-10_Glossary and Index Page 81 to 93.htm

Conrad, Count a character – a young nobleman – in Sri Aurobindo’s play The Maid in the Mill.  7: 821, 825,834-36,840, 876,880

Conservative Party in Great Britain, the political party associated with the maintenance of institutions, confidence in private enterprise, and a preference for a pragmatic, rather than ideological, approach to the problems of government. The party is the heir, and in some measure the continuation, of the old Tory Party. (Enc. Br.) Der: Conservatism  I: 104-05,143,323,384,409,419.448,573 2: 56, 101, 195, 234, 267-72, 285, 299. 306-07, 379-80 4:205,212-14,221,233,248 27:4,54 XXII: 126

Constable, John (1776-1837). English painter who, with J.M.W. Turner, dominated English landscape painting in the 19th century. Constable is famous for his inspired land- scapes of Suffolk, Hampstead, Salisbury, and Brighton. Although he was praised in France, recognition in England was slow. and he was not made a fellow of the Royal Academy until 1829. (Enc. Br.; Col. Enc.) n 14:237

Constance a character – mother to Arthur - in Shakespeare’s play King John. (Shakes.)  3:285 X:172 Constantine Constantine the Great (2887-337), Roman emperor who initiated the evolution of the empire into a Christian state and prepared the way for a distinctively Christian Western and Byzantine medieval culture. (Col. Enc.: Enc. Br.)  14:80, 193 15:164 17:163 27:484

Constantinople former capital of the Byzantine Empire and of the Ottoman Empire, since 1930 officially called Istanbul. Built on seven hills (in Asiatic Turkey on the Bosphorus), Constantinople had an almost inconceivable wealth of artistic and literary treasures before it was sacked in 1204 and in 1453. (Col. Enc.)  15:457 27:163.352 XXI:4,32.66.87 Conventionalisms) in the freedom movement of India, a term used generally for the MODF-RA THS. since, after the Surat debacle, they organized a national Convention in place of the broken Congress. (A) Var: Conventionist  I: 864-66, 869, 871 -72, 904 2:305,307

Convention and Revolt in Poetry a book written in 1918 by Livingstone Lowes. (A)  9:443 Conversations Conversations with the Mother, a bopk by the Mother, printed in 1931 for private circulation. It contains a record of her answers (in English) to ques- tions put by Sadhaks after meditation

at Sunday meetings held during the period April to August 1929. The notes of these conversations were taken by one of the Sadhaks and corrected and approved for publication by the Mother. The conversa- tions were made available to the public in 1940 by being included in Words of the Mother. In 1956 the title was changed to Conversations. The book has since gone through several editions, n 23: 586 25:209, 259.369.383.390.396,398-401 26:353,450

Coochbehar Cooch Behar, former native state, now a district ofJalpaiguri division in northern West Bengal state. The chief town and headquarters of the district is also named Cooch Behar. (Col. Enc.) n 1:394,414

Cook, Dr. Frederick Albert Cook (1865-1940), U.S. physician and Arctic explorer who was the centre of much con- troversy about polar exploration. He was surgeop on the Peary Arctic expedition (1891-92). He also claimed to have reached the North Pole in 1908, but his claim was denounced by Peary and later rejected by scientists. (Enc. Br.; Col. Enc.)  2:217

Coomaraswamy, A. K. Dr. Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy (1877-1947), pioneer historian of Indian art and a foremost interpreter of Indian culture to the West. In 1917 he was appointed the fellow for research in Indian, Persian and Moslem art in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, a post that he held until his death. (Enc. Br.)  2:209-11,213 14:196 XIII: 47-48

Coomood (Cumary) a character – daughter of Rana Curran by a concubine – in Sri Aurobindo’s play Prince of Edur.  7:739, 747-48, 750-51, 755. 760-63, 766, 771, 773, 775-76, 786.788.805.807-11,814-16

Coonty SeeKunti(e)’

Coontybhoj Kuntibhoja, in the Mahabharata, king of a people called Kuntis, in Upper India: he was the adoptive father of Kunti, the daughter of Shoorasen and a wife of Pandu. (Dow.) 8:77 Cooper, Dr. and Mrs. Dr. Cooper was the Health Officer of Baroda State about 1902. (A)  1:73

Coral Mill(s) a mill located at Tuticorin in South India, it was run with British capital. In 1908 there was a strike at the mill, which ended in an absolute victory for the labourers. (A) 1:727,752,754,778

Corecbus in Sri Aurobindo’s Ilion, a Lycian leader. (M.I.)  5:461

Corillo a proposed character – prince of lini_mentioned in the Dramatis Personae of Sri Aurobindo’s incomplete play The Witch ofllni. (A)  7:1057

Corineus a proposed character - a brother of Brutus – mentioned in the Dramatis Personae of Sri Aurobindo’s incomplete play The House of Brut.  7:883 Corinthian Theatre a small old theatre hall near Chowringee in central Calcutta.  1:760 Corneille, Pierre (1606-84), French dramatist, often called the father of French classical tragedy. He prepared the way for a drama that was the envy of Europe throughout the 17th century. (Enc. Br.)  9:67,87,521

Cornish a language belonging to the Brythonic group of the Celtic subfamily of Indo-European languages; it was formerly spoken in Cornwall in southwestern Britain. It became extinct in the 18th or early 19th century. (Enc. Br.)  15:390

Cornwall a maritime county in extreme southwest England. (Col. Enc.)  3:486

Corobhus Karabha, in the Mahabharata, a king subservient to Jarasandha, the king of Magadha. (M.N.)  8:40

Corrusus Karusa, in the Mahabharata, a king of Karusa, an ancient land of India. (Pur. Enc.; M.N.)  8:40

Corsican a native of Corsica (the fourth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, located southeast of France and north of Sardinia). Corsica formerly constituted a departement of France: but on 1 January 1976 two departements were established: Haute Corse and Corse du Sud. The term here (17: 382) stands for Napoleon Bonaparte, a native of Corsica. (Enc. Br.) n 17:382 Cortes Hernan Cortes or Hernando Cortez (1485-1547), Spanish conquistador; he captured Mexico for Spain, crushing an ancient civilisation. (Col. Enc.; Pears) 9:3 15:323

Corydon a character participating in "A Dialogue" (incomplete), which Sri Aurobindo wrote sometime around 1891. (A&R,II:91) D 11:5,8 Cos Latin form of the Greek "Kos", a Greek island in the Aegean

Sea, off the southwestern coast of Turkey; it is second largest of the Dodecanese Islands. Cos was once famous for the manufacture of light transparent garments. (Enc. Br.) Der:Coan a 6:59.421

Coshala See Koshala

Cossacks peasant-soldiers of several regions in Russia, who under the czars held certain privileges in return for rendering military service as Cossack cavalry. In the Ukraine, they set up a separate state which in 1654 became a vassal of Russia. (Col. Enc.) n 15:513

Cossimbazar a town in Murshidabad district of Bengal (now West Bengal state). D 8:320 Cotton, Henry Sir Henry John Stedman Cotton (1845-1915), a most liberal English- man who held various offices in the I.C.S. from 1867 to 1902, and became a leading champion of Indian nationalism. He took a prominent part in starting the Indian National Congress, and was the president of its 20th session held at Bombay. (D. I. H.; Purani)  1:172.190.201,373.420,565,574, 863 2:161,234,363 26:2.6 27:18,33,44 11:88

