A STUDY ON GANDHIAN PRINCIPLES OF NON VIOLENCE IN INDIA

Under the guidance of:

Mr.Satyajit Pattanaik,
Madhusudan Law University

Submitted by:
Vasundhara Agarwal

Llm (3rd Semester)

Exam Roll No. - 49
Class Roll No. - 60

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 DECLARATION

I , Vasundhara Agarwal, solemnly declare that the text reported in this research paper titled “A
STUDY ON GANDHIAN PRINCIPLES OF NON VIOLENCE IN INDIA” is the outcome
of my own efforts . No part of this research is copied in any unauthorized manner and the
incorporated text have been used with due reference to their rightful owners and in no manner
have been used without due acknowledgement.

Date_11/03/2023
Signature

Place - Cuttack Place- Cuttack

(Vasundhara Agarwal)

Roll No-60

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I express my deep sense of gratitude to those who have helped me in completion of my

Assignment.

My sincere thanks to Mr. Satyajit Pattanaik, who rendered me several suggestions and
modifications in preparing this Assignment.

I want to thanks my parents and friends for their support and motivation in completion of
my Assignment work.

There may be errors or omissions while preparing this Assignment for which I owe
responsibility and any one whosoever points them will be duly rectified.

Date:11.03.23
Signature

Place - Cuttack Place- Cuttack

(Vasundhara Agarwal)

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Declaration……………………………………………………………………..…02

II. Acknowledgement……………………………………………………………..….03

III. Abstract…………………………………………………….……………………...05

IV. Introduction……………………………………………………………………….06

V. Non – violence in Hinduism.....…………………………………………………...07

VI. Non- violence in Jainism....……………………………………………………......07

VII.Non – Violence in Buddhism.……………………………………………………..08

VIII. Non-violence in Christianity.…………………………………………………...09

IX. Non – Violence in Islam.....…………………………………………………….......09

X. Gandhiji’s Approach to Non – Violence...........……………………....................10-13

XI. Gandhian Principles relating to Directive Principles of State Policy……..…...14 – 16

XII.Critics of Gandhi’s Non – Violence ..................………………………………...16-18

XIII. Conclusion.......................…………………………………………………....18 -19

XIV. Bibliography............………………………………………………………..........19

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ABSTRACT

Ahimsa is the key concept or heart of the Gandhian philosophy as well as movement. Gandhism
as a way of life advocates that Truth is God and non-violence is only means of attaining it. For
Gandhi realization of “Truth” is the final goal of the human face. There is no question of doubt
that Gandhi‟s idea of non-violence (ahimsa), chastity, non-possession, and equality of all
religions constitute the very structure of Satyagraha is the perfect weapon to conquer political
freedom as to attain higher destiny. The present paper is an attempt to show that Gandhiji has a
firm belief in the evolution of rational being from the lower grades of animal being to upper
levels of humanity via noble virtues like love (ahimsa) is necessary for welfare state. For Gandhi,
ahimsa is the law of life and higher than destruction. The law of ahimsa makes life worth-living
or meaningful. Ahimsa not only develop man‟s moral dignity and personality, but it also makes
possible an ideal state or society. Thus, for the construction of well-developed as well as well-
ordered human society ahimsa is crucial. Ahimsa, therefore, plays an important role to build up
peaceful society. Ahimsa means the largest love or greatest love as the term ahimsa indicates
harmlessness or non-violence.

