Sri Aurobindo

Sri Aurobindo (Bangla: ???? ???????) (August 15, 1872–December 5, 1950) was an Indian nationalist, scholar, poet, Hindu mystic, evolutionary philosopher, yogi and guru. His followers further believe that he was an avatar, an incarnation of the supreme being.

Early experiences

Sri Aurobindo was born Aurobindo Akroyd Ghose (usually pronounced and often written as Ghosh) in Kolkata (Calcutta), India, in 1872. His father was Dr K. D. Ghose and his mother Swarnalata Devi. Dr Ghose, who had lived in Britain, and had studied at Aberdeen University, was determined that his children should have a completely European upbringing, sent Aurobindo and his siblings to the Loretto Convent School at Darjeeling. At the age of seven Aurobindo was taken along with his two elder brothers, Manmohan and Benoybhusan, to England. They were placed with a clergyman and his wife. There Aurobindo was educated privately by Mr and Mrs Drewett. Mr Drewett, himself a scholar in Latin, ground him so well in Latin that when he was sent to St Paul's School in London, the head master took Aurobindo upon himself to ground in Greek and then pushed him rapidly into the higher classes of the school. The last three years at St Paul's were spent in reading, especially English Poetry. At St. Paul's he received the Butterworth Prize for literature, the Bedford Prize for history and a scholarship to Cambridge University. He returned to India in 1893.

Related Topics:
Kolkata - India - K. D. Ghose - Swarnalata Devi - Britain - Loretto Convent School - Darjeeling - St Paul's School - London - Butterworth Prize - Bedford Prize - Cambridge University - 1893

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During the First Partition of Bengal from 1905 to 1912, he became a leader of the group of Indian nationalists known as the Extremists for their willingness to use violence and advocate outright independence, a plank more moderate nationalists had shied away from up to that point. He was the editor of a nationalist Bengali newspaper Vande Mataram (spelt and pronounced as Bande Mataram in the Bengali language) and came into frequent confrontation with the British Raj as a result. In 1907 attended a convention of Indian nationalists where he was seen as the new leader of the movement. But his life was beginning to take a new direction. In Baroda he met a Maharashtrian yogi called Vishnu Bhaskar Lele who convinced him to explore the ancient Hindu practices of yoga.

Related Topics:
1905 - 1912 - Bengal - Vande Mataram - British Raj - 1907 - Maharashtrian - Yogi - Vishnu Bhaskar Lele

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It was at this point that Rabindranath Tagore paid him a visit and wrote the now famous lines:

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:::Rabindranath, O Aurobindo, bows to thee! O friend, my country's friend, O Voice incarnate, free, Of India's soul....The fiery messenger that with the lamp of God Hath come...Rabindranath, O Aurobindo, bows to thee.

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