|
Letters to M.
3 July, 1912 Page-426 is also without money. As to Bharati living on
nothing means an uncertain quantity. The only other man in Pondicherry whom I
could at present ask for help is absent sine die and my messenger to the
South not returned. The last time he came, he brought a promise of Rs. 1000 in a
month and some permanent provision afterwards, but the promise like certain
predecessors has not yet been fulfilled and we sent him for cash. But though he
should have been here three days ago, he has not returned, and even when he
returns, I am not quite sure about the cash and still less sure about the
sufficiency of the amount. No doubt, God will provide, but He has contracted a
bad habit of waiting till the last moment. I only hope He does not wish us to
learn how to live on a minus quantity like Bharati. Page-427
[January,1913?] We
have received from you in December Rs. 60, and Rs.20, and in this month Rs. 10.
According to N's account Rs. 10 belongs
to November account, Rs. 50 to December; Rs. 20 we suppose to have been sent in
advance for the January account. If so, we still expect from you Rs. 20 this
month. I should be glad to know if there is any prospect of your being able to
increase the amount now or shortly. Up till now we have somehow or other managed
to fill in the deficit of Rs. 35 monthly; but, now that all our regular sources
here are stopped, we have to look to mere luck for going on. Of course if we
were Bhaktas of the old type, this would be the regular course, but as our
Sadhana stands upon Karmayoga with Jnana and Bhakti, this inactive Nirbhara can
only continue so long as it is enjoined on us as a temporary movement of the
Sadhana. It cannot be permanent. I think there will have to be a change before
long, but I cannot see clearly whether the regular and sufficient arrangement
which must be instituted some time, is to come from you or from an unexpected
quarter or whether I have myself to move in the matter. It is a question of
providing some Rs. 450 a year in addition to what you send, - unless, of course,
God provides us with some new sources for the sarirayiitra as He did two
years ago. Page-428 ings;
4th, the determining of events, actions and results of action throughout the
world by pure silent will-power. When I wrote to you last, I had begun the
general application of these powers which God has been developing in me for the
last two or three years, but, as I told you, I was getting badly beaten. This is
no longer the case, for in the Ist, 2nd and even in 3rd I am now largely
successful, although the action of these powers is not yet perfectly organised.
It is only in the 4th that I feel a serious resistance. I can produce single
results with perfect accuracy, I can produce general results with difficulty and
after a more or less prolonged struggle, but I can neither be sure of producing
the final decisive result I am aiming at nor of securing that orderly
arrangement of events which prevents the results from being isolated and only
partially effective. In some directions I seem to succeed, in others partly to
fail and partly to succeed, while in some fields, e.g., this matter of financial
equipment both for my personal life and for my work I have hitherto entirely
failed. When I shall succeed even partially in that, then I shall know that my
hour of success is at hand and that I have got rid of the past Karma in myself
and others, which stands in our way and helps the forces of Kaliyuga to baffle
our efforts. Page-429
defects,
-
also, all negligence, omission, slipshod ritual,- the tamasic defects,
must be avoided. Success must not elate your minds, nor failure discourage.
3rdly, Angarakshana is as important as Siddhi. There are many Tantriks in this
Kaliyuga who are eager about Siddhi, careless in Angarakshana. They get some
Siddhi, but become the prey of the devils and Bhutas they raise. Now what is
the use of the particular Siddhi, if the Sadhakas are destroyed? The general
and real object, - Mukti and Bhukti, - remains unfulfilled. Angarakshana is
managed, first, by the selection and arrangement of the right Siddhi- Mantra
and Kriya, secondly, by the presence behind the Sadhaka of one who repeats what
is called an Angarakshana Mantra, destructive of the Pretas and Rakshasas or
prohibitive of their attacks. The last function I have taken on myself; it is
your business so to arrange the Kriya that the Bhutas get no chances for
Page-430
[1913?]
2. Do not print Yoga and its Objects unless and until I give you
positive directions. It cannot be printed in its present form and I may decide
to complete the work before it is printed. In any case parts of it would have to
be omitted or modified. Page-431 pacted
sum reduces us to difficulties. I had reckoned on the remainder of Madgodkar's
money to pay the sum sti11 due for the rent of our last house. Fortunately, the
litigation connected with the house has kept the matter hanging; but it may be
demanded from us any day and we shall have to pay at once, or face the prospect
of being dragged into court and losing our prestige here entirely. In future,
let me ask you, never to undertake any payment to us which you are not sure of
being able to fulfil, because of the great disorder in our arrangements which
results.
Kali Page-432 [1913?] Dear
M. Page-433 has
also shown me
the meaning of all in the Upanishads that is not understood either by Indians or
Europeans. I have therefore to re-explain the whole Vedanta and Veda in such a
way that it will be seen how all religion arises out of it and is one
everywhere. In this way it will be proved that India is the centre of the
religious life of the world and its destined saviour through the Sanatana
Dharma.
You
must remember that I have not given you the whole Yogic Sadhana. What I have
given you is only the beginning. You have to get rid of Ahamkara and desire and
surrender yourself to God in order that the rest may come. You speak of printing
Yoga and its Objects. But remember that what 1 have sent you is only the
first part which gives the path, not the objects or the circumstances. If you
print it, print it as the first of a series, with the subtitle, The Path. I
am now busy with an explanation of the Isha Upanishad in twelve chapters. I am
at the eleventh now and will finish in a few days. Afterwards I shall begin the
second part of the series and send it to you when finished. Page-434 yet sufficiently free from
obstructions for me to know all that I need to know at this stage.
The letter you sent me last time from a certain man in Chandernagore is
practically answered here. Biren may have made some mistake about the shoes. It
was intended that they should be got from--- The glass case theory is all right,
only the exhi- Page-435 [Feb. - March, 1913?]
Dear M.
I
have been lying down under cover ever since the middle of February after a very
brilliant advance in January and the early part of February. I keep the previous
ground, but can make as yet no sure progress farther. There is only a slow
preparation for farther progress. The real difficulty is to bring force,
sureness and rapidity into the application
of power and knowledge to life,- especially
sureness, for it is possible to bring the force and rapidity, but if not
attended by unfailing sureness of working, they may lead to great errors in
knowledge and great stumbles and disasters in action which counteract the
successes. On the other hand, if sureness has to be gained only by not stepping
except where everything is sure (which is the first stage of action and
knowledge necessary to get rid of rajasic rashness), progress is likely to be
slow. I am trying to solve the dilemma. Page-436 There is the pressing cry for clothes in this quarter as these articles seem to be with us to remind us now constantly of the paucity of matter. I have received Bepin Pal's Soul of India. Can you add [another?] by getting from Hiranyagarbha, - Sister Nivedita's My Master as I Saw Him? I am also in need, - as I wrote to you once before, - of R. C. Dutt's Bengali translation of the Vedas. Neither of these books is urgently required but please keep them in mind and send them when you can.
