 Th is leads us to
conclude tha t
human life, laid dow n by com mu nis m, is to the highest idea\ of
become one with the
mankind by she ddi ng one 's alienated
existence. Ma n o\lght to
;ltrive for the re-establishment of his lost
ide nti ty with hu manity•
182
Communism and Gzta
Ideals of Human Life in Gita
Th e ideals of life, which ins
pir e me n fo r the ir achieve
are called pu ru$ ar tha s in In dia n cu ltu re. ment
Dh arm a, K ama Ar tha as the Gi ta ha s lai d down'
values to be pursued by a
ma n , who is holding his po co mmon
sit ion in between two extre
a ma n of Rajo-gm:ia. 12 Bu t m es, i.e.
the Summum Bonum is M ok
philosophy, in general, also ~a. Ind ian'
subscribes to these fo ur ide als
according to Pr ab hu , for m , which ,
the ps yc ho -m or al basis of
dh arm a" 13 also. Fo r the wo as ra ma
rki ng ou t of me tho d of realiz
these ideals, the scriptures ha ation of
ve also been divided into
scheme viz., (i) Dh arm as as four-fol d
tra , (ii) Ar tha sa str a, (iii) Ka
an d (iv) Mok$a sas tra . La ma sastra ,
yin g em ph as is on the ir im
in In dia n life, Go kh ale po int portance
s ou t th at ' Hi nd uis m ha s no
1
lished any organised church. t estab-

Hi nd u life is full of the co
of dh arm a, art ha , ka ma an d nception
mok~a." 14 Gi ta sta rts with
ideal dh arm a. It op en s wi the first
th the very word dh arm a
b.etre kurukfetre). Therefore, (dharma
it would be in the fitness
things to sta rt with the first of the
pu ru $a rth a 'dh arm a'.
Dharma:
Th is ter m ha s very ric h an
d wi de co nn ota tio ns . On
ha nd , it is co mm on ly believe the one
d, to co ns ist of a series of
and ritualistic function, as lai sacrificial
d do wn in the Brahmat:ias, an
scriptures. On the oth er side, d other
Vaise~ika Su tra defines dh arm
which leads to the secula a as tha t
r pro sp eri ty an d mo ral up
'bhyuda,yani!J,sreyasa siddhi~ sa lift (yata
dharmab). 15 Since Dh arm a is
so urc e of mu nd an e happiness the
also (dhanaddharma tata~ suk
it follows th at tho se, wh o de ham) ,16
stroy dh arm a, are destroy
those, -who preserve it, are ed, and
preserved (dharma eva hato
dharmo ra kf' lti rakfitab). 17 Dh hanti
arm a, therefore, is a princ
great ·significance in In dia n life iple of
. Various philosophical sys
purar:,.as, etc., have used this co tems,
nc ep t in diverse ways. In Gi
significance has been emphasi ta , its
zed in saying "w he ne ve r the
of db arm a an d ad ha rm a pre decline
vails, the n the divine forces
themselves int o co nc ret e for man ifest
m (yada yada hi dharmasy
bhavati bharata, abhyutthi'inam a g/anir-
adharmasya tadatmiinam srj:im
aham).18 Th is manifestation tak y-
es pla
ce for the destruction of the
wicked an d to establish dh
arm a (vlnasaya ca dufkrtam,
sar
hs thapanO.rthaya).
19 dharma-
1, ', • ' •
J8J
/deals of /luman Life
which
ari se wh at is tha t 'dh arm a',
th e qu est ion wo uld na tur all y na tur e
e Gi ta be ing sil en t ov er the
declines fro m age to age. Th st tha t
dh arn rn, thi s mn ~ me m~ va rio u s thi ng s. So me sug ge
of ca ll
is say ing so me thm g ag am st mo ral ab so luti sm an d ma y
Gita the
ric al rel ati vis m' . W he n Gi ta says tha t in every age
't 'histo ,
is re- est ab lis he d, it ma y be , in the word s of W est erm ark
~hanna e
pe rsu ad e pe op le no t on ly tha t the ir mo ral ideas req uir
bid "to
8
bu t tha t the ir law s as far as po ss ible, ou gh t to co me
improvement, t in the
. " 20 It ma y als o me an tha
upto the im pro ve d sta nd ard bro ug ht
e mo ral code3 sh ou ld be
changing society, the ob so let es. Th e
-to -da te to me et the req uir em en ts of the ch an ge d tim
up lut e
sts , wh o ad vo ca te th at mo ral ity ha s so me 'ab so
Absol uti
i standard ', for ge t th at we ca nn ot ac t in dis reg ard to the soc
ial
consequences of ou r ac ts. tha t

bin g to the sim ila r co nte nti on
Co mm un ism ha s be en su bs cri on of
co de s in ev ery ag e ref lec t the rel ati on s of pro du cti
ethical d,
In wh ate ve r w1 y thi s ass ura nc e of Gi ta is un de rst oo
that age.
t the so ur ce of dh arm a is no t Go d. It is no t the
it is certain tha social
mm an dm en t of an y au tho rit y, bu t it flows fro m the
co
~g en cie s.
g for the sen se in wh ich 'D ha rm a' ha s be en use d by
Searchin
ve to go ba ck to an oth er pie ce of dia log ue of
Gita, we will ha be en
me an ing s of Dh arm a ha ve
Kr~~a an d Ar jun a, wh ere the e, wh at,
lai ned by Kr ~:: ia. Th ree ve rse s in Mahabharata ela bo rat
,exp
r the es tab lis hm en t of wh ich Kr~r_1a pro mi ses in Gi ta.
is dh arm a, fo
ys : "D ha rm a ha s be en cre ate d for the we ll- be ing
There Kr~r:ia sa "a ll tha t saves fro m
21 It ha s be en fu rth er po int ed ou t th at
of all ." tol d
all the be ing s, is dh ar ma ." 22 Th ere aft er, it ha s be en
any ha rm
bo rat ive wa y, "D ha rm a is tha t, wh ich su sta ins pe op le
in a mo re ela su sta ins the cr~ ati on ,
ly th at pr inc ipl e, wh ich
(praja~) ; de fin ite nu ed to ma int ain the
en as dh arm a. "23 If Kr~i:ia co nti
must be tak
wi tho ut fal lin g int o the fal lac y of eq uiv oc ati on , the n
~ame po sit ion tha t su sta ins
lD Gi ta, dh arm a wo uld
co me to me an a "p rin cip le
s be en
d sa feg ua rd s it fro m be ing de str oy ed .~/ Th is ha
'~Ociety an
ak ris hn an . In view of the se
24
as 'ri gh teo us ne ss' by Ra dh
interpreted d tha t Gita
fin itio ns pu t fo rth by M ah ab ha ra ta, it ca n be sai
~e is
em ph as ize th at wh en ev er· the so cia l eq uil ibr ium
w.ants to
the so cia l for ce s co nc ret ise
d so cie ty is thr ea ten ed ,
dt~turbed an t roy
th emselves in the fo rm of so me his tor ic pe rso na lit y to deS
4
t""S'tYCC .:t:: =, i I : •
184
Co mm un ism and c- _
Jl(a
_the evil do ers (du~krtam) an
d to res tor e a value-system
revivified ac co rdi ng to social duly
needs. An implication of thi
assertion is tha t mo ral ch ao s
an d social imbalances ha ve bee
recognised as evil m Gi ta. W he s
rev er the re oc cu r serious tensio
in life, when a so rt of va lue -ne nn
ga tiv ism inv ad es the human hea
then the mo ral no rm s are rtss
rei nte rpr ete d to inspire the
in general. Ra dh ak ris hn an po peopl~
int s ou t tha t '·to preserve
eq uil ibr ium , an an sw eri ng ma the
nif est ati on of wisdom and rig
eousness is essential. " 26 So me ht-
his tor ic en titi es representing
asp ira tio ns of masses emerge on the
the scene. By virtu~ of this figh
for jus tic e an d rig ht cause, the t
se mo ral me n are exalted to
sta tus of divinity in the eyes of the
the pe op le.
Co mm en tin g on thi s verse of
Gi ta, Ga nd hij i says : " Here
co mf ort for the faithful an d is
aff irm ati on of the tru th tha t
ever pre va ils ." 26 Su ch ass ert ion right
of fai th is essential to keep the
society rev erb era ted wi th mo
ral en thu sia sm an d thereby sav
fro m falling int o the sta te of e it
'an om ie' . In a pra cti ca l discip
if the ideals pla ced in it do line,
no t ins pir e faith, pe op le will
follow the co urs e suggested hardly
by tha t. In Co mm un ist Afanif
also, M arx ha s provitled esto
sim ila r ass ura nc e. He says :
(bo urg eo is) fall an d the victor "It s
y of the pro let ari at are equ
inevitable. " 27 ally
✓ [Dh ar ma is So cia l :
An oth er en d to be realized alo
ng wi th Dh arm a is svadharma,
wh ich oc cu pie s very im po rta nt
pla ce in Gi ta. It ha s been catego
ca lly ass ert ed by the au tho r of ri-
Gi ta tha t, "B ett er on e's own du
(svadharma,J be ref t of me rit tha ty
n an oth er' s well pe rfo rm ed ; be
is -d ea th in the dis ch arg e of on tter
e's du ty ; an oth er' s du ty is fra
with da ng er. ught
(sreyiili svadharmo vigurJab parad
harmat svanu.r!hitat ;
svadharme nidhanam sreyab pa
radharmo bhayavahab). 28
Th e sam e ass ert ion ha s be en rei
ter ate d in the co nc lud ing chapter
wh ere in it ha s be en sai d tha t
"b ett er on e's du ty, however ber
of me rit (sreyan svadharmo vig eft
u'}ab). 29 Em ph asi s ha s been lai
Gi ta tha t if a ma n fails in his d by
du ty, he loses his ho ri ou r a nd
incur~ sin ;ao By lay ing em ph asi
s on the co nc ep t of svadhar"
Gi ta suggests tha t on e sh ou !a,
ld sea rch for his rol e in the
wh ole ac co rdi ng to his ow h socia l
na tur e an d find as to ho w
he can
fffld __
Jdtals of Human Life 185
.contribute to the principle

. · of th e sustenn 1,cc
· 0 1· soc·1et Y (di rnrma)
,1Jn this way, the Gita conveys the idea that when a man comes t~
understand. . as.· to how, he .can be · •
conducive 1•0 m·," ·int ammg t 11c
. .
·social equ1ltb1 mm, he can make It n law of his conduct (svakarma)
,(XVIII. 46), ~1nd (sve sve karmm,ii) (XVUI. 45). This resolves the
should man
,crisis of choice of . one's . conJuct. But whcrefrom
draw his mora l o bl 1gat1on ? \Vhat is its source ? A deeper stud of
0 ~-Gita would show that roots of morality lie in the social con!ext.
An individual then needs to take an honest judgement himself as
:to where his dut_y as a socia~ _b_eing lies. Such a choice will bring
.a sense of social respons1b1hty in him. Milne substantiates this
·view and says that the "morally responsible agent, properly
so-called the morally autono ,nous agent, is he, who takes full
respon5ibility of what he does. " 31 Kantian principle of
~ategorical imperative makes it very difficult to decide as to
who is to be treated as means, and who as the end, because
in social context, one ·s action will definitely affect the others.
Similarly, the principle of "maximum happiness of maximum
number," leaves one unable to decide as to who would be happier
.and whose happinrss would be decreased in society by his action
unless a man conducts a public opinion in advance. Sartre's
formula of 'involveme nt in organised situation' is certainly a
better guide. Sartre holds, that '·Man finds himself in an organised
.situation in which he is himself involved. His choice involves
mankind in its entirety ... it is impossible for him not to take
,complete responsibility for his choice. " 32 This formula may
.approximate the principle of svadharma with the exception that
here in Gita the involvemen t is according to Gm:ia and Karma.
Unlike Sartre Gita does not preach 'abandonme nt'. The law ~f
.svadharma instead is a principle of the recognition of one's public
responsibility. . ff
In a larger society the conduct of one man will definitely a ect
·Other people even th~se whom he does not and cannot ipso fac~o
iknow, His contact with them may be impersonal ~u~ It ~s
nonetheless real. For example, the conduct of a farmer tillI~g hl Is
"'tarm will . affect eve 1 those whom he does no t know · Accordmg Y,t
'f 'b'l' ny whom he does no
4 he neglects th ·s respons1 1 ity, ma ~ d Thus
•n
1 b adversely auecte
e . he would require
•
want to injure deliberately , ~
for regulating one's conduct zn absentia,
j,
186
Communism and Gzta
a guide to carry out his obligati
on sincerely and as a service t
the society. The best possible cou
rse for him would be to dischar 0
·
his obligation accord mg to t 11e · 1 po · · · hi s
soc1a s1t1on m var nge
Rashdall sounds a similar conte
ntion : "a man's duty con sists ina.
performing some special function
marked out for him by his
position in the social organism. " 33
The efficacy of the concept of sva
dharma can be realized alI the
more in modern times, when ba
ttering attacks on ethics are being
made by the positivists. Joining the
ir camp, Russell also sugges ts
that "m ora l meanings must be iso
lated from philosophy," 34 as the
discursive intelligence will no t be
able to decide the issues inv olving
'ought'. But by so saying, he does
not deny morality per se. The
only idea behind his verdict is tha
t the source of moral obli ga tion
should be searched somewhere els
e than in the field of scie ntific
investigations, methodological dis
cussion and analytic intellec -
tualism. He, therefore, says : "W
hile it is true that science cannot
decide the question of value, tha t
is because they cannot be decided
intellectually at all and lie outsid
e the realm of truth and fal se-
hood."35 In the light of this, any
endeavour to find an intellectual
basis for ethics will be a 'terrible
business'. That seems to be the
reason that Indian thinkers in
general have not indulged in
the dispute of meanings of mo
ral judgement but they have con-
cerned themselves with the source
of moral obligation. Such pit-
j \ falls can be avoided if the sou
rce of moral obligation is localiz ed
in the social context. In the light
of this discussion, it may be
inferred that, in Gita, the obligati
on flows from the prehension of
organic unity and in searching fer
one's place in society according
to Gur:ia and Karma. This is an
end to be realized by man in his.
life as the ba)is of all other purufart
has.
Artha:
The social obligations cannot be
discharged without some
material resources. So, the concep
t of dharma presupposes art/ia .
Q1.1oting vedic testimony, Gokh
ale has defined artha as the
''material goods for the discharge
of one's obligation." 36 Prabhu
understands artha "as referring
to all the means nece sary for
acquiring worldly prosperity. " 37
Artha is important because
deprived of artha, the material res
ources, a man will be deprived
of his dharma also. Gita has made
a sweeping reference to artha,
111111144('.$!; ~
Ideals of Human Li fe
18 T
Presumab . ly be ca us e it ha s tak en it for granted tl at th
supposed by dharma: Th at dh ' 1 · pre•
arm a an d art ha go togethar a 1s
er ha s been
llpheld by oth er Ind ian sch oo ls
also. Fo r ex am pl
vana t~n tra h~ lds tl~at _dha , e, M ,t, 11a- par111 · 1r·
•
rma, a rth a a nd kama go tog
(dharma.rtha kamadam v1ghna ethe r
. d' hara1f1 nirvanak < ira na m)
, 3s Tt
rge of svadharma, the. instru
laying e~ ph as is on the isc ha , c:
1lU v , Jn
•
of art ha 1s pre su pp os ed . me nta lity

Ap art , fro m thi s, im po rta nc
e of art ha an d ka ma has
emphasized by Gi ta in an oth been
er way. Gi ta expresses grave
to ·save the ins tit\ ltio n of family concern
fro m be ing ruined Un conse
.sevea verses in 1st Ch ap ter ) wh ere cutive·
in i\r jun a argues tha t " their
wits wr ap pe d by gre ed , see
no t the gu ilt tha t lies in destr
family" (lobhopahata cetasa~ oying
ku lak ,ra ya krt am ). 3 ) lt ha s
that as a na tur al c ms eq ue nc e be en shown
of the de str uc tio n pf the ins
of family, the wh ole so cie ty titu tio n
wo uld de ge ne rat e. Th is shows
great significance of the fam ily the
as a soc ial ins titu tio n and
duties tha t fam ily is to pe rfo rm of the--
. Ac co rdi ng ly, in lay ing emph
family, the va lue of art ha an d asis on
ka ma is als o au t0matically rec
ed, because the ma in pu rp os e of fam ognis-
ily for ma tio n in Hi nd u ethics
has be en to rea liz e art ha .
au d ka ma alo ng wi th dh arm
,ca arthe ca kame ca ntiticaritavya a (dharme ·
tvayeyam). 40 Th us , the concep
of art ha as a so cia l va lue is ve t
ry im po rta nt in Ind ian tho ug
Ind ian thi nk ers ha ve no t rep ht. Th e
ud iat ed ec on om ic pro sp eri ty,
have eu log ise d po ve rty . On the no r the y ·
co ntr ary , wretchedness (da rid
and po ve rty ha ve be en rec og rya )
nis ed by Ind ian s as curse. 41 Ka
has also de no un ce d th e irr ati uti lya
on al ten de nc y of va ira gy a
Ar tha sas tra be ca us e it is co ns in his
ide red ha rm ful for the ma ter
,gress of so cie ty. He go es to ial pro •
the ex ten t to pre scr ibe tha t "o
takes rec ou rse to asc eti cis m an d me ~e wh ?
nd ac ity wi tho ut fu\fi\hng his
social an d fam ily res po ns ibi lif es --
mu st be pu nis he d by the State. 42
Tk e ma ter ial we ll- be ing of '.'
so cie ty ha s no t be en ou t of
lndia11 life, an d po ve rty ha s ne ve t_une wi~h
r be en a na tio na l i~e a\ m
No bo dy wo uld do ub t thi s fac ln~ ia.
t tha t the lives, which are sta
and str ain ed ca nn ot be the liv es :ve d
of dh arm th
a. Th ere for e, _ar af 18 . a
pre su pp os iti 'on fo r th e ful fil f dh
me nt o a,.ma. In the lig.ht o this,
What Gita rep ud iat es is no t ar bu t the greed tor money
''l b th a as su e11 •
,,o
w
ha), att ac hm en t '(asakt1) .
cra vin
·
g
( aga) false pn'd e 0 f the ir
r
1
· ea th (dh an am tin am ad an - . ,) ' t\"''lt when
vlf a.i etc . It wa nts to c.onvey · 1
money be co me s th e so le mo 'fe t· '

follows .
tto Of l 1 ' de ge ne ra 1011 •
-
18 8
Communism
.R as hd al l expresses th e sim and G11 a
ila r views an d sa ys : "I t is
th at th e influence of exc often C
e_ss~ve_ wealth_ up ~n th e m
-0f its possessors m ay be as oral w~l~~it~en
m Ju no us as its influence
·th e m or al an d ph ys ica l we in d e,ng
ll- be in g of th e po or . "4 a
In m od er n tim es , pr ob ab ecreasi ng
ly th er e is no th in ke r ot he
wh o ha s so ve he m en tly r th an M
" co nd em ne d th e te nd en cy of ac .a_rx,
.m on ey 1o r m on ey ,s sa k e. C on d em . .
"E I nm g th is ten de nc y he quiri
ns av e d b h . .
y t e acqu1s1t1.ve m an ia . . ng
,
, th e hu m an species powr
-~h ol e ':e al th . of •~s . . . u itesh ·.
sp ec ie s- po we r m to th e rs t
Jm po ve ns he s its el f m th wo rld ly god, ande
e pr oc es s. Th e in ne r wo rld
..man is pr og re ss iv ely de va of the work i
lu ed . " 44 Th is co nd em na tio
Marx, be ca us e he th i~ n comes frong
ks lik e G ita th at on ce th
.m an , it goes on pe rp et ua e greed ta ke s ov :
tin g an d th er e is no en d
to Marx, a gr ee dy m an to it. Accord ing
, th e ca pi ta lis t "w or sh ip
-ex te rn al ise d po te nt ia lit y s money as the
of m an ki nd , an d 'al m ig
--confers un lim ite d po w er ht y being' tha t
up on its po ss es so r. " 45 Ac
be co m es th e di vi ne po we cordingly, money
r fo r th em th at ov er tu rn s
.p eo pl e ta ke m on ey as th e all things. When
cr ite ria of ev al ua tin g th e
-then it is w ith th e ro wo rth of man,
d of m on ey th at th ey m ea
·Chase fidality, lo ve -llnd in su re or even pur-
tel lig en ce . Th er ef or e, it
•-Of m on ey fo r m on ey 's sa ke is this tendency
, th at G ita ha s co ns id er
.an d th at se em s to be ed undesir able
th e re as on th at it ha s no
-as an ex clu siv e id ea l de t affirmed 'arth a'
ta ch ed fro m sy nt he tic sc he
Thus sp ea ki ng , A rth a m m e of puru~a rtha.
ay be ac qu ire d on ly as
·-so ci al go od , as pa rt of pa rt of higher
dh ar m a, an d it sh ou ld
·.in tri ns ic in ce nt iv e fo r th no t form the
e co nd uc t.
Kama:
Th e co nc ep t of ka m a al so
fo llo ws fro m th e co nc ep
.a nd as a ps yc ho -m or al t of dharm a
ba se of as ra m a th eo ry .
its co nt ex t an d se en in iso la De ta ch ed fro m
tio n, it be co m es th e ca
-fall. W ith in th e sc he m e us e of man's
of no rm al hu m an life,
-been we ll re co gn ise d in its effica cy has
In di an sy ste m s. K am ad ev
•bu t a go d of H in du pa nt a is no t a de ~on.
he on . K am a is a pr in ci pl
·D en ou nc in g ka m a as sin e of pr oc re ation .
fu l, is to sa y th at wh ol e
·pr od uc t of sin . Th is at tit hu m an ity is th e
ud e is to ta lly un -In di an
tra ry , th e H in du s re co gn . O n th e co n~
ise th e 'se xu al co m m un io
·fe m al e po w er ' (sivasaktl n of m ale _an
mithunapiTJ4a) 46 as th e
-T he ta nt ra s go to th e ex sa cr ed communion.
te nt of sa yi ng th at un 1 ·
de r ymg hu01an
(deals of Human Life 189·
personality, main factor~~ Sakti, which is of the nature of erotic ·

wave'S (s~undaryalaltari). . This may be called the libidinal energy
of Freudian conce pt. This Saund arya Lahari is said to be of th
nature of uncre ated bliss (iitm rinanda). Referring to the natur :
48
of this anand a, Radha krishn an tells us that it is a 'procreative

etfort'.49 In tantra , the Devi has also been referred to as ka ma-
ka/a. This kala has been conceived as the psycho-motor-energy
that moves the body (prasarar;,an1 prera1J,am sa kurvao tamsa k
kala). 50 Puttin g all these passages togeth er, it comes to mean that
the libidinal energy (Saundarya Laharz) is the primary motor
force (kiimakala), a creati ve power , from which all the huma n
faculties are activa ted. Thus, in recognising that Sakti is the first
and the suprem e princi ple of the universe, and identifying Devi·
· as Kamakala, the Indian thinke rs have recognised that sex energy-
is the primary princi ple of huma n personality.
Freud also recognised the prima cy of sex as the found ationa l
factors in person ality forma tion. He went to the extent that the
erotic desire in man is the expression of the highest ideal that he-
wants to achieve. Freud held that "the pleasure principle is-
51
nothing but the expre ssion of NirvaIJa princi ple." Freudians still
use the word 'Nirva l)a' in the field of psychiatry to denote the-
d~ire of man to realize his real basis of personality.
H such is the impor tance of kamakala in Indian philosophy, why-
it has been denou nced as somet hing immo ral? Gita has included
kama in the schem e of puru~ artha <XVIII. 34). But at various.
places, Gita has denou nced it as the enemy of man,
(kama e,ra krodha e,ra rajoguT}asamudbhavab ; 52
mahasano maltapapma viddhyenamiha vairil:iam).
It has been denou nced as enemy (kamarupam duriisadam}
(111. 43), and gate of hell (narkasye'dam dviira'!1) (~VI._ 21). The
reason for this denun ciator y attitud e towar ds kama 1s ev1de~t. For
When it is detach ed from the regula tory sphere of dharm a, . it can
P~ay a corrup tive role in society. Kama , as a separat~ end ts~lated
. from social need and not as an integr al part of trzvarga, ts not
. acceptable to Gita. Gand hi point·s out that ''when artha and
kam.a are divorced from Dharm a, they lead not to Mok~a but to·
.
Predition. ,,lia
Accordingly any societ y that wants to consolidate its energT1he~,
·
-Will need some' contro l and regula tion the sex norms. is
over
-.1.~
190 Communh,rn
. and Glta
o~~P has been recognize.d by com mun ist p1an ners . a,J~q ,..Cla i .
t he attit ude of com mun ist part y towa rds the prob1em of
sex t fying
Leni n wrot e in one of his lette rs in 1920 that "he did not 0
; rrns,
,exte nsio n of the bour geoi s brot hel to com mun ist societies 11
,, Le ~n
ther efore , sugg ested in that lette r in a high ly mor alisin
: nin,
"sexual licen tious ness belo ngs to the bour geoi s world
. It gisone,
-evid ence of deca y. Self -con trol, self- disci pline , is not
slavery ,~5~
Such a denu ncia tory attit ude towa rds free sexu ality
ty a ·
m un ist thin ker of the statu s of Leni n show s the evil cons
equecom-
to whic h it coul d lead . nces
Ther efor e, the corr ect attit ude wou ld be that ka ma
shou ld
'fem ain root ed in dhar ma and shou ld not be allow ed to
be sepa-
rated from it. Thu s spea king , it is not the proc reati ve
principle,
that Gita has deno unce d in repu diati ng kam a, but
it is out of
cont ext satis facti on. Gita does not prea ch asce ticis m or
celibacy
10 Arju na. For the cont inua tion of norm al proc
reati ve life in
socie ty, the efficacy of kam a has to be recognisedr To unde
rstand
·G ita's view corr ectly , we seek help from Prasastapada,
the law
give r. Acco rdin g to his class ifica tion , 'alth ough kam
a signifies
the sexu al crav ing in ordi nary usag e, yet when it is parti
cularised,
it may desig nate 'long ing', e.g., long ing for happ iness
in heaven
( svarg a kam anii) , for weal th (arth a kiima nii) etc.' 55
' It is in this
sense of the kam a that it is the caus e of bond age and,
therefore,
denu ncia tory . The crea tion of the fine arts for aesthetic
enjoy-
men t (rasa siistr a) and to satis fy the proc reati ve desire withi
n the
prescribe d limit s of dhar ma wou ld be nece ssary to enric
h life.
Thu s spea king , the thre e idea ls, dhar ma, arth a and ka ma
will have
to be prac tised as a harm onio us synt hesis to mak e the life
rich.
Life Affirming Scfleme :
A gene ral reflection - on these three ide8ls shows that
th~se
puru ~arth as have been t:,uilt up by a proc ess of cons
tructi ve
il.llagination out of success and failures of socia l li fe . \i
Yhen we
go t hrou gh in seek ing to satis fy our basic needs, then
if we st0 P
shor t at the level of satis facti on of the physiological drive
s, we ar_e
red uced to the anim al level or to the level of moro nes.
But -~
som e high er e nds are there , then a hiera rchy will have to
be ~ai
dow n in orde r to allot prio rity to them . This needs a socio 1
-ellli ca
insig ht. Gins berg has put forth the same suggestio .
n wh en he says
II
ldeals o f Human L ife
u a\ ~'lR,C ~lhic~J prin cipl e 191

1,,4;,<t,,
r, is in vo lved in co nstruc
hierarchy.'· 6 Qu ot in tin g a systematic
g th e testim ony fr
b.a'S rightly summ ar iz o m tvlturn sn1r ti, Pr ab
ed the view of th e In hu
teal good of man co ns dian th inke rs th nt '' the
is ts in a proper ng
11uru~ar thas ." 5i Acco rdin gl y th is sc hem grcgntc of th ese three
positive an d \ife•nffir
I
e of tr iwzrga is th e
min g appr oa ch , us mos t
to satisfy th e emot ion it pr ovid es rich av
al, bi enues
The summurn bmm m do ological and socb \ as pects of ind iv idual.
es not requir e us to
desire s. It only requ canc el our mund an
ires th at we should e
proper perspective. The learn to place them
recognition of these in
of th e fa .:t th at p sy ch end s is the expres sion
o·biological and econ
be th er e, but th e life omic satisfactions
must be regulated may
prfaci p\e of social co according to the hi
hesion, and human gher
dhar ma as the basis dignity. By emphas
of all puru~ arthas, G izing
.a regulated life is a ita wants to convey
means to the real free that
dom and prosperity
Alok~a : .
The ideal of mokia oc
cupies central place
It is a well accepted in Indian philosophy.
tradition in Indian
]>laced as the high thought that Mok~a
est end of human is
As Dr. Maitra puts it, li fe -S um m um Bon
"I t is customary inde um.
'kinds of puru~arthas ed to distinguish four
or en ds -d ha rm a, ar
<011t of this, mok tha, kama and mok
~a is considered to ~a ;
mum Bonum." 58 Vario be parama puru~a rt
us schools of Indian ha -S um -
ideal in various ways, thought present this
bu t the underlying
man wants to get free idea seems to be
dom from the vagari that
from his narrow lim es of environmentalis
itations, and from m,
This type of dissatisfa his alienated existe
ction with the presen nce.
Man 's relative unhapp t is a moral cravin
iness with the finite g.
lJlod es of his existenc categories and limite
e is the expression of d
wants to realise. Acc his greatn ess, whi ch
ordingly, those, who he
th in g pragmatic fictio regard mok ~a as so
n, sh me-
rise beyond the pres ow their distrust in man's capacities to
ent conditions. If a
~ se of his misery, an man knows what is th
d why he has fall en e
tions, it may be po ss ib victim to th ese lim
le for him to remedy ita-
is not condemned to re tho se conditi ons. :M
main as he is. Maitrn an
~ut that "those, wh~ therefore ri ghtly poin
say th at there is no ts
of miseries are wro release fr om th e ~h
ng. This is possib ain
bhavanadi.''~i In this le through pra t1pak
way, Mok ~a. serves .ra
as the heuristic idea
l
192
Communism and Gttci
(apavarga) an d every sy st em tr ie s to ex pl
ai n it in its ow
way. G 1·ta 1•n line w it h In di an th ou gh b
m t . as pu t for th th n·
b t ok ta in va ri ou s w ay s. A cc or di ng1 . . e ide
a ou
a y, 1t re qu ir es a bia
el ab or at e de sc ri pt io n ·
to assess 1ta 's s ta d . t b t
(a) Transcending th n po m a ou~ mok~a.
e di al ec tic al m o~ es
man is suffering be ca : A ~c or dm g to G
us e of th e di al ec ti ca ita ,.
samutthena dvandva moh l _existence (iccha dv
ena bharata) an d th e e~a
tr an sc en d th e di al ec tic id ea l be fo re him is to
al pr oc es s (te dvandv
main dr efhavrataM. 60 T amoha nirmukta bhaj
he sa m e id ea is re fl ante
fifteenth, w hi ch says ec te d in ve rs e 5 of ch
th at th os e go to th apter
who ha ve tr an sc en de e im pe ri sh ab le heaven
d th e di al ec ti ca l m od
vim11kt al:i). F ro m es of ex is te nc e (dvand va
th es e pa ss ag es , it ir
place so m e su pr a- m ap pe ar s th at G it a do
un da ne or so m e m es not
m an . T he m an is ti et ap hy si ca l ideal
re d of th e co nf li ct before
pr ac tic al life an d w an s an d an ta go ni sm
ts to find a w ay ou of his
go be yo nd th e co nt ra t o f th at an ta go ni sm . To
di ct io ns (dvandvair
to go be yo nd th is vi m uk ta M does no t mea
w or ld , bu t it on ly n
co nt ra di ct io ns . M ar x m ea ns to resolve
fa ce d th e sa m e pr ob the
very clear. H e sa id le m an d hi s views
, "H e (P ro ud ha n) ha are
th e re al m ea ni ng of s fa il ed to compreh
th e di al ec ti ca l id ea end
co m in g of all du al is , w hi ch lo ok s to th e over-
m , al l co nt ra di ct io ns 61
was also se ar ch in g ." It sh ow s th at Marx
fo r a w or ld 'b ey on
'b ey on d' does no t m d' al l th e conflicts
ea n th at it m us t be , but
A t psychological leve a tr an sc en de nt al world.
l al so , th e sa m e id
an ot he r way. M od er ea ha s be en expressed
n ps yc ho th er ap y em in
m en ta l factors pu t st ph as iz es th at th e en
ress an d pr es su re on viron-
cause gr ea t contlicts hu m an pe rs on al it y
in hi m . Th.e ne ur og and
genic fr us tr at io ns cr en ic te ns io ns an d ps
ea te m an y ab no rm al ycho-
therapeutics is to it ie s, an d th e ai m
ta ke m an on ce ag of the
existence, which is ai n to hi s tension-
'b free
m ea ni ng of mok~a al ey on d' th e conflicts. T hi s seems to be
so the
(b) B id to Perfec
tion :· T he id ea l
conceived fr om an ot of m ok sa ha s be
he r angle. T he aw ar en
sy m pt om of m an 's im en es s of ·tensions is
pe rf ec ti on . If th e bo the
are br ok en an d th e nd s of his limitatio
ho ri zo ns of m an ar ns
blissful feeling to hi e w id en ed it brings
m . Th.e li m it at io ns a
broken_ by de~eloping of hu m an ii fe can
ou r ca pa ci ti es in a be
perfection. T hi s ca n way th at we may rea
be possible w he n an c_h
atomized existence in di vi du al brings bi
in ha rm on y w it h th s
e social exis_tence.
Th e
;SY
tr
Jdea:ls of Human Life

