East and West Series - November 2021 by East and West Series

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Friends and fellow pilgrims! I feel grateful to the Sadhu Vaswani Mission of Bombay and to the members for having organized this wonderful Yagna which has lasted for three days and which has been a source of tremendous joy and inspiration, of spiritual strength and comfort to thousands. This Yagna has been arranged in connection with the Birth Centenary Celebrations of one whose name my lips are not worthy to lisp. Sadhu Vaswani was the name by which he was known across the length and breadth of the country,

but we many of us in love and reverence call him Beloved Dada. Beloved Gurudev, the purest of the pure was he. His life was purer than the life of the Ganga – Gangema. His life was purer than the snow on the mountain peaks. Even as we sat at his feet we felt that God looked at us through his eyes; and God spoke to us through his lips; and God blessed us through his holy hands. There is in far off Switzerland a memorial to one of the greatest benefactors of the human race: Pestalozzi is

*November 25 Sadhu Vaswani’s Birthday is observed as Meatless Day & Animal Rights Day.

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his name. Pestalozzi dedicated the best years of his life to the service of poor, uncaredfor orphans. He was a great educationist and for these poor uncared-for orphans he started schools and other institutions. Pestalozzi lived for the poor. He sacrificed his all for the poor and for them he suffered so much. On his grave you find inscribed these words, ‘Nothing for myself, everything for others’. Nothing for myself everything for others, in those few simple words as it seems to me is given you the very secret of Beloved Gurudev Sadhu Vaswani’s life. Nothing for myself, everything for others. Gurudev Sadhu Vaswani never wanted anything for himself. He gave all he had in the service of those that were in need. He worked, he toiled, he laboured, he served, he loved, but he asked for nothing, nothing in return, not even a simple word of thanks. It was my great privilege, it was my great good fortune to have been with him during the last twenty seven years of his earth life, and in all those twenty-seven years, believe me my friends, not once did I know him fail in answering the call of human suffering. He wanted nothing for himself. He kept away from earthly honours. He rejoiced in wisdom as his wealth and

in the service of the poor and broken ones, as the treasure of his quest. Nothing for myself everything for others… And there are many who, though they desire nothing for themselves on the earth plane, they serve, they try to make others happy with a view to earn joys in the heaven world. But Gurudev Sadhu Vaswani did not want even that – the joys of the heaven world. He did not aspire even to a life of Mukti – liberation from the cycle of birth and death. The question was put to him more than once, ‘Is there anything higher than Mukti?’ And my Beloved Master said, ‘I do not aspire to a life of Mukti, I fain would be born again and again if only I may be of some help to those that suffer and are in pain.’ My friends, my Beloved Gurudev was born a hundred years ago, on the 25th of November, 1879 in dear distant Hyderabad Sindh, now part of Pakistan. He was not born in a rich man’s mansion. He was born in a simple mud house. He was born in the dark of the dawn. He was born at the time when many were asleep. It was as though he brought with himself that one word which was ever on his lips, the one word: Awake! Awake! Awake! This one word he was destined to carry in later years to waiting

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hearts, to hearts in east and west. ‘O Pilgrims on the path, ye have rested long; it is time to awake.’ When he was an infant lying in the cradle, it is said that honey bees swarmed around him, and his mother tried to drive them away, but how so ever much she tried the bees would come again and swarm around him. They did not sting him, but I love to think that they left on his tongue a drop of honey, for in later years his power of speaking was so persuasive that he brought to many souls and many hearts a wondrous sweetness. Even as a little child he was so different from other children. He did not play the games which other children played. Beloved Dada, as a child, was a lover of silence. He would go and spend his time in silence, in an upstairs room which was rarely used by other members of the family, and there he sat and put to himself the questions to which he sought answers. What am I? What am I? Whence have I come? Where is my true homeland? What is the purpose of my visit to this earth plane? Again and again he would go and sit on the terrace of the house at night and gaze at the starry heavens and at the shining brilliant moon. He was eight years of age when he had his first mystical vision as he sat

on the terrace of his house and from that day onwards he felt, he felt an urge within him to dedicate all he was and all he had at the lotus feet of the Lord. He grew in years, he was a brilliant student. He passed the B.A. Examination of the University of Bombay and became an ‘Ellis Scholar’. He passed the M.A. examination and he came to his mother and said to her, “Ma, I hear voices, they are beckoning me, they are calling me to leave home and enter into homelessness, to become a fakir and carry the message of the love of God to waiting hearts.” But the mother would not hear of it and she extracted from him a promise, not to think of renouncing the world, not to think of becoming a fakir so long as she lived on earth. Beloved Gurudev was true to his promise. He became a Professor in a Calcutta College. Later he became Principal of more than one College in Northern India. At the age of 30 he went to Berlin as one of India’s representatives to the Welt Congress, the World Congress of Religions. His speech there and his subsequent lectures in different parts of Europe linked up many with him, in India’s mission of help and healing to the nations.

