{"id":3437,"date":"2013-07-13T01:48:29","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:48:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=3437"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:48:29","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:48:29","slug":"38-book-seven-canto-four-vol-03-savitri-1954","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/02-other-editions\/01-savitri\/03-savitri-1954\/38-book-seven-canto-four-vol-03-savitri-1954","title":{"rendered":"-38_Book_Seven_Canto_Four.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\n\n
 <\/td>\n\n

\n

<\/p>\n

CANTO FOUR<\/b><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\nTHE TRIPLE SOUL-FORCES<\/font><\/b><\/span><\/font>
\n<\/font><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n

H<\/font><\/b><\/span>ERE
\n<\/b>from a low and prone and listless ground<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThe passion of the first ascent began;<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

A moon-bright face in a sombre cloud of hair,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nA Woman sat in a pale lustrous robe.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nA rugged and ragged soil was her bare seat,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nBeneath her feet a sharp and wounding stone.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nA divine pity on the peaks of the world,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nA spirit touched by the grief of all that lives,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nShe looked out far and saw from inner mind<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThis questionable world of outward things,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nOf false appearances and plausible shapes,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThis dubious cosmos stretched in the ignorant Void,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThe pangs of earth, the toil and speed of the stars<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd the difficult birth and dolorous end of life.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAccepting the universe as her body of woe,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThe Mother of the seven sorrows bore<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThe seven stabs that pierced her bleeding heart:<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

The beauty of sadness lingered on her face,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHer eyes were dim with the ancient stain of tears.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHer heart was riven with the world’s agony<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd burdened with the sorrow and struggle in Time,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAn anguished music trailed in her rapt voice.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAbsorbed in a deep compassion’s ecstasy,<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/font>
\nPage \u2013 571<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

Lifting the mild ray of her patient gaze,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nIn soft sweet training words slowly she spoke:<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

"O Savitri, I am thy secret soul.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nTo share the suffering of the world I came,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI draw my children’s pangs into my breast.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI am the nurse of the dolour beneath the stars;<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

I am the soul of all who wailing writhe<\/span><\/p>\n

\nUnder the ruthless harrow of the Gods.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI am woman, nurse and slave and beaten beast;<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

I tend the hands that gave me cruel blows;<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

The hearts that spurned my love and zeal I serve;<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

I am the courted queen, the pampered doll,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI am the giver of the bowl of rice,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI am the worshipped Angel of the House.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI am in all that suffers and that cries.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nMine is the prayer that climbs in vain from earth,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI am traversed by my creatures’ agonies,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI am the spirit in a world of pain.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThe scream of tortured flesh and tortured hearts<\/span><\/p>\n

\nFallen back on heart and flesh unheard by Heaven<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHas rent with helpless grief and wrath my soul.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI have seen the peasant burning in his hut,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI have seen the slashed corpse of the slaughtered child,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHeard woman’s cry ravished and stripped and haled<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAmid the bayings of the hell-hound mob,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI have looked on, I had no power to save.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI have brought no arm of strength to aid or slay;<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

God gave me love, he gave me not his force.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n
\nI have shared the toil of the yoked animal drudge<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Pushed by the goad, encouraged by the whip;<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

I have shared the fear-filled life of bird and beast,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nIts long hunt for the day’s precarious food,<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 572<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

<\/p>\n

Its covert slink and crouch and hungry prowl,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Its pain and terror seized by beak and claw.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

I have shared the daily life of common men,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Its petty pleasures and its petty cares,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Its press of troubles and haggard horde of ills<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Earth’s trail of sorrow hopeless of relief,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

The unwanted tedious labour without joy,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

And the burden of misery and the strokes of fate.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

I have been pity, leaning over pain<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

And the tender smile that heals the wounded heart<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

And sympathy making life less hard to bear.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Man has felt near my unseen face and hands,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

I have become the sufferer and his moan,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

I have lain down with the mangled and the slain,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

I have lived with the prisoner in his dungeon cell,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Heavy on my shoulders weighs the yoke of Time:<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Nothing refusing of creation’s load,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

I have borne all and know I still must bear:<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Perhaps when the world sinks into a last sleep,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

I too may sleep in dumb eternal peace.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

I have borne the calm indifference of Heaven,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Watched Nature’s cruelty to suffering things<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

While God passed silent by nor turned to help.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Yet have I cried not out against his will,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Yet have I not accused his cosmic Law. .<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Only to change this great hard world of pain<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