193
dis cre te in di vi du al ity is
th e pr od uc t of m an 's
The 19 th ce nt ur y la iss ow n ig no ra nc e.
ez fa ire ty pe of in di vi du
pr od uc t of th e de hu ali sm , was th e
m an isi ng an d pe tri fie
co nd iti on s. If th is lim ita d so cio -e co no mi c
tio n is ca nc ell ed an d ma
is on e wi th th e hu ma ni ty n rea liz es th at he
, he feels rel ea se d fro m th
th is th em e ha s be en pr e na rro w eg ois m.
es en ted in th e tw elf th
says : "p er fo rm in g ac tio ch ap ter of Gi ta. It
ns fo r my sa ke , yo u sh all att ain pe rfe
(si dd hi ). 6 2 Th e id ea l pl cti on ' '
ac ed in th is wa y is hig
It wa nt s to sa y th at a hly pr ac tic al ide al.
cu ltu re d m an wo ul d be
co nq ue re d th e pe tty pe rs th at wh o ha s
on al am bi tio ns an d th e
tio ns of lif e. A t an ot he sh all ow tem pt a-
r pl ac e, Gi ta su gg es ts
(sa ms id dh i), ca n be ac hi th at pe rfe cti on
ev ed by di sc ha rg in g by
all ot ted ta sk . 63 Th us , ev ery on e hi s
fo r re ali zin g th e hi gh
pe rfe cti on , m an is no t to es t aim of life,
go to an ot he r wo rld , bu
to di sc ha rg e hi s so cia l ta t he is su pp os ed
sk . Su ch a se ns e of ~e
co me s wh en m an di sc ha rf ec tio n (si dd hi)
rg es -h is du tie s ho ne stl y
no t wi th pr of it mo tiv ~, bu an d sin ce re ly ;
t wi th a se ~s e of service
This id ea th at m an at ta in to hu ma ni ty .
s to th e_hi gh es t by do in
att ac hm en t (a sa kto hy ac g wo rk wi th ou t
ar an ka rm a pa ra ma pn oti
its m an ife sta tio n in va rio puru~ab) fo rm s
us fo rm s at va rio us pla
all 1efer to a hi gh id ea l · be ces in Gi ta. Th ey
fo re th e m an . W he n th
de ter mi ne d by on e's lim e false eg ois m
ita tio ns di sa pp ea rs ; wh en
pr eh en siv e un ity of _m an he realizes tk e
ki nd , an d wh en th e fin
th at hi s in ter es ts ar e id en ite m an realizes
tic al wi th th e in ter es t of
acts as a so cia l be in g, no so cie ty, he th en
t co nf in ed to an y pa rti cu
wo rk in g fo r th e so cie lar . gr ou p b~ t
ty as a wh ol e. Th e re
_pc eh en siv e un ity is th e ali za tt? n of th!s
re lea se (m uk ti) f:om_ th e
own lim ita tio ns . Th e un de va ga ne s of one_s
rly in g as su mp tio n 1s th at
our po in t of vi ew th e m or . th e na ~o we : 18
e hke1Y we ar e to fall in to incons1stenc1es,
co nt ra di cti on s an' d co nf . k · h s rig
. d
lic ts. M ac en zie a . htl y po mt e ou t
,t ha t "t he wj de r un iv er se
ma y be re d d as hi gh er or be tte r t h
- · . . ga r e ' an
the na rro we r on e, sm ain tai n a mo •t t
ce 1t en ab les us to ~ . re co ns1s en
· . . · th efficacy of thi
po m t of vie w 1n ou r ac tio ns . ''6 " Ex pl am mg e s
hjg h idea\ as a pr ac tic al d t Ra dh ak ris hn an
gu id e fo r hu m an f co n t~
tells · us th at ''o n th e at tio n th e hi sto ri-
~1 ta in m en t O . pd~r-~ua\ ~o
• mpletes his
te rm in at es ; wh.en on
' ~'lt l · ex ist en ce •
e m iv1
P»rpose, he de ve lo ps th lit of ou tlo ok , th e ch ar ac te-
· • e un iv er sa _Y . d'v 'du al·
·~l&tic of pe rfe ct io n,. ity as ce nt re
bu t re tai·n~ hi.s. m 1 1 '
lo st hu ma ni'ty , he feels
•.Of ~ction." 66 Whe n a
1
m an rc ga ms has
if$ n:b 0
..r
i ~
194 Communism and Olia
united with mankind and the r~~uttant dignity of existe nee

as a 'real human being._ This is the real meaning of self-
realization . This type of underlying unity of mankind ca nnot 0
a pprehended by empirical methods. The sciences in ;i ll thei;
inductive generalizations have assumed the underl ying uni fo rmit
behin d the particular facts , as a formal ground of indu cti on . Bu~
they are unable to prove this underlying uniformity emp iri call y.
For t his purpose, man is to apprehend rationally. The social
b ond s are the psychic nexus, and the social unity is a ' fe lt unity',
T he orga nic unity of society is not a matter of emp irical
observat ion. The empirical method concerns itself with 'facts' but
the unity of mankind is 'ideal' and 'essential'. For the realization
of t hat prehension is needed which takes us beyond the
particularised modes of our empirical existence. It is in this sense
only that mok~a can be called trans-empirical (piiralaukik a). This
is the ·methodological transcendence' of the empirical.
(c) Mokia as Happiness : Describing the nature of this ideal,
G ita fuTther tells that "he who finds happiness only within , rest
o nly within, light only within -that yogi having become one with
nature, attains Brahma-nirva]Ja (V. 24). This is the process of
'attaining oneness with Brahman'. 66 This blissful state of existence
can be attained while living in this world by resisting the flood
tide of lust and wrath (Kiimakrodhodbhavarh vegam) as laid down
by Gita.117 This ideal of searching for happiness within by resisting
the allo-erotic tendencies cancels all sorts of frustrations of life.
It is a psychological fact well recognised by all the therapeutic
disciplines that unless the man resolves his inner conflicts, he
cannot enjoy the material comforts of life. To a neurotic or a
pathological person, the whole world appears to be putting stress
on his personality. When the underlying conflicts, repression s and
vagar ies of the unconscious which trouble a man from within,
are purged, man feels an inner enjoyment of amelioration.
With out that, the external objects cannot give happiness to man.
The materialism has so much dominated us that we have
forgotten that man is far greater than any material object. If
today he is feeling satisfaction with a radio, tomorrow he will frel
disgusted from it and run after televisions, only to be dissat is~ed
from it after some time. This sort of dissatisfaction with one thing
after the other shows that his happiness, the happiness that he is
1
/deals of Human Life 195

-1 • g for is far higher. In his hectic sear ch, he
searC 1111 ' . . tum bles
etimes on this obJe ct and som etim es on that but soon he
sornrzes
I
that thes e are f ar m
· feno· r to t I1e h appm
. ess t h a t h
e
rea
requires. If pleasures are con d 1t1on· · ed b y exte l b ·
ma o Jects, t e h
people will always rem~in frust_rated and m~re they_are
frus trat_e d,
the more the society will rem am torn by strif e and Jeal
ousy. Gita ,
therefore, is righ t in sayi ng that the sour ce of happ ines
s shou ld be
one's own feeling of dign ity and real izati on that he
is a 'ma n',
·the producer of the mat eria l mod es and not the slav
e of them .
This is the enjo yme nt of his own creativeness.
Marx also expresses simi lar opin ion. It may be rele vant to
reca ll
the stan dpoi nt of Mar x, acco rdin g to whi ch man
pr9d uces a
world of alien wea lth, and in so prod ucin g, ensl aves
him self und er
the task mas ter of greed to the obje cts of his own
crea tion . The
crux of Mar xian thin king is that the 'wor ld of obje cts'
depr ives
man of his hum anit y. He care s mor e for the obje
cts than his
own real wor th as if the obje cts are not exis ting for
him , but he
is existing for the objects. He redu ces him self to 'mea
ns'. Onc e
his human dignity is lost, he star ts sear chin g for it in
the obje cts.
Sometimes he thin ks that dign ity wou ld be rest ored
to him if he
has ·a n abun danc e of furn iture and som etim es he
thin ks that
ornaments will brin g him the lost dign ity. But soon
he feels
dismayed and star ts sear chin g afre sh new objects. Tuc
ker righ tly
iummarizes the Mar xian posi tion and says that "sla ving
und er the
task master of gree d, he prod uces a wor ld of alien wea
lth whe rein
.' ultimately ·he is to fo1d him self. " 68 But whe n the alien
ated wor ker
starts searching him self in the obje ctive wor ld, he
inste ad of
becoming happ y, beco mes mor e cons ciou s of his
bon dage , his
-Oppression and expl oita tion . He wan ts to over thro w
his bon dage
which is the caus e of his suffering. Mar x him self
says : "Th us,
alienated man is ensl aved man , endu ring torm ent in his
prod ucti ve
activity. He develops no free phys ical and spir itua
l energy, but
mortifies his bod y and ruin s his spir it. " 69
Gita , in emp hasi zing that happ ines s is to be soug
ht from
Within, wan ts to brea k the fette rs on the ever
-dev elop ing
l)roductive pow er of man . It conveys that in orde
r to prev ent
::du e. frus trati ons, man shou ld enjo y the wor ld of
1 obje cts from
e,point of view of a 'cre ator ' and prod ucer (jan aka)
and not as
an enslaved cons1Jmer'. This is the attit ude of 'ana sakt i'.
Tha t
196 Comm unism a d
n Gzta
will be the blissful state of his perfe ction . Johns on also emph , .
uthat the achie veme nt of an unsel fish 'self' frees much vital asizes
. . . f
which is ordin arily waste d 111 the pursu its o narro w goa ls." ,oenergy
Th
speak ing, the real happi ness shoul d be searc hed in t he expres . us
. . . I
of one's inner capac1Ues wit 1 a sense o f non-a ttach men t ands1fon
the sake of realiz ing one's essen ce as the 'speci es being' G or
t herefo re, sugge sts that " rea 1 11app1.11ess (su,,, /1amu11ania m ) comes
· 1ta,
to
that who has becom e one with Bra hman (brah mabh utam) .",1
(d) A heurii;tic Ideal : The effica cy of mok~a as an ethical
ideal can be well under stood in the light of assess ment
made by emine nt socia l philo sophe rs, who say that " if cu lture
cease s to be the supre me self-v alue and b ecom es mere means
for tl\e 'pract ical impro veme nt of life', for prosperity and
happi ness. it is a degra datio n of cultu re to the level of third
c lass means-value. " 7 ~ What they w .- nt to convey is th at when
some sort of social entro py devel ops, the cultur e turn s in to
an uncre ative civili zation . With a view to avoid ing this petrifi cation
of cultu re and in order to resist the petrif ied c ivil ization from
swall owing 'man' , the trivar ga of dharm a, artha , kama is to be
transc ended . If man is to enjoy 'the full real existence', he will
have to go beyon d the utilita rian point to the realm of values.
Mok~a has been called 'para ma' from this angle that it will
always remai n a heuri stic ideal preve nting the cultu re from falling
into degen eratio n. To this heuri stic ideal, Gita has given various
.n ames , viz., unity of 'man ' with 'Man ' (Brah ma-n irra~w ) (II. 72),
highe st bliss (para ma nirviiTJ,a) (VI. 15) ; highe st mode of
huma nity (para ma gati) (VI. 45 , {VIII . 15) ; state of perfec tion
(sams iddhi) (VI. 43) (XVI II. 45), and highe st mode of hu man
existe nce (brah ma-st hita) (V. 19 ), (para ma sthan a) (V111. 2 ' ) etc ..
.etc,
In the light~ f this, the urge for mok~a is the urge for merging
one's separ ate, isolat ed in.divi dualit y into huma nity. It is net t~e
realiz ation of some thing 'other ', some thing other -worI J ly, but i~ ~s
the reaFz ation of the found ations of one's own being . In the Ilg_;
of the al>ove discu ssion, it may be concl uded that behin d the _b i
of Mok~a, Anasa kti Yoga wants to break throu gh a ll the li01 1~~:
tions which separ ate man from man. It is a guidin g idea whic. a
keeps the mank ind filled w th a ntora l zeal to strive towaf ds
Ideals uf Human Life 197
f ullrtess of life in a t11ore compre hensive happier world . Mok ~a is

(he urge o f man towards
• •
whol eness
• ,
to bcco n1c s• ome th ·111g more
, •
tb al1 l. By mergmg his transient indi viduali ty in thee sscnce o f
· I · • d. .
,collectiv e rnm an1ty, a n Ill 1v1dual. can derive moral st rengt h to
.• . f ,,. . . . .
shed off Lie ~Is... d1scnm111at1 ons. fh en onl y they beco me de livered
1
from all grop111gs, and all bewilde rm ents.

Dhatma as Regulati ve Principl e
. Fro~ all_ t~is discussion_, it ~an be observed that for the regula-
tion -o f md1v1du al and social ltfe, D!zarma is highly effect ive p rinci-
ple. It has remained a problem in communism as to what shal l be
the regu:lative force to guide the practica l conduct of the individual
when he break,; off from his dia lectical existence. The State, as
the regulative power, was necessary in pre-history. Marx points
out that " a power S-!emingly standing above society became
necessary for the purpose of moderating the conflict, for keeping
it within the bounds · of 'order'. " 73 In the transitory phase of
communist society, the sta te would survive as a dictator ship of
the working class. This dictator ship lies between the period of
the r,evolutionary transfor mation of the capitalist into communist
society.'' It is during this period of dictatorship that the conduct
will be moulded by the state with a view to prepare man to t:1ke
fin.al j ump into the commu nist soc ety, which is the realm of
freedom.
If we compar e the role of Dharma and that of this dictatorship
in moulding the conduc t of man, it will be clear that Dharma is
more .effective force from the socio-ethical point. Not realizing
the va~ue of any suc.: h principl e as this, Marx had to relegate into
the realm of politics . The very first question that comes to mind
b.ere .is, what would be the principl e to check the misuse of politi
'8-1 power itself when it is being misused. Power has a corrupt ive
io1luence and if absolut e power is handed over to a group _of
peopJ~, what is the guarant ee that they will not develo~ a lust tor
.tt,and remain clinging to it by ho0k or by crook. The cl1ctator.s ma~
1
turn into a sort of new class of oppress ors. The exa mple of Hitler s
there with the world. Even if it is assumed for the sake of nr~uroent
that the power will be used scrupul ously and it will be e~erc1sed to
th
Prepare man ethically to enter the 'Kingdo m of Freedo ~, e r~le
st111 remams
-Of state•power in regulating the conduct of the people
Communism and Gzra
198 j
.h protagonist s of man's freedom and opponents of

doubtfu.I• T e .
. . . ht from Aristotle to now' 11a.ve b een t e 11·tng us that
d1ctatorsh1p, rig
. .. ffi ·ent when a people ts b y nature Jaw 1ess, and when
•
laws are me c1 . . lI
people h ave becOrne Orderly , or wise ' the poltt1ca
. aws may often
.
be allowed to sink in abeyance. Mackenzie , therefore, nghtly
suggest s th a t "i't is far more important to try to develop . .
good
.
h a b t·ts of action and of opinion in a speople than to furmsh 1t with
. . h . h'
hard and fast positive enactments ." 7 He 1s ng t m 1s . dgement,!u
because the political laws have their limited and negative efficacy.
They come into operation as a 'sanction' only when a law has
been broken. They can serve only as a 'curative device' to cure
when pathologica l symptoms have reached the stage of actual
crime, but they have no preventive efficacy. A political enactment
may check licentiousne ss temporarily by repressive techniques, but
it fails to bring any improveme nt.
Unfortunate ly, Marx could not differentiat e between legal order
and ethical order of the society. Howsoeve~ efficient the legal
institution may be in imparting justice, they cannot promote
morality. We may agree with Ginsberg when he says that "those
who distinguish between justice in the law and justice according to
the law, assume a crypto-mor ality of their own. " 76 Then what
principle will bring law to adjust itself to the public, social
morality'! The legal institutions are quite impotent to remedy an
unjust law. Prof. Allen rightly brings this lacuna to the fore when
he says : "In the application of law, 'justice is an absolute require-
ment', because the judge is to decide the issue on a principle
excluding personal prepossessi ons and idiosyncrac ies. But alas, he
ca~not ~hange the rules as such even if they are unjust. " 77 It is
thJs pomt of helplessness of the juridical law, that the need ot
a:
dharma becomes imperative. In this context it is nothing other
than what maintains social stability. Dharma is a principle which
guarantees that social Hfe should not break down in anarchy and
chaos. It is the expression of the rational aspect in man Milne
al~o comes to hold that "rational element in man is co-extensive
with · moral and social. "?a
It is jn the irrational areas of man's conduct where the politic:d
d
ao .0th er physical sanctions operate. Notion of dharma implies
the
. idea · of soc1'al
· respons1'b'l" .
1 1ty. Accordingl y a moral man wi·11
be he hO k ' ' ·
w nows well that such and such action will bring social
ldtals cf Human·Life 199
cobesion, harmony and thereby will avoid social dissipation.
If
-0barma is made the operative social force, then the Mar
xian
princip'1e of "each according to hi~ abi 1ity" will be able to work
effectively. If the control of dharma 1s not there, the worker may
produce so much as to cause chaos in production, i.e., one
r com-
modity roay be produced so much that it goes waste. Dharma
will
-also be needed to check the chaos in consumption, so as the arti•
ncial shortage of commodities is not created. Dharma, as
the
social force, i.e., the force of the people, will also put a check
on
state power, when it goes unbridled. Thus, not the political
force
but dharma will be more conducive in building the future socie
ty
,even of communism. Realizing the futility of state force in
regulating the social affairs, Marx and Engels themselves
had to
point out that "public power will lose its political character" 79
and
that having become superfluous the state will wither away
. But
even then if dharma is not there to regulate life, the whole schem
e
of things will dissolve into chaos of unmitigated conflicts. Thus
the
ideal of dharma is a better and more effective force in
social
engineering than t_. political authority, whatever its form may
be.
References
1. Radhakrishnan. S., Bhagavadgitii, p. 190.
2. Marx, Engelc;, Lenin, On Historical Materialism, p. 288.
3. Tucker, Robert C., The Marxian Rerolutionary Idea,
pp. 33-34 .
4. Stark, Werner, The Socivlogy of Knowledge, pp. 119, 230.
5. Radhakrishnan, S., Hindu View of Life, p. 57.
6. Marx, Engels, Lenin, On Historical Materialism, p. 18
7. Afanasyev, V., Scientific Communism, pp. 11, 332.
8. · Afanasyev, V., Makarova, M. and Minayev, L., The Funda , '
mentals of
Scientific Socialism, p. 291.
9. Ibid., p. 338.
10. Marx, K., MEGA, pp. 85-86.
11. Chesnokov, D., and Karpushin, V., Man and Society,
p. 21 9.
12. Gita, XVIII . 34 (Anasakti Yo!!a).
13. Prabhu, P, H., Hindu Social Organisation, p. 79 ff.
14. Gokhale, B.G., Indian Throught Though the Age.,·, P• 24,
. .
ts. . Vaise~ika Sutra, 1.1.2 in Kalyci r.a ~indu Sanskiti anka (Hind i), p. 37o.
16, Ka/Jana Hindu Sansk
rti anka (Hindi), p. 369.
l?. Ibid., p, 161. ,
l8. Gita, IV. 7.
19 , Gita, IV. 8.
lO. Westermark, Moral Ideas, Vol. J, 1906 (Ed). P• 20l.
,roo Communism and Gzta
21. Malta·bh-arata (K. arnaparva) 69. 57 (Git a Press,

.... Gorakhp ur Hinct·,J,
. ,--rtl•am ca bhutanam dha rma prav acan am. krt '
p.-a bh a,a , . am.
-bJ . d' Ed
ma1fa , arata (Santiparva) 58 (Gita Pre.
u
22. -.:s, Hin 1 ) . Yas syad ahirn .
sasarnyuktas sa dharma iti nisc aya.h ; a h'1ms . - h .
art am ca bhutanarn
dharma pravacan am krtam. ·
.
23. Mahabharata (Santiparva) 59, dha rana d dha
rm a 1tyahur dharmo
dharayati prajiil) ; yas syad dharaQa samyuktas sa
dharma iti nisca yary .
24. Rad hakr ishn an,· S., 'Bltogavadg ita, p. 154.
25. Ibid., p. 154.
26. Desa i, Mah adev a, The Gita Accord,'ng to Gan
dhi, p. 196.
27 . Marx, En~els, Leni n, 011 Hisrorical Materialism,
p . 94.
28. Gita, III. 35 (Anasakti Yoga).
29. Gita, XVIII. 47.
30. Gita, 11. 33 (tata~ svadharmam kirti m ca hitv
a pap ama vapsyasi).
31. Milne, A.J.M., The· So :;iil Phil osop hy of Eng
lish Idea lism , p. 35.
32. Sartre, Jean Paul, Exis tenti alism and Hum anis
•n, pp. 36, 48.
33. Rashdall, H., Theory of Gao,d and fail, Vol. I. p. 278.
34. Russell, B., A Hist ury of Wes tern Phil osop hy
(1945 Ed), p. 834.
35. Russell, B., Religion and Science (Ox ford Univ
ersit y, 1935 Ed), p. 243.
36. Gok hale , B.G ., op. cit., p . 51.
37. Prab hu, op. cit, ·p. 80.
._,.
38. Quo ted Radhakrishnan, S., Religion and Soci
ery,.:'p. 106.
39. Gita, 1.38.
,t:
40. Prab hu, P.H . , op. cit., p. 165.
·
41. Gok hale , B.G ., op. cit., pp. 50-51.
42
· Kau~ilya's 4rrha ·astra (Dr. Shamasastry's tran
43. Rashdall, H., o;;,. cit., Vol. I, p.
s.) Book I, Chap. 3.
44. 259 _
Marx, K., MEG A, p. 83.
45. M~rx, K., MEGA, pp. 145, 147-48.
46 . Kamaka/a Vilasa (Trans. by Arth ur Avlo n) verse
V.
:;: Sa_unda,ya La'1·ul (Trans. by Norman Brown)
P 1
Kamaka/ii Vilasa (Art ur Avlon) P ·2 ' ...
49. s
an, ·• .
Radhakrishn ' · ·
·
SO. D asg•Jpta S N /fl Philosophy of East and Wes t ' Vol • I ' p 4 u : :
51. Freud S ,/J. ., - story of fodia,, Phil osop !,y' · l'Q.
. . ' ., eyond The P/eas11re Prin ciple p 76 Vol. V, p. 23.
52. G11a, IU .37. ' · •
53. Desai, Mah adev a Tl GI
54. Lenin V r Q ' ,re ta 4ccording to Gandhi,
p. 246 .
pp . 196-9?.·, uote d by Rad hl krish nan, S., Religion and
S o,iety.
55. Maitra, S K Th £ I I
56. 0 · b . ., e t' cs of the Hindus p 175
ins erg, Morris, op. cit. P 10 ' . .
S7. Prabhu pH , · ·
58, . . ' . ,, op .cit., p. 256.
Ma1tra S K £ •
59 'Jb 'd , . ., I1lies of the fl Indus p 253
' I •• p . 255. 1
• '
60. Gita. VU. 2i-2 8
61· M '
arx, K., Poverty of Phi/osopl,y, p.115 ff.
]deals of Human Life 20/
62 . Gita XII. 10.

63. Gira, XVlll.45 (Svc sve KarmatJyabhiratal,1 sarhsiddhim labhate
naral~).
64, Mackenzie, J.S., A Manual of Ethics, p. 165.
65. Radhakrishnan, S., Hindu View of life , p.46.
66. Desai, Mahadeva, The Gita Acrordi11g to Gandhi, p. 224.
'67. Gita, V.23 (Anasakti Yoga bhasya).
68. Tucker, Robert C., Philosophy and Myth i11 Karl Marx, p . 152.
69. Marx, K., MEGA, pp. 85-86.
70. Johnson, A.H., Whitehead's Philosophy of Civilization, p.5.
71. Gira, VI.27.
72. Sorokin, P.A., Modern Histori ·al and Socia' Ph ilosophies, p . 143 .
73. Marx, K. and Engels, F., Selected Works, Vol.I[, p. 290.
·74_ lbid., p. 30.
75. Mackenzie, J.S., A Manu~d nf Ethics , p. 288.
76. Ginsberg, Morris, op. cit., p. 215.
17. Allen, C.K., Aspects of Jusrice, p. 65.
78. Milne, A.J.M., The Social Philosophy of English Idealism, p. 34.
19. Marx, K., Communist Manifesto (Trans. Feuer), p. 29.
♦
8
Ethical Basis of Human
Progress
Marxists are averse to lay do

wn an y ab str ac t cri ter ion of
progress. Lenin, for example social
, ha s rej ec ted the very qu
discussing the criterion of pro estion of
gress ap art fro m co nc ret e
of hu ma n history. He writes, situation
"T o be gin by ask ing wh at is
an d what is progress is to begin society
at th~ end. W he re will yo
a conception of society an d pro u get
gre ss in general if you ha
studied a single social for ma tio ve not
n in general ?" 1 It means tha th
question ·of laying down some t e
a priori sta nd ard of social pro
and then applying tha t sta nd ard gress
to the facts of hu ma n histor
civilization, is ruled ou t as a y ao<l
futile effort.
Avoiding all the ab str ac t and
theoretical discussions ab ou th
concept of 'progress', M arx ha t e
s sta rte d with the descriptive
lysis of the history at the ana·
for ma tio n of ca pit ali st societ
materialistic conception of y• 11:e
history ha s been given by 10
(i) Communist Manifesto, Marx
wherein a ma ter ial expla
modern legal, political, an d nation of
ph ilo so ph ica l system ha s be
vided ; (ii) Poverty of philosop en pro·
hy, wherein the analysis of
dh an 's sociology from material prou-
ist po int of view ha s been pre
sented,
;e:a m
Ethical Basis of Huma n Progress 203'
Marx has prese nted a mo d e1 o f t he

and 1(iii) Dasd Capital, . . ein
. wher • t y.
1 of the form ation of th e soc1e
scientific, an mate na . 1sttc analy sis
In all these exp lanatt ons, Marx . has prese nted his view that man
fd l
. . ss o . eve opmg
was in a proce a new consc iousn ess , co·nd't• 1 1oned
ex1stence.
2
The invin cible forces of produ ct·ton,
by his socia . lized d . the
with the mner ynam tcs of dialec tical laws, are direc ting
nce·
course of event s for the trans form ation of the 'alien ated' t"xiste
the
into the 'socia lized huma nity'. The path is prede stined from
'prim itive comm unism ' to highe r phase of comm unism . On this.
(i}
path, the huma nity has repos ed at four clear cut stages, viz.,
the
the slave -own ing, (ii) the feuda l, (iii) the capit alist, and (iv)
ipso,
trans itory stage of the dicta torsh ip of the prole tariat , which
l , Jacto, is the first phase of the new society .
The mate rialis t conc eptio n of huma n histo ry is a prote st again
st I
the view that some Supr eme Being guide s the destinies of man.
It also refus es to recog nize huma n intell ect or the 'ideas ' as a.
:J
'J
d '
basic cause of progr ess. Such th~or ies, accor ding to Marx lacke
a scientific chara cter, ~s they do not give corre ct knowledge of the·
s.
regularity, the seque nce and the predi ctabi lity of histor ical event
the
He, there fore, starte d in searc h of the inexo rable laws of
to-
grow th of huma n civili zatio n. In this conn ectio n, it is relev ant
the-
point out that Marx did not treat the huma n civilization as
er.
produ ct of the blind unco nscio us agenc ies actin g on one anoth •I
...
che-
Clari fying the comm unist stand point , Enge ls writes, "In ,J
ess,
histor y of socie ty, the actor s are all e:ido wed with consciou~n
j
l
are men actin g with delib eratio n ; nothi ng happ ens witho ut a
3
i?g, . !
consc ious purpo se, witho ut an inten ded aim." Thus spea~
g
the indiv idual will act to attai n certa in objectives. What dnvm
·
forces then stand behin d these motiv es '? A true philo sophy
h
must. 'there fore, seek the fund amen tal dyna mic powe r, whic5
furnishes the indiv idual s with the motiv e of their actio n. It
m_u l
dmg
also disco ver the facto rs, whic h are respo nsibl e for moul
r~ as
society and ·its instit ution s. Thes e facto rs are called by M.a
d
l the 'mate rial force s of prod uctio n'. Thes e forces are not limite
! ment s of produ ction , but ~lar~
to mere techn ology an1 the instru • e powe r O f man •also · Marx wnte s .
f •tncIudes in them the prod uctiv •
• d' by vario us circu mstances ...
'! '
·
cc
This prod uctiv eness is deter
amon g other s, by the avera ge
mme
amou nt O f th
e .
skill
,,,
of t
h
e wor
k
-
men (and the) socia l organ izatio n of produ ction .

