In the previous Part I on “The Kumbha Mela Festival (KMF)” we talked about millions of pilgrims, ascetics, and visitors from all walks of life participating in a massive, yet remarkably peaceful, gathering [1]. During the festival, millions converged for ritual bathing in sacred rivers, seeking spiritual cleansing and renewal, and showcasing a vibrant blend of cultures and traditions. The timing of the Kumbha Mela is guided by the movement of planets and stars, particularly the alignment of Jupiter, which is believed to enhance spiritual energy. 

In addition to introducing the concepts of dharma and ŗta (i.e. lawful conduct), important factors critical to the survival and success of civilization were identified and raised to the levels of divinity in a long process of deification. Some of them are rivers, plants, agni (fire), mountains, spices, and planets.  The Rig Veda includes a good account of such efforts. The symbolic parallel between body and cosmos was articulated ritually in the construction of the Vedic fire altar in which the body of Purusha is reconstructed from the various parts of the cosmos. A similar reconstruction of the body-cosmos occurs in the construction of the Hindu temple. The temple is looked upon as the condensed image of the cosmos. The word darshan was introduced referring to a path by means of which the God principle is seen and realized. Darshan was one of the concepts that helped to signify India as a visual and visionary culture in which the eyes have a prominent role in the apprehension of the sacred.

When the first European traders and travelers visited India, they were astonished at the multitude of images of the various deities which they saw. In short, they called them “idols” and greeted them with fascination as well as repugnance. The worshipping of statues in Benares were called “the worship of uncouth idols, of monsters, of the linga and other indecent figures, and of a multitude of grotesque, ill-shapen, and hideous objects” [2]. Even Mark Twain could not place the visible data of India in a recognizable context. Of the “idols” he wrote, “And what a swarm of them there is! The town is a vast museum of idols — and all of them crude, misshapen, and ugly. They flock through one’s dreams at night, a wild mob of nightmares” [3]. Theodore Roszak, writing in ‘Where the Wasteland Ends’, located the “sin of idolatry” precisely where it belongs: in the eye of the beholder.” In short, the Europeans have had difficulty in accepting not only the image-making capacity of the Hindu imagination but the bold Hindu polytheistic consciousness [2]. And, even after three hundred plus years of stay and interactions, they chose to participate in the myth of monotheism: that there is only One — one God, one Book, one Son, one Church, one Seal of the Prophets, and one Nation under God. And India remained a land of snake charmers.

However, thanks to the hippies’ movement during the Vietnam war in the sixties, people became serious about how they lived and what they ate. Indian Yoga, meditation and vegetarianism became a welcome in USA [4].

Cyclical Time and Yugas

In Hindu cosmology, time is viewed as cyclical rather than linear, characterized by repeating cycles of creation, existence, and dissolution. The cyclic universe theory is a model of cosmic evolution according to which the universe undergoes infinite cycles of expansion and cooling, each beginning with a “big bang” and ending in a “big crunch” [5]. At its birth, the Vedānga Jyotisha included astronomy, astrology, and decimal math as is quoted in the Nārada Samhita (1.4): ‘‘The excellent science of astronomy comprising Siddhanta, Samhita, and Hora as its three branches (Sections) is the clear ‘eye’ of the Vedas”. The Karaŋa works deal with planetary calculations which helped develop the Indian Calendar, called the Panchang.  Siddhanta generally consists of two parts, one mainly deals with the calculation of planets’ places and the other chiefly describes the structure of the universe; and this includes the knowledge of the celestial sphere, the construction of instruments, the units of the measurement of time and other allied subjects.

Decimal Mathematics

The number names, our very first numbers of the ‘new mathematics’ that was being defined and shaped into a universal language, were expressed in the ancient language of Sanskrit (Atharva Veda 5.15 and 5.16) as number names:

एक       द्वि         त्रि         चतुर्         पञ्च           षष्    सप्त   अष्ट          नव       दश

éka1     dvi2     trí3      catúr4   pañca5  ṣáṣ6  saptá7   aṣṭá8    náva9   dasha10

standing, respectively, for

one      two      three   four        five        six      seven    eight     nine       ten

Today we know that, by using the ten numerals including zero along with the place value concept, one can write down any number, however large. The use of place value principle or concept lets one reach higher ranks by simply moving to the left to add numerals, ad infinitum. This power gives the system unlimited capacity for expression. When mathematical operations were defined along with these number names, this paradigm-shifting mathematics assumed super computational powers and led to tremendous progress in science and technology. 

