The individual self and the supreme self as viewed by the Bhagavadgita and Sri Aurobindo

Abstract

The aim of the present dissertation is to see if there is a possibility of a process of natural development of an individual Self from his socio- physical existence into the Supreme Self, the highest form of spiritual being of a man, in the light of the massages of the Gita and the views of Sri Aurobindo. Our concept of individual Self begins with the manand#8223; of the day-to-day world- order, where he is primarily a social being. In this dissertation attempt has been made to discuss the different aspects and implication of the approach in five chapters namely: 1. Man as a Social Being 2. Man Transcends Social Identity. 3. The idealist View of Man in Society. 4. The Transformation of Individual Self in the light of The Gitaand#8223;. 5. Sri Aurobindoand#8223;s View of the Evolution of Individual Self towards Supreme Self. Though we cannot deny the separate identity of each individual man, his social being at the same time must be acknowledged. Otherwise in his normal life the world of success and failure he accomplishes has no meaning at all. Every man has an objective of his own. And the most obvious objective is his pleasure. But in doing so, what he ultimately realizes is that this self oriented objective needs to be sublimated to achieve something even greater. This is the first step towards socialization of the individual. When this social being and his status in society etc. need to be more meaningful, a feeling of unity arises in him. With the aid of intelligence and by widening his worldly consciousness provided by nature man wants to shape this unity, and a more pervading consciousness is born. This may be termed as the idea of Supreme Self. By perfecting his normal activities in life a man can be transformed into the Supreme Self.