Sri Aurobindo’s Discourse of Political Resistance in “Conversations of the Dead”

Abstract

Sri Aurobindo’s “Conversations of the Dead” includes five small pieces that he wrote originally for Karmayogin in 1909-10 but they were published separately between 1909 and 1923 in Karmayogin and Standard Bearer. They are the fictional/imaginary conversations among the dead who lived during the ancient, medieval and modern periods of history. The personas are mythical as well as historical. Further, these dead belong to different countries like Iran, Italy, India, England and Romania. Sri Aurobindo seems to have looked at his the then present time (the time of their publication) through the eyes of these gone generations, who speak with their respective countries in their minds but their ideas and concerns have metaphorical relevance to the then India also. The personas in their conversations in each piece represent the then prevailing disagreement among Indians, in particular, the Indian leaders. Often, they hold polemically opposite views, in spite of the fact that they all loved their countries. They wanted to do something for their countries, as they were not happy with the conditions of their countries at the time of their conversation.