Sri Dilip Kumar Roy - Some Biblographical Notes

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Dadaji - Sri Dilip Kumar Roy

Biographical Notes

INTRODUCTION

DADAJI & SRI AUROBINDO

DADAJI'S MUSIC

DADAJI'S WRITINGS

MA ON DADAJI

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

PILGRIMS OF THE STARS
Autobiography of two Yogis, Ma Indira Devi & Dadaji Sri Dilip Kumar Roy.
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DILIP KUMAR ROY
Some Biographical Notes

22nd, January 1897		Born at 203/1/1 Cornwallis Street Calcutta, in a cultured Bengali family at his maternal uncle's house.
Father		Dwijendralal Roy (19.07.1863 - 17.05. 1913). A Dramatist, composer, singer and nationalist with a degree in agriculture from England. Although his mother was a direct descendent of Advaita Goswami of Shantipur, a staunch disciple of Sri Chaitanya (Fifteenth- Sixteenth Centuries A.D.), D.L. Roy himself was a rationalist. During his tenure as Deputy Magistrate he dared to tell the Lt. Governor of Bengal that he was not an expert in the laws of land survey. The result? He was never granted promotion from his post in spite of his proficiency. That he was not altogether dismissed from service was because of his superior who gave a report that "Mr. Roy is a monument of industry and ability." While another Englishman told the Lt. Governor, "I think Mr. Roy is right." Courage and honesty were ingrained in him. His watchword was truth.
Mother		Surabala Devi, daughter of P.C. Majumdar. She was beautiful like a daughter of heaven, as her name implies. D.L. Roy loved her so much that he never looked at another woman when his wife died at the age of twenty-seven on 29th November 1903. He brought up his children, fulfilling the roles of both mother and father.
Paternal Grandfather		Kartikeya Chandra Roy (1820-85). Diwan of Krishnanagar. A man of character and extremely honest. He was also a great musician and composer.
1908		Sri D.L. Roy built Suradham. Sri Dilip Kumar's spiritual quest started in this house.
1908 - 1909		-Sri Nirmalendu Lahiri, his cousin and devout follower of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa took him to Sri 'M'- Sri Mahendranath Gupta, who kept a day to day record of Sri Ramakrishna's sayings, later published as Ramakrishna Kathamrita in Bengali (translated into English as The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, 1922). Dilip Kumar Roy was deeply fascinated by Sri Ramakrishna's personality and installed him in his heart as his Guru and loved him deeply. Sri Dilip Kumar wrote "Faith suddenly descended into me-The Mother's grace through the soul stirring message of Her beloved son, the great Messiah Sri Ramakrishna".
17th May, 1913		Sudden demise of his father due to apoplexy.
1913		Passed matriculation examination with scholarship. Joined Presidency College. Took up Science. Met Subhash Chandra Bose. A lasting and intimate friendship developed.
1918		Passed BSc. with First Class Honors in Mathematics.
1919		Left for England to pursue further studies at Cambridge.Subhash Chandra Bose (Netaji) joined him subsequently.
July 1920		Met Romain Rolland in Switzerland and sang before him, which was met with immense praise.
1920-1921		Passed Part I Mathematical Tripos and Part I Music Special in Cambridge.
1921		Extremely impressionable, he took up one line after another; studied LLB to become a barrister, deposited fees for CA. Meanwhile, Rabindranath Tagore urged him to take up music as a career. Subhash and Rolland urged him too. Dilip himself wrote, "Rolland finally persuaded me to direct all my energies to the cultivation of a musical career". Dilip learnt French, German, Italian and a little Russian.
1922		Went to Germany to study western music. Presented a lecture at the International Conference at Lugano, Switzerland. This was attended by world renowned celebrities like Bertrand Russell, Romain Rolland, Herman Hesse, George Duhamel and others. Met President Maserick of Czechoslovakia. Toured Vienna, Prague, Budapest and other cities to speak on Indian music and culture, including Sanskrit.
