AUROBINDO AND RADHAKRISHNAN

ON THE RENAISSANCE IN INDIA

KUM. Y. VENKATA RAMANA, M.A.(Lit.)

Sri Aurobindo, during 1918, contributed to the ‘Arya’ a series of four articles on the renaissance in India. In the first of this series he analyses the meaning and significance of renaissance with reference to India and draws out a similarity of our movement with the recent ‘Celtic Renaissance.’ He rightly points out that ours is not like the ‘European Renaissance’–a kind of reawakening of the old ‘Graeco-Latin’ spirit. He then gives an account of the opulent vitality and intellectuality of India’s heritage and says that spirituality was the master key of our civilisation.

The age of spirit, namely of the Veda and Upanishads, is followed by the age of Dharma–the heroic centuries of action, social formation and typal construction of thought and philosophy. And then follows the great classical age of Sanskrit-culture, marked by the flowering of this intellectuality into curiosity of detail in the refinements of scholarship, science, art, literature, politics, sociology and mundane life. In the post-classical period there was uplift of the whole lower life and an impressing upon it the value of spirit. This was the sense of Puranic and Tantric systems and the religions of Bhakti. The last fine flower of the Indian spirit was Vaishnavism which takes up the aesthetic emotional and sensuous being into the service of the spiritual. Then the decadence started which continued progressively till it culminated in utter confusion and chaos. It may, however, be noted that spirituality never declined though it ceased to inspire and coordinate all the vital aspects of life. At that moment European wave swept over India. The impact of the European life and culture has, in a sense, awakened the sleeping giant; it revived the dormant intellectuality and critical impulse; it rehabilitated life and rekindled the desire of a new creation. The Indian spirit stands now face to face with the novel conditions of modern knowledge and ideas. The dawn of renaissance started flickering.

The nation has three main tasks, namely, the recovery of the old spiritual knowledge and experience in all its splendour, depth and fullness; the flowering of the spirituality into a new form of philosophy, literature, art, science and critical knowledge; and an original dealing with modern problems in the light of Indian spirit and endeavour to formulate a great synthesis of a spiritualised society. Sri Aurobindo clearly points out that success on these three tasks will be a measure of India’s help to the future of humanity.

The second chapter deals with the effects of the European influence on Indian thought. The reaction to the European contact was of three types; firstly, a revolutionary denial of the very principles of the old culture, secondly, the total denial of what the West offered and thirdly, a synthetic view of accepting the good from the West and reviving the old spirit and forge into a new life. It is this third process that the saint deals elaborately. This process involves a new creation in which the spiritual power of the Indian mind remains supreme, recovers its truth, accepts whatever it finds sound or true, useful or inevitable of the modern idea. A synthesis of this kind into a new culture would make it truly Indian.

In the third of his articles Sri Aurobindo writes about the beginning of renaissance in India. All great movements of life in India have begun with a new spiritual thought, usually a new religious activity, he points out and refers to, the Brahmo Samaj which combined a Vedic inspiration, an outward form of English unitarianism, a modicum of Christian influence and a strong dose of religious rationalism and intellectualism. He mentions the Arya Samaj, dedicated to a fresh interpretation of the truth of the Veda, to the modern conditions. The movement of Ramakrishna and Vivekananda has been a very wide synthesis of the past religious motives and spiritual experience, topped by a reaffirmation of the old aceticism and monasticism, backed by new living strands in it and combined with a strong humanitarianism and zeal of missionary expansion. This was probably the key of Indian renaissance.

In the ultimate of the series, Sri Aurobindo gives the essence of renaissance, a rebirth of the soul of India into a new body of energy, a new form of its innate and ancient spirit marked by a spiritual turn. There is, however, a misunderstanding in this regard as the spiritual sometimes is understood as other-worldliness which will not be consistent with modernism. The great saint gives here a profound analysis and clearly brings out that spiritualism is the highest that the human mind can achieve and as such inspires a well-balanced outlook on life. It does not take away the material happiness and thus never inhibits material progress. On the other hand spirituality creates in man the proper perspective of a wholesome life which is a gift of God.

Any civilisation, however great, will have a beginning, its height and then the decline, after which it rises again with a new life yet built on the past. Usually the revival is initiated by a man of the age say a Buddha, a Sankara or a Gandhi.

Nearly three decades after Sri Aurobindo wrote about the renaissance in India, Dr. Radhakrishnan gave us a new and thought-provoking analysis of the same subject of a wider basis. He rightly names it ‘Kalki’ as it is a review of understanding of Dharma in Kaliyuga.

In the introduction he describes the condition of the world today. The scientific and technological developments have taken enormous dimensions and their impact on the human society is unique. The world is becoming outwardly uniform, the peoples of varied cultures are being brought closer by the progress made in various things like science, engineering, form of government, legal regulations, administrative set-up and economic institutions. The world is tending to function as one organism.

However, the outer uniformity is not the result of an inner unity of mind and spirit. There has been no single animating spirit and the world is not one mind. Past history tells us that one great civilisation is replaced by another and there was nothing like a universal civilisation. The bed-rock of those civilisations was the tendency to monopolise racial, religious and political aspects and supremacy of one over the other.

In the second section, Dr. Radhakrishnan gives a detailed account of chaos that reigns the world today in religion, family life, economic relations, politics and international relations, Religion has ceased to inspire spirituality. The family life is rolling in a purposeless eddy often landing in troubles, frustration, bitterness and misunderstanding. The economic relations are leaving the individual in a labyrinth of industrialisation, mechanisation, productivity and so on, without providing him the necessary opportunity for intellectual and emotional integration. In politics democracy has become a paradox. International relations are founded on the basis of fear rather than understanding.

In the next chapter the philosopher raises the fundamental question - what is it that makes a civilisation? Is it merely to rise at the expense of others and exploit them? He optimistically points out that the human race has enough time and opportunity to create for itself conditions favourable for a happy and wholesome life and utilise the almost limitless resources of the material as well as psychological and spiritual things.

In the final chapter of reconstruction, Dr. Radhakrishnan gives very valuable guide lines for building up of a perfect and wholesome civilisation of lasting character. Religion (there may not be a single religion) should have foundations on hardness and austerity, discipline and renunciation, humanity and tolerance, i.e., conforming to the law of acceptance and adventure. The family life should be based on the perfect expression of love with a sense of closeness, warmth and affection, and sex should be considered as a tool in helping learn express true love and build character in the home. In regard to economic relations external accomplishments in the sphere of material comfort should not be placed over and above human values like love of beauty and cultivation of mind. A vital and all-pervading sense of the human and spiritual unity of life the individual and the groups as well has to be achieved by the right type of education. In politics, the main task is removal of the barriers of ignorance and poverty and raise the cultural level of the people and help each to find his self and attain unity of feeling, thought and action. Only through this the ideal of democracy can be achieved. To have the right type of international relations the nations must be imbued with love of humanity; patriotism, pride and sovereignty subordinating to the love of humanity.

Sri Aurobindo, with his great vision, and Dr. Radhakrishnan, with his masterly analysis, gave not only to Indians but also to all nations the best advice. It is for the individuals and nations to profit by it. There is no other way for the human race to tread except the path that leads to the goal of harmonious and wholesome civilisation. The destructive capacity of some of the nations is alarming and capable of total annihilation of life on this planet. To preserve or perish–that is the question; and the question is well answered by the two great men of our age.

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