Dr. Manilal arrived at 10.00 a.m.; he made pranam to Sri Aurobindo and asked about the injured leg, for which he had advised "hanging" from the knee to help the flexion.
SRI AUROBINDO: The leg is hanging very well.
DR. MANILAL: I have brought some Ayurvedic medicine for you. I got it from a Madrasi lady who is an automatic writer and has great bhakti. She keeps your photo and Ramana Maharshi's and goes into trances. In her planchette sittings, some Rishi comes and dictates to her. I asked her about the defective flexion of your knee and she gave me this medicine, which is quite harmless—it is white mustard and raktapillai. She says your knee will be all right in six days. The treatment is prescribed by a Rishi.
SRI AUROBINDO: Very kind of the Rishi.
DR. MANILAL: I got a prescription for myself too. It is rice-water and flour of dal (lentil) to be poured on the head. It will cure headache and blood-pressure.
After the sponging of Sri Aurobindo had begun, Dr. Manilal started the talk.
DR. MANILAL: The late Gaekwad wanted to have translations of English books into Gujarati. The word "jailor" was rendered karagrihadhikari, the "superintendent of jail" was rendered karagrihadyaksha and so on. Sometimes it is very difficult to understand what is meant. They have to put English equivalents in brackets.
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PURANI: But in former times people easily understood such words as amatya, Suba, etc.
DR. MANILAL: Now Suba is more easily understood. But when they write Mahasabha for Congress, I take it to be Hindu Mahasabha.
SRI AUROBINDO: Why? You can then take Congress as the American Congress. (Laughter) Even in England it was not always easy. The word "telegraph", for instance, was not at all easy at the beginning. By constant use words become familiar. So there is no reason why one shouldn't have one's own language.
DR. MANILAL: At present Urdu words are much favoured.
SRI AUROBINDO: When we have Sanskrit, why should we leave it and go to Urdu?
DR. MANILAL: What about a word like "collector" Isn't the Urdu equivalent —jilladhisha — preferable?
SRI AUROBINDO: The English word "collector" is itself far better.
DR. MANILAL (after a while): I find The Life Divine very difficult, Sir.
SRI AUROBINDO: What is the difficulty? The language or the thought?
DR. MANILAL: It is the language that I can't follow. Can't it be made easier?
SRI AUROBINDO (smiling and shaking his head) : Ask the Grace of God to aid you. (Laughter)
PURANI: The language is not the difficulty, and it can't be made any easier. It is the thought that is difficult to follow. Some people find it very easy.
SRI AUROBINDO: Sisir Mitra is one. He found the book very clear and remarked that after reading it there could be no questions left.
PURANI: Quite so. One may not accept the conclusions but one has to admit that all arguments and questions have ben answered.
SRI AUROBINDO (to Manilal): You have to wait for some translations into Gujarati then.
DR. MANILAL: Translations are even more difficult -if Purani,who is a translator, doesn't mind my saying so.
PURANI: No. I don't mind. I know.
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DR. MANILAL: I understood Purani's original writings better than his translations.
SRI AUROBINDO: Have you read Kant? (Laughter)
DR. MANILAL: No, Sir!
PURANI: After Kant you would realise how easy The Life Divine is.
NIRODBARAN: Don't worry, Dr. Manilal, I am in the same boat as you.
PURANI: Many doctors will be in it. .
CHAMPAKLAL: But Rajangam finds The Life Divine easy. He says that one shouldn't read anything else except this book. He is in ecstasies over it.
PURANI: I also find it very clear.
SRI AUROBINDO: One should have a little knowledge of philosophy. What I have tried to give in the book is a metaphysical foundation of Yoga and a new view of life. Any book of philosophy has to be metaphysical. Even then Haridas Chaudhuri writes that some people may consider it dogmatic—lacking in enough argumentative dialectics.
DR. MANILAL: But Vivekananda's books on Yoga are very easy to follow.
SRI AUROBINDO: His books are made from speeches and he speaks of what everybody ought to know.
DR. MANILAL: He is a philosopher also.
SRI AUROBINDO: Philosophers may not accept him as one.
NIRODBARAN: He doesn't go into the principles of things and the various arguments pro and con.
