Rudimentary understanding of the Gandhian approach to Nonviolence
Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of nonviolence stemmed from the Indian tradition of human interdependence; he took a cosmocentric view of human beings. Bhikhu Parekh is his book, Gandhi: A Very Short Introduction describes this perspective of the Mahatma aptly. According to Parekh, Mahatma Gandhi cosmocentric view of man entailed, “The cosmos was a well-coordinated whole whose various parts were all linked in a system of yajna, or interdependence and mutual service. It consisted of different orders of being ranging from the material to the human, each governed by its own laws and standing in a complex relationship with the rest. Human beings were an integral part of the cosmos, and tied to it by the deepest bonds. In Gandhi’s favourite metaphor, the cosmos was not a pyramid of which the material world was the base and human beings the apex, but a series of ever-widening circles encompassing human kind, the sentient world, the material world, and die all-including cosmos….Since everything in the universe bore the mark of divinity, it needed to be approached in a spirit of cosmic piety and maitri (friendliness).”
The very fact that the Mahatma took this approach from the Indian tradition can be underlined from his discourses on the Bhagavad Gita. Giving his interpretations of Chapter 7 of the Bhagavad Gita, Gandhi says, “We should regard an enemy as one with us. We should reflect how we wish someone who is afraid of us to behave towards us, even if it was in his power to cut us to pieces, we would want him to be fair to us….The Gita counsels us to treat chandals and bhangis in the same manner as we do others. We should actually feel the same towards as others. It is in vain that one reads the Gita if one does not try to live in such a spirit. We should not get pleasure in torturing snakes and other like creatures.”
The foundation to the Gandhian perspective on nonviolence emanates from this explanation that the ‘the universe was a common inheritance of all living beings, who were equally entitled to its resources and should live in a spirit of mutual accommodation. Being rational, human beings were the custodians of the rest of creation and should respect its rights and cherish its diversity.’
With this background of human interdependence, the Mahatma was clear that all our actions — whether for self or others actually affected others. If there is inner growth, they could awaken others, inspire them and encouraged them. But in situations of a dysfunctional inner self, they not only fell themselves but create sufferings for others. As Parekh says in his book, ‘for Gandhi, human beings could not degrade or brutalize others without also degrading or brutalizing themselves.’ He adds, “Since humanity was indivisible, every human being was responsible to and for others and should be deeply concerned about how they lived.”
This fundamental pillar of Gandhi’s nonviolence which underlines the idea of human interdependence is critical in today’s world. As we find ourselves in conflict with other human beings, nature and other living species, assimilation of the principles of interdependence has become a need not just at the level of individual but groups and the society at large.
Self-purification and self-restraint are other important tenets of Gandhian nonviolence. In his Autobiography, the Mahatma writes, “Identification with everything that lives is impossible without self-purification; without self-purification the observance of the law of Ahimsa must remain an empty dream; God can never be realized by one who is not pure of heart. Self-purification, therefore, must mean purification in all the walks of life. And purification being highly infectious, purification of oneself necessarily leads to the purification of one’s surroundings.”
He further writes in the Autobiography, “But the path of purification is hard and steep. To attain to perfect purity one has to become absolutely passion-free in thought, speech, and action; to rise above the opposing currents of love and hatred, attachment and repulsion. I know that I have not in me as yet that triple purity, in spite of constant, ceaseless striving for it. That is why the world’s praise fails to move me, indeed it very often stings me. To conquer the subtle passions seems to me to be harder far than the physical conquest of the world by the force of arms.”
An important dimension of self-purification is how we control our mind and our senses. The Mahatma had said, “It is the nature of the mind to be ceaselessly active, thinking of one thing or another. He who strives ceaselessly to restrain the mind is sure to win the battle and be free from worldly desire.”
Further in the context of controlling one’s senses, the Mahatma in his interpretation of the Bhagavad Gita, 2: 58 notes, “A person who holds in his senses and prevents them from going out to their objects, as the tortoise draws in his limbs and holds them as if under a shield, has an intellect which is steadfast. Only that man who voluntarily reins in his senses, maybe known as being completely absorbed in God. When our senses seem to move out of our control, we should think of the tortoise. The objects of the senses are like pebbles. If we hold in the senses, the pebbles will not hurt.
The importance the Mahatma gives to the self in our tryst for practicing nonviolence is further underlined when he argues, “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 wide latitude in the matter of diet and yet may be a personification of ahimsa and compel our homage, if his 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. (Young India, 6–9–1928)
For Gandhi, nonviolence was the most active force which he said was soul force. He felt that realization of the values of nonviolence could help us draw the power of Godhead within us. He said, “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.”
He further points out, “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)
The central pillars which governed Mahatma Gandhi’s life was truth and nonviolence. For the Mahatma, truth was God and he felt the ultimate purpose of life was realizing truth as God. Further, he stressed that truth could be realized only through nonviolence. He said ‘truth was the end and nonviolence the means.’
