All World
Gayatri Pariwar

     After returning from England, Aurobindo took all the measures to force the Britishers to leave India. Indian princes were organized, students were mobilized, a new party was formed but he soon realized that these stray efforts would be of no avail to confront the might of the powerful British Empire. It was not possible in those days to do something like Gandhiji's satyagrah. He, therefore, took up the work of generating spiritual power to warm up the atmosphere. He went out of the reach of the Britishers, lived in seclusion in Pondicherry and started doing special tapashcarya sadhana.

People may regard it as an act of escapism but it was not so. Those having keen observation knew it very well that Aurobindo generated powerful invisible energy by his tapashcarya. The subtle atmosphere was warmed up, giving birth to a number of great personages at a time, which was unprecedented in the history of the country. Anybody can be a political leader, but he is not necessarily a great man. Great persons are great from every point of view and they possess the capacity to visibly and invisibly move and influence the public mind. Having lost everything on account of slavery over a period of two thousand years, the country needed such helmsmen who could lead the nation out of difficulties. They were all born at one time in large numbers like whirlwinds in hot summer. Thus, in due course, Aurobindo’s dream was fulfilled.

In the history of spiritual sciences, tapashcarya and sadhana, have been regarded as the only means for higher attainments. This cannot be done by clinging to a luxurious, comfortable life style. It needs single-pointed concentration towards the achievement of the noble aim. At the time of writing eighteen Purañas, Vyas retired to a cave near Vasodhara in Uttarakhand. Ganesh undertook to help him as his scribe on the condition that he will not interrupt and will keep totally silent. Such an important work could not have been accomplished without this uninterrupted concentration.

Maharshi Raman remained engaged in tapashcarya and observed silence during the period of struggle for Independence. Besides, several other elevated saints in the Himalayas performed specific tapashcarya for this purpose. This invisible spiritual contribution cannot be seen and appreciated with material senses. Persons having spiritual insight alone know its truth.

Keeping in view the principle that means have to be in accord with the importance of a particular end, specific tapashcarya is being performed these days to change for the better the quality of present atmosphere. Its nature and standards are, therefore, difficult. In the beginning, I was entrusted with the task of refining public attitudes, and stimulating enthusiasm in the masses for constructive activities. This could not have been done merely by setting up an organisation and preparing speakers, musicians, resources of publicity etc. Gurudev, who understood the reality very well, had, therefore, entrusted only one task in the beginning, that of performing twenty-four Gayatri Mahapurashcarañas for twenty-four years. The credit for all the accomplishments during the last thirty years goes to this initial tapashcarya which served as a fixed deposit capital. At that time also it was not restricted merely to performing a fixed number of Jap. Several restrictions, disciplines and pledges were also attached to it.

Jap of a fixed number of mantras can be performed by anybody who is sitting idle but accomplishment of any great task cannot be achieved merely by such symbolic worship. It has to be linked up with the strict tapashcarya which energizes and rejuvenates physical, astral and causal bodies and makes them strong in all respects. Accumulated sins and impurities act as great impediments in the path of spiritual progress. They can be burnt out only by putting them in the furnace of tapashcarya. When iron-ore is taken out from the earth it is raw and crude. Similar is the case with other metals. They have to be put in a burning furnace to purify them and make them fit for use. Valuable medicines, bhasma etc. are prepared by Ayurvedic physicians by purifying raw materials with fire. The potter has to put his raw pots in a kiln and apply requisite heat. The same rule applies to human beings. Service, sadhana, religious pursuits of the —Ìis are all apparent deeds; but for acquiring power to achieve some specific goal, they have to undergo great intensive tapashcarya from time to time. Every great person has to undergo this austerity in his own way because, without it, divine powers cannot be invoked, received, augmented and retained. So long as there is no piety, brilliance and maturity in the personality of a man, he cannot achieve remarkable, significant and praise-worthy success. How long can a tree, which has no deep roots, stand against the vagaries of nature and flourish?

The fundamental principles of tapashcarya are self-restraint (sanyam) and proper utilization of resources. By observing restraint of sense organs (indriya-sanyam), a man remains healthy and the store of his willpower never gets exhausted. By observing restriction in respect of spending money (artha-sanyam), a man has to lead a simple life of an average citizen and maintain himself on his self-earned, honest earnings. Best utilization of one's own time is known as samaya-sanyam, in which a set work-routine has to be followed and body and mind are applied to specific useful pursuits. This leaves no time for indulging in evil deeds. By exercising restraint in respect of thoughts (vicar-sanyam) the outlook of a person becomes devout, spiritual and religious and it becomes easy for him to perform sadhana of Bhakti-yoga, Gyan-yoga and Karma-yoga. Self-restraint (sanyam) means saving. By exercising sanyam of these four kinds, abundant energy is saved, after meeting worldly needs. This can be utilized in serving noble purposes. Such a person leads a relaxed happy jovial life and accomplishes his personal as well as universal good. Gurudev had taught me sixty years back to follow this path which I have been following strictly ever since. The only purpose in calling me to the Himalayas from time to time was to maintain my enthusiasm and industriousness and strengthen my faith in the efficacy of tapashcarya.

