Sri Aurobindo for All Ages

V: The Nationalist Movement: Bande Mataram (1906-1907)

YOU have seen that there were three sides to Sri Aurobindo's politics: planning and spreading secret revolutionary action; establishing the idea of complete independence, and creating a movement for non-cooperation and passive resistance so as to paralyse the Government.

Sri Aurobindo was waiting for an opportunity to leave Baroda for good. During his visits to Bengal in 1905 and 1906 he saw that the situation there had undergone a radical transformation and he knew that the time had come for concerted action on the lines he had in mind.

What had happened in Bengal was this. The province of Bengal or the presidency of Bengal as it was called, was at the time a very large area. It consisted not only of West Bengal and what is now Bangladesh but also included Bihar and Orissa. Because of its size there were difficulties in administering it properly and in 1903 the Government announced a plan whereby the presidency would be partitioned or divided into two provinces. There would be one province consisting of West Bengal, Bihar and Orissa; another new province would be created to include East Bengal and Assam.

The plan created an uproar. In the undivided presidency the Bengali Hindus were the leading community. They had been the first to he exposed to the new ideas and forces from the West and the first to take to English education; as a result, they were more conscious, politically, than the rest. So they could realise that the partition was really aimed at them, for in consequence of the division, they would become a minority community in both the new provinces and their strength and influence would be greatly reduced. So they held hundreds of protest meetings, and gathering in thousands, successfully enlisted the support of the other communities in a united opposition to the Government's plan. There was a tremendous upheaval of popular feeling, an unprecedented surge of shock and resentment. And, suddenly, a cry was heard — Bande Mataram', a mantra invoking the Mother for strength and fearlessness, a rallying call as well as a battle cry. This is how Sri Aurobindo describes its significance: It was thirty-two years ago that Bankim wrote his great song and few listened; but in .a sudden moment of awakening from long delusions the people of Bengal looked round for the truth and in a fated moment somebody sang ' Bande Mataram'. The mantra had been given and in a single day a whole people had been converted to the religion of patriotism. The Mother had revealed herself. Once that vision has come to a people, there can be no rest, no peace, no further slumber till the temple has been made ready, the image installed and the sacrifice offered. A great nation which has had that vision can never again bend its neck in subjection to the yoke of a conqueror.'

And the people showed their intense feelings not merely through mass meetings, speeches etc., but the demonstrations took the practical form of urging people to boycott British cloth and other goods and to use Indian products instead. This was how the Boycott and Swadeshi movement was born. Like a tidal wave it gained ground in Bengal and soon it spread outside the province. Bepin Chandra Pal was at the forefront of the movement in Bengal and Balgangadhar Tilak and Lala Lajpat Rai gave the lead to it in Maharashtra and the Punjab, forming the well-known trinity Lal-Bal-Pal. Indeed a country-wide campaign was launched with the result that the demand for British goods fell off seriously. Even the Indian National Congress at its annual session at Benares in December 1905, which Sri Aurobindo attended as an observer, could not ignore the intensity of popular feelings and gave support to the movement.

Yet the Government was adamant and the man most responsible for its hardline policy was the Viceroy, Lord Curzon. A very able man and a brilliant administrator, he was a diehard imperialist who believed in Britain's divine right to rule over India. For him, the Partition was a 'settled fact' and the plan was pushed through to take effect from October 16, 1905, a day observed in Bengal and elsewhere as one of mourning. No cooking was done that day and all the shops and market-places were closed. Thousands walked barefoot in silent processions and the ceremony of rakshabandhan became a symbolic ritual of unity and brotherhood.

Through his lieutenants, Jatin Banerji, Barindra, Abinash Bhattacharjee and others, Sri Aurobindo had kept himself closely informed of the developments in Bengal, and he sent his directives saying, 'Take advantage of this intense discontent and spread the seeds of revolt amongst the youth. Enlist them in the revolutionary camp.... This is a very fine opportunity. Carry on the anti-partition agitation powerfully. We will get many workers for the movement.' The 'settled fact' of Partition had to be 'unsettled'.

To help you get a feel of the atmosphere of those wonderful days, let me give you a quotation from Nolini Kanta "Gupta's Reminiscences. He was a very young man then, still in his teens, and yet see how deeply he responded. He writes: 'Almost overnight, how very different we became from what we had been as individuals! We used to be just humdrum creatures, most ignorant and inert; now we became conscious and alert, our lives acquired a meaning, an aim, a purpose. We used to move in the traditional ruts, dull and desperate. Instead of that our lives now got a cohesion, an orientation. Borne along the current and driven with the crowd, the most one could hope for in the past was to become a Deputy Magistrate or Professor, a Doctor or Advocate, worldly men of sufficient means. In a moment, all this got topsy-turvy, our lives were rent in twain as if by an earthquake. There lay across the chasm the deathlike life of the dead past, and here loomed a life of the present that faced the future with new duties.

