‘The Triple Stream’

‘TRIVENI’ HAS SHED LIGHT ON MY PAIH.
BLESSED BE HER NAME!

‘THE TRIPLE STREAM’ ¹

The States Bill

With the reference of the States Reorganisation Bill and the ancillary Constitution Amendment Bill to a Select Committee or both the Houses of Parliament, the discussion of this momentous issue enters on the penultimate phase. The Select Committee will submit its report on the 14th ofMay, and before the end of the month, the Bill will become law.

The Prime Minister and the Home Minister have worked unceasingly, since the publication of the S.R.C. Report, to obtain the maximum measure of agreement on the many controversial questions involved in the plan of reorganisation. The draft Bill, as it was sent to the Legislatures of the various States of the Union, did not differ in essentials from the Bill now presented to Parliament. The Home Minister, in his reply to the debate in the Lok Sabha, justified some notable departures from the recommendations of the S.R.C. Report. In particular, he referred to the provision in the Bill for constituting the City of Bombay into a Centrally administered area. At one stage, it was proposed to create a City State of Bombay with its own Legislature, in addition to the States of Maharashtra and Gujerat. But powerful interests were opposed to this move, and it was urged on their behalf that, as Bombay is virtually the second capital of India and also its premier commercial centre, the scales could not be held even, as between the rival groups, except under the auspices of the Central Government. The Corporation of Bombay and the Legislature of the present Hyderabad State have expressed themselves strongly in favour of the inclusion of Bombay City in Maharashtra. The Bombay Legislature voted for Central administration of the City; but this result was achieved only because the Congress legislators from Maharashtra were not free to vote against the Bill: they refrained from voting.

In the discussion in the Lok Sabha, Sri Gadgil and other representatives of Maharashtra pleaded for the integration of the City with the region to which it naturally belongs. The Finance Minister, Sri C. D. Deshmukh, has resigned on this issue, and last-minute efforts are being made to conciliate Maharashtra. The Prime Minister had an informal conference with the Maharashtra Members of Parliament on the 27th. In the Select Committee, a proposal is likely to be made to amend the Bill so as to permit the integration of the City with Maharashtra after a few years. But whether such integration will be automatic, or the result of a plebiscite, is still doubtful. If the leaders of Maharashtra and Gujerat could be induced even now to agree about a large bi-lingual State including all the Marathi and Gujerati areas, with Bombay as capital, peace and harmony can be restored, without further agitation about the future of the City. The prospect of a plebiscite after some years will keep the fires of controversy raging, and the intervening period will be full of uncertainty.

It was exactly for this reason that the Chief Ministers of Andhra and Hyderabad opposed the postponement of Andhra-Telengana integration for a period of five years. Due to their joint endeavour, a satisfactory agreement has been reached. The thirty million people of the Telugu-speaking regions are grateful to the Chief Ministers and to the Prime Minister for the fulfillment of their long-cherished dream. ‘Andhra Pradesh’, as it emerges in october this year, will be one of the largest States of the Indian Union-well-knit, homogeneous, and capable of developing its vast natural resources. That Parlakimedi in the north, and Bellary and other tracts in the south have been denied to ‘Andhra Pradesh’, continues to be a sore point. The Home Minister’s remark, in the Lok Sabha, that the Government of Andhra may not be so keen on the acquisition of such tracts, in view of the large gains in the shape of the Telengana Districts of the composite Hyderabad State, misses the significance of the resolution of the Andhra State Assembly relating to the States Reorganisation Bill. That resolution reiterates the Andhra claim to Bellary and other border-areas and seeks the appointment of Boundary Commissions. The Government of Andhra were prepared to accept even less than what the S.R.C. Report recommended: they wanted three firkas instead of three whole Taluks. And they contended that if, for administrative reasons, Kolar should form part of Mysore State, these three firkas ought, for similar reasons, to be included in Andhra.

The plan for the merger of Bengal and Bihar has not met with that widespread support which was genuinely expected. Even the modified proposal of a ‘sub-union’–and not a complete merger–put forward by the Chief Ministers, is subject to the condition laid down by Dr. B. C. Roy–that the boundaries between Bengal and Bihar should be settled at once, in accordance with the Government of India’s decision which modified the recommendations’ of the S.R.C. Report. But it was chiefly in order to solve the vexed question of boundaries between neighbouring States that the plan of bi-lingual States was favoured by the Central Government. The insistence on a preliminary decision on boundaries is not likely to hasten the formation of a ‘sub-union’. One wonders how this patched-up ‘sub-union’ covering only certain branches of the administration is a step in advance of the present position. The Union of India and the autonomous States are there. In between, the Zonal Advisory Councils will function. The new-fangled ‘sub-unions’ are just unwanted spokes in a wheel.

But provisions relating to the union of Bengal and Bihar or the formation of ‘Dakshina Pradesh’ will not form part of the present Bill. After the States settle down to the many tasks of reorganisation and the implementation of the Second Five-Year Plan, and after the Zonal Councils have succeeded in promoting co-operative endeavour in their respective zones, it will be time enough to plan bi-lingual States. And, indeed, Zonal States–five in all–represent a greater ideal than bi-lingual States. That way lies the line of future advance.

The Lord of Compassion

As the full-moon day of Vaisakh (the 24th of May) draws near, the devotees of the Lord of Compassion are preparing to celebrate the 2500th anniversary of his coming into incarnation. Not professed Buddhists only, but men and women of goodwill in all lands are eager to pay homage to the memory of one who was ‘Maha-Karunika’ (All-Compassionate) as well as ‘Maha-Bodhi’ (Fully Enlightened).

