For nearly a year, between 1925 and 1926, Philippe Barbier Saint Hilaire,
later known as Pavitra, spoke regularly with Sri Aurobindo. The central subject
was the spiritual practices undertaken by Pavitra at this time. Sri Aurobindo
gave him detailed instructions in meditation, explaining how to quiet the mind
and open to the divine force.
Pavitra was a versatile man with many interests. An avid philatelist, he
built up a large stamp collection. A civil engineer, he drew up the plan for the
public park in the center of Pondicherry. But always his primary interest was
the spiritual life envisaged by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. Pavitra made three
compilations from their works. The first was The Future Evolution of
Man (1963), compiled from several of Sri Aurobindo's major works. The
second one was Sri Aurobindo and the Mother on Love (1966), compiled
from their writings and talks. The third was Le Yoga de la Bhagavad
Gita (1969), a translation and commentary comprising French translations of
extracts from Sri Aurobindo's Essays on the Gita. He also wrote a book of his
own, Education and the Aim of Human Life (1961), and several other essays on
education.
Pavitra lived in the Ashram for forty-four years. Towards the end of his
life, he contracted leukemia. Severely weakened, he continued to work as much as
he could. And every day he slowly climbed the stairscase to Mother's room in
order to see her for a short time. He passed away on 16 May 1969, at the age of
seventy-five.
Auromere Ayurvedic Imports
