{"id":2931,"date":"2013-07-13T01:44:41","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:44:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=2931"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:44:41","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:44:41","slug":"33-note-on-the-texts-vol-20-the-renaissance-in-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/03-cwsa\/20-the-renaissance-in-india\/33-note-on-the-texts-vol-20-the-renaissance-in-india","title":{"rendered":"-33_Note on the Texts.html"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\n\n
\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nNote on the Texts<\/font><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nNote on the Texts <\/font><\/b>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nThe thirty-two essays that make up this volume were first published
\nin the monthly journal Arya <\/i>between August 1918 and January 1921. Each essay was written immediately before its publication.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\nThe Renaissance in India<\/i><\/b>. Four essays appeared in the Arya <\/i>between August and November 1918 under the title
\nThe Renaissance in India<\/i>. In September 1920 they were published under the
\nsame title by the Prabartak Publishing House, Chandernagore, after being revised
\nlightly by Sri Aurobindo. The publisher’s note to this edition stated: “The subject matter of the book was written in a way of appreciation of
\nMr. James H. Cousins’ book of the same name.” Cousins’ Renaissance<\/i> in India<\/i>, a series of articles on contemporary Indian art and other
\nsubjects, was published by Ganesh & Co., Madras, with a preface dated June 1918. New editions of Sri Aurobindo’s
\nRenaissance in India<\/i>
\nwere published in 1927, 1937, 1946, 1951 and 1966. The 1966 edition has been frequently reprinted. In 1971 and 1972
\nThe Renaissance in<\/i>
\nIndia <\/i>was published along with The Foundations of Indian Culture <\/i>(see below) as volume 14 of the Sri Aurobindo Birth Centenary Library (de
\nluxe and popular editions). <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nIndian Culture and External Influence<\/i><\/b>. This essay, published in March
\n1919, was written in answer to a comment in the Bengali journal Narayan <\/i>on Sri Aurobindo’s series,
\nThe Renaissance in India<\/i>. In 1953
\nthe essay was included in The Foundations of Indian Culture <\/i>as an appendix.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\n“Is India Civilised?”<\/b><\/i> Three essays appeared in the Arya <\/i>under this title between December 1918 and February 1919. They were written
\nin response to a book by Sir John Woodroffe entitled Is India Civilized?<\/i>
\nEssays on Indian Culture <\/i>(Madras: Ganesh & Co., foreword dated 4
\nOctober 1918). Woodroffe’s book was itself a response to a book by   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 447<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nWilliam Archer, India and the Future <\/i>(London: Hutchinson & Co., 1917).
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nA Defence of Indian Culture<\/i><\/b>. In the issue of the Arya <\/i>in which he concluded
\n“Is India Civilised?”<\/i>, Sri Aurobindo began another series
\ndealing in more detail with William Archer’s criticisms of Indian culture, taken to represent a typical Western attitude at that time. Six
\nessays were published under the title “A Rationalistic Critic on Indian Culture” between February and July 1919. In the August 1919 issue
\nof the Arya <\/i>the title “A Defence of Indian Culture” appeared for the first time with this note: “As these articles have extended beyond
\ntheir original intention, a more suitable title is substituted for the original heading.” The next eighteen articles appeared under the new
\ntitle. The twenty-four instalments of the series were numbered I-XXIV (actually XXIII due to an error). The series was discontinued with the
\ntermination of the Arya <\/i>in January 1921.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nRevision of “Is India Civilised?”
\n<\/i>and A Defence of Indian Culture<\/i><\/b>.
