GANDHIAN TECHNIQUE OF SATYAGRAHA –
AN OUTLINE
AN OUTLINE
VEENAVAS P.V.
CONTENTS
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Chapter
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Title
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Page No.
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I
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INTRODUCTION
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1 – 7
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1.1 Need for the Study
1.2 Objectives of the Study
1.3 Sources of the Study
1.4 Research Method
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5
6
7
7
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II
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MEANING, DEFINITION AND EVOLUTION OF SATYAGRAHA
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8 – 16
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2.1 Basic Percepts of Satyagraha
2.2 Passive resistance
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9
14
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III
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GANDHI'S CONCEPTION OF SATYAGRAHA
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17 – 35
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3.1 Role of non-violence in Satyagraha
3.2 Qualifications required for a
Satyagrahi
3.3 Qualifications required for a
Satyagrahi leader
3.4 Qualifications required for the
participants
3.5 Rules for Satyagrahi
3.6 Gandhi's Instruction to Satyagrahis
3.7 Main Offshoots of Satyagraha
3.8 The Theory and Practice of Satyagraha
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17
18
20
22
23
24
27
33
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IV
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CONCLUSION
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36 – 37
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SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
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38 – 41
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CHAPTER
1
INTRODUCTION
Mohandas
Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948) was justly famous as the as the Father of Our Nation.
He has exercised profound influence upon the people of India. He was the legitimate and natural leader of
the Indian masses in whom they find a leader who practiced what he preached. He was not a philosopher or theoretical
analyst in the strict sense of the term who sits down and write
syllogistically. He has repeatedly said
that he was not made for academic writing but action was his chosen domain.
Gandhi was an activist, a practical dreamer and above all
a true Karmayogin at the core. “My life
is my message” testifies the same. Gandhiji’s life was noting but a series of
experiments in the practice of truth and non-violence which he has conducted in
the laboratory of his own life. Hence
there is nothing like Gandhism as such.
He was not the founder or originator of any new principle or doctrine
but a seeker after truth and hence had no ‘isms’ of is own. All ‘isms’ come into existence as a result of
the limitations imposed upon the original ideas by the followers. He does not like to leave any sect after him
but was fully satisfied with a sect for a following. It was his faith and conviction that “Blind
adoration, in the age of action is perfectly valueless….” He was only the follower of a great tradition
and has simply tried in his own way to apply the eternal truths to daily life
and problems.
Gandhiji has drawn no distinction between theory and
practice. His aim was to turn dream into
deed, vision into action, insight into activity. His aim was to translate ideals into
actualities. His dreams are not ‘airy’
nothings. He never claimed finality in
his Experiments with truth with the result that he has grown from truth to
truth. “The fact of the matter is that
conditions have changed……..May words and deeds are dictated by prevailing
conditions. There has been “gradual
evolution in my environment and I react to it as a Satyagrahi”.[1]
Satyagraha as conceived by him, is a science in the making. He was himself daily growing in the knowledge
of Satyagraha. Gandhiji gave Satyagraha
the form of movement-both moral and spiritual.
Satyagraha is understood in the sense of non-violent direct action. Satyagraha is ‘war without violence’. The term non-violent was seemingly a mixture
of opposites was a political weapon or technique of action in the hands of
Gandhiji-one of the greatest moralists that the world has ever seen. It signifies the attainment of truthful end
by non-violent means.
Gandhiji by his life long experiments made Satyagraha
‘the moral equivalent of war’. He was
wielding the weapon of moral power. He
has applied this rule of domestic life to various spheres of human life. He has viewed life as a unity. Human life according to him, cannot be compartmentalized. All the different departments of life act and
react upon one another. No aspect of
life remain untouched by him. He has
enriched and ennobled every aspect of human life by his man-centred and
experiment-oriented programme. He has
given us ‘a way’ – an ‘outlook’, a ‘method’ or ‘technique’ which out-weighted
all ‘isms’ and philosophies. Thus
‘Gandhism’ is a way of life, a technique of action which can be safely and
successfully practiced by people in all spheres of life, at home and
else-where, in peace and in war, even in national and international spheres.
Truth and non-violence are the two essentials of
Satyagraha. They are the central
principles of his conduct and faith for he has considered truth as the
substance of all morality. Further there
is no religion higher than truth and righteousness. They are so closely related to each other
that it is practically impossible to disentangle or separate them. They are the twin pillars of his
philosophy. According to him, the
propagation of Truth and non-violence can be done less by books than by
actually living those principles. Gandhi
tried not only to humanise religion but to moralise it as well. Non-violence like truth is the eternal creed
for every activity. Truth is the highest
law but ahimsa is the highest duty ‘ahimsa paramodharama’. Satyagraha is ‘Truth force’, ‘Love force’ and
‘Soul-force’. It is a way of life as
well.
Gandhiji’s life and thought has been founded on the
metaphysical conception of an omnipresent spirituality – an all-embracing
‘Living Light’ which he called. ‘Truth’
or ‘God’ and also on the Absolute oneness of God and therefore also of humanity
– “The essential unity of God and man and for that matter of all that
lives”. Gandhiji’s life and message is
nothing but this ideal in action. “Without
true understanding of the ideal we can never hope to reach it”. He does not subscribe to the view that
because an ideal is impossible of attainment its pursuit must be abandoned. The very attempt to strive for the ideal is
itself a great thing. Gandhiji wrote,
“Life is an aspiration. Its mission is
to strive after perfection, which is elf-realization. The ideal must not be lowered because of our
weakness or imperfection”. Thus Gandhiji
fully concurs with the view that “Our existence is meaningless if we never
expect to realize the highest perfection that there is”.
