Sri Aurobindo

Letters of Sri Aurobindo

Volume 4

Letter ID: 992

Sri Aurobindo — Roy, Dilip Kumar

April 2, 1944

My Tirthankar first edition is exhausted, writes Tara-pada – promising to send me what he owes me (to be offered to Mother of course). En attendant, I have been hard at work revising this and adding new things – to make it sell even better in the second edition. I have written Tagore’s death-scene day before yesterday and am going to add a letter or two of Holland – one on yourself.

1 have chosen two letters to be added to the second edition. Here they are. Please revise them and approve – which I hope you will as these are not personal letters but of general interest. May I also publish the letter you allowed Nolini to publish in the last issue of The Advent, on war, I mean ? That is surely “addable” in the Tirthankar now that it is published. It will certainly make the book sell more (being on war) so that I may in future offer more to Mother! But Tarapada has failed me hopelessly, Guru. Not a pice yet, fancy! For a book which has made me all but famous in Bengal and Gujarat – for it has been translated into Gujarat! as you must know! I wonder how much he will send me though! Am I getting too commercial after Bombay and Ahmedabad?

If you give the money to the Mother that can’t be commercial; commerce implies personal profit, and here your profit is only spiritual.

You can publish the two letters; as to the one in the Advent, I have no objection, as far as I am concerned – I don’t know whether the Advent has any.