I glimpsed the Apsaras bathing in the pools
And saw the wood-nymphs peering through the leaves;
Animated cartoons depict these celestial beings, fairies, apsaras, wood-nymphs, or whatever we might call them, in a setting of great harmony and beauty either playing with flowers, butterflies or birds. The creative world of artists, poets, painters, and to a great extent, small children, are familiar with this world where “apsaras roam” and play. (it might be difficult to encounter them in shopping malls or construction sites!) We are not able to tune in to this beautiful world or glimpse the Apsaras bathing in the pools as Satyavan did, as we live too much in our mental being and our vibrational frequency does not tune in with this wonderful world. However there was a time when there was an earthly paradise which was ‘simple, luminous, uncomplicated”. The Mother has described this earthly paradise which existed in earth’s history where there was perfect harmony without any perversion or distortion.
In her own words “I remember there was certainly a moment in earth’s history when there existed a kind of earthly paradise, in a sense that it was a perfectly harmonious and natural life; that is to say, the manifestation of the mind was in accord, was still in complete accord with the ascending march of Nature and totally harmonious, without perversion and distortion. This is the first stage of mind’s manifestation in material forms.”
A godlike packed intensity of sense
Made it a passionate pleasure even to breathe;
All sights and voices wove a single charm.
The life of the enchanted globe became
A storm of sweetness and of light and song,
A revel of colour and of ecstasy,
A hymn of rays, a litany of cries: (‘Savitri’, Book Four, Canto One)
As Sri Aurobindo concludes in this beautiful passage “All Nature was at beauty’s festival”. Why is it that the world we live in now has changed so dramatically with all the perversions and distortions? The Mother was asked these questions: How long did it last? How was this world, and if it existed, where did it exist? She pointed to the Indian Ocean, first to the west of Ceylon and India and then to the east, between Ceylon and Java, but she added that such a place does not exist now as it was swallowed by the sea.
The Mother recollects “I have a memory of a life in which the body was perfectly adapted to its natural environment and the climate adapted to the needs of the body, the body to the needs of the climate. Life was wholly spontaneous and natural, just as a more luminous and more conscious animal life would be; but there were none of the complications and distortions that the mind brought in later in the course of its development. I have the memory of that life- I had it, I relived it when I became conscious of the life of the earth as a whole”
This world of “imperishable beatitudes, the moments of early awakenings and divinity” are described in these thrilling lines of ‘Savitri’:
Here upon earth are early awakenings,
Moments that tremble in an air divine,
And grown upon the yearning of her soil
Time’s sun-flowers gaze at gold Eternity:
There are the imperishable beautitudes.
A million lotuses swaying on one stem,
World after coloured and ecstatic world
Climbs towards some far unseen ephiphany. (‘Savitri’, Book Two, Canto Twelve)
However this earthly paradise did not last long. With the progress of evolution the “mind began to develop in itself, for itself, that all the complications of distortions began.” The Mother points out that the old traditions of the story of Genesis symbolically talked of such a moment in earth’s history. This paradise, as The Mother recollected, must have been exceedingly beautiful, spontaneous and close to Nature. During our trip to Java some years ago, I was wondering if this paradise the Mother talked of could be submerged beneath the sea there somewhere?
The Mother has said that if one has a poetic or artistic consciousness and if you love harmony and beauty you can build a world like this in your imagination , she called this “telling stories to oneself and… It is not at all a telling with words, in one’s head: it is a going away to this place which is fresh and pure, building up a wonderful story there. And if you know how to tell yourself a story in this way… this story will be realized in your life…The dreams of childhood are the realities of mature age. (K.R. Srinivasa Iyengar, ‘On The Mother- The Chronicle of a Manifestation and Ministry’).
Let us join Satyavan in exploring this wonderful world and hear the “strange voices cross the ether’s waves”, “the happy faces which looked from ray and flame” and “glimpse the Apsaras bathing in the pools and wood –nymphs peering through the leaves;”
The day and dusk revealed to me hidden shapes;
Figures have come to me from secret shores
And happy faces looked from ray and flame.
I have heard strange voices cross the ether’s waves,
The centaur’s wizard song has thrilled my ear;
I glimpsed the Apsaras bathing in the pools
And saw the wood-nymphs peering through the leaves; (‘Savitri’, Book Five, Canto Three)
The next time you are in a beautiful garden or a harmonious setting in Nature, if you are emanating vibrations which tune in to these beings - harmony, beauty and silence - you might just catch them peering through the leaves or playing with the butterflies and inviting you to their world …
- Sudha.
