and colleges, we started boycott - a word which we were the first to use in India - and passive resistance, as well as nonacceptance of British justice and of British goods. In short, it was, in Gandhi's words, 'non-violent non-cooperation'. Simultaneously, in the Yugantar were published articles on the need for a revolution. Thus, we began a conflict on two fronts: with the government as well as with the Moderates and their loyalty to the British. For these reasons, both the paper and the National Party became very influential, all over the country. In the history of Indian journalism I believe no other paper has ever equalled the dramatic impact that the Bande Mataram had on the mind of the nation, preparing it for radical and revolutionary changes.

"You children will perhaps find it impossible to understand, to imagine, even, the state the country was in before the Nationalist Movement began. The sight of a single white man would make people cower and cringe, and if there were any Red Turbans - Indian policemen - around, then the children ran panic-stricken for their lives. What drew them out of this abysmal fear and cowardice and stupidity and inertia? What brought into their lives a new courage and light and valour? It was the cry of 'Bande Mataram', it was this call that shook them awake. This was the greatest gift the Bande Mataram gave to India, a gift that Gandhi made full use of in his Quit India Movement. The fiery writings that the paper published, together with the revolutionaries' bombs, had created an all-pervading atmosphere in the country which, if it had happened anywhere else in the world, would have led to a mass uprising of tremendous violence. Even here a countrywide mood of opposition to the foreign yoke was the result. I will relate to you two instances that will describe the state of mind of the average Indian. In the first instance, a young man, having shot a police officer, was running away. But he had forgotten to rid himself of his revolver. An ordinary shopkeeper by the roadside noticed and shouted to him - 'The revolver! Throw away the revolver! Throw it away!'

Page - 126

"The second instance is an incident that took place at the Howrah Station. An Englishman assaulted an Indian boy. The little fellow shouted out 'Bande Mataram'. Immediately the cry was picked up by voice after voice and 'Bande Mataram', 'Bande Mataram' rang out from all sides. As the crowd round him grew bigger, the sahib took fright and ran for his life. There are so many similar stories."

"But it is impossible to believe that you could ever have taken recourse to violence and bloodshed," put in Sudeep.

"Is that so? And why, may I ask?"

"I don't know. Perhaps because I feel that you love everyone so much, that you care for all of us. And anyway, God can't kill anyone."

"Oh! So God is non-violent! My boy, do you think He runs the whole world without ever having to shed blood? That wars, killings and violence are only a cruel human game? Look, have you read the Gita? Then you know what Sri Krishna says. He says that He is born, that God is born, age after age, to uphold the Good and to destroy the Evil. Was it not Sri Krishna who turned Kurukshetra into a huge playfield of death, who destroyed the Kauravas? And what about Mother Durga, Kali? No, no. God is certainly not against violence, if it becomes necessary. He even takes up arms himself.

"But my political battle was not born of any personal dislike or disgust for the British. Neither was Sri Krishna's, for that matter. To fight against the enemies of one's country in order to ensure her greater good and welfare is never wrong."

"In Letters to Mrinalini you have described how a son feels when he sees a demon sitting astride his mother's breast, drinking her life-blood. Did you really consider India to be your mother?"

Sri Aurobindo said laughing, "Consider! If the country, to me, had been a mere geographical entity, just a collection of fields and forests, of mountains and rivers where lived a few million good, bad and indifferent people, do you think I

Page - 127

would have imperilled so many people's lives, including my own? I am not a mere materialist. That my motherland was indeed my mother was to me a truth I had experienced. I loved her, I worshipped her just as you worship the Mother here. The land is as living as your breathing bodies, as dynamically alive. Otherwise patriotism makes no real sense."

"But during the Second World War, you supported the British, the self-same British!"

"That is so. And don't you know why? Firstly, you must understand that I had no grudge against the British as a people. I have never had any personal dislike or hatred for any individual or nation. We fought a political battle against a government which, like that demon, was drinking our mother's blood. When I realised that England and her government were fighting against a great demoniac power, I sided with her. Hitler represented a dark force whose diabolical intention was to drink the life-blood of the whole world and it was the English alone who stood out against him at a crucial period. Our patriotism was then no longer confined to India alone but encompassed the world and wished for universal good. There is nothing contradictory in this. Also, very few people realised in those days that if Hitler won the War it would be a hundred times worse for India. Do you understand?"

"We would like to know something more about the revolutionaries, if you please."

"Still more?" ;

"Yes. We've been told about the bombs the revolutionaries made to kill the British officers and even the Indians who worked for the British. We have also heard about armed attacks and raids. Were they real? And were you the leader of those men?"

"You mean, did I encourage them to loot and murder?"

"No, it's not that. But isn't revolution necessarily violent?"

"No, it is not quite so. Haven't I already explained to you

Page - 128

what I meant by 'revolution'? Its aim was to prepare a national armed uprising and rebellion. A few random murders and killings were not part of my plan or work. Of course, one cannot categorically state that the role played by terrorism was futile. You see, the situation was somewhat like this - among the many revolutionary groups, Barin's became the predominant one. Of course he kept me informed about his plans, consulting me or asking for my advice whenever he found himself in a difficult situation. When the various groups became too numerous, I found it impossible to be in touch with all of them or to coordinate their plans. All I could do was to meet the leaders from time to time or when the situation required me to. On the other hand, we were passing through dire financial straits. Wealthy and influential members of our society were unwilling to help us. So naturally the only recourse was banditry and violence. This was risky, of course, the most dangerous aspect being the fear of losing the people's sympathy for our cause. But there was no other way. Alas, the Swadeshi Movement had made the government terribly agitated and afraid, because of which a reign of terror was unleashed on us. School and college students were often fined, expelled, thrown into prison, punished, even publicly whipped. When such acts reached extreme proportions the revolutionaries decided that something had to be done to counter them. It was almost as though terrorism was thrust upon the political revolutionary as his weapon. It was decided that all high officials, white or otherwise, of the government, be they police officers or governors, become targets for assassination. The political rebels had already begun making bombs, but now, in retaliation to the British repression, Barin decided to kill either the Governor or the Magistrate. A bomb was made for this purpose, and a group of young men prepared to carry out the killing. And it was this first bomb that exploded, killing by mistake two Englishwomen. There was a terrible hue and cry all over the country. This was how the terrorist movement started in India, growing progressively

Page - 129

stronger and more widespread, generating throughout India a fiery and vibrant patriotism unimaginable to you today."

