{"id":10634,"date":"2014-07-12T17:03:07","date_gmt":"2014-07-13T00:03:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/saa.santansoftwaresystems.com\/?p=10634"},"modified":"2014-12-06T21:50:49","modified_gmt":"2014-12-07T05:50:49","slug":"savitri-study-book-1-canto-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/savitri-study\/book-1-savitri-study\/savitri-study-book-1-canto-2","title":{"rendered":"Savitri-Study-Book-1-Canto-2"},"content":{"rendered":"
\nIntroduction<\/a>   Notes<\/a>   Book 1<\/a>   Book II<\/a>   Book III<\/a>   Book IV<\/a>   
\nBook V<\/a>   Book VI<\/a>   Book VII<\/a>   Book VIII<\/a>   
\nBook IX<\/a>   Book X<\/a>   Book XI<\/a>   Book XII<\/a>
\n<\/br><\/br><\/div>\n
\n
\n

Book One. The Book of Beginnings<\/p>\n

Canto I <\/a> Canto II<\/a> Canto III<\/a> Canto IV<\/a>
\nCanto V<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\n\n
\n


\nBook One: Canto 2<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nThe Issue<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Summary<\/B>
For
\na while Savitri is withdrawn into thought; her whole life flashes
\npast in her mind, her childhood, youth, her fateful meeting with
\nSatyavan, the last twelve months of love lived in the shadow of
\ndeath.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nIn this hour of crisis her
\nexterior personality is displaced by her inner spirit which steps
\nforth and takes hold of the situation. For only so can the
\ndeterminism of Nature be erased. The destiny of the body can be
\nchanged only by the will of the soul. With her it is not a question
\nof her personal submission: the whole challenge of Death to Life, of
\nDoom to Love is involved and she is preparing for the moment of trial
\nin this context. She does not seek any external help, nor does anyone
\nknow of the part in the cosmic struggle she is preparing for. The
\nsolitudes of Nature in which she has passed the last twelve months
\nhave helped in the deepening of her inner life.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nIt was here in the deeps of
\ngreen Nature that Love had at last found in Savitri a home which he
\nhad not secured anywhere so far in the human world. Her wideness and
\nheight of consciousness, her purity and sublimity of being, her
\nunbreakable strength were a match to his, she was worthy of this
\ngodhead of Love.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nTill this encounter with
\nLove (who has brought Death in his shadow) Savitri has known of no
\nearthly sorrow. She has carried undimmed memories of the felicities
\nof the higher worlds from which she has come. But this state of joy
\ncannot continue for long in this world of Ignorance. The problem of
\nlife is presented to her in its acutest form and she is called upon
\nto face it. Savitri is no ordinary mortal to shirk the challenge and
\nstay content with her lot. She does not accept the clamps of the
\nInconscient and the bounds of Ignorance on the embodied
\nconsciousness. She means to change the order that has prevailed so
\nfar, assert the supremacy of Light over Darkness, of Life and Love
\nover Death. She summons all her inner resources, links herself with
\nthe transcendent Will and Force and stands up ready for the momentous
\nencounter. The Divine Puissance surges up in her being, she stops the
\nwheels of Doom and breaks through the finite into the Infinite.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Past<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nDying,
\nit lived imperishably in her; <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe past is quickly
\nreplaced by the present and recedes from the eye. But on that account
\nit does not entirely cease to be. All the movements that are past,
\nthoughts, feelings, activities, leave a mark, a concrete sediment in
\nthe sub-conscious layers of the being and constitute themselves into
\na factor to be reckoned with not only in the present that succeeds
\nthe past but also in the future to come. They form predispositions,
\nsamskaras, in the nature and influence the growth of the being, its
\nreactions and impulsions. Every bit of the past lives in its essence
\nin the memory and goes on exerting its pull.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Inner Dawn<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n…
\nin a many-hued flaming inner dawn, <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nNormally man is awake only
\nin his surface nature which is a very small segment of his being. His
\nknowledge, vision and capacity are consequently very limited and even
\nhis reason which is an instrument of ignorance is only a half-light.
\nHe is aware of just the immediate present and fumbles in his search
\nfor the much that is out of his sight. When, however, as a result of
\nthe divine Grace or in response to his aspiration, the Divine light
\nmanifests itself in his being, all is lighted up; he begins to see
\nhis own life in a new light. He becomes conscious on all the levels
\nof his being\u00e2\u0080\u0094mental, emotional, vital, physical\u00e2\u0080\u0094and is seized
\nwith their several upward movements, of which he has a clear and
\nfuller comprehension than ever before.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Supernatural
\nDarkness<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAn
\nabsolute supernatural darkness falls
On man sometimes when he
\ndraws near to God: <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nMan is a being in ferment.
\nA restless energy of life courses through the body and keeps it in a
\nstate of excitement. Passions, desires, emotions are born every
\nmoment and the nervous being is in tension. The mind is full of
\nuncontrolled thought-activity without a moment’s respite. The mystic
\npath demands a quieting of this multiple movement and a steady
\ngathering of all the faculties around the chosen Ideal. As this
\ndiscipline progresses and the aspiring being gets into the needed
\npoise of receptivity, there comes\u00e2\u0080\u0094in some cases\u00e2\u0080\u0094a state of
\nblankness, a void in the mind which benumbs. Everything falls silent
\nand all looks and feels dark. But this ‘darkness’ is not heavy like
\nthe nether darkness of inconscience or inertia and obscurity. It is
\nof a different kind and it is not oppressive. It blinds the mental
\neye, stuns the mental activity into immobility. This condition is
\nusually a precursor of the advent or revelation of God. It prepares
\nthe human to receive the Divine.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Crisis<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAn
\nhour comes when fail all Nature\u00e2\u0080\u0099s means;
Forced out from the
\nprotecting Ignorance
And flung back on his naked primal need,
He
\nat length must cast from him his surface soul
And be the ungarbed
\nentity within: <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIt is in the supreme
\nmoments of crises that man often rises to undreamt of heights and
\nshows capacities totally unexpected. That is because shaken by the
\nfailure of his normal means to grapple with the situation, he is
\nthrown back from the surface personality which proves unequal to the
\nchallenge and he instinctively seizes upon the latent supports deeper
\nwithin himself of which he was not hitherto conscious, lost as he was
\nin the superficies of his nature and things. The inner and larger
\nbeing [1] comes to the front with a breakdown of the exterior
\nconstruction centralised in the ego and sustained by Ignorance. In
\ncertain crises of a decisive character, it is the inmost soul itself
\nthat comes forward in response to the desperate call and takes
\ncommand.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n[1] The true vital being of
\ncourage and heroism, the true mental being of light, the true
\nsubtle-physical being of plasticity and endurance, are governed by
\nthe soul or psychic being.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Will and Body<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nHer
\nwill must cancel her body\u00e2\u0080\u0099s destiny. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nMan is not just the
\nphysical body. He is a multiple being\u00e2\u0080\u0094in fact several beings
\norganised around one central being, the Soul. Each of these has its
\nown power and nature though they are all in medley in the life of the
\nman in ignorance. By observation, discrimination and other inner
\neffort it is possible to separate their respective workings and
\ndirect them in the desired manner. One part can be utilised to
\ncorrect or change the functionings of another less developed than
\nitself. Thus the knowledge in the mind can be helpfully utilised to
\nrestrain the unregulated vehemences of the life-force. The will power
\ncan be focussed to change the direction of the physical energies.