,.,
..
'2J4 Communism and G·
zIcl
These mater ial forces of produ ction , in this way, includ e ti

mater ial condi tions surro undin . h. 1e
g man, 1s own for ce •
. . labo ur
and the organ isatio n of the produ ction with the help of the
tools and instru ments of produ ction . All these, t a ken togeth er
are -c alled the econo mic mode s of produ ction , which acco rdi n~
to Marx , are the 'basic deterr µin a nts of histor y'. 5 Th e econo rn ic
found a tions, which under lie all histor ical devel opme nt, ha ve been
cha racter ized by Marx in vario us ways. He has used such
p hrases as 'cond itions of produ ction ', form of produ ction ', ' pr o-
•-cess of produ ction' , 'mode of pfodu ction ', 'organ isatio n of produ c-
tion', 'produ ctive forces ', 'mate rial forces of produ ction ', and
' power s of produ ction' . All these expre ssions have been used
·synon ymou sly in the writin gs of Marx . The under l ying idea
'behin d all these expre ssions .is that
) . .
.\ .. ;
men
depen d upon nature for
their mean s of subsis tence. To exist, is the first law prior
to any other ~_c tivity of maq. ' : Man must live even to think. It
mean s that man mus,t m9uld the condi tions in such a manner
as __ he may wrest from natur e the neces sities of his life. The
--s(nif fure of the social . a~d politi cal instit ution s shoul d also be
n:iciuld ed in such a way, as it· c;Joes not hinde r the strugg le that
m3:n is to wage again st natur e for his m f ans of subsis tence. Thus
-speak ing, the mean s by. which m~n produ ces these necess ities of
life must be the basic drivin g force in histor y. These means are
-not mere mode s in · which the things aie produ :-ed, but these
in-
-elude the produ ctive activi ty of man, and the objec t or mater ial on
which man labou rs and the instru ments that he uses. Marx him self
writes : "The eleme ntary factor s of the labou r proce ss are : fir st,
purpo sive activi ty, or the labou r itself ; secon dly, its subject
matte r, and thirdl y, its instru ments ." 6 From this analys is , it is
~vide nt that when Marx speak s of the mode s of produ ction or ti" e
produ ctive forces as the ultim ate determ inant of histor y , he
includ es in them all the activi ty in which these three factor s are
-direct ly or indire ctly engag ed in the produ ction of the necess iti es
of life.
Men, in produ cing the neces sities of life must enter into rela·
·tions hip with each other. In this way, the natur e of man s
-produ ctive activi ties neces sarily determ ines the natur e of these
-social relatio ns. The societ y will be so struct ured as it n~ ay
-contr ibute towar ds the effect ive produ ction and · d'istrib utt0n
J
Ethical Basis of Human Progress
205'
• If .
according to the . modes of . production · Mar x 111mse wntes .
''In the social production which men carr y on, t 1iey enter· into
. . 1 . h
definite re ations t at are indispensabl e an d m • d
• · 1 I · ependent of
their will ; t 1ese re atrons of production co rrespon d to a definite .
stage of developme nt of their material po wers of production .
. . .
The sum. total of these relations
.
.
of product·ron constitutes the·
economic structure of society-th e real t'oundat 100. · "7
It is on . this. real foundation ' viz. ' the mode o f pro d uct1on · .
m
-• ,
the social , po 11t1ca
. . life, that
the matenal the fgeneral
. . character of 1
and spintua 1 process o 1
.1fe 1s determined . The com p 1cated
1 ·
. . . .
, productive activity gives nse to the more complex structure of
soci~ty. What ~arx wants to convey is that the modes of pro-
duction determme the nature of social relations, whicl-i shall exist
l between men, and the sum total of these relations is known as.
society. Thus speaking, it may be said that the nature of society,.
in any given age, is the direct result of the modes of production
current in that age '
According to the description provided by Marx in Communist
Manifesto, the productive forces repose at various stages of history
for the realization of all their hidden potentialiti es and march
ahead when these potentialit ies are realized. Marx puts his views.
very clearly on this issue and he says, "no s 1cial order could ever
disappear before all the productive forces, for which there is room
in it; have been developed. " 8 In the progressive march toward!>
the next stage, the old society helps by way of creating the condi-
tions . for its· realization . Accordingl y, new higher relations of
production riever appear before the material conditions of their
existence have matured in the worn b of the old society. In the
progressive developme nt of these forces, a stage of developme nt
comes when the material forces of production come in conflict
1
with the existing relations of production and the re~ 1ltant pro-
perty relations within which they have been workmg before.
!;xplaining the process of historical progress. Marx ~oints out,
th ~se-
· From fo~ms of developme nt of the forces of pro~uctwn ,
refations turn into their fetters. Then comes the period of social
revolution. "9 According1 y, it may be said that any new. stage of
, de" 1opment is progressiv e m . · to the previous one.
· .,Ye comparis 00 .
th ~ pro~~essive
, . It is on this. account that Marx has commende d
t
·role:<>fthe bourgeois at a partil;ular stage of human hiS ory .
.
,. '
( ) dt t ;a ..,_.a
206 Communism
and G11r1
For a correct decision whether a society is progressive or not

·
it is necessary, therefore, to ta ke mto account not only t
development of the productive forces but also nature of th Pro. he
·1· . . Cl1esmo kov has right! e
duction relations preva1 mg m tt.
· · n wl1en he says t I1a t , '' th e progre ssi venes.~y sum.
marised the pos1t1o of a
social system depends not .only on the extent to which man is .
equipped for the struggle agamst nature and on the product"
forces , but also on his social position and on the opportu nities;~;
enjoying the material and cultural,, wealth created by people on
11
the basis of productive forces. On the basis of th is br ief
discussion, it may be said that according to Marxian account
the human history is a progressive process in which each ne;
phase arises out on the basis of the conditions prepared by the
past and it itself constitutes a higher stage of development.
The progress, according to Marx, does not take place as a
gradual development but Lhe transition from one stage of historical
development to the other is catac lasmic. The laws of progres s in
human social context operate in the form of class struggle .
According to the description given by Marx, the whole history
moves on the groves of the class antagonism, and revolutions are
said to be locomotive of history. Marx conceived that from the
very moment when civilization starts, production begins to be
based on the antagonism of the order of classes. Marx himself
writes : "No antagonism, no progress ; that is the law which
civilization has followed down to our own day. " Accordingly,
12
the progress takes place when the antagonism of the classes

is ·resolved in a higher synthe5is and ultimately in a classless
society.
In the light of the above discussion, the position of Marx can
be summarized that (i) the progress is a historical fact, (ii) t~e 1
modes of production determine the type of the socio-econoro c
formation, and (iii) each historical socio-economic formation has
a high type of relations of production than the one before it.
However, since human society is highly complex, it will not be
possible to reach any generalized conclusion, if progress or regress
is adjudged on the basis of the separate aspects of life. T_he
communist thinkers uphold that "one is justified to speak of social
progress only if there is social advancement in general , in t~e
decisive spheres of social life. The most important is the econoni ic
~· Ba
Et/t:iCO1 sis of Human Progress
20 7
.· th e de ve lo pm en t of
spbere,,,n on th is co ns
th e m od e of pr od uc tio n
id er at io n, th e pr og re ss of m at er ia l
v8:1uet~·fical\y on ly if it is ca n be un de rs to od
scicoral so ci un de rs to od in co nt ex t
· a1 se ns e H
ologtc of pr og re ss in
. ow ev er , a so ci·et y w1·11 b
,gene progressive if it
pr ov id es m or e fr ee do m e cons1"d er e d-
JllOTe
nt of th e pr od uc tiv fo r th e im pr ov e-
.
e f or ce s tn
. c 1u d. h 1
m g t e a bo ur po w er of
;; :e mor e th e la bo ur po m an .
w er ha s th e op po rtu ni ty
th e historical ac tio n, th e to pa rti ci pa te in
m or e th e so ci al sy st em
be adva nc ed . M ar x po is co ns id er ed to
in ts ou t to th is an d
thoroughness of tht.. hi st sa ys : .. W ith th e
or ic al ac tio n, th e size of
action it is, will, th er ef or th e m as s w ho se
e, in cr ea se . " 14 In th is
-0f the pa rti ci pa tio n of th w ay , th e gr ow th
e m as se s as hi st or ic al
an indicator of th e so ci pr oc es s is al so
al pr og re ss . W ith th e
the di ct at or sh ip of th e pr es ta bl is hm en t of
ol et ar ia t, th e w or ke rs
participation in th e hi st will ha ve th ei r fu ll
or ic al ac tio n, an d th er
the highest st ag e of pr og re ef or e, it will be
ss , in so fa r as th e re
concerned. al m of hi st or y is
The laws of pr og re ss , w hi
ch go ve rn th e pa th of
communist so ci et y, w ill hi st or y in pr e-
no t be ap pl ic ab le to th e
The laws of ec on om ic re al m of fr ee do m .
de te rm in is m an d th e
applicable on ly to th e re di al ec ts will be
al m of necessity w he re
.as 'u nm an '. Bu t in th m an is ex is tin g
e ne w so ci et y, th e so
be by co nt ra di ct io ns ci al pr og re ss will no t
an d an ta go ni sm s w hi ch
capitalist society. M ar x is ty pi ca l of th e
hi m se lf co nf irm s th is ,
a great social re vo lu tio n an d sa ys : " W he n
sh al l ha ve m as te re d th
bourgeois ep oc h, th en on e re su lts of th e
ly w ill hu m an pr og re ss
that hideous pa ga n id ol , ce as e to re se m bl e
w ho w ou ld no t dr in k ne
the skulls of th e sl ai n. " 15 ct ar , bu t fr om
It m ea ns th at w he n th
~ et y is es ta bl is he d, it e co m m un is t
will ha ve its ne w laws
and the hi de ou s laws of th of so ci al pr og re ss
e pr e- hi st or y will no t
tha~ ~c ie ty . A lth ou gh M ar be ta ke n ov er to
x ha s no t la id do w n
l>Ositive co nd iti on s of an y pr ec is e an d
th e pr og re ss in th e co
~n om ic fo rm at io n, ye t m m un is t so ci o-
;:n
,, ·. recalled he re th at M ar
ne ga tiv el y it ha s be en po
be fu nd am en ta lly di ff er en
t fr om th e ca
in te d ou t th at it
pi ta lis t society. It ~a y
x ha s ad op te d th e th em
_,se'lf..cr ea tio n' of m an fr om e of pr og ressive
·in th H eg el H e hi m se lf ex pr
What• 1844
Manuscript~ where~n he · esse d hi s view
. up he ld th at "t h~ w ho
by h 18 called w or ld hi st or le of
y 1s no th in g bu t th e cr
. Utnan la bo ur .'' H In th ea tio n of m an
is re so na nt ph ra se ol og y,
M ar x w an ts
208 Com mun ism and c· _
l ta
to con·Vey tha t thro ugh the , cre ativ

. e and . dyn a mic . interact'ion
between man and nat ure , the ma n , 1s su~ces st~e 1y ma kin g himself
In t his pro cess, he is tryi ng to rea lize
hi s r~a l esse·nce . S~
Iong a man is at the leve l of the rea lm of nec ess ity , he, as Ma
. . . . .
tells us ••-cont inues the trad itio nal ~ct1v1ty in com_plet ely changerxd
circ ums tances and modifies the old circ um
stan ces wit h a co mpletely
:c han ged activity ." 17 But whe n he leav
es the rea lm of necessity
then inst ead of hist ory or hist oric al forc
es det erm ini ng hi s path'
he bec om es free to give dire ctio n to
hist ory . The n he will not b~
a cre atu re, but the cre ato r of his tory
. The dev elo pm ent of the
'soc iali zed hum ani ty' wil l be the ma in
con ten t of the commun ist
social ord er. It is difficult to gra sp the
law s of the futu re society
and the refo re the se hav e not bee n clea rly
des crib ed. Ma rx him self
says : "Bu t we sha ll nev er suc cee d in
und ers tan din g the m if we
rely upo n the parse par tou t of a his tori
cal -ph ilos oph ica l theory
who se chie f qua lity is tha t of livi ng
sup ra-h isto rica l.'!18 Thus
spe akin g, we sha ll hav e to go bey ond
the law s of historical
necessity to und erst and the pro gre ss in
tem por alis ed post-history.
Tha t is why , Ma rx has left the m
ind ete rmi nat e. Fro m the
neg ativ e des crip tion , it may , how eve r, be
infe rred tha t the factors
gov ern ing pro gre ss in com mu nis t soc iety
' wil l be unr estr icte d by
any forces, whi ch are alie n to the
soc ial ma n. so tha t they
ma y be con duc ive to the all- rou nd and
unb oun ded development
of the ind ivid ual .
Detachment {Anasakti) vs. The Phi loso phy of
Att ach me nt Asakti)
Uniiike Com mu nis m Qjt a doe s not
ela bor ate any theory of
pro gre ss. In Ind ia, hist ory has nev er
me ant a 'wil l to power'.
Thi s has led som e thin ker s to con clu de tha
t Ind ia had no passi on for
hist oric al pro gre ss. Ber dya ev, for exa mp
le, say s, "In dia offers the
exa mp le of a very anc ien t and non -his
tori cal cul ture , whi ch has
sto pped still in the dep ths of its inte rior
spi ritu al con tem pl ati o~s
wit hou t, as yet , ven turi ng to par tici pat
e dire ctly in the dra ni attc
acti on ~f uni ver sal his tory ." 19 Osw ald
Spe ngl er rep eat s the s~[lle
ch~rge in a not her way poi ntin g out tha t the
con cep t of directt? 11 '
claim to pow er, will to effe ct the dis tan
t are abs ent in Io<ltan
eu lture. 20 T hese clai·ms may be tru e
6Yst
to , the ext ent tha t t he .
em atic phi los oph ies of wo rld his tory 10
the mo der n hav e aris en only
wes t. Bu t on this gro und , it can not be
said tha t th e
;;r# S e
.1,;• /11111,,of Human Progress 209
n:otioll of process. and idea of progress as such were not known
to lttdians. The concept of Gita that growth of sin and the
decline of righteousness are the recurrent (yad a yada) historical
pr~oesses, suggests that the moral codes should be approximated
according to t_he need of the times and according to the require-
n,ent.s of society. In a way, this comes closer to the periodic
theory of Marx. However, Oita explicitly suggests that these are
the historical phenomena, which give rise to some historic
_personality, who puts the history to the right path. 21 But, apart
&0111 these, the very concept of progress in India is different from
,the West, and that is why, it does not fit in their notion of
progr,ess. As Radhakr:shnan says, here in India, "progress does
n~t depend on a mere change of surroundings." 22 Man, as a maker
,~f.his own history, cannot be mouUed by the material objects and
material forces like soft clay. The very tone in which Kr~i:ia asks
Arj:una again and again to rise, 23 is a call for marching ahead
towards the realization of goal. If the realization of goal,
which in the Anas1kti Yoga of Gita is the gradual realization of
,human freedom, is the criterion of progress, then Anasakti Yoga
has put forth the guidelines for the progress of mankind .
.Moral Basis of Civilization : .
Tbe concept of progress may be seen from purely ethical point
of view. The civilizations can go to ruins if men do not have any
'°1ltr:ol over their -lower passions. We cannot remain indifferent to
the chief danger, which may throw back the whole efforts 0,: our
j)l'oceeding towards our ideal. Mackenzie, therefore, suggeS ts th at
we have always to reckon with the Devil. " 24 Bradley also 5uggeS ts
..,1.,_ • • . d should be taught to
~ 4:t if the progress 1s to be achieve , man · · f
<ontrol over his baser instinctualities. He says : "The_ profcess ~
1 • • • h b f al foundation o 01nn s
.CY(hUtion 1s the humantsmg of t _e es 1 25
~Ure by carrying out in it the true ideas of men. an say
J d. . d d Of moral progress, one c,
.. u gmg from these stan ar s ·. B t Gita has s.ug~
that Oita has all the passion for moral progres~. ~ f perfection
f ~tcd its own criterion also and that is the kr~ndliz(aBt1r~11l11:ia-nirva1.1a).
vi,•:' ~~e
' 1·mg oneness with. the tota 1·itv O f man in. . . ' ds •. 1truisat1on
.
1
Su"h· . • . · I 1 uman1ty nee '
·.:~ a .consciousness of oneness wit 1 1 . . non•attachrnent.
Of .
·..· conduct. Gita's path to self-rea iza }' f10 n JS v1a
.
'
• a fro[11 the
lb.e .·
...~ · .in.oral strength of a man does not ,e 1
r ·n w1thdrnwme-
µa =
'
· 21·0 Comnwnim1
· and "'1
" 1d
world but in sacrificing the profit motive and selfish tend , .

cnc1cs
Gita, therefore, holds that a man nee d not go out of thi s worl . ·
1
search of his moral perfection but he should act with out incl l . 111
• ll 1g111g
into any sort of attachment. By askmg a man to renounce the f
- ) (X •
of all actions (Sarvakarmapha!a tyagam ll. 11) , Gi ta i~ ru 1t
matter of fact, asking him !o te~t his moral st~ength in the f;;c:s;
0
tempting objects. Thus, Anasakt1 Yoga of Gita pro vi des am 1
scope for moral progress. Altruistic individuals who work for :;1~
welfare of humanity ([okasamgraha) and discharge their duti es with-
out any extraneous end or profit motive, can determine the direc-
tion of social progress themselves. The immoral ones acting for
their personal lust or greed, prevent progress in all spheres. Jn
industrial sphere, these morally depraved will misappropriate the
product for their personal ends and monopolize productions, resort
to profiteering and hoarding. The workers will also try to neglect
their job and leave their job badly done, if they lack moral tra ini ng.
In social field, they will manipulate everything to their own advan t-
age and harm the interests of the institution. Even in the fiel d of
science, dishonest intellectuals will propagate many false ideol ogies
instead of scientific theories. Gita therefore lays emphasis that
moral factors must be made prior to all progress and that the moral
·grounds should serve as fundamental, on which the edifice of the
civilization and the guideline of progress is to be built.
Material basis of Progress examined:
Communism and Anasakti Yoga, both have a passion for, and
faith in progress. But; which of these two would be more con·
ducive in providing some sound. basis for the progress ? ln .his
criticism of classical materialism, . Marx himself has made scathing
attacks on its neglecting the human activity. In attacking classical
materialism, Marx deviated so mud1 from the fundament al pos·
tulates of materialism that it is hard to put it in that class. Mann·
heim points out that "historical materialism was materialism onlY
in name, the economic sphere was in the last analysis, a structur:il
inter-relation of mental attitudes."20 Eminent economists agree
that by his economic determinism Marx did not mean that
religion, metaphysics schools of art ' ethical ideas and poI itical
vol 1·t·tons were reducible
· '
_to economic motives. For exani pie. '
Schumpeter tells us that "Marx only tries to unveil the econ ornic
.Ethical Basis of Human Progress
211
I conditions which shape them and which account for their rise and
. fall.'' 27 Despite Marx's worry to restore the 'active' side in his
roaterialism vis-a-vis the old materialism, he could not detach him-
self from the idea of materia l forces of production as the deter-
roinant of human history. Marx contradicts himself when on the
one hand he thought that the 'objectified world' is the cause of
roan's alienation ; it appears hostile, and negating his humanity.
But on the other hand, he was expecting that the same objects of
bis production would bring him self-confirmation. He was not
aware that so long as the sense of possessiveness is not finished,
man will remain defiled. If the material factors dominate in life, it
would not make any difference whether the object of gratification
is held singly or jointly. Anasak ti Yoga tells that one who is free
from attachm ent (sangavarjitab) is free from enmity to all fellow-
beings (nirvairab). 28 But such an idea of curing the tendency of
man is unknow n to the communism. If the private property is
all converted into social ownership, the desire to misuse it will still
remain. The individual may, then turn against pubiic property too.
He may misappr opriate, misuse, and waste it. Therefore, Gita
stresses that the very craving to possess is to be given up for making
man honest. 29 Even at the communist level, man will be in the
snare of possessiveness if the attachm ent is not given up. Thus,
without anasakti, man will not be able to build a sound civiliza-
tion. Suggesting that emphasis on economic element in human
history is unwarra nted, Bonar also says : "In asserting that the
economic element is the domina nt element in history, the scientific
socialists commit the same mistake which they blame in Ricardo
and older economists.' ' 30
Admitting that the economic factors are most important in
capitalist stage how can one say that the principal force of one
age will ~lso be the principa l force in every age? Marx has not
provided any plausible ground for that. Moreover, the emphasis
on , the materialistic concept ion of human history leads to an
apparent paradox in communist theory. The paradox is that the
lust for power is to be cured by a counter lust of power, and greed
by a counter greed. That is why he had to posit the dictatorship
of the proletar iat for the moralisation of the dehumanised man.
Similarly, due to his failure to comprehend the fundamen~al
man,
,truth of inner life of Marx could not suggest, what dynamics
·~12 Communism and G11r1
wjll control the libidinal cravings o_f man (kama)_. If sex is repress.
as Freud has
edb y foree, l·t makes a man neurotic or. destructive,. . .
shown, s1 There will, thus be the society of ne~rot1cs if instead of
bl'mating
1
and channelizing the urges, repressive techniques are
~~ed by the dictators. It cannot be ~voided as t~e individual pro.
bl-em but hs social manifestations will also be highly catastrophic.
What havoc sex rivalry can play in the society is a matter that one
daily reads in papers. History has even many instances like that of
the Helen of Troy, when sex destroyed an entire society.
Communism has no remedies against such an evil passion. This
was due to their obsession with economic factors at the cost of
other (decisive) factors in human history. Later on Engels had to
admit that Marx and he were partly to blame for the fact that the
younger Marxist writers were laying undue stress on the economic
factor. He clarified the position and said "Marx had to emphasize
that m1in point in opposition to the idealist adversaries who
denied it." 32 It means that the economic factor was brought forth
only because the idealists were denying its importance. It obviously
was not their intention to make it the sole moving factor of
human history. Even if the material modes of production are
assumed to be the sole determinants of human history, the problem
of human progress is not solved. The relevant consideration in this
matter is that the development of economic modes of prcduction
need not be idenfcal to 'economic progress' or the economic welfare.
Here the Marxist theory will face a dilemma. Either Marxists
should recognise the priority of the ethical considerations in build·
ing up any civilization, or they should admit that their theory is
not able to promote social welfare. They do not see that economic
welfare is only a part of social welfare and therefore it need not
promote the general social welfare. That is the reason ' that mauY
econ~mists suspect that behind the undue emphasis on the ec~-
nomtc aspect, there are certain ulterior motives. For example, Enc
Roll says: uEconomic factors as the sole determinants of social
ch~nge! what remains in the dialectical materialism except a system
smted t~ _t~~ casuitics needs of totalitarian politics. " 33
_In cnticismg the theory of materialist foundations of human
hist0ry, all these above noted thinkers have assumed the fact th at
man needs some higher and lofty ideals to inspire him on the pat~
•of progress. As a matter of fact, this is the standpoint of anasa ktl
l
I
I
I
L
9.[J,,.cal. Basis o':
'J·
Human Progress 213
. -irie of Gita that if ethical basis are lacking, civilizat;on cannot

~octrdon firm ground s. S cl1w1tzer
. . h l .
ng t y pomts out that "because
Slan
f the lack of ·
eth1co-p h"l h' 1 f d .
I osop 1ca oun at1on, the western civiliza-
~tion has .decayed."·
34
If experience of decaying West is to be our
ide this mistake should not be repeated. Therefore, he further
: ;ls ~s that .. if the ethical foundation is lacking, the civilization
collapses even when in other directions creative and intellectual
forces of the strongest nature are at work. " 35
Finding a materialist predominance in some epochs of history
and that too in a limited society, Marx should not have made it the
~ole moving factor of history. Man needs inner regeneration and
ethical uplift to give desirabl'! orientation to history. Morally
strong personalities in every age and in every ~ociety exercise
their decisive influence on the history, if the society is to be saved
from decadence. Like an insignificant blade of grass, it is very
easy to be swayed in the current of the events. But the historic
entities would rather change the course of human history towards
the higher human ideals. For this purpose, they will need great
moral strength, which will come from anasakti. Such historic
entities will leave trail of glory behind them to be followed by
posterity. The society raises them to the level of 'avatara' (divine
incarnate).
I Commenting on Gita's concept of Avatara, Radhakrishna n is

of the opinion that "the avatara points out the way by which men
can rise from their animal to a spiritual mode of existence by
_;ro~iding us with an example of spiritual life. " 36 Thus, the mould-
tng. mtluence of moral forces cannot be denied in human history.
A~art from this, the economic abundance of communist society
W;tll always stand in need of a principle like 'anasakti' so that the
~ommunists may not also misappropriat e and misuse the public
Wealth. The maxim of Gita that with perfectly disciplined mind
~n..d abandoning attachment, one is to do his duty (yogasthab Kuru
t;rma~; ~angam tyak-tva dhananjaya) is a better principle than
lll~~incip\e of leaving the human destiny in the hands of
ar rtal forces of produ~tion. No doubt the economic factors
e necessa . t h e development of a society,
.
su'fli . ry 1n , ut t h ey are not
L
llat cient _to explain the whole history of mankind. M arx could
and ~e this subtle difference between 'necessary' and 'sufficient',
e falsely · thought that what is 'necessary', 1s 'sufficient',
,,
21 4
Co mmunism 01Id
G'itJ
als o. (}xVO!Pfl is necessary for hu
·."e -H . man e:( ist en ce. bu t mr re •" .
is no t sufficient for ma n•s su rvival. Ot he r factors ma (,x,·"'en.
.
eq ua lly nt X ~- Th at 1s the rea --.. v~ , i -~,
son t ha t G a ndh i in mod~ rn ~ti,) h-,:
ha s de..Juced has · soc1a
. 1·ism
· from h
t e rno ra I p r ..~m 1s;.:
· :s or
·w -,. m~~
Laying do wn the fun da m en tal s of 1
' ,. ~-111
h is soc ialism. he s~1 id . " Tru/.t •
and ahi.msa mu st inc arn ate in
soc ialism. HJ-; Em p has is 1..'ln th , -~
factors shovts that the mo ral
fac to rs are eq ua ll y nt::(~SsJ r,· t: in
~I.
bwl-din 2 the sou nd ba sis of civ iliz

-
Reftecti ng on all the se arg um
ati on .
en ts, we rea ch a con cl usion th:u
·
alt ho ug h the hu ma n ha pp ine ss an
d ma n's di gni fied existence i
the aim of bo th the se gre at
ph ilo sop hie s, yet co mmun ism h:is5
committe d the fallac y of exclusive
pa rticu lar ity in layi ng an unJue
em ph asis on eco no mi c fac tor
in hu ma n hi sto ry. Against this
em ph asis~ Anasal.'ti Yo ga wa nts
to say tha t ma nk in d will not
be co me ha pp y by co nsu mi ng
mo re eco no mi c go ods. Its we lfar
and i:s pro gre ss req uir e the no ~
n-e co no mi c fac tor s. Accord ing
G ~ eco no mi c pro spe rit y an d to
pro gre ss (Sri an d Vij aya) will
follow fro m the pri nc ipl e of ho
ne st dis ch arg e of every individua
all ott ed tas k wi th a sense of an asa l\;
kti , an d no t vice-v ersa.
E1niron:me11talism U1d Individual's
Self-Improvement
Th e wh ole qu est ion of hu ma n pro
gre ss converges at the point
as to wh eth er the de ve lop me nt
in the eco no mi c sph ere will mo
the hu ma n co nd uc t int o de uld
sir ab le channe1s or the morall
pro gre ssi ng ind ivi du als exercise the y
ir mo uld ing influence on history.
Ma rx sta rts in bis the ory of eco
no mi c int erp ret ati on of history
with the ax iom , wh ich inter a/ia
says tha t, "it is no t the conscious
ne ss · of me n tha t de ter mi ne s the ·
ir be ing , bu t on the contrary
the ir social bei ng tha t de ter mi ne
s the ir consciousness. ' ' 33 Such an
ass ert ion do cs no t all ow an y cre
ati ve rol e to the mi nd . This deter·
mi nis tic att itu de leaves no pla ce
for the mo -al progress. Whitehead
rig htl y po int s ou t tha t if you ref
0
use to ad mi t tha t mi nd can have
for iue lf an y exp eri enc es tha n tho
se pro vid ed for it by th e bo.~ii
(ICilscs), the n all ind ivi du al mo ral
res po nsi bil ity is swept awa_y.
If the en vir on me nt is so tig ht tha
t it dd erm ine s ma n's con sci ous
ness, the n it pu ts an em ba rgo on ~
his mo ral strife. Pu ttin g ma ~ a
the me rcy of the ma ter tal .
mo de s of pro du cti.on 1•s, in tac t,
de pri vin g him of his eth ica l exc •is
ellence which requires freed 001 '
on e of the fun da me nta l po stu lat es.
215
. 1Basis of Human Progress
Ethrta
terial forces of production
Although the con~ept of the ma ro le
ining the consc1ousne ss of ma n pla. ys. ve.ry impo.rta nt
f . .. ry , yet
of hi sto
deternl
. Marx's whole theory ~ eco_nom1c mt e1pt cta t1on
determ ine s th eir conscio usness'
l prop· osition.s .as 'th eir be-l mgf b
10
.
suel not been logically tt:steu. l y thi s sta tement a causal dete r-
,e l l . wil. l ha ve to be fo un d ou t
ha, · n a c 1us a re at1on
. isnl is meant, the • d ' . ' .m such a way that ' bei ng'
Oltn . consc iou sne ss
between the 'bemg an
the 'effect ' and th at being is
is the cause and 'consciousness' is
ariabl e co nc om ita nt an tec ed ent of con sciousness. The
an inv
methods of Agreement, Diffe-
•scientific methodology recognizes the Method of
nt and Difference,
rence, Joint Method of Agreeme
of Residue ; for establishing
40
itan t va ria tio n an d me tho d
concom ;
the causal relationship between
two phenomena. But Marx ha:
s
d he has used to arrive at th;
nowhere pointed out what metho
gen era l pro po sit ion wh ich for ms the very basis of his
universal
assumption is fals e then invalid
historic~! materialism. lf the very
m it.
conclusions are bound to follow fro
are tol< i tha t thi s ge ne ral pro position has been arrived on
We
history of human civilization.
the basis of evidence provided by
instrument of labour possess
Marx says that the "relics of bygone
sam ~ im po rtanc e for the inv est igation of the extinct forms of
the
as als o fos sil bo ne s for the de termination of extinct species
'SOCiety la ,
of ~a ls ." Thus the whole
41 process of arriving at this formu
thod
l>Olnts to the fact tha t he arr
ived at his major premises by me
is method can point out a
?f '~imple enumeration' only. Th
ctio n' and co- exi stence of tw o phenomena but it cannot
CODJun
eth er or no t the re is any 'co nnection' between them.
tell us wh
this method have very high
~ refore, the propositions based on
is logical defect makes .. the
degree of probability arid error. Th .
m unsound. .
W~le syste~. of ec_onomic. determinissuch assumptions are highly
-rom eth1i.:al pomt of view also,
s, does not tell why the ide al
:~hlerable.. Such a principle, as thi ts
,o- communism ought to be str
ived for. If consciousness reflec
then it can tell only wh at
~-n!y What 'is' there in the existence
t t~ be'. The facts reflected
i:-10; but it cannot tell 'what ough s ' an d i·t· th e ex,·s-
-
tc
ll:e
hu na n consciousness
determines the consciousness,
do no t bec om e 'value
then it would be va~ue a
tral ref lec tio n ha vin g no eth ical significance. The Marxian .
t~' becaus e in ·
,1cory tl1 e . wil l no t be abl e to serve the pu rpose
' ere for
216
Co'mmw1/ t:n1
' and Gl111
that case the consciousness of a better 'existen
ce' in th e f
communist society will never be possible. From
where ti ~rrn °f
sciousness will come ? For t I1e va Iue JU . d
gcmcnts , one will l 1s con
·
to tran sce11d the factual level. As James Bo 1ar 1
puts it " w iavc
never find the truth of t 11e present conditi '
, ' H ons in th e Pe C"t1 '1
itself." 3 owever, 1'f we a dmtt. tImt t I1e con .
. sciousn ess ca n . rese
e nt
.
tain some ideas, w111c11 are not t 11ere in the nter.
· 1 present existen ·.
. Wt·11 1rnve to b d . d
condit1ons, t 1en tt e a m1tte that ideas ar '-' t i<1 J
. d b I .
wholly determine y t 1e environments. It· our
consciou sn ess" can
not
entertain the idea of future existence in such
a way that our lives
are fashioned according to tha t idea, then the
Marxists will have
to agree that some ideas are a prio ri and they
exercise moul ding
effect on our existence. Whitehead also sug
gests many such other
areas and says : "Th e mathematical ideas are
a priori and in-
dependent of any experience . Mill tried to mak
e them empirical but
failed. "'3 If consciousness can have the
a priori mathem atical
idea~ without the corresponding existent
ial conditions, wh y
can not there be certain oth er valuational idea
s, which consciou s-
ness can entertain independant of the existenc
e. If it can, then
the role of ide.i in Ltshioning the hum an
history will have to be
recognised. So long as Arjuna is reflecting
the moral crisis, his
consciousness is det::rmined by the conditi
ons around him and
he is describing them to Kr~!Ja. Arjuna says
: "As I look upon
these kinsmen, 0 Kr~rJa, my mou th is parched
etc. " 41 But from
such descriptive statements, man can not
feel the necessity to
caacel, to transcend or to transform them.
This type of di ssatis·
faction from the present conditions of existenc
e, comes after the
ideal is fully apprehendeJ (nat!o moha~ smr
tir /abdha tvatprastid1i 11
mayticyuta).'6 It is this '(deal Consciou~n
ess' that leads Arjun a to
determine in what mo Jes he ought to exist.
Thus speaking, it is
the consciousness of the 'essential' dignity
of man , which is n.ot
the actual, but 'ideal' that will determine his
future mode of e:os·
tence, not vice versa. Thus, the very express
ion of the discont e_nt
with the present social existence and a desire
for a higher scH:l:,l
existence disproves that the consciousness is
determined by .e~i s·
tence. Kautsky has tried to defend the Mar
xist position. Avo id '. ng
the fact that it is the consciousness of the com
munist ideal whi ch
impels man to traverse the path towards the
goal, he says ~lint
"social impulse is at the basis of all morality 46
," and that 5 ince
Human Progress
Fthical Basis of 213
doctrine of Gita that if ethical basis are lacking, civilization cannot
stand on firm grounds. chwitzer rightly points out that "because
of the lack of ethico-philosophical foundation, the western civiliza-
tion has decayed."* If experience of decaying West is to be our
uide, this mistake should not be repeated. Therefore, he further
tells us that "if the ethical foundation is lacking, the civilization
collapses even when in other directions creative and intellectual
forces of the strongest nature are at work."35
Finding a materialist predominance in some epochs of history
and that too in a limited society, Marx should not have made it the
solemoving factor of history. Man needs inner regeneration and
ethical uplift to give desirabl: orientation to history. Morally
strong personalities in every age and in every society exercise
their decisive intiuence on the history, if the society is to be saved
from decadence. Like an insignificant blade of grass, it is very
easy to be swayed in the current of the events. But the historic
entities would rather change the course of human history towards
the higher human ideals. For this purpose, 1hey will need
great
moral strength, which will come from an sakti. Such historic
entities will leave trail of glory behind them to be followed by
posterity. The society raises them to the level of "avatra' (divine
incarnate).
Commenting on Gita's concept of Avatra, Radhakrishnan is
Or the
opinion that "the avat ra points out the way
by which men
can rise from their animal to a spiritual mode of existence by
providing us with an example of spiritual life."36 Thus, the mould-
ng influence of moral forces cannot be denied in human history.
Apart from this, the economic abundance of communist society
always stand in need of a principle like 'ansakti' so that the
ommunists may not also misappropriate and misuse the public
eatn. The maxim of Gita that with perfectly disciplined mind
abandoning attachment, one is to do his duty (yogasthah Kuru
n i Sangam tyak-iva dhanañjaya) is a better principle than
Principle of leaving the human destiny in the hands of
material forces of No doubt the economic factors
production.
CesSary in the development of a society, kut they are not
uficient to explain the whole history of mankind. Marx could
not see
this
and he falselysubtle difference between 'necessary' and
thought that what is 'necessary', is
'suficient,
'suficient',
214
Communism and Git
also. Oxygen
is necessary for human exIstence,
but mere
is not sufficient for man's survival. Other 'oxvgen
factors mav al
equally necessary. That is the reason that Gandhi in
has deduced his socialism from the moral modern tima.
mes
Laving down the fundamentals of his premises of anisakt
and ahimsä must incarnate in
socialism, he said, "Truth
socialism.**
factors shows that the moral factors are Emphasis on these
building the sound basis of civilization. equally necessary in
Relecting on all these arguments, we reach a
although the human happiness and man's conclusion that
the aim of both these digniied existence is
great philosophies, yet communism
committed the fallacy exclusive particularity in laying an has
of
emphasis on economic factor in human undue
history. Against this
emphasis, Ansakti Yoga wants to say that mankind will
become happy by consuming more not
and is progress require the
economic goods. Its welfare
non-economic factors. According to
Gita, economic prosperity and
follow from the principle of honestprogress (Sri and Vijaya) will
allotted task with a sense of discharge of every individual's
ansakti, and not vice-versa.
Eavironmentalism and Individual's
The whole question of human
Self-Improvement
progress converges at the point
as to whether the development in the
the human conduct into
economic sphere will mould
desirable channeis or the morally
progressing individuals exercise their moulding influence on history.
Marx starts in his theory of
economic interpretation of history
with the axiom, which inter alia
says that, "it is not the conscious
ness of menthat determines their
their social being that
being, but on the contrary
determines their consciousness.'"93 Such an
assertion does not allow
any creative role to the mind. This
ministic attitude leaves no deter:
place for the mo"al progress. Whiteneu
rightly points out that "if you refuse to admit that mind can have
for itself any
experiences than those provided for it by the bouy
(senses), then all individual moral
If the environment is so responsibility is swept awa
tight that it determines man's consclou
ness, then it puts an embargo on his moral strife. Putting man
the mercy of the material
modes of production is, in ae
depriving him of his ethical excellence which requires freedom
one of the fundamental
postulates.
Human Progress 215
Ethieal
Basis of
the concept of the material forces of production

