দাও ফিরে 'বন্দে মাতরম্'

দাও ফিরে 'বন্দে মাতরম্'

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'বন্দে মাতরম্'কে জাতিয় মন্ত্ররূপে পুনঃগ্রহণ করা উচিত | 'জয় হিন্দ' এর সমকক্ষ নয় | 'বন্দে মাতরম্' যেভাবে বিপ্লবীদের অনুপ্রাণিত করেছিল তেমন অনুপ্রেরণা তাঁরা আর কোনো মন্ত্রোচ্চারণে পাননি | একযুগ ধরে পরাধীন দেশের আকাশ-বাতাস মুখরিত হয়েছিল বিপ্লবীকন্ঠে এর বজ্রনিনাদে | 

মুসলমানদের আপত্তি মেটাতে এর পরিবর্তন করা 'জয় হিন্দ' দিয়ে সম্ভবত ঐতিহাসিক অনিবার্যতাসত্ত্বেও আজ প্রাসঙ্গিকতা অনেকাংশেই হারিয়েছে | আজ তাই দেশমাতৃকার উদ্দেশে উত্থিত স্বতঃস্ফূর্ত এই ধ্বনির স্বমহিমায় পুনঃস্হাপনের সময় এসেছে | 

'জয় হিন্দ' ধ্বনিতে না আছে সেই ওজস্বিতা না আছে সেই মর্মস্পর্শি আবেদন যা দেশকে 'মা' বলার মধ্যেই একমাত্র থাকতে পারে | 'বন্দে মাতরম্' সনাতন ভারতের শাশ্বত রূপটি বহন করছে অবলীলায়, অতি স্বাভাবিকভাবে | তার একটি সনাতন অধ্যাত্ম রূপ আছে যা ভৌগলিকতার বেড়াজালে আবদ্ধ নয়, যা বরং দেবীর মাতৃত্বের বিশ্ববোধ জাগিয়ে তোলে ও দেশকে দিব্যসত্তা প্রদান করে তাকে অপার্থিব মাত্রায় বরণীয় করে তোলে | 'জয় হিন্দ' কি পারে তা ? অধ্যাত্মবোধ প্রণোদিত দেশপ্রেম আর ভৌগলিক জয়গাথা পরিচালিত দেশভক্তি কি একই স্তরে সকলকে উন্নীত করতে পারে ? 'বন্দে মাতরম্' রাজনৈতিক তথা সার্বিক মুক্তির আকাঙক্ষায় সনাতন অধ্যাত্ম ভারতের ডাক আর 'জয় হিন্দ' রাজনৈতিক সমঝোতার প্রয়োজনে সামাজিক স্তরের এক মিমাংসাসূচক ব্যবস্হা | দুয়ের প্রভেদ অনেক | এ বিষয়টি অনুধাবনের সময় উপস্থিত |

রচয়িতা : সুগত বসু (Sugata Bose)

UNDERSTANDING SWAMIJI ... 1

UNDERSTANDING SWAMIJI ... 1

Organisation has consolidated Swamiji, true, but organisation has limited him as well. The vastness of his contribution to the prospective future development of the human species from the time of his advent has been scarce understood by his devoted disciples and followers thereon in all its comprehensiveness.

Passive and truncated emphasis on his spiritual self in the main on account of intellectual innocence has led to the seer being sidelined largely by his devotees from the mainstream of socioeconomic and sociopolitical developments and he being relegated as one more in the long line of India's spiritual seers, albeit with a slight difference of course.

But this difference truly is not slight but monumental. Swamiji's political side has been kept largely in the shadow barring publication of pertinent material in books, but the essential content of his volcanic message which shook India from her stupor and galvanised her into revolutionary action for freedom has been largely lost on the public owing to a general avoidance of public mention of such revolutionary stuff from the pulpit to keep Ramakrishna Mission clear of entanglement in politics as was the expresss wish of Swamiji, and also because of an overstatement of certain passages from Swamiji's works which when deliberately or inadvertently wrongly interpreted makes Swamiji appear as a seer concerned about his country's redemption only through the type of activities which the Mission more or less engages in, although, to be fair to the Mission it must be said that the Mission does take a lot of care to extend the boundaries of influence of Swamiji in the wide world along its own line of work following its own limited understanding of the mind and mission of the seminal sage. 

