Sudhir Kumar Sarkar: A Spirit Indomitable

The Mother on the Revolutionaries

A portion of the Mother’s talk with Mona Sarkar on the revolutionaries of the Indian National Movement, especially those who were with Sri Aurobindo. The talk was noted down from memory by Mona.

The Mother: Did you bring the photos of the revolutionaries as I asked you to, last time?

Mona: Yes, Mother. (Mona hands Her the book “The Roll of Honour”, containing photographs and information on revolutionaries who died in the struggle for India’s independence.)

The Mother: “The Roll of Honour”. They did well to print this quotation over the photograph.

Mona: Yes, Mother. It is a quotation by Lincoln, printed over his photograph.

The Mother: It is very well done. It looks very beautiful and it is a beautiful quotation.^[3] Only towards the end, it sounds a little like propaganda — it would have been better if he had put “all turn towards the Divine for guidance….” (The Mother looks at the photographs of several revolutionaries. She looks with much concentration at the photo of one young man who is dead; fully garlanded, he is ready to be taken to the cremation ground for the last rites. The Mother exclaims: ) This one was with Sri Aurobindo!

Mona: Yes, Mother, this is Kanailal Dutt; he was with Sri Aurobindo. It is he who, with the help of Satyen Bose, shot the traitor Naren Goswami in Alipore Jail.

The Mother: It is clearly written on his face that he was with Sri Aurobindo — it is like an aura. His psychic being is burning intensely; it is quite an individualised psychic being. And was he hanged?

Mona: Yes, Mother, both he and Satyen were hanged.

This patriot, Kanai, after he was sentenced to death, put on weight — sixteen pounds — during his last twenty days in jail. And when the sentries came on the last day, they found him sound asleep. They had to call him to wake him up: “Kanai, it is time to go!” Kanai woke up, smiled and followed them. A fellow revolutionary asked him why he was not afraid of death — how he could be so cheerful and even put on weight. He answered, “I have faith in the spirit of the Gita. I shall depart with the name of the Lord on my lips, thinking of Him with whom I wish to be united after death, and I shall be reborn with part of His knowledge and force.”

The Mother: It is very true.

Mona: Mother, is it always so? If at the time of death one thinks of what one wants to become in one’s next life, does one become that when one is reborn?

The Mother: Yes, if one thinks that; it is absolutely true…. (The Mother turns the pages of the book and comments: ) These revolutionaries have proved that the realisation of the embodied Motherland is dearer than life itself. That is why there is no sign of worry or grief on their faces. It is wonderful. And this one — was he also with Sri Aurobindo?

Mona: Yes, Mother, this is Khudiram Bose. It is he who with Prafulla Chaki threw a bomb at the magistrate’s carriage. Usually the magistrate travelled in a particular carriage, but unfortunately on that night two ladies were riding home in a similar carriage and they were killed. Prafulla and Khudiram did not know about this mishap. They ran away as soon as the bomb exploded. The police were soon after them. Prafulla was cornered. When he saw that escape was impossible, he told the police officer, who was an Indian, “Are you not ashamed to catch a patriot and become a traitor to the country? But I shall not allow your sinful hands to catch me.” So saying, he took out his revolver and shot himself through the mouth.

The Mother: Well said, well said. Yes, what he said was perfectly true.

Mona: And the other one, Khudiram, was hanged.

The Mother: Yes, I understand the story now….

Mona: Mother, there is no photograph of Prafulla Chaki here, the one who shot himself through the mouth. It seems that after his death, the British severed his head from his body and sent it to Calcutta for evidence.

The Mother: Oh, how cruel! To behead a patriot! They did the same thing during the French Revolution. It is horrible….

But look at his eyes — they tell you everything. He looks so innocent and at the same time very happy to sacrifice his life for the country. The fire of patriotism is burning in his eyes. And this one — he too was in the same group?

Mona: Yes, Mother, his name is Ashok Nandi.

The Mother: The aura of Sri Aurobindo is around them all, it is very clear, and their psychic being expresses it…. See this one. Oh, his psychic is very much to the front! He surely belonged to Sri Aurobindo’s group.

