Sri Aurobindo: The Quest for Immortality

WHEN THE UPANISHADS say, “ Mrityormāamritam Gamaya” (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad)—from Death to Immortality—what do they mean? Is physical immortality being referred to? Death is an enduring, unfathomable mystery. How to overcome it has been our perennial obsession. Something that every religion, going by historical evidence, has tried to offer an antidote to or escape from.

It is in this context that November 24, 1926 acquires a special significance. November 24 is an important day in the calendar of Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Puducherry. Naturally, it is considered sacred and auspicious for hundreds of thousands of Sri Aurobindo’s followers and devotees the world over.

It is one of the four “Darshan Days” or days of Divine presence considered most auspicious in the Ashram calendar. Of the other three “Darshan Days,” two are the birthdays of Sri Aurobindo on August 15 and that of his spiritual partner, Mirra Alfassa, better known as the Mother, on February 21. April 24 was added later to commemorate the latter’s final arrival to Pondicherry in 1920 after the end of the Great War.

But November 24 marked the turning point in the life of the fledgling Ashram community in 1926 when the extraordinary events and experiences associated with it occurred. In fact, it was after this day that Sri Aurobindo withdrew from external activities and ordinary life, becoming almost totally withdrawn from the world until he passed away on December 5, 1950.

What exactly transpired on this day and why is it so momentous? Let me say, right at the outset, that the word exactly in the above question is somewhat misplaced. How can we tell what exactly happened at any given time, especially in matters of great spiritual import? We can only describe them approximately, referring to historical and, if the event is not too far back in time, personal records. But these, necessarily, are by individuals with their own and often differing points of view.

With that caveat, let us proceed.

November 24 came to be known as “Siddhi Day”, “Victory Day”, or even as “Immortality Day”, all grand titles, indicative of its exceptional significance and consequence. The official website of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, under the heading “Important Dates in the Ashram”, describes it thus: “Shortly after the Siddhi day in November 1926, Sri Aurobindo retired from daily contact with his disciples and placed the Mother in charge of their care. Thereafter he saw them only a few times a year on what came to be known as Darshan days. The Sanskrit word ‘Darshan’ means ‘seeing’ and refers, in this context, to seeing Sri Aurobindo and the Mother and to receive their blessings.”

But it does not elaborate what happened on that day and why it came to be referred to as “Siddhi Day”. The Sri Aurobindo Society, founded by the Mother in 1960, has this somewhat cryptic pronouncement: “24 Nov 1926: Siddhi Day or the Day of Victory. Sri Aurobindo experienced the descent of Krishna Consciousness. He said, ‘The descent of Krishna would mean the descent of the Overmind Godhead preparing, though not itself actually bringing, the descent of Supermind and Ananda’”.

What does the above evocation actually mean? There are some technical aspects to it which only Aurobindonian experts will dare to unpack with any degree of authority. But we might notice that the statement contains both an affirmation and a denial—the descent of Krishna into Sri Aurobindo’s body as a physical manifestation, but not yet that of the Supramental consciousness characterised by Ananda. What does the descent of Krishna into the physical mean and how does that fall short of Supramentalisation? These questions are too esoteric to be tackled head on, at least immediately. Perhaps, we might take them up at a later occasion.

But let us turn to a few other accounts. The Delhi Branch of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram is more forthcoming in this regard: “November 24 is a very significant day, especially for the devotees of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, as it marks the anniversary of the Siddhi Day— ‘The Day of Victory’—the descent of the Sri Krishna Consciousness or the Overmental Consciousness into the physical, which took place in the year 1926”.

Quoting from Sri Aurobindo himself, this is how it goes on to explain “the descent of Krishna into the physical”: “the Divine [Krishna or the Divine Presence or whatever you like] had come down into the material. It was also proclaimed that I was retiring—obviously to work things out.”

This latter fact is noteworthy in its own right because some even consider it the day of the foundation of Sri Aurobindo Ashram, with 24 uniquely chosen and unofficially ordained apostles present. However we might wish to date its start, what is clear is that it was after this date that the Mother assumed complete charge. She became recognised as conjoint force and power of both masters as also the community’s only active and engaged leader.

When the disciple asks, “Some say November 24th is a day of victory. By that some mean that the Supermind [supramental consciousness] descended into the physical consciousness of Sri Aurobindo. Others say it was the coming down of Krishna into the physical consciousness. If it was the descent of Krishna, does that mean the descent of the supramental light?”

Sri Aurobindo: “Krishna is not the supramental light. The descent of Krishna would mean the descent of the Overmind Godhead preparing, though not itself actually bringing, the descent of Supermind and Ananda. Krishna is the Anandamaya, he supports the evolution through the Overmind leading it towards his Ananda.” If Supramentalisation is nothing short of total transformation and the promised fulfilment of “The Life Divine” on earth, then the descent of Krishna into the physical marks a very important and necessary step in the evolutionary march of humanity. For, in Sri Aurobindo’s yoga, whatever he attained became instantly possible, available, and attainable to all humankind.

For the most intense, even dramatic, account by an eyewitness, we must turn to AB Purani, one of Sri Aurobindo’s foremost chroniclers and closest disciples: “From the beginning of November 1926 the pressure of the Higher Power began to be unbearable. Then at last the great day, the day for which the Mother had been waiting for so many long years, arrived on 24th November. The sun had almost set, and everyone was occupied with his own activity—some had gone out to the seaside for a walk— when the Mother sent word to all the disciples to assemble as soon as possible in the verandah where the usual meditation was held. It did not take long for the message to go round to all. By six o’clock most of the disciples had gathered.”

When the summoned disciples arrived, an expectant hush swept over them. As they gather in the veranda, near Sri Aurobindo’s room, Purani continues: “There was a deep silence in the atmosphere after the disciples had gathered there. Many saw an oceanic flood of Light noshing down from above. Everyone present felt a kind of pressure above his head. The whole atmosphere was surcharged with some electrical energy. In that silence, in that atmosphere full of concentrated expectation and aspiration, in the electrically charged atmosphere, the usual, yet on this day quite unusual, tick was heard behind the door of the entrance. Expectation rose in a flood. Sri Aurobindo and the Mother could be seen through the half-opened door. The Mother with a gesture of her eyes requested Sri Aurobindo to step out first. Sri Aurobindo with a similar gesture suggested to her to do the same. With a slow dignified step the Mother came out first, followed by Sri Aurobindo with his majestic gait.”

As the masters took their seats, with the Mother sitting to Sri Aurobindo’s right on a small stool, “silence absolute, living silence, not merely living but overflowing with divinity” engulfed them. After the 45-minute meditation, the disciples bowed before the Mother one by one, with Sri Aurobindo’s right hand raised behind the Mother’s in a joint blessing.

After the solemn silence overflowing with grace, one of the fortunate 24 present made an astonishing declaration. Originally Dorothy Hodgson, her given name was Vasavadatta, shortened to Datta, An English-Irish lady, she had followed the Mother and her former husband, Paul Richard, on Kamo Maru to Yokohama, Japan, in May 1916. In 1920, she accompanied the Mother to Pondicherry.

After Sri Aurobindo and the Mother retreated, she stepped forward as if inspired and exclaimed, “The Lord has descended into the physical today.” This is how the “Immortality Day” seed was sown.

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