SRI AUROBINDO - Archives and Resear~h

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December i988

Archives and Resear~h

SRI AUROBINDO/

Vol. 12 •

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SRI AUROBINDO

Archives and Research

CONTENTS

VOLUME 12 DECEMBER 1988 NllMBER 2

SRJ AUR081NDO: Archivei' and Research.a semi-annual journal published bySri Aurobindo Ashram Trust. Printedat AU India Press, Pondicherry. India.© Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust 1988.

TexIS of Sri Aurobindo:

Record of Yoga1-15 January 1914

12 March-14 April 1914

India and the British Parliament

Res~arch:

Notes on the Texts

Glossary .

Documents in the Life of Sri Aurobindo

Archival NotesIn Pondicherry-191O and After ...

99

111

171

175

176

186

198

Record of Yoga

1 JANUARy-14 APRIL 1914

· 1914. January.

fcf~4dlijdI1~ ~ ~fJ(l': I

Let the divine doors swing wide open for him who is notattached, who increases in himself the Truth.

Jan 1.The day was chiefly occupied with the struggle of the manasa

ketu to survive as an active factor in the consciousness instead of apassive unreacting recipient. At first, aU the justifications that couldstill be advanced for its survival had to be allowed to rise in order thatthey might be refuted & destroyed. Subsequently, the manasa element in the tapas had to be rejected. As a result the action of theMahakali tapas has been cleared of its besetting difficulty and acoordination of vijnanamaya knowledge and vijnanamaya tapas isbeing prepared. The manasaketu remains as an otiose but habituallyrecurring survival which cannot yet be entirely expelled.

Kamananda again became active; ahaituka tivrananda showeo inits recurrence a considerab)e increase of generality and of force. Thepure unaccompanied or unaided ahaituka vishaya is slowly emerging,but still usually stifled by the other anandas. Stability is growingfirmer in the rupas of the swapna samadhi.

Jan 2.The pure vijnanamaya trikaldrishti is once more disengaging

itself from the telepathic basis over which it has to stand. Revelation& inspiration (drishti sruti) now take a leading part in the vijnana andintuition & viveka (smriti) are subordinate & secondary to them. Thestruggle is now definitely proceeding between the new tapas & the oldprakriti for the expulsion of those elements which insist on the oldslow & meticulous progress & prevent great results & rapid effectivity.

The vijnana gained throughout the day and finally reestablishedthe decisive general trikaldrishti which selects discriminatively theright event out of several telepathic perceptions of the actual forces atwork, their varying strengths and possible eventualities. At the sametime the aishwarya & vashita recovered and, especially the former,increased their dominance over the objects of the Bhumaya Akasha.Hitherto aishwarya has usually had to take the help of vashita; thisdependence is now disappearing. Ishita is still slow & uncertain in itsresults.

The freedom of crude akasharupa greatly increased, & thetendency to take the use of the pranic pressure on the akasha indetermining them has now taken a secondary place. More & more it

Record of Yoga 101

is the pure mind that determines successfully results in the objectiveexistence. For the rest this is the lipi that has already been given,"Subject control & perfect objects."

Dasya & tapas, samata and aishwarya are now being moresuccessfully & perfectly combined in the total swabhava.

Jan 3.Above the discriminative (vivekamaya) & intuitional trikal

drishti the revelatory trikaldrishti is remanifesting itself. The manasicperceptions are now being used in their very confusion for the assertion of the liberty of this revelatory knowledge and its disregard ofthe fal~ limitations of present and outward appearances. The sameliberty is being asserted also for the Will and its instruments. Theananda of temporary defeat & the perception of God's purpose in it isnow being finally imposed on the rebellious pranic element in theouter swabhava. This perception precludes the conception of ultimate defeat for the Jiva,-there can be no ultimate defeat exceptwhere God's will & man's are at variance. The utility of the recentrelapse & crisis now appears; the transfer of the intellectuality to theideality had been burdened by the continued activity of manasa ketuand the supporting idea of the anandamaya pranic manas that thefulfilment of this infallible manasic activity using the vijnana as areferee was a main part of the siddhi. The main chaitanya had tocorne back into the manas in order to convince them, first, that themind cannot be infallible except as a mere echo of the manifest orveiled vijnana and, secondly, that this fulfilment of an echo could notbe the main intention of the Yoga.

The aishwarya-vashita which triumphs over the fixed intention ofthe object is now manifesting clearly & powerfully.

Shabdadrishti of the daivya turi (hom), indicating victory, &subsequently of divine music,- first heard (with long continuity)only in the left ear when closed by the hand to earthly shabda, butafterwards when the hand was removed. The whole sukshmabodha isnow extending its sense-perceptions to the mental & pranic heavensas well as to the mental & pranic koshas of the material world. Thismovement initiates the completion of the trailokyadrishti first indicated in the Alipur jail. It marks also the growing emergence of thesukshma shabdadrishti in the sthula hearing.

102 SRI AUROBINDO: Archives and Research

In the tapas the mental energies of will at the side which wereformerly confused by the mental tejas with the energies of knowl~

edge, are now being devoted to their proper object, the developmentof vashita; aishwarya, vashita, ishita properly divided & combinedare preparing the fullness of the Tapas.

Jan 4. Sunday.Stability of the rupa background & continuity of a single com

plete event on the stable background seem now to be confirmed inthe swapna samadhi & are seeking to extend themselves to theantardrishta jagrat; but transient scenes & figures still predominate inthe swapna, while the stapility in the jagrat lacks freedom and 'perf~ction. Kamananda is now well assured; nothing is able to breakdown its daily frequent manifestation and its tendency to persistencewhich promises before long to be victorious. Sparshadrishti hithertoconfined to touches is adding continuity to frequency. Shabdadrishtialso last night suddenly manifested in one sound, (flute-whistle,) anabsolute clearness, vividness & continuity near the ear but entirely inthe sthula akasha. Hitherto, however, this is an isolated incident.

The Shakti is now bringing forward the ishita, ishita-vashita &effective vyaptiand it is immediately found that in actual inherentpower, vaja, all these are as strong as the other parts of tapas, butowing to the akasha being less habituated to their impact not soreadily or accurately effective as "the vashita, aishwarya-vashita oreven the pure aishwarya. Nevertheless the accuracy & readiness arealready prepared and glimpsed in the action; they will soon developin the mobile actuality.

The vijnanabuddhi is now acting with full brihat of satyam andthe incipient brihat of ritam taking up all the obscure or half illumined movements of the manasaketu & putting them in their placeeven in the trikaladrishti; this movement covers the perception &.vangmaya thought and the script. The vani is now anandamaya, butlike the pure vijnana it works either in the manasaketu or in thevijnanabuddhi after traversing to the consciousness the Sat, Tapas &ananda of the manastattwa. This movement often wakes a transientpain of dissatisfaction in the mortal mind of the outer swabhava, butthat habitual reaction is being removed.

The higher anandamaya vani has once more manifested,

Record of Yoga 103

deploying and overpowering the old sanskaras which hampered itsfullness and possession, personality and delight; It is not yet settled inpossession of the whole vani.

In the swapna samadhi large combined images like the city arenow occurring and appear also dimly in the antardrishta jagrat, but asthey pass the borders between the swapna and antardrishta, tend todisappear or fade into a more unsubstantial dimness.

Jan 5-The struggle over the ritam and the finality of the vijnana and

ananda continues. The manastattwa struggles, successfully so far, forsurvival and seizes hold of its own errors to discredit the vijnana &justify its own survival as a means for judging the vijnana. Health isonce more strongly attacked, even cold and fever being threatened.The combination of dasatya & tapas continues to progress with thegrowth of the bhagavati sraddha.

Jan6-The struggle over the arogya continues, the symptoms of fever &

cold spending themselves in the sukshma parts without being able tomaterialise firmly,in the body in spite of the opportunities given. Themind is assailed with suggestions of illness, but resists & expels themwhile the bodily parts which have now learned to look up to the mindfor light & impulse, are only slightly affected & chiefly in their subtleparts. The whole psychic mechanism of illness is now evident to theunderstanding.

Full light and ananda are being steadily combined, but theirarrangement is hampered by the imperfect finality of the decisive orhigher trikaldrishti which is largely held in abeyance. Meanwhile thesraddha in Yogasiddhi & in the guidance & kalyana of the Master ofthe Yoga has been firmly generalised, and the recurrence of touchesof distress & disheartenment are becoming more & more fragile &momentary. Faith in rapidity & adeshasiddhi is still withheld from themanasaketu which only admits them by an indirect & wavering deduction. For this reason the tapas is unable-to maintain ugrata &swiftness.


Jan 7-Mainly occupied with the struggle in the body over the arogya.

Jan 8-During the last two or three days samata & ananda have under

gone a prolonged ordeal. Titiksha is absolutely firm except for slight& momentary failings in the body, udasinata & nati equally firmexcept for similar slight failings, a little more pronounced in the bodythan the failures of titiksha; sarna ananda is firm in the core & themass of the chaitanya, less firm on the surface, butits failings are nownegative & do not, except in a very slight degree, amount to positivedistress or even, to a sensible extent, to positive discomfort, except inthe body where suffering still has its hold. It is on this point that thebodily attack has been principally determined. In certain points theattack has failed; the fragments of the tendency to slight itch &eruption after showing a false activity have retired weakened, theattempt to reestablish cold & fever has so far failed, but disorder ofthe assimilative functions amounting to flatulence, dull pain & heaviness in the region of the liver, & looseness of purisha, but notdiarrhoe'a, has again appeared, contradicting the temporary siddhi ofarogya which had exiled all pain & positive disorder, leaving onlydiscomfort of ill-regulated apana and unrealised tendencies of alternate constipation & looseness. It is found, however, that the body haslearned to retain its vital force & working energy, recovering elastically even from the brief after result of fever in the pranakosha.Kamananda continues obstinately though as yet unable to establishuninterrupted continuity in the body. The other physical anandas areoccasional; tivra continues to grow in intensity and spontaneity.Subjective ananda is now seated & complete, including sakamaprema. Hitherto the universal prema even when directed towards thematerial form was in the heart only; it has now extended to the wholesystem including the body. However the kamic element is not yetalways automatically present. Vijnana has been d;ull and clouded forthe last two or three days, Sraddha in the guidance remains firm,though sometimes darkened & bewildered in knowledge; sraddha inthe Yogasiddhi persists against all attack. The sahityasiddhi (Veda,Bhashatattwa, Darshana) is now growing in steady working & with it

Record of Yoga 105

the sraddha in this part of the karma; but the sraddha in the rest stillawaits objective proof for its entire stability & is distrustful of theproposed extent of the karma.

At night dream became, for the most part, entirely coherent andat times identical with swapna samadhi in its chhayamaya movements. Swapnasamadhi also in its chhayamaya movement initiatedlong & coherent continuity & a greater stability of forms. Thesemovements were repeated frequently & for a long time, fluctuatingbetween the two conditions of dream and vision. At the end in thedeeper tamomaya nidra the old incoherence of the lower fragmentarymind dominated by present impressions & associations reasserted itspresence, but, although it persists, its hold 'and potency is greatlyweakened.

Jan 9.The attack on the health is steadily weakening and vijnana

reasserting its activity, not yet the pure vijnana, but the vijnanabuddhi, even in trikaldrishti, It takes, assumes to itself, explains andoften distinguishes in eventuality the perceptions of the manasaketu,which, as a consequence, is now working more passively & with lessselfwill and obstinacy. Distress continues to fade steadily out of theconscious experience even in the outer nature; distrust & discouragement still recur.

Subsequently, the higher tapas of the mind, first sakama, thenindifferent, then anandamaya emerged -again after long struggle,failure & eclipse. It is now the tapas of Sacchidan[an]da in the mind,although it still awakens usually the tapas of the mortal mind as itsaccompaniment or medium of manifestation or partially effectiveagent. To get rid of the agent it is necessary first to perfect it as amedium and passive channel of communication for the daivya tapasworking on the world. It must for that purpose become entirelysanmaya (shanta) & anandamaya without losing its chinmaya &tapomaya activity.

Cold failed to reassert itself; but the fragmentary skin affectationhas once more manifested. The struggle continues in the assimilation,etc.


Jan 10.The Tapas has at last effected firmly its combination with dasya,

although the dasyabuddhi is not always at the sudace of the consciousness in its action; it has now to be combined perfectly with sraddha.For that purpose the vijnana is once more becoming active in thevijnanabuddhi governed and informed by the pure vijnana. Thetelepathic mind or manasaketu is being trained not only to recognisethe satyam in the telepathies it receives (when the buddhi is active, itis now only a few suggestions the justification of which cannot beeventually perceived or is wrongly placed), but to distinguish immediately the ritam and anritam. To this end the various sorts of lowertruth, truth of potential fact, truth of actual developing or developedfact, truth of developing &. struggling force, truth of actualising force,truth of eventuality have to be rapidly & automatically distinguishedand the exact power & meaning of each & all in time[,] place &circumstance properly seen. Telepathy of thought which was hithertolimited by unwillingness to accept unverifiable suggestions or uncertainty & confusion in their acceptance or the inability to placeconflicting vyaptis is now being brought forward, determined &arranged. The lower perceptions are being taught to yield withoutself judgment or questioning to the pure vijnana & leave the latter todistinguish between truth & error. Ananda in the tapas, in struggle,in failure as a step towards success have been strengthened anddiscouragement is being eliminated like distress, though both returnin momentary & often causeless stresses or touches. Distrust remainsin its usual field, rapidity & adeshasiddhi, but the latter is nowcentred in the kriti from which by an inferential process it returns onthe other parts of the karma. Once exiled thence by objective proof,its hold wiU be finally & effectually destroyed.

There is the attempt now firmly to establish the ugrata &shaurya, to banish the last traces of the dependence on fruits, phalahetu not the phalakanksha which is already disappearing while preserving the lipsa and the kaushalam, the one t~ be established freefrom kama, the other to be used when the pedected tapas is ready.The activity of the vijnana has revived, but is not yet universal orfirmly stable. The other siddhis are mostly preparing behind the veilof Night. The nature of the difficulty in telepathy,-the mutualconfusion of the retrospective, prospective, near present & distant

Record of Yoga 107

present in addition to errors of placement in patra, desha, kala etc isnow being fully displayed & worked out without disturbing thesraddha of Yogatattwa &. Yogasiddhi.

Jan 11 Sunday.The vishayadrishtis are beginning slowly to regularise them

selves. The one or two clear symbol shabdas (watch, flute, horn etc)are now coming more often ,& quite unmistakably sukshma. Therupa, apart from image, is confined to a few forms already familiar tothe eye, rain etc. Touch has not yet passed beyond its former limitsalthough it is more common & spontaneous; but taste & smell areincreasi.ng in force & frequency, especially in the sadharadrishti, egthe violent, intense, almost acridly intense & long continued taste inthe mouth of the sweetness of sugar or molasses after the first puff ofa cigarette, the smell amounting to nasikya aswada of the same sweetsubstance in the end of a cigarette thrown aside & smoking itself out,smell of strong perfumes etc on the basis of an unperfumed object ora slightly perfumed object at a great distance. The taste of madhurarasa is now well estal?lished.

All ordinary discomfort has now been invested with the ananda.Only the strong touches of pain remain to be conquered. Here dullpain even if strong & persistent offers little difficulty; acute painbeyond a certain degree still exceeds the titiksha & therefore passesbeyond the scale of ananda.

Sahityasiddhi has for some time been developing, tamasi, and isnow coming forward. For some days the work at the Veda has beencontinuing with great force & persistence & overcoming the tamasicreactions, even the bodily, which used formerly to hamper longcontinued intensity of labour. The brain still becomes a little dull attimes, but usually recovers itself rapidly & is always capable at itsworst of an intermittent luminosity.

Jan 15-The siddhi of the last few days has been directed mainly towards

the removal in the natural mind of the obstacles to the right activity ofthe vijnana especially in trikaldrishti & the preparation of the general

. effective vijnanamaya tapas. The vijnanamaya action in the buddhi isnow generalised, tending always, except for short intervals of relapse,


to take the place of manasic perception, and by its very activitydiminishing steadily, though it has not yet removed, the persistentrecurrence of the manasic false response and distortion of vijnanamaya messages. In the light of this self perfecting jnana all the pastvicissitudes of the sadhana are seen in their right light, their reasons,necessity, utility, essential cause & teleological purpose; for betterimpression on the natural mind, they recur in slight & fleeting instances, repeat their old action[,] are understood and dissolve themselves. This process, perfected in the jnana, is being applied more &more powerfully & steadily to Veda, sahitya, trikaldrishti, telepathy.The mechanism of the tapas, its defects, causes, working &. theteleological purpose of the.defects arising from their essential causes,is also being exposed, the first effect being to remove the last remaining obstacles to faultless subjective persistence in the tapas evenwhen it fails & is or seems hopeless of its purpose (the objectivepersistence is limited by physical fatigue or incapacity), and, secondIy, to the ugrata of the tapas. It was formerly the mind's habit to takefailure as a sign of God's adverse will & cease from effort, & as ugratapas usually failed of its immediate purpose, unless very persistent &furious, it was thought ugra tapas was forbidden. The failure, however, was due to the immixture of effort & desire & anishatagenerally & the mental nature of the tapas and these again to thenecessities, essential & teleological, of the process of the transitionfrom the mental to the ideal being. The second chatusthaya is,therefore, nearing full completion, the third preparing it; the firstnow only suffers momentarily in samata by passing depressions & inananda by general limitation of the second; the third is delayed byinsufficiency of tapas in the second, the second held back in sraddha& tapas by insufficient light & effectuality in the third. These twochatusthayas must therefore for a little time longer move forwardtogether helping each other's fullness until the still watching intellectin the outer nature is sufficiently assured of its ground to allowfullness of tapas & sraddha. Samadhi has not moved forward exceptin the fullness & comparative frequency of the spontaneous sukshmaghrana & the increasing tendency of the other sukshma indriyas. Therupa drishti still struggles with the opposition in the material akashato its combined perfection & stability; both perfection & stabilityhave been carried separately in the jagrat to a high efficiency, but. .

Record of Yoga 109

they cannot yet combine their forces. There are occasional images inwhich they meet, eg the reel of cotton thread, (pt degree), the card ofd[itt]o (3d degree), the playing card in the ghana & developed forms(2d degree of stability); but this combined siddhi cannot yet generalise itself or even establish either frequency in the habitual forms or aninitial freedom & variety of the higher forms. It is only in the crudeforms that there is an initial freedom & variety accompanied withsome stability. The physical siddhi has been for some time badlyafflicted & depressed; the signs of progress are more subliminal thansupraliminal. Karmasiddhi progresses rapidly in sahitya where thebody alone is now a real obstacle, but is obstructed or attacked indharma & kriti; especially in the latter there is violent negation &menace'of destruction, eg, in the therapeutic pressure on N. [Nalini]etc.

Record of Yoga. March. April.

1914.

12th March 1914-Lipi (today first spontaneous & clear in long connected phrases)

1. St Joseph's College . . St James' Gazette-Continually recurrentsince the beginning of the abundant record period: meaning,nature or purpose never yet fixed beyond doubt.

2. Jollity - festivity - & then absolute jollity, festivity - also offrequent recurrence & generally confirmed in fact, often unexpectedly on the very day. No data.

3 St. Stephen's-Hyslop's College . . system. These are also oldlipis. The addition of the word system seems to mean that this & 1all belong to the same system and are connected in sense.

4. It is a sort ofschool for the intellectuality ofideality ofinterpretationof the lipi. Sentence formed with much difficulty.

Telepathic Trikaldrishti & Ishita etc1. Yesterday ishita & trikaldrishti of result of other than ordinary

food, confirmed an hour or so afterwards by arrival of Ulysses whodined here & arrangements were made suddenly all without suggestion or interference on my part.

2. Successive movements of birds & ants etc can now often bedetermined for some minutes together with less resistance thanformerly & fewer deviations, but in the end the object escapes fromcontrol, often however with an after effect inducing the suddenfulfilment of unfulfilled aishwaryas when the actual pressure waswithdrawn.

3. Sudden memory (intuitive) of long forgotten names & scenesof childhood in England,-spoiled & suspended by the attempts ofintellectual memory to decide points of doubt.

Lipi5 Lipi "suffering" several times repeated. This Iipi is associated

always with the return of subjective discomfort & nirananda. Suchnininanda has for a long time been successfuUy expelled from thesystem & even extraneous touches had ceased to come. It returned,although [ ] I not expected today even after the lipi, but has beenunable to do more than momentarily stain the surface of the psychic

I MS though (extraneous)

Record of Yoga 113

prana, even the after effect being rapidly effaced.6. "Subjective suffering is entirely due to fhe (phantasy) fancy in

the intellect together with desire." Sentence formed with difficulty, &with the aid of some subjective suggestion from outside.

Trikaldrishti.Today, for the most part, unluminous but untelepathic & sound

in general substance, occurring by force in a cloud of intellectualerror suggested from outside, doubted & questioned by externalintellect and seized & distorted as to exact time & place by the samedeflecting agent. Attack of intellect of unusual obstinacy & intensity,due to its remnants being disowned & refused, credit. This movementwas heralded & predicted by the lipi "Alienate the intellectualhelpers:' this morning.

13th March. Friday.The painful struggle of the intellectual elements to survive & get

rid [ ] [of delight & faith continues,-pre-indicated by a repetitionof the lipi "suffering". Lipi is frequent, but varies in ease of coming &vivid presentation. The malignance of hostility in the alienatedhelpers is very pronounced. Vijnana is clouded at every step by theveil of the manasic action which seeks, since it cannot enjoy, toreplace it while imitating sunlessly its radiant action. It cannothowever prevent truth from being the dominant tendency, but itsuspends certainty and timely arrangement. Place, time, order arestill very defective.

Lipi. The beginning ofdelight-ie Physical Kamananda, whichwas reduced almost to zero in its action, is to resume its advance.Intensive - extensive (the two lipis replacing each other.) - ie It is tobe first an intensive action, resuming & increasing the former normalintensity, then extensive, increasing its durability & pervasiveness.The action has now already begun, but is not yet very powerful.

Samadhi (swapna)-yesterday resisted, hampered & confused,is today still resisted, but not.so often confused. There have beenadmirable scenes of brief movement, with vivid lifelike figures in full

. detail, & combinations of figure, speech and action with the beginnings of coherent conversation.

I MS delight (extraneous)


Upi1. Lifeless . . September. This year in September. (successive

ly, the first then again repeated)2. Tonight . . light. (the second word replacing light).lThe physical ananda of pain (heat) has' suddenly been taken

away by the Dasyu and its place is taken by imperfect titiksha.Upi

3. In antardrishta. I am formless and thoughtless in my essentiality, but personality is my real (being) and my essentiality is only theinitial status of things.

SamadhiIn antardrishta all so~s of forms are beginning to appear, 'but

they are in the last degree crude, shifting, usually ill~formed except inparts and rapidly dissolving.

14th March-The knowledge has temporarily gone back to the chaitanya in

the heart, prana & body whose motions are now taken up into thevijnana-buddhi and there enlightened or more often now manifestedat once as intuitionally luminous from the beginning. The higher ortrue vijnana is now only active through the vijnana buddhi.

LipiThe lipi-Light tonight was justified by the return of this

qualified luminosity & the re-idealising of the system & also by somenew light on the world problem in the script re the 14 Manus.

ScriptResumption of script yesterday. First movements unsatisfactory

& repetition of old false & trivial script, finally there came amovement that started from the best of the old script & passedbeyond it; the mind tried to control but was outrun & seemedevidently in communication with another mind that did not dependon it for the suggestion of thought or even entirely of vak.

Telepathic Trikaldrishti2 typical instances-1. A crow seated on iron support of balcony; pranic impulse

seen to be flight downward in a given direction, resisted by tamasic

I See below, second paragraph under 14 March. It would seem that the lipi was "light .. tonight","tonight" being "the second word replacing light",

Record of Yoga 115

hesitation of mind and body. Trikaldrisbti that in spite of all delay &resistance the contemplated movement would be executed. Doubtdue to perception of adverse influences & tendencies, movement ofbird away from line, arrival of finch tending to alter thought &standing partly in the line marked; still persistent affirmation.Ultimately the movement foreseen effected. Subsequent movementsof both birds correctly seen but with errors of exact line of flight;general directions & turns correctly pre-indicated. This, however, isnow very common. It is exactitude & freedom from error due to falsestress & overdefinition of subordinate or understatement of definitiveforce, intention or tendency that have to be secured.

2. A shabby boy in a splendid & richly varnished Victoria pushpush. tloubt whether he was not coachman's boy put up in carriage.Intuition, son of well-to-do Indian Christian (latter detail inferentialfrom dress-short trousers-& not intuitional) & carriage newlyvarnished; shabbiness due to carelessness in these matters. Revelatory intuition, child belonging to Indian Christian in the house justbehind this, Venumani. Sceptical intellect challenged intuition. Wentto verify. The carriage stopped opposite V's house & the boy went inleaving the coachman to follow.

The theory that all is satyam & error comes from false stress,false valuation & false application by the mind is now established. Egidea of coachman's son came from satya perception of semipaternalbhava of aged servant to the boy in the carriage.

The old power of receiving the emotional & sense idea content. of others' minds is now active; the vyapti prakamya of formedthought is still infrequent, doubtful or sluggish, or when none ofthese, then insufficiently precise.

Samadhi-Two typical antardrishta visions. 1. A heavily polished door

half open showing part of a room carpeted with a clean white cloth,but apparently empty of furniture. Very vivid in the pradiv behindthe outer chittakasha (ether of the pranic manas as pradiv is of theprano-manasic buddhi), but dim in the chittakasha & remote from it.2 An atmosphere, not of earthly air, but of apas full of rolling &shifting clouds of colour strong but not very bright. In the apas jala &floating tejas (also leaping but not actively); a star seen at first butafterwards lost in the clouds of colour.


Lipi-1. Chitra lipi

fuel . . is upward . . July 13th

July 13th spacious. . These images are evidently the Vedic.The fuel of Agni, the divine Tapas is already heaped,~ 3lJlT, itstendency is upward~ 'i1cI, by July 13th it will be already spacious,~, F:mtRCf - ie in two months exactly. (Note - there was nothingin the mind to suggest this lipi; it is an instance of absolute spontaneity[)]

2. Akasha. Authority of the lipi. Nowadays frequently repeated.

3. Jollity. Once more emphatically repeated..4 Tuesday (no precise indication, except of some progress in

the siddhi,-the allusion is probably to the trikaldrishti)'.

15th March. Sunday.Lipi

1. Tuesday2. Ideal thinking the result of spirituality; thoughtless before the

unity of the spirit in all things. This refers to the necessity in thesadhan for a passive & empty mind (the empty cup which has then tobe filled by a vijnanamaya activity[)].

Samadhi1. Sukshma taste still comes rare but vivid, usually sadhara, eg

strong taste & smell of a sweet wine while smoking a cigarette. Thedifficulty of the sadhara vishaya is the doubt in the mind whether thevishaya is not really a strong perception of sthula, & not at allsukshma. .

2. Vamamaya image on the wall; India, Bengal a vivid blue, therest a bright & beautiful green, the whole floating in a haze of stronggolden colour. Blue spirituality, green divine karma, golden knowledge. India is now shedding knowledge rather than in consciouspossession of it.

TrikaldrishtiIdea of the rapid completion of the seventh book of Dion (first of

war.) (n6t yet fulfilled 31~! March)l

I This phro.u was added interlinearly on the /hiTty·first.

Record of Yoga 117

LipiThe Lipi of "festivity" unexpectedly fulfilled.

NoteThe vijnana clouded during the day & the intellect in the

environment active.

16th March.Today the vijnana of knowledge became almost perfect on the

level of the vijnanabuddhi illumined from the vijnana before; then anoutburst from the higher reaches of the vijnana, in which the buddhibecame a tertiary & quite passive agent, \yas again followed byobscuraJ:ion & activity of the clouding intellect.

Lipis-1. Largest delight-referring to the Ananda that came with the

activity of the higher vijnana.2. Jollity, festivity-first often, then always.3 Sunday.. settled . .. The allusion seems to be to the

arrangement of the trikaldrishti.

17th March. TuesdayThe Lipi Tuesday, (14th March) is to some extent justified, as

today the ritam in the jnana seems to be firmly founded in thevijnana-buddhi by a[n] affirmative and discriminative action of thehigher vijnana on the fallible mind. An attempt is being made toextend this advance to the trikaldrishti which is not yet entirelysuccessful, as the overstress of the telepathic drishti continues in theenvironmental nature & prevents accuracy at the centre. Nevertheless the ritam is becoming remarkably powerful, even though unequal& false in its mental incidence in the trikaldrishti.

Veda is now taking a clear form & the objections to it breakingdown; the definite interpretation has begun.

Kamananda, often obstructed and suspended, always retum[s];ahaituka tivra has established itself as a recurrent intensity, likeahaituka kamananda; ahaituka rudra now promises to do the same.Rupa is infrequent & crude in the jagrat. Samadhi is still attemptingto organise itself, but the definite movement has not taken place.Lipi, though easily active if supported by the will, is otherwise subjectto fluctuations from a state of intense, free & rapid to a state of dull &


infrequent activity, although chitra is always freer than akasha &hardly at all suspended, though its ease & frequency vary. Aishwaryagrows in strength and insistence, but is not yet in real possession of itsfield.

Lipi1. Finish. It is suggested, with the knowledge side of the

vijnana in its foundations.2. Lipi will (is about to) destroy its obstacles.3 Field of authority of the lipi.4. Perfect authority of the lipi.5 Suffer disasters systematic6 Distinguish between lipi of tendency & lipi of actuality.

