Martyrs and revolutionaries of India's freedom - VI

V Sundaram | Wed, 01 Aug, 2007 , 05:29 PM . 'Nationalism depends for its success on the awakening and organizing of the whole strength of the nation; it is therefore vitally important for nationalism that the politically backward classes should be awakened and brought into the current of political life; the great mass of orthodox Hinduism which was hardly even touched by the old Congress Movement, the great slumbering mass of Islam which has remained politically inert throughout the last century, the shopkeepers, the artisan class, the immense body of illiterate and ignorant peasantry, the submerged classes, even the wild tribes and races still outside the pale of Hindu Civilization, nationalism can afford to neglect and omit none. .... What nationalism asks for is for life first and above all things: 'Life, and still more life, is its cry'. Let us by every means get rid of the pall of death which stifled us, let us dispel first the passivity, quiescence, the unspeakable oppression of inertia which has so long been our curse; that is the first and imperative need.� These words were written by Sri Aurobindo (1872-1950) in his Journal 'Bande Mataram' on 17 December, 1907. In every sense of the word he was one of the foremost Prophets of Indian Nationalism and Patriotism. Bipin Chandra Pal (1858-1932), one of the earliest revolutionaries in Bengal delivered five lectures on the Madras Beach from 2 May, 1907 to 9 May, 1907 wherein he expounded the philosophy, goal, programme and strategy of the National Movement in considerable detail with ecstatic fervour and passion. Maha Kavi Subrahmania Bharathi, Subramania Siva, and Rt Hon Srinivasa Sastri attended all these lectures on the Madras Beach. It is on record that all of them came under the spell of Bipin Chandra Pal. The genius of Bipin Chandra Pal lay in his unusual capacity for locating geniuses in others and it was he who formed the right estimate of Sri Aurobindo as early as in 1907 when he wrote as follows: 'The youngest in age among those who stand in the forefront of the Nationalist propaganda in India, but in endowment, education, and character, perhaps, superior to them all�Aravinda (later Sri Aurobindo)'seems distinctly marked out by Providence to play in the future of this movement a part not given to any of his colleagues and contemporaries. The other leaders of the movement have left their life behind them: Aravinda has his before him. Nationalism is their last love: it is Aravinda's first passion. They are burdened with the cares and responsibilities of large families or complex relations: Aravinda has a small family and practically no cumulative obligations. His only care is for his country'the MOTHER, as he always calls her. His only recognised obligations are to her. Nationalism, at the best, a concern of the intellect with some, at the lowest a political cry and aspirations with others, is with Aravinda a supreme passion of his soul. Few, indeed, have grasped the full force and meaning of the Nationalist ideal as Aravinda has done.' Born on 15 August, 1872 at Calcutta, Sri Aurobindo (1872-1950), was a Hindu/Indian nationalist, a revolutionary, a scholar, a poet, a mystic, and an evolutionary philosopher, a yogi and a guru. After a very short political career for a few years in the fist decade of the twentieth century in which he became one of the leaders of the early movement for the freedom of India from British rule, Sri Aurobindo turned to the development and practice of a new spiritual path which he called the 'integral yoga,' the aim of which was to further the evolution of life on earth by establishing a high level of spiritual consciousness which he called the Supermind that would represent a divine life free from physical death. Sri Aurobindo wrote prolifically in English on his spiritual philosophy and practice, on social and political development, on Indian culture including extensive commentaries and translations of ancient Indian scriptures, on literature and poetry including the writing of much spiritual poetry. Sri Aurobindo is rightly considered as one of the greatest Yogis of all time in Hindu history. It is an emancipating and elevating experience to read about the revolutionary life, times and activities of Sri Aurobindo from 1893 to 1910. Sri Aurobindo was the third son of Dr. Krishna Dhan Ghosh and Smt Swarnalata Devi. His maternal grandfather, Raj Narain Bose, was an acknowledged leader in Bengali Literature and is considered as one of the leaders of modern Bengal who fought against the growing influence of Western civilization on Indian social life and culture. While Keshub Chunder Sen (1838-1884) was seeking to reconstruct Indian, and especially Hindu, social life, more or less after the British