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At the Feet of The Mother

Preface

If we take it that the Vedas are a revelation received in the silent spaces of the soul by the seers of Truth in their moments of contact with the Divine, then we cannot fix a term or limit to the scope of such revelations. The Divine is Infinite and therefore His ways, as well as His unfolding, are Infinite. Of course the fundamental truths of existence do not change, the foundations and the fount of creation also do not change, and if Truth were simply a static Reality then nothing more would ever be required except to reproduce the experience in the soul of man. But the Truth that we seek is not only a static Reality nor is it a fixed and finite one. It is Infinite in its very nature and hence it is but natural that as man evolves, his relation with and his experience of the one fundamental Truth of our existence is bound to evolve.

As we pass on from the mental to the intuitive and thereby to the supramental stage of evolution, we are sure to experience the same Divine in a more comprehensive way. After all, as is the consciousness so is our experience of Truth and it is only when our consciousness is not only imbued with but transformed with the very burning core of Truth that we can truly say that some finality has been reached in our vision. However, Truth being by its nature Infinite we can never really say that we have arrived at it in totality. Sri Aurobindo reveals it beautifully thus:

“Parabrahman is the Absolute, & because It is the Absolute, it cannot be reduced into terms of knowledge. You can know the Infinite in a way, but you cannot know the Absolute.

All things in existence or non-existence are symbols of the Absolute created in self-consciousness (Chid-Atman); by Its symbols the Absolute can be known so far as the symbols reveal or hint at it, but even the knowledge of the whole sum of symbols does not amount to real knowledge of the Absolute. You can become Parabrahman; you cannot know Parabrahman. Becoming Parabrahman means going back through self-consciousness into Parabrahman, for you already are That, only you have projected yourself forward in self-consciousness into its terms or symbols, Purusha & Prakriti through which you uphold the universe. Therefore, to become Parabrahman void of terms or symbols you must cease out of the universe.

By becoming Parabrahman void of Its self-symbols you do not become anything you are not already, nor does the universe cease to operate. It only means that God throws back out of the ocean of manifest consciousness one stream or movement of Himself into that from which all consciousness proceeded….

Therefore to lust after becoming Parabrahman is a sort of luminous illusion or sattwic play of Maya; for in reality there is none bound & none free & none needing to be freed and all is only God’s Lila, Parabrahman’s play of manifestation. God uses this sattwic Maya in certain egos in order to draw them upwards in the line of His special purpose & for these egos it is the only right and possible path.

But the aim of our Yoga is Jivanmukti in the universe; not because we need to be freed or for any other reason, but because that is God’s will in us, we have to live released in the world, not released out of the world.”

CWSA 12: 103-104

It is perhaps this that is indicated in the ancient Indian stories of the Vedas being stolen and rescued again. It is this that is the dharmasyaglani of the Gita wherein the eternal truths are either forgotten and mankind deviates from them or else their message is diverted and distorted as the dust of centuries accumulates over the pilgrim feet of mankind. That is why there is this need of the Avatara coming down to rescue these truths perverted by darkened minds and give it a new body in accord with the Age and the Time-Spirit. Sri Aurobindo and the Mother hint at this when they declare the nature of their work and mission, important aspects of which are:

1. To re explain the Sanatana Dharma to the human intellect in all its parts, from a new standpoint.
2. On the basis of Vedic knowledge to establish a Yogic sadhana which will not only liberate the soul, but prepare a perfect humanity & help in the restoration of the Satyayuga. That work has to begin now but will not be complete till the end of the Kali.
3. India being the centre, to work for her restoration to her proper place in the world; but this restoration must be effected as a part of the above work and by means of Yoga applied to human means & instruments, not otherwise.
4. A perfect humanity being intended society will have to be remodelled so as to be fit to contain that perfection.

[This is part of a letter that Sri Aurobindo wrote in August 1912.]

Around the same time in the same year (May 1912), the Mother writes about the work She has to do:

“This, therefore, is the most useful work to be done:
(1) For each individually, to be conscious in himself of the Divine Presence and to identify himself with it.
(2) To individualise the states of being that were never till now conscious in man and, by that, to put the earth in connection with one or more of the fountains of universal force that are still sealed to it.
(3) To speak again to the world the eternal word under a new form adapted to its present mentality. It will be the synthesis of all human knowledge.
(4) Collectively, to establish an ideal society in a propitious spot for the flowering of the new race, the race of the Sons of God.”

CWM 2: 49

Being the Divine Mother who had to take full charge of the execution, she naturally goes on to elaborate in great detail. But we can see clearly that the fundamentals of the program, the essential mission is the same for both of them, the twin Avatars, and all this even before they have met on the physical plane.

We see here that Truth has also a dynamic aspect and in its unfolding it brings out new forms of manifestation which we term as evolution without fully understanding its inner processes and the secret purpose. The new humanity, the perfect humanity, the sons of God, of which both speak as part of their work, is part of this unfolding.

No wonder then that soon after their first meeting on the 29th March 1914 they begin this work in a small way. A most important part of this work is Savitri which started in 1916. Interestingly, Sri Aurobindo did not publish it as part of the Arya which contained his regular writings on various subjects. While the Arya stopped after 1921, Savitri continued right up to the end of 1950 and came to be regarded by Sri Aurobindo as his most important work. Very clearly it is the new Veda for the future of man. Just as Sri Krishna placed the Gita in man’s heart at the end of Dwapara, Sri Aurobindo placed in the hands and heart of man Savitri at the end of the Age of Kali, to lead him towards the new Satya Yuga that was beginning to dawn upon mankind.

Of course, some would argue where is the new Satya Yuga? Much can be said about this. But for the moment we can simply say read Savitri and we would develop the vision to see it. Savitri is indeed the Veda given for the coming Age for man to navigate through the crucial passage from man to superman or from the mentalised humanity of today to the divine superhumanity of tomorrow. In one sense it is the story of the Divine Mother in Her previous incarnation as Savitri. Yet a connecting link joins the attempt and effort of yesterday to that of today and tomorrow. For the sole purpose of this entire evolutionary journey, of creation itself, is a progressive divine manifestation. The Divine Mother as Savitri initiated the project in far back times during the Vedic Age. The Divine Mother as Mirra Alfassa took the project to its fulfilment, its grand culmination. The two stories are therefore closely linked and hence we see in Sri Aurobindo’s Savitri the continuation of the ancient legend, the furtherance of the boons secured by Savitri for one Satyavan extending to humanity as a whole, at least to that section of humanity that is open and receptive to this new possibility that is being worked out for the earth’s future. The key to this realisation is the Divine Mother in Her present embodiment and what better way to open to Her than the mantric words of Savitri itself.

We may say that Savitri is a combination of Sri Aurobindo’s and the Mother’s consciousness and therefore becomes a most powerful means to bring us in a dynamic contact with the consciousness of the twin Avatars as one. Let us close this with these luminous words of the Mother about Savitri:

The importance of Savitri is immense.
Its subject is universal. Its revelation is prophetic.
The time spent in its atmosphere is not wasted. …

10 February 1967, CWM 13: 26