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| Indian Civilization and Culture - Mahatma Gandhi - Rainbow 2| IndianTechnoEra |
MOHAN DAS KARAMCHAND GANDHI (1869-1948), popularly known as Bapu or the Father of the Nation was more a spiritual leader than a politician. He successfully used truth and non-violence as the chief weapons against British rule in India and helped India gain independence. From 1915 till 1948, he completely dominated Indian politics. He died at the hands of a fanatic on 30 January 1948. His autobiography, My Experiments with Truth, and the numerous articles that he wrote for Young India and the speeches that he delivered on different occasions reveal him not only as a great master of chaste, idiomatic English. In the following extract 'Indian Civilization and Culture,' Gandhiji talks about the sound foundation of Indian civilization which has successfully withstood the passage of time. The western civilization which has the tendency to privilege materiality cannot match the Indian civilization that elevates the moral being.
Indian Civilization and Culture
1. 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. Rome went, Greece shared the same fate,
the might of the Pharaohs was broken, Japan has become westernized; of China, nothing can be said, but India is still, somehow or other, sound at the
foundation. The people of Europe learn their lessons from the writings of the
men of Greece or Rome which exist no longer in their former glory. In trying to
learn from them, the Europeans imagine that they will avoid the mistakes of Greece
and Rome. Such is there to induce them to adopt any changes. It is a charge
really against our merit. What we pitiable condition.
2. In the midst of all this,
India remains immovable and that is her glory. It is a charge against India
that her people are so uncivilized, ignorant and stolid, that it is not
possible to have tested and found true on the anvil of experience, we dare not
change. Many moralities are to attain mastery over our minds and our passions.
So doing, we know thrust their advice upon India, and she remains steady. This
is her beauty; it is the sheet anchor of our hope.
3. Civilization is that mode of
conduct that points out to man the path of duty. Performance of duty and
observance of morality are convertible terms. To observe morality is to attain
mastery over our minds and our passions. So doing, we know ourselves. The
Gujarati equivalent for civilization means "good conduct".
4. If this definition is correct,
then India, as so many writers have shown, has nothing to learn from anybody
else, and this is as it should be.
5. We notice that the mind is a restless bird, the more it gets the more it wants, and still remains unsatisfied. The more we indulge in our passions, the more unbridled they become, our ancestors, therefore, set a limit to our indulgences. They saw that happiness was largely a mental condition.
6. A man is not necessarily happy
because he is rich or unhappy because he is poor. The rich are often seen to be
unhappy, the poor to be happy. Millions will always remain poor. Observing all
this, our ancestors dissuaded us from luxuries and pleasures. We have managed
with the same kind of plow as existed thousands of years ago. We have
retained the same kind of cottages that we had in former times and our
indigenous education remains the same as before. We have had no system of life
corroding competition. Each followed his own occupation or trade and was charged a
regular wage. it was not that we did not know how to invent machinery, but our
forefathers knew that, if we set our hearts after such things, we would become
slaves and lose our moral fiber. They, therefore after due deliberation decided
that we should only do what we count with our hands and feet. They saw that our
real happiness and health consisted in the proper use of our hands and feet.
7. They further reasoned that
large cities were a snare and a useless encumbrance and that people would not
be happy in them, that there would be gangs of thieves and robbers,
prostitution and vice flourishing in them and those poor men would be robbed by
rich men. They were, therefore, satisfied with small villages.
8. They saw that kings and their
swords were inferior to the sword of ethics, and they, therefore, held the
sovereigns of the earth to be inferior to the Rashes and the Fakirs. A nation,
with a constitution like this, is fitter to be inferior to learn from others.
This nation had courts, lawyers, and doctors, but they were all within bounds.
Everybody knew that these professions were not particularly superior. Moreover,
these Vakils and Vaids did not rob people; they were considered people's
dependents, not their masters. Justice was tolerably fair. The ordinary rule
was to avoid courts. There were no touts to lure people into them. This evil
too was noticeable only in and around capitals. The common people lived
independently and followed their agricultural occupation. They enjoyed true
Home Rule.
9. The Indian civilization, as
described by me, has been so described by its votaries. In no part of the
world, and under no civilization, have all men attained perfection. The
tendency of Indian civilizations is to elevate the moral being that of the
western civilization is to propagate immorality. The latter is godless; the
former is based on a belief in God. So understanding and so believing, it
behooves every lover of India to cling to the old Indian civilization even as a
child clings to the mother's breast.
10. I am no hater of the West. I
am thankful to the West for many a thing I have learnt from western literature.
But I am thankful to modern civilization for teaching me that if I want India
to rise to its fullest height, I must tell my countrymen frankly that, after
years and years of experience of modem civilization, I have learned one lesson
from it and that is that we must shun it at all costs.