‘Calcutta was at the time in the throes of a great turmoil. The press and the platform were loud with cries of "Freedom" and "Boycott"; the British must be driven out, India must be rid of the Britisher. In the parks and wherever there was open space, crowds would gather to listen to lectures and orations, crowds mostly of boys from the schools and colleges — the girls had not yet come out and joined. Swadeshi, boycott, national education, rural uplift —these were the slogans dwelt upon everywhere. And with it all there went on, in secret, underground preparations for revolution and revolt and armed attack.'

However the Government was not to be caught napping. They resolved to crush the movement and came down with ruthless force on the people. Meetings and processions were banned and the cry of 'Bantle Mataram' was considered seditious. The British were determined to uphold their power and authority.

In March 1906 Sri Aurobindo went to Calcutta on a privilege leave. He attended Barisal Conference. On 14th April the delegates went in a procession to the pavilion, crying Bande Mataram' in defiance of the government's order. The police allowed the leaders to pass and then attacked the volunteers with iron-shod lathis. Among the many injured was a young boy whose head bled profusely, but nothing could prevent him from shouting Bande Mataram.

As a result of the Boycott movement many patriotic students and teachers refused to attend Government schools and colleges. Anxious to help them, the leaders of the Swadeshi movement realised that it was now necessary to set up alternative avenues of education on national lines and free from the control of Government. So a National Council of Education was formed and, during his visit to Calcutta, Sri Aurobindo attended some of its meetings presiding over several of them. A munificent donation of one lakh of rupees was promised by Subodh Chandra Mullick, an affluent and ardent patriot, to found a National College. Through his brother-in-law C.C. Dutt, Subodh Mullick had earlier met Sri Aurobindo, soon becoming one of his closest friends and staunchest supporters in the political field. In making the donation, Subodh Mullick stipulated that Sri Aurobindo should become the Principal of the proposed National College. So the way was now open for Sri Aurobindo to leave Baroda. As Principal of the National College Sri Aurobindo would draw a nominal pay of Rs.150 per month; when he left Baroda, his salary was more than Rs.700 per month, a handsome figure in those days. Characteristically, he accepted this considerable sacrifice without thought for himself or his family, but it was greatly appreciated by his countrymen when they came to hear of it.

There was another notable development during Sri Aurobindo's visit to Calcutta. In March 1906 Barindra and others started a Bengali weekly, Yugantar, a revolutionary journal which became immensely popular and influential, particularly amongst the youth. Sri Aurobindo wrote articles for some of the earlier issues of the paper and exercised a general control over it. The Government, alarmed at the popularity of the paper, eventually arrested Bhupendranath Dutt, Swami Vivekananda's brother, who came forward as the editor, and sentenced him to jail on a charge of sedition. Yugantar finally had to cease publication in June 1908, but during its short career it attacked the Government fearlessly.

Around this time a book in Bengali entitled Desher Katha was also causing a sensation. Its author was Sakharam Ganesh Deuskar, a Maharashtrian revolutionary who was an able writer in Bengali. At Sri Aurobindo's request, Deuskar wrote the book in which he exposed, in vivid detail, how the British had ruthlessly exploited India, commercially and industrially, in the course of their rule. Sri Aurobindo included this kind of activity within the scope of his revolutionary work. The book had an enormous influence, shaking even the Moderates, and provided a powerful impetus to the Swadeshi movement. In fact its influence became so pronounced that the Government had to ban it.

When Sri Aurobindo came over to Calcutta in June, for a while he stayed at Subodh Mullick's palatial house at 12 Wellington Square. There all his requirements were well looked after, but not wishing to inconvenience his host Sri Aurobindo moved to a house irt Chukku Khansama Lane, where Mrinalini, Sarojini, Barin and Abinash came to stay with him. Later when they shifted to 23, Scott's Lane, Barin went over to stay at the Murari Pukur Gardens.

