18

Binoy went home with Anandamayi’s words turning over in his mind. Not a single word from Anandamayi’s lips had ever gone unheeded by him until now. That night a heaviness settled upon his heart.

When he rose the next morning he felt something like a sense of liberation. It seemed to him that he had paid a very great price to settle his account with Gora’s friendship. On the one hand, by agreeing to marry Shashimukhi he had accepted a bond that would last a lifetime — and in exchange for this, on the other hand, he had earned the right to loosen a different bond. Gora had harboured the deeply unjust suspicion that Binoy was eager to marry into a Brahmo household, leaving his own community — in the face of this false suspicion, he now placed his marriage to Shashimukhi as a permanent guarantee and cleared himself of the charge. After this, Binoy began going to Pareshbabu’s house freely and frequently.

To become at ease among those whom he liked, as though he were one of their own household — this cost Binoy no effort at all. The moment he removed from his mind the hesitation that arose from Gora’s side, he found that in a short while he had already become, in the eyes of everyone in Pareshbabu’s house, like a relation of long standing.

Only during those few days when Lalita still harboured the suspicion that Sucharita’s heart might have inclined a little towards Binoy had her mind risen up in arms against him. But when she saw clearly that Sucharita bore no particular partiality towards Binoy, her inner rebellion dissolved and she felt greatly relieved, and nothing stood in the way of her regarding Binoybabu as an unusually fine person.

Haranbabu too did not turn against Binoy — he acknowledged, with something of a pointed emphasis, that Binoy possessed a sense of propriety. The implicit suggestion being that Gora did not.

Binoy never raised any matter of dispute in Haranbabu’s presence, and Sucharita too was careful to ensure that none was raised — thus, until now, the peace of the tea table had not been disturbed on Binoy’s account.

But in Haran’s absence, Sucharita would herself take the initiative and draw Binoy into a discussion of his social views. Her curiosity as to how men as educated as Gora and Binoy could possibly uphold the old superstitions of the country admitted of no satisfaction. Had she not come to know Gora and Binoy, she would, upon hearing that anyone held such opinions, have instantly dismissed that person as deserving of contempt without troubling herself to hear another word. But since she had seen Gora, she had not been able in any way to remove him from her mind with disdain. And so, whenever an opportunity arose, she would circle back again and again and raise with Binoy a discussion of Gora’s views and his manner of life, and by means of objections draw out everything to its fullest extent. Pareshbabu regarded it as the proper means of Sucharita’s education that she be allowed to hear the views of every persuasion, and he had therefore never felt any anxiety about such debates or made any attempt to prevent them.

One day Sucharita asked, “Tell me — does Gourmohanbabu genuinely believe in caste distinctions, or is it an excess of patriotism?”

Binoy said, “Do you accept the steps of a staircase? They too are divisions — some higher, some lower.”

Sucharita. I accept them because one must climb from below to above — otherwise there would be no need to accept them at all. On level ground one can do without a staircase.

Binoy. Quite right — our society is a staircase — it had a purpose, and that purpose was to raise one from below to above, to lead human life toward a consummation. Had we regarded worldly existence itself as the final end, there would have been no need for any system of divisions — we would then have scrambled and fought with each other for more than our share, as in European society; whoever succeeded in the world would rise to the top, and whoever failed would sink utterly. Because we seek to cross through the world and beyond it, we have not founded our worldly duties on desire and competition — we have ordained worldly work as dharma, because through action one must attain not any other success but liberation; and for this reason, looking in one direction at the work of the world and in the other at the final fruit of that work, our society established the division of varnas — that is, the division of callings.

Sucharita. I cannot say I follow your argument very clearly. My question is this — do you see that the purpose for which the caste system was instituted in society, as you describe it, has in fact been fulfilled?