11. What is that modem
civilization? It is the worship of the material, it is the worship of the brute
in us -it is unadulterated materialism, and modern civilization is nothing if
it does not think at every step of the triumph of material civilization.
12. It is perhaps unnecessary, if not useless, to weigh the merits of the two civilizations. It is likely that the West has evolved a civilization suited to its climate and surroundings, and similarly, we have a civilization suited to our conditions, and both are good in their own respective spheres.
13. The distinguishing
characteristic of modern civilization is an indefinite multiplicity f human
wants. The characteristic of ancient civilization is an imperative restriction
upon, and a strict regulating of, these wants. The modern western
inscrutableness arises really from want of living faith in a future state and
therefore also in Divinity. The restraint of ancient or eastern civilization
arises from a belief, often in spite of us, in a future state and the existence
of divine power.
14. Some of the immediate and
brilliant results of modern inventions are too maddening to resist. But I have
no manner of doubt that the victory of man lies in that resistance. We are in
danger of bartering away the permanent good for a momentary pleasure.
15. Just as in the west they have
made wonderful discoveries in things material, similarly, Hinduism has made
still more marvelous discoveries in things of religion, of the spirit, of the
soul.
16. But we have no eye for these
great and fine discoveries. We are dazzled by the martial progress that western
science has made. I am not enamored of the progress. In fact, it almost seems
as though god in his wisdom has prevented India from progressing along those
lines so that it might fulfill its special mission of resisting the onrush of
materialism.
17. After all, there is something
in Hinduism that has kept it alive up till now. It has witnessed the fall of
Babylonia, Syrian, Persian, and Egyptian civilizations. Cast a look around you.
Where is Rome and where is Greece? Can you find today anywhere the Italy of
gibbon, or rather the ancient Rome, for Rome, was Italy?
18. Go to Greece. Where is the
world-famous attic civilization? Then coming to India, let one go through the
most ancient records and then look around you and you would be constrained to
say, “yes, I see here ancient India still living”.
19. True, there were dung heaps,
too, here and there but there are rich treasures buried under them. And the
reason why it has survived is that the end which Hinduism set before it was not
developed along with material but spiritual lines.
20. Our civilization, our
culture, our Swaraj depend not upon multiplying our wants self-indolence, but
upon restricting wants-self denial.
21. European civilization is, no
doubt, suited for the Europeans but it will mean ruin for Indians if we Endeavor
to copy it. This is not to say that we may not adopt and assimilate whatever
may be good and capable of assimilation by us, as it does not also mean that
even the Europeans will not have to part with whatever evil might have crept
into it.
22. The incessant search for
material comforts and their multiplication is such an evil and I make bold to
say that the Europeans themselves will have to remodel their outlook, it they
are not to perish under the Wight of the comforts to which they are becoming
slaves. It may be that my reading is wrong, but I know that for India to run
after the Golden Fleece is to court certain death. Let us engrave on our hearts
the motto of a western philosopher: “Plain living and high thinking”. Today it
is certain that the millions cannot have high living and we the few, who
profess to do the thinking for the masses, run the risk, in a vain search after
high living, of missing high thinking.
23. Civilization, in the real
sense of the term, consists not in the multiplication, but in the deliberate and
voluntary restriction of wants. This alone increases and promotes contentment,
real happiness, and capacity for service.
24. A certain degree of physical harmony and comfort is necessary but above a certain level, it becomes a hindrance instead of help. Therefore, the idea of creating an unlimited number of wants and satisfying them seems to be a delusion and a snare. The satisfaction of one’s physical needs, even the intellectual needs of one’s narrow self, must meet at a certain point a dead stop before it degenerates into physical and intellectual voluptuousness. A man must arrange his physical and intellectual voluptuousness. A man must arrange his physical and cultural circumstances so they do not hinder him in this service of the humanity of which all his energies should be concentrated.
Indian Civilization and Culture Glossary & Notes:
- Evolved: Caused to develop
- Fate: Destiny
- Pharaohs: Rulers of ancient Egypt
- Immovable: Unwavering, firm
- Glory: Magnificence, beauty
- Stolid: slow-witted
- Anvil: A metal block on which a blacksmith shapes metal objects with hammer
- Sheet anchor: Security
- Convertible: Exchangeable, that can be converted
- Unbridled: Unrestrained, uncontrolled
- Dissuaded: Advice against, persuaded against
- Indigenous: Native, home-grown
- Life-corroding: Destroying life gradually
- Moral fiber: Character
- Deliberation: Reflections, consideration, and discussion
- Scene: Trap
- Encumbrance: Burden
- Vice: Evil, Wickedness
- Flourishing: Thriving, growing in a healthy manner
- Touts: Persons employed in soliciting customers
- Lure: Entice, tempt
- Votaries: Devotees
- Elevate: Raise, exalt
- Propagate: Spread ideas, beliefs etc more widely
- Behooves: Be right or necessary
- Cling: Adhere, stick
- Shun: Keep away from
- Unadulterated: Complete
- Insatiableness: State of not being satisfied
- Bartering: Exchanging goods, property etc
- Enamored: Be in love with, delighted with
- Onrush: Surge, flow
- Gibbon: the English historian of the eighteenth century who
authored the famous book the Be cline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
- Ruin: Destruction
- Assimilation: Integration
- The Golden Fleece: An object very difficult to attain. The Golden Fleece of Greek mythology was well protected by snakes and flames, and the secure it Jason has to employee the magic of Media.
