Sri Krishna’s dialogue with Sri Aurobindo
In the middle of an open and wide
battle field of Kurukshetra; as the cosmic Kalachakra readied to turn to welcome
the Yuga of Kali, Sri Krishna passed on the sacred instruction of the Bhagavad
Gita, so Arjuna could enter into the material world, equipped with a divine
knowledge that would plunge him into the flux of a gory war that would
ultimately shape the destiny of Bharat. In stark contrast, in a dingy and
hardly ventilated prison in Alipore, as the cosmic Kalachakra readied to herald
a new age; which many believe to be the advent of the Yuga of Satya, Sri
Krishna passed on the Adesha and the message of the Gita to Sri Aurobindo,
advising him to withdraw from the struggle of Independence of Bharat,
implanting unto him the sacred wisdom that would lead to the manifestation of a
supramental consciousness that will eventually alter the shape and destiny of
all of mankind.
Post the experience, Sri Aurobindo went on to call the Alipore
jail, his Yoga ashram for it was there that he found the lord of his heart, his
friend —his Krishna!
“The British prison was that ashram. I have also watched this strange contradiction in my life that however much good my well-intentioned friends might do for me, it is those who have harmed me—whom shall I call an enemy, since enemy I have none? —my opponents have helped me even more. They wanted to do me an ill turn, the result was I got what I wanted. The only result of the wrath of the British Government was that I found God.” CWSA 9:1
Quoting some of the words that Sri Krishna spoke to Sri
Aurobindo in light of the words from the great dialogue between Sri Krishna and
Arjuna that took place aeons ago, at Kurukshetra—
“The bonds you had not strength to break, I have broken for
you, because it is not my will nor was it ever my intention that that should
continue. I have another thing for you to do and it is for that I have brought
you here, to teach you what you could not learn for yourself and to train you
for my work.” CWSA 8:5
eṣhā te ’bhihitā sānkhye buddhir yoge tvimāṁ śhṛiṇu
buddhyā yukto yayā pārtha karma-bandhaṁ prahāsyasi 2.39
Listen to what now I am going to reveal
That knowledge O Arjuna, that lifts the veil,
That most ancient Yoga of Knowledge,
Which liberates one from Karma’s bondage. |2.39|
“Behold the people
among whom I have sent you to do a little of my work. This is the nature of the
nation I am raising up and the reason why I raise them.” CWSA 8:7
na tu māṁ śhakyase draṣhṭum anenaiva
sva-chakṣhuṣhā
divyaṁ dadāmi te chakṣhuḥ paśhya me yogam aiśhwaram 11.8
By the mortal eye, you cannot just see
And bear the vision that will soon be,
There is an inner eye which I shall now awaken within you—
So that a vision of my Divine Yoga you
can behold and view. |11.8|”
“When you were cast into jail, did not your heart
fail and did you not cry out to me, where is Thy protection? Look now at the
Magistrate, look now at the Prosecuting Counsel.” CWSA 8:7
yo māṁ paśhyati sarvatra sarvaṁ cha mayi paśhyati
tasyāhaṁ na praṇaśhyāmi sa cha me na praṇaśhyati 6.30
He who everywhere sees only Me
And in everyone, Me only he can see
To him I can never lost be
And he is never lost to Me.|6.30|
“Now do you fear?” He said, “I am in all men and I
overrule their actions and their words. My protection is still with you and you
shall not fear. This case which is brought against you, leave it in my hands.
It is not for you. It was not for the trial that I brought you here but for
something else. The case itself is only a means for my work and nothing more.” CWSA 8:7
īśhvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛid-deśhe ‘rjuna tiṣhṭhati
bhrāmayan sarva-bhūtāni yantrārūḍhāni māyayā 18.61
The Lord, that is seated within every living heart
O Arjuna, He stirs and initiates everything’s start
Like machines all creatures are made to obey
And act as per the will of His Maya’s way|18.61|
“This is the man who will save you from the snares
put around your feet. Put aside those papers. It is not you who will instruct
him. I will instruct him.” CWSA 8:8
bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśhvaram
suhṛidaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ jñātvā māṁ śhāntim ṛichchhati 5.29
When to man, this singular truth is known –
That all sacrifices I receive with joy for they are My own
And he shall perceive Me as his dearest
loving friend.
