Book Ten. The Book of the Double Twilight
Canto I Canto II Canto III Canto IV
Book Ten
The Book of the Double Twilight
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Book Ten: Canto 3 The Debate of Love and Death
Summary God made this world of matter his starting point of a journey in which he discovers himself. He covered his head with the cowl of Matter. Infinity took on the form of a boundless zero. All-Knowledge seemed to be a dark Nescience, All-Bliss an Insentience. The adventure of the spirit into Time started, the pilgrimage of the soul in the cosmos. God’s Puissance commenced work, things took shape in the Void; life awoke in Matter, mind in life, thought formed itself in mind and Man stood erect, the first of the creatures on earth to do so. He faced and conquered the powers and laws that rule the world. He has seen the Unknown. A ray of the eternal Sun has touched him. O Death, thou lookest on an incomplete world and sayest that there is no God and all is in vain. Material Nature is still in travail and labours through ignorance and imperfection to reach, to change back into God. The body is the chrysalis of a soul. In all there is the secret presence and might of the All-Wonderful. This world is the outer garb of God. All is his passion-play; a transcendent Wisdom seeks to meet her Lord in the darkness of the Night. God plays at being bound by Nature. All leads to a revelation of the One in the Many. Behind the huge masquerade, the Light grows, Wisdom dawns and man’s knowledge is lighted by God’s ray. The spirit in man communes with the Eternal. Once, O Death, all was plunged into the enigmatic Night but now all is raised to meet the glorious Sun of Truth. This is the mystery of thy reign. In spite of thy mask, the earth has been made for joy and not sorrow. Our spirits breathe a secret air of pure felicity; without it the world would sink in the void. A hidden Bliss is at the root of things. Because of it, in all things, there is a will to live, a joy to be. Danger and difficulty whet the irrepressible joy. Life brings adventure and thrill. The Truth superhuman calls to thinking man and the soul turns to eternal things and at last immortal Bliss looks upon the world, poised on the breast of the Eternal’s peace. Love comes into its own and gathers the whole world into its clasp. O Death, I have triumphed over thee within myself. I can grieve no more. If I ask for Satyavan it is for God’s work on earth. For that we have come, Satyavan and I, to heal with bliss the unhappiness of the world, to fill with Love the hollow in men’s hearts. My will is greater than thy law, O Death, my love stronger than Fate. Love is my sanction from God, Love is my strength.But the God of Death replies with an ironic laughter in his voice: So do men cheat themselves with splendid thoughts, weave flimsy webs of Ideals. Thy soul is a product of flesh, God is created in dreams. Recognise that thou art a creature of Nature, accept the futility of thy birth. Truth is hard. Savitri replies: Yes, I am human, but my humanity is a mask of God. By me shall men conquer thee. Death cries back: Thou dwellest in a house of Imagination. How can thy will make one what is true and what is false? Matter and Spirit can never become one. Desist from this vain labour. Take refuge in me, for to all Death is the last felicity. Savitri: My heart is wiser than thy Reason, O Death. My strength can carry the grief of the Universe and yet never lose the Calm of the Infinite. Death: Art thou really so strong, so free? Show me thy strength, thy freedom from my laws.Savitri: Surely I shall find the way, with Satyavan’s hands in mine. Death: Choose earthly joy, I will give thee all that thy soul desires. But my laws are hard and forbid thy dearest wish; Satyavan can never again be thine. Savitri: If thou, Death, can look straight at Truth, look at my heart, know what I am and give what thou must. I claim nothing but Satyavan alone. Death bows in disdain like one who yields a point reluctantly and replies: I give to thee what the once living Satyavan had desired for Savitri, worthy daughters, hero sons, felicity of days. Love shall bind many hearts to thee. Return, O child, to thy abandoned earth. Savitri refuses and replies: Earth cannot flower if I return alone. Death sends forth once more his angry cry: Should all joy cease on earth because one man is dead? Grief dies soon in the tired human heart. Other guests soon fill the empty room. Savitri: Satyavan is my only Lord. Give him back to me. Death: Return! Other men of beauty and strength and truth will appease thee and one of them will replace Satyavan who shall soon recede into the past. New love shall push away the old; such is life. Savitri: Thou mockest. I know beyond all doubt that he and I are the eternal bridegroom and eternal bride who are to wed before the immortal Fire for the victory of heaven on earth. Why dost thou vainly strive with me, O Death? The boundless members of the god shudder in silence, as if overpowered by a secret ecstasy. The twilight around trembles like a bursting veil. Thus strive the great opponents with armed speech. Speech fades away in the haze and mist of that glimmering world. Savitri withdraws her thoughts and turns within into the chambers of her soul. The procession continues, reversing the order of the world: mortal Satyavan leads, follows the god; Savitri is behind both, leader of their march, with them in front obeying her will.They journey onward through the drifting ways. All flees as if perturbed by the clearness of her soul. Through that enchanted darkness moves her soul; Death walks in front of her and Satyavan in front of Death. Above hangs the unseen balance of his fate.
A sad destroying
cadence the voice sank; The voice of Death sinks with a sad and destroying intonation. It seems to lead the forward march of Life into some silent original Void.
But Savitri answered
to almighty Death: But Savitri replies to almighty Death: "O dark-browed quibbling reasoner of the universe who veilest the Real with its own Idea-form, hiding the living face of Nature with mechanical brute objects, concealing eternity with thy dance of death, thou hast woven the ignorant Mind into a screen, converted Thought into error’s plentiful supplier and recorder, a false testifier of the movements of the sense which is the servant of the mind.
