Hind Swaraj

“What I am concerned with is my readiness to obey the call of Truth, my God, from moment to moment, and, therefore, when anybody finds any inconsistency between any two writings of mine, if he has still faith in my sanity, he would do well to choose the later of the two on the same subject.”

Gandhi is well aware that some of his words may seem contradictory or that his actions and statements do not always appear to be in accord. With gentle humor, he suggests that the discerning reader of his written works will give preference to his latest musings. Gandhi expects readers to follow not his preaching, but their own hearts in these matters.

“It is a mark of wisdom not to kick away the very step from which we have risen higher.”

To those who would overthrow the past, Gandhi advises caution and a respect for the old ways. It is better to build on what has been established than to cast it aside and have to start over continuously.

“If, after many years of study, a teacher were to teach me something, and if I were to build a little more on the foundation laid by that teacher, I would not, on that account, be considered wiser than the teacher. He would always command my respect.”

Again, Gandhi argues for respect for one’s elders, even when one is enlarging or improving on the work that has already been done by them. To disrespect the teacher is to disrespect oneself: If the expert is foolish, the results of the student will be that much more so. Gandhi also speaks here to the extremists who, in their impatience for Home Rule, would unthinkingly discard the old traditions simply because they may be associated with Indians who do not wish to join the revolution. This disrespect for the wisdom of the elders may cause the rebels to foolishly retain much or most of the British system of governance after independence, when it is that very system that has caused the oppression.

“Only men with mature thoughts are capable of ruling themselves and not the hasty-tempered.”

Many extremists in India are impatient to violently overthrow their English overlords. Gandhi reminds them that patience in these matters is a great virtue and that methodical and deliberate action leads to good results and strengthens the wisdom and resolve of those who practice such restraint.

“It is a bad habit to say that another man’s thoughts are bad and ours only are good and that those holding different views from ours are the enemies of the country.”

It is one thing to offer ideas to others, and quite another to disdain their beliefs. Respect even for those who oppose us will hasten, not slow, the resolution of conflicts. Prejudice against the British, who are quite as human as the Indians, leads to contempt and violence; compassion and understanding, on the other hand, lead to mutually beneficial results.

“When a man rises from sleep, he twists his limbs and is restless. It takes some time before he is entirely awakened. Similarly, although the Partition has caused an awakening, the comatose condition has not yet disappeared.”

India is still coming to terms with its predicament as Gandhi pens his words. It takes time for a nation to become fully aware and resolute. As always, impatience causes delays, and a people cannot be forced into understanding.

“As long as a man is contented with his present lot, so long is it difficult to persuade him to come out of it. Therefore it is that every reform must be preceded by discontent.”

Many Indians still slumber with the dream that oppression by Britain is somehow to their advantage. Not until they come to realize the difficulty will they fully respond to the need for change.

“You want the tiger’s nature, but not the tiger; that is to say, you would make India English.”

Indians cannot assume English attitudes and still retain India’s original powerful nature. A small cat may be pampered, but it is still owned by another; a tiger answers to no one and walks freely through the forest. 

“The condition of England at present is pitiable. I pray to God that India may never be in that plight.”

English ways may seem enticing, but to accept them requires Indians to take on the drawbacks of the English culture and character as well. England itself may one day reject its own delusions; India would do well to avoid that condition in the first place.

“The English have not taken India; we have given it to them. They are not in India because of their strength, but because we keep them.”

India has forfeited its freedom in a devil’s bargain with Britain. Indians use British court systems, medical practices, and machines, and they often must speak and read English. Gandhi feels that this dependence on modern conveniences and weakens India’s character. It cannot achieve independence as long as it accepts the drug of European civilization.

“It is my deliberate opinion that India is being ground down, not under the English heel, but under that of modern civilization.”

Gandhi sees England as a land hypnotized by its own successes. Not just India, but Britain, too, must come to terms with the dangers of indulging in modern conveniences and their heavy costs, especially the loss of traditional virtues. For this reason alone, Indians need to feel compassion, not hatred, for their rulers.

“Railways, lawyers and doctors have impoverished the country so much so that, if we do not wake up in time, we shall be ruined.”

These three hallmarks of European civilization do more harm than good. Railways cause a culture to hurry up and feel pressed; lawyers feed on conflict instead of cooperation; and doctors purvey potions that merely cover the symptoms of a dissolute lifestyle. All should be rejected by an India striving to become free—not only politically but culturally as well.

