{"id":10776,"date":"2014-07-14T00:54:17","date_gmt":"2014-07-14T07:54:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/saa.santansoftwaresystems.com\/?p=10776"},"modified":"2014-12-07T00:51:19","modified_gmt":"2014-12-07T08:51:19","slug":"savitri-study-book-4-canto-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/savitri-study\/book-4-savitri-study\/savitri-study-book-4-canto-3","title":{"rendered":"Savitri-study-Book-4-Canto-3"},"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 Four. The Book of Birth and Quest<\/p>\n

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

<\/br><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n\n\n\n
\n

 <\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n
\n

Canto Three<\/I><\/P>
\n



\n<\/P>
\n

The Call to the Quest<\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Summary<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n
On a bright,
\nhappy morning, when the air is full of longing and expectation,
\nAswapathy hears the subtle voice of unborn Powers:<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n"O men,
\ncreatures of Fate that you are at present, you are not meant to be
\nalways circling in the petty rounds of your little self. You are made
\nof Immortal’s substance and mighty Powers are shut in in your
\nnature’s cells. A greater destiny awaits you. If only you will, you
\ncan acquire a truth-sight, exceed your mortal mind and grow into your
\ngodhead. There are other realms of existence than the earth you
\ntread, there is a light behind your life. Immortal Powers await to
\nembody themselves in you. The earth hopes and aspires for this change
\nbut the fire still burns dim in human hearts. Men are still in love
\nwith their ignorance. Heaven’s lights descend but are obliged to
\nreturn in the face of denial and obstruction by the Inconscient."<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nThe Voice ceases.
\nAnd as if in an answer from the gods Savitri comes to Aswapathy in
\nall her revealing beauty and splendour. Aswapathy’s physical sense
\nwithdraws and he sees behind the outer form of Savitri, the great and
\nunknown Spirit born as his child. Moved from unseen Heights he speaks
\nto her:<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n"O Spirit,
\ntraveller of Eternity, thou hast come for a mighty work. Thou art not
\ncome down alone. There waits for thee some destined soul who shall
\ndiscover thy mission and thy strength. Depart and find him, thy mate.
\nThou needest not any other guide than the One who is aflame within
\nthee. He who is to be thy partner and companion in the journey of
\nlife, waits for thee. With him thou shalt confront Heaven’s question,
\nlife, break through the immense disguise of Nature and ascend to
\ndivinity’s heights.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nThese words sink
\ninto her being like a Mantra and the seed of change is sown. She
\nawakes in her consciousness to new dimensions and the secrets of
\nunseen realms are felt close.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nBefore the dawn of
\nthe next day, Savitri leaves on her quest.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>A
\nnew Morn<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\nmorn that seemed a new creation\u2019s front,
Bringing a greater
\nsunlight, happier skies,
Came, burdened with a beauty moved and
\nstrange
Out of the changeless origin of things. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA day dawns with a
\nbrighter sun in happier skies; it is as if a new creation is begun.
\nThere is something strange and living about this morning’s beauty
\nthat has issued out of the immutable source of all things. The origin
\nof all the innumerable changing things in the universe is one and
\nunchanging.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Ancient
\nLonging<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAn
\nancient longing struck again new roots. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe
\nair drank deep of unfulfilled desire;
The high trees trembled
\nwith a wandering wind
Like souls that quiver at the approach of
\njoy,
And in a bosom of green secrecy
For ever of its one
\nlove-note untired
A lyric co\u00efl cried among the leaves. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe earth is once
\nagain astir with an ancient, unfulfilled desire. High trees sway to
\nthe morning wind like souls that throb with expectation at the
\nimminence of joy. And out of its hiding place in the green forest, a
\ncoil sounds its love-cry, never tired of repeating its single note of
\nlove.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Aswapathy
\nListens to other Sounds<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAway
\nfrom the terrestrial murmur turned
Where transient calls and
\nanswers mix their flood,
King Aswapathy listened through the ray
\n
To other sounds than meet the sense-formed ear. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAswapathy turns away
\nfrom the usual earthly noise that is full of mundane concerns and
\nlistens, in the dawning revelation, to sounds other than those that
\nare heard by the outer sense-bound ear.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Inner
\nDoors Unlocked<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nOn
\na subtle interspace which rings our life
Unlocked were the inner
\nspirit\u2019s trance-closed doors:
The inaudible strain in Nature
\ncould be caught;
Across this cyclic tramp of eager lives,
Across
\nthe deep urgency of present cares,
Earth\u2019s wordless hymn to the
\nIneffable <\/FONT>
Arose from the ardent
\nheart of the cosmic Void;
He heard the voice repressed of unborn
\nPowers
Murmuring behind the luminous bars of Time. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nLooming over the
\nphysical space in which men live and move is a subtler space that
\nlies between the physical earth and the higher regions of the Spirit.