At first Sri Aurobindo was absorbed in work connected with the new National College but soon he was drawn into a venture which had a profound influence on the course of events. I have already told you that Bepin Pal was then one of the foremost political leaders in the country. He was a remarkable man — a great orator, perhaps the finest of his day, a powerful writer, a scholar and sadhak. Along with Monoranjan Guha-Thakurta, Brahmabandhab Upadhyaya and others, he stood for a new party, the Nationalist, which was opposed to the moderate policy of the Congress. Upadhyaya was successfully conducting the Bengali evening daily Sandhya. But the need for an all-India organ was keenly felt. Bepin Chandra, with great courage but hardly any financial support, decided to launch the paper. The first issue of this new journal, Bande Mataram, was to be brought out on August 7, 1906, the first anniversary of the boycott of British goods as a protest against the Partition. However, Bepin Pal had to leave Calcutta urgently and the first issue of the Bande Mataram actually appeared on August 5, 1906. Indeed Bepin Pal was able to leave only because he had obtained Sri Aurobindo's assurance that he would contribute an article every day during Pal's absence. In this way Sri Aurobindo was associated with the paper from its very inception and he has himself given a very interesting account of its early career: 'Bepin Pal started the Bande Mataram with Rs.500 in his pocket donated by Haridas Haldar; He called in my help as assistant editor and I gave it. I called a private meeting of the young Nationalist leaders in Calcutta and they agreed to take up the Bande Mataram as their party paper with Subodh and Nirod Mullick as the principal financial supporters. A company was projected and formed, but the paper was financed and kept up meanwhile by Subodh. Bepin Pal who was strongly supported by C.R. Das and others remained as editor. Hemendra Prasad Ghose and Shyam Sundar joined the editorial staff but they could not get on with Bepin Babu and were supported by the Mullicks. Finally, Bepin Pal had to retire, I don't remember whether in November or December, probably the latter. I was myself very ill, almost to death, in my father-in-law's house in Serpentine Lane and I did not know what was going on. They put my name as editor on the paper without my consent, but I spoke to the secretary pretty harshly and had the insertion discontinued. I also wrote a strong letter on the subject to Subodh. From that time Bepin Pal had no connection with the Bande Mataram.' In spite of Bepin Pal's brief association with the paper he lives in our memory for having started a journal which became synonymous with the new spirit of Indian nationalism and patriotism.

The Bande Mataram was an instantaneous success but throughout its career it had to contend with many difficulties. From the beginning it evoked the hostility of the Government who were ready to pounce on it with charges of sedition etc. The Anglo-Indian press was alarmed at the appearance of a rival which started stealing all their thunder. Although the Bande Mataram became very popular and a public limited company was formed to strengthen the financial position, it was almost always short of funds and Sri Aurobindo had to give time and attention to this problem also. The Bande Mataram had no declared editor. As we have seen, Sri Aurobindo's name was given as the editor in one issue but as a result of his strong protest, it did not appear again. Sri Aurobindo did not wish attention to be drawn to himself as he had still not resigned from his Baroda service; moreover, as the Principal of the National College, he wanted to avoid involving that institution in political controversies.

In the day to day running of the Bande Mataram Sri Aurobindo had able assistants to help him: Shyam Sundar Chakravarty, Bejoy Krishna Chatterjee and Hemendra Prasad Ghose were writers of exceptional ability but, as the historian J.L. Banerji wrote at the time: 'Whoever the actual contributor to the Bande Mataram might be — the soul, the genius of the paper was Arabinda. The pen might be that of Shyam Sundar or whoever else, but the voice was the voice of Arabinda Ghose.' And later, Bepin Pal was to write a moving tribute which catches the tone and temper of the Bande Mataram's intellectual and literary powers: 'The hand of the master was in it from the very beginning. Its bold attitude, its vigorous thinking, its clear ideas, its chaste and powerful diction, its scorching sarcasm and refined witticism were unsurpassed by any journal in the country either Indian or Anglo-Indian...morning after morning not only Calcutta but the educated community, almost in every part of the country, eagerly awaited its vigorous pronouncements on the stirring questions of the day.... Long extracts from it began to be reproduced in the exclusive columns of the Times of London. It was a force in the country which none dared to ignore, however much they might fear or hate it; and Aravinda was the leading spirit, the central figure in the new journal.'

Indeed hardly had he settled down in Calcutta when Sri Aurobindo plunged into intense activity which imposed a very heavy strain on him. At Baroda he had practised pranayam regularly but he had no time for it now and this, according to Sri Aurobindo himself, brought on a serious illness. He was removed to his father-in-law's house where he was nursed with great devotion by Mrinalini. Later he went to Deoghar to recuperate but returned to Calcutta in time to attend the Congress session which began on December 26. From this time onwards he assumed control not only of the policy of the Bande Mataram but also of the Nationalist Party.

