Chapter 3

Tagore always looked upon Gandhi as a saint, and I have often heard him speak of him with veneration. When, in referring to the Mahatma, I mentioned Tolstoi, Tagore pointed out to me, and I realize it now that I know Gandhi better—how much more clothed in light and radiance Gandhi's spirit is than Tolstoi's. With Gandhi everything is nature—modest, simple, pure—while all his struggles are hallowed by religious serenity, whereas with Tolstoi everything is proud revolt against pride, hatred against hatred, passion against passion. Everything in Tolstoi is violence, even his doctrine of non-violence. On April 10, 1921, Tagore wrote from London, "We are grateful to Gandhi for giving India a chance to prove that her faith in the divine spirit of man is still living." Despite the misgivings he had expressed as to Gandhi's campaign, Tagore, when he left France to return to India, sincerely planned to back Gandhi in every way. And even the manifesto of October, 1921, which I will discuss later—the "Appeal to Truth," which marked the break between the two men—begins with one of the most beautiful tributes to Gandhi that have ever been written.

Gandhi's attitude to Tagore is one of loving regard, and it does not change even when the two disagree. You feel that Gandhi is loath to enter into polemics with Tagore, and when certain kind friends try to embitter the debate by repeating personal remarks, Gandhi bids them be silent and explains how much he owes Tagore.[96]

Yet it was inevitable that the breach between the two men would widen. As far back as in 1920 Tagore had deplored that the overflowing wealth of Gandhi's love and faith should be made to serve political ends, as it had since Tilak's death. Of course Gandhi had not entered the political arena with a light heart. But when Tilak died, India was left without a political leader, and some one had to take his place.

As Gandhi says:[97]

If I seem to take part in politics, it is only because politics to-day encircle us like the coils of a snake from which one cannot get out no matter how one tries. I wish to wrestle with the snake.... I am trying to introduce religion into politics.

But this Tagore deplores. Writing September 7, 1920, he says, "We need all the moral force which Mahatma Gandhi represents, and which he alone in the world can represent." That such a precious treasure should be cast out on the frail bark of politics and subjected to the incessant lashing of the waves of conflicting and irritated passions is a serious misfortune for India, whose mission, says Tagore, "is to awaken the dead to life by soul-fire." The wasting of spiritual resources in problems which, when considered in the light of abstract moral truth, are unworthy, is to be regretted. "It is criminal to transform moral force into force."

This is what Tagore felt at the spectacular launching of the non-coöperation campaign and at the unrest stirred up in the name of the Khilafat cause and the massacres of the Punjab. He feared the results of the campaign on an easily excitable mob subject to attacks of hysterical fury. He would have liked to turn people's minds away from vengeance and dreams of impossible redress; he would have had them forget the irreparable and devote all efforts to constructing and fashioning a new soul for India. And although he admired Gandhi's doctrines and the ardent fire of his spirit of self-sacrifice, he hated the element of negation contained in non-coöperation. Tagore instinctively recoiled from everything that stood for "No."

And this conviction leads him to compare the positive ideal of Brahmanism, which demands that the joys of life be welcomed but purified, to the negative ideal of Buddhism, which demands their suppression.[98]To this Gandhi replies that the art of eliminating is as vital as that of accepting.[99]Human progress consists in a combination of the two. The final word in the Upanishads is a negation. The definition of Brahman by the authors of the Upanishads isneti, not this! India had lost the power of saying "No." Gandhi has given it back to her. Weeding is as essential as sowing.

