Let us dwell for a while more on the issues connected with India’s unfortunate angst-ridden independence and the events during the Second World War. There are deeper yogic aspects connected with it and it is with them that Sri Aurobindo was, among other important things, very much occupied. Connected with them is also the Mother’s work both on the occult and physical planes; it continued even after Sri Aurobindo’s withdrawal in 1950. Maybe we could as well have a look at her role also, the invisible role she played in 1971, in the liberation of Bangla Desh. It is of course to be well understood that what we have here in these articles are in the nature of quick jottings rather than presenting fully developed dissertations expatiating several arguments that could arise in this regard. But the series of posts under the current title India’s Independence and the Spiritual Destiny—we already have nine and at least as many will follow in the developing sequel—when read together should provide the necessary linkages. The other series under the heading Sanatan Dharma running concurrently should supplement the theme in another fruitful manner. It is hoped that the readers of the Mirror will have patience enough to go through these articles carefully to offer their views in the furtherance of the themes which are of capital importance in the organization of our collective life, nationally as well as globally. A deeper study is needed to explore in several dimensions the human potential and the human destiny waiting upon us; participation in it by alert perceptive minds must prove rewarding.

Psychic discernment and the Inner Voice

Let us start with the conversations Sri Aurobindo used to have with his attendant-disciples after the accident he had in November 1938. These talks were independently recorded by Purani and Nirodbaran and corroborate with each other well, indicating their authenticity. We can thus depend upon these to draw our own conclusions to understand world-events of the time. Here is what Sri Aurobindo says about Hitler’s voice, and the Cosmic Spirit wanting to go the way he went. Be it noted that Hitler was ‘guided’ by the Power that stood against the spiritual work of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother; the Mother called this Power as the Lord of the Nations who was standing for destruction of this entire creation.

 

Sri Aurobindo: How can one say that Hitler's voice is not right? He has seen that by following it he has been able to get Austria and Czechoslovakia and has been successful in many other things. As I said, the Cosmic Spirit may want him to go that way. Even from the standpoint of ethics, one can't say Hitler is immoral. He is very restricted as regards food, is supposed to have no wife or mistress and leads a very controlled life in all respects. He shows qualities which are considered moral. Robespierre was also a moral man and yet he killed many people.

 

Nirodbaran: Then what did you mean when you spoke of a true voice?

 

Sri Aurobindo: Oh, that is the psychic voice. But there can be many other voices from many planes. And how will you say which is right? What would you say of Lord Curzon's decision?

 

Purani: When the freedom of the Purusha is won, then does it become possible for the individual to look beyond the Cosmic spirit to the Transcendent?

 

Sri Aurobindo: Yes; that is to say, instead of being an instrument of ignorant Nature, you become the instrument of the Divine.

 

Purani: Do you mean by the Cosmic Spirit the Impersonal Consciousness?

 

Sri Aurobindo: No, the Cosmic Spirit is a personality but not in our narrow sense. It is both dynamic and static, Saguna and Nirguna, the Nirguna supporting the Saguna.

 

Purani: You have said that the psychic being is also a personality.

 

Sri Aurobindo: Yes, there is the psychic Purusha.

 

Purani: Does the psychic being develop from birth to birth?

 

Sri Aurobindo: It is not the psychic being itself that develops. But it guides the evolution of the individual by increasing the psychic element in the nature of the individual.

 

Purani: If the psychic being is a spark of the Divine, then its function is the same as that of the Vedic Agni as "the leader of the journey".

 

Sri Aurobindo: Yes, Agni is the god of the psychic and leads the journey upward.

 

# There is a famous Greek story about Polycrates, a tyrant of Samos. Do you know it? This tyrant wanted to make friends with another tyrant. The latter replied, "You are too fortunate. You must sacrifice something or have some little misfortune to compensate for your good luck. Otherwise I can't ally myself with you." Polycrates threw his most precious ring into a river as a sacrifice. The ring was swallowed by a fish. That fish was caught by a fisherman and brought with the ring inside it to Polycrates. When the other tyrant heard about it, he said, "You are too lucky. I will never ally myself with you." Polycrates was later killed by his people who had risen in revolt. "The ring of Polycrates" is a proverbial expression in English.

 

# A Roman poet says something like, "The giants fall by their own mass." There is a similar idea in India: "The Asuras are too heavy for the earth to bear." But I must say some Asuras are clever enough to escape and flourish in spite of proverbs!

