TOWARDS A DIVINE LIFE *

 

Dr. PREMA NANADAKUMAR

 

            INDIA’S ANCIENT WAY (Sanatana Dharma) has been highly adaptable. While it has never compromised on the basic values that make man lead a good life and engage him in a life of spiritual progress, it has avoided codify­ing the methodology of religion into rigid and narrow patterns based on a single, revelatory book. From the Vedic; dawn onwards, Indians have always shown a profound reverence for life. There is no place here for violence in thought, word or deed. Rather, the emphasis is on calm, sterling patience, profound forgiveness and supreme joy. Ananda is the signifi­cance of the Vedic word “Rita” which is con­sidered a necessary adjunct to man’s life on earth. As A.C. Bose says:

 

            “Rita as Moral Law is a dominant idea in the Vedas. Ideal sages are described as people who praise Rita and think straight. Men are asked to “think of wealth and strive to win it by Rita and by worship”. Man and wife are asked in the Atharva Veda to “enjoy good fortune by observing Rita and bearing themselves according to Rita”. The Veda says that those who live in terms of Rita as moral form also participate in Rita as aesthetic form – good life is made happy by Nature’s beauty and be­nignity. “Sweet blows the breeze for one who lives by Rita rivers pour for him sweets”.1

 

            For, from the dawn of civilisation, man has wondered at the miracle of life, the miracle of creation. He has sought to trace the origins of this wonderful creation and tried to gather the very best in nature into his consciousness so as to grow into a supramental stature: strong as the wind, brilliant like the fire, generous as the clouds, life sustaining as water. One of the famous Rig Vedic hymns records the speech­lessness to the worshipper when confronted by Nature in her pristine beauty. So marvellous this creation, to whom shall we take our offerings of gratitude, Kasmai devayah havisha vidhema?

 

            “It is he who in his might surveyed the waters,

            conferring skill and creating worship­h–

            the God of gods, the One and the only One,

            Who is the Deity we shall worship with our offerings?

            Father of the world – he not destroy us–

            who with Truth as his Law made the heavens and produced waters, vast and beautiful.

            Who is the Deity we shall worship with our offerings?” 2

 

            The thrill of joy that runs through man’s physical frame as he contemplates upon the gifts of creation has itself become the foundation of Indian Yoga that seeks to transform man’s present named state into one of eternal delight. The aim of Yoga is to achieve the delight of existence as a permanent state of being. Towards that end, we have to say a firm ‘no’ to all narrow thoughts and untrue limitations that compartmentalise the human family. Analysing the first four hymns of the Rig Veda addressed to Agni, Sri Au­robindo states that Agni is “the active or effec­tive power of Truth-consciousness” that alone can wipe out the felisities that at present imprison mankind in egoistic shells of separa­tive consciousness. Agni (Truth) burns away all that is contrary to satya, indeed, Agni contains satyam and rtam.

 

            “Morever, he is citrasravastamah; from the rtam there proceeds a fullness of richly luminous and varied inspirations which give the capacity for doing the perfect work. For all these are epithets of Agni as the hotr, the priest of the sacrifice, he who performs the of­fering. Therefore it is the power of Agni to ap­ply the Truth in the work (Karma or apas) symbolised by the sacrifice, that makes him the object of human invocation”. 3

 

            As the fire glows outside on the sac­rificial spot, there is a corresponding illumina­tion within. The petty and humdrum feelings that bind us in our mundane life are loos­ened and even burnt up in this “inward force of unified Light and Power”. Such is the trans­formational power of the Vedic poems that man’s divine nature gets revealed with the shedding of the baser qualities. Once man wakes up in his divine nature, the rest is pure felicity, mayas: “and the gods who represent the Truth-consciousness are described as mayobhuvah, those who bring or carry in their being the felicity”.

 

            “Thus in these four verses of the open­ing hymn of the Veda we get the first indications of the principal ideas of the Vedic Rishis, ... the conception of a Truth-consciousness su­pramental and divine, the invocation of the gods as powers of the Truth to raise man out of the falsehoods of the mortal mind, the attain­ment in and by this truth of an immortal state of perfect good and felicity and the inner sacri­fice and offering of what one has and is by the mortal to the immortal as the means of the di­vine consummation”.4

 

            Down the centuries, Indian Yoga has built its many splendorous mansions on the firm foundations of this mayas or felicity Ananda. Sri Aurobindo belongs to this great tradition. His Yoga goes back to the original fresh-water springs of the Veda, crystallises his own Sadhana in terms of this Anada (Rtam, Bhadram), and provides a plentiful framework of reference in his poetry and prose for us to achieve personal transformation here and now: to lead one’s life on earth as a life divine.

