National
Resurgence
(September 18, 1909, On
Nationalism, pp.464-468)
Translated from
the Bengali.
THE
GREAT movement
sweeping the country at present from the beginning been called by our British adversaries an outburst of hatred, and some Indians who are fond
of imitating the
English do not fail to echo this opinion. We are engaged in the propagation of dharma,
and it is because the movement of national
resurgence is a major part of this dharma that we are pouring
our energy into it. Had
this been a
movement born of hatred, we would never have been so bold as to
proclaim it a part of dharma.
Conflict, war, even killing can be
part of dharma, but
hatred and malice lie outside of it.
Hatred and
malice are
things that have to be eliminated in the march of the world's
evolution, therefore those who nurture these impulses themselves or try
to incite them in a nation fall prey to ignorance and give patronage to
evil. We cannot affirm that hatred has never entered this movement.
When one side indulges in animosity
and hatred, the other side will
inevitably react with similar feelings. The responsibility for
starting
this vicious circle lies with some English newspapers in Bengal and the
conduct of certain arrogant, intemperate individuals. After enduring
for a long time the contemptuous, spiteful, malicious language that
appears every day in the newspapers, after
suffering abuse, insults and
even beatings on trains, in the street, in the market-place and on the
ghats, finally even the patient, long- suffering Indian can tolerate it
no more and has
started returning abuse for abuse, blow for blow. Even many
Englishmen
have admitted that their fellow-countrymen are at fault and responsible
for this wrong attitude. Besides, the rulers have for a long time made
the serious blunder of acting in ways that hurt the interests of the
people, cause dissatisfaction among them and wound their
feelings. Man is
naturally prone to anger; if his self-interest is injured, if he is
faced with unpleasant conduct or if an object or idea close to his
heart is outraged, this fire of anger, latent in all creatures, flares
up and in that excess and blind rush of anger arise hatred and the
conduct that springs from
it.
For a long time, due
to the unjust behaviour and insolent speech of some Englishmen and the
fact that in the present system of government the subjects have no real
rights or power, discontent had been imperceptibly growing in the
Indian heart. Finally during the rule of Lord Curzon this discontent
assumed an acute form; the unbearable mortification of the Partition of
Bengal aroused an extraordinary anger which flared up all over the
country and, aggravated by the repressive policies of the rulers,
turned into hatred. We admit that many, growing impatient with anger,
have to a great extent added fuel to that fire of hatred; Very strange
is the play of God! In his creation
it
is by the conflict
between good and evil that the evolution of the world is conducted, yet
often evil helps the good and brings about the positive result God
intended. Even this supreme evil, the birth of hatred, has
had.the good
result that a fierce rajasic impulsion capable of awakening a vital
strength has entered the Indian people who were sunk in tamas. But
we cannot for that reason praise evil or the perpetrators of evil.
Those who commit wrongful acts under the drive of rajasic egoism can by
no means escape their responsibility and the binding consequences of
their actions on the plea that these may further the good decreed by
God. Those who spread racial hatred
are making a mistake. The
disinterested propagation of dharma is ten times more
effective than spreading hatred and in this way, instead of cultivating
adharma and consequently reaping the fruits of wrongdoing, one
experiences a growth of dharma and the generation of unmixed
good. Therefore we will not write anything that incites racial
animosity and national hatred. We will also prohibit others from
causing this kind of mischief. If a conflict of interests between
nations arises or if
it
is an unavoidable
aspect of the present situation, we are legally and morally entitled
to. promote our own country's interests at the expense of the other
country's. Where we find oppression
or injustice,
we are legally and morally entitled to comment severely on
it,
to confront
it
with our national
strength and to pursue all possible legal means and recourses for its
redress. If any individual, be he an agent of the foreign government or
a countryman of ours, does or says anything harmful, unjust or
unreasonable, we have the right to protest and criticise, exposing his
actions or opinions to ridicule and censure, as long as we keep within
the norms of decent social conduct. But we have no right either to
cherish or to provoke malice or hatred against any nation or
individual. If such a mistake was committed in the past, that belongs
to the past. We must see that
it
does not recur in the
future. This is our advice to all and especially to the nationalist
newspapers and the youth active in the Nationalist Party.