He shall then experience My perfect
peace that has no end|5.29|
“I am guiding, therefore fear not. Turn to your own
work for which I have brought you to jail and when you come out, remember never
to fear, never to hesitate. Remember that it is I who am doing this, not you
nor any other. Therefore whatever clouds may come, whatever dangers and
sufferings, whatever difficulties, whatever impossibilities, there is nothing
impossible, nothing difficult. I am in the nation and its uprising and I am
Vasudeva, I am Narayana, and what I will, shall be, not what others will. What
I choose to bring about, no human power can stay.” CWSA 8:8
bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ
prapadyate
vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā su-durlabhaḥ 7.19
After many successive births can this fortune arise
When the Divine is perceived through the
mortal’s eyes
Very rare and blessed indeed is that
seeking soul
Who experiences the Divine’s omniscience as a whole|7.19|
“This is the young generation, the new and mighty
nation that is arising at my command. They are greater than yourself. What have
you to fear? If you stood aside or slept, the work would still be done. If you
were cast aside tomorrow, here are the young men who will take up your work and
do it more mightily than you have ever done. You have only got some strength
from me to speak a word to this nation which will help to raise it.” CWSA 8:9
tasmāt tvam uttiṣhṭha yaśho labhasva
jitvā śhatrūn bhuṅkṣhva rājyaṁ samṛiddham
mayaivaite nihatāḥ pūrvam eva
nimitta-mātraṁ bhava savya-sāchin 11.33
Arise to the opulence of the conqueror that beckons
And garner the glory that a victor reckons
Know that by Me all are already slain
So become My instrument, let your arrows
rain|11.33|
And in a state of Divine communion, when Sri Aurobindo made a
fervent appeal to Sri Krishna for a direction, he received two messages from
the Yogeshwara,
“I have given you a work and it is to help to uplift
this nation. Before long the time will come when you will have to go out of
jail; for it is not my will that this time either you should be convicted or
that you should pass the time as others have to do, in suffering for their
country. I have called you to work, and that is the adesh for which
you have asked. I give you the adesh to go forth and do my
work.” CWSA 8:10
mat-karma-kṛin mat-paramo mad-bhaktaḥ saṅga-varjitaḥ
nirvairaḥ sarva-bhūteṣhu yaḥ sa mām eti pāṇḍava 11.55
O Arjuna, Surrender to Me, perform My bidding
Become My devotee and an instrument of My working
With an enmity towards none, from desires become free
Accept Me-My way, for such a man shall only come to Me|11.55|”
Something has been shown to you in this year of
seclusion, something about which you had your doubts and it is the truth of the
Hindu religion. It is this religion that I am raising up before the world, it
is this that I have perfected and developed through the rishis, saints
and avatars, and now it is going forth to do my work among the nations. I
am raising up this nation to send forth my word. This is the Sanatana Dharma,
this is the eternal religion which you did not really know before, but which I
have now revealed to you. The agnostic and the sceptic in you have been
answered, for I have given you proofs within and without you, physical and
subjective, which have satisfied you. When you go forth, speak to your nation
always this word that it is for the Sanatana Dharma that they arise, it is for
the world and not for themselves that they arise. I am giving them freedom for
the service of the world. When therefore it is said that India shall rise, it
is the Sanatana Dharma that shall rise. When it is said that India shall be
great, it is the Sanatana Dharma that shall be great. When it is said that
India shall expand and extend herself, it is the Sanatana Dharma that shall
expand and extend itself over the world. It is for the dharma and by
the dharma that India exists. To magnify the religion means to
magnify the country. I have shown you that I am everywhere and in all men and
in all things, that I am in this movement and I am not only working in those
who are striving for the country but I am working also in those who oppose them
and stand in their path. I am working in everybody and whatever men may think
or do they can do nothing but help on my purpose. They also are doing my work;
they are not my enemies but my instruments. In all your actions you are moving
forward without knowing which way you move. You mean to do one thing and you do
another. You aim at a result and your efforts subserve one that is different or
contrary. It is Shakti that has gone forth and entered into the people. Since
long ago I have been preparing this uprising and now the time has come and it
is I who will lead it to its fulfilment.” CWSA 8:10
Arjuna’s words—
tvam akṣharaṁ paramaṁ veditavyaṁ
tvam asya viśhvasya paraṁ nidhānam
tvam avyayaḥ śhāśhvata-dharma-goptā
sanātanas tvaṁ puruṣho mato me 11.18
The highest immaculate truth that by man can be known,
The foundation upon which our universe has grown
The indestructible guardian of righteousness eternal
I believe, Thou art the one -celestial and supernal|11.18|
Sri Krishna spoke—
teṣhām ahaṁ samuddhartā mṛityu-saṁsāra-sāgarāt
bhavāmi na chirāt pārtha mayy āveśhita-chetasām 12.7
O Arjuna, For the soul’s evolution
I bring deliverance from death’s material ocean
I propel the journey across the eternal sea
Of all whose consciousness is affixed in Me|12.7|
At the end of the Gitopadesha, Arjuna responded with full
confidence to his divine charioteer that all his doubts were cleared and his
memory had returned; he was now ready to enter into the material war field to
wage the battle as per the instructions that he had received. Sri Aurobindo, on
the other hand, at the end of the Krishnopadesh at his Alipore yogashram,
received the adesha, with arms open wide, inviting the divine to guide him so
he may further walk ahead onto the path of transformation; where the sarathi
and the maharathi ceased to remain two and instead became one, to summon the
dawn of the supramental age of man.
Sanjaya who had actually heard first-hand about the truth of
Yoga from the Sri Mukha, declared with certainty the outcome of the battle in what
is considered to be the last verse of the Bhagavad Gita. On reading about Sri
Aurobindo’s Krishna experience and also some of his luminous words from his
various volumes of written works, I too feel empowered to make a declaration
that resonates Sanjaya’s sentiment. The Sanskrit verse has been written with
the help of Sri Ved Veer Arya, an eminent Sanskrit scholar and IDAS officer-
यत्र योगेश्वर: कृष्णोऽ रविन्दो यत्र योगिराट् ।
तत्रातिमानो विजय: ध्रुवा नीतिर्मतिर्मम ॥
Where there is the Lord of Yoga Sri Kirshna,
Where there is the Yogi- Sri Aravinda,
There indeed, lies the supramental victory—
This I understand and verily proclaim with certainty!
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