The Mother Reads Selections from Savitri by Sri Aurobindo
Book 7. The Book of Yoga
Canto 4. The Triple Soul-Forces
HERE from a low and prone and listless ground
The passion of the first ascent began;
. . .
A Woman sat in a pale lustrous robe.
. . .
The Mother of the seven sorrows bore
The seven stabs that pierced her bleeding heart:
. . .
In soft sweet training words slowly she spoke:
“O Savitri, I am thy secret soul.
To share the suffering of the world I came,
I draw my children’s pangs into my breast.
. . .
I am the hope that looks towards my God,
My God who never came to me till now;
His voice I hear that ever says ‘I come’:
I know that one day he shall come at last.”
[pp. 503; 505]
* * *
She ceased, and like an echo from below
Answering her pathos of divine complaint
A voice of wrath took up the dire refrain,
. . .
“I am the Man of Sorrows, I am he
Who is nailed on the wide cross of the universe;
To enjoy my agony God built the earth,
My passion he has made his drama’s theme.
. . .
I am the doer of demoniac deeds;
I was made for evil, evil is my lot;
. . .
What Nature made me, that I must remain.
[pp. 505; 507]
* * *
And Savitri heard the Voice, the echo heard
And turning to her being of pity spoke:
“Madonna of suffering, Mother of grief divine,
Thou art a portion of my soul put forth
To bear the unbearable sorrow of the world.
. . .
But thine is the power to solace, not to save.
One day I will return, a bringer of strength,
And make thee drink from the Eternal’s cup;
[p. 507]
* * *
On passed she in her spirit’s upward route.
. . .
A Woman sat in gold and purple sheen,
Armed with the trident and the thunderbolt,
Her feet upon a couchant lion’s back.
[p. 508]
* * *
Aspired the harmony of her puissant voice:
“O Savitri, I am thy secret soul.
. . .
I am Durga, goddess of the proud and strong,
And Laksmi, queen of the fair and fortunate;
I wear the face of Kali when I kill,
I trample the corpses of the demon hordes.
. . .
I shall hear the silver swing of heaven’s gates
When God comes out to meet the soul of the world.”
[pp. 509; 510]
* * *
She spoke and from the lower human world
An answer, a warped echo met her speech;
. . .
The voice rose up and smote some inner sun:
“I am the heir of the forces of the earth,
Slowly I make good my right to my estate;
. . .
When earth is mastered, I shall conquer heaven;
The gods shall be my aids or menial folk,
No wish I harbour unfulfilled shall die:
Omnipotence and omniscience shall be mine.”
[pp. 510; 511; 513]
* * *
And Savitri heard the voice, the warped echo heard
And turning to her being of power she spoke:
“Madonna of might, Mother of works and force,
Thou art a portion of my soul put forth
. . .
Thou hast given men strength, wisdom thou couldst not give.
One day I will return, a bringer of light,
Then I will give to thee the mirror of Gods
Thou shalt see self and world as by him they are seen
Reflected in the bright pool of thy soul.
[pp. 513; 514]
* * *
Ascending still her spirit’s upward route
She came into a high and happy space,
. . .
Here, living centre of that vision of peace,
A Woman sat in clear and crystal light:
. . .
A low music heard became her floating voice:
“O Savitri, I am thy secret soul.
I have come down to the wounded desolate earth
To heal her pangs and lull her heart to rest
. . .
I shall save earth, if earth consents to be saved.
[pp. 514-515; 516]
* * *
She spoke and from the ignorant nether plane
A cry, a warped echo naked and shuddering came.
. . .
“I am the mind of God’s great ignorant world
Ascending to knowledge by the steps he made;
. . .
If God is at work his secrets I have found.
But still the Cause of things is left in doubt,
. . .
I know not and perhaps shall never know.
. . .
Human I am, human let me remain
Till in the Inconscient I fall dumb and sleep.
[pp. 516; 518; 519; 520]
* * *
And Savitri heard the voice, the warped answer heard
And turning to her being of light she spoke:
“Madonna of light, Mother of joy and peace,
Thou art a portion of my self put forth.
To raise the spirit to its forgotten heights
And wake the soul by touches of the heavens.
. . .
Even if thou rain down intuition’s rays,
The mind of man will think it earth’s own gleam,
. . .
His hunger for the eternal thou must nurse
. . .
And bring God down into his body and life.
One day I shall return, His hand in mine
And thou shalt see the face of the Absolute.
[pp. 520; 521]End of Book 7 Canto 4
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