Arjuna should not let the sorrow of the loss of friends, family and loved-ones intervene in the high ideals that he has adopted. Sri Aurobindo explains Sri Krishna’s argument: ” ‘There is no greater good for the Kshatriya than righteous battle, and when such a battle comes to them of itself like the open gate of heaven, happy are the Kshatriyas then. If thou dost not this battle for the right, then has thou abandoned thy duty and virtue and they glory, and sin shall be they portion.’ ”

Arjuna’s despair sets forth the sin of undertaking the action. Sri Krishna counters with the sin of failure to act when the cause is just and the situation demands it. “Battle, courage, power, rule, the honour of the brave, the heaven of those who fall nobly, this is the warrior’s ideal. To lower that ideal, to allow a smirch to fall on that honour, to give the example of a hero among heroes whose action lays itself open to the reproach of cowardice and weakness and thus to lower the moral standard of mankind, is to be false to himself and to the demand of the world on its leaders and kings.”

For Arjuna is fixated on his own individual suffering, but he is the representative man of his age, and his actions provide guidance and direction to others. He has a duty to fulfill and a role to play and abandoning that would lead to confusion and a retrograde motion in society.

Sri Aurobindo, Essays on the Gita, First Series, Chapter 7, The Creed of the Aryan Fighter, pg. 60,

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Sri Aurobindo was one of the greatest philosophers, revolutionary ,mystics and visionaries of modern history. He was a major leader in India’s freedom movement. Later in life he became a sage and scholar. His teachings have attracted many people from all around the world. The ashram that he founded is still thriving today, and centres bearing his name can be found in many countries.

The Early Years

Born in Calcutta, Sri Aurobindo was sent to England for his studies at the tender age of six. After his schooling he went on to study at Cambridge University in 1890.

Sri Aurobindo’s father had been very eager to send his son to England for his studies. Like many other Indians at the time he thought that the only way to save and uplift the country was by a full-scale imitation of European habits and customs.

He even made sure that Aurobindo as a child didn’t learn his mother tongue! This attempt at imitation is a typical psychological phenomenon that affects the people of any colonised country.

While in England, Aurobindo had observed the society first hand, and learnt its strengths and weaknesses. He figured that it wouldn’t be in anybody’s interest to blindly imitate European ideas without understanding the basis of one’s own culture and civilisation.

From what he had so far seen it would serve humanity better if India could recapture her own Hindu essence and project it into a reinvigorated vision for the future.

Return to India

It was in 1893 that Sri Aurobindo returned to India. At that time the struggle for India’s freedom was in its early stages. Straightaway he became involved in the movement. He began by writing a series of fiery articles in a daily newspaper, while he was aged just 21. The column had to be stopped following pressure on the newspaper’s editor, due to sharp criticism of the British colonial government and the slavish Indian leaders of the time.

After this, he became a teacher, and eventually the Principal of Baroda College. He gradually became enraged at the education system at colleges and schools, which was being used as a tool by the British for creating a deep inferiority complex and cultural alienation amongst the people.

Freedom Fighter

Sri Aurobindo soon left his job and devoted all his energy towards India’s renaissance. His work was many sided. It included spreading awareness and knowledge through his role as editor of newspapers and magazines, creating authentic Hindu education in schools and colleges, encouraging social work to alleviate sickness and poverty, and even initiating armed rebellion.

Lord Minto who was then Viceroy of India wrote the following about him:

 “He is the most dangerous man we have to deal with at present. I attribute the spread of seditious doctrines to him personally in a greater degree than to any other single individual…”

Aurobindos Spiritual Realisation in Jail

In 1908 the British authorities arrested and jailed Sri Aurobindo following an assassination attempt on a judge, in which he was implicated. A legal campaign by one of his followers, Chittaranjan Dass, enabled his release after one year. In jail Sri Aurobindo’s life took a decisive turn. Before jail Aurobindo had practiced spiritual disciplines, but he had always wished to do so more intensely. In jail he devoted himself to spirituality and had a series of direct experiences and realisations .In prison he had a vision of Lord Krishna and the spirit of  Swami Vivekananda spoke to him.Its during his sentence he had a complete realization of the vision and essence of Sanatan Dharma.

