Einstein said we were all fortunate to have lived on earth at a time when Mahatma Gandhiji walked on mother earth. India has produced a procession of saints over the years. Asoka was a king and a saint. Gandhiji was a saint and a politician. The saint in him always got the better of the politician. At the hour of Independence, he was a towering figure in the world, not only in India. He should have been the first President and the first Prime Minister combined. That never was an issue at that time. He had all the power in his hand.

In the US Civil War of 1861, several events have become historically famous. Libby Prison in the South had acquired an unparalleled notoriety. One incident there caught my attention. General George Hazard of the North was there as a prisoner. In the next cell there was a fight among the prisoners. A few joined to smash a poor victim. George ran to the help of the victim and saved him. Just at that moment, the Captain in charge of the prison entered and asked what had happened.

This is the title of the first chapter of The Life Divine. From the earliest times, says Sri Aurobindo, man aspires for God. His seeking for Light, Freedom and Immortality is really seeking for God. Do we find that seeking in us? Do we see it in others? In our life, Human Aspiration can change into ways suited to the context. In strong people, it becomes domination. In weak people, seeking for God takes the form of submission. In the loving wife who is weak because she is weak it assumes the form of affectionate loyalty maturing into pure chastity.

Man appreciates the Grace that gives; he does not like the grace that refuses. To him, it is not grace that refuses to give. There is a philosophic truth behind it. Still further, there is a yogic reality that is the origin of Grace. Man sees the surface. The surface is all for him. Like Tolstoy's Simon, man is unable to see God if he comes as an old woman, young child or an invalid. God should explain to him that it was He who came in those guises and received Simon's services. Simon, who called God, saw Him but he was unable to know.

When the Prime Ministership was gratefully waiting for him, Rajiv preferred to be a pilot. That is history. The argument needs no arguing. Suppose he was not the son of Indira and he still had this endowment, who can prove any validity for this argument? Indira Gandhi herself was a case like that. No one in India in 1964 or before conceived of the possibility of her becoming the Prime Minister. Before her, the case of Sastri too was exactly like that. There was one more instance. It was that of Kamaraj.

Gods are powerful, but Rishis are more powerful than gods. Gods who are the size of the earth endowed with splendour and power, do not have the psychic, the evolving Spirit. Janaka was a great Rishi inside, though outwardly he shouldered the onerous duties of a king. His inner spiritual growth was so great that no longer did he need to conform to the outer symbols of sannyasa. Whether he was an ostentatious king or dressed in the ochre robes of a sannyasi, the inwardly developed SOUL remained what he was inside. Narada, a god, visited him.

People pray to God. When their prayer is answered, they take a cash offering and visit the temple for worship. Of the three levels of bhaktas, these people belong to the third level - people who pray for a material benefit. The best of bhaktas prays for spiritual illumination. In the scheme of human affairs, even they need to give an offering to God. To them, Krishna said a leaf, a fruit, or a palmful of water will do as an offering. Still, offering is a must. Why? Man is a whole being, not only Mind. He lives in the body.

It is 85 years since the book The Life Divine was completed as a serial in the monthly Arya. It is taught in the Ashram school as a text optionally. For someone who has finished reading it, perhaps a few times, it is possible to summarise its ideas in his mind or on paper. It will be considered a formidable task by those who have attempted it. The subtle intelligence of the Indian spiritual mind has several ways of achieving it, even to the satisfaction of an ordinary reader. It is a great aim worth attempting.

To be called ambitious is a curse. Man is to do his work and not ask for the results. To look for the results of his own work is not spiritually permissible. In the first half of the 20th century, a man would be ashamed of seeking a promotion which was his due. When Sir S.

God's grace comes as moksha to the yogi. The pious householder finds it in his earthly endowments. God's ways are mysterious. He is munificent, but does not always express it as the bhakta desires it. Sri Aurobindo came to Pondicherry in 1910, guided by his inner voice. Along with a few friends, he lived in the house of Sankara Chetty, a patriot. It was for six months. Then he was to move and live in a rented house. The rent was Rs. 35. It was his responsibility to run that household of four or five people.