Celebrating a Genius
K.D. Sethna: The Man and His Work
Sachidananda Mohanty
I
The Moment
In an era of late capitalism, governed by commercial culture and TV sound bytes, it is hard to envision a place for the sublime in human affairs! How can we fathom human greatness when reputations are built and sullied hourly by cable television and Sunday tabloids?
How can we assess the real worth of an outstanding thinker who voluntarily embraces a life of isolation and self-effacement even while being engaged with the world? His centenary may come and go! It might evoke a mild curiosity among the lay public when attention is drawn to the more sensational and superficial aspects of his life, the staple, of gossip - real or make believe - that surrounds inevitably the life of celebrities.
Celebrating a genius, his life and achievements in an essentially deromanticised age, could however be a compulsive act for some, therapeutic for others! For, in choosing to do so, we go against the grain and manage to defy the tem-per of the age, its dominant ideals and ruling ideas. While that would carry its own reward, in the process we also succeed in upholding our faith in an alternative set of values as an antidote to the self-prophesying future of despair.
On 25 November 2004, K.D. Sethna (named Amal Kiran by Sri Aurobindo on 3 September 1930) completes one hundred years of his earthly life. A Renaissance personality and a multifaceted genius in the true sense of the term, Sethna
Page xiii
turned his back on worldly life, fame and success early in his career, and took the path of the Integral Yoga in the Sri Aurobindo Ashram under the direct guidance of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. However, in choosing this new life, he did not seek to annul his intellectual and artistic interests or integrity for the sake of a passive surrender and self-abnegation, characteristic of traditional religiosity. Like his spiritual Master, Sri Aurobindo, he sought a fulfilment of his innate creative talents under the influence of a higher afflatus.
When Sethna began his career, his mind was shaped by the intellectual-cultural matrix of a vibrant metropolis, Bombay. The city was rivalled by few others then. He had studied in some of the best institutions there and intimately knew many of the leading personalities. There was the possibility of higher education at Oxford or Cambridge followed by a coveted academic career or an equally attractive future in law and civil services. An estimate of H.G. Wells that Sethna wrote, when barely nineteen, was sent to Wells himself by a Parsi author, Mr. A.S. Wadia. Wells predicted: "Your young man will go far!" While one could speculate about the possible worldly and professional future of Sethna, had he continued in the outside world, he himself had no doubt that the distance he could have travelled could never exceed what was made possible thanks to the grace he received from Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. Indeed, the more he travelled in his artistic-spiritual life, the less he was concerned about worldly recognition, although admittedly there were times when he must have felt a tinge of sadness and genuine puzzlement about the insincerity of the academic world. The note that he inscribed in one of his books dated 23 August 1972 essentially sums up his approach to intellectual and artistic achievements: "Who cares for what the world says when those great wide eyes, deeper than oceans, fell on these poems and accepted them as fit offerings to His divinity? The Lord's look, the Lord's smile - that is what I have lived for."1
1. Overhead Poetry: Poems with Sri Aurobindo's Comments, Pondicherry: SAICE,1972.
Page xiv
Thus, in the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, under the guidance of his Gurus, Sethna found his true self and field. He grew in his intellectual, poetic, psychic and spiritual self, like many sadhak-intellectuals: Dilip Kumar Roy, Nirodbaran, Harindranath Chattopadhyaya, Arjava and others. By the time of his centenary, more than fifty books and innumerable articles of great depth and scholarship will have been published. For almost fifty years he has unfailingly edited Mother India, one of the best cultural monthlies of our country, known for its high standards and professionalism.
Sethna has pioneered research in areas as diverse as Blake and Shakespeare Studies, Aryan Invasion Theory and Ancient Indian History, Overhead Poetry, Christology, Comparative Mythology, the Study of Hellenic Literature and Culture, Indian systems of Yoga, International Affairs, the question of the English language and the Indian spirit, Philosophy, Literary Criticism, Mystical, Spiritual and Scientific Thought, the Structure of Thought in Modern Physics and Biology... the list is endless!
