Homage to Sri Maa

1
An offering at the lotus feet of the Mother
Her life sketch and works
21st Feb, 1878 to 17th November, 1973
HOMAGE TO THE DIVINE MOTHER
1

2
Who is the Mother ?
Today, Sri Aurobindo Ashram is known as a great centre of
spiritual endeavour. People from all over the world come to
Pondicherry, in South India, to bathe in an atmosphere full
of peace, light and joy, to live a life of sadhana and yoga, to
see how spirituality can embrace and perfect life. And the
word they hear the most in the Ashram is “The Mother".
Everything is Her creation, everything draws inspiration from
Her and moves towards Her. Who is the Mother?
Sri Aurobindo has declared in no uncertain terms :
2

3
‘The one whom we adore as the Mother is the
divine Conscious Force that dominates all
existence, one and yet so many-sided that to
follow her movement is impossible even for the
quickest mind and for the freest and most vast
intelligence’ -Sri Aurobindo
‘All nature dumbly calls her alone
To heal with her feet the aching throb of life
And break the seals on the dim soul of man
And kindle her fire in the closed heart of things’
- Sri Aurobindo
3

4
To walk through life armoured against all fear, peril
and disaster, only two things are needed, two that go
always together- the grace of the Divine Mother and
on your side an inner state made up of faith, sincerity
and surrender - Sri Aurobindo
4

5
Earth is an Evolutionary field in which the mental being called
Human, must be succeeded by a supra-mental being just as
man has succeeded a whole series of infra-mental beings. For
every material, terrestrial embodiment of a new evolutionary
gradation, direct intervention of the divine in his creation is
required. Such an embodiment, this time a complete double
poled avatar were :
Sri Aurobindo and The Mother. 5

6
“I belong to no nation, no
civilization, no race, but to the
Divine. I obey no master, no ruler,
no law, no social convention, but
the Divine. To Him I have
surrendered all, will, life and self;
for Him I am ready to give all my
blood, drop by drop, if such is His
will, with complete joy; and
nothing in His service can be
sacrifice, for all is perfect delight”
- THE MOTHER
6

7
Wisdom, Strength, Harmony, Perfection are their several
attributes and it is these powers that they bring with them into
the world , manifest in human disguise in their vibhutis and
shall found in the divine degree of their ascension in those who
can open their earthly nature to the direct and living influence
of the Mother. - Sri Aurobindo
7

8
‘The four Powers of the Mother are four of her outstanding
personalities, portions and embodiments of her divinity
through whom she acts on her creations in the worlds and
directs the working out of her thousand forces’
- Sri Aurobindo
8
The four Powers of the Mother

9
One of her personality is of calm
wideness and comprehending
wisdom and tranquil benignity and
inexhaustible compassion and
sovereign and surpassing majesty
and all ruling greatness.
SHE IS MAHESHWARI
Sri Aurobindo
9

10
10
Not of wideness but of height,
not wisdom but force and
strength are her peculiar power.
There is in her a overwhelming
intensity, a mighty passion of
force to achieve, a divine violence
rushing to shatter every limit and
obstacle.
She is MAHAKALI

11
A third is vivid and sweet and
wonderful with her deep secret of her
beauty and harmony and fine rhythm,
her intricate and subtle opulence, her
compelling attraction and captivating
grace.
SHE IS MAHALAKSHMI
- Sri Aurobindo
11

12
The fourth is equipped with
her close and profound
capacity of intimate
knowledge and careful
flawless work and quiet and
exact perfection in all
things.
SHE IS MAHASARASWATI
Sri Aurobindo
12

10 AM-21st February, 1878, Paris.
Mirra Alfassa was born to Maurice Alfassa, a wealthy
Turkish banker and Mathilda Ismaloun, from Cairo.
Turkey and Egypt are in a way, a physical link
between the East and the West.
13

From the beginning
Mirra was an unusual
child. At a very young
age she became
conscious of her
mission upon earth.
14

Even at the age of five, Mirra
felt that she must know herself
and be master of herself and
not a mere plaything in the
hands of other forces.
Her mother frequently told her that she was
born to realise the highest goal.
15

"I started contemplating or doing my
Yoga from the age of four. There was a
small chair for me on which I used to sit
still, engrossed in my meditation. A very
brilliant light would then descend over my
head and produce some turmoil inside my
brain. Of course I understood nothing, it
was not the age for understanding. But
gradually I began to feel, I shall have to
do some tremendously great work that
nobody yet knows.”
-The Mother
16

Mirra was always conscious of a more
than human force behind her, often
entering her body and working there in a
supernormal way.
This force she knew to be her own secret
being. In Mirra's school there was a boy of
thirteen, a bully who used to mock at
girls, saying that they were good for
nothing. Mirra was only seven, but one
day she confronted him and asked him,
`Will you shut up?' He kept mocking.
Suddenly she took hold of him, lifted him
up from the ground and threw him down
with a thump. She later realised that this
was a manifestation of the force of
Mahakali.
17
Presence of a Supra-Human Force

Mirra often liked to play in the forests of Fontainebleu. One
day when she was climbing a steep hill, her foot slipped and
she began to fall down. The road below was strewn with sharp
black flint stones. Suddenly she felt somebody supporting her,
in a lap as it were, and slowly bringing her down. Her
companions were glad and astonished to find that when she
reached the ground she was standing safely on her feet.
18
Presence of a Supra-Human Force
Forests of Fontainebleu,
France

One of her most beautiful
childhood experiences was
when she was thirteen. It has
been described by the Mother
in her “ Prayers and
Meditations ”. She had this
experience every night and for
nearly a year.
19

“ As soon as I had gone to bed it seemed to me that I went
out of my body and rose straight above every thing and then I
used to see myself clad in a magnificent golden robe, much
longer than myself; and as I rose higher, the robe would
stretch, spreading out in a circle forming an immense roof
over the city. Then I would see men, women, children, the
sick, the unfortunate coming from every side and would
gather under the out spread robe and would narrate their
miseries and hardships. In reply the robe would extend to
them and comfort them. Often while I was rising, I used to
see at my left an old man, dressed in a long dark purple robe –
the Man of Sorrows.”
20

But it was always the call of the spirit
which was foremost in her life. She
later said : “ Between the ages of 11
and 13 a series of psychic and
spiritual experiences revealed to me
not only the existence of God, but
Man’s possibility of uniting with Him,
of realizing Him integrally in
consciousness and action,
of manifesting Him upon
earth in a life divine ”
21

Mirra took an interest in everything but was specially fond of
music and painting. At the age of sixteen she joined one of the
biggest studios in Paris to learn drawing and painting.
She was the youngest there. Her fellow-students called her the
Sphinx. They came to her for advice, to settle some quarrel or
even to take up their case before the authorities. Mirra could
read their thoughts and she replied more often to their
thoughts than to their words, which sometimes made people
very uncomfortable.
Mirra grew up in Paris, the metropolis of the great painters of
Impressionism. It was the time of Matisse, Manet, Cezanne, and
Mirra lived and moved in this rich and creative cultural milieu.
She had completed her studies at the Ecole des Beaux Arts and
some of her paintings had been exhibited at the Salon. She had
also become a gifted musician. 22

Mirra Alfassa knew little of
Indian Philosophy but had made
a sketch of a special being,
whom she called Krishna, and
was firm that she would meet
him on earth. Actually this
sketch was none other than
that of Sri Aurobindo
23

13th October, 1897 the
Mother married and
Son, Andre, was born on
23rd Aug, 1898
24

Between the ages of
eighteen and twenty I
had attained a
conscious and
constant union with
the divine Presence
and... I had done it all
alone, with absolutely
nobody to help me,
not even books, you
understand! When I
found one - - -
25
-- there came to my hands a little later
Vivekananda's Raja Yoga - it seemed to
me so wonderful a thing, you see, that
someone could explain something to
me! This made me gain in a few months
what would have perhaps taken me
years to do.”

