Human values and consciousness: towards a new social order in the light of Sri Aurobindo

Abstract

This paper attempts a systematic presentation of the ideas of Sri Aurobindo, India's foremost sage- philosopher-nationalist, in two parts. This, the first part, encompasses a time span of approximately four decades (1872-1910) when Aurobindo was an activist and a frontline leader in India's freedom struggle. This period has been identified by the author as the pre-Pondicherry days when the keynote of Aurobindo's social, economic and political writings was nationalism. This paper sheds light on how Aurobindo's views on India's social and economic upliftment were inextricably linked with his clarion call for the resurgence of the spiritual identity of her citizens. Thus, the author argues that Aurobindo was not just a narrow-visioned political scientist who saw India merely as a geographical entity. Rather, his vision was engrossed with the quintessential spiritual symbol that India has been and is. The second part of the paper will appear in the next issue of this journal.