{"id":271,"date":"2013-07-13T01:27:01","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:27:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=271"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:27:01","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:27:01","slug":"123-work-and-ideal-vol-01-bande-mataram-volume-01","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/01-sabcl\/01-bande-mataram-volume-01\/123-work-and-ideal-vol-01-bande-mataram-volume-01","title":{"rendered":"-123_Work and Ideal.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n

\nWork <\/b>and Ideal<\/b><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n <\/font><\/b>                       
\n<\/font>
\nW<\/font>E<\/font><\/b>
\n<\/span>are being advised by many nowadays
\nnot to quarrel over ideals but to attend to the work lying nearest to our hands.
\nWe must not talk of faith and hope, or revel in Utopian visions but run to the
\nnearest scene of work, be one of the drudging millions, try to improve their lot
\nand set ourselves to the task of mitigating human sufferings. The old villages
\nare so many pictures of desolation and distress, they are the hot-beds of
\nmalaria, the sepulchres of our greatness; so go to them and try to reinstate our
\ntutelary angel in his ancient seat. Or we must erect mills, start small
\nindustries, educate the masses, do philanthropic work and not talk of free or
\nunited India until this is done. When the spade work has not yet begun, why talk
\nof a fine superstructure and create difficulties in the way of solid and
\nsubstantial work? You have not yet put the plough to your land, why quarrel over
\nthe prospective produce and sow seeds of dissension amongst yourselves before
\nyou have sown the seed that is to yield any good to the country? The buoyant
\nNationalism of the day is sought to be repressed by such timid truisms and
\nguarded amenities with which our advisers justify their placid course of life.
\nThey want us to take note of our limitations, environment and not to tempt the
\ncountry to the skies with wings so heavily weighed down. Common sense, it is
\nsaid, should be our guide and not imagination.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n            All this is well, and we would
\nbe the last to deny the necessity of the work so much insisted upon. But the
\nwork is nothing without the ideal, and will be fruitless if divorced from its
\ninspiring force. Which is common sense? To tread the right path or to avoid it
\nbecause it promises to be thorny? Which is common sense? To mislead ourselves or
\nto speak the truth and do the right? The uplifting of a nation cannot be
\naccomplished by a few diplomatic politicians. The spirit to serve, the spirit to
\nwork, the spirit to suffer must be roused. Men in their ordinary utilitarian<\/font> \n<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage-703<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\ncourse of life do not feel called upon to
\nserve anyone except themselves.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n            The daily duties are
\nengrossing enough for the average man. His own individual prospects in life
\ngenerally become his sole concern. He is propelled by the inertia of his own
\nindividual needs, and if any other sort of work is expected of him a different
\nand more intense force must be continuously applied to him to produce the
\nnecessary energy. Or, in other words, we must continuously appeal to his better
\nnature, we must evoke the spiritual in him, we must call forth his moral
\nenthusiasm.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n            These may not be human
\nnature’s daily food, they may not be necessary for our daily life, they may not
\nhave their use in the ordinary selfish pursuits, but they are essential for
\nworking a change in our social or political life. Buddha only preached and lived
\na holy life, Christ only preached and lived a holy life, Sankar only preached
\nand lived a holy life, and they have each worked a mighty revolution in the
\nhistory of the world. Inspiration is real work. Let the truly inspiring word be
\nuttered and it will breathe life into dry bones. Let the inspiring life be lived
\nand it will produce workers by thousands. England draws her inspiration from the
\nnames of Shakespeare and Milton, Mill and Bacon, Nelson and Wellington. They did
\nnot visit the sickroom, they did not do philanthropic work in the parishes, they
\ndid not work spinning jennies in Manchester, they did not produce cutlery in
\nSheffield, but theirs are the names which have made nationhood possible in
\nEngland, which have supplied work and enterprise with its motive and sustaining
\nforce. England is commercially great because Adam Smith gave her the secret of
\nfree-trade. England is politically great because her national ideals have been
\nbold and high, not because of her parish work and municipalities. He was no fool
\nor Utopian who wished to be the maker of songs for his country rather than its
\nlaw giver. Wolfe had Gray’s elegy recited to him on his death-bed, and said he
\nwould rather be the author of these lines than the captor of Quebec. These are
\nthe utterances of great workers and heroes, they have given the greatest credit
\nto the givers of ideas and ideals, because they have felt in their own life
\nwhere the inspiration for work comes from. Work without ideals is a false
\ngospel. <\/font> \n<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage-704<\/font><\/p>\n