Cotton, James (or J.S.) James Sutherland Cotton (1847-1918), younger brother of Sir Henry Cotton, born in India at Coonoor. He was a scholar of Trinity College, an M.A., and later, fellow and lecturer at Queen’s College, Oxford, He edited the revised edition of the Imperial Gazetteer of India, and was also editor of The Academy.  4:205,225 26:2.6 11:88-89 IV: 196

Coue. Emile (1857-1926), French pharmacist and psychotherapist. He is remembered for his formula for curing by optimistic autosug- gestion: "Day by day, in every way, 1 am getting better and better". (Col. Enc.)  24:1106.1571.1589.1686 25:162

Council of Education See (National) Council of Education

Council of Notables See (Advisory) Council of Notables

County See Kunti(e)’

Courland or Kurland, region and former duchy in western Latvia, on the Baltic seacoast. (Col. Enc.)  15:512

Court of Cassation Court of Appeal (especially of European countries other than England, e.g. France). (C.O.D.) a 27:471

Courtship of Miles Standish a poem (1858) by Longfellow. The subject is an incident in the lives of Priscilla and John Alden. (Col. Enc.)  5:346

Cousins, James H. (1873-1956), Irish poet, theosophist, social worker, and educationist; author of New Ways in English Literature and many other books. He came to India in 1915; later he and his wife became Indian citizens. Cousins was very much interested in Indian culture and occultism, and was one of the founders of Kala Kshetra, an institution of art and culture at Adyar, Madras. He was a close associate of Mrs. Annie Besant, and was the literary sub-editor of her paper New India. (The Mail – special number)  9: 1-8. 66, 152. 157, 308, 462 14: 46,397-99, 409 17:319 26:276-77.371 V: 17

Cousins, Mme wife of James H. Cousins [From "Record of Yoga" MSS Nov. 1913-Oct. '27]

Coventry city and borough in Warwickshire from 1888 to 1974; after 1974, in the metropolitan county of West Midlands, England. The phrase "to send to Coventry", meaning "to ostracize socially", is of uncertain origin, and refers to the practice of social ostracism of individual workers by their fellows during industrial disputes. (Enc. Br.)  2: 144

Coverer See Vritra

Cowel, Professor Edward Byles Cowell (1826-1903), English Sanskrit scholar. He was educated at Oxford, and was for some years principal of the Sanskrit College, Calcutta. From 1867 he was professor at Cambridge University and was ranked as the foremost English Orientalist of his day. He published a large number of works both in Sanskrit and English. Prof. Cowell reviewed Bankim’s first novel Durgeshnandini in the MacMillun’s Magazine in 1872. (Enc. Am.; A)  27:352

Cowper, William (1731-1800), one of the most widely read English poets of his day. He wrote of the joys and sorrows of every- day life. In his sympathy with commonplace phenomena, his concern for the poor and downtrodden, and in his comparative simpli- city of language, he may be seen as one in revolt against much 18th-century verse and as a forerunner of Burns, Wordsworth, and Coleridge. (Enc. Br.) a 9:51,92,308 1:9,15 11:11-12

Cowsambie an ancient city in the lower part of the Doab in Uttar Pradesh, near the confluence of the Ganga and the Yamuna. (Dow.)  6:205,207,211,215,217,220,222, 226,228.245-46, 252, 257-58, 263-65,270,272, 275-77, 280,305,309-11, 315, 324,328

Cowshalya in the Ramayana, wife of Dasharatha, senior queen of Ayodhya, and mother of Rama. She belonged to Koshala, hence her name Kausalya. (Dow.) 3:285 8:8,11 X: 173

Cowshic Kausika, in the Mahabharata, a minister of Jarasandha, also known as Hansa or Hamsa; he was brother of Chitrasen or Dimbhuk. (M.N.)  8:58

Cowshiquie See Caushiquie C. P. See Central Provinces

Crab also called Cancer, a Latin word meaning "crab", the fourth sign of the zodiac. In Hindu astronomy, it is known as "Karka", a Sanskrit word meaning "crab". It is a northern constellation which contains the star cluster Praesepe (sometimes known as the "beehive" or the "manger"). The Tropic of Cancer takes its name from this constel- lation. (Col. Enc.)7:257-58,260

Crabbe, George (1754-1832), writer of verse tales memorable for their realistic details of everyday life. (Enc. Br.) a 11:11

Crawford Market a big building housing a vegetable and fruit market, near the Victoria Terminus station, in Bombay. D 1:194

Creagan Richard Creagan, Superintendent of Police in Calcutta who led a party of police to search Sri Aurobindo’s residence and arrest him on 2 May 1908. (A.B.T., p. 60) n 4:258-59

Creon in Greek legend, brother of Jocasta. He became regent of Thebes after the banishment of OEDIPUS. See also Antigone. (Col. Enc.)  9:217

Crete a large island in the eastern Mediterranean, off the southeast coast of Greece. By the time of the Troj an War it was under Greek domination, though a brilliant civilisation of a distinctive character had flourished there earlier in the second millennium BC. Idomeneus was the leader of the Cretan contingent against Troy. (M.I.) Der: Cretan  2:167-69,248 5:405,418, 430.459.464,475. 477-78, 484,491 Creiisa in Greek and Roman legend, daughter of Priam and Hecuba. She was wife of Aeneas, and mother of Ascanius. She died while fleeing from Troy during the siege. (Col. Enc.; M.I.)  5:398,442-43,461

Cripa See Kripa

Cripps, Stafford Sir (Richard) Stafford Cripps (1889-1952), British statesman and lawyer, chiefly remembered in England for his rigid austerity programme as Chancellor of Exchequer (1947-50). He was known to be liberal in his views regarding the constitu- tional changes that were to be introduced in India and was deputed to present to Indian’ leaders the offer of partial sovereignty made by the British in 1942. The "Cripps Offer" was publicly supported by Sri Aurobindo. (D.I.H.;Enc.Br.)  26:36,39-40,54,399 XVII: 65

Crishna (literally, black; of dark complexion); See Krishna

Critanta in Hindu mythology, a name of Yama, the god of death; "who ends all things and at last himself shall end". (A) D [Indexed with Yama]

Critavurm Krtavarma, in the Mahabharata, a Kuru warrior who accompanies Ashwatthama to make the murderous night attack upon the campofthePandavas. (Dow.)  8:43

Croce, Benedetto (1866-1952), historian, humanist, critic, and the foremost Italian philosopher of the first half of the 20th century. (Enc. Br.)  9:485-87

Crocodile Makara in Hindu astrology,. represented as Capricornus (the Goat) in Western astrology, an inconspicuous constellation of the Southern Hemisphere lying between Sagittarius and Aquarius. It is the 10th sign of the zodiac. The Tropic of Capricorn takes its name from this con- stellation. (Col. Enc.)  17:257-58,260

