{"id":10791,"date":"2014-07-14T01:52:41","date_gmt":"2014-07-14T08:52:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/saa.santansoftwaresystems.com\/?p=10791"},"modified":"2018-01-25T22:20:44","modified_gmt":"2018-01-26T06:20:44","slug":"savitri-study-book-5-canto-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/savitri-study\/book-5-savitri-study\/savitri-study-book-5-canto-3","title":{"rendered":"Savitri-study-Book-5-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 Five. The Book of Love<\/p>\n

\nCanto I<\/a>    Canto II<\/a>    Canto III<\/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

Satyavan and Savitri<\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Summary<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n
Both Savitri and
\nSatyavan recognise each other in the depths of their being.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nSatyavan speaks:
\n"Thou who art more than a mortal, what is thy name? I know that
\nmighty Gods are friends of the earth; I have travelled long with my
\nsoul and I have seen behind forms many a wonder, beheld the nymphs
\nand glimpsed the Godhead. I fear thou too art from the land of the
\nimmortals though I would rather that thou wert a human accessible to
\nus. If thou canst dwell on earth’s soil, descend from thy car and
\ncome down to us. My father’s hermitage is close by."<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nShe answers: "I
\nam Savitri, princess of Madra. But who art thou? Why art thou here
\nwhen thy glorious youth demands heroic deeds from thee elsewhere?"
\nSatyavan: "Dyumathsena was the king of all the tract behind
\nthese peaks before adverse Fate turned him blind and he came here in
\nexile. I am his son, Satyavan; I have lived here content as I was not
\nyet aware of thee. I have lived close to the earth in the bosom of
\nNature. I have caught echoes of the voice of God, felt his veiled
\ntouch but could not clasp his body. I have seen men, portions of one
\nSelf, living as fragments separate from each other, each shut within
\nhimself. I have sat with the forest sages entranced and glimpsed the
\nOne in all. But with all, Matter has continued to be without its
\nLord. Death and Ignorance continue. However, now that thou hast come,
\nall shall change. My body shall be free like my spirit."<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nSavitri: "Speak
\nmore of thyself, Satyavan, speak till my mind understands the truth
\nof our relation which my being feels."<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nSatyavan: "Savitri,
\nwords cannot speak what thou hast meant to me. All my life has moved
\ntowards this great moment, I see that I am the soul made ready on
\nearth for thee.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n"Once I was
\nlike other men, living in the common rounds of life. But there came
\nglimpses of a deeper Self and the Mystery behind life beckoned me. I
\nsearched for the meaning of life with my Thought but it proved an
\ninadequate guide. I strove to find it through Beauty and Art, but
\nForm could not unveil the indwelling Power. When I looked upon the
\nworld I lost the Self, when I found the Self, I lost the world. I
\ncould not get at the link; but now the golden link comes with thy
\nfeet; I feel a diviner breath. All is expectant and awaits thee.
\nDescend, enter my life, thy shrine."<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nSavitri: "I
\nhave heard thee and I know that thou art he."<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nShe gets down from
\nthe car, picks flowers, weaves a garland quickly and lays it on the
\nbosom of Satyavan as a flower symbol of her offered life. She bows
\nand touches his feet with worshipping hands.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nSatyavan gathers her
\nup into his arms and Savitri feels her being flow into him as a river
\ninto a mighty sea.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nBoth are lost in
\neach other and become one.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nThe wedding of the
\neternal Lord and his Spouse has taken place once again on earth and
\nthe Two begin a greater Age.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nThen he leads her on
\nthe narrow path and shows his hermitage through an opening in the
\nwoods. Savitri is deeply moved and speaks: "Now I must go back
\nto my father’s house, but my heart will stay here. I shall soon
\nreturn to thee never to part again."<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nShe mounts her
\ncarven car and speeds back, but keeps her eye on the receding figure
\nof Satyavan.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Secret
\nSelves Grow Aware<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nOut of the voiceless
\nmystery of the past
In a present ignorant of forgotten bonds
\n
These spirits met upon the roads of Time. <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nYet in the heart
\ntheir secret conscious selves
At once aware grew of each other
\nwarned
By the first call of a delightful voice
And a first
\nvision of the destined face. <\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThus do these two
\nspirits\u2014Savitri and Satyavan\u2014meet in a present from which all
\nmemory of their past connection is shut off. All the same, at the
\nfirst call of the heard voice, at the first sight of the destined
\nface, some awareness of each other revives in their secret selves.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nThe active being
\ndoes not know; but the inner, deeper self which is more conscious
\nbegins to grow aware of the relation.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Oneness
\nFelt and Missed<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAs
\nwhen being cries to being from its depths
Behind the screen of
\nthe external sense
And strives to find the heart-disclosing word,
\n
The passionate speech revealing the soul\u2019s need,
But the
\nmind\u2019s ignorance veils the inner sight,
Only a little breaks
\nthrough our earth-made bounds,
So now they met in that momentous
\nhour,
So utter the recognition in the deeps,
The remembrance
\nlost, the oneness felt and missed. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIt happens at times
\nthat when two persons meet, the inner being of the one recognises the
\ninner being of the other behind the veil of the outer senses; it
\nstruggles to find the right word that would unveil the concealed
\ntruth, and the intensity of its speech is a mark of the urgency felt
\nby the soul. But the ignorant mind covers the inner vision and only a
\nlittle of the inner perception and experience comes through the
\nsense-made walls. So it happens with Savitri and Satyavan at this
\nfateful moment; in their depths the mutual recognition is
\nunmistakable and complete, but in the external mind the remembrance
\nis not there. The oneness is realised deep within, but missed on the
\nsurface.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>How
\nArt Thou Named?<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThus
\nSatyavan spoke first to Savitri:
\u201cO thou who com\u2019st to me out
\nof Time\u2019s silences,
Yet thy voice has wakened my heart to an
\nunknown bliss,
Immortal or mortal only in thy frame,
For more
\nthan earth speaks to me from thy soul
And more than earth
\nsurrounds me in thy gaze,
How art thou named among the sons of
\nmen? <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nSatyavan first
\naddresses Savitri:<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n"O thou who
\nhast come to me from out of the distant silences of Time and yet
\nwhose voice awakens my heart to a bliss hitherto unknown, Immortal
\nthou art; only thy body is mortal; for I feel something more than a
\nphysical voice speaking to me from thy soul and in thy eyes I see
\nsomething more than physical eyes looking at me. What is the name by
\nwhich thou art known among the humans?<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Whence
\nHast Thou Dawned?<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nWhence
\nhast thou dawned filling my spirit\u2019s days,
Brighter than
\nsummer, brighter than my flowers,
Into the lonely borders of my
\nlife,
O Sunlight moulded like a golden maid? <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n"Thou art the
\nvery sunlight moulded in the form of a golden maid. Whence hast thou
\ncome like a dawn filling the days of my soul, and dispelling the
\nsolitude of my life, thou who art brighter than summer, brighter than
\nmy flowers here?<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Long
