Abstract
John Henry Newman and Mohandas Gandhi represent an odd coupling. Newman's popular hymn, “Lead, kindly Light”, exerted a powerful influence upon Mahatma Gandhi's spirituality and India's struggle for independence. The hymn was transmitted to Gandhi in Noncomformist circles in England and South Africa. “Lead, kindly Light” came to represent the spirit of his satyagraha campaigns against the British and Indian Governments. It also assumed an important place in Gandhi's developing understanding of religious pluralism.
In my daily prayers I earnestly pray to God to lead me from untruth to truth. Isn't the same idea conveyed in “Lead kindly Light”?
Gandhi to Vinoba Bhave, 10 March 1947
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