SRI AUROBINDO: No. (To Dr. Manilal) As for The Life Divine, it is not the language but the thought-substance that may be difficult to follow. If I had written about the Congress in the same language, then you would have understood. (Laughter)
PURANI: One has to go on reading and reading. The first reading may be very dry and difficult.
DR. MANILAL: Yes. That was also the case with midwifery. When I first read the book not a single word entered my head. Afterwards, it became my greatest favourite.
SRI AUROBINDO: So The Life Divine may take the place of your midwifery. .
NIRODBARAN: Another difficulty besides understanding is that of keeping it all in the memory.
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SRI AUROBINDO: That is a different matter. It depends on the mind's capacity to retain things. V will understand and remember everything, I suppose.
NIRODBARAN: And also add much of his own.
SATYENDRA: A commentator can do that.
SRI AUROBINDO: I read many commentaries on Shankara but not a single one agreed with the other. Some were even contradictory in themselves.
DR. MANILAL: To go back to my medicine, will you try it?
NIRODBARAN: The time-limit of six days makes me all the more special of its efficacy. Why not first try on yourself the medicine prescribed for your own trouble?
SATYENDRA (who had come in after the medicine had been talked about): What has been prescribed for Dr. Manilal?
Dr. NIRODBARAN: Rice-water to be applied.
SATYENDRA: Applied where?
SRI AUROBINDO: On his head. Not for his hair! (Laughter) The medicine has been given by a Rishi through the planchette. It will cure Manilal's headache and blood-pressure.
DR. MANILAL: The lady who works the planchette is very devotional and one feels an atmosphere of peace at her place. After one asks questions, she gives the blessings of Panduranga. That means that one should stop.
SRI AUROBINDO: Did she bless you?
DR. MANILAL: Yes, Sir.
SRI AUROBINDO: After your question?
DR. MANILAL: Yes, Sir.
NIRODBARAN: You asked only one question?
DR. MANILAL: No; I asked two more, but they are personal.
NIRODBARAN: Ah! Let us hear them.
CHAMPAKLAL: Are they about some future fulfilment?
SRI AUROBINDO: He is keeping the interesting parts secret.
DR. MANILAL: No, Sir. There can be nothing secret from you. But if I speak of them I may lose faith.
CHAMPAKLAL: But does a prophecy's success depend on telling or not telling it? If it is to come true, it will do so in any case.
SRI AUROBINDO: He may lose the consolation of mind which comes from faith in the future.
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DR. MANILAL: You said last time about a disciple that when he spoke of his experiences to his Guru, the experiences stopped and the Guru said, "The Devil has caught hold of you."
SRI AUROBINDO: "I"? I don't remember. (After a while) Yes, I remember now. It was about a Sannyasi in the Ramakrishna Mission.
DR. MANILAL: Lele also said something like that to you. And you said you would then surrender to the Devil.
SRI AUROBINDO: That was a different matter. I didn't say that to him. I said it to myself: "You have handed me over to the Divine and if as a result of that the Devil catches hold of me, I will say that the Divine has sent the Devil and I will follow him."
By now the sponging was over and Sri Aurobindo was hanging his leg while sitting in a chair.
SRI AUROBINDO (To Dr. Manilal): You see, I have kept my promise. I said that as soon as The Life Divine was finished I would hang my leg.
DR. MANILAL: I am grateful for it, Sir. But it has taken a long time to finish.
SRI AUROBINDO: I didn't know myself that it would take so long.
DR. MANILAL: Can't a Yogi know whether a medicine proposed is right or not?
SRI AUROBINDO: He can, but will he try to do so?
DR. MANILAL: I already see more bending in the knee, Sir, by the very talk of the application.
SRI AUROBINDO: Not by the talk, but by your very contact with the lady, which I yogically came to know of. (Laughter)
SATYENDRA: Today is another great day according to astrology. Nothing happened on the 13th.
DR. MANILAL: Why is today a great day?
PURANI: You don't know? Jupiter and Venus have come very close together and that portends great events.
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DR. MANILAL: They are always close.
SATYENDRA: No, this is the first time they are so near each other.
