The Vedantin's Prayer

A poem by Sri Aurobindo

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 poem  Circa 1900-1906  Pub: 'Ahana and other Poems (1915)'  Different versions

The Vedantin's Prayer

Spirit Supreme
    Who musest in the silence of the heart,
Eternal gleam,

Thou only Art!
    Ah, wherefore with this darkness am I veiled,
My sunlit part

By clouds assailed?
    Why am I thus disfigured by desire,
Distracted, haled,

Scorched by the fire
    Of fitful passions, from thy peace out-thrust
Into the gyre

Of every gust?
    Betrayed to grief, o'ertaken with dismay,
Surprised by lust?

Let not my grey
    Blood-clotted past repel thy sovereign ruth,
Nor even delay,

O lonely Truth!
    Nor let the specious gods who ape Thee still
Deceive my youth.

These clamours still;
    For I would hear the eternal voice and know
The eternal Will.

This brilliant show
    Cumbering the threshold of eternity
Dispel,—bestow

The undimmed eye,
    The heart grown young and clear. Rebuke, O Lord,
These hopes that cry

So deafeningly,
    Remove my sullied centuries, restore
My purity.

O hidden door
    Of Knowledge, open! Strength, fulfil thyself!
Love, outpour!

 poem  Circa 1900-1906  Pub: 'Ahana and other Poems (1915)'  Different versions

The Vedantin's Prayer

Spirit Supreme
    Who musest in the silence of the heart,
Eternal gleam,

Thou only Art!
    Ah, wherefore with this darkness am I veiled,
My sunlit part

By clouds assailed?
    Why am I thus disfigured by desire,
Distracted, haled,

Scorched by the fire
    Of fitful passions, from thy peace out-thrust
Into the gyre

Of every gust?
    Betrayed to grief, o'ertaken with dismay,
Surprised by lust?

Let not my grey
    Blood-clotted past repel thy sovereign ruth,
Nor even delay,

O lonely Truth!
    Nor let the specious gods who ape Thee still
Deceive my youth.

These clamours still;
    For I would hear the eternal voice and know
The eternal Will.

This brilliant show
    Cumbering the threshold of eternity
Dispel,—bestow

The undimmed eye,
    The heart grown young and clear. Rebuke in me
These hopes that cry

So deafeningly,
    Remove my sullied centuries, restore
My purity.

O hidden door
    Of Knowledge, open! Strength, fulfil thyself!
Love, outpour!



Part III : Baroda and Bengal (Circa 1900-1909) > Poems from Ahana and Other Poems   



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

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  1. Sri-Aurobindo/books/collected-poems/the-vedantins-prayer.txt +1 -1
Sri-Aurobindo/books/collected-poems/the-vedantins-prayer.txt CHANGED
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ This brilliant show
27
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  Cumbering the threshold of eternity
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  Dispel,—bestow
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  The undimmed eye,
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- The heart grown young and clear. Rebuke, O Lord,
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+ The heart grown young and clear. Rebuke in me
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  These hopes that cry
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  So deafeningly,
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  Remove my sullied centuries, restore

NOTES FROM EDITOR

Circa 1900-1906.





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 sonnet  Published posthumously  Different versions  SABCL & CWSA  Only CWSA