The
Aryan knowledge, the Aryan teaching, the Aryan ideals are quite
different from those of the materialistic, vitalistic and hedonistic
West.. According to the Europeans,
action cannot be performed without
the pursuit of pleasure and egoistic interest; conflict and war are not
possible without hatred. They hold that either one has to work
motivated by desire or else become a desireless ascetic and sit doing
nothing. It is through the struggle for existence that the world has
been created and its evolution achieved
—
this is the
fundamental tenet of their science. But since the days when the Aryans
travelled from the Arctic region to the south and occupied the Punjab,
they have possessed the eternal teaching which has earned them
everlasting glory in this world. This
teaching is that the universe is
the habitation of a divine delight, Ananda, and that the omnipresent
deity, Narayana, is conducting here his universal play for the
manifestation of his Love, Truth and Power. For the purpose of
the play
he reveals himself in things animate and inanimate, in man and animal,
worm and insect, in the saint and the sinner, in friend and in foe, in
the god and the demon. Joy is for the
play, sorrow for the play; sin is
for the play, virtue for the play; friendship is for the play, enmity
for the play; godhead is for the play, demonhood for the play.
All
friends and enemies are merely partners in the game; by dividing
themselves into two sides they have created the ally and the adversary.
The Aryan protects his friend and
subdues his enemy, but he has no
attachment. He sees Narayana everywhere, in all beings and
things, in
all actions and all results, and looks equally upon good and evil,
friend and foe, joy and sorrow, sin and virtue, success and failure.
This does not mean that he finds all outcomes good, that all men are
his friends, all events pleasant to him, all actions worth doing, all
results desirable. Until one has a complete realisation in Yoga, the
dualities do not cease. Few are capable of reaching that state, but the
Aryan teaching is the possession even of the ordinary Aryan. The
Aryan
seeks to achieve a good result and avoid undesirable consequences, but
he is not intoxicated with victory if he succeeds nor is he dismayed if
things turn out badly. Helping friends and defeating enemies may be
objects of his endeavour, but he does not hate his enemies nor is he
unjustly partial to his friends; if duty demands
it,
he is capable even of
slaying his own people or sacrificing his life to save his enemy's. He
prefers joy to sorrow, but he does not lose his poise in the midst of
joy nor are his calm and content shaken by grief. He refrains from sin
and cultivates virtue, but he is not puffed up with pride in his
virtuous acts nor does he weep like a helpless child if he happens to
lapse into sin. Laughing he gets up from the mire and, wiping the mud
from his limbs, cleanses and purifies himself and resumes his effort
towards self-perfection. The Aryan is
capable of immense exertion for
the success of his work, a thousand defeats cannot deter him, but to be
saddened, dejected or disturbed by failure is contrary to his dharma.
Of course, for one who is a master of Yoga and can act beyond the
modes of Nature, the dualities cease to exist. Whatever work the
Universal Mother may give, he does unquestioningly; whatever result she
gives, he accepts with joy. He does the Mother's work with those she
assigns to be his allies, he defeats or slays at her command those she
designates as his adversaries. This is the Aryan teaching. In this
teaching there is no place for hatred or animosity. Narayana is
everywhere, so whom shall I hate or whom shall I despise? If we
were to
engage in a political movement along Western lines, antagonism and
hatred would be inevitable and, from the Western point of view,
legitimate since there is a conflict of interests. On one side is a
national resurgence, on the other the attempt to suppress
it. But
our resurgence is not
merely the resurgence of the Aryan race,
it
is the resurgence of
the Aryan character, the Aryan teaching, the Aryan dbarma. In
the first stage of the movement the Western political influence was
very strong, yet even then we had realised this truth; the love and
worship of the country as the Mother and a keen sense of Aryan pride
prepared the dominant role of dharma in the second stage.
Politics is part of dharma but
it
has to be practised
in the Aryan way, using means sanctioned by the Aryan dbarma. We
tell our youth, the hope of the future: if there is hatred in your
hearts, root
it
out at once. Under
the violent stimulation of hatred a momentary rajasic strength is
easily aroused which soon collapses and turns into weakness. Go to
those who have pledged themselves and dedicated their lives to the
upliftment of the country, infuse in them an intense feeling of
brotherhood, stubborn persistence, an iron steadfastness and a burning,
fiery energy. Armed with that strength we shall have an indomitable
force and be victorious for ever.