Bhupendranath Datta, Swamiji's youngest brother, took a radically different view from the above-stated view of the Mission regarding Swamiji's philosophy and aspirations and reading him (refer 'Swami Vivekananda Patriot-Prophet') does bring into sharp focus this lacuna in the Mission's one-sided emphasis on Swamiji and almost an unconscious or perhaps a conscious watering down of his revolutionary ideals on the basis of his cautioning men, "Let no undue political significance be given to my statements..." Well, such a warning, taken out of its historical context and passed on as a perennial dictum does injustice to the interpretation of the man and his message. 

It is time to rediscover Swamiji in all his layered aspirations and attributes, in all his catholic complexity of character and in all his endeavours and actions, sometimes failed attempts on account of the unripeness of the times and the immaturity of his people. Let us study Swamiji deep and understand him true, beyond the limitations set forth by our own selfish cravings and the compromise made by specific individuals and organisations with the powers that be, the status quo that serves them so well. May Swamiji emerge from the forests and the groves as well, much like the masses he had envisaged would do one day, to give direction to a nation gone wrong gradually after his demise !

Written by Sugata Bose

A PRECEPTOR SPEAKS TO A PUPIL ... 1

 A PRECEPTOR SPEAKS TO A PUPIL ... 1

Vedanta means the endpoint of the Veda, its climactic development. Its fundamental feature is the affirmation that there is an Absolute Reality which is self-conscious and stable, immutable and integrated, a wholeness without parts, behind the phenomenal universe of constantly changing discrete elements which are combining and breaking down ceaselessly, transforming and translating in the duality of space, time and causality (desh, kala, nimitta). This world of multiplicity is seemingly real but essentially unreal for it is changeable and ever-changing, its life being momentary and death a constant contradiction embedded in its structure. Brahman is the Reality and Maya is the dual phenomenon which incorporates both the puppets in perpetual dance and the Puppeteer who orchestrates the events. The senses are unreal and the vision thereof of this world is therefore equally unreal, delusion producing delusion. There can be no rationale for it and experience of the Real is the only way out of this terrible tangle. The path is called Jnana Yoga, illumination through progressive discrimination and renunciation of the unreal elements. Finally, the stumbling block will be the last bit of renunciation, that of the discriminating mind itself. This must simply dissolve under the inertia of earlier renunciation. One way of expressing it could be though that the last elemental bit rejected by the mind couples up the rejecting mind itself and the twain dissolve in tandem. Perhaps, we have a cue here from Swamiji's epic statement, 'God and the universe rise together and God and the universe fall together.' At any rate this must be the rational solution in linguistic and mathematical terms that the final act of dissolution is that of Radha and Krishna both in an integrated spiritual embrace. It is for sure difficult to understand but it must be so. No external help can be posited here, rationally speaking, to bring it about, for all externalities have by now disappeared, although it is said that Mahamaya Herself will do the final releasing act to free the soul. But this is logically untenable and this is an intractable problem really. However, the universe being a seeming reality, there should not be a problem in accepting its disappearance as such. Hence, Brahman reveals Itself to Itself in a self-conscious frozen Presence and the game of relativity is over.

Written by Sugata Bose

VANDE MATARAM ... 7

VANDE MATARAM ... 7

However much you may aver that India is a secular country, its fundamental feature remains preeminently Hindu, the Sanatan Dharma and its derivative in cultural terms permeating even today its mass consciousness. Despite India housing well over 20 crore Muslims and approximately 3 crore Christians, she remains a Hindu country for all practical purposes. The Hindu civilisation is central to India's history. It is its core character, its essential spirit and its destiny in future development. 

Islamic and Christian influences have been aberrations in its spiritual polity on account of invasion and savage domination consequent on internal weakness, and cannot be counted as quintessential Indian  culture. Hence, they remain in the Indian polity like loosely joined elements in its compound structure, somewhat peripheral to her preeminent philosophical mood.

