Asked by 10 year old Boy
Sri Aurobindo himself answered this saying that the word Ashram had been given because it comes from the root shram, which means labour. The Ashram therefore is so called because it is not a place of peaceful post retirement life but a place of different kind of labour, the work of conquering the ego, conquering desires, conquering one’s likes, dislikes, preferences etc. it is a place of labour, the labour of purification and transformation. Hence the name Ashram.
Affectionately,
Alok Da