But Tagore, apparently, does not believe in weeding. In his poetic contemplation of life he is satisfied with things as they are, and he finds his delight in admiring their harmony. He explains his point of view in lines of great beauty, but detached from real life. His words are like the dance of Nataraja, a play of illusions. Tagore says he tries to tune his spirit up to the great exaltation that is sweeping over the country. But he cannot do so, for in his heart, despite himself, is a spirit of resistance. "In the darkness of my despair," he says, "I see a smile and hear a voice that says, 'Your place is with the children, playing on the beaches of the world, and there I am with you.'" Tagore plays with harmonies, invents new rhythms, "strung out through the hours, like children dancing in the sun and laughing as they disappear." All creation is happy, with Tagore; flowers and leaves are merely rhythms that never cease. God Himself is the supreme juggler, who plays with Time, tossing stars and planets out upon the torrent of appearances, and dropping paper boats filled with dreams into the river of the ages. "When I beg Him to let me be His disciple and to let me place some of the toys of my invention into one of his merry barks. He smiles, and I follow Him, clutching the hem of his gown." Here Tagore feels he is in his place. "But where am I, in a great crowd, squeezed in at all sides? And who can understand the noise I hear? If I hear a song, my sitar can catch the melody, and I can join the chorus, for I am a singer. But in the mad clamor of the crowd, my voice is lost, and I become dizzy." Tagore has tried, in the clamor of non-coöperation, to find a melody, but to no avail. And he says to himself: "If you can't march in step with your compatriots in the greatest crisis of their history, beware of saying they are in the wrong, and you in the right! But give up your place in the ranks, go back to your poet's corner, and be prepared to meet with ridicule and public disgrace."[100]

So would a Goethe speak, an Indian Goethe, Bacchus. And it would seem as if Tagore's mind is made up from now on. The poet bids action farewell, since this action implies a negation, and he withdraws back into the spell of creative enchantment he weaves around himself. But Tagore does not only withdraw. As he says, Fate had decided that he should steer his bark against the current. At the time he was not only the "poet" but the spiritual ambassador of Asia to Europe; he had just returned from Europe, where he had asked people to coöperate in creating a world university at Santiniketan. What an irony of destiny that he should be preaching cooperation between Occident and Orient at one end of the world, when at that very moment non-coöperation was being preached at the other end![101]

Non-coöperation wounded him doubly, therefore, in his work as well as in his conception of life. "I believe," he says, "in the real union of Orient and Occident."

Non-coöperation clashed with his way of thinking, for his mentality, his rich intelligence, had been nourished on all the cultures of the world. "All humanity's greatest is mine," he says. "Theinfinite personality of man(as the Upanishads say) can only come from the magnificent harmony of all human races. My prayer is that India may represent the coöperation of all the peoples of the world. For India, unity is truth, and division evil. Unity is that which embraces and understands everything; consequently, it cannot be attained through negation. The present attempt to separate our spirit from that of the Occident is an attempt at spiritual suicide.... The present age has been dominated by the Occident, because the Occident had a mission to fulfill. We of the Orient should learn from the Occident. It is regrettable, of course, that we had lost the power of appreciating our own culture, and therefore did not know how to assign Western culture to its right place. But to say that it is wrong to coöperate with the West is to encourage the worst form of provincialism and can produce nothing but intellectual indigence. The problem is a world problem. No nation can find its own salvation by breaking away from others. We must all be saved or we must all perish together."[102]

In other words, just as Goethe in 1818 refused to reject French civilization and culture, Tagore refuses to banish Western civilization. While Gandhi's doctrine does not really set a barrier up between the East and West, Tagore knows it will be interpreted as doing so, once Hindu nationalism is stirred. Tagore fears the development of the spirit of exclusion, and he explains his feeling of doubt and anxiety when his students at the beginning of the non-cooperation movement came to seek his advice. What does the boycotting of schools and colleges mean? asks Tagore. "That students shall make a sacrifice—for what? Not for a more complete education, but for non-education." During the firstSwadeshicampaign[103]a group of young students told him that they would leave their schools and colleges at once if he ordered them to do so. And when he refused to do so, they left him, in much irritation, doubting his patriotism.[104]

In the spring of 1921, when India began boycotting English schools, Tagore had seen an aggressive example of intellectual nationalism in London. During a lecture of one of Tagore's friends. Professor Pearson, some Indian students gave vent to misplaced national manifestations. Tagore became indignant, and in a letter addressed to the director of Santiniketan he condemned this spirit of intolerance and held the non-coöperation movement responsible for it. And to this accusation Gandhi replies:

I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the culture of all lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible.... But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any of them ... Mine is not a religion of the prison-house. It has room for the least among God's creations. But it is proof against insolent pride of race, religion, or color.