II
The Problem and The Prospects
Making a critical, biographical or literary assessment of K.D. Sethna is a matter of both delight and despair! An interested biographer and critic of his works finds plentiful material in early works, autobiographical sketches, self-portraits, letters, diary notes, newspaper clippings and correspondence, scrupulously documented and preserved by the author and his admirers over the years. While the manuscripts of other writers have perished due to fire and flood, Sethna's own have been largely a case of delayed publication. He was al-ways orderly in his intellectual habits: letters were always answered, longer correspondence invariably typed by him with two fingers and copies preserved. As a result, posterity
Page xv
is fortunate enough to have access to creative exchanges between Sethna and Kathleen Raine2 and between Bede Griffiths and himself.3
On the other hand, the critic must face his disciplinary academic limitations. While the more ambitious of us might boast of a command over one or two disciplines and a nod-ding acquaintance with a few others, in Sethna we find a huge province of knowledge, hard to grasp and harder to follow. If imitation is the best form of flattery, then the best way Sethna has paid homage to his guru Sri Aurobindo is by emulating his example. He wrote on a myriad of subjects with felicity and fervour: poetry, criticism, history, comparative literature, yoga, spirituality, science, philosophy, inter-national relations, journalism, archaeology, mythology, art history and future studies. Like Dr. Faustus, Sethna seems to have taken the whole universe as his province, and the whole world of knowledge under his scrutiny. Clearly, the extraordinary range of interests that Sethna evinces is hard to grasp for an ordinary critic.
While lesser mortals would have lost their way in the confusing paths and bylanes of scholarly and intellectual trails, Sethna emerges triumphant. To be sure, he never fights shy of intellectual and scholarly combats. Unsparing in his arguments, he is always civil and never personal in attack. A sense of earnestness and forthrightness in intellectual approach governs his style. But there is no hostility or antipathy; no personal rancour or animosity, no name-calling, no attempt to discredit, caricature or ridicule the rival point of view or target opponents through the habit of "guilt by association".
2. The English Language and The Indian Spirit: Correspondence between Kathleen Raine and K.D. Sethna, Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram, 1986. Also see, Indian Poets and English Poetry: Correspondence between Kathleen Raine and K.D. Sethna, Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram, 1994.
3. A Follower of Christ and a Disciple of Sri Aurobindo: Correspondence between Bede Griffiths and K.D. Sethna, Pondicherry: 1996, reprinted Clear Ray Trust, 2004.
Page xvi
There is no equivocation either in Sethna; no easy com-promise is offered for extraneous consideration that many academicians tend to make due to the desire for the promo-tion of career goals: pecuniary or institutional.
What I propose to do in this essay is therefore to confine myself to three broad areas in the Sethna canon: Firstly, I shall look at the relationship between Sethna's life and career. Secondly, I shall examine the reception accorded by the mainstream academic world to Sethna's works. And finally, I shall attempt to sum up what according to me constitutes the true significance of the centenary of K.D. Sethna. I shall not attempt a summary of any of his books, nor shall I endeavour to assess his contribution to each of the key disciplinary areas. Indeed, several contributors to this volume have attempted precisely this exercise. What I shall do in-stead is to try and offer basically a larger picture commensurate with the grandness of Sethna's vision.
III
Early Life and Influences
On 25 November 1904, Kaikhushru Dhunjibhoy ("Kekoo") Sethna was born in a respected Parsi family of Bombay. His father, a Specialist in Ophthalmic Surgery (M.D. Bombay, M.R.C.P from Dublin, Ireland), a highly rated and an intellectually gifted man, who cherished lofty morals and ideals in life, was an extremely loving and considerate parent. While the father at times appears to be stern and withdrawn, young Sethna, especially in later childhood, felt emotionally drawn to his mother. A touch of self-deprecatory humour constantly marks the recollection of his childhood experiences, even when it involved family accounts:
The moment I was born the big lamp in our drawing-room flared up. My father had to answer the frightened servant's cry and run from my mother's side to prevent
Page xvii
a fire. The English lady doctor in attendance on my mother took the flaring lamp as an omen and said: 'This boy will be a great man.' It seems to me that she went beyond her data and should have confined herself to saying: "This boy will be a fiery fellow!' I displayed from the beginning a very hot temper and the fury with which I, as a baby, yelled and grew red in the face was worthy of a Riza Shah Pahlevi. And it is quite on the cards that I might have become a soldier or at least a main of action if misfortune had not dogged my steps in my third year. In the literal sense, my steps were dogged by misfortune, for a severe form of infantile paralysis attacked my legs.4
Sethna's childhood was spent in Bombay. His family owned a house in the Hill Station of Matheran near Bombay. Sethna and his family frequently went there to spend their weekends and holidays. As a small child he had himself lifted once to the back of a "huge horse". Pastime usually involved playing the "Grand Inquisitor" with "ugly looking insects". However, one night of fever brought in the fatal polio that left his left leg lame. A timely operation in London fortunately prevented "paralytic effects" and "permanent deformity".