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When he was 40 years of age his mother passed away and the very first thing that he did was to send in his resignation by telegram. He put off the garments of a Principal, donned this dress that you see in the picture before you. Now he becomes a fakir, and he moves on from place to place; he has left home, he has entered homelessness; he joined the freedom struggle, he worked as an associate of Mahatma Gandhi. He wrote a number of books exhorting the youths of India to dedicate their lives to the service of Mother India. Some of those books were proscribed by the then British Government. Later, he turned his attention to education and other spheres, emphasizing that character building is nation building. With this in view he started a number of Yuvak Sanghas, ‘Youth Centers’ and Ashrams, especially that well-known ‘Shakti Ashram’ at Rajpur, which drew to itself some of the choicest of India’s youths of those days. It was a dark and difficult and stormy period of India’s history and as he moved on from one place to another he gave hope and courage and strength to his countrymen. He moved to many lands and he fired the hearts of men and women with the message of

India’s deathless culture. In his hands there was a torch, on his lips were the live-coals of inspiration. He thrilled those that heard him. He was a pioneer calling India to that great future, when she who was once the teacher of the nations would be respected once again as a leader of civilisation, as the builder of new humanity. In those days Beloved Dada’s name was coupled with those of Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore as one of the three great leaders of New India. Tributes were paid to him by men of light and leading in east and west, but in his characteristic humility Beloved Dada said, “I know not much, I only know that the longing grows within me, day by day to be consumed more and more in the flames of sacrifice, to him whose beauty blooms in all the worlds and whose love I see shining, shining, shining everywhere.” He was one of the humblest of men that ever trod the earth. Many thought of him as their Guru, their Master, but he said, “I am a Guru of none. I am a disciple of all.” One day I remember, I was sitting at his feet, he said to me words which I can never forget. He said, “I have come not to teach you to perform miracles, I have come, not to teach you to raise the dead, I have come that you may

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learn how to be meek and lowly of heart.” Those words brought tears to my eyes. Towards the close of his life crowds followed him wherever he went, crowds eager to touch the hem of his garment, crowds eager to listen to his words more precious than pearls. But he gave himself no supernatural airs. He was, as I said to you, one of the humblest of men that ever trod the earth. Having everything, he lived as a fakir, as one who possessed nothing. Knowing everything he lived as one who knew not. His humility was profound. What was the teaching which he came to give? His teaching was simple and wherever he went, he taught this great truth that religion is not a matter of rites and creeds, religion is not the matter of ceremonies and dogmas. ‘Creeds’ he often said, ‘are broken reeds and dogmas divide. But religion is life, religion is new life, religion is the true life, the life of simplicity and sympathy and service, the life of new awakening, the life of self-effacement and selfrealisation.’ Religion is self-realisation, religion is God realisation, and God realization, he taught, was open to everyone irrespective of a person’s caste or creed or faith. Irrespective of what

status he occupied in life. You may be the lowest of the low, yet Beloved Dada said, God realisation was open to you. God realisation was not the monopoly of a few, but open to everyone who is prepared to go through certain Sadhanas, certain spiritual disciplines, and specially to three of them Beloved Dada referred again and again. The very first discipline of spiritual life, the very first discipline of God realisation, Beloved Dada said, is Dharma. Be true to your Dharma. Be true to your duty. Whatever be the duty to which life calls you, be true to it, God will come and meet you on the path of duty. Are you a family man? You must fulfill your obligations to your family members. And as you do your duty in the right spirit, you will find that you will grow, you will be enriched in this one experience of life, which Beloved Dada called purification. Your inner koshas will be purified from more to more. A sister came to him one day and said to him, “Dada I have been told that at the hour of evening twilight I must spend time in prayer and worship of God, but what am I to do, it is just at that time that my husband returns from his office, and I have to serve him with meals?” Beloved Dada