The present project is an attempt to understand and
analyse the Gandhian technique of Satyagraha in all its implications. In the introduction an attempt has been made
to outline Gandhian thought in general along with an explication of the role
and significance of the twin principles of Truth and Non-violence-the twin
pillars in the evolution of the non-violent technique of direct action namely
Satyagraha. The second chapter gives an
exposition of the meaning, definition, and evolution of Satyagraha which he has
experimented for the first time in South Africa against the Apartheid policy of
the South African Government. The third
chapter presents the Gandhian conception of Satyagraha in all its details along
with its principal offshoots. The fourth
chapter is conclusion followed by a select bibliography.
1.1. Need for the Study
Gandhi – 'the unarmed prophet' embodies all that is best
and truest in Indian tradition. He
embodies the pride of India. Gandhi has
shown the world that the force of arms is powerless in comparison with the
'Force of Love' or 'Soul Force'. Gandhi's very entry into public life /
national life is with a definite mission and programme of action. Gandhi's main objective was to win the
freedom of India through non-violent means. He had a dream of India in which
the people would lead a life of moral dignity.
He remain the people that the war that Indians were fighting was not
against the British rule policy. Gandhi declared that anarchy under home-rule
is better than orderly foreign rule. He
subscribed to the view that power corrupts absolutely. There has been an unhealthy competition for
power in every walk of life. He stood
for non-violent decentralised democracy and Panchayat Raj where in man is
considered supreme and his role is significant.
Gandhi has evolved the technique of Satyagraha as a
method based on non-violent resistance directed against injustice, unjust laws
of the state and society. He has turned
to satyagraha only as last resort, when all the existing methods of resisting
evil has failed. He is very well
conscious of the difficulties involved in its strict observance, for it needs
strenuous effort on the part of the individual to order his life in
unquestioning obedience to the moral code.
Satyagraha, the moral equivalent of war is the relentless pursuit of
truthful end by non-violent means. It is
the vindication of truth not by infliction of suffering on the opponent but on
one's self. Hence it goes without saying
that there are no parallels to Gandhi's non-violent technique of direct
action. It is a truthful, non-violent
dynamic moral force which can be safely and successfully practiced by all. Its insistence on virtues like truthfulness,
non-violence, fearlessness, brahmacharya, non-possession, swadeshi, bread
labour has a special appeal to the people all over the globe. The findings of
the present work will encourage and enhance the quality of life – domestic, social,
political and economic. This in brief is the felt need to choose this topic for
my dissertation.
1.2. Objectives of the Study
The present work make an attempt to elucidate the concept
of Satyagraha and to bring-out its contemporary relevance.
1. The
focus is to highlight the man-centred and action-oriented programme seen at
work in the technique of Satyagraha.
2. He
has demonstrated that non-violence is more powerful than an atom bomb and it is
radium in its action for it kills without actually killing. Self-suffering and self-sacrifice involved in
this technique of action is unique and unparalleled.
3. A
life of utter selflessness is far superior to egoism / self centred life.
4. He
has shown than lasting and enduring world peace would be established only
through non-violence – the only answer and alternative is modern times 'where
there is God to help and man to act, victory is certain'.
1.3. Sources of the
Study
Sources include both primary and secondary. Primary sources include Collected Works of
Mahatma Gandhi (relevant volumes), An Autobiography, Satyagraha in South
Africa, Non-Violence in Peace and War along with other original works found
relevant has been referred. Secondary
sources include works by others on Gandhi.
1.4. Research Method
More than one method is used in the present work. The
work is purely descriptive where in data available are collected and analysed
both from primary and secondary sources.
Analytic method has also been used while reviewing earlier research works
done on the area. Thus integrated
methodology has been adopted in the present work.
CHAPTER
II
MEANING, DEFINITION AND
EVOLUTION OF SATYAGRAHA
EVOLUTION OF SATYAGRAHA
Satyagraha is a popular term and to
Gandhi it meant a way of opposing what one considered to be wrong. It was used as a political weapon against the
policies of British Indian Government.
The term "Satyagraha" is a compound Sanskrit word formed by
Satya and Agraha. "Satya"
means 'truth' and "Agraha" means 'holding fast', 'firmness in truth',
'adherence to truth' and 'insistence on truth'.
Satyagraha is dynamic.
It acts positively and suffers with cheerfulness because from love and
makes the sufferings fruitful.
Satyagraha is the technique of solving group conflicts. According to Gandhi "Satyagrapha is a
force that may be used by individuals as well as community. It may be used as well in political as in
domestic affairs. Its universal
applicability is a demonstration of its permanence and invisibility".
Negatively, the Satyagrahi should try to avoid violence
in all forms. Violence seeks to destroy
the opponent or at least to injure him, and this is not the way to convert or
reform him. The Satyagraphi should try
to avoid all intentional injure to the opponent in thought, word and deed. Positively, "A Satyagraphi will always
try to overcome evil by good, anger by love, untruth by truth, himsa by
ahimsa". The Satyagraphi, who is
conscious of the working of Soul-Force and of his own spiritual kinship with
the opponent, should treat the opponent as a member of his family. Gandhi calls Satyagraha "the law of
suffering" and "tapasya for truth".
Dr Joan V. Bondurant defines "Satyagraha became
something more than a method of
resistance to particular legal norms; it became an instrument of struggle for
positive objectives and for fundamental change......"[2]
Prof. Nirmal Kumar Bose defines Satyagraha as "a way
of conducting 'war' by means of non –violence".[3]
Dr. Krishnalal Sridharani defines Satyagraha as
"non-violent direct action".[4]
Gene Sharp says: "this weapon is an expression of a
looking at life and a way of living.
