Nirodbaran
Talks with Sri Aurobindo
Volume 1
10 December 1938 – 14 January 1941
14 June 1940
Purani: Jaswant has been arrested under the Defence Act. As the president of All-India Students’ Federation or something of the sort he gave lectures for which he has been arrested. He is not careful about what he says.
Sri Aurobindo: He never was.
Purani: I am wondering what will become of his marriage.
Sri Aurobindo: God allows marriages but the Government prevents them! Marriages are made in heaven, they say.
Satyendra: That is difficult to swallow. Marie Corelli writes of such things in her novels, bringing in Christianity – Electric Christianity, etc. She was very popular at one time, at least in India.
Sri Aurobindo: I used to see her novels everywhere. In England also she was a best-seller. Only the critics were hard on her.
Satyendra: The poor Indian Express is not allowed up here now.
Sri Aurobindo (laughing): Why?
Satyendra: Premanand says that the Mother has asked him to send only the Hindu and the Patrika. The others spoil the atmosphere. The thing is that it gives all the news though not the views.
Purani: Paris is not going to be defended, no street fighting.
Sri Aurobindo: That is to prevent the destruction of Paris. Hitler is getting remarkable inspiration from his Asura. He doesn’t go by reason but only by the voice. He considers all possibilities and when he fixes on something he goes ahead. Only, he did not foresee the British and French intervention on behalf of Poland.
Satyendra: Ordinary people won’t believe that it is the Asura guiding him.
Sri Aurobindo: No, they won’t.
Nirodbaran: Already he is being hailed as greater than Napoleon.
Sri Aurobindo: That he is not. Napoleon did not have Hitler’s resources. If he had had them, he would have conquered England.
Satyendra: Ludwig writes in his biography of Napoleon that Napoleon was the first to conceive of a federation of Europe under France.
Sri Aurobindo: No, Henry IV and his minister were the first to conceive of federated European states.
Satyendra: Napoleon of course wanted the federation to be under France.
Sri Aurobindo: Under himself.
Satyendra: He was France.
Purani: Even the Germans favoured the idea. Goethe welcomed it.
Sri Aurobindo: Goethe was not a patriot. He said that the Germans were barbarians and would always be barbarians.
Purani: Kant also did not have much sympathy with Prussia. He was a professor in Prussia, at Königsberg, I think, but he was not allowed to publish his books there. He had them sent to Weimar and published from there. The authorities were wild at him.
Sri Aurobindo: The Duke of Weimar was a liberal.
Purani: The Christians tried to make out that Kant disproved the existence of God.
Sri Aurobindo: No, on the contrary, he tried to prove the possibility of the existence of God. Goethe was a cosmopolitan. When he was asked to express hatred against France, he said that he owed most of his culture to France.
Purani: Frederick the Great had a deep respect for France. He tried to establish a friendship with Voltaire and frequently invited him to his court. Voltaire used to get disgusted with the company of all the German generals sitting so upright and very often he refused the invitation.
Sri Aurobindo: Naturally. English generals are no better, perhaps. Frederick tried to write poetry in French and once sent some to Voltaire. Someone seeing the bundle asked him what it was. Voltaire said, “Frederick has sent some of his dirty linen to wash.” (Laughter)
Purani: He was very bad-tempered and nobody dared to take any liberty with him, except Voltaire.
Sri Aurobindo: Both were bad-tempered and they were difficult for anybody to live with. Frederick was an egotist too.
Purani: He was very charitable, it seems.
Sri Aurobindo: Yes, that was one good side of his character.
Nirodbaran: Has Paris been taken any time before?
Sri Aurobindo: Oh yes, during Napoleon’s time and then during the Franco-Prussian war.
Purani: The difficulty is that Paris is very near the frontier, just as Madras to Pondicherry.
Sri Aurobindo: Yes, but each yard of fighting costs a tremendous loss. This war is not so bad as the last one, as that was trench warfare. Besides, in the defence the loss is less than in the attack.
Satyendra: Even in the open field?
Sri Aurobindo: Yes, because in the defence the army remains behind the guns.
Purani (after some time): They are all calculating Italy’s strength, economy, materials, and military power.
Sri Aurobindo: Calculations are always wrong.
Purani: Reynaud has appealed to Roosevelt for materials.
Sri Aurobindo: Yes, everything short of an expeditionary force.
Nirodbaran: Why does he stop there?
Sri Aurobindo: He doesn’t want to offend the American people, so he repeats himself in the same language.
Purani: If the French had more materials, guns, bombs, then they could stand.
Nirodbaran: If America sends an army at all, it may be too late, as Reynaud says.
Sri Aurobindo: Quite so.
Purani: If Roosevelt had been secure in his presidential seat, then …
Sri Aurobindo: Then he would have declared war at once. He is too clever a politician to do it now. After he is renominated by the Democratic Party at the end of June, he may declare war. If Washington had been destroyed by the Germans, then …
Purani: Then of course on that pretext he would have done it.
Sri Aurobindo: Constitutionally he has the power to declare war.
Purani: Oh yes, he can do anything, like a dictator. In that way the President has immense power.
Nirodbaran: Reynaud says that the French will fight from Africa.
Sri Aurobindo: And even from America. They have taken that example from King Albert. In the last war he carried on the war from France, and Wilhelmina is also doing that.
Nirodbaran: The French can bring their African Army to Paris – perhaps the Africans are not good fighters.
Sri Aurobindo: No, they are excellent fighters.
Purani: Some French military officer said that the French knew all about the German dive-bombers, tanks, etc.
Sri Aurobindo: That is said to protect the Government. If they had known, they would have done something to counter the heavy tanks.
Nirodbaran: What are these secret bomb-sights of America?
Purani: With them they can see clearly at night, even from a distance of ten thousand feet, and thus strike accurately.
Nirodbaran: But seeing, is not enough; they may miss.
Purani: No, what about the Graf Spee fight? Both parties were ten miles apart and yet they could hit accurately. The bombs are mechanised in an accurate way.
Sri Aurobindo: It is as with guns – you see and shoot. That is not the difficulty.
Evening
The Germans have entered Paris as it was proclaimed to be undefended. There was very little talk; all seemed to be sad and stunned by the news, though it was not quite unexpected as the French had been fighting against heavy odds.
Purani: The French troops must have been thoroughly exhausted by so many days’ consecutive fighting. They seem to have no reserve force.
Sri Aurobindo: Yes, no reserve force. But such a force was the first thing they saw to in the last war. (After a pause) They have not defended Paris to prevent destruction, I suppose. But I don’t think it has been a wise decision. They would have done well if they had defended it, because it is not likely that Germany will preserve it. Destruction of Paris means the destruction of modern European civilisation.
Nirodbaran: Especially if the tide of war turns against them, they are certain to destroy it.
Sri Aurobindo: The French first decided to defend; what made them change their minds?
Purani: Maybe England advised them so.
Sri Aurobindo: It is not England’s business.
Purani: Dara has written from Hyderabad how he is faring and how everybody is kind to him. Then he says, “It doesn’t matter much to the world whether I remain here or go elsewhere.” (Laughter)
Sri Aurobindo: Why “much”? It doesn’t matter at all! (Laughter)