Abstract

MATHAI, M. P.. The defining features of Gandhian nonviolence. Innov. educ. (Méx. DF) [online]. 2012, vol.12, n.60, pp.77-85. ISSN 1665-2673.

The two basic principles or ideals that guided Gandhi's life were truth and nonviolence. For him truth was God and realising this truth as God was the ultimate purpose of life. He expounded the proposition that truth could be realised only through nonviolence: "Truth is the end and nonviolence the means." Gandhi gave his own definition and explanation of nonviolence which transcended conventional understanding of the concept. For Gandhi nonviolence was not a negative concept meaning non-injury or non-killing but a positive one which meant love in the sense of selfless service of one's fellow beings which included the entire creation. The essence of his arguments is that one must try to practise nonviolence in thought word and deed and to organise all life activities on its basis, and that would bring in unprecedented and revolutionary changes in human life. The paper attempts to codify and put in perspective the defining features of nonviolence as understood, explained and practised by Mahatma Gandhi.

Keywords : Gandhi's nonviolence; contemporary nonviolence; social change; ethics; nonviolent future.