Gandhi's philosophy of life and his method of opposing evil are both
called 'Satyagraha'.[5]
2:1. Basic percepts of Satyagraha
Gandhian philosophy can be summed up in three words, namely
Sarvodaya, Satyagraha and Anasakti. Gandhi has evolved Satyagraha as a movement,
a technique of action and above all a ways of life. It is a movement a mass-movement of a
non-violent type, intended to replace methods of violence. Further it is a movement based on truth. Satyagraha is the relentless pursuit of
truthful ends by non-violent means. It
is the "vindication of truth, not by the infliction of suffering on the
opponent but on one's own self"[6]. In its comprehensive sense, Satyagraha includes
all constructive, reforming and all acts of service. Constructive programme is the positive aspect
of Satyagraha.
The only ways to realise the Satyagraha is to be
non-violent that is to love all. It also
implies self- sacrifice and self-suffering with a view to provide maximum
convenience to the evil doer. That is, a
Satyagrahi has to undergo to suffer the maximum of inconvenience with a view to
provide maximum convenience to the opponent.
That is why Gandhiji has identified Satyagraha with 'Love-force',
'Truth-force' and 'Soul force'.
Satyagraha is not merely a technique or method of
resistance to particular legal norms alone but a technique to conquer evil,
injustice, and solving conflicts as well.
Satyagraha has been an instrument of struggle to achieve positive
objectives and fundamental change. There
should effect a heart-change or heart-transformation in the Satyagrahi so as to
arouse the 'Soul force' or 'Love force'.
Satyagraha according to Gandhi was nothing new. The stories of Dhruva, Prahlad and Harish
Chandra were all based on Satyagraha, the word was coined when Gandhi started
the movement commonly called passive resistance against the while settlers of
South Africa who were ill-treating the Indian laboures. Gandhi did not like the word passive resistance
as he claimed that his movement was active resistance to evil through truthful
and non-violent means. Satyagraha was a
dynamic weapon. The exact significance
of Satyagraha is not known even to Gandhi. That is why he sometimes identifies
Satyagraha with non-violence, and sometimes with passive resistance and so
on. Gandhi himself admits this fact when
he said "I am myself daily growing in the knowledge at Satyagraha. I have no text-book to consult in time of
need..... Satyagraha as conceived by me is a science in the making".
Gandhi's aspiration in life was to find out a method or
technique to fight evil, untruth and violence.
While being is South Africa, Gandhi has imitated a mass-movement against
the Apartheid policy of the rulers of South African colonies in 1896. This movement is temporarily styled as
passive resistance, but it did not convey the meaning he had in mind
fully. So he invited the attention of
the readers of "Indian Opinion" to suggest an apt word to designate the
movement. On such word, suggested by Maganlal Gandhi is 'Sadagraha' meaning
'firmness in a good cause'. This word
also did not fully convey what he wanted to convey. Gandhi himself changed the
word to Satyagraha, which meant 'adherence to truth or 'insistence on truth'.
According to Gandhi, he liked the word but it did not fully represent the whole
idea he wished to convey. Therefore, Gandhi corrected it to Satyagraha and
began to call the Indian movement Satyagraha.
Gandhi wrote, "I used the term 'passive resistance' in describing
it. I did not quite understand the
implication of 'passive resistance' as I called it. I only knew that some new principle had come
into being".[7]
As the struggle advanced, the phrase 'passive resistance'
gave rise to confusion and it appeared shameful to permit this great struggle
to be known only by an English name.
Again, that foreign phrase could hardly pass as current coin among the
community. A small prize was therefore
announced in India Opinion to be awarded to the render who invented the best
designation for our struggle. We thus received a number of suggestions. The meaning of the struggle had been then
fully discussed in Indian Opinion and the competitors for the prize had fairly
sufficient material to serve as a basis for their exploration.
Satyagraha
was initially translated as “Passive resistance”. But Gandhi found this version to be
misleading. The term could approximate
in meaning the process of non-violent resistance but it is not convey the
spirit of the movement. Gandhi has
written in his Autobiography that passive resistance was interpreted as a
weapon of the weak and was characterised by hatred and could manifest in
violence. Gandhi has distinguished
Satyagraha from passive resistance. Both
them are methods used the redressal of grievances and effecting social and
political changes but they differ fundamentally. First and foremost, Satyagraha through it
involves resistance, is not passive.
Gandhi wrote, “It we believe .......that we are weak and helpless and
therefore offer passive-resistance, own resistance would never make us strong,
and at the earliest opportunity we would give up passive resistance as a weapon
of the weak”[8]. On the other hand, Gandhi wrote, “If we are
Satyagrahis and offer Satyagraha believing ourselves to be strong, two clear
consequences result from it. Fostering
the idea of strength, we grow stronger and stronger every day. With the increase in our strength, our
Satyagraha too becomes more effective and we would never be casting about for
an opportunity to give it up. Again,
while there is no scope for love in passive resistance, on the other hand not
only has hatred no place in Satyagraha but is a positive breach of its ruling
principle. While in passive resistance
there is a scope for the use of arms when a suitable occasion arrives, in
Satyagraha physical force is forbidden even in the most favourable
circumstances. Passive resistance is
often looked upon as a preparation for the use of force while Satyagraha can
never be utilized as such. Passive
resistance may be offered side by side with the use of arms. Satyagraha and brute force, being each a
negation of the other, can never go together.
Satyagraha may be offered to one’s nearest and dearest, passive
resistance can never be offered to them unless of course they have ceased to be
dear and become an object of hatred to us.
In passive resistance there is always present an idea of harassing the
other party and there is a simultaneous readiness to undergo any hardships
entailed upon us by such activity; while in Satyagraha there is not the
remotest idea of injuring the opponent.