Cromer, Lord Evelyn Baring (1841-1917), 1st Earl of Cromer, British administrator and diplomat in Egypt. Until he resigned in 1907, the history of Egypt was also his, for he was virtual ruler, reforming finances, administration, and education. In India he worked as the Finance Member of the Viceroy’s Executive Council for three years from 1880. (Col. Enc.)  2:407 Cromwell, Oliver (1599-1658), soldier and statesman who led parliamentary forces in the English Civil War, and was Lord Pro- tector of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 1653 to 1658. Opinions of Cromwell have always varied widely; his military skill and force of character are universally recognized. (Enc. Br.; Col. Enc.)  7:1047-49,1051 14:191 15:513 Cronion an epithet of Zeus (son of Cronos, a Titan). (M.I.)  5:431,460,472,486,498, 503,505,510-11

Cronos (Greek "Kronos"), in Greek myth- ology, the youngest of the twelve Titans, gigantic primeval children of Ouranos and Gaea (Heaven and Earth). He ruled the world after overthrowing his father, until

he in turn was vanquished by his own children, Zeus and the Olympian gods. The Romans identified him with Saturn, the god of agriculture. His reign was regarded as the Golden Age. (A&R,XV:87) Var:  Cronus  6:85 8:410 XV: 44

Crounchanindhra in Hindu mythology, name of a pass situated somewhere in the Himalayas, said to have been opened by Parasurama with his arrows to make a passage from Kailasa southwards. The Vayu Purana attributes the opening of the pass to Kartikeya, who used his lance. (Dow.)  3:238 27:98

Cnrth in the Mahabharata, name of an ancient country which was conquered by Bhismaka (see Bhishmuc), the king of Vidarbha. (M.N.)  8:40

Cuba westernmost island of the West Indies. Havana is the capital. As a result of the treaty of 1898 ending the Spanish-American War, Cuba was established an independent republic under U.S. protection. After Fidel Castro’s revolution in 1959, it became a socialist republic. (Col. Enc.; Enc. Br.)  15:478,508 26:395

Cubera See Kuvera

Cuckoo To the Cuckoo, a well-known lyrical poem by Wordsworth,  9:305

Cuddalore administrative headquarters of South Arcot district in the province of Madras (now in Tamil Nadu state). It is a seaport on the Bay of Bengal, twenty-two km south of Pondicherry. (Enc. Br.) Q27:427,445,448

Cumberland former county in the extreme North England, bordering on the Irish Sea and Solway Firth to the west and Scotland to the north. Since 1974 Cumberland has been part of Cumbria county. (Col. Enc.; Enc. Br.)  3:117,486

Cunca in the Mahabharata, one of the seven great heroes of the Vrishni family of the Yadavas. (M.N.)  8:43

Cunning Old Fury a character in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.  1:346

Cupid Roman god of Love, counterpart of Greek god Eros; a character in Sri Aurobindo’s play The Maid in the Mill. D 7:821,870

Cuma See Kama

Cursetji a Parsi, private secretary of Nawab Salimullah of Dacca. He was involved in the Comilla incident of 1907. (A)  1:211,213

Curtius Marcus Curtius, a legendary hero of ancient Rome. According to the story, in 362 BC a deep chasm opened in the Roman Forum. The seers declared that the pit would never close until Rome’s most valuable pos- session was thrown into it. Claiming that nothing was more precious than a brave citizen, Curtius leaped, fully armed and on horseback, into the chasm, which immediately closed. (Enc. Br.)  9:549

Curzon, Lord George Nathaniel, Marquis of Kedleston (1859-1925), British statesman, Viceroy of India (1899-1905). His administration was marked by many reforms. But some of his measures (like the Universities Act and the Partition of Bengal in 1905, as well as contemptuous references in his public speeches to Indian character and to the Congress) roused a great deal of popular resentment against him in India, and he resigned in 1905. (D.I.H.) Der: Curaonian;

CurzonismI:76,78,137,161,164,167,173, 296,307,317,327,337,359,395,419,478,485, 493,597-98,627, 702, 706,715, 727,857 2:144, 190,203, 217, 243,246, 371-72,405 3: 393-94 4:158, 230 17: 369 26:65 27:4,10,16, 63 1:4,6,70 111:12

Curzon-Wyllie, Sir William (1848-1909). Served in the Army, 1866-80; Resident in Nepal, 1893-98; Viceroy’s Agent in Central India, 1898-1900; Agent in Rajputana, 1900-01; Political A.D.C. to the Secretary of State for India, 1901-09; knighted, 1902. He was shot dead by Madan Lal DHINGRA at a gathering at the Imperial Institute in London on July 1,1909. (Gilbert, p. 27; P.T.I.) a 2:97,234

Cushan The Kushans, originally a nomadic people, later settled in Bactria and in the first century BC began to make raids into India. Subsequently they established a vast empire in India and ruled from c. AD 48 to 220. (D.I.H.) Der: Cushanian  7:742

Cybele in Phrygian religion, the Great Mother of the Gods, an Oriental-Greek- Roman deity who usually appears with mural crown and veil, seated on a throne or in a chariot, and accompanied by two lions. (Enc. Br.)  6:12 XV: 20

Cyclades an island group consisting of 24 islands; it is a part of the Greek archipelago in the Aegean Sea and stretches southeast from Attica. (Col. Enc.; Enc. Br.)  5:32 6:185 Cyclopes in Greek mythology, one-eyed giants descended from Uranus and Gaea. Some of the Cyclopes

were shepherds, like Polyphemus, who captured Odysseus. Others worked in the smithy of Hephaestus, forging thunderbolts for Zeus, and often on the fortifications of ancient cities. In Homer, they are savage and pastoral and have no government or laws. (Col. Enc.; M.I.) Der: Cyclopean; Cyclops (singular) n 3:32 5:358,392,501,507-08 29:642

Cycnus in Sri Aurobindo’s Ilion, brother of Zethus, a Hellene. He was killed in battle by Penthesilea. (M.I.) a 5:514-15 ("Cyenus" is a misreading) VI: 135

Cydone a character – mistress of lolaus – in Sri Aurobindo’s play Perseus the Deliverer  6:3,26,66-74,126-30,158-61,166,176, 181-83

Cyenus , a misreading of CYCNUS.

Cygne, Le a French sonnet by Mallarme. (A)  9:530-32

Cymbeline or Cunobelinus, legendary British king (c. 1st cent.AD) who resisted the Romans. A leading character in Shakes- peare’s comedy Cymbeline. (Enc. Br.)  1:40

Cymothea a woman’s name, mentioned in Sri Aurobindo’s poem Songs to Myrtilla. Q 5:5

Cymric of Cymru, the name of Wales in the Welsh language. (Enc. Br.)  15:306,309

Cynthia or Cynthius, names given in Greek legend to Artemis (Diana) and Apollo, derived from Cynthus, a mountain in their native Delos. (O.C.C.L.)  5:20

Cynthia a poem by Keats. (A) D 3:291 X: 141

Cyprian of Cyprus, an island in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, south of Turkey. (Col. Enc.;C.O.D.)  6:365

Cypris in Greek mythology, an epithet of Aphrodite. Her sanctuaries in Cyprus (at Paphos and Amathus) were especially renowned, hence Homer called her "the Cyprian". (M.I.)  5:33,445-46,506,524, 546 Cyrene an ancient Greek colony on the coast of Libya, founded c. 632 BC (Enc. Br.)  8:411