Kali
Dear
M. Page-437 know,
it covers only the bare physical necessities of our life in Pondicherry. More
than that, you are not likely to be able to afford; and certainly you could not
provide me with the sums I shall need even in the earlier part of my work. To
limit myself to the Rs. 85 a month you can send me, would be to deny myself the
material means for doing what I have to do and to accept stagnation and
quiescence. It is true I am not beginning that work immediately, but, before it
begins, I have to bend circumstances to my will in this very particular so
that the obstacle of paucity of means which has been my chief stumbling-block
for the beginning may be got rid of once for all. My will has to be- come
effective on this point above all and the impediments both subjective and
objective to its mastery have to be eliminated. Therefore I have sent out the
general vyapti I spoke of. Biren's action was one of the first responses,
but, as it was an impure response, it has created more Golmal than effect. As to
confining the appeal for pecuniary assistance to those who are entirely of one
way of thinking with ourselves, it was a good rule for you to observe; but it
cannot bind me when I begin my larger movement. From whatever quarter money or
help comes to me, it comes from God.
. Page-438 particular order may be met. Your letter to him, if addressed to Pondicherry did not reach us; whether he got it in Madras or not, I do not know.
Your working, remember, is not yet definitive working; it is still in the
nature of experiment, with some minor results. When your working becomes more
perfect, more proper and the necessary spiritual force can be sent from here,
-
then real Tantra can begin. Meanwhile,
don't be over-eager; let nothing disconcerting discourage or perplex you.
Eagerness, anxiety and discouragement are all different faces of one defect. I
shall write to you on all matters connected with the Tantra after the Psalmodist
arrives. Also about the Vedanta. If he does not come, I shall write all the
same.
Kali
Page-439 exhausted to write anything at length this time, - we shall see afterwards when I have recovered my physical equilibrium. I expect Rs. 40 for July and the money for August (current) which will complete our regular account for the present if C.R.Das sends in the rest of his money as proposed. By the way, his agents Grind lays & Co. send me Rs. 300 with a note saying that I shall get Rs. 1000 for the translations. Is the Rs. 300 part of the Rs. 1000 or separate? I ask this for information only, because you wrote that he intended to give me one year's expenses and Rs. 300 extra. I need some extra money badly now for materials for the work I have now seriously entered on in connection with the Veda and the Sanskrit language. In that same connection will you please make a serious effort this time to get hold of Dutt's Bengali translation of the Rigveda and send it to me, - or any translation for that matter which gives the European version ?
Kali
Dear
M.
. Page-440 separate letter on that subject. I have also to write about your Tantric Yoga, but I think I shall await what else you have to tell me on that subject before doing so.
[July-Aug.,19131] Dear M.
Page-441 Dear
M.
[April,
1914] I want to know whether it is possible without your exposing yourself to have the idea spread in Chandernagore, especially among the younger men, of the desirability of these candidatures Page-442 and
the abandonment of the old parochial and rotten politics of French India, with
its following of interested local Europeans and subservience to their petty
ambitions in favors of a politics of principle which will support one of our own
men or a European like Richard who is practically an Indian in belief, in
personal culture, in sympathies and aspirations, one of the Nivedita type. If
also a certain number of votes can be recorded for Richard in Chandernagore so
much the better; for that will mean a practical beginning, a tendency from the
Sukshma world materialised initially in the Sthula. If you think this can be
done, please get it done, - always taking care not to expose yourself. For your
main work is not political but spiritual. If there can be a Bengali translation
of Richard's manifesto or much better, a statement of the situation and the
desirability of the candidature succeeding,
-
always steering
clear of extremism and British Indian
politics, - it should be done and distributed. I lay stress on these things
because it is necessary that the conditions of Chandernagore and Pondicherry
should be changed, the repetitions of recent events rendered impossible and the
cession of French territory put out of the question. There would be other and
more positive gains by the change, but these I need not emphasise now. Page-443 greatest
which India contains and which is at the same time willing to take it up. I see
only Devavrata and myself who have the idea, - for the Dayanandas and others are
a negligible quantity, and Devavrata seems to me to have gone off for the moment
on a wrong route and through egoism has even allowed his spiritual force to be
used against us by secret forces in the Sukshma world which he is not yet
advanced enough to understand. Therefore, if God wills, I will take the field. Page-444
Dear
M.
17 April, 1914. Page-445 cannot,
he has taken huge sums from Bluysen. The leaders are almost all bought over by
Bluysen and those who remain on Lemaire's side dare not act. The only weapon
now in Lemaire's hands is vague threat and rumour, that the Cabinet has fallen,
that Martineau is suspended, that the new Police Captain is his man etc. There
are also rumours of a sudden coup d' etat by Lemaire on the election day,
of Appaswami being carried off Dr killed, of the Election Committee being in his
hands and it is true that the President is a Lemairiste. But I do not see how
these things are going to be done. There may, of course, be a sudden Lemairiste
rally, but at present it seems as if Bluysen by the help of the Administration
money, the British Government and the devil were likely to win an easy victory. Page-446
their followers that they are free to vote for Richard if they wish;
the Mahomedan leaders of Karikal are for Bluysen or rather for his money, but the mass have resolved to vote neither for Bluysen nor Lemaire, and either not to vote at all or for Richard. At Pondicherry, Villenour has promised to declare for Richard the day before the election so as to avoid prolonged administrative pressure. Certain sections of the community e.g. the young men
among
the Christians and a number of the Mahomedans,-Richard is to speak at the mosque and a great number may
possibly come over and a certain nucleus of the Hindus are certain to vote for him. We count also on the impression that can be given during the next few days. If in addition Chandernagore can give a large vote for Richard, there is a chance not of
carrying Richard but of preventing a decisive vote at the first election, so that there may be a second ballot. If that is done, great
numbers who hesitate to vote for Richard in the idea that Bluysen must carryall before him, may pick up courage and turn the whole situation,
- to say nothing of the chances of Lemaire retiring and his whole vote coming over or a great part of it. There- fore, I say, throw aside all other considerations and let the young men of Chandernagore at least put all their strength on Richard's side and against the two unspeakable representatives of Evil who dispute the election between them. For if they do not, humanly speaking, Chandernagore seems to be doomed. Page-447
yesterday come to my knowledge) that Chandernagore was going to be ceded to the British with Bluysen's consent; that, on his second and present visit, he was entertained by the Collector of Cuddalore on his way and that that Collector has condescended to act as an electoral agent for him with his co-religionists. It is perfectly clear now that the man has
told himself to England,
-
selling and buying himself and others seem to be his only profession in the world. Therefore every vote given for Bluysen in Chandernagore is a vote for the cession of Chandernagore to the British.
