ABSTRACT
As Truth and ahisœ are closely intertwined like two sides of a coin so are ahisœ and satyœgraha interrelated. The interconnection of these three concepts in Gandhi’s thought is such that it is difficult to treat them separately. To analyse one is necessarily to involve the other two. Satyœgraha is a direct corollary of Truth and non-violence. It is the way in which ahisœ is implemented or put in action; it is the technique of non-violence. The principle of satyœgraha existed before the term was coined, and it was because Gandhi was dissatisfied with the phrase ‘passive resistance’ that he felt the need for a more suitable and more accurate term to designate and describe the principle he was propounding. The term that was first suggested by one of his followers in South Africa was sadœgraha, which literally means holding firm to reality or truth firmness, i. e. firmness in a good cause or in the cause of truth. It was a term which indicated the desire to be firm or to hold firm (œgraha) to Truth (Satya) or Reality (Sat). The change effected by Gandhi by the use of satyœgraha, however, makes his principle more explicit and at the same time links it more closely with his concept of Truth (Satya), and non-violence (ahisœ). What might be said is that the ethical connotation of the method of action he proposed was being made clear by the choice of satyœgraha rather than sadœgraha. As Gandhi explains concerning sadœgraha: ‘I liked the word, but it did not fully represent the whole idea I wished it to connote. I therefore corrected it to ‘Satyagraha’. Truth (Satya) implies love, and firmness (agraha) engenders and therefore serves as a synonym for force. I thus began to call the Indian movement
‘Satyœgraha’, that is to say, the Force which is born of Truth and Love or Non-violence…’1
The concept of satyœgraha gave practical expression to the religious and ethical ideals of Truth and non-violence. As the technique of ahisœ. it put the ideal of non-violence into practice and was informed by the spirit of Truth, that is, the religious and ethical criteria that determine the way a man thinks and acts.
