LIFE IN PONDICHERRY: THE YOGA ASHRAM
Sri Aurobindo stepped on to the jetty at Pondicherry from a French liner “Dupleix” on 4 April 1910. Since he was hiding from the police (mainly in Chandernagore), he preferred undertaking this journey by ship and not by train. Bijoy Kumar Nag was with him in this journey. Shri Suresh Chandra Chakravarti had arrived earlier to arrange accommodation for Sri Aurobindo. After a few months Nolini Kanto Gupta arrived. Gradually some more young men from different regions and states of India joined him; they all left everything and came to his shelter due to some wonderful attraction.
With them, Sri Aurobindo began creating a new world. He used to teach them as disciples, at times he would also talk humorously with them while he himself was engrossed in his deep studies and sadhana. It is not correct to say that all his connections with the previous phase of life were cut off but no longer was he a part of active politics. He set the foundation of a new life—the divine life. The calm and quietness of Pondicherry was appropriate for his spiritual work. He got directions from the Omniscient to come here. Pondicherry, in those days, had an ethereal envelope. As the poet Suresh Chandra penned,
Far–far–very far
Far from the madding crowd and of the world,
Far-very far–it’s situated...
No din rises here, no commotion spread
The poison in the sky and air
The burning of the heart of longing and lust,
All the unchecked inner hankering and greed,
As though at a Mantra, all gone to sleep.
In the quietness of Pondicherry, Sri Aurobindo’s silent sadhana had begun from the bustling and action-filled world to reach a total calm. This was not like the silence during his Baroda days of profound scholarship but far above the din of life, away from the strife and turbulence of the world, a deep acquaintance with the serene eternal universal spirit as though a stream enjoying the earth’s beauty and variety, making it soft and tender, lost itself into the vastness of the great ocean. And the Yoga Ashram of Sri Aurobindo was founded at the very seashore of Pondicherry!
Lack of money or means, or severe austerity, or the vain remonstration of the aggrieved regime—nothing could perturb Sri Aurobindo. Some of the leaders of southern India’s Nationalist party had then been in self-exile in Pondicherry and were happy to have Sri Aurobindo there. They thought he would enliven the political movement from there—perhaps even plan a greater revolution. For a long time the nation too had cherished the same thought. But Sri Aurobindo has received a nobler call. It is greater than political activities and it is greater than achieving freedom for the country—that is the call of eternal India—summon of the Divine. So he could not respond to the call of the leaders.
Soon the invitation from nationalist groups of the Congress party started coming repeatedly. A number of leaders of the party travelled to Pondicherry and tried to convince him to return to the political arena and some conferred on him the highest honour by electing him President, but nothing could dislodge him from his supreme resolve. In course of time, the comrades of his revolutionary days were released from their prison term; they went to meet him with all earnest eagerness, but realised that his return to the earlier phase of life is not possible. Those who understood the inner meaning of his noble ideal stayed back and the rest returned.80
The government was anxious and apprehensive about Sri Aurobindo too—perhaps expecting him to do something unthinkable like starting a new phase of revolution. Naturally, all around the ashram premises the spies of the police kept vigil—perhaps he might commence something suddenly just as Lenin or de Valera engineered a political movement! How could the spies get any clue of his pursuit for a different revolution in the inner world, in the depth of man’s heart! The government not only kept a sharp vigil on him but also tried to prove that for political purposes, he had taken refuge in the French territory of Pondicherry. After he left Bengal a case was filed against him accusing him of rebellion against the Raj (regime) through one of his articles in the Karmayogin; in his absence, the printer, Mano Mohan Ghose, was sentenced to six months in prison. However, in the appeal by Mano Mohan, in a fair trial, the High Court passed the verdict that the article was not seditious in nature. Mano Mohan was acquitted. Regarding this, Sri Aurobindo proved in an article in the Madras Mail that the Bengal government had no plan of filing such a case while he was in Bengal, but initiated this farce only because he had moved to Pondicherry.
Sri Aurobindo had not accepted this hardship of his own volition—it happened due to a reversal of situation. He and his companions had to pass days in a great financial crunch. He had never emphasised the unnecessary outward austerity, but despite having fallen in a dire situation due to his circumstances, the slightest worry did not touch him even for a moment. If not, how else could he remain quiet in heart during his imprisonment in the midst of severe affliction? On one hand, he was like the yogis unaffected by heat, cold and all the adversities of nature; on the other hand, he was never averse to the development of various aspects of life, even the beauty and the elegance of the physical body. Unless there is realisation of Satyam Shivam Sundaram (the Truth, the Eternal Consciousness, and Beauty) in every level of life, how will life develop harmoniously?
Before long, prosperity bloomed in Pondicherry. The financial crunch was eased although the ashram had not yet completely developed. Perhaps initially Sri Aurobindo’s aim was not to establish an ashram—however, the ashram started growing as though with a divine inspiration. Spontaneously, a number of people came and sought to live in the ashram. (Sri Aurobindo had never appealed to anyone to come and live in the ashram; everyone had gone there of their own will.) Even then, Sri Aurobindo was, to all his companions, an intimate friend, teacher and guru; he would mix with everyone and make their life beautiful. He also helped them in their pursuit of knowledge. His old friends used to visit him in Pondicherry and would go back satisfied, having received inspiration from him.
