For Global Peace with Social Justice in a Sustainable Environment

Manual Work and Mahatma Gandhi

Prof. Dr. Yogendra Yadav

Senior Gandhian Scholar, Professor, Editor and Linguist

Gandhi International Study and Research Institute, Jalgaon, Maharashtra, India

Contact No. – 09404955338, 09415777229

E-mail- dr.yadav.yogendra@gandhifoundation.net;

dr.yogendragandhi@gmail.com

Mailing Address- C- 29, Swaraj Nagar, Panki, Kanpur- 208020, Uttar Pradesh, India

Manual Work and Mahatma Gandhi

Students had better know from the very start that they will have to earn their living through bodily labour and not be ashamed of manual work to that end. I do not mean that all of us should always be plying the hoe. But it is necessary to understand that there is nothing wrong in plying the hoe to earn one’s living even though one may be engaged in some other avocation, and that labourers are in no way inferior to us. One, who has accepted this as a principle and an ideal, will reveal himself as a man of pure and exceptional character in the way he does his work, no matter what profession he follows. Such a man will not be the slave of wealth; rather, wealth will be his slave. If I am right in this, students will have to acquire the habit of doing physical labour. I have said this for the benefit of those who look upon education as the means of earning their living. 1

I can do manual work, I have been doing it, and would do so even now; but I do not get the opportunity for it. I have a number of things to attend to, and can, therefore, do some manual work only by way of exercise. Will it behoove you to tell me that you have worked on looms, but cannot do other physical labour? This notion has taken deep root in India. It is good as a principle that a man should specialize in one type of work only; but it would be improper to use this as an excuse. I have thought much about this. When I came to know of your bitter criticism of me, I felt that, if I wanted to keep you to the path of dharma and show you the worth of an oath and the value of labour, I must set a concrete example before you. We are not out to have fun at your cost or to act a play. There was only one way in which Gandhiji could effectively teach the people to submit to the hardships of physical labour and this was that he himself should suffer. He did manual work, of course, but that was not enough. A fast, he thought, would serve many purposes, and so commenced one. He would break it only when the workers got 35 per cent or if they simply repudiated their pledge. The result was as expected. Those who were present when he took the vow saw this well enough. The workers were roused; they started manual labour and were saved from betraying what a matter of religion was for them. 2

Secondly, whatever may be true of other countries, in India at any rate where more than eighty per cent of the population is agricultural and another ten per cent industrial, it is a crime to make education merely literary and to unfit boys and girls for manual work in after-life. Indeed I hold that as the larger part of our time is devoted to labour for earning our bread; our children must from their infancy be taught the dignity of such labour. Our children should not be so taught as to despise labour. There is no reason, why a peasant’s son after having gone to a school should become useless as he does become as agricultural labourer. It is a sad thing that our schoolboys look upon manual labour with disfavour, if not contempt. Moreover, in India, if we expect, as we must, every boy and girl of school-going age to attend public schools, we have not the means to finance education in accordance with the existing style, nor are millions of parents able to pay the fees that are at present imposed. Education to be universal must therefore be free. I fancy that even under an ideal system of government, we shall not be able to devote two thousand million rupees which we should require for finding education for all the children of school-going age. It follows, therefore, that our children must be made to pay in labour partly or wholly for all the education they receive. Such universal labour to be profitable can only be (to my thinking) hand-spinning and hand-weaving. But for the purposes of my proposition, it is immaterial whether we have spinning or any other form of labour, so long as it can be turned to account. Only, it will be found upon examination, that on a practical, profitable and extensive scale, there is no occupation other than the processes connected with cloth-production which can be introduced in our schools throughout India. 3

We must cease to be unscrupulous Vanias and become Kshatriyas. The Vaisya’s dharma does not mean doing no manual work, no ploughing, no heroism and no consideration for right and wrong. The true Vaisya, rather, shows him heroic in his generosity and discrimination in his business; he follows the Brahmin’s dharma, too, by exercising his discrimination and deciding that he may not sell liquor or fish that he may deal only in pure khadi. We shall fall into sin if others slave for us and we merely lend money and earn interest. At least by way of yajna, we should do some bodily labour every day. 4 The qualification for the franchise should be neither property nor position but manual work, such, for example, as suggested for the Congress franchise. Literary or property test has proved to be elusive. Manual work gives an opportunity to all who wish to take part in the Government and the well-being of the State. 5

