India, "the Country of My Soul"
Sri Aurobindo said, "...it has been the mantra of my life to aspire towards the freedom of my nation ". Then, once India was free, he wanted her to take her right place in relation to Asia, in relation to the whole world - as the leader of humanity.
The Mother too spoke of India as the Guru of the world.
She called India, "the country of my soul".
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India is not the earth, rivers and mountains of this land, neither is it a collective name for the inhabitants of this country. India is a living being, as much living as, say, Shiva. India is a goddess as Shiva is a God. If she likes, she can manifest in human form.
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The Soul of India is one and indivisible. India is conscious of her mission in the world. She is waiting for the exterior means of manifestation.
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O our Mother, O Soul of India, Mother who hast never forsaken thy children even in the days of darkest depression, even when they turned away from thy voice, served other masters and denied thee, now when they have arisen and the light is on thy face in this dawn of thy liberation, in this great hour we salute thee. Guide us so that the horizon of freedom opening before us may be also a horizon of true greatness and of thy true life in the community of the nations. Guide us so that we may be always on the side of great ideals and show to men thy true visage, as a leader in the ways of the spirit and a friend and helper of all the peoples.
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India shall take her true place in the world only when she will become integrally the messenger of the Divine Life.
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True spirituality is not to renounce life, but to make life perfect with a Divine Perfection.
This is what India must show to the world now.
About the map of India in the Playground The map was made after the partition.
It is the map of the true India in spite of all passing appearances, and it will always remain the map of the true India, whatever people may think about it.
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About the Mother's flag, which contains her symbol in gold centred on a silver-blue background
It is the flag of India's spiritual mission. And in the accomplishment of this mission will India's unity be accomplished.
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...India — the country which I had always cherished as my true mother-country.
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.. .every day I used to meditate with Sri Aurobindo: he used to sit on one side of a table and I on the other, on the veranda — and one day in this way, in meditation, I entered (how to put it?...), I went up very high, entered very deep or came out of myself (well, whatever one may say does not express what happened, these are merely ways of speaking), I reached a place or a state of consciousness from which I told Sri Aurobindo just casually and quite simply: "India is free." It was in 1920. Then he put to me a question: "How?" And I answered him: "Without any fight, without a battle, without a revolution. The English themselves will leave, for the condition of the world will be such that they won't be able to do anything else except go away."
It was done. I spoke in the future when he asked me the question, but there where I had seen, I said, India is free, it was a fact. Now, India was not free at that time: it was 1920. Yet it was there, it had been done. And it happened in 1947. That is to say, from the external physical point of view I saw it twenty-seven years in advance. But it had been done.
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June 3, 1947
A proposal [ofpartition of Pakistan from India] has been made for the solution of our difficulties in organising Indian independence and it is being accepted with whatever bitterness of regret and searchings of the heart by Indian leaders.
But do you know why this proposal has been made to us? It is to prove to us the absurdity of our quarrels.
And do you know why we have to accept these proposals? It is to prove to ourselves the absurdity of our quarrels.
Clearly, this is not a solution; it is a test, an ordeal which, if we live it out in all sincerity, will prove to us that it is not by cutting a country into small bits that we shall bring about its unity and its greatness; it is not by opposing interests against each other that we can win for it prosperity; it is not by setting one dogma against another that we can serve the spirit of Truth. In spite of all, India has a single soul and while we have to wait till we can speak of an India one and indivisible, our cry must be:
Let the soul of India live forever! September 16, 1965
It is for the sake and triumph of Truth that India is fighting and must fight until India and Pakistan have once more become One because that is the truth of their being.
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August 15, 1947
Indeed, on this day I can watch almost all the world-movements which I hoped to see fulfilled in my lifetime, though then they looked like impracticable dreams, arriving at fruition or on their way to achievement....
The first of these dreams was a revolutionary movement which would create a free and united India. India today is free but she has not achieved unity. ...unity must and will be achieved, for it is necessary for the greatness of India's future.
Another dream was for the resurgence and liberation of the peoples of Asia and her return to her great role in the progress of human civilisation.... There India has her part to play and has begun to play it with an energy and ability which already indicates the measure of her possibilities....
The third dream was a world-union forming the outer basis of a fairer, brighter and nobler life for all mankind.... Here too India has begun to play a prominent part.... For unification is a necessity of Nature.... A new spirit of oneness will take hold of the human race.
Another dream, the spiritual gift of India to the world has already begun. ...more and more eyes are turning towards her with hope....
The final dream was a step in evolution which would raise man to a higher and larger consciousness and begin the solution of the problems which have perplexed and vexed him since he first began to think and to dream of individual perfection and a perfect society.
Sri Aurobindo
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August 15, 1954
I want to mark this day by the expression of a long cherished wish; that of becoming an Indian citizen. From the first time I came to India — in 1914 — I felt that India is my true country, the country of my soul and spirit. I had decided to realise this wish as soon as India would be free. But I had to wait still longer because of my heavy responsibilities for the Ashram here in Pondicherry. Now the time has come when I can declare myself.
But, in accordance with Sri Aurobindo's ideal, my purpose is to show that truth lies in union rather than in division. To reject one nationality in order to obtain another is not an ideal solution. So I hope I shall be allowed to adopt a double nationality, that is to say, to remain French while I become an Indian.
I am French by birth and early education, I am Indian by choice and predilection. In my consciousness there is no antagonism between the two, on the contrary, they combine very well and complete one another. I know also that I can be of service to both equally, for my only aim in life is to give a concrete form to Sri Aurobindo's great teaching and in his teaching he reveals that all the nations are essentially one and meant to express the Divine Unity upon earth through an organised and harmonious diversity.