\n


\nBy The
\nWay<\/a><\/font><\/h2>\n

Notables<\/font><\/h2>\n

When
\nwe wrote of the days of ancient greatness, we did not think that we were about
\nto witness the singular spectacle of a Hindu society professing to restore the
\npurity of the old religion bowing down at the throne of Minto, who could
\nrecognise in the Lords of today the Rajas and Maharajas of modern India, the
\nsons of the great Kshatriya blood? Minto and Morley are the representatives of
\nYavana and Saka of old. Did the princes of ancient India go out of their way to
\nkneel before their throne? Was that the glory of Hinduism? Or are we witnessing
\na revival of the days when Asoka ruled over the Asiatic peoples? The Bharat
\nDharma Mahamandal aim at the revival of Hinduism but they are working for its
\nfinal extinction.
\n <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

Minto Worship<\/font><\/h2>\n

When
\nwe speak of the Notables bowing at the feet of Minto, we are aware that we shall
\nlay ourselves open to the charge of disloyalty. Well, that is a charge we have
\nnever been anxious to avoid. When sedition is found in all we write then it is
\nno advantage picking and choosing our expressions. But we have one thing to say.
\nWho made Lord Minto ruler of India? Not the hand of any earthly power. But the
\ndecree of God, and if the Hindu people bow down before Minto, it is only as the
\nViceroy of God. Is that the logic of the Bharat Dharma Mahamandal? If so, it is
\na logic based on outward facts, not on the inner truths. God is today
\nmanifesting himself again, but where? Not in the glory of England
\n\u2014<\/span> which is on the wane, but in the
\nresurgence of Asia.<\/font>
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

Minto-Morley<\/font><\/h2>\n

\nMinto is an archangel of peace, says
\nRomesh Chandra Dutt;<\/font> \n<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage-705<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nMorley an archangel of benevolence. With
\nso many archangels to look after us, we are unfortunate indeed if we cannot be
\nhappy. Poor India!
\n<\/font> <\/span><\/p>\n


\nWithin and Without<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nRomesh Chandra Dutt is a statesman
\naccording to his own idea of himself and statesmen are always looking out for
\ntheir fellows. Romesh Chandra with his large-hearted appreciation of the ruling
\nqualities of the British race, Surendranath with his unswerving loyalty,
\nNarendranath with his gratitude are, one would imagine, so many pillars of
\nBritish rule. What about Romesh Chandra’s letters to Lord Curzon, Surendranath’s
\nboycott or Narendranath’s secret hopes of Theosophical rule of Mahatmas? Whoever
\nsays one thing with his lips and another in his heart, can never hope to help
\nhis country.<\/font>
\n <\/span><\/p>\n


\nTruth and Falsehood<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nWhen we are on the subject, let us be
\nfrank. Truth is the rock on which the world is built. Satyena tisthate jagat<\/i>.
\n<\/i>Falsehood can never be the true source of strength. When falsehood is at the
\nroot of a movement, that movement is doomed to failure. Diplomacy can only help
\na movement if the movement proceeds upon truth. To make diplomacy the
\nroot-principle is to contravene the laws of existence.<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n


\nBande Mataram<\/i>,
\n<\/i>
\n<\/font>February 20, 1908<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage-706<\/font><\/p>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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