A Sanskrit Poem on Mother India by Sri Aurobindo

bhavAnI bhAratI

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sukhe nimagnaH shayane yadAsaM madhoshcha rathyAsu manaschachAra |
sa chintayAmAsa kulAni kAvyaM dArAMshcha bhogAMshcha sukhaM dhanAni || 1||
l. As I lay sunk in the comfort of my couch and my mind wandered on the roads of Spring, I thought of my people, of poetry, of wife and enjoyments, pleasure and possessions.
kAntaishcha shR^i~NgArayutaishcha hR^iShTo gAnaiH sa Chando lalitaM babandha |
jagau cha kAntAvadanaM sahAsyaM pUjye cha mAtushcharaNe gariShThe || 2||
2. I shaped my delight into elegant verse in lyrical stanzas of sensuous passion; I sang of the smile on my beloved's face and of the revered and most sacred feet of the Mother.
chakranda bhUmiH parito madIyA khalo hi putrAnasuro mamarda |
svArthena nIto.ahamanarcha pAde durAtmano bhrAtR^ivadhena lipte || 3||
3. My country wept all around me, for a villainous Titan oppressed her children. Led by self-interest, I paid homage to the feet of the evil one stained with the blood of my brothers.
sukhaM mR^idAvAstaraNe shayAnaM sukhAni bhogAnvasu chintayantam |
pasparsha bhImena kareNa vakShaH pratyakShamakShNoshcha babhUva kAlI || 4||
4. Lying at ease on a soft couch and dreaming of pleasures, enjoyments and wealth, I felt on my chest the touch of a dreadful hand and to my eyes grew visible the shape of Kali.
narAsthimAlAM nR^ikapAlakA~nchIM vR^ikodarAkShIM kShudhitAM daridrAm |
pR^iShTe vraNA~NkAmasurapratodaiH siMhIM nadantImiva hantukAmAm || 5||
5. Garlanded with the bones of men and girdled with human skulls, with, belly and eyes like a wolf's, hungry and poor, scarred on her back by the 'Titan's lashes, roaring like a lioness who lusts for kill,
krUraiH kShudhArtairnayanairjvaladbhi- rvidyotayantIM bhuvanAni vishvA |
hu~NkArarUpeNa kaTunA svareNa vidArayantIM hR^idayaM surANAm || 6||
6. with her fierce, hungry, blazing eyes irradiating all the worlds, rending the hearts of the gods with the piercing ring of her war-cry,
ApUrya vishvaM pashuvadvirAvai- rlelihyamAnAshcha hanU karAle |
krUrA~ncha nagnAM tamasIva chakShu- rhisrasya jantorjananIM dadarsha || 7||
7. filling the world with bestial sounds and licking her terrible jaws, fierce and naked, like the eyes of a savage beast in the dark-thus did I see the Mother.
AlolakeshaiH shikharAnnigR^ihya karAladaMShTraishcha visArya sindhUn |
shvAsena dudrAva nabho vidIrNa nyAsena pAdasya cha bhUshchakampe || 8||
8. The mountain-tops cowered beneath her dangling locks and the seas drew back from her awful fangs; her breath scattered the torn clouds and earth trembled at the fall of her feet.
uttiShTha dehIti pipAsurambA dadhvAna rAtrau nagare vitAre |
seyaM stanantI rajanIM tamisrAM babhau samApUrya manAMsi chAryA || 9||
9. "Arise! Give!" The Mother's thirsting call resounded through the night in the starless city. Thundering, the noble goddess filled with her presence the night's blackness and the hearts of men.
bhItaH samudvignamanAshcha talpA- dutthAya paprachchha tamo namasyam |
kA bhAsi naktaM hR^idaye karAli kurvANi kiM brUhi namo.astu bhIme || 10||
10. Alarmed and shaken in mind, I sprang from my couch and questioned that shape of darkness which compelled worship: "Who art thou who appearest to my heart in the night in thy terrible splendour? What must I do? Speak! Salutation to thee, O dreadful goddess!"
siMhasya sArAvamudIrayantI krUrasya ku~nje bhramato vadhArtham |
sasarja vAkyAni karAlamUrti- ryathA samudrastanitaM shilAyAm || 11||
11. Uttering a sound like the lion's roar when it roams ferocious in the jungle in search of prey, the goddess in her form of terror loosed forth words like the thundering of ocean upon the rocks.
mAtAsmi bhoH putraka bhAratAnAM sanAtanAnAM tridashapriyANAm |
shakto na yAnputra vidhirvipakShaH kAlo.api no nAshayituM yamo vA || 12||
12. "I am the mother, O child, of the Bharatas, the eternal people beloved of the gods, whom neither hostile Fate nor Time nor Death has power to destroy.
te brahmacharyeNa vishuddhavIryA j~nAnena te bhImatapobhirAryAH |
sahasrasUryA iva bhAsurAste samR^iddhimatyAM shushubhurdharitryAm || 13||
13. Their strength purified by their continence, rendered noble by selfknowledge and severe austerities, resplendent like a thousand suns they shone on a prosperous earth.
shUrAH pragalbhAshcha hi shAtravANAM spardhAlavaM soDhumamarShaNAste |
pUjAM jananyA ripubhiH samApya rejU raNAnte rudhirAktadehAH || 14||
14. Heroic and bold, they would brook no hint of defiance from their foes. Worshipping the Mother with the sacrifice of her enemies, at battle's end they stood radiant, their limbs anointed with blood.
dInAH ka ete ghR^iNino daridrAH shAntiM jaghanyAM gaNikAmibAndhAH |
bhajanti bhoH kApuruShAH kubuddhya Ali~Ngya ye modatha mR^ityumeva || 15||
15. But who are these pitiful and indigent wretches who in their blindness embrace a degrading peace like a prostitute? O you unmanly and weakminded men! Do you not know that it is Death you clasp?
klIvAH kiyantyevamasUndinAni dhariShyathArtAH prahR^itA vR^ithaiva |
hasantyamitrA apamAnarAshiM krINIya shAntyA dhanashoShaNa~ncha || 16||
16. How long will you thus impotently bear your lives in suffering, wantonly beaten by your oppressors'? Your haters laugh at you; you buy with peace a heap of dishonour and the depletion of your wealth.
mlechchhasya pUtashcharaNAmR^itena garvaM dvijo.asmIti karoti ko.ayam |
shUdrAdanAryatarosi shUdro vrataiH kimetairnarakasya pAnthe || 17||
17. Who is this, sanctified by the nectarous touch of the feet of foreign barbarians, who prides himself on being a Brahmin? You are a Shudra less Aryan then the Shudras! Of what use are these vows for the traveller on the path to Hell?
uttiShTha bho jAgR^ihi sarjayAgnIn sAkShAddhi tejo.asi parasya shaureH |
vakShaHsthitena sanAtanena shatrUnhutAshanena dahannaTasva || 18||
18. Arise! Awake! Leave your ritual fires, for you are the incarnate lustre of Krishna, the Supreme. Go forth consuming your enemies with the fire that dwells eternal in your breast.
kaH kShatrabandhurbhavaneShu gUDho madyena kaTAkShaishcha vilAsinInAm |
dharmAnyasho durbala vismR^ito.asi yudhyasva bho va~nchaka rakSha dharmAn || 19||
19. Who is this relative of Kshatriyas hiding in his palace with wine and the darting glances of voluptuous women? Your duty and honour have you forgotten in your weakness? Fight, hypocrite, and preserve the Dharma!
astyeva lohaM nishitashcha kha~NgaH krUrA shataghnI nadatIha mattA |
kathaM nirastro.asi mR^ito.asi sheShe rakSha svajAtiM parahA bhavAryaH || 20||
