{"id":1113,"date":"2013-07-13T01:32:37","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:32:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=1113"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:32:37","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:32:37","slug":"80-appendix-2-vol-02-karmayogin-volume-02","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/01-sabcl\/02-karmayogin-volume-02\/80-appendix-2-vol-02-karmayogin-volume-02","title":{"rendered":"-80_Appendix – 2.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n
\n

APPENDIX – II<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\nIn Appendix – II new material is given, which did not appear
\nin the <\/font> Karmayogin<\/i>.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n


\nSpeech
\n at Bakergunj*<\/span><\/font><\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n


\nI<\/font><\/b>
\nHAVE
\n<\/span><\/b>spent the earlier part of my life in a foreign country from my very childhood,
\nand even the time which I have spent in India, the greater part of it has been
\nspent by me on the other side of India where my mother tongue is not known and
\ntherefore although I have learnt the language like a foreigner, and I am able
\nto understand it and write in it, I am unable, I have not the hardihood, to get
\nup and deliver a speech in Bengali.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

The repression and
\nthe reforms are the two sides of the political situation that the authorities
\nin this country and in England presented to us today. That policy has been
\ninitiated by one of the chief statesmen of England, one famous for his liberal
\nviews and professions, one from whom at the inception of his career as
\nSecretary of State for India much had been expected. Lord Morley stands at the head of the administration in
\nIndia, clad with legal and absolute power; he is far away from us like the gods
\nin heaven, and we do not see him. And just as we do not see the gods in heaven,
\nbut are obliged to imagine them in a figure, so we are compelled to imagine
\nLord Morley in a sort of figure, and the figure in which he presents himself to
\nus is rather a peculiar one. Just as our gods sometimes carry weapons in their
\nhands and sometimes they carry in one hand the kharga
\n<\/i>and in another hand the barābhaya<\/i>
\nso Lord Morley presents himself to us with
\na kharga<\/i> in one hand and barābhaya<\/i> in another, and he invites us
\nto consider him in this image. From the beginning there has been this double
\naspect in him. He has, so to speak, spoken in two voices from the beginning.
\nOne voice at the beginning said, "sympathy" while the other voice
\nsaid, "settled fact"; one voice
\nspeaks of reforms and elective representation and the other voice speaks of
\nthe necessity of preserving absolute government in India to all time. First of
\nall he has given you, with a great flourish it has been announced that he was
\ngoing<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n*
\nSpeech delivered at the Raja Bahadur’s Havelie, Bakergunj, on 23rd June, 1909.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 421<\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n

to give and he has given a non-official majority in the Legislative
\nCouncil, he has given an elective system, he has given to a certain extent the
\npower of voting in the Council, voting on Government measures. On the face of
\nit these seem very large concessions; it seems that a very substantial measure
\nof self-government has been given and that is the tone in which the English
\npapers have been writing today; they say that this reform, is a great
\nconstitutional change, and that it opens a new era in India. But when we
\nexamine them carefully it somehow comes to seem that these reforms of
\nLord Morley are like his professions of
\nLiberalism and Radicalism, more for show than for use.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

This system which
\nLord Morley has given us is marred by two very serious defects. One of them is
\nthis very fact that the elected members will be in the minority, the nominated
\nnon-officials and the officials being in the majority; and the second is that
\nan entirely non-democratic principle has been adopted in this elective system,
\nthe principle of one community being specially represented.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

The Government of
\nIndia is faced today by a fact which they cannot overlook, a fact which it is
\nby no means pleasant to the vested interests which they represent, but at the
\nsame time a fact which cannot be ignored, and that is, that the people of India
\nhave awakened, are more and more awakening, that they have developed a real
\npolitical life, and that the demands they make are demands which can no longer
\nbe safely loft out of the question. There is the problem before the Government
\n"What to do with this new state of things ?" There were two courses
\nopen to them \u2014 one of frank repression and the other course was the course of
\nfrank conciliation, either to stamp out this new life in the people or to recognise it; to recognise it as an inevitable force which must have its way
\nhowever gradually. The Government were unable to accept either of these
\nalternative policies. They have tried to mix them, and in trying to mix them
\nthey have adopted the principle of: with one hand pressing down the movement
\nand with the other hand trying to circumvent it. You demand a popular assembly,
\nyou demand self-government. Well, we give you a measure of self-government, an
\nenlarged and important Legislative Council, but in giving we try so to<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 422<\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n

arrange the forces that the nation instead of being stronger may be
\nweaker. Your strength is in educated classes, your strength is more in the
\nHindu element in the nation than in the Mahomedan
\nelement, because they have not as yet awakened as the Hindu element has
\nawakened. Well let us remember our ancient policy of divide and rule, let us
\ndepress the forces which make for strength and raise up the force which is as
\nyet weak and set up one force against the other, so that it may never be
\npossible for us to be faced in the Legislative Council by a united majority
\nrepresenting the Indian people and demanding things which we are determined
\nnever to give.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