Cythera a Greek island in the Mediterranean, off the southeast promontory of the Peloponnesus, on which there was a sanctuary of Aphrodite. According to one legend Aphrodite is said to have landed on it after her birth in the sea. (M.I.)  5:481, 499,501

Cytherea in Greek mythology, an epithet of Aphrodite. 5eeCythera. (M.I.)  5:501 7:1074

Czar title adopted by the grand princes of Muscovy (Moscow) in the 16th century. In 1721 Peter I officially changed the title to "emperor"; the rulers of Russia, however, continued to be popularly called "czar" until 1917. (Enc. Br.) Var: Tsar Der: Czardom;

Czarism1:330,420,4522:135,206,254,399-400 15:357,444,457,512 17:326

Czarina wife of a czar; Russian empress. (C.O.D.)  2:254 Czech formerly "Bohemian": the language or a native of Bohemia, the westernmost province of Czecho-Slovakia. (Enc.Br.; Col. Enc.)  15:496,505

D

D. See David.

Dabhoi a town in the former princely state of Baroda (now in Gujarat state), about 20 miles southeast of the city of Baroda. (A; S. Atlas) a 27:116

Dacca chief city of eastern Bengal, situated just north of the Burhi Ganga River. In 1905′ it was designated capital of the newly formed province of Eastern Bengal and Assam (1905-12). Later it became the capital of East Bengal province of Pakistan (1947), and of East Pakistan (1956). Since 1971 Dacca has been the capital of the separate country of Bangladesh; and now it is officially spelled "Dhaka". (Enc. Br.)  1:135,169,196, 209,212,262,272, 288, 357, 369, 373, 375, 384, 402-03,414,610,626-27,635 2:229-30 4:196, 229, 232, 247  27: 6-7,20-21,40 . VIII: 131

Dacre(s) in Sri Aurobindo’s story "The Devil’s Mastiff", name of a family. Three characters in the story bear the surname "Dacre": John, Margaret, and Matilda.  7:1048,1050-51

Dadabhai1 See Naoroji, Dadabhai

Dadabhai2 a character, representing Dadabhai Naoroji, in the tragedy "The Slaying of Congress" published in Bande Mataram in February 1908. 1:673-74

Dadaists followers of Dadaism, an inter- national nihilistic movement in the arts that existed primarily in

Zurich, Berlin, Cologne, Hannover, Paris, and New York, in the early 20th century. According to the most widely accepted accoupt, the name "Dada" was adopted at Zurich during one of the meet- ings held in 1916 by a group of artists and war resisters, including the poet Tristan Tzara. The word was considered appropriate for their anti-aesthetic creations and protest  activities, which were engendered by disgust for bourgeois values and despair over World War I. Dadaism was a doctrine of utter formlessness; words, or even syllables, were used without regard to meaning, as in the speech of a small child. (Enc.Br.) 9:446 Dadhichi (later form of Dadhyanca or Dadhica), a Rishi of the Vedic times, son of Atharvan. According to a legend, which ap- pears in the Rig-veda, Indra taught Dadhi- cha certain sciences, but threatened to cut off his head if he taught them to anyone else. Dadhicha was, however, prevailed upon by the Aswins to communicate his knowl- edge to them. They replaced his head with that of a horse, and after it was cut off by Indra, they restored his own head. Another story related about Dadhicha is that he gladly accepted death in order that Indra might slay Vritra with the thunderbolt fabricated by TWASHTRI out of his bones. (Dow.; M.W.) Der: Dadhyang (an inflected form) o n:278 IX: 5

Dadhikra(van) in the Veda, the divine war- horse, a power of Agni; he is the White Horse who carries us through the battle to the goal of our voyaging. (A)  9:213 10:130,298,413,424 11:32,143,197-98,238 VI:127,131 XIV:110

Dadhyang See Dadhichi

Daedalus mythical Greek architect and sculptor who was said to have built the labyrinth for King Minos of Crete. Falling out of favour with Minos, he made wings for himself and his son Icarus in order to escape to Sicily. All went well with Daedalus;

Icarus, however, flew too near the sun. The wax joints of the wings melted and he fell into the sea and was drowned. Stories of the marvels constructed by Daedalus are many. (Enc.Br.; Col. Enc.)  6:55

Daffodils one of the best-known poems of Wordsworth, a 9:305

Dagon West Semitic god of crop fertility, worshipped extensively throughout the ancient Near East. His cult is attested as early as c. 2500 BC. He was the father of the god BAAL. (Enc.Br.)  6:8

Daily Express British newspaper, founded in 1900. (Enc.Br.)  2:119 Daily Mail British newspaper, founded in 1896 by Alfred Charles William Harmsworth. It was an instant success. Sri

Aurobindo read it for its comic "Curly Wee" feature. (H.L.)  2:119

Daily News1 (of India). See (Indian) Daily News.

Daily News2 a paper of London which al- ways overflowed with praise for "British Liberalism" in India. H. W. NEVINSON visited India in 1907-08 as the special correspondent of this paper. (A; S.F.F.)  1:574

Daitya(s) in Hindu mythology, descendants from Dili by Kashyapa. They were a race of giants who warred against the gods and interfered with sacrifices. (Dow.)  1:663 4:29, 86 10:199, 493 11: 445, 456,467 12:532 23:1042 27:158 11:76 XVI: 144,152 XIX: 54

Daksha I. in the Veda, a god, master of the works of unerring discernment; 2. in the Puranas, one of the Prajapatis, the original progenitors, and father of Sati. Sati married Shiva, and killed herself in consequence of a quarrel between her husband and her father. (A; Dow.)  1:892-95 8:107, 118 10:66-68,421,521 11:494,496 12:416 XV: 45,47 —

Dakshina (Daksina), perhaps a female form of the Vedic Daksha; she is the goddess of divine discernment. (A)  10:68,153, 186-87,319,364 11:32,496,498

Dakshina Marga one of the two forms of worship – the "right-hand" form – in Tantra. The followers of this marga (path) are known as Daksinacaris. (Dow.)  16:336 20:37

Dakshineshwar a locality about seven miles from Calcutta, on the banks of the Ganga, where there are ghats and temples (one main temple of Kali and twelve small temples of Shiva). Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa lived here in the temple of Kali; it is here that he had his realisation. (Guide) Var: Dukkhineswar  1:655,799 2:412 4:259 26:59 1:23 IX: 25 Dal, Lake a picturesque lake in the Kashmir valley, in Srinagar. (Gaz.-L,p. 17)  IV: 194

Dalbha a Vedic Rishi, spoken of as father or brother of Baka. a 12:390

Daley Honorary Captain F. J. Daley, the doctor in charge of the Alipore Jail hospital.He was of Irish stock and inherited many of the qualities of that liberal race. Dr. Daley had to pay for his humanitarianism. Found guilty of "grave neglect of duty and want of supervision over his subordinates", he

was removed from the charge of the Jail hospital and appointed to a less responsible post. (A; A & R, XI: 110)  4:274-75, 280,297,300

Damascus a city in southern Syria; capital of Syria, on the Barada River. It is thought to be the world’s oldest existing city. Damas- cene steel (famous swords and other wares) is no more, but fine textiles, fruits and Damascene ware are still the pride of the ancient city. (Col. Enc.; Enc. Br.) Der:

