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Sarvodaya

2021-12-24T17:33:37Z

2607:FEA8:E80:555:E9E3:ABBE:A2B9:D80C:

{{short description|Essay by M. K. Gandhi on his economic theory}}
'''Sarvōdaya''' ({{lang-hi|[[wikt:सर्वोदय|सर्वोदय]]}} ''[[wikt:सर्व|sarv-]]'' "all", ''[[wikt:उदय|uday]]'' "rising") is a Sanskrit term which generally means "universal uplift" or "progress of all". The term was used by [[Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi|Mahatma Gandhi]] as the title of his 1908 translation of [[John Ruskin|John Ruskin's]] tract on political economy, ''[[Unto This Last]]'', and Gandhi came to use the term for the ideal of his own political philosophy.<ref>[[Joan Bondurant|Bondurant, Joan]]. ''Conquest of Violence: The Gandhian Philosophy of Conflict.'' (Princeton, 1958) p 156.</ref> Later Gandhians, like the Indian [[nonviolence]] activist [[Vinoba Bhave]], embraced the term as a name for the social movement in post-independence [[India]] which strove to ensure that self-determination and equality reached all strata of Indian society. [[Samantabhadra (Jain monk)|Samantabhadra]], an illustrious [[Digambara monk]], as early as the 2nd century A.D., called the ''tīrtha'' of ''Mahāvīra'' (24th [[Tirthankara]]) by the name ''sarvodaya''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Upadhye|first=Dr. A. N.|author-link=A.N. Upadhye|title=Mahavira His Times and His philosophy of life|date=2000|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GHfzERhGUjQC|publisher=Bharatiya Jnanpith|p=54}}</ref>

== Origins and Gandhi's political ideal ==
Gandhi received a copy of Ruskin's ''Unto This Last'' from a British friend, Mr. Henry Polak, while working as a lawyer in South Africa in 1904. In his ''Autobiography'', Gandhi remembers the twenty-four-hour train ride to Durban (from when he first read the book), being so in the grip of Ruskin's ideas that he could not sleep at all: "I determined to change my life in accordance with the ideals of the book."<ref name="Autobiography">''Autobiography'', part IV, chapter xviii.</ref> As Gandhi construed it, Ruskin's outlook on political-economic life extended from three central tenets:

{{cquote|
That
# the good of the individual is contained in the good of all.
# a lawyer's work has the same value as the barber's in as much as all have the same right of earning their livelihood from their work.
# a life of labour, i.e., the life of the tiller of the soil and the handicraftsman is the life worth living.

The first of these I knew. The second I had dimly realized. The third had never occurred to me. ''Unto This Last'' made it clear as daylight for me that the second and third were contained in the first. I arose with the dawn, ready to reduce these principles to practice.<ref name="Autobiography" />}}

Four years later, in 1908, Gandhi rendered a paraphrased translation of Ruskin's book into his native tongue of [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]]. He entitled the book ''Sarvodaya'', a [[Sanskrit compounds|compound (sandhi)]] he invented from two [[Sanskrit]] roots: ''sarva'' (all) and ''udaya'' (uplift) -- "the uplift of all" (or as Gandhi glossed it in his autobiography, "the welfare of all").

Although inspired by Ruskin, the term would for Gandhi come to stand for a political ideal of his own stamp. (Indeed, Gandhi was keen to distance himself from Ruskin's more conservative ideas.)<ref>See Bondurant (1958), pp. 156-159.</ref> The ideal which Gandhi strove to put into practice in his [[ashram]]s was, he hoped, one that he could persuade the whole of India to embrace, becoming a light to the other nations of the world. The Gandhian social ideal encompassed the [[dignity of labor]], an equitable distribution of wealth, communal self-sufficiency and individual freedom.<ref>Bondurant (1958), chapter 5.</ref>

== Sarvodaya movement ==
Gandhi's ideals have lasted well beyond the achievement of one of his chief projects, Indian independence (''[[swaraj]]''). His followers in
India (notably, [[Vinoba Bhave]]) continued working to promote the kind of society that he envisioned, and their efforts have come to be known as the Sarvodaya Movement. Anima Bose has referred to the movement's philosophy as "a fuller and richer concept of people's democracy than
any we have yet known." Sarvodaya workers associated with Vinoba, [[Jaya Prakash Narayan]], [[Dada Dharmadhikari]], [[Ravishankar Maharaj]], Dhirendra Mazumdaar, Shankarrao Deo, K. G. Mashruwala undertook various projects aimed at encouraging popular self-organisation during the 1950s and 1960s, including ''[[Bhoodan]]'' and ''[[Gramdan]]'' movements. Many groups descended from these networks continue to function locally in India today.

