Sri Aurobindo's Savitri The Yoga of Divine Power

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Savitri is a spiritual epic written from the summit of the Supramental Consciousness, the Supracosmic Spirit. It has inspiration from the Higher Mind to the Overmind Consciousness, the Cosmic Consciousness of the Truth. The Supramental Consciousness is integral in the sense that the individual soul is merged with the vastness of the Universe and the Vastness of the Universe is connected with the Transcendent. As such it reveals the spiritual evolution from the Inconscient Matter to the Superconscient Divine and the descent of the Superconscient Divine into the Inconscient Matter to transfigure the material life into spiritual Reality.

Ordinarily, we think that the material life is different from the spiritual life. Sri Aurobindo considers the material life to be the base for the progressive growth of the spiritual life. In fact, Spirit or the Divine Consciousness is already hidden in the Inconscient. This Spirit evolves from the Inconscient Matter, Life, Heart, Mind and the Supermind and the Supermind descends in Mind, Life and Matter to transform the material life into the life divine. Sri Aurobindo prophesies that the Divine will be discovered in material life if material life is purified and psychic being in the heart is fully awakened. The Divine will make life full of Knowledge, Power and Bliss.

Unlike modernist poetry Savitri has the form of the Mantra. The mantra is the rhythmic word from human Soul, the soul which is the spark of the Divine. The mantricform is lyrical with illumined Voices and Speeches. The lyrical form abounds in symbols. The visible creation is the symbol of the invisible cosmos and invisible cosmos is the symbol of the Supreme Truth. The Supreme Truth descends into Mind, Life and Body. When the Supreme Truth in the body of the being meets with the descending Supreme Truth, then the body-life will be transformed into the spiritual image of the Divine. The Supreme Truth is the Knowledge, Power, Force, Bliss and Will of the Divine in man.

Born in 1946 in Varanasi in a very reputed and highly educated family, Professor D.S. Mishra served as a Professor and Head Department of English, Sardar Pated University in Gujarat which is one of the most prestigious universities of India. He was appointed as Professor Emeritus in 2009 by University Grants Commission, Ministry of Human Resources Development, Govt. of India. He has published dozen of books including Poetry and Philosophy of Sri Aurobindo's Savitri and An Anthology of Gujarati Dalit Literature. He has been a keen devotee of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo and has been the President of Sri Aurobindo Sadhana Kendra, Vallabh Vidyanagar Gujarat.

Savitri is a unique epic, lyrical epic with voices and speeches from the soul. Its theme is preferably the nexus of ascent-descent of the Supermind in Man and in the world. The ascent-descent is possible only when the Mind, Life and Body of man are puri- fied. At present Mind interferes in the workings of Life and Body; it is Neta, the leader. Mind is complicated and confused with Ignorance. Man's mind is not single; it is double and triple. It is that which has been evolved in man by Nature. What is evolved is the bodily life which is fixed and a base of spiritual evolution. Next is mind which is increasingly developing. It has many obstacles and complexities. The last is what is to be evolved; it is intellect above mind. Sri Aurobindo stresses the last; he says that first lower intellect is to be developed into higher intellect in the elites of the world. To achieve this objective man has to undergo Suddhi, Purification; Mukti, Freedom; Siddhi, fulfilment and Bukti, blissfulness of man's mind.

Three things are needed to develop lower intellect into higher one. First, it is the awakening of hidden Divine in the heart of man; it is the perfection of the individual soul. Second, it is the merger of individual soul to the vastnesses of Spirit of Cosmos. Third, it is the realisation of the oneness of the Supreme. He then self-witnesses the Supermind which descends into Mind, Life and Body of man to transform them.

The descent of the Supermind challenges the Fate that dominates man's Life. Fate is the fruit of action of the past. Its basic principle is simple; one has to reap what one sows. This principle is hard and inevitable; but it is not rigid. People have a latent soul within which may accept or reject Fate. Satyavan, for example, is destined to die within one year, he does die in the forest. But Savitri's soul does not accept Satyavan's death. She pursues the Godhead of Death, answers all his arguments and makes him vanish into dark Void.

Savitri is, it is to be noted, written from Supramental Consciousness. It has an in- novative form, the form of the Mantra. Such form is made-up of rhythmic words from the Soul of the seer-poet; it is appreciated only by receptive readers.

Sri Aurobindo is a unique poet, the poet of inner life of man which is to be fulfilled in his outer life. For him poetry is neither a source of entertainment nor an imaginative activity; it is the higher vision of highest Truth, the Truth of the Supreme that expresses cosmos as well as Beings and Things on earth. He gives prime importance to the substance of spiritual poetry which is the highest destiny of man on earth. If the substance is explicated sincerely, the style or technique in poetry will take care of its own without fail. The substance of Savitri is very significant; its style and technique are of secondary importance.

A true poet, Sri Aurobindo says, discovers his hidden soul; as such he is the seer. The key problem is the experience of soul. The soul is neither body nor life nor mind; it is occult, higher and immortal 'spark' of God within the heart of man. This immortal 'spark' is divinity in man. The perception and revelation of this divinity is the primary aim of spiritual poetry of future. It is quite possible that a few spiritual poets will be the seer and the hearer of the Truth, 'Kavyah Satyashrutah'. Truth, in ultimate sense, is the presence of the Divine in man and in world. A few awakened readers will be prepared to see and hear Truth. Savitri embodies vision of a seer and a hearer of the Truth. At present man has limited mental consciousness; he has ego and falsehood. He has imperfect ideals and ethics. But he has to give up his ego and vain ideals and to surrender his mental consciousness to the vastness of cosmic consciousness for the ascent to and descent of the Supermind on earth. Savitri reveals that the Supermind alone will help man realise Truth or God in humanity and earthly life.

**Contents and Sample Pages**