20. Iron there is and the sword is sharp; the cruel cannon bellows here in a drunken fury. How is it that you are unarmed? You lie as if dead! Protect your race, be Aryan and a slayer of your foes.
vaishyo.asi kashcheha vishaH samR^iddhyai dhanaM kimetadvipaNIShu sajjam |
mlechCharddhireShA kuruShe daridrAM mAmeva kAlIM khala mAtR^idrohin || 21||
21. And what kind of Vaishya are you here? What goods are these arrayed in the market-places for the prospering of the people? This is the wealth of the foreign exploiter! You impoverish me, Kali, O vile traitor to your Mother!
mlechCharddhimetAM jvalanAya dehi roShAgninA kiM na bibheShi kAlyAH |
devIM bhavAnIM hR^idi pUjayitvA yatasva lakShmyai bhava janmabhUmyAH || 22||
22. Give to the flames this wealth of the foreigner. Do you not fear the burning wrath of Kali? Worshipping the goddess Bhavani in your heart, strive and enrich your motherland.
bho bho avantyo magadhAshcha va~NgA a~NgAH kali~NgAH kuravashcha sindho |
bho dAkShiNAtyAH shR^iNutAndhracholA vasanti ye pa~nchanadeShu shUrAH || 23||
23. You and you, O peoples of Avanti and Magadha, Vanga, Anga and Kalinga, O Kurus and men of' Sind: hear me! O southerners, you of Andhra and the Chola country, and you heroes of the land of the five rivers;
ye ke trimUrti bhajataikamIshaM ye chaikamUrti yavanA madIyAH |
mAtAhvaye vastanayAnhi sarvAn nidrAM vimu~nchadhvamaye shR^iNudhvam || 24||
24. you who adore the triple form of the one Lord and you, my Mohammedan sons, who worship Him in His uniqueness: I, the Mother, call all of you, for all are my children. Shake off your slumber! Oh, hear!
kAlasya bherIM shR^iNutAdrishR^i~Nge raudraM kR^itAntaM mama dUtarUpam |
durbhikShametAnatha bhUmikampAn nibodhatAdhIshatamAgatAsmi || 25||
25. Listen to the drum of Time on the mountain-tops. Behold pitiless Death, my messenger. Famine and earthquake announce that I have come in the fullness of my might.
dehi kratUndehi pipAsurasmi jAnIhi dR^iShTvA bhaja shaktimAdyAm |
shirAMsi rAj~nAM mahatAM tanUshcha bhoktuM nadantI charatIha kAlI || 26||
26. Offer sacrifice to me; give, for I am thirsty. Seeing me, know and adore the original Power, ranging here as Kali who roars aloud and hungers to enjoy the heads and bodies of mighty rulers.
raktapravAhairapi nAsmi tR^iptA shataiH sahasrairayutairajAnAm |
pradatta bhittvA hR^idayAni raktaM sampUjayantyevamajAM karAlIm || 27||
27. Not by torrents of blood from hundreds and thousands and tens of thousands of goats am I satisfied. Break open your hearts and offer that blood to me, for so do they worship the unborn and dreadful Goddess.
yeShAM sadaivAtmabalipravR^ittAH shUrA mahAntaH pramukhAH kulArthe |
saumyA karAlI bhavati prajAnAM raktena puShTA vinihanti shatrUn || 28||
28. Wheresoever are great heroes and leaders engaged in continual selfsacrifice for the good of their race, towards those nations does Kali grow gracious, nourished with blood, and they crush their enemies.
kaM bibhyatAryA rudhirasya sindhau nimajjAtAsminbhavatAryasattvAH |
trishUli bhoH pashyata tatra pAre jyotirhyudetIdamabhinnatejaH || 29||
29. Whom do you fear, O Aryans? Plunge into this sea of blood; show that you are made of Aryan stuff indeed! Lo, there on the further shore see a light arise, inviolable in brilliance and armed with the trident.
kave vilAsi~nshR^iNu mAtR^ivAkyaM kAlIM karAlIM bhaja putra chaNDIm |
drAShTAsi vai bhAratamAtaraM tAM ghnatImarAtInbhR^ishamAjimadhye || 30||
30. O poet and sensualist, hear the word of the Mother: adore Kali the Terrible, my son, the fierce Chandi. Verily you shall see her, the mother of the Bharatas, striking down her foes mightily in the thick of the fight.
sanAtanAnyAhvaya bhAratAnAM kulAni yuddhAya jyo.astu mA bhaiH |
bho jAgR^itAsmi kva dhanuH kva khaDga uttiShThatottiShThata suptasiMhAH || 31||
31. Summon forth to battle the ancient tribes of the Bharatas. Let there be victory; fear not. Lo, I have awakened! Where is the bow, where the sword? Arise, arise, O sleeping lions!"
imAni vAkyAni nishamya rAtrau tejashcha bhImaM timire vilokya |
chittaM nanartAshu vihAya sadma bhogAnvinirdhUya cha nirjagAma || 32||
32. Hearing these words in the night and beholding in the darkness a dreadful splendour, my heart danced and leaving my house, shaking off my pleasures, I quickly went forth.
sAndraM tamisrAvR^itamArtamandhaM dadarsha tadbhAratamAryakhaNDam |
gUDhA rajanyAmaribhirvinaShTA mAtA bhR^ishaM krandati bhAratAnAm || 33||
33. I saw then this land of India, the Aryan country, wrapped thickly in darkness, suffering, blinded; hidden in the night, ruined by her enemies, the mother of the Bharatas wept aloud.
sa bhrAmayAmasa dR^ishaM rajanyAM bhrAtR^insa taptastimire vichinvan |
ka~NkAlasArANi dadarsha tAni shavAni teShAM karuNAni bhUmau || 34||
34. I cast my glance about in the night, grieved, searching out my brothers in the shadows. Their corpses I saw on the ground, pitiable, reduced to skeletons.
tadA dadarshAsuramekamIshaM kirITinaM vajradharaM mahAntam |
ashrUNi raktaughashatAni mAtuH saMgR^ihya puShNantamapatyasaMghAn || 35||
35. Then did I see a lordly Titan, crowned, gigantic, bearing a thunderbolt, feeding the hordes of his offspring with the tears of the Mother mixed with a hundred streams of her blood.
padA tuShArAdrimadInasattvaM mR^idnantamandhrAnitareNa pauNDrAn |
prasArayantaM karavAlamugraM chInAvanau pahlavabhUmikhaNDe || 36||
36. Oppressing with one foot the invincible Himalaya, with the other the plains of Andhra and Paundra, he brandished a harsh sword over China and the land of the Pahlavas (Persia).
khalaM vishAlaM balagarvitaM taM vikatthamAnaM dharmamadharmabuddhim |
dR^iShTvA tvabhUchchittamivAgnikuNDaM krodhena jajvAla hi shAshvatena || 37||
37. As I looked on him, huge and vile, inflated with the pride of his strength, unrighteous and boasting of righteousness, my heart became like a fire-pit and burned with an undying wrath.
kulAni suptAni sanAtanAni hvAtuM jagau jAgaraNAya bhImA |
krUraM virAvaughamudIrayantI pArshve mamAyAdrajanIva ghorA || 38||
38. The dread voice of the goddess was raised to call out of their sleep the imperishable tribes. Then, uttering a fierce flood of cries, she came to my side, formidable like the night.
bhImaiH karAlairdharaNI vachobhi- shchAla sindhushcha nabho jagarja |
bhImaiH saroShaishcha vilokanaistai- rbrahmANDamuttaptamivAgnivR^iShTyA || 39||
39. Earth and sea shook with the awful violence of her words and the heavens thundered back. The terror of her angry looks afflicted the creation like a deluge of fire.
trailokyamunmAdakaraiH karAlyA AvAhanaiH pUrNamabhUchcha sarvam |