When he was released from jail he gave a famous speech in which he described what had been revealed to him, known as the ‘Uttarpara Speech’ (click here to access the full text of the speech).

Escape to Pondicherry,

Soon after his release, the British administration was out to silence him once more, demanding his arrest for inflammatory writing. Sri Aurobindo entered Pondicherry, which was a French colony in India. The British had no power there. He set up a residence, which soon flourished into an ashram where friends, disciples and seekers gathered around him.

Sri Aurobindo continued writing for the public through a monthly magazine called the Arya. He gradually withdrew into increasingly intense spiritual practice, leaving the material responsibility of the disciples and the growing ashram to a lady named Mira, who is affectionately called “The Mother”. In these years of deep meditation he delved deep into the depths of the spirit. His aim was to fully discover and map out the path to a divine future for the world. The discoveries he made were through direct realisation of many divine mysteries, in the same way as the Vedic Rishis.

The great books and literature

Sri Aurobindo wrote extensively and has left behind a breath-taking legacy of works, most of which are in English. He wrote works on the Vedas and Mahabharata, a commentary on the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads.

He also wrote plays, poetry and stories. He presented a Hindu view on international issues such as war, self-determination, the possibility of international unity, as well as the shortcomings and potentials arising from the League of Nations which had been set up following the First World War.

He wrote important books presenting what he called an “aggressive defence of Hindu culture” because he felt that it was necessary to reverse the process of Hindus getting affected and alienated by constant negative propaganda.

He even wrote commentaries on those non-Indian non-Hindu philosophers for whom he had respect, such as Plato. His most famous works are the descriptions of his own spiritual life and thought.

15th August 1947, First News Paper of INDEPENDENT INDIA

In all these years, Sri Aurobindo never lost track of happenings in the outside world. He continued to keep in touch with many disciples through letters and he read newspapers regularly to stay aware of important happenings. He issued public statements from time to time.

When India’s Independence Day came, it fell on the same day as Aurobindo’s birthday. It was a fitting tribute that this should be so.

Hijacking Aurobindo

The religious culture which now goes by the name of Hinduism … gave itself no name, because it set itself no sectarian limits; it claimed no universal adhesion, asserted no sole infallible dogma, set up no single narrow path or gate of salvation; it was less a creed or cult than a continuously enlarging tradition of the Godward endeavour of the human spirit. An immense many-sided and many-staged provision for a spiritual self-building and self-finding, it had some right to speak of itself by the only name it knew, the eternal religion, Sanatana Dharma…. (Sri Aurobindo, 1919)

Of recent years there has been an academic controversy amongst the more scholarly followers of Sri Aurobindo on the subject of whether he should be considered a Hindu and whether his teachings could be classed as Hinduism. Unfortunately there are  many western or westernised Indian followers of Hindu gurus who will do their utmost to dissociate themselves from the word “Hindu” which Hindu author and writer Rajiv Malhotra refers to the syndrome as the U- Turn

Such individuals who try their best to escape any association with the word Hindu typically feel that their sage/guru is of universal importance, belonged to the whole world, and cared about everyone – Hindu or non-Hindu alike. Therefore it is a travesty for such a great universal teacher to be called a Hindu. What they fail to realise is that the basic teachings of Hinduism (the Vedas, Upanishads, Gita and other sacred literature) are every bit as universal as their own cherished guru.

Hinduism and Universal are synonymous

All the thousands of true Hindu sages through the passage of time have always said that their teachings are universal, and have had a concern for all humanity. This does not make them non-Hindu. This just means that at its core – Hinduism itself is universal and embraces the whole of humanity, allowing all to drink the nectar of its wisdom without giving up their identity. But they don’t want to attribute the quality of universalism to Hinduism, because it is unfashionable; Hinduism being associated in the media with backwardness and social ills.

