Introduction

• Sarvajanik Satya Dharma or Sarvajanik Satya Dharma Pustak is one of Jyotiba Phule’s major later works and is often treated as a summary of his religious and ethical thought.
• It is generally associated with 1889 as a completed late work, while publication is often linked to 1891, after Phule’s death.

Meaning of the title

• Sarvajanik means public or universal.
• Satya means truth.
• Dharma here refers to an ethical-religious order or moral way of life.
• So the title broadly means “Public/Universal Religion of Truth.” This meaning is supported by Marathi descriptions that present the work as a universal path for all humanity.

Authorship and date

• The work was written by Mahatma Jyotirao Phule.
• Sources differ slightly on whether one should cite 1889 or 1891. The safest formulation is:
  • it was one of his last works
  • it was completed in the late 1880s
  • and it is commonly published/dated in connection with 1891 after his death.

Nature of the work

• The book is considered a statement of Phule’s views on:
  • religion
  • morality
  • equality
  • social justice.
• It is often described as a religious-philosophical text rather than a purely literary or political work.

Main idea

• The central idea of Sarvajanik Satya Dharma is that religion should be based on truth, equality, and universal human welfare, not on hierarchy, ritual domination, or inherited privilege.
• Phule uses the text to imagine a moral order open to all human beings, not restricted by caste.

Opposition to caste hierarchy

• The work rejects Chaturvarnya and social hierarchy justified in the name of religion.
• It is part of Phule’s larger attempt to build an ethical framework outside Brahmanical authority and caste domination.

Religious thought

• Phule’s religious outlook in this work is often described as:
  • rational
  • ethical
  • egalitarian
  • universalist.
• Marathi descriptions of the text say that it presents a path of life for all human society and lays out how followers of truth should conduct themselves.

View of God

• The work presents God in a non-sectarian and morally inclusive way rather than through narrow ritual hierarchy.
• In popular descriptions of the book, Phule is said to clarify the true nature of the creator and oppose ignorance spread in society about religion and divine authority.

Social significance

• Sarvajanik Satya Dharma is important because it shows that Phule’s struggle was not only against social practices but also against the religious ideas that legitimised inequality.
• It therefore complements his anti-caste activism by offering a positive ethical alternative.

Place in Phule’s intellectual project

• If Trutiya Ratna shows Phule using drama for awakening, and Gulamgiri shows him attacking caste oppression directly, Sarvajanik Satya Dharma shows his attempt to formulate a broader universal social religion of equality. This is an interpretive synthesis based on the themes of his major works.