While expressing his doubts as to the merits of an English literary education, which has nothing to do with the building up of character, an education which, he said, has emasculated the youth of India, Gandhi regretted the excesses mentioned and claimed that his attitude was not narrow, as Tagore seemed to imply.

These were frank and noble words, but they did not disarm Tagore's misgivings. Tagore did not doubt Gandhi, but he feared the Gandhists. And from the first contact with his people, after his return from Europe, he began to fear the blind faith which the people placed in the Mahatma's words. Tagore saw the danger of mental despotism loom near, and in the "Modern Review" of October, 1921, he published a real manifesto, "An Appeal to Truth," which was a cry of revolt against this blind obedience. The protest was particularly strong because it was preceded by a beautiful homage to the Mahatma. After describing the first Indian independence movement in 1907 and 1908, Tagore explained that in those days the political leaders were inspired by a bookish ideal, based on the traditions of Burke, Gladstone, Mazzini, and Garibaldi, and their message could be understood only by the elite. They advanced, in short, an English-speaking ideal. But then came Mahatma Gandhi! He stopped at the thresholds of the thousands of disinherited, dressed like one of their own. He spoke to them in their own language. Here was truth at last, and not only quotations from books! Mahatma, the name given by the people of India to Gandhi, is his real name. For who else had felt, like him, in communion with the people? Felt that they are of his own flesh and blood? At the Mahatma's call the hidden forces of the soul have blossomed forth, for the Mahatma has made the truth into something concrete, visible. In the same way, thousands of years ago, India blossomed forth to new greatness at Buddha's call, when he made men understand that there must be compassion and fellow-feeling among all living creatures. India, stirred to new life, expressed her strength in science and wealth, spreading across oceans and deserts. No commercial or military conquests ever spread so magnificently. For love alone is truth.

But then Tagore's tone changed. The apotheosis stopped. Deception followed. In Europe, across the seas, Tagore felt the quiver of India's great revival. Thrilled, filled with joy at the thought of breathing in the fluid breeze of the new freedom, he returned to his home land. But on his arrival his elation fell. An oppressive atmosphere weighed on the people. "An outside influence seemed to be bearing down on them, grinding them and making one and all speak in the same tone, follow in the same groove. Everywhere I was told that culture and reasoning power should abdicate, and blind obedience only reign. So simple it is to crush, in the name of some outward liberty, the real freedom of the soul!"

We understand Tagore's misgivings and his appeal. They are of all times and ages. The last free minds of a crumbling old world voiced them at the dawn of the new Christianity. And whenever we ourselves encounter the rising tide of some blind faith in a social or national ideal we feel the same misgivings stir within us. Tagore's revolt is the revolt of the free soul against the ages of faith which it has suscitated, for while faith to a handful of chosen ones means supreme liberty, it means only another form of slavery for the masses who are led by it.

Tagore's criticism is aimed above and beyond the fanaticism of the crowd. Over the blind masses it strikes the Mahatma. No matter how great Gandhi may be, isn't he taking upon himself more than a single man can bear? A cause as great as India's should not be dependent on the will of a single master. The Mahatma is the master of truth and love, but the attainment ofSwarajhome rule, is vastly complicated. "The paths are intricate and hard to explore. Emotion and enthusiasm are required, but also science and meditation. All the moral forces of the nation must be called upon. Economists must find practical solutions, educators must teach, statesmen ponder, workers work.... Everywhere the desire to learn must be kept up free and unhampered. No pressure, either open or hidden, must weigh on the intelligence." ... "In older days, in our primeval forests," says Tagore, "our sages,gurus, in the plenitude of their vision, called onallseekers of truth.... Why does not ourguru, who wants to lead us to action, make the same call?" But the only command thatGuru Gandhiso far has launched is, "Spin and weave!" And Tagore asks, "Is this the gospel of a new creative age? If large machinery constitutes a danger for the West, will not small machines constitute a greater danger for us?" The forces of a nation must cooperate, not only with each other, but with other nations. "The awakening of India is bound up in the awakening of the world. Every nation that tries to shut itself in violates the spirit of the new age." And Tagore, who has spent several years in Europe, speaks of some of the men he met—men who have freed their hearts from the chains of nationalism in order to serve humanity—men who constitute the persecuted minority of world citizens,cives totius orbis—and he classes them among thesannyasins, that is, "those who in their soul have realized human unity."[105]

