All Life Is Yoga: Savitri

Omsriaurobindomira

All

Life

Is

Yoga

“All life is Yoga.” – Sri Aurobindo

Savitri

A Mantra for the Transformation of the World

Sri Aurobindo | The Mother

SRI AUROBINDO

DIGITAL EDITION

Copyright 2020

AURO MEDIA

Verlag und Fachbuchhandel

Wilfried Schuh

www.auro.media

www.savitri.center

www.sriaurobindo.center

eBook Design

SRI AUROBINDO DIGITAL EDITION

Germany, Berchtesgaden

ALL LIFE IS YOGA

SavitriA Mantra for the Transformation of the World Selections from the Works of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother First edition 2020 ISBN 978-3-96387-052-1

© Photos and selections of the works of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother:

Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust

Puducherry, India

Flower on the cover:

Bixa orellana. Pale lavender pink. Spiritual significance and explanation given by the Mother: New world The result of transformation.

Publisher’s Note

This is one in a series of some e-books created by SRI AUROBINDO DIGITAL EDITION and published by AURO MEDIA (a section of SRI AUROBINDO BHAVAN Berchtesgadener Land, Germany) under the title All Life Is Yoga. Our effort is to bring together, from Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, simple passages with a practical orientation on specific subjects, so that everyone may feel free to choose a book according to his inner need. The topics cover the whole field of human activity, because true spirituality is not the rejection of life but the art of perfecting life.

While the passages from Sri Aurobindo are in the original English, most of the passages from the Mother (selections from her talks and writings) are translations from the original French. We must also bear in mind that the excerpts have been taken out of their original context and that a compilation, in its very nature, is likely to have a personal and subjective approach. A sincere attempt, however, has been made to be faithful to the vision of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. These excerpts are by no means exhaustive.

Bringing out a compilation from the writings of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, which have a profound depth and wideness unique, is a difficult task. The compiler’s subjective tilt and preferences generally result in highlighting some aspects of the issues concerned while the rest is by no means less significant. Also without contexts of the excerpts the passages reproduced may not fully convey the idea – or may be misunderstood or may reduce a comprehensive truth into what could appear like a fixed principle.

The reader may keep in mind this inherent limitation of compilations; compilations are however helpful in providing an introduction to the subject in a handy format. They also give the readers a direct and practical feel of some of the profound issues and sometimes a mantric appeal, musing on which can change one’s entire attitude to them.

The excerpts from the writings of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother carry titles and captions chosen by the editor, highlighting the theme of the excerpts and, whenever possible, borrowing a phrase from the text itself. The sources of the excerpts are given at the end of each issue.

We hope these compilations will inspire the readers to go to the complete works of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother and will help them to mould their lives and their environments towards an ever greater perfection.

“True spirituality is not to renounce life, but to make life perfect with a Divine Perfection.” – The Mother

