,a ,,letter ,,to ,a ,,hindu   ,,the     
,,subjection ,,of ,,india--,,its ,,cause
 ,,and ,,cure   ,with an ,introduction  
by ,m4 ,k4 ,,gandhi   ,by ,leo ,tolstoy 
,,introduction   ,the letter printed    
below is a translation of ,tolstoy's    
letter written in ,russian in reply to  
one from the ,editor of ,free           
,hindustan4 ,after having passed from   
hand to hand1 this letter at last came  
into my possession through a friend who 
asked me1 as one much interested in     
,tolstoy's writings1 whether ,i thought 
it worth publishing4 ,i at once replied 
in the affirmative1 and told him ,i     
should translate it myself into         
,gujarati and induce others' to         
translate and publish it in various     
,indian vernaculars4  ,the letter as    
received by me was a type-written copy4 
,it was therefore referred to the       
author1 who confirmed it as his and     
kindly granted me permission to print   
it4  ,to me1 as a humble follower of    
that great teacher whom ,i have long    

looked upon as one of my guides1 it is a
 matter of honour to be connected with  
the publication of his letter1 such     
especially as the one which is now being
 given to the world4  ,it is a mere     
statement of fact to say that every     
,indian1 whether he owns up to it or    
not1 has national aspirations4 ,but     
there are as many opinions as there are 
,indian nationalists as to the exact    
meaning of that aspiration1 and more    
especially as to the methods to be used 
to attain the end4  ,one of the accepted
 and 'time-honoured' methods to attain  
the end is that of violence4 ,the       
assassination of ,sir ,curzon ,wylie was
 an illustration of that method in its  
worst and most detestable form4         
,tolstoy's life has been devoted to     
replacing the method of violence for    
removing tyranny or securing reform by  
the method of non-resistance to evil4   
,he would meet hatred expressed in      
violence by love expressed in           
self-suffering4 ,he admits of no        

exception to whittle down this great and
 divine law of love4 ,he applies it to  
all the problems that trouble mankind4  
,when a man like ,tolstoy1 one of the   
clearest thinkers in the western world1 
one of the greatest writers1 one who as 
a soldier has known what violence is and
 what it can do1 condemns ,japan for    
having blindly followed the law of      
modern science1 falsely so-called1 and  
fears for that country 'the greatest    
calamities'1 it is for us to pause and  
consider whether1 in our impatience of  
,english rule1 we do not want to replace
 one evil by another and a worse4       
,india1 which is the nursery of the     
great faiths of the world1 will cease to
 be nationalist ,india1 whatever else   
she may become1 when she goes through   
the process of civilization in the shape
 of reproduction on that sacred soil of 
gun factories and the hateful           
industrialism which has reduced the     
people of ,europe to a state of slavery1
 and all but stifled among them the best

 instincts which are the heritage of the
 human family4  ,if we do not want the  
,english in ,india we must pay the      
price4 ,tolstoy indicates it4 ',do not  
resist evil1 but also do not yourselves 
participate in evil--in the violent     
deeds of the administration of the law  
courts1 the collection of taxes and1    
what is more important1 of the soldiers1
 and no one in the world will enslave   
you'1 passionately declares the sage of 
,yasnaya ,polyana4 ,who can question the
 truth of what he says in the following3
 ',a commercial company enslaved a      
nation comprising two hundred millions4 
,tell this to a man free from           
superstition and he will fail to grasp  
what these words mean4 ,what does it    
mean that thirty thousand people1 not   
athletes1 but rather weak and ordinary  
people1 have enslaved two hundred       
millions of vigorous1 clever1 capable1  
freedom-loving people8 ,do not the      
figures make it clear that not the      
,english1 but the ,indians1 have        

