This volume consists of two different but related works of Sri
Aurobindo: The Mother and Letters on the Mother. It also includes his translations of passages from the Mother's
Prayers and Meditations. These three constituents make up the three parts of the volume.
The Mother consists of six chapters, all of them written in 1927. The first chapter was originally written as a message, the
second to fifth chapters as letters. The sixth and longest chapter was written for inclusion in a booklet that eventually comprised
the message, the letters, and Chapter 6. This booklet was first published under the title
The Mother in 1928. The present text
has been checked against Sri Aurobindo's manuscripts.
The letters on the Mother included in Part Two have been
selected from the large body of letters that Sri Aurobindo wrote to disciples and others between 1927 and 1950. Most of his letters from this period are published in
Letters on Yoga, volumes 28 31 of THE COMPLETE WORKS OF SRI AUROBINDO. Others
appear in volume 35, Letters on Himself and the Ashram, and volume 27,
Letters on Poetry and Art. The letters chosen for
inclusion in the present volume deal with the Mother in her individual, universal and transcendent aspects. They have been
arranged in five sections. Many letters are preceded by the questions or comments that elicited Sri Aurobindo's reply. The texts
of the letters have been checked, whenever possible, against Sri Aurobindo's manuscripts.
The translated extracts from the Mother's
Prières et Méditations
(Prayers and Meditations) included in Part Three comprise
all the passages that Sri Aurobindo is known to have translated entirely on his own. His translation of "Radha's Prayer" is also
included in this part.