Satyagraha postulates the conquest of the adversary by suffering in
one’s own person".[9]
Like passive resistance, Satyagraha is not based on
weakness nor is it the weapon of the weak, the coward the unarmed and the
helpless. It is the weapon of were a
choice only between cowardice or submission to tyranny and violence, he would
advice violence. If one those chose the
path of Satyagraha it was because of the conviction of the superiority of
soul-force over brute force and on non-violence as a way of conducting human
affairs.
2.2. Passive Resistance
It is passivity + resistance. It is the process of non-violent
resistance. The term passive resistance
is approximate in meaning Satyagraha.
But it did not convey the spirit of the movement. Gandhi wrote in his autobiography that,
passive resistance was interpreted as a weapon of the weak. Which was characterized by hatred and which
could manifest in violence.
Satyagraha differs from passive resistance as the North Pole
from the South. Passive resistance does
not exclude the use of physical force or violence for the purpose of gaining
one's end. Gandhi have no idea when the phrase 'passive resistance' was first
used in English and by whom. 'Passive
resistance' means resistance of evil with inner force instead of physical
force. The explanations offered betrays ignorance. A passive resister can not remain passive to
everything that happens. Passive
resistance poorly express the meaning conveyed by the Satyagraha. Passive resistance is an all sided
sword. It can be used any how. It blesses him who uses it and him against
whom it is used. Without drawing a drop
of blood it produces far reaching results.
It never rusts and cannot be stolen.
Passive resistance is totally untrue to say that it is a
force to be used only by the weak. So long as they are not capable of meeting
violence by violence. This superstition
arises from the incompetence of the English expression. This force is to violence and, therefore, to
all tyranny, all injustice, what light is to darkness. That was because our passive resistance was
not to the most complete type. All
passive resistance do not understand the full value of the force, not have we
men who always from conviction repair from violence. The use of this force requires the adoption
of poverty.
So Satyagraha was coined by Gandhi, in order to
distinguish it from the movement then going on in the United Kingdom and South
Africa under the name of Passive Resistance.
Gandhi used the term passive resistance in describing his initial
Satyagraha campaign in South Africa.
CHAPTER
III
GANDHI'S CONCEPTION OF SATYAGRAHA
The word Satyagraha was first coined by Gandhi in South
Africa, during the movement of Indian non-violent resistance to the Asiatic law
Amendment ordinance introduced into the Transavaal Legislative Council in
1906. Gandhi began to call the Indian Movement
'Satyagraha' that is to say, the force which is born of Truth and Love or
Non-Violence. In the words of R.R.
Diwakar "Satyagraha is a total and integral; ways of life based on truth
and Non-Violence".[10]
3.1. Role of Non-Violence in
Satyagraha
Satyagraha is the positive doctrine
of resistance. It is active resistance. This resistance is not violent resistance. It is not passive merely because it non-violent and that is because the moral
resistance of the movement is as active and determined as the violent
resistance of a traditional fighter.
Passive resistance is the weapon of the weak. It is the non-violence of a man who is not
wedded to it. It is non-violence of one
who accepts non-violence not as a matter of principle but as a matter of
convenience and expediency. A Satyagrahi
accepts non-violence as a matter of principle and as a way of life. A Satyagrahi accepts love and non-violence
and these for him are virtues which have universal application.
The characterization of Satyagraha as non-violent coercion
implies the possibilities of the use of physical force to compel action
contrary to the will or reasoned judgement of the individual or group subjected
to such force. Satyagraha is a way of
life and a Satyagrahai has to live a life of truth. He has to live in its truth. Truth and
non-violence are his guiding stars. They
are his life-breath. If Gandhi was ever
so decided and so final about anything that he was in his adherence to the
principles of truth and non-violence.
Adherence to truth and non-violence
is not to be a mechanical process.
In truth and non-violence are also implicit the vows of non-stealing and
non-possession. The first condition of Satyagraha
then is strict regard for truth. Non-violence
is the natural consequence of truth.
Non-violence was the natural corollary of truth. Gandhiji says that
truth and non-violence are like the two sides of an unstamped coin. They
cannot be separated. Gandhiji believed that the problems of humanity created
through the exploitation of man by man group by group could be solved through
Satyagraha, the organised use of truth, non-violence and the purity of means.
3.2. Qualifications
required for a Satyagrahi
The qualifications of Satyagrahi
mainly truth, Brahmacharya, Swadeshi, Control of the palate Equality of all
religions, Bread labour, Fearlessness, Non-Possession, Removal of
Untouchability, Equal respect.
1) He must have a living faith in God,
for he is his only Rock.
2) He must believe in truth and
non-violence as his creed and therefore, have faith in the inherent goodness of
human nature which he expects to evoke by his truth and love expressed through
his suffering.
3) He must be leading a chaste life and
be ready and willing for the sake of his cause, to give up his life and his
possession.
4) He must be a habitual khadi-wearer
and spinner. This is essential for
India.
5) He must be a teetotaller and be free
from the use of other intoxicants in order that his reasons may be always
unclouded and his mind constant.
6) He must carry out with a willing
heart all the rules of discipline as may be laid down from time to time.
7) He should carry out the jail rules
unless they are specially devised to hurt his self-respect.
The qualifications are not to be regarded as exhaustive.
They are illustrate only.
Satyagraha is essentially a weapon of the truthful. A Satyagrahai relies upon god for protection
against the tyranny of brute force. No
confirmed Satyagrahi is dismayed by the dangers, seen or unseen, from his opponent's
side. What he must fear, as every army
must, is the danger from within.
3.3. Qualifications required
for a Satyagrahi Leader
The leaders of every clean movement are bound to see that
they admit only clean fighters to it.