c o n s c i o u s n e s s of man plays very role
important
Although
the
hole theory of economic interpretation of history, yet
d e t e r m i n i n g t
dete
in Marx's whole
dctermines their consciousness'
as 'thei being
propositions
sucn
such
logically tested. If by this statement a causal deter-
been
have not relation will have to be found out
meant, then acusal
is
and consciousness' in such a way that 'being'
minism
the "being'
is the 'effect' and that being is
etween
i the cause and 'consciousness

antecedent of consciousness. The
invariable concomitant
an
recognizes the methods of Agreement, Diffe-
scientific methodology and Difference, Method of
Joint Method of Agreement
rence,
and method of Residue,40 for establishing
concomitant variation Marx has
relationship between two phenomena. But
the causal th's
to arrive at
what method he has used
nowhere pointed out of his
proposition which forms the very basis
universal general
is false then invalid
historical materialism. If the very assumption
from it.
conclusions are bound to follow
has been arrived on
We are told that this general proposition
of human civilization.
the basis of evidence provided by history
instrument of labour possess
Marx says that the "relics of bygone of
the same importance for the investigation
of the extinct forms
determination of extinct species
SOCiety as also fossil bones for the at this formula,
OI animals."41 Thus the whole process of arriving
to the fact that he arrived at his major

premises by method
Ponts out a
enumeration' only. This method can point
Simple but it cannot
and co-existence of two phenomena
conjunction' 'connection' between
them.
s Whether or not there is any
method have very high
reiore, the propositions based on this -the makes
defect
and error. This logical
Oprobability
wnole system of economic determinism unsound. are higniy
ethical point of view also, such assumptions
Tom the ideal
does not tell why
a principle, as this,
Such
f ecommunism for. If
consciousness reflects
ought to be strived
tell only what
'is' there in the existence, then it can
n
is' a tit cannot tell 'what ought to be'. The facts
reflected
but 'values' and if
the exis-
into hu nan
into
consciousness do not become
be a value
then it would
ral determines
reflection the consciousness,
having no ethical significance.
urposeThebecause
Marxian
in
eutral releo because in
Y, the purpose
therefore. will not be able to serve
216
Communism and Giua
that case the consciousness ot a better existence' in the e..
communist society will never be possible. From
sciousness will come? For the value judgements, one this
where
con
one will have
will
totranscend the factual level. As James Bo var
puts it,
never find the truth of the present
conditions in
itself.2 However, if we admit that the consciousness the Dreea
can enta
tain some ideas, which are not there in the
present existential
conditions, then it will have to be admitted that ideas are not
wholly determined by the environments. f our
entertain the idea ot tuture exIstence in SUch a consciousness can
are fashioned according to that

way that our lives
idea, then the Marxists will
to agree that some ideas are a have
priori and they exercise moulding
effect on ourexistence. Whitehead also suggests
areas and says: *" The mathematical ideas
many such other
are a
priori and in-
dependent of any experience. Mill tried to make them empirical but
failed."3 If consciousness can have the a
ideas without the priori mathematical
corresponding existential conditions, why
cannot there be certain other valuational
ideas, which conscious-
ness can entertain
independant of the existence. If it can, then
the role of idea in
fashioning the human history will have to be
recognised. So long as Arjuna is reflecting the moral crisis, his
consciousness is determined by the conditions around
him and
he is describing them to
Krsna. Arjuna says: *As I look upon
these kinsmen, O Krsna,
my mouth is parched etc."4 But from
such descriptive statements., man cannot feel the necessity to
cancel, to transcend transform them. This type of
or to
faction from the present conditions of dissatis
existence, comes after the
ideal is fully apprehendei (nasto
mohah smrtir labdh tvatprasidin
mayacyuta)." It is this 'ldeal Consciousness' that leads Arjuna to
determine in what modes he ought to exist. Thus speaking. it 1s
the consciousness of the 'essential' dignity of man, which is not
the actual, but 'ideal' that will determine his
future mode of ex
tence, not vice versa, Thus, the very expression of the
discontent
with the present social existence and a desire for a higher soCial
existence disproves that the consciousness is determined
by exis
tence. Kautsky has tried to defend the Marxist
position. Avoiding
the fact that it is the consciousness of the communist ideal
whie
impels man to traverse the path towards the goal, he says that
"social impulse is at the basis of all e
morality, "40 and that SIn
Basis of uman Progress 217
Eihical
cial impulse is being constantly modified, the scope of
morality expands."*
47 But he does not seem to be aware of the
nplications
of what he is saying. He is conveying the idea that
order to realize itself is trying to search for
social
instinct in
in the material condi-
higher modes of its expression
higher and
lowers. Thus, all the modes of social
sns by discarding the are the manifestations of this inherent
existence. social relations
social,
existence.
In that case, this becomes the Hegelian
and immanent principle.
Will appear to be a bitter pill to communism.
Absolute, which
it does not lead to the inference that we should deduce the social
material foundations.
consciousness from the
the environmental
Another Marxist, Baax tries to explain
determinism from the point of view of the individual's conduct.
Speaking in Marxian terms, he says that "men are aware that
their individual lives are not their sole ends, but they are under
some higher compulsion."as So far as the consciousness that they
are not the sole ends is concerned, it may not be contested. But
when he says 'under some higher compulsion', the whole moral
fervour is lost. For morality, man should himsef realize that
others are also 'ends' and they are not the sole ends. This should
be a matter of inner realization not external imposition. This is
ne requirement of moral obligation. Sartre puts this idea in all

the more clear terms. He says"I am in contradiction with
myself if I will these values and at the same time say that these
mpose themselves upon one."49 Thus speaking, the fundamental
postulate of the economic determinism is logically and ethically
indefensible.
Individual Self-Improvement
nticipating all these dificulties arising out of the implication
proposition that 'existence' determines consciousness, Gita
k e n a balanced view. Man is, no doubt, conditioned by the
stimuli
dehe producing conditions (nibadhnanti mähäbäho
material
the human consciousness
bonndtuavyayam).50 Prakrti
und to its modes, and by keeps puru_a
ignorance, reflects the modi-
fication going in transcend t
impre in prakrti.
also and8Oing But man has the power to
Gita says: prove his conditions for the realization of his essence.
Which
which O when the embodied one transcends these three
r his contact with the body, he is released.
gunas,
This
218 Communism and Gu
released consciousness is the locus of values, and of the ase
of man's creative role over material factor. After knowing
to realize his lost human that
one ought essences, man
moulds
environment to suit him for his ideal-realization. Even at the Ievthe
of his bondage, the role of purusa is not merely that of reflectin
the modes of environment, but by working for his release from
bondage, puru_a modifies the material proces according to his
moral needs. Thus, at the level of bondage also, an interactinn
goes on. This type of interaction has now been supported by
various thinkers. Titus, for example, saysHuman behaviour is
never the result of environmental factors alone, nor the inborn
traits alone, but rather of the interaction of the both.""5: The
present day Soviet psychologists have also left the idea of one-
way determinism. They now uphold to interaction with the social
environment. Protonov points out that, "man is not born with
a personality but acquires one. The decisive factor in this pro-
cess is the fact that individual certainly makes one another
physically and mentally."53 This means that man, while being8
influenced by the social existence around exercises his own trans-
forming influence on others. If this position is recognised, then
we shall have to admit that man's consciousness is not always
determined by his existence, but very often his existence 15
moulded by his value-consciousness. This would give enougn
moral opportunity to the individual for his self-improvement
or
In short, man's progress is multi-dimensional. With the help
But
SCience and technology, he has conquered the outer world.
under the capitalist mode of production, the machines Over
ove
powered him and he became their appendage. The communi
transformation will be a great historical achievement on the paln
of progress, because then he would have gained victory over those
machines. However, it has not given any technique to master tnc
inner cravings, the frailties and the passions for material attacn
Dent, which can any time drag the whole of human civilizatto
necessity
to catastrophe. An sakti Yoga recognises the moral
so long as the attitudes are not changed, and till such time
the cravings for material comforts remain, the material mc
vith
in our hands may be misused, and the social life may be torn
strife, The ruinous contentions in the field of personal glori their
tion, sex rivalry and the political ambitions may Play
Human Progress 219
Basis of
&thical
become the victim of catastro-
and civilization may
erilousrole and
nerilousions,
phic conditions.
Therefore, the sound and lasting civiliza
on economic foundations. They
be built merely
cannot be built
man's existence, and
require
tion undations. The meanings of
ethicalfoun
aire ethical to be searched in the mat:rial world or in the
T his life are not in his own ability to transcend them.
This
of roduction, but
forcesof the material modes is an sakti.
transcend
moral ability to
aral ability an sakti will rovide a more sound foundation for
Therefore,
his progress than the
material principle.
civilization and
human
Corrective Theory
vs.
of civilization, certain
Deterrence
of the progress
course
During the and by their evil doings, they
cause impediment tendencies
elements may to progress, such
if the society is
danger to it,
may pose
be arrested. How much force
will have to anti-social persons ?
deal with the
But how to on the conditioning
it ? Due to their over-emphasis
is necessary for thinkers
communist
environment, the
necessary
of man by creating proletariat as a
of the dictatorship of the
assume the necessity this transitory period
c o m m u n i s m . During
preparatory stage
to will be
backed by the state power
iron laws
of dictatorship, strict required to
strictness will be
This unscrupulous The
implemented. enemies of progress.
that are
to be
hold back the elements are supposed
and of social progress
oPponents of socialism unsparingly.
deserve to be dealt with individuals.
ncorrigible that they these
needed to punish
deterrent methods will be long as thne
ne advocated the
idea that "so or
the interest
es, accordingly it does not use it in
"54 Lenin also
Iariat uses the state, its adversaries.
freedom, but in order to hold down said, "the revolutionary
justified he deterrent theory. He and maintained by
use
di is rule won
4Orship of the proletariat laws.56 This extreme
unrestricted by any
lence, rule that is political point
from purely of
form of deterrence may be expedient political
expediency
of view, but our concern is not to see the has
this type of approach
that
aishment. The question is whether deterrent theory
may say
moral exigency ? The advocate of not only
and it may
do
so
societyhas theright to protect itself, others also through
by rest ning the
byrestro criminals, but by
deterring
in
advocating
the
the
he ences.60 But
threat of painful Consequ
wwww.
220
Communism and Gu
unscrupulousness in dealing with the adversaries',
followers scem to have been misguided by a notion Marx and his
that man
invariably inclined to evil, if he is not
subjected
control. to strict
Great anthropologists like Ashlay
distrust "the co-operative forces in man's Montague counter this
nature are
even more important than the egoistic and
destructive forces
biologically
It is the tacit denial of this
good element in human nature
leads to subscribe to the deterrent that
theory. Such an
approach is
morally untenable. According to Mackenzie,
simply on force is the negation of "morality founded
morality."»* Mclver also
expresses his indignation against deterrence thus:
cannot protect tne social "force alone
order."s Force can serve only a limited
purpose, but it will not allow the feeling of moral
to grow in the man.
That is responsibility
frontal attack on those, wlho want
why, that Rashdall comes with a
make man moral by the use of
to
State power. He
succeeded on
says:"This is a fact that no legislation has
producing a perfectly moral community."0 He is
right his assertion, because the authoritative
in
the spontaneity and the coercion destroys
morally destitute.
individuality of the man and makes him
Gi'a, therefore, repudiates this deterrent
at one approach. No doubt,
place, Gita Will hold an uncompromising attitude ot
finishing the evil-doers to the last
Here the (vin[ya
communist attitude and Gita come du_krtm)
ca (V. d.
to agree on
point that wickedness humbled and subdued, even with one
1S a healthier moral condition iron hand
thanwickedness successful
triumphant. But this extremist view has been taken by Gitan in
the context of those evil forces, who
drag the whole
war, puting allhuman values to ransom. humanity de
towards the sinners is The general a are
reflected in the law of karma. TherC
various implications, of
this, and
rightly remarks: "The law of briefing them, Dr. universally Dasgupta
regarded as an ethical law by whichkarma is almost
Teap the good and evil effects each person was bound to
of his deeds."1 If reward
and
punishment, heaven and hell, rebirth etc., man gets r
own deeds, his
own merit and
according
that Gita demerit, then it follows from
subscribed to that principle of which
upholds that punishment jurisprudence

should be commensurate to
Time
Ethical Basis of Human Progress 221
committed. This is the principle of 'retribution'. The onus is
left on the individual to reform himself and
get reward by
expropriation. The essence of punishment then is not a threat,
but to set a stamp of annulment on what has been done.
By his
efforts, man can improve his lot and in taking this fact into
consideration, punishment is the negation of a bad will by the
reaction of the social will for good. It is
only when a man has
rejected his dharma that he is to be punished.
Bradley also suggests the same criterion. He says: "Punishment
is punishment only when it is deserved. We pay the penalty
because we owe it."Atonement is implied in the law of karma.
For this, the society, through the institutions
reflecting the
conscience of that society, should convey to the criminal its
disapproval of the immoral act. Ewing also suggests this method.
He says: "Punishment can be regarded 'as a kind
intended to express moral disapproval."53
of language
ment should above all be
Accordingly, punish
expression of the righteous indignation
of the society, and the onus on the
person concerned to
correct and rectify his social conduct himself. This is the
on which
principle
democracy can function well.
Judging the comparative moral worth of both these theories,
one can come to the conclusion that retributive
theory has
greater moral value than deterrence. If the punishment is so
regulated and inflicted as to be proportionate to the deed of the
individual himself, as the law of karma advocates, it will
help
man make himself better and induce him to abstain from anti-
social acts.
References
2. Marx, K. and Engels, F., German ldeology, pp. 13-15.
3 Engels, F., Ludn ig Feuerbach and End of Gern an ldeolog), p. 58.
4. Marx, K., Capital, Vol. I, p. 47; also pp. 94, 96, 562.
5. Ibid., p. 94.
6. Marx, K., Capital (1930), Vol. I, p. 170.
7. Marx, K., Con'ribution to Criique of Political Economy, p. 11.
8. Marx, K. and Engels, F., Selected Works, vol. I p. 357.
9. Marx, K., Contribution to the Critique of Poltical Economy, pp. 11-12.
10. Marx, Engels, Lenin, Historical Materialism, p. 86.
11. Chesmokov, D. I., Historical Materialism, p. 570.
222
Communism and Gua
12. Marx, K., Poverty of Philosophy, p. 61.
13. Glazerman G. and Kurasanov, G., Historical
Problems, p. 312. Materialism-_pBasic
14. Marx, K. and Engcls, F., The Holy Family, p. 110.
15. Marx, K. and Engels, F., On Britain, pp. 405-6.
17. Marx, K., and Engels, F., German Ideology,
18. p. 60.
Marx, K., Selected Writing in Sociology and Social
Bottomore, T. B. and Maximillian Rubel), p. 38. Philosophy (Transs.
19. Berdyaev, N., The
Meaning of History, p. 87.
20. Spengler, Oswald, The
Decline of the West, Vol. I,
21. Gita, IV. 5-9 p. 341.
(sambhavmi
22. Radhakrishnan, S., Hindu yuge yuge).
View oj Life, p. 73.
23. Gita, II. 3
(k_udram hrdayadaurbalyarm
IV. 42
(utti_tha bhrata). tyaktvotti_tha parantapa) ; and
24. Mackenzie, J.
S., A Manual of Ethics, p. 250 ff.
25. Bradley, F.
H., Ethical Studies, p. 190.
26. Mannheim,
Karl,
27. Schumpeter, J. A., Ideology and Utopia, p. 229.
28. Gita, XI. 55. Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy, pp. 10-11.
29. Gita, I1.5
30.
(prajahäti yada kmn sarvwn prtha
Bonar, James, Philosophy and manogatn).
Political conomy, p. 343.
31. Freud, S., Outlines of
32. Marx, K. and Engels Psycho-analysis,
F., Selected
p. 85.
33. Roll Eric, op. cit., Works, Vol. I, pp. 381-383.
34. p. 255.
Schwitzer, Albert, Civilization and
35. Ibid., p. xii. Ethics, pp. 9-20.
36.
37.
Radhakrishnan, S., Bhagavadgita, p. 156.
Gandhi, M.K., Harijan, 20-7-1947.
38. Marx, Engels, Lenin, On Historical
39.
Whitehead, A. N., Science and the Modern Materialism, p. 137.
40. Cohen and Nagel, World, p. 97.
41. Logic and Scientific Method,
Marx, K., Capital, Vol. I, 200.. p. 249 .
42. p.
Bonar, James, Philosophy and
43. Whitehead, A.N., Modes of Political Economy, p. 355.
44. Gita, I. 28-30. Thought, p. 87.
45 Gita, XVIlI. 73.
46. Kautsky, Karl, Ethics and the
47. Ibid., p. 123. Materialist Conception of
48. Baax, E.B., The Ethlcs of
History, P:
49. Sartre, J.P., op. cit., p. 51.Socialism, p. 4.

50 Gita, XIV. 5
51. Gita, XIV. 20.(Ansakti Yoga).
52. Titus, H. H., op. cit., p. 49.
53. Portonov, A.A. and Fedotov,
54. Marx K. and D.D., Psychiatry, p. 330.
Engels, F., Selected
Correspondence, p. 337.
Human Progress 223
Ethical Basis of
Selected Works, Vol. II, p. 365.
55. Lenin, V. I.,
182.
Ginsberg, Morris, op. cit., p.
56. On Being Human, p. 97.
57. Montague, Ashlay,
Outline of Social Philosophy, p. 139.
58. Mackenzio J.S., An
156.
59. Mclver and Page, Society, p.
Rashdall, H., op. cit.,
Vol. I., p. 297.
60.
Indian I dealism, p. 3.
61. Dasgupta, S.N.,
Ethical Studies, pp. 24-25.
62. Bradley, F.H.,
Punishment, p. 23 ff.
63. Ewing, A. C., A Study of
9
Means and Ends
Means-End Harmony
Our ideals, howsoever high
they may be, they remain mere
wishful thinking and unrealisable
utopia, without adequate
institutionalised means to realize them. Gita has
asserted this fact in drawing the conclusions of the
categorically
whole moral
discourse. The working together of a spiritual guide in the form
of Krsna and
practical executor like Arjuna, are essential for
Success and prosperity.1Marx too strikes a similar note in his
VIII Thesis on Feuerbach that "social life
is essentially practical.
All mysteries, which mislead
theory to mysticism, find their
rational solution in human
practice."2 In so emphasizing, botn
these systems want to make their ideals
realisable in practical nie.
The question of means and ends
may be put in another way. Can
we adopt
any means to realize our ideal ? In this
case, the problem
becomes very dificult to solve. Some
would say that end justine>
the means-right or
wrong, our ideal must be realized. 1u
says, "if the evil of means is such that it
gained from the act, as a whole, or alternative outweighs any vau
better means w
available, then the ends will not justify the means.3 However,
the question here is not of
the justification but of consisteney
MeamsandEnds 225
them. Milne thinks it clearly impossible to separate

between
which it is mans." Many a times, it
means
from the ends to
utter failure of
efforts if we fail to visualise whether the
sults in would or would not be conducive to
we are adopting
means that
view. It is a fundamental condition for any building
the end in
constitutive elements should not be incompatible
stem that its We have
ystei
with each
other. already seen that some ideal has been
placed before the mankind by communism and by G ta. They have
placed before
also pointedout the way to achieve it, and in the light of that.
to Judge and evaluate whether there are any
it becomes easy
inconsistencies in the system itself.
lf so, where did these
falter and what were the main factors leading
ereat philosophies
It will also be possible now to
to create these discrepancies.
examine critically whether or not the institutions suggested within
their system are in harmony with their ends. It may help us to
make assessiment if better alternative ways to accomplish the same
goals can also be available.
Deontological vs. Teleological Criterion
Some thinkers argue that Gita preaches a doctrine of 'duty for
sake, and. therefore, in Gita, the question harmonising of
duty's
the actions with the end does not arise. They try to drag Gita to
fallin line with the Kantian formalism. In support of their stand,
alone
aey quote certain. out of context passages like 'to action
hast thou a. right and never at all to its fruits (II.47), or that hold
ke pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat, and gird
(II. 38).
p thy loin for the fight so doing thou shalt not incur sin' Kantian
of
aey forget. that to interpret Gita in terms in
Of course,
gorical imperative. is to miss its. very essence.
Gita, emphasis has been laid on discharging one's obligation
moral worth of the
Co culating the consequences. But the
Gita has nowhere
CL 1 not judged intrinsically. Like Kant,
dthat good. will' will shine by its light. On the contrary,the
has always been kept insight, and if the action is not leading
0, that goal, it would.be not a right conduct.
Gita
posits
Accord the goal as Brahma NirväFa or self-realization.
Accordingly,tthe moral worth of astion is to be judged
(sthänam)
in context
which is
achieved0a1. The statement. that "goal
achieved. (prá
PYate) by mea of renunciation is
also reached
226 Communisn and Gua
(ganyate) by yogin," points out clearly that there is a goal toward.
which various paths are leading. In the light of this, the mors
imperative is not 'categorical in Gita, but it is a conditional t
moral
this, then this'. If you want the realization of this end, then this
is the path. Without taking into consideration the antecedent, the
consequent cannot be affirmed. Thus, all the institutions are to he
evaluated from the point of view of the ideal and the worth of any
institutional means is not to be judged apart from, and indepen
dent of this ideal.
When Krsna asks Arjuna to do his duty (niyatarm kurukarma-
tvam) (IIL.8) or (Yogasthah kuru karmäni) (11.48), he was not talking
like a de-ontologist, who holds that such and such kind of action
would always be right or wrong, no matter what its consequences
might be. He simply says that being finite, one cannot calculate all
the permutations and combinations of the events to come. There
fore, he should do it according to his station of life. But whether it
is right or not will be judged by its tendency to produce certain
consequences (mâphalesu kadäcana). This is efficacy to lead to
the goal.
Similar confusion also prevails about the theory of
communism.
Popper has charged Marx of adopting the Hegelian theory of
moral positivism'.® Moral positivism asserted that there is no
moral standard, but the one which existed'. If the social institu-
tionsare adapted to the basic material modes of production of a
particular age, then they
are justified. It comes to mean that, that
which is, is reasonable and good. Such conclusions are drawn
o
the basis of some of the assertions made by Marx. For exampics
Marx writes, "In so far as the
capitalist is a personified capital, n
does play a historic role."7 Here, Marx wants to say that had no
the capitalist been there, the humanity would have remaine
confined to feudalism,
and therefore, the capitalist has also done
a great service to human also
history. Therefore, when capitalism l
it is justified. But from this be
type of pronouncements, it
canno witl
inferred that Marx kept no ideal in view as a standard,
reference to which he list
was condemning the worth of the
capita
institutions. Marx conceived of an 'Ideal form of Social Existence,
in which man will be able
to realize himself. It was from leo
logical point of view that Marx judged all the historicalthis
and their institutions
and pronounced his
epothey
judgement that
227
Means and Ends
Consequently, in
and fit only to be transcended.
were imperfect so far as they are
have their value only in
communism, the means
and rejected.
these are to be condemned
oriented to it. Otherwise,
of m e a n s in con-
this ground, i.e., measuring the worth
It was on social-
that Marx rejected the theories of other
text with the ends
who evaluated
Marx was also a teleologist,
ists as Utopian. Thus of positivism'
institution in term of the end. The charge
every unfounded.
against Marxisttheory is, therefore, and for
communism uphold teleological ethics,
Both Gita and far as they
have their utility only in so
both of them, the means
which for both of them is self-
help in the realisation of the end,
actualization and man-realization.
inconsistencies in the
However, there are certain Angenuine of Gita.
communist system, vis-a-vis, the
sakti Yoga
Marxism
Penchant for Dictatorship in
of the 'dictatorship of proleta-
The concept of transitory phase
communist theory. Marx started his
riat' is a stigma on the whole
to find out a 'higher type
of society', where
theory with a quest
for full and free development of
conditions may be congenial
of the bondage of dehumanised existence,
every individual. Weary
of freedom'. He had so much pas-
he had a vision of the 'kingdom
of the communist society,
sion for freedom that the whole gamut
freedom in the life of produc-
ultimately signified to him a perfect
of authoritarian management of
tion. Disgusted with the torlures
Marx visualised that even "within
the
the capitalists production, 'free
would be carried onby a asso-
factory life process of society "8
This reflects his
withers away).
ciation of producers' (when state
on Engels realized the practical
zeal for freedom although later
wrote in 1872, "wanting
difficulty of this dreary conception. Engels to
industries is tantamount
to abolish authority in large scale
wanting to abolish industry itself."
that having so much zeal for
A question naturally arises
that Marx needed 'dictatorship of
freedom, was it not paradoxical transitional
the proletariat' as the necessary post revolutionary
towards freedom? This
stage in the historical march of humanity
Marxism. Origin wherefrom the
paradox is the chief weakness of
to Hegel whom
weakness crept into Marxism, can be traced
Marx calls his master. The Hegelian concept
of the inevitable
228 Communism andGit
law of history' led him to weave a "historico-philosophical myth
in order to lessen the birth pangs of impending political develop-
ment. "It was under the influence of this Hegelian myth that he
posited 'dictatorship' to build a bridge between capitalism and
full communism."0 But Marx apparently did not realize that it
was self contradictory to hold that things should be first made
worse, before they are made better.
Dictatorship is apparently the Marxian antidote to the fierce
competition in the capitalist economy. He thought that to nullify
the competition in the system of capitalist production, the
system
itself was to be negated. Marx, who was embittered with the
corruptive influence of capitalist economy, did not realize that
the danger painted by Malthus was imaginary and a laissez
faire
system as conceived by the liberal economists of 19th century exis
ted only in their writings. Instead of
exposing the fallacies of that
system, and criticising it, Marx took it for granted that conditions
depicted therein really existed and he started working out on
these a priori assumptions to end the
The only refuge, that he could seek, was in
vagaries of laissez faire.
of state. Mayo points out Hegelian philosophy
"despite its greatness, the philosophy
of Hegel will remain always one of the best armouries
whence
w2apons may be drawn by any one, who wishes to launch an
attack on liberty, reason, individual
Marx invoked the Hegelian law that freedom."11 Consequently,
State
conscience.and applied it to crush the dismal represents the sociaB
effects of the gross
i ndividualism which was
the product of laissez
He did not realize that the faire economy.
be more fatal than the remedy that he was suggesting would
disease.
The conceptof dictatorship, thus, is the
placed application of Hegelian theory to outcome of the mis-
conditions of the economic life unverified and imaginary
to the of man. Marx impertinently reacted
empirically false Malthusian society based on perfect
petition. Marx was well aware of the fact com-
cations of Hegelian that the political impl
State'
theory of state lead to
fascism, which conceives
as, the living embodiment of Godearth. He as0
expressed his
disgust against
on
the political
witbering away of the state. But absolutism in his idea o
Hegelian evil to counteract the still, Marx adopted this
other evil of the gross
of
competitive economy. In
counteracting one evil withindividuals
other ev
Meansan Ends 229
this exponent of human freedom, as a matter of fact, lost himself
into the mighty political currents of Hegelian Absolutism 'devour-
ing the freedom of the individual'. Mayo decries it thus: "If

people can be permanently spoiled by too much bad philosophy
in their youth, then Marx was a prime example."12
As a matter of fact, putting man under statc control for his
moral improvement raises serious doubts about tke historicity of
man, who is the sole denominator of social progress. The mana-
gerialism of the socialist stage is nothing but the changed label
of totalitarianism, which deprives man of all his moral initiative
and reduces him to a mere cog and nut into a vast machinery.
The evils of totalitarianism cannot be remedied by substituting
tweedledee with tweedledum. Repudiating the evil consequences
of totalitarian system, Johnson points out, "when the thought
and deed of a man are dictated down to the last detail,
the richness of life evaporates in the heart of oppression."13
Consequently, when oppression dominates socety, tow it can be
hoped that the man, who wil emerge out of this transitional
period, will be morally so strong as to march ahead in the direc
tion of the communism of Marxian concept. If the individuals
remain morally crippled, the dictatorship will go on perpetua ting
and humanity will never be able to enter the 'kingdom of freedom'.
Dictatorship, a Moral and Social Evil

Another question about the moral basis of this dictatorship can
be raised here. What will this dictatorship do during the tran-
sition from capitalism to communism. Does Marx mean to say
that unless the economic needs of man, and his biological needs
are fully satisfied, man should not be allowed to tread the higher
paths of life ? Should man first be freed from the clutches of
hunger and other economic necessities by increasing production
and by training people to take according to their needs ? The
dictatorship will realize this end and afterwards the march to the
kingdom of freedom will start. But if this is the asumption, then
it means that poor, half-fed people, are all immoral and nothing
good can be expected from them. It is only when they are well-
fed that they can be expected to be moral. This sort of contempt
for the masses is the bane of the fascism and its tacit iniltration
Jnto communism will be.an apparent contradiction. The difficulty
230 Communism and Gitä
lies in the fact that Marx starting with purely
humanitarian
problems ends in his concept of dictatorship, a purely political
solution. When the faith in the effectiveness of social and moral
forces is lost, then only man takes recourse to brute political
forces for the improvement. Therefore, it cannot be an
ethical
approach at all. Actually speaking, totalitarianism is a weapon of
those who want to kill mind and thought. When state is
given
unlimited powers, no matter it is the 'workers state, it
a monster, which devours the
becomes
dignity and freedom of individual.
Collectivism is nothing less than a cloak for
tyranny. Popper
arguesfrom the point of view of practical politics, it involves the
risk of destroying all prospects of reasonable reform
and is likely
to bring about another
tyranny."14
From the Marxian writings,
nothing is clearly discerned about
the contents of this
dictatorship. Marx left the idea vague.
Ambitious demagogues merrily
State is to wither away
prospered on the same. If the
ultimately, he should have shown it as
something superfluous and redundant. The essence of human
freedom required that man should have been
criticise where the state given the right to
authority was weighing heavily on human
dignity and human freedom. Such criticis m is
the people are morally possible only when
and
strong are guided by principles, not
by temptations or fears. It that it is possible only
means when
societies are working 'dharma'. Since Marx had no concep
on
tion of a socio-ethical
principle like dharma, he had to junmp into
a
dangerous concept of organised coercion as the
turn the lustful and technique to
greedy sinners into free communist man. 5ur
this is
contradictory to suppose that from organised coercion mau
will become angelic.
Mackenzie rightly observes that"law in
general can only provide what is best in
take cognis ance of the level general."15
of micro-conduct.
Law canno
How the individual
disputes will be
friendly to each other, and how removed, how men will Tec
altruism, are such problems, which they will go from egoism o
fman is made
totally
a
dictatorship cannot solve
subordinate
where the minor affairs of mutual to a monstrous authoriy
strong police force it will dealing also controBled
are
Marx could put an end to his moral zeal.
not visualize
of that the dictators, like the
Plato, may also become guaru
corrupt. Does not Lenin rereir to
Means and Ends 231
Plekhanov as a renegade? lf there can be one renegade there can

be others too. Excessive power and wealth corrupted Plato's
guardians. The same may happen with the dictators of proletarian
state also. They may declare each o'her a renegade, infidel. and
fight for administrative power. What is the guarantee that perso-
nal pride, sex rivalry, ambition and lust for high posts will not
plague the dictators, and also the subsequent communist society?
Supporters of communism suggest that the dictatorship is ne es
sary in order to end the private ownership of the means of produc-
tion. But, for social control of means of production, is state control
necessary? By making the means of production as State property,
i.e., by their nationalization, the de jure ownership will, no doubt,
end. But possibly the de facto ownership will continue with the
bureaucrats perpetuating nepotism, and favouritism. Only a
moral force like Ansakti can finish the very sense of ownership.
The concept of dictatorship, as presented by Marx, is
negative. It is anti-Darwinian, anti-Malthusian, anti-liberalism,
and an attitude, which is anti everything is, as Ortega Y Gasset
rightly says, a reaction and nothing else.16 When the mighty
dictatorshipsin the world were breaking under the burden of their
own tyranny and under their own sins against human dignity and
freedom, the idea of dictatorship presented by Marx, is a

reac-
should better
tionary, a retrogresive idea in human history. Marx
have left the post-capitalist society to decide what type of socio-
themselves from
political order they would build after freeing
the clutches of the forces of greed.
Freedom and Responsibility in Gita

mankind
The ideal that Ansakti Yoga of Gita has put before
The social
is the realization of man's lost unity with humanity.
the demo: ratic
order suggested by Gita, is realizable through
and
institutions. In addition, Gita lays emphasis on svadharma,
man than his loyalty
to
pcstulates "there is nothing greater for a
the obligations of his station." Idealism of
Gita does not advocate
but it wants to prepare man
escapism or renunciation of the world
life-situation.
for facing the problems of his actual
Gita lays down the
Unlike the communist path of dictatorship,
illustrative
path of democracy. This is substantiated by
a very
T am
points out,
allegory in which the personified social system
equally present in all beings; there is none hateful or dear
Me (IX 20). A successful democracy requires that all the den to
should be treated as having an equal capability in them to emos
their own welfare and, therefore, they may be
decids
ecide
granted equal riph
to make their destiny. A
guarantee that there will be no
tion of thought his been provided in Gita. The whole regimenta.
Gita goes on in a cl mate of intellectual freedom. dialogue of
There is no sign
of regimentation or authoritative
in allowing Arjuna to raise
imposition. The author of Gita
queries after queries with a view to
understandimg everything before accepting it, suggests that the
of a man is not a box.to be mind
packed ruthlessly by some monolithic
iceology. Individual has the right to enquire and to raise
wherever he wants to differ. Without such a doubts
freedom to raise
systematic doubts, the truth cannot be known. There is no
cy in Krsna to curb the spirit of free tenden
enquiry, which is
found in highly
organised, authoritarian systems in theirgenerally bid to
hammer down the differences.
From this style, it can be inferred
that the freedom to have
difference of opinion has been the tone
of Gita. The maxim
of democracy is. also
to what this : "I may not agree
you say ; but I shall still
defend your
only freedom of expression,right
Gita recognizes not to say 1t.
kinds of freedoms. but also other
() Freedom
to
to
Worship:Gita says "Whatever form one desires
worship in faith and devotion in that very form 1
faith of his secure.17 make that
The same freedom of
innate character has faith according to one s
been assured in
(Sattvanur kp sarvasya [raddh bhavati
verse 3 of
Chapter XVil
out the wide bhrata).
These verses bring
catholicity of
Radhakrishnan
theGita. Commenting on the
form of
says that, "Gita does verse
not speak of this or
religion. The same God
is tna
difference of conception and local worshipped by all. Tne
adaptation."18 colouring are due to
socal
The indian thinkers
is not
exhausted in
rightly uphold that infinite wisdom of od
one
limited to path.
this book or thatNor, the knowled ge of God can
variety cf scripture. Therefore, the inhn Do
over
approaches are
it, but it leaves the possible. Gita does not raise
matter of any dispu
man. religion to the free choiCe of
(ii) Freedom
to act according to :conscience: The second kind
Means and.Ends
233
of freedom that is recognised in Gita is the freedom to act
accord
ing to one's conscience. In the concluding chapter of discourse,
after having suggested various courses and having discussed all
pros and cons thereof, the final choice has been left to Arjuna.
Gita says: having reflected on it fully do as you choose' (Vimríyai
tadasesena yathecchasi tathà kuru).19 This attitude of Gita shows
full faith in human reason and in the fact that 'every man is the
end' capable to exercise moral choice. None is to impose his own
standards on him. Radhakrishnan calls it the principle of free
choice. He says: "We are free at any moment to reject or accept
the divine call."20
ii) Freedom to choose one's vocation: Another freedom
recognized in Gita is the freedom to follow one's vocation
according to one's own aptitude. This follows logically from
the concept of Svadharma. Gita says: "Better one's own
duty though uninviting, than another's which may be easily per
"a
formed (Sreyn svadharmo vigunah, paradharmt svanu_!hitt).
In preceding two verses, emphasis 'has also been laid on each
man performing his duty (sve sve karmani) (XVIII. 45) and Sva-
karman. Taken together all these verses the author of Gita
wants to convey that one is expected to discharge his social
Work according to his gunas (natural abilities). Four freedoms
are logically deducible from these maxims. These are: () freedom
of thought, including that of discussion and of expression of

faith ;
opinion ; (ii) freedom.of worship, according to one's own
) freedom of choice in deciding one's course of action, according
to one's reason, and (iv) freedom to select one's
vocation. These
institutions
are the fundamental freedoms on which the democratic
can function well.
through
t becomes evident from this discussion that the means
democratic way of life are more in harmony
with the ideal of our
becomes imperative
Tealization of man's freedom. It, therefore,
then we should
That if the realm of freedom is to be reached,
individual from being en-
equally safeguard the freedom of the and (i) eco
croached by (i) politically ambitious demagogues,
these things is
nomic monopolists. Adequate safeguard against who
enunciated by Gita. The individuals,
pOvided
in the scheme
would put a
check
disciplined,
aTe
morally trained and spiritually restore the 'essential equany
a l - t h e exploitations and thereby
234 Communism and Gij
and dignity of man'. For this purpose, Dharma should
the root of weal and not vice versa. made
Freedom and Responsibility

