Notes on the Texts

A Swadeshi Meeting. A report of Sri Aurobindo's speech at Bhavanipur, Calcutta, on 13 October 1909, has already been published under the title "Swadeshi in Calcutta" in SABCL Volume 27, page 75 That report, taken from the Times of India (Bombay), is short and summary. The present report, longer and no doubt closer to the original speech, is taken from the Bengalee of Calcutta, issue of 15 October 1909. The speech deals with the forthcoming observance of the 16th of October, Partition Day, or as Sri Aurobindo preferred to call it, Union Day (see SABCL Vol. 2, p. 243). During the mass meeting held in Beadon Square, Calcutta, on the sixteenth, Sri Aurobindo addressed the assembled crowd in Bengali — apparently the only time he ever did so. No report of his brief remarks in that language has been preserved, but a translation that appeared in the Bengalee of 18 October has been here appended to the earlier English speech.

Living Matter. This Bengali poem was written by Sri Aurobindo apparently during the first part of his stay in Pondicherry (1910-1914) The translation is by Nolini Kanta Gupta.

Ilion. This fragment of Book 9 of Sri Aurobindo's epic in quantitative hexameter was written in March 1914, at the same time that the rest of the book was drafted. But for some reason Sri Aurobindo did not include this opening passage when a fair copy of the book was made sometime later. The first two pages of the manuscript on which this passage is written seem to have been inadvertently passed over then; the book as we have it begins with the line at the top of the third page of the original draft. (Sri Aurobindo's inadvertence, if it was such, may be excused, since different passages of the draft were written non-sequentially on folded sheets of foolscap that contain also, mixed in with them, drafts of passages for the eighth book.) But whether the omission was a mistake or intentional, this opening passage is of considerable interest, and admirably introduces the characters and situation of the book. Unfortunately the manuscript is now very badly mutilated. Many lines are partly or wholly illegible; the last eighteen lines in particular have almost completely disappeared. Nevertheless the passage seems worthy of preservation, and is printed here in as complete a form as possible.

Bhagawat. Sri Aurobindo translated this opening chapter of the Bhagavata Purana (Skandha l, Adhyaya 1) during the earliest part of his stay in Pondicherry (in 1912 or before). After finishing a first draft of the whole Adhyaya, he began a second draft and completed the first ten slokas. each of which was numbered individually. The editors have followed this second draft as far as it goes, and then reverted to the earlier, unnumbered draft.

On Sanskrit and Bengali Prosody. The letters from which these extracts were taken were written by Sri Aurobindo to a Bengali disciple who was studying the prosody of his native tongue with special reference to classical Sanskrit metrics. The first letter is dated 2 June 1932 The second one. the longest and the most complete,

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is undated and was never sent to the disciple. Some of its ideas and even certain of its phrases were used in shorter letters written on 9 September, 23 September and 20 October 1932, and actually sent to the disciple.

The Colloquy of Indra, Aditi and Vamadeva. This translation of the eighteenth hymn of the fourth book of the Rig-veda was done in Pondicherry sometime during the period 1917-1920.

Hymns to the Mystic Fire. These two hymns to Indra and Agni were translated around 1916.

The First Hymn of the Rig-veda (series continued). The first of these three translations seems to have been made around 1912 and the second and third somewhat later, probably around 1914 (certainly after September 1913 in the case of the third).

Aryan Origins: The Root mal in Greek. This incomplete essay presents in discursive form data collected from lexicons etc. on the words of the root concerned. Pages of such data precede the essay in a manuscript notebook devoted to the subject entitled: "Origines Aryacae./Material for a full philological reconstruction/of/the old Aryabhasha/from which the Indo Aryan and Dravidian languages/are all derived."

Vedic Interpretations: Satyakama Jabala. This incomplete essay was written in Pondicherry in 1912. The title given here is as in the manuscript. In the forthcoming edition of The Upanishads by Sri Aurobindo, the essay appears under the general title "Notes on the Chhandogya Upanishad".

