ii VOLUME 4 SRI AUROBINDO BIRTH CENTENARY LIBRARY DE LUXE EDITION Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust 1972. Published by Sri Aurobindo Ashram Pondicherry. Printed at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Press Pondicherry India PRINTED IN INDIA
iii Sri Aurobindo and his wife Mrinalini Devi 1905
iv NOTE Volume 4 in the SRI AUROBINDO BIRTH CENTENARY LIBRARY contains Sri Aurobindo's original Bengali writings. Sri Aurobindo started learning Bengali, his mother tongue, in England, as a probationer for the Indian Civil Service. After his return to India he began a serious study of the language with a view to acquiring proficiency in reading, writing and speaking. During his stay at Baroda he wrote some poetry in Bengali, attempting even a long poem called "Usha-Haran Kabya". A few lines from this work are reproduced here for the first time. It is to this poem that his brother, Manmohan, himself a poet, refers in his letter to Rabindranath Tagore, dated October 24, 1894. We quote from it the following extract: "Aurobinda is anxious to know what you think of his book of verses 1, but I have explained to him how busy you are just now; and that you will write later when you have a little more leisure to do justice to his book. I myself think that he is possessed of considerable powers of language and a real literary gift, but is lacking in stuff and matter, perhaps in warmth of temperament. But those pieces on Parnell 2, consisting of fine philosophic reflection, show, I think, that he might do great things. Unfortunately he has directed (or rather misdirected) all his energies to writing Bengali poetry. He is at present engaged on an epic (inspired I believe by Michael Madhusudan) on the subject of Usha and Aniruddha." He wrote several articles for the earlier issues of Yugantar, a Bengali revolutionary weekly started by his brother Barin and others under his guidance in March 1906. But not a single copy of this journal has so far been traced. The earliest available Bengali writings of Sri Aurobindo besides "Usha-Haran Kabya" are the three letters to his wife Mrinalini Devi written between 1905 and 1907. These were produced as exhibits in the Alipore Conspiracy Case in 1908, and having attracted public notice were reproduced in various journals and in book-form soon afterwards. After his acquittal in 1909 Sri Aurobindo started a Bengali weekly called Dharma, and wrote most of the editorial comments and leading 1 SONGS TO MYRTILLA published a year later, in 1895.! Charles Stewart Parnell (1891) and Hie Jaeet (Centenary Volume 5, pp. 15, 11).
v articles for it until his withdrawal to Chandernagore in February 1910. Most of these leading articles were published in book-form in 1920 under the title Dharma O Jatiyata by Prabartak Publishing House, Chandernagore. In the present volume these articles are arranged under two sections, "Dharma" and "Jatiyata" (Religion and Nationalism). The editorial comments from Dharma are published here in a separate section for the first time. Some of the articles on the Gita from Dharma were separately brought out in book-form in 1920 by the Prabartak Sangha under the title Gitar Bhumika. Karakahini (Tales of Prison Life) was first serialised in nine parts in the Bengali monthly, Suprabhat in 1909-1910. This series remained incomplete as Sri Aurobindo left Bengal in 1910. The essay, "Karagriha O Swadhinata" (Prison and Freedom), was published in Bharati, a Bengali journal, about the same time. Karakahini came out in bookform in 1920 from Chandernagore. In 1918 Sri Aurobindo wrote "Jagannather Rath" (the Chariot of Jagannath) fox Prabartak, a journal published from Chandernagore. The article was published in bookform in 1921 along with some others under the same title by the Prabartak Publishing House. His letter to Barin, also known as "Letter from Pondicherry", written in 1920 was first published in Narayana, a journal edited by C. R. Das. It was also issued as a booklet in the same year and later along with "Letters to Mrinalini" under the title Sri Aurobinder Patra (Letters of Sri Aurobindo) by the Prabartak Publishing House. A number of articles on the Vedas, Upanishads and other subjects found in Sri Aurobindo's manuscripts were first put together in book-form in 1955 under the title Vividha Rachana. In this volume they have been distributed in various sections. The letters Sri Aurobindo wrote to some women disciples who did not know English were published as Patrawali in two parts, the first in 1951 and the second in 1959. The original sources of all articles are indicated in the Table of Contents. NOTE of compiller of this e-document: Pages 11, 192-193, 238-239, 352-353, 368-369 were not included because of their absence