An aesthete of the
sorrow of the world,
A lying reality is
falsehood’s crown
O Death, thou
speakest Truth but Truth that slays, "Thou art a fine connoisseur of the sorrow of the world. Championing a harsh and sad philosophy of life, thou hast used words as a shutter keeping out Light, thou hast summoned Truth to prove a falsehood; a truth that is perverted — contrary to its nature — is falsehood’s richest gem. O Death, what thou speakest may be Truth, but it is a Truth that kills. I shall answer thee instead with the Truth that saves.
A traveller
new-discovering himself, "A traveller repeatedly discovering himself in new forms made the realm of Matter the starting point of his journey. In Nothingness he made his dwelling He made Night a process of the birth of eternal light. He made death a goad towards acquiring immortality.
God wrapped his head
from sight in Matter’s cowl,
His abysms of bliss
became insensible deeps, "This traveller is God himself in guise.He concealed himself from sight in the hood of Matter. His consciousness plunged into depths where consciousness is not and his All-Knowledge assumed the form of a huge dark Nescience — total absence of Awareness. His infinity appeared to be an unbounded zero. His profounds of bliss turned into unfeeling depths, his eternity into an empty spiritual Vast.
Annulling an
original nullity, "Cancelling the Nothingness that was originally there, the Eternal took position in the Void and sketched the pattern of a universe in order that the free spirit might undertake an adventure into Time and engage itself in combat with hard Necessity and the soul might proceed on a pilgrimage in the cosmos.
A spirit moved in
black immensities "A spirit moved in those dark immensities and in that primitive Nothingness it built a Thought. In the huge Void of God a soul was lit, a secret toiling glow of inchoate fire.
In Nihil’s gulf
his mighty Puissance wrought; "God’s mighty Power worked in the gulf of Nothingness. The Power threw her formless movement into forms and gave body to the Unbodied in Matter.
Infant and dim the eternal Mights awoke.
In inert Matter
breathed a slumbering Life, "The eternal Powers still weak in their infancy awoke. A slumbering Life breathed in inert Matter; Mind was asleep in a Life that was subconscious. As Life awoke, Mind stretched its huge limbs to shake off the torpor of its sleep. Sense throbbed into a substance that was senseless; the heart of the world began to beat, the eyes of the world began to see.
In the crowded dumb
vibrations of a brain "In the mute, mechanical movements of the brain, Thought managed to form and establish itself, discovered speech to express itself, and nourished the new-born Word of power that radiated its light across the gulfs of the world’s ignorance.
In waking Mind, the Thinker built his house.
A reasoning animal
willed and planned and sought; "The Thinker organised his domain in the waking Mind. Man, the reasoning animal, willed planned and searched; he stood up erect, — alone among his companions of the animal world to do so; he built life afresh, spanned the universe; he opposed his fate and fought the unseen Powers of the universe; he conquered and utilised for his own purpose the laws that govern the world; he even hoped to scale the heavens and reach the stars, becoming the undisputed master of his vast environment.
Now through Mind’s
windows stares the demi-god "The demi-god veiled by the screens of man’s soul stares out through the windows of the Mind. He has glimpsed the Unknown, looked on the bare face of Truth. A ray of the eternal Sun of Truth has touched him. And, without movement, speechless in the seer-depths of awareness, he stands awake in the light of the Supernature, beholds a glory of soaring wings and sees the vast might of God descending from above.
O Death, thou lookst
on an unfinished world "O Death, the world on which thou lookest is but an incomplete world — a world that is under thy attack and uncertain of its course, peopled by imperfect minds and lives that are ignorant. And looking at such an unfinished world, thou sayest that God does not exist and all is in vain.
How shall the child already be the man? Because he is infant, shall he never grow? Because he is ignorant, shall he never learn? "How can the child become a man forthwith? Also, because he is an infant now, does it mean that he will never grow up? Simply because he is ignorant now, does it mean that he will never be able to learn?
In a small fragile
seed a great tree lurks, "In a small fragile seed there lurks a giant tree. In a tiny gene lies a potential thinking being. That which is a little element in a little sperm grows and develops into a conqueror and a sage — mighty power and supreme knowledge.
Then wilt thou spew
out, Death, God’s mystic truth, Still wilt thou say there is no spirit, no God? "When that comes to be, then wilt thou, O Death, abhorrently cast forth out of thee the mystic truth of God in the universe? Wilt thou then be able to deny the occult spiritual miracle that will be patent? Wilt thou still maintain that there is no spirit, there is no God?
A mute material
Nature wakes and sees;
Something there
waits beyond towards which she strives, "A dumb material Nature awakes and sees. She has invented speech and revealed a will at work. There is something waiting beyond her present reach towards which she strives. There is something which enfolds her and she grows into it. Her high purpose, the supreme task with which she is charged is to unveil the hidden spirit, to transmute herself back into God from whom she has come to be, to exceed her present limits.
In God concealed the
world began to be, "The world commenced its existence in the bosom of the unmanifest God; slowly it moves towards the manifest God; it is to manifest God. Our imperfection works towards perfection; the body encloses a budding soul. The infinite embraces the finite and Time journeys towards manifest eternity.
A miracle structure
of the eternal Mage,
All here bears
witness to his secret might, "Matter is a magic-structure of the eternal Super-magician, God. It conceals its mystery from its own sight; this mystery is a veritable scripture written in secret code, ail occult record of the art of the All-Wonderful, the supreme Artist. Everything here in this world testifies to the secret might of God, we feel his presence, his power, in all.
A blaze of his
sovereign glory is the sun, A glory is his dream of purple sky. A march of his greatness are the wheeling stars. "God’s supreme glory blazes in the sun. The gold and shining moon and the purple sky reveal his glory. The speeding stars are a march of his greatness.
