Question for GD Kumar on Sri Aurobindo.

This question is addressed mainly to my friend GD Kumar, but if anyone wants to say anything, please feel free...

So - Kumar dear - over some time I have noticed than whenever we mention Sri Aurobindo, you always refer to him as 'Rishi Aurobindo'.
Personally, I think this is right - in my view He was indeed a great Rishi.

I'd be very interested to know why you refer to Him thus. Is it because of convention, or is there some reason to think of Him as a Rishi?

As I say, I have my own idea about this, but I thought it might be interesting to discuss here.

 

Hare Krishna!

Dear BBB,

I don't really know how to answer this question. To the Indians and particularly to the people of Bengal (My native State) he is more popularly known as Rishi Aurobindo. But nobody makes any mistake when anybody talks about Sri Aurobindo, because that is also widely acknowledged name for the great seer. That is the only reason why automatically I say or write Rishi Aurobindo.

However, to my knowledge and understanding, all rishis are sages. All sages are not rishis. Rishis are on a higher level considering that they are satya-sankalpa purusha. Sages may slip but a rishi never tells a lie and he always sticks to the truth. A rishi is believed to be merged with God (Realisation of Brahma jnan). Revelations come automatically to a rishi, fresh shlokas and hymns come to a rishi automatically. Savitri and The Life Divine undoubtedly establish this fact. Even rishis have gradations, but it is better we do not discuss that.

The great sage, Ramana was known as Ramana Maharshi but Thakur Ramakrishna was known as Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa although He had perfectly satisfied all conditions of being a Maharsi or a Rishi. It is the name that we give and it continues. No body is less or more.

Sri Aurobindo was one of the greatest sages of the world, there is absolutely no doubt about that. We have still not been able to evaluate and place him in the proper niche. I am one of the blessed ones to hear about him, Dadaji and Sri Krishnaprem from Ma Indira Devi. I would rather feel happier if Sri Aurobindo is called by some as Maharshi Aurobindo.

Love,

Kumar.

 

Thanks for that !

I certainly agree that Sri Aurobindo is a great Rishi, and as you say, His message is yet to find its true place in our understanding.
From what I've read of the development of things in India over long ages, it seems that now and then, a great one comes who takes up the strands of all that has been done in the past, and casts everything in a new form, or at least, gives us a new perspective and opens up new possibilities.
Sri Aurobindo I am sure is such a One. 'Life Divine' and 'Savitiri' as you say, prove this. Both are completely unique, and really there's nothing I can think of which one can hold up in comparison.

It also seems to me that what Sri Aurobindo has done, is something which is an extension of the work begun long ages ago by the old Vedic Rishis, and which Sri Aurobindo brings to light in 'Secret of the Veda'.

I read the account by Dadaji of his meeting with Sri Aurobindo in the 1930's.
Afterwards he said something like 'How could it be that such a man lived among us and we didn't know it?'
That seems very apt and approprite to me.

Love & blessings.

 

Hare Krishna !

From BBB....

It also seems to me that what Sri Aurobindo has done, is something which is an extension of the work begun long ages ago by the old Vedic Rishis, and which Sri Aurobindo brings to light in 'Secret of the Veda'.


Very true, thanks !

Love,

Kumar.

 

Hare Krishna GD!

Just thought I'd add a bit of a ramble to this on the topic of Sri Aurobindo's epic poem 'Savitri'.

Up until the age of 45 years, I used to think that so far as english poetry is concerned, there was Blake and everyone else, and I've read my english poets. And American come to that.
Anyway, at age 45 I read 'Savitiri', and I have to say that now, there is Savitiri, Blake and everything else.

There is really no other work on this planet which rivals it in its sheer scope. It dwarfs IMO even the work of Dante, Shakespeare, Homer or any other poet you can name. Not only that, but for a very long work, the quality and style are maintained throughout in a way which even the best writers of long verse in english have failed to achieve.

The form of the poem is one that went out of fashion particularly in the 60's when there was a wholesale rejection of anything with a style resembling classicism. Thus it hasn't been widely even known of in the west, which is outrageous, considering the value and quality of the work.
I think western literary critics are, as we say, well up themselves. They only acknowledge work which they can easily fit into their always shifting categories, and ignore anything coming from, as they see it, left of field.
Thus Savitiri remains relatively unknown to western readers.
This is a huge travesty, as it is an absolute jewel of the english language.
(Sri Aurobindo was born in Kolkata to an anglicized family and had english as his first language - a fact which english speaking people can count as a divine grace - however, he was a great linguist and early on held a post as proffessor of languages at Baroda University before turning to yoga)

It is also not an easy work to comprehend. As one reads more deeply into it, meaning starts to become evident. But even a reading with less than a full understanding reveals the depths and heights to which this vast mantra soars.
And where it goes is a whole multitude of places no-one has gone before, at least in any kind of work of literature.

Sweet Mother said it is the supreme revelation of Sri Aurobindo's vision.
She also said it is a mantra for the transformation of terrestial life and existence.

http://www.savitribysriaurobindo.com/

 

Hare Krishna!

Dear BBB,

Sorry, I was out of town to a remote place, called Sankarpur, having no easily available internet facility. Whatever you have said is so very true.

Sri Aurobindo's father (Sri Manmohan Ghose) was so badly anglicized that he did not allow Sri Aurobindo even to learn his own mother-tongue (Bengali). He even changed Sri Aurobindo's name to Aurobindo Ackroyed Ghose. Sri Aurobindo dropped 'Ackroyed' from his name for ever after he came back to India. He learnt Bengali and Sanskrit at the age of 20-21 after coming back to India. No wonder his command of English language was to a superlative degree.

However, Savitri, I believe, cannot be written by command of a language alone, it needs highest spiritual revelation and gift from God to make it matchless and to express it in the most beautiful words and way. I have not read Savitri in its original language (English). I read the Bengali translation (Done by Sri Nalinikanta Gupta) of Savitri and was astounded by its beauty and very very high spiritual level. I wondered if the translated Savitri is so beautiful then how the original Savitri must be like! This is a pure work of very high or unfathomable spiritual knowledge and its revelation. I believe it was changed several times as he rose to higher and higher levels.

And the seventh chapter of Savitri is the sea of nectar of all that we try to talk about, i.e. God, consciousness, spiritual and transcendental world.

Love,

Kumar.

 

Yes, I think that Sri Aurobindo's inspiration comes from the very highest level.
My understanding is that He re-wrote the entire poem several times, each time from a higher level, completing the final version only a few weeks prior to His departure.

As I said above, IMO it is a work un-paralleled in the english language for the sheer poetic beauty, but of course, what really shines out from it is the amazing spiritual vision of Sri Aurobindo.

Of course, that comes through from all of His writings.

Love & peace,

BBB.