But I always wondered, I think – correct me if I am wrong… When Nehru passed away, Ma said his soul merged with Mother India (maybe I read in the Agenda), maybe I made a mistake in my understanding?
The Mother and Sri Aurobindo have said different things in different contexts about the same person that may seem as if self-contradictory. But if we look closely, they are simply revealing of different sides and shades of the same person. It is, in fact, very illustrative as we tend to fix human beings into fixed slots based on our angle of vision, our personal preferences, biases, opinions, most of all depending upon the part that comes in contact with us. It is because human personality is far more complex and many-sided than we imagine. The same person has bright and dark shades and many grey zones in between.
The first Prime Minister of India is no exception to this rule. He was essentially, in his best parts, an agnostic seeker who was enamoured of certain mental ideals of socialism and Gandhian non-violence, which he perhaps also got due to his English upbringing and Christian influence. His other side was an ambitious man who was moved with lust. But his soul did love India, of course, in his own limited way. In the quote you mention, The Mother is speaking only about his soul, and the soul is beautiful in everyone. His idealistic side had a sattwic bent, and like all blind idealists (Yudhisthira, for example), it was prone to blunders. He did make quite a few for which we are still paying the price. He himself paid the price. The soul and nature, and the human personality are three different constituents of a human being, each with its own aspirations and tendencies. To get the full picture, one has to read, apart from this statement, all that The Mother has said in the Agenda. Besides, there is much that is left unsaid, and it is often the most important part.
Affectionately,
Alok Da
