For Global Peace with Social Justice in a Sustainable Environment

Moral Values; It’s power and Mahatma Gandhi

Prof. Dr. Yogendra Yadav

Gandhian Scholar

Gandhi Research Foundation, Jalgaon, Maharashtra, India

Contact No.- 09404955338, 09415777229

E-mail-dr.yadav.yogendra@gandhifoundation.net; dr.yogendragandhi@gmail.com

Moral Values; It’s power and Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi had a great power of moral. His all suggestions to Indian people were depend on it. He wrote about in it in his many letters and articles. Morality and power are often taken to be opposites, with morality grounded in altruism and a commitment of the common good, and power located in self-interest. Our contention is that moral power, seemingly an oxymoron, is actually a widely present and important factor in social and political life. Moral power is the degree to which an actor, by virtue of his or her perceived moral stature, is able to persuade others to adopt a particular belief or take a particular course of action. We argue that moral power is a function of whether one is perceived as morally well-intentioned, morally capable, and whether one has moral standing to speak to an issue. In this paper, we introduce the concept of moral power, situate it theoretically, offer a theory of how it is generated, and give a range of examples to illustrate its relevance. Mahatma Gandhi described, “We saw that the value of money consists in its power to command the labour of men. If that labour could be had without payment, there should be no further need of money. Instances are known where human labour can be had without payment. We have considered examples which show that moral power is more effective than the power of money. We also saw that man’s goodness can do what money cannot do. There exist men in many parts of England who cannot be beguiled with money. Moreover, if we admit that wealth carries with it the power to direct labour, we shall also see that the more intelligent and moral men are, the greater is the wealth amassed. It may even appear on a fuller consideration that the persons themselves constitute the wealth, not gold and silver. We must search for wealth not in the bowels of the earth, but in the hearts of men. If this is correct, the true law of economics is that men must be maintained in the best possible health, both of body and mind, and in the highest state of honour. A time may also come when England, instead of adorning the turbans of its slaves with diamonds from Golconda and thus sporting her wealth, may be able to point to her great men of virtue, saying, in the words of a truly eminent Greek, This is my wealth.”1

Mahatma Gandhi described, “It is open to satyagrahis to form small groups of men and women to whom they may read this class of literature. The object in selected prohibited literature is not merely to commit a civil breach of the law regarding it, but it is also to supply people with clean literature of a high moral value. It is expected that the Government will confiscate such literature. Satyagraha is and has to be as independent of finance as possible. When, therefore, copies are confiscated, satyagrahis are required to make copies of prohibited literature them or by securing the assistance of willing friends and to make use of it until it is confiscated by giving readings to the people from it. It is stated that such readings would amount to dissemination of prohibited literature. When whole copies are exhausted by dissemination or confiscation, satyagrahis may continue civil disobedience by writing out and distributing extracts from accessible books.”2

Relating to duty or obligation; pertaining to those intentions and actions of which right and wrong, virtue and vice, are predicated, or to the rules by which such intentions and actions ought to be directed; relating to the practice, manners, or conduct of men as social beings in relation to each other, as respects right and wrong, so far as they are properly subject to rules. Conformed to accepted rules of right; acting in conformity with such rules; virtuous; just; as, a moral man. Mahatma Gandhi described, “The Khilafat issue is a splendid opportunity as much as a grave problem. It is the latter because on it hangs the future peace of eight crores of Muslims and therefore of the whole of India. It is a splendid opportunity because, if the Muslims use wisdom in solving the problem, their moral power will increase and India will come to enjoy a moral empire; Hindu-Muslim unity will increase, both Hindus and Muslims will grow stronger, their moral level will rise and the English will stop looking down upon us as an inferior race. Friendship is possible only between equals. The English do not regard us as their equals; even we consider ourselves as their inferiors. And, therefore, we, Hindus and Muslims, should solve this problem and ensure that the three become equals. The sword makes men equal. After fighting with one another like so many bulls, till they all get exhausted, the opponents salute each other and become friends. Anyone who shows weakness will humiliate himself. The other method is, instead of using physical force against the opponent, to employ soul-force and win ascendancy over him. This ascendancy is accepted not out of fear but out of love, and so both become equals. One does not consider it humiliating to admit another’s moral superiority. The other takes no pride in being morally superior. Hence both be-have respectfully towards each other. We must give up the very thought of overcoming the English by the sword.”3

