Unlike coordinated cooperation not many people have heard about Friendly Cooperation. So how was this term introduced?

Between 1955 and 1990 P. R. Sarkar authored a total of 264 books in English, Bengali and Hindi. Many of the books were given as dictations; others were compiled from discourses. He used to hear the detailed texts of anything written and give permission before publication. Sometimes the discourses were in Hindi, sometimes in Bengali. Whatever the topic or language of a formal discourse Bengali or Hindi or English, or sometimes all three, it would be translated into Bengali and then Sarkar would give approval before the Publications Department published translations. He paid great attention to the details of every word and its translation in different languages wanting to express the spirit of a word which may be different from the literal translation

From around 2011 Dada Dhyaneshananda started thinking more about coordinated cooperation, and began to research what it really was and how to translate it into different languages. He asked Dada Sarvatmananda, who became in charge of the Publications Department, what were the guidelines regarding this topic. He found out that Sarkar in the past had given instructions to the Publications Department at a meeting in Patna that the term coordinated cooperation in English did not express the real spirit of cooperation and that it would be better to use the term “Friendly Cooperation”. Dada Dhyaneshananda talked to people who were there at that meeting, many of whom are not alive now. At that time of this meeting, Dada was working in Africa but it was reported to him by Dada Satyashivananda. Later it was confirmed by Dada Vijayananda and Dada Sarvatmananada. Dada Sarvatmananda recounted that Baba said for the Bengali language it will be ‘Bandhutvapurna Sahajogita,’ He also said, Baba added also for the other languages the spirit of ‘Bandhutvapurna Sahajogita’ Friendly Cooperation’ should be used.

The first mention of coordinated cooperation in the original Bengali version of Human Society Part 1 appeared on Kojagári Púrńimá 1959, but most if not all of the dictation was given considerably earlier, in the latter part of 1957. The first English edition of Human Society Part 1 was published in 1962 and the English translation of the discourse Social Justice, included here refers to coordinated cooperation as follows:

 “Every person must understand that for the maintenance of any organism, there must be a close cooperation between each of its component parts. Humanity is not inert, and the relationships between human beings depend on more than mere cooperation. This cooperation instead of being based on a master-servant relationship, must be constructed in a warmly cordial atmosphere of free human beings. It should be a coordinated cooperation and not a subordinated one.”[1]

In English all P. R. Sarkar’s books are in the Electronic Edition but there is no electronic version of the books in Bengali yet.  The physical books in Bengali and Hindi are kept in the Publications Department and the scanned copies are available on the computer. Below is the same quotation about coordinated cooperation in the “Social Justice” chapter of the original Bengali Human Society Part 1, 1959.  We can note from the screen scan how Sarkar must have used the term coordinated cooperation in English and the transcriber, as the book was dictated, kept it in English.  Also in other places this was the case.

From Bengali sctript to Roman from the second line:

Ma’nus  jar(d)a  nay, ta’i  ta’r  pratit’i  sa’mava’yik  samgat’han  t’ike  tha’ke  shudhu je  sahajogita’r upar  ta’ nay, e sahajogita’r madhyeo ekt’u  baishist’a  a’che. A’r  ta’  halo  ei  je  sahajogitat’a’ prabhu-da’ser samparke  gar(d)e   na’  ut’he  sva’dhiin  ma’nuser   sahridayata’purna   paribeshei  gar(d)e   utha’  darka’r. That should be………………………..

This translation given in Prout in a Nutshell, Volume 1 Part 3 from 1959 referred to earlier in the Chapter used slightly different words:

“Everyone should realize that to construct or preserve anything, there must be close cooperative action among the constituent parts. Human beings are not lifeless matter, so not only should all of their collective structures be based on cooperation, but that cooperation must be of a special type. It should not be based on the relation of master and servant, but on mutual cordiality. It should be a coordinated cooperation and not a subordinated one.”[2]

One difference to note is the change of the words “mutual cordiality” to “warmly cordial atmosphere” in the English translation of Human Society I published in 1962.  In The Awakening of Women [a compilation] we also find the words “warm cordial environment” along with other minor variations:

“It is necessary for every human being to understand that to construct anything or keep anything alive, a close coordinated cooperation among the different parts is essential. Human beings are not inert, so it is not that each and every cooperative structure of society exists on cooperation alone. There is also some speciality in that sort of cooperation. The speciality is that this cooperation should be built in a warm cordial environment of free human beings, and not on a master and servant relationship. That should be coordinated cooperation and not a subordinated one.”[3]

