Tales of Prison Life Sri Aurobindo-About the book

-

 🙏  🙏 Om  namo bagavathe sri aurovindaya 🙏

SRI AUROBINDO.

Tales of Prison Life-About the book



Dr. Sisir Kumar Ghosh translated this book from its original Karakahini publication in 1909–10 into English. The book includes three essays,a poem 'Invitation'  in English written in Alipore jail and a 'Uttarpara' speech in English, along with the main text.

 

I read this book twice, as it was very engrossing.

I gathered the courage  to write a few lines about the book. (I am not a high calibre person to write about Sri Aurobindo, a world renowned yogi and  an incarnation of Satchitananda.) .This book is an account of  his spiritual experiences in Alipore jail. On May 1, 1908, the British government  arrested him for conspiracy and released him after a year of solitary confinement. The cover photo depicts the Alipore prison room, where Sri Aurobindo found himself locked in seclusion.

" God took me to a prison and turned it into a place of meditation and His trysting ground"

"The only result of the wrath of the British Government was that I found God".

The prison life transformed the revolutionary nationalist Sri Aurobindo into a yogi. He expressed his displeasure over the British Raj prison administration and desired prison reforms. He spent his initial days in prison in great agitation, but doing yoga for an hour in the mornings and in the evenings brought peace to his mind. The police, by hook or crook, tried to  prove him guilty in the Muzaffarpur bomb blast case by collecting false evidence, but their efforts were all in vain. He mentioned sympathetic and good natured Britishers, Superintendent Emerson, and Doctor Daly in the book. They respected Indian nationalists, who were well educated, belonged to high class families.  In his Uttarpara speech,

 He revealed his tryst with Vasudeva. He sensed Lord Sri Krishna's presence in all living beings. During the trial in court, he even felt God's presence in Dacoits, Theives, and Magistrate and Prosecuting Counsel.

 

Along with this book, Bases of Yoga and The Mother books are helpful for beginners to understand Sri Aurobindo's philosophy. I strongly recommend this book to spiritual seekers.

🙏Om namo bagavathe sri aurovindaya 🙏

Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust 1974,2018

Published by Sri Aurobindo Ashram Publication Department. Pondicherry 605002.

http://www.sadba.in

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Snake in the Grass’ by R.K.Narayan – Summary and Annotations

-
Image
SRR Govt.Arts& Science College Karimnagar   Satavahana University Karimnagar- I year English Semester-1 Unit 1.- 2020-21 onwards englishlanguage-lit.blogspot.com R.K.Narayan is one of the greatest Indian English novelists.His subtle irony, gentle humour, indianness and lucid narrative style captivate the readers. He was honoured with  Sahithya Akademi award in the year 196o for the novel ‘The Guide’ RK.Narayan’s  short story ‘ A Snake in the Grass’ is centered around a Cobra which had entered a bungalow on  a sunny afternoon. Upon hearing the news of cobra’s  entry into the compound, the family members consisting of the mother and four sons in a great agitation,  wakes up their old lazy servant Dasa. Dasa tries to dismiss the matter but the family rebukes him to search for the snake in the bushes. Dasa cleverly counters them for not providing grass cutter for months. While all are busy in cutting bushes and creepers to find the snake, the college boy of the house gives an elabor
Read more

The Golden light Poem Sri Aurobindo summary and analysis

-
Image
 Om namo bagavathe sri vasudevaya 🙏 Thy golden Light came down into my brain And the grey rooms of mind sun-touched  became A bright reply to Wisdom's occult plane, A calm illumination and a flame. Thy golden Light came down into my throat, And all my speech is now a tune divine, A paean-song of Thee my single note; My words are drunk with the immortal's wine. Thy golden Light came down into my heart Smiting my life with Thy eternity; Now has it grown a temple where Thou art And all its passions point towards only Thee. Thy golden Light came down into my feet, My earth is now Thy playfield and Thy seat . The Golden light is a sonnet ( 14 lines)written in the style of Shakespearean sonnet containing three  quartains and one couplet. Rhyme scheme is abab cdcd efef gg. The repetition of Thy at the beginning of every stanza is Anaphora, a figure of speech.  The Poet reveals his intense  spiritual experience and enlightenment.Golden light is the symbol of divine light. Sri Aurobi
Read more

The Void poem by Gajanan- Analysis

-
Image
The Void                            Gajanan Satavahana /OU/KU M.A. English Sem.1 (Paper-V.Modern Indian Literatures in Translation) The void inside us has jaws , those jaws have carnivorous teeth; those teeth will chew you up, those teeth will chew up everyone else. The dearth inside is our nature, habitually angry, in the dark hollow inside the jaws there is a pond of blood. This void is utterly black, is barbaric, is naked, disowned, debased, completely self absorbed. I scatter it, give it away, with fiery words and deeds. Those who cross my path find this void in the wounds I inflict on them. They let it grow, spread it around, scatter it and give it away to others, raising the children of emptiness. The void is very durable, it is fertile. Everywhere it breeds saws, daggers, sickles, breeds carnivorous teeth. That is why, wherever you look, there is dancing, jubilation, death is now giving birth to brand new children. Everywhere th
Read more