Saturday, August 18, 2007

Sri Aurobindo as part of India's "soft power"

It is not surprising that the present generation of the country has forgotten Sri Aurobindo and his contribution. A pioneer in the freedom struggle, he went on to create a vast intellectual and spiritual capital for the future humanity that India now can easily flaunt as part of her "soft power."

His message on the eve of August 15, 1947 was broadcast over All India Radio a few hours before Nehru’s "Tryst with destiny" speech. That remains a grand manifesto for not only the India of the future but also the whole humanity. Let’s read and re-read that.

Tusar N. Mohapatra,
President, Savitri Era Party.
www.sepact.blogspot.com

2 comments:

  1. Tusarji, I wanted to comment on this post much earlier, in fact when I read it I was thrilled because what you have expressed is what all Savitri Erans feel & it is one issue which unites them immediately. The Mother has often said that to discover the way forward for the country & the world His Message of Aug 15th 1947 must be indeed read & re-read by all & it is as you have rightly described a 'grand manifesto' for India & future humanity. The light expressed in that Message has the widest embrace & the greatest uniting strength. It gives a deeper identity to the country & bestows upon it a global mission rarely given to any other nation upon earth & that is a tremendous soft-power & the necessity of its use in international relations today by India is acute. In the growing days of liberation India had managed to develop another kind of soft-power & used it to attain some heights of moral force in international politics, it came crashing down after the 1962 debacle. But the soft power you speak of is, in my opinion, deeper, wider & more lasting because it is based on a unique spiritual vision which can outlast all onslaughts. Let's hope that The Master's Message of 15th Aug is relooked at from a deeper understanding by all.
    That the present generation know nothing much about Sri Aurobindo is because of the 'conspiracy of silence' around him initiated by various motivated groups, as deftly pointed out by Dr.Nadkarni in one of his articles. The Savitri Era Party must take this issue head on & work towards dispelling that ignorance & thereby effectively protect the future generation against attacks of cynicism, divisiveness & mis-placed activism & give rise in them the capacity for a more enduring & deeper identification with the Nation & the World.

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  2. Tusraji, I am commenting here again because it has to do with another message of The Master, a message given a hundred years ago on 23rd August 1907 to the students of the Bengal National College, it cntinues to remain relevant & stirring & shall so remain for ages & as long as India's quest for developing spiritual nationalism continues:

    " There are times in a nation's history when Providence places before it one work, one aim, to which everything else, however high and noble in itself, has to be sacrificed. Such a time has now arrived for our motherland when nothing is dearer than her service, when everything else is to be directed to that end. If you will study, study for her sake;train yourselves body and mind and soul for her service. You will earn your living that you may live for her sake. You will go abroad to foreign lands that you may bring back knowledge with which you may do service to her. Work that she may prosper. Suffer that she may rejoice. All is contained in that one single advice..." - 23 August 1907.

    I may say that such a time has now come again & such a sacrifice is demanded again,may all Savitri Erans rise to the demand & may the Savitri Era Party embody that message in this age & time.

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