I was glad to get your letter. Let me know more about yourself. How much Sanskrit have you studied? For how many years? What is your age? How long have you been teaching? What is the number of boys studying Sanskrit and how many are Muslims and how many Hindus? Are your parents living? If so, what is your father's occupation?
Now I shall attempt to answer your queries. The special feature of Hinduism is that it permits considerable freedom of thought. And since tolerance towards other religions in implicit in it, Hindus may adopt such good points as they find in other religions. Indeed it is their duty to do so. That is why the exegesis of Hindu scriptures is ever developing. There is nothing new in what I have said regarding the characters of the Mahabharata and the Gita. I have taken it from the commentaries. The idea has been very well developed by Sadanand Mishra in his commentary on the Gita. I am told that some Prakrit works contain similar views. Not all that is contained in works popularly known as Hindu scritpures is gospel truth, and it is not necessary for the Hindus to accept everything laid down in the scriptures. I am in no way prepared to accept as religion, even though it might have a historical basis, the punishment of pouring molten lead into the ears of the Shudra listening to Vedic reciations. And there are intumerable Hindus who do not accept it as religious injunction. There is one simple test laid down in Hinduism which even a child can understand: anythng which is not acceptable to reason, anything which goes contrary to reason cannot be religion; so also anything that violates truth and ahimsa.
Now for the Yeravda Pact. To me at any rate votes were no consideration. To me the question was one of undoing the harm that had been done to Harijans by the declaration of the British Cabinet. What explanation can I give you about my fast? I can only say that it was inspired by God and that I could not have avoided it.
