{"id":1961,"date":"2013-07-13T01:38:33","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T08:38:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=1961"},"modified":"2013-11-28T15:09:23","modified_gmt":"2013-11-28T23:09:23","slug":"20-open-letters-published-in-newspapers-1909-1925-vol-36-autobiographical-notes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/03-cwsa\/36-autobiographical-notes\/20-open-letters-published-in-newspapers-1909-1925-vol-36-autobiographical-notes","title":{"rendered":"-20_Open Letters Published in Newspapers 1909 – 1925.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\n\n
<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tOpen Letters<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tPublished in Newspapers<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t1909 \u00ad 1925<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tTo the Editor of the Bengalee<\/i> <\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tBABU AUROBINDO GHOSE’S LETTER <\/b><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tTO THE<\/font> EDITOR OF THE<\/font> “BENGALEE<\/font>“, <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tSIR<\/font>, \u2014 Will you kindly allow me to express through your columns my deep sense of gratitude to all who have helped me
\nin my hour of trial? Of the innumerable friends known and unknown, who have contributed each his mite to swell my defence
\nfund, it is impossible for me now even to learn the names, and I must ask them to accept this public expression of my feeling in
\nplace of a private gratitude. Since my acquittal many telegrams and letters have reached me and they are too numerous to reply
\nto individually. The love which my countrymen have heaped upon me in return for the little I have been able to do for them,
\namply repays any apparent trouble or misfortune my public activity may have brought upon me. I attribute my escape to no
\nhuman agency, but first of all to the protection of the Mother of us all who has never been absent from me but always held
\nme in Her arms and shielded me from grief and disaster, and secondarily to the prayers of thousands which have been going
\nup to Her on my behalf ever since I was arrested. If it is the love of my country which led me into danger, it is also the love of my
\ncountrymen which has brought me safe through it. <\/p>\n

AUROBINDO<\/font> GHOSE<\/font>. <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t6, College Square, May 14.   <\/p>\n

published 18 May 1909
\n  
\n264<\/i> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tPage \u2013 <\/font>263<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n


\nTo the Editor of the Hindu<\/i>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1] <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tBABU AUROBINDO GHOSE AT PONDICHERRY <\/b><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t______<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A STATEMENT <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tBabu Aurobindo Ghose writes to us from 42,
\n\t\t\t<\/span>Rue de Pavillon<\/span>, Pondicherry,
\nunder date November 7, 1910: \u2014 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tI shall be obliged if you will allow me to inform every one interested in my whereabouts through your journal that I am and
\nwill remain in Pondicherry. I left British India over a month before proceedings were taken against me and, as I had purposely
\nretired here in order to pursue my Yogic sadhana undisturbed by political action or pursuit and had already severed connection
\nwith my political work, I did not feel called upon to surrender on the warrant for sedition, as might have been incumbent on
\nme if I had remained in the political field. I have since lived here as a religious recluse, visited only by a few friends, French
\nand Indian, but my whereabouts have been an open secret, long known to the agents of the Government and widely rumoured
\nin Madras as well as perfectly well-known to every one in Pondicherry. I find myself now compelled, somewhat against
\nmy will, to give my presence here a wider publicity. It has suited certain people for an ulterior object to construct a theory that I
\nam not in Pondicherry, but in British India, and I wish to state emphatically that I have not been in British India since March
\nlast and shall not set foot on British territory even for a single moment in the future until I can return publicly. Any statement
\nby any person to the contrary made now or in the future, will be false. I wish, at the same time, to make it perfectly clear that
\nI have retired for the time from political activity of any kind and that I will see and correspond with no one in connection with
\npolitical subjects. I defer all explanation or justification of my action in leaving British India until the High Court in Calcutta
\nshall have pronounced on the culpability or innocence of the writing in the KARMAYOGIN<\/font> on which I am indicted. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

published 8 November 1910   <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tPage \u2013 <\/font>264<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