But much of Hinduism that has been in vogue for well over two thousand years has been reactionary Hinduism, the very name 'Hinduism', an aberration in geographical-racial-linguistic terms substituting for the 'Sanatan Dharma', being evidence of that. The original Vedic religion has been largely supplanted in mass consciousness by this brand of neo-Hinduism arising out of resistive reaction to invasive forces that threatened to extinguish it. The pristine principles of philosophy enshrined in the Upanishads have been comprehensively covered up by proliferating common accretions and newfangled practices and thoughts thereof.

Islamic invasion eventually led to the Partition of the motherland and what lies in store for the civilisation of the Vedas in the decades and centuries ahead is not only a matter of conjecture but that of concern as well. Will Hinduism survive to reconquer its converted population and bring them back to the fold of the Mother Religion or will it pass into numerical minority eventually and be brutally destroyed by its Semitic adversary unto oblivion? The final fate of Hinduism depends on the will of the Hindus themselves, their determination to survive as a civilisation and conquer the rest of humanity with its liberating ideas. Om Tat Sat ! Vande Mataram !

Written by Sugata Bose

TIME TO BE TIMELY AT LAST

TIME TO BE TIMELY AT LAST 

To be timely is to be civilised. Now if this principle is applied to us, where would we stand in terms of it? The question would then arise : "Are we civilised?"

This observation about the link of preparedness and civilisation was raised by Tagore in his novel 'শেষের কবিতা' where he says, "সভ্যতার অপর নাম প্রস্তুতি |" (Preparedness is the other name of civilisation.) It is an epic statement enunciating the fundamental feature of a rising civilisation which abides by it and that of a decadent one which neglects it to its own peril.

Today we see much vaunting in the name of Indian civilisation. We must be wary of such assumptions and unmerited assertions of India's rise and must test their veracity by the gold standard of the time principle mentioned above in relation to civilisation. 

Written by Sugata Bose

BASTILLE, 105 NORTH TOWER

BASTILLE, 105 NORTH TOWER 

আমাদের Charles Dickensএর 'A Tale of Two Cities'এর Dr. Alexandre Manetteএর দশা | তিনি যেমন Bastilleএ দীর্ঘ ১৮ বছর একটি কারাপ্রকোষ্ঠে বন্দিরূপে কাটিয়ে নিজের পরিচয় ভুলে গিয়েছিলেন ও নিজপরিচয়প্রদানে কারাকক্ষের নম্বরই বলেছিলেন, "105 North Tower," তেমনই আমরা যুগ যুগ ধরে এই দেহরূপ কারাকক্ষে আবদ্ধ থেকে তাকেই নিজসত্তা বলে বিশ্বাস করে ফেলেছি ও আত্মসত্তা ভুলে গেছি | সেবাশুশ্রুষার দ্বারা Dr. Manetteএর আত্মস্মৃতি ফিরিয়ে আনা সম্ভব হয়েছিল | একইভাবে ঈশ্বরকে ঐকান্তিক ভালবাসার দ্বারা আমাদেরও এই স্মৃতিবিভ্রম দূরীকরণ ও আত্মস্মৃতিতে পুনঃপ্রতিষ্ঠা সম্ভব | আমরা প্রত্যেকে এক একটি Dr. Alexandre Manette | ফরাসি বিপ্লব যেমন তাঁকে উদ্ধার করেছিল, একইভাবে আর এক স্তরে আধ্যাত্মিক বিপ্লব আমাদের বদ্ধদশা ও স্মৃতিভ্রম হতে উদ্ধার করবে |

রচয়িতা : সুগত বসু (Sugata Bose)

আলোকচিত্র : Dr. Alexandre Manette in 105 North Tower, Bastille, Paris, 1789.

