History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c99.197

v7.c99.197

Aurobindo, vide (Vedic Interpretation), a of 'Hymns to the Mystic fire' 985, a of 'On the Veda' (published in 1956) dealing with over 60 hymns and 283 pages are devoted to the elaboration of his theory that behind the ritual explanations there is always the true and still hidden secret of the Veda, 986, a of 'The problem of rebirth', 1605, does not compare the several hundred passages in which the word *ṛta* occurs and translates *ṛta* as truth and 'truth consciousness' and 'ṛta-cit' also in the same way 986, his theory that many whole hymns of the Veda bear on their face a mystic meaning and that the ṛṣis for the sake of secrecy resorted to double meanings, criticized 986-89, 991, he concedes that there are some keywords in the Ṛgveda such as *ṛtṇ*, kratu, śravas, ketu (most of which occur hundreds of times) and that elaborate work would have to be done to fix their meanings, but he does not himself undertake that task and fixes the meaning of *ṛta* from three passages only 988, A and his disciple Kapali Sastry differ about the poetic character of the mantras 987n, makes a very wide generalization with very little basis 991; A's translation of 'ṛtacit' is shown to be wrong 988-89, explanation why Shri Aurobindo (who is called Mahāyogi by his disciples and admirers) was not mentioned in dealing with Yoga and Dharmaśāstra, 1462-63, faults that he finds with the old systems of Yoga stated and criticized 1465-66, his sādhānā was not founded on books, but upon personal experiences that crowded upon him and he constantly heard the voice of Vivekānanda for a fortnight in the jail 1465, life of A written by Shri R. R. Diwakar (wherein he speaks of him as 'Mahāyogi') published in 1953, 1466n, life of A by G. H. Langley (1949), 1466n, lived as a recluse from 1926 to his passing away on 5th December 1950 and gave *darśana* to people only on four days in the year, 1463 and n, long statement on 15th August 1947 (Independence day) in which he referred to the several dreams of his youth which he thought were on their way to fruition 1463-64, recent work 'Integral Philosophy of Aurobindo' containing 30 papers by Indian and Western scholars (1960), 1467; A sets his heart on the unity of the human race to be achieved by inner oneness and purpose and not by an external association of interests, but his own efforts (in that direction, except by writings) are not discernible 1464-65; writings of, are many and voluminous, his magnum opus being 'Life divine', which is not easy to understand for men of ordinary intelligence 1466-67.