The Congress session at Calcutta was held under the president- ship of Dadabhoy Naoroji, the venerable and aged politician who lived mostly in England and who was the choice of the Moderates. The Nationalists had earlier wanted Tilak to be president. However, a split on the issue was avoided. Tilak was present as the leader of the Nationalists, along with Lajpat Rai, G.S. Khaparde and others. Sri Aurobindo avoided the limelight but worked constantly behind the scenes, taking a prominent part in the private discussions. Largely as a result of his influence, it was decided that the Nationalists would press for a resolution adopting independence as the goal of the Congress, along with other objectives such as Swadeshi, Boycott and National Education. However, when the resolution came up for discussion at the open session, the Moderates fought shy of the word 'independence' and their stalwarts like Pherozeshah Mehta, Gokhale and Suren Banerjee opposed the resolution. Heated discussions ensued and at one stage it seemed that the Nationalists, or the Extremists as their opponents called them, would stage a walk-out. Eventually, the President, realising the strength of the Nationalists, proposed Swaraj as a compromise substitute for 'independence' and the resolution was then passed, although no doubt each party interpreted the word in its own way. The other resolutions, on Swadeshi, Boycott and National Education, were all passed and the Nationalists emerged from the session with greatly increased strength. On December 31, 1906, commenting on 'The results of the Congress', Sri Aurobindo wrote in the Bande Mataram: 'No strongly worded resolutions have been pressed and we are glad that none has been passed, for we believe in strong action and not in strong words. But our hopes have been realised, our contentions recognised, if not precisely in the form we desired or with as much clearness and precision as we ourselves would have used, yet definitely enough for all practical purposes.... All that the forward party has fought for, has in substance been conceded....' Sri Aurobindo's strategy had succeeded. He had remained in the background, but his diplomacy and political acumen had won the day. However, the Moderates were not ready to give up the leadership, as we shall see later.

Sri Aurobindo's policy in the Bande Mataram was based on three clear objectives. First, he kept the ideal of independence constantly before the people. As early as September 1906 he wrote: 'The withdrawal of the Partition by itself will not improve the position of our race with regard to its rulers nor leave it one whit better than before Lord Curzon's regime. Even if the present Government were overflowing with liberal kindness, it cannot last forever, and there is nothing to prevent another Imperialist Viceroy backed up by an Imperialist Government from perpetrating measures as injurious to the interests and sentiments of the nation. The only genuine guarantee against this contingency is the control by the nation of its own destinies.' Here let me emphasise that Sri Aurobindo was the first among political leaders to proclaim the ideal of complete independence in unequivocal terms. When Dadabhoy Naoroji introduced the word Swaraj at the Calcutta session of the Congress as its political objective, the Moderates interpreted Swaraj to mean a form of self-government as it existed in the British Colonies; to many of them even this ideal was too remote and impractical. But Sri Aurobindo was not prepared to gloss over the issue. To make the position perfectly clear he wrote: 'The latest and most venerable of the older politicians who have sat in the Presidential Chair of the Congress, pronounced from that seat of authority Swaraj as the one object of our political endeavour, — Swaraj as the only remedy for all our ills, — Swaraj as the one demand nothing short of which will satisfy the people of India. Complete self-government as it exists in the United Kingdom or the Colonies, — such was his definition of Swaraj. The Congress has contented itself with demanding self-government as it exists in the Colonies. We of the new school would not pitch our ideal one inch lower than absolute Swaraj, —self-government as it exists in the United Kingdom.' India must be free, even as England is free, and if the word Swaraj is ambiguous, let the goal be defined as 'absolute Swaraj' — nothing could be clearer! This theme was to find repeated utterance in the pages of the Bande Mataram and in Sri Aurobindo's speeches so that it could be established in the mind of the people, for the very concept of complete independence was revolutionary and unfamiliar at the time.

Sri Aurobindo's second objective was to make the Bande Mataram the mouthpiece of the Nationalist party. Through it he explained the ideals and programmes of the new movement represented by the Nationalists and exposed the weaknesses of the other parties, so that the Nationalist party could enlist popular support and then gain control over the Congress. I will give you just one quotation to show how he defined the position with unequalled force and clarity. On April 26, 1907, he wrote: 'The new movement is not primarily a protest against bad Government — it is a protest against the continuance of British control; whether that control is used well or ill, justly or unjustly is a minor and unessential consideration. It is not born of a disappointed expectation of admission to British citizenship, — it is born of a conviction that the time has come when India can, should and will become a great, free and united nation. It is not a negative current of destruction, but a positive, constructive impulse towards the making of modern India. It is not a cry of revolt and despair, but a gospel of national faith and hope. Its true description is not Extremism, but Democratic Nationalism.