And saw the wood-nymphs peering through the leaves;
Animated cartoons depict these celestial beings, fairies, apsaras, wood-nymphs, or whatever we might call them, in a setting of great harmony and beauty either playing with flowers, butterflies or birds. The creative world of artists, poets, painters, and to a great extent, small children, are familiar with this world where “apsaras roam” and play. (it might be difficult to encounter them in shopping malls or construction sites!) We are not able to tune in to this beautiful world or glimpse the Apsaras bathing in the pools as Satyavan did, as we live too much in our mental being and our vibrational frequency does not tune in with this wonderful world. However there was a time when there was an earthly paradise which was ‘simple, luminous, uncomplicated”. The Mother has described this earthly paradise which existed in earth’s history where there was perfect harmony without any perversion or distortion.
In her own words “I remember there was certainly a moment in earth’s history when there existed a kind of earthly paradise, in a sense that it was a perfectly harmonious and natural life; that is to say, the manifestation of the mind was in accord, was still in complete accord with the ascending march of Nature and totally harmonious, without perversion and distortion. This is the first stage of mind’s manifestation in material forms.”
A godlike packed intensity of sense
Made it a passionate pleasure even to breathe;
All sights and voices wove a single charm.
The life of the enchanted globe became
A storm of sweetness and of light and song,
A revel of colour and of ecstasy,
A hymn of rays, a litany of cries: (‘Savitri’, Book Four, Canto One)
As Sri Aurobindo concludes in this beautiful passage “All Nature was at beauty’s festival”. Why is it that the world we live in now has changed so dramatically with all the perversions and distortions? The Mother was asked these questions: How long did it last? How was this world, and if it existed, where did it exist? She pointed to the Indian Ocean, first to the west of Ceylon and India and then to the east, between Ceylon and Java, but she added that such a place does not exist now as it was swallowed by the sea.
The Mother recollects “I have a memory of a life in which the body was perfectly adapted to its natural environment and the climate adapted to the needs of the body, the body to the needs of the climate. Life was wholly spontaneous and natural, just as a more luminous and more conscious animal life would be; but there were none of the complications and distortions that the mind brought in later in the course of its development. I have the memory of that life- I had it, I relived it when I became conscious of the life of the earth as a whole”
This world of “imperishable beatitudes, the moments of early awakenings and divinity” are described in these thrilling lines of ‘Savitri’:
Here upon earth are early awakenings,
Moments that tremble in an air divine,
And grown upon the yearning of her soil
Time’s sun-flowers gaze at gold Eternity:
There are the imperishable beautitudes.
A million lotuses swaying on one stem,
World after coloured and ecstatic world
Climbs towards some far unseen ephiphany. (‘Savitri’, Book Two, Canto Twelve)
However this earthly paradise did not last long. With the progress of evolution the “mind began to develop in itself, for itself, that all the complications of distortions began.” The Mother points out that the old traditions of the story of Genesis symbolically talked of such a moment in earth’s history. This paradise, as The Mother recollected, must have been exceedingly beautiful, spontaneous and close to Nature. During our trip to Java some years ago, I was wondering if this paradise the Mother talked of could be submerged beneath the sea there somewhere?
The Mother has said that if one has a poetic or artistic consciousness and if you love harmony and beauty you can build a world like this in your imagination , she called this “telling stories to oneself and… It is not at all a telling with words, in one’s head: it is a going away to this place which is fresh and pure, building up a wonderful story there. And if you know how to tell yourself a story in this way… this story will be realized in your life…The dreams of childhood are the realities of mature age. (K.R. Srinivasa Iyengar, ‘On The Mother- The Chronicle of a Manifestation and Ministry’).
Let us join Satyavan in exploring this wonderful world and hear the “strange voices cross the ether’s waves”, “the happy faces which looked from ray and flame” and “glimpse the Apsaras bathing in the pools and wood –nymphs peering through the leaves;”
The day and dusk revealed to me hidden shapes;
Figures have come to me from secret shores
And happy faces looked from ray and flame.
I have heard strange voices cross the ether’s waves,
The centaur’s wizard song has thrilled my ear;
I glimpsed the Apsaras bathing in the pools
And saw the wood-nymphs peering through the leaves; (‘Savitri’, Book Five, Canto Three)
The next time you are in a beautiful garden or a harmonious setting in Nature, if you are emanating vibrations which tune in to these beings - harmony, beauty and silence - you might just catch them peering through the leaves or playing with the butterflies and inviting you to their world …
- Sudha.
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