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ARTICLE : daivI sampatti
Dear Friends:
There are only two types of sampatti (property), daivI and AsurI. The
sixteenth chapter of the SBG talks about these issues. God says that
daivI sampatti is liberating, and AsurI sampatti is binding (SBG 16.5).
A person born to a life advancing in daivI direction, acquires various
sAttvik qualities (SBG 16.1-3). Such a person whose svabhAva (Divine
Idea in him) has resulted in sAttvikI shraddhA (SBG 17.2), actively
cultivates the sAttvik qualities, and these are acquired by practice that
is painful in the beginning but very pleasurable later (SBG 18.37).
Sri Aurobindo refers to the daivI sampatti as acquired by Soul Force (of the
individual) while Physical force is the means of AsurI sampatti
acquisition. What are these daivI and AsurI sampattis ? The ego-driven,
inconsiderate brutal use of destructive force is an example of the expression
of AsurI pravR^itti. The daivI pravR^itti finds expression as the satyAgraha
against such brutAlity, directed to root out the Asurik influence.
Often, when apparently 'undeserving' people (especially those who do
not cultivate the sattvik qualities) have a life of daivI benefits
(sattvaM sukhe sanjayati SBG 14.9), we frown, and question if God is
just. In the opposite cases, involving people who are trying to cultivate
the sattvik qualities live a life of apparent suffering, all the while
trying to find happiness in Self (AtmasukhaM SBG 5.21), we also tend to
think of God in the same way. But unless a person has completely
surrendered himself to God, to become an instrument of God (SBG 11.33), God
leaves him to chart a life of his choice (SBG 5.14).
One does not need to be a devotee to enjoy the benefits of daivI sampatti
in a particular life, or have primarily sattva guNa. Arjuna was a man
whose primary quality was raja guNa, but he was born to enjoy daivI
sampatti (SBG 16.5), and that included the enjoyment of the
prosperous kingdom (SBG 11.33) through the exercise of his svabhAva-derived
karma (SBG 18.59). The only fine print is: the rAjas sukha from such
daivI sampatti is wonderful in the beginning, but not so later (SBG
18.38). This must be so, because in order for the rAjya sukha to be a
daivI sampatti, it must be liberating in the end (SBG 16.5), on the
other hand, if it was binding, it must be an AsurI sampatti.
With best regards,
Dhruba.