Damasc  3:475 5:276 6:99,156 7:597, 634 15:645 26:242 29:788 111:27

Damayanti wife of Nala and heroine of the tale of Nala and Damayanti, one of the episodes of the Mahabharata. She was the only daughter of the king of Vidarbha, and was very lovely and accomplished. (M.N.; Dow)  2:399 3:154,159-61 14:192

Dambhodbhove a king whose story is related in the Mahabharata as an antidote to pride. He had an overweening conceit of his own prowess and even challenged Nara and Narayana. (Dow.)  8:57

Damien, Father (1840-89), Belgian priest who devoted his life to missionary work among the Hawaiian lepers. (Enc. Br.) a 12:484

Damie, S. K. a pleader of Poona (presently in Maharashtra state, and spelled "Pune") around 1908. (A)  27:62

Damocles (fl. 4th cent. Be), a courtier of Dionysius the Elder of Syracuse, tyrant from 405 to 367 BC, known to history through the legend of the "Sword of Damocles". Accord- ing to the legend, when Damocles glorified in extravagant terms the riches and power of the tyrant, Dionysius, to demonstrate the dangers and the unhappiness of high estate, gave a banquet in his honour. Damocles enjoyed the splendour of the banquet to the full, until, looking up, he beheld a sword suspended above his head by a single hair. (Enc.Br.; Col. Enc.) a 2:93-94

Damoetes a character – villager or towns- . man – in Sri Aurobindo’s play Perseus the Deliverer,  6:3,115-17,119-25,135,138, 140, 142,144-46,148,155-56, 166-67,170,191,196

Danaans Argives (the men of Argos regarded as descendants of Danaus). (M.I.) 5:468 Danae in Greek legend, daughter of Acrisius, the Argive king; she bore to Zeus a son named Perseus (see 6:1). (Col.

Enc.) a 6:1,3,9,15,25,161-62,173,192

Danaus in Greek legend, ancestor of the Danaans, men of Argos. (M.I.)  5:476

Danava(s) in Hindu mythology, descendants from Danu by the sage Kashyapa. They were giants who warred against the gods. One hundred sons were born to Danu, from whom arose ten families of Danavas. (Dow.; Pur. Enc. ) Der: Danavi (danavi, a female danava)  4:147 10:126,199, 224 11:29 13:454

Dance of Life, The a book (1923) by Havelock Ellis. (A)  9:329

Dane, Sir Louis Sir Louis William Dane (1856-1946), Lt. Governor of Punjab (1908-13). He joined the I.C.S. in 1876 in Punjab; appointed Chief Secretary, Punjab, in 1898; Resident in Kashmir in 1901; and Foreign Secretary in Government of India in 1903. He was sent to Kabul (Afghanistan) as the Head of the British Indian Mission (1904-05). Sir Dane was with Lord Hardinge in the Delhi Durbar (1911). In 1940 he was wounded when Sir Michael O’Dwyer was killed,  2:345

Daniel legendary Biblical hero, the central figure of the Book of Daniel in the Old Testament. Daniel is extolled for his upright character. He was an upright judge, and a person of infallible wisdom. (Enc. Br.) a 1:486

Danish official language of Denmark, used by about five million speakers. It belongs to the East Scandinavian branch of the North Germanic languages. Danish had some influence on the Swedish and Icelandic languages and was the official written and administrative language of Norway from the Reformation until the 19th century. (Enc. Br.)  27:89 .

D’Annunzio, Gabriele (1863-1938), Italian poet, novelist, dramatist, short-story writer, journalist, military hero, and political leader. (Enc. Br.)  9:96

Dante Dante (Alighieri) (1265-1321), the greatest poet of Italy and also a prose writer, literary theorist, moral philosopher, and political thinker, whose Christian epic Divina Commedia (The Divine Comedy) is one of the landmarks of world literature. (Enc. Br.) Der: Dantesque  3:101,147,217 9: 30,37,42,61, 76, 84-85,206, 305-06.311,314, 381,479-80,521,524 12:pre. 14:66,257 17:137,182 26:276,302-03 27:86,92 VI: 198 X:114 XVII: 66,73

Danton, Georges(- Jacques) (1759-94), French statesman, one of the leading figures of the French Revolution. He was one of the most complex and controversial statesmen of the period, and is regarded as both a defender of the oppressed and a political opportunist. (Enc. Br.)  1:273,405 3:459 17:378, 380-82

Danu in Hindu mythology, daughter of Daksha Prajapati and wife of the sage Kashyapa; she is the mother of the Danavas. She is considered by many, Sri Aurobindo among them (10:199, 383), as identical with Diti. (M.N.;A)  10:126,199,383,421

Danube great river of central and south- eastern Europe, second only to the Volga among European rivers. It rises in the Black Forest and passes through many countries before entering the Black Sea. (Col. Enc.)  15:347

Danzig (German form of Gdansk) capital of Gdansk province, north central Poland, situated at the mouth of the Vistula River on the Baltic Sea. (Enc. Br.) 27:466

Daphne in Greek mythology, a daughter of the river god Peneus in Thessaly. She attracted the love of Apollo, who pursued her in the beautiful vale of Tempe. When she prayed to Earth (or to her father) to rescue her, she was turned into a laurel-tree, which became the favourite tree of Apollo. This myth may refer to the Hellenes’ capture of Tempe, where the goddess Daphne was worshipped by Maenads (or Bacchantes), who chewed the laurel and thus intoxicated themselves. (Pears; Enc. Br.)  6:352,417

Darbhanga a district in the state of Bihar, India; the administrative headquarters of the district is the town of Darbhanga. Under British rule Darbhanga was a semi- autonomous princely state. (Enc. Br.)  1:414 2:345

Dardanelles See Hellespont

Dardanid an epithet of the descendants of DARDANUS. In Ilion, it has been used mainly for Aeneas, sometimes also for Deiphobus. (M.I.) a 5:382,398,446,458

Dardanus in Greek legend, son of Zeus by Electra, the daughter of Atlas. He married the daughter of Teucer and became the ancestor of both the younger and older branches of the royal house of Troy. (M.I.)  5:410,412,418,428,440,465,511

Darius (Hystaspes) Darius I or Darius the Great (550-486 Be), king of ancient Persia (522-486 BC), called also Dariavaush and Darius Hystaspes (after his father, Hystaspes or Vishtaspa). Darius consolidated Persian power in the East, including northwest India. He is noted for his administrative genius and for his building projects. (Enc. Br.; Col. Enc.)  3:199 16:90

Darjeeling a town in northern Bengal (now northern West Bengal state). It is a famous hill resort. Here, at the Loreto Convent School, Sri Aurobindo was educated between 1877 and 1879. (Col. Enc.; A)  1:410, 491 4:317 26:1

Dark Ages earlier part of the MIDDLE AGES, ending with the 12th century, during which science was dead, theology was the main preoccupation, and the language of the learned West was Latin. (Pears, p. L79) 1:270 3:433

Dark Well a collection of poems by Harindranath Chattopadhyay, written in the Ashram.  26:289  Darshana(s) the six traditional orthodox systems of Hindu philosophy: Sankhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Mimamsa and Vedanta. (Sometimes the heterodox schools of Buddhism, Jainism and the materialistic Charvakas are also listed among the Darshanas.) (Enc. Br.)  2:19 4:43,128 12:427,522 16:339 27:299 1:57 VIII: 170-71,180 XIV: 126 XVII: 27 XVIII: 152 XXI: 77

Daruk in the Mahabharata, Krishna’s charioteer, and his attendant in his last days. He is also called SATYAKI. (Dow.)  8:29-30

Darwin Charles (Robert) Darwin (1809-82), English naturalist renowned for his documentation of evolution and for a theory of its operation. His influence on the scientific and religious tenor of his time was immense and provocative. (Enc. Br.) Der: Darwinian;

Darwinism  2:213 3:459 4:44 13:38 15:147 16:226 18: 55,199 26:387 27:385

Darwin, Erasmus (1731-1802), prominent physician, grandfather of the biologists Charles Darwin and Francis Gallon. A free thinker and radical, Darwin often set his opinions and scientific treatises to verse that, although awkward technically, shows a rugged power. (Enc. Br.)  11:11,16-17

Das See Das, C. R.