His laughter of
beauty breaks out in green trees,
This world is God
fulfilled in outwardness.
Indeed, this world is the external fulfilment of God.
His ways challenge
our reason and our sense; "Our reason and sense cannot follow God’s ways. By the blind mechanical workings of an ignorant Force, and by means which we disdain as small, obscure or low, he has built in the insensible Void a world that is a greatness based upon little things.
His forms he has
massed from infinitesimal dust;
If mind is crippled,
life untaught and crude, "He has laboriously shaped his forms from out of tiny dust-particles; his wonders are built from things insignificant in themselves. The mind may be crippled in its movements, life may be uncontrolled and crude, brutal appearances may be aplenty and evil may prevail, but they are only incidents in his glowing, vast and varied plot, necessary steps of the great and dangerous drama he is enacting.
He makes with these
and all his passion-play, "With all these and other elements he prepares and enacts his play of divine Passion. It is a play that is yet no play; it is really a profound plan of a high, transcendent Wisdom’ finding ways to meet her Lord and Master in conditions of darkness and Night —for in conditions of light and splendour she is ever one with the Lord.
Above her is the
vigil of the stars; "This transcendent wisdom works under the vigil of the celestial stars, powers, above; the sole Infinitude watches her as she ensouls mute Matter with the Divine, as she renders the Absolute in symbols of mind and life.
A miracle-monger her
mechanical craft; prajna purani (Gita"Her mechanical skill worked out miracles: from Matter’s machine the laws of Thought were erected; the motion-powers of Life served the purposeful labours of the soul.
The mighty Mother
her creation wrought, "The mighty Mother worked at her creation, restraining her great caprice with fixed laws of her own make. She enclosed God in a world that is a riddle, put the Omniscient to sleep in nescience, restrained Omnipotence to the measure of Inertia, and with divine unconscious steps trod perfectly the huge round of her works of marvel.
Immortality assured
itself by death;
His knowledge he
disguised as Ignorance, "Immortality confirmed itself through the process of the death of the form. The Eternal revealed himself in Time. He concealed his knowledge in Ignorance; he paired good with evil; he made of error a door of entry for Truth; his bliss was nurtured by pain and sorrow.
A thousand aspects
point back to the One;
In this meeting of
the Eternal’s mingling masques, "All the myriad aspects point only to the One of which they are so many self-revelations. A twofold Nature covered the face of the Unique One. In a struggle of the extremes of Power, the million roads of earth wended their course towards the Godhead in a commingling of the various masques of the Eternal, in an entangling dance of vehement opposites trying to recover their lost identity in a locking embrace like lovers in a forbidden union.
All stumbled on
behind a stumbling Guide, All blundered and straggled towards the one Divine. "All went on stumbling behind a veiled Guide who also stumbled. However, every stumble in this course is a necessary step on these unknown tracts to a goal that is itself unknown. All blundered and proceeded erratically, but all moved towards the one Divine.
As if transmuted by
a titan spell "The eternal powers took on, as if transformed by a titan’s spell, an ambiguous appearance. Forms of a deviating Divinity, they wore the heads of animal or dwarf, put on the ears of the fawn or the hoof of the satyr or had the look of the demon in their eyes.
A crooked maze they
made of thinking mind, "They turned the thinking mind into a twisted maze; the heart underwent a complete change, with uncontrolled impulses from the nether regions pouring into its reserved chamber of delight, like inebriate travellers joining in a wild masked ball.
On the highways, in
the gardens of the world "Forgetting their divine parts, these powers wallowed on the high roads and in the gardens of the world like those who have drunk an intoxicating magical wine or like a child who sprawls and plays in Nature’s muddy soil.
Even wisdom, hewer
of the roads of God, "Even wisdom who builds the paths to God, joins in this deep, calamitous game. She loses her traveller’s wallet and bag; she fails to consult the map and observe the guiding star during the journey.
A poor
self-righteous virtue is her stock "Of this wisdom entangled in the unfortunate game, a self-righteous virtue is the stock; pragmatic gropings of reason or abstract visions are her means. She teaches the techniques of temporary successes — not the difficult processes of permanent gain; she has always an eye on utility.
On the ocean surface
of vast Consciousness "On the surface of this ocean of vast Consciousness, small, petty thoughts are caught in the fishing net of the mind, but the great truths escape her narrow throw. These truths are safe from sight in the depths; unknown they swim in the dark huge gulfs of the ocean, beyond the plumbings of the mind, too far for the shallow plunge of the weak diver.
Our mortal vision
peers with ignorant eyes;
Our knowledge walks
leaning on Error’s staff, "Our mortal sight looks with ignorant eyes; it cannot see the core of things. Our knowledge proceeds through error; it swears by false dogmas and false gods; it champions fanatically some intolerant creed; it seeks for truth, but doubts every truth it finds; it is an inveterate sceptic denying Light obstinately; it chills the warmth of the heart with its dry, ironic smile of superiority; it is a cynic crushing out the god in man.
A darkness wallows
in the paths of Time "Truly, there is a darkness plaguing the paths of Time in this Creation. It raises its huge head to blot out the stars in the firmament; it obstructs the mind seeking to interpret and explain the mystery of things; it cuts off the intimations from the Sun of Truth.
Yet Light is there;
it stands at Nature’s doors:
It waits to be
kindled in our secret cells; "All the same, there is Light. It stands at Nature’s doors which are not yet fully open. It holds a torch to guide the traveller in. It waits to be lighted in our secret cells. It is a star lighting up the sea of ignorance around; it is a lamp on the stern of our ship piercing the darkness of the night and showing the way.
As knowledge grows
Light flames up from within: "As knowledge grows, this Light flares up like a flame from within. It is a shining warrior in the mind, a far-off dreamer in the intuiting heart; it is a protecting armour in the fight against the hosts of the Adversary, a veritable bow of God from which unfailing arrows are shot.
Then larger dawns
arrive and Wisdom’s pomps "As the Light flares up, dawns of knowledge —larger than thitherto — arrive and the splendour of wisdom breaks through the half lighted fields of the being; Philosophy is reared on the peaks of speculative Thought. Science discovers secret powers of Nature, enormous powers that are put in the service of the puny creature that is man in ignorance. Science also reveals the hidden processes of Nature in detail and goes on to conquer Nature by Nature’s own imprisoned energy-force.
On heights unreached
by mind’s most daring soar, "Beyond the highest summits of the mind’s Thought, on the borders where Time fades into the Timeless, the soul draws back into its own immortal Self — the Self of which it is a projection. Then man’s knowledge turns into God’s celestial wisdom.
There is the mystic
realm whence leaps the power "There is a mystic region from where comes the power whose intensity shines in the eyes of the seer and the sage. It is a rapid flash of revelation playing upon the inner borders of the mind; when that takes place, thought falls silent and gazes into a luminous Void.
A voice comes down
from mystic unseen peaks: "A voice comes down from the mystic unseen peaks above; it is a cry of splendour proceeding from some mouth of storm — source of precipitating power; it is the voice that speaks to the depths of the silent night, it is the imperious thunder and the flaming call to the soul.
Above the planes
that climb from nescient earth, "Above the terrestrial planes of existence, a hand is raised towards the realm of the Invisible beyond the dazzling borders of the superconscient Reality and it pushes away the screens that veil the Unknown. The soul, the spirit within, looks direct into the eyes of the Eternal.
It hears the Word to
which our hearts were deaf, "The spirit hears the supernal Word which our hearts could not hear; it sees through the bright light which blinded our thoughts; it draws direct from the glorious Truth; it comes to know the mysteries of eternity.
Thus all was plunged
into the riddling Night, O Death, this is the mystery of thy reign. "Thus was all plunged into the mysterious Night of Nescience, and thus is all raised to meet the glorious, dazzling Sun of Truth. O Death, this is the hidden truth of thy reign.
In earth’s
anomalous and tragic field "As the abnormal and tragic spaces of the earth were carried in their aimless journey by the sun amidst the forced marches of the great mute stars in the sky, a huge darkness settled on the fields of God and this world of Matter was governed by thy form, O Death.
Thy mask has covered
the Eternal’s face,
Abandoned in the
Vast she slumbered on: "O Death, thy mask has covered the face of the Eternal on the earth. The Bliss that caused the birth of the world has become dormant. Left to herself in the Vast, the creative Bliss continued her slumber. An evil transformation came over the different parts of her being till she no more recognised herself.
Only through her
creative slumber flit "The Bliss knows herself no more. But in her creative slumber, some frail memories flit across, memories of the original joy and beauty of things under the mirth of the blue sky and midst the green trees and the happy luxuriance of fragrance and colour, in the bright golden course of the sun and the vigil of the dreamily shining stars, amidst the high contemplative summits of the hills, on the breast of the passionate rain-kissed earth and by the deep blue waves of the sea.
But now the primal
innocence is lost
Earth still has kept
her early charm and grace, "But that early innocence is now lost. Death and Ignorance rule the mortal world. Nature’s face has a dull, depressing appearance. The earth, however, still retains her early charm and grace, her grandeur and beauty, but the divine Indweller of the creation is veiled.
The souls of men
have wandered from the Light
The eyes of the
creatrix Bliss are closed "The souls of men have strayed away from the Light of God and the Divine Mother withdraws, her face is no more visible in the world. The eyes of the creatrix of this world, the Bliss eternal, are closed in sleep and there is a touch of sorrow even in her dreams.
As she turns and
tosses on her bed of Void, "The eternal Bliss tosses restlessly on her bed of Void because she is unable to awake, recover her own self and rebuild her original perfect form. She forgets her true nature and state, her natural instinct of happiness; she forgets to create a world of joy which is natural for her to create; on the other hand, she weeps and makes her creatures weep; testing her children with the sharp edge of sorrow, she luxuriates in spending grief and tears on life’s vain waste of hope and labour.
In the nightmare
change of her half-conscious dream, "In the nightmare of her half-awake dream, herself tortured and torturing us by her touch — she visits our hearts, bodies and lives wearing the hard and cruel mask of pain.
Our nature twisted
by the abortive birth "Our nature, twisted due to premature formation under the pressure of this pain, gives distorted responses to the stimulating shocks of life, takes a pungent relish in the pangs of the world and drinks the strong wine of grief’s perversity.
A curse is laid on
the pure joy of life: "There is a curse on the pure joy of life. Delight which is the sweetest sign of the presence of God and the inseparable companion of Beauty in creation, is feared and avoided by the saint who aspires for union with God, by the sage who engages himself in austerities in order to win the Spirit. It is shunned as a dangerous and uncertain deception, a plausible trick of a dark Power, which tempts the soul to follow the course of self-destruction and fall; the soul that seeks delight sooner or later hurts itself and perishes.
A puritan God made
pleasure a poisonous fruit, "In their eyes, God is a puritan who has made of pleasure a poisonous fruit or a deadly drug that leads to death. Ecstasy of Nature inevitably produces sin. Hence it is to be avoided.
Yet every creature
hunts for happiness, "Still, every creature in the world seeks happiness, pays for it with hard suffering or rends with force some fragment, some broken piece of bliss from this indifferent, inanimate globe.
