Gandhian

Values
 Introduction
Name : MOHANDAS KARAMCHAND GANDHI
Date of Birth : 2nd October 1869
Place of Birth : Porbandar, Guajarat, British India.

Date of Death : 30th January 1948.

Place of Death : New Delhi, India.
Father : Karamchand Gandhi
Mother : Putlibai
Wife : Kasturba
Sons : Harilal, Manilal, Ramdas, Devdas
Biography of Gandhiji
 Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born in the town
of Porbander in the state of Gujarat on 2nd October
1869. He had his schooling in nearby Rajkot. At the
age of thirteen he was married to Kasturba. In 1888
Gandhi set sail for England, where he had decided to
pursue a degree in law. After completing law, Gandhi
decided to accept an offer from an Indian
businessman in South Africa, Dada Abdulla, to join
him as a legal adviser, and in South Africa that he
first coined the term satyagraha to signify his theory
and practice of non-violent resistance.

 Gandhi returned to India in early 1915, and was

never to leave the country again except for a short
trip that took him to Europe in 1931
 1893 – 1914 between this long lasting nearly two decades that he
evolved the technique of Satyagraha based on truth and non-violence.
 ‘Satyagraha’ is a Sanskrit word
○ Satya means truth
○ Agraha means efforts or force
Satyagraha stands for truth-force
Gandhi defined it as ‘love – force or sole – force’
There are different techniques of Satyagrahi:
1. Fasting
2. Non-cooperation
3. Civil disobedience
Satyagraha must be bound to truth and non-violence. He should
oppise the evil and not the evil doer.
Gandhi opposed the British imperialism and there racial discrimination
but not the British people.
 The ideal satyagrahi was to be truthful and perfectly peaceful, but at the
same time he would refuse to submit to what he considered wrong.
 He would accept suffering willingly in the course of struggle against the
wrong-doer.
 This struggle was to be part of his love of truth. But even while resisting
evil, he would love the evil-doer. Hatred would be alien to the nature of a
true satyagrahi
Values of Gandhiji
 Truth ( Satya)

Gandhi stated that the most important battle

to fight was overcoming his own demons, fears,
and insecurities. Gandhi summarized his beliefs
first when he said "God is Truth". He would later
change this statement to "Truth is God". Thus,
Satya (Truth) in Gandhi's philosophy is "God".

“The Truth is far more powerful than any weapon of

mass destruction”.
Values of Gandhiji
 Non – Violence (Ahimsa)

The concept of nonviolence (ahimsa) and

nonresistance has a long history in Indian religious
thought and has had many revivals in Hindu, Islam,
Buddhist, Jain, Jewish and Christian contexts.
Gandhiji explains his philosophy and way of life in his
autobiography “The Story of My Experiments with
Truth”. He was quoted as saying:
"There are many causes that I am prepared to die for
but no causes that I am prepared to kill for”.

 Emphasized non-violence and what he called “the

force of truth” eventually led to India’s liberation from
British rule.
Values of Gandhiji
 Brahmacharya (Self – Discipline)

The philosophy of Brahmacharya—spiritual

and practical purity—largely associated with
celibacy and asceticism. Gandhiji saw
brahmacharya as a means of becoming close with
God and as a primary foundation for self
realization. In his autobiography he tells of his
battle against lustful urges and fits of jealousy with
his childhood bride, Kasturba. For Gandhi,
brahmacharya meant "control of the senses in
thought, word and deed."
Values of Gandhiji
 Simplicity

Gandhi earnestly believed that a person

involved in social service should lead a simple life
which he thought could lead to Brahmacharya.
Gandhi spent one day of each week in silence.
He believed that abstaining from speaking
brought him inner peace. This influence was
drawn from the Hindu principles of mauna
(silence) and shanti (peace). He dressed to be
accepted by the poorest person in India,
advocating the use of homespun cloth (khadi).
Values of Gandhiji
 Aparigraha (Non – Possession)

Non possession means that we should

not hoard anything that we do not need
today. Gandhiji told that, “The less you
possess, the less you want, the better you
are. And better for what? Not for your
enjoyment of this life but for enjoyment of
personal service to your fellow beings;
service to which you dedicate yourself, your
body, soul and mind.”
Values of Gandhiji
 Equality (Sarva Dharma Samanta)

Gandhiji strongly believed that every

person in the world is similar. Nobody is bound
by religion or caste. Every person is equal
whether he is Hindu or Muslim or Sikh or
Christian or of any other religion or caste.
Because of Gandhiji, we are now living in the
secular country in which every person is free to
celebrate his festivals and free to adopt
another religion from which he is inspired.
Values of Gandhiji
 Swadeshi (Use Locally Made Goods)

Swadeshi means to use the things which

are produced in our own country and which
are made by our national people. Gandhiji
always wore Swadeshi clothes which were
made of ‘Khadi’. Gandhiji advocated that
one should always buy ‘Swadeshi’ clothes.
From that our own country men would get
more revenue and that will help our country
to grow.
Gandhian strategy in modern
context

 In modern times, nonviolent methods of

action have been a powerful tool for social
protest.
According to Gandhi the seven social sins are:

 Politics without principle

 Pleasure without conscience
 Wealth without work
 Knowledge without character
 Commerce without morality
 Science without humanity
 Worship without sacrifice
 To sum up, Gandhian philosophy is not only
simultaneously political, moral and religious, it is
also traditional and modern, simple and complex.
It embodies numerous Western influences to which
Gandhi was exposed. Gandhi is concerned even
more with the spirit than with the form. If the spirit
is consistent with truth and nonviolence, the
truthful and nonviolent form will automatically
result.
Gandhi – The Great Soul
 Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the great
soul, the Father of our Nation, physically died
in 1948 but he still alive in the hearts of the
people of the World. He is still alive in our
society through his Values and Ethics. Now
2nd October is celebrated as ‘The World Non-
violence Day’ by whole world in tribute to the
great Man of the Century. At last I must say
that Gandhiji will be alive till the last man’s
death on the earth.