An extraordinary girl

Tagore’s Dilemma

A few days ago, during one of Nirod-da's visits to me, I told him of the following incident:

A visitor came to see me this morning. He had been sent by a dear friend in Calcutta to enquire about my present circumstances. He came at a very inconvenient hour when I was busy mopping the floor. I had to hide my annoyance. He wanted an interview and asked me if he could put any questions to me that he liked.

"I have seen your Calcutta residence," he began. "It is a palatial house. What makes you settle here and live a lonely life in this dirty quarter of the town, in this — this small hole and mopping the floor? You must be suffocating. Are you secure?"

"No, I am not. There have been thefts and robberies recently in this building. But I am not quite alone. I have a friend. She looks after me and helps me in my need."

"But if you fall ill, for instance?"

"Well, then I go to our Nursing Home where the Ashram Doctor takes care of us."

"But why all this unnecessary trouble and hardship when you have your own son and his wife at Calcutta ready to take care of you?"

"Why should I be a burden to them? They have their own way of life and I have mine. They will certainly consider me a bore and a hanger-on after some time. Both of them have their own duties, office work, pleasures, etc. How can they tolerate me for long even though they are fond of me? Besides — "

"Yes?"

"You don't know why I have come to Pondicherry. I have come to do sadhana. Sri Aurobindo, my Guru, has brought me here. It is he who looks after me. In his security I am secure, not in anyone else's. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I think I do."

He kept quiet for a while, then resumed: "May I ask you a very sensitive question? We have heard that a strained relation grew up between Tagore and Sri Aurobindo. Is it true?"

"Not that I know of. How can it be? You know Tagore had great respect for Sri Aurobindo. Remember the exquisite poem he composed on him? Remember also his interview with Sri Aurobindo in later years and what he said? Don't you know all that?"

"Yes, I do. But the disagreement occurred over a matter concerning a very sad and painful incident — "

"Let me hear it!"

"You know it was about Sahana Devi's sister who had come away like you, for sadhana, leaving her husband and family, and has never gone back."

"Well?"

"When her husband, who was very fond of her, was on his death-bed, he wanted to see her for the last time. But it seems she was not given permission to leave the Ashram and the poor man died with her name on his lips, so to speak. That shocked and aggrieved Tagore very much. He was baffled and bewildered. How could the path to god be so cruel, he wondered."

"Yes, yes, I remember it all. You, however, don't seem to know the sequel. Let me tell you. I heard about it and, I think, it came out in some newspaper. It was my uncle who had it published. You see, one day my mother received a call from Tagore to see him. She had often visited Santiniketan, for Tagore enjoyed her company. So when she went to see him he unburdened his perplexity to her and asked for an explanation. She replied, 'I can't give you the answer. But I can write to my brother at Pondicherry and ask him to get a reply from Sri Aurobindo.' Her brother did get a reply. Sri Aurobindo wrote — I give you the purport — 'When people can leave their families and give their lives for a noble cause like, for example, the Swadeshi Movement — so many youths have done it — and their sacrifice is spoken of in golden terms, while here, when it is done for the sake of the Divine, why does one get a sullied name and have the path of God labelled as cruel? What better sacrifice can there be than for the Divine?' That was the answer.

Tagore read it and said, it seems, 'I can't argue with that.' Moreover, you must not forget that Sahana's sister came away with the consent of her husband.

"And as for the path being cruel, what about Buddha and Sri Chaitanya? You know their life-stories. Even if they seemed to be cruel to their families, did they not bring peace, love and compassion to millions?

"Now, since you bring in Tagore, let me narrate to you another episode. You know my uncle Dilip Roy used to have regular correspondence with him. They loved each other, and they quarrelled too. That's the nature of love! However, once Tagore wrote to him, 'I received your letter. I am glad to find that when in these days so many Avatars are springing up, you simply wrote 'my Guru' and did not claim him as an Avatar. Instead you have called him Mahapurusha³. In that case, Sri Krishna, Rama, Christ, Sri Ramakrishna, etc., etc. are, we should say, all Mahapurushas in order not to offend the people.'

"You know, with all due respect to Tagore, he was not a Hindu but a Brahmo Samajist, so he didn't believe in Avatar-hood. I shall now ask you one question: why do all of you call him Gurudev? In what sense is he a Guru? What has he taught you? You are not even a poet or a writer!"

"But he is a great man, a Mahapurusha. Don't you agree?"

"Certainly, I do. He is known and respected all over the world. He can be a Mahapurusha but that doesn't make him a Guru, does it? Gurudev has a deeper overtone; it has a spiritual sense. Hence if Tagore objects to Avatarhood, one can object to his being called Gurudev. Sri Aurobindo explains what is meant by Avatar. He doesn't claim it himself. He says he doesn't care a damn if he is an Avatar or not. But we Hindus find that Rama, Krishna and others including Sri Aurobindo do possess the qualities that can be ascribed to an Avatar."

The meeting ended and I felt relieved.