“But to limit Sri Aurobindo to Hinduism is like characterising modern science and technology as purely Christian, since by and large they originated in the Christian countries.”(Mangesh Nadkarni)

This is quite wrong. Sri Aurobindo acknowledges (and nobody would dare argue otherwise) that he first achieved direct spiritual experience reflecting upon and practicing the yoga of the Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads, with intense devotion to Krishna. Without these he would not have been able to achieve his spiritual realisations, and develop his philosophical teachings. On the other hand, modern science was not developed by persons who were following a Christian line of thought or enquiry. It was developed by enquiry and study into material reality, independently of religion.

Hence, the relationship between Sri Aurobindo and Hinduism is quite different to the relationship between modern science and Christianity. Sri Aurobindo’s teachings can be said to be unique and universal – but these teachings would not have developed without the creative field of experimentation that Hinduism provides. Sri Aurobindo was a heroic spiritual experimenter, like the ancient Vedic sages, who wanted to use his experiences and knowledge to transform and save the world. It is accurate to say that the teachings of Sri Aurobindo flowed out of traditional Hinduism.

The development of modern science did not flow out of Christianity. In some respects it developed in spite of Christianity. The Church often tried to silence persons whose research led them to propose hypotheses that went against certain Christian notions such as the world being 6,000 years old, the world being flat, and the sun going round the Earth, opposition to the theory of evolution etc. By contrast, Sri Aurobindo faced not one iota of difficulty or persecution from the Hindu orthodoxy in publishing whatever he wanted to and pursuing whatever line of spiritual enquiry and experiences he preferred.

To summarise, I’m not saying that one has to “limit Sri Aurobindo to Hinduism” if they don’t want to, but it is ridiculous to say that “to limit Sri Aurobindo to Hinduism is like characterising modern science and technology as purely Christian, since by and large they originated in the Christian countries”. The relationship between Sri Aurobindo’s teachings and Hinduism is radically different to the relationship between modern science and Christianity.

Hardly known in India

Aurobindo erased out of Indian education

Presently  Sri Aurobindo  is  more well known outside India as a great philosopher and mystic but hardly is known in his own country shamelessly. International French journalist and writer Francois  Gautier correctly says :

If we, in France, had a great man such as Sri Aurobindo, who was not only as a revolutionary and a yogi, but also a tremendous philosopher and peerless poet, we would cherish him endlessly. His poetry would be taught to children, his philosophical works would be part of the university curriculums, books would be written about him, museums would be built…. In fact, France’s outspoken ambassador in India, Jerome Bonnafont, is an ardent admirer of Sri Aurobindo’s political works.

But today, amongst Indian politicians (apart from Dr Karan Singh, a scholar on Sri Aurobindo), everybody quotes conveniently from Gandhi, although nobody applies his ideals of charkha, non-violence, khadi and birth control by sexual abstinence. No journalist ever mentions this extraordinary yogi, whose sayings of one hundred years ago are still one hundred per cent relevant today. Not only is he absent from schools and universities, in some manuals written by the Congress, he is branded a ‘terrorist’. Shame on India!

Maybe now is the Time for Indians and the rest of the world to rediscover Sri Aurobindo and his legacy of  empirical spiritual insights to change the world forever ………

Others on Sri Aurobindo,

“And it needed the supreme cultural genius of a Sri Aurobindo, the like of whom the spirit and the creative vision of India alone can create, to give a yet bolder or rather the boldest manifestation to a synthesization of insights in philosophic, cultural and religious or spiritual wisdom and experience and to an invaluable integral conception of the triple Reality”.

Swami Sivananda, founder of the Life Divine Society

At the very first sight I could realise he had been seeking for the Soul and had gained it, and through this long process of realisation had accumulated within him a silent power of inspiration. His face was radiant with an inner light…I felt the utterance of the ancient Hindu Rishis spoke from him of that equanimity which gives the human Soul its freedom of entrance into the All. I said to him, “You have the word and we are waiting to accept it from you. India will speak through your voice to the world, Hearken to me … O Aurobindo, accept the salutations from Rabindranath.”