[2] <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tBabu Aurobindo Ghose. <\/b><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t_____<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tBabu Aurobindo Ghose writes from 42, Rue de Pavillon, Pondicherry, under date
\nthe 23rd instant: \u2014 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tI am obliged to seek the protection of publicity against attempts that are being made to prejudice my name and reputation
\neven in my retirement at Pondicherry. A number of individuals have suddenly begun to make their appearance here to whom
\nmy presence seems to be the principal attraction. One of these gems heralded his advent by a letter in which he regretted that
\nthe Police had refused to pay his expenses to Pondicherry, but informed me that in spite of this scurvy treatment he was pursuing
\nhis pilgrimage to me “jumping from station to station” without a ticket. Since his arrival he has been making scenes in the streets,
\ncollecting small crowds, shouting Bande Mataram, showing portraits of myself and other Nationalists along with copies of the
\nGeneva Bande Mataram <\/i>and the Indian Sociologist <\/i>as credentials, naming men of advanced views as his “gurus”, professing
\nto possess the Manicktola bomb-formula, offering to kill to order all who may be obnoxious for private or public reasons to
\nany Swadeshist and informing everyone, but especially French gendarmes, that he has come to Pondicherry to massacre Europeans. The man seems to be a remarkable linguist, conversing in all the languages of Southern India and some of the North as well
\nas in English and French. He has made three attempts to force or steal his way into my house, once disguised as a Hindustani and
\nprofessing to be Mr. Tilak’s durwan. He employs his spare time, when not employed in these antics for which he claims to have
\nmy sanction, in watching trains for certain Police-agents as an amateur detective. I take him for a dismissed police spy trying
\nto storm his way back into the kingdom of heaven. Extravagant and barefaced as are this scoundrel’s tactics, I mention them
\nbecause he is one of a class, some of whom are quieter but more dangerous. I hear also that there are some young men without
\nostensible means of livelihood, who go about Madras figuring as   <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tPage \u2013 <\/font>265<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n

my shishyas, instructed by me to undertake this or that activity, and request people to pay money for work or for my maintenance. After this letter I hope they will lose this easy source of income. I have authorised no such youths to collect money on my
\nbehalf and have directed none to undertake any political activity of any description. Finally I find myself besieged by devotees who
\ninsist on seeing me whether I will or not. They have crossed all India to see me
\n\u2014 from Karachi’s waters, from the rivers of the
\nPanjab, whence do they not come? They only wish to stand at a distance and get mukti by gazing on my face; or they will sit at my
\nfeet, live with me wherever I am or follow me to whatever lands. They clamber on to my windows to see me or loiter and write
\nletters from neighbouring Police-stations. I wish to inform all future pilgrims of the kind that their journey will be in vain and
\nto request those to whom they may give reports of myself and my imaginary conversations, to disbelieve entirely whatever they
\nmay say. I am living in entire retirement and see none but a few local friends and the few gentlemen of position who care to see
\nme when they come to Pondicherry. I have written thus at length in order to safeguard myself against the deliberate manufacture
\nor mistaken growth of “evidence” against me, e.g. <\/i>such as the statement in the Nasik case that I was “maintained” by the Mitra
\nMela. I need hardly tell my countrymen that I have never been a paid agitator, still less a “maintained” revolutionist, but one
\nwhom even hostile Mahatmas admit to be without any pecuniary or other axe to grind. Nor have I ever received any payment for
\nany political work except occasional payments for contributions to the Calcutta
\nBande Mataram <\/i>while I was on its staff. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