enslaved themselves8'  ,one need not    
accept all that ,tolstoy says--some of  
his facts are not accurately stated--to 
realize the central truth of his        
indictment of the present system1 which 
is to understand and act upon the       
irresistible power of the soul over the 
body1 of love1 which is an attribute of 
the soul1 over the brute or body force  
generated by the stirring in us of evil 
passions4  ,there is no doubt that there
 is nothing new in what ,tolstoy        
preaches4 ,but his presentation of the  
old truth is refreshingly forceful4 ,his
 logic is unassailable4 ,and above all  
he endeavours to practise what he       
preaches4 ,he preaches to convince4 ,he 
is sincere and in earnest4 ,he commands 
attention4  #aith ,november1 #aiji ,m4  
,k4 ,,gandhi      ,a ,,letter ,,to ,a   
,,hindu   ,by ,leo ,tolstoy    ,all that
 exists is ,one4 ,people only call this 
,one by different names4 ,,the ,,vedas4 
,god is love1 and he that abideth in    
love abideth in ,god1 and ,god abideth  

in him4 ,i ,,john iv4 #af4  ,god is one 
whole2 we are the parts4 ,,exposition   
,,of ,,the ,,teaching ,,of ,,the ,,vedas
 ,,by ,,vivekananda4     ,i   ,do not   
seek quiet and rest in those earthly    
realms where delusions and desires are  
engendered1 for if thou dost1 thou wilt 
be dragged through the rough wilderness 
of life1 which is far from ,me4         
,whenever thou feelest that thy feet are
 becoming entangled in the interlaced   
roots of life1 know that thou has       
strayed from the path to which ,i beckon
 thee3 for ,i have placed thee in broad1
 smooth paths1 which are strewn with    
flowers4 ,i have put a light before     
thee1 which thou canst follow and thus  
run without stumbling4 ,,krishna4  ,i   
have received your letter and two       
numbers of your periodical1 both of     
which interest me extremely4 ,the       
oppression of a majority by a minority1 
and the demoralization inevitably       
resulting from it1 is a phenomenon that 
has always occupied me and has done so  

most particularly of late4 ,i will try  
to explain to you what ,i think about   
that subject in general1 and            
particularly about the cause from which 
the dreadful evils of which you write in
 your letter1 and in the ,hindu         
periodical you have sent me1 have arisen
 and continue to arise4  ,the reason for
 the astonishing fact that a majority of
 working people submit to a handful of  
idlers who control their labour and     
their very lives is always and          
everywhere the same--whether the        
oppressors and oppressed are of one race
 or whether1 as in ,india and elsewhere1
 the oppressors are of a different      
nation4  ,this phenomenon seems         
particularly strange in ,india1 for     
there more than two hundred million     
people1 highly gifted both physically   
and mentally1 find themselves in the    
power of a small group of people quite  
alien to them in thought1 and           
immeasurably inferior to them in        
religious morality4  ,from your letter  

and the articles in ,free ,hindustan as 
well as from the very interesting       
writings of the ,hindu ,swami           
,vivekananda and others1 it appears     
that1 as is the case in our time with   
the ills of all nations1 the reason lies
 in the lack of a reasonable religious  
teaching which by explaining the meaning
 of life would supply a supreme law for 
the guidance of conduct and would       
replace the more than dubious precepts  
of pseudo-religion and pseudo-science   
with the immoral conclusions deduced    
from them and commonly called           
'civilization'4  ,your letter1 as well  
as the articles in ,free ,hindustan and 
,indian political literature generally1 
shows that most of the leaders of public
 opinion among your people no longer    
attach any significance to the religious
 teachings that were and are professed  
by the peoples of ,india1 and recognize 
no possibility of freeing the people    
from the oppression they endure except  
by adopting the irreligious and         

profoundly immoral social arrangements  
under which the ,english and other      
pseudo-,christian nations live to-day4  
,and yet the chief if not the sole cause
 of the enslavement of the ,indian      
peoples by the ,english lies in this    
very absence of a religious             
consciousness and of the guidance for   
conduct which should flow from it--a    
lack common in our day to all nations   
,east and ,west1 from ,japan to ,england
 and ,america alike4     ,,ii   ,o ye1  
who see perplexities over your heads1   
beneath your feet1 and to the right and 
left of you2 you will be an eternal     
enigma unto yourselves until ye become  
humble and joyful as children4 ,then    
will ye find ,me1 and having found ,me  
in yourselves1 you will rule over       
worlds1 and looking out from the great  
world within to the little world        
without1 you will bless everything that 
is1 and find all is well with time and  
with you4 ,,krishna4   ,to make my      
thoughts clear to you ,i must go farther