jvAlAmukhI dAruNavahnigarbhA kaNThAdudakrAmadajasrashabdA || 40||
40. All the three worlds were filled with the maddening summons of Kali. A volcano of devastating flame issued from the throat in immortal words.
kShobheNa tIvreNa charAcharasya kShubdhAnyapashyaM pR^itanAni tatra |
svapnotthinAnIva vachaH suraudraM bho hanyatAM duShTa itIrayanti || 41||
41. Now 1 saw armies as if roused from sleep, agitated by the intense agitation that had seized the world, shouting fiercely, "Death to the villain!"
j~nAtvA hi mAtU ruditaM kShatAni vidyuddharANIkShaNashatAnyabhUvan |
krodhaiH sahasrANi tato mukhAni bhImAni bhImaM danujeshamAyan || 42||
42. Growing aware of the Mother's weeping and her wounds, hundreds of eyes darted lightning. Then thousands of faces turned, dire with rage, upon the dread lord of Titans.
supteShu putreShu raNotsukeShu nishAcharaH shoNitamAryamAtuH |
pibanvinardasyabalAnbalI ko vahaMsi chANDAla kR^itAntabhakShya || 43||
43. "Who are you Aho, while her sons slept who are now eager for battle, have drunk the blood of the mother of the Aryans like a Rakshasa, bellowing in the night? Who are you who, strong, oppress the weak, O fallen one, food for Death?"
itIrayantI vachanAni ruShTA shastraM gR^ihItvA dhanuragnigarbham |
abhyadravadbhImamarAtimugrA pashchAtpurastAchcha jagarja kAlI || 44||
44. As she uttered these words, incensed, the violent goddess lifted a weapon, a fire-hurling bow, and rushed at her fearsome opponent. Before her and behind her Kali roared.
jvAlAkarAlA dharaNI babhUva krodhairjvaladbhirgagana~ncha tUrNaiH |
hreShAravairdundubhinA~ncha nAdai- rjagadvitrastaM danujasya yuddhe || 45||
45. Tile earth grew lurid with flame and swift tongues of flaming wrath licked the sky. Sounds of neighing and the rumble of drums frightened the world as Kali fought with the Titan.
raktAktameghA nabhasIva tepuH papAta chorvyAM rudhirogravR^iShTiH |
raktodadhau rejira adrisaMghA vasundharA raktamayA babhAse || 46||
46. Clouds stained with blood seemed to burn in the heavens and a fierce rain of blood fell upon the earth. The mountains rose up from a bloodred sea. All the land was as if turned to blood.
bhImo rajanyAmasuro balIyAn mamarda sainyAni surapriyANAm |
jagarja chonmattamanAH surAriH ko me samaH puMsviti rUDhagarvaH || 47||
47. The mighty Titan, terrible in the night, was crushing the armies of the people beloved of the gods. Intoxicated with pride, the enemy of the gods thundered, "Who is there in the world who is equal to me?"
tadA tamisrAmapasArayantaM raktaprakAshaM divi bAlasUryam |
sharopamairghnanantamivAMshubhistaM prIto dadarshAhamudagrarashmim || 48||
48. Then, repelling the darkness and piercing the adversary with beams like arrows, 1 saw with a thrill of gladness a rising sun that shed a ruddy glow in the heavens, casting its rays aloft.
samAkulaM bhAvibhirAsyavaryai- rbrahmANamapashyamathAbhrarUpam |
sahasranetrANi dadarsha tasmin pratIkShamANAnyabhayaM jananyAH || 49||
49. Crowded with glorious faces of the future, I beheld now the creator Brahma in the shape of a cloud whence looked forth a thousand eyes that foresaw the Mother's deliverance from fear.
dvikoTibhAsvadvarasUryabhAsaM jyotistadA saumyamarAtinAshI |
nArIsharIra ramaNIyakAnti dUrAdudIchyAmudiyAya shubhram || 50||
50. Then, far off in the north, there arose, gracious, annihilating all enemies, a white light in the form of 'a Woman delightful in beauty, as radiant as twenty million dazzling suns.
tAM hlAditA dIptajagatsu devA- stAmantarIkShe madhuraM vayAMsi |
jagurmanuShyAH praNipatya chorvyAM vishvaM vinaShTAdhi yadAvivesha || 51||
51. Enraptured, the gods in the luminous realms sang her praises; the birds in the mid-region sang sweetly of her, and men prostrating themselves on the earth sang of her as she entered the world dispelling its anguish.
samAdhidhIrA himabhUtadehA yugAnyanekAni himAdrikUTe |
ye yogino bhAratagoptR^irUpA- ste tuShTuvustAM muditA mahAntaH || 52||
52. On the Himalayan summits, steadfast in meditation, their bodies turned to ice, the great Yogis who through numberless ages have guarded India's destiny praised her with joy.
j~nAnAkarebhyo hi vilochanebhyo himAni mandaM yugasa~nchitAni |
utsArya devImatha bhImakAntiM mahApratApA balinImagAyan || 53||
53. Brushing slowly from eyes fathomless with wisdom the snow the ages had heaped there, they chanted in their puissance to the mighty Goddess terrible in radiant beauty:
tubhyaM namo devi vishAlashaktyai namAmi bhImAM balinIM kR^ipAlum |
tvameva vai tArayasIha jAtI- rUrjasvalAyai nama Adidevyai || 54||
54. "Salutation to thee, O Goddess omnipotent! To thee I bow who art terrible and mighty and compassionate. Thou alone preservest these peoples. Salutation to the Forceful One, the primeval Goddess!
kaste balaM varNayituM samartho devi prachaNDe karapallavena |
ekena hi bhrAmayase ruNatsi vishvaM satArArkamanantavIrye || 55||
55. Who is there who can describe thy might, O Goddess impetuous in thy ways? With one delicate hand thou settest whirling or arrestest in its motion the universe with all its stars and suns, O infinite in energy.
Ajau yadA nR^ityasi chaNDi ghore shR^igAlaghuShTe dadhatI trishUlam |
sparshena kampanta ivAyudhasya mahAnti tArAniyutAni nAke || 56||
56. When, wielding the trident, thou dancest, O Chandi, on the gruesome battlefield noisy with jackals, the vast multitudes of stars seem to tremble in the firmament at the touch of thy weapon.
dayArdrachittA ruditena puMsAM haMsi prajApIDakamastakeShu |
yo mR^ityurattA bhuvanasya raudraiH sa kiMkaraste vasati trishUle || 57||
57. Thy heart melting with pity for the weeping of men, thou smitest the heads of the oppressors of the people. Ravenous Death, the eater of the world, is thy servant who rides on the prongs of thy trident.
shaktiH parA koTiShu mAnavAnAM saMmanyunAM tvaM bhavasi prabuddhA |
AryAnvipannAnavatIrya pAsi yuge yuge yudhyasa AryamAtaH || 58||
58. Thou art the supreme Power awakening in millions of impassioned men. Incarnating thyself, thou preservest this noble people when it is fallen into distress. From age to age thou fightest, O Mother of the Aryans.
sadyo.api pashyAmi girAvudIchyAM dedIpyamAnaM dhavalaM vapuste |
tvaM bhrAjase jyotirudeShi saumye prakAshayantI bhuvanAni kAntyA || 59||
59. Today again I behold thy dazzling white form on the mountains of the north; effulgent thy light arises, O gracious one, illumining the worlds with beauty.
dhenau samArUDhamanoj~nakAntI raNonmadAyAM charasIyamAryA |
shailA ivottu~NgashikhAH samUlAH patanti saMghAH parito.asurANAm || 60||