Beginning on the one year anniversary of the immersion of Gandhi's ashes, an annual Sarvodaya [[mela]] or festival has been held at [[Srirangapatna]]<ref>Sharath S. Srivatsa, [https://archive.today/20130411021047/http://www.hindu.com/2006/02/12/stories/2006021203020400.htm "A confluence by the Cauvery"], ''[[The Hindu]]'', 12 February 2006.</ref> and at [[Tirunavaya]]. At the latter site, it was instituted by [[K. Kelappan]] (Kelappaji).<ref>T. Madhava Menon, ''A handbook of Kerala'', Volume 2, Thiruvananthapuram: International School of Dravidian Linguistics, 2002, {{ISBN|9788185692272}}, p. 617.</ref><ref>''Tourist Guide to Kerala'', Chennai: Sura, 2008, {{ISBN|9788174781642}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZYfRBcLdTNYC&pg=PA40 p. 40].</ref>

==Further reading==
* ''The Sarvodaya Movement: Gandhian Approach to Peace and Non Violence'', by S. Narayanasamy. New Delhi, Mittal Publications, 2003. {{ISBN|81-7099-877-8}}.

==See also==
* ''[[Indian Opinion]]''
* [[Hermann Kallenbach]]
* [[Totaram Sanadhya]]
* [[Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement]], a Sri Lankan organization based on the principle of Sarvodaya.

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Sister project links|wikt= no |commons= no |b= no |n= no |q= no |v= no }}
{{Refbegin}}
* [http://www.iisg.nl/publications/sarvo.php The Sarvodaya Movement in India in the 1950s]
{{Refend}}

{{Gandhi|state=expanded}}
{{John Ruskin}}


[[Category:Gandhism]]
[[Category:Social history of India]]
[[Category:Hindi words and phrases]]

Aundh Experiment

2021-12-24T17:05:40Z

2607:FEA8:E80:555:E9E3:ABBE:A2B9:D80C: /* After ratification */Full role of justice was not handed to panchayat, to prevent potential discrimination by panchayat.

{{short description|Early test of village-level self-government in British India}}
The '''Aundh Experiment''' was an early test of village-level [[self-government]] in [[British India]] which began in 1938 in [[Aundh State]] in present-day [[Maharashtra]]. [[Mohandas Gandhi]], and [[Maurice Frydman]] helped to draft the November Declaration, which handed over rule of [[Aundh State]] from the Raja to the residents, and became law in the Swaraj Constitution of Aundh in 1939.<ref>Alter, p. 92.</ref> The Aundh Experiment was an unusual idea in pre-independence India, where the rulers of [[princely states]] were loath to hand over their power.<ref name="Allen, pp. 314-5">Allen, pp. 314-5.</ref>

== Development and ratification ==

At the time, Aundh was a princely state in British India, ruled by generations of Rajas since 1699. Unlike the [[Provinces of India]], which were ruled directly by the British government, the princely states had a certain degree of autonomy—with each state making its own treaty with the [[British Monarch]]. In 1938, the ruler of Aundh, [[Bhawanrao Shriniwasrao Pant Pratinidhi|Raja Bhavanrao Srinivasrao]], was approached by Frydman (also known as Swami Bharatananda), a Polish engineer who was a disciple of Gandhi. According to the Raja's son, [[Apa Saheb Bala Saheb Pant|Apa Pant]], "Frydman had great influence with my father, and on his seventy-fifth birthday he said, 'Raja Saheb, why don't you go and make a declaration to Mahatma Gandhi that you are giving all power to the people because it will help in the freedom struggle.'"<ref name="Allen, pp. 314-5" />

[[Bhawanrao Shriniwasrao Pant Pratinidhi|Raja Bhavanrao]] was a strong supporter of the [[Indian independence movement]], and stood up for the welfare of the people of Aundh, "in sharp contrast to the attitude and behavior of the majority of Maharajas and Rajas", according to [[Indira Gandhi]]. The Raja readily endorsed the idea of self-government, Frydman wrote a draft declaration, and the Raja and his son traveled to Wardha to see Gandhi. There, Gandhi dictated the final draft of the constitution, which was sent to the state assembly to be ratified on January 21, 1939.<ref>Alter, pp. 92, 94.</ref>