 back4 ,we do not1 cannot1 and ,i       
venture to say need not1 know how men   
lived millions of years ago or even ten 
thousand years ago1 but we do know      
positively that1 as far back as we have 
any knowledge of mankind1 it has always 
lived in special groups of families1    
tribes1 and nations in which the        
majority1 in the conviction that it must
 be so1 submissively and willingly bowed
 to the rule of one or more             
persons--that is to a very small        
minority4 ,despite all varieties of     
circumstances and personalities these   
relations manifested themselves among   
the various peoples of whose origin we  
have any knowledge2 and the farther back
 we go the more absolutely necessary did
 this arrangement appear1 both to the   
rulers and the ruled1 to make it        
possible for people to live peacefully  
together4  ,so it was everywhere4 ,but  
though this external form of life       
existed for centuries and still exists1 
very early--thousands of years before   

our time--amid this life based on       
coercion1 one and the same thought      
constantly emerged among different      
nations1 namely1 that in every          
individual a spiritual element is       
manifested that gives life to all that  
exists1 and that this spiritual element 
strives to unite with everything of a   
like nature to itself1 and attains this 
aim through love4 ,this thought appeared
 in most various forms at different     
times and places1 with varying          
completeness and clarity4 ,it found     
expression in ,brahmanism1 ,judaism1    
,mazdaism 7the teachings of ,zoroaster71
 in ,buddhism1 ,taoism1 ,confucianism1  
and in the writings of the ,greek and   
,roman sages1 as well as in             
,christianity and ,mohammedanism4 ,the  
mere fact that this thought has sprung  
up among different nations and at       
different times indicates that it is    
inherent in human nature and contains   
the truth4 ,but this truth was made     
known to people who considered that a   

community could only be kept together if
 some of them restrained others1 and so 
it appeared quite irreconcilable with   
the existing order of society4 ,moreover
 it was at first expressed only         
fragmentarily1 and so obscurely that    
though people admitted its theoretic    
truth they could not entirely accept it 
as guidance for their conduct4 ,then1   
too1 the dissemination of the truth in a
 society based on coercion was always   
hindered in one and the same manner1    
namely1 those in power1 feeling that the
 recognition of this truth would        
undermine their position1 consciously or
 sometimes unconsciously perverted it by
 explanations and additions quite       
foreign to it1 and also opposed it by   
open violence4 ,thus the truth--that his
 life should be directed by the         
spiritual element which is its basis1   
which manifests itself as love1 and     
which is so natural to man--this truth1 
in order to force a way to man's        
consciousness1 had to struggle not      

merely against the obscurity with which 
it was expressed and the intentional and
 unintentional distortions surrounding  
it1 but also against deliberate         
violence1 which by means of persecutions
 and punishments sought to compel men to
 accept religious laws authorized by the
 rulers and conflicting with the truth4 
,such a hindrance and misrepresentation 
of the truth--which had not yet achieved
 complete clarity--occurred everywhere3 
in ,confucianism and ,taoism1 in        
,buddhism and in ,christianity1 in      
,mohammedanism and in your ,brahmanism4 
,,iii   ,my hand has sowed love         
everywhere1 giving unto all that will   
receive4 ,blessings are offered unto all
 ,my children1 but many times in their  
blindness they fail to see them4 ,how   
few there are who gather the gifts which
 lie in profusion at their feet3 how    
many there are1 who1 in wilful          
waywardness1 turn their eyes away from  
them and complain with a wail that they 
have not that which ,i have given them2 

many of them defiantly repudiate not    
only ,my gifts1 but ,me also1 ,me1 the  
,source of all blessings and the ,author
 of their being4 ,,krishna4  ,i tarry   
awhile from the turmoil and strife of   
the world4 ,i will beautify and quicken 
thy life with love and with joy1 for the
 light of the soul is ,love4 ,where     
,love is1 there is contentment and      
peace1 and where there is contentment   
and peace1 there am ,i1 also1 in their  
midst4 ,,krishna4  ,the aim of the      
sinless ,one consists in acting without 
causing sorrow to others1 although he   
could attain to great power by ignoring 
their feelings4  ,the aim of the sinless
 ,one lies in not doing evil unto those 
who have done evil unto him4  ,if a man 
causes suffering even to those who hate 
him without any reason1 he will         
ultimately have grief not to be         
overcome4  ,the punishment of evil doers
 consists in making them feel ashamed of
 themselves by doing them a great       
kindness4  ,of what use is superior     