And should India alone, asks Tagore, recite the chapter of negation, dwell eternally on the faults of others, and strive forSwarajon a basis of hatred? When the bird is awakened by the dawn, it does not only think of food. Its wings respond to the call of the sky. Its throat fills with joyous songs to greet the coming day. A new humanity has sent out its call. Let India reply in her own way! "Our first duty, at dawn, is to rememberHim Who is One, who is indistinguishable through class or color, and who, by his varied forces, provides, as is necessary, for the needs of each class and of all. Let us pray Him, who gives wisdom, to unite us all in understanding."[106]

Tagore's noble words, some of the most beautiful ever addressed to a nation, are a poem of sunlight, and plane above all human struggles. And the only criticism one can make of them is that they plane too high. Tagore is right, from the point of view of eternity. The bird-poet, the eagle-sized lark, as Heine called a master of our music, sits and sings on the ruins of time. He lives in eternity. But the demands of the present are imperious. The hour that passes demands immediate, if imperfect, relief; but clamors for it. And in this respect Gandhi, who lacks Tagore's poetic flight (or who, perhaps, as aBoddhisattvaof pity has given it up in order to live among the disinherited) finds it child's play to reply.

In his answer to Tagore Gandhi displays more passion than he has so far shown in the controversy. On October 13, 1921, in "Young India," his stirring rejoinder appears. Gandhi thanks the "Great Sentinel"[107]for having warned India as to the pitfalls ahead. He agrees with Tagore that most essential of all is the maintenance of a free spirit.

We must not surrender our reason into anybody's keeping. Blind surrender to love is often more mischievous than forced surrender to the lash of the tyrant. There is hope for the slave of the brute, none for that of love.

Tagore is the sentinel who warns of the approach of the enemies called Bigotry, Lethargy, Intolerance, Ignorance, and Inertia. But Gandhi does not feel that Tagore's misgivings are justified. The Mahatma always appeals to reason. It is not true that India is moved by blind obedience only. If the country decided to adopt the spinning-wheel, this has been only after considerable reflection. Tagore speaks of patience and is satisfied with beautiful songs. But there is war. Let the poet lay down his lyre! Let him sing when it is over! When a house is on fire,allmust go out and take up a bucket to quench the fire.

When all about me are dying for want of food, the only occupation permissible for me is to feed the hungry. India is a house on fire. It is dying of hunger because it has no work to buy food with. Khulna is starving. The Ceded Districts are passing successively through a fourth famine. Orissa is a land suffering from chronic famine. India is growing daily poorer. The circulation about her feet and legs has almost stopped. And if we do not take care she will collapse altogether....

To a people famishing and idle the only acceptable form in which God can dare appear is work and promise of food as wages. God created man to work for his food and said that those who ate without work were thieves. We must think of millions who to-day are less than animals, almost in a dying state. Hunger is the argument that is drawing India to the spinning-wheel.

The poet lives for the morrow, and would have us do likewise. He presents to our admiring gaze the beautiful picture of the birds in the early morning singing hymns of praise as they soar into the sky. Those birds had their day's food and soared with rested wings in whose veins new blood had flown the previous night. But I have had the pain of watching birds who for want of strength could not be coaxed even into a flutter of their wings. The human bird under the Indian sky gets up weaker than when he pretended to retire. For millions it is an eternal vigil or an eternal trance. I have found it impossible to soothe suffering patients with a song from Kabir....

