Savitri: Book VI Canto II (1948 Pathmandir Annual No. 7)
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Transcript of Savitri: Book VI Canto II (1948 Pathmandir Annual No. 7)
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Savitri
6
GREATI l lus ion then, has bui l tthe
stars.
But
where then is the soul'ssecurity,
Its
place in the
circling
of unreal
suns?
Or
where begins andendsIllusion's reign?
Perhapsthe soul we feel is only a dream,
Eternal self a fictionsensedin trance."
"Was then the sun a dream
becausethere
is night?
The Eternal lives hid in thy mortalheart:
He is curtained in the chamber of thy soul
I n L i g h twhichpain and gr iefcan nevercross.
Outside the door they wait hungering for bliss.
A
darkness hangs
between thyself and him.
Thoucanstnot see the beatific
L igh t
Thou
canst
nothearor feel the marvellousGuest.
Where Ignorance is,theresuffering too must come.
Thy gr ief
is
a cry of
darkness
to the Light ;
Pain was the first-bom of the Inconscience;
Alreadysleeps
there
its subconscient shape:
Ashadow in its shadowytenebrouswomb.
I t waits t i l l life shall move, to wake and be.
I n
one caul
w i t h
joy
came
forth
its dreadful power.
Hidingits brighttw inin life's
breast
it was bom;
For paincame first then only joy could be.
Pain ploughed the
first
hard ground of the world's drowse.
Bypain a
spirit
started from the
clod.
Bypain Lifestirred in the subliminaldeeps.
Intemed, submerged, hidden in Matter'strance
Awoketo itselfthedreamer,sleeping M i n d ;
I t
madea visible realm out of
itsdreams.
An extract from 5aM rnBook VI, Canto I I
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SRI AUROBINDO M A N D I R A N N U A L
I tdrew itsshapes
from
the subconscient depths.
Then
turned tolookupon thew or ldit had made.
By
pain and joy the
bright
and tenebrous twins
The inanimate
wor ld
perceived its sentient soul.
Else had the Inconscient never suffered change.
Pain is the hammer of the gods to break
Adead resistance in the mortal's heart,
His
slow inertia as ofl ivingstone.
the heart were not forced to want and weep.
His
soulwouldhave laindown content, atease.
A nd
never thought to exceed the human start
A nd
never learned to
climb
towards the
S^m.
Thisearth is full of labour, packed w i thpain;
Throes of anendlessb i r thare wi thher still;
The centuries end, theagesvainlypass
A n d
yet the godhead in her is not bom.
The ancient Motherfacesall
w i th
joy.
Calls
for the ardent pang, the grandiose th r i l l ;
For
wi th
pain and labour all creation comes.
Thisearth is
full
of the anguish of the gods;
Ever theytravail
driven
by Time's goad.
Striving
toworkout the eternal wil l
A n d
shapethe
wor lddivine
in mortal forms.
His wil lthey mustworkout in humanbreasts
Againstthe Ev i lthat rises from thegulfs,
Againstman'signorance and his obstinate strength.
Againstthe
deepfolly
of
his
human
mind.
Againstthe bl indreluctance of his heart.
Painis the spirit's fate
t i l l
man is free.
Acry
ariseslike
a moaning sea,
A clamour of battle and a tramp and march,
Adesperatelaughter under the blows of death,
A
doom of
blood
and sweat and
to i l
and
tears.
Mendie that man mayliveand God be bora.
A n awful Silence watches tragicTime.
Pain is the hand of Nature sculpturing men
Togreatness:
an inspired labour chisels
W i t h
heavenly cruelty an
unwill ing
mould.
Implacable
in the passion of their w i l l
Lif tingthe hammers oftitanic toil
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S A V I T R I
9
The demiurges of the universework;
Theyshapew i t h
giant strokes their
own;
their
sons
Are
marked
w i t h
their enormous stamp of
fire.
Although
the shaping god's tremendous touch
Is torture unbearable to
mortal
nerves.
The fiery
spirit
grows in strength wi th in
A nd
feels a joy in every
titan
pang.
H e
whowould
savehimself
fives bare and
calm;
H e whowouldsavethe
race
must
share
its pain:
Thishe shall
know
who obeys that grandiose urge.
The
Great who came to
save
this
suffering
world
And rescue
out of
Time's
shadow and the Law,
Mustpass
beneath the yoke of
grief
and pain;
They
are caught by the Wheel that they had hoped to break.
