Mahatma Gandhi – Hind Swaraj PDF

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Mahatma Gandhi – Hind Swaraj A rejection of violence and alienated sovereignty Indian Home Rule – nationalist Follows Tolstoy, Ruskin, Thoreau, Emerson and more – influences In the book – not a trace of approval of violence of any form – methods of British Government severely condemned Preservation of ancient civilisation of India – best world has ever seen  Modern civilisation = Kingdom of Satan, ancient civilisation = Kingdom of God Suicidal to drive out English with violence – they are not evil; it is the civilisation they represent Written in 1908 in answer to Indian school of violence and its prototype in South Africa  Teaches gospel of love in a place of hate  Pits soul force against brute force  Severe condemnation of ‘modern civilisation’  Written on boat from UK to South Africa – due to frustration at the militant nationalism of Indian expats he had encountered in London  Gandhi weathered by 3 arenas: England, South Africa (discovered capacities to organise and protest) and India (moral dynamo and canny political brain of vast Congress movement) – Khilnani Warns reader against aiming literally for the Swaraj described, India isn’t ripe for it   

Wants to attain Parliamentary Swaraj in accordance with wishes of Indian people He is individually working towards the truest sense of self-rule Not aiming to destroy railways or hospitals – would welcome natural destruction

Khilnani (in introduction to Gandhi’s autobiography):  Gandhi challenges our settled views – highlights distinctive interference between the pursuit of a personal ethics and the claims of a public, political life  Compatriots ought not to limit themselves to a simple monolithic choice (adopting world inherited from predecessors, a world of traditional religion/caste practice vs. embracing modern world) – Indians should construct life of their own  Blurred lines and shifted barriers between public and private realms (core distinction in liberal theory and practice of modern state and its law) – could generate unprecedented powers and undermine opponents  Modern politics encircled everything like coil of a snake – wants to reunite domains of private ethics and public action – draw poison of modern politics  The modernity of the life he created lay most fundamentally in the sense that it was a chosen life, and also one whose past meaning was revisable in the light of future

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choices – not foreclosed/predestined as a traditional Hindu might have conceived their life – takes no guide – saw his life as an experiment Religion free from tradition of priests and not bound by dogma of any one religious faith He affected plainness and clarity, while also cultivating a deliberate ambiguity in his terminology – allowing others to read into his world their own hopes and fears Religion has to do with politics – devotion to truth drew him to field of politics Need constant experimenting

Chapter 1 – The Congress and its Officials Context:  At present – lots wanting home-rule – National Independence  Given rise to National Congress – suggesting desire for home-rule from masses  Given them foretaste for home-rule – foundational  Home-rule far away Chapter 2 – The Partition of Bengal ‘Real awakening’ took place after partition of Bengal – taken for granted by Lord Curzon that Indians could only prattle – ineffective People ready to resist partition Divided into moderates and extremists – slow party, impatient party Chapter 3 – Discontent and Unrest India still awakening post-partition Every reform must be preceded by discontent Chapter 4 – What is Swaraj? Context: Congress made India one nation, partition caused an awakening, discontent spread Swaraj – self-rule – means different things to different Indians Is self-government enough? Many want ‘English rule without the Englishman’ – the ‘tiger’s nature without the tiger’  India = English ‘When it becomes English, it will be called not Hindustan but Englishtan’ Not the swaraj wanted by Gandhi – move away from traditional state

