Aurobindo (1872–1950)

The Vedas, until I read this book, were mysterious, superficial and materialistic to the point of being nonsensical. The verses didn't make scientific or even rational sense.

However, having read the book, I now understand the mystical nature of the knowledge that ancient Indian seers wanted to hand down to generations. I see why so many things in Hinduism are so twisted, so ritualistic and incorrect. The hidden meaning of the words and passages become clear upon reading the book and every show more chapter is another experience in thinking, "wow! that was a surprise!"

The book is not an easy read, just as Sri Aurobindo's other works. Written in English that most of us long stopped speaking or reading, it takes effort and a generous help from a dictionary. But all the effort is, in the end, worth it. show less

Sri Aurobindo had intended to write a lengthy introduction to Savitri, which never occurred. He did, however, write an author's note acting as an effective summary that appears at the beginning of the poem in all its published versions:

The tale of Satyavan and Savitri is recited in the Mahabharata as a story of conjugal love conquering death. But this legend is, as shown by many features of the human tale, one of the many symbolic myths of the Vedic cycle. Satyavan is the soul carrying the show more divine truth of being within itself but descended into the grip of death and ignorance; Savitri is the Divine Word, daughter of the Sun, goddess of the supreme Truth who comes down and is born to save; Aswapati, the Lord of the Horse, her human father, is the Lord of Tapasya, the concentrated energy of spiritual endeavour that helps us to rise from the mortal to the immortal planes; Dyumatsena, Lord of the Shining Hosts, father of Satyavan, is the Divine Mind here fallen blind, losing its celestial kingdom of vision, and through that loss its kingdom of glory. Still this is not a mere allegory, the characters are not personified qualities, but incarnations or emanations of living and conscious Forces with whom we can enter into concrete touch and they take human bodies in order to help man and show him the way from his mortal state to a divine consciousness and immortal life. show less

Light For Students is a compilation from the writings of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother from Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry, Towards Higher and Deeper Values.

This soft cover book of 126 pages, addresses the many realms of knowledge that are never taught to young students. The parents tell their children to concentrate on their studies without giving them any clue as to how exactly one concentrates. Similarly, they are never told of so many whys and hows of things: why they become ill, get show more angry or feel afraid; or the reasons for their boredom, depression, frustration and how to overcome all these.

"The finest present one can give to a child would be to teach him to know himself and to master himself," said The Mother. The selections of this book will give students a new insight into life and help open up new horizons of knowledge. show less

As far as I understand, this little book was written in Bengali. The English translation was first published in August 1974.

I had no previous knowledge of the author, Sri Aurobindo, before reading the book, though I had heard of him.

As the translator, Sisirkumar Ghose, points out, the book has an importance as a historical document “showing the evils of the prison system under the British Raj”.

He also states “rarely --- has Sri Aurobindo --- written with such irony, sarcasm, show more invective and humour”.

In 1908 two European ladies were killed in a “bomb outrage” and Aurobindo eventually found out that he himself was the main target of suspicion and regarded by the police as the “”chief killer”, ”the instigator and secret leader of the young terrorists and revolutionaries”.

He was arrested in the middle of the night by armed policemen, he was handcuffed and a rope tied round his middle.

The book is an account of the author’s imprisonment in Alipore jail in India, which imprisonment lasted a year.

The author had long wanted to have “a direct vision of the Lord of my Heart”, of ”knowing the Preserver of the World, the Supreme Person” but had not succeeded in that effort.

The British Government had wanted to do him “an ill turn” but the only result of its “wrath” was that he found God.

The police had searched his house but found no bombs or explosives and he had been arrested “in the absence of a body warrant”, whatever that might be, which was apparently mandatory.

A month and a half before Aurobindo’s arrest he had been visited by an unknown gentleman who had warned him that some wicked people were conspiring against him and his brother.

He informed the person “I have complete faith in God. He will always protect me.”

It is ironic, or rather, ridiculous, that Aurobindo was arrested for being a terrorist and murderer when in fact he was a highly spiritual person. However, he tells us that his imprisonment actually helped him in his endeavour to find God.

At least in part, he lived in solitary confinement. He was grateful for it.

He talks of an Italian who had been sentenced to seven years’ solitary imprisonment; within a year he had gone mad.

He had two prison blankets as a bed.

He says his diet was unfit for animals. The rice was spiked with pebbles, insects, hair, dirt, etc. The lentil soup was heavily watered. He never before knew how food could be so tasteless and with no nutritional value.

He tells us that he and the other inmates, rich and poor, all slept and ate together with a ”wonderful feeling of brotherhood”.

He states that he lived for a year like an animal in a cage.

He comments on the English people (I expect he meant “British”) that having studied their history he had already found out their “strange and mysterious character”, so he was not at all “astonished or unhappy” at their behaviour towards him.

Prisoners were not even allowed to sleep properly since every time sentries were changed the former were noisily disturbed with no respite until they responded.

I did not find the book to be easy reading. There were pages and pages with no chapters, nor even paragraphs.

I was completely unfamiliar with the many (Indian) personages referred to by the author, which didn’t help matters.

The book will have a limited appeal, but has a certain interest, particularly for those interested in spirituality.

It ends with a poem written by the author in Alipore Jail, 1908-09. show less