APPENDIX IV Glossary Sri Aurobindo had to employ, some English words in a somewhat new sense to explain certain experiences. These only need be included in this glossary as they occur frequently in his letters quoted in this book: Avatar: "An Avatar, roughly speaking, is one who is conscious of the Presence and power of the Divine born in him or descended into him and governing from within his will and life and action; he feels identified inwardly with this Divine Power and presence." A Vibhuti is supposed to embody some power of the Divine and is enabled by it to act with great force in the world, but that is all that is necessary to make him a

CHAPTER X Avowedly Personal In chapter VIII the closing stress was on Sri Aurobindo's vision of the Earth as the final venue of "heroic souls"* who are missioned to carry through a great experiment because this Earth has been chosen as "the forge where the Arch-manson shapes His works."* This experiment has a twofold movement: first, the aspiration of the animality in man after Divinity and secondly, the rain of His answering Grace in order to transform man's seemingly ineradicable animality which has been the despair of dreamers and idealists. That is why Sri Aurobindo speaks so emphatically (if a little nostalgically) of the Descent of the power of Love Divine into ou

Preface (First Edition) Somebody said that this was an auto-biography. I hasten to disclaim the characterisation at the very out-set. I have only reminisced about my Gurudev, Sri Aurobindo, as I hope will be obvious to any reader. An auto-biography has a purpose which goes beyond the purview of reminiscences. Besides, I have, in the main, confined my reactions to and reflections on the great personality who inspired them with but one end in view: to bring out his greatness as it dawned on me and grew with my own growth in the course of my day-to day spiritual struggles and aspiration. In other words, I have essayed to portray, by and large, my interactions with him in the

CHAPTER V The Trials When the Madras train deposited me at the desolate station of Pondicherry on that unforgettable morning in November, 1928, Sri Aurobindo's disciples in his Ashram numbered about 80. Now, in 1951, we are a little over 800. I do not remember what was the proportion of women among us in those days but there were hardly any children. So, our Ashram courtyard basked in a delectable silence which receded progressively as the inmates increased and imported more and more children who had to be accepted for their parents' sakes. Still "the noiseless tenor of our lives" was not marred appreciably till after 1940, or, maybe, even later. Before that we were a s

Introduction IT is in our four capacities that I am related to this book of Dilip Kumar Roy's which I have been asked — or rather privileged — to introduce. As editor of the fortnightly review, Mother India, I had the delight of publishing it for the first time in serial form. I am also a friend of the author: I have known him for the last twenty three years and have valued his friendship from not only the personal standpoint but also the literary and the spiritual. Next, our friendship has resulted in a special relation on my part to his book: I actually figure in some vivid pages of it that are a most generous appreciation of me. This leads me to the fourth capacity, a pointe

-22_Sri Aurobindo's Message.htm CHAPTER XIV Sri Aurobindo's Message Sri Aurobindo was not a man easy to fathom, nor were his breathtaking messages all easy to understand. I remember once he wrote to me years ago, in 1928: "Nobody except myself can write about my life because it has not been on the surface for man to see." Nevertheless, since then, a few notable biographers have written about his life as it has come within their purview and, within limits, they are good — that is, as far as they go. Only they do not — cannot — go far enough. I remember: in 1949, under a huge pandal in Calcutta, lecturer after lecturer spoke eloquently about his great gifts and achievements. Most of them spoke ab

APPENDIX I The Ashram: Some Disciples I have decided, not without hesitation, to write now about a few of the disciples I came to know in the Ashram who made on me an impression for a twofold reason: first because of their native aptitudes and secondly because of the characteristic manner in which each of them reacted to Gurudev's personality and guidance. I have undertaken to attempt this in order to correct a wrong stress I may have unwittingly given while paying my homage to one who has been the most unforgettable character that I ever came to know in my life. This I say apart from the deep debt I shall always owe him as much for having bee

CHAPTER IV The Ashram: The Call Before I launch into the difficult task of setting down my various reactions to the Ashram-life that opened before me in 1928, I must portray my dread of such a life prior to my being plunged into it by a mysterious force which was at once too tangible to be dismissed as an airy nothing and too indefinable to be grappled with. For this it is necessary to go back a little even at the risk of becoming frankly autobiographical. I was born in one of the most aristocratic Brahmin families of Bengal. My father's maternal uncle, Kalachand Goswami, traced a direct descent from the saintly Adwaita Goswami, one of Sri Chaitanya's intimates. My fat

APPENDIX II Sri Krishnaprem vis-a-vis Sri Aurobindo We often say, in common parlance, that so and so is (or was) a great man. It is not easy to define what we mean by this epithet. But the feeling — or shall I say, the conviction — is not misty any more than the impression of beauty is. Sri Krishnaprem is an instance in point. He impinged on the heart with a force that told. Of course this applies only to those whose hearts have a —sense of spiritual values. For politicians or materialists may not react favourably to such personalities. For them, therefore, Sri Krishnaprem may exist merely as the memory of a robust man — intelligent, ind

CHAPTER XIIl Messenger of the Incommunicable* The Gita says that everything that has a beginning must have an end. After Gurudev had assured me that he loved me not a whit less because of my insistence on the unique epiphany of Krishna, things returned slowly to normal and the imbroglio ended. But woe is me! The respite was as short-lived as it was delectable. For, I had hardly begun to have a glimpse of what Gurudev called the "sunlit path" when a sudden thunder-storm burst and, once more, my horizon grew darker than ever. And it happened like this: In 1946, in East Bengal, thousands of Hindus were massacred, their women raped, houses burnt and