CWTVKS Volume 2

1) Sri Aurobindo

Next Wednesday, the 15th,¹ is the anniversary of Sri Aurobindo's birth. Seventy-three summers of his life have now receded into a still vivid and recent past. The Ideal he stands for, the Truth he sees for himself and for us, the meaning of his life for man—these have been expounded by competent writers in magazine articles and separate volumes in English and many of the languages of India. The bulk of Sri Aurobindo's own writings towers, like their quality, high above the sum total of all the works of all the authors on his teachings. Nevertheless, an article on Sri Aurobindo for this occasion may not be superfluous; for do we not continue to read over and over again the same Gita or the same Saptashati? Do we keep down for good the Ramayana when we finish one reading? Or, do we not long to see oftener men and things we love or admire and adore? There are certain themes on which one can dwell long or any number of times, and still the pleasure is not exhausted, nor the benefit measured out. And Sri Aurobindo is a sublime theme.

For over thirty-five years—not a short period, considering the span of life ordinarily allotted to man—he has lived in seclusion in Pondicherry. People wonder and ask, are curious to know more about him, about incidents in his life than about what he lives for. Authors in many languages have written his biography. Some of them are more scholarly than others; some give more interesting details, while others are content with giving a chronological account drawing pointed attention to his political activity and literary productions. These are certainly useful and their value cannot be underrated—especially in the absence of a biography from the pen of Sri Aurobindo himself which remains a pious hope for the present. For even the best of the books on his life could not fill up the gaps especially in the earlier years or give an authentic account of his reactions to many notable incidents of his life in England or at Baroda. Notwithstanding the disadvantage, with the materials available, we can certainly form for ourselves a picture of the arresting magnificence that is characteristic of every facet of his personality; a clear distinctness attaches itself to every stage and walk of his life.

From the chronicles of his life so far published, we gather enough that throws light on the unique achievements of Sri Aurobindo in the field of thought and action, as a poet and patriot, thinker and linguist. But there is one remarkable fact which we can clearly see about him from the very beginning. His life gives the lie direct to the common belief that parentage and environment could largely account for the greatness and stature of the human personality. Were the surroundings in England favourable for a spark of patriotism in an Indian boy trained and kept under influences alien, if not opposed, to the soul, spirit and interest of India? Yet the feeling for his mother country was a fire in his breast even when he was fourteen. Was it ever his idea to become a man of power and wealth and influence and live what is called a respectable life? Why did he fail to appear for the Riding Test for the Indian Civil Service examination which he had passed in the open competition? Was it his own decision? Was he aware even then of India's call for his services? To hazard an answer to these questions is rather bold for any of us. But this can be stated with certainty. He was aware or had received intimations during his stay in England to the effect that he was out of the ordinary run of mankind, born with certain unusual capacities, and could achieve something of momentous importance to his country.

Quiet and reserved, he is not loud about the unusual experiences, dreams or visions or anything phenomenal that come upon and concern him most, but watches and awaits for their meanings to unfold themselves. He is superbly rational to the core and therefore does not dismiss them as nonsense in the fashionable manner of boastful scepticism. All throughout from his boyhood, there has been something in him—shall we say over him also—that guards and guides him from within or without towards the ultimate goal for which he has taken birth. On his return from England, his very first step on the Apollo Bunder is greeted with a vast Calm that descends on him and continues to surround him for many months. Later, when he is in danger of a carriage accident, a vision of the Godhead surges up within him, masters and controls the situation and wards off the harm. He walks on the ridge of a hill in Kashmir, suddenly the realisation of the Void Infinite forces itself upon him. Again on another occasion, on the banks of the Narmada, the living presence of Kali in the temple fills him with an amazing majesty. Long after, even when he meets the Maharashtrian Yogi for instruction, he carries out his word and empties his mind of all thoughts, stills the minutest ripple and discovers the silence of the mind in three days. Is this ordinary human effort or human success? It is the same Power that has throughout guided and guarded him that achieves the desired result—in the high altitudes he has seen and been that Power. Always it is the same guidance, the same Guardian Spirit, that does the miracle.

Whatever successes and realisations he has since had, they are the outflowering of the Spirit that he has been all along, even before he took to regular Yoga. Nor are they meant for his personal ends, for he has none whatsoever as such except the Ideal he embodies, the Truth he sees and lives for us. His sole aim is to actualise a sublime truth that represents God's intention in humanity. For though this earth is a world of matter and life, man is neither a vegetable nor an animal, he is a thinking being, a spirit, a person not yet full and complete, not an accomplished true image of his Maker, which he is intended to become. The ignorance, the many-sided imperfection and weakness of the human being have been just a stage, a necessary evil, and however universal and permanent they may seem, they are still temporary, bound to disappear and be displaced by the strength and luminous peace of a Higher Conciousness that has started to come down at this hour of the age, by a special Grace of intervention to help in the labour of Mother Earth. For it is her technique of tardy evolution at its top that man seizes, accelerates and represents in his consciousness aspiring towards the higher heights of the Spirit, making way for the Godhead to come down and fulfil His purpose.

The ignorance with its issues, sorrow and suffering and death, the workings of the dark forces the earth is riddled with, are local, temporary and insular in the oceanic being of the Eternal Sat-Chit-Ananda that is the Infinite Being. Therefore, the rise to a higher consciousness and change into a new and harmonious order of life for man are inevitable as day following dawn. This is not to say that Sri Aurobindo means that mankind will be changed into Divinity tomorrow. All that is meant is this: once there is an opening in the dam that prevents the flow of the waters of Life spiritual and divine, there is the inundation that is canalised fit to irrigate the arable fields of consciousness in human units. Once this takes place in a few centres, even in one being, the object is achieved, the rest is just a question of time.

"Is this possible? Are you quite sure?” one may ask. Sri Aurobindo's answer is the answer of Stephenson, “Solvitur ambulando” (your difficulty is solved, by its moving); for these were the words of Stephenson in reply to those who argued by strict scientific logic that his engine on rails could not and should not move. Therefore, whatever is achieved in this direction is an achievement for human progress; for without a spiritual basis, no real psychological change in man can take place; without a radical change in the human psychology, no amount of external order and law imposed by the State or any organised might can bring about the millennium. It is for men at the helm of affairs in different parts of the globe at least to recognise as a first step the necessity of a psychological change, and this will be helpful to clear the general atmosphere of atavistic forces that are the antithesis of whatever is spiritual, godward and progressive in human existence.

India, with all her weaknesses and medieval obscurantism still lingering in the name of Religion, is still best suited for this work of God to start with; for spiritually and culturally, she has had a glorious past which is still awake in her in some form, in some measure, keeping her heart yet sound. Is she not destined for a still more glorious future when she could with her recovered spirituality accept the Divine message of the hour and bring about a true change not only in the individual and collective lives of her sons but upon the rest of the world?

Political freedom is inevitable for India;² economic emancipation is sure to accompany or follow; as a consequence she is sure to grow strong. But what is the next step? What will a strong India do? Is she to repeat what all strong nations have done and are doing? No, she shall not—let us hope, will not. India, with a true and renewed spirituality, is an asset for mankind and the hope of the future.