The Legacy of Mahatma Gandhi
The Legacy of Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas K. Gandhi, born in 1869 to wealthy parents, became a well known Hindu intellectual who led the Indian people in a boycott against British rule and a movement for independence. The harsh oppression of the British Colonial rulers in India and the strained relationship between Hindus and Moslems would have led to uprisings, riots, and even wars if not for the philosophy and guidance of Gandhi (Bulliet, 680). Known as “Mahatma,” or “great soul,” to his followers, Gandhi is credited with leading his followers in a nationalist movement for independence (Bulliet, 680). Mahatma Gandhi’s life and message for the world is distinctly marked by three key aspects: his philosophy of non-violence, his strategy of non-cooperation as seen in the Salt March, and his method of communication by fasting.
Gandhi operated in South Africa and India as both a politician and a religious saint. Armed with a “weapon peculiarly his own,” Gandhi developed a philosophy of non-violence which he coined Satyagraha (Fischer, 35). This term comes from the word satya, meaning truth and agraha, meaning force (Fischer, 35). The term, therefore, directly translates to “Soul Force,” and means “adhering to the truth” (Fischer, 35). In describing his own philosophy, Gandhi himself wrote that Satyagraha “is the vindication of truth not by infliction of suffering on the opponent but on one’s self” (qtd. in Fischer, 35). By truth, Gandhi was referring to love, an attribute of the human soul (Fischer, 35). With this philosophy, Gandhi essentially reversed the eye-for-an-eye policy and instead attempted to defeat opponents with patience, sympathy, and trust. Armed with this philosophy, “in South Africa and at times in India, Gandhi showed that ordinary human beings were capable of high mindedness even under very irritating circumstances” (Fischer, 35). This policy propagates an implicit trust in mankind, which was sometimes shaken to its core, especially after the
Mohandas K. Gandhi, born in 1869 to wealthy parents, became a well known Hindu intellectual who led the Indian people in a boycott against British rule and a movement for independence. The harsh oppression of the British Colonial rulers in India and the strained relationship between Hindus and Moslems would have led to uprisings, riots, and even wars if not for the philosophy and guidance of Gandhi (Bulliet, 680). Known as “Mahatma,” or “great soul,” to his followers, Gandhi is credited with leading his followers in a nationalist movement for independence (Bulliet, 680). Mahatma Gandhi’s life and message for the world is distinctly marked by three key aspects: his philosophy of non-violence, his strategy of non-cooperation as seen in the Salt March, and his method of communication by fasting.
Gandhi operated in South Africa and India as both a politician and a religious saint. Armed with a “weapon peculiarly his own,” Gandhi developed a philosophy of non-violence which he coined Satyagraha (Fischer, 35). This term comes from the word satya, meaning truth and agraha, meaning force (Fischer, 35). The term, therefore, directly translates to “Soul Force,” and means “adhering to the truth” (Fischer, 35). In describing his own philosophy, Gandhi himself wrote that Satyagraha “is the vindication of truth not by infliction of suffering on the opponent but on one’s self” (qtd. in Fischer, 35). By truth, Gandhi was referring to love, an attribute of the human soul (Fischer, 35). With this philosophy, Gandhi essentially reversed the eye-for-an-eye policy and instead attempted to defeat opponents with patience, sympathy, and trust. Armed with this philosophy, “in South Africa and at times in India, Gandhi showed that ordinary human beings were capable of high mindedness even under very irritating circumstances” (Fischer, 35). This policy propagates an implicit trust in mankind, which was sometimes shaken to its core, especially after the
Cited: Bulliet, Richard, Pamela Crossley, Daniel Headrick, Steven Hirsch, Lyman Johnson, David Northrup. The Earth and Its Peoples: A Global History. Volume II. Boston: Cengage Learning, 2012. Print Fischer, Louis. Gandhi: His Life and Message for the World. New York: Penguin Group, 1954. Print.