60. Thou rangest here, noble goddess, with thy lovely limbs of radiance mounted on a cow drunk with the zest of battle, and all around thee the Titan hosts tumble like lofty peaks uprooted.
sA shubhravarNAsitavR^ittashR^i~NgA himasya rAshishchalatIva tUrNam |
devapriyA bhAratabhUmirAryA dhenusvarUpeNa vihanti shatrUn || 61||
61. Bright of hue and with round black horns, she romps about like a swiftmoving mass of snow: it is the Aryan land of India, dear to the gods, who tramples her enemies in this shape of a cow.
vyUhAstavakasmAjjitadaivatAnAM bhayena te pANDuravaktrakAntyaH |
vAriprapAtA iva parvatebhyo dhAvantyadho vegaparAH sashabdAH || 62||
62. The legions of those who had defeated the gods, the lustre of their faces turning pale with fear, flee suddenly like cataracts down the mountainsides, clamorous and intent on speed.
shR^iNomi te pA~nchanadeShu bhIme svarAnudArA~njayanAdamugram |
nihanyamAnasya ravaM balasya bhaya~Nkare tArataraM shR^iNomi || 63||
63. I hear, O formidable goddess, the noble tones of thy fierce cry of victory echoed by the people of Punjab. Louder still, O fearsome warrior, is heard the uproar of the opposing forces as they are slaughtered.
kR^iShNasya saiShA yamunA sravantI raktena nIlaM visasarja varNam |
ba~NgeShvasR^ikkardamameva pashya digdakShiNA bhAti sulohiteva || 64||
64. Yonder Jumna, whose stream witnessed the sports of Krishna, has lost its sapphire hue, turning red with blood. Behold the soil of Bengal turned to a bloody mire, while the southern quarter gleams blood-red.
spR^iShTAstrishUlena vihAyasImAH sulohitA bhAnti dishaH samantAt |
abhrANi te raktamayAni bhIme vibhAnti yuddhena sudAruNena || 65||
65. Touched by thy trident, the regions of the sky seem to bleed, diffusing a reddish light everywhere. Due to the exceeding violence of thy warfare, O dreadful one, the clouds that bore water have become carriers of blood.
sndhostaTeShUpalakarkasheShu devImapashyaM yudhi sheShitArIn |
niHsheShayantImadayAM sakopAM shivAM trishUlena shivasya shatrUn || 66||
66. On the rocky sea-beaches 1 have seen the Goddess annihilating in battle her remaining adversaries. Merciless, wrathful and beneficent, she cuts down with her trident the enemies of Shiva, the beneficent Lord.
kharaiH suniShpiShTamidaM surabhyA ghoraM kimevApi sukR^iShNavarNam |
mAMsasya piMNDaM hyavanau nirIkShe sheSho.ayamastyeva tavAhitAnAm || 67||
67. What is this, hideous and black, trampled by the hooves of the cow of the gods'? It is a lump of flesh which I see on the ground: this is all that is left of those who were hostile to thee.
bhagnAni tasminnichaye virUpe praniHsarantIva shirAMsi kAni |
pAdAH karAshchApi hi tatra tatra krUrAsi rudrANi karAlakR^ityA || 68||
68. From that disfigured heap what broken heads seem to emerge! Feet and hands lie here and there. Cruel art thou, O Rudrani, in thy savage deeds!
krUrAsi rudrANyathavA jaghanye krUre prajApIDanarUDhagarve |
dayeva bhUteyamalaM yadAryaM svargapradaM mR^ityumavApa yuddhe || 69||
69. Cruel art thou, O Rudrani; or rather is this mercy, as it were, towards the base and cruel tyrant priding himself on the affliction of the people, that he should receive in battle a noble death leading to heaven.
eko gatAsorapi rudrashatro- rdhatte karaH pAvakagarbhamastram |
pluShTashcha chIrNashcha tathApi dagdhA- nasUnbhavAnyAM kShipatIva daityaH || 70||
70. Though his life has departed, one hand of this enemy of Rudra still holds a fire-spitting weapon. Charred and mangled, it is as if the demon .yet hurls at Bhavani his burnt life-force.
srotAMsi pashyAmi mahAyudhAsyA- dudgIryamANAni hutAshanasya |
dhR^iShTo.api so nAlabhate tu chaNDIM tiShThanprabhAmaNDalamUrtimagre || 71||
71. I see currents of flame spewing from the mouth of the deadly weapon; but for all his insolence, and though he lies before her, he cannot reach the form of Chandi wrapped in an aura of splendour.
khaDgaH prakShiptastu viShANamadhye viShTambhayatyantimacheShTitantat |
samAptametattava tarkayAmi mahAvrataM devi vishAlavIrye || 72||
72. A sword thrust between his horns paralyses that parting gesture. Thus I deem thee to have fulfilled thy mighty vow, O Goddess of immense energy.
tubhyaM namo devi vishAlashaktyai bhImavrate tAriNi kaShTasAdhye |
tvaM bhAratI rAjasi bhAratAnAM tvamIshvarI bhAsi charAcharasya || 73||
73. Salutation to thee, O Goddess vast in thy power, to thee of terrible vows who carriest us through our difficult labour. Thou reignest as Bharati over the Bharatas; as the supreme Goddess thou rulest all this universe of animate and inanimate things.
tvAmIshvarI tvaM jananI prajAnAM ko.anyaH prabhurdAnamidaM tavADhye |
svAmitvamaishvaryamanindyatejo dadAsi yA sApi nihaMsi ruShTA || 74||
74. Thou art the supreme -Goddess, thou the Mother of creatures; who else has power? Mastery, supremacy and blameless lustre are gifts from thee, O opulent one, thou who givest these smitest also when thou art angered.
namo namo vAhanametadArye himAbhakAntaM madhurAyatAkShi |
tallA~NgulAgreNa sukR^iShNabhAsA dhvajaM karotIva tavochChitena || 75||
75. Salutation, salutation, O noble goddess with thy large eyes of sweetness! This thy vehicle with its lovely hue of snow raises thy flag, as it were, in the black, glossy tip of its uplifted tail.
namo namo devi tavAlakAlI raNashrameNa prasabhaM vimuktA |
uDDIyamAnA nabhasIva megho veNichyutA bhAti sudIrghavakrA || 76||
76. Salutation, salutation, O Goddess! Forcibly loosened by the exertion of battle, the array of thy unbraided tresses flying about, long and wavy, appears to float like a cloud in the sky.
shvetAnane vidyudivAsi bhUmau ruShA pradIpte hi vilochane te |
krIDantyapA~NgeShu karAlahAsAH shatahradeva stanayitnumadhye || 77||
77. When thy eyes flash with anger, O white-faced goddess, thou art like a streak of lightning fallen to earth; like lightning amid the thunderclouds thv dreadful laughter plays in the corners of thy eyes.
draShTuM ripUMstAnpatitAngatAsUn grIveyamIShannamitA cha shuklA |
sajAnuvaryaM charaNaM bhavAnyAH stambho himasyeva vibhAti shubhram || 78||
78. This white neck of thine is bent slightly to look at thy fallen and lifeless foemen. The white legs of Bhavani, from the feet to the beautiful knees, gleam like pillars of snow.
shuklaM pravAtairanilopamaM te saMkShobhitaM bhAsuratoyadAbham |
vAtIva vAso ruchirANi madhye bhrAjanta a~NgAni shashiprabheva || 79||
79. Fluttering in the breeze, thy bright and airy robe is a luminous cloud from whose midst thy radiant firnbs shine forth like moonlight.
udIrNaphenaH payasastara~NgaH kShIrAbdhimadhye stanamekametat |
tvaM durnirIkShyAsi yada~NgakAnte- stviShArkShiramba pratihanyate me || 80||
