Epiphany

A poem by Sri Aurobindo


Epiphany

Majestic, mild, immortally august,
In silence throned, to just and to unjust
One Lord of deep unutterable love,
I saw Him, Shiva, like a brooding dove
Close-winged upon her nest. The outcaste came,
The sinners gathered round that tender Flame,
The demons, by the other sterner gods
Rejected from their luminous abodes,
Gathered around the Refuge of the lost,
Soft-smiling on that wild and grisly host.
All who were refugeless, wretched, unloved,
The wicked and the good together moved
Naturally to Him, the asylum sweet,
And found their heaven at their Master's feet.
The vision changed and in His place there stood
A Terror red as lightning or as blood;
His fierce right hand a javelin advanced
And, as He shook it, earthquake reeling danced
Across the hemisphere, ruin and plague
Rained out of heaven, disasters swift and vague
Threatened, a marching multitude of ills.
His foot strode forward to oppress the hills,
And at the vision of His burning eyes
The hearts of men grew faint with dread surmise
Of sin and punishment; their cry was loud,
"O Master of the stormwind and the cloud,
Spare, Rudra, spare. Show us that other form
Auspicious, not incarnate wrath and storm."


The God of Wrath, the God of Love are one,
Nor least He loves when most He smites. Alone
Who rises above fear and plays with grief,
Defeat and death, inherits full relief
From blindness and beholds the single Form,
Love masking Terror, Peace supporting storm.
The Friend of Man helps him with Life and Death,
Until he knows. Then freed from mortal breath
He feels the joy of the immortal play;
Grief, pain, resentment, terror pass away.
He too grows Rudra fierce, august and dire,
And Shiva, sweet fulfiller of desire.

Epiphany

Immortal, moveless, calm, alone, august,
A silence throned, to just and to unjust
One Lord of still unutterable love,
I saw Him, Shiva, like a brooding dove
Close-winged upon her nest. The outcasts came,
The sinners gathered to that quiet flame,
The demons by the other sterner gods
Rejected from their luminous abodes
Gathered around the Refuge of the lost
Soft-smiling on that wild and grisly host.
All who were refugeless, wretched, unloved,
The wicked and the good together moved
Naturally to Him, the shelterer sweet,
And found their heaven at their Master's feet.
The vision changed and in its place there stood
A Terror red as lightning or as blood.
His strong right hand a javelin advanced
And as He shook it, earthquake stumbling danced
Across the hemisphere, ruin and plague
Rained out of heaven, disasters swift and vague
Neighboured, a marching multitude of ills.
His foot strode forward to oppress the hills,
And at the vision of His burning eyes
The hearts of men grew faint with dread surmise
Of sin and punishment. Their cry was loud,
"O master of the stormwind and the cloud,
Spare, Rudra, spare! Show us that other form
Auspicious, not incarnate wrath and storm."
The God of Force, the God of Love are one;
Not least He loves whom most He smites. Alone
Who towers above fear and plays with grief,
Defeat and death, inherits full relief
From blindness and beholds the single Form,
Love masking Terror, Peace supporting Storm.


The Friend of Man helps him with life and death
Until he knows. Then, freed from mortal breath,
Grief, pain, resentment, terror pass away.
He feels the joy of the immortal play;
He has the silence and the unflinching force,
He knows the oneness and the eternal course.
He too is Rudra and thunder and the Fire,
He Shiva and the white Light no shadows tire,
The Strength that rides abroad on Time's wide wings,
The Calm in the heart of all immortal things.