On the other hand, if you vote for Lemaire, it means the same thing at a later date. For he was the first to broach the question in the public press in France, he has advised the
suppression of the vote in French India, he has English connections and is an Anglophil. Not only so, but although asked by the Hindus to recant his former views if he wanted their vote, he has refused to do it, and this refusal has contributed largely to the failure of Pierre to carry the Hindus with him. Let these facts be widely known in Chandernagore both about Bluysen and Lemaire, let it be known that Richard is a Hindu in faith, a Hindu in heart and a man whose whole life is devoted to the ideal of lifting up humanity and specially Asia and India and supporting the oppressed against the strong, the cause of the future which is our cause against all that hampers and resists it. If after that,
Chandernagore still votes for Bluysen or Lemaire, it is its own choice and it will have itself to thank for anything that may follow.
Page-448
5th .May, 1914 Dear M.
The election is over, - or what they call an election,
-
with
the result that the man who had the fewer real votes has got the majority. As (or M. Richard's votes, they got rid of them in Pondicherry and Karikal by the simple process of reading Paul Bluysen wherever Paul Richard was printed. Even where he brought his voters in Karikal to the poll himself, the results were published "Richard - 0". At Villenour people were simply prevented from voting for him or anyone else. As for the results they had been arranged on the evening before the election by M. Gaebele and were made to fit in with his figures. The extent to which this was done you can imagine from the fact that at Nandagopalu's village where there is no single Bluysenite, there
were
only 13 "votes" for Lemaire and all the rest for Bluysen.
The same result in Madanapalli which is strong for Pierre, except in one college where Sada (President of the Cerc1e Sportif) was interpreter and did not allow any humbug; knowing whom they had to deal with, they did not dare to falsify the results. There Bluysen got only 33 votes against 200 and more for Lemaire. In most places, this would have been the normal result, if there had been any election at all. As for Richard, he would probably have got a thousand votes besides the Chandernagore total; as in some five colleges of Pondicherry alone he had about 300 which were transmuted into zero and we know of one village in which he had 91 who were prevented forcibly from voting. Bluysen
normally would hardly have got 5000 in the whole of French India. Of course protests are being prepared from every side and if Bluysen is not supported by the Cabinet which is likely to come in after the election in France, the election may be invalidfited. Otherwise for some time he may reign in spite of the hatred and contempt of the whole population by the terror of the administration and the police. This Madrasi population is so deficient in even the rudiments of moral courage that one cannot hope very much from it.
. . Page-449
and work for the people. He is trying to start an Association of
the young men of Pondicherry and Karikal as a sort of training ground from which men can be chosen for the Vedantic Yoga. Everything is a little nebulous as yet. I shall write to you about it when things are more definite. Page-450 one fourth of his wife's fortune (a very small one) in order to be able to come and work for India, and the money he has can only carry him through the 2 years he thinks of staying here. I should therefore be impoverishing them by taking anything from them. Of course, they. believe that money will come whenever it is necessary but then God's idea of necessity and ours do not always agree. As for Rangaswamy, there is a fatality about his money, - it is intercepted by all sorts of people and very little reaches me even on the rare occasions when he sends anything. I have no hope therefore, of any regular help from that quarter. Even in the fact of your being unable to meet him, fate has been against us. On the other hand, Saurin writes that he has been able to "fix" Rs. 1000 a year for me in Bengal. Is this merely the refixing of Das' promise or something else? As for fixing, any- thing may be fixed orally or on paper, the difficulty is to realise what has been fixed. He says also there is Rs. 500 awaiting me, my share of the garden money. He wants it for his "commerce", but when I have no money to live on, I can hardly comply. He does not tell me what I am to do to get the money, but only that I can get it whenever I want it. I am writing to him to Meherpur, but if you see him in Calcutta, ask him to get it and send it to me at once. With this money I may be able to go on for a few months till something definite and regular can be settled and worked out. As for the sum I need monthly, so long as S. and the others do not return, I need Rs. 50 monthly for my own expenses and Rs. 10 not for myself, but still absolutely indispensable. When S. and the others return, that will no longer be sufficient. I am writing to S. to try and make some real bandobast about money before coming back. Please also press Shyam Babu and the others for the money due to me. This habit of defalcation of money for noble and philanthropic purposes in which usually the ego is largely the beneficiary is one of the curses of our movement and so long as it is continued Lakshmi will not return to this country. I have sharply discontinued all looseness of this kind myself and it must be discouraged henceforth wherever we meet it. It is much better and more honest to be a thief for our own personal benefit, than under these holy masks. And always, if one must plunder, it is best to do it as a Kshatriya, not with the Page-451
corruption of the Vaishya spirit of gain which is the chief enemy in our present struggle. What you have to do, is to try to make some real arrangement, not a theoretical arrangement by which the burden of my expenses may be shifted off your shoulders until I am able to make my own provision. Meanwhile get me Rs. 150 and the Rs. 500 due to me (garden money) and if after- wards we can make no other arrangement, we shall then have to consider the question again. It is this point of equipment, not only for myself but for my work in which the opposition of the Kaliyuga forces is just now the most obstinate. It has somehow to be overcome. Page-452
this in the representative, it is possible in the future to do it in the class, and unless I can do it, the task I have set for myself for India will remain almost too difficult for solution. For as long
as that element remains strong, Bengal can never become what it
.
is intended to be. Page-453
come impossible and must be entirely changed and as far as possible, withdrawn from circulation. Page-454
Dear Moti Babu (This note is by a
disciple but the signature is illegible.)-
Page-455 with Richard and myself as Editors - the Arya, which is to be brought out in French and English, two separate editions, - one for France, one for India, England and America. In this Review my new theory of the Veda will appear as also translation and explanation of the Upanishads, a series of essays giving my sys- tem of Yoga and a book of Vedantic philosophy (not Shankara's but Vedic Vedanta) giving the Upanishadic foundations of my theory of the ideal life towards which humanity must move. You will see so far as my share is concerned, it will be the intellectual side of my work for the world. The Review will be of 64 pages to start with and the subscription Rs.6 annually. Of the French edition 600 copies will be issued, and it will cost about Rs.750 a year minus postage. Richard reckoned 200 subscribers in France at the start, i.e. Rs. 1200 in the year. For the English edition we are thinking of an issue of 1000 copies, at the cost of about Rs. 1200 annually. We shall need therefore at least 200 subscribers to meet this expense and some more so that the English edition may pay all its own expenses. Let us try 250 subscribers to start with, with the ideal of having 800 to 1000 in the first year. If these subscribers can be got before the Review starts, we shall have a sound financial foundation to start with. The question is, can they be got? We are printing a prospectus with specimens of the' writings from my translation and commentary on a Vedic hymn, and an extract from Richard's collections of the central sayings of great sages of all times called the Eternal Wisdom to show the nature of the Review. This is supposed to come out in the middle of this month, and the Review on the 15th August, so there will be nearly two months for collecting subscribers. How far can you help us in this work? There is always one thing about which great care has to be taken, that is, there should be no entanglement of this Review in Indian politics or a false association created by the police finding it in the house of some political suspects they search for; in that case people will be afraid to subscribe. My idea is that young men should be got as agents who would canvas for the Review all over Bengal, but there so many young men are now political suspects that it may not be easy to find any who will be free and active and yet above suspicion. In that case some other method Page-456
must
be tried. I should like to know from you as soon as possible
how far you
can help us and how many copies of the prospectus we should send to you. If the
Review succeeds, if, that is to say, we get in India 850 regular subscribers,
and 250 in France etc. we shall be able' to ,meet the expense of the
establishment, translation-staff etc. and yet have enough for each of the
editors to live on with their various kinds of families, say Rs. 100 a month for
each. In that case the money-question will practically be solved. There will of
course be other expenses besides mere living and there may be from time to time
exceptional expenses, such as publication of books etc., but these may be met
otherwise or as the Review increases its subscribers. Therefore use your best
endeavour towards this end. Page-457
incongruity. That is a thing we could not control, we can only hope that it will
not happen again. But meanwhile the work of publicity and spreading our yoga has
got an unnecessary difficulty thrown in its way. Do not let any add to it by
associating Vedanta and Tantra together in an inexpressible fashion. The Tantric
Yogins are few and should be comparatively reticent - for Vedanta is a wider
thing and men may then help to fulfil it in all kinds of ways. Let the Tantriks
then practise Vedanta silently, not trumpeting abroad its connection with their
own particular school but with self-restraint and the spirit of self-sacrifice,
knowing that they are only one small corps in a march that is vast and so meant
to be world-embracing. The more they isolate themselves from the rest of the
host that is in formation, the more they will be free for their own work and the
more they will help without hampering the wider march. Page-458
power working
out its will in its instruments. Page-459
be a centre of irresistible spiritual light and effective force when- ever
needed. Then a rapid and successful Kriya can be attempted. This is the second
reason why I have called a halt. Page-460
son not only
from the point of view of the buyer and seller but with regard to the third
party who is indirectly interested in the transaction. In any case you must
write to me what you propose to do, before you act.
Dear M. Page-461
from trustworthy agents appointed by you as our representatives. The agent must
let us or you know the number of copies wanted, send in the money and receive
the Review from us or you in a packet as a declared agent commissioned to sell a
certain number of copies, receiving (nominally) a discount on each copy sold. I
suggest this arrangement but if another would be more convenient, please let
us know. You must organise the subscription matter before starting for your
pilgrimage so that we may have a fair start in August. I shall write a longer
letter to you about Yoga and other matters as soon as I have a little time.
K. Page-462
P.S. Received your letter. Please let us know how many copies of the Arya you want sent
to you for sale, since you cannot get subscribers. I shall write later. The
divorce from Tantrism is necessary if you are to do the work of the Review or
the other work I wish you to undertake. You must surely see that. Neither
will work if there are any occurrences of the old kind mixing them up together.
Dear M. Page-463
are not those of South Africa; our position is different and our aim is
different, not to secure a few privileges, but to create a nation of men fit for
independence and able to secure and keep it. We have been beaten in the first
attempt, like every other nation similarly circumstanced. That is no reason why
the whole people should go back to a condition of abject fear, grovelling
loyalty and whining complaints. The public Nationalist policy has always been 1. I don't appreciate Sarat Maharaj's position. If self- sacrifice is the object, every human being has the whole of life as a field for self-sacrifice and does not depend on any Government for that. We can show our sacrificing activities every moment, if we want. It is not a question of sacrifice at all, it is a question of military training. If the young men wish to organise for charitable work, the Government is not going to stop it, even though they may watch and suspect. I put that aside altogether. 2. The leaders suggested cooperation in return for some substantial self-government. They are now offering cooperation without any return at' all. Very self-sacrificing, but not political. If indeed, Government were willing to train "thousands of young men" in military service as volunteers, Territorials or Boy Scouts, whether for keeping the peace or as a reserve in case of invasion, then we need not boggle about the return. But, after so much experience, do these addle-headed politicians think the Govern- Page-464
ment is going to do that except in case of absolute necessity and as a choice
between two evils? When will that absolute necessity come? Only if the war goes
against them seriously and they have to withdraw their troops from India. I
shall discuss that point later on.
Boy Scouts, -
Volunteer Corps, - Territorials. Page-465
in the first two cases. Even without the second proviso, any of these things
would be worth accepting.
I. Those bringing about
the destruction of the two Teutonic empires, German and Austrian. In either of these two last cases an invasion of India by Germany, Russia or Japan is only a question of time, and Page-466 England will be unable to' resist except by one of three means. 1. Universal conscription in England and the Colonies.
2. The aid of Japan or some other foreign power. Page-467 I shall write to you before long farther on the subject, as , also on other matters.
Dear M. Page-468
name must
never be connected with monastic forms or the monastic ideal. Every ascetic
movement since the time of Buddha has left India weaker and for a very obvious
reason. Renunciation of life is one thing, to make life itself, national,
individual, world- life greater and more divine is another. You cannot enforce
one ideal on the country without weakening the other. You cannot take away the
best souls from life and yet leave life stronger and greater. Renunciation of
ego, acceptance of God in life is the Yoga I teach, - no other
renunciation. Page-469 synthesis is always possible, but amalgamation is not synthesis.
Page-470 together and form part of the same transaction, i.e. a political conspiracy directed against the existing form of Government and having for its object the change or overthrow of that Government. Under the Extradition Treaty between France and England, - unless that has been altered by the latest Treaty to which I have not had access, - there can be no Extradition for (1) a political offence, (2) an offence of a political character or tendency, (3) on a charge which, though preferred as for an ordinary offence, is really an excuse or device for laying hands on a political offender. Rashbehary Bose is reported to be in hiding either in Chandernagore or the Punjab. If anybody moves therefore, it can only be a relative or friend on his behalf, - a relative would be much better. What you have to do is to get hold of someone entitled to act for him, consult the text of the latest Extradition Treaty between France and England and, if it is as I have stated, then let it be put in the hands of a lawyer of the French Court who must move in the matter according to the French procedure about which I know nothing. I presume he would have to move the Government in France or failing there, the Court of Cassation in Paris, but the latter would be an expensive affair. So long as Bose is not handed over to the British (if he is in Chandernagore), the Court of Cassation has, I should suppose, the power of cancelling the warrant. I do not know whether it is necessary first to appeal to the Procureur General in Pondicherry before going to the Higher Court. On these points of procedure Bose's representative will have to consult a French lawyer. In case he is handed over, the Hague decision with regard to Savarkar will come in the way and make the thing almost hopeless. The French Government might still move on the ground that Bose is a French subject, but it could only succeed by strong diplomatic pressure which the present French Government might be unwilling to employ. In any case it might be worthwhile to get a decree of the Court of Cassation so as to establish the principle. There is always however, the danger in these political cases, where justice and law are so seldom observed, of an opposite decision making the position worse than before. It would be worthwhile finding out what exactly was done and on what grounds in CharuChander Ray's case and Page-471 seeing whether these grounds
can be made to apply. If you will give me the exact
facts of the warrant, the charges etc., I may be able to get a letter written to
France so that Jaures or others may move in the matter. Page-472
vision,
yet without that misleading false light which marred all my seeing till
now and allowed me to be swept in the flood of con- fused Sattwo-rajasic impure
Shakti which came with you from Bengal. .
Dear M. Page-473
he wrote also from here. Our actual expenses here are Rs.115 a month; this can
be reduced if we get another house, but you know that is not easy in
Pondicherry. I note that we are to get Rs. 50 from you in the latter part of
this month. Page-474
the inner and
outer life. When the same state of mind can be brought about here, the Arya will
begin to be appreciated. At present, Bengal only understands and appreciates
politics and asceticism. The central ideas of the Arya are Greek to it. Page-475
are straining towards a solution. While the war continues, no- thing great can be done, we are fettered on every side. After- wards things will change and we must wait for the development.
K.
Dear M. Page-476
sufficient
fruit without a very strong and faultless Vedantic basis. Otherwise you have a
medley of good and bad Sadhakas associating together and
the bad spoil the Kriya of the good; for a collective
Yoga is not like a solitary one, it is not free from collective influences; it
has a collective soul which cannot afford to be in some parts either raw or
rotten. It is this which modern Tantrics do not understand, their aspiration
is not governed by old Shastra founded on the experience of centuries. A cakra for
instance, must either be perfectly composed or immediately governed
and protected by the spiritual force of some powerful Guru. But our modern minds
are too impatient to see to these things. As for your external difficulties, I
mean with regard to the bad ideas the Government or the police have about you
and the consequent obstacles and pressure, that is a result of past Karma and
probably of some present associations and can hardly be cured. I see people are
interned who have no connection at all with politics or have long cut off
whatever connection they had. Owing to the war, the authorities are uneasy and
suspicious and being ill-served by their police act on prejudgments and often on
false
reports. You have to sit tight, spiritually defend yourself and physically avoid
putting yourself where the police can do you any harm, and so far as possible,
avoid also doing anything which would give any colour or appearance of a
foundation for their prejudices. More can hardly be done. One cannot throw aside
friends because they are suspects; in that case, we should have to begin with
ourselves. If on the ground of such associations we are ourselves more
suspected, - as for instance, the officials make it a grievance against me that
although I am doing nothing political myself, yet I associate with my Madrasi
friends against whom they have chosen to launch warrants for sedition, etc., it
cannot be helped. We cannot suffer political or police dictation in our private
friendships. Page-477
If you have difficulties of any kind, it is well to let me know at once; for I
can then concentrate what force I have more particularly to help you. The help
may not be always or immediately effective, but it will count and may be more
powerful than a general will, not instructed in the particular necessity. You
must not mind if you do not get always a written answer; the un- written will
always be there.
K.
Page-478 internal,
at once, Page-479
quite other than spiritual purposes, but here it is out of place; these things,
I repeat, are foreign to the fundamental principle of our Yoga. Page-480 been
able to help or guide others on the same way? Those who join me at the present
stage, must share in my burden, especially those who are themselves chosen in
any degree to lead, help and guide. It may be that when I have the complete
Siddhi, - which I have not yet, I am only on the way to it, - then, if it be
God's will to extend very largely and rapidly my work in this body, those who
come after may have the way made very easy for them. But we are the pioneers
hewing our way through the jungle of the lower Prakriti. It will not do for
us to be cowards and shirkers and refuse the burden, to clamour for everything
to be made quick and easy for us. Above all things I demand from you endurance,
firmness, heroism, - the true spiritual heroism. I want strong men. I do not
want emotional children. Manhood first, Page-481 but I have no objection to your beginning it, since you feel the pressing necessity. I shall write to you later on about it at more length. The only reason why I do not lay great stress on outer work, is that it must always be kaccha, much embarrassed by difficulties, at best only a preparatory thing, until we are inwardly and spiritually ready. That is no reason why it should not be done. Work done in the right spirit will itself become a means of the inner Siddhi.
Dear M. Page-482
and how far the field in Bengal is ready. As to the symbol, none has come to me.
I am not altogether favourably inclined to the Uttar Yogi idea nor anyone else
here. It sounds too like the old style of spiritual pretension, and, when it is
put in a current English production, suggests bujruki. Plain colours and
as few symbols as may be are what we want at the beginning. Indian spirituality
has lost itself in a jungle of symbols and Shlokas and we have to get out of
them on to the plain and straight ways and the open heights, where we can see
the "much work that has still to be done". Why any editor? Let the
Shaktiherself be the editor. Page-483 Hansa in the Sun, as the free Soul lodged in the vijñāna and the legend, "In this sign thou shalt conquer", which is appropriate, but has the disadvantage of being borrowed from Christianity and Constantine. It would perhaps be better if you could find a Sanskrit equivalent or substitute.
Dear M. Page-484 will make no difference. Mr. Gandhi, like the man in Macedonia with St. Paul, sent me a message to "come over and help", but I had to say that I was not ready to join in the old politics and had no new programme formed for a more spiritual line of work, and it would be no use my going out till I saw my way. As to the Standard Bearer, I cannot write now, as it would take too long and delay this letter. I shall write afterwards or send word. Your insured packet reached us yesterday. The increase comes in a good moment, as with Saurin in Bengal the Aryan Stores is simply marking time and the Arya is in a new economic phase which means for the moment some diminution of income.
Dear M. Page-485
was to get rid of the errors of the past (errors once necessary for the development, but likely if persisted in to ruin and frustrate the future), to get at a firm spiritual basis and found a centre of spiritual unity and action, a samgha, on a small scale but sure of its principle and capable of a large development. This
has now been done, but at the moment of its firm effectuation, new
conditions have come in which create a new and larger problem. First, many imprisoned forces have been set loose and, secondly, the chaos of incertitude, confused agitation and unseeing unrest which has followed upon the war and is felt all over the world, is now at work in Bengal. The nature of this unrest is a haste to get something done without knowing what has to be done, a sense of and vague response to large forces without any vision of or hold on the real possibilities of the future of humanity and the nation. The old thing~ are broken up in their assured mould and are yet persisting and trying to form themselves anew, the new exist for the most part only in vague idea without a body or clear action and without any power as yet to form what is lacking to them. The old politics in India persist in a chaos of parties and programmes centred round the Congress quarrel and the Re- forms, and in Bengal we have a rush of the commercial and
industrial spirit which follows the Western principle and, if it succeeds on these lines, is likely to create a very disastrous
reproduction or imitation of the European situation with its corrupt capitalism and the Labour struggle and the war of classes. And all that is the very reverse of our own ideal. The one advantage for us is that it is a chaos and not a new order; and it is essential that we should throw our spirit and idea upon this fermentation, and draw what is best among its personalities and forces to the side and service of our ideal so as to get a hold and a greater mass o£ effectuation for it in the near future. Page-486
a thing that is sure of itself and illumined by self-knowledge and a work that by its clear form and firm growth will present more and more the aspect of an assured solution of the problems of the present and the future. The mind of the outside world may be too shallow, restless and impatient to understand a great, profound and difficult
truth like ours on the side of the idea, but a visible accomplishment, a body of things done has always the power to compel and to attract the world to follow it. The only danger then is that when this body of things becomes prominent and attractive, numbers may rush into it and try to follow the externals without realising and reproducing in themselves the truth and the power of the real thing that made it possible. It was that against which I warned you when there came the first possibility of a- considerable expansion. It is your business to enlarge your field of work and the work itself but not at the cost of any lowering or adulteration of its spirit. The first condition you have to assure is that all who have the work in hand or share in its direction must- be of the spirit and work from the self outward; they must be men of the Yoga; but, secondly, all who enter in must have this imposed on them as the thing to be developed, must learn to develop this self-realisation first and foremost and the work only as its expression. The safety of the work lies in a strict adherence to this principle. The majority of the educated people of Bengal care only to get something done,
- and are not troubled by the fact that really nothing sure and lasting does get done or else only something that is likely to do as much harm as good; they care nothing about the spiritual basis of life which is India's real mission and the only possible source of her greatness, or give to it only a slight, secondary or incidental value, a something that has to be stuck on as a sentiment or a bit of colouring matter. Our whole principle is different and you have to insist on our principle in all that you say and do. Moreover, you have got a clear form for your work in association and that form as well as the spirit you must maintain; any
loosening of it or compromise would mean confusion and an impairing of the force that is working in your Sangha. Page-487
ving in that direction also and the Shakti is the doer of the work,
-
and that is for others, like Barin to enter into the fermenting mass and draw out of it elements that are fit but not yet ready to take our whole idea and first to get into and then occupy existing or newly created means and activities, - as he is doing with the Narayana,
-
which can be increasingly made instruments of our purpose. This work will be attended with all the difficulties and uncertainties and obstacles which go with a mixed and yet unformed working, - such as you had at the beginning, but have now got over, - but we must trust to the divine Shakti to overcome them. The one difficulty that it is in our power to avoid is that of the relation between those who are working on these different lines. There the first necessity is that there should be no clash or spirit of rivalry, sense of division or monopolising personal or corporate egoism to bring discord among those who receive their inspiration from the same source and have the same ideal. A spiritual unity and a readiness for co-operation must be the guiding principle of their relations. Page-488 that came on me in the Alipur Jail and I do not yet see a different prospect, - that this will be the case also in the future. Then, secondly, there is a psychological necessity which we cannot at the present moment leave out of consideration. The Sangha at Chandernagore is a thing that has grown up with my power behind and yours at the centre and it has assumed a body and temperament which is the result of this origination. But there are others, people of strong personality and full of Shakti, who receive their spiritual force direct from me and are made them- selves to be central spirits and direct radiators of the Shakti, and for these to subordinate themselves to the existing body and temperament would not be easy for any and in most cases impossible, - such a subordination would not have grown out of themselves and would only be imposed by nigraha, a thing contrary to the prakrti, - and it would besides clog up the natural action of the power in them. And on the other hand to bring them in as coordinated central figures into the existing form would not be feasible, for it would mean a disturbing change and new fermentation of forces in the work that is already being well done on established lines. It would mean, even if at all successful, a sort of conducting by spiritual committee and that