Dictionary of Proper Names

Selected from Glossary and Index of Proper Names in Sri Aurobindo’s Works (1989/1996)

D

Dadaists followers of Dadaism, a nihilistic movement in arts in Zurich, Berlin, Cologne, Hannover, Paris, & New York in early 20^th century. The title was adopted at Zurich during one of the meetings held in 1916 by a group of artists & war resisters, including the poet Tristan Tzara. Dadaism was considered appropriate for their anti-aesthetic creations & protest activities, which were engendered by disgust for bourgeois values & despair over World War I. It was a doctrine of utter formlessness where meaningless words or syllables were used, as in the speech of a small child.

Dabhoi c.20 miles SE of Baroda city (s/a Gaekwad, Bājirao I)

Dadhīchi Dadhyanica or Dadhicha, a Rishi of the Vedic times, son of Atharvān. In the Rig-Veda, Indra taught Dadhicha certain sciences, but threatened to cut off his head if he taught them to anyone else. Dadhicha was, however, prevailed upon by the Ashwins to communicate his knowledge to them. They replaced his head with that of a horse, & after it was cut off by Indra, they restored his own head. In the Puranic version, he gladly accepted death in order that Indra might slay Vritra with Vajra, the inescapable thunderbolt fabricated by Twashtri out of his bones.

Daedalus Greek architect & sculptor who built the labyrinth for King Minos of Crete. Falling out of favour with Minos, he made wings for himself & his son Icarus in order to escape to Sicily. All went well with Daedalus; Icarus, however, flew too near the sun. The wax joints of the wings melted, he fell into the sea & drowned.

Dagon god of crop fertility, worshipped extensively throughout the ancient Near East as early as c.2500 BC. He was the father of the god Baal.

Daily Express British newspaper, founded in 1900.

Daily Mail British newspaper, founded in 1896 by Alfred Charles William Harmsworth (see Harmsworth Trust)

Daily News London daily committed to glorify British rule in India. H.W. Nevinson visited India in 1907-8 as its special correspondent.

(Indian) Daily News English daily of Calcutta, founded in 1864, & later purchased & edited by James Wilson. Sri Aurobindo called it the “Anglo-Indian Sir Oracle”. From 1925 it was incorporated with Forward founded by C.R. Das in 1923. In June 1924 Forward published the statement made by Dhingrā after his arrest in London for killing Curzon-Wyllie.

Daitya(s) descendants of Prajāpati Kashyapa & Dīti [s/a Adīti & Dānu].

Daksha in the Vedas, master of the works of unerring discernment; in the Puranas, one of the Prajāpatis, father of Dānu, Dīti, & Sati.

Dakshīnā goddess of divine Discernment.

Dakshīna Mārga the right-hand path as opposed to Vāma Mārga, one of the two forms of worship in the Tantra. Its followers are known as Dakshīnāchāris.

Dakshineshwar temple of Kāli, on the Gungā, where Sri Ramakrishna lived & worshipped.

Daley Honorary Captain F. J. Daley, the doctor in charge of the Alipore Jail hospital. He was of Irish stock & inherited many of the qualities of that liberal race. Dr. Daley had to pay for his humanitarianism. Found guilty of “grave neglect of duty & want of supervision over his subordinates”, he was transferred to an inferior post.

Damayanti princess of Vidarbha, in Nala & Damayanti in of Mahābhārata.

Dambhodbhove king whose Dambha bhāva (conceit) led him to claim greater prowess than Nara-Nārāyaṇa.

Father Damien (1840-89), Belgian missionary who converted Hawaiian lepers. “Love is the turning of the Self from its false self in the mind or body to its true Self in another…. So is it with the lover of humanity, who loses or seeks to lose his lower self in mankind; no enlightened selfishness could have given us Father Damien or Jesus or Florence Nightingale.” [SABCL 12:484]

Damocles courtier of Dionysius (405-367 BC) of Syracuse. When Damocles lionised his riches & power in inflated terms, Dionysius gave a banquet in his honour, to demonstrate the risks & the woes of high estate. Damocles enjoyed until, looking up he beheld a sword suspended above his head by a single hair.

Danaan descendant of Danaus, here it refers to the men of Argos.

Dana daughter of Acrisius (q.v.), a wife of Zeus, & the mother of Perseus.

Dānava(s) descendants of Prajāpati Kashyapa & Dānu.

The Dance of Life book by Havelock Ellis.

Dane, Sir Louis Louis William (1856-1946): ICS, arrived in India 1876, served in Panjab as Pvt Secretary to Lt-Gov. 1872-82: Officiating Registrar of the Chief Court 1886: Settlement Officer, Gurdāspur 1887: Deputy Commissioner Peshawar 1892: Chief Secretary to Punjab Govt. 1898: Resident in Kashmir 1901: Foreign Secretary to Govt. 1903: Head of British Mission to Kabul 1904-5 to bulldoze another Treaty with the Emir of Afghanistan: K.C.I.E.: Lt. Governor of Punjab 1908-13: with Lord Hardinge in the Delhi Durbar 1911: wounded in 1940 when Sir Michael O’Dwyer was killed. [Buckland]

Daniel In the Old Testament, an upright judge, & a person of infallible wisdom; thence the proverb “A Daniel comes to judgement”.

D’Annunzio, Gabriele (1863-1938), Italian poet, novelist, dramatist, short-story writer, journalist, military hero, & political leader.

Dante (Alighieri) (1265-1321), Italian poet famous for his Divina Commedia.

Danton, Georges(-Jacques) (1759-94), a leading figure of the French Revolution. He has been branded “most complex & controversial” & “both a defender of the oppressed & a political opportunist”.

Danu in Veda, the divided consciousness, mother of Vritra & Dānavas.

Daphne daughter of the river god Peneus in Thessaly. She attracted the love of Apollo, who pursued her in the beautiful Vale of Tempe. When she prayed to Earth (or to her father) to rescue her, she was turned into a laurel-tree, which became the favourite tree of Apollo. This myth may refer to the Hellenes’ capture of Tempe, where the goddess Daphne was worshipped by Maenads (or Bacchantes), who chewed the laurel & thus intoxicated themselves.

Darbhanga refers to both the “ruling prince” & his “state” (as the British Octopus contemptibly called its toothless feudatories & their “kingdoms”). Rameshwar Singh (born 1860), younger brother of Lakshmeshwar Singh (1856-1898) ruled the state when Sri Aurobindo was in the political field (1903-10). Chief of the high-caste Maithili Brahmins & many associations of loyal zamindars the brothers were highly honoured in Bihar & Bengal. Utterly loyal to the British both were appropriately awarded with titles & positions. E.g. in 1900, Rameshwar was awarded the Kaiser-i-Hind (Caesar-Czar-Kaiser of H) Gold Medal & in 1902 made Knight Commander of the Indian Empire & member of the Police Commission.

Dardanid descendants of Dardanus, son of Zeus by Electra, daughter of Atlas. Dardanus married Teucer’s daughter becoming the ancestor of the House of Troy.

Darius (Hystaspes) Darius I or Darius the Great (522-486 BC), also called Dariavaush & Darius Hystāspes (after his father Hystāspes or Vishtāspa whom he succeeded in 550), was the 3^rd emperor of the Achaemenian dynasty in Persia. He consolidated the Persian Empire in the East, & is noted for his administrative genius & for his building projects. The mention of people of Gāndhāra as his subjects in his inscription at Behistun or Bahistun is the earliest epigraphic record of Indo-Persian relations, Indian subject-peoples are also mentioned in his inscriptions are Hamādān, Persepolis, & Naqshi-i-Rūstum. According to Herodotus, Gāndhāra was included in the 7^th satrapy & the valley of the Sindhu formed the 20^th satrapy of Darius’ empire. He derived large revenue from his Indian dominions which were also required to supply recruits to his army. With the result that as the countries grew closer & many Persian words (e.g. darogā for police official, a term which in British India was officially used for the head of their thānās, district police stations – equivalent of sub-inspector in England) & ideas entered into the political phraseology of India & to some extent also influenced her art. [S. Bhattacharya: 286-87]

Darjeeling properly Dorji-ling Tibetan for “the place of the mystic Lama Dorji” that for ages remained a heavenly sanctuary of sacred mountains thick with forests & streams & torrents & waterfalls, rising up to the peaks of Kanchenjunga, Kabru, Pandim, Narsing, Dopendikang, & others. Its primordial purity began to be violated first by European invaders who built a colony at c.7000 feet. In 1835, the Octopus seized 183 sq. miles more for its “work-weary” officials & “battle-weary” mercenaries; then under more pretexts the Octopus annexed 640 sq. miles in 1849 & 486 sq. miles in 1866. It was a full-blown English town by 1877, when Sri Aurobindo & his brothers entered Loreto Convent School there run by Irish nuns as it was meant solely for European Christian children. A path-breaking feat achieved by their father, Dr. K.D. Ghose through Annette Acroyd, a casual acquaintance of his (‘Acroyd’ stuck to Sri Aurobindo’s full name, she having been present when he was born the house of her friend Manomohan Ghose). Annette was one of the Christian emancipators that rushed to India at the call of a Christian missionary settled in Bengal who wrote in a Calcutta paper on March 11, 1822, that education was the best means to convert natives “now engaged in the degrading & polluting worship of idols…to the knowledge of the True God & Jesus Christ whom He has sent.” This was also the policy of Macaulay & David Hare. [Last sentence from History & Culture of the Indian People, 1963, R.C. Majumdar et al, Vol. IX: 36]

In 1835, putting the official seal on the good missionary’s crusade, Macaulay’s Minute on Education decreed that the aim of educating the natives was to form of a class, Indian in blood & colour, but English in tastes, opinions, morals & intellect. For this God-inspired mission the Benevolent Empress of India signed on the decree granting the entire system of education in India to the Govt. of India & the proselytising Christian institutions proliferating in India [Vide Karandikar]. As Manmohan’s daughter Lotika later put it, “In the shadow of the Himalayas, in the sight of the wonderful snow-capped peaks, even in their native land the children were brought up in alien surroundings.” It was while in Darjeeling that, preparing him for what awaited him in the fourteen years of gestation in the Octopus’s womb, Sri Aurobindo had a crucial spiritual experience. He recounted it to disciples in 1926: “I was lying down one day when I saw suddenly a great Tamas rushing into me & enveloping me & the whole universe. After that I had a great darkness always hanging on to me all through my stay in England. I believe that darkness had something to do with the Tamas that came upon me. It left me only when I was coming back to India.” That cloak insulated him from the Siren charms of the West, from the time when, in 1879, Dr Ghose transplanted his sons in England hoping that at least one of them would get into the highest position a native could aspire for under British rule – become an ICS officer, & make him proud.

Darshana(s) common term for Sāṅkhya, Yoga, Nyāya, Vaiśeshika, Mīmāṁsā & Vedānta.