"But you did not approve of this movement, we are told."

"No, that is not quite true. What I did not approve of was all the petty gangsterism and the indiscriminate killing of the whites. All that had no part in our Revolution, according to me."

"Why did you not stop them?" asked Mandakini.

"I don't think a strong popular uprising against tyrants ought to be checked, because it may have very positive results. That was the mistake committed by the Non- cooperation Movement. It shook the people awake, no doubt, but at the same time it destroyed temporarily the force of active and violent resistance."

"What about your Swadeshi Movement?"

"The police became aware that a great national uprising was growing. Some of the high officials believed that I was the brain behind the killings. Twice they arrested me for my 'seditious' articles in the Bande Mataram, but failed to punish me since the law pronounced me innocent. According to the government authorities, who but I could have such a clever, cunning brain that could work out this complex network of plots of which even their most alert police officers had not had the least inkling? Almost in despair, they sent spies and search parties in every direction and that is how, one day, they discovered the bomb factory at the Maniktola Garden. Barin and his companions were immediately arrested, and so was I. I remember how my very pleasant early morning sleep was rudely shattered by a police officer and I was taken into custody. This, in short, is the history of our terrorist activity."

"So you had set up a bomb factory at the Maniktola Garden?" asked Sachet.

"No, it wasn't I. And one could hardly call it a factory! It, wasn't anything like our 'Harpagon' Workshop; just an old abandoned, tumble-down building where worked about a dozen boys. More often than not, these fellows used foul

Page - 130

means rather than fair ones to procure the ingredients for making bombs."

"Just a small set-up?" asked Anirban.

"Not small at all, in the essential sense. In a country where it was illegal to possess any firearms, guns or pistols, wasn't it a very daring act of conspiracy to manufacture bombs secretly? And Barin was doing so in the very heart of Calcutta city, on a bit of land that was rather neglected and a building sufficiently dilapidated as not to draw anybody's attention."

"But didn't you know about it?" enquired Vinit.

"Yes, I did, though not in detail. All my time was taken up by a great deal of political activity in those days. I had to run the Bande Mataram journal, teach in the National College, build up our National Party in order to fight the Moderates. I was only the titular head of the Revolutionary Group. It was Barin who was its de facto leader. He merely kept me informed about the Group's activities."

"How did he and the others learn to make bombs, such activities being illegal and banned?"

"Aren't looting and killing illegal and banned? And don't people learn how to practise them? You may ask Nolini how they made the bombs. He knows all about it."

"Was he too part of the Group?"

"Don't let his gentle appearance and quiet ways deceive you! He learned everything directly from Barin himself and was one of those who carried a bomb for testing in Deoghar. He was also one of those who were caught red-handed at the Maniktola Garden. I have already explained how the boys learned much about the science of bomb-making from people like Sister Nivedita and Jagadish Chandra Bose. Of those young men, one of the brightest and most intelligent was Ullaskar Datta. He was the first to succeed in making a bomb for the Indian Swadeshi Movement. When Barin was setting up the factory he had sent Nolini to me with an invitation to go and see it. But for some reason I couldn't go then."

Page - 131

Sachet interrupted, "Yes, yes, that is the incident I recounted the other day, of Nolinida's first darshan of you. You could not go to the factory because you had not had your lunch. Nolinida described to us the way you spoke Bengali." All the children were smiling. Sri Aurobindo also smiled, nodded, and continued, "Later, just before our arrest, Barin sent me two bombs so that I could examine them. I remember saying, 'Take them away immediately. The police will find out about them. Dismantle your factory and remove your things straightaway. Searches and raids are imminent.' I sensed something of what was to come and warned the boys. But they did not heed my words and hence got caught. I was spared by Fate, and at the same time realised that the prophecy of Lele had come true."

"What is that?" asked Sampada.

"You have heard about Lele, haven't you? Barin knew him. He had invited Lele to meet the young revolutionaries and, if he agreed, to teach them Yoga so that they might be trained to become great and fearless like Shivaji. Lele knew nothing of Barin's secret activities, but the moment he realised what was going on he advised him to give them up. 'You won't succeed,' he said. 'You will get caught and the consequences will be disastrous.' And that is just what happened. Another of his prophecies also came true. He said that no violence or bloodshed was necessary for India to win her independence, that she would become free by an act of Divine Grace. This was way back in 1907 or 1908. It wasn't Lele alone who said this, many other Yogis too foretold the same thing. But Barin did not believe Lele, for he found it completely incredible that the British should give us our freedom without being forced to do so through a violent, bloody revolution. It was, according to him, blatantly impossible, as impossible for instance as Kamsa suddenly becoming a lover of Krishna. Anyway, for the time being, it looked as if tyranny was in the ascendant and Kamsa was the victor. Barin and his friends became guests of the British government, and so did I. This was the

Page - 132

romantic story of the Maniktola Garden. The boys used to call the jail their 'father-in-law's house'! I'll tell you more about it later. Just now let me finish relating to you the story of my overt participation in the political revolution and thus come to the close of this chapter of my life.

"I think I have already told you that my introduction into revolutionary politics was through writing articles for the Induprakash against the British as well as the Moderates in the Congress. After that my political activities were carried out in secret, up to about 1905, while I seemed ostensibly busy with other things. It was during that period that I joined the Congress and got to know Tilak. I was, at the time, in the service of the Maharaja of Baroda, and therefore I could not openly take part in any political activity; but I remember having long talks with Tilak all the same. All my contribution to politics during those years was secret, never openly made. My intention had always been to take away the power from the Moderates in the Congress Party. It was to this end that I helped establish the National Party with Tilak as its leader. I had clashed with the Moderates at several meetings already, for they were soft and weak. I thought theirs was a policy of prayer and petition, they seemed to beg for kindly concessions from the government. Such political clashes are too full of complex intrigues for your tender minds to understand. However, I shall briefly explain to you our Movement and its purpose. Do not forget that our aim was complete independence. The moment Bepin Pal, editor of the Bande Mataram, invited me to become its assistant-editor, albeit secretly, I accepted this role. From that day, I began writing articles advocating complete independence. Puma Swaraj. These articles quickly made a great impact on the minds of Indians all over the country. I went to Calcutta, giving up my job in Baroda. When the Bengal National College was established, I became the Principal there."