Everything in Kekoo's life seemed to be playful, a matter of fun and frolic. And thus, he recalls that he took to verses because a cousin was writing verses about a girl called Katie and he "resolved to outdo him". He outdid his cousin by writing five hundred lines. His cousin also introduced him to some of the major British poets like Shakespeare, Byron, Shelley, Wordsworth, Tennyson and Keats. Under the influence of Byron he wrote "two interminable poems in the Byronian ottava rima based on surreptitious feasting on Beppo and Don Juan" which he was strictly forbidden to read at home.
4. Autobiographical Note written in 1951. Sethna's Papers.
Page xviii
Then followed the lives of Shivaji and Napoleon in verse form, plus an imaginary account of a Utopia in verse, a few plays, "thousands of gnomic couplets", twenty-six novelettes each with an interesting alliterative title like "The Sign of the Serpent", or "The Mine of Madrid". He spent time reading out the detective novels he wrote to his Maths tutor, a pious Hindu, until one day, as he recalls, the tutor stumbled down the stairs. That, alas, was the end of his Maths lessons as well as the composition of detective stories.
The atmosphere at home, especially after dinner, was creatively stimulating. In the company of his father, Kekoo created interesting sketches, in particular the sketches of family members while he lay "sprawling on the carpet". For the children, the father's book of quotations was an all-time favourite!
At school, the choice of a serious interest revolved around literature and painting. Although Sethna preferred the pen, he dreamt that one day he would transform into painting his conception of "coloured scenes and symbols" of the Keatsian world in an ideal studio.
Matriculation, by Sethna's own admission, was a "poor affair"! It was however at the College level that he excelled in his studies, winning in the Intermediate Arts the Selby Scholarship in Logic as well as the Hughlings Prize for English. He followed it up by taking the Bombay University's prestigious Ellis Prize. "I missed my first class (Philosophy Honours)," he later wrote to his correspondent Pradip Bhattacharya in his letter of 10 August 1978, "though by merely three or four marks and though I, a Philosophy student, happened to win the much-coveted Ellis Prize which a Literature-student was expected to capture." He was advised to take up law. Instead, he joined the M. A. program in Philosophy. His planned thesis was called "The Philosophy of Art" but it never got completed as he settled in the Ashram.
At St. Xavier's School and College, Sethna was exposed to "a many-sided culture" and had "a mind razor-sharp". Along with literature he developed an interest in Philosophy. His
Page xix
"early preoccupation with religious studies" had inclined him towards "questions of metaphysics". He spent a great deal of his time over masters like Plato, Seneca and Marcus Aurelius. He thought over profound issues like "good and evil, justice, charity and equanimity". While earlier he had "a reckless and wayward disposition", there was now a gentleness, which was the outcome of philosophical deveopments. The influence of a Jesuit teacher with a scientific bent of mind, and the exposure he received to the world of Bernard Shaw ("a laughing colossus") made him disdain "cheap religionism, as well as cheap materialism, puritanical sham no less than erotic tawdriness". Ernst Haeckel's Riddle of the Universe and the work of the Catholic priest Joseph McCabe led him to a crisis of faith.
I suffered fits of somber depression, a tearing at the vitals made me miserable whenever I wanted to reject the unseen Friend whom I had taken to my heart so fervently in my early school days. Under the night sky I would sit with tears in my eyes at the prospect of infinite emptiness where there had once been an invisible omnipresence. I put up every argument I could to keep in its place the old religious conviction, but nothing was of any avail against the relentless march of the outward-looking analytic mind. At last I became an atheist.5
The new found disbelief in God led him to a confrontation with his father, until one year after his matriculation, the latter suddenly died of heart-failure. The death of his father made him gloomy; it also led him to a new path of self-reliance and a gradual recovery of faith.