Rabindranath Tagore,was a Bengali philosopher, poet, and winner of the Nobel Prize for literature in 1913.

“Sri Aurobindo is one of the greatest thinkers of Modern India … the most complete synthesis achieved upto the present between the genius of the West and the East… The last of the great Rishis holds in his outstretched hands, the bow of Creative Inspiration”

Romain Rolland,  French writer, awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1915

As in the past China was spiritually conquered by a great Indian, so in the future too she would be conquered by another great Indian, Sri Aurobindo, the Maha-Yogi who, “is the bringer of that light which will chase away the darkness that envelops the world to-day.”

Tan Yun-Shan, Director of Chinese studies at Visva-Bharati University, China’s cultural Ambassador to India in 1939.

“Sri Aurobindo, the Master, the highest of mystics, happily presents the rare phenomenon an exposition clear as a beautiful diamond, without the danger of confounding the layman. This is possible because Sri Aurobindo is a unique synthesis of a scholar, theologian and one who is enlightened”

Gabriela Mistral , a Chilean poet, educator, diplomat, and feminist who was the first Latin American to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, in 1945.

“Sri Aurobindo is no visionary. He has always acted his dreams … So from individual self-discipline he has gone to the life of humanity. The Psychology of Social Development, Ideals and Progress and The Ideal of Human Unityshould be carefully considered by all those who are busy preparing blue-prints for the future ”

Times Literary Supplement[London]

This 2 rupee coin was issued under BJP Government in 1998 to commemorate the 125th birth Anniversary. Sri Aurobindo

Sri-Aurobindo statue at Auroville India

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The post-World War 2 era of world history saw the dramatic end of colonialism all around the world. The first and most devastating blow to colonialism was the freedom of India, in which over night 1/5^th of humanity were freed. Despite the sad events that accompanied Independence (i.e. the partition of India and the accompanying massacres), Independence Day is a happy event, celebrated by over a billion people every year. India was the first country to free herself, and her freedom gave impetus and hope to the freedom movements of so many other countries spread out over. Asia and Africa. This section is dedicated to the sacrifice of all of the freedom fighters who struggled against European colonialism.

Many of the most prominent freedom fighters were inspired by the Bhagavad Gita. Many even went to the gallows and were executed with the Gita in their hands. The Swadeshi movement of Bengal in 1905 began with a gathering of 50,000 people on the streets on the streets of Calcutta, each with the Gita in their hands. The crowds proceeded to the Kali Temple where they vowed to boycott British goods and drive the British from their lands. The following are very brief biographies about some of the many great leaders and freedom fighters that drew inspiration from the Gita:

Lokmanya Tilak (1856-1920) was known as the “Father of Indian Unrest”. He was the very first person to demand full independence from Britain in the Congress sessions. He explained: “The most practical teaching of the Gita, and one for which it is of abiding interest and value to the men of the world with whom life is a series of struggles, is not to give way to any morbid sentimentality when duty demands sternness and the boldness to face terrible things.” And “It is my firm conviction that it is of utmost importance that every man, woman and child of India understands the message of the Gita.” He write a commentary on the Gita called “Gita Rahasya”, which even today is one of the best books written on the Gita

