Society & Welfare
Indian Thinkers
Indian Thinkers — Quick Revision
One-page CGPSC quick revision for Indian Thinkers: Kautilya, Guru Ghasidas, Vallabhacharya, Vivekananda, Aurobindo and Gandhi in tables for Mains GS-IV.
Six thinkers of GS-IV Part 1 on one page: dates, works, key terms and the lines worth quoting. For explanations, go back to the chapter.
How to use this sheet
Scan it top to bottom in the week before Mains. Bold entries are the points examiners return to most often. Practise writing each “use in an answer” line from memory.
Timeline
| Period | Thinker | Event |
|---|---|---|
| c. 321 BCE | Kautilya | Helps Chandragupta Maurya overthrow the Nandas (tradition); Arthashastra attributed to him |
| 1479–1531 | Vallabhacharya | Born at Champaran (Raipur district), by tradition; died at Varanasi |
| 18 Dec 1756 | Guru Ghasidas | Born at Girodpuri (Baloda Bazar-Bhatapara); founded the Satnam Panth |
| 1863–1902 | Vivekananda | Raipur around 1877–79; Chicago 11 Sep 1893; Ramakrishna Mission 1 May 1897 |
| 1872–1950 | Aurobindo | Passive Resistance 1907; acquitted at Alipore 1909; Pondicherry 4 Apr 1910; Ashram 24 Nov 1926 |
| 1869–1948 | Gandhi | Satyagraha 1906 (Johannesburg); Hind Swaraj 1909; Kandel visit 20 Dec 1920; Yeravda letters 1930; Harijan tour 22–28 Nov 1933 |
| 1905 | Arthashastra | Manuscript found by R. Shamasastry |
Kautilya
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Text | Arthashastra: 15 books, 150 chapters, 180 sections, about 6,000 shlokas; date of present text debated |
| Four vidyas | Anvikshiki (“lamp of all sciences”), trayi, varta, dandaniti |
| Matsya nyaya | Anarchy where big fish eat small; danda prevents it |
| Danda | Just punishment: too severe terrifies, too mild invites contempt |
| King | Rajarshi; conquers six enemies (kama, krodha, lobha, mana, mada, harsha); accessible to petitioners |
| Key verse | “Prajasukhe sukham rajnah, prajanam cha hite hitam” (Book 1, Ch 19) |
| Saptanga | Swami, amatya, janapada, durga, kosha, danda, mitra |
| Integrity | Upadha tests: dharma, artha, kama, bhaya |
| Corruption | Forty ways of embezzlement (Book 2, Ch 8); honey-on-the-tongue and fish-in-water similes |
| Foreign policy | Mandala (usually 12 kings); shadgunya (sandhi, vigraha, asana, yana, samshraya, dvaidhibhava); four upayas (sama, dana, bheda, danda) |
Guru Ghasidas and Vallabhacharya
| Item | Guru Ghasidas | Vallabhacharya |
|---|---|---|
| Birth | Girodpuri, 18 Dec 1756 | Champaran (CG), 1479 (tradition) |
| Teaching | Satnam; “मनखे-मनखे एक समान” | Shuddhadvaita: world is real |
| Path | Formless God; no idols, no caste, no meat, liquor or sacrifice | Pushtimarg: grace; seva of child Krishna (Shrinathji); householder devotion |
| Symbols / works | Jaitkhamb; Panthi dance | Anubhashya, Subodhini, Shodasha Granthas |
| Legacy | Satnami community; Guru Ghasidas Jayanti (18 Dec); Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya (central, 2009); Guru Darshan Mela at Girodpuri (Phalgun) | Rudra sampradaya; son Vitthalnath’s Ashtachhap (Surdas) |
| Use in an answer | Equality, Art 17, social justice | World-affirming ethics; love and grace as motives |
Vivekananda and Aurobindo
| Item | Vivekananda | Aurobindo |
|---|---|---|
| Core idea | Potential divinity; Practical Vedanta; service = worship (“Shiva jnane jiva seva”) | Integral Yoga: matter → life → mind → Supermind |
| Education | “Manifestation of the perfection already in man”; man-making, character | “Nothing can be taught”; consult the mind; near to far; integral education |
| Politics | Mission non-political; inspired nationalism | Spiritual nationalism; complete independence; passive resistance (1907) |
| Key works | Raja Yoga, Karma Yoga; Chicago address | The Life Divine, Savitri, The Synthesis of Yoga, The Human Cycle |
| Quote | “So long as the millions live in hunger and ignorance, I hold every man a traitor…” | Five dreams of 15 Aug 1947 (united India, Asia, world union, spiritual gift, evolution) |
| CG link | Raipur, around 1877–79; Swami Vivekananda Airport | — |
Gandhi
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Truth | “God is Truth” → “Truth is God”; truth the end, ahimsa the means |
| Ahimsa | Negative (non-injury in thought, word, deed) + positive (love); non-violence of the brave |
| Satyagraha | Truth-force; open, loving, self-suffering; not passive resistance (weapon of the weak) |
| Techniques | Negotiation → hartal, picketing → non-cooperation → civil disobedience → fasting → hijrat |
| Eleven vows | Satya, ahimsa, brahmacharya, asteya, aparigraha, sharirashrama, aswada, abhaya, sarva dharma samabhava, swadeshi, asprishyata nivaran |
| Source of vows | Satyagraha Ashram observances; letters from Yeravda jail (1930, Gujarati) → From Yeravda Mandir (English 1932) |
| Ends and means | Seed and tree (Hind Swaraj, 1909) |
| Sarvodaya | 1908 paraphrase of Ruskin’s Unto This Last |
| Trusteeship | Rich hold surplus wealth in trust for society |
| Nai Talim | Craft-centred basic education; Wardha, 1937 |
| Seven social sins | Young India, 22 Oct 1925 |
| Talisman | 1947: “the poorest and the weakest” |
| Constitution | DPSP Arts 40, 43, 46, 47, 48; Art 17; 73rd Amendment |
Don’t Confuse
| This | vs | That |
|---|---|---|
| Saptanga (state’s seven limbs) | vs | Shadgunya (six-fold foreign policy) |
| Four upayas (sama, dana, bheda, danda) | vs | Four vidyas (anvikshiki, trayi, varta, dandaniti) |
| Champaran (CG) — Vallabhacharya | vs | Champaran (Bihar) — Gandhi, 1917 |
| Satnam Panth (Ghasidas, CG) | vs | Satnamis of Narnaul (revolt, 1672) |
| Shuddhadvaita (Vallabha) | vs | Vishishtadvaita (Ramanuja) |
| Ramakrishna (guru) | vs | Vivekananda (founded the Mission, 1897) |
| Aurobindo’s passive resistance (active resistance not ruled out) | vs | Gandhi’s satyagraha (non-violence absolute) |
| Sri Aurobindo Ashram (1926) | vs | Auroville (1968, The Mother) |
| Sarvodaya (welfare of all) | vs | Antyodaya (the last person first) |
| Hind Swaraj (1909) | vs | From Yeravda Mandir (vows; 1930 letters) |
Favourite trap
“Humility is one of Gandhi’s eleven vows.” Wrong. Gandhi discussed humility in From Yeravda Mandir but said it cannot be a separate vow, because deliberately practised humility becomes hypocrisy. The eleventh vow is the removal of untouchability.
Second trap
“Kautilya is simply India’s Machiavelli.” Qualify it: Kautilya is a realist in means but the end of his state is the welfare of the subjects (prajasukhe sukham rajnah), and the king is bound by dharma.
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