80. This breast of thine is a foaming wave of milk swelling in the Milky Ocean. Difficult art thou to discern, O Mother, when my gale falls back from tire splendour of thv body of beauty.
sanAtanI devi shivasya pUrvaM vapustvidaM dhArayase yuvatyAH |
tubhyaM namastubhyamanAdimAtaH saumyA bhavAmba praNateShu bhIme || 81||
81. Thou art ancient, t) Goddess -before Shiva thou wart--yet thou wearest this form of a maiden. Salutation to thee, O beginningless Mother! Be graci,)us, O terrible One. to those who prostrate themselves before thee.
uddishya bhUmiM drumarAjinIlAM shailAntarAleShu mahatsu dR^ishyAm |
kAruNyamayyAH prasUtaH karaste dadAsi rudrANyabhayaM prajAnAm || 82||
82. Pointing to a land dark with trees visible in the vast spaces between the mountains, thy hand is extended, O compassionate one, O Rudrani, granting freedom from fear to the peoples.
tatsaMj~nayA te karapallavasya tamo vidhUtaM bhuvi bhAratAnAm |
raktasya meghA nabhaso.apadhUtA achintyavIryAsi shubhAsi saumyA || 83||
83. By that sign of thy flowerlike hand the darkness is expelled from the land of the Bharatas. -h he clouds of blood vanish from the skies. Unthinkable is thy strength; beautiful thou art and gracious.
saumyaM vapuste himavarNamAryaM saumyaM bhavAnyA vadanaM hyudAram |
shuklAmbarAM yauvanashubhrakAntiM snehArdranetrAM balinIM namAmi || 84||
84. Gracious is thy noble form white as snow, gracious the exalted countenance of Bhavani; I bow to the Mighty One robed in white, radiant with the bright beauty of youth, her eyes moist with compassion.
narAsthimAlA nR^ikapAlakA~nchI kva sA karAlI |
nagnA cha ghorA vivR^itAsyabhImA yasyA virAvaiH sahasotthito.asmi || 85||
85. Where now is that terrible figure, garlanded with the bones of men and girdled with skulls, naked and fierce, dreadful with her gaping mouth, by whose cries I was suddenly roused?
raktasya yo.ayaM vahatIha sindhu- shChAyA shubhAyA hasatIva tasmin |
khaDgaM paribhrAmayati stanantI nagnA sughorA cha namAmi kAlIm || 86||
86. In the river of blood which flows yonder laughs the shadow of the beautiful One, brandishing a sword, thundering, naked and hideous: I bow to Kali!
kAlI tvamevAsi suniShThurAsi tvamannapUrNA sadayA cha saumyA |
namAmi raudrAM bhuvanAntakatriM premAkulAmeva namAmi rAdhe || 87||
87. Thou indeed art Kali and utterly ruthless thou art; thou art Annapurna, the merciful and gracious. I bow to thee as the Violent One, O ender of the worlds; I bow to thee, O Radha, in thy ecstasy of love.
anantashaktyR^iddhimasheshamUrtiM ko vakShyatImAM tava sarvashakte |
tejastvametadvalinAM bala~ncha tvaM komalAnAmapi komalAsi || 88||
88. Who can support in himself thy plenitude of infinite Power in which all thy forms are manifest, O Goddess omnipotent? Thou art this blazing might and thou art the strength of the strong; thou art also the gentlest of the gentle.
saumyAmahantvAM dvibhujAM namAmi trishUlinIM tvAmabhayaM vahantIm |
tvAmamba sAvitri shubhe trinetre shuklA~NgavastrAM vR^iSharUDhakAntim || 89||
89. Two-armed in thy gracious aspect I bow to thee, and again with trident uplifted bringing deliverance from fear; to thee I bow, O Mother, O radiant Savitri, O three-eyed one, thy white-limbed, white-robed loveliness mounted on a bull.
dashAyudhADhyA dashadikShvagamyA pAtAsi mAtardashabAhurAryAn |
sahasrahastairupaguhya putrA- nAsse jagadyonirachintyavIryA || 90||
90. Ten-armed with all thy ten weapons thou protectest the Aryans, O Mother unattainable in the ten directions; as the womb of' the world thou sitst with a thousand arms embracing thy children, unthinkable in thy energy.
prakAshayantIM gahanAni bhAsai- rbhImAM jvalatparvatamUrtimagryAm |
pashyAmi devIM nagareShu saumyAM dvAri sthitAmAryabhuvaH sakhaDgAm || 91||
91. Illumining with her rays the impenetrable depths of the forests, her form like a mountain of fire, terrible and sublime, I see the gracious Goddess standing, sword in hand, at the gates of the cities of the Aryan country.
kaliM damitvA jananI prajAnAM sattvAdhikA [ portion missing ] |
svAdhInavR^ittIni punashcharanti pashyAmi tAnyAgamamArgagANi || 92||
92. The mighty Mother of creatures has vanquished the Age of Strife. Once again the movements of freedom are abroad; I observe them following the paths of the ancient scriptures.
punaH shR^iNomImamaraNyabhUmau vedasya ghoShaM hR^idayAmR^itotsam |
suj~nAninAmAshramagA munInAM kulyeva puMsAM vahati prapUrNA || 93||
93. Once again 1 hear in the forests the chanting of the Veda which is a fountain of immortalising nectar to the heart. An overflowing river of humanity streams to the hermitages of the sages perfected in selfknowledge.
sanAtanAn rakShati dharmamArgAn punaH sahasrAMshukulAryajanmA |
lakShmIH punaH sApyachalA smitAsyA samujjvalA rAjati bhArateShu || 94||
94. Once again the eternal ways of the Dharma are guarded by one nobly born in the Solar Race. And once again resplendent Lakshmi, a smile on her lips, reigns steadfast among the Bharatas.
purAtanIM mAtaramAgamAnA- mAgachChatA~ncha stuvatA~ncha bhUmim |
prAchyAM pratIchyAM jagato.akhilasya kolAhalaM vegaravA~nshruNomi || 95||
95. In East and West I hear the cry and stir of the whole world hastening with praise on its tongue to this country, the ancient Mother of the Vedas.
saddharmagarbheti mahAvrateti stuvanti saimyA~ncha bhaya~NkarA~ncha |
devyAH priyAM bhUmimanAdishaktyA- stIrthasvarUpeNa cha pUjayanti || 96||
96. Praising the gracious and awe-inspiring Mother as the source of the true Law, the fulfiller of mighty vows, they revere as a place of pilgrimage this land dear to the Goddess beginningless in her power.
shivasya kAshyAM nivasanti ye ke muktAH shivasparshena bhavanti devyAH |
pAdArpaNenaiva tu pAvanena sarvAryabhUmirjagato.api kAshI || 97||
97. As those who dwell in Shiva's sacred city of Kashi are liberated by the auspicious touch of the Lord, so all this Aryan country where the Goddess has set her purifying feet shall be the Kashi of the world.
prItirdayA dhairyamadamyashauryaM shraddhA titikShA vividhAshcha vidyAH |
anantarUpe tvamasi prasIda chiraM vasArye hR^idi bhAratAnAm || 98||
98. O infinite in thy forms, thou art contentment, compassion, patience and indomitable heroism, faith and endurance and knowledge of every kind. Be gracious, noble goddess; dwell long in the hearts of the Indian people!
sindhUnhimAdri~ncha susaumyabhAsA prakAshayantI sudR^iDhapratiShThA |
tiShTha prasannA chiramAryabhUmau mahApratApe jagato hitAya || 99||
99. Illumining these rivers and snowy mountains with a mosti gentle lustre, be firmly established in the Aryan country. Abide forever gracious in this land, 0 Mighty One, for the good of the world!"

