Release of Renaissance, Vol. VII, Issue 8-9
Date: September 21, 2026
The September 2026 issue of Renaissance, the online journal edited and curated by Dr. Beloo Mehra, Director, BhāratShakti is now available.
She writes in the Editorial titled Sri Aurobindo and the Art of Literature:
Sri Aurobindo once wrote that “while music and art reveal perhaps more absolutely the soul of a nation, literature is the whole expression of its mind and psychology,—not only of what it is in action, or what it is in essence, but its thought, character and aspiration” (CWSA, 12: 398).
Keeping this definition of literature in mind, every bit of Sri Aurobindo’s voluminous writings — from the most profound spiritual poetry to rigorously and precisely organised essays in prose, from the fiery political commentaries to most sublime sonnets, from deeply revealing letters on every aspect of sadhana and yoga to the enchanting full-of-humour letters to some of the disciples — becomes a sublime work of literature that delights, inspires, and elevates as it expresses the highest thought, character and essential aspiration of Bharat which Sri Aurobindo not only embodied but also gave to it a new orientation, a new ideal.
In a new series at Renaissance, starting with this issue, we will take a look at some aspects of Sri Aurobindo’s literary side. His literary work spans an extraordinary range — poetry, epic verse, translations (from Bengali, Sanskrit, Tamil), philosophical essays, reviews, literary criticism and letters on poetics — created across several decades from his childhood in England through his final years in Pondicherry.
More offerings in the issue
Sri Aurobindo as a Literary Artist – by Prof. K.R. Srinivasa Iyengar
The Puranas and Our Century – by Dr. Prema Nandakumar
‘Invitation’ — To the Pioneers of New Race – by Shantha Rajan
The issue also includes a video offering on Sri Aurobindo’s poem Invitation