The Mother

Notes on the texts

Part One: The Mother by Sri Aurobindo

The Mother consists of six chapters or sections. The first section, written in 1927, was published as a Darshan message on 21 February of that year. The second, third, fourth and fifth sections were written separately as letters to disciples. The sixth section, which includes the descriptions of the four aspects of the Mother, was, like the first, "written independently and not as a letter". These six sections were first published together as a book in 1928. Since then the book has gone through numerous editions. The present text is taken from the 1999 edition.

Part Two: The Mother's Comments of 1951

The Mother commented on Chapter 3 of The Mother on 30 January 1951 and on the other five chapters during the six-week period from 26 April to 5 May. Her comments were made in French and appear here in English translation. The text of her comments on Chapter 3 is taken from Words of the Mother [III], pages 337-46, published in 1980 as Volume 15 of the Collected Works of the Mother. The text of her comments on the other chapters is taken from Questions and Answers 1950-51, pages 357-405, published in 1977 as Volume 4 of the Collected Works of the Mother.

The Mother commented a second time on the six chapters of The Mother during the seven-week period from 7 July to 25 August. Her comments were made in French and appear here in English translation. The text of these comments is taken from Questions and Answers 1954, pages 203-304, published in 1979 as Volume 6 of the Collected Works of the Mother.