The principles and values that Mahatma Gandhi stood for is known as
Gandhism. By the word Gandhian, one can mean either an individual who
practices or a philosophy that is dedicated to the main principles of
the Father of the Nation. Non-violent resistance was his main value.
According to MM Sankhdher, it is not a metaphysical or political theory
that defines Gandhism. It refers to the economic, social, religious,
moral and the humane attitude that a person or a process follows. This
is not a standard process of making wisdom a formal process, but an
overall effort to bring out the best in humans.
Tolstoy
During 1908, Leo Tolstoy wrote “A Letter to a Hindu” in which he insisted that the Indian population would be able to come out of the colonial rule of the British only by using the weapon of love and being passive. During 1909, Gandhi requested Tolstoy to publish these views again in the Gujarati language. What followed after that was a series of letters exchanged between the two that finally came to an end when Tolstoy died during 1910. Both of them discussed the various views of non-violence, the application and impact of the same. Gandhi became Tolstoy’s disciple because both of them were of the same opinion when it came to non-violence. The only area where the two differed was in terms of political strategy. Gandhi wanted political involvement in this movement as he was a hardcore nationalist. Tolstoy Farm was the venue at which Gandhi and Hermann Kallenbach propagated the importance of non-violence to their followers.
Truth and Satyagraha
It would be apt to say that Gandhi dedicated his life to truth or Satya. He used his experiences as his teacher, corrected his earlier mistakes and conducted many practical experiments on him to understand the meaning of Truth. His autobiography was named “The Story of My Experiments with truth”.
Satyagraha is a term that was coined by Gandhi and it means sticking to the truth. The main strategy of this term is to remove the enemies without actually causing them any harm and change them to good humans. Satyagraha is commonly referred to as a silent force that acts on the enemies and it is more to do with the mental strength than showing any physical strength. Satyagraha is a term that is used to refer all people commonly be it general public, rulers, men, women, kids, adults and the like.
Nonviolence
The non-violence movement was not initiated by Mahatma Gandhi, however, he was the first one to practically apply the same on a big level. Many Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Jewish and Christian beliefs seemed to have many thoughts and beliefs that have been influenced by the Nonviolence movement developed by Gandhiji. He penned his autobiography in the book “My story with the Experiments of the truth”. He also told that the movement of non-violence requires lots of faith, courage and patience from the people which was a rarity in the modern world. However, he reiterated that non-violence should never be used as a defence against cowardice and when the people were presented with two options of cowardice and violence, one should always choose violence.
Vegetarianism and Food
Gandhi created an impact in London according to Stephen Hay. His vegetarian and religious concepts created quite a stir in the city and the atheist movement received a widespread antipathy. The vegetarian movement was an introduction to Gandhi in most of the reformist areas of that area. The religions of Hinduism and Jainism support the vegetarian concept very strongly. An interesting point to note is that Gujarat, the native place of Gandhiji is a state that is dominated by vegetarianism. Dr. Josiah Oldfield, London Vegetarian Society’s Chairman, Henry Stephens Salt, an active vegetarian campaigner and Mahatma Gandhi shared a good relationship because of their vegetarian philosophies. Gandhi wrote the book, “Moral Basis of Vegetarianism” that was published by the London Vegetarian Society. Gandhi wanted to have fresh goat milk always which is why he ensured he always travelled with his goats.
Fasting
Fasting was the most adopted method of Gandhiji to request for demands to be fulfilled. These fasting movements that were initiated by Gandhiji and organized by the Congress were a huge hit among the general public as these invoked great deal of sympathy. When voting rights for the Dalits were denied by the Government, Gandhiji organized a fast during 1932 because he didn’t want the Dalits to be discriminated in any way. His weak body was not shown in the London Press because they didn’t want him to gain any sympathy. When Quit India Movement was awarded a jail term for a couple of years, Gandhi undertook fasting again and this was during the year 1943. His pictures were not shown in the media again so that he didn’t get any sympathy.
Tolstoy
During 1908, Leo Tolstoy wrote “A Letter to a Hindu” in which he insisted that the Indian population would be able to come out of the colonial rule of the British only by using the weapon of love and being passive. During 1909, Gandhi requested Tolstoy to publish these views again in the Gujarati language. What followed after that was a series of letters exchanged between the two that finally came to an end when Tolstoy died during 1910. Both of them discussed the various views of non-violence, the application and impact of the same. Gandhi became Tolstoy’s disciple because both of them were of the same opinion when it came to non-violence. The only area where the two differed was in terms of political strategy. Gandhi wanted political involvement in this movement as he was a hardcore nationalist. Tolstoy Farm was the venue at which Gandhi and Hermann Kallenbach propagated the importance of non-violence to their followers.
Truth and Satyagraha
It would be apt to say that Gandhi dedicated his life to truth or Satya. He used his experiences as his teacher, corrected his earlier mistakes and conducted many practical experiments on him to understand the meaning of Truth. His autobiography was named “The Story of My Experiments with truth”.
Satyagraha is a term that was coined by Gandhi and it means sticking to the truth. The main strategy of this term is to remove the enemies without actually causing them any harm and change them to good humans. Satyagraha is commonly referred to as a silent force that acts on the enemies and it is more to do with the mental strength than showing any physical strength. Satyagraha is a term that is used to refer all people commonly be it general public, rulers, men, women, kids, adults and the like.
Nonviolence
The non-violence movement was not initiated by Mahatma Gandhi, however, he was the first one to practically apply the same on a big level. Many Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Jewish and Christian beliefs seemed to have many thoughts and beliefs that have been influenced by the Nonviolence movement developed by Gandhiji. He penned his autobiography in the book “My story with the Experiments of the truth”. He also told that the movement of non-violence requires lots of faith, courage and patience from the people which was a rarity in the modern world. However, he reiterated that non-violence should never be used as a defence against cowardice and when the people were presented with two options of cowardice and violence, one should always choose violence.
Vegetarianism and Food
Gandhi created an impact in London according to Stephen Hay. His vegetarian and religious concepts created quite a stir in the city and the atheist movement received a widespread antipathy. The vegetarian movement was an introduction to Gandhi in most of the reformist areas of that area. The religions of Hinduism and Jainism support the vegetarian concept very strongly. An interesting point to note is that Gujarat, the native place of Gandhiji is a state that is dominated by vegetarianism. Dr. Josiah Oldfield, London Vegetarian Society’s Chairman, Henry Stephens Salt, an active vegetarian campaigner and Mahatma Gandhi shared a good relationship because of their vegetarian philosophies. Gandhi wrote the book, “Moral Basis of Vegetarianism” that was published by the London Vegetarian Society. Gandhi wanted to have fresh goat milk always which is why he ensured he always travelled with his goats.
Fasting
Fasting was the most adopted method of Gandhiji to request for demands to be fulfilled. These fasting movements that were initiated by Gandhiji and organized by the Congress were a huge hit among the general public as these invoked great deal of sympathy. When voting rights for the Dalits were denied by the Government, Gandhiji organized a fast during 1932 because he didn’t want the Dalits to be discriminated in any way. His weak body was not shown in the London Press because they didn’t want him to gain any sympathy. When Quit India Movement was awarded a jail term for a couple of years, Gandhi undertook fasting again and this was during the year 1943. His pictures were not shown in the media again so that he didn’t get any sympathy.
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