O n
their shoulders they must
bear
man's load of fate.
O r
they pay the gift of
knowledgew i t h
theirlives.
The Son ofG od bom as the Son of man
Has dmnk the bitter cup, owned Godhead's debt,
The
debt the Etemal owes to the
fallen
mankind
His will
has bound to death and
struggling life
That
yeams in
vain
for rest and
endless peace.
Now
is the debt paid, the scorewipedoff
in full .
The
Eternal's
suffering
in a human
form
Has signed salvation's testament
w i t h
his
blood;
Opened are the doors of his
undyingpeace.
The Deity
compensates the creature's
claim,
The Creatorbearsthe law ofpainand death;
A retribution
smites the incamate God.
By
man's hate he has redeemed his love of men.
H is
love has paved the mortal's road to Heaven:
H e
has
given
his
life
and
l ight
to balance here
The
dark account of
mortal
ignorance.
I t
is
finished,
the dread mysterious sacrifice.
H is
sacrificed body
offered
for the
wor ld
Gethsemane and calvary his lot,
Carrying
the cross on
which
man's soul is nailed,
Insult
and jeer his right's sole acknowledgement,
Escorted by the
curses
of the
crowd,
Tw o
thieves slain
wi th
him to mock his
mighty
death.
H e
has
trod wi th
bleeding brow the Saviour's way.
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SRI
AUROBINDO M A N D I R A N N U A L
Listen
to the
sage
triumphant in his death
Hewn,quartered on the scaffold as he falls
His
crucified voice proclaims,
I ,
I am God;'
'Yes, all is God,'pealsback
Heaven's
deathlesscry.
outerpeaceenrings and
days
immune.
Yetwhen God'smessengercomesto help and lead
The aspirant soul of earth to higher things.
He too must carry the yoke hecameto unloose;
A llearth'sdisquietude he must make his.
Exempt and unafflicted byearth'sfate.
How
shall he heal the illshe never felt?
Although
to the outward eye is shown ho sign
Yetis the struggle there, theunseenprice;
The fire the strife, the wrestle are wi thin.
He carries the suffering
wor ld
in his own
breast;
Its
sinsweigh on his thoughts, itsgriefis his:
The
Titan
adversary'sclutch is
felt;
Earth's old grey load lies heavy on his soul;
His
march is a battle and a pilgrimage.
Night
and its powersbeleaguerhis tardysteps
A nd
smite himw i t hlife'seviland the world's pain:
A milUon
woundsgapein his
secretheart.
Asleeplessjourney in anendlessnight,
Atitan warfare is his inner
fife.
Even worse may be the cost of direst pain
Before the afflicting Power
wi l l
loose its
hold.
His
large identity and all-harbouring love
May
bring the cosmic anguish into his depths,
The sorrow ofall livin gthings shall come
Toknock at his doors and
live
wi th inhishouse;
A dreadful cord of sympathy has tied
AU
suffering into his single grief; it hasmade
A ll agony in all the worlds his own.
He is lashed w i t hthe whips of the antagonist Force;
The weeping of the centuries visits his
eyes:
Hewearsthe blood-glued fieryCentaur shirt,
The poison of the
wor ld
has stained his throat.
I n the market-place of Matter's capital
Amidstthe chafferings of the affair of life
He is tied to thestakeof the pereimial Fire
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SRI AUROBINDO M A N D I R
A N N U A L
From
the sorrow and the
darkness
and the chain;
Buthow shall a few
escaped
releasethe world?
The humanmasslingers beneath the yoke.
Escape,howeverhigh,redeemsnot life.
Lifethat is
left
behind on afallen earth.
Escapecannot uplift the abandoned race
Orbringto it
victory
and the reign of God.
Agreater power must come, a larger
light.
Although L igh tgrows on earth and
Night
recedes.
Yet t i l l the evilis slain in its own home
A nd L igh t
invades the world's inconscient
base
A ndperished has the adversary Force,
He stillmust labour on, his
work
half
done.
One yet may come armoured,invincible;
No blowcan bend his calm andvictor head:
Calm
andsureare hisstepsin thegrowingNight;
The goalrecedes,he hurries not hispace.
Heturns not tohighvoices in theNight;
He
asks
no aid
from
the
inferior
gods;
Hiseyesare
fixed
on his immutable aim.
Manturnsasideorchooses easierpaths;
He
keeps
to the onehighand difficult road
Thatsole can
climb
to the eternal's peaks;
The ineffable planes already have felthis tread;
Hehas made heaven and earth his instruments.