In this context, he pointed out, “….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 or later. When once we have grasped this point, final victory is beyond question. (Selections from Gandhi)
In fact for the Mahatma, as we have seen thus far, nonviolence was not a narrow negative concept which talked of non-injury or non-killing but a positive connotation which was dynamic in nature; it meant deep love for all with a sense of selfless service of not only one’s fellow beings, but encompassed the nature and all other creations. Explaining the all-encompassing nature of nonviolence, he writes, “Ahimsa is not the crude thing it has been made to appear. Not to hurt any living thing is, no doubt, a part of ahimsa. But it is its least expression. The principle of ahimsa is hurt by every evil thought, undue haste, by lying, by hatred, by wishing ill to anybody. It is also violated by our holding on to what the world needs. (From Yeravda Mandir)
He further wrote: “Ahimsa is not merely a negative state of harmlessness, but it is a positive state of love, of doing good even to the evil-doer.” (Young India, August 25, 1920). The Mahatma links this positive dimension of nonviolence to the essence of love. He notes, “Ahimsa means “love” in the Pauline sense, and yet something more than the “love” defined by Paul…Ahimsa includes the whole creation, and not only human. Besides, “Love” in the English language has other connotations too, and so I was compelled to use the negative word. But it does not, as I told you, express a negative force, but a force superior to all the forces put together.” (Harijan, March 14, 1936) Once again, we see how the Mahatma links this dimension of ahimsa to the idea of human interdependence.
Mahatma Gandhi’s articulation of positive form of nonviolence is further underscored by when he links it to the greatest charity. He said, “In its positive form, ahimsa means the largest love, the greatest charity. If I am a follower of ahimsa I must love my enemy…It is no nonviolence if we merely love those who love us. It is nonviolence only when we love those that hate us. I know how difficult it is to follow this grand Law of Love. But are not all great and good things difficult to do? Love of the hater is the most difficult of all. But by the grace of God, even this most difficult thing becomes easy to accomplish”. (Speeches and Writings of Mahatma Gandhi)
Taking leaf from his seminal work, Hind Swaraj, we can say that much of his perspectives on nonviolence stemmed out of the deep-rooted violence that he witnessed- both direct and structural. In Hind Swaraj, he diagnosed the modern manifestations of the various types of violence as civilizational disease. As Gandhi argued in Hind Swaraj, modern western civilization tended to promote competition, greed and avarice and, in the process, it drained almost every human transaction of its ethics and normative values; it legitimized the use of any means if they brought or bought success; it replaced restraint with hedonism and ultimately God with Mammon. These resulted in unprecedented violence at all levels. It is in this context, Gandhi was very clear on giving equal importance to both the means and end. Further, in Hind Swaraj he advocated the total rejection of the civilization that glorified violence or promoted violence. He, argued that only ahimsa or nonviolence in its truest sense was actually capable of confronting this spiral of violence.
Another important dimension of Gandhi’s nonviolence was his intrinsic faith in the nonviolent character of human nature. He said even though both good and evil existed as human nature, human beings were essentially good. This argument stemmed from his views that life continue to persist even in situations of conflicts and destruction. He says, “Consciously or unconsciously, we are acting non-violently towards one another in our daily life. All well-constructed societies are based on the law of nonviolence. I have found that life persists in the midst of destruction and, therefore, there must be a higher law than that of destruction. Only under that law would a well-ordered society be intelligible and life worth living. And, if that is the Law of Life we have to work it out in daily life.” (Young India., Oct. 10, 1931)
Continuing with this argument, the Mahatma was convinced that nonviolence was the ‘law of our species’. He said, “I claim that even now, though the social structure is not based on a conscious acceptance of nonviolence, the entire world over mankind lives and men retain their possessions on the sufferance of one another. If they had not done so, only the fewest and the most ferocious would have survived. But such is not the case. Families are bound by ties of love and so are groups. (Harijan, Feb.22, 1942)
As nonviolence for Gandhi was the ‘law of our being’, he felt its power has been operating throughout history facilitating human evolution. It is in this backdrop, he wanted humanity to accept ‘nonviolence as an article of faith, which means in thought, word and deed.’
But how can we all assimilate these principles of nonviolence in our life process. Here again the Mahatma has an answer. He said:
“How are we to train individuals or communities in this difficult art?” There is no royal road, except through living the creed in your life which must be a living sermon. Of course, the expression in one’s own life presupposes great study, tremendous perseverance, and thorough cleansing of one’s self of all the impurities. If for mastering of the physical sciences you have to devote a whole life-time, how many life-times may be needed for mastering the greatest spiritual force that mankind has known? But why worry even if it means several life-times? For, if this is the only permanent thing in life, if this is the only thing that counts, then whatever effort you bestow on mastering it is well spent. Seek ye first the Kingdom of Heaven and everything else shall be added unto you. The Kingdom of Heaven is ahimsa. (Harijan, 14–3–1936)
It would be difficult to capture the vastness and depth of Gandhi’s nonviolence in a small article like this. But some of the basic principles as discussed here can be reflected and further research can be done to see their efficacy. But for that, we should try to practice these principles ourselves. This is an important lesson we learn from the life of the Mahatma. We must underscore that the principles of nonviolence were not just philosophical tenets articulated by the Mahatma, these were the principles which formed the basis of his personal life and his public activities.
We can conclude this article through these thoughts of the Mahatma:
“By reason of life-long practice of ahimsa, I claim to be an expert in it, though very imperfect. Speaking in absolute terms, the more I practice it the clearer I see how far I am from the full expression of ahimsa in my life. It is his ignorance of this, the greatest duty of man in the world, which makes him say that in this age non-violence has little scope in the face of violence, whereas I make bold to say that in this age of the Atom Bomb unadulterated non-violence is the only force that can confound all the tricks put together of violence. (Harijan, 16–11–1947)