Key words: Ahimsa, Love, Satyagraha, Truth

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INTRODUCTION

It would not be an exaggeration if we claim that ahimsa is the main concept of the philosophy of
M. K. Gandhi and his movement too. Gandhism is a way of life as it advocates that Truth is God
and non-violence is only means of attaining it. For Gandhi, realization of “Truth” is the ultimate
goal of human. Truly speaking, Gandhi‟s idea of non-violence (ahimsa), chastity, non-
possession, and equality of all religions constitute the very structure of Satyagraha. Satyagraha is
the key weapon to conquer political freedom as well as to attain higher destiny. Thus, Gandhiji
has a firm belief in the evolution of human being from the lower grades of animal being to upper
levels of humanity via noble virtues like love (ahimsa) etc. For Gandhi, man has made him man
by distinguishing him from other lower class of animals or creatures. Gandhi said, “I am
prepared to believe that we have become man by a slow process of evolution from the brute. We
were thus born with brute strength, but we were born men in order to realize God who dwells in
us. That indeed is the privilege of man, and it distinguishes him from the brute creation . Gandhi
claimed that the animal‟s world is the world of violence (himsa), whereas the world of human
being is the world of non-violence (ahimsa). At this juncture it becomes clear that man‟s
evolution shows his progress from violence to that of non-violence. “If we turn our eyes to the
time of which history has any record down to our own time, we shall find that man has been
steadily progressing towards Ahimsa.”

One of the cardinal virtues of most of the Indian religions (Jainism, Buddhism,| Hinduism,
Christianity and Islamic) is Ahimsa. It is based on the concept that all human beings have a
divine light within them and therefore it is not right to inflict harm upon each other. Mahatma
Gandhi is a strong believer of Ahimsa or nonviolence. The belief of ahimsa lies on the concept of
"cause no injury" in any form be it deeds, words, or thoughts. All the major religions in the
world, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism,Christianity,and Islam have preached non violence and
principle of love, tolerance,and peace with Indian religion playing a pivotal part. The concept of
'ahimsa' is part of ancient belief in India..

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Non – Violence in Hinduism

Bhagavad Gita and Mahabharata plays an important role in inculcating the concept of ahimsa.In
Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna teaches Arjuna about non – violence. He asks Arjuna not to hurt,
harm or give injury to any living being that is human and sub humans in any way whether in
anger or inconsistency.

Likewise, Mahabharata speaks about the importance of Ahimsa in Hinduism by believing that it
is the highest virtue by teaching self control. Mahabharata mentions Ahimsa as Parmo Dharma
which means that Ahimsa is the biggest form of Dharma. It teaches that all living beings are
image of one self and therefore not to use violence against other living creatures.

Some of the prominent believers of Ahinsa are Swami Vivekananda, Ramana Maharishi
etc .Gandhiji promoted the principle of ahimsa and successfully applied it to achieve freedom for
India by following the movement of Satyagraha.

The doctrine of Ahimsa extend to all living beings and therefore it includes protection of
environment, natural habitats and vegetarianism1.

Non – Violence in Jainism

Jainism is the first religion to include principles of ahimsa as part of it’s teachings. As per
Jainism non – violence leads to salvation. They have five rules known as samitis to observe
ahimsa. The five ruled are

 Careful speech
 Careful eating
 Careful movement
 Careful placing and removing
 Careful evacuation

1
Michael Nagler, “Hope or Terror: Gandhi and the Other 9,” Available at http://mettacenter.org/wp-
content/uploads/2008/08/hot.pdf, Last visited on 04.03.2023.

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 These acts of carefulness refers to non – killing of any existing beings and to vocal non –
violence. The followers of Jainism makes efforts to avoid injuring plant and killing animals
for food. They go out to extremes to not to hurt small insects and other minute animals.

Ahimsa is the central doctrine of Jainism and all actions are directed towards avoiding harm
to others whether through physical, verbal, or mental violence.

Non – Violence in Buddhism

Indian society was suffering through rigid caste system when Gautama Buddha was born.
The social conditions was both suppresive and repressive. Gautama Buddha came to relieve
people from those conditions by preaching ahimsa to bring communal harmony and social
progress. According to him in buddhism there are five principles which govern the life
known as Panchsheel . The five principles which govern the life are

 Not to kill
 Not to steal
 Not to lie
 Not to commit adultery
 Not to use intoxicants

The doctrine of Buddhism is more practice as it is free from extremes as seen in Jainism. It
includes non violence, non hatred , renunciation, nirvana, etc.