‘These are the real issues. There are at present not two parties in India but three, — the Loyalists, the Moderates and the Nationalists. The Loyalists would be satisfied with good Government by British rulers and a limited share in the administration; the Moderates desire self-government within the British Empire, but are willing to wait for it indefinitely, the Nationalists would be satisfied with nothing less than independence whether within the Empire, if that be possible, or outside it; they believe that the nation cannot and ought not to wait, but must bestir itself immediately, if it is not to perish as a nation.'

Thirdly, and with the object of involving the people in the struggle for freedom, Sri Aurobindo wrote a series of articles on passive resistance, a strategy developed by him which combined all the elements of the struggle such as Boycott, Swadeshi, National Education, etc. He wrote: '...our policy is self-development and defensive resistance. But we would extend the policy to every department of national life; not only swadeshi and national education, but national defence, national arbitration courts... whatever our hands find to do or urgently needs doing, we must attempt to do ourselves and no longer look to the alien to do it for us.... Our defensive resistance must be mainly passive in the beginning, although with a perpetual readiness to supplement it with active resistance whenever compelled...passive resistance may be the final method of salvation in our case or it may be only the preparation for the final sadhana.' Many of these ideas and programmes were later incorporated in Mahatma Gandhi's non-cooperation movement. However, Sri Aurobindo did not place reliance exclusively on non-violence nor did he preach a gospel of Ahimsa. He wrote: 'Under certain circumstances a civil struggle becomes in reality a battle and the morality of war is different from the morality of peace.... To shrink from bloodshed and violence in such circumstances is a weakness deserving as severe a rebuke as Sri Krishna addressed to Arjuna when he shrank from the colossal slaughter on the field of Kurukshetra.' I have given you only a bare outline of Sri Aurobindo's ideas and you will need to read the original writings so as to understand the comprehensiveness of his perceptions.

But what gave the Bande Mataram its uniqueness was not so much its brilliant exposition of political ideas and progranimes but its tone of high idealism, its spiritual elevation, which distinguished it from other newspapers and political journals of its day as also of the past. Early in 1908 Sri Aurobindo delivered a speech in Bombay which was later reproduced in the Bande Mataram. In it he said: 'Nationalism cannot die; because it is no human thing, it is God who is working in Bengal. God cannot be killed, God cannot be sent to gaol.... It is not by any mere political programme, not by National Education alone, not by Swadeshi alone, not by Boycott alone, that this country can be saved. Swadeshi by itself may merely lead to a little more material prosperity, and when it does, you might lose sight of the real thing you sought to do in the glamour of wealth, in the attraction of wealth and, in the desire to keep it safe. In other subject countries also, there was material development.... When the hour of trial came, it was found that these nations which had been developing industrially, which had been developing materially, were not alive...the forces of the country are other than outside forces.... God is doing everything.... When he throws us away, he does so because we are no longer required.... He is immortal in the hearts of his people.' I could give you quotation after quotation from the Bande Mataram breathing this spirit but there is just one point that I would like to stress here. Sri Aurobindo did not want India to be free for her own advancement alone, but always emphasised that free India had a great contribution to make to the world. In an editorial under the heading 'Indian Resurgence and Europe', he wrote: 'If India becomes an intellectual province of Europe, she will never attain to her natural greatness or fulfil the possibilities within her.... Wherever a nation has given up the purpose of its existence, it has been at the cost of its growth. India must remain India if she is to fulfil her destiny. Nor will Europe profit by grafting her civilization on India, for if India, who is the distinct physician of Europe's maladies, herself falls into the clutches of the disease, the disease will remain uncured.... The success of the National movement, both as a political and a spiritual movement, is necessary for India and still more necessary for Europe. The whole world is interested in seeing that India becomes free so that India may become herself.'