\nhave i Travelled (I)<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nI
\nknow that mighty gods are friends of earth. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAmid
\nthe pageantries of day and dusk,
Long have I travelled with my
\npilgrim soul
Moved by the marvel of familiar things. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nEarth
\ncould not hide from me the powers she veils:
Even though moving
\nmid an earthly scene
And the common surfaces of terrestrial
\nthings,
My vision saw unblinded by her forms;
The Godhead
\nlooked at me from familiar scenes. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n"I am aware
\nthat great Gods are helping the earth. Day and night I have journeyed
\nwith my questing soul and have been struck by the wonder of even
\nfamiliar things. Earth veils many of her powers from men, but she
\ncould not hide them from me. Amidst the plethora of the common things
\nof the earth, my eyes have seen, in her many forms, the concealed
\nGodhead regarding me from familiar scenes.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Long
\nhave I Travelled (II)<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nI
\nwitnessed the virgin bridals of the dawn
Behind the glowing
\ncurtains of the sky
Or vying in joy with the bright morning\u2019s
\nsteps
I paced along the slumberous coasts of morn,
Or the
\ngold desert of the sunlight crossed
Traversing great wastes of
\nsplendour and of fire, <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n"I have seen
\nthe bridal festivities of the Golden Dawn behind the bright curtains
\nof the sky; I have shared in the joys of the morns; I have traversed
\nthe vasts under the fierce sun.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Long
\nhave I Travelled (III)<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nOr
\nmet the moon gliding amazed through heaven
In the uncertain
\nwideness of the night,
Or the stars marched on their long
\nsentinel routes
Pointing their spears through the infinitudes,
\n
The day and dusk revealed to me hidden shapes;
Figures have
\ncome to me from secret shores
And happy faces looked from ray and
\nflame. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n"I have seen
\nthe moon moving wondering through the changing night-skies, the stars
\nmarching on their appointed routes like sentinels with their spears
\nof light. The day and dusk have shown to me hidden forms. From unseen
\nshores of infinity, figures have sailed into my ken and happy faces
\nhave looked at me from light and fire.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Heard
\nthe Centaur’s Song<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nI
\nhave heard strange voices cross the ether\u2019s waves,
The
\ncentaur\u2019s wizard song has thrilled my ear;
I glimpsed the
\nApsaras bathing in the pools
And saw the wood-nymphs peering
\nthrough the leaves;
The winds have shown to me their trampling
\nlords,
I have beheld the princes of the Sun
Burning in
\nthousand-pillared homes of light. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n"I have heard
\nmany strange voices all around me; I have thrilled to the enspelling
\nsong of the centaur. I have glimpsed the celestial goddesses bathing
\nin the pools, seen the wood-nymphs peeping through the forest leaves.
\nThe blowing winds have shown me the Maruts, their storm-gods. I have
\nbeheld the splendid Sun-Powers, the Guardians of Light, in their
\nhomes of Glory.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>The
\nBeauty to Heaven Allied<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nSo
\nnow my mind could dream and my heart fear
That from some
\nwonder-couch beyond our air
Risen in a wide morning of the gods
\n
Thou drov\u2019st thy horses from the Thunderer\u2019s worlds. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAlthough
\nto heaven thy beauty seems allied,
Much rather would my thoughts
\nrejoice to know
That mortal sweetness smiles between thy lips
\n
And thy heart can beat beneath a human gaze
And thy aureate
\nbosom quiver with a look
And its tumult answer to an earth-born
\nvoice. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n"Having beheld
\nall these wonders, I can well believe that thou must have come down
\nto earth at an auspicious hour from some high world above. Thy beauty
\nis indeed celestial, still I would rejoice to know that thou art a
\nmortal, that thy heart can beat in response to a human call.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


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


\nIf
\nour time-vexed affections thou canst feel,
Earth\u2019s ease of
\nsimple things can satisfy,
If thy glance can dwell content on
\nearthly soil,
And this celestial summary of delight,
Thy
\ngolden body, dally with fatigue
Oppressing with its grace our
\nterrain, while
The frail sweet passing taste of earthly food
\n
Delays thee and the torrent\u2019s leaping wine,
Descend. Let
\nthy journey cease, come down to us. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n"If thou canst
\nfeel our short-lived emotions, if the simple things of the earth can
\nat all satisfy thee, if thy look can be content with the soil of the
\nearth, if thy golden body\u2014this epitome of Bliss\u2014could experience
\nthe fatigue natural to life on this earth and lay the burden of its
\ngrace on our terrain, if the desire to taste the sweetness of our
\nearthly food and drink the heady waters of the torrents, can stay
\nthee for a while, then let thy journey cease, descend from thy
\nchariot, come down to us mortals.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Invade
\nour Honied Kingdom<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nClose
\nis my father\u2019s creepered hermitage
Screened by the tall ranks
\nof these silent kings,
Sung to by voices of the hue-robed choirs
\n
Whose chants repeat transcribed in music\u2019s notes
The
\npassionate coloured lettering of the boughs
And fill the hours
\nwith their melodious cry. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAmid
\nthe welcome-hum of many bees
Invade our honied kingdom of the
\nwoods;
There let me lead thee into an opulent life. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n"Come. My
\nfather’s creeper-covered hermitage is close by, screened by these
\nroyally tall trees. The voices of the multicoloured denizens of the
\nforest render in music the lush patterns of the boughs and fill the
\nair with their melodious cries. The bees welcome thee with their hum;
\nstep into our sweet forest-kingdom and let me lead thee to the rich
\nlife prevailing there.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Simple
\nHermit-Life<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nBare,
\nsimple is the sylvan hermit-life;
Yet is it clad with the jewelry
\nof earth. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nWild
\nwinds run\u2014visitors midst the swaying tops,
Through the calm
\ndays heaven\u2019s sentinels of peace
Couched on a purple robe of
\nsky above
Look down on a rich secrecy and hush
And the
\nchambered nuptial waters chant within. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n"Our
\nhermit-life in the forest is indeed simple and bare, but it is rich
\nwith the gifts of the earth. Wild winds visit us shaking the
\ntree-tops; from the purple skies, peaceful clouds look down on the
\nluxuriant, secluded tract below and murmuring brooks flow chanting
\nthrough it.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Chamber
\nFit for thee<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nEnormous,
\nwhispering, many-formed around
High forest gods have taken in
\ntheir arms
The human hour, a guest of their centuried pomps. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nApparelled
\nare the morns in gold and green,
Sunlight and shadow tapestry the
\nwalls
To make a resting chamber fit for thee.\u201d <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n"Here,
\nenormous, vibrant and many-visaged forest Gods have admitted, for a
\nwhile, the human world into their empire. We, humans, are allowed to
\nshare in their glory. The mornings here are clothed in green and
\ngold; sunlight and shadow weave ornamental designs on the walls to
\nmake this dwelling-place fit for thee."<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Savitri
\nSpeaks#<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAwhile
\nshe paused as if hearing still his voice,
Unwilling to break the
\ncharm, then slowly spoke. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nMusing
\nshe answered: \u201cI am Savitri,
Princess of Madra. Who art thou?