Mahatma Gandhi described, “I say “nearly ready”, for non-payment is intended to transfer the power from the bureaucracy into our hands. It is, therefore, not enough that the peasantry remains non-violent. Non-violence is certainly nine-tenths of the battle, but it is not all. The peasantry may remain non-violent, but may not treat the untouchables as their brethren; they may not regard Hindus, Mussulmans, Christians, Jews, Parsis, as the case may be, their brethren; they may not have learnt the economic and the moral value of the charkha and the khaddar. If they have not, they cannot gain swaraj. They will not do all these things after swaraj, if they will not do them now. They must be taught to know that the practice of these national virtues means swaraj.”4

Mahatma Gandhi described, “Another Jatha of 500 has surrendered peacefully when it was intercepted in its progress to the Gangsar Gurudwara and placed under arrest by the Nabha authorities. If we had not become used to such arrests and the like, they would create a sensation in the country. Now they have become ordinary occurrences and excite little curiosity and less surprise or pain. Their moral value increases in the same ratio as popular interest in them seems to have died. These arrests, when they cease to be sensational, also cease to afford intoxication. People who court arrest in the absence of excitement allow themselves to be arrested because of their unquenchable faith in silent but certain efficacy of suffering undergone without resentment and in a just cause. The Sikhs have been conducting the Gurudwara movement by the Satyagraha method now for the last four years. Their zeal is apparently undiminished in spite of the fact that most of their leaders are in jail. Their suffering has been intense.”5

Mahatma Gandhi described, “They have an immense moral value for me, but I do not regard everything said in the Bible as the final word of God or exhaustive or even acceptable from the moral standpoint. I regard Jesus Christ as one of the greatest teachers of mankind, but I do not consider him to be the only son of God. Many passages in the Bible are mystical. For me the letter killed the spirit give life”6 Mahatma Gandhi described, “The only objection that has been urged by its critics is that the wheel does not pay. But even if it pays only one pice per day, it does pay when we remember that our average income is six pice per day against the fourteen rupees and six rupees per day respectively of the average American and the average Englishman. The spinning-wheel is an attempt to produce something out of nothing. If we save sixty crores of rupees to the nation through the spinning-wheel, as we certainly can, we add that vast amount to the national income. In the process we automatically organize our villages. And as almost the whole of the amount must be distributed amongst the poorest of the land, it becomes a scheme of just and nearly equal distribution of so much wealth. Add to this the immense moral value of such distribution, and the case for the charkha becomes irresistible.”7

Mahatma Gandhi described, “They may both be substantial sciences; but they are sciences which I think we should avoid. As a matter of fact I do not attach so much value to things pertaining to the body as the wish to exhaust every available means for sustaining1 the body or for keeping it in order as it has only a very limited importance in the scheme of life. I apply also equally limited means and therefore continually exclude those means which may seem to me to be of doubtful moral value. So then, if I err at all, I shall err on the right side. Excess care of the body and explorations into astrology and what not for the sake of that caretaking means going further away from his Maker, and seems like putting the shadow before the substance.”8 Mahatma Gandhi described, “If your parents insist upon your marriage how could they permit you to go to the Sabarmati Ashram? And then I must warn you against drawing a flattering picture of the Ashram. It is a place for toilers, those who believe in the necessity and the moral value of labouring with their hands and feet. Then English is rarely spoken there. Knowledge of Hindi is an absolute necessity.”9

Mahatma Gandhi described, “It is quite true that I place khaddar first and then only untouchability and temperance. All these came at the end of the speech I gave to the students of Vellore, in which I made a fervent appeal for purity of life and told them that without purity of life all their learning would be as dust and probably a hindrance to the true progress of the world. Then I took up these three things and a few more by way of illustration. Throughout 35 years’ unbroken experience of public service in several parts of the world, I have not yet understood that there is anything like spiritual or moral value apart from work and action.”10

