Sri Aurobindo

Sri Aurobindo

Subject :Modern India

Context: The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi addressed a programme celebrating Sri Aurobindo’s 150th birth anniversary via video conferencing today in Kamban Kalai Sangam, Puducherry under the aegis of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. The Prime Minister also released a commemorative coin and postal stamp in honour of Sri Aurobindo.

Concept:

• He was an Indian social, political and spiritual philosopher, yoga guru, maharishi, poet, revolutionary leader and Indian nationalist ideolouge.
• He was also a journalist, editing newspapers such as BandeMataram.
• Aurobindo studied for the Indian Civil Service at King’s College, Cambridge, England.
• After returning to India, he took up various civil service works under the Maharaja of the Princely state of Baroda and became increasingly involved in nationalist politics in the Indian National Congress and the nascent revolutionary movement in Bengal with the Anushilan Samiti.
  • In 1892, he held various administrative posts in Baroda (Vadodara) and Calcutta (Kolkata).
• He was arrested in the aftermath of a number of bombings linked to his organization in a public trial where he faced charges of treason for Alipore Conspiracy.
  • During his stay in the jail, he had mystical and spiritual experiences, after which he moved to Pondicherry, leaving politics for spiritual work.
• At Pondicherry, Sri Aurobindo developed a spiritual practice he called Integral Yoga. He believed in a spiritual realisation that not only liberated but transformed human nature, enabling a divine life on earth.
• In 1926, with the help of his spiritual collaborator, Mirra Alfassa (referred to as “The Mother”), Sri Aurobindo Ashram was founded.
• His main literary works are
  • The Life Divine, which deals with the philosophical aspect of Integral Yoga;
  • Synthesis of Yoga, which deals with the principles and methods of Integral Yoga;
  • Savitri: A Legend and a Symbol, an epic poem.
  • Bhagavad Gita and Its Message
  • The Future Evolution of Man
  • Rebirth and Karma
  • Hour of God

• AurobindoGhose was born in Calcutta on 15th August 1872.
• He was a yogi, seer, philosopher, poet, and Indian nationalist who propounded a philosophy of divine life on earth through spiritual evolution.
• He died on 5th December 1950 in Pondicherry.

Indian Revolutionary Movement:

• Aurobindo studied for the Indian Civil Service at King’s College, Cambridge, England.
• After returning to India, he took up various civil service works under the Maharaja of the Princely state of Baroda and became increasingly involved in nationalist politics in the Indian National Congress and the nascent revolutionary movement in Bengal with the Anushilan Samiti.
  • In 1892, he held various administrative posts in Baroda (Vadodara) and Calcutta (Kolkata).
• He was arrested in the aftermath of a number of bombings linked to his organization in a public trial where he faced charges of treason for Alipore Conspiracy

Religion & Spirituality:

• At Pondicherry, Sri Aurobindo developed a spiritual practice he called Integral Yoga.
• In 1926, with the help of his spiritual collaborator, MirraAlfassa (referred to as “The Mother”), Sri Aurobindo Ashram was founded.
• He believed that the basic principles of matter, life, and mind would be succeeded through terrestrial evolution by the principle of supermind as an intermediate power between the two spheres of the infinite and the finite.

Literary Works:

• An English newspaper called BandeMataram (in 1905).
• The Life Divine
• Synthesis of Yoga
• Savitri: A Legend and a Symbol
• Bhagavad Gita and Its Message
• The Future Evolution of Man
• Rebirth and Karma
• Hour of God