•

18th MarchLipi.

1 Finish joyfully with the difficulties in the acceptance by theintellect of the ideality.

2. Beyond light delight.3 Satisfaction of the faith in its still tottering elements

Trikaldrishti -All that has been effected on "Tuesday" is to complete the

illuminated perception of the forces at play behind events & theirintentions & movements -& to a certain extent of the motions in theobject itself; but this latter, though correct, is not always illumined.The trikaldrishti of eventual actuality is still obscured & successfullydeflected or veiled by false suggestions except in the better momentsof the sadhana. Today vijnana obscured.

The illuminated action in Veda continues but is usually associated with the written vak; the perceptional thought is still disputed bythe intellect. In other words, the Sruti is effected, both in writing &thought, but the Drishti is yet inefficient.

Rupadrishti -After many years the drishti of wind seen in the Alipore jail &

often afterwards was again manifested, in this instance in connectionwith sukshma nun.

Chitra of the brilliant rays of Surya. Indicative of the reemergence of the higher vijnana in a greater brilliance (?)

Record of Yoga 119

Jonakis, stars and dark living spots very frequent. (N.B thefirefly, the star, the wind are given in Swet. Up [SwetaswataraUpanishad]-along with others, moon, sun, fire etc, as signs ofYogasiddhi. )

19th March.Dullness of vijnana continues. Remarkable instance of Aish

warya, Caillaux-Calmeth, & resignation of Caillaux, but not direct,nor of the same kind as the former, followed by the fall of the lastCaillaux Cabinet in two days.

Lipi1. Typical effect of ishita, indirectly of aishwarya.2. 'Distrust the inertia; knowledge is perfect, if it is perfectly

utilised.3. Always. (in reference to partial effect of Will)Vijnana is now revived. It is applying itself to the trikaldrishti, &

is always roughly right, but not always or at all finely in detail & forthat reason is confused about the eventual eventuality. Aishwarya &ishita are now more powerful, although still resisted by a lessintrinsically powerful opposition, less powerful even when, by agreater exertion, it produces the same result of failure. There are alsostriking results of immediate effectuality by vashita & effective vyaptiin awaking Yogic realisations & psychological changes in thosearound me. In the aishwarya, the servant bhava, having no separatepersonal interest in the result but only the Master's interest, is nowbecoming finally powerful. Ananda of the kama is now extendingitself at a greater pitch of intensity than formerly, but still stands innecessity of smarana. Tivra is common; the other physical anandas(ahaituka) rare.

Vashita & Aiswarya1 Following on explanation of oneness & vyapti & aishwarya

for Brahmadrishti, B. [Bijoy] got vision of Sat & Chit samudras withall beings as kendras & the body no longer a barrier to the vision.2. Aishwarya on Bharati to get Hpi. Result, saw for first time lipi withopen eyes, "Being. We." & a green sun - (Brahman, the Purushas &nishkama karma).

Strong & violent tivra from hetu of pain; strong kama & tivra


from touch of vishaya on parts of the body not directly connectedwith kamachakra, (left arm near shoulder).

Lipis-4. 3. =some movement in the rupa.5. Dispensability of Inertia. Inertia ie Tamas was formerly

necessary to correct the errors of Rajas, but is no longer neededexcept in some fragmentary movements.

6 Fallibility of inertiaKamananda in samadhi is now becoming frequent, but tends to

break the samadhi either at once or more often by a gradual return toless & less profound states of the sleep.

The eye no longer seeks to force imperfect rupas to assume aperfect outline by aishwaryamaya tratak, but awaits a spontaneousperfection. Meanwhile the mind takes cognizance of the meaning &circumstances of obscure rbpas by telepathic reading of the bhava inthe rupa or by vijnanamay perception.

20th March Friday.It is now evident by continual experience that the telepathic

trikaldrishtis which fail, are perceptions of real tendencies or intentions or outside acting forces which either modify or tend to modifyimmediate action & always remain as latent forces in Prakriti & theindividual which may determine future event or action in that or in.other vessels of the Shakti which come within the zone of Natureaffected. The determinative stress in the knowledge is still erratic &the final action of the true vijnana in trikaldrishti is still withheld atordinary times.

The pure ahaituka kamananda at any point of the body hasbegun an occasional action, usually associated with other forms ofbhoga.

Lipi.1. Tonight telepathy .2 Blessings in disguise - ie there will now be full & habitual

perception of the mangala in the apparent amangala.3 Passive telepathy . . try. That is, telepathy is now almost

entirely of the nature of vyapti; try now & prakamya will becomeequally active.

Record of Yoga 121

4 Distinguish disciples. Authority. (ie Authority of the trikaldrishti)

5. Set fire to Bol. Aishwarya. (Chitra-lipi).6. Flexibility of the intellectuality is replaced by flexibility of the

ideality7 Threatening intelligence. ie news seeming to threaten but not

really dangerous. This was fulfilled immediately afterwards, suchintelligence being given at night but told in the morning re-J. Ayar,Chudamani & S. R.

Note. 1. 2. 3. 4. 6. 7. were all fulfilled or began to be fulfilled.Script was active throughout the day; it has become satya.

Prakamya which has long been overshadowed by a free & powerfulvyapti h~s begun to develop the same freedom & power; at the same[time] telepathy of thought, formerly only occasional or secondary inreception, is now direct & enlarging its activity. Sorti.lege is alsocoming again freely & of itself & justifying its contents & utility. Inthe body (vital) wine of ananda is once more physically felt, butcuriously enough in movements of pain as well as of ananda. Rupa ofvarna, crude, is becoming brilliant & perfect in a few forms.

Rupas1. Small green sun, brilliant, in the antariksha; followed by a

balloon of reddish orange. N.B. Orange is psychical sight or power& red is pravritti & karma.

2. In room, a leaping red flame of a lamp, now visible, nowextinguished. Symbolic like 1-referring to the nature of much of theactivity, due to inefficiency of the body.

The nirananda of pain seems to have reasserted itself partially onground conquered for the Ananda. The shakti is now driving it outagain from these positions.

On the whole there is a great activity of the siddhi, the net resultbeing the firm generalisation of vijnanamaya knowledge, vijnanamaya power & sraddha. But as yet positive imperfection still remains& recurs even in the knowle9ge and the power is still met byresistance which, though with difficulty, still very often succeedsespecially in things of the body etc.


21~! March.Lipi-

1. Joyful liberation from the intellectuality(partially fulfilled. May 21st) 1

2 Perfectly established in the essentiality of the objectivity (iethe lipi) fulfilled May 2pt

3 Strong thesis (dhasi) of the telepathy. fulfilled. (May 21st)

4 The externality of the destiny (Only begun & uncertainMay 21st

)

5 The Times . . God . . right. settled.. swiftlyThe Hpi is now manifesting itself against all material resistance in

the akasha with great frequency & authority, nor is it possible to·keepa record of all the Iipis that fulfil themselves. It is still, however,resisted and only visible usually after an effort, therefore, not alwayswith perfect legibility, nor with invariable fullness, consecutiveness orcoherence. The power of interpretation with viveka is there to mendthe verbal incoherence· & supply the lacunae of the form.

Sortilege is now frequent, although often needing a very figurative & even fanciful interpretation. The following are typicalinstances.

1. A case presenting itself in which a form of tapasya wasnecessary (jalarodha) & there being a doubt in the intellect of itspermissibility, the eye glanced across involuntarily at a manuscript onthe table & saw the sentence "That is the system". Involuntarypurposeful sortilege.

2. A sortilege being sought with no particular subject, need orpurpose, except the testing of the theory of sortilege, another MSgave "Vowel stems of the yl form the accusative vocative.["} This hadto be interpreted, 3d =3d chatusthaya, vowel stems, =subtle parts ieparts of knowledge in their beginnings & superstructure, the flowerbeing yet to come, form the accusative, =regularise their objectiveaction based on prakamya in the actuality, & vocative =their subjective action based onvyapti in the actuality. :Ibis movement as amatter of fact began immediately afterwards. Voluntary objectlesssortilege.

Certainty in the trikaldrishti has at last begun to be frequent

I As usUilI. these noratWtIS offulfilment were written after the original entry.

Record of Yoga 123

though far from invariable in the active perception as well as in thepassive reception. Tapas as was predicted yesterday in the script hasbegun to assert itself with a greater & more habitual power both inishita & aishwarya. At the same time sraddha is becoming firmer,more obstinate against disappointment &, though this is less prominent as yet, more anandamaya & savesha (enthusiastic). But, as yet,it is imperfectly applied to the kriti & physical siddhi in spite of better& sometimes positive & striking successes, eg Caillaux' resignation,etc.

Rupa now evolves obscure figures of all kinds, fourfootedanimals included, on the background & in the akasha & a few moreclear, t~ough none perfect. Samadhi is attempting to expel theincoherence of tamasic nidra. Pictures are now very common,especially old Indian pictures in crowded groups & very brilliantcolours, but also others without colours.

Lipi.6. Thirteenth-destroy the obstacles. Chitra in chimney of

lamp.7. Scholastic study of Scriptures. (Repeated often recently)

Clear, brilliant & perfectly combined Rupas in samadhi, but notyet the requisite stability.

22d March. Sunday.Certainty in the trikaldrishti is more powerful than yesterday,

but still needs concentration (samadhi, samahitabhava) of the tapasto be assured of itself, as otherwise either the perception of conflicting possibilities tends to destroy certainty or overstress misplaces &defeats it.

Utthapana of the neck maintained for 45 minutes without anyserious stress, but with an increasing strain of heaviness in the last 20or 25 minutes; of the right leg, medial position for 15 minutes,heaviness only, no muscular pain. Utthapana of left leg later in theday for 20 minutes.

The siddhi since yesterday evening is being continually attackedby upsurgings of the semi-intellectual activities of the joint vijnanabuddhi & manas. The greater effectiveness gained in aishwarya-ishitahas also been suspended & the rupa fails to stabilise itself in clearforms. Lipi occurs but with less power & frequency. Variations


throughout the day.In the evening for a few minutes the formal material of the

trikaldrishti achieved a condensed [form] for a short time. ego1. (JeGePuTu [thesphata]. Varsity. Stage (Chitralipi in the

clouds).2. Images in the clouds. A nib (literature), a fish, (travel), a

ring, a bracelet; then, a low comedian; a mother (European &golden-haired) with a child climbing on her neck. All these were closetogether, connected in sense, & the first four closely connected insense. They must be taken as indications about European womanhood in the future earth-destiny.

3. Also in the clouds. Certain scenes of a pursuit in the early•Manwantaras of a race of divinised Pashus by Barbarians. Also,

animals & arms of other ages. (The latter are common).The whole of 3, which is recorded elsewhere,! was an instance

expressly given of the way in which the Theosophists arrive ~t theirresults & shows both their sincerity & the possibilities and pitfalls oftlieir method.

4 Three sortileges. Katha Upanishad (Apte's edition)p.82. (1) 4~HI~ fct;MG-4(SjIt.P:ffl~: ~ de:Nllq Wr I~

it-f ~ ~ 1N~~~5~ I~ ftl31Hlm fcf;q;J qRflI&4d I~

(RliThis has to be interpreted in connection with the present stage

of the siddhi, ="Vijnana is active, but also the sense mind & theintellect. Only the vijnana is desired. How is that sole action ofvijnana to be secured[?] By receiving the sense life also through thevijnana and not through the mind & senses. Then nothing is left; forthe sense world becomes a vijnanamaya world, etad vai tat, & isrendered in the terms of Truth.["]

p. 102 (2)~ ~:W ~ ~:&IN~{qldCfiClR;('q18 ~~

r.mq lRr I 31ft1t114i S4rnfarlliifdffJ4Igo<:tn n ~ IIncidentally touches, if not of grief, yet of dissatisfaction still

assail the Adhara even though Paramatman. has been realised,owing to the Brahman being identified with the ego-world in theenvironmental intellect. This is due to the persistence of Avidya,there, that is of the sense life & the imperfect activity of the Vijnana.

I s~~ "Th~ EyolUlionary Scak", Sri Aurobindo: Archives and Research 3 (1979): 185-86.

Record of Yoga 125

Conscious[ness] reflected in the sense life is subject to ignorance &unrest which may become grief. This sortilege must be taken inconnection with lipis which came at the same time.

ego Destroy self.ie. The relics of the ego attitude remain in the outskirts of the

consciousness & try to return & recover the centre. These remnantsmust be destroyed.

(3) p. 112~~~:~ ~'iS1Hlfd oe:r~~~: I"ffiJ~ aql&4I::W1Cl4lf.41re.fd I Q{¥1I(ifICij3ji114 <Wf: ~ $~CRI~fHi~<fd I

Since the entire Oneness can be realised here & it is only by thatcomplete realisation of God in everything in this world that absoluteLiberty is possible,-for the idea of Him as something separatemanifesling .here is an error,-therefore the final word is that aneffort must be made to realise God the Spirit here absolutely, so thatnothing else may be seen, felt, smelt, heard, tasted.

Mar. 23.Sortilege. Idem. p 76.1.~~aqlre.9)~ m~!lqQIGlIfi1 ttl~I~1 IIn the application of the three sortileges already found, the

experience of error still continuing, a doubt occurred as to theircompleteness. The impulse to consult was given & the mind assuredthat the sortilege would meet the doubt. The above was the response,& proves entirely the reality of the Sortilege system & its veridicity &capacity of direct response.

Interpretation. The vijnana is being perfect[ed] in the physical,vital & mental worlds according to their characteristic differences; atpresent the mental knowledge is being idealised to perfection by theidealising (rendering perfectly & spontaneously true & luminous) ofthe sense perceptions, the pranic impulses, the bodily movements &all connected therewith. Error is brought into play in order to beconverted into its underlying truth.

2. dl«la4"l by itself is also a sortilege & means that by assigningeach subjective perception of the body, nerves & mind to its rightplace, object & time vijnana will be progressively & finally perfected.

N.B. It is a curious fact that the physical knowledge received bythe body through the annamaya Atman & the pranakosha is oftentruer, if at all illumined, than the mental knowledge; on the other

126 SRI AUROBINOO: Archives and Research

hand the responses of the prana to knowledge are more erratic thanthose of the mind.

Other sortileges confirming the sense of those already given.Images connected with yesterday's 3. 1 (1) An open country with

a hill in the distance, representing the unoccupied land taken by thecivilised invaders from the barbarian; (2) a fortified city on a plateauwith great terraces cut in the slope in the background, in front levelspaces leading to a great river with a vast ghaut at one place in thebank; (3) the same river; a hut large & spacious with a great dooropen,-afterwards, appear in the hut opposite the doorway a priest& a child; after a while the priest turns away lifting his hands as ifshocked & despairing. All these in the chimney of the lamp. (4) notconnected, a chitra on a "rough envelope (inside tom open), verydistinct in every detail (even more than the others,) two flightsof step[s], with a rough, sculptured wall at the angle; a woman,young, beautiful, with a bonnet and a walking stick in her right handheld away from her body & supported on the stairs, very elegantlydressed; below her on the steps a crown, bracelet & cloth. Theseimages are chitra; the akasha images are still vague & present seldomany clear details.

Trikaldrishti still continues to generalise itself without being ableto expel error. Samadhi is now being utilised, but does not yetimprove in its material. All the materials of trikaldrishti are in factbeing utilised for all three times without any of them yet beingentirely perfect. Tapas varies in effectiveness.

Mar 24. Tuesday .Saguna Brahmadrishti has now practically taken the place of the

Nirguna which is now perceived only as a foundation for the action ofthe Saguna. It is seen that the Sarvam Brahma is prominent when theTapas of mental Chaitanya is fixed on Matter, all else being felt asundifferentiated consciousness & Matter alone as real to the mind,unreal to the drishti; Sarvam Anantam is felt wh~n the Tapas is fixedon Matter & Life, all else being felt to be a sea of consciousness out of

I &e Sri Aurobindo: Arcbives and Research 3: 187--& for a detaikd description and interprrtationof W folhJwing images.

Record of Yoga 127

which Life & Matter proceed; Sarvam Anantam Jnanam when theTapas is fixed on Life, Matter & Mind with Vijnanam felt behindvaguely as the source of Mind; but when the Jnanam increases &is sun-illumined, then the Anandam also appears & the SagunaBrahman becomes the Lilamaya Para Purusha. The Anantam hasalso two bhavas one in which the Infinite Force acts as if it were amechanical entity, knowledge standing back from it, the other inwhich Life Force & Knowledge act together & the Infinite Force is anintelligent or at least a conscious force.

Hitherto the position of the Tapas has been that when stronglyexerted, it has come to produce an effect against resistance, sometimes the full effect, sometimes a partial effect, sometimes a modifiedor temPorary effect, sometimes a postponed effect, sometimesmerely a struggle physical or mental towards the desired effect. Inthings physical & in things of the karma, the smaller effects are morecommon, full effect rare. When simply exerted, the force has oftenfailed entirely, sometimes succeeded fully & at once, sometimespartly or with resistance, sometimes for a time only wholly orpartially; solJletimes only by producing a tendency or mentalmovement. Now the simply exerted will is becoming more effective,often perfectly effective, with no resistance or brief resistance orineffective resistance. A month has been given in the trikaldrishti forthe progress of this movement.

In the trikaldrishti a qualified authority is now enjoyed by thelipi, the written script, the articulate thought, & from today by theVani & the unwritten Script; the perceptive thought is strugglingtowards this authority, but still hampered by inert & by tapasicsuggestions which overstress a perception or which overshoot theirmark. Today a more powerful movement of the perceptive thought,more readily, widely & accurately perceptive of the complex truth offorces & .their results. If this tendency prevails, the lipi "Tuesday" &its interpretation will be amply justified. In any case, the claim of thetapasic devatas to be rendere.d effective before the knowledge iseffective as knowledge, is from today rejected. As yet knowledge &force cannot become identical. Another attempt is also being made tocast out the relics of self from the environmental will. It is nowevident that the whole difficulty which refuses to be still evicted, is


the persistent survival of [Bhuvannaya] 1 Tapas and its attempt toprofit by the vijnana instead of allowing the Swarvati Shakti toillumine itself in a pure desirelessness from the Mahas. Lipsa hasbeen the excuse for this persistence & its distinction from Kama. Butthe lipsa must be a samalipsa ready entirely to take defeat as well assuccess and not choosing its will but leaving that to a higher Shaktithan the Bhuvannayi or manomayi. The whole trikaldrishti is stillregulated by the idea of success & failure & therefore cannot freeitself from overstress. The reason is that man is at present the AsuraRakshasa & seeks from the buddhi the satisfaction of the heart &senses. Therefore this particular nodus is so hard to unloose; becauseit is always this Asura Rakshasa who has to be liberated & fulfilled &the difficulty cannot be s~lved by casting him out & rising entirelyinto a higher principle. The Devasura variety of the Asura Rakshasahas to be established, not the pure Deva or even the pure Devasura.The crux is here, in the right solution of this complexity. There is apull which would carry too high, there is a pull which would keep toolow. Both have to be avoided.

Sortilege (1)~ (2) G4l.'5ICfiI;;llI<1111: I~: mdC49>4~ISllOI: 'JfCI

'lIR: I G4l.'5ICfiI"'l,fdR~Ckl«t~;q"lIMll.'531: (3) ~1i1¥,I(:qRij. That is, the TenKumaras =the ten Purushas from Pashu to Siddhadeva. The presentthat is drawing to an end is the Rakshasa, whose type is that of~ not~. It is the W<f~ Species, long necked = eager,purified in body, mahat in the prana element, therefore with a mindthat listens in the ananta dasha dishah for the sruti from the vijnana.The other that is coming is Anandamaya, born of the full enjoymentof the Prakriti, ie the Devasura. Balaka also means in the sortilegethe young unfulfilled Prakriti. The Anandamaya Devasura has beenprepared in the Rakshasa by the Gandharva type of Rakshasa who isalso :uMll.'5"'1:, born not of Prakriti's full act of enjoyment, but of herfull mood of enjoyment (the Gandharvi bhava in Mahasaraswati).

The thought-telepathy is now coming more freely; sometimes itis seen as a thought with impulse & proved by the immediatelysubsequent act; sometimes it is entertained by the mind not as aperception of thought in another's mind, but as an impressionregistered as a thought in one's own mind, yet vaguely but uncer-

I MS Bhuvarmukti

Record of Yoga 129

tainlyassociated, perhaps as a speculation of the other's conduct,with another mind. Eg. B [Bijoy] brings tea. Mind thinks of B.looking for a cigarette, seeing none & possibly bringing one. There isno such look or action in B's body, but only a vague idea of such athought, possibly, in his mind. The next minute B brings a cigarette &looks to see whether or not there were any left, showing that this hadactually been in his mind & he was now verifying by his senses an ideathe mind had arrived at in thought only. At the same time it ispossible that the thought went from my mind to his & produced theaction or went to another's who gave the cigarette to be placed there'& then only B looked to see if there were no c~garettesalready. In thelatter case the thought was an effective vyapti from my mind to his oranother's; in the former a srauta vyapti from his to mine. Other caseswere clear cases of prakamya; eg the perception of the thought &impulse in his mind & body to take the carbolic lotion, followed thenext second by his action in taking it, etc.

Lipi.1. Healthy system-effigies of the unhealthy system still resist

the healthy2. Healthy system established not in actuality but type of

actuality.3. "Sister" or "siskos" very frequent4 Jollity .. festivity. fulfilled immediately, followed before

fulfilment by pranic manomaya impression of Bj's intention & itsapproaching execution. No data for the intellect.

S 13. This lipi comes daily & often. 13 =Kama, lastmember of the Sth chatusthay

6 Sortilege. Indicating necessity of resort to sortilege.Directional lipi

Sortilege.1. Rv. [Rigveda] 1.[178.] I ~ ~: Cfillt~ "l"t 1?flQT ~ amT

qft 31Jq awn: Destroy not or afflict not my desire as it acquires theMahadbhav; may I taste all (fruits & enjoyments) throughout all thewaters of being.

This sortilege gives full sanction to the ideal of the liberatedAsura Rakshasa.

I MS 138.


2 ~ ri~: ie the value of the siddhi of knowledge isnow the full faculty of jnana & half the fullness (8 a[nna]s) oftrikaldrishti. This is an exact description of the ordinary action of theillumined vijnanabuddhi at the present stage of the siddhi. 11;2 haslong been in the Iipi the sign of perfect jnana & imperfect trikaldrishti, jnana being symbolised by 1, trikaldristi by 2, Rupa by 3,Tapas by 4, Samadhi by 5, Health by 6, Ananda by 7, Utthapana by8, Saundarya by 9, Kali by 10, Krishna by 11, Karma by 12, Kama by13; so in succession with the 4 members of the Brahmachatusthaya &the 4 of the Siddhi Chatusthaya making 21 in all.

3 ~~:~ ql!jli'fC4CflI!l4'1. This refers to the .persistent doubts of the sceptical intellect re the Karmasiddhi & points toincreasing authority of the divine Vani, 3Rln: being Kali the Prakriti& the speaker the Deva or Purusha, Krishna, Master of the Yoga. Itappears, however, that the doubts as to dehasiddhi, rapidity, exactfulfilment of knowledge & power are also included.

Images1. A mirror (back view) with a woman behind looking at

herself in it. Fact & symbol.2. The same, front view. Both Akasha, crude.3 Bird. crude (a sign that none of the old effects already

produced are lost to the siddhi, the bird being the ordinary figure inthe crude form)

4. Human figure mounting an incline; a fish; a net; birdvamamaya; all crude, clear, but mostly fleeting. Lipi 7. Insufficientstability. 1

Lipi.8. Flexibility of the intellectuality ie brought about now in a

greater degree by the discouragement of the stress on the tapas &inertia; with this change has come a greater perfection both of jnana& trikaldrishti.

9. The disgust of the asiddhi- has to be got rid of entirely.10. The political siddhi .. destroy-ie the putting an end to

the present anarchical activity is necessary for the return to politicallife & must be attempted henceforth. Inaction in this respect must

1 This is the se""nth in the series of lipis beginning befon the inulges and sortUeges above, andcontinuing below.

Record of Yoga 131

cease. Only there need be no haste[,] no anxiety. At the present themeans of action are not to hand. They must be found out or createdor both.

11 Type of the trikaldrishti .. . telepathy perfect in detail.Perfect telepathy & trikaldrishti. That is the type has now to be wellformed & extended to the exclusion of speculation & overstressedperception.

The difficulty formerly experienced in thought-telepathy wasthat there was a full or almost full perception, whenever there waseven slight sanyama, of the chitta-mould of the living object and ofhis sensation mind in its status & acquired form accompanied with aclear perception of the contents of the' temperament & character,also of 'the waves of feeling & sensation that arose in the ma~as &chitta & to a less degree of the thought sensations that arose in themanas, but not of the buddhi, except in its vague mould & acquiredstatus, its outer shell only,-not of either its general contents or ofthe particular ideas arising in it. These powers were gained longago,-early in the Pondicherry stay,-& to some extent alwaysexisted in an inchoate form as they exist probably in all men; but theyhad to be discontinued for a long time; now with the growth of thejnanam Brahma this difficulty is being overcome by the perception ofthe contents of the buddhi & the waves of idea that rise in it. Thisevening the old powers arose in a much more powerful & vivid formthan before. This revival was heralded by a note in the lipi referringto the former intensity of the powers for a short period as between Bj& myself; but the full intention of the lipi was not understood; itwas not realised that the revival of that intensity this very day wasintended. Therefore the lipi was not recorded. There is still muchto be done, but the foundations of complete knowledge, trikaldrishti& prakamya-vyanti. are now being very firmly and very bountifullylaid.

Proofs of the idea-perception are being multiplied; eg, a quarrelbetween two cats on the opposite terrace, a black tom & a white petcat; almost all the movements could be followed & predicted; 1~! theintention of the black to leap on the parapet of the stairs wherethe white had taken refuge, then, partly from discretion, partlyin obedience to aishwarya, its slow departure,- but this was notactually foreseen, the emotions of its retreat,-sullen anger, pride,


fear of attack (this was proved by the frequent look back, yet not toofrequent, from pride), the half idea of returning & pursuing thequarrel, always abandoned, the intention to come on to our kitchenroof, the turning aside for the direct descent, (here there was a doubtwhether the reading of the intention was correct, probably caused bya hesitation in the cat himself whether he should not deviate toanother side[)], the final descent before the doubt could be solved.

Incidentally, the doubt as to exact fulfilment of knowledge isbeing removed as predicted in the [sortilege] I f'mj 'l'1i('I(Ojq1'qqCfl~.

There is still doubt as to the rapidity-except of individual movements of progression where the rapidity is undoubted,-owing tothe past experience of in~ariable relapse & suspension of siddhis,although these relapses & suspensions are now, owing partly to thestronger foundation, either less prolonged or npt thorough. There isdoubt also as to the rapid effectivity of the tapas. Neither knowledgenor tapas are yet active with any force with regard either (1) to theactual past of individuals or their future, (2) to the karmasiddhi,(3) to things at a distance, (4) to details of the thought, such asnames etc, [(5)P to exact time & place (ie the minute, the spot).Some siddhi in all these respects there is, but it is still fragmentary.The largeness of the field unoccupied is another ground for doubt of agenerally effective rapidity.

Images. Chitra in the lamp.31. A river with a masonry bridge built across, arched doors

(one only seen) in the bridge for the river to pass through; on thebridge, first one man, then others passing across, the first hastening,the others slow; beyond the bridge on the river a girl & a mancrossing the river in a sort of raft; [a]4 lamppostlike erection in theriver, the nature & object of which are not clear yet. Beyond a hillwith houses upon it. Connected with the Pashu-episodes. The type isno longer the Gandharva-Pashu, although a substratum of that typeremains in the new race; the new type is distinctly coarser, one seenthe other day after the Image, barbarously coarse; these seen todayare of a higher kind, but all have a slightly Teutonic cast in the

I MS lipi (sn /he wI sorli/ege abolle), MS(4)) Sn Sri Aurobindo: ArdUvcs a.od Research 3: 191.• MSan

Record of Yoga 133

character-mould only half refined into an intelligent quiescence.2. A low type of the Kali Pashu, 1st Manwantara,-in ap

pearance hatted, bearded & visaged like a common type west countryAmerican.

3. A part of a hill with a house upon it roofed like a modemChurch.

4. A very wide road climbing up a steep incline. Trees on oneside showing the great width of the road.

5. Animals of the first chaturyug;i. A huge seal-like wateranimal. A land-animal also exceedingly huge with red & yellowbands, a long rough projecting snouted face lifted up to roar;ferocious in appearance, harmless in fact. Suggestion, that thesebelonged to the animal chaturyuga before man appeared.

Akasha.Two leaves, crude, first transparent, then tejas-chhaya, clear

& stable, but not vivid. N.B It had been indicated that a clear &stable form would appear; but it came with difficulty & all thatfollowed were clear but incomplete & rapidly changing half figures ofanimals.

