Saints & Reformers of Maharashtra as Moral Thinkers — MPSC GS Paper IV

Weightage: GS Paper IV asks the "contributions of moral thinkers and philosophers from India and the world" and tests them again in case studies. The general theory of ethics comes from the UPSC CSE chapters aliased into this hub. This chapter gives you Maharashtra thinkers whose words and lives an MPSC examiner will recognise, each tied to a value and an administrative use.

1. How to use a thinker in GS Paper IV

A thinker earns marks only when the idea is applied. Quoting a line and moving on adds little. For every thinker, prepare four things:

1. The thinker and the source, in one line.
2. The idea, in plain words.
3. The value it expresses, from the syllabus list: integrity, impartiality, objectivity, dedication, empathy, compassion, tolerance.
4. The administrative use: the kind of situation where it guides action.

Quote briefly and translate. A short Marathi line in Devanagari with its meaning in English is effective. A long quotation is not.

2. The saints

Dnyaneshwar (13th century): the Pasaydan. The closing prayer of the Dnyaneshwari asks for the good of all beings. Two lines are especially useful:

• "जे खळांची व्यंकटी सांडो" (je khalanchi vyankati sando): may the wicked give up their crookedness. The prayer is for the wrongdoer's reform, not destruction, which supports a correctional view of justice.
• "जो जे वांछील तो ते लाहो" (jo je vanchhil to te laho): may each receive what they seek. It expresses universal welfare, close to Antyodaya and inclusive governance.

Tukaram (17th century): compassion and integrity.

• "जे का रंजले गांजले, त्यासी म्हणे जो आपुले, तो चि साधु ओळखावा": one who calls the afflicted his own is the true saint. This is compassion and empathy as the mark of goodness, and it fits every question on serving the weakest.
• "बोले तैसा चाले, त्याची वंदीन पाउले": I bow to the one whose conduct matches his words. This is integrity as the unity of word and deed.

Samarth Ramdas (17th century): effort and organisation. "सामर्थ्य आहे चळवळीचे, जो जो करील तयाचे": strength lies in effort, and belongs to whoever strives. It supports dedication and initiative in public service.

Sant Gadge Maharaj (1876-1956): service as cleanliness. He went from village to village with a broom, cleaning streets and preaching through kirtans against superstition and for education. His ten-point message, the dashsutri, begins with food for the hungry and water for the thirsty. Maharashtra's rural sanitation campaign of 2000 was named after him. He stands for service without status.

Rashtrasant Tukdoji Maharaj (1909-1968): the self-reliant village. His Gramgeeta (1955) describes the village as a moral and economic community that should be clean, sober, cooperative and self-reliant. It supports community participation and local self-government.

3. The reformers

Jyotirao Phule: education and truth. His verse from Shetkaryacha Asud traces all ills to the lack of education:

"विद्येविना मति गेली, मतिविना नीति गेली, नीतिविना गति गेली, गतिविना वित्त गेले, वित्तविना शूद्र खचले, इतके अनर्थ एका अविद्येने केले."

Without education, wisdom was lost; without wisdom, morality; without morality, progress; without progress, wealth; without wealth, the Shudras were ruined. So much harm came from the lack of education alone.

The value is equality through education, and the Satyashodhak idea that truth, tested by reason, is the standard of conduct.

Savitribai Phule: moral courage. She taught girls while being abused on the street, and died nursing plague patients. She stands for courage and service at personal cost.

Gopal Ganesh Agarkar: rationalism. The motto of his paper Sudharak was "इष्ट असेल ते बोलणार व साध्य असेल ते करणार": I shall say what is right and do what is possible. It joins conviction with practical judgement, a sound rule for an officer.

M. G. Ranade: reform by persuasion. He believed in gradual change through law, institutions and argument. His method supports patience, consensus and institution-building.

Gopal Krishna Gokhale: public service as a calling. He founded the Servants of India Society in 1905 to "spiritualise public life", and its members pledged lifelong service, a simple life and no personal gain. He is the model of dedication and probity.

Shahu Maharaj: social justice as a duty of the state. His reservation order of 1902 and free compulsory education of 1917 show power used for the weakest. The value is fairness in the distribution of opportunity.