\nWhat name
Musical on earth expresses thee to men? <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nWhat
\ntrunk of kings watered by fortunate streams
Has flowered at last
\nupon one happy branch? <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nSavitri keeps silent
\nfor a while, as though unwilling to break the spell of his voice.
\nThen slowly she speaks:"I am Savitri, princess of the house of
\nMadra. But who art thou? What is the musical name by which thou art
\nknown to men? Which is that house of royalty that has at last
\nproduced this happy glory?<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Why
\nthis Dwelling<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nWhy
\nis thy dwelling in the pathless wood
Far from the deeds thy
\nglorious youth demands,
Haunt of the anchorites and earth\u2019s
\nwilder broods,
Where only with thy witness self thou roam\u2019st
\n
In Nature\u2019s green unhuman loneliness
Surrounded by enormous
\nsilences
And the blind murmur of primeval calms?\u201d <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n"Why art thou
\nhere far away from the field of heroic actions that thy glorious
\nyouth calls for? Why this dwelling in the thick forest which is the
\nnatural habitation of anchorites and wild life, where thou roamest
\nonly witnessing things\u2014not throwing thyself into action\u2014in this
\nawesome loneliness of Nature, engulfed by mighty silences and the
\nabsorbed murmur of ancient calm?"<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>King
\nDyumathsena once Reigned<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAnd
\nSatyavan replied to Savitri:
\u201cIn days when yet his sight looked
\nclear on life,
King Dyumathsena once, the Shalwa, reigned
\n
Through all the tract which from behind these tops
Passing
\nits days of emerald delight
In trusting converse with the
\ntraveller winds
Turns, looking back towards the southern heavens
\n
And leans its flank upon the musing hills. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n"In the days
\nwhen his eyesight was intact, King Dyumathsena of the house of
\nShalwa, used to reign over all the domain that extends behind these
\nforest heights, northwards.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Living
\nNight Enclosed<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nBut
\nequal fate removed her covering hand,
A living night enclosed the
\nstrong man\u2019s paths,
Heaven\u2019s brilliant gods recalled their
\ncareless gifts,
Took from blank eyes their glad and helping ray
\n
And led the uncertain goddess from his side. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nBut fate, that
\nimpartial dealer out of prosperity and adversity, withdrew her
\nprotection from him and darkness enclosed his life-journey; the
\nsplendorous Gods in heaven withdrew their casually given gifts, took
\naway his eye-sight and led away from him the fickle goddess of wealth
\nand glory.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Sojourn
\nin two Solitudes<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nOutcast
\nfrom empire of the outer light,
Lost to the comradeship of seeing
\nmen,
He sojourns in two solitudes, within
And in the solemn
\nrustle of the woods. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nDenied the world of
\nexternal light, unable to live in the company of men that see with
\ntheir physical eyes, he now lives between two solitudes\u2014the
\nsolitude of the soul bereft of all involvements in things of the
\nworld and the solemn solitude of the forest without.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Lived
\nContented<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nSon
\nof that king, I, Satyavan, have lived
Contented, for not yet of
\nthee aware,
In my high peopled loneliness of spirit
And this
\nhuge vital murmur kin to me,
Nursed by the vastness, pupil of
\nsolitude. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n"I am the son
\nof that king, my name is Satyavan. I have lived here contented
\nbecause I was not yet aware of thee\u2014if I had been aware I could not
\nhave lived so. The loneliness of my spirit has been filled with the
\npresence of great beings and I have felt a close contact with the
\nvital life of nature. Nurtured by the vastness that surrounds me, I
\nhave learnt to live in solitude.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Great
\nNature Helped<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nGreat
\nNature came to her recovered child;
I reigned in a kingdom of a
\nnobler kind
Than men can build upon dull Matter\u2019s soil;
I
\nmet the frankness of the primal earth,
I enjoyed the intimacy of
\ninfant God. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n"Great Nature
\nhelped me to recover from the grief at my father’s loss. I reigned
\nhere in a different kind of kingdom, other and nobler than what the
\nhumans can build on the inert soil of Matter. I was greeted by the
\nunsophisticated earth of old, I delighted in the company of the
\nGodhead taking shape.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Indulged
\nby the Warm Mother<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIn
\nthe great tapestried chambers of her state
Free in her boundless
\npalace I have dwelt
Indulged by the warm mother of us all,
\n
Reared with my natural brothers in her house
I lay in the
\nwide bare embrace of heaven,
The sunlight\u2019s radiant blessing
\nclasped my brow,
The moonbeam\u2019s silver ecstasy at night
Kissed
\nmy dim lids to sleep.Earth\u2019s
\nmorns were mine. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n"In this vast
\npalace of Mother Nature, nourished by her, I have lived with abandon.