Some aspects of how we interpret a concept may always be changed through the use of different words and in different translations.  “Prout in a Nutshell” was originally published simultaneously in twenty-one parts and seven volumes between 1987 and 1991. The first edition was edited by: Ac. Vijayananda Avt. and Jayanta Kumar.  A second edition of the series was published in 2020 with re-editing or retranslating of discourses. The text of the Social Justice discourse in Prout in a Nutshell is an English translation that first appeared in the Electronic Edition 7.5, in 2009. The most recent version at the time of writing is the Electronic Edition published in 2020. It appears that the words used to explain coordinated cooperation before the term is given are important. Social Justice is a key discourse used in many compilations of Sarkar’s works. Some of these compilations have used the first translation from Bengali with the words “mutual cordiality” and others have used the English translation in Human Society 1 of “warmly cordial atmosphere”. The definition of “cordial” in the Merriam-Webster dictionary is “showing or marked by warm and often hearty friendliness, favor, or approval”. The Cambridge Dictionary defines “cordial” as “friendly, but formal and polite. So, there are differences in the dictionary definitions but they both imply friendly and sociable. The choice of the word “mutual”, which means reciprocal, having the same relationship to each other or having something in common, in the 1959 translation emphasizes the equal relationships between people in the cooperation and the association in which each benefits. The use of the word “warm” in the 1962 translation makes the friendly aspect clearer. 

Exploring the concept of coordinated cooperation in ‘The Biopsychology of Cooperation’ published in 2009 Towsey identified these three features which distinguish coordinated cooperation from ordinary cooperation:

“1) coordinated cooperation “must be constructed”, that is, it is intentional;

  2) the affect is positive for all concerned because part of the process is to create “a warmly     cordial atmosphere”; and

  3) coordinated cooperation must be voluntary, which is one of the internationally accepted principles of cooperation.”[4]

For the above definition Towsey references the Fourth English Edition of Human Society, Part 1 published in 1998 by AM Publications.

We would like to highlight the use of the word “affect” in the second feature of Towsey’s definition which refers to an emotional response or state. The emotion, feeling or desire which leads to our action is very important. The reference to a “warmly cordial atmosphere” emphasizes the friendly, warm and sincere aspect of the cooperation. It points to positive emotional ties between people and this supports the use of the term Friendly Cooperation. The use of “Friendly” instead of “coordinated” far better conveys the sense of our emotions, feelings and desires as we act and the atmosphere we want to create when we cooperate.

In the book ‘English Grammar’ there is another example of how coordinated cooperation cannot occur if there is a master-servant relationship and coordinated coordination is described as an “amiable relationship” which certainly implies warmth and love:

“Cooperation is of two kinds: coordinated cooperation and subordinated cooperation. A king and another king have an amiable relationship: it is coordinated cooperation. A king and an emperor maintain a relationship: the king maintains subordinated cooperation. His is a subsidiary alliance.”[5]

Amiable is defines as “having or displaying a friendly and pleasant manner” in the Oxford dictionary and “friendly, sociable, and congenial” in the Merriam-Webster dictionary which describes how the roots of the word amiable go back to love.[6] The quote from “Cooperatives” in the first section of this Chapter also refers to “each working for the welfare of the other”.[7] When people are each working for the welfare of the other, positive feelings for one another arise which helps to foster friendship.  Another quote from that discourse is significant:

“Prout supports the implementation of the cooperative system because its inner spirit is one of coordinated cooperation. Only the cooperative system can ensure the healthy, integrated progress of humanity, and establish complete and everlasting unity among the human race. People should work to enjoy sweeter fruits by establishing the cooperative system.”[8]

The emphasis on unity and sweeter fruits carries some element of positive emotions which in turn can help underpin and sustain friendly relationships.

It is interesting that Sarkar used the terms related to coordinated cooperation in English in the original discourses in many places. So the English meanings of those terms should be key. The term coordinated cooperation itself is not something that is really used in the Bengali language or any Indian language. Consequently in the translations of the relevant discourses often the translator did not translate the term but kept it in English as in the Bengali translation of “The Psycho-Spiritual Evolution of Humans” given on the 26th November 1978 in Mumbai.[9] The translator did not translate the line “Nature’s work is one of subordinated cooperation – not even coordinated cooperation” but kept it in English. That discourse was given in Hindi and the translations into Bengali and English were made from the original Hindi. To use the words coordinated cooperation or subordinated cooperation Sarkar may first have explained briefly in the local language the spirit of the words and then introduced the terms and their application as appropriate. He often conversed a little in the local languages of the margis he was meeting.