Darwin/ Darwinian/ Darwinism Charles (Robert) (1809-82), English naturalist renowned for his analyses of his notes on the species of flora, fauna (including non-white humans) taken when he explored some European colonies. His reputation rests entirely on the fact that he managed to publish his analyses before a painstaking European researcher in the same field could publish his, – such is the power of the breaking-news media on thinking & unthinking humanity. The result his inferences regarding past, present & future evolution created in Europe’s scientific, religious, social & political classes of his time had a disastrous influence on the non-whites in Europe’s colonies & in European countries [s/a St Paul’s School].

Darwin, Erasmus (1731-1802) a physician & free thinker whose radical opinions his grandsons Charles Darwin & Francis Galton developed into bigoted premises.

Das, Hem(chandra) Hemchandra Kanungo (1871-1951), one of the pioneer leaders of the secret revolutionary organization & a principal co-accused with Sri Aurobindo in the Alipore Bomb Case (1908-09). He went to England & Paris to learn (with the help of Sāvarkar) at India House in London the manufacture of explosives & bombs. “The authorities at Shimla had their hands strengthened when Morley (as the reader now knows from Viscount Morley’s Recollections, Vol. II, p.263), that disciple of Gladstone telegraphed a hint about the English Explosives Act. On 8^th June 1908, when the Imperial Legislative Council met at Shimla, the armoury of the Central Govt. was replenished by the prompt enactment of the Explosives Substances Act & the Newspapers Incitement to Offences Act. .... The Muzaffarpur bomb explosion was followed by the arrest of Khudiram Bose…. The arrest of Shri Arvind Ghose followed. Besides Arvind, Hemchandra Das was the only young man of whom Tilak had heard before. Lālā Hardayāl, when he met Tilak a couple of months back, had informed him that Hemchandra had returned from Europe, equipped with knowledge useful for the manufacture of firearms & explosives. Mr P.M. Bāpat, on his return from Europe in March, had seen Tilak. He had also referred to Hemchandra. Tilak had succeeded in gleaning from these young men the instructions which their headquarters in London had chosen to issue to them. They were instructed to carry on preparations in secret & await the outbreak of the Anglo-German War. What was it that impelled the young men to hasty action, disregarding the directions of even their own leader? Tilak tried to solve this riddle, but failed!” [Karandikar: 296, 293] Sentenced to transportation for life in the Andamans, Hem was released in 1921 in the general amnesty granted after the Allies’ victory in World War I.

Das, Madhusudan (1848-1934) lawyer of Cuttack, & member of INC till 1911.

Dāsabodha 7^th century Adwaita Vedanta spiritual text originally composed in Marāthi; dāsa-bodha means ‘advice to the disciple’. It was orally narrated by the saint Samarth Rāmdās to his disciple, Kalyān Swami. The narration is believed to have taken place in a cave called Shivatharghal in the Raighad district of Maharashtra. As per the tradition of those times Dāsabodha is written in the Owi form – each Owi is made up of four line lines; its 7751 Owis are distributed over 20 main parts called Dashaka each of which contains 10 sub-parts called as Samāsas. They present the essence of many Vedic texts, in simple, straightforward & easy to understand language. It is considered a manual for life as it provides a detailed instruction on how to function & excel in society from a place of deep spiritual understanding.

Dasarath(a)/ Dasharath/ Dussaruth(a) Surya-vamshi king of Ayodhya, descendant of Ikshvāku. His happiness was at its height, on the eve of the coronation of Sri Rāmachandra setting the stage for Rāmāyana, the divine tragedy.

Dasarhan Dashārha, descendant Yadu, the first son of Yayāti. His descendants were called Dāshārha among whom Sri Krishna.

Dashagwa(s) Ten-rayed, Vedic Rishis, descendants of Aṇgiras.

Dasyu(s) adversaries of the seekers of Light & the Truth. There are two main branches of the Dasyus: the Pānis & the Vritras.

Dattātreya an ansha of Brahma, Vishnu & Shiva, born as son of Rishi Atri & Anasūya, he lives in the freedom of the Infinite even while acting on all the planes of existence, he authored the Avadhūta Gita. It is believed that he lives in the seclusion of hills & forests, where he appears to disciples – Lele met him in the form of a boy in Gīrnār. Avadhūtas, Siddhas of Dattātreya-Mārga, remain Tyāgis even while partaking of Bhōgas.

Daudet Alphonse-Marie Leon (1867-1942), French journalist & novelist, the most potent polemicist, his reputation rests largely upon his journalistic work & memoirs.

David Joseph; one of Sri Aurobindo’s earliest friends in Pondicherry, David was later elected Mayor of Pondicherry.

Madame Dāvid Néel (1868-1969), French writer on Tibetan occultism & mysticism, she studied Sanskrit & Eastern philosophy as a young woman. In 1911, having heard about Sri Aurobindo the Mother, a close her friend in Paris, she visited him at Pondicherry. She met the Dalai Lama at Delhi, & became the first Westerner initiated in the mysteries of Tibetan occultism & the first visitor to Tibet. She published over 30 books.

Swami Dayānanda (Saraswati) (1824-83): born in a Shaivite Brahmin family in Morvi Kāṭhiāwād: studied Sanskrit & Vedas at Kāshi, took up sanyāsa & settled on the Narmadā: travelled to Abu, Hardwar, Srinagar, northern Himalayas in search of gurus & held religious debates all over India: in 1875 founded the Arya Samāj a movement advocating a return to the temporal & spiritual authority of the Vedas. Sri Aurobindo considered him the first discoverer of the right clues in the matter of Vedic interpretation. He was a powerful promoter of nationalism.

Dayānanda Anglo-Vedic College of Lahore, founded in 1888 by some followers of Swami Dayānanda with the object of propagating the ideas of the Arya Samāj without discarding English & Western education. Lālā Hans Raj was the institution’s principal. [Cf. New English School & Fergusson College opened in Poona in 1880 & in 1885 resp.]

Dayānanda Thakur (1881-1937), founder of Arunachal Mission at Silchar (Assam).

Decameron collection of a hundred tales by Boccaccio (q.v.) reflecting not only the eternal foolishness of man but also fascinating details of Italian life of his time. The setting of the tales is as follows: Florence being visited by the Plague in 1348, seven women & three men leave the city for neighbouring villas. As part of their revels, they tell stories until the epidemic abates. This they do for ten days, hence the title “Decameron” or “Ten Days” Work”. Each person tells one story each day, & so there are 100 tales in all. The work proved to be the fountainhead of Italian literary prose for succeeding centuries.

Moulvi Dedar Bux/ Buksh attended the Bengal Provincial Conference of INC at Hooghly in September 1909 & moved the resolution for continuation of the boycott of foreign goods.

He also spoke at the Swadeshi Meeting at Bhowanipur the following month, in connection with the observance of Partition Day.

Deep Narayan Singh (1875-1935), a zamindar of Bihar, regarded as a paragon of aestheticism, elegance & refinement, held various offices in the Congress.

Deesa city situated in Banāskānthā district, north Gujarat, c.30 miles from southern Rajasthan & c.95 miles NW of Idar, full of religious & historical places thanks to having been ruled by Rajputs of the Solanki, Galsar, Paramāra, Vāghela, & Chauhan dynasties. Like Chittodgadh, Deesa is situated on the banks of the sacred river Banās. In 1813, reduced to penury by the insatiable Octopus, tribals & Rajputs turned to dacoity. In 1829, after letting the “disturbances” harass the unarmed populace, a an army cantonment came up at Pālanpur, 25 km SSE of Deesa, fully maintained & served by locals like every such protection stunt imposed by the Octopus. It was manned by a British Resident-Agent & a military chaplain, i.e. by the Sword & Book, twin-incisors of our hallowed Mai-Baap Govt. Its trigger-happy troops “monitored & controlled the activities” of the Khōsā, Bheel & Dafera tribals who were eking out a living off the forests between Abu & Kutch, hounding, killing, converting them. “In addition the Agency protected the forests” by executing their main agenda, viz., felling pristine timber for English traders to export to England, alongside their second agenda “provided security to [=extort protection money from] rest of the regions of north Gujarat”. In 1901, with no more pristine timber left to embezzle, the Agent shut shop & the helots breathed in peace until the next hug of the insatiable Mai-Baap. Such delights Pax Britannica bestowed!

La Defense de l’occident by Henri Massis.

Defoe, Daniel (1660-1731), author of Robinson Crusoe & other such works.

Deidamia daughter of Lycomedes, king of Scyros, & mother of Neoptolemus by Achilles.

Deiphobus son of Priam & Hecuba.

De la Mare, Walter (1873-1956), English poet & novelist whose writings show a delight in imaginative excursions & the purely fantastic. Much of his poetry is for or about children.

General Delarey J. H. De la Rey (1847-1914), Boer commander in Anglo-Boer War.

Delian of Delos, a small island off Greece in the southern Aegean, regarded as the centre of the Cyclades Islands. Leto gave birth to Apollo & Artemis on Delos, which became the seat of an oracle of Apollo.

The Deliverance D.K. Roy’s translation of Sarat Chandra’s novel Nishkriti.

Delphi on Mt. Parnassus in central Greece is the sacred site of the most important temple to Apollo. It is where the Pythia (see Pythian & Pythoness) delivers the cryptic messages of the Gods. The omphalos (nave) of Delphi was the heart of the world.

Demeter goddess of corn, fruitfulness, & the harvest. She is daughter of Cronus & Rhea, & sister of Zeus. Zeus & Demeter had a daughter, Persephone (or Kore), who was picking flowers in the fields of Enna in Sicily when she was seized by the god of the underworld & carried to Hades to be his bride. As a result of her mother’s piteous efforts to get her back, Persephone is permitted to spring & summer on earth but must return to Hades for autumn & winter.

Demitrius Demetrius I Poliorcetes (336-283 BC), of Macedonia.

Demiurge in Plato’s Timaeus “creator of the world”. It was later adopted by the Gnostics to distinguish the creator of the material universe from the supreme God. In Homer the term includes manual workers, heralds, & physicians.

Demosthenes (384-322 BC), considered greatest of Greek orators, he roused Athens to oppose Philip of Macedon & later, his son Alexander.

Denshawi refers to the Dinshawäy Incident: a clash between villagers & Limey rakes on a pigeon-shooting spree at Dinshawäy, Egypt, in 1906. The reprehensible judicial sentences on the justified reaction of the natives served to unite peasants & middle class against the Brits.

The Deserted Village poem of Oliver Goldsmith.

Desher Kotha by S.G. Deuskar (q.v.), detailing exploitation by the Octopus.

Deshpande perhaps Dr. Yashwantrao Khusala Deshpande (b.1884).