\nI have been brought up by her along with her other children of the
\nforest deeps. I have lain free in the embrace of the skies, the
\nradiant light of the sun bathed my face and at night the ecstatic
\nmoonbeams playing on my lids put me to sleep.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Earth’s
\nMorns Mine<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n
Lured by faint murmurings with the green-robed
\nhours
I wandered lost in woods, prone to the voice
Of winds
\nand waters, partner of the sun\u2019s joy,
A listener to the
\nuniversal speech:
My spirit satisfied within me knew
Godlike
\nour birthright, luxuried our life
Whose close belongings are the
\nearth and skies. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAwaking from my
\nsleep I have felt earth’s mornings to be specially mine. I have
\nwandered in the woods following the voice of winds and waters,
\nsharing in the joy of the sun, listening to the speech universal in
\nthe air. My contented being within has known that life is rich and
\nour birth-right is as of the gods, whose intimate possessions are the
\nearth and the skies.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Awakening
\nto Earth-Life<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nBefore
\nfate led me into this emerald world,
Aroused by some
\nforeshadowing touch within,
An early prescience in my mind
\napproached
The great dumb animal consciousness of earth
Now
\ngrown so close to me who have left old pomps
To live in this
\ngrandiose murmur dim and vast. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAs
\nif to a deeper country of the soul
Transposing the vivid imagery
\nof earth,
Through an inner seeing and sense a wakening came. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n"Even before
\nfate brought me here to this forest-world, some foreshadowing
\nmovement within me awakened in my mind an affinity with the vital
\nlife of earth, vast and mute, which has now grown so intimate to me
\nwho has left the old pomps of a man-made world in order to live
\namidst the vast and complex murmur of the world of nature.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nAn awakening,
\nthrough an inner sense and eye, came to some deeper region of the
\nsoul presenting as it were the vivid imagery of the physical earth.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>High
\nBeauty’s Visitants<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\nvisioned spell pursued my boyhood\u2019s hours,
All things the eye
\nhad caught in coloured lines
Were seen anew through the
\ninterpreting mind
And in the shape it sought to seize the soul. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAn
\nearly child-god took my hand that held,
Moved, guided by the
\nseeking of his touch,
Bright forms and hues which fled across his
\nsight;
Limned upon page and stone they spoke to men. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nHigh
\nbeauty\u2019s visitants my inmates were. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n"All through my
\nboyhood this spell of vision continued. All things caught by the
\nseeing physical eye were visioned again through the interpreting mind
\nand converted into avenues to meet the soul.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nSome infant God took
\nmy hand and guided me to see the varied bright forms and colours that
\nflitted across; these\u2014whether impressed on page or on stone\u2014were
\nalive and conveyed their message to men.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nMy consciousness was
\nfilled with these touches of high beauty.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Shapes
\nof Swiftness<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe
\nneighing pride of rapid life that roams
Wind-maned through our
\npastures, on my seeing mood
Cast shapes of swiftness; trooping
\nspotted deer
Against the vesper sky became a song
Of evening
\nto the silence of the soul. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n"The varied
\nwild life produced a multiple impression on my being. The running
\nhorse left imprints of swiftness on my perceiving mind; the passing
\nline of spotted deer in the background of the evening sky seemed a
\npoem to my silent soul.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>My
\nInner Sight<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nI
\ncaught for some eternal eye the sudden
Kingfisher flashing to a
\ndarkling pool;
A slow swan silvering the azure lake,
A shape
\nof magic whiteness, sailed through dream;
Leaves trembling with
\nthe passion of the wind
And wandering wings nearing from infinity
\n
Lived on the tablets of my inner sight;
Mountains and trees
\nstood there like thoughts from God. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n"An unwinking
\neye in me registered the sight of the kingfisher suddenly diving into
\na pool; the white swan glistening on the blue waters of the lake
\nfloated through my dream; leaves of trees shaking with gusts of wind
\nand roaming birds approaching from infinity, as it were, produced
\nlasting impressions on my deeper sight. Mountains and trees stood
\nlike some thoughts of God.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Echoes
\nof Word Supreme<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nPranked
\nbutterflies, the conscious flowers of air,
The brilliant long
\nbills in their vivid dress,
The peacock scattering on the breeze
\nhis moons
Painted my memory like a frescoed wall. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nI
\ncarved my vision out of wood and stone;
I caught the echoes of a
\nword supreme
And metred the rhythm beats of infinity
And
\nlistened through music for the eternal Voice. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n"Spangled
\nbutterflies, living flames of the air, bright long-billed birds, the
\nmagnificent peacock,\u2014all left deep and variegated impressions on my
\nmemory; I carved all I saw on wood and stone. Often I heard the
\nechoings of a supreme, unearthly speech, put into metre the rhythm
\npulsating in the infinity and through music, listened for the Voice
\nof God.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>I
\nHeard a Call<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nI
\nfelt a covert touch, I heard a call,
But could not clasp the body
\nof my God
Or hold between my hands the World-Mother\u2019s feet. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n"I felt some
\nhidden touch, I heard a call; but I could not feel and clasp the body
\nof my God nor hold, between my hands, the feet of the World-Mother.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Strange
\nPortions of Self<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIn
\nmen I met strange portions of a Self
That sought for fragments
\nand in fragments lived:
Each lived in himself and for himself
\nalone
And with the rest joined only fleeting ties;
Each
\npassioned over his surface joy and grief,
Nor saw the Eternal in
\nhis secret house. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n"I met men\u2014all
\nportions of the one Self, but strangely enough living as divided
\nfragments and seeing everything in division, each confined to
\nhimself, lived in and for himself alone, associating with others with
\nbut fragile links. Each lived lost in his surface joys and griefs;
\nnone looked within himself to find the Eternal dwelling in his secret
\nchamber.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>With
\nForest-Sages<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nI