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said to her, “You be true to your duty, you must serve your husband with meals at that time, let that be your worship of God. And God will come and meet you on the path of duty, even as he came and met, even as Sri Krishna the Master met Pundalik on the spot which today is regarded as one of the most sacred spots in India. Where you have the great temples of Pandharpur.” Be true to your duty, whatever be the duty to which life calls you my friends be true to it. The second sadhana Beloved Dada said, is the sadhana of Dhyana – Meditation. After you have done your duty you must save sometime for you have a duty to yourself. You have done your duty to others, now is the time to do the duty that you have to yourself, therefore come and spend some time everyday in silence. Find, select a silence corner, preferably in your own house, but if you cannot find a silence corner in your house then go and find it elsewhere, in a garden, on a river bank. Somewhere you must have a silence corner and everyday you must go and sit there, preferably at the same time and of course at the same place, for this is your appointment with God. You keep a number of appointments every day, but do you keep this appointment

with yourself. Keep your appointment with God without fail. This is the second sadhana. Sitting in silence think of some great one of humanity. Think of your Ishtadev, think of Gautama Buddha or Guru Nanak. Think of Baha‘u’llah, think of Moses, think of Mohammed, think of anyone of the great ones who have blessed humanity age after age. Think of Jesus, think of Zoroaster, think of Mira, think of any one of the great ones to whom you feel drawn. Think of him, if you can and at the point between and a little behind the two eyebrows, there fix his picture. Think of him and then keep on repeating the holy name, any name that draws you. He is the Nameless One, but he hath been called by many names and all names belong to the Nameless One. All names ultimately lead to the Nameless One. Any name that draws you, keep on repeating it again and again. Keep on doing this day after day and one blessed day, by God’s grace, you will have this experience, you will behold a tiny light, and the light will keep on growing from more to more. The light will grow into illumination and then you my brother, you my sister, you too will behold God face to face, for God can been seen and God can be heard and God can be spoken to. This has

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been the witness of Beloved Dada and the great saints who have blessed India and humanity century after century.

offer yourself as a sacrifice at the alter of suffering humanity. ‘Service of the poor,’ Beloved Dada said, ‘is worship of God.’

As you enter into the silences of the soul within you, as you enter deeper and deeper within yourself you will find that you will unfold your hidden powers, you will unfold your hidden strength, but this strength, this shakti is not for yourself alone, Beloved Dada said, it is meant to be spent in the service of the surrounding world.

“What is your religion?” We asked him once and Beloved Dada said, “I know of no religion higher than the religion of service and sacrifice.” “Religions are worth no more than a straw,” he said, “If they do not teach us to love God and to love the God in man. Within every man dwelleth God, therefore is every man a tabernacle of God.’ Therefore is every man a living moving temple of God. To serve them is to worship God. And service of the poor was the worship which the Master offered to God day after day.

Therefore the third sadhana, the third and the very important sadhana of spiritual life he said is seva – service of the poor and broken ones, service of the handicapped, service of the forsaken and forlorn and service also of birds and animals, for birds and animals too are our younger brothers and sisters in the one family of creation. ‘Do not kill them.’ Beloved Dada said, believe me those are his words ‘believe me the day is coming when meat eating will be regarded as murder.’ Seva, is the third sadhana. Look around you my friends and see that the world is sad, is broken, is torn with tragedy, is smitten with suffering. This world, this unhappy world calls for servants of the true type and if you would tread the path that leadeth Godwards, you must

Everyday Beloved Dada would come and sit underneath the trees he loved and the poor came to him in endless rows. To everyone he gave something or the other. To some he gave food, to some he gave clothing, to some he gave money but to everyone who came to him he gave the blessings, the benedictions of his beautiful, his loving heart. Literally till the last day of his earth life Beloved Dada served the poor and broken ones. In their faces he beheld the face of God. Every human being, every creature was to him an image of the King of beauty and to bring joy into the lives of the joyless

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ones was perhaps the deepest aspiration of his life. My friends, wherever I go they put to me this question, they ask me what is the one urgent, the one piteous need of India today? May I tell you what is it? The one urgent, the one piteous need of India today is of men and women who love God in their hearts and then go out and become servants of poor and broken ones. The one urgent, the one piteous need of India today is of men who remember God within them. Who carry the remembrance of Lord within their hearts and who go out and spend themselves in the service of the poor and broken ones, the forsaken and forlorn. When India is able to throw up such men and women in different parts of the country then, throughout the length and breadth of India there will spread a great revolution of the spirit and then it is that India will have the strength, India will have the shakti to go out upon her mission of help and healing to the nations. Beloved Dada believed profoundly in the mission of India in the coming days, but India lacks the strength today to do so. India will have the strength only when you of

