Chapter VI Surat Congress and the Aftermath 1907-1908 AT THE Calcutta Congress session in December 1906, the Nationalists had succeeded, largely as a result of Sri Aurobindo's influence and his effort behind the scenes, in prevailing on the Congress to pass resolutions adopting Swaraj as its goal and Swadeshi, Boycott and National Education as the effective means of realising it. This was a serious setback for the Moderates, who had strongly opposed the resolutions, and they were waiting for an opportunity to get back their hold over the organisation. Moreover, their Bombay group led by Sir Pherozeshah Mehta and Gokhale, could

SRI AUROBINDO FOR ALL AGES A BIOGRAPHY by NIRODBARAN FOREWORD There are biographies and biographies: each one has its particular value, its particular viewpoint. This new biography stands apart from all other books on Sri Aurobindo's life, its first distinctive feature being that it is written for the young generation, for whom it was a long-felt need. And its other special value lies in the fact that it is written by a disciple who had the great privilege of serving Sri Aurobindo for twelve years as his literary secretary and, before this, of carrying on a long correspondence with him. During the years 1938-1950 Sri Aurobindo's attendants used to s

Appendix The Message of Fifteenth August 1947 AUGUST 15th, 1947 is the birthday of free India. It marks for her the end of an old era, the beginning of a new age. But we can also make it by our life and acts as a free nation an important date in a new age opening for the whole world, for the political, social, cultural and spiritual future of humanity. August 15th is my own birthday and it is naturally gratifying to me that it should have assumed this vast significance. I take this coincidence, not as a fortuitous accident, but as the sanction and seal of the Divine Force that guides my steps on the work with which I began life, the beginning of its full fruition. Inde

Chapter VIII "Karmayogin” - Chandernagore - Pondicherry 1909-1910 AFTER his acquittal, Sri Aurobindo wrote a letter to the Editor of the Bengalee, a popular daily newspaper of that time, to express his gratitude to all those who had sent in contributions to the fund opened by his sister Sarojini for his legal defence. The letter is beautifully worded, simple yet moving. Here is the text: Sir, Will you kindly allow me to express through your columns my deep sense of gratitude to all who have helped me in my hour of trial? Of the innumerable friends known and unknown, who have contributed each his mite to

Chapter XI Beginnings of the Ashram 1920-1926 ON APRIL 24, 1920, the Mother arrived at Pondicherry for the second time, never to depart again. Paul Richard came with her and she was also accompanied by Miss Dorothy Hodgson, an English lady who had known the Mother in France and had stayed with her in Japan. Dorothy later came to be known as 'Datta', shortened from Vasavadatta, the name given to her by Sri Aurobindo. After staying for a few days in hotels, they moved to a rented house at 1, rue St. Martin, called the 'Bayoud House'. Sri Aurobindo was still residing at the 'Guest House' in rue Francois Martin. Soon the relationship resumed

THE MALADY OF THE CENTURY The Malady of the Century I   WHAT is the malady of our age? It is that man has lost touch with his soul. There were ages no doubt in the past, dark periods, when man's soul retired into the background, was obscured or veiled; but only today there seems to have occurred a definite cleavage, a clear sundering. Man no longer drags the lengthening chain that tied him, in spite of everything, to his divine essence; he has cut it clean and let himself adrift.   The Eternal Enemy appeared and spread out before our enchanted eyes the panorama of earth's riches and glories, not merely riches of comfort and pleasure and well-being, but glor

The Spiritual Genius of India WHAT is it that we precisely mean when we say that India is spiritual? For, that is how we are accustomed to express India's special genius – her backbone, as Vivekananda puts it – the fundamental note of her cultute and nature, which distinguishes her from the rest of the world. What then are the distinguishing marks of spirituality? How does a spiritual collectivity live and move – kim âsita vrajeta kim? And do we find its characteristic gait and feature exclusively or even chiefly in India?   Was not Europe also in her theocratic and mediaeval ages as largely spiritual and as fundamentally religious as India? Churches and cathedrals and monaster

A Chapter of Human Evolution THE appearance of the Greeks on the stage of human civilisation is a mystery to historians. They are so different from all that preceded them. There does not seem to exist any logical link between them and the races from whom they are supposed to have descended or whose successors they were. The Minoan or Cretan civilisation is said to be cradle of the Greek, but where is the parallel or proportion between the two, judging from whatever relics have been left over from the older, the more ancient one. Indeed that is the term which best describes the situation. Whatever has gone before the Hellenic culture is ancient; they belong to the Old Regime. Egypt is

THE MARCH OF CIVILISATION The March of Civilisation         WE are familiar with the phrase "Augustan Age": it is in reference to a particular period in a nation's history when its creative power is at its highest both in respect of quantity and quality, especially in the domain of art and literature, for it is here that the soul of a people finds expression most easily and spontaneously. Indeed, if we look at the panorama that the course of human evolution unfolds, we see epochs of high light in various countries spread out as towering beacons or soaring peaks bathed in sunlight dominating the flat plains or darksome valleys of the usual normal periods. Take the Augustan