Binoy. It is very difficult to see the face of success in this world. The success of Greece is no longer to be found within Greece — yet one cannot therefore say that all the ideas of Greece were mistaken and fruitless. The ideas of Greece are still achieving fulfilment in various forms within human society. The answer that India gave to a great social question through the system of caste has not died — it still stands before the world. Europe too has not yet been able to give any satisfactory answer to the social question; there, nothing but pushing and grappling goes on — India’s answer still awaits its fulfilment within human society. Do not suppose for a moment that merely because we, small sectarians that we are, choose in our blindness to blow it away, it will actually blow away. We, as petty communities, shall merge into the ocean like water-bubbles, but this great resolution that arose from India’s native genius — so long as its work in the world remains unfinished, it will stand firm.

Sucharita hesitated and asked, “You will not be angry — but tell me truly, are you saying all this merely as an echo of Gourmohanbabu, or do you yourself believe it fully?”

Binoy smiled and said, “I will tell you in all honesty — I do not have the strength of conviction that Gora has. When I see the filth of the caste system and the corruptions of society, I am often moved to express doubts — but Gora says that doubt arises precisely from seeing a great thing in a diminished way — to look upon a broken branch and a withered leaf and take them for the ultimate nature of the tree is an impatience of the intellect — I do not ask you to praise the broken branch, he says, but see the forest tree whole and try to understand its significance.”

Sucharita. Let us set aside the withered leaf for a moment — but one must look at the fruit of the tree. What has been the fruit of caste division for our country?

Binoy. What you call the fruit of the caste system is the fruit of circumstances, not of caste alone. If one tries to chew with a loose tooth, it hurts — that is not the tooth’s fault, it is the fault of the looseness. It is because degeneration and weakness have overtaken us for various reasons that we are distorting, not fulfilling, India’s idea — that distortion does not lie in the idea itself. When vitality and health abound among us, everything will right itself. That is why Gora says again and again — one cannot do away with one’s head because it aches — be well, be strong.

Sucharita. Very well — do you then ask us to honour the Brahmin caste as a god among men? Do you truly believe that a man is purified by the dust of a Brahmin’s feet?

Binoy. Many an honour in this world is of our own creation. So long as a king is needed, for whatever reason, people proclaim him extraordinary. But a king is not truly extraordinary. Yet he must break through the barrier of his own ordinariness and rise to the extraordinary — otherwise he simply cannot rule. We build the king up into something extraordinary so that we may receive from him a worthy rule — the demand of our reverence he must satisfy, he must become extraordinary. This kind of artifice runs through all human relationships. Even the ideal of father and mother that we have together erected and upheld is what makes parents distinctively parents in society — it is not natural affection alone. In a joint family the elder brother endures much and sacrifices much for the younger — why? Because our society has made the elder brother distinctively the elder brother, in a way other societies have not. If we could similarly build up the Brahmin into a true Brahmin, would that be a small gain for society? We desire the god-man — if we desire him truly, with our whole being and with understanding, we shall obtain him. And if we desire him foolishly, we shall swell the ranks of those demons who commit every manner of wickedness and whose livelihood is the dispensing of dust from their feet over our heads, and thereby increase the burden upon the earth.

Sucharita. Does this god-man of yours exist anywhere?

Binoy. He exists as a tree exists within a seed — he exists within the heartfelt aspiration and necessity of India. Other nations seek commanders like Wellington, scientists like Newton, plutocrats like Rothschild — our country seeks the Brahmin. The Brahmin who has no fear, who scorns greed, who has conquered sorrow, who is unmindful of want, in whom the mind is fixed upon the Supreme Brahman — ‘parame brahmani yojitachittah’. He who is steadfast, he who is tranquil, he who is free — such is the Brahmin India desires. When India truly obtains such a Brahmin, India will be free. We need the Brahmin to sound, at every moment, the note of liberation through every division and every calling of our society — not to cook and ring a bell, but to make present before society’s eyes, at all times, the purpose of society’s existence. The more greatly we feel the ideal of the Brahmin, the more greatly must we exalt the honour of the Brahmin. That honour surpasses the honour of kings — it is the honour of the divine. When the Brahmin in this land becomes the true inheritor of that honour, no one will be able to dishonour this land. Do we bow our heads before a king, do we wear the chains of the oppressor? It is before our own fear that our heads are bowed, in our own greed’s net that we are entangled, to our own ignorance that we are slaves of slaves. Let the Brahmin practise austerity; let him free us from that fear, from greed, from ignorance. We ask of him no warfare, no commerce, no other service — only let him, standing at the heart of our society, make the striving for liberation into a living truth.

