Savitri Fascicle: Book Three, Canto Four (1947)

7/24/2019 Savitri Fascicle: Book Three, Canto Four (1947)

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SRI UROBINDO


2/19

S A V I T R I

Legend and a Symbol

[

Book in.

Canto

IV ]

S R I

A U R O B I N D O


3/19

P U B L I S H E R ;

S R I A U R O B I N D O A S H R A M

P O N D I C H E R R Y

ll Rights Reserved

FIRST EDITION 947

I m p r e m e r i e de Sri

A u r o b i n d o

Ashram

Pondich^ry

P .


4/19

BOOK THREE

The Book of the Divine Mother


5/19

CANTO OUR

The

Vision

and

the Boon


6/19

S VITRI

B O O K T H R E E

CANTOIV

THE

V I S I O N AN D THE

BOON

nr^HEN suddenly thererosea sacred stir.

JL

A sound came

quivering like

a

loved

footfall

Heard in thelisteningspacesof the soul;

A

touch perturbed his fibres

w i th

delight.

A n

influence had approached the mortal range,

A

boundless Heart was

near

his

longing

heart,

A

mystic Form enveloped his earthlyshape.

A l l

at her contact broke from silence' seal;

Spiritand body thri l led identified.

Linked

in the grasp of an unspoken joy;

M i n d ,members,

life

were merged in

ecstasy.

Intoxicatedas wi thnectarous

rain

His

nature's passioningstretchesflowedto her

Flashing

w i t h

lightnings,

mad w i thluminous

wine.

A l l

was a

limitless

sea that heaved to the moon.

Adivinising

streampossessedhis veins,

His

body's cells awoke to

spiritsense,

Each nervebecamea burning thread ofjoy:

Tissue and flesh partook beatitude.

Aligh t ,the dun unplumbed subconscientcaves

Thr i l l ed w i th

the prescience of her longed-for tread

A n d filled wi th flickering

crests

and praying tongues.

Even

lost in slumber, mute, inanimate

His

very body answered lo her power.

The One he worshipped was wi th inhim now:

Flame-pure, ethereal-tressed a

mighty

Face


7/19

S A V I T R I

B O O K

I I I ,C A N T O I V

Appeared andlipsmoved byimmortalwords;

Lids,wisdom's leaves, drooped over rapture's orbs.

Amarble moniunent of ponderings,shone

A

forehead, sight's crypt, and large

like

oceans's

gaze

Towards Heaven twotranquileyesof boundless thought

Lookedintoman'sand saw the god to come.

A

shapewas

seen

on threshold M i n d , a

Voice

Absoluteand wise in theheart'schambers spoke:

"O Son of Strength who climbst creation's peaks.

Nosoul is thy companion in the Hght;

Alonethoustandestat the eternal doors.

What

thou

hast

won is thine, but ask no more.

O

Spirit

aspiring in an ignorant frame,

0 Voicearisen from the Inconscient's world ,

How

shait thouspeakfor men whoseheartsare dumb.

Make

purblind

earth the soul's seer-vision's home

Or

hghten the burden of thesenselessglobe?

1 am the Mystery beyond reach ofmind,

am the goal of the

travail

of thesuns;

M y fireandsweetnessare thecauseof life.

But

too immense my danger and my joy.

Awake

not the immeasiurabledescent,

Speak

not mysecretname to hostile

Time;

Manis too weak to

bear

the Infinite'sweight.

Truth

born too soon

might

break the imperfect earth.

Leave the all-seeing Power to hew its way:

I n thy single vast achievement reign apart

Helpingthe wor ld

w i th

thy greatlonelydays.

ask

thee

not to merge thy heart of flame

I n the Immobile's wide uncaring bliss.

Turned

from

the fruidess motionof the years,

Desertingthe fierce labour of the worlds,

Aloof from beings, lost in the

Alone.

How

shall thymighty spiritbrookrepose

WhileDeath is stillunconquered on the earth

A n d

Time a

field

ofsufferingand pain?

Thy

soul was bom to

share

the laden Force;

Obey thy nature and fulfil thy fate:

Accept

the difficulty andgodlike

toU,

For

the slow-paced omniscient purpose hve.