By doing sadhana on Bhagirath Shila in Gangotri I got the power to launch Pragya abhiyan and thus help in the descent of Gyan Ganga (stream of knowledge) on this earth. While I was in the Âshram of Parshuram in Uttarkashi, I got the battle-axe with the help of which I could create turbulence and anger in the minds of the people against widespread perversion. According to the scriptures, Parashuram had beheaded several tyrants a number of times. My activity was confined to annihilation of evil tendencies lodged in the human mind. Vicar-kranti and Pragya abhiyan are not only creative but also reformative. Both these objectives have been achieved on a large scale with great success by the power of tapashcarya and not by any miracle or coincidence.

This is a summary of the past activities. I have now been directed by Gurudev, to whose tune I have been dancing as a puppet throughout my life, to make a big leap in this direction. Now I have to enter into a new higher level of tapashcarya. The general public knows only that I am living in seclusion and not meeting anybody. This information is incomplete. A person whose whole being is full of diligence, industriousness, punctuality and order, cannot live a useless inactive life, as is being assumed. I am required to do comparatively far more work and I remain far busier while living in seclusion. Although I have adopted the practice of not meeting people, I have established contact with many illumined, immortal souls, whose company I have aspired to enjoy perennially, and which would not have been possible in the normal course. How can it then be said to be a life of seclusion? There has been only a change in the method of working. The type of persons who used to meet me and the subjects of the meetings have changed. Mystics always adopt such methods. They appear to be inactive, although they remain extremely busy. When a top (lattu) revolves with full speed it appears to be standing motionless. The fact that it is in motion can be noticed only when its speed is slowed down and it starts stumbling and falling.

In those days when Einstein was busy in conducting important research he had changed his entire routine of life. He used to live all alone in a huge building where all facilities were available. All the books, literature, instruments of research, assistants and colleagues were readily available at hand, but they were kept away from him so that Einstein’s concentration may not be disturbed. He used to ring a bell and get everything which he wanted through his attendant. Visitors waited for months to see him. It was only thus that it became possible for him to make his valuable contributions to humanity which amazed the entire world. The —shis and tapasvis also lived a similar life in seclusion in the ancient times. They were engaged in conducting researches on several planes relating to spiritual science. They used to select some quiet secluded place and got absorbed in their work with full concentration.

I have also been directed to do some very important new type of tasks. The first is to activate the dormant spiritual power to neutralize the probability of a worldwide holocaust. The second is to provide necessary inspiration and strength to constructive workers (srajan shilpis) without which they will be unable to do their work satisfactorily. Third is to initiate and raise the structure of those righteous tendencies which will act as guidelines in building the new era. All these tasks cannot be performed all alone through the physical body which has a limited range of power to meet physical needs and can render help to a limited number of proximate persons. It is necessary to develop the astral and causal bodies for doing more important and extensive work. When all these three bodies become equally strong and active then alone will it be possible to accomplish the momentous deeds in accordance with the will of the 'Time Spirit' (Mahakal).

Ramakrishna Paramhansa was placed almost under similar circumstances. He was required to accomplish a task of worldwide dimensions. As per plan, he transfused his spiritual powers into Vivekananda and took upon himself the responsibility of making the task of the latter easy and successful from behind the scene. Such a stupendous task could not have been accomplished through the physical body. He, therefore, abandoned it without hesitation. He had also overspent his energies by liberally conferring boons. He voluntarily got afflicted with cancer, discharged his debt and got engaged in doing the work through Vivekananda, who did it all according to the direction of his Supreme Master? When Ramakrishna withdrew to the astral realm, his physical absence caused pain and sadness. But all that had happened was for the greatest Good. After his physical death Ramakrishna's power had increased a thousandfold and many righteous works were done not only in the country but also in the whole world. When he was alive he could give his blessings to some disciples and transfuse his spiritual powers into Vivekananda but when he got the opportunity to act through the astral and causal bodies he could do far greater works, which can be hardly understood or quantified.

The life of Jesus Christ has also been of the same type. He struggled hard throughout his life but could make only thirteen persons as his disciples. When he found that his physical body would not be able to do as much work as he wanted, he took the help of his astral body and invisibly helped in the spread of Christianity throughout the world. On such occasions great persons voluntarily choose painful death to clear their past accounts. Crucifixion of Christ, taking poison by Socrates, Shri Krishna's getting hit by an arrow, Pandavas getting frozen in the Himalayas, Gandhi's being shot, are all events which indicate that all great persons who want to enter from the physical into the astral form to accomplish still greater tasks give up their bodies in such a manner that it be regarded as a martyr's death and inspire generations to come. This has happened with me and is going to happen also in future.