A patient prayer has risen from my breast,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

A pallid resignation lights my brow,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Within me a blind faith and mercy dwell;<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

I carry the fire that never can be quenched<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd the compassion that supports the suns.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI am the hope that looks towards my God,<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/font>
\nPage \u2013 573<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

<\/p>\n

My God who never came to me till now;<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

His voice I hear that ever says ‘I come’:<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

I know that one day he shall come at last."<\/span><\/p>\n

\nShe ceased, and like an echo from below<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnswering her pathos of divine complaint<\/span><\/p>\n

\nA voice of wrath took up the dire refrain,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nA growl of thunder or roar of angry beast,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThe beast that crouching growls within man’s depths,-<\/span><\/p>\n

\nVoice of a tortured Titan once a God.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n"I am the Man of Sorrows, I am he<\/span><\/p>\n

\nWho is nailed on the wide cross of the universe;<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

To enjoy my agony God built the earth,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nMy passion he has made his drama’s theme.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHe has sent me naked into his bitter world<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd beaten me with his rods of grief and pain<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThat I might cry and grovel at his feet<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd offer him worship with my blood and tears.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI am Prometheus under the vulture’s beak,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nMan, the discoverer of the undying Fire,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nIn the flame he kindled burning like a moth;<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

I am the seeker who can never find,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

I am the fighter who can never win,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

I am the runner who never touched his goal;<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

Hell tortures me with the edges of my thought,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHeaven tortures me with the splendour of my dreams.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nWhat profit have I of my human soul?<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI toil like the animal, like the animal die.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI am man the rebel, man the helpless serf;<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

Fate and my fellows cheat me of my wage.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

I loosen with my blood my servitude’s seal<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

And shake from my aching neck the oppressor’s knees<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Only to seat new tyrants on my back:<\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 574<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

<\/p>\n

My teachers lesson me in slavery,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

I am shown God’s stamp and my own true signature<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Upon the sorry contract of my fate.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

I have loved, but none has loved me since my birth;<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

My fruit of works is given to other hands:<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

All that is left me is my evil thoughts,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nMy sordid quarrel against God and man,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nEnvy of the riches that I cannot share,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHate of a happiness that is not mine.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI know my fate will ever be the same,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nIt is my Nature’s work that cannot change:<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

I have loved for mine, not for the beloved’s sake,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI have loved for myself and not for others’ lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nEach in himself is sole by Nature’s law,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nSo God has made his harsh and dreadful world,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nSo has he built the petty heart of man;<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

Only by force and ruse can man survive:<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

For pity is a weakness in his breast,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHis goodness is a laxity in the nerves,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHis kindness an investment for return,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHis altruism is ego’s other face:<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

He serves the world that him the world may serve.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nIf once the Titan’s strength could wake in me,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nIf Enceladus from Etna could arise,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI then would reign the master of the world<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd like a God enjoy man’s bliss and pain.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nBut God has taken from me the ancient force.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThere is a dull consent in my sluggish heart,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nA fierce satisfaction with my special pangs<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAs if they made me taller than my kind;<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Only by suffering can I excel.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI am the victim of titanic ills,<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/font>
\nPage \u2013 575<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

<\/p>\n

I am the doer of demoniac deeds;<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

I was made for evil, evil is my lot;<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Evil I must be and by evil live;<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Nought other can I do but be myself;<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

What Nature made me, that I must remain.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI suffer and toil and weep; I moan and hate."<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd Savitri heard the Voice, the echo heard<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd turning to her being of pity spoke:<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

"Madonna of suffering. Mother of grief divine,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThou art a portion of my soul put forth<\/span><\/p>\n

\nTo bear the unbearable sorrow of the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nBecause thou art, men yield not to their doom,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nBut ask for happiness and strive with fate;<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Because thou art, the wretched still can hope.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nBut thine is the power to solace, not to save.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nOne day I will return, a bringer of strength,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd make thee drink from the Eternal’s cup;<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

His streams of force shall triumph in thy limbs<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd Wisdom’s calm control thy passionate heart.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThy love shall be the bond of human kind,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nCompassion the bright king of Nature’s acts:<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

Misery shall pass abolished from the earth;<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

The world shall be freed from the anger of the Beast,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nFrom the cruelty of the Titan and his pain.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThere shall be peace and joy for ever more."<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