 

# A Power worked, but none knew whence it came.

 

Apropos of Cripps Proposals: Grace presents itself at rare moments, after centuries of preparation

This is apropos of Cripps Proposals which we have already seen in a few contexts. But let us get back to the episode from another point of view. About it the Mother said something to this effect:

 

One should leave the matter of the Cripps's offer entirely in the hands of the Divine, with full confidence that the Divine will work everything out. Certainly there were flaws in the offer. Nothing on earth created by man is flawless, because the human mind has a limited capacity. Yet behind this offer there is the Divine Grace directly present. The Grace is now at the door of India, ready to give its help. In the history of a nation such opportunities do not come often. The Grace presents itself at rare moments, after centuries of preparation of that nation. If it is accepted, the nation will survive and get a new birth in the Divine's consciousness. But if it is rejected the Grace will withdraw and then the nation will suffer terribly, calamity will overtake it.

 

It is most unfortunate that people of the time did not understand it and rejected the grace that had come on the wings of divine inspiration; this was in spite of Sri Aurobindo sending his personal emissary recommending the acceptance of the proposals. If we are awake to the presence of the soul of the nation, then it just means that we must do the needed tapas-yajna by concentrating our will and doing the sacrifice in the service of the country instead of becoming self-serving.

 

In this regard it is very pertinent to refer to Georges van Vrekhem’s Beyond Man wherein he draws our attention to something significant, bearing vast consequences on the issue of Cripps Proposals and the impact they have made on the history of the subcontinent. Sri Aurobindo had already seen the possibility of his intervention not succeeding, that his recommendation to the Congress leaders of the 1940s to accept the Proposals would not be successful. Yet he pursued it in the spirit of disinterested or desireless work, the Gita’s nishkāma karma. “But historical events,” writes Georges van Vrekhem, “like everything in the universe, are always complex. In a well-documented article about the Cripps-offer by Divakar and Sucharu in Mother India… we read: ‘It was generally believed that if Cripps brought off the settlement, he would replace Churchill.’ We know, however, that Churchill was an irreplaceable instrument of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother—while, on the other hand, India’s independence was a matter of great urgency, as well in the then prevailing world situation as for India’s future unity. Sri Aurobindo has stressed several times that he did not use the omnipotent supramental force for his work, for the simple reason that the world would not be able to stand it… The events concerning the Cripps-offer are an example thereof in a situation which allowed nothing but a detached act of nishkāma karma.” (p. 253) There are perhaps yet deeper occult factors which are perhaps beyond our comprehension and Sri Aurobindo just gave them the name nishkāma karma. Yet a more detailed study of British politics of the time might be worthwhile. It is generally known that Churchill found in Cripps a formidable rival and he had to make a move that he was neutralized. In assuring India’s cooperation for the British War-effort the proposals came in handy, a thing by which Churchill would at once kill two birds with one stroke. Sri Aurobindo was aware of it and yet he recommended the acceptance of the Proposals not as a back-handed deal but in the awareness of the forces that were at play. His ‘justification’ as a part of nishkāma karma was only to pacify the human mind which cannot grasp the occult-yogic matters.

 

An interview with Sri Aurobindo in 1950

The unfortunate happened. Later KM Munshi had the privilege of having an interview with Sri Aurobindo, in 1950. Munshi writes:

 

When I visited Sri Aurobindo in 1950, after a lapse of more than forty years, I saw before me a being completely transformed, radiant, blissful, enveloped in an atmosphere of godlike calm. He spoke in a low, clear voice, which stirred the depths of my being. I talked to my spiritual needs. The sage replied: “...I wrote to you that I would help you and in my own way I am helping you… I will watch over your progress.”

 

Then we discussed Indian culture. I said: “The younger generation is being fed on theories and beliefs which are undermining the higher life of India.” The Master replied: “You must overcome this lack of faith. Rest assured that our culture cannot be undermined. This is only a passing phase.” Then the Mahayogi sprang a surprise on me. “When do you expect India to be united?” he asked. I was taken aback. I explained to him how our leaders had agreed to partition. I then said: “So far as the present generation of politicians is concerned I cannot think of any time when the two countries—India and Pakistan—can be united.” Sri Aurobindo smiled and averred: “India will be reunited. I see it clearly.”

 

Was it an opinion? Was it a clear perception? I shook my head in doubt and asked how India could be reunited. In two short sentences the god-man described what Pakistan stood for and indicated how the two countries could come together.

 

About Mother India

A question was asked to Sri Aurobindo which is as follows: “When you wrote that you look upon India not as an inert, dead mass of matter, but as the very Mother, the living Mother, I believe you saw that Truth—or was it just the expression of a poetic or patriotic sentiment?”

 

Sri Aurobindo answered: “My dear Sir, I am not a materialist. If I had seen India as only a geographical area with a number of more or less interesting people in it, I would hardly have gone out of my way to do all that for the said area. Merely a poetic or patriotic sentiment—just as in yourself only your flesh, skin, bones and other things... are real; but what you call your mind and soul do not self-exist, being merely psychological impressions created by the food you eat and the activity of the glands. Poetry and patriotism have of course the same origin and the things they speak of quite unreal.”

