Programme Schedule
Celebration
April 4, 2024

114 th Anniversary of Sri Aurobindo's arrival in Pondicherry and Anniversary of Tapasya Bhawan, Delhi Ashram

(Sri Aurobindo came to Pondicherry on 4th April 1910)

Sri Aurobindo reached Pondicherry on April 4, 1910 and a few there had heard the prophecy about the arrival of a Yogi from the North whom they would recognize with His three statements. In a letter to his wife, Mrinalini, on Aug 30, 1905, Sri Aurobindo wrote about his three madnesses:

"I have three madnesses. Firstly, it is my firm faith that all the virtue, talent, the higher education and knowledge and the wealth God has given me, belong to Him. I have the right to spend only so much as is necessary for the maintenance of the family and on what is absolutely needed...

The second madness has recently taken hold of me; it is this: by any means, I must have the direct experience of God. The religion of today, that is, uttering the name of God every now and then, in praying to Him in front of everybody, showing to people how religious one is—that I do not want. If the Divine is there, then there must

be a way of experiencing His existence, of meeting Him; however hard be the path, I have taken a firm resolution to tread it. Hindu Dharma asserts that the path is there within one's own body, in one's mind. It has also given the methods to be followed to tread that path. I have begun to observe them...

The third madness is this: whereas others regard the country as an inert piece of matter and know it as the plains, the fields, the forests, the mountains and the rivers, I know my country as the Mother, I worship her and adore her accordingly. What would a son do when a demon, sitting on his mother's breast, prepares to drink her blood? Would he sit down content to take his meals or go on enjoying himself in the company of his wife and children, or would he rather run to the rescue of his mother? I know I have the strength to uplift this fallen race; not a physical strength, I am not going to fight with a sword or a gun, but with the power of knowledge. The force of the kṣatriya is not the only force, there is also the force of the Brahmin which is founded on knowledge. This is not a new feeling in me, not of recent origin, I was born with it, it is in my very marrow. God sent me to the earth to accomplish this great mission.”

The fundamental faith in yoga is this, inherent in the soul, that the Divine exists and the Divine is the one thing to be followed after - nothing else in life is worth havng in comparison with that. So long as a man has that faith, he is marked for the spiritual life and I will say that, even if his nature is full of obstacles and crammed with denials and difficulties, and even if he has many years of struggle, he is marked out for success in the spiritual life.

—Sri Aurobindo


The only way to come a litte closer to him [Sri Aurobindo] is to love him sincerely and to give oneself unreservedly to his work. In that way, each one does his best and contributes as much as he can to the transformation of the world which Sri Aurobindo has predicted.

—The Mother

Offerings

Sri Aurobindo’s historical arrival in Pondicherry on 4 April 1910 began in the forenoon with an invocation for divine Presence by Srila Basu in the Meditation Hall. In the evening, Tara Didi read passages in which Sri Aurobindo himself had explained that Pondicherry was the place, ordained by the Power guiding his steps, for his spiritual advancement and work for further evolution of the human species. His participation in active political field ceased from here onwards. Tara Didi also read some passages from Sri Aurobindo’s Savitri. After presentation of a musical offering by Srila Basu and Linthoi, Dr. Prabhjot Kulkarni released a book on Integral Yoga, titled, "We Are All Drivers" by Dr. Ramesh Bijlani.