The Ascent of Sight in Sri Aurobindo's Savitri

Behind the Genesis of the Book

I have been studying Savitri, the inestimable epic of Sri Aurobindo, regularly and assiduously for the last five decades; indeed, since the time in 1950 and 1951 when the entire Poem came out for the first time in book-form in a two-volume edition.

Also, being a teacher in the Higher Course of SAICE (Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education), I have had the good fortune of studying Savitri in depth along with a number of senior students of SAICE who happened to opt in each academic Session since 1967 to make a meditative study of this super-creation of Sri Aurobindo which the Mother has characterised as ' 'the supreme revelation of Sri Aurobindo's Vision."

It needs no mention that I love and adore Savitri as so many other admirers of Sri Aurobindo do.

Now, over the years many of my friends and some students too have made an affectionate request to me to write something like an introduction to this great Epic. I appreciated their good will towards me but did not take their request seriously.

Recently, in a letter dated 2 April 2000, my friend and colleague Deshpandebhai (R. Y. Deshpande, a professor of Physics in SAICE and the associate editor of the cultural monthly Mother India) requested me to write an article on Savitri. He specified that the article could be about 10000-words long, that is, it could cover eighteen typescript pages in double-spacing.

So far as the theme is concerned, Deshpandebhai kindly left me free to choose any theme I found of interest in

Savitri; for, as he so aptly remarked in his letter, "Savitri is inexhaustible - and there is no doubt about it."

This time, I do not know why, I gladly acceded to Deshpandebhai's request and promised to send him my article by mid-August, 2000, the time-limit stipulated by him.

Days passed on after that and I was all the time thinking about what theme to choose for my projected article.

Strangely, one morning in the month of May last one of my students in the Savitri'-class asked me for some clarification as regards the singular line in the Epic: "A progress leap from sight to greater sight." (p. 177)

In a flash the decision came to me that this constant progression of sight from level to greater level should be the core-theme of my essay. For, immediately I remembered that Sri Aurobindo's Savitri is replete with references to scores of types of sights and visions and gazes and eyes pertinent to different planes of consciousness of man and functioning in various fields of supraphysical manifestation. A few of these sights that came to my mind in quick succession are as follows:

"mortal sight"; "witness sight"; "vision's sight"; "visionary sight"; "abstract sight"; "sightless sight"; "an immortal's sight"; "transcendent sight"; "cosmic sight"; "the Supreme's sight"; "the supreme sight"; "everlasting sight"; "ever-wakeful sight"; "original sight"; "originating sight"; "closed eyes' sight"; "inner sight"; "absolute sight"; "predicting sight"; "prophetic sight"; "intuitive sight"; "ideal sight"; "thinker's sight"; "sight of thought"; "soul's sight; "sight in the heart"; "Spirit's sight"; "spiritual sight"; "eternal sight"; "instinct's

sight"; "mind's sight"; "sight of the sage"; "dreamer's sight"; "eternal eye"; "wisdom's eyes"; "Immortal eyes"; "deathless eyes"; "Timeless Eye';^-, "the Eye of eternity"; "Inner eye"; "the third eye"; "Spirit's eye"; "dull body's eye"; "eyes of creative bliss"; "all-seeing Eye above"; "unsleeping eye"; "God's eye"; "gods' eyes"; "reason's gaze"; "Godhead's gaze"; "Omniscient's gaze"; "unborn gaze"; "immortal gaze"; "gaze of life"; "seeing will"; "seeing mind"; "Matter's self-view"; "unageing look"; etc., etc.

So the theme was chosen. But the crucial question I had to tackle before I could put my pen to paper was this: What exactly is this 'sight' Sri Aurobindo is referring to when he speaks of "A progress leap from sight to greater sight"? Surely he is not adopting a mere rhetorical device here. These sights must be corresponding to something objectively real. But what type of objectivity ?

I earnestly prayed to Sri Aurobindo for the necessary light and then started giving shape to the ideas that came trooping into me. The 18-page limit set by Deshpandebhai was very soon crossed but the end of the journey was nowhere in sight.

Then I decided to forget all about Deshpandebhai's commission; instead, I opened myself to Sri Aurobindo and continued with my writing till it came to a natural stop. And it turned out to be fifty-one typescript pages and not just eighteen as wanted by my friend.

When the whole thing was over, I found to my happy surprise that my article has taken the shape of an original monograph on Savitri dealing with an as-yet-untouched novel aspect of the Epic.

I have been filled with a sense of great happiness while composing this monograph. At the same time I have learnt a good many things which were not clear to me before. Then I thought of bringing out my essay in a book-form so that it may be humbly placed before a wider circle of readers who, to borrow Deshpandebhai's words, "are interested, for various reasons, in the marvellous epic of Sri Aurobindo." (from his letter to the present writer, dated 2 April 2000)

So, such is the story behind the genesis of this modest-sized monograph.

Sri Aurobindo Ashram

J.K.M.

Pondicherry

PS

I have not altogether forgotten my good friend Deshpandebhai nor the first impetus behind the planning of this essay. I propose to make an 18-page abridgement of this long article and pass that on to Deshpandebhai for whatever purpose he wants to use it.