Achhibad translated by Sadhana Som PDF.
Author – M. K. Gandhi,
Translated by – Sadhana Som,
Genre – Translated Book,
Book Format – PDF,
PDF Size – 6 MB,
The writer Sadhana Som translated the book Achhibad of Gandhiji.
Achhibad is the Bengali translation of Gandhiji’s book Trusteeship published by the Navajivan Trust of Ahmedabad. It contains in brief the basic principles of the theory of trusteeship as envisaged and preached by the Mahatma in his desire to obliterate class distinctions and establish economic equality in society.
Achhibad in Gandhiji’s national thought:
A very important aspect of Mahatma Gandhi’s national thought is his concept of protest. In Gandhiji’s national thought, Achhibad refers to a special way of achieving Swaraj or Gram Swaraj. The essence of achieving Hind Swaraj and Sarvadaya is the ideal of sacrifice. Mahatma Gandhi’s concept of Achhibad reflects his ideal of sacrifice. The main objective of Gandhiji’s political philosophy and program was to change the mentality of the people for the purpose of bringing about fundamental reforms in the socio-economic and political conditions of the country. And this is why Gandhiji was sincerely interested in the system. The inspiration for his rational idea is the Sanatana Dharma of India. The Sanatana Dharma of this country, selfishness and self-centeredness are absent in its philosophy.
What is the Mahatma Gandhi’s Achhibad Philosophy?
The Ish Upanishad is said to be the source of Mahatma Gandhi’s Achhibad Philosophy. The very first verse of this Upanishad talks about protest thoughts. This verse of the Ish Upanishad talks about enjoyment through sacrifice. Everyone should offer all the worldly wealth he has acquired to the Supreme Lord and enjoy it equally with everyone for the welfare of the whole society. Moreover, it is forbidden to misappropriate the wealth due to others. The ideal of enjoyment through sacrifice and the policy of not misappropriating the wealth of others became firmly rooted in Gandhiji at a young age.
Mahatma Gandhi believed that Achhibad could be realized in reality through sacrifice. To achieve this goal, he opposed keeping social wealth in private or state ownership and recommended keeping social wealth under his own and Achhibad’s control. It is necessary to eliminate the inequality in the distribution of income and wealth in society. And for that, it is important to ensure social control over wealth and natural resources. This social control can be possible and successful through the system of property. Private or state ownership of wealth can be converted into social ownership through the system of property. In short, Gandhiji has always thought and thought about the development of socialist ideas with communism in mind.
Theory of Property
Let us suppose that I have acquired some wealth and I have got it through inheritance or through business. It is essential for me to know that I am not the owner of all this wealth. The right to a respectable life is nothing more than the life that millions of other people live. It is essential that the rest of my wealth is spent for the welfare of the people. I express this theory only when the socialist theory is put before the country regarding the property of the landlords and the local kings. People want the end of these privileged classes. I want them to be freed from the concept of greed and entitlement and to be brought down to the level of those who earn their living by hard work despite having wealth. The workers must realize that they are not the owners of their labor as much as the capitalist is of his wealth. But the workers are the owners of themselves, that is, of their working power.
The question of how many people can be real capitalists according to this definition is irrelevant here. If this principle is true, then it is immaterial whether many people act in this way or only one. The real point is firm belief. If the principle of non-violence is acceptable, then one must try hard to live in that way. It is not necessary to think about success or failure. There is nothing in this principle that is not understandable. Of course, it is very difficult to put it into practice, one might say.
What is constitutional capitalism? What does constitutional capitalism mean?
“You have spoken of the rich becoming trustees. Does this mean that they will give up their personal ownership of their property and create a Trust for it? And this trust will be legally and democratically administered in the eyes of the law? How will the heirs be determined after the death of the one on whom the burden is now placed.”
In reply, Gandhiji said, ‘The view he expressed a few years ago on this matter is still the same. That is, everything is God’s and everything comes from God. Therefore, it is due to the people of His creation as a whole, not to any particular person. When any person has more than his due share, then he becomes the trustee of that share for the people of God.’
What were Gandhiji’s ideas about the state?
Almighty God has no need to save. He creates constantly. Therefore, in principle, people will also live casually and will not hoard things. If the people simply accepted this truth in their hearts, it would be legal, and ‘trust’ would also become a legal institution. Take the gift of the world from India – this is God’s intention. Then there will be no more exploitation. And Australia and other countries will no longer be reserved for the white man and his future sons. This difference contains the seeds of war much more intense than the last great war. When it comes to heirs, it is said that the current heir will have the power to choose his successor. Of course, with legal approval.
(Harijan, 23-2-1947)
After the book was published, there was a lot of discussion among the readers. The book Achhibad, written by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and translated by Sadhana Som, was widely read by the readers. Therefore, keeping the readers in mind, the PDF file of the book has been given on this webpage. Readers can collect the PDF file of the book from this webpage and read it online.