"You continued with your political activities while you were a professor?"

Page - 133

"Yes, though it was done secretly, that is to say, anonymously. Of course, everyone knew who the author of the articles was. My name was on everybody's lips as well as in the government files and in all the Anglo-Indian papers."

"How did that happen?"

"According to them, nobody else could possibly have written the articles that were published in the Bande Mataram. When the government filed a case against the paper because of a particular piece of writing, my name came to light. And I was obliged to come forward to take my place as one of the leaders of the nation. It was the dashed government that spoiled the lovely game I had been playing in secret!

"Suren Banerjee was the undisputed leader of the Bengal Moderates and known as the uncrowned king of Bengal. He was middle-aged, short and thin; his scholarship was vast, his intelligence sharp. He was a fiery speaker and easily held sway over the minds of the Congressmen. As the leader of the Nationalist Party, I had quite a few clashes with him. For instance, at the Hooghly Conference, members from both the Moderate and the Nationalist Parties were present, and the subject under discussion was government reforms. The Moderates were for acceptance of the reforms, we were strongly against it. The more the debate got heated, the more did Banerjee grow furious. At that point, I stood up and, having requested our Party members to become calm, explained the issue clearly to them and asked them to leave the place quietly. This inflamed the gentleman still more and he shouted, 'The people we older leaders could not tame, this thirty-year-old lad has done! He merely raised a careless finger at them and they followed his lead!' For, you see, it was never my custom to be verbose; restraint and logic always characterised my speeches. Banerjee, I must add, had a magnetic power of his own, and at one time he had even begun veering towards the revolutionaries.

"Our final and most dramatic confrontation with the

Page - 134

Moderates took place at the Surat Congress, as a result of which they lost their hold, and the Party was taken over by the Radicals."

"That meeting turned into a regular battle, didn't it?"

"Who told you that?"

"Our teachers. And it was you who...."

Sri Aurobindo laughed and said, "Gave the battle-orders? Fighting and rowdyism! A meek and quiet man like me! Can you believe that? Listen, this is how it happened. The two opposing groups met at Surat. Our opponents were more in number, had name and fame and age on their side. Our group was made up entirely of unknown men, except for Tilak, Bepin Pal and me. The Moderates had decided on no account to let Tilak speak. But he did. While the speech was in progress, a shoe came flying and hit one of our leaders. With that, the shouting and shrieking began. When one of our volunteers asked me what was to be done, I told him to break up the meeting. Fist fights followed, chairs were hurled all about.

"This is how our Nationalist Party was formed. You will find that the aims we set before us and the means we decided upon were very much like those which Mahatma Gandhi much later followed. His ideas about boycotting law courts, schools and foreign goods, of passive resistance or non- violence were all part of our programme. Gandhi's most famous weapon - a revolt based on non-violent non-cooperation - was already practised by us. When I began to write in the Bande Mataram, I set down my plan of action very clearly in that paper:

"Our aim was Swaraj, self-rule, Freedom.

"Our means would be: non-cooperation, passive resistance, national education, self-reliance along with boycott of British goods, fair and proper method of arbitration, and so on. I wrote about all this in article after article in the Bande Mataram in order to shatter the dreams the Moderates had woven around themselves, their dreams about the advantages of foreign rule, their faith in British law and justice,

Page - 135

their attachment to a western education. I laid most emphasis on" the boycott of British goods and on our need for reliance on Swadeshi, that is, indigenous products, because the British had reduced our prosperous land to abject poverty and slavery not so much by political means as by strangling us through trade and commerce and material domination. My second aim was to reform our education system. In Baroda, I had already seen to what extent western education had harmed the youth of our country, how the brightness of their intelligence had been tarnished and dimmed. That is why I had wanted to start national schools where the education given would help the genius of the race to flower along its own lines. I had hoped to take charge of this new system of education, but my arrest made that impossible. Today, after so many years, that dream is moving towards fulfilment, here in the Ashram. You all have come here to participate in that true education. I do not think I need to say more. Those who know anything about political history will be able to discern how the revolutions of the future are moving largely along the paths indicated by us.

"My participation in the National Movement lasted a few short years only, but the changes brought about were extraordinary. And Gandhi made full use of this phenomenon.

"The most glorious change was the new awakening in the nation. The mantra of 'Bande Mataram' had lit new flames of hope and enthusiasm throughout the land. Men and women, all felt that it was worthwhile to be alive. During the French Revolution, the poet Wordsworth who was in France at that time wrote:

'Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive,

But to be young was very heaven.'

"People seemed to feel a similar joy and strength. It was this indestructible power flaming up repeatedly that led the

Page - 136

nation to the threshold of Independence. This, in short, is the story of my political life which led me finally into a

prison cell."

"Why did you say that 'Bande Mataram' was a mantra?"

"What I meant was that the chanting of 'Bande Mataram' had flooded the land with a new tide of patriotism. It acted as a mantra."

"But why do you call it a mantra?" asked Aloka.

"Should I not call it a mantra, when the mere uttering of these words had filled a half-moribund race with new life, reinvigorated it with new powers and capacities, enabling it even to face the hangman with a smile? If this is not a mantra, then what is? In those days of the Swadeshi Movement, the cry of 'Bande Mataram' rent the skies and shook the deepest foundations of the mighty British Empire, terrifying our masters so that they were forced to ban this cry. It was these words, ringing night and day from the lips of revolutionaries, politicians and non-cooperators that led us forward on the path of freedom. The story of 'Bande Mataram' is marvellous indeed. None of Bankim's country- men had realised the greatness of this hymn at the time he had written it. They had considered it only as a strange mixture of Sanskrit and Bengali. It is a pity the Congress has given it a second place."

"Did Bankim really experience what he wrote about the motherland?"

"Of course he must have! How else could he have written the song? It is said that Bankim composed it very fast. When the editor of the Bangadarshan went to ask him for some contribution to his journal, he gave the gentleman this poem. The latter's eyes skimmed over the sheet which he folded with a condescending 'Not bad'. This comment so irritated Bankim that he took the poem back, saying, 'You cannot now understand the significance of this song. You will perhaps do so someday, when I shall no longer be here.' It was after this incident that he inserted the poem in his novel Anandamath. Everyone read the book, admired

Page - 137

and praised it, but no one remarked upon 'Bande Mataram'. It was Rabindranath Tagore who was the first losing this song in public at a Congress meeting, many years later. But the nation forgot about it once again until there came the partition of Bengal. 'Bande Mataram' was revived anew. However, an attempt was made to discard it and to replace

it wholly by another song, but fortunately without success."