\nconversed with Nature, mused with the changeless stars,
God\u2019s
\nwatch-fires burning in the ignorant Night,
And saw upon her
\nmighty visage fall
A ray prophetic of the Eternal\u2019s sun. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nI
\nsat with the forest sages in their trance:
There poured awaking
\nstreams of diamond light,
I glimpsed the presence of the One in
\nall. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n"I communed
\nwith Nature, contemplated on the unchanging stars shining like God’s
\nwatchfires in the dark Night of Ignorance; I saw a ray of the
\nEternal’s splendour lighting up the face of the Earth\u2014in prophecy
\nof the coming future. I sat in meditation with the sages of the
\nforest in their trance and there I witnessed the flow of awakening
\nstreams of pure white light; there I got a glimpse of the presence of
\nthe One Reality in all.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Transcendent
\nPower Lacked<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nBut
\nstill there lacked the last transcendent power
And Matter still
\nslept empty of its Lord. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe
\nspirit was saved, the body lost and mute
Lived still with Death
\nand ancient Ignorance;
The Inconscient was its base, the Void its
\nfate. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n"I saw and
\nexperienced all these, still the ultimate transcendent power which
\nalone can save all and change all was not there; Matter\u2014my material
\nframe\u2014continued to be unconscious, bereft of its Master, the living
\nSpirit.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nNo doubt the Spirit
\nin me was safe but the body was left to its own mute fallen state; it
\ncontinued its companionship with Death and the sempiternal Ignorance;
\nthe black Inconscient was its foundation and the empty Void its
\ndestiny.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>But
\nThou hast Come<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nBut
\nthou hast come and all will surely change:
I shall feel the
\nWorld-Mother in thy golden limbs
And hear her wisdom in thy
\nsacred voice. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe
\nchild of the Void shall be reborn in God. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nMy
\nMatter shall evade the Inconscient\u2019s trance,
My body like my
\nspirit shall be free:
It shall escape from Death and Ignorance.\u201d
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n"But now that
\nthou hast come, all will certainly change. In thy golden limbs I
\nshall hold the Mother of the worlds, in thy sacred voice hear her
\nwisdom. My being which has been for so long in the Void of Nescience
\nshall be reborn in the splendour of the Superconscience. My material
\nstuff shall escape the spell of the Inconscient and my body shall be
\nliberated equally with my spirit; it shall be no more subject to
\nDeath and Ignorance."<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Speak
\nmore, O Satyavan<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAnd
\nSavitri musing still replied to him:
\u201cSpeak more to me, speak
\nmore, O Satyavan,
Speak of thyself and all thou art within;
I
\nwould know thee as if we had ever lived
Together in the chamber
\nof our souls. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nSpeak
\ntill a light shall come into my heart
And my moved mortal mind
\nshall understand
What all the deathless being in me feels. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIt
\nknows that thou art he my spirit has sought
Amidst earth\u2019s
\nthronging visages and forms
Across the golden spaces of my life.\u201d
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nSavitri
\ncontemplatingly replies: "Speak to me yet more of thyself. I
\nwant to know thee with the intimacy that comes from the eternal
\ncompanionship of souls. Speak to me till a ray lights up my heart and
\nmy human mind is moved to grasp what the immortal being within me
\nfeels. That being knows for certain that thou art he for whom I have
\nbeen searching amidst the crowding forms and faces of the earth,
\nacross the luminous passages of my life."<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Satyavan
\nAnswers<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAnd
\nSatyavan like a replying harp
To the insistent calling of a flute
\n
Answered her questioning and let stream to her
His heart in
\nmany-coloured waves of speech: <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nLike a harp
\nresponding to the insistent notes of a flute, Satyavan answers her.
\nHe opens his heart to her in rich and colourful words.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Soul
\nmade Ready for thee<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n\u201cO
\ngolden princess, perfect Savitri,
More I would tell than failing
\nwords can speak
Of all that thou hast meant to me, unknown,
All
\nthat the lightning flash of love reveals. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIn
\none great hour of the unveiling gods
Even a brief nearness has
\nreshaped my life. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nFor
\nnow I know that all I lived and was
Moved towards this moment of
\nmy heart\u2019s rebirth;
I look back on the meaning of myself,
A
\nsoul made ready on earth\u2019s soil for thee. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n"O perfect
\nSavitri, words fail to express all that I wish to say of what thou,
\nthough unknown, hast meant to me, all that this sudden flash of love
\nhas revealed. In this one great hour of revelation when the gods have
\nunveiled themselves, even thy brief proximity has given a new shape
\nto my life. Now I know that the whole of my life has all along been
\nmoving towards this moment of rebirth of my being. As I look back on
\nthe possible meaning of my existence, I realise that I am the soul
\nwho has been made ready on earth for thee.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Glimpses
\nof Deeper Self<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nOnce
\nwere my days like days of other men:
To think and act was all, to
\nenjoy and breathe;
This was the width and height of mortal hope:
\n
Yet there came glimpses of a deeper self
That lives behind
\nlife and makes her act its scene. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA
\ntruth was felt that screened its shape from mind,
A Greatness
\nworking towards a hidden end,
And vaguely through the forms of
\nearth there looked
Something that life is not and yet must be. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n"Once my days
\npassed like the days of other men\u2014all life was occupied with the
\nroutine of thinking, acting, enjoying and breathing. Still there did
\ncome glimpses of some inner self that lives behind the surfaces of
\nlife and makes life act as she does. Some truth was felt by me which
\nhid itself behind the external mind, some Greatness working towards a
\nveiled goal. I perceived vaguely something looking out through the
\nforms of the earth, something that life is not yet but must become.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Groped
\nwith Lantern Thought<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nI
\ngroped for the Mystery with the lantern, Thought. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIts
\nglimmerings lighted with the abstract word
A half-visible ground
\nand travelling yard by yard
It mapped a system of the Self and
\nGod. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nI