Deshpande, Bāji (Prabhu) (c. 1618-1660), a lieutenant of Shivaji, famous for his heroic self-sacrifice while holding the narrow pass of Rangāna for two hours with ‘fifty swords’ against 12,000 Moghuls, to cover Shivaji’s retreat when Fazal Khan of Bijāpur tried to encircle the Marāthas in Panhalgarh fort.

Deshpande/ Keshavrao/ K.G. Deshpande Keshavrao Ganesh (1869-1939), a close friend of Sri Aurobindo since their Cambridge days. After returning from England as a barrister, for a time he edited the English edition of the Indu Prakāsh of Bombay, & published Sri Aurobindo’s series New Lamps for Old then joined Baroda Service. The closest friends Sri Aurobindo made during his 13 years in Baroda Service were Deshpande, Madhavrao Jādhav & his elder brother Khāserao Jādhav whom he met around 1895-96 through Madhavrao & considered as his brother. Since the day one of the bombs in Bengal had managed to graze British Majesty…. In his biography of Sayājirao (1989), his grandson Fatehsingh Rao writes: “The Resident’s principal bogey man, Aurobindo Ghose…the Resident kept pestering the English Dewan to take some sort of punitive action against two men in Baroda service who were known to have been friendly with Ghose while he was there, four years earlier, Khāserao Jādhav & K.G. Deshpande.... Both held appointments as subās or District Commissioners, Deshpande at Mehsāna & Jādhav at Navasāri. The substance of the allegations against them was that they had not been sufficiently zealous in curbing anti-British activities within their districts.... It had all started two years earlier when copies of a Gujarati language translation of Aurobindo’s [!!]Bengali book, Mukti Kone Pathe, Which Way to Freedom, were discovered in Bombay…. In Deshpande’s case, Fatehsingh continues, Bombay accused him of indirect, & his district magistrate of direct, involvement in the printing of its translation in the Shikhak Printing Press in Mehsāna (in 1908 then Gaikwād territory), copies of which were “discovered” in Bombay. Shrewd Sayājirao transferred Deshpande to the judicial department. Deshpande took the hint & resigned knowing it was what Gaikwād actually demanded in order to hold on to his throne. In return, Deshpande got a parting kick of ten thousand rupees considered by the Gaikwād as “generous” amends. [Fatehsingh Rao, Sayājirao…, 1989]

Deshasevak a Marathi paper edited by Achyutrao Kolhātkar (q.v.), which published reports of speeches delivered by Sri Aurobindo at Nagpur.

Despair on the Staircase poem written by Sri Aurobindo in October 1939. “Cats, too, were along with us,” wrote Pujalal, an Ashramite since August 1926, “bright recipients of the bountiful grace of Sri Aurobindo…. \\Next Para// It started like this. A cat persisted in her desire to adopt His house, & although other house-members were at pains not to allow her there, she remained resolute in her will and won. \\NP// Sri Aurobindo thought of working upon cat-consciousness also, & this cat-sādhikā found a home for herself & her progeny. \\NP// It may need a long chapter for dealing with this cat-colony…. I will, therefore, limit myself to one, Bushy by name, one who is immortalized by Sri Aurobindo, the Master-Poet in His poem “Despair on the Staircase”. \\NP// Bushy was a great devotee of the Mother & the Master. She had made it a rule of her life to follow the Mother like a faithful dog, whenever She came down either for the giving of Her soup-prasād or for general meditation. Bushy’s greatest ambition or rather aspiration was to carry her kittens to the Mother & if possible to the Master to be laid at Their feet as her offering. \\NP// It was for this reason that she kept her young ones under the corner-cupboard, halfway up the stairs. From here as soon as the door opened & the Mother came out, she would carry them & lay them at Her feet. It was, indeed, a touching sight. How even a cat aspired to make her offering of her dear ones to the divine Mother! \\NP// And this was not all. She yearned to lay her offering at the Master’s feet also. But before one could reach Sri Aurobindo’s room there was first the main entrance door to be negotiated & then there was a wooden partition over 7 feet high. So at night when the Master was alone & the Mother in the meditation hall, Bushy would wait at the stairs to take her chance & at the first opportunity jump in with her kitten in her mouth & again jump over the wooden partition, & perhaps have the Master’s darshan, but I don’t know whether she laid her baby at His feet or not. \\NP// Sri Aurobindo in His stroll at night must have seen her waiting on the topmost stair at the entrance door, ardently desiring to enter, but being refused the opportunity, showing her pose of self-respect worthy of a cat belonging to the Divine. \\NP// There she was in despair, magnificently upholding her dignity…. He looked upon all beings as forms of the One Brahman, & in this particular case clearly indicated that there was in her cat-body a future woman too. [“A Few Reminiscences”, Breath of Grace, Ed. M.P. Pandit, 1972]

Deuskar, Sakhārām Ganesh, a Mahārāshtrian writer whose family had lived long in Bengal. An able writer in Bengali, he was author of Desher Katha, & the first person to use the word “Swaraj” (in his life of Shivaji). He was among the early writers in the revolutionary journal Yugāntar, & the chief organiser of “political festivals” in Bengal, like the Shivaji festival held in June 1906. He had “extended to Tilak a pressing invitation to attend the Shivaji coronation celebrations at Calcutta that year. Bengal leaders wanted Tilak’s guidance in what they had been planning & doing since the partition question had activised them.” [Karandikar:224-25]

Deussen, Paul (1845-1919), born at Oberdreis near Coblenz: studied at Bonn, Tübingen & Berlin: Sanskrit under Lassen & Gildemeister, classical philology, theology: Phil. Dr. At Marburg 1869: teacher at the Gymnasiums at Minden & Marburg 1869-72 & tutor in Russian families at Geneva, Aix-la-Chapelle & Terni in Russia 1872-80: taught philosophy & Sanskrit as Privat-docent at the University of Geneva & philosophy at the Polytechnic School at Aix-la-Chapelle 1875-9: taught Indian philosophy at Berlin University 1881-89: Professor of Philosophy at University of Kiel 1889: travelled all over the world & greater parts of India 1892-3: among his chief works are Das System des Vedanta (1883), Die Sutras des Vedanta (1887), On the Philosophy of the Vedanta in its relations to Occidental Metaphysics Bombay 1893: Sechzig Upanishads des Veda 1897: Geschichte der Philosophie on Vedic Hymns in four volumes 1894-99. [Buckland]

Deva(s) Mahābhārata speaks of Prajāpati Kashyapa’s sons by Adīti as Devas, gods. The seventh type from below of the ten forms of consciousness in the evolutionary scale of man, the Deva is mind concentrated in vijńāna (q.v.), exceeding itself. The Asura makes the vijńāna serve his buddhi. Sri Aurobindo: Of course, the gods exist – that is to say, there are Powers that stand above the world & transmit the divine workings. – There are gods everywhere on all planes. [SABCL 22:385] But they are not sentimental in the human way…. The gods are merciful because the Divine is merciful & good… but it does not mean they have no power. They simply go on doing their work with their eyes on the Sanātana Dharma, the Eternal Law of Truth. To them it is that which matters & nothing else.” [Purani, Evening Talks…, 2007, p.86]

Devachan in Theosophy a state intermediate between two earth-lives, into which the Ego enters after the separation from Kāmarupa (the subjective form created through mental & physical desires & thoughts in connection with matter by all sentient beings, a form which survives the death of their bodies), after the disintegration of the lower principles on earth.

Devagiri When “the nation began to crumble under the shock of new ideas & new forces & the centre of gravity shifted [from Ujjayini] southwards to Devagiri of the Jadhavas & finally to Dravidian Vijayanagara”. [SABCL 3:215] Devagiri, situated between the rivers Tāpti & Godāvari, was once the capital of a clan of Yādavas that claimed descent from Sātyaki (q.v.), mentioned in historical records as Rāshṭrakūṭas ruling a territory in north-west India in late 3^rd century BC. Pushed by invaders they migrated south, crossed the Vindhyās, & by 7^th century AD built a kingdom which they ruled from Devagiri. Devagiri was conquered by the Chālukyas who ruled from their capital at Kalyān or Kalyāṇi (situated north-east of Bijāpur & west of Wārangal). In 1190, the Chālukyan Empire split up into three kingdoms: Devagiri; to its east Wārangal ruled by the Kākatīyas; & to its south the Hoysala ruled by Hoysalas with their capital at Dorāsamudra (later Halebidu). Devagiri was raised by king Siṅghana (1197-1247) to the position of a premier kingdom where education was encouraged, a college of astronomy was established for the study of the works of Bhāskarāchārya; it was there that later the great Hemādri, Bōpadeva, & Jñāneshwara composed their works…. In the far south, Pallava kings extended their patronage to educational institutions at Kāṅchi & Bāhur. Bāhur had a College where provision was made for the study of the Vedas, Vedāṇgas, Mīmāṁsā, Nyāya, Purāṇas, & Dharmashāstras (9^th century AD).” [Majumdar et al’s Advanced History]