Must show that popular belief of swaraj is not truly swaraj Chapter 5 – The Condition of England Government of England not desirable – should not be copied English Parliament like a sterile woman and prostitute – has not yet done a single good thing (sterile woman) – can do nothing without outside pressure, under control of ministers who change from time to time (prostitute) Parliament not serving common good:  Best men supposed to be elected by people  Members serve without pay – assumption that it is only for common good  Voters considered to be educated  shouldn’t make mistakes  Work should be smooth  But – members are ‘hypocritical and selfish’ – ‘each thinks of his own little interest’  ‘Fear’ as ‘guiding motive’ ‘Sterile woman':  What is done one day, might be undone the next  Finality cannot be predicted for its work  Just pointless talking – Carlyle – ‘talking shop of the world’  Members thoughtlessly vote for their party – bound by discipline  Independent voters viewed as renegades  If money and time wasted by Parliament were entrusted to a few good men, English nation would be occupying a much higher platform – parliament costly ‘Prostitute’:  Parliament without real master, no steady movement  ‘Buffeted about like a prostitute’  Prime Minister more concerned about his power than welfare of Parliament – just wants to secure success of own party  No focus on doing right  Not open to bribes – but subtler influences are real evil – bribe with honours Views on English people:  To them, newspaper = bible  Often dishonest  Change views frequently – swing like pendulum of clock If India copies England, firm conviction that she will be ruined Due to modern civilisation – civilisation only in name – ruining nations of Europe Chapter 6 – Civilisation

People have been hypnotised by claims about the modern civilisation What is described by ‘civilisation’?  People living in it make bodily welfare the object of life  Better houses, clothes, weapons  If people adopt these aspects of modernity – they are said to have been civilised from savagery  Ploughs, steam engines  great wealth – viewed as sign of civilisation  Everything being mechanised and automated  Condition ‘worse than that of beasts’  ‘Enslaved by temptation of money and of the luxuries that money can buy’  Diseases people never dreamt of before, and an army is engages in finding their cures  increase in hospitals  Eat every 2 hours  Civilisation takes note neither of morality nor religion  Immorality taught in name of morality  There can be no inducement t morality  ‘Civilisation seeks to increase bodily comforts, and it fails miserably even in doing so’  Irreligion, lacking physical strength, courage  Energy derived from intoxication  On path to self-destruction  Parliaments ‘emblems of slavery’ – deserving of sympathy  Civilisation not incurable disease – English at present afflicted by it Chapter 7 – Why was India lost? Why is modern civilisation able to retain India? English not taken India; we have given it to them:  Not in India due to strength  Indians keep them  Indians reinforced modern civilisation by propping up English trade – to become rich  Must go to root of matter  Seller of modern civilisation not to blame, Indians are, they buy from seller of modern civilisation thereby retaining them  Must probe cause of disease  Causes that gave them India enable them to retain it  Sword not useful in retaining India – English = nation of shopkeepers (Napoleon) – hold whatever dominion they have for the sake of their commerce  Army and navy intended to protect it  Money is English ‘God’  Indians keep English in India for base self-interest – like their commerce  Blaming English for this perpetuates their power  Strengthen them by quarrelling  English wish to convert the whole world into a vast market for their goods Chapter 8 – The Condition of India

Sad condition:  India being ground down under heel of modern civilisation  Becoming irreligious – turning away from God  Accepted charge of laziness from English compared to their enterprising nature Religious ambition should be illimitable Fighting for a religion is not due to the religion itself – due to ignorance ‘Civilisation is like a mouse gnawing while its soothing us’ – once full effect realised, it will become clear that religious superstition is harmless compared to that of modern civilisation ‘Strength lies in absence of fear, not in the quantity of fresh and muscle we have in our bodies’ Cannot fear own brethren to get goal Chapter 9 – The Condition of India: Railways Railways, lawyers and doctors have impoverished the country towards ruins All about consumption – temporarily seductive – convinces us they are good Doctors give medication to assure a dying individual they will survive, even produces seductive colour on a patient’s face to induce belief all is well – in this way too, civilisation is a disease Railways:  Railways maintain English hold on India  Spread ‘bubonic plague’  Increased frequencies of famine  grain sent to dearest markets  Removes natural segregation  Railways accentuate evil nature of man – holy places become unholy  Good travels at snail’s pace – can do little with railways  India used to be an undivided land made so by nature  Railways created distinctions Chapter 10 – The Condition of India: The Hindus and the Mahomedans (Muslims) Railways, lawyers and doctors create religious problems in India Railways – God set limit to man’s locomotive ambition in creating the body – man tries to override this – man tries to forget maker – man attempts impossible – coming into contact with different natures and religions  utterly confounded (railways = dangerous) – takes man far from Maker