[Page Two]


8/19

S A V I T R I

B O O K I I I C A N T O I V

The Enigma's knot istiedin human k ind .

Ahghtningfrom the heights that

think

and plan,

Ploughingthe air oflife

w i t h

vanishingtrails,

Man,

sole awake in an unconscious

world,

Aspiresinvaintochangethe cosmic dream.

Arrived from some

half-luminous Beyond

Heis a stranger in the mindless vasts;

Atraveller in hisoft-shifting home

A m i d

the tread of many infinitudes.

Hehas pitched a tent of hfe indesert

Space.

Heaven's fixedregard beholds himfrom above,

I n thehouseof Nature a perturbing guest,

Avoyager

twix t

Thought's inconstant

shores,

Ahunter ofimknownand beautiful Powers,

Anomad of the far mysterious

L igh t ,

I n the wide ways a httle spark of God.

Againsthis

spirit

all is in dire league,

A

Titan

influencestopshis Godwardgaze.

Aroundhim hungers theunpitying

Void,

The eternal Darkness seekshim

w i t h

her hands.

Inscrutable Energies drive him and deceive.

Immense implacable deities oppose.

A ninert Soul and a somnambuHst Force

Have made a

world

estranged

from

lifeand thought;

The Dragon of the dark foundations

keeps

Unalterablethe law of Chance and Death;

Onhislongway through Time and Circumstance

The grey-huedriddling nether shadow-Sphinx,

Herdreadful paws upon the

swallowing

sands.

Awaitshim armed w i t h the soul-slayingword:

Across his path sits the dim camp ofNight.

Hisday is a moment in perpetual Time;

He

is the prey of the minutes and the hours.

Assailedon earth and unassured of heaven,

Descended hereunhappy and sublime,

AHnk between the demigod and the

beast,

Heknows not his owngreatnessnor his aim;

Hehas forgotten why he has come and whence;

His

spirit

and his members are at war;

Hisheights break off too low to reach the skies,

t

P


9/19

S A V J T R I

B O O K

I I I

C A N T O

I V

H is

massis buried in the animal

mire.

Astrange antinomy is his

nature's

rule.

A riddleof opposites is made his field:

Freedom heasksbutneedsto

live

in bonds,

H e has need of

darkness

to perceive

some

light

A nd

need of

gr ief to feel

a

litde

bliss;

H e has need of death to

find

a greater hfe.

A ll sides

he

sees

and turns to every

call;

H e has no certain l ightby

which

towalk;

H is life

is a bUnd-man's-buff, a hide and

seek;

H e

seekshimself

and from

himself

he runs;

Meetinghimself, he thinks it other than he.

Always

he builds, but finds no constant ground.

Always

he journeys, but nowhere arrives;

H e wouldguide the wor ld ,

himself

he cannot guide;

H e

would

savehis soul, his hfe he cannot

save.

The l ighthis soul has brought hismindhas lost;

A llhe has learned is soon again in doubt;

Asun to himseemsthe shadow of his thoughts,

Then

all is shadow again and nothing is true:

Unknowing

what he

does

or whither he

tends

H e

fabricates signs of the Real in Ignorance.

H e has hitched his mortal error to Truth's

star.

Wisdomattracts himw i t hher luminous masks.

B u t

never has he

seen

the face behind:

Agiant Ignorance surrounds his lore.

Assigned

to meet the cosmic mystery

I n the dumb

figure

ofamaterialwo rld ,

H is

passport of entry false and his

personage.

H e is compelled to be what he is not;

H e obeys the Inconscience he has come to rule

A n d

sinks in Matter to

fulfil

his soul.

Awakened

fromher lower

driven

forms

The Earth-Mother gave her forces to hishands

A nd

painfully

he guards the heavy trust;

H is mindis a lost torch-bearer on her roads.

I l l umin ing

breath to

think

and plasm to feel.

H e labours w i t hhis slow and sceptic brain

Helped

by the

reason'svacillatingfires.

T o make his thought and wi l la magic door

[Page

Four

]

f>9 17 i 0


10/19

S A V I T R I

B O O K I I I C A N T O

I V

For knowledge to enter thedarknessof the wor ld

A n d love lo rule a reahn of strife and hate.