Even joy itself
becomes a poisonous draught,
All means are held
good to catch a single beam, "Joy itself becomes a poisonous wine; its yearning is turned into a dreadful bait of Fate. All means — even harmful ones — are justified to catch a single ray of happiness, whole eternity is sacrificed to gain a moment of bliss. And yet, surely, the earth was made for joy and not for sorrow; it was not made as a dream of unending suffering.
Although God made
the world for his delight, All grew a play of Chance simulating Fate. "Indeed, God created this world for his own play of delight. But a Power of Ignorance intervened, took charge of the world, and pretended as if it were God’s Will; the deep falsehood of Death came to conquer Life. Thus all turned into a game of Chance wearing the appearance of the workings of Fate.
A secret air of pure
felicity
If this withdrew,
the world would sink in the Void; "There is a pure secret air of felicity, deep like the azure skies, which our spirits breathe and whose in distinct call is felt by our hearts and bodies. Our senses try to contact it but even as they touch it they lose it. If this secret felicity were to withdraw, the world would lapse in the Void; if this inner felicity were not there, nothing here could live or move.
A hidden Bliss is at the root of things.
A mute Delight
regards Time’s countless works: "There is a secret, hidden, bliss at the root of all things in the world. A silent Delight watches the endless workings of Time. Indeed Space extended itself in order to hold God’s joy in all things; our souls were born to contain God’s joy in the self of things.
This universe an old
enchantment guards; "This universe holds an ancient magic. Its objects are carefully carved cups of World-Delight whose vintage wine of rapture is drunk by some deep Soul. The All Wonderful Creator has filled heaven with his dreams; he has turned what was originally a blank Space into his House of marvel.
He spilled his
spirit into Matter’s signs: "The All-Wonderful has poured his spirit into the symbolic forms of Matter; his fires of grandeur flame in the sun; he it is who glides through the skies in the form of the shimmering moon; he is beauty singing in the fields of sound; he chants the odes of the Wind; he is silence watching in the stars during the nights; he is a bird that wakes at dawn calling from every tree; he lies in a swoon in the inconscience of the stone; he dreams in flower and tree. He is manifoldly present everywhere in Creation.
Even in this labour
and dolour of Ignorance, "What is wonderful is that even in this hard struggle of Ignorance on the difficult and dangerous ground of earth, in spite of death and evil, there is a persisting will to live, a joy to be.
There is a joy in
all that meets the sense, "There is a joy in every sense-contact, a joy in all experience of the soul in the world, a joy in evil, a joy in good, a joy in virtue, a joy in sin. Undeterred by the law of Karma which threatens every transgression of good with pain, joy dares to grow upon the forbidden soil; the sap of joy runs through all the flowers of pain.
It thrills with the
drama of fate and tragic doom, "This joy of life thrills in the drama of fate and tragedy; from sorrow and ecstasy it draws its sustenance. It whets its strength on danger and difficulty and thrives upon them. If it wallows with meanly creatures on earth like the reptile and the worm, it also soars high towards the stars in the heavens; it dances with elementals like the fairies and gnomes. It sports in the light and the heat of many suns. Beauty and Power brighten it and add to its nourishment. It flourishes and grows, grows either Titan wards or God-wards.
On earth it lingers
drinking its deep fill, "This joy prolongs itself taking its fill on earth through experiences of pleasure and pain, of the fruits of Heaven, and the sombre flowers of the Abyss, of the tortures of Hell and fragments of the glory of Paradise.
In the small paltry
pleasures of man’s life,
All being it
explores for unknown bliss, "This joy of life finds relish in the petty pleasures, small passions and joys of man’s existence, in his tears and pain of broken hearts in exultant success as in hard difficulty, in the sweetness and in the bitterness of life’s experience. It explores all being for new bliss, taps all experience for the thrill of adventure.
Life brings into the
earthly creature’s days "Life brings into the days of the earthly creature a flame of glory from a higher realm. This fire deepens itself in man’s musings and his Art. It shoots up at the discovery of some perfect word of expression; it glories in man’s high resolves and high deeds; it companions him in his faults, shares the danger of the abyss, soars with his soarings, wallows in his fall
Angel and demon
brides his chamber share,
To the enjoyer of
the cosmic scene "Angel and demon compete with each other to possess the heart of man’s life. There is one who enjoys this cosmic scene; to him man’s greatness and littleness appear equal; man’s magnanimity and meanness are only hues cast on some featureless background of the gods.
The Artist’s skill
he admires who made the plan, "The supreme planner admires the artistry of the cosmic life. But this danger game does not go on for ever. Transcending the earth, but intended for earth delivered from Ignorance, wisdom and joy prepare their fulfilment. A truth that is above man calls man to its contemplation.
At last the soul
turns to eternal things,
Then is there played
the crowning Mystery, "At last the soul turns to things that are eternal —from those that are fleeting — and it seeks to find God in every form. At this final stage the supreme Mystery is enacted, the long awaited miracle performed.
Immortal bliss her
wide celestial eyes Immortal bliss awakes and gazes upon the wide world; Time vibrates to the sensuous notes of the love song of this bliss; Space is filled with an untainted beatitude.
Then leaving to its
grief the human heart, "Then this immortal bliss leaving the human heart to its accustomed grief, withdraws from this field of manifestation in word and form, soars through the mental skies of thought beyond words, through heights of sheer vision far above thought, to the summits where the unformed Idea, awake to the truth that is to formulate itself, oversees the workings of the striving Force below, itself immutable above the world it has originated.
