SSC
Who wrote 'The Life Divine'?
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Answer: Option C — Sri Aurobindo
Detailed Solution
"The Life Divine" is the major philosophical work of Sri Aurobindo. It was first published in instalments in his monthly journal "Arya" between 1914 and 1919, and then revised and published as a book in 1939-40.
About the book:
- It presents Sri Aurobindo's philosophy of "Integral Yoga" and spiritual evolution.
- He argued that human beings are not the final stage of evolution; through spiritual practice, human consciousness can rise to a higher "Supermind" (supramental consciousness), leading to a "divine life" on earth.
- It reconciles the spiritual (Brahman) and the material world, rejecting both pure materialism and the idea that the world is an illusion.
About Sri Aurobindo (1872-1950):
He was born Aurobindo Ghose in Calcutta on 15 August 1872. He was educated in England, at St. Paul's School, London, and King's College, Cambridge.
He worked in the princely state of Baroda before joining the nationalist movement in Bengal.
He was an Extremist leader during the Swadeshi movement and edited the newspaper "Bande Mataram".
He was tried in the Alipore Bomb Case (1908-09) and acquitted. During his year in Alipore jail, he had deep spiritual experiences.
In 1910, he moved to Pondicherry (Puducherry), then a French territory, and devoted himself to spiritual work.
With Mirra Alfassa ("The Mother"), he founded the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in 1926. The Mother later founded Auroville (1968), an international township near Puducherry.
His other works include "Savitri: A Legend and a Symbol" (an epic poem of about 24,000 lines), "The Synthesis of Yoga", "Essays on the Gita", "The Secret of the Veda" and "The Human Cycle".
Works of other spiritual thinkers:
- Swami Vivekananda: "Raja Yoga", "Karma Yoga".
- Ramana Maharshi: "Who Am I?" (Nan Yar?).
- Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan: "Indian Philosophy" and "The Hindu View of Life".
Why not the other options?
- ✗Swami Vivekananda is known for "Raja Yoga" and his Chicago speech.
- ✗Ramana Maharshi taught self-enquiry ("Who am I?").
- ✗Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan wrote "Indian Philosophy" and "The Hindu View of Life".
Quick tip
Remember: "The Life Divine" and "Savitri" = Sri Aurobindo (Integral Yoga; Alipore Bomb Case; ashram at Puducherry, 1926); "The Hindu View of Life" = S. Radhakrishnan.
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Books & Authors — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Books & Authors, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers famous books and their authors, including ancient Indian texts, works of the freedom struggle, classic and modern literature, autobiographies of famous people, and recently published books by well-known personalities. Questions usually name a book and ask for its author, or the other way round. Ancient and historical books, such as Arthashastra (Kautilya), Indica (Megasthenes) and Gitanjali (Rabindranath Tagore), are tested most often. Autobiographies are another favourite, so learn titles such as 'My Experiments with Truth' (Mahatma Gandhi) and 'Wings of Fire' (A. P. J. Abdul Kalam). Practise the books and authors questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.