It is for the person concerned to see that his work in the profession does not kill his better feelings. I certainly rate these professions inferior to agriculture and other manual work. 6 Today this is not so, and that is one of the reasons why there is so much hunger, injustice and vice in the world. Literacy, i.e., learning of books, acquisition of intellectual knowledge and useful manual work in various crafts are not different, though they may seem so. An effort to separate them and break the link that binds them together results in the misuse of knowledge. The intellectual side of it is like husband and manual labour like his wife. The bond between the two is indissoluble. Divorced from manual labour this husband is today acting like a libertine. He casts his evil eye here, there and everywhere and yet remains unsatisfied and in the end falls down tired and spent. Indeed, if a comparison has to be made between the two, the first place will have to be given to manual work, for a child does not use his intelligence first but his hands and feet. Gradually, he learns to use his eyes and ears and begins to understand things only when he is four or five years of age. But this does not mean that with greater power of understanding he can neglect his body. If he does so he will destroy both the body and the mind. The intellect finds its expression in action by the body.

Today the exercise of the body has come to be confined merely to gymnastics. Formerly this need was satisfied by useful labour. There is no suggestion that boys should not play games or take part in sports, etc. But there should not be any great need for games merely for health’s sake. Rather, there should be rest and relaxation of both the body and the mind. There is no place for indolence in education. Whether learning a craft or acquiring knowledge of the three R’s, education must always be interesting. If a boy gets bored either with reading and writing or craft work, the fault does not lie with him but with the method of education and the teacher. 7 The doctrine of manual labour for a living which Tolstoy has expounded is a corollary of the duty of labour. Tolstoy felt that if everyone had to do manual work then it means that man must earn his bread by manual labour, never by mental work. In varnadharma the work of each Varna was for the welfare of society. Livelihood was not the motive. Gain or no gain, the Kshatriya had to defend the people. The Brahmin had to impart knowledge whether he received alms or not. The Vaishya had to farm and tend cattle whether he earned money or not. But Tolstoy’s doctrine that every person must do manual work for a living is perfectly true. We come across distressing disparities in the world today because this universal duty has been neglected or forgotten. Disparities will always be there, but like the several leaves of a tree they will look beautiful and pleasant. In the pure varnadharma disparity is no doubt there, and when it was in its pure form, it was pleasing, peaceful and pretty. But when several people use their talents for amassing wealth, distressing disparities are created. Just as, if a teacher (Brahmin), a soldier (Kshatriya), a businessman (Vaishya) and a carpenter (Shudra) follow their professions for amassing wealth, not for the welfare of society, then varnadharma is destroyed. Because in matters of duty there can be no room for amassing In society there is need for lawyers doctors, soldiers and others. But when they work for selfish ends they no longer are protectors of society but become parasites on socket. Now we can clearly comprehend the etymology of the word yajna.

The meaning of yajna is manual work and this is the first and foremost act of worship of God. He has given us bodies. Without food the body cannot exit and without labour food cannot be produced. That is why manual labour has become a universal duty. This duty of labour is not Tolstoy’s alone but of the whole world. Ignorance of this great yajna has led to the worship of mammon in the world and intelligent people have used their talents to exploit others. It is clear that God is not covetous. Being all powerful, He creates every day only as much food as is sufficient for every human being or living creature. Not knowing this great truth, several people indulge in all kinds of luxuries and thereby starve many others. If they could give up this greed and work for their living, and eat enough to meet their needs, the poverty that we find today will vanish. I hope the interrogator would now see that varnadharma and duty of labour are concurrent, complementary and essential. 8

