Tagore’s Works, Tagore’s Message, Andrews, Gandhi

Andrews admired Tagore’s writings and studied them with scholarly care as he was conversant with the Bengali language. Speaking of his poetry in an early letter, Andrews wrote to Tagore: ‘I find in them the nearness of God’s Presence and that is all-sufficing; for all our questionings and difficulties are resolved in that; and calmness comes back when that is attained.’ Gandhi and Tagore became close from 1915 after Gandhi came to Santiniketan for the first time on his return from South Africa and England. As their letters show, there was profound agreement between them despite some serious differences. Tagore saw Gandhi’s greatness above all other considerations. And Gandhi sought Tagore’s counsel for his political decisions and Tagore’s blessings for his fasts every time.