---
title: "Gandhi's Seven Social Sins: Meaning & List | Model Diplomat"
description: "Mahatma Gandhi's Seven Social Sins, published in 1925, highlight moral failures important for UPSC aspirants studying ethics in governance."
url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/glossary/mahatma-gandhi-seven-social-sins"
---

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Model Diplomat Research Team · Last reviewed June 22, 2026

TL;DR

- Mahatma Gandhi's Seven Social Sins are seven paired moral failures, published in 1925, in which a desirable end is pursued while severing the ethical principle that should govern it.
- Did Gandhi originate the Seven Social Sins?
- What are the seven sins in order?
- Why does the UPSC ethics syllabus use this list?
- How do the Social Sins differ from Gandhi's eleven vows?

[Civil Service & Diplomatic Exams](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/civil-services/glossary)Updated June 22, 2026

Mahatma Gandhi's Seven Social Sins are seven paired moral failures, published in 1925, in which a desirable end is pursued while severing the ethical principle that should govern it.

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India's Union Public Service Commission has repeatedly tested Mahatma Gandhi's Seven Social Sins in the General Studies Paper IV ethics examination since the paper's introduction in 2013, requiring candidates to apply "Politics without Principle" to governance case studies.

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