Date: October 11, 2025
Venue: Sri Aurobindo Pathamandir, Kolkata
Recording will be available soon.
Dr. Beloo Mehra was invited by Sri Aurobindo Pathamandir, Kolkata to deliver a talk on October 11, 2025. Inaugurated on 15 August, 1941 at the same location, Sri Aurobindo Pathamandir was the first public institute of its kind outside Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry, entirely devoted to the study, practice and dissemination of Sri Aurobindo’s and The Mother’s ideals and teachings.
The evening session opened with a brief welcome address by the secretary of Sri Aurobindo Pathamandir. The speaker introduction was given by Shri Subrata Sen, a lifelong devotee with deep association with various organisations related to Sri Aurobindo in West Bengal, particularly working in the field of education.
Dr. Mehra began her talk by reciting a stanza from Sri Aurobindo’s Hymn to Durga:
Mother Durga! Extend wide the power of Yoga. We are thy Aryan children, develop in us again the lost teaching, character, strength of intelligence, faith and devotion, force of austerity, power of chastity and true knowledge, bestow all that upon the world. To help mankind, appear, O Mother of the world, dispel all ills.
In these lines we get a remarkable insight into who is an Aryan, said Dr. Mehra. An Aryan is one who walks the noble path of light and right, the path of the gods spoken in the Veda, rtasya pantha; he ploughs the inner soil, his inner being, to seek that hidden light which will be his guide; he is committed to pursuing a life of high self-culture and high aspiration; he is keen to grow in wisdom and strength, a perfect synthesis of brahm-tej and kshatra-tej.
Dr. Mehra went on to highlight that Sri Aurobindo has listed some key signs of Aryan character which include: liberality, love, courage, energy, and modesty. He has also spoken of aims of Aryan living which include: to spread the light of knowledge among people, to hold before humanity the impeccable ideal of elevated, liberal characters, to protect the weak, and to punish the powerful tyrants.
Building upon some of the key passages from a couple of Bengali writings of Sri Aurobindo from his active revolutionary days, Dr. Mehra said that he never hesitated to point out that the decline and decay had set in long before the Europeans had set foot on Indian soil. And that in many ways, the situation had come to such a point that within a few decades the British could bring under their control what the Islamic conquerors could not do in hundreds of years! He attributed this to the eclipse of Aryan dharma in the Indian collective psyche, which was the result of a predominance of tamasic ignorance and a somewhat disorganised rajasic impulse.
Dr. Mehra pointed out that Sri Aurobindo presents a remarkable analysis of the various fundamental shifts that had taken place in the collective Indian psyche. The real thirst for Self-knowledge and God-knowledge was replaced by scholarly learning of the shastras; spiritual realisation and yogic power were mostly replaced by tamasic religious worship and observance of rajasic ceremonies for worldly goals. The true spirit of the chaturvarna disappeared, and in its place outward customs and conduct became more important.
After a brief summary of Sri Aurobindo’s analysis, Dr. Mehra suggested that a real hard look around us and within us will reveal the contemporary relevance of this 1909 writing. She gave a few examples to illustrate how in the absence of a true sattwic illumintaiton the current wave of Bharatiya resurgence can quickly exhaust itself as it is predominantly driven by a rajasic impulse which speaks of revivalism of forms in grander displays.
Dr. Mehra emphasised that as the new India continues to rise — economically, technologically, socially, there is a great necessity for a corresponding inner, spiritual growth; a progress in consciousness must accompany the outer material progress if India has to truly develop according to her svabhāva, her inner genius. Growing in sattwa, cultivating a sattwic temperament — which is founded on purity of mind, vital and action, is an important step in the growth of consciousness and recovering the Aryan spirit.
Another remarkable insight from Sri Aurobindo that Dr. Mehra pointed out was that unless our national consciousness is steeped in patriotism it cannot blossom, and Adoration of the Mother must be the foundation of that patriotism. This adoration of the Divine Mother requires that we invoke her Powers of Maheshwari, Mahakali, Mahalakshmi and Mahasaraswati and must grow in Wisdom, Strength, Love & Harmony, and Perfection in Action.
We must cultivate within the tej, the light of the Brahmin who pursues True Knowledge; we must grow in courage and strength of the Kshatriya who fights for truth and dharma; we must acquire the Vaishya’s power of generating mutuality and abundance — all of which are essential for a wider spread of joy, harmony, love and beauty; and in the perfect Shudra spirit we must employ all our capacity and will to execute with detailed perfection all work that comes to us, and do it in a non-attached manner.
Dr. Mehra then pointed out that India’s rise is always for the humanity, and in Bhawani Mandir Sri Aurobindo had clearly spelled out India’s work. It is India “who must send forth from herself the future religion of the entire world, the Eternal religion which is to harmonise all religion, science and philosophies and make mankind one soul…. it is her [India’s] mission to purge barbarism (mlecchahood) out of humanity and to aryanise the world. In order to do this, she must first re-aryanise herself.”
To re-arayanise ourselves requires immense and intense tapasyā. With Adoration of the Mother as the foundation for our patriotism, we must invoke guiding lights on the path — these are the twelve attributes or the twelve soul-values which we see in the Mother’s symbol, said Dr. Mehra.
Sri Aurobindo speaks of these twelve qualities as necessary for the full manifestation of the Mother’s Work. Cultivating these twelve qualities is essential if we aspire to be a true Aryan, a true patriot working for a true renaissance of our nation. Each of them can be an important aid for our reflection on our inner progress, which when converted into sustained outer action and progress can lead to a rejuvenation in the collective life.
Dr. Mehra then focused on three qualities – Sincerity, Courage and Goodness – to illustrate how with aspiration, honest effort, vigilance, and Divine Grace one can gradually and progressively cultivate these soul-values and walk the path of an Aryan. She concluded with the Mother’s reminder that the number one problem for India is to rediscover and manifest her soul, which is possible only when we Indians become conscious of our psychic being and cultivate the soul-qualities to sincerely and selflessly serve our beloved motherland. To close the session, Dr. Mehra read out two more stanzas from Sri Aurobindo’s Hymn to Durga which speak of a soul’s prayer for the true resurgence of the noble Aryan dharma and spirit.
Click HERE to watch the recording of Dr. Beloo Mehra’s January 2025 talk at Sri Aurobindo Pathamandir titled Sri Aurobindo and True Fulfilment of Sanatana Dharma.