Gandhijis Ethics and Ideals

Although for understanding Gandhi's philosophy it is important to bear in mind that Gandhi's
connotations of terms are different from the prevalent ones. Quite often they sound national
or geographical, when in fact they are universal. The ultimate ideal for Gandhi, as he repeated
several times, is unrealised and unrealisable; its value consists in pointing out the direction.
According to him, there must always be an unbridgeable gulf between the ideal and its
practice. The ideal will cease to be one if it becomes possible to realise it. He argues: "Where
would there be room for that constant striving, that ceaseless quest after the ideal that is the
basis of all spiritual progress, if mortals could reach the perfect state while still in the body?"
Striving after the ideal is the very essence of practising Gandhi's philosophy. To the extent
we make this effort, to that extent we realise the ideal.

Intro

Two basic principles, Truth and Nonviolence, are the foundations of Gandhi's philosophy. At
the highest level of experience, they merge and become one with God. His ideal of life, self-
realisation, therefore, is couched in ideal terms, when the Unity of Man and God has also
been achieved. Gandhi, however, is fully aware that in actual fact, at the present level of
human experience, there is a gulf between man and God; indeed, this gulf will never be
completely bridged as long as we are in this body. "Being necessarily limited by the bonds of
flesh we can achieve perfection only after the dissolution of the body." But while in this
body, the gulf can certainly be narrowed. Thus recognising the imperfect nature of man,
Gandhi's prescription would be to follow the relative truth persistently which he called
"satyagraha". This shows the dynamic character of his ideas.

Truth

The Indian word for truth is ‘Satya’ which is derived from ‘Sat’ which means ‘being’ from
this Gandhi concludes that truth means that which exists and that in reality nothing exists
except truth. That is why Gandhiji identified truth with God and believed that pursuit of truth
which involves suffering sometimes even till death, was true devotion or the correct path that
led to god & Devotion to truth is the essence of Gandhism. In Gandhi’s view, God and truth
are inseparable. Devotion to God can be carried out through devotion to his creation
particularly through the service of the downtrodden.
Gandhiji said God, as truth had been a great treasure for him beyond any price and he wanted
it to be so to everyone. He believed that “where there was truth there existed knowledge”.
Gandhiji said “observation of the law of truth is understood merely to mean that we must
speak the truth, but we should understand the word Satya or Truth in a much wider sense.
There should be Truth in Thought, Truth in Speech and Truth in Action.

According to Gandhiji everyone should devote themselves to Truth in all hours “whether
working, eating, drinking or playing till your soul unifies with the truth (God)- In short all
activities of life must be centred around the Truth. Gandhiji called his movement as
Satyagraha movement’ which means “a movement led by a force which is born out of intense
desire to follow the path of Truth” (Satya+Agraha= Satyagraha)

It is not enough that one stops or avoids telling lies but one also shouldn’t practice treachery
in any form whatsoever, even it is for the good of the country. One must be prepared to
undergo any suffering for the sake of Truth. Truth was to be practised not only passively but
actively. All activities should be centred around the Truth and the path of Truth should be
followed at any cost even at the cost of one’s life.

Gandhiji highlighted the fact that the truth is the essence of all religions, Gautam Buddhas
teachings pointed out that the objective of bodhisattva is to attain the truth in his search for
enlightenment And put an end to sufferings. Buddha adopted and practiced code of morality
and truth for achieving salvation. According to Jainism to become a Muktatma (soul liberated
from the bonds of body) the individual must follow the path of truth and nonviolence. Islam
played an important role in shaping gandhijis views in regard to truth and religion. Gandhiji’s
deep interest and passionate devotion to Christianity made him realise it's truths.

Non-Violence

Gandhi's adoption of nonviolence as a method of pursuing truth is due to the fact that man,
imperfect as he is, can only strive, he cannot command the result. Perfect nonviolence, being
the attribute of God alone, cannot be practised by human beings.

Being a part of society, man cannot but participate in "himsa" that the very existence of
society involves. Gandhi, therefore, would consider a person true to his faith if "there is an
effort to avoid the violence that is inevitable in life". That is how Gandhi's ideal of
nonviolence is translated into actual practice. In essence, it consists "in allowing others the
maximum of convenience at the maximum inconvenience to us, even at the risk of life.
Everyone has to determine for himself the amount of inconvenience he is capable of putting
up with. No third party can determine it for him."

