{"id":1007,"date":"2013-07-13T01:31:56","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:31:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=1007"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:31:56","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:31:56","slug":"04-book-4-canto-03-the-call-to-the-quest-vol-29-savitri-volume-29","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/01-sabcl\/29-savitri-volume-29\/04-book-4-canto-03-the-call-to-the-quest-vol-29-savitri-volume-29","title":{"rendered":"-04_Book 4 Canto 03 The Call to the Quest.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\n\n\n
\n

 <\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n
\n

Canto Three<\/i> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n The Call to the
\nQuest<\/font><\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A
\nmorn that seemed a new creation’s front,<\/p>\n

Bringing
\na greater sunlight, happier skies,<\/p>\n

Came,
\nburdened with a beauty moved and strange<\/p>\n

Out
\nof the changeless origin of things.<\/p>\n

An
\nancient longing struck again new roots.<\/p>\n

The
\nair drank deep of unfulfilled desire;<\/p>\n

The
\nhigh trees trembled with a wandering wind<\/p>\n

Like
\nsouls that quiver at the approach of joy,<\/p>\n

And
\nin a bosom of green secrecy<\/p>\n

For
\never of its one love-note untired<\/p>\n

A
\nlyric co\u00efl cried among the leaves.<\/p>\n

Away
\nfrom the terrestrial murmur turned<\/p>\n

Where
\ntransient calls and answers mix their flood,<\/p>\n

King
\nAswapathy listened through the ray<\/p>\n

To
\nother sounds than meet the sense-formed ear.<\/p>\n

On a
\nsubtle interspace which rings our Life,<\/p>\n

Unlocked
\nwere the inner spirit’s trance-closed doors:<\/p>\n

The
\ninaudible strain in Nature could be caught;<\/p>\n

Across
\nthis cyclic tramp of eager lives,<\/p>\n

Across
\nthe deep urgency of present cares,<\/p>\n

Earth’s
\nwordless hymn to the Ineffable<\/p>\n

Arose
\nfrom the ardent heart of the cosmic Void;<\/p>\n

He
\nheard the voice repressed of unborn Powers<\/p>\n

Murmuring
\nbehind the luminous bars of Time.<\/p>\n

Again
\nthe mighty yearning raised its flame<\/p>\n

That
\nasks a perfect life on earth for men<\/p>\n

And
\nprays for certainty in the uncertain mind<\/p>\n

And
\nshadowless bliss for suffering human hearts<\/p>\n

And
\nTruth embodied in an ignorant world<\/p>\n

And
\ngodhead divinising mortal forms.<\/p>\n

A
\nword that leaped from some far sky of thought, <\/p>\n

\n Page \u2013 369<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n

Admitted
\nby the cowled receiving scribe<\/p>\n

Traversed
\nthe echoing passages of his brain<\/p>\n

And
\nleft its stamp on the recording cells.<\/p>\n

\u201cO
\nForce-compelled, Fate-driven earth-born race,<\/p>\n

O
\npetty adventurers in an infinite world<\/p>\n

And
\nprisoners of a dwarf humanity,<\/p>\n

How
\nlong will you tread the circling tracks of mind<\/p>\n

Around
\nyour little self and petty things?<\/p>\n

But
\nnot for a changeless littleness were you meant,<\/p>\n

Not
\nfor vain repetition were you built;<\/p>\n

Out
\nof the Immortal’s substance you were made;<\/p>\n

Your
\nactions can be swift revealing steps,<\/p>\n

Your
\nlife a changeful mould for growing gods.<\/p>\n

A
\nSeer, a strong Creator, is within,<\/p>\n

The
\nimmaculate Grandeur broods upon your days,<\/p>\n

Almighty
\npowers are shut in Nature’s cells.<\/p>\n

A
\ngreater destiny waits you in your front:<\/p>\n

This
\ntransient earthly being if he wills<\/p>\n

Can
\nfit his acts to a transcendent scheme.<\/p>\n

He
\nwho now stares at the world with ignorant eyes<\/p>\n

Hardly
\nfrom the Inconscient’s night aroused,<\/p>\n

That
\nlook at images and not at Truth<\/p>\n

Can
\nfill those orbs with an immortal’s sight.<\/p>\n

Yet
\nshall the godhead grow within your hearts,<\/p>\n

You
\nshall awake into the spirit’s air<\/p>\n

And
\nfeel the breaking walls of mortal mind<\/p>\n

And