It was undoubtedly Bombay's literary circles that provided a great source of creative stimulus to the young Sethna. Then, as well as right up to the early 1950s before he settled down permanently in Pondicherry, he discovered a number
5. Autobiographical Note written in 1951. Sethna's Papers.
Page xx
of literary friends and associates: apart from A.S. Wadia, there was Simon Pereira, connected with the Evening News of India, upcoming poet Armando Menezies and D.F. Karaka, later to shine in the field of journalism. There was also Frank Moraes, later the famous editor of The Times of India and The Indian Express and Frederic Mendonca who went on to be-come a Professor of English at St. Xavier's College. Then there were R.K. Karanjia (later the editor of Blitz) and Nissim Ezekiel, who would carve out a place for himself in the do-main of Indian English poetry.
Bombay greatly excited Sethna and fascinated his intellectual-artistic imagination. There was, however, another self in him that was to take him away radically to a new path, an unknown universe, a powerful and abiding attraction to the life of the Spirit.
IV
A Turn Inward: Pondicherry
A number of aspects of Sethna's life seem to share un-canny parallels with that of his Master Sri Aurobindo: both had studied in elite institutions. Early in life both had been exposed to Western languages and literature, especially the Hellenic culture, and had learnt Latin. Both had experienced a bout of atheism. Both shared an equal interest in Literature and Philosophy, while both turned in later life to the pivotal question of Indian history: the problem of the Aryan invasion. Both were attracted to spiritual and mystical poetry. Significantly, it was the city of Bombay that was to provide for both a catalytic experience for their growth into spiritual consciousness. Both championed atheism with a degree of youthful enthusiasm and in both the turning to spirituality was equally powerful.
While Sri Aurobindo had the Nirvanic experience in Bombay, thanks to the Maharashtrian guru Vishnu Bhaskar Lele, Sethna recalls that he sought out in his city men in ochre
Page xxi
robes, Sadhus and Sannyasis and questioned them about the Unknown. It was from a South Indian Theosophist plus artcritic that he first heard about the Cosmic Consciousness of Sri Aurobindo. A picture of his Guru in a booklet and the special qualities: "multi-presence and polyglottism" associated with Sri Aurobindo provided additional stimulus.
Later, he discovered an account of "The Ashram of Sri Aurobindo Ghose" from a newspaper sheet that covered the shoes he had bought from a shop in Bombay's Crawford Market. The notion of the new yoga that the article men-tioned appealed to him. Soon he wrote to the Ashram.
Sethna arrived in Pondicherry on 16 December 1927. He was taken directly to A.B. Purani's room. Sethna was able to see the Mother walk on her terrace from one of Purani's win-dows. Even though he saw her from a considerable distance this left a powerful impression on him.
Sethna's first Darshan of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother took place on 21 February 1928. Until then he had never seen Sri Aurobindo. Sethna spent the next ten and half years in Pondicherry. Thereafter he alternated between Pondicherry and Bombay, keeping in contact inwardly and through correspondence with Sri Aurobindo and the Mother.
One of the many trips Sethna used to make to Pondicherry was for the Darshan of 24 November 1950; he stayed in Pondicherry till December 3, leaving Pondicherry on the same night. He left in spite of having had some feeling earlier that he should stay on and not leave. He arrived in Bombay in the afternoon of December 5. Before leaving the station, he got the news - via a telegram brought from his house - that Sri Aurobindo had passed away. Sethna along with two others immediately returned by plane to Madras and from there by taxi to Pondicherry.
At Pondicherry, he found himself overwhelmed by a profound sense of "helplessness". It was then, that he received the smile and the grace of the Mother. Her words came as a great source of reassurance: "Nothing has changed. Call for inspiration and help, as you have always done. You will get everything from Sri Aurobindo as before!"