\nEven the destiny that awaits the body can be averted by a superior
\naction of the will infused with the soul-power from within. For the
\ndestiny of the lower level of physical matter can always be
\ninfluenced and changed by the destiny or agents of destiny operating
\non a higher level.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Destiny<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nFor
\nonly the unborn spirit’\u0080\u0099s timeless power
Can lift the yoke
\nimposed by birth in time. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nBirth in life on earth
\nentails Karma. For birth is undertaken for experience and growth in
\nevolution and this experience proceeds through action, voluntary and
\ninvoluntary. Each action has its consequence and this consequence
\nleads to further action, all together thus building up a destiny
\nwhich insists on being worked out. This yoke of destiny, however, is
\nnot entirely ineluctable. Each level of existence has its own
\ndestiny; the subtler the level on which it is forged, the less rigid
\nit is. And as the different planes of existence are not separated
\nfrom each other into watertight compartments but interpenetrate and
\nhave a constant interaction among themselves, it is possible to
\nmodify the destiny of a lower level by means of a higher destiny. The
\ncentre of consciousness is to be shifted to a higher level and in
\nliving from there, the corresponding destiny is moved into action
\ninfluencing the lower one. A complete change of destiny however\u00e2\u0080\u0094for
\ninstance the physical destiny that is the most rigid of all\u00e2\u0080\u0094can
\nonly come from the operation of the highest power open to man, the
\nPower of the Spirit which stands above all the destinies of the
\nembodied being. It is the Divine Will in action, the Grace that alone
\ncan cancel human destiny.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Fate<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nOur
\npresent fate, child of past energies. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nWhat man is today is a
\nresult of what he was yesterday and the day before. At every moment,
\nduring each life, the being puts forth certain energies, receives
\nenergies from elsewhere, participates in the general movement in the
\nuniverse and comes to form tendencies and ways of action and reaction
\nwhich enter into the formation of its subtler body. These give their
\ncharacteristic turns to the nature of the being which goes on
\naffirming itself in the mould so formed. Apart from this building up
\nof nature that has gone on in the endless past, there is also the
\ngeneral Karmic legacy of the previous incarnation that man inherits
\nand his present life is shaped in its conditions and direction by
\nthat part of the Karma which is pressing for effectuation.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Present Nature<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAltered
\nmust be Nature’s harsh economy; <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nLife, as it stands
\norganised at present, is a field of contraries. Light is always
\nfollowed by shade: every step of knowledge is menaced by the hosts of
\nIgnorance; pleasure is followed quick on its heels by pain; progress
\nis dragged down by inertia; exertion is pursued by fatigue; life is
\nconstantly threatened by death.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nThis feature, however, is
\nnot a permanent Law of Creation. It is the characteristic of the
\npresent state of Nature in evolution which is developing from the
\nDarkness of Ignorance towards the Light of divine Knowledge. Nature
\nis in transition and the conditions can and are bound to change as it
\nadvances in its evolving movement Godward. The workings of the forces
\nof Nature can be set on a different basis by inducting into the
\nsituation new powers of consciousness with greater effectivity.
\nGrowth need not always be followed by arrest; under certain
\nconditions it is a movement from growth to further growth, from light
\nto greater light. A greater Power and Will of the Divine
\nConsciousness than hitherto active is to be invoked and established
\nin Earth-Nature to that end.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nUnknown Saviour<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe
\nworld unknowing, for the world she stood: <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nWhen Savitri took up the
\nchallenge of Death, she was not fighting for the life of Satyavan
\nalone. She assumed the championship of all life in creation and
\nasserted its claim against the onslaught of death. The world, indeed,
\ndid not know Savitri was struggling to affirm and establish the right
\nof Life to Immortality in this world and for this world; all the same
\nshe prepared herself, summoned her inmost powers to aid and stood up
\nto contest the claim of Death to rule the world for ever.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nThis is the case with
\nalmost all the avatars who come to help the Earth in its difficult
\nperiods of evolution. Humanity is hardly aware of the advent of the
\nSaviour and the purpose for which he comes. But whether it is awake
\nor not, he works for its upliftment and undergoes all the travail
\ninvolved in the process.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Solitude<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIts
\nsolitude greatened her human hours
With a background of the
\neternal and unique. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nSavitri had spent twelve
\nmonths in the hermitage in the deep forests far from the life of busy
\nhumanity in her father’s kingdom. She had lived a life of a few wants
\nand fewer calls amidst hills, high trees and the open skies and had
\ngrown in a unique way. For the very solitude in which she found
\nherself opened out her being in communion with the Infinite.
\nEverything in this unpolluted Nature linked her with the mightier
\nlife pulsating underneath and above. She had absorbed all and grown
\nin stature.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nThere are occasions when
\nphysical solitude is indispensable, especially when there is a need
\nfor gathering of one’s inner resources. Properly utilised solitude
\nbuilds up a great reserve.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Stillness<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nWhere
\nstillness listening felt the unspoken word
And the hours forgot
\nto pass towards grief and change. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nWhen the restless activity
\nof the vital energy is brought under control and quieted, when the
\nsurge of thoughts is arrested and the mind falls into silence, there
\nis a profound stillness in the being.This inner stillness puts one in
\ntune with the greater Presence of God. When it is re-inforced by
\nouter stillness as well, there comes a rare fecund condition in which
\none receives in one’s consciousness the communication from God. Time
\ncomes to a stand-still as it were and life appears held in
\nimmobility. These are the pregnant hours of the Spirit.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Divine Advents<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nHere
\nwith the suddenness divine advents have, <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe movements of the Divine
\nConsciousness have their own rhythms, their own seasons, rtutha of
\nthe Veda. They cannot be determined by calculations proper to the
\nhuman intelligence and activity. That is why it often happens that
\nwhen the seeker confidently expects some results from the higher end,
\nhe is disappointed. He is aware only of the workings of his own
\nlittle self, and that too of a small part of it; he does not know of
\nthe much that is yet to be ready at his end. Still less does he know
\nof the pace and the rationale of the Higher Consciousness on its
\nmove. Equally, at other times when he least expects it and is not
\neven prepared fully in his waking consciousness, the Divine takes him
\nby surprise. Something takes place suddenly in his being and he is
\nface to face with the Divine, often too in a form that is unexpected.
\nThe suddenness, however, is only on the surface. Behind the veil, the
\nmovement has been long preparing and it bursts into appearance at its
\nscheduled hour though to the unprepared and inattentive human mind it
\nstrikes as sudden.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
First Descent<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nRepeating
\nthe marvel of the first descent,
Changing to rapture the dull
\nearthly round,
Love came to her …<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nIn coming to Savitri in the
\nperson of Satyavan and lifting up her life-movements to a pinnacle of
\nhigh rapture, Love repeated what had taken place in the beginnings of
\nthis creation. For, when the divine spirit that has undertaken this
\nadventure of manifestation was, at one stage, lost in the total
\nNescience of the involution, it cried forth to the Supreme Divine to
\nsave it. And in response to the call, the Divine Grace sent forth a
\nRay of its Love to reclaim and redeem the spirit. It is this divine
\nemanation of Love that awakened consciousness in the Inconscience and
\ninitiated the return movement of evolution under the compulsive
\npressure of the attraction of the soul to its parent-Divine. All
\nacquired a meaning and a joyful purpose.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Love<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n…
\nhis shaft,
That burning test of the godhead in our parts, <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nLove is a test and an
\nopportunity. None can conceive and contain pure love unless he has
\nattained a sufficient measure of unselfishness and capacity to deny
\nhimself for the object of love. He must outgrow his narrowness and
\nself-centred claims of the ego before he can hope to participate in
\nthe expression of love. He needs to be large in his vision, wide in
\nconsciousness in order to bear and manifest the true movement of love
\nthat flows from and leads to the Divine. How far one has progressed
\nin this direction of self-abnegation, self-consecration and purity of
\npurpose\u00e2\u0080\u0094all qualities of the soul\u00e2\u0080\u0094is put to test when love
\npresents itself for acceptance. Rightly utilised, even what is called
\nhuman love is a preparatory ground for growing into the divine love.