Satyagraha presupposes the living presence and guidance
of God. The leader depends not on his
own strength but on that of God. He acts
as the voice within guides him.
Those who claim to lead the masses must resolutely refuse
to be led by them, if we want to avoid mob law and desire ordered progress for
the country. Gandhi believe that mere
protestation of one's opinion and surrender to the mass opinion is not enough,
but in matters of vital importance, leaders must act contrary to the mass of
opinion if it does not commend itself to their reason.
In religious Satyagraha there can be no room for aggressiveness,
demonstrativeness, show. Those who take
apart in it must have equal respect and regard for the religious convictions
and susceptibilities of those who profess a different faith from theirs. The slightest narrowness in their outlook is
likely to be reflected magnified multifold in the opponent.
Gandhi have maintained that we would require a smaller
army of Satagrahis than that of soldiers trained in modern warfare, and the
cost will be insignificant compared to the fabulous sums devoted by nations to
armaments.
Satyagraha by the vast masses of mankind will be
impossible if they had all to assimilate the doctrine in all its implications.
Gandhi cannot claim to have assimilated all its implications noir do Gandhi
claim even to know them all. A soldier
of an army does not know the whole of the military science; so also does a Satyagrahi
not know the whole science of Satyagraha.
It is enough if he trusts his commander and honestly follows his
instructions and is ready to suffer unto death without bearing malice against
the so-called enemy.
Gandhi realized that before a people could be fit for
offering civil disobedience, they should thoroughly understand its deeper
implications. That being so, before re-starting civil disobedience on a mass
scale, it would be necessary to create a band of well-tired, pure hearted
volunteers who thoroughly understood the strict conditions of Satyagraha. They could explain these to the people, and
by sleepless vigilance keep them on the right path.
A very small part of the preliminary training received by
the military is common to the non-violent army.
These are discipline, drill, singing in chorus, flag hoisting, signaling
and the like. Even this is not
absolutely necessary and the basis is different. The positivity necessary training for a
non-violent army is an immovable faith in God, willing and perfect obedience to
the chief of the non-violent army and perfect inward and outward co-operation
between the units of the army.
Gandhi's experience has taught him that a law of
progression applied to every righteous struggle. But in the case of Satyagraha the law amounts
to an axiom. As a Satyagraha struggle
progresses onward, many an other element helps to swell its current and there
is a constant growth in the results to which it leads. This is really inevitable, and is bound up
with the first principles of Satyagraha.
For in Satyagraha the minimum is also the maxi8mum, and as it is the
irreducible minimum, there is no question of retreat, and the only movement possible
is an advance. In other struggles, even
when they are righteous, the demand is first pitched a little higher so as to
admit of future reduction, and hence the law of progression does not apply to
all of them without exception.
3.4. Qualifications required
for the Participants
1. He must have sufficient moral
strength and the ability to strike, for non-violent method can be used only by
the brave and not by the cowards.
2. He must have intelligent and creative
belief in the efficacy and all pervasiveness of these methods and must himself
be non-violent in thought, word and deed.
3. He must rely on God and must be
fearless, honest, humble, just ,patient and pure.
4. He must have cultivated the habit of
toil, vigilance self-control and self sacrifice.
5. Be living in non-possession, he must
hold his wealth as a trust.
6. He must believe in the constructive
programme and never the law into his own hands.
3.5. Rules for
Satyagrahi
1. A Sathyagrahi, i.e., a civil resister
will harbour no anger.
2. He will suffer the anger of the
opponent.
3. In so doing he will put up with
assaults from the opponent, never retaliate but he will not submit, out of fear
of punishment or the like, to any order
given in anger.
4. When any person in authority seeks to
arrest a civil resister, he will voluntarily submit to the arrest, and he will
not resist the attachment or removal of his own property, if any, when it is
sought to be confiscated by authorities.
5. If a civil resister has any property
in his possession as a trustee, he will refuse to surrender it, even though in
defending it he might lose his life. He will, however, never retaliate.
6. Non-retaliation excludes swearing and
cursing.
7. Therefore a civil resister will never
insult his opponent, and therefore also not take part in many of the newly coined
cries which are contrary to the spirit of Ahimsa.
8. A civil resister will not salute the
Union Jack, nor will he insult it or officials, English or Indian.
9. In the course of the struggle of any
one insults an official or commits an assault upon him, a civil resister will
protect such official or officials from insult or attack even at the risk of
his life.
3.6. Gandhi's
Instructions to Satyagrahis
1. The volunteers must remember that, as
this is a Satyagraha campaign, they must abide by truth under all circumstances.
2. In Satyagraha, there can be no room
for rancor, which means that a Satyagrahi should utter no harsh word about
anyone, from a ravania to the Governor himself.
If someone does so, it is the volunteer's duty to stop him.
3. Rudeness has no place in Satyagraha.
Perfect courtesy must be shown even to those who may look upon as their enemies
and the villagers must be taught to do the same. Rudeness may harm our cause and the struggle
may be unduly prolonged. The volunteers
should give the most serious attention to this matter and think out in their
minds as many examples as possible of the advantages are accruing from courtesy
and the disadvantages resulting from redness and explain them to the people.
4. The volunteers must remember that
this is a holy war. We embarked upon it
because, had we not, we would have failed in our dharma. And so all the rules which are essentials for
living a religious life must be observed have too.
5. We are opposing the intoxication of
power, that is, the blind application of law, and not authority as such. The difference must never be lost sight
of. It is, therefore, our duty to help
the officers in their other work.
6. We are to apply have the same
principle that we follow in a domestic quarrel.
We should think of the Government and the people as constituting a large
family and act accordingly.
7. We are not to boycott or treat with
scorn those who hold different views from ours.
