essay on non violence of mahatma gandhi

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Twenty Eight Gandhi and Non-violence

Published: October 2004
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This chapter talks of Mahatma Gandhi’s principle of non-violence. It explains that though Gandhi was the greatest exponent of the doctrine of ahimsa or non-violence in modern times, he was not its author because ahimsa has been part of the Indian religious tradition for centuries. However, he was able to transform what had been an individual ethic into a tool of social and political action. The chapter provides examples of non-violent struggles over the past two decades, and acknowledges that Gandhi’s ideas and methods are still appreciated by only a small enlightened minority in the world.

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On Gandhi and Nonviolence as a Spiritual Virtue

But it did illuminate his divine duty.

The more he took to violence, the more he receded from Truth.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi described “ahimsa,” nonviolence or more accurately love, as the “supreme duty.” This essay seeks to understand the necessity of nonviolence in Gandhi’s life and thought.

Toward the end of his life, Gandhi was asked by a friend to resume writing his autobiography and write a “treatise on the science of ahimsa.” What the friend wanted were accounts of Gandhi’s striving for truth and his quest for nonviolence, and since these were the two most significant forces that moved Gandhi, the friend wanted Gandhi’s exposition on the practice of truth and love and his philosophical understanding of both. Gandhi was not averse to writing about himself or his quest. He had written—moved by what he called Antaryami , the dweller within, his autobiography, An Autobiography or the Story of My Experiments with Truth . Even in February 1946 when this exchange occurred he was not philosophically opposed to writing about the self. However, he left the possibility of the actual act of writing to the will of God.

On the request for the treatise on the “science of ahimsa” he was categorical in his refusal. His unwillingness stemmed from two different grounds: one of inability and the other of impossibility.

He argued that as a person whose domain of work was action, it was beyond his powers to do so. “To write a treatise on the science of ahimsa is beyond my powers. I am not built for academic writings. Action is my domain, and what I understand, according to my lights, to be my duty, and what comes my way, I do. All my action is actuated by the spirit of service.” He suggested that anyone who had the capacity to systematize ahimsa into a science should do so, but added a proviso “if it lends itself to such treatment.” Gandhi went on to argue that a cohesive account of even his own striving for nonviolence, his numerous experiments with ahimsa both within the realms of the spiritual and the political, the personal and the collective, could be attempted only after his death, as anything done before that would be necessarily incomplete.

Gandhi was prescient. He was to conduct the most vital and most moving experiment with ahimsa after this and he was to experience the deepest doubts about both the nature of nonviolence and its efficacy after this. With the violence in large parts of the Indian subcontinent from 1946 onward, Gandhi began to think deeply about the commitment of people and political parties to collective nonviolence. In December 1946 Gandhi made the riot-ravaged village of Sreerampore his home and then began a barefoot march through the villages of East Bengal.

This was not the impossibility that he alluded to. He believed that just as it was impossible for a human being to get a full grasp of truth (and of truth as God), it was equally impossible for humans to get a vision of ahimsa that was complete. He said: “If at all, it could only be written after my death. And even so let me give the warning that it would fail to give a complete exposition of ahimsa. No man has been able to describe God fully. The same hold true of ahimsa.”

Gandhi believed that just as it was given to him only to strive to have a glimpse of truth, he could only endeavor to soak his being in ahimsa and translate it in action.

It is important for us to understand as to why it was a necessity of life for Gandhi to strive for nonviolence. This striving is captured by the epigram with which this essay begins. Violence takes us away from ourselves; it makes us forget our humanity, our vocation, and our limits, and for Gandhi such amnesia can only lead to destruction of self and others. The following section seeks to explain the complex set of arguments and practices through which Gandhi elucidated the relationship between nonviolence and self—recognition and freedom. For Gandhi freedom—both collective and personal—is predicated upon an incessant search to know oneself. This self-recognition, Gandhi believed, eluded all those who were practitioners and votaries of violence.

Gandhi described violence as “brute force” ( sharir bal or top bal , in Gujarati) and nonviolence as “soul force” ( atma bal or daya bal , in Gujarati). The distance between the two, between the beastly and the human, is marked by nonviolence. The idea of brute force locates violence in the body and the instruments that the body can command to cause injury or to inflict death. It connotes pure instrumentality. By locating violence within the realm of the beastly, Gandhi clearly points out the absence of the conscience, of the normative. He wrote: “Nonviolence is the law of our species as violence is the law of the brute. The spirit lies dormant in the brute and he knows no law but that of physical might. The dignity of man requires obedience to a higher law—to the strength of the spirit.” The term “soul force” is indicative of the working of the conscience, of the human ability to discern the path of rectitude and act upon this judgment. In a speech given before the members of the Gandhi Seva Sangh in 1938, he brought this distinction sharply into focus: “Physical strength is called brute force. We are born with such strength. But we are born as human beings in order that we may realize God who dwells within our hearts. This is the basic distinction between us and the beasts . . . .

Along with the human form, we also have human power—that is the power of nonviolence. We can have an insight into the mystery of the soul force. In that consists our humanity.” Gandhi clearly indicates two aspects: One, that nonviolence is a unique human capacity; it is because we are capable of restrain, of nonaggression, of ahimsa that we are human. Two, to be human is to fulfill the human vocation, which is to realize the God—Truth as God—who dwells in our hearts. This was Gandhi’s principle quest. In his autobiography, Gandhi clarified the nature of his pursuit. He wrote: “What I want to achieve—what I have been striving and pining to achieve these thirty years—is self-realization, to see God face-to-face, to attain moksha. I live and move and have my being in pursuit of this goal.”

He worshipped Satya Narayan , God as Truth. He did not ever claim that he had indeed found Him, or seen Him face-to-face. But Gandhi was seeking this absolute truth and was “prepared to sacrifice the things dearest to me in pursuit of this quest.” Although Gandhi never claimed to have seen God face-to-face, he could imagine that state: “One who has realized God is freed from sin forever. He has no desire to be fulfilled. Not even in his thoughts will he suffer from faults, imperfections, or impurities. Whatever he does will be perfect because he does nothing himself but the God within him does everything. He is completely merged in Him.”

This state was for Gandhi the state of perfect self-realization, of perfect self-knowledge. It was a moment of revelation, a moment when the self was revealed to him. Although he believed that such perfect knowledge may elude him so long as he was imprisoned in the mortal body, he did make an extraordinary claim. This was his claim to hear what he described as a “small, still voice” or the “inner voice.” He used various terms such as “the voice of God,” “of conscience,” “the inner voice,” “the voice of Truth” or “the small, still voice.” He made this claim often and declared that he was powerless before the irresistible voice, that his conduct was guided by his voice. The nature of this inner voice and Gandhi’s need and ability to listen to the voice becomes apparent when we examine his invocation of it.

The first time he invoked the authority of this inner voice in India was at a public meeting in Ahmedabad, where he suddenly declared his resolve to fast. The day was February 15, 1918. Twenty-two days prior to this date, Gandhi had been leading the strike of the workers at the textiles mills of Ahmedabad. The mill workers had taken a pledge to strike until their demands were met. They appeared to be going back on their pledge. Gandhi was groping, not being able to see clearly the way forward. He described his sudden resolve thus: “One morning—it was at a mill hands’ meeting—while I was groping and unable to see my way clearly, the light came to me. Unbidden and all by themselves the words came to my lips: ‘unless the strikers rally,’ I declared to the meeting, ‘and continue to strike till a settlement is reached or till they leave the mills altogether, I will not touch any food.’”

He was to repeatedly speak of the inner voice in similar metaphors: of darkness that enveloped him, his groping, churning, wanting to find a way forward and the moment of light, of knowledge when the voice spoke to him. Gandhi sought the guidance of his inner voice not only in the spiritual realm, a realm that was incommunicable and known only to him and his maker, but also in the political realm. He called off the noncooperation movement against the British in February 1922 in response to the prompting of his inner voice. His famous Dandi March also came to him through the voice speaking from within. Gandhi’s search for a moral and spiritual basis for political action was anchored in his claim that one could and ought to be guided by the voice of truth speaking from within. This made his politics deeply spiritual. Gandhi expanded the scope of the inner voice to include the political realm. Gandhi’s ideas of civilization and swaraj were rooted in this possibility of knowing oneself.

In 1909, Gandhi wrote his most important philosophical work, the Hind Swaraj . Gandhi argued in the Hind Swaraj that modern Western civilization in fact decivilized it and characterized it as a blackage or satanic civilization. Gandhi argued that civilization in the modern sense had no place for either religion or morality. He wrote: “Its true test lies in the fact that people living under it make bodily welfare the object of life.” By making bodily welfare the object of life, modern civilization had shifted the locus of judgment outside the human being. It had made not right conduct but objects the measure of human worth. In so doing, it had closed the possibility of knowing oneself.

True civilization, on the other hand, was rooted in this very possibility. He wrote: “Civilization is that mode of conduct which points out to man the path of duty. Performance of duty and observance of morality are convertible terms. To observe morality is to attain mastery over our mind and passions. So doing, we know ourselves.” This act of knowing oneself is not only the basis of spiritual life but also of political life. He defined swaraj thus: “It is swaraj when we learn to rule ourselves.” This act of ruling oneself meant the control of mind and passions, of observance of morality, and of knowing the right and true path. Gandhi’s idea and practice of satyagraha with its invocation of the soul force is based on this. Satyagraha requires not only the purity of means and ends but also the purity of the practitioner. Satyagraha in the final instance is based on the recognition of one’s own conscience, on one’s ability to listen to one’s inner voice and submit to it.

Gandhi knew that his invocation of the inner voice was beyond comprehension and beyond his capacity to explain. He asked: “After all, does one express, can one express, all one’s thoughts to others?” Many tried to dissuade him from the fast in submission to the inner voice. Not all were convinced of his claim to hear the inner voice. It was argued that what he heard was not the voice of God but was a hallucination, that Gandhi was deluding himself and that his imagination had become overheated by long years of living within the cramped prison walls.

Gandhi remained steadfast and refuted the charge of self-delusion or hallucination. He said that “not the unanimous verdict of the whole world against me could shake me from the belief that what I heard was the true Voice of God.” He argued that his claim was beyond both proof and reason. The only proof he could probably provide was the fact that he had survived the fiery ordeal. It was a moment that he had been preparing himself for. He felt that his submission to God as Truth was so complete, at least in that particular instance of fasting, that he had no autonomy left. All his acts were prompted by the inner voice. It was a moment of perfect surrender. Such a moment of total submission transcends reason. He wrote in a letter: “Of course, for me personally it transcends reason, because I feel it to be a clear will from God. My position is that there is nothing just now that I am doing of my own accord. He guides me from moment to moment.”

This extraordinary confession of perfect surrender perturbed many. The source of this discomfort is clear. Gandhi’s claim to hear the inner voice was neither unique nor exclusive. The validity and legitimacy of such a claim was recognized in the spiritual realm. The idea of perfect surrender was integral to and consistent with the ideals of religious life. Although Gandhi never made the claim of having seen God face-to-face, having attained self-realization, the inner voice was for him the voice of God. He said: “The inner voice is the voice of the Lord.” But it was not a voice that came from a force outside of him. Gandhi made a distinction between an outer force and a power beyond us. A power beyond us has its locus within us. It is superior to us, not subject to our command or willful action, but it is still located within us. He explained the nature of this power.

“Beyond us” means a “power that is beyond our ego.”