\nIt is an opportunity to train oneself in the ways of expansion and
\nidentification, first with another and then with the Divine in the
\nother. From division and separativity in consciousness one learns to
\nmove to closeness and oneness.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Silence And Joy<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\nheart of silence in the hands of joy <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThis is the true balance at
\nwhich man has to arrive: he must build up within himself a deep calm,
\na strength of silence which alone can bear without disturbance or
\nbreakdown the play of delight, the pressure of intense joy that comes
\nin the fullness of the soul’s growth. Otherwise he spills the bliss,
\nhis system gets deranged or disintegrated. The more the silence
\nwithin, the more the activity that the being sustains, and the more
\nthe joy of life it holds.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Inward Help<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nHer
\ninward help unbarred a gate in heaven; <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nHelp from the Divine or
\nfrom those who embody the Divine Consciousness\u00e2\u0080\u0094as in the case of
\nSavitri\u00e2\u0080\u0094is invariably inward though its results are seen outwardly
\ntoo in proper time. But before the results are so perceived, there is
\nan inner sequence to the decision to help. The will that moves to
\nhelp exerts an automatic pull in that region of Consciousness where
\nthings are determined before they precipitate themselves into
\nappearance on earth. And this action effects a change in the play of
\npossibilities to the advantage of the person so helped.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Love (I)<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nLove
\nin her was wider than the universe,
The whole world could take
\nrefuge in her single heart. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThough Savitri had taken a
\nhuman body, her being was not limited to that physical frame. Nor was
\nit confined within the play of the human emotions and loves that
\nnormally serve and centre round the ego. Her consciousness was wide,
\nlarge and deep enough to embrace the whole universe and that is why
\nthe Divine Love could find habitation in her. This Love cannot stay
\nin a heart that is tainted with selfishness, cribbed by narrowness.
\nIt needs a receptacle that is as pure and as wide as itself. And
\nSavitri’s was such a heart; it could shelter all creation in the Love
\nthat it housed, for that Love is infinite.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nIt is only Divine Love that
\ncan help and uplift the world from its state of suffering and pain.
\nIt isdisinterested and therefore unlimited, pure and therefore potent
\nwith innate divine power. To embody and manifest this Love, the human
\nbeing needs to have a consciousness that is free from the limitations
\nof ego and capable of cosmic self-extension.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Love (II)<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe
\ngreat unsatisfied godhead here could dwell:
Vacant of the dwarf
\nself\u00e2\u0080\u0099s imprisoned air
Her mood could harbour his sublimer
\nbreath
Spiritual that can make all things divine. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nSavitri had the breadth of
\noutlook and the expansiveness in nature that alone can provide a
\nsuitable millieu for Love which rarely finds dwelling place in
\nmortals whose hearts are constricted within the narrow bounds of ego
\nand blindness of ignorance. She had the purity in consciousness and
\nnobility of disposition that could well match the sublimity of Love
\nthat greatens whatever it touches into its highest term. She was as
\nwide and as high in her consciousness as Love is and needs for its
\nsecure abidance.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Stillness and the
\nWord<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAt
\nonce she was the stillness and the word,
<\/p>\n

A continent of self-diffusing peace,
An ocean
\nof untrembling virgin fire:
The strength, the silence of the gods
\nwere hers. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nSavitri had taken an
\nearthly form but she had not, on that account, lost connection with
\nher origin in the Transcendent. She embodied the stillness, the
\npeace; the solidity, the silence of her transcendent nature in her
\nliving consciousness and all that she did and expressed was based
\nupon this inner foundation. That is why she was effective in the
\nmanner of the gods. She contained a natural rock-like peace and
\nsilence that bore and supported all the intensities of power and
\naction that proceeded from her. Her reserves were unlimited and
\ntherefore unfailing her movements of effectuation.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Fragile World<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n…this
\nworld of fragile forms
Carried on canvas-strips of shimmering
\nTime, <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThere is a state of
\nconsciousness in which one stands apart and aloof from the world,
\ntaking poise in the silent Self or held in the contemplation of a
\nsupernal Beauty or Joy on the heights of the being. When sight is
\nturned on life in the world from this position, all strikes as a
\nprocession of forms which break every now and then, lifeless figures
\nflowing past in the current of time, images flitting across a screen
\nas it were. The picture is one of unsubstantiality, of
\ntransitoriness. But that is, of course, only a view and that too a
\ntemporary view.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Heaven\u00e2\u0080\u0099s Shield<\/B>
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nHeaven\u00e2\u0080\u0099s
\ntranquil shield guarded the missioned child. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAll her life there was a
\nspecial Presence hovering around Savitri, nourishing her growth with
\nheavenly strength and bliss. She had been put to birth on earth with
\na special purpose of the Divine and due care was lavished on her to
\nensure her progress, to guard her from all evil attentions that are
\never on the look out for openings to strike at the instruments or
\nchildren of God.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nAll who are born entrusted
\nwith a high mission are so guarded and guided by the Power or Powers
\nthat preside over the effectuation of that Divine Will. They have
\nmiraculous escapes, inexplicable inspirations and unexpected
\nre-inforcements\u00e2\u0080\u0094all self-evident in the context of this background.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Joy Cannot Endure<\/B>
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nBut
\njoy cannot endure until the end:
There is a darkness in
\nterrestrial things
That will not suffer long too glad a note. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nHappiness in this world is
\nnot allowed to last long: it is interrupted by contraries and is ever
\nunder the threat of destruction. That is so, because in this world of
\nMatter the hold of Inconscience and Ignorance is still strong,
\ndominating, and all influx of Consciousness, Light and its
\ninalienable Joy, is diluted, swallowed up by these nether elements.
\nIt is difficult for a body or base steeped in the darkness of
\nunconsciousness and density of impurities to support and hold the
\ncharge of Bliss for long. That is not natural to it. Either it breaks
\nunder the continued pressure of the Bliss or it engulfs what is
\nforeign to it with its mass of obscurities.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Assigner of the
\nOrdeal<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nOne
\ndealt with her who meets the burdened great. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAssigner
\nof the ordeal and the path <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThose who come to birth
\ncharged with a mission from God do not have it easy. At some stage or
\nthe other the Master of Evolution enters the scene and throws
\nchallenges, creating situations which bring out the best in the
\nchosen persons, subject them to pressures which forge the needed
\nstrength and capacities wherewith they are enabled to fulfil their
\nappointed tasks.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nSo it came to be with
\nSavitri. Her life of felicity was suddenly interrupted by the
\nprognostication of the death of Satyavan and she was obliged to
\nprepare herself to take up the challenge, summoning and marshalling
\nall her latent powers into action.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Spirit’s Goads<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nDeath,
\nfall and sorrow as the spirit’\u0080\u0099s goads, <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nMan does not move unless
\nthere is some incentive, some impulsion to do so. This is specially
\ntrue in the sphere of inner growth. That is why Nature uses pain,
\nsorrow and the like as agents to awaken man from his sleep and
\nlethargy and set him thinking on the ways and means to get over these
\nelements that plague him. He is forced to take steps to displace them
\nby their opposites, the positives of Knowledge, Joy, Life, and in the
\nprocess he registers a growth in his evolution Godward. Every blow in
\nlife throws him off his habitual track, sets into motion new factors
\nand opens a way for change and progress.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Torch of Pain<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n…
\nwith his torch of pain
Lit up the chasm of the unfinished world <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nPain stings man into
\nawareness. He is startled out of his tamasic lassitude and looks
\naround for the cause of the pain. And in this scrutiny he becomes
\nconscious of much that had escaped his notice and calls for
\nattention.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nSavitri was confronted with
\nsuch a situation. The threatened calamity of the death of Satyavan
\nand the pain caused at the approach of the fateful hour threw her
\ninto a state of contemplative consciousness in which the problem of
\nDeath and the abyss created by it in the scheme of Life was
\nforcefully presented to her. She came to perceive what had still to
\nbe done to close up the wide gaps in the creation in order to lead it
\nto the intended perfection.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Difficulty and Might<\/B>
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nHe
\nmeasured the difficulty with the might <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIt is a truth of life that
\nwhen one is presented with a difficulty, he is also given the means
\nwhere-with to meet it. Providence sees to it that man is always given
\nthe strength that is necessary to surmount every obstruction that
\ncomes his way. In the cosmic scheme of evolution each circumstance,
\neach event, has a significance\u00e2\u0080\u0094to further the growth of the
\nindividual. None is given a problem beyond his measure. Only one must
\nhave the faith and know how to draw upon the potential with which one
\nis endowed.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nIn setting the problem of
\ndeath before Savitri for solution, the Master of Evolution laid at
\nher disposal the strength equal to the situation.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Kin to the Human<\/B>
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nHe
\nmade her heart kin to the striving human heart <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nSavitri had many divine
\nelements in her, but she was not allowed to fight the battle from
\nthat super-human basis. The problem of death confronts mortal man and
\nnot the gods. It has to be met on the human plane, through the human
\nbody with the human resources\u00e2\u0080\u0094albeit with the aid of higher powers
\nwhich are embodied and made natural to the human instrumentation.
