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Swaraj ((ヒンディー語:स्वराज) ''(swa- )'' "self", ''raj'' "rule") can mean generally self-governance or "self-rule", and was used synonymous with "home-rule" by Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati and later on by Mahatma Gandhi,〔''Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule'', Gandhi, 1909〕 but the word usually refers to Gandhi's concept for Indian independence from foreign domination.〔(What is Swaraj? ). Retrieved on July 12, 2007.〕 Swaraj lays stress on governance, not by a hierarchical government, but by self governance through individuals and community building. The focus is on political decentralization.〔Parel, Anthony. ''Hind Swaraj and other writings of M. K. Gandhi''. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, 1997.〕 Since this is against the political and social systems followed by Britain, Gandhi's concept of Swaraj advocated India's discarding British political, economic, bureaucratic, legal, military, and educational institutions.〔(What is Swaraj? ). Retrieved on March 3, 2007.〕 S. Satyamurti, Chittaranjan Das and Motilal Nehru were among a contrasting group of Swarajists who laid the foundation for parliamentary democracy in India. Although Gandhi's aim of totally implementing the concepts of Swaraj in India was not achieved, the voluntary work organizations which he founded for this purpose did serve as precursors and role models for people's movements, voluntary organisations, and some of the non-governmental organisations that were subsequently launched in various parts of India.〔(What Swaraj meant to Gandhi ). Retrieved on September 17, 2008.〕 The student movement against oppressive local and central governments, led by Jayaprakash Narayan, and the Bhoodan movement, which presaged demands for land reform legislation throughout India, and which ultimately led to India's discarding of the Zamindari system of land tenure and social organization, were also inspired by the ideas of Swaraj. ==Key concepts== Swami Dayanand Saraswati, founder of the Arya Samaj and a Hindu reformer, defined ‘swaraj’ as the ‘administration of self’ or ‘democracy’. He says when God has made us free to do any work as we want, then who are the British to make us slaves in our land? In his view ‘Swaraj’ is the backbone of the freedom fighting. Dadabhai Nauroji had admitted that he had learnt the word `Swaraj’ from the `Satyarth Prakasha’ of Swami Dayananda. Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati had preceded the emotion of ‘Swaraj’ and ‘Swadesi’. Swaraj warrants a stateless society; according to Gandhi, the overall impact of the state on the people is harmful. He called the state a "soulless machine" which, ultimately, does the greatest harm to mankind.〔Jesudasan, Ignatius. ''A Gandhian theology of liberation''. Gujarat Sahitya Prakash: Ananda India, 1987, pp 236-237.〕 The ''raison d'etre'' of the state is that it is an instrument of serving the people. But Gandhi feared that in the name of moulding the state into a suitable instrument of serving people, the state would abrogate the rights of the citizens and arrogate to itself the role of grand protector and demand abject acquiescence from them. This would create a paradoxical situation where the citizens would be alienated from the state and at the same time enslaved to it, which, according to Gandhi, was demoralizing and dangerous. If Gandhi's close acquaintance with the working of the state apparatus in South Africa and in India strengthened his suspicion of a centralized, monolithic state, his intimate association with the Congress and its leaders confirmed his fears about the corrupting influence of political power and his skepticism about the efficacy of the party systems of power politics (due to which he resigned from the Congress on more than one occasion only to be persuaded back each time) and his study of the British parliamentary systems convinced him that representative democracy was incapable of meting out justice to people.〔''Hind Swaraj''. M.K. Gandhi. Chapter V〕 Gandhi thought it necessary to evolve a mechanism to achieve the twin objectives of empowering the people and 'empowering' the state. It was for this that he developed the two pronged strategy of resistance (to the state) and reconstruction (through voluntary and participatory social action). Although the word "Swaraj" means self-rule, Gandhi gave it the content of an integral revolution that encompasses all spheres of life: "At the individual level Swaraj is vitally connected with the capacity for dispassionate self-assessment, ceaseless self-purification and growing self-reliance."〔M. K. Gandhi, Young India, June 28, 1928, p. 772.〕 Politically, swaraj is self-government and not good government (for Gandhi, good government is no substitute for self-government) and it means a continuous effort to be independent of government control, whether it is foreign government or whether it is national. In other words, it is sovereignty of the people based on pure moral authority. Economically, Swaraj means full economic freedom for the toiling millions. And in its fullest sense, Swaraj is much more than freedom from all restraints, it is self-rule, self-restraint, and could be equated with ''moksha'' or salvation.〔"M. K. Gandhi, Young India, December 8, 1920, p.886 (See also Young India, August 6, 1925, p. 276 and Harijan, March 25, 1939, p.64.)〕 Adopting Swaraj means implementing a system whereby the state machinery is virtually nil, and the real power directly resides in the hands of people. Gandhi said: "Power resides in the people, they can use it at any time."〔Jesudasan, Ignatius. ''A Gandhian theology of liberation''. Gujarat Sahitya Prakash: Ananda India, 1987, pp 251.〕 This philosophy rests inside an individual who has to learn to be master of his own self and spreads upwards to the level of his community which must be dependent only on itself. Gandhi said: "In such a state (where swaraj is achieved) everyone is his own ruler. He rules himself in such a manner that he is never a hindrance to his neighbour."〔Murthy, Srinivas.''Mahatma Gandhi and Leo Tolstoy Letters''. Long Beach Publications: Long Beach, 1987, pp 13.〕 He summarized the core principle like this: "It is Swaraj when we learn to rule ourselves."〔M. K. Gandhi. ''Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule''. Ahmedabad, Gujarat: Navajivan Publishing House, 1938.〕 Gandhi explained his vision in 1946: Gandhi was undaunted by the task of implementing such a utopian vision in India. He believed that by transforming enough individuals and communities, society at large would change. He said: "It may be taunted with the retort that this is all Utopian and, therefore not worth a single thought... Let India live for the true picture, though never realizable in its completeness. We must have a proper picture of what we want before we can have something approaching it."〔Parel, Anthony. ''Hind Swaraj and other writings of M. K. Gandhi''. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, 1997, pp 189.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Swaraj」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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