\ncould not live the truth it spoke and thought. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n"I tried to
\nfind and know the Mystery behind life with the aid of Thought as my
\nlantern to light up the way. Its little glimmerings could only throw
\nthe light of its abstract words on a dim half-visible tract, though
\nmoving a little by little, it sketched out its own system of Self and
\nGod. But the truth it worked out was so dry and theoretical that I
\ncould not live it.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Skeleton
\nof Outward Truth<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nI
\nturned to seize its form in visible things,
Hoping to fix its
\nrule by mortal mind,
Imposed a narrow structure of world-law
\n
Upon the freedom of the Infinite,
A hard firm skeleton of
\noutward Truth,
A mental scheme of a mechanic Power. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n"I tried to
\nseize this Mystery in the forms the eye. I hoped to determine its
\nprocess by my human mind and to that end, I imposed the narrow
\nstructure of world-law concocted by the mind, upon the illimitable
\nfreedom of the Infinite; I constructed a rigid and hard frame of
\nouter Truth, a mind-made scheme of a mechanical Power.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nAll that the mind
\ncould achieve was to build a constricted frame of laws, external and
\nso a partial truth and a mechanical Power.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Behind
\nthe Cosmic Veil<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThis
\nlight showed more the darknesses unsearched;
It made the original
\nsecrecy more occult. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIt
\ncould not analyse its cosmic veil
Or glimpse the Wonder-worker\u2019s
\nhidden hand
And trace the pattern of his magic plans. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n"This surface
\nmental light served only to reveal more dark areas still to be
\ntraversed, it made the Mystery deeper still. It failed to break
\nthrough the veil behind which cosmic workings go on or to get a
\nglimpse of the hidden hand of the Wonder-worker and sketch the lines
\nof his magic plans.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nBehind the veil the
\ngreat Cosmic Artisan is at work on his magic plans, but the human
\nmind of reason cannot reach there.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Knew
\nSecret Laws<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nI
\nplunged into an inner seeing Mind
And knew the secret laws and
\nsorceries
That make of Matter mind\u2019s bewildered slave. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe
\nmystery was not solved but deepened more. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n"There I
\nwithdrew into the inner Mind that sees directly (does not have to
\nreason out) and came to know the occult processes and magical
\nworkings by which Matter is made a dazed instrument and slave of the
\nmind.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\nStill the mystery
\nwas not solved; it only deepened further.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Through
\nBeauty and Art<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nI
\nstrove to find its hints through Beauty and Art,
But Form cannot
\nunveil the indwelling Power;
Only it throws its symbols at our
\nhearts. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIt
\nevoked a mood of self, invoked a sign
Of all the brooding glory
\nhidden in sense:
I lived in the ray but faced not to the Sun. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n"I tried to
\nfind clues to the Mystery through Beauty and Art, but discovered that
\nForm cannot reveal the Power that dwells in it, it is only a sign, a
\nsymbol of what it contains. This brought on a deeper mood and I
\nbecame aware of a gathered and vibrating glory hidden in the
\nsense-world. I lived in the derived ray of the sun’s light but could
\nnot stand face to face with him.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Self
\nand World<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nI
\nlooked upon the world and missed the Self,
And when I found the
\nSelf, I lost the world,
My other selves I lost and the body of
\nGod,
The link of the finite with the Infinite,
The bridge
\nbetween the appearance and the Truth,
The mystic aim for which
\nthe world was made,
The human sense of Immortality. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n"When I turned
\nmy sight on the world, I missed the Self; so too when I found the
\nSelf, I lost the world. I could never have both. In my preoccupation
\nwith myself, I lost contact with others who are indeed my own selves,
\nI also lost the universe which is but the body of God; I lost the
\nlink between the finite and the Infinite, the bridge between
\nappearance and the Truth behind it, the secret aim in the creation of
\nthe world and the meaning of Immortality in terms of man.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Link
\nComes with Thy Feet<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nBut
\nnow the gold link comes to me with thy feet
And His gold sun has
\nshone on me from thy face. <\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nFor
\nnow another realm draws near with thee
And now diviner voices
\nfill my ear,
A strange new world swims to me in thy gaze
\n
Approaching like a star from unknown heavens;
A cry of
\nspheres comes with thee and a song
Of flaming gods I draw a wealthier breath
And in a fierier march of moments move.
My
\nmind transfigures to a rapturous seer.
\n
A foam-leap travelling from the waves of bliss
\n
Has changed my heart and changed the earth around:
\n
All with thy coming fills.Air,soil and stream
\n
Wear bridal raiment to be fit for thee
\n
And sunlight grows a shadow of thy hue
\n
Because of change within me by thy look.
\n
Come nearer to me from thy car of light
\n
On this green sward disdaining not our soil.
\n
For here are secret spaces made for thee
\n
Whose caves of emerald long to screen thy form.
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n"But now with
\nthy arrival that link is made for me. God’s luminous Sun shines on me
\nthrough thy face. For along with thee quite another realm of
\nexistence approaches me, diviner voices fill my ear; as thou lookest,
\na strange new world floats towards me like a star from mysterious
\nheavens; a cry of celestial spheres comes with thee and a hymn of the
\nflaming gods.The very air I now breathe is richer; and life has become more intense; my labouring mind is changed into a rapturous seer; a sprinkle from the waves of bliss has altered my heart and the earth around me. Everything is fulfilled with thy coming.Because of this change within me by thy gaze, all without undergoes a corresponding change: air, soil, stream wear a festive look to greet thee, the sunlight is like a pale shadow of thy hue. Do not disdain our mortal soil, descend from thy car of light, and come nearer. Here secret spaces seem made ready for thee, here forest groves long to shade thee.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P><\/p>\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Descend, O Happiness <\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nWilt thou not make this mortal bliss thy sphere?
\n
Descend, O Happiness, with thy moon-gold feet,
\n
Enrich earth\u2019s floors upon whose sleep we lie.
\n
O my bright beauty\u2019s princess, Savitri,
\n
By my delight and thy own joy compelled
\n
Enter my life, thy chamber and thy shrine.
