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<b><font size="4">Pondicherry</font></b><span

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:21.1pt;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i><o:p><font size="4">&nbsp;</font></o:p></i></b></span></p>
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<span

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<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>SRI Aurobindo came to
Pondicherry¹ and took shelter here. We might say of course from another point
of view that it was he who gave shelter to <st1:City><st1:place>Pondicherry</st1:place></st1:City>
within his own consciousness. But why this city in particular? There is indeed
the usual view that he retired into French territory to escape the wrath of the
British bureaucracy. But actually, all he wanted was to find a quiet spot where
he might give himself to his own work undisturbed.<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:11.5pt;mso-line-height-alt:
8.85pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The
place was so quiet that we can hardly imagine now what it was really like. It
was not quiet, it was actually dead; they used to call it a dead city. There
was hardly any traffic, particularly in the area where we lived, and after dusk
there was not a soul stirring. It is no wonder they should say, &quot;Sri
Aurobindo has fixed upon a cemetery for his sadhana.&quot;<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:11.25pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>It
was a cemetery indeed. Whilst the Indian nationalist movement had been flooding
the whole country, nothing of that regenerating flood could find an entry here,
except for one or two individuals who had felt a touch. It was like a backwater
of the sea, a stagnant pool by the shore. There was here no such thing as a
public life or a youth movement or any kind of collective effort or an experiment
in educational reform – there was no sign whatsoever of an awakening to life.<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;tab-stops:11.5pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><span
style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>A cemetery it was no doubt, but one with its
full complement of ghosts and ghouls.<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;tab-stops:11.5pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><span
style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>In the first rank of these ghouls were the
ruffian bands.</p>
		<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;tab-stops:11.5pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>&nbsp;</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;tab-stops:11.5pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><span
style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>¹ <span style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:
12.0pt'>In 1910.</span><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>

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<span style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;'>Page –
400<o:p></o:p></span></p>

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<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Such creatures can appear
only in a highly tamasic environment. For, the greater the depth of inertia
the more is the need for keen rajasic excitement followed immediately by the
silence of sleep. <st1:City><st1:place>Pondicherry</st1:place></st1:City> of
those days had a still more notorious reputation for its cheap wine-shops and
its rowdy tipsies. Of this type of ghouls there was a regular invasions from outside every week-end.<span
style='mso-tab-count:1'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:11.0pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The
ruffian bands – known locally as <i>bandes </i>in French – were a peculiar
institution now almost broken up. The French regime in <st1:City><st1:place>Pondicherry</st1:place></st1:City>
was supposed to be in theory a reign of liberty, equality and fraternity. But
in actual fact, it was the feudalism of pre-Revolution <st1:country-region><st1:place>France</st1:place></st1:country-region>
that held sway here. Or perhaps it was something worse, namely, the arbitrary
rule of three or four high officials and rich men of <span style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
bold'>ill-</span>gotten means. The &quot;bandes&quot; were in their pay and
they were there to do their bidding; the police had neither the will nor the
power to intervene. On certain occasions, during the campaigns for political
elections, complete anarchy seemed to reign in <st1:City><st1:place>Pondicherry</st1:place></st1:City>,
while rioting and murder continued for days on end and blood flowed freely.
People would not dare stir out of their houses, especially after dark. We were
not openly involved in politics, but some of our friends were. And Sri
Aurobindo would sometimes send out some of us to meet them, even after
nightfall and on purpose. The local people marvelled at our dauntless courage.<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:2.85pt;mso-line-height-alt:
3.8pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:11.5pt;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>These ruffian bands – these
ghouls I was going to say – turned against us too on more than one occasion.
Let me explain in a little more detail.<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:11.5pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Soon
after Sri Aurobindo came, he realised that a firm seat must be established
here, an unshakable foundation for his <i>sadhana </i>and <i>siddhi, </i>for
the path and the goal. He was to build up on the ever-shifting sands of the
shore a firm and strong edifice, a <st1:place><st1:PlaceType>Temple</st1:PlaceType>
 of <st1:PlaceName>God</st1:PlaceName></st1:place>. Have we not read in the<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

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<span
style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;'>Page – 401<o:p></o:p></span></p>

