The Relevance of Sri Aurobindo’s Aesthetic Theory in the Context of Contemporary Urdu Literature

Sri Aurobindo could not directly influence the Urdu world. Perhaps he was not properly known as a mystic philosopher all over the world. His fame as a mystic obscured his importance as a poet and aesthetician. This is perhaps another reason why his impact is not felt o Urdu literature. In this context, the main representatives of Indian Renaissance, of whom Sri Aurobindo is one of the most prominent figures, became relevant for us. A deep study of Sri Aurobindo’s Aesthtics reveals that his ideas on literature have much relevance for the contemporary intellectual and creative situation in our country. In this paper I have made attempt to deal with this problem on three levels. Firstly, his place and role in the Indian Renaissance is to be compared with that of Iqbal, an Urdu poet of world-statue, whose thought and poetry is the culmination of the spirit of Indian Renaissance in Urdu. Secondly, I have elaborated his theory of poetry in order to find out how far is it applicable to Urdu literature. Thirdly, some important literary issue are discussed to establish the relevance of Sri Aurobindo’s theory of future poetry in the context of contemporary Urdu literature.