Remembering Sri Aurobindo during the framing of the Constitution of India

5th November 1948 , VOLUME VII  Constituent Assembly Debates

Shri H. V. Kamath:  :

[...]I do not know if he has read a book called" Indian Polity" by Dr. Jayaswal; I do not know if he has read another book by a greater man, "The Spirit and Form of Indian Polity" by Sri Aurobindo. From these books we learn how our polity in ancient times was securely built on village communities which were autonomous and selfcontained; and that is why our civilisation has survived through all these ages. If we lose sight of the strength of our polity we lose sight of everything. I will read to the House a brief description of what our polity was and what its strength was:

"At the height of its evolution and in the great days of Indian civilisation we find an admirable political system, efficient in the highest degree and very perfectly combining village and urban self-government with stability and order. The State carried on its work administrative, judicial, financial and protective - without destroying or  encroaching on the rights and free activities of the people and its constituent bodies in  the same department. The royal courts in capital and country were the supreme  judicial authority coordinating the administration of justice throughout the kingdom."[...]

 

6th December 1948  VOLUME VII Constituent Assembly Debates

Shri H. V. Kamath:  :

[...]the Maha Yogi, Sri Aurobindo, in one of his

famous books, where he says:

"The master idea that has governed the life, the culture, social ideals of the Indian people has been the seeking of man for his true, spiritual self and the use of life as a frame and means for that discovery and for man's ascent from the ignorant natural into the spiritual existence.“ [...]20CWSA 397 

[...]Sri Aurobindo, the Maha Yogi, has said again and again, that the greatest need today is a transformation of consciousness, the  upliftment of humanity to a higher level through the discipline of Yoga[...]

 

31th August 1949   VOLUME IX Constituent Assembly Debates

 

Shri H. V. Kamath  "With the advent of freedom and the dawn of Indian renaissance, I have no doubt in my own mind that our spiritual culture, our ancient culture, must be revived not in one direction only but in all possible directions. One objection that is levelled against spiritual culture -yogic culture especially-is that it is  unscientific. Today the pioneer of scientific research in yoga,

Swami Kuvalayananda, at Lonavla is doing splendid wok in this field. I am sure that as we grow in stature, as India's freedom grows, there will be many more institutes of this kind which will promote research in the spiritual field. It is very necessary. As Mahayogi  Sri Aurobindo said recently, the West is turning to the East for some light and guidance, and if the East fails the West today then the world is doomed. He further exhorted us saying that India should not run after the materialistic baubles of the West. It is all right to increase the standard of living, but to become merely materialistic is not all in life. The world craves something else and the world is looking towards India. It is high time we did something in this direction and showed the light to an expectant world….

 19th Nov 1949  VOLUME XI Constituent Assembly Debates

Shri H. V. Kamath:  "Mr. President, I rise to extend my    limited and qualified support to the motion moved by Dr. Ambedkar. We, Sir, the  people of India have come to the end of a long journey which is, however, the beginning of a longer, a more arduous and a more hazardous one. Through several decades of struggle we have reached the goal of freedom. During those decades we passed through many vicissitudes of fortune and were guided by leaders many of whom are not among us today. True to the Indian genius our struggle, our awakening, began with a spiritual renaissance which was pioneered by Ramakrishna Paramahansa, Swami Vivekananda and Swami Diyananda. In the wake of those spiritual leaders came the political renaissance and the cultural renaissance of which the torchbearers, the leaders, the guides were Lokamanya Tilak, Sri Aurobindo and Mahatma Gandhi and, last but not the last, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. Thanks to Providence, leaders of those days, leaders like you, Sir, and Pandit Nehru and Sardar Patel, are still with us to lead us to the goal which Mahatma Gandhi had in view. The goal that Mahatma Gandhi had in view has not been reached and to lead India to that goal is the mission, is the task of this Assembly and of the people of India today…

 25th November, 1949  VOLUME XI Constituent Assembly Debates

Shri Suresh Chandra Majumdar -"I shall not dilate on the events of the intervening years. Today I remember vividly the time when Sri Aurobindo came to Bengal from Baroda and inaugurated a renaissance movement and a new era of fearless, vibrant nationalism. He inspired an activist  revolutionary organization and I had the privilege of becoming an humble camp-follower through my guru, the late Jatindra Nath Mukherji. Then followed the wonderful days of the Swadeshi and the Revolutionary movements with their trials and tribulations – people struggling on against the foreign domination with blood, sweat and tears…

 

                 Hridayadaurbalyam tyaktvotisth paramtap. हृदयदौर्बल्यं त्यक्त्वोत्तिष्ठ परन्तप

"And lest my Friends should complain that I quote a shloka and do not translate it, let me, Sir with your permission give the gist of this shloka. Shri Krishna here asks Arjuna not to give way to  weakness or cowardice. He says, "it does not befit you, Arjun. This weakness of heart is shameful. Give it up at this moment. Stand up and fight." This should be our outlook, and I hope that at least in future it will guide our policy. We are a nation of at least 300 millions and more and we can fight any evil in the world, alone if need be. I would rather stand alone than surrender my ideals of democracy, and of equality and liberty for which we have stood and fought and sacrificed all these years. If the Commonwealth stands in the way of these ideals, if it stands in the way of these ideas being implemented, I would rather stand alone. Mahatma Gandhi taught us to do so. Lokamanya Tilak taught us this. Mahayogi  Sri Aurobindo  taught us this. Netaji Subhas taught us this"...