This view takes no note of history. Jesus was a carpenter. He never used his intellect to earn his livelihood. We do not know how much manual work Buddha did before he attained wisdom. Yes, we know this much, that he did not propagate religion for securing his livelihood. He lived on charity. That could not militate against the duty of labour. A roving ascetic has to do a lot of manual work. Now, to come to Tolstoy, what his wife has said is true but it is not the whole truth. After the change in his outlook Tolstoy never took for himself the income from his books. Although he had property worth millions, he lived like a guest in his own house. After the attainment of wisdom, he worked eight hours a day and earned his wages. Sometimes he worked in the field and sometimes he made shoes at home. Although he did not earn much by doing such work, still he earned enough to feed himself. Tolstoy strove hard to practise what he preached. This was characteristic of him. The sum and substance of all this discussion is that the duty which the ancients observed themselves and which the majority in the world discharges even today has been presented to the world in an explicit manner by him. In fact this doctrine was not Tolstoy’s original idea; it was thought of by a Great Russian writer by name Bondaref. Tolstoy endorsed it and proclaimed it to the world. 9

I compared them today with the sewing-machine and clearly realized the moral value of manual work. Though I look upon the sewing-machine as an invaluable benefit, I do not regard it as a source of peace. When you work on it, you naturally wish to increase the speed and in the end the brain is bound to get tired. But once a person has acquired control over the takli, time passes more peacefully for him as he works on it than for the driver of a bullock-cart. This is my experience, though I have not become an expert spinner as yet I must wait and see what experience I have when I have acquired perfect control over the takli. Kakasaheb, too, spins on it, but he has not discovered its secret yet. 10 I think so much of it that in institutions I have founded manual work is a sacred obligation for the inmates and he who does not do manual work steals food. He is not entitled to eat his portion of food, unless he has done sufficient manual work and I have not the slightest shadow of a doubt that when man shirks manual work, he stunts his moral growth. I have no doubt that, if we recognize the significance of manual work, many of the monstrosities would die a natural death. The law of bread labour was that that man was entitled to bread who worked for it. You find that law enunciated by Jesus when he said: thou shalt earn thy bread by the sweat of thy brow; and if this was literally followed, there would be very little illness on earth and little of hideous surroundings on earth. 11

There is of course no sin if one has to go to answer calls of nature during the hours for manual work, but it is certainly a bad habit. A boy or girl who feels interested in such work should attend to calls before joining it. Moreover, one who has a fixed time for such calls would always go at that time. If the hours for manual work come together, then a person would certainly have to go during that period. For this reason, manual work is never prescribed for more than four consecutive hours. 12 If I liked any manual work worth the name in my student days, I may perhaps say that I liked book-binding and carpentry. There are so many crafts and industries relating to spinning alone that the question of selecting some other work in addition does not arise. In order to have a full knowledge of the science of spinning, one must have some knowledge of each of the following: agriculture, chemistry, dyeing, painting, carpentry, smithy, weaving, knitting, sewing, carding, ginning, laundry work, history of the industries of the different countries, engraving, Arithmetic, geometry, etc. Think for yourselves and see whether a general knowledge of the subjects just mentioned is or is not essential for [proficiency in the] science of spinning. I have enumerated here only the arts and the crafts which I could remember. If you sit together and discuss, you will find some more to add to the list. Let me know if you can think of more. I hope that you will preserve my list at least. 13

Most of the manual work in the Ashram is done by the inmates themselves. There are a few hired labourers, but only those men who follow the Ashram rules fairly well have remained to work in that capacity and the inmates of the Ashram work with them. Gradually they are acquiring mastery over all types of work. Children also contribute their share. 14

Now comes the question of manual labour. As far as I understand the Gita, it mentions many kinds of yajna. One of them is manual labour. It is the duty of all the castes to do manual labour as yajna for the preservation of the world. No one can escape this yajna. Without body labour the journey of life itself is impossible. He who does not perform this yajna of labour is truly a thief. To say that manual labour is meant for Shudras only shows ignorance of dharma. Work of service does not necessarily mean manual work. He who washes his own dishes is doing manual work but not work of service. A watchman who earns his livelihood by standing at the gate does no manual work; but he certainly does work of service. 15 Those teachers who see the moral necessity of manual work will themselves find out some crafts which they can take up. Nobody else can advise them in this matter. 16

