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ASSIGNMENT OF COURSE 4 IWE - NIETZCHE’S CONCEPT OF UBERMENSCH AND AUROBINDO’S VIEWS ON SUPRAHUMAN.

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 NIETZCHE’S CONCEPT OF UBERMENSCH AND 
AUROBINDO’S VIEWS ON SUPRAHUMAN.


Ø  Prepared by     : KAVITABA P. GOHIL
Ø  Roll No                : 23
Ø  Paper – 4           : INDIAN WRITING IN ENGLISH
Ø  M.A (English)  :  Sem -1
Ø  Enrollment No: 2069108420180018
Ø  Batch                  :  2017-19
Ø  Email                  :  kavitabaprahaladsinhjigohil@gmail.com
Ø  Submitted to   :  Smt .S. B Gardi, Department of English, MK Bhavnagar University.
Ø  Topic                  : NIETZSCHE'S CONCEPT OF UBERMENSCH AND AUROBINDO’S VIEWS ON SUPRAHUMAN.


Abstract:
Two of the great thinkers of our time, Friedrich Nietzsche and Sri Aurobindo, independently arrived at the concept of 'the Superman.' Is this a coincidence? Are the two formulations completely unrelated? If not, in what ways are they similar? Is the Superman one of these "good prankish things?" This is what I set out to examine with this Assignment. (SORGENFREI)
A word about terminology: Nietzsche's original term is Ubermensch, which has been alternately translated as "Superman' and 'Overman. Thomas Common and George Bernard Shaw are fonder of the former, while Walter and Kaufmann and myself prefer the latter. Aurobindo's original term is 'Superman,' which he uses more or less interchangeably (one could argue) with 'Supermind.' However, "Supermind' is not to be confused with the term 'Overmind,' which is a distinct and separate concept in his writings. (SORGENFREI) To summarize, this assignment focuses on the relationship between Nietzsche’s "Ubermensch" and Aurobindo's 'Superman.'

Keywords: NIETZSCHE, SRI AUROBINDO, UBERMENSCH, SUPRAHUMAN.

Friedrich Nietzsche:

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, cultural critic, poet, philologist, and Latin and Greek scholar whose work has exerted a profound influence on Western philosophy and modern intellectual history. He began his career as a classical philologist before turning to philosophy. He became the youngest ever to hold the Chair of Classical Philology at the University of Basel in 1869, at the age of 24. He resigned in 1879 due to health problems that plagued him most of his life, and he completed much of his core writing in the following decade. In 1889, at age 44, he suffered a collapse and a complete loss of his mental faculties. He lived his remaining years in the care of his mother until her death in 1897, and then with his sister Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche, and died in 1900. (contributors)
Nietzsche's body of work touched widely on art, philology, history, religion, tragedy, culture, and science, and drew early inspiration from figures such as Schopenhauer, Wagner, and Goethe. His writing spans philosophical polemics, poetry, cultural criticism, and fiction while displaying a fondness for aphorism and irony. Some prominent elements of his philosophy include his radical critique of truth in favor of perspectivism; his genealogical critique of religion and Christian morality, and his related theory of master–slave morality; his aesthetic affirmation of existence in response to the "death of God" and the profound crisis of nihilism; his notion of the Apollonian and Dionysian; and his characterization of the human subject as the expression of competing wills, collectively understood as the will to power. In his later work, he developed influential concepts such as the Übermensch and the doctrine of eternal return, and became increasingly preoccupied with the creative powers of the individual to overcome social, cultural, and moral contexts in pursuit of new values and aesthetic health. (contributors)

His works:



SRI AUROBINDO:
Sri Aurobindo Ghose was born in Bengal; on 15 august 1872. He was an Indian philosopher, yogi, poet, guru and nationalist. He joined freedom movement during British rule and became influential leader; then became a spiritual reformer. He introduces his vision for human progress and spiritual evolution. King's college, Cambridge University in England Aurobindo studied for the Indian civil service; after returning to India he took up various civil service works under the maharaja of the Baroda state   shree sayajirao Gaekwad. During that period Aurobindo involved in nationalist politics and nascent revolutionary movement in Bengal. Aurobindo could only be convicted and imprisoned for writing against British rule in India; but afterwards he realised in lack of evidence. During his jail he had mystical and spiritual experience, after that he moved Pondicherry and leave politics for spiritual work.

