On Savitri
THEME/S
The composition of Savitri has a long history, starting from August 1916 till mid-November 1950. The epic began as a short narrative based on the Mahabharata tale and grew from about eight hundred to twenty-four thousand lines. In the process it developed into a symbolic transformative legend which is also the luminous medium for presenting experiences and realisations of the Yogi-Author, his prophetic vision.
While the first part of Savitri is essentially in Sri Aurobindo own hand, the other two appear mostly by dictation. There are now some eight thousand sheets of manuscripts and typescripts. During the period of composition these drafts went back and forth, to the typist, the press, and back to the Author who took every opportunity to expand or revise the earlier text. Understandably, the involved process through which the final version of Savitri came out in 1950-51 could entail variations in the readings. It is said that a “substantial number of discrepancies” or “serious errors” have crept into it.
As not unlikely, while preparing an edited version of such a work judgemental aspects would also enter in. It is claimed that the Revised Edition of Savitri which came out in 1993 is the outcome of a systematic comparison and study of the archival documents. Effectively now it carries the stamp of official approval. However, the claim made by this edition needs an independent verification. Unfortunately its approach is based on some dubious premises, making it suspect at places. In it there is no hesitation in speaking of “oversight” on part of the Author himself or in seeing his “final intentions”. The worse is, he at times making slips and forgetting his own spiritual philosophy or poetic art. Such ideas are not only tawdry; they lack the simplest yogic etiquettes.
The current work is just a brief attempt in indicating the flaws that have crept in the official publication of Savitri, the 1993 Revised Edition. A detailed presentation could be undertaken in the course of time, it running into several thousand pages of a book. But for a satisfactory account access to the Archival data bank is desirable.
In the context of editorial revisions of Savitri it is necessary that we take due care of the complexities. Perhaps the best procedure for editors of the Savitri-text could be to fix the first complete version as the basic reference. As far as the said “slips and oversights” are concerned extensive research notes and references could be provided; these might include several readings as we have in different drafts. Presentation of the data should be the foremost concern in any objective research and editing. By providing such “factual” details a new chapter of study can open out. If we go a step farther, the best thing will be to make the Archival documents a part of Open Resources. In fact these should be made in the digital version and put on the Internet.
Apparently the issue of editing Savitri maybe of a minor nature, of interest only in its academic context. But in yogic context it assumes alchemical significances; it could be the thin line that divides evolutionary success and failure. It must also be emphasised that the Word of Savitri in its pristine glory and power that can give expression to the Real-Idea in our life continues to be always valid. That is its true value and that will always remain faultless and free,—because behind it is the yogic force of its creator.
No matter where you open, no matter where you read, it's wonderful! Immediately it's wonderful ... Wonderful!
—13 March 1963
I know that light. I am immediately plunged into it each time I read Savitri. It is a very, very beautiful light.
—18 September 1962
Savitri alone is sufficient to make you climb to the highest peaks. If truly one knows how to meditate upon 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 necessary for doing the Yoga.
"He has crammed the whole universe in a single book." It is a marvellous work, magnificent and of an incomparable perfection.
You know, before writing Savitri Sri Aurobindo said to me, "I am impelled to launch on a new adventure; I was hesitant in the beginning, but now I decided. Still I do not know how far I shall succeed. I pray for help." And you know what it was? It was—before beginning, I warm you in advance—it was his way of speaking, so full of humility and divine modesty. He never... asserted himself. And the day he actually began it, he told me: "I have launched myself in a rudderless boat upon the vastness of the Infinite." And once having started, he wrote page after page without intermission, as though it were a thing already complete up there and he had only to transcribe it in ink down here on these pages.
In truth, the entire form of Savitri has descended en masse from the highest region and Sri Aurobindo with his genius only arranged the lines—in a superb and magnificent style. Sometimes entire lines were revealed and he has left them intact; he worked hard, untiringly, so that the inspiration could come from the highest possible summit. And what a work he has created! Yes, it is a true creation in itself. It is an unequalled work. Everything is there, and it is put in such a simple, such a clear form; verses perfectly harmonious, limpid and eternally true.
—19 January 1960
Sri Aurobindo used to write at night, and in the night I would have the experience; in the morning he would read it to me and I would recognize my experience—I hadn't said anything to him, he hadn't said anything to me. Interesting...
—17 January 1968
Sri Aurobindo: “If there is a defect I appeal to headquarters.”
In Savitri there is “a core of revealed truth that no extrinsic force has power to enlarge or diminish.”
The composition of Savitri has a long history; definitely it has a history of thirty-four years, beginning with August 1916 till mid-November 1950. The poem started as a narrative tale picked up from the Mahabharata. It had in the beginning some eight hundred lines. Eventually it grew into a full epic and consists of twelve books running into twenty-four thousand lines. In the process it acquired the significance of a symbolic transformative legend which is also the luminous medium for presenting yogic-spiritual experiences and realisations of the Author. Several versions in the form of manuscripts and typescripts add up to about eight thousand sheets; with repeated drafting and revisions the poem continued to grow almost till the end. Savitri in its creative intensity and universality of the theme embraces possibilities of the immense, of the deathless spirit entering deathlessly into the mortal creation; it triumphantly expresses them in it. Its triumph is in the conquest of Death, it opening the pathway of immortality for the manifestation of love, truth, beauty, joy, strength, knowledge here in this mortal world.
While this is just a broad thematic aspect of Savitri, there is another one also though much less significant,—the compositional. It arises due to the nature of the writing of the poem itself. We might say that though the first part is essentially in Sri Aurobindo own hand, later it did undergo revisions by dictation, after 1944 or so; the remaining parts were practically composed newly by dictations. Then, of course, fair copies of these dictated passages were made and typed. At every stage, when these were read out to the poet there were revisions and additions, including the stages of the final proofs coming from the press. On one occasion when a proof sheet came to check punctuation, Sri Aurobindo instead added several lines by dictation! The growth of Savitri was never monotonic, was never mathematically linear.
In a letter dated 1934 Sri Aurobindo writes: “Savitri is a work by itself unlike all the others. I made some eight or ten recasts of it originally under the old insufficient inspiration.” This remark was essentially concerned with the Savitri as it stood at that time, consisting of just a very few portions of the first part, kind of a trial version. The progress is marked in a letter written thirteen years later, in 1947; he reveals to Amal Kiran: “… I have made successive so many drafts and continual alterations till I felt that I had got the thing intended by the higher inspiration in every line and passage.” But even at this stage many Books had to be written, the Book of Yoga for instance was hardly there. About the status of his earlier drafts, we get some idea from a letter written by him in 1936. The five Books of Part I of that time, he tells us, “will be, as I conceive them now, the Book of Birth, the Book of Quest, the Book of Love, the Book of Fate, the Book of Death. As for the second Part, I have not touched it yet. There was no climbing of planes there in the first version—rather Savitri moved through the worlds of Night, of Twilight, of Day—all of course in a spiritual sense—and ended by calling down the power of the Highest Worlds of Sachchidananda. I had no idea of what the supramental World could be like at that time, so it could not enter into the scheme. As for expressing the supramental inspiration, that is a matter of the future.” In July 1948, in a letter to Dilip Kumar Roy, he avows: “Savitri is going slow, confined mainly to revision of what has already been written, and I am as yet unable to take up the completion of Part II and Part III which are not finally revised and for which a considerable amount of new matter has to be written.” The seal of “incomplete completion” was put on Savitri just before three weeks of Sri Aurobindo’s passing away on 5 December 1950 which thus marks a doubly significant event.
