Swaraj - Wikipedia Swaraj This article is about the concept popularised by Mahatma Gandhi. For the general usage of the term, see Self - governance. For other uses, see Swaraj ( disambiguation ). Dayanand Saraswati Swarāj ( Hindi : स्वराज swa - `` self '', raj `` rule '' ) can mean generally self - governance or `` self - rule '', and was used synonymously with `` home - rule '' by Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati and later on by Mahatma Gandhi, but the word usually refers to Gandhi 's concept for Indian independence from foreign domination. Swaraj lays stress on governance, not by a hierarchical government, but by self governance through individuals and community building. The focus is on political decentralisation. 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. 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 organisations 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. 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 organisation, were also inspired by the ideas of Swaraj. Contents 1 Key concepts 2 After Gandhi 3 Present day 4 See also 5 References 6 External links Key concepts Wikisource has original text related to this article : Swaraj Swami Dayanand Saraswati, founder of the Arya Samaj and a Hindu reformer, defined swaraj as the `` administration of self '' or `` democracy ''. Swami Dayanand Saraswati, beginning with the premise that God had created people free to perform any work they were inclined to choose, then questioned the legitimacy of the foreign British occupation to make the Indian nation slaves on their own land ? In the Swami 's view, swaraj was the basis for freedom fighting. Dadabhai Navroji said that he had learnt the word swaraj from the Satyarth Prakash of Saraswati. Swaraj warrants a stateless society. According to Mahatma 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. 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 demoralising 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 centralised, 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. 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. '' 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. 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. '' 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. '' He summarised the core principle like this : `` It is Swaraj when we learn to rule ourselves. '' Gandhi explained his vision in 1946 : Independence begins at the bottom... A society must be built in which every village has to be self - sustained and capable of managing its own affairs... It will be trained and prepared to perish in the attempt to defend itself against any onslaught from without... This does not exclude dependence on and willing help from neighbours or from the world. It will be a free and voluntary play of mutual forces... In this structure composed of innumerable villages, there will be ever - widening, never - ascending circles. Growth will not be a pyramid with the apex sustained by the bottom. But it will be an oceanic circle whose center will be the individual. Therefore the outermost circumference will not wield power to crush the inner circle but will give strength to all within and derive its own strength from it. 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 realisable in its completeness. We must have a proper picture of what we want before we can have something approaching it. '' After Gandhi After Gandhi 's assassination Vinoba Bhave formed the Sarva Seva Sangh at the national level and Sarvodya Mandals at the regional level to the carry on integrated village service -- with the end purpose of achieving the goal of Swaraj. Two major nonviolent movements for socio - economic and political revolution in India : the Bhoodan movement led by Vinoba Bhave and the Total Revolution movement led by Jayaprakash Narayan were actually formed under the aegis of the ideas of Swaraj. These movements had some success, but due to the socialist tendencies of Nehruvian India were not able to unleash the kind of revolution that was aimed at. Gandhi 's model of Swaraj was almost entirely discarded by the Indian government. He had wanted a system of a classless, stateless direct democracy. Additionally, modern India has kept in place many