Mar. 25.Perceptive thought still fails to attain authority, though it presses

towards authority. Telepathy of thought is still rough & wanting infineness & firmness; it is also crossed by the perception of ideas fromthe pranamaya, manomaya & bhurmaya beings which besiege ouractivities. There are movements in the bodily self & our vital self,blind, instinctive thoughts, impulses, memories, like those of theanimal, eg the horse mechanically taking an accustomed turning;these are now vividly seen, more vividly often than those of the activemind & confuse the thought-perception. False perceptions, however,always turn out to be true perceptions, true in essence, false inincidence. Eg (1) a dog paused in the middle of the road, threetendencies were seen, one in t~e direction it was originally [taking] I

became a vain effort of the pranamaya to per-sist & was soon forgotten by the dog, but remained in its subconscious mind and might,with favourable fate, have been revived & fulfilled in subsequent

1 MS taken


action; another, to the left, was disbelieved in by the perceptivethought which indicated a turn to the right as its eventual action, &.the dog did turn its head immediately afterwards in that direction,but it went to the left, not the right. The idea of a movement to theright was immediately dismissed by the intellect as a falsehood, but asa matter of fact, a few seconds afterwards, the dog returned &fulfilled the identical line to the right, to the very spot, that had beenindicated. So a child about to turn the comer was seen as intending totum into the house just round the comer; its course & thought afterturning was away from the house, but a moment afterwards it went inat the door indicated. There 'were no less than four incidents of thiskind with this door in the course of half an hour. When, however,there is no illumination, tile source of the misdirected perception isnot seen & the intellect labours under the idea of an absolute,originless & unjustifiable asatyam, which does not exist in this world.Satyam is established; it is the anritam which still gives trouble.

Lipis.1. Federation of !ove2. Exiled dynasties . . tapas. In reference especially to

France, but not exclusively3. I-indicating that the Deva, Krishna, Master of the Yoga,

is taking more & more direct charge of the activities.Drishti of the panchabhuta is now common & of wind in the

panchabhuta, but not of wind in the ordinary akasha. Images ofinsects, birds are seen in the prana-akasha (bhuvar), but not usuallythe flying forms themselves; when seen, these are not clear to the eye.

Lipis .4. Request. Yes. I don't intend to satisfy it immediately, but to

satisfy it after the necessary delays in its due time. ie thelipsa

5 Tuesday-blaze. ie The ideality founded yesterday willby next Tuesday have burst into a blaze.

The forms of the birds etc seen in the pranakasha are nowbeginning to be clear for a moment, but they disappear at once intothe pranajagat. The explanation is that the pranakash ordinarily seenis the pranakasha envelope of bhu in which only the images of thesecreatures are seen & they themselves are in the akasha of the pranajagat, not the real Bhuvar but the Bhuvar of Bhu. It is these worlds

Record of Yoga 135

that must first be seen & felt; the others can at present [ ] 1 only beentered in Samadhi.

The perception of the one Jnanam Brahma in all is today verystrong; but its grades & positions are still unstably harmonised, eg thegeneral Manomaya Purusha in the Manastattwa taking the ananda ofthe various egos who know not themselves to be He, the same inthe Anandatattwa of the Manas, the individual Manomaya Purushawatching the egoistic manas as the observing mind of an actor mightwatch his active mind on the stage, the Manomaya Purushottama inthe cosmos & the same in the individual, the ego unconscious of itstrue self, the wider Manomaya aham conscious of it, yet differentiated. The Anandam Brahma is now beginning to be seen in theindividbal more frequently & vividly.

The restlessness & impatience & weariness of the environmentalPrana with the contradictions, confusions & resistances that persist inthe siddhi, still forces itsdf at times on the system, especially whenthe exiled intellectual devatas besiege & attack the city, no longerhoping to recover sway but to delay the perfect siddhi & revengethemselves for their expulsion.

This siege & attack developed in the afternoon into a violentcrisis, characterised by all the old movements except absoluteobstruction & intended to break down the growing siddhi & destroythe authority of the lipi and other instruments of the vijnana. It isnoticeable that in spite of confusion, anger, pain & unfaith, theactivity of the vijnaI!a & the principles of sraddha laid down in thepre-existent siddhi could not be entirely silenced, but applied themselves persistently to the confused thoughts, vanis, lipis, that camewithout being deterred by the chaos of errors & half truths thatwas raised. An immense but ill-coordinated activity of thought, lipi,telepathy etc accompanied the attack; the attack & the defensedisputed possession of this outburst of activity & tried to make itthe instrument of error & truth, confusion & a better coordinationrespectively. Nevertheless, the deficiencies of the previous vijnanasiddhi have been accentuated by the disturbance and a manif~st

confusion now reigns, instead of the orderly advance which was beingdeveloped; nor does the mind know which suggestion it is to believe

I MS can (extraneous)

136 SRI AUROBINDo: Archives and Research

or which to reject as error & misplacement.Ananda of physical pain has once more commenced; it is

noticeable that pain of burning, pain of blows, nervous or muscularpain of disease, even pain of pressure are associated up to a certaindegree with ananda simultaneous or subsequent in manifestation, butpain of wounds, touches on the raw flesh etc is less amenable &except in the ant's bite is as yet entirely divorced from ananda.

Image (1) The same stairs as seen in a former image .. a dollon the lower steps; a little child coming down some way above. Thesculptures on the walls are clearer, some grotesque, some accurate &graceful, but unimaginative reproductions of daily life.

(2) Animal scene from the 2d Manwantara. I

(3) Three scenes from the first [Manwantara), regarding the personage described in the lipi as "Iarlaus". 2

Utthapana of neck & leg for 15 minutes, not maintained longer,because of the successful intrusion of muscular effort in place of thenatural mahima. Laghima was strong, mahima defective.

Mar 26 Thursday.Sortilege. (1) fcf(i41~Cfl€l4"ftq1~ ~~ ctiY.i ~ qfO::sdWlfti t.\-

~: WIR\i!':u:i1¥1I~ ~RlilfflRl. Kathak Upanishad. p [54.)3Referring to the difficulty noted yesterday of the ill-harmonised

perceptions of the various bhavas, Manomaya etc, & also to thedifficulties of the many various movements in the vani, etc; the ruleis given that all must be seen as Paramatman & Para Purushah,Krishna, in the two states of status & dynamis, rest & motion.

(2) Are all mere representatives & agents of the Standard. Storyof Trusts (Collins) p. 106

This is a very remarkable instance of the sortilege; for there is noconnection between the Kathakopanishad & the Story of Trusts, yeta sortilege immediately taken from the latter after the interpretationof one from the former completes it & supplies precisely the thoughtneeded for rounding off its unfinished suggestion. All the words arethe exact words needed- "All" "mere" "represe·ntatives" "agents""Standard["). It is so, that all things in the world are now to be

I See Sri Aurobindo: Archives and Research 3: 193., Name unclear in MS., MS74.

Record of Yoga .137

regarded in relation to the standard Being, the Sarva Ananta JnanaAnanda Krishna. Note that before taking the second sortilege, thebook was pointed out & the indication given that the second sortilegewould supply something still needed. All this shows an intelligent,omniscient & all-combining Mind at work which Uses everything inthe world as its instrument & is superior to the system of relations &connections already fixed in this world. It can use the most incoherentthings harmoniously for one purpose. Nor is this an isolated instance& therefore classable as a mere coincidence,-instances & proofs arenow crowding on the mind.

Lipi is now again developing kaushalya; instances of tejomaya,jyotirmaya, varnamaya have suddenly come' & are or tend to be,

. unlike the former rare instances, at once clear & stable.Lipis.

1. Tardy results-isolated results.2. Joyfully exhaust the intellectuality.3. Degeneration of telepathy.

Trikaldrishti is now being developed on the principle of affirmation, ie everything is accepted as a fact, only the precise incidence &value of the fact has to be disengaged from the rude & inaccurateimpression on the sensational mind. The importance of the unfulfilledtendency, intention or impulse physical, vital, mental or supramental, conscious, subconscious or super-conscious, is being emphasised - its indispensable importance both in determining the eventual action or result, in fixing its efficient value and chances ofpermanence or finality & in influencing future eventuality. It is nowproved beyond doubt that the mental perception of these unfulfilledenergies is not an error, proved by the constant unexpected fulfilmentof those that had been put aside as errors; the vulgar test of reality,viz bodily fulfilment, is no longer needed by the mind for sraddha.The perfect trikaldrishti of eventuality will, it is supposed, emergeout of this mahadbhava of the telepathic mind, by the freer playof the higher vijnana in its fourfold quality. At present it is thetelepathic trikaldrishti that is active and this, though it has beenproved capable of sustained, detailed & complex accuracy, is notfirm, but easily descends from the correct appraisement of event &tendency, to a mere mahat perception of tendencies open to falsestress & false selection of the event.


Images (In the Clouds).1. Yesterday & today-of a Pramatha Rakshasa (5th or 6th

Manwantara) war[,] men hastening to battle, men fighting, a warchariot & fighter, a youth giving news to his sister on the way tobattle,-the same face, a modem Teutonic face reappearing alwaysas one of the leaders, recognisable especially by the helmet,moustache & small aquiline face (middle-aged). Period Kaliyuga; awar of great historic importance.

2. A dancing girl of the saI1le age, strong aquiline face, inloose transparent draperies. This seems to be a Roman period of theKali. A handsome & imperial race, but already weakening in type.The bhava is that of men doomed to defeat.

3. Images of the opposite nation, a man & a woman, ugly,strong, fierce, Pisacha-Pramatha in type; the face expresses a diabolical cruelty & hunger. It is intimated that in this war the youngRomanic leader in the war-chariot is victorious, but the eventualvictory is to a modified race mixed of these two races, which overthrows the Empire.

4 Fantastic images of animals, a lion with an impossiblyslender body', a cock face on a fourfooted animal,-belonging to theidea-world of the Manus where types are evolved & varied beforethey are fixed in the sthula.

In the same way as in the trikaldrishti, so in the rest of the siddhi& the lipi affirmation is being enforced. Every feeling & movement,even those that are apparently wrong or futile, has to be acceptedtemporarily as a factor in the eventual intention,-so also everyevent, however hostile. The habit of right stress will evolve hereafter& produce the right harmony.

In the afternoon return of yesterday's asiddhi, the ashanti lessviolent, though sufficiently acute, but the asiddhi more complete.The chaos lasted throughout the afternoon well into the evening.Contradiction in fact of the former lipis "Joyful exhaustion of theintellectuality etc."

Images - In Lamp(1) Yesterday - the girl of the first image grown up to

womanhood & another (n)1

J The meaning of this symbol is not known.

Record of Yoga 139

(2) Today-Three of the same crossing a river by some rudekind of plank or tree bridge-three (n)

(3) Horses of that aeon -clumsy in build, long-eared. Oneon the bank of a river listening with head turned & earspricked to some noise on the opposite bank.

Ananda of vishayas is growing in smell, sight & hearing. Beautyis manifesting in all faces & forms, but this janamaya drishti of theshuddhananda is still resisted & laboriously contradicted from time totime & lowered piecemeal to the chidghana or ahaituka perceptions.Today ananda of the painful touch on exposed flesh began, but didnot go very far.

Subjectively the Ananda of the pure'mind, Swar, has beenconstantly manifest, & except in the attacks of asiddhi, dominant;the separate activities of the ananda of bhuvar are being expelledor discouraged. Today the anandamay Tapas of the Swar is beingrevealed; hitherto the Tapas of mind has always been of Bhuvar &not the anandamay Tapas of bhuvar, but the pranamaya rajasic,unquiet, full of desire or effort, nibhrishta-tavishi. This now afflictsfrom outside the system only. Vani has also once manifested from theAnanda of Jana.

The ostensible object of the movement of disturbance is to getrid of the intellectual interference and destroy the obstruction to apermanent ascent beyond the vijnanabuddhi. The chief feature hasbeen a total destruction of the reliability of the telepathic trikaldrishti; only the mere telepathic perceptions of present tendencyremain accurate & valid. As yet, however, the mind can put no fixedconfidence, in the midst of the confusion, in any indication given. It isevident, at any rate, that the disintegration of the present faculty &inefficient telepathic trikaldrishti is intended and is being hastened bythe Power that directs the Yoga.

Lipis.1. Assist the degeneration of the telepathy- twice repeated.2. (Much later) Affirm the ideality against the intellectuality3. Tuesday . . thyself- 4. Dictionary (Tuesday refers

also to this lipi).The last thing at night the higher ideality, not the highest,

the intuitional not the revelational began to be affirmed in script &vani & fluent vangmaya thought, but could not be enforced in the


perceptive thought. The manifestation of the Deva in the Adharaseems to have commenced.

Mar 27.The mental powers of the higher Bhuvar expelled from control

of the thought & perception & deprived of support from the higherSwar are now acting as a strong obstructional power and attempt tointercept and denaturalise every suggestion from the vijnana to theSwarvati buddhi. For this reason the jnana & trikaldrishti in thethought are not able to manifest themselves & even the telepathy ismuch hampered. The Vani & Script, however, seem now to bebeyond attack or obscuration. The Lipi suffers by its right (vijnanamaya) interpretation being intercepted or seized & distorted; ~his

disability is shared by the rppa. Pseudo-vani still occurs, but is easilydetected & carries with it no authority.

The truth of intuitional vijnana has now begun to be enforced &.the task of discouraging & excluding the habit of mental interceptionor interpretation has been taken in hand. The mind is to be a passiverecipient & channel, not an active rational & perceptional agent.

Dasya- TertiaryDasyabhava has now taken a new form & is being reconstituted

as obedience to the Master in the adhara, with Prakritic agencies asmere distributory functionaries of the Tapas of action & eventually ofthe Tapas of thought. Up till now the dasya was either obedience toa distant Master in the Cosmos or at least, when not distant externalto the Adhara, & to Prakritic agencies who were often sahankara& opposed the direct command from the Master. Dasya was firstprimary, that is a free subjection of the Will on the basis of a potentialindependence, secondly, secondary, that is, a mechanical subjectionof the adhara independent of the personal Will to the Prakriti, last,tertiary, a complete subjection, mechanical & volitional to theIshwara with the Prakriti only as a channel or jada agent. The tertiaryhas also its three stages, one in which the volition was dominant in theconsciousness not as free, but as accompanying & approving themovement which, though at first mechanically compulsory, might besuspended if the volition long opposed it, a second in which thePrakritic control was dominant though as a compelled & compulsoryagent of a remote or veiled Ishwara and a third, now finally emerging,

Record of Yoga 141

in which the assent of the Jiva is given compulsorily & independentlyof any freedom of choice in the Sakshi, the Prakriti is purely a jadachannel & not an agent, & the compulsion from the Ishwara direct,omnipresent and immanent. The bhava of the dasya tends to its rightrelation of the bandini dasi with the characteristic madhur bhava ofthat relation,-a relation already familiar & frequent to the Prakritior Devi in the system, but not yet permanent in the consciousness.

VijnanaThe referential action of the vijnana by which a suggestion first

manifests deflected or overstressed in the buddhi & is then referred tothe vijnana for right interpretation, is being constantly shown &condemned. It stimulates the mahadbhava'of the satyam, but isunable 'to arrive at the ritam. It might arrive at a sort of secondaryritam after a long struggle & development, but that is not nowintended, although it must be done at a later stage of the humanadvance in this age. At present it must be confined only to those whoare incapable of the primary vijnana action.

RupaFormerly all kinds of rupa used to be manifested spasmodically,

even to the most perfectly developed. That siddhi has by an increasing pressure of asiddhi been disintegrated in the jagrat, & has now tobe reconstituted on a surer and more natural foundation. Rupa is oftwo kinds.

(1) Seen in the personal consciousness as image of a remotereality either in the mental akashas or the physical (prana & anna)akashas.

(2) Seen as actual form of things in the jagat or as linga image ofthe actual form or body~

The first is of two kinds according to perfection of manifestation(1) inchoate (2) complete

of three according to fullness of material-(1) crude-consisting only of the crude material (saptarchi

of Agni[)], ie. 1 prakasha. 2. fire. 3. vidyut or varna4 jyoti- 5 tejas 6 dhuma. 7 chhaya.

(2) dense-consisting of material developed into substanceof consistency

(3) developed-when the substance has developed lifelikeappearance of reality


of two according to circumstance of manifestation-(1) reflection of form seen in sthula, whether real or image(2) spontaneous, with no stimulation from any other form.

and finally either (1) stable or (2) unstable.The perception of Iinga images & actual forms in the pranajagat

(has] I now become entirely complete, definite & developed, but isas yet of a momentary stability & usually stimulated rather thanspontaneous, ie of birds, insects etc seen in the sthula akasha. Theflight of kites & crows is constantly watched for the telepathy &trikaldrishti; therefore, the image of kite & crow are frequent; actualforms however, are more often of other birds not usually seen orwatched.

In the rupa of image, all is being rebuilt again in the attempt toevolve a habitual combination of perfect complete clear & developedspontaneous form with a firm stability in the akash. For chitra rupashave now a confirmed perfection & stability, although all are notcomplete; the inchoate form still persists in cloud forms etc where thematerial is unstable, but even there the complete form is sufficiently

\

frequent. Today rupas, individuals & groups, are occurring in theakasha which are complete but not clearcut, momentarily stable butnot with a useful & durable stability. Moreover they are all crudewith the extreme crudity. Other rupas in the akasha are fleeting &,though clearcut, seldom complete. Clearcut & complete crude rupasof a dense or developed crudity occur, but are also fleeting. Herethere is as yet nothing that can be called an assured advance, as aUthis has happened before, been exceeded & then again destroyed. Insamadhi there is retrogression & an old oft-repeated process oflaborious rebuilding, the articulate thought in the jagrat prolongsitself into the swapna or sushupta of the mind & attempts to evolve asavijnana samadhi full of perceptive & vangmaya savijnana thought,sight etc in place of the present savikalpa samadhi. In the process ashadow of the old discontinued savichara & savitarka movementstends to recur, but is rejected & has no power or vitality. Imagesoccur which have a kind of broken continuity & show part of thescene vividly, eg objects & action, but not the actor; this continuity issometimes of action & mental rupa after loss of the bodily drishti.

I MS have

Record of Yoga 143

Tivra & kama occur in samadhi & continue after waking. Noneof these are new circumstances. There is therefore as yet no realadvance. The confusions of the savikalpa continue. Antardrishtajagrat imitates at a distance the bahirdrishta.

Animal forms are now coming freely & with some perfection inthe chitra, but not so freely as the human or as landscape. They aremore frequent than others in the antardarshi. Inanimate objects arestill limited in their variety & freedom of occurrence.

In the afternoon there was again an automatic recurrence of theconfusion, ashanti & revolt of the last few days; it revived as a resultof anritam in the savikalpa samadhi and persisted for some two hoursor more while recurrent nirananda and sensitiveness to asiddhi &asatya and the absence of the assured & sunlit jnana have been leftbehind as a deposit of this thrice repeated disturbance. The anger &revolt of the Prakriti at any pronounced & successful disturbance offinality in the first chatusthaya are caused by a sense of the tvtalexternality and want of justification in this wanton movement. It is nolonger asatyam or other asiddhi that is the true cause of the selfidentification by the Jiva with this movement of revolt. Ananda isbeing reestablished in the general bhavas, but continually contradicted & opposed in the detail; the nirananda is supported by the Jiva& hence lingers.

Morning Lipis. (Mostly Akasha)1. African . . rapidity (Really, two separate lipis)2. Jollity - festivity. (From yesterday, often repeated

unexpectedly fulfilled this evening)3 Intellectuality .. type of the intellectualities. (Current lipis)4 Fortnightly . . twilight. Subsequently suggested that every

fortnight shows a fresh growth of intensity in the ideality.5. The benefit of the totality .6. Deathless intensity8\ Disengaging itself (In reference to the rupa)7 \ Joyful exhaustion - disintegration of the self intellectuality.

(This is often repeated in various forms & temporarily established in fact only to be broken again)

I Written in this order and with these numbers in the manuscript.


9. Ghose. (Reference to D~. K. D. Ghose)10 Finality telepathy & trikaldrishti. ie firmly begun-

fulfilled (May 21st)

11 White.. whistle . . write . . yes . . India . . fish . . light.(Said to be all connected in sense. All occurred near eachother in chitrao Fish refers to the rupa.) 1

12. Catholiques . . brahmaniques (beginning to be fulfilled-May 21~~)

13. Disengage the siddhi from the asiddhi first in the telepathy.(Direction to Shakti)

14 kU [kaddj-(Guj [Gujarati] letters = When. Time to be fixedin the trikaldrishti)

15. The intensity of the lipi .. legibility. (ie growing tow.ardsperfection).

16. Small . . faith . . eager. (ie the eager faith belongs to thealpa not the mahat)

17 Already suggestions are of the ideality.19 2 Tuesday is fixed for the perfection ofthe blaze. (Finality is not

suggested)18 2 It is against the systematic legistk temperament that the spirit

uality is directed.20. The situation in England will develop with surprising rapidity.

(fulfilled)21 Beehive. 21.a. Faith-filling22 Transition period . . (To be read with 19)23. Suffer (twice-fulfilled in the afternoon)24. St Joseph's College-(daily & frequent)-refers to far future.25. Les Meilleures dispositions26. Joyfully exhaust struggle. (Direction to Shakti)27. Suffer always, changed to Suffer always cfelight to all eternity28. Suffering is always present (as delight) to all eternity. (The

words in brackets were afterwards added)29. Saturday to Tuesday. Said to be days of unbroken advance.

I Th~ first of th~ rupas /ist~d be/ow., Wrin~n in this o,d~, and with theM numb~n in tM manuscript.

Record of Yoga 145

Trikaldrishtis.(1) Continuance for some time of the struggle between soil &

purity in the teeth. (In the sense given not fulfilled, for the teethwhich are at present the field of the shiftings changed to a pure white,in accordance with an opposite suggestion not then believed or recorded)

(2) Image & form in pranajagat will now acquire a motionalstability. (There were two or three initial movements of fulfilment)

(3) Rupa is still to develop slowly,-some stable clearness ofform today. (Slight fulfilment noted in the body of the record).

(4) Trikaldrishti will not firmly emerge t9day. (Amply fulfilled)(5) The trikaldrishti of exact time & place will now begin to

general1se itself.

Rupas. Symbolic.Eye-fish. The eye is vision; the fish travel.

SophieK. B. J [Khaserao B. Jadav] in Pisacha period (Samadhi)

Mar. 28. Opening sorti/ege(1) ~ ~ ~~~ ern fcml~~~~~I

Indra = pure Mind. Indu = Ananda. lshtaye =for sacrifice orfor wish fulfilled or for impulse or force of action. Vrisha =as masteror strongly or abundantly.~ = going straight up or ahead.

The sortilege indicates the control of buddhi by the Anandatattwa of mind .in its full force & abundance for thought, emotion& action and the forward & upward movement of the Yoga freefrom internal enemies. This movement begins decidedly today &progressively frees itself from the relics of the old movement ofbattle & struggling advance. Hitherto the movement was only beingprepared. Now it ':; ready.

(2)~~f7mli~~1~~~~~~

ern IIie the Srutis of the Vijnana are to be established by Ananda in

Vijnana Buddhi which governs all the lower actions; the self fixity ofthe higher Nature in its law of works is to be sown as a seed in all thenature of the vijnana buddhi and perfected as com is perfected by the


rains & cleared [of] 1 chaff on the threshing floor.This will take a longer time to fulfil than the first sortilege

TrikaldrishtiThe ashatru movement is now possible in the knowledge because

the intellect is now purified of any wish to dominate the system anduse the ideality for its own purposes. The bauddha narah stillfrom habit intercept or misrender or try to anticipate the vijnanasuggestions, but it is done unintentionally and mechanically and themovement corrected as soon as its [il]legitimacy is perceived. Trikaldrishti is once more acting above the telepathic trikaldrishti, a littleobscurely, but correctly; except when it leaves the telepathic overstress to figure as trikaldpshti, it is already able to indicate' theimmediate event in seen objects & occurrences & even a little beyondthe immediate event.

It is only, however, from internal enemies that the movement isfree; the external are still there though they work from a moreremote station, dure not anti. Here the Ananda is attempting toregard their opposition as from God, as a means of progress & by thatconstant impression on the intellect to prevent the return of suffering& permit the steadily joyful exhaustion of the struggle & of the activeintellectuality itself. But for this the mind is not yet prepared owing toinsufficient faith in divine protection and aid throughout, this defectpermits the outer enemy to cloud the mind entirely from time to timeso that the nirananda may have free play on the basis of unfaith. Nordoes the Jiva at present wish to renounce the unfaith, owing to thepersistent experience of self-delusion in the past & the determinationnot to be a willing .party to self-delusion in the future. To everythingtherefore that is not yet proved by experience, there is only a provisional faith given if any, ie a mixture of faith & scepticism, an "Itmay be" or at most "It may well be" or "It probably is so."

There is now a double movement; the first, to replace the undefended intuitional ideality by an intuitional ideality defended byviveka; for it is found that when viveka is combined with the intuition(Daksha with Sarama), then there is less chance of the intellectmisinterpreting or interfering with the truth. The second movement isto develop behind the higher or intuitional ideality an assistant

I MSoff

Record of Yoga 147

revelatory (highest) ideality on a larger scale than any that has yetbeen manifested. Both, however, are on the lower rather than on thehigher levels of their respective planes.

The difficulty now felt by the intellect with regard to the tapas, iswhy there should be insistence by the tapas on a movement not willedby God. So long as there is ignorance, the tapas may be exercised inthe confidence that it is a means of God's workings even when theevent is to be the opposite of the result attempted; but in the presentstage this rule no longer satisfies as a rule of action. It is evident thatthere is a movement towards the renunciation of preferential Tapasnot in accordance with knowledge. It is nOllikely however that thismovement will be seriously effective for some time to come. Still,from henceforth, intellectual tapas in action must be renounced, likeintellectual tapas in knowledge.

The vangmaya is now re-ascending to the inspirational form &it appears that it will act for some time indifferently in the higher& lower vijnanas & vijnanabuddhi, but always with a tendency tofinish rapidly its work in the vijnana buddhi & confine itself to thepure vijnana. A more general movement of the subjective thoughttrikaldrishti is being attempted as opposed to the objective trikaldrishti which follows the movement of an extant object or presentevent. In the former the difficulty of the intellectual belief is thatthere is no means of physical verification or contradiction exceptwhen it is applied to history or the past of living men; in the secondthe telepathic difficulty (of misplacement & overstress) is yet unannulled & really unconquered in the normal perception, even ifpartially dominated when the siddhi is active.

The symbolic rupa of the fish & the eye has been fulfilled orbegun to be fulfilled this afternoon, in images & vijnana definitions ofthe images. There have also been new symbolic and other images.

1. In antaldarshi-The golden Kali four-armed & weaponed, destroying the

Asuras; a young man rushes at & throws his arms around her in filiallove not hatred; he is spared & lifted up & carried away in her armsno longer as a young man but as a boy. Symbolic of the process ofconversion from the Asuro-Rakshasic mind to the divine balabhavaby the embrace of Kali. The visitation of Kali seems to be intended tosave him from his Asura environment now turned hostile to him as to


Prahlada. Oy. [Query] Was it in this way' that the legends of thePuranas were formed[?] Jyotirmay Images.

2. Image of the Pashu-raid. A woman more mature of body &face than the other, fleeing with her two children. In the secondimage she has abandoned her children, but is seized by the hair by theyounger Barbarian & is falling backward into his grasp.

The antardarshi, it is to be noted, no longer merely follows theBahirdarshi, but is active in its own way & on its own lines. Akashaimages continue to develop stability & cleamess in the Bahirdrishta,but the progress made each day is infinitesimal. .

Later in the aftemool1 the rupa disengaged itself more clearlyfrom the veil of the asiddhi; instances occurred, other than thejyotirmaya & vamamaya bird, of crude rupa clear & yet stablefor a second or two with a slight interval or tendency to intervalof momentary obscuration, eg a shadowy hand clear, though notcomplete in detail, with a coat-sleeve & white cuff, figures of women,men on horseback, some of them entirely complete & clear.

Gandha & rasadrishti once more emerged, stronger & freer thanbefore.

Gandhas1. Of wine (no wine anywhere near)2 Of cooked food in the room near the nose or rather in the

pranakasha3. Of bread warm from the oven.4 Immediately afterwards of stale bread5. Of eggs, salt & butter-Repeated ]

later in the eveninglong continued

6. Of salad, of vinegar & fragrant veg-etables, of raw onion

7. Vague & subtle, of flowers.8. Of tobacco.

Taste1. Taste of butter, first vague & 'subtle in other akasha, then in

sthula palate, very long continued.2. Taste of toast, with similar stages.

All these were without adhara sensible or visible; they can nolonger be referred to a distant gandha keenly felt or any physical

Record of Yoga 149

cause.3 {No notation]

There is an attempt of the trikaldrishti finally to reemerge afterbeing veiled in the afternoon. In accordance with the Script, "Therewill be no such return of suffering tomorrow, although there may beattempts and touches," there was no repetition of the last three days'crisis, only in the morning some heavy but passing touches, & in theafterooon & evening one or two quite fleeting attempts.

LipisReferee. ie the referential process has still to be used for some

time until the external intellectuality can be dissipatedOrange Kingdom-jyotirmaya lipi-6range is the symbol of

psychic'knowledge & powerThe tapatya . . the gloryInfinite telepathy

Rupa. SymbolicMomentary incomplete tejas-surya followed by krishna-surya.

Mar 29.Opening Sortilege.(l)a. ~~ \ilfili<li!!ct~~~~: I

a:tfu' m:q~ i4l;10IWd~~~ q1§i!!~OI:

~ lfmI' 1:iT~ '#lItll'lUl~~ I

~ 1¥T ~;it ermR ~~~ ~:IApplied both subjectively & objectively-~-without the

tejasic egoism of aggression - ~ in forward action internal &external-~ - seeks divine knowledge & power.

