Life of Sri Aurobindo

PART ONE

CHAPTER  I

Family

Dr. Krishna Dhan Ghose took his degree at the Medical College, Calcutta. His marriage took place in 1864, when he was nineteen years old, to Swarnalata, the eldest daughter of Sj. Rajnarayan Bose. Swarnalata's age was twelve. The marriage was performed according to the rites of Adi Brahmo Samaj, towards which Dr. Ghose had leanings. In 1869 Dr. Ghose went to Britain for further medical studies. He had then two sons, Benoybhushan and Manmohan, whom he left with Swarnalata and a nurse, Miss Paget. He returned in 1871 with a further degree and in all outward manner a completely Anglicised man and an atheist.

"Everyone makes the forefathers of a great man very religious-minded, pious, etc. It is not true in my case at any rate. My father was a tremendous atheist."^¹

There was a vein of lunacy in Rajnarayan's family; one of his sons was mad. Swarnalata and her sister, who was married to Krishna Kumar Mitra, both suffered from hysteria.

When Dr. Ghose returned from Britain he joined the civil medical service, beginning work as a Sub-Assistant Surgeon in Calcutta, but the greater period of his service was spent at Bhagalpur, ' Rangpur and Khulna. At Rangpur he managed to get a drainage work done, which was called "K. D. Canal" by the people. After 1884 he served at Khulna, remaining there till his death. Wherever he served he was very popular and highly respected by all. He used to take a very prominent part in civic life, and interested himself in schools, hospitals, municipalities and other public bodies. The people of Khulna afterwards started a school in his name and his photograph was placed in the town hall. It is said that he changed the whole face of the town of Khulna. He was always kind to the poor and extremely generous, so much so that he could never save anything from his pay. In the latter part of his life he took to heavy drinking to forget the bitterness and tragedy of his life.

^¹ Cf. A.B. Purani, Evening Talks, First Series (Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram, 1959), p. 131. The reports of talks used in this biography were revised ' by the author and so differ slightly from the reports as published in Evening Talks.

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K. D. Ghose and Swarnalata had six children, – five sons and a daughter : Benoybhushan, Manmohan, Aurobindo, a son who died in childhood, Sarojini and Barindra Kumar.

K. D. Ghose had a brother, Bama Charan Ghose, who served at Bhagalpur as a head clerk. The two brothers did not agree with each other.

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