\nThen alone is the fruit of the labour assured to all humanity that
\nseeks for it.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nSavitri’s being was made to
\nidentify itself with the being of man in strife with the forces of
\nIgnorance and Death; she underwent all his struggle and embodied his
\nhighest aspiration for freedom and immortality. She had come to win
\nfor humanity its title to immortality.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Issue<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nWhether
\nto bear with Ignorance and Death
Or hew the ways of Immortality, <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe issue before Savitri
\nwas whether to accept life as it was\u00e2\u0080\u0094characterised by Ignorance and
\nits sequel Death\u00e2\u0080\u0094or to fight to change its nature by eliminating
\nthe disfiguring agents. The only way to do it was to strike at the
\nroot of Death by refusing to accept his claims and affirming the
\nTruth of Immortality instead. There was no ready-made way to this end
\nand she was faced with the prospect of having to build it step by
\nstep across the slippery marshes of the dark god. She decided in
\nfavour of the more difficult but momentously decisive choice.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Terrestrial Fabric<\/B>
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n…
\nfabric of terrestrial make
Fit for a day\u00e2\u0080\u0099s use by busy careless
\nPowers. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe man who is content to
\nremain in his material consciousness, earthy in his outlook and
\noccupation, shares the fate of all earthly beings: he is condemned to
\nperpetual transitoriness. His term depends not upon himself, his own
\nwill, but upon the Powers in Nature which are ever engaged in their
\ntask of the advancement of the creation in the scale of
\nconsciousness. The workings of these Powers are so impersonal and
\nrelentless that they may appear to be careless. They are not
\nover-concerned with individual forms or instruments, especially with
\nthose who have not yet arrived at the stage of functioning as their
\ncollaborators or directors. They make such indifferent use of these
\nundeveloped creatures as they can\u00e2\u0080\u0094and that is very little\u00e2\u0080\u0094and
\nthey pass on in search of more useful instruments.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Human Figure (I)<\/B>
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAn
\nimage fluttering on the screen of fate
Half-animated for a
\npassing show, <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nLife in this world presents
\na picture in which all seems to be determined by Fate. Fate appears
\nto be not only the master but in its ramifications the very stuff of
\nexistence. All is there as a consequence of a previous determinant.
\nMan looks no more than an image projected on this background, with no
\nwill of his own. If he seems to have something like a life of his
\nown, it is also due to a partial energising of his body by Nature for
\npurposes of the play of rise and fall, birth and death, that goes on
\nchanging its scenes from moment to moment.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Human Figure (II)<\/B>
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n… a
\ncastaway on the ocean of Desire
Flung to the eddies in a ruthless
\nsport
And tossed along the gulfs of Circumstance, <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nLooked at from another
\nview-point, all life appears to be but a heaving of a giant Desire on
\nthe bosom of which man is tossed like a cork. Every sweep of
\ndesire\u00e2\u0080\u0094and the waves of desires are legion\u00e2\u0080\u0094pushes him hither and
\nthither in his attempt to satisfy it; his life is a restless pursuit
\nof an unending stream of desires. He is helpless and lives as a
\ncreature of circumstance without control, without direction.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Human Figure (III)<\/B>
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\ncreature born to bend beneath the yoke,
A chattel and a plaything
\nof Time\u00e2\u0080\u0099s lords, <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nMan appears to have no will
\nof his own, no strength to stand up against the current of the
\nmechanical flow of life in the universe. It looks as if he has to
\nsubmit to every demand made upon him by the circumstances of life; to
\nfunction as nothing more than an obedient slave, an object of
\namusement for the gods that preside over this whirlgig of Time.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Pawn<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nOr
\none more pawn who comes destined to be pushed
One slow move
\nforward on a measureless board
In the chess-play of the
\nearth-soul with Doom, <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nEarth is the field of a
\ncolossal game of wits. The opponents who test the mettle against each
\nother are the Soul that seeks to affirm the immortality of the Spirit
\non Earth and Death that threatens to engulf the Soul with his
\nnegation. The board for this chess play is the Cosmic life and the
\npawns to be moved from place to place are the human beings who have
\nnot developed a will of their own. They are automatons that can be
\nmoved hither and thither by the forces (or the beings at their head)
\nat play. As long as man remains a creature, for the most part
\nunconscious and inert, he is nothing more than a plaything for the
\nCosmic forces; he is a pawn. In the measure in which he is awake and
\ndevelops this consciousness well enough to direct his own movements,
\nhe becomes a participant in the game, throwing his weight on any side
\nhe chooses.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Self-Born Force<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\nconscious frame was here, a self-born Force. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nSavitri was not a creature
\nhelplessly subjected to the operations of Time and Fate, at the mercy
\nof every circumstance and impulsion that came by. She embodied a
\nConsciousness and a Force that were not products of terrestrial
\nworkings but wholly independent of them. Her exterior was only a
\nframe, a vibrant and wakeful frame, for the puissance that ensouled
\nit.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Enigma (I)<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n…
\nthis enigma of the dusk of God,
This slow and strange uneasy
\ncompromise
Of limiting Nature with a limitless Soul, <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nLife is a riddle. In this
\nuniverse where the dawn of God-light is not yet and the skies are
\nstill dark, everything poses a problem. For each form, each event is
\nwoven round a contradiction. There is everywhere the Soul of things
\nwhich is a portion of God and hence without limits on its being; but
\nalways it is saddled with a Nature which has its severe limits and
\nwhich imposes those limits on that to which it relates. This Nature
\nis the instrument of the Soul; the limitless has to work and express
\nitself through a limiting agent. It has to accept and compromise with
\nthe demands of Nature. There is, consequently, a hiatus between the
\nintention and the fruition. This juxtaposition of the boundless Soul
\nand the bounded (and bounding) Nature is the crux of every problem.