In the vast golden
laughter of Truth’s sun "There in the happy vastitude lit by the sun of Truth, this immortal bliss, in the fiery ardour of her creative joy, is poised like a great bird of heaven on the still sea of the Eternal’s peace.
This was the aim,
this the supernal Law, "This, indeed, was the aim, this the high Law, the task assigned to Nature when out of the Void this grand, beautiful Creation sunk in the obscurity of inconscient sleep, arose. For this the Spirit came into the Abyss and infused its power into the mechanical Force of Matter in order to instal light in its glory in the sombre chamber of Night, in order to reclaim immortality in the kingdom of Death.
A mystic slow transfiguration works.
All our earth starts
from mud and ends in sky, "A mystic, slow transfiguration is at work. AU on earth starts from the mud below but culminates in the sky high above. Love that begins as animal desire changes into a sweet intoxication in the ecstatic heart, an ardent companionship in the happy mind, and then becomes the field of a wide spiritual longing.
A lonely soul
passions for the Alone, "The soul that feels lonely heaves in passion for the One, the Alone. The heart that loved a human now beats in rapture to the love of God. The body becomes the home and the shrine of the Beloved.
Then is our being
rescued from separateness; "When the presence of God is realised in the body, our being is liberated from its separativity from all. It feels all to be itself, it experiences all anew in the Consciousness of God. The Divine Beloved leans from his lone dwelling and through our being, embraces the whole world in his single breast.
Then shall the
business fail of Night and Death: "Then shall the work of the Night of Ignorance and Death cease. When this unity is established and strife is no more, when all is known in its reality and held in the embrace of Love, who, indeed, would care to return to the rule of ignorance and pain?
O Death, I have
triumphed over thee within; "O Death, within myself I have conquered thee. I no longer shake when grief attacks me. A great calm seated deep in me fills my body and my senses. This calm takes up the grief of the world and changes it into strength. Calm is the alchemist. It makes the joy of the world one with the joy of God. Calm is the uniter.
My love eternal sits
throned on God’s calm; "My eternal love is seated on the imperturbable calm of God. Love must reach beyond even the heavens and discover its hidden inexpressible meaning. Only so can it transmute human ways into divine ways and yet maintain its supremacy of bliss in the world.
O Death, not for my
heart’s sweet poignancy "O Death, I claim Satyavan back to life not for my own heart’s sweet longing nor for my happy body’s joy only. I want back the living Satyavan for the work he and I have got to do, the work which is the sacred mission of our lives.
Our lives are God’s
messengers beneath the stars; "We are truly the messengers of God on earth. We have come down to live under the shadow of death, drawing to earth God’s light to awaken this ignorant race, God’s Love to fill the empty human hearts, God’s bliss to heal the unhappiness of the world.
For I the Woman am
the force of God,
My will is greater
than thy law, O Death; I guard that seal against thy rending hands. "Know that I as the representative woman am the force of God and he as the representative man is the delegated soul of the Eternal. O Death, my will is greater than thy law, my love stronger than the bonds of Fate. Our love is the celestial seal of the Supreme and I guard it against thy hands which seek to break it.
Love must not cease
to live upon the earth; "Love must not cease to live upon the earth, for Love is the radiant link between earth and heaven. Love is the angel messenger on earth of the distant Transcendent above. Indeed, Love is a guarantee of man’s claim on the Absolute; it is an acknowledgment of the debt of God to man who is struggling here on earth to fulfil His Intention."
But to the woman
Death the god replied,
Thus wilt thou hire
the glorious charlatan Mind, But Death replies with the ironic laughter which discourages the ceaseless labour of Heaven. This is how men deceive themselves and falsify the truth with splendid thoughts. Thus wilt thou get the bright deceitful Mind to weave from out of the flimsy air of its Ideal a fine raiment to cover the nude desires of thy body and to clothe the greedy and clutching passion of thy heart?
Daub not the web of
life with magic hues: Do not colour the web of life with such magical hues. Make thy thought a clear simple glass reflecting Matter and mortality as they actually are and know that thy soul is only a product of the flesh, a fabricated self in a constructed world. It is not some immortal being from elsewhere as thou thinkest.
Thy words are large murmurs in a mystic dream.
For how in the
soiled heart of man could dwell "Thy words are mere murmurings in a mystic dream. How can the mute grandeur of thy God created in thy dreams live in the soiled heart of man? Who can see a divine face and form in the naked two-legged worm of a creature thou callest man?
O human face, put
off mind-painted masks:
For truth is bare
like stone and hard like death; "O human face, do away with these masks painted by thy mind. Be the simple animal, the worm that Nature meant thee to be. Accept the fact of thy futile birth, thy narrow life. Truth is bare like the stone and hard like death. Live thou bare in that bareness, hard with the hardness of the truth."
But Savitri replied
to the dire God: Savitri replies to the God of Death:"Yes, indeed, I am human. Still, since God bides his time to manifest himself in humanity, by me shall man put thee down and reach the immortal heights of the Spirit, transcending the grief, pain, fate and death that infest his world at present.
Yes, my humanity is
a mask of God:
I am the living body
of his light, "True, my human form is a mask, but it is a mask of God. God dwells in me, he moves me to action turning through me the great wheel of his cosmic work. Of his light I am the living body; of his power I am the thinking instrument; his wisdom I embody in art earthly breast; his conquering and unslayable Will I am.
The formless Spirit
drew in me its shape; "The Spirit that is formless has taken form in me. Both the Nameless Real and the secret Name’ of That are in me."