Pareshbabu, who had been listening in silence all this while, said quietly, “I cannot claim to know India, and I cannot say with certainty what India once desired or whether she ever attained it — but can one ever return to days that have passed? What is possible in the present — that alone can be the object of our endeavour. Can any good come of stretching out both hands toward the past and wasting our time?”

Binoy said, “I too have thought in the way you describe, and have said so on many occasions — but Gora says: is the past truly the past simply because we have dismissed it as past and set it aside? It has receded from our sight behind the clamour of the present, but that does not make it truly past — it abides within the very marrow of India. No truth can ever truly become past. That is precisely why this truth of India has begun to press upon us. If even one among us can recognise it as truth and receive it — on that day, the gate to the mine of our strength will be unlocked, and the treasure of the past will become the resource of the present. Do you believe that in India there has been no appearance of those who were born to fulfil this purpose?”

Sucharita said, “The way you speak of these things is not quite how ordinary people speak — and that is why I feel some doubt about taking your views as something belonging to the whole country.”

Binoy said, “You see, scientists explain the sunrise in one way, and ordinary people explain it in another. That does not especially add to or detract from the sunrise itself. But of course there is a benefit in understanding the truth correctly. Gora has the remarkable power of seeing, as one whole connected whole, all the truths of our country that we see in fragments and in isolation — but would you therefore regard Gora’s vision as an illusion? And is the broken, fragmented view of those who see piecemeal the true one?”

Sucharita fell silent. Binoy said, “Do not take my friend Gora to be one of that class of people who ordinarily pride themselves on being supreme Hindus. If you could see his father Krishnadayalbabu, you would understand the difference between father and son. Krishnadayalbabu is perpetually occupied with changing his cloth, sprinkling Ganges water, consulting almanacs — constantly keeping himself in a state of utmost ritual purity; he does not trust even the most accomplished Brahmin cook, lest some flaw exist somewhere in his Brahminhood — he does not allow Gora within the precincts of his own quarters — if ever he is compelled by some necessity to enter his wife’s domain, he goes back and purifies himself upon returning; he moves through the world each day with extreme caution, lest the least grain of dust from any known or unknown transgression of the rules should touch him — much as the thoroughgoing dandy is forever busy warding off the sun, avoiding the dust, guarding the lustre of his complexion, the elegance of his hair, the impeccability of his dress. Gora is nothing like this. He does not disrespect the ordinances of Hindu practice, but he cannot move about picking and pecking in that fashion — he sees Hinduism from within, and on a very grand scale; he never for a moment supposes that the life of Hinduism is so delicate a thing that a little touch or contamination will wither it, that a small collision will kill it.”

Sucharita. But he does seem to follow the rules of purity and pollution with great care.

Binoy. That vigilance of his is a curious thing. If he is asked about it he says at once — yes, I accept all of this; caste is lost by touch, sin is incurred by eating forbidden things — all of it is unerring truth. But I know for certain that this is merely a show of force on his part — the more inconsistent such statements are, the more loudly he seems to voice them so that everyone may hear. He is afraid that if he were to deny even the smallest particulars of present-day Hindu practice, the greater things of Hinduism might be dishonoured in the eyes of credulous people, and those who disrespect Hinduism would count it as a victory for themselves — it is for this reason that Gora wants to observe everything without discrimination, and he will not show any slackness in this regard even to me.

Pareshbabu said, “Among Brahmos too there are many of this kind. They wish to avoid, without discrimination, every association with Hindu custom, lest anyone outside be deceived into thinking that they also accept the bad practices of Hinduism. Such people cannot move through the world in an easy and natural manner — they either affect, or they overdo; they believe that truth is weak, and they seem to think it a part of their duty to protect truth only by stratagem or by force. Those who think ‘truth depends on me, I do not depend on truth’ — those are the ones we call bigots. Those who believe in the strength of truth keep their own forceful interventions in check. If outsiders misunderstand for a day or ten days, the loss is trifling — but if, out of some petty scruple, one cannot acknowledge the truth, the loss is far greater. I pray always to God that whether in the assembly of Brahmos or in the courtyard of a Hindu home, I may bow my head to truth everywhere with the utmost ease, without resistance — that no outward obstacle may hold me back.”

