Nirodbaran

Talks with Sri Aurobindo

Volume 1

10 December 1938 – 14 January 1941

21 August 1940

Purani: Churchill in his speech appears to have said that France will be compelled to declare war against England.

Sri Aurobindo: Has he said that? Or what has he actually said? For if he has said that, there must be some truth in it. He wouldn’t have said it if he didn’t know something. It is of tremendous importance for us.

Nirodbaran: It won’t come quite as a surprise. One by one the Vichy Government is taking steps leading to that.

Satyendra: The world seems to be getting chaotic. But if such a thing happens, the British Government will grab Pondy at once.

Nirodbaran: The British Government has thanked the Nizam for his contribution. But the Nizam must be smarting and cursing within for the loss of his money.

Sri Aurobindo (laughing): They specially thanked Sir Akbar for it.

Nirodbaran: The rumour about the naval bases being ceded to America seems to be true, though it was rejected at first as baseless.

Purani: And the American Navy will patrol the Canadian waters, they say.

Sri Aurobindo (laughing): It is practically an alliance.

Nirodbaran: Some sections say that this is a move towards joining the war. How slowly and carefully Roosevelt is moving!

Sri Aurobindo: Yes, he will be freer after November. Of course, the Congress will still be there, but the Congress also will be freer. Even if he is not reelected as President, he may bind the next President to some course of action; for the next President comes in January, I believe.

Nirodbaran: England can hold out till November, I hope.

Satyendra: Oh yes. In winter the operations have to be slower.

Purani: Hitler is trying to find Britain’s weak spots by these small air attacks. But if Spain and France join Hitler …

Sri Aurobindo: Then it will be formidable.

Purani: Hitler is trying to drag in France.

Sri Aurobindo: In that case, it will end in a revolution in France. The French are already reluctant to fight Germany. They will be still more so against Britain.

Evening

Purani asked Sri Aurobindo if he had finished Coomaraswamy’s book on art and what he thought about it.

Sri Aurobindo: His book is one-sided. No doubt, art is cosmic, universal; it is not concerned with personality. But the artist expresses his inspiration and in that there must be the stamp of his individuality, as you find in the case of great artists and poets. Take for instance the Greek poets or the French dramatists. They follow the same tradition, national custom, etc., but each has his own individual stamp. An artist does not express his personality, but it is stamped on his work.

Purani: Coomaraswamy says Leonardo da Vinci followed tradition, there is no stamp of personality on his art.

Sri Aurobindo: Not correct.

What Coomaraswamy says about the inner and the outer vision is correct and interesting. The East has followed the inner vision in art, while the West the outer; but by outer is not meant simply the surface but the deeper things of the world.