\nIt can be resolved only by freeing Nature from its limitations and
\nharmonising it with the Soul\u00e2\u0080\u0094a development that awaits the coming
\nof the Dawn of the fulfilling Truth of God.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Enigma (II)<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nWhere
\nall must move between an ordered Chance
And an uncaring blind
\nNecessity, <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nWhen one observes the
\nlife-phenomena in the world, it strikes as if all were chance, all
\nevents were happenings by chance. There is a gigantic Chance at work
\nand everything takes place in its movement. Anything can happen
\nanywhere depending upon the mood of that Chance. A closer look,
\nhowever, reveals that there is a kind of order even in the workings
\nof this Chance. It has its own rhythm, though its direction is always
\nunpredictable.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nSide by side one also
\nperceives there is a Necessity in Nature which compels things to move
\nin the particular way they do. Its demands are imperious and
\napparently they are not influenced by individual or local
\nconsiderations. At whatever cost, the Necessity obliges life to meet
\nit.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nAll seems to move on these
\ntwo processes\u00e2\u0080\u0094Chance and Necessity. Indeed, both of them are
\ntruths, only they operate on different levels.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Spiritual Fire<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nToo
\nhigh the fire spiritual dare not blaze. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIf
\nonce it met the intense original Flame,
An answering touch might
\nshatter all measures made
And earth sink down with the weight of
\nthe Infinite. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe earth in evolution
\nconstantly aspires for a higher and a still higher Truth of the
\nDivine. But it can sustain only that intensity of the Spirit for
\nwhich it is ready. And this readiness is determined largely by the
\nextent to which it has moved away from its original moorings in
\nNescience, Inconscience and Ignorance. Its aspiration for the Truth
\nof the Divine has to take account of these prevailing conditions and
\naim only at that which it can assimilate at the moment. Otherwise, if
\nin the zeal of its seeking it were to reach, evoke response and bring
\ndown a Truth, a Consciousness or a Force of the Divine too great to
\nbear, the results would be disastrous. Each Descent of the Spirit in
\nthe earth-consciousness takes place only when the earth has developed
\nadequate receptacles to contain and support the new influx. Any
\npremature pull is bound to result in the break-up of the existing
\nforms and movements which being not ready would be unable to hold the
\ngreater charge.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
World-Gaol (I)<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\ngaol is this immense material world. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAcross
\neach road stands armed a stone-eyed law,
At every gate the huge
\ndim sentinels pace. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe physical world in which
\nwe live is so vast that it seems almost endless. And yet to the soul
\nwhich seeks to enlarge its range, to the consciousness which tries to
\nextend itself beyond the limits set by the physical frame in which it
\nit housed, this world presents itself as an enclosing barrier. On
\nevery side it imposes limits which cannot be exceeded with impunity.
\nThere are laws of Matter, operations of the rule of Inconscience,
\nopacity, Death, which stare in the face in whichever direction one
\nmoves. The laws are long established, as old as Matter itself and
\nthey over-shadow the domain of the physical world with their
\nrigidities and impersonal uniformities.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
World-Gaol (II)<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\ngrey tribunal of the Ignorance,
An Inquisition of the priests of
\nNight
In judgment sit on the adventurer soul, <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAt every turn of life in
\nthis world based upon Matter, the soul that seeks to overpass the
\nrule of Physical Nature is confronted with the scrutinising looks of
\nempirical reason and allied agents of the pervading Ignorance. It is
\nsubjected to questionings from the black powers of Nescience and
\nUnconsciousness that are loth to see anyone escape from this hold.
\nAll of these take it upon themselves to detain anyone who has the
\nboldness to look beyond their domains. They expose him to their
\nattractions and if possible, put a brake on his movements.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
World-Gaol (III)<\/B>
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n…
\nthe dual tables and the Karmic norm
Restrain the Titan in us and
\nthe God: <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nNeither the reachings
\ntowards Light nor the impulses towards Darkness get a free scope in
\nman living in this world. At every moment the organised dualities of
\nNature, e.g. good and bad, pain and pleasure, light and shadow, lay
\nsiege to his being and counter whatever he does with its inevitable
\ncontrary. There is also the spectre of Karma. Each action produces a
\nresult and the action of today is often plagued by the reaction of
\nyesterday. No movement, no activity\u00e2\u0080\u0094upward or downward\u00e2\u0080\u0094is allowed
\nto have its own way and produce its entire results. There is a
\ncontinual modification and arrestation.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
World-Gaol (IV)<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nPain
\nwith its lash, joy with its silver bribe
Guard the Wheel\u00e2\u0080\u0099s
\ncircling immobility, <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThough the stamp of
\nNescience and the pulls of inertia and obscurity resist all movement
\nforward, the motion of life is kept going within the narrow bounds of
\nthe material formula. Like a wheel it is constantly revolving, though
\nit does not advance. Man is compelled to participate in this
\nlife-movement; he has to act. Nature uses a double weapon to whip him
\ninto activity: there is first the pressure of pain which forces man
\nto sit up and work in order to reduce if not remove the causes of
\npain. And complementary to this negative factor is the positive
\ninducement of pleasure, the joy that life yields to the man who
\nexerts himself. That this joy does not last long, that this pleasure
\nis only an interregnum between periods of pain does not discourage
\nhim from accepting the bait and running after whatever yields
\nhappiness in however small a measure, for however short a time.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
World-Gaol (V)<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\nbond is put on the high climbing mind,
A seal on the too large
\nwide-open heart;
Death stays the journeying discoverer, Life. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe mind of man in this
\nworld is tied firmly to the tether of its physical bases. It can take
\nflight in the skies of thought but always it has to return to the
\nearth. The shadow of the primeval Ignorance pursues it wherever it
\ngoes into action and mars its perfection and effectivity. The mind
\ncarries its constitutional handicap of being an instrument of error.
\nSimilarly, the range of the heart too is limited. The emotions and
\nthe impulses that proceed from it can only go as far as the
\nego-circle can be extended. It cannot expand beyond without running
\nthe risk of self-destruction, as long as it is governed by
\nmatter-based life. And life itself, organised in matter and enclosed
\nin its formation, cannot proceed farther than the limits set to its
\ncareer. Within that span life may spread itself, unearth secrets from
\nthe womb of Time, but once the fixed boundary is reached, life is
\ndevoured by Death. On all fronts the material world is a closed
\nsystem.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
The Animal and the
\nHawk<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n…
\nthe Animal browses in the sacred fence
And the gold Hawk can
\ncross the skies no more. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe rule of the
\nInconscience ensures its stability by every available means. Its
\nclamps of ignorance, inertia and immobility hold the movements of the
\nlife, the heart and the mind of man in stern check on pain of
\ndestruction and death. As a result, the being of man which is
\ndesigned by the manifesting Divine to be a sacred ground for the high
\nedifice to be erected lies unused for the purpose. It is turned into
\na secure enclosure for the trespassing lower nature to luxuriate in
\nand hold all forward movements at bay. The aspiring soul, the
\nluminous inhabitant is held prisoner and is unable to soar into the
\nhigher regions of the Mind and the Spirit.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Dark Power<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n…
\nthe dark Power that hates all bliss <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nHappiness, joy, delight are
\nstates that belong to the truer being of man. They are reflections or
\ncurrents deriving from an innate Bliss which is the nature of the
\ndeepest soul. The Divine is blissful in its being and all that comes
\nfrom it has that character. But the play of this Ananda is arrested,
\ndiluted and even given a perverse form by the interference of the
\nnon-divine (or anti-divine) elements like the Ego or Ignorance. The
\nnature of these limiting agents is to shut out all movements of
\nliberating knowledge and expansive bliss, for they draw the being
\ngodward to their source away from the hold of the nether powers.