Contents vi HYMN TO DURGA (Dharma, No. 9, October, 1909)... 1 POETRY... 5 FROM USHA-HARAN KABYA... 7 A DREAM (Suprabhat, 1909-1910)... 11 THE IDEAL OF FORGIVENESS (Dharma, No. 26, February, 1910)... 17 THE VEDA... 19 THE SECRET OF THE VEDA (Vividha Rachana, 1955)... 21 AGNI THE DIVINE ENERGY (Vividha Rachana, 1955)... 26 THE RIG-VEDA (Vividha Rachana, 1955)... 30 THE UPANISHADS... 41 THE UPANISHADS (Dharma, No. 15, December, 1909)... 43 THE INTEGRAL YOGA IN THE UPANISHADS (Vividha Rachana, 1955)... 45 THE ISHA UPANISHAD (1) (Vividha Rachana, 1955)... 47 THE ISHA UPANISHAD (2) (Vividha Rachana, 1955)... 49 THE PURANAS... 51 THE PURANAS (Dharma, No. 17, December, 1909)... 53 THE GITA... 55 THE DHARMA OF THE GITA (Dharma, No. 2, August, 1909)... 57 SANNYASA AND TYAGA (Dharma, No. 3, September, 1909)... 60 THE VISION OF THE WORLD-SPIRIT (Dharma, No. 23, February, 1910)... 63 AN INTRODUCTION TO THE GITA (Dharma, Nos. 7-24, 1909-1910)... 66 DHARMA... 110 THE CHARIOT OF JAGANNATHA (Prabartak, 1918)... 113 THE THREE STAGES OF HUMAN SOCIETY (Vividha Rachana, 1955)... 116 AHANKARA (Dharma, No. 5, September, 1909)... 118 INTEGRALITY (Vividha Rachana, 1955)... 120 HYMNS AND PRAYERS (Dharma, No. 24, February, 1910)... 121 OUR RELIGION {Dharma, No. 1, August, 1909)... 124 MAYA (Dharma, No. 3, August, 1909)... 127 NIVRITTI (Dharma, No. 12, November, 1909)... 131 PRAKAMYA (Dharma, Nos, 17 and 18, 1909-1910)... 133 NATIONALISM... 137 THE OLD AND THE NEW (Vividha Rachana, 1955)... 139 THE PROBLEM OF THE PAST (Dharma, No. 6, September, 1909)... 140 THE COUNTRY AND NATIONALISM (Dharma, No. 14, December, 1909)... 146 THE TRUE MEANING OF FREEDOM (Dharma, No. 8, October, 1909)... 148 A WORD ABOUT SOCIETY (Vividha Rachana, 1955)... 150
vii FRATERNITY (Dharma, No. 23, February, 1910) 151 INDIAN PAINTING (Dharma, No. 25, February, 1910)... 154 HIROBUMI ITO (Dharma, No. 10, November, 1909)... 156 NATIONAL RESURGENCE (Dharma, No. 5, September, 1909)... 158 OUR HOPE (Dharma, No. 20, January, 1910)... 162 EAST AND WEST (Dharma, No. 22, January, 1910)... 165 GURU GOVINDSINGH... 169 GURU GOVINDSINGH (Dharma, No. 8, October, 1909)... 171 EDITORIAL COMMENTS... 173 EDITORIAL COMMENTS (Dharma, 1909-1910)... 175 TALES OF PRISON LIFE... 255 TALES OF PRISON LIFE (Suprabhat, 1909-1910)... 257 PRISON AND FREEDOM (Bharati)... 298 THE ARYAN IDEAL AND THE THREE GUNAS (Suprabhat, 1909-1910)... 305 NEW BIRTH (Dharma, No, 2, August, 1909)... 312 LETTERS... 315 LETTERS TO MRINALINI (1905-1907)... 317 LETTER TO BARIN (1920)... 327 LETTERS TO N. AND S. (Published, 1951 & 1959)... 337
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ix
1 HYMN TO DURGA (Dharma, No. 9, October, 1909)
2
3
4
5 POETRY
6
7 FROM USHA-HARAN KABYA
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9 STORIES
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11 A DREAM (Suprabhat, 1909-1910)
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17 THE IDEAL OF FORGIVENESS (Dharma, No. 26, February, 1910)
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19 THE VEDA
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21 THE SECRET OF THE VEDA (Vividha Rachana, 1955)
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26 AGNI THE DIVINE ENERGY (Vividha Rachana, 1955)
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30 THE RIG-VEDA (Vividha Rachana, 1955)
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41 THE UPANISHADS
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43 THE UPANISHADS (Dharma, No. 15, December, 1909)
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45 THE INTEGRAL YOGA IN THE UPANISHADS (Vividha Rachana, 1955)