Having said this, Pareshbabu fell silent and, for a moment, seemed to settle his mind deep within himself. These few words that Pareshbabu had spoken in his quiet voice now brought, as it were, a great overarching note to all the discussion that had preceded — a note that was not merely of those few words, but of the serene depth of Pareshbabu’s own life. A radiance of joyful devotion passed across the faces of Sucharita and Lalita. Binoy remained silent. He too had known inwardly that there was in Gora a tremendous forcefulness — that the easy, quiet simplicity of spirit which should characterise in word, in thought, and in deed those who are vessels of truth was absent in Gora — and hearing Pareshbabu’s words, that thought struck him more clearly than before. Naturally, Binoy had for so long argued in Gora’s defence, telling himself that when society’s foundations are unsteady, when there is conflict with the foreign forces of time and circumstance, the soldiers of truth cannot maintain their natural composure — then, under the pull of immediate necessity, disruption enters even truth itself. But today, for a brief moment, Pareshbabu’s words caused Binoy to ask within himself: it is natural for ordinary men to agitate truth in their eagerness to serve immediate ends — but was his Gora truly among those ordinary men?

When Sucharita had come to bed that night, Lalita came and sat down on the edge of her cot. Sucharita understood that something was turning about inside Lalita’s mind. That it concerned Binoy was something Sucharita had also divined.

So Sucharita herself raised the matter: “I find Binoybabu quite likeable, you know.”

Lalita said, “It’s because he keeps talking about Gourbabu — that’s why you like him.”

Sucharita heard the suggestion within the words but chose not to acknowledge it. Assuming a simple expression she said, “That’s true — hearing about Gourbabu from his lips gives me great pleasure. I feel as though I can see him clearly.”

Lalita said, “I find none of it pleasing — it makes me angry.”

Sucharita said in surprise, “Why?”

Lalita said, “Gora, Gora, Gora — nothing but Gora morning and night! His friend Gora may be a very great man, very well, that is all very good — but surely he himself is also a person.”

Sucharita smiled and said, “That’s certainly true — but has that been called into question?”

Lalita. His friend has so completely overshadowed him that he cannot express himself. It is as if a parasitic creeper has caught hold of a cockroach — in such a situation I grow angry with the creeper too, and I cannot respect the cockroach either.

Seeing the sharpness of Lalita’s words, Sucharita said nothing and began to laugh.

Lalita said, “Didi, you are laughing, but I tell you — if anyone tried to suppress me in that fashion, I could not endure it for a single day. Just consider — you, for instance — whatever others may think, you have not smothered me — that is simply not your nature — and that is why I love you so much. And really, you have learned that from Baba — he always leaves every person their own space.”

Within this family, Sucharita and Lalita were Pareshbabu’s most devoted admirers — the mere mention of Baba was enough to make their hearts swell.

Sucharita said, “Is there anyone to be compared with Baba? But say what you will, dear, Binoybabu speaks wonderfully well.”

Lalita. He speaks so wonderfully precisely because those are not his own thoughts. If he spoke his own thoughts, it would come out quite naturally and simply; one would not feel that he was labouring to construct and ornament every word. I much prefer that to wonderful speech.

Sucharita. Then why are you angry about it, dear? The views of Gourmohanbabu have become his own.

Lalita. If that is so, it is very disagreeable — did God give him a mind in order to expound another’s thoughts, and a mouth in order to say another’s words wonderfully? I want no part of such wonderful speech.

Sucharita. But why don’t you understand that Binoybabu loves Gourmohanbabu — that there is a true accord between their minds?

