A compilation of articles on T. V. Kapali Sastry presented in a commermoration volume on his Birth centenary in 1986 - edited by M. P. Pandit.
(By Dr. K. Venkatasubramanian (Vice-Chancellor, Pondicherry Central University)
Inaugural Address: Centenary Celebrations 3rd September 1986
Preamble:
I deem it a special privilege to be called upon to inaugurate this significant seminar to commemorate the Birth Centenary of Shri Kapali Sastry. I am grateful to the sponsors and specially to the learned President of this evening's function Shri M. P. Pandit who is one of the foremost authorities on Sri Aurobindo today, for having given me the opportunity to join the myriad of Sastry's students and admirers who have drunk deep from the enchanting and exhilarating works of Shri Kapali Sastry, to pay homage to this illustrious thinker.
Pondicherry—Consecrated Land:
Shri Kapali Sastry was encyclopaedic in his vast knowledge and profound experience in the field of vedic philosophy and yoga and it is fitting that his centenary is celebrated here, right in Pondicherry. Pondicherry is the place where Shri Kapali Sastry practised 'Sadhana' at the feet of his Master Sri Aurobindo and produced inspired works. This place that saw sages perform innumerable austerities, the place that then resounded with chants of many a vedic scholar, the place that reverberated with the National songs of Sri Subramaniya Bharathi and the place that is sanctified by the divine genius of the Great Master Sri Aurobindo—is certainly an ideal locate for a seminar in honour of the centenary of an outstanding savant like Shri Sastry.
Sri Aurobindo School of University:
As you are all aware, the Pondicherry Central University has taken steps to implement its First prestigious project—'The Sri Aurobindo School of Eastern and Western Thought'. On this hallowed land of Pondicherry, we thought we must found a school named after the Master who gave a new dimension to the concept of Life.
Vision of Sri Aurobindo:
As an evidence of the prophetic insight of the Master, I can cite this instance. It is said that days before it took shape in the minds of people in power to make an atom bomb the Master could visualise it in his mind's eye. Sitting far away in his Pondicherry retreat, he sang:—
"A Scientist played with atoms and blew out Thy Universe before God had time to shout"
Sri Aurobindo, Collected Poems: A Dream of Surreal Science
What a foresight? What a vision? what a pathos? Sri Aurobindo School will undertake research studies in Philosophy of Eastern and Western Thought and will act as a forum for scholars from the East and West. I am sure this school will be able to utilise the masterly contributions of Shri Kapali Sastry in developing new interpretations of the vedas and upanishads.
Birth of a Prodigy:
It was exactly hundred years ago that Shri Vishweshwara Sastry got a brilliant son at Mylapore, Madras. The elder Sastry was himself a great Sanskrit scholar and ardent Sri Vidya Upasaka. The birth of the little Master on September 3rd of 1886 passed off without notice as no one imagined that this baby was going to be a prodigy of philosophy, penetrating into the depths of the vedas with a concern no one ever had before. No one knew then that this boy was going to be the cherished disciple of the great savant Sri Aurobindo and was going to bring out the quintessence of the Master's brilliant theses.
Childhood:
It was fitting that this boy was named after the presiding deity of Mylapore, the dancing Shiva, known as Shri Kapaleeswara. Even at the age of 12, young Kapali's deeds evidenced the striking potentialities of a multifaceted personality to be developed in the years to come. He learnt Sanskrit from his beloved father and was initiated into the mysteries of Sri Vidya. He scrupulously observed the regimen of the Pooja, Parayana and Japa. He had completed reading Ramayana 12 times even then.
Culmination of the East and West:
Added to his oriental orthodox education through his father, he could get English education in the Hindu High School, which was the famous school where Right Hon'ble Shri V. S. Srinivasa Sastry worked as the famed Headmaster. It is no wonder that Kapali could match in English as a student even Right Hon'ble Srinivasa Sastry who was known as the Silver tongued orator.
A New Era:
When Kapali Sastry stepped into the 20th century, he was just 14 and people could see the radiant personality of Kavi Yogi Kapali Sastry by his dedicated study of Rig Veda and his interpretation.
The first three decades of the 20th century were sacred years as they saw the glories of an Augustan age, so to say, in the personalities that lighted this era.
Shri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Swami Vivekananda brought in a renaissance; Sri Rabindranath Tagore and Sri Subramania Bharathi paid glorious tributes to art, culture and literature. C. V. Raman and Jagdish Chandra Bose proved to the world that our soil is not lagging behind in science. Bhagavan Shri Ramana at Tiruvannamalai brought eternal bliss to the world and Sri Aurobindo became the vibrant voice of the pristine soul of India which was described by Romain Rolland as the "Completest synthesis that has been realised to this day of the genius of Asia and the genius of Europe". Tilak and Gandhi were guiding the people towards political freedom. It was a great time when
"Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive; But to be young was heaven".