Page xxii
In 1944 Sethna had got married to Sehra. In February 1953 he made the crucial decision to settle in the Ashram again. He was badly in need of Rs. 500. - "To settle a few matters and pay for a thorough migration with my wife and dog." He managed to get hold of the five hundred rupees by writing an article on Sri Aurobindo for a special India supplement of the Atlantic Monthly. As it happened, the article never got published! Eventually in February 1954 the "big event" of Sethna's "second coming home" took place. He and his wife were given a flat to live in at 13, Rue Ananda Rangapoulle. On 29 February 1956, he had to leave for Bombay in order to see his ailing grandfather who was ninety-eight years old. In the Bombay-bound night train Sethna had a profound experience of the Mother:
I went to sleep in the compartment and had a dream. I saw a wide-open place with the Mother seated at one end and people going to her to make pranam. I was at the very boundary of the place. It seemed I might miss the chance of the pranam. I tried to hurry. But in the hurry I somehow could not get my feet out of my slippers and in the excitement I woke up. When I opened my eyes I saw, against the opposite berth and the facing wall of the compartment, the Mother standing. Her body was in shadow, her face was in moonlight and both were transparent so that through them I could see the wood-work and part of the upholstery of the berth. I kept gaz-ing for some time. Not believing my eyes, I shut them and opened them again. It made no difference to the vision. There still stood the transparent form of the Mother, the face softly shining. After looking for a quar-ter minute I once more shut my eyes. When I reopened them the form was gone.6
6. "The Grace of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother" in The Vision and Work of Sri Aurobindo, Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram, 1968, reprinted 1992, p. 143.
Page xxiii
In the history of the Ashram, 29 February 1956 marks "the long awaited manifestation of the Superrnind as a universal force in the earth's subtle physical atmosphere." According to the reported remark of the Mother: "Only five people knew what took place - two in the Ashram and three outside." When Sethna wrote to the Mother about his experience in the train, she said to him: "Among those outside, I counted you."7
One word that is recurrent in Sethna's accounts is the grace of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. Parallel to his intellectual-scholarly interests, there is the lifelong commitment to the Integral Yoga and the life of the Spirit. Nothing that he wrote after coming in contact with Sri Aurobindo is free from this larger vision. To the observer, there is always the sense that Sethna was chosen by the Divine. From his Master he received, in closed envelopes, lines from Savitri: A Legend and a Symbol, Sri Aurobindo's epic poem .that he was then com-posing. And in a letter dated 25 December 1948, two years before he passed away, using the Ashram letter head, Sri Aurobindo states: "Amal, I have gone through your manuscript of poems and I propose that they should be immediately published without further delay."8
A number of volumes by Sethna are exclusively devoted to the spiritual aspects of the Ashram life. They are also about Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, their Avatarhood, about life, literature and yoga and about the vexing questions all seekers of the inner life face. Compared to the often dense style that Sethna employs in many of his scholarly works, books like Aspects of Sri Aurobindo, Waterford, U.S. A., 1995, reprinted 2000, Our Light and Delight, Pondicherry, 1980, reprinted 2003, Life-Poetry-Yoga: Personal Letters in three volumes, Waterford, U.S.A., 1994, 1995, 1997 and The Vision and Work of Sri Aurobindo, Pondicherry, 1968, reprinted 1992, are written in an extremely lucid style that appeals to the heart; the books are full of light and delight!
7. Ibid., pp. 143-44.
8. Sethna's Papers. The Adventure of the Apocalypse, Bombay: Sri Aurobindo Circle, 1949.
Page xxiv
Although these volumes form a separate body of work, distinct from his scholarly corpus, it will be correct to say that Sethna's scholarship is always shaped and guided by a larger spiritual vision. This becomes clear when we examine the various contacts and encounters he had with the academic world outside.
V
Spiritualised Intellect
One of the most noteworthy aspects of Sethna's literary and intellectual career is the correspondence he had with fellow scholars, editors, writers, poets and laypersons. These include world-class personalities and international celebrities like Aldous Huxley, Albert Einstein, Kathleen Raine and Paul Brunton. But there are lesser-known people too. At times admirers and readers were drawn to him for instruction and insight. A spirit of deep engagement and empathy marks Sethna's relationship with all his correspondents. We have in this volume two writers who focus on his letters as part of their study of Sethna the man and the writer; other essayists concentrate on related aspects of his scholarly interests.
