Selected Letters of Mahatma Gandhi By M. K. Gandhi THE SELECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI VOLUME FOUR GENERAL EDITOR SHRIMAN NARAYAN Rupees Six Hundred For set of five volumes © Navajivan Trust, 1968 Price of this set of Selected Works of Mahatma Gandhi is subsidised by Navajivan Trust ISBN 978-81-7229-278-2 (set) Printed and Published by Vivek Jitendra Desai Navajivan Publishing House Ahmedabad-380 014 (INDIA) Phone: 079 – 2754 0635, 2754 2634 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.navajivantrust.org\ Selected Letters of Mahatma Gandhi FOREWORD This volume contains selected letters written by Mahatma Gandhi from time to time. Very few of these letters were published in Gandhiji's own lifetime. After his passing away, systematic efforts were made to collect numerous letters written by him to many friends and co-workers. We have tried to select and classify under different heads significant thoughts contained in these letters. In the first part of the Volume, we have included about a hundred letters in their complete form. Most of these letters were written on memorable occasions. I am sure the reader would be able to get an insight into Gandhiji's rich and varied personality through these letters. The second part contains Gandhiji's ideas which have been lifted from a large number of letters written by Gandhiji to many of his co-workers as well as men of public importance. Most of these ideas are of universal significance and would, I am sure, interest our readers in different parts of the world. Shriman Narayan Raj Bhavan Ahmedabad, October 16, 1968 www.mkgandhi.org Page 2 Selected Letters of Mahatma Gandhi PUBLISHER'S NOTE A deluxe edition of Selected Works of Mahatma Gandhi was released in 1969. It went out of print in about six months. To meet the popular demand for it and to make it available to individual readers at a reasonable price a new soft- cover edition was soon released. It, too, was enthusiastically received and the entire stock of the publication was sold out in less than three years. We are very happy to say that the set was reprinted and was offered at a subsidised price to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee year of Navajivan Trust during 1993-94. Looking to its continuous demand and so also to fulfill Navajivan's objective of propagating Gandhian Literature, its eighth reprint is being published with new size and type-setting. We are sure, this new edition, too, would be well-received by individual readers, in order to enrich their personal library. www.mkgandhi.org Page 3 Selected Letters of Mahatma Gandhi GLOSSARY Abhanga: devotional metrical poetry in Marathi Advaita: Vedantic concept for Monism Advaitavadins: believers in Advaita Aman: freedom from desire of respect Ashram: one of the four stages of the Hindu way of life; a place for renunciation; a place for disciplined community life Asuri Sampat: mind's propensities leading to evil darkness Avatar: incarnation Bhagawadgita: The celestial poem containing cream of the deepest Hindu thought—specially highlighting the doctrine of Karma—selfless action Bhagawat: mythological work of divine glory Bhakta: a devotee Bhakti: devotion Brahma: The Supreme Brahmabhuta: one immersed in the spirit of Brahma Brahmacharya: chastity, continence; literally conduct to God-realization Chitta: enlivened mind Charvaka: materialistic school of thought known by the name of its preacher Daivi Sampad: divine-higher propensities of mind leading to man's upliftment Daya: compassion Dharma: one's path of duty; religion www.mkgandhi.org Page 4 Selected Letters of Mahatma Gandhi Dwadasha Mantra: the sacred verse of 12 syllables dedicated to Lord Krishna Gayatri: consecrated Vedic mantra of immense potency Guru: a spiritual guide; teacher Gurudev: a reverential term for guru, guru hailed as god Jay Rama: Glory to Rama Khadi, Khaddar: hand-spun & hand-woven cloth-in Kshatriya: a warrior; one belonging to the second division of the pristine Hindu society Lok-sangraha: that leading to conservation of society Mantra: a sacred and pithy verse Maya: denoting illusive nature of the transient world Moksha: salvation; liberation from birth & death Muni: a recluse; one keeping silence to meditate on the Divine Mauna: silence Punya: accrued merit from service & devotion, etc. Rakshasas: demons; evil-doers Ramanama: the name of Rama; recitation of His name Ramayana: the Epic of Rama by Valmiki www.mkgandhi.org Page 5 Selected Letters of Mahatma Gandhi Rishis: those given to deep austerity & penance to explore Eternity; men of wide vision Sadhana: spiritual practice Sattvic: denoting the divine qualities of mind Satyagraha: clinging to truth; soul-force; Gandhi's weapon of non-violent resistance Satyagrahi: one wedded to Satyagraha doctrine Shastras: scriptures Shloka: metrical verse of devotion Sirkar: Governmental or local authority