India bear witness to this great teaching, love God within your hearts and go out and live for others, bearing in your hearts the great watchword of Beloved Dada’s life, nothing for myself everything for others. Then and then alone my friends will India have the strength to go out upon her mission of help and healing to the nations, then will India shine in the splendour of the new morning sun, and then will India be acclaimed once again as a teacher of the nations of the east, as a teacher of the nations of the west, as a builder of a new civilisation, a new humanity. And may the benedictions of the everlasting, the mighty spirit of Beloved Dada, may the blessings and benedictions of the seers and sages, the prophets and saints, the saviours and servants of humanity who have appeared alike in the east and in the west, may their blessings and their benedictions be on the birth centenary celebrations, on this evenings meeting, on the Sadhu Vaswani Mission, on everyone of you present here and on your humble servant here. I thank you!

(Excerpts from an Address delivered by Rev. Dada J.P. Vaswani in Bombay on February 16, 1979 in commemoration of Sadhu Vaswani’s Centenary Celebrations.)

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A Call for Social Reform SADHU VASWANI

My first words are naturally those of thanks for the honour you have done me in inviting me to deliver an Introductory Address on this occasion. This is the first Conference of its kind in Sindh; and I entertain a joyful hope that the interest which this Conference has awakened will deepen into enthusiasm; and enthusiasm will develop into action so that the conscience of the country may be touched and the sons and daughters of the classic

soul of Sindh may be strong again to make their power felt in shaping the future of the Indian Nation. Social efficiency – this the criterion of national greatness; and the call of the Conference, is it not even this – that you and I and all be pledged to the sacred cause of Social Reform so that Sindh may rise, bringing once again her gifts at the feet of the Lord whom sages and seers of the past adored by the banks of the sacred Sindhu.

*(Address delivered by Prof. T. V. Vaswani, M.A., at the first Sindh Social Conference, Sukkur in 1909.)

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Our cry for Social Reform is fully charged with faith in the idea of freedom. We are beginning to feel that social efficiency demands a change from constraint to freedom, from authority to reason. We are anxious therefore to see that the special efforts are put forth to do to death the cruel iniquitous customs which stand in the way of our Social Progress. We desire that strong public opinion be created to break the tyranny of custom. You are familiar with the motto of the Scottish University – “They say: what say they? Let them say.” I would specially desire young men to remember this motto in their strivings for Social Reform. I speak of social reform; not of social revolution; and remember, what we advocate is not revolution but evolution. I have faith in the divine destiny of the Aryan Race; I believe that every social reformer must be in tune with the genius of his nation. “Every society,” says Carlyle, “has a spiritual principle, is the embodiment, more or less complete, of an Idea.” The social reformer seeks not to eliminate but to evolve the Idea immanent in the history – the thought and culture and life and age-long aspirations of the Hindu race. I shall not, therefore, ask you to imitate European fashion and

European customs. Imitation here, as elsewhere, is suicide. Subsequent speakers will lay before you the programme of social reform and you will note that in asking you to abolish social evils we do but plead for reform which proceeds along the lines of our national evolution and yet seeks to adapt our social life to the requirements of modern times. Social evils, I contend, have crept in at a later stage and are really alien to the true genius of our Race. Do I ask you to condemn the evil of caste? Then, study with me the history of the institutions and you will find that caste is unknown to the Vedic age, that it creeps in for the first time at the close of the Vedic period, that since the time of Buddha the voice of Indian reformers and bhaktas has been raised in protest, again and again, against the evils of this institution. We complain of infant marriage; this evil, too, crept in at a later stage. We are against enforced widowhood; and Sanskrit scholars of the culture and calibre of Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar and Dr. Bhandarkar assure us that our view is borne out by a proper reading of our past: the Vedic age knew nothing of enforced widowhood. Some of you may recall in this connection the significant story of the Indian

