Nirodbaran

Talks with Sri Aurobindo

Volume 1

10 December 1938 – 14 January 1941

2 September 1940

Purani: I read Gandhi’s queer argument about non-violence with Kher and others. Kher said that during the Bombay riot even the non-violent leaders refused to risk and sacrifice their lives to stop the riot. Gandhi says, “That supports my argument.” (Laughter) I am simply at a loss to understand how it supports his argument. Then he says, “If they had sacrificed themselves, then the riot would have stopped.”

Sri Aurobindo: “If” they had! All depends on “ifs” and expectations. Gandhi is not a psychologist. During his Dandi march, though they didn’t do any acts of violence, the leaders’ minds were full of violence. In fact it was because of the opportunity violence would give that they joined the movement. And then he supports prohibition. Prohibition under compulsion is violence. There is no compulsion unless there is violence.

Purani: He says a child has to be forced to do good things and that this wouldn’t be violence. But then the British Government can say that it is for our good that they are doing all these things, that it is they who have given unity to India.

Sri Aurobindo: That is true. Only, the trouble is, we haven’t got that unity. (Laughter)

After this there was some talk on Science, especially Relativity, which started by reference to the term “light-year” which Sri Aurobindo used in The Life Divine. Nolini Sen had pointed out that scientists didn’t use it in that sense, so the term was changed to “light-cycle”. Jatin Bal supplied many quotations from Jeans, Eddington, etc., on various points. In our discussion Sri Aurobindo refused to accept Time as a dimension of Space. Purani noted, in connection with the complicated mathematical formulas involved, that scientists had first thought Science would be understood by everybody. Now only the scientists can understand anything about Science.

Sri Aurobindo: They are becoming metaphysical physicists. It is like poetry. Dr. Leavis said that poetry would be understood by fewer and fewer people gradually.

Purani: Scientists say that the sum of universal energy is always the same.

Sri Aurobindo: I do not agree. Is it proved? If not, why can’t there be something behind that is constantly putting forth energy into the universe?

About the Law of Entropy Sri Aurobindo also didn’t agree.

Sri Aurobindo: One sun may be losing heat, but another sun may be created and thus perpetual creation go on. Nobody knows when creation began.

Purani: They say, for instance, that from a machine some energy is always lost, and for that reason a machine can’t operate perpetually.

Sri Aurobindo: That is about man-made machines. Nature is cleverer than man and, besides, in future machines may be created which will go on perpetually. What happens to the energy that is lost?

Purani: It goes to the common stock of spent energy. It is no longer available.

Sri Aurobindo: Why? Why can’t it be available in another form? What has been available once is always available.

Purani: When you burn coal for energy, you can’t get the coal back.

Sri Aurobindo: That is true about coal because it disintegrates.

Sri Aurobindo also said that the Quantum Theory was tending towards our Indian Vayu theory without the scientists knowing it. About the deflection of starlight towards the sun, he asked:

Sri Aurobindo: Why should it curve towards the sun?

Purani: Because the sun contains matter, they say. Suleiman is now questioning Einstein’s theory. He stands for Newton.

Sri Aurobindo: Einstein’s theory seems to me fantastic. (At this time some dogs were barking outside.) There, they are protesting against Einstein!