Savitri

   II

'The Adoration of the Divine Mother'

It is a tremendous moment for Aswapati. Terrestrial trappings fall from him, human vestiges vanish; separative identity is ended, the drop has been swallowed up by the ocean! Is this, then, the end? Not to be—the soul lost in the "boundless silence of the Self". For Aswapati himself, such is no doubt a consummation devoutly to be wished. But he is more than the individual, Aswapati. He is also a king, and he is the spearhead of aspiring and evolving humanity; he is the trustee of the earth's and humanity's future. An individual salvation, a personal leap into "a glad divine abyss" cannot redeem the earth nor hew pathways to humanity's advance. The bliss of nirvana is but the bliss of the Everlasting Nay.

But where is the Lover's everlasting Yes,

And immortality in the secret heart,

The voice that chants to the creator Fire,

The symbolled OM, the great assenting Word,

The bridge between the rapture and the calm,

The passion and the beauty of the Bride,

The chamber where the glorious enemies kiss,

The smile that saves, the golden peak of things? ¹⁴⁰

 But Silence is not death; an absolute power sleeps therein, and when it is awakened, the Nay can turn into the Everlasting Yea. Aswapati cannot lose himself in nirvana; he must 'beyond' it, or penetrate it, till the great Yea is awakened to grant him his and the earth's and humanity's innermost heart's and soul's desire.

      As he stands poised on the edge of being, desperately resisting and denying the finality of nirvana, his faith is answered and an auspicious Presence draws close to him and, like a mother, clasps him and Nature and the world to her breast. She is the All-Beautiful Mother of all godheads and all strengths, she is the mediatrix between earth

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and Heaven. Aswapati is lifted out of himself, cleansed of all dross, and finds new doors of perception. He sees for the first time, he hears, he feels, he knows with an utter immediacy and completeness. The knowledge invades and possesses him, strength streams into him, joy thrills him. The Divine Mother is the Arts and Sciences all:

      The spirit's alchemist energy is hers;

      She is the golden bridge, the wonderful fire...

      Above, the boundless hushed beatitudes,

      Below, the wonder of the embrace divine.¹⁴¹

Aswapati is overpowered as well as renewed; it is the end that makes the real beginning. He will surrender to the Mother in absolute trust, and she will fill him with her own strength and purpose:

      Only he longed to draw her presence and power

      Into his heart and mind and breathing frame;

      Only he yearned to call for ever down

      Her healing touch of love and truth and joy

      Into the darkness of the suffering world.¹⁴²

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