"But you didn't explain what a mantra really is!" said Anand.

"A mantra is an inner truth put into self-effective language - either new truth or old truth made new by expression and realisation.

"But its most important characteristic is that it expresses much more than the mere substance and meaning of its word. The rhythm and reverberations of its sound can bring one a sense of the infinite."

"Our teacher once gave us an example of a phrase that achieved something great. It was 'Vive la France'. When the Germans had conquered France, they had demanded that the German language replace French in all the schools. A village school-teacher had retaliated by writing 'Vive la France' in bold letters on the blackboard. Though of course a German bullet ripped his body almost instantaneously, his invincible phrase spread across the land like wildfire, inspiring the French to battle for freedom from the oppressor."

"Yes, such is the power of certain words. I have already told you about the sixteen-year-old lad, Chitta Guhathakurta, whose skull was shattered by the blows of the police and yet his lips cried out 'Bande Mataram'. Another boy, Sushil Sen, sang the self-same song while he was being mercilessly whipped; with every lash he shouted aloud 'Bande Mataram'. Satyen, Kanai, Khudiram - all mounted the gallows chanting this very hymn. Your Tejenda's father, Bagha Jatin too died uttering 'Bande Mataram'. History tells us that mantric words like these have always given a

Page - 138

captive nation the fire and force enabling it to become free.

"All these are instances of the power of the mantra - in the field of nationalism and politics. But its effect in poetry and in the spiritual life is truly miraculous. Have you heard about the Rishis of the Vedas and the Upanishads, and of the Riks or Shiokas they uttered? A divine hearing had revealed these verses to them, and so it is said that the origin of the Vedic creation is supernatural, apauruseya. The undistorted and right utterance of these mantras carries in it the power of spiritual realisation.

"In The Future Poetry I have said that the poetry of the future at its highest will be mantric, as the Vedas and the Upanishads were. For instance:

"There the sun cannot shine and the moon has no lustre: all the stars are blind: there our lightnings flash not, neither any earthly fire. For all that is bright is but the shadow of His brightness and by His shining all this shines.' "

"The Mother has described Savitri as mantric, and your poem 'Rose of God' too."

"Is that so? Well, 'Rose of God' and a few others have come down, in their entirety, from a higher plane. It is my custom, often, to make alterations after I have written the poem - alterations which also come from 'overhead' - but 'Rose of God' is as if it were already composed and arranged in full and came down after a slight pull without needing any change."

"Though we do not understand the poem, the beauty of the diction and the rhythm draws us irresistibly, it captivates us," said Amal.

"The mantra is primarily a harmony of sounds and that is why it is not always necessary to understand the sense. The waves of sound can generate in you vibrations of light and joy and force and can even draw up your consciousness to a

Page - 139

higher plane. Take, for example 'Bande Mataram' that we were talking about. If you change it into 'Mataram Bande', you do not alter the sense at all, but it is no longer mantric. It will never make your hair stand on end!"

"Then, could we say that it is poetry alone that can express the mantra?"

"Why so? Prose too can do it, though less often."

"When we read the Mother's Prayers and Meditations, we have this kind of experience. Your book The Mother is also extraordinary."

"Yes, they generate a special force, not merely through their thought-substance, but also through the sound effects."

"But we never realised that!" admitted Vinit.

"That is because they are prose works. But all great prose must have the power of rhythm and harmony."

"Your poem 'A God's Labour' also thrills us. The rhythm and feeling seem to exceed the words; as in the very first stanza:

'I have gathered my dreams in a silver air

Between the gold and the blue,

And wrapped them softly and left them there,

My jewelled dreams of you.' "

"There you are! You have already experienced something. of the power of the mantra. Similarly, if you recite aloud the finest lines of very great poetry, you will feel within you the beauty of Sound. As the Vaishnava poet said - Through the ear, it shall pierce your soul.' And you will then be able to grasp the core of the mantra or great poetry.

"Now let us go back to the subject in hand."

"You did not tell us anything about the secret Revolution, about the revolutionary change. What happened? You spoke of Khudiram - was he a Nationalist? 'We have been told that many were sentenced to be hanged for having murdered Englishmen."

"Not only Englishmen, Indians too."

Page - 140

"Indians too? Why them?"

"Because they served as police officials under the British. But it isn't as if I haven't told you anything about the Nationalist Movement. I have done so, something at least. I have also explained that the more I became openly involved in political activities the more my secret revolutionary work slipped out of my hands. And the Nationalist Movement turned gradually into a violent movement although the government was largely responsible for that. I have described to you the brutalities of the police, the cruel whippings ordered by the magistrates. Naturally the young men would not accept such tyranny for long and the desire for revenge began to flare up in them which led to the making of bombs. Barin was their leader. After the first bomb was made, more young men flocked to him to study the making and handling of bombs. Of them Nolini was one. Did you ask him about bombs?"

"It's difficult to see him, he's always so busy. You tell us."

"But I wasn't there! I have heard that while a certain young man was examining a bomb, it blew up in his face. He had no time to throw it and run away. At the second attempt, it was two Englishwomen who were mistakenly killed in place of the District Magistrate. On that occasion one of the boys shot himself dead before the authorities could reach him; the other was arrested and hanged. Though this violent rebellion was not ultimately successful, the young men who took part in it displayed great courage and patriotism. The violence continued until Gandhi took over with his non-violent movement. The attack on the Chittagong armoury was its last battle, with women too joining it towards the end. But the violent revolutionaries did not succeed; in fact, most of them were caught. It was only to be expected, wasn't it, for they were vastly out- numbered by the well-equipped government forces.

"But that wasn't the real reason for this failure. It was because the great Force which had come down in our time gradually began to withdraw its intensity. That is why they

Page - 141

failed. But the Force continued to work. It had shaken the race awake in such a way that the British found it impossible to continue being in India."

"How did you get caught?"

"After the bomb went off, there were many raids and searches. The authorities heard about the Maniktola Garden. That was where Barin's boys used to meet.

