Question- Write about Renaissance in India and the nature of India culture as explicated by Sri Aurobindo.

Answer - 

Introduction - The word 'Culture' is the hallmark of India. India produced a unique type of highly advanced and variegated culture long ago. Inspite of the regional, sexual and linguistic diversities of the country there is always a basic unity in Indian culture. Moveover, this culture has been maintained inspite of invasions from outside and subjugation by the British. This unbroken continuity of Indian culture survives still it has the root of the deep spiritual foundations.

Aim of Culture - The essential intention of Indian culture was extraordinarialy high ambitious and noble. It held that man can become not only conscious of the eternal and the infinite but to live in its power and universalize, spiritualise and divinize himself by self knowledge. The whole aim of a great culture is to lift man. Man actually lives in unfathomable ignorance. He is full of evil and discord and his actual life is a repulpusive muddle of ugliness and jarring barbarisms. At present he is egoistic, material, unspiritual and engrossed by the needs and desires of his physical being. So, the culture teaches him. It gives him knowledge. It teaches reason, the law of good and unity, high law of his spirit. If a civilization has not any of these aims it is not a good culture. Its ancient India has all these aims it is highest of all be and it surpasses all the others.

Indian Culture and its Renaissance - Shri Aurobindo was interested in revolutionary movements and liberation of his motherland. He began to build up his own theory of the special role of beauty. To Aurobindo beauty is strictly divine origin. This was his basic formula Sat-Chit-Ananda. Aurobindo could not imagine Religion without beauty.

In his book The Renaissance in India and other essays on Indian culture' Shri Aurobindo examines the nature of Indian civilization and culture, its religion and spirituality its art, literature and politics. The importance of Renaissance is insisted by explaining that the Renaissance, the new birth is the most important thing both to India and the world it means the recovery or the change of India's old spirit and national ideals. The three facts are taken into consideration. They are the great past of Indian culture, the first period of the western contact and the ascending movement Aurobindo feels proud to insist that Indian spirituality has always been maintained even in the decline of the national volalility. India faced many critical moment of her destiny. It is spirituality that saved India always. Here Sir Aurobindo strongly asserts that the spirituality has been the starting point of India's renaissance. Also, he is sure that any other nation would not have surrived under the pressure without this spirituality. It is sure that India will keep her essential spirit and charactieristic soul. The Indian renascence does not contradict the truths of life which expressed by the old. These forms of renascence are the truth restated which are cured of defect.

Spirituality in India - Spirituality is the master key of the Indian mind. India faced different crises but she never lost the insight. The first age of India's greatness was a spiritual age. In that age she lived passionately for the truth of existence through the intvitive mind and through an inner experience and interpretation both of the psychic and the physical existence.

Aurobindo was certain that the spiritual motive would be there in the future of India. He does not mean spirituality only as metaphysical mind. He is sure that metaphysical thinking is strong element and India will never lose her great powers. Even Buddism gave the new set of values about life by its ethical system and spiritual method. Moreover, all great movements of life in India have began with a new spiritual thought. Aurobindo praises India's old religious sects and disciplines which were revitalized even he points, out the original Islamic ideals and awakening life of mass in India. He proudly declares that India is the meeting place of the religions. Here lies the key of the India renaissance in which the spirituality is returned.

External influence and Great Intellectuals - Sir Aurobindo describes in India culture. He feels the Indian civilization needs a lot of changes. There must be a powerful new creation in all fields. India confronted the huge rush of modern life and thought. She was invaled by dominant civilization. She can survive only with the fresh divine creations of her own spiritual ideals against the new and aggressive world Indians can have new creation without a motionless sticking to old forms. It is the only way of their life and salvation. They need not accept western culture and find their need. It is to be agreed that Indians imitated European civilization making themselves a sort of brown. English men and threw their ancient culture into the dustbin. They put or livery of the west. When a culture has fallen into a state of comparative inactivity and when it receives the direct shock of a waking then there occurs the development of new ideas and formations. In literature the forms of novel, the short story, the critical essay, in science, the new discoveries and inventions, researches, in politics the press, the platform are the changes. There can be changes but when the people do with them for their own spirit is important.

It is proud to think about the earliest generation of intellectuals. Though they were few in number they were powerful by their talent which was the result at western education in India. They sought for a bare, simplified and rationalized religion and created a literature with European from which revolutionaized Indian society. There were the impacts in the earliest period's reception of European form which are unavoidable. At first it took back the Indian mind to its thirst for knowledge. Then it threw the discorded modern ideas into the old culture. Finally it gave new turn helped Indians to recover their ancient spirit and sence. We must acknowledge the works of the great legends Bankim Chandra Catterji and Rabindra Nath Tagore who had illustrated the stage's of India's transition. Swami Vivekanand must be praised for preserving and reconstructing India's value throughout his life time. But Indians' unsteady mind who were wearing half- indian dress and half-European dress upon their bodies is to be worried. So, India must get back to the native power of her spirit.

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