In a letter dated 19 September 1946, Paul Brunton, an acclaimed Western scholar and indologist declares:
I was sorry to note that All India Weekly had become more of a competition journal than a literary one, so that your own articles disappeared in the three issues which have reached me since April. Please let me know if you are likely to write for them again; otherwise, I shall not renew my subscription. If you are not likely to do so, there are no doubt several other high class journals who would be glad to print your work - so please advise me should you change over to one of them, in order that I might subscribe to it.9
9. Letter from Paul Brunton to K.D. Sethna, 19.9.1946. Sethna's Papers.
Page xxv
An identical warmth of admiration is noticed in Brunton's review of The Secret Splendour in a Bangalore periodical in 1941:
K.D. Sethna is a rising star in the Indian literary firmament who is well worth watching. With this slim volume of nearly one hundred pages he makes his debut to the larger world but I have been familiar with his work since the time, several years ago, when he showed me at Pondicherry the yet unprinted manuscripts, which were then being privately circulated among a few lovers of poetry.10
Sethna's correspondence with Einstein and Huxley also throws an interesting light on their encounters. In a paper entitled "Mysticism and Einstein's Relativity Physics" published in Sri Aurobindo Circle, Bombay, Sixth Number, 1950, Sethna speaks of the implications of the Einsteinian theory of relativity in the domain of religion and mysticism and concludes that:
We may now briefly take stock of our conclusions from Einstein's relativity physics. By three independent routes we arrive at an undeniable implication of the supra-physical, the mystical: 1) the Einsteinian "field" whose four-dimensional continuum of indistinguishable space and time is revealed by the special theory of relativity as a mathematical approximation of the mystic's Infinity-Eternity and by the general theory of relativity as an utterly non-material space-time ether rendering the approximated Infinity-Eternity all the more real and even originative of matter; 2) the Einsteinian "energy" which, by positing something in-definable by any scientific concept, points beyond materialism to a World-Will; 3) the Einsteinian theoretical
10. The Secret Splendour, Bombay: Published by K.D. Sethna, 1941. Review by Paul Brunton in a Bangalore periodical, 1941. Typescript sent by Paul Brunton. Sethna's Papers.
Page xxvi
method with its "free creation", involving the discovery of scientific truth by our mind "insighting" a World-Intelligence that seems all-formative. The independence we have given to each of the three routes results in a threefold strength to the suggestion of the supra-physical and the mystical.11
Einstein's reply is marked by caution, and there are many caveats. In a letter dated 15 August 1950 written from Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study he wrote back:
I have read your paper and found it partly interesting.
Concerning the physical contents your considerations about mass and energy are, in my opinion, not clear. Especially I do not like the introduction of a mass dependent of speed. There is much loose thinking in the popular literature about this subject.
.. .It seems to me rather obscure how mysticism can be brought together with that theory for there is no place in it for psychological concepts - as in any physical theory. Of course, the hie and nunc has no place in any physical theory either. Maybe that "mystical insight" means something to you what is completely hidden to me. I am therefore no judge about it.12
On the other hand, there are letters that are extremely illuminating and elevating. For instance, in a note sent from California, U.S.A. dated 29 January 1949, Aldous Huxley, known for his deep empathy for Eastern traditions of reli-gion and spirituality, compliments K.D. Sethna on the launching of Mother India, Monthly Review of Culture. While regretting his inability to contribute to the journal due to a number of pressing engagements, he holds out hope for the success of the venture: "I can only wish you all success in
11. Sri Aurobindo Circle, Bombay, Sixth Number, 1950, p. 54.
12. Letter from Einstein to K.D. Sethna, 15.8.1950. Sethna's Papers.
your venture. You will, of course, be a voice crying in the wilderness. But if a few individuals pay attention, something will have been accomplished."13
Professional recognition for Sethna came from prestigious quarters. On 14 July1965, Kimon Friar, the editor of the reputed international journal Greek Heritage, while accepting Sethna's article "Greece and Sri Aurobindo" for publication, compliments the author and says: "I read your text with great interest and fascination. It is an outstanding piece of work and a most valuable addition to the Greek Heritage."14
There were fewer accolades at home. And they came late! The International Institute of Indian Studies conferred upon Sethna the Devavrata Bhishma Award for 1994 for his contribution to international peace and world order on the basis of universal Vedantic values. He was also nominated for the Sahitya Akademi Award.
However, while thanking the IIIS for the honour, Sethna, in his letter dated 12 December 1993, draws the attention of the office bearers of the organisation to the fact that "most members of your group are unaware of that most illuminating book, The Secret of the Veda by Sri Aurobindo, which contains a Supplement of extreme originality, "The Origins of Aryan Speech'."15
Similarly, C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar, Vice Chancellor of Annamalai University in his letter dated 22 October 1964 acknowledges the pioneering research of Sethna in the field of Harappan Culture and the Vedic Civilisation: "You have exploded," he says, "many wishful theories of pseudo-authorities and furnished almost conclusive evidence about the pristine and autochthonic character of the Aryan civilisation in relation to the Indian background."16
13. Letter from Aldous Huxley to K.D. Sethna, 29.1.1949. Sethna's Papers.
14. Letter from Kimon Friar, Editor of Greek Heritage to K.D. Sethna, 14.7.1965. Sethna's Papers. Also see the book Sri Aurobindo and Greece, Waterford, U.S.A.: The Integral Life Foundation, 1998.
