The Gandhi Tolstoy Letters

THE GANDHI-TOLSTOY LETTERS
To Gandhi.
I HAVE just received your very interesting letter, which gave me

much pleasure. God help our dear brothers and co-workers in the
Transvaal! Among us, too, this fight between gentleness and
brutality, between humility and love and pride and violence, makes
itself ever more strongly felt, especially in a sharp collision between
religious duty and the State laws, expressed by refusals to perform
military service. Such refusals occur more and more often.
I wrote the 'Letter to a Hindu', and am very pleased to have it

translated. The Moscow people will let you know the title of the
book on Krishna. As regards 're-birth' I for my part should not omit
anything, for I think that faith in a re-birth will never restrain
mankind as much as faith in the immortality of the soul and in divine
truth and love. But I leave it to you to omit it if you wish to. I shall
be very glad to assist your edition. The translation and diffusion of
my writings in Indian dialects can only be a pleasure to me.
The question of monetary payment should, I think, not arise in

connexion with a religious undertaking.
I greet you fraternally, and am glad to have come in touch with you.
LEO TOLSTOY.
(Undated, but probably written in March 1910.)

To Count Leo Tolstoy, Yasnaya Polyana, Russia.
JOHANNESBURG, 4th April 1910.
Dear Sir,
You will remember that I wrote to you from London, where I stayed
in passing. As your very devoted adherent I send you together with
this letter, a little book I have compiled in which I have translated my
own writings from Gujarati. It is worth noting that the Indian
government confiscated the original. For that reason I hastened to
publish the translation. I am afraid of burdening you, but if your
health permits and you have time to look through the book I need
not say how much I shall value your criticism of it. At the same time
I am sending you a few copies of your 'Letter to a Hindu' which you
allowed me to publish. It has also been translated into one of the
Indian dialects.
Your humble servant, M. K. GANDHI.

To Mahatma Gandhi.
YASNAYA POLYANA. 8th May 1910.
Dear friend,
I have just received your letter and your book, Indian Home Rule.
I have read the book with great interest, for I consider the question
there dealt with-Passive Resistance-to be of very great importance not
only for Indians but for the whole of mankind.
I cannot find your first letter, but in looking for it have come upon
Doke's biography, which much attracted me and enabled me to
know you and understand you better.
I am not very well at present, and therefore refrain from writing all
that is in my heart about your book and about your activity in
general, which I value highly. I will however do so as soon as I am
better.
Your friend and brother, LEO TOLSTOY.

To Gandhi, Johannesburg, Transvaal, South Africa.
KOCHETY. 7th September 1910.
I received your journal, Indian Opinion, and was glad to see what it
says of those who renounce all resistance by force, and I
immediately felt a wish to let you know what thoughts its perusal
aroused in me.
The longer I live-especially now when I clearly feel the approach of

death-the more I feel moved to express what I feel more strongly
than anything else, and what in my opinion is of immense
importance, namely, what we call the renunciation of all opposition
by force, which really simply means the doctrine of the law of love
unperverted by sophistries. Love, or in other words the striving of
men's souls towards unity and the submissive behaviour to one
another that results therefrom, represents the highest and indeed
the only law of life, as every man knows and feels in the depths of
his heart (and as we see most clearly in children), and knows until he
becomes involved in the lying net of worldly thoughts. This law was
announced by all the philosophies- Indian as well as Chinese, and
Jewish, Greek and Roman. Most clearly, I think, was it announced by
Christ, who said explicitly that on it hang all the Law and the
Prophets. More than that, foreseeing the distortion that has
hindered its recognition and may always hinder it, he specially
indicated the danger of a misrepresentation that presents itself to
men living by worldly interests- namely, that they may claim a right
to defend their interests by force or, as he expressed it, to repay
blow by blow and recover stolen property by force, etc., etc. He
knew, as all reasonable men must do, that any employment of force
is incompatible with love as the highest law of life, and that as soon
as the use of force appears permissible even in a single case, the law
itself is immediately negatived. The whole of Christian civilization,
outwardly so splendid, has grown up on this strange and flagrant-
partly intentional but chiefly unconscious-misunderstanding and
contradiction. At bottom, however, the law of love is, and can be, no
longer valid if defence by force is set up beside it. And if once the
law of love is not valid, then there remains no law except the right
of might. In that state Christendom has lived for 1,900 years.
Certainly men have always let themselves be guided by force as the
main principle of their social order. The difference between the
Christian and all other nations is only this: that in Christianity the law
of love had been more clearly and definitely given than in any other
religion, and that its adherents solemnly recognized it. Yet despite
this they deemed the use of force to be permissible, and based their
lives on violence - so that the life of the Christian nations presents a
greater contradiction between what they believe and the principle
on which their lives are built: a contradiction between love which
should pre scribe the law of conduct, and the employment of force,
recognized under various forms-such as governments, courts of
justice, and armies, which are accepted as necessary and esteemed.
This contradiction increased with the development of the spiritual
life of Christianity and in recent years has reached the utmost
tension.
The question now is, that we must choose one of two things-either
to admit that we recognize no religious ethics at all but let our
conduct of life be decided by the right of might; or to demand that
all compulsory levying of taxes be discontinued, and all our legal and
police institutions, and above all, military institutions, be abolished.
This spring, at a scripture examination in a Moscow girls' school, first