THE SECOND COMING OF RAMAKRISHNA ... LEAFLET 1

THE SECOND COMING OF RAMAKRISHNA ... LEAFLET 1

Sri Ramakrishna had prophesied that he would return to this terrestrial plane after residing in his subtle body in the hearts of his devotees for a hundred years. Now, we cannot for sure ascertain the exact date of his prophetic statement and, hence, cannot for sure know exactly when the period of his hundred-year stay in his devotees' hearts has ended. If it be assumed that even at the latest it is from the date of his demise, then he ought to have returned amongst us in 1986. Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi has said that the Master would return after a hundred years when a great many of his white-skinned devotees would visit this land. Is it possible then that Thakur was reborn in the year 1986, the year of the 500th birth anniversary of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu when in point of fact thousands of white-skinned Western devotees had flocked to Kolkata and Mayapur in connection with the anniversary celebrations? True it is that in 1986 Kolkata and Mayapur were literally inundated with Western devotees, Vaishnavas ordained in the Iskcon Movement. It is phenomenal that Holy Mother had spoken of the fact that at this time many white-skinned devotees of Thakur would flock even as the likes of Nivedita, Christine and MacLeod were then assembling in Thakur's name. But, surely, Holy Mother could have had no inkling about Mahaprabhu's 500th birth anniversary as coinciding with Sri Ramakrishna's 100th death anniversary. And herein lies the significance of her remarkable statement.

Holy Mother described Thakur in his prospective new incarnation as one dressed in the garb of a Baul (mystic minstrel) with a broken stone-pot in his hand and walking along the path leading to Burdwan, oblivious of surroundings. On the way there would be a boy excreting by the wayside. Clad in the ochre robe and sporting a long beard, Thakur would be walking seemingly endlessly and eating likewise as he trudged along oblivious of surroundings. Holy Mother would be holding a hubble-bubble in her hand. Perhaps they would have a bit of meal cooked in a broken stone utensil. He would be born once more a Bengali and would appear in the direction of Bali and Uttarpara, two districts to the north-west of Dakshineswar. When Holy Mother had remonstrated that under no circumstance would she come to this earth again, Thakur had laughingly retorted that she had no way to escape, for the eternal companions of Thakur were all inextricably bound to him, even as the stalks of the Kalmi creeper, and a single tug by him would bring them all to the terrestrial plane with Thakur in his next incarnation. Even Laksmi Didi, Thakur's niece, had said that she would not come even if she were cut to shreds like tobacco leaves but met with a similar response. She was told that she would find the pangs of separation from Thakur unbearable and, so, would surely accompany his entourage on earth.

Swami Saradananda has however claimed to have heard that Thakur would return after the lapse of 200 years and this piece of information he has recorded in his magnum opus biography of the Master, 'Sri Sri Ramakrishna Leela Prasanga' (Sri Ramakrishna and his Divine Play). Thus, there is a confusion as to the lapse of time from the last incarnation when the Master will reincarnate himself.

In the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna the Master boldly announces that he will be reincarnated in the Vayu-kon, a specific direction among the ten directions of the Hindu astronomical system. He says that he has not imparted total knowledge to his disciples as they will then refuse to come with him when he reincarnates. Those of his inner circle of devotees will not be liberated as they will have to accompany him when he is embodied again in the Vayu-kon.

In America one afternoon Swami Vivekananda suddenly brought up this subject and said that he would have to once more come to planet earth with the Master after a lapse of 200 years. When queried as to why he would have to come just because Sri Ramakrishna had so determined it, Swamiji said, "You do not know the power of these souls, madam. When the Master comes, he brings his entourage along."

Swami Vijnanananda has said that the Master will reincarnate after 100 years and then and not until then will his message take root widely in human consciousness and become fruitful in terms of transformative national and global change. This he said in response to a devotee's query as to why there was such a paucity of spiritual awareness in the world and so much of material meanness despite the fact that the Master had just the other day conducted his terrestrial play.

So from all these accounts it seems that there are two plausible dates of the Master's reincarnation -- 100 years and 200 years from whatever reference date he may have had in his mind at the point of his utterance. Well, 100 years have passed since his death in 1886 and, if he has been born in 1986, then he is now 34 or 35 years in age and in all probability past his formative spiritual practices to perfection. It is for us then to wait for his emergence on the human stage sooner or later to bring to it the fruit of his realisations. We anxiously wait on.

Written by Sugata Bose