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Concept
Satyagraha
Summary
Satyāgraha (सत्याग्रह; satya: "truth", āgraha: "insistence" or "holding firmly to"), or "holding firmly to truth", or "truth force", is a particular form of nonviolent resistance or civil resistance. Someone who practises satyagraha is a satyagrahi.
The term satyagraha was coined and developed by Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948), who practised satyagraha in the Indian independence movement and also during his earlier struggles in South Africa for Indian rights. Satyagraha theory influenced Martin Luther King Jr.'s and James Bevel's campaigns during the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, as well as Nelson Mandela's struggle against apartheid in South Africa and many other social justice and similar movements.
Gandhi envisioned satyagraha as not only a tactic to be used in acute political struggle but as a universal solvent for injustice and harm.
He founded the Sabarmati Ashram to teach satyagraha. He asked satyagrahis to follow the following principles (Yamas described in Yoga Sutra):
Nonviolence (ahimsa)
Truth – this includes honesty, but goes beyond it to mean living fully in accord with and in devotion to that which is true
Not stealing
Non-possession (not the same as poverty)
Body-labour or bread-labour
Control of desires (gluttony)
Fearlessness
Equal respect for all religions
Economic strategy such as boycotts of imported goods (swadeshi)
On another occasion, he listed these rules as "essential for every Satyagrahi in India":
Must have a living faith in God
Must be leading a chaste life and be willing to die or lose all his possessions
Must be a habitual khadi weaver and spinner
Must abstain from alcohol and other intoxicants
Gandhi proposed a series of rules for satyagrahis to follow in a resistance campaign:
Harbour no anger.
Suffer the anger of the opponent.
Never retaliate to assaults or punishment, but do not submit, out of fear of punishment or assault, to an order given in anger.
Voluntarily submit to arrest or confiscation of your own property.
If you are a trustee of property, defend that property (non-violently) from confiscation with your life.
Official source
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