Reformers & Work Ethic

Martin Luther (1483-1546) started reforming the Christian Church in Germany. His contemporary, the French John Calvin (1509-64) also started a similar venture. In addition to the religious ideas, Calvin also proposed the idea that work is a means through which Christians can express their gratitude to God. (Incidentally the three major branches of Christianity, Roman Catholic, Protestant & Calvinism were parodied by the Anglo-Irish Satirist Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) in his "Tale of a Tub", by naming the three brothers who squandered their patrimony (Christianity) as Peter(Catholic), Martin(Luther) & Jack (Calvin).

Much later, Max Weber, in his seminal work on the Protestant Work Ethic (1905), attributed the rise of Capitalism to the work ethic preached by the Protestants (see Calvin's idea above). Of course "Wealth of Nations" by Adam Smith (1776) was also a founding text of Capitalism.

But these ideas of religious reformation coupled with the ethics of work, were anticipated far earlier by Saint Basaveshwara (1105-1167) in Karnataka. He was a religious reformer who tried to unify a divided society. Also more to the point here, he said "Work is Worship" (Kayakave Kailasa in Kannada), thereby promoting a work ethic. In fact, Girish Karnad (1938-2019), the Kannada polymath, who also wrote an acclaimed play on Basaveshwara & his times, called "Taledanda", opined that his teaching had caused a large rise in productivity, both in agriculture & commerce.