What Is Sarvodaya?

Jayaprakash Narayan

Considering the state of ceaseless struggle of conflicting motives, there is a great necessity for changing the basis of society. Sarvodaya with its objective of everybody's welfare, suits our needs too well. Imagine for a moment, our thought, like a dream of Adam came true one morning and we get rid of selfish interest, the outcome would be a society encompassing all the human race based on the principle of "Sarvodaya". In such a society, the whole world would have a share in the wealth amassed by America. Production would not be a problem for any country, for the whole world would produce for the human race as a whole without any distinction. It will be a stage when everyone contributes to the idea of one and the danger of H-Bomb will have disappeared completely.

Essence of Sarvodaya

The outcome of violent struggle based on the conflict of selfish aims can achieve collectivization or distribution of land and wealth, but the selfish ends would still remain as a selfish struggle cannot give rise to unselfishness which is the essence of "Sarvodaya".
Man is the member of the world society and through its wisdom, he can find a basis on which all of them can live like a family. He knows that what he has got is not the result of his own effort alone but that of the whole society. Therefore, he must try to realize that aim and leave his selfish ends.

New Path

Sages from the time immemorial, have preached the need for discarding selfish ends for the service of humanity at large. Religion seems to have lost its force because even in its presence, man falls a victim to desire, hunger and poverty. To revive the force of religion, it must be connected with the needs of the man. Gandhiji taught us how moral and social values could be practiced on a mass scale. I feel that the path of changing society in accordance with Mahatmaji's ideals is an entirely new one, which has hitherto not been attempted in the world. What can be the method of pushing forward the view point of truth? As long as our views are not accompanied by actual movement for social transformation mass character cannot be achieved.

Symbolic Movement

I am reminded of the Salt Satyagraha. The small Salt Satyagraha transformed the entire nation. Indian people, who were afraid of the mighty British Empire got courage and became fearless. The present Bhoodan movement aims at generating the same type of spirit in the people which has created by Gandhiji's directive to break salt laws in 1930. Similarly Bhoodan (donation of land) or Sampattidan (donation of wealth) which is more comprehensive than the first is indented to infuse a spirit which should enable the people to contribute their belongings thereby realizing the aim of making everybody unselfish set forth by "Sarvodaya". The main idea behind bhoodan and Sampattidan is that we should bring about a revolution in people's thoughts. In its objective of moral ascent, the bhoodan movement is only a symbolic movement, a programme, to make the people to understand the Sarvodaya ideal. Equitable distribution of land is only its secondary aspect. By the small sacrifice that the people make through this a dynamic change is bound to come about in the whole social structure the individual would be an essential part of society working for its progress rather a self-centered social parasite.

Only Alternative

If we do not work for implementation of Sarvodaya, it would lead to destruction. In fact the world has only one alternative it must choose between sarvanash i. e. total destruction and Sarvodaya.