Sri Aurobindo Ghose (1872-1950)
Aurobindo Ghose was born on August 15, 1872, in a family having a completely western ambience. His parents were Krishnadhan Ghose and Rajnarayan Basu. His father was completely westernised in habits, ideas and ideals and wanted his sons to follow suit. However, he would not know that his son would become one of the leading revolutionary activists of India.
Aurobindo was
educated at an elite English school and college in England. He also qualified
for the Indian Civil Service, a great honour for an Indian under the British
rule. However, he deliberately skipped the mandatory horse riding test and was
disqualified. During his stay in England he was educated in English, Latin and
French as well as in English and European literature.
In 1983, financial
difficulties forced him back to his homeland. He started working at the Baroda
state during the reign of Sayaji Rao, the then Gaekwad. He worked in various
departments ranging from stamp and revenue, survey settlement, to acting as
Gaekwad’s personal secretary. In 1900 he moved on from administration to
education at the Baroda College. In all these vocations, Aurobindo excelled.
However his
political inclinations had started to show in his writings. He learned Marathi,
Gujarati, Bengali and Sanskrit. Though he had spent nearly thirteen years in a
foreign country, deprived of any contact with his motherland, yet in his
attitude and mental make-up he remained thoroughly an Indian. Aurobindo began
preparing for revolutionary activities during the years 1898-99. He regarded
his country as his mother and stated that a son could not be in peace when his
mother was being tortured in bondage.
His first step
towards the goal was to build up public opinion through writings. He undertook
an intense study of Indian literature and relevant papers on India’s struggle
for freedom. He started writing for the ‘Indu Prakash’ of Bombay. He
later edited Bande Matarm, a paper with a large circulation. He also
edited Dharma and Karma Yogin. His idea of patriotism had hardly
any parallel. He asked the young men to develop dedication to the motherland
through service, practical selflessness, obedience, scrupulousness, discipline,
harmony, patience and forbearance. His teachings were a combination of the
principles of western political philosophy and the immortal teachings of
Vedantism, the supreme teachings of Indian philosophy.
He moved to
Calcutta and formed secret revolutionary societies to spread his ideals and
campaigned through newspapers for the educated people. However, for the
uneducated masses he started organising rallies to spread his message. The
British Government realised the impact that Aurobindo’s mouthpiece, the Bande
Matram was having and it was prosecuted. He, as its editor was charged with
sedition but was acquitted for want of proof.
Ghose was against
terrorism, but the caning of the volunteers by the British resulted in a
terrorist reaction. Aurobindo Ghose had some property in Manicktola Gardens in
Calcutta where his brother had opened a centre for training revolutionaries.
Here the study of Gita and other revolutionary literature, experiments
in bomb making and meditation were all part of the training.
After the
accidental killing of two innocent British ladies instead of one of the
Presidency Magistrates, the revolutionaries were arrested. Their hideout at
Aurobindo Ghose’s Manicktola residence was raided. The police unearthed bombs,
revolvers, ammunition and acid, and later arrested Aurobindo from his Grey
Street Residence.
Aurobindo was tried
in court in the famous Alipore Bomb Trial. C.R. Das, the renowned barrister and
later Congress leader defended Aurobindo and he was found to be not guilty and
acquitted. After this incident, Aurobindo’s thoughts underwent a metamorphosis.
He realised that the people had awakened. He decided to devote himself to the
pursuit of higher learning and meditation-all part of the spiritualism – the
strings of which he had felt in jail. He wanted to devote himself to the
liberation of the whole human race. His vision beckoned him to the path of
peace and love.
Aurobindo went first
to Chandannagar in Bengal and from there to Pondicherry, bidding adieu to
active politics. Aurobindo was man of literary taste and in Pondicherry he came
in contact with nationalist poets like Subramania Bharti. He composed his
marathon epic ‘Savitri’ in which he prophesied the reign of an evolved
man, who will exist on a higher level of consciousness. He wrote:
“On nature’s luminous
tops,
On the spirits
ground,
The Superman shall
reign,
As a king of life.”
Besides this
monumental work, he wrote many poems, treatises on Vedas, literary criticism,
etc. His letters are an important part of his literary writings, especially,
the ones written to his wife Mrinalini, titled ‘Letters to Mrinalini’.
These were highly philosophical and rich in descriptions of his spiritual
experiences.
Sri Aurobindo was
a profile writer. He started editing and writing articles in a number of daily
papers and journals at Baroda and Calcutta. At Pondicherry he started the
publication of a philosophical monthly magazine named The Arya. His
books of nationalism, his treatises on the Vedas and the Upanishads,
his commentaries on the Bhagvad Gita, the great prose work like the Life
Divine, The Superman Ideal of Human Unity, his literary criticism,
pomes, translations of Bengali and Sanskrit plays and poems into English have
made him a litterateur of the highest order.
His intense
spiritual journey – Sadhana – for the freedom and wellbeing of India, and
upliftment of all humanity was very famous. The sage of Pondicherry came to be
known as Sri Aurobindo to the world. He bequeathed the charge of his ashram in
Pondicherry to the care of the Mother, Mira Richard, a French woman and died on
December 5, 1950. He was laid to rest in mahasamadhi in December 9, 1950.
"Our country is God the Mother;
Speak not evil of her unless
thou canst do it with love and tenderness."
-Sri Aurobindo Ghose
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