knowledge in the one1 if he does not    
endeavour to relieve his neighbour's    
want as much as his own8  ,if1 in the   
morning1 a man wishes to do evil unto   
another1 in the evening the evil will   
return to him4   ,,the ,,hindu ,,kural4 
,thus it went on everywhere4 ,the       
recognition that love represents the    
highest morality was nowhere denied or  
contradicted1 but this truth was so     
interwoven everywhere with all kinds of 
falsehoods which distorted it1 that     
finally nothing of it remained but      
words4 ,it was taught that this highest 
morality was only applicable to private 
life--for home use1 as it were--but that
 in public life all forms of            
violence--such as imprisonment1         
executions1 and wars--might be used for 
the protection of the majority against a
 minority of evildoers1 though such     
means were diametrically opposed to any 
vestige of love4 ,and though common     
sense indicated that if some men claim  
to decide who is to be subjected to     

violence of all kinds for the benefit of
 others1 these men to whom violence is  
applied may1 in turn1 arrive at a       
similar conclusion with regard to those 
who have employed violence to them1 and 
though the great religious teachers of  
,brahmanism1 ,buddhism1 and above all of
 ,christianity1 foreseeing such a       
perversion of the law of love1 have     
constantly drawn attention to the one   
invariable condition of love 7namely1   
the enduring of injuries1 insults1 and  
violence of all kinds without resisting 
evil by evil7 people                    
continued--regardless of all that leads 
man forward--to try to unite the        
incompatibles3 the virtue of love1 and  
what is opposed to love1 namely1 the    
restraining of evil by violence4 ,and   
such a teaching1 despite its inner      
contradiction1 was so firmly established
 that the very people who recognize love
 as a virtue accept as lawful at the    
same time an order of life based on     
violence and allowing men not merely to 

torture but even to kill one another4   
,for a long time people lived in this   
obvious contradiction without noticing  
it4 ,but a time arrived when this       
contradiction became more and more      
evident to thinkers of various nations4 
,and the old and simple truth that it is
 natural for men to help and to love one
 another1 but not to torture and to kill
 one another1 became ever clearer1 so   
that fewer and fewer people were able to
 believe the sophistries by which the   
distortion of the truth had been made so
 plausible4  ,in former times the chief 
method of justifying the use of violence
 and thereby infringing the law of love 
was by claiming a divine right for the  
rulers3 the ,tsars1 ,sultans1 ,rajahs1  
,shahs1 and other heads of states4 ,but 
the longer humanity lived the weaker    
grew the belief in this peculiar1       
,god--given right of the ruler4 ,that   
belief withered in the same way and     
almost simultaneously in the ,christian 
and the ,brahman world1 as well as in   

,buddhist and ,confucian spheres1 and in
 recent times it has so faded away as to
 prevail no longer against man's        
reasonable understanding and the true   
religious feeling4 ,people saw more and 
more clearly1 and now the majority see  
quite clearly1 the senselessness and    
immorality of subordinating their wills 
to those of other people just like      
themselves1 when they are bidden to do  
what is contrary not only to their      
interests but also to their moral sense4
 ,and so one might suppose that having  
lost confidence in any religious        
authority for a belief in the divinity  
of potentates of various kinds1 people  
would try to free themselves from       
subjection to it4 ,but unfortunately not
 only were the rulers1 who were         
considered supernatural beings1         
benefited by having the peoples in      
subjection1 but as a result of the      
belief in1 and during the rule of1 these
 pseudodivine beings1 ever larger and   
larger circles of people grouped and    

