The Life of Sri Aurobindo | EP 01 | Narrated by Dhanalakhsmi in Tamil

[Music] Om Namo Bhagavate Sri Aurobindo We cannot know the life of the great Sri Aurobindo superficially. [Music] Because the lives of the saints are very meaningful . The meaning is clear. Our Lord Sri Aurobindo cannot be seen as just a great man. Our Lord is an incarnation who appeared in this world like Rama and Sri Krishna . Arjuna did not know that Lord Krishna had taken an incarnation in the Mahabharata. At the end of the Bharata War, Krishna shows his universal vision . Only then does Krishna realize that he is God. Arjuna is surprised, thinking, "You are like my friend, I asked you all the questions." [Music] When avatars are born in the world among ordinary people like us, we do not know their dignity. Therefore, Aurobindo was born in the world and incarnated among us, a people filled with ignorance, arrogance, and falsehood. He not only reached the pinnacle of spirituality himself, but also worked to uplift his fellow human beings, helping us to elevate ourselves by destroying our [music] faith. When Sri Aurobindo was approached to write his autobiography, a disciple approached him and kept insisting, "Lord, you are constantly insisting on destroying my self-image. Is this really necessary or is there any use in it?" he questioned, " Because neither you nor anyone else knows anything about my life, it is not superficial for people to see ." Similarly, we can hear this from his own words, which destroyed the answer. I would like to mention this only in English. I have assisted in giving a biography that is interesting or useful. I have not seen anyone else know anything about my life. It has not been on the surface for man to see. Therefore, we cannot look at his life superficially . However, the dignity he maintained in his life and other aspects impress us. It also destroys the urge to try to see if we can become like him . Let's take a look at his life here in a way that we can understand a little bit . Sri Aurobindo was born on 15 August 1872 in Calcutta, the third child of Krishnathan Ghosh and Swarnalatha Devi . As Sri Aurobindo wrote in his epic poem Savitri, "He was a shining guest of time." Yes, he came and was born in this time of the god of time, a divine guest. He was a Rishi. As the shining guest of the god of time, he was named Aravind. His parents did not know that anyone had given him the name Aravind at that time. Aravind means lotus. Later, the Mother gave the pink lotus flower the spiritual name of Avatar, Avatar, and said, "The Pink Lotus is the Flower of Sri Aurobindo." So they have erased his correct name. It seems they knew it subtly. Similarly, we have all seen the lotus flower in the center of Sri Aurobindo's symbol . The Mother has destroyed the explanation for Sri Aurobindo's symbol . You can see that here too. The downward-pointing triangle represents Sat Sidh Anand. The upward-pointing triangle represents the response to the passion of matter in the form of life light and love . The central square connecting the two represents the complete manifestation, with the lotus flower at its center representing the supreme incarnation. The water in the square represents the multifaceted creature that killed the gods . So whenever we think about Sri Aurobindo, we cannot help but be struck by these similarities. Sri Aurobindo's father was a doctor and after receiving his doctorate from Calcutta University, he went to England for further studies. He returned to India in 1871 after completing his MD degree in Edinburgh, England. Due to his Western education, he has almost become an atheist. It was the custom of Indians at that time to caste-check those who went abroad. That was what happened to Sri Aurobindo's father, Krishnadhan Ghosh. He didn't care about anything, he vacated the place where he was born and raised and left. Later, he served as a civil surgeon in districts like Bhagalpur and Rampur. He is a very good and humanitarian man who, despite not believing in Hindu religious rituals and traditions, helps many people beyond his means . Do n't even ask about Sri Aurobindo's mother. We saw earlier that her name was Swarnalatha Devi . He is also educated and knowledgeable. He has written many stories and plays . All this is something we don't know . A sweet-natured person, he was called the Rose of Rangpur due to his sweet nature and high culture . Krishnathan Ghosh was very adamant that his children should not be exposed to even a little bit of Indian culture or customs . So the children were raised in an English environment at home . Sri Aurobindo grew up without knowing his mother tongue, Bengali . When Aurobindo was five years old, he was admitted to the Loretta House School in Darjeeling, along with his elder brothers Vinibhushan and Manmohan, to receive an English-medium education. Bhagavan separated from his parents at a very young age and began his education. The children who study there are mostly European, and the teachers are Irish nuns. It was in this kind of environment that he was sent to study. However, his father didn't stop there. Not much is known about the events that took place during the two years that Sri Aurobindo studied in Darjeeling. But once, when he went to his grandfather's house for a vacation, all the grandchildren went with him. After going a short distance, they found that Arvind was not with them. When they returned, they saw him standing and sleeping. The reason I'm saying this is because Sri Aurobindo used to meditate while walking . It seems that this habit started at the age of five. He described a dream he had while in Darjeeling . This is also a spiritual matter. I was lying down when I saw a great Tamas ( darkness) rushing through me, engulfing me and the entire universe. After that, throughout my time in England, a great darkness always hung over me . I think that darkness had something to do with the darkness that engulfed me in Darjeeling . He posts that the darkness left me only when I returned to India . Krishnathan Ghosh decided to send his sons to study in