Das, C. R. (1870-1925), Indian politician, leader of the Swaraj party in Bengal province under British rule. He presided over the Congress session at Gaya in 1922. He was one of Sri Aurobindo’s nationalist collaborators and an eminent lawyer of Calcutta, who devoted himself for months to the defence of Sri Aurobindo in the Alipore Bomb Case. He was also his friend and fellow poet. Toward the end of his short life he came to Pondicherry for spiritual as well as political advice. (A; Enc. Br.) Var: Chitta Das;

Chitta Ranjan (Das) 2:54:pre.,3148:35714:385 26:34,59,169,252-53, 389-90, 436,438-39 27:437,439-40, 451, 455,473

Das, Hem(chandra) Hem Chandra Das Kanungo (1871-1951), one of the pioneer leaders of the secret revolutionary organization , and a principal co-accused with Sri Aurobindo in the Alipore Bomb Case (1908- 09). He went to England and Paris to learn the manufacture of explosives and bombs. He was sentenced to transportation for life in the Andamans, but was released in 1921. Hemchandra had a most colourful personality. (D.N.B)  4:264,272,297,310 Das, Lolit Mohan (1868-1932), a Moderate leader who, as a disciple of Surendra Nath Banerji, took active part in the Swadeshi movement and the agitation against the partition of Bengal. In protest against the Risley Circular, he resigned his job in the City College. He was the president till his death of the Barisal Seva Samiti established by him in Calcutta in 1909 with the cooperation of a few young students. (S.B.C.)  VI: 123

Das, Madhusudan (1848-1934), a leading lawyer of Cuttack (Orissa), and a prominent member of the Congress till 1911. Though Western-oriented, he was critical of English ways. He was a forceful speaker both in English and in Oriya. (D.N.B)  2:97

Das, Sundari Mohan (1857-1950), a physician and philanthropist who played a significant part in the political and social life of Bengal. (D.N.B.)  1:850

Dasabodha title of a book written in the 7th century by Ramdas, the famous guru of Shivaji (D.I.H.)  4:92

Dasarath(a) in the Ramayana, father of RAMA’, and a king of the Solar race at Ayodhya. He was a descendant of Ikshwaku. (Dow.) Var: Dasharath;

Dussaruth(a)  1:768 3:428 8:3-5,10 V:7,ll

Dasarhan Dasarha was a noble Kshatriya born in the line of Yadu. His descendants were called Dasarha. Sri Krishna is also therefore called Dasarha or Dasarhapati. These terms occur in the Mahabharata. (M.N.)  27:83

Dashagwa(s) a class "Ten-rayed" of Vedic Rishis (perhaps Rishis who sacrificed for ten months). They are mentioned along with the Navagwas in several Vedic hymns. They were descendants of Angiras. SeealsoNavagwas.(V.G.)10:149-50,166-70,172, 177,184,204,208,234

Dasharath See Dasarath(a)

Dasharnas Dasarna was the name of an ancient region of India, mentioned in the Mahabharata and located in what is now Madhya Pradesh state, southeast of the Vindhyas. The people of the region were also called Dasarnas. (M.N.)  3:215

Dasyu(s) The Dasyus of the Veda are robbers, destroyers, dividers, plunderers, powers of darkness. They are adversaries of the seekers of Light and the Truth. Whether human or superhuman, they keep their wealth of cows and horses and other treasure for themselves, and do not give them to the seers. There are two great divisions of the Dasyus: the Panis and the Vritras. (I & G; A)  4:141 10:24,36,71.134,136,140,163, 204-05,215-17,219-21,224, 226-28,230,235-38, 310, 363, 383,428,471, 485-86,493 11:8-10,14, 17,28-29,445,456,459,467,478 IV: 128 XV: 17 XXI: 10

Datta, Kumar Krishna a man of Calcutta known to Sri Aurobindo, one of the first people he met after his arrest. (A) a 4:263

Dattatreya a sage said to be son of Atri by Anasuya. Regarded as an incarnation of the Triad (Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva), he is sometimes represented as having three heads. Not much known in popular Hinduism, Dat- tatreya is looked upon as the founder of a method of yoga practised mostly in Maha- rashtra. According to Sri Aurobindo, the truth behind the Dattatreya cult is that Dattatreya represents the highest realisation — he always keeps his consciousness immersed in the Infinite and the freedom of the Infinite is brought down by him to the mental, vital, and even to the physical plane. A siddha of the Dattatreya-Marga, therefore, acts freely like the Infinite even in the Prakriti. There is an unbridled pleasure or enjoyment on the one hand; there is renun- ciation  

of pleasure on the other. (Eve. T., pp. 301-02) XVIII: 163

Daudet, Alphonse-Marie Leon (1867-1942), French journalist and novelist, the most virulent and courageous polemicist of his generation in France, whose literary reputation rests largely upon his journalistic work and his vivid memoirs. (Enc. Br.)  23: 842

Daulatpur a town of East Bengal (now in Bangladesh), near Khulna. (S. Atlas)  2:250

David Joseph David, a resident of Pondi- cherry who later became Mayor of the city. He was one of Sri Aurobindo’s earliest Pondicherry friends and long remained so. David was one of the few people whom Sri Aurobindo went out to see, visiting him twice at his house during the period 1913-20. In his Record of Yoga (XXI: 2), by "D." Sri Aurobindo very probably means David. (A; Purani)  27:455 XXI: 2

David Neel, Madame Alexandra David-Neel (1868-1969), a well-known French writer on Tibetan occultism and mysticism. She studied Sanskrit and Eastern philosophy as a young woman. From the age of twenty she dreamed of visiting India, and eventually did come. In 1911 she managed to meet the Dalai Lama at Delhi, and became the first person from the West to be initiated in the mysteries of Tibetan occultism. She published more than thirty volumes, many of which went through several editions and were translated into a number of languages. At the age of one hundred she was still working on three more books. Madame David-Neel visited Pondicherry and met Sri Aurobindo in November 1911. (The Sunday Standard, Madras: Magazine Section, 15 June 1969)  22:215

