All World
Gayatri Pariwar

Revelation of a New Vision – 3 Assurance of Divine Consciousness Those days Sri Aurobindo lived in solitude. From the beginning of the year 1926, he started handing over the responsibility of the Ashram and sadhaks to Sri Maa. At that time, Sri Maa’s age might have been around fifty years. On 24th November 1926, sadhaks participating in a meeting had a divine realization. All sadhaks went into trance and attained a state of collective Samadhi. This state remained for forty five minutes. When the silence broke and sadhaks returned to their normal state, it appeared as if they had seen a divine vision. Due to this collective realization and the divine invisible forces working in the background, this day was declared as ‘Siddhi Divas’ (a day of attainment of Divine Realization). After this miraculous event, Sri Aurobindo went into solitude.

Rajani Bhai gave all this information to Shriram, though he knew all this beforehand. Rajani Bhai also made arrangement for his stay in the Ashram and told him to come to him after taking meals, etc. He also fixed an appointment for him with Sri Maa. In the afternoon, he too was to meet Sri Maa. This time was reserved for the volunteers of the Ashram and dedicated sadhaks. In the evening darshan, there were ten-twelve people. Among them, there were a few sadhaks also.

Sri Maa raised her right hand to bless the new visitor who was none other than Shriram. He tried to introduce himself, but before he could do so, Sri Maa called him by his name. When expression of amazement appeared on Shriram’s face, she said – “There is no need to get surprised. I have not known you through any siddhi; rather Rajani has written your name in the list of visitors. I understood from that.”

Minute Things Saying this Sri Maa laughed. This was a fun. Shriram too laughed and so also others present there. But this fun–laughter stopped in a few moments. A volunteer reported, “Rama is not eating properly. (Rama was the name of a cow in the Goshala.) She is not sick; she also gives plenty of milk, but does not take her food (grass, water, etc). What should be done?” Sri Maa closed her eyelids. She remained silent for some time and then spoke –“Gwala (milkman) has beaten her calf; that is why she is angry. Convey to the Gwala that he should apologize to Rama for what he has done to her calf.” In one quarter of the Ashram, the windows could not be closed properly. They were repaired but the problem was not fixed. Perhaps the person asking the solution for this problem was expecting a similar interior cause. But nothing of that kind happened. Sri Maa told him to get them repaired again; and that the carpenter had not worked carefully so he must be watched.

People were discussing very small things with Sri Maa. Shriram was wondering and also thinking that they should themselves sort out such things. Someone narrated the incident of Mahatma Gandhi. A meeting was going on in Sevagram about some program to be organized in connection with the freedom struggle. Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel and some other leaders were present. The topic was that there was no coordination among the volunteers. This was affecting the freedom struggle. Bapu too was participating in that discussion. As he was talking to some leader, lamb of a goat came running amidst the leaders and sat near Bapu. Bapu’s eyes fell on its leg which was injured. In fact the lamb sat in a way as to attract the attention of Bapu and convey its pain. Bapu got up saying to the leaders, “You please talk on this matter. In the meantime, I will apply a mud pack to this lamb and come back.” The leaders started gazing at each other in astonishment. Nehru even got irritated thinking that lamb’s injury was more important than sorting out the problems related to freedom struggle. Knowing this incident, Sri Maa first smiled and then said – “On reaching a certain level of consciousness, the duty in hand becomes more important. The outward importance of the work does not have much meaning.”

Some specific purpose When the talks with all the sadhaks present there were complete, Sri Maa looked at Shriram and said – “You are new here but not for us. There was no need for you to come here for any consultation; that could have been possible at the meta-physical level. The purpose of our meeting is much more profound.”

Shriram was silently looking at Sri Maa. Some other sadhaks were also present there. Sri Maa indicated that the time of darshan was over and that the sadhaks should go, but asked Shriram to stay back. She started saying – “Sri Aurobindo is now living in seclusion. Had he been visiting places, it was likely that both of you could have met at some place. But he is busy in making an effort in the direction of ushering in of a New Era. The divine powers that have assigned him this work, have called you too here.”

“But I don’t have any such inner flash. Perhaps I have been inspired to come here by my teacher, Sri Maa.” – said Shriram. Sri Maa replied –“You have visited other places too; but this is not important. Sri Aurobindo considers this Ashram to be a laboratory. Some experimental tests for bright future are being conducted here. He has some expectations from you.”

On hearing this, Shriram’s face was lit up with enthusiasm. It appeared as if he was readying himself for listening further. After a short pause, Sri Maa said – “There are mainly three visions about this world. The first one matches with the views of Shankar and Buddha that this world is an illusion, it is false; that is why there is pain and suffering here. There is only one work worth doing here and that is – get out from here, get salvation and become one with the unmanifest Brahm. The second vision is that of Vedanta – God is omnipresent. Essentially He is present everywhere but its manifested form is corrupt; it is covered up by the darkness of ignorance. In order to get rid of it, be stable in the Self. Don’t worry about the world. The third view is modern or new. It has been investigated by Sri Aurobindo. According to him, whatever be the shape of the world today, it is incomplete. It is a dim and distorted form of what it has to become. It is not the direct manifestation of the divine consciousness, but it has to become that. Its creation is for the undiluted manifestation of all forms and aspects of God.”

According to this message of Sri Maa, a new world order has to evolve. Whosoever is making efforts in the direction of spirituality should try to understand this as the will of God. During that conversation itself, Sri Maa called Shriram a ‘Yogi’. Next morning, it was decided for him to meet Sri Aurobindo. He was in complete seclusion. He didn’t appear in public or in private except on Siddhi Divas and other dates of darshan.

A little-known context

In special contexts, there is always room for exceptions. Indeed the meeting of Shriram with Sri Aurobindo in seclusion was an exception. What transpired between the two is a matter of anybody’s guess. After several years, Shriram gave only the hints of that discussion held in 1937. According to him, the task of setting up a laboratory for inner transformation of aspiring seekers was given to him. Aurobindo Ashram, as an institution, was trying to create an environment where the divine energies could be activated in the seekers. The responsibility that was given to Shriram was that he should start uniting such seekers who might look ordinary from outside but are open and eager from within to be unhindered mediums for the inflow of the divine energies. Individual as well as institutional efforts should be such that the divine consciousness would appear to manifest all-around.

Sri Aurobindo said – “In the coming days, life will become more complex. Then people will have to face more problems. A detached attitude towards family is essential in sadhana. One should not neglect the family but should also not get totally immersed in worldly pursuits for the sake of the family. When a person enters spiritual life, the familial bonds are loosened; new relations start developing. The result of getting tied to the worldly relations is – bondage to the lower nature.”

This meeting continued for about forty minutes. Shriram stayed in the Ashram for two more days. During the discussions, Sri Maa disclosed some more facts about the Ashram. According to Sri Maa, the aim of Ashram is to integrate Yoga in life. For this purpose, one has to accept the realities of life. Therefore, there should be no such activity in the Ashram that contradicts life. Shriram started visualizing the picture of an Ashram to be developed by him in future.