Give them work that they may eat! "Why should I, who have no need to work for food, spin?" may be the question asked. Because I am eating what does not belong to me. I am living on the spoliation of my countrymen. Trace the course of every coin that finds its way into your pocket, and you will realize the truth of what I write. Every one must spin. Let Tagore spin, like the others. Let him burn his foreign clothes; that is the duty to-day. God will take care of the morrow. As it says in the Gitâ, Doright!

Dark and tragic words these! Here we have the misery of the world rising up before the dream of art and crying, "Dare deny me existence!" Who does not sympathize with Gandhi's passionate emotion and share it?

And yet, in his reply so proud and so poignant, there is nevertheless something that justifies Tagore's misgivings:sileat poeta, imposing silence on the person who is called upon to obey the imperious discipline of the cause. Obey without discussion the law ofSwadeshi, the first command of which is, Spin!

No doubt, in the human battle, discipline is a duty. But, unfortunately, those who are intrusted with enforcing this discipline, the master's lieutenants, may be narrow-minded men. They may mistake the discipline chosen to attain the ideal for the ideal itself. Discipline fascinates them by its rigidity, for they are of the kind who feel at ease only on the narrow path. They look uponSwadeshias essential, not as a means to an end, but in itself. In their eyes it acquires an almost sacred character. One of Gandhi's disciples, professor at the school that lies nearest his heart, theSatyagraha Ashramof Sarbarmati at Ahmedabad, Mr. D. B. Kalelkar, writes a "Gospel of Swadeshi," which Gandhi, in a preface, stamps with his approval.[108]This book, or pamphlet, is addressed to the man in the street. Let us examine the creed as it is taught by one of those who drink at the very source of the unpolluted doctrine:

Now and then God is incarnated on earth to redeem the world. His incarnation need not necessarily be in human form.... He may be manifest in an abstract principle or in an ideal which uplifts the world.... His latest incarnation is in the "Gospel of Swadeshi"...

The apostle realizes that this statement may cause a smile ifSwadeshiis to be interpreted as meaning the boycott of foreign goods only. This is only a partial application ofSwadeshi, which is a "vast religious principle that will rid the world of strife and hatred and liberate humanity." Its quintessence may be found in the Indian scriptures:

Your own religiousDharma—that is to say, your own religious destiny or salvation—though imperfect, is the best. The fulfilment ofDharmafor which you were not intended is always fraught with danger. He alone attains happiness who fulfils the task laid out for him.

The fundamental law ofSwadeshisprings from faith in God, "who has provided, in all eternity, for the happiness of the world. This God has placed each human being in the environment best suited for the fulfilment of his task. A man's work and his aspirations should be suited to his position in the world. We cannot choose our culture any more than our birth, family, or country. We must accept what God has given us; we must accept tradition as coming from God and regard it as a strict duty to live up to it. To renounce tradition would be sinful."

From these premises it follows that the inhabitant of one country should not concern himself with other countries.

The follower ofSwadeshinever takes upon himself the vain task of trying to reform the world, for he believes that the world is moved and always will be moved according to rules set by God.... One must not expect the people of one country to provide for the needs of another, even for philanthropic reasons, and if it were possible, it would not be desirable.... The true follower ofSwadeshidoes not forget that every human being is his brother, but that it is incumbent on him to fulfil the task his particular environment has laid down for him. Just as we must work out our salvation in the century in which we are born, we should serve the country in which we are born. The emancipation of our soul should be sought through religion and our own culture.

Is it, however, permissible for a nation to take advantage of all opportunities to develop its resources of commerce and industry? Indeed not. An unworthy ambition to wish to develop India's manufactures! It would be asking people to violate theirDharmas!It is as criminal to export one's products as to import those of others. "For proselytism is repellent to the spirit ofSwadeshi." And the logical conclusion of this theory, rather startling to a European, is that it is as sinful to export goods as ideas. If India has been bitterly humiliated in history, it is as punishment for the crimes of ancestors who traded with ancient Egypt and Rome, a crime deliberately repeated by all succeeding generations. Every nation, every class, should remain true to its own duty, live on its own resources, and be inspired by its own traditions.