- Hindrance: something or somebody that obstructs
- Delusion: Misleading, misconception
Indian Civilization and Culture Summary in English
Mahatma Gandhi in his
essay “Indian Civilization and Culture” has described the importance of Indian civilization.
The sound foundation of Indian civilization has successfully withstood the
passage of time. The western civilization which has the tendency to privilege
materiality cannot match the Indian civilization that elevates the moral being.
The Indian civilization is unparalleled and can not be beaten in the world. The
seeds sown by our ancestors were deep-rooted and had developed miraculously in
a big tree with many of its branches spread over the heart of India. Rome,
Greece and many other centers of an ancient civilization were diminished or no
longer exist in their former glory. Japan has become westernized and China has
also shifted from its past culture. Civilization points out to man the path of
duty, performance of duty and observance of morality are exchangeable.
It is a charge against
India that her people are uncivilized and they do not adopt any change. It is a
charge really against our merit. In the midst of such allegations, India
remains firm and immovable and that is her glory. “Mind is a restless bird”, is
but a fact. The more it gets the more it wants and still remains unsatisfied.
As such our ancestors set a limit to our indulgences. They persuaded us against
luxuries and pleasures. For them, large cities were burden and trap. People
would not be happy there, because there would be gangs of thieves, robbers,
prostitutes, and antisocial elements there.
The Indian civilization
elevates the moral being whereas the western – civilization is to propagate
immortality. Hie latter is godless, the former is based on a belief in God. The
ancient civilization is an imperative restriction upon an indefinite
multiplicity of human wants whereas modern civilization is just the reverse.
In the west, wonderful
discoveries in things material have been made. In India similarly, Hinduism has
made still more marvelous discoveries in things of religion, the spirit, and
the soul. There is something in Hinduism that has been kept alive up till now. It
has witnessed the fall of so many civilizations like Baby Ionia, Syria, Egypt , and so on.
Our civilization,
culture, and swaraj depend upon restricting wants and self-denial instead of
multiplying our wants and self-indulgence. European civilization is suited for
the European and will ruin us (India) if we copy it. Civilization in the real sense
of the terms consists of the deliberate and voluntary restriction of wants not
in the multiplication, as already mentioned.
It is necessary to arrange our physical and cultural circumstances so that they do not become an obstacle in our service to humanity and all our energies should be concentrated to develop them.
Indian Civilization and Culture Summary in Hindi
महात्मा गाँधी ने अपने लेख “इण्डियन
सिविलॉइजेशन एण्ड कल्चर” (Indian
Civilization and Culture) में भारतीय सभ्यता
के महत्त्व का वर्णन किया है। भारतीय सभ्यता की सुदृढ़ आधारशिला समय से संघर्ष
करते हुए आगे की ओर अग्रसर हुई है। पाश्चात्य-सभ्यता, जो कि भौतिकता को
विशेष महत्त्व देती थी, भारतीय
परिस्थितियों एवं आदर्शों से तालमेल नहीं बैठा सकी।
भारतीय सभ्यता अद्वितीय है तथा उसे विश्व
में पराजित नहीं किया जा सकता । हमारे पूर्वजों द्वारा जिस बीज का रोपण किया गया
था उसकी जड़ें अत्यंत गहरी थीं तथा कालांतर में चमात्कारिक रूप में एक बडे वक्ष के
रूप में विकसित हआ तथा इसकी अनेक शाखाएँ भारत के हृदय-स्थल पर फैल गयीं। प्राचीन
सभ्यता के रोम, ग्रीक
तथा अनेक अन्य केन्द्र या तो दुर्बल हो गए अथवा अपने प्राचीन गौरव को अक्षण्ण नहीं