On 13^th June 1290, Malik Jalāl-ud-dīn Fīrūz ended the Turkish Slave Dynasty (which had begun c.1206) by murdering the Turkish Sultan & his supporters as well as his infant son with the help of his Khalji clansmen. In 1292, his nephew ‘Alā-ud-dīn overran Mālwā & carried away all its treasures, stopping on his way back at Bhīlsā (Vidisha q.v.) where he heard about the fabulous wealth of the kingdom of Devagiri, then ruled by Rāmachandradeva (1271-1309). In 1294, he rode through the Vindhyās with several thousand cavalry & attacked Devagiri. In spite of his & his son Shankaradeva’s determined efforts the barbarian’s brutal methods defeated them. Over & above surrendering almost all the treasure of the kingdom, Rāmachandradeva had to agree to punitive terms. The vast booty of gold, silver, pearls, precious stones, etc., turned ‘Alā-ud-dīn’s head. Luring affection-blinded Jalal-ud-din Fīrūz he murdered him & proclaimed himself Sultan on 19^th July 1296. Next year, he plundered & annexed Gujarat, whose king Rāi Karṇadeva & his daughter Dévaḷa Devi had found refuge with King Rāmachandradeva. In March, 1307, ‘Alā-ud-dīn sent Kāfūr (the Gujarati eunuch warrior taken to Delhi), by then Malik Nāib (Deputy Sultan), to ransack the rich Hindu kingdoms of south India. Kāfūr began with Devagiri. Rāmachandradeva had been unable for three years to force the barbarian’s demand out of his impoverished province of Ellichpur, & sheltering Gujarat’s Karṇadeva II & his daughter. Kāfūr laid waste the kingdom, seized everything he could, & sent Rāmachandradeva to Delhi. After due punishment the broken Yādava king was brought back to continue to suck out the blood of his beloved subjects to fill the bottomless coffers of Delhi. Rai Karṇadeva’s daughter, Dévaḷa Devi was ‘escorted’ by Alp Khān, Delhi’s governor of Gujarat, to Delhi, where the Sultan donated her to his eldest son, Khizr Khān, as his plaything. ─ Besides Devagiri, there were then in South India, three major kingdoms: Telingāna under Pratāparudradeva I of the Kākatīya dynasty with its capital at Wārangal; Hoysala (including the present Mysore State) with its capital at Dorāsamudra (modern Halebidu), famous for its beautiful temples, ruled by Veera Ballāla (1292-1342); & further south the coastal kingdom of the Pāṇdyās (including present Madurai, Rāmnād & Tinnevelly districts) enriched by its flourishing commerce, ruled by Māravarman Kūlasekhara (1268-1311). There were also some minor rulers like the Telegu-Cholā chief, Manma-Siddha III, ruling present Nellore district, the Kalinga-Ganga king, Bhānudeva, reigning in present Odishā, the Kerala king Ravivarman, ruling from Kollam (Britishised to Quilon), & the Ᾱlupa chief, Bankideva-Ᾱlupendra, ruling from present Mangalore. In 1309, Kāfūr besieged Wārangal; in 1310, King Pratāparudradeva I surrendered 100 elephants, 7000 horses, huge quantity of jewels & coined money & agreed to repeat the tribute annually. In November 1310, he devastated Dorāsamudra, took all its treasures, 36 elephants, all the gold, silver, jewels, & pearls from the temples, & made the king a vassal of the Delhi Sultanate. In April 1311, Kāfūr reached Madurai, & took away 512 elephants, 5000 horses, 500 maunds of diamonds, pearls, emeralds & rubies. For reason not recorded he did not go right down Rameshwaram – perhaps his Hindu genes work up? He returned to Delhi on 18 October 1311 with 612 elephants, 20,000 horses, 96,000 maunds of gold, & boxes of jewels & pearls. The booty, wrote Amir Khusrav, was carried “on a thousand camels groaning under the weight of the treasure”. In 1312, Shankaradeva withheld tribute & tried to regain independence. Kāfūr rushed down from Delhi, defeated & killed him. Thus the whole of Southern India were left with no option but to submit. That year, ‘Alā-ud-din’s health undermined, his intellect shrunk, he became a puppet in the hands of Kāfūr, his commander-in-chief & chief minister. He had been suffering for long from dropsy which (or Malik Kāfūr) finally killed him & usurped his throne. But 35 days later he was murdered & after more such merriment ‘Alā-ud- his son Mubarak ascended the throne as Qutb-ud-din Mubarak Shah. He suppressed the rebellion in Gujarāt & place his father-in-law Zafar Khan as its governor (see Ahmedabad), then marched to Devagiri, captured Harpāladeva (son-in-law of Rāmachandradeva) & flayed him alive. After one year’s stay at Devagiri where he built a ‘great mosque’, he marched back to Delhi. When, no male descendant of ‘Alā-ud-din survived his nobles handed over the Sultanate to Ghiyas-ud-din Tughluq whose son Mahmud Tughluq ransacked Devagiri twice, then taking a fancy to its central position in his empire which then extended from the Panjab to Bengal & from the foot of the Himalayas to Kanyā Kumari, he rebuilt it according to his needs, ‘beautified’ it with fine Islamic buildings & roads – one of which connected it to Delhi, & renamed it. And thus Devagiri became Daulat-ābād – Land of Mammon.

[S. Bhattacharya:23-26; R.C. Majumdar et al’s Advanced History: 89, 168, 181, 182, 191, 286-87, 293, 295-98, 301, 303-04]

Devaki wife of Vāsudeva, mother of Sri Krishna, daughter of Devaka, brother of King Ugrasena of Mathura, & cousin of Ugrasena’s Asuric son Kansa.

Devala son of Pratyūṣa, one of the eight Vāsūs.

Devashravas (Bharata) Vedic seer, descendant of Bharata.

Devavāta (Bharata) Vedic seer, descendant of King Bharata; father of Srinjaya.

Devibhāgavata Puranic scripture devoted to the worship of Pārvati.

Dewas formerly the joint capital of princely states of Dewas Senior & Dewas Junior, (now in Madhya Pradesh). In the 1930s its rulers stayed for a time in Pondicherry.

Dey, Mukul trained under Abanindranath Tagore at Santiniketan (1905-11), then worked there as a member of the staff, retaining his guru’s style with his own touches. In April 1919, he met Sri Aurobindo & made three portraits of him. Later he became principal of the Calcutta School of Art, a Fulbright Scholar in USA in 1953-54, & visiting professor at foreign universities. (S/a Binyon)

Dhananjaya/ Dhanunjoy conqueror of riches, a title especially of Arjūna.

Dhanwantari/ Dhunwuntari divine physician of the gods. When the Devas & Dānavas churned the waters of the divine Ocean of Milk, he emerged from it with the pitcher of immortalising Amrita for which a struggle arose between the Devas & Dānavas resolved by Lord Vishnu in favour of the Devas. Ayurveda, the system developed from a text in Atharvaveda, was communicated to him by Brahmā.

Dhār, Vishnu Narayan (1864-1916), a Moderate of U.P., bent on reforming only Hinduism as it alone prevented the modernisation. Mehta-Gokhale graciously made him president of their 1911 session at Calcutta.

Dhārinie queen of Vidisha in Kālidāsa’s play Mālavikāgnimitram.

Dharma Tamil magazine brought out from Pondicherry around 1911 by V.V.S. Aiyar. It was allowed free circulation in British India.

Dharmatattwa collection of essays by Bankim Chandra, containing his ideas of a many-sided Karmayoga. Some of them were serialised in the monthly Navajeevan edited by Akshaya Sarkar & were, with a few others, published in 1888 by Bankim in book-form as Dharmatattwa – Prathama Bhaga – Anushilan.

Dhārtarās(h)trās/ Dhārtarās(h)trians the hundred sons of Dhṛitarāṣtra.

Dhātri epithet of Durga, denoting her power of creating life & preserving health.

Dhaumya & his younger brother of Devala (q.v.), were priests of the Pāndavas.

Dhingrā, Madanlal (c.1883-1909) A Punjabi Kshatriya, he went to London with a B.A. in engineering & like most Indian students of the day, stayed at India House at which Sāvarkar was the central figure. The hanging of Kanailal & Satyendra during the Alipur Bomb Trial angered everyone at India House. When Dhingrā offered to go the whole way in avenging their deaths, Sāvarkar tested his endurance to pain by asking him to put his hand on the ground & suddenly thrusting a big thick needle into the back of his palm. The needle went through & the wound began to bleed profusely but Madanlal showed no reaction. On 1 July 1909, Madanlal went to the public meeting of anti-Indian officials & shot dead Lt. Col. Sir Curzon-Wyllie, Aide of the Secretary of State, & in charge of spying on Indian students in Britain. Dhingrā’s action provoked controversy across Britain & India, evoking enthusiastic admiration as well as condemnation. Sāvarkar published an article in which he all but endorsed the murder & worked to organize support, both political & for Dhingrā’s legal defence. At a meeting of Indians called for a condemnation of Dhingrā’s deed, Sāvarkar protested the intention to condemn & was drawn into a hot debate & angry scuffle with other participants. A secretive & restricted trial by the Brit Govt. & a death-sentence provoked outcry & protest throughout the Indian student & political community. Strongly protesting the verdict, Sāvarkar struggled with British authorities in laying claim to Dhingrā’s remains following his execution. [Bhagatsingh, Mere Krāntikāri Sāthi, Delhi, 1977; Internet]

Dhristadyoumna son of the Pāñchāla king Dhrupad, & brother of Draupadi, born to kill Drōṇa, his father’s friend-turned enemy.

Dhrishtaketou king of the Kekayas & an ally of the Pāndavas.

Dhṛitarāṣṭra/ Vaichitravīrya Dhṛitarāṣṭra is Vaichitravīrya, being a son of Vichitravīrya (both are mentioned in the Kāṭhaka recension of the Yajur Veda). He was born to Ambikā, the widow of Vichitravīrya, king of Hastināpūra, by the yogic power of Veda Vyāsa. He was born blind & headstrong because Ambikā, repulsed by Vyāsa’s features, had closed her eyes during the process. Bhīṣma arranged Dhṛitarāṣṭra marriage to Gāndhāri. His attachment to throne & Dūryodhana was one of the root causes of the 18-day civil war at the end of which, he, Gāndhāri, & Kūnti, accompanied Vidura in the forest for tapasyā. All four died there in a flash fire.

Dhrūva “constant, immovable, fixed”. In Vishnu Purana & Bhāgavata Purana Dhrūva is born a son of King Utthānapāda (second of two sons of Manu) & his wife Sunīti. The king also had another son Uttama, born to his favourite queen Suruchi. Once, when five-year old Dhrūva was sitting on his father’s lap, Suruchi pulled him down telling it was her son who will inherit the throne. Sunīti tried to console him, but Dhrūva was determined to hear of his fate from the Lord himself. Seeing his resolve Nārada prevented him from taking up severe physical austerities by teaching mantras on which to meditate, among which the most effective proved to be Om Namo Bhagavate Vāsudevāya. When Lord Vishnu offered him a boon, he asked for the faculty of composing Stutis in his praise. Out poured Dhrūva-stuti, comprises 12 verses which in Vishnu Purana is an extended version of the Vedic Purusha Sūkta & different from that of Bhāgavata Purana. Pleased, Vishnu granted him Dhrūva-pada, as the only steadfast star in the constellation Sapta-rishi, unaffected even by Mahāpralaya. This mystic power & influence of Dhrūva Nakshatra has inspired countless generations of Hindus to realise the presence & power of the Creator.

Dhūmraksha/ Dhoomraksha a Rākshasa in Pātāla slain by Hanuman.

Dhyāni Buddha meditative Buddha, described in Mahāyāna & Vajrayāna (Tantric) Buddhism to denote a group of five Buddhas, usually identified as Vairochana, Aksobhya, Ratnasambhava, Amitābha, & Amoghasiddhi. Sculptures of these five meditating are found on the terraces of the great monument at Borobudur in Jāvā.

A Dialogue editorial title of an unfinished piece published under this title in CWSA Vol.2, “Collected Poems” because, says the volume’s “Note on the Text”, “it is not structured as a play, & so has been printed here as a dramatic poem”. The same piece was published in SABCL Vol.7, “Collected Plays”, as The House of Brut – Fragment of a Drama (q.v.)

Dian(ā) Roman woodland goddess, worshipped especially by women & children. She was later identified with Greek moon-goddess Artemis.

Dickens Charles (John Huffam) (1812-70); popular English novelist.

Dickinson, Lowes Goldsworthy L. Dickinson (1862-1932), educated at King’s College & later a Fellow there, he wrote on international relations in a liberal vein.

Les Dieux ont soif novel (1912) by Anatole France. The English translation, The Gods are Athirst, came out in 1913.

