Aurobindo (1872–1950)

As far as I understand, this little book was written in Bengali. The English translation was first published in August 1974.

I had no previous knowledge of the author, Sri Aurobindo, before reading the book, though I had heard of him.

As the translator, Sisirkumar Ghose, points out, the book has an importance as a historical document “showing the evils of the prison system under the British Raj”.

He also states “rarely --- has Sri Aurobindo --- written with such irony, sarcasm, invective and humour”.

In 1908 two European ladies were killed in a “bomb outrage” and Aurobindo eventually found out that he himself was the main _target of suspicion and regarded by the police as the “”chief killer”, ”the instigator and secret leader of the young terrorists and revolutionaries”.

He was arrested in the middle of the night by armed policemen, he was handcuffed and a rope tied round his middle.

The book is an account of the author’s imprisonment in Alipore jail in India, which imprisonment lasted a year.

The author had long wanted to have “a direct vision of the Lord of my Heart”, of ”knowing the Preserver of the World, the Supreme Person” but had not succeeded in that effort.

The British Government had wanted to do him “an ill turn” but the only result of its “wrath” was that he found God.

The police had searched his house but found no bombs or explosives and he had been arrested “in the absence of a body warrant”, whatever that might be, which was apparently mandatory.

A month and a half before Aurobindo’s arrest he had been visited by an unknown gentleman who had warned him that some wicked people were conspiring against him and his brother.

He informed the person “I have complete faith in God. He will always protect me.”

It is ironic, or rather, ridiculous, that Aurobindo was arrested for being a terrorist and murderer when in fact he was a highly spiritual person. However, he tells us that his imprisonment actually helped him in his endeavour to find God.

At least in part, he lived in solitary confinement. He was grateful for it.

He talks of an Italian who had been sentenced to seven years’ solitary imprisonment; within a year he had gone mad.

He had two prison blankets as a bed.

He says his diet was unfit for animals. The rice was spiked with pebbles, insects, hair, dirt, etc. The lentil soup was heavily watered. He never before knew how food could be so tasteless and with no nutritional value.

He tells us that he and the other inmates, rich and poor, all slept and ate together with a ”wonderful feeling of brotherhood”.

He states that he lived for a year like an animal in a cage.

He comments on the English people (I expect he meant “British”) that having studied their history he had already found out their “strange and mysterious character”, so he was not at all “astonished or unhappy” at their behaviour towards him.

Prisoners were not even allowed to sleep properly since every time sentries were changed the former were noisily disturbed with no respite until they responded.

I did not find the book to be easy reading. There were pages and pages with no chapters, nor even paragraphs.

I was completely unfamiliar with the many (Indian) personages referred to by the author, which didn’t help matters.

The book will have a limited appeal, but has a certain interest, particularly for those interested in spirituality.

It ends with a poem written by the author in Alipore Jail, 1908-09.… (more)