SRI AUROBINDO: They are supposed to counteract the influences of Saturn and Mars which foreboded a great event.
SATYENDRA: Saturn and Mars came close to each other on the 13th, but nothing happened. Girdharlal says that it does not mean that the results will be immediate. They may happen long after.
SRI AUROBINDO: Something may have happened already. Some more Finns were probably killed. And this Altmark incident may be due to Saturn and Mars!
DR. MANILAL: The astrologers recommend various ceremonies to propitiate Saturn. This really just means propitiating themselves!
SRI AUROBINDO: If you propitiate Saturn now, in ten years Saturn will have forgotten all about it. How then results will come long after?
DR. MANILAL: But do these astrological signs mean anything? What do you think, Sir?
SRI AUROBINDO: I never think. (Laughter)
DR. MANILAL: What is your opinion then?:
SRI AUROBINDO: I have no opinion (Laughter) The signs may be indicative or effective. One has to find out the explanations according to one's own light.
DR. MANILAL: There are plenty of people who go about as astrologers just to rob people. They know practically nothing. I remember an astrologer who once came to my place to cast the horoscope of some baby. He was mainly after getting some money by saying he would have to propitiate graha (asterism) and that graha. But he didn't know that I was a hard master to deal with.
SRI AUROBINDO: He would have to propitiate this Saturn before coming to you. (Laughter)
PURANI: There was one astrologer of Gaekwad -
DR. MANILAL: Yes, he was a good man. He is dead.
SRI AUROBINDO: And this is a bad man. who is alive! (Laughter)
DR. RAO(who had come for the Darshan after five weeks of absence, a delay due to his usual trouble with the officials): These astrologers, Sir, are quite accurate about the past but they can't predict the future correctly. Many of my friends have had that experience.
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SRI AUROBINDO: I also had that experience with the Bhrigu Samhita people.
DR. MANILAL: One Bhrigu Samhita man came to Baroda and swindled a lot of people, and many became insolvent.
SRI AUROBINDO: How?
DR. MANILAL: People began to speculate heavily, relying on his forecasts and they lost a lot. Even some business people came to grief.
SRI AUROBINDO: Then they deserved it. Business people ought to have some sense.
DR. MANILAL: V told me that he began hearing all sorts of ragas after he started Yoga.
SRI AUROBINDO: Plenty of musicians hear ragas without doing Yoga.
NIRODBARAN: Dr. Manilal can have a shot with this Hanumant Rao who, he says, can cure simply by spreading his hands over the patient, but it will be difficult as he has no faith.
DR. MANILAL: But if he can cure me he will make a name.
SRI AUROBINDO: Become immortal. (Laughter)
DR. MANILAL: People will say he has cured Manilal.
SRI AUROBINDO: Even Manilal! (After a while) Mother says Dutt looks very old and looks really like a story-teller. (Laughter)
EVENING
SRI AUROBINDO (soon after lying down in bed): I have seen at Darshan in the afternoon one remarkable man among the whole crowd: Buddhadev. (Laughter)
NIRODBARAN: The product of an early marriage!
At this time only Dr. Becharlal, Dr. Manilal, Champaklal and Nirodbaran were present. In the morning we had already indicated to Sri Aurobindo the huge proportions in length and breadth of Buddhadev. That is why he knew his name now. At sponging time Satyendra again raised the topic.
SATYENDRA: Could you make out Buddhadev, Sir?
SRI AUROBINDO: I cannot but remember him as the one remarkable man in the whole crowd.
NIRODBARAN: Superman!
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SRI AUROBINDO: Sample of the coming superman. (Laughter)
Somebody brought in the question of astrologers again and said that what Naik had learned about an astrologer regarding the Darshan was not correct. It first seemed some Bombay astrologer had said before the accident to Sri Aurobindo's right leg that there would be no Darshan in November 1938 the month of the accident. Now it was disclosed that the astrologers had said it only after the accident. The whole question was about the predictions by astrologers of future events. In most cases correctly.
SRI AUROBINDO: The Mother told me of a French astrologer whose prediction of the future came true. He predicted that a particular man would die of sea-water. He gave the date, even the time. His family kept him away from the sea, and on the day the accident was to take place they were dining together. Someone remarked ironically, "Where is the astrologer's prophecy now? The time he gave is passing away and there is no sea here!" Just at that moment the man was eating a sea-fish, got a bone stuck in his throat and at once died. The hour was exactly the one mentioned by the astrologer.
CHAMPAKLAL: It was fated that he should die.
SRI AUROBINDO: In this case it was.
DR. MANILAL: If one is destined to die one can't escape.
SRI AUROBINDO: There is not always a fixed destiny. Destiny can be changed. And there are many destinies. Astrologers go by a rule of thumb. So some cases come out right, most are wrong. In order to be correct, one must have the power of intuition.
DR. MANILAL: Cheiro made prophecies, some of which have come very true. For example, he said that Prince Edward, the son of George V, would lose the throne because of a woman. He also said that the Jews would be persecuted and driven out of every where.
SRI AUROBINDO: This prophecy about the Jews is very old one. According to it, when the Jews will be persecuted and driven out of every country, it will be a sign of the coming of the millennium. Usually, the prophecies that come true are the only ones noticed. Nobody notices most of those that don't come true.
(After a while) This time Nirod's intuition is proving to be correct, (To Nirodbaran who, puzzled, had begun looking at him)
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I mean your intuition about typhoid.¹ Today's case, you said, may be typhoid.
NIRODBARAN: Oh, I see.
SRI AUROBINDO: That kind of intuition is very convenient, as it doesn't refer to any particular case. It can be applied to any case.
DR. MANILAL: It seems Tagore has advised Gandhi to give up politics.
SRI AUROBINDO: Why? Gandhi could as well ask Tagore to give up poetry.
DR. MANILAL: And Gandhi has replied that life is impossible without politics. Perhaps because of the factions in the Congress, Tagore advised him like that.
Sri Aurobindo had finished walking and was sitting in his chair. Dr. Manilal slowly walked up and stood in front of him, evidently to ask something.
NIRODBARAN: Dr. Manilal's face is shining.
SRI AUROBINDO (looking at Dr. Manilal, who was smiling): Luminosity of revelation?
DR. MANILAL: I sat near Dr. Becharlal, Sir. He was ecstatic. So I asked him if he has had an experience. He said it was a simple feeling of Ananda. Perhaps I may have got something from him by breathing his air.
SATYENDRA: You get more by breathing his air than by breathing Sri Aurobindo's. (Laughter)
DR. MANILAL: Among us all, Dr. Becharlal seems to have profited the most by staying here.
SRI AUROBINDO: I see. (After a pause, to Nirodbaran) What does Buddhadev say? Is he satisfied with the Ashram or does he find the people too small for him? (Laughter)
NIRODBARAN: I don't know. I will ask him. (To Dr. Manilal, who was looking sideways at Sri Aurobindo) Do you know Buddhadev?
DR. MANILAL: Yes.
¹A few days back, in meditation, Nirodbaran had seen that all were puzzled about the diagnosis of an imaginary case. Then he heard Sri Aurobindo say, "Are you sure it is not typhoid?"
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SRI AUROBINDO: Who is he?
DR. MANILAL: Why, Sir, Bhagawan? (Laughter)
SRI AUROBINDO: Well, Buddha has come for the Darshan.
DR. MANILAL (on being told about Buddhadev's size): Oh, I know now. We came here in the same compartment . He occupied the top berth just above me. I told him he had better take the lower one.
SRI AUROBINDO: Not safe for you?
DR. MANILAL: No, Sir. He is a professor of Mathematics.
NIRODBARAN: No, of Sanskrit.
SATYENDRA (to Sri Aurobindo): Did you recognise your old friend Charu Dutt, Sir?
SRI AUROBINDO: I was looking for him, but he went away so hurriedly that I couldn't see him very well.
NIRODBARAN: He said he was feeling rather nervous, wondering what account he could give you of his deeds and misdeeds during the thirty years since he saw you last. (Laughter) All the same he had a good look at you from a distance and you also gave him a straight sharp glance, he says.
SRI AUROBINDO: I give a sharp glance to everybody who is not a known face.