Lālā Dinānāth (b.1878) Arya Samajist of advanced views, belonging to Gujranwala, Punjab. He was editor of the nationalist journal Hindustan. In 1907, as the printer of India (see India-3) he was sentenced to two years’ rigorous imprisonment.

Dindayāl Din Dayāl Bose of 24-Parganas, a co-accused of Sri Aurobindo in the Alipore Bomb Case. He was acquitted by the Sessions Court.

Dingaan also spelt Dingane (d.1840), Zulu chief from 1828 to 1840. After instigating the murder of his half-brother, chief Chaka, Dingaan ruled until deposed by his brother Mpande.

Diogenes a writer in The Statesman. The original Diogenes (c.412-323 BC), a Greek philosopher, was considered the originator & archetype of the Cynics – a sect that stressed the austerity of stoic self-sufficiency & dramatically discarded all social conventions, taking up his abode in a tub. He is said to have thrown away his last utensil, a cup, when he saw a peasant drink from his hands.

Diomedes son of Tydeus & Deipyle; he brought eighty Argive ships to Troy & was one of the most respected Greek leaders in the Trojan War.

Dionaean epithet of Aphrodite from her mother Dione, original consort of Zeus.

Dionysus Greek god of fertility & wine; also called Bacchus. He was intimately connected with the Eleusian Mysteries (q.v.), & was patron of choral songs & drama.

Dioskouroi The twin heroes Castor & Pollux in Greek, were referred to as the Dioscuri in Roman. In Homer they are sons of Leda & King Tyndareus of Sparta, but some said that they were, like Helen, children of Leda & Zeus. They were noted for their rescue of Helen from Aphidnae, for their part in the Caledonian hunt & the expedition of the Argonauts, & for their final battle with another pair of inseparable twins, their cousins & rivals, Idas & Lynceus, sons of Aphareus. Zeus decreed that the twins should spend their days alternately in the underworld & among the gods. He also set their image among the stars as Gemini. Poseidon gave them power over wind & wave. In art each is represented as mounted on a magnificent white horse, carrying a spear, & wearing an egg-shaped helmet crowned with a star.

Dirce Queen of Thebes, & wife of Lycus. Amphion & Zethus punished her for her cruelty to their mother, Antilope, by tying her to the horns of a bull, as she had intended to do to Antilope. Dirce was turned into, or her bones were burnt & thrown into, the spring which bore her name.

Dīrghatamas (Auchathya) Vedic Rishi, son of Uchathya. Born blind he obtained sight by worshipping Agni.

Dis Roman god of the underworld, equivalent to the Greek Pluto or Hades.

Diti mother of the Daityas, goddess or personification of Divided Consciousness.

Divina Commedia Dante’s epic written (c.1310-14); the Divina was added by a later generation of his admirers. Divided into three major sections – Inferno, Purgatorio, & Paradiso – symbolising the journey from darkness & error to the revelation of the divine light culminating in the Beatific Vision of God.

Divodāsa pious liberal king in Rig-Veda, for whom the Vedic Indra demolished the airborne castles of the Asura Shambara (q.v.).

Dodona oracle in the mountains of Epirus (q.v.), sacred to Zeus & Dione. Priests interpreted the words of the oracle from the sound of a holy spring & from the wind in a sacred oak tree.

Dodsley, Robert (1703-64), English author, editor, bookseller & publisher, associated with publishing works of Samuel Johnson, Pope, Grey, & Oliver Goldsmith.

Dolopes Greek tribe of Aetolia & Epirus, reduced to vassalage by the Thessalians.

Dolores a lyric by Swinburne published.

Dongurh Marathi pronunciation Dungarpur a hillside town c.70km west of Idar & c.160km SW of Chittodgadh. It was the capital of Dungarpur kingdom founded in 1197 by Sāmant Singh, eldest son of Karan Singh of Mewār, a descendant of Bāppā. Dungarpur’s rules were descendants of Mahup, the eldest son Karan Singh, hence claim to be the elder line of the dynasty & bear the title of Mahā-Rāwal. Dungarpur town was founded towards the end of the 14^th century by Rāwal Veer Singh who named it after Dungaria, an independent Bheel chieftain he had got murdered. Veer Singh died at Khanwa in 1527, fighting Babar alongside Rāṇā Saṅga & his kingdom was split into Dungarpur & Banswāra which is 90 km SW & was ruled successively by Mughals, Marathas & British. Under Pax Britannica, droughts & famines from 1818 to 1901 decimated the population of the State to 100,103 & of the town to 6094.

Don Juan epic-satire by Byron (1819-24).

Donne John (1572-1631) dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral, lead poet of English Metaphysical School, his poems & sermons were marked by passion & wit.

Don Quixote hero of Don Quixote (de la Mancha), by Cervantes Saavedra (1547-1616), Spanish novelist, dramatist & poet.

Dorian(s) one of ancient races of Greece, originally settled in the Peloponnesus (q.v.), expanded to Crete & spread colonies to Italy, Sicily, & Asia Minor. Their full inrush came after the fall of Troy.

Dorian Gray hero of Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Doumergue, Gaston (1863-1937), 12^th president of France’s Third Republic.

Draconian Dracso or Dracon (c.7^th cent. BC) Athenian lawgiver, who introduced (c.621 BC) laws prescribing death for almost all criminal offences. Hence, ‘draconian’ mean ‘inhuman’.

Droupadie/ Draupadi/ Draupady daughter of Drupada, king of Pāñchāla, one of the Pañcakanyāḥ (see Ahalyā). Her other names were Krūshnā (dark, like her cousin Sri Krishna), Pāñchāli (princess of Pāñchāla), Yajñaseni (born out of Drupada’s Putrakāmeshti yajña), Parshati (granddaughter of Prishata), Nītya-yuvani (eternal virgin), & Yojana-gandhā (her fragrance spread far & wide). In earlier avatars, she was born as Vedavati who cursed Rāvana & in the next as Sītā the cause of Rāvana’s death. In her perilous climb to the top of the Himalayas with the Pandavas, she falls first & Yudhishthīra the last. [S/a Pāñchāli Śapatham]

Dravidians Sanjeev Sanyal: The theory of Aryan invasion had to be drastically revised when the remains of the sophisticated Harappan civilisation was discovered. They proved that Indian civilisation clearly predated 1500 BC. Oddly, the ‘Aryan invasion theory’ was not thrown away. It was now argued that a people called the Dravidians (supposed ancestors of modern-day Tamils) created the Indus cities & that these cities were destroyed by the invading Aryans. This theory too ran into trouble. There is virtually no archaeological or literary evidence of such a large scale invasion. The Harappan cities did not suddenly collapse but suffered a slow decline as a key river [the Saraswati] dried up & environmental conditions deteriorated…. The first thing that should be clear is that there are no ‘pure’ races in India. With the possible exception of some tiny isolated groups, the vast majority of Indian tribes, castes & communities are a mixture of many genetic streams.... A 2006 study showed that India’s population mix has been broadly stable for a very long time & there has been no major injection of Central Asian genes for over 10,000 years. It also showed that the population of Dravidian speakers has lived for a long time in southern India & the so-called Dravidian genetic pool may even have originated there. A study of 2009 suggests that the bulk of the Indian population can be explained by the mixture of two ancestral groups an older south Indian & a somewhat more recent north Indian but the latter have a 40-50% share even in the south India & among tribal groups of central India. Indeed, there is no ‘pure’ population of ancestral south Indian strand.” [Land of the Seven Rivers – A Brief history of India’s geography, 2012]

Mr & Mrs Drewett In June 1879, Dr. Ghose took his family to England to admit his sons to an English school in England. He could do this on the assurance given by his friend Edward George Glazier, Collector of Rungpur that Glazier’s cousin William H. Drewett who lived in Manchester, would to take charge of the boys. Glazier had also assured him that the Nonconformist Congregational Church, of which Drewett was a minister, attached a great importance to modern trends in education. The Drewett family, which consisted of William, his mother Elizabeth & wife Mary lived at 84, Shakespeare Street, Stockport Road, Ardwick, agreed to take in the boys in exchange for regular remittances for their maintenance. Benoy & Manmohan read at the Manchester Grammar School which, thanks to Mr F.W. Walker, who was appointed its High Master in 1859, had risen “from provincial obscurity to a commanding position in the academic records of the country” [RES PAULINAE The 8th half-century of St. Paul’s School, edited by R.B. Gardiner, M.A. (formerly Surmaster) & John Lupton, M.A. (lately Asst. Master); St. Paul’s School, West Kensington, 1911: 116-17]. Arabinda read at home: William grounded him in Latin & Greek & English history; Mary coached him in French, geography, & arithmetic. Apparently in 1884, leaving the Ghose brothers in charge of orthodox old Elizabeth, William & Mary who had accepted to host them as paying guests, immigrated to Australia (with or without Mrs Drewett’s sister Edith Fishbourne who was in 1881, so Govt. census, 22 years old to Arabinda’s 9), without forgetting to collect the dues from a pauperised Dr. Ghose. How much of a ‘home sweet home’ were those five years in the Drewett home for the blackies who never had one even when with their parents may be gauged by these statements of E.R. Braithwaite: “To many in Britain a Negro is a ‘darky’ or a ‘nigger’ or a ‘black’…they expect of him a courteous subservience & contentment with a lowly state…. It was not entirely their fault. They had been taught with the same textbooks that these children [in his class] were using now [in 1959], & had fully digested the concept [Prophet Darwin’s dictum] that coloured people were physically, mentally, socially & culturally inferior to themselves.” [To Sir, With Love, Penguin, New York, 1987, pp.41, 99-100] A crucial reason for emigrating must be the dwindling payments of Dr Ghose & his ‘brainwashing’ his sons with ‘scandalous’ cuttings from The Bengalee relating cases of maltreatment of Indians by Englishmen & his ‘wicked’ letters denouncing the British Govt. in India as heartless. [See SABCL 26:3-4, Light & St. Paul’s School]

Drishdāwati the river forming one of the boundaries of Brahmavarta which flowed into the sacred Saraswati. The two are mentioned in Rig-Veda along with the Apaya, as the scene of action of the Bharata princes.