Buddhist tradition has it that once every year, on Vaisakh Day, the Lord overshadows the earth with his presence and pours forth a flood of love and beneficence. Thus, he who was acclaimed as the Teacher of gods and men keeps in touch with the humanity of which he formed a part, before he progressed from the human to the Divine. To this Teacher of gods and men, the sub-human creation too was exceedingly dear. In addition to the many incidents narrated in the ‘Jatakas’ (stories of his previous births), there are moving scenes of his youth and early manhood which the Buddhist legends describe in vivid detail. It was given to Sir Edwin Arnold to immortalise some of them in his ‘Light of Asia’:

“No bolder horseman in the youthful band
E’er rode in gay chase of the shy gazelles;

Yet in mid-play the boy would oft-times pause,
Letting the deer pass free.”

And then the poet relates how the young Prince Siddhartha “caressed into peace with light kind palms” the frightened and bleeding swan which his cousin Devadatta’s arrow had brought down, and how he asserted his own right to the ‘living thing’ as against Devadatta’s plea:

“Say no! the bird is mine,
The first of myriad things which shall be mine
By right of mercy and love’s lordliness.”

But the most favoured of these beings was his horse Kantaka, which bore him “the farthest journey ever rider rode.”

On the eve of that Great Journey, he exhorts the horse:

“...Be fire and air, my horse!
To stead thy lord; so shalt thou share with him
The greatness of this deed which helps the world!
For therefore ride I not for men alone,
But for all things which, speechless, share our pain
And have no hope, nor wit to ask for hope.
Now, therefore, bear thy master valorously!”

And they came to the border-stream, Anoma:

“Then drew he rein and leaped to earth and kissed
White Kantaka betwixt the ears, and spake
Full sweet to Channa: ‘This which thou hast done
Shall bring thee good and bring an creatures good.
Be sure I love thee always for thy love’.”

Poor Channa is bidden by the Prince to take the steed to Kapilavastu. In the sculptured marbles preserved in the museum at Nagarjunakonda, is a panel depicting the pathetic scene in which Channa leads the horse into the King’s presence and gives the news of the Great Renunciation. Next to it is another panel in which the horse Kantaka rushes into the inner apartments of the palace and sinks exhausted at the feet of the sorrowing Yasodhara who caresses the horse tenderly, for, indeed it is a living link between her and her dear Prince. I noticed these panels years ago and wrote about them in a Telugu daily. I now learn on reliable authority that, when Sri Jawaharlal Nehru visited the famous valley in January last, he stood before these identical panels and was visibly overcome by emotion.

Finally, there is the story of the limping lamb unable to keep pace with its mother and of the vexed mother who “hither and thither ran”:

“...full tenderly
He took the limping lamb upon his neck.
Saying, ‘Poor woolly mother, be at peace!
Whither thou goest I will bear thy care;
‘Twere all as good to ease one beast of grief
As sit and watch the sorrows of the world’.”

Wisdom is great, but love is even greater. And so, while India celebrates the great occasion and pilgrims from many lands flock to Kapilavastu and Buddha Gaya, Sarnath and Sanchi, Amaravati and Nagarjunakonda, the memory of the Lord of Compassion must ease the tensions between nation and nation and the law of love prevail against disharmony and conflict. The wheel of the Law, which Free India has taken for its emblem, was first turned by the Lord at Sarnath. Today it symbolises India’s role of peace-maker and Bringer of Light.

The Late Dr. Cousins

Among the savants who interpreted India and won for Indian Art and Letters the warm appreciation of the scholars of other countries, Dr. James H. Cousins held a high place. Born in Ireland and working in close co-operation with W. B. Yeats and other protagonists of the Celtic Revival, Dr. Cousins was specially qualified to understand the heart of India. “We Two Together”, the joint autobiography of Dr. and Mrs. Cousins, relates the story of their early years in Ireland, their adoption of India as their home, and their association with the many social and cultural movements which preluded the dawn of Indian freedom.

To Dr. Cousins, a correct understanding of the cultural heritage of India by the rising generation of Indians was an important element in the educational programme to which he dedicated his life. At Adyar and at Madanapalle he strove incessantly to build up an atmosphere favourable to the cultivation of the fine arts after the classical Indian pattern. The Kalakshetra was the institution to which he gave of his best during his later years. Srimathi Rukmini Devi found in Dr. Cousins a valuable colleague who lent distinction to that international art-centre by his acceptance of the Vice-Presidentship. More than forty years ago Dr. Cousins outlined the scheme of a Literary Academy with a view to bring together the litterateurs working through the various Indian languages and publishing translations of the best of their productions into a common language like English. The scheme evoked very little response and Dr. Cousins was naturally disappointed. When towards the end of 1927 I met him and sought his support for Triveni, he brightened up and exclaimed with enthusiasm, “Yes, Mr. Rau, you are doing the work which I planned to do.” His approval meant a great deal to me and I said, “I am going to edit Triveni with your blessing.” That blessing, like that of Sri C. Jinarajadasa, was a source of strength to me.

Dr. Cousins usually carried about with him a collection of water-colour paintings of the Modern Indian School represented by Dr. Abanindranath Tagore and Nandalal Bose. Through his lectures, illustrated by lantern slides of the paintings, he spread the message of Indian Art far and wide. When schools of painting sprang up at Masulipatam, Trivandrum and Adyar, Dr. Cousins could be depended upon for guidance. Many Indian artists of today owe their success to the words of cheer uttered by Dr. Cousins in commending their work.

His achievement as a poet and critic is widely known. Dr. Cousins was a cultural ambassador between East and West. India will cherish the memory of this poet and scholar whose very presence was a benediction.

¹ April 29