Challenge to Decimal Mathematics

Soon after the excavation of the Mohenjo Daro and Harappa sites, Ernest Mackay reported the discovery of a ruler, called the Hindu Decimal Ruler of the Third Millennium, in which the each spacing was based on decimal principle. The rulers were made from seashells which, according to Makay, were the best to use in designing precision tools. Mackay proposed that the decimal system of measurement originated in India, as did the zero sign in later times, and that it thence spread throughout the world. The use of base ten was continued during the Vedic Civilization, extending its use for more than 3,500 years in India [6, 7]. The logic behind the number names present in the Vedas has been succinctly summarized in the Taittiriya Brāhmaŋa, 7.2.11: (300 – 400 BC):“Hail to one, hail to two, hail to three, . . . , hail to nineteen, hail to twenty, hail to twenty-nine, hail to thirty-nine, . . . , hail to ninety-nine, hail to one hundred, hail to two hundred, hail to all (sarva).”

We would like to call this hymn the decimal math hymn. The numbers involved are

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 29, 39, 49, 59, 69, 79, 89, 99, 100, 200. The first set of numbers from 1 to 9 represent the atomic numbers and are called tier-one numbers. 10, 20, …100, and 200 hundred represent the radix numbers; the numbers from 11 to 19 represent the ‘higher numbers’ between 10 and 20. Each one of the numbers between 11 and 19 is a compound word made up of one word from the radix (10 in this case) and the second one from an atomic number. Each of 29, 39, 49, to 99 represents the start of nine ‘higher numbers’ starting with the corresponding base. These are tier-two numbers. The Taittiriya Brāhmaŋa 7.12.20 summarizes the tier-three numbers as follows:Shata (102), sahasra (103), ayuta (104), niyuta (105), prayuta (106), arbuda (107), nyarbuda (108), samudra (109), Madhya (1010), anta (1011), and parardha (1012). [see also [8]]. Note that all the above was accomplished when our numbers were number names, that is unique sound bites since there was no script. The credit for building this bridge to the new math using the Brahmi numerical symbols goes to Aryabhata (476 – 550 AD). In section Gaņita Pāda (2.2) of his monograph, Āryabhatiya, he created a bridge between the ‘old Vedic mathematics’ and the future universal decimal math by using the Vedic names for the numbers by defining the place value principle as follows:Eka (100), Dasa (101), Shata (102), Sahasra (103), Ayuta (104), Niyuta (105), Prayuta (106), Koti (107), Arbuda (108), Vrnda (109). It must be noted that Āryabhata restricted himself to the first ten notational places. However, they can be continued as follows: Kharva (1010), Nikharva (1011), Mahapadma (1012), Sanku (1013), Varidhi (1014), Antya (1015), Madhya (1016), Parardha (1017) . This sequence of numbers was used by Aryabhata to define the place value principle, in which each number is tenfold of the previous. This hymn helped create decimal math containing three-tier numbers. Although simple, by including logic for numbers as high as 1054, it helped Hindu mathematicians and astronomers develop their cosmology as well as computations with large numbers. It is obvious that the Vedic seers could have felt at home with a trillion-dollar economy of today!!

It is fair to write that the need for the Hindu decimal math to handle huge numbers, as needed by Hindu cosmologists, was not fully appreciated outside India. As late as in the eleventh century AD, Alberuni commented:

“I have studied the names of the orders of the numbers in various languages with all kinds of people with whom I have been in contact and have found that no nation goes beyond the thousand. The Arabs, too, stop with the thousand, which is certainly the most correct and the most natural thing to do… Those, however, who go beyond the thousand in their numeral system are the Hindus…. They extend the names of the orders of numbers until the 18th order for religious reasons; the mathematicians being assisted by the grammarians with all kinds of etymologies” [9].  Very recently, some of the mathematicians have also questioned the need for such huge numbers.  A well-known Sanskrit and Mathematics Scholar who has analyzed ancient Sanskrit, Buddhist, and Jain texts, has expressed astonishment at the fascination with large numbers in Indian antiquity [10].   

