Indian Council of World Affairs

Distinguished Speakers and Friends! 

The Indian Council of World Affairs enjoys close and friendly relations with key foreign policy and international affairs institutions in Russia. Today, it is very pleased to be part of the 155^th Gandhi Jayanti celebrations at this Conference at Russian House in New Delhi. 

India and Russia have come a long way together, moulding global history through our shared history and cultural ties. Gandhi and Tolstoy's correspondence built bridges between two races, two religions, two cultures and two countries. It is on the foundation of such civilizational connections that India and Russia have stood for each other and enjoy tremendous goodwill to this date in each other's countries and among their peoples. 

The metaphor “footprints on the sands of time” suggests that thoughts and actions of great men, like footprints, remain imprinted in the history of humanity, influencing and inspiring others. Mahatma Gandhi, one of the great men in world history, similarly, left a profound impact on the world. His life serves as a reminder that individuals, through their actions, can shape the course of history and leave behind a legacy of positive change. 

Tolstoy was a devout Christian and Gandhi a devout Sanatani Hindu. Their religious affiliations had an immense impact on their philosophies. Gandhi drew inspiration from the ancient scriptures of the Gita, the Upanishads, the Bible, teachings of Lord Buddha, and from the Jain Saint Shrimad Rajchandra and Leo Tolstoy. In his letter to Gandhi dated 7 September 1910, Tolstoy wrote “…love is the supreme and unique law of human life which everyone feels in the depth of one’s soul.” It is evident that Hindu scriptures influenced Tolstoy. Tolstoy read the Gita in the beginning of the 20th century. In a letter to SR Chitel[i] dated 3 February 1909, Tolstoy emphasized the key teaching of ‘the Bhagavad Gita that a person should direct all his spiritual forces to fulfil his duty.’ Tolstoy wrote: ‘I firmly believe this and always try to remember this and act accordingly, and also say it to those who ask my opinion, and express it in their writings.’ Eminent scholar Olga Cooke[ii] has commented that “One of the chief lessons of the Bhagavad Gita, that the pursuit of selfless actions will lead to self-realization, essentially dominates all of Tolstoy’s thought”. 

A key principle of Russian Orthodox Christianity is that humans are made in the image of God. In divine likeness, we find salvation. Distortions caused due to sin, or what may be said according to Hindu scriptures or beliefs, the wheel of time - or Kaalchakra - will be rightly restored and the righteous order re-established through, as I see it, God's radiance - bhagwan ka tej or khuda ka noor, free flow of wisdom and collective and individual human endeavor. Both Gandhi and Tolstoy drew inspiration from the Sermon on the Mount in equal measure. Their correspondence confirms the fundamental unity of all religions, human brotherhood, and the value of spiritual consciousness including in polity. 

The contradiction between what followers of different religions profess in terms of love over hatred and the actual reality of violence, hate, crime, oppression, of force as the distorted basis of social order immensely disturbed Tolstoy. Tolstoy's belief in passive resistance should be seen in the context of extreme dissatisfaction with the state of the world and the way Government structures are run not always keeping human welfare at the core and that life need not necessarily be a zero-sum game within or across countries and nations. To find solutions to political challenges, he took recourse to religion and the lord's teachings particularly the divine law of love, the principle of overcoming evil with good. Tolstoy's passive resistance found resonance with Gandhi in the colonial context, as is seen in their correspondence. Passive resistance, non-cooperation, civil disobedience –satyagraha – truth force or soul force- became the hallmarks of India's non-violent freedom struggle under Gandhi. In today's context, Gandhi's and Tolstoy's ideas can manifest in progressive human-centric agendas of reform from within of individual governments, regional organizations and institutions of global governance.  

Both Tolstoy's and Gandhi's philosophies surrounding work and action, as seen from their correspondence, are noteworthy. Tolstoy emphasized the importance of work. He despised the oppression by idlers over the toiling masses. Gandhi too emphasized physical work. In his scheme of things, there is no room for lazy souls in the society. Tolstoy was also an ardent advocate of selfless work for others. As I said earlier, such emphasis brings to mind the teachings of Lord Krishna, in which both Tolstoy and Gandhi believed, especially the Bhagavad Gita whose core teaching on selfless action - or nishkaam karm - or good for good's sake is known to every Hindu and Indophile in the world. Gandhi described Tolstoy as his teacher. 

Written towards his life's end, Tolstoy's ‘Letter to a Hindu’[iii] can be presumed to be an act of catharsis, in which he passed on the essence of his life-long learnings and affirmed his desire to see the emancipation of the Hindus. Heavily quoting Lord Krishna, the Letter is truly symbolic of the impact of Hindu beliefs and ideas on Tolstoy. The last paragraph of the letter in which he talks of law of love as the only law of life, false beliefs and principles, disinformation, unity of all religions, social reconstruction and human awakening is not only relevant in today's context but is also refreshingly optimistic. I quote, "…the truth that for our life one law is valid – the law of love, which brings the highest happiness to every individual as well as to all mankind. Free your minds from those overgrown, mountainous imbecilities which hinder your recognition of it, and at once the truth will emerge from amid the pseudo-religious nonsense that has been smothering it: the indubitable, eternal truth inherent in man, which is one and the same in all the great religions of the world. It will in due time emerge and make its way to general recognition, and the nonsense that has obscured it will disappear of itself, and with it will go the evil from which humanity now suffers”. Unquote. No wonder Gandhi was impressed by the profound morality of the contents of the ‘Letter to Hindu’ that he not only got it reprinted but also got it translated into Indian vernacular languages. 

In addition to their correspondence, Tolstoy's Personal Library at Yasnaya Polyana has a collection of books and magazines which Tolstoy received from India in the last 20 years of his life. As stated in a chapter written by the Head of Tolstoy Estate (Yasnaya Polyana) Dr. Galina Alekseva in the ICWA book 'Gandhi and the World' co-edited by myself and my colleague here Dr. Dhrubajyoti Bhattacharjee, through their correspondence and through these books and certainly through the Tolstoy's marginalia on them, we get to understand the significance of the Gandhi-Tolstoy spiritual dialogue and its relevance for today. 

I want to thank Russia House for giving this opportunity to ICWA to share its views. Allow me to add that it is a great honour for a country, for a people when another country, another people celebrates with joy and respect occasions that they hold dear. ICWA looks forward to continued cooperation with the Russia House. 

Today is also the first day of the Hindu festival of Navratris dedicated to mother goddess Durga. I extend greetings to all my friends here on this auspicious occasion. 

Thankyou!

*****

[i] Ajay Kamalakaran, "Russia’s Earliest Tryst with the Bhagavad Gita", The Open Magazine, 25 February 2020.

[ii] Olga Muller Cook is an Associate Professor in Tolstoy Studies, Department of International Studies, Texas A&M University Texas

[iii] Yasnaya Polyana, 14 December 1908, published in Mahatma Gandhi and Leo Tolstoy Letters, edited with Introduction and Notes by B. Srinivasa Murthy, Long Beach Publications,1987