2nd April 2026: "Money is a Demon, Laxmi is a Goddess" - excerpts from the chapters of this book by Vinobha Bhave was read and discussed. Vinobha outlines his vision for Sarvodaya in this compiled book starting with a critical analysis of Communism and leftist position on various issues. He differentiates the leftist position against that of the Gandhian one and highlights how by being non-violent, inclusive, labour dignity driven and decentralized the later is far more superior than the State Capitalistic Communism of modern times. His assertions and analysis are proven in time as the current crisis amongst the Socialists in India is centered on their inability to step out of their own past positions on religion, culture, industrialization, and technology.
One of the challenges with the contemporary liberals in India has been their inability to acknowledge the going overboard on the religious - cultural critic of their own past in an effort to establish newer values that shapes social order. In opposing the religious blind faith, they have inadvertently also alienated themself from the masses who are deeply religious. When the same religiosity is being exploited by a right-wing that has become politically powerful, the left now realizes that their own traditional moral position of being close to people's movement has been shaken as they no longer are shown thus through repeated political rejection. This book refreshingly provides the insights for the leftists - if they care to read, many of them would not touch Vinobha because of his position during Emergency - to understand their positions and its consequences as someone who sympathised and identified himself with their end goals during the early days of the free State.
The book also provides a lot of insights into the conceptualization of the Sarvodaya idea as it was being formed. The pattern of formation of this concept is akin to other Swaraj concepts, theorized best by Dr. Sumanas Koulagi in his impactful book, Swaraj as Development.
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