Mona: Yes, Mother, he is Satyendranath Bose who went smilingly to the gallows. He killed Naren Goswami, the traitor with the help of Kanai. There are others, too, who sacrificed their lives for the Motherland.

The Mother: It is not sacrifice which is written on their face, it is joyful offering to the Motherland — to Mother India. And they have proved something, they have proved that adora­tion of the Motherland is dearer than the life itself. They faced all dangers and fought bravely, whatever the cost. Their psychic beings are all individualised. It is an extraordinary group. All those photos I have seen just now have the markings of a hero. Tejen’s father [Jatindranath Mukherjee] has the markings, and others too. Some of them are endowed with almost divine qualities, rarely to be found among men…. (The Mother turns the pages of the book.) And who is this one at the bottom?

Mona: It is Indu Bhushan Roy.

The Mother: He seems to belong to Sri Aurobindo’s group.

Mona: Yes, Mother, he was a daring boy.

The Mother: And was he also killed?

Mona: He hanged himself in jail, Mother.

The Mother: But why?

Mona: Mother, they tortured him so much that he could no longer use his hands. They were so bruised and full of blisters that he could not even eat. Still he was forced to continue with hard labour, for which he had to use his hands. When he pleaded with the jail authorities, they did not listen. In revolt he hanged himself in his cell.

The Mother: Oh, that’s how they were treated!

Mona: Yes, Mother….

(The Mother turns the pages and looks at other photos.)

The Mother: Oh, this one belongs to His group?

Mona: Yes, Mother. He is Sushil Sen, the brother of Biren Sen who is here in the Ashram.

The Mother: Biren Sen?

Mona: Yes, Mother, he is here, he came a few years back.

The Mother: I don’t know, I don’t remember. If I see him now I will recognise.

Mona: Nolini-da surely spoke to you about him.

The Mother: Maybe, but I don’t quite remember his face.

Mona: Mother, he too was sent to the Andamans like my father. And he too was mercilessly tortured like the others.

The Mother: Oh, I didn’t know.

Mona: Mother, he speaks very little. He is short, about this height (gesture). He looks so quiet and innocent, but he was very courageous and bold. He was in the same group. I think he was the youngest.

The Mother: It is fortunate that he is a quiet man. In silence one finds the greatest power.

Mona: Yes, Mother, yes. And the sadness we see on his face expresses the torture he had to undergo.

The Mother: Yes, he has a strong character. There are many like him here who talk very little but work hard and have a very strong determination.

Mona: Mother, this is his brother, Sushil. Even as a boy he was considered a real patriot. Once it so happened that a police officer, an Englishman, banned a meeting at which a famous Swadeshi leader was to address the people. So Sushil went up to the officer and hit him on the head with a stick because he had banned the meeting. The poor boy was caught at once and ordered to be whipped fifteen times as punishment. A policeman with a big heavy whip started to hit the boy, but he would not be cowed down. Each time he was whipped he shouted aloud “Bande Mataram” and the whole crowd joined in with him, although the slogan was banned. The boy was ordered to keep silent, but he did not listen. It was a pathetic sight — the boy was bleeding, his back was full of scars, chunks of flesh were coming off, but even when the boy fell unconscious they went on beating him.

The Mother: Oh, they had the heart to do such a thing? It’s unbelievable. They are worse than barbarians!

Mona: Mother, no one can imagine how much the Swadeshi prisoners were tortured in the Andamans.

The Mother: The Andamans — that is where your father was sent?

Mona: Yes, Mother.

The Mother: I have heard a little about it. Well, I would like to see this man. What is his name?

Mona: Biren Sen, Mother.

The Mother: All right. There is no hurry. Let him come on his birthday….

These revolutionaries are exceptional. I did not know that Sri Aurobindo had such people around him. Their dedication, their power of endurance and their self-sacrifice were really extraordinary.

Mona: Yes, Mother, they suffered a lot.

The Mother: Yes, one can see that very clearly. It is written on their faces — but without any anxiety, without any regret as to what happened. They surrendered themselves joyfully to the Motherland.