Amind impotent to reconcile heaven and earth

A n d

tied

to Matter

w i t h

a thousand bonds.

He hfts

himself

to be a conscious god.

Even when a

glory

ofwisdomcrowns his brow.

When

mind

andspiritshed a grandiose ray

Toexalt this product of the sperm andgene.

Thisalchemist's miraclefrom plasm and gas,

A n dhe who shared the animal's run andcrawl.

Lifts his thought-stature to the Immortal's heights,

His

life st i l lkeepsthe human middle way;

Hisbody he resigns to death and pain.

AbandoningMatter, his too heavy charge.

A

thaumaturge sceptic of miracles,

Aspirit left sterile of its occult power

B y

an unbelieving brain and credulous heart

Heleavesthe wor ldto end where it began:

His

workunfinished he claims a heavenly prize.

Thus has he missed creation's absolute.

Halfway

hestopshisstarof destiny:

Avast and

vain

long-tried experiment,

A n ill-served

high

conception

doubtfully

done,

The world's hfe falters on not seeing its goal,

A

zigzag towards unknowndangerousground

Ever repeating its habitual

walk.

Ever retreating aftermarcheslong

A n dhardiest victories

without

sureresult.

Drawn

endlessly an inconclusive game.

I n

an

il l-f i t t ing

and voluminous robe

A

radiant purpose

still

concealsits face,

Amightybhndnessstumbles hoping

st i l l .

Because

the human instrument has failed,

The Godhead frustrate sleepsw i t h in its

seed,

A

spiritentangled in the forms it made.

Hisfailure is not failure whom God leads;

Through

all a slow mysterious march

goes

on:

A n

immutable Power hasmadethis mutable wor ld ;

A self-fulfilling transcendencedwells

w i t h i n .

The driver of the soul upon its path.

{Page

Five]


11/19

S A V I T R I

B O O K I I I C A N T O I V

A n d

how shall the end bevainwhen God is guide?

The more the goalrecedes,the more it lures;

Howeverhismindand flesh resist or fail,

A

wi l lprevails canceUing his conscious choice.

A n

Inf lux

pressesfrom the closed Beyond

Forbiddingto himrestand earthlyease,

T iU

he has foundhimselfhe cannot

pause.

There is a L ig h tthat leads, a Power that aids;

Uiunarked, imfelt itseesfor him andacts:

Ignorant,

he forms the All-conscientin his depths,

Himian,looks up to superhuman peaks:

A borrower of Supematurc's gold.

He

paves

his road toImmortality.

The highgodslookon man and watch andchoose

Today's impossibles for the future's

base.

His

transience trembles w i t h the Eternal's touch.

The Immortalshavetheir entries in his life:

The Ambassadors of the Unseen draw

near;

A Splendour suUied by the mortal air.

Lovepassesthrough his heart, a wanderingguest.

Beauty surroimds him for a magic hour,

He has visits ofalarge reveaUng joy.

Br iefwidenesses

release

himfrom himself,

Hoj>es

of

a deathless

sweemesslure and leave.

Hismmd is crossed bystrangedisco^'ering fires,

Rare intimations hft his stumbhng

speech

To

a moment's kinshipw i ththe eternal

Word;

A

masqueofwisdomcircles through his brain

Perturbing

him

w i th

ghmpses

half-divine.

He lays hishandssometimes on the Unknown;

He communes sometimes w i thEternity.

A strangeand grandiose symbol was his b i r th

A n d

immortalityand spirit-room

A n d

pure perfection and a

shadowless

bHss

Arethis

afflicted

creature'smighty fate.

I nhim the Earth-Mother

sees

drawnearthechange

Foreshadowed in her dumb and fiery depths,

Agodhead drawn

from

her transmuted limbs,

A nalchemy of Heaven on Nature's

base.

Adeptof the self-born

unfailing

line,

[PageSix ]


12/19

S A V I T R I

B Q O K

I I I CAl4tO I V

Leave not the l ightto die theagesbore,

Help

st i l l

humanity's

b l ind

and suffering

life:

Obey thy spirit's wide omnipotent urge.

