To what extent do Premchand’s nationalist stories can be said to express Gandhi’s ideas?

“I am now almost convinced of the Bolshevik principles” 1, “I am not a Gandhian”2, “I am a

communist”3, “Neither am I a Hindu nor a Muslim” 4 – all these are Premchand’s assertion that were

found in his writings along the time. They do nothing but to depict the perfect image of the epochal

consciousness. His masterpieces are nevertheless the testimonies of the historical events that

included the rise and fall of certain ideologies in political, economical and religious contexts. In the

Social Scientist in October 1976, K.P. Singh argues that there has been a failure in trying to establish a

clear picture of Premchand’s works, but that he is, in all his splendour, the most influential, authentic

and powerful writer of the Indian nationalist movement 5. It is because of this the quest of answering

this essay’s question is a great challenge.

Taking a closer look at the essay question there is a certain ambiguity that arises in regards to

the basic purpose of the essay. Does it concern ideas and conceptions specifically gained by

Premchand on the basis of (direct) influence from Gandhi, or it is a matter of similarities between the

ideas of Premchand and those of Gandhi? Considering its ambivalent prospect I will structures my

essay in three parts as following: in the first part I will consider the background of Premchand’s

nationalist ideology, in the second part I will focus on spotting the new Gandhian ideas in

Premchand’s works, and in the third part I will emphasize their divergence point.

Firstly, I believe that the debate regarding the direct influence of Gandhi thought on

Premchand it is one of the most arduous in what concerns this essay. Although there have been

many historians that firmly asserted that Gandhi was the main contributor to the nationalist ideas in

the writings of Premchand, I believe this statement is rather precipitated. It is worthwhile to

mention from the very incipit the great influence that Tolstoy had on both Gandhi and Premchand.

1
Shiv Kumar Misra, Premchand our contemporary, Kay Kay Printers India, 1986, p. 133;
2
Shiv Kumar Misra, Premchand our contemporary, p. 120;
3
Shiv Kumar Misra, Premchand our contemporary, p. 121;
4
K. P. Singh, Premchand and Gandhism, Social Scientist, Vol. 9, No. 1 (Aug., 1980), p. 50;
5
Sara Rai, Realism as a Creative Process: Features of Munshi Premchand's Ideology, Social Scientist, Vol. 7, No. 12 (Jul.,
1979), p. 32;
Gandhi declared himself in 1910 “Tolstoy’s devoted follower” 6, overwhelmed with a specific book

“The Kingdom of God Is Within You”, a book that left an “abiding impression” on him 7. Similarly,

Premchand’s son talked about the 23 stories that Premchand adapted after some of Tolstoy, under

the name Prem Prabhakar8; it is from these works where he got acquainted with ideas about “human

values, which included the ideals of love, truth, non-violence, purification of soul, austerity,

compassion, condemnation of the industrial culture, glorification of the rural life, etc.” 9. In addition

to the influence of Tolstoy writings, in 1919 Premchand subscribed to the Bolshevist ideas, which

talked about a future revolutionised society where the government would be governed by the

proletariat10 and he also was an active member of the Arya Samaj, of the Non-cooperation

Movement and of movement of Swadeshi.

In 1908 he published a collection of 5 patriotic stories, Soz-e-Vata, but rather illustrating a

Hindu nationalism. In 1914, Premchand writes Sevasadan or Bazare Husn, a story that mainly talks

about female prostitution, but he also illustrates themes such as „dowry system, bribery, Western

education, and 'unequal' marriage” 11. Amrit Raya stated in Premchand: A life “everything that Gandhi

said was entirely in accord with Premchand’s own views, and while there was nothing in it that was

really new, it struck him now with freshness and with a new force” 12. Although it is easily noticeable

that many of the nationalist ideas have been seeded in Premchand’s mind long before Gandhi, it

would be insufficient and misguided to stick to this point of view. Gandhi had a great impact on

Premchand, not only by motivating him in the nationalist struggle, but also by redirecting his view

towards some concepts.