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November 1, 1954
The day of the de facto merger of the French settlements in India with the Indian Union.
For us the 1st November has a deep significance. We have a flag which Sri Aurobindo called the Spiritual Flag of United India. Its square form, its colour and every detail of its design have a symbolic meaning. It was hoisted on the 15th August 1947 when India became free. It will now be hoisted on the 1st November 1954 when these settlements get united with India and it will be hoisted in the future whenever India recovers other parts of herself. United India has a special mission to fulfil in the world. Sri Aurobindo laid down his life for it and we are prepared to do the same.
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X told me that today [April 4, 1936] is the birthday of Pondicherry because you came here on this date [April 4, 1910].
Pondicherry was born long ago — but if X means the rebirth, it may be, for it was absolutely dead when I came.
Sri Aurobindo
Pondicherry is my place of retreat, my cave of tapasya, not of the ascetic kind, but of a brand of my own invention.
Sri Aurobindo
A day will come, I hope, when we shall be able to tell freely and truly all that Sri Aurobindo's Presence has meant for the town of Pondicherry....
The 4th April is the Ashram New Year, date of Sri Aurobindo's arrival in Pondicherry.
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Sri Aurobindo always loved deeply his Motherland. But he wished her to be great, noble, pure and worthy of her big mission in the world. He refused to let her sink to the sordid and vulgar level of blind self-interests and ignorant prejudices. This is why, in full conformity to his will, we lift high the standard of truth, progress and transformation of mankind, without caring for those who, through ignorance, stupidity, envy or bad will, seek to soil it and drag it down into the mud. We carry it very high so that all who have a soul may see it and gather round it.
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The future of India is very clear. India is the Guru of the world. The future structure of the world depends on India. India is the living soul. India is incarnating the spiritual knowledge in the world. The Government of India ought to recognise the significance of India in this sphere and plan their action accordingly.
In the whole creation the earth has a place of distinction, because unlike any other planet it is evolutionary with a psychic entity at its centre. In it, India, in particular, is a divinely chosen country.
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It is only India's soul who can unify the country.
Externally the provinces of India are very different in character, tendencies, culture, as well as in language, and any attempt to unify them artificially could only have disastrous results.
But her soul is one, intense in her aspiration towards the spiritual truth, the essential unity of the creation and the divine origin of life, and by uniting with this aspiration the whole country can recover a unity that has never ceased to exist for the superior mentality.
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We want to be messengers of light and truth. At once a future of harmony offers itself to be proclaimed to the world.
The time has come for the old habit of governing by fear to be replaced by the government of love.
True liberty is an ascending movement, not yielding to the lower instincts. True liberty is a divine manifestation.
We want the true liberty for India so that she may be the right example for the world as the demonstration of what humanity must become.
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Message for Dr. Rajendra Prasad, President ofIndia
India must rise to the height of her mission and proclaim the Truth to the world
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I would like them (the Government) to recognise Yoga as education, not so much for ourselves, but it will be good for the country.
Matter will be transformed, that will be a solid base. Life will be divinised. Let India take the lead.
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Message for Shri V.V. Giri, President of India
September 14, 1969
Let us all work for the greatness of India.
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Message for Mrs. Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India
October 6, 1969
Let India work for the future and set the example. Thus she will recover her true place in the world.
Since long it was the habit to govern through division and opposition.
The time has come to govern through union, mutual understanding and collaboration.
To choose a collaborator, the value of the man is more important than the party to which he belongs.
The greatness of a country does not depend on the victory of a party but on the union of all the parties.
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I have the deepest respect for Indian languages and continue to study Sanskrit when I have time.
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The Mahabharata and Ramayana... are said to have been the work of men who were Rishis and had done Yogic tapasya. The Gita... like the Upanishads, ranks at once among the greatest literary and the greatest spiritual works....
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Sanskrit ought to be the national language of India.
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Not Sanskrit from the point of view of scholarship, but Sanskrit, a Sanskrit — how to put it? — that opens the door to all the languages of India. I think that is indispensable. The ideal would be, in a few years, to have a rejuvenated Sanskrit as the representative language of India, that is, a Sanskrit spoken in such a way that — Sanskrit is behind all the languages of India and it should be that. This was Sri Aurobindo's idea, when we spoke about it.... It is a more ancient language than the others and it contains the sounds, the root-sounds of many words.
This is something I studied with Sri Aurobindo and it is obviously very interesting. Some of these roots can even be found in all the languages of the world — sounds, root-sounds which are found in all those languages.
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Facsimile of the Mother's handwriting in Sanskrit
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O India, land of light and spiritual knowledge! Wake up to your true world, show the way to union and harmony.
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India's true destiny is to be the Guru of the world.
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Supreme Lord, Eternal Truth
Let us obey Thee alone and live according to Truth.
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.. .among all the divisions of mankind it is to India that is reserved the highest and the most splendid destiny, the most essential to the future of the human race.
Sri Aurobindo
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.. .with India rests the future of the world. Whenever she is aroused from her sleep, she gives forth some wonderful shining ray of light to the world which is enough to illuminate the nations. Others live for centuries on what is to her the thought of a moment. God gave to her the book of Ancient Wisdom and bade her keep it sealed in her heart, until the time should come for it to be opened. Sometimes a page or a chapter is revealed, sometimes only a single sentence. Such sentences have been the inspiration of ages and fed humanity for many hundreds of years.
Sri Aurobindo
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India is the guru of the nations, the physician of the human soul in its profounder maladies; she is destined once more to new-mould the life of the world and restore the peace of the human spirit.
Sri Aurobindo
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