“India cannot cease to be one nation because people belonging to different religions live in it. The introduction of foreigners does not necessarily destroy the nation; they merge in it. A country is one nation only when such a condition obtains in it. That country must have a faculty for assimilation. India has ever been such a country.”

One problem with British rule is that it revives ancient conflicts, especially between Hindus and Muslims. A land with as many subcultures as India thrives because it knows how to accommodate and respect its various peoples. That India has been able to do so in the past is compelling evidence against the idea that India needs Britain to adjudicate its internal disputes. That idea is merely an excuse to keep British rule in place.

“A clay pot would break through impact, if not with one stone, then with another. The way to save the pot is not to keep it away from the danger point but to bake it so that no stone would break it. We have then to make our hearts of perfectly baked clay. Then we shall be steeled against all danger.”

Again, Gandhi exhorts Indians to look to themselves for strength and virtue. That Indians fear freedom simply means that they have grown fragile during centuries of dependency on foreign rule. They can regain their traditional power with introspection and practice. Thereafter, Indians need fear no one, especially not one another.

“My firm opinion is that the lawyers have enslaved India, have accentuated Hindu-Mahomedan dissensions and have confirmed English authority.”

For Gandhi, lawyers are a foreign invention who create dissent for profit. This weakens the people and helps the British maintain control over them, but it does India little good. Gandhi would rather have India revive its traditional courts and dispute-resolution processes than continue with the argumentative British system. 

“To study European medicine is to deepen our slavery.”

Doctors and their medicines are another form of incursion from outside that, in Gandhi’s day, does little to alleviate true physical suffering but much to weaken Indians by covering their symptoms of self-indulgence with pills. 

“I believe that the civilization India has evolved is not to be beaten in the world. Nothing can equal the seeds sown by our ancestors.” 

Gandhi admires India’s traditional civilization, with its emphasis on faith, humility, chastity, honesty, and compassion. For Gandhi, India has more than enough resources, cultural and spiritual, to take care of itself and offer its wisdom to others in the world. Such a nation has no need for outsiders—especially greed-besotted ones—to manage it. 

“The tendency of the Indian civilization is to elevate the moral being, that of the Western civilization is to propagate immorality.”

India is built on traditional values while Europeans have forsaken the old virtues for pursuit of pleasure and the impatient chase after money and luxuries.

“It is a world-known maxim that the removal of the cause of a disease results in the removal of the disease itself. Similarly if the cause of India’s slavery be removed, India can become free.”

Gandhi believes the source of India’s enslavement is that it has failed to practice its traditions and, instead, has traded them for elusive comforts. Like European doctors, who can only cover up symptoms, India could cover its problems with proclamations of loyalty to Britain. It must, instead, excise the tumor of dependency if it wants once again to regain its full health and stature.

“If I have the power, I should resist the tyranny of Indian princes just as much as that of the English. By patriotism I mean the welfare of the whole people, and if I could secure it at the hands of the English, I should bow down my head to them.”

Gandhi will battle against oppression from any source, whether British or Indian. It is useless, he asserts, to remove one source of tyranny only to fall under the sway of home-grown tyrants. To rush to follow a demagogue who promises freedom is to fall into the trap of aiding the next dictator. If the English were to forswear their colonial policies and liberalize their rule, Gandhi would welcome it, though he doesn’t expect it.

“The force of arms is powerless when matched against the force of love or the soul.”

Truth-force, or Satyagraha, reverses the old idea of force against force, replacing it with a loving and compassionate refusal to go along with injustice. The simple power of that stance cannot help but inspire respect even from enemies.

“The force of love is the same as the force of the soul or truth. We have evidence of its working at every step. The universe would disappear without the existence of that force.”

Most of the time, most people interact with friendly cooperation, and love is nurtured. Only when conflict pushes people into enemy camps does that foundational love disappear. A world ridden by war would soon destroy itself; a loving refusal to harm others breaks the chain of violence.

“If by using violence I force the Government to repeal the law, I am employing what may be termed body-force. If I do not obey the law and accept the penalty for its breach, I use soul-force. It involves sacrifice of self.”

Soul-force, or truth-force, accepts the responsibility and costs of resisting injustice, whereas violence tries to impose penalties on the enemy. To be willing to sacrifice oneself in a cause, and not to impose that cost on others, generates tremendous energy that transforms all involved. Violence, on the other hand, only begets more violence until it finally peters out in mutual exhaustion, and nothing is truly resolved.