Satyagraha

This chapter focuses on Gandhi’s principle of satyagraha, what it meant to Gandhi, and how it operated in the field of politics. The chapter also discusses satyagraha and how it is related to psychoanalysis. Satyagraha is central to Gandhi’s thought and practices. It essentially involves truth-centric, non-violent action. Gandhi characterized satyagraha variously as generating ‘truth-force’, ‘love-force’, and ‘soul-force’. Satyagraha, which aims at spiritual transformation of the opponent with love and self-suffering, is Gandhi’s creative contribution to conflict resolution. In a significant sense, Gandhi’s satyagraha is a kind of yoga. Like Sankara’s jnana yoga and Patanjali’s dhyana yoga, Gandhi’s is ahimsa yoga.