The Life Divine. In previous issues we have attempted to establish the dates of this commentary, fixing on the period 1912-1914 for the composition and revision of its drafts. Work on The Life Divine continued through May 1914, when Sri Aurobindo began to concentrate his writing efforts on material for a proposed philosophical review. The final decision to bring out this review, the Arya, was taken on 1 June 1914 (see SABCL Vol. 26, p. 368), and on 15 August its first issue was published. Two of Sri Aurobindo's contributions to this issue were the first instalment of a philosophical work called The Life Divine, and a translation (which was to be followed by a full analysis) of the Isha Upanishad.

      The commentary on the Isha Upanishad called The Life Divine that we are publishing in Sri Aurobindo: Archives and Research was never completed, nor did Sri Aurobindo use any part of it in the form in which it was written in the Arya. The commentary, which in the beginning had kept rather close to the text of the Upanishad, by the fourth and fifth chapters had become so overloaded with supplementary explanations and original ideas — indeed, a whole philosophy — that an entirely new vehicle was needed. This was The Life Divine, Sri Aurobindo's magnum opus in prose. Sri Aurobindo's ideas on the Isha Upanishad itself were set forth separately in the Arya in his translation and analysis of The Isha Upanishad. The strict dealing with the text in the Arya analysis is in accordance with Sri

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Aurobindo's principles of scriptural exegesis, which were stated in the Introduction to the early pencil-draft of the Life Divine commentary (SABCL Vol. 27, pp. 302-06), and later in the first chapter of Essays on the Gita. But it should be remembered that it was the Isha Upanishad which gave Sri Aurobindo the clue to the divine life, and to the philosophy of The Life Divine. This he stated- in the Introduction to the earliest draft of the Life Divine commentary: "The Isha Upanishad is the gospel of a divine life in the world and a statement of the conditions under which it is possible and the spirit of its living." (SABCL Vol. 27, p. 301) The same credit is given in a passage of the philosophical work which inherited the name of the early commentary, a passage which was included with revisions in that work's final text published some thirty years afterwards: "The Isha Upanishad insists on the unity and reality of all the manifestations of the Absolute; it refuses to confine truth to any one aspect. ... It is this whole consciousness with its complete knowledge that builds the foundation of the Life Divine and makes its attainment possible." ( The Life Divine, SABCL Vol. 19, p. 636)

The Evolutionary Scale. In our last issue, under the title A Theory of the Human Being, two incomplete essays written by Sri Aurobindo around the year 1914 presenting aspects of his hypothesis on man's origins and evolutionary development were published. In The Evolutionary Scale, a separate piece written that same year, Sri Aurobindo gives us a glimpse of the empirical foundation of his ideas. After an opening section in which he deals in detail with the theoretical side of the question in terms of traditional Indian mythology (a mythology he considered more significant than Western physical science), Sri Aurobindo describes "a series of images" he had seen in citradrsti, that is, in his inner vision in the form of pictures. Drsti (vision) and lipi (written communications seen in the ether etc.) were among his chief instruments of vijnana (supramental knowledge), a faculty which, as suggested in the last paragraph of Section II, works also without such supporting means. The third section of The Evolutionary Scale is, like the first, concerned with theoretical explication. See the glossary for brief explanations of most of the terms used by Sri Aurobindo, especially those denoting the two concepts which in their relation constitute the dynamics of his theory — the idea of the ten types (dasagava) and the idea of the cosmic cycles (see under yuga). These traditional concepts were, of course, to Sri Aurobindo not mere ideas but concepts whose truth had been inwardly realised by him. It should be noted, however, that Sri Aurobindo was aware of the limitations of his methods and results. The scenes of Section II, he wrote, were "an instance expressly given of the way in which the Theosophists arrive at their results and shows both their sincerity and the possibilities and pitfalls of their method." Sri Aurobindo's attitude towards Theosophy was on the whole unsympathetic; still, he was aware of the truth underlying even this movement and its "method". He never repudiated his visions even in their details, much less his theory in its broad lines. But he did write in the 1930s, apropos of the Indian idea of the cosmic cycles: "too much weight need not be put on the exact figures about the Yugas [aeons] in the Puranas. [They) indicate successive periods in the cyclic wheel of evolution . . . the mathematical calculations are not the important element." (SABCL Vol. 22, p. 403) In regard to The Evolutionary Scale as well, it is the essence and not the details of the theory that count.