Aryabhata’s trigonometry is from the Surya Siddhanta (circa 5th century AD); his value for π as well as the methods for the determinations of roots of numbers are all derived from the previous work present in the sulba sutras (circa 6th century BC). His vision and pioneering work led to building the bridge between ‘old and new’. His efforts led to the merging of Vedic and Shulba Sutra-work into a universal discipline of global significance. It is fair to write that without Āryabhata’s vision, the mathematics and geometry present in the Vedas and Sulba sutras would not have amounted to much and would have languished in anonymity. He demonstrated the powers present in the ‘new discipline’ by carrying out his own work. This provided continuity and direction for the future. Āryabhata’s masterpiece, the Āryabhatīya (476 - 499 AD), defined the direction that mathematical astronomy and mathematics were to take as new and separate disciplines in India, much as Pānini’s Ashtādhyāyī did for Sanskrit grammar, grammatical theory, and mathematical logic. In the introduction to his book, the Āryabhatiya, Āryabhata gave a list of values now known as “sine differences” that could be used to calculate the sines of 24 equally spaced angles between 0° and 90°. In addition to listing the 24 sine differences, Āryabhata provided a formula that could be used to compute their values directly. Realizing fully that the negative numbers were not yet introduced in math, Āryabhata defined the versed sine [or (1 - cos(θ))] for each of these 24 angles and gave a procedure for calculating these values. Its importance lies in the fact that the value of versed sign is always positive! Because of its non-negative values, it became quite useful in the early days of navigation. Although the Aryabhatıya contained no tables or diagrams, the table of 24 angles with their associated sines, sine differences, and versed sines became known as Āryabhata's table of sines.  In the pre-calculator days, these became so useful that most of the books and textbooks on physical and mathematical sciences included the trigonometric tables at the end! Users learnt to practice interpolation in calculating sine values for numbers that are not present in such books by interpolating from the two closest numbers.

This era of Siddhantic astronomy, which spanned nearly 1000 years, was characterized by the formulation of mathematical rules for calculating various astronomical aspects. It is fair to name such work as Mathematization of Astronomy. Siddhantic astronomy introduced mathematical rules for calculating planetary orbits, eclipses, and other celestial phenomena. This shift from observational astronomy to mathematical astronomy was a significant contribution. Astronomers such as Aryabhata and Bhaskara II designed new instruments, such as the Phaļaka yantra, to aid in their observations and calculations. They made accurate predictions about celestial events, including planetary positions, eclipses, and comets. The works influenced later astronomers, including those in the Middle East and Europe.Aryabhata (476 – 550 AD) proposed that the motion of the stars in the sky derives from the rotation of the earth about its axis. He founded the Siddhāntic astronomy, an empirical science that uses model-building techniques by using planets as spherical objects and tests their validity by employing experimental data. He estimated that the earth rotates 1582,237,500 times in each cycle of one yuga. One yuga corresponds to 4,320,000 years. Amazingly, this gave the period of earth’s rotation as 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4.1 seconds. This model building and testing approach continued for almost one thousand years and scientists were able to forecast sunrise, sunset, as well as predict occurrence of eclipses, both solar and lunar. Next, he upgraded root-determining methods that were developed using geometrical methods (developed during the shulba sutra period, circa 6th century BC) which are needed in calculations by including the place value notation and the mathematical operations.

It was known to the Indian astronomers that Jupiter’s orbital period is 11.86 years (to complete one orbit around the Sun), while Earth takes one year (approximately 365 days). The Panchang (Hindu calendar) work makes use of a Karaŋa which is half a tithi. There are thirty tithis in a Hindu lunar month – thus there are 60 half tithis or Karanas in astrology and Panchang. According to available information, ancient Indian astronomers, particularly those who contributed to the Surya Siddhanta text, were able to calculate the sizes of planets sometime between the 4th and 5th century AD, with the text describing rules to calculate the diameters of various planets and their motions relative to constellations. This knowledge was built upon earlier astronomical observations and calculations from the Vedic and Shulba sutra times. 

Aryabhata’s idea, which included mathematical models about how to forecast eclipses, eventually found its way first to the Arabs and from there to Europe and influenced Renaissance thought. His book, the Aryabhatia, was translated into Latin in the 13th Century. This work gave the Europeans methods for measuring the volume of spheres and the area of triangles, as well as methods for calculating square roots and cube roots.

Following the Hindu works, the Arab scholars created astronomical tables that are known as the Zij tables. The first Zij tables were translated from Sanskrit, by Al-Khwarizmi (780 – 850 AD), and it included the decimal number zero. This led to the development of Arab astronomy which reached Europe.

As mentioned in the previous article, IVC is contemporaneous with the major ancient civilizations, but the current Indian Vedic Civilization is built on continuity with the IVC. It is the goal to trace the factors that have helped their evolution over time. The evolution was necessitated by cruelties of colonialism and fight for India’s independence.

