India -- History -- British occupation, 1765-1947; Pamphlets
It has often been urged that India cannot adopt Swadeshi in the economic
life at any rate. Those who advance this objection do not look upon
Swadeshi as a rule of life. With them it is a mere patriotic effort not
to be made if it involved any self-denial. Swadeshi, as defined here, is
a religious discipline to be undergone in utter disregard of the
physical discomfort it may cause to individuals. Under its spell the
deprivation of a pin or a needle, because these are not manufactured in
India, need cause no terror. A Swadeshist will learn to do without
hundreds of things which today he considers necessary. Moreover, those
who dismiss Swadeshi from their minds by arguing the impossible, forget
that Swadeshi, after all, is a goal to be reached by steady effort. And
we would be making for the goal even if we confined Swadeshi to a given
set of articles allowing ourselves as a temporary measure to use such
things as might not be procurable in the country.
There now remains for me to consider one more objection that has been
raised against Swadeshi. The objectors consider it to be a most selfish
doctrine without any warrant in the civilised code of morality. With
them to practise Swadeshi is to revert to barbarism. I cannot enter into
a detailed analysis of the position. But I would urge that Swadeshi is
the only doctrine consistent with the law of humility and love. It is
arrogance to think of launching out to serve the whole of India when I
am hardly able to serve even my own family. It were better to
concentrate my effort upon the family and consider that through them I
was serving the whole nation and, if you will, the whole of humanity.
This is humility and it is love. The motive will determine the quality
of the act. I may serve my family regardless of the sufferings I may
cause to others. As for instance, I may accept an employment which
enables me to extort money from people, I enrich myself thereby and then
satisfy many unlawful demands of the family. Here I am neither serving
the family nor the State. Or I may recognise that God has given me hands
and feet only to work with for my sustenance and for that of those who
may be dependent upon me. I would then at once simplify my life and that
of those whom I can directly reach. In this instance I would have served
the family without causing injury to anyone else. Supposing that
everyone followed this mode of life, we should have at once an ideal
state. All will not reach that state at the same time. But those of us
who, realising its truth, enforce it in practice will clearly anticipate
and accelerate the coming of that happy day. Under this plan of life, in
seeming to serve India to the exclusion of every other country I do not
harm any other country. My patriotism is both exclusive and inclusive.
It is exclusive in the sense that in all humility I confine my attention
to the land of my birth, but it is inclusive in the sense that my
service is not of a competitive or antagonistic nature.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account