On passed she in her spirit’s upward route.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAn ardent grandeur climbed mid ferns and rocks,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nA quiet wind flattered the heart to warmth,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nA finer perfume breathed from slender trees.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAll beautiful grew, subtle and high and strange.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHere on a boulder carved like a huge throne<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 576<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

A Woman sat in gold and purple sheen,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nArmed with the trident and the thunderbolt,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHer feet upon a couchant lion’s back.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nA formidable smile curved round her lips,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHeaven-fire laughed in the corners of her eyes;<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Her body a mass of courage and heavenly strength,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nShe menaced the triumph of the nether gods.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nA halo of lightnings flamed around her head<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd sovereignty a great cestus zoned her robe<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd majesty and victory sat with her<\/span><\/p>\n

\nGuarding in the wide cosmic battle-field<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAgainst the flat equality of Death<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd the all-levelling insurgent Night<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThe hierarchy of the ordered Powers,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThe high changeless values, the peaked eminences,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThe privileged aristocracy of Truth,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd in the governing Ideal’s sun<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThe triumvirate of wisdom, love and bliss<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd the sole autocracy of the absolute Light.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAugust on her seat in the inner world of Mind,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThe Mother of Might looked down on passing things,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nListened to the advancing tread of Time,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nSaw the irresistible wheeling of the suns<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd heard the thunder of the march of God.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAmid the swaying forces in their strife<\/span><\/p>\n

\nSovereign was her word of luminous command,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHer speech like a war-cry rang or a pilgrim chant.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nA charm restoring hope in failing hearts,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAspired the harmony of her puissant voice:<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

"O Savitri, I am thy secret soul.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI have come down into the human world<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd the movement watched by an unsleeping Eye<\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/font>
\nPage \u2013 577<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

And the dark contrariety of earth’s fate<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd the battle of the bright and sombre Powers.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI stand upon earth’s paths of danger and grief<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd help the unfortunate and save the doomed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nTo the strong I bring the guerdon of their strength,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nTo the weak I bring the armour of my force;<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

To men who long I carry their coveted joy:<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

I am fortune justifying the great and wise<\/span><\/p>\n

\nBy the sanction of the plaudits of the crowd,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThen trampling them with the armed heel of Fate.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nMy ear is leaned to the cry of the oppressed,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI topple down the thrones of tyrant kings:<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

A cry comes from proscribed and hunted lives<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAppealing to me against a pitiless world,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nA voice of the forsaken and desolate<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd the lone prisoner in his dungeon cell.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nMen hail in my coming the Almighty’s force<\/span><\/p>\n

\nOr praise with thankful tears his saviour Grace.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI smite the Titan who bestrides the world<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd slay the ogre in his blood-stained den.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI am Durga, goddess of the proud and strong,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd Laksmi, queen of the fair and fortunate;<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

I wear the face of Kali when I kill,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

I trample the corpses of the demon hordes.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

I am charged by God to do his mighty work,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Uncaring I serve his will who sent me forth,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Reckless of peril and earthly consequence.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

I reason not of virtue and of sin<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

But do the deed he has put into my heart.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

I fear not for the angry frown of Heaven,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

I flinch not from the red assault of Hell;<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

I crush the opposition of the gods,<\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/font>
\nPage \u2013 578<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

<\/p>\n

Tread down a million goblin obstacles.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

I guide man to the path of the Divine<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

And guard him from the red Wolf and the Snake.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

I set in his mortal hand my heavenly sword<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

And put on him the breastplate of the gods.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

I break the ignorant pride of human mind<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

And lead the thought to the wideness of the Truth,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

I rend man’s narrow and successful life<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

And force his sorrowful eyes to gaze at the sun<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

That he may die to earth and live in his soul.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

I know the goal, I know the secret route:<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

I have studied the map of the invisible worlds,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

I am the battle’s head, the journey’s star.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

But the great obstinate world resists my word, ,’-;.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

And the crookedness and evil in man’s heart<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Is stronger than Reason, profounder than
\nthe Pit<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

And the malignancy of hostile Powers ; <\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

Puts craftily back the clock of destiny<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

And mightier seems than the eternal Will. :.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

The cosmic evil is too deep to unroot: ..<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

The cosmic suffering is too vast to heal. :<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

A few I guide who pass me towards the Light,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

A few I save, the mass falls back unsaved;<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

A few I help, the many strive and fail:<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

But my heart I have hardened and I do my work:<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Slowly the Light grows greater in the East,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Slowly the world progresses on God’s road.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

