Gandhi on Providence and Greed
Gandhi on Providence and Greed
Y. P. Anand and Mark Lindley
Although Gandhiji is often quoted as having said, “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need but not enough for any man’s greed,” we would like to point out that he said something significantly different instead,1 but that 15-20 years earlier, his view in regard to food had indeed amounted to what the famous alleged statement says. The alleged statement is a distorted version of a remark attributed to him by a first-hand witness, Pyarelal, in a chapter entitled “Towards New Horizons” in Part II of Mahatma Gandhi – The Last Phase (1958 and later editions). Describing some views expressed by Gandhi in 1947, Pyarelal wrote:
“In addition to the economic and the biological, there is another aspect of man’s being that enters into [human] relationships with nature, namely the spiritual. When the balance between the spiritual and the material is disturbed, sickness results. “ ‘Earth [pritvi]2 provides enough to satisfy every man’s need but not for every man’s greed’, said Gandhiji. So long as we cooperate with the cycle of life, the soil renews its fertility indefinitely and provides health, recreation, sustenance and peace to those who depend on it. But when the ‘predatory’ attitude prevails, nature’s balance is upset and there is an all-round biological deterioration.”
In these last two sentences the emphasis on ecology, the use of the term “predatory” and the statement that under certain conditions the soil renews its fertility “indefinitely” (rather than “forever”) were due to the influence of a book by J. C. Kumarappa, Economy of Permanence, to which Gandhi had contributed the preface when the first edition was published in 1945.3 So, what Pyarelal has given here is an account of some of Gandhi’s views toward the end of his life in regard to economic issues – views which may have differed from his views as a civil-rights lawyer in southern Africa at the turn of the century or as a recently
Y. P. Anand and Mark Lindley
Although Gandhiji is often quoted as having said, “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need but not enough for any man’s greed,” we would like to point out that he said something significantly different instead,1 but that 15-20 years earlier, his view in regard to food had indeed amounted to what the famous alleged statement says. The alleged statement is a distorted version of a remark attributed to him by a first-hand witness, Pyarelal, in a chapter entitled “Towards New Horizons” in Part II of Mahatma Gandhi – The Last Phase (1958 and later editions). Describing some views expressed by Gandhi in 1947, Pyarelal wrote:
“In addition to the economic and the biological, there is another aspect of man’s being that enters into [human] relationships with nature, namely the spiritual. When the balance between the spiritual and the material is disturbed, sickness results. “ ‘Earth [pritvi]2 provides enough to satisfy every man’s need but not for every man’s greed’, said Gandhiji. So long as we cooperate with the cycle of life, the soil renews its fertility indefinitely and provides health, recreation, sustenance and peace to those who depend on it. But when the ‘predatory’ attitude prevails, nature’s balance is upset and there is an all-round biological deterioration.”
In these last two sentences the emphasis on ecology, the use of the term “predatory” and the statement that under certain conditions the soil renews its fertility “indefinitely” (rather than “forever”) were due to the influence of a book by J. C. Kumarappa, Economy of Permanence, to which Gandhi had contributed the preface when the first edition was published in 1945.3 So, what Pyarelal has given here is an account of some of Gandhi’s views toward the end of his life in regard to economic issues – views which may have differed from his views as a civil-rights lawyer in southern Africa at the turn of the century or as a recently