Moral values are the standards of good and evil, which govern an individual’s behavior and choices. Individual’s morals may derive from society and government, religion, or self. When moral values derive from society and government they, of necessity, may change as the laws and morals of the society change. An example of the impact of changing laws on moral values may be seen in the case of marriage. Mahatma Gandhi described, “People worship morality, although they follow consciously or unconsciously a path that deviates from it. They are tired of the blind forces of authority; they have become impatient. And, in their impatience, although they may forget that the remedy adopted by them is even more dangerous than the disease itself, they are eager for reforms and for moral power. Though devotees of truth and non-violence like myself can see that morality will not be attained by their means, they are also aware that, if those in authority do not take this warning, destruction awaits them. It is necessary for rulers to take this warning. Let not perversity foreboding destruction prevail with them. I am kept alive by my unwavering faith that India will never take to the path leading to moral death. May the rulers prove my faith to be correct?”11

Mahatma Gandhi described, “The physical and moral value of fasting is being more and more recognized day by day. A vast number of diseases can be more surely treated by judicious fasting than by all sorts of nostrums including the dreadful injections dreadful not because for the pain they cause but because of the injurious by-products which often result from their use. More mischief than we are aware of is done by the drug treatment. But not many cases of harm done by fasting can be cited. Increased vitality is almost the universal experience of those that have fasted. For real rest body and mind is possible only during fasting. Suspension of daily work is hardly rest without the rest that the over-taxed and overworked digestive apparatus needs in a multitude of cases. The moral effect of fasting, while it is considerable, is not so easily demonstrable. For moral results there has to be perfect co-operation from the mind. And there is danger of self-deception. I know of many instances in which fasting undertaken for moral results has been overdone.” 12

Mahatma Gandhi described, “It has come to be recognized that khadi as such had no politics in it, and that whilst there may be two opinions about its economic value, its undoubted moral value may not be ignored by any educationist. Unquestionably it has its political side, but so have many others very important questions at present engaging the attention of the people as well as the Government. Hindu-Muslim unity and untouchability are pre-eminently social questions, but they have today a political importance of the first magnitude, and they are items in the forefront of the Congress programme.”13

In past generations, it was rare to see couples who lived together without the benefit of a legal matrimonial ceremony. In recent years, couples that set up household without marriage are nearly as plentiful as traditional married couples. But, not only are such couples more plentiful, they are also more accepted by other individuals in our society. In earlier society, the laws and morals simply came from the Roman system of law, which was largely based on the Ten Commandments. Mahatma Gandhi described, “The impatience of some sisters to join the good fight is to me a healthy sign. It has led to the discovery that however attractive the campaign against the salt tax may be, for them to confine themselves to it would be to change a pound for a penny. They will be lost in the crowd; there will be in it no suffering for which they are thirsting. In this non-violent warfare, their contribution should be much greater than men’s. To call woman the weaker sex is a libel; it is man’s injustice to woman. If by strength is meant brute strength, then indeed is woman less brute than man. If by strength is meant moral power, then woman is immeasurably man’s superior. Has she not greater intuition, is she not more self-sacrificing has she not greater powers of endurance, has she not greater courage? Without her man could not be. If non-violence is the law of our being, the future is with woman.”14

This is clearly demonstrated in the behavior of older infants and young toddlers. If a child has been forbidden to touch or take a certain object early on, they know enough to slowly look over their shoulder to see if they are being observed before touching said object. There is no need for this behavior to be taught; it is instinctive. Once, however, any form of discipline is applied to modify the child’s behavior, the child now gains the capacity within himself to distinguish his right behavior from his wrong behavior. Now, the child can make correct choices based on his own knowledge. The choices that are made by an individual from childhood to adulthood are between forbidden and acceptable, kind or cruel, generous or selfish. A person may, under any given set of circumstances, decide to do what is forbidden. If this individual possesses moral values, going against them usually produces guilt.
Mahatma Gandhi described, “The renters too expected that like last year the congress activities would soon be interfered with by the police and so they did not themselves do anything at first to interfere with the volunteers. But now they realize that the Truce has put an end to the old order to things. They are consequently in a fright. They have begun to make strong representations to Government demanding either police interference or writing off of dues. Both Government officials and renters are thus opening their eyes to the reality of the moral power of picketing and the implications of the Truce. Both Government officials and renters have, therefore, it seems, resolved on new tactics. There is almost by concerted action a number of cases cropping up everywhere of rowdyism to intimidate volunteers. Besides rowdyism, which might be expected, the renters whether instigated or encouraged by officials or not, I cannot yet say, are bringing up false charges through private complaints in order to get fines and imprisonments imposed on the workers and sympathizers and worry and tire out the Congress organizations. And magistrates, too, imagine that they should support the liquor-shop men. Further, even where they know the cases are false, they dare not expose themselves to the suspicion that they favour the Congress and do not support the revenue.”15

Religions have built-in lists of do’s and don’ts, a set of codes by which its adherents should live. Individuals who are followers of a particular religion will generally make a show of following that religion’s behavioral code. It is interesting to note that these codes may widely vary; a person whose religion provides for polygamy will experience no guilt at having more than one spouse while adherents to other religions feel they must remain monogamous. Christianity goes beyond all other religions in that it is more than just a system of do’s and don’ts; it is a relationship with the living God through His Son, Jesus Christ. A Christian’s set of moral values go beyond society’s mores and selfish instincts. Christians ideally behave correctly because they love God and want to please Him. This is at once a high calling and a low position. It is a high calling because God has required that all who love Him should keep His commandments; therefore it is an act of obedience. Mahatma Gandhi described, “All the Indians, be they caste Hindus or Muslims or followers of some other faith, should declare with one voice that whoever may be the President they will all salute him. This is real moral power. All the rest is falsehood. If such a girl of my dreams becomes President, I shall be her servant and I shall not expect from the Government even my upkeep. I shall make Jawaharlal, Sardar Patel and Rajendra Babu her ministers and therefore her servants.”16

Mahatma Gandhi described, “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.”17

“It should be remembered that when khadi was not half as good as it is now and when there was much less variety, it was much dearer than under the new scale and there was hardly any complaint against the prices then ruling. Whilst the buyers have been benefiting all these many years, the spinners had till now practically no benefit whatsoever in the shape of rise in wages. They were dumb and helpless. They could not declare a strike against the Association. In the very nature of things, they could not combine, being so scattered for the betterment of wages or anything else. They were in such need of even PIES that they could not make any effective protest. If now the conscience of a few of us has begun to rebel against the wretchedly low wage given to the spinners, we deserve help from the buyers who have hitherto enjoyed the privilege of reduction in prices. The difficulty of poor buyers is obvious. But the value of khadi lies in its social and moral value.”18

“There should therefore be some authoritative body that would revise all that passes under the name of scriptures, expurgate all the texts that have no moral value or are contrary to the fundamentals of religion and morality, and present such an edition for the guidance of Hindus. The certainty that the whole mass of Hindus and the persons accepted as religious leaders will not accept the validity of such authority need not interfere with the sacred enterprise. Work done sincerely and in the spirit of service will have its effect on all in the long run and will most assuredly help those who are badly in need of such assistance.”19

“India’s sympathy can give no effective help as her enmity can do no harm to any person or nation so long as India is herself not free. Nevertheless Pandit Jawaharlal with his international outlook and generosity has accustomed us to express our sympathy to nations in distress without expectation of like return. We lose nothing by expressing sympathy even though we realize that it can cut no ice. If Russia has no thought of India today, in the long run she is bound to recognize the utterly unselfish character of our sympathy. It should not be forgotten that sympathy without ability to render effective help has its own moral value.”20

“Every one of you should understand the significance of moral worth. Moral worth is easily distinguished from material worth. The one leads to devotion to moral value, the other to Mammon worship. What distinguishes man from the four-footed beast is merely the recognition of moral worth, i. e., the greater the moral worth of a person the greater his distinction. If you believe in this ideal, you should ask yourselves why you are here and what you are doing. Every worker must have, of course, food, clothing, etc., for himself and his dependants. But you do not belong to Visva-Bharati merely because Visva-Bharati feeds clothes and finds creature comforts for you. You belong to it because you cannot do otherwise, because you’re moral worth increases day by day by working for its ideals. Therefore, every defect that crops up, every difficulty that obstructs its working will be found to be ultimately traceable to some defect in your outlook in regard to moral worth. I have been connected with many institutions for over sixty years and I have come to the conclusion that every difficulty in their working was traceable to a defect in the understanding of moral values.”21

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