Multifaceted Personality:
At this eventful period Shri Kapali was developing rapidly his abilities and skills. By the time he was only 20, he had acquired mastery over many branches of learning which included Ayurveda and Astrology. The range and subtlety of his mind grew simultaneously with his fervour to acquire also the divine grace.
Shri A. R. Ponnusamy Iyer describes in detail about Sastry's multifaceted personality:
"Shri Sastry was a polymath, a scholar of unusual depth of learning in many shastras and sciences; Tarka, Vyakarana, Jyotisha, Ayurveda, Rasavada (Alchemy), Mantra Shastra and Vedanta. His acquaintance with English literature and western thought was not inconsiderable. But more than possession of such varied abilities and extensive learning what distinguished him above the common run of Pandits or scholars was the flame of spiritual aspirations that burned bright in him from boyhood, a flame in his mind and heart. He was not a pedestrian scholar, painfully adding fact to fact.
"He was not a pugilistic philosopher, drinking delight of battle with his peers. Inspiration informed his scholarship and scholarship lent stability to his inspiration. His learning was not a load that he carried with painful effort, nor was it a mere garnishing for his shop window".
Shri Ponnusamy Iyer's portrait is complete.
Unravelling the Secrets of Vedas:
With all these multiplicity of bewitching traits, his mind was deeply engrossed in unravelling the secrets of vedas. Though he muttered, as a small boy, the mantras and vedas as everyone did he was always searching to know the intrinsic, deep meanings of the vedic riks and mantras. Just like Swami Vivekananda was restless with all his scientific background until he could find his Master Shri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, our revered Kapali Sastri was also restless until he could find out his divine Master Sri Aurobindo.
Association with Shri Ganapati Muni:
It is relevant here to note that Shri Kapali Sastry reached his divine master with immense maturity after undergoing a series of experience with savants. It is like crossing several milestones before one reaches the final destination. He had already been burning with the fever of a great intensity to find out the real interpretations of the vedas. His association with Kavya Kantha Shri Ganapati Muni sharpened his wits in understanding the secrets of the veda. Sastry was deeply impressed by the astonishing range, depth and peaks of the Muni's mind and by his refreshingly original interpretation of our spiritual and philosophical tradition as enshrined in the vedas, upanishads and other sacred texts and Sastry found a fountain to quench his spiritual thirst. He became his disciple and by 1910 he had received illuminating directions from him.
Shri Ramana Maharshi and the 'Chinna Nayana':
The other great savant who moulded the personality of Kapali Sastry was Shri Ramana Maharshi. The Maharshi who rarely touched anybody with his hand, placed his hand on Sastriar's chest and indicated to him the location of the spiritual heart centre.
The affection with which Bhagavan Shri Ramana held Sastry was indicated by his reference to Sastry as "Chinna Nayana". Chinna Nayana has proved his divine love for Sage Ramana by his valuable expositions like Sat Dharshana Bhashya and Ramana Gita Prakasha. Even after this experience with Sri Ramana the "Thirsty soul" of Shri Sastry was still restless and when he heard about the divine teachings and works of Sri Aurobindo, he was eager to meet the Master. The light of the Master from Pondicherry reached him and the call of Sri Aurobindo was irresistible.
Master and Disciple—The First Meeting:
It was fitting that Kavi Yogi Sastri was introduced to Sri Aurobindo by our great national poet Shri Subramania Bharathi to whom Sastry was already known. The meeting took place with usual "sattva pariksha" because the time granted by the Master to meet him was 6.00 p.m. Sastry had to address at the same hour, a meeting for which he had come all the way from Madras to Pondicherry. Somehow he achieved the impossible—fulfilling the two engagements; one an ordinary meeting and the other the extraordinary one. The spiritual interaction between the Master and the Disciple was instant and intense.
Sastry could feel the psychic experience when he met Sri Aurobindo and he was spell bound and electrified. This experience is narrated in Vol. II of his works in his own inimitable style:
"As soon as I saw him even from a distance there was set in motion, all of a sudden, a rapid vibratory movement in my body from head to foot. There was a continuous thrill and throb. I seemed to stand on the top of a dynamo working at top speed and it was as powerful as it was new. It lasted for nearly four to five minutes. It did not really stop at all. In fact it continued ever since for long and every time I went to see him later, or for his Darshan after his retirement the phenomenon tended to repeat itself".
What else could this be except the bliss after the revelation?