The Vedic Civilization

The origin and development of the Vedic civilization can be described in two key words, namely, shruti (that which is heard) and smruti (that which is remembered). The superhuman sages shared with humans ‘the truths they uncovered’ as a result of deep meditation on the mysteries of this universe. What the humans remembered is called smruti. Because of assumed superhuman origin, shruti compositions are described as apaurusheya, meaning they are not attributed to any human author. Instead, they are seen as divine revelations. The core of shruti literature is the four Vedas: Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda, and Atharvaveda. There are their associated texts like the Brāhmaŋas, Aranyakas, and Upanishads. These Vedic compositions, being products of oral times, were passed down through generations via rigorous oral tradition [11, 12]. The smruti texts describe the human interpretations and elaborations on the revealed knowledge of the Vedas. They are well documented in texts called the Vedāngas (limbs of the Vedas). These ‘limbs’ have worked as blueprints in building the Vedic Civilization. There are six of them (kalpa, phonetics, grammar, etymology, prosody, Jyotisha). The Vedas are ancient Hindu scriptures that have made significant and lasting contributions to Indian civilization and, in some cases, to the wider world. They provide the philosophical foundation for many concepts, including dharma (duty), karma (action and consequence), and moksha (liberation). The Vedanta school of thought explores the nature of the ultimate reality (Brahman) and the self (Atman). 

The Vedas initiated shāstric or scientific approach to building the knowledge base that led to the development of scientific fields such as mathematics (decimal system concept, the number zero, and geometric principles found in the ritual science (Sulba Sutras), Siddhāntic astronomy, and philosophy.  Astronomical phenomena, such as planetary movements and periodicities, eclipses, and the roots of the lunar calendar system (Jyotisha) are present in the Vedas. The Atharvaveda includes some of the earliest references to Ayurveda, discussing herbal remedies and disease diagnosis. The Samaveda is dedicated to musical hymns and chants used during rituals, forming the basis for Indian classical music. The Gandharva Veda, a sub-Veda, is specifically dedicated to the study of music and dance. The Sthapatya Veda, another sub-Veda, contains the fundamentals of art and architecture, including concepts that later developed into Vastu Shastra. 

Formal structure of old language of Sanskrit is meticulously preserved in the Vedas. The Vedangas developed the fields of phonetics (Śikṣā) and grammar (Vyākaraṇa). While the other major civilizations were content with hieroglyphic scripts for their languages which disregarded the sound aspect of a language, the 5 x 5 matrix present in the Rig Veda, describes location of sounds. The phonetic script so developed was used in precise chanting, rhythm, and intonation to preserve their purity. Sanskrit (and other languages derived from it) use the alphabet whose order is determined by the location of origin of sound within the mouth [13].

The concept of Rita (cosmic order) from the Rigveda served as the basis for the notion of dharma (moral duty). Dharma Shastras, outlining moral duties and legal codes, drew inspiration from the Vedas. The Shruti part championed the novelty part of knowledge as illustrated by a few examples below.

Indra’s Net or Indra Jāla

The concept of Indra's Net, or Indra Jāla, appears in the Atharva Veda (circa 1000 BC), in verse #s 8.8.6 and 8.8.8. It describes the world as a net created by Indra, where at each intersection of the cords, there is a perfectly reflective jewel. The surface of any single jewel reflects every other jewel in the entire infinite net. This implies that nothing exists in isolation; every part of the universe is connected to every other part, influencing and being influenced by them. Indra's Net thus 'symbolizes a cosmos in which there is an infinitely repeated interrelationship among all the members of the cosmos’. 'The cosmos is, in short, a self-creating, self-maintaining, and self-defining organism.' The metaphor of Indra's Net was later adopted in Buddhist philosophy, particularly the Huayan school, to represent concepts like dependent origination and emptiness or Shunya Vada (Zeroism). It is a metaphysical way to restate Nagarjuna's denial that anything has self-existence. Its impact lies in fostering mindfulness, empathy, and compassion by highlighting that individual actions have far-reaching effects. 