Dr B. R. Ambedkar: constitutional morality. In the Constituent Assembly on 4 November 1948, he said that constitutional morality "is not a natural sentiment. It has to be cultivated." In his speech of 25 November 1949 he gave three warnings:

• Use constitutional methods, not the "grammar of anarchy".
• Avoid hero-worship, because bhakti in politics leads to dictatorship.
• Build social democracy, in which liberty, equality and fraternity form a single trinity.

For an officer, this means loyalty to the Constitution and the rule of law over persons, and attention to fraternity as well as rights.

Vinoba Bhave: sarvodaya. Born in the Konkan, he worked from Paunar near Wardha. His Bhoodan movement (from 1951) asked landowners to give land voluntarily to the landless. The value is trusteeship and voluntary sharing.

Sane Guruji: love as religion. His song "खरा तो एकचि धर्म, जगाला प्रेम अर्पावे" says that the one true religion is to offer love to the world. He fasted in 1947 to open the Pandharpur temple to all castes. The values are compassion and tolerance.

Baba Amte: dignity through work. At Anandwan near Warora in Chandrapur district, he built a self-reliant community of people with leprosy, holding that charity destroys but work builds. The value is dignity and empowerment over dependence.

4. Values at a glance

Worked example 4.1 (a case study, ~250 words). "As Municipal Commissioner, you are ordered to clear an encroachment on a storm-water drain before the monsoon. Hundreds of poor families live there. Local leaders threaten protests. What will you do?"

Model answer. The facts. The encroachment blocks a drain; left in place, it risks flooding for the whole ward, as the 2005 Mumbai floods showed. The residents are poor and have nowhere to go.

The values in tension. The rule of law and public safety on one side, compassion for the families on the other, and political pressure as an outside force.

Options. Clearing by force at once would be lawful but harsh. Doing nothing would endanger the ward and breach duty. The right course lies between.

Action.

• Carry out the removal, because the drain protects thousands, holding to Ambedkar's rule of law over pressure.
• Before removal, survey the families, arrange transit housing and link them to rehabilitation schemes, following Tukaram's standard of treating the afflicted as one's own.
• Give written notice and time, meet the leaders, and explain the flood risk openly.
• Schedule the work before the rains, with medical and child-care support on site.

Justification. Law without compassion becomes cruelty, and compassion without law leaves the whole ward at risk. The duty is to protect public safety while treating those displaced with dignity.

Worked example 4.2 (a 10-mark answer, ~150 words). "What did Dr Ambedkar mean by constitutional morality, and why does it matter for civil servants?"

Model answer. In the Constituent Assembly in November 1948, Ambedkar said that constitutional morality is not a natural sentiment but must be cultivated. He meant respect for the Constitution's forms and restraints: settling disputes by constitutional methods, observing limits on power, and accepting institutional processes even when one disagrees.

In 1949 he warned against the grammar of anarchy and against hero-worship, and called for social democracy built on liberty, equality and fraternity.

For civil servants, it means loyalty to the Constitution rather than to persons or parties, due process even under pressure, fair treatment of every citizen, and the courage to record dissent. It is the ethical foundation of a neutral and accountable civil service.

Common traps MPSC sets here

• Quoting without applying. Every quotation must lead to a value and an action.
• Attributing the Pasaydan to Tukaram. It closes Dnyaneshwar's Dnyaneshwari.
• Using thinkers only in theory questions. They are most useful in case studies, as the justification of a choice.
• Misquoting long passages. One short, accurate line with a translation is better than a paragraph.

Memory aids

• "Pasaydan for all, Tukaram for the afflicted, Ramdas for effort, Gadge for the broom."
• "Phule: vidya; Agarkar: ishta and sadhya; Gokhale: spiritualise; Ambedkar: cultivate."
• "Law with compassion": the rule for most Maharashtra case studies.

Summary

Maharashtra's saints and reformers give GS Paper IV a rich set of moral ideas. Dnyaneshwar's universal welfare and reform of the wrongdoer, Tukaram's compassion and integrity, Ramdas's effort, and Gadge Maharaj and Tukdoji Maharaj's service speak to everyday ethics.

Phule's faith in education, Agarkar's rationalism, Gokhale's dedication, Shahu's justice, Ambedkar's constitutional morality, Vinoba's sharing, Sane Guruji's love and Baba Amte's dignity through work speak to public life. Used with a value and an action, they turn a case-study answer into a reasoned judgement.

Exam protocol

• Prepare each thinker as source, idea, value and use.
• Quote one short line with its meaning, then apply it.
• In case studies, pair a rule-of-law thinker with a compassion thinker.