During this period, Sri Aurobindo opened his wonderful reservoir of knowledge to everyone. The launch of the journal Arya took place on 15 August 1914—the 42nd birthday of Sri Aurobindo. The time period then was a tumult of world affairs. In Europe World War I had begun. Just as at the prelude of the great Kurukshetra war, Lord Sri Krishna, on the pretext of passing his knowledge to his best friend Arjuna, spread the light of his wonderful knowledge (which has been adopted in the lives of Indians and carried ahead for the next several millennia) for the entire humanity, in the same way, Sri Aurobindo, at the start of this World War, has indicated in no uncertain way the future evolution of mankind. He announced in an unhesitating voice that humanity has to accept the ideal of a divine life or else its plunge into savagery would be inevitable. He did not indicate this message in a couple of sentences, but, in a language appropriate for the modern mind, he conveyed this through a series of articles (in the Arya) on religion, philosophy, politics, sociology, poetry and literature. Analysing the course of the history of mankind, he laid the foundation of the divine ideal. How wonderful are these essays. Not only are they a sign of vast scholarship but also evidence of deep insight—profound analysis of the human mind, human society and human race. So far, many of the educated people have been unable to properly appreciate these writings; but soon one day, there is no doubt that these pieces will be accepted with great reverence far and abroad and the venerable people will read them with great earnestness. Sri Aurobindo was never eager for publicity so after many years of their appearance (in the Arya) they had still not been published as books. Currently, most of Sri Aurobindo’s writings are available as Complete Works, published as books and they have also been translated in many Indian and European languages.
For seven years, Sri Aurobindo wrote in the Arya regularly; he used to complete the pages of this journal mostly alone. He wrote many articles and essays on many topics such as the Secrets of Veda, explanations of the Upanishads, The Ideal of Divine Life, the Systems of Yoga, Introduction to Indian culture, the Ideal of Human Unity, the psychological analysis of human evolution and he also wrote many fascinating reviews on literature and philosophy.81 The Arya was not only a treatise on spiritual knowledge, or a bulletin for the mysteries of the yogic life, or even a religious discourse—it was, in one word, a great help to follow human history. Although the common political discussion did not find a place in the Arya, there is no parallel for the superb analysis of international problems that were published in it. The indications given nearly a century ago (more than half a century, as mentioned by the author when the last edition was published) appears as the reality of today. The most significant incident after Sri Aurobindo settled in Pondicherry was the arrival of the Mother, Mirra, and Monsieur Paul Richard. They were travelling the East in search of a person completely knowledgeable on spirituality. On reaching Pondicherry they were impressed and moved seeing Sri Aurobindo. Paul Richard himself was a scholar and great was his respect for Sri Aurobindo; we get a description of it in the writings of Dilip Kumar Roy. In Nice (France) in conversation with Dilip Kumar Roy, he mentioned Sri Aurobindo as the greatest man of the present age.82
Not many people other than the disciples of Sri Aurobindo know about the Mother. We could know about her Divine realisation from her prayer book (Prière et Méditation) originally written in French. She wrote it when she lived in Europe; it was later translated into English as Prayers and Meditation and also in Bengali and several other Indian languages. The sadhana of the Mother, deep and marvellous, can only be described by her. It is known that from her childhood she has travelled in many countries of the Orient and Occident, thus acquiring various experiences. Only those who got an opportunity to come in contact with her could comprehend the sweetness and greatness of her personality. She never for a day sought self-publicity, has not socially mixed with the common man, so how shall the public outside know about her? Her writings reveal only a fraction of her spirituality and deep wisdom. Even though the Mother is the daughter of France, her writings in English are beautiful. It is difficult to identify her articles even in the Arya—she had kept herself self–effacing. She has become the living aspect of India—power by attaining realisation of the Indian sadhana— as though she is the living entity of Mother India.
After their arrival in Pondicherry, the Mother and Paul Richard started helping Sri Aurobindo in the editorial work of the Arya. In the first few issues of the Arya, it was stated: “Editor—Aurobindo Ghose, Paul and Mirra Richard”. In the turbulence of the war, they soon had to return to France and as was obligatory, Paul had to enlist in the army. While they were in Pondicherry, a French edition of the Arya was also launched; after they left for Paris this stopped. The entire workload of the Arya fell on Sri Aurobindo.
Two years after the end of World War I in April 1920, they returned again to Pondicherry and from then onward, the Mother remained (till her passing in 1974) in Pondicherry. Paul Richard also stayed for some time, but later left India. He had written some books on Oriental culture in English, which were well appreciated.
The ashram started growing after the arrival of the Mother. From far and wide, national and international seekers (sadhakas and sadhikas) started coming in. It was not an easy affair to support the needs of daily life of so many persons who came to live in the ashram. The Mother alone took the responsibility of running everything. The Mother devoted herself to helping and guiding not only the external life of the sadhakas and sadhikas, but also their inner life. It is a wonderful story of sadhana in Pondicherry. For deeper sadhana Sri Aurobindo stopped the contact with the external world—only four days in a year he would give darshan (audience, appearance) to the seekers and all others who prayed for his darshan. But one gets the direct inspiration from the Mother—the heart is filled with bliss seeing her pleasant smile in the mornings and evenings. With her one can immerse in deep meditation and her presence is deeply felt in the quietness of the night.
It can easily be understood that vast sums of money were required for the expansion and running of the ashram. (In 2010, the number of sadhakas, sadhikas and the students stands close to 2000.) However, neither Sri Aurobindo nor anyone else from the ashram had ever asked for monetary help from anyone. Strangely, during the growing period, help started coming unsolicited. Where once there was a severe financial problem and austerity, there came prosperity. Some came to the ashram willingly surrendering their all, while others came without any means. But in the sadhana (seeking) of the Divine there is no place for finance disparity—for in the external world, the need for money was taken care of impartially. Where the divine work has begun, manifestation of divine power in this kind of wellness might appear strange to the materialistic person, but those who have realised the meaning of the divine glory, understand this secret well.