 

India after Independence

Nirodbaran writes to Sri Aurobindo in 1935: “It is rather depressing to hear about the atrocities committed by some Mohamedans on Hindu families in Bengal. With the coming of Independence I hope such things will stop. Now I would like to ask you something. In your scheme of things do you definitely see a free India? You have stated that for the spreading of spirituality in the world India must be free. I suppose you must be working for it! You are the only one who can do something really effective by the use of your spiritual Force.

 

Sri Aurobindo replies: “That is all settled. It is a question of working out only. The question is what is India going to do with her Independence? The above kind of affair? Bolshevism? Goonda-raj? Things look ominous.”

 

An Early Prediction

“Since 1907, we are living in a new era which is full of hope for India. Not only India, but the whole world will see sudden upheavals and revolutionary changes. The high will become low and the low high. The oppressed and the depressed shall be elevated. The nation and humanity will be animated by a new consciousness, new thought and new efforts will be made to reach new ends. Amidst these revolutionary changes, India will become free.” (January, 1910) The question of India’s freedom was settled. That made Sri Aurobindo free to do the work that was to be done at a different level altogether. Events followed in quick succession and under the divine command, ādeśa, Sri Aurobindo was in Pondicherry in April 1910. The Mother came first in 1914 and later in 1920 to stay here permanently. Their work together acquired another yogic meaning and content. Thirty years of intense yoga-tapasya opened out the doors of the Infinite, it entering into the terrestrial creation.

 

Vivekananda: Let new India arise

“Let new India arise,” said Vivekananda, “out of the peasants’ cottage, grasping the plough; out of the huts of the fisherman, the cobbler and the sweeper. Let her spring from the grocer’s shop, from beside the oven of the fritter-seller. Let her emanate from the factory, from marts, and from markets. Let her emerge from groves and forests, from hills and mountains.”

But what about the India of the administrators and the politicians? For Sri Aurobindo the freedom of India was a settled fact long before it happened in 1947, the undivided India. What he was concerned with was, the tamas of the unregenerate masses of the country, to see that the Goonda Raj, the Rule of the Ruffians, does not come. When shall the enlightened leadership take the reins of the society in its hands? But let us go back to Vivekananda again:

 

India will be raised, not with the power of the flesh, but with the power of the spirit; not with the flag of destruction, but with the flag of peace and love… One vision I see clear as life before me, that the ancient Mother has awakened once more, sitting on her throne—rejuvenated, more glorious than ever. Proclaim her to all the world with the voice of peace and benediction.

Here is the message of hope, but it has to be made dynamic and effective by doing long and arduous National Tapasya. That’s the task.

 

Liberation of Bangla Desh in 1971

Although Sri Aurobindo retired from active politics, he was up to date about events taking place in India and in the world. In fact when necessary he intervened openly or in an occult way to mould them, indicating that they had definite bearings on the spiritual work he was occupied with. The two well known instances in the public domain are his recommendation for the acceptance of Cripps Proposal in 1942, and his intervention in the Second World War as we might discern from the contribution he made for the War funds. He saw in Hitler the enemy of civilization and he could not be allowed to have his run. Behind the Battle of Britain was his decisive spiritual force that turned the tides when Hitler was triumphantly speaking of hoisting German flag on Buckingham Palace. Much later, though not so well known but with similar bearings, was the Mother’s intervention during the liberation of Bangla Desh in 1971. India’s Partition in 1947 based on the false premise that the subcontinent had two distinct identities and it was unnatural for them to live together, the Two-Nation Theory based on Hindus and Muslims constituting two different nations. The present-day Bangla Desh was earlier Eastern wing of Pakistan, predominantly its Bengali-speaking region. The Two-Nation theory founded on religious basis floundered and language with its associated culture became the determinative factor. But the real factor was the political domination over the Eastern by the Western part. There was a demand for a stronger federation but it was rejected. The 1969 elections became the turning point when Mujob-ur Rehman should have become the Prime Minister of Pakistan. This was not acceptable to the politicians of West Pakistan. Events led to a crackdown on East Pakistan. Sheikh Mujibir Rehman announced on the Radio: “This may be my last message. From today Bangladesh is independent. I call upon the people of Bangladesh to resist the Army of occupation to the last. Your fight must go on until the last soldier of the Pakistan occupation Army is expelled from the soil of Bangladesh and final victory is achieved.” Mujib was arrested and it led to genocide. That left thousands of Bengalis dead.