There was another side of the Bande Mataram that we should remember. It was a daily newspaper (from June 1907 a weekly edition also started) and it reported on all important political developments: acts of commission or omission by the Government, activities of the political parties and personalities, criticisms of the Anglo-Indian press and similar topics. Its comments on these were of a rare brilliance. Sometimes bitingly caustic or sarcastic, sometimes grave or portentous, they set a new standard for Indian journalism. I shall give you just one example. The Times of London complained in its columns that 'these nationalists were spreading racial hatred and disaffection against the ruling race'. Sri Aurobindo retorted: 'Our motives and our objects are at least as lofty and noble as those of Mazzini or those of Garibaldi whose centenary the Times was hymning with such fervour a few days ago. The restoration of our country to her separate existence as a nation among the nations, her exaltation to a greatness, splendour, strength, magnificence equalling and surpassing ancient glories is the goal of our endeavours: and we have undertaken this arduous task in which we as individuals risk everything, ease, wealth, liberty, life itself maybe, not out of hatred and hostility to other nations but in the firm conviction that we are working as much in the interest of all humanity, including England herself as in those of our own posterity and nation.... If England chooses to feel aggrieved by our nation-building, and obstruct it by unjust, violent or despotic means, it is she who is the aggressor and guilty of exciting our hatred and ill-feeling.'

What a profound impression these articles created! The leading daily English newspaper of that period in India was The Statesman and its editor, S.K. Ratcliffe, later wrote about the Bande Mataram in these terms: It had a full-size sheet, was clearly printed on green paper, was full of leading and special articles written in English with brilliance and pungency not hitherto attained in the Indian press. It was the most effective voice of what we then called Nationalist extremism.' But the person who really appreciated the worth of the Bande Mataram and realised that it was creating both political history and literature was a kindred spirit, Sister Nivedita. She wanted the writings in the Bande Mataram to be preserved for posterity and, fortunately it was possible to make a selection from the old files of the paper and bring out a book which forms the first volume of the Sri Aurobindo Birth Centenary Library.

One last word about Sri Aurobindo and the Bande Mataram. I have already told you that the paper had to contend with financial difficulties and it goes without saying that it did not have any of the facilities of modern newspapers, either by way of staff or equipment. The articles by Sri Aurobindo were often written under severe pressure, sometimes at the last minute and on the nearest available piece of paper. Yet the copy was always practically word-perfect, with the need for hardly any change, even of a comma. Truly inspired writing!

At this time Sri Aurobindo was carrying a tremendous load. Apart from the Bande Mataram work, he had his responsibilities at the National College, including teaching; he was now at the centre of the Nationalist party, directing its policy and keeping in touch with its leaders outside Bengal. And all along he maintained his links with the underground revolutionary movement while keeping an eye on the Yugantar, the powerful organ of the revolutionaries. This aspect of his secret activities was of course not known to the public at all, indeed none but his closest followers were aware of his actual role in the movement, and they kept the secret. Even later, when Sri Aurobindo had withdrawn from active politics, very few people knew that he was the brain behind the revolutionary movement and its real leader. I remember that in 1935, after I had joined the Ashram and had the privilege of corresponding with him daily, there was a reference in a letter from him to the days when he had 'to live dangerously'. In my ignorance (and also, let me add, in order to draw him out) I wrote to him: 'You wrote that you had lived dangerously. All that we know is that you did not have enough money in England, — also in Pondicherry in the beginning. In Baroda you had a handsome pay, and in Calcutta you were quite well off.' Back came a magnificent reply: was so astonished by this succinct, complete and impeccably accurate biography of myself that I let myself go in answer! But I afterwards thought that it was no use living more dangerously than I am obliged to, so I rubbed it all out. My only answer now is !!!! I thank you for the safe, rich, comfortable and unadventurous career you have given me. I note also that the only danger man can run in this world is that of lack of money. Karl Marx himself could not have made a more economic world of it! But I wonder whether that was what Nietzsche meant by living dangerously?' I submitted my apologies but persisted in my foolish inquiries in order to draw him out further. So I wrote back: 'Kindly let us know by your examples, what you mean by living dangerously that we poor people may gather some courage and knowledge.' And then he wrote: 'I won't. It is altogether unnecessary besides. If you don't realise that the starting and carrying on for ten years and more a revolutionary movement for independence without means and in a country wholly unprepared for it meant living dangerously, no amount of puncturing your skull with words will give you that simple perception.'

Now, let me return to the more outward side of Sri Aurobindo's political activities. In Bengal he had emerged as the undisputed leader of the Nationalists though always he preferred to remain in the background. In June, 1907, he went to Khulna to found a National School; there he was given a warm welcome. 'I received here a royal reception,' he says, 'not for being a leader of the nation, but because I happened to be the son of Dr. K.D. Ghose.' The heart of Khulna was still bound in gratitude to the good doctor who had ministered to the needy and the poor without thought or care for himself.