Although proposed in ancient times, the metaphor of Indra’s Net is a hotly discussed topic these days [14, 15]. Douglas Hofstadter uses Indra's net as a metaphor for the complex interconnected networks formed by relationships between objects in a system, including social networks, the interactions of particles, and the "symbols" that stand for ideas in a brain or intelligent computer [16]. In the 2020 TV series Brave New World inspired by the homonymous book by Aldous Huxley, a new element was introduced in the original story: everyone in New London is always connected to an artificial intelligence called Indra, that observes, monitors and analyzes all citizens always. Writer Grant Morrison named this network after the Vedic deity, since Huxley was famously fascinated by Indian mysticism and named another element of the story, Soma, after a Hindu ritual drink which shares its name with another Vedic deity. [17].  Indra's Net has been seen as an ancient correlation to modern scientific concepts, such as Bell's Theorem, the theory of non-local causes, and multidimensional theories in physics. 

Felix Klein, a great German mathematician of the 19th century, rediscovered an idea from Hindu mythology in mathematics: the heaven of Indra in which the whole Universe was mirrored in each pearl in a net of pearls [18]. The authors undertake the first computer investigation of Klein's vision and explore the path from some basic mathematical ideas to the simple algorithms that create delicate fractal filigrees, mostly appearing in print for the first time [18].

Thiele has explored the impact of unintended consequences in an interdependent world and of the opportunities for creativity and community. His book explores the impact of interdependence and unintended consequences on our pursuit of sustainability. He writes that, because of expanding and deepening interdependencies, it has become impossible fully to control or forecast the effects of our actions. Awareness of our interconnectedness, he writes, stimulates creativity and community; it is a profound responsibility and a blessing beyond measure [19].  

Yetunde writes that creating compassionate communities requires a dedication to respecting cultural differences while remembering the fundamental spiritual kinship that exists between all people. She creatively unpacks this condition through the metaphor of Indra’s Net—a universal net in which all beings reflect each other like jewels [20].   

Niti Shāstra

Vidya dadati vinayam, vinayadyaati Paatratam 

(Wisdom brings modesty and modesty makes one deserving of success).

The Vedic seers introduced a new and powerful word, nīti, to encompass a broad concept of ethical and practical conduct in everything we do. In ancient times, the responsibility of governance was entrusted to the kings. Derived from the Sanskrit root "nī" (to lead), Nīti essentially means "that which leads" or guides. Along with concepts like dharma (righteousness) and artha (economic prosperity), nīti signifies a system of principles and rules for ethical behavior, decision-making, and governance. It covers aspects like personal conduct, leadership, statecraft, and the principles of warfare. This thinking gradually evolved into the foundations of diplomacy, economics (Kautilya or Chānakya  Nīti) and welfare state [21, 22]. Such textbooks were composed and used in training the princes on kingdom management, diplomacy, and welfare State. Three sets of complementary story books were also composed to illustrate the power of the science of nīti-shāstra – the Panchatantra, the Hitopadesha and the Jataka Tales. All the tales are set in everyday life- court of kings, forests, villages, and cities, with characters that inhabit these spaces, giving the narrative a relatable and colorful element.

The Panchatantra is a collection of stories based on animals and birds with human-like characteristics that are meant to teach practical wisdom and ethical counsel. Although ‘most translated, most adapted literary book in the world’ and Indian children grow up with these stories, it is a strange fact that this book is hardly known outside of India and the Far East. Referring to the word, nīti, Professor Ryder, who translated it into English, has written that “no precise equivalent of the term is found in English, French, Latin, or Greek” [23]. It is hard to overestimate the positive impact of such stories on young people.

The next set of stories appears in the Hitopadesha Tales. The compound word ‘Hitopadesha’, means ‘Hita’ (welfare/ benefit) and ‘Upadesha’ (advice/ counsel). Like the Panchatantra tales, the Hitopadesha tales also use animals, birds, and humans to discuss aspects of human behavior  such as friendship, loyalty, generosity, adultery, treachery, hypocrisy, greed, hoarding, and thereby help youngsters to develop into responsible and mature adults. The Hitopadesha stories are focused into four categories: how to win friends, how friendships are broken, wars and their impact and types of peace that can be negotiated. The statement Vasudhaiva kutumbakam (all beings in this world belong to one family) is emphasized in the Hitopadesha and the last section of the Hitopadesha deals with peace [24, 25].  The third set, the Jataka Tales, were born during the Buddhist period and focus on the ten perfections: dāna (donation), shīla (restraint), nekkhama (renunciation), panna (wisdom), vīrya (efforts), khanti (forbearance), sacca (truth), adhitthana (resolve), mitta (loving-kindness), and upekkha (equanimity). Every possible human situation, such as friendships, familial bonds, conflicts, politics, conversations between people, and overcoming obstacles is discussed in these stories [26]. 

How the Way of Life Evolved in Response to South African Colonial Rule?

After successfully completing his law degree in 1891, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi) left for India. Soon he discovered that he lacked both knowledge of Indian law and self-confidence because of which his practice collapsed.  It was while he was contemplating his seemingly bleak future that an Indian business firm situated in the Transvaal, South Africa, offered him employment. Gandhi arrived in Durban, Nātāl in 1893 to serve as legal counsel to a merchant. It was during the rail trip to Pretoria that Gandhi experienced intense racism: a white railway official ordered Gandhi to remove himself to the van compartment, since 'coolies' (a racist term for the Indians) and non-whites were not permitted in first-class compartments. Gandhi protested and produced his ticket but was forcibly pushed out of the train by a white police officer and his luggage was tossed out onto the platform. This led Gandhi to rethink about his "duty": ought he to stay back and fight for his "rights", or should he return to India?

The Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902) between Great Britain and the two Boer (Afrikaner) republics (the South African Republic Transvaal and the Orange Free State) broke out, resulting in British victory. But this did not bring any relief to the Indians in South Africa. Next, his attempts to make a perceptible impression upon the South African Europeans about the plight of the Indians were unsuccessful. In 1906 the Transvaal government introduced a particularly humiliating ordinance for the registration of its Indian population. The Indians held a mass protest meeting at Johannesburg in September 1906 and, under Gandhi’s leadership, took a pledge to defy the ordinance if it became law in the teeth of their opposition and to suffer all the penalties resulting from their defiance. This non-violent opposition took the shape of what these days is known as satyāgraha. The compound word  satyāgraha, made up of satya (truth) and agraha (insistence or devotion), describes a novel technique for redressing wrongs through inviting, rather than inflicting, suffering, for resisting adversaries without rancor and fighting them in a non-violent way (citation). The satyāgraha offered a novel, non-violent weapon to the small Indian minority in South Africa which lasted more than seven years. Hundreds of Indians chose to sacrifice their livelihood and liberty rather than submit to laws repugnant to their conscience and self-respect. In the final phase of the movement in 1913, hundreds of Indians, including women, went to jail, and thousands of Indian workers who had struck work in the mines, bravely faced imprisonment, flogging, and even shooting. It was a terrible ordeal for the Indians, but it was also the worst possible advertisement for the South African government. Under pressure from the governments of Britain and India, it accepted a compromise negotiated by Gandhi on the one hand and the South African statesman Jan Christian Smuts on the other. In July 1914, Smuts wrote to a friend on Gandhi’s departure from South Africa for India: “The saint has left our shores, I hope forever.” A quarter century later, Smuts was quoted as referring to Gandhi as “a man for whom even then I had the highest respect.”

Three main things helped shape Gandhi’s non-violent approach. The first was Gandhi’s reading, in 1904, of John Ruskin’s Unto This Last, a critique of capitalism and first published in 1860 as a series of articles in Cornhill Magazine [27]. In 1908 Gandhi serialized a nine-part paraphrase of Ruskin’s book into Gujarati in the journal he was editing, called Indian Opinion. Later he published it as a pamphlet under the title Sarvodaya (The Welfare of All). Gandhi gives us a summary of the teachings of Unto This Last as he understood it: The good of the individual is contained in the good of all. Everyone’s work has the same value, and all have the same right of earning their livelihood from their work. This inspiration led Gandhi to set up a farm at Phoenix near Durban in South Africa which was called the Phoenix Settlement. It was on this Settlement that Gandhi started his journey of transforming from a successful Lawyer to a simple Peasant with a passion for liberation, nonviolence and spirituality. Here on this land Gandhi began his experiments with communal living, non-possession, interfaith harmony, simplicity, environmental protection, conservation, manual labor, social and economic justice, nonviolent action, principles of education and truth. Gandhi started his first newspaper in Durban South Africa in 1903 and in 1904 he moved the entire press to Phoenix Settlement. The early history of Phoenix Settlement records three important functions: Communal living and self-sufficiency based on food gardens; Working in the press to publish the newspaper-Indian Opinion; Offering accommodation, meals and education to the families of those who were participating in the satyāgraha campaigns. In 2024, the 120th year of Phoenix Settlement was observed [28].