It is hard to imagine the complexity of the process through which the massive Savitri opus had proceeded, developed, grown. The author at one stage speaks of the “chaos of manuscripts”. Draft after draft, and revision after revision, and handling of thousands of pages or sheets of various sizes have practically made now the whole sequence intractable. These drafts quite often went back and forth, to the typist, to the press, and back to the author, and the author took every opportunity to expand or revise the earlier text. Obviously, from the point of view of editing, this led to difficult situations. But that was the part of the process, and it has to be accepted as things do stand. However, one of the unfortunate results is, at times the loss of unusually wonderful passages which should have really come in some proper place in the final text. Thus the following lines
Voices that seemed to come from unseen worlds Uttered the syllables of the Unmanifest And clothed the body of the mystic Word—
lines charged with occult-spiritual power have regrettably, remained unused.
Three known distinct periods of the composition of Savitri can thus be seen. During the Arya-phase, before 1920, Savitri was a narrative poem retelling the ancient story of Savitri and Satyavan. This draft began in August 1916. The second phase was during the 1930s when Sri Aurobindo gave it an altogether different turn, making this narrative an epic. It was about this time that the Tale of Savitri became a Legend and a Symbol. There is a date bearing on the Book of Beginnings; a 110-page draft of it was completed on 6 September 1942. During the last phase, roughly six-seven years prior to his departure in 1950, enormous amount of new material was added; this was essentially by dictation. There were heavy revisions also at various stages. In fact, as late at November 1950 three new dictations belonging to Book Six, the Book of Fate, Canto Two were given. These mark absolutely the last to be added to the epic, the last line being “But leave her to her mighty self and Fate”; here Narad is admonishing Savitri’s mother not to intrude in the matter, too superhuman for human comprehension. He is almost assuring that Savitri with her mighty self and with the God-given strength will undeniably meet the challenge of Fate. Earlier, the long and futuristic Book Eleven, The Book of Everlasting Day, was almost entirely done by dictation. About these dictations Nirodbaran says: “I am now amazed to see that so many lines could have been dictated day after day, like The Book of Everlasting Day.” he also speaks of the “colossal labour” Sri Aurobindo had put into Savitri.
However, the involved process through which the final version of Savitri came out in 1950-51 could entail, understandably, variations in the readings of the acceptable text. It is said that a “substantial number of discrepancies” have thus crept into it, due to the involved process of composition, that even in Part One which came out during the time of Sri Aurobindo himself, in September 1950, a few weeks before his withdrawal that year, contained “serious errors”. It is here that judgemental aspects enter in; opinions start differing, these causing great doubt about the whole editing done recently, about twenty years ago, resulting in the Revised Edition in 1993. It is claimed that this 1993-Edition was “the outcome of a systematic comparison of the printed text of Savitri with the manuscripts. Each line was traced through all stages of copying, typing and printing in which errors could have occurred. Readings found to have come about through inaccurate transcription or misprinting were corrected. Accidentally omitted lines were restored to the text. This has resulted in a very slight increase in the length of the poem to its present 23,837 lines.” However, even while taking this in good faith, validity of the claim needs independent verification. It is hoped that this will happen.
How weird to call Savitri a fictional creation!
But what did the elderly Hoopoe tell? “The spiritual way is not for those who are wrapped up in supercilious life.” [The Conference of the Birds ~ Farid al-Din Attar]
The Lives of Sri Aurobindo authored by Peter Heehs and published in 2008 by the Columbia University Press dismisses Sri Aurobindo’s Savitri by calling it a “fictional creation”. In the biographer’s view it cannot be a possible source for getting any idea or material about the life of Sri Aurobindo who was essentially a Yogi, and which is what should possibly be seen. Here is what we have on p. 398 of the Lives:
Because his talks entirely ceased and his correspondence virtually so, there are no first-hand accounts of Sri Aurobindo’s sadhana after 1941. One is tempted to mine Savitri to make up for the lack. Sri Aurobindo’s accounts of Aswapathy’s voyage through the worlds of matter, life, and mind before reaching 'the kingdoms of the greater knowledge,' and Savitri’s transit through the 'inner countries' until she reaches the inmost soul certainly are based on his life and the Mother’s experiences; but the poem is a fictional creation, and Sri Aurobindo said explicitly that 'the circumstances of this life have nothing to do with' its plot. [ref: 144, Letters on Poetry and Art, p. 276]
Let us examine this conclusion in some details.
Let us first look into the phrase “fictional creation” purportedly being supported here by the reference from Letters on Poetry and Art.
This letter is dated 10 November 1936 and was addressed to Amal Kiran in response to his query at that time. The way it is printed in the Centenary Edition is as follows:
Savitri is represented in the poem as an incarnation of the Divine Mother. This incarnation is supposed to have taken place in the far past times when the whole thing had to be opened, so as to “hew the ways of Immortality”. —1936.
When the 1954 University-edition of Savitri was prepared, Amal Kiran had made an error in reading “This incarnation” as “The narrative” and a correction was pasted before the book was released. The Mother was terribly upset with Amal Kiran and even remarked to the effect that he was too sure of himself.
From the letter as printed in the Centenary Edition one gets the impression that it is a single letter, dated 1936. But actually it has two dates:
Savitri is represented in the poem as an incarnation of the Divine Mother. —3 November 1936.
This incarnation is supposed to have taken place in the far past times when the whole thing had to be opened, so as to “hew the ways of Immortality”. —10 November 1936.
The full correspondence between Amal Kiran and Sri Aurobindo, as presented in the Lives’ ref 144, Letters on Poetry and Art, p. 276 can be put as follows:
Amal: What a flight!—nobody can describe so marvellously our Mother. Isn’t Savitri she and she only?
Sri Aurobindo: Savitri is represented in the poem as an incarnation of the Divine Mother. —3 November 1936
Amal Kiran continues:
Amal: If Savitri is represented as an incarnation of the Divine Mother, Aswapati must be meant to represent Théon.
Sri Aurobindo: What has Théon to do with it?
Amal: If Aswapati is he, I’ll learn about his role from the poem—but couldn’t you say something about him in direct reference to Mother and yourself?
Sri Aurobindo: This incarnation is supposed to have taken place in the far past times when the whole thing had to be opened, so as to “hew the ways of Immortality”. Théon and the circumstances of this life have nothing to do with it. —10 November 1936
The fallaciousness of the argument that Savitri is a “fictional creation” comes out in several respects. The first important point is, Sri Aurobindo’s statement here pertains to one of the earliest drafts of Savitri belonging to the 1930s. What validity has it to the sadhana of the 1940s about which our author is opining? In fact it has none. He is also comparing this draft of the epic with a short composition—Is this the End—written on 3 June 1945 to draw a gloomy picture of the sadhana, and that too ignoring other compositions of the same period; actually the first question is, can one say that Is this the End is a gloomy poem? Highlighting such gloom is sometimes a rhetorical literary device, a technique to tell that it is not really so, that it has got to be removed if it is there, which precisely is what the last two stanzas of the poem are doing. Also, one just fails to understand the sense of history, particularly of one who claims himself to be a historian, he mixing up two significantly different periods of time. After 1938 with the establishment of the Mind of Light in his physical, the physical’s mind, the mind of the physical opening to the supramental Light and Force, Sri Aurobindo’s Yoga took a decisive positive upward turn and things had started happening in rapid succession; it is to this period that the definitive composition of Savitri belongs.
The second point is of a slightly different nature. While our author dismisses Savitri as a possible source to get material about Sri Aurobindo’s life of the period, Amal Kiran himself wanted to learn from the poem something about the role of Théon. This means that, it was all the time considered not as a “fictional creation” but having biographical contents, it possibly being a rich ‘mine’ for the biographical material.
Now let us look into the following from the Lives: “Sri Aurobindo said explicitly that ‘the circumstances of this life have nothing to do with’ its plot.” What does that mean? and “this life” refers to whose life? Is it Théon’s life, or Sri Aurobindo’s? Amal Kiran was talking about Théon, and Sri Aurobindo had bluntly asked him what Théon had to do with it, implying that it had no connection with Théon in that respect. A clarification was sought about Théon “in direct reference to Mother and yourself.”