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      The first, second and probably the third parts of The Evolutionary Scale were written on 22 March 1914. The images of the fourth section and the first paragraph of the fifth were seen on the twenty-fourth, and those of the rest of the fifth section, and probably of the sixth, on the next day.

Psychological Notes. This piece was written in 1913 or 1914, shortly after the first part of A Theory of the Human Being, which was published in our last issue.

Letters from Abroad. In Volume 3 of the Sri Aurobindo Birth Centenary Library are published three Epistles from Abroad, in which Sri Aurobindo's ideas on Indian and European cultures and their contrasts are presented in the form of letters to a fictional correspondent, who in the third epistle is given the name "Biren". The three pieces were written in Bengal just prior to Sri Aurobindo's departure for Pondicherry in February 1910. Probably they were intended for publication in his journal Karmayogin, although they never appeared there. Not long after his arrival in Pondicherry, Sri Aurobindo decided to continue the series, and two drafts for each of three more "letters" to "Biren" were written. In making the text of Letter IV the editors have used its second draft exclusively. For Letter V, they have followed its second draft to its full extent, and then fallen back on the earlier draft. The same process has been followed for Letter VI ; here in one place the editors have provided a necessary transitional phrase adopted from the text ("Sometimes it reminds me"). The first paragraph of Letter VI was written after its two other drafts and, as it could not be worked into the text, it has been set apart at the beginning. The word "jerry-built" at the end of this paragraph has been emended from "jerry-mandered".

On the Yoga of Transformation and the Psychic. This note is unfortunately incomplete; most of it apparently has been lost. It was written sometime during the 1930s and never revised. The word "merely" in the first sentence is an editoral emendation. The word in the manuscript is unclear. It looks rather like "surely", but "merely" certainly was meant.

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GLOSSARY

Words already listed in the Glossary to the Sri Aurobindo Birth Centenary Library have not been included. As in that glossary, proper names, words occurring in poems or translations or as philological or prosodial examples have been omitted. Words are Sanskrit unless otherwise indicated. Sources of citations are given in square brackets after the definitions.

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The Symbol of Sri Aurobindo

The symbol of Sri Aurobindo, two interlocking triangles enclosing a square within which is a lotus floating on water, is explained by the Mother in these words:

      "The descending triangle represents Sat-Chit-Ananda.

      "The ascending triangle represents the aspiring answer from matter under the form of life, light and love.

      "The junction of both — the central square — is the perfect manifestation having at its centre the Avatar of the Supreme — the lotus.

      "The water—inside the square—represents the Multiplicity, the Creation."

      The two triangles form a figure similar to the hexagram, the mystic symbol called by the Jews the Magen David or Seal of Solomon.

      A symbol like Sri Aurobindo's as finally defined was used as early as 1902 by the "Cosmic Movement", a Paris-centred organisation which had as its head Max Theon, for some time the Mother's instructor in occultism. "Most of the cosmic writings [the various writings of the Movement] were unsigned," explains Pascal Themanlys, the son of a disciple of Theon. "The six-pointed star containing a lotus in its centre alone served to certify the authenticity of the texts. This sign evokes among other things the union of the active and passive principles and doubtless also the Wisdom of Chaldea, of Egypt and of Hindu India."

      The Mother came into contact with the Cosmic Movement through the elder Themanlys. a friend of her brother Matteo, in 1904. Later she went to Algeria to study under Theon, and still later organised in Paris a centre of the "groupes cos-miques de France". She was also involved with the publication of their organ, the Review Cosmique. The Movement's symbol appeared on the cover of each issue of this journal [Figure 1].

      Among the Mother's manuscripts of the period 1909-12 is a sheet of paper on which she has drawn geometrical figures — some triangles and a square [Figure 2]. There is also a pattern composed of two ovals intersecting to form a sort of cross. Near this is written "croix ou carre d'equilibre — realisation quaternaire parfaite" (cross or square of equilibrium — perfect fourfold realisation). (It is interesting to note that in the 1930s Sri Aurobindo wrote that the square was the "symbol of complete creation" [SABCL 23:945].) Below the crossed oval pattern is a figure formed by two triangles within which is inscribed a square whose angles meet four of the points of the triangles' intersection — the symbol of Sri Aurobindo without the water and lotus. Above this figure is written "Sceau de Salomon" (Solomon's Seal.