Butthe l imits fall from him of earth and heaven;
Their
law hetranscendsandusesas hismeans.
Hehas seizedlife'shandsand mastered his own heart
Thisnature and its feints cannot deceive;
Fate'sdeaf resistance caimot break his
wil l .
I nthe dreadfulpassages,thefatalpaths
Invulnerable
his soul, his heart unslain.
Helives through the opposition ofearth'sPowers
A n d
Nature's
ambushes
and the world's attacks.
Hisspirit's stature transcending pain andbhss
Hefronts
evil
and good
wi th
calm and equal
eyes.
Hetoo must grapple wi ththe riddlingSphinx
A nd
plungeintoherlongobscurity.
Hehas brokenintothe Inconscient's depths
That veilthemselves even from their own regard:
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S A V I T R I
He
has
seen
God's slumbershape
these
magic worlds.
He
has watched the dumb God fashioning Matter's frame.
Dreamingthe dreams of its
unknowing
sleep.
A n d
watched the unconscious Force that
bu i l t
the
stars.
He has learnt the Inconscient's workings and its law,
Its incoherent thoughts and r igid acts.
Itshazardwastesof impulse and idea.
Thechaosofitsmechanic frequencies.
Itsrandom calls, its whispers falsely true,
Misleaders of the hooded listening soul.
A l l things come to its ear but nothing abides;
A l l rosefromthe silence, allgoesback to its hush.
Itssomnolence founded the universe.
Itsobscure
waking
makes the wor ld seemvain.
Arisen
fromNothingness and towards Nothingness turned.
Its
dark and potentnesciencewasearth'sstart;
I tis the waste
stuff
from
which
all was made:
Into
itsdeepscreation can collapse.
Its
opposition clogs the march of the soul,
I t is the mother of our ignorance.
He
mustcallhght
into
its dark abysms.
Else never canTruth conquer Matter's
sleep
A n d all earthlook
into
theeyesof God.
A l lthings obscure his knowledge must relume,
A l lthings perverse his power must unknot.
He must
pass
to the other shore of falsehood's sea.
He must enter the world's dark to
bring
there
l ight .
The heart ofevilmust be bared to hiseyes.
He must learn its cosmic dark necessity.
Itsrightand its dire roots in Nature's soil.
He must know the thought that moves the demon act
A n d justifies theTitanin his pride:
He must enter the eternity ofNight
A ndknow God'sdarknessas he knows his Sun.
For
this he must go down
into
the pit.
For
this he must invade the dolorous Vasts.
Imperishable and wise and infinite.
He
still
must travelH e llthe wor ld tosave.
Into
the etemal L i gh the shall emerge,
On
borders where all worlds meet and
fulfil
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SRI
AUROBINDO M A N D I R A N N U A L
Their secret law and heal their dissidence.
There meet and clasp the eternal opposites.
There pain becomes aviolent
fiery
joy;
Evi lturns back to itsoriginalgood,
A nd
sorrow lies upon the
breasts
of
Bliss
A ndlearns to weep gladtearsof happiness
A ndthe softgazeof
wistful
ecstasy.
Thenshall be ended here the Law of Pain,
Heaven'swisdomlodgew i th inthemortal breast;
The superconscient
l ight
shall touch men's
eyes
A ndthe truth-consciousw or ldenvelop earth:
Thenshall the world-redeemer's task be done.
Omortal,
bear
this great world's law ofpain;
Leaningfor thy support on Heaven's strength
Turn
towardshighTruth,aspire to love andpeace.
Receive the joy lent to thee from above.
CUmb
not to Godhead by the Titan's road.
I t
clambers back and spirals to the abyss.
The
Titan
rises on a stair of storms.
By
the clangour of
his
actsofmightand pain,
Byhis magnitude of hate and violence
He
feels inhimselfthegreatnessofagod:
Power is his image ofcelestialself.
The Titan's heart exults in dread and tears,
Hefeeds his strengthw i thhis own and others' pain;
His
pride and force
call
in the struggle and pang
A n d to cover his passion draws the Stoic's name.
But
thou, O
mortal,
bear,seeknot the stroke.
Too
soonwi l l
grief
and anguish findthee out.
Yet
bliss is there behind the world's face of tears.
Apower is in thee that thou knowest not;
Thouart a vessel of the Eternal's spark
That
seeks
relief from
Time's envelopment.