His seal is on my task, it cannot fail,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

I shall hear the silver swing of heaven’s gates<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

When God comes out to meet the soul of the world."<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

She spoke and from the lower human world<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

An answer, a warped echo met her speech;<\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 579<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

The voice came through the spaces of the mind<\/span><\/p>\n

\nOf the dwarf-Titan, the deformed chained god<\/span><\/p>\n

\nWho strives to master his nature’s rebel stuff<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd make the universe his instrument.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThe Ego of this great world of desire<\/span><\/p>\n

\nClaimed earth and the wide heavens for the use<\/span><\/p>\n

\nOf man, head of the life it shapes on earth,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nIts representative and conscious soul,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd symbol of evolving light and force<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd vessel of the godhead that must be.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nA thinking animal. Nature’s struggling lord<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHas made of her his nurse and tool and slave<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd pays to her as wage and emolument<\/span><\/p>\n

\nInescapably by a deep law in things<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHis heart’s grief and his body’s death and pain;<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

His pains are her means to grow, to see and feel;<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

His death assists her immortality.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nA tool and slave of his own slave and tool,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHe praises his free will and his master mind<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd is pushed by her upon her chosen paths;<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Possessor he is possessed and, ruler, ruled,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHer conscious automaton, her desire’s dupe.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHis soul is her guest, a sovereign mute, inert,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHis body her robot, his life her way to live,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHis conscious mind her strong revolted serf.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThe voice rose up and smote some inner sun:<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

"I am the heir of the forces of the earth,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nSlowly I make good my right to my estate;<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

A growing godhead in her divinised mud,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI climb, a claimant to the throne of heaven.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThe last born of the earth I stand the first;<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nHer slow millenniums waited for my birth.<\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 580<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

Although I live in Time besieged by Death,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPrecarious owner of my body and soul<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHoused on a little speck amid the stars,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nFor me and my use the universe was made.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nImmortal spirit in the perishing clay,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI am God still unevolved in human form;<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

Even if he is not, he becomes in me.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

The sun and moon are lights upon my path;<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

Air was invented for my lungs to breathe,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nConditioned as a wide and wallless space<\/span><\/p>\n

\nFor my winged chariot’s wheels to cleave a road,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThe sea was made for me to swim and sail<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd bear my golden commerce on its back:<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

It laughs cloven by my pleasure’s gliding keel,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

I laugh at its black stare of fate and death.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

The earth is my floor, the sky my living’s roof.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

All was prepared through many a silent age.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

God made experiments with animal shapes,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Then only when all was ready I was born.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

I was born weak and small and ignorant,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

A helpless creature in a difficult world,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Travelling through my brief years with death at my side:<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

I have grown greater than Nature, wiser than God.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI have made real what she never dreamed,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI have seized her powers and harnessed for my work,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI have shaped her metals and new metals made;<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

I will make glass and raiment out of milk,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nMake iron velvet, water unbreakable stone,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nLike God in his astuce of artist skill,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nMould from one primal plasm protean forms,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nIn single nature multitudinous lives,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAll that imagination can conceive<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 581<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

In mind intangible, remould anew<\/span><\/p>\n

\nIn Matter’s plastic solid and concrete,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nNo magic can surpass my magic’s skill.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThere is no miracle I shall not achieve.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nWhat God imperfect left, I will complete,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nOut of a tangled mind and half-made soul<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHis sin and error I will eliminate;<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

What he invented not, I shall invent:<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

He was the first creator, I am the last.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI have found the atoms from which he built the worlds:<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

The first tremendous cosmic energy<\/span><\/p>\n

\nMissioned shall leap to slay my enemy kin,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nExpunge a nation or abolish a race,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nDeath’s silence leave where there was laughter and joy.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nOr the fissured invisible shall spend God’s force<\/span><\/p>\n

\nTo extend my comforts and expand my wealth,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nTo speed my car which now the lightnings drive<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd turn the engines of my miracles.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI will take his means of sorcery from his hands<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd do with them greater wonders than his best.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nYet through it all I have kept my balanced thought;<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

I have studied my being, I have examined the world, .<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

I have grown a master of the arts of life.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

I have tamed the wild beast trained to be my friend;<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

He guards my house, looks up waiting my will.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI have taught my kind to serve and to obey.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI have used the mystery of the cosmic waves<\/span><\/p>\n

\nTo see far distance and to hear far words:<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

I have conquered Space and knitted close all earth:<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