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ascetic marrying a widow. A monk – so the story runs – takes the vow of sanyasa; but other monks stand aloof from him. ‘You,’ they say to him, ‘you, have taken the vow of sanyasa, but it’s too early for you to take the vow. You have not passed through the grihastha ashrama, go and marry and when your desires are purified through a practice of the sadhanas of the grihastha ashrama, return to us and we shall accept you as one of the Brotherhood, not till such a time may you be enrolled a member of the yellow order’ And this monk – (he lived in 1170) – goes and marries a widow. We complain again of the evil of drink; and you need no words from me to tell you that this evil, too, is alien to the spirit of our society. We advocate female education; and if you read the scriptures of the past you note a number of things pointing to the greatness of Indian womanhood just when India was great. In the Vedic ages men and women were on a footing of equality: no oblation was believed to be acceptable unless offered jointly by husband and wife. You read of lady rishis who composed hymns and sang the mystic songs of faith; you read of ladies distinguished in science and literature. Have you forgotten the story of

Maitreyi – the story which tells of the deep interest she took in divinity and metaphysics – in Brahmavidya? Have you forgotten the stories of Sita and Savitri – stories which may well be read as a commentary on the statement I made that India was great just at the time when Indian womanhood was wise and great? One of the great evils which the Indian Social Reformers has to combat is the evil of caste: we hear little of it in Sindh; but in one form we have the evil in our midst. I refer to the cleft between Hindus and Mahomedans. Why should not the two communities work together? Surely the Mahomedan may be proud of the great traditions and glorious achievements of the gifted Hindu race. And the Hindu, on the other hand, may well read with feelings of genuine admiration the story of the culture and higher consciousness of Islam. Think of the philosophers of Baghdad and of Saracenic sages; think of the scientific institutes of Cairo and Cordova and of other centres of intellectual force which nourished the life of the world at a time when European nations were sunk in the darkness of the middle ages; think of the contributions of Islam to mathematics and meteorology, to optics and

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astronomy, to chemistry and medicine, to philosophy and theology; think of what Islam has done for architectures and in this connection you need only think of the Taj Mahal – its bewildering beauty, its faultlessness of form, its finish, its elusive architecture: the Taj Mahal shall abide as the tribute of Islam to the beauty of womanhood. And can you forget that Muslim Akbar – born in Sindh – dreamt the dream of an Indian Nation – and turned the dream into a reality though it vanished when he died? And who is there who does not hold in affectionate reverence the name of Shah Latif – the greatest poet of Sindh? Think not of him as a local or provincial poet; I love to speak of him as a world-poet. You study Byron and Burns and Wordsworth and Shelley and Tennyson; here in Sindh was born a master-poet whose art was not inferior, and whose inspiration was fuller because his vision was more opulent – the vision of the Infinite Mystery that weaves the wonders of the world. May the day come soon when the children of Sindh shall open their eyes and behold Shah Latif in his beauty! May the day come soon when the Hindu and the Musselman shall understand each other and honour each other and love each other! Akbar and Shah

Latif are ours: and the great prophet Muhammad – is he not ours too? There is but one God – declared the prophet: and in the One whom sages call the One without a second – in the Allah whom the Hindu calls Hari – may the Hindu and the Musselman be at one with each other unto the greater glory of God! Another question to which the social reformer must turn his attention is the problem of female education. Rousseau writes somewhere, that “women are specially made to please men.” And I am afraid not a few in our midst still entertain the old view of the function of woman. With the theory of the new woman, the ‘aggressive’ woman of the West – I have no sympathy; I do not believe with Bellamy that the ‘millennium’ will come when women’s figures will be 2 inches taller and her shoulders too! I cannot think woman was meant to compete with man; but neither do I think that man was meant to dominate woman. It were idle in these days to talk of the inferiority of woman. It were shame in these days to speak of man as a superior person. Let us remember that woman is meant to be not the rival but the consecrated companion of man. The “gifts of nature” says

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Plato, “are equally diffused in both.” But how can we expect woman to play her part as a consecrated companion of man, if she has no education? Education gives knowledge; and knowledge makes for the evolution of the soul. What kind of education may we impart to our females? A large question this: a question which this Conference will discuss and deliberate upon… What may not Sindh be if our girls be properly educated! The iniquitous dowry-system will then be done to death, matrimony will not be a matter of money; marriage will be regarded as a sacrament. Every Sindhi home will then be a centre of spiritual forces, every Sindhi boy a child of light, every Sindhi woman a ‘star’ to men for ever: Sindh will respond to the message of family which is the message of purity and of love. Not without reason has it been declared. “You women are the pillars of society,” and world literature is a witness to the influence of women. Kalidas, Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, Tennyson, Browning are all eloquent with the music which grows out of faith in the mission of woman. Ruskin was right when he said that one of the functions of woman ‘is to teach man’; and who