According to Gandhi, one acquires the capacity to hear this voice when the “ego is reduced to zero.” Reducing the ego to zero for Gandhi meant an act of total surrender to Satya Narayan , God as Truth . This surrender required the subjugation of human will, of individual autonomy. It is when a person loses autonomy that conscience emerges. Conscience is an act of obedience, not willfulness. He said: “Willfulness is not conscience. . . . Conscience is the ripe fruit of strictest discipline Conscience can reside only in a delicately tuned breast.” He knew what a person with conscience could be like. “A conscientious man hesitates to assert himself, he is always humble, never boisterous, always compromising, always ready to listen, ever willing, even anxious to admit mistakes.” A person without this tender breast delicately tuned to the working of the conscience cannot hear the inner voice or, more dangerously, may in fact hear the voice of the ego. This capacity did not belong to everyone as a natural gift or a right available in equal measure. What one required was a cultivated capacity to discern the inner voice as distinct from the voice of the ego, as “one cannot always recognize whether it is the voice of Rama or Ravana.”

What was this ever-wakefulness that allowed him to hear the call of truth as distinct from voice of untruth? How does one acquire the fitness to wait upon God? He had likened this preparation to an attempt to empty the sea with a drain as small as the point of a blade of grass. Yet it had to be as natural as life itself. He created a regimen of spiritual discipline that enabled him to search himself through and through. As part of his spiritual training, he formulated what he called the Ekadash Vrata , Eleven Vows or Observances. The ashram, or a community of co-religionists, was constituted by their abiding faith in these vrata and by their act of prayer. Prayer was the very core of Gandhi’s life. Medieval devotional poetry sung by Pandit Narayan Moreshwar Khare moved him. He drew sustenance from Mira and Charlie Andrews’s rendition of “When I survey the wondrous cross,” while young Olive Doke healed him with “Lead Kindly Light.” He recited the Gita every day. What was this intense need for prayer? What allowed him to claim that he was not a man of learning but a man of prayer? He knew that mere repetition of the Ramanama was futile if it did not stir his soul. A prayer for him had to be a clear response to the hunger of the soul. What was the hunger that moved his being?

His was a passionate cry of the soul hungering for union with the divine. He saw his communion with God as that of a master and a slave in perpetual bondage; prayer was the expression of the intense yearning to merge in the Master. Prayer was the expression of the definitive and conscious longing of the soul; it was his act of waiting upon Him for guidance. His want was to feel the utterly pure presence of the divine within. Only a heart purified and cleansed by prayer could be filled with the presence of God, where life became one long continuous prayer, an act of worship. Prayer was for him the final reliance upon God to the exclusion of all else. He knew that only when a person lives constantly in the sight of God, when he or she regards each thought with God as witness and its Master, could one feel Rama dwelling in the heart at every moment. Such a prayer could only be offered in the spirit of non-attachment, anasakti .

Moreover, when the God that he sought to realize is truth, prayer though externalized was in essence directed inward. Because truth is not merely that which we are expected to speak. It is that which alone is, it is that of which all things are made, it is that which subsists by its own power, which alone is eternal. Gandhi’s intense yearning was that such truth should illuminate his heart. Prayer was a plea, a preparation, a cleansing that enabled him to hear his inner voice. The Ekadash Vrata allowed for this waiting upon God. The act of waiting meant to perform one’s actions in a desireless or detached manner. The Gita describes this state as a state of sthitpragnya , literally the one whose intellect is secure. The state of sthitpragnya was for Gandhi not only a philosophical ideal but a personal aspiration.

The Gita describes this state as a condition of sthitpragnya . A sthitpragnya is one who puts away “all the cravings that arise in the mind and finds comfort for himself only from the atman”; and one “whose sense are reined in on all sides from their objects” so that the mind is “untroubled in sorrows and longeth not for joys, who is free from passion, fear and wrath;” who knows attachment nowhere; only such a brahmachari can be in the world “moving among sense objects with the sense weaned from likes and dislikes and brought under the control of the atman.” This detachment or self-effacement allowed Gandhi to dwell closer to Him. It made possible an act of surrender and allowed him to claim: “I have been a willing slave to this most exacting master for more than half a century. His voice has been increasingly audible as years have rolled by. He has never forsaken me even in my darkest hour. He has saved me often against myself and left me not a vestige of independence. The greater the surrender to Him, the greater has been my joy.” What he craved was this absence of independence, the lack of autonomy, because that would finally allow him to see God face-to-face. He knew that he had not attained this state and perhaps would never attain it so long as his body remained as “no one can be called a mukta while he is alive.”

In this we have an understanding of Gandhi’s experiment and his quest. His quest is to know himself, to attain moksha that is to see God (Truth) face-to-face. In order to fulfill his quest, he must be an ashramite, a satyagrahi, and a seeker after swaraj. Swaraj had deep resonance during India’s struggle for freedom, and it continues to have both political and philosophical salience. Swaraj is composed of two terms “swa” (self) and “raj” (rule). Swaraj is thus self-rule; Gandhi used it in two very different ways: self-rule and rule over the self. He added two other practices to this search. One was fasting, the other brahmacharya.

Brahmacharya quite often is used in a limited sense of chastity or celibacy (including celibacy within marriage). Gandhi initially began with this sense, but as he thought deeper and struggled with a state devoid of sexual desire, he began to understand the root meaning of the term. “Brahma” is truth and “charya” is conduct. In the root sense, conduct that leads one to truth is brahmacharya. Fasting in its original sense is not mortification of the flesh but Upvas , to dwell closer to Him. Upvas is widely used to denote various acts of fasting. In the root sense, it is to dwell closer to God, wherein one of the modes of being close to God is fasting. In this sense, there could be no fast without a prayer and indeed no prayer without a fast. Such a fast was both penance and self-purification.

The ultimate practice of self-purification is the practice of brahmacharya. For Gandhi the realization of truth and self- gratification appears a contradiction in terms. From this emanate not only brahmacharya but also three other observances: control of the palate; aparigraha, or nonacquisition; and asteya, or nonstealing. The idea of nonacquisition has a place in all ascetic traditions of the world. Gandhi gave the term a profound ecological sense. It is only by nonacquisition that the earth could produce for the needs of all. Gandhi extended the meaning of the term “asteya.” He argued that to possess in excess of what one needs is an act of theft. He further argued that anyone who eats without performing bodily labor also commits an act of theft. Such bodily labor had to be performed in the service of others, which he termed as sacrificial labor.

This was his understanding of the biblical injunction of living by the “sweat of one’s brow.”

Brahmacharya, described as a mahavrata, a difficult observance or a great endeavor, came to Gandhi as a necessary observance at a time when he had organized an ambulance corps during the Zulu rebellion in South Africa. He realized that service of the community was not possible without the observance of brahmacharya. In 1906, at the age of 37, Gandhi took the vow of brahmacharya.

He had begun experimenting with food and diet as a student in England. It was much later that he was to comprehend the relationship between brahmacharya and the control of the palate.

These observances and strivings of self-purification were not without a purpose. He was later to feel that they were secretly preparing him for satyagraha. It would take him several decades, but through his observances, his experiments, Gandhi developed insights into the interrelatedness of truth, ahimsa, and brahmacharya. He came to regard the practice of brahmacharya in thought, word, and deed as essential for the search for truth and the practice of ahimsa. Gandhi, by making the observance of brahmacharya essential for truth and ahimsa, made it central to the practice of satyagraha and the quest for swaraj. Satyagraha involves the recognition of truth and the steadfast adherence to it; it requires self-sacrifice or self-suffering and use of pure, and that is nonviolent means by a person who is cleansed through self-purification. Satyagraha and swaraj are both modes of self-recognition.

This understanding allowed Gandhi to expand the conception of brahmacharya itself. He began with a popular and restricted notion in the sense of chastity and celibacy, including celibacy in marriage. He expanded this notion to mean observance in thought, word, and deed. However, it is only when he began to recognize the deeper and fundamental relationship that brahmacharya shared with satyagraha, ahimsa, and swaraj that Gandhi could go to the root of the term “brahmacharya.” Charya or conduct adopted in search of Brahma, that truth is brahmacharya. In this sense brahmacharya is not denial or control over one sense, but it is an attempt to bring all senses in harmony with one another. Brahmacharya so conceived and practiced becomes that mode of conduct that leads to truth, knowledge, and hence moksha. Thus, the ability to hear the inner voice, a voice that is “perfect knowledge or realization of truth,” is an experiment in brahmacharya.

Gandhi was acutely and painfully aware of the fact that “it is impossible for us to realize perfect truth so long as we are imprisoned in this mortal frame.” If perfect truth was an unattainable quest, so was the attainment of perfect brahmacharya. What was given to us, Gandhi argued, was to perfect the means to truth or brahmacharya. The means for him was the practice of ahimsa or love. Gandhi asserted that ahimsa be regarded as the means to be within our grasp. This places nonviolence in a different category. Nonviolence is for Gandhi attainable and hence it becomes the duty of those seeking truth to practice nonviolence.

It is the capacity to hear the inner voice that for Gandhi reveals the distance he has traversed in his quest. Each invocation of the inner voice indicated to him his submission to God. This listening required proximity with oneself. This proximity could be attained through the practice of ahimsa. Violence on the other hand increased the distance in this quest for self-realization. Violence is to be abjured for this reason. Gandhi clearly stated this aspect of violence: “the more he took to violence, the more he receded from truth.” Ahimsa is a necessity and a supreme duty for Gandhi in this sense. It made possible the realization of God, if not face-to-face, then through the mediation of the small, still voice speaking from within and pointing out to him the path of duty.

_____________________________________

From The Power of Nonviolent Resistance by M. K. Gandhi , edited by Tridip Suhrud. Published by Penguin Classics, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC. Introduction and selection copyright © 2019 by Tridip Suhrud.

Tridip Suhrud

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How Mahatma Gandhi changed political protest

His non-violent resistance helped end British rule in India and has influenced modern civil disobedience movements across the globe.

Widely referred to as Mahatma, meaning great soul or saint in Sanskrit, Gandhi helped India reach independence through a philosophy of non-violent non-cooperation.

He’s been called the “father of India” and a “great soul in beggar’s garb." His nonviolent approach to political change helped India gain independence after nearly a century of British colonial rule. A frail man with a will of iron, he provided a blueprint for future social movements around the world. He was Mahatma Gandhi, and he remains one of the most revered figures in modern history.

Born Mohandas Gandhi in Gujarat, India in 1869, he was part of an elite family. After a period of teenage rebellion, he left India to study law in London. Before going, he promised his mother he’d again abstain from sex, meat, and alcohol in an attempt to re-adopt strict Hindu morals.

A portrait of Gandhi as a young man.

In 1893, at the age of 24, the new attorney moved to the British colony of Natal in southeastern Africa to practice law. Natal was home to thousands of Indians whose labor had helped build its wealth, but the colony fostered both formal and informal discrimination against people of Indian descent. Gandhi was shocked when he was thrown out of train cars, roughed up for using public walkways, and segregated from European passengers on a stagecoach.

In 1894, Natal stripped all Indians of their ability to vote. Gandhi organized Indian resistance , fought anti-Indian legislation in the courts and led large protests against the colonial government. Along the way, he developed a public persona and a philosophy of truth-focused, non-violent non-cooperation he called Satyagraha .

Gandhi brought Satyagraha to India in 1915, and was soon elected to the Indian National Congress political party. He began to push for independence from the United Kingdom, and organized resistance to a 1919 law that gave British authorities carte blanche to imprison suspected revolutionaries without trial. Britain responded brutally to the resistance, mowing down 400 unarmed protesters in the Amritsar Massacre .

A map of Gandhi’s 1930 protest march against a law compelling Indians to purchase British salt.

Now Gandhi pushed even harder for home rule, encouraging boycotts of British goods and organizing mass protests. In 1930, he began a massive satyagraha campaign against a British law that forced Indians to purchase British salt instead of producing it locally. Gandhi organized a 241-mile-long protest march to the west coast of Gujarat, where he and his acolytes harvested salt on the shores of the Arabian Sea. In response, Britain imprisoned over 60,000 peaceful protesters and inadvertently generated even more support for home rule.

