Mantra in Music by Sunil

Introduction

The Mother used to play on the organ. In the fifties of the twentieth century She would often play on Sundays in the afternoon. She also played at midnight on every New Year's Eve. About Her music Sri Aurobindo says:

"The Mother's music has often been recognised by X as Indian of this or that rāga. The Mother plays whatever come through her — she does not usually play any precisely composed music whether European or Indian — the latter in fact she has never learnt."

Sri Aurobindo, The Mother with Letters on The Mother: The Mother's Music

Sunil Bhattacharya joined the Ashram in 1942. He was proficient in music and particularly in playing the sitar. He composed music for the annual cultural programmes of the Ashram school held on the 1st December every year.

In 1959, the Mother asked Sunil to orchestrate Her New Year Music. In 1965, She entrusted him with both the composition and the orchestration of the New Year Music. Later she would give him the theme in advance, usually on his birthday,

In 1966, She asked him to compose the musical accompaniment for Her readings of Sri Aurobindo's Savitri. He continued to compose music for Savitri and for the New Year till his passing in 1998.

In his compositions for Savitri and for the New Year, Sunil incorporated chantings of mantras from the Vedas, the Upanishads and various Stavas and Stotras, invoking the diverse Godheads of India. To him the Mother and Sri Aurobindo were the Supreme as well as all the Goddesses and Gods of Indian mythology. As a result, we often find him replacing the names of the different deities mentioned in the originals with the names of the Mother or Sri Aurobindo. He seems to have realised the essence of the Mantra:

गुरुर्ब्रह्मा गुरुर्विष्णुः गुरुर्देवो महेश्वरः।
गुरुः साक्षात् परं ब्रह्म तस्मै श्रीगुरवे नमः॥

Gururbrahmā gururviṣṇuḥ gururdevo maheswaraḥ
Guruḥ sākṣāt param Brahma tasmai śrīgurave namaḥ.

which means "Guru is Brahma, Guru is Vishnu, Guru is the Lord Maheswara, Guru is the Supreme Brahman Himself. Salutations to Him, the Guru." Apart from these, he might have also used verses which he composed himself.

Many devotees of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo have been playing Sunil's music during their meditation at home or at the different centres. A need was felt for the collection of the texts of the mantras with their meanings and references for a better understanding of the mantras.

This is the genesis of the present compilation.

Unfortunately, Sunil does not seem to have noted down the references of the mantras used. Nor is it evident which of the mantras he had composed himself. At places a word or two of the mantras could not be caught in the recording; also, references of some of the mantras could not be traced.

Although the work is not fully complete, for the present it was thought best to publish the mantras along with the English transliteration and translation providing as many references as could be found. Short prayers which occur repeatedly are given once only. The Mother's New Year Messages till 1973 and the lines used in the later years as prayers in English and French have also been included in this compilation.