Emperor Ashoka was higly influenced by the teachings of Buddhism and patronised
Buddhism by providing it universal recognition.2

Non – Violence in Christianity

Jesus Christ was called as the Prince of Peace who propagates non – violence in its teachings.
He believed in the universal concept of brotherhood and fatherhood of God. The Christian
verse “love the enemy ” which signifies the concept of forgiveness and non – violence.

2
Dr. Sheetal Kanwal, “Collective Violence & Criminal Justice System”, Amar Law Publication.

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 Christianity believes in the virtue of forbearance and spreading of love . Jesus Christ said that
suffering is a means to convert hatred into love. He at the time of his death said that he did
not believe in counter violence rather in love , non – violence and tolerance.

Therefore, Christianity propagates love, compassion, brotherhood and mercy. It q religion

which symbolizes non – violence.

Non – Violence In Islam3

The word Islam means peace, safety , good will and salvation. Islam like other religions is
based on the principle of love , justice and brotherhood . The teachings of Islam is based on
the Holy Quran and Sunnah of the Prophet. Islam permits war against oppression, injustice
and inhuman activities called Jihad but it also mentions it also mentions that it should be
fought without aggression and malice.

Islam preaches love towards ones parents, brothers and sisters, ones neighbours infact
towards the whole mankind . It stresses that killing of a man is like killing of entire mankind
and vice – versa is prohibited

To conclude we can say that all the religions believes in ahimsa as the only way to achieve
salvation and peace. The entire world is embraced by the forces of non – violence and there
is destruction all over. In such a situation the theory of non violence need to be reiterated
once again to restore global peace.

Gandhiji's Approach to non – violence

M. K. Gandhi was a historical legend who fought social evils and human suffering. He was
highly influenced by his mother Putlibai who was a traditional woman devoted to her family and
was deeply religious. He was also strongly influenced by King Harishchandra by his adherance
to truth and his achieving victory on the path of truth.

3
Dr. Sheetal Kanwal, “Collective Violence & Criminal Justice System”, Amar Law Publication.

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Gandhiji formulated and practiced two basic theories with a different approach to violence with
some positive effects which was an outcome of the political struggle in South Africa and in India
as a non violent war against the British to achieve India's Independence. The two theories were :-

1. Non – Violence
2. Truth

Gandhiji changed the very meaning of peace and non violence. He evolved the concept of
“ self ”and human nature. He emphasized that everyone one was capable of being non –
violent. He completely adhered to non violence and considered it as a spiritual weapon. He
said that the power of love is highest and can Convert hate into love by the use of love only.

According to him Non – Violence is the greatest power at the disposal of human kind. It is a
relative concept and there cannot be absolute non violence. However he believed that we can
reduce non – violence to the maximum extent because most of the time destruction and anger
are unnecessary and avoidable. According to him one should commit least violence that is
inevitable.

According to the definition given by Gandhiji, “ non violence is refraining from causing pain
to or killing any life out of anger or for a selfish purpose, or with the intention of injuring it ”.
Therefore according to him practice and applicability of non violence can be on two aspects:-

1. Non violence in thought

2. Non violence in action

Essential Principles of Gandhiji' s non violence

The principles of non – violence are of private level and public level. Some of them are
discussed below.

1. Truth: This is the most important element of nonviolence. It means that there are many sides
to a situation and they keep changing. A person should develop an ability to look at things from
different perspectives to come to a solution and avoid having pre-formed ideas that obscure the
truth. Truth is always relative, absolute truth is near to God and that can be achieved only
through experiments with the truth.

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 2. Ahimsa: This is nonviolence in thought, word and deed, it is love in action. Feeling of
peacefulness for oneself and for the other on without having destructive thoughts.