Children in Rajkot, Gujarat, where Gandhi spent most of his boyhood, dressed as the legendary activist to celebrate what would have been his 144th birthday in 2013. This year will mark Gandhi’s 150th birthday.

By then, Gandhi had become a national icon, and was widely referred to as Mahatma, Sanskrit for great soul or saint. Imprisoned for a year because of the Salt March, he became more influential than ever. He protested discrimination against the “untouchables,” India’s lowest caste, and negotiated unsuccessfully for Indian home rule. Undeterred, he began the Quit India movement , a campaign to get Britain to voluntarily withdraw from India during World War II. Britain refused and arrested him yet again.

Huge demonstrations ensued, and despite the arrests of 100,000 home rule advocates by British authorities, the balance finally tipped toward Indian independence. A frail Gandhi was released from prison in 1944, and Britain at last began to make plans to withdraw from the Indian subcontinent. It was bittersweet for Gandhi, who opposed the partition of India and attempted to quell Hindu-Muslim animosity and deadly riots in 1947.

India finally gained its independence in August 1947. But Gandhi only saw it for a few months; a Hindu extremist assassinated him on January 30, 1948. Over 1.5 million people marched in his massive funeral procession.

Ascetic and unflinching, Gandhi changed the face of civil disobedience around the world. Martin Luther King, Jr. drew on his tactics during the Civil Rights Movement, and the Dalai Lama was inspired by his teachings, which are still heralded by those who seek to inspire change without inciting violence.

But though his legacy still resonates, others wonder whether Gandhi should be revered. Among some Indian Hindus, he remains controversial for his embrace of Muslims. Others question whether he did enough to challenge the Indian caste system. He has also been criticized for supporting racial segregation between black and white South Africans and making derogatory remarks about black people. And though he supported women’s rights in some regards, he also opposed contraception and invited young women to sleep in his bed naked as a way of testing his sexual self-control.

Mohandas Gandhi the man was complex and flawed. However, Mahatma Gandhi the public figure left an indelible mark on the history of India and on the exercise of civil disobedience worldwide. “After I am gone, no single person will be able completely to represent me,” he said . “But a little bit of me will live in many of you. If each puts the cause first and himself last, the vacuum will to a large extent be filled.”

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Gandhi: Toward a Vision of Nonviolence, Peace, and Justice

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First Online: 13 June 2023
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Jacob Kelley 2 ,
Ada Haynes 3 &
Andrea Arce-Trigatti 4

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One cannot think of nonviolence, peace, and justice without considering the influence of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. An intellectual activist working primarily in twentieth-century India, Gandhi advanced nonviolent philosophies that resonated with liberation movements in his home country and around the world. Integrating Eastern and Western thought into new approaches to education as a form of liberating individuals and communities, his conceptualization of Nai Talim – which translates to Basic Education – provides a framework for compulsory education steered toward peace. Through this philosophy, Gandhi presents readers with a contrast to the corporate perspective of education that trains people to be homogenized workers and community members to a perspective of peace and social justice in which previously marginalized groups are included and given a voice. To better understand these contributions, this chapter focuses on essential aspects of his life; five conceptual contributions from Gandhian principles that reflect theoretical, methodological, and practical implications for education today; new insights; and lasting legacies.

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Kelley, J., Haynes, A., Arce-Trigatti, A. (2023). Gandhi: Toward a Vision of Nonviolence, Peace, and Justice. In: Geier, B.A. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Educational Thinkers . Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-81037-5_89-1

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Mahatma Gandhi

By: History.com Editors

Updated: June 6, 2019 | Original: July 30, 2010

Mahatma GandhiIndian statesman and activist Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869 - 1948), circa 1940. (Photo by Dinodia Photos/Getty Images)

Revered the world over for his nonviolent philosophy of passive resistance, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was known to his many followers as Mahatma, or “the great-souled one.” He began his activism as an Indian immigrant in South Africa in the early 1900s, and in the years following World War I became the leading figure in India’s struggle to gain independence from Great Britain. Known for his ascetic lifestyle–he often dressed only in a loincloth and shawl–and devout Hindu faith, Gandhi was imprisoned several times during his pursuit of non-cooperation, and undertook a number of hunger strikes to protest the oppression of India’s poorest classes, among other injustices. After Partition in 1947, he continued to work toward peace between Hindus and Muslims. Gandhi was shot to death in Delhi in January 1948 by a Hindu fundamentalist.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869, at Porbandar, in the present-day Indian state of Gujarat. His father was the dewan (chief minister) of Porbandar; his deeply religious mother was a devoted practitioner of Vaishnavism (worship of the Hindu god Vishnu), influenced by Jainism, an ascetic religion governed by tenets of self-discipline and nonviolence. At the age of 19, Mohandas left home to study law in London at the Inner Temple, one of the city’s four law colleges. Upon returning to India in mid-1891, he set up a law practice in Bombay, but met with little success. He soon accepted a position with an Indian firm that sent him to its office in South Africa. Along with his wife, Kasturbai, and their children, Gandhi remained in South Africa for nearly 20 years.

Did you know? In the famous Salt March of April-May 1930, thousands of Indians followed Gandhi from Ahmadabad to the Arabian Sea. The march resulted in the arrest of nearly 60,000 people, including Gandhi himself.

Gandhi was appalled by the discrimination he experienced as an Indian immigrant in South Africa. When a European magistrate in Durban asked him to take off his turban, he refused and left the courtroom. On a train voyage to Pretoria, he was thrown out of a first-class railway compartment and beaten up by a white stagecoach driver after refusing to give up his seat for a European passenger. That train journey served as a turning point for Gandhi, and he soon began developing and teaching the concept of satyagraha (“truth and firmness”), or passive resistance, as a way of non-cooperation with authorities.

The Birth of Passive Resistance

In 1906, after the Transvaal government passed an ordinance regarding the registration of its Indian population, Gandhi led a campaign of civil disobedience that would last for the next eight years. During its final phase in 1913, hundreds of Indians living in South Africa, including women, went to jail, and thousands of striking Indian miners were imprisoned, flogged and even shot. Finally, under pressure from the British and Indian governments, the government of South Africa accepted a compromise negotiated by Gandhi and General Jan Christian Smuts, which included important concessions such as the recognition of Indian marriages and the abolition of the existing poll tax for Indians.

In July 1914, Gandhi left South Africa to return to India. He supported the British war effort in World War I but remained critical of colonial authorities for measures he felt were unjust. In 1919, Gandhi launched an organized campaign of passive resistance in response to Parliament’s passage of the Rowlatt Acts, which gave colonial authorities emergency powers to suppress subversive activities. He backed off after violence broke out–including the massacre by British-led soldiers of some 400 Indians attending a meeting at Amritsar–but only temporarily, and by 1920 he was the most visible figure in the movement for Indian independence.

Leader of a Movement

As part of his nonviolent non-cooperation campaign for home rule, Gandhi stressed the importance of economic independence for India. He particularly advocated the manufacture of khaddar, or homespun cloth, in order to replace imported textiles from Britain. Gandhi’s eloquence and embrace of an ascetic lifestyle based on prayer, fasting and meditation earned him the reverence of his followers, who called him Mahatma (Sanskrit for “the great-souled one”). Invested with all the authority of the Indian National Congress (INC or Congress Party), Gandhi turned the independence movement into a massive organization, leading boycotts of British manufacturers and institutions representing British influence in India, including legislatures and schools.

After sporadic violence broke out, Gandhi announced the end of the resistance movement, to the dismay of his followers. British authorities arrested Gandhi in March 1922 and tried him for sedition; he was sentenced to six years in prison but was released in 1924 after undergoing an operation for appendicitis. He refrained from active participation in politics for the next several years, but in 1930 launched a new civil disobedience campaign against the colonial government’s tax on salt, which greatly affected Indian’s poorest citizens.

A Divided Movement

In 1931, after British authorities made some concessions, Gandhi again called off the resistance movement and agreed to represent the Congress Party at the Round Table Conference in London. Meanwhile, some of his party colleagues–particularly Mohammed Ali Jinnah, a leading voice for India’s Muslim minority–grew frustrated with Gandhi’s methods, and what they saw as a lack of concrete gains. Arrested upon his return by a newly aggressive colonial government, Gandhi began a series of hunger strikes in protest of the treatment of India’s so-called “untouchables” (the poorer classes), whom he renamed Harijans, or “children of God.” The fasting caused an uproar among his followers and resulted in swift reforms by the Hindu community and the government.

In 1934, Gandhi announced his retirement from politics in, as well as his resignation from the Congress Party, in order to concentrate his efforts on working within rural communities. Drawn back into the political fray by the outbreak of World War II , Gandhi again took control of the INC, demanding a British withdrawal from India in return for Indian cooperation with the war effort. Instead, British forces imprisoned the entire Congress leadership, bringing Anglo-Indian relations to a new low point.

Partition and Death of Gandhi

After the Labor Party took power in Britain in 1947, negotiations over Indian home rule began between the British, the Congress Party and the Muslim League (now led by Jinnah). Later that year, Britain granted India its independence but split the country into two dominions: India and Pakistan. Gandhi strongly opposed Partition, but he agreed to it in hopes that after independence Hindus and Muslims could achieve peace internally. Amid the massive riots that followed Partition, Gandhi urged Hindus and Muslims to live peacefully together, and undertook a hunger strike until riots in Calcutta ceased.

In January 1948, Gandhi carried out yet another fast, this time to bring about peace in the city of Delhi. On January 30, 12 days after that fast ended, Gandhi was on his way to an evening prayer meeting in Delhi when he was shot to death by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu fanatic enraged by Mahatma’s efforts to negotiate with Jinnah and other Muslims. The next day, roughly 1 million people followed the procession as Gandhi’s body was carried in state through the streets of the city and cremated on the banks of the holy Jumna River.

salt march, 1930, indians, gandhi, ahmadabad, arabian sea, british salt taxes

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The Mind of Mahatma Gandhi [ Encyclopedia of Gandhi's Thoughts ]

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The Mind of Mahatma Gandhi :Chapter-21: The Gospel of Non-Violence

THE MIND OF MAHATMA GANDHI (Encyclopedia of Gandhi's Thoughts)

Compiled & Edited by : R. K. Prabhu & U. R. Rao

Neither Saints Nor Sinner
My Mahatmaship
I Know The Path
The Inner Voice
My Inconsistencies
My Writings
The Gospel of Truth
Truth Is God
Truth And Beauty
The Gospel of Fearlessness
The Gospel of Faith
The Meaning of God
Prayer The Food of My Soul
My Hinduism : Not Exclusive
Religion And Politics
Temples And Idolatry
The Curse of Untouchability
The Gospel of Non-Violence
The Power of Non-Violence
Training For Non-Violence
Application of Non-Violence
The Non-Violent Society
The Non-Violent State
Violence And Terrorism
Between Cowardice Violence
Resistance To Aggression
The Choice Before India
India & The Nonviolent Way
India & The Violent Way
The Gospel of Satyagraha
The Power of Satyagraha
Non-Co-Operation
Fasting And Satyagraha
The Gospel of Non-Possession
Poverty And Riches
Daridranarayan
The Gospel of Bread Labour
Labour And Capital
Strikes: Legitimate And Illegitimate
Tillers of The Soil
Choice Before Labour
The Gospel of Sarvodaya
The Philosophy of Yajna
This Satanic Civilization
Man v. Machine
The Curse of Industrialization
A Socialist Pattern of Society
The Communist Creed
The Gospel of Trusteeship
Non-Violent Economy
Economic Equality
The Gospel of Brahmacharya
The Marriage Ideal
Birth-Control
Woman's Status And Role In Society
Sex Education
Crimes Against Women
The Ashram Vows
The Gospel of Freedom
What Swaraj Means To Me
I Am Not Anti-British
Foreign Settlements In India
India And Pakistan
India's Mission
Essence of Democracy
The Indian National Congress
Popular Ministries
India of My Dreams
Back To The Village
All Round Village Service
Panchayat Raj
Linguistic Provinces
Cow Protection
Co-operative Cattle Farming
Nature Cure
Corporate Sanitation
Communal Harmony
The Gospel of The Charkha
Meaning of Swadeshi
The Gospel of Love
All Life Is One
No Cultural Isolation For Me
Nationalism v Internationalism
War And Peace
Nuclear War
The way To Peace
The World of Tomorrow

About This Book

Compiled & Edited by : R. K. Prabhu & U. R. Rao With Forewords by: Acharya Vinoba Bhave & Dr. S. Radhakrishnan I.S.B.N : 81-7229-149-3 Published by : Jitendra T. Desai, Navajivan Mudranalaya, Ahmedabad - 380 014, India. © Navajivan Trust, 1960

The Mind of Mahatma Gandhi. [PDF]

Chapter-21: The Gospel of Non-Violence

The Law of Our Species I am not a visionary. I claim to be a practical idealist. The religion of non-violence is not meant merely for the rishis and saints. It is meant for the common people as well. Non-violence is the law of our species as violence is the law of the brute. The spirit lies dormant in the brute and he knows no law but that of physical might. The dignity of man requires obedience to a higher law-to the strength of the spirit.... The rishis who discovered the law of non-violence in the midst of violence were greater geniuses than Newton. They were themselves known the use of arms, they realized their uselessness, and taught a weary world that its salvation lay not through violence but through non-violence.

