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Sri Aurobindo: His Life and Yoga
Sri Aurobindo was a scholar, a literary critic, a philosopher, a revolutionary, a poet and a yogi. He became a leader of India's fight for independence and later a well-known spiritual guru. The original version of this book was written at a time when any writing on Sri Aurobindo was frowned upon by the British government. It is not only a biography of the spiritual leader but also an analysis of the Congress party during the Independence movement, the split in Surat Congress, as well as the spiritual practice developed by Sri Aurobindo known as Spiritual Yoga.
252 pages, Paperback
Published November 10, 2018
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March 22, 2019
His life & Yoga
The book starts with the story & journey of Sri Aurobindo & explains how he has etched his name in the tides of time when every Tom, Dick & Harry seemed to resemble some embodiment of superhuman values from time to time. At such a critical juncture, Prasenjit Sen brought out English translation of the Bengali biography - a classic which was written by his late father Promode Kumar Sen more than half a century ago. This book is a systematic attempt from various quartershas which has been hurling disgrace to Indian spirituality by brandishing jihad against so-called tradional hagiography in order to establish a novel methodology based on pseudo-psychoanalytical barbarism, for penning blasphemous pages in the name of biography.
Sri Aurobindo was a scholar, a literary critic, a philosopher, a revolutionary, a poet and a yogi. He became a leader of India's fight for independence and later a well-known spiritual guru. The original version of this book was written at a time when any writing on Sri Aurobindo was frowned upon by the British government. It is not only a biography of the spiritual leader but also an analysis of the Congress party during the Independence movement, the split in Surat Congress, as well as the spiritual practice developed by Sri Aurobindo known as Spiritual Yoga.
The book has been divided into 24 chapters (if we include both the beginning & ending preliminary parts). It contains author's views & methods, the book describes faithfully, step-by-step, aspects & phases of the Master's life & times, along with the blossoming of his vision. The author has also expressed & examined the future evolution of humanity & the great objective embobied by Sri Aurobindo proposed through his labour of transforming mankind. In addition to the much awaited simplified presentation of Sri Aurobindo's lofty writings, a profound familiarity with them & an elegant Bengali style, the English translation also holds the relentless look out for unknown & less known facts concerning the master. This has overall enriched the narration as a whole. Even including the affectionate instance of the father Krishnadhan with his prediction about the potentials of his three elder sons - Benoybhushan, Manmohan & Aurobindo - studying in English, gives us a special flavour to this book. Additionally, the revolutionary role Aurobindo played by preceding & anticipating the mass movement that Gandhiji was to lead 15 years later was based on the blueprint left by him.
This translation does justice to the mainframe & a must read for all nonfiction lovers out there. Language is good. Narration is okay. Translation of poems were excellent. Illustrations & pics supporting the Master's cause has been presented effectively. The ending given in the book where Aurobindo passes from our earthly world to celestial ones has personified & justified successfully!
The book starts with the story & journey of Sri Aurobindo & explains how he has etched his name in the tides of time when every Tom, Dick & Harry seemed to resemble some embodiment of superhuman values from time to time. At such a critical juncture, Prasenjit Sen brought out English translation of the Bengali biography - a classic which was written by his late father Promode Kumar Sen more than half a century ago. This book is a systematic attempt from various quartershas which has been hurling disgrace to Indian spirituality by brandishing jihad against so-called tradional hagiography in order to establish a novel methodology based on pseudo-psychoanalytical barbarism, for penning blasphemous pages in the name of biography.
Sri Aurobindo was a scholar, a literary critic, a philosopher, a revolutionary, a poet and a yogi. He became a leader of India's fight for independence and later a well-known spiritual guru. The original version of this book was written at a time when any writing on Sri Aurobindo was frowned upon by the British government. It is not only a biography of the spiritual leader but also an analysis of the Congress party during the Independence movement, the split in Surat Congress, as well as the spiritual practice developed by Sri Aurobindo known as Spiritual Yoga.
The book has been divided into 24 chapters (if we include both the beginning & ending preliminary parts). It contains author's views & methods, the book describes faithfully, step-by-step, aspects & phases of the Master's life & times, along with the blossoming of his vision. The author has also expressed & examined the future evolution of humanity & the great objective embobied by Sri Aurobindo proposed through his labour of transforming mankind. In addition to the much awaited simplified presentation of Sri Aurobindo's lofty writings, a profound familiarity with them & an elegant Bengali style, the English translation also holds the relentless look out for unknown & less known facts concerning the master. This has overall enriched the narration as a whole. Even including the affectionate instance of the father Krishnadhan with his prediction about the potentials of his three elder sons - Benoybhushan, Manmohan & Aurobindo - studying in English, gives us a special flavour to this book. Additionally, the revolutionary role Aurobindo played by preceding & anticipating the mass movement that Gandhiji was to lead 15 years later was based on the blueprint left by him.
This translation does justice to the mainframe & a must read for all nonfiction lovers out there. Language is good. Narration is okay. Translation of poems were excellent. Illustrations & pics supporting the Master's cause has been presented effectively. The ending given in the book where Aurobindo passes from our earthly world to celestial ones has personified & justified successfully!
January 7, 2020
Aurobindo is a well known personality & doesn't need any introduction whatsoever but this book beautifully follows his journey of how he became the person we know of today. Prasenjit Sen has translated Aurobindo's autobiography from Bengali to English keeping every detail in his mind & kept the language extremely easy for readers as well.
Truly one of the best book out there to know about Aurobindo.
Truly one of the best book out there to know about Aurobindo.
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July 19, 2025This book has been catching dust on a shelf ever since my first trip to Pondicherry. I bought it in a book store a few streets away from Aurobindo’s ashram. I was hoping this to hold a bit more historical information. It starts of fairly well placing Aurobindo in the context of him taking his role in the lead up towards India’s independence. First as a child growing up in the UK, then his time in Kolkata. Along with Aurobindo sailing into Pondicherry, the book takes on a more (or very) subjective tone. Possibly to defend him against accusations of having fled Kolkata for selfish purposes, leaving behind a country and people, to escape potential legal threats. I would have enjoyed for the second part of this biography to be a pinch less of the ‘hallelujah aurobindo-ji’.
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