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n"O Goddess from afar, wilt thou not make this mortal Joy thy sphere? Descend, O Happiness, with thy pure, luminous feet and enrich the earth on whose dormant bosom we lie.O my princess of bright beauty, Savitri, compelled by my delight and thy own joy, enter my life which shall be thy chamber and thy shrine.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Thy Heartbeats near to Mine<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIn the great quietness where spirits meet,
\n
Led by my hushed desire into my woods
\n
Let the dim rustling arches over thee lean;
\n
One with the breath of things eternal live,
\n
Thy heartbeats near to mine, till there shall leap
\n
Enchanted from the fragrance of the flowers
\n
A moment which all murmurs shall recall
\n
And every bird remember in its cry.\u201d
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\n"In this great quietude fit for a meeting place of spirits, thou wert drawn by my mute desire to this forest of mine. Now come further within, let the rustling arches of the trees bend over thee. Live here in communion with the spirit of the eternal, in close intimacy with me till the glorious hour of fruition, the hour which will be ever recalled in the murmurs and songs of the creatures living here.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P><\/p>\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>O Satyavan, Thou Art He <\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAllured to her lashes by his passionate words
\n
Her fathomless soul looked at him from her eyes;
\n
Passing her lips in liquid sounds it spoke.
\n
This word alone she uttered and said all:
\n
\u201cO Satyavan, I have heard thee and I know;
\n
I know that thou and only thou art he.\u201d
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nMoved by his passionate speech, Savitri’s profound soul lights up her eyes and she looks at him; and in clear flowing accents she speaks:
\n“O Satyavan, I have heard thee and I know the truth: I know that thou art he whom I have been seeking.”
\nShe says only this much but in saying it she has said all.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P><\/p>\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>She Comes Down<\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThen down she came from her high carven car
\n
Descending with a soft and faltering haste;
\n
Her many-hued raiment glistening in the light
\n
Hovered a moment over the wind-stirred grass,
\n
Mixed with a glimmer of her body\u2019s ray
\n
Like lovely plumage of a settling bird.
\n
Her gleaming feet upon the green gold sward
\n
Scattered a memory of wandering beams
\n
And lightly pressed the unspoken desire of earth
\n
Cherished in her too brief passing by the soil.
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThen Savitri comes down from her car with faltering haste; her many-coloured dress glistening in the light and mixing with the radiance of her body, looks like the charming plumage of a bird coming to rest. Her shining feet on the green gold grass tract scatter beams of light, and as they pass lightly and swiftly over the soil, earth expresses an unspoken yearning to hold her back.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P><\/p>\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Flower Song <\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThen flitting like pale brilliant moths her hands
\n
Took from the sylvan verge\u2019s sunlit arms
\n
A load of their jewel faces\u2019 clustering swarms,
\n
Companions of the spring-time and the breeze.
\n
A candid garland set with simple forms
\n
Her rapid fingers taught a flower song
\n
The stanzaed movement of a marriage hymn.
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThen with quiet but swift movements of her hands, she picks the spring flowers in clusters and weaves a simple garland as if composing a marriage hymn in flowers.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P>
\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Flower-Symbol of Offered Life <\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nProfound in perfume and immersed in hue
\n
They mixed their yearning\u2019s coloured signs and made
\n
The bloom of their purity and passion one.
\n
A sacrament of joy in treasuring palms
\n
She brought, flower-symbol of her offered life,
\n
Then with raised hands that trembled a little now
\n
At the very closeness that her soul desired,
\n
This bond of sweetness, their bright union\u2019s sign,
\n
She laid on the bosom coveted by her love.
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe many-coloured and fragrant flowers of the garland breathe both passion and purity. She brings this flower-symbol of her offered life to Satyavan, a joyous offering in her loving hands. But as she comes near, her raised hands tremble — even though her soul has desired this closeness\u2014and they place on his bosom\u2014so much cherished by her\u2014the garland which is their bond of sweetness, and sign of their bright union.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P><\/p>\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>She Touches his Feet <\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAs if inclined before some gracious god
\n
Who has out of his mist of greatness shone
\n
To fill with beauty his adorer\u2019s hours,
\n
She bowed and touched his feet with worshipping hands;
\n
She made her life his world for him to tread
\n
And made her body the room of his delight,
\n
Her beating heart a remembrancer of bliss.
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAs if she were bent before a gracious god who emerges bright out of the veiling mist of his solemn greatnessin order to delight his adorer, Savitri bows down and touches the feet of Satyavan with hands of worship. She lays her life before him to tread upon, offers her body as the chamber of his delight and her throbbing heart as a constant reminder of the bliss that is now his.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P><\/p>\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Yearning Joined <\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nHe bent to her and took into his own
\n
Their married yearning joined like folded hopes;
\n
As if a whole rich world suddenly possessed,
\n
Wedded to all he had been became himself,
\n
An inexhaustible joy made his alone,
\n
He gathered all Savitri into his clasp.
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nSatyavan bends down and gathers Savitri into his arms. Their longing for each other is fulfilled; he feels as if a whole rich world (Savitri’s) had united with all that he had been, and he was enriched.<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P><\/p>\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Her Being Flows into His <\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAround her his embrace became the sign
\n
Of a locked closeness through slow intimate years,
\n
A first sweet summary of delight to come,
\n
One brevity intense of all long life.
\n
In a wide moment of two souls that meet
\n
She felt her being flow into him as in waves
\n
A river pours into a mighty sea.
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nHis embrace becomes the sign of the intimate closeness that had developed through the slow passage of time across many lives. It is the first sweet touch of the delight yet to come, an intense moment that is the promise of the long life ahead.
\nIn that potent moment of their meeting Savitri feels her being flow into his like waves from a river rushing into a mighty sea.
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P><\/p>\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Separate Self Lost <\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAs when a soul is merging into God
\n
To live in Him for ever and know His joy,
\n
Her consciousness was a wave of him alone
\n
And all her separate self was lost in his.
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nLike a human soul that is merging into God in order to live always in God\u2014without break, without the least gulf\u2014and realise the joy of His being, Savitri’s consciousness becomes only a wave of Satyavan’s and her entire individual self is merged in his.
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P><\/p>\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Circle of Bliss <\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAs a starry heaven encircles happy earth,
\n
He shut her into himself in a circle of bliss
\n
And shut the world into himself and her.
\n
A boundless isolation made them one;
\n
He was aware of her enveloping him
\n
And let her penetrate his very soul,
\n
As is a world by the world\u2019s spirit filled,
\n
As the mortal wakes into Eternity,
\n
As the finite opens to the Infinite.