Obviously when two
\nforces stand against each other equally determined in two opposite directions
\nthe people can only effect their aim by pressure upon the Government. That is a
\nknown fact everywhere, which every political system recognises, for which every
\npolitical system has to provide. In every reasonable system of government there
\nis always some provision made for the pressure of the people upon the
\nGovernment to make itself felt. If no such provision is made, then the
\ncondition of that country is bound to be unsound, then there are bound to be
\nelements of danger and unrest which no amount of coercion can remove, because
\nthe attempt to remove them by coercion is an attempt to destroy the laws of
\nnature, and the laws of nature refuse to be destroyed and conducted. We have
\nno means to make the pressure of the people felt upon the Government. The only
\nmeans which we have discovered, the only means which we can use without
\nbringing on a violent conflict, without leading to breaches of the law on both
\nsides and bringing things to the arbitrament of physical force, have been the
\nmeans which we call passive resistance and specially the means of the boycott.
\nTherefore just as we have said that the boycott is a settled fact because the
\npartition of Bengal is not rescinded, and it shall remain so until it is
\nrescinded, so we must say that the boycott must remain a settled fact, because
\nwe are allowed no real control over the Government.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

For the time the
\nGovernment have succeeded in separating two of the largest communities in
\nIndia; they have succeeded in drawing away the Mahomedans
\nbecause their want of educa-<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 423<\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n

tion and enlightenment
\nand of political experience which allows them to be led away by promises that
\nare meant for the year, by promises of concessions which the Government cannot
\ngive without destroying their own ends. For a time until the Mahomedans by bitter experience see the falseness
\nof their hopes and the falseness of the political means which they are being
\ninduced to adopt, until then it will be difficult for the two communities to
\ndraw together and to stand united for the realisation of their common interest.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

There are times of
\ngreat change, times when old landmarks are being upset when submerged forces
\nare rising, and just as we deal promptly or linger over the solution of these
\nproblems, our progress will be rapid or slow, sound or broken. The educated
\nclass in India leads, but it must never allow itself to be isolated. It has
\ndone great things; it has commenced a mighty
\nwork, but it cannot accomplish these things, it cannot carry that work to
\ncompletion by its own united efforts. The
\nhostile force has recognised that this educated class is the backbone of
\nIndia, and their whole effort is directed towards isolating it. We must refuse
\nto be isolated, we must recognise where our difficulties are, what it is that
\nstands in the way of our becoming a nation and set ourselves immediately to
\nthe solution of that problem.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

The problem is put to us one by one, to each nation one by one,
\nand here in Bengal it is being put to us, and He has driven it home, He has
\nmade it perfectly clear by the events of the last few years. He has shown us
\nthe possibility of strength within us, and then He has shown us where the
\ndanger, the weakness lies. He is pointing out to us how is it that we may
\nbecome strong. On us it lies, on the educated class in Bengal, because Bengal leads,
\nand what Bengal does today the rest of India will do tomorrow; it specially
\nlies upon us, the educated class, in Bengal, to answer the question which God
\nhas put to us and according as we answer on it depends how this movement will
\nprogress, what route it will take, and whether it will lead to a swift and
\nsudden salvation, or whether, after so many centuries of tribulation and
\nsuffering there is still a long period of tribulation and sufferings before us. God has put the question to us
\nand with us entirely it lies to answer.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 424<\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n


\n\t
\n Speech
\n at Khulna*<\/a><\/span><\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nG<\/font>entlemen<\/font><\/span><\/b>, <\/span>
\nToday I
\nwill speak a few words on the Gita. The main
\nobject of that philosophy is found in the Vedanta,
\nwhich is the basis of Hindu thought and life, and according to the Vedanta,
\nlife is dominated by Maya or Avidya. We are driven into action because we are
\nignorant of our true selves, of the true nature of the world. We identify
\nourselves with our bodies, our desires, our sorrows, and spirits. We lose
\nourselves in our happiness, grief, and pleasures.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