 

            It is our good fortune that Sri Au­robindo’s Yoga has been no hot-house plant. It is a way being pursued by countless Sadhaks. For those who wish to take it up and are in search of proper introductions, there is no dearth of authoritative books on the subject. The most luminously simple volume in this li­brary to appear in recent times is Navajata’s A Divine Life in a Divine Body.

 

            An eminent Aurobindonian who was an unflappable centre of calm and reassurance even when right in the midst of soul-searing action, Navajata began life as a successful businessman. But the call of Sri Aurobindo’s Yoga was irresistible and he joined the Ashram. Un­der the direct supervision of the Mother, he progressed far and fast in Yoga as well as in his service to the divine. The Sri Aurobindo Soci­ety became a global movement under his dynamic management and he travelled cease­lessly. Inspiring people to follow Sri Aurobindo’s Yoga and achieve success and progress. Neither Navajata’s life nor that of the mil­lions inspired by him can be termed as rags-to-­riches stories. But everyone has felt the entry of a new force in their lives through this Yoga that exudes cheer, promise and fulfilment.

 

            It is a pity that most of the speeches of Sri Navajata were not recorded. But the few we have are roses. A Divine Life in a Divine Body has 21 talks that touch upon different aspects of our everyday life. The instinctive joy of Na­vajata’s approach to life’s problems is not obli­terated by the cold print. The crystalline sincer­ity of his words never fails to touch a deep chord in the reader’s mind; and the reader’s soul is repeatedly illumed because of Sri Au­robindo’s words presented at choice intervals by Navajata.

 

            A child like, heavenly faith marks Na­vajata’s approach to the Molller. And how she had brought out the best in him! When he pleaded with her to reveal his defects so he could improve himself, she said: “No, no, my child, I shall show you your qualities so that you may improve yourself”. After assuring us that a divine life in a divine body is possible, Navajata would have us aspire for it through Sadhana. The four basic requisites for Sadhana are the Guru, the Shastra, the Kala and Utsaha. While the Yoga is no doubt based on individual perfection, its aim is an integral, collective transformation of man into a perfect, unified world community:

 

            “He (Sri Aurobinoo) says that you may receive the Divine command but you may not be able to execute it. For this you must become a perfect instrument for carrying out the command, individually and collectively. That is why Sri Aurobindo and the Mother have said that an individual evolution is not enough; the Supermind consciousness must descend upon earth. Individual evolution may be a prelimi­nary step, but the Supermind consciousness must descend on earth and become a guiding principle, like the mind is at present. And when this happens, the world would change.”

 

            Also, one man’s perfection can institute a Big Change. Nor need we feel sceptical as incarnations and Mahayogis have achieved such transformations of the people near them. When we recognise the truth of Sri Aurobindo’s Ma­havakya, “All life is Yoga”, our perceptions get attuned to the new consciousness. Meditation, Karmayoga, Hatllayoga, Bhaktiyoga – all, all become so many pathways to high achievement and entry into the divine consciousness.

 

            Navajata assures us that loyalty to the Divine by holding on to the divine consciousness makes us invincible and puts us on the pathway of an endless progression. For, re­member, the Aurobindonian Yoga does not ac­cept the ascetic’s denial of life nor the epicure’s perversion of life. It is an Ananda Yoga that opens up with the spontaneous joy of a lotus opening its petals to the sun and finding high fulfilment.

 

            When all life is Yoga instinct with felicity, there is no aspect that can be ignored. One could begin anywhere and then launch on the adventure of consciousness from the human to the divine. Navajata offers certain helpful in­sights into the various aspects of meditation. Japa is also an important instrument to achieve spiritual progress. The concept of Guru is explained with great skill:

 

            “It is the Divine who uses the Guru, a real Guru, for the Mantra to be given to the disciple, for the Sadhana to be done and for the guidance to be given to him from time to time. This means that a Guru should be a person who has a constant link with the Divine Conscious­ness. He should also have the capacity to take the disciple into his own consciousness and guide him by communicating in silence his con­sciousness to him. This is a real guru”. 5

 

            The Guru is able to transform the Sishya even by a mere glance as with Sri Aurobindo himself and Sri Ramana Maharshi. On the part of the disciple, respectful obedience and faultless humility can work wonders:

 