Therefore the answer was vis-à-vis Théon, that Théon had nothing to do with it. This also implies derivatively the validity of the plot in the context of learning about the life of the concerned. How does it then become a “fictional creation”?
To base one’s argument to suit one’s prefixed motivations or intentions is hardly the method of any objective research; it is manipulated history. But it is precisely with such arguments and reasons that The Lives of Sri Aurobindo is plague-ridden. It is also very amazing that intelligent supporters of the biography should fall prey to these illogicalities and absurdities.
But here is a thoughtful private observation from an American friend, and she as an academician deeply studied in Philosophy. She writes:
I know how upset you are with the book, The Lives of Sri Aurobindo, but people of limitation are always trying to explain the experiences of great people—with no success because they haven't received the intuitive, overmind and supermental identity. I wonder if most people who read this book look at the details as you do. You are an Aurobindian scholar and beautiful poet. Peter is neither. Why not let the book die a natural death? Why keep it alive? I read it and having studied Sri Aurobindo since 1964, realized that the author of Lives and I didn't agree on many (most) points. In my opinion, Sri Aurobindo is one of the great masters of all time. I consider him the Plato of the East and really of the world. Peter's book, The Lives of Sri Aurobindo, will one day land in the recycle bin. Sri Aurobindo's work will last forever.
I think anyone deeply involved with Sri Aurobindo's work will take this so-called biography with a grain of salt. Of course, that's just an opinion.
We should be thankful for this very balanced and mature comment of hers. We do understand a certain necessity of taking Sri Aurobindo to people and, in the case of this biography, to the academic audience. After all, the biography has been published by an academic institution, Columbia University Press, and one of the legitimate ways of dealing with it is to see it from an academic point of view. In that respect I find this publication by the University Press very flawed, defective. The example which we have here, and there are any number of them, is quite illustrative of it. In fact that makes one wonder how they—the CUP—at all brought out something which does not come up to the truthful academic standards. Or is it that they just didn’t examine it carefully enough, that they went more by the promoters of the book instead of carrying out a peer review? Does it not cause damage to their own prestige, to their academic reputation? One of the concerns in the larger interest is to highlight this utter lack of academic objectivity. The academic façade had to be pulled down. If people who claim to be scholars and academically minded, and diehard rationalists, don’t look at these details and yet support the work, then it becomes a matter of unease and distress.
In fact it is not just the question of getting “upset with the book”, which one is not going to deny. What does one expect from a book on Sri Aurobindo, that his spiritual autobiography that is Savitri is a “fictional creation”? Isn’t that atrocious? Isn’t that striking at the very roots of his and the Mother’s yogic tree under which great things have happened and happen? Would not Blake, the moment he would hear Savitri is a “fictional creation”, ask for his bow of burning gold and chariot of fire? If these are occult images they become intensely so when dealing with the rash antagonism that is so patently occupying the dark spaces of the Lives.
And remember the author of The Lives of Sri Aurobindo and the countless number of aspirants needed not a biography to come to Sri Aurobindo—one’s soul takes one there; the seeking soul has its own way of discovering that for which it had taken the birth, that it had already decided prior to it being born in this world of ours. Isn’t that wonderful? precious? It is that we cherish in our life when turned towards spiritual pursuit in which we may succeed or we may not, but the satisfaction is always there of doing it or trying it. The sad thing about the biography is, it is portraying a spiritual giant with a dismissive attitude, dismissing all his spirituality. It is this want of spiritual perception which must be the cause of all opposition to The Lives of Sri Aurobindo.
Another friend asks: “What is Savitri? Is it just a book, just a good book, just a masterpiece? No. For me it embodies the veritable consciousness of Sri Aurobindo. The Mother has referred to it as ‘the supreme revelation of Sri Aurobindo's vision’. This revelation of vision is an output of Sri Aurobindo's tapas, fruits of his supremely developed consciousness. What Sri Aurobindo remarks about Savitri, the Person, I have felt to be equally valid for Savitri the book as well—‘Savitri is the Divine Word, daughter of the Sun, goddess of the supreme Truth who comes down and is born to save’ and that Savitri is ‘incarnations or emanations of living and conscious Forces with whom we can enter into concrete touch’. Many of us who have had the privilege of entering into concrete touch with Savitri the Power through Savitri the book and growing by its grace have found by experience the validity of the fact that Savitri cannot be approached by just mind or by even the sharpest of intellectual pursuit.”
As Sri Aurobindo writes about understanding Savitri—"If one has faith and openness that is enough. Besides, there are two kinds of understanding—understanding by the intellect and understanding in the consciousness. It is good to have the former if it is accurate, but it is not indispensable. Understanding by the consciousness comes if there is faith and openness, though it may come only gradually and through steps of experience.” For those who have approached Savitri in some measure with faith and openness the benefits are measureless. It is "The Word that ushers divine experience". Negating Savitri amounts to seriously negating one's possibilities. There is a reason why the book was named Savitri and not Satyavan or The Divine Event or The Conquest of Death. It is named Savitri because it embodies the consciousness that triumphs over Death. And Savitri offers the unique opportunity to make the most of this Power to work within us towards sculpturing our immortal self on earth. This is a deep insight given to us by this friend of mine and we do profit by it.
The adjective “fictional” has the following synonyms: imaginary, imagined, story bound, illusory (with the shades of deceptive, false, illusive, misleading, not real, erroneous,” unreal (dreamlike, weird, out of this world, incredible), fantastic (grotesque, whimsical, fanciful), made-up, invented, feigning invention, fiction conventionally accepted as falsehood, story-telling as a branch of literature. Webster: Fiction is a creation of imagination, and does not necessarily imply an intent to deceive, fiction is the opposite of fact, a term strictly applied to, in literature, to any form of story, whether in prose or verse, of which the characters and purely imaginary, or one in which historical events and persons are treated in an original and imaginative manner. In practice the term is used only for prose fiction.
One thing one must remember and it is this: Savitri is a symbol based on a legendary story. The poet himself says so, with legend describing a body of tradition and symbol which is not just semiotic but representing a complex of associations with deeper psycho-spiritual verities in their flaming solidity. We have a letter from Sri Aurobindo himself explaining its character, that it belongs to symbolic myths of the Vedic cycle. Yet in it “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…” It is this character of Savitri that lends itself for a possible mode of presentation as an aeonic autobiographical account. In the case of a Yogi every symbol is a reality, a diamond-lustrous reality, an experienced fact, and a realized verity. When this is missed in a biography, then one starts having misgivings about it. Which means, we must simply dismiss such biographies and go straight to Savitri itself, Savitri which alone can be the authentic biography possible. If it—Savitri—is too much for one’s soul, let the soul get ready for it—get ready if there is a call. Otherwise just forget about the whole obsession, about this whole business. But never call Savitri a fictional creation.
During 1979-86, for eight years, the Archives editors examined all the available drafts of Savitri and, based on certain editorial policies formulated by them, prepared a comprehensive list of changes that should be introduced as new readings in place of the ones present in the earlier printed editions. These readings rather ‘corrections’ are essentially of two types: i) transmission errors arising because of the composition passing through several stages, and through several hands, including the preparation of fair copy, typing, proofreading, and these going back and forth a number of times; ii) emendations of the text and punctuation keeping in view what could possibly represent Sri Aurobindo’s “final intentions”. It is also said that this proposed critical edition was prepared under the supervision of Nirodbaran and KD Sethna (Amal Kiran), they taking the final decision regarding the recommended changes; further, technically it had the “sanction” of Nolini Kanta Gupta himself. “These three men were associated with Sri Aurobindo in his writing, revision and publication of the poem,” inform us the editors in their introduction. It states: “The present edition has the endorsement of Nirodbaran and KD Sethna, who have seen and sanctioned all the changes introduced in the text.” The authority or claim for endorsement by “these three men” is solely ascribed to their direct association with Sri Aurobindo. That seems to be their lone qualification, which a bit sounds odd if not gawky and out of depth.