When Mirra was 21 she met an Indian
in France who gave her a copy of the
Bhagavadgita. It was a very bad French
translation but the Indian asked Mirra to
take Krishna as the Immanent Godhead,
the Divine within ourselves. For Mirra
this was now the most important thing
to be discovered, which had to be put
before everything else. And she revealed
afterwards that in one month the work
was done and she had the experience:
26
"When I found, as I said,
a book, a man, just to
give me a little indication,
to tell me, `Here you are.
If you do this the path will
open before you', why, I
rushed headlong like a...
like a cyclone, and
nothing could have
stopped me."

In 1906, she formed a small group called
IDEA and members of this group
discussed spiritual and occult matters.
By now she was 28 years old.
The well-known Tibetologist, Madame
Alexandra David Neel was a member of
the study group started by the Mother in
Paris. She describes her
impressions of the Mother:
27
"We spent marvellous evenings together with friends, believing in
a great future... I remember her elegance, her accomplishments,
her intellect endowed with mystical tendencies.”

During this time, she met a
polish Jew, Max Theon and
his wife Alma. They were
great occultists and lived in
South Algeria. She spent
two years with them and
practiced intense occultism.
In 1907, she returned to
Paris and Theon couple
accompanied her.
28

When Mirra returned to Paris Theon accompanied
her. While at sea they were assailed by a violent
storm. The sea became very rough with high waves
and the ship was tossed about so badly that the
passengers got panicky. Theon looked at Mirra and
asked her to stop it. The Mother described what
happened:
"I went to my cabin, lay down there, and leaving my body went freely to
the open sea. There I found innumerable formless beings were madly
jumping about and creating havoc over the waters. I approached them
and very humbly and sweetly appealed to them to stop this mischief
saying, `What can you gain by torturing these poor people? Please calm
down and save their lives.' I went on remonstrating and appealing to
them for half an hour, after which they refrained from their activities. The
troubled sea became calm. I then went back to my body and came out of
the cabin. When I went on deck I found all the people gathered there
happily engaged in jovial talk." 29

After her return from Algeria, she
started another study group
called “Cosmique ” with twelve
members. She gave a talk to this
group on the aim of life, the real
work to be done and the means
to achieve it. She spoke about
the new consciousness to be
brought down and founding
collectively an ideal society for
the flowering of a new race. By
now she was 34.
30

From 1908 to 1914, it was a period of intensive mental
development. She translated from English into French parts of
Buddhist texts, Isha Upanishads, Narad bhakti sutras, the
Bhagavadgita and some sayings of Sri Ramakrishna.
Sri Aurobindo had come to Pondicherry in 1910. The same year
Mirra's husband, Paul Richard, also came to Pondicherry for
some political work. He met Sri Aurobindo several times and on
his return to France told Mirra about him. Mirra now felt
irresistibly drawn towards India and decided to come here. At
this time she maintained a spiritual diary where she noted
every day her aspirations and experiences. This was published
later as "Prayers and Meditations" of the Mother.
31

“As the day of departure draws near, I enter into a kind of
self-communion; I turn with a fond solemnity towards all
those thousand little nothings around us which have silently,
for so many years, played their role of faithful friends; I
thank them gratefully for all the charm they were able to give
to the outer side of our life. I wish that if they are destined to
pass into other hands than ours for any length of time, these
hands may be gentle to them and know all the respect that is
due to what Thy divine Love, O Lord, has brought out from
the dark inconscience of chaos.”
….CONTD.
32
On 3rd March 1914, two days before leaving
Paris, the Mother wrote in her diary:

33
“Then I turn towards the future and my gaze
becomes more solemn still. What it holds in store for
us I do not know nor care to know; outer
circumstances have no importance at all; my only
wish is that this may be for us the beginning of a
new inner period, in which, more detached from
material things, we could be more conscious of Thy
law and more one-pointedly consecrated to its
manifesting; that it may be a period of greater light,
greater love, of a more perfect dedication to Thy
cause.”

