East and West in Aurobindo's Political Philosophy

Abstract

SRI AUROBINDO (1872-1950) was one of the major figures in the history of the Indian renaissance and Indian nationalism. His moral, intellectual, and spiritual accomplishments have cast a deep influence over the mind of the Indian people. Since the publication of his magnum opus, The Life Divine, the attention of some of the leading intellectuals of the world has been focused on him, and Savitri, his epic poem, is considered by some to herald a new era in the realm of spiritual poetry. Certainly, he has been one of the most systematic and learned of all modern Indian thinkers. Tagore, who was greatly struck by the luminous personality of Aurobindo, stated that through him India would express her message to the world. Romain Rolland regarded Aurobindo as the highest synthesis of the genius of Asia and the genius of Europe. Aurobindo was a versatile genius--poet, metaphysician, seer, patriot, lover of humanity, and a political philosopher. His works represent the crystallization of the new and rising soul of India and have a spiritual message for humanity. During his stay in England for fourteen years--from the age of seven until he was twenty-one-Aurobindo penetrated deeply into the Greek and Latin classics. He read the great European masters from Homer to Goethe, all in the originals. As a teacher at Baroda (Central India) he studied the Vedas, the Upanisads, and the Gltd, and came to the conclusion that these great books of ancient India were not intellectual dialectical metaphysics but represented the outpourings of profound and intense esoteric realizations. The Veddntic synthesis of Ramakrishna and Vivekananda influenced him particularly. From 1905 to 1910, Aurobindo pursued a political career as a leader in the nationalist movement in Bengal. During those days he further studied the Hindu scriptures and confessed having mystic visions during his solitary confinement in the Alipore jail. As a political leader and writer, he wanted to construct a synthesis of the ancient Vedinta and modern European political philosophy. His Political Vedantism was not merely a restatement of the world-affirming tendencies of the Upanisads but also a concrete social philosophy for the reconstruction of the social and political life of a