Objective
Gandhiji has founded a Satyagraha Ashram at Kochrab on May 25, 1915, and later shifted it to Sabarmati. The objective of this (Ashram) was that its members should qualify themselves for, and make a constant endeavor towards the service of the country, not inconsistent with the universal welfare.
OBSERVANCES (The Ekadash Vrat)
The following observances are essential for the fulfillment of the above objectives:
1- TRUTH
Truth is not fulfilled by mere abstinence from telling on practicing an untruth in ordinary relations with fellow-men. But Truth is God, the one and only Reality. All other observances take their rise from the quest for and the worship of the Truth.
Worshippers of Truth must not resort to untruth, even for what they may believe to be the good of the country, and they may be required, like Prahlad, civilly to disobey even the orders of parents and elders in virtue of their paramount loyalty to Truth.
2- NON-VIOLENCE OR LOVE
Mere non-killing is not enough. The active part of non-violence is love. The law of love requires equal consideration for all life from the tiniest insect to the highest man. One who follows this law must not be angry even with the perpetrator of the greatest imaginable wrong but must love him, wish him well, and serve him. Although he must thus love the wrongdoer, he must never submit to his wrong or his injustice, but must oppose with all his might, and must patiently and without resentment suffer all the hardships to which the wrongdoer may subject him in punishment for his opposition.
3- CHASTITY (Brahmacharya)
Observance of the foregoing principles is impossible without the observance of celibacy. It is not enough that one should not look upon any women or men with the lustful eye; animal passion must be so controlled as to be excluded even from the mind. If married, one must not have a carnal mind regarding one’s wife or husband but must consider her or him as one’s lifelong friend, and establish a relationship of perfect purity. A sinful touch, gesture, or word is a direct breach of this principle.
4- CONTROL OF THE PALATE
The observance of brahmacharya has been founded, from experience, to be extremely difficult so long as one has not acquired mastery over taste. Control of the palate ha, therefore, been placed as a principle by itself. Eating is necessary only for sustaining the body and it a fit instrument for service, and must never be practiced for self-indulgence.
Food must, therefore, be taken, like medicine, under proper restraint. In pursuance of this principle, one must eschew exciting food, such as spices and condiments. Meat, liquor, tobacco, bhang, etc, are excluded from the Ashram. This principle requires abstinence from feasts or dinners which have pleasure as their object.
5- NON STEALING
It is not enough not to take other’s property without his permission. One becomes guilty of theft even by using differently anything which one has received in trust for use in a particular way, as well as by using a thing longer than the period for which it has been lent. It is also theft if no one receives anything which one does not really need. The fine truth at the bottom of this principle is that Nature provides just enough, and no more, for our daily need.
6- NON POSSESSION OR POVERTY
This principle is really a part of No. 5. Just as one must not receive, so must one not possess anything which one does not really need. It would be a breach of this principle to possess unnecessary food-stuffs, clothing, or furniture. For instance, one must not keep a chair if one can do without it. In observing this principle one is led to a progressive simplification of one’s life.
7- PHYSICAL LABOUR
Physical labour is essential for the observance non-stealing and non-possession. Man can be saved from injuring society, as well as himself, only if he sustains his physical existence by physical labour. Able-bodied adults must do all their personal work themselves, and must not be served by others, except for proper reasons. But they must, at the same time, remember that service of children, as well as of disabled, the old and sick, is a duty incumbent on every person who has the required strength.
8- SWADESHI
Man is not omnipotent. He, therefore, serves the world best by first serving his neighbor. This is swadeshi, a principle that is broken when one professes to serve those who are more remote in preference to those who are near. Observance of swadeshi makes for order in the world; the breach of it leads to chaos.
Following this principle, one must as far as possible purchase one’s requirements locally and not buy things imported from foreign lands, which can easily be manufactured in the country. There is no place for self-interest in swadeshi, which enjoins the sacrifice of oneself for the family, of the family for the village, of the village for the country, and of the country for humanity.
9- FEARLESSNESS
One cannot follow truth or love so long as one is subject to fear. As there is at present a reign of fear in the country, a meditation on and cultivation of fearlessness has particular importance. Hence its separate mention is an observance. A seeker after Truth must give up the fear of parents, caste, Government, robbers, etc, and he must not be frightened by poverty or death.
10- REMOVAL OF UNTOUCHABILITY
Untouchability, which has taken such deep roots in Hinduism, is altogether irreligious. Its removal has therefore been treated as an independent principle. The so-called untouchables have an unequal place in the Ashram with other classes. The Ashram does not believe in caste which, it considers, has injured Hinduism, because its implications of superior and superior status, and of pollution by contact are contrary to the law of love.
The Ashram however believes in varnashrama dharma. The division of varnas is based upon occupation, and therefore a person should maintain himself by following the hereditary occupation, not inconsistent with fundamental morals, and should devote all his spare time and energy to the acquisition and advancement of true knowledge.
The Ashrams (the four stages) spoken of in the smritis are conducive to the welfare of mankind. Though therefore, the ashram believes in varnashrama dharma, there is no place in it for the distinction of varnas, as the Ashram is conceived in the light of the comprehensive and non-formal sannyasa of the Bhagavad Gita.
11- TOLERANCE
The Ashram believes that the principal faiths of the world constitute a revelation of Truth, but as they have all been outlined by an imperfect man they have been affected by imperfections and alloyed with untruth. One must therefore entertain the same respect for the religious faith of orders as one accord to one’s own.
Where such tolerance becomes a law of life, the conflict between different faiths becomes impossible, and so does all effort to convert other people to one’s own faith. One can only pray that the defects in the various faiths may be overcome and that they may advance, side by side, towards perfection.