(l)b. ~~ fi ~~ 'tl6Iu1T~ 1f1'T I1¥T ;it ~:m aiNR~{l~ld 'Sf~ qmfiJ@Rtftqfi! II

sasnina = preserving . q&uJr = satisfyingIn the morning the vijnana was held back & the intellect in

the external swabhava allowed a free play; it is still able to occupythe outer mind (~~ RitEijtlR!) but not with intensity or withany great or exultant power of pervasion (ugra, viduharshin); still itseeks with unillumined mind to seize on knowledge & power (~lfmI' ~).


Lipi1. After telepathy, trikaldrishti. Telepathy is already infinite

in its movement, but not yet sure. Trikaldrishti is hampered even inits mahattwa. Telepathy cannot be sure without trikaldrishti eithertelepathic or pure vijnanamaya.

2 Telepathic Trikaldrishti (Intensely vivid lipi, varnamaya)There are now three forms of trikaldrishti working, the tele

pathic which is extraordinarily accurate when not besieged by thetelepathic overstress, the intuitional which acts but is rather blurred& indistinct & uncertain, the revelatory which is veiled and revealedonly in the buddhi, therefore especially open to misinterpretation. Atthe same time with the diminution of the intellectual tapas, the daivyatapas manifests more & more & introduces often the most sudden& decisive movements in the object of the will, ego Biren's feverexpelled in less than an hour, the frequent cessation of disorder in thelong-disordered washtap immediately on or soon after aishwarya, therepeated alteration by birds of their slow opposite or wheeling flightinto a sudden & long-continued rush in the direction imposed. Stillthe atmosphere & habit of resistance still remains.

The afternoon & evening taken up by R's [Richard's] visit, Bh's[Bharati's] & translation of Rigveda 11.23 & 24. Bh. has fresh Yogicexperiences,-this time of the voice of God & miraculous cure.Aiswarya operated today consecutively & with small resistance inthe flight of the bird. This has happened before, but then as anexceptional circumstance. The value of the present siddhi is that it is a .part of a general and pervading advance. Rupa maintains itself buthas not appreciably advanced. Vijnana is exceedingly powerful inVeda.

Bj. gets the vision of the colour-body with regard to R-behindthe physical body-yellow in blue, then red, red in black, again redand once more yellow in blue.

Today with the Veda, the literary work of the Dharma hasdefinitely begun; proof is given of the general successful pressure ofthe spiritual power for the works of the Dharma in others; but it is notyet regularised. In Kriti & Samaja the power is not yet ripe fororganised action.

Veda 11.23, 24, 25, 26-completed today. This shows a greatadvance in sustained energy.

Record of Yoga 151

SortilegeEn Preparation. Les Dieux. i"e the Devas of the Ritam, Agni,

Soma, Brihaspati, Varona are being settled & manifested at last inthe system (griha; sadanam).

Mar. 30.Mahadbhava of the trikaldrishti is asserting itself, but being

often still confused with the telepathy it is mixed with the trikaldrishtiof possibilities & is therefore still impure (asuddha, shankara).

Opening Sortilege.3tf~Jiql~4 ~ -q~~~ I

~~~ 'lCf<'r~ ~: II. ie· Forces of Action & Delight are to be combined and constitute

the Ananda of perfect self expressions in the material life.Trikaldrishti of Time is beginning vaguely to arrange itself, eg

Richard's arrival on the 29th, not as had been arranged on the 28th

,

his visit on the same day, & less clearly in the afternoon. But themind has as yet no confidence in this action of the trikaldrishti.Moreover exact time is now seldom right; the former siddhi is stilldormant.

The day again was mostly passed in Kriti. Veda [II.l2?

Mar 31. Tuesday.After a struggle the freer action of the higher vijnana has begun

in preparation for its becoming the full action & absorbing all otheractivities into itself. A signal example of its minute action in tapas hasbeen given in the action of a wasp which was guided to a narrow holein the glass & out contrary to all probability, as it had to abandon fiveor six other natural Jines of action to go direct to this exit. Theaishwarya began with resistance & crooked movement (hvara) &ended in the straight & spontaneous action (riju). This is a sign of thecourse that will be followed with the tapas. As yet, however, theaction of the higher vijnana is in the vijnanabuddhi instead of being inthe vijnana & on the vijnanabuddhi; unless it is in the vijnana therecannot be the blaze predicted in the Jipi for Tuesday.

Opening Sortilege

(1) ~:~l~ ~ lpffi cR~ fcffi M«ift~q'ii ~ I"fM"'(j«CIq~ ~ (qJ~~ II


The suggestion of worldly life in this sortilege having raisedspiritual doubts, the solution was promised in a second sortilege

(2)~~~ aqlt4"'M~d04(4 ~ e~lIrh"'lfi:<'''ElqrSfiid~I<fJJIIR(4l1ili¥l ~~'ii:El4{qWJqINRa1El"l{qI((q~ ';{ fitlR1<;jQQ,.~I

This justification leaving still some doubt as to the workingjustification, a complete & decisive justification was promised in thethird sortilege

(3)~ =~"""'~H::r.:lq=l1. oqqfu~ 1Rm~ Id~f.AAlfUl ~ ~JQT let' ~~: II

Therefore it is a vijnanamaya muktabhoga arranged in the ritamthat is suggested.

Strong opposition in tlfe kritL Struggle between old discouragement & passivity & new tendency of even tapas.

April 1.Opening Sortilege

(fq ~ am~~ Rl'ffl ~: I

-q~: ~~ 'jtf~~ 31J ~I

~ ~ .3lJi 3fI '1\~: W~: I

~ ~ ~ 3'11'M'AA'<i('jI~ ~ I~ ~m: ~ ~~ 31mf.r1l

That is the movement of the pranic forces of tapas increasingmust reach & become prakashamay & firmly established luminousimpulsions; both minds becoming one movement in Tapas.

Very clear rupas are now manifest with some stability on abackground or more rarely in the Akasha. The process of disengagingthe crude rupa may be said to be on the point of completion. Powerworks more constantly in the ordinary field of its activities, & vijnanaseeks to extend itself to the direction of power. Here there are twomovements, one seeking to guide the action without insisting onknowledge, because knowledge is now only knowledge of tendencies,and one seeking to know not only tendencies but eventualities & toguide the action towards & through the eventualities. As yet nothingclear has emerged.

April 2.Doubt as to R's [Richard's] theories which are assailing the

Record of Yoga 153

mind. ego theory of kama and ego as the seed of the world. Promiseof a sortilege in reply.

Sortilege.(1) q'1~~Gql'<1<>4 ~ "'1Rlfuf~ I

~:~1Ri~~~~~11

(2) ~~~~~~~I(f ~: ~ 31fqdl«lSl~ qiw;{ I

~~~~I~:etc.

Perfect Rupas (indistinguishable in appearance from reality,only in bhava) eg a bell, scent bottle are now again manifesting, butonly for a fleeting fraction of a second. Telepatbic drishti continues towiden &l become surer & surer in its better moments, but relapsesback into confusion & false stress. The higher vijnana emerges fromtime to time out of the telepathic mind or behind it or above it.

Rupa developed in the evening, according to prediction one ortwo forms of less crude rupa & even of dense.

April 3.The blaze of the vijnana only temporary on Tuesday became

steadier & took possession of the knowledge in the form of therevelatory vijnana which has hitherto been veiled except in exceptional movements. For the most part this vijnana acts on the lowerlevels direct upon, in or close to the vijnanabuddhi. It has not yett41ken firm possession of the trikaldrishti.

Dense & developed rupa increasingly manifests but has not gothold on the akasha. The action of the tapas varies & is still exceedingly uncertain, but it has always a greater volume of effectiveness.Telepathy grows in power & efficiency. Sahitya has been for sometime suspended. Utthapana was resumed, but without any advance.

April 4. Saturday.Opening sortilege

~~~tflR~~~~~fcm:1

~~~~~~~~~IIie - When the soul is illumined & knows the three kinds of knowl

. edge of these gods (ie Swar, Bhuvar, Bhur) & their eternal birth fromthe Divine Parapurusha, Surya of the vijnana, sees in mortals the


straight & the crooked and illumines in his fulfilling power of upwardmovement their goings. This indicates a promise that the actionshall before long be illumined & guided by the revelatory vijnana. Infact this has /llready begun this morning.

Saturday was fixed in the lipi (on Tuesday) for the fulfilment ofthe movement begun on Tuesday. It has also been fixed in thethought for the beginning of a new period in the siddhi, when theYoga is to be applied fully to life; for it is the fourth anniversary of myarrival in Pondicherry.

Lipis1. The faith of love.2. The faith . . destiny (yesterday)3. Tuesday (yesterday) 5 Efficient telepathy (yesterday)4. Thursday 6. Death of the difficulty ..

filled with God (d[itt]o)The whole difficulty of the knowledge is now the difficulty of

manifesting the ritam in time with regard to the trikaldrishti, for thebrihat & the satyam of the revelatory vijnana are established, even inthe trikaldrishti; but because there is defect of the ritam, thesiddhislides back frequently to an inferior level where this knowledge canbe obstructed.

Lipis5. t Imagination . . that is a form of desire6. The glory of the ideality (is already manifested in the

Thought & is extending itself to the trikaldrishti).7. Exhaustion ofthe difficulty . . the fulfilment ofthe glory of

the ideality . . the glory of the lipi.Owing to the efflorescence' of the revelatory faculty, Agni &

Soma, the Ananda & the Tapas are now taking united & harmoniouspossession of the mind; obstacles are taking their right place in theknowledge as means and managements for the accomplishment of thedecreed end. The Ananda of obstacles & defeats is therefore nowincreasing & possible in perfection, because it is no longer a tamasicananda bringing with it cessation of Tapas. Thus a development longago insisted on & always obstructed is now being fulfilled, the view of

I Numbued in sequence 10 lhe four lipis near the rrulr8in; Ihose numbered 5 tmd 6 were apparently nolnoliJ::ed.

Record of Yoga 155

the obstacle & defeat as a step towards victory & the ananda on thatbasis, not on the basis of tamasic submission (nati) in the idea thatdefeat is the will of God. The sortilege of March 30 is now fulfilled.Agni & Soma together have become ddsushe mayas. This involvesthe fulfilment of the sortilege of the 29th

• Ni karma manyum durevasya shardhatah. That of the 1~~ Aprii & today's must follow. OnlyTuesday's still remains doubtful.

Notable fulfilments of the aishwarya now occur, eg in regard toHome Rule & the increasing tendency to settle it by agreementbetween the two parties.

Lipi-8. The delight of the ideal responsi6ility-(ie the renuncia

tion of the personal responsibility of the ego & theacceptance of the universal responsibility of the Prakriti tofulfil the commands of the Ishwara)

9. It is still . . tonight (ie still resisted in the trikaldrishtitonight success)

10. Today . .'the illumination in the trikaldrishti.It was perceived that the Ananda Brahman long increasing upon

the active consciousness would today find its permanent base andthen continue to possess the whole akasha of the being. The processhas actually begun both within & without. The general physicalbhukti is also remanifesting with a firmer grip on the body. In bothcases discomfort & pain are included in the Anandabodha which ismild & tepid, not chanda and not either saumya. Trikaldrishti isassuming the revelatory method, but the process is only at itscommencement.

April5.A strenuous & sustained attempt since yesterday evening to

bring back by all the old devices the old nirananda. Hitherto therehas been no success except in the external touches. The nearestapproach to success has been secured by the return to the old tapatya& struggle with adverse forces to bring about the Aishwarya; this isalways attended by confusion of knowledge & then by nirananda,physical discomfort of the struggle in the mind and the failure leadingto emotional pain & revolt.