Mona: Mother, Sri Aurobindo wrote that many of his companions in jail were remarkable spirits — noble, brave and patriotic. He even said that they were greater than himself! Of course, he said this out of modesty and humility, but certainly he saw in them a very luminous flame.

The Mother (laughing): Yes, there were people around Him who had individualised psychic beings….

I am sure that the movement Sri Aurobindo initiated in order to free India made such people spring forth, people for whom to live for the Motherland was the only life worth living. What self-abnegation and self-effacement! It is quite obvious that their love for the Motherland was the outcome of His patriotic speeches. His words inspired them to sacrifice their lives for the glory of India. It is the regeneration of India for which He worked. He shook the very foundation of tamas in which the nation had buried itself, resigning itself to its fate. Those speeches delivered by Sri Aurobindo would move any man to rise and fight for the country. How powerful and stimulating they are! He taught them how to worship the Motherland. And you see how these patriots repeat His words… I am happy you showed me these photographs. Now I know those who were around Sri Aurobindo. (The Mother turns the pages. As soon as her eyes fall on a photo of Tarini Prasanna Majumdar, she exclaims enthusiastically.) Oh, yes, it’s him, yes, yes, I recognize him, his eyes… yes, it’s him… I see him everyday. What’s his name?

Mona: Tarini Prasanna Majumdar, Mother.

The Mother: Tarini Prasanna Majumdar. When did he pass away?

Mona: On the 15th June 1918, Mother.

The Mother: On the 15th June 1918! His being came back after so many years. He spent really a long time up there, enjoying himself and then he came back to finish his work he had started. It seems he was prematurely killed. And since then, he has been looking for someone suitable with that intensity or heart, who could finish the work he started. He was Bengali?

Mona: Yes, Mother.

The Mother: A Brahmin?

Mona: Yes, Mother. A Brahmin.

The Mother: But he came back after a long time. Usually, when one dies prematurely and has some work to accomplish, one takes birth very soon. He was a very determined and sincere man, who wanted to complete his work. He wanted it almost desperately. I knew him long, long ago. The part of his being that comes to me is his vital and his subtle physical. They wanted to finish the work he started. One of his beings, the vital, was not satisfied so it wandered in these earthly regions in order to find a medium and finish his work.

Mona: So, Mother, where is his psychic being?

The Mother: It has left, it is there in the higher regions. Actually, his psychic being is a little diffused.

Mona: What does that mean, Mother?

The Mother: It means that his psychic was not fully individualised. It was still a little hazy.

Mona: I don’t understand, Mother.

The Mother: I mean that his psychic was not developed enough to choose its own destiny. His psychic could not leave the body, come back as it wished, and choose the place most suitable for its specific work. When the psychic is individualised, it chooses the place and the circumstances that will help it best to accomplish what it comes for during the whole of its earthly existence, and when this is done it departs at will. I can see that his psychic being was not quite illumined, but he had a very strong will-power. I must say that most people are not at all aware of their psychic being; it is so hazy, sometimes so clouded that one would think they have no psychic being. But in this case, the psychic is somewhat illumined, but not yet individualised or conscious — but still, it is clearly visible….

Mona: His name is Bhagat Singh. He is quite famous.

The Mother: He looks very determined.

Mona: They tortured him a lot before sending him to the gallows.

The Mother: He too was hanged?

Mona: Yes, Mother.

The Mother: Then why did they torture him?

Mona: To collect evidence from him, of parties and their secret activities.

The Mother: Oh! to hang him was not enough for them.

Mona: Here is another photo of Bhagat Singh.

The Mother: He looks like a hero! (The Mother turns the pages and pointing to the photos of some freedom fighters asks who they were.)

Mona: Oh, Mother! These were the men who captured from the British the surrounding portion of the town of Chittagong and declared the area free. They had held that freedom for a short while until new British reinforcements came. But they put up a stiff fight until they were overcome by a much larger force. Although they were short of ammunition, they never relented and many were killed. Surya Sen was their leader.

The Mother: They look so innocent, but very determined and devoted.

