Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Which of Gandhi's four ideas (truth, non-violence, renunciation, self-rule) is most important?

Among all the ideas supported by Gandhi and used by him to
lead and guide the people of his country (India) and rest of the world, the concept and
practice of Non-violence is the most important. He used this ideas intensively and
extensively in his approach to public action, as a philosophy of life, and a way of life
for himself.


The next in importance, according to me is
truth. But I must say that Gandhi himself asserted truth as the most important. He
claimed his life to be a constant search for truth, and therefore, titled his
autobiography as My Experiments With Truth. In placing, truth, next
to non-violence rather than before it I am not contradicting the value placed by Gandhi
on truth. I am only saying that the non-violence is more prominent, as compared to
truth, in teachings and programs of Gandhi.


I am not sure
if renunciation is a central feature of Gandhi's approach. In a way, Gandhi opposes,
rather than supports renunciation when he asked people to struggle for their rights
rather than just be satisfied with whatever the fate has to
offer.


Self-rule is a political goal pursued by Gandhi for
India. In contrast non-violence, self-renunciation, and truth are policies of self
conduct and political action that guide the action for achieving self-rule and other
political objectives. It must be noted that individuals may shift from new goal they
achieve the existing ones or find them to be no longer appropriate under changed
condition. However the basic policies remain unchanged under all conditions, Therefore
the policies are more important than any objectives which may be achieved by application
of those policies.

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