model, Raj Narain's sturdy patriotism and national self-respect rebelled against the enormity, and came forward to establish the superiority of Hindu social economy to the Christian social institutions and ideals. He saw the on-rush of European goods into Indian markets after 1850 and tried to stem the tide by quickening what later came to be called 'the Swadeshi spirit', long before any one else had thought of it. It was under his inspiration that a HINDU MELA or National Exhibition was started a full quarter of a century before the Indian National Congress thought of an Indian Industrial Exhibition in 1885. The founder of this Hindu Mela was also the first Bengali who organised gymnasia for the physical training of the youths of the nation. Stick and sword plays, and other ancient sports and pastimes of the people that have come into vogue recently, were originally revived at the Hindu Mela under Raj Narayan Bose's inspiration and instruction. Raj Narayan Bose did not openly take any part in politics, but his writings and speeches did a good deal to create that spirit of self-respect and self-assertion in the educated classes that later found such strong expression as in the days of Swadeshi Movement in Bengal in 1905 and later throughout the country. Sri Aurobindo's father Dr Krishna Dhan Ghosh was basically a product of European education and culture. He was determined to ensure his children received an entirely European upbringing, totally routed in Western culture. Thus it can be seen that two strong currents of thoughts, ideals, and aspirations met together and strove for supremacy in Bengal, among the generation to which Sri Aurobindo's parents belonged. One was a current of Hindu Nationalism � of the revived life, culture and ideals of the nation that had lain dormant for centuries and had been discarded as lower and primitive by the first batch of English-educated Hindus, specially in Bengal. The other was the current of Indo-Anglicism � the onrushing life, culture and ideals of the foreign rulers of the land, which, expressing themselves through British law and administration on the one side, and the new schools and universities on the other, threatened to swamp and drown the original culture and character of the people. The two stocks from which Sri Aurobindo sprang represented these two conflicting forces in the country. In 1890, Sri Aurobindo passed his final examination in St. Paul's, won an open scholarship and joined the King's College at Cambridge. Here he came into contact with an organization known as Indian Majlis which was founded in 1891. As its Secretary, Sri Aurobindo delivered several political speeches denouncing British imperialism. He also joined a secret society of Young Indians in Cambridge romantically called 'The Lotus and Dagger'. During this period, Sri Aurobindo qualified himself for the Indian Civil Service (ICS) by passing its terminal examination and getting through the open competition with distinction. He was disqualified in the riding examination. By a quirk of destiny, the loss to the Indian Civil Service (ICS) became a Himalayan gain to the cause of Hinduism and the Hindu Nation. Maharaja Sayaji Rao Gaekward of Baroda came to know about the genius of Sri Aurobindo from Mr. James Cotton and invited him into the Baroda State Service. He returned to India on 6 February, 1893 at the age of 20. During his Service in Baroda State, Sri Aurobindo worked as Vice-Principal of Baroda College. He also used to assist the Maharaja of Baroda in drafting letters, composing speeches and preparing documents. It was in Baroda that Aurobindo plunged himself in the study of Indian languages, culture, religion and history. In a very short time he mastered the Sanskrit language and therefore was able to delve deep into the Classics of Indian philosophy. Sri Aurobindo was greatly influenced by the works of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee (1838-1894) and Michael Madhusudan Dutt (1824-1873). Simultaneously, he also started learning Yoga and participating in spiritual practices for which he received concrete guidance and instruction from one Shri Vishnu Bhaskar Lele of Gwalior. In 1893, Shri Aurobindo started writing political articles under the general title 'New Lamps For Old', at the instance of his Cambridge friend, K G Deshpandey, who edited the English section of an Anglo-Marathi paper known as the 'Indu Prakash'. These articles constituted a direct, invasive and eloquent attack on the Indian National Congress, whose policies Shri Aurobindo regarded as a process of futile petition and protest. Shri Aurobindo gave a stirring call to his countrymen to organise all the forces in the nation for revolutionary action as the sole effective policy for the attainment of our independence. (To be contd...)