established themselves around them1 and 
under an appearance of governing took   
advantage of the people4 ,and when the  
old deception of a supernatural and     
,god-appointed authority had dwindled   
away these men were only concerned to   
devise a new one which like its         
predecessor should make it possible to  
hold the people in bondage to a limited 
number of rulers4     ,,iv   ,children1 
do you want to know by what your hearts 
should be guided8 ,throw aside your     
longings and strivings after that which 
is null and void2 get rid of your       
erroneous thoughts about happiness and  
wisdom1 and your empty and insincere    
desires4 ,dispense with these and you   
will know ,love4 ,,krishna4  ,be not the
 destroyers of yourselves4 ,arise to    
your true ,being1 and then you will have
 nothing to fear4 ,,krishna4   ,new     
justifications have now appeared in     
place of the antiquated1 obsolete1      
religious ones4 ,these new              
justifications are just as inadequate as

 the old ones1 but as they are new their
 futility cannot immediately be         
recognized by the majority of men4      
,besides this1 those who enjoy power    
propagate these new sophistries and     
support them so skilfully that they seem
 irrefutable even to many of those who  
suffer from the oppression these        
theories seek to justify4 ,these new    
justifications are termed 'scientific'4 
,but by the term 'scientific' is        
understood just what was formerly       
understood by the term 'religious'3 just
 as formerly everything called          
'religious' was held to be              
unquestionable simply because it was    
called religious1 so now all that is    
called 'scientific' is held to be       
unquestionable4 ,in the present case the
 obsolete religious justification of    
violence which consisted in the         
recognition of the supernatural         
personality of the ,god-ordained ruler  
7'there is no power but of ,god'7 has   
been superseded by the 'scientific'     

justification which puts forward1 first1
 the assertion that because the coercion
 of man by man has existed in all ages1 
it follows that such coercion must      
continue to exist4 ,this assertion that 
people should continue to live as they  
have done throughout past ages rather   
than as their reason and conscience     
indicate1 is what 'science' calls 'the  
historic law'4 ,a further 'scientific'  
justification lies in the statement that
 as among plants and wild beasts there  
is a constant struggle for existence    
which always results in the survival of 
the fittest1 a similar struggle should  
be carried on among human               
beings--beings1 that is1 who are gifted 
with intelligence and love2 faculties   
lacking in the creatures subject to the 
struggle for existence and survival of  
the fittest4 ,such is the second        
'scientific' justification4  ,the third1
 most important1 and unfortunately most 
widespread justification is1 at bottom1 
the age-old religious one just a little 

altered3 that in public life the        
suppression of some for the protection  
of the majority cannot be avoided--so   
that coercion is unavoidable however    
desirable reliance on love alone might  
be in human intercourse4 ,the only      
difference in this justification by     
pseudo-science consists in the fact     
that1 to the question why such and such 
people and not others have the right to 
decide against whom violence may and    
must be used1 pseudo-science now gives a
 different reply to that given by       
religion--which declared that the right 
to decide was valid because it was      
pronounced by persons possessed of      
divine power4 ',science' says that these
 decisions represent the will of the    
people1 which under a constitutional    
form of government is supposed to find  
expression in all the decisions and     
actions of those who are at the helm at 
the moment4  ,such are the scientific   
justifications of the principle of      
coercion4 ,they are not merely weak but 

absolutely invalid1 yet they are so much
 needed by those who occupy privileged  
positions that they believe in them as  
blindly as they formerly believed in the
 immaculate conception1 and propagate   
them just as confidently4 ,and the      
unfortunate majority of men bound to    
toil is so dazzled by the pomp with     
which these 'scientific truths' are     
presented1 that under this new influence
 it accepts these scientific stupidities
 for holy truth1 just as it formerly    
accepted the pseudo-religious           
justifications2 and it continues to     
submit to the present holders of power  
who are just as hard-hearted but rather 
more numerous than before4     ,v   ,who
 am ,i8 ,i am that which thou hast      
searched for since thy baby eyes gazed  
wonderingly upon the world1 whose       
horizon hides this real life from thee4 
,i am that which in thy heart thou hast 
prayed for1 demanded as thy birthright1 
although thou hast not known what it    
was4 ,i am that which has lain in thy   

soul for hundreds and thousands of      
years4 ,sometimes ,i lay in thee        
grieving because thou didst not         
recognize me2 sometimes ,i raised my    
head1 opened my eyes1 and extended my   
arms calling thee either tenderly and   
quietly1 or strenuously1 demanding that 
thou shouldst rebel against the iron    
chains which bound thee to the earth4   
,,krishna4   ,so matters went on1 and   
still go on1 in the ,christian world4   
,but we might have hope that in the     
immense ,brahman1 ,buddhist1 and        
,confucian worlds this new scientific   
superstition would not establish itself1
 and that the ,chinese1 ,japanese1 and  
,hindus1 once their eyes were opened to 
the religious fraud justifying violence1
 would advance directly to a recognition
 of the law of love inherent in         
humanity1 and which had been so forcibly
 enunciated by the great ,eastern       
teachers4 ,but what has happened is that
 the scientific superstition replacing  
the religious one has been accepted and 

secured a stronger and stronger hold in 
the ,east4  ,in your periodical you set 
out as the basic principle which should 
guide the actions of your people the    
maxim that3 ',resistance to aggression  
is not simply justifiable but           
imperative1 nonresistance hurts both    
,altruism and ,egotism4'  ,love is the  
only way to rescue humanity from all    
ills1 and in it you too have the only   
method of saving your people from       
enslavement4 ,in very ancient times love
 was proclaimed with special strength   
and clearness among your people to be   
the religious basis of human life4      
,love1 and forcible resistance to       
evil-doers1 involve such a mutual       
contradiction as to destroy utterly the 
whole sense and meaning of the          
conception of love4 ,and what follows8  
,with a light heart and in the twentieth
 century you1 an adherent of a religious
 people1 deny their law1 feeling        
convinced of your scientific            
enlightenment and your right to do so1  

and you repeat 7do not take this amiss7 
the amazing stupidity indoctrinated in  
you by the advocates of the use of      
violence--the enemies of truth1 the     
servants first of theology and then of  
science--your ,european teachers4  ,you 
say that the ,english have enslaved your
 people and hold them in subjection     
because the latter have not resisted    
resolutely enough and have not met force
 by force4  ,but the case is just the   
opposite4 ,if the ,english have enslaved
 the people of ,india it is just because
 the latter recognized1 and still       
recognize1 force as the fundamental     
principle of the social order4 ,in      
accord with that principle they         
submitted to their little rajahs1 and on
 their behalf struggled against one     
another1 fought the ,europeans1 the     
,english1 and are now trying to fight   
with them again4  ,a commercial company 
enslaved a nation comprising two hundred
 millions4 ,tell this to a man free from
 superstition and he will fail to grasp 

what these words mean4 ,what does it    
mean that thirty thousand men1 not      
athletes but rather weak and ordinary   
people1 have subdued two hundred million
 vigorous1 clever1 capable1 and         
freedom-loving people8 ,do not the      
figures make it clear that it is not the
 ,english who have enslaved the         
,indians1 but the ,indians who have     
enslaved themselves8  ,when the ,indians
 complain that the ,english have        
enslaved them it is as if drunkards     
complained that the spirit-dealers who  
have settled among them have enslaved   
them4 ,you tell them that they might    
give up drinking1 but they reply that   
they are so accustomed to it that they  
cannot abstain1 and that they must have 
alcohol to keep up their energy4 ,is it 
not the same thing with the millions of 
people who submit to thousands' or even 
to hundreds1 of others--of their own or 
other nations8  ,if the people of ,india
 are enslaved by violence it is only    
because they themselves live and have   

lived by violence1 and do not recognize 
the eternal law of love inherent in     
humanity4  ,pitiful and foolish is the  
man who seeks what he already has1 and  
does not know that he has it4 ,yes1     
,pitiful and foolish is he who does not 
know the bliss of love which surrounds  
him and which ,i have given him4        
,,krishna4   ,as soon as men live       
entirely in accord with the law of love 
natural to their hearts and now revealed
 to them1 which excludes all resistance 
by violence1 and therefore hold aloof   
from all participation in violence--as  
soon as this happens1 not only will     
hundreds be unable to enslave millions1 
but not even millions will be able to   
enslave a single individual4 ,do not    
resist the evil-doer and take no part in
 doing so1 either in the violent deeds  
of the administration1 in the law       
courts1 the collection of taxes1 or     
above all in soldiering1 and no one in  
the world will be able to enslave you4  
,,vi   ,o ye who sit in bondage and     