Sortileges- (1) Comme une partie de la famille(2) ~~fcm ..~~~(3)~~~~ "IJ~ <J~ mQoq=t01 I

~~~~~~\1RI~11(4) ~ql"l"lUIl \iFRT~~~ \iFRT 1'~: I

~ fcf~ ~~~ ~10C(Wl(H4 ~ IIie Knowledge & Ananda, creators of the various possessions &

felicities, creators of the purified heaven of mind are also to becreators of a purified & blissful body & become protectors of all thathas been created in the being; the gods have made them the navel,central support, of the divine & immortal nature. For that it isnecessary that the full abundance of Ananda (Indo vrisha) should bemaintained in the system & the opposition should be regarded asbelonging to the operations of the favouring Shakti. Then the Aswinsare to enjoy the object pressing the Soma out of it like stones of thedistilling, to hasten to enjoyment like kites to their nest, to takeenjoyments & actions as delightful offerings to the gods & to do allthis as soul powers expressing the thing desired in the knowledge, notin the ignorance. The Aswins are the gods of vital Strength & Joy.

Veridical RupaRupa of the ear-(kama =Sruti); interpreted, Sruti, inspira

tional knowledge has to act so as to lead back the environmentalnature to drishti in the trikaldrishti. This very soon began to befulfilled.

The Srauta vijnana is now combating the return of error &evolving the finality of the certain & decisive trikaldrishti. Meanwhilethe final purification & illumination of the tapas is being prepared.

There was a perfectly vivid & unbroken continuity of singlemovement in several images of swapna-samadhi along with lifelikeperfection of the scene. But fixity does not yet establish itself.

April 6.There is an attempt to break the violently pronounced tamas

of the body which has prevented all work recently. Today therewas sahitya (Veda 11.28); yesterday some utthapana. But the tamaspersists. There is also inactivity, for the most part, of vijnana, lipi &rupa; only the Aishwarya makes slow progress.

Record of Yoga 157

Ananda Brahma is now an established element of the Brahmabodha, but it is not perfectly manifest in the. mortal object, only assomething possessing & enjoying it so that· grief, discomfort etc,while keeping their nature, are yet movements of Ananda. But thepersonal Anandamaya Purusha is only occasionally manifest.

April 7The Anandamaya Saguna becomes more & more immanent in

all objects, & what is more difficult in all beings, to the consciousvision. The vision of all movements of sensation as forms & vikaras ofAnanda-Chit-Sat is now fixed, as also the cc;>mprehensive AnandaAkasha in which all things move, & of actions as vikaras of AnandaTapas.

Today also the Mahakali Tapas seems to have been permanentlyfixed in the system free from all accompaniment of rajasic egoor of straining, unquiet, eagerness, in full harmony with the firstchatusthaya. Only faith in the destiny is needed to assure & completethe undisturbed entirety of the second chatusthaya.

The third has been largely inhibited, except for its indirect actionin the vijnanabuddhi, for the last few days, although great resultshave fixed themselves in the actuality even in the midst of this periodof 'suspense, reserve & comparatively unprogressive balance. Theissue now is as to the relations of the Maheshwari and Mahakaliforces. The Maheshwari pratistha has to be covered over entirely bythe Mahakali contents of the Mahasaraswati bhava & that again toinform itself with the colouring of the Mahalakshmi bhava (love,madhurya). All these results are preparing, but largely dosha, in theavyakta.

ApriI8!?Dream this night, after a long struggle, recovered a sufficient

coherence, not perfect,-for two separate dreams, connected inpurpose or thought but diverse in time & surroundings, were falselylinked and there was false adhyaropa of personal & present ego in theprincipal personage,- but sufficient for the vijnana to work anddisengage truth from error. There is a tendency also to recoveredactivity of coherent & thought-governed swapna-samadhi.

158 SRI AUROBINoo: Archives and Research

Lipis1. Self-existent trikaldrishti2 Disengage the faith fr0rr- its obstacles3 Authority of the lipi-exaltation of the lipi

1. Telepathy is now self-existent; trikaldrishti is to become thesame. This has now begun to be fulfilled in the telepathic parts ofthe trikaldrishti which are revealing everywhere their satyam, butnot yet their ritam, for the latter is hampered by the false actionof sense-mind in interpreting the vijnana as well as the telepathicperceptions. The self-existent vijnana trikaldrishti is also occurring attimes, imperfect, but fairly consecutive.

2. The mechanism & principles of working, the object' ofapparent retardations & relapses, deviations, errors, failures, arenow becoming so apparent that the faith in the purposeful guidanceof the Ishwara is on the point of being perfected. Faith in the ultimatefulfilment is only contradicted or held in suspense, (1) as to thephysical siddhi in times of great obscurity, (2) as to the destiny,at all times, except moments of strong force & enthusiastic sraddha.There is now restored faith in the perfect particular satyam of thetelepathy & its imperfect ritam; the same is incipient with regard tothe particular movements of the trikaldrishti where they are notchallenged by doubt or corrective intimations of other possibility inthe mind. There is deficient faith in the effective particular aishwaryaor in the general rapidity, though particular rapidity is admitted, asalso relative rapidity except in the fourth & fifth chatusthayas.

Lipi4 Aishwarya 5. astral . . astral (referring to a tendency to

consider favourably the bases of European & Theosophical mysticism)

5. E~ulting (effective aishwarya)6. Liberty (now complete except in the body)7. Exit insistent tapas - (ie physically insistent with the stress

of external desire).Physical Ananda (Kama), constantly combated & at last almost

entirefy suspended, is now again attempting to reestablish its constantrecurrence. Its intensity remains constant & has not to be rebuilt,in spite of lower touches, but its extension has been suspended & isnot yet remanifested. For one day, at least, there was a practical

Record of Yoga 159

suspension of all kamananda (maithuna) except, possibly, in obscureror suppressed movements.

Ritam of trikaldrishti is still successful[ly] resisted, although itis more frequent than it was when the forward movement wassuspended. It is, however, progressively purifying itself of error.Aishwarya & ishita are also becoming more & more effective &exultantly effective, in accordance with the morning's Hpi; for the baror prohibition against exultation is now withdrawn, because harsha ofthe lower mind (joy of fulfilled desire) is now being replaced bychanda saumyata of the anandamaya observation in the desirelesssakshi. Formerly, will always created imme~atelya reactive opposition which brought about, and more often than not with eitherimmediate or eventual effectuality, different or reverse movements.Now this principle of resistance is less frequent, less confident or notat all confident, tired and seldom eventually effective except in thepure physical object or in things of the karma & even there its poweris slowly but steadily waning. The triumphant immediate force withwhich it acted, is almost dead; when a ghost of it revives, it is almostimmediately tired, & if it persists, persists with difficulty.

The Anandamaya Lilamaya Saguna is now being establishedin the conscious observation of persons & objects, although theAnandamaya Saguna is the usual bodha & there is a tendency ofrelapse to the mere Jnanamaya Saguna, but this is comparativelyrare. Anandamaya Saguna tends to be the assured level (sanu) -oftheBrahmadarshana from which there is a steady tendency to rise to theLilamaya. Formerly.the sense of the Lilamaya Krishna or Narayanaused to blot out the Jiva and, also, it used to be isolated without thebackground & continent of the Sarva Brahman or the pervasive

. content of the Sarva Anant3 Jnana Brahman,-it was divineAnandamaya personality concentrated in a single individual being.All the suspensions, relapses & retardations of the Brahmadarshanaduring the last few years have had for their object the removal ofthese & other defects and the development & harmonious unificationof its various aspects, Saguna & Nirguna, Purusha-Prakriti, IshwaraShakti, Prajna-Hiranya-Virat, Sarva with Ananta, Sarva-Anantawith Jnana, Sarva-Ananta-Jnana with Ananda etc. The unificationseems r;lOW to be approaching completion.

The interpretation of the lipi is also now acquiring a firmer


sureness and quickness & with this movement there keeps pace agrowing authority of the lipi. All intimations of knowledge are nowaccepted not only in theory & faith but in practice & perception assatya, & both the tendency of the mind & its capacity for discoveringthe true source & nature of all suggestions is increasing. Only theprimary error of estimation & its subsequent uncertainties have to begot rid of, in order firmly to base the ritam.

April 9~? Thursday.Tuesday & Thursday were fixed in the lipi as the dates of a

definite result in the siddhi. Tuesday was fruitful openly only in thesecond chatusthaya, but this proved to be the starting-point ofa strong. siddhi in the third. Today, the aishwarya-ishita-vasqitashow a strong perfection which amounts in its best movements, &these are frequent, to a control only checked by a slight ineffectiveresistance or rather passive inertia & unwillingness in the materialworld. This is marked in the lipi by the figure sixty. Originally thevalues of the siddhi of power used to be 1, 6 & 10. Afterwards thelipi showed 20, 30 & 40. At 40, which is now tending to be thenormal pitch, there is an ordinary effectiveness, subject to variationsof completeness & definiteness, attended by a constant, but notultimately successful resistance. At 60 the resistance is only initialand not maintained. At 80 the resistance will be only a memoryof inertia. At 100 there will be a complete mastery. Moreoverthis power is not confined to the joint action of aishwarya-ishita,aishwarya vashita or vashita-ishita, but is attaching itself to theirseparate action as well. The old levels of efficiency & dull resistancestill continue to manifest, especially in massed actions & in theresistance of finalities, but even here their strength is much diminished. Instances of swift & decisive siddhi are accumulating rapidlyeg the rapid denouement of the Army crisis, the non-resistance ofthe Unionists in East Fife, the relaxation of the Ulster difficulty,the growth of the idea of Federal Home Rule, the South Africansolution, events in Bengal, tendencies in Pondicherry etc. Evenin physical things the power increases, eg the stoppage of thedisordered pipe twice in two minutes after it had been runningpersistently for three or four days & was at the moment in a violentstate of disorder. Exact fulfilment also is now approaching the point

Record of Yoga 161

of establishment.Today the Lilamaya Purusha is manifesting itself in the Lilamaya

Saguna as the normal perception; the other still remains as the loweror foundational level to which the pratibodha goes back when it is notsamahita.

Trikaldrishti of time, place & arrangement is now growing asself-existent. knowledge, but exactness of minute, day, spot, preciseline, precise succession are still in an indeterminate condition ormanifest as the less frequent rather than the more frequent circumstance of the vision.

As a result of today's & yesterday's mov.ement an incipient faithin the destiny is coming to be established, but it is still resisted by thesceptical intellect in Nature which demands more direct, decisive &personal proofs. These, it is intimated, will not long be wanting.

Sortileges(1) Obtenir Ie prestige par la victoire (Kriti)(2) Vouloir (exclusivement) la delivrance de ses vassaux. ie of

the inferior Devas-but exclusively means simply to theexclusion of other ideas of justice, injustice, merit, demerit,good karma, bad karma. (Dharma & Kriti)

(3) M. reservait ses forces essentielles pour l'unique but deconquerir les plus hautes initiations. Maintenant illui fallait sesoustraire ases magnanimes ambitions, vouloir etc.

Kamananda continues to recur, but has not yet recovered its oldforce. The nirananda unaccompanied by ananda still clings to a fewtouches of discomfort and some degrees of pain, but otherwise theliberty of the body from the dwandwa of pleasure & pain throughtheir unity or companionship is now well established..

April 10th •

Dream last night was triumphantly clear, rational & coherent &free from all present personality & present associations; the dreamerwas entirely absent in person from the dream & confined to themost diminished role of the sakshi,-viz an undefined sentience thatwatched, (not even a sentient person,) & was not even aware of itselfat the time, but only remembered itself after the dream was over.On the other hand swapnasamadhi is back in the stage of obscurestability.


Today Mahakali personality of Mahasaraswati with the Mahalaxmi colouring has manifested & the Maheshwari element has lost itsconscious place in the personality & been reduced to a base of calmsentience seen physically as a pedestal of level consciousness fromwhich the personality rises. Also the universal pure kama has remanifested contradicted only in the fibres of external being withregard to a limited number of personalities. Thus the lipi 13 which hasbeen constant recently but seemed unjustified by anything definitein the current experience has been fully vindicated. It was beingprepared dosha not ushasi. Now it is manifest, formed, ushasi.

Relation with M>:~ at last defined in the spiritual & psychicalexperience. M>:~ (Vayu) liberated from his Kali formation. The resulthas been the manifestation of Vayu in the heart-the first Devata topersonalise himself in the present consciousness.

Tertiary dasya has suddenly been restored, first in its secondaryphase, then in its tertiary fullness.

The Lilamaya Narayana bhava has now been withdrawn; theAnandamaya Saguna Brahman is constant, with occasional manifestations of the Lilamaya Krishna.

Lipi1. Falsehood of the intellectuality-inert. (The inert denial

is now being thrown away as convicted of falsehood &inutility)

2 Descend-(the devatas, the Deva).3 ()EuepaTa [thesphata] 6. [No notation]4. Society objectivise5 Intensity of the ecstasy.

Farther Samadhi resulted in the remanifestation of almost all thepast siddhi, and in one image clearness & a sufficiently long stabilitywere at last combined.

Samadhi1. A voice. "One archeveque plus."2. Symbolic image. A revolving disc, an arm coIning out of it

to seize Le Vaillant who, wading waist deep in mist, bends down as ifto hide himself in the mist, without reaching it, and looks back at thearm.

3. Chhaya of Tilak.~upa, after several days' quiescence, has been restored to its

Record of Yoga 163

former activity & attempts to advance but does not yet advancebeyond the point already reached. More samadhi with remanifestation of thought in the sushupta state of manas; the thought occursconsecutively above the sleeping manas in the vijnana (esha jagartisupteshu).

Today the old murti of the Kiili-Deva descended for a whileinto the bodily consciousness & also the old image of the Christconsciousness. Linga shariras & influences of Indra & Agni have alsomanifested & of the Aswins, the former in the mental rupadrishti.

The trikaldrishti & effectiveness were today entirely obstructed& the karmasiddhi suffered, as the result apparently of My's liberation releasing his adverse tendencies from control & hesitation in theNature & throwing them in the personality upon my mind.

April 11!? Saturday.Dreams many & for the most part perfectly coherent; only the

last two or three were affected by present personality & associations,but not by present images. The incidents & forms were real &coherent, & the incoherence existed only in the thought of the sakshifixed by adhyaropa on the central images,-rupa & karma werecorrect, nama only confused,-eg the Salle de Lecture of Pondi·cherry adhyaropita on a small but efficient & nobly built library, theBaro~ College on a place of education in the same locality, London,brother, sister etc being brought in & fixed on forms & places entirelydifferent.There was also a tendency to run different dreams into eachother. In Samadhi thought has become fluent, coherent & selfpossessed above the sushupta mind, lipi is clear & frequent, writingor print struggles to be coherently legible, forms & incidents are stillin the stage of obstructed progress towards stability.

The difficulty now is to harmonise the chanda action of· theMahakali personality with the luminous effectiveness of the vijnana,as it has been harmonised with the internal purity, liberty & bhukti.For the luminous & effective vijnana has hitherto been the privilegeof Maheswari-Mahasaraswati, & the Mahakali bhava has been alwaysaccompanied by false action, false tejas, false knowledge due toeagerness, hope, desire & preference. The old association has revived in the environmental nature owing to the liberation of theasiddha vayavic forces in the surroundings.


Lipi1. It is finished - ie the transitional movement of harmonisa

tion between the first two & the third chatusthaya.2. Transit . . believe. It is still difficult to believe-referring

to the same movement.3. Foothold . . nothings ie-These old asiddhis are now

nothings; for even if they are given a strong foothold, theycannot keep it.

4 telepathyThe Narayana-drishti, which had been withdrawn;is now estab

lished in the Sagunabodha and seeks to be confirmed. The Krishn~

darshana is, in its turn, withdrawn. In the Darshana, however, Narais prominent, Narayana in the background.

As the vijnana began to remanifest & harmonise with the ugrataof the Mahakali bhava, the inimical forces made a violent attempt tobring back the nirananda & ashanti of the asiddha Kalibhava in thePrakriti; the attempt was partially successful in the outer layers of thepersonality & although rejected, returned. The harmony, therefore,of the first two chatusthayas has been temporarily disturbed, although not in the mass of the consciousness, but only on its outskirts.In fulfilment of 4 telepathy & telepathic trikaldrishti manifested withcomplete satyam & almost complete ritam for a while. The strugglecontinued till 2 in the afternoon. Samadhi still strives for perfection,with very slow success, but it is plunging into greater profundities ofslumber.

Lipi.1. Do not accept the telepathy as trikaldrishti2. Liberation . . OavovaTJS [thanouses} - ie from the post

humous action of the old dead Prakriti.3. Safe tapas . . £LULO€LV feisidein}. 4 Tonight.

The 3~. lipi -of the group has been interpreted in Script as adirection to apply the fourfold Brahma-darshana to the things of lifethrough the Sarvam Jnanam Brahma,-& the systematic applicationhas actually begun in the form of the brihat satya telepathy & trikaldrishti which was given in type this morning. But in this type theritam is still hesitating & uncertain. Tapas which has been almostineffective throughout yesterday & today, is once more active. It isthe aim of the new personality to get rid of the gradual process,

Record of Yoga 165

generalise the concentrated or even the involved & so ensure atriumphant rapidity; also to get rid of all the old ascetic conditions ofSiddhi and Ananda.

Even violent & prolonged pain as well as violent & prolongeddiscomfort are now capable of Ananda; but this siddhi has yet tobe generalised. If generalised it will be the first effectuality of thephySIcal mukti. The other liberations are from the three tamasicdoshas,-weariness, sleep and physical depression; from the tworajasic, hunger & thirst, from the three cosmic, disease, death &physical limitation (eg gravitation etc). Of these only thirst is welladvanced towards preparation of liberty, the others nearest beingdisease & physical depression which persist only from tamasic dhriti.Hunger has a less sure hold than in the average body. The rest are yetin full or almost full possession, except for the imperfect primary &secondary utthapana.

At night the Mahakalibhava asserted entirely the liberation fromwant of harmony which had been manifested in the morning andveiled afterwards, but did not yet assert its positive harmony with thefirst & third chatusthayas at once.

ApriI12~?

Dream was less free & less firmly coherent. To the rupa &samadhi the obstruction is still great & prevents a rapid & firm result.In the vijnana the siddhi has returned to the method of affirmation& no longer seeks to reject, but to rectify error. The result is not yetthe complete ritam, but a progressive liberation from the habit ofdwelling on the telepathic perception of tendency & taking itsdemand & power of self fulfilment for the eventual act. In a certainsense this is a recoil to a less advanced stage than had been reached afew days ago and has been necessitated by the fresh forces liberated

- by the dissolution of the Vayuputra.Kamananda continues to recover its former frequency & hold on

the system, but is still held back by the pranic deficiencies whichresult in exhaustion & roga.

The Brahmadarshan fluctuates between the Krishna, KrishnaNarayana, Narayana, Nara Narayana, Nara in Saguna Brahman &mere Saguna bhavas. The two former predominate in children, theyoung & the beautiful, the Narayana & Nara Narayana in others; the

166 SRI AUROBINIXJ: Archives and Research

Nara & mere Saguna are survivals from former states of perception.The Nara comes whenever the mind concentrates on the ego in theobject of perception.

SortilegefcJ~ ~~~~ d~R;ta I3l~~~~ lilif~~II

mr =~. '1 =~. ocfu =~. Ananda is to be given up intoIndra's hands for the action of the Lila (~).

The sortilege of the 1~~ April is now almost fulfilled, but forits completenes!t it wants the completeness of the indication of the4~~. Today's & that of Mar 3e~ go together.

Lipi1. Organise the will. 2. It is the energy . . it is the terrestrial

energyIn obedience to the lipi the Will acting as a terrestrial energy was

exercised on numbers of different objects in succession,- between20 & 30. In all cases, except in a few in which a moving object passedout of range before the will could be effective,-the movementwilled took place without resistance or after greater or less resistance.All three forms, vashita, aishwarya, ishita were tried; at first therewas a difference, ishita seeming the least effective of the three,vashita most effective against active resistance, aishwarya against thepassive obstruction of tamasic nature; but eventually all seemed to beequalised. Once, notably, aishwarya effected three successive exact& immediate movements in two flying birds with more than thesixtyfold power, but ishita also produced a similar result as well asone against resistance of the 50 value. Vashita also manifested the50", but not a higher value; that, however, it has done on previousoccasions. All these effectivities were in particular movements andthere does not seem to be yet the same effect upon persistenttendencies, established powers, material objects etc.

Kamananda today recovered something of its power of prolonged intensity & tendency to perpetuate itself in the system. Atthe same time subjective ananda is resuming its old intensities andattempting finally to get rid of the faint prano-manasic impressions ofugliness, unattractiveness etc which prevent the full & sama delightand are relics in the consciousness of mortal jugupsa. Universalprema & kama are also seeking final & confirmed possession of the

Record of Yoga 167

consciousness in its parts of hridaya. The eka anandamaya Purushaalso manifests in the Saguna Brahman with the ego as a circumstancein His possession of the individual body, but these things are not yetperfectly assured. Ananda of acute pain has again been tested withfavourable results.

April13!~'

Last night & this morning were a period of arrested motion inwhich the enemy were allowed to attack the results achieved. Mahakalibhava and tertiary dasya of the body remained firm, but the firstchatusthaya was touched with the external asamata, ashanti &even momentary duhkha. The Brahmadarshan wavers between theAnandamaya Purusha, Nara in the Anandamaya Saguna & thegeneralised Nara-Narayana. The sense of universal beauty has beensuccessfully interrupted & denied in· the Indriya, the face being asusual the fortress of the Asundara. There is also a continual drivingdown of the thought from the vijnana into the mind where it takes upthe old forms of error.

The reading of R's book "Les Dieux" has brought up thequestion of the Master & the Adesha, whether it is a God or God andthe adesha an arbitrary impulsion or the voice of supreme Truth &Power. The faith is persistently attacked by suggestions which maskas friendly voices or are declared enemies. In answer there have comethese sortileges.

1. ~ ~ ~~HqIRi~I.Hil(~ 1:~ ~"f.f~d~ I ~:~: ~ 'ffi'f ~ ~ ~: l:r ~ dt<lGi'ilcflfd I lj~IGI'<'IIt<lGIG

~: lFt 'f': lfA~ mm-2. GJ~ ~ 1{l4i'l1f~cM ~ 'lcffif I

~ ~~fCtatHd amqJ~~-.ie - The failures & variations of the mental impressions &

actions are due to imperfection of the vijnana, not imperfectionof the Master who is the pure Vijnanavan Deva issuing from theAbsolute.

3 <.Rlf ~ -:q ~ -:q ~ 'qCf(j' a1rG-f: I

'1~4Wlq~:q4 q)~ ~ ~ l:r: IIThe doubt not being satisfied, a more pointed & clear reply was

promised in the third sortilege. It explains the origin of the difficulty.It is impossible for the Asamlihita Ashanta-manusha (which R is)


to know God by mere intellectuality or intellectual intuition. Onlythe pure vijnanamaya can do it; he does not insist on the God of pity& sorrow or the necessity of continual rebirth.

4 ct~ liGqiSlfcu!~~~ I .3l'S41<Ltzfllil~'lq'1 ~ l:RCfr ~~~ II

In answer to a doubt about the Ananda in the body5 3lr-RJ.,.q~~Oil&~ awmr~4sd4(i:l1 SlCfll~ldl I

therefore the long processes used have to be suffered so that itmay be firmly imprinted on all the motions of the body before it isfully manifested.

Subsequently, the Master of the Yoga manifested as the vijnanasarathyupeta Rathi vidvan, the Deva, whose manifestation dependson the manifestation of the Devi; it therefore awaited the firm manifestation of the Mahakali personality before basing permanently inthe vijnana its own manifestation. This was indicated earlier in theday by the lipi, 10 chahging in 11 without disappearing, thus II.

Rupa symbolicIn jagrat samadhi of an eye figured in jyoti changing into a sun,

then into a chhayamaya eye (terrestrial vijnanamaya knowledgeemerging out of pure vijnana-chakshu) at a little distance from whichthe sun manifested (the terrestrial organ of vijnana illumined by thedivine truth, ritam jyoti), but both sun & eye were veiled by clouds ofpale luminousness (vijnana diffused in unformed intuitive mentality),from which the eye again emerged. This symbolises the presentmovement in the siddhi.

In the afternoon as predicted siddhi has returned. Narayanadarshana is now unprecedentedly strong & spontaneously pervasive;Ananda of battle & defeat are attempting to fix themselves in theMahakali sense; Sundara & Asundara are coalescing in a qualifiedchidghana ahaituka ananda.

Sortilege'(q.~1 ~ Qf*1d(i:lQQ(Oldi ~ ~ Sll'1ctRt d~d4'Afc1~14

~ cftur crrr IIn the samadhi coherence of writing & of speech as well as lipi is

at last establishing itself; even a long coherent sentence has beenmanifested & read in a fairly deep state of samadhi. This siddhi hasbeen prepared by the continuity of vangmaya thought in the sushuptaswapna. The speech, however, is of the more sukshma kind & nearer

Record of Yoga 169

to thought, not the entirely objective sthula shabda.Ananda of battle & defeat established firmly in its generality, no

longer in type or particular instance.Strong & continued oppressive pain between the lungs & navel

as of approaching death, continued for nearly an hour. Borne at firstwith passive ananda, it became at last nirananda & had to be expelledby a constant pressure of the Will accompanied by rapid breathingand swallowing of amrita in the saliva. Not the element of pain, butthe element of discomfort overpowered the ananda for the reasonthat the element of pain appeals only to the body & the mind canaccept or reject it easily; but the element of discomfort working directon the prana & obstructing it troubles the mind in prana & dissociation is less easy.

April 14. TuesdayPower now is easily effective where the object is passive & not

occupied by an opposite law of action; partially or ultimately effectivewhere there is, to combat it, only an immediate intention or preoccupation (for it either changes or modifies the intention or actswhen that is gone); slowly effective, & often after long continuedfailure, when there is, to combat it, a habit, trait of character or fixed& customary intention. It fails in immediate purpose when an activeforce works against it which is too strong & obstinate to be overpowered even after battle, because there is still in the nature theeasygoing weakness of Mahasaraswati which is unwilling to face thenecessity of ugrata & tapasya. It fails also as yet in changing easilyfixed habits of working in the annamaya prakriti. The Ananda ofbattle has to be increased (this is the meaning of the Iipi "battle"constantly given in the last few days) and the habit of physicalweariness, lassitude & renunciation of effort eliminated. At the sametime it is not the rajasic shakti which must dispel it, but the pureugrapravritti of the trigunatita shakti.

Last night, the symbol rupa was shown in bahirdarshi of a redsun changing into a rosy sun followed by a blue-green sun, ie theugrapravritti of Mahakali developing love (Mahalakshmi) and pouring itself into beneficence governed by spiritual temperament andknowledge (the Sun is always vijnana). Afterwards the universalprema settled itself in the system as a par~ of the temperament


and the temper of doing all things as paropakara, even apparentinjury being done for an ultimate good to the individual & the world.

As the Ananda of defeat, of the asundara, of the ashiva isinsisted on, there begins to be finally settled in the knowledge &mental consciousness a more luminous sense of the necessity &meaning of. the adverse movements in the siddhi & the life. Thewhole environmental nature is therewith assuming a more perfect &all-pervading anandamaya nati to the Ishwara. Last night prayer, towhich the nature has been long much opposed & then indifferent,was twice used to the Rudra-Vishnu as the helper & healer & yet thecause of the affliction.

In the afternoon there was again trouble owing to the obstinateobstruction of the vijnana & the attempt of the unillumined pranicmovements of knowledge in the environment to justify themselveswithout waiting for illumination. The process of conversion of allpranic movements into jyotirmaya movements (Agner bhrajantearchayah) is covered & delayed by this obstruction; meanwhile theaction of knowledge & power seems to be suspended or confused &fragmentary, as these elements of asiddhi are given free & continuedplay. It is true at the same time that deeper movements of trikaldrishti are being prepared & fragmentarily emerge, as tendenciesreveal themselves which are frustrated at the moment but intendedto be fulfilled in the future, sometimes the distant future. Thesemovements, however, are at present either obscure or dhuminah notbhraja[n]tah.

The Brahmadarshan has been interrupted in its higher parts inorder, apparently, to extend the bodha of Narayana into the wholeconsciousness of the Nara instead of keeping it as a thing apart &containing & informing, but not identical with the Nara. In thedescent there is a frequent relapse into the mere saguna.

The whole consciousness has been driven down into the manas &prana, apparently in order that their more obscure movements maylearn to become satyam, brihat & ritam no less in the Annamaya &Pranamaya Purusha & Prakriti than in the Manomaya. It is promisedthat as a result of the apparent relapse a greater, firmer & vastersiddhi will emerge.

India and the British Parliament

A great critic has pronounced that the aim of all truly helpfulcriticism is to see the object as· it really is. The Press is the solecontemporary critic of politics, and according as its judgments aresound or unsound, the people whose political ideas it forms, will belikely to prosper or fail. It is therefore somewhat unfortunate that thetendency of journalists should be to see the object not as it really is,but as they would like it to be. In a country like England this may notgreatly matter; but in India, whose destinies are in the balance, andat a time when a straw might turn the scare, it is of the gravestimportance that no delusion, however specious or agreeable, shouldbe allowed to exist. Yet in the face of this necessity, the Indian Pressseems eager to accept even the flimsiest excuse for deluding itself.

If we want a striking example of this, we need only turn to therecent vote in the House of Commons on the subject of simultaneousexaminations for the Civil Service of India. On this occasion a chorusof jubilant paeans arose from the Press, resembling nothing so muchas the joyful chorus of ducks when the monsoon arrives. Had thensome political monsoon arrived raining down justice and happinesson this parched and perishing country? What was the fountain-headfrom which this torrent of dithyrambs derived its being? Was it asolemn and deliberate pronouncement by the assembled representatives of the English nation that the time was now come to do justiceto India? Was it a resolution gravely arrived at in a full House, thatthe cruel burden of taxation which has exhausted our strength, mustbe alleviated without delay? Or was it a responsible pledge by aperson in authority that the high-sounding promises of '58 should atlast become something more than a beautiful chimera? No, it wassimply a chance vote snatched by a dexterous minority from a meagreand listless House. As a fine tactical success it reflects every credit onthe acuteness and savoir faire of our friends in Parliament, but nomore expresses the real feeling of the English people than a decree ofthe Chinese Emperor would express it.

The vote was by no means a mandate of the British Parliament,as some have sonorously phrased it; it was merely a pious opinion.It will have to meet not only the bitter antagonism of the Indian


Government, but the opposition, open or veiled, of a vast majority inthe Commons. How then can it possibly be enforced? Can ourhandful of philo-Indian members help to eject a Government thatwill not ratify its empty triumph? It would be too absurd even todream of such a thing: and even if any of them were so impossiblyrash, their constituencies would quickly teach them that they weresent to Parliament to support Mr. Gladstone and not to do justice toIndia. The vote is nothing but a tactical advantage; and yet on thisftimsy basis we have chosen to erect the most imposing castles in theair. Yet if this were an isolated instance of blindness, it might beallowed to pass without comment; but it is only one more example ofa grave illusion that possesses the Indian mind. We constantly find itasserted that the English are a just people and only require our caseto be clearly stated in order to redress our grievances. It is more thantime that some voice should be raised - even though it may be thevoice of one crying in the wilderness - to tell the Press and the publicthat this is a grave and injurious delusion, which must be expungedfrom our minds if we would see things as they really are.

The English are not, as they are fond of representing themselves,a people panting to do justice to all whom they have to govern. Theyare not an incarnation of justice, neither are they an embodiment ofmorality; but of all nations they are the most sentimental: hence it isthat they like to think themselves, and to be thought by others, a justpeople and a moral people. It is true that in the dull comedy, whichwe call English politics, Truth and Justice-written in large letterscover the whole of the poster, but in the actual enactment of the playthese characters have very little indeed to do. It was certainly not byappealing to the English sense of justice that the Irish people havecome within reach of obtaining some measure of redress for theirgrievances. Mr. Parnell was enabled to force Mr. Gladstone's handsolely because he had built up a strong party with a purely Irishpolicy: but we unfortunately have neither a Parnell nor a partywith a purely Indian policy. We have Mr. Naoroji and Sir W.Wedderburn[,] both staunch friends of India; we have Mr. SwiftMcNeill, true son of a high souled and chivalrous race; we haveMr. Mclaren, Mr. Paul and many others pledged to champion theCongress movement; but well nigh all these are Liberal member[s]who must give their support to Mr. Gladstone, whether he is inclined

India and the British Parliament 173

