Nolini: Sri Aurobindo's unparalleled friend-son-disciple

To Sri Manoj Das Gupta

Lovingly and gratefully I dedicate my Nolini: Sri Aurobindo's Unparalleled Friend-Son-Disciple to Manoj, whom Nolini-da himself chose to be his blessingful and soulful successor. May Sri Aurobindo and the Mother sempiternally continue to shower their fond affection and choice blessings upon the beautiful aspiration-heart and powerful dedication-life of Manoj.

Lotus-name

Beloved Nolini-da,
My heartbeat breathlessly repeats
Your lotus-name
With climbing gratitude-flames.

Your life

Your soul-life was written
By Sri Aurobindo's Vision.
Your heart-life was produced
By Sri Aurobindo's Compassion.
Your mind-life was directed
By Sri Aurobindo's Illumination.

Never too young and never too old

Your heart was never too young
To unlearn.
Your mind was never too old
To learn.

Diamond-enthusiasm

Athletics,
What was it in your life?
A sparkling diamond-enthusiasm.

Permanent address

Since the beginning of creation
Sri Aurobindo's Fondness-Soul
Has been your permanent Address.

The same language

The Divinity of Sri Aurobindo's
Compassion-Heart
And the beauty of your
Aspiration-eyes
Spoke the same language.

The most favourite runner

Along Eternity's Road,
The most favourite runner
Of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother
You were and you still are.

Adorer and defender

You were at once
A sea-vast adorer
Of the Mother
And a mountain-high defender
Of the Mother.

Liberation-delight

Detachment-light is liberation-delight.
This is what your budding fellow travellers
Learned from you.

To a child

To a child, your name:
A tenderness-treasure-heart.
To a mature human being, your name:
A singleness-volcano-mind.

A veteran of Father-Heaven

Even while you were
An unmistakable child of Mother Earth,
You were a memorable veteran of Father Heaven.

Will adamantine

The roller-coaster path
Of human life
You never denied.
Again, this path
Never dared to challenge
Your will adamantine.

Silence-freedom

Every morning,
While entering into your sanctum sanctorum
To do my humble service,
My heart saluted
The unfathomable silence-freedom
Of your sea-deep eyes.

Divinity's secret heart

Those who were afraid
Of their own inner depths
Were not allowed to stand
At the open door
Of your own divinity's secret heart.

Vastness-mind

Thousands upon thousands
Who admired the world literature
In your vastness-mind
Discovered the right road
To the high happiness.

The mind-begotten son

No wonder Barin-da [Barindra Kumar Ghose],
Sri Aurobindo's younger brother,
Wrote to the late Yogesh Chandra Bishwas
Of Chittagong
Many years ago that you were
The mind-begotten son of Sri Aurobindo.

Tagore appreciates

Our history teacher,
The late Sisir Kumar Mitra,
On being asked,
Told me that Tagore himself
Had told him at Shanti Niketan:
"Nolini Kanta's contribution
To Bengali literature
Is unique."

A divine warrior

During our marathon interview,
The great French savant Paul Richard
Said to me:
"I see Nolini
More as a divine warrior
Than as a great thinker.
He is my brother's [Sri Aurobindo's]
Earthly shield and Heavenly sword.
His mind is illumined,
His life is liberated.
I admire Nolini."

Inspiration-smiles

Measured were your words.
Unmeasured were your ideas.
Unmeasurable were your heart-beauty's
Aspiration-cries,
And supremely fruitful
Were your mind-profundity's
Inspiration-smiles.

Nolini Kanta Gupta's introduction to Chinmoy's book

Nolini Kanta Gupta wrote the following introduction to Chinmoy's book, The Mother of the Golden All:

A child of the Mother
is always a child unto the last —
even unto the last achievement
and fulfilment.

26 July 1958