15. Letter from K.D. Sethna to Sushil Mittal, 19.121993. Sethna's Papers.
16. Letter from C.P.R. Aiyar to KD. Sethna, 22.10.1964. Sethna's Papers.
Page xxviii
Similarly, in a review of Blake's Tyger: A Christological Interpretation by Sethna, well-known critic Prema Nandakumar concludes with the following words: "Thanks to his enormous scholarship, Blake's Tyger turns out to be a valuable tutorial on classical and Christian mythology as well as Milton's poetry. This extensively researched volume establishes him as one of the foremost literary critics in contemporary Indian literature."17
Likewise, in the review of Sethna's Karpasa in Prehistoric India: A Chronological and Cultural Clue, G.C. Pandey, one of the foremost indologists of our country, declares:
This work attempts a large-scale reconstruction and is necessarily speculative. It remains, however, consistent and plausible. The hypothesis that Vedic culture pre-ceded Indus civilization has never before been argued with such force. Although Mr. Sethna disagrees with many accepted views, he represents them faithfully and summarizes the data as well as the interpretations of archaeological research in considerable detail. He writes in an eminently readable and suggestive manner and his work deserves to be widely welcomed by general readers and scholars alike.18
Similarly, H.D. Sankalia who is the doyen of archaeologists had this to say in his response to The Problem of Aryan Origins: From an Indian Point of View in 1981: "I went through your book as soon as it reached me. I think you have covered all the points quite impartially. I think for the Aryans and the Indus Civilisation, we have to await the accepted reading of the Indus Script. Meanwhile, congratulations!"
17. "Beast and the Rebellious Angels?" by Prema Nandakumar, The Hindu, 12.1.1990. Sethna's Papers. Book reviewed: Blake's Tyger: A Christological Interpretation, Pondicherry: K.D. Sethna, 1989.
18. "A Tale of Two Civilizations" by G.C. Pandey, The Times of India, 1.8.1982. Sethna's Papers. Book reviewed: Karpasa in Prehistoric India: A Chronological and Cultural Clue, New Delhi: Biblia Implex Private Ltd., 1981.
Page xxix
It is characteristic of Sethna that even while he gets recognition from admirers, he seems to be more particular that the real credit should be given to his Guru, Sri Aurobindo. One is constantly struck by this sense of modesty and his loyalty to the Master. And thus, while appreciating the inclusion of his poem "Tree of Time" in An Anthology of Verse being brought out by Blackie and Son (India) Limited, Sethna asks pointedly: "I hope your Anthology will try to do justice to the most creative poetic spirit of modern India, Sri Aurobindo. I would be interested to know what poems of his have been included."19
There have been awards from the Ashram circles as well. Mention may be made of the Sri Aurobindo Purashkar for 1998 that he received from the Sri Aurobindo Samiti, Calcutta. There was also an excellent festschrift entitled Amdl-Kiran: Poet and Critic, edited by Nirodbaran and R.Y. Deshpande, Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram, 1994, on the occasion of his 90th birthday.
VI
The Scholar as the Visionary
A discerning mind cannot help noticing that there is a mismatch between Sethna's creative/critical/scholarly output and the academic-institutional recognition bestowed upon him. This is a curious fact of academic life!
Although he has written a great many books of substance and lasting value, it seems to me that it is basically in seven principal areas that Sethna has excelled and made pioneer-ing contributions:
• First, as a poet following in the footsteps of his Master, Sethna's achievement is notable in the field of mystical/spiritual poetry. The Secret Splendour: Collected Poems, 1993, is a
19. Letter from K.D. Sethna to the Manager, Blackie and Son (India) Limited, 24.3.1962. Sethna's Papers.
Page xxx
magnificent achievement in this category. He is also known for the letters on Savitri that he received from Sri Aurobindo.
