Anilbaran

Anilbaran Roy (3.7.1890—3.11.1974) was born in the village of Guir in the district of Burdwan in Bengal to Nabakumar Roy and Chandibala Devi. He was a student of Scottish Church College and St. Xavier’s College of Kolkata. He obtained his M.A. degree in English and Philosophy and Bachelor of Law degree from the Calcutta University. He was a remarkable scholar who excelled not only in subjects like Physics and Mathematics but also in languages like Sanskrit, French and German. He worked as a professor in Hetampur College of Birbhum and Christian College of Bankura. In 1921 he resigned from his services and joined the Non-Cooperation Movement started by Mahatma Gandhi. He was also elected as the Secretary of the Bengal Provincial Congress Committee. In 1924 he was in charge of the Corporation Elections which was initiated under the New Law. The aforesaid election elevated Chittaranjan Das and Subhash Chandra Bose to the posts of Mayor and Chief Executive respectively. He also played a pivotal role in organizing the Swaraj Party established by Chittaranjan Das and Pandit Motilal Nehru. He was introduced to Sri Aurobindo’s works during the peak of his political career. In 1924 he was arrested and imprisoned at the Alipore Central Jail and Berhampore Central Jail respectively. After his release from prison in 1926 he left for Pondicherry following the instruction of Sri Aurobindo and spent 40 years in Sri Aurobindo Ashram during which he engrossed himself in the Integral Yoga. He was acclaimed as the best exponent of the Gita as interpreted by Sri Aurobindo. The Message of the Gita edited by him was taught at the University of Cambridge. In 1935 as a mark of protest against a defamatory book penned by Miss Mayo he wrote the book Mother India with Sri Aurobindo’s approval. His other notable works include Srimad Bhagavat Gita, Gitar Bani, Purushottam Sri Aurobindo, Sri Aurobindo O Bartaman Jagat, Songs from the Soul, India’s Mission in the World, Sri Aurobindo and the New Age, World Crisis, etc. He also translated Sri Aurobindo’s Essays on the Gita, Uttarpara Speech and Yoga and Its Objects into Bengali. In 1966 he returned to Bengal to spread the message of Sri Aurobindo after spending forty years in the Ashram. He worked to abolish the partition of India and unite the nation on the lines of provincial self-government as preached by Sri Aurobindo. He started the publication of a Bengali weekly named Swarnayug and an English monthly named Light of India and edited both the journals. He also established the ‘Sarva Sewak Sangha’ to spread the teachings of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother.