Aurobindo Ghosh

About

Aurobindo Ghose was a revolutionary, nationalist, poet, educationist and philosopher.
He was born on August 15, 1872, in Calcutta.

Early life and Education

When he was seven years old, Aurobindo was sent to England with his brothers for education. He studied under the tutelage of Reverend W H Drewett in Manchester, where he learnt Latin, Greek, German, Italian, French, Arithmetic and Geography.
He also studied Indian philosophy and vedas and became a yogi.

Career

He took the civil service exam and became the service officer in 1893
Later, he worked as a teacher, Baroda College’s vice principal, and also as a secretary to Maharaja of Gaekwad
In Baroda, he came in contact with resistance groups in Bengal and Madhya Pradesh. He also got in touch with Sister Nivedita and Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak and actively participated in building the revolutionary atmosphere in India.

Role in Freedom Struggle

Later, he left his job at Baroda to join the Bengal National College.
He published the magazine Arya and newspaper Vande Matram
He also contributed articles to the Bengali weekly Yugantar.
Later, he started a weekly English journal titled Dharma, in which he tried to convey the message of Swaraj or freedom from the British rule.
He was one of the founders of the youth club Anushilan Samiti which protested against the atrocities of the British government.
He was one of the leading protesters against the 1905 Partition of Bengal and called on the citizens to boycott British institutions and goods.
He took part in the 1906 session of the Indian National Congress and was a member of the team which set four objectives-Swadeshi, Swaraj, education and boycott.

Alipore Bomb conspiracy case

Aurobindo, a revolutionary and a militant nationalist, was charged in the Alipore Bomb Case (1906-1910) and was sentenced to jail.
He spent one year in solitary confinement at the Alipore Central Jail in Calcutta.
Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das fought his case and Ghosh was released.

Spiritualism

He decided to give up active politics after his stint in jail and devoted himself to spiritualism.
In 1910, he left British India and found refuge in the French colony of Pondichéry
Later, he left Kolkata and moved to Pondicherry where he established Sri Aurobindo Ashram in 1926
He devoted himself for the rest of his life to the development of his “integral” yoga.
The main objective of his teachings was to increase the level of consciousness of people and to aware people of their true selves.
His work got him nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1943. He was also nominated in 1950 for the Nobel Prize for Peace.
Aurobindo Ghose died on December 5, 1950.

Why in News?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a programme celebrating Sri Aurobindo’s 150th birth anniversary.

reference:

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