to do justice to India or no. It is evident that if we wish to obtain anyreal justice from the British Parliament we must secure the pledgesnot of individual Liberals but of the responsible heads of the party,and that is just what we are least likely to obtain. For we mustremember that within the last 20 years the immense personal influence of Mr. Gladstone has been leavening and indeed remouldingEnglish political life; and the tendency of that influence has been toconvert politics into a huge market where statesmen chaffer for votes.In this political bazaar we have no current coin to buy justice from thegreat salesman, and if he is inclined to give the commodity gratis, hewill jeopardise many of the voters he has already in his hand. Whatlever have we then by which we can alter the entire fuse of Englishopinion on Indian matters? It is clear that we have none.

Moreover the lessons of experience do not differ from thelessons of common sense. After years of constant effort and agitationa bill was brought forward in Parliament professing to remodel theLegislative Councils. This bill was nothing short of an insult to thepeople of India. We had asked for wheaten bread, and we got inits place a loaf made of plaster-of-Paris and when Mr. Schwannproposed that the genuine article should be supplied, Mr. Gladstoneassured him on his honour as a politician that the Executive authoritywould do its best to make plaster-of-Paris taste exactly like wheat.With this assurance Mr. Schwann and the Indian people were quitesatisfied. Happy Indian people! And yet now that the loaf hasactually reached their hands, they seem a little inclined to quarrelwith the gift: they· have even complained that the proportion ofplaster in its composition is extravagantly large. Nevertheless we stillgo on appealing to the English sense of justice.

The simple truth of the matter is that we shall not get from theBritish Parliament anything better than nominal redress, or at themost a petty and tinkering legislation. This is no doubt a very disagreeable truth to the sanguine among us who believe that [India]!can be renovated in a day, but we shall gain nothing by shutting oureyes to it. Rather we shall lose: for the more we linger in the wrongpath, the further we shall wander from our real and legitimate goal. Ifwe are indeed to renovate our country, we must no longer hold out

I Indian in lndu Prakash.


supp[l]icating hands to the English Parliament, like an infant cryingto its nurse for a toy, but must recognise the hard truth that everynation must beat out its own path to salvation with pain and difficulty,and not rely on the tutelage of another. It is not within the scope ofthe present article to point out how this may be done. But until werecognise these simple truths, half of our efforts will fail- as they arenow failing-through misdirection and want of real insight.

Notes on the Texts

Record of Yoga: 1-15 January 1914. The heading "1914. January.", followed bypart of a verse from the Rig Veda (1.13.6), was written by Sri Aurobindo on anotherwise blank page of the exercise book begun on 22 December 1913. TheRecord of 1-15 January 1914 occupies fourteen pages of this notebook.

Record of Yoga: 12 March-14 April 1914. The heading "Record of Yoga. March.April. 11914. " was written by Sri Aurobindo on the front cover of the exercise bookused to keep the Record of 12 March to 14 April 1914. The notebook he had beenusing for the Record of January was abandoned on the fifteenth of that month;many pages of the notebook were left blank. No explanation is given in the Recordfor the two-month gap between 15 January and 12 March. This fact (for such gapswere usually explained) and the abrupt beginning made on 12 March suggest thatthere may have been a Record kept during this period which has been lost. Thereis, however, no positive evidence to support this supposition.

India and the British Parliament. This article was published in Indu Prakash, abilingual (Marathi and English) weekly newspaper of Bombay, on 26 June 1893.Like most newspaper articles of the time, it was unsigned; beneath the title wasprinted "(Communicated.)". In the next issue of Indu Prakash (3 July 1893) thefollowing note appeared under the heading "India and the British Parliament":"Under this heading we had a communication from a very able writer in our lastissue. Our readers must have been struck with the tone and conclusions of thatarticle. We shall be very happy to receive any communication from our readers onthe subject. Meanwhile we are trying to get a series of articles on the question andthe one implied therein as to where we are drifting and in what direction ourpolitical work should lie. The last article will thus be a kind of trumpet note." Thisnote undoubtedly was written by K. D. Despande, the editor of the English sectionof Indu Prakash, whom Sri Aurobindo had befriended when both were studentsat Cambridge. One month later, on 7 August 1893, the first instalment of SriAurobindo's series New Lamps for Old appeared in lndu Prakash. "India and theBritish Parliament", which came out just four months after Sri Aurobindo's returnfrom England, was his first published prose writing.

GLOSSARY

This glossary explains non-English words (Sanskrit, Bengali, Greek) occurringin the present instalment of Record of Yoga. Sortileges and words written in Devanagari script are omitted, as are Sanskrit terms which are common in SriAurobindo's writings and do not have a special sense in the Record. Words areSanskrit unless otherwise indicated. Sanskrit words are spelled in the glossaryaccording to the standard international system of transliteration. In. the text of theRecord, the spellings and diacritics are those of the manuscript.

Words are defined in this glossary only in the senses in which they are used inthe portion of the Record published in the present issue. For further explanation ofsome terms, reference is made to the Sapra Catzqtaya (designated SC), two versionsof which have been published. See SABeL 27 (Supplemenr): 356-75 .and A &.R10 (1986): 4-18. For convenient reference, an outline of the Sapra Catzqf/lya isgiven below:

1. Santicat~taya (later, sal1UJtiicat~taya)

samara, santi, sukha, hiisya or (atma)prasada2. Sakticat~taya

vfrya, sakti, C~(ifbhiiva (later, daivf prakrti), sraddJui3. Vijfidnacatzqf/lya

jniina, rriktlladmi, ~!tisiddhi, samadhi4. SarfracatlLflaya

arogya, utthapand, saundarya, iinanda5. Kanna~!aya

K~1;Ia, Kalf, karl1UJ, kiiI1UJ6. Brahmacat~Iaya

sarvarit brahl1UJ, ananrarit brahma, jfidnarit brahma, anandarit brahma7. Yogucat~taya or (sarit)siddhicat~Iaya

suddhi, mukti, bhukti, siddhi .

adeia-imperative command from the Divine; in the Record, usually the divinecommand received by Sri Aurobindo inA1ipur jail to accomplish a certain workfor the world. This work had four principal parts: religious (dharma), literary(sdhitya), political (krti) and social (samaja or kama).

addasiddhi-fulfilment of the iidesa relating to Sri Aurobindo's outward life-work(as distinguished from yogasiddhi, thefulfilment of his personal siidhana).

iidhara-support, receptacle; the mentalvital-physical system as a vessel of thespiritual consciousness; a physical objector sensation serving as a basis for subtlesense-perception.

adhydropa-superimposition.adhyaropira- superimposed.agner bhrajante arcay,*-the flaming radi

ances of Agni blaze forth. [Rg Veda1.44.12]

ahairuka-without any special cause, spontaneous; (physical ananda) not associatedwith an initiating stimulus. The description of the various forms of physicaliinanda as ahairuka must be distinguishedcarefully from the use of the word in theterm ahaituka iinanda, sometimes abbreviated "ahaituka"; see' next.

ahairuka ananda-"delight without anycause", the subjective iinanda corresponding to the mental plane.

aham-"I", ego; individual consciousness.

Glossary 177

aiSvarya- a siddhi of power (SC III, Ashtasiddhi): effectiveness of the will acting asa command, without any special concentration as in vaSitii.

aiSvaryamaya trii,aka-concentration of thevision (trii,akD) brought about by exerciseof will (aiSvarya).

iikiiSa - ether, the subtlest of the five elemental states of matter; also, any ofvarious immaterial ethers (vital, mental,etc.) Rupa and lipi seen in the iikiiSa(iikiiSarupa and iikiiSa/ipi, sometimesabbreviated to just "akasha") are distinguished from the citra ("pictorial") andsthiipatya ("sculptural") types, whichappear on a background.

iikMarllpa-rupa seen in the iikiiSa.a/pa-small.amarigala-inauspicious, adverse, evil.iinanda- bliss, spiritual delight, ecstasy; see

sama ananda and iinandam brahma.Ananda is experienced variously on thedifferent planes of consciousness; its

. principal forms are the seven types ofbhukti (see SC VII), categorised as physical iinanda (kiimananda with its fivevarieties) and six grades of subjectiveananda from premananda to sadiinanda.

iinanda-akiiSa-ether of bliss.iinandabodha - awareness of bliss.iinanda brahma(n)-see iinandam brahma.ananda-cit-sat - Bliss-Consciousness-Being;

same as saccidiinanda, with primary emphasis on iinanda.

iinandam-short for iinandam brahma.tlnandamaya-full of (manda, blissful.iinandam brahma-(realisation of) Brah-

man as the self-existent bliss and itsuniversal delight of being, the last member of the brahmacalU.$taya (SC VI).

iinandatattva - the principle of iinanda in-herent in all the planes of being. .

anania-see anantam (brahma).ananta daSa diSa/) - the ten infinite direc

tions of space.anantam (brahma)-(realisation of) the

Brahman infinite in being and infinite inquality, the second member of the brahmacat~,aya (SC VI).

anj§ara - "non-lordship", impotence.anna-matter.

annamaya - physical.anrtam-falsehood; negation of l1am.antardarsf- "inward-looking" (jiigrat sama-

dhi); same as antardma.antard!1ta-"seen within"; samiidhi in the

waking state in which images are seeninside oneself, generally with eyes closed.

antarik$a-the mid-region between earthand heaven; the vital worlds.

anti - close, near.apas-the waters of being.arogya-health; freedom from disease or

disturbance in the bodily system, a component of the sarira~,aya (SC IV).

asamiihita aSaflta-miin~a - "unconcentrated unquiet man", the ordinary humanbeing who lacks the power of spiritualconcentration and quietude.

asamattl-inequality, lack of samatii.aSiinti-disquiet, unrest.aSatru-free from (internal) enemies.asatya(m) - false; falsehood; negation of

satyam.asiddha - imperfect.asiddhi-imperfection; negation of siddhi.aSiva-inauspicious, evil.aSuddha - impure.asundara-not beautiful, ugly.asura- Titan, anti-divine being; in the

Record, the sixth of the ten forms of consciousness through which man evolves:"mind concentrated on the buddhi".

asura riik$asa-asura who makes buddhiserve the monas and citta.

avidya-ignorance; the relative and multiple consciousness.

avyakta- unmanifest.bahirdarsf- "outward-looking" (jdgrat sam

iidhi); same as bahirdma.bahirdma-"seen outside"; samiidhi in the

waking state in which images are seenoutside oneself in the physical atmosphere.

biilabhiiva-state of being a child or like achild.

balakd-female crane.bandinf diisf- captive slave-girl.bauddhii nariil)-"intellectual men", powers

of the buddhi.bhagavati sraddhtl-faith in God.bha$iitattva- (study of) the principles of

language.


bhava-state of being; state of mind; innercontent; psychological condition; feeling;mood; temperament; aspect.

bhoga-enjoyment.bhrajantal) - blazing, radiant.bhu-earth, the material world.bhukti-liberated enjoyment, the third

member of the last cat~(aya.bhamaya-earthly; physical or subtle phys-

ical.bhur-see bha.bhurmaya-see bhamaya.bhuvar- "world of various becoming", the

plane of the life-principle.bhuvarmaya-consisting of the energy of

bhuvar; vital.bhuvarmayi-vital (feminine of bhuvar-

maya).bodha- awareness.brahmabodha - awareness of Brahman.brahmadarlana-vision of Brahman.brahmadl'${i-vision of Brahman.brahman-the infinite and omnipresent Re-

ality, "the One besides whom there isnothing' else existent"; in the Record,"Brahman" often refers to the realisationof the four aspects of the Supreme enumerated in the brahmacatWjtaya (SC VI).

brhat- vast; vastness; the vast and totalconsciousness of the vijiiana.

caitanya-consciousness.can(ta-fierce, ardent, intense.caturyuga-a period of four Yugas (Krita,

Treta. Dwapara, Kali). The "animalchaturyuga" referred to in the Recordof 24 March 1914 is explained in "TheEvolutionary Scale" (A & R 3:192-93),written at the time of these visions:'''These creatures. it is suggested in thevijnana, belong to the first chaturyuga ofthe [present] Pratikalpa [a period of 100chaturyugas] previous to the appearanceof man; for the fourteen Manus enjoyeach a reign of seven chaturyugas of varying lengths and the first and last of thehundred belong not to any Manu butthe opening chaturyuga to Brahma andRudra, the closing to Kalki and to Shiva.Man in the first appears only tentativelyat the end. in the last only as a survival atthe beginning."

chaya-"shadow"; the lowest of the sevenkinds of "crude material" from whichrupa and lipi are formed; a rupa or lipicomposed of chtiyti.

chayamaya-"shadowy"; composed of cluiya.cidghana (ananda)-iinanda of dense lumi

nous consciousness. one of the sevenlevels of iinanda, corresponding to vijiiiina.

cinmaya - consisting of pure consciousness(cit.)

cit-consciousness; essential self·awarenessinherent in infinite existence (sat).

citra - "pictorial" rupa or lipi; subtle imagesor writing seen on a background rathctrthan in the tikMa, and as two-dimensionalpictures rather than in relief (sthdpatya).

citralipi - "pictorial" lipi.citrarupa-"pictorial" rupa.daivya-divine.Dalqa-the Vedic god of discernment.darsana-vision; philosophy.diisatya - in the Record, an attitude of

active surrender distinguished from thepassive form of diisya.

dM~e mayas-bliss for the giver (of thesacrifice). [~g Veda 1.93.1]

diisya - the state of being a servant or slaveof the Divine; submission, divine servitude. spiritual surrender.

diisyabhiiva-the condition of diisya.diisyabuddhi-sense of diisya.dasyu-(in the Veda) a "robber" or "de

stroyer". a power of darkness hostile tothe gods and t9 the seekers of Light andTruth.

dehasiddhi-perfection of the body.deSa-place.deva-god; in the Record. the seventh of

the ten forms of consciousness throughwhich man evolves: "mind concentratedon vijnana. exceeding itself'.

deviisura-deva who makes vijiiiina servethe buddhi.

devatii-deity; in the Record, the term isoften used in the plural to refer to beingsof various levels whose government overthe individual intervenes. except in thehighest stages of diisya, between him·andthe direct government of the Ishwara,

devi-Goddess.

Glossary 179

dharma- in the Record. the "religious" partof Sri Aurobindo's life-work (see adesa).It consisted of imparting the realisationsof his Yoga to others.

dhasi - foundation. [EtymologicaUy =Greekthesis)

dhrti - persistence.dhama-"smoke"; one of the varieties of

"crude material" from which rapa isformed.

dhumina/.l- smoky.dO,j"a-defect.dO,j"1l - "in the Night"; under the cover of

darkness and unconsciousness.dr~1i - vision; subtle sight; subtle sense

perception in general (see vi.$ayad[${i);revelation, direct vision of the truth, apower of jiiiina.

du/.lkha- unhappiness.dure-far, at a distance.dvandva-duality; any of the pairs of oppo-

sites which affect the ordinary consciousness and from which liberation must beachieved in the process of mukti.

eisidein (Greek)-to look at, see, perceive.eka lirumdamaya punqa - the one aJl-blissful

Spirit.esa jdgarti suptqu - this wakes in those who

sleep. [a. Kaiha Upani.$ad 2.2.8)etad vai tat-this is That.gandha-(subtle) scent; the subtle sense of

smell (short for gandhad~Ii).gandharva-a type of being, traditionally a

celestial musician; regarded in the Recordas a sub-type of deva often found in combination with lower types, to which itimparts grace and refinement.

gandharva-paSu - a composite evolutionarytype: human beings of the paSu stage ofevolution (or mo:e precisely the paSuasura, for this is "the sixth [Pratikalpa] ofthe Asuras" in which even savages "cannot be pure Pashus, but Asuras or AsuraRakshasasstarting from the Pashu stage,so far as the Asura can go back to thatstage") who "have reached a kind ofDevahood of the Gandharva type" (A &R 3:186).

gandharvi- female gandharva.ghana-dense (see rupa).ghrat;a-sense of smell.

grha-house.ha~a-joy.

hem-cause:hrdaya- heart.hvara-crooked.indo vrol"d-O Indu (Soma), [enter into

Indra] as master or strongly or abundantiy. [8g Veda 1.176.1)

indriya - sense-organ.lSi/d - a siddhi of power (SC III, Ashta

siddhi): effectiveness of the will actingnot as a command or through thethought, as in aiSvarya, but through thecitta in a perception of want or need or "asense that 80mething ought to be".

jatfa - inert.jagat-world.jiigrat - awake, waking; samtidhi in the

waking consciousness.jala-water.jalarodha-retention of urine.jana-the world of creative delight of exist

ence (pure ananda), the third in descending order of the seven Puranic worlds.

janamaya drsli - vision on the level of jana.jridna-knowledge; supra-rational thought

perception (often referred to in theRecord as simply "thought"), the firstmember of the vijritinacatus,aya (SC III);jridnariz brahma.

jilanam-see jiltinariz brahma.jiltinamaya sagu~ - jridnariz brahma with

qualities.jiltinariz brahrna- (realisation of) the Brah

man as the self-existent consciousnessand universal knowledge, the third termof the brahmacatuslaya (SC VI).

jonaki (Bengali) - firefly.jugupsa - repulsion.jyoti(/.I)-light; one of the seven kinds of

"crude material" from which rupa andlipi are formed.

jyotirmaya-luminous; (rapa or lipi) com-posed of jyoti/.l.

kala-time.kali-the ka/iyuga.Kali-a name of the Goddess in her violent

and destructive aspect; in the Record,, Kali designates the divine Shakti, the

Power who carries out the will of theLord (KrSt;a). The manifestation of Kali


is the second element of the ka111Ulcat~

raya (SC V).Kalibhdva-the force of Kati manifest in

the temperament; also called Ca'.l~ibhava

and considered to be part of the iakticat~{aya (SC II).

Ka/i-deva-the god of the ka/iyuga; the reference is probably to Aniruddha, whomanifests the divine qualities of the iUdra.

ka/i paiu-paiu in a ka/iyuga.ka/iyuga-the last age of a caturyuga; "a

period of anarchy and conflict and dis-solution of the Dharma" which mustprecede "a recovery and a new selfexpression of the spirit in the humanbeing".

kalya'.la - goodness.kama-desire; a quality of the ideal sUdra

temperament in which desire changes to"the joy of God manifest in malter" (SCII, Virya); as a component of the karmacat~{aya (SC V), kama is the enjoymentwhich accompanies a divinised action inthe world (ka111Ul). The social aspectof Sri Aurobindo's fourfold work (seeadesa) is also referred to as kama."Kama" is sometimes an abbreviation ofkamiinanda.

kamacakra-the subtle centre of desire; inthe Record, this term refers to svlJdhi${hiina, the second cakra.

k4m1Jnanda-the form of physical iinandaassociated with the spiritual transmutation of sensuous desire (kama); the sameword is also used as the generic term forphysical ananda with its five varieties:kamananda (in the specific sense), v~aylJnanda, tivrananda, raudriinanda andvaidyutananda.

karma-action, work; the invisible chain ofact and consequence; perfect action onthe basis of the vijliiina, part of theka111UlcafU${aya (SC V): specifically, spiritual action in the objective field alongthe fourfold lines of the adesa.

karmasiddhi-perfection of ka111Ul; successof spiritual action in the world; the siddhiof the ka111UlcatU${aya (SC V).

kar"a-ear.kauia/am - skill.kauia/ya - skilfulness, proficiency.

kendra - centre.kelU- perception.koia-sheath.Kr$'.la-a name of the supreme Deity; the

most blissful form of the divine Personality. The manifestation of K1'$na, "theIshwara taking delight in the world", isthe first member of the karmacafU${aya.

K1'$"a-darlana - vision of Krishna in allthings and beings.

k1'$"a-surya- black sun./q'ri-action, work; especially, the practical

and political part of Sri Aurobindo'swork (seeiideia).

kumara - youth, prince. Daiakumiiracariupn("The Adventures of the Ten Princes"),the title of a work by Dandin, appears asa sortilege in the Record of 24 March1914, where it is figuratively interpreted.

laghima- "lightness", a physical siddhi bywhich it is possible "to get rid of weariness and exhaustion and to overcomegravitation" (SC III, Ashtasiddhi).

/i/iimaya-(the Lord) enjoying the delightof the divine play (/flu).

liliga-mark, characteristic; subtle (carrying the essential characteristics of thegross object).

linga sarita-subtle body.lipi-writing seen in subtle vision or the

power of·such vision, an instrument ofvijliiina closely connected with trika/adr#i. Like rlipa, lipi may manifest eitherin the akasa or in the form of citra orsthdpatya ona physical background.

/ipsa-seeking, longing; "divine desirelessreaching out of Brahman in personality toBrahman in the vishaya or object"; ameans. by which iiitii is effected.

madhura bhdva - sweet emotion, blissfulstate of being.

madhura rasa-sweet taste.m4dhurya-sweetness.mahadbhdva-.Iargeness, vastness.mahas-the world of the Vastness, whose

principle is Knowledge (vijiiIJna).mahat-Iarge, vast; the plane of vijiilJna.mahattva-largeness, vastness.mahim4-a siddhi which gives unhampered

force to the workings of mind and body(SC III, Ashtasiddhi).

Glossary 181

maithuna- see maithunananda.maithunananda - a form of kiimiinanda

comparable in nature or intensity to theexperience of sexual union (maithuna).

miinasa - mental.miinasaketu-mental perception; "telepath-

ic mind".manastatIVa- mind-principle.mariga/a-auspicious, favourable, good.manomaya- mental.manomayi - mental (feminine of mano

maya).Manu-an archetypal mental being; one of

"the four Type-Souls from whom allhuman Purushas are born; they areManus only for the purpose of humanityand in themselves are beyond this manifest universe"; one of the 14 Manus who"govern human destinies during the hundred chaturyugas of the Pratikalpa, eachin turn taking charge of a particular stageof the human advance. While that stagelasts he directs it both from the mentalworld and by repeated incarnations uponearth."

Manvantara- a period of time consisting ofseveral catutyugas and corresponding tothe reign of one of the 14 Manus. Theearly Manwantaras referred to in connection with the images of 22-24 March areexplained in "The Evolutionary Scale"(see A & R 3:186) as being those of thepresent "Pratikalpa" (the sixth of the tenPratikalpas of the current "Kalpa").Throughout this Pratikalpa the "Asura"(intellectual pur~a) is considered to bethe general type which fulfils its possibilities in terms of the specific types or combinations characteristic of each successiveManwantara. For an account of the 14Manwantaras, see A & R 3:189-90.

muktabhoga-liberated enjoyment.mukti-liberation of the spirit and nature,

the second member of the last ~taya.mllrti-form.nama-name.Nara - "man"; the human soul, eternal

companion of the Divine; Krishna manifest in and as humanity.

NarayaTJa - the Divine making itself onewith humanity even as the human, Nara,

becomes one with the Divine.NarayaTJa·dmi-vision of Narayana.niisikya asvada-nasal taste.nati - submission to the divine Will; the

third stage of negative or passive sarnata.nibhrsta-tavi$i-distressed by its force. [Cf.

8g Veda 2.25.4]nidra- sleep.ni karma manyum durevasya sardhatal}

"may we cast out the passion of him ofevil impulse when he putteth forth hisforce." [8g Veda 2.23.12]

nirananda-undelight, negation of ananda.nirguTJa-(brahman) without qualities, the

impersonal and ineffable Absolute.n~kiima karma-desireless action.pancabhllta-the five "elements" or subtle

conditions of material energy.param4tman-the supreme Self.para pur~a(/:I) - the supreme Soul.paropakara-doing good to others.paSu-"animal"; in the Record, the lowest

of the ten forms of consciousness throughwhich man evolves (see pur~a): mindconcentrated on the bodily life.

piitra-vessel, recipient.phalahetu-acting for the sake of the fruit.phalakiiriksa-desire for the fruit of one's

acts.pj§aca-in the Record, the third of the ten

evolutionary types: "mind concentratedon the senses and the knowledge part ofthe chitta".

pradiv-a plane of mind mixed with vitalitybetween bhuvar and svar.

prajiia-hiraTJya-virat- the Spirit manifest inthe superconsclent (as prajna) , in thesubtle worlds (as hiraTJyagarblul), and inthe external universe (as viral).

prakiimya-a siddhi of knowledge (SC Ill,Ashtasiddhi) by which the mind andsenses surpass' the ordinary limits of thebody.

prakiimyavyapti-the combined working ofthe two "siddhis of knowledge", which"constitute what the Europeans call telepathy".

prakMa -light, clarity, "transparent luminousness"; the divine light of knowledgeinto which sattva is to be converted in theliberation from the three gunas; the high-

182 SRI AUROBINDO; Archives and Research

est of the seven types of "crude material"from which rupa and lipi are formed.

prakMamaya-composed of prakMa.pramatha-in the Record, the fourth of the

ten evolutionary types: "mind concen-trated on the heart and the emotional andaesthetic part of the chitta".

prtit;lajaglU-the vital world.prat;ltikMa-vital ether.prtit;lQko.fa - vital sheath.prtit;lamaya - vital; composed of nervous

energy.pratibodha-realisation, inner experience.prati$Ihti-support, basis, pedestal.pravrtti-movement, activity; the desireless

impulsion into which rajas has to be converted in the liberation from the threegunas.

prema-Iove; love which seeks no return, aquality of the ideal sUdra temperament(SC II, Virya); often short for premdnantia.

premiinanda-tinamia of love, one of theseven levels of iinanda, corresponding tothe vital-emotional plane.

purl.fa - excrement.pUrlqa-person, conscious being, soul. 1be

supreme Purusha "can establish himselfon any plane of being", thus becomingthe annamaya purU$a, etc., on the sevenlevels of existence. Through Yoga, onecan become aware of these multiplePUrlqas in the subliminal and superconscient being. The Record speaks frequently of ten Purushas, types or formsof consciousness which manifest in thehuman evolution; this classification corresponds also to tbe seven principles, butwitb mind subdivided into citra (with a"knowledge part" and an "aesthetic andemotional part"), rnanas and buddhi.These ten Purushas-referred to as thedaJagavah, a Vedic term meaning "tenrays"-an: called: Pashu, Vanara, Pishacha, Pramatha, Rakshasa, Asura,Deva, Sadhyadeva, Siddhasura, Siddliadeva (the names of the last three vary indifferent accounts).

rdkJasa-in the Record, the fifth of the tenevolutionary types: "mind concentratedon the thinking manas".

rasad~li-the subtle sense of taste.raudriinanda - fierce or intense iinanda

(more intense than tillrcJnanda), the formof physical cJnanda associated with theconversion of pain to pleasure.

rju-straight.roga - disease; disturbance or imperfect

functioning in the bodily system.rtam-truth, right; right ordering; truth of

knowledge and action; the principle ofdivine Law and Right inherent in the lIijndna.

rudra-violent, impetuous; raudrtinanda.Rudra-Vi$t;lu - Vishnu as Rudra, "the

Divine as master of our evolution by violence and battle".

nipa-form, image; forms or images, oftensymbolic or predictive, seen in sub&levision in samtidhi or the waiting state;also the faculty of such vision (~Ii),an instrument of vijliiina. Sri Aurobindo'smost systematic aocount of this subject isfound under the heading Rupa in theRecord of 27 March 1914 (pp. 141-42 ofthis issue).

~Ii-vision of forms (lUpa); the subtlesense of sight.

sabda-sound; word; often short for sabda-dnli·

sabdadr$1i - the subtle sense of hearing.sadanam-seat, abode.sddJuUa - with the support (iidJulra) of a

physical sensation.sddhtiradnli-subtle sense-perception stim

ulated by or superimposed on gross physical sensations.

sagutJil-(brahman) with infinite qualities,the basis of the realisation of the dynamicand personal aspect of the Divine.

sagutJilbodJuJ - awareness of the sagUt;IQbrahman.

stiharikara-egoistic.stihitya-literature; literary work including

poetry, prose and scholarship, part ofkarma.

sdhityasiddhi-perfection of literary work.sakUma-with desire (kama); with Iuimii

nanda.stikJ;- witness.Sakti - force, power; the supreme Power

who executes the will of the Ishwara; the

Glossary 183

various aspects or personalities of thisPower. In the Record, "Shakti" refersespecially to "the Power that directs theYoga"; sakti also means the "power ofthe instruments", a heightened capacityof mind, heart, life and body, the secondterm of the iaklicalU.11aya (SC II).

sama-equal.sama ananda-equal anamia; the universal

delight in all experiences which constitutes active samata.

sanuJdhi-yogic trance as a means of increasing the range of consciousness, thelast member of tbe vijiiiinacatU$,aya (SCIII).

samahita - concentrated.sanuJhitabhava- a concentrated state .

. samaja - society; the social part of SriAurobindo's work (see tidesa), also calledkama.

samalipsa-equallipsii.samata-equality, the first term of the first

calU.11aya.samkara - mixture, confusion.samudra-ocean.samyama - concentration, directing or

dwelling of the consciousness by whichone becomes aware of all that is in theobject.

sanmaya-composed of sat.santa - calm, peaceful.sanu-Ievel.saptarci-the seven rays or flames (of agni,

the principle of visible formation); a termused for the seven types of "crude material" from which rapa and lipi are formed.

Sarama-the Vedic "Hound of Heaven",representing the faculty of intuition.

sarva (brahman)-see sarvam brahma.sarva ananta jiitlna tlnanda K($f)Q - Krishna

as the AU, as the Infinite, as omniscientKnowledge, as all-pervading Bliss (thefour elements of the brahmacalU.1(aya).

sarva brahman, sarvam-see sarvam brahma.sarvam brahma-(realisation of} the Brah

man that is the All, an aspect of the"fourfold Brahman" (see SC VI).

sat-existence, substance; pure existence,eternal, infinite and indefinable, the ultimate principle of reality.

satya(m) - true; truth; essential truth of

being, the basis of all knowledge andaction in the vijnana.

saumya - gentle.saumyata- mildness.saundarya-beauty; physical beauty as an

element of the perfection of the body (SCIV).

saurya-heroism, an aspect of Kiilibluiva.saveSa- enthusiastic.saviciira-a state of samadhi in which the

mind does not reason logically but judgesand perceives.

savijliana-with vijiiiina.savikalpa - (samadhi) with distinctions, as

-of subject and object, knower andknown.

savitarka - (samadhi) with speculation, inwhich the mind is withdrawn into itselfbut goes on thinking and reasoning anddoubting.

siddhadeva-"perfected god", the highest(according to one account) of the tenforms of consciousness through whichman evolves: mind raised to pure sat.

siddhi - perfection; success; accomplishment of the aims of the yoga as a whole orof any movement of the yoga; an occultor supernormal power. -In the last sense,the eight siddhis of the Ashtasiddhi (SCill) are divided into two siddhis ofknowledge (vyapti and praklimya), threeof power (vaSitii, aiSvarya, Uitii), andthree physical siddhis (mahima, laghima,al;lima).

smarQf)Q - remembrance, attention.smrti-memory; the faculty of jiiiina "by

which the knowledge hidden in the mindreveals itself to the judgment and is recognised at once as the truth".

spa,sad"fi-the subtle sense of touch.iraddha - faith; the last member of the

iaktic~,aya (SC II).srauta-of the nature of iruti or inspired

knowledge.sruti- "hearing", inspiration; reception of

the vibration or word of the truth, afaculty of jiiifna.

sthala-gross, physical.iuddhananda-"pure ananda", the subjec

tive ananda corresponding to the iinandaplane proper.


sulq'r/a - subtle, supraphysical.sulqmabodha-subtle awareness.sundara - beautiful.surya-the sun (symbol of the vijnana) or

the Vedic Sun-God (deity of the supramental plane).

su,rupta-immersed in deep sleep; state ofdeep sleep; the deepest state of samiidhi.

s~upta svapna - dream trance (svapnasamiidhi) passing into deep-sleep trance(s~upta samiidhi).

svabhdva-individual nature.svapna-dream, dream-vision; often shon

for svapnasamiidhi.svapnasamOdhi - the second or "dream"

state of samadhi.svar-the plane of luminous Mind.svarvati-full of the light of svar.tamasi-in darkness.tamomaya - dominated by the gUfJa of

tamas; obscure and inen.tapas - spiritual force, power, will; concen

tration of energy to effect an end; infiniteconscious force (ciitapas), the secondprinciple of the supreme reality. In theRecord, tapas or its most commonEnglish equivalent, "power", often refersto the dynamic aspect of the vijnanawhich acts through the siddhis of power(SC III, Ashtasiddhi). As the MahakaJitapas, it is connected with the saktica~,aya (SC II, Car.u,iibhiiva). Tapas (orpravrtti) is also the name given to thedivine force of action into which rajas isto be transformed in the liberation fromthe three gunas (SC VII, Mukti). 'Thereis, however, a lower form of tapas whichcontains elements of stress and preference; the adjective "tapasic" is sometimes used in this sense.

'lapasya-austerity of the personal will.laparya - in the Record, a form of vehement

tapas.tapomaya-consisting of tapas.rejas- mental or spiritual energy; "fire"; the

principle of light and heat, one of the fivematerial elements (pancabhata); one ofthe seven types of "crude material" fromwhich rilpa and lipi are formed. In thepsychological sense, the true tejas is"pure fire of spirit", but it has a lower,

mental or rajasic form which is full ofeffon and straining and a source of error.

tejas-sarya-a sun of tejas.rejomaya-(rilpa or lipi) composed of tejas.thanouses (Greek) - from the dead one

(feminine). .thesphata (Greek)-divine decrees, oracles.titilqa - endurance. the first stage of nega

tive or passive samata.tivra (iinanda)-see tivrananda.tivriinanda - intense or thrilling iJnanda,

one of the five types of physical dnanda.trailokyadmi-vision of the three worlds

(mental, vital and physical).trigur,ultita - beyond the three gUl:JQs (sattva,

rajas and lamas).trikalad!1ri - "vision of the three times";

direct knowledge of the past, present andfuture; as an element of the vijrUlnacat~,aya (SC III), it is jiitlna "applied tothe facts and events of the materialworld".

tari (Bengali)-horn.udasinat4-indifference; "being seated above,

superior to all physical and mentaltouches", the second stage of negative orpassive samatii.

ugra-forceful, intense; "strong and fierce".ugrapravrt/i-intense activity.ugrata-forcefulness, intensity; an aspect of

Kiih"bhava.U$asi-in the dawn (of the illumined con

sciousness) .uithiipana-Ievitation; "the state of not be

ing subject to the pressure of physicalforces", pan of the sariracatU$,aya (SC ,IV). "Primary utthapana" meant a generalliberation of the mental and physicalbeing "from exhaustion, weariness, strainand all their results". The practice of"secondary utthapana" involved the prolonged suspension of various limbs in theair ,with the aim of making the body ableto "take and maintain any position orbegin and continue any movement forany length of time naturally and in itsown right". Tertiary utthdpana is "whenone is not necessarily subject to the law ofgravitation or other physical laws".

viik-word; speech.va~i - voice, speech; especially, speech

Glossary 185

"from above" revealing the will of theMaster of the Yoga.

vanmaya-(thought) formulated in words,articulate; "the revelation of truththrough right and perfect vak in thethought", a special power of sTUti.

var~a - "colour", one of the seven kinds of"crude material" from which rapa andlipi are formed.

var~amaya - (rapa or lip/) composed ofvar~a.

vaSita-a siddhi of power (SC III, Ashtasiddhi): concentration of the will on aperson or object so as to control it.

vayu-air, wind; the Wind-god, master ofvital energy.

vayuputra-son of Yayu.vi<iuhar~in-exulting in its strength. [Cf.l.lg

Veda 2.23.11Jvidyut - lightning; electricity; one of the

seven kinds of "crude material" fromwhich rapa and lipi are formed (alsocalled var~a).

vijnana(m) - the supra-intellectual facultyor plane of divine knowledge and power,often referred to in the Record as the"ideality"; the vijiianaca~laya (SC III),consisting of the instruments and meansof vijnana. The elements of the vijiianacatU$laya are for some purposes listed asfive rather than four, namely: jiiana, trikaladmi, Tapa,tapas, and samadhi. Inthis enumeration, rupa is understood toinclude lipi, while tapas means the"siddhis of power" of the ~,asiddhi; the"siddhis of knowledge" which constitute"telepathy" seem here to be combined

with trik.aIad~ti, while the physical siddhisare considered part of the sariraca~,aya.

The natur-e of the vijnana is expressed bythe Yedic formula satyam rtam brhat,"the truth, the right, the vast".

vijnanabuddhi- "intuitional mind", a fac-ulty intermediate between intellectual

. reason (manasabuddhi) and pure vijnana.vijiiana-calqu-eye of vijiiana.vijnanamaya - of the nature of vijnana;

supra-intellectual, ideal.vijiianasarathyupeta rathl vidvan-the Know

er riding in the chariot (of the body) withvijiiiina as charioteer.

vjjiianaviin deva-the Godhead manifestingthrough vtjniina.

vikara-modification, derivative.v~aya-object of sense; often an abbrevia

tion of v~ayiinanda.

v~ayad~#-subtle sensory perception. Itis of five kinds: rUpadr~ti, sabdadmi,sparsadr~ti, gandhadr~li and rasad~#.