PURANI: One of his reminiscences of you is that you signed your name in support of the Suddhi movement. They were taking down the names of people who favoured the movement and you gave yours.
SRI AUROBINDO: When and where?
PURANI: At Delhi.
SRI AUROBINDO: Delhi station?
PURANI: After the Surat Congress.
SRI AUROBINDO: Can't be. I don't think I went to Delhi after it. It must have been somebody else and he mistook him for me.
PURANI: You are supposed to have gone about places for propaganda.
SRI AUROBINDO: I never committed the crime of making propaganda in my life.
PURANI: Perhaps you were passing through Delhi station.
SRI AUROBINDO: That is conceivable. That is why I asked about Delhi station.
DR. MANILAL: You can take your bath now, Sir, It will be more pleasant for you.
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SRI AUROBINDO: Everything will come in its right time. (Laughter) Shanaih, shanaih, langhate girim. (Climbing the hills step by step.)
NIRODBARAN: My typhoid intuition seems to have failed.
SRI AUROBINDO (laughing): I see. How is that?
NIRODBARAN: That fellow came to see me today quite all right: no fever!
Bala of the Atelier had had continuous fever for three days. The doctors thought it could be anything, even typhoid—so he was not allowed to go for Darshan. The day after Darshan his fever was gone.
CHAMPAKLAL: So it was only to prevent him from going to Darshan that the fever came.
NIRODBARAN: Looks like it.
CHAMPAKLAL (to Sri Aurobindo): Is it a coincidence? Or are there forces which put such obstacles on the way? They say that forces put these obstacles.
DR. MANILAL: If a man is keen, he can put down all obstacles or come for Darshan in spite of the fever.
CHAMPAKLAL: Even if a man is keen, sometimes things happen which he can't prevent and he is overcome by them or can't fight against them.
SRI AUROBINDO: It depends on the case.
CHAMPAKLAL: This particular case, for example?
SRI AUROBINDO: I have not studied this case, so I don't know.
DR. MANILAL: But he must have been keen to come for the Darshan.
SRI AUROBINDO: Why did he want to come for the Darshan?
DR. MANILAL: As usual, it must be for the elevation of his soul, Sir.
SRI AUROBINDO: Are you sure? Did he tell you that? If he wanted to come for that "usual" reason, the fever came as an unusual factor. (Laughter)
PURANI: There are plenty of reasons why one wants Darshan.
DR. MANILAL (to Sri Aurobindo): How did you find this Darshan, Sir?
SRI AUROBINDO: In what way?
DR. MANILAL: I mean, did you find any improvement?
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SRI AUROBINDO: Again, improvement
DR. MANILAL: Subjectively and objectively, compared to the last Darshan.
SRI AUROBINDO: Subjectively, shall I say, as per usual. (Laughter) Objectively, I saw a greater man than had ever come before. (Laughter)
DR. MANILAL: Shall we send a telegram to Puranmal?
SRI AUROBINDO: What for?
DR. MANILAL: He said that when Supermind descended he was to be informed. It is also Puranmal who staggered Hukamchand by saying that he had given Rs. 30,000 to the Ashram. Hukamchand didn't dare to give anything.
SRI AUROBINDO: Why?
DR. MANILAL: Because he thought that if Puranmal gave so much he must either give more or nothing at all. He chose the latter course.
SRI AUROBINDO: I hear he has lost heavily.
CHAMPAKLAL: It is right punishment for him. Not only did he not give anything; he took away one loaf (Sri Aurobindo laughed.)
DR. MANILAL: How can it be a punishment? The Divine can't be vindictive.
SRI AUROBINDO: Why not?
DR. MANILAL: We know of the Divine as protective, kind and benevolent.
SRI AUROBINDO: That is Vishnu. There is also Shiva
DR. MANILAL: Shiva is Bholanath.¹
SRI AUROBINDO: He is also Rudra.²
DR. MANILAL: But he can't be vindictive to a Bhakta for such things.
SRI AUROBINDO: It depends on the mood the Divine is in.
NIRODBARAN (to Dr. Manilal): What do you mean by the expression "such things"? Go to Dilip. He will say, "Whether a man is a Bhakta or not can be judged only by his dealing with money. Money is the test. If you can't offer money to the Divine, your sincerity is not genuine."