\nIn this space, the doors that are normally closed because of the
\nindrawn concentration of the inner Spirit, open to Aswapathy and
\nnotes that are inaudible in<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nexternal nature come
\nto be heard. Above the hectic rounds of life, beyond the pressing
\ncares of the present, rises the intense aspiration of the Earth to
\nthe Ineffable. He hears the muffled voice of the Powers that are
\nstruggling to be born behind the bright beats of the music of Time.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Mighty
\nYearning<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAgain
\nthe mighty yearning raised its flame
That asks a perfect life on
\nearth for men
And prays for certainty in the uncertain mind
And
\nshadowless bliss for suffering human hearts
And Truth embodied in
\nan ignorant world
And godhead divinising mortal forms. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe ages-old
\naspiration in the Earth-Soul once again mounts high, claiming a
\nperfect life for man struggling in imperfections, certainty for the
\nhuman mind fumbling amidst uncertainties, unfailing bliss for
\nsuffering humanity, full formulation of Truth in this world of
\nignorance and divinity for mortal man.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Word
\nLeaps Down<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\nword that leaped from some far sky of thought,
Admitted by the
\ncowled receiving scribe
Traversed the echoing passages of his
\nbrain
And left its stamp on the recording cells. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA message leaps down
\nfrom beyond the ranges of thought; it is received by the receptive
\nmind of Aswapathy beneath its veils of the intellect; it travels
\nthrough the corridors of his brain and leaves a strong impression on
\nits cells of active memory.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Men
\nPetty Adventurers<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n\u201cO
\nForce-compelled, Fate-driven earth-born race,
O petty adventurers
\nin an infinite world
And prisoners of a dwarf humanity,
How
\nlong will you tread the circling tracks of mind
Around your
\nlittle self and petty things? <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAnd this is the
\ncommunication Aswapathy receives:<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nYe men born on this
\nlowly earth, ever compelled by a Force extraneous to yourselves to do
\nwhat it wants, ever driven by a Fate that is relentless, ever engaged
\nin small pursuits in a world that is infinite, helplessly limited by
\na stunted human mould, how much longer are you going to turn round
\nand round in the never-ending whirlings of the mind, centred on your
\npetty selves and their pettier concerns?<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Made
\nof Immortal’s Substance<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nBut
\nnot for a changeless littleness were you meant,
Not for vain
\nrepetition were you built;
Out of the Immortal\u2019s substance you
\nwere made;
Your actions can be swift revealing steps,
Your
\nlife a changeful mould for growing gods. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nBut you were not
\nmeant, by your creator, to be engaged in this unchanging littleness;
\nyou were not shaped for this exercise of repetition without issue.