"Barin was arrested with the rest of his fellows, and so was I afterwards, at my place. This was because I was Barin's elder brother, a revolutionary leader whom Nevinson, a British journalist, had described after having met me as 'the man who never smiles.' They also considered me 'the most dangerous man in the British Empire'! (Laughter) So, that most dangerous man was finally arrested early one fine morning when he was fast asleep in the house he lived in with his wife and sister! The police chief had the house surrounded by well-armed, gun-toting constables, himself entering my room with a loaded revolver in his hand! As if I was a dangerous criminal who might become violent or try some daring escape! And when he found that I was nothing but a peace-loving Bengali perfectly willing to do as he was told, the police chief might even have thought that I was up to some tricks!"

"But why did the police arrest you? Were there bombs and guns hidden in your house?"

"Well, I found myself obliged to spend one whole year in prison, even though the most thorough searches never revealed anything - no hidden weapons, no guns and bombs - in my house. If there had been, I would surely have been hanged. Barin almost was, and I was not only his elder brother but also his leader. Until then, they had found no concrete proof to enable them to arrest me, all they could do was to strongly suspect me."

"The prison-life we usually see in films is terrible!"

"In my time too many used to react in the same way. I was perhaps the first to feel something different. There was no fear."

Page - 142

"Didn't anyone else in your family feel frightened?" "I don't know much about the rest of my family, but I am sure my wife and my sister were terrified. If I had been afraid, how could I have taken part in the revolution? Besides, in those days, I had attained a high point in my Yoga...."

"You were already doing Yoga in those days?"

"Why should you be surprised? Is it because you believe Yoga is something very different from politics? I think I have told you that as early as 1907 Lele had helped me realise Nirvana. From that time on, all my activities proceeded from this plane of experience. I was not the only one, however, who followed the yogic discipline. Many of the political leaders were either Yogis themselves or were disciples of Yogis."

"Please, what is Nirvana like?" asked Kriti.

"Nirvana is a state of absolute peace. Haven't you noticed the expression of deep, infinite peace on the face of the Buddha? After having attained Nirvana, the Buddha returned to active life. His actions and decisions brought about a series of great and far-reaching changes in the world, but they all stemmed from this peace and quietude. We are told that he had become free from fear and worry, from longing and desire. Even a mad elephant became quiet and still in his presence. I am glad you asked this question. Now we can talk a little about Yoga."

"Yes, but politics also is what we would like to discuss. We don't really understand it."

"As if we understand Yoga any better!" piped up a small, teasing voice.

But Sri Aurobindo smilingly explained:

"Maybe you do not know much about Yoga, but you have heard a great deal about it. And since the soil that bore you is the land of Yoga, it is but natural that you should feel eager to learn more about it. In the beginning, more or less everyone has wrong notions about Yoga, and so did I. I believed that to be a Yogi, one must give up the world and

Page - 143

become an ascetic."

"Why have you never told us anything about your family life? There are many people who want to know why you, a Yogi, got married in the first place."

"What a foolish thing to say! And I have heard it over and over again. My dear children, did I then know that I was to become a Yogi? And besides, there is no need to assert that marriage must necessarily stand in the Yogi's way. Do not forget, mine is not the path of asceticism or Sannyasa, like that of Shankara or the Buddha. Our aim is to accept the world and its activities and yet not be bound by it, to go beyond it, in fact. Tyaktena bhuñjītāh, enjoyment through renunciation, as the Isha Upanishad puts it. My aim was the independence of my motherland, not yogic realisation. When it became clear to me that the pursuit of Yoga could bring various occult powers within man's reach, I decided to obtain them, so that, with their help, I might liberate my country. It was then that I began to be drawn to Yoga. That is why I have said that I entered the path of Yoga by the back-door."

"But later, you did give up your home and family when you came away to Pondicherry, did you not?" asked Aloka.

"You mean, left my wife and sister? A little while ago I told you that ever since the Nirvana state was firmly established in my being, all my life had been guided by the yogic influence and by the Divine Will. Until the day I went to prison, and even after that, I had been a family man. At the time of my arrest, both my wife and my sister were living with me. But when God said to me first 'Go to Chandernagore' and afterwards 'Go to Pondicherry', I left home, alone."

"Didn't Sri Ramakrishna also marry?"

"Yes, he did. He lived with his wife as a Yogi. He proved that marriage and Yoga are not mutually exclusive.

"I took up the responsibilities of married life long before I entered the path of Yoga. I did so by choice. Earlier, when I

Page - 144

was involved in the Nationalist Movement, I had sought to share my path with my wife, so that she might be my support and a partner in my endeavour. But the moment I realised that I was meant to lead a spiritual life, I tried to prepare her too for such a life."

"Didn't she suffer terribly when they arrested you? She hadn't had any spiritual realisations then, had she?"

"No, of course not! But she already knew, certainly, that hers was not an ordinary husband, and that the work he had undertaken entailed dangers and difficulties at every step. Besides being a nationalist leader, I was obliged to be away so often touring the country that she must have got used to my being more of an absentee-husband than anything else!"

"Did Mrinalini Devi know that you were a Yogi?"

"I began my Yoga in 1904, three years after my marriage. In 1908 I received important help from Lele and discovered the foundations of my Sadhana. At the right time I also made it clear to Mrinalini that I had three overriding madnesses or manias that drove me. Firstly, I believed that all that I possessed, my powers or my talents, my wisdom or my wealth, everything was given to me by God. Secondly, I must somehow see God. My third madness was to liberate my motherland."

"You are referring to 'Letters to Mrinalini', are you not?"

"Yes, I am, and if you have read those letters, then all these questions are quite unnecessary. You also find several references to my domestic life in them."

"They are very beautiful indeed, very touching. One of our teachers has told us that when she was a little girl she lived next door to Mrinalini. She remembers her lighting incense and putting flowers before the feet in a photo of your, every day, morning and evening. After that she would call all the children, including our teacher, and give them fruits and flowers."

"Did your sister ever come here?" one of the children asked.

Page - 145

"Yes, she did, but she couldn't stay. She wasn't ready for Yoga. Barin came later, but he too left after some years. Now, it's all of you who make up my spiritual family."

The children looked happily at one another.

"But we know nothing about Yoga!"

