Sri Aurobindo Ashram Archives

Early Cultural Writings

Early Cultural Writings is a comprehensive collection of Sri Aurobindo’s early prose works, focusing on literature, art, education, and cultural criticism. This volume brings together seminal essays and writings composed primarily between 1890 and 1910, with additional pieces from 1910-1920.

Key Contents & Featured Essays Include:

The Harmony of Virtue
Critical studies on Bankim Chandra Chatterji, Kalidasa, and the Mahabharata
The National Value of Art
Baroda Speeches and Reports
Bankim – Tilak – Dayananda
Essays from the “Chandernagore Manuscript”
Epistles from Abroad, book reviews, and Conversations of the Dead

About This Edition: The editors have organized the material thematically into nine parts with two appendices. The texts have been meticulously verified against original manuscripts and lifetime publications. Editorial notations and a detailed Note on the Texts clarify revisions and manuscript sources. (Much of this material was previously published under the title The Harmony of Virtue).

I am with you by Kailas Jhaveri

I am with you

“I am with you” recounts the author’s close relation with the Mother, reflected in the book’s title from a personal message received by the Mother, beginning with their first meeting in 1950 following Sri Aurobindo’s Mahasamadhi up until the Mother’s passing in 1973. It provides an inside view of the teaching and work of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother from a deeply devoted and dedicated sadhaka. It recounts the author’s work for the Mother in helping to establish UNESCO’s sponsorship of Auroville and various projects to promote its international status, including extended compilations made by the author for this purpose. It recounts her work with Richard on flowers and their interactions with Mother in this work. The book is replete with personal messages, correspondences, prayers and poems exchanged with the Mother, as well as their exchange of beautiful gifts. The book conveys the essential nature of a soul and life sincerely devoted to the Divine.

Book Details

Author: Kailas Jhaveri
Print Length: 348p.
Publisher: Sri Aurobindo Ashram
Book format: Pdf, ePub, Kindle
Language: English
Read more

An Extraordinary Girl by Nirodbaran

An Extraordinary Girl

Nirodbaran narrated to Sri Aurobindo an incident that had taken place in Calcutta. The Mother was present during the narration. The incident concerned a girl of about ten or twelve. She belonged to a very well-known family and had visited the Ashram with her parents more than once. Now there was a tea-party in their sumptuous house. Many high-ranking people had been invited. The topic of the Ashram came up. Comments and criticisms started flying freely. Even the Mother and Sri Aurobindo were not spared. The child listened quietly. But when somebody seemed to overstep the limit of decency, she could stand it no longer. In a firm tone she said, “Look here, if you speak one more word about my Gurus, I’ll give you such a slap that you’ll tumble down.” Everybody was stunned. The child’s mamma left the room in shame and anger at the insult to her guests. Her uncle started looking at the ceiling in embarrassment, and to change the subject he started calling to the servants, “Hari, Ram, what a lot of dust is here!” Nirodbaran’s story was enjoyed by all immensely. The Mother and Sri Aurobindo looked happy.

Esha, the late Dilip Kumar Roy’s niece, was a little girl visiting the Ashram when I came to know her through my niece Jyotirmoyee with whom she had become very friendly. She wanted to settle in the Ashram, but her mother did not want it as she was still a minor. When after many years she came to the Ashram again and stayed with Sahana Devi, I became more closely acquainted with her. By that time she had already married and obtained her divorce and had decided to settle here. I came to her help and made all possible arrangements for the purpose. Since then I have come to know her well and listened to her narration of the incidents of her life. As I found them interesting I began to note them down and was thinking of publishing them in Mother India when somehow she got wind of it and strongly objected to it. As I felt I had Sri Aurobindo’s sanction for it, I did not listen to her. In spite of my disregarding her objection, luckily she did not stop recounting her saga. Of course she narrated it in Bengali and later I put it down in English as faithfully as I could. When the story began to appear in Mother India, she insisted more than once that I should stop it. My answer was that I believed it could be helpful to many readers and that Sri Aurobindo seemed to support me.

We find that many bhaktas are indeed appreciating the story, particularly because they realise through it that Sri Aurobindo is still very much with us and our faith has been strengthened, helping us through the difficult moments of our life. – NIRODBARAN

Book Details

Author: Nirodbaran
Print Length: 125p.
Publisher: Sri Aurobindo Ashram
Submitted by: Avinash Tiwari
Book format: Pdf, ePub, Kindle
Language: English
Read more

New Correspondences of the Mother – II

New Correspondences of the Mother – II

This book contains the Mother’s correspondence with nine disciples, all of them members of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. Each correspondence is presented in chronological order, with the question or comment of the disciple provided whenever possible. A brief life sketch of each disciple appears at the beginning of his or her correspondence.

The reader should note that the word “new” does not mean “published here for the first time”, but rather “not published in the Collected Works of the Mother and therefore new to most of its readers”. The Collected Works was organised and published around 1978, at the time of the Mother’s centenary. More than forty years have passed since then and a number of new correspondences have come to light, including those in this book. Five are being published here for the first time. The remaining four have been published in books or in the Ashram’s quarterly journal Bulletin of Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education or in both.

