Sarvodaya

What it is

Sarvodaya is Mahatma Gandhi's paraphrased translation into Gujarati of John Ruskin's book Unto This Last, a critique of political economy. Gandhi first read Ruskin's book in 1904 while working in South Africa, and some years later rendered it into his own language, coining the title from Sanskrit words meaning 'uplift of all'.

Why it matters

Gandhi said the book changed his life overnight, convincing him that the good of the individual lies in the good of all and that manual labour has as much worth as any other work. The term Sarvodaya became the name for Gandhi's own political and economic ideal, later carried on by followers such as Vinoba Bhave in the Sarvodaya Movement after independence.

Look closer

• Why might reading one book on a long train journey have such a strong effect on someone?
• What does Gandhi's choice to translate rather than simply read the book suggest about how he wanted to use its ideas?
• How did Gandhi change or adapt Ruskin's ideas to fit his own political philosophy?