रख सके। जापान ने पाश्चात्य सभ्यता को अंगीकार कर लिया। चीन भी अपनी प्राचीन
संस्कृति से भटक गया तथा उसे त्याग दिया। सभ्यता
मनुष्य को कर्तव्य की राह दिखाती है। कर्तव्य का निर्वहन तथा आदर्शों का पालन
अहस्तारणीय है, वह
विनिमयशील नहीं है।
भारत पर यह आरोप लगाया जाता है कि यहाँ
का जन-समुदाय असभ्य (अशिष्ट) है तथा वे किसी परिवर्तन को स्वीकार नहीं करते हैं
अर्थात् वे स्वयं में बदलाव नहीं लाना चाहते । वस्तुतः यह आरोप हमारी प्रतिभा के
विरुद्ध लगाया गया है। इन आरोपों के बावजूद भारत अटल तथा दृढ़ बना हुआ है तथा यही
इसका गौरव तथा प्रताप है। यह एक तथ्य है कि “मस्तिष्क एक अशांत पक्षी है।” जितना अधिक उसे
दिया जाता है उतना ही अधिक वह चाहता है अर्थात् उसकी इच्छाएँ अनन्त हैं। वह उसके
पश्चात भी असंतुष्ट बना रह जाता है। इसी कारण हमारे पूर्वजों ने हमारी संलिप्तता
की सीमा निश्चित कर दी थी। उन्होंने हमें विलासिता तथा आनन्द के विरुद्ध चेताया।
उनके अनुसार नगर एक प्रकार का फंदा तथा बोझ है, लोग (जन समुदाय) वहाँ (नगरों में) सुखी
नहीं रह सकते क्योंकि वहाँ चोरों, डाकुओं, अनैतिक आचरण वाली
युवितियों तथा असामाजिक तत्वों का बाहुल्य है।
भारतीय सभ्यता नैतिकता को उजागर करती है
जबकि पाश्चात्य सभ्यता अनैतिकता का प्रचार करती है। पाश्चात्य सभ्यता ईश्वर विहीन
है, अर्थात् ईश्वर पर
उसकी आस्था नहीं है। भारतीय सभ्यता ईश्वर की सत्ता (अस्तित्व) पर विश्वास करती है।
प्राचीन सभ्यता अनन्त मानवीय आवश्यकताओं पर एक सार्थक नियन्त्रण है जबकि आधुनिक
सभ्यता ठीक उसके विपरीत है।
पाश्चात्य देशों में भौतिकवादी वस्तुओं
से संबंधित आश्चर्यजनक आविष्कार हुए हैं। उसी प्रकार हिन्दुत्व से उससे भी अधिक
गौरवपूर्ण एवं आश्चर्यजनक अन्वेषण धर्म, आत्मा तथा अन्तःकरण से संबंधित क्षेत्रों
में किए हैं। हिन्दुत्व में ऐसा कुछ विशेष तत्त्व है जिसने इसे जीवित बनाए रखा है।
इसने (हिन्दुत्व) बेवीलोन, सीरिया, मिश्र आदि अनेकों
सभ्यताओं का पता देखा है। हमारी सभ्यता, संस्कृति तथा स्वराज्य, हमारी अपनी
आवश्यकताओं इच्छाओं तथा आत्मोत्सर्ग पर निर्भर करता है। अपनी अनियन्त्रित
आवश्यकताओं, इच्छाओं
की वृद्धि एवं संलिप्तता से यह कदापि संभव नहीं । यूरोपीय सभ्यता, यूरोपवासियों के
अनुकूल (उपयुक्त) है तथा यदि हम इसकी नकल करेंगे तो हम (भारतवासी) विनष्ट हो
जाएंगे। सही अर्थों में आवश्यकताओं पर स्वैच्छिक नियन्त्रण एवं आत्मानुशासन ही
सभ्यता का मूलमन्त्र है तथा उन्हीं से यह निर्मित है।
Indian Civilization and Culture Questions & Answer:
A. Answer the following questions orally
Q1. What do you know about Gandhiji?
Answer: I know Gandhiji as Bapu and as Mahatma. He is called Bapu because he was the father of the nation. He is called Mahatma because he was a great soul or Saint. Gandhiji was the leader of the Indian National East the movement against British rule. he adopted Satyagraha and nonviolence to achieve all his objectives. in the beginning, Gandhiji worked in South Africa where he went to jail several times for protection against the ill-treatment to Indians there. Gandhiji's struggle was long hard but peaceful. In 1942 Gandhiji-led Congress begin to quit the India movement which ultimately paved the way to India's independence the world has recognized the Wardha office mein thoughts of Satyagraha and nonviolence has been declared as the man of millennium.
Q2. What did Gandhi do for the farmers in Bihar?
Answer: It was indigo-peasant’s problems that brought Gandhiji to Champaran in 1917. The British landlords owned large estates in Champaran. Indigo farming was profitable for them but irksome for their Indian presents. The British landlords were exploiting the poor farmers who lived in contain the fear of them. Gandhiji visited Champaran, studied their problems, and fought for their causes. He started a sort of non-violent movement. The farmers of Champaran rallied around him. Gandhi frees them from both exploitation and fear of the British rulers.