It must be our resolve to win them over by courteous behaviour.
8. We must not try to be clever. We must always be frank and straightforward.
9. When they stay in villages, the
volunteers should demand the fewest services from the village folk. Wherever it is possible to reach a place on
foot, they should avoid using a vehicle.
We must insist on being served the simplest food. Restraining them from preparing dainties
will add grace to the service we render.
10. As they move about in villages, the
volunteers should observe the economic condition of the people and the
deficiencies in their education and try, in their spare time, to make them
good.
11. If they can they should create
opportunities when they may teach the village children.
12. If they notice any violation of the
rules of good health, they should draw the villager's attention to the fact.
13. If, at any place they find people
engaged in quarrelling among themselves, the volunteers should try to save them
from their quarrels.
14. They should read out to the people,
when the latter are free, books which promote Satyagraha. They may read out stories of Prahlad,
Harichandra and others. The people
should also be made familiar with instances of pure Satyagraha to be found in
the west and in Islamic literature.
15. At no time and under no circumstances
is the use of arms permitted in Satyagraha.
It should never be forgotten that in this struggle the highest type of
non-violence is to be maintained.
Satyagraha means fighting oppression through voluntary suffering. There can be no question here is making
anyone else suffer. Satyagraha is always
successful, it can never meet with defeat; let every volunteer understand this
himself and then explain it to the people.
3:7. Main Off-shoots
of Satyagraha
The main offshoots of Satyagraha are:
a) (Non-violent) Non-co-operation
b) Civil Disobedience
c) Fasting (Unto Death)
a) (Non-violent)
Non-co-operation
Non-co-operation predominantly implies with drawing of
co-operation from the state.
Non-co-operation is even to children of understanding. And can be safely practiced by the masses. It is an off-shoot of Satyagraha. It is a mild weapon. Gandhi says that it is humbler than
dust. Non-violence is the cornerstone of
the edifice of non-co-operation.
Non-violent non-co-operation is an object lesson in democracy.
Non-co-operation is not a passive state; it is an
intensely active state. More active than
physical resistance or violence. Passive
resistance is a misnomer.
Non-co-operation in the sense used by Gandhi must be non-violent. And therefore neither punitive nor vindictive
not based on malice, ill will or hatred.
Gandhi hold his non-co-operation is not only not a ways
of violence. But may be an act of
love. If love is the motive that has
prompted his refusal. The fact is that
all non-co-operations is not violent, and non-violent non-co-operation can
never be an act of violence. The spirit
of non-violence necessarily leads to humility.
Non-violence means reliance on God.
Non-violence is the most vital and integral part of
non-cooperation. Discipline is
obligatory is non-co-operation.
A non-co-cooperationist allows his solid action to speak
for his creed. His strength lies in his
reliance upon the correctness of his position.
Gandhi considers non-cooperation to be such a powerful and pure
instrument. That if it is enforced in an
earnest spirit. It will be like seeking
first the kingdom of God. And everything
else following as a matter of course.
People will have then realized their true power. They would have learnt the value of
discipline, self-control, joint action, non-violence, organisation. And everything else that goes to make a
nation great and good. And not merely great.
b) Civil Disobedience
Civil disobedience is a synthesis of civility and
disobedience, that in non-violence and resistance. Resistance to bad laws in essential for man's
moral growth. While civility in the old
of stable social order without which
man's life and growth are not possible disobedience. Civil is the opposite of criminal, uncivil
and violent. Criminal disobedience is
license, lawlessness and death even as civil disobedience freedom growth and
life. Civil means strictly non-violent. Discipline as the pure condition of civil
disobedience.
Civil-disobedience are these instrument of non-violent
non-co-operation. Through
civil-disobedience Gandhi provided a weapon in the hands of helpless, unnamed
people to raise their heads against evils miseries and oppressions. It is beautiful variant to signify
growth. It needs and ask for stout heart
with a faith that will not flinch from any danger and will shine the brightest
in the face of severest trait, civil disobedience is synonymous with non-violence. Gandhi practiced non-violence not only for
the purification of his soul but to purity the conduct of human society. According to Gandhi all Satya can never be
civil disobedience where as all case of civil (non-violent) disobedience are
case of Satyagraha.
The term Satyagraha, in immanent as well as transcendent
to civil disobedience. Every Satyagrahi
was bound to resist all these laws which he considered to he unjust and which were not of a criminal character
in order to bend the government to will of the people. Non-co-operation and
civil-disobedience are nothing but two sides of a same coin. Gandhi called "it is a complete
effective and bloodless substitute of armed result". Civil disobedience being a quicker and more
drastic remedy. Civil disobedience
presupposes the habit of willing obedience to law without fear of their
sanction.
Gandhi holds the opinion that Civil disobedience is the
purest type of constitutional agitation.
It becomes degrading and despicable of civil, i.e., non-violent
character as a mere camouflage civil disobedience is the inherent right of
citizen. He dare not give it up without
ceasing to be a man. Civil disobedience
can lead to it.
Gandhi believes that civil disobedience is essentially an
individual affair. And so long as there
even one civil resister offering resistance.
The movement of civil disobedience can not die and must succeeded in the
end. Mass civil disobedience stand on a
different footing. It can only be trierd in a clam atmosphere. It must be the calmness of strength not
weakness of knowledge not ignorance.
Gandhi draws a distinction between individual and mass
civil disobedience and offensive or assertive and defensive civil
disobedience. Offensive, civil
disobedience is non-violent willful disobedience of laws of the state. Which is under taken as a symbol of revolt
against the state. Defensive civil
disobedience on the other hand is involuntary.
