Champaklal's Treasures - Edition-II

Gangaram Bharatia

Seth Gangaram Bharatia,

A letter has been received from Purani by which Sri Aurobindo has been fully informed of the details of Natwarlal's case. He now knows clearly what is really the matter with him and he wishes me to draw your attention to the following points.

1) Natwarlal's case is not one of ordinary madness — that is, disturbance of the brain, but some hostile being or power has laid hold of his mind (as happened in the case of his sister, but in a different way and as yet less completely). It is preventing him from using his own intelligence. At the same time this power is continually giving bad suggestions to him — not to take food, suggestions of death, of throwing away his present body, of wrong motives in those who offer him food, of sin, of aparādha,etc.

2) To cure this illness of the mind will be difficult and is likely to take a long time, because these suggestions have become fixed ideas which he is unable to resist. Even if the being is driven away, something in Natwarlal's mind finds delight in the play or workings of the being and that is likely to bring it back again.

3) There is a supreme power that can cure him at once, because nothing can resist it. But that comes by the Grace of God, under conditions which cannot be commanded. Sri Aurobindo by his will cannot command it; he hopes to be able to call it down, but it is not certain. Meanwhile time is needed and the danger is that if he does not eat the body may collapse before anything effective can be done.

4) The hostile power is trying to destroy him by giving the suggestions not to eat, to throw away his body etc. The first thing necessary is that he should be made to resume eating and all of you should see that these suggestions are counteracted. He should be made to eat by any means, persuasion, pressure, compulsion or otherwise.

5) This can be done best if there is someone near him with a will stronger than his own, someone who will quietly and strongly insist, take no notice of and give no value to his objections and make him eat in spite of his own mind and its hallucinations.

6) If there is none, then if a powerful and genuine hypnotist is available, he can by right suggestions counteract the bad ones of the being, make Natwarlal have the will to eat and throw out the ideas of death, aparddha, etc., which are now perverting his intelligence.

7) Otherwise, the only possible method is to put him under the control of somebody accustomed to deal with these cases who will make him eat in spite of his objections.

8) Sri Aurobindo wishes to make it clear to you that he can absolutely have no cause for anger towards you or Natwarlal. On the contrary he has every cause to be pleased with him. He asks you to remove from your mind any idea of aparādha done towards him by yourself or Natwarlal as that will only hinder his helping effectively.

Sri Aurobindo says that he will try to free Natwarlal from hostile possession of his mind — the result is in God's hands. Only as time is necessary for a complete cure, Natwarlal must be made to take food so that he may not break down in the middle. That is the first and the one indispensable thing to be done.

Arya Office, Pondicherry Yours sincerely,

16 October, 1924 Punamchand M. Shah