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INDEX AND GLOSSARY
Note on the Centenary Library
The SRI AUROBINDO BIRTH CENTENARY LIBRARY comprises all writings of Sri Aurobindo which were available at the time of publication. All his major works without exception have been included; there may be some manuscript writings and letters which still await discovery. The scheme of arrangement of the Centenary Library is basically chronological, but other factors besides date of composition and publication have been given consideration. Volumes 1 and 2 contain Sri Aurobindo’s early political writings and speeches, from the periods 1893-1908 and 1909-1910 respectively.¹ Volume 3 consists of Sri Aurobindo’s early cultural writings, the bulk of which were written by him at Baroda (1893-1906), but some of which date from before and after these years. In Volume 4 have been collected all of Sri Aurobindo’s original writings in Bengali, most of which were first published in 1909 and 1910. Volumes 5 through 9 comprise Sri Aurobindo’s literary writings. Volume 5 contains his complete poetical works; Volumes 6 and 7 his plays (one of which is a translation) and short stories; Volume 8 his translations (excluding the play mentioned above and translations from the Indian scriptures) and Volume 9 his later writings on poetry and literature, including his letters on poetry, literature and art generally. Sri Aurobindo’s poetic magnum opus, the epic Savitri, has been placed at the end of the Centenary Library in Volumes 28 and 29. To the latter volume his letters on this poem have been appended. In Volumes 10 through 13 are published Sri Aurobindo’s translations of and commentaries on the great Indian scriptures: the Veda, the Upanishads and the Gita. Most of the writings in these volumes first appeared in the monthly review Arya (1914-1921). Volume 14 contains writings on Indian culture which are also from the Arya. Volumes 15 and 18 through 21 comprise Sri Aurobindo’s major prose writings. In Volume 15 are published his later social and political works: The Human Cycle, The Ideal of Human Unity and War and Self-Determination. The Life Divine, in which Sri Aurobindo’s philosophical thought attains its highest expression, is published as Volumes 18 and 19 and his major work on Yoga, The Synthesis of Yoga, as Volumes 20 and 21 of the set. All of these important works first appeared in the Arya and were later revised by Sri Aurobindo to a greater or lesser degree prior to their publication in book-form. Shorter works published by Sri Aurobindo during his lifetime, in the Arya and
¹Practically all of Sri Aurobindo’s articles in the Bande Mataram and the Karmayogin were unsigned. The editorials and leading articles in the latter journal seem to have been written almost entirely by Sri Aurobindo, but this is not the case with the Bande Mataram articles. For a discussion of the principles guiding our selection from the Bande Mataram see the Bibliographical Note to Volume 1. As mentioned there, it is possible that a few of the articles selected may not be by Sri Aurobindo. This applies not only to articles included in the first volume, but also to some placed in the Supplement (Volume 27), including Bankim Chandra (pages 351-55).
Page – i elsewhere, have been placed in Volume 16. In Volume 17 the material is of two kinds: in Parts I to V various writings, mostly on Yoga, which were not published by Sri Aurobindo during his lifetime, are collected. Parts VI to XI of the volume might be called Sri Aurobindo’s "later cultural writings". Here an assortment of writings on education and art, book reviews, notes, etc. have been brought together. Next in order after The Synthesis of Yoga appear, in Volumes 22, 23 and 24, Sri Aurobindo’s letters on Yoga, most of which were written between 1930 and 1938. Many of these letters were revised by Sri Aurobindo before being brought out in book-form; others have been selected and arranged by his disciples. Letters dealing with the Mother have been published in Volume 25 and letters and notes of an autobiographical nature in Volume 26. In the latter volume there is a section of letters dealing with both Sri Aurobindo and the Mother.¹ It was originally intended to publish The Mother, which is considered by many to be one of the most important of Sri Aurobindo’s works, in a volume of its own. This proved impossible because of its brevity. Therefore this book and Sri Aurobindo’s translations from the Mother’s Prières et Méditations were put together with the letters on the Mother to make Volume 25. In Volume 27 supplementary material which accumulated while the publication of the Centenary Library was in progress is published for the first time.
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It is very important to note that Sri Aurobindo’s consciousness underwent great development between 1892, when he was a student of twenty writing The Harmony of Virtue, and 1950, when as a master of Yoga he put the finishing touches to Savitri. It is necessary to take this development into consideration when evaluating Sri Aurobindo’s writings of different periods. It is essential that readers using the Index in this volume make such a relative evaluation of the materials to which they refer. In 1937 Sri Aurobindo, writing to one of his disciples in reference to the disciple’s review of his book The Ideal of the Karmayogin, stated: You even assert that I have "thoroughly" revised the book and these articles are an index of my latest views on the burning problems of the day and there has been no change in my views in 27 years (which would surely be proof of a rather unprogressive mind). How do you get all that? My spiritual "consciousness and knowledge at that time was as nothing to what it is now — how would the change leave my view of politics and life unmodified altogether?² In another letter written apropos of a certain point in a series of articles which
¹The reader should note that there has been some duplication of letters. In particular, several letters placed in Volumes 22 to 24 because they deal with some general aspect of Yoga, also contain references to Sri Aurobindo or the Mother and so have been included in one of the two volumes devoted to them (Volumes 25.and 26). Letters so duplicated have been indexed as though they occur- red once only. ²Volume 2, preliminary pages. Page – ii first appeared in the Arya, Sri Aurobindo stated, "…I have not yet allowed the publication of Rebirth and Karma because this had to be corrected and the deeper truth put in its place."¹ Further indication of this method of progress from truth to deeper truth may be found in the note prefixed to The Yoga and Its Objects (Volume 16, page 409) and the letter on the word "Overmind" published on page 369 of Volume 26. It is clear that Sri Aurobindo did not consider as absolutely final even those of his writings whose origin was "a source above the mind" and which were received and transmitted by a mind established in the perfect silence of Yoga — as were all of Sri Aurobindo’s writings from 1908 onwards. Indeed we may suppose, taking into consideration the constant revision of Savitri to which reference is made on pages 727 to 732 of Volume 29, that, perhaps until the inevitable word of the highest Supermind had been given expression, there would still be something higher and more integral which remained to be said. There are certain landmarks in Sri Aurobindo’s inner life which are of some* help in viewing his life-work in its proper perspective. Sri Aurobindo began his practice of Yoga in 1904. Everything which he wrote before that time may be said to be "mental", that is, the creation of an intellect which had received the finest education the West had to offer and was in the process of mastering the wisdom of the East. In 1908 Sri Aurobindo had his first great Yogic experience (he had had several "preliminary experiences" previous to this), namely, the experience of Nirvana or, in Vedantic terms, of the silent spaceless and timeless Brahman. It is at this time that his mind entered the eternal silence out of which all his later writings and activities flowed. Referring to this experience Sri Aurobindo wrote once to a disciple: As for calm and silence…! got these things in 1908…. Out of an absolute silence of the mind I edited the Bande Mataram for 4 months and wrote 6 volumes of the Arya, not to speak of all the letters and messages etc., etc. I have written since.² Other experiences, including that of the cosmic consciousness and the omni- present Divine, followed this first experience in rapid succession. In 1910 Sri Aurobindo withdrew from the political field in order to devote himself to his Yogic sadhana in Pondicherry. The Mother has spoken of this year as being one of transition, providing a useful line to mark off the "earlier" and "later" periods of his life and work. The growth of Sri Aurobindo’s consciousness between 1910 and 1950, when he withdrew from his body, was constant. A second important factor to take into consideration while making an evaluation of Sri Aurobindo’s writings has been touched upon briefly above. Most of the writings included in the Centenary Library were first published during the lifetime of Sri Aurobindo, the bulk of these originally in journals and a large number later also in book-form. Most of the works published as books received Sri Aurobindo’s careful revision, but a significant number even of the more important
¹Volume 16, page 222. ² Volume 26, page 163. Page – iii writings never received the final touches he would have wanted to give them. Further, it is clear from the note on The Ideal of the Karmayogin quoted above that the many additions and changes (chiefly verbal and stylistic) which Sri Aurobindo was in the habit of making to all his published works, seemingly whenever he had a copy of one of them in his hands, do not make even revised editions indices of his "latest views". Moreover, much of the material published in Volumes 3, 12, 17 and 27 has been reproduced, with little or no editing, from manuscripts which were never prepared by Sri Aurobindo for publication and many of which he, the perfectionist par excellence, would perhaps never have wanted to publish. We have included such writings in the Centenary Library because we feel that they have, besides great historical interest, a considerable intrinsic value. But for a proper relative evaluation of these and all of Sri Aurobindo’s writings the facts of their composition and publication should be known. It would be worthwhile, then, for the interested reader to study the Bibliography on pages 19 to 44 of this volume and the Bibliographical Notes at the end of each of the volumes. These have been prepared from all currently available data; however, as our researches continue, new information is being uncovered which may make a revised bibliography necessary in the future.
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The Chronology (pages 6-15 of this volume) has been compiled using all primary source materials which have been gathered to date. Our biographical researches continue. No event for which there is inadequate documentary evidence has been included in the present Chronology. Note especially that only the very few spiritual experiences which Sri Aurobindo chose to speak or write about could be listed.
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Although every care has been taken during the printing of the Centenary Library to ensure perfect accuracy, a number of errors, typographical or other, have crept into the texts. These, with the exception of minor and obvious typographical errors, have been listed in the Errata placed at the end of this volume.
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