their religious teacher and then an archbishop who was also present,
questioned the girls on the ten commandments, especially on the
sixth. After the commandments had been correctly recited the
archbishop sometimes put a question, usually: 'Is it always and in
every case forbidden by the law of God to kill?' And the unfortunate
girls, misled by their instructor, had to answer and did answer: 'Not
always, for it is permissible in war and at executions.' When,
however, this customary additional question-whether it is always a
sin to kill-was put to one of these unfortunate creatures (what I am
telling you is not an anecdote, but actually happened and was told
me by an eyewitness) the girl coloured up and answered decidedly
and with emotion - 'Always!' And despite all the customary
sophistries of the archbishop, she held steadfastly to it-that to kill is
under all circumstances forbidden even in the Old Testament, and
that Christ has not only forbidden us to kill, but in general to do any
harm to our neighbour. The archbishop, for all his majesty and verbal
dexterity, was silenced, and victory remained with the girl.
Yes, we may write in the papers of our progress in mastery of the

air, of complicated diplomatic relation, of various clubs, of
discoveries, of all sorts of alliances, and of so-called works of art,
and we can pass lightly over what that girl said. But we cannot
completely silence her, for every Christian feels the same, however
vaguely he may do so. Socialism, Communism, Anarchism' Salvation
Armies, the growth of crime, freedom from toil, the increasingly
absurd luxury of the rich and increased misery of the poor, the
fearfully rising number of suicides-are all indications of that inner
contradiction which must and will be resolved. And, of course,
resolved in such a manner that the law of love will be recognized and
all reliance on force abandoned. Your work in the Transvaal, which to
us seems to be at the end of the earth, is yet in the centre of our
interest and supplies the most weighty practical proof, in which the
world can now share, and not only the Christian but all the peoples
of the world can participate.
I think it will please you to hear that here in Russia, too, a similar
movement is rapidly attracting attention, and refusals of military
service increase year by year. However small as yet is with you the
number of those who renounce all resistance by force, and with us
the number of men who refuse any military service-both the one and
the other can say: God is with us, and God is mightier than man.
In the confession of Christianity-even a Christianity deformed as is
that taught among us-and a simultaneous belief in the necessity of
armies and preparations to slaughter on an ever-increasing scale,
there is an obvious contradiction that cries to heaven, and that
sooner or later, but probably quite soon, must appear in the light of
day in its complete nakedness. That, however, will either annihilate
the Christian religion, which is indispensable for the maintenance of
the State, or it will sweep away the military and all the use of force
bound up with it-which the State needs no less. All governments are
aware of this contradiction, your British as much as our Russian, and
therefore its recognition will be more energetically opposed by the
governments than any other activity inimical to the State, as we in
Russia have experienced and as is shown by the articles in your
magazine. The governments know from what direction the greatest
danger threatens them, and are on guard with watchful eyes not
merely to preserve their interests but actually to fight for their very
existence.
Yours etc., LEO TOLSTOY.

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What are Gandhi and Tolstoy discussing in their correspondence?

What does Tolstoy highlight about the contradiction between Christianity and military force?

THE GANDHI-TOLSTOY LETTERS

I HAVE just received your very interesting letter, which gave me

I wrote the 'Letter to a Hindu', and am very pleased to have it

The question of monetary payment should, I think, not arise in

(Undated, but probably written in March 1910.)

JOHANNESBURG, 4th April 1910.

Your humble servant, M. K. GANDHI.

YASNAYA POLYANA. 8th May 1910.

Your friend and brother, LEO TOLSTOY.

KOCHETY. 7th September 1910.

The longer I live-especially now when I clearly feel the approach of

This spring, at a scripture examination in a Moscow girls' school, first

Yes, we may write in the papers of our progress in mastery of the

Yours etc., LEO TOLSTOY.

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