      It is apparent that the symbol we know as Sri Aurobindo's was familiar to the Mother before she met Sri Aurobindo in 1914 — even before she first heard of him in 1910, after her then husband Paul Richard had met him in Pondicherry. A story is told in connection with this meeting. It is said that when Richard left for India the Mother gave him a symbol — Solomon's Seal — saying that the man who would show Richard the same symbol or could explain to him its meaning would be the Master for whom they were looking. The best known version of this anecdote is the following one from Nolini Kanta Gupta's Reminiscences (page 75). "It was Sri

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Aurobindo himself who told us about a French lady from Paris who was a great initiate. She was desirous of establishing personal contact with Sri Aurobindo. That the Great Soul whom she meant was no other than Sri Aurobindo would be evidenced by a sign : she would be sending him something that he might recognise. That something was Sri Aurobindo's own symbol — in the form of a diagram, known as Solomon's Seal. Needless to add, after this proof of identity, steps were taken to facilitate her coming."

      Some question surrounds this interesting story, particularly because of certain corrections the Mother made to a similar account in the manuscript of the first edition of A.B. Purani's Life of Sri Aurobindo. Purani had written, "Mother had given Richard some questions which he had to get solved by some spiritual person in India. . . . One of the questions which the Mother had asked related to the symbolic character of the 'Lotus'." The Mother wrote on Purani's manuscript in regard to the first statement: "Not correct. I never gave him any questions to be solved", and in regard to the second, "Not I, probably Richard himself." The Mother's corrections cast strong doubt on the whole symbol-recognition story, but, it should be noted, they do not directly contradict it. Its persistence and wide acceptance would suggest that it has some veracity; but unless persons who heard it directly from the Mother can recall exactly what she told them, it would probably be best to consider it apocryphal.

      At any rate, sometime after the Mother's final arrival in Pondicherry in 1920, the six-pointed star enclosing a square containing water and a lotus became the symbol of Sri Aurobindo. It is not known exactly when the symbol was designed, but its first appearance seems to have been on the cover and title page of the 1933 edition of The Riddle of This World, published by the Arya Publishing House, Calcutta [Figure 3]. (The 1932 edition of Thoughts and Glimpses, published by the same house, does not have the symbol.) At this time the two main triangles are equilateral, like those of the true hexagram [Figure 4]. However, in the symbol in Figure 3 the six outer equilateral triangles surrounding the square are of different sizes, unlike those of the hexagram, which is formed by extending the sides of a regular hexagon to make six identical equilateral triangles. The hexagram is capable of being inscribed within a circle; but it is impossible to inscribe a square within it so that the square's angles meet four of the points of intersection of the two triangles.

      It was apparently regretted that this earliest form of Sri Aurobindo's symbol, with its top and bottom outside triangles larger than the other four, did not have the harmony of proportion of a true hexagram. So in 1962 another design was made, in which the ascending and descending triangles form a true hexagram, but in which the angles of the central square do not touch any of the points of the triangles' intersection [Figure 5]. This figure could, of course, be inscribed within a circle. The new design, put in final form by Pavitra, a French disciple close to the Mother, was presented to her on 27 October 1962. At that time she approved of it, signing it and writing, "This is the correct symbol of Sri Aurobindo." Two months later, on 15 December 1962, the Mother spoke about the new symbol to another disciple. Showing him Theon's symbol on the cover of a publication of The Cosmic Movement [Figure 6], she said that she had designed Sri Aurobindo's symbol according to that (d'apres ca). The Mother went on to say that the square in Theon's symbol was very elongated, by which she meant apparently that the four outer triangles at the

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sides of the square with their very long bases give the entire figure an elongated look. Speaking then about the new Ashram design [Figure 5], the Mother said that this one was more correct, since Pavitra had made the triangles equal. The Mother added that Theon had told her that his symbol was the Seal of Solomon.

