Savitri: the Light of the Supreme
Re: Re: Re: Soul of a Nation
by RY Deshpande
In this connection let me draw the attention to the speech Sri Aurobindo gave in Bombay on 15 January 1908. The relevant part is as follows:
Our personality, our constitution is made up of three parts. We have three types of body, gross, subtle-physical, and causal. In a similar way the nation has three bodies. According to our philosophy it is not just the outward appearance, of the gross body, that makes a complete man. All the three bodies have to be taken into account; only then can we get some understanding about him. As in the case of man, so in the case of a nation. To think about our nation is first to think about our motherland. Stretching from the Himalayas in the north to Kanyakumari in the south, its boundaries are formed by the seas in the East and the West. Ganga, Jamuna, Narmada, Krishna, Godavari flow here unceasingly; here we have ancient cities, tall and imposing temples as well as artistically constructed palatial houses. Such is the part of this earth, known as India. It is that picture, that figure which comes in front of us when we talk about our nation. This is the gross body of our nation. Bankimchandra’s song Bande Mataram describes this aspect very beautifully,—33 crores of peoples living on this land with their happinesses and afflictions, with their good and bad desires. All these are a part of its subtle-physical. These are the aspects which, though may undergo changes in the course of time, yet always remain in the body; in the seed state, as permanent as the atom. They are present there and, being the origin, it is out of them that the future takes shape. This is the causal body of the nation. But that is not enough. According to our scriptures when we think of man, we not only think of the present but also of the past and the future. The same is applicable to a country. When we speak of rivers, mountains, cities, etc. of our country we do not keep in mind solely the present, not at all. What we speak of is the history of 5000 years. Does not the figure of Emperor Akbar stand in front of us when we utter the names of our cities Delhi or Agra? That is why we must, while speaking about the nation, also recollect the great achievements of our ancient people.
~ RYD
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