What is it about?
During the last years of his life, Gandhi suddenly began to propagate the idea of secularism in which he emphasised the need for the separation between the state and religion. Simultaneously, Gandhi published five consecutive articles on his private religious experiments with brahmacarya (sexual celibacy) in his "entirely political" weekly magazine named Harijanbandhu; Gandhi slept naked with his naked woman associates in the experiments. In this article, I have explored the conceptual relationship between the former political idea and the latter religious experiments. By so doing, I have proposed a totally new interpretation on Gandhi's last political vision for independent India.
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Why is it important?
This article is the first study which examined the relationship between Gandhi's idea of political secularism and his experiments with brahmacarya. The article used solely primary historical materials written in Gujarati, English and Hindi. No other previous works used many of these Gujarati materials.The article also contains some new discoveries about Gandhi's Autobiography and diaries written by his 17-year-old grandniece named Manubahen.
Perspectives
It is lamentable that many social scientists in the western academy pay no attention to religious or phenomenolotical matters. On the other hand, many scholars of religious studies have less interests in political matters. However, it is essential to dismantle the wall between these two academic fields. I believe that this is a crucial step to develop both on-going social and human sciences. I hope this article will contribute something to this purpose.
Dr. Eijiro Hazama
University of Tokyo
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The Paradox of Gandhian Secularism: The metaphysical implication behind Gandhi's ‘individualization of religion’, Modern Asian Studies, September 2017, Cambridge University Press,
DOI: 10.1017/s0026749x16000354.
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