is not the line on which the Shakti has proceeded at Chandernagore. The more perfect coordination of all who are at work can only come, as far as I can see, after I myself go to Bengal and can act by my direct presence. Thirdly, there are a considerable number of people in the country who are not yet of us, yet can be given the necessary turn, but owing to temperamental and other causes they would not be drawn to the existing centre, but could be easily drawn by Barin, Saurin, Bejoy and others. And in all these and similar cases we must leave freedom to the guiding Shakti to use her own means and instruments. Finally, there are things to be done which need to be done, but which I would not like to impose on your Sangha as it now stands, first, because it would disturb the characteristic frame and ideal temperament of your work, a thing which it is important to keep, and secondly because it would impose on you unnecessary complications; and these things can best be done by Barin and others while seeming to work independently for their own hand. And there are needs also to Page-489 be met for which these other activities are required. Of that I can better speak to you in person than by letter. This being the situation, the need that remains is to keep a right relation between those who are working, and that means to extend the spirit of unity which is our basis so as to embrace all the work and workers, undeterred by differences of mentality and divergences of action. In our work we have to fix our relations with three different kinds of people, first, those who are working for the country but without any greater idea or spiritual motive, secondly, those who have the spiritual motive but not the same ideal and inspiration as ourselves, thirdly, those who have the same ideal and inspiration, but are working in different bodies and at first on different lines. Our relation to the first class of people and their work must be based on the fundamental principle of our Yoga to see God in all and the one Self in all acting through different natures and all energies, even those which are hostile, as workings of the Divine Shakti although behind the veil of the ahankāra and the ignorant mentality. There are movements at work new and old which are not the definite reality of the future but are needed at the present moment as part of the transition. It is in this light for example that I regard many things that are in process in Europe and I am even moved to give a temporary spiritual support to efforts and movements which are not in consonance with our own and must eventually fail or cease by exhaustion of their utility but are needed as transitional powers. This too is how I regard the work of men like Tilak and Gandhi. We work in the faith that it is our vision of the future that is the central divine will, the highest actualisable possibility and therefore the one thing that must be made the object of our action; but that does not mean that the Shakti is not working in her own covert way and for her own ends through others. No doubt these movements are of a western and materialistic inspiration or else an imperfect mixture, and some day it may be we shall have to give battle to them as certainly we shall have to overcome the spirit that informs them. But that time has not come yet, and meanwhile what we have to do is to develop and spread our own vision and idea and give it body so as eventually. to confront the things that are in possession of the present with a realisation of the things that Page-490
belong to the future. I think that at this juncture we should avoid a too direct attack or criticism of them as that only creates avoidable opposition to our own work. The positive rather than the negative method is the one we should adopt until we are strong enough to convince by our visible strength and work the minds that are now attracted by the present power and activity of other movements, - to assert our own ideal as the true and the right way but not to invite conflict by a destructive frontal attack on the others. Page-491 supplementing one's own and, wherever it is called for and possible, to cooperate. There is a danger here from the subtler forms of egoism. It is not enough to realise unity among those who are already working with one mind as one soul in many bodies; there must be unity of spirit with others who are following different ways or working separately for the present and complete samatā with regard to their action, even if it seems to one wrong or imperfect, and patience with regard to mental and moral divergences. This should be easy for you, as it means only getting rid of the remnants of your sattwic Ahankara; it may not be so easy for others who have still a rajasic Ahankara to trouble them. But if people like you and Barin give the example, that difficulty can eventually be got over; if on the contrary you also allow misunderstandings among yourselves, the work is likely to be very unnecessarily hampered. I may give as an instance, the matter about the Prabartak. Certain casual utterances of Saurin's made in answer to queries and not volunteered, have come to you quite misreported as a sort of intentional campaign to belittle the paper and the other half of what he said, namely, that the Prabartak was inspired, though not actually written by me and the spirit and substance were that of my ideal, never reached your ears. I may add also that the alleged incident to which you took exception, as to his method of raising money, never actually happened. Again the advertisement or rather paragraph about Narayana in the Amrita Bazar was not inserted by Barin, but by someone else according to that other person's idea after a conversation with him. Barin was not responsible for the form nor had he any intention of claiming the Narayana as the sole and direct mouthpiece of my ideas. It is these misunderstandings which I want to see all of you avoid and it can be easily done if those who are among the principal channels of the Shakti preserve the spiritual unity which ought to prevail among those who derive their inspiration from the same source and follow the same ideal. Others less developed may give cause for offence owing to their inability to control the rajasic ego still working in them, but calm, patience, prema and samatā are the spirit in which we should meet such causes of offence; otherwise where is the perfection we seek by our Yoga? Let me add, while I am Page-492 on
this subject, that Haradhan seems to have been misinformed about Nolini. As
a matter of fact he has mixed with no Page-493
Barin's control, will be conducted with the same idea and method as the Narayana and all the profits except what is necessary for the maintenance and extension of the agency, will come to us and our work. These two things are the first fields the Shakti has offered to his energy and they are of a kind for which he is well fitted; their success means for us a great advantage. A time is now corning in which the Shakti is pressing to break down the barriers in which we have had hitherto to move and we must be ready to follow her indications without allowing our personal preferences and limitations to attempt to dictate to her any mind-made limits. Page-494 spend just now the greater part of my energy in catching up, and the rest of my time, in the evening, is taken up by the daily visit of the Richards. I hope to get over the worst part of this necessity by the middle of June, so that by the time you come I may have a freer atmosphere to attend to the currents of the work and the world about me. There is now the beginning of a pressure from many sides inviting my spiritual attention to the future कर्म (Written in Devanagari.) [karma] and this means the need of a greater out flowing of energy than when I had nothing to do but support a concentrated nucleus of the Shakti. I doubt however, whether I shall be in a fit condition for meeting the demand till August, especiaI1y as I have not been able to get the physical basis yet put right by the power of the Vijnana. After that we shall see what and how much can actually be done under the new circumstances. Mean- while your visit may help to get things into preparatory line both in the inward motor-power and the outward determination.