continually seek and pant for freedom1  
seek only for love4 ,love is peace in   
itself and peace which gives complete   
satisfaction4 ,i am the key that opens  
the portal to the rarely discovered land
 where contentment alone is found4      
,,krishna4  ,what is now happening to   
the people of the ,east as of the ,west 
is like what happens to every individual
 when he passes from childhood to       
adolescence and from youth to manhood4  
,he loses what had hitherto guided his  
life and lives without direction1 not   
having found a new standard suitable to 
his age1 and so he invents all sorts of 
occupations1 cares1 distractions1 and   
stupefactions to divert his attention   
from the misery and senselessness of his
 life4 ,such a condition may last a long
 time4  ,when an individual passes from 
one period of life to another a time    
comes when he cannot go on in senseless 
activity and excitement as before1 but  
has to understand that although he has  
outgrown what before used to direct him1

 this does not mean that he must live   
without any reasonable guidance1 but    
rather that he must formulate for       
himself an understanding of life        
corresponding to his age1 and having    
elucidated it must be guided by it4 ,and
 in the same way a similar time must    
come in the growth and development of   
humanity4 ,i believe that such a time   
has now arrived--not in the sense that  
it has come in the year #aijh1 but that 
the inherent contradiction of human life
 has now reached an extreme degree of   
tension3 on the one side there is the   
consciousness of the beneficence of the 
law of love1 and on the other the       
existing order of life which has for    
centuries occasioned an empty1 anxious1 
restless1 and troubled mode of life1    
conflicting as it does with the law of  
love and built on the use of violence4  
,this contradiction must be faced1 and  
the solution will evidently not be      
favourable to the outlived law of       
violence1 but to the truth which has    

dwelt in the hearts of men from remote  
antiquity3 the truth that the law of    
love is in accord with the nature of    
man4  ,but men can only recognize this  
truth to its full extent when they have 
completely freed themselves from all    
religious and scientific superstitions  
and from all the consequent             
misrepresentations and sophistical      
distortions by which its recognition has
 been hindered for centuries4  ,to save 
a sinking ship it is necessary to throw 
overboard the ballast1 which though it  
may once have been needed would now     
cause the ship to sink4 ,and so it is   
with the scientific superstition which  
hides the truth of their welfare from   
mankind4 ,in order that men should      
embrace the truth--not in the vague way 
they did in childhood1 nor in the       
one-sided and perverted way presented to
 them by their religious and scientific 
teachers1 but embrace it as their       
highest law--the complete liberation of 
this truth from all and every           

superstition 7both pseudo-religious and 
pseudo-scientific7 by which it is still 
obscured is essential3 not a partial1   
timid attempt1 reckoning with traditions
 sanctified by age and with the habits  
of the people--not such as was effected 
in the religious sphere by ,guru-,nanak1
 the founder of the sect of the ,sikhs1 
and in the ,christian world by ,luther1 
and by similar reformers in other       
religions--but a fundamental cleansing  
of religious consciousness from all     
ancient religious and modern scientific 
superstitions4  ,if only people freed   
themselves from their beliefs in all    
kinds of ,ormuzds1 ,brahmas1 ,sabbaoths1
 and their incarnation as ,krishnas and 
,christs1 from beliefs in ,paradises and
 ,hells1 in reincarnations and          
resurrections1 from belief in the       
interference of the ,gods in the        
external affairs of the universe1 and   
above all1 if they freed themselves from
 belief in the infallibility of all the 
various ,vedas1 ,bibles1 ,gospels1      