Late in April, 1907, news reached the Bande Mataram that the Government had decided to deport Lajpat Rai. In taking recourse to deportation, they had invoked an old Ordinance, seldom brought into use, whereby due processes of law could be ignored and any person considered politically dangerous by the Government could be sent to a remote location for long years of detention without any charge brought against him or proved in a court of law. The Bande Mataram responded immediately, and in an editorial under the heading 'The Crisis' Sri Aurobindo wrote: In this grave crisis of our destinies let not our people lose their fortitude or suffer stupefaction and depression to seize upon and unnerve their souls.... Lala Lajpat Rai has gone from us, but doubt not that men stronger and greater than he will take his place. For when a living and rising cause is persecuted, this is the sure result that in the place of those whom persecution strikes down, there arise, like the giants from the blood of Raktabij, men who to their own strength add the strength, doubled and quadrupled by death or persecution, of the martyrs for the cause.' In its comments the Bande Mataram added with biting sarcasm: 'We cannot sufficiently admire the vigorous and unselfish efforts of the British Government to turn all India into a nation of Extremists. We had thought that it would take us long and weary years to convert all our countrymen to the Nationalist creed. Nothing of the kind. The Government of India is determined that our efforts shall not fail or take too long a time to reach fruition.... By the deportation of Lala Lajpat Rai, they have destroyed the belief in British justice.'

Naturally the Government was alarmed not only at the growing popularity of the Bande Mataram but at the effectiveness of its attacks. The Anglo-Indian press was also complaining that its writings 'reeked with sedition' but had to admit also that they were so cleverly worded that they remained within the limits of the law. So the Government decided to act. They issued a warning both to the Yugantar (on June 7, 1907) and the Bande Mataram (on June 8, 1907) for using inflammatory language and cautioned them that if they did not desist, police action and prosecution would ensue. The Government followed this up with police search of the Yugantar office on July 3 and arrested Bhupendra Nath Dutt, as you know. On July 30 it pounced on the Bande Mataram, searched the office and confiscated many books and papers. Nothing daunted, the Bande Mataram wrote the next day: 'The wolf has come at last.' In fact a warrant for the arrest of Sri Aurobindo had also been issued on July 30, but it was not served at the time of the raid. The police waited for a few days to examine the papers they had taken away and finally on August 14, the day before his 35th birthday, Sri Aurobindo was arrested. He made no attempt to evade the arrest. At the police court he was interrogated and asked whether he was the editor of the Bande Mataram or its printer. Sri Aurobindo answered 'no' to both questions and correctly so, leaving the onus on the Government to prove him the editor — he had no intention of unnecessarily becoming a martyr.

He was released on bail on August 29. The Bande Mataram Sedition Trial came up for hearing before the Chief Presidency Magistrate of Calcutta, D.H. Kingsford. Altogether three persons were accused and charged: Sri Aurobindo as the alleged editor, and Hemendra Nath Bagchi and Apurba Krishta Bose as the manager and printer respectively.

The Government fought with great determination to win the case. In order to prove that Sri Aurobindo was the editor a summons was served on Bepin Chandra Pal to give evidence as a witness. The Prosecution had thought that since Bepin Pal had severed connections with the Bande Mataram he would be willing to appear and testify that Sri Aurobindo was the editor. But their calculations went wrong. Bepin Pal declined to obey the. summons and appear as a witness. For this breach of law he was sentenced to imprisonment for six months. And the next day a moving tribute appeared in the Bande Mataram: 'The country will not suffer by the incarceration of this great orator and writer, this spokesman and prophet of Nationalism, nor will Bepin Chandra himself suffer by it. He has risen ten times as high as he was before in the estimation of his countrymen.... He will come out of prison with his power and influence doubled, and Nationalism has already become the stronger for his self-immolation. Posterity will judge between him and the petty tribunal which has treated his honourable scruples as a crime.'

The Sedition Trial created intense excitement in Calcutta and all over the country, but Sri Aurobindo himself was 'wonderfully composed' as Hemendra Prasad Ghosh has recorded in his diary. It•was at this time, on September 8, 1907, whilst the trial was going on in Kingsford's Court, that a Bengali poem by Rabindranath Tagore entitled "Namaskar" (Salutation) appeared in the *Bande *Mataram. This is a famous poem in the Bengali language; here are the opening lines from an English translation by Khitish Chandra Sen:

Rabindranth, O Aurobindo, bows to thee!
O friend, my country's friend, 0 voice incarnate, free,
Of India's soul! No soft renown doth crown thy lot,
Nor pelf or careless comfort is for thee; thou'st sought
No petty bounty, petty dole; the beggar's bowl
Thou ne'er hast held aloft. In watchfulness thy soul
Hast thou e'er held for bondless full perfection's birth
For which, all night and day, the god in man on earth
Doth strive and strain austerely....

