E-Book - Mahatma Gandhi

56 Contextualising Gandhian Thoughtof Satyameva Jayate – which is more of a piece of practicalwisdom rather than of didactic teachings.A third critical point is that, in a society if everymember enjoys freedom to pursue his ‘relative truth’, theexternal authority including the institution of state would beundermined. This would create a situation of institutionalvacuum resulting in utter chaos and confusion.Once again it could be reasonably argued that when anexternal authority like the state enjoys unlimited power to workas the final arbiter of human fate, it creates more problems thanit solves. And that is why, Gandhi never had much faith in theefficacy of external agency, more particularly in the institutionof state. He never believed in the centrality of state, rather healways pleaded for minimal state. At the metaphysical level, healways took God and His laws as the final arbiter. On a moremundane level of individuals he looked at the civil society asthe final arbiter of human affairs. Hence, his assertion that in agiven society the larger the number of truth seekers thequantum of the external authority would be smaller.To sum up, Gandhi’s concept of truth, while making anendless journey to the ultimate Truth, provides a practicalopportunity for its immediate pursuit. Thus, while giving everyone an opportunity to pursue his truth, it also gives a bigleeway for the pursuit of absolute truth. It is clear that Gandhinever accepted the view that the pursuit of absolute truth meantonly for the spiritual elite. He puts absolute and relative truth incontinuum and not in dichotomous position. Further, in hisphilosophical perspective, the possibility of even commonpeople reaching out to the absolute truth remains distinctlyfeasible. He was convinced that a seeker of truth when hereaches the ultimate peak of absolute truth, he releasesimmense spiritual power. This is so because his life, thought