Soon I shall know the
\nsecrets of the Mind: <\/span><\/p>\n

\nI play with knowledge and with ignorance <\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd sin and virtue my inventions are,<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 582<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

I can transcend or sovereignly use.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI shall know mystic truths, seize occult powers.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI shall slay my enemies with a look or thought,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI shall sense the unspoken feelings of all hearts<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd see and hear the hidden thoughts of men.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nWhen earth is mastered, I shall conquer heaven;<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

The gods shall be my aids or menial folk,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nNo wish I harbour unfulfilled shall die:<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Omnipotence and omniscience shall be mine."<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd Savitri heard the voice, the warped echo heard<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd turning to her being of power she spoke:<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

"Madonna of might. Mother of works and force,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Thou art a portion of my soul put forth<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

To help mankind and help the travail of Time.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Because thou art in him, man hopes and dares,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Because thou art, men’s souls can climb the heavens<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

And walk like Gods in the presence of the Supreme.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

But without wisdom power is like a wind,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

It can breathe upon the heights and kiss the sky,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

It cannot build the extreme eternal things.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Thou hast given men strength, wisdom thou couldst not give.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

One day I will return, a bringer of light,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Then I will give to thee the mirror of God;<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

Thou shalt see self and world as by him they are seen<\/span><\/p>\n

\nReflected in the bright pool of thy soul.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThy wisdom shall be vast as vast thy power.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThen hate shall dwell no more in human hearts,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd fear and weakness shall desert men’s lives,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThe cry of the ego shall be hushed within,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nIts lion roar that claims the world as food,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAll shall be might and bliss and happy force."<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 583<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

Ascending still her spirit’s upward route<\/span><\/p>\n

\nShe came into a high and happy space,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nA wide tower of vision whence all could be seen<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd all was centred in a single view<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAs when by distance separate scenes grow one<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd a harmony is made of hues at war.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThe wind was still and fragrance packed the air.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThere was a carol of birds and murmur of bees,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd all that is common and natural and sweet,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nYet intimately divine to heart and soul.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nA nearness thrilled of the spirit to its source<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd deepest things seemed obvious, close and true.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHere, living centre of that vision of peace,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nA Woman sat in clear and crystal light:<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

Heaven had unveiled its lustre in her eyes,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Her feet were moonbeams, her face was a bright sun,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n
\nHer smile could persuade a dead lacerated heart<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

To live again and feel the hands of calm.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n
\nA low music heard became her floating voice:<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

"O Savitri, I am thy secret soul.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n
\nI have come down to the wounded desolate earth<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

To heal her pangs and lull her heart to rest<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

And lay her head upon the Mother’s lap<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n
\nThat she may dream of God and know his peace<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

And draw the harmony of higher spheres<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n
\nInto the rhythm of earth’s rude troubled days.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

I show to her the figures of bright Gods<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

And bring strength and solace to her struggling life,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n
\nHigh things that now are only words and forms<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

I reveal to her in the body of their power.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n
\nI am peace that steals into man’s war-worn breast,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Amid the reign of Hell his acts create<\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 584<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

<\/p>\n

A hostel where Heaven’s messengers can lodge;<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

I am charity with the kindly hands that bless,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI am silence mid the noisy tramp of life;<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

I am Knowledge poring on her cosmic map.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

In the anomalies of the human heart<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Where Good and Evil are close bed-fellows<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

And Light is by Darkness dogged at every step,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Where his largest knowledge is an ignorance,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

I am the Power that labours towards the best<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

And works for God and looks up towards the heights.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

I make even sin and error stepping stones<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

And all experience a long march towards Light.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Out of the Inconscient I build consciousness<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

And lead through death to reach immortal life.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Many are God’s forms by which he grows in man;<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

They stamp his thoughts and deeds with divinity,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Uplift the stature of the human clay<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Or slowly transmute it into heaven’s gold.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

He is the Good for which men fight and die,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

He is the War of Right with Titan Wrong,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

He is Freedom rising deathless from her pyre,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

He is Valour guarding still the desperate pass<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Or lone and erect on the shattered barricade<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Or a sentinel in the dangerous echoing Night.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

He is the crown of the martyr burned in flame<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

And the glad resignation of the saint<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

And courage indifferent to the wounds of Time<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

And the hero’s might wrestling with death and Fate.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

He is Wisdom incarnate on a glorious throne<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

And the calm autocracy of the sage’s rule.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