November 1922		Returned to India and consequently went on a tour studying Indian music from classical masters like Abdul Karim, Faiz Khan, Chandan Chaube, Pt. Bhatkande, Gaurishankar Mishra, Surendranath Majumdar, Hafiz Ali Khan and others. Wrote a book in Bengali on Indian music "Bhramyamaner Dina Panjika (Diary of a musical Rover)", which won him instant fame in Bengal.
1922-1923		Became very popular as a musician and a composer. Started giving charity concert with his students at Ram Mohan library hall in Calcutta.
1923		Met Ronald Nixon, professor at Lucknow University (who later came to be known as Yogi Sri Krishna Prem, who's Guru was Yashoda Ma). Incidentally it was Sri Krishna Prem who introduced Sri Dilip Kumar Roy to Sri Aurobindo's mystic ideology and asked him to read Essays on the Gita. He said every Indian who loves the Gita should read it, for Sri Aurobindo's commentary breaks new ground and is more inspiring than any other, thanks to his resplendent yogic intuition.
24th Jan, 1924		Met Sri Aurobindo at Pondicherry, two days after his 27th birthday.
1925		Got an offer from Pt. Madan Mohan Malaviya to hold the chair of music in the Banares Hindu University, and an invitation to become the director of All India Radio. Sri Dilip Kumar Roy declined both the offers.
1927		Invited by Edison Company, USA for making the first Long-Playing Disc. Subhash Chandra Bose arranged a grand felicitation programme at Ram Mohan Library, where Rabindranath Tagore and Saratchandra Chaterjee came to bless him. Toured Europe giving lectures on music. At Nice, he met two unforgettable personalities, Madam Calve the famous prima donna- a great devotee of Swami Vivekananda, and the great Paul Richard who told Sri Dilip Kumar Roy about Sri Aurobindo "I have not met his peer in the whole world. To me he is the Lord Shiva Incarnate." This was the final impetus towards Sri Aurobindo. A profound feeling of vairagya gripped him and he returned to India canceling his onward journey to USA.
22nd Nov 1928		Overcoming all his vacillation, he surrendered to Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. He wrote to Sri Aurobindo- "I surrender unconditionally to you, all I have and am. You must accept me."
1937		A brief visit to Calcutta after nine years. Met Km. Uma Bose who was a musical prodigy and whom Mahatma Gandhi called 'The Nightingale of Bengal', and the most glorious chapter of his musical creativity began.
1938		Upon invitation by Calcutta University and the Director of Public Instruction, wrote a book Geetashree for the university's music syllabus with notations and technical details of Hindustani Music. Sri Dilip Kumar also wrote Sangitikee, a historical account of classical and folk music of Northern India. Both books were prescribed by the University.
22nd Jan 1942		Km. Uma Bose passed away leaving a great vacuum in Bengali music.
7th Oct 1946		Met an extraordinary lady Smt. Janak Kumari (Later known as Ma Indira Devi) at Jabbalpur. Also met M.S. Subalakshmi and taught her Meera bhajans. Later on in 1971, M.S. came to Hari Krishna Mandir to learn songs (mainly Ma Indira Devi's Meera Bhajans and Sri Dilip Kumar Roy's Bengali songs)
22nd Jan 1947		Bengal celebrated Sri Dilip Kumar's Fiftieth Birthday. Bengal acknowledged the versatility of his genius- the poet, thinker, novelist, musician and the mystic, all in one. Presented him a purse for the Pondicherry Ashram and a set of annotated Srimad Bhagvatam. Sri Dilip Kumar later wrote two masterpieces, Bhagvati Katha and Immortals of the Bhagavat.