(YI, 11-8-1920, p3)

My Ahimsa I know only one way-the way of ahimsa. The way of himsa goes against my grain. I do not want to cultivate the power to inculcate himsa...The faith sustains me that He is the help of the helpless, that He comes to one's succor only when one throws himself on His mercy. It is because of that faith that I cherish the hope that God will one day show me a path which I may confidently commend to the people.

(YI, 10-10-1928, p342)

I have been a 'gambler' all my life. In my passion for finding truth and in relentlessly following out my faith in non-violence, I have counted no stake too great. In doing so I have erred, if at all, in the company of the most distinguished scientist of any age and any clime.

(YI, 20-2-1930, p61)

I learnt the lesson of non-violence from my wife, when I tried to bend her to my will. Her determined resistance to my will, on the one hand, and her quiet submission to the suffering my stupidity involved, on the other, ultimately made me ashamed of myself and cured me of my stupidity in thinking that I was born to rule over her and, in the end, she became my teacher in non-violence.

(H, 24-12-1938, p394)

The doctrine that has guided my life is not one of inaction but of the highest action.

(H, 28-6-1942, p201)

I must not...flatter myself with the belief--nor allow friends...to entertain the belief that I have exhibited any heroic and demonstrable non-violence in myself. All I can claim is that I am sailing in that direction without a moment's stop.

(H, 11-1-1948, p504)

Character of Non-violence Non-violence is the law of the human race and is infinitely greater than and superior to brute force. In the last resort it does not avail to those who do not possess a living faith in the God of Love. Non-violence affords the fullest protection to one's self-respect and sense of honour, but not always to possession of land or movable property, though its habitual practice does prove a better bulwark than the possession of armed men to defend them. Non-violence, in the very nature of things, is of no assistance in the defence of ill-gotten gains and immoral acts. Individuals or nations who would practice non-violence must be prepared to sacrifice (nations to last man) their all except honour. It is, therefore, inconsistent with the possession of other people's countries, i.e., modern imperialism, which is frankly based on force for its defence. Non-violence is a power which can be wielded equally by all-children, young men and women or grown-up people, provided they have a living faith in the God of Love and have therefore equal love for all mankind. When non-violence is accepted as the law of life, it must pervade the whole being and not be applied to isolated acts. It is a profound error to suppose that, whilst the law is good enough for individuals, it is not for masses of mankind.

(H, 5-9-1936, p236)

For the way of non-violence and truth is sharp as the razor's edge. Its practice is more than our daily food. Rightly taken, food sustains the body; rightly practiced non-violence sustains the soul. The body food we can only take in measured quantities and at stated intervals; non-violence, which is the spiritual food, we have to take in continually. There is no such thing as satiation. I have to be conscious every moment that I am pursuing the goal and have to examine myself in terms of that goal.

Changeless Creed The very first step in non-violence is that we cultivate in our daily life, as between ourselves, truthfulness, humility, tolerance, loving kindness. Honesty, they say in English, is the best policy. But, in terms of non-violence, it is not mere policy. Policies may and do change. Non-violence is an unchangeable creed. It has to be pursued in face of violence raging around you. Non-violence with a non-violent man is no merit. In fact it becomes difficult to say whether it is non-violence at all. But when it is pitted against violence, then one realizes the difference between the two. This we cannot do unless we are ever wakeful, ever vigilant, ever striving.

(H, 2-4-1938, p64)

The only thing lawful is non-violence. Violence can never be lawful in the sense meant here, i.e., not according to man-made law but according to the law made by Nature for man.

(H, 27-10-1946, p369)

Faith in God [A living faith in non-violence] is impossible without a living faith in God. A non-violent man can do nothing save by the power and grace of God. Without it he won't have the courage to die without anger, without fear and without retaliation. Such courage comes from the belief that God sits in the hearts of all and that there should be no fear in the presence of God. The knowledge of the omnipresence of God also means respect for the lives even of those who may be called opponents....

(H, 18-6-1938, p64)

Non-violence is an active force of the highest order. It is soul force or the power of Godhead within us. Imperfect man cannot grasp the whole of that Essence-he would not be able to bear its full blaze, but even an infinitesimal fraction of it, when it becomes active within us, can work wonders. The sun in the heavens fills the whole universe with its life-giving warmth. But if one went too near it, it would consume him to ashes. Even so it is with God-head. We become Godlike to the extent we realize non-violence; but we can never become wholly God.

(H, 12-11-1938, p326)

The fact is that non-violence does not work in the same way as violence. It works in the opposite way. An armed man naturally relies upon his arms. A man who is intentionally unarmed relies upon the Unseen Force called God by poets, but called the Unknown by scientists. But that which is unknown is not necessarily non-existent. God is the Force among all forces known and unknown. Non-violence without reliance upon that Force is poor stuff to be thrown in the dust.

Consciousness of the living presence of God within one is undoubtedly the first requisite.

(H, 29-6-1947, p209)

Religious Basis My claim to Hinduism has been rejected by some, because I believe and advocate non-violence in its extreme form. They say that I am a Christian in disguise. I have been even seriously told that I am distorting the meaning of the Gita, when I ascribe to that great poem the teaching of unadulterated non-violence. Some of my Hindu friends tell me that killing is a duty enjoined by the Gita under certain circumstances. A very learned shastri only the other day scornfully rejected my interpretation of the Gita and said that there was no warrant for the opinion held by some commentators that the Gita represented the eternal duel between forces of evil and good, and inculcated the duty of eradicating evil within us without hesitation, without tenderness. I state these opinions against non-violence in detail, because it is necessary to understand them, if we would understand the solution I have to offer.... I must be dismissed out of considerations. My religion is a matter solely between my Maker and myself. If I am a Hindu, I cannot cease to be one even though I may be disowned by the whole of the Hindu population. I do however suggest that non-violence is the end of all religions.

(YI, 29-5-1924, p175)

The lesson of non-violence is present in every religion, but I fondly believe that, perhaps, it is here in India that its practice has been reduced to a science. Innumerable saints have laid down their lives in tapashcharya until poets had felt that the Himalayas became purified in their snowy whiteness by means of their sacrifice. But all this practice of non-violence is nearly dead today. It is necessary to revive the eternal law of answering anger by love and of violence by non-violence; and where can this be more readily done than in this land of Kind Janaka and Ramachandra?

(H, 30-3-1947, p86)

Hinduism's Unique Contribution Non-violence is common to all religions, but it has found the highest expression and application in Hinduism. (I do not regard Jainism or Buddhism as separate from Hinduism). Hinduism believes in the oneness not of merely all human life but in the oneness of all that lives. Its worship of the cow is, in my opinion, its unique contribution to the evolution of humanitarianism. It is a practical application of the belief in the oneness and, therefore, sacredness of all life. The great belief in transmigration is a direct consequence of that belief. Finally, the discovery of the law of Varnashrama is a magnificent result of the ceaseless search for truth.

(YI, 20-10-1927, p352)

I have also been asked wherefrom in Hinduism I have unearthed ahimsa. Ahimsa is in Hinduism, it is in Christianity as well as in Islam. Whether you agree with me or not, it is my bounden duty to preach what I believe to be the truth as I see it. I am also sure that ahimsa has never made anyone a coward.

(H, 27-4-1947, p126)

The Koran and Non-violence [Barisaheb] assured me that there was warrant enough for Satyagraha in the Holy Koran. He agreed with the interpretation of the Koran to the effect that, whilst violence under certain well-defined circumstances is permissible, self-restraint is dearer to God than violence, and that is the law of love. That is Satyagraha. Violence is concession to human weakness, Satyagraha is an obligation. Even from the practical standpoint it is easy enough to see that violence can do no good and only do infinite harm.

(YI, 14-5-1919, quoted in Communal Unity, p985)

Some Muslim friends tell me that Muslims will never subscribe to unadulterated non-violence. With them, they say, violence is as lawful and necessary as non-violence. The use of either depends upon circumstances. It does not need Koranic authority to justify the lawfulness of both. That is the well-known path the world has traversed through the ages. There is no such thing as unadulterated violence in the world. But I have heard it from many Muslim friends that the Koran teaches the use of non-violence. It regards forbearance as superior to vengeance. The very word Islam means peace, which is non-violence. Badshahkhan, a staunch Muslim who never misses his namaz and Ramzan, has accepted out and out non-violence as his creed. It would be no answer to say that he does not live up to his creed, even as I know to my shame that I do not one of kind, it is of degree. But, argument about non-violence in the Holy Koran is an interpolation, not necessary for my thesis.

(H, 7-10-1939, p296)

No Matter of Diet Ahimsa is not a mere matter of dietetics, it transcends it. What a man eats or drinks matters little; it is the self-denial, the self-restraint behind it that matters. By all means practice as much restraint in the choice of the articles of your diet as you like. The restraint is commendable, even necessary, but it touches only the fringe of ahimsa. A man may allow himself a wide latitude in the matter of diet and yet may be a personification of ahimsa and compel our homage, if is heart overflows with love and melts at another's woe, and has been purged of all passions. On the other hand a man always over-scrupulous in diet is an utter stranger to ahimsa and pitiful wretch, if he is a slave to selfishness and passions and is hard of heart.

(YI, 6-9-1928, pp300-1)

Road to Truth My love for non-violence is superior to every other thing mundane or supramundane. It is equaled only by my love for Truth, which is to me synonymous with non-violence through which and which alone I can see and reach Truth.

....Without ahimsa it is not possible to seek and find Truth. Ahimsa and Truth are so intertwined that it is practically impossible to disentangle and separate them. They are like the two sides of a coin, or rather of a smooth, unstamped, metallic disc. Who can say which is the obverse, and which is the reverse? Nevertheless ahimsa is the means; Truth is the end. Means to be means must always be within our reach, and so ahimsa is our supreme duty. If we take care of the means, we are bound to reach the end sooner of latter. When once we have grasped this point, final victory is beyond question.

(FYM, pp12-3)

Ahimsa is not the goal. Truth is the goal. But we have no means of realizing truth in human relationships except through the practice of ahimsa. A steadfast pursuit of ahimsa is inevitably bound to truth--not so violence. That is why I swear by ahimsa. Truth came naturally to me. Ahimsa I acquired after a struggle. But ahimsa being the means, we are naturally more concerned with it in our everyday life. It is ahimsa, therefore, that our masses have to be educated in. Education in truth follows from it as a natural end.

(H, 23-6-1946, p199)

No Cover for Cowardice My non-violence does not admit of running away from danger and leaving dear ones unprotected. Between violence and cowardly flight, I can only prefer violence to cowardice. I can no more preach non-violence to a coward than I can tempt a blind man to enjoy healthy scenes. Non-violence is the summit of bravery. And in my own experience, I have had no difficulty in demonstrating to men trained in the school of violence the superiority of non-violence. As a coward, which I was for years, I harboured violence. I began to prize non-violence only when I began to shed cowardice. Those Hindus who ran away from the post of duty when it was attended with danger did so not because they were non-violent, or because they were afraid to strike, but because they were unwilling to die or even suffer an injury. A rabbit that runs away from the bull terrier is not particularly non-violent. The poor thing trembles at the sight of the terrier and runs for very life.

(YI, 28-5-1924, p178)

Non-violence is not a cover for cowardice, but it is the supreme virtue of the brave. Exercise of non-violence requires far greater bravery than that of swordsmanship. Cowardice is wholly inconsistent with non-violence. Translation from swordsmanship to non-violence is possible and, at times, even an easy stage. Non-violence, therefore, presupposes ability to strike. It is a conscious deliberate restraint put upon one's desire for vengeance. But vengeance is any day superior to passive, effeminate and helpless submission. Forgiveness is higher still. Vengeance too is weakness. The desire for vengeance comes out of fear of harm, imaginary or real. A dog barks and bites when he fears. A man who fears no one on earth would consider it too troublesome even to summon up anger against one who is vainly trying to injure him. The sun does not wreak vengeance upon little children who throw dust at him. They only harm themselves in the act.

(YI, 12-8-1926, p285)

The path of true non-violence requires much more courage than violence.

(H, 4-8-1946, pp248-9)

The minimum that is required of a person wishing to cultivate the ahimsa of the brave is first to clear one's thought of cowardice and, in the light of the clearance, regulate his conduct in every activity, great or small. Thus the votary must refuse to be cowed down by his superior, without being angry. He must, however, be ready to sacrifice his post, however remunerative it may be. Whilst sacrificing his all, if the votary has no sense of irritation against his employer, he has ahimsa of the brave in him. Assume that a fellow-passenger threatens my son with assault and I reason with the would-be-assailant who then turns upon me. If then I take his blow with grace and dignity, without harbouring any ill-will against him, I exhibit the ahimsa of the brave. Such instances are of every day occurrence and can be easily multiplied. If I succeed in curbing my temper every time and, though able to give blow for blow, I refrain, I shall develop the ahimsa of the brave which will never fail me and which will compel recognition from the most confirmed adversaries.

(H, 17-11-1946, p404)

Inculcation of cowardice is against my nature. Ever since my return from South Africa, where a few thousand had stood up not unsuccessfully against heavy odds, I have made it my mission to preach true bravery which ahimsa means.

(H, 1-6-1947, p175)

Humility Essential If one has...pride and egoism, there is no non-violence. Non-violence is impossible without humility. My own experience is that, whenever I have acted non-violently, I have been led to it and sustained in it by the higher promptings of an unseen power. Through my own will I should have miserably failed. When I first went to jail, I quailed at the prospect. I had heard terrible things about jail life. But I had faith in God's protection. Our experience was that those who went to jail in a prayerful spirit came out victorious, those who had gone in their own strength failed. There is no room for self-pitying in it either when you say God is giving you the strength. Self-pity comes when you do a thing for which you expect recognition from others. But there is no question of recognition.

(H, 28-1-1939, p442)

It was only when I had learnt to reduce myself to zero that I was able to evolve the power of Satyagraha in South Africa.

(H, 6-5-1939, p113)

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Mahatma Gandhi - The Courage of Nonviolence

May 29, 2013 · 1 comment.

Courage is one of the key virtues of the VOV Pledge for Nonviolence . This is evident in the fourth paragraph which states:

Excerpt from "Mahatma Gandhi: The Courage of Nonviolence" by Daisaku Ikeda

I was visiting Raj Ghat, where Mahatma Gandhi, the father of Indian independence, had been cremated.

Somewhere a bird sang. A forest was nearby, and squirrels ran through its lush green thickets. The area was a spacious, well-tended shrine to nonviolence.

As I offered flowers before the black stone platform that constitutes Gandhi's memorial, I bowed my head.

Image:Portrait of Gandhi. Credit: http://images.google.com/hosted/life/f?&imgurl=eabb95f1554228a3 (Attribution via Wikimedia Commons )

I pondered Gandhi's brilliant spirit. I thought of his ceaseless struggles to douse the fires of hatred with water drawn from the pure springs of love for humanity. And I thought of how alone he was in his quest.

Violence solves nothing. By engaging in reprisals, you only hurt yourself.

"Gandhi tells us not to retaliate against the Muslims! How can he take their side? There's no way! They killed my family, including my five-year-old son!"

"Is he telling us just to endure the attacks of the Hindus? Ridiculous! Doesn't he know what we Muslims have been through all these years? After all, Gandhi's a Hindu himself, isn't he?"

The elderly sage went everywhere, wherever Hindus and Muslims were mired in blood-stained cycles of conflict and reprisal. He called for the killing to end. But people, crazed by hate, did not listen. They told him to leave, calling his attempts at reconciliation hypocritical or worse. They demanded to know whose side he was on.

But he wasn't on either side. And at the same time, he was on both sides. To him, people are brothers and sisters. How could he stand by, a silent witness to mutual slaughter? Gandhi declared that he was willing to be cut in two if that was what people wanted, but not for India to be cut in two. What good, he demanded to know, could ever come of hatred? If hate was returned with hate, it would only become more deeply rooted and widespread.

Just as fire is extinguished by water, hatred can only be defeated by love and compassion.

Suppose someone sets fire to your home and you retaliate by setting fire to theirs, soon the whole town will be in flames! Burning down the attacker's house won't bring yours back. Violence solves nothing. By engaging in reprisals, you only hurt yourself.

But no matter how urgently Gandhi called on people to listen to reason, the fires of hatred raged on. Against the lone Gandhi there were far too many people fanning the flames.

Image:Gandhi during the Salt March, March-April 1930. Credit: gandhiserve.org (Attribution via Wikimedia Commons )

On January 20, 1948--10 days, in fact, before he was assassinated--a handmade bomb was hurled at Gandhi as he attended a gathering. This act of terrorism was carried out by a Hindu youth. Fortunately, the bomb missed the mark and Gandhi survived.

The youth was arrested. The next day, several adherents of the Sikh faith called on Gandhi and assured him that the culprit was not a Sikh. Gandhi rebuked them, saying that it mattered nothing at all to him whether the assailant was a Sikh, a Hindu or a Muslim. Whoever the perpetrator might be, he said, he wished him well.

Gandhi was alone.

Gandhi explained that the youth had been taught to think of him as an enemy of the Hindu cause, that hatred had been implanted in his heart. The youth believed what he was taught and was so desperate, so devoid of all hope, that violence seemed the only alternative. Gandhi felt only pity for the young man. He even told the outraged chief of police to not harass his assailant but make an effort to convert him to right thoughts and actions.

This was always his approach. No one abhorred violence more than Gandhi. At the same time no one knew more deeply that violence can only be countered by nonviolence. Just as fire is extinguished by water, hatred can only be defeated by love and compassion. Some criticized Gandhi for coddling the terrorist. Others scorned his conviction, calling it sentimental and unrealistic, an empty vision.

Image:Gandhi drafting a document at Birla House, Mumbai, August 1942. Credit: gandhiserve.org (Attribution via Wikimedia Commons )

Many revered his name, but few truly shared his beliefs. For Gandhi, nonviolence meant an overflowing love for all humanity, a way of life that emanated from the very marrow of his being. It made life possible; without it, he could not have lived even a moment. But for many of his followers, nonviolence was simply a political strategy, a tactic for winning India's independence from Britain.

The more earnestly he pursued his religious beliefs, the deeper his love for humanity grew. This love made it all the more impossible for him to ignore the political realities that shaped people's lives. At the same time, contact with these political realities strengthened his conviction that nothing is more essential than the love for humanity that religious faith can inspire.

This placed him, however, in the position of being denounced by both religious figures, who saw his involvement in the sullied realm of politics as driven by personal ambition, and political leaders, who called him ignorant and naive. Because he walked the middle way, the true path of humanity that seeks to reconcile apparent contradictions, his beliefs and actions appeared biased to those at the extremes.

The real struggle of the 21st century will not be between civilizations, nor between religions. It will be between violence and nonviolence. It will be between barbarity and civilization in the truest sense of the word.

The 20th century was a century of war, a century in which hundreds of millions of people died violent deaths. In the new era of the 21st century, humanity must be guided by the overriding principle that killing is never acceptable or justified--under any circumstance. Unless we realize this, unless we widely promote and deeply implant the understanding that violence can never be used to advocate one's beliefs, we will have learned nothing from the bitter lessons of the 20th century.

Courage is always required to transform evil into good.

More than half a century ago, Gandhi sought to break the cycles of violence and reprisal. What distinguishes us from brute beasts, he said, is our continuous striving for moral self-improvement. Humanity is at a crossroads and must choose, he asserted, violence (the law of the jungle) or nonviolence (the law of humanity).

Image: Mahatma Gandhi with textile workers at Darwen, Lancashire, England, September 26, 1931. Credit: http://rena.wao.com/gandhi/jpg/GGS99.jpg (Attribution via Wikimedia Commons )

Courage is always required to transform evil into good. Now is the time for each of us to bring forth such courage: the courage of nonviolence, the courage of dialogue, the courage to listen to what we would rather not hear, the courage to restrain the desire for vengeance and be guided by reason.

Nonviolence is the highest form of humility; it is supreme courage.

Violence is born from a wounded spirit: a spirit burned and blistered by the fire of arrogance; a spirit splintered and frayed by the frustration of powerlessness; a spirit parched with an unquenched thirst for meaning in life; a spirit shriveled and shrunk by feelings of inferiority. The rage that results from injured self-respect, from humiliation, erupts as violence. A culture of violence, which delights in crushing and beating others into submission, spreads throughout society, often amplified by the media. The American civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was a student of Gandhi's philosophy. He declared that a person whose spirit is in turmoil cannot truly practice nonviolence. It has been my hope that the light of India--a country known in the East since ancient times as "the land of moonlight"--will help spread the spirit of peace, much as the cool beams of the moon bring soothing relief from the maddening heat of the day. From a healed, peaceful heart, humility is born; from humility, a willingness to listen to others is born; from a willingness to listen to others, mutual understanding is born; and from mutual understanding, a peaceful society will be born.

Nonviolence is the highest form of humility; it is supreme courage. The essence of Gandhi's teachings was fearlessness. The Mahatma taught that "the strong are never vindictive" and that dialogue can only be engaged in by the brave.

Image (top): Gandhi Icon Credit: Pratheepps (Attribution via Wikimedia Commons )

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David Beber

“Nonviolence is the highest form of humility; it is supreme courage. The essence of Gandhi’s teachings was fearlessness.”

Fearlessness. A noble but difficult virtue to cultivate. How many times have I hesitated because of fear, even at moments that wouldn’t have required much courage to begin with? It’s something you have to work at each day so that you can be prepared at the crucial moment. A humbling article to read.

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Truth and non-violence – The twin pillars of Gandhian thought

Mahatma Gandhi used the ideals of truth and non-violence as his tools as he led India's freedom struggle against British colonial rule.