3.Trusteeship: Gandhiji believed in the doctrine of trusteeship whereby every- body had
equal right in the use of the nature and nothing belonged to any single individual. We all are
trustees of what we think is ours, but in fact we have a responsibility for assets and social
values and we are supposed to creatively use it for the benefit of the others. According to
Gandhiji the very concept of material belonging gives rise to violence. He held that "all
wealth belongs to all people" It is not easy to give away what one owns, s Gandhiji asked to
owners to behave like trustees and believe in sharing. It is therefore a process of achieving
an egalitarian society.

4.Love: According to the principle of nonviolence only love itself could convert hatred
back into love The power of love for mankind and humanitarian approach does not allow
the feeling of violence to grow and therefore it is an essential element of non violence
concept

5. Perseverance and Tolerance: Acceptance of the difference among us us overcome the

hatred and discrimination. The virtue of patience and tolerance is very essential to develop
non violent approach in the society. Only with perseverance non violence be practised.

6.Courage: It is a very essential element to develop and practice nonviolence The people who
have courage to stand against the odds can walk on the path of nonviolence. The path of non-
violence requires dedication and diligence and fearless- ness and courage are needed to tread
along the path of non violence.

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7. Acceptance: This is a step towards tolerance and is developed by practicing humility. It means
that we have to rise above against the individual differences and become a single community of
human beings and this practice will itself culminate into nonviolence.

8. Respect: Gandhiji fearlessly advocated for the dignity of human being more than cultures,
religions, or caste. Until there is no respect for mankind the feeling of non violence cannot be
eliminated. Nonviolence will inculcate this feeling for each other and only then we will respect
the differences among us.

9. Understanding: Gandhiji advocated that retrospection is a virtue whereby we think as to who

we are and our interrelation with other human beings in the universe. Only with the
understanding for each other as part of the same nature we shall be able to live in peace.

10. Appreciation: Gandhiji philosophy of nonviolence includes the ability to appreciate the
goodness and overlook the bad. It is the ability to be able to focus on the good in people rather
than on the bad in people even if with difficulty. Appreciation is a by-product of non violence. It
inculcates the habit of seeing value and worth in other human beings and being more productive
rather than destructive

Aspects Of Non-Violence4:

According to eminent philosophers seven aspects of nonviolence have been understood. These
are

1. Nonduality: It means that there shall be no distinction between self and absolute, though and
action, means and ends. According to him, to achieve good ends you need to use good means.
Therefore violence shall only result in violence and so nonviolence demands nonviolence.

4
Dr. Vincent Sekhar, “Nonviolence in the Hindu, Jain and Buddhist traditions, Visited”,25 Journal of Indian Law
Institute 211 (1983).

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2. Purification: In order to achieve good out of evil there has to a combined effort of heart, mind,
and body .Purification is a requirement of Hindu culture which can be done by renunciation of
worldly things and attachment. There has to be detachment to be able to be pure in body, mind,
and heart.

3. Sacrifice: The power of sacrifice has been stressed by this philosophy According to Gandhiji
one should be ready to sacrifice life, family, material things. etc to be able to be completely
ready for the change

4. Inevitability: The belief in his philosophy was very strong in Gandhiji and he believed that
while walking on this path of purity, tolerance, truth, the result was inevitable. Though slow in
progress, but the result is inevitable.

5. Conversion: This aspect of the theory was that a single right can undo many wrongs
According to Gandhiji satyagraha aims at converting an evil mind into a good one with the use
of non violent method. It believes in "hate the sin not the sinner"

6. Nonmanipulaion: Manipulation is a form of force used to compel someone to do something

Gandhiji advocated on being nonmanipulative and let the change come morally and naturally
without any force. Such change will be positive and long- lasting.

7. Being versus doing: Gandhiji was know to practice what he preached and this was another
aspect of his philosophy. He believed that you need to understand and bring a real change in
character and not only the personality5.