Drōṇa was born (according to Mahābhārata) from the semen of Rishi Bharadwāja in a droṇa (vessel made of leaves), hence named Droṇa. In his father’s Gurukūla, he mastered the Sanātanah Dharma & also (under the great Parashurāma) the art of military strategies & the sciences of material & occult weapons (astras & shastras). One of his closest friends in the Gurukūla was Drupada, then the crown prince of Pāñchāla. Droṇa married Kripi, the sister of Kripāchārya, the royal teacher of the princes of Hastināpura. Like Droṇa himself, Kripi & her brother had not been gestated in a womb, but outside the human body. Kripi & Droṇa had a son, Ashwatthāma; Droṇa did penance so that his son would be as valiant as Shiva. Desiring to free his family from poverty, Droṇa approached King Drupada. But the king insulted him by saying they no longer had the same status in the Gurukūla; all Droṇa could rightly expect from him was alms & not friendship of equals. When the princes of Hastināpura related to Bhīṣma how an expert archer had extracted their ball from a well, he instantly realizes it was Droṇa, & appointed him the Ᾱchārya (Guru) training them in military arts & sciences. In spite of his attachment to the Pandavas, he had to fight for Duryodhana in the Great Civil War. During which his attempt to capture Yudhishthira & end the War as Duryodhana had ordered him to do, was checked by Dhristadyoumna (born to kill him) whom he disabled but Arjunā’s disciple Sātyaki blocked Droṇa until the five sons of the Pandavas rescued Dhristadyoumna. On the 15^th day, Droṇa used the Brahmāstra killing both Virāṭa & Drupada along with their armies. Knowing it was impossible to defeat an armed Droṇa, Krishna asked Bhīma to kill the elephant named Ashwatthāma & made Yudhishthīra announce “Ashwatthāma is dead”. Believing Yudhishthīra’s shout, Droṇa threw down his weapons & Dhrishtadyoumna’s arrow beheaded him.

Druids of Celtic Britain & Gaul & probably of all Celtics of Europe (see Celts), were highly advanced in occult & spiritual knowledge & practices which have, all over the world, always been passed down only personally & only to confirmed initiates.

Drūpad(a) king of Pāñchāla, father of Pāñchāli, Draupadi.

Dryden John (1631-1700), English poet, dramatist, translator, & critic. The later 17th century is sometimes termed “the age of Dryden”.

D. Swami Sayānapūram Doraiswami Iyer (1882-1976) was born at Kālahasti, the fourth child of Vidyanātha Iyer who was in the administrative service of the Raja of Kālahasti (now Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh). When pregnant with him, his mother had prayed daily at the Kālahasti temple, & been granted three boons to her forthcoming child: a long life, an illustrious career & a pious life. Once, after her pradakshīṇa of the temple she fainted & on coming round found the prasādam of coconut, betel leaves & fruit placed near her, symbolising the Lord’s assurance. Around 1884, after her husband’s death she left Sayānapūram & came away with her children to her father’s house in Madras. The children grew up under the benign influence of their maternal grandfather, the great Veena Kuppu Aiyer & his son Thiruvottriyur Thyāga Aiyer, both deeply religious personalities & masters of Carnatic music in the tradition of Sambamoorthy Sastri. Kuppaiyar’s guru Saint Thyāgaraj of Thiruvaiyaru once visited here & sang his famous kriti “Sri Venuganalola ne” in raga Kedāragowla. Twice a year Kuppaiyar held ten-day music festivals where famous artistes including his disciples Coimbatore Thai & Veena Dhanam performed & the whole neighbourhood attended. The family worshipped regularly at the Thiruvottriyur Amman temple & later became devoted to Ramana Maharshi. In 1904, when still a student at Law College, he became a disciple of Kāvyakantha Ganapati Muni (Nāyanā to his disciples) who named him Sudhanwan (q.v.). Nāyanā fired him & his friends with his discourses on the greatness & depth of our Vedic heritage & the need to revive it in order to regain the vitality & courage of true manhood. By then Subramania Bhārathi had moved into a house in the same street. He composed many of his songs in D’s house & their friendship lasted until Bhārati’s death. It was the time when revolutionary activities of Punjab & Bengal had reached the ears of D & his friends. Inspired by the revolutionary movements in Punjab & Bengal, especially Sri Aurobindo’s Bande Mataram, they sought Nāyāna’s the guidance & formed a small revolutionary band including Chidambaram Pillai, Chakkarai Chettiar, Jayarama Naidu, Raghunatha Rao & several teachers, lawyers & writers, they formed the first group of nationalist Tamils of 40 spread over Madras, Chittoor & Vellore. D & the Mandāyam brothers, Thirumalāchāri & Srinivasachari, contributed generously to help Pillai start his Swadeshi Steam Navigation Co. They also helped Thirumalāchāri launch his weekly India in 1906, in which Bharati published most of his powerful writings & forbade them from taking up any violent activities. He gave them the mantra Umām Vandemātaram, as a source of their power, & the next year wrote Umā Sahasram embodying the quintessence of all Her aspects & invoking Her grace for the freedom of the Motherland. He left them in Nov.1907. [Nāyanā, by G. Krishna, Kāvyakantha Vasishtha Ganapatimuni Trust, Madras, 1978, based on the Telugu original by Gunturu Laskmikantan of Yellamanchili, published from Secundrabad in 1978] D & some of his group attended the Surat Congress where they witnessed Sri Aurobindo’s role in that historic Congress [see V.V. Sastrulu’s account in entry Tilak]. In August 1908, Bhārathiyār & his friends moved to Pondicherry. “After Bharati escaped to Pondicherry,” writes D’s grand-nephew, “information regarding the freedom struggle used to be sent to Appā [D] through paper slips that were dropped as though they were alms into the hands of couriers who were in the guise of beggars seated outside the Thiruvottriyur temple…. This stealth became necessary because his house was under police surveillance – a constable in mufti was always sitting on the thinnai.” [“A Mission to Tiruvottriyur” by Cmdr. R. Ganapati (Retd.), in Madras Musings, March 16-31, 2009]

In 1911, D was called by an important client in Cuddalore. He brought that brief to Sri Aurobindo who pointed out the detail on which he could build his case. D won the case & a fortune as his fee which he offered to Sri Aurobindo but the latter refused. Back home, as per his promise to his dying mother, he got married 12-year old Meenakshi of Madurai. It was also natural that Kapāli Shāstri, a relative of D & also a devotee of Bhagawan Ramana Maharshi & Nāyanā, would turn to Sri Aurobindo & first visit him 1917 & later settled in the Ashram.

After taking his law degree D had taken up work with S. Srinivasa Iyengar (later Advocate-General), & later under Sir P.S. Sivaswami Iyer. Although, he began practice (around 1916-17) with only Rs.15-30 a month, his “inborn gifts” (Sri Aurobindo’s phrase), his many-sidedness, uprightness, straightforwardness, nobility of character, helped him build an exceedingly lucrative legal practice & his high ethical & professional standards won the esteem of judges & colleagues alike. “He was never known to mislead the judge or overstate his client’s case or understate that of his opponent,” writes his junior Rāma Iyengar. “So much so, it became a regular practice for the presiding judge to ask the court stenographer to take down his opening address, & to reproduce it later verbatim, in the initial paragraphs of the judgement. He had, on one occasion, accepted a brief on the original side for a defendant on a fee of Rs. 6,000 expecting the case to last for three days. Justice Reilly, the presiding judge, agreed with him on a preliminary point & dismissed the suit in limine, & the trial was over before lunch-break on the first day itself. D asked his secretary to immediately write out a cheque for Rs. 4,000 & hand it over to the client, who, having won the case, was exceedingly reluctant to receive it; but his protestations were of no avail…. And this was no stray incident.” No wonder then that in later years, when he attended a proceeding, he was not expected to stand up with the others when the judge entered, or that he refused the post of a judgeship. To Nirodbaran’s question Isn’t it because of his change of consciousness resulting in a change of values of life that he could discard all fame, post of honour, etc.? Sri Aurobindo replied: “I don’t think so. He never wanted to be a judge etc., he was never an office hunter.’’ [Correspondence with Sri Aurobindo]

In 1921, when his circle of patriots decided to join Gandhi’s non-cooperation movement, Sri Aurobindo assured him that “Mother India does not need either his [Sri Aurobindo’s] own or D’s services – she was destined to achieve freedom any way & very soon.” He was highly respected for the silent substantial help he always rendered to the needy & deserving that came his way. In the early 1920s, D was forced to buy Palm Grove, a large estate in Royāpettah High Road (near Kapālishwar temple), from an advocate friend whose practice was on the wane. At that time there were more than twenty juniors working under D (among the ones who did not linger long was R. Venkatarāman who turned politician & became President of India). In 1923, Sri Aurobindo asked him to arrange for an urgent operation at Palm Grove itself for a sadhak accompanied by Champaklal, Purani & Rājangam. The operation was performed by Dr. Rangāchāri, the highest paid surgeon in town. That same year, Sri Aurobindo asked him to convey a private message to C.R. Das who was then in Madras after visiting Sri Aurobindo.

“An interesting incident happened yesterday,” wrote Punamchand to Dikshit on 14 July 1927. “Babuji (Sri Aravinda) signed on the deed for the house he has purchased in the presence of local French citizens as per French laws. Among the citizens were Philippe [Pavitra], M. Potel, David (barrister), D (at Babuji’s invitation), & the house owner. When everything was arranged in one of the rooms on the first floor of his house, the above named people went upstairs. Chairs were already placed there. First, Mātushri came & saw if all had come. Then she went inside. Next, they both came out, Sri Aravinda in front & Mātushri behind him. D made sāshtāṇga-dandavata pranam. Sri Aravinda’s seat was, as always, immediately beside the door. Everyone folded their hands. He himself was very serious. Taking the deed from the owner, D gave to him; he read the whole of it. Meanwhile, D took the pen from the table, opened it & put it in Mātushri’s hand. She was standing beside Babuji’s chair. Then he said, “Where have I to sign?” D pointed out the place. After signing, he immediately got up, bowed with folded hands to all &, without saying or doing anything, went inside.... D was saying that his body appeared very tender & much fairer than before. This was the first time he came out after November [24, 1926].... Write the above account to Chandulal at Bombay, to identify the room, write that this was the room where Mātushri & Sri Aravinda sit for meditation.” [Raman Reddy, “Sri Aurobindo Ashram – The Story of the Main Building”, 2008] In 1928, the Mother admitted Meenakshi & D’s younger sister to the Ashram. Such was the Mother’s trust in D’s judgment that while no one was allowed to visit the Ashram without her permission, he could bring along with him those he felt were worthy of coming. Among those seekers he helped to turn to Sri Aurobindo & the Mother, was his client Rama Reddy of Nellore, whom Sri Aurobindo was to rename Satyakarma & whom, later on, the Mother made one of the first Trustees of the Ashram. But before Appā actually left Madras, the Grace offered him an opportunity to set in motion a long overdue change in the Government’s attitude towards Sri Aurobindo & his devotees. Since the time Sri Aurobindo arrived in Pondicherry, the British police helped by the French, kept a watch over everyone who visited him. Here is an account by one visitor: “When I left Pondicherry to Madras [in 1923] a secret policeman was dogging my footsteps & pointing me out to his relieving brother policeman at the railway junction, & this continued till I reached Gooty, my destination, which is next to Guntakkal…. After I reached the place, the local inspector of police came to enquire with my father-in-law as to when I would leave the place & about my future plans etc…. I somehow pacified my wife & started to go after a couple of days’ stay. But, I was threatened with serious consequences if I went, by official & non-official friends of my father-in-law, who was an influential & leading lawyer in the place…. The police, as usual dogged my steps till I reached the Master.” [At the Feet of the Master, T. Kodanda Rama Rao] Then, in 1937, the first Congress ministry was ushered in Madras, with Rajagopalachari as the Premier. He offered Appā the post of Advocate-General. While declining the offer, Appā requested a cessation of this sort of police harassment which had been going on for over three decades; & perhaps pointed to the unproductive expense of money & manpower. Rājāji pulled the necessary strings & the result is reflected in this remark in the diary of Yogananda, a disciple of Sri Aurobindo: “I began my journey to Pondicherry, arriving on 11 August 1932. In those days, the main gate of the Ashram remained always closed. Outside the Ashram, British spies kept constant vigil. Only in 1937 did this spying stop, due to the intercession with the Government by one of Sri Aurobindo’s disciples, Doraiswami.” [“Their Presence: Vast & Unfathomable”, Mother India, Jan”09, p.61]