We should avoid being intimate with those whose social customs are different from ours. We should not mingle in the lives of men or peoples whose ideals are different from ours.... Every man is a brook. Every nation is a river. They must follow their course, clear and pure, till they reach the Sea of Salvation, where all will blend.

What is this but the triumph of nationalism? The narrowest and most unpolluted? Stay at home, shut all doors, change nothing, hold on to everything, export nothing, buy nothing, uplift and purify body and spirit! A gospel, indeed, of medieval monks![109]And Gandhi, of the broad mind, lets his name be associated with it!

Tagore's bewilderment, when met with these visionaries of reactionary nationalism, is comprehensible. No wonder he was taken back by these apostles, who would reverse the march of centuries, shut the free soul in a cage, and burn all bridges communicating with the West.[110]As a matter of fact, Gandhi's doctrine really implies nothing of the sort. As may be seen from his reply to Tagore, he says, "Swadeshiis a message to the world." The world exists; therefore, Gandhi reckons with it, and does not repudiate "proselyting. Non-coöperation," he says, "is not directed against the English or the West. Our non-coöperation is directed against material civilization and its attendant greed and exploitation of the weak." In other words, it combats the errors of the West and would therefore be beneficial to the West also. "Our non-coöperation is a retirement within ourselves." A temporary retirement to enable India to gather up her forces before placing them at the services of humanity. "India must learn to live before she can aspire to die for humanity." Gandhi does not forbid coöperation with Europe provided the sound ideal which he sets up for all men is adhered to.

Gandhi's real doctrine is much broader, much more human, much more universal[111]than that expressed in the "Gospel" which he has approved. Why did Gandhi lend his name to this "Gospel"? Why does he let his magnificent ideal, a message for the whole world, be imprisoned within the narrow bonds of an Indian theocracy? Beware of disciples! The purer they are, the more pernicious. God preserve a great man from friends who only grasp part of his ideal! In codifying it, they destroy the harmony which is the real blessing of his living soul.

But this is not all. While the disciples who live near the master are at least tinged by his noble spirituality, what about the disciples of his disciples, and the others, the masses to whom the doctrine comes merely as vague and broken echoes? How much and what do they absorb of the gospel of spiritual purification and creative renouncement? Unfortunately, to them the doctrine appears in its most rudimentary and material form, in a sort of Messianic waiting for the advent ofSwaraj, home rule, by the spinning-wheel! This is the negation of all progress. It's the oldfuori Barbari.Tagore is alarmed, and not without reason, at the violence of the apostles of non-violence, and even Gandhi is not absolutely free from it. Gandhi says that he would "withdraw from the field if he felt hatred for the English," for one must love one's enemies while hating their deeds, "hate Satanism while loving Satan." The distinction, however, is a little too subtle for the average man to grasp. And when at each session of the congress the leaders dwell with fiery eloquence on the crimes and treachery of the English, anger and rancor pile up behind the sluices; and beware when the sluices burst! When Gandhi, explaining why he advocates the burning of precious stuffs in Bombay in August, 1921, says to Andrews, Tagore's friend, that "He is transferring ill will from men to things,"[112]he does not realize that the fury of the masses is gathering impetus, and that instinctively these masses reason, "Things first, men next!" He does not foresee that in this same Bombay, less than three months afterward,menwill be killingmen.Gandhi is too much of a saint; he is too pure, top free from the animal passions that lie dormant in man. He does not dream that they lie there, crouching within the people, devouring his words and thriving on them. Tagore, more clear-sighted, realizes the danger the non-coöperators are skirting when they innocently lay bare the crimes of Europe, profess non-violence, and simultaneously plant in people's minds the virus which will inevitably break in violence! But this they do not realize, these apostles whose hearts are free from hatred. But he who would lead men in action must know the heart-beats of the others, not merely his own. Beware the mob!Cave canem!The moral precepts of a Gandhi will not be able to curb it. The only way, perhaps, to prevent it from running wild, the only way, perhaps, of making it yield docilely to the austere discipline of the master, would be for him to pose as an incarnated god, as those who paint him as Sri-Krishna secretly hope he will do. But Gandhi's sincerity and his humility prevent him from playing the role.