Faith in India's Supremacy:
Shri Sastry always had high esteem for India's spiritual supremacy and this could be evidenced by an article he wrote on his Master in 1945:
"Political freedom is inevitable for India. Economic emancipation is sure to accompany or follow; as a consequence she is sure to grow strong. But what is the next step? What will a strong India do? Is she to repeat what all strong nations have done and are doing? No, she shall not—let us hope, will not. India with a true and renewed spirituality is an asset for mankind and the hope of the future".
Sri Aurobindo's 'Mother India'— The Divine Mother Concept:
Sastry was really inspired by Sri Aurobindo's vision of India as a Mother. It was given only to Sri Aurobindo in modern times to give to India a Powerful concept of the nation as a Divine Mother. To quote his own words:—
"Mother India is not a piece of earth; she is Power, Godhead, for all nations have such a Devi supporting their separate existence and keeping it in being. Such beings are as real and more permanently real than the men they influence, but they belong to a higher plane, are part of the cosmic consciousness and being and act here on earth by shaping the human consciousness on which they exercise their influence. It is natural for man who sees only his own consciousness, individual, national or racial at work and does not see what works upon it and shapes it, to think that all is created by him and there is nothing cosmic and greater behind it".62
Unique Style of Sastry's Writing:
Shri Sastry quite frequently used the word Light. For example, "Lights on teaching "Lights on ancients "Lights on the fundamentals "Flame of White Light and "The way of Light" and so on. This is a clear indication of his love for removing the darkness from the world, by positively throwing light on Sri Aurobindo's teaching and all our ancient spirituality.
Master' Spiritual Light:
Let me with your permission state here my own experience. My own acquaintance with the Master And His Spiritual light for several years now, has convinced me beyond question that Sri Aurobindo's thoughts not only cleanse the soul but brings a dazzling light into the dark caves of the human mind.
Questions and Answers and Questions:
Shri Sastry's works excelled in splendour of diction and style. He had a unique way of asking series of questions in the beginning and then elucidating the issues raised by him—a modification of the Socretic approach. For example under Sadhana, he begins his article like this:
"What is that Sri Aurobindo's yoga aims at? What is it that is new about in its means or ends? If it is a fact that the highest Truth or God is one, then are there not various ways of finding Him? What is it that the Integral Yoga seeks to achieve which cannot be got at by way of the well-known lines of spiritual discipline handed down to us by saints and seers from times immemorial? Has not in our own age, in recent times, the prophet of Dakshineshwar lived and taught the sublime truth that all yogas and all forms of religious worship are but different roads leading to the same goal? How is it that so much stress is laid on the synthesis of diverse paths, of the various yogas while each of them has for its ultimate aim the realisation of the Higher Truth, the Self or the Divine Being? Is not a single path sufficient, when fully pursued, to lead to the ultimate Truth?" It proceeded like this and at the end he explained what is supra mental yoga and how it is sometimes called Integral Yoga or Synthetic Yoga.
The Disciple on the Master:
Sastry was always at his best when he talked of his Master:—
"The Ideal he (Sri Aurobindo) stands for, the Truth he sees for himself and for us, the Meaning, of his life for man—these have been expounded by competent writers in magazine articles and separate volumes in English and many of the languages of India. The bulk of Sri Aurobindo's own writings towers—like their quality, high above the sum total of all the works of all the authors on his teaching. Nevertheless an article on Sri Aurobindo for this occasion may not be superfluous; for do we not continue to read over and over again the same Gita or the same Saptasthati? Do we keep down for good the Ramayana when we finish one reading? Or, do we not long to see oftener men and things we love or admire and adore? There are certain themes on which one can dwell long or any number of times, and still the pleasure is not exhausted, nor the benefit measured out. And Sri Aurobindo is such a sublime theme says Shri Sastry.
Yes, Shri Sastry is right. The Natural Law of Economics—(the Law of Diminishing Returns)—which applies to all human endeavours will no t apply to Sri Aurobindo and his sublime teachings and this Universal Law stands defeated before the Great Master of Pondicherry.
Universal Love for All:
Shri Sastry initiated all who came into his circle into higher spiritual planes. This we infer from his notings in his diary.
"To transform those that are nearest and dearest to you (Sastry) and to get them initiated into a Higher life by employing a variety of means—by a mild push or a helpful blow, by a fascinating experience or an impressive feat or by some trivial trick of the Divine".
What a noble mission and what a service to Humanity?