Death from the
incredulous Darkness sent its cry: How canst thou force to wed two eternal foes? Death cries out from its unbelieving Darkness:"Thou imaginest hugely. First get thou the consent of the immutable laws of Nature and make it thy daily task to do what is impossible. How canst thou compel two eternal enemies to unite?
Irreconcilable in
their embrace How shall thy will make one the true and false?
Where Matter is all,
there Spirit is a dream: The two eternal foes — Matter and Spirit — are irreconcilable; when they are forced to embrace each other, the glory of each in its pure extreme is denied; an unhappy marriage cripples their stunted force. How indeed can thy will bring together the true and the false and make them one? Where Matter is all, there the Spirit is not, the Spirit is only a dream; and where all is the Spirit, there Matter is not, Matter is a lie. And who, in the first place, was the cheat who forged the universe, who has erected this semblance of a universe where none really exists?
The Real with the unreal cannot mate.
He who would turn to
God must leave the world; "The Real cannot live with the unreal. If one wants God, he must forsake the world. If one wants to live in the Spirit, he must abandon life. He who has realised the one Self of all gives up his small individual self.
The voyagers of the
million routes of mind
Two only are the
doors of man’s escape, In me all take refuge, for I, Death, am God.” "The travellers on the myriad roads of the mind who have traversed this Existence to its end, the sages who have explored the vasts of this world-ocean, have at last found that extinction is the only safe harbour. And for man’s escape there are only two doors: death of his body which brings peace to Matter and death of his soul which is his final beatitude. Ultimately all take refuge in me, for I, Death, am God."
But Savitri replied
to mighty Death:
It sees and feels
the one Heart beat in all, But Savitri answers:"My heart knows more than Reason does, O Death. My heart is stronger than thy bonds. My heart beats with the one Heart in all. It feels the bright warm hands of the Transcendent above, it sees the Cosmic Spirit at work around, and in the dim Night it rests alone with God.
My heart’s
strength can carry the grief of the universe
It can drink up the
sea of All-Delight "My heart is strong enough to carry the grief of the whole universe and yet never falter under that load from its chosen luminous track, from its pure vast orbit of God’s peace. It can drink up the sea of universal Delight and yet not ever lose its own pure spiritual quality, the Calm that broods in the bosom of the Infinite."
He said, “Art thou
indeed so strong, O heart, Show me thy strength and freedom from my laws.” Death speaks: "Art thou so strong, O heart, art thou so free, O soul? Canst thou really draw happiness and enjoyment from the luxuriance of flowering nature by the wayside and yet not falter from the goal of thy difficult journey of life? Canst thou contact the dangerous touch of the world and yet never fall? If so, show me thy strength, show me thy freedom from my laws."
But Savitri
answered, “Surely I shall find
And if I linger,
Time is ours and God’s,
All is a single
plan; each wayside act Savitri replies: "Surely I shall find dearly loved pleasures among the fresh and vibrant woods of life. They are mine because they are his (Satyavan’s); they are his because they are mine; our joys are one. What does it matter if I linger on the way? Time is ours and God’s — it is endless; even if I fall, Satyavan’s hand is in mine and all is well. All indeed is one plan. Each casual act serves only to deepen the response of the soul to life’s experience, brings it nearer the goal. Nothing is lost."
Death the
contemptuous Nihil answered her:
Then will I give
thee all thy soul desires,
Only the one dearest
wish that outweighs all,
My will once wrought
remains unchanged through Time, Death, the scornful Nihil, answers: "If so, prove to the knowing gods thy supreme force by experiencing the joys of the earth. Ask what thou desirest and at the same time be free from thy desire self and its deformations. Then will I give thee all that thou desirest, all the transient joys that the earth possesses for attracting mortal hearts. But the hard laws and thy own ironic Fate forbid the granting of the one wish that is dearest to thee and outweighs all thy other wishes. Once exerted, my will remains unchanged for ever: Satyavan can never again return to thee."
But Savitri replied
to the vague Power: Nothing I claim but Satyavan alone.” Savitri answers to the shadowy Power: "If at all Darkness can gaze directly at Truth, then look at my heart, know what I am, know the Truth that I embody, and then give what thou wilt or what thou must. I myself claim only one thing and that is Satyavan."
There was a hush as if of doubtful fates.
As one disdainful
still who yields a point, There is a hush as though fates doubtful of what is to be done are hesitating. Like one who is contemptuous and yet yields a point, Death bows his imperious head in cold assent and speaks. "Reclaimed from death and painful fate, I give to thee what Satyavan, when he lived, keenly desired for Savitri.
Bright noons I give
thee and unwounded dawns,
And thou shalt
harvest in thy joyful house "I give thee bright noons and happy dawns. I give thee daughters of thy own kind, fair valiant sons and the unbroken sweetness of union with thy husband, dear and true. In thy joyful house thou shalt have the felicity of passing thy days surrounded by thy beloved ones.
Love shall bind by thee many gathered hearts.
The opposite
sweetness in thy days shall meet Return, O child, to thy forsaken earth.” "Thou wilt be the instrument with which Love shall bind all the many hearts that shall gather together around thee. The bliss of tender service to those whom thou desirest to live with thee and who need thy help, and the bliss of loving rule over all whom thou lovest shall meet in thee, O Savitri. Now, O child, return to the earth which feels forsaken because thou art not there."
But Savitri replied, “Thy gifts resist. Earth cannot flower if lonely I return.” But Savitri answers: "Stop thy gifts. If I were to return alone, without Satyavan, Earth cannot bloom."
Then Death once more
sent forth his angry cry,
Hope not to be
unhappy till the end: Then, once again Death cries out angrily, like a lion rebuking his escaping quarry: "What dost thou know of the rich and changing life of earth who imaginest that if one man dies all joy on earth will cease? Do not think thou wilt be unhappy till the end of thy life simply because Satyavan is dead. Grief passes away pretty soon from the tired human heart and the empty room is soon filled by other arrivals.