Ahimsa doesn't only mean abstinence from killing but also abstinence from hurting even to
those whom one believed to be unjust. The satyagrahi will conquer the tyrant by love. A
Satyagrahi instead of carrying out tyrants orders will suffer punishment even unto death.
Gandhiji said the path of Ahimsa is a narrow as it is straight Even like the path of truth. It is
like balancing oneself on the edge of the sword. Even balancing oneself on the rope is easy
but concentration required to follow The path of truth and ahimsa is far greater. the slightest
inattention brings one tottering to the ground. one can realise truth and ahimsa only by
ceaseless striving

Gandhiji tried to secure practice of nonviolence as perfect as possible. For Gandhiji the
suppressor and suppressed both are victims they are not different from each other they are
Blood Brothers and friends and may not be punished. They should be made to realise the
kinship. So one must take pains to device Ways and Means to win them over this is the path
of ahimsa. The path of ahimsa demands continuous sufferings and cultivating of endless
patience. Through this technique we learn how to make friends with all the world. One
realises greatness of God of truth, Peace of Mind increases and one becomes more and more
braver, Pride melts away and we become humble. The evil within us shrinks from day to day

the principle of ahimsa is hurt by evil thought, by lying, by hatred, by wishing ill to anybody.
It is also violated by ones holding on to what the world needs, the body does not belong to us,
it is the burden of the flesh and so we should devote it towards the service of community as
our capacity will permit

Gandhiji's concept of non violence was born out of religious teachings. nonviolence is the
essence of Buddhism. Buddha teaches ahimsa both as love and avoidance of injury to self and
others. ahimsa is expressed through love, pity, tenderness and impartiality. Buddha laid
considerable stress on non-violence, celibacy, non-possession and non-stealing. Gandhiji
being a true disciple of Buddha adopted and practiced same code of morality for achieving
salvation.

though Jainism stands as opposition to Vedic orthodoxy Gandhiji was deeply impressed by
its philosophy of nonviolence and righteousness. According to Jainism the right conduct
consist of the observance of nonviolence, truthfulness, non stealing, chastity and non
attachment to worldly things. But Jainism stretches this principle of non violence to an
extreme end as to forbid one to take the life of even an insect. Gandhiji found it as not
workable in normal run of life so he spoke about relative nonviolence. Gandhiji didn't
opposed the killing of snakes, monkeys, mosquitoes and small insects.

Islam is a religion of peace and brotherhood. the very word Islam means peace, safety or
salvation. However the Quran favors war against the aggressor. The prophet himself waged
defensive wars although at the end he forgive his defeated enemies. Yet the prophet preferred
nonviolence over violence. Gandhiji regarded Islam as a religion of peace in the same way in
which Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism are. Muslims salutation as ‘Salaam Alaikum’
means live in peace and prosperity, it also talks about religious tolerance and universal
brotherhood etc.

Christ and his teachings occupy a unique place in the history of nonviolence. Gandhi said that
“no other religion says so firmly that God is love”. Jesus condemned the use of physical force
and preached the principles of love. Gandhi said the cross is the symbol of sacrifice and
satyagraha is the crown of it. Gandhiji considered ahimsa as the means and truth as the end.

Features

1- non violence is the law of the human race and is infinitely greater than and superior
to brute force
2- A life without a living faith in God of love is useless or it has no value
3- non-violence Affords the fullest protection of ones self respect and sense of honour.
4- Individuals communities or nations who practice nonviolence must be prepared for
sacrifices
5- non violence is a power which can be wielded equally by all- children, young man &
women or grown up people provided that they should have living faith in God
6- It is an error to suppose that whilst the law is good enough for individuals but it is not
for the masses of mankind

Additional Readings

The application of nonviolence and satyagraha to social and political fields has been a subject
of great controversy. So complete was Gandhi's faith that he considered it a remedy against
all social evils. What makes it a unique method of bringing about change is the
transformation of the whole atmosphere, satyagrahi and the opponent included. Its success or
failure is not to be judged in terms of victory or defeat of one party but in terms of a change
of heart of both.

"A man or woman who is saturated with ahimsa has only to will a thing and it happens." This
is because a perfect satyagrahi would be nearer to God; and what is beyond His power! Since
such a perfect satyagrahi is not available, Gandhi realised the necessity of group action.
Gandhi's method strongly emphasizes the need of ethical discipline, whose essential
ingredient is courage - the courage of dying without killing. Having decided upon the
rightness of a situation, Gandhi would not like one to be a passive spectator to evil. That
would be participation in the evil itself. If one does not have sufficient nonviolence to die
without killing one should not shamefully flee from the danger in the name of nonviolence. It
is not possible to make a person or a society nonviolent by compulsion." Under certain
circumstances, nonviolence may be only a matter of policy, as it was with the Indian National
Congress. But this cannot be identified with the level of nonviolence which Gandhi
personally was capable of. There is not a uniform pattern of application of nonviolence for all
individuals and societies.

He knew very well that the people of India did not have nonviolence of his standard even to
expel the British government: why then did he continue to talk of repelling armed aggression
non-violently? For Gandhi, non-violence was not merely a weapon to achieve self-
government: for once independence was achieved, a constant effort was to be made to reach
the ideal when it would, of course, be possible to defend the country non-violently. Such an
ideal, it is true, was not to be realised immediately after the British government withdrew but
was to be striven for.