He is the high and solitary Thought<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Aloof above the ignorant multitude:<\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 585<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

He is the prophet’s voice, the sight of the seer.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHe is Beauty, nectar of the passionate soul,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHe is the Truth by which the spirit lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHe is the riches of the spiritual Vast<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPoured out in healing streams on indigent Life,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHe is Eternity lured from hour to hour,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHe is Infinity in a little space:<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

He is Immortality in the arms of Death.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThese powers I am and at my call they come.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThus slowly I lift man’s soul nearer the Light.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nBut human mind clings to its ignorance,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd to its littleness the human heart,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd to its right to grief the earthly life.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nOnly when Eternity takes Time by the hand,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nOnly when infinity weds the finite’s thought,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nCan man be free from himself and live with God.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI bring meanwhile the gods upon the earth;<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

I bring back hope to the despairing heart;<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

I give peace to the humble and the great<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd shed my grace on the foolish and the wise.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI shall save earth, if earth consents to be saved.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThen Love shall at last unwounded tread earth’s soil;<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Man’s mind shall admit the sovereignty of Truth<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd body bear the immense descent of God."<\/span><\/p>\n

\nShe spoke and from the ignorant nether plane<\/span><\/p>\n

\nA cry, a warped echo naked and shuddering came.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nA voice of the sense-shackled human mind<\/span><\/p>\n

\nCarried its proud complaint of Godlike power<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHedged by the limits of a mortal’s thoughts,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nBound in the chains of earthly ignorance.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nImprisoned in his body and his brain<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThe mortal cannot see God’s mighty whole<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 586<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

<\/p>\n

Or share in his vast and deep identity<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Who stands unguessed within our ignorant hearts<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

And knows all things because he is one with all.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Man only sees the cosmic surfaces.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Then wondering what may lie hid from the sense<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

A little way he delves to depths below:<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

But soon he stops, he cannot reach life’s core<\/span><\/p>\n

\nOr commune with the throbbing heart of things.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHe sees the naked body of the Truth<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThough often baffled by her endless garbs,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nBut cannot look upon her soul within.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThen, furious for a knowledge absolute,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHe tears all details out and stabs and digs:<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Only the shape’s contents he holds for use,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThe spirit escapes or dies beneath his knife.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHe sees as a blank stretch, a giant waste<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThe crowding riches of infinity.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThe finite he has made his central field,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nIts plan dissects, masters its processes,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThat which moves all is hidden from his gaze,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHis poring eyes miss the unseen behind.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHe has the blind man’s subtle unerring touch<\/span><\/p>\n

\nOr the slow traveller’s sight of distant scenes;<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

The soul’s revealing contacts are not his.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nYet is he visited by intuitive light<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd inspiration comes from the Unknown,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nBut only reason and sense he feels as sure,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThey only are his trusted witnesses.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThus is he baulked, his splendid effort vain;<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

His knowledge scans bright pebbles on the shore<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Of the huge ocean of his ignorance.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Yet grandiose were the accents of that cry<\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 587<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

<\/p>\n

A cosmic pathos trembled in its tone.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n
\n"I am the mind of God’s great ignorant world<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n
\nAscending to knowledge by the steps he made;<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

I am the all-discovering Thought of man.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

I am a god fettered by Matter and sense,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

An animal prisoned in a fence of thorns,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

A beast of labour asking for his food,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

A smith tied to his anvil and his forge.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Yet have I loosened the cord, enlarged my room.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

I have mapped the heavens and analysed the stars,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Described the orbits through the grooves of Space,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Measured the miles that separate the suns,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Computed their longevity in Time.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n
\nI have delved into earth’s bowels and torn out<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

The riches guarded by her dull brown soil.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n
\nI have classed the changes of her stony crust<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n
\nAnd of her biography discovered the dates,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Rescued the pages of all Nature’s plan.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

The tree of evolution I have sketched,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n
\nEach branch and twig and leaf in its own place,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n
\nIn the embryo tracked the history of forms,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

And the genealogy framed of all that lives.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

I have detected plasm and cell and gene,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

The protozoa traced, man’s ancestors,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

The humble originals from whom he rose;<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

I know how he was born and how he dies;<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Only what end he serves I know not yet,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Or if there is aim at all or any end<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Or push of rich creative purposeful joy<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

In the wide works of the terrestrial power.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

I have caught her intricate processes, none is left:<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Her huge machinery is in my hands;<\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 588<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