"Dead Woods Blossom":
While talking about Upanishads Sastry says:
"The Upanishads—then, are not a book of dry knowledge they are throughout moistened with the rasa of Sadhanas inseparable from every aspect of the Truth that is aimed at severally or conjointly, for realisation. Of all the Vidyas of the ancient Vedantas the prana vidya is the most powerful, for in the higher and wider reaches of the Sadhana, it is Brahma Vidya, par excellence. It is the living Breath of the purusha, the Puissance of the Creative Consciousness, the Power of the Sole Indivisible Spirit that is the basis of the Prana Vidya; its aim is not Jaya, absorption, or going to the Beyond,—there are other Sadhanas that aim at it—but the realisation and successful formation of the individual Life—a Life that carries out its function as the function of the Life Universal, having no divided will of its own, but the one free Will and Tapas of the Ishwara, and extends its activity as part of the Life of the Supreme Spirit to a wider range, quite naturally, in such a way that one can exclaim with Satyakama":
"If one were to tell this to a dried-up stump Sure, branches would shoot forth and leaves spring from it"
It is true of Shri Kapali Sastry also. He made dead woods blossom by his writings.
Mature and Meticulous Writer:
Though Sastry gained profound knowledge and experience even from the age of 12, he never wanted to write for publication until when he crossed 50. Till then he resolutely refused the requests of his friends that he should write. His humility was so great when he said that he had nothing authentic to tell the world and he does not care to be a retail distributor of others books. It was only when years of Sadhana, had transmuted reflection into conviction, and conviction into experience that he started to write. And to the end, he never wrote except when he had something original to say.
It was said of Macaulay that he read a volume to write a sentence. It might be said of Shri Sastry that the reflection of decades often lay behind what was written in a few words. He used the rare combination of resources—learning, reflection and 'Guru Kripa' for lighting up some of the dark corners and alleys of vedic lore. He was a master of Sanskrit, English and he has also brought out works in Tamil and Telugu evidencing his linguistic abilities.
Shri M. C. Subramanian, has helped us to visualise Sastryji's stature by depicting the brilliant personality in his graphic picturisation:
"His eyes were the lamps of his soul and reflected and radiated an ethereal splendour. His form shone like unalloyed gold. His voice, rich, resonant and melodious seemed to be fashioned out of the harmonies from afar. And whenever he chanted a Rik or recited a poem—and what a way of reciting he had: all the fugitive rhythms would not fail to electrified by his voice. At such moments, one would wonder whether the voice was human or divine".
Conclusion:
In short, Shri Sastry was a great genius who dedicated himself to the cause of the enrichment of fellow beings by enabling them to realise the Spiritual Heritage of India and to learn the process of the Integral Yoga. He considered himself as a humble vehicle to uplift fellow beings in the spiritual path to etherial heights. In fact, he was a Spiritual Elevator.
It is a thrilling experience to study his imbibing works, as his very life is an example of dedicated surrender to the divine Master and his gospels.
The King Idea, The Master Act and Prayer—The Trinity:
Sri Aurobindo speaks of three things to ennoble and enable us to reach greater heights 'The King Idea', 'The Master Act' and 'Prayer'. Shri Kapali Sastry's magnificent spiritual personality took all the three paths at the same time and achieved the triple distinction in standing out in all the three as outstanding. This is something unique and an achievement unsurpassed. This approach could be possible only when one has Super Mind sublimated by absolute surrender.
The Role of the Central University:
As I pinpointed in the beginning, the Central University, Pondicherry of which I have the privilege to be the first Vice-Chancellor will positively undertake research in all these three vital fields of Excellence especially based on the works of Sri Aurobindo and his disciple Shri Sastry.
Epilogue—Efficacy of Tapas towards Sadhana:
I have great pleasure in inaugurating this centenary celebrations and this seminar which I am sure will throw more light on the commanding heights of the thoughts of the great Master and his great disciple.
Let us hear the tributes Shri Sastry paid to the Vedas before we conclude. Of the grandeaur of the Vedas especially the Rig Veda, Shri Sastry says:
"The Vedas are a literary record of uncommon realisations, of divine revelations and inspiration of our fore-fathers, great savants like Vasistha and Vamadeva and a host of others who in the course of their inner discipline—yoga—got many truths in the mystic path, truths beyond the grasp of the sense but attainable by extraordinary means of felt discipline, truths for the vaster words of existence beyond the Ken of the physical eye, truths of the Gods, who are the functionaries in those worlds, their Powers, Shaktis and also those who are Shaktis in their own right. And who knows what other secrets lie embedded in this most ancient collection of Hymns of the Rig Veda".
Sastri Emphasies:
"By Tapas is its shore to be Reached Indeed, By Tapas is its shore to be Reached".
Yes—By Tapas alone one can reach this shore with divine grace as the guiding light. By dedicated Tapas, Shri Sastry crossed the barriers and reached the shore so that humanity could benefit and prosper. Only one among the teeming billions can achieve this by Guru Kripa and Sastry was that one among many. Let us revere and remember his name Ever.
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