Nation-Soul, State and Unity: Sri Aurobindo and Rabindranath Tagore on the Religion of Humanity

Abstract

AbstractSri Aurobindo spoke about the nation, the state and the ideal of human unity. Whether Rabindranath Tagore had read Sri Aurobindo or not, it is clear that his arguments against the nation-state came fairly close to Sri Aurobindo’s position on the state. This essay will attempt to bring out these similarities and discuss their positions on the ideal of human unity. Unlike the liberals, both Sri Aurobindo and Tagore had made primarily religious (rather than strictly political) arguments for human unity. However, it would also be correct to say that neither of these arguments was “religious” in the sense of being entirely drawn from any one sectarian/conventional religion. In this context, the essay will argue that Sri Aurobindo’s idea for “the religion of humanity” and Tagore’s ideas on “the religion of man” were far more exacting than (and marked a shift away from) liberal arguments recommending the political unification of humanity in the form of a world state. KeywordsSvaraj in ideasOrganized stateNationCountryCosmopolitanismKantPerpetual peaceThe spiritual religion of humanityThe religion of manOnenessInter-relationshipHarmony