            “You should try to be linked with the Guru’s consciousness and constantly maintain this link integrally, psychically, mentally, vitally, physically. As I explained, a physical contact with the Guru – through letters, through words, through a Mantra or by work­ing for him – helps. Whatever you want, try to see the Divine presence in that aspect in your Guru and try to open to it. You may want to learn music, you may want to do painting, you may want literary capacity or faith or courage. You can get anything, because everything is latent in the Divine. By our concentration the capacities are awakened; by our aspiration we call them down; by our receptivity we receive them; by our surrender we assimilate them. That is how the process works”. 6

 

            Not a word is out of place even in Na­vajata’s reminiscences of the inexplicable happenings in his life that was always spent in the aegis of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. He takes the seeming miracles in his stride with the firm conviction that the Mother’s Grace is all-powerful and all - pervading:

 

            “Many people say Sri Aurobindo’s Yoga is difficult. I say it is easy. Easy, because ninety-nine per cent of the work is done by Sri Aurobindo Himself. Otherwise it would be not only difficult but impossible. But that one per cent of sincerity that is required on our part, is most essential - sincerity in becoming con­scious of the Divine in all the parts of the being and integrating them”. 7

 

            Speaking of sleep and dreams, Navajata points out how Sri Aurobindo’s Yoga takes us beyond the mind and into the worlds of delight. This is apparent even in a seemingly mundane and Tamasic activity like sleep. “Beyond the mind are the worlds of delight. Really speak­ing, when you go beyond the mind your sleep becomes refreshing.”

 

            Despair and suicide have no place in Sri Aurobindo’s Yoga. A life full of possibilities should never be destroyed. In fact we should not condone wastage of any kind. Navajata’s voice insinuates into the consciousness of the housewife, the student, the labourer, the scholar: Your house should be in order ... Know your best potential ... Consider food as Prasad. When Navajata says “You should be a living model of what a child of the Mother should be”, all at once is said.

 

            In all his talks, Navajata never forgets the foundations of our culture. The Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Gita are effective in­struments in mastering the path of Yoga. Of course, Hinduism has innumerable religious, spiritual and sectarian treatises. We must learn to jettison sectarianism, superstition and blind ritualism but hold on to those spiritual movements suggested in our scriptures. By doing so India could produce a spiritualised society, a perfect society that can be a role-model for humanity.

 

            The society envisioned by Aurobin­danian Yoga is nothing less than “spiritual communism”. Here the Slate – the Big Brother – is eliminated and the Divine alone remains. It is the Divine that is the seer (upadrushta), the ordainer (allumantha), the devotee (bhakta), the injoyer (bhakta), and the Lord of All (mahaeshwarah). It is as Sri Au­robindo has written “A spiritualised society would live like its spiritual individuals, not in the ego, but in the spirit, not as a collective ego but as a collective soul.”

 

            In this possibility of soul-togetherness lies the definite future of human unity. Man will yet realise the joy of togetherness and in fact, Sri Aurobindo’s Action has already begun. The doubting Thomases are effectively si­lenced by Navajata:

 

            “The change is a very big one. We should not look at our incapacities but at the  Divine’s Grace to bring it about. We are not going to do this, it is the Divine who is going to do it. And always the means are available for the work to be done, if at each moment we are conscious. If we are conscious of the Divine, there is no problem in the world which cannot be solved”. 8

 

            For us who saw Navajata in action, “A Divine Life in a Divine Body” is not a mere possibility but an assured certainty. He was the very embodiment of the Ananda Yogin, practical and idealistic, simple and scholarly, meditative and exuber­ant. The very image of utsaha, Navajata was truly “a messenger of the Mother’s Love and Grace”, a channel to bring to us the divine afflatus, a paraclete to lead us to Truth-­consciousness:

 

“I gather knowledge here,

Then to my human frame awhile descend

And walk mid men, choosing my instruments,

Testing, rejecting and confirming souls­–

Vessels of the Spirit; for the golden age

In Kali comes, the iron lined with gold.

The Yoga shall be given back to men,

The sects shall cease, the grim debates die out

And atheism perish from the Earth,

Blasted with knowledge; love and brotherhood

And wisdom repossess Sri Krishna’s world.

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1 On the vedas (1966), P.7.

2 Ibid., P. 63

3 Sri Aurobindo, On the Veda (1956), P. 76

4 ibid., P. 79.

5 A Divine Life in a Divine. Body. P. 85

6 ibid., P. 90.

7 ibid., P. 112.

8 ibid., P. 254.

9 Sri Aurobindo, “The Mahatma”·

 

* A Divine Life in a Divine Body: By Navajata. Nava Path, SABDA, Pondicherry - 605 002.

Price: Rs. 60.

 

 

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