Lalita burst out impatiently, “No, no, no — the accord is not complete. Following Gourmohanbabu has become a habit with him — that is servitude, not love. And yet he forces himself to believe that his views are entirely at one with his — and that is precisely why he tries so hard to say his views wonderfully, in order to deceive himself and others. He is continually suppressing the doubts and dissents of his own mind, lest he should be obliged to disagree with Gourmohanbabu. He has not the courage to disagree with him. If there is love, one can follow even when there is disagreement in views — one can surrender oneself without being blind — but with him it is not so — he follows Gourmohanbabu perhaps out of love, yet he cannot acknowledge it on any account. It is quite plainly evident when one listens to him speak. Now tell me, Didi — did you not see it? Speak truthfully.”

Sucharita had not pondered the matter in the way Lalita had. Her curiosity had been eager to know Gora fully and completely — she had felt no particular desire to see Binoy as a separate, independent person. Without giving Lalita a direct answer to her question, Sucharita said, “Very well, let us grant what you say — now tell me what is to be done.”

Lalita: I wish to free him from the bondage of his friend and restore him to his own independence.

Sucharita: Try, then, dear — see what comes of it.

Lalita: My efforts alone will not suffice — if only you set your mind to it, that would be enough.

Though Sucharita had inwardly come to understand that Binoy was attached to her, she nevertheless attempted to laugh off Lalita’s words and dismiss the matter.

Lalita said, “The very fact that he comes to you so readily, even defying the authority of Gourmohan Babu, is what makes me like him. Anyone else in his position would have written plays denouncing Brahmo girls — but his heart is still open and generous; his love for you and his reverence for Father are proof enough of that. Binoy Babu must be made to stand on his own feet, elder sister. It becomes unbearable to me that he does nothing but go about proclaiming Gourmohan Babu’s name.”

Just then, calling out “Elder sister, elder sister!” Satish came rushing into the room. Binoy had taken him to the circus at the Maidan that very day. Though it had grown quite late, his excitement at witnessing his first circus was something he could not contain. After giving a vivid account of the circus, he said, “I was trying hard to bring Binoy Babu home with me tonight. He had come inside the house, but then he left again. He said he would come tomorrow. Elder sister, I told him he must take you all to see the circus one day.”

Lalita asked, “And what did he say to that?”

Satish said, “He said girls would be frightened of the tiger. But I wasn’t frightened at all, not in the least.” And with that, Satish sat himself up, puffing out his chest with masculine pride.

Lalita said, “Of course not! I can well imagine just how great the courage of your friend Binoy Babu is. No, dear, he simply must take us along and show us the circus.

Satish said, “But tomorrow there is a daytime performance of the circus.”

Lalita said, “All the better. We shall go during the day.”

The very next day, the moment Binoy arrived, Lalita exclaimed, “How fortunate — Binoy Babu has come at just the right moment. Come, let us go.”

Binoy: Go where?

Lalita: To the circus.

The circus! In broad daylight — taking the ladies to the circus before a tent full of people! Binoy stood utterly bewildered and at a loss.

Lalita said, “Gourmohan Babu will be displeased, I suppose?”

Lalita’s question made Binoy start slightly.

Lalita spoke again: “Has Gourmohan Babu a particular opinion about taking ladies to the circus?”

Binoy said, “He certainly has.”

Lalita: And what manner of opinion is it? Do explain it to us. Let me call elder sister as well — she shall hear it too!

Stung by the remark, Binoy laughed. Lalita said, “Why do you laugh, Binoy Babu? You told Satish yesterday that girls are frightened of tigers — are you not frightened of anyone?”

And so it came to pass that on that very day Binoy escorted the ladies to the circus. But that was not all — the question of how his relationship with Gora appeared in the eyes of Lalita, and quite possibly the other young women of the household, began to stir and churn within him again and again.

The next time Binoy met her, Lalita asked with an air of innocent curiosity, “Have you told Gourmohan Babu the story of that day’s circus?”

The sting of this question struck Binoy deeply — for it forced him to redden to the roots of his ears and confess, “No, I have not told him yet.”

Labanya came into the room and said, “Do come, Binoy Babu.”

Lalita said, “Where to? The circus again?”

Labanya said, “Goodness, where would the circus be today? I am calling him to sketch a border in pencil around the edges of my handkerchief — I shall embroider it. How beautifully Binoy Babu draws!”

And Labanya led Binoy away with her.