\nhear the message which left life’s heart dumb<\/p>\n

And
\nlook through Nature with sun-gazing lids<\/p>\n

And
\nblow your conch-shells at the Eternal’s gate.<\/p>\n

Authors
\nof earth’s high change, to you it is given<\/p>\n

To
\ncross the dangerous spaces of the soul<\/p>\n

And
\ntouch the mighty Mother stark awake<\/p>\n

And
\nmeet the Omnipotent in this house of flesh<\/p>\n

And
\nmake of life the million-bodied One.<\/p>\n

The
\nearth you tread is a border screened from heaven,<\/p>\n

The
\nlife you lead conceals the light you are. <\/p>\n

\n Page \u2013 370<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n

Immortal
\nPowers sweep flaming past your doors;<\/p>\n

Far-off
\nupon your tops the god-chant sounds<\/p>\n

While
\nto exceed yourselves thought’s trumpets call,<\/p>\n

Heard
\nby a few, but fewer dare aspire,<\/p>\n

The
\nnympholepts of the ecstasy and the blaze.<\/p>\n

An
\nepic of hope and failure breaks earth’s heart;<\/p>\n

Her
\nforce and will exceed her form and fate.<\/p>\n

A
\ngoddess in a net of inconscience caught,<\/p>\n

Self-bound
\nin the pastures of death she dreams of life,<\/p>\n

Self-racked
\nwith the pains of hell aspires to joy,<\/p>\n

And
\nbuilds to hope her altars of despair,<\/p>\n

Knows
\nthat one high step might enfranchise all<\/p>\n

And,
\nsuffering, looks for greatness in her sons.<\/p>\n

But
\ndim in human hearts the ascending fire,<\/p>\n

The
\ninvisible Grandeur sits unworshipped there;<\/p>\n

Man
\nsees the Highest in a limiting form<\/p>\n

Or
\nlooks upon a Person, hears a Name.<\/p>\n

He
\nturns for little gains to ignorant Powers<\/p>\n

Or
\nkindles his altar lights to a demon face.<\/p>\n

He
\nloves the Ignorance fathering his pain.<\/p>\n

A
\nspell is laid upon his glorious strengths.<\/p>\n

He
\nhas lost the inner Voice that led his thoughts,<\/p>\n

And
\nmasking the oracular tripod seat<\/p>\n

A
\nspecious Idol fills the marvel shrine.<\/p>\n

The
\ngreat Illusion wraps him in its veils,<\/p>\n

The
\nsoul’s deep intimations come in vain,<\/p>\n

In
\nvain is the unending line of seers,<\/p>\n

The
\nsages ponder in unsubstantial light,<\/p>\n

The
\npoets lend their voice to outward dreams,<\/p>\n

A
\nhomeless fire inspires the prophet tongues.<\/p>\n

Heaven’s
\nflaming lights descend and back return,<\/p>\n

The
\nluminous Eye approaches and retires;<\/p>\n

Eternity
\nspeaks, none understands its word;<\/p>\n

Fate
\nis unwilling and the Abyss denies;<\/p>\n

The
\nInconscient’s mindless waters block all done.<\/p>\n

Only
\na little lifted is Mind’s screen. <\/p>\n

\n Page \u2013 371<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n

The
\nWise who know see but one half of Truth,<\/p>\n

The
\nstrong climb hardly to a low-peaked height,<\/p>\n

The
\nhearts that yearn are given one hour to love,<\/p>\n

His
\ntale half-told, falters the secret Bard;<\/p>\n

The
\ngods are still too few in mortal forms.\u201d<\/p>\n

The
\nVoice withdrew into its hidden skies.<\/p>\n

But
\nlike a shining answer from the gods<\/p>\n

Approached
\nthrough sun-bright spaces Savitri.<\/p>\n

Advancing
\namid tall heaven-pillaring trees,<\/p>\n

Apparelled
\nin her flickering-coloured robe,<\/p>\n

She
\nseemed burning towards the eternal realms<\/p>\n

A
\nbright moved torch of incense and of flame<\/p>\n

That
\nfrom the sky-roofed temple-soil of earth<\/p>\n

A
\npilgrim hand lifts in an invisible shrine.<\/p>\n

There
\ncame the gift of a revealing hour:<\/p>\n

He
\nsaw through depths that reinterpret all,<\/p>\n

Limited
\nnot now by the dull body’s eyes,<\/p>\n

New-found
\nthrough an arch of clear discovery,<\/p>\n

This
\nintimation of the world’s delight,<\/p>\n

This
\nwonder of the divine Artist’s make<\/p>\n

Carved
\nlike a nectar-cup for thirsty gods,<\/p>\n

This
\nbreathing Scripture of the Eternal’s joy,<\/p>\n

This
\nnet of sweetness woven of aureate fire.<\/p>\n

Transformed
\nthe delicate image-face became<\/p>\n

A
\ndeeper Nature’s self-revealing sign,<\/p>\n

