After distancing himself from his wife Helene, Pierre travels to Saint Petersburg. His journey brings him to a way station where he needs to change his horses. He uses the break to reflect on his life and his conception of morality. An old man appears and recognizes Pierre. They sit together and talk for a while. The man insists that Pierre must consider and understand religion: Pierre’s lavish way of life is a drain on society, so he must stop “receiving everything from society and giving nothing in return” (377), and purify his soul. The old man reveals that he is actually one of the most famous Freemasons in Russia, Iosif Alexeevich Bazdeev, a member of the Martinists—an especially mystical branch of Christianity. Bazdeev invites Pierre to join the Freemasons. Pierre happily accepts, thinking the organization might provide him with answers to his questions about existence.

Pierre spends a week alone in Saint Petersburg researching the Freemasons before undergoing an initiation ceremony at a Freemasons’ lodge. There, Pierre is blindfolded and led into a strange room. The experience leaves him awestruck and reverential, particularly when he hears the Freemasons describe the history of their organization: The Freemasons dedicate their lives to combating evil in the world by providing people with an example of virtuous and pious living.