Islam has not unmade the nation – India is not good at assimilating – English advent  quarrelling of religions – same Gods – roads converging to same point Lawyers and doctors will here be examined Chapter 11 – The Condition of India: Lawyers How would a third party help distribute justice? Lawyers have enslaved India:  The profession teaches immorality – exposed to temptation from which few are saved  Duty of lawyers to side with clients and to find ways out in favour of clients but to which the client is a stranger  They advance quarrels, rather than repress them  Men take up the profession to enrich themselves, not to help others  To become wealthy, interest exists in multiplying disputes  Suck blood of poor people – make brothers enemies  Tightened English grip – power perpetuated through courts  If people could settle own disputes, third party wouldn’t be able to exercise authority over them  Prop up English  Law courts have been instrumental in having the charge laid against us that we love quarrels as fish love water Chapter 12 – The Condition of India: Doctors English used medical profession to hold India:  Business of doctor is to take care of the body – to rid it of any diseases that might afflict it  Diseases arise due to negligence or indulgence  Overeat  indigestion  go to doctor  medicine  cured  cycle continues  If you don’t take the pills in the first place, would not have suffered the punishment deserved by self and would not have overeaten again  Doctors intervene and aid indulgence  Body feels more at ease by mind = weakened  Continuing a course of medicine results in a loss of control over the mind  Encourages repetition of vices  Without the doctor’s intervention, nature would have done its work, and would have acquired mastery over self – free from vice = happy  Hospitals = institutions for propagating sin  Men take less care of body, immorality increases  Doctors violate religious instinct  Deprivation of self-control Chapter 13 – What is True Civilisation?

Nothing beats Indian civilisation:  India remains immovable amidst other rising and falling civilisation  That is her glory  Civilisation is that mode of conduct which points out to man the path of duty  Performance of duty and observance of morality are convertible terms  To observe morality is to attain mastery over mind and passions  Civilisation = good conduct  Happiness = mental condition  No pursuit of wealth  Simple, poor life – cottages from former times, using same plough as thousands of years ago  Machinery creates slaves with no moral fibre  Only do what we can with hands and feet  Large cities = snare and useless encumbrance – people not happy in them  Satisfaction with small villages  Kings and their swords inferior to swords of ethics  A nation with a constitution such as this is fitter to teach rather than learn from others  This nation had courts, lawyers and doctors, but all within bounds – not superior  Common people live independently and follow own agricultural occupation – enjoyment of Home Rule  Where modern civilisation has not reached, India remains as it once was  People have never been perfect – some defects  Indian civilisation’s strength is in its belief in God  elevation to moral being Chapter 14 – How can India become free? Remove cause of disease – remove disease itself:  If cause of India’s slavery can be removed, India can become free herself  It is swaraj when we learn to rule ourselves – if we become free, India is free  In palm of our hands  Must be experienced by each one for themselves  Slaves cannot free others  Goal should not be expulsion of English  If English become Indianised, they can be accommodated  There is no room for their civilisation  Up to people to bring about change  If we keep own house in order, only those who are fit to live in it will remain – others will leave of own accord Chapter 15 – Italy and India To arm India would be to Europeanise it – acceptance of European civilisation Indian nation will not adopt arms

Those who murder have been intoxicated by modern civilisation – they will not make the nation happy Chapter 16 – Brute Force Assumption than men can be made to do things using force – so use of force (bad) Take assumption that use of force is okay – English gained bower using brute force:  Using similar means to them, we could get what we want?  There is a connection between means and ends  Plant a weed and expect a rose? NO  ‘There is just the same inviolable connection between the means and the end as there is between the seed and the tree’  ‘We reap exactly as we sow’  Real rights are a result of performance of duty; these rights have not been obtained by English via use of brute force  Everyone wants and insists on rights, but nobody thinks of duty  Don’t perform duties corresponding to these rights  What is obtained is an exact result of the means adopted  Use of means corresponding to end  Different results from different means Example of thief to be driven out:  Do not agree that the thief may be driven out by means  If it is one’s father who has come to steal, one will use one kind of means  If it is an acquaintance, shall use another  If it is a stranger, will use another  Means for white man, different than if it were an Indian thief  Variety of means  The means employed will not drive the thief away – adoption of different means for each case – duty not to drive thief away using any means you like  Get arms  Robber goes to neighbours etc.  Would be disgraced to now leave robber alone  Spread arms  Battle grows  Means overwhelm ends  Robbers increase in numbers etc.  Result of wanting to get revenge on robber is… 1. Disturbed own peace 2. Perpetual fear of being robbed 3. Courage  cowardice Alternative scenario:  Thief comes  you try to reason with him – he is a fellow man and you cannot know what prompted him to steal  You try to destroy motive for stealing