• Second, Sethna will be remembered as an outstanding literary and cultural critic. His books like Classical and Romantic: An Approach through Sri Aurobindo, 1997, Blake's Tyger: A Christological Interpretation, 1989, Adventures in Criticism, 1996, and Inspiration and Effort: Studies in Literary Attitude and Expression, 1995, "Two Loves" and" A Worthier Pen": The Enigmas of Shakespeare's Sonnets, 1984, "A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal": An Interpretation from India, 1995, are excellent examples of this kind. He is also noteworthy as a literary detective. His detective work to identify the Dark Lady of the Sonnets and Mr. W.H. in the book "Two Loves" and "A Worthier Pen" is worth special mention.
• Third, Sethna's volumes offer some of the best intellectual responses that the Indian mind has made to Western literature and culture. Sri Aurobindo and Greece and "A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal": An Interpretation from India are two perfect examples of this kind.
• Fourth, Sethna's contribution to the understanding of the intimate relationship between the English language and the Indian mind will have lasting value. His books The English Language and The Indian Spirit and Indian Poets and English Poetry containing correspondence between him and Kathleen Raine are. a critic's delight, full of insights and illumination.
• Fifth, Sethna's considerable body of writing in the field of Indian history and archaeology has disproved the pernicious dogma of the Aryan invasion theory. His work The Problem of Aryan Origins: From an Indian Point of View20 will always remain a landmark in this genre.
• Sixth, Sethna has made a notable achievement in the field of creative journalism. His indefatigable role as the editor of
20. Op. Cit, New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan, first edition 1980, second extensively enlarged edition with five supplements, 1992.
Page xxxi
Mother India: Monthly Review of Culture right from the Bombay-days remains unrivalled in the annals of Indian periodical literature. Sri Aurobindo had once said: "Doesn't he know that 'Mother India' is my paper?" when a sadhak's skeptical attitude to the opinions expressed in Mother India was reported to him. He wrote powerful political editorials in this journal that were read out to Sri Aurobindo and certified by him prior to publication. In the editorials, Sethna showed courage and conviction in upholding the Aurobindonian vision in the murky world of national and international politics
And finally, Sethna has given us a valuable understanding regarding the place of the Mother in the Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo. His slim book, The Development of Sri Aurobindo's Spiritual System and the Mother's Contribution to It provides us with a rare perspective.21 Sethna has always been a leading exegete of Sri Aurobindo's philosophy and yoga. He has never failed to take up arms in defence of Sri Aurobindo and his yoga.
In any single area mentioned above, a scholar-critic would have earned for himself a well-deserved permanence. All the seven areas put together would undoubtedly confer upon Sethna the status of a genius!
It is true that the world has not given due recognition to K.D. Sethna's scholarly and literary works commensurate with his multifaceted talents. But men, fame and recognition have never been the cherished goals of Sethna's life. Despite having a considerable following, he has never desired to travel abroad and to the West. In 1949, Professor Frederic Spiegelberg offered him a special professional position in the U.S.A. Sethna recommended the name of Haridas Chaudhury instead. That's the spirit of the man!
In this volume, we have invited a number of leading critics and thinkers from India and abroad to contribute reflec-
21. Op. Cit, East Lyme, U.S.A.: The Integral Life Foundation, 2003.
Page xxxii
tive pieces on the life and works of K.D. Sethna. The essays come in three categories: Reminiscences of Sethna, Essays on Sethna's works, and finally, essays on Sri Aurobindo's vision. They come in many voices and represent diverse approaches. It is hoped that these articles would contribute to a better understanding of the literary achievements of K.D. Sethna on the occasion of his birth centenary.
Every system has its own dynamics and academics has its own. As in religion, here, dogmas and shibboleths die hard, and institutions regrettably remain resistant to innovative ideas. Amateur scholars from the "non academic world", especially those who challenge received wisdom, are seldom lionised. Sadly, Indian academics continue to parrot their Western mentors even today. Macaulay might have gone but his counterparts continue to "teach" Indian "students" from the "superior" heights of metropolitan universities in the West. It will be a long time before Indian academics drop their colonial blinkers. Only then will they be ready to grasp the true worth of a genius like K.D. Sethna!
Hyderabad
21st July 2004
Page xxxiii
Home
Disciples
Amal Kiran
Books
Share your feedback. Help us improve. Or ask a question.