published 24 February 1911 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[3] <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tBabu Aurobindo Ghose<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tBabu Aurobindo Ghose writes to us from Pondicherry: \u2014 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tAn Anglo-Indian paper of some notoriety both for its language and views, has recently thought fit to publish a libellous
\n   <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tPage \u2013 <\/font>266<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nleaderette and subsequently an article openly arraigning me as a director of Anarchist societies, a criminal and an assassin.
\nNeither the assertions nor the opinions of the Madras Times<\/i> carry much weight in themselves and I might have passed over
\nthe attack in silence. But I have had reason in my political career to suspect that there are police officials on the one side
\nand propagandists of violent revolution on the other hand who would only be too glad to use any authority for bringing in my
\nname as a supporter of Terrorism and assassination. Holding it inexpedient under such circumstances to keep silence, I wrote
\nto the paper pointing out the gross inaccuracy of the statements in its leaderette, but the
\nTimes <\/i>seems to have thought it more
\ndiscreet to avoid the exposure of its fictions in its own columns. I am obliged therefore to ask you for the opportunity of reply
\ndenied to me in the paper by which I am attacked.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThe Anglo-Indian Journal asserts, (1) that I have adopted
\nthe saffron robes of the ascetic, but “continue to direct” the movements of the Anarchist society from Pondicherry; (2) that
\none Balkrishna Lele, a Lieutenant of Mr. Tilak, is in Pondicherry for the same purpose; (3) that the most dangerous of the Madras
\nAnarchists (it is not clear whether one or many) is or are at Pondicherry; (4) that a number of seditious journals are being
\nopenly published from French India; (5) that revolutionary literature is being manufactured and circulated from Pondicherry,
\nparts of which the police have intercepted, but the rest has reached its destination and is the cause of the Ashe murder. <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tIt is untrue that I am masquerading or have ever masqueraded as an ascetic; I live as a simple householder practising Yoga
\nwithout sannyas just as I have been practising it for the last six years. It is untrue that any Balkrishna Lele or any lieutenant of
\nMr. Tilak is at Pondicherry; nor do I know, I doubt if anybody in India except
\nMadras Times <\/i>knows, of any Mahratta politician
\nof that name and description. The statement about Madras Anarchists is unsupported by facts or names and therefore avoids
\nany possibility of reply. It is untrue that any seditious journal is being published from French India. The paper
\nIndia <\/i>was
\ndiscontinued in April, 1910, and has never been issued since.   <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tPage \u2013 <\/font>267<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n

The only periodicals published from Pondicherry are the Tamil Dharma <\/i>and
\nKarmayogi <\/i>which, I am informed, do not touch
\npolitics; in any case, the harmless nature of their contents, is proved by the free circulation allowed to them in British India
\neven under the rigours of the Press Act. As to the production of revolutionary
\nliterature, my enquiries have satisfied me, \u2014
\nand I think the investigations of the police must have led to the same result,
\n\u2014 that the inflammatory Tamil pamphlets recently
\nin circulation cannot have been printed with the present material of the two small presses owned by Nationalists. In the nature of
\nthings nobody can assert the impossibility of secret dissemination from Pondicherry or any other particular locality. As to the
\nactuality, I can only say that the sole publications of the kind that have reached me personally since my presence here became
\npublic, have either come direct from France or America or once only from another town in this Presidency. This would seem to
\nshow that Pondicherry, if at all guilty in this respect, has not the monopoly of the trade. Moreover, though we hear occasionally
\nof active dissemination in some localities of British India, the residents of Pondicherry are unaware of any noticeable activity
\nof this kind in their midst. Finally, the impression which the Times <\/i>seeks sedulously to create that Pondicherry is swarming
\nwith dangerous people from British India, ignores facts grossly. To my knowledge, there are not more than half a dozen British
\nIndians here who can be said to have crossed the border for political reasons. So much for definite assertions; I shall refer to
\nthe general slander in a subsequent letter. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

