Early Cultural Writings

 

CONTENTS

 

Pre-content


Post-content
 

 

Part One

The Harmony of Virtue

 

The Sole Motive of Man's Existence

The Harmony of Virtue

Beauty in the Real

Stray Thoughts

 

Part Two

On Literature

 

Bankim Chandra Chatterji

His Youth and College Life

The Bengal He Lived In

His Official Career

His Versatility

His Literary History

What He Did for Bengal

Our Hope in the Future

 

On Poetry and Literature

Poetry

Characteristics of Augustan Poetry

Sketch of the Progress of Poetry from Thomson to Wordsworth

Appendix: Test Questions

Marginalia on Madhusudan Dutt's Virangana Kavya

Originality in National Literatures

 

The Poetry of Kalidasa

A Proposed Work on Kalidasa

The Malavas

The Age of Kalidasa

The Historical Method

The Seasons

Hindu Drama

Vikramorvasie: The Play

Vikramorvasie: The Characters

The Spirit of the Times

On Translating Kalidasa

Appendix: Alternative and Unused Passages and Fragments

 

On the Mahabharata

Notes on the Mahabharata

Notes on the Mahabharata [Detailed]

 

Part Three

On Education

 

Address at the Baroda College Social Gathering

Education

The Brain of India

A System of National Education

The Human Mind

The Powers of the Mind

The Moral Nature

Simultaneous and Successive Teaching

The Training of the Senses

Sense— Improvement by Practice

The Training of the Mental Faculties

The Training of the Logical Faculty

Message for National Education Week (1918)

National Education

A Preface on National Education

 

Part Four

On Art

 

The National Value of Art

Two Pictures

Indian Art and an Old Classic

The Revival of Indian Art

An Answer to a Critic

 

Part Five

Conversations of the Dead

 

Dinshah, Perizade

Turiu, Uriu

Mazzini, Cavour, Garibaldi

Shivaji, Jaysingh

Littleton, Percival

 

Part Six

The Chandernagore Manuscript

 

Passing Thoughts [1]

Passing Thoughts [2]

Passing Thoughts [3]

Hathayoga

Rajayoga

Historical Impressions: The French Revolution

Historical Impressions: Napoleon

In the Society's Chambers

At the Society's Chambers

Things Seen in Symbols [1]

Things Seen in Symbols [2]

The Real Difficulty

Art

 

Part Seven

Epistles / Letters From Abroad

 

Epistles from Abroad

Letters from Abroad

 

Part Eight

Reviews

 

"Suprabhat"

"Hymns to the Goddess"

"South Indian Bronzes"

"God, the Invisible King"

"Rupam"

About Astrology

"Sanskrit Research"

"The Feast of Youth"

"Shama'a"

 

Part Nine

Bankim — Tilak — Dayananda

 

Rishi Bankim Chandra

Bal Gangadhar Tilak

A Great Mind, a Great Will

Dayananda: The Man and His Work

Dayananda and the Veda

The Men that Pass

 

Appendix One

Baroda Speeches and Reports

 

Speeches Written for the Maharaja of Baroda

Medical Department

The Revival of Industry in India

Report on Trade in the Baroda State

Opinions Written as Acting Principal

 

Appendix Two

Premises of Astrology

 

Premises of Astrology

 

Note on the Texts


  VOLUME 1

 

THE COMPLETE WORKS OF SRI AUROBINDO

 

© Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust 2003

Published by Sri Aurobindo Ashram Publication Department

Printed at Sri Aurobindo Ashram Press, Pondicherry

 

PRINTED IN INDIA


  Early Cultural Writings


Publisher's Note

 

Early Cultural Writings consists of essays and other prose writings on literature, education, art and other cultural subjects. Most of them were written between 1890 and 1910, a few between 1910 and 1920. The editors have arranged the material by topic in nine parts and two appendixes. Many of the pieces were published in journals or books during Sri Aurobindo's lifetime. The others are reproduced from his manuscripts. The editors have checked all the texts against the relevant printed or manuscript versions. Simple editorial problems arising from incomplete revision, etc., are indicated by means of the system explained in the Guide to Editorial Notation on the next page. More complex problems are discussed in footnotes or in the Note on the Texts at the end of the volume.


Guide to Editorial Notation

 

About half the material in this volume was not prepared by Aurobindo for publication. This material has been transcribed from manuscripts that present a variety of textual difficulties. As far as possible the editors have indicated these problems by means of the notation shown below.

 

Notation

Textual Problem

[word]

Word(s) omitted by the author or lost through damage to the manuscript that are required by grammar or sense, and that could be supplied by the editors

[        ]

Blank left by the author to be filled in later but left unfilled, which the editors were not able to fill

[note]

Situations requiring textual explication; all such information is printed in italics