\nThese powers of darkness wallow in degrading pleasures which bring
\nquick in their wake pain and misery that thrust man still deeper into
\ntheir dominion.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Life And Joy<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n…
\nwhere life must pay for joy, <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nHere on earth where
\nIgnorance is the rule and Ego the king of individual existence, all
\nexpression and movement of life is constricted, narrow, uncertain. On
\nevery side, there is danger of friction, clash and hurt because
\neveryone is pitted against everyone else. Consequently, fear,
\nanxiety, pain are normal experiences in life. If any one, in these
\nconditions, goes contrary to the common current and attempts to draw
\nhappiness and joy from the world, he has perforce to suffer the
\nreaction. Joy is still foreign to life-nature and it cannot support
\nthat movement for long. Parts of the nature either refuse to accept
\nit or they get so much excited in its vibrations that there is an
\ninevitable exhaustion and when the joy departs, man is in a state
\nlower than before, more miserable, since he has had some taste of
\nthat joy.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Man’s Hopes<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n…
\nthe afflicting penalty of man’s hopes, <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nNature gives to man a frame
\nof life in which he lives and moves. He is given a limited mind
\ninvolved in a life which is imprisoned within the walls of a physical
\nbody. If he accepts this formula in which he comes into being here
\nand is content to be confined to it all his life, there is no
\nproblem. There is a certain mechanical smooth going. But if he thinks
\nof exceeding the habitual limits, entertains hopes to acquire what is
\nnot natural to the existing organisation of life, and exerts himself
\nto that end, all the established forces in Nature strike at him
\nfuriously, resist his effort and force him either to abandon his
\nattempt or to pay in terms of struggle, suffering and disappointments
\nbefore he finally succeeds in realising his hopes.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Old Statutes<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nSo
\nbows and must the mind-born will in man
Obedient to the statutes
\nfixed of old,
Admitting without appeal the nether gods. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe rigid laws of the
\nmechanism of material nature insist on conformity from all the
\ncreatures that live in this world. The whole weight of the past habit
\nis on their side, and anyone who seeks to bypass or defy their
\nworkings on his own is foredoomed to failure. The guardians of these
\nlaws have eagle eyes and their action is swift. Only a will, a power
\ngreater than the force of this Nature of material existence can
\nimpose itself on the operation of these laws. The will of man is a
\nwill in ignorance, removed from its true source in Knowledge and
\ntherefore severely limited in power; it cannot assert itself
\nsuccessfully against these long established laws. A will from a
\nconsciousness that is above this triple world of Ignorance, a will
\nthat directly draws from the Divine Will can alone break this hold.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Wings of Dream<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nInapt
\nto fold its mighty wings of dream
Her spirit refused to hug the
\ncommon soil, <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nMan is given faculties like
\nthinking, planning, imagining, dreaming, in order to enable him to
\nlook upwards and ahead, and to prepare to free himself from the
\nclamps of earthly nature for flight into the larger heavens of life,
\nmind and spirit. But most are content to live tied to the posts of
\nphysical life and they do not exercise the powers given to develop a
\nfreer range; the powers lie unused.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nBut Savitri was not of this
\ncategory. She was not given to confine her energies of life and mind
\nto the narrow limits of earth-bound human life. She let her
\nconsciousness expand and never arrested its formative action.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Compound with Earth<\/B>
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n…
\nfinding all life’\u0080\u0099s golden meanings robbed,
Compound with earth,
\nstruck from the starry list, <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThere is a strong tendency
\nin human nature to accept a lesser substitute when it is denied the
\nhigh object of its striving. Man starts with a great fervour and a
\nlofty aim to realise great ideals in life. But when he is confronted
\nwith difficulties, apparently insuperable, his vital enthusiasm flags
\nand after a time he comes to regard his chosen ideals as
\nunrealisable, abandons them and compromises with the more readily
\nworkable claims of commoner interests. He forfeits the heavens and
\nclings to the earth.Savitri refused this course.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Despair And Light<\/B>
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n…
\nquench with black despair the God-given light. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nEach one carries a point of
\nLight within himself. He is born with this light at the core of his
\nbeing: it is a special concentration of the Divine Consciousness
\nserving as a nucleus for his evolutionary development. This point of
\nlight grows under proper conditions, and acquires shape as an entity.
\nIt works from behind the veil, now as instinct, now as intelligence,
\nnow as an imperative, till it is in a position to step forward and
\nassume a direct rule over the being. If there are here conditions
\nlike aspiration, purity, sincerity, cheerfulness that promote the
\ngrowth of this light of the soul, there are equally elements like
\nlethargy, impurity, falsehood and gloom that retard and even cover up
\nthis little flame. Of these, gloom, depression, despair have a
\nspecially dampening effect and the flame burns feebly; if the darker
\nspells are too long and too thick, the light gets smothered.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Brute Balance<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n…set
\na signature of weak assent
To the brute balance of the world’\u0080\u0099s
\nexchange. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe workings of Nature in
\nthis material world are mechanical in character. The give and take
\nthat goes on between the individual formations and the universal
\nforces proceeds automatically without consideration of any special
\nfactors that may attend each situation. Creatures subject to the rule
\nof this Nature have perforce to submit themselves to this insentient
\naction of its forces. Only those with a stronger Will acting in them
\ncan hope to overpass this mechanism of the physical world.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Toiling Force<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\nforce in her that toiled since earth was made,
Accomplishing in
\nlife the great world-plan,
Pursuing after death immortal aims, <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThere is a Divine Power
\nthat has been working from the inception of this creation for its
\ngrowth and efflorescence into a Divine Manifestation. It is the
\nConsciousness-Force of the Supreme presiding over the cosmic
\nmovement, guiding it, intervening at crucial junctures to give the
\nnecessary turns and fix the directions, leading it to its high
\ndestination. It manifests itself in human embodiments called Avatars
\nat special periods of transition in the evolutionary progression and
\nworks out definite results in a concrete manner on earth; even after
\nthe termination of the particular physical manifestation, it proceeds
\nwith its task of preparing and organising on the subtler planes of
\nexistence for the next step to be taken in a subsequent embodiment.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nThis Force was now in
\naction in the person of Savitri and naturally it refused to forsake
\nits great purpose and accept the very conditions which it had come to
\nchange.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Frustration<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n…
\nfrustration\u00e2\u0080\u0099s barren role, <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nWhenever man is
\ndisappointed in the struggle of life by defeat or by insurmountable
\nobstruction, he gets frustrated. He feels broken and, for the moment,
\nfeels all strength ebbing away from him. He lacks even the will to
\nmake a fresh attempt because, wherever he turns he sees only failure,
\nonly difficulties to which he feels unequal. This sense of
\nfrustration renders him ineffective for any purpose, barren, unable
\nto put forth any productive effort. The part that this agent of
\nNegation plays in life is one of dessicating denial.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
High Recourse<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIn
\nher own self she found her high recourse;
She matched with the
\niron law her sovereign right:
Her single will opposed the cosmic
\nrule. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nMan is a creature of
\ncircumstances and subject to the hard laws of Nature only as long as
\nhe lives in his surface consciousness which is entirely formed by and
\nunder the operations of that Nature. Deeper down in him there is a
\npart that is independent of Nature: it is the self which derives from
\nthe Spirit that is not bound by Nature. To the extent man moves
\ntowards this self, takes his poise in it and organises his
\nconsciousness around it, he moves away from the rule of Nature; he
\nimbibes the freedom and the will of the self in his conscious being
\nand, if he chooses, asserts it against the mechanical compulsions of
\nouter Nature.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nThis is what Savitri did,
\nand indeed what all men of destiny do, when confronted with the
\nchallenge of established Nature.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Strength Awoke<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAt
\nthe Unseen\u00e2\u0080\u0099s knock upon the hidden gates
Her strength made
\ngreater by the lightning\u00e2\u0080\u0099s touch
Awoke from slumber in her
\nheart\u00e2\u0080\u0099s recess. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nOne’s strength or weakness
\nthat is apparent in normal conditions is no true index of one’s
\ncapacities. For in each person there is always in the depths of his
\nbeing a reserve of power which lies usually untapped. It is in times
\nof stress, of crisis, that nature calls forth this latent strength
\ninto action and the situation is met with rare heroism.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nAs the hour of Doom
\napproached, the inner strength of Savitri hitherto lying unused in
\nthe deeper reaches of her heart gathered itself at the advance
\nintimations which are always first received in the subtler regions of
\nthe being, and leapt into action.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Death-Stroke<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n…
\nstroke of That which kills and saves. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe stroke of Death is
\nalways fearful to life which seeks to continue, to multiply, to
\nperpetuate itself. Death puts an end to its struggling effort and
\nwould appear to be wholly evil. In fact, however, in the present
\nstage of Nature’s evolution in Ignorance, death is a necessary agent
\nto cut short careers of ignorance the moment they cease to progress
\ntowards the liberating Light. Otherwise, life in ignorance would
\nendlessly prolong itself and there would be no hope of release. As it
\nis, death acts as a constant brake on movements in ignorance,
\nprovides opportunities for fresh renewals of effort and possible
\ndepartures from settled rounds of habit.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
She Stood in the Way<\/B>
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\nheart stood in the way of the driving wheels:
Its giant workings
\npaused in front of a mind,
Its stark conventions met the flame of
\na soul. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIn opposing the Determinism
\nof material Nature the whole of Savitri’s being rose in resistance.