On 6th March 1914 Mirra and Paul Richard boarded
the Japanese ship "Kaga Maru" and sailed for
Colombo. The moment was approaching which was
to bring about a momentous change in the
Mother's life and the world's history. The Mother
was then thirty-six.
34

After reaching Pondicherry they met Sri Aurobindo on the
same afternoon and everything transformed. The Mother
saw in front of her the Krishna of her vision.
After disembarking at Colombo, Mirra and Paul Richard
reached Pondicherry in the early hours of March 29th 1914.
While approaching, the Mother had a vision of a huge
column of light in the centre of Pondicherry and there was
such a change even in the physical quality of the
atmosphere that she knew that they were entering the aura
of Sri Aurobindo.
35

29th March,1914
The Mother met Sri Aurobindo for the
first time. She came from France to see
him and to work with him.
The moment I saw Sri Aurobindo, I recognized him as
the being I used to call Krishna….. This is enough to
explain why I am fully convinced that my place and
work are near him in India. - The Mother
36

On 30th March, she wrote in her spiritual diary :
“ It matters little that there are thousands of beings plunged in the
densest ignorance, He whom we saw yesterday on this earth is enough
to prove that a day will come when darkness shall be transformed into
light, and thy reign shall be indeed established upon earth”
"When I first met Sri Aurobindo in Pondicherry, I was in
deep concentration, seeing things in the Supermind, things
that were to be but which were somehow not manifesting.
I told Sri Aurobindo what I had seen and asked him if they
would manifest. He simply said, `yes'. And immediately I
saw that the Supramental had touched the earth and was
beginning to be realised! This was the first time I had
witnessed the power to make real what is true."
37

This was the beginning of a great spiritual
collaboration. Its immediate outer expression
was the publication of two journals, one in
English and the other in French called `The
Arya'.
The Mother was the chief executive and took
care of even the smallest details. She wrote in
her own artistic handwriting the list of
subscribers and maintained all the accounts.
In the Arya that Sri Aurobindo poured forth,
month after month, all the spiritual
knowledge he had gained in the pursuit of
Yoga, and in which all his major works were
published serially, for the first time.
38

But then the First World War intervened. Paul
Richard had to go back to join the French
Reserve Army and the Mother had to return
with him in February 1915. Soon after her
return she fell seriously ill and for some time
her condition was so bad that even the doctors
gave up all hope. But she recovered by the
sheer force of her inner strength
and in 1916 sailed for Japan.
The Mother was greatly impressed by the beauty of Japan. She
learned several typical Japanese customs - the tea ceremony,
the flower arrangements and to dress in the Kimono. She said
later: "For four years from an artistic point of view, I lived
from wonder to wonder."
39

"Something in her drew me to her, - call it
grace, call it the immutable light of the
polar star that makes the magnet point to
its own centre. A fragrance was wafted
from her to me as from Paradise, sweet
with the scent of immemorial days. There
was a light in her eyes as of the great
morning of the world that was about to
dawn...”
40
In Tokyo, the Mother stayed with
Dr. & Mrs. Okhawa for one year.
This is how Dr. Okhawa describes his
impressions of the Mother :

"A deep concentration seized on me, and I
perceived that I was identifying myself with a
single cherry-blossom, then through it with all
cherry-blossoms, and, as I descended deeper in
the consciousness, following a stream of bluish
force, I became suddenly the cherry-tree itself,
stretching towards the sky like so many arms its
innumerable branches laden with their sacrifice
of flowers. Then I heard distinctly this sentence:
….contd.
41
The Cherry-Tree Experience
The Mother had many interesting experiences in
Japan. In one of them she completely identified
herself with the consciousness of a cherry-tree:

..contd.
Thus hast thou made thyself one with the soul of the cherry-
trees and so thou canst take note that it is the Divine who
makes the offering of this flower-prayer to heaven.
42
When I had written it, all was effaced; but now the blood of the
cherry-tree flows in my veins and with it flows an incomparable
peace and force. What difference is there between the human
body and the body of a tree? In truth, there is none: the
consciousness which animates them is identically the same.
Then the cherry-tree
whispered in my ear : "It is
in the cherry-blossom that
lies the remedy for the
disorders of the spring."

