Indian Civilization and Culture Summary in English and Hindi by Mahatma Gandhi

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Indian Civilization and Culture Summary in English and Hindi by Mahatma Gandhi

Indian Civilization and Culture by Mahatma Gandhi About the Author

Mohan Das Karamchand Gandhi is Popularly known as Bapu or the “Father of the Nation,” was born in Gujrat in the year 1869. He was more of a spiritual leader than a politician. He successfully used truth and nonviolence as the chief weapons against the British rule in Indian and helped India gain independence. From 1915 till 1948, he completely dominated Indian politics. He died at the hands of a fanatic on 30 January 1948.

His autobiography, “My Experience with Truth” and the numerous articles that he wrote for “Young India” and the speeches that he delivered on different occasions reveal him not only as an original thinker but also as a great master of chaste, idiomatic English. Gandhiji talks about the sound foundation of Indian civilization which has successfully withstood the passage of time in this extract, “Indian civilization and Culture”.

Indian Civilization and Culture Written by Mahatma Gandhi Introduction

Mahatma Gandhi has beautifully narrated the sound foundation of Indian Civilization in this essay. He has compared our ancient civilization with western civilization. He says that the Indian civilization elevates the moral being whereas western civilization is to propagate immorality.

Indian Civilization and Culture Written by Mahatma Gandhi Introduction

Indian Civilization and Culture Summary in English

Mahatma Gandhi in his essay “Indian Civilization and Culture” has described the importance of Indian civilization.

The sound foundation of Indian civilization has successfully with stood the passage of time. The western civilization which has the tendency to privilege materiality cannot match the Indian civilization that elevates the moral being.

The Indian civilization is unparalleled and can not be beaten in the world. The seeds sown by our ancestors were deep-rooted and had developed miraculously in a big tree with many of its branches spread over the heart of India. Rome, Greece and many other centers of an ancient civilization were diminished or no longer exist in their former glory. Japan has become westernized and China has also shifted from its past culture. Civilization points out to man the path of duty, performance of duty and observance of morality are exchangeable.

It is a charge against India that her people are uncivilized and they do not adopt any change. It is a charge really against our merit. In the midst of such allegations, India remains firm and immovable and that is her glory. “Mind is a restless bird”, is but a fact. The more it gets the more it wants and still remains unsatisfied. As such our ancestors set a limit to our indulgences. They persuaded us against luxuries and pleasures. For them, large cities were burden and trap. People would not be happy there, because there would be gangs of thieves, robbers, prostitutes and antisocial elements there.

The Indian civilization elevates the moral being whereas the western – civilization is to propagate immortality. Hie latter is godless, the former is based on a belief in God. The ancient civilization is an imperative restriction upon an indefinite multiplicity of human wants whereas modern civilization is just the reverse.

In the west, wonderful discoveries in things material have been made. In India similarly, Hinduism has made still more marvelous discoveries in things of religion, the spirit, and the soul. There is something in Hinduism that has kept alive up till now. It has witnessed the fall of so many civilizations like Baby Ionia, Syria, Egypt and so on.

Our civilization, culture, and swaraj depend upon restricting wants and self-denial instead of multiplying our wants and self-indulgence. European civilization is suited for the Europeon and will ruin us (India) if we copy it. Civilization in the real sense of the terms consists of the deliberate and voluntary restriction of wants not in the multiplication, as already mentioned.

It is necessary to arrange our physical and cultural circumstances so that they do not become an obstacle in our service to humanity and all our energies should be concentrated to develop them.

Indian Civilization and Culture Summary in English

Indian Civilization and Culture Summary in Hindi

महात्मा गाँधी ने अपने लेख “इण्डियन सिविलॉइजेशन एण्ड कल्चर” (Indian Civilization and Culture) में भारतीय सभ्यता के महत्त्व का वर्णन किया है। भारतीय सभ्यता की सुदृढ़ आधारशिला समय से संघर्ष करते हुए आगे की ओर अग्रसर हुई है। पाश्चात्य-सभ्यता, जो कि भौतिकता को विशेष महत्त्व देती थी, भारतीय परिस्थितियों एवं आदर्शों से तालमेल नहीं बैठा सकी।

भारतीय सभ्यता अद्वितीय है तथा उसे विश्व में पराजित नहीं किया जा सकता । हमारे पूर्वजों द्वारा जिस बीज का रोपण किया गया था उसकी जड़ें अत्यंत गहरी थीं तथा कालांतर में चमात्कारिक रूप में एक बडे वक्ष के रूप में विकसित हआ तथा इसकी अनेक शाखाएँ भारत के हृदय-स्थल पर फैल गयीं। प्राचीन सभ्यता के रोम, ग्रीक तथा अनेक अन्य केन्द्र या तो दुर्बल हो गए अथवा अपने प्राचीन गौरव को अक्षण्ण नहीं रख सके। जापान ने पाश्चात्य सभ्यता को अंगीकार कर लिया। चीन भी अपनी प्राचीन संस्कृति से भटक गया तथा उसे त्याग दिया।

सभ्यता मनुष्य को कर्तव्य की राह दिखाती है। कर्तव्य का निर्वहन तथा आदर्शों का पालन अहस्तारणीय है, वह विनिमयशील नहीं है।

भारत पर यह आरोप लगाया जाता है कि यहाँ का जन-समुदाय असभ्य (अशिष्ट) है तथा वे किसी परिवर्तन को स्वीकार नहीं करते हैं अर्थात् वे स्वयं में बदलाव नहीं लाना चाहते । वस्तुतः यह आरोप हमारी प्रतिभा के विरुद्ध लगाया गया है। इन आरोपों के बावजूद भारत अटल तथा दृढ़ बना हुआ है तथा यही इसका गौरव तथा प्रताप है। यह एक तथ्य है कि “मस्तिष्क एक अशांत पक्षी है।” जितना अधिक उसे दिया जाता है उतना ही अधिक वह चाहता है अर्थात् उसकी इच्छाएँ अनन्त हैं। वह उसके पश्चात भी असंतुष्ट बना रह जाता है। इसी कारण हमारे पूर्वजों ने हमारी संलिप्तता की सीमा निश्चित कर दी थी। उन्होंने हमें विलासिता तथा आनन्द के विरुद्ध चेताया। उनके अनुसार नगर एक प्रकार का फंदा तथा बोझ है, लोग (जन समुदाय) वहाँ (नगरों में) सुखी नहीं रह सकते क्योंकि वहाँ चोरों, डाकुओं, अनैतिक आचरण वाली युवितियों तथा असामाजिक तत्वों का बाहुल्य है।

भारतीय सभ्यता नैतिकता को उजागर करती है जबकि पाश्चात्य सभ्यता अनैतिकता का प्रचार करती है। पाश्चात्य सभ्यता ईश्वर विहीन है, अर्थात् ईश्वर पर उसकी आस्था नहीं है। भारतीय सभ्यता ईश्वर की सत्ता (अस्तित्व) पर विश्वास करती है। प्राचीन सभ्यता अनन्त मानवीय आवश्यकताओं पर एक सार्थक नियन्त्रण है जबकि आधुनिक सभ्यता ठीक उसके विपरीत है।

पाश्चात्य देशों में भौतिकवादी वस्तुओं से संबंधित आश्चर्यजनक आविष्कार हुए हैं। उसी प्रकार हिन्दुत्व से उससे भी अधिक गौरवपूर्ण एवं आश्चर्यजनक अन्वेषण धर्म, आत्मा तथा अन्तःकरण से संबंधित क्षेत्रों में किए हैं। हिन्दुत्व में ऐसा कुछ विशेष तत्त्व है जिसने इसे जीवित बनाए रखा है। इसने (हिन्दुत्व) बेवीलोन, सीरिया, मिश्र आदि अनेकों सभ्यताओं का पता देखा है। हमारी सभ्यता, संस्कृति तथा स्वराज्य, हमारी अपनी आवश्यकताओं इच्छाओं तथा आत्मोत्सर्ग पर निर्भर करता है। अपनी अनियन्त्रित आवश्यकताओं, इच्छाओं की वृद्धि एवं संलिप्तता से यह कदापि संभव नहीं । यूरोपीय सभ्यता, यूरोपवासियों के अनुकूल (उपयुक्त) है तथा यदि हम इसकी नकल करेंगे तो हम (भारतवासी) विनष्ट हो जाएंगे। सही अर्थों में आवश्यकताओं पर स्वैच्छिक नियन्त्रण एवं आत्मानुशासन ही सभ्यता का मूलमन्त्र है तथा उन्हीं से यह निर्मित है।
अपनी भौतिक तथा सांस्कृतिक आवश्यकताओं को यथास्थान सजाना अत्यावश्यक है ताकि हमारे द्वारा मानवता की सेवा में वे बाधक नहीं बन सके। साथ ही हमारी समस्त ऊर्जा इनके विकास में समाहित तथा एकत्रित हो सके।

What is the Indian civilization and culture?

Over the centuries, there has been a significant fusion of cultures between Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Jains, Sikhs and various tribal populations in India. India is the birthplace of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, and other religions. They are collectively known as Indian religions.

Who is the writer of Indian civilization and culture?

M.K. Gandhi
The extract “Indian Civilization and Culture” has been written by M.K. Gandhi. As the father of the Indian nation, Gandhiji is the real incarnation of God. As a philosopher and saint of modern India, Gandhiji is spiritually concerned with human truth and nonviolence.

What is difference between culture and civilization?

Culture is the set of values that shapes the behavior of the society at different levels while civilization is apparent in the physical development in form of man-made environment.

What is the importance of India to the earliest forms of civilization?

So many of the foundations of modern society — science, medicine, mathematics, metaphysics, religion and astronomy — originated in India. We can call India the cradle of human civilization, the birthplace of speech, the mother of history and numerous languages, the grandmother of legends and traditions.