\nHer heart of Love would not allow the wheels of Doom to roll, the
\npower of divine Love being stronger than any force of terrestrial
\nnature. The intricate workings of the huge mechanism could not pass
\nthe scrutiny of her luminous mind. Its established mechanical habits
\nwere exposed to the dissolving incandescence of a living, conscious
\nsoul.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nMagic Leverage<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nA
\nmagic leverage suddenly is caught
That moves the veiled
\nIneffable\u00e2\u0080\u0099s timeless will:
A prayer, a master act, a king idea
\n
Can link man\u00e2\u0080\u0099s strength to a transcendent Force. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIn the complex movement of
\nforces that is life man often finds himself helpless. His vision is
\nlimited and even when he is able to see ahead, he is unable to assert
\nhimself and turn the tide of things in his favour. His personal
\nstrength is found totally inadequate to arrest the flow of events or
\nmodify their course. His will is puny compared to the massive
\ncharacter of the forces in action. But man is not left totally at the
\nmercy of circumstances. He is a conscious being and it is within his
\nmeans to move the Divine Will which is ultimately at the head of all
\nmovements in creation. He can appeal to it for help, for sanction for
\nthe desired turn. That supreme Will is not an automaton but a
\nconcious Power of the Divine, the self-same Being that is the Source
\nand the Master of the being in evolution. His Will can be reached by
\nsome intense movement on the part of the supplicant, a concentrated
\nprayer with all the heart’s sincerity and trust thrown into it or a
\nsupreme action which lifts him out of the common round of
\nhumanity\u00e2\u0080\u0094though for the moment\u00e2\u0080\u0094and places him in the higher
\nreaches of the Spirit nearer that Will or the embodiment of a capital
\nTruth-idea which assuredly possesses his being with its innate charge
\nof higher consciousness; any of these can put him in contact with the
\nPower or Will above, connect the human with the super-human. All such
\neffort, conscious or unconscious, in man or nature, is aimed to
\nproduce or to find this balance. It is when this junction takes place
\nin the subtle domains of existence that impossibles are turned into
\npossibles.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Miracle<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThen
\nmiracle is made the common rule, <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nWhat takes place habitually
\nin a set of governing conditions in Nature is accepted by the human
\nmind, as a rule, as natural. If anything happens out of this settled
\nrun of things, it is regarded as a miracle. And such a happening
\noutside the regular order is always the result of a new factor
\nentering the situation, a factor that does not form a constituent of
\nthe normal conditions here. The result in question is perfectly
\nnatural to the element that produces it; only the element and its
\nworking were not used to operating here\u00e2\u0080\u0094as indeed they do elsewhere
\nin other realms of existence. Till the new element or factor is
\nnaturalised here, its workings strike as miracles; these ‘miracles’
\nbecome part of the accepted scheme of things\u00e2\u0080\u0094the common rule\u00e2\u0080\u0094as
\ntheir originating truth gets assimilated in the general Nature.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nWhen a transcendent Force
\nis called or released into action in the universe, the results of its
\noperations first appear as miracles but as they continue they become
\na common feature.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Change of Course<\/B>
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nOne
\nmighty deed can change the course of things; <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThere is a set rhythm, an
\nestablished course of life in this world. Each one plays his part,
\neach force acts as usual, there is a due reaction and all proceeds
\naccording to the plan in Nature. The circumstances are fixed, the
\nparticipating agents have their respective roles and events turn out
\naccording to pattern. This course, however, continues only as long as
\nthe conditions developed by the evolving Spirit are the same. The
\nmoment new factors are brought into play, fresh forces released into
\naction, the scene changes. The old order is disturbed. and a new
\ndirection takes its place. Such a change is brought about when a
\ngreat effort involving a break-through in the existing limitations is
\nsuccessfully made. Such an effort, on whatever plane it is made,
\nphysical, mental or spiritual, throws the old set-up of forces into
\ndisequilibrium and all the planes of existence being interconnected,
\nthe effects travel all over. New elements come into operation and a
\nnew course of things is initiated.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Lonely Thought<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\nlonely thought becomes omnipotent. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThere are thoughts and
\nthoughts. Most of them are really no thoughts at all, but passing
\nmovements of wish, desire, fancy taking the form of thoughts to make
\nthemselves palpable in the mind; they are not there the very next
\nmoment. Such formations are like bubbles on the sea of thought-waves
\nin the world. But there are certain truths in the earth-atmosphere
\nthat seek to effectuate themselves. They take form in ideas and hover
\nround in the mental world seeking for receptive minds in which to
\nlodge themselves. They await their instrument and the hour and once
\nthey find a receptacle they dig themselves in. Such an idea gradually
\ndevelops into a strong thought and this thought organises itself into
\na premier position subordinating all other mental movements to its
\nservice. It becomes the one thought that possesses the man, first in
\nthe mind and then throughout his being. His whole consciousness is
\ncentred around that one solitary thought and if the truth behind that
\nIdea-thought answers to some need in evolving Nature, then the
\nThought manifests itself in the irresistible power that it has
\nacquired in the process of being brooded over by a living
\nconsciousness. That has been the history of all great Ideas that have
\nchanged the course of history.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Nature’s Machinery<\/B>
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAll
\nnow seems Nature\u00e2\u0080\u0099s massed machinery; <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nWherever one turns in this
\nfield of material Nature, one is confronted by operations that are
\nstrikingly mechanical in character; they reveal themselves as the
\nWorkings of Laws in Nature which are unchangeable. The most imperious
\nof these Laws is the rule of Karma whose chain of determination is
\nendless. Subserving the processes of these hard laws are the habits
\nin Nature\u00e2\u0080\u0094individual and collective\u00e2\u0080\u0094that create their own grooves
\nof movement from which it is difficult to come out. Added to these is
\nthe constant pull from the denser parts of our nature to conform to
\nthe established norms of Matter, to react always within the terms of
\nthe law.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nBut all this is only an
\nappearance, a deceptive front of an incalculable Intelligence at work
\nbehind.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Man the Machine<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nHe
\ntoo is a machine amid machines;
A piston brain pumps out the
\nshapes of thought,
A beating heart cuts out emotion\u00e2\u0080\u0099s modes;
\n
An insentient energy fabricates a soul. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nTo a certain point of view,
\nto the eye of the materialist, which sees all in life as a working of
\nthe huge mechanism of physical Nature, man too is a machine like all
\nother entities, animate and inanimate. He also is a product of the
\nmechanical action of physical energies and he moves and functions
\naccording to the regulations of the forces to which he is subject.