Schopenhauer was influenced by philosophical writings in Indian Upanishads and his philosophy deeply affected Tolstoy, who in turn became a profound influence on Gandhi. Some of the thoughts that Tolstoy adopted from Schopenhauer are suffering arises from the endless desires of universal will; liberation from this suffering could be found through ascetic self-denial and the rejection of worldly desires. This rejuvenated feelings of non-violence and self-renunciation. The connection is best documented through their direct correspondence during the last year of Tolstoy's life. The Sermon on the Mount was foundational for Gandhi's philosophy of satyagraha. After reading Tolstoy's "A Letter to a Hindu," which supported fight for India's independence through non-violent means, Gandhi initiated correspondence with the Russian author in 1909. He translated Tolstoy’s Letter to a Hindu into Gujarati which was confiscated by the British Government in India. After receiving Gandhi’s book, Indian Home Rule, and a journal named Indian Opinion, Tolstoy wrote to Gandhi that he deeply admired “the doctrine of the law of love unperverted by sophistry” [29]. All this positive interaction resulted in the birth of another new colony near Johannesburg in 1910. It was called the Tolstoy Farm after the Russian writer and moralist.  Those two settlements were the precursors of the more famous āshrams (religious retreats) in India, at Sābarmati near Ahmedabad and at Sevāgrām near Wardha. Leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, his friends as well as mentors  visited and learned firsthand about non-violent resistance from these āshrams.

All three thinkers mentioned above promoted renunciation of worldly possessions and social status in their own ways. They believed that the pursuit of material wealth and power was a source of human misery. Gandhi continued to study The Bhagavad Gita, a non-sectarian and non-dogmatic Hindu scripture which ‘appeals to both the head and the heart’. Soon Bhagavad Gita became his "spiritual dictionary" and "Mother Gita," and he continued to draw strength and solace from it during his struggles. Through self-mastery and self-knowledge, Gandhi developed his concept of "soul force" or satyāgraha, emphasizing the purification of the self through hardship rather than surrendering to oppression. In addition to his commitment to nonviolence, Gandhi used the Bhagavad Gita for enacting its lessons in the daily life of the ashram residents. This resulted in implementing eleven principles to be observed by his ashram-residents: Satya (truth), ahimsa (nonviolence), asteya (non stealig), aparigraha (noncovetousness), brahmacharya (abstinence), aswada (palate control), parishrama (physical labor), swadeshi (using homegrown or local products), a sprushyatanivaran (removal of untouchability), abhaya (fearlessness) and sarva-dharma-samanata (equal respect for all religions as well as people). Gita offers several choices to a spiritual seeker – the path of knowledge, selfless action for the good of all, path of devotion, or the path of yogic disciplines.  The goal in all of them remains the same, namely, to perform all activities with non-attachment. Gita prepared Gandhi to remain balanced or equipped in success or failure; it also influenced Gandhi to read/reflect/experiment/ emulate. Gandhi had mastered non-possession and non-attachment so well that the British scholar Gilbert Murray prophetically wrote about Gandhi in the Hibbert Journal in 1918: Persons in power should be very careful how they deal with a man who cares nothing for sensual pleasure, nothing for riches, nothing for comfort or praise, or promotion, but is simply determined to do what he believes to be right. Although unsuccessful in the eyes of Colonialists, Gandhi’s mission made silent but significant gains: the African Americans living in the USA came to know of Gandhi and his non-violent struggles through their ‘black friends’ in South Africa. This proved to be impactful.  The alliance or bond between the Asian Indians and African Americans refers to an inspiring story of how they ‘saw’, in their respective conflicts, a common thread of oppression: white supremacist colonialism, manifested in the United States by Jim Crow and in India by the British Raj. African American leaders such as W.E.B. Du Bois and Marcus Garvey as well as Indian leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Lala Lajpat Rai, and many others spent decades cultivating and advancing a radical notion of trans-national unity between “colored people.” Together, they created a powerful intellectual force that significantly shaped their respective successful struggles for freedom. The African American visionaries, W.E.B. Du Bois, Howard Thurman, and Martin Luther King Jr. were drawn to Mahatma Gandhi because he challenged the West and showed how the moral force of the oppressed could be a driving force of history. Du Bois identified the common problem as follows: “The problem of the 20th century is the problem of the color line – the relation of the darker to the lighter races of men in Asia and Africa, in America and the islands of the sea”. Du Bois saw in Gandhi a force that challenged the color line by challenging the civilization that created it as a force of disruption, oppression and violence, rather than a force of civilization as it claimed to be.