5
Nicholas Gier, “The Virtue of Nonviolence from Gautama to Gandhi”,(2004).

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Gandhian Principles Relating to Directive Principles of State Policy

 These concepts embody Gandhi's rebuilding ideology, which he spread across the
national movement.
 Some of his notions have been included into DPSP in order to fulfil his ambitions.
 These articles - Article 40, Article 43, Article 43 B, Article 46, Article 47, and Article 48
- instruct the State.

Article 40 - Organization of Panchayats/self-government

 States will take initiatives to build village panchayats and decentralise power and
authority in order to establish self-government.
 The constitution's 73rd and 74th amendments, which are related to Panchayati Raj and
Municipal Corporations, respectively, later became the constitutionally supported
framework for the principle mentioned in Part IV.

Article 43 - Fair wages and a decent standard of life

 It states that the state can endeavour to secure, through appropriate legislation or
economic organisation, a living wage, working conditions, a decent standard of living,
and enjoyment of leisure and social-cultural opportunities for all workers employed in
agricultural, industrial, or otherwise, work, and promote cottage industries on an
individual or cooperative basis in rural and remote areas of the country.

Article 43B - Promotion of cooperatives

 To promote co-operative societies' voluntary formation, autonomous functioning,

democratic control, and professional administration.
 It was added in 2011 by the 97th Amendment Act. It states that the state shall make
every effort to support the administration of cooperative societies in order to assist those
who are involved in them.

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Article 46 - Protection of SCs, STs, weaker sections from exploitation.

 To prevent exploitation and injustice against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes,
their educational and economic interests must be encouraged.

Article 47 - Nutrition, Standard of living and public health

 The state shall seek to improve the nutrition and living standards of its citizens. To
increase people's nutrition and standard of living while also improving public health.
 Except for therapeutic grounds, the State shall make every effort to ban the consumption
of intoxicating beverages and medications that are harmful to one's health.
 Many social development programmes, such as the National Health Mission and
the Mid-Day Meal Scheme, that target the underprivileged elements of society, such as
women, children, and the poor, are inspired by this DPSP.

Article 48 - Scientific agriculture and animal husbandry

 Organization of agriculture and animal husbandry along scientific lines, with initiatives
taken to preserve and improve breeds, including the prohibition of slaughter of cows,
calves, and other milch and draught cattle6.

CRITICS OF GANDHI'S NON-VIOLENCE

Gandhi's views on non-violence were severely criticised by his political opponents. Many
revolutionaries argued that force and armed struggle were necessary to end any regime of
oppression Some believed that there was a fight back for survival in nature among various
species, so there is also a similar kind of struggle among races and nations Failure to
recognise this, they argued, made the Gandhi's model of conflict resolution Utopian because
the real life was based on the principle of 'survival of the fittest In the Indian context, the

6
Patil Amruta, “Gandhian Principles - DPSP - Indian Polity Notes”,Available at https://prepp.in/news/e-492-
gandhian-principles-dpsp-indian-polity-notes,(Visited on 15.03.2023).

15
Leftist leadership thought that Gandhi's principle of non-violence, whose moral force
propelled several mass movements forward in their initial phases, repeatedly held back the
struggles at key moments. As a result. privileged groups in the urban centres and countryside
were able to detach the struggle for political independence from the struggle for radical social
change and thus thwarted Gandhi's own goals of social justice.

The British were gone, but the bureaucracy and police they built up still functioned with little
change-and continued to repress workers' and peasants' uprisings Gandhi's will had been
strong. but class forces proved stronger. They further argued that Gandhi never promoted the
class forces-workers that could have helped him in his final struggle to unite Hindus and
Muslims Only class struggle could have achieved what Gandhi's purely moral mission
attempted. The movement did not have to turn out in such a mess. Potentially revolutionary
situations existed in the periods 1919-22 and 1946-47, but no mass party with revolutionary
goals had been forged to steer the movements to victory.