      In spite of the Mother's satisfaction with it at the time, the design of October 1962 [Figure 5] was used for no more than a year and a half. It appeared on the February 1964 edition of Sri Aurobindo's Evolution, but sometime before July 1964 a new design was prepared, which was first used on an edition of that date of The Hour of God. The equilateral triangles were abandoned in favour of isosceles triangles having the horizontal lines longer than the oblique ones [Figure 7]. This gives the figure something of the elongated look of Theon's, although the shapes of the two figures differ significantly. In Figure 7 the distance from the centre of the figure to the farthest points of the upper and lower outside triangles is more nearly equal to the distance from the centre to the farthest points of the side triangles. In other words, the oval in which Figure 7 would be inscribed is more circular than the oval which would enclose Figure 6. Another difference is the lotus. In Theon's symbol the lotus is drawn freehand and with shading; in Sri Aurobindo's it is drawn in outline diagramatically The elements of the lotus form part of a numerical series — one square, two triangles, three lotus-pads, four lotus-petals in the back row, five in the middle row, six in the front row and seven lines representing the water — which was meant by the Mother to be present in the symbol even in the original design of 1933 [Figure 3], but which can only be seen clearly in the later designs.

      Figure 7 is the final form of Sri Aurobindo's symbol. The proportions of its lines are illustrated by Figure 8. Sri Aurobindo's symbol appears on all his books and is used for many other purposes as well. It is often, as on the cover of this magazine, combined with the Mother's symbol (shown with its correct proportions in Figure 9). These symbols are copyright Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust.

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Figure I. Cover and spine of Revue Cosmique.

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Figure 2. Figures drawn by the Mother

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Figure 3. Title page of The Riddle of this World (1933).

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The Symbol of Sri Aurobindo

hexagram

Figure 4.

Figure 5. Sri Aurobindo's symbol rejected design of

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Figure 6. Theon's symbol (Detail of Fig. 1 ).

Figure 7. Sri Aurobindo's symbol.

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Figure 9. The Mother's symbol (showing proportions).

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Documents in the Life of Sri Aurobindo

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Documents in the Life of Sri Aurobindo

2

EXTRACTS FROM THE DIARY OF HEMENDRA PRASAD GHOSE

8 June 1907

A notice has been served on the Editor. Bande Mataram warning him tor using language which is a "direct incentive to violence and lawlessness." We all knew it. The Editor, Sj. Aurobinda Ghose is ready to suffer the consequences of his action.

30 July 1907

At about 7 p.m. got news of search of Bande Mataram office. Supdt. Ellis ask[ed] Syamsundarbabu who was in charge of editorial office for his name and he demanded the warrant. When only search warrant was produced he refused to give name and asked the officer to keep to the wording of the warrant. Police carried away many papers and books.

2 August 1907

Wild rumours about prosecution of Bande Mataram. They say even I am not safe but I don't know why they will take me. Everybody knows who is the real Editor — I mean the responsible editor of the paper.

16 August 1907

At about 1 1 a.m. a detective officer called at Bande Mataram office and told Babu Hem Ch. Bagchi of the Managing Department that warrant had been issued for arrest of Sjt. Aurobinda Ghose — "Editor" Bande Mataram for having published translations of some articles for "Yugantar" and for having edited and published an article "India for the Indians". Sjt.Ghose went in the evening to Mr. B. Chakraborty where he had an invitation. It was thought better to surrender. So he went to the Detective officer. Was taken to Puddopukur thana where offer to stand sureties by Babu Krishna Kumar Mittra of Sanjibani and H. Bose of Kuntali fame not accepted on ground that they had no Calcutta property. Shrijut Girish Ch. Bose of Bangabasi College and Nirode Ch. Mallik stood sureties and he was released.

17 August 1907

Went to see Sjt. Aurabinda Ghose (12, Wellington Sq.). He went as required to Police Commissioner and was enlayed [sic] on the same bail as last night. It appears that warrant on which he was arrested was an expired warrant, issued on 30th July and returnable on 13th August.

19 August 1907

Police has arrested Hem Ch Bagchi of managing dept. of Bande Mataram. Has leaked out that a former member of the editorial staff has consented to depose that Sj. Arabinda Ghose is Editor for Rs. 300. But who is he? They say — Nanda LaL Ghose.

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21 August 1907

Went to see Babu Aurabinda Ghose (12, Wellington Sq.). He looked wonderfully composed. They have arrested printer — Apurba Kr. Bose.