6
Janko Lavrin, Author (full name), “Tolstoy and Gandhi” Russian Review, Vol. 19, No. 2, [Special Issue: Leo Tolstoy] (Apr.,
1960), p. 132.

7
M. K. Gandhi, Hind Swaraj and other writings, Cambridge University Press, 1997, p. Xxxvi;

8
Sara Rai, Realism as a Creative Process: Features of Munshi Premchand's Ideology, Social Scientist, Vol. 7, No. 12 (Jul.,
1979), p, 36
9
Shiv Kumar Misra, Premchand our contemporary, p. 130;
10
Sara Rai, Realism as a Creative Process: Features of Munshi Premchand's Ideology, p. 35;
11
Sara Rai, Realism as a Creative Process: Features of Munshi Premchand's Ideology, p. 35
12
Amrit Raya, Premchand: A life, New Delhi : People's Pub. House, 1982., p. 155
 Secondly, as I mentioned in the introduction I will focus on finding in Premchand’s nationalist

stories the elements that stem from the Gandhian thought. After their first encounter on the 8 th of

February 1921 in Gorakhapur, I believe that the influence that Gandhi exercises over Premchand can

be summarized within 5 characteristics: he was encouraged to further base his stories on the

miseries of the people; in his stories people began to be involved in a peaceful and non-violent

satyagraha against their oppressors; he develops the idea of the change of heart of both the

oppressed and the oppressors; some of his stories’ characters are prototypes of Gandhiji; and ideals

characters are said to be giving away land to the exploited in a cooperative farming movement. 13

In the following period, Premchand wrote some stories such as The Procession and A Special

Experience (1930) where the influence of Gandhi’s thoughts is more than obvious. In both of the

stories Premchand involves the masses into movement and in both of them he shares a great sense

of empathy with the oppressed. Also, in both of them, Premchand emphasizes the change of heart of

Veerbal and of Gyan Babu. Another story where Premchand presents the change of heart in its entire

resonance is in The Competitors (1920), when Bhagat went to Choudhuri’ house. In The Procession,

the idea of non-violence is overwhelming, especially underlined in the moment when Veerbal beats

Ibrahim to death.

The problem of women in the society is becoming a worrying one, and so in these stories the

author casts a special importance on their role in the fight for freedom, just as Gandhi did in Hind

Swaraj. Both Mitthanbai and the wife of Gyan Babu(The Procession and A Special Experience) have a

crucial role in the stories, as their nationalist ideals are the axis around which the stories evolve. Also

in Jail Premchand presents to the reader an impressive character, Mridula, a passionate woman in

the quest of independence, that sacrifices her entire life for the nationalist ideal.

In 1930, in the year of the Dandi March, Premchand wrote another series of stories, but out

of these “Samar Yatra” remains unrivalled in presenting itself a “fictional statement of Gandhi’s

13
Shiv Kumar Misra, Premchand our contemporary, p. 132
analysis of India’s slavery and his philosophy. The beauty of the story lies in its combination of the

realistic, and moving, portrayal of an actual situation and the idealization of satyagraha” 14.

Thirdly, I will now focus on the differences of thought between Gandhi and Premchand that

emerge in his writings. One major aspect where their thoughts diverge is the one of religion and, it

extended itself to the ardent problem of the conflict between the Muslims and the Hindus. While

Gandhi was a declared supporter of religion asserting that politics and religion are absolutely

inseparable, Premchand was in a complete disagreement with him; for Premchand religion was

secondary and he thought in a rather materialistic way 15. He criticizes Gandhi by saying that “he was

a religious man and bore the imprint of a particular religion” 16 and that this definitely created a

certain discomfort for person of other beliefs. In this context it is worthwhile mentioning that in

stories such as The Procession Premchand builds his main characters after a Muslim which can be

said to represent Gandhi’s prototype.