In the post- Second World War movement, the same social forces that had overthrown the
Russian Tsar in 1917 were at the centre of the upsurge the industrial working class, along
with peasants and workers in uniform. But in India's case, the country's only mass party
saved the British from being overthrown by taking power peacefully" themselves at the price
of leaving the class rebellion to be consumed in the fires of communalism Moreover, the
Leftist viewpoint argued that different alignments of class forces were possible, since most
classes opposed British rule. The independence movement would have produced a different
outcome if industrial workers and the agricultural proletariat had been able to form a
revolutionary socialist party and drawn the middle class and small-holding peasants behind
their class-struggle leadership. Instead, Gandhi's party reversed these relations, with the
bourgeoisie included in the leadership with the middle classes of village and city Gandhi's
life was history's longest experiment in non-violent political action.

The result of the experiment is fairly clear an exploitative class structure cannot be broken
without violence somewhere along the way Property rights, defended by state violence, have

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never yielded to the peaceful pressure of the exploited class. In other words, no exploiting
class has ever left the stage of history without being pushed. Revolutionaries often made fun
of Gandhi's idea of change of heart of the tyrant' as impractical day-dreaming But one thing
is fairly clear that even if non-violence failed to win the heart of enemies, state repression
created widespread sympathies among the fellow countrymen and community and was a
helpful instrument in mobilising public opinion both at home and abroad.

CONCLUSION

It would be a cliche, but still, it would be fitting to state that Ahimsa and Truth are two sides
of the same coin. They are so intertwined that it is not possible to separate them. If Ahimsa is
the means, then Truth is the end. It is Ahimsa that forms the base of the search for Truth. The
goal of Truth is not to embarrass the wrong-doer but to bring a change of heart, and the aim
of Non-Violence is not limited to non-injury but also infinite love for the other. As Gandhi
states, "With truth combined with Ahimsa, you can bring the world to your feet".

Today's generation has not lived through the pre-independence time. We might be familiar
with the names of our freedom leaders and their thoughts, but we do not realise the intensity
with which their ideas inspired the masses. Gandhi's Truth and Ahimsa appealed to the
masses and allowed a more significant mobilisation of the "common" people.

He rightfully recognised that if freedom had to be achieved, it could not come without the
support of the common people of India. Truth, i.e. Satya, and Non-Violence, i.e. Ahimsa,
continue to inspire millions of people all over the globe. Drawn from religious beliefs, he
successfully managed to transition the two principles into civil understanding and bind
people.

Undoubtedly, these ideas have a global appeal and rightfully so. In a world that has become
accustomed to violence and war, unrest and disturbing events as ordinary pieces in their daily
newspaper, it is crucial for us to go back to the ideas often considered "idealistic" and try to
change the canvas of this world from bloodshed and darkness to the warmth of peace,
cooperation and harmony. We can begin this journey by returning to Gandhi, understanding
Gandhian thought and trying to imbibe those thoughts in our everyday lives.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Book

Dr. Sheetal Kanwal, “Collective Violence & Criminal Justice System”, Amar Law Publication.

Website/Articles

1.Vincent Sekhar SJ: “Avenues for a Jain-Christian Dialogue,” Vidyajyoti Journal of

Theological Reflection, Delhi, Platinum Jubilee Year, Volume 76, pp 280-292( April 2012).

2. Dr. Vincent Sekhar, “Nonviolence in the Hindu, Jain and Buddhist traditions, Visited”,25
Journal of Indian Law Institute 211 (1983).

3.Nicholas Gier, “The Virtue of Nonviolence from Gautama to Gandhi”,(2004).

4. Michael Nagler, “Hope or Terror: Gandhi and the Other 9,” Available at
http://mettacenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/hot.pdf, Last visited on 04.03.2023.

5. Patil Amruta, “Gandhian Principles - DPSP - Indian Polity Notes”,Available at

https://prepp.in/news/e-492-gandhian-principles-dpsp-indian-polity-notes,(Visited on
15.03.2023).

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