Da Vinci See Leonardo da Vinci

Dawn the divine Dawn; the goddess Dawn; the same as USHA’.  10:42, 68,118-31,133, 135,138-42,144-50,152-54,156,159-60,163-64, 166-67,172-73,177-79,186,188-89,194,197,199, 201, 203-06,208-09,215,219, 221-22,225,228, 231,233,236,238,250,261,268,272,276,278-79,281-86,290,293,311, 314, 316, 319, 321-22, 348, 353, 359-60, 364, 376-77,403,419, 422, 424-26, 429-33,438,441,447-48,463, 467, 524-28,530, 541 11:11,27, 31, 33, 56-57, 59, 67,74, 85-86, 89,113,119,123,162,164-65, 169-70.173,180, 195. 197, 212, 243, 254, 273, 328, 343, 490, 498 12: 401 16:337 19:726 23:968 28:4 29:18 IV: 122,136 V: 21-22, 33 VII: 38 VIII: 148 IX: 10 X: 183-85 XIV: 110,120 XV: 6,55 XVI: 137 XVII: 33,45,53

Dayananda, Thakur (1881-1937), spiritual leader and founder of Arunachal Mission at Silchar (Assam). He had wonderful powers as a yogi. In family life his name was Guru-das. (L.toSl.;S.B.C.;A)  27:444, 496 VII: 9, 22 Dayanand Anglo-Vedic College of Lahore, founded in 1888 by some followers of Swami Dayanand with the object of propagating the ideas of the Arya Samaj without discarding English and Western education. Lala Hans Raj was the institution’s principal. (P.T.I.; D.I.H.)  1:717,719

Dayanandas See Dayananda, Thakur

Dayananda (Saraswati), Swami (1824-83), Hindu ascetic, a profoundly learned Sanskrit scholar, a social reformer, and the founder (1875) of the Arya Samaj, a Hindu reform movement advocating a return to the temporal and spiritual authority of the Vedas. Sri Aurobindo considered him the first discoverer of the right clues in the matter of Vedic interpretation. Swami Dayananda was a great force in the promotion of Indian nationalism in the 19th century. (D.I.H.; A)  2:353-55,364 3:214 4:246-47 10:29-31 11:471,473 12:400 14:187 17:331-43 27:182 VII: 22 XV: 18 XVI: 135

Dead Sea salt lake between Israel and Jordan into which the Jordan River flows. It is the lowest body of water on earth’s surface, 1,296 ft. below sea level. (Enc. Br.)  1:320

Deb, Kumar Kshitendra a renowned statesman of Bengal; a candidate for the Bengal Legislative Council in 1906. (A)  1:151 Deb, Prabhas(chandra) In January 1910, he published in Hitabadi a romantic story of a Dead Letter Office return. (A)  2:367-68

Deb, Suresh Chandra a worker in the Bande Mataram office, whose article "Sri Aurobindo as I Knew Him" appeared in Mother India, August 15,1950. (A) D 27:pre.

Debabrata See Bose, Debabrata

Debi Chaudhurani a Bengali novel (1884) by Bankim Chandra. It is a domestic novel. (Enc. Br.) Var: Devi Chaudhurani  3:91 17:345-46

Decameron a collection of one hundred witty, often licentious, tales by Boccaccio, written probably between 1348 and 1353. They reflect not only the eternal foolishness of man but also fascinating details of 14th-century Italian life. The setting of the tales is as follows: Florence being visited by the Plague in 1348,

seven women and three men leave the city for neighbouring villas. As part of their revels, they tell stories until the epidemic abates. This they do for ten days, hence the title "Decameron" or "Ten Days’ Work". Each person tells one story each day, and so there are 100 tales in all. The work proved to be the fountainhead of Italian literary prose for succeeding centuries. (Enc. Br.; Ox. Comp.)  1:7

Deccan, the high triangular tableland comprising most of peninsular India south of the Narmada River, and including the coastal plains. (Enc. Br.)  1:141,147,157,182, 198, 380, 479, 533, 570, 591, 639,687 2:309, 370 3:193 5:281,284 17:303,352 111:7

Dectora a character in Yeats’ play The Shadowy Waters. (A) 9:533

Dedar Buksh, Moulvi a person, probably a nationalist Muslim, who attended the Bengal Provincial Conference of the Indian National Congress held at Hooghly in September 1909 and moved resolution No. 4 (for continuation of the boycott of foreign goods). He was also one of the speakers at the Swadeshi Meeting held at Bhowanipur (Calcutta) the following month, in connection with the observance of Partition Day. (A) Var: Dedar Bux, Moulvi  VI: 125 XIV: 100

Deepnarain Singh (1875-1935), an enlightened zamindar of Bihar who, though a barrister, never cared for his practice and threw himself heart and soul into public activities. He held various offices in the Congress. He was regarded as a paragon of aestheticism, elegance and refinement. (D.N.B.)  1:226-28,255 2:306

Deesa a town in the former princely state of Baroda, now in north Gujarat about thirty miles from its border with Rajasthan and about ninety-five miles north-west of Idar. (A; S.Atlas)  27:114 La Defense de I’Occident Defense de {‘Occident, a book (1927) in French by Henri Massis. (A)  22:128

Defoe, Daniel (1660-1731), English novelist, pamphleteer, and journalist, who wrote Robinson Crusoe, one of the world’s most famous books, and a number of other works of exceptional quality and range. (Enc. Br.)  4:284

Deidamia in Greek legend, daughter of Lycomedes, king of Scyros. She was mother of Neoptolemus by Achilles. (M.I.)  5:405 Deiphobus in Greek legend, a son of Priam and Hecuba and a great Trojan hero. In Sri Aurobindo’s llion, he is shown

as the leader of the Trojans both in counsel and war, as his father, the king, is old and inactive and his elder brother Hector is dead. (M.I.)  5: 33, 393, 396-98,400,402-03,413,415,427,440,454,457,459-60,465,468,470,493,499 VI:134

De la Mare, Walter (1873-1956), English poet and novelist with an unusual power to evoke the ghostly, evanescent moments of life. Both his prose and verse show a delight in imaginative excursions and the purely fantastic. Much of his poetry is written for or about children. (Enc. Br.; Col. Enc.)  9:356-58

Delarcy, General ("Delarcy" is a misreading for "Delarey") Jacobus Hercules De la Rey (1847-1914), South African military leader, given the rank of general on the outbreak of the Boer War. (Enc. Am.) o 1:74 Delhi capital of India, chosen as such by many rulers in the past. It is situated on the Jamuna River. New Delhi, built by the British about six miles from (old) Delhi, was inaugurated as the capital of British India in 1911. It continues to be the capital of the independent Republic of India. The city of (New) Delhi lies within the union territory of Delhi; it is the third largest city of the Indian Union. (D.I.H.; Enc. Br.) a 2:242 3:424 7:598 8:340 26:168 27:470 XXII: 132

Delian of Delos, a small island off Greece in the southern Aegean, regarded as the centre of the Cyclades Islands. In Greek mythology, Leto gave birth to Apollo and Artemis on Delos, which became the seat of an oracle of Apollo. (M.I.; Col. Enc.) 5:489

The Deliverance English translation of Sarat Chandra’s Bengali novel Nishkriti, done by Dilip Kumar Roy in 1944. (A) 9: 463 Delphi a rugged spot on the slopes of Mt. Parnassus in central Greece, the site of the most important temple of Apollo, where the Pythia (see Pythian and Pythoness) delivered the cryptic messages of the god. Delphi was considered by the ancient Greeks as the cen- tre of the world, the exact site being marked in the temple by a stone, the omphalos (navel). (Col. Enc.; Enc. Br.) Der: Delphic n 5:394,405,420,433,490,503, 544 16:275 XV: 22