Early in August 1938, D presented a copy of Umā Sahasram to Sri Aurobindo. Later Mother told him, “If Ganapati Sastri is inclined to come for the August 15^th Darshan he is welcome.” Accordingly, he brought Nāyanā on the 14^th. He stayed with D in his room in Meditation House for about three weeks. On 16^th, when he met Mother for 30 minutes, he felt spiritual currents passing into him from all sides, while Mother later told D, “He is the one man who immediately entered into my spiritual Consciousness & stuck to it to the end.” The next meeting, on 19^th, lasted 45 minutes. While he recited hymns on the Mother & talked of her present Avatāra, she went into trance: he saw a bright light emerging from her toe, then a halo around her entire being, the whole atmosphere was surcharged with divine currents. The last meeting, on 25^th, lasted 70 minutes. [“My diary-leaves”, K.S. Venkatarāman, Breath of Grace, 1971, pp.362-3] Later Mother told D that when she meditated with Nāyanā she felt a flow of new powers into her, & that his presence had the power to drive away Asuric forces, a phenomenon she witnessed during the evening soup ceremonies [“Ganapati Muni & the Mother”, Madhav P. Pandit, Mother India, February 1965, pp.14-15]

“The day after Cripps’ broadcast, there was a discussion in Pavitra’s room, & the Mother happening to come that side, joined…and spoke her mind…. ‘…behind this offer there is the Divine Grace directly present…. But if it is rejected the Grace will withdraw & then the nation will suffer terribly, calamity will overtake it.’ The Mother then referred to France rejecting the Grace in 1940 when Churchill, after the evacuation from Dunkirk, offered a ‘union’ & joint nationality with Britain to fight Hitler….” [On the Mother, by K.R.S. Iyengar, SAICE, Sri Aurobindo Ashram, 3rd Ed. 1994, pp.425-26] ― Soon afterwards, Sri Aurobindo deputed Appā to carry his message to Dr. B.S. Moonje of Hindu Mahāsabhā, & Rajagopalachari, a friend of Appā & a senior Congress leader, in connection with the Cripps Proposals [see Autobiographical Notes…, Sri Aurobindo Ashram, 2006, p.469-71] “It was the evening hour,” writes Nirodbaran, “Sri Aurobindo was sitting on the edge of his bed just before his daily walking exercise. All of us [attendants] were present; Duraiswamy…was to start for Delhi that very night. He came for Sri Aurobindo’s blessings, lay prostrate before him, got up & stood looking at the Master with folded hands & then departed…. Duraiswami went with the soul of India in his ‘frail’ hands & brought it back, downhearted, rewarded with ungracious remarks for the gratuitous advice…. When the rejection was announced, Sri Aurobindo said in a quiet tone, ‘I knew it would fail.’ We at once pounced on him & asked him, ‘Why did you then send Duraiswamy at all?’ ‘For a bit of nishkāma karma,’ was his calm reply, without any bitterness or resentment.” [Twelve Years with Sri Aurobindo, 1st Ed. 1972, 3rd Revised & Enlarged Ed.1988, pp.148-50] In August 1942, Rajagopalachari opposed the Quit India program, & in October 1943, he wrote in the Amrita Bazaar Patrika, pleading for reconsideration & revival of Cripps’ Proposals, giving the same reasons as Sri Aurobindo had conveyed to him through D. [Evening Talks with Sri Aurobindo, A.B. Purani, 2007, p.769-70; s/a “A Sage’s Emissary”, K. Vedamurthy, Madras Musings, March 16-31, 2009; “Gandhi & Rājāji” by R. Guhā, The Hindu, Feb. 2, 2003.]

Appā had always believed he would die after the age of 60, so Mother admitted him to the Ashram in 1938 & gave him & his family the small house in the same building as the Embroidery Dept. He passed away there on 2^nd December 1979. Sri Aurobindo had promised to come to him at the time of death, so, after having bid his adieu to all present, he gestured to them to keep silent& passed the last hours in deep meditation& peace.

Dublin capital of the Irish Republic.

Duchess of Malfi chief character in a tragic play of the same name by John Webster. As a result of her marriage to a commoner, she is imprisoned by her brother &, after a prolonged torture, put to death. First performed c.1613 & first published in 1623.

Dufferin Lord Frederick Temple Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1^st Marquis of Dufferin & Ava (1826-1902), replaced Ripon as Viceroy-cum-Gov.-Gen. (1884-88) to protect the interests of the white settlers who had merged their private associations into an awesome agitation & choked off both Viceroy Ripon & his Ilbert Bill. What had alarmed London was the reaction of the native politicians to the success of the white settlers’ agitations. Some of them had set aside their distinct regional aspirations & demands, & try to build an alliance on common national issues which naturally would have a stronger impact on the rulers. Informed of this developing situation, Dufferin commissioned recently retired Hume to find out what national issues drew these politicians together & how resolute they could be. Already apprised by Indian & British CID of the rumbling volcano of increasing outbreaks of sporadic violent crimes in many parts of rural India involving the illiterate starving masses & the down-but-not-out native fighting classes, & fishing in those waters were Afghan & Russian imperialists with whom British imperialism had created an unceasing tussle for the Indian empire when Lytton had invaded Afghanistan. Then in 1884, Russia captured Merv, a town about 150 miles north-west of British India’s border along Afghanistan, rousing Britain’s fears of a Russian invasion of Afghanistan & thence into north-west India, even though the Afghan Emir managed to dissolve such a possibility. Dufferin, naturally, did not want the newly politically conscious Indian leaders to play into the hands of these dangerous elements – what with Ripon creating district boards & giving them charge of public education, etc., bound to awaken the proletariate to national political issues. Satisfied with Hume’s report on their loyalty & submissiveness, Dufferin asked him to provide them an anodyne platform (like done for soap-box orators in London’s Hyde Park) to vent their woes & demands, & problems & solutions, but make sure they have no connection with the suffering proletariat.

Duhshāsana infamous for dragging Draupadi in King Dhṛitarāṣṭra court in front of him all his ministers & courtiers, failing to strip her, & being killed at Kurukshetra by Bhīma who drank his blood to fulfil his vow made that day in that court.

Dumas, Alexander Alexandre (Davy de la Pailleterie) Dumas, also called Dumas Père, (1802-70), novelist & dramatist, best known for The Three Musketeers.

Dundac Dandakāranya, a forest lying mainly between the Godāvari & Narmadā. In the age of the Rāmāyana the forest was immediately south Yamunā.

Duntvaccar Dantavakra, king of Karūṣa (see Karoosh), born of a demon. He was defeated in the Mahabharata battle by Sahadeva, the youngest of the Pāndavas. [Misspelt Duntvuccar in SABCL 8:40, remains misspelt Duntvuccar in CWSA 5:46!]

Dupleix College of Chandernagore, where Charu Chander Ray was professor.

Durandhar, M.V. (1871-1944), artist, author & publisher.

Durant, Will William James (1885-1981), his The Story of Philosophy & The Story of Civilization, established him as a writer of popular philosophy & history.

Durazzo Italian for Durres, Serbo-Croatian Drac, seaport of Albania on the Adriatic coast. It was held by the Turks from 1501 until their defeat in First Balkan War (q.v.)

Durgesh Nandini Bankim Chandra’s first novel, written in 1862-64 & published in 1865, features a Rajput hero & a Bengali heroine; with it was born the Bengali novel. In 1872, Prof Cowell, then at Cambridge reviewed it in Macmillan’s Magazine (q.v.).

Durvāsā son of Atri & Anasūya. An ansha of Shiva, noted for his impulsive fury, & many fell or suffered under his curse.

Duryodhan(a) the eldest son of King Dhṛitarāṣṭra.

Dushyanta descendant of Puru [see Pururavas]; he married Shakuntalā; it is after their son Bharata that the country is named Bhārata. Dushyanta is hero of Kālidāsa’s play Abhijñāna Śākuntalam.

Dutt, Bhupen(dranath) (1880-1961) youngest brother of Swami Vivekananda. During the search of the office of the Yugāntar, he declared himself the editor, though he was then incapable of writing important articles. He was arrested & sentenced. “Yugantar was involved again & again in sedition cases. In the first of these cases the statement given by Bhupendranath Dutt as editor was actually written by Aurobindo-babu…. Bhupen sent a request for an appeal to be filed in the High Court! When Aurobindo-babu was informed of this, he said: ‘How can we appeal a case in the High Court that we did not even defend? Listen, go to the jail & get Bhupen to sign a power of attorney, bring it back here & destroy it.’ Needless to say, this is what was done.” [Abinash Bhattacharya, “Sri Aurobindo”, Mother India, July 2012]

Dutt, Charu Chandra (1877-1952), ICS, began career as magistrate & then as judge in Bombay. Sri Aurobindo met him in 1904. After retiring in 1925 he stayed for some time at Santiniketan; then settled in Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry, in 1940.

Dutt, Hirendranath (1868-1942), a solicitor.

Dutt, K.B. President of INC at Midnapore in December 1907.

Dutt, (Michael) Madh(o)usudan (1824-73), Bengali poet & dramatist, the first great poet of modern Bengali literature. A dynamic, erratic person, he learnt Greek, Latin & several European & Oriental languages & was a genius of a high order. Meghanādavadha-kāvya is his magnum opus. Educated in the Hindu College under Henry Derozio (1809-1831, a Eurasian born in Calcutta who became a teacher of philosophy in that college at the age of 18), when his father was to get him marries, he ran away to the Missionaries & was baptised in February 1843. For four years he remained at Bishop’s College, Calcutta; then went to Madras where he stayed in great poverty. Returning to Calcutta in1856, he became Interpreter in the Calcutta Police Court & also wrote poetry. In 1862, he went to England & was called to the bar; from 1867, he practised without much success at Calcutta.