But then such is the unfortunate justification provided by the editors in support of thedepartures in Savitri, these insisted by them, such large-scale crucial changes andrevisions in the absence of the author. It is also said that the author is not responsible for every word printed in his books! But can anyone actually claim the right or entitlement to give consent for making changes in what he has left behind? Procedurally, and in principle, that becomes perplexing when, in reality, nobody had anywhere given any authority or power for “approval” to anybody, none; it plainly amounts to grabbing or appropriating the right to make changes.
And, again, what are the qualifications of “these three men”? according to the note of the editors, nothing but their “association” with the author of the work. But that itself looks quite strange, if not unusual, association giving authority; at the best it might provide some credibility to what they say, some corroboration or substantiation, and there can be nothing much beyond that, certainly not in terms of yogic poetry. If we have to give a rough though not very inappropriate example, it is like an experienced compounder in a dispensary prescribing medicine to patients—only because he had association with a qualified England-educated doctor who is no more living! It is certainly reading in the fluctuating darkness of the night an inspired and revelatory text, readingin scant light of the clay-lamp of mind instead of sunlight of the soul. It is, to use Arjava’s phrase, a “Gesture that out of Brightness came”. Only one who is in contact with that Brightness can enter into the spirit of such poetry.
By the way, calling Nolini Kanta Gupta, Nirodbaran, and Amal Kiran as “these three men” only displays the utter lack of simple courtesy for others, for those who had the direct association with the Master. It lacks dignified taste, is certainly inappropriate in the language of a research journal—if Sri Aurobindo: Archives and Research is a research periodical. However, here it might be interesting to look into the basis of “these three men”, though best among us, setting themselves up to approving what has been set in front of them to approve. But Nolini Kanta Gupta passed away early in 1984, and it all devolved only on Nirodbaran and Amal Kiran.
Nevertheless, any “approval” from whomsoever it might be would, in the strictest sense, carry no content unless each and every entry is examined by him, with all the data in his hand, he going through all the entries and details himself. Simply seeing what is shown is never sufficient. It is expected that “these men” will not merely go by what is presented to them in a meeting when in an hour or so dozens of them are disposed of; this is particularly so for them who were directly involved in this exercise. It should also be pointed out that examination of this comprehensive archival research by them was not done at any early stage of the present work when it was in progress, done before or while preparing the critical edition of Savitri. It is a post facto examination even as the Table of Corrections was already published, in December 1986; this examination by Nirodbaran and Amal Kiran is thusjustratification. The exercise already has the tinge of rationalizing the archival work: the Table of Corrections had become a fait accompli. Surely, things cannot be approved on the basis of some pre-judgement. More importantly, however, for a composition like Savitri any ‘examination’ has to be in the quiet of the mind; it has to be by deeply identifying oneself with the text, and by invoking the inspiration that brought it down. It is in its light that understanding should get guidance. This does not happen in a debate or in an argumentative discussion in a committee.
But let us first go back to the very beginning of this whole exercise. When Jayantilal Parekh, the then in-charge of the Archives, spoke in the late 1970s to Nolini Kanta Gupta about the revisions in Savitri and their incorporation in a printed edition which would become authoritative, the latter had reportedly said: “If Nirod approves.” This of course was much before his passing away in 1984; it could be about when the work was proposed to be taken up, in the late 1970s. But if everything is contained in that pregnant phrase of Nolini Kanta Gupta—“If Nirod approves”—then the suggestion that the Archival editing had the sanction of Nolini Kanta Gupta becomes somewhat dubious, misleading. Significantly, however, the occult responsibility vis-à-vis the approval was passed on by Nolini Kanta Gupta to Nirodbaran. That begs a question.
If Nolini Kanta Gupta had the final authority among “these three men”, as is purported by the Archives, then what locus standi even for Nirodbaran? none, and none at all for Amal Kiran. According to Nolini Kanta Gupta’s purported statement—“If Nirod approves”—Amal Kiran does not come anywhere in the picture. In fact this whole business of “approval” becomes improper, in terms of principles it also becomes unauthorized, becomes unacceptable. And are not the editors of the aborted critical edition of Savitri mixing up facts in terms of the time sequence? But our concern is to ask the following question: where is the question of Nolini Kanta Gupta “approving” the changes if he had leftthe matterto Nirodbaran? This whole theory, this idea of “these three men”, their “association” with the work of Savitri seems to be there only to obfuscate the issue. Association may bring respect and reverence, particularly in a deeper spiritual context, but not necessarily authority, it cannot give adhikāra, and spiritual adhikāra is an altogether different thing. True,
His life, a Virgilian song to the august sun, A canticle and a prayer brightly enriched In meaning of the birth of the Supreme.
Yet it does not endow Nolini Kanta Gupta any power to approve or not to approve changes in the writings of his Master, in the least; in fact he would never do that. The point is, in the context of the Savitri-editing this curious theory of association should at once be rejected, particularly when one is talking about objective research and presentation. One may get help because of the association and direct familiarity; these might bring certain clarifications, but Savitri is a different kind of matter.
It should also be mentioned that, when this eight-year work was going on in preparing the critical edition, the proposal was to put certain readings in the main text and their alternatives as footnotes. But in the Revised Edition, 1993, finally presented on the basis of these ‘researches’ and ‘approvals’, we find that there are no footnotes, no alternative readings anywhere in the book. Let us take an example, from Book Four Canto Two, towards the end of the canto: (p. 367 in both 1972 and 1993)
In the 1951 and 1993 editions we have the line
Earth nursed, unconscious still, the inhabiting flame.
But in the 1954 and 1972 editions we have instead
The wide world knew not yet the inhabitant flame.
The proposal was to put this line as a footnote. This has not happened. By the way, this example itself provides reasons to suspect the “approval”-theory, in fact the very methodology of doing things. It is said that Amal Kiran and Nirodbaran approved the changes suggested by the Archives. So the situation is something like this. What was in the 1951 edition that was changed by Amal Kiran in the 1954 and, later, retained in the 1972; but, again, under his own “approval” it was reverted to the 1951 reading. We have to see these fluctuating positions when it is proclaimed that the Mother had “approved” this and the Mother had “approved” that, thus making her own position dependent upon these factors which kept on fluctuating, upon these vagaries. But can that be so? is that so? We can’t say that the Mother had “approved” such changes which themselves look so uncertain. In fact, the question to be asked is: Is the Mother’s “approval” going to sway at different times, in 1950, 1954, 1972? The answer “Yes” to it will be preposterous. It will be so not only in terms of editing Savitri; it will be for Savitri itself, for Sri Aurobindo’s Savitri. And how can the Mother at all approve anything else than what Sri Aurobindo himself had “approved” in 1950, when his work had gone for publication at that time? Part One of Savitri was published in September 1950 before his withdrawal in December that year; Part Two and Part Three came out in May 1951, possibly when most of the manuscripts had gone to the Press during his own lifetime. Was not that edition of Savitri, the 1950-51 edition approved by Sri Aurobindo?
