Page 4 - All India Magazine Apr-2024

What Is a Symbol?

A symbol, as I understand it, is the form on one plane that
represents a truth of another. For instance, a flag is the sym-
bol of a nation.... But generally all forms are symbols. This
body of ours is a symbol of our real being and everything is a
symbol of some higher reality. There are, however, different
kinds of symbols:

l. Conventional symbols, such as the Vedic Rishis formed
with objects taken from their surroundings. The cow stood
for light because the same word ‘go’ meant both ray and
cow, and because the cow was their most precious posses-
sion which maintained their life and was constantly in dan-
ger of being robbed and concealed. But once created, such a
symbol becomes alive. ...

2. What we might call Life-symbols, such as are not artificial-
ly chosen or mentally interpreted in a conscious deliberate
way, but derive naturally from our day-to-day life and grow
out of the surroundings which condition our normal path
of living. To the ancients the mountain was a symbol of the
path of yoga, level above level, peak upon peak. ...

3. Symbols that have an inherent appositeness and pow-
er of their own. Akasha or etheric space is a symbol of the
infinite all-pervading eternal Brahman. In any nationality it
would convey the same meaning. Also, the Sun stands uni-
versally for the supramental Light, the divine Gnosis.

4. Mental symbols, instances of which are numbers or alpha-
bets. Once they are accepted, they too become active and
may be useful. Thus geometrical figures have been variously
interpreted. ...
CWSA 30: 137-38 Sri Aurobindo

4 All India Magazine, April 2024