Sri Aurobindo

In news–Recently, the Union government has formed a high-level 53 member committee headed by the Prime Minister to mark the 150th birth anniversary (which falls on August 15, 2022) of Indian philosopher Sri Aurobindo.

About Sri Aurobindo Ghose-

He was a renowned and important personality in the history of the Indian resurgence and Indian nationalism.
He was born on August 15, 1872, in Kolkata.
His father Krishna Dhun Ghose was a surgeon in Rangpur, Bengal.
He was drawn to the Indian freedom movement as a revolutionary leader.
He cleared the Indian Civil Service (ICS) examination securing the 11th rank out of 250 candidates.
He joined King’s College for the training but had himself disqualified for an exam by arriving deliberately late as he had no interest in the ICS.
He returned to India and secured employment in the Baroda State Service with the help of an acquaintance.
In 1897, he joined Baroda College as a French teacher and also taught himself Sanskrit and Bengali during this time.
He attended Congress sessions and helped establish the Anushilan Samiti of Calcutta in 1902.
He and his brother revolutionary Barin Ghose contributed articles to the magazine Jugantar which inspired many young people to take up revolutionary work.
In 1905, Aurobindo started an English newspaper called Bande Mataram.
In May 1908, Aurobindo was arrested in connection with the Alipore Conspiracy Case or Alipore Bomb Case.
This was in the wake of the attempt to assassinate the Chief Presidency Magistrate Douglas Kingford by Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki.
Some of his literary works include: Bases of Yoga, Bhagavad Gita and Its Message, The Future Evolution of Man, Rebirth and Karma, Savitri: A Legend and a Symbol, Hour of God, etc.
He passed away on 5 December 1950 in Pondicherry aged 78.

Contribution of Aurobindo Ghosh in Spirituality-

It was during his incarceration in Alipore Jail that Aurobindo’s life started transforming into one of spirituality and self-realization.
He said that he heard the voice of Swami Vivekananda in prison and became convinced of the truth of Sanatana Dharma.
He started practicing Yoga and withdrew from political life as then.
He developed a kind of Yoga called Integral Yoga and believed that human beings can evolve further into something truly divine.
The British tried to arrest him for sedition for his writings, but he fled to Pondicherry in 1910 which was a French colony, and the arrest warrant against him was withdrawn.
In 1914, he started publishing a magazine called Arya.
He attracted many followers and this led to the founding of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in 1926.
In that year he entrusted the work of guiding the seekers to his spiritual collaborator, Mirra Alfassa (1878–1973), who was called “the Mother” in the ashram.