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<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Puranas and other
scriptures that whenever and wherever a sage or a Rishi sat down to his
meditation and sadhana, there rushed' upon him at once a host of evil spirits
to break up his work? They seemed to have a special liking for Rishi's flesh.<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:11.25pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Those
who tried most to stop Sri Aurobindo from settling down and were ever on the
alert to move him from his seat were the British authorities. The British
Government in <st1:country-region><st1:place>India</st1:place></st1:country-region>
could- never accept that Sri Aurobindo had come away to French territory for
carrying on his yoga. Religion and spirituality, these to them were a mere
subterfuge. They thought they knew what Sri Aurobindo was – the one most
dangerous man in all <st1:country-region><st1:place>India</st1:place></st1:country-region>,
the source of all the trouble. <st1:City><st1:place>Pondicherry</st1:place></st1:City>
was the place from where were supplied the necessary instructions and advice
and perhaps even the pistols and other weapons. Here was the brain-centre of
the Indian independence movement. That Sri Aurobindo had been the mainspring of
Indian independence they had been told by their life-instinct, although the
superficial sense in which they understood it was not obviously the whole
truth.<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:12.0pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;tab-stops:10.05pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>At one time, they made up their minds that Sri Aurobindo
should be kidnapped in a car with the help of one of the chiefs of the local
&quot;bandes&quot;. We had to patrol all night the house in which Sri Aurobindo
lived, lest there should be a sudden attack. I gather the ringleader behind
this move showed repentance later and said that to act against a holy man and
yogi was a great sin and that a curse might fall on the evil-doer himself.<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:12.2pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Nevertheless,
force having failed they now tried fraud. An attempt was made to frame a
trumped-up charge at law. Some of the local &quot;ghouls&quot; were made to
help forge the documents – some photographs and maps and charts along with a
few letters – which were to prove that we had been engaged in a conspiracy for
dacoity and murder. The papers were left in a well in the compound of one of
our men, then<span
style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>

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<span
style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;'>Page – 402<o:p></o:p></span></p>

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<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>they were
&quot;discovered&quot; after a search by the police. The French police had even
entered Sri Aurobindo's residence for a search. But when their Chief found
there were Latin and Greek books lying about on his desk, he was so taken aback
that he could only blurt out, . <i>&quot;Il sait du latin, it sait<o:p></o:p></i></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><i>du grec </i>/&quot; –
&quot;He knows Latin, he knows Greek!&quot; – and then he left with all his
men. How could a man who knew Latin and Greek ever commit any mischief?<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:.15in;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>In
fact, the French Government had not been against us, indeed they helped us as
far as they could. We were looked upon as their guests and as political
refugees, it was a matter of honour for them to give us their protection. And
where it is a question of honour, the French as a race are willing to risk
anything: they still fight duels-in <st1:country-region><st1:place>France</st1:place></st1:country-region>
on a point of honour. But at the same time, they had their friendship, the <i>entente
cordiale, </i>with <st1:country-region><st1:place>Britain</st1:place></st1:country-region>
to maintain and it is this that got them into a dilemma.<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:.15in;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:3.1pt;mso-line-height-alt:4.05pt;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:11.25pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>In
addition to force and fraud, the British Government did not hesitate to make
use of temptation as well. They sent word to Sri Aurobindo which they followed
up by messenger, to say that if he were to return to <st1:place>British India</st1:place>,
they would not mind. They would indeed be happy to provide him with a nice
bungalow in the quiet surroundings of a hill station, <st1:City><st1:place>Darjeeling</st1:place></st1:City>,
where he could live in complete freedom and devote himself to his spiritual
practices without let or hindrance. Needless to add, this was an ointment
spread out to catch a fly and Sri Aurobindo refused the invitation with a
&quot;No, thank you.&quot;<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:.15in;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Afterwards
came a more serious attack, perhaps the one most fraught with danger. The First
World War was on. <st1:country-region><st1:place>India</st1:place></st1:country-region>
had been seething with discontent and things were not going too well abroad on
the European front. The British Government now brought pressure on the French:<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

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mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>
<span
style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;'>Page – 403<o:p></o:p></span></p>

