The next part of Savitri we shall discuss is as followed.

And Savitri too awoke among these tribes

That hastened to join the brilliant Summoner's chant
And, lured by the beauty of the apparent ways,
Acclaimed their portion of ephemeral joy.
Akin to the eternity whence she came,
No part she took in this small happiness;
A mighty stranger in the human field,
The embodied Guest within made no response.
The call that wakes the leap of human mind,
Its chequered eager motion of pursuit,
Its fluttering-hued illusion of desire,
Visited her heