Previous Year Question

Mahatma Gandhi said that some of his deepest convictions were reflected in a book titled, ‘Unto This Last’ and the book transformed his life. What was the message from the book that transformed Mahatma Gandhi?

Uplifting the oppressed and poor is the moral responsibility of an educated man.

The good of individual is contained in the good of all.

The life of celibacy and spiritual pursuit are essential for a noble life.

All the statements (a), (b) and (c) are correct in this context.

Correct Answer: B

Detailed Solution

‘Unto This Last’ was written by John Ruskin. Gandhi read it in 1904 during a train journey from Johannesburg to Durban in South Africa. The book was given to him by his friend Henry Polak.

According to Gandhi, the book produced an immediate and practical transformation in his life. He derived three principal teachings from it:

The good of the individual is contained in the good of all.
A lawyer’s work has the same value as a barber’s because everyone has the same right to earn a livelihood from work.
A life of labour—the life of a tiller and handicraftsman—is the life worth living.

The first principle represented the foundational message of the book. Gandhi considered the second and third principles to be contained within the first. Therefore, option (b) is correct.

Gandhi later paraphrased the book in Gujarati and gave it the title ‘Sarvodaya’, meaning the rise or welfare of all. This idea influenced his philosophy of collective welfare, equality of labour and dignity of labour.

Option (a) is incorrect: The idea is compatible with Gandhi’s social work, but it was not one of the three specific teachings he listed from the book in this form.

Option (c) is incorrect: Celibacy and spiritual pursuit were important in Gandhi’s life, but they were not the stated teachings he derived from ‘Unto This Last’.

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