Gandhi calls offensive civil disobedience "a must dangerous
weapon" Defensive civil
disobedience is forced on the
Satyagrahi, when he is not permitted to prosecute his ordinary peaceful
activities or when insult and humiliation are imposed upon him.
Complete civil disobedience is a state of peaceful
rebellion a refusal to obey every single state-made law. It is certainly more dangerous than an armed
rebellion. For it can never be put down
if the civil resisters are prepared to face extreme hardships. It is based upon an implicit belief in the
absolute efficiency of innocent suffering.
By noiselessly going to prison a civil resister ensures a calm
atmosphere. A civil resister never uses
arms and hence he is harmless to a state that is at all willing to listen to
the voice of public opinion.
c) Fasting (Unto Death)
Fasting unto death is the last and the most patent weapon
in the armory of Satyagraha. It is a
sacred thing. Gandhi commenced fasting
as a means of self-restraint. Fasting
was necessary for self-restraint he learnt from a friend. Gandhi did not understand the efficacy of
fasting. But seeing that friend Gandhi
mentioned observing it with benefit, and with the hope of supporting the Brahmacharya
vow, he followed this example and began keeping Ekadashi fast.
In the Tolstoy Farm, Gandhi staying with A few Satyagrahi
families, including young people and children.
For these last we had a school, among them were four or five
Musalmans. Gandhi always helped and
encouraged them in keeping all their religious observance. Gandhi pursuaded the Musalman youngsters to
observe the Ramzan fast. He had of
course decided to observe the Pradosha himself, but he now asked the Hindu,
Parsi and Christian youngsters to join him.
He explained to them that it was always a goods thing to join with
others in any matter of self-denial.
Fasting is the most potent weapon in the Satyagraha armoury. He cannot be taken by everyone. More physical
capacity to take it is no qualification for it.
It is no use without a living faith in God. It should never be a mechanical effort or
mere imitation. It must come from the
depth of one's soul. It is, therefore,
always rare.
There can be no room for selfishness, anger, lack of
faith, or impatience in a pure fast.
Infinite patience, firm resolve, single-mindedness of purpose,
perfect-calm, and to anger must of necessity be there. But since it is impossible for a person to
develop all these qualities all at once, no one who has not devoted himself to
following the law of ahimsa should undertake a Satyagrahi fast.
Fasting in Satyagraha has well-defined limits, You can't
fast against a tyrant, for it will be as a piece of violence done to him. You invite penalty from his for disobedience
of his orders, but you can't inflict on yourself penalties when he refused top
punish and renders it impossible for you to disobey his orders so as to compel
infliction of penalty. Fasting can only
be restored to against a lover, not to exhort rights but to reform him, as when
a son fasts a parent who drink.
Fasting should be inspired by perfect truth and perfect
non-violence. The call for it should
come from within and it should not be imitative. It should never be undertaken for a selfish
purpose, but for the benefit of others only.
The fast has become the normal course of Gandhi's
life. It is the spiritual medicine applied
form time to time for deceases that yields to that particular treatment. Not everyone can gain the capacity for it all
of sudden. Gandhi gained it have after a
very long course of training.
3.8 The Theory and Practice of
Satyagraha
Satyagraha is independent of pecuniary of other material
assistance, in its elementary form of physical force or violence. Violence is the negation of this great
spiritual force, which can only be cultivated or wielded by those who will
entirely eschew violence. It is a force
that may be used by individuals as well as by the communities. It may used as well as in political as in domestic affairs. Its universal applicability is a
demonstration of its permanence and invincibility. It can be used a like by men, women and
children. It is totally untrue to say
that it is a force to be used only by the weak so long as they are not capable
of meeting violence by violence. This
superstitions arises from the incompleteness of the English expression,
'Passive resistance'. it is impossible
for those who consider themselves to be weak to apply this force. Only those who realize that there is
something in man which is superior to the brute nature in him and that the
latter always yields to it, can effectively be Satyagrahis. This force is to violence, and therefore to
all tyranny, all injustice what light is to darkness.
All Satyagarhis do not understand the full value of the
force, nor have we man who always from conviction refrain from violence. The use of this force requires the adoption
of poverty, in the sense that we must be indifferent whether we have the
wherewithal to feed or clothe ourselves.
During the past struggle, all Satyagrahis, if any at all, were not
prepared to go that length. Some again
were only Satyagrahis so-called. They
came without any conviction, often with mixed motives, less often with impure
motives. Some even whilst engaged in the
struggle, would gladly have resorted to violence by for most vigilant
supervision. Thus it was that the
struggle became prolonged; for the exercise of the purest Soul-Force, in its
perfect form, brings about instantaneous relief. For this exercise, prolonged training of the
individual soul is an absolute necessity so that a perfect Satyagrahi has to be
almost, if not entirely, a perfect man.
Satyagraha is the noblest and best education. It should come, not after the ordinary
education in letters of children, but it should precede it. It will not be denied, that a child before it
begins to write its alphabet and to gain worldly knowledge, should know what
the soul is, what truth is, what love is, what powers are latent in the soul
is, what should be an essential of real education that a child should learn,
that in the struggle of life, it can easily conquer hate by love, untruth by
truth, violence by self-suffering.
CHAPTER
IV
CONCLUSION
Gandhi has no isms of his own. Hence there is as yet nothing likes
Gandhism. He was fully satisfied with a
'sect' for a following. Satyagraha and
non-violence has become synonymous with Gandhi's name. A true-practical idealist-an experimenter
with truth at the core, Gandhi has always attempted at translating ideals into
actualities. Gandhi gave Satyagraha the
form of a movement- a mass movement-truthful and non-violent technique of
political action. But the socio-economic
dimension of Satyagraha cannot be be-littled.