published 20 July 1911 <\/p>\n

[4] <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tBabu Aurobindo Ghose. <\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tBabu Aurobindo Ghose writes to us from Pondicherry: \u2014<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tIn continuation of my last letter, I proceed to deal with the
\nallegation that I “continue to direct Anarchist activities from Pondicherry,” an allegation self-condemned by the gross implied
\n   <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tPage \u2013 <\/font>268<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nimputation of a charge from which I have been exonerated by British tribunals. Here too a simple statement of facts will be
\nthe best answer. My political conduct has been four times under scrutiny by different tribunals and each time the result has been
\nfavourable to me. I have been twice accused of sedition. In the first case I was charged, not as responsible for the editorial
\ncolumns of the “Bande Mataram,” which were never impugned as infringing the law while I was connected with the paper, but
\nfor a stray correspondence and a technical violation of the law by the reproduction of articles in connection with a sedition
\ncase; my freedom from responsibility was overwhelmingly established by the prosecution evidence itself, the only witness to
\nthe contrary, a dismissed proof-reader picked up by the police, destroying his own evidence in cross examination. In the second,
\nan article over my signature was somewhat hastily impugned by the authorities and declared inoffensive by the highest tribunal
\nin the land. The article was so clearly unexceptionable on the face of it that the judges had to open the hearing of the appeal by
\nexpressing their inability to find the sedition alleged! My name has been brought twice into conspiracy trials. In the Alipur Case,
\nafter a protracted trial and detention in jail for a year, I was acquitted, the Judge condemning the document which was the only
\nsubstantial evidence of a guilty connection. Finally, my name was dragged prominently into the Howrah Case by an approver
\nwhose evidence was declared by three High Court Judges to be utterly unreliable,
\n\u2014 a man, I may add, of whose very name and
\nexistence I was ignorant till his arrest at Darjeeling. I think I am entitled to emphasise the flimsy grounds on which in all the cases
\nproceedings originated, so far as I was concerned. Even in the Alipur trial, beyond an unverified information and the facts that
\nmy brother was the leader of the conspiracy and frequented my house, there was no original ground for involving me in the legal
\nproceedings. After so many ordeals, I may claim that up to my cessation of political activity my public record stands absolved
\nfrom blame.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tI left British India in order to pursue my practice of Yoga
\nundisturbed either by my old political connections or by the   <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tPage \u2013 <\/font>269<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n

harassment of me which seemed to have become a necessity of life to some police officials. Ceasing to be a political combatant,
\nI could not hold myself bound to pass the better part of my life as an undertrial prisoner disproving charge after charge made on
\ntainted evidence too lightly accepted by prejudiced minds. Before discontinuing activity myself I advised my brother Nationalists
\nto abstain under the new conditions from uselessly hampering the Government experiment of coercion and reform and wasting
\ntheir own strength by the continuance of their old activities, and it is well known, to use the language of the
\nMadras Times<\/i>, that I
\nhave myself observed this rule to the letter in Pondicherry. I have practised an absolute political passivity. I have discountenanced
\nany idea of carrying on propaganda from British India, giving all who consulted me the one advice, “Wait for better times and
\nGod’s will.” I have strongly and repeatedly expressed myself against the circulation of inflammatory literature and against
\nall wild ideas and reckless methods as a stumbling block in the way of the future resumption of sound, effective and perfect
\naction for the welfare of the country. These facts are a sufficient answer to the vague and reckless libel circulated against me.
\nI propose, however, with your indulgence, to make shortly so clear an exposition of my views and intentions for the future as
\nwill leave misrepresentation henceforward no possible character but that of a wanton libel meriting only the silence of contempt. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

published 21 July 1911 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tTo the Editor of the New India<\/i>
\n\t\t\t<\/a>
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1] <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tNational Education is, next to Self-Government and along
\nwith it, the deepest and most immediate need of the country, and it is a matter of rejoicing for one to whom an earlier effort in
\nthat direction gave the first opportunity for identifying himself with the larger life and hope of the Nation, to see the idea, for
\na time submerged, moving so soon towards self-fulfilment.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tHome Rule and National Education are two inseparable
\n\t\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tPage \u2013 <\/font>
\n\t\t\t270<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

