Sri Aurobindo
Letters of Sri Aurobindo
Volume 3
Letter ID: 685
Sri Aurobindo — Roy, Dilip Kumar
January 13, 1936
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Subhash1 has written to me another letter in which he warns me darkly against “blind faith” in Gurus. I don’t think though that I have been blind about you but I do admit I believe in Guru’s lead provided the Guru appeals one. You appeal to me – that is all. So why should he want to deflate faith as against reason which so often fails to get us anywhere?
[Subash Chandra Bose’s letter, dated 23.12.35 was from Vienna. He wrote,] “Your letter of 19.8.35 reached me on the 20th September. It was very clear and I understand your mind now. Of course I think in a contrary direction. You are honest in what you think and I am equally honest. The question is who is right.
The retirement of Anil Babu [Anilbaran] and yourself from active life has pained me so much that I cannot forget it. My fault is that I expected so much from both of you.
It is no use trying to argue with you. You are quite blind. Reason is but the slave of your faith. When I think how a person of your calibre can surrender his reasoning in this way, I feel like despairing of my country. Everywhere we find the same thing. You regard Sri Aurobindo as God incarnate. So many regard Mahatma Gandhi in the same light. My own mother – whose sincerity I cannot doubt – has a guru whom she regards as God incarnate.
I am sorry you did not get my book. It was sent as early as February. I can send you a copy again – but I am afraid it will not reach you. You can understand the reason. What shall I do?
Our ways are apart – but let us continue to be friends. Maybe, one day we shall meet – who knows?
Yours in love, Subhas”
Despair not – the letter is still flowing on my head (I mean 
the rest of it or of them) before it flows in inksome lines on paper.
As
for the desperate Subhash, why the deuce does he want everybody to agree with him and follow his line of conduct or belief? That is the never realised dream of the politician; we, incarnate Gods, Gurus, spiritual men, are more modest in our hopes and are satisfied with a handful or, if you like, an Ashramful of disciples, and even we don’t ask for that, they come, they come. So are we not nearer to reason and wisdom than the political leaders? Unless of course we make the mistake of founding a universal religion, but that is not our case. Moreover, Subhash upbraids you for losing your reason in blind faith, but what is his view of things except a reasoned faith; you believe according to your faith, which is quite natural, he believes according to his opinion, which is natural also, but no better, so far as the likelihood of getting at the true truth of things is in question. His opinion is according to his reason? So is the opinion of his political opponents according to their reason, yet they affirm the very opposite idea to his. How is reason going to show which is right? The opposite parties can argue till they are blue in the face, they won’t be anywhere nearer a decision. In the end he prevails who
has
the greater force or whom the trend of things. favours. But who can look at the world and say that the trend of things is always (or ever) according to right reason – whatever this thing called right reason may be? As a matter of fact there is no universal infallible reason which can decide and be the umpire between conflicting opinions, there is only my reason, your reason, X’s reason, Y’s reason
, multiplied up to the discordant innumerable. Each reasons according to his view of things, his opinion, that is, his mental constitution and mental preference. So what is the use of running down faith which after all gives something to hold on to amidst the contradictions of an enigmatic universe? If one can get at a knowledge that knows, it is another matter; but so long as we have only an ignorance that argues, well, there is a place still left for faith – even, faith may be a glint from the knowledge 
that knows, however far off, and meanwhile there is not the slightest doubt that it helps to get things done. There’s a bit of reasoning for you! Just like all other reasoning too, convincing to the convinced, but not to the unconvincible, i.e., who don’t agree with the ground upon which the reasoning dances. Logic, after all, is only a measured dance of the mind, nothing else.
1 Subash Chandra Bose (23.1.1897). Dilipda’s intimate from their college days; a great patriot, highly intelligent; great organizational skill; politician of no mean repute; founder of the political party “Forward Block”; during WWII he formed the Indian National Army (INA) outside India. Popularly known as ‘Netaji’.
2 This text is differ with text in SABCL, volume 22 and Letters of Sri Aurobindo, 2 Ser. in very many places. But we marked these places only there, because, it seems, those texts are corrupted by editors.
3 CWSA, volume 35: whom
4 CWSA, volume 35: x’s, y’s, z’s reason
Current publication:
[A letter: ] Sri Aurobindo. Sri Aurobindo to Dilip.- 1st ed.- In 4 Volumes.- Volume 3. 1936 – 1937 / edited by Sujata Nahar, Michel Danino, Shankar Bandopadhyay.- Pune: Heri Krishna Mandir Trust; Mysore: Mira Aditi, 2003.- 305 p.
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