Sri Aurobindo Archives and Research, December 1986, Vol. 10, No 2, pp. 169-88
Nirodbaran and Amal Kiran Approve the Corrections In the following is reproduced an official note written by Nirodbaran and Amal Kiran to Manoj Das Gupta, the trustee in-charge concerned with the Ashram copyright and publication matters. The note effectively tells the authorities to go ahead with the printing of the Revised Edition of Savitri. But this has no spiritual sanctity, as no one can derive powers from the author of Savitri to make changes in the work that came out during his time, nor did he delegate any to anyone. Apart from the lack of spiritual sanctity, it has neither any formalized official basis. On both the counts it has no locus standi whatsoever. It seems that no official letter was written by Manoj Das Gupta to Nirodbaran and Amal Kiran to undertake the work of checking and revising the Savitri-text prepared by the Archives against which this came as the answer. It is also obvious that Nirodbaran and Amal Kiran do not make any mention of the terms of reference to them in their “approval”-note, if at all they had received any written communication; there was perhaps never any official letter addressed to them. The want of both of these desiderata, sanctity and sanction, make the whole business of bringing out the Revised Edition highly dubious. This is a serious matter and it is necessary, as far as possible, to go into the related details more thoroughly. It is necessary also to explore some other lines of approach.
The strange thing is, this note appears in an official booklet entitled On the New Edition of Savitri published for private circulation in 1999 by the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust, but does not make any mention of the directive given to Nirodbaran and Amal Kiran, is not preceded with any referential document. If Nirodbaran and Amal Kiran had received oral communication for checking the proposed revisions of Savitri, an oral answer, that they had completed the job should have been just in order. This note of approval by Nirodbaran and Amal Kiran, however, must now be seen in terms of its implications. It puts its stamp of authority on the Revised Edition—without that itself having any authority. It is dated 10 October 1992, the entire businessnow marking the completion of more than three decades of scrutiny of Savitri-work, a workwhich went through a long and meandering process. But it is one without a mandate, a seal without terms of reference. Officially this note has therefore no relevance at all, has no validity. In fact the whole affair seems to be an afterthought as if seeking protection.
A new edition of Savitri was brought out in 1993 by the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust. This edition was the result of many years of intensive work. Sri Aurobindo’s manuscripts were carefully compared with all copies, typescripts and printed texts. Wherever it was found that his lines had been copied, typed or printed differently from what he wrote or dictated, the lines were restored to their authentic form.
The preparatory work for the Revised Edition of Savitri was done by the Archives. But its chief editors were Nirod and Amal, who have been responsible for all editions of Savitri up to the present. The Revised Edition (1993) may be considered the continuation and culmination of Nirod’s and Amal’s effort to eliminate errors from the text of Savitri. The difference is that this time they have had the help of the Archives. The result has been the most meticulously prepared and error-free edition to date. It is also the first time a list of the changes has been published. This is perhaps the main reason for the controversy.
The Archives’ work on Savitri began in the late seventies under Nirod’s supervision. Before that, Sri Aurobindo’s manuscripts of the poem had been consulted now and then to decide doubtful points that came up. But nobody had thought of systematically comparing the manuscripts with the various copies, typescripts and printed texts. This was the exacting and time-consuming procedure that now began. After one phase of this work was finished, I asked Nolini-da if corrections could be made in view of certain discrepancies that had been noticed. His reply was simple and straightforward: “You can make the changes if Nirod approves of them.”
Any statement, oral or written made in my name is not valid or authentic unless supported by my signature.
Who Approved “… if Nirod approves”? Jayantilal Parekh compares the Revised Edition with the earlier editions and says: “The Revised Edition (1993) may be considered the continuation and culmination of Nirod’s and Amal’s effort to eliminate errors from the text of Savitri. The difference is that this time they have had the help of the Archives.”
Sri Aurobindo kept a log of his own practice of yoga of the seven chatusthayas in a series of diaries. At different times he gave this document different names, among them “Journal of Yoga”, Record of the Yoga”, “Record of Yoga”, “Notebook of the Sadhana”, “Yoga Diary” and “Yoga Record”. The title he used most often is “Record of Yoga”. In the text he generally referred to the work as :the Record”, and used the verb “record” for the act of writing it. For these reasons the editors have selected Record of Yoga as the general title of the work. The full period covered is 1909 to 1927. … It was meant, first, to be a “pure record of fact and experience”.
Sri Aurobindo had given me charge of the outer work because he wanted to withdraw into concentration in order to hasten the manifestation of the supramental consciousness. … Suddenly, immediately, things took a certain shape: a very brilliant creation was worked out in extraordinary detail, with marvellous experiences, contacts with divine beings, and all kinds of manifestations which are considered miraculous. Experiences followed one upon another, and, well, things were unfolding altogether brilliantly and…I must say, in an extremely interesting way.
One day, I went as usual to relate to Sri Aurobindo what had been happening—we had come to something really very interesting, and perhaps I showed a little enthusiasm in my account of what had taken place—then Sri Aurobindo looked at me…and said: “Yes, this is an Overmind creation. It is very interesting, very well done. You will perform miracles which will make you famous throughout the world, you will be able to turn all events on earth topsy-turvy, indeed,...” and then he smiled and said: “It will be a great success. But it is an Overmind creation. And it is not success that we want; we want to establish the Supermind on earth. One must know how to renounce immediate success in order to create the new world, the supramental world in its integrality.”
With my inner consciousness I understood immediately: a few hours later the creation was gone…and from that moment we started anew on other bases. [CWM, Vol. 9, pp. 147-48]
One day the Mother told me that the whole of Savitri was a Mantra for the transformation of the world. I then asked the Mother why is it that we can see no sign of its action in the world so far. She replied, “The original transcriptions of the manuscripts of Savitri have some mistakes in them, and these mistakes have dulled its force.” So the Mother herself knew that there were mistakes in the original publication of Savitri.
In a profound existence beyond earth’s Parent or kin to our ideas and dreams Where Space is a vast experiment of the soul, In a deep oneness of all things that are, The universe of the Unknown arose.
Then there came a downward look As if a sea exploring its own depths; A living Oneness widened its core And joined him to unnumbered multitudes.
Then there came a downward look. As if a sea exploring its own depths, A living Oneness widened its core And joined him to unnumbered multitudes.
Penultimate MS—
Then there came a downward look. As if a sea exploring its own depths,
but in the final MS there is no punctuation; the revised scribal copy has
Then there came a downward look As if a sea exploring its own depths;
The Immanent shall be the witness God Watching on his many-petalled lotus-throne, His actionless being and his silent might Ruling earth-nature by Eternity’s law, …
So the situation is: You cannot publish it. We cannot publish it. In the process, the Revised Edition of 1993 becomes fait accompli.
Private dispute should always be avoided; but shrink not from public battle; yet even there appreciate the strength of thy adversary. ~ Sri Aurobindo
Amal Kiran about Savitri: If this poem becomes a part of your life then it will make you part of the Poet.
An insight from Narendra Gehlaut I found the possible link between Record of Yoga and Savitri most fascinating. One stops and the other starts! Of course Savitri is his record of yoga but then Savitri covers up all the yoga of the past as well. The fact that Sri Aurobindo did not attach any importance to secure Record of Yoga papers may be indicative of the fact that by then Sri Aurobindo would already have resolved to embody his biography in Savitri as the Symbol. For him the records belonged to the past.
That Sri Aurobindo delayed or rather timed leaving his body to the finishing of Savitri, cannot not be considered as a context to the final approved version of Savitri. Also the care Sri Aurobindo had taken in preparing multiple drafts, checking and rechecking, all is evidence in itself to the finality or the final draft to his satisfaction. If there was any doubt in Sri Aurobindo's ‘mind’ regarding finality of revision he surely would have given detailed ‘instructions’ to the Mother. It is his consciousness which had affirmed “perfect perfection”; can we expect Sri Aurobindo not to have thought through this matter of his highest concern? I am inclined to assume that Sri Aurobindo would have delayed his leaving of the body if there was pending work of revision left.