A

witness to God's parley

w i t h

the

Night

I t

leaned compassionate from immortalcahn

A n d

housed desire, the troubled

seed

of things.

Assent to thyhighself, create, endure.

Cease

not from knowledge, let thy toilbe vast.

Nomore in earthly l imitspen thy force;

Equal

thy

work w i t hlong

unending Time's.

Traveller

upon the

bare

eternal heights.

Tread

still

the

difficult

and

dateless

path

Joining

the cyclesw i t h theirausterecurve

Measured for man by the

initiate

Gods.

Myl ightshall be in thee, my strength thy force.

Let

not the impatient

Titan

drive thy heart.

Asknot the imperfectf ru i t , the partial prize.

Only

one boon, to greaten thy

spirit,

demand;

Onlyone joy,to raise thyk i n d , desire.

Above

bhnd fate and the antagonist powers

Moveless therestandsahighunchanging

W i l l ;

To

its omnipotence leave thy work's result.

A llthings shall

change

in God's transfiguring hour."

August

and sweet now hushed the organ

Voice.

ButAswapaty's heart replied to her,

A

cry amid the silence of the Vasts:

"Howshall I rest content w i t hmortal days

A n d

the duU

measure

ofterrestrialthings,

who haveseenbehind the cosmic mask

The

glory

and the beauty of

thy

face?

Hard

is the doom towhichthou bindst thy

sons

Howlong

shall our spirits battle

wi th

the

Night

A n d

bear

defeat and the brute yoke of Death,

Wewho arevesselsofa deathlessForce

A n d

builders of the godhead of therace?

Or

i

i t

is thy

work

I do below

A m i dthe error and waste of human

life

I n the vague l ightof

man's

high-consciousmind.

Whybreaks not in

some

distant gleam ofthee?

[Pag Seven]


13/19

S A V I T R I

B O O K

I I I ,

C A N T O

I V

Ever the centuries and millenniums

pass.

Where in the

greyness

is thy coming's ray?

Where is the thimder of thy victory's wings?

Only

we

hear

the feet of passing gods.

A plan in the occult eternal M i n d

Mapped out to backward and prophetic sight,

The cycles st i l l

repeat

and still aspire.

A l l

wehave doneis ever st i l lto do.

A l lbreaksand all rebuilds and is thesame.

Huge revolutions of hfe's fruitless gyre.

The new-bom

aeons

perish likethe old.

As if

the sad Enigma kept itsright

T i l l

all isdonefor

which

this

scene

wasmade.

Too

little the strength that noww i t hus is born.

Too faint the Hght thatstealsthrough Nature's

lids.

Too

scantthe joyw i t h whichshe buys our pain.

I n a brute wor ldthat knows not its ownsense.

Thought-racked upon the wheel of

b i r th

we hve,

The instruments of an impulse not our own

Movedto achieve w i t hour

heart's

blood for price

Half-knowledge,

half-creations that soon

tire.

A foiled immortalsoul in perishing limbs.

Baffled andbeatenback we labour

still;

Ai mul l e d ,fmstrated, spent,we stillsurvive.

I n

anguish we labour that

from

us may rise

A

larger-seeing man w i t hnoblerheart,

A goldenvesselof the incamate Truth,

The executor of the divine attempt

Equipped to wear the earthly body of God,

Communicant and prophet and lover and

king.

know that thy creation cannot fail.

For even through the mists of mortal thought

Infallible

are thy mysterioussteps,

And, though Necessity donsthe garb ofChance,

Hidden

in the bhnd shifts ofFateshekeeps

The slow calm logic of Infinity 'space

A nd the inviolatesequenceofits w ill .

A l l life is fixedin an ascending scale

"And adamantine is the evolving Law;

I n

the beginning is prepared the close.

[Page Eight]


14/19

S A V I T R I

B O O K I I I . C A N T O I V

Thisstrangeirrationalproduct of the

mire.

This

compromise between the

beast

and God,

Isnot the

crown

of thy miraculouswo r ld .

know there shall

inform

the inconscient cells,

A tone w i t hNature and at height w i th heaven,

A

spiritvast as the containing sky

A n d

swept w i th

ecstasy

from invisiblefounts,

Agod come down and greater by his fall.