When he was in Pondicherry he developed a method of spiritual practice he called it integral yoga. The central theme of vision was the evolution of human life into a life divine. He was strongly believer of spiritual realisation that not only librated man but change his nature, enabling a divine life on earth. In 1926, the mother (mirra Alfassa) and he founded the Sri Aurobindo ashram. Aurobindo was died on 1950 in Pondicherry.

His literary works:

  • ·         Bases of Yoga
  • ·         Bhagavad Gita and Its Message
  • ·         Dictionary of Sri Aurobindo's Yoga, (compiled by M.P. Pandit)
  • ·         Essays on the Gita
  • ·         The Future Evolution of Man
  • ·         The Future Poetry, 
  • ·         The Human Cycle: The Psychology of Social Development,
  • ·         Hymns to the Mystic Fire, Lotus Press,
  • ·         The Ideal of Human Unity, Lotus Press, 
  • ·         The Integral Yoga: Sri Aurobindo's Teaching and Method of Practice,
  • ·         The Life Divine,
  • ·         The Mind of Light, 
  • ·         The Mother, 
  • ·         Rebirth and Karma, Lotus Press, 
  • ·         Savitri: A Legend and a Symbol, 
  • ·         Secret of the Veda, Lotus Press,
  • ·         Sri Aurobindo Primary Works Set 12 vol. US Edition, 
  • ·         Sri Aurobindo Selected Writings Software CD ROM, 
  • ·         The Synthesis of Yoga, 
  • ·         The Upanishads,
  • ·         Vedic Symbolism, L
  • ·         The Essential Aurobindo – Writings of Sri Aurobindo 
  • ·         The Powers Within, 
  • ·         Human Cycle, Ideal of Human Unity, War and Self Determination by Aurobindo, 
  • ·         Hour of God by Sri Aurobindo, (contributors, "Sri Aurobindo." Wikipedia, The                Free Encyclopedia)



NIETZCHE’S UBERMENSCH:

The Übermensch (German for "Beyond-Man", "Superman", "Overman", "Superhuman", "Hyperman", "Hyperhuman"; German pronunciation: [ˈˀyːbɐmɛnʃ]) is a concept in the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. In his 1883 book Thus Spoke Zarathustra (German: Also sprach Zarathustra), Nietzsche has his character Zarathustra posit the Übermensch as a goal for humanity to set for itself. It is a work of philosophical allegory, with a structural similarity to the Gathas of Zoroaster/Zarathustra. (contributors, "Übermensch." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. )
Nietzsche’s philosophy describes all human behaviour as will to power; power not only over others, but also over the self. The Ubermensch will be someone who has transcended man, and has been liberated from all morality save those that are deemed valid.
Humans are super version of ape; and The Ubermensch is super version of humans.
AUROBINDO’S SUPRAHUMAN:

Suprahuman by Aurobindo means the spiritual one or the supermind. According to Sri Aurobindo, full yogic development consists of two parts: the standard yogic goal of ascent into a formless and timeless self, and the descent and establishment of the supramental consciousness into Earthly life. Through integral yoga one actualises the Supermind. The Supramental consciousness transforms the entire being, and leads to the divinisation of the world. This supramental transformation gives rise to a new individual, the Gnostic being, which is fully formed by the supramental power. Division and ignorance are overcome, and replaced with a unity of consciousness. The physical body will be transformed and divinised. The gnostic being sees the spirit everywhere in the world, and in every other person. This awareness eliminates the usual separation between man and life, and between people. One sees that all existences are various forms of the divine Reality. Every individual existence in life plays a role in the unfolding of existence. The Gnostic beings can work together to create a new common life. This new life is superior to the present way of being. A critical mass of such "gnostic individuals" can create the foundation of a new social life and order. This will lead to a greater unity, mutuality, and harmony. (contributors, Supermind (Integral yoga))

“The Spiritual man is one who has discovered his soul: he has found his self and lives in that, is conscious of it, has the joy of it; he needs nothing external for his completeness of existence.”