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ContentsTitle PageCopyrightPublisher’s NoteQuotationsI. INTRODUCTION1. Savitri – This Wonderful Prophetic Poem2. Savitri – the Divine Mother3. The Composition of SavitriII. A VISION OF HIGHER REALMS THAN OURS1. The Supramental Vision and Its ExpressionIII. THE CREATIVE WORD1. Theory of the Mantra2. Poetic Vision and the Mantra3. The Poetry of the FutureIV. SAVITRI – THE DIVINE WORD1. Savitri – The Sun-Word2. Savitri – A Legend and a Symbol3. Savitri – A Revelation4. The Extraordinary Power of Savitri5. Messages from the MotherV. SAVITRI – THE SONG OF THE INFINITE AND ETERNAL (Selections from Sri Aurobindo’s Savitri)1. The Book of BeginningsCanto 1: The Symbol DawnDark BeginningThe Revelation and the FlameThe God-LightMortality and the Eternal’s TouchSavitri’s Inner ConflictThe Day of Satyavan’s DeathCanto 2: The IssueThe Many-Imaged PastSavitri and the God of LoveThe Immortal and the Snare of TimeA Magic LeverageThe Victory for God in ManCanto 3: The Yoga of the King: The Yoga of the Soul’s ReleaseThe Seer, Savitri’s FatherThe Growing DivinityAswapati’s Growth into Larger SelfA Magical AccordThe Inner PlanesTime’s DramaNew DiscoverySilent SelfBeyond ThoughtThe Unseen GuideInspirationThe Universe as God’s BodyRelease from IgnoranceCanto 4: The Secret KnowledgeOur Forgotten VastnessesIn Great Lonely HoursThe Labour of the Earth GoddessThe Immortals VisionTime’s FulfilmentThe Certitude of our Divine DestinyDream TruthHe and SheThe Self-Determining AbsoluteA Nameless ResidentThe Voyager SoulCanto 5: The Yoga of the King: The Yoga of the Spirit’s Freedom and GreatnessThe Eternal’s PromiseThe Tessellated WholeTowards the EternalThe Transforming DescentMind – A Mediator DivinityThe Hierarchy of Worlds2. The Book of the Traveller of the WorldsCanto 1: The World-StairThe Ascending World HierarchyLadder Towards DeityThe Mystery’s ProcessCanto 2: The Kingdom of Subtle MatterEarth-Nature’s OriginsOur Lives and Divine IntimationsEarth’s Forms and Man’s ArtThe Finite Perfection and the ImmeasurableCanto 3: The Glory and the Fall of LifeThe Heavens of LightCanto 4: The Kingdoms of the Little LifeThe Formless YearningThe Birth of SenseCanto 5: The Godheads of the Little LifeThe Deeper Vision of the SpiritThe Divine InfluxCanto 6: The Kingdoms and Godheads of the Greater LifeDeath – A Passage to New WorldsThe Certitude of God’s DescentCanto 7: The Descent into NightLife: Its Obverse and Reverse FacesThe Abysm of HellCanto 8: The World of Falsehood, the Mother of Evil and the Sons of DarknessAswapati Crosses the World of FalsehoodCanto 9: The Paradise of the Life-GodsThe Life HeavensCanto 10: The Kingdoms and Godheads of the Little MindThe Human AscentReason and the InfiniteGreat ThoughtsCanto 11: The Kingdoms and Godheads of the Greater MindThe Spirit of MindEternal TruthCanto 12: The Heavens of the IdealThe Deathless RoseOur Hidden CentresThe Deathless FlameCanto 13: In the Self of MindThe Source of KnowledgeThe Mind-SelfCanto 14: The World-SoulEntry into the World-SoulThe Interval Between Birth and BirthThe Supreme PowerCanto 15: The Kingdoms of the Greater KnowledgeOvermind and Oversoul3. The Book of the Divine MotherCanto 1: The Pursuit of the UnknowableThe OneCanto 2: The Adoration of the Divine MotherSelf and WorldThe Everlasting YesThe Experience of the All-BeautifulThe Vision of the Supreme MotherThe Descent of the Mother-MightCanto 3: The House of the Spirit and the New CreationAspirationThe Universal SoulCanto 4: The Vision and the BoonThe Advent of the Divine MotherAswapati and the Divine