A

power

arose

out of

my

slumber's

cell.

Abandoningthe tardy

l imp

of the hours

A n d

the inconstant bl inkof

mortal

sight.

There where the Thinker

sleeps

in too much

light

A n d

intolerant flames the loneall-witnessingEye,

Hearingthe

word

of

Fate from

Silence' heart

I n theendlessmoment of

Eternity,

I t sawfromtimelessnessthe works ofTime.

Overpassed were the leaden formulas of the M i n d ,

Overpowered the obstacle of

mortal

Space:

The imfolding Image showed the things to come.

Agiant

dance

of Shiva tore the

past.

There was a thunder as ofworldsthat

fall;

Earthwas o'eram w i t h fireand roaring Death,

There was a clangour of Destruction's wings:

The Titan's battlercry was in myears.

Alarmand rumour shook the armoiu:edNight.

saw the Omnipotent's

flaming

pioneers

Over

the heavenly verge

which

turns towards hfe

Come

crowding

down the amber stairs ofb i r th ;

Forerunners of a

divine

multitude

Outof thepathsof the morningstartheycame

Into

the httle room of

mortal life.

saw themcrossthe twi l ightof an age,

The sun-eyed children of a marvellous dawn.

The great creators w i t hwide brows of calm.

The massive barrier-breakers of the world

A n dwrestlers

w i t h

destiny in her Hsts of

w i l l .

The labourers i n the quarries of the gods.

Themessengersof the Incommunicable,

The architects ofimmortality.

Intothefallen human

sphere

they came.

[

Page

Nine

]


15/19

S A V I T R I

B O O K I I I , C A N T O I V

Faces

that wore the Immortal's glory

sti l l .

Voices that conmiuned

s t i l l

w i t hthe thoughts of God,

Bodiesmade

beautiful

by the Spirit's hght,

Carrying

the magic

word,

the mystic

fire,

Carryingthe Dionysian cup ofjoy.

Approachingeyes

of a diviner man.

Lipschanting an unknown anthem of the soul.

Feetechoing in the corridors of

Time.

H i g h

priests ofwisdom,sweetness,might and bliss.

Discoverers ofbeauty's sunht ways

A n dswimmers of Love's laughingfieryfloods

A n ddancers wi th inrapture'sgolden doors.

Theirtread one day shallchangethe suffering earth

A n d

justify

the lighton Nature

s

face.

Althoughfate lingers in the high Beyond

A n d thework

seems

vain onwhichwasspentthe

heart's

force.

A ll

shall be

done

for

which

our pain was borne.

Even asoncemancamebehind thebeast

Assurely shall that great

succession

be.

Oh,yet too heavy the world's burden grows;

The splendid youth of Time has

passed

and

failed;

Heavy and long are the

years

our labour counts

A n d

still

the

seals

are

firm

upon

mans

soul

A n dweary is the ancient Mother's

heart.

OTruthdefended in thysecretsun.

Voice

of her mighty musings in shutheavens

On

things withdrawn

wi th in

her luminous depths.

Wisdom-Splendour, Mother of the miiverse,

Creatrix,

the Eternal

s

artist Bride,

MjTstery

and Muse

w i t h

hieratic tongue, '

Oradiant

foimtain

of the world's delight

World-free and unattainable above,

0 Bhsswho ever dwellstdeephid with in

While

menseek

thee

outside and never

find

Incamate the white passion of thy force.

Missionto earthsomehving f


16/19

S A V I T R I

B O O K H I , C A N T O I V

Let a great wordbe spoken from the heights

A nd one great act unlock the doors of Fate."

H is

prayer

sank

down in the resisting

Night

Oppressed by the thousand forces that deny,

As iftoo weak toclimb to the Supreme.

B ut therearosea wide consenting

Voice;

Thespiritof beauty was revealed in sound:

L i gh tfloated round the marvellous Vision's brow

And on her lips the Immortal's joy tookshape.

" O strong forerunner, I

have

heard thy cry.

One shall

descend

wjio

shall break the

i ron

Law

A nd alter Nature's doom by the Spirit's power.