Although Gita makes provision for the fundamental freedom
and Marx has also cherished the dream of human ms
freedom in hio
vision of communism, yet the unbridled freedom
may prove a
curse. This implies that freedom should be
rationally used.
According to communism, the community life is the real
personal freedom. Marx said, "In the real community thesphere of
duals obtain their freedom in and indivi-
through
This implies that along with freedom the
their association."2
individuals also carry
some
responsibility towards whole community.
However, the
dificulty arises when Marx places the onus of
responsible in the workers' state. This was due making to his
a man
distrust in man's ability to reform implicit

himself. Gita on the other hand
advocates a society of
morally disciplined persons, who will adjust
themselves to the need of the
emphasis on making the individualsystem. Accordingly, Gita lays
deeds, instead of shifting the fully responsible for all his
mental equilibrium and responsibility on State. A sort of
proper and righteous use impartiality
is the
of one's freedom. If pre-conditionof the
free from the the mind is not
prejudices
the rival claims of
and political bias, it cannot appreciate
the alternative
therefore, will not allow others doctrines and moral values, and
opinion. It is, therefore, to express
any difference o
fully, the onus should be necessary that in order to be responsibie
left on the
Law of
Karma goes very individual himself.
deep
responsible not only for their overt to the extent of making me
tions. Man is acts but also for their
overt
not only
responsible for the consequences or inten
actions, but he should
consequences of his wrongful be responsible
responsible toto bear the
AIter and unsocial
having surveyed intentions as wer.
communism and broadly, the ideals of both Gita and
tion of these also the institutions they a"
ideals, it can be suggest for the rean
Yoga of Gita very well seen that akti
sacred and does consistently
not upholds the individual's the A
between the ends like to infringe on it. There is no
freeaou ency
consideration,
and
one
means here.
From an
inconsISteematic
may either
reject extra-SySu
or
accept the system as
syo
Means and Ends
235
whole. For example, one may reject the
system merely on the
ground that it belongs to a particular religious community
But within the system itself, the institutional mcans and the etc.
ideal
of self-realization have been consistently woven
together. If Gita
is understood as having the esoteric meanings, the key to which
was provided by Mahäbharata (na mänu_t
sre_thataram), then
many misconceptions are automatically resolved. In his commen
tary, Ansakti Yoga, Gandhi has interpreted all the 700 verses from
the sociological frame of reference and the metaphysical inconsis-
tencies do not crop up proving beyond doubt that it is a coherent
sys tem.
In communism, the apparent contradictions have been
intro
duced by their approach of negating the freedom. Their stand-
point seems to be that the freedom will cataclasmically follow from
the denial of freedom. From where did this error creep into commu-
ism which turned it from a lofty ethical doctrine of self-realisa-
tion into a political 'ism', to enthral dictatorship? The maincontra-
dictions and inconsistencies in the system of communism. are
(a) Source of egoistic need: Throughout the system, Marx has
harped upon the corruptive influence of egoistic needs, of profit
and money. But he was never clear about the source of this
egoistic need. He suggested that money itself is the cause of the
for money and that competition is responsible for
greed for
the maniacal, the were-wolf hunger for surplus value. Since the
Source ofthis egoism was not clear to him, he could never ask
himself what would prevent the inhuman force from rising its
yonder
the side
gly head again to estrange man from himself on
lhe could not
of history. Similarly, in finding out the solution,
individual's
VISualize that the egoistic ne:d can be undone by only
sense of attachment.
Own moral efforts and the removal of the
this point, the real
n i s is an sakti. Had he deeply thought on
a social revolution
for the change ot
revolution would have been
not oceur to Mar
revolution. This could
Beir and not the political real source of human need for
uc Lo the vagueness about the
money. to
( ) Dichotomy of appearance and reality: Marx wasunable
distinction between 'reality' and 'appear-
oVerthrow the Hegelian he simply sub
of history,
ace. In his materialistic conception "essentials and
treated them as
Tthe terminology and
236 Communism and Gitä
'accidentals. This led him to believe that in history
forces the
production, which are essences, go on groWing from stage toof
stage in order to realize themselves whereas the accidents viz.. tha
superstructure of the society, the political and social institutionse
which are the 'appearancesof the modes of ons,
production, decay.
From this description, it appears that the
superstructure is th
manifestation through which the 'essences. "the forces of
tion' are realising themselves. On this produc.
of a political revolution will be mere
consideration, the question
the economic foundation, i.e., the
exchange of persons. Unless
reality is changed, what is the
use of changing the "superstructure, by
political revolution.
a
(c) Political revolution, no
solution of egoism: Can
egoism be eliminated once for all by a political competitive
material goods in the world are limited in revolution? The
amount and if one
of them is occupied part
by one individual, even without
it cannot belong to the owning
other, like the possessions of the bitthat,
public property. This will of
as
again introduce a spirit ofcompetition
every one will try to.occupy the better part, and
fear of deprivation, then under a
a sense of permanently
in them. owning it, may develop
In
order, therefore, that the
ordered interests may not clash in an
community of human beings, there will be two alter-
natives: either the
enforced from aboveplanned allotment of
the State, or the material resources will be
the
by individual will
tendency of luxurious relinquish
consumption by
advocated the sacrificing
share for others. the surplus
Marx
seek redress in first and therefore had to
to remain dictatorship.
under
Marx
thereby condemned humaniy
the
of their shares and yokes of. dictatorship for mutual
claims.
native, then he would be But if he votes for the second
adjustments
ing that without voting for ansakti and alter
thereby recogni
communism cannotansaktibe built.(non-attachment), higher phase
Marxism, because both This is the
these dilemm:a oof
great dilemma
communism.
d) Role
suggestions would prove fatai
of
according to "mental"' factors in production: The
Marx, was whole history
he wasnot.clear about the moved by the forces of
factors in the relative role of production.
physical
Bu
tactors .constituteproductive
the 'forces process.
and
How much of the menta ical
of
production', and how far tnephysis
'Means L'ttlfd:Jinds 233
:offreedom ithat is recognised in Gita is ·the freedom to act accor d-

' .
·ing to on~ s c0Asc1ence. I~ the con~luding chapter of <liscourS'e,
.after havmg suggested various courses and having di sc ussed all
p~os and c~ns t_hereof, the fin al. choice has been left to Arjuna.
Otta ·-says : havmg reflected on 1t fully do as you choose' (Vimrsyai
(t(lt/as;N e'!,fl yathecchasi tatha kuru).rn This attitude of Gita shaws
fuH fa ith in human -reason and in the fact that 'every man is the
,end' ·capable to exercise moral choice. None is to impose his own
stand·a rd:s :on him. Radhakrishnan calls it the principle of free
.-ch.oice. He says : "We are free 'at any moment .to reject or accept
'the divine call. " 20
(iii) Freed0m to -choose one's vocation: Another freedom
r~ogni~ed · in Gita is .the fre·e dom to follow one's vocation
:a-ccording ·to one's own aptitude. This follows logically from
1
the :concept · of Svadharma. Gita ·says : ' ·Better one 's own
.duty though uninviting, than ,anotker's •which may be easily per-
formed ('Sreyiin swidharmo .vigutJab, paradharmat svanur!hitat).'' 21
in preceding :two vernes, •emphasis ·has also been laid on each
iBtan:performing hi-s 'duty ·(~ve sve ·karmar;i) (XVIII. 45) and Sva-
krarmtt"!,a. Taken to.g ether :all these v.erses 'the author of Gita
¥ants to :convey ·that one is ·expected to ·discharge ·his social
v1ork according to his gutJ,as (natural abilities). Four freedoms
are logically .: deducible from these maxims. These are : (i) freedom
.of1honght, .including that of discus:sion and of :expression of
-,opini on ; (ii) freedom.,0f .worship, according to one's own faith ;
(iii) fTc,erlom -o f.choice in deciding one's .course of action, according
to one's reason ' :and (iv) freedom to select one's vocation. . . These
.
:al'e the·fundamental \freedoms on which· the democratic mstitutions
can -function well.
It-'becomes~vid·e nt from this disaussion that the means through
democratic ,way o'f life :,are more in harmony with the id~al of ~ur
-r ealization of'man's .freedom . .It, therefore, becomes imperattve
.that iLthe Tealm of ·freedom is to be reached, then we. should
·equaHy 1a:fegua-rd the freedom of the m · d'1v1'd ua l fro m bemg .. en-
cr.oached ·by (i) politically ambitious demagogues, 811d ( ,~) ec~-
. f d a1·nst these things is
:nomic anon0polists. Adequate sa eguar .ag . . .
. . . . d b o·t rnhe md1v1duals, hwhok
.tptevtded -inithe scheme enunciate Y 1 a. 11
4lle:mo,aUf ·trained and :spiritually-disciplined, would p~t a c ;.~
. . "th 'essential equa I Y
•~on all,..the, exi,loitat-i:ons rand .;tlttreby restore e -
234 Communism and Git a
and dignity of ma n'. Fo r ~hi
s pu rp os e, Dh ar ma sh ou ld
the roo t of weal and no t v,ce ver be made
sa .
Freedom and Responsibility '
Although Gi ta ma ke s pro vis
ion for the fun d a men th\
and Marx has also cherished the fr c~d om s
dr ea m of hu m an fre ed om
vision of co mm un ism , yet the 1n his
un br idl ed fre ed om m ay p
curse. This implies tha t fre rove a
ed om sh ou ld be rat ion all
According to co mm un ism , the y used .
co mm un ity life is the rea l
personal freedom. Ma rx sai d, sp her e of
"I n the rea l co mm un ity the
duals ob tai n the ir fre ed om indi vi-
in an d thr ou gh the ir assoc
Th,is implies tha t alo ng wi th iation ." 22
fre ed om the ind ivi du als
some responsibility tow ard also carry
s wh ole co mm un ity . Ho
difficulty arises when M arx wever, the
pla ce s the on us of ma kin
responsible in the wo rke rs' sta g a man
te. Th is wa s du e to his
dis tru st in ma n's ab ilit y to ref implicit
orm him se lf. Gi ta on the oth
advocates a society of mo ral er hand
ly dis cip lin ed pe rso ns , wh o
themselves to the need of will adj ust
the sy ste m. Ac co rdi ng ly,
emphasis on ma kin g the ind G ita lays.
ivi du al ful ly res po ns ibl e
deeds, in~tead of sh ift ing the for all his.
res po ns ibi lit y on Sta te. A
me nta l eq uil ibr ium an d im pa so rt of
rti ali ty is the pr e-c on dit ion
pro pe r an d righteous use of of the
on e's fre ~d om . If the mi
free fro m the prejudices an d nd is not
po lit ica l bia s, it ca nn ot
the rival claims of the alt ern appreciate
th~r~ ati ve do ctr ine s an d mo ral va lue '-, an d
fore, will no t all ow oth ers
to ex pre ss an y difference
opinion. It is, the ref ore , ne ce of
ssa ry th at in or de r to be res
fully, the on us sh ou ld be lef t on ponsible
Law 0 f K the ind ivi du al him sel f.
. · arm a gpes very de ep
to the ex ten t of m aking men
r~sponsible no t on ly for the ir
ov ert ac ts bu t als o for the
tions. M~n is no t only res ir int en-
po ns ibl e fo r the co ns eq ue nc
ov ert actions, bu t he sh es of his
consequences of his w ou ld be res po ns ibl e to be ar th~
Af · · . . f l
ron g u an d un so cia l int en ti0 ns as
!
ter 1aving surveyed bro ad well ·
communism an d also th · ly, the ide als of bo th Gi ta a11d
f f ·· . t· .
e ms tut1ons the y su gg est fo r
1
the rea ltz:.
ton
Y oga o o f tGh ~se ide als , it ca n be ve ry well see n th at :t·
1ta con · t 1 the An asakti
sacred and does n sis _en t Y .up
~o lds the ind ivi du al' s fre
between the dot hk e to mf rm ge on it. Th ere ed om ns
consideration en s an d me_ans is no inconsistencY
he re. Fr om an extra-syste
· ' one may eit he r rej ec t or matic
ac ce pt the system as a
i
r g •-
Means and Ends

235
whole. For example, one may reject the system
. mere 1y on the
ground
, . ..
that tt belongs to a parti cular religious •
. . . . . . community etc.
But w1thm the system itself, the 111st1tut1on al me-1ns
. . ' an d th e I'deal
of self-realizat1on hav_e been consistently wove n together. If Gita
is unders~ood as havtt~g ~he esoteric meanings, the key to whi ch
was pr~vtded b~ Mahabharata (na manuJii t srcJ/hataram) , then
many m1sconcept1ons are automatically resolved. In hi s commen-
tary, A11iisakti Yoga, Gandhi has interpreted all the 700 verses fr
. . 1f " om
the soc10log1ca rame of reierence and the metaphysical inconsis-
tenci·es do not crop up proving beyond doubt that it is a coherent
S}S tem.
In communism, the apparent contradictions have been intro-
duced by their approach of negating the freedom. Their stand-
point seems to be that the freedom will cataclasmically follow from
the denial of freedom. From where did this error creep into commu-
nism which turned it from a lofty ethical doctrine of self-realisa-
tion into a political 'ism', to enthral dictatorship? The maincontra-
dictions and inconsistencies in the system of communism. are :-
(a) Source of egoistic need: Throughout the system, Marx has.
harped upon the corruptive influence of egoistic needs,. of profit
and money. But he was never clear about the source of this
·egoistic need. He suggested that money itself is the cause of the
greed for money and that competition is responsible for
the ~aniacal, the were-wolf hunger for surplus value. Since the
source of this egoism was not clear to him, he could ne:e_r a~k
himself what would prevent the inhuman force from nsmg_its .
ugly head again to estrange man from himself on the yonder st de
of history. Similarly, in finding out the solution, h~ c~u_ld n~t
· visualize that the egoistic ne~d can be undone by only rnd ividual s
own moral efforts and the removal of th e sense 0 ~ attachmen\
This is anasakti. Had he deeply thought on th is pomt, th e re\
O
revolution would have been a social revolution for th e changMe ,
. Th' uld not occur to arx
self and not the political revolut10n. is co d for
ce of human nee
due to the vagueness about the rea l sour
money. /'t . Marx was unable to
(b) Dichotomy of appearance and rea I Y \ 'llity' and 'apoear-
. d' t' t' on
overthrow the Hegelrn.n 1s inc 1 b""tween~ . re,
. he simply . sub-
ance ' . In his
. materia
. 1·1st1c
. con ception of h1sto1
h y'
s 'essentials' an d'·
stituted the terminology and treated t em a
236 Communism and Gitci
,&'CCI.d •ftlls' This led hi m to
en\G . • · b.elie,ve th at in hi sto ry the
1
pr od uc tio n, ,wl1ich -are '-es . force s of

scmces ' go on :gr ow m~
. or fro m ~ta ge to
-sta ge in de r to ,r ealizre the ms elv es wh er ea s th e acci de nt s viz .,
,superstnictur,e of th.e soeiety, 1· the
th e .p o 1t1. ca l an d. so cia
. I.
1~stit utions,
-w,hioh ,are -th e 'ap pe ar an ce
s' of th e m0 de s ot pr od u cti on , decay.
Fr om thi s-d ~c rip tio n, it ap
pe ar s th at th e su pe rst ru
ma nif es tation thTou gh wh ich ctu re is the
'th e '.es se nc es '. 'th e fo r ces
tio n' -are .realisfo,g the ms elv of pro du c-
es . 0n thi s .co ns id er ati on
._o f a political rev olu tio n wi , the q ue :ition
ll me me re ex ch an ge· of pe
th e ec on om ic fo un da tio n, rso n s. Un less
i.e., th e re ali ty is ch an ge d
use of ch an gin g the 'su pe rst , wh at is the
ru ctu re ', by a po lit ica l rev
(c) Political revolution, no ol ut ion.
solution of egoism : Ca n co
..egoism be el>.i.m ina ted on mp etiti ve
.ce fo r all by a po lit ica l rev
ma ter ial !0 0d s in th e wo rld olu tio n ? The
a·ne lim ite d in am ou nt an
-of the m i-s 0c cu pie d ·b y on d if on e pa rt
e in div -i du al, ev en wi th ou
.:. i t ca nn ot be lon g to th e oth t ow nin g that,
er, '\like -the po sse ssi on s
public pr op ert y. ·Th is ·will of th e bit of
ag ain in tro du ce -a sp iri t of
as-every one-will tr-y ·to .occm co mp eti tio n
;py ·,th e 1be tte r ., ar t, an d th
fear of .de pr iva tio n, a sense ·of_ en un de r a
1pe rm an en tly ,ow ni ng it, ma
i n the m. y develop
In 'Order, th er ef or e, ,·t ha t
.th e ·in ter es ts ma y no t
:o0trle red co mm un ity ·of hiu cla sh in an
ma n · be ing s, th er e ·will
·:natives .: :either th e pla nn ed be tw o alt er-
ail,l.0 tm en t: of -m ate ria l res
en fo rce d fro m ab 0v e tb y -th ou rce s will be
e :St ate , or th e in.diviclual
"the ten de nc y of lm mr iou s··c will relinquish
on su mp ti0 n by .sa cri fic ing
--sh are fo r oth ers . M ar x .ad th e surplus
v.ocated th e ·first an d th er
·-seek redress in :di cta tor sh ip . ef or e ha d to
.M ar x th er eb y co nd em ne
·to r~ in un de r th e yokes d hu ma nit y
of .di cta to rsh ip fo r mu tu al
of t_heir sh are s an d cla im s. ad jus tm en ts
,Bu t if ·he v0 tes fo r th e
-~atl'Ve, ,t he n ~e -we uld ,•be ,vo se co nd alter-
ti-~ g fo r an as ak ti an d th er eb y recogn iz-
mg tha~ w1t-hout '. an as ak
-commw11sm -ca nn0 t b b ti ·(n on -a tta ch me nt ), hi gh er ph a se of
M . · e ui ·1 t. . .
Tl us 1s th e gr ea t dil em
arx1sm_, be ma of
,co mm un ism . cause ·bo th the se ·SL1ggestions wo ul d pr ov e fatal
to
(d) Role of 'mental' fa
.ac co rd ing to M,a rx w c1ors i .
n production : Th e wh ol e
he was no Lc lea r , ' · as his to ry,
mov.e_d ·by th:e fo rce s of pr
.fa-otor.s in the ah ~u t t~,e od uc tio n . But
rel ati ve ro le of ,ph ys ica
·:facto«s, .,...,_.H_.,. proh ,u.ct1v l an d me ntal
,.. _,.IUVli,,,ute it e '£ e p-rfoces-s. cHow .m ue h of th e ph
ysical
--.o rcc s.:o ·- -p ro du cti. on ', a:m.d
.ho w far the pr o·
t
wamg : : .~
23 i
ducti.ve pow~ ·of m111 himself is the dctcrminar \t - ti .
, - -· -?1"l', 01
prod\tct1on .\ls was never mado clc1u, by M . 10 torce of .
· · d • a,x. 0 uc to th1 s
confusion, he asserte repeatedly that whatever n· · . .. . d· _ .
_ _ • • \ • • . , · · l cl.ll IS ()I O llC lllg
or c-reatmg 1s t \e ex tcrnnl 1sat1on of lh l'Sc t)l'oclt1ct· .
. -. . . 1vc powers , n
bun. Sbangely enough sometimes th e force s ot· . _
.
• • · p1 Ol1ucti on are
thm::tght of as coal and iron, steam and wntcr 1ancl ti •
_ . • 0 1Cr 1 t l Ill gs
external to man and at other t11ncs without OJ)c i, . •
• • • • • 0 1. consc ious
trans,tron of mean mg, the forces ot production urc co ,,c ·
' . - ~ CIVC(1 as
n::m s power_ over co~\l and irc~n etc., which he manipul ates for
lns ends. Tl11s confusion and lus assertion that nature is the
externalised form of man himself, reduces Marxian materialism to
a mere anthropoi11 orphistic ideal him. lt has turned out to be an
0
incoherent blend of both idealism and materialism .

{e) Progress-no t a historical necessity : Although Marx shared
the belief in the law of progress with the progressive industrialist s,
yet his naive optimism that progress is a historical necessity is a
superstition , because everything is possible in human affairs.
Fisher rightly points out that "the fact of progress is written plain
and · large on the· page of history, but progress is not a law of
nature."- 3 We- cannot take progress for granted. Marx ignored
_ tlrat the-ground ·gained by one generation may be lost by the next.
The contention then that- transition from one historical epoch
to the· other is· necessarily progressive and that with the progressive
trau·,furma tion in- the modes of production the social superstructu re-
also chang~s· correspond ingly is not justified. . .
(0 Deductive Incompleten ess : That there will be transition from,
the lower stage of communism to the higher one, is not proved. on
the basis ofthe fundament al postulates and the rules of deducti~n-.
.
ava1la.H1e . hrs
1n . system. The laws f 1 · t · 1 developmen t will
o 11s orica _
not' be- appl'icable to the transitory stage or the 10\~er ph~se of
communism . If th'e only laws operative . • h' t y are· (1) the dialec·
m ts or · .
- d C111.. ) laws of economic
tical 'law of negation, (ii) class struggle, _an ist stage
de . . W ld h O perate m the commun
termm1sm. ·ou t ese , • • th t there should
also?' For their operation, the first requtrem~n t ,1s : account, the-
. ,
d evelop . . . • t But on Marx s ow '
contrad1ct1 ons m soc1e Y· . . not develop at
contradicti ons in the form of' class antagonis~ :i 11 _ a society has
this stage. Then we are told in CapJtal th at_ w en ro'ovement even
discovered the natural law that determines its 0 ;~s evolution nor
1
then it can neither overlap the natural phases O
.238 Communism an ,
, c1 Gl tll
·.shuffle them OUt of the world by a stroke of pen. Bu
t thi s
.it can do '. t•t can shorten and lessen its . .
birth pang . l H' erc he mu. ch
,2
,.
to tell us t11 at although man cannot avoi.d , . Wttnt s
. or ctlter th e 1n c,;v it'll ..
yet h e ca n curtail the period by revo .
< , 111t y
that in order to bring ch lu
. tlO na ry me an s. 1L me· ,
ange, revo\~t1on s wi.ll be ,u, ~.
.
t tus 1a w also belong s to the realm of history. ncc.:c ss ar y. But
\ hase of communism, 'w , , A t th e lev el or low er.
I orkers state wt.11 not
~iolently. It was on this po be ov crUirown
i
t anarchists and pleaded th
int th at ~a rx differed sh
ar ply from the
at state will no t be de str
4wither away'. It shows th oy ed but it Wil l
at there are no laws of
·'dictatorship of proletaria ch ange from tlic
t' to the 'higher phas
-deducible from Marxian e of communism'
system of postulates. One
simply to believe that ther ha s been lel't
e will be transition from
which he, in earlier writin this low er level,
gs, called 'raw commun
w1 itings as 'socialism' or ism ' and in later
'dictatorship of the prol
fuU-tledged communism, etariat' to the
the realm of freedom. Bu
is not based on mere do t logical thinki ng
gmatic assertions.
{g) Conservatism : Onc
e communism is achieved
.achievement and the futu , it will be fin al
re generation will have no
further. To be content thing to achieve
with the pa st achievem
.shows the lack of creativ ent, it not only
e adventure, bu t it is als
road which leads to death. o to be on the
If change is the law of na
may as k the question, w ture, then we
hat would be the change
level. If communism chan at communist
ges into communism,
it is conservatism. If com it is no chan ge ;
munism changes into
than communism, then th something oth er
at thing being higher, sh
made our ideal. Marx ha ould have been
s left these problems un
Despite his fervour for re solved.
lieving man from his bo
iystem lacks deductive co ndage, Mar xian
mpleteness. If some new
.an~ axioms is introdu set of postu \ates
ced to explain change
·society, then they will be in the commun ist
redundant. B ut if new ru
n~w postulates are no t les of change and
introduced to explain th
OJ.ctatorship to final comm e transition fr 0 01
'o·1~~to unism then the whole sy
rship' and Marx becomes' stem close s at
pohtical authoritarianism th e ha rbinger of a new typ~ 0 f
which subordinates th
freedom to the demands e indivi dual
<iefects and dangers. of to ta lit ar ia n st at e having its own
~h) Confusion ab dialec
this fallacy 1· ·out M tic : As a matter of fa ct
' the source of
· iea 1n arx ,s confusio . . . , 1-1 coutJ
n about 'dialectic • ne
Mea11s and Ends
239
not be clear as to whether it is a 'conceptual h , ,
. 1 d . ' sc .eme ' or metho-
,dolog1ca ev1ce to understand the hi story ·t
. . . . . , O r 1 was an onto-
lo~1cal prmc1ple of nature . Thts confusion stems from Hegeli an
111 1osophy. For Hegel, there was no difference b t , · ,
,.P . , , . . , e ween 8 ein g a nd
kn~~vmg . Though materialist , Marx has sided with th e Hegeli an
Pos1t1·.o n that the structure
. of reality (th e real 1, ,·stor 1·ca I .process ) 1s
•
identical to the categories of our thou ght -scheme, and the dial ecti-
-cal modes of understand ing history are operative in ontol ogical
sphere als~. But Marx does not tell us on what ground (unless he
is au idealist) he says ~hat ontological reality is following the laws
-of human understand mg. If he means to say that our modes of
understandi n~ hist~ry, are th~ modes followed by the histori cal pro-
..cess, then he 1s tacitly assummg that the human mind, the mental
modes of understand ing, gives law to the course of historical pro-
~ess. But if he thinks that dialectic is only a methodolog y, then other
alternative 'conceptual schemes' cannot be ruled out and then it
will have to be admitted that Marxian is not the only scheme to
interpret human history.
(i) Negative Description : A great lapse in this theory is that first
-0f all Marx conceived communism as 'beyond' historical process,
where the history will end. But afterwards he started explaining that
meta-histor ical society in terms of the categories which are operative
at this historical level. To explain the ultimate, in terms of cetermin-
ate categories, is to involve into contradictio ns. Kant also warned
of falling into such antinomies if the categories of phenomena are
applied to the realm of noumenon. Better he should have left the
final state of human existence. unexplained . In this matter,
'Vedantins' have saved themselves from such mistaken explana-
tions of the 'ultimate' by calling it 'neti neti'. When Marx said,
it will be beyond economics (i.e. beyond the law of Equi-Margin al
11-ubstitution, because of its being a society of abundance), and
beyond politics (state having been withered away) ; and b~yond
kistory (the historical law of dialectical contradictio ns, ncgat10n of
negation and class struggle not being operative there) ~e ~~s
-saying what was legitimate to say that is, that it is not this, it is
not that (aeti neti). BJt beyond that he should also have fo~l o\~ed
Vedanta and have finally said 'it is an indetermina te state ot exiSl-
ence which has all the room for human creativity and novelty au d
therefore unexplainab le' (anirvacanlya).
2il0 - Communism and G
1ti1
(j) Fallacy of u,iprovod.pr,emise.s
: In arriving at his conclu sions,
M~r-~ luis•transferred th'e •unproved po
stulateg .of one branch illegi-
timatoi~- to ,the· other fields- of. l<.n
ow.ledge·. Fo r exa mple, the Mal-
. law of' inverse proportlon- between the growt
tl1us-1an
. nd the me ans .
of the subsis ten f R' d , h h of popu la.
tt'OA a ce, o · 1car o s t eory of surplu
value and the ·pess·imist school ,s f . .
law o mcreasm g mi.sery of theS
labour were suoh postulates which
were ne ve r proved in economics
even:at~d ·were•used !to serve as rat
ionalisation of their a pri ori ass um
t;ons there. Such -unproved postulat p-
es' have· become the major premi-
Se6 of Mandall' system.
Su.Gh illegitimate combination of
with sociology makes communism econ omics
no different from the rom ant ics of
that.age bo th in-its 'scholastic barre
nness' and its 'political repul sive-
ness'. Marx arrived at · the rom an
tic pieture of the future hum an
ex,istenee·(communism) thr ou gh a
priori method of transformational
criticism, which he applied ' to· He
gelian philosophy of right. After
weaving the •fabric of communism
·by 'a priori me tho d', he then
fused•eeonomies-and ·sociolog,y., tog
eth er ~ with a zeal and a passio n
to overcome the evils of industria
l society~ This was the appl ica-
t~eD' ·of a priori category on the em
1
pirical reality as if the ghost of
'~a ot· was·- giving law,of na tur e'.
The-vision may, therefore , be
higbly -faseinatin-g.:. from~romant1c
p-oint of view, bu t not pro vable
empi,ri-0ally., on his , own po.stulates,.
1
(~) Confusivni about 'need;,•: The·

fun da me nta l principle of com-
munism 'to·•each according.,to ·his "
11
need' is - also self-contradictory.
Marx like ·Mill!seem-s,:to·.anticipai
te an ab un da nc e of goods. Bu
Meds,is stiU an.,unquaHfied!word t
. WiU ·alt Ep ecu ria n and hedon istic
needs,be satisfied ? lffth:e, satisfacti0n
will be confined merel y to the
biologfoal needs'i man· will be n0
the . .Juxuries- are · be tte r tha n an animal. But if
·· also included · in the needs tha
t man will satisfy in
cemmuni-st society, then· the ra wi
ll •be no · lim it · of needs . Git a
~alts them - unsatisfiable-' nee
ds .: (duspura7Jii.nalena). Unless ma
t~poses some, eontroi- over· tl're n
sat isfaction of the se nee ds by
bim1elf; ther~w-iH ibe -an: anar-chy of,
co nsu mp tio n. Ma
rx·ism makes
ne ,re fer en ~t? ithomuch·• needed sel
01\ pr0ducmgj1rr th f-c on tro l. Besides, if man goes.
, '- . · e soe ·
as-- h~ ne ejs ' th . h iety sof ab un da nc e an.d· takes only as much
i.~ th , ,. / ·en t e humanit. y . .
w-1U suffer , from another ~v 11 '
' . e evil of ana
waste,:.ot:·rcsou.roes. rch~, of: prod11cing lea din g. to the luxuriou s
'
On the other hand if it ~eans1·t
ha t every on e will get everything:
-.."41
to satisfy every need , then if it would mean uncontrolled