1917, With
Rabindranath Tagore
in Japan.
The Mother’s mystic
aura, intense
Sincerity and spiritual
poise struck him at
once.
43

On April 24th, 1920 she reached Pondy for a second
time, this time permanently, and she was 42.
The Mother reached Pondicherry on April 24, 1920. She was
pursuing an intense Yoga and the Sadhana was going on in
the mental and vital planes. The result was even a physical
change in her appearance.
"...after a month's yoga I looked exactly eighteen. And
someone who had seen me before, who had lived with me in
Japan and came here, found it difficult to recognize me. He
asked me, `But really, is it you?' I said, `Obviously!'" 44

Until the Mother's final arrival, a few of Sri Aurobindo's
followers had lived with him as members of the household.
With the coming of the Mother, there were some gradual
changes and a collective life took shape. Physically things were
organised and regular collective meditations were started. Shri
Nolini Kanta Gupta, one of the oldest disciples said of the
Mother:
45
"The Mother taught by
her manner and speech,
and showed us in actual
practice, what was the
meaning of disciple and
master;... It was the
Mother who opened our
eyes..."

The Mother took charge of the management and
foundations of Sri Aurobindo Ashram were being laid.
46
1920- 1926
Sri Aurobindo continued his intense
sadhana. More and more disciples joined

Sri Aurobindo and The Mother announced the descent of
Overmental consciousness into Sri Aurobindo’s physical.
The Mother called it as the Victory day. It marked a great
leap in Sri Aurobindo’s yoga.
Sri Aurobindo Ashram, on this day, ushered its presence.
47
24th November, 1926

There were then 24 disciples on 24.11.1926. On that eventful
day, they gathered in the Verandah of Sri Aurobindo's room.
On the wall behind Sri Aurobindo's chair was a black silk
curtain showing three Chinese dragons. The tail of each
dragon reached up to the mouth of the other.
There was an old prophecy in China that Truth would manifest
on earth when the three dragons would meet: they symbolise
the regions of earth, mind and sky.
After a short meditation, Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, for
the first time, together blessed all the disciples. From that
day, Sri Aurobindo handed over the complete spiritual and
material charge of all the disciples to the Mother and
withdrew into seclusion to concentrate on his sadhana of the
Supermind. 48
24th November, 1926

From an unknown experiment
in one corner of India, the
Ashram now grew into a great
centre of yoga attracting
devotees and disciples from
all over the world.
The next few years at Ashram saw great changes. Number of
disciples increased and many new activities were started. This
is a sadhana which tries to bring down the spirit into matter. All
fields of human activity are accepted and the Mother took care
of the smallest details.
49

1ST Jan,1933 Mother gave her first New year’s message :
“Leaving the past far behind us, let us run towards a
luminous future”
2nd December, 1943 : The
Mother opened school with
about 20 children of
devotees and…
50

…in March 1945, she started
Physical Education Department.
Introduced what is known as
Physical Culture. Physical culture
is the process of infusing
consciousness into the cells of
the body.
Mother brought young and old
together in the play ground and
everybody did gymnastic drills
together.
51

Announcement of
partition of India was
made and the Mother
commented : “ In spite of
all, India has a single soul
and while we have to wait
till we can speak of an
India one and indivisible,
our cry must be : Let the
soul of India live for ever !
52
“ On 15th August, 1947, Mother hoisted the spiritual flag of
united India on the ashram building.

3rd and 4th Dec, 1950 there was
fluctuation in Sri Aurobindo’s
body temperature. At mid night
The Mother came into his room
and the two looked at each other
and the Divine communication,
beyond our comprehension must
have taken place. Mother again
went back to her room obviously
for some occult work and reason
we human beings can never
understand and came back to
Sri Aurobindo’s room.
53
It was about 1.20 am on 5th
December, they all saw a
quiet quiver in his body and
Sri Aurobindo had
withdrawn himself from his
physical body.

