Sri Aurobindo was once asked by one of his young disciples Nagin Doshi what he and the Mother had been doing in their former births. “Carrying on the evolution” was the answer that he received from his Guru. When asked to elaborate, Sri Aurobindo wrote back: “That would mean writing the whole of human history. I can only say that as there are special descents to carry on the evolution to a farther stage, so also something of the Divine is always there to help through each stage itself in one direction or another.”

Both Sri Aurobindo and the Mother took birth to foster the progress of evolution of mankind and in each birth they played a very significant role. Each birth was unique in its own way: sometimes they came as rulers, sometimes as warriors and sometimes as artists or philosophers. As artists, their artistic creations are still admired; as philosophers, their works are still read even after the passing of several centuries. As rulers and warriors, their contribution to the society is still remembered. But what remain unknown are the former incarnations of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. Sri Aurobindo has always been very silent about his past births but compared to him the Mother was more expressive and she spoke about her former births only in passing. As a matter of fact she, along with Nolini Kanta Gupta, has been the primary source of information about hers and Sri Aurobindo’s previous incarnations. In the following pages we shall discuss about their former births based on the information they themselves have provided.

...   more »