By these motives
\nwe are driven into action. This life is a chain of bondage which keeps us
\nrevolving. We are surrounded on all sides by forces which we cannot control. As
\nman has a perpetual desire for freedom, he is driven by forces he cannot
\ncontrol. Under the influence of these forces within or without, action takes
\nplace. The object of Hindu philosophy is to make man no longer a slave, but to
\nescape from bondage and to make human beings free. Hindu philosophy tries to go
\ninto the root of things. What is the real beginning of māyā<\/i> ?… Whatever we may try, from the nature of the
\nworld, we cannot escape from bondage. There is our knowledge by attaining which
\nwe can become free.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

In the Gita we
\nfind that Sri Krishna unites the Vedanta philosophy with the philosophy of Sankhya. Modern science denies that man has a
\nsoul. Science considers only the laws of nature. It regards nature as material,
\nand man as merely a product of nature. It says man is a creation of natural
\nforces. All his actions are results of fixed laws and he has no freedom. According
\nto the Sankhya, man has a soul and is essentially the Purusha
\nand not matter. The spirit does not act. The soul is calm and motionless. Prakriti is always shifting and changing, and
\nunder her influence all actions take place. Prakriti (nature) acts.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n* Speech delivered on the
\n25th June 1909 at Khulna
\non the Gita under the presidentship of Babu Beni Bhusan
\nRay.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 425<\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n

Man can only free himself by recognising that he is the purusa<\/i>. Sri Krishna adopts this theory of Sankhya in the Gita, and
\nhe also adopts the philosophy of Vedanta. He
\nsays that man has an immortal soul, but there is also a universal soul. Man is
\nmerely part of God. He is merely a part of something that is eternal, infinite,
\nomniscient, and omnipotent. This eternal power is what really exists, and in
\nall that we see, hear, feel, it is He alone who exists. It is He alone whom we
\nfeel and see. Parameshwara builds up this
\nworld by his Maya (illusion). He is the
\nmaster of the great illusion which He calls Maya. This He made to express
\nHimself the One. All these things around us are transitory. Within us is that
\nwhich cannot change, which is eternally free and happy. If he feels himself
\nmiserable, it is because he in his ignorance allows himself to be dominated by
\negoism (Ahankara). He thinks that he is all.
\nHe does not realise that God is the master of this Lila
\n(God’s action). He thinks that it is I who act, am the lord of my body, and
\nbecause he thinks so, he is bound by his action. By these forces he is driven
\nfrom birth to birth. The. great illusion is
\nthat this body which he inhabits is himself; next he identifies himself with
\nthe mind, and thinks it is I who think, see, and feel. In reality, according to
\nthe Gita, God is within the heart of every creation.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

The second thing you have to recognise is
\nthat you are only a part of Him, who is eternal, omniscient, and omnipotent.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

His first answer
\nto Arjuna is that the feeling which has come
\nupon you is not the pure feeling. It is a feeling of egoism. Still Arjuna does
\nnot understand how that can be.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

How can it be my Dharma to kill my own brothers and relations ? How
\ncan it be to slaughter my nation and house ? Sri Krishna answered according to
\nthe spirit of Hindu ideas. He says that it is your Dharma, because you are a Kshatriya. This is your Dharma of a particular
\nkind. The duty of the Kshatriya is not the same as that of the Brahmin, and
\nthat of the Kshatriya is not equal to that of the Shudra.
\nIf a Shudra adopts the Dharma of a Brahmin, he
\nbrings the confusion of all laws and leads to the destruction and not to the
\nbetterment of mankind. It is nature which teaches you your own Dharma. This is
\nyour Dharma. If you shrink from upholding the cause of virtue, truth, and
\njustice,<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 426<\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n

