{"id":355,"date":"2013-07-13T01:27:31","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:27:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=355"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:27:31","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:27:31","slug":"122-swaraj-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\/122-swaraj-vol-01-bande-mataram-volume-01","title":{"rendered":"-122_Swaraj.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n


\n\t\tSwaraj<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n                  
\n<\/font>
\nN<\/font>ATIONALISM<\/font><\/b>
\n<\/font>
\nwas filled at the Pabna conference with a
\nnew spirit unlike anything yet known to us. Whatever resolutions were passed or
\nsteps taken, were taken in a spirit of practical utility, which has been
\nhitherto absent from our Congresses and Conferences. We have hitherto been
\nengaged in dispute about ideals and methods. We are confident that the country,
\nat least Bengal, has now reached a stage when this dispute is no longer
\nnecessary. Whatever we may say out of policy or fear, the whole nation is now at
\none. Swaraj is the only goal which the heart of Bengal recognises, Swaraj
\nwithout any limitation or reservation. Even the President in his second and
\nclosing speech was so much moved by the spirit in the air that he forgot the
\nfeeling of caution which obliged him in his opening address to deprecate
\nambitious ideals, and out of the gladness of his heart there burst from him a
\nflood of inspiring eloquence which made the whole audience astir with feelings
\nof impassioned aspiration. Swaraj was the theme of his eloquence and to anyone
\nlistening carefully it was evident that ‘Swaraj’, unlimited and without
\nreservation, was the ideal enthroned in the heart of the poet. Even Surendranath
\nor those who voted for colonial Swaraj knew well in their heart of hearts that
\ntheir ideal was not the ideal of the nation. Long habit and apprehension were
\nthe only obstacles in their way which prevented them from throwing themselves
\ninto the current. But the rest of the audience were visibly moved by the
\npassionate eloquence which flowed from the lips of Rabindranath. What matters it
\nwhat resolutions may be passed or rejected? Swaraj is no longer a mere word, no
\nlonger an ideal, distant and impossible, for the heart of Bengal has seized upon
\nit, and the intellect of Bengal has acknowledged it. We hold no brief for
\nanyone, but we believe that Srijut Manoranjan Guha was an inspired speaker when
\nhe told the Conference never to lose sight of God in the movement. Mighty
\naspirations are in the heart of the people and he is false to<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage-698<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

the
\ninspiration within him who tries to dwarf them. Let us work practically at the
\nsmallest details, but let us never forget that the work is not for its own sake
\nbut for the sake of Swaraj. We shall be false to our inspiration if we forget
\nthe goal in the details; we shall condemn ourselves to the fate of the man who
\nin the eagerness of picking up pebbles on the seashore threw away the alchemic
\nstone, which God had for a moment given into his hands. Swaraj is the alchemic
\nstone, the Parash-Pathar, and we have it in our hands. It will turn to gold
\neverything we touch. Village Samitis are good, not for the sake of village
\nSamitis but for the sake of Swaraj. Boycott is good, not for the sake of Boycott
\nbut for the sake of Swaraj. Swadeshi is good, not for the sake of Swadeshi but
\nfor the sake of Swaraj. Arbitration is good, not for the sake of arbitration but
\nfor the sake of Swaraj. If we forget Swaraj and win anything else we shall be
\nlike the seeker whose belt was turned indeed to gold but the stone of alchemy
\nwas lost to him for ever.<\/font><\/p>\n


\n            Never should
\nwe forget that but for the hope of Swaraj we should never have done what we have
\ndone during the last three years. No lesser hope, no ideal of inferior grandeur
\ncould have nerved us to the tremendous efforts, the great sacrifices, the
\nindomitable persistence in the face of persecution which has made these three
\nyears ever memorable as the birth-time of a nation. Who could have borne what we
\nhave borne for the sake of some petty object? No good can result from denying
\nwhat God has revealed to us. When Peter denied his master, half of his virtue
\nwent out of him. Let not our people have to repent as Peter had to repent, and
\nshed tears of bitter sorrow because the divinity has been expelled by their own
\nfolly from their bosom.
\nWhen a light has been revealed, folly alone will try to shut it out behind a
\nscreen. When a mighty power has entered into the heart, madness alone can wish
\nto forfeit it. Swaraj is the direct revelation of God to this people,
\n\u2014<\/span> not mere political freedom but a freedom
\nvast and entire, freedom of the individual, freedom of the community, freedom of
\nthe nation, spiritual freedom, social freedom, political freedom. Spiritual
\nfreedom the ancient Rishis had already declared to us; social freedom was part
\nof the message of Buddha, Chaitanya, Nanak and Kabir and the saints<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage-699<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

of Maharashtra; political freedom is the last word of the
\ntriune gospel. Without political freedom the soul of man is crippled. Only a few
\nmighty spirits can rise above their surroundings, but the ordinary man is a
\nslave of his surroundings and if those be mean, servile and degraded, he himself
\nwill be mean, servile and degraded. Social freedom can only be born where the
\nsoul of man is large, free and generous, not enslaved to petty aims and
\nthoughts. Social freedom is not a result of social machinery but of the freedom
\nof the human intellect and the nobility of the human soul. A man who follows
\npetty ends cannot feel his brotherhood with his fellows, for he is always
\nstriving to raise himself above them and assert petty superiorities. If caste
\nmakes him superior or money makes him superior, he will hug to his bosom the
\ndistinctions of caste or the distinctions of wealth. If
\npolitical freedom is absent, the community has no great ends to follow and the
\nindividual is confined within a narrow circuit in which the superiority of
\ncaste, wealth or class is the only ambition which he can cherish. If political
\nfreedom opens to him a wider horizon, he forgets the lesser ambitions. Moreover
\na slave can never be noble and broad-minded. He cannot forget himself in the
\nservice of his fellows; for he is already a slave and service is the badge of
\nhis degradation, not a willing self-devotion. When man is thus degraded, it is
\nidle to think that society can be free.<\/p>\n