In his speech “My Pilgrimage to Non-violence”, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has explained that it was Gandhian emphasis on love and non-violence that he discovered the method for social reform, which he felt was the only morally and practically sound method open to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom. The deep bond which the visionary Du Bois called a borderline-mythic connection between the two races, led to an intellectual and political alliance between Black civil rights leaders and Indian independence leaders. In sharp contrast to their oppressors, Black and Indian leaders crafted a truly egalitarian ideology that recognized everyone’s shared humanity—one that crossed lines of race, religion, or nation.

In 1929, Du Bois apparently asked for a letter from Gandhi addressed to the American Negroes, acknowledging that while Gandhi was busy struggling for the freedom of his own people, “the race and color problems are worldwide, and we need your help here.” Gandhi responded: “Let not the 12 million Negroes be ashamed of the fact that they are the grandchildren of slaves. There is no dishonor in being slaves. There is dishonor in being slave-owners”. Gandhi felt that until his main mission of gaining Indian freedom through nonviolent means is accomplished, it will not be meaningful for him to venture into next goal; it would not help anyone. However, based on the feedback that he had received from his communications with the African American leaders, his conviction was so strong that he wrote: “...it may be through the negroes that the unadulterated message of non-violence will be delivered to the world”.  As African Americans used Gandhian philosophy and non-violent methods in the American Civil Rights struggles of 1950s and 60s, Gandhi's words proved prophetic for the 20th century. It is remarkable that the African American leaders understood Gandhi’s dilemma and continued their struggles.

What is remarkable about this alliance is that both races not only emerged successful in the end, but also, they presented to the entire world a perfect, novel, and non-violence-based gift to fight injustice. This tool is in use all over the world today and remains as a tribute to Indian as well as African American leaders.  When Dr. King wrote his autobiography and had millions of choices for the front cover, he chose to include Gandhi’s photo on the top left of the front page. The line of separation between the two races blurs into insignificance but the alliance shines so brightly.

India’s Non-Violent Fight for Its Freedom

Gandhi returned to India in 1915 and continued to use and refine the non-violent techniques and satyagraha approach in fight for India’s independence. This effort culminated in India’s independence from the British colonial rule on August 15, 1947. Following is a summary.

Along with their leader Gandhi, the residents of the āshrams followed two secular words from the Bhagavad Gita : aparigraha (non-possession) which means that residents have to jettison the material goods that cramp the life of the spirit and to shake off the bonds of money and property. The other was samabhava (equability) which enjoins people to remain unruffled by pain or pleasure, victory or defeat, and to work without hope of success or fear of failure. Gandhi reshaped the existing Indian National Congress into a mass movement, expanding its reach beyond the elite and mobilizing a diverse array of Indians. In the landmark campaign, known as The Salt March of 1930, Gandhi led a 240-mile march to the sea to defy the British salt monopoly. Many of the 2,500 peaceful marchers were brutally attacked and beaten by the British police. By the end of 1930 approximately 60,000 people were imprisoned as part of the civil disobedience campaign. Amidst World War II, Gandhi launched the Quit India Movement, calling for the immediate withdrawal of British rule from India. Despite being beaten and arrested, thousands of Indians demonstrated their unwavering commitment to their cause of forcing the British to confront the injustice of their actions. The principle of noncooperation or noncompliance led to the adoption of the swadeshi policy or the boycott of foreign-made goods, especially coming from the British. Gandhi encouraged all Indians to spin khādi to wear in support of the independence movement. To cripple the British India government economically, politically, and administratively, he urged people to resign from government employment and forsake British titles and honors. India’s ultimate success in using non-violent techniques to win independence demonstrated that nonviolence is not a weapon for the weak. Instead, it is a tool which should be used by everyone amid hyperviolence. The inspiring lives of Martin Luther King Jr, Cesar Chavez, and Aung San Suu Kyi have validated this approach. Gandhi set a model by building a multi-religious team in the fight for freedom. This secular approach continued in building a secular Government to rule free India. It was comprised of Hindus, Sikh, Muslims, and Parsee. The wheel on the Indian flag, formally known as the Ashoka Chakra, is the Dharma chakra (Wheel of Dharma). It is a 24-spoked wheel from the Sarnath Lion Capital, symbolizing motion, righteousness, and constant development. It is from King Ashoka’s time who renounced kingdom after winning the war and accepted Buddhism.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my nieces Sweta and Sheetal. I made use of the MELCAT interlibrary book borrowing services of our local library, The Rochester Hills Public Library, for which I am grateful. It is my wish to dedicate this article to my elder brother Subhas who passed away in July 2025.