The nine correspondences in this book supplement those published in Collected Works Volumes 16 and 17.

Book Details

Author: The Mother
Print Length: 590
Publisher: Sri Aurobindo Ashram
Book format: Pdf, ePub, mobi (Kindle)
Language: English
Read more

Words of the Mother – II

Collected Works of the Mother Volume 17

This volume contains the Mother’s correspondence with six members of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. The material covers a thirty-five year period, from 1932 to 1968. All the correspondences are presented in chronological order. Two of them were written in English; four were written wholly or partly in French and appear here in translation. Further information is given in the Note on the Texts.

Some Answers from the Mother (CWM Vol.16)

Some Answers from the Mother

Collected Works of the Mother Volume 16

This volume contains the Mother’s correspondence with fourteen persons; all but one of them were members of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. The material covers a forty-five year period, from 1927 to 1972. The earliest items are letters of the Mother to her son; the latest are brief thoughts and prayers written in a young disciple’s notebook. Each of the correspondences is presented in chronological order, with the exception of Series Six, which is arranged by theme. Two correspondences were written in English; twelve were written wholly or partly in French and appear here in translation. Further information is provided in the Note on the Texts.

Words of the Mother – III (CWM Vol.15)

Words of the Mother – III

Collected Works of the Mother Volume 15

This volume is divided into two parts, the first part containing writings, the second part, conversations.

Part One consists primarily of brief written statements by the Mother on various aspects of spiritual life. Written between the early 1930s and the early 1970s, the statements have been compiled from her public messages, private notes, and correspondence with disciples. About two-thirds of them were written in English; the rest were written in French and appear here in English translation. There are also a small number of spoken comments, most of them in English. Some are tape-recorded messages; others are reports by disciples that were later approved by the Mother for publication. These reports are identified by the symbol § placed at the end.

Part Two consists of thirty-two conversations not included elsewhere in the Collected Works. The first six conversations are the earliest recorded conversations of the 1950s’ period. About three-fourths of these conversations were spoken in French and appear here in English translation.

Words of the Mother – II (CWM Vol.14)

Words of the Mother – II

Collected Works of the Mother Volume 14

Short written statements on Yoga and life, dealing with the individual’s relationship with the Divine, the path of Yoga, qualities needed in Yoga, difficulties of spiritual life, and human relationships and work.

This volume consists primarily of brief written statements by the Mother on various aspects of spiritual life. Written between the late 1920s and the early 1970s, the statements have been compiled from her public messages, private notes, and correspondence with disciples. About two-thirds of them were written in English; the rest were written in French and appear here in English translation. The volume also contains a small number of spoken comments, most of them in English. Some are tape-recorded messages; others are reports by disciples that were later approved by the Mother for publication. These reports are identified by the symbol § placed at the end.

Words of the Mother – I (CWM Vol.13)

Words of the Mother – I

Collected Works of the Mother Volume 13

Short written statements on Sri Aurobindo, herself, the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Auroville, India and other nations.

This volume consists primarily of brief written statements by the Mother about Sri Aurobindo, herself, the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Auroville, India, and nations other than India. Written over a period of nearly sixty years (1914 – 1973), the statements have been compiled from her public messages, private notes, and correspondence with disciples. The majority (about sixty percent) were written in English; the rest were written in French and appear here in translation.

The volume also contains a number of conversations, most of them in the part on Auroville. All but one were spoken in French and appear here in translation. There are also several reports of comments by the Mother. These reports were noted down by disciples and later approved by her for publication. All of them were spoken in English.

The volume is arranged by theme in six parts, each part having a number of sections. Within the sections, dated pieces are placed in chronological order, undated ones where they best ﬁt in thematically.

Readers should note that most of these statements were given to particular individuals under particular circumstances. The advice in them, therefore, may not apply to everyone.

On Education (CWM Vol.12)

On Education

Collected Works of the Mother Volume 12

This volume is a compilation of the Mother’s articles, messages, letters and conversations on education. Three dramas, written for the annual dramatic performance of the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education, are also included.

PART ONE. ARTICLES

The fifteen articles here were first published in the Bulletin of Physical Education (later renamed Bulletin of Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education) between 1949 and 1955. The Mother wrote them in French and translated a few, entirely or in part, into English; in this volume, these translations have been retained. The original translations made by others have been revised or new translations made.

PART TWO. MESSAGES, LETTERS AND CONVERSATIONS

PART THREE. DRAMAS

The Mother wrote three dramas in French for the dramatic performance held annually on December 1 by the students and teachers of the Centre of Education. Towards the Future was produced in 1949, The Great Secret in 1954 and The Ascent to Truth in 1957. Each play was issued as a booklet immediately after its performance, with the text in both French and English. For this volume, the original translations have been revised. For The Great Secret, the Mother wrote the parts of the Statesman, the Artist and the Unknown Man; the parts of the four other characters were written, in consultation with the Mother, by those who played the roles. The parts of the Writer and the Athlete were written in English. A letter to the person who portrayed the Industrialist is included as an introduction to the drama.