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<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;mso-line-height-alt:7.9pt;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>they must
do something drastic about their political refugees. Either they should hand
them over to the British, or else let them be deported out of <st1:country-region><st1:place>India</st1:place></st1:country-region>.
The French Government accordingly proposed that they would find room for us in <st1:country-region><st1:place>Algeria</st1:place></st1:country-region>.
There we could live in peace; they would see to our passage so that we need
have no worry on that score. H on the other hand we were to refuse this offer,
there might be danger: the British authorities might be allowed to seize us
forcibly.<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:11.5pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>I
can recall very well that scene. Sri Aurobindo was seated in his room in what
was later called &quot;Guest House&quot;, Rue Francois Martin. We too had come.
Two or three of the Tamil nationalist leaders who had sought refuge in <st1:City><st1:place>Pondicherry</st1:place></st1:City>
came in and told Sri Aurobindo about the <st1:country-region><st1:place>Algeria</st1:place></st1:country-region>
offer and also gave a hint that they were agreeable. Sri Aurobindo paused a
little and then he said in a quiet clear tone, &quot;I do not budge from
here.&quot; To them this came as a bolt from the blue; they had never expected
anything like this. <span style='mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>In </span><st1:country-region><st1:place>Algeria</st1:place></st1:country-region>
there would be freedom and peace, whereas here we lived in constant danger and
uncertainty. But now they were helpless. Sri Aurobindo had spoken and they
could hardly act otherwise. They had no alternative but to accept the decision,
though with a heavy heart.<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:11.75pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The
story of Danton comes to mind – Danton the leader of the French Revolution. For
a long time he had been on the crest of the wave of revolution, a leader
revered of all. The wheel of his fortune was now on the downward turn and
another party, the extremists, had reached the crest. Orders were out for his
arrest, which meant the guillotine. His friends rushed to him to give advice.
&quot;Flee, Danton, flee,&quot; they said, &quot;there is yet time, flee.&quot;
Danton was unmoved and he replied in a calm and quiet manner. &quot;That cannot
be,&quot; he said. <i>&quot;On n'emporte pas Ie pays à la semelle de ses souliers&quot;
</i>– &quot;You cannot carry the country on the heels of your shoes.&quot;<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:13.5pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The
Ashram has of course been subjected to fresh attacks<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

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mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>
<span
style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;'>Page – 404<o:p></o:p></span></p>

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<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>later, and to some of
these many of you have been witness. But by then the Ashram had its foundations
well laid and the edifice had risen high. But in the days of which I have been
speaking there was no such thing as a foundation yet. Today the Ashram stands
like a banyan tree with head erect and branches spread all over; its body is
solid and immovable, the roots go deep and strong and firm. An attack may
dislodge or even break a few leaves and branches, but, nothing more serious
can happen. But in those days there was a possibility that the whole tree might
get uprooted and such attempts too were there. The whole endeavour then was to
find a standing-room. Sri Aurobindo wanted, as the Vedic Rishis before him had
done, to find a footing where there was none, <i>apade pada-dhatave.<o:p></o:p></i></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><i><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></i></p>

<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;text-indent:2.85pt;
mso-line-height-alt:5.25pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:12.45pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>In those
days there was in the College de France in <st1:City><st1:place>Pondicherry</st1:place></st1:City>
a French professor named Jouveau Dubreuil – later on he became quite a
well-known name – who had been engaged in research in ancient history and
archaeology. We knew him quite well. He was at that time working on the early
history of <st1:City><st1:place>Pondicherry</st1:place></st1:City>. From a
study of the ancient documents and inscriptions he discovered that the city of Pondicherry,
which I have called a city of the dead, had at one time been known as a city of
the Veda, <i>veda-puri. </i>That is to say, it had a centre of Vedic
learning. And this Vedic college, our professor found from ancient maps and
other clues, was located exactly on the spot where the main building of our
Ashram now stands.<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:.15in;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>According
to ancient tradition, the Rishi Agastya came to the South to spread the Vedic
lore and the Aryan discipline. His seems to have been the first project for
the infusion of Aryan culture into the Dravidian civilisation. Many of you may
here recall the lines of Hemchandra the Bengali poet:<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

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<span
style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;'>Page – 405<o:p></o:p></span></p>

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<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Arise, O Mountain, arise,<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Agastya has returned;<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>A new sign has been
floated,<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>There's a racing flood of
Light;<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>And lo, the sky holds a
new splendour of the Sun... </p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Hold this light, O
Mountain,<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>That it spread a new Dawn
over the land;<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>May it hold the new
Knowledge,<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>May it acquire a new life;<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Maya new Dream come to us
all.<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Raise, O Mountain, your
blue dragon-mass.<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:
none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:11.25pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The
legend goes that as Agastya journeyed South, the Vindhya mountains bent low to
give him passage, and that they have remained low ever since and would continue
in that posture until the Rishi came back. In connection with this story about
the Vedic Rishi Agastya, one is almost automatically reminded of the endeavour
of Sri Aurobindo. Like Agastya he journeyed South and set up a permanent seat
here to emanate a new Light – he was even known in these parts as Uttara Yogi,
the Yogi of the North. In his lines of work and sadhana too we find a strange
affinity with Agastya's effort, at least in one respect. Agastya had been for
years driving deep into the earth, in the abyss of the subconscient, for he
nourished both .the worlds, earth and heaven; he along with his companion
Lopamudra had been striving for victory here upon earth itself, In their battle
and the sacrifice with its hundred fiery tongues, <i>jayavedatra satanithamajim,
yat samyañca mithunababhyajava; </i>for the effort that had the
protection of the gods could never, fail, <i>na mrsa srantam
yadavanti devah. </i>To carry the effort of the Vedic Rishis to a greater
fulfilment, to make the victory complete in a hundred, nay, in a thousand ways,
s<i>atanitham, sahasranitham, –</i> this precisely was Sri
Aurobindo's aim.<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;text-indent:3.1pt;
mso-line-height-alt:3.8pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>
<span style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;
'>Page – 406<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;text-indent:3.1pt;
mso-line-height-alt:3.8pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;
text-autospace:none'>