It is by making the children return to the State a part of what they receive from it that I propose to make education self-supporting. I should combine into one what you call now the primary education and [the] secondary or high-school education. It is my conviction that our children get nothing more in the high schools than a half-baked knowledge of English, besides a superficial knowledge of mathematics and history and geography some of which they had learnt in their own language in the primary classes. If you cut out English from the curriculum altogether, without cutting out the subjects you teach, you can make the children go through the whole course in seven years, instead of eleven, besides giving them manual work whereby they can make a fair return to the State. Manual work will have to be the very centre of the whole thing. I am told that Messrs Abbot and Wood recognize the value of manual work as an important part of rural education. I am glad to be supported by reputed educationists. But I do not suppose they place on manual work the kind of emphasis I place. For I say that the development of the mind should come through manual training. The manual training will not consist in producing articles for a school museum, or toys which have no value. It should produce marketable articles. The children will not do this as children used to do under the whip in the early days of the factories. They will do it because it entertains them and stimulates their intellect. There, too, I want you to start with the conviction. The ways and means will come as you begin to work it out. I regret that I woke up to the necessity of this at this very late age. Otherwise I should have made the experiment myself. Even now, God willing, I shall do what I can to show that it can be self-supporting. But my time has been taken up by other things all these years, equally important perhaps, but it is this stay in Segaon that brought the conviction home to me. We have up to now concentrated on stuffing children’s minds with all kinds of information, without ever thinking of stimulating and developing them. Let us now cry a halt and concentrate on educating the child properly through manual work, not as a side activity, but as the prime means of intellectual training. 17

There, too, I want you to start with the conviction. The ways and means will come as you begin to work it out. I regret that I woke up to the necessity of this at this very late age. Otherwise I should have made the experiment myself. Even now, God willing, I shall do what I can to show that it can be self-supporting. But my time has been taken up by other things all these years, equally important perhaps, but it is this stay in Segaon that brought the conviction home to me. We have up to now concentrated on stuffing children’s minds with all kinds of information, without ever thinking of stimulating and developing them. Let us now cry a halt and concentrate on educating the child properly through manual work, not as a side activity, but as the prime means of intellectual training. 18

There is no harm in adopting any means which is morally proper. One individual may take to carpentry for a living. He can earn Rs. 15 from this work. Or, he can take to carding or tailoring. A member of the Gandhi Seva Sangh would choose only those occupations which are available to thousands of people earning their livelihood by doing manual work. But he will not work merely to earn his livelihood. He is aware of the hardships people have to undergo while earning their livelihood. But as far as he himself is concerned, as he earns his livelihood he also renders some service. Apart from these occupations, members can also supplement their income through teaching. Anyone who requires more and who also has Appa’s knowledge of mathematics can even become a professor. But these are exceptions as far as I am concerned. I would always prefer manual work for a livelihood. Now you may ask what you should do about a livelihood while you are staying in the villages. Appa had asked the same question. You should do manual work. You can sweep the approaches to the village or do some other things, and maintain yourself on the few pice you may earn. If you get food grains in lieu of money, you should manage with that. You may not always get money from the Gandhi Seva Sangh. What does it matter if your body is ruined? One who has determination will face any hardships that may come his way and this will bring him hope out of despair. 19