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Please send comments, corrections and suggestions to Sarada & Sai Susarla.


https://sanskritdocuments.org/surasa/aurobindo/bhavani.php

I am Bhawani Bharati, Mother of India.

Bhawani Mandir

OM Namas Chandikayai.

A temple is to be erected and consecrated to Bhawani, the mother, among the hills. To all the children of the mother, the call is sent forth to help in the sacred work.

WHO IS BHAWANI?

Who is Bhawani, the mother, and why should we erect a temple to Her?

BHAWANI IS THE INFINITE ENERGY.

In the unending revolutions of the world, as the wheel of the Eternal turns mightily in its courses, the Infinite Energy which streams forth from the Eternal and sets the wheel to work, looms up in the vision of man in various aspects and infinite forms. Each aspect creates and marks an age. Sometimes She is Love, sometimes She is Knowledge, sometimes She is Renunciation, sometimes She is Pity. This Infinite Energy is Bhawani. She also is Durga, She is Kali, She is Radha the Beloved, She is Lakshmi. She is our Mother and the Creatress of us all.

BHAWANI IS SHAKTI.

In the present age, the Mother is manifested as the mother of Strength. She is pure Shakti.

THE WHOLE WORLD IS GROWING FULL OF THE MOTHER AS SHAKTI.

Let us raise our eyes and cast them upon the world around us. Wherever we turn our gaze, huge masses of strength rise before our vision, tremendous, swift and inexorable forces, gigantic figures of energy, terrible sweeping columns of force. All is growing large and strong. The Shakti of war, the Shakti of wealth, the Shakti of Science are tenfold more mighty and colossal, a hundredfold more fierce, rapid and busy in their activity, a thousandfold more prolific in resources, weapons and instruments than ever before in recorded history. Everywhere the Mother is at work; from Her mighty and shaping hands enormous forms of Rakshasas, Asuras, Devas are leaping forth into the arena of the world. We have seen the slow but mighty rise of great empires in the West, we have seen the swift, irresistible and impetuous bounding into life of Japan. Some are Mleccha Shaktis clouded in their strength, black or blood-crimson with tamas or rajas, others are Arya Shaktis, bathed in a pure flame of renunciation and utter self-sacrifice: but all are the Mother in Her new phase, remoulding, creating. She is pouring Her spirit into the old; She is whirling into life the new.

WE IN INDIA FAIL IN ALL THINGS FOR WANT OF SHAKTI.

But in India the breath moves slowly, the afflatus is long in coming. India, the ancient mother, is indeed striving to be reborn, striving with agony and tears, but she strives in vain. What ails her, she, who is after all so vast and might be so strong? There is surely some enormous defect, something vital is wanting in us; nor is it difficult to lay our finger on the spot. We have all things else, but we are empty of strength, void of energy. We have abandoned Shakti and are therefore abandoned by Shakti. The Mother is not in our hearts, in our brains, in our arms.

The wish to be reborn we have in abundance, there is no deficiency there. How many attempts have been made, how many movements have been begun, in religion, in society, in politics! But the same fate has overtaken or is preparing to overtake them all. They flourish for a moment, then the impulse wanes, the fire dies out, and if they endure, it is only as empty shells, forms from which the Brahma has gone or in which it lies overpowered with tamas and inert. Our beginnings are mighty, but they have neither sequel nor fruit.

Now we are beginning in another direction; we have started a great industrial movement which is to enrich and regenerate an impoverished land. Untaught by experience, we do not perceive that this movement must go the way of all the others, unless we first seek the one essential thing, unless we acquire strength.

OUR KNOWLEDGE IS A DEAD THING FOR WANT OF SHAKTI.

Is it knowledge that is wanting? We Indians born and bred in a country where Jnana has been stored and accumulated since the race began, bear about in us the inherited gains of many thousands of years. Great giants of knowledge rise among us even today to add to the store. Our capacity has not shrunk, the edge of our intellect has not been dulled or blunted, its receptivity and flexibility are as varied as of old. But it is a dead knowledge, a burden under which we are bowed, a poison which is corroding us rather than as it should be a staff to support our feet, and a weapon in our hands; for this is the nature of all great things that when they are not used or are ill used, they turn upon the bearer and destroy him.

Our knowledge then, weighed down with a heavy load of tamas, lies under the curse of impotence and inertia. We choose to fancy indeed, now-a-days, that if we acquire Science, all will be well. Let us first ask ourselves what we have done with the knowledge we already possess, or what have those, who have already acquired Science, been able to do for India. Imitative and incapable of initiative, we have striven to copy the methods of England, and we had not the strength: we would now copy the methods of the Japanese, a still more energetic people; are we likely to succeed any better? The mighty force of knowledge which European Science bestows is a weapon for the hands of a giant, it is the mace of Bheemsen: what can a weakling do with it but crush himself in the attempt to wield it?

OUR BHAKTI CANNOT LIVE AND WORK FOR WANT OF SHAKTI.

Is it love, enthusiasm, Bhakti that is wanting? These are ingrained in the Indian nature, but in the absence of Shakti we cannot concentrate, we cannot direct, we cannot even preserve it. Bhakti is the leaping flame, Shakti is the fuel. If the fuel is scanty how long can the fire endure?

When the strong nature, enlightened by knowledge, disciplined and given a giant’s strength by Karma, lifts itself up in love and adoration to God, that is the Bhakti which endures and keeps the soul for ever united with the Divine. But the weak nature is too feeble to bear the impetus of so mighty a thing as perfect Bhakti; he is lifted up for a moment, then the flame soars up to Heaven, leaving him behind exhausted and even weaker than before. Every movement of any kind of which enthusiasm and adoration are the life, must fail and soon burn itself out so long as the human material from which it proceeds is frail and light in substance.

INDIA THEREFORE NEEDS SHAKTI ALONE.

The deeper we look, the more we shall be convinced that the one thing wanting, which we must strive to acquire before all others, is strength—strength physical, strength mental, strength moral, but above all strength spiritual which is the one inexhaustible and imperishable source of all the others. If we have strength, everything else will be added to us easily and naturally. In the absence of strength we are like men in a dream who have hands but cannot seize or strike, who have feet but cannot run.

INDIA, GROWN OLD AND DECREPIT IN WILL, HAS TO BE REBORN.

Whenever we strive to do anything, after the first rush of enthusiasm is spent, a paralysing helplessness seizes upon us. We often see in the cases of old men full of years and experience that the very excess of knowledge seems to have frozen their powers of action and their powers of will. When a great feeling or a great need overtakes them and it is necessary to carry out its promptings in action, they hesitate, ponder, discuss, make tentative efforts and abandon them or wait for the safest and easiest way to suggest itself, instead of taking the most direct; thus the time when it was possible and necessary to act passes away. Our race has grown just such an old man with stores of knowledge, with ability to feel and desire, but paralysed by simple sluggishness, senile timidity, senile feebleness. If India is to survive, she must be made young again. Rushing and billowing streams of energy must be poured into her; her soul must become, as it was in the old times, like the surges, vast, puissant, calm or turbulent at will, an ocean of action or of force.

INDIA CAN BE REBORN.

Many of us utterly overcome by tamas, the dark and heavy demon of inertia, are saying now-a-days that it is impossible; that India is decayed, bloodless and lifeless, too weak ever to recover; that our race is doomed to extinction. It is a foolish and idle saying. No man or nation need be weak unless he chooses, no man or nation need perish unless he deliberately chooses extinction.

WHAT IS A NATION? THE SHAKTI OF ITS MILLIONS.

For what is a nation? What is our mother-country? It is not a piece of earth, nor a figure of speech, nor a fiction of the mind. It is a mighty Shakti, composed of the Shaktis of all the millions of units that make up the nation, just as Bhawani Mahisha-Mardini sprang into being from the Shaktis of all the millions of gods assembled in one mass of force and welded into unity. The Shakti we call India, Bhawani Bharati, is the living unity of the Shaktis of three hundred millions of people; but she is inactive, imprisoned in the magic circle of tamas, the self-indulgent inertia and ignorance of her sons. To get rid of tamas we have but to wake the Brahma within.

IT IS OUR OWN CHOICE WHETHER WE CREATE A NATION OR PERISH.

What is it that so many thousands of holy men, Sadhus and Sannyasis, have preached to us silently by their lives? What was the message that radiated from the personality of Bhagawan Ramkrishna Paramhansa? What was it that formed the kernel of the eloquence with which the lionlike heart of Vivekananda sought to shake the world? It is this that in every one of these three hundred millions of men from the Raja on his throne to the coolie at his labour, from the Brahmin absorbed in his sandhya to the Pariah walking shunned of men, GOD LIVETH. We are all gods and creators, because the energy of God is within us and all life is creation; not only the making of new forms is creation, but preservation is creation, destruction itself is creation. It rests with us what we shall create; for we are not, unless we choose, puppets dominated by Fate and Maya: we are facets and manifestations of Almighty Power.

INDIA MUST BE REBORN, BECAUSE HER REBIRTH IS DEMANDED BY THE FUTURE OF THE WORLD.