MotherSavitri and Her Mission4. The Book of Birth and QuestCanto 1: The Birth and Childhood of the FlameThe Cycle of the SeasonsSavitri’s BodyCanto 2: The Growth of the FlameThe Truth of Ethics and PhilosophyThe Divine WordTowards Love’s UniversalityCanto 3: The Call to the QuestThe Working of the MantraCanto 4: The QuestSavitri’s Memory-Waking QuestDivine ProvidenceYogis and NatureThe Fateful Search5. The Book of LoveCanto 1: The Destined Meeting-PlaceThe Meeting-PlaceCanto 2: SatyavanThe MeetingThe Significance of the MeetingThe Truth of LoveFitness to Receive LoveAffinity RevealedCanto 3: Satyavan and SavitriThe RecognitionSatyavan’s Inner Sight and HearingSatyavan’s Deepening Vision of the SoulSatyavan Finds the Key to TransformationThe Gold LinkThe Marriage GarlandThe All-Embrace6. The Book of FateCanto 1: The Word of FateThe Descent of NaradHis Vision of the FutureThe King’s Plea to NaradMan’s Tragic StruggleThe Mystery of PainNarad Describes SatyavanSavitri’s Resolute WillCanto 2: The Way of Fate and the Problem of PainWorld Pain and Its NecessityEnd of the Law of PainOrigin of Death and FateThe Working of ProvidenceNarad on Death as the Spirit’s OpportunityThe Heroic Strength7. The Book of YogaCanto 1: The Joy of Union; the Ordeal of the Foreknowledge of Death and the Heart’s Grief and PainJoy and GriefCanto 2: The Parable of the Search for the SoulMind’s RestlessnessThe Persistent PastCanto 3: The Entry into the Inner CountriesThe Mission of the AvatarSavitri Enters the Inner WorldsLife’s Nether RealmsCanto 4: The Triple Soul-ForcesSavitri to the Three Soul-ForcesCanto 5: The Finding of the SoulThe Search for the SoulThe Finding of the SoulThe Rising of the Serpent PowerCanto 6: Nirvana and the Discovery of the All-Negating AbsoluteAutumnal MellownessAn Upsurge of the InconscientThe Saviour’s LabourIntroversionMystic VisitationsThe Mystery of the GeniusThe Stilling of ThoughtNirvanaCanto 7: The Discovery of the Cosmic Spirit and the Cosmic ConsciousnessUnreal RealityEnlightenment8. The Book of DeathCanto 3: Death in the ForestSatyavan’s Death9. The Book of Eternal NightCanto 1: Towards the Black VoidA New Birth of ConsciousnessSavitri’s Spiritual StatureThe God of DeathSavitri in the ForestSavitri Pursues Death in the Occult PlanesCanto 2: The Journey in Eternal Night and the Voice of the DarknessNight Threatened by LightSavitri’s Challenge to Death10. The Book of the Double TwilightCanto 1: The Dream Twilight of the IdealNight the Shadow of DayTwilight of the GodsA Dream WorldCanto 2: The Gospel of Death and Vanity of the IdealLove, the Rapturous Core of SunsSavitri’s Great PromiseCanto 3: The Debate of Love and DeathThe World as God FulfilledThe Tangle-Dance of the OneThe Growth of the Inner LightThe Graded Ascent of LoveSavitri on Love Linking Earth and HeavenSavitri’s Universal HeartPsychic FireCanto 4: The Dream Twilight of the Earthly RealSavitri, God and the WorldBeyond LawMost Bound Most FreeThe Overhead PlanesTransformation – Its Phases11. The Book of Everlasting DayCanto 1: The Eternal Day: The Soul’s Choice and the Supreme ConsummationGod’s Everlasting DayThe Delights of the Purified HeartThe Dance CelestialSpirit – An Upsoaring BirdRevelation of the Supreme DivineThe Divine’s PromiseSavitri’s Universal LoveSavitri’s SupplicationOrdinary HumanitySavitri and Satyavan – Their Appointed WorkSavitri and the Supreme LordThe Supreme Lord to SavitriThe Things to ComeThe Descent to Earth12. EpilogueCanto 1: The Return to EarthBack to LifeAPPENDIXA Brief Introduction to SavitriReferencesGuideCoverTable of ContentsStart Reading