The nature of Savitri’s poetry Before asking the question "Does the Revised Edition make Savitri more mantric? does it remove the dullness present in the earlier editions because of mistakes in them?", let us quickly look into the nature of Savitri’s poetry.
If people desire to continue with the earlier editions of Savitri, who is stopping them from doing so? In a few years the copyright of the work will cease to be with the Ashram. We cannot stop anybody from bringing out a new print of any of the old editions.
One day the Mother told me that the whole of Savitri was a Mantra for the transformation of the world. I then asked the Mother why is it that we can see no sign of its action in the world so far? She replied, “The original transcriptions of the manuscripts of Savitri have some mistakes in them, and these mistakes have dulled its force.” So the Mother Herself knew that there were mistakes in the original publication of Savitri.
Lo, the hymn of affirmation, O Maruts; it is fraught with my obeisance, it was framed by the heart, it was established by the mind, O ye gods. Approach these my words and embrace them with the mind; for of submission are you the increasers.
The Word is a power, the Word creates. Certain schools of Vedic thoughts even suppose the worlds to have been created by the goddess Word and sound as first etheric vibration to have preceded formation. In the Veda itself there are passages which treat the poetic measures of the sacred mantras as symbolic of the rhythms in which the universal movement of things is cast. … Agastya presents the stoma, hymn at once of affirmation and of submission… Fashioned by the heart, it receives its just place in the mentality through confirmation by the mind. The mantra, though it expresses thought in mind, is not in its essential part a creation of the intellect. To be sacred and effective word, it must have come as an inspiration from the supramental plane, termed in the Veda ŗtam, the Truth and have been received into the superficial consciousness either through the heart or by the luminous intelligence, manisha.... Fashioned by the heart, it is confirmed by the mind. [The Secret of the Veda, pp. 258-59]
... is a word of power and light that comes from the overmind inspiration or from some very high plane of Intuition. Its characteristics are a language that conveys infinitely more than the mere surface sense of the words seems to indicate, a rhythm that means even more than the language and is born out of the Infinite and disappears into it, and the power to convey not merely the mental, vital or physical contents or indications or values of the things uttered, but its significance and figure in some fundamental and original consciousness which is behind all these and greater. [pp. 369-70]
As when the mantra sinks in Yoga’s ear, Its message enters stirring the blind brain And keeps in the dim ignorant cells its sound; The hearer understands a form of words And, musing on the index thought it holds, He strives to read it with the labouring mind, But finds bright hints, not the embodied truth: Then, falling silent in himself to know He meets the deeper listening of his soul: The Word repeats itself in rhythmic strains: Thought, vision, feeling, sense, the body’s self Are seized unalterably and he endures An ecstasy and an immortal change; He feels a Wideness and becomes a Power, All knowledge rushes on him like a sea: Transmuted by the white spiritual ray He walks in naked heavens of joy and calm, Sees the God-face and hears transcendent speech.
If all existence could renounce to be And Being take refuge in Non-being's arms And Non-being could strike out its ciphered round, Some lustre of that Reality might appear.
Still regions of imperishable Light, All-seeing eagle-peaks of silent Power And moon-flame oceans of swift fathomless Bliss And calm immensities of spirit Space
As floats a sunbeam through a shady place, The golden virgin in her carven car Came gliding among meditation's seats.
The peacock scattering on the breeze his moons—
Allured to her lashes by his passionate words Her fathomless soul looked at him from her eyes—
Ringing for ever with the crickets' cry—
A casual passing phrase can change our life—
Sight's sound-waves breaking from the soul's great deeps—
She seemed burning towards the eternal realms—
… Mind motionless sleeps waiting Light's birth—
Drunk with a wine of lightning in their cells—
To live, to love are signs of infinite things—
The riven invisible atom's omnipotent force—
Absent thee from felicity awhile And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain
Near to earth's wideness, intimate with heaven, Exalted and swift her young large-visioned spirit Voyaging through worlds of splendour and of calm Overflew the ways of Thought to unborn things.
Time present and time past Are both perhaps are present in time future, And time future contained in time past.
Their bodies born out of some Nihil's womb Ensnare the spirit in the moment's dreams, Then perish vomiting the immortal soul Out of Matter's belly into the sink of Nought.
There crawled through every tense and aching nerve Leaving behind in poignant quaking trail A nameless and unutterable fear.
A secret air of pure felicity Deep like a sapphire heaven our spirits breathe… If this withdrew, the world would sink in the Void; If this were not, nothing could move or live. A hidden Bliss is at the root of things… The All-Wonderful has packed heaven with his dreams, He has made blank ancient Space his marvel-house; He spilled his spirit into Matter's signs: His fires grandeur burn in the great sun, He glides through heaven shimmering in the moon; He is beauty carolling in the fields of sound; He chants the stanzas of the odes of Wind; He is silence watching in the stars at night; He wakes at dawn and calls from every bough, Lies stunned in the stone and dreams in flower and tree… There is a joy in all that meets the sense… Its sap runs through the plant and flowers of Pain… The sun of Beauty and the sun of Power Flatter and foster it with golden beams… Love is man’s lien on the Absolute.
In the vast golden laughter of Truth's sun Like a great heaven-bird on a motionless sea Is poised her winged ardour of creative joy On the still deep of the Eternal's peace.
Across the light of fast-receding planes That fled from him as from a falling star, Compelled to fill his human house in Time His soul drew back into the speed and noise Of the vast business of created things.
Compelled to fill his human house in Time
Compelled to fill its human house in Time
Flaming he swept through the spiritual gates. The mortal stir received him in its midst.
Near to earth’s wideness, intimate with heaven, Exalted and swift her young large-visioned spirit Voyaging through worlds of splendor and of calm Overflew the ways of Thought to unborn things.
Day came, priest of a sacrifice of joy Into the worshipping silence of her world; He carried a mortal lustre as his robe, Trailed Heaven like a purple scarf and wore As his vermilion caste-mark a red sun.
If there is a defect I appeal to headquarters.
Possibly this is what the Mother meant when she spoke of “transmission errors”.
Though few, there are factual details about the composition of Savitri which are indeed revealing in many contexts. The first available draft dated 8/9 August 1916 has only 1637 lines which became in the latest printed version 23,837. Part I which was mostly written by Sri Aurobindo himself in his own hand had, in 1944, about 9000 lines; but as the revision by dictation proceeded, it grew to 11,683 in the printed text of 1950. This kept on happening in the fair copy made by Nirodbaran, in the typescripts, proofs, and the printed versions which had come out either in the Ashram journals or as fascicles. The very first line of the epic in the twenty-first version is as follows:
It was the hour before the gods awake.
He is satisfied with his common average kind; Tomorrow’s hopes are his, the old rounds of thought; His old familiar interests and desires He has made a hedge planned to defend his life…
Sri Aurobindo further revised these lines in the proofs of the first edition. These proofs, unfortunately, were not preserved; so what was printed in that edition is the only evidence of his last revision of Part One. The passage was printed in 1950 as follows:
He is satisfied with his common average kind; Tomorrow’s hopes and his old rounds of thought, His old familiar interests and desires He has made a thick and narrowing hedge Defending his small life from the Invisible…
Amal Kiran commented in 1954 on the fourth line: “Limping line—one foot missing. It is impossible to scan it as a pentameter as it stands: He has| made’ a| thick’ and| nar’row| ing hedge’|. Three consecutive trochees in the middle are too jerky and inadmissible. The natural scanning is: He has made’| a thick’| and nar’| rowing hedge’|. But this gives a four-foot line. Look up the original.” We have seen Sri Aurobindo’s statement that a trochee, if it is not the first foot of a line, needs to be supported “by a strong syllable just preceding it”. But…this supposedly iambic line consists mainly of trochees, with only one iamb at the end… Did Sri Aurobindo, in the final revision in 1950, forget momentarily the subtle laws of metrical movement which he had expounded so lucidly in his prose writings and embodied with a spontaneous and unfailing mastery in so many thousands of lines of Savitri? If this irregularity had created a forceful effect of some kind, it might have been justified… But in the passage of our “common average kind”, nothing out of the ordinary seems called for… To avoid supposing an unaccountable lapse in Sri Aurobindo’s metrical skill, we may infer that he actually dictated:
He has made into a thick and narrowing hedge…
By making explicit the implied “into”, the line becomes readable as pentametric according to the natural rhythm of the words.