 

But worse was yet to follow. First, a bizarre strategy was introduced, the appropriation of land holdings of the Hindus. Their property and belongings were snatched and freely gifted to the Muslims. Not only that; they were systematically forced to leave the country, mostly if they refused to embrace Islam. There was unprecedented exodus to neighbouring West Bengal. That completely changed its political climate which is still prevailing over there even after three decades. In early 1971 Indira Gandhi decided to take firm measures in order to counter the problem that had started afflicting India. One way was to help the Bengali freedom fighters, the Mukti Bahini. This provocative move invited the wrath of Pakistan, who also wanted to settle the score of the 1965 Conflict between the two countries. Indira Gandhi in a midnight broadcast to the nation on 3 December 1971 declared that India was at war with Pakistan. The war lasted for 13 days and on 16 December the Pakistan Army in the East surrendered.

 

Nearly one million people were killed and 10 million refugees streamed into India. "We have borne the heaviest of burdens," Mrs. Gandhi said, "and withstood the greatest of pressure in a tremendous effort to urge the world to help in bringing about a peaceful solution and preventing the annihilation of an entire people whose only crime was to vote democratically. But the world ignored the basic causes and concerned itself only with certain repercussions. Today the war in Bangla Desh has become a war on India."

 

The Mother’s Role

In June 1971 the Mother wrote a letter to a disciple in which she reiterated the mistake that was committed in accepting Partition as a solution to India’s problems. That stand of hers was consistent with what she had advised to Indira Gandhi.

 

Indira Gandhi had met the Mother a number of times, first in 1955 and later in 1969 and 1971. Soon after the 1971 elections in India the crisis in East Pakistan erupted. The Mother sent a message to Indira Gandhi on 4 April: “The urgent recognition of Bangladesh is imperative." 

 

Apart from Indira Gandhi the Mother found a few fit instruments who later played an important role in the events which were taking place. Some of these officers were also quite aware of the message the Mother had sent to Indira Gandhi, asking her to recognise Bangladesh. But in April of that year a few strategic constraints had to be recognized, particularly the onset of Monsoon in a few weeks hence. The Chief of Army Staff of the day, Gen Sam Manekshaw had spoken to that effect to the Prime Minister.

 

In August 1971 Lt Col Bhalla came to Pondicherry and had the Mother’s personal blessings. Lt Col Bhalla was the Signal Officer posted in the Eastern Command in Calcutta. He had been coming to the Ashram since mid 1950s. After his meeting with the Mother in August 1971, he had conviction that this time the work will be done. He knew that it was the Mother’s war and told his colleagues to that effect. Maj Gen KK Tiwari writes in his book: “It was in the third quarter of 1971, I must have been in a reflective mood one day in my office, when one of my officers, a Lt Col Bhalla—who had received his training for Signals on commissioning under me, came to see me. He asked why I was so pensive and worried, which he said was unusual for me. By that time I had been told of Top Secret Plans in outline. So I said to him, ‘Chum, one cannot share these things with you at present but if you had some of the problems I am facing with no solutions in sight, and when you have been given a definite no to your requests for help by all concerned, and yet you have responsibilities to discharge, you too would be more pensive.’ He was very quick in his reply—he had obviously come prepared for this, being a long time devotee of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. He said, ‘Sir, you are my old instructor, so I should not be advising you. But I have a humble submission. Whatever your worries and problems, write to the Mother in Pondicherry and ask for Her blessings and all will be well.’ I did not accept the suggestion immediately. Sri Aurobindo, of course, was no more, and I hesitated a little to ask for blessings from His French lady successor. But on deeper reflection, a brief letter was sent to the Mother seeking Her blessings for my (unspecified) work. In a few days a blessings packet was received from Her.”

 

And what was the final outcome?—an unconditional surrender on 16 December 1971 in Dacca. About 95,000 fully armed soldiers laid down their arms, an unprecedented event in the annals of military history.

 

It is said that the Mother had asked for a map of Bangla Desh sometime in October and she kept it on her table in front of her. She concentrated daily on that map. After the war the Mother said: “Again, it won’t be for this time. It won’t be done that way. I’ve seen how.” She said that it will be a sort of confederation which will bring the different parts together. She saw it in the context of United India.

 

Indira Gandhi, in spite of all her other shortcomings and arrogances, was clear in her mind. She had written to the Mother: “I think our nation has taken a step towards maturity. Yet there are many who look only to today.” The Mother sent her blessings to her and wrote in the letter: “Let the country take its true place in the world for showing the way towards the supreme Truth.”

 

"Let the country take its true place in the world for showing the way towards the supreme Truth." This must be seen with regard to the spiritual destiny with which the article is concerned. But this can happen only when the country awakes to its soul.