Why Odisha is So Special?
We are all fortunate to be born in Odisha. Because Odisha has a special place in the Divine’s Plan. Because of the strong foundation set by two Sadhaks “Pujya Babaji Maharaj”, and Prapati ji, the Integral Yoga movement has spread in a big way in every nook and corner of Odisha. Madhav Pandit ji used to mention Babaji Maharaj as a God-realised Being in his talks. We are grateful to the Divine and to all His instruments, inspiring sadhaks from Odisha for helping in the Mother’s mission.
When I introspect the reasons for this mass movement in Odisha, I go through the writings of The Mother and Sri Aurobindo and their interaction with various Sadhaks. Here are a few collections:
The Mother:
“The people from Orissa, they are nice people; of all provinces, they are the ones who seem the most eager to forge ahead, to change something….they are more practical-they are very generous…a very generous nature: they give a lot. ….I like simple people.
There was Orissa’s Chief Minister (Orissa is the first province in India to give money for a
pavilion in Auroville: they gave a lakh of rupees). (Note: For construction of Auroville Pavillion, our state of Odisha was the first to give the money.)
The Mother:
The moment approaches when the Truth will govern the world. Will you work to hasten its coming?
Blessings.
(Message for the Rayagada Study Circle, Orissa — 1971)
The Mother:
In each and every one, the highest consciousness must be the ruler of the life. Blessings.
(Message for the installation of Sri Aurobindo’s relics at Jeypore, Orissa, on 8 December 1970)
Narayan Prasad: (An Ashramite at Sri Aurobindo Ashram Pondicherry) on Odisha’s Progress:
Of all the States of India, Orissa has, by far, the largest number of Sri Aurobindo Centres, 500 in number up to June 1968. The Mother’s and Sri Aurobindo’s teachings seem to have entered the very soul and the soil of this small state. The latest addition is the Sri Aurobindo Students’ Association. Its aim is “to fight successfully the great battle of the future that is to be born” and be the harbingers of the New Light and Consciousness now pressing upon the earth to manifest.
Babaji Maharaj was able to foresee that the Mother’s action in surface physical sheath can be accelerated in Orissa, as the subliminal self of its people are open to the Divine.
After going through the above messages, I feel, The Mother has special likings and love for the people of Odisha. Time has now come for all of us to introspect and analyse what we have done for Her Mission:
1. Are we able to live up to The Divine Mother’s Expectations? Should we leave everything to the Divine’s Job and let Her do everything at Her own time?
My Obs.: Strictly not yet. We are yet to meet The Mother’s expectations of Life Divine. If we leave everything to the Divine and do nothing for Her Sadhana, we will be misfit race created by the Divine. Our one and only job should be to join Her in Her Great Adventurous Mission. We will come into the grips of Tamasic nature or Universal inertia if we forsake this opportunity.
2. Is Sri Aurobindo still relevant in modern India?
My Obs.: He is still relevant and only He will be relevant for future humanity, human mind will be currently unable to judge. But our ignorant and intellectual mind which will be irrelevant in the Supramental age is still unable to decide or think on this. But my question for all the devotees and disciples of Sri Aurobindo, what we have done to make Sri Aurobindo & The Mother still relevant and make them as the Only Reality or Essence of this planet Earth.
The Mother: “ONE THING sure and unfailing: the Supreme; all the rest comes and goes, it stays, then disappears.”
3. What should be the role of all the devotees and disciples of The Mother and Sri Aurobindo?: We should not live in the past glory. Odisha plays the most significant role in “Sri Aurobindo’s World” because of its open support at their subliminal consciousness. The only role of devotees and disciples is to become Living Demonstration of His Teachings. Our only role is to manifest the Divine in this Life. A single occupation, a single aim, a single joy — the Divine.
The Mother: All those imperative “needs” I called the seeds of evolution are the levers or
springboards to make man realize that the ONE AND ONLY, the one and only absolute is the
Supreme; the one and only permanence is the Supreme; the one and only security is the Supreme; the one and only immortality is the Supreme. That the only purpose of manifestation is to lead YOU THERE.
(Published in Indradhanu e-magazine in Odisha)