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47 THE ISHA UPANISHAD (1) (Vividha Rachana, 1955)
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49 THE ISHA UPANISHAD (2) (Vividha Rachana, 1955)
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51 THE PURANAS
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53 THE PURANAS (Dharma, No. 17, December, 1909) THE PURANAS (Dharma, No. 17, December, 1909)
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55 THE GITA
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57 THE DHARMA OF THE GITA (Dharma, No. 2, August, 1909)
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60 SANNYASA AND TYAGA (Dharma, No. 3, September, 1909)
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63 THE VISION OF THE WORLD-SPIRIT (Dharma, No. 23, February, 1910)
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66 AN INTRODUCTION TO THE GITA (Dharma, Nos. 7-24, 1909-1910)
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110 DHARMA
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113 THE CHARIOT OF JAGANNATHA (Prabartak, 1918)
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116 THE THREE STAGES OF HUMAN SOCIETY (Vividha Rachana, 1955)
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118 AHANKARA (Dharma, No. 5, September, 1909)
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120 INTEGRALITY (Vividha Rachana, 1955)
121 HYMNS AND PRAYERS (Dharma, No. 24, February, 1910)
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124 OUR RELIGION {Dharma, No. 1, August, 1909)
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127 MAYA (Dharma, No. 3, August, 1909)
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131 NIVRITTI (Dharma, No. 12, November, 1909)
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133 PRAKAMYA (Dharma, Nos, 17 and 18, 1909-1910)
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137 NATIONALISM
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139 THE OLD AND THE NEW (Vividha Rachana, 1955)
140 THE PROBLEM OF THE PAST (Dharma, No. 6, September, 1909)
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146 THE COUNTRY AND NATIONALISM (Dharma, No. 14, December, 1909)
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148 THE TRUE MEANING OF FREEDOM (Dharma, No. 8, October, 1909)
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150 A WORD ABOUT SOCIETY (Vividha Rachana, 1955)
151 FRATERNITY (Dharma, No. 23, February, 1910)
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154 INDIAN PAINTING (Dharma, No. 25, February, 1910)
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156 HIROBUMI ITO (Dharma, No. 10, November, 1909)
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158 NATIONAL RESURGENCE (Dharma, No. 5, September, 1909)
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162 OUR HOPE (Dharma, No. 20, January, 1910)
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165 EAST AND WEST (Dharma, No. 22, January, 1910)
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169 GURU GOVINDSINGH
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171 GURU GOVINDSINGH (Dharma, No. 8, October, 1909)
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173 EDITORIAL COMMENTS
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175 EDITORIAL COMMENTS (Dharma, 1909-1910)
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255 TALES OF PRISON LIFE
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257 TALES OF PRISON LIFE (Suprabhat, 1909-1910)
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298 PRISON AND FREEDOM (Bharati)
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305 THE ARYAN IDEAL AND THE THREE GUNAS (Suprabhat, 1909-1910)
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312 NEW BIRTH (Dharma, No, 2, August, 1909)
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315 LETTERS
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317 LETTERS TO MRINALINI (1905-1907)
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327 LETTER TO BARIN (1920)
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337 LETTERS TO N. AND S. (Published, 1951 & 1959)
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