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But whilst reasoning, man comes to steal again You are not angry; you take pity on him Keep doors and windows open, change sleeping place, keep things in an accessible manner Confused robber  new to him  still steals His mind is agitated – acquires about you in the village, learns about your loving heart Robber repents, asks your pardon, returns your things, ditches stealing habit He becomes your servant  you employ him

Different means  different results Fair means alone  fair results ‘The force of love and pity is infinitely greater than the force of arms’ Harm in exercising brute force, never in that of pity Petitioning:  Petition without backing of force is useless  Educate people – give idea of condition  Petition of equal = sign of courtesy  Petition from slave = sign of slavery  Brute force – using arms to back petition – threaten violence  Second kind of force – ‘if you do not concede our demand, we shall no longer be your petitioners. You can govern us so long as we remain the governed; we shall no longer have any dealings with you’  This is love-force/soul-force – less accurately described as passive resistance  Indestructible force – required understanding of position  ‘The force of arms is powerless when matched against the force of love or the soul’ In using brute force against English, you consult entirely your own, that is the national, interest – no question of pity or love Sacrifice of self for good Chapter 17 – Passive Resistance Historical evidence of soul-force/truth-force? The force of love is equal to the force of the soul or the truth – universe would disappear without it ‘Those that take the sword, shall perish by the sword’ Despite wars, world lives on – evidence of efficacy of soul-force

History just doesn’t take note of peace – history is a record of an interruption of the course of nature Soul-force, being natural, is not noted in history Passive resistance:  Method of securing rights by personal suffering  Reverse of resistance by arms  Refusing to do something that is repugnant to one’s conscience = use of soul-force  Soul-force involves sacrifice of self – infinitely superior to sacrifice of others – doesn’t make others suffer for own mistake  Find what is right, act accordingly  Contrary to manhood to obey laws repugnant to conscience – opposed to religion, equates to slavery  Must not fear anyone else  ‘If man will only realise that it is unmanly to obey laws that are unjust, no man’s tyranny will enslave him. This is the key to self-rule or home-rule’  It is an ungodly thing to believe that an act of a majority binds a minority  All reform owes itself to the initiation of minorities in opposition to majorities  Using brute-force goes against passive resistance – doing to a man what we desire but he does not  Soul-force is matchless – should never resort to violence  Not just ‘splendid weapon of the weak’  Good because one person can offer just as well as millions  ‘Control over the mind is alone necessary, and when it is attained, man is free like the king of the forest and his very glance withers the enemy’  Passive resistance is an ‘all sided sword’ – can be used anyhow – blesses whoever uses it and whoever it is aimed against Peasants have never been subdued by the sword, and won’t be ‘Real Home Rule is possible only where passive resistance is the guiding force of the people. Any other rule is foreign rule’ Body must be trained – get rid of infant marriages and luxuries To become passive resistor of country man must observe perfect chastity, adopt poverty, follow truth, and cultivate fearlessness Sex not for purpose of continuing race = prohibited – married men can do it Poverty is necessary – pecuniary ambition and passive resistance cannot go together Must be prepared to lose money rather than give up passive resistance Must be free from fear

Need fewer qualities to passively than actively resist Chapter 18 – Education Education = knowledge of letters An instrument – to be used well or abused Formal education not really necessary – does not facilitate duty being fulfilled False education – ornamental Ancient school system is enough – character building – withstanding English education has enslaved the nation Religious education needed Chapter 19 – Machinery No machinery? Machinery has impoverished India Manchester – we wore Manchester cloth and this is why Manches...