Sthitaprajna: man of steady mind; one risen above dualities Tamas & Rajas: mind's propensities leading to darkness and self-activity respectively Tapas: penance; austerity Tapascharya: one given to practising penance Thana: police station Vaishnavas: devotees of Vishnu—the Divine Dispenser Vedas: the Earliest Hindu scriptures in lyrical form emanating perennial wisdom. They are Rigveda, Samveda, Yajurveda and Atharvaveda Yajna: a ritual at the altar of God; sacrifice Yamas: injunctions for religious life Yoga: practice of body, mind & soul for realization Yogi: one practising Yoga www.mkgandhi.org Page 6 Selected Letters of Mahatma Gandhi CONTENTS Foreword Publisher’s Note Glossary Section One: Letters 1. To Dadabhai Naoroji 2. To G. K. Gokhale 3. To G. K. Gokhale 4. To Tolstoy 4A. From Count Leo Tolstoy 5. To Count Leo Tolstoy 6. To Leo Tolstoy 6A. From Count Leo Tolstoy 7. To Leo Tolstoy 7A. From Count Leo Tolstoy 8. To Maganlal Gandhi 9. To Maganlal Gandhi 10. To Narhar Shambhurao Bhave 11. To Mr. Maffey, Private Secretary to Viceroy 12. To W. B. Heycock 13. To Shankarlal on ‘Ideas about Satyagraha’ 14. To Vinoba Bhave 15. To C. F. Andrews 16. To C. F. Andrews 17. To C. F. Andrews www.mkgandhi.org Page 7 Selected Letters of Mahatma Gandhi 18. To Kasturba Gandhi 19. To Kishorelal Mashruwala 20. To Sarojini Naidu 21. To Srinivas Sastri 22. To Srinivas Sastri 23. To Rabindranath Tagore 23A. From Rabindranath Tagore 24. To Rabindranath Tagore 25. From Rabindranath Tagore 25A. To Rabindranath Tagore 26. From Rabindranath Tagore 26A. To Rabindranath Tagore 27. To Rabindranath Tagore 28. To Rabindranath Tagore 29. To Rabindranath Tagore 30. To Rabindranath Tagore 31. To Rabindranath Tagore 32. From Rabindranath Tagore 32A. To Rabindranath Tagore 33. From G. S. Arundale 33A. To G. S. Arundale 34. To Every Englishman in India 35. To Viceroy 36. To Jawaharlal Nehru 37. To Jawaharlal Nehru www.mkgandhi.org Page 8 Selected Letters of Mahatma Gandhi 38. To Jawaharlal Nehru 39. To Jawaharlal Nehru 40. From Jawaharlal Nehru 41. To Jawaharlal Nehru 42. To Konda Venkatappayya 43. To T. Prakasam 44. To Hakim Ajmal Khan 45. To Jamnalal Bajaj 46. To Mahomed Ali 47. To Motilal Nehru 48. To Motilal Nehru 49. To C. Rajgopalachari 50. To C. Rajgopalachari 51. To Kakasaheb Kalelkar 52. To a Friend 53. From Madeleine Slade or Miraben 53A. To Madeleine Slade 54. To Romain Rolland 55. To Romain Rolland 56. To Shri Shankaran 57. To Hermann Kallenbach 58. To Gulzarilal Nanda 59. To Dr. Kailas Nath Katju 60. To Dhan Gopal Mukherjee 61. To Henry S. Salt www.mkgandhi.org Page 9 Selected Letters of Mahatma Gandhi 62. To The Viceroy 63. To Lord Irwin 64. To Reginald Reynolds 65. To Richard B. Gregg 66. To Sir Samuel Hoare 67. To Ramsay Macdonald 68. To Pandit Malaviyaji 69. To the Secretary to the Government of Bombay, (Home Department), Poona 70. To Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru 71. To Carlo Heath 72. To Carlo Heath 73. To Carlo Heath 74. To M. A. Jinnah 75. To M. A. Jinnah 76. To M. A. Jinnah 76A. From M. A. Jinnah 77. To M. A. Jinnah 78. From Subhash Chandra Bose 78A. To Subhash Chandra Bose 79. To Herr Hitler 80. To Every Briton 81. To Every Briton 82. To Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek 83. To Every Japanese www.mkgandhi.org Page 10 Selected Letters of Mahatma Gandhi 84. To American Friends 85. To Lord Linlithgow 86. To Lord Linlithgow 86A. From Lord Linlithgow 87. To Lord Linlithgow 87A. From Lord Linlithgow 88. To Lord Linlithgow 88A. From Lord Linlithgow 89. To Lord Linlithgow 90. To Agatha Harrison 91. To Winston Churchill 92. To Shriman Narayan 93. To Lord Pethick Lawernce 94. To Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel 95. To The Viceroy 96. To The Viceroy 96A. From Lord Mountbatten 97. To Abdul Ghaffar Khan 97A. From Abdul Ghaffar Khan 98. To a Friend 99. To Madame Edmond Privat 100. To the People of Gujarat Appendix I Appendix II Appendix III www.mkgandhi.org Page 11 Selected Letters of Mahatma Gandhi *Section Two: Extracts from Letters 1. Faith in God 2. Religion and Scriptures 3. Value of Prayer 4. Truth and Non-Violence 5. The Science of Satyagraha 6. Fasting in Satyagraha 7. ‘Unto This Last’ 8. Khadi and Village Industry 9. East and West 10. Hindu-Muslim Unity 11. Upliftment of Women 12. The Good of All 13. India’s Freedom 14. Education 15. Caste System and Untouchability 16. Brahmacharya 17. Fearlessness 18. Health and Hygiene 19. Self-Restraint 20. Self-Development 21. Selfless Service 22. Voluntary Poverty Sources *Such photostats of the copies of Gandhiji’s letters as do not bear his signature have been retained as such. www.mkgandhi.org Page 12 Selected Letters of Mahatma Gandhi Selected Letters Section One Letters www.mkgandhi.org Page 13 Selected Letters of Mahatma Gandhi 1. TO DADABHAI NAOROJI1 [This letter appears to be the first of many that Gandhiji wrote to Dadabhai Naoroji.