out of feeling which is inconsistent, you are guilty, you bring in
\nconfusion, you encourage yourself to give up your duty. Still Arjuna is not satisfied. Sri Krishna still goes
\ndeeper. He says that the whole of our life is determined by Maya which is of three kinds \u2014 Sattwa, Rajas and Tamas.
\nTheir nature is this. Sattwa leads to
\nknowledge. Rajas leads to action, and Tamas
\nleads to inaction and ignorance. These are the qualities of nature which
\ngoverns the world. The Swabhava which leads
\nyou to work is determined by three Gunas.
\nAction is determined by Swabhava. All action leads to bondage, and is full of
\ndefects. What you call virtue or virtues, they have defects in themselves. The
\nvirtue of the Brahmin is a great virtue. You shall not kill. This is what
\nAhimsa means. If the virtue of Ahimsa comes to the Kshatriya,
\nif you say I will not kill, there is no one to protect the country. The happiness
\nof the people will be broken down. Injustice and lawlessness will reign. The
\nvirtue becomes a source of misery, and you become instrumental in bringing
\nmisery and conflict to the people. Your duty to your family seems to conflict
\nwith your duty to society, that of society to nation, and that of the nation to
\nmankind. How shall we follow the path which leads to salvation ? It is
\ndifficult to say what is right and what is wrong. How to decide it then ? There is one way:
\ndo action in Yoga, and then you rise above ignorance and sin cannot touch you,
\nand you rise above all that hampers you and binds you. What is Yoga ? No certain
\nprocess. When we think of Yoga, we think of a man who shuts up himself in a
\ncave and subjects himself to certain practices. He frees himself from all the
\nbondages. But Sri Krishna uses Yoga in a different sense. He says: Do action in Yoga. The first element is Samata. Samata
\nmeans you shall look with equal eyes upon happiness and misfortune, praise and
\nblame, honour and dishonour, and success and failure. You shall regard none of
\nthese, but with a calm and unshaken mind, the work which you are given to do
\nyou should proceed with that, unshaken by the praise or censure of the world.
\nThe man who has this Samata, has no friends and no enemies. He looks upon all
\nwith equal feelings, because he has knowledge, because he has looked into
\nhimself and out into the world. He finds himself everywhere and all in himself.
\nHe finds himself in all, because God is in all. Whe-<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 427<\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n

ther he looks at the
\nhigh or low, he sees no difference and sees that in every creature there is Narayan. He sees that he is only an Amsha (part) of one which is in every matter. If
\nthere be any differences, they are only temporary and outward. He is only that
\nthrough which Vasudeva carries on his Lila (play). He is not anxious to know what will
\nhappen tomorrow, because the action is not guided by laws. The man who has
\ncommunion with God has no reason to be guided by laws, because he knows God is
\nalone and all. He is not troubled by the fruits of his action. You have the
\nright to action, to work, but not to the fruit. Work and leave the result to
\nMe. Those men whom you shrink from slaying
\nare already slain. These men would all perish. Therefore the fruit is already
\nobtained beforehand by Me. Your anxiety for the result is ignorance. The
\ndestiny of the world is fixed. When a man has to do anything he must know that
\nthe fruits are with God. Man is to do what God wills.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

Yoga means freedom
\nfrom Dwandwa. He is free from the bondage of
\npleasure and pain, of anger and hatred and attachment, of liking and
\ndisliking, because he looks with equal eyes on all. He does not shrink from
\nmisfortune or misery, happiness and unhappiness.
\nHe rises above the bondage of the body, because no man can give him pleasure or
\npain, because he has his own source of strength, of delight and happiness. This
\nis the freedom which the Gita says the Yoga
\ngives. The freedom which we ordinarily mean is Mukti.
\nThis is the freedom which the Gita promises. He says if you act in Yoga, you
\nrise above grief and pain, even above all things. You are free from fear or
\nsin, because you do not act for yourself. You do not act because you will get
\npleasure, but for the sake of God : that is
\nhow you are to reach Yoga. If you wish to be happy, you must give up all your
\nworks to God. You must do all your work for His sake, and therefore sin does
\nnot touch you. It is only for selfishness that sin touches you. If you realise
\nthat Narayan is in all, it follows that you lose the smaller, the individual
\nlimit itself. You look to wider things. You see yourself in the family, in
\ncommunity, race, humanity, and all things in the world. You forget yourself
\naltogether. You work for the race and others, for mankind. It is not God’s
\nwork that you follow after your selfishness. The Gita<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 428<\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n