29 August 1907

Went to see Sjt. Aurabinda Ghose in morning and again in the evening. Bande Mataram case was heard. Some witnesses were examined. One Anukul Ch. Mukherjee who had been a proof reader has turned traitor. He's chief witness against Bande people.

30 August 1907

Bande Mataram case talk of the town. Babu Bipin Ch. Pal has declined to give evidence in Bande Mataram case and trying magistrate has ordered his prosecution.

10 September 1907

Bipin Ch. Pal got 6 months' simple for declining to depose in Bande Mataram case.

19 September 1907

Went to see Sjt. Aurobinda Ghose. Opinion is divided on the point of his having entered into defence after having made Bhupendra of Jugantar do what he did. His defence he will write in the paper.

23 September 1907

Judgment — both Arabinda Ghose and Hemendra Nath Bagchi let off. Printer has got 3 months. Comments of magistrate curious. He holds that the Bande Mataram is not habitually seditious.

3

EXCERPTS FROM KINGSFORD'S JUDGMENT

The three accused are charged under Sec. 124A I.P. Code with having attempted to excite sedition against the Government established by law in British India by the publication of certain articles in the Bande Mataram newspaper.

      The accused Arabinda Ghose is alleged by the prosecution to be the editor of this paper, and the accused Hemendra Nath Bagchi and Apurba Krista Datt [Bose] are admitted to be respectively the manager and printer. The charges concern an article entitled "Politics for Indians" which appeared in the town edition of 27th June and the Dak Edition of 28th June, and the republication on 26th July of certain seditious articles which originally appeared in the Jugantar newspaper. . . .

[The magistrate then dismisses "two points raised by the defence, viz. (1) that the sanctions for prosecution are invalid and (2) that the publication is not seditious." He finds [he "general tone" of the Bande Mataram "not seditious", but considers that the publication of the translations of the seditious Jugantar articles was not innocent in its intention, and that the language of "Politics for Indians" is seditious.]

      1 now pass to the evidence upon which the prosecution relies for the purpose

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of showing that Arabinda Ghose is the editor of the Bande Mataram, or if not the editor that he is so closely identified with the publication of this paper that his cognisance of the issue of this seditious matter may fairly be presumed. This evidence is to the effect that Arabinda is a share holder in the paper, that he took the chair at a preliminary meeting held in October, the minutes of which show that he and Bepin Chandra Pal were appointed Joint Editors, that a notice was printed in the issue of the paper of 12th December to the effect that Arabinda was the editor, that this was followed on 17th December by another notice announcing that Bepin Chandra Pal had terminated his connection with the paper, that Arabinda was in Calcutta from April to July and was attending at the Bande Mataram office, that his name was entered at the head of the list of Editorial Staff in the pay Register for January, February, March, which entries were subsequently erased, and that he received a sum of Rs. 50 in payment for services in July. There is further the evidence of Anukul who was a member of the Editorial Staff to the effect that Arabinda was the editor.

      The defence is that Arabinda was not the editor but that he has been employed as a member of the staff; his sole duty being to supply contributions to the editorial columns of the paper.

[The magistrate then decides that resolutions passed at the October meeting were not "binding on the Company".]

      The next piece of evidence, viz, the notices of 12th and 17th December, is of much greater importance, for these go to show that the resolution as regards the Joint-editorship was carried into effect and that upon Bepin's ceasing his connection with the paper Arabinda became editor.

      The explanation given by the staff and supported by Arabinda himself for the notice of 12th December is that it was proposed in consultation by the secretary Sukumar Sen and others of the staff that Arabinda's name should be published as the editor in order to improve the circulation of the journal; nothing was said on the subject to Arabinda but Sukumar sent the notice to the printer for publication and then went and consulted Arabinda who strongly objected on the ground that he was ill and had other duties to which he must attend. Sukumar however forgot to recall the notice and accordingly il appeared in the issue of the following day. It was never repeated and it was never withdrawn.

      This explanation is extremely absurd, and the fact is that the witnesses have involved themselves in a difficulty. If they admit that the notice represents facts, then Arabinda was at that time the editor of the paper; if the notice did not represent facts then they committed a fraud upon the public by publishing and never withdrawing a misrepresentation which was intended to induce the public to buy the paper.