\nYou have been formed out of the being of the Immortal and your
\nactions can be and have to be movements revealing that Truth, your
\nlife must be a growing and changing mould for the Powers of that
\nTruth.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>A
\nGreater Destiny Waits<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\nSeer, a strong Creator, is within,
The immaculate Grandeur broods
\nupon your days,
Almighty powers are shut in Nature\u2019s cells. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\ngreater destiny waits you in your front:
This transient earthly
\nbeing if he wills
Can fit his acts to a transcendent scheme. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nWithin you is a
\ndivine Seer who watches, a mighty creator who effects; a spotless
\nGlory presides over your days; in the cells of your nature lie
\nunexpressed mighty powers of God. A larger and higher destiny than
\nwhat seems to be awaits you ahead.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nIf only he wills,
\nhowever transitory and earthly man’s form may be, his actions can be
\nturned into movements of a scheme that transcends his limitations.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Immortal’s
\nSight Possible<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nHe
\nwho now stares at the world with ignorant eyes
Hardly from the
\nInconscient\u2019s night aroused
That look at images and not at
\nTruth
Can fill those orbs with an immortal\u2019s sight. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nMan is just awakened
\nfrom the sleep of the Inconscient and he stares at the world around
\nhim with ignorant eyes that light upon images only and do not
\nperceive the Truth behind them. But it is possible for those eyes of
\nhis to be activated by the immortal sight.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Godhead
\nshall Grow<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nYet
\nshall the godhead grow within your hearts,
You shall awake into
\nthe spirit\u2019s air
And feel the breaking walls of mortal mind
\n
And hear the message which left life\u2019s heart dumb
And look
\nthrough Nature with sun-gazing lids
And blow your conch-shells at
\nthe Eternal\u2019s gate. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe godhead
\nconcealed in you shall grow in your hearts. Though living on earth,
\nyou shall breathe the air of the Spirit, feel the collapse of the
\nwalls that shut in your human mind, listen to the Word that
\noverwhelms mortal life, gaze beyond Nature on the Light of the
\nTruth-Spirit and announce your arrival at the doors of the Eternal.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Meet
\nthe Omnipotent<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAuthors
\nof earth\u2019s high change, to you it is given
To cross the
\ndangerous spaces of the soul
And touch the mighty Mother stark
\nawake
And meet the Omnipotent in this house of flesh
And make
\nof life the million-bodied One. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nYou, who have
\nbrought about great, uplifting changes on earth, are empowered to
\nbrave and cross the untrodden realms of the soul, to move into action
\nthe mighty Mother of the worlds, to come face to face with the
\nAll-Powerful in this tenement of living Matter and to realise all
\nlife as a multiple manifestation of the One.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Call
\nto Exceed Yourselves<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe
\nearth you tread is a border screened from heaven,
The life you
\nlead conceals the light you are. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nImmortal
\nPowers sweep flaming past your doors;
Far-off upon your tops the
\ngod-chant sounds
While to exceed yourselves thought\u2019s trumpets
\ncall,
Heard by a few, but fewer dare aspire,
The nympholepts
\nof the ecstasy and the blaze. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe earth on which
\nyou move is not the whole creation. It is only a border-land veiled
\nbeyond which lie the brighter realms of the heavens; the life you
\nlead covers the light you really are. Divine Powers pass you by, but
\nyou are not aware of them. On the heights of your being beat the
\nrhythms of God, your thoughts call you to rise above yourselves; but
\nfew hear these summons. And of those that hear, fewer still have the
\ncourage to dare to climb, they are those who are ever avid of the
\nflaming bliss of the Divine.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Sobbing
\nEarth<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAn
\nepic of hope and failure breaks earth\u2019s heart;
Her force and
\nwill exceed her form and fate. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\ngoddess in a net of inconscience caught,
Self-bound in the
\npastures of death she dreams of life,
Self-racked with the pains
\nof hell aspires to joy,
And builds to hope her altars of despair,
\n
Knows that one high step might enfranchise all
And,
\nsuffering, looks for greatness in her sons. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe earth is torn