Another aspect where their thoughts diverge is the one regarding the struggle between the

classes. Unlike Gandhi that promotes serenity within the society and that encouraged the poor to

respond with truth and love to the insults and oppressions, Premchand is intrigued in this regards by

the lack of any kind of movements of the peasants and the poor. In terms of national unity and

equality, Premchand affirms later that there cannot be national equality without economical

equality.

Starting from this point, in 1934, when Gandhi’s satyagraha fails to achieve its purpose that

Premchand realizes the idealistic perspectives of Gandhi’s reforms and starts to redirect himself

towards socialism; It is during this period that Premchand writes the novel Godan, his final and most

impressive masterpiece where he “brings out the institutional realities and the oppression that the

14
Sudhir Chandra, Premchand and Indian Nationalism, Modern Asian Studies, Vol. 16, No. 4 (1982), pp. 606-607;
15
K. P. Singh, Premchand and Gandhism, p. 50;
16
K. P. Singh, Premchand and Gandhism, p. 51;
ruling classes have perpetuated over centuries in rural India” 17. We can, consequently, observe that

the period of idealistic realism that Premchand passed through lasted from 1921 until 1934.

In conclusion, I am optimistic that in the previous paragraphs I managed to realistically depict

the extent to which can Premchand’s nationalist stories be said to express Gandhi’s ideas. Just to

summarize, I would say that Premchand’s nationalist ideology is the result of a long process of

assimilations of ideas from Tolstoy, Gorki, Gandhi and conceptions of nationalist movement. In terms

of Gandhian influence, I shall say that in some of his nationalist stories Premchand accurately reflects

the idealist Gandhian thought. He was first of all charmed by Gandhi’s brilliant personality and his

practical swaraj, illustrating his image in some of his heroic characters, and then he also absorbed

some of his nationalist ideas. Starting with 1921 and until 1934, Gandhi’s national ideals were the

corner stone of his literary works from that period. Just as Premchand said “the literature of a people

is the correct picture of the age which produces it” 18, I also believe that he was, nevertheless, besides

one of the most influential writer in Urdu and Hindi at that time, a historian of the masses, outlining

with extraordinary authenticity the Indian people’s fight for independence.

Bibliography:

1. Amrit Raya, Premchand: A life, New Delhi : People's Pub. House, 1982;

2. Janko Lavrin, Author (full name), “Tolstoy and Gandhi” Russian Review, Vol. 19, No. 2,

[Special Issue: Leo Tolstoy] (Apr., 1960),

3. K. P. Singh, Premchand and Gandhism, Social Scientist, Vol. 9, No. 1 (Aug., 1980),

4. M. K. Gandhi, Hind Swaraj and other writings, Cambridge University Press, 1997,

5. Shiv Kumar Misra, Premchand our contemporary, Kay Kay Printers India, 1986,

17
Sara Rai, Realism as a Creative Process: Features of Munshi Premchand's Ideology, p. 40;
18
Shiv Kumar Misra, Premchand our contemporary, p. 4;
6. Rai, Realism as a Creative Process: Features of Munshi Premchand's Ideology, Social Scientist,

Vol. 7, No. 12 (Jul., 1979), p. 32;

7. Premchand, ‘The Competitors’ (1920), ‘The Procession’ (1930), ‘A Special Experience’ (1930),

Jail, Coursepack;

8. Inge C. Orr,Premchand's Use of Folklore in His Short Stories, Asian Folklore Studies, Vol. 36,

No. 1 (1977)

9. Madhu Kishwar, Gandhi on Women, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 20, No. 40 (Oct. 5,

1985), pp. 1691-1702;

10. Geetanjali Pandey, How Equal?: Women in Premchand's Writings, Economic and Political

Weekly, Vol. 21, No. 50 (Dec. 13, 1986), pp. 2183-2187;

11. Sudhir Chandra, Premchand: A Historiographic View, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 16,

No. 15 (Apr. 11, 1981), pp. 669-675.