Let us meditate on the most auspicious (best) form of Savitri, on the Light of the Supreme which shall illumine us with the Truth. — Sri Aurobindo

Savitri, that marvellous prophetic poem which will be humanity’s guide towards its future realisation. — The Mother

We are in a very special situation, extremely special, without precedent. We are now witnessing the birth of a new world; it is very young, very weak – not in its essence but in its outer manifestation – not yet recognised, not even felt, denied by the majority. But it is here. It is here,making an effort to grow, absolutely sure of the result. But the road to it is a completely new road which has never before been traced out – nobody has gone there, nobody has done that! It is a beginning, a universal beginning. So, it is an absolutely unexpected and unpredictable adventure. — The Mother

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Part I
INTRODUCTION

...my long labour on Savitri ... was not labour in the ordinary sense, not a labour of painstaking construction, I may describe it as an infinite capacity for waiting and listening for the true inspiration and rejecting all that fell short of it, however good it might seem from a lower standard until I got that which I felt to be absolutely right. — Sri Aurobindo

Chapter 1
Savitri – This Wonderful Prophetic Poem

Words of the Mother

About Savitri

1) The daily record of the spiritual experiences of the individual who has written.

2) A complete system of yoga which can serve as a guide for those who want to follow the integral sadhana.

3) The yoga of the Earth in its ascension towards the Divine.

4) The experiences of the Divine Mother in her effort to adapt herself to the body she has taken and the ignorance and the falsity of the earth upon which she has incarnated.

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A Hymn to Savitri

Rig Veda (V.81)

l. The illumined yoke their mind and they yoke their thoughts to the illumined godhead, to the vast, to the luminous in consciousness; the one knower of all manifestation of knowledge, he alone orders the things of the sacrifice. Great is the praise of Savitri, the creating godhead.

2. All forms are robes the Seer puts on that he may create the good and bliss for the double and the quadruple1 creature. Savitri describes by his light our heavenly world; supreme is he and desirable, wide is the light of his shining in the march of the Dawn.

3. And in that march all the other gods in their might follow after the greatness of this godhead. This is that bright god Savitri who by his power and greatness has measured out our earthly worlds of light.

4. But also thou goest, O Savitri, to the three shining worlds of heaven and thou art made manifest by the rays of the Sun, and thou encirclest on both sides the Night, and thou becomest Mitra, O god, with his settled laws of Truth.

5. And thou alone hast power for the creation and thou becomest the Increaser, O god, by thy marchings in thy path, and thou illuminest all this world of the becoming. Shyavashwa, O Savitri, has found the affirmation of thy godhead.

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Explanation of Sri Aurobindo

The Rishi hymns the Sun-God as the source of divine knowledge and the creator of the inner worlds. To him, the Seer, the seekers of light yoke their mind and thoughts; he, the one knower of all forms of knowledge, is the one supreme ordainer of the sacrifice. He assumes all forms as the robes of his being and his creative sight and creates the supreme good and happiness for the two forms of life in the worlds. He manifests the heavenly world, shining in the path of the dawn of divine knowledge; in that path the other godheads follow him and it is his greatness of light that they make the goal of all their energies. He has measured out for us our earthly worlds by his power and greatness: but it is in the three worlds of light that he attains to his real greatness of manifestation in the rays of the divine sun; then he encompasses the night of our darkness with his being and his light and becomes Mitra who by his laws produces the luminous harmony of our higher and lower worlds. Of all our creation he is the one author, and by his forward marches he is its increaser until the whole world of our becoming grows full of his illumination.

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Chapter 2
Savitri – the Divine Mother

Words of Sri Aurobindo

Savitri is represented in the poem as an incarnation of the Divine Mother... This incarnation is supposed to have taken place in far past times when the whole thing had to be opened, so as to “hew the ways of Immortality”.

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Words of Sri Aurobindo

Aswapati’s Yoga falls into three parts. First, he is achieving his own spiritual self-fulfilment as an individual and this is described as the Yoga of the King. Next, he makes the ascent as a typical representative of the race to win the possibility of discovery and possession of all the planes of consciousness and this is described in the second book: but this too is as yet only an individual victory. Finally, he aspires no longer for himself but for all, for a universal realisation and new creation. That is described in the Book of the Divine Mother.

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Words of the Mother

Mother, suffering comes from ignorance and pain, but what is the nature of the suffering and pain the Divine Mother feels for her children – the Divine Mother in Savitri?