Dear M. Page-495
social change can only come as a result of the other two. It must come first in spirit~ afterwards in form. If a man enters into the commune by spiritual unity, if he gives to it his life and labour and considers all he has as belonging to
all, the first
necessity is secured. The next thing is to make the movement economically self-sufficient, and to do that requires at the present moment all the energy you can command. These two things
are, the one a constant, the other an immediate necessity. The
institution of a communal ceremony of marriage can only be a future necessity, it involves nothing essential at the moment. The idea is that the family in future is not to be a separate unit, but a sub-unit of the communal whole. It is too early to decide exactly what form the family life will
take, it may take many forms, not always the same. The principle is the important thing. But this principle can be observed whatever the form of the marriage,
ceremony they may have gone through at the time of personal union, whether recognised or not by the present social system. An external necessity does not arise in the present case, as Khagen is not marrying outside his caste. Page-496
able sooner or later, but a deliberate precipitation of the conflict in so extreme a form as you suggest was not within my intentions. That was to come, but only when we were strong and had already a hold on the country, so that we might have a strong support as well as
enemies. Page-497 passed on it; the criticism is general and I felt it myself. It is a sort of weekly Arya; but the Arya style and method are not what is wanted for a weekly paper. What you need to do is to make the ideas easy to the people and give them a practical direction. At present you give only a difficult philosophy and abstract principles. I shall write more about this matter hereafter as soon as I find time.
Dear M. Page-498
tories to the manifesto. The summary of my opinions in the Janmabhumi, representing me as an enthusiastic follower of Mahatma Gandhi, of which I only came to know the other day, is wholly unauthorised and does not 'render justice to my views' either in form or in substance. Things are attributed to me in it which I would never have dreamed of saying. It is especially adding insult to injury to make me say that I am ready to
sacrifice my conscience to a Congress mandate and recommend all to go and do likewise. I have not stated to anyone that 'full
responsible self-government completely independent of British control' or any other purely political object is the goal to the attainment of which I intend to devote my efforts and I have not made any rhetorical prophecy of a colossal success for the
Non-Cooperation movement. As you well know, I am identifying myself with only one kind 'of. work or propaganda as regards India, the endeavour to reconstitute her cultural, social and economic life within larger and freer lines than the past on a spiritual basis. As regards political questions, I would request my friends and the public not to attach credence to anything purporting to be a
statement of my opinions which is not expressly authorised by me or issued over my signature." A. G.
Page-499 |
[praves] or for the seizure and destruction of the Sadhaka. I have found
that my Mantra has been more and more successful in protection, but it is not
yet strong enough to prevent all
(Sanskrit
written in Bengali script.) [karmalJyeviidhikiiraste].
(Written in Bengali.)
[aślil] word in your last letter to me with regard to my past activities,
- Bande Mataram, Karmayogin etc. I do not wish to repeat it here. Please
do not use such an indecorous expression in writing in future. In personal talk
it does not matter, but not, if you please in correspondence. As to your request
for details of my life about which you wrote to Bejoy it is a very difficult
matter for there is very little one can write without offending people, as for
example S. Mullick, B. Pal, S. S. Chakraborty and revealing party secrets. However
we shall see what can be done. But let me know what you are writing about me
and how and where you mean to publish it.
(Written
in Bengali.) [ei muhūrtte,
ei kşane] and not in God's Muhurta, God's moment?
You say that there is complete utsarga, but it cannot be complete, if there
is any kind of revolt or vehement impatience. The revolt and impatience mean
always that there is a part of the being or something in the being which does
not submit, has not given itself to God, but insists on God going out of his
way to obey it. That may be very well in the Bhaktimarga, but it will not do
on this Way. The revolt and impatience may come and will come in the heart or
the Prana when these are still subject to imperfection and impurity; but it
is then for the will and the faith in your Buddhi to reject them, not to act
upon them. If the will consents, approves and supports them, it means that you
are siding with the inner enemy. If you want rapid progress, the first condition
is that you should not do this; for every time you do it, the enemy is strengthened
and the śuddhi postponed. This is a difficult lesson
to learn, but you must learn it. I do not find fault with you for taking long
over it. I myself took full twelve years to learn it thoroughly, and even after
I knew the principle well enough, it took me quite four years and more to master
my lower nature in this respect. But you have the advantage of my experience
and my help; you will be able to do it more rapidly, if you consciously and
fully assist me, by not associating yourself with the enemy Desire; jahi kamam
dura-sadam, remember that utterance of the Gita, it is a keyword of our Yoga.
[devatva] (Written in Bengali.)
can only be built upon that. If I do not get it in those who accept my Yoga,
then I shall have to understand that it is not God's will that I should succeed.
If that be so, I shall accept his will calmly. But meanwhile I go on bearing
what- ever burden he lays on me, meeting whatever difficulties he puts in the
way of my Siddhi. Personally, I am now sure of success in everything except
in the kāya-siddhi, - which is still doubtful, and in my work. The work
can only succeed if I find noble and worthy helpers, fitted for it by the same
struggles and the same endurance. I expect them in you.
(Written in Bengali.)
[manthargati] than in Bengali. To write for an English weekly would be beyond
his present energies. As for myself, I am at present unable to write or do anything
substantial, because of the extreme pressure of my Yoga, which has entirely
occupied my time, - except for what I am obliged to give to the Arya and even
that I have cut short as much as possible, - for the last few months. This state
of things is likely to go on for the rest of the (English) year; whether it
will be changed in the beginning of the next is more than I can tell with any
certainty. The whole work might fall on your two Chandernagore writers. An English
weekly cannot be conducted like a Bengali monthly or fortnightly. And it is
not going to be a political paper of the ordinary kind which can be filled up
anyhow. It will have to maintain a high reputation to be at all successful.
These things however are for you to consider; you know your own strength
(Sanskrit
written in Bengali script.) [yathā
niyukto'smi], as I have no natural control of the language and I have no time
at present for exercising it by constant practice. It seems to me that Prabartak
is getting on well enough as it is, though, if Nolini could write, it could
produce an element of greater variety. You should be able to develop more writers
with the necessary spiritual experience, grasp of the thought and literary ability,
- these things the inner Shakti can bring to the surface if it is called upon
for them, - so that Prabartak will not have to depend on three or four people
only for its sustenance.
(Written in Bengali)
[arūp] to create a 
(Written in Bengali)
[rūp] out of it, when there is already a form and a body of associated
communal work in the spirit of our ideal and why all should not unite in that
form and create a greater power of associated driving force to bring about a
rapid enlargement and victory of the ideal. The first thing is that the particular
form given is the right thing for those who are already associated together,
because it has arisen out of themselves and by the Will that guides, but it
may well be that the same precise form may not be applicable or intended everywhere.
The spirit, the truth must be the same, but the formations may be different
with advantage to the spirit. To insist on one form only might well bring in
that rigidity which grew upon Indian society and its civilisation in the past
and brought about an imprisonment and decline of the spirit. India was strongest
and most alive when she had many variations of form but one spirit. And I think,
- that at least was the prevision 
(