·consumption', or the utmos t gratification of all needs. The
gratification unceased further stimulates the fire of passion for
grat4fication (na Jiitu k <ima~t Ktimii11 ,imupablioge11a .l-,1t11yat i /,em·.s,i
Kr-H1avartme, a bhiiya ei·cibhil'ardliate) (Man u. ll. 94). For a
1
communist the problem will arise that if every one takes according
to his own needs as the formula states. then he will be acti ng only
at the level of private self-satisfaction without caring for the
happiness of others. Then he will be following the Benthnm itc
calculus of 'each for himself and not for others'. Nlao: vehementlv"'
rejected this type of psychological t goism. But if he adjusts his
needs with other 'communist men' with whom he has direct or
indirect relation, then what would be the mechanism to measure
the needs of others and their satisfaction. On materialist considera-
tions, no solution to this problem can be found except that some
political authority should be there to plan the d istribution . This
authority Marx wanted to wither away. How then the things will
be regulated in communist society?
A natural question may be asked that if the state withers ~way,
but the tendencies of bhoga (consumption as much as man likes),
lablll.l (acquisition), raga (attachment) etc. remain , no amount of
·social disapproval can make man really a communist. Either the
very tendency will have to be cured or the communist will again
fall into .all sorts of vices, which he attributed to capitalist as soon
as the fear of political authority relaxes. The question may be
put more clearly to Marx. Given his society of abundance, what
would be the attitude of the communist towards the wealth created
by society in abundance ? It will be either of approach or of
avoidance. If it is of approach, then the communist may become
a victim of lustful megalomania, satyriasis, and will be trying to
appropriate the public goods for his private satisfaction. lf the
attitu~e is of avoidance, then he may become an asc~tic by
observing complete 'apari.grnha', which Marx would not like to
be attributed to his system. The dilemma is fatal to the communist
maxim 'to each according to his need'.
As a matter of fact, the main thing, which Marx missed in
formulating his so-called fundamental principle of communism,
i.e., 'to each according to his need', was that even in the process
I
\ .of satisfying our needs, we shall have to discover certain values-
.. '
242 Communism and Gl1a
j
a stan ci n
rd wh eth er a par ticu lar nee d is wo rth
. . . , . sati sfying
· Tl,e eds of 1tce . , .
ne nt1 ous nes s
. to s,tt 1sfy
. the b<1sc1 elem ent aor not,
· nee ds of a pro duc tive typ e w11\ hav e to . 1 the
. be com pa rati vely evanc l
. d the n regul ate d in hie rarc hy. < uate
an In ord er to deter mine d
. it· .\ .
• worthlessness of a nee d 1tse , . so_me 11gl~er sta nda rd will hav et11e to
be ma de the fun dam ent al pr111c1ple, wh
ich m ay be \i ke th is ti
'each acc ord ing to his co1~trt'but1?. 1~ to \ . 1at
t_1e s~c 1al good , th roug h
the discharge of wh ich he 1s rea ltzm
g h1mse\f . Thu s speakin
the nee d-o rien ted prin cip le wil l hav e to
be aba ndo ned or subl ategcl
to som e big her sch em e of life. Bu
t if the y ado pt some such
· stan dar d, the n this wil l be the neg
atio n of com mu nism itself.
Fro m all the se difficulties, it bec om es
evi den t tha t communism
will be una chi eva ble thr oug h the Ma
rxi an me tho ds , because
· unless we tran sce nd, the lim its of our
phe nom ena l nat ur~ , which is
the sou rce of our ind ivid ual ised exi sten
ce, and rec ove r a greater
consciousness by hav ing a rat ion al
app reh ens ion of the social
system, we sha ll alw ays be a pre y to the
fini te fasc ina tion s.
Com mu nJs m will sta nd in nee d of
intr odu cin g som e principle
thro ugh wh ich all tem pta tion s are to
be avo ide d and man is
pre par ed for the hon est dis cha rge
of his soc ial obliga tions.
Sea rch ing for the sol utio n of the evi
ls of gre ed and acquisi tive
ten den cies in the ma teri al me ans and
in the for mu la of 'each
acc ord ing to his nee ds, is a use less
adv ent ure . Th e temptations
for pow er, for mo ney , for fam e are suc
h fac tor s, wh ich may plague
the com mu nis t soc iety also , and any uns
cru pul ous person may
misuse all pub lic pro per ty at his dis pos
al to sati sfy his ambitio n
for pow er. Th at is _wh y tha t the Ind
ian sys tem s lay emphas is 0~
'a~ ~ak ti' as the reg ula tive for ce to
kee p ind ivid ual within ~is
leg itim ate lim its. Wh at is the alte rna
tive to tha t in commum st
soci.ety ? To ove rco me all the se diff icu ltie
s Len in formul ated a
subsidi ary rule of the pre -co mm uni
st 'soc iali st society. l-k
sug~~ted th at "un til. the hig her pha se
of com mu nis m arrives, the
soc iah st s demand the 'str icte st con
tro l' ove r the measure of
~abour and the measure of consumption. "25
Bu t the for mu la of 't~e
i bon~rol over the me asu res ·o f con sum pti
on' will cha nge the -ve Y
.
'
. as1c char~ctcr~stic of com mu nis m.
In ask ing the society. t~
control their cons t· . .
tb I u!11~ ton , Len in 1s, as a ma tter of fact, reachtll=-
-th : -e:~ on of pra tya har a, wh ich me P .
ans wit hdr aw al of senses tr 0111 ns,
•; o Jects of con sum ptio n, like a tor toi
I. se wit hdr aw ing its org a
I l
Means and Ends 243
Lenin did not know that by introducing this measure, he was

-0onverting communism into the doctrine of 'anasakti' i.e., the
:anasakti yoga.
From the above discussion, it may, therefore, be concluded that
the ethical and philosophical aspects of communism is of great
value for humanity but its political and economic solutions
~rumble under the burden of its own inherent contradictions.
References
1. Gita, XVIll. 78.
3. Titus, H. H., op. cit., p. 72.
4. Milne, A. J.M., op. cit., p. 25.
5. Gita, V. 5.
6. Popper. K. R., The Open Society and Its Enemies, Vol. II, p. 206.
7. Marx, K., Capital, p. 650 .
.S. Marx, K., Capital, p. 54.
9. Marx, K. and Engels, F., Selected Works, Vol. II, p. 637.
10. Mayo, H.B., An Introduction to Marxist Theory, p. 95.
11. Mayo, H.B., op. cit., p. 5.
12. Ibid., pp. 5-6.
13. Johnson, A.H., Whitehead's Philosophy of Civilization, p. 12.
14. Popper, K.R., op. cit., p. 151.
15. Mackenzie, J.S., Outlines of Social Philosophy, p. 159.
16. Ortega Y. Gasset, Treasure of Philosophy, p. 877.
17. Gita, VII. 21 (Anas~kti Yoga bha~ya).
18. Radhakrishnan, S., Bhagavadgita, pp. 158-159.
19. Gita, XVIII. 63.
20. Radhakrishnan, S., Bhagavadgita, p. 375.
2J. Gita, XVIII. 47. .
22. Marx, Engels, Lenin, On Historical Materialism p 62
23. Fisher, H.A,L., History of Europe (1935), Prefa:e
io Vol.J, p. vii.
25. Marx, E~sels, Lenin, On Historical iVlateria/ism, p. 574.

[r::>Z
I
I
I
~
I
µ.
10
The Confluence a n d
. . .
the Divergence
t
G
A penetrating eye into

th e .deliberations an d
these two system~ will the fundamentals of
see th at th er e ar e m an
these great philosophie y issues on wh,ch both
s conver ge to meet.
:, Jiva Brahman and Prak
l riti
t" G ita and communism
' knotty problems of G
jo in ha nd s to th e ex te
nt th at some of the
i it a ca n be .well gr as
they .are read thr-0-q-gh::
ithe co m m un is t viewpo
pe d an d understood
if
most problems is th int. One of the fore-
at of th e re la ti on of
\i Gita, Arjuna·:.Statids in
th at jiva is the ari,s
di re ct dialogue with
Ji va an d Brahman. In
Knr:ia and he is to_l
d
a of B ra hm an , bu t
i cipline, he can seek co fo llowing a particul ar dis
mmunion with B ra hm -
relating th e Jlva an an . This problem of
d B ra hm an was reso
dr a~ in g a non-differen lved by the Ved antin s
ce between th em (ji by
But m order to ju1tify vo brahmaira nii par_ali).
. their po si tio n th ey ha
prmct.p1e o f ma.ya, w , d to po si t a mystenous
0rder hi ch pi le d m or e mystery th an so
to end the hellish to lving ·it. In
.
typ~ of \he identity w rm en t of th e al ie na te d e.x
as necessary. th
istence, is-
Thei·G().nflu~nee and t-be, Divergence
24-5 -
Var iou s com men tato rs hav e trie d to put
fort h vari ous . mystifying
solu tion s to reso lve the pro blem of realizin
g the iden tity of Jlva
and Bra hma n from var iou s poin ts, but still
the mystery rem aine d
as it is. Thi s pro blem wou ld hav e bee n solv
ed, had it been resolved
thro ugh the met hod of 'tra nsfo rma tion
al crit icis m', suggested by
Feu erb ach and use-d by Ma rx. ln tha t
case, instead of fixing the
gaze upo n any extr a-te rres tria l, tran s-em piri
cal deity, as the obje ct
-0f real izat ion, man is requ ired to lavish
his love upo n 'Ma n'-t he
love of other ma n-l ove of hum anit y in
ord er to esta blis h this
rela tion in prac tica l life. By mak ing
Kn i:i a a con cret e hum an
bein g, Git a wan ts to say tha t real dial ogu
e betw een man and the
Bra hma n is not a 'mo nol ogu e in soli psis m'
but a dialogue between
a real 'I' and real 'fho u', bot h man ifes
tati ons of hum anit y. In
Ved anta also 'tatt vam asi' (yo u are also
that ) is the necessary
con diti on for esta blis hing suc h a real dial
ogu e.
Ma rx, in ac~ epti ng the pos itio n of Feu
erb acb , has furt her
reso lved the pro blem . App lyin g Ma rxia n
solu tion to ved anta , it may
be said tha t the sense of 'oth ern ess' (dvaita) can
be resolved if othe rs
are also con side red as Bra hma n. How
muc h similarity is ther e in
the ir views, can be jud ged from a
repr esen tativ e pass'ige of
Feu erb ach on whi ch the con cep t of
com mun ism was initially
fou nde d by Ma rx. Feu erb ach says:
"Th e bein g of man is given only in com
mun ion, in unit y of
man wit h man . Ma n for -him self is a man in
ord inar y sen se; man
in com mun ion wit h man , the unit y of
I and Tho u is God ." 1
Thi s prin cipl e of 1-T hou com mun ion , give
n by Feu erba ch was
th.e con cep t of 'Co mm una l man ', the com
mun ist bein g, as ado pted
by Ma rx from him . Git a, in esta blis hing
the real dialogue between
Arj una and Knr :ia, wan ts to convey the
sam e thin g that by reco-
veri ng the loS-t unit y of I-T hou (yun jate
yogamiitmana~) (VI. 19),
-0ne can achieve com mun ion with Bra hma n (bra
hma sainsparsam)
(Vl. 28). Thi s suggests tha t the real izat ion
of a dialogue between
l ..,>ess (ahom brahmasmi) and Tho u-n ess (tattvam
asi) is the process
<>.{ ~u irin g the divi nity . It also mea ns that
if a man ass~rts 'I a1?
B:r-atman' he mig ht, in som e cases, be expressing the schizophrenic
de}usion-o f gra nde ur and one may dou bt
l his divinity ; but as soon
a, he asserts tha t oth ers are also bra hma n,
\ he becomes cl ivine.
I Thl.JI the key to un,derstand the kno tty pro blem
of divi~e dialogues,
I c:~ \,e, fo"u d. if thes e pa~sages an: re.ad thro
- '
ugh the, bi.noculars. of
\
Commun ·
com·munism. ism and Gita
Nature and Prakrti :
The dual type of prakrti is another prob! .
. hb . . I em raised
wh IC rmgs It very c ose to communist doctr in .
1n Gita
1
ter, Gita s~eaks of ~~rii (the !1(gher) ~nd apara ~~he~;:eenth chap'.
(apareyamz tastvanyam pralq llm viddhi me pariim) 2 R r) Prakrtt
calls them the , unmanifest~d nature' and 'ma· •r adhak · ris· hnan
· 'd th t
But t 1lIS 1 ea a one pra krt1· 1s · created by Brah t
ni eS ed natu ,
. . re .a
.
other 1s not, does not make the mterpretation clear man while h
H t e
concept b ecomes more cIear I·r t h'1s problem is seen . th oweve r th
' e
Ienses of commumsm . I 1. . rough
. n exp ammg the process of self-d the
.
ment of h uman species, M arx has also used the concept of th evelop-
.
types of nature. He conceived man as essentially a producer. eMtwo
pointeB out that Hin . producing the real objects, a man-m:~x
'anthropological nature' or 'nature produced by history', is super~
imposed over the primeval nature or sensuous external world."4
How much similarity is there between this view and the concept of
'Para ' and 'Apa ra' prakrti, becomes quite obvious. The only
difference is that Gita does not use the concept of superimpositio n
(adhyaropo1J,a), which is an idea used by the Vedantins.
Theory and Practice :
Apart from various such similarities on which both these
systems show their agreemen t;-fhey both have a firm convic~ion
in the practical approach to the problems of human alienat ion.
.
Gita starts with the assertion that dharma k~e t ra 1.s kuruks·etra,ttle-
the battle field of life. The world is dharmak~etr~, th e ba ot ,
·ground for moral endeavours. The ·aim . Of Gita does n
. b brinaing
appe ar to be to teach a theory but to enforce practice { co;veY:)
the moral agent to the actual life-situation. It wantsblo in life, ,
..
th-at we cann ot separate in theory what IS . ot separa e .
~ d, tenninologY,
Otherwise, we shall be committing, in Whiteh~a . 5 oice- Marx
. , . laced
'the fallac y of misp concreteness ' • In the sunila r
. . v pracuc. al' ·
i1f VIII Thesis on Feue rbach says : ' a 11 soci.al ltf. ensiswhich ke
111a
He had a firm belief that all such theoretical ques t•t~ n in practica1
. d h ir so1u 10
the·theoretical schemes mystifying , fin t e h Marx says : ''the hY
life. Similar agreement of views is noticed w e~ the phil 050~
·. ·1etar1• fi d . . . . 1 111
prb at n s 1ts sp1ntua weapon in philosop y,he is eipressi
. . t ,,s Here
finds its material weapon in proletaria ·
The Confluence and the Divergence 247
exactl y the same idea, which is conve yed in Gita that is that where
K r~i~a finds his m ateri ,tl weapo n in Arjun a and Arjun a find s his
spfrit ual weap 0n in K r~n t (Y.1tra yoges vrali KnrJ,o yatra partho
dhanurdharab), 6 the success is guara nteed .
Condemnation of Profit Motive :
Howe ver, the most strikin g simila rity is found in their appro ach
to conde mn the forces of greed, as the arden t enemy of man. Gita
says that lust is the eterna l enemy (n itya vairino ) of wise man. 7 It
says furthe r that cravin g l lH1Jii) and attach ment (sanga) are great
bonda ge. 8 Expla ining the dynam ics of huma n fall, Gita points out
that from attach ment to mater ial things starts the down fall of man
(sa,iga t sa,hjiiyate kiima~ , kiimiit krodha' bh(iayate). 9 There are
nume rous other verses, which conde mn the sense of privat e owner -
ship (miimaka~), greed (lobha) etc. Marx is no less vehem ent in
conde mning the forces of greed and privat e prope rty. He also wants
to stress that euemy of huma n self-re alizat ion is egoistic need,
the desire to own and posse ss things . Cond emnin g the evil effects
of privat e owner ship, Marx. says : "Priv ate prope rty has made us
so stupid and one-s ided that an objec t is ours only when we have
it, when it exists for us as capita l or when we possess it direct ly." 10
In an elabo rate critici sm of' capital' it has alread y been seen that
for Marx, the only wheel that sets the capita list econo my in
motio n are greed , the profit motiv e and war amon g greedy. It
means that both are equal ly vocal in treatin g greed and profit
motive as the e r.emie s of mank ind.
Attitu de towards Capitalists :
There is anoth er impor tant point on which Anasa kti Yoga of
Gita shows marke d simila rity with comm unism . This is~ n its
denun ciatio n of capita lism. Anasa kti Yoga assert s that "these
. depra ved souls of feeble under stand ing and fierce deeds come forth
as tb.e enem ie, of the world to destroy it" (XVl. 9). Describing
the chara cteris tic of these 'enem ies of the world ', Gita points out
that they have insati able lust (ktlma m asrity<i du~·pu ram) (XVI. 10),
making indulgence as theil' sole goal (klimo pablw gapa ramii )
(XVI. 11), and they seek unlaw fully to amass wealth for the s~ is-
factio n of the:r appet ites (anycly entirthc,sancaytin) (XVI_. 12). In
subsequent verses, Gita prono unced their doom , that mto foul
Commu n1s, • n and ,.
2¥8' Gzr
demn t a
the y fal l. Sim ila r de nu nc iat ory an d con . a ory atr
11e11 . 1
res sed by M arx ag ain st the cap1talist s' who Po tude

has been exp . . as given in . ssess
the sam e c h ara cte nst 1c 0 ita Th
more or Jess . co nc ep t 1s . ,persorn.fi ed capital' wh · e
capitalis t of M arx ian
himself write s : "Cap ital ~se so/e
mo tto is acquisitiveness. Ma rx
a single life urge, the urge to
self-expansion . " 11 Through as b~t
the capit alist as the em bojj me ou t his
wr itin gs, Ma rx ha s de no un ced nt of
. . j 1gn . . l mo re clear in
k ~s his m. ,, at1 on a I the ano ther
greed. Marx ma . . .
inc rea sing a
ly m so fa r as the
passage wherein he says h. .On th 1em oti·ve of h1s · operation s PPr do o-,
. . f b 1 1s e so
pria t,on o a str act wea t
, as a cap ita list . " 12
Th us, the attitude of in dign,atioe,)
lte functi on n
ilarity of their views.
towards capitalists reflects the sim
A{ora l Grounds of Revolution :
nd in their views relating to
Yet an oth er similarity is fou
ral gro un d in rev olu tio n. Ma rx thinks tha t it is when mo ral
the mo
tio n becomes necessary. He writes:
norms are flouted tha t a rev olu s
"ln its blind unbridled pa ssi on
, its werewolf hunger for surplu
s
our, cap ita lis t is no t co: 1te nt to ov ers tep the moral restriction
Jab 13 C1 llin g it a moral degenera tion
len gth of wo rki ng day . "
upon the
t system of production and then
of the conditions of the cap ita lis t
it, Ma rx is voicing the feelin g tha
asking the worker to ov ert hro w of
rev olu tio n is a mo ral nec ~ss ity to finish im mo ral condition s
the
pression in Gita also. 1t is s~id
· existence. This idea finds its ex ial
is decline of dharma, the soc
therein tha t whenever the re s,
str oy the evil-minded person
forces manifest themselves to de th
g hu ma nit y to de ge ne rat ive conditions. 14 It means at
who dra
of the m, it is the mo ral de cli ne tha t needs be cancell_ed.
for both
of the m is to finish moral declwe
Thus, the revolution for bo th
s.
and to establish the hu ma n value
Faith in Ultimate Vic tor y ;
s jun ctu re, i-t sho uld als o be no ted tha t the whole ex~111lad·
At thi beh
d the mo tto
na t' h'
· · ion w ic
h M an , has fur nis he d in Ca
th e Communist Manifesto shows tha t his pa ram ou nt
pit al an
tas k wa s811 t;
y
th e good for ces mo re ful ly co nsc iou s of the natureleaf1
make
- d' · d to make them more c ke
con it,on of the conflict. Hi:! wa nte • - and to IJ1li· D
aware of th'e tot aJ·evt·,'ness of evil forces of cap ita1,sro 15 . e soJutIO
them cog-ni-z:1nt 0 f th·e ho . nes s of an y co mp m
ro-
peless
249
The Confluence and the Dirergence
g the Fre nch soc iali sts, who
in term s of jus tice . In rep udi atin
tice , he wan ted eve ryb ody
lrnr pcd upon the ide a of dis trib utiv e jus
ute for the unc ondi tion al
to und ers tnn d tha t the re is no sub stit
def eat of the evil . It w.1s
vict<.)ry of the good forces and the tola l
his firm con fide nce and faith in the
victory of p:oo dness over evil,
crtion tha t "its (bourgeois)
tha t he end ed his ma nife sto with the nss 16
the vic tory of the pro leta riat arc equ ally inevitab le.' ' It
fal l and
. The Wa r of M aha bhftra ta
is the ma in the me pre sen ted in Git a also
'\V~ls finally dec lare d afte r lea
vin g all hop es of com pro mis e
cha rio t in bet wee ~ the two
wit h the for ces of evi l. By driv ing the
pos e of Git a al so
_ bha_\,'IJr ma dhyt.!) (I. 24) , the pur
for ces (Sf mz_voru
ral age nt awa re of the
wa s the sam ~ tha t it w,m tej to maI ke the mo
of the con diti ons of con flic t.
tot al evi lne ss of the evi l and also
forc es of goo d ove r the
G ita star t~ wit h a hop e of vic tory of the
in the op. !nin g ver se (kim
forces of evi l. The use of wo rd 'sai 1ja ya'
.ak urv ata saiij.:iya) (I. 1) is ver y
sign ific ant . It sign ifie s sam or
a also dec laim s in the
'sam yak ' and j1y a. i.e., righ tful vic tory . Git
-end like the min ifes to 'tat ra srir
vija ya bhf itir dhruva ni tirm atir
e', vic tory , pro spe rity and
mim :l'', 16 m~ ani ng the reb y tha t 'for tun
the forc es of goo d aga ins t
mo rali ty are sur e to be on the sid e of
ilar ity of the view s of bot h.
the for ces of evi l'. Thi s sho ws t'1e sim
Criticism of Profit Motive :

the r com mo n gro und to
G ita and com mu nis m hav e got ano
con cep t of ni~ kam a kar ma
sta nd. In the phi los oph y of Git a, the his task
if a ma n is doi ng
► is c '. ear ly ind ica tive of the fac t tha t
s, the n he wil l be rele ase d
wit hou t th~ h .:do nis tic and pro fit mo tive
wit hin this wo rld of obj ects ,
fro m bon dag e. On e wh o, wh ile livi ng
not und er the pre ssu re of
dis cha rge s his dut y wit h dev otio n, and
al ma n of Git a. The sam e ide a
ulte rio r mo tive s (ka ma na) is the ide
trin e of com mu nis m, whi ch
has als o bee n con vey ed in the doc
the low er ani ma l in tha t
wm es to uph old tha t "m an diff ers fro m
ld cre ate thin gs even 1if
be i& free con scio us pro duc er, wh o cou
e in ord er to survive.'' ~
the re were no pre ssu re upo n him to pro duc
pul sio n to pro duc e the
Pro m tbi i sta tem ent , it is evi den t tha t com
the hed oni stic end s is an
me ans of subsistance in ord er to sati sfy
exp res sio n of his alie nat ion . But if
he pro duc es to exp ress _his
duc er, the n suc h .product1_on
<Csscnce as a 'pro duc tive bei ng' , a pro
i,,not the sou rce of alie nat ion , bec aus e
a. car pen ter nug ht den ve
. .:::_,.,,
i
~
* ·,
. ...
~
........ ...... l1lr;?O '
..,}.., ... -
#U4'f 7P'W 4 - - '<f!ri f i
i50 Communism and Gi ta
.
creat 1Ve sati'~~"'noction and a per son al sen se of ful film
1" ent from the
car pen try by which he live~. Gi. ta als . .
o say s tha t m so ~oin g his
wor k , a ma n does no t fa\\ mt o the. bon dage of k arm a, hi s kar ma
will not bin d him bec aus e he is d1s cha . h.
rgm g 1s wo r.k n ot for pro fi t ,
but for the sense of ful film ent (sa ms
idd hi) tha t 1s tha t with a
sense tha t it is his svadharma.
The Proletariat :
We hav e alre ady see n tha t wh ile int rod
uci ng the con cep t of pro-
leta riat wit h its rev olu tio nar y ten den
cy to abo lish itse lf per se by
the socialisation of pri vat e pro per ty,
Ma rx saw a mi ght y ma ni fes-
tati on of hum an se\ f-a lien atio n and the
urg e to tra nsc end it. His.
belief was tha t pro leta ria t is the su'p rem
e exp res sio n of the alie nated
ma n. Co nse que ntly , in ord er to end
sel f-e stra nge me nt, com mu nis m
inspires the deh um ani sed ma n to rev
olt aga ins t his deh um ani sat ion.
Thi s very ide a finds its exp res sio n in
Gi ta wh en Ar jun a faces the
forces of lus t and greed and bec om es
des pon den t. Kp r:ia calls this
con diti on of rec urr ing pre dic am ent
of ma n uns uit ed to the nob les.
(anaryajuftam) and deg ene rati ve
(ak irti kar am ). 18 Ca llin g him to
shed his fain t-h ear ted nes s and his ten
den cy to recon<. ile wit h the
pre sen t sta te of deg ene rat ed exi ste
nce , Kr~r:ia als o ins pir es him to
rev olt aga ins t tho se con dit ion s and
fig ht the m to finish .1 9 To
inspire a ma n in mo ral crisis to rise
aga ins t the deh um ani sin g con-
diti ons and the reb y con ver tin g the
deh um ani zed me n int o tru e
pro leta ria t is the the me on wh ich the
y bo th agr ee.
Concept of Rea l Freedom :
Both Marx and Git a agr ee tha t it

that leads to is the fre edo m fro m greed
rea l fre edo m. Gi ta tell s tha t tho se
wh o are freed
fro m pri de and del usi on. wh o hav e con
que red th; evil of attach-
m~nt, _go to the ete rna l sta te of exi
ste nce . 20 Ma rx als o joins this
VOLce ~n his var iou s pro nou
nce me nts . It ma y be rec alle d that
pervasive thcme of the doc trin e of Ma the
rx wa s the ang uis h of ser vi-
tud e a nd the que st for lib era tio n fro
m it. Bu t thi s ;er vit ude was
a bo ndage 0 ~ ma n to the forces of
th acq uis itiv ene ss. Sum marizing
e c~m ~un ast sta ndp oin t, Pro f. Tu
cke r has sug ges ted that th e
em anc ipa tio n of lab our me ant the
rele ase of the cre ativ e powers.
of man fro ~ the ser vitu oe to greed.2
1
And aga m the end to be rea lize d by
bo th is abo the same, viz.,
P ¥4 j 4$ 4 6¥8 8 , SOW &a e,

#&ti
The Confluence and the Divergence 25]'

self-realiza tion. Gita names it Brahma-N irvana and Marx called it
man's returning to himself duly socialized: The words may be
different but they both express the urge of a man to become one
with the totality of mankind. Marx showed the path of ending
the dehumanis ed existence, 'in his doctrine of world-revo lution and
Gita called Arjuna to fight against the existing conditions to gain
glory (utti~!ha yaso labhasva) (XI. 33).
(a) Many other striking similarities of the views are clearly dis-
cernible in Gita and communism . The scene in Das Capital is that of
the conflicts, which make man weary of his present existence and
in Gita also the conflict of life h ,s been the opening theme. Both,
therefore, recognise that since the present state of existence is full
of coufiicts and miseries, it must be transcende d to gain ideal form
of existence in future. For both of them, the discontent with the
present existence, is the lever for moral regeneratio n ; (b) Com-
munis'11 and Gita both emphasize time and again that man l
becomes dignified by work only. The difference is only of termino-
logy. Marx has called it 'Productiv e Activity', and Gita calls it
Karma; (c) Again, both are teleologica l systems and the means for
1
them have value only if they are conducive to end. Actions not
leading to liberation and self-realiza tion are useless; (d) Both are
concerned with the problem of human misery and both agree on
this important point that behind the apparent crisis, there is re~l
moral crisis the predicame nt of alienation; (e) Both agree _on this -
point that ~ars are the outcome of perverse conditions. Git~ says:
'war is dear to the evil minded (durbuddhi ) Duryodhan a. a~d
Marx upholds that wars are symptoma tic of the perverse ca~i~ahst
-s ociety· (f) Both are the representat ives of great cultural trad~tons.
Gita has in its backgroun d the whole lnd ian culture. "! erea}
behind the philosophy of communis m the great trad ittons o
German culture are clearly discernible .
Probable Impact of Gita on Marx : . the funda-

. ·1 ·t f views between
Finding out so much s1m1 ari: o_ stic persons may be tempted
mental and major issues, some ent us1a mehow influenced by
• that M·1rx was so b ·~
to rush to the cone1us1on . ' . ·e is sustainable on the as_is-
tbe teachings of the Gita. Such mfe1e~cd lo gists in India and in
of some available evidences. Many n o t in gs in Indian and.
Germany have po!nte··~~dL2~tjS~ey
ou
ve~r~a~c~O?_!lll!!_!!lll~O~ll~~~~ =-~ - - -
If¼ • · w
I '
15 2 Communism and Gi ta
German p111.1os
. hy and it may be sa
II .
. •
op ,
those common e\cro
at'l•\
en
bl
ts
id th nt Marx l~ s inco rp
into his communis
testimony 1s av ' e to substantinte th at Marx
. .
.
m .
B
ut
.
ft orated
a m ore re li.able
111,ght have been
mtluence d b'i the teachings ot the Gtta. A learned G .
",essor Of s et man
an skrt't , August Wilheim von Sc11 1cge I ., · d G · Pro. ·
G erm an language in 1823 . eu1t c 11 0 m
(5 years after th e birth r •
German edition fascinat of M arx) . fh1 s
ed Pr of. H um bo ld t so muc
exclaimed that " this episo h that he
de of M ah ab ha ra ta was
fu l nay perhaps the only the mos t be auti·
tru e philosophical poem
t
lit erature known to us ca , whi cb. aI\ th e
n show. "
As Dr. Radhakrishnan
brought out, this is
proceedings of the Acade re corded in th e
my of Berlin 1825-26. 1111
it that when Marx, was It is eviden t fro m
still a student, G ita was
ph ilosophical circles with held in G erman
such high esteem. It is,
that Marx would have al therefore, na tu ra l
so come across this 'sp
Indi a' (as it was called iritual tre asur e of
in the then G er m an ph
At that time, Marx was ilosophical circle s) .
facing the pr ob le m of pu
•extrem ities of Pan-logism tti ng limits on th e
of Hegel, which was th
abstract intellectualism. e overgrowth of
tl1e Feuerbach to size w H e also w an te d to cu t
hich ha d swallowed th e th e materialism of
role of man in makin creative and ac tiv e
g. th e . history. It may
by these enthusiast scho be pointe d out
lars th at solution was
in G ita, which on already availa bl e
the one ha nd , re pu
intellectualism, which m di at ed such over-
akes man withdraw fr
in ~he ivory towers, and om the practical life
on th e ot he r, th e Lo ka
which treats man worse ya ta m ateria lism,
th an a co ns um pt iv e
r~ y-made solution mig machine . This
ht have served hi m as th
basic theme of commun e key to wea ve th e
ism, which checks th
After fin ding ou t this gr e vagaries of bo th .
eat synthesis, th e new
~ n used as a weapon theory woull\ h uv e
in du strialised civilizatio ag ai ns t th e co rr up tiv e influen ces of th e
n. ✓
We have a1rea1y seen
that Western civilizatio
to .com mun ism and to Indi n is inirnicnl
an cu ltu re bo th and
might be.justified on this such in k rences
ground. But one ~'\ay not ngree
fa r reach_ing speculations. to su ch
M ar x ha s shown his in
~a ny. ~hm~ers from who debted11ess to so
surpn smg 1t may ap m he drew inspiration
pear 1·1 · t· bu t, howeve r,
.shown to G ita. . , is a .
m Germa · · act th at desp1to so muc
n circ1cs, he ha s not
h 1·cv er enc1,. •;
~ ver gone acroas tb' mentioned to have,,
- ·1s tra· n&J.ated version 01f
Gita. In th·e li ght ot·
I fq$ . ,
The Confluence and tlze Div erg ence

