THE MESSIAH OF INDIA: A BIOGRAPHY

Mahatma Gandhi by Romain Rolland, Translated by Catherine D. Groth. New York: The Century Co, 1924.

There has always been an abyss between the life, and the thought and the ideals of the eastern and the western civilizations. It has grown wider with the passing of the centuries. The material conflict between the East and the West--the first reaching out of the tendrils of empire on the one side, and the quiet acceptance of the inevitable, in appearance, at least, on the other--has only emphasized the space that still separates the ideas of the two. The abyss has seemed unbridgeable.

But Romain Rolland has lately written a biography which interprets the spirit of the East in terms of Western ideas. He has described the life and teachings of the man "who has introduced into human politics the strongest religious impetus of the last two thousand years." He has expounded the religion of Mahatma Gandhi, and has made it clear, logical, plausible to western minds. He has made the man, and his influence, and the mysterious, sensitive fire of his spirit lives before us. At his touch the cryptic teaching of the new Messiah of India has unfolded.

Indicates Spirit of India

Romain Rolland has written a "three-dimensional biography" such as Carlyle tried to write. Besides giving the narrative of time, and the description of place, he has indicated the spirit of India which is the setting, and the powerful practical idealism of the prophet himself. He has come as near as is humanly possible to a four-dimensional biography. He himself has caught some of the quiet fire of sincerity, of the devotion to practical idealism which is in the soul of Gandhi. Mr. Rolland has the power belonging to mystics of the utmost lucidity of expression.

As for the mechanics of his biography, be first sketches the life of Gandhi till the beginning of his leadership, of the peaceful revolt of India in 1920. Then he outlines his teachings. It would seem that he had said most of what was to be said. But this, Part I, is the least interesting of the three parts. In the second he describes the political, religious, and spiritual events of the first year of the revolt. The actual events are only sketched--the rest is the story of the man, and a people and a religion. Then Mr. Rolland gathers together the colored skeins of tragedy in the plot.

"The Tragedy of Half the World"

The last part of the book is infinitely condensed. It condenses the tragedy of half the world in the story of the legal trial and imprisonment of one man. It tells the story of the leader of the irreconcilable East, who was crushed--consciously, inevitably, by the exigencies of the imperial West. It is not a tragedy of blood, anger, and revolution--it is a greater tragedy of mind, soul, and lack of understanding. Although Gandhi is still alive in prison, his life story has been told--as Napoleon's was told after Waterloo, as Jesus's was after Calvary. All through the story the tragedy can be felt--it is as inevitable as the human tragedy of Jesus's life.

The biography is superbly successful, and the translation of it is excellent. The spirit of Rolland pervades the book, as does the spirit of Gandhi--indeed the two are often at one. He ends his summary of Gandhi's influence with these prophetic words: "One thing is certain, either Gandhi's spirit will triumph, or it will manifest itself again as were manifested, centuries before, the Messiah and Buddha; till there finally in manifested, in a mortal half-god, the perfect incarnation of principle of life which will lead a new humanity on to a new path."