THE ‘SUPERMEN’ OF AUROBINDO & NIETZSCH:
Nietzsche's thought is the Übermensch .Developing the idea of nihilism, Nietzsche wrote Thus Spoke Zarathustra, therein introducing the concept of a value-creating Übermensch, not as a project, but as an anti-project, the absence of any project. According to Lampert, "the death of God must be followed by a long twilight of piety and nihilism. Zarathustra's gift of the overman is given to a mankind not aware of the problem to which the overman is the solution."Zarathustra presents the overman as the creator of new values, and he appears as a solution to the problem of the death of God and nihilism. The overman does not follow morality of common people since that favors mediocrity but instead rises above the notion of good and evil and above the "herd". In this way Zarathustra proclaims his ultimate goal as the journey towards the state of overman. He wants a kind of spiritual evolution of self-awareness and overcoming of traditional views on morality and justice that stem from the superstition beliefs still deeply rooted or related to the notion of God and Christianity. (contributors, Friedrich Nietzsche)
While interpretations of Nietzsche's overman vary wildly, here is one of his quotations from Thus Spoke Zarathustra (Prologue, §§3–4): (contributors, "Friedrich Nietzsche." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia)
“I teach you the overman. Man is something that shall be overcome. What have you done to overcome him? All beings so far have created something beyond themselves; and do you want to be the ebb of this great flood, and even go back to the beasts rather than overcome man? What is ape to man? A laughing stock or painful embarrassment. And man shall be that to overman: a laughingstock or painful embarrassment. You have made your way from worm to man, and much in you is still worm. Once you were apes, and even now, too, man is more Ape than any ape... The overman is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: the overman shall be the meaning of the earth... Man is a rope, tied between beast and overman—a rope over an abyss ... what is great in man is that he is a bridge and not an end.” (contributors, "Friedrich Nietzsche." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia)
Fredrick Nietzsche was not first who gave theory of superhuman but there was a Mr. Bernard Shaw who first popularized it among us. Nietzsche formed it most naturally with reference of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. Nietzsche’s superhuman is not very emotional but rational one; he is not so selfish. Superman is just a poetic designation for great individuals, carried to their atmost human limit for person. Aurobindo's suprahuman is quite different from Nietzsche’s Ubermensch. Nietzsche’s supermen mostly concentrate on physical power whereas Aurobindo's superman emphasizes on mental power and thus Aurobindo gave naming it as supermind.


THE SUPERMEN: GOD OR NOT?
Nietzsche’s superman is not another word for GOD, “GOD is a conjecture”, and so in his book ‘THUS SPOKE ZARATHUSTRA’ he repeats three times; whereas Sri Aurobindo’s superman means ‘a spiritual evolution toward GOD,’ hence a manifestation of GOD. 

Nietzsche said that “Dead are all GODS”. “Now we want the Overman to live’-on that great noon, let this be our last will.” Once one said GOD all look upon but now I taught you to say Overman; looking towards clouds. Nietzsche asked that “Could you create the GOD?”, then don’t ask me about GOD; but you can definitely create Overman, and GOD died; so we want the Overman to live. Many critics of his time found similarities between Nietzsche’s Zarathustra and Christian GOD Christ; but Nietzsche refuses because his concept of divine is so strong and uncompromising, less than the eternal itself.

Superman of Aurobindo is part or the parcel of GOD. According to Aurobindo "supermind is superman" the superman is obviously an advance realization of God. Aurobindo uses word evolution for process of mind, from man to superman. Nietzsche’s Zarathustra differentiates GOD from earth and in his book Nietzsche suggested to be faithful to earth, in his ideology nature doesn’t mean God it means earth; whereas in thoughts of Sri Aurobindo ‘God is constant interplay of Nature and Soul.’ He does not make any division.
The superman is simply: "For that which is above the mental being is the superman. It is to be the master of thy mind, thy life and thy body; it is to be a king over Nature of whom thou art now the tool, lifted above her who now has thee under her feet." (SORGENFREI)



THE SUPERMEN: MAN OR NOT?
Moving towards this topic Nietzsche and Aurobindo both become agree on one idea that normal man and superman is far different from one another.
 Supermanhood is not man climbed to his own natural zenith, not a superior degree of human greatness, knowledge, power, intelligence, will, character, genius, dynamic force, saintliness, love, purity or perfection. Supermind is something beyond mental man and his limits; it is a greater consciousness than the highest consciousness proper to human nature. (SORGENFREI)