Then hand in hand, with social steps their way Through Eden took, with Heav’nly Comfort cheer’d.
Once more he moved amid material scenes, Lifted by intimations from the heights And twixt the pauses of the building brain Touched by the thoughts that skim the fathomless surge Of Nature and wing back to hidden shores.
The last emendation of a handwritten line was necessitated by what the editors consider to be a slip made by the author while revising. All handwritten versions, except the last, of line 491 [p. 347] of Book Three, Canto 4, run as follows:
And in the pauses of the building brain.
When he copied this line in the “final version”, Sri Aurobindo wrote “twixt” instead of “in”. This word, although somewhat archaic, is perfectly legitimate, and in fact of fairly frequent occurrence in Savitri. But here it does not make sense. The “pauses” of the brain are what come between, or twixt, its ordinary activities. Sri Aurobindo’s intention surely was that it is in these pauses that, as the sequel says, “thoughts” from hidden shores come in and touch the seeker. Perhaps he meant to alter “pauses” when he substituted “twixt” for “in”. At any rate,” the note further says, “the unrevised version of the line, as given above, seems to represent Sri Aurobindo’s intentions better than the revised one, and it has therefore been restored to the text.
He who has found his identity with God Pays with the body’s death his soul’s vast light. His knowledge immortal triumphs by his death.
…leave her to her mighty self and Fate.
The Supplement to the Revised Edition of Savitri speaks of the “twixt”-“in” as follows: (pp. 19-20)
Once more he moved amid material scenes Lifted by intimations from the heights And in the pauses of the building brain Touched by the thoughts that skim the fathomless surge Of Nature and wing back to hidden shores.
And twixt the pauses of the building brain
The replacement of "in" by "twixt" cannot quite be dismissed as a mechanical slip of the pen. However, it may be supposed that Sri Aurobindo made the substitution without noticing its misleading effect. Though "twixt" occurs in the last manuscript, it can be plausibly maintained that it does not convey the intended meaning as aptly as the earlier reading did. If so, there would seem to be good reason in this instance for making an exception to the rule that the text should follow the author's latest version. Because of the problems of interpretation raised by "twixt the pauses", the long series of manuscripts with the more straightforward phrase, "in the pauses", deserves special consideration. In the present edition, the text is printed with "in", while "twixt" is given as an alternative reading.
A world unseen, unknown by outward mind Appeared in the silent spaces of the soul. He sat in secret chambers looking out Into the luminous countries of the unborn Where all things dreamed by the mind are seen and true And all that the life longs for is drawn close. He saw the Perfect in their starry homes Wearing the glory of a deathless form Lain in the arms of the Eternal’s peace, Rapt in the heart-beats of God-ecstasy. He lived in the mystic space where thought is born And will is nursed by an ethereal Power And fed on the white milk of the Eternal’s strengths Till it grows into the likeness of a god. In the Witness’s occult rooms with mind-built walls On hidden interiors, lurking passages Opened the windows of the inner sight. He owned the house of undivided Time.
Here is Aswapati who is making tremendous progress after two early major spiritual realizations, of static Oneness and dynamic Power, of the Passive Brahman and the Active Brahman. In him now a greater being sees a greater world. To him crowding come the gifts of the spirit. Mind, life, body have wakened to their true reality. Sheath after sheath of the subtle physical experience the entry of thehigher powersin it. A world unseen unknown by outward mind appears in the silent spaces of the soul.
He saw the Perfect in their starry homes Wearing the glory of a deathless form Lain in the arms of the Eternal’s peace, Rapt in the heart-beats of God-ecstasy.
With or without a comma at the end of the second line, though the comma makes it perhaps explicit, sense and poetry in either case are immediately recognisable. The Revised Edition of Savitri (1993) proposes “form,” instead of “form”, but the editorial justification for it is not available anywhere, whether it is present in the manuscript but got dropped in the sequence later on, whether the original passage has remained without any subsequent revision, whether it was a line added later in which case the comma might not have been dictated. But the insertion of a comma after “form” rules out the possibility of another suggestion, of “a deathless form” lying in the arms of the Eternal’s peace. Can that be ruled out? As long as there is no ambiguity, the best is to retain the earlier reading, of “a deathless form”.
[Let us take one specific example from Jugal Mukherjee’s several letters pertaining to Savitri-corrections.His letter dated 24 April-1 May 1988is a 50-page single-spaced typescript running into several sections, and is titled Some Final Observations on the Table of Corrections. We shall takehere one of itsparts just by way of illustration to get an idea of his objections and concerns regarding the new Savitri-editing.]
This universe shall unseal its occult sense, Creation’s process change its antique front, An ignorant evolution’s hierarchy Release the Wisdom chained below its base.
Lift up the fallen heart of love which flutters, Cast down the desire’s abyss into the gulfs.
So, no use saying that the listed “corrections” are the result of “checking and rechecking” “under the supervision of Nirodbaran and KD Sethna. It will be discreet to admit that mistakes have been committed here and there, and not infrequently, and then proceed to re-investigate at least these cases which I have prima facie marked “inappropriate”. And if these slips and oversights are pointed out by somebody, the editors should gladly welcome them: why should they take it as a personal affront and be irritated?
A false impression has been promoted by the Archives Team by stating that 99.75% of Savitri is unaltered. It is said: “Savitri contained more than 1, 80, 000 words and 99.75% of these are the same in all Editions Between 1951 and 1993 Edition, there are about 1974 differences of which 476 are verbal. The others are punctuation, capitalisation, hyphenation, spelling and others.” To the scientifically and statistically minded people it would mean that 0.25% change is negligible and for practical purposes we may consider it to be zero. But the devil is in the false perspective of taking poetry as a linear form with words as the linear unit. It would be here exposed as just another branch of editorial arrogance of the Archival Team in the space of Statistics.
And if we do investigate considering a stanza with a full stop as the affected 'unit of fullness' then a total of 1464 stanzas are affected directly. If we take the stanzas for which lines have been added as also being affected, then total number swells to 1478. Total stanzas in the First Edition are 5771. Therefore the percentage of alterations comes out to be (1478/5771)x100= 25.61%. This means, every fourth stanza has been affected!
One may have faith in the script but see not the path; also one may know the path but follow it not with faith. Which one to accept? to go by the path or by the faith? The best is to have both together. However, that seems to be the conundrum in regard to an entry in the context of editing Savitri. The entry appears in a passage on page 146, The Book of the Traveller of the Worlds, The Kingdoms of the Little Life, Book Two Canto Four, Section 41 in the series of 159 sections making up the epic. In the earlier drafts, in Sri Aurobindo’s own hand, the word in a line is distinctly “path”; but in the draft in which the revision by dictation was made it could be read as “faith”. In this draft there are two verbal changes by dictation in the same line. Subsequent drafts by dictation consistently carry the word “faith” along with those two verbal changes. These successive drafts with “faith” were read out to the author and they had undergone several developments afterward; one could therefore justifiably argue that the original “path”need not have any bearing or relevance in the light of these redraftings with considerable additions of new lines and passages. But it is necessary to have access to the original manuscripts, it is desirable that these be made available for a detailed comprehensive study, that nothing significant is missed. However, in the meanwhile, let us first summarise the relevant text as it appears in the first edition which came out in September 1950 before Sri Aurobindo’s withdrawal in December that year, putting the seal of his presence and 'approval' on it.