It is because she participates in their nature. She has descended upon earth to participate in their nature. Because if she did not participate in their nature, she could not lead them farther. If she remained in her supreme consciousness where there is no suffering, in her supreme knowledge and consciousness, she could not have any contact with human beings. And it is for this that she is obliged to take on the human consciousness and form, it is to be able to enter into contact with them. Only, she does not forget: she has adopted their consciousness but she remains in relation with her own real, supreme consciousness. And thus, by joining the two, she can make those who are in that other consciousness progress. But if she did not adopt their consciousness, if she did not suffer with their sorrow, she could not help them. Hers is not a suffering of ignorance: it is a suffering through identity. It is because she has accepted to have the same vibrations as they, in order to be able to enter into contact with them and pull them out of the state they are in. If she did not enter into contact with them, she would not be felt at all or no one could bear her radiance.... This has been said in all kinds of forms, in all kinds of religions, and they have spoken very often of the divine Sacrifice, but from a certain point of view it is true. It is a voluntary sacrifice, but it is true: giving up a state of perfect consciousness, perfect bliss, perfect power in order to accept the state of ignorance of the outer world so as to pull it out of that ignorance. If this state were not accepted, there would be no contact with it. No relation would be possible. And this is the reason of the incarnations. Otherwise, there would be no necessity. If the divine consciousness and divine force could work directly from the place or state of their perfection, if they could work directly on matter and transform it, there would be no need to take a body like man’s. It would have been enough to act from the world of Truth with the perfect consciousness and upon consciousness. In fact that acts perhaps but so slowly that when there is this effort to make the world progress, make it go forward more rapidly, well, it is necessary to take on human nature. By taking the human body, one is obliged to take on human nature, partially. Only, instead of losing one’s consciousness and losing contact with the Truth, one keeps this consciousness and this Truth, and it is by joining the two that one can create exactly this kind of alchemy of transformation. But if one did not touch matter, one could do nothing for it.

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Chapter 3
The Composition of Savitri

Words of Sri Aurobindo

The poem was originally written from a lower level, a mixture perhaps of the inner mind, psychic, poetic intelligence, sublimised vital, afterwards with the Higher Mind, often illumined and intuitivised, intervening. Most of the stuff of the first book is new or else the old so altered as to be no more what it was; the best of the old has sometimes been kept almost intact because it had already the higher inspiration. Moreover there have been made successive revisions each trying to lift the general level higher and higher towards a possible Overmind poetry. As it now stands there is a general Overmind influence, I believe, sometimes coming fully through, sometimes colouring the poetry of the other higher planes fused together, sometimes lifting any one of these higher planes to its highest or the psychic, poetic intelligence or vital towards them.

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Words of Sri Aurobindo

With your silent consciousness, it should be possible to draw from the highest planes with the slightest pull.

The highest planes are not so accommodating as all that. If they were so, why should it be so difficult to bring down and organise the supermind in the physical consciousness? What happy-go-lucky fancy-web-spinning ignoramuses you all are. You speak of silence, consciousness, overmental, supramental etc. as if they were so many electric buttons you have only to press and there you are. It may be one day but meanwhile I have to discover everything about the working of all possible modes of electricity, all the laws, possibilities, perils etc., construct modes of connection and communication, make the whole far-wiring system, try to find out how it can be made fool-proof and all that in the course of a single lifetime. And I have to do it while my blessed disciples are firing off their gay or gloomy a priori reasonings at me from a position of entire irresponsibility and expecting me to divulge everything to them not in hints – but at length. Lord God in omnibus!

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Words of Sri Aurobindo

I used Savitri as a means of ascension. I began with it on a certain mental level, each time I could reach a higher level I rewrote from that level. Moreover I was particular – if part seemed to me to come from any lower level, I was not satisfied to leave it because it was good poetry. All had to be as far as possible of the same mint. In fact, Savitri has not been regarded by me as a poem to be written and finished, but as a field of experimentation to see how far poetry could be written from one’s own Yogic consciousness and how that could be made creative.