v4ayantlnda - iinanda of the senses, themildest of the five types of physicalananda.

viveka - intuitive discrimination, a facultyof jnana.

vivekamaya - discriminative.vyiipti - telepathic reception or communica

tion, a siddhi of knowledge (SC III,Ashtasiddhi). "Effective vyapti", the projection of one's thoughts and states ofconsciousness into others, is sometimesmentioned along with the siddhis ofpower.

yogasiddhi-perfection in Yoga.yogatattva-the principles of Yoga.

Documents in the Life of Sri AurobindoIN PONDICHERRY-191O AND AFTER

LIFE IN PONDICHERRY

Extract from "Freedom Movemen! in Indii1: Some Jottings from Old Memories", byS. Srinivasachari. Unpublished MS. {Hereafter Srinivasachari MS{

He [Sri Aurobindo] came there [to ShankaraChettiar's house] about April 1910 and remainedtill October when he removed to a separatehouse in the European quarters near the sea·shore. Though his stay there was only for five orsix months, it was quite eventful. We kept hispresence in Pondicherry a secret for a month ortwo, except for a few of our friends who saw himon the pier with us on the day of his arrival noneelse had any suspicion even about it; our constantvisit to the house was quite an ordinary event, aswe were visiting Chettyar very often from thebeginning. But it did not last long, the IndiaGovernment missing Sri Aurobindo in Bengalmust have set the police to find out his whereabouts....

After a short time the Government of Indiamust have come to know of [his] stay in Pondicherry for a number of policemen in baredress[mufti] were found watching our movements,they must have even located the place of residence for the Isvaran Dharmaraja temple had atall Gopuram from which these police spies triedto get a glimpse of the upper Oat of the house butall was in vain for the walls of the rooms sufficiently protected the open space from being seenfrom the Gopuram of that temple. Except ourselves no other was allowed to go upstairs, eventhe members of the household abstained fromgoing upstairs for not intruding upon his quietlife. He was spending all his time in preparing his'Yogic Shadan' [sic] which he dictated to us bothin the evening from five to seven. He was givingus also some instructions as to how to practiseconcentration, we were also asked to watch

2

detachedly how the ideas take their rise, cling toour mind and disappear, he asked us not to bedisturbed or get excited when unwanted ideasforce themselves upon us for it is only by preserving our calmness that we can study theirstrength in their growth or decline in us. Aftersuch instructions our conversation would turn ongeneral subjects, on one of those occasions· Iasked him what he meant by the Akasic recordsabout which he used to write in his 'Karmayogin'.He said that he himself cannot say much. aboutthem, he felt some scribbled scrolls were unfurling before his eyes with some connected ideasrising in his mind, he was neither able to say whatlanguage [it) was nor what the script was. Onanother occasion he was telling us that the coming Yuga will be a glorious one for man will beable to live a far higher life, almost divine in thisworld. I asked him how can such a thing bepossible now, we are just at the beginning of theKali Yuga which [is] said to be the worst of thefour? He said that in everyyuga the other yugasalso have their influence one after the other andimpart their characteristics for the time being.Then Bharati said that if divine life is lived on

'earth, then we must he immortals also. Yes, hesaid, we are bound to be so when we work for it.He told us also that when he had that divineillumination he found within himself somethingcompelling him to break away from his presentpolitical life, and at the same time there wassome other thing in him which resisted andrefused to do so; it was only after a few daysstruggle that he gained peace of mind when [he]decided to give it up. {Continued as Document 7}

V. Ramaswami Iyengar, "Veteran Writer Recalls a Few Glimpses". Free India, 10December 1950.

In January 1910, I ran away from my home inTanjore District to Calcutta. There I met one

Venkataraman of Mayavaram. Our talk turnedto a discussion on the political leaders. I was keen

Documents in the Life of Sri Aurobindo 187

on meeting Mr. Surendranath Banerjee.My friend cut me short and said: "Look here,

what an idiot you are! Why should you meet thisold chap? If at all it is worth seeing somebody, itis Aurobindo Gosh [sic)."

As an EditOI"

I knew even then som·ething about AurobindoGosh. In fact, I was anxiously following theManiktola Bomb Case. Mr. Beechcroft, thePresiding Judge gave the benefit of doubt toAurobindo Gosh and discharged him. Sometimelater, Aurobindo started a weekly paper "KarmaYogin" which went on to 42 issues and then therewas nothing known about him.

My friend and myself went to the CollegeSquare where Aurobindo's uncle, -KrishnaKumar Miller, lived. The house was locked.There were C.I.D. constables watching the entiresquare. Afterwards we learned that AurobindoGosh had disappeared. So we could not meet himthen. I came away from Calcutta. He managedto escape the vigilance of the police to reachChandranagore; and from there, he came toPondicherry in a French steamer, under thename of Rajendranath Mukerjee. Two or threemonths later, one N. K. Ramaswami Iyer, Advocate, of Tanjore blurted out to my friend K. V.Rangaswami Iyengar of Srirangam the secret thatAurobindo was at Pondicherry. Immediately hesent me to Pondicherry to find out the truth ofthat statement.

A Memorable Day

I went to Pondicherry and with the help ofMahakavi Subramanya Bharathi and Mr. Srinivasachariar, I was able to pay my respects toAurobindo, in a room on the top lloor of Kalavala Sankaran Chettiar's house. Along with him Imet two Bengali friends, Nalini Kanta SarkarGupta and Suresh Chandra Chakravarthi (aliasMani). These two friends are still in the Ashram.

That day was ever memorable to me. It was asumptuous treat to me to see Aurobindo andBharathi talk. The conversation was a sort ofvariety entertainment. Only the level was veryhigh, both of them being. in the cricket language,"all-rounders. "

Very many people in this part of the countryand of this generation may not know that Aurobindo was actively engaged (before he dived intoYoga-sadhana) in leading a movement to freeIndia. Many of the pre-Gandhian movementsbelieved in bombs·and revolvers. Aurobindo wasinformed every now and then about the activitiesof this movement from all over India especially

from Bengal and the Punjab. We would all behearing the stories. There was no secrecy. Nooath of secrecy was administered to us and this isa very remarkable trait in Aurobindo's character.He trusted our honour and sense of patriotism,not to divulge such things even to our nearest anddearest.

A Case of Conspiracy

The French Police at Pondicherry at theinstigation of British India police launched acase of conspiracy against us all, including SriAurobindo. The "judge-de-instruction" [juged'instruction) carne to Aurobindo's house tosearch it. On the table of Sri Aurobindo he sawtwo books, one Greek and another Latin. TheJudge asked Aurobindo whether he was conversant'with these two languages and Mr. Goshsaid, "Yes" and there was no more search; theJudge departed quietly with the police. I

There was a regular blockade of the "Swadeshis" (the Indian patriots who took asylumin Pondicherry were called Swadeshis) by theBritish Indian police. No money was allowed tocorne in. All visitors were threatened.

One fine morning, in Aurobindo's house therewas hardly any money, for marketing. He.8skedus what things we had got for cooking. There wassome rice, chilies, gingley oil and salt. The chilieswere fried; rice was cooked and there was agrand dinner with the salt added thereto. Youmust have seen Aurobindo, then! What a remarkable man! The man who could roll in wealthand command any convenience! He wanted tofinish that day. with that hearty meal.

His Generosity

Once a young man of doubtful antecedentssomehow was recommended from Bengal forstay at Pondicherry. He was a Bengali. He came.He' was a jack-at-all-trades. Very clever fellow.After he stayed with us for about six months, onenight at about 11 o'clock he prostrated beforeAurobindo and said: "I am a dirty spy of theBritish India police. I am paid to spy on you.I hoodwinked the Headquarters in Bengal, tothink that I am a patriot. Here is about Rs. 1,000as my salary for the last five months. Do whatever you like with me. I surrender myself in yourhands. I am now entirely changed...

There was pin-drop silence. We were struckdumb, and Aurobindo the great man he was,

I Cf. Documents in the Life ofSri Aurobindo, A & R9 (1985): 208-11, Documents 9-15: "The House SearchIncident of 1912".


simply smiled. He said "There is no need toexcuse you. You had sufficiently repented. Youcan Iiv,S: here as long as you want." ,

I know nothing about his Yoga, but I can tellpeople that Sri Aurobindo was something of aphenomenon, more remarkable than remarkablemen. The way in which he moved with us young

1 Cf. Doc\lmelll3 in the Life ofSri Aurobindo. A & R9 (1985): 112-14. Documents 15-16: "TIlL 1nd&nl ofBiren Roy".

3

men was something which I cannot easily describe. Affection is a poor word. Camaraderie isa dull word. Motherliness is good, but is only oneaspect of his conduct towards us.

His sense of humour was colossal. He had agift of aggressive laughter without giving offenseto anybody, least of all, to the party affected.

Where can I meet Bharathi again? Where can Imeet Sri Aurobindo? These are the two Mastersthat moulded my life.

Extracts from Government of Indio, Home Political-B Proceedings, February 1911,Nos. 1-5, and September 1912, Nos. 21-24. [National Archives of India}

MADRAS.

20. Pondicherry. - It has been ascertainedthat amongst the companions of Arabindo Ghoseis A. B. Kolhatkar, B.A., of Nagpur, who wasconvicted of sedition as editor of the DeshaSewak. He has been in communication withMadame Cama with a view to leaving India, andthe latter has sent him Rs. 300 to pay for hispassage to England or to a place in the WestIndies where there is said to be a colony oftwo or three thousand Indians working as factoryhands.

Seditious literature is still coming in largequantities: five copies of Savarkar's book on theMutiny addressed to Nagaswami Aiyer, brotherin-law of Subramania Bharati, were recentlyintercepted, in addition to copies of the FreeHindUSlan, Talwar and Bantle Mataram. In spiteof these interceptions S. Srinivasa Chari recentlyhad a considerable amount of this kind of literature in his house.

Weekly reports of the DireClOr of CriminalInteUigence on the politkal situation during

January 1911, p. 5.

MADRAS.

9. Pondicherry.-On 15th August a meetingwas held at the house of Arabindo Ghose, incelebration, it is believed, of his 40th birthday.The meeting was attended by V. V. S. Aiyar,who was V. D. Savarkar's right-hand man inthe anarchist conspiracy in London and Paris,e. Subramania Bharati, a well-known writer ofsedition against whom a warrant is out for complicity in the murder of Mr. Ashe, and a fewother well-known revolutionaries. During theproceedings five pictures were garlanded withflowers, namely those of (1) the goddess Kali, thepatron saint of the Bengali revolutionary movement, (2) Bharat Mala, the personification ofMother India, (3) Tilak, and (4) and (5) Khudiram Bose and Profulla Chaki, the two youngBengalis who threw the bomb which killed Mrs.and Miss Kennedy at Muzaffarpur in April 1908.Arabindo Ghose, who at first kept to himself agreat deal in Pondicherry, is now in much closertouch with V. V. S. Aiyar and his dangerousgang.

Ibid., August 1912, p. 13.

THE FRENCH ELECTIONS OF 1910 AND THE ARRIVAL OF PAUL RICHARD

4

Extract from The Mother, "How I became Conscious ofMy Mission" (1920). Publishedin The Collected Works of the Mother, vol. 13, p. 39.

In the year 1910 my husband came alone toPondicherry where, under very interesting and

peculiar circumstances, he made the acquaintance of Sri Aurobindo.


5

Extract from Diary of the British Consul in PondU:herry, 1910. [National Archives ofIndia, History of thi! Frudom Movi!mi!nt Fiks B 1I2J

189

It may be noted here that when Mons Richards[sic] came out to this Colony in the hope ofstanding for the Depute-ship, he was invited byZir Naidu to receive an address. Here he metSanker Chetty and other swadeshists who in-

6

duced. him to pay Arabindo a visit and fromanother source I learned that he paid Arabindoseveral other visits. Mons Richards is a greatfriend of the Depute Bluysen.

Extract from Journal Officiel des Etablissements Fran~s dans !'lnde, 6 May 1910,p. 347. [Ronulin Rolland Ubrary. Pondichi!rry; tra!'Slati!d from the FrenchJ

DECLARAnON of the results of the legislativeelection of 24. April 1910.

Registered voters 55,197Voters 38,061Mr. Paul Bluysen 20,580 votesMr. Lemaire 17,453 votes

7

The election commission for the legislative election of 24 April 1910, established by order of theGovernor on 1 and 2 May, has, on 4 May 1910,declared Mr Paul Bluysen elected Deputy of theFrench Settlements in India. Mr Bluysen received 20,580 votes.

From Srinivasachari MS.

In this way we were spending our time andthough political subjects would often come upin the conversation now and then, it lost itsimportance as our sole preoccupation. A fewmonths later an election for choosing a 'Depute'to represent the French Settlements in India inthe French 'Chambre' (Parliament) at Paris. Itwas very common in these elections here for theriotous elements to he let loose on the inhabitants as a result of universal suffrage. Manypersons would then try to settle their scores intheir private quarrels, more particularly theleaders of parties. They were generally divided asHindu and European and as the majority of thepopulation in all these five French settlementsbeing Hindu, their candidate generally used tocome out successful. But this time a rowdyelement in the Hindu party went over to theEuropean side owing to some personal quarrel.As Pondicherry was the headquarters of thesesettlements, by terrorizing the city and by a lot ofmalpractices any candidate could he made tosucceed in these elections. This time the Hinduleaders among whom [was] Gaston Pierre, aFrench lawyer, a leader of the Bar in Pondicherry, put up as their candidate, Paul Richard,

an Advocate of the 'Counseil Prive' , in Paris.Usually the candidate remains in France and isnever present at the election in the city, the partyleaders themselves do all the electioneeringwork. But this time Paul Richard wanted to bepresent on the occasion and had come all the wayfrom Paris just before the election. He was putup in the house of Gaston Pierre as the legaland political chief advisor in the Hindu Party,Sankara Chettyar and Zir Naid[u) who were themoving spirits on this side were very closelyconnected with both of them. When the wholeelectioneering campaign was over and the resultswent against their party, Paul Richard whileconversing with both of them expressed his desireto travel in Northern India and even go to theHimalayan regions to meet some Yogis there ifpossible and wanted some one to direct him. Hesaid he did not come to India solely for thiselection, but he availed of it as a good opportunity to fulfil his desire and if they could recommendanybody in Chandernagore who would be willingto take him, he would all the more be thankful to

• Richard ...as in fad an avocal l la rour d'appel(barris'" in the Court of Appt!aJs).


them. While promising to make enquiries aboutit they casually mentioned to him that there wasone in Pondicherry, referring to Sri Aurobindo,who had come as a political refugee and who issaid to have had some divine visions. but thegreat difficulty with him is that he does not allowanybody to see him. On hearing this PaulRichard became greatly interested in it and requested them to arrange without fail if not for ameeting, at least, permission to look at him froma distance. Saokara Chettyar told him that hecould not promise anything now but undertook ifnot for a conversation at least for a darsan. Poorman he was in a fix, he had promised to keep SriAurobindo's presence in his house absolutelysecret and now in an unguarded moment he hadgiven it out and when Bharati and myself went tohis house that evening, he came to us withapologies and wanted us to excuse him his indiscretion in having taken his friend Zir Naidu intohis confidence who inadvertently had spoken ofhis presence to Paul Richard. He had promisedhim to try and get his permission at least £0 havea look at him. He further told us that his European friend wants to go North in search of Yogisand would be glad if anyone could take him topersons who are well advanced in it as he himselfseems to be very much interested in Mysticism.We replied to him that we will do what we can inthe matter and went upstairs and consulted between ourselves beforehand. Pondicherry is onlya small speck compared to British India and wemay be put to trouble easily at any moment andthe friendship of an Advocate of the Privy Council in Paris may stand in good stead for [us) intime of need. So we were lor trying to bringabout the meeting between the two. Even thoughwe wanted to get a favorable reply Irom SriAurobindo we began the talk by telling himof the indiscretion of the house-owner and hisfriend in revealing his presence to Paul Richardwho being greatly interested [in) Western Mysticism wants to have a look at him if an interv~ew

with him is not possible. before he leaves forNorthern India in quest of Yogis. At first SriAurobindo flatly refused to grant [not just) aninterview but even a distant look at him. He said,I am not here to satisfy the curiosity of [a)political worker who is come from France on anelectioneering campaign here and who may havesome academic interest in these matters. It isbetter that I keep away from such people. Theseare not the very words uttered by him, but thesemore or less bring out the opinion he had on thesubject concerned. We did not press the matterfurther and spent the time in finishing the routine

work and the customary general talk and towardsthe end I again broached the subject. I placedbefore him our position in Pondicherry, a·smalltown with rowdy elements always ready to do thebidding of their unscrupulous leader. We havecome here seeking protection from the British toplease whom France is ready to close its eyes oncertain international irregularities committed onits own soil, on an Indian. To give an exampleI reminded him of the case of Dr. VinayakDamodar Savarkar in which the British policemen arrested on the sacred French soil in opendaylight in the face of a French policeman towhom the unfortunate prisoner ran for protection and dragged the unwilling victim to theBritish steamer in the port of Marseilles.' Onthat occasion I sent a cablegram which I [showed]him personally and got his approval beforedespatching it for publication to the 'Matin' thewellknown Paris Daily. The cablegram cost memore than forty rupees which the British IndianGovernment quietly pocketed without sendingthe news cabled to the addressee. because someGause in their Code gives them the right ofwithholding any message they like. So Bharatiand myself did our best to induce him toreconsider his decision as a fine opportunity isoffering itself without our seeking. After somemore consideration he consented to receive PaulRichard provided the interview is short and endswith the first one. We thanked him and camedownstairs to Saokara Chettyar and communicated the glad news. He requested me toaccompany him the next morning to meet PaulRichard and speak to him directly.

We both went to the house of Gaston Pierreand Zir Naidu who was already there introducedme to Paul Richard. I was well impressed by his

1 V. D. Savarkar was arrested in London on 13March 1910 in connection with the Nasik assassinationof 21 December 1m. After prolonged legal proceedings. the court ordered his return ro India, and on 1 Julyhe was pm on the P & 0 steamer Morea bound forBombay. On 8 July, while the Morea was lying inMarseilles harbour, Savarkar escaped through a porthok. swam 10 the dock, and presented himself ro agendarme who, however, returned him to th~ pursuingBriJUh police. Savarkar', friends in Frana claimLd thathis recapture by rhe BriJUh on French soil was aviolation of French sovereignly, but the Hague Tribunalupheld its legality, and Savarkar was sent back 10 India,where he was sentenced to transportation to theAndamans. Srinivasachari could nol have "reminded"Sri Aurobindo in April or May 1910 ofan incident thaIhad not yet happened. But he may hallf! advanced thegeneralline ofreason presented above. and perhaps /Jl1erapplied iJ to the Savarkar case.


broad face and earnest look and his beard andafter the preliminary introductions were over, hewanted me to convey his thanks to Sri Aurobindof6r granting him an interview and told me that hetook interest in occult matters much more than inpolitics which in the present instance had offeredhim a chance to visit India and he would considerhis purpose achieved if he could come into contact with persons who are engaged in Mysticpractices seriously and would not regret much hisfailure in this election. He said he would firstmeet Sri Aurobindo and then settle his futureprogramme. I told him their meeting was at 7P.M. that evening. As I rose to take leave of himhe showed me a rough sketch he was drawingduring the conversation and asked me whetherSri Aurobindo looked like it. I thought it contained some of his features and told him so.

Bharati and myself went in the evening to SriAurobindo and communicated my morning conversation and my impressions. At about 7 o'clockPaul Richard came and was received by SriAurobindo and after the usual introductions andpreliminary talks they both began to exchangetheir ideas about Mysticism and I acted as theirinterpreter as Richard could not understandEnglish very well. Their conversation was veryinteresting then but now they are very vague to

8

me as I had forgotten the interesting links. In thecourse of their conversation Sri Aurobindoseemed to get. more and more interested. inRichard, for when the latter asked for a fewminutes of private talk with him he readily consented and both went into a separate room takingme with them and their conversation went on fornearly an hour. I do not remember all thesubjects that they conversed about at that timebut the general outline of it was that both of themhad met each other and had worked together inAncient Egypt, Arabia and other places in theirprevious births, for some time about the oldEgyptian Mystics and their traditions which arestill kept up by some of the modern Mystics eventoday. As they finished their conversation andwere coming out of the room Paul Richard saidthat he now understood why he felt such a strongurge to come to Pondicherry, it was certainly forthat meeting of meeting[s] of theirs and forstarting to continue their work in this birth. Hesaid the next time he comes back his wife who isspiritually more advanced than himself mightaccompany him to Pondicherry. Sri Aurobindoalso seemed to be greatly satisfied with themeeting. We came out of the room and they tookleave of each other. Paul Richard left for Paris bythe next steamer. [Continued as Document 13j

Extract from Sureshchandra Chakrabarli' (Moni), Smritikatha. Pondicherry: SriAurobindo Ashram, 1962, pp. 173-87. [Translated from the Bengali.j

A short time after Aurobindo had settled in MrChettiar's house - five or six or at the most tenor fifteen days after-a newly arrived Frenchman came to meet him. This French gentleman'sname was Paul Richard. He was a barrister inParis. The address on his visiting card was 9, rueVal de Grace.... In 1910, the electoral rolls oftwo French Indian political parties, the Europeanparty and the Hindu party, gave no evidence ofbeing divided according to colour. The proof isthat the leader of the Hindu party at the time wasa French barrister named Gaston Pierre, whileone of the main pillars of the European partywas Nandagopal Chettiar, a dark-skinned Tamilgentleman.

This is what we used to hear about the elections in French India in those days: despite thefact that the Hindu party had more voters, it wasalways the European party that won the elections. I don't know what the situation was in theother four towns of French India. But in Pondi-

cherry, Mr Nandagopal Chettiar was a very bigman. He may have been the assistant mayor ofPondicherry. Mr Chettiar was from the fishermancaste. Whether he sprang from the exalted line ofKing Shantanu's father-in-law I or not I am notable to say; but in Pondicherry at that time hewielded great power. The fisher communities ofPondicherry and its vicinity were under his sway.They fished in the ocean, ferried merchandisebetween the jetty and the ships (I have alreadypointed out that in the Pondicherry harbour shipscould not be moored at the jetty), and duringelections, after guzzling down a sufficient quantity of toddy or another such liquid, sowed terrorin the hearts of the Hindu party's voters onbehalf of the European party. They were knownby the people of Pondicherry as la bande de

I Dasharaja, king of the fishermen. He was falher ofSatyavali, who bore 10 King Shantanu Iwo sons,Vichitravirya and Chilrangada.


Nandagopal, that is, the rowdies of Nandagopal.They used to sow such terror in the souls of therival party's voters that many among them, farfrom casting their vote, actually locked themselves in their houses during the elections anddid not even go out. Nandagopal's "festivalprocessions" would parade through the streetsmaking all sorts of noise and chanting sloganssuch as "Vive la France!" and "Vive MonsieurGaebeJe!". (Gaebele was the leader of the European party who had virtually made the post ofmayor his ancestral prerogative.) When the voteswere finally counted it was found that the European party had won the election. This is thehistory of the elections in French India in thosedays. . . . .

Mr Richard came to Pondicherry in order tocontest the seat for French India in the Chamberof Deputies, and entered the fray in the hope ofbeing selected as candidate of the Hindu party.'From my earlier description of French politics,readers will have no trouble realizing that MrRichard had no ghost of a chance to get elected,Therefore it is needless to state that the rivalparty's candidate won.

Although Mr Paul Richard was fully Europeanand was born in a French Roman Catholicfamily,' he had no faith in the Christian religion.Stranger stiU, he had no faith in Western cultureor civilization either. We must not forget that weare talking about the year 1910.... In the finaldecade of the last century and the first decade ofthe present one, Europe had reached the highestsummit of its glory. In 1910 it was in the vanguardof humanity in art, literature, science, research,thought, in the'accomplishment of work and theenjoyment of pleasure. But even at that time MrRichard was most skeptical about Europe. Perhaps the proverb "all that glitters is not gold" wasechoing in his being. Although he lived amidstthe contemporary affluence and glory of his greatcountry, his attention was turned towards thedistant East. He felt deep within him an attraction for the East, and especially for India. Hebelieved that the key to the attainment of humanity's supreme good was not to be found in Europebut would come from the East, in particular from

2 See Archival Notes,2 See ArchivalNot~. The religion ofRichard's family

is not known for certain; but he had himself been aProtestant minister before coming to India.

India. He believed that there existed withinIndian culture and spirituality a mantra or secretthat could provide a permanent solution to theultimate questions of humanity. He had a deeptrust in the soul of India, perhaps even a profound dedication to it.

So, it is possible that in April 1910, Mr Richardhad not come to India chiefty with the ideaof fighting his way into politics. He may havewanted to kill two birds with one stone. Perhapshis special interest and curiosity lay in seeingIndia rather than getting into politics. That is whythe first thing he asked after setting foot onIndian soil was whether it would be possible forhim to meet a yogi. At that time there lived inPondicherry a certain Mr Zir Naidu who was oneof the principal members of the Hindu party. MrRichard asked this Mr Naidu if he could introduce him to a yogi....

. . . So when Mr Richard expressed to MrNaidu his desire of meeting a Yogi, Mr Naiduwhispered in his ear with the utmost secrecy thatin Pondicherry itself there was a great yogi,possibly adding that the yogi was a difficult manto meet. But nevertheless he would try.

.I suppose that Mr Naidu went to Mr Srinivasachari, who spoke to Aurobindo about the idea,and that Aurobindo agreed to meet Mr Richard.This is just the way I imagine it happened.Needless to say, all this business done throughintermediaries happened without my knowledge.

In any case, one morning at about 9.30 or10,00 o'clock, Paul Richard, accompanied by MrSrinivasachari and Mr Zir Naidu, went in personto the third ftoor to Mr Shankar Chettiar's houseto meet Aurobindo. .

In person indeed! He was a tall man, his tallframe made taller by the French colonial sunhelmet. His face was not one that you couldignore. He seemed to be between thirty-five andforty years of age. His eyes, if not the sort thatcould be called "lotus eyes", were unmistakablylit up with the glow of intelligence, and his nosewas not the sort that went unnoticed. His coatwas of a chocolate brown colour, and his shirtcuffs, which from time to time peeped out fromunder the coat-sleeves, were not altogether spotless, as if some chocolate powder had rubbed offon them. But what most drew my attention to MrRichard was his full long flowing pitch-blackbeard.... I had never seen a Westerner withsuch a pitch-black beard before.


K. V. RANGASWAMI IYENGAR, NAGAI JAPATA AND YOGIC SADHAN

9

Letter of Sri Aurobindo, date unknown. Published in On Himself, p. 373.

193

The Yogi from the North (Uttara Yogi) was myown name given to me because of a predictionmade long ago by a famous Tamil Yogi, thatthirty years later (agreeing with the time of myarrival) a Yogi from the North would come asa fugitive to the South and practise there anintegral Yoga (Pooma Yoga), and this would be

10

one sign of the approaching liberty of India. Hegave three utterances as the mark by which thisYogi could be recognised and all these werefound in the letters to my wife.

As for Yogic Sadhan it was not I exactly whowrote it, though it is true that I am not aMayavadin.

Extract from letter of Sri Aurobindo dated 28 October 1934. Published in A & R 2(1978): 192.

The Yogic Sadhan is not Sri Aurobindo's ownwriting, but was published with a note by him,that is all. The statement made to the contraryby the publishers was an error which they havebeen asked to correct. There is no necessity of

11

following the methods suggested in that bookunless one finds them suggestive or helpful as apreliminary orientation of the consciousnesse.g. in the upbuilding of an inner Will etc.

Letter of Sri Aurobindo dated 4 May 1934. Published in On Himself, pp. 372-73.

Your friend writes about my disapproval ofVairagya in Yogic Sadhan. But Yogic Sadhan isnot my composition, nor its contents the essence

12

of my Yoga, whatever the publishers may persistin saying in their lying blurb, in spite of protests.

Extract from a talk of Sri Aurobindo of 10 December 1938. Transcripts of Purani andNirodbaran lidenticall.

[Sri Aurobindo:] Do you know the origin of thename Uttara Yogi?

[Disciple:] No, Sir.[Sri Aurobindo:] There was a famous Yogi in the

South who while dying said to his disciplesthat a Puma Yogi from lhe North would come

13

down to the South and he will be known by threesayings. Those three sayings were those I hadwritten to my wife. A Zamindar disciple of thatYogi found me out and bore the cost of the bookYogic Sadhan.

From Srinivasachari MS

The leader of the turbulent Hindu group thatwon the victory for the European party in theelection this time, while closely watching the

movement of Richard had come to know throughhis spies of the presence of Sri Aurobindo inPondicherry and the place of his residence. He


would have assured the British police of hispresence in town and would have promised themto keep an eye on him. From that time hispresence there and the way he is spending histime in Yogic practices must have been known toeverybody interested in him. Kodyalam Rangaswami Iyengar who later became a member ofthe Central Legislative Council in Delhi sent hisman Va Ra who had made a name as a goodTamil writer in his later days, secretly to arrangefor an interview with Sri Aurobindo. He went toBharati and told the purpose he had come for.Bharati mentioned it to me and in the eveningwhen we met him as usual Bharati told himwhat all he knew about Kodyalam RangaswamiIyengar and his family and after getting hisconsent the interview was arranged. On the firstoccasion Rangaswami Iyengar himself wanted tokeep his arrival and departure secret, perhaps itmight have been for avoiding the police trouble.But the next time he visited a year or so after hecame accompanied by one of his friends Dr S.Soundar Rajan (who after the Indian Independence was the Minister of Health in Madras inRajaji's Ministry and after) he made no secret ofit.

After these incidents Sri Aurobindo must havethought that there was no meaning in thinkingthat his presence in Pondicherry was still a secret.Moreover after his conversations with PaulRichard and KodiyaJam Rangaswami Iyengarmust have greatly confirmed his premonitionsabout his mission to establish in this world hisnew system of Yoga. Just as he heard from theformer his practices of the same in some of hisprevious births, the latter spoke to him of atradition in his family from his grandfather's timethat a Uttara Yogi (Yogi from the North) wouldbe coming to these parts and they would help himin his mission. His grandfather was under theimpression that the Uttara Yogi might come fromsome northern part of the Tamil Nad and so he

14

entertained in Nagai near Rajamannarkoil orMannargudi a number of families who had someyogic tendencies. He was given to understandthat this humanity will get great powers under itscontrol aod that man will be flying in air, a thingundreamt of in those days, and 'akasa gamanam'or air travel will be a matter of daily occurrencewith him. Even in the year 1910 when we heardit, it looked very strange, like many others wethought that it will be an individual achievementpossible only to Siddha Purushas and such a thingwe were sure could not happen at so near a futureas was foretold, but it never occurred to us thatit was quite possible if we worked collectivelyas it is done today. All the same when wespoke to Kodyalam Rangaswami Iyengar of SriAurobindo's 'Yogic Slidan' he took very greatinterest in it and taking a copy of it from him andpublished it in the name of 'Uttara Yogi', that isSri Aurobindo. Though these things happenedlater on still when he understood that his stayin Pondicherry was a matter of common knowledge, he wanted us to look for him a separate[house) to live in. A near relative of SankaraChettyar had a house in the European quartersfor about Rs 20/- a month and Sri Aurobindowent and occupied it for the present though itwas a bit distant from our dwelling places. Thiswas about September 1910 and very soon afterthe British police also engaged a house in thesame quarters and took up its residence· withAbdul Karim as its chief, though all of them werein baredress. As the house was about half a milefrom our places our visits to him were not sofrequent as before but only once or twice a weekordinarily, if nothing of importance made us goto him oftener. The secret police were somewhatmore active and were watching closely the Railway station and the ships in the port to note whois coming to him and who is going out. Withinseven or eight months [Sri Aurobindo) left thathouse and came nearer to our place.

Extract from K. Amrita, "Old Long Since", in Nolini KanIa Gupta and K. Amrita,Reminiscences (Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust, 1969), pp. 152-54.{Translated from the Tamil.]

It became a habit with me to meet RamaswamiIyengar on the beach every evening at about 5-30just after leaving school. It was natural for myschool friends also to accompany me.

How did Ramaswami Iyengar come to Pondicherry? How did he meet Sri Aurobindo? I didnot know well then. I heard that it was he,

Ramaswami Iyengar, who had secretly invitedK. V. Rangaswami Iyengar, of whom more presently, and arranged a meeting between him andSri Aurobindo.'

The story is this. A Siddhapurusha- a Yogi-

I Cf Docummls 2 and 13.


called Nagai Japta was the Kulaguru (familypreceptor) of K. Rangaswami Iyengar and a closefriend of his. My uncle used to tell me of manya miracle which the Yogi had done. It wasrumoured that when paddy fields went dry forwant of water, Japta's power would bring downthe needed rain and make the withering paddyplants shoot forth again.

