Pavitra (January 16, 1894 – May 16, 1969) (from the

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

word for "pure") was one of the very early disciples of

Sri Aurobindo Sri Aurobindo (born Aurobindo Ghose; 15 August 1872 – 5 December 1950) was an Indian Modern yoga gurus, yogi, maharishi, and Indian nationalist. He also edited the newspaper Bande Mataram (publication), ''Bande Mataram''. Aurobindo st ...

and The Mother. The name was one of Srimati Radharani's 1000 names.

Early life

He was born Philippe Barbier Saint-Hilaire in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. In 1914, he graduated from the Ècole Polytechnique with a degree in

Engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

. He served in the army in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

as an artillery officer, and after the war worked as a junior engineer in Paris, at the Ministry of transport and communication.

Quest

He was interested in

occultism The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mystic ...

, and in 1920 departed for

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

to study

Zen Buddhism Zen (; from Chinese: '' Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka ph ...

. In 1924, he left Japan and spent time with tantric

lama Lama () is a title bestowed to a realized practitioner of the Dharma in Tibetan Buddhism. Not all monks are lamas, while nuns and female practitioners can be recognized and entitled as lamas. The Tibetan word ''la-ma'' means "high mother", ...

s in

monasteries A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which m ...

in North China and

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

. In 1925 Saint-Hilaire came to India and met

and The Mother in Pondicherry, where he was accepted as a sadhak, and Sri Aurobindo gave him the name ''Pavitra'' meaning "Pure". In 1951 The Mother appointed him director of the newly founded Sri Aurobindo International University Centre. He served in this position for 18 years, as well as being general secretary of the

Sri Aurobindo Ashram The Sri Aurobindo Ashram (French: ''Ashram de Sri Aurobindo'') is a spiritual community (ashram) located in Pondicherry (city), Pondicherry, in the Indian territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry. It was founded by Sri Aurob ...

, until his death in 1969.

Death

The Mother reports in

Agenda Agenda (: agendum) may refer to: Information management * Agenda (meeting), points to be discussed and acted upon, displayed as a list * Political agenda, the set of goals of an ideological group * Lotus Agenda, a DOS-based personal informatio ...

of May 1969 link
/ref> that Pavitra left his body in a

yogic Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as pra ...

way and merged with her. According to

Satprem Satprem (30 October 1923 – 9 April 2007) was a French author and a disciple of Mirra Alfassa. Early life Satprem was born Bernard Enginger in Paris and had a seafaring childhood and youth in Brittany. During World War II he was a member of t ...

(see note to "On Pavitra and Pavitra's Death"), Pavitra left memoirs of his conversations with Sri Aurobindo and Mother in 1925 and 1926, large parts of which were destroyed (almost a third of Pavitra's notebooks) by his closest collaborator, with the pretext that it would be "better left unsaid". What was left was published as ''Conversations avec Pavitra''.

Partial bibliography

* ''L'évolution future de l'Humanité'' a compilation of texts by Sri Aurobindo (1962) * ''The Message of Sri Aurobindo Ashram'', Pondicherry, (1954) * ''Conversations avec Pavitra''. Paris: "Fayard". Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust. Pondicherry, 1972

References

External links

Name Index
- brief biography

- mentions that pages have been torn out) * ttp://intyoga.online.fr/pavdeath.htm On Pavitra and Pavitra's Death- From Mother's Agenda {{Authority control 1894 births 1969 deaths Converts to Hinduism French expatriates in India French expatriates in Japan French military personnel of World War I Engineers from Paris Sri Aurobindo 20th-century translators École Polytechnique alumni