)53'
Marx's own testimony. we may, therefore,
sny that Ma rx did not
receive any direct inspiration from Git
a . The si mil arit y may be
due to the zea\ which both these system
s had and also due to the
common element in Ge rm an cul
ture fro m wh ich Marx clrcw
impressio n for the ameliorati on of hum
an misery und for reli ev-
ing him from the vagaries of the di
a\ccticu l and dehumani sed
existence.
lf the similarities are many, then there
arc vari ous points on
which the systems differ sharply.
(i) Fir st difference comes on the
point of determ inis m of the
conscious by existence. Communism
subscribes to the theory of
dou ble causation. On the one han
d, the previous events (the
ant ece den t conditions of the previous
histori cal stage) determ ine
the con seq uen t ones, thr oug h the bw
of tran sform ation of the
quality into quantity. On the oth er han
d , man is determined not
only by these antecedents causation
, but also by the present
economic ·Modes of Pro duc tion '. As
Marx said, " Men are the 1
pro duc ers of the ir conceptions, ideas etc
.-re al acti ve men as they
are, con diti one d by a definite develo
pment of their productive
forces." 23 He re comes the poi nt of the
di,,ergence of their views-
because wh at communism wants to s1y
here is that the hum an
beh avi our is determined bot h at macro
as well as micro levels,
and by saying so, it does not leave eno
ugh ground for making man
morally better. In communism, the em
phasis is centred on build-
ing up -a tigh t typ e of economic base.
It is the conviction of
Marxism tha t by changing the modes
of production. mnn ·s con-
sciousness will also be changed. Bu t
to Gita, al\ this comes to
mean tha t the dignity of man is dependent
on material modes and
his destiny is fashioned by the machines
as well as by tl~e prm:ess
as to how these machines are operate
d. Man defi1~1tely has ~\
greater dignity tha n the machines, and
if his d~gnity is. sub ord~ -
nat ed to machines by saying tha t the
means ot product10~1 det c!l·
min e his social relations, it will be nn
unfortunate s_oh1~1~~1 . By_
asking a man to be gu~u'i1lta, i.e., rising abo
the material factors (prakrti), Gita safeveguntherds ckterm~nism t,t
the ,mm~nsc
dignity of man ·from being swallowed by
the ,m: ans of produ~\~;~i;~
. (ii) They bot h differ sharply on the
. . luw ot Knrma nlso . . . .
empha11·zmg the fact tha t
. mu n can not cscn pe the resp ons1b1\lty
of hi$ action, Git a does not nrnke the per ~ l'ty of n man merely
sona i
· 154 Co mm un ism and Gita
:a c11ance _Pro du ct of the en vir on me nt ; no r do es it

. pu t any
.em b argo tl1at Ullles s the en vi ro nm en ta1 co n d.1t1 .
on .
man ca nn ot rise high in life . . s are suitable
on ax1_olog1cal pla ne . By . . ,
responsibility on his tor y, co mm sh1ftmg the
ur ns m as~umes th at we ca
_·where we have no t so wn , be n reap
ca us e ac co rd mg to th em the
.already co nta ine d in the his en ds are
torical_ pr oc es s. In ste ad of
others for ou r lot , the ra tio na condemning
l att itu de ha s be en ad op ted
-which emphasizes the su pr by Gita,
em e res po ns ibi lit y of ma n
actions. Assuring ma n th at for his own
his en de av ou rs do no t en
-fiasco An asa kti Yo ga of Gi d in mere
' ta tel ls th at : "h er e no eff ort
is lost, no disaster befalls. Ev . un de rta ke n
en a ht tle of thi.s rig .
hte ou s course
-delivers on e fro m gr ea t fe
ar ." 24 Bu t co mm un ism wi
.individual efforts are us ele ll say tha t
ss so lo ng as th e his tor ica
working ag ain st his lot . In l forces are
thi s wa y, co mm un ism su bs
the or y of his tor y to wh ich cri be s to a
Ka rl Po pp er ca lls 'th e co
the or y'. 25 Ac co rdi ng to the nspiracy
im pli ca tio ns of thi s the or
ha pp en s in the society (in clu y whate ver
din g ex plo ita tio ns , mi sap pro
-etc.) is the res ult of the dir pri ati on s,
ec t de sig n by so me po we
hu ma n his tor ica l forces. rfu l super-
It ap pe ars tha t M arx ha s se
cu lar ise d th e rel igi ou s su
. -of the Greeks. In Gr ee k perstition
my tho log y, th e Ho me ric
_. -believed to ha ve co ns pir ed gods were
ag ain st me n, es pe cia lly in
-of Tr oja n war. It is on the the history
ba sis of thi s co ns pir ac y the
· Marx seems to ha ve en ter ory that
ed in to a co un ter -co ns pir
·th e non-existing co ns pir ato rs. ac y against
An as ak ti Yo ga , the ref or e,
· from him an d ho lds th at me differs
n the ms elv es ar e res po ns ibl
-debased co nd iti on s. Th us sp e for their
ea kin g, An as ak ti Yo ga wa
ma n fro m pa ran oic de lus ion nts to save
s th at all en vir on me nt an d society
h~ stile to him . Ra the r it wa is
1 nts to ma ke hi m so co nf ide nt
-~ m_s~lf ca n wi n his tha t he
ha pp ine ss or he lli sh to rm
ind1v1dual or collective effort en t by his own
s.
(iii) Yet there is an oth er po
in t wh ere the se tw o do ns
_ ag~ee. M arx start ed ne ga tiv do not
. ,estimate of the ely an d his wh ole Capital is
· · a critical
miseries an d so rro ws of ma n un de r cap1ta . ·st
«o no my . Bu t by thi s ne g t· h
. . · · ·
}?J em1se~ 1s no t pr o d Ha 1ve cri tic ism of th e op po ne nt his ·
ow n
'"f <.. . . ve · '
-· 0 1inorat10 Ela h ., b e se em s to ha ve co mm itt ed the fallacy
.' ~e nt' s- sy t nc 1 ' ec au se me rel y by de mo lis
'" s em on e's · hin g the op po ·
muna·sm • ~d ow n is
1s sa1 to ha no t au tom ati ca lly pr ov ed . Th e corn·
·
ve ris ·
en in op po sit ion to ca pit ali sm . Bu h's
t t 1
-zr s:::em e ' ·= *aE:'P&
·The Confluence and the Divergence

255
oppo sitio n between the capitalism and the communism
may be
'con trary oppo sitio n', and in contrary opposition, both
the state-
: men ts may be equally false. When Marx. himself
upheld that
capi talis t is 'greed inca rnate ', then the answer to capit
l
alism, a
theo ry of greed (asakti) will be anasakti and the negation f
seeking (kam ya karma) would be ni ~kama karma and

of profit- 1
not com-
. munism. Therefore, the alternative of communism,
vis-a-vis,
capitalism need be adequately tested. May it be, that
compara-
tively com mun ism may not prove an alternative
better than
anas akti.
As a matt er of fact, materialism in whatever form it
may be,
.-cann ot be an answer to materialism. Definitely, it must
be some-
thin g non-materialism. Thus speaking, communism
is not a
logical nega tion of materialism. lf it is a substitute for
capitalism,
. it shou ld first allow its own premises to be empirically
and scienti-
fically teste d. Mises says that "by means of sophistry
, it has pre-
vent ed the scientific treat men t of the sociological prob
lems and
has p~isone1 the intel lectu al atmo sphe re of our time 26
s. " Com-
mun ism prot ects itself agai nst all unwelcome criticism
by unmask-
.ing their criti c as a 'bou rgeo is'. Marx. and Engels neve
refu te their oppo nent s with plausible and convincin
r tried to
g arguments.
\
But hurl ing of abuses is neith er a logical meth od of prov
ing one's
-0wn case, nor of refut ing the othe r. From purely
logical point 1
. -0f view, Ana sakt i Yog a is the valid logical negation of the
philo-
soph y of asak ti
(iv) Out of vario us othe r vital issues, Gita does not
see eye to
·eye with com mun ism on the prob lems of the stratifica
tion of the
~-society. Com mun ism is emp hatic on a classless socie
ty. But this
is a vagu e conc ept abou t the community-structure and
institutional
arra ngem ent of post -hist oric society. One may perti
nently ask,
will it be a society of 'jack s of all and masters of none
' ? If not,
then som e prof essio nally specialized groups will a~wa
ys be there.
· Ana sakt i Yog a, there fore , differs in opin ion and g1v~s
a ~lear-cut
:four .fold vari:ia vyav asth a, acco rdin g to which socie
ty ~•11 need
. the peop le excelling in know l:~ge (~di.hm_a1~a), excelling
and
spec ialis ing in prod uctiv e tech mqu es mcludmg man
agements of
distr ibuti on (vaisya), well -trai ned defence personn~l
~o save the
:Society from aggr essio n (k~atriya) and the non-specialis
ed workers
(sudras).
4
. 1"56 Communism. and c··.
. l;(a
(v) 'Wha t type of State admin istrat ion will be needed b
socie ty?' is also a point of shnrp difference between th Y the
Marx has started wit• 11 an assump t'10 11 ti1tlt' t I1e enviro
· nment ed two·
mines the consciousness of n1an, and therefore , they have deter.
the conclusion that if envir onme nt is perfectly contr olledIc to
moulded, the individuals will also be n1oulcled accordingly. ' l-cla~d
. . l A . . .
Marx is tacitly vo1cm
.
g t 1e
.
ristot e 11an view of State as a ere
agency and its funct,o_n 1s to. n1a ke man n~ora l. Theref ' ' moral
ore, he
emphasized that the d1ctatorsh1p of prole tariat wi\ l prepare man
to enter the realm of freedon1. Marx. also holds that when men
start "working according to their abilit y and taking accordin g to
their needs'. State will not be neede d ; it will wither away. Till
then, State works for makin g the1n into 'comm unist men'.
Gita does not agree to such argum entati on, because putting the
responsibility of makin g men mora l, in the workers' State or the
dictatorship of the prole tariat , will make them moral escapi sts and
moral destitutes. Gita, theref ore, starts from the other side, i.e.,
-from makin g the people, the den10s, mora lly strong and train ing
them in keepi ng the principles above personalities. Thus, they
would themselves decide their own forms of government , as to
whether it is parlia menta ry or presid ential or representative or
any other form of demo cracy . Writi ng the fate of the future
generation by prescribing the dictat orshi p, is to show distrust in
the future generation. Anas akti Yoga advoc ates that self-discipline
comes from a mora l traini ng of the individual. But on Marxi 5l
account, it is vain to hope that circum stanc es may be inip_rov~d
by improving man ; comm unism will again insist that men will be
better if the system in which they live is made better• .
(vi) On the question of the retain ing of State, Gita too _difl(~-~s)
· h Marx. Gita has recog
wit nised the freedom ( 1·) o t· cl101cc ' 11d
of worship, and (iii) of acting accor ding to one's consc ience, .311.,
. )
(1v select one's vocat ion. The self-disciplined peop le Of G1.taur:i
• . . 10
conception WJll resist any bid of the state to ero de tt,ese · e swte
fund~mental ~reedoms, and it is imma terial whet~1 er e:!~d , the
remams or withers away. If the masses arc enltgh~ , d his
8tate will not 'be able to deprive man of
richn ess of life ,\J1t of
• , af ive ·rrec dom. Thus, · again st the propose d conccP
ere
, of the
dictat orship ', Oita place s the altern ative of the 'deniocracY
morally stron g people.
T/;e Confluence and the Divergence 257
(vii) There is another main issue on which the opinion of these

t~vo sy~tem~ differ. Communi sm upholds th at economic emanci pa-
tion ':111 hrmg real happiness to men and th erefore th ey emph asize
o~ th is aspect onl y. ' 'Under communism" , Afanasyev writes ''man
will not be burdened with the material worries, which so often
take up so much of his time. All his needs will be fully satisfied ."21
By suc11 monistic explanatio,,s Marx, as he himse lf ad mits it in his
own writings. wanted to remain c:1 ttac hed to the philosophy of
dinging to the material goods. He said, "Lacking any material
basis and resting on a purely theoretical foundation , it would be
a mere freak and would end in nothing more than a monastic
economy. " 28 But this assertion does not appear to be correct.
G ita would put the alternative concept of four-fold puru;artha,
including dharma, artha, and kiima in it. This implies that
economic prosperity would flow from dharma (if every one
d ischarges his social obligations honestly) and not vice-versa. The j
corollary of Marxian standpoint is that instead of positing a social
force like 'dharma', as the basis of human progress, Marx retains
the same economic factors, which he himself wanted to transcend.
The emphasis on the economic factor seems to be the ramnant of
Hegclianism, which recognised the historical beneficence of moral
evil. Engels brings forth this point thus, "with Hegel, evil is the
form in which the motive force of historical development presents
itself. " 29 This pronouncemen t may have two-fold meanings : (i) It
may mean that each new advance necessarily appears as a sacrilege
.against the things hallowed by society in the form of its rituals and
customs. and (ii) it may also imply that it is precisely the wicked
pass,ion of man, his greed and lust for power, which gives rise to
class antagonism and thereby serves as a lever of historical
dcwselopment. Marx makes use of H~gelian aphorism in both its
meanings but more explicitly it is the second meaning which has
been Jilade u,e by Marx. It shows that communism tacitly
<frCWned the same economic factor as the basis of historical
pr-Ogfe$S, which it considers the source of evil under capitalist
economy. d
Oita with the idea of Dharma, artha and ka':'a, comes forwar
with a more ,ethical approach that it is not evil_ but the p_erpetua-
uoo of Pharma, which is the moving fo~ce behind t~e history _of
human aspira'ti.oos and humim motivations. The chfficulty with
Communism
258 and Gita·
. d. · s ~
un ism lies in the JT no t 1scerning tJ1e very obv IOU
comm .
s m ay be a nee essary ' at is
cti on of ec on om 1c ne ed fa ct '
th at th e sa tis fa . th . . or,
t su ffi c1 en t. M ar x co ul d no t underst and
but it is no ' . ' d t be ' sufficient ' alIS Jp/ e
SIO
. cessa,y ne. e 1 no
logic th at w11a t 1s ne .f . vm . g a 11re ra rc 1y of motives he
so, and
ed
th er ef or e, in ste a d o g1 . . I . . ' confin h
eo ry to mo n1 st1 c ex p an at1 on , which reduces his oJe
hi s wh ol e th f ' ea t m· g ' . A cc or dm · gly , Gi ta wo w uld
·1 1
sy ste m to th e p111 os ?p 1y o
an do es no t becom e sociall
y
by be in g we ll- fe d, m
po in t ou t th at
ex ce lle nt .
re sp on sib le an d mo ra Jly h
eo ry of pu ru ~a rth a, th er e is a me th o dolog y throug
In Gi ta 's th deri ved. With
re lat iv e sa tis fa cti on of all th e mo tiv es is
wh ich
ca l sa tis fa cti on , it als o re gu lat es th e whole beiog of
ps yc ho -b io lo gi
Th er ef or e, th e sta rti ng po int is th e regulative principle of
m an . nce
le co m m un ism sto ps at th e de ter mi ni ng influe
dh ar rn a. W hi
rs. Gi ta wi ll sa y th at th e mo ra l factors exe rt a
of econ om ic fa cto y. In the
in g in flu en ce up on th e co ur se of hu m an histor
fa r-r ea ch tbe
ar m a, it is no t cl ea r wh at principle will save
ab se nc e of dh int egration due to the ir
d pe rs on s" fro m dis
so cie ty of "w ell -fe personal
in se ek in g fa vo ur ed jo bs , an d satisfying their
riv alr ies ues
d pa ss io ns . It m ay be ad m itt ed th at spiritual val
am bi tio ns an y bio log ica l values are
wh er e th e ele m en tar
ca n bl os so m on ly not be
d. Ad mi tte d als o th at th e cr ea tiv e fac ult ies should
-attaine rries, so
be cr us he d un de r th e bu rd en of ec on om ic wo
all owed to ati on
se cti on •of so cie ty m ay de vo te its el f to the cre
th at cre ati ve o tru e th at the culturald
hu m an we lfa re. It is als
·of new ho riz on s of sperity aI1
hi gh er ki nd ca n gr ow on ly in a so il of pro •
fo rm of a
Bu t th is is no t th e ax iolog ical depend e1.lce.
welfare of ce rta in gr ad e.
o su bs tan tia tes th is "t ha t th e biological ~e
Ha rtm an n als ir
to lo gi ca l pr e- su pp os iti on of th e spiritual- t~e
on_ly th e on er ef or e, .Gita 's standpoint,_
ly a me an s.' ·so Th
e~1stence is on . ot
1 15 -vis, co mm un ism is th at dh ar m a
sh ou ld be at the bHse · Iar
' -a ec ho es sHJH
· ili za tio n Sc hw itz er • 15· pre~
·sociaJ progress an d . civ • tio n of civilizatio n ._
·
· ion when he. sa ys "t he co nc ep
co~vict th at th e mo de rn cownrnu
i~t
l. '' 31 It ap pe ar s
e°:unen tJy , eth ica st ern, ·
ve sta rte d re ali zin g th is lac un a in their sy . v wh ile
tbm ke rs ha l . · . .
th mk er Atanasye ' 081
Fo r ~x. a mo de m co m m un ist
. am p e, iOJ ate g · '
th at the ec on om ic ab un da nc e is no t the uJt b t people1th irt
-ad~iutti nj . s, u .
wntes . ''N t t ju st ric he
/ .0 matei..·1 nal things an d no c
h"e1 l wen
11
a tbe1r varie 0 ty f ·
1 · an d re qu ire me nt s ar e the
a"'J t1es
The Confluence and the Divergence 259
·o f new society."a2 it is an ethical emphasis rather than emphasizing

on the material and technolog ical basis of communi sm. G ita has
nlwuys upheld that the material forces and the modes of Prak rti
I should not be allowed to determin e the direction in which man kind
I should move ; on the contrary, it should be the man who sh all
-determin e as to how the material modes, and material forces
including technolog y and science are to serve him. Whether
they should be used for killing or for healing? Science and
technolog y may tell man merely how to kill and how to heal ; but
it will be man who shall decide as to where and when to kill and
where to heal. Therefor e, Anasakti Yoga of Gita will n ot allow
the technolog y to dominate man and his dignity. In formin g a
sound philosoph y of life, the prime need, thus, is to generate
a firm convictio n that there is a moral order independ ant of man's
•changing desires. This moral law is embedde d in the nature of
man and in the structure of society. This is dharma and this
'Should be made the source of weal and prosperit y as well as of the
-civilization.
Conclusion
As far as the fundame ntals are concerne d c.ommunism and Gita
-agree. The ideal before both of them is to re-establi sh the lost
unity of man with mankind and to realize his essence as 'Man'-a s
a species being. This is the ideal of self-reali zation, for which
both are trying. They also go hand in hand in discerrring the stark
·enemy of mankind , and they both subscribe to the view that
-so long as the forces of greed and acquisitiv e mania are holding
· -sway, man will ever remain dehuman ized, exploited , in bondage
and therefore ·un-man' . Both want to get humanity rid of this
deadly enemy ; commun ism by abolishin g private property and
Anasakti Yoga by curing the very desire to possess. Commun ism
and Gita consider the desire for private ownershi p and the sense
of possessio n (Parigrah a, Sangam, raga) as undesirab le. Simila rly,
both have discerned that there are two irreconci lable opponents
in the arena of the battle-fie ld of life, one of whom is condemn ed
by the 'History' to be destroyed ; the other is to be sustained by
history and destined to conquer. They also agree that some
practical efforts are invariabl y needed for working out the
talvation of mankind from alienated and bewildere d existence.
260
Con11nunis,n .
a11c1 Gita
However, their differences deve
lop only when tl, ey sta rt .
out the details, the modus
viv endi. These are , th erefor wo
essential but mcthoc\o\ogtcn . \ \.IT rki ng
c. 1 crc nccs. Wh en e, not ti1
sta,ted as a philosophtco. \. I I . f
co .e
. . .
·c l \\C L\ < oc trm c a tcr th mm u
e transfor , . rnn1s
criticism of Hegelm n ph1\. c., so, \ . . , .. .
p ,y, ,t sta1 ted w1. lh a miffissiclt1 ona\
~ . .
fight the forces ot acq\.\1s1t1v.
oncss anc\ of en d.mg th e alicn on to
n\an. lts idea\ was to see th n~ aLion
1~1an .return s to him self as a 0
i.e., Human Man, nfter ch 'so ci,/
mm atmg the enemy of
realization, viz., his egoistic hu man 5e\f:
needs. lt wanted to reali ze socia liLcd
'humanity'. ln this form,
it posited a serious chall
industrial and mechanist enge to th
ic civilization of the W
consistently followed this est. Had i~
mission in the spirit in
advocates 'Svadharme 11idlu which Gita
ma1h sreyalt', it would
shattering blow to the dehu ha ve gi, cn a
manizing ai1d corruptive
the civilization of West ag influenc es of
ainst which it had raised
of crusade in Das Capital. a ban ner
But leaving its own sphe
r~generation of mankind, re of social
when it entered into th
politic~, it itself posited e realm of
a danger to human freed
had already warned in this om. Gita
regard that 'para dharmo
that to follow another's law bhayaraha /l'
is perilous.
Marx himself knew that th
e realm of politics, the rea
economic and the realm of lm of
history are full of contrad
in these realms, the hw of ictions, a&
the 'union of opposites' op
the core of things, his own erates. At
dialectical approach found
antagon.ism and clash. Marx conflicts,
realized that at this level, pro
and deve\opn:ent comes thr gre:s
ough struggle. In this deve
the most important moments lopment,
were conceived to be those
u~umull\ted tensions and cla when
sh go into open struggle, the
point of al\ being a.pocalypti hig he 5t
c and eschatological. There
very sincerely wanted the hu fore, he.
manity to transcend this
neecsaity" and of 'dialectica " realm of
l conflicts'. ijut this system
,Jlroduct of -the applica was the
tion of inverted Hegelianis
dcgcn~ratcd conditions of m to t\".e
the industrial civilization.
doctrine,, he made batterin
g revolt ~gainst the dehu
In . !\l!
etfeet:s of th c capitalist mo m ani zi~:,
des of production. Conseq
co~nteracting those e_vil~ and ue ntl y, in
while applying the He~elia th
of planned march ot Histo n _ e~;~
ry'
fr-0m thoae conditions, the ten to these conditions, it b0110 '
1 pro\; le · b dency to seek all answers of
rr.i an t e materhil mo · · \n1111an,
des ~f -existence and in t I1 b·1ser
e '
The Co1-~flUehce m1d the Dfrergence 261
the reme dy of
natu re of man . Becattse of its bid to searc hing for
into the
- human bondage wi thin the forces of bond age, it entered
incon sistencies
mud of politics and beca m e the victim of all the
and cont radic tions whic h belo ng to pre-h istoric
level of di alects .
ideal, when it
Thu s, thou gh start ing with a laud able ethic al
ente red into polit ical aren a, it spoil ed its image. It
is the political
an freed o m.
aspe ct of co111muttism, now posi ng a new threa t to hum
for hum an
N o doub t, the lust for mon ey w,,s dang erou s
com mun i sm
prog ress, and it need ed an effective chec k on it, but
ical aggr andi ze-
forg ot that still more dang erou s is the lust for polit
y and ~tart s
men t. Beca use, if the econ omic pow er goes astra
sanc tions can
expl oitin g the man kind , then some stron g polit ical
mes unbr idled
impo se chec k on it. But if the polit ical pow er beco
ecke d, it can
and lust for polit ical aggr andi zeme nt goes on unch
very recen tly
play havo c for hum anity . The histo ry has seen
agog ues have
wha t terro r H itler, Mus solin i and such othe r dem
ical amb it-i ons
spre ad on the earth and wha t glob al ruins their polit
wrou ghl.
miss ion of
Ther efore , Gita wou ld tell com mun ism that if the
ed cons isten tly,
relie ving man from his alien ation is to be carri
matt er whe ther
then all attac hme nts will have to be give n up ; no
be an amb ition
it is an attac hme ht to mate rial good s or it may
uage , 'Act
to cling to the polit ical pow er. In Gita 's own lang
fast in yoga '
You O Dha nanj aya, with out attac hme nt, stead
(yogastluilJ Kurukarma!Ji sangam tyaktvii dhan
anjayay (II. 48). It
lderm ent of man
mea ns that the real miss ion of remo ving the bewi
will have
and help ing him in reali zing his lost unity with man kiud
tatio ns.
to be cond ucte d with all since rity leav ing all the temp
hing the desp on-
Simi larly , Gita start ed with the prob lem of finis
duty
dency (vi~ada) of man as well as his bew ilder men t abou t his
drag ged
(dharm1sammur/hacetii/;z) ([I.7). But som e think ers
eque nce
it into the realm of myth olog ical story -tell ini. As a cons
uage and its
to that, it beca me the victi m of the myst ifyin g lang
ed in hi ghly
ethic o•pb Hoso phic al doct rines havi ng been camo uflag
zatio n of
devotional relig ious tone , it cam e ineff ectiv e in the reali
the
its mission of relieving man from the d~hu man izing effects of
esote ric
actual life-situation. Acco rding ly, in orde r to unra vel its
t',
meanioas and to remo ve the 'putr esce nce of the abso lute spiri
it needed a form ula like the one that was prov ided by Feue rhac h
fy J !i~LU.H I! 415
Communism and Gita
262
. th form of his method of 'transformation al criticis ,
to Marx m e 'd db M h-bl - ' rn .
However, this formula wa_s p~~v.1, e_ y a ab. rnrata s apl:orism
, - -, s',·esthataram hz k,nczt ' proper o Ject of realization
na manu~a •· • d ·
for roan 1s • 'Man' , his humanity, . an nothmg beyond that.
. .
climate of renaissance m India paved the ground
Moreover, the . .
" th humanistic interpretation of the ancient values. Inspired
,or e . . h' .
by this, Gandhi did a great ~erv1~e 1n 1s commen~a~y to mterpret
?00 verses of Oita in soc1olog1cal and huma01st1c rendering,
which, as a matter of fact, brings forth the esoteric meaning of
Gita.
Having thus laid down their ideals, they need each others help
in fulfilling the mission of fighting the dehumanizing consequences
of lust and greed. Communism, in order to avoid all its contradic-
tions and its frightening image, will have to forego its political
implications, and Anasakti Yoga, in order to be more effective,
-will have to forego its narrative part. Thereafter, a valuational
synthesis of these two systems can save the humanity from the
aggravating tensions. The economic exploitation and the impending
danger · of political domination are still creating threat for
mankind, and the 'prophets of doom' are blowing their trumpet.
Today, the weary world requires that these two great ethical
philosophies should work together for the liberation of man from
his modern predicament. But the monolithic communism, at this
p9int, _will try to assert its uncompromising attitude, and would
praclatm that it is the only hope of humanity. It will point out in
~;rdance with its 'law of historical inevitability' that a path
18
a r.eady there on which the mankind is destined to walk. But
such categorical assertions leave no chance for man's creative
endeavours and his · mora1 er
d. euorts to evaluate these pronouncemen t s
athant itfh~ecessary make search for alternative paths. When one says
1s and th'18 ·
d ~ is the final word of wisdom he closes all th e
oors I or further en · ' ·· l
testing of his d q~iry, nor he leaves any chance for emp1nc~
Path ,ougbt , to be octrme. But when we say that this and th1 s
t d
for moral ch . raverse , then we are leaving ample roon1
01cc. ,
Anasakti yoga, •
culture all m accordance with the traditions of Indian
alterna~ives ows lhe freedom to choose between the possible
nd 8 0th s
necessary ; .Y e ize them together wherever it roaY be
an possible. We have seen that the goal is the saroe,
263
gence
The Confluence an d the Diver
Bu t
the ma n is to be re- est ab lis he d to exist as ' M an '.
viz.,
an d Gi ta ha ve de scr ibe d it in the ir ow n ter min o-
co mm un ism
tri ed to lay do wn in the ir ow n wa y, the pa th
logy, an d ed in
of the ex pla na tio n is allow
to rea ch it. Th is variety gh the
ian tra dit ion s, wh ich say tha t the tru th is one, alt h ou
Ind needs
me n of the wo rld sta te an d res tat e it ac co rdi ng to the
wise ra
ir res pe cti ve tim es an d social milieu (ekarh su d vip
of the
vu da nti ). Th e pro ph ets , the av ata ras an d the gre at
ba!zudhii
tit ies ha ve be en pla cin g the ideal of tra ns for mi ng ma n's
his tor ic en
ex ist en ce in ev ery ag e. an d in alm os t every society.
de hu ma niz ed rity in
se efforts, if th~re is since
Hu ma nit y encompasses all the
- the
be
m.
an y
So
pe
cia
rfe
l
ct
int
i11
eg
Le
rat
gra
ion
tion
is no
till
t co mp let e so far. No r the re
ma n ha s ov erc om e all his fra
will
ilties
gel.
n, i.e ., till ma n is ma n an d he does no t be co me an an
as ma ing
es no t me an tha t we sh ou ld leave all efforts fo r ma rch
This do
the dir ec tio n of the pro gre ssive rea liz ati on of this ideal.
ah ea d in
ref ore , pu t for th the pri nc ipl e of 'yada yada
Gita ha s, the
ni' , wh ich sho ws tha t en de av ou r sh ou ld co nti nu e
dharmasya g/a every
og nit ion of the fac t tha t in
fro m age to age. It is the rec the
the for ces of ev il wi ll pla y the ir devilish ga me to cre ate
ag e , the n
be yo nd the tol era ble lim its. If the society is no t de ad
cri sis
f-c orr ect ive pro ces s of soc iety will ma nif est its elf in the
the sel t
so me his tor ic -pe rso n, wh o wo uld res tor e the los
for m of
. Th is pro ce ss wi ll co nti nu e in every age. Th e gr ea t
eq uil ibr ium
nu e to co me ag ain an d ag ain, an d the creative an d
me n will co nti ta does
will ne ve r be ex ha us ted . Gi
co rre cti ve wi sd om of ma nk ind tor y
y ult ;m ate en d of hu ma n his
no t tal k of an y finality or an me
the pro ce ss wi ll co me to final close an d ma n will be co
wh ere an d
m all the pro ble ms . Th e ide al of a classless, stateless
free fro
ss soc iet y, as co nc eiv ed by co mm un ism , leads to the
str uc tur ele
gh t of im ag ina tio n. Th e pa ssa ge to the 'R ea lm of
uto pia ns fli on of the Ch ris tia n idea
ds lik e the sec ula ris ed ve rsi
Fr ee do m' so un 'Pa rad ise
the pil gri m' s pro gre ss fro m 'Pa rad ise Lo st' to
of ph ase
ine d'. Th is red uc es the co mm un ist ide al of the hig he r
Re ga
i- un ist soc iet y to a his tor ica l my th of thi s ce ntu ry. Th ese
of co mm
rad ise are no thi ng bu t the no ctu rna l ha llu cin ati on s.
dre am s of Pa po or , for
'bl ess ed are tho se who are
Th e Ch ris tia n dic tum tha t nte nte d
irs is the kin gd om of he av en ' 'w as a bid to keep ma n co
the of
po ve rty wi th a ho pe to en ter 'he av en '. No w the bid
wi th his
- -
Communism and c1, .
264 a
. . that "blessed are those who are oppressed llnd ,
communism 1s d. . ,, f . er
f an unscrupulo us 1ctators111p or th eir is ti
the yoke o k
ff do m Gita does not want to ta . e man to Paract ·1e
kingdom o rec · . . 1sc
butt l rehabilitate and to. confirm him on this ve ry earth with
. t f hi's individual differences (gutJa karm a) and variety of
vane yo . (
various levels of enJoyment Dharma Arth
the t dS t es for . . .a, Kama).
L-t therefore, the efforts to brmg complete soci al integration
G:n,tinue and go on from vario~s directio~s. But th is type of
approach is the teaching of Gita. Accord1~g to ~he teachin g\
of Gita, in whatever way one works for that mtegrat1 on, hum anity
admits all these varied efforts and variegated solutions. G ita says :
"In whatever way men resort to Me even so I do render to them .
In every way, the path, men "1011 ow, 1s . mme.
. "33
This liberalism and catholicity to allow every sincere effo rts to
work for the welfare of mankind, not in discord with each
other, but in unison with each other, is the unique charac-
teristic of Gita. Here the question of my or mine is not
there, but the question is that humanity must be saved from
bewilderment. This catholicity shows the greatn~ss of Gita that
whosoever works for salvation of mankind, let him work it out
sincerely and with all integrity and not with a lust for political
conquest. Therefore, Gita would always be ready to shake hand
with communism and bring out a workable synthesis of all what·
ever is lofty and noble in this philosophy. If the synthesis is really
soug~t for, it can be seen that their disputes are minor and
question of difference h only of priorities. Communism through-
o~t has emphasized that moral regeneration of man is not possible
without
. econ om·ic abun dance, whereas Anasakt1 - . Yoga will• say tl,a t
without .moral re ·
generation (dharma samsthapana) the dream 0 f
ecoth~o_mbic prosperity will be a fiction If men are not sincere in
e1r Jo , if they a . · . . d
t.as.k th re ~ot honest m the discharge of their all otte
, en all economi l ·
communist th' k c P anmng would collapse. The present day
Afanasyev say~nt::: ~ave com~ to realize this fact. For example,
of man a ma h con>:mumsm presupposes also a new type
purity ' and ;hw .0 combines in himself spiritual richness, moral
find a nitch in t~sica~. perfec~ion." 34 Therefore, communism can
It is the proper:;~; :0 :soc,at ~octrines of Anasakti Yoga.
down specifically . deductive system' that it need not Jay
a11 its· theo· rems but 1t . should contain . a set of
The Confluence and the Dfrergence 265
basic postulates and axiorns, such as that nil the theorems should
be deducible from these postulates, which tho system wonts to
prove within itself. The basic postulates and the 1L'<ioms, from
whkh communism deduced all the other theorems within its
system are already found contained in the system of the post ulates
of Anasakti Yoga. The fundamental of all these axioms is " from
each according to his ability". This means that each person will
contribut e to the social productive process according to his ski ll,
his intelligence, his taste and temperament. Anasakti Yoga also
lays emphasis that each man by complete absorption in the p~rfor-
mance of his duty, wins perfection, 35 meaning thereby that in
order to seek perfectio n, people will contribute their share by
discharging their allotted social obligation. Similarly, the other
axiom of communism is "to each according to his need". In
taking his share from society, each will take as much ns he needs.
keeping in v ew the needs of others. Provision for th ·s also exists
in Anasakti Yoga of Gita, which says that " man is to take as
much from the society as .is residual, i.e. , what remains after
dischargi ng all the social obligations" (III. 12). As a corollary to
this, those, who try to appropria te the surplus value for their
personal benefit, are condemned as capitalist, the evil, by commu-
nism. Similarly, he, who takes everything for himself and devours
without caring for the share of others, is declared a sinner by
Gita (111.13). This increased productio n will be "achieved
through the growth of productivity, i.e., the higher productivity
-of labour", 36 as Afanasyev tells us. On the basis of this, it was 37
.concluded that "Commu nism will be tbe society of abundan ce:'
But if all these basic postulates and axioms of communism are
.already found in the Anasakti Yoga of Gita, then in this synthesis,
-communism will lose its separate identity and will be left with
:nothing but 'political adventurism'. However, this system would
not make any difference to Gita except that some of its verses
will have to be re-arranged. Such a state of affairs, as deducible
from the fundamental postulates of communism, is also, according
l
to the axioms of Gita, achievable by the honest, disciplined
persons, who have excelled themselves in the performance of their
job (yoga!;, karmasu kausa/am) (11. 50). When these .fund amental
postulates and axioms are arrauged into a postulat1onal system
from which all the theorems may be proveable within the system, 1
ctt ' 2 lA\IPllf-rA