<hr size=2 width="100%" align=center>

</div>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:11.75pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Sri
Aurobindo was in <st1:City><st1:place>Pondicherry</st1:place></st1:City> for
forty years. The first few years were spent in establishing a seat: he had to
select a suitable spot and make a permanent abode where he could work
undisturbed. This point about selecting a &quot;seat&quot; occurs in the story
of all great spiritual aspirants and in all the disciplines. The Tantriks had
need of their &quot;seat of five skulls&quot;, <i>pañcamundi. </i>Ramakrishna
had his <i>pañcavati, </i>the grove of five sacred trees. But why this
insistence on five? Perhaps the number stood for the five main elements in man
and the five worlds that constitute the universe, – what the Upanishads term
body, life, mind, supermind and spirit. The Vedas too speak of <i>pañcaksiti, </i>the
five abodes, <i>pañcakrsti, </i>the five fields of culture, <i>pañcajana, </i>the
five births or worlds. Sri Krishna's conch of <i>pañcajanya </i>may well occur
to the mind. Lord Buddha too when he took his seat under the Bodhi tree is
supposed to have said, &quot;I do not rise from this seat until my aim is
attained, even though the body dry up or fall&quot; <i>(ihasane suyatu
me sariram).<o:p></o:p></i></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:11.25pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The
site once chosen and. the seat established, Sri Aurobindo had now to prepare
the ground. There were, as I have said, shifting sands all around symbolising a
changing world where all is in a state of flux, <i>yat kiñca jagatyam
jagat. </i>All that had to be cleared and firm ground reached. He spent many
long years, even as Agastya had done, in this spade-work. For he was to erect a
huge edifice, a <st1:City><st1:place>Temple</st1:place></st1:City> dedicated to
God. He had once dreamed of a <st1:City><st1:place>Temple</st1:place></st1:City>
for Bhawani, Bhawani Mandir, where he would install Mother India. Now too he
desired the same thing, a <st1:City><st1:place>Temple</st1:place></st1:City>
for Bhawani, a Temple-city in fact.<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:11.0pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>That
needed a solid, firm and immovable foundation. For this .he had to dig into the
farthest abyss, to fix, one might say, the &quot;five supporting pillars&quot;.
All this he did single-handed during the first four years, from 1910 to 1914.
Then the Mother came. And although that was for a short time, it was then that
the plans were clearly laid for the thing that was to be and the shape it was
to take,<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:150%;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>
<span
style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;'>Page – 407<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:12.95pt;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none'>

<hr size=2 width="100%" align=center>

</div>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>– this New Creation of
theirs.<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:11.25pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The
work of building the foundation took him till 1920. From 1920 to 1926 he worked
with the Mother in giving it strength, testing it and making it fit and
adequate for carrying the future load. <span style='mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>In
</span>1926 there began the construction of the superstructure, and along
with that proceeded the work of installing the presiding Deity. This work of
installation took twelve years to complete and the next twelve were given to
making it permanent. His task done, Sri Aurobindo stepped aside, for a new
task, for taking up another line of work. But to this foundation he lent the
entire strength of his bare back, that his work and new creation should stand
immortal and with its head erect.<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:11.25pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:2.85pt;mso-line-height-alt:
3.8pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:.15in;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>All
that Sri Aurobindo had wanted to do with his body was to instal permanently in
an earthly form the Mother Divine. This <st1:City><st1:place>Temple</st1:place></st1:City>
we call the Ashram has grown through the Power and Influence of Her physical
Presence, in order that She may manifest anew. The Divine Mother of the worlds
has installed Herself here. <span style='mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>In </span>the
golden <st1:City><st1:place>Temple</st1:place></st1:City> the living Goddess is
manifest with all Her Powers of realisation. She has Herself taken charge of
the Work now. And the power of Her Grace is working towards the goal that the
entire earth and the race of men grow into a living manifestation of Herself.<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:150%;
mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>
<span
style='font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;'>Page – 408<o:p></o:p></span></p>

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mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none'>

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