England . Accordingly, he himself left here with his family in 1879 and went to London. In 1880, they were handed over to a priest named William Truward and returned. Since both of Arvind's older brothers were of school-going age, Truward enrolled them in Manchester Grammar School . Aurobindo was only seven years old at the time. So Truvert and his wife began to educate him at home. Mr. Truward is well versed in Latin. So he taught Aurobindo Latin and English. His wife began teaching him history, geography, mathematics, and French. At that young age, Aurobindo began reading the Bible, Shakespeare, Shelley, Keats, and other works on his own . Because Sri Aurobindo had excellent basic training in Latin, when he was admitted to St. Paul's School in London, the headmaster of that school gave him good training in Greek and admitted him to the upper class. [ Scholars say that children who learn multiple languages ​​are usually very intelligent.] Similarly, it is noteworthy that our Lord not only studied Latin, French, Italian, and Greek, but also became proficient in them . At the age of ten, he wrote the poem "Light" . The poem was published in 1883. In addition to learning English poetry and literature, novels and French literature, he also learned Italian, German and Spanish, as I have already mentioned. He had learned almost 15 languages. His father sent him money for six years while he was studying in Manchester . Due to the increased expenses of his household and his otherwise generous nature of helping others, he was unable to continue sending money to his sons . The Truward family also left Manchester for Australia . During this period, they even struggled to find food. Aurobindo himself writes during this period. Sri Aurobindo would have one or two slices of bread, butter, and a cup of tea in the morning. For almost two years, there was almost no lunch. He did n't even have an overcoat to protect him from the bitter cold of London. There were no artificial heating facilities in the office room where he slept. He doesn't even have a proper bedroom . Although this situation lasted for two or three years, Aurobindo accepted it calmly and unmoved. During this period, I never ate a full meal even once. Sri Aurobindo never lacks anything, both in his youth and later life. These are the qualities that attract us most to him . Despite the hardships he had to endure in a foreign country at a young age, it did not affect the love and affection between him and his father . He never mentioned his hardships in his letters to his father . He shared only good things related to his education. That's what is found in those letters. His teacher at Cambridge University, learning of his student's condition, wrote a letter of reprimand to his father. It stated that his [firstborn] son ​​would have to appear in court for unpaid bills . His father immediately sent the money and wrote a letter of reprimand to his son Aurobindo . That he is a spendthrift. But Arvind holds no anger or bitterness towards his father. On the contrary, whenever he talks about his father, he speaks with love and affection. Sri Aurobindo was a student in the ICS class during his final year at St. Paul's School. Sri Aurobindo also passed the ICS examination, scoring high marks in Greek and Latin . When he left St. Paul's School, he received the Senior Classical Scholarship and a stipend . He was also given an allowance as an ICS probationer at that time. This scholarship was a great help to him and his brothers, as the money from his father had almost stopped coming. Sri Aurobindo passed the ICS examination . He didn't go to the horse riding exam that followed. He was given another chance to take the horse riding exam. This is attributed to the scores he obtained in Greek and Latin. Because he did not go for that second opportunity, the British government did not include him in the list of ICS candidates. During this time, he became involved in politics, little by little. His father is also a reason for that. He learned about the atrocities committed against Indians under British rule through his father . During Sri Aurobindo's time at Cambridge, some Indian students started an organization called the Indian Majlis. Sri Aurobindo played a major role in it. He was also its secretary for a while. He then decided to work for the freedom of India. He also joined a secret society during his last days in England . They named it Lotus and Dagger. This group met once and never met again. Now Bhagavan wanted to come to India . His heart and soul yearned to step on Indian soil and breathe Indian air . He did not establish any ties in England . Despite living in the country for almost 14 years of his youth, he had no attachment to England. He developed a special attachment to France, his second home country. The reason for this may be that we know that the mother's country of origin is France . Sri Aurobindo prepared to leave England. He had no regrets about leaving England . At this time, the King of Baroda, Kegwar, arrived in England . He was introduced to Sri Aurobindo through his friend James Cotton. Through him, the King of Baroda invited him to join the Baroda princely state for a salary of 200 rupees . Bhagwan Sri Aurobindo accepted the invitation. He knew nothing about the things of this world . He was unable to even accurately predict whether a salary of 200 rupees was suitable for him or not. The King of Baroda was proud to have hired an ICS graduate for this meager salary . In 1893, Sri Aurobindo returned to his homeland on the ship SS Carthage . But his fate, if not his fate, is that he never saw the father who raised him for so long again . False information was sent to Sri Aurobindo's father that he was coming by ship called Romania. When news came that the ship Romania had sunk off the coast of Portugal and all those on board had died, that friend also sent the news to Bhagavan's father. Upon hearing this news, his father was heartbroken and thought that his son Aravind was dead, and he himself passed away while uttering Aravind's name . [Music]