Amrita's Correspondence with The Mother

Notes on the Texts

Series One —Amrita. Originally named Aravamudachari Ayengar, Amrita was one of the first Tamil disciples of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. His correspondence covers the period from 1919 to 1955. The basis of the correspondence are his reports to the Mother and her comments on them. Most of these reports and comments are in English, but a considerable number are in French and appear here in English translation. The correspondence is being published here for the first time.

What follows is background information about Amrita which should help the reader to understand and appreciate the correspondence.

Amrita began living in Sri Aurobindo’s small community of disciples after finishing his schooling in 1919. When the Sri Aurobindo Ashram was formed in November 1926, the Mother appointed him as its general manager, a position he held for the rest of his life. In his capacity as manager, Amrita met with the Mother daily, but he also sent her various notebooks in which he reported his daily activities and indicated any problems. The Mother read these notebooks and sometimes made written comments in their margins and empty spaces. Amrita’s reports and the Mother’s comments on them form the basis of his correspondence.

In every respect this is a “work” correspondence; there is very little spiritual instruction or guidance. Rather, the correspondence shows how the Mother guided an earnest young disciple in helping to run the Ashram.

As the Ashram manager, Amrita had a large range of responsibilities. Among them were: the maintenance of the Ashram dairy and the purchase of additional milk; the safekeeping of money for Ashram members and visitors; the accommodation of visitors; the rental and purchase of houses for the Ashram; arrangement for the repair of newly acquired properties; maintenance of the accounts of paid workers (wages, absences, leaves, bonuses, etc.); the settlement of disputes involving paid workers; the recruitment of new paid workers; the placement of orders with local merchants; the handling of parcels at the railway station; the purchase of stamps and the collection of letters and money orders at the town’s two post offices, French and British; and the payment of New Year tips to postal workers, railway clerks and others. In general Amrita was the Mother’s principal liaison in dealing with government officials, houseowners, landowners, lawyers and the town’s notary; he regularly represented her in negotiations with local officials and members of the town. In executing his myriad activities, Amrita routinely consulted the Mother and did her bidding.