Dutt, Okhay Kumar (1821-86) journalist, social reformer, educationist, pioneer of Bengali prose. Born in Burdwan district: educated in his village school, & at the Oriental Seminary, Calcutta: contributed to Bengali Prabhākari: edited Ādi Brahmo Samāj’s Tattwabodhini Patrika started by Debendranath Tagore: wrote several scholarly books including Religious Sects of India in Bengali: published essays in Bengali on scientific subjects. [Buckland]

Dutt(a), Ramesh/ Romesh Chandra (1848-1909), son of Ishān Chandra Dutt: educated at Hare’s School, Presidency College, Calcutta, University College, London: passed ICS 1869: member ICS 1871-97: Barrister of the Middle Temple & Fellow of Calcutta Univ.: Lecturer on Indian History at University College, London. He promoted social reform &, in 1899 presided over the Lucknow Congress; served Baroda State as revenue minister from 1904 to 1906, & its Dewan from 1909. He wrote in Bengali a series of historical & social novels & translated the Rig-Veda into Bengali & the Rāmāyana & the Mahābhārata into English verse, & Economic history of British India–1757-1900c, in 2 vols. [Buckland]

Dutt, Toru Tarulata Dutt (1856-77), a cousin of Romesh Dutt, youngest daughter of Govinda Chandra Dutt, a convert to Christianity, who took her & her elder sister Aru to England in 1869: studied English & Greek thoroughly & French at Nice: attended lectures at Cambridge & St. Leonards: back in Calcutta, studied Sanskrit & French: contributed poetry & essays to local magazines, esp. Bengal Magazine. In 1874 Aru died of T.B. In 1876 Toru published a collection of her lyrics translated from French: A Sheaf Gleaned in French Fields which were favourably reviewed in the English & French Press. She also died of T.B. on Aug. 20, 1877. The sisters were good musicians & neither had married. Besides her ballads & legends of Hindusthan, Toru left the Mss of a French novel Le Journal de Mademoiselle D’Arvers. [Buckland]

Dutta name given by Sri Aurobindo & the Mother to Dorothy Hodgson (1884-1948). She joined the Mother in 1915 & came with her to Pondicherry in 1920.

Dutt(a), Aswini (Kumar)/ Ashwini Babu (1856-1923) Nationalist leader of Barisal district; professor of English literature & of law; founded the Brajamohan Institute (see Chatterjee, Satish), & started the “Little Brothers of the Poor”.

Dvīpāntara Andamans (dwipa island+antara group).

Dwāpara (Yuga) traditionally, 3^rd of the four Yugas in which righteousness is diminished by half. Sri Krishna manifested in the last Dwāpara.

Dwār(a)kā having been Sri Krishna’s capital, it was mandatory for the progenitor of the Socialist Secular Republic to downgrade that communalist creation into an out-of-the-way town of his Bombay State (created by his predecessors as one of their Provinces). This explains the terminology of this report by a secular journalist of a secular newspaper:

Jacob Koshy: The Dept. of Science & Technology (DST) is looking to send robotic vehicles into the sea near Dwārkā & Puhar (see Chōlas), Tamil Nadu, to look for submerged structures that may, according to a person aware of the project [=not the official spokesperson], point to evidence of ancient cities. The programme... is expected to involve organisations such as the National Institute Ocean Technology, Chennai, & the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), Goa. The former has indigenously built vehicles capable of plumbing 5,000 metres & the NIO has previous experience in marine archaeology. “Along with historical interest, this is also to test several technologies such as sophisticated imaging technology, being able to map the ocean floor with sonar & being able to date old stones & recoverable implements using the latest techniques”, a person at the DST [=not the official spokesperson] told me. “A proposal has been cleared but funding should be clear in three months.” – “Excavations at Dwārkā, a coastal town in Jamnagar district of Gujarat, have a long history. Nearly a decade ago, the Underwater Archaeology Wing of the Archaeology Survey of India (ASI) found copper coins & segments of granite structures. Mentioned in the Mahabharata as ‘Dvārakā’ or ‘Dvāravati’, it is also linked to the god [=not The One & Only True God] Krishna. Dwārkā, a port city finds mention in ancient Greek texts from the 1^st millennium &, according to legend [=fiction], was a rich city that sank into the sea.” ― “The first excavations at Dwārkā were done by the Deccan College, Pune & the Dept. of Archaeology, the Govt. of Gujarat, in 1963 under the direction of H.D. Sānkaliā. Over the years, it has thrown up potteries that suggest that the city could be over 3,000 years old.... This isn’t the first attempt by the government to search for evidence of mythological [=fictional] entities. In October, an expert committee of geologists, archaeologists & hydrologists said, it has found evidence of the Saraswati, a river mentioned in the Rig Veda & in Hindu mythology [=not scientifically established history]…. This was a study commissioned by the Water Resources Ministry & led by Professor K.S. Valdiya of the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre of Advanced Scientific Research…. His report concluded that evidence from palaeo-channels – remnants of defunct rivers – suggested that the Saraswati-Mārkanda rivulets in Haryana were the water courses of the ‘eastern branch of a Himalayan river’ & Ghāggar-Patiali channels its western branches.” [The Hindu, 1 July 2017:9]

Dyau(s)/ Dyauh/ Dyuloka heaven; the highest of the three cosmic regions spoken of by the Rishis. Also the plane of the pure mental consciousness, of which Swar, the luminous mind, is the summit.

Dyaushpita in the Vedas, the king of heaven [cf. Zeus]. The father of Usha, the goddess of Dawn is called Dyau-pitri, heavenly father, the Earth as her mother.

Dyer, John (1699-1757), Welshman chiefly remembered as the author of Grongar Hill (1726), a short descriptive & meditative poem on which the countryside.

Dyumat(h)sena “Lord of the Shining Hosts” ― “the Divine Mind here fallen blind, losing its celestial kingdom of vision”. [SABCL 26:265]. He was the father of Satyavān in the episode of Satyavān & Sāvitri in the Mahābhārata.

The East India Charter royal charter issued on December 31,1600, under the name of the Governor & Company of Merchants of London trading with the East Indies, incorporating the British East India Company as a commercial organization.

The East India Company was established in London in 1600 as a joint-stock company of English merchants, who received, by a series of charters, exclusive rights to English trade with the “Indies”, defined as the lands lying between the Cape of Good Hope & the Straits of Magellan. In 1608 it decided to establish factories in India & in 1609 sent Captain Hawkins to meet Jahangir who, at first was willing to permit the Company to settle at Surat, finally refused due to the hostile activities of the Portuguese there & dissatisfaction of native merchants. In 1611, the Company avenged itself on the local merchants & the Portuguese until Jehangir sanctioned their permanent settlement in Surat in 1613. Then sent a soft-spoken shark, Sir Thomas Roe who managed to delude Jahangir at Ahmedabad & before Roe left in 1619, the Company had besides Surat, sneaked into Ahmedabad, Bharuch & Agra. In 1687, its Directors were advising the soldiers, administrators, traders, missionaries “to establish a polity of civil & military power, & create & secure such a large revenue to secure both...as may the foundation of a large, well grounded, secure English dominion in India for all time to come.” This policy gave birth to the Octopus which the Govt. of Great Britain gladly inherited & fostered from 1858directors.

“A small event of far-reaching importance,” writes Karandikar “was the arrival at Calicut in May 1498 of a few Portuguese ships under Vasco de Gama. The spread of the power of Portugal along the western coast of India, the subsequent arrival of the Dutch, the French & the English, the transfer of Bombay by the Portuguese to the English, &, Anglo-French rivalry in India as part of their rivalry for world supremacy [led to] the assertion of English superiority over the French by the middle of the 18^th century, & the penetration of the English bacilli into Bengal, the right lung of India, in 1757, which is the fateful battle of Plassey.” Clive (1725-74) sowed the seed & by 1818 Gov.-Generals Warren Hastings, Cornwallis, Wellesley, Minto-1, Hastings-2, Amherst, Auckland, Ellenborough to Hasting-2, accomplished it by annexing the Moghul & the Maratha dominions. All that remained were Afghanistan, Punjab, Sindh, & Myanmar. The Amīrs of Sindh had to conclude a treaty with William Bentinck, rather reluctantly, on 20^th April 1832. Auckland Gov.-Gen (1836-42) who practically ignored the sufferings of the people in the Great Famine in 1837-38, forced a new treaty on the new king of Oudh, deposed the Rajah of Satārā for ‘treasonable intrigues with the Portuguese’, deposed the Nawab of Kurnool & annexed his kingdom for ‘an attempt to wage war against British Empire. In 1838 he invaded Afghanistan & violated the treaty with Sindh by taking an army through its territories. In1839 he bullied the Amīrs of Sindh to pay a sum of 3 lacs for the maintenance of his force in their territories & placed Sindh ‘formally under British protection’. Auckland’s successor Ellenborough (Gov.-Gen. 1842-44, who had just completed his third term as President of the E.I. Co.’s Board of Control) imposed on Sindh the yoke of British authority by sheer force & appointed Charles Napier commander of the British force in Sindh. Napier provoked a war with the Amīrs & destroyed their army…. ‘If the Afghan episode is the most disastrous in our annals, that of Sindh is morally even less excusable.’ While trying to defend the policy General Napier has admitted in his Diary: “we have no right to seize Sindh, yet we shall do so, & a very advantageous, useful, humane piece of rascally it will be’. Strangely enough, East India Co.’s Court of Directors, while condemning the policy of annexing Sindh, did nothing to undo the wrong. Napier was appointed the first Governor of Sindh, & he tried hard during his rule of four years to consolidate British authority in the province.” On 30^th March 1849, Lord Dalhousie, on his own responsibility, annexed Punjab by a proclamation. He declared, ‘However contrary to our past views & to our present views, annexation of Punjab is the most advantageous policy for us to pursue.’ The uprising of 1857 was the first organised challenge to British role in India, which held the country in its tentacles like an octopus (see The Mutiny). With the India Act of 1858 the East India Company & its Board of Control were replaced (they had ceased to exist as a legal entity in 1873) by a single new department of state, the India Office, which functioned, under the Secretary of State for India, as an executive office of the Government of the United Kingdom, alongside the Foreign Office, Colonial Office, Home Office & War Office. The uprising had taught not a few lessons to the Octopus: Except the Sikhs & Gurkhās who had remained loyal, all known martial races were excluded from the Army & disarmed along with those suggestible to revolt, they were artfully supplied debilitating intoxicants, owning a spear or sword became illegal – in fact, says a nationalist source, they were ferreted out & confiscated along with metal-shod lāthis & long-bladed knives, & Hindu-Muslim unity was set down as the most serious menace to the continuance of British power in India. [Based on Karandikar: 5-16; Buckland; R.C. Majumdar et al’s Advanced History of India; S. Bhattacharya]