Page 119 - Acharya Vinoba Bhave in 21st Century ISBN

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Swarajya-Shastra in Practice: The Case of Village Mendha-Lekha
Dr. Milind Bokil

Vinoba’s Swarajya-Shastra is one of the most original contributions to the field of political

philosophy in modern India. Swarajya-Shastra literally means the science of self-rule or self-governance.
Vinoba’s philosophical perspective and political ideology is aptly summarized in this small booklet

(Vinoba, 1989). This treatise is not only in continuity with the thought of two of the earlier stalwarts-
Mahatma Gandhi and Lokmanya Tilak-but also the further exposition of the practice of self-governance.

In 1909, Mahatma Gandhi had laid the foundation of Hind Swaraj when he insisted that ‘real home-
rule is self-rule or self-control’ (Gandhi, 1938:90). When in 1917 Tilak declared that ‘Freedom is my
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birthright’ he was aiming to develop the science of politics which was to end in Indian home rule. In
Swarajya-Shastra, Vinoba goes a step further and strives to develop a practical manifesto by which

the ideals could be put into practice. Gandhi and Vinoba’s writings are often discarded by calling them
as ‘Utopian’ but lately examples are emerging wherein common Indian villagers are experimenting with

these ideals and testing their validity in day-to-day life. Presented in this paper is one such case, that of
a small tribal village in the most interior part of India.

Tenets of Swarajya-Shastra

Before we proceed to describe this case, it would be appropriate to summarize the basic
tenets of Swarajya-Shastra. Like Hind Swaraj, the format of Swarajya-Shastra is also that of

questions and answers. Vinoba discusses five important questions. While answering these questions,
he explains a variety of pertinent issues. His main argument is that three types of polities could naturally

emerge in a society: ekayatan (rule by one), anekayatan (rule by more than one), and sarvayatan
(rule by all). He concedes that sarvayatan does not exist anywhere but it is the ideal form of polity and

we should strive to bring it into practice. He mentions that, “The actual form of polity wherein all the
people look after their affairs will depend on the stage of development of society. However, it must

invariably have at least the following four characteristics:
1. All the capacities of capable individuals should be devoted to the service of the people.

2. People should be fully self-reliant and should cooperate with each other.

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