\n

ideals, and none who follows the one, can fail the other, unless
\nhe is entirely wanting either in sincerity or in vision. We want not only a free India, but a great India, India taking worthily
\nher place among the Nations and giving to the life of humanity what she alone can give. The greatest knowledge and the greatest
\nriches man can possess are hers by inheritance; she has that for which all mankind is waiting. But she can only give it if her hands
\nare free, her soul free, full and exalted, and her life dignified in all its parts. Home Rule, bringing with it the power of
\nself-determination, can give the free hands, space for the soul to grow, strength for the life to raise itself again from darkness and
\nnarrow scope into light and nobility. But the full soul rich with the inheritance of the past, the widening gains of the present, and
\nthe large potentiality of her future, can come only by a system of National Education. It cannot come by any extension or imitation of the system of the existing universities with its radically false principles, its vicious and mechanical methods, its
\ndead-alive routine tradition and its narrow and sightless spirit. Only a new spirit and a new body born from the heart of the Nation
\nand full of the light and hope of its resurgence can create it.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tWe have a right to expect that the Nation will rise to the level
\nof its opportunity and stand behind the movement as it has stood behind the movement for Home Rule. It should not be difficult
\nto secure its intellectual sanction or its voice for National Education, but much more than that is wanted. The support it gives
\nmust be free from all taint of lip-service, passivity and lethargic inaction, evil habits born of long political servitude and inertia,
\nand of that which largely led to it, subjection of the life and soul to a blend of unseeing and mechanical custom. Moral sympathy
\nis not enough; active support from every individual is needed. Workers for the cause, money and means for its sustenance,
\nstudents for its schools and colleges, are what the movement needs that it may prosper. The first will surely not be wanting;
\nthe second should come, for the control of the movement has in its personnel both influence and energy, and the habit of giving
\nas well as self-giving for a great public cause is growing more widespread in the country. If the third condition is not from
\n   <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tPage \u2013 <\/font>271<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n

the beginning sufficiently satisfied, it will be because, habituated individually always to the customary groove, we prefer the safe
\nand prescribed path, even when it leads nowhere, to the great and effective way, and cannot see our own interest because it
\npresents itself in a new and untried form. But this is a littleness of spirit which the Nation must shake off that it may have the
\ncourage of its destiny.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tIf material and prudential considerations stand in the way,
\nthen let it be seen that, even in the vocational sphere, the old system opens only the doors of a few offices and professions
\novercrowded with applicants, whence the majority must go back disappointed and with empty hands, or be satisfied with
\na dwarfed life and a sordid pittance; while the new education will open careers which will be at once ways of honourable
\nsufficiency, dignity and affluence to the individual, and paths of service to the country. For the men who come out equipped in
\nevery way from its institutions will be those who will give that impetus to the economic life and effort of the country without
\nwhich it cannot survive in the press of the world, much less attain its high legitimate position. Individual interest and National
\ninterest are the same and call in the same direction. Whether as citizen, as worker or as parent and guardian, the duty of every
\nIndian in this matter is clear: it lies in the great and new road the pioneers have been hewing, and not in the old stumbling
\ncart-ruts.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThis is an hour in which, for India as for all the world,
\nits future destiny and the turn of its steps for a century are being powerfully decided, and for no ordinary century, but one
\nwhich is itself a great turning-point, an immense turn-over in the inner and outer history of mankind. As we act now, so shall
\nthe reward of our karma be meted out to us, and each call of this kind at such an hour is at once an opportunity, a choice,
\nand a test offered to the spirit of our people. Let it be said that it rose in each to the full height of its being and deserved the
\nvisible intervention of the Master of Destiny in its favour. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

published 8 April 1918
\n   <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tPage \u2013 <\/font>272<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

