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Glossary and Index of Proper Names to Sri Aurobindo’s Works
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
The works of Sri Aurobindo abound in proper names. Their number and variety make it difficult for his readers to obtain a full intellectual understanding of his writings. A person familiar with Puranic mythology may know little about the geography of ancient Greece. An admirer of Shakespeare may never have heard of Yajnavalkya. A student who had the time and the inclination to look up every unfamiliar name would need a full shelf of reference books, some of them difficult to obtain, and even then some terms would escape him. The present volume is an attempt to meet the special needs of students of Sri Aurobindo’s works. The compiler, a member of the research staff of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Archives and Research Library, has consulted more than one hundred volumes and spoken with innumerable people having personal knowledge of the subjects referred to. We are certain that interested readers of the works of Sri Aurobindo will find this Glossary and Index an invaluable tool.
A work such as the present one could never have been brought to completion by the efforts of a single individual. During the many years that I have worked on this Glossary and Index, I have received help from numerous people. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them. I will be able to mention only those whose contribution was greatest. While gathering information, I depended heavily on Shri Jayantilal Parekh, Shri Ravindraji, Shri K. D. Sethna (Amal Kiran), Shri Jagannath Vedalankar, Shri Kanupriya Chattopadhyay, Mr. Janez Svetina, and Mr. Peter Heehs. By supplying me with sources and information, they enabled me to carry on the work unimpeded. I am particularly grateful to Mr. Peter Heehs, without whose guidance and editorial suggestions this book would hardly have been possible. I am thankful to the staff of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Press for bringing out the book in a very short time despite the complications involved in its printing. I am obliged, in particular, to Mr. David Hopkins and Shri Nagashankar, to whom the composition of the manuscript was entrusted. David, moreover, took a keen personal interest in the project, and not only attended to the technical details, but also made a large number of last-minute improvements in the manuscript. Special thanks are due to my colleagues at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Archives and Research Library, most of whom collaborated with me at one stage or another. I am especially indebted to Shri Ganapati Pattegar and Shri Sunjoy Bhatt, who kindly undertook to do the proofreading. Besides accomplishing this formidable task, they also verified the information in many of the entries and made very helpful suggestions. I am grateful to Shri Harikant Patel and Shri Manoj Das Gupta for sanctioning the publication of the manuscript. As a first effort in a new direction, it is likely that this book will fall short of perfection in many respects. Readers are encouraged to send corrections and suggestions for future editions to Sri Aurobindo Ashram Archives and Research Library, Pondicherry 605002, India.
G.D.G. |