Sri Aurobindo once spoke to The Mother in
a very firm tone;
“ No, this can never be. If necessary for
this transformation, I must go, you will
have to fulfill our yoga of Supramental
descent and transformation”
54

In 1952, Sri Aurobindo
International Center for
Education was started.
55
The Ashram meanwhile
continued to grow and
The Mother was busy
from morning to night .

She took classes regularly,
opened exhibitions, wrote and
directed plays, played tennis,
attended sports competitions.
56
Between 1951 and 1958, the
Mother was actively engaged
in the activities of Ashram,
especially those of the
children.

In 1953, Mother resumed
playing the organ music,
something that she had
not done since the end of
the world war.
57
After the coming of children, Christmas
was celebrated every year on
25th December with gifts. The Mother
called this day as the day of the festival
of the return of the light.

In 1954 Pondicherry
merged politically with
India.
58
16th Jan, 1955,
Jawaharlal Nehru’s first
visit to the Ashram.
29th September 1955, receives at the Playground,
Jawaharlal Nehru accompanied by Kamaraj Nadar,
Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi.

29th Feb, 1956 - The Golden Day - Descent of Supramental
consciousness on earth was confirmed by The Mother.
"This evening the Divine Presence, concrete
and material, was there present amongst
you. I had a form of living gold, bigger than
the universe, and I was facing a huge and
massive golden door which separated the
world from the Divine. As I looked at the
door, I knew and willed, in a single
movement of consciousness, that `the time
has come', and lifting with both hands a
mighty golden hammer I struck one blow,
one single blow on the door and the door
was shattered to pieces. Then the
supramental Light and Force and
Consciousness rushed down upon earth in
an uninterrupted flow."
59

1960
The Mother started Sri Aurobindo Society
on 19th Sep, 1960. She was not only the
founder and the Executive President but
also remains its guiding force.
60
The Ashram had now
nearly fifteen hundred
inmates. With the number
of devotees increasing all
over the world.

After March 1962,
the Mother retired to her
second floor apartment
and never came down.
From 1963 she gave
balcony darshan four
days a year and this
continued till the end.
61

In 1964 the Mother launched the project of Auroville , the city of
human unity, "the City of Dawn" named after Sri Aurobindo. A
city that began for about 50,000 inhabitants, is hailed by people
from all over the world. In 1968 the foundation stone of Auroville
was laid and the Mother read out the charter herself.
62

To bring about this
transformation first in herself,
the Mother was working on her
physical consciousness and the
cells of the body.
63
In a conversation on 30th March, 1972 she said :
“ for 58 years I have been working …for the body to be as
transparent and as immaterial as possible, in other
words, not to be an obstruction to the force
that is coming down.”

Do not take my words for a teaching.
Always they are a force in action, uttered
with a definite purpose, and they lose their
true power when separated from that
purpose. -The Mother
His grace is always with those
who want to progress and
realise the truth of tomorrow.
-The Mother
64

Mother gave her last terrace Darshan on 15th August, 1973.
A shower begins before she appears on the Terrace.
65

66
She was ninety-five. Nolini Kanta Gupta, a senior trustee of the
Ashram made the following declaration: Mother once told me –
`If ever I leave my body, my consciousness will remain with you.'
Mother is present amongst us and Her work continues.
In 1973 on 17th
November, after a
brief illness, the
Mother left her
physical body at
7.25 pm

67
67
The Last Journey
The Mother’s body is placed in the Samadhi in
the Ashram courtyard, in a vault above Sri
Aurobindo’s, at 8.20 am.

68
68
The Mother is the divine
Conscious Force that
dominates all existence, one
and yet so many- sided that
to follow her movement is
impossible even for the
quickest mind and for the
most vast intelligence.
Dr. Ajit Sabnis

Homage to Sri Maa

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Homage to Sri Maa