“The corresponding duty is to labor with my limbs and the corresponding remedy is to non-cooperate with him who deprives me of the fruit of my labor.” ~ Gandhi, Young India, March 26, 1931, p. 49

Here Gandhi elaborates on his theory of rights and duties. A right, he says, comes with not only a duty but a remedy for resisting any attack on it. So his example for us is bread labor, working with our hands to produce basic goods. If this be our duty and someone tries to take away what one produces, one has to remedy this through non-cooperation. The right, in other words, is to have access to the fruit of one’s labor.

But for those of you who have been following this column for a while, you might wonder: Doesn’t this formulation of rights, duties and remedies fly in the face of the Gita Theory of Action, which maintains that we must do our work and let go of the fruits of action, good or bad? It does present a paradox. Here’s how I’d go about resolving it: the Gita Theory and the duties question do not apply to some people only; they apply to everyone. Those who would steal the fruits of labor from another are not doing their duty. Even they will have to learn how to work honestly and harmoniously; it is our duty to help them. We are not motivated by greed, here; we’re motivated by justice.

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About Daily Metta

Stephanie Van Hook, the Metta Center’s executive director, launched Daily Metta in 2015 as a way to share Gandhi’s spiritual wisdom and experiments with nonviolence.

Our 2016 Daily Metta continues with Gandhi on weekdays. On weekends, we share videos that complement Michael Nagler’s award-winning book, The Search for a Nonviolent Future: A Promise of Peace for Ourselves, Our Families, and Our World. To help readers engage with the book more deeply, the Metta Center offers a free PDF study guide.

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