At last on September 23 Kingsford delivered his judgement. He found the Bande Mataram guilty of publishing seditious writings, particularly certain articles it had reprinted from the Yugantar in translation. However, he added: 'There is no evidence before me that the Bande Mataram habitually publishes seditious matter.' He went on to acquit Sri Aurobindo for want of evidence that he was the editor. Hemendra Bagchi was also acquitted but, as the provisions of the law had to be met, he sentenced the printer, Apurba Bose, to imprisonment for three months. The judgement was a severe blow to the Government and greatly lowered its prestige as it had failed either to imprison Sri Aurobindo or to gag the Bande Mataram. The printer's imprisonment was unfortunate but unavoidable under the existing provisions of the Press Act.

An immediate result of the Sedition Trial and Sri Aurobindo's acquittal was that it brought him to the forefront in the public eye. Overnight his name was on everyone's lips and, paradoxically, although he was acquitted, everyone now recognised him to be the author of the Bande Mataram articles and a great Nationalist leader. Had not the Prosecution thundered in vain during the trial: 'I do not care whether Aurobindo Ghose is the editor or not, I say he is the paper itself!' This sudden fame and attention were not at all welcome to Sri Aurobindo. To a disciple he once wrote: 'I was never ardent about fame even in my political days; I preferred to remain behind the curtain, push people without their knowing it and get things done. It was the confounded British Government that spoiled my game by prosecuting me and forcing me to be publicly known and a "leader".'

Around this time Henry Nevinson, author and journalist, who had come out to India as a special correspondent of the Manchester Guardian of London, met Sri Aurobindo for an interview. In his book The New Spirit of India, he records his impressions of Sri Aurobindo: 'Intent dark eyes looked from his thin, clear-cut face with a gravity that seemed immovable.... Grave with intensity, careless of fate or opinion, and one of the most silent men I have known, he was of the stuff that dreamers are made of, but dreamers who will act their dream, indifferent to the means.'

After his arrest, Sri Aurobindo resigned from the Principalship of the National College as he did not wish to embarrass the College authorities, going back however, after his acquittal, but only as a professor. Because of his many preoccupations, he could not give much time and attention to the College and his period of association with it was too short for him to develop it on the lines of a new system of nationalist education that he had in mind. He considered National Education an integral and most important part of the new National movement. His experience at Baroda had convinced him that the system which the British' had introduced was causing immense harm by laying stress on examination results and on the mechanical study of text-books and notes which the students 'mugged up'. As he wrote later, this system 'tended to dull and impoverish and tie up the naturally quick and brilliant and supple Indian intelligence'. During 1909-10 Sri Aurobindo wrote a series of articles on 'A System of National Education' which appeared in the Karmayogin and this seems a suitable opportunity for me to tell you briefly what his views on education were — they were indeed far in advance of the conventional ideas on the subject.

According to Sri Aurobindo, the central principle of education is: 'Every one has in him something divine, something his own, a chance of perfection and strength in however small a sphere which God offers him to take or refuse. The task is to find it, develop it and use it. The chief aim of education should be to help the growing soul to draw out that in itself which is best and make it perfect for a noble use.... The teacher is not an instructor or taskmaster, he is a helper and a guide. His business is to suggest and not to impose.... The idea of hammering the child into shape by the parent or teacher is a barbarous and ignorant superstition. It is he himself who must be induced to expand according to his own nature.' These ideas are at the core of the Free Progress System of education followed in the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education at the Pondicherry Ashram.

As at Baroda, Sri Aurobindo was held in great respect and admiration by his students at the National College. After his arrest and resignation as the Principal, the students organised a meeting to record their regret and to express their sympathy in his 'present troubles'. At their request, Sri Aurobindo addressed them briefly and the words he used remain as inspiring today as they were on that day in August 1907: 'There are times in a nation's history when Providence places before it one work, one aim, to which everything else, however high and noble in itself, has to be sacrificed. Such a time has now arrived for our Motherland when nothing is dearer than her service, when everything else is to be directed to that end. If you will study, study for her sake; train yourself body and mind and soul for her service. You will earn your living that you may live for her sake. You will go abroad to foreign lands that you may bring back knowledge with which you may do service to her. Work that she may prosper. Suffer that she may rejoice. All is contained in that one single advice.'