Transient painting
on a holiday’s floor
Or if a voyager on
the eternal trail, Love is the beauty of a moment painted temporarily for enjoyment on a holiday. Or if love be a traveller on the eternal Course, the objects of its embrace go on changing as the waves on the infinite seas change for a swimmer."
But Savitri replied
to the vague God,
Thy thoughts are
vacant to my soul that feels Savitri answers the indeterminate god: "Satyavan is my only Lord; nobody can take his place; give me back Satyavan. Thy thoughts are meaningless to my soul which perceives and feels the deep eternal truth that lives even in things that are transient."
Death answered her, “Return and try thy soul!
Soon shalt thou find
appeased that other men Death replies:"Return to earth and see what thy soul does. Very soon thou shalt notice that there are other men on the bountiful earth, men of beauty, strength and truth, and thou wilt be appeased. When thou wilt have half-forgotten this episode of Satyavan, thou wilt find that one of these men will attach himself to thy heart. For, being human, thy heart will certainly need another heart to answer its call. Who, in this mortal world, can live alone and yet be happy?
Then Satyavan shall
glide into the past,
Such is the life
earth’s travail has conceived, "Then Satyavan’s memory will slip away into the past. A new love and the loving hearts of thy children will push away all traces of that gentle memory. And thou wilt wonder if thou hadst loved at all before. Such is the life conceived by earth in its labour; it is a flowing stream that changes from moment to moment."
But Savitri replied
to mighty Death: But Savitri replies to Death: "O dark sarcastic critic of the work of God, thou dost mock at the fumbling, slow search of the mind and the body for what the heart is certain of achieving at a destined moment and what the immortal spirit shall one day make its own.
Mine is a heart that
worshipped, though forsaken,
Are we not they who
bore vast solitude "My heart has always worshipped, though it was forsaken, the figure of the god it loved. I have indeed burned in the flame of that love to follow in his footsteps. Have not he and I shared the vast solitude on the hill-tops alone with God?
Why dost thou vainly
strive with me, O Death,
For now at last I
know beyond all doubt, "My mind is free from all uncertainties; the secrets of the gods are open to it. Why dost thou strive with such as me? I now know for certain that the great stars in the skies burn with my ceaseless fire and of that fire life and death are the fuel.
Life only was my
blind attempt to love: The heavens accept our broken flights at last.
On our life’s prow
that breaks the waves of Time "My life was merely my blind attempt to love. Earth has seen my struggle, heaven has seen my victory. All difficulties and obstructions shall be overcome. The eternal bridegroom and the eternal bride, Satyavan and I shall be eternally united. The high heavens at last accept our flights, however incomplete they be. The hopes that have lit our life have rot proved to be false."
She spoke; the
boundless members of the god
Then lifted up as by
a sudden wind As Savitri speaks, the boundless limbs of the god of Death tremble, as if overcome by a secret ecstasy, even as the waters of the ocean heave in the presence of the moon. Then the twilight around her, in that dim and glimmering world, is lifted up as though by a sudden waft of wind and trembles like a veil that is parting.
Thus with armed speech the great opponents strove.
Around those spirits
in the glittering mist Thus do the two great antagonists — Savitri and Death — strive against each other with potent speech as their weapons. Around them is a sparkling mist. A deepening half-light speeds away as if to reach some far-off ideal Morning.
Outlined her
thoughts flew through the gleaming haze Savitri’s thoughts, in their clear outlines, fly through that shining haze in the air, mingling with its lights and veils; her words, like dazzling jewels, are caught into the glow of that mysterious realm, or are lured into the changing hues of the rainbow and fade off into distant echoes.
All utterance, all
mood must there become In this realm, it looks as if all speech, all mood must needs be woven by the mind into a fragile tissue to construct a flimsy robe of charming change.
Intent upon her
silent will she walked Concentrated upon her silent will, Savitri walks on the dim grass of these hazy, none-too-real plains; in front of her is a floating veil of visions; behind her is a trailing robe of dreams. All is vague and shifting.
But now her spirit’s
flame of conscient force But now the flaming force of her consciousness withdrawing from the prevailing sweetness — without issue — around, silences her thoughts and gathers them in the depths of her meditative being.
For only there could
dwell the soul’s firm truth: For only in that deep chamber of the being can the unshakable truth of the soul dwell. Like a tongue of sacrifice, undying, it flames up upon that central hearth where burns for ever the homestead fire serving as sentinel and witness for the lord of the house and his mate. It is from this fire that altars are lit for the gods who are invoked.
All still compelled
went gliding on unchanged, The three continue to glide on as though compelled. But the order of going is reversed. Instead of god leading and man following, here the mortal leads and the god and the spirit (of Satyavan) follow. Instead of the leader of the march being in front, Savitri who is behind is the leader and the two who are in front obey her will.
Onward they
journeyed through the drifting ways
A heaven bird upon
jewelled wings of wind Onward they journey through drifting paths and vague gleaming mists. But now everything seems to move faster as if agitated, hastening to escape from the clear light of Savitri’s soul. Her soul moves on through that enchanted dim realm, a celestial bird upon the jewelled wings of the wind borne like a variegated and striking flame carried by spirits in a cave of pearly hue.
Death walked in
front of her and Satyavan, Above was the unseen balance of his fate. Death walks in front of Savitri and Satyavan who is like a failing star before the dark face of Death. Above theia hangs the unseen balance of Satyavan’s fate still to be decided.
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