A n d
while
thou shutst it
in
the seal is pain:
Calm
is self's
victory
overcoming fate.
Painsigns the secret god denied by life:
Unburdenedby
life's
b l indmystery ofpain
Blissis the Godhead's crown,etemal, free.
Bear; thou shalt findat last the road to bliss.
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S A V I T R I
O f
all
that is thesecret
stuff
is bliss,
Even pain and
grief
aregarbsof a world-dehght
Thathidesbehind thy sorrow and thy cry.
Because
thy strength is a part and notGod'swhole
A n d
thyconsciousnessforgets to be divine
A n d
walks in the
vague
penumbra of the flesh
A nd
cannot bearthe world'stremendoustouch,
Thoucriest out andsaystthatthereis pain.
Att i re
of the rapturous Dancer in the ways.
Indifference, pain and joy, a triple disguise,
Withold f rom
thee
the body of
God's
bliss.
When thy spirit's strength shallmaketheeone w i thGod,
Thy agony shallchangeto
ecstasy.
Indifferencepassinto a rapturous calm
A n d
joy laughnudeon thepeaksof the Absolute.
O mortal who complainst ofdeathand fate.
Accuse not any of theharmsthoubearst;
This troubled
wor ld
thouhastchosenfor thy home
A n d
art thyself the author of thy pain.
Oncein the immortalboundlessnessof Self,
I n
itsvastof Truth andConsciousnessand
Light
The soul looked out
from
its felicity.
I t
felt
the Spirit's interminable bliss.
I t knew
itself
deathless,timeless,
spaceless,
one,
I t saw the Etemal, Uved in the
Infinite.
Then, curious of ashadowthrown by Truth,
I t
strained towards
some otherness
of self.
A nunknownfacepeering through the
obscure
night.
I t
sensed
a negative
infinity
A
void
etemalwhoseimmenseexcess
Offered a ground forNature'sdarkling
bir th
A n d
Matter's r igidhardunconsciousness
Harbouring the briUiance of a transient soul
That lights our
b i r th
anddeathand ignorant
life.
A M i n d
arose
thatstaredat Nothingness
T i l l
figures formed of what couldneverbe;
I thoused
the contrary ofa llthat is.
ANought
appeared
as Being'shuge
sealed
cause,
Its
dumb support in a blank infinite
I n
whose
abysm spirit must
disappear:
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SRI
AUROBINDO
M A N D I R A N N U A L
A
darkened Nature abides and holds the
seed
O f
Spirit
hidden and
feigning
not to be.
The etemal Consciousness becamethe home
O f
an unsouled almighty Inconscient;
I t l ivedno more as spirit's native air.
A
stranger in the insentient universe.
Bliss
was the incident of
a
mortal hour.
Asone drawn by the grandeur of the Void
The soul attracted leaned to the Abyss:
I t
longed for the adventure of Ignorance
A n dthe marvel and surprise of the
Unknown
A n dtheendlesspossibiUty that
lurked
I n
the womb ofChaosand in Nothing's
gulf
Orlookedfrom the unfathomedeyesof Chance.
I t tiredofitsunchanging happiness.
I t tumed away from
immortality:
I t was drawn to
hazard's
call
anddanger'scharm,
I tyeamed to the pathos of
grief,
the drama of pain.
Peril
of
perdition
and woundedbareescape,
The music ofru i nand its glamour and crash.
The savour ofpi tyand the gamble oflove
A n d
passion and the ambiguous face of Fate.
Aclash of forces, a vast incertitude.
The joy of creation out of Nothingness,
A
wor ldof hard endeavour and
difficult
toil
A n d
battle on extinction's perilous verge.
Strange meetings on theroadsof Ignorance
A n d
the companionship of
half-known
souls.
Or
the soUtary
greamess
and
lonely
force
O fa separatebeing conquering its wor l d
'Calleditfromits toosafeeternity.
A
hugedescentbegan, a giant
fall:
For what thespiritsees,createsa tmth
A n dwhat the soul imagines is made aw or ld .
A
Thought that leaped
from
the Timeless can become,
Indicatorof cosmicconsequence
A nd the itinerary of the gods,
A
cychc movement in etemal
Time.
Thus came, bom from ab l ind tremendous choice,
Thisgreat perplexed and discontented wor l d
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S A V I T R I
This
haunt of Ignorance, this home of Pain:
There arc pitched desire's tents, grief's headquarters.
Avast disguise conceals the Eternal's bliss."