Uniqueness of Sri Aurobindo

The current issue of Sraddha has several references to Vivekananda and a whole book-chapter. Rajiv Malhotra's Indra's Net and Jyotirmaya Sharma's twin volumes are noted treatments too. But a definitive estimate vis-a-vis Sri Aurobindo is still awaited. In fact, such a demand is perhaps defective at the first place and that's the line we have been following for long.

Without any claims to a decent level of scholarship, let me state with a blogger's credentials and carelessness that any sympathetic approach towards Vivekananda, Tagore, or Gandhi is an injustice to Sri Aurobindo. Debts or similarities are nothing but at the fringe level and we don't perceive the difference due to too much of familiarity. Just think of the present day India without Sri Aurobindo; no The Life Divine and no The Secret of the Veda. How shallow is the intellectual level? And that's the standard our Perennial philosophy-wallahs like RSS and RKM propagate.

Building statues and temples is part of competitive politics and intellectuals will not lag behind in erecting scholarly monuments, but the role played by Sri Aurobindo is entirely different and unique. This can be understood only by the devotees and longtime followers. The Mother's arrival in Puducherry a Century ago is a stark reminder of how only she knew who Sri Aurobindo was. That distinction needs to be protected with zeal by the Savitri Erans. [TNM55]