Making of A Sadhana Kutir
Some people exclaim “I wish I were born then
In the era of an Avatar of Ram, Krishna, Nanak, or Christ”.
But we are all fortunate, blessed and chosen,
To be born in the era of Sri Aurobindo and in His Planet.
Who made infinite sacrifice to save this fallen race
Showed us the Path of Integral Realisation of human unity
Which our limited ignorant mind is still unable to grasp or imagine
His Supreme sacrifice man could not visualise or absorb till date.
Even when he was imprisoned in Alipore Jail — His trysting ground
This illegal limited confinement not only redirected his life
But also changed the earth’s destiny once and for all.
In Alipore Hell, Mankind, which always loves to stay in luxury and grandeur,
Witnessed the worst torture inflicted on an under-trial person
from the most advanced and Civilised human species — the Britishers
He was confined to a nine ft by five ft cage with iron barred door
With no ventilator or window to hear the sound of air.
Tiny cell served as all-purpose room — bedroom, dining-room and toilet
Same bowl given for toilet, bath, food, rinsing and drinking water purpose
A tar coated basket that picks human excreta kept whole day till sweeper decides to pick
Amidst this horrifying smell of human excreta he had to eat his food.
Food was coarse rice, laced with foreign particles, insects, hair, dirt, and stones
Impossible for any humans to swallow such stale tasteless food
Continuous ringing of prison bell at 4.15 am to wake him up
To pick up the breakfast — same stone laced rice and vegetables.
Two pieces of clothes he used for almost the entire year
A single bucketful of water to perform ablutions, clean utensils and bathe
A small tin container to drink water in that roasted hot chamber
Two thick blankets used as bed in that blast-furnace like cells.
Turned to sleep on the floor when the heat from blankets became unbearable
Turned to blanket again when it became unbearable to sleep on a hard floor
When it rained, it caused small-scale flood in his prison cell
Forced him to stand on one corner of the cell holding the wet blankets at night.
And wait patiently for hours together abandoning his sleep
Till rain-storm stopped gushing from roof and cell floor dried again
Had to bear this rain tandav gladly as it brought cool breeze
And provided him relief from the furnace-like heat in the cell.
For ordinary humanity, all these can come under untold suffering and pain
But, for Sri Aurobindo, that multipurpose bowl taught him to control his utter sense of disgust.
Sleeping on the floor gave him the joy and touch of Mother Earth’s Divine embrace
As he had fallen in love with the place from little red ants to shak, to cowshed nearby.
He started meditating and concentrating for hours together despite outer turbulence
One day, he felt as if he lay on the lap of World-Mother, like a secure and fearless child
Those very inward Moment’s call made a major turnaround in his life
He could annul all suffering and draw strength and Joy from all hardships.
This blissful state brought him to closer to Narayana,
He realised the wideness of God — “All this is Brahman and His creations”.
Prison no longer a prison for him, but a form of Narayan manifesting in food bowl and in bars of cell
He saw Vasudeva standing everywhere, in court room, in guards and in thieves and swindlers.
Saw Krishna playing the flute of Delight under that tree in front
Silence of the solitary prison took him closest to God.
Krishna guided him not for this trial he was brought here, but for a greater cause
This place became a field for his spiritual sojourn towards Divine
– An Enlightened Dynamic Sadhana Kutir.
Connected him with his beloved Krishna with joyous and delightful sight
He taught the ignorant and imperfect humanity, a big lesson of toil and samata.
With samata, he revealed these moments in the most humorous way ever imagined
There is only a self-existent bliss and Ananda with no signs of suffering.
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