Gandhi's identification of Satyagraha
with 'Truth-Force', 'Love-Force', and "Soul-Force' testifies the
same. Gandhi wields the weapon of moral
power as an alternative to methods of violence.
And that Satyagraha was in essence war without violence and non-violent
direct action not by the infliction of suffering on the opponent nor for the wholesale
liquidation of the opponent but for his reformation.
The origin of Satyagraha as a truthful and non-violent
technique of action can be traced back to South Africa. Gandhi has evolved the unique weapon of
Satyagraha- the truthful and nonviolent technique of direct action for the
redressal of grievances of the Indian community in South Africa. Having experiment with Satyagraha
successfully for a unbroken period of two decades. Gandhi left South Africa in
1914, after having secured the basic rights for the Indians. In the South African Indians respectfully
called him as "Deshabhakta Mahatma".
Gandhi's method of disarming his opponent through sheer love and
affection enhanced their respect for him. The Indian National Congress meeting
in Madras placed on record "its a warm appreciation of, and admiration
for, the heroic endeavour of Mr. Gandhi and his followers, and their unparalleled
sacrifice and suffering in their struggle for the maintenance of the
self-respect of India and the redress of Indian grievances".
The successful completion of Satyagraha Campaign in South
Africa, Gandhi returned to India in 1915 and plunged into active public life
with a definite mission and plan of action.
Satyagraha is the most significant legacy that Gandhi left behind for
generation to come. He used Satyagraha
as a political weapon to fight against injustice and exploitation and also for
the redressed of grievances. Satyagraha
in all its forms excludes the use of violence and untruth. It is used for the vindication of truth and
that the pursuit of truth did not admit of violence to be inflicted on the opponent
but on oneself. It provides maximum convenience at the cost of maximum
inconvenience to be undertaken by one self.
It is not by inflicting suffering on the opponent but on oneself. It is suffering self-imposed beyond measure. Satyagraha was launched with a view to
convert the adversary of his wrong-doings.
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
WORKS BY GANDHI: PRIMARY SOURCES
Gandhi, M.K. All Men are Brothers,
UNESCO Publication. An Autobiography or
The Story of My Experiments with Truth, Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad.
Ashram Observances in Action, Navajivan
Publishing House, Ahmedabad.
Collected works of Mahatma Gandhi,
Vol. I, Vol. XV, Vol. XXIX.
From Yervada Mandir, Navajivan
Publishing House Ahmedabad.
Hindu Dharma, Navajivan Publishing
House, Ahmedabad.
In search of the Supreme, Vol. I, II
and III Navajivan Publishing House, Ahamedabad.
India of My Dreams, Navajivan
Publishing House, Ahmedabad.
My Non-Violence, Navajivan Publishing
House, Ahmedabad.
My Religion, Navajivan Publishing
House, Ahmedabad.
Non-violence in Peace and War,
Vol.II, Navajivan Publihsing House, Ahmedabad.
Political and National Life and
Affairs Vol. III, Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad.
Sarvodaya, Navajivan Publishing
House, Ahmedabad, 1954.
Satyagraha in South Africa, Navajivan
Publishing House, Ahmedabad, 1961.
SECONDARY SOURCES
Works on Gandhi and Gandhian thought
Abluwalia, B.K., Facets of Gandhi,
Luxmi Book Store, New Delhi, 1968.
Aiyer, N. Chandra Sekhara, Gandhi’s
view of life, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay.
Ashe, Jeoffery, Gandhi, A study in
Revolution, Asia Publishing House, 1968.
Bhattacharyya, Buddhadeva, Evolution
of the Political Philosophy of Gandhi, Calcutta Book House, 1969.
Bondurant. Joan.V, Conquest of
Violence, The Gandhian Philosophy of Conflict, Oxford University Press, Bombay,
1959.
Bose, N.K., Gandhi: The Man and His Mission, Bharatiya Vidya
Bhavan, Bombay 1966.
----------, Studies with Gandhism,
Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad, 1962.
Dhawan, G, The Political Philosophy
of Mahatma Gandhi, Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad, 1962.
Dhebar, U.N., Gandhiji – A Practical
Idealist, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay, 1964.
Diwakar, R.R., Gandhi – The Spiritual
Seeker, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay, 1964.
Erikson, E.H., Gandhi’s Truth, Faber
and Faber, London, 1970.
Fischer, Louis, The Essential Gandhi,
George Allen and Unwin, 1963.
------------, The Life of Mahatma
Gandhi, Vol. I and II, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay, 1965.
Huxley, Aldous, Ends and Means,
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay, 1962.
Kripalani, J.B., Gandhi: His life and thought, Publishing Division,
Government of India, 1970.
-------------, Gandhi Thought, Gandhi
Smarak Nidhi, Nidhi, 1961.
Kumorappa.J.C., Gandhian way of Life,
Maganvadi, Wardha, 1952.
Mahadevan, T.K., Truth and
Non-Violence, Gandhi Peace Foundation, New Delhi, 1970.
Mazumdar, H.T., Mahatma Gandhi, A
Prophetic voice, Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad, 1963.
Prasad Rajendra, Satyagraha in
Champaran, Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad, 1949.
JOURNALS
Darshana International, Vol – XXIV,
July – 1984, Number -3, Vol-XXXIV, October 1994, Number – 4, Vol.-XXXV,
April-1994, Number-2, Vol- XXXX January 2000, Number -1
Gandhi Marg – Vol-21.
Harijan, Ahmedabad, India (1933-48)
Hindu Swaraj, Navajivan, Ahmedabad, 1938.
Indian Opinion, Natal, South Africa
(1903-14).
Prabuddha Bharata or Awakened India
Vol-98 July-1992.
Young India, Navajivan, Ahmedabad,
India (1919-32).