aspects of British ( and Western ) influence, including widespread use of the English language, the common law, industrialisation, liberal democracy, military organisation, and bureaucracy. Present day The Aam Aadmi Party was founded in late 2012, by Arvind Kejriwal and some erstwhile activists of India Against Corruption movement, with the aim of empowering people by applying the concept of swaraj enunciated by Gandhi, in the present day context by changing the system of governance. See also Aundh Experiment References Jump up ^ Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule, Gandhi, 1909 Jump up ^ What is Swaraj ?. Retrieved on July 12, 2007. Jump up ^ Parel, Anthony. Hind Swaraj and other writings of M.K. Gandhi. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, 1997. Jump up ^ What is Swaraj ?. Retrieved on March 3, 2007. Jump up ^ What Swaraj meant to Gandhi. Retrieved on September 17, 2008. Jump up ^ Jesudasan, Ignatius. A Gandhian theology of liberation. Gujarat Sahitya Prakash : Ananda India, 1987, pp 236 - 237. Jump up ^ Hind Swaraj. M.K. Gandhi. Chapter V Jump up ^ M.K. Gandhi, Young India, June 28, 1928, p. 772. Jump up ^ `` 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. ) Jump up ^ Jesudasan, Ignatius. A Gandhian theology of liberation. Gujarat Sahitya Prakash : Ananda India, 1987, pp 251. Jump up ^ Murthy, Srinivas. Mahatma Gandhi and Leo Tolstoy Letters. Long Beach Publications : Long Beach, 1987, pp 13. Jump up ^ M.K. Gandhi. Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule. Ahmedabad, Gujarat : Navajivan Publishing House, 1938. Jump up ^ Murthy, Srinivas. Mahatma Gandhi and Leo Tolstoy Letters. Long Beach Publications : Long Beach, 1987, pp 189. Jump up ^ Parel, Anthony. Hind Swaraj and other writings of M.K. Gandhi. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, 1997, pp 189. Jump up ^ Bhattacharyya, Buddhadeva. Evolution of the political philosophy of Gandhi. Calcutta Book House : Calcutta, 1969, pp 479. Jump up ^ BusinessLine Bureau. `` With Swaraj in mind, Kejriwal launches Aam Aadmi Party ''. The Hindu. Retrieved November 25, 2012. External links The Swaraj Foundation Kumarappa Institute Of Gram Swaraj ( 1 ) Indian Independence Movement History Colonisation Porto Grande de Bengala Dutch Bengal East India Company British Raj French India Portuguese India Battle of Plassey Battle of Buxar Anglo - Mysore Wars First Second Third Fourth Anglo - Maratha Wars First Second Third Polygar Wars Vellore Mutiny First Anglo - Sikh War Second Anglo - Sikh War Sannyasi Rebellion Rebellion of 1857 Radcliffe Line more Philosophies and ideologies Ambedkarism Gandhism Hindu nationalism Indian nationalism Khilafat Movement Muslim nationalism in South Asia Satyagraha Socialism Swadeshi movement Swaraj Events and movements Partition of Bengal ( 1905 ) Partition of Bengal ( 1947 ) Revolutionaries Direct Action Day Delhi - Lahore Conspiracy The Indian Sociologist Singapore Mutiny Hindu -- German Conspiracy Champaran Satyagraha Kheda Satyagraha Rowlatt Committee Rowlatt Bills Jallianwala Bagh massacre Noakhali riots Non-Cooperation Movement Christmas Day Plot Coolie - Begar Movement Chauri Chaura incident, 1922 Kakori conspiracy Qissa Khwani Bazaar massacre Flag Satyagraha Bardoli 1928 Protests Nehru Report Fourteen Points of Jinnah Purna Swaraj Salt March Dharasana Satyagraha Vedaranyam March Chittagong armoury raid Gandhi -- Irwin Pact Round table conferences Act of 1935 Aundh Experiment Indian Legion Cripps Mission Quit India Bombay Mutiny Coup d'état of Yanaon Provisional Government of India Independence Day Praja Mandala movement Organisations All India Kisan Sabha All - India Muslim League Anushilan Samiti Arya Samaj Azad Hind Berlin Committee Ghadar Party Hindustan Socialist Republican Association Indian National Congress India House Indian Home Rule movement Indian Independence League Indian National Army Jugantar Khaksar Tehrik Khudai Khidmatgar Swaraj Party more Social reformers A. Vaidyanatha Iyer Ayya Vaikundar Ayyankali B.R. Ambedkar Baba Amte Bal Gangadhar Tilak Dayananda Saraswati Dhondo Keshav Karve G. Subramania Iyer Gazulu Lakshminarasu Chetty Gopal Ganesh Agarkar Gopal Hari Deshmukh Gopaldas Ambaidas Desai Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar J.B. Kripalani Jyotirao Phule Kandukuri Veeresalingam Mahadev Govind Ranade Mahatma Gandhi Muthulakshmi Reddi Narayana Guru Niralamba Swami Pandita Ramabai Periyar E.V. Ramasamy Ram Mohan Roy Rettamalai Srinivasan Sahajanand Saraswati Savitribai Phule Shahu Sister Nivedita Sri Aurobindo Syed Ahmad Khan Vakkom Moulavi Vinayak Damodar Savarkar Vinoba Bhave Vitthal Ramji Shinde Vivekananda Independence activists Abul Kalam Azad Accamma Cherian Achyut Patwardhan A.K. Fazlul Huq Alluri Sitarama Raju Annapurna Maharana Annie Besant Ashfaqulla Khan Babu Kunwar Singh Bagha Jatin Bahadur Shah II Bakht Khan Bal Gangadhar Tilak Basawon Singh Begum Hazrat Mahal Bhagat Singh Bharathidasan Bhavabhushan Mitra Bhikaiji Cama Bhupendra Kumar Datta Bidhan Chandra Roy Bipin Chandra Pal C. Rajagopalachari Chandra Shekhar Azad Chetram Jatav Chittaranjan Das Dadabhai Naoroji Dayananda Saraswati Dhan Singh Dukkipati Nageswara Rao Gopal Krishna Gokhale Govind Ballabh Pant Har Dayal Hemu Kalani Inayatullah Khan Mashriqi Jatindra Mohan Sengupta Jatindra Nath Das Jawaharlal Nehru K. Kamaraj Kanaiyalal Maneklal Munshi Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan Khudiram Bose Shri Krishna Singh Lala Lajpat Rai M. Bhaktavatsalam M.N. Roy Mahadaji Shinde Mahatma Gandhi Mangal Pandey Mir Qasim Mithuben Petit ‎ Muhammad Ali Jauhar Muhammad Ali Jinnah Muhammad Mian Mansoor Ansari Nagnath Naikwadi Nana Fadnavis Nana Sahib P. Kakkan Prafulla Chaki Pritilata Waddedar Pritilata Waddedar Purushottam Das Tandon R. Venkataraman Rahul Sankrityayan Rajendra Prasad Ram Prasad Bismil Rani Lakshmibai Rash Behari Bose Sahajanand Saraswati Sangolli Rayanna Sarojini Naidu Satyapal Dang Shuja - ud - Daula Shyamji Krishna Varma Sibghatullah Shah Rashidi Siraj ud - Daulah Subhas Chandra Bose Subramania Bharati Subramaniya Siva Surya Sen Syama Prasad Mukherjee Tara Rani Srivastava Tarak Nath Das Tatya Tope Tiruppur Kumaran Ubaidullah Sindhi VO Chidamabaram V.K. 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Sundaram Abbas Tyabji Ravishankar Vyas Legacy Artistic depictions Gandhigiri Gandhi Peace Award Gandhi Peace Prize Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith Indian currency Family Karamchand Gandhi ( father ) Kasturba ( wife ) Harilal ( son ) Manilal ( son ) Ramdas ( son ) Devdas ( son ) Maganlal ( cousin ) Samaldas ( nephew ) Arun ( grandson ) Ela ( granddaughter ) Rajmohan ( grandson ) Gopalkrishna ( grandson ) Ramchandra ( grandson ) Kanu ( grandson ) Kanu ( grandnephew ) Tushar ( great - grandson ) Leela ( great - granddaughter ) Influenced James Bevel Steve Biko 14th Dalai Lama Gopaldas Ambaidas Desai Morarji Desai Eknath Easwaran Maria Lacerda de Moura James Lawson Martin Luther King Jr. Nelson Mandela Brajkishore Prasad Rajendra Prasad Ramjee Singh Aung San Suu Kyi Lanza del Vasto Abhay Bang Sane Guruji Memorials Statues Houston Johannesburg London ( Parliament Square ) New York Patna Pietermaritzburg Washington Observances Gandhi Jayanti International Day of Non-Violence Martyrs ' Day Season for Nonviolence Other Aga Khan Palace Gandhi Bhawan Gandhi Mandapam Gandhi Market Bookstores Gandhi Promenade Gandhi Smriti Gandhi Memorial Gandhi Memorial Museum, Madurai Kaba Gandhi No Delo Kirti Mandir Mahatma Gandhi College Mohandas Gandhi High School National Gandhi Museum Raj Ghat Sabarmati Ashram Satyagraha House Gandhi Teerth Roads named after Gandhi Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Centre, Matale Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Swaraj&oldid=855887134 '' Categories : Indian independence movement Philosophical movements Anarchist theory Community building Gandhism Hidden categories : Use Indian English from February 2016 All Wikipedia articles written in Indian English Articles containing Hindi - language text All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from September 2016 Articles with unsourced statements from February 2015 Talk Contents About Wikipedia বাংলা Català Español Français हिन्दी Bahasa Indonesia Қазақша मराठी ਪੰਜਾਬੀ Русский தமிழ் 4 more Edit links This page was last edited on 21 August 2018, at 14 : 01 ( UTC ). 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Question: who used the word 'swaraj' firstly
Answer: Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati