Nirodbaran

Correspondence with Sri Aurobindo

Second Series

3. Matters Medical

Medical Notes

It is no use discussing these matters. The Mother's views are too far removed from the traditional nostrums to be understood by a medical mind,  except those that have got out of the traditional groove or those who after long experience have seen things and can become devastatingly frank about the limitations of their own “science.”

Ideas differ. Both the Mother and Pavitra were horrified at the idea of a child of four months being given a purgative. The leading Children's Doctor in France told the Mother no child under 12 months should be given a purgative, as it is likely to do great harm and may be dangerous. But here we understand it is the practice to dose children freely with purgatives from their day of birth almost. Perhaps that and over-administration of medicines is the cause of excessive infant mortality.

04.04.1937