266 Com1111mism and Gr.t a
th roav come to be rend ns th

1·t is :
e~- k., taHl'abhiratc (, sa,iis
sH',-sve arn ·-
1 idd/aitii lablwt e 11a r a~1
> '· •
)'0 ]1U1SI S1us ~anto nm cw wt t?sanar.:,.1·1b · ·11 (l l\ 13)(XV l\ l. 45) :
1: t •
1110t•1. ~
kauu karm a,µ sarlga,h ty • _ •_ 1~m . • . : y og asr/w l,
akrt1 dltarw,lJt1) •a (11.48) • _ _
yujyas\'O yoga~ karmasti ka_ , tcJ sm ad yog aya·
u falan_1 . (U .5 0) , _ an d
srlr ,,ijayo blautirdhruva nf tir th er ef or e, tarra
matir manw (X V lll . 78).
In English these would m
ean : (i) fo r se ek in g hi s
tion! every on e is ab so rb self-actualiza-
ed in his own jo b, ac c~
an d ka rm a ; (ii) every on rd in g to his gu1~a
e ta ke s fron1 th e so ci et
residual after his co nt rib y as m uc h as is.
ut io n in th e so ci al pr od
every on e discharges hi uc tiv e process; (iii)
s social ro le in th e pr od
ing all sorts of profit motiv uc tiv e pr oc ess. leav-
e an d w ith ou t th e de si
it for private ownership re to ap pr op ria te
; (iv) every on e di sc ip
social discipline an d lin es hi m se lf into-
this social di sc ip lin e
ciency of th e social pr is th e increased effi-
od uc tio n ; an d th er ef
economic prosperity, so or e, th er e will be
cial pr og re ss nn d dign
man. Th us speaking , ified existence of
if Anlisakti Yoga o f
with communism, th en Gita is synthesi zed
al l th e po st ul at es an d
munism will be merged do ct rin es of com-
in to an d th er ef or e de
This synthesized fo rm du ci bl e from Gita .
m ay be di so w ne d by
because by ad di ng a spec th e communism.
ific axion1 of th e re nu
for private ownership. nc ia tio n of de sire
it becon1es a. do ct ri ne
shows th at whereas th e of an ii sak ti. Th is.
'd ed uc tiv e co m pl et en es
will be exhausted by G ita s' of communism
, th e co m m un is m will
fundamental po st ul at es be lacking many
to ex ha us t th e et hi co
of an is ak ti yoga, spec -p hi lo so ph ic system
ially be ca us e it ha s
an is ak ti, although it is no su bs tit ut e for the
to pr ov e w ith in its ow
the profit . motive an d n system also that
lu~t fo r ap pr op ri at in
an d for pr iv at e pr op er ty g th e su rp lu s vu\uc
is to be finished. lt
absc~cc of this gr ea t ax is be ca us e or th e
io m of 'a na sa kt i' in
munis~ th at it ha d to se th e system of coin~
ek he lp fr om th e un sc
authority. Th e st at em en ru pu lo us politic t~\
t th at 'd ic ta to rs hi p of
~ceded to tu rn m an in to th e proleturint ~s
co m m un is t m an ', is a
incom.patible within th th eo re m , ,,,hich ,s
there 18 e w ho le co n1 m un is t systen1 its
a need for some ot he r elf. Thus,
pr in ci pl e to co un te rn
of gr_ecd an d th e acquisi ct th e forcrs
tiveness. Th is su re w ea
~'?angasastre~) (XV. 4), po n of detnchm~~,t
ha s been pr ov id ed by
lS commentary, em O ita . G an dh i , nl
phasizes the need of th
is pr in ci pl e nnd he
r~
The Confluence and the Di'ierge11ce 26T
writes : "unless man is determined to cut himself off from the

temptations of the world of senses, he will go deeper into its mire
every day. " 38 Thus, without anasakti, the concept of communist
man will remain a representative fiction. Accordingly, in order
to make man fit for entering the realm of freedom, communism
will always stand in need of 'anasakti' .
Here comes a great dilemma for communism. If it confiaes.
itself to the realm of necessity and the realm of history, it becomes.
full of contradictions, and if it enters the realm of freedom, it
becomes only a historical myth. But if it limits itself to its basic·
postulates and axioms, then the whole of its postulational system
will be exhausted by the postulational system of the Gita (as .
rendered in the present commentary, Anasakti Yoga). This shows.
the infinite richness of Gita; its impregnable and indomitable
spirit, which has shown the path down the ages at the time of alt
cnses.
Taking inspiration from this lofty philosophy, Indians have
overcome various crises, which threatened the survival of society.
When country was under the yoke of a colonial power, the ex-
ploitative imperialism, boasted that sun never sets in British
Empire, then Gita gave inspiration to the national leaders in their
political fight. Tilak, Aurobindo, Gandhi, and many other fighters .
for freedom made Gita as their source of im,piration to fight the
alien power and the political servitude. Not only this, but as .
Manmathnath Gupta has shown, even the revolutionaries sought
inspiration from Gita's aphorism 'vinas-iiye ca dufkrtam' in their
fight against the imperialist power. 39 An eminent communist
leader, Prof. Hiren Mukherjee admits that "p.!rhaps, Gandhi's
greatest contribution to Indian life was abhaya or fearlessness
rather than the more celebrated notion of ahimsa or non-
violence."'0 And, this fearlessness came to Gandhi from Gita's
call where Kni:ia is exhorting the demoralized Arjuna to cast off
his petty faint-heartedness and to arlse to fight back the foes
(Kfudram hrdayadaurbalyam tyaktvottif/ha para1iltapa) (ll. 3).
When a political crisis came, Gita was there to help the Ind ian
society to overcome that. Similarly, when the cultural onslaught
was going on, the scholars like Aurobindo and Vivekanand sought
inspiration from the invincible philosophy of Gita to win . t~e -
cultural battle in India's favour. Now in the present day cns1s>- 1
z ) 14 Qi\ Jiit C 44 QI
Communism and Otta
_
-w1,-e.n t\ \t gociety seen10 to ha' ve fa\te.n th e vi ct im of a so
• . . l!J
be~1ldern, en t, in W111· b we have lost th e go al , G , rt of

_. . d· rovide csound soci it a may serv e as
8 source an kp al phi.\o so ph y to t l1e ·
.does not lac . tnan• pni,. wer nor do es she la ck th e soc iety . 1nu,, ia
.
• v na tu ra l reso ur ces .
W ha t ,t 1 k i
,
ac s, so un d so cial ph H . •
os op 1·
sa hy ,anc;mg ou t o
.
.so il• an. d b efitt m
' 1 r so ci o- cu lt ur
g le
.
al cond1t.1o
. G· ..
he r own
fl\\ 1 ·
ns. 1t a ca. n
gap. But f or this ' th e veil of sa nc ti.ty will . t HS
•. h ha ve to be to rn ,
--w\nc tl,e pm · us ha nd s ha ve w
oven ar ou nd 1t . l .d h
ur so ci o• cu , to 11 e t e u gl y
aspec o f o
t lt ur al in st it ut io ns . T he se • · ·
fossiliz~d ou r th in ki inst1tut1o ns 1,a ve
ng pa tt er n c1nd no •ti h
discarded. G it a its
elf suggests th at if
w th ey w1 av e to be
time, th ei r de at h no th ey w er e bo rn
w is in ev it ab le (Jatas at so me
As G it a asks why m ya hi dhruvo rr1.rt yu {1)
ou rn for th em w ho (l I.27) .
{I f. 11). Afte·r di sc m we sh ou ld no
ar di ng th es e ob so le t m ourn
-0utliv~d t'heir ut il it y, te in st it ut io ns , w
ne w -i ns ti tu ti on s will hi ch ha ve
-on th e basis of th e ha ve to be w or ke
es se nt ia l pr in ci pl es d ou t
ancient value-system la id do w n in ou
. G it a tells us to r own
(avinasi). N o one kn ow th e im pe ri
ca n de st ro y th at sh abl e
-Who will sift tl\is ac im m ut ab le es se nc
ci de nt al arrd su pe rf e (11. 17).
ism of ou r culture- ic ia l do gm at is m an
fr om- th e es se nt ia d ri tu al -
.accomplished by th l ? T hi s w or k ca
os e w ho ha ve w ra pp nn ot be
.as a dead bo dy is w ra ed G it a in to a cl
pp ed in coffin an d: ot h, ju st
But by those social ph ha ve m ad e a fe ti sh
il os op he r~ an d th e of it.
·who understand it an d- ph il os op he rs o f cu
w ho ca n d'iscern w lt ur e,
is not. T he co m m en ta ha t is es se nt ia l an
ry by G an dh i, th d w ha t
.a tt em pt in th is di re e A na sa kt i Y og a
ct io n, to re st or e th is an
-~ e so:eial pr ob le m s e · gl or y of G it a
of ou r society-, an d in solving
-bewilderment, to re m ov e th e pr es
en t day
H av e l\Ot th e BtitiB
h id ea li st s· li ke 0 -r
·Oerman- ideaHsts lik ee n an d B on sa nq
e· Hegel w or ke d- ou t ue t an d
,and educatfonarl in st th ei r w ho le so ci al , po li ti ca
it ut io ns on th eb as is l
late• prov-ided by th ei o f th e fu nd am en ta l po
r idealism? W hy no st u-
-can ~e worked ou t t th en all th es e in st
ft om th e ba si c po it ut io ns
..a··.nd m te rp st ul at
. . re t-e'd m
· .Ana- sa ·
kt i Y og a? lf th : so
es la id do w n in G it a
th
of e basic po st ul at es ci o- po li ti ca l im pl ic •
an d ax io m s la id at io ns
Yog. a 0 f o· do w n in th e A n5sa kt i
it a are w or ke d ou t
,as the firm and so un d by th e sc ho la rs th
so ci al ph il os op hy en it ca n serve
1t
: d ron~ social or de fo r b~ il di ng a pr os pe ro us
r in Which th e m an
• cr ea tw o t-alent w il l be fr ee to
an d to realize· h it express
ca pa ci ti es . th is is
self-
.The Coufiuen.cc and the Divergence
realization. The har mon y of social ord er ls an

cssc nllul uim of th e
spiritually enlightened mun. Th Is docR not lea
vc any gap betw een
spiritual freedom of mon and hi s Hodo
-cconorn lc p rng rcMJ,
because the realization of on ci8 essence is
Lh c rcn l spir itu al
achievement. It is on the bas is of Git a lhal
Lit e soci ety can be·
firm ly esta blis hed with the Roein l owncn1hlp
or mat eria l mea n s and
with the democratic order in which each man
will have full free do m
to dec ide his own fo.te and to realize dlrnrm
u, arth a , kftma. G ita
has alw ays stood by this society in every crisis,
and it iHnow once
again tha t in the form of Ana sukti Yogo, it may
help in overcom -
ing the present social crisis. Oit a is undoub
tedly one of the-
.greatest books produced by mankind. We can
close our discussicm
with Bah m's prophecy : "As the wor ld's thre
e historic ally grea t
civi liza tion s, the H.indu, the Chinese and the
European, intermingle
and merge in a world super-culture cnjoyiug the
riches of all thrcet
the Git a becomes 011e of the world's greatest
classics." 4l It can
now be safe ly said that even when the
com.muni Bt cult ure·
intermingles, Git a will still remain a grea t cthi
co-philo sophical
treatise.
Reference~
1. Kleine Philosophischc Schriftcn (p. 169), quot
ed by T ucke r, Robert
C., Philosophy and MJ th In Kt1rl Marx, p. 91.
2. Gita, VII. S.
3. Rad hakr ishn an, S., Bfwgc,vad!JTtll , p. 214.
4. Marx, K., Early Wrltlr1g.v, I'• 164.
S. Mar x, K., Toward.v the Critique of lie[fel's Plillo .
.\'Ophy of Ri11ltt, p. 265
of MEGA.
6. Gita, XVIU.78.
1. Gita, HI.3 9.
8. Gita, XIV .7.
9. Gira, 11.62.
12. Ibid .
13. lbid ., p. 268.
14. Gita, IV .8 (vinasaya ca dufk\·tam).
·e I F Mcm . ,
JS. Marx, K . an d nge s, ., /fe.ftO of the Co111m1111fst Parr.1 ' p. 60.
_J' • •, •
)6. Gita , XVIIl.78 ; Also XJ.34 (Fight, Victory 16 lhtne
)'. 6
17. Tue ker, R o ber t C· •, Pltllosonhy
1.-
and Myth l11 Kori Mwx , P• 13 ·
18. Gila, lll.23
. (K d •. Iudayadaurbalya1t1 tynk tvotti~tlrn panu
19., Gita, I . u ram . l,tnpa.)
~ Mi lJIPS t pl "'!f"'
20. Gita, XV.5.

21. Tucker, Robert C., Philosophy and Myth in Karl Marx, p. 242.f
22. Radhakrishnan, S., Eastern Religion and Western Thought, p. 247.
23. Marx, K. and Engels, F., German Ideology, p. 14.
24. Gita, 11.40 (Anasakti Yoga).
25. Popper, K.R., op. cit., p. 95.
26. Mises, Ludwig Von, Socialism, p. 28.
27. Afanasyev, V., Socialism and Communism, p. 179.
19. Marx , K. and Engels, F., Selected Works, Vol. II, pp.345-46.
30. Hartmann, N ., Ethics, Vol. II, p. 26.
31. Schwitzer, Albert., op. cit., pp. 22-23.
33. Gita, IV.11 (ye yatha mam prapadyante). ·
34. Afanasyev, V., Socialism and Communism, r. 132.
35. Gita, XVITI. 45.
37. Ibid., p. 123.
38. Desai, Mahadeva, The Gita According to Gandhi, p. 339.
39. Rao, M.B. (Ed.), The Mahatma-A Marxist Symposium, pp. 95-99.
40. Ibid., p. 80.
JJ. Bahm, A.J., The Bhagavad Gita or T/;e Wisdom of Krishna, pp. 2-3.
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INDEX
Academy of Berlin 1825-26,

Proceed- Classless Society under Communism,
163-75
ings, 252
258, Cohen, M.R., 82
Afanasyev, V., 3, 4, 118, 147, 257, Communism, a Society of Abundance, 180
264 12-15 Communism, Ethics, 19-32
Against Religion and Mammon, Communism, Sovietization, 5-6
A Heuristic ldeal, 196-7
life-afrming Philosophy,
71-3 Communist ideal as Economic Emanci-
A
Allen, C.K., 198 pation, 181
Menifesto, 184, 202, 205, 206,
An Essay on the Principles of Population, Communist
248
90 Social Order, 106-19
An saktia Remedy for Modern Pro- Communist
Communist Society, Inner Dynamics,
blems, 44-5
117-18
Ansakti Yoga, Social Philosophy, Communist theoreticians, 164
43-5
Argentina, 10
Comte, 40, 123
Aristotle, 82, 149 Concept of Real Freedom, 250-51
136-52
Arnold, Edwin, 102 Concept of Social Justice,
Conclusion, 259-69
Artha, 186-8 Condemnation of Profit Motive, 247
Artitude towards Capitalists, 247-8
Confluence and the Divergence, 244-70
Confusion about dialectic, 238-43
Baax, 217 Conser vatism, 238
Bahm, A.J., 39, 41 Cooper, R., 84
Beard, 81 249-50
Criticism of Profit Motive,
Bentham, 64, 92, 145 Critique of Gotha Programme, 143
Berdyaev, 208 85
Critique of Political Econonmy, comnmen-
Besant, Annie, 40 Cultural Influences on Gandhr's
Betai, Ramesh, 44, 102 tary, 96-7
Bhagavadg+t , 95
Bid to Perfection, 192-4 Dange, S.A., 97
Bonar, James, 81, 211, 216 Darwin, Laws, 92
Borodulina, T., 19
Das Capital, 4, 203, 251
Bradley, F.H., 68, 209, 221 46-58 Dasgupta, S.N., 39, 220
Brahma Nirvan, Meaning, Deductive Incompleteness, 237-8
Brahma Sütras, 38 Democracy, Moral Basis,
126-8
B h idealists, 268 the Enlightened, 125-33
British Rule, 99 Democracy of Teleological Cri-
Ceontological vs.
Buber, Martin, 20 terion, 225-7
vs. The Philosophy of
Detachment
Attachment As kti, 208-14
Carlyle, 7
Carr, E.H., 139 vs. Corrective Theory,
Deterrence
Cassirer, F., 41 219-21
Chesnokov, D., 19, 163, 206 165-6
Dharma, 182-6
Classes and Division of Labour,
286
Communism and Gi
Dharma, Concept, 73-5 GermanIdeology, 29, 65, 174
Dharma as Regulative Principle, 197-9 Germany, 251
Dichotomy of appearance and reality, Greek mythologies, 12
235-6
Giddens, Anthony, 164, 167-8
Dictatorship, a Moral and Social Evil,
Ginsberg,
229-31 Gita of OurMorris,
Times,
129, 137-8, 190
41-2
Disgust with Machines, 169-71
Dissatisfaction w.th the Present Form of Gita, Philosophical Doctrines,
Existence, 20 Symbolic Meaning, 42-3 45-6
Distribution of Happiness, 145-7 Gita's Ansakti Y oga,
Ethical
Distributive Justice and Communism,
nes, 58-73 Doctri
138-41 Glezerman, G., 19
Durkheim, 74, 124, 155 Gokhale, B.G., 182, 186
Gopi, 41
Economic and Philosophic Gotha Programme, 112, 113
ManusCcript of Greed
Greek Dehumanizing
1844, 14
Economic Equality, Myth, 144-5 Mythology, 254 Effects, 8-12
Economic foundations, 204 Green, 33
Economic
19
Interpretation, Meaning, Hartmann, 258
End of Private Property, 116-7 Hartshom, 84, 122, 161
England, 89, 99, 101 Hearnshaw, 147
English Political Economy, Hedonism, Critism, 63
89-93 Infiuence, Hegel, G.w.F., 16, 18, 31,
Engels, F., 6-7, 15, 18, 21, 30. 93, 107, 109, 113, 120, 53, 57-8, 82.
92, 109, 111-12, 1i4, 139-42,83-86, 91, 239, 252, 257 171, 175, 227,
163, 166, 168, 173, 174, 146-4, Hegal and Feuerbach, 84-9
212, 219, 227, 255, 257 181, 199, 203, Hegelian Philosophy, 93
Environmentalism and Individual's Hegel's Philosophy of Right,
Self-improvement, 214-19
Egualityon is Spiritual, 147 Heidegger, Martin, 22, 48
171
Essay Demography, 92 Hindu ethics, 126, 187
Essence Historical Materialism, 19
Europe, of2 Christainity, 40, 86, 120 Hook, Sidney,
Evil, Nature, 21 Horney, Karen,20,2, 84,
22,
139
23, 53
Ewing, 221 Human
25-8 Bondage and Release, Nature,
Faith in Human Fall,
Ultimate
Fallacy of UnprovedVictory, 248-9 Human Life, Dynamics,
Ideals,
62-3
178-201
Feuerbach, premises, 240 Human Progress, Ethical Basis, 202-25
89, 120, Ludwig, 40, 43, 48, 82, 86, Humboldt, 252
Fedo, 160 245, 252 Hume, 122
Fedotov, 157 Huxley, Aldous, 154
Finishing
Fisher, 237the Division of Labour, 166-7 Ideal More Significant than
Fourier, St. Simon, 82, 140 178-81 Actual,
France, 84 Ideal Social Order accorting to
Freedom and Responsibility, 119-24 Gita,
French Socialists, 249 231-43
Ideal Society, 156
Freud, 39, 63-4, 189 deals of Human Life in
India, 1, 93, 97, 120, Gita, 182-97
Gandhi, M.K., 38, 40, 208, 251
India, ethics, 148Life, 40, 43,
65, 70,73, 75, 41-4, 47, 54, Indian Cultural 100, 182
156, 184, 189 95, 100, 101-2, 60, Indian Mythologies, 12
Gandhian Ansakti 131, Indian
Social Philosophy,Yoga,
44 44 182, Philosophy,
189, 191 2, 39, 53, 72, 83, 9,
Gasset, Ortega, 231 Indian Renaissance, 98-101
German Indian Social
German Classical Philosophy,26882, 85
Classical Idealists, Society, 38,Thought,
39 154
Thinkers,
Individual 232
Self-Improvement, 217-9
Index 287
Tndo-Gangetic Plane, 146 224, 231, 234, 239, 245, 247, 248,
82-4 250, 255-6
Influences of Classical Materialism, of Wealth, 147
Inftuence of Gita on Gandhi, 44 Marxian Concept
Isopanisad, 131 Marxism, impact, 97
Marxist view of Society, l123
Material Pasis of Progress examiined,
Jibran, Khalil, 40
244-59 210-4
Jiva Brahman and Präkriti,
Jiva, Narure, S5-8 Materialism and Emnpirio-Criticism, 6
Mayo, 228-9
229
Johnson, A.M., 196, Mclver. 41, 123, 156, 158, 163, 220
Justice and Dharma, 137-8 Mcans-End Harmoney, 224-5
Justice and Svadharma, 149-51
Mill, 54, 64, 92, 114, 115, 145, 216
Milne, A.J.M., 74, 123, 124, 159, 185,
Kama, 188-90 198, 225
Kant, Immanuel, 47, 52, 56, 60, 67, Minute on Education, 98
109, 118, 147,185, 225, 239 Mises, 255
Karma, Doctrine, 68-70 Modern Psychotherapy, 192
Karma, Law, 70
Kautilya, 187
Moksa, 191-7
Montague, Ashlay, 220
Kautskf, 179, 216 Moral Basis of Civilization, 209-10
Kierkegaard, 53, 58 Moral Freedom, Concept, 70-1 |
Kinds of freedoms, 232-4 Moral Grounds of Revolution, 248
Kolarz, Walter, 19 Moral Positivism, 141-2
Krsna, 151, 183 Muirhcad, 125
Kursanov, G., 19
Nature and Prakrti, 246
Laski, 139 Nced for Ethical Approach, 1-3
Lenin, V. I., 6, 82, 84, 92, 97, 111, 165, Negative Description, 239
179, 190, 202, 219, 242 Ncw Look at Communism, 1-37
Lewis, 69 No Communist Influence, 97-8
Liberation from Alienated Existence, Northrop, F.C.S., 5
28-32 Not merely Economics, 6-8
190-1
Life Affirming Scheme,
Lindsay, A.G., 139 On Jewish Question, 11
Locke, 82
Lowith, Karl, 8
Organic Theory, 122-4
Other Influences on Ghandhi, 101-3
Luther, 9 Owen, Robert, 140
Macaulay, 98
Machiavelli, 82, 110
Penchant for Dictatorship in Marlism,
227-31
Mackenzie, J.S., 33, 122, 149, 193, 98, Petersen, 81
209, 220, 230 Phenomenology of Mind, 85
Madhavacarya, 95 Philosophical and Cultural Intluences,
Madis, James, 82 80-105
Mahbhrata, 48, 119, 120, 129, 183, Political revolution, no solution of egoism,
235 236
Maitra, 191 Pope, Alexander, 128
254
Popper, Karl, 118, 173, 226, 230,
Mal.hus, 90
52-5S
Man and Divine, ldentity,
Man, Concept, 23.5
Poverty of Philosophy, 202
Prabhu, 156, 186, 191
Man, Socializarion, 115-6 Private Property, 130-3
Mangles, 98 Impact of Gita Marx, 251-9
on
Manuscripts, 1844, 207 Probable 205
Process of historical Progress,
Marcuse, Herbert, 15 not a historical necessity, 237
42, 59, 64, 68, Progress
Marx, K., 2, 3, 4, 7-34,88-9, 91, 97, 99,
Proletariat class, 171-2
72, 75, 82-4, 86, Proletariat, Dictatorship, 111-13
107-11, 113, 115-9, 130-1, 139, 141-4 Proudhan, 148
146-7, 163, 164-74, 179-81, 188, Psycho-Social Etficacy of Varra, 156-8
202-5, 206-8, 214-5,
195, 197, 199,
288
G7 Communism and GtHa
faf
Radhakr hnan, S.. 53,9, 60The
The
Critiaue of Politlcal Economy, 6
63, 667A121 Elemnentary
Forms of Religious Life,
7,180, 183-4, 189, 193, 209, 124
213, 252 The French Working Class, 84
Ramanuja, 94 The Holr Family, 32
Rashdali, H, 33, 67, 68, 145, 146, 158, The Ideal Social Order, 106-35
160, 186, 188, 220 The Logical Influence of Hegal
Ricardo, 90 84
on
Marx,
Role of Mental Fuctors in production, The Origin of Species, 92
236-7 The Proletariat, 250
Roll, Eric, 84, 212 The Teleological
Approach, 179-80
Role of Specialization, 167-9 Theory and Prartice, 246-7
Royal Enquiry Commission, 10 The rapists of Freudian/Jungian
Ruskin, 101, 102 22 Schoo1,
Russell, 136, 186 Tilak, 40, 95
Russia, 6 Timons, of Athens, 27
Russian ideology, 97 Titus, H.H., 125, 126
Sabine, 6 Toynee, Arnoid, 81, 99
Saint-Simon, 140 Tucker, Robert, 9, 13, 14. 16, 25, 34,
Salmond, 132 42, 45, 53, 85, 123, 144, 175,
195, 2500 179,
Samkara, 40, 52, 57, 94
Sanyal, Sachindranath, 102 Uddalaka, 49
Sardesai, 98 Uniformity not tenable. 154-6
Sarma, 100 Unity with Mankind, 180-1
Saraswati, Madhusudan, 94 Upani_ad, Brahdranyaka,
Sartre, J.P., 48, 52, S6, 58, 60, 71, 1S5, 47, 50, 121
217 Chndogya, 42, 121
Saundarya Lahari, 189 Katha, 55
Schlegel, August Wilheim Von, 252 Mändükya, 121
Schumpetr, 81, 210 Mundaka, 55
Schwitzer, 213, 258 Svetsvatara, 55
Self-Realization Theory, 32-4 Taittiriya, 49
Sidgwick, 67, 69, 115 Vaisesika Sutra, 1882
Smith, Adam, 8, 11, 28, 89, 90 Vallabha, 94
Social Justice and Equality in Gita,
147-51 Various commentaries on Gita, 93-6
Social Philosophers, 196 Various Interpretation of Gita, 93-6
Society, Divine Nature, 124 Varna 160-1
Socio-Cultural Influences on Varra and Caste, 156
Modern Committee of the Varna and Division of Powers, 161
Gita,
Socio-Political Institutions, 118-9 93-103 Varna Vyavasthä, 153-63
Son of Man, 40 Varta, Vyavastha and Classless Society,
Sorokin, P.A., 1, 1C0, 121 172-75
Source of egoistic need, 235 Visvasra tantra, 43
Soviet Scholar, 143 Vivekanand, 99
Spengler, Oswald, 5, 208 Vulgar Marxists, 26
Sri Aurobindo, 95, 96, 99
Stalin, 1446 Way to Release, 65-8
Standard in Ethics, 33 Wealth of Nation, 89
Stark, Werner, 179 Wester mark, 183
lute
Authority,
Nature, 128
Svadharma and Varnas,
Western Materialistic philosophy, 82
158-9 Western Psychologists, 157
Swami Daya Western thinkers, 2, 53
Nand, 99
Tagore, Weydemeyer, 164
Tantric, Rabindra
Wealth of Nations, 28
Sktism, 43Nath, 48, 99 What is a Class, 164-5
The Brave New World, 154 What is
The Communism,
a
3-19
The Cambridge History
Class Struggle of India, 98 What is State, 113-4
in France, 111 Whitehead, Á.N., 154, 214, 216, 246
Yamuncrya, 95
DR HIMMAT SINGH SINRA (6
M.A. in Philosophy from 1928) p sed
the Punjab
University in 1960 stood
; first in the
Punjab University (Camp) Coliege whoe and
secured second position in the
He secured his Ph.D. degree fromUniversity.
the
Meerut University.
He has published two Books in Hindi
(1) Jnana ki Akarika, and (2) Manav Prakrite
Adhyayan. Besides, he has published about
100 articles in various magazines and
journals in Hindi, Urdu and English.
He knows English, Persian, Urdu, Hindi,
Punjabi and Sanskrit, and is the editor of
Young Thinkers.
He has to his credit about two decade's of
teaching experience and is at present teach-
ing Philosophy in Kurukshetra University.
Recent Releases
RADHAKRISHNAN ON HINDU MORAL LI
AND ACTION
by Aloysius Michael, Rs. 65 $ 13

Dr S. Radhakrishnan is the most well known scholar inierpreter
ofHindu ethos. Hindu philosophy and life with its seemingly

weired customs and belicfs, caste systems, Karma, rebirth, et al,
have always puzzled the westerners. It was given to
Dr Radhakrishnan to place the Hindu way of life and institutions
in the modern context and prove their validity in today's world.
This study of Dr Radhakrishnan's interpretation of the moral
life and action of the Hindus by an Italian theologist discovers the
meeting ground-a very large area indeed-of Hindu theism and
christianity. The author has made deep comparative analysis of
Hindu and Christian ethics, morals and actions, and without
mincing words, let his conclusions be known. One is started by
the originality, felicity, and clear headed exposition of the theme
bythe author. He has delued deep to study Hindu scriptures,
customs and convensions vis-a-vis Christian thought and action
and presented a fair balance sheet of their similarities and
dissimilarities. The study helps to understand the Hindu mind
and makes world fellowship of religions a worthwhile and
achievable ideal.
MARRIAGE AND MATRIMONIAL REMEDIES

A Uniform Civil Code for India
by Mohammed A. Qureshi, Rs. 110 s 22
k the itical and comparative
ia, along with remedies
e is a great deal of
ent communities and
a Uniform Civil Code
rriage is a social and
dumain of religion in
s of India about
eip them to seek
u bie companion
NY

Communism and Geeta - DR Hs Sinha

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A New Look at Communism 17

because they failed the external material objects as the

was the real material reality', which the materialist should

think or even cannot live without producing

Now the Soviet communist writers on communism like

This great achievement was the application of the concept of

an ethics of man's return to himself as real man'. This is really

Marx's description of a religious man as well as of the alienated

called them his 'essential powers', his 'vital powers',

Accordingly, Marx tells us, ""the 'nature that develops in

survival of his family.

is debased, enslaved, helpless, contemptible creature.*"7 It was for

is debased, enslaved, helpless, contemptible creature."7 It was for

casting off of all natural limitations,10

to guide humanity to traverse the path from the 'world as it is'

theory have understood

with the and striving for a better state of existence will

development of one's whole nature-physical, intellectual,

'unman'. Thus speaking,

1960, p. 88. Survey, No. 33, July-Septemo

83. Ibid., pp. 88-89.

Gita has meant different things to different people. But the

doing his allotted social job. Arjuna says

Various Interpretations of Gita

practical life 'Kuruk_etra' in its true connotation, is pregnant with

phrase comes to mean ksetre k_etre dharmamkuru) do your duties

Social Philosophy of Anasakti Yoga

It means he, who performs his duty without resorting

Philosophical Doctrines of Gita

Meaning of Brahma Nirvana

should learn to exist

guide. Let us seek their help to resolve this mystery.

asks him to explain Bralhman that is immediately present and

of Upani_ad by raising the problems of transcendental nature.

mistaken assumption, the so-called gods might have created meta-

rism 'na mânusät are_ hataram,

with the Brahman hasquestion

tives, "Treat humanity, either in your own person or in the person

part' except that of relating the

ciple behind them. Iexistential manifestations hu al pri

the moral individual

out that the striving of

has already is said to be

who make their baser or in

ed idealism where is assumed to be

Kant left the re

noumenon as sonmething mysterious,

teachings and these interpreted to serve as a guide for

nic frustrations. Describing the nature of k mya karma,

before strutted about with such appalling self-satisfaction."13 Like

f l • t' ns or dcc1•si·ons , which need be guided by principles ·

interest, if he wants to liberate himself from his alienat ion, and

+. T- W U ¥ ♦ iJ :I "1 ff Cr' $r' d iitW · ¥B'W •· :I #t 9'11C' ~:":'1'1D

6-B . , _ . s~rrifice for 1th~ sake of sacrifice

~ Ad!tjp.q~, AW~t qj&~i~ ~Jld ~dequ.at~ to human nature so

wretcb~ c tfp ~~a.q to th~ reJea~,e fro.m miserable aD<l

exercise his choice fullyi

Sartre is more assertive on this issue when he says that "m a n

At1a&akti Y-oga of.Gita 77

102. Gita, III. 37.

l 82 Communism and Gzta

Influences of Classical Materialism :

1-(egel and Feuerbach