This is a thing I cannot understand; foreigners who come to rule a nation, to found an empire — and not only do they brutally try to enslave the people in a crude and degrading way but they forbid them to assert their human freedom, to love their Motherland, to worship the power she symbolises, to offer their work and their happiness to the Glory they adore. I cannot understand their purpose. Not only do they behave like marauders, sucking the blood of the nation and most of its wealth — its industry, agriculture, minerals — but they rule the country as it pleases them, and use all this wealth and financial power to live in even greater luxury and dazzle the whole world. All this at the expense of poor India who suffers so much, who cries out in agony — India torn by anxiety and always in need, with the disastrous consequence of famine and death. And yet she is not even allowed to raise her voice. That’s sheer barbarism!….

Oh! it was not enough for them to squeeze the last penny out of the land, they also had to empty the nation of its essential vitality, its aim and motive, its sovereign ideal. They tried to impose their low and empty culture which they claimed to be the highest and best, upon a nation whose wonderful culture has reigned supreme over the world since the beginning of time. That is why Sri Aurobindo came — he came to save India which was plunging headlong into the abyss and might have lost her soul…. (The Mother turns the pages.) It is wonderful, one can read it on their faces: no trace of grief, not the least fear of death, but a sort of anxiety because they had not been able to complete their task they vowed they would accomplish to free India from her foreign yoke. A sort of pain in their heart at the thought that they had to die too soon. Otherwise, they were ready to use any means to throw the British out of India. They were so devoted to their Motherland that they were ready to sacrifice their lives for Her. One even feels that they were proud to offer their lives on the altar of the Mother’s temple as if to adore Her. Oh, what a wonderful self-abnegation for the sake of the country! It is truly unique…. (The Mother turns the pages and sees the photograph of a woman) Ah! but it is a woman! Women too were helping revolutionaries at that time?

Mona: Indirectly, Mother. Yes, many women helped the movement and gave their support to it even at the risk of their lives. They helped by hiding weapons and money or by carrying them to those who needed them but could come out of their hide-outs only at night. They helped and inspired the political absconders….

(The Mother turns the pages and looks at the photos of Santosh Kumar Mitra and Chandra Sekhar Azad)

The Mother: Oh, these are wonderful! Each has his own character but who can say who was the braver of the two? Oh, this one, (Azad) his eyes are like a fire that burns to conquer and take its revenge over the prevailing injustice… (The Mother turns the pages and sees a photo of Jatindranath Mukherjee)

Mona: Mother, this is Tejen’s^[4] father.

The Mother: But he resembles Prithwin^[5] very much.

Mona: Yes, Mother. Jatin had a group, and all of them were killed in an open fight against British soldiers. They were waiting for a shipload of armaments from Germany. Unfortunately, the ship did not turn up as expected, that spoiled their plans. The British got scent of it and attacked them in force. They were all killed.

The Mother: Yes, yes, I know this man, he has exceptional qualities — his psychic is quite individualised, he knew what was going to happen, but that did not worry him at all….

And who is this one?

Mona: Subhas Bose.

The Mother: Oh, Subhas Bose!

Mona: And here again Mother, here is Subhas Bose in front of the Cellular Jails in the Andamans.

The Mother: Yes, I know.

Mona: Mother, this is the place where my father, Barin-da and others were sent after the trial. My father was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment and Barin-da for life. It is in this jail that they were kept. (The Mother looks closely at the picture) Mother, it is Subhas who chased the British out of the Andamans with the help of the Japanese. This is his photograph after his conquest of the island.

The Mother: In him also the inner fire is burning. His psychic is illumined. Yes, it is very clear….

(After having seen all the photographs, the Mother says)

The Mother: It is very interesting, but where is the photograph of your father?

Mona: Mother, in this book they show only the pictures of the revolutionaries who have been killed while fighting the British. Only those who have been killed.

Sudhir Kumar Sarkar: Photograph taken by the police
on the eve of transportation, 1909

The Mother: Oh, only those who have sacrificed their lives.

Mona: Yes, Mother….

The Mother: It was really an exceptional time in History, and they were exceptional people to have the courage to challenge the British Government. It is an extraordinary group…

Well, bring me this book some other day. I’ll look at it in more detail and read a little. It is interesting to see how Sri Aurobindo began this movement and how it produced so many gifted people….