Mahavira and his Teaching

Author(s): C C Shah, Rishabhdas Ranka, Dalsukh Malvania
Publisher: Bhagwan Mahavir 2500th Nirvan Mahotsava Samiti

Page 156

JAINISM AND WESTERN INFLUENCES ON GANDHIJI
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Ruskin
In 1903 when Gandhi was travelling from Johannesburg to Durban, his colleague, Henry S. L. Polak accompanied him to the station and gave him the book “Unto This Last" by John Ruskin, to read on the journey. Ruskin was born in London in 1819 and died in 1900. From 1870-1884 he was appointed Professor of the History of Art in Oxford. Then he had pleaded for the Pre-Rapaelites and praised the expression of a believing age in medieval art. To the surprise of all who knew him, he suddenly turned to sociology and fought for a new ethic in economics. He wanted work to be considered as a moral obligation and not as goods. He stressed the creative value of manual labour. He demanded colleges for workers, garden cities, and many other things which are a reality today.
What he held of the society in which he lived can be seen in the following words which are to be found in his book "Sesame and Lilies”.: How much do we spend in your opinion for public and private libraries in comparison to that what our horses cost? Or to give another example: what are the contents of the book shelves (public and private) as compared to the contents of the winecellars ?
He paid no attention to taboos, and this Gandhi says of Ruskin's book “Unto This Last”. Four Essays on the first Principles of Political Economy (appeared 1860/62), that is was written with “blood and tears". We read for example: Richness is a power like electricity. It works through inequality. The power of the guinea which we have in our pocket depends on the lack of a guinea in your neighbours pocket. If he would not need it, then you even would not have use for it. If he is poor and unemployed for a long time, then the guinea is of more value to you and thus what in reality is sought after in the name of richness is mainly power over men. The rich should remember that what one person has, the other cannot have, and avoid every luxury till all, even the poorest have enough. For Gandhi this demand appears thus: Whoever eats too much, steals this