And then, planing above the roaring human ocean alone, remains the single voice of the purest of men, but only a man. How long will it be heard? Grandiose and tragic waiting!

[67]Etymologically,swa, self, oneself;deshi, country. Hence, national independence. The non-coöperators usually interpret it in the narrower sense of economic independence. It will be seen, further on, the sort of social gospel which Gandhi's followers make out of the idea. ("Gospel of Swadeshi.")

[68]September 8 and 24, October 20, 1920.

[69]August 11 and 25, 1920.

[70]At least so Gandhi interprets the texts. Dare a European venture that he finds in the Bhagavad Gitâ serene indifference to violence perpetrated and suffered?

[71]August 25, 1920.

[72]May 12, 1920.

[73]"To All the English in India," October 27, 1920.

[74]April 28, 1920; June 8, September 1, 1921. In his "Letter to the Parsees," the business people, he begs them to stop selling alcohol (March 23, 1921). In his "Letter to the Moderates," June 8, 1921, he asks them to help him carry this point, even if they do not agree with the other points of his program. He also wages war on drugs, narcotics, and opium dens.

[75]Gandhi himself realizes that many will jeer. But, he asks, did the sewing-machine do away with the needle? The spinning-wheel's utility has not been lost. On the contrary, nothing is more useful at the present moment. Spinning is a national necessity, and constitutes the only possible means of subsistence for millions of starving people. (July 21, 1920.)

[76]February 2, 1921.

[77]July 21, 1920.

[78]November 17, 1920.

[79]English is not excluded, nor any other European language, but it is reserved for the higher grades, at the end of the school program. In all grades, however, Indian dialects are used. Gandhi dreams of a higher state of universal existence where all differences will persist, not as divisions but as different facets.

[80]Ashram, place of discipline, hermitage.

[81]At the Nagpur session of the congress some 4726 delegates were present, and among them were 469 Mohammedans, 65 Sikhs, 5 Parsees, 2 Untouchables, 4079 Hindus and 106 women.The new constitution provided that a delegate should be chosen for every 5000 inhabitants, which would make a total of 6175 delegates. The National Indian Congress was to meet once a year, round Christmas. The committee of the congress consisting of 850 members would act as executive body, enforcing the resolutions of the congress and carrying out its policies. Between the sessions of the congress the committee was to have the same authority as the congress. Within the committee an executive board of fifteen members was to bear the same relation to the congress committee that a ministerial cabinet bears to parliament. This board could be dissolved by the congress committee.The Congress of Nagpur drew up the plans for a hierarchy of committees of provincial congresses, representing twenty-one provinces and twelve languages, and placed under them local committees in each village or group of villages. It advised the formation of a band of national workers to be called the Indian National Service to be financed out of funds called the All-India Tilak Memorial Swaraja Fund.Every adult, male or female, possessing 4 annas was given the right to vote, provided he had signed the credo of the constitution. Whoever has attained the age of twenty-one and has sworn adherence to Article I of the Constitution and agreed to uphold the rules and by-laws of the constitution is eligible.

[81]At the Nagpur session of the congress some 4726 delegates were present, and among them were 469 Mohammedans, 65 Sikhs, 5 Parsees, 2 Untouchables, 4079 Hindus and 106 women.

The new constitution provided that a delegate should be chosen for every 5000 inhabitants, which would make a total of 6175 delegates. The National Indian Congress was to meet once a year, round Christmas. The committee of the congress consisting of 850 members would act as executive body, enforcing the resolutions of the congress and carrying out its policies. Between the sessions of the congress the committee was to have the same authority as the congress. Within the committee an executive board of fifteen members was to bear the same relation to the congress committee that a ministerial cabinet bears to parliament. This board could be dissolved by the congress committee.

The Congress of Nagpur drew up the plans for a hierarchy of committees of provincial congresses, representing twenty-one provinces and twelve languages, and placed under them local committees in each village or group of villages. It advised the formation of a band of national workers to be called the Indian National Service to be financed out of funds called the All-India Tilak Memorial Swaraja Fund.