will deny that a good mother can influence more than all the professors of Sindh? Sons of Sindhudesha! Have faith in woman’s high and holy mission: remember she is the guardian of man’s ethical ideals: and remember when the mother’s heart is educated, men too will be better educated. Woman will train the emotions of man; she will be not man’s inferior but his ministering angel bestrewing along the pathway of his life the benediction of beauty, dispensing deeds of love. Remember Emerson’s words of wisdom: – “The starry crown of woman is in the power of her affection and sentiment.” What a power, indeed may not the educated woman be for the uplift of the land! Her intuition, her piety, her devotion, her infinite tolerance, her gentleness, her grace, her beauty, her love – what may they not achieve when joined with culture of mind and heart and pressed in the service of the Truth! Verily, through the ennobling influence of womanhood, wise and virtuous, the divine mind touches the mind of man and fulfills Nature’s plan of love. The pressing problem of the age all over the world is the social problem: its solution is social service. Social Service: Contd. on page 22

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Hindu Theory of Music SADHU VASWANI

As I have listened this evening to the wondrous note of song and music, I have felt my heart-strings vibrate with emotion, mine eyes have been touched with tears and I have recalled to memory the beautiful story of that ancient king who lived in the city not made of bricks or stones but in the city of music. You and I, while listening to the vocal and instrumental music of this Institution have felt as though we were lifted high above the

earth-plane and passed into a City of Music. I need hardly tell you how great is my pleasure to be here to take part in this great celebration this evening. The Gandharva Mahavidyalaya was founded in 1901 for the “revival of the ancient Hindu Music” and during these 14 years, the Institution has made steady progress. It stands for a great ideal. Modern students of the Psychology of Education have pointed out that music ought to be a part of general culture:

(Address delivered at the Anniversary Meeting at Gandharva Maha Vidyalaya, Lahore on 5th May, 1915.)

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and so it is: for music trains the emotion and develops the mysticism of sympathy and so contributes to that expansion of the self which is the secret of true culture.

Joy.” And Brahma passed into the penance of meditation and coming out of it, gave the world a new Veda, called Natya Veda, a new Scripture — the Scripture of Song.

Music is part of general culture; but is it not also a part of the national culture? The Gandharva Mahavidyalaya has a national character: its object is “the revival of ancient Hindu Music.” And Hindu Music is an utterance of the Hindu raceconsciousness: it is the soul of the Aryan Race. Hence the national significance of a school of musical culture, such as the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya. A beautiful little story is told us in the Hindu books: it is the story of how in the olden golden age called the Satyayuga, men were pure, innocent, childlike, intuitional more than intellectual. But, so the story tells us, the Satyayuga vanished: there set in the Silver Age; and men became selfish; and then the great ones who guide the evolution of the Race sent love in the midst of men to bind them closer one to the other: and the senses opened so that they could rest on the beauty of outward things, and Indra approached Brahma saying: “Deign to give to the humankind that which may become a source of unbroken

The story is suggestive: it indicates the Hindu view that music is divine in its origin. Examine now the connotation and association of the word “Gandharva” — the presiding deities of the Music — and you will understand how profound was the ancient Hindu’s conception concerning the spiritual origin and function of Music. You read of the Gandharvas in the Veda: there they are represented as Divine Musicians living in the Heaven world, serving the Gods with Soma and with Song; they attend the banquet of the gods, and in this and other particulars remind us of Plato’s Ideas. The Hindu had a profound conviction of the heavenly origin of Music and could not subscribe to the theory of the Western critics who hold the view that the musical effect is a purely sensuous one. Speech itself was regarded as a ‘goddess’ by the Hindu: surely song was more divine. In another place again the Gandharvas are regarded as skilled in medicine; and students of experimental

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psychology know that several maladies including lunacy are now cured by Music. Again the Gandharvas are referred to as ‘revealers’ of the ‘Divine Truth’; and we are beginning to know that. ‘Truth’ is revealed not by the categories of ‘barren’ understanding but through the Vision of the Heart. Truth is musical and shows her splendours to those whose hearts are open to the suggestions and influences of the Spiritual Ideal. And again the Gandharvas are called the children of Muni; the word ‘Muni’, being connected with the word maun which means silence. And there you have the beautiful Hindu conception that music is born in silence. The noblest song grows out of the profound silence of the Soul. How superior is the Hindu conception to some of the modern theories which trace music to the ‘dance’ of the primitive man or the cries of the mating season. Music, according to the Hindu, is an expression of emotions and thought: music is an echo of the Ideal; and, whenever you aspire after the Highest and answer to the august in nature, the holiest in man, the divine in your own heart, you are in a musical mood.