A

limitless

M i n d

that can contain the wor ld ,

Asweet and violent heart of ardent calms

Moved

by thepassionsof the

gods

shall come.

A llmights and

greatnesses

shall

join

in her;

Beauty shall

walk

celestial on the earth,

Delight

shall

sleep

m the cloud-net of her hair

A n d in her body as on his homing

tree

Immortal

Love shall

beat

his glorious wings.

A music of griefless things shall weave her charm;

The

harps

of the Perfect shall attune her voice.

The

streams

of Heaven shall murmur in her laugh.

H er Hps shaU be the honeycombs of God,

H er limbs his golden jars of

ecstasy,

H er breaststhe rapture-flowers of

Paradise.

She shall

bear

Wisdom in her voiceless bosom.

Strength shall be

w i t h

her

like

a conqueror's sword

A n d from hereyesthe Eternal's bHss shaUgaze.

Aseedshall be sown in Death's tremendous hour,

Abranch of heaven transplant to human soil;

Nature shall overleap her mortal

step;

Fate

shall be changed by an unchanging

w i l l . "

As a flame

disappears

inendless L igh t

Immortally

extinguished in its source.

Vanished the splendour and wasstilledthe word.

A n

echo

of delight that

once

was close.

The harmony journeyed towards

some

distant hush,

[Pags Eleven]


17/19

S A V I T R I

B O O K I I I ,C A N T O I V

A

musicfailing in the ear of trance,

Acadence

called by distant

cadences,

Avoice that trembledintostrainswithdrawn.

H er

form

retreated

from

the

longing

earth

Forsaking

nearnessto the abandoned

sense.

Ascendingto her unattainable home.

Lone,bri l l iant ,

vacant lay the innerfields;

A ll

was

unfilled

inordinate

spiritspace.

Indifferent, waste, a

desert

ofbrightpeace.

Thenalinemoved on the faredgeofcalm:

The

warm-lipped

sentient soft terrestrial wave,

A

quick and many-murmured moan and laugh,

CamegHdingin upon white feet of soimd.

Unlocked

was the deep-glory of Silence' heart;

The absolute

unmoving

stillnesses

Surrendered to the breath ofmortalair,

Dissolvingboundlessly theheavensof trance

Collapsed

towakingmind.Eternity

Cast down its incommunicablelids

Over

its

sohtudes

remote

from

ken

Behindthe voiceless mystery of sleep.

The grandiose respite

failed,

the vriderelease.

Across the Hght of fast-receding planes

That

fled from

him as

f rom

a falling

star

Compelledto

fiU

his human

house

in Time

H is soul drew backintothe

speed

and noise

O f

the vast

business

of created things.

A

chariot of the marvels of the

heavens

Broad-based to

bear

the gods on

fiery

wheels.

Flaminghe swept through thespiritualgates.

The mortal stir received him in its midst.

Once more he moved amid materialscenes,

Lif ted

by

intimations from

the heights

A n d t w i x t

the

pauses

of the

building

brain

Touchedby the thoughts that skun the fathomless surge

O fNature andwingback to hidden

shores.

The eternal

seeker

in the aeonic

field

Besieged by the intolerantpressof hours

Againwas strong for great swift-footed deeds.

Awake

beneath the ignorant vault

o f

Night,

[Page Ttoelve

]


18/19

S A V I T R I B O O K i n

C A N T O

IV

He

saw the unnumbered people of thestars

A n d

heard the questioning of the imsatisfied

flood

A n d

toiled w i th

the form-maker, measuring

M i n d .

A

wanderer

from

the occult

invisible

suns

Accomphshing

the fate of transient things,

Agod in the

figure

of the arisen

beast,

He raised his brow of conquest to theheavens

Establishingthe empire of the soul

On

Matter and its bounded universe

As

on a

solid

rock in

infiniteseas.

The

L o r d

ofLife resumed hismighty rounds

I n the

scant field

of the ambiguous globe.

E N D

O F C A N T O

F O U R

A N D

O F B O O K

T H R E E

[Page

Thirteen

]


19/19

Savitri Fascicle: Book Three, Canto Four (1947)

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Transcript of Savitri Fascicle: Book Three, Canto Four (1947)