WRITINGS IN BENGALI

CONTENTS

	I. HYMNS		VIII. NATIONALISM
	HYMN TO DURGA (Dharma, No. 9, October, 1909)		THE OLD AND THE NEW (Vividha Rachana, 1955)
	HYMN TO DAWN (Archives, April 1977)		THE PROBLEM OF THE PAST (Dharma, No. 6, September, 1909)
			THE COUNTRY AND NATIONALISM (Dharma, No. 14, December, 1909)
	II. STORIES		THE TRUE MEANING OF FREEDOM (Dharma, No. 8, October, 1909)
	A DREAM (Suprabhat, 1909-1910)		A WORD ABOUT SOCIETY (Vividha Rachana, 1955)
	THE IDEAL OF FORGIVENESS (Dharma, No. 26;February, 1910)		FRATERNITY (Dharma, No. 23, February, 1910)
			INDIAN PAINTING (Dharma, No. 25, February, 1910)
	III. THE VEDA		HIROBUMI ITO Dharma, No. 10, November, 1909)
	THE MYSTERY OF THE VEDA (Vividha Rachana, 1955)		GURU GOVINDSINGH (Dharma, No. 8, October, 1909)
	AGNI THE DIVINE ENERGY (Vividha Rachana, 1955)		NATIONAL RESURGENCE (Dharma, No. 5, September, 1909)
	THE RIG-VEDA (Vividha Rachana, 1955)		OUR HOPE (Dharma, No. 20, January, 1910)
			EAST AND WEST (Dharma, No. 22, January, 1910)
	IV. THE UPANISHADS
	THE UPANISHADS (Dharma, No. 15, December, 1909)		IX. PRISON EXPERIENCE
	THE INTEGRAL YOGA IN THE UPANISHADS (Vividha Rachana, 1955)		TALES OF PRISON LIFE (Suprabhat, 1909-1910)
	THE ISHA UPANISHAD (Vividha Rachana, 1955)		PRISON AND FREEDOM (Bharati)
			THE ARYAN IDEAL AND THE THREE GUNAS (Suprabhat, 1909-1910)..
	V. THE PURANAS		NEW BIRTH (Dharma, No. 2, August, 1909) ...
	THE PURANAS (Dharma, No. 17, December, 1909)
			X. LETTERS
	VI. THE GITA		LETTERS TO MRINALINI ( 1905-1907)
	THE DHARMA OF THE GITA (Dharma, No. 2, August, 1909)		A LETTER OF SRI AUROBINDO TO HIS BROTHER (1920)
	ASCETICISM AND RENUNCIATION (Dharma, No. 3, September, 1909)		LETTERS TO N.AND S. (Published, 1951 & 1959) OBSTACLES AND DIFFICULTIES
	THE VISION OF THE WORLD SPIRIT (Dharma, No. 23, February, 1910)		PARTS OF THE BEING
	THE GITA: AN INTRODUCTION (Dharma, Nos. 7-24, 1909-1910)		FOUNDATIONS OF YOGA
	THE GITA: TEXT TRANSLATION (Dharma, No. 10, 1909)		EXPERIENCE, DIRECT PERCEPTION AND REALISATION
	SANJAYA'S GIFT OF DIVINE VISION (Dharma, Nos. 11-18, 1909-1910) ...		DEPENDENCE ON THE MOTHER
	THE GITA: TEXT-TRANSLATION (2) (Dharma, Nos. 19-24, 1910)		INNER VISION SYMBOLS COLOURS
			DEVOTION FAITH RELIANCE
	VII. DHARMA		THE PSYCHIC BEING
	THE CHARIOT OF JAGANNATHA (Prabartak, 1918)		PRIDE IMPURITY GRIEF DESPAIR
	THE THREE STAGES OF HUMAN SOCIETY (Vividha Rachana, 1955)		PLANES OF CONSCIOUSNESS
	AHANKAR (Dharma, No. 5, September, 1909
	INTEGRALITY (Vividha Rachana, 1955)		XI. POETRY
	HYMNS AND PRAYERS (Dharma, No. 24, February, 1910)		THE MOTHER AWAKES (Archives, April 1980)
	OUR RELIGION (Dharma, No. 1, August, 1909)		LIVING MATTER (Archives, December 1979)
	MAYA (Dharma, No. 3, August, 1909)		THE MUSIC OF SILENCE (Archives, April 1978)
	NIVRITTI OR ABSTENTION (Dharma, No. 12, November, 1909)		RAVANA VANQUISHED (Archives, April 1979)
	PRAKAMYA (Dharma, Nos.-17 and 18, 1909-1910)		A COLLOQUY (Archives, December 1980)
			A POETIC FRAGMENT (Archives, April 1981)

A Word About Society

Man is not born for the society—but the society is created for him. Those who forget the inner Divinity in man and give a higher place to the society are worshipping the undivine. Meaningless worship of society is a sign of artificiality in human life, a deterioration of the self-law.

Man does not belong to the society but to the Divine. Those who try to weaken the Divine within him by imposing, on his mind and life and soul, slavery to the society and its numerous exterior bonds, have lost sight of the true goal of humanity. The sin of this oppression does not permit the Divine within him to awake, the Power goes to sleep. If you have to serve at all, then serve the Divine, not the society. There is sweetness as well as progress in this service. The highest felicity, liberty in bondage, and unrestricted freedom are its crowning results.

The society cannot be the aim; it is a means, an instrument. Self-inspired knowledge and power emerging from action and shaped by the Divine are the true guides of the life of man. Their progressive growth is the aim of the spiritual evolution of life. This knowledge, this power should use society as an instrument, mould it, and, if need be, even modify it. This is the natural condition. An unprogressive and stagnant society becomes the grave of lifeless manhood; the outpouring of life and the radiation of the force of knowledge are bound to bring about a transformation of society. To tie man with a thousand chains to the social machinery and crush him will lead to inevitable immobility and decay.

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We have lessened man and extolled society. But a society cannot grow in this way, it becomes petty, stagnant and sterile. Instead of utilising society as a means of our progressive development, we have reduced it to an instrument of oppression and bondage; this is the reason for our degeneration, indolence and helpless impotence. Elevate man, open\ the gateway of the temple where the Divine secretly shines within him. The society will automatically become noble, I beautiful in every limb, a successful field for the enterprise of a free and high intention.

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