1The Lord who forgives and forgets.
2 The Lord of violent force.
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CHAMPAKLAL: There are plenty of people who are Bhaktas, but when the money-question comes, their Bhakti disappears. (Sri Aurobindo was enjoying the talk.)
DR. MANILAL: If money is the test, then robbers also are Bhaktas. Some of them rob people and offer part of their plunder to their god. Is that Bhakti?
SRI AUROBINDO: Why not?
DR. MANILAL: How can it be. Sir? They get the money by robbing others and offer it as a bribe. Is that true Bhakti?
SRI AUROBINDO: What is true Bhakti? There is no true or false Bhakti. Bhakti is Bhakti. Commercial people rob others and give offerings to God. Is it not Bhakti?
DR. MANILAL: But somehow I can't accept it, Sir, that a robber or murderer who offers money obtained by doubtful means does that out of Bhakti.
SRI AUROBINDO: Is a robber worse than a conqueror? A conqueror does the same thing. Where is the difference? A robber too may be brave and noble. When Rama on the battlefield prayed to Durga for help, it was not out of Bhakti he did it. What you say is an ethical or moral point. It has nothing to do with spirituality. The question is whether one feels the Bhakti and, if he feels it, it is quite genuine.
DR. MANILAL: According to Jainism, Sir, (great laughter) only that is true Bhakti which has no motive in it and only an offering acquired in a pure or virtuous way is a real offering. The robber is neither motiveless nor is his money acquired in a virtuous way. He offers a small sum of money as a bribe to God.
SRI AUROBINDO: I don't understand the point about motive here. There are two kinds of Bhakti: Sahaituki and Ahaituki. Sahaituki Bhakti is that type which may have a motive but it does not mean that it is not Bhakti. Ahaituki is, of course, without motive or demand. If the Divine were to accept offerings only from virtuous people, it would be a hard outlook for the world. (Laughter) Your mention of bribe and small amount reminds me of X. He says that people simply thrust the money on him and he can't but accept it. After all, it is a small bribe, he says. I was reminded then of the maidservant's story. Have I told it to you?
DR. MANILAL: No, Sir.
SRI AUROBINDO: A maidservant got an illegitimate child. The mistress of the house was very angry and rebuked her severely for the
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baby. The maidservant replied, "But Madam it is such a small one." {Laughter)
EVENING
SATYENDRA (suddenly): Are you taking the same diet as before Sir?
SRI AUROBINDO: No, why?
SATYENDRA: I thought that because you seemed to have more blood formerly.
NIRODBARAN: Why do you say so?
SATYENDRA: From the nails. They were more pink. (To Sri Aurobindo) Your diet lacks blood-forming substances.
SRI AUROBINDO: The change is good, then; for I used to feel giddy before; it may have been due to an excess blood.
NIRODBARAN: It may have been due to excess of correspondence. (Sri Aurobindo laughed)
SRI AUROBINDO: Very possibly.
DR. MANILAL: Or due to poetry-correction.
SRI AUROBINDO: On the contrary, giddiness comes when I can't write poetry; as soon as I start to write it, it disappears.
DR. MANILAL: No, Sir, I was talking about Nirodbaran's poetry.
SRI AUROBINDO: Oh, but he was not writing frequently. What are the blood-forming substances?
SATYENDRA: Dr. Manilal can tell you of them. Milk is one.
SRI AUROBINDO: I never take.
DR. MANILAL: I think that what you do take has blood forming elements—fruits and vegetables, etc.
SRI AUROBINDO: I was taking more stuff bnefore, of course -almond juice and other things.
DR. MANILAL: Almond is not good, Sir,
SRI AUROBINDO: Why?
DR. MANILAL: It is very rich and hard to digest. It has plenty of protein and may cause an excess of uric acid.
PURANI: How?
SATYENDRA: Plenty of people take almond. The Westerners take any amount. I take it myself. I don't find it hard to digest.
DR. MANILAL: Because it is hard on the digestion wrestlers don't live long. As I said, it is very rich in protein -and in oil- like meat, and therefore harmful.
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