Bankim Chandra Chatterji (1858-1930) – Bankim Chandra was not a freedom fighter, but through his writings he sparked of an intense freedom struggle and breathed a new passion and life into the nation, particularly his native region of Bengal, which became kindled with religious, nationalistic and artistic fervour after being infused with the powerful visions contained in his writings. Virtually all of you will have heard the famous slogan “Vande Mataram” (I bow to the Mother). The poem and song by this name was first written by him in his famous novel “Anandamath”. The Anandamath story is set in 18^th century India, when a group of warrior sannyasis mounted a guerilla war against Muslim rule (based on a true historical attempt by sannyasis to do precisely this). It was a riveting story line with amazing characters and meaningful dialogues. Yet more importantly, hundreds of thousands of Indians took the story as a metaphor for their own present day situation, understanding it as a call to arms to drive the new tyrants (the British) away from the sacred soil. “Vande Mararam” became the slogan of the freedom struggle. Bankim Chandra drew deep inspiration from the Gita. He wrote a commentary on the Gita, which was only three quarters complete when he died, and an inspiring life sketch of Krishna based on historical and literary research, titled Sri Krishna Charitra.

Mahatma Gandhi’s (1869-1948)  role in the freedom movement of India needs no explanation. His very name invokes images of India’s Independence. He was a kshatriya who fought his battle with unique weapons. He drew great inspiration and courage from the Gita, “I find a solace in the Bhagavad-Gita that I miss even in the Sermon on the Mount [Gandhi felt that the Sermon was the most deep and meaningful dialogue in the Christian teachings]. When disappointment stares me in the face and all alone I see not one ray of light, I go back to the Bhagavad-Gita. I find a verse here and a verse there , and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming tragedies — and my life has been full of external tragedies — and if they have left no visible or indelible scar on me, I owe it all to the teaching of Bhagavad-Gita.”

Sri Aurobindo Ghose (1872-1950) was one of the greatest revolutionaries in the early phase of the Indian freedom struggle, and is recognised throughout the world as a great mystic, intellectual and visionary. He felt that India’s weakness had been due to a weak-minded and cowardly group of leaders, who did not have the nerves to face hardship and take risks for the better of the nation. He emphasised the necessity of the Gita in uplifting India as well as liberating humanity from the bondage of our lower nature into the bliss of divinity. He wrote a beautiful selection of essays on the Gita and its secrets. “A certain class of minds shrink from aggressiveness as if it were a sin.          It is an error, we repeat, to think that spirituality is a thing divorced from life…. It is an error to think that the heights of religion are above the struggles of this world. The recurrent cry of Sri Krishna to Arjuna insists on the struggle; “Fight and overthrow thy opponents!”, “Remember me and fight!”, “Give up all thy works to me with a heart full of spirituality, and free from craving, free from selfish claims, fight! Let the fever of thy soul pass from thee.”

Damodarpanth Chapekar (executed 1898) – In the late 1890’s, in the Maharashtra province of India, there was a devastating plague, which killed many people. The British colonial government was very unhelpful about relief for the suffering people. Indeed, the British agricultural policies (enforcing production of cotton rather than traditional food crops) seriously compounded the problem. The celebrations of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee (50 year’s of rule) were held in the Poona city of Maharashtra. The celebration was carried out with such immense pomp and splendour, in a region where innumerable people were suffering. This sent a wave of resentment amongst the Indian populace, against the colonial government. It was at this time that the erstwhile limited freedom struggle against the British gained support and momentum. As a mark of the people’s resentment against the British administration, an important incident occurred which was to breath a hitherto unknown fire into the revolutionary freedom movement. Outraged by the countless miseries of the famine and plague stricken masses and the excesses committed by the British soldiers, Damodarpant Chapekar shot dead the British plague commissioner, Mr Rand, and the British officer Mr Ayerst on June 22, 1897, in Poona (the city which has been a cradle of heroes throughout history). He was later betrayed by two friends, and was sentenced to death. He embraced the gallows with the Bhagavad Gita in his hands on April 18^th 1898.

Madanlal Dhingra (1887-1909) was the assassin of Sir Cyrzon Wyllie, in London in 1909. He was executed in London on 17 August 1909. Bhagat Singh acknowledged Dhingra as his predecessor. A colourful and brave personality throughout his short life, he died with the Gita in his hands.

