Renaissance man of India
By Jagmohan
May 30 : Every nation has its own special attributes: Germany has
its organisational abilities, the United States has enterprise, Japan
has adaptability and the United Kingdom has balance. The hallmark of
India, in its hey-days, was the power and profundity of her mind and
the purity and punctiliousness of her soul. It was this power and
purity which made Indian civilisation one of the most creative and
constructive civilizations in the world.
In his own inimitable style, Sri Aurobindo had noted: "For 3,000
years she has been creating abundantly and incessantly, lavishly…
republics and kingdoms and empires, philosophies and cosmogonies and
sciences and creeds and arts and poems and all kinds of monuments and
public works, communities and societies and religious orders, laws and
codes and rituals, physical sciences, psychic sciences, systems of
yoga, politics and administration, arts spiritual, arts worldly,
trades, industries, fine crafts — the list is endless and in each item
there is almost a plethora of activity".
The saints and sages of ancient India injected power and potency in
the Indian mind. In turn, this power and potency added to the capacity
of the sages and saints to think deeply on the phenomena around. One of
the fundamental truths discovered by them was that the universe is an
organic web in which every life is inextricably enmeshed with the other
and that this web is permeated with cosmic force of which man and
nature were constituents as well as contributors.
A philosophic structure, in the form of Vedanta, was raised and a
way of attaining elevation of mind and moving towards truth, while
carrying on with day to day work, was indicated through a comprehensive
system of yoga.
Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, the power of the Indian
mind, which had produced profound systems and structures, began to wane
after the 7th century. Soon there was a near total desertification of
the Indian mind, with small meadows of green appearing here and there
occasionally. The "mighty evil" that had invaded the Indian mind and
soul was, to a large extent, beaten back by a galaxy of profound
thinkers and reformers who brought about a new awakening that led to
the great renaissance of the later 19th century and early 20th century.
Out of the stalwarts of renaissance, Sri Aurobindo emerged as the
strongest champion of the Indian spirit and expressed the highest
confidence in its underlying strength. In no uncertain terms, he
declared: "India cannot perish, our race cannot become extinct, because
among all the divisions of mankind it is to India that is reserved the
highest and most splendid destiny, the most essential to the future of
the human race. It is she who must send forth from herself the future
religion of the entire world, the eternal religion which is to
harmonise all religion, science and philosophies and make mankind one
soul". In Sri Aurobindo’s thought, the Sanatan Dharm and India always
appear as two sides of the same coin. But in his famous Uttarapar
speech, delivered on May 30, 1909, he placed the former at a higher
pedestal: "When, therefore, it is said that India shall rise, it is the
Sanatan Dharm that shall rise. When it is said that India shall be
great, it is the Sanatan Dharm that shall be great. When it is said
that India shall expand and extend herself, it is the Sanatan Dharm
that shall expand and extend itself over the world".
Sri Aurobindo makes it clear that Sanatan Dharm is designed to
uplift the entire human race and not merely the Hindus: "What is this
religion which we call Sanatan, eternal. It is the Hindu religion only
because the Hindu nation has kept it... But it is not circumscribed by
the confines of a single country. That which we call the Hindu religion
is really the eternal religion because it is the universal religion
which embraces all others".
It needs to be underlined that in the post-Uttarpara-speech period,
Sri Aurobindo committed himself mainly to the liberation of human
consciousness. He made it clear: "Spirituality is India’s only
politics, the fulfillment of Sanatan Dharm its only swaraj". A
regenerated India alone, he said, could free the world from its
"enslavement to materialism" and for pointing it to the "way towards a
dynamic integration of spirit and matter and to make life perfect with
divine perfection". He believed that a greater evolution was the real
goal of humanity.
After Sri Aurobindo’s thought had undergone a subtle shift at
Uttarpara on May 30, 1909, his vision was to liberate India’s
consciousness and bring back Sanatan Dharm as India’s "national
religion" — a religion which is all embracing, non-sectarian and
eternal. His vision was to build a nation of karmayogis who would have
a higher consciousness, be rid of egos, desires and attachments, have
no joy over their successes and no grief over their failures, achieve
inner rather than outer renunciation, perform passionless and
impersonal actions and take themselves to such a height where no
distinction is kept between their will and the will of the divine.
But what is position today? Has not a deep and dark shadow fallen
between Sri Aurobindo’s vision and the reality in India today? Do we
find karmayogis around or see signs of liberation of India’s spirit?
Has there been any advance towards spirituality or higher level of
human consciousness? Clearly, the answer to all such questions is in
the negative. On the centenary day — May 30, 2009 — of Uttarpara
speech, let all students and teachers of Sri Aurobindo’s school of
thought resolve that they would not lose heart on account of current
dismal scenario and would work with a renewed sense of mission to
ensure that the vision of the great prophet of the 20th century is
fulfilled. Undoubtedly, the task is Herculean, the goal is distant and
would take a long time to traverse. But let us not forget that even the
longest journey begins with the first step.
Jagmohan is a former governor of J&K and a former Union minister
Source: http://www.asianage.com/presentation/leftnavigation/opinion/op-ed/renaissance-man-of-india.aspx
Last update : 30-06-2009 00:09
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