Part IV : Calcutta and Chandernagore (1907-1910) > Short Poems Published in 1909 and 1910   




How to read the color-coded changes below? 1. SABCL version : lines with any changes & specific changes 2. CWSA version : lines with any changes & specific changes

Sri-Aurobindo/books/collected-poems/epiphany.txt CHANGED
@@ -1,41 +1,45 @@
1
1
  Epiphany
2
- Majestic, mild, immortally august,
3
- In silence throned, to just and to unjust
4
- One Lord of deep unutterable love,
2
+ Immortal, moveless, calm, alone, august,
3
+ A silence throned, to just and to unjust
4
+ One Lord of still unutterable love,
5
5
  I saw Him, Shiva, like a brooding dove
6
- Close-winged upon her nest. The outcaste came,
7
- The sinners gathered round that tender Flame,
8
- The demons, by the other sterner gods
9
- Rejected from their luminous abodes,
10
- Gathered around the Refuge of the lost,
6
+ Close-winged upon her nest. The outcasts came,
7
+ The sinners gathered to that quiet flame,
8
+ The demons by the other sterner gods
9
+ Rejected from their luminous abodes
10
+ Gathered around the Refuge of the lost
11
11
  Soft-smiling on that wild and grisly host.
12
12
  All who were refugeless, wretched, unloved,
13
13
  The wicked and the good together moved
14
- Naturally to Him, the asylum sweet,
14
+ Naturally to Him, the shelterer sweet,
15
15
  And found their heaven at their Master's feet.
16
- The vision changed and in His place there stood
17
- A Terror red as lightning or as blood;
18
- His fierce right hand a javelin advanced
19
- And, as He shook it, earthquake reeling danced
16
+ The vision changed and in its place there stood
17
+ A Terror red as lightning or as blood.
18
+ His strong right hand a javelin advanced
19
+ And as He shook it, earthquake stumbling danced
20
20
  Across the hemisphere, ruin and plague
21
21
  Rained out of heaven, disasters swift and vague
22
- Threatened, a marching multitude of ills.
22
+ Neighboured, a marching multitude of ills.
23
23
  His foot strode forward to oppress the hills,
24
24
  And at the vision of His burning eyes
25
25
  The hearts of men grew faint with dread surmise
26
- Of sin and punishment; their cry was loud,
27
- "O Master of the stormwind and the cloud,
28
- Spare, Rudra, spare. Show us that other form
26
+ Of sin and punishment. Their cry was loud,
27
+ "O master of the stormwind and the cloud,
28
+ Spare, Rudra, spare! Show us that other form
29
29
  Auspicious, not incarnate wrath and storm."
30
- The God of Wrath, the God of Love are one,
31
- Nor least He loves when most He smites. Alone
32
- Who rises above fear and plays with grief,
30
+ The God of Force, the God of Love are one;
31
+ Not least He loves whom most He smites. Alone
32
+ Who towers above fear and plays with grief,
33
33
  Defeat and death, inherits full relief
34
34
  From blindness and beholds the single Form,
35
- Love masking Terror, Peace supporting storm.
36
- The Friend of Man helps him with Life and Death,
37
- Until he knows. Then freed from mortal breath
38
- He feels the joy of the immortal play;
35
+ Love masking Terror, Peace supporting Storm.
36
+ The Friend of Man helps him with life and death
37
+ Until he knows. Then, freed from mortal breath,
39
38
  Grief, pain, resentment, terror pass away.
40
- He too grows Rudra fierce, august and dire,
41
- And Shiva, sweet fulfiller of desire.
39
+ He feels the joy of the immortal play;
40
+ He has the silence and the unflinching force,
41
+ He knows the oneness and the eternal course.
42
+ He too is Rudra and thunder and the Fire,
43
+ He Shiva and the white Light no shadows tire,
44
+ The Strength that rides abroad on Time's wide wings,
45
+ The Calm in the heart of all immortal things.

NOTES FROM EDITOR

Circa 1909. Published in the Karmayogin on 18 December 1909. Around 1913, Sri Aurobindo copied the Karmayogin text into a notebook, making a few deliberate changes as he did so. Later he revised the opening and close of this version. Three decades later, when Collected Poems and Plays was being compiled, the editors, not knowing about the 1913 version, sent the Karmayogin text to Sri Aurobindo, who made a few revisions to it. This version was used in Collected Poems and Plays (1942) and reproduced in Collected Poems in 1972. The editors of the present volume have selected the more extensively revised version of 1913 for the text reproduced here. The 1942 version is reproduced in the Reference Volume.