Nirodbaran
Talks with Sri Aurobindo
Volume 1
10 December 1938 – 14 January 1941
7 May 1940
Sri Aurobindo (to Purani): Do you know if Bhedabheda and Dwaitadwaita are the same? One, I know, is the philosophy of Nimbarkar and the other of Bhaskara.
Purani: I think they are the same philosophy and by the same person. The two names are of one man.
Sri Aurobindo: Everybody says that what I have said is just their own philosophy. Nimbarkar’s followers, the Ramanuja school, the adherents of Appaya Dikshita – all claim they have said the same thing. Somebody in Madras says my philosophy is just what Hegel has said and lastly I am told that it is the same as Shankara’s philosophy!
Purani: Yes, somebody observed, “It is very fine and exactly what Shankara has said.” Nagaraja of the Hindu says it is pure Adwaita and there is nothing new in it. (After a pause) Narvik is still in German hands.
Sri Aurobindo: Yes, and the Allies are closing in.
Nirodbaran: It seems to me they will make a mess of this too.
Sri Aurobindo: Quite likely. It is said there are 130,000 Norwegians in the North. With their help I don’t know why the Allies can’t take Narvik. The Germans have occupied Namsos and if they send reinforcements to the North it will be difficult for the Allies.
Purani: Yes, they are already sending troops and the air force.
Satyendra: We shall see what Chamberlain has to say.
Purani: Probably there will be changes in the Cabinet.
Sri Aurobindo: That depends on the debate.
Nirodbaran: Labour opposition may give in at last.
Sri Aurobindo: Moreover, they have no one to form a Ministry, although there are some good organisers among them.
Nirodbaran: Unless they form a National Government with a Conservative Prime Minister.
Sri Aurobindo: In that case Churchill, Hore-Belisha, Eden and Lloyd George will have to come in. Morrison may be in the Ministry of Information and Greenwood for Labour while Attlee may be given some ornamental post, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancashire.
Nirodbaran: Why has Chamberlain been made the leader?
Sri Aurobindo: Perhaps because he knows the tactics of debate, that’s all.
Nirodbaran: Is Halifax good?
Sri Aurobindo: No, Halifax is good and wise and ineffective. Eden will do well as Foreign Secretary.
Purani: The Hindu says that the Allies are short of bombers.
Sri Aurobindo: But they have plenty of fighters with which they can fight the bombers. Bombers are only meant for the destruction of military objectives or ships or towns, etc. Even then it has been shown that German bombers are not so effective, while with whatever bombers the Allies have they have been quite successful at hitting military objectives.
In Narvik they have their navy with which they can bombard the coast and then with the fleet’s air force they can continually bombard the German army till they surrender. I don’t know why they can’t.
Evening
Purani: It seems Bhedabheda and Dwaitadwaita are not the same. The latter is the philosophy of Nimbarkar.
Sri Aurobindo: I don’t think Bhedabheda is the philosophy of Nimbarkar; I have read so somewhere. Yes, in the Prabuddha Bharata it was mentioned.
Nishtha’s friend, the Swami in America, has reviewed The Life Divine. He has spent all his energy in defending the Sannyasis and at the end says that I don’t believe in the Sannyasis.
Purani: Is that all he has found?
Sri Aurobindo: Practically. Of course he deals with some points here and there and says that I am a remarkable man, etc. I wonder whether these people have understood the book. The other reviewer of the Ramakrishna Mission also gives the impression that they follow the old conventional ways. But Ramakrishna did not proclaim any system of thinking. They follow Vivekananda, perhaps.
Purani: Vivekananda does not seem to have succeeded as a philosopher.
Sri Aurobindo: His writings on Yoga are forceful. He made an attempt at writing philosophy and said that all philosophies are on the way to the Truth but only Shankara’s reaches the final goal.
Purani: The Ramakrishna Mission doesn’t have any outstanding thinker.
Sri Aurobindo: Its people are good at the exposition of old ideas. Abhedananda had some power.
Purani: Probably the whole speech of Chamberlain will be relayed. One can hear the shouts and cheers of members.
Sri Aurobindo: Hardly worth relaying. Lloyd George’s speech will be more interesting. It seems Stanley and Hoare will reply to the debate and not Churchill.
Purani: Churchill is said to have some disagreement with Chamberlain.
Sri Aurobindo: That is why he does not want to reply.
Purani: Narvik is supposed to be in mountainous country. So there is no scope for air bases.
Sri Aurobindo: The English speak of their difficulties but don’t know how to overcome them; while Hitler, in spite of difficulties, grapples with them. He does not hesitate to establish airfields even in open fields.