[2] <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t[The following letter to Mrs. Annie Besant is from the pen
\nof a well-known Nationalist.]1<\/font><\/sup><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tI do not see that any other line can be taken with regard
\nto these astonishing reforms than the one you have taken. It can only be regarded as unwise by those who are always ready
\nto take any shadow, \u2014 how much more a bulky and imposing shadow like this, \u2014 and are careless of the substance. We have
\nstill, it appears, a fair number of political wise men of this type among us, but no Home Rule leader surely can stultify himself
\nto that extent. A three days’ examination of the scheme, \u2014 I have only the analysis to go upon and the whole thing is in the
\nnature of a cleverly constructed Chinese puzzle \u2014 has failed to discover in them one atom of real power given to these new
\nlegislatures. The whole control is in the hands of Executive and State Councils and Grand Committees and irresponsible
\nMinisters, and for the representative bodies, \u2014 supposing they are made really representative, which also is still left in doubt
\n\u2014 there is only a quite ineffective and impotent voice. They \u00b4<\/i>
\nare, it seems, to be only a flamboyant
\n\t\t\t<\/span> \u00e9dition de luxe<\/span>
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/i>
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\tof 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 left hand is taken away by the right. Almost every
\napparent concession is hedged in by a safeguard which annuls its value. On the other hand new and most dangerous irresponsible
\npowers are assumed by the Government. How, under such circumstances, is acceptance possible? lf, even, substantial control
\nhad been definitely secured by the scheme within a brief 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 of even
\nthese apparent concessions. And as you say the whole spirit is bad. Not even in the future is India to be allowed to determine
\nits own destinies [or]2<\/font><\/sup> its rate of progress! Self-determination, it<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t1 Square brackets in
\n<\/i>New India. \u2014 Ed.<\/i> <\/font> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t2 New India <\/i>on  
\n<\/font> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tPage \u2013 <\/font>273<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\n

seems, has gone into the waste paper basket, with other scraps, I suppose. <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tIf by unwisdom is meant the continuation of the present political struggle and what is advised, is a prudent submission
\nand making the best of a bad matter, it seems to me that it is the latter course that will be the real unwisdom. For the struggle
\ncannot be avoided; it can only be evaded for the moment, and if you evade it now, you will have it to-morrow or the day after,
\nwith the danger of its taking a more virulent form. At present it is only a question of agitating throughout the country for
\na better scheme and getting the Labour Party to take it up in England. And if the Congress does less than that, it will stultify
\nitself entirely. I hope your lead will be generally followed; it is the only line that can be taken by a self-respecting Nation. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

published 10 August 1918 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tTo the Editor of the Hindustan<\/i>
\n\t\t\t<\/a> <\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nIn answer to your request for a statement of my opinion on the intermarriage question, I can only say that everything will
\nhave my full approval which helps to liberate and strengthen the life of the individual in the frame of a vigorous society
\nand restore the freedom and energy which India had in her heroic times of greatness and expansion. Many of our present
\nsocial forms were shaped, many of our customs originated, in a [time]3<\/font><\/sup> of contraction and decline. They had their utility for
\nself-defence and survival within narrow limits, but are a drag upon our progress in the present hour when we are called upon
\nonce again to enter upon a free and courageous self-adaptation and expansion. I believe in an aggressive and expanding, not in a
\nnarrowly defensive and self-contracting Hinduism. Whether Mr. Patel’s Bill is the best way to bring about the object intended is a
\nquestion on which I can pronounce no decided opinion. I should have preferred a change from within the society rather than
\none brought about by legislation. But I recognise the difficulty<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t3 Hindustan
\n<\/i>line
\n  
\n<\/font> <\/p>\n

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\n

\ncreated by the imposition of the rigid and mechanical notions of European jurisprudence on the old Hindu Law which was that
\nof a society living and developing by an organic evolution. It is no longer easy, or perhaps in this case, possible to develop a new
\ncustom or revert to an old \u2014 for the change proposed amounts to no more than such a [reversion].4<\/font><\/sup> It would appear that the
\ndifficulty created by the legislature can only be removed by a resort to legislation. In that case, the Bill has my approval. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1918 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tTo the Editor of the Independent<\/i>
\n“<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t"A GREAT MIND, A GREAT WILL” <\/b><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t_____<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A great mind, a great will, a great and pre-eminent leader of men
\nhas passed away from the field of his achievement and labour. To the mind of his country Lokamanya Tilak was much more, for
\nhe had become to it a considerable part of itself, the embodiment of its past effort, and the head of its present will and struggle
\nfor a free and greater life. His achievement and personality have put him amidst the first rank of historic and significant figures.
\nHe was one who built much rapidly out of little beginnings, a creator of great things out of an un-worked material. The
\ncreations he left behind him were a new and strong and self-reliant national spirit, the reawakened political mind and life of
\na people, a will to freedom and action, a great national purpose. He brought to his work extraordinary qualities, a calm, silent,
\nunflinching courage, an unwavering purpose, a flexible mind, a forward-casting vision of possibilities, an eye for the occasion,
\na sense of actuality, a fine capacity of democratic leadership, a diplomacy that never lost sight of its aim and pressed towards it
\neven in the most pliant turns of its movement, and guiding all, a single-minded patriotism that cared for power and influence
\nonly as a means of service to the Motherland and a lever for the work of her liberation. He sacrificed much for her and suffered <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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\n<\/font> <\/p>\n

