Mahatma Gandhi on Sarvodaya

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Sarvodaya, today, does not represent a mere vision or utopian notion but makes an attempt of reorienting human mind to reconstruct human society. It has assumed the dimensions of a movement and a socio-economic force of great potentialities. It is a dynamic philosophy, which can make possible the advent of a radically transformed humanity. Sarvodaya seeks to build a new society on the foundations of old spiritual and moral values of India and attempts to meet the challenge of the contemporary problems. The world has witnessed the propagation, experimentation and implementation of various socio-economic ideologies-capitalist, socialist and communist, time to time. But, in overall consideration, sarvodaya is undoubtedly far more superior to other attributive models. It envisages a well-balanced and integrated development of the nation with no distinction among the haves and the have- nots, privileged and under-privileged, ruler and ruled.

It is a must book for the students of Gandhian thought and those who are interested in Gandhi.

Anil Dutta Mishra is a distinguished Gandhian scholar and writer. He started his career as Assistant Professor in the Department of Non- violence and Peace Studies, Jain Vishva Bharati University, Ladnun, Rajasthan, became Deputy Director of National Gandhi Museum and Honorary Professor, Centre for Gandhian Philosophy and Human Development, Gayatri Vidya Parishad Degree College (Autonomous), Visakhapatnam.

Dr Mishra has held the post of General Secretary of Indian Society of Gandhian Studies, Alliance for Sarvodaya, Member Board of Studies, Nagpur and Punjab Universities and is Member of Gandhian Studies Centre of different colleges and universities across India sponsored by UGC and Executive Member IIPA Regional Branch. He has authored/edited 30 books and published a number of research papers. His recent book Reading Gandhi is widely acclaimed.

"Mahatma Gandhi on Sarvodaya" is the fifth volume of the series containing Gandhi's original writings and speeches. The purpose of this book is to revisit Gandhi. The fact is that the entire world is in grip of violence of various types; there is a moral bankruptcy; accountability, ethics, honesty and governance are at the receiving end; there is economy meltdown and growth has gone down in the developed as well as the developing countries. Capitalism and Marxism both have miserably failed to solve the human miseries. Liberalisation, privatisation and globalization have encouraged chronic capitalism. The result is unrest and violence everywhere. In India Maosim/Naxalism is spreading its wings even in the urban areas. The structural violence/invisible violence is also on the increase. Immorality and corruption is no longer a social taboo rather it has become a matter of pride for the individuals. The so-called Gandhians and the Gandhian Institutions are also not immune from Kanchan and Kamini. Immorality is taught in the name of morality by Gandhians and its institutions. Therefore, it is essential to revisit Gandhi's core ideas and position it in the contemporary context. Sarvodaya is one of the essential ideas of Gandhi. In 1908, Gandhi abridged Ruskin's Unto This Last under the title "Sarvodaya" and published in an eight-part series.

Gandhi was responding to the challenges he was confronting. His concern was towards the immediate problems but his response was timeless. Sarvodaya is one of the alternative to capitalism and socialism. It is a non-violent socio-economic and political order. Gandhi himself rightly said on July 21, 1938 at Seaon-"Sarvodaya is impossible without satyagraha. The word satyagraha should be understood here in its etymological sense. There can be no insistence on truth where there is no non-violence. Hence the attainment of sarvodaya depends upon the attainment of non-violence. The attainment of non-violence in its turn depends upon tapascharya. Tapascharya, again, should be pure. Ceaseless effort, discretion, etc., should form part of it. Pure tapascharya leads to pure knowledge. Experience shows that although people talk of non-violence, many are mentally so lazy that they do not even take the trouble of familiarizing themselves with the facts. Take an example. India is a poor country. We wish to do away with poverty. But how many people have made a study of how this poverty came about, what its implications are, how it can be removed, etc.? A devotee of non-violence, should be full of such knowledge. It is the duty of Sarvodaya to create such means and not to enter into controversies. Editors of Sarvodaya should forget Gandhism. There is no such thing as Gandhism. I have not put anything new before India; I bave only presented an ancient thing in a new way. I have tried to utilize it in a new field. Hence, my ideas cannot be appropriately called Gandhism. We shall adopt truth wherever we find it, praise it wherever we see it, and pursue it. In other words, in every sentence of Sarvodaya, we should catch a glimpse of non-violence and knowledge."

In this introductory background, an attempt has been made to put his writings on Sarvodaya at one place for proper understanding of the philosophy of Sarvodaya using only primary source. To make the book reader friendly, it has been divided into two parts. In Part One, an attempt has been made to present a broader philosophy of Sarvodaya keeping all the contemporary discourses and challenges in mind. In Part Two, Gandhi's original writings on Sarvodaya is placed for reader's deeper understanding of the subject.

**Contents and Sample Pages**