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Words of Sri Aurobindo

I don’t think about the technique because thinking is no longer in my line. But I see and feel first when the lines are coming through and afterwards in revision of the work. I don’t bother about details while writing, because that would only hamper the inspiration. I let it come through without interference; only pausing if there is an obvious inadequacy felt, in which case I conclude that it is a wrong inspiration or inferior level that has cut across the communication. If the inspiration is the right one, then I have not to bother about the technique then or afterwards, for there comes through the perfect line with the perfect rhythm inextricably intertwined or rather fused into an inseparable and single unity; if there is anything wrong with the expression that carries with it an imperfection in the rhythm, if there is a flaw in the rhythm, the expression also does not carry its full weight, is not absolutely inevitable. If on the other hand the inspiration is not throughout the right one, then there is an after examination and recasting of part or whole. The things I lay most stress on then are whether each line in itself is the inevitable thing not only as a whole but in each word; whether there is the right distribution of sentence lengths (an immensely important thing in this kind of blank verse); whether the lines are in their right place, for all the lines may be perfect, but they may not combine perfectly together – bridges may be needed, alterations of position so as to create the right development and perspective etc., etc. Pauses hardly exist in this kind of blank verse; variations of rhythm as between the lines, of caesura, of the distribution of long and short, clipped and open syllables, manifold combinations of vowel and consonant sounds, alliteration, assonances, etc., distribution into one line, two line, three or four or five line, many line sentences, care to make each line tell by itself in its own mass and force and at the same time form a harmonious whole sentence – these are the important things. But all that is usually taken care of by the inspiration itself, for as I know and have the habit of the technique, the inspiration provides what I want according to standing orders. If there is a defect I appeal to headquarters till a proper version comes along or the defect is removed by a word or phrase substitute that flashes – with the necessary sound and sense. These things are not done by thinking or seeking for the right thing – the two agents are sight and call. Also feeling – the solar plexus has to be satisfied and, until it is, revision after revision has to continue. I may add that the technique does not go by any set mental rule – for the object is not perfect technical elegance according to precept, but sound-significance filling out word-significance. If that can be done by breaking rules, well, so much the worse for the rule.

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Words of Sri Aurobindo

I have not anywhere in Savitri written anything for the sake of mere picturesqueness or merely to produce a rhetorical effect; what I am trying to do everywhere in the poem is to express exactly something seen, something felt or experienced; if, for instance, I indulge in the wealth-burdened line or passage, it is not merely for the pleasure of the indulgence, but because there is that burden, or at least what I conceive to be that, in the vision or the experience. When the expression has been found, I have to judge, not by the intellect or by any set poetical rule, but by an intuitive feeling, whether it is entirely the right expression and, if it is not, I have to change and go on changing until I have received the absolutely right inspiration and the right transcription of it and must never be satisfied with any à peu près or imperfect transcription even if that makes good poetry of one kind or another. This is what I have tried to do. The critic or reader will judge for himself whether I have succeeded or failed; but if he has seen nothing and understood nothing, it does not follow that his adverse judgment is sure to be the right and true one, there is at least a chance that he may so conclude, not because there is nothing to see and nothing to understand, only poor pseudo-stuff or a rhetorical emptiness but because he was not equipped for the vision or the understanding. Savitri is the record of a seeing, of an experience which is not of the common kind and is often very far from what the general human mind sees and experiences. You must not expect appreciation or understanding from the general public or even from many at the first touch; as I have pointed out, there must be a new extension of consciousness and aesthesis to appreciate a new kind of mystic poetry.

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Words of Sri Aurobindo

This is not the method of Savitri. Its expression aims at a certain force, directness and spiritual clarity and reality. When it is not understood, it is because the truths it expresses are unfamiliar to the ordinary mind or belong to an untrodden domain or domains or enter into a field of occult experience; it is not because there is any attempt at a dark or vague profundity or at an escape from thought. The thinking is not intellectual but intuitive or more than intuitive, always expressing a vision, a spiritual contact or a knowledge which has come by entering into the thing itself, by identity.

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