M. P. Pandit

M. P. Pandit (14 June 1918 – 14 March 1993) was a spiritual author, teacher and Sanskrit scholar.

For several decades, he was a secretary of the Mother (Mirra Alfassa) of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram.

He wrote numerous books and articles on the yoga of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, on social and political thought, science, philosophy, religion, mysticism, and the classical texts and spiritual traditions of India.

Madhav P. Pandit was born in Sirsi, a small town in Karnataka.

His family belonged to the community of the Gowd Saraswats which had migrated from Kashmir to various parts of India.

His father was a wealthy and reputed lawyer who engaged himself in manifold social activities.

When he was still a small child, his mother started taking him every day in the early morning to a temple where he spent his time in devotion and contemplation, which prepared and influenced his later spiritual path.

Therefore, he sent him to the best schools and additionally arranged for private tutoring in English, Sanskrit, mathematics and sciences.

After his immatriculation Pandit continued his studies at Karnatak College in Dharwar.

[2] Sundarrao, one of Pandit's brothers, was in close touch with Ganapati Muni, a well-known disciple of Ramana Maharshi, who was an eminent Sanskrit scholar and poet.

Sastry was a great scholar of the Vedas and Tantras and taught Sanskrit at a school in Madras.

He passed on his manifold knowledge to Pandit, giving him advice and support during his education and on his spiritual path.

[3] One day, while spending some time in the library of his brother, Pandit by chance discovered an article on Sri Aurobindo and felt spontaneously attracted towards the name and the photo of the freedom fighter and yogi.

Subsequently, he started a regular correspondence with Kapali Sastry in Pondicherry and developed increasing interest in spiritual literature.

In April 1937 for the first time he travelled to Pondicherry where Kapali Sastry arranged for his meeting with the Mother, which touched him deeply.

However, following the advice of his brother, and encouraged by the Mother, he first went to Bombay in order to complete his academic studies with a bachelor's degree in economics.

Thereafter, he was free to move to Pondicherry and became a member of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in 1939, at the age of 21.

[4] Having joined the Ashram, Pandit concentrated intensively on integral yoga and the work given to him.

Over time, he developed his literary capacities, translating works of Kapali Sastry from Sanskrit and writing many books on philosophy, yoga, the teachings of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother or on Mantra, Tantra, Veda and the Upanishads.

In his small books How do I begin and How do I proceed he presented some concrete hints for the practice of integral yoga.

[5] After the Mother had left her body on 17 November 1973, he continued his activities as before, writing his correspondents that her presence and love persisted.

In 1976, he started undertaking foreign travel in order to spread Sri Aurobindo's message abroad.

Several times he went to the U.S. and to Europe, gave lectures and interviews or organized seminars and conferences.

He regularly informed his readers about his manifold experiences in his Service Letter.

However, he declined to be regarded as a "Guru" and once said in an interview in Florida that this whole ideal was old fashioned now and not any more appropriate.

The knowledge that was kept secret formerly, was today freely available, he said, and everyone would be in a position to run his own life and think for himself.

When the next day his body was kept for public's view at his residence, many friends and admirers came to pay homage to him.

[7][8] Source:[9] Unless otherwise mentioned, all titles given below are from DIPTI Publications, Sri Aurobindo Ashram.

Sri Aurobindo and His Yoga (USA: Lotus Light Publications) 1987.

Upanishads: Gateways of Knowledge (USA: Lotus Light Publications) 1988.