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\n

\n

for her repeatedly and made no ostentation of his suffering and sacrifices. His life was a constant offering at her altar and his
\ndeath has come in the midst of an unceasing service and labour.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThe passing of this great personality creates a large and
\nimmediate void that will be felt acutely for a time, but it is the virtue of his own work that this vacancy must very soon
\nbe filled by new men and new forces. The spirit he created in the country is of that sincere, real and fruitful kind that cannot
\nconsent to cease or to fail, but must always throw up minds and capacities that will embody its purpose. It will raise up others of
\nhis mould, if not of his stature, to meet its needs, its demands, its call for ability and courage. He himself has only passed behind
\nthe veil, for death, and not life, is the illusion. The strong spirit that dwelt within him ranges now freed from our human and
\nphysical limitations, and can still shed upon us, on those now at work, and those who are coming, a more subtle, ample and
\nirresistible influence; and even if this were not so, an effective part of him is still with us. His will is left behind in many to make
\nmore powerful and free from hesitations the national will he did so much to create, the growing will, whose strength and single
\nwholeness are the chief conditions of the success of the national effort. His courage is left behind in numbers to fuse itself into
\nand uplift and fortify the courage of his people; his sacrifice and strength in suffering are left with us to enlarge themselves,
\nmore even than in his life-time, and to heighten the fine and steeled temper our people need for the difficult share that still
\nlies before [their]5<\/font><\/sup> endeavour. These things are his legacy to his country, and it is in proportion as each man rises to the height
\nof what they signify that his life will be justified and assured of its recompense. <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tMethods and policies may change but the spirit of what Lokamanya Tilak was and did remains and will continue to be
\nneeded, a constant power in others for the achievement of his own life’s grand and single purpose. A great worker and creator
\nis not to be judged only by the work he himself did, but also<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t <\/p>\n

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\n  
\n<\/font> <\/p>\n

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\n

\nby the greater work he made possible. The achievement of the departed leader has brought the nation to a certain point. Its
\npower to go forward from and beyond that point, to face new circumstances, to rise to the more strenuous and momentous
\ndemand of its future will be the greatest and surest sign of the soundness of his labour. That test is being applied to the national
\nmovement at the very moment of his departure.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThe death of Lokamanya Tilak comes upon us at a time
\nwhen the country is passing through most troubled and poignant hours. It occurs at a critical period, it coincides even with a
\ncrucial moment when questions are being put to the nation by the Master of Destiny, on the answer to which depends the
\nwhole spirit, virtue and meaning of its future. In each event that confronts us there is a divine significance, and the passing
\naway at such a time of such a man, on whose thought and decision thousands hung, should make more profoundly felt by
\nthe people, by every man in the nation, the great, the almost religious responsibility that lies upon him personally. <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tAt this juncture it is not for me to prejudge the issue; each must meet it according to his light and conscience. This at least
\ncan be demanded of every man who would be worthy of India and of her great departed son that he shall put away from him
\nin the decision of the things to be done in the future, all weakness of will, all defect of courage, all unwillingness for sacrifice.
\nLet each strive to see with that selfless impersonality taught by one of our greatest scriptures, which can alone enable us to
\nidentify ourselves both with the Divine Will and with the soul of our Mother. Two things India demands for her future, the
\nfreedom of soul, life and action needed for the work she has to do for mankind; and the understanding by her children of that
\nwork and of her own true spirit that the future India may be indeed India. The first seems still the main sense and need of
\nthe present moment, but the second is also involved in [it]6<\/font><\/sup> \u2014 a yet greater issue. On the spirit of our decisions now and in
\nthe next few years depends the truth, vitality and greatness of<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t <\/p>\n