[The magistrate notes the witnesses' unwillingness to damage Aurobindo and passes briefly over the suspicious erasures.]

      I turn now to the evidence of the witness Anukul, who says that he was employed in this office during a portion of December and January and again for 5 or 6 days in May and that on both occasions he knew Arabinda as editor. It is shown in evidence that Arabinda was ill and absent at Deoghur from the beginning of December until April with the exception of about 10 days in the end of December

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and beginning of January when he came to Calcutta to attend the congress meeting. He was then living at Bhowanipore and is not likely to have concerned himself to any great extent with the business of the newspaper.

      But Anukul's evidence is that he used to send telegrams to Arabinda to be edited during these few days and that he saw him at the office on 5 or 6 occasions, and he says that telegrams used also to be sent to Arabinda for the same purpose in May, though he admits that he did not send them himself; he also says that he went to the office on one occasion about the middle of July and saw Arabinda in the room which was set apart for the editorial staff. He admits however that he had no personal dealings whatever with Arabinda.

      Now taking this evidence as a whole (and without entering into any discussion of the reasons put forward by the defence as to why Anukul should be discredited,) I find that it amounts to no more than this, — that Arabinda was known as the editor of the paper. The duties which the witness describes Arabinda as having performed are those which would naturally be ascribed not to an editor but to a sub-editor. And on this point Anukul makes a very important admission, for he says that the duty of the editor was to write articles for the paper and this is the only duty that he is aware of. . . .

      But to say that a man's duty consists in this and this only and at the same time to call him editor is to make a meaningless assertion.

      As regards the second point it is to be remembered that Arabinda is a man of exceptionally good attainments, who was interested in the promotion of this paper and had differentiated himself from the ordinary staff by refusing to take any fixed salary for his labour. It was not unnatural in these circumstances that his name should be entered at the head of the editorial staff. I have already pointed out that the announcement of December is capable of two interpretations, and the inference I draw is that the evidence is inconclusive. I find in it nothing which is materially inconsistent with the theory that Arabinda is a mere member of the editorial staff and that he is without responsibility for and without cognisance of the articles charged. I therefore acquit him.

[The magistrate after noting the inadequacy of the Sedition Law, acquits the Manager, Hemendranath Bagchi. ]

      As against the printer and publisher Apurba Krisna Bose, the evidence is clear. Publication of the articles has been proved, and under the Press Act there is a statutory liability which amounts to this that Apurba having declared himself under the provisions of the Press Act to be the printer and publisher of this paper he is to be held to have printed and published every portion of the same.

      It is argued that Apurba is an illiterate man and his knowledge of English very imperfect, but so far as I can gather from Mr. Roy's address it is not seriously contended that before a conviction of the printer can be had, some direct evidence is requisite to show that he was cognisant of the matter which he was printing and publishing. The provisions of the Press Act were designed in order to place the responsibility upon the declarant, and it must therefore be held that it is his duty to know what is passing through his hands and the presumption is that the duty is performed.

      Apurba must accordingly be convicted, and in passing sentence upon him I

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have regard firstly to the fact that this newspaper being in English is designed for a more intelligent and better educated public than that to which appeal is made by the vernacular papers, and its readers are therefore both better capable of estimating seditious utterances at their true value and less likely to be seduced from their allegiance to the Government or excited to acts of violence; and secondly to the nature of the articles charged. One of these is a mere reproduction. There is no evidence before me to indicate that the Bande Mataram habitually publishes seditious matter, and I must therefore assume that the articles charged form an exception to its general tone. I must also differentiate this case from the second Jugantar prosecution. Apurba is a printer and nothing more, whereas the evidence in the Jugantar case indicated that there was no editorial staff and that the accused combined the dual functions of editor and printer.

      Under the circumstances I think il is proper to pass a lenient sentence upon Apurba, and accordingly I direct that he be rigorously imprisoned for three months.

D.H. Kingsford

23.9.'7

4

[Re the imprisonment of the printer of the Bande Mataram, a simple workman who could not speak a word of English and had no knowledge of the contents of the paper. ]

The printer was in fact only someone who took that title in order to meet the demand of the law for someone who would be responsible for what was printed. He was not always the actual printer.

      A note written by Sri Aurobindo

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