says: "Your welfare is God’s
\nbusiness." If you work for Him you have no fear, because God stretches out
\nhis hand of mercy to you. It is to that which the Yoga leads. The teaching of
\nthe Gita, if it is followed, delivers you
\nfrom all possibility of sin, of sorrow. He says: "Take refuge in Me, I
\nshall free you from all evil. Do everything as a sacrifice to Me." That is
\nthe goal towards which you move. The name of Hari
\nwill free you from all evil. This is the way in which Sri Krishna has solved
\nthe problem put by Arjuna. Arjuna says that "It is my duty to fight for
\njustice, it is my duty as a Kshatriya not to
\nturn from Dharmayuddha, but I am perplexed,
\nbecause the consequences will be so terrible. The people I am to slay are dear
\nto me. How can I kill them ?" Krishna says, "There is no doubt an
\napparent conflict of duties, but that is the nature of life. Life is itself a
\nproblem, a very entangled thread, which it is impossible to undo. But it is I
\nwho do all these, am leading you to the fulfilment of your duties. Leave it to
\nMe. If you do your duty it is a thing which I am bringing about. You are not
\ndoing it from selfishness. It is a thing necessary for my purpose. It is a
\nthing which is decreed, already done, but it is now to be effected in the
\nmaterial world. Whatever happens, it happens for the best. I now give you my
\nknowledge, the key to Yoga. I remove the evil of ignorance from you. I give
\nyou the meaning of Yoga". In the Gita Sri Krishna gives certain rules by
\nwhich a man may hold communion with God.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

The Gita says that man is not a bundle of outward cares and griefs,
\nof things that do not last. Man is a garment which is put off from time to
\ntime, but there is within us something which is omniscient and eternal and
\ncannot be drowned.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

Sri Krishna gave Arjuna Divya Chakshu (Divine eye), with which he saw Vishwarupa (the real appearance of God). He now
\nsees Vasudeva everywhere. He sees within him
\nthings that cannot be seen by the mysteries of science. With this knowledge
\ncomes to him that force.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

How can I act, yet be free from bondage ?
\nThe Gita says that the man who has no knowledge, has to do exactly what other
\nmen do. He has to live as a man in his family, race and nation. But there is
\nthe difference which is internal and not external. By<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 429<\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n

the internal difference he acts in communion with God; others act in
\npursuance of their desires. He knows by experience how a man can act when he is
\nfree from desire. This force of action is the force of God himself. He is not
\ntroubled by the result of action : he gets eternal bliss.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

This is the whole teaching of the Gita.
\nIt is Yoga which gives utter perfection in action. The man who works for God is
\nnot shaken by doubts.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

The teaching of the Gita is the teaching for life, and not a
\nteaching for the life of a closet. It is a teaching which means perfection of
\naction. It makes man great. It gives him the utter strength, the utter bliss
\nwhich is the goal of life in the world.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 430<\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n


\n The
\n New Mantra*<\/a><\/font><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\nW<\/b><\/font>E HAVE
\n<\/span><\/b>worshipped the country, the National Mother,
\nas God. That was well, that carried us far. But it was only a stage, a means to
\nbring the Europeanised mind back to
\nspirituality. It was the worship of a rūpa,<\/i>
\nan ista<\/i> by which to rise to the
\nworship of God in His fullness. We used the Mantra Bande
\nMataram<\/i> with all our heart and soul, and so long as we used and
\nlived it, relied upon its strength to overbear all difficulties, we prospered.
\nBut suddenly the faith and the courage failed us, the cry of the Mantra began
\nto sink and as it rang feebly, the strength began to fade out of the country.
\nIt was God, who made it fade out and falter, for it had done its work. A
\ngreater Mantra than Bande Mataram<\/i> has to come. Bankim
\nwas not the ultimate seer of Indian awakening. He gave only the term of the
\ninitial and public worship, not the formula and the ritual of the inner secret
\nupāsanā<\/i>.
\nFor the greatest Mantras are those which are uttered within, and which the seer
\nwhispers or gives in dream or vision to his disciples. When the ultimate Mantra
\nis practised even by two or three, then the closed Hand of God will begin to
\nopen; when
\nthe upāsanā<\/i> is numerously followed the closed Hand will open absolutely.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

There are some who sit watching for an ādeś<\/i> and, until the
\n
\nādeś<\/i>
\ncomes, are resolved not to act. But to such the command will always be denied.
\nIt is those who act, who are sure to find a solitude created within them in
\nwhich they are alone with God and come face to face with Reality. Moments of
\nphysical loneliness, periods of meditative retirements are needed, but they
\nare subordinate and auxiliary. Action done as a Sadhana,
\nas a sacrifice to God, done first without attachment to the results and then
\nwithout attachment to the action itself, is the indispensable condition. And
\nit must be action done with Shraddha, with
\nfaith, whatever action it may be; it is not
\nonly for God but from God. There will be errors, there will be stumblings, but
\nthis is the<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n*
\nThis article is reproduced from the Standard
\nBearer<\/i> of August 22, 1920.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 431<\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n