India cannot perish, our race cannot become extinct, because among all the divisions of mankind it is to India that is reserved the highest and the most splendid destiny, the most essential to the future of the human race. It is she who must send forth from herself the future religion of the entire world, the Eternal religion which is to harmonise all religion, science and philosophies and make mankind one soul. In the sphere of morality, likewise, it is her mission to purge barbarism (mlecchahood) out of humanity and to aryanise the world. In order to do this, she must first re-aryanise herself.

It was to initiate this great work, the greatest and most wonderful work ever given to a race, that Bhagawan Ramkrishna came and Vivekananda preached. If the work does not progress as it once promised to do, it is because we have once again allowed the terrible cloud of tamas to settle down on our souls—fear, doubt, hesitation, sluggishness. We have taken, some of us, the Bhakti which poured forth from the one and the Jnana given us by the other, but from the lack of Shakti, from the lack of Karma, we have not been able to make our Bhakti a living thing. May we yet remember that it was Kali, who is Bhawani mother of strength, whom Ramkrishna worshipped and with whom he became one.

But the destiny of India will not wait on the falterings and failings of individuals; the mother demands that men shall arise to institute her worship and make it universal.

TO GET STRENGTH WE MUST ADORE THE MOTHER OF STRENGTH.

Strength then and again strength and yet more strength is the need of our race. But if it is strength we desire, how shall we gain it if we do not adore the Mother of strength? She demands worship not for Her own sake, but in order that She may help us and give Herself to us. This is no fantastic idea, no superstition but the ordinary law of the universe. The gods cannot, if they would, give themselves unasked. Even the Eternal comes not unaware upon man. Every devotee knows by experience that we must turn to Him and desire and adore Him before the Divine Spirit pours in its ineffable beauty and ecstasy upon the soul. What is true of the Eternal, is true also of Her who goes forth from Him.

RELIGION THE TRUE PATH.

Those who, possessed with western ideas, look askance at any return to the old sources of energy may well consider a few fundamental facts.

THE EXAMPLE OF JAPAN.

I. There is no instance in history of a more marvellous and sudden up-surging of strength in a nation than modern Japan. All sorts of theories had been started to account for the uprising, but now intellectual Japanese are telling us what were the fountains of that mighty awakening, the sources of that inexhaustible strength. They were drawn from religion. It was the Vedantic teachings of Oyomei and the recovery of Shintoism with its worship of the national Shakti of Japan in the image and person of the Mikado that enabled the little island empire to wield the stupendous weapons of western knowledge and science as lightly and invincibly as Arjun wielded the Gandiv.

INDIA’S GREATER NEED OF SPIRITUAL REGENERATION.

II. India’s need of drawing from the fountains of religion is far greater than was ever Japan’s; for the Japanese had only to revitalise and perfect a strength that already existed. We have to create strength where it did not exist before; we have to change our natures, and become new men with new hearts, to be born again. There is no scientific process, no machinery for that. Strength can only be created by drawing it from the internal and inexhaustible reservoirs of the Spirit, from that Adya-Shakti of the Eternal which is the fountain of all new existence. To be born again means nothing but to revive the Brahma within us, and that is a spiritual process,—no effort of the body or the intellect can compass it.

RELIGION THE PATH NATURAL TO THE NATIONAL MIND.

III. All great awakenings in India, all her periods of mightiest and most varied vigour have drawn their vitality from the fountain-heads of some deep religious awakening. Wherever the religious awakening has been complete and grand, the national energy it has created has been gigantic and puissant; wherever the religious movement has been narrow or incomplete, the national movement has been broken, imperfect or temporary. The persistence of this phenomenon is proof that it is ingrained in the temperament of the race. If you try other and foreign methods, we shall either gain our end with tedious slowness, painfully and imperfectly, or we shall not attain it at all. Why abandon the plain way which God and the Mother have marked out for you to choose faint and devious paths of your own treading?

THE SPIRIT WITHIN IS THE TRUE SOURCE OF STRENGTH.

IV. The Brahma within, the one and indivisible ocean of spiritual force is that from which all life material and mental is drawn. This is beginning to be as much recognised by leading western thinkers as it was from the old days by the East. If it be so, then spiritual energy is the source of all other strength. There are the fathomless fountain-heads, the deep and inexhaustible sources. The shallow surface springs are easier to reach, but they soon run dry. Why not then go deep instead of scratching the surface? The result will repay the labour.

THREE THINGS NEEDFUL.

We need three things answering to three fundamental laws.

I. BHAKTI—THE TEMPLE OF THE MOTHER.

We cannot get strength unless we adore the Mother of strength.

We will therefore build a temple to the white Bhawani, the mother of strength, the Mother of India; and we will build it in a place far from the contamination of modern cities and as yet little trodden by man, in a high and pure air steeped in calm and energy. This temple will be the centre from which Her worship is to flow over the whole country; for there worshipped among the hills, She will pass like fire into the brains and hearts of Her worshippers. This also is what the Mother has commanded.

II. KARMA—A NEW ORDER OF BRAHMACHARINS.

Adoration will be dead and ineffective unless it is transmuted into Karma.

We will therefore have a math with a new Order of Karma-Yogins attached to the temple, men who have renounced all in order to work for the Mother. Some may, if they choose, be complete Sannyasins, most will be Brahmacharins who will return to the grihasthasram when their allotted work is finished; but all must accept renunciation.

WHY? FOR TWO REASONS:—

(1) Because it is only in proportion as we put from us the pre-occupation of bodily desires and interests, the sensual gratifications, lusts, longings, indolences of the material world, that we can return to the ocean of spiritual force within us.

(2) Because for the development of Shakti, entire concentration is necessary; the mind must be devoted entirely to its aim as a spear is hurled to its mark; if other cares and longings distract the mind, the spear will be carried out from its straight course and miss the target. We need a nucleus of men in whom the Shakti is developed to its uttermost extent, in whom it fills every corner of the personality and overflows to fertilise the earth. These, having the fire of Bhawani in their hearts and brains, will go forth and carry the flame to every nook and cranny of our land.

III. JNANA—THE GREAT MESSAGE.

Bhakti and Karma cannot be perfect and enduring unless they are based upon Jnana.

The Brahmacharins of the Order will therefore be taught to fill their souls with knowledge and base their work upon it as upon a rock. What shall be the basis of their knowledge? What but the great so-aham, the mighty formula of the Vedanta, the ancient gospel which has yet to reach the heart of the nation, the knowledge which when vivified by Karma and Bhakti delivers man out of all fear and all weakness.

स्वल्पमप्यस्य धर्मस्य त्रायते महतो भयात् ।

THE MESSAGE OF THE MOTHER.

When, therefore, you ask who is Bhawani the mother, She herself answers you, “I am the Infinite Energy which streams forth from the Eternal in the world and Eternal in yourselves. I am the Mother of the Universe, the Mother of the Worlds, and for you who are children of the Sacred land, aryabhumi, made of her clay and reared by her sun and winds, I am Bhawani Bharati, Mother of India.”

Then if you ask why we should erect a temple to Bhawani the mother, hear Her answer, “Because I have commanded it and because by making a centre for the future religion, you will be furthering the immediate will of the Eternal and storing up merit which will make you strong in this life and great in another. You will be helping to create a nation, to consolidate an age, to aryanise a world. And that nation is your own, that age is the age of yourselves and your children, that world is no fragment of land bounded by seas and hills, but the whole earth with her teeming millions.”

Come then, hearken to the call of the Mother. She is already in our hearts waiting to manifest Herself, waiting to be worshipped,—inactive because the God in us is concealed by tamas, troubled by Her inactivity, sorrowful because Her children will not call on Her to help them. You who feel Her stirring within you, fling off the black veil of self, break down the imprisoning walls of indolence, help Her each as you feel impelled, with your bodies or with your intellect or with your speech or with your wealth or with your prayers and worship, each man according to his capacity. Draw not back, for against those who were called and heard Her not, She may well be wroth in the day of Her coming; but to those who help Her advent even a little, how radiant with beauty and kindness will be the face of their Mother!