The discourses mostly use the terms coordinated cooperation and subordinated together. Sometimes subordinated cooperation is necessary for control of a system, for example nature’s work is one of subordinated cooperation in relation to spiritual power. Coordinated cooperation is used particularly when considering cooperatives in economic enterprises or organizations or specific systems or environments to mean that no one is under anyone’s control but work is done by mutual cooperation or coordinated cooperation. Subordinated cooperation is generally inferior to coordinated cooperation but something is needed which is less mechanical than either subordinated cooperation or coordinated cooperation. In fact many margiis report that they do not really like the term coordinated cooperation as it sounds too cold or military like.  

So how does Friendly Cooperation compare with coordinated cooperation? In the book Shraddhainjali, Dada Tadbhavananda recounts a story about crocodiles and birds told by Sarkar in a reporting session which is an example of a “cleaning mutualism”[10] in ecology, where one partner removes parasites or dead skin from another and in return receives food. We learn that regarding running the Ananda Marga organization Sarkar said in connection to coordinated cooperation, that the moral of that story is that “it is immaterial who holds or does not hold power in the organization because we should evolve Neohumanistic coordinated cooperation and non-subordinated cooperation.”[11] If the method of working is incorrect there won’t be speed and momentum in that work and people will become unhappy and frustrated, and lose their enthusiasm for the work.

From this analysis it appears that Friendly Cooperation is a subtle elevation of what we understand by coordinated cooperation. The term expresses the real spirit of what Sarkar intended by cooperation to embrace emotion and devotion. It is an evolution of coordinated cooperation and gives us the direction in which we need to move and we should be aware of this when translating books and discourses from the original language into other languages. In the same way that Sarkar upgraded the ideas of humanism to Neohumanism, he expanded the concept of cooperation from just being coordinated, to being Friendly.  Also when cooperation is discussed we may think only of human relationships, but Friendly Cooperation extends this to include all people and animals and the environment.  It is an extension of one’s awareness and of one’s identity, and an expansion of Neohumanistic love for all.

[1] Sarkar, P.R., “Social Justice”, Human Society Part 1. First English Edition, p.44. Kolkata: AM Publications, 1962.

[2] Sarkar, P.R., “Social Justice”, Prout in a Nutshell, Volume 1 Part 3. (Kolkata: Ananda Marga Pracaraka Samgha).

[3] Sarkar, P.R., “Social Justice for Women from ‘Social Justice’”, The Awakening of Women. (Kolkata: Ananda Marga Pracaraka Samgha).

[4] Towsey, M.  “The Biopsychology of Cooperation” in eds. Karlyle J. and Towsey M., Understanding Prout,– Essays on Sustainability and Transformation, Volume 1, p. 56. Australia: Proutist Universal, 2010. (https://prsinstitute.org/downloads/related/economics/prout/UnderstandingProut.pdf).

[5] Sarkar’s English Grammar. (Kolkata: Ananda Marga Pracaraka Samgha).

[6] Amiable derives from the Late Latin adjective amicabilis, meaning “friendly,” which in turn comes from the Latin word for “friend” and can ultimately be traced back to amare, meaning “to love.” When amiable was adopted into English in the 14th century, it meant “pleasing” or “admirable,” but that sense is now obsolete. The current, familiar senses of “generally agreeable” (“an amiable movie”) and “friendly and sociable” came centuries later. Amare has also given English speakers such words as amative and amorous (both meaning “strongly moved by love”), amour (“a usually illicit love affair”), and even amateur (which originally meant “admirer”). https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/amiable

[7] Sarkar, P.R., “Cooperatives”, Prout in a Nutshell Volume 3, Part 14. (Kolkata: Ananda Marga Pracaraka Samgha).

[8] ibid

[9] Shrii Shrii Anandamurti, “The Psycho-Spiritual Evolution of Humans”, Ananda Vacanamrtan Part 5. (Kolkata: Ananda Marga Pracaraka Samgha).

[10] BD Editors, Biology Dictionary. https://biologydictionary.net/mutualism/

[11] Ac. Tadbhavananda Avt., Shraddhainjali, p.136. Copenhagen: Proutist Universal Publications, 1994.