Madhav P. Pandit

Madhav P. Pandit (born June 14, 1918 in Sirsi, † March 14, 1993 in Madras ) was a spiritual writer, teacher and Sanskrit scholar. For several decades he was a secretary to the mother ( Mirra Alfassa ) of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram . In his numerous books he explained in particular topics of integral yoga , but wrote a.o. a. also many titles on the Vedas , Upanishads and Tantra .

Birth and origin

Madhav P. Pandit was born in Sirsi, a small town in Karnataka . His family belonged to the Gowd Saraswats community, which originally lived in Kashmir , but emigrated to other parts of India for various reasons . His father was a wealthy, respected lawyer who was socially engaged in a variety of ways.

childhood and education

Pandit grew up in a very religious Hindu family. Even when he was a small child, his mother took him to a temple early in the morning every day, where he spent some time in adoration and contemplation, which prepared and shaped his later spiritual path. Some traditional customs such as pranām, the deep bowing as a sign of worshiping the deity or the guru , were to be retained later.

Pandit's father wanted him to succeed him as a lawyer, in line with family tradition. So he sent him to the best schools and also arranged private lessons for him in English, Sanskrit, math and science. After graduating from university, Pandit continued his studies at Karnatak College in Dharwar .

Spiritual contacts

Sundarrao, one of Pandit's brothers, was in close contact with Vasishtha Ganapati Muni, a well-known disciple of Ramana Maharshi who was an eminent Sanskrit scholar and poet. Pandit got to know him at a young age, as did his student Kapali Sastry, who was to become Pandit's tutor. He was an eminent Veda scholar and Tantra expert and taught Sanskrit at a school in Madras. He later became a disciple of Sri Aurobindo and the mother and joined the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, where he translated some important texts of Sri Aurobindo into Sanskrit and the South Indian languages Tamil and Telugu . He passed on his diverse knowledge to Pandit and accompanied him during his training and later on his yoga path with advice and support.

The way to the Sri Aurobindo Ashram

One day, Pandit accidentally discovered an article about Sri Aurobindo in the library of Sundarrao and felt spontaneously drawn to the name and photo of the freedom fighter and yogi. In the following years he corresponded a lot with Kapali Sastry in Pondicherry and became increasingly interested in spiritual literature, read a.o. a. the works of Swami Vivekananda and books on Ramakrishna . But more and more he turned to Sri Aurobindo and his works.

In April 1937 he traveled to Pondicherry for the first time, where Kapali Sastry arranged for him to meet his mother, who touched him deeply. However, on the advice of his brother and encouraged by his mother, he first went to Bombay, where he completed his academic studies with a bachelor's degree in economics. The way to the ashram was clear for him and he joined him in 1939 at the age of 21.

Ashram life and lecture tours

In the Ashram, Pandit devoted himself intensively to the integral yoga path and the tasks that were assigned to it. Over the years he steadily developed his literary skills. He translated works by Kapali Sastry from Sanskrit and wrote countless books on philosophy, yoga, the teachings of Sri Aurobindo and the mother, or on mantra, tantra, Veda and the Upanishads. He always tried to use language that was easy to understand in order to reach as many readers as possible from all walks of life. In his book title Mother and I , he later reported on his constant personal encounters with his mother as her secretary and the many topics he discussed with her. In the booklet How do I begin and How do I proceed (Eng. Edition The Practice of Integral Yoga ), he explained his ideas of Sri Aurobindo's yoga and his mother with specific information.

When the mother left her body on November 17, 1973, he continued on his way, writing to his correspondents that her presence and love continued. From 1976 he went abroad to carry Sri Aurobindo's message to distant countries. He toured the United States and Europe several times, giving lectures, organizing seminars and conferences and giving interviews. He wrote regularly about his diverse experiences in his Service Letter . In all of this, however, he refused to be called a "guru" and once said in an interview in Florida that the old ideal has outlived itself and is no longer appropriate. Today the previously secret knowledge is freely available to everyone and everyone has the opportunity to direct their own spiritual life and take it into their own hands.

After a serious illness, Pandit died on March 14, 1993 in a clinic in Madras. When his body was laid out a day later in his home in Pondicherry, countless admirers came to bid him farewell.

literature

Works in German

Books

• Introduction to Savitri (2004), Karlsruhe, edition sawitri
• The practice of integral yoga (2008), Auroville, Prisma (distribution: edition sawitri)
• Mother and Me (2010), Auroville, Prisma (distribution: edition sawitri)

E-books

• The practice of integral yoga (2014), Auro Media Verlag
• Immortal Rose (2014), Auro Media Verlag
• The call and grace (2016), Auro Media Verlag
• Mother and I (2018), Auro Media Verlag
• Yoga in Savitri (2018), Auro Media Verlag

Secondary literature

• P. Raja (1993), MP Pandit, A Peep into his Past . Pondicherry, Dipti Publications
• S. Ranade (1997) Madhav Panditji . Pondicherry, Dipti Publications

Individual evidence

1. ↑ P. Raja (1993), pp. 7-11
2. ↑ P. Raja (1993), pp. 12-13; 27
3. ↑ P. Raja (1993), pp. 20-26
4. ↑ P. Raja (1993), pp. 27-42
5. ↑ P. Raja (1993), pp. 56-60
6. ↑ P. Raja (1993), p. 62
7. ↑ P. Raja (1993), p. 65
8. ^ P. Raja, Homage