So must the dim being grow in light and force And rise to his higher destiny at last, Look up to God and round at the universe, And learn by failure and progress by fall And battle with environment and doom, By suffering discover his deep soul And by possession grow to his own vasts.
Half-way she stopped and found her faith no more.
Still nothing was achieved but to begin, Yet finished seemed the circle of her force.
Finally, let me mention here something that happened about a decade ago, when the Savitri-case was going on in the Court. One Sunday morning we’d a breakfast meeting in Nirodbaran’s room downstairs. The four present were: Nirodbaran, Mangesh Nadkarni, Manoj Das Gupta, and myself. The issue was, about the necessity of revising Savitri. When Manoj Das Gupta asked Nadkarni, his reply was: “As far as I’m concerned, it would not matter for me if it was this edition or that.” I was stunned, and told how can one accept an edition which tries to read “Sri Aurobindo’s intentions” and which speaks of slips of various kind on the part of Sri Aurobindo himself. And then the usual arguments followed, forgetting that Part One of Savitri had come out during the lifetime of Sri Aurobindo and the manuscript for printing Parts Two and Three in another volume presumably must have gone to the Press before his passing away in December 1950; this volume bears the date May 1951. We could attach to it what the Mother had disdainfully told Amal on 10 April 1954: “At most you may write a Publisher's Note to say: 'We poor blind ignorant human beings think Sri Aurobindo did not intend certain things to be the final version. And we are giving our opinion for what it may be worth.'" Her disappointment cannot be more telling than this.
There is a definite freaky history behind “freak”, it undergoing unusual changes from script to script and finally coming back to itself with the suspecting faithfulness of the word in Sri Aurobindo’s own hand. The lines of concern in the Revised Edition are as follows: (p. 455)
Eternal Consciousness became a freak Of some unsouled almighty Inconscient And, breathed no more as spirit’s native air, Bliss was an incident of a mortal hour, A stranger in the insentient universe.
A Nought appeared as Being’s huge sealed cause, Its dumb support in a blank infinite, In whose abysm spirit must disappear: A darkened Nature lived and held the seed Of Spirit hidden and feigning not to be. The eternal Consciousness became the home Of some unsouled almighty Inconscient; One breathed no more the spirit’s native air. A stranger in the insentient universe, Bliss was the incident of a mortal hour. As one drawn by the grandeur of the Void The soul attracted leaned to the Abyss: It longed for the adventure of Ignorance And the marvel and surprise of the Unknown And the endless possibility that lurked In the womb of Chaos and in Nothing’s gulf Or looked from the unfathomed eyes of Chance. It tired of its unchanging happiness, It turned away from immortality: It was drawn to hazard’s call and danger’s charm, It yearned to the pathos of grief, the drama of pain, Perdition’s peril, the wounded bare escape, The music of ruin and its glamour and crash, The savour of pity and the gamble of love And passion and the ambiguous face of Fate.
The relevant transcription of this manuscript is as follows:
Non-Being seemed to it Being’s sealed cause, Its end and its surrounding circumstance, And consciousness a freak of Inconscience And Bliss an occurrence in the Insentient It housed the grandeur of the unfeeling Void As one who grows dizzy looking down on Nought The soul attracted leaned to the Abyss; It wearied of unchanging happiness It longed for the adventure of Ignorance, And the marvel and surprise of the Unknown And the joy of new creation out of nothingness
And consciousness a freak of Inconscience
The eternal Consciousness became a freak
Eternal Consciousness became a freak
The Eternal And Consciousness ^became a freak of Inconscience
Eternal Consciousness became a peak
The Eternal Consciousness became the home
The Eternal Consciousness became a peak the home
The eternal Consciousness became the home
And consciousness a freak of InconscienceManuscript
The eternal Consciousness became the home 1951, 1954, 1972
Eternal Consciousness became a freak 1993
And con|sciousness| a freak| of Incon|science|
The eter|nal Con|sciousness| became| the home|
Eter|nal Con|sciousness| became| a freak|
And consciousness a freak of Inconscience.
Considering all these factors one has to go by the 1951-version which has the finality of revisions by the author himself.
In February 2004 issue of Mother India Richard Hartz writes:
instance, "has left" was emended in 1970 to "had left" in lines in Book Three, Canto Three, which were printed in the following form in The Advent, the 1947 fascicle and the 1950 and 1954 editions:
Although the afflicted Nature he has left Maintained beneath him her broad numberless fields, ...
When the 1954 edition was being prepared, Amal Kiran observed with regard to the first line:
The natural and correct grammatical form would be "had left" and not "has left", since everything afterwards as well as before is in the past tense.
In fact, Sri Aurobindo had written "had left" in more than a dozen manuscripts, including the final version in his own handwriting, dated "May 7, 1944" at the end of the third book. It was copied and typed in the same way, but "has" was printed instead of "had" when this canto was first published in 1947. It is rather surprising that this obvious typographical error was not corrected until 1970, though Amal had pointed it out in 1954.
All-causing, all-sustaining and aloof, The Witness looks from his unshaken poise, An Eye immense regarding all things done. Apart, at peace above creation’s stir, Immersed in the eternal altitudes, He abode defended in his shoreless self, Companioned only by the all-seeing One. A Mind too mighty to be bound by Thought, A Life too boundless for the play in space, A Soul without borders unconvinced of Time, He felt the extinction of the world’s long pain, He became the unborn Self that never dies, He joined the sessions of Infinity. On the cosmic murmur primal loneliness fell, Annulled was the contact formed with time-born things, Empty grew Nature’s wide community. All things were brought back to their formless seed, The world was silent for a cyclic hour. Although the afflicted Nature he has left Maintained beneath him her broad numberless fields, Her enormous act, receding, failed remote As if a soulless dream at last had ceased. No voice came down from the high silences, None answered from her desolate solitudes. A stillness of cessation reigned, the wide Immortal hush before the gods were born; A universal Force awaited, mute, The veiled Transcendent’s ultimate decree.
His passport of entry false and his personage, He is compelled to be what he is not; He obeys the Inconscience he has come to rule And sinks in Matter to fulfil his soul. Awakened from her lower driven forms The Earth-Mother gave her forces to his hands And painfully he guards the heavy trust; His mind is a lost torch-bearer on her roads. Illumining breath to think and plasm to feel, He labours with his slow and sceptic brain Helped by the reason’s vacillating fires, To make his thought and will a magic door For knowledge to enter the darkness of the world And love to rule a realm of strife and hate. A mind impotent to reconcile heaven and earth And tied to Matter with a thousand bonds, He lifts himself to be a conscious god.
Existent version: “He obeys the Inconscience he has come to rule”
“has come” is there in all the earlier versions: Advent: p. 137, l. 18 from below; Fascicle: p. 306, l. 10 from below; 1950: p. 306, l. 29.
That means, Sri Aurobindo heard “has come” thrice and did not object to “has”. It is altogether improbable that he could not hear the word properly. After all, “has come” has greater appositeness; for, although “he” is currently obeying the Inconscience, his destiny to rule it remains even now intact. So, the existent version “has come to rule” should remain as it is.
We do not know whether in this case the change from Present Perfect to Past Perfect is based on the manuscripts, or it is correcting Sri Aurobindo’s English. Also, it is essential to take into account if there were revisions in the passage during subsequent stages of composition, when the context could change considerably. The universality of “has” with its occult-spiritual avowal, however, is insistent.
The opening passage of Book One Canto One, The Symbol Dawn, has the following text of 115 lines in the Savitri that was published in 1950. The 1942-draft which had only 58 lines in Sri Aurobindo’s hand is reproduced as a facsimile.
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