Sri Aurobindo's significance lies in the sharp division of his life into two phases. In the first he was a leader of radical nationalism, arguing for complete independence at a time when most political leaders sought gradual constitutional reform under British rule — a position that placed him among the earliest advocates of full swaraj. His years in Baroda, where he taught and held academic positions including at Baroda College, deepened his engagement with Sanskrit, Indian philosophy and yoga. In the second phase he withdrew from politics entirely, settling at Pondicherry to develop Integral Yoga and a philosophy of human progress through the evolution of consciousness. He viewed India's freedom not merely as a political outcome but as part of a larger civilisational and spiritual purpose.