Delsa See Dilsa

Demeter in Greek mythology, goddess of  corn, fruitfulness, and the harvest. She is daughter of Cronus and Rhea, and sister of Zeus. Zeus and Demeter had a daughter, Persephone (or Kore), who was picking flowers in the fields of Enna in Sicily when she was seized by the god of the underworld and

carried to Hades to be his bride. As a result of her mother’s piteous efforts to get her back, Persephone is permitted to spend six months of the year (spring and summer) on earth but must return to Hades for the other six months (autumn and winter). (Col. Enc.; M.I.)  5:510 XVI: 138

Demiurge term used by Plato in his Timaeus for the "creator of the world". It was later adopted by the Gnostics (members of a dualistic religious movement in the early Christian era) with reference to the creator of the material universe, when they wished to distinguish him from the supreme God. In Homer the term includes manual workers, heralds, and physicians. (Enc. Br.) a 16:99 18:398 19:709 XIII: 28

Democracy a character – democracy personified – in Sri Aurobindo’s play "The Slaying of Congress", a tragedy published in Bands Mataram in February 1908. (A) D 1:673-80,684-86, 688, 690-97

Demogorgon a mysterious and terrible infernal deity. Etymologically it derives from demos (people) and gorgos (grim, terrible). (C.O.D.) a 1:415,558 2:286 15:627 17:233

Demos personification of the populace or democracy. (C.O.D.) a 1:207 2:254

Demosthenes (384-322 BC), Greek statesman, generally considered the greatest of Greek orators, who roused Athens to oppose Philip of Macedon and, later, his son Alexander the Great. (Enc. Br.) n 26:241 29:787

Denham G. C. Denham, a deputy superintendent of police (1908-11) in the Criminal Investigation Department of Bengal. He was a prominent figure in the Maniktolla conspiracy and other later political inquiries. (P.T.I.; A.B.T.)  2:367

Denmark Scandinavian kingdom of Europe, occupying the greater part of the Jutland Peninsula and a number of offshore islands between the North and Baltic seas. (Enc. Br.)  7:886 15:333

Denshawi incident Dinshaway Incident: a clash between villagers and a party of British officers on a pigeon-shooting trip at Dinsha-way, Egypt, in 1906. The severity of the  judicial sentences served to unite the Egyptian peasants and middle class against the British occupation. (Enc. Br.) 1:261,504 2:407

Denzil See Ibbetson, Sir Denzil

Deoghar a town in Santal Parganas district of Bihar, about 200 miles west of Calcutta. Sri Aurobindo always stayed here with the family of his maternal grandfather Raj Narain Bose. (Enc.Br.;A) Var: Deoghur 0 2:240,265-66 4:210,215,320,323 26:16, 44 1:70,73,76 111:84

Dercetes a character – a Syrian captain – in Sri Aurobindo’s play Perseus the Deliverer.  6:3, 16. 21-24, 101-02,104,113,166,169, 171-72,1-75-76,186, 195-97

Desai See Keshav (Ganesh) (Desai)

Descent a poem in sapphics by Sri Aurobindo. D 26:239,252,258 29:785,797

Desdemona a character – daughter to Brabantio, and wife to Othello – in Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello, the Moor of Venice. (Shakes.)  12:37, 39,470 14: 192 27:207 1:40

The Deserted Village one of the best known poems of Oliver Goldsmith, published in 1770. (Enc. Br.)  II: 17.19 Desher Katha "Story of the Nation", a Bengali book (1904) by Sakharam Ganesh Deuskar, a Maratha Brahmin resident in Calcutta, compiling all the details of India’s economic servitude and the British com- mercial and industrial exploitation of India. (A; P.T.I.; B.P.P., p. 49)  26:15,25

Deshpande probably. Dr. Yasavanta Khusala Deshpande (1884- ? ), Indian research scholar and writer of international fame in history. (B.A.C.)  3:311-13.319 Deshpande, Baji (Prabhou) (c. 1618-1660), a lieutenant of Shivaji, famous for his heroic self-sacrifice while holding the pass of Rangana for two hours with a small company of men against 12,000 Moghuls, to cover Shivaji’s retreat when Fazil Khan of Bijapur tried to encircle the Marathas in Panhalgarh fort. (Enc.Ind.;A)  5:279,281-85,287, 289-93 Deshpande, K. G. Keshavrao Ganesh Deshpande (1869-1939), a barrister and social worker of Baroda. After his return from England, where he had been at Cam- bridge with his friend Sri Aurobindo, he became for a time editor of the English section of Indu Prakash of Bombay. Deshpande was also a close friend of Tilak’s, whom he is said to have defended in his trial for sedition in L897. (A: A & R; B.A.C.) Var: Deshpande, Keshavrao  1:3 4:296 26: 13. 19. 24 IV: 197-98 XIV: 166 Deshpande, Krishnajirao name of a person "of Baroda" to whom, according to the police, a telegram had been sent by "Ghose"

from the Manicktolla Garden. A copy of the telegram, said to have been recovered from Sri Aurobindo’s residence during the search of 2 May 1908, was produced by the police before the magistrate in the Alipore Bomb Case. (No person of this name was, how- ever, traceable at Baroda.) (A) 4:296

Deshpande, Moro a character – a Maratha warrior and close associate of Baji Prabhou – in Sri Aurobindo’s poem Baji Prabhou. D 5:291

Deshsevak a paper edited by Achyutrao Kohalatkar, in which reports were published of speeches delivered by Sri Aurobindo at Nagpur. (A)  2:172

Deuskar, Sakharam Ganesh (1869-1912), a Maratha writer whose family had lived long in Bengal. An able writer in Bengali, he was author of Desher Katha, and the first person to use the word "Swaraj" (in his life of Shivaji). He was among the early writers in the revolutionary journal Yuganfar. and the chief organiser of "political festivals" in Bengal, like the Shivaji festival held in June 1906. (A;I.F.F.;S.B.C.)  26:15,25

Deussen, Paul (1845-1919), Orientalist, and professor of philosophy at the University of Kiel, West Germany. Some of his chief works are: Das System des Vedanta (1883), Die Sutras des Vedanta (1887), On the Philosophy of the Vedanta in its Relation to Occidental Metaphysics (1893). (Enc. Ind.)  12:427

Deva 1. god, godhead, or the "divine man", as opposed to Asura. In the Mahabharata it is said that Kashyapa’s sons by Aditi became Devas (Adityas) and his sons by Diti became Asuras (Daityas). 2. The seventh type from below of the ten forms of consciousness in the evolutionary scale of man. The Deva is mind concentrated in vijhdna, exceeding itself. The Asura-Deva or Devasura makes the vijhana serve the buddhi. (A; I & G;

Pur. Enc., p. 244) Der: Daivic; Devahood;

Devic  1: 62 3:177 4:1,23,29,126,135, 141,156,160, 299. 304-05 10: 30-31, 53,112-13, 170,194, 197-99, 207,306,333,335, 338,341-42, 345-48,372,455,466 11:21-22,442, 453,456, 459,473 12:95-96,158,162,465,474,491,499,