The BhāratShakti team conducted a 2-day Residential Workshop-Retreat on the theme – “Four Powers of the Mother” from 28-30 November at Sri Aurobindo Dhama, located in the serene and beautiful natural surroundings at the banks of Kaveri river in Sangama-Mekedatu in Kanakpura, Karnataka.

The workshop theme, topics, and the overall flow of sessions were planned by Dr. Beloo Mehra, Director, BhāratShakti. Ms. Biswajita Mohapatra, Design and Admin Assistant, BhāratShakti, coordinated the logistics with the host institution and prepared the materials for the group activities during the workshop.

Other facilitators for the workshop included Mr Narendra Murty, Research Associate and Ms. Chitra Kolluru, Volunteer Resource Person for BhāratShakti. The coordinators team of the Sri Aurobindo Dhama, represented by Ms. Pallavi Krishna arranged the lodging, boarding for the facilitators team as well as the participants.

The retreat opened on the evening of November 28, 2025 when all the participants and facilitators gathered for an introductory session. Shri Satyabrata ji gave a brief welcome address, after which there was a round of brief introductions of all. Shri Aryamuni then briefly spoke about his vision and mission for Sri Aurobindo Dhama. Dr. Beloo Mehra gave a brief outline of the workshop ahead. That same evening, some of the participants created beautiful flower arrangements as offerings to the Mother which added to the sacredness of the space where the entire programme took place.

On both the days, i.e. November 29 and 30, the day’s programme started in the early morning with chanting and readings from Savitri. After breakfast the group met in the Yoga Hall for the day’s sessions. The sessions began with a short concentration and flute recital by Ms. Pallavi Krishna.

The topics were addressed through a variety of activities including presentations, creative activities, and reflective exercises. The main emphasis of the retreat was on learning about the four emanations of the Mahashakti, i.e., Maheshwari, Mahakali, Mahalakshmi and Mahasaraswati as explained by Sri Aurobindo in Chapter 6 of his book titled The Mother.

During the first day of the Retreat, in the opening session, Dr. Beloo Mehra spoke on the subject of The Sacrifice of the Divine Mother. There were a few participants who were new to Sri Aurobindo, so Dr. Mehra first gave a brief introduction to Sri Aurobindo, especially focusing on his yogic realisations culminating in the Siddhi Day. It was after Siddhi Day that the book, The Mother came out describing who is the Divine Shakti.

In her session, Dr. Mehra highlighted how the Divine Mother herself consented to descend and manifest in creation to facilitate the course of the evolution of consciousness so that it could finally merge with its Divine source. In the next session, Ms. Chitra Kolluru spoke on the subject of The Three Ways of the Being of the Mother. She elaborated on the three aspects of the Mother, i.e., the Transcendental, the Universal and the Individual. In addition to a carefully designed presentation, Ms. Kolluru also gave appropriate examples to illustrate how one can visualise the splendour and glory of each of these poises of the Divine Mother.

A short video was then played in which a selection from Sri Aurobindo’s The Mother was highlighted. This passage provides a brief summary of all the Four Aspects of the Mother. A brief discussion followed the video, and participants were informed that each of the four aspects will be discussed in greater detail in the following sessions.

In the post lunch session, a Group Activity was organised where the participants were divided into four groups and were given chart papers, colour pencils etc., and asked to express the theme “Surrender to the Mother” giving a free rein to their creativity using the supplied materials.

To inspire the creative expression, each group was given a selected passage from Sri Aurobindo or the Mother. These passages were selected by Dr. Mehra and distribution sheets were designed by Ms. Mohapatra. On completion, a representative from each group briefly discussed what they had created.

Each of the sessions on the Four Powers of the Mother opened with a video. These videos were put together by Dr. Suhas Mehra, a Volunteer Resource Person for BhāratShakti. These videos not only included the Mother’s reading of Sri Aurobindo’s description of the aspects but also visualised each of the details to facilitate the understanding.

First, the video on Maheshwari, the Wisdom Aspect of the Mahashakti, was played following which Mr. Narendra Murty gave a brief presentation. He shared some quotes from the Mother relating to Maheshwari and elaborated the ideas with some analogies and illustrations.

After this, again a short video containing visuals and the Mother’s reading of the passages on Mahakali was played followed by a presentation by Dr. Beloo Mehra. She shared some insights on the dynamic movement and creative force of Mahakali.

After a short tea-break, a self-directed learning session was arranged. First, a video on Mahalakshmi with the reading by the Mother was played. The participants were then asked to share their learnings on the various aspects of Mahalakshmi that they gathered from the video. This was facilitated by Dr. Mehra.

The last activity of Day 1 involved an Individual Contemplative Work. Each participant was asked to light a small diya in front of the small altar that was created with photographs of the four aspects of the Mother. After lighting the diya, the participant picked up a card which featured selected words of the Mother or Sri Aurobindo on “Opening to the Mother’s Force.”

These passages were selected by Dr. Mehra and cards were designed by Ms. Mohapatra. Participants were asked to contemplate on the selected passage and express their insight of reflection through writing or some other creative expression. The session was meant for their own meditation and contemplation rather than for sharing.

After dinner, a small fun game on the Navarasas was organised as a way for participants to relax in one another’s company and create a collective spirit. The activity was planned in such a way that there was a lot of laughter while also raising one’s emotional awareness; the participants enjoyed it thoroughly.

On the second day of the Retreat, after the usual morning chanting, Savitri reading and meditative flute music to set the tone, again a short video containing visuals and the Mother’s reading of the passages on Mahasaraswati was played. Following this, Dr. Beloo Mehra spoke on the aspects of details of organisation and execution, perfection in work, attention to details etc., which are the domain of Mahasaraswati.

Thereafter, Mr. Narendra Murty spoke on the subject of The Power of Surrender. He said that before we are capable of surrender, the first requirement is acceptance and submission to the will of God which Sri Aurobindo has defined as Nati.

He also briefly spoke of Ramakrishna’s analogy of the baby monkey that clings to the body of its mother (path of self-effort) and the baby cat that simply allows its mother to carry her (path of surrender) and Sri Aurobindo’s insights on these two approaches. He used illustrations from Tagore’s Gitanjali, the Gita and the Mahabharata to bring clarity to the understanding of Surrender.

In each of the sessions, a certain time was set aside for an interaction and for answering the questions of the participants. In the concluding session, a Question-Answer session was conducted by all the three facilitators covering all the topics of the Retreat. The entire 2-day period was spent in a joyful spirit of learning and communing with nature and all the participants expressed their heartfelt gratitude during the final sharing.

Some Feedback from the Participants

• A very well planned and executed programme.
• Beautiful, informative and insightful experience on the Powers of the Divine Mother and all her sacred forms.
• Being new to Sri Aurobindo’s and the Mother’s teachings, I am eager to evolve and remain inspired.
• Knowing about the Mother through her voice was special and also several pointers and insights into various writings of Sri Aurobindo.
• A lot of key concepts were very lucidly explained.
• The concepts seemed simple to hear but getting into the depth and nuances of the teachings was very inspiring.
• I learnt how to remain calm, collected and open to the Grace of the Mother.

Full photo-gallery HERE.

For previous retreats at Sri Aurobindo Dhama, see HERE.

For more BhāratShakti workshops, see HERE.