\n
\nvīramarga<\/i>,<\/span> the way of the heroes, and in it one must
\nbe afraid of nothing, still less afraid of errors and stumblings. Only if we
\nrely upon our own strength in the action, we shall go on stumbling to the end
\nof the chapter. There must be the Shraddha
\nthat God leads, that He has taken the burden of our Sadhana
\nupon Himself, and that every error and stumbling is from Him and
\nintended to prepare an unfaltering and instructed strength. This is the Vakalam, of which Ramakrishna
\nalways spoke. The nation, too, has gone on stumbling, but progressing,
\nexhausting its errors, its sins, and the possibility of calamity and defeat,
\ntaking swiftly and intensely the remnants of its evil Karma, ever since it
\nbegan its Sadhana of action. And because it took the Name on its lips when it
\nstarted, the Eternal Mother will not abandon it. For the name, even when taken
\nin vain, inadvertently, or by accident, saves alive. Much more when it is
\ntaken with heart and soul and made the foundation of the Sadhana.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is a national ātmasamarpana<\/i>, self-surrender
\n that God demands of us and it must be complete: <\/span>
\n\t<\/font>
\n Then the promise will come true:
\n   <\/i>I will deliver thee from all evils,
\n do not grieve.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 432<\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n


\n The
\n Reform Proposals*<\/a><\/font><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\nI<\/b><\/font>
\nDO <\/span><\/b>not see that any other line can be taken with regard to these astonishing
\nreforms than the one you have taken. It can only be regarded as unwise by those
\nwho are always ready to take any shadow, \u2014 how much more a bulky and imposing
\nshadow like this, \u2014 and are careless of the substance. We have still, it
\nappears, a fair number of political wisemen
\nof this type among us, but no Home Rule leader surely can stultify himself to
\nthat extent.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

A three days’
\nexamination of the scheme, \u2014 I have only the analysis to go upon and the whole
\nthing is in the nature of a cleverly constructed Chinese puzzle, \u2014 has failed
\nto discover in them one atom of real power given to these new legislatures. The
\nwhole control is in the hands of Executive and State Councils and
\nGrand Committees and irresponsible Ministers, and for the representative
\nbodies, \u2014 supposing they are made really representative, which also is still
\nleft in doubt, \u2014 there is only a quite ineffective and impotent voice. They
\nare, it seems, to be only a flamboyant edition de
\nluxe<\/i> of the present Legislative Councils. The only point in which there is
\nsome appearance of control is the Provincial Budget and what is given by the
\nleft hand is taken away by the right. Almost every apparent concession is
\nhedged in by a safeguard which annuls its value. On the other hand new and most
\ndangerous irresponsible powers are assumed by the Government. How, under such
\ncircumstances, is acceptance possible ? If,
\neven, substantial control had been definitely secured by the scheme within a
\nbrief period of years, five or even ten, something might have been said in
\nfavour of a sort of vigilant acceptance. But there is nothing of the kind: on the contrary there is a menace of diminution
\nof even these apparent concessions. And, as you say, the whole spirit is bad.
\nNot even in the future is India to be allowed to determine its own destinies or
\nits<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

 \n<\/p>\n

\n* A letter addressed to Dr. Annie Besant
\non the Montague-Chelmsford Reforms of 1918,
\nin answer to a request from her for Sri Aurobindo’s
\nopinion on the reform proposals.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 433<\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n

rate of progress !
\nSelf-determination, it seems, has gone into the waste-paper-basket, with other
\nscraps, I suppose.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

If by unwisdom is meant the continuation of the present
\npolitical struggle and what is advised is a prudent submission and making the
\nbest of a bad matter, it seems to me that it is the latter course that will be
\nthe real unwisdom. For the struggle cannot be avoided; it can only be evaded
\nfor the moment, and if you evade it now, you will have it tomorrow or the day
\nafter, with the danger of its taking a more virulent form. At present it is
\nonly a question of agitating throughout the country for a better scheme and getting the Labour Party to take it up
\nin England. And if the Congress does less than that, it will stultify itself
\nentirely. I hope your lead will be generally followed; it is the only line that
\ncan be taken by a self-respecting Nation.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\nNew India<\/font><\/i>, Saturday, August
\n10, 1918<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 434<\/font><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

APPENDIX – II In Appendix – II new material is given, which did not appear in the Karmayogin. Speech at Bakergunj*   I HAVE spent…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-02-karmayogin-volume-02","wpcat-23-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1113\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}