It is easy to understand that those who have to do hard manual work and who cannot afford to drink milk, cannot do without pulses. But I can say without any hesitation whatsoever that those who follow sedentary occupations as, for instance, clerks, businessmen, lawyers, doctors, teachers and those who are not too poor to buy milk, do not require pulses. Pulses are generally considered to be difficult to digest and are eaten in a much smaller quantity than cereals. Out of the varieties of pulses, peas, gram and haricot beans are considered to be the most and mung and masoor (lentils) the least difficult to digest. 20 Such work can only be for a person like me who has become a villager and whose heart is in the villages even though he is living in a city. So the trustees have entrusted this work to me. I have begun the work but I have no trained personnel. It is another thing that I take help from Dr. Mehta whenever I need it. I have found a good helper in Dr. Bhagawat whose heart is wholly in the villages and who himself lives very simply. Even though he is an allopath, he believes only in nature cure, does not despise manual work and never tires of working. The others are all new to the work though filled with the spirit of service. I too am new to the work. Shri Datar has given his house for our use. He charges no rent, and so the work can go on. But the house has not room enough for new students to be admitted. I myself cannot permanently stay in Uruli Kanchan. If God wills it I hope in future to spend six months in the neighborhood of Poona and six months in Sevagram. Those who wish to learn nature cure should therefore understand that in the present circumstances it is quite impossible for anyone to be put up here. 21

One of the complaints that have been made by one of you is that too much emphasis is laid here on manual work. I am a firm believer in the educative value of manual work. Our present educational system is meant for strengthening and perpetuating the imperialist power in India. Those of you who have been brought up under it have naturally developed a taste for it and so find labour irksome. No one in Government schools or college bothers to teach the students how to clean the roads or latrines. Here cleanliness and sanitation form the very Alpha and Omega of your training. Scavenging is a fine art you should take pains to learn. Persistent questioning and healthy inquisitiveness are the first requisite for acquiring learning of any kind. Inquisitiveness should be tempered by humility and respectful regard for the teacher. It must not degenerate into impudence. The latter is the enemy of receptivity of mind. There can be no knowledge without humility and the will to learn. Useful manual labour, intelligently performed, is the means par excellence for developing the intellect. One may develop a sharp intellect otherwise too. But then it will not be a balanced growth but an unbalanced distorted abortion. It might easily make of one a rogue and a rascal. A balanced intellect presupposes a harmonious growth of boy, mind and soul. That is why we give to manual labour the central place in our curriculum of training here. An intellect that is developed through the medium of socially useful labour will be an instrument for service and will not easily be led astray or fall into devious paths. The latter can well be a scourge. If you grasp that essential point, the money spent by your respective government in sending you here for training will have been well-spent. 22

Intellectual work is important and has an undoubted place in the scheme of life. But what I insist on is the necessity of physical labour. No man, I claim, ought to be free from that obligation. It will serve to improve even the quality of his intellectual output. I venture to say that in ancient times Brahmins worked with their body as with their mind. But even if they did not, body labour is a proved necessity at the present time. In this connection I would refer to the life of Tolstoy and how he made famous the theory of bread-labour first propounded in his country by the Russian peasant Bondaref. 23 The educationists however should concern themselves solely with providing to the people education that is sound and character building. We look down upon those who do manual work. In Kathiawad one has to bathe if one happens to touch a weaver. Since all this is being done in the name of religion, we have become complacent. The main reason for all this is that we acquiesced in our slavery and abjectness for so many years. Had we assigned to craftsmen and artisans a place of dignity in society, like other countries we too would have produced many scientists and engineers. But now we must wake up. 24

What should we do then? If we would see Panchayat Raj, i. e., democracy established, we would regard the humblest and the lowliest Indian as being equally the ruler of India with the tallest in the land. For this everyone should be pure. If they are not they should become so. He who is pure will also be wise. He will observe no distinctions between caste and caste, between touchable and untouchable, but will consider everyone equal with himself. He will bind others to himself with love. To him no one would be an untouchable. He would treat the labourers the same as he would the capitalists. He will, like the millions of toilers, earn his living from service of others and will make no distinction between intellectual and manual work. To hasten this desirable consummation, we should voluntarily turn ourselves into scavengers. He who is wise will never touch opium, liquor or any intoxicants. He will observe the vow of swadeshi and regard every woman who is not his wife as his mother, sister or daughter according to her age, and never see anyone with eyes of lust. He will concede to woman the same rights he claims for himself. If need be he will, sacrifice his own life but never kill another. If he is a Sikh, he will, as taught by the Gurus, be as heroic “as one lakh and a quarter” of men and will not yield an inch. Such an Indian will not ask what his duty in the present hour is. 25

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