This great man had also said to the familymembers of Rangaswami Iyengar to this effect:..A great saint will come to the South from theNorth; he is a great Yogi and will show the waynot only to our country but to the whole humanrace; he will be indeed your Kulaguru after me,you should accept him as such." This he said andafter a few days disappeared, one did not knowwhere.

On learning of Sri Aurobindo's arrival at Pondicherry, Rangaswami came here secretly withthe help of Ramaswami, to see Sri Aurobindoand talk to him. Secrecy was necessary at thattime to avoid suspicion of the British Police.

Rangaswami came several times afterwards tomeet Sri Aurobindo openly. But it was duringthe earlier secret visits Sri Aurobindo wrote-

15

apparently-the book Yogic Sadhan for him andgave it to him.

In the company of some close friends likeSrinivasachari, Ramaswami and Rangaswami,there used to be now and then what is called"automatic writing", that is to say, writing byspirits, as they are named. I am not sure whetherthe persons mentioned were the only ones presenl. there might have been a few others too. Igathered different versions from different peopleon the matter. It is said that Bharati also used tobe in those meetings....

The book Yogic Sadhan had its origin in thisway. It is said that it was written through themedium of Sri Aurobindo by some great spirit,probably Rammohao Roy; for it seems Sri Aurobindo said that he saw the figure of Rammohanas he was doing the writing. The spirit enteredinto him, that is to say, into his hands and wrotedown the book,. That is why the book, printed atSriraogam Vani Vilas Press, at the instance ofRangaswami Iyengar, was ascribed to an UltaraYogi as author or editor: that is to say, a Yogiwho had come from the North gave form to thebook.

Text by S. Ranganathan, Lakshmi Bhavanam, First St., Mannorgudi {Tamil Nadu{604001, dated 26 May 1988.

Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya NamaOm Sri Aravindaya Nama

A briefhistory ofSri Vasudeva Iyengar Swami/the Scion of Nagai -the founder of Nagai Japtha-the Uthara Yogi:

According to the manuscripts available, theAdi Uthara Yogi, the Scion of Nagai and thefamous NAGAr JAP'THA was born in the Tamilyear Virodhi, in the month of Purattasi, with thebirth star Uthiram, corresponding to 27th September, 1829.' He was born to Sri Rangachariarand Janaki Aromal in the hamlet SEMBODAI inVedaranyam taluk of Thanjavur district.

He moved out of his birth place at a fairlyyoung age and finally landed in the village Nagai,a small hamlet in Mannargudi-Vadeseri road.Something striking must have happened hell', for

I In a lelle, of 26 Aug...' 1988, S. RanganatJuJIIw,ius: "I am advised 10 aber lite name of the Swami asSRl VASUDEVA and n0110 UJe the religious """'" alU' hissumame. 11 will be simply Sri Vasudeva and nol SriVasudeva Iyengar."

, Amavasya & Sunday. {mtlrginal notation]

the village atmosphere put an end to his nomadiclife and made him settle down and finally becomethe Japtha. The Nagai village and surroundingareas were rich with Vedic scholars, comprisingof the three branches of religious philosophies(Vaishnavaites, adwaithins, and dwailhins) prosecuting themselves in their own way of rites andrituals. Sri Vasudeva Iyengar following his ownsedentary life of Japa yagnas must have attractedthe attention of these scholars and very soon hecongregated a close well knit circle of followerswho were collectively called the Nagai Japthas.The group gave importance to a special formof Japa yagna comprising of the great GayatriMantra ingeniously weaving into the system theAsbtakshara Mantra' also. The repetitive rendering of the Japas in groups and in individual levelsrendered a remarkable symphony and harmonyto their lives, and very soon the Nagai Japthasbecame quite popular and the entire group offollowers of the founder Japtha perfected thesystem of collective meditation accepting him astheir veritable GURU. Soon they buill a small

J OM Namo Ndrdya(l4ya.


fortress around the colony and an exclusive placefor meditation - the KUSUMAKRAM - a raisedplatform like structure in an octagonal shape witha Pranava chakra in the apex. His followers werestruck at the extraordinary meditative prowesscoupled with yogic powers that they verily startedaddressing him as Adi Uthara Yogi!

The founder Japtha was unmarried till his lateyears and probably on the request of his disciplesconsented to marry at fairly late age of 35 or soand had a daughter born. He must have attainedsiddhi (samadhi) shortly after marriage. Prior tohis samadbi he had evidently left word with hisdisciples that they would in future follow a greatGuru from North and when further pressed forproper identification, he had advised them thatthe great Yogi from North would also be knownUTItARA YOGI, who will land in the South soon.Nearly four decades had passed and yet theNagai Japthas were unable to seek their Masteror locate him anywhere. Finally around 1908Kodiyalam (K. V) Rangaswami Iyengar and hisbrother K. V. Srinivasa Iyengar identified in SriAurobindo clear similarities of thoughts of theirGuru. Sri Aurobindo also called himself UtharaYogi and the famous Alipore trials involving SriAurobindo brought to light various striking similar ideas between the great souls and it was notdifficult for the brothers to get in touch with SriAurobindo through their usual contacts, oneamong them was Sir Sharma of Mavoor, who wasa great Kali Bhakta and who had spent a majorpart of his life in Calcutta. Probably RangaswamiIyengar was one of the early few to have influenced Sri Aurobindo and to have renderedfinancial assistance to move to Pondicherry fromChanden Nagore.'

A brief history of the Kodiyalam brothers:K. V. Rangaswami Iyengar and his brother

K. V. Srinivasa Iyengar were the two sons amongthe nine children of Sri Kodiyalam VasudevaIyengar. They were born in 1887 and 1889 respectivelyas the second and third in the line. SriVasudeva Iyengar of Kodiyalam was actuallymarried to the youngest sister-in-law of the greatNagai Japtha, and he was an unknowing child oftwo or three when the Japtha attained samadhi.The only daughter ofthe Nagai Japtha was a fewyears older than Kodiyalam Vasudeva Iyengar.He was popularly known as the zamindar of

, If, as il would appear from Documents 2 and 13,Rangaswami Iyengar leamed ofSri Aurobindo's coming10 Pondich.,ry only some lime afler Sri Aurobindo'sarrival, il would seem unlikely Ihat Rangaswami hadanything 10 do with Sri Aurobindo's departure fromChandemagore.

Kodiyalam and was very well known among theruling British and represented the landed genrein the Council. He died around 1906 at a youngage of 40 and his eldest son K. V. RangaswamiIyengar was elected to the British State Counciland also represented in the Imperial BritishCouncil of State in Delhi. Both the brothers werevery close not only to the British administration,but also to the then National leaders likeBalgangadhar Tilak, Kbaparde, GopalakrishnaGokhale, Lala Lajpat Rai, Mohammed AliJinnah, Poet Subrahmanya Bharathi and so on.Their closeness to the British was quite advantageous to them in rendering assistance to -SriAurobindo during his secret travel to Pondicherry from Calcutta, as they were the leastsuspects in the British eyes. It was all the moreadvantageous to Sri Aurobindo also in making aneasy passage to deep south from the tutrnoil ofNational and political extremism. Seein& himsafe in the shores of Pondicherry in those dayswas not an easy task and to continue to assisthim without culling the disfavour of the Britishauthorities was an equally difficult task. Kodiyalam brothers' proximity to the British rulersmust have been responsible in their continuedhelp to Sri Aurobindo without creating any untoward suspicion in the British eyes. Practicallyall the visits of the brothers to Pondicherryto meet both Sri Aurobindo or SubrahmanyaBharathi were kept well guarded secrets that noproper records or even casual mentions are madein the history. That is why most of the details oftheir assistance or other forms' of help wereentirely shrouded in mystery. Even a brief visitand stay of Poet Subrahmanya Bharathi in 1918to Nagai village as the guest of the Kodiyalambrothers (escaping the shrewd British intelligence) was mentioned in the biography of PoetBharathi by V. Ramaswami (Va. Ra.). It is ofinterest to observe here that Va. Ra. himself wasbrought up through the munificence of K. V.Rangaswami Iyengar who was responsible toeducate him beyond his school days in S.P.G.College, Trichy. This early association withKodiyalam family, paved an easy way for theKodiyalam brothers to contact and convey messages to Sri Aurobindo through Va. Ra. SinceK. V. R. was a member of the British Council ofState in Delhi he was unable to frequently visitPondicherry; however the early visit and meetingwith Sri Aurobindo is clearly mentioned in thebiography and his efforts to undertake the publication of the very first work of Sri Aurobindochristened YOOlC SADHAN was also mentioned. Itis of particular interest to note here that theabove work was authored 'by Sri Aurobindo as


lJTHARA YOGI. A letter written by Sri Aurobindoin April, 1916 to Sri K. R. Appadurai (brotberin-law of Poet Bharatbi) show clearly that KVRcontinued to help Sri Aurobindo during times ofneed.'

Sri K. V. Srinivasa Iyengar bad vividly described his episodes of visits to Pondicherrybetween 1911 and till tbe time Sri Aurobindorestricted his public darshans and interviews. Hewas a frequent visitor to Pondicherry to representhis brother and he used to trek the distancebetween Cuddalore and Pondicherry by walkwith his pet bull-dog, as though he was on casualwalking errands and sneak into the prohibitedterritory with casb to be handed over to SriAurobindo. His description of tbe news flash onthe Alipore trials involving Sri Aurobindo and

, See Archival Notes.

the disclosure of certain details about his being aYogin simply tbrilled the brothers, who neverlost an opportunity to get in touch witb him andrender all possible help. And their first meetingat Pondicherry, where they exchanged for thefirst time about their views and beliefs of theUthara Yogi was an experience of their life time!It was the belief of the Kodiyalam family whowere the followers of the Nagai Japtha, tbat SriAurobindo was actually the incarnation of tbefounder of the Nagai Japthas, the Adi UtharaYogi. The Nagai clan who had been in search oftheir GURU for well over three decades must havebeen overjoyed at finally locating him in SriAurobindo! .....

Archival NotesIN PONDICHERRY-191O AND AFTER

This article does not necessarily reflect the views of the publishers of SriAurobindo: Archives and Research. The writer, a member of the staffoftheSri Aurobindo Ashram Archives and Research Library, accepts full responsibility for.the contents of the article, which is the result of his own researchand his own interpretation. The purpose of the biographical portions ofArchival Notes is to present materials dealing with the period of SriAurobindo's life covered by the current instalment of Documents in the LifeofSri Aurobindo. The form ofpresentation selected is a variety ofthe classicbiographical na"ative, one that, owing to the nature of this journal, makesrather heavy use of documentary quotations. Any historical narrative mustbe written from a particular point of view, and, however much the writermay follow the ground rules ofobjectivity, this point of view must necessarily be subjective. Evaluations, judgments and conclusions, explicit or implicit, have to be made at every step. The references given in the notes will enablethe reader to turn to the sources and, after study, to form his own conclusions.

SRI AUROBINDO'S FIRST MEETING WITH PAUL RICHARD

At the same time that the S.S. Carthage was carrying Sri Aurobindo from Calcuttato Pondicherry, the P & 0 steamer Delhi was sailing down the Red Sea and acrossthe Gulf of Aden. On board was Paul Richard, a French barrister and writer, whoalso was bound for the capital of French India (Plate 6). Richard landed in Bombayon 8 April 1910, and a few days later arrived at his destination. He had come toPondicherry in connection with the French legislative elections, which were to beheld on 24 April. But he had another reason for making the journey. In France, hehad become interested in occultism and spirituality. He wished to meet an Indianspiritual master, and asked his new acquaintances in Pondicherry whether theycould help him. Eventually he was introduced to Sri Aurobindo. The meetingproved to be momentous. When Richard returned to Paris, he told his future wifeMirra about the wonderful yogi he had met. Four years later she came to India andmet him herself.

Before going into the circumstances of Paul Richard's first meeting with SriAurobindo, we will take a brief look at his life up to 1910.' Paul Antoine Richardwas born on 17 June 1874 at Marsiliargues , in the department of Herault, inLanguedoc (southern France). After finishing school, he enlisted in the army, andin October 1892 was sent to North Africa, where he served for four years.

I The account that follows is based on the personal papers of Paul Ril;hard, which are held by the SriAurobindo Ashram Archives. It has not been thought necessary to give references to individualdocuments.

Archival Notes 199

Returning to his homeland in 1897, he settled in Montauban (in the South-West ofFrance), where he took up the study of theology. He preached in Montauban fortwo years, and in 1900 published a book-length "metaphysical essay", Le corps duChrist apres sa resurrection. Later in 1900 he became a minister of the ReformedChurch of France in Lille (in the North-East of France, near the Belgian border).Around tbis time he married Wilhelmine van Oostveen, a young lady of Amsterdam.

During his six-year stay in Lille, and for several years thereafter, Richardfounded or joined a number of philanthropic organizations. His favourite cause wasthe upbringing and moral education of orphans and other young boys. Hishumanitarian interests drew him increasingly towards socialism. After hearing aspeech of Jean Jaures, probably in 1903, Richard wrote of him as "the lay prophetof the New City". Richard's enthusiasm for secular progress did not at first conflictwith his Christian beliefs. The twentieth century, he wrote in a letter of December1903, would be one of unprecedented enlightenment, in which "science and faithwould eventually meet - once science had better sounded the universe and faithbetter known Jesus". But a few months after writing this, Richard resigned hisministry and dedicated himself fully to humanitarian work. He joined the Ligue desDroits de l'Homme et du Citoyen, a pro-Dreyfus group with leftist tendencies, andin September 1904 went on a mission to French Guiana to investigate ~nditions inthe penal settlements. Devil's Island, where Dreyfus had been. imprisoned, wasonly one of the colony's notorious bagnes. Back in Litle in 1905, Richard took upthe study of law and tried unsuccessfully to enter politics. After his defeat in thegeneral elections of 1906, he moved to Le Vesinet, a suburb of Paris, where hecontinued his legal studies, supporting himself as a writer for a Paris daily.

Even after his departure from the Church, Richard kept up a lively interest inmatters spiritual and occult. In January 1905 he became a Freemason, and at oncebegan to climb the masonic hierarchy. Two years later, in January 1907, hejourneyed to Tlemcen, Algeria, to study with a European master of occultismnamed Max Theon. A letter written on 11 March 1907 shows that Richard wasfavourably impressed by Theon:

I have passed forty days with the most marvellous man in the world. I feelas if I have climbed a high mountain, from which I have been able to descrythe magnificent horizons that I always have dreamed of. It is certain thatthere always have been men who have come from on high to manifest thedivine power and goodness. This confirms what I long have felt.... Greatthings are taking shape.

Back in Paris, Richard became involved with Theon's organization, the GroupeCosmique.' It was at this time that he met Mirra Morisset (nee Alfassa), an activemember of the Groupe Cosmique, whom he later would marry_

There is no need to write here at length about the life of Mirra Alfassa. Allreaders of this journal are well acquainted with the early history of the Mother ofthe Sri Aurobindo Ashram. Born Blanche Rachel Mirra Alfassa on 21 February1878, she was the daughter of MOise Maurice Alfassa, of Adrianople (the modern

2 We hope to write at some length on this organization in a future issue.


Edirne, in what is now European Turkey) and Mathilde Ismalun Alfassa, ofAlexandria (Egypt). Mirra passed her entire youth in her native Paris. Her father, awealthy banker, had her educated at home and later at a small private school..Healso provided her with lessons in drawing and painting, and when she was aboutfifteen enrolled her in the Academie Julian, a noted art school. Over the nexttwelve years Mirra got to know many of the painters and sculptors who had madeParis the unquestioned capital of the world of art-Matisse and Rodin amongthem. Her own paintings were exhibited in the prestigious Salon de la SocieteNationale des Beaux Arts in 1903, 1904 and 1905. In 1897 Mirra married HenriMorisset, a talented painter who had been a student of Gustave Moreau. The nextyear she bore him a son, Andre.

From around 1904 to around 1907 Mirra played a central role in the Parischapter of the Groupe Cosmique. In 1905 she met Max Theon in Paris, and in Julyof the next year she went to Tlemcen to study under him and his wife. Both M: andMme Theon recognized Mirra as an initiate of the highest order. During her youthshe had had many experiences of an occult and spiritual nature. Two sojourns atTlemcen (July-October 1906 and the same period in 1907) helped her develop intoa trained and experienced adept. .

Sometime during this period Mirra met Paul Richard in Paris. After herdivorce from Henri Morisset in March 1908, she grew increasingly close to Richard.She "led him to the knowledge of the occult", and at the same time helped himprepare for his law examination. (The Mother once remarked: "I learned law at thesame time as he did. I could have passed the examination.")

Richard was awarded his law degree from the Academie de Lille in July 1908.Shortly afterwards he became a barrister (avocal) at the Paris Court of Appeals. Hewas still eager to enter politics, and in February 1910 joined the Ligue de Defenseet de Propagande Republicaine Radicale et Radicale-Socialiste, a party that combined a leftist ideology with a conservative financial programme (and a strongmasonic influence). It was apparently this party that sent Richard to Pondicherry inMarch 1910 to assist in the electoral campaign of Paul Bluysen, who was contestingthe Pondicherry seat in the Chamber of Deputies.

Three of the documents published in this issue state that Richard came toPondicherry not to help Bluysen's electoral campaign, but to get elected himself.According to S. Srinivasachari, "This time the Hindu leaders ... put up as theircandidate, Paul Richard " (Document 7). The British Consul in Pondicherrywrote after the election: " when Mons[ieur] Richards [sic] came out to thiscolony in the hope of the Depute-ship ... " (Doc.ument 5). These two authoritativestatements are supported by the anecdotal account of Suresh Chakravarty (Moni):"Mr Richard came to Pondicherry in order to contest the seat for French India inthe Chamber of Deputies, and entered the fray in the hope of being selected as

.candidate of the Hindu party" (Document 8). Taken together these three documents seem convincing, but they are contradicted with respect to this matter bythree other documents. The official declaration of the results of the election(Document 6) does not list Richard as one of the candidates. This does not in itselfprove that he did not attempt to be elected: local politicians may have kepthis name off the ballot. But two·other authoritative' documents-both of them

Plate 1. Sri VasudevaThe "Nagai Swami"

Plate 2. Members of the "Nagai Japata"(Y. Srinivasa Iyengar is seated left, V. Rangaswami Iyengar is standing right)

Plate 3. Kodilayam V. Rangaswami Iyengar (right)with Madan Mohan Malaviya and Lala Lajpat Rai

Plate 4. The Kusumakaram

Plate 5. The Kusumakaram(view of top tiers)

Plate 6. Paul Richard(from a postcard of 1911)

Archival Notes 201

statements by the Mother-indicate that Richard did not go to Pondicherry tostand for election. Before the publication of the first edition of A. B. Purani's Ufeof Sri Aurobindo (1954), the Mother made corrections to a page of Purani'smanuscript. The author had written: "Paul Richard came to Pondicherry this year[1910] for election to the French Chamber. He wanted to be elected to theChamber from India, but was defeated.'" The Mother altered this to read: "PaulRichard came to Pondicherry this year on behalf of Mon. Paul Bluyson [sic] for theelection to the French Chamber. He [Le. Bluysen] was elected." The Mother alsowrote this marginal note to Purani: "This is not con:ect. He came on behalf of PaulBluyson who got elected.'" In lc}61, in a recorded conversation, the Mothertouched on the same subject: "He [Richard] entered politics ... and he was senthere, to India, to assist in the election of a certain person who could not manage ithimself." These two statements are clear as far as they go. It is possible, however,that Richard's situation in Pondicherry was more ambiguous than the Mother wasaware. Richard may not have kept her fully informed. In 1914 Richard definitelydid stand for election to the Pondicherry seat in the French Chamber-againstBluysen and two other candidates. What he did in 1910 remains somewhat unclear.

In any event, Richard's political activities were, in retrospect, less importantthan his meeting with Sri Aurobindo. Moni suggests that Richard came to India asmuch to meet a yogi as to take part in the election. Srinivasachari goes evenfurther, having Richard tell him "that he took interest in occult matters much morethan in politics which in the present instance offered him a chance to visit India".The Mother's oral account makes it still clearer that the elections were not theprimary reason for Richard's coming:

And since he [Richard) was interested in occultism and spirituality, he tookadvantage of the occasion [of the election] to come here [to Pondicherry]and to search. He was searching for a "Master", a yogi. He arrived. Thefirst thing he said, rather than occupying himself with politics, was: "I amlooking for a yogi." Someone told him, "You're really in luck. The yogihas just arrived." Sri Aurobindo had just arrived. Someone said to SriAurobindo, "There is a Frenchman who wants to see you ...." SriAurobindo was not altogether happy, but the coincidence seemed ratherinteresting, and he received him.

When the Mother wrote in Document 6 that the circumstances of the meetingbetween Sri Aurobindo and Richard were "very interesting and peculiar", she musthave been referring at least in part to the "coincidence" of their almost simultaneous arrival in Pondicherry.

The Mother had little to say about the outward circumstances of the meeting(she was of course not present). The accounts of the British Consul (here obviouslybased on hearsay), of Moni, and of Srinivasachari all differ as to how the meetingcame about. (The one common element in the three versions is the central role they

, Purani's source for this statement was probably Moni's Smritikalha, which Purani is known to haveused. The other documents cited above were not available to him.

• MO MS file 31:40.


assign to Zir Naidu.)' Since Srinivasachari was an eyewitness and participant, hisversion must be given priority in all but one respect. Srinivasachari says that themeeting took place a few months after Sri Aurobindo's arrival in Pondicherry (4April 1910). This seems rather unlikely. Srinivasachari himself says that the meeting took place shortly after the election results were announced. We know fromDocument 6 that the elections took place on 24 April and that. the results wereannounced on 4 May. This would induce us to conclude that the meeting took placeearly in May 1910. It must be noted, however, that both the Mother and Moni saythat Richard spoke about his spiritual interests "the first thing" after his arrival. Ido not believe that their statements were intended to be taken literally. Neither theMother nor Moni was an eyewitness. More value must be given to Moni's earlierstatement that the meeting took place "a short time", that is, "five or six or at themost fifteen days after" Sri Aurobindo's arrival. It must be remembered, however,that Moni's book, which is written in a highly literary style, does not pretend to be aprecise historical document. Richard could not have arrived in Pondicherry before10 or 11 April. He may conceivably have met Sri Aurobindo a few days afterwards,but it seems more likely that the meeting took place after 24 April, that is, three orfour weeks after Sri Aurobindo's arrival.

The accounts of Srinivasachari and Moni agree with that of the Mother instating that Sri Aurobindo was at first less than anxious to meet the Frenchbarrister. Srinivasachari's claim that it was his and Bharati's intervention that madeSri Aurobindo change his mind seems plausible. Srinivasachari also claims to haveinterpreted for Sri Aurobindo and Richard, because the latter "could not understand English very well". This too seems creditable. Sri Aurol;lindo knew Frenchwell, and he presumably could have spoken to Richard in that language; but it isnot unlikely that Sri Aurobindo consented to have Srinivasachari interpret in orderto facilitate the interview.

Srinivasachari's statement that Ric"ard made a drawing of Sri Aurobindobefore actually seeing him calls to mind other reports that Richard gave SriAurobindo some occult sign of recognition (provided, according to some, by theMother) when the two first met. This matter has already been discussed in thesepages.' Our conclusion was that the Mother certainly did not give Richard anysymbol to show or questions to ask Sri Aurobindo (the Mother said clearly "I nevergave him any questions to be solved"), but that there still might be "some veracity"to the story (the Mother did say "Not I, probably Richard himself" may have askedSri Aurobindo questions).

It is not known how long Richard stayed in Pondicherry. Srinivasachari saysthat after meeting Sri Aurobindo, he left "by the next steamer". But a letter amongRichard's papers addressed to him in India from France bears the date 1 August1910. The letter. of course, may have missed Richard in Pondicherry and beenredirected; but it seems more likely that Richard remained in India long enough to

, Little is known about this man. A political pamphlet dated July 1909 gives the following: "fils dusieur Douressamynaidou. de caste cavar~. proprittaire". His calling card, from the same period, readsas follows: "de Zir I Vice·Pr~sident de la Soci~t~ progressiste I Membre du Comit~ consu(tatif I dejurisprudence indienne I (D~MOS'VILLA) PONDlCH~RY".

• "The Symbol of Sri Aurobindo", A & R 3 (1979): 212.

Archival Notes 203

receive it. The first positive evidence of his presence in France is an entry in thediary of Alexandra David-Neel under the date 19 December 1910: "Diner chez lesRichard".

According to Srinivasachari, Richard told Sri Aurobindo that when he returned to India he might be accompanied by a. woman who was "spiritually moreadvanced than himself'. In France, Richard showed the Mother a picture of SriAurobindo and told her that he would take her to Pondicherry when he was able.Richard was not a man of spiritual realization, and he never saw the spiritual side ofSri Aurobindo. Still, from the first (according to the Mother) he looked on SriAurobindo as one who knew. This impression he conveyed to Mirra. When in 1914she came and met Sri Aurobindo herself, she recorded her own impressions in herdiary. The well-known passage bears re-citation:

It matters little that there are thousands of beings plunged in the densestignorance, he whom we saw yesterday is on earth; his presence is enoughto prove that a day will come when darkness shall be transformed intolight, and Thy reign shall be indeed es~ablished upon earth.

a Lord, Divine Builder of this marvel, my heart overflows with joy andgratitude when I think of it, and my hope has no bounds.

My adoration is beyond all word's, my reverence is silent.

THE UTIARA YOGI

Sri Aurobindo remained in Shankara Chettiar's house for about six monthsfrom April to October 1910. He did not publicly announce his presence in FrenchIndia until November, but even before then a number of people were aware that hehad come to Pondicherry. Among them was Kodiyalam V. Rangaswami Iyengar(Plates 2 & 3), head of a prominent zamindar family of Kodiyalam, a village in theTiruchchirappalli District. The family's large holdings in land entitled them torepresentation in the British government's Council of State. But RangaswamiIyengar and his brother Srinivasa Iyengar also were ardent patriots. When Rangaswami Iyengar heard that Aurobindo Ghose, the famous Swadeshi leader ofBengal, had come to south India, he sent his protege and friend V. Ramaswami tomake enquiries (Document 2). Ramaswami came to Pondicherry and, with the helpof Subramania Bharati, met Sri Aurobindo at Chettiar's house. Later RangaswamiIyengar himself came and met him.

The Kodiyalam family were devoted to a siddha yogi known as Sri Vasudevaor the Nagai Swami (Plate 1).' Born in 1829 in a village in the Thanjavur District,Vasudeva Iyengar (the family title later was discarded) left home while still a youngman and spent several years as a wandering sadhu. Eventually he settled down inNagai, a village near the temple-town of Mannargudi, in the Thanjavur District.

7 Our thanks 10 Mr s. Ranganathan of Mannargudi for providing us with information on his greatuncle V. Rangaswami Iyengar and on Sri Vasudeva, to whom he and his family are still devoted. Plate 1is a photograph of a painting of Sri Vasudeva that is in the possession of Mr Ranganathan. It is aconventionalized representation, not done from life, but perhaps depicting something of Sri Vasudeva'sactual appearance. The markings on his body are the dvad4Ja pU1Jt,iram (twelve sacred markings orndmams.)


Here he devoted himself to solitary sadhana. Attracted by his tapasya, people fromthe surrounding area gathered around him and adopted him as their guru. Hetaught them a special form of japa (mantra-repetition), which combined elementsof the Gayatri mantra and the ~fak$ara mantra popular among southern Vaishnavites and others." The congregation of those who did this japa at Nagai came to beknown collectively as the Nagai Japata. (Japata means in this context a circle ofpeople doingjapa together.) As head of the congregation, Sri Vasudeva was knownas the Nagai Swami; and also was referred to as the·Uttara Yogi (supreme yogin).As the congregation grew, the village of Nagai developed into a small fortifiedtown. At its centre, sign of the spiritual practice that was the heart of its activities,was built a special place of meditation, the Kusumakaram.

The Kusumakaram clearly was intended by its builders to be a sort of yantra. Itconsists of four masonry platforms placed one above the other. The lowest andlargest is a figure of sixteen sides. Next there is a circle, and at the same level as thecircle and mostly covering it, a regular hexagon. Finally comes an octagon surmounted by a wood and tile roof. The last platform, on which presumably theNagai Japata sat during group meditations, has in its cement surface a spiral designthat reminds some of a conch (sankha) and others of the sacred syllable OM writtenin Tamil:

The Kusumakaram still stands (Plates 4 & 5), but all other evidences of theNagai Japata community have disappeared. The mansion once used as a secondresidence by the Kodiyalam Iyengar family has fallen to ruins; the surroundingcountryside, once lush and productive, has turned to desert; the sacred pondMandakini, once famous for its milk-white water, is choked with green algae. A

, OM nama na,iiyaQliya• In the accounts of Sri Vasudeva given in Document 14 and in A. B. Puran;'s Ufe ofSri Aurobindo,

Sri Vasudeva himself is referred to as Nagai lapata. According to Mr S. Ranganathan, "Nagai lapata"was the name of the congregation at Nagai. Sri Vasudeva was called, among other things, "NagaiSwami". Nevertheless in Document 15, S. Ranganathan himself occasionally refers to Sri Vasudeva asthe Nagai Japata, and we may assume that others also followed this practice.

Archival Notes 205

visitor to the place is hard put to imagine that this was once the centre of a thrivingspiritual community. Yet it is certain that collective meditations were once held atthe Kusumakararn, and that the benefits of this sadbana were carried over into thelives of the people of Nagai.

Sri Vasudeva presided over the activities of the Nagai Japata community untilhis mahiisamadhi, which seems to have taken place sometime around 1870. Beforehis passing, he informed his disciples that some thirty years later a yogi from theNorth (Ultara yogi) would come to the South, and that his coming would be of greatspiritual significance (Documents 9, 14, 15: these documents all give different, butnot necessarily contradictory accounts of what this significance would be). The yogicould be recognized by three utterances that he would make.

After Sri Vasudeva's passing, the Nagai Japata community gradually broke up,but its traditions were preserved in the Kodiyalam Iyengar family. KodiyalamVasudeva Iyengar, who was born just before.Sri Vasudeva's passing, and whobecame a devotee of the yogin after his marriage to the youngest sister of SriVasudeva's wife, told his sons Rangaswami and Srinivasa about Sri Vasudeva'sprophecy concerning the Ultara yogi. When Rangaswami Iyengar heard that SriAurobindo had come to Pondicherry, he remembered what his father had said.When he met Sri Aurobindo, he became convinced that he was the yogi whosecoming had been prophesied by Sri Vasudeva. Everything seemed to fit: SriAurobindo had come from the North, the time of his arrival was approximl\telyright, and he had made a declaration that consisted of three statements. In a letterwritten to his wife in 1905, Sri Aurobindo had spoken of "three madnesses" thatdifferentiated him from other men.'· This letter had been used as evidence in theA1ipore Trial, and had subsequently been published.

When Rangaswami Iyengar learned that Sri Aurobindo had no stable source ofincome, he promised to help him out. Unlike other would-be benefactors, Rangaswanii made good his promise, and gave Sri Aurobindo substantial sums overa number of years. In a letter of 1912, Sri Aurobindo wrote that he had receivedRs 2000 (then quite a significant amount) from "acertain gentleman" for the periodOctober 1910 to October 1911." The gentleman in question almost certainly wasRangaswami Iyengar. In the same letter Sri Aurobindo wrote that there were"great difficulties" in the way of continued support from this source. RangaswamiIyengar evidently had to take care to avoid attracting the attention of the Britishpolice. Despite the danger, he continued to give financial assistance to SriAurobindo even as late as 1916, as the following letter shows. It was written bySri Aurobindo to Sri K. R. Appadurai, brother-in-law of Subramania Bharati.(Parts of the letter have been damaged; doubtful words are printed within squarebrackets.) 12

'0 Leiter to MrinaJioi Ghose. 30 August 1905 (English translation published in A. B. Purani, TheLife ofSri Aurobindo (1978), 81-83). 'The "three madnesses" were (1) the belief that "the accomplishments. genius, higher education and learning and wealth that God has given me are his", (2) that "bywhatever means r must have the direct vision of God" . (3) that "while others look upon their country asan inert piece of mailer ... I look upon my country as the Mother".

II Leller to Motilal Roy, n.d. Published in Supplement (1973), 427.12 We would like to thank Mr R. Padmaoabhan, scholar and writer of ViUupuram, for permission to

reproduce tbis leller.


13th April, 1916Dear Mr. Appadurai,

Thanks for the money. About the Raja of Pittapur, the difficulty is thatI do not know Pundit Sivnath very well, and secondly we [have] neverassociated politically. I am even afraid [that his] having a letter of minemight do a disservice, if, as I think, the Pundit belongs to the Moderateschool of politics; it might cause him to look upon Mr. K. V. R. [K. V.Rangaswami] as an extreme politician to be avoided rather than supported.However, if you don't mind taking the risk, you can use the letter which Isend.

Kindly ask Mr K. V. R. to send me money from time to time if he canfor a while as just at present my sources of supply in Bengal are very muchobstructed and [I am] in considerable difficulty.

Yours sincerely, .AUROBINDO GHOSE

One of the ways that Rangaswami Iyengar helped Sri Aurobindo was topublish for him the book Yogic Sadhan. The story behind the "reception" andpublication of this book was told in some detail in an earlier issue of this journal. IJ

P.H.

13 A & R 10 (1966): 56. 106-7.

SRI AUROBINDO - Archives and Resear~h

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