A
\ngold-leaf palimpsest of sacred births,<\/p>\n

A
\ngrave world-symbol chiselled out of life.<\/p>\n

Her
\nbrow, a copy of clear unstained heavens,<\/p>\n

Was
\nmeditation’s pedestal and defence,<\/p>\n

The
\nvery room and smile of musing Space,<\/p>\n

Its
\nbrooding line infinity’s symbol curve.<\/p>\n

Amid
\nher tresses’ cloudy multitude<\/p>\n

The
\nlong eyes shadowed as by wings of Night<\/p>\n

Under
\nthat moon-gold forehead’s dreaming breadth<\/p>\n

Were
\nseas of love and thought that held the world;<\/p>\n

Marvelling
\nat life and earth they saw truths far.<\/p>\n

\n Page \u2013 372<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n

A
\ndeathless meaning filled her mortal limbs;<\/p>\n

As
\nin a golden vase’s poignant line<\/p>\n

They
\nseemed to carry the rhythmic sob of bliss<\/p>\n

Of
\nearth’s mute adoration towards heaven<\/p>\n

Released
\nin beauty’s cry of living form<\/p>\n

Towards
\nthe perfection of eternal things.<\/p>\n

Transparent
\ngrown the ephemeral living dress<\/p>\n

Bared
\nthe expressive deity to his view.<\/p>\n

Escaped
\nfrom surface sight and mortal sense<\/p>\n

The
\nseizing harmony of its shapes became<\/p>\n

The
\nstrange significant icon of a Power<\/p>\n

Renewing
\nits inscrutable descent<\/p>\n

Into
\na human figure of its works<\/p>\n

That
\nstood out in life’s bold abrupt relief<\/p>\n

On
\nthe soil of the evolving universe,<\/p>\n

A
\ngodhead sculptured on a wall of thought,<\/p>\n

Mirrored
\nin the flowing hours and dimly shrined<\/p>\n

In
\nMatter as in a cathedral cave.<\/p>\n

Annulled
\nwere the transient values of the mind,<\/p>\n

The
\nbody’s sense renounced its earthly look,<\/p>\n

Immortal
\nmet immortal in their gaze.<\/p>\n

Awaked
\nfrom the close spell of daily use<\/p>\n

That
\nhides soul-truth with the outward form’s disguise,<\/p>\n

He
\nsaw through the familiar cherished limbs<\/p>\n

The
\ngreat and unknown spirit born his child.<\/p>\n

An
\nimpromptu from the deeper sight within,<\/p>\n

Thoughts
\nrose in him that knew not their own scope.<\/p>\n

Then
\nto those large and brooding depths whence Love<\/p>\n

Regarded
\nhim across the straits of mind,<\/p>\n

He
\nspoke in sentences from the unseen Heights.<\/p>\n

A
\ncasual passing phrase can change our life.<\/p>\n

For
\nthe hidden prompters of our speech sometimes<\/p>\n

Can
\nuse the formulas of a moment’s mood<\/p>\n

To
\nweigh unconscious lips with words from Fate:<\/p>\n

\u201cO
\nSpirit, traveller of eternity,<\/p>\n

Who
\ncamest from the immortal spaces here<\/p>\n

Armed
\nfor the splendid hazard of thy life <\/p>\n

\n Page \u2013 373<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n

To
\nset thy conquering foot on Chance and Time,<\/p>\n

The
\nmoon shut in her halo dreams like thee.<\/p>\n

A
\nmighty Presence still defends thy frame.<\/p>\n

Perhaps
\nthe heavens guard thee for some great soul,<\/p>\n

Thy
\nfate, thy work are kept somewhere afar,<\/p>\n

Thy
\nspirit came not down a star alone.<\/p>\n

O
\nliving inscription of the beauty of love<\/p>\n

Missalled
\nin aureate virginity,<\/p>\n

What
\nmessage of heavenly strength and bliss in thee<\/p>\n

Is
\nwritten with the Eternal’s sun-white script,<\/p>\n

One
\nshall discover and greaten with it his life<\/p>\n

To
\nwhom thou loosenest thy heart’s jewelled strings.<\/p>\n

O
\nrubies of silence, lips from which there stole<\/p>\n

Low
\nlaughter, music of tranquillity,<\/p>\n

Star-lustrous
\neyes awake in sweet large night<\/p>\n

And
\nlimbs like fine-linked poems made of gold<\/p>\n

Stanzaed
\nto glimmering curves by artist gods,<\/p>\n

Depart
\nwhere love and destiny call your charm.<\/p>\n

Venture
\nthrough the deep world to find thy mate.<\/p>\n

For
\nsomewhere on the longing breast of earth,<\/p>\n

Thy
\nunknown lover waits for thee the unknown.<\/p>\n

Thy
\nsoul has strength and needs no other guide<\/p>\n

Than
\nOne who burns within thy bosom’s powers.<\/p>\n

There
