lmyu Longchar
Kohima
Devotion to truth was the main characteristic of Gandhi, which was has greatest quality. Love of truth led him to all kind of disciplines and experiments. He used to begin with smaller problem and applied to achieve the success to achieve the great problem. The non-violent, non-co-operation movement which won India’s freedom was the outcome of smaller success of his “Satyahraha’’ or “passive resistance” in South Africa. According to him, India freedom was a means to the larger freedom of world peace.
”Satyagraha” is a moral or spiritual struggle against political and economic domination which implies denial of truth. The struggle for freedom does not mean only to attain political and economic freedom, but more importantly is an up liftman of human conscience that lends to the non-violence battle for the victory of truth. According to Gandhi, truth is a moral and spiritual concept signifying the important of truth in life. The nation of truth can explicated that it has with association the concepts like non-violence.
While Satyagraha means resisting evil and injustice through peaceful and pure means without causing violence, Ahimsa means non-violence, is the means to achieve truth Gandhi most often places truth and non-violence and the same level and claims that truth and non-violence are the two side of the same coin.
His opinion is that a truthful man is bound to be non-violence and vice-versa that is why it is supposed that truth and non-violence cannot keep apart.
Gandhi Say’s, truth is God. The ideas of truth-based religion and truth-based metaphysics dominated Gandhi’s philosophy. The following implications are entailed by the formulation “Truth is God”:-
- Truth has a spiritual dimension in addition to the moral dimension.
- Truth is a metaphysical category as it’s characterizes the fundamental nature of reality.
- Truth is the absolute reality which is the sources of all existence.
He makes it clear that truth has transcendental significant in his metaphysics system in view of all comprehensive character of this concept.
The concept of God signifies the absolute reality which leads to the idea that God is the ultimate ground of all achievement of all existence. That he uses the term truth in two ways i.e., truth as Absolute truth and truth as Relative truth.
According to Gandhi, absolute truth is characterized by its fixed and unalterable nature, it is the only fundamental truth. He maintained beyond truths there is one absolute truth which is total and indescribable because it is God.
Gandhi, insist “I can live only by having faith in God, my definition of God must always be kept in mind, for me there is no other God than Truth, Truth is God”, to him God becomes a tangible or visible of the idea of truth.
According to Gandhi, God is not only characterizing to assign to truth but also to consider to be the same the love of truth. That love for the self is as significant as love for the other and for the other and for the community as a whole.
To him, term God and love are two broad to be seen as defining term.
Gandhi uses these term to ensure there are no boundaries to truth that is he does not consign limits to truth, and therefore, he does not claim to have discovered a universal absolute. As a result he further argues that truth can never be realized, at the same time Gandhi provided the equality of truth a path of his achievement. He emphasis that while confined to our physical from and living in the elements of existing it is impossible for us to know truth fully.
Gandhi establishes truth as a guiding principle in our existence as it provides principles to spiritual, emotional and active elements of this worldly life. He articulate through an understanding of the use of truth in Indian Languages, “The word Satya (Truth) comes from sat which means “to be” “to exist” to live through truth is “to be” or “to exist” in wholeness.
Gandhi stress the need for the use of relative truths to strive for truth. Relative truths defines ideas that provides guidance to our thoughts and actions, the change and to provide guidance in able to adapt into many situation. These truths maintain as the guiding principle that is the idea of absolute truth i.e. Ayimsa.
According to him Relative truths are describable into many ways. It is the relationship with absolute truth. This truth is attainable in the human condition of temporal world. God characterized truth, love, and thought, speech, and Ayimsa must be manifested through action i.e. thought, Speech, and action.
According to Gandhi, Truth understood as a means an end implies that truth is treated as a means only which is defining relative truths and is also the ultimate end.
Gandhi’s uses the term truth both as means and ends want to share that Ahimsa is the mean and truth is the end. Ahimsa and truth are twine and could not separated from each other. They are work together. According to Gandhi’s ideas truth allow people to interpret moral principle should preserves the individuals and embodies and understanding of every individual as a member of the community and accepting the understanding of the truth and allows every individual to find the best reason to acts in moral situation.
Gandhiji also ensures that individual have the right to interpret and act upon moral principles as they see fit. He put forth a notion of truth that is to guide moral judgment. The moral judgment is rest with an individual who is a members in the community as a social responsibility.
