Opening Remark
In that dense and dreaded darkness, Savitri lights up the flame of hope.
Pale but immortal
At first a faint inextinguishable gleam,
Pale but immortal, flickered in the gloom
As if a memory came to spirits dead,
A memory that wished to live again,
Dissolved from mind in Nature’s natal sleep.
Savitri lit up a flame of hope in the den of Death. At first the flame was a pale and faint but immortal and inexhaustible. It flickered in the gloom bringing the memory of life to dead spirits and they wished to live again. Their minds dissolved they had entered nature’s natal sleep, the state of unconsciousness before birth.
Lost ray of the moon
It wandered like a lost ray of the moon
Revealing to the night her soul of dread;
Serpentine in the gleam the darkness lolled,
Its black hoods jewelled with the mystic glow;
Its dull sleek folds shrank back and coiled and slid,
As though they felt all light a cruel pain
And suffered from the pale approach of hope.
This gleam seemed like a wandering ray from the moon lost in the dense night. It revealed to the Night its soul of dread. The Darkness began to look like a serpent bearing the gleam as a jewel on its hood bearing a mystic glow. Its dull sleek folds shrank back and coiled and slid. The darkness felt light as a cruel pain and suffered from the pale approach of hope.
Night felt assailed
Night felt assailed her heavy sombre reign;
The splendour of some bright eternity
Threatened with this faint beam of wandering Truth
Her empire of the everlasting Nought.
Night felt her sombre reign assailed. Hope gleamed as a splendour of some bright eternity. It felt that this faint beam of Truth wandering in the Night threatened her empire of everlasting Nothingness and emptiness into which all must eventually collapse.
Frail dangerous ray
Implacable in her intolerant strength
And confident that she alone was true,
She strove to stifle the frail dangerous ray;
Aware of an all-negating immensity
She reared her giant head of Nothingness,
Her mouth of darkness swallowing all that is;
She saw in herself the tenebrous Absolute.
The Night, confident of her intolerant strength and sole truth, strove to stifle the frail dangerous ray. Aware of an all-negating immensity, the Night reared her giant head of Nothingness, her mouth of darkness swallowing all that is saw in herself the tenebrous Absolute.
Still the light prevailed
But still the light prevailed and still it grew,
And Savitri to her lost self awoke;
Her limbs refused the cold embrace of death,
Her heart-beats triumphed in the grasp of pain;
Her soul persisted claiming for its joy
The soul of the beloved now seen no more.
But still the light prevailed in spite of the refusal of the Night. It grew and Savitri awoke to her lost self. Her limbs refused the cold embrace of Death. Her heart-beats triumphed in the grasp of pain. Her soul persisted claiming for its joy the soul of her beloved Satyavan who was now seen no more.
Satyavan is seen again
Before her in the stillness of the world
Once more she heard the treading of a god,
And out of the dumb darkness Satyavan,
Her husband, grew into a luminous shade.
In the stillness of the world Savitri heard once more the treading of a god and out of the dumb darkness Satyavan, her husband grew into a luminous shade.
Closing remarks
With the gleam of hope, light returned and with it the memory of the self and the soul of Satyavan once again appeared luminous in that darkness.