\nshall draw near to meet thy approaching steps<\/p>\n

The
\nsecond self for whom thy nature asks,<\/p>\n

He
\nwho shall walk until thy body’s end<\/p>\n

A
\nclose-bound traveller pacing with thy pace,<\/p>\n

The
\nlyrist of thy soul’s most intimate chords<\/p>\n

Who
\nshall give voice to what in thee is mute.<\/p>\n

Then
\nshall you grow like vibrant kindred harps,<\/p>\n

One
\nin the beats of difference and delight,<\/p>\n

Responsive
\nin divine and equal strains,<\/p>\n

Discovering
\nnew notes of the eternal theme.<\/p>\n

One
\nforce shall be your mover and your guide,<\/p>\n

One
\nlight shall be around you and within;<\/p>\n

Hand
\nin strong hand confront Heaven’s question, life: <\/p>\n

\n Page \u2013 374<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n

Challenge
\nthe ordeal of the immense disguise.<\/p>\n

Ascend
\nfrom Nature to divinity’s heights;<\/p>\n

Face
\nthe high gods, crowned with felicity,<\/p>\n

Then
\nmeet a greater God, thy self beyond Time.\u201d<\/p>\n

This
\nword was seed of all the thing to be.<\/p>\n

A
\nhand from some Greatness opened her heart’s locked doors<\/p>\n

And
\nshowed the work for which her strength was born.<\/p>\n

As
\nwhen the mantra sinks in Yoga’s ear,<\/p>\n

Its
\nmessage enters stirring the blind brain<\/p>\n

And
\nkeeps in the dim ignorant cells its sound;<\/p>\n

The
\nhearer understands a form of words<\/p>\n

And,
\nmusing on the index thought it holds,<\/p>\n

He
\nstrives to read it with the labouring mind,<\/p>\n

But
\nfinds bright hints, not the embodied truth:<\/p>\n

Then,
\nfalling silent in himself to know<\/p>\n

He
\nmeets the deeper listening of his soul:<\/p>\n

The
\nWord repeats itself in rhythmic strains:<\/p>\n

Thought,
\nvision, feeling, sense, the body’s self<\/p>\n

Are
\nseized unulterably and he endures<\/p>\n

An
\necstasy and an immortal change;<\/p>\n

He
\nfeels a Wideness and becomes a Power,<\/p>\n

All
\nknowledge rushes on him like a sea:<\/p>\n

Transmuted
\nby the white spiritual ray<\/p>\n

He
\nwalks in naked heavens of joy and calm,<\/p>\n

Sees
\nthe God-face and hears transcendent speech:<\/p>\n

An
\nequal greatness in her life was sown.<\/p>\n

Accustomed
\nscenes were now an ended play.<\/p>\n

Moving
\nin muse amid familiar powers,<\/p>\n

Touched
\nby new magnitudes and faery signs,<\/p>\n

She
\nturned to vastnesses not yet her own;<\/p>\n

Allured
\nher heart throbbed to unknown sweetnesses,<\/p>\n

The
\nsecrets of an unseen world were close.<\/p>\n

The
\nmorn went up into a smiling sky;<\/p>\n

Cast
\nfrom its sapphire pinnacle of trance<\/p>\n

Day
\nsank into the burning gold of eve;<\/p>\n

The
\nmoon floated, a luminous waif through heaven, <\/p>\n

\n Page \u2013 375<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n

And
\nsank below the oblivious edge of dream;<\/p>\n

Night
\nlit the watch-fires of eternity.<\/p>\n

Then
\nall went back into mind’s secret caves;<\/p>\n

A
\ndarkness stooping on the heaven-bird’s wings<\/p>\n

Sealed
\nin her senses from external sight<\/p>\n

And
\nopened the stupendous depths of sleep.<\/p>\n

When
\nthe pale dawn slipped through Night’s shadowy guard,<\/p>\n

Vainly
\nthe new-born light desired her face;<\/p>\n

The
\npalace woke to its own emptiness;<\/p>\n

The
\nsovereign of its daily joys was far;<\/p>\n

Her
\nmoonbeam feet tinged not the lucent floors:<\/p>\n

The
\nbeauty and divinity were gone.<\/p>\n

Delight
\nhad fled to search the spacious world.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

End of Canto Three <\/p>\n

\n Page \u2013 376<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Canto Three    The Call to the Quest    A morn that seemed a new creation’s front, Bringing a greater sunlight, happier skies, Came,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-29-savitri-volume-29","wpcat-22-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1007"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1007\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}