The Raja was a self-proclaimed nationalist, and the beginning of the experiment in 1938 caused concern among the British rulers, who reprimanded him for being a friend of Gandhi, who they called "the rebel against the Raj." In response, [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] and the [[Indian National Congress]] offered their support to the Raja.<ref name="Alter, p. 104">Alter, p. 104.</ref>

[[Swaraj]], or self-rule, was the foundation of Gandhi's movement for independence from British domination, and included the principles of decentralised self-governance and community building.<ref>Parel, pp. 48-49.</ref> At the inauguration of the constitution, Raja Bhavanrao affirmed Gandhi's ideals of Swaraj, declaring that:
<blockquote>We have to urge the people of Aundh to remember always that government being control, self government implies self-control and self-sacrifice. In the new era that is coming to Aundh, and we hope to the whole of our country, the strong will serve the weak, the wealthy will serve the poor, the learned will serve the illiterate. Self government without this spirit of service and sacrifice is bound to decay into some form or other of exploitation.<ref>Alter, pp. 93-94.</ref></blockquote>

== After ratification ==

After ratification, the state of Aundh was reorganized from the ground up, with local administration put in the hands of village ''[[panchayat]]s'' with five elected representatives, voted into office through new voting rights given to all adults. Each ''panchayat'' chose a president, who represented them at regional ''taluka'' councils. Each ''taluka'' council chose a president and two representatives to a Central Assembly presided over by the raja. In spite of the Raja's role as leader of the Assembly, responsibility for regional government was, for all practical purposes, in the hands of the people. The ''panchayats'' were given responsibility for all matters relating to education, welfare, water supply, sanitation, construction and maintenance of roads and public buildings, and all other activities relating to the health safety, and social and economic wellbeing of the villagers.<ref>Alter, pp. 92- 93.</ref>

Between 1939 and 1945, twenty-seven new primary schools were established, making more than one per village. In addition, fourteen middle schools and three high schools were built and staffed, with the total number of teachers more than doubling. Adult education also saw a doubling of expenditure.<ref>Alter, p. 100.</ref>

Several Indian National Congress leaders from [[Maharashtra]] became actively involved in the Aundh Experiment in the 1940s, including Tatya Shikhare, Annasaheb Sahasrabudhe, and Nana and Bhau Dharmadhikari. When [[Achyut Patwardhan|Achutrao Patwardan]] went into hiding to avoid arrest during the [[Quit India]] movement in 1946, he used Aundh villages as his base of operations. He went as far as adopting the language of the Aundh State Constitution, declaring that he and his band of freedom fighters were "''Prati Sakar''"—"self-governing and independent of the Central Authority."<ref name="Alter, p. 104" />

The Aundh Experiment in village-level self-rule endured until [[Partition of India|Indian independence]] in 1947, when all of the princely states were merged into the new [[Dominion of India]].<ref name="Allen, pp. 314-5" />

==See also==

* [[Swaraj]]
* [[Opposition to the partition of India]]
* [[Sarvodaya]]
* [[Swadeshi movement]]

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==

*[[Charles Allen (writer)|Allen, Charles]]; [[Sharada Dwivedi|Dwivedi, Sharada]]. ''Lives of the Indian Princes''. London: Century Publishing (1984). {{ISBN|0-7126-0910-5}}.
*Alter, Joseph S. ''Gandhi's Body''. University of Pennsylvania Press (2000). {{ISBN|978-0-8122-3556-2}}.
*Parel, Anthony. ''Gandhi, Freedom, and Self-Rule''. Lexington Books (2000). {{ISBN|978-0-7391-0137-7}}.

== Further reading ==

*[[Apa Pant|Pant, Apa]]. ''An Unusual Raja: Mahatma Gandhi and the Aundh Experiment''. Sangam Books, (1989). {{ISBN|978-0-86131-752-3}}.
*Rothermund, Indira. ''The Aundh Experiment: A Gandhian Grass-roots Democracy''. Somaiya, (1983). {{ISBN|978-0-8364-1194-2}}.

{{Indian independence movement}}
{{Mohandas K. Gandhi}}

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[[Category:Indian independence movement in Maharashtra]]
[[Category:1939 in India]]
[[Category:History of Maharashtra]]
[[Category:Satara district]]
[[Category:Mahatma Gandhi]]
[[Category:Gandhism]]