Nietzsche, of course, will go to any length to stress that the overman is a far cry from man. If he is vociferous in his contrasting of it with God, he is even more passionate in his contrasting it with man. Be it in his famous line about the ape "What is the ape to man? A laughingstock or a painful embarrassment. And man shall be just that for the overman: a laughingstock or a painful embarrassment." or about the polluted stream "Verily, a polluted stream is man. One must be a sea to be able to receive a polluted stream without becoming unclean. Behold, I teach you the overman: he is this sea; in him your great contempt can go under." Elsewhere, he writes, "Never yet has there been an overman. Naked I saw both the greatest and the smallest man: they are still all-too-similar to each other. Verily, even the greatest I found all-too-human." Finally, towards the end of Zarathustra, "I have the overman at heart, that is my first and only concern-and not man: not the neighbour, not the poorest, not the most ailing, not the best. (SORGENFREI)



MAN IS TRANSITIONAL

Nietzsche and Aurobindo both are also agree in this topic; about the transition nature of man. Aurobindo said that man is a transitional being and thus he is not final. We know that humans are transitional part of ape and now man is also could be transitional part.
Man as Transitional Nietzsche and Aurobindo are also in agreement about the transitional nature of man In Aurobindo's words, "Man is a transitional being; he is not final. For in man and high beyond him ascend the radiant degrees that climb to a divine supermanhood. (SORGENFREI)

In Nietzsche's words, "Man is a rope, tied between beast and overman-a rope over an abyss." He often summons the image of a bridge, as he does here in his perhaps most definitive passage about the Overman: There it was too that I picked up the word "overman" by the way, and that man is something that must be overcome-that man is a bridge and no end: proclaiming himself blessed in view of his noon and evening, as the way to new dawns Zarathustra's word of the great noon, and whatever else I hung up over man like the last crimson light of evening. (SORGENFREI)

CHAUDHURI:
Haridas Chaudhuri was close disciple of Sri Aurobindo, devotes an entire chapter on Sri Aurobindo: The Prophet of Life Divine to an examination of Aurobindo’s concept of Suprahuman and sub-chapter of that was ‘Nietzsche and Sri Aurobindo’. In his work chaudhuri compared work of both.
Referring to Nietzsche's concept of the overman, Chaudhuri writes, "The devout Christian gladly accepts suffering and rises triumphantly over it, whereas the Superman fiercely and arrogantly repels all suffering and misery, and is a complete stranger to the ideal of sorrow and service as liberating forces."Arrogantly repels all suffering and misery?"Is this the same Nietzsche I know? The one who writes change. Indeed, there must that the creator may be, suffering is needed and much be much bitter dying in your life, you creators. To be the child who is newly born, the creator must also want to be the mother who gives birth and the pangs of the birth-giver. True, the character of Zarathustra tends to be quite hard on suffering, but as I interpret it, only when it is a question of suffering for the sake of suffering. Suffering for the sake of the Overman is another story. This is made quite clear "on Higher Man:" what are your many small short miseries to me? You do not suffer enough to suit me! For you suffer from yourselves, you have not yet suffered from man. You would lie if you claimed otherwise! You all do not suffer from what I have suffered. (SORGENFREI)

CONCLUTION:

There were two heroic figures; we have discussed and both are equally true on their own concept but if we think about new generation of humans or about super human; l would like to tell one thing is that superman are exists. Somewhere near by us they started surviving and they will give new definition to their self different from us different from others.


Works Cited

contributors, Wikipedia. ""Friedrich Nietzsche." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia." 30 10 2017. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 30 10 2017 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Nietzsche>.
—. ""Sri Aurobindo." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia." 21 10 2017. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 30 10 2017 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Aurobindo#Literary_works>.
—. "Übermensch." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. . 21 10 2017. 31 10 2017 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%9Cbermensch>.
—. "Friedrich Nietzsche." 30 10 2017. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 31 10 2017 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Nietzsche#.C3.9Cbermensch>.
—. Supermind (Integral yoga). 1 7 2017. 1 10 2017 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermind_(Integral_yoga)>.
SORGENFREI, lars ROSENBLUM. "JOY." The journal of Yoga (2002): 11.

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