\nbetween hope and disappointment; her form and circumstance are too
\ninadequate for her force and will. She is a veritable goddess caught
\nin the net of inconscience; she has bound herself in the field of
\ndeath and yet she hopes for eternal life; she submits herself to
\nintense pain and suffering and yet aspires for ceaseless joy; she
\nerects her edifice of hope on the bricks of despair. She knows indeed
\nthat one great step ahead taken by her could free all; she strives
\nthereto and suffers so that her sons may be great.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Man
\nTurns to Ignorant Powers<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nBut
\ndim in human hearts the ascending fire,
The invisible Grandeur
\nsits unworshipped there;
Man sees the Highest in a limiting form
\n
Or looks upon a Person, hears a Name. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nHe
\nturns for little gains to ignorant Powers
Or kindles his altar
\nlights to a demon face. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nBut as a rule this
\nfire of aspiration burns dim in the human hearts; the Divinity within
\nwaits unadored, unattended. Man is apt to conceive of the Highest,
\nthe Infinite in a bounded form, as a Person, as a Name only. Instead
\nof looking to the Highest, he turns to inferior deities for petty
\ngains or worships a nether power therefor.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>He
\nLoves Ignorance<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nHe
\nloves the Ignorance fathering his pain. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\nspell is laid upon his glorious strengths. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nHe
\nhas lost the inner Voice that led his thoughts,
And masking the
\noracular tripod seat
A specious Idol fills the marvel shrine. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nMan is in love with
\nIgnorance which is at the root of all his pain and suffering. The
\nwonderful potentialities within him lie dumb. He has lost touch with
\nthe intimations of the soul that once led his mind. The eidolon of
\nReason has occupied the place of his guiding Daemon.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Illusion
\nWraps Him<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe
\ngreat Illusion wraps him in its veils,
The soul\u2019s deep
\nintimations come in vain,
In vain is the unending line of seers,
\n
The sages ponder in unsubstantial light,
The poets lend their
\nvoice to outward dreams,
A homeless fire inspires the prophet
\ntongues. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nMan has lost contact
\nwith the truth within him; he lives in the illusory consciousness
\nthat encloses him. Seers who see the Truth have been many but they
\nhave made little difference to the life of the ordinary human
\nindividual. Thinkers ponder in vague, indifferent light, poets sing
\nof surface dreamings, even prophets speak on errant inspiration.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Heaven’s
\nLights Return<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nHeaven\u2019s
\nflaming lights descend and back return,
The luminous Eye
\napproaches and retires;
Eternity speaks, none understands its
\nword;
Fate is unwilling and the Abyss denies;
The
\nInconscient\u2019s mindless waters block all done. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIlluminations from
\non high come down to earth, but they are not received and they
\nreturn. The perceiving Wisdom nears but draws back as there is none
\nto hold it. The Knowledge eternal speaks, but none understands; the
\nfate that dogs man’s steps is unwilling to accept the higher Truth;
\nthe abyss of the nether existence denies it. The sub-conscient and
\nnon-conscient waves of the sea of Inconscience bar all progress.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Gods
\ntoo Few<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nOnly
\na little lifted is Mind\u2019s screen. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe
\nWise who know see but one half of Truth,
The strong climb hardly
\nto a low-peaked height,
The hearts that yearn are given one hour
\nto love,
His tale half-told, falters the secret Bard;
The
\ngods are still too few in mortal forms.\u201d <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe mind acts as a
\nveil over Truth. With all man’s efforts, the screen is lifted but a
\nlittle. Even the wise ones who know, see only part of the Truth. Even
\nthe strong ones who climb, succeed only in scaling low peaks. Those
\nthat pine for love are overtaken by time. The minstrel of humanity
\nstops half-way in his narrative. Men are still too earthy; gods in
\nhuman forms are too few.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Savitri
\nApproaches in Answer<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe
\nVoice withdrew into its hidden skies. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nBut
\nlike a shining answer from the gods
Approached through sun-bright
\nspaces Savitri. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAdvancing
\namid tall heaven-pillaring trees,
Apparelled in her
\nflickering-coloured robe,
She seemed burning towards the eternal
\nrealms
A bright moved torch of incense and of flame
That from
\nthe sky-roofed temple-soil of earth
A pilgrim hand lifts in an
\ninvisible shrine. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe Voice recedes
\ninto its unseen Source. But as if in answer from the Gods, Savitri
\ncomes advancing through a column of tall trees, clad in her shining
\nrobe, she looks a veritable torch of incense and flame burning
\ntowards the Eternal above, lifted by a pilgrim’s hand in a sacred
\ntemple of which the earth is the soil and the sky, the roof.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Intimations
\nof World’s Delight<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
There
\ncame the gift of a revealing hour:He saw through depths that
\nreinterpret all, Limited not now by the dull body’s eyes, New-found
\nthrough an arch of clear discovery, This intimation of the world’s
\ndelight,This wonder of the divine Artist’s make Carved like a
\nnectar-cup for thirsty gods, This breathing Scripture of the
\nEternal’s joy, This net of sweetness woven of aureate fire.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nAn instant
\nrevelation comes upon Aswapathy. His vision is no more limited by his
\nphysical eyes; he sees from deeper levels that interpret things truly
\nand he discovers in Savitri a messenger of the Delight that sustains
\nthe world, a marvellous handi work of the Divine Artist shaped like a
\nnectar-cup of the gods, a living testament of the Eternal’s Joy, a
\ncapturing pattern of radiant, intense sweetness.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Her
\nFace Reveals<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nTransformed
\nthe delicate image-face became
A deeper Nature\u2019s self-revealing
\nsign,
A gold-leaf palimpsest of sacred births,
A grave
\nworld-symbol chiselled out of life. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nHer
\nbrow, a copy of clear unstained heavens,
Was meditation\u2019s
\npedestal and defence,
The very room and smile of musing Space,
\n
Its brooding line infinity\u2019s symbol curve. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nHer delicate face
\ngets transformed before his sight into a significant form revealing
\nthe secrecies of a deeper Nature, a bright script of esoteric
\ncontent, a solemn, living symbol of the world. Her broad and pure
\nbrow is a veritable base for meditation, unshakable; it appears to
\ncontain and is lit with the smile of a self-engrossed Space. Its very
\nbrooding etches the significant figuration of infinity.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Her
\nlong Eyes<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAmid
\nher tresses\u2019 cloudy multitude
The long eyes shadowed as by
\nwings of Night
Under that moon-gold forehead\u2019s dreaming breadth
\n
Were seas of love and thought that held the world;
Marvelling
\nat life and earth they saw truths far. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nHer luxurious
\nhair-tresses shadow her long eyes which beneath the broad and
\ncontemplative forehead, pure-gold in hue, are full of world-embracing
\nlove and thought; gazing in wonder at life and earth these eyes
\nperceive the truths that are still distant.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Deathless
\nMeaning<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\ndeathless meaning filled her mortal limbs;
As in a golden vase\u2019s
\npoignant line
They seemed to carry the rhythmic sob of bliss
Of
\nearth\u2019s mute adoration towards heaven
Released in beauty\u2019s
\ncry of living form
Towards the perfection of eternal things. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAn immortal
\nsignificance is seen to fill her mortal limbs. They seem to be full
\nof the rhythmic, muffled cry of bliss of the earth’s dumb adoration
\ntowards heaven\u2014the cry of beauty in living forms seeking perfection
\nof the eternal elements in creation.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Expressive
\nDeity<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nTransparent
\ngrown the ephemeral living dress
Bared the expressive deity to
\nhis view. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nEscaped
\nfrom surface sight and mortal sense
The seizing harmony of its
\nshapes became
The strange significant icon of a Power <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe outer physical
\nform of Savitri grows transparent and reveals to Aswapthy the
\nmanifesting Deity within. The captivating harmony of the lines of her
\nform exceeds the external sight and sense and assumes a new
\nmeaningful figure of a Power.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Descending
\nPower<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nRenewing
\nits inscrutable descent
Into a human figure of its works
That
\nstood out in life\u2019s bold abrupt relief
On the soil of the
\nevolving universe,
