Memories of First Darshan

Meeting Sri Aurobindo

Q: Dikshit-bhai, in which year did you come here first and how did you come in contact with Sri Aurobindo and the Mother?

I came here in 1920. At that time I saw Sri Aurobindo and the Mother.

[Later, Dikshit-bhai added a written note to the answer.]

We met Sri Aurobindo in the upstairs verandah of the Guest House. Sri Aurobindo came out from the western door of the room near the terrace. He came out at the given time to see us. He was dressed in a dhoti, part of which was used as a scarf to cover the upper body. We offered pranam at his feet. After pranam, he sat down on a chair. There was a table near the chair and he sat down facing south. I sat on his right, Punamchand in the front and Champaben on the left. After we were seated, he signed to me to ask what I wanted. I asked him three things. The first — I wanted to see the [Divine] Mother. He asked me, "What do you do?" I replied, "I try to remember Her. When I forget Her, I try to remember Her again." He said, "The Mother is above the head. Offer all your actions to Her." The second thing I said was, "I love knowledge." He told me, "There are two ways of acquiring knowledge. One is by the laborious method of studying books. The result is poor and uncertain. The second is to open oneself to the higher consciousness and receive the knowledge from there." The third thing I said was that I love education. He spoke for some time on education. What he said was pleasant and agreeable and I was lost in the joy of listening. Later, I remembered the substance of what he said and made some notes, covering about 16 points. They were shown to Sri Aurobindo. Sri Aurobindo showed them to the Mother. Both approved of them.

- Kesari Nanalal Dikshit

(The Golden Chain, May 2004, p. 27)