,tripitakas1 ,korans1 and the like1 and 
also freed themselves from blind belief 
in a variety of scientific teachings    
about infinitely small atoms and        
molecules and in all the infinitely     
great and infinitely remote worlds1     
their movements and origin1 as well as  
from faith in the infallibility of the  
scientific law to which humanity is at  
present subjected3 the historic law1 the
 economic laws1 the law of struggle and 
survival1 and so on--if people only     
freed themselves from this terrible     
accumulation of futile exercises of our 
lower capacities of mind and memory     
called the ',sciences'1 and from the    
innumerable divisions of all sorts of   
histories1 anthropologies1 homiletics1  
bacteriologics1 jurisprudences1         
cosmographies1 strategies--their name is
 legion--and freed themselves from all  
this harmful1 stupifying ballast--the   
simple law of love1 natural to man1     
accessible to all and solving all       
questions and perplexities1 would of    

itself become clear and obligatory4     
,,vii   ,children1 look at the flowers  
at your feet2 do not trample upon them4 
,look at the love in your midst and do  
not repudiate it4 ,,krishna4  ,there is 
a higher reason which transcends all    
human minds4 ,it is far and near4 ,it   
permeates all the worlds and at the same
 time is infinitely higher than they4   
,a man who sees that all things are     
contained in the higher spirit cannot   
treat any being with contempt4  ,for him
 to whom all spiritual beings are equal 
to the highest there can be no room for 
deception or grief4  ,those who are     
ignorant and are devoted to the         
religious rites only1 are in a deep     
gloom1 but those who are given up to    
fruitless meditations are in a still    
greater darkness4   ,,upanishads1 ,,from
 ,,vedas4   ,yes1 in our time all these 
things must be cleared away in order    
that mankind may escape from            
self-inflicted calamities that have     
reached an extreme intensity4 ,whether  

an ,indian seeks liberation from        
subjection to the ,english1 or anyone   
else struggles with an oppressor either 
of his own nationality or of            
another--whether it be a ,negro         
defending himself against the ,north    
,americans2 or ,persians1 ,russians1 or 
,turks against the ,persian1 ,russian1  
or ,turkish governments1 or any man     
seeking the greatest welfare for himself
 and for everybody else--they do not    
need explanations and justifications of 
old religious superstitions such as have
 been formulated by your ,vivekanandas1 
,baba ,bharatis1 and others1 or in the  
,christian world by a number of similar 
interpreters and exponents of things    
that nobody needs2 nor the innumerable  
scientific theories about matters not   
only unnecessary but for the most part  
harmful4 7,in the spiritual realm       
nothing is indifferent3 what is not     
useful is harmful47 ,what are wanted for
 the ,indian as for the ,englishman1 the
 ,frenchman1 the ,german1 and the       

,russian1 are not ,constitutions and    
,revolutions1 nor all sorts of          
,conferences and ,congresses1 nor the   
many ingenious devices for submarine    
navigation and aerial navigation1 nor   
powerful explosives1 nor all sorts of   
conveniences to add to the enjoyment of 
the rich1 ruling classes2 nor new       
schools and universities with           
innumerable faculties of science1 nor an
 augmentation of papers and books1 nor  
gramophones and cinematographs1 nor     
those childish and for the most part    
corrupt stupidities termed art--but one 
thing only is needful3 the knowledge of 
the simple and clear truth which finds  
place in every soul that is not         
stupefied by religious and scientific   
superstitions--the truth that for our   
life one law is valid--the law of love1 
which brings the highest happiness to   
every individual as well as to all      
mankind4 ,free your minds from those    
overgrown1 mountainous imbecilities     
which hinder your recognition of it1 and

 at once the truth will emerge from amid
 the pseudo-religious nonsense that has 
been smothering it3 the indubitable1    
eternal truth inherent in man1 which is 
one and the same in all the great       
religions of the world4 ,it will in due 
time emerge and make its way to general 
recognition1 and the nonsense that has  
obscured it will disappear of itself1   
and with it will go the evil from which 
humanity now suffers4  ,children1 look  
upwards with your beclouded eyes1 and a 
world full of joy and love will disclose
 itself to you1 a rational world made by
 ,my wisdom1 the only real world4 ,then 
you will know what love has done with   
you1 what love has bestowed upon you1   
what love demands from you4 ,,krishna4  
,,yasnaya ,,polyana4  ,december #adth1  
#aijh4