Music in connected with rasa (the essence of aesthetics): even as Science is connected with prayojana (benefit or purpose). Science is related to certain utilities of life (prayojana); but in addition to utilities there is the rasaside of life. People fight shy of rasa to-day: they say they are practical and so must trample upon sentiment. But we may well echo the words of the hero in a recent English novel, Stella Maris by John Locke, and say: “Everything noble, beautiful, splendid that has ever been written, sung, painted or done since the world began has been born in sentiment, has been carried through by sentiment has been reverenced and remembered by sentiment.” Brahman is Bliss! Each one is a child of Bliss and all life is meant to be a preparation to realise the Anandamaya, to enter into the Joy of the Universe. The function of the Music according to the Hindu conception is to transmute passion into emotion. Passion goes outward to the finite; emotion goes upward to the Infinite; the law of passion is self-seeking, that of emotion self-renunciation. Passion’s goal is pleasure; that of emotion is purification. Theatrical music and opera such as India’s young men seem to like so much to-

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day rouse lower passions; and the danger ahead of India is that this passional sense-stimulating music is getting more and more popular in these days. The Gandharva Mahavidyalaya is to be congratulated on having resisted the temptation to indulge in this rajasaic form of Music. True Music, according to the Hindu conception, is satvic: it is an utterance of emotion and thought: it is a function of the higher self: it is the soul’s response to the life-movement of the Universe, the answer of the heart to the Voice of Reality, the rhythmic harmony of the Universe. The soul of India is steeped in lyric love. So it is that our best Literature is in verse; the Hindu villager still blends his daily labour with song, the Hindu girl goes singing to the well to fill the pitcher with water, Aryavarta’s best beloved teacher — Sri Krishna is represented as playing upon his Flute snatching away the hearts of the Gopis and charming even the cows, and birds and beasts; and India’s stateliest scripture — one which is perhaps, as no other book, the Bible of India — is it not called a Song, a Song Celestial, the Bhagavad Gita? Life was meant to be a poem, a sacrament; life threatens to-day to be a business, and our duty can hardly be distinguished

from drudgery: cash-values, the stock-exchange values of life dominate the transaction of today; progressive secularisation has set in. And as I survey the thought and life of the West I feel again and again that Europe stands in need of a new inspiration in Art and that inspiration may come again from the East. The aggressive unchristian civilizations of the West must needs be snubbed by the imaginative Vision of the East. And India is the heart of the orient. God the great Composer of Life has wrought with a few notes the wonder of the world. More notes, more harmonies still, He wishes to sound in the Twentieth Century so that a great Symphony may be heard for the healing of the nations. And each one of you must be a note in the great Symphony. A story is told of a traveller in the desert asked by his guide in the silence of the night whether he did not hear the desert speak. “No” said the traveler. But the guide whispered to him the words, “The desert says: ‘I long to become a meadow,’ O my friend! There be throughout the length and breadth of this ancient land many a place which sighs with longing. ‘We long to become a meadow.’”

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Our homes, our schools, our temples are to-day even as deserts: they send to us a strong appeal, “We long to become meadows.” Only sound the notes of Harmony; only lisp the Song of Love; and the desert will be converted into a meadow. India needs men whose lives will be melodious with the music of the Lord — men who will rise above sectarian strife and the counsels of hatred — men who will be loyal to India’s culture of the Spirit and be witness

to the Vision Universal. Such men shall be even as notes in the great Symphony of the Spirit: and even when their outer forms perish, they shall not die. And in their work, the Aryavarta shall be blessed. Then shall India whom the gods have blessed enter upon her world mission to the nations: for her song shall be the sacred song — the Song of the Lord – and her voice shall sound the word of wisdom, and her life shall be an epiphany, an avatar of the Beauty that is God. 

