In the course of this essay, first published serially in the weekly review Karmayogin in 1909–1910, Sri Aurobindo says that "between them music, art and poetry are a perfect education for the soul; they make and keep its movements purified, self-controlled, deep and harmonious." He then examines the aesthetic, intellectual or educative, and spiritual uses of art, and affirms the role of art in the evolution of a people and its value in the education and life of a nation.