"Nor did I, at the outset. Even after I had my first spiritual experiences, my faith remained incomplete, my aspiration imperfect. On the other hand, I knew very well that the Vedas, the Upanishads and the Gita were founded on absolute truth. It was when I was thus psychologically pulled in different directions that a friend in Baroda advised me to take up Yoga. He himself practised Hathayoga and asanas and enjoyed, like all missionaries, drawing others into his fold. But I never responded enthusiastically to him, partly because I had a wrong notion about Yoga. For at that time all I wanted was to devote my energies and my time to the nation. It was the motherland I wished to serve, her freedom which I prayed and fought for. Since I believed that all this had no place in Yoga, I had decided that Yoga was not for me. When I finally did turn to it, it was with this prayer in my heart - 'Lord, if Thou art, then surely Thou art All-Wise. Thou knowest that I seek neither salvation nor liberation. All I ask for is the Strength to uplift this fallen nation, and to sacrifice my life to her cause.'

"When I realised that by practising Yoga one could acquire great powers, I told myself that this then was the way by which I could help my country. Also a few things happened that increased my faith in the Yogic Force. Once Barin came back from the Vindhya mountain with very persistent mountain fever. He was treated, but wasn't cured. One day a Naga Sannyasi happened to come by. He took a cupful of water and cut it crosswise with a knife while repeating a mantra. He then asked Barin to drink it, saying he wouldn't have fever the next day, and the fever left him! I was so surprised and impressed that I decided to master the secrets of this science. It was a very small incident, apparently as insignificant as Newton's apple. That was when I

Page - 146

began practising Pranayama. It was in 1904. I pursued my yogic training and my nationalistic activities side by side on my own. For almost four years I did Pranayama and other practices for five or six hours a day."

"Four years! Five or six hours daily!" Sri Aurobindo said laughing, "Don't worry. I won't subject you to such a harsh discipline!... The results I gained were miraculous. The brain became full of light. The mind worked with great illumination and power. At that time I used to write poetry. Usually I wrote five to eight or ten lines per day, about two hundred lines in a month. After Pranayama I could write two hundred lines within half an hour. Formerly my memory was dull, but afterwards when the inspiration came, I could remember the lines in their order and write them down conveniently at any time. Along with this enhanced mental activity I could see an electric energy all around the brain, I could write prose and poetry with a flow. That flow has never ceased since then. The moment I want to write it is there. I also began seeing many visions of scenes and figures.

"I improved greatly in health: I grew stout and strong, the skin became smooth and fair and there was a flow of sweetness in the saliva. There were plenty of mosquitoes but they did not come to me!

"It was around this time that I gave up meat and found a great feeling of lightness and purity in the system.

"There is an interesting story regarding the sweet taste of the saliva in the mouth. There is an order of the Naga Sannyasis whose aim is to acquire that sweetness in the mouth, because it is supposed to make a man immortal. The required discipline for this is called 'khecharimudra'. The membrane below the tongue has to be slit and certain practices are to be followed, as a result of which a sweetness comes into the saliva from what is called the 'brahmarandhra', the secret opening at the top of the head to the spiritual planes above. This is called 'amrita rasa' or the nectar of immortality. At one time, Barin fell in with these

Page - 147

Sannyasis. One of them tempted him with many promises and powers. But Barin absolutely refused to slit the tongue- membrane. They then taunted him, calling him a Bengali coward! Barin replied adamantly, 'Bengali I may be and coward too, but I am on no account ready to have my tongue cut! Absolutely not!' " (Laughter)

"Could you please explain to us what Pranayama exactly is? We know what asanas are; we take lessons from Ambubhai for that."

"It is rather difficult to describe Pranayama to you in a few simple words. But the word 'Pranayama' means the mastery over the forces of prana, of life. It implies that the life-force in a person depends upon the inhalation and exhalation of the breath. Pranayama is a form of breath- control. If the breathing follows a particularly disciplined pattern or system of inhaling, holding and exhaling air, it helps to open up many of the centres of life-energy in the being. Pranayama is one of the disciplines followed specially in Hathayoga partially in Rajayoga."

"But what has this to do with the ability to write poetry?" asked Jones.

"Pranayama helps to cleanse the mind and make it quiet, so that many of the higher and inner centres of energy begin to open. For example, the power of poetic composition is born of inspiration and by inspiration we mean that which comes down or is sent down. The ideal condition for the descent of this power is a perfectly silent mind. In our Yoga too, we lay great stress on mental silence and quietude. One of the ways of obtaining such a silence is Pranayama. It is a subtle science and, if it is rightly followed, it can help us enormously in our progress. But, on the other hand, it cart have disastrous results if it is not performed correctly. I underwent a terrible experience, myself, not because I had made any mistakes in doing Pranayama, but because I was practising very irregularly, owing to a great pressure of work. Consequently, I fell seriously, almost fatally ill. Yet I also gained from it such wonderful, almost miraculous

Page - 148

powers that the being was completely caught up in them and became unable to progress further. At that point, I had to ask a Yogi to help me."

"But I still have not understood what Yoga is and how to practise it. Are you telling us that Pranayama is Yoga?"

"Not necessarily. According to some traditional systems both Pranayama and Asanas are considered essential in the pursuit of yogic discipline. Perhaps your difficulty in understanding stems from the fact that you don't find these practices being strictly followed in the Ashram. Isn't that so?"

"Exactly."

"You see, in our Yoga, we don't need them. The Mother's Yoga, which is also mine, takes up the essence of all the systems and goes beyond them; it is therefore a new and Integral Yoga. The realisations that are obtained by following other Yogas can be had in ours too without your having to perform Pranayama and Asanas. Do you think you could have trained yourselves to do all those things?"

"Goodness, no! Our life is just fine as it is - we go to school, have fun, eat well. We go to the Mother on our birthdays. She gives us so many sweets and books. She takes our classes too and talks to us about so many things. What have we to worry about? Certainly not Yoga!" (Laughter)

"You don't have to. You are all very young and your studies are your Sadhana, as the Sanskrit saying goes. The one thing you must always remember is to do what the Mother asks you to, obey her in all things. If you love her and have faith in her, she will do everything for you."

"And what about you?" asked Archan.

Sri Aurobindo answered smiling, "It's the same thing. But since the Mother is always with you, close to you, she has taken the entire charge of your lives, whereas I remain in the background. At the most, I tell you a few stories and give you my darshan. And as far as the Yoga is concerned, we are doing it for you."