\n    <\/span>         So too spiritual
\nfreedom can never be the lot of many in a land of slaves. A few may follow the
\npath of the Yogin and rise above their surroundings, but the mass of men cannot
\never take the first step towards spiritual salvation. We do not believe that the
\npath of salvation lies in selfishness. If the mass of men around us is
\nmiserable, fallen, degraded how can the seeker after God be indifferent to the
\ncondition of his brothers? Compassion to all creatures is the condition of
\nsainthood, and the perfect Yogin is he who is sarvabhūtahite
\nratah<\/i>, <\/i>whose mind is full of the will to do good to all creatures. When a
\nman shuts his heart to the cries of sufferings around him, when he is content
\nthat his fellow-men should be sorrowful, oppressed, sacrificed to the greed of
\nothers, he is making his own way to salvation full of difficulties and
\nstumbling-blocks. He is forgetting that God is not only in him-<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage-700<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

self but in all these millions. And for those who have
\nnot the strength, spiritual freedom in political servitude is a sheer
\nimpossibility. When India was free, thousands of men set their feet in the
\nstairs of heaven, but as the night deepened and the sun of liberty withdrew its
\nrays, the spiritual force inborn in every Indian heart became weaker and weaker
\nuntil now it burns so faintly that aliens have taken upon themselves the role of
\nspiritual teachers, and the people chosen by God have to sit at the feet of the
\nmen from whose ancestry the light was hidden. God has set apart India as the
\neternal fountain-head of holy spirituality, and He will never suffer that
\nfountain to run dry. Therefore Swaraj has been revealed to us. By our political
\nfreedom we shall once more recover our spiritual freedom. Once more in the land
\nof the saints and sages will burn up the fire of the ancient Yoga and the hearts
\nof her people will be lifted up into the neighbourhood of the Eternal.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\nBande Mataram<\/i>,
\n<\/i>
\n<\/font>February 18, 1908<\/font><\/p>\n

The Future of the Movement<\/a><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nWhen a great people rises from the dust,
\nwhat mantra <\/i>is the sanj<\/i><\/font>ī<\/font>van<\/font>ī<\/font>
\nmantra <\/font> <\/i>
\nor what power is the resurrecting force of its resurgence? In India
\nthere are two great mantras<\/i>, <\/i>the mantra <\/i>of "Bande Mataram" which
\nis the public and universal cry of awakened love of Motherland, and there is
\nanother more secret and mystic which is not yet revealed. The mantra <\/i>of "Bande
\nMataram" is a mantra <\/i>once before given to the world by the Sannyasins of
\nthe Vindhya hills. It was lost by the treachery of our own countrymen because
\nthe nation was not then ripe for resurgence and a premature awakening would have
\nbrought about a speedy downfall. But when in the great earthquake of 1897 there
\nwas a voice heard by the Sannyasins, and they were conscious of the decree of
\nGod that India should rise again, the mantra <\/i>was again revealed to the
\nworld. It was echoed in the hearts of the people, and when the cry had ripened
\nin silence in a few great hearts, the whole nation became conscious of the
\nrevelation. Who imagined when the people of Bengal rose in 1905<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage-701<\/font><\/p>\n

\n

\nagainst the Partition that that was the
\nbeginning of a great upheaval? It is a passing tempest, said the wise men of
\nEngland, let it go over our heads and we will wait. But the tempest did not
\npass, nor the thunders cease. So there was a reconsideration of policy and the
\nwise men said, \u2014 "The people of Bengal are easily cowed down, and we will try
\nwhether force cannot do what patience has failed to do". When Sir Bampfylde
\nFuller met Lord Curzon at Agra, this was the policy agreed on between them \u2014 to
\nhammer the Bengalis into quietude. But Sir Bampfylde Fuller has gone and the
\nmovement remains. Hare too will go, and many will go, but the movement will
\nremain. The regulation lathi, the Police truncheon, the threat of the Goorkha
\nrifle are as straws in the wind before the Divine breath of God. Human power is
\nmere weakness when measured with the will of the Eternal. So the movement will
\ncontinue. It is now time to look deeper into it and know its fountain sources.
\nSo long we were content with the superficial aspects, but the time has come for
\nGod to reveal Himself, and the powers of the world to look on in amazement at
\nHis wonderful workings. When we left Pabna we knew that He was at work to unite
\nthe Bengali race. We hope yet to see that He is at work to unite the Indian
\npeople. When the Convention Committee meets at Allahabad, it will be seen
\nwhether it is His will to unite the parties into a single whole or to separate
\nthem from each other, so that the work of salvation may be hastened by the
\nenergy of the Nationalist Party being separated from the steadiness of the
\nModerates. Whatever may happen, it is His will. We look forward to the Easter
\nmeeting for light on what He intends. If the Moderate leaders of Bengal are
\nwise, they will realise that Bengal at least is destined to become
\npredominatingly Nationalist, that it is her mission to lead and force the rest
\nof India to follow. Whoever tries to prevent her from fulfilling that mission,
\nis setting himself against the decrees of God and will be blown away like
\nstubble before the tempest.<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n


\nBande Mataram<\/i>,
\n<\/i>
\n<\/font>February 19, 1908<\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nPage-702<\/font><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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