Opening Remarks for the Canto Four

Following the trails of her nature towards the source Savitri enters deeper and deeper by an inward concentration until she touches the substratum within where the threefold streams of nature emerge from the soul. In traditional Indian mystic thought these three streams of nature are the three modes of Prakriti, — Tamasic, Rajasic and Sattwic. They work everyone in the cosmos and even the gods are bound by it. The difference however is that as one ascends higher or goes deeper, one finds them in their divine purity and truth. But as these forces of Nature descend from the heights or emerge from the depths of the soul into the surface nature they are mixed up with the dark currents and fumes of the fallen worlds in the subconscient and inconscient realms. In the human ego they are easily mixed up with these darknesess and acquire grey and black shades and their movement is distorted. Sri Aurobindo describes them thus using familiar names from ancient mystic thought. The Madonnas are the feminine energies of the Divine that are found on the heights as well as reside deep within our soul.