\nSometime in the 1920s or 1930s Sri Aurobindo revised the three instalments of
\n“Is India Civilised?” <\/i>and the first eight and a half instalments
\nof A Defence of Indian Culture <\/i>(including the six entitled “A Rationalistic Critic on Indian Culture”). When the eight essays on art and
\npolity referred to in the next paragraph were republished in 1947, Sri Aurobindo revised them slightly. He also made a few changes to the
\nessays on literature. The rest of A Defence of Indian Culture <\/i>was not revised.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nSeparate booklets<\/b>. In February 1947 the four instalments on Indian art from A Defence of Indian Culture
\n<\/i>were published by Sri Aurobindo
\nCircle, Bombay, under the title The Significance of Indian Art<\/i>. New editions of this booklet were published in 1953 and 1964. In 1947,
\nsometime after February, the four instalments on Indian polity were published by the Arya Publishing House, Calcutta, under the title
\nThe<\/i>
\nSpirit and Form of Indian Polity<\/i>. A new edition of this booklet was brought out in 1966. The publisher’s note to
\nThe Significance of Indian<\/i>
\nArt<\/i>, seen and approved by Sri Aurobindo, is reproduced below in full:
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nThese chapters have been abstracted from Sri Aurobindo’s
\nwork left unfinished in the Arya, \u2014 A Defence of Indian<\/i>  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 448<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n
\nCulture <\/i>(1918-1921). This was undertaken as a reply to a considerable work by Mr. William Archer criticising and
\nattacking Indian civilisation and culture in all its domains: at that time this critic’s views were typical of a very general
\nattitude of the European mind towards the Indian civilisation and its special character, forms and creations and to combat
\nthe self-depreciation awakened in the Indian mind by this hostile impact and to explain to it the meaning of its own
\ncivilisation and past achievements was the main object of Sri Aurobindo. Since then, there has been a radical change
\nand Mr. Archer’s strictures and the answer to them might have been omitted and only the positive part of the work
\nretained in this publication but there is a historical interest in the comparison or contrast drawn and otherwise also it
\nmay still have its value. The four chapters have therefore been reprinted in their entirety.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nIn 1949, a year before Sri Aurobindo’s passing, he was asked about the possibility of bringing out the whole of
\nA Defence of Indian Culture<\/i>.
\nAt this time, in a statement reproduced in the Publisher’s Note to the present volume, he indicated that he did not feel that the book as it
\nthen stood was ready for publication.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nThe Foundations of Indian Culture<\/i><\/b>. In 1953 the three essays of
\n“Is<\/i>
\nIndia Civilised?”<\/i>, the twenty-four chapters making up A Defence of<\/i>
\nIndian Culture <\/i>and, as an appendix, Indian Culture and External Influence <\/i>(but not The Renaissance in India<\/i>) were published by The Sri Aurobindo Library, New York, as
\nThe Foundations of Indian Culture<\/i>.
\nThis title was provided by the editors of the volume. The editors divided the last eighteen chapters of
\nA Defence <\/i>into four sections for which they
\nprovided headings: “Religion and Spirituality”, “Indian Art”, “Indian Literature”, “Indian Polity”. The same material identically arranged
\nwas published under the same title by the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry, in 1959. A new edition of this book was brought out in
\n1968. The Foundations of Indian Culture <\/i>and The Renaissance in India<\/i> were published together in 1971 and 1972 as the de luxe and popular
\neditions of volume 14 of the Sri Aurobindo Birth Centenary Library. The SABCL edition of
\nThe Foundations<\/i>, without The Renaissance,<\/i>
\n   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 449<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nwas reprinted in reduced facsimile in 1975 and five more times between 1980 and 1995.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\nThe present edition<\/b>. This volume contains, under another title and in a different order, the same writings as volume 14 of the Sri Aurobindo Birth Centenary Library. The book is now published as The<\/i> Renaissance in India with A Defence of Indian Culture<\/i>, using the titles
\nSri Aurobindo himself gave to the two principal sets of essays. The<\/i> Renaissance in India
\n<\/i>formed the starting-point and was the only series
\nbrought out as a book during Sri Aurobindo’s lifetime. Its title has been given priority over that of the longer but unfinished series,
\nA<\/i>
\nDefence of Indian Culture<\/i>. “Is India Civilised?” <\/i>and Indian Culture<\/i>
\nand External Influence <\/i>have been put in their appropriate places. With
\nthe exception of the last-named piece, the essays appear in the order in which they were published in the
\nArya<\/i>. The present editors have
\nkept the original sequential numbering of the twenty-four essays of A<\/i>
\nDefence of Indian Culture<\/i>. In addition they have retained the Arya<\/i>
\nheading “A Rationalistic Critic on Indian Culture” for the first six chapters. They have also used the headings given in 1953 to the four
\neditorial divisions of the remainder of the work, with one change, the replacement of “Religion and Spirituality” by “Indian Spirituality and
\nLife”. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nThe editors have carefully checked the text of each of the essays
\nagainst the Arya <\/i>text and, where appropriate, the revised versions.
\n\t\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage <\/font>\u2013 450<\/font><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Note on the Texts     Note on the Texts   The thirty-two essays that make up this volume were first published in the monthly…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-20-the-renaissance-in-india","wpcat-55-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2931\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}