21st Feb 1949		On the Mother's birthday, Ma Indira Devi came to Pondicherry for darshan. After darshan she went into Bhav Samadhi in Sri Dilip Kumar's presence, while he was singing. Sri Aurobindo endorsed it as genuine and wrote that the Samadhi was of Savikalpa type and she was ready for yoga. Ultimately, with the blessings of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Sri Dilip Kumar Roy gave Ma Indira Devi initiation. She stared hearing songs sung by Saint Mirabai in trance, and the songs were documented. This phenomenon was authenticated by Sri Aurobindo and continued till Ma Indira Devi left this world.
5th Dec 1950		The sudden demise of Sri Aurobindo shattered the world of Sri Dilip Kumar.
1st Oct 1951		Sri Dilip Kumar heard the voice of Saint Mirabai of hallowed memory for the first time himself. He maintained a diary chronicling his conversations with her, a part of which, the advent of Mira, has been published in Indiranjali Vol.1. During this time he took a vow of Akash Vritti, depending completely on the Divine for sustenance.
Jan 1953		Sri Dilip Kumar Roy, accompanied by Ma Indira Devi, went on a world tour as cultural and spiritual ambassadors of India, sponsored by the Government of India and met a whole host of global celebrities. The complete account of this tour was written in "Deshe Deshe Chali Udey", a travelogue in Bengali.
1954		Declined an offer by Sri C.P. Ramaswami Iyer for the post of Arts Director at Annamalai University, which would have helped Sri Dilip Kumar to tide over his poor financial position. Instead he went to stay in Pune in a dilapidated bungalow 'Dunlavin Cottage' of Sri Chunilal Mehta.
1957		Papa Ramdas and Mother Krishna Bai visited Sri Dilip Kumar's Ashram and found both Sri Dilip Kumar Roy and Ma Indira Devi completely absorbed in intense Sadhana and blessed them.
		-------------------------------------------------- Sri Aurobindo wrote in Savitri- A prayer, a master act, a king idea Can link a man's strength to a transcendent force, Then miracle is made the common rule. Every word of his came true in this Ashram.
8th Jan 1959		Sri Dilip Kumar Roy shifted his Ashram to the present premises in Pune.
1961		He delivered his famous lecture Parama Sanskriti in Bengali and sang at Tagore's centenary celebrations at Marquis Square in Calcutta.
1951-1979		The most productive and fruitful period of Sri Dilip Kumar Roy's life. The versatility of his genius flowered during this period and ultimately he attained what he was seeking all his life- 'Siddhi of his entire Sadhana'. Every facet of his life was colored by spiritual sensibility and ecstasy. Sri Dilip Kumar was honoured with the titles- a) Sur-Sudhakar from Sanskrit College, Calcutta b) Fellow of Sangeet Natak Academy c) D.Litt from Calcutta and Rabindra Bharti Universities He was made the President of Akhil Banga Sanskriti Samelan at Chandigarh. Many saints and celebrities visited his Ashram including Sri Anandamayee Ma, Srimat Anirvan, Swami Brahmananda of Uttar Kashi, Mahamahopadhyay Dr. Gopinath Kaviraj, Late President Dr. S Radhakrishnan and many others.
17th Dec 1975		Sri Dilip Kumar started hearing the Lord's flute- a rare spiritual attainment. This continued till he breathed his last on 6th January, 1980.
1976		Calcutta celebrated the eightieth birthdays of Sri Dilip Kumar Roy (22nd Jan) and of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose (23rd Jan). Sri Dilip Kumar himself inaugurated the birthday celebrations of Netaji. He was felicitated with a book-Varan Malika.
1977		Sri Dilip Kumar delivered three memorial lectures on Sri Aurobindo at Pune University.
1st Oct 1979		He had a vision of Ma Radharani.
11th Nov 1979		Sri Dilip Kumar fell ill.
23rd Nov 1979		He wrote his last poem-"Antim Prarthana"- Last Prayer with his own hands. One day he wrote in his diary 'Namah Sri Aurobindaya- Sarva Devamayo Guru'.
6th Jan 1980		Sri Dilip Kumar Roy told Ma Indira Devi: "Wash my hands. I have to touch the Lord's feet". The great minstrel saint reached the lotus feet of the Lord at 3:40 pm.