Hymn to Durga

Translated by Sri Aurobindo from his own original in Bengali.

Mother Durga! Rider on the lion, giver of all strength, Mother, beloved of Siva! We, born from thy parts of Power, we the youth of India, are seated here in thy temple. Listen, O Mother, descend upon earth, make thyself manifest in this land of India.

Mother Durga! From age to age, in life after life, we come down into the human body, do thy work and return to the Home of Delight. Now too we are born, dedicated to thy work. Listen, O Mother, descend upon earth, come to our help.

Mother Durga! Rider on the lion, trident in hand, thy body of beauty armour-clad, Mother, giver of victory, India awaits thee, eager to see the gracious form of thine. Listen, O Mother, descend upon earth, make thyself manifest in this land of India.

Mother Durga! Giver of force and love and knowledge, terrible art thou in thy own self of might, Mother beautiful and fierce. In the battle of life, in India’s battle, we are warriors commissioned by thee; Mother, give to our heart and mind, a titan’s strength, a titan’s energy, to our soul and intelligence a god’s character and knowledge.

Mother Durga! India, world’s noblest race, lay whelmed in darkness. Mother, thou risest on the eastern horizon, the dawn comes with the glow of thy divine limbs scattering the darkness. Spread thy light, Mother, destroy the darkness.

Mother Durga! We are thy children, through thy grace, by thy influence may we become fit for the great work, for the great Ideal. Mother, destroy our smallness, our selfishness, our fear.

Mother Durga! Thou art Kali, naked, garlanded with human heads, sword in hand, thou slayest the Asura. Goddess, do thou slay with thy pitiless cry the enemies who dwell within us, may none remain alive there, not one. May we become pure and spotless, this is our prayer, O Mother, make thyself manifest.

Mother Durga! India lies low in selfishness and fearfulness and littleness. Make us great, make our efforts great, our hearts vast, make us true to our resolve. May we no longer desire the small, void of energy, given to laziness, stricken with fear.

Mother Durga! Extend wide the power of Yoga. We are thy Aryan children, develop in us again the lost teaching, character, strength of intelligence, faith and devotion, force of austerity, power of chastity and true knowledge, bestow all that upon the world. To help mankind, appear, O Mother of the world, dispel all ills.

Mother Durga! Slay the enemy within, then root out all obstacles outside. May the noble heroic mighty Indian race, supreme in love and unity, truth and strength, arts and letters, force and knowledge ever dwell in its holy woodlands, its fertile fields, under its sky-scraping hills, along the banks of its pure-streaming rivers. This is our prayer at the feet of the Mother. Make thyself manifest.

Mother Durga! Enter our bodies in thy Yogic strength. We shall become thy instruments, thy sword slaying all evil, thy lamp dispelling all ignorance. Fulfil this yearning of thy young children, O Mother. Be the master and drive thy instrument, wield thy sword and slay the evil, hold up the lamp and spread the light of knowledge. Make thyself manifest.

Mother Durga! When we possess thee, we shall no longer cast thee away; we shall bind thee to us with the tie of love and devotion. Come, Mother, manifest thyself in our mind and life and body.

Come, Revealer of the hero-path. We shall no longer cast thee away. May our entire life become a ceaseless worship of the Mother, all our acts a continuous service to the Mother, full of love, full of energy. This is our prayer, O Mother, descend upon earth, make thyself manifest in this land of India.

Useful links

Kireet Joshi archives

Returning to Quotes on the way after a big long break.

May 2013 was my last blog entry. Over the past two years been busy settling down in Auroville with family. Finally I start to feel like getting breathing space to start reflecting on the past and the future directions. Returning to Auroville and reconnect with Auroville life has been a good one.

The best thing spiritually helping me in Auroville is Sunday study circle at Savitri Bhavan. Reading Savitri with Shraddhavan and others certainly put me into touch with the my deeper needs. Surprisingly quotes from Sri Aurobindo and Mother on Facebook from various groups helping me to be in touch with their consciousness. I started to collect those quotes as personal collection in Google drive. 

On 21 of February 2015 bought my long cherished wish to have the collected works of Sri Aurobindo and Mother along with Her Agenda. I designed a book shelf at the newly created AuroCreation carpentry workshop. Today, I felt motivated to put all those books into the book shelf. Time to start reading again I guess. Hope I can share more quotes as I come across. 

Some of the quotes influenced me recently.

Sexual activities bind man to the animal and they will be completely transformed in the future. Those who want to work for the future and prepare themselves to live it, would do well not to be hypnotised by this subject which animalises the consciousness. Above all, do not associate it with love in your thought, for they really have nothing to do with each other.

The Mother, 23.11.19

Beautiful. Mother in Paris

If only we could allow His will to do the rest.

Here can be no doubt that if you sincerely want to get out of [what you call error, suffering, misery etc.], it is not so difficult after all: you have nothing to do, you only have to allow the Lord to do everything. And He does everything. He does everything. It is so wonderful, so wonderful!

He takes anything, even what we call a very ordinary intelligence and he simply teaches you to put this intelligence aside, to rest: “There, be quiet, don’t stir, don’t bother me, I don’t need you.” Then a door opens—you don’t even feel that you have to open it; it is wide open, you are taken over to the other side. All that is done by Someone else, not you. And then the other way becomes impossible.

All this... oh, this tremendous labour of the mind striving to understand, toiling and giving itself headaches! ... It is absolutely useless, absolutely useless, no use at all, it merely increases the confusion.

You are faced with a so-called problem: what should you say, what should you do, how should you act? There is nothing to do, nothing, you only have to say to the Lord, “There, You see, it is like that”—that’s all. And then you stay very quiet. And then quite spontaneously, without thinking about it, without reflection, without calculation, nothing, nothing, without the slightest effort—you do what has to be done. That is to say, the Lord does it, it is no longer you. He does it, He arranges the circumstances, He arranges the people, He puts the words into your mouth or your pen—He does everything, everything, everything, everything; you have nothing more to do but to allow yourself to live blissfully.

I am more and more convinced that people do not really want it.

Q: But clearing the ground is difficult, the work of clearing the ground beforehand.
But you don’t even need to do it! He does it for you.

Q: But they are constantly breaking in: the old consciousness, the old thoughts...
Yes, they try to come in again, by habit. You only have to say, “Lord, You see, You see, You see, it is like that”—that’s all. “Lord, You see, You see this, You see that, You see this fool”—and it is all over immediately. And it changes automatically, my child, without the slightest effort. Simply to be sincere, that is to say, to truly want everything to be right. You are perfectly conscious that you can do nothing about it, that you have no capacity. . .. But there is always something that wants to do it by itself; that’s the trouble, otherwise...

No, you may be full of an excellent goodwill and then you want to do it. That’s what complicates everything. Or else you don’t have faith, you believe that the Lord will not be able to do it and that you must do it yourself, because He does not know! This, this kind of stupidity is very common. “How can He see things? We live in a world of Falsehood, how can He see Falsehood and see...” But He sees the thing as it is! Exactly!

I am not speaking of people of no intelligence, I am speaking of people who are intelligent and who try—there is a kind of conviction, like that, somewhere, even in people who know that we live in a world of Ignorance and Falsehood and that there is a Lord who is All-Truth. They say, “Precisely because He is All-Truth, He does not understand. He does not understand our falsehood, I must deal with it myself.” That is very strong, very common.

Ah! we make complications for nothing.

The Mother [CWM1, 10:152–54]

Being good is not good enough!

If I cannot be Rama, then I would be Ravana; for he is the dark side of Vishnu.
                                                                                                                              Sri Aurobindo
                                                                                                                              Thoughts And Aphorisms


This means that sweetness without strength and goodness without power are incomplete and cannot totally express the Divine.
I could say in keeping with the kind of image used by Sri Aurobindo, that the charity and generosity of a converted Asura are infinitely more effective than those of an innocent angel.

 

Works Of The Mother,

 On Thoughts And Aphorisms, 

Volume-10, Karma-69-70 206