Letters from One: Correspondence (and more) of Leo Tolstoy and Mohandas Gandhi; including ‘Letter to a Hindu’ [a selected edit]

by Mahatma Gandhi, Leo Tolstoy

from 1908, Tolstoy wrote A Letter to a Hindoo outlining his belief in non-violence as a means for India to gain independence from British colonial rule. In 1909, a copy of the letter fell into the hands of Mohandas Gandhi who was working as a lawyer in South Africa at the time and in the beginnings of becoming an activist. Tolstoy's letter was significant for Gandhi who wrote to the famous writer seeking proof that he was the real author, leading to further correspondence between them. Reading Tolstoy's The Kingdom of God is Within You also convinced Gandhi to avoid violence and espouse nonviolent resistance, a debt Gandhi acknowledged in his autobiography, calling Tolstoy "the greatest apostle of non-violence that the present age has produced". The correspondence between Tolstoy and Gandhi would only last a year, from October 1909 until Tolstoy's death in November 1910, but led Gandhi to give the name, the Tolstoy Colony, to his second ashram in South Africa. Besides non-violent resistance, the two men shared a common belief in the merits of vegetarianism, the subject of several of Tolstoy's essays.Moreover, The Tale About Ivan the Fool remained to the end one of Gandhi’s favourite works. Three days before his death, on January 27, 1948, he mentioned that very tale while talking to the American journalist Martin, explaining to him the idea of “non-violent resistance.” Some researchers of Tolstoy made the supposition that the Tale About Ivan the Fool was a Russian version of the Buddhist jataka about a prince who preached non-violence (Ahimsa). If that is really so (which is quite likely since Tolstoy read many jatakas), that means that the Indian story returned home in Russian adaptation to capture the Indian heart once again. The Tale was translated into many Indian languages, possibly not without Gandhi’s influence. –from GANDHI AS A READER OF TOLSTOY by S. SEREBRYANY Gorky Institute of World Literature, USSR]

Genres: Spirituality, Philosophy, Nonfiction

87 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 22, 2011

About the author

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, commonly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was the preeminent leader of Indian nationalism in British-ruled India. Employing non-violent civil disobedience, Gandhi led India to independence and inspired movements for non-violence, civil rights and freedom across the world.

The son of a senior government official, Gandhi was born and raised in a Hindu Bania community in coastal Gujarat, and trained in law in London. Gandhi became famous by fighting for the civil rights of Muslim and Hindu Indians in South Africa, using new techniques of non-violent civil disobedience that he developed. Returning to India in 1915, he set about organizing peasants to protest excessive land-taxes. A lifelong opponent of "communalism" (i.e. basing politics on religion) he reached out widely to all religious groups. He became a leader of Muslims protesting the declining status of the Caliphate. Assuming leadership of the Indian National Congress in 1921, Gandhi led nationwide campaigns for easing poverty, expanding women's rights, building religious and ethnic amity, ending untouchability, increasing economic self-reliance, and above all for achieving Swaraj—the independence of India from British domination. His spiritual teacher was the Jain philosopher/poet Shrimad Rajchandra.

Reviews

[Ziba · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The aim of the sinless One consists in acting without causing sorrow to others, although he could attain to great power by ignoring their feelings.

The aim of the sinless One lies in not doing evil unto those who have done evil unto him.

If a man causes suffering even to those who hate him without any reason, he will ultimately have grief not to be overcome.

The punishment of evil doers consists in making them feel ashamed of themselves by doing them a great kindness.

Of what use is superior knowledge in the one, if he does not endeavour to relieve his neighbour's want as much as his own?

If, in the morning, a man wishes to do evil unto another, in the evening the evil will return to him.”
- Leo Tolstoy

[Valerio Gentile · Rating 4 out of 5]

Il testo, che io ho letto nell'edizione italiana edita Il Mulino e curata da Pier Cesare Bori, presenta la lettera a un indù e il carteggio tra Gandhi e Tolstoj. Prima dei testi una lunga introduzione divisa in capitoli, che fa luce sulle due figure, e sui relativi contesti storico-sociali, nonché le storie personali, al momento dello scambio.

Si analizza il concetto di resistenza passiva, si scopre il mondo della resistenza indiana al dominio coloniale inglese razzista e discriminante. Si scopre il pensiero politico di Tolstoj, la sua visione "pura" della religione, la condanna delle istituzioni e il rilancio di un messaggio di amore puro e cristiano, che non può non coincidere con una visione anarchica e "dal basso" della società. Anche per questo Tolstoj è ricordato come "anarco-cristiano".

[Dr. Monidipa Dutta · Rating 5 out of 5]

We Indians know that Gandhi ji supported non violence. Well, he was always a non violent person when he got fought for people over there as well. The letters from Tolstoy to Gandhi is all about him suggesting him to avoid violence while getting India free from the British rule. Yes, although at the time when the letters were exchanged at first Gandhi wasn't sure that it was truly Tolstoy but later on with the proof he received from him sufficed him.

This book consists all the letters exchanged between them.