I have seized the cosmic energies for my use.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI have pored on her infinitesimal elements<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd her invisible atoms have unmasked:<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

All Matter is a book I have perused;<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Only some pages now are left to read.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

I have seen the ways of life, the paths of mind;<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

I have studied the methods of the ant and ape<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd the behaviour learnt of man and worm.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nIf God is at work his secrets I have found.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nBut still the Cause of things is left in doubt<\/span><\/p>\n

\nTheir truth flees from pursuit into a void,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nWhen all has been explained nothing is known.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nWhat chose the process, whence the Power sprung<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI know not and perhaps shall never know.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nA mystery is this mighty Nature’s birth;<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

A mystery is the elusive stream of mind,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

A mystery the protean freak of life.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

What I have learnt. Chance leaps to contradict;<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

What I have built is seized and torn by Fate.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nI can foresee the acts of Matter’s force,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nBut not the march of the destiny of man:<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

He is driven upon paths he did not choose,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHe falls trampled underneath the rolling wheels.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nMy great philosophies are a reasoned guess;<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

The mystic heavens that claim the human soul<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAre a charlatanism of the imagining brain:<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

All is a speculation or a dream:<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

In the end the world itself becomes a doubt:<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

The infinitesimal’s jest mocks mass and shape,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nA laugh peals from the infinite’s finite mask.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPerhaps the world is an error of our sight,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nA trick repeated in each flash of sense,<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage \u2013 589<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

<\/p>\n

An unreal mind hallucinates the soul<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

With a stress-vision of false reality,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Or a dance of Maya veils the Void unborn.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Even if a greater consciousness I could reach,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

What profit is it then for Thought to win<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

A Real which is for ever ineffable<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Or hunt to its lair the bodiless Self or make<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

The Unknowable the target of the soul?<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

<\/p>\n

Nay, let me work within my mortal bounds,<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n
\nNot live beyond life nor think beyond the mind;<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

Our smallness saves us from the Infinite.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nIn a frozen grandeur lone and desolate<\/span><\/p>\n

\nCall me not to die the great eternal Death,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nLeft naked of my own humanity<\/span><\/p>\n

\nIn the chill vast of the spirit’s boundlessness.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nEach creature by its nature’s limits lives,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd how can one evade his native fate?<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHuman I am, human let me remain<\/span><\/p>\n

\nTill in the Inconscient I fall dumb and sleep.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nA high insanity, a chimera is this,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nTo think that God lives hidden in the clay<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd that eternal Truth can dwell in Time,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd call to her to save our self and world.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHow can man grow immortal and divine<\/span><\/p>\n

\nTransmuting the very stuff of which he is made?<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThis wizard Gods may dream, not thinking men."<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

And Savitri heard the voice, the warped answer heard<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd turning to her being of light she spoke:<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

"Madonna of light. Mother of joy and peace,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThou art a portion of my self put forth<\/span><\/p>\n

\nTo raise the spirit to its forgotten heights<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd wake the soul by touches of the heavens.<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/font>
\nPage \u2013 590<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

<\/p>\n

Because thou art, the soul draws near to God;<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\n

Because thou art, love grows in spite of hate<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd knowledge walks unslain in the pit of Night.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nBut not by showering heaven’s golden rain<\/span><\/p>\n

\nUpon the intellect’s hard and rocky soil<\/span><\/p>\n

\nCan the tree of Paradise flower on earthly ground<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd the Bird of Paradise sit upon life’s boughs<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd the winds of Paradise visit mortal air.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nEven if thou rain down intuition’s rays,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThe mind of man will think it earth’s own gleam,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHis spirit by spiritual ego sink,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nOr his soul dream shut in sainthood’s brilliant cell<\/span><\/p>\n

\nWhere only a bright shadow of God can come:<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

His hunger for the eternal thou must nurse<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd fill his yearning heart with heaven’s fire<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd bring God down into his body and life.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nOne day I shall return. His hands in mine,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nAnd thou shalt see the face of the Absolute.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThen shall the holy marriage be achieved,<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThen shall the divine family be born.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nThere shall be light and peace in all the worlds."<\/span><\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/font>
\nPage \u2013 591<\/font><\/span><\/td>\n

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

  CANTO FOUR   THE TRIPLE SOUL-FORCES   HERE from a low and prone and listless ground The passion of the first ascent began; A…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[78],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-03-savitri-1954","wpcat-78-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3437","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=3437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3437\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}