Gandhian philosophy is not only relevant to political, moral and religious, it is also traditional and modern.

Gandhiji developed his ideologies from various inspirational sources such as the Bhagvad Geeta, Jainism, Buddhism, Bible, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Tolstoy, John Ruskin, Martin Luther among others.

Gandhian philosophy is a double-edged weapon. Its objective is to transform the individual and society simultaneously, in accordance with the principles of truth and non-violence.

 

Brief About Father of Nation (India) :

Name : Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

Born : 2nd October, 1869

PoB : Porbandar, Kathiawar (Gujarat)

Died : 30 January 1948

Occupation : Lawyer, Politician, Activist, Writer

His Book : The Story of My Experiment with Truth

The International Day of Non-Violence is observed on 2nd October, the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi.

Gandhi Peace Prize is given for social, economic and political transformation through non-violence and other Gandhian methods.

Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) is celebrated on 9th January every year to mark the contribution of Overseas Indian community in the development of India. He returned to India from South Africa on 9th January 1915.

 

 

Famous Gandhiji Ideology/Philosophy:

Truth & Nonviolence (Satya & Ahimsa):

The Twin Central Principles of Gandhian thoughts.

Non-violence, in its active sense, includes truth and fearlessness. Except God, men should not fear anyone else. If men obey God, they need not worry about any human agency. E.g. Doctrine of Satyagraha.

 

Satyagraha:

Gandhi ji called his overall method of truth & nonviolent action Satyagraha. It means the exercise of the purest soul-force against all injustice, oppression and exploitation.

It is a method of securing rights by personal suffering and not inflicting injury on others.

 

Swachhata (Cleanliness):

The Swachh Bharat Diwas, 2020 was celebrated on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti.

Gandhi-ji had once said, ‘Sanitation is more important than independence.’  

The ideology of Mahatma Gandhi, the Bapu of the Nation, are becoming more relevant all over the world. People are seeking solutions to their problems in Gandhiji’s ideas.

The Jan Andolan on Behavioural Change launched by the Prime Minister of India Mr. Modi has been inspired by the ideas of Mahatma Gandhi on cleanliness and the behavioural change campaign will prove to be the most potent weapon to fight present (Covid-19) and future pandemics.

The importance of three elements of campaign- hand hygiene, social distancing and wearing of masks – were also reiterated at the webinar on "Relevance of Mahatma's teachings on cleanliness in times of global pandemic".

In his article, “Swasthya ki Kunji”,  he said that three natural resources are needed — air, water and food — but clean air is most important of them.

 

Swaraj Gram (Self-reliant Village):

 ‘The independence of India should mean the independence of the whole of India [. . .] Independence must begin at the bottom. Thus, every village will be a republic [. . .] It follows therefore that every village has to be self-sustained and capable of managing its affairs. In this structure composed of innumerable villages, there will be ever-widening, ever-ascending circles. Life will be a pyramid with the apex sustained by the bottom.’

He wrote in Harijan Sevak in 1946, “There should be development of such art and workmanship in the countryside, that their products are valued outside of villages too.”

 

Swadeshi (Self-reliant):

Gandhiji inspired Indians to spin yarn with charkha and wear hand-woven clothes.

Today, there is an increasing move towards Swadeshi. This gives an opportunity for small industries to flourish. Rural people from far-flung areas get a chance to become financially self-reliant through such endeavours.

Gandhiji wanted the country to become self-sufficient through Swadeshi. We have moved in that direction after a long time. This has started yielding positive results.

e.g. Khadi India, Mission Chandrayaan-2 is the second lunar exploration mission developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana….

 

Suraaj (Good Governance):

Gandhi-ji had dreamt of Ram Rajya, where there would be absolute good governance and transparency.

He wrote in Young India (19 September 1929), ‘By Ram Rajya I do not mean Hindu Raj. I mean Ram Raj, the kingdom of God. For me, Ram and Rahim are one and the same; I acknowledge no other God than the one God of truth and righteousness. Whether the Ram of my imagination ever lived on this earth, the ancient ideal of the Ramayana is undoubtedly one of true democracy in which the meanest citizen could be sure of swift justice without an elaborate and costly procedure.’

In Amrit Bazar Patrika, on 2 August 1934, he said, ‘Ramayana of my dreams ensures equal rights to both prince and pauper.’ Again, in Harijan of 2 January 1937, he wrote, ‘I have described Ram Rajya, that is, sovereignty of the people based on moral authority.

 

Education:

On May 8, 1937, he wrote in Harijan that “Man is neither entirely intellect, nor a gross body, neither only a heart or a soul. A proper and consistent combination of all these is needed to create a complete human being. This is the true purpose of education.”

 

 

Mahatma Gandhi’s role and influence in shaping New India is indisputable. In my opinion, he is still as relevant a person and a philosopher in the twenty-first century as he was in the previous one. For instance, in this globalized, tech-savvy world, the concepts of ‘sarva dharma sama bhaav’, or all religions are the same, and ‘sarva dharma sada bhaav’, or goodwill towards all religions, professed by Gandhi-ji, are essential to maintain an atmosphere of harmony and compassion and to realize his idea of ‘vasudhaiva kutumbakam’ (the world is one family).

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Also Read: Famous Quotes of GandhiJi

 Sources: NITI Aayog, PiB