Key Highlights

Born on October 2, 1869, Gandhi is also known as the Father of the Nation
To Gandhi, non-violence was not a negative concept but a positive sense of love
During the freedom struggle, Gandhi introduced the spirit of Satyagraha to the world

Whenever we think of Mahatma Gandhi, two words come to our mind - truth and non-violence - as he was a staunch believer in these two ideals. Born on October 2, 1869, Gandhi is known as the Father of the Nation. A lawyer by profession, he used truth and non-violence as his tools during India's freedom struggle against British colonial rule. Gandhi was assassinated on January 30, 1948, almost five months after India gained independence, but his ideals of truth and non-violence still remain relevant in the 21st century.

Gandhi believed that truth is the relative truthfulness in word and deed, and the absolute truth - the ultimate reality. This ultimate truth is God and morality, and the moral laws and code - its basis. According to Gandhi, non-violence implies uttermost selflessness. It means, if anyone wants to realise himself, i.e., if he wants to search for the truth, he has to behave in such a way that others will think him entirely safe.

To him, non-violence was not a negative concept but a positive sense of love. He talked of loving the wrong-doers, but not the wrong. He strongly opposed any sort of submission to wrongs and injustice in an indifferent manner. He thought that the wrong-doers can be resisted only through the severance of all relations with them.

During the freedom struggle, Gandhi introduced the spirit of Satyagraha to the world. Satyagraha means devotion to truth, remaining firm on the truth and resisting untruth actively but nonviolently.

According to Gandhi, a satyagrahi must believe in truth and nonviolence as one's creed and therefore have faith in the inherent goodness of human nature. Besides, a satyagrahi must live a chaste life and be ready and willing for the sake of one's cause to give up his life and his possessions, he would assert.

There are several examples in history which show how strictly Gandhi followed the practice of non-violence in his life and political journey. One of them is the withdrawal of the Non-cooperation movement, which began in August 1920. The movement was aimed at self-governance and obtaining independence, with the Indian National Congress withdrawing its support for British reforms following the Rowlatt Act of March 1919 and the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of April 1919.

However, Gandhi suddenly ended the Non-cooperation movement in 1922 after the Chauri Chaura incident, though many Congress leaders wanted it to continue. The incident occurred at Chauri Chaura in Gorakhpur district of present-day Uttar Pradesh in February 1922, when a large group of protesters, participating in the Non-cooperation movement, clashed with the police, who opened fire. In the ensuing violence, the demonstrators attacked and set fire to a police station, killing several policemen. Gandhi, who was against violence in all forms, ended the Non-cooperation movement as a direct result of this incident.

Truth and non-violence were supreme to him, whatever the political and personal costs.

The views expressed by the author are personal and do not in any way represent those of Times Network.

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GANDHI’S PHILOSOPHY OF NON-VIOLENCE: A CRITIQUE

Abstract The present paper discusses the philosophy of ‘nonviolence’ (ahimsa) of Mahatma Gandhi, which he devised as a weapon to fight the brute forces of violence and hatred, hailing it as the only way to peace. Gandhi based his philosophy of nonviolence on the principle of love for all and hatred for none. He thought violence as an act caused to a person directly or indirectly, denying him his legitimate rights in the society by force, injury or deception. Gandhi’s nonviolence means avoiding violent means to achieve one’s end, howsoever, lofty it might be, as he firmly believed that the use of violence, even if in the name of achieving a justifiable end was not good, as it would bring more violence. He firmly adhered to the philosophy of Gita that preaches to follow the rightful path, remaining oblivious of its outcome. Gandhi used nonviolence in both his personal and political life and used it first in South Africa effectively and back home he applied it in India against the British with far more astounding success, as it proved supremely useful and efficacious in liberating the country from the British servitude. However, he never tried to use it as a political tactic to embarrass the opponent or to take undue advantage of his adversity. Keywords: Nonviolence, Truth, Gita, Acharanga Sutra, Disobedience Movement, South

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Dwaipayan Sen

Political and social movements in South Africa, the United States of America, Germany, Myanmar, India, and elsewhere, have drawn inspiration from the non-violent political techniques advocated by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi during his leadership of the anti-colonial struggle for Indian freedom from British colonial rule. This course charts a global history of Gandhi's thought about non-violence and its expression in civil disobedience and resistance movements both in India and the world. Organized in three modules, the first situates Gandhi through consideration of the diverse sources of his own historical and ideological formation; the second examines the historical contexts and practices through which non-violence acquired meaning for him and considers important critiques; the third explores the various afterlives of Gandhian politics in movements throughout the world. We will examine autobiography and biography, Gandhi's collected works, various types of primary source, political, social, and intellectual history, and audiovisual materials. In addition to widely disseminated narratives of Gandhi as a symbol of non-violence, the course will closely attend to the deep contradictions concerning race, caste, gender, and class that characterized his thought and action. By unsettling conventional accounts of his significance, we will grapple with the problem of how to make sense of his troubled legacy.

Brian C Barnett

A concise open-access teaching resource featuring essential selections from Gandhi on the philosophy of nonviolence. The book includes: a preface, brief explanatory notes, supplementary boxes containing related philosophical material, images and videos, an appendix on post-Gandhian nonviolence, questions for reflection/discussion, and suggestions for further study.

IJAR Indexing

This paper demonstrates that the political theory of Mahatma Gandhi provides us a novel way to understand and arbitrate the conflict among moral projects. Gandhi offers us a vision of political action that insists on the viability of the search for truth and the implicit possibility of adjudicating among competing claims to truth. His vision also presents a more complex and realistic understanding, than some other contemporary pluralists, of political philosophy and of political life itself. In an increasingly multicultural world, political theory is presented with perhaps it’s most vigorous challenge yet. As radically different moral projects confront one another, the problem of competing claims of truth arising from particular views of the human good remains crucial for political philosophy and political action. Recent events have demonstrated that the problem is far from being solved and that its implications are more far-reaching than the domestic politics of industrialized nations. As the problem of violence has also become coterminous with issues of pluralism, many have advocated the banishing of truth claims from politics altogether. Political theorists have struggled to confront this problem through a variety of conceptual lenses. Debates pertaining to the politics of multiculturalism, tolerance, or recognition have all been concerned with the question of pluralism as one of the most urgent facts of political life, in need of both theoretical and practical illumination.

Journal of Social Philosophy

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isara solutions

International Res Jour Managt Socio Human

We find that much development and great achievements have been made in science and technology for human upliftment . These are external developments, but we have no internal or psychological development lack of which is the cause of violence . Many humanist thinkers and philosophers have contributed to build up a peaceful and perfect society. But there is a little impact of their message on human civilization . But with the help of modern science and technology , some political and social leaders of the world are performing inhuman actions day by day generating disintegration, violence, terrorism, war at national, international , religious, social and political levels .

The New Leam

Amman Madan

A discussion and review of the book "The Science of Peace" by Shanta Khanna Aggarwal.

Professor Ravi P Bhatia

There are serious problems of deprivation, poverty, lack of educational and health facilities, marginalization and victimization of millions of people in many parts of the world including India where a vast majority of the population are adversely affected. Although many sections of this population suffer silently, occasionally they rise in protest and commit violence on the state and others individuals. We discuss the nature of different forms of violence and the principal factors leading to conflict and violence. Examples of these diverse forms of violence as well as the violence usually termed as Maoist or Naxal violence witnessed in certain tribal or indigenous areas of India, are also considered. Mahatma Gandhi emphasized truth, non-violence and peace and advocated a people-centred approach to development. He also proposed suitable education and economic development programmes and action that would help in reduction of disparities and poverty, rural uplift, environmental protection and amity between different religions. He led a simple life and was particular about limiting one’s wants and needs. We discuss the relevance of the Gandhian principles of truth, Satyagraha, non-violence, proper educational system and religious tolerance and argue that these principles can be applied even in the contemporary situation for reduction of conflict and violence by advancing the welfare of deprived sections of people, protection of the environment and by promoting peace and understanding amongst peoples. These principles have universal validity and have been successfully adopted by several countries and peoples.

Thando Gwinji

Countercurrents

Prem Kumar Vijayan , Karen Gabriel

This article is a brief analysis of the conditions under which the strategy of non-violent political protest can be effective, and the consequences of their absence.

Jacob N . Bauer

How Martin Luther King Jr. Took Inspiration From Gandhi on Nonviolence

Though the two men never got a chance to meet (King was 19 when Gandhi was assassinated ), King learned about Gandhi through his writing and a trip to India in 1959. King drew heavily on Gandhian principle of nonviolence in his own civil rights activism, writing that “while the Montgomery boycott was going on, India’s Gandhi was the guiding light of our technique of nonviolent social change.”

“Nonviolence” is a more than simply agreeing that you won’t physically attack your enemy. Gandhi referred to his form of nonviolence as satyagraha , meaning “truth-force” or “love-force.” Practicing satyagraha means a person should seek truth and love while refusing, through nonviolent resistance, to participate in something she believes is wrong. This principle guided Gandhi’s activism against the British Empire, helping India win independence in 1947 .

King connected Christianity to Gandhi's teachings

King first learned of Gandhi’s concept of nonviolence as a seminary student. As a Christian, he connected the Hindu thinker’s words to the Biblical appeal of Jesus to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

“I came to see for the first time that the Christian doctrine of love operating through the Gandhian method of nonviolence was one of the most potent weapons available to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom,” King later wrote .

King was already familiar with peaceful civil disobedience through American writers like Henry David Thoreau , and he liked Gandhi’s idea that oppressed people could use truth or love as weapons in their struggle for justice. But he didn’t find a practical application for how to put it to use until he became involved in the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955 and ‘56.

In his 1958 book Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story , King laid out the principles of nonviolence he’d employed during the boycott. He affirmed that it is possible to resist evil without resorting to violence and to oppose evil itself without opposing the people committing evil. He also wrote that people who practice nonviolence must be willing to suffer without retaliation, internal or external: “The nonviolent resister not only refuses to shoot his opponent but he also refuses to hate him.”

“He saw [nonviolence] as an expression of love for all people,” says Clayborne Carson, a history professor and director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University. “It’s a way of reaching people and convincing them of the rightness of your cause.”

Shortly after the Supreme Court ruled that Montgomery’s bus segregation was unconstitutional, King told a crowd in Brooklyn: “Christ showed us the way, and Gandhi in India showed it could work.”

King wasn’t the only civil rights leader who looked to Gandhi for inspiration. In the late 1950s, future congressman John Lewis studied Gandhi in nonviolence workshops led by activist James Lawson. These workshops prepared Lewis for the sit-ins he and other students would later hold at lunch counters in Nashville, Tennessee.

“[I]f you can understand and feel even in the midst of those critical and often physically painful moments that your attacker is as much a victim as you are, that he is a victim of the forces that have shaped and fed his anger and fury, then you are well on your way to the nonviolent life,” Lewis wrote in his book Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement .

Martin Luther King Jr in India with Gandhi

He saw the legacy of Gandhi's leadership in India

To better understand Gandhian principles, King took a one-month trip to India at the beginning of 1959. There, he was pleasantly surprised to find that many people there had followed the nonviolent bus boycott he’d been a part of.

During the trip, he met with Gandhi’s son, cousin, grandsons and other relatives and laid a wreath on his entombed ashes. And he left even more convinced of the power of nonviolent civil disobedience to affect social change.

“It was a marvelous thing to see the amazing results of a nonviolent campaign,” King wrote in Ebony after his trip. “The aftermath of hatred and bitterness that usually follows a violent campaign was found nowhere in India. Today a mutual friendship based on complete equality exists between the Indian and British people within the commonwealth.”

“I would say that after he returned he was the most prominent living advocate for nonviolence,” Carson says. “He popularized a lot of the ideas that Gandhi had, but through King, they spread throughout the United States and, of course, came to other parts of the world.”