A Call for Social Reform is also the message of this Conference. The time is come when the social conscience of each must be developed. Shall custom make cowards of us all? No; we shall rise to break the bonds of cruel customs; we shall strive for social amelioration. Believe me, Sindh stands in need to-day of men – men in whom the sense of justice is strong, men filled with the spirit of service and the enthusiasm of faith – men whose hearts go out to others in sympathy and love. Such men know the meaning of life’s Duty. Such men breathe but all the benediction of love’s beauty. May the number of such men grow in our midst! So will dawn on our life a new day

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of glory. So, will our community move towards ‘the Purpose that the great God meant it for.’ So, will be verified the vision which sustains the social reformer in his uphill task – even the vision of a glorified Sindh young with immortal youth, and strong in the strength of the Lord and fair beyond compare! May it be yours, may it be mine to work as the days wear on, for the sacred cause of Social

Reform,

remembering

the words of Amiel: “Let yourself and not your words preach you.” – The World and New Dispensation.



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Women – A Symbol of Shakti SADHU VASWANI

Under the ancient sky we meet, the very sky that looked upon ancient India. And I hear a voice within me. It is the voice of New India, a Free India. Europe and America are looking towards India for a new beacon light. I receive letters from friends in western countries who are anxious to find out a new path. They say the west needs light, more light. The west turns to the east. Young men of today are the makers of New India. Young

men and women…. the mother is a symbol of the eternal Shakti. Indeed it makes me happy that the New woman is awakening. In Shikarpur there was a big ladies conference. People now want boycott of foreign cloth but the conference boycotted men. No man was allowed to their conference. The Commissioner’s wife presided over the first session, on the second day the Collector’s wife presided, on the third day I was selected as president, And I told them I too am a woman.

(Text of the address Sadhu Vaswani delivered in connection with the anniversary of the Seva Samiti at Multan.)

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My spouse is the lord of love. The ladies at the Shikarpur conference showed wonderful organizing powers and managed the conference better than many men. Women’s place was recognized in ancient India at a time when India was a power to reckon with and was linked up unto Egypt, Greece, Rome, China and other countries through commerce and culture. A picture of ancient lndia is in my heart. The New India, I think, will be greater, mightier, more vital than even the India of the mighty past. Who would build this New India? Young men and women; and therefore, I come in the quest of young. I, who have chosen to live as a Brahmachari, I want sons

and daughters for the service of New India. I want them to carry India’s message far and wide. I, a Brahmachari, come to you as a Bikhu, seeking alms. I am in search of the young. The earth’s treasure... silver and gold, have I none. But in my heart is a treasure higher than that of kings. It is treasure of Love. Take me in your service. I want sons and daughters for the service of the nation, and the service of the poor. If anybody would ask me the meaning of Swaraj I would say “Service of the poor.” What is religion? Service of the poor. Not in temples and palaces but in cottage of the poor lives the Lord of Love! Go and worship Him there with the worship of daily sacrifice. 

A woman’s emotions, her intuitions, her mysticism of sympathy will nourish the moral, social and political life of the age. The woman-soul has been the great guardian of idealism through the ages! If home-life is to become again the strength of our civilisation, it is necessary for us to have a new reverence for woman.

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Children’s Corner Did you know religions across the world believe in the ideal of ‘compassion towards animals’? Yes! That’s true! Let’s find out more: Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam — the world is one family. Jivdaya — Compassion to all Ahimsa Parmo Dharma — Ahimsa is the supreme religion. A good deed done to an animal is as meritorious as a good deed done to a human being, while an act of cruelty to an animal is as bad as an act of cruelty to a human being.” — Prophet Muhammad. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” — Genesis 1:30 – Bible All beings tremble before danger, all fear death — Dhammapada 54 Can you find out what other religions say on compassion and kindness towards animals? Write them down here: 1. Sikhism: __________________________ 2. Judaism: __________________________ 3. Taoism: ___________________________ 4. Baha’i Faith: _______________________ 5. Zoroastrianism: _____________________

Activity Time! Feed a Hungry Animal or Bird! We all know how we feel when we are hungry. Mamma makes for us fresh food but what about the poor animals? Today, will you feed a hungry animal? Don’t forget to take mamma or papa along. Click a picture of yours with the animal or bird that you helped, post it on a social media platform and don’t forget to tag @sadhuvaswani

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Feeding the Hungry Cat: Solve the Maze to Help the Poor Cat Looking for Her Bowl of Milk Sadhu Vaswani, a messiah of the voiceless ones said: ‘These hands are given us to help and heal, not to harm; to bless, not to butcher; to save, not to slaughter!’ Can we take up this mantra for life?