\nHis mind, in this view, is a product of the physical brain: the
\nthoughts in the mind are the results of the activity of cells in the
\norgan. So also the emotions and impulsions flowing from the heart are
\nnothing but the issues of the throbbing of the heart-organ. Even his
\nsoul\u00e2\u0080\u0094for which an origin independent of the body is claimed\u00e2\u0080\u0094is a
\nfigment, an appearance, produced by the workings of the physical
\nenergy which has no consciousness of its own. All is a mechanical
\nresult of the motion of a brute material energy.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Chance and Binding
\nPosts<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n…the
\nfigure of the world reveals the signs
Of a tied Chance repeating
\nher old steps
In circles around Matter\u00e2\u0080\u0099s binding-posts. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nLooking at the course of
\nlife in the world, one is struck by the part played by that
\nunpredictable factor called Chance. Things happen so often contrary
\nto expectations and calculations that Chance appears to be the rule.
\nA deeper scrutiny, however, reveals that the element of Chance is
\nonly a part of a bigger movement of life: it has its allotted role in
\nthe play of possibilities. The larger movement is seen to revolve
\naround certain demands of basal Matter, repeating its rounds within
\nfixed radii. It appears as a mechanical whirl of energies in which
\nthe free element of chance has little scope beyond a few repetitive
\nsteps.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Here<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\nrandom series of inept events
To which reason lends illusive
\nsense, is here,
Or the empiric Life\u00e2\u0080\u0099s instinctive search,
Or
\na vast ignorant mind\u00e2\u0080\u0099s colossal work. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nWhat is the meaning of this
\nworld-existence? It looks as if there is nothing else but a haphazard
\nmovement in which things happen confusedly. There is no order, no
\nsequence anywhere within the things themselves. It is man’s little
\nreason from the outside that gives them a show of meaning; the mind’s
\nreason reads a purpose where there is none. Again it may look as if
\nall is an experimentation by the Life-Force to arrive at some great
\naffirmation of itself. It takes up one form or set of forms now,
\ncasts them away after a while, then turns to another set to determine
\nwhich will best serve its purpose. From another point of view, this
\nmultitudinous creation with its lights and shadows appears to be the
\nworking of a huge mind that is ignorant. The mind is evidently some
\nnear boundless Agent to be able to create this enormous
\nworld-structure. And it must be ignorant, for otherwise how to
\naccount for the many vitiating features that characterise its
\ncreation!<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Man the King<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nBut
\nwisdom comes, and vision grows within;
Then Nature\u00e2\u0080\u0099s instrument
\ncrowns himself her king; <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nUp to a certain stage in
\nthe evolution of Nature, things have a grossly mechanical character
\nin their working. All are creatures of a giant Force, instruments of
\nits activity. But as the element of consciousness develops in the
\nbeings involved in the evolutionary movement, the appearance changes.
\nThe movement is no more mechanical. Especially with the arrival of
\nman the mental being, consciousness acquires a certain individuality
\nand its will begins to exert itself on the operations of Nature. The
\nevolutionary movement no more contains man along with other creatures
\nin its own rhythm. The growth of consciousness brings with it growth
\nof knowledge and enlargement of perspective. The will of man comes
\ninto its own. This conscious will determines its own direction, its
\nown pace, not only for the individual but also for the generality. It
\nimposes itself on the course of evolution in Nature and assumes
\nincreasing control and rule. Man becomes the master.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Step Back<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nHe
\nfeels his witnessing self and conscious power;
His soul steps
\nback and sees the Light supreme. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAs long as he is completely
\ninvolved in the workings of Nature, man is not really aware of
\nhimself, his own distinct individuality. But with the growth of
\nconsciousness, there comes an awareness of something in himself that
\nis not involved in the outer movement. As he looks within and
\nconcentrates his attention on it, he begins to experience a kind of
\ndivision in his being: a part that is active in Nature and another
\npart that does not participate in the movement but stands aloof, a
\nwitness that takes cognisance of the activity but does not step into
\nit. Further observation reveals that even the nature-part that acts
\nis really an end\u00e2\u0080\u0094a living physical end\u00e2\u0080\u0094of a larger Power that is
\nconscious, a Shakti which acts behind the facade of material Nature.
\nAnd, when aware of this dynamism in action and a self that is aloof
\nin himself, man takes a step further inwards into his being, he is
\nbathed in the Light of the Self\u00e2\u0080\u0094the Self that is supporting both
\nthe static soul and the dynamic power in their interacting career.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Godhead and Machine<\/B>
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\nGodhead stands behind the brute machine. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe human being is apt to
\nappear as one more mechanical creature run by a mechanical Energy in
\nthis world of material Nature. His body functions with the automatism
\nand precision of a machine; all the other members of his system
\nappear to derive from the workings of the physical body and its
\nenergies and governed by them. But that is only an appearance. If man
\nsteps back a little from the movement of Nature in which he is
\nnormally engrossed and looks into himself, he begins to get aware of
\nsomething in himself that is not involved in this material mechanism
\nand does not depend upon it for its existence. Pursued further, this
\nsearch reveals to him in the end a Godhead that is behind his surface
\nbeing. It is this Godhead that really supports the whole edifice of
\nman, even as it does, in another context, the entire structure of the
\nuniverse.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nThe mechanical operations
\nof Nature in each unit and in all together are only the outer form of
\na deeper process of the workings of this God-head of manifestation.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Victory<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThis
\ntruth broke in in a triumph of fire;
A victory was won for God in
\nman, <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThat there is a Godhead of
\nConsciousness, Light, Freedom, behind this apparent structure of
\nmaterial mechanism, waiting for its hour to manifest in all its
\nglory, was realised in one swift moment by Savitri as the crisis was
\ngathering round her. Revealed to her in a flash were the possibility
\nand the way of breaking through the hard and long established
\ndeterminism of material Nature. Her will rose to action on the wings
\nof this perception. It marked a definite stage in the evolution of
\nGod in humanity for at that moment the possibility of conquest over
\ndeath was seized in the human consciousness and the first step taken
\ntowards its realisation.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
Reversal<\/B> <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\nliving choice reversed fate\u00e2\u0080\u0099s cold dead turn,
Affirmed the
\nspirit\u00e2\u0080\u0099s tread on Circumstance,
Pressed back the senseless dire
\nrevolving Wheel
And stopped the mute march of Necessity. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe wheel of determinism in
\nmaterial Nature turns mechanically without any saving sensation, it
\nmoves under the pressure of a gathered momentum without questioning;
\nit is immaterial in its operations without the slightest breath of
\nthe warmth of life. All circumstances are cogs in this wheel of Fate
\nthat revolves relentlessly. It is only a force of will from an
\nexistence beyond the domain of this mechanism that can hold the
\nmovement, change its direction and displace the instrumental
\ncondition. This is precisely what Savitri did: she made her choice in
\nthe living depths of her soul, linked it with the Divine Will and
\nbrought it to bear upon the developing situation. <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n

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Introduction   Notes   Book 1   Book II   Book III   Book IV    Book V   Book VI   Book VII   Book VIII    Book IX   Book X   Book XI   Book XII Book One. The Book of Beginnings Canto I Canto II…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[244],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-1-savitri-study","wpcat-244-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10634","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=10634"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10634\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11053,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10634\/revisions\/11053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}