Savitri is the supreme revelation of Sri Aurobindo, his most important work. It is a work of the future and perhaps we are not yet ready to receive it, let alone understand it. Yet it has been given to man as a supreme gift of Sri Aurobindo’s Grace to steer us through the difficult evolutionary passage from humanity, the creation of yesterday, to the divine superman of tomorrow. Meanwhile, as we transit, we need a guiding light, a support to steer us through. That guide is Savitri which is not just a book but a living Presence, embodying the twin powers of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother in its mantric ‘word and sound’ body.
Naturally it is quite impossible to speak about Savitri. Yet as it is said the Grace can make the dumb speak and the deaf hear. So has been my journey with Savitri. The task of speaking on Savitri was initially thrust upon me by Professor Mangesh Nadkarni. Though a few disciples had spoken on Savitri earlier, the credit of bringing Savitri within the reach of an average aspirant undoubtedly goes to Professor Nadkarni whose lectures always drew a wide audience and got many a listener deeply interested in the book. So when he asked me to continue the work I hesitated much despite my deep love for the epic of epics. At his insistence, I accepted temporarily, proviso to the improvement of his health and he resuming his talks. However, destiny had it otherwise and Professor Nadkarni’s request to take one of his forthcoming camps due to his poor health turned out to be a gracious act of passing on the mantle to me. I put the question to the Mother inwardly and it is only after there was sufficient inner indication and her blessings that I could dare to speak on the universal subject that ‘none yet understands’.
The rest of the journey with Savitri became at once a collective journey intertwined with my personal progress. It has been thus far a beautiful journey carried by her Grace. How else could one speak on something that embodies the very highest vision and revelation of the greatest of seer and yogi of all times? Sri Aurobindo is indeed incomparable, and among all his works, Savitri is incomparable to any of his own other writings.
This is the background of these talks given at the conclusion of the weekly ‘Savitri Camps’ held at the Sri Aurobindo Society Office bi-annually after the Mother’s and Sri Aurobindo’s birthdays on 22nd February and the 15th August, respectively. The book is an outcome of these talks organised and recorded with care and love by the team at Savitri Bhavan headed by Sraddhavan and masterfully edited by Larry Seidlitz.
It is, I feel, a gift of her Grace and a Prasad of her Love that is being shared through these talks, hoping that they would inspire at least a few to delve deeper into the original work that is Sri Aurobindo’s body in its own right.
Alok Pandey