Why in the news?

• August 15 marks the birth anniversary of Sri Aurobindo Ghosh

Sri Aurobindo Ghosh

• Birth Place: Sri Aurobindo was born on 15th August 1872 in Kolkata
• Academics and Career:
  • Aurobindo’s father believed in the importance of Western education.
  • Aurobindo went to England for his higher studies.
  • Aurobindo cleared the open competition to Indian Civil services in 1890, but refused to join the services.
  • Aurobindo later joined Baroda State service and spent 13 years in various administrative roles.
• Contribution in National Movement:
  • Sri Aurobindo was a key figure in India’s early independence struggle.
  • He was a revolutionary in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
  • He co-founded youth clubs, including the Anushilan Samiti, promoting physical fitness and martial training.
  • Aurobindo was charged in the Alipore Bomb Case of 1908 and got sentenced to a year of solitary confinement at Alipore Central Jail. Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das appeared for him in the trials and Aurobindo was released.
  • Journals: Aurobindo Ghose primarily published and edited the English newspaper Bande Mataram. He also started a weekly magazine called Karmayogin.
  • Sri Aurobindo Ghosh was called the “Prophet of Indian Nationalism” due to his pragmatic strategies for ending British rule.
• Sri Aurobindo and Philosophy:
  • Sri Aurobindo left active politics in 1910 and settled in the French Colony of Pondicherry (Now Puducherry).
  • They Established the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry. 
  • Aurobindo developed Integral Yoga philosophy.
• Literary Contribution: Aurobindo authored works like – Savitri: A Legend and a Symbol, The Life Divine, The Synthesis of Yoga, Essays on the Geeta, On the Veda, The Ideal of Human Unity.