6 Rishabhchand Writes to Parichand (Rishabhchand was not only a close friend but also his spiritual mentor before Parichand joined the Ashram in 1934. All the following letters were written before that year. The first letter, which shows remarkable intellectual maturity, had a decisive influence on his life. Rishabhchand was just twenty-four when he wrote it.) "Uplands" Shillong (Assam) 25.1.24 Dear Parichand, I have received your letter. If I have to comply with your request fully, then I will have to write a Mahabharata; but neither have I the capacity for that nor have you the time to read it, therefore my ans

4 The Mother Writes to Parichand on Sadhana Sometimes the vegetables in the Dining Room have an unpleasant taste, but I am eating them in spite of it in order to break old formations and achieve an equality of taste. Is this what you wish me to do ? Certainly it is indispensable to break down the narrowness and limitations of taste — the vegetables that taste bad to you others find excellent. c. 1936 Mother, In your prayer of 7 December 1912, there is the following sentence: "Thy Peace is in me, and in that Peace I see Thee alone present in everything, with the calm of eternity." Does the phrase "the calm of et

3 Sri Aurobindo Writes to Parichand Guntdev, I bow at your feet, I am a fellow-traveller on your path of Yoga, pursuing this path with the help of your method. Seven years of sadhana have resulted in inducing all the parts of darkness in me to surrender. But in this darkness, my vital is still weak and full of impurities. It continues to resist and does not want to surrender; due to this lack of submission, my sadhana is not dynamic. Of late I have understood that Shakti is lacking in me and that for this reason the play of the Force has not yet started. Therefore I pray to God all the time to give me Power as well as Knowledge an

2 An Interview [The following is the complete text together with an abridged introductory note, of the interview Parichand gave to Raman Reddy for "Golden Chain", an Ashram journal. This interview was taken unfortunately after Parichand recovered from a cerebral stroke which impaired his speech. The fluency with which he formerly spoke was sadly absent. But perhaps it was because of that impaired condition that he finally agreed to be recorded and showed us his correspondence with Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. Otherwise, he was hardly the type to speak about himself however discreetly. It was a discipline he followed strictly, because of which he had turned down

5 The Mother Writes to Parichand on Gardening Work In preparing the bed of the third plot, it may be found necessary to cut away some roots of the trees. This is not possible. No roots of trees must be cut. Apart from that — if the trees are respected, you can prepare these. Blessings. 1938 I explained the whole thing to Z today. Of course this poor Service tree has already suffered much by the last storm and I do not wish to inflict any more difficulty upon it — but in this case it is not the main point. The objection to putting the eucalyptus plant there is that as the Service tree has already grown

7 Parichand Writes to Spiritual Aspirants (Parichand, very fluent both in speech and writing, was extremely reticent when it concerned himself He hardly spoke about his rich inner life. Partly it was for him a matter of principle, since Sri Aurobindo has told him during the earliest years of his sadhana that such a movement causes Tapakshaya; partly it was because of his innate humility. Only after the passing away of the Mother he relaxed a little in his attitude. But both in his personal talks and letters, his only purpose was to direct the aspirant to the Mother: he always scrupulously kept himself in the background. He advised mor

1 Sri Parichand: A Biographical Sketch (1904-1991) The Mother once said to Parichand, "Yours is the straight path" as opposed to the "zigzag path" of another sadhak. Her words reflect the man who followed this straight path. Tall and erect, taking long strides on the beach road, his dhoti flapping in the wind, the kurta carelessly left unbuttoned, long white hair, big bushy eye-brows and deep creases of wisdom running across his face — that was Parichand as we saw him in the eighties, the sadhak in charge of the garden in the Ashram main building. He would go about his work with utmost seriousness — pruning the plants, arrang

Introduction We are happy to bring out this slim volume to commemorate the birth centenary of our illustrious grandfather Sri Parichand Kothari. The aim is not to give publicity to the spiritual achievements of a person who scrupulously kept away from fame all his life, though all those who knew him will admit that he fully deserved it. Ours is a humble attempt to pay our reverential homage to one who renounced the worldly life in the prime of youth when he was still thirty, in 1934, to pursue Sri Aurobindo's yoga with unflagging ardour for more than half a century till he passed away in 1991. His sadhana knew no deviation or distraction. It was for him not merely the first bu

A Tribute A prolific thinker, deeply devoted to studies, a great spiritualist and above all a great human being at heart, my great-grandfather Sri Parichand Kothari was undoubtedly an extraordinary person. He was a person with a clear mind and pious soul. He was a man more of deeds than of words. I once had an opportunity to meet him when I was around four years old. I was privileged to receive his blessings. I came across a few of his letters which were addressed to my father and these letters have indeed played a great role in bringing me closer to him. He said that Indian religion and spirituality has such a great force which can remove frustration from people's life. He

SRI PARICHAND A PILGRIM OF THE SPIRIT Sri Parichand A Pilgrim of the Spirit (A Tribute on His Birth Centenary) Pondicherry Published 2004 Published by Pradip Jain, Patna; Rajib and Sanjib Kothary, Kolkata Printed at Sri Aurobindo Ashram Press, Pondicherry - 605002 PRINTED IN INDIA