The Light of Supreme

The Light of Supreme

This article was written to celebrate the birth centenary of Amal-kiran (KD Sethna) who is now 104 with a glowing personality as if some wise God of ancient Greece took birth to offer himself to Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. A versatile genius he may be—and he is—but what is most appealing to us about him is his soul given to the pursuit of things of the spirit, pursuit with an intuitivised intellect and with the psychic not only in his heart but also bold and bright on the face. There is much yet we have to appreciate about him, much to learn from him. [See KD Sethna (Amal Kiran)—a Centenary Tribute edited by Sachidananda Mohanty and published by The Integral Life Foundation USA, November 2004.] ~ RYD
On the occasion of Amal-kiran’s eighty-sixth birthday fourteen years ago Sonia Dyne had offered him a bouquet of flowers from an English garden:
Send to him snowdrops that the sun’s cool kiss 
Fathered in mossy glades before the spring; 
A riot of poppies scarlet in the grass; 
And every fragrance that the warm winds bring
From roses after rain—with clarion daffodils, 
First in the van of summer, celebrate this day, 
And golden buttercups from Sussex hills! 
All these dispatch to Amal…
The bunch is still fresh and fragrant carrying the authentic inspiration that had prompted her to express the jubilation which becomes hundredfold brighter and richer today. In the Ramayana there is an episode describing the garland of flowers the Rishis of the Matangavana had left with Shabari to put at the feet of the Avatar. It perhaps remains sparkling-new and sweet-scented even today,—because it was charged with their tapasya. There is an element of it in the English and that must be very endearing to Amal. His love for the language is something which, to enter into the spirit of Sri Aurobindo’s works, into their vastness and spiritual sublimity, we should always cherish with keener warmth and enthusiasm. We must acquire both intuitive and professional command over it. All...

Similar Essays