The Swadeshi Pledge

The following is the text of the Swadeshi vow:-

"With God as my witness, I solemnly declare that from today I shall confine myself, for my personal requirements, to the use of cloth manufactured in India from Indian cotton, silk or wool, and I shall altogether abstain from using foreign cloth, and I shall destroy all foreign cloth in my possession."

For a proper observance of this pledge, it is really necessary to use only hand-woven cloth made out of hand-spun yarn. Imported yarn, even though spun out of Indian cotton and woven in India, is not Swadeshi cloth. We shall reach perfection only when our cotton is spun in India on indigenous spinning wheels, and the yarn so spun is woven on similarly made handlooms. But requirements of the foregoing pledge are met if we all only use cloth by means of imported machinery from yarn spun from Indian cotton by means of similar machinery.

I may add that covenanters to the restricted Swadeshi referred to here, will not rest satisfied with Swadeshi clothing only. They will extend the vow to all other things, as far as possible.

Need for Self-Examination

The majority do not give thought to such matters. All cannot be expected to consider whether their actions promote or retard the welfare of their country. But it behaves those who are learned, those who are thoughtful, whose intellects are trained or who are desirous of serving their country, to test every action of theirs, whether public or private, in the manner aforesaid, and when ideas, which appear to be of national importance and which have been tested by practical experience, should be placed before the people and, as has been said in the Divine Song, "The multitude will copy the actions of the enlightened." Even thoughtful men and women have not hitherto generally carried on the above mentioned self-examination. The nation has, therefore, suffered by reason of this neglect. In my opinion, such self-examination is only possible where there is religious perception.

Self-Deception

Thousands of men believe that by using cloth woven in Indian mills, they comply with the requirements of the Swadeshi vow. The fact is that most fine cloth is made out of foreign cotton, spun outside India. Therefore, the only satisfaction to be derived from the use of such cloth is that it is woven in India. Even on handlooms for very fine cloth only foreign yarn is used. The use of such cloth does not amount to an observance of Swadeshi. To say so, is simple self-deception. Satyagraha, i.e., insistence on Truth, is necessary even in Swadeshi. When men will say: 'we shall confine ourselves to pure Swadeshi cloth even though we may have to remain satisfied with a mere loin cloth', and when women will resolutely say: 'we shall observe pure Swadeshi even though we may have to restrict ourselves to clothing just enough to satisfy the sense of modesty', then shall we be successful in the observance of the great Swadeshi vow. If a few thousand men and women were to take the Swadeshivow in this spirit, others will try to imitate them as far as possible. They will then begin to examine their wardrobes in the light of Swadeshi. Those who are not attached to pleasures and personal adornment, I venture to say, can give a great impetus to Swadeshi.

Key to the Economic Salvation

When Hindustan rings with the echoes of Swadeshi, no producer of cotton will sell it for its being manufactured in foreign countries. When Swadeshi pervades the country, everyone will be set athinking why cotton should not be refined and spun and woven in the place where it is produced. And when the Swadeshi Mantra resounds in every ear, millions of men will have in their hands the key to the economic salvation of India. Training for this does not require hundreds of years. When the religious sense is awakened, people's thoughts undergo a revolution in a single moment. Only selfless sacrifice is the sine qua non. The spirit of sacrifice pervades the Indian atmosphere at the present moment. If we fail to preach Swadeshiat this supreme moment, we shall have to wring our hands in despair. I beseech every Hindu, Mussalman, Sikh, Parsi, Christian and Jew, who believes that he belongs to this country, to take the Swadeshivow and to ask others also to do likewise. It is my humble belief that if we cannot do even this little for our country, we are born in it in vain. Those who think deep will see that such Swadeshi contains pure economics. I hope that every man and woman will give serious thought to my humble suggestion. Imitation of English economics will spell our ruin.

- Young India: May 13, 1919