"You are doing it for us?" asked Vinit in surprise.

Page - 149

"Who do you think we are doing it for? Do you think we have any needs of our own?"

"Nirodda once read out to us in class your answer to a letter of his - the one where he asked for a small seat tucked away somewhere in your train."

Sri Aurobindo said laughing, "And what did I write to him?"

"You told him that that was exactly what you were busy doing - reserving seats for poor Nirodda and for many others like him." (Laughter)

*

Anand, one of the young ones, asked: "Why did you say that there was no direct relation between Yoga and the powers that you acquired by doing Pranayama?"

"Well, can you say that to be a poet or to increase the poetic creativity, is part of Yoga? That would mean that every poet is a Yogi! Or do you consider that my acquiring a lighter complexion was a means or a result of having realised the Divine? These cannot be termed spiritual experiences or realisations."

"But you did have spiritual experiences too," said Anshu.

"Yes, but they happened before I really took up Pranayama, at a time when I hardly knew anything about Yoga. I didn't give them much importance then. In fact, I was not very interested in Yoga at all because it had no place in my field of work at the time. Besides, the experiences came with such a suddenness, without any prior notice at all - that's another reason why I did not pay them much heed. The moment I set foot on Apollo Bunder, on my return to India, something marvellous happened. I think I have told you about it. Then again, one day, as I was riding in a carriage through the streets of Baroda, the horse seemed suddenly to go wild, rearing and leaping and almost overturning the carriage! At that very moment I felt a Form emanate from me, luminous, vast, covering

Page - 150

the whole sky. The horse was instantly calmed and I was saved."

"Yes, you read out to us the sonnet. It's called 'Godhead'. Did you write it in Baroda?"

"No, I wrote it here, in Pondicherry, many years later. Then there is the instance of the experience I had on the Himalayas when I visited Kashmir with the Maharaja. There, when I climbed the hill on top of which was Shankaracharya's temple to Shiva, I immediately experienced the Infinite. I saw an infinitely vast Emptiness covering the universe.

"Another spiritual experience occurred in Chandod where I had gone to meet the Yogi Brahmananda. This place is on the bank of the river Narmada, which is dotted with innumerable temples, big and small. I entered a Kali temple and lo! It was not a figure of stone that was there, but Mother Kali herself. It is since then that I began worshipping the Divine Mother and my belief in the Presence of the Divine, even in idols, grew strong and sure. I may add that until then I did not have much faith in gods and goddesses.

"But these experiences were not enough and even whatever spiritual practices I was doing did not suffice.

"I found that I could not progress beyond a certain point. It was then that I realised that I needed the help of a Yogi who would show me the way out of this difficulty. I asked Barin to help me find one. It was the time when we were preparing for the Surat Congress, getting ready for a decisive battle with the Moderates. Barin had by then heard of Lele and sent him a telegram requesting him to come to Baroda. It seems that Lele, on receiving the telegram, felt that he was being asked to give initiation to a very special person. He agreed to help me on condition that I give up politics temporarily to go and live with him. At that time our political activities were extremely hectic. But on my way back from Surat, after our confrontation with the Moderates, I slipped away. My friends knew where I was, but no one disturbed me. For three days, I stayed with Lele, shut

Page - 151

up with him in one small room in Baroda. What happened was absolutely extraordinary, unbelievable. He told me: 'Sit down! Do not speak. Just look, you will find all your thoughts coming into you from outside. Throw them away before they can enter you.' I sat down, asking no questions and looked. To my surprise, I realised that what he had said was indeed true. I saw and felt absolutely clearly thoughts trying to enter me through the head and found myself pushing them away as if they were solid objects. In this manner, within three days, my mind became free of thoughts and was filled instead by an eternal silence. That motionless silence is there to this day."

"It sounds so strange the idea that our thoughts come to us from outside. If anyone else had said it, we'd never have believed it!"

"I used to feel exactly the same way. But I believed Lele, or rather I asked no questions. I only did what I was told. As if by magic, the mind became still, filled with a silence akin to the silence on high mountain-peaks. From then on, the mind, as we understand it, has ceased to function. The Spirit of Mind, the Being of universal Mind, he who, though he is completely free and all-wise, labours as a slave in the small factory of thought, was liberated. The treasures of the innumerable kingdoms of knowledge became accessible and I could freely draw whatever I wished from the worlds of thought. Even the consequences of this experience were extraordinary; I have referred to them in the poem 'Nirvana'. Have you read it?"

Most of the children said, "No."

"Yes, I have. But I didn't understand it," replied Sudeep.

"There is nothing to understand. It is only an exact description of the change my being underwent."

"But if you tell us something more about it, perhaps it will become clearer."

Sri Aurobindo said smiling, "Well, it was as if the whole world were a series of pictures on a cinema screen; moving in and floating out, unstable, transitory, without substance

Page - 152

or truth, illusory in short. For example, here I am talking to you; well, there was no 'I' at all, there was nothing, no world. The only truth was a universal Reality, perhaps describable only as 'That'! No more were there any I or you or a room, the material world had been replaced by a universal Nihil, a Nothingness, in which the only Reality was That. Do you follow?"

No answer.

"Was this why you said that you hadn't understood anything?"

Sudeep replied, "Yes."

"Then perhaps you should have recourse to Imagination."

"What you call 'Nirvana' is the realisation of the Buddha. But it took him six years!" said Sudeep.

"It took me only three days, and even Lele was surprised."

"Why do you say that he was surprised?" asked Udita.

"Because he had not expected this to happen to me, perhaps he did not even want it to. Nirvana is the realisation of the Adwaita Consciousness, the culmination of the Vedantic path of knowledge, and his was the path of love and devotion. Isn't it surprising that instead of love all I perceived was a universal Nihil? I too was surprised, but for a different reason. If existence was indeed illusory, then the aims and ideals I had been struggling to achieve all those years, the freedom of India, the welfare of humanity, were they equally unreal and illusory?"

"Then why did you have such an experience, in the first place?"

"How am I to explain that to you? The will of the Lord does not follow our dictates and our standards; we cannot demand His obedience to nor acceptance of our opinions. After all, He is wiser than all of us, is He not? Let us conclude therefore that perhaps the path of knowledge was more useful for me, in the work I was doing."

"But was it possible to work at all after that kind of experience?"