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nEven as the bright heaven encloses this happy earth, Satyavan shuts Savitri into himself in a circle of bliss, and thus, as it were, he holds the whole world in their embrace.
\nThis limitless isolation from everything else makes them one. He becomes aware of her enclosing him and lets her penetrate into his inmost depths and occupy him as the world’s spirit fills the world, as one subject to time grows aware of Eternity, as the finitie opens to the invading Infinite.
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P><\/p>\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Twin Self-Finding <\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThus were they in each other lost awhile,
\n
Then drawing back from their long ecstasy\u2019s trance
\n
Came into a new self and a new world.
\n
Each now was a part of the other\u2019s unity.
\n
The world was but their twin self-finding\u2019s scene
\n
Or their own wedded being\u2019s vaster frame.
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAnd when they both come out of their blissful trance like spell, they emerge into quite a new world, a new state of being. Each now is part of the other. The world becomes the scene of the self-discovery of these twin souls; it is found to be the larger body of their own united being.
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P><\/p>\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Eternal Lord and Spouse <\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nOn the high glowing cupola of the day
\n
Fate tied a knot with morning\u2019s halo threads
\n
While by the ministry of an auspice-hour
\n
Heart-bound before the sun, their marriage fire,
\n
The wedding of the eternal Lord and Spouse
\n
Took place again on earth in human forms:
\n
In a new act of the drama of the world
\n
The united Two began a greater age.
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThus takes place again on earth the wedding of the eternal Divine Lord and his Spouse in the human forms of Satyavan and Savitri. The marriage is solemnised by Fate at the auspicious haloed morning hour before the witness Fire of the Sun.
\nIn the eternal drama of the world, a new act opens and the Two together intitate a greater Age.
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P><\/p>\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Love’s Twain Join <\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nIn the silence and murmur of that emerald world
\n
And the mutter of the priest-wind\u2019s sacred verse,
\n
Amid the choral whisperings of the leaves
\n
Love\u2019s twain had joined together and grew one.
\n
The natural miracle was wrought once more:
\n
In the immutable ideal world
\n
One human moment was eternal made.
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThus join the two halves of Love and become one in the silent murmur of that green world, to the accompaniment of the chant of the priest-wind and the low canticle of the leaves. The natural miracle of two coming together in love and becoming one is effected once again. This one moment of human time comes to be recorded as eternal in the realm of the Ideal.
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P><\/p>\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Her Future Home <\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThen down the narrow path where their lives had met
\n
He led and showed to her her future world,
\n
Love\u2019s refuge and corner of happy solitude.
\n
At the path\u2019s end through a green cleft in the trees
\n
She saw a clustering line of hermit-routes
\n
And looked now first on her heart\u2019s future home,
\n
The thatch that covered the life of Satyavan.
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThen Satyavan leads Savitri across the narrow path and shows her what is to be her world in future safe refuge of love and a happy solitude. At the end of the path, through an opening amid the trees she catches sight of a row of hermit dwellings and glimpses the cottage where Satyavan lives, the future home of her heart.
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P><\/p>\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Forest’s Anchorite Mood <\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nAdorned with creepers and red-climbing flowers
\n
It seemed a sylvan beauty in her dreams
\n
Slumbering with brown body and tumbled hair
\n
In her chamber inviolate of emerald peace.
\n
Around it stretched the forest\u2019s anchorite mood
\n
Lost in the depths of its own solitude.
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe cottage adorned with creepers and red mounting flowers looks like a veritable forest maiden, asleep dreaming in her chamber of verdant peace. Surrounding it all is the hermit forest musing in its own solitude.
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P><\/p>\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Soon I shall Return <\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThen moved by the deep joy she could not speak,
\n
A little depth of it quivering in her words,
\n
Her happy voice cried out to Satyavan:
\n
\u201cMy heart will stay here on this forest verge
\n
And close to this thatched roof while I am far:
\n
Now of more wandering it has no need.
\n
But I must haste back to my father\u2019s house
\n
Which soon will lose one loved accustomed tread
\n
And listen in vain for a once cherished voice.
\n
For soon I shall return nor ever again
\n
Oneness must sever its recovered bliss
\n
Or fate sunder our lives while life is ours.\u201d
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThen speaks Savitri to Satyavan in words quivering with a little of the ineffable joy deep within her:
\n“Though I go far, my heart will stay here on the forest edge close to this thatched roof. There is no need to wander any further. But now I must hasten back to my father’s house which is soon going to lose my accustomed steps and miss my voice. For I am going to return here soon so that this bliss of oneness that we have recovered shall not be lost again nor fate be allowed to part our lives as long as we live.”
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P><\/p>\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>She Mounts the Car <\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nOnce more she mounted on the carven car
\n
And under the ardour of a fiery noon
\n
Less bright than the splendour of her thoughts and dreams
\n
She sped swift-reined, swift-hearted but still saw
\n
In still lucidities of sight\u2019s inner world
\n
Through the cool scented wood\u2019s luxurious gloom
\n
On shadowy paths between great rugged trunks
\n
Pace towards a tranquil clearing Satyavan.
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nSavitri gets back into her chariot. The noon is bright and fiery but less bright than the splendour of her thoughts and dreamings. She drives fast, her heart beats swiftly, but in her inner vision that is calm and clear she keeps seeing Satyavan through the shadowed passages of the thick woods.
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/P><\/p>\n


\n
<\/FONT><\/FONT>Her Soul’s Temple and Home <\/B><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nA nave of trees enshrined the hermit thatch,
\n
The new deep covert of her felicity,
\n
Preferred to heaven her soul\u2019s temple and home.
\n
This now remained with her, her heart\u2019s constant scene.
\n<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/FONT>
\n<\/P>
\n


\nThe memory of the hermit cottage enclosed by a cluster of trees, the new home of her happiness, her soul’s temple more cherished than heaven, remains a constant scene in her heart.
\n<\/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 Five. The Book of Love Canto I    Canto II    Canto III           <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[245],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-5-savitri-study","wpcat-245-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10791","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=10791"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10791\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11171,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10791\/revisions\/11171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}