We are once again riding on the most anticipated month of
February. The Mother’s 140th Birth Anniversary falls on the 21st. In addition,
The Mother’s dream on the road to realization, The City of Dawn, celebrates its
50th Birthday on the 28th. This
auspicious month, the theme that decorates the pages of our newsletter edition is,
simply, Love. We explore Love in Savitri in its most romantic as well as
sublime.
Savitri sets off to find her soul mate in another clime. Love
meets her in the wilderness. Destiny brings her face to face with this being
named Satyavan, whom she immediately recognizes as the one made and meant for
her, to walk the highroad of destiny, in doing a work decreed by the Divine.
In the previous edition of the newsletter, we examined the roles
of Savitri and Satyavan together with Aswapathy. It will be pertinent to revisit the
significance of Savitri and Satyavan as symbols before exploring further this
idea of Love. Savitri is the daughter of the Sun, Light Supreme and Satyavan is
the soul carrying the divine truth of being but descended into death and
ignorance. Divine in his origin, bearer of divinity, there is in him a Divine
seed waiting to manifest itself in all its splendour in this human body upon
this material earth. Savitri is the Light who subsequently confronts the
darkness, shadow and ignorance in the guise of Death. She stands steadfast in
saving the human soul from its clutches so that God may reveal Himself. This
then is the poignant relationship between Savitri and Satyavan, far elevated
from the mere romantic, though celebrated.
Who was this woman who could look right within and recognize her
soul mate? Of what stuff and substance was she made of? What was her
psychological state? These are some questions we can start with before taking a
glimpse at the theme of Love emerging in the environment and atmosphere of
Savitri the epic poem. Instinctively we feel drawn to higher worlds within our
own being as we confront these possibilities and enter into that of what is
presented in Savitri. Who is this man, Satyavan, who likewise recognizes his
soul support in her and takes her as his, within those short moments of
chancing upon each other? What stuff is he made of, what substance and what psychological
make up? Sri Aurobindo paints a vivid portrait of him in these lines (to be
visited with deep concentration) that show us of signs of a living in higher
vastitudes:
His look was a
wide daybreak of the gods,
His head was a
youthful Rishi’s touched with light,
His body was a
lover’s and a king’s……..
Out of the
ignorant eager toil of the years
Abandoning
man’s loud drama he had come
Led by the
wisdom of an adverse Fate
To meet the
ancient Mother in her groves.
The two souls meet and mingle, and Love stands crowned. Sri
Aurobindo lashes out swift lines into our midst, arresting movements of the
mind, drawing attention inwards:
To live, to
love are signs of infinite things,
Love is a glory
from eternity’s spheres.
Abased,
disfigured, mocked by baser mights
That steal his
name and shape and ecstasy,
He is still the
godhead by which all can change.
May we know and worship Love at Its highest.