A godhead sculptured on a wall of thought,
\n
Mirrored in the flowing hours and dimly shrined
In Matter as
\nin a cathedral cave. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIt is a Power from
\non high descending once again on its mission into a clear-cut human
\nfigure in this field of evolution on earth, a veritable godhead
\nsculptured on the wall of thought, reflected in the flowing stream of
\ntime and enshrined in the temple-cave of Matter.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Unknown
\nSpirit Born his Child<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAnnulled
\nwere the transient values of the mind,
The body\u2019s sense
\nrenounced its earthly look,
Immortal met immortal in their gaze. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAwaked
\nfrom the close spell of daily use
That hides soul-truth with the
\noutward form\u2019s disguise,
He saw through the familiar cherished
\nlimbs
The great and unknown spirit born his child. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAswapathy’s
\nconsciousness undergoes a change; the fleeting values of the mind
\ndrop off, the physical sense shifts its focus beyond the earthly
\nrange; and the immortal in him greets the immortal in Savitri.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nBreaking through the
\nwalls of the outer form which hide the inner truth, he sees behind
\nthe familiar limbs of his child a great and unknown Spirit shaped as
\nSavitri.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Impromptu
\nWords<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAn
\nimpromptu from the deeper sight within,
Thoughts rose in him that
\nknew not their own scope. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThen
\nto those large and brooding depths whence Love
Regarded him
\nacross the straits of mind,
He spoke in sentences from the unseen
\nHeights. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nSuddenly from the
\nseeing depths within him arise thoughts that are not aware of their
\nown implications. And he speaks to Savitri, who is looking at him in
\nher divine, mind-transcending love, words that come direct from the
\nsupernal heights that are beyond human sight.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Casual
\nPhrase can Change Life<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\ncasual passing phrase can change our life. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nFor
\nthe hidden prompters of our speech sometimes
Can use the formulas
\nof a moment\u2019s mood
To weigh unconscious lips with words from
\nFate. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIt happens at times
\nthat a casual word or a phrase uttered by someone in passing has an
\nunexpected result in changing the course of our life. That is because
\nthe occult agents in this creation of God who really prompt our
\nspeech from behind\u2014while we think we are speaking on our own\u2014can
\nload even casual expressions of fleeting moods with a fateful meaning
\nof which the utterer himself is hardly aware.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Traveller
\nof Eternity<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n\u201cO
\nSpirit, traveller of eternity,
Who camest from the immortal
\nspaces here
Armed for the splendid hazard of thy life
To set
\nthy conquering foot on Chance and Time,
The moon shut in her halo
\ndreams like thee. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\nmighty Presence still defends thy frame. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAswapathy addresses
\nSayan:<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n"O Spirit,
\nvoyager of eternity, thou hast come here to this mortal world from
\nthy immortal regions, equipped for the noble adventure of conquering
\nTime and Chance that dominate this earth. But like the moon wrapped
\nin her halo thou art still dreaming. A great super-natural Presence
\nguards thy body.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Thy
\nSpirit Came not Alone<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nPerhaps
\nthe heavens guard thee for some great soul,
Thy fate, thy work
\nare kept somewhere afar,
Thy spirit came not down a star alone. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nWho knows, the
\ncelestial Powers are guarding thee for someone great. The work for
\nwhich thou hast come, the fate that thou carriest, are still kept by
\nthem afar. Surely, thou hast not come down alone.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Message
\nof Strength and Bliss<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nO
\nliving inscription of the beauty of love
Missalled in aureate
\nvirginity,
What message of heavenly strength and bliss in thee
\n
Is written with the Eternal\u2019s sun-white script,
One shall
\ndiscover and greaten with it his life
To whom thou loosenest thy
\nheart\u2019s jewelled strings. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe beauty of love
\nis shaped in thy living form, radiant in its virginity. Thou carriest
\nsome message of divine strength and bliss direct from the Eternal.
\nOnly he to whom thou wilt open thy heart shall come to know it and
\nwith it greaten his existence.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Depart
\nto Find Thy Mate<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nO
\nrubies of silence, lips from which there stole
Low laughter,
\nmusic of tranquillity,
Star-lustrous eyes awake in sweet large
\nnight
And limbs like fine-linked poems made of gold
Stanzaed
\nto glimmering curves by artist gods,
Depart where love and
\ndestiny call your charm. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nVenture
\nthrough the deep world to find thy mate. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThrough thy ruby
\nlips, always silent, rhythms of tranquillity flow in soft laughter;
\nthy lustrous eyes shine like stars in a wide clear night; thy limbs
\nwith their glowing curves are shaped by the gods. Love and destiny
\nawait thy charm elsewhere; depart and seek they waiting companion in
\nthe wide world.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Unknown
\nLover Waits<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nFor
\nsomewhere on the longing breast of earth,
Thy unknown lover waits
\nfor thee the unknown. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThy
\nsoul has strength and needs no other guide
Than One who burns
\nwithin thy bosom\u2019s powers. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nSurely, somewhere
\nunknown to thee waits thy destined lover for thee who art unknown to
\nhim. Thou shalt find thy way to him; there is no need for any
\nexternal guide for thee; thou hast the soul-strength and Him who
\nblazes within thy inner powers.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Thy
\nSecond Half<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThere
\nshall draw near to meet thy approaching steps
The second self for
\nwhom thy nature asks,
He who shall walk until thy body\u2019s end
A
\nclose-bound traveller pacing with thy pace,
The lyrist of thy
\nsoul\u2019s most intimate chords
Who shall give voice to what in
\nthee is mute. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nTo meet thee, shall
\ndraw near thy second half who will companion thee till the last step
\nof thy body’s journey is taken, keeping close pace with thy pace,
\nbringing out what lies deeply latent in thee.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Kindred
\nHarps<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThen
\nshall you grow like vibrant kindred harps,
One in the beats of
\ndifference and delight,
Responsive in divine and equal strains,
\n
Discovering new notes of the eternal theme. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nWhen thou wilt have
\nfound thy mate, both of you will grow and prosper like two vibrating
\nkindred harps, one even in beats of variation and joy, responding to
\neach other in divine and equal notes, finding fresh notes in the
\neternal theme of life.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Ascend
\nto Divinity’s Heights<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nOne
\nforce shall be your mover and your guide,
One light shall be
\naround you and within;
Hand in strong hand confront Heaven\u2019s
\nquestion, life:
Challenge the ordeal of the immense disguise. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAscend
\nfrom Nature to divinity\u2019s heights;
Face the high gods, crowned
\nwith felicity,
Then meet a greater God, thy self beyond Time.\u201d <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThough you be in two
\nbodies, one shall be the force to impel you and lead you, one the
\nlight around you and within you. Hand in strong hand, meet the
\nquestion posed in life by the Powers celestial. It is a vast disguise
\nhere imposed upon all. Break through it, rise from the low levels of
\nthis Nature in Ignorance to the heights of the Spirit, look at the
\nfelicitous gods above and then meet an over-God, with thy own self
\ntranscending the whole movement in Time.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Work
\nShown<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThis
\nword was seed of all the thing to be. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\nhand from some Greatness opened her heart\u2019s locked doors
And
\nshowed the work for which her strength was born. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThese words of
\nAswapathy become the seed of everything to follow; they start Savitri
\non her mission in life. Something supernatural opens the sealed doors
\nin her heart and she is shown the great work for which strength has
\nbeen given to her.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


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


\nAs
\nwhen the mantra sinks in Yoga\u2019s ear,
Its message enters
\nstirring the blind brain
And keeps in the dim ignorant cells its
\nsound;
The hearer understands a form of words
And, musing on
\nthe index thought it holds,
He strives to read it with the
\nlabouring mind,
But finds bright hints, not the embodied truth: <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nWhen a Mantra is
\nuttered and the ear of the yogin listens to it, its message enters