Khudiram Bose (1889-1906) was a young revolutionary from Bengal. He was brought up with a deep knowledge of the Hindu heritage, and he was constantly pained that a country which had once achieved so much was now bankrupt and under foreign yoke. He was arrested and hung at the young age of 17 for his part in an attack on British targets. He had the words “Vande Mataram” on his lips and the Bhagavad Gita in his hands when he died.

Hemu Kalani (1923-1943) was a freedom fighter from Sindh, who participated in all aspects of the freedom struggle, from the boycott of British goods, to Gandhi’s campaigns and revolutionary activities. He was caught in a plot to steal British munitions and supply it to Indians. While marching to the gallows, he consoled his distressed mother by quoting verses from the Gita regarding the indestructibility of soul. This shows the bravery and coolness that the Gita can inspire, even in the face of calamity. He said as he was about to be executed that he would like to be born again to finish the job of liberating India. He embraced the gallows with the Bhagavad Gita in his hands on April 18^th 1898.

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The life of Eknath acted like a bridge between his predecessors Jnaneshwar and Naamdev and his successors Tukaram and Ramdas His teachings of philosophy and practice is a synthesis of the quest for the eternal and transcendent while living within the imminent. This great saint of Maharashtra was born sometime around 1530 AD in a Brahmin family which had brought forth great teachers in the past. Eknath’s father, Suryanarayan, and mother, Rukmini died shortly after his birth, hence Eknath was brought up by his grandparents, Chakrapani and Saraswatibai. Throughout his childhood Eknath devoted his time significantly to devotional practices.

When about twelve years old, Eknath heard about a man named Janardan Swami. This great scholar lived in Devgiri renamed as Daulatabad by the Muslim rulers of the time. Eager to become his disciple, Eknath trudged all the way to Devgiri. Janardaswamy was amazed by this extra-ordinarily gifted boy and readily accepted him as his disciple. He taught Eknath Vedanta, Nyaya, Meemansa, Yoga etc. (i.e. a broad based education of Hindu dharma) and most importantly, Sant Jnaneshwar’s works.

Janardan Swami was a devotee of Lord Dattatreya, the son of Atrimuni and his wife Anasuya. Eknath soon achieved self-realisation through his dedicated practice. The Guru then asked Eknath to proceed on pilgrimage. He himself accompanied Eknath upto Nasik-Tryambakeshwar. Here, Eknath wrote his famous treatise on Chatushloki Bhagavat. Which was a treatise on the application of four sacred shlokas of the holy “Bhagavat.” Eknath’s work consisted of 1036 specially metered verses known as “ovee”s. After completing his pilgrimage of various holy places of west and north India, Eknath returned to Paithan where he was born. His grandparents were extremely delighted to see him again and implored him to marry. Eknath married a lady named Girija. The couple were truly made for each other and established the ideal examples of ethical living. In time, the couple was blessed with two daughters, Godavari and Ganga and a son Hari.

During the intervening period of about 250 years between Dnyaneshwar and Eknath, various Islamic invaders ravaged Maharashtra. Defeats after defeats had completely demoralised people. The great legacy of Jnaneshwar was nearly forgotten. Eknath devoted himself to change this situation. His first task was to locate the “samadhi” of Jnaneshwar and trace the undistorted version of “Jnaneshwari” (Jnaneshwar’s treatise of the Bhagavad Gita). In fact, without Eknath’s all-out efforts, the legacy of Jnaneshwar could well have been lost to the succeeding generations. He also devoted him self in fighting against untouchability and other ills, which were rotting the society. His inspiration to fight untouchability were the teachings of Sri Krishna. Eknath’s teachings may be summarized as “Vichar, Uchchar and Achar” – i.e., purity of thought, speech and practices. Exemplifying the way of ethical and spiritual living, he practised what he preached. His works, verses and preaching kindled hope among the people at a time when they needed it most. At last following the example of the great Jnaneshwar, he left for his heavenly abode by voluntarily laying down his life in the sacred Godavari on the Krishna Shasthi day of Phalguna in the year Shaka 1521 (1599AD).

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