Every adult, male or female, possessing 4 annas was given the right to vote, provided he had signed the credo of the constitution. Whoever has attained the age of twenty-one and has sworn adherence to Article I of the Constitution and agreed to uphold the rules and by-laws of the constitution is eligible.

[82]March 23, 1921.

[83]October 6, 1920; May 11 and 18, July 28, October 20, 1921.

[84]In citing his friendship with the Mussulman Maulana Mohamed Ali, Gandhi claims that both men remain true to their respective faiths.Gandhi would not give his daughter in marriage to one of Ali's sons, nor would he share the meals of his friend; and the same is true of Maulana Mohamed Ali. But this does not prevent both men from being fond of each other, respecting each other, and relying on each other.Gandhi does not say that intermarriage between Hindus and Mussulmans, and the fact of eating together, should necessarily be condemned, but he says they are impossible at the present time. It will take at least a century for the two peoples to reach such a stage of fusion. A policy purported practical should not attempt to carry such a reform. Gandhi does not object to it but considers it premature. The only important thing, for the present, is for the two peoples to respect each other and remain loyal to each other. Here, too, Gandhi shows his sense of realities. (October 20, 1921.)

[84]In citing his friendship with the Mussulman Maulana Mohamed Ali, Gandhi claims that both men remain true to their respective faiths.

Gandhi would not give his daughter in marriage to one of Ali's sons, nor would he share the meals of his friend; and the same is true of Maulana Mohamed Ali. But this does not prevent both men from being fond of each other, respecting each other, and relying on each other.

Gandhi does not say that intermarriage between Hindus and Mussulmans, and the fact of eating together, should necessarily be condemned, but he says they are impossible at the present time. It will take at least a century for the two peoples to reach such a stage of fusion. A policy purported practical should not attempt to carry such a reform. Gandhi does not object to it but considers it premature. The only important thing, for the present, is for the two peoples to respect each other and remain loyal to each other. Here, too, Gandhi shows his sense of realities. (October 20, 1921.)

[85]Speech made April 27, 1921.

[86]October 27, 1920.

[87]In the end of April, 1921, untouchability begins to diminish. In many villages the pariahs are allowed to live among other Hindus and to enjoy the same rights. (April 27, 1921.) In other regions, however, their condition remains deplorable, particularly in Madras. (September 29, 1921.) The question is included in the program of the National Assemblies of India from this time on. The Congress of Nagpur, in December, 1920, had already expressed the desire of seeing untouchability wiped out.

[88]April 27, 1921.

[89]July 21, 1921, and October 6, 1920.

[90]July 21, August 11, December 16, 1921.

[91]Gandhi protests against this in "Young India" of June, 1921.

[92]May 12, 1920; May 25, July 13, August 25, 1921.

[93]December 8, 1920.

[94]March 16, 1921.

[95]"Letters from Abroad." The three letters of March 2, 5, and 13 were published in the "Modern Review" in May, 1921. The "Appeal to Truth" was written after Tagore's return to India and published in the "Modern Review" October 1, 1921. The two men, however, did not discuss their views in polemical writings only. They met and had a long interview, but neither has published any comment on their meeting. C. F. Andrews, however, who was present, has told us what the talk was about and referred to the arguments used by Tagore and Gandhi to back up their different points of view.

[96]February 9, 1922. In this article, called "Too Sacred for Publication," Gandhi dwells on his long friendship with Tagore. Gandhi was a frequent visitor at Tagore's home at Santiniketan, and considered it as a retreat. While he was in England his children had their home there.

[97]May 12, 1920.

[98]March 5, 1921.

[99]June 1, 1921.

[100]March 5, 1921.

[101]March 6, 1921.]

[102]March 13, 1921. Developed in article in the "Modern Review" of November, 1921.

[103]The first Indian home rule campaign, in Bengal, in 1907-08.

[104]March 5, 1921.

[105]Those who have renounced their personal life in order to bring a unity to mankind.

[106]Paraphrase of the first stanza of the Upanishads.

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