Savitri

a Legend and a Symbol

 

CONTENTS

 

Pre-content

 

 

PART ONE

   
 

Book One

 

The Book of Beginnings

   

Canto I

   

The Symbol Dawn

   

Canto II

   

The Issue

   

Canto III

   

The Yoga of the King: The Yoga of the Soul's Release

   

Canto IV

   

The Secret Knowledge

   

Canto V

   

The Yoga of the King: The Yoga of the Spirit's Freedom and Greatness

     
 

Book Two

 

The Book of the Traveller of the Worlds

   

Canto I

   

The World-Stair

   

Canto II

   

The Kingdom of Subtle Matter

   

Canto III

   

The Glory and the Fall of Life

   

Canto IV

   

The Kingdoms of the Little Life

   

Canto V

   

The Godheads of the Little Life

   

Canto VI

   

The Kingdoms and Godheads of the Greater Life

   

Canto VII

   

The Descent into Night

   

Canto VIII

   

The World of Falsehood, the Mother of Evil and the Sons of Darkness

   

Canto IX

   

The Paradise of the Life-Gods

   

Canto X

   

The Kingdoms and Godheads of the Little Mind

   

Canto XI

   

The Kingdoms and Godheads of the Greater Mind

   

Canto XII

   

The Heavens of the Ideal

   

Canto XIII

   

In the Self of Mind

   

Canto XIV

   

The World-Soul

   

Canto XV

   

The Kingdoms of the Greater Knowledge

     
 

Book Three

 

The Book of the Divine Mother

   

Canto I

   

The Pursuit of the Unknowable

   

Canto II

   

The Adoration of the Divine Mother

   

Canto III

   

The House of the Spirit and the New Creation

   

Canto IV

   

The Vision and the Boon

     
 

PART TWO

     
 

Book Four

 

The Book of Birth and Quest

   

Canto I

   

The Birth and Childhood of the Flame

   

Canto II

   

The Growth of the Flame

   

Canto III

   

The Call to the Quest

   

Canto IV

   

The Quest

     
 

Book Five

 

The Book of Love

   

Canto I

   

The Destined Meeting-Place

   

Canto II

   

Satyavan

   

Canto III

   

Satyavan and Savitri

     
 

Book Six

 

The Book of Fate

   

Canto I

   

The Word of Fate

   

Canto II

   

The Way of Fate and the Problem of Pain

     
 

Book Seven

 

The Book of Yoga

   

Canto I

   

The Joy of Union; the Ordeal of the Foreknowledge of Death and the Heart's Grief and Pain

   

Canto II

   

The Parable of the Search for the Soul

   

Canto III

   

The Entry into the Inner Countries

   

Canto IV

   

The Triple Soul-Forces

   

Canto V

   

The Finding of the Soul

   

Canto VI

   

Nirvana and the Discovery of the All-Negating Absolute

   

Canto VII

   

The Discovery of the Cosmic Spirit and the Cosmic Consciousness

     
 

Book Eight

 

The Book of Death

   

"Canto III"

   

Death in the Forest

     
 

PART THREE

     
 

Book Nine

 

The Book of Eternal Night

   

Canto I

   

Towards the Black Void

   

Canto II

   

The Journey in Eternal Night and the Voice of the Darkness

     
 

Book Ten

 

The Book of the Double Twilight

   

Canto I

   

The Dream Twilight of the Ideal

   

Canto II

   

The Gospel of Death and Vanity of the Ideal

   

Canto III

   

The Debate of Love and Death

   

Canto IV

   

The Dream Twilight of the Earthly Real

     
 

Book Eleven

 

The Book of Everlasting Day

   

Canto I

   

The Eternal Day: The Soul's Choice and the Supreme Consummation

     
 

Book Twelve

   

Epilogue

   

The Return to Earth

     
 

Note on the Text

 

 


VOLUMES 33 and 34

THE COMPLETE WORKS OF SRI AUROBINDO

© Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust 1997

Published by Sri Aurobindo Ashram Publication Department

Printed at Sri Aurobindo Ashram Press, Pondicherry

PRINTED IN INDIA


Savitri

a Legend and a Symbol

 


Publisher's Note

 

The writing of Savitri extended over much of the later part of Sri Aurobindo's life. The earliest known manuscript is dated 1916. The original narrative poem was recast several times in the first phase of composition. By around 1930, Sri Aurobindo had begun to turn it into an epic with a larger scope and deeper significance.

Transformed into "A Legend and a Symbol", Savitri became his major literary work which he continued to expand and perfect until his last days. In the late 1940s, when his eyesight was failing, he took the help of a scribe and dictated the extensive final stages of revision.

Separate cantos started to appear in print in 1946. Part One of the first edition was published in 1950. The next year, after Sri Aurobindo's passing, the rest of the poem was brought out in a second volume.

In the second edition (1954), Sri Aurobindo's letters on Savitri were added. They are omitted from the present edition and included in Letters on Poetry and Art.

The present text is that of the fourth ("revised") edition which came out in 1993. Each line has been checked to eliminate any unintentional discrepancies between the final manuscript or dictation and the printed form of the poem.