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Mahatma Gandhi Essay

Important Essay on Mahatma Gandhi for Students in English

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, often called the 'Father of the Nation' , was a leader who fought for India's freedom from British rule. He believed in non-violence. Every year on October 2nd, Mahatma Gandhi's birthday is celebrated as Gandhi Jayanti to honor his efforts in freeing India.

English Essay on Mahatma Gandhi

Rabindranath Tagore was the first to call Gandhiji 'Mahatma,' which means 'Great Soul' in Sanskrit. His wise ideas and beliefs led people to respect and call him 'Mahatma Gandhi.' His dedication to the country and efforts to turn his ideas into reality make Indians around the world very proud of him .

According to Mahatma Gandhi’s biography, he was born on October 2, 1869 , in Porbandar, a coastal town in the present-day Indian state of Gujarat. He grew up in a Hindu family and ate basic vegetarian meals. His dad, Karamchand Uttamchand Gandhi, was an important leader in Porbandar State. In South Africa, he was the first to lead a peaceful protest movement, setting him apart from other demonstrators. Mahatma Gandhi also introduced the idea of Satyagraha, a nonviolent approach to opposing unfairness. He devoted 20 years of his life to battling discrimination in South Africa.

His idea of 'Ahimsa,' which means not hurting anyone, was widely admired and followed by many influential people worldwide. He became an indomitable figure who couldn't be defeated in any situation. Mahatma Gandhi initiated the 'Khadi Movement' to encourage the use of fabrics like khadi or jute. This movement was a crucial part of the larger 'Non-co-operation Movement,' which advocated for Indian goods and discouraged foreign ones. Gandhi strongly supported agriculture and encouraged people to engage in farming. He inspired Indians to embrace manual labor and emphasized self-reliance, urging them to provide for their needs and lead simple lives. He began weaving cotton clothes using the Charkha to reduce dependence on foreign goods and promote Swadeshi products among Indians.

During the fight for India's freedom, Gandhiji faced imprisonment several times along with his followers, but his main goal was always the freedom of his motherland. Even when he was in prison, he never chose the path of violence.

Mahatma Gandhi made significant contributions to various social issues. His efforts against 'untouchability' while he was in Yerwada Jail, where he went on a hunger strike against this ancient social evil, greatly helped uplift the oppressed community in modern times. He also emphasized the importance of education, cleanliness, health, and equality in society.

These qualities defined him as a person with a great soul and justified his transformation from Gandhi to Mahatma. He led many freedom movements, including the "Quit India Movement," which was highly successful. His death was a huge loss to the forces of peace and democracy, leaving a significant void in the nation's life.

Gopal Krishna Gokhale, a prominent Indian nationalist leader, significantly influenced Mahatma Gandhi's political ideology and leadership approach. Gandhi considered him his political teacher.

Mahatma Gandhi played a crucial role in India's fight for freedom from British rule. His life was dedicated to serving his country and its people, and he became an international symbol of Indian leadership. Even today, he continues to inspire and motivate young people worldwide with his values and principles.

Gandhi Ji was known for his strong sense of discipline. He emphasized the importance of self-discipline in achieving significant goals, a principle he applied in promoting his philosophy of Ahimsa (non-violence). Through his own life, he demonstrated that rigorous discipline can lead to the realization of any objective, provided we remain committed and dedicated. These qualities established him as a revered and respected leader whose influence extends far beyond his lifetime. His ideals continue to resonate not only in India but also around the world.

FAQs on Mahatma Gandhi Essay

1. What were the different movements that Gandhi started in order to bring Independence to India?

In order to bring freedom, Gandhi started the Satyagraha movement in 1919, the non-cooperation movement in 1921, and Civil Disobedience movement in 1930 and Quit India movement in 1942.

2. Who killed Mahatma Gandhi?

A young man named Nathuram Godse killed Mahatma Gandhi when he was going to attend an evening prayer meeting.

3. Why is Gandhi known as the ‘Father of the Nation’?

Mahatma Gandhi is known as the ‘Father of the Nation’ because he laid the true foundation of independent India with his noble ideals and supreme sacrifice.

4. How do we commemorate Mahatma Gandhi’s contribution for our Nation?

His birthday on 2 nd October is celebrated as a National Holiday across the nation in order to commemorate his great contributions and sacrifices for the country’s independence.

5. What are the things we should learn from Mahatma Gandhi?

There are various things one can learn from Gandhiji. The principles that he followed and preached his entire generation and for generations to come are commendable. He believed in ‘Ahimsa’ and taught people how any war in the world can be won through non-violence. To simply state one can learn the following principles from Gandhiji -

Nonviolence,

Respect for elders,

Essay on Mahatma Gandhi – Contributions and Legacy of Mahatma Gandhi

500+ words essay on mahatma gandhi.

Essay on Mahatma Gandhi – Mahatma Gandhi was a great patriotic Indian, if not the greatest. He was a man of an unbelievably great personality. He certainly does not need anyone like me praising him. Furthermore, his efforts for Indian independence are unparalleled. Most noteworthy, there would have been a significant delay in independence without him. Consequently, the British because of his pressure left India in 1947. In this essay on Mahatma Gandhi, we will see his contribution and legacy.

Contributions of Mahatma Gandhi

First of all, Mahatma Gandhi was a notable public figure. His role in social and political reform was instrumental. Above all, he rid the society of these social evils. Hence, many oppressed people felt great relief because of his efforts. Gandhi became a famous international figure because of these efforts. Furthermore, he became the topic of discussion in many international media outlets.

Mahatma Gandhi made significant contributions to environmental sustainability. Most noteworthy, he said that each person should consume according to his needs. The main question that he raised was “How much should a person consume?”. Gandhi certainly put forward this question.

Furthermore, this model of sustainability by Gandhi holds huge relevance in current India. This is because currently, India has a very high population . There has been the promotion of renewable energy and small-scale irrigation systems. This was due to Gandhiji’s campaigns against excessive industrial development.

Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy of non-violence is probably his most important contribution. This philosophy of non-violence is known as Ahimsa. Most noteworthy, Gandhiji’s aim was to seek independence without violence. He decided to quit the Non-cooperation movement after the Chauri-Chaura incident . This was due to the violence at the Chauri Chaura incident. Consequently, many became upset at this decision. However, Gandhi was relentless in his philosophy of Ahimsa.

Secularism is yet another contribution of Gandhi. His belief was that no religion should have a monopoly on the truth. Mahatma Gandhi certainly encouraged friendship between different religions.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Legacy of Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi has influenced many international leaders around the world. His struggle certainly became an inspiration for leaders. Such leaders are Martin Luther King Jr., James Beve, and James Lawson. Furthermore, Gandhi influenced Nelson Mandela for his freedom struggle. Also, Lanza del Vasto came to India to live with Gandhi.

The awards given to Mahatma Gandhi are too many to discuss. Probably only a few nations remain which have not awarded Mahatma Gandhi.

In conclusion, Mahatma Gandhi was one of the greatest political icons ever. Most noteworthy, Indians revere by describing him as the “father of the nation”. His name will certainly remain immortal for all generations.

Essay Topics on Famous Leaders

Mahatma Gandhi
APJ Abdul Kalam
Jawaharlal Nehru
Swami Vivekananda
Mother Teresa
Rabindranath Tagore
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
Subhash Chandra Bose
Abraham Lincoln
Martin Luther King

FAQs on Mahatma Gandhi

Q.1 Why Mahatma Gandhi decided to stop Non-cooperation movement?

A.1 Mahatma Gandhi decided to stop the Non-cooperation movement. This was due to the infamous Chauri-Chaura incident. There was significant violence at this incident. Furthermore, Gandhiji was strictly against any kind of violence.

Q.2 Name any two leaders influenced by Mahatma Gandhi?

A.2 Two leaders influenced by Mahatma Gandhi are Martin Luther King Jr and Nelson Mandela.

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A.T. Ariyaratne, a Hero in Sri Lanka for Helping the Poor, Dies at 92

He built Sarvodaya, an organization that battled dismal living conditions in his country’s villages and championed peace and mediation during a vicious civil war.

A man with white hair wearing a crisp white button down shirt looks at the camera with a booklet open in his hands.

By Adam Nossiter

A.T. Ariyaratne, a Sri Lankan who fought to alleviate the terrible living conditions of his country’s rural poor, creating a Buddhism-inspired social services organization that operates in thousands of villages, died on April 16 in Colombo, Sri Lanka’s capital. He was 92.

His death, at a hospital, was confirmed by his son Dr. Vinya Ariyaratne, in an interview.

Sometimes styled in the country’s media as a Sri Lankan Mahatma Gandhi, Mr. Ariyaratne preached brotherhood across ethnic divides and, with the help of volunteer labor and outside donations, brought aid to Sri Lankan villagers struggling with poor sanitation, insufficient food, broken roads and inadequate shelters and schools.

Hailed as a national hero and modeling himself on Ghandi’s ideals, he grew his Sarvodaya, or “Awakening of All,” movement from a presence in a handful of villages to operations in more than 5,000 of them a half-century later, digging wells, building schools, fixing roads, providing credit and more.

“Sarvodaya,” a term first used by Gandhi in India and inspired by the writings of the English critic and essayist John Ruskin, meant “the well-being of all,” especially the least fortunate, in Mr. Ariyaratne’s interpretation, as he explained in an essay in the anthology “The Sri Lanka Reader.” Ruskin’s essay “Unto This Last,” with its egalitarian, anticapitalist underpinnings, was a particular inspiration.

But Mr. Ariyaratne worked primarily in a time and a place largely unreceptive to his peace message: during Sri Lanka’s vicious civil war from 1983 to 2009, in which mass murders, civilian executions and torture were the norm. The war limited his impact, according to some scholars and observers, as the country reeled from repeated bouts of violent conflict between the majority Sinhalese Buddhists, like Mr. Ariyaratne, and the minority Tamils, mostly Hindu.

In the midst of the war, in 2001, Barbara Crossette , a former foreign correspondent for The New York Times, wrote in the Buddhist magazine Tricycle, “Sarvodaya’s success has been small, and the carnage continues.”

Much of the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement was dismissed as “naïve and unrealistic” by the Oxford and Princeton scholars Richard Gombrich and Gananath Obeyesekere in their 1988 book, “Buddhism Transformed.”

But others, pointing to Sarvodaya’s village-level projects, insist that Mr. Ariyaratne’s movement had positively affected thousands of Sri Lankans and that his Buddhist precept of respecting all lives had helped his country through a relatively peaceful period since the end of the war.

“The legacy was to provide practical ways people could address the problem of suffering,” John Clifford Holt, a veteran Sri Lanka scholar and emeritus professor at Bowdoin College, said in an interview. “He provided a progressive, this-worldly orientation to Buddhism. He took these ideas and inspired the volunteers. They built roads and dug wells, they provided microfinance for women.”

In Sri Lanka, observers and analysts acknowledged that Mr. Ariyaratne’s efforts to lessen the country’s strife had uneven results.

“He tried to ensure that if there was conflict, it was transformed into coexistence,” Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, executive director of the Centre for Policy Alternatives in Colombo, said in an interview. “Ariyaratne’s work has not been able to prevent that. But where he’s seen it happening, he’s intervened, at the local level.”

Sarvodaya had “an impact on bringing Tamils and Sinhalese together in various parts of the country, but it was not large enough to really make a big dent,” said Radhika Coomaraswamy, a Sri Lankan and former U.N. special representative for children and armed conflict.

Still, Mr. Ariyaratne’s efforts to foster peace were nothing if not dogged. Soon after the first deadly anti-Tamil riots in Colombo in 1983, “Sarvodaya began to organize camps for the refugees and aid for the victims,” George D. Bond wrote in “Buddhism at Work,” his 2003 study of the movement.