Page - 153

"Though I told you that all in the manifested universe seemed nothing more than moving pictures on a screen, I also knew that behind it there stood an infinitely vast immutable Consciousness or Being. Besides, I could hear God's commands to me, telling me what to do. He it was was both Guru and Leader."

"Not Lele? But I thought it was him."

"No, no. I cannot quite call him my Guru. In fact, he appeared completely surprised, even overwhelmed, by all that happened. He had never seen anything like my surrender to him, so absolute, so immediate and unquestioning. He told me - or was it the Lord who used his voice? - to offer myself with the same absoluteness to the Divine dwelling within me, to put myself completely in His hands. You may be even more puzzled to know that when I met him again, two or three months later, and he inquired about my Sadhana, he was positively frightened to learn about its progress and results. He had asked me to meditate three times a day, but I had not done it. Again he had advised me to follow the commands of my inner voice, but I obeyed the indications that I received from above. I did not sit down to meditate because I was in a state of constant meditation, very much like the poet-saint Ramprasad who was so continuously conscious of Kali's presence that he did not feel the need to worship Her at any of the times indicated for puja.

"Lele was so bewildered by what was happening to me that he decided that I was on the wrong path. 'The Devil has possessed you,' he announced to me one day and even wanted to undo all that he had done to me. I answered him inwardly by saying that if this was indeed the Devil who had possessed me, then I would follow his path and no other. That was the end of our relationship."

"But how could he make such a mistake?"

"His knowledge was limited to his sole path, you see. It was not deep and vast as Ramakrishna's, which is why Totapuri failed to understand the latter. But Lele had the

Page - 154

evocative power, he could awaken the latent faculties in the individual and for this I shall always be grateful to him. In all other respects, for example, as regards knowledge, wisdom, power, his being was not receptive enough."

One small, very hesitant voice piped up:

"I too find it rather incredible, this realisation of yours within just three days!"

"Are you Lele?" joked Rohit.

"Why should I be? But I can very well be as surprised as he was, can't I? Although I'm not sure I understand the subject very much."

"It's natural to feel surprised. And though I said three days, in actual fact it took me just one day - which makes it even more unusual and unbelievable. Anyway, let me tell you a story:

"When I first came to Pondicherry, a certain young man - not a disciple, I didn't have disciples in those days! - came to see me. 'How does one do Yoga?' he asked me. I told him to silence the mind. He did so. His mind became completely still and empty. At which, panic-stricken, he came running to me - 'My mind is completely empty. There are no thoughts. I am turning into an idiot.' It seemed to me that such words could be spoken only by one who was already an idiot. Welt, anyhow, I was not so patient in those days, so I let him go. He stopped coming to see me. He also lost the divine silence that had been given to him."

"Can't we get it?" asked Rahul.

"If you did now, you might become like him, because you are still immature. First develop your minds, then we shall see. But let me continue my own story - what happened to me after my mind became quite empty. I asked Lele, 'Here I am, with my mind completely blank, empty, free of thought. But how then am I to make the speeches that I am expected to make? On my way back to Calcutta, at Poona first, then at Bombay, there will be meetings where I must speak.' He told me not to worry. He said, 'When you stand before the audience, with folded hands invoke God and wait quietly.

Page - 155

You will find that your voice will say whatever is necessary.' Again, with complete faith in his words, I followed his advice. It was just as he had said it would be. I myself was astonished. My earlier speeches had always been carefully thought out, though thinking had never been very hard for me. But this was miraculous. It was exactly as if the Goddess Saraswati put the words into my mouth! All my speeches that followed, from the one at Poona to the one I made in Calcutta, all were spoken in the same way. Not only my speeches - my writings, my conversations, everything flowed down henceforth from above the mind. I could never have undertaken the immense task that I am doing with only the mind for my guide, could I?"

"On your return to Calcutta after the Nirvana experience, didn't you find it difficult to resume all your work?"

"Not at all! I had so many responsibilities - political and national - such as editing the Bande Mataram, addressing meetings, and so on."

"But then, what about your Sadhana?"

"You still do not seem to realise that work and Sadhana are not incompatible. The notion instilled by the earlier Yogas are so deep-rooted in the race that they have influenced even your child-minds. But I for one do not find anything surprising or difficult in being able to continue with all my work, be it national or domestic, writing or teaching, while pursuing my Sadhana most earnestly, because I consider work to be part of Sadhana. In fact, this is one of the main characteristics of our Yoga here."

Sachet said, "But if I were to attain the peace of Nirvana, I believe I would give up all my activities!"

"Vivekananda too had said something on those lines, to which Sri Ramakrishna had retorted, 'But that makes you terribly selfish!' As a matter of fact, after the Nirvanic experience, one does tend to withdraw oneself from the world, that danger is indeed there. But we are not doing the Yoga for our own sake. If that were so, there would have been no need to establish this Ashram, nor need I have come down

Page - 156

into the world at all. However, my habitual activities did soon come to an abrupt end - the day God sent the police to me with a warrant of arrest and took me to the Alipore Jail."

"God did that?" gasped Vinit.

"Since I had surrendered all my responsibilities to Him, since my patriotism was nothing other than His worship and I knew it was He who was guiding me at every step - why should I then not say that it was He who did it? The police were merely an excuse and an instrument. Of course, this knowledge became a certitude only after I went to prison."

"But why did the Lord treat you so harshly?"

Sri Aurobindo answered smiling, "What may seem harsh or cruel to us in its immediate appearance, often turns out to be extremely sweet, ultimately. In jail, He told me, 'The bonds you could not break, I have broken for you. I have brought you here so that you may prepare yourself for the task I have chosen for you.' In fact, a month or so before my arrest, God had indicated to me to give up everything, in order to pursue my Sadhana in earnest solitude so that I might draw even closer to Him. But I was so attached to my country and my work that I could not accept His suggestion. And hence the arrest. God's 'cruel punishment' to me!..."

"On the 2nd of May, I, along with many others, was arrested and put in prison where I remained for a whole year. You must have read or heard about that episode."

"Yes, we have heard something about it, but to hear of it from your lips, sitting in front of you, that is an exceptional grace. Was it very painful, your stay in jail? The food and -"

"Yes, the first few days were hard. But it was not so much the mere physical difficulties of food and lodging, since these external problems had never really disturbed me. The hardship was psychological at first, though there was on

Page - 157