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\n<\/i>them
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\n

our future national existence. It is the beginning of a great Self-Determination not only in the external but in the spiritual. These
\ntwo thoughts should govern our action. Only so can the work done by Lokamanya Tilak find its true continuation and issue. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

AUROBINDO<\/font> GHOSE<\/font> <\/p>\n

published 5 August 1920 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tTo the Editor of the Standard Bearer<\/i>
\n\t\t\t<\/a> <\/b><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tSri Aurobindo’s declaration
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tIn view of the conflicting rumours that have been set abroad, some representing Sri Aurobindo as for the Reforms and others as for
\nNon-co-operation, Sri Mati Lal Roy, his spiritual agent in Bengal was requested by those in charge of their spiritual organ, in this humble instrumentality of our “Standard Bearer,” to write to him in Pondicherry and as a result of the letter he had written to his Master, Sri Matilal has
\nreceived the following reply which we are authorised to publish: \u2014 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t <\/p>\n

Dear M \u2014 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t******<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tAll these assertions are without foundation.7<\/font><\/sup> I have made no pronouncement of my political views. I have authorised nobody whether publicly or privately to be the spokesman of my opinions. The rumour suggesting that I support the
\n\t\t\tMontagu-Chelmsford Reforms and am opposed to Non-Co-operation is without basis. I have nothing to do personally with the manifesto
\nof Sir Ashutosh Choudhuri and others citing a passage from my past writings. The recorded opinions of a public man are public
\nproperty and I do not disclaim what I have written; but the responsibility for its application to the Montagu Chelmsford Reforms and the present situation rests entirely with the signatories to the manifesto. The summary of my opinions in the
\nJanmabhumi<\/i>, representing me as an enthusiastic follower of Mahatma Gandhi, of which I only came to know the other day, is wholly
\nunauthorised and does NOT “render justice to my views” either<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t7 This is an extract from a letter that is published in full on pages 248 \u00ad 49.
\n\u2014 Ed.<\/i>
\n  
\n<\/font> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tPage \u2013 <\/font>278<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nin form or in substance. Things are attributed to me in it which I would never have dreamed of saying. It is especially adding
\ninsult to injury to make me say that I am ready to sacrifice my conscience to a Congress mandate and recommend all to go and
\ndo likewise. I have not stated to anyone that “full responsible Self-Government completely independent of British control” or
\nany other purely political object is the goal to the attainment of which I intend to devote my efforts and I have not made
\nany rhetorical prophecy of a colossal success for the Non-Cooperation movement. As you well know, I am identifying myself
\nwith only one kind of work or propaganda as regards India, the endeavour to reconstitute her cultural, social and economic life
\nwithin larger and freer lines than the past on a spiritual basis. As regards political questions, I would request my friends and
\nthe public not to attach credence to anything purporting to be a statement of my opinions which is not expressly authorised by
\nme or issued over my signature. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A. G. <\/p>\n

published 21 November 1920 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tTo the Editor of the Bombay Chronicle<\/i>
\n\t\t\t<\/a>
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tChittaranjan’s death is a supreme loss. Consummately endowed with political intelligence, constructive imagination,
\nmagnetism, driving force combining a strong will and an uncommon plasticity of mind for vision and tact of the hour, he
\nwas the one man after Tilak who could have led India to Swaraj. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Aurobindo Ghose.<\/p>\n

published 22 June 1925  
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\tPage \u2013 <\/font>279<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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