March 24, 2010 – A Talk By The Mother On Savitri*

This world was built by Ignorance & Error that they might know.
Wilt thou abolish ignorance and error?
Then knowledge too will perish.
Thou canst not abolish ignorance & error,
but thou mayst transmute them into the utter & effulgent exceeding of reason.

Sri Aurobindo

(Thoughts and Aphorisms 90)

A Talk By The Mother On Savitri*

It does not matter if you do not understand it — Savitri, read it always. You will see that every time you read it, something new will be revealed to you. Each time you will get a new glimpse, each time a new experience; things which were not there, things you did not understand arise and suddenly become clear. Always an unexpected vision comes up through the words and lines. Every time you try to read and understand, you will see that something is added, something which was hidden behind is revealed clearly and vividly. I tell you the very verses you have read once before, will appear to you in a different light each time you re-read them. This is what happens invariably. Always your experience is enriched, it is a revelation at each step.

But you must not read it as you read other books or newspapers. You must read with an empty head, a blank and vacant mind, without there being any other thought; you must concentrate much, remain empty, calm and open; then the words, rhythms, vibrations will penetrate directly to this white page, will put their stamp upon the brain, will explain themselves without your making any effort.

Savitri alone is sufficient to make you climb to the highest peaks. If truly one knows how to meditate on Savitri, one will receive all the help one needs. For him who wishes to follow this path, it is a concrete help as though the Lord himself were taking you by the hand and leading you to the destined goal. And then, every question, however personal it may be, has its answer here, every difficulty finds its solution herein; indeed there is everything that is necessary for doing the Yoga.

*(a report written from memory)
by Mona Sarkar

The tale of Satyavan and Savitri is recited in the Mahabharata as a story of conjugal love conquering death. But this legend is, as shown by many features of the human tale, one of the many symbolic myths of the Vedic cycle. Satyavan is the soul carrying the divine truthofbeing within itself but descended into the grip of death and ignorance; Savitri is the Divine Word, daughter of the Sun, goddess of the supreme Truth who comes down and is born to save; Aswapati, the Lord of the Horse, her human father, is the Lords of Tapasya, the concentrated energy of spiritual endeavour that helps us to rise from the mortal to the immortal planes; Dyumatsena, Lord of the Shining Hosts, father of Satyavan, is the Divine Mind here fallen blind, losing The tale of Satyavan and Savitri is recited in the Mahabharata as celestial kingdom of vision, and through that loss its kingdom of glory.

Still this is not a mere allegory, the characters are not personified qualities, but incarnations or emanations of living and conscious Forces with whom we can enter into concrete touch and they take human bodies in order to help man and show him the way from his mortal state to a divine consciousness and immortal life.

Sri Aurobindo

If you are depressed, if you feel miserable, if you do not succeed in anything that you undertake or else if what happens is always the contrary of what you expect, however much you try — if it has come to such a pass that you lose your temper, life becomes disgusting and you are unhappy, then immediately take Savitri and, after a moment`s concentration, open it at any page and read. You will see that all your misery disappears like smoke. And you will have the strength to overcome the worst gloom of sorrows; you will no more feel that which tormented you. Instead you will fell a strange happiness, a reversal of consciousness along which the energy and force to conquer everything, as through there was nothing impossible. And you will feel this inexhaustible joy that purifies all. Read just a few lines and that is sufficient to establish the contact with your inmost being. Such is the extraordinary power of Savitri.

Or else, after having read some lines, if you concentrate deeply, then too will you find the solution to what was tormenting you. You have only to open Savitri just at random without reflecting and you will have the answer to your problems. Do this with faith and simplicity, the result is certain

The Mother-1968

All extracts and quotations from the written works of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother are copyright Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust, Pondicherry -605002 India
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