Satya and Ahimsa

The third chapter discusses truth (satya) and non-violence (ahimsa) as the basic principles encompassing the entire spectrum of Gandhi’s thought. This chapter deals primarily with the philosophical foundations of Gandhian thought and practices. In Gandhi’s ontology, reality comprises two aspects—the transcendent and the immanent, the ideal and the actual. The dual aspects of reality often appear in the human condition as polarized. The perceived bipolarity sets up a dialectical process and results in a sequence of attempts to find practical synthesis of the ideal and the actual. This chapter is an attempt to address the theoretical conundrums surfacing in Gandhi’s work and sketch a plausible framework for a philosophical structure in order to understand Gandhi’s ideas and practices in the chapters that follow.