Mr. Ariyaratne, he added, used his “village network to provide food for the refugees, construct medical clinics, construct shelters and rebuild houses and schools.” He also established preschools and credit facilities for villagers as well as nutrition centers for children and the elderly.

As the violence continued, he organized a peace march in the south of the island that was stopped after only a few miles on the order of the president at the time, J. R. Jayewardene . Mr. Ariyaratne organized other peace marches in the following years, often to the irritation of the country’s leaders, who resented his popularity.

In 1994, traveling to the country’s north as a mediator, he met with leaders of the Tamil rebel movement, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. “It was not successful,” Jehan Perera, executive director of Sri Lanka’s National Peace Council, who was part of the mission, recalled in an interview.

Sarvodaya organized a mass meditation for peace in 2002 that was similarly ineffectual, though it remarkably attracted 650,000 people across ethnic divides, according to Mr. Bond. It wasn’t until 2009 that the government brutally stamped out the remnants of the rebel movement, engaging in more civilian massacres.

Mr. Ariyaratne had early on shed any illusions about the Buddhist underpinnings of the Sri Lankan state. “Even though, historically and culturally, Sri Lanka may claim to be Buddhist,” he wrote in 1987, “in my opinion, certainly the way political and economic structures are instituted and managed today, they can hardly be called Buddhist either in precept or practice.”

Ahangamage Tudor Ariyaratne was born on Nov. 5, 1931, in the town of Unawatuna, British Ceylon, as the country was known before it gained independence. He was the son of Ahangamage Hendrick Jinadasa, a wholesale trader, and Rosalina Gajadheera Arachchi, who managed the household. He attended Mahinda College in nearby Galle and received a degree in economics, education and Sinhala from Vidyodaya University in 1968.

Years before, Mr. Ariyaratne had embarked on a trip that transformed him and became the foundation of his movement. In December 1958, while teaching science at Nalanda College, a leading secondary school in Colombo, he took 40 of his students and 12 teachers to a nearby low-caste village, Kanatoluwa, where they spent days helping its residents in various ways, including digging wells, building latrines and repairing its school. Thus was born Mr. Ariyaratne’s concept of “Shramadana,” or “Gift of Labor,” a project that grew throughout the 1960s to encompass hundreds of voluntary labor camps, as Mr. Bond characterized them.

Mr. Ariyaratne saw Shramadana as transformative for both the movement’s thousands of volunteers and the villages themselves. His goal, he wrote, was “a dynamic nonviolent revolution which is not a transfer of political economic or social power from one party or class to another but the transfer of all such power to the people.”

By the early 1970s, he was attracting funding from the Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland. Sarvodaya became the country’s largest nongovernmental organization, according to Mr. Bond. Though clashes with the government over the movement’s nonviolent stance led some outside donors to withdraw funding for periods, Mr. Ariyaratne always managed to bounce back.

In addition to his son, he is survived by his wife, Neetha Ariyaratne; three daughters, Charika Marasinghe, Sadeeva de Silva and Nimna Ganegama; two other sons, Sadee and Diyath; 12 grandchildren; and sister, Amara Peeris.

After his death, Mr. Ariyaratne was given a state funeral attended by the country’s president, Ranil Wickremesinghe, and prime minister, Dinesh Gunawardena.

“We see him as a model human being who attempted, amid great challenges, to bring people together,” Colombo’s Anglican bishop, Dushantha Rodrigo, said in an interview. “The war was orchestrated on very political lines. People were not given much of a chance, well-meaning people like him, who made attempts to bring about a peaceful settlement.”

Skandha Gunasekara contributed reporting.

Adam Nossiter has been bureau chief in Kabul, Paris, West Africa and New Orleans, and is now a Domestic Correspondent on the Obituaries desk. More about Adam Nossiter

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COMMENTS

Gandhi's Philosophy of Nonviolence
5 For Gandhi, nonviolence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than any weapon of mass destruction. It is superior to brute force. It is a living force of power and no one has been or will ever be able to measure its limits or it's extend.Gandhi's nonviolence is the search for truth.
Unravelling the Myth of Gandhian Non-violence: Why Did Gandhi Connect
Gandhi's initial uses of the terms of ahiṃsā and "non-violence". This section shows when, where, and how the words ahiṃsā and "non-violence" appeared in Gandhi's writings in the three languages; that is to say, Gujarati, Hindi, and English. According to GA, SGV, and CWMG, except ten references in Hind Svarāj written in 1909, the word ahiṃsā (or its adjective form ahiṃsak ...
MAHATMA GANDHI'S PHILOSOPHY ON NON-VIOLENCE
SMART M O V E S J O U R N A L IJELLH. The present paper discusses the philosophy of 'nonviolence' (ahimsa) of Mahatma Gandhi, which he devised as a weapon to fight the brute forces of violence and hatred, hailing it as the only way to peace. Gandhi based his philosophy of nonviolence on the principle of love for all and hatred for none.
PDF My Non-violence
My Non-violence www.mkgandhi.org Page 3 part to embrace non-violence. Acharya Vinoba Bhave, the well-reputed protagonist of non-violence in modern India, has rightly remarked that this is an age when we must have to make proper synthesis of Vijnana and Atmajnana, i.e. science and self-knowledge. Not only Gandhians like Vinoba but so many
Gandhi on non-violence : Gandhi, Mahatma, 1869-1948
"Selected texts from Mohandas K. Gandhi's Non-violence in peace and war." Contains selected texts from the writings of Mahatma Gandhi in which he expressed his philosophy of non-violence and non-violent action, and includes an introductory essay by editor Thomas Merton Includes bibliographical references and indexes
Gandhi and Non-violence
Abstract. This chapter talks of Mahatma Gandhi's principle of non-violence. It explains that though Gandhi was the greatest exponent of the doctrine of ahimsa or non-violence in modern times, he was not its author because ahimsa has been part of the Indian religious tradition for centuries. However, he was able to transform what had been an individual ethic into a tool of social and ...
On Gandhi and Nonviolence as a Spiritual Virtue ‹ Literary Hub
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi described "ahimsa," nonviolence or more accurately love, as the "supreme duty.". This essay seeks to understand the necessity of nonviolence in Gandhi's life and thought. Toward the end of his life, Gandhi was asked by a friend to resume writing his autobiography and write a "treatise on the science of ...
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Gandhi organized Indian resistance, fought anti-Indian legislation in the courts and led large protests against the colonial government. Along the way, he developed a public persona and a ...
Gandhi: Toward a Vision of Nonviolence, Peace, and Justice
For Gandhi, being rooted in nonviolence, or ahimsa, was the only way to find truth; in accordance, he believed that satya (truth) and ahimsa (nonviolence ) were two sides of the same coins leading individuals to "the ultimate destination of life" (Adjei, 2013; Behera, 2016; Ghosh, 2020). Satyagraha is ultimately a reflection of Gandhi's firm belief in the dignity of human life which also ...
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Mahatma Gandhi - Nonviolence, Resistance, India: Gandhi was not the man to nurse a grudge. On the outbreak of the South African (Boer) War in 1899, he argued that the Indians, who claimed the full rights of citizenship in the British crown colony of Natal, were in duty bound to defend it. He raised an ambulance corps of 1,100 volunteers, out of whom 300 were free Indians and the rest ...
Gandhi and Non-violence
The real significance of the Indian freedom movement in Gandhi's eyes was that it was waged nonviolently. He would have had no interest in it if the Indian National Congress had adopted Satyagraha and subscribed to nonviolence. He objected to violence not only because an unarmed people had little chance of success in an armed rebellion, but ...
Mohandas Gandhi
Dinodia Photos/Getty Images. Revered the world over for his nonviolent philosophy of passive resistance, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was known to his many followers as Mahatma, or "the great ...
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Mahatma Gandhi - Nonviolence, Indian Independence, Satyagraha: For the next three years, Gandhi seemed to hover uncertainly on the periphery of Indian politics, declining to join any political agitation, supporting the British war effort, and even recruiting soldiers for the British Indian Army. At the same time, he did not flinch from criticizing the British officials for any acts of high ...
Gandhi's perspective on non-violence and animals: ethical theory and
Mahatma Gandhi's profound theory of non-violence takes into account both human beings and animals. His fundamental thought on the subject of protecting animals is the outcome of a cluster of theories, including the non-violence of Jainism, the ... This essay explores how the principles of ahimsa and reverence for life provide a foundation for ...
Chapter-21: The Gospel of Non-Violence
It was only when I had learnt to reduce myself to zero that I was able to evolve the power of Satyagraha in South Africa. (H, 6-5-1939, p113) In this chapter, 'The Gospel of Non-Violence', Gandhiji talks about the path of true non-violence. This book, The Mind of Mahatma Gandhi, R. K. Prabhu & U. R. Rao is compiled to help in understanding ...
Nonviolence
Mahatma Gandhi was of the view: No religion in the World has explained the principle of Ahimsa so deeply and systematically as is discussed with its applicability in every human life in Jainism.As and when the benevolent principle of Ahimsa or non-violence will be ascribed for practice by the people of the world to achieve their end of life in this world and beyond.
Ahimsa: Its theory and practice in Gandhism
Ahimsa in Jainism. The basic elements of Gandhi's philosophy were rooted in the Indian religions of Jainism and Buddhism. Both of these religions advocate ahimsa, which is "absence of the desire to kill or harm" (Chapple 10).The Acaranga Sutra, a Jain text, describes the fundamental need for non-violence: "All beings are fond of life; they like pleasure and hate pain, shun destruction ...
Mahatma Gandhi
Nonviolence is the highest form of humility; it is supreme courage. The essence of Gandhi's teachings was fearlessness. The Mahatma taught that "the strong are never vindictive" and that dialogue can only be engaged in by the brave. Image (top): Gandhi Icon. Credit: Pratheepps (Attribution via Wikimedia Commons)
Mahatma Gandhi: Truth and non-violence
To Gandhi, non-violence was not a negative concept but a positive sense of love. During the freedom struggle, Gandhi introduced the spirit of Satyagraha to the world. Whenever we think of Mahatma Gandhi, two words come to our mind - truth and non-violence - as he was a staunch believer in these two ideals. Born on October 2, 1869, Gandhi is ...
GANDHI'S PHILOSOPHY OF NON-VIOLENCE: A CRITIQUE
Abstract The present paper discusses the philosophy of 'nonviolence' (ahimsa) of Mahatma Gandhi, which he devised as a weapon to fight the brute forces of violence and hatred, hailing it as the only way to peace. ... Related Papers. Gandhi and his non-violence. Dwaipayan Sen. Political and social movements in South Africa, the United States ...
How Martin Luther King Jr. Took Inspiration From Gandhi on Nonviolence
Gandhi referred to his form of nonviolence as satyagraha, meaning "truth-force" or "love-force.". Practicing satyagraha means a person should seek truth and love while refusing, through ...
Mahatma Gandhi Essay for Students in English
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, often called the 'Father of the Nation', was a leader who fought for India's freedom from British rule.He believed in non-violence. Every year on October 2nd, Mahatma Gandhi's birthday is celebrated as Gandhi Jayanti to honor his efforts in freeing India.. English Essay on Mahatma Gandhi. Rabindranath Tagore was the first to call Gandhiji 'Mahatma,' which means ...
Essay on Mahatma Gandhi
500+ Words Essay on Mahatma Gandhi. Essay on Mahatma Gandhi - Mahatma Gandhi was a great patriotic Indian, if not the greatest. He was a man of an unbelievably great personality. He certainly does not need anyone like me praising him. Furthermore, his efforts for Indian independence are unparalleled. Most noteworthy, there would have been a ...
A.T. Ariyaratne, a Hero in Sri Lanka for Helping the Poor, Dies at 92
"Sarvodaya," a term first used by Gandhi in India and inspired by the writings of the English critic and essayist John Ruskin, meant "the well-being of all," especially the least fortunate ...