\nwithin and the unseeing, mechanical brain is stirred by it; its sound
\nis registered in the ignorant cells of the brain; the hearing takes
\nin only the external form of the words; the mind contemplates upon
\nthe significant thought in the Mantra and labours to understand it,
\nbut all that it gets is a few bright hints of the embodied truth, not
\nthe truth itself.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


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


\nThen,
\nfalling silent in himself to know
He meets the deeper listening
\nof his soul:
The Word repeats itself in rhythmic strains:
\n
Thought, vision, feeling, sense, the body\u2019s self
Are seized
\nunalterably and he endures
An ecstasy and an immortal change; <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nWhen the mind fails
\nto grasp the truth, its thought activity ceases and the mind falls
\nsilent in order to make room for knowledge; the deeper hearing of the
\nsoul comes up; the charged Word goes on repeating itself in its
\nrhythmic vibrations and his thought, sight, feeling, sense, the very
\nbody-consciousness, are seized by it entirely, an ecstasy overtakes
\nthem and he undergoes a permanent change.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Mantra
\n(III)<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nHe
\nfeels a Wideness and becomes a Power,
All knowledge rushes on him
\nlike a sea:
Transmuted by the white spiritual ray
He walks in
\nnaked heavens of joy and calm,
Sees the God-face and hears
\ntranscendent speech:
An equal greatness in her life was sown. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nHe feels himself
\nbecoming a Wideness; he becomes a Power; like a sea, knowledge rushes
\nupon him from all sides; a pure-white Ray of the Spirit bathes him
\ninto a transmutation and he traverses the unveiled regions of joy and
\ncalm, sees the face of God, hears the speech beyond.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nA similar greatness
\nis sown in Savitri by the words spoken by Aswapathy.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>She
\nTurns to Vastnesses<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAccustomed
\nscenes were now an ended play. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nMoving
\nin muse amid familiar powers,
Touched by new magnitudes and faery
\nsigns,
She turned to vastnesses not yet her own;
Allured her
\nheart throbbed to unknown sweetnesses,
The secrets of an unseen
\nworld were close. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAs a result, the old
\naccustomed scenes of the past are put aside. Touched by new
\ngreatnesses and celestial signs, contemplating, she turns to new
\nvastnesses. Her heart is attracted to new and unknown sweetnesses. An
\nunseen world is about to open up its secrets to her.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Watch-Fires
\nof Eternity<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe
\nmorn went up into a smiling sky;
Cast from its sapphire pinnacle
\nof trance
Day sank into the burning gold of eve;
The moon
\nfloated, a luminous waif through heaven
And sank below the
\noblivious edge of dream;
Night lit the watch fires of eternity. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThen
\nall went back into mind\u2019s secret caves;
A darkness stooping on
\nthe heaven-bird\u2019s wings
Sealed in her senses from external
\nsight
And opened the stupendous depths of sleep. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe morn advances
\ninto bright noon; the day slides into eve; the moon appears and
\nsinks; the stars are ablaze in the night. Savitri’s mind withdraws
\ninto its depths, her senses are shut from outer sight by a supernal
\ndarkness and she is sucked into the pro-founds of sleep.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Savitri
\nDeparts<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nWhen
\nthe pale dawn slipped through Night\u2019s shadowy guard,
Vainly the
\nnew-born light desired her face;
The palace woke to its own
\nemptiness;
The sovereign of its daily joys was far;
Her
\nmoonbeam feet tinged not the lucent floors:
The beauty and
\ndivinity were gone. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nDelight
\nhad fled to search the spacious world. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAnd when the next
\nday dawns, the palace is empty of Savitri. The presiding joy of the
\nplace has left; its beauty and divinity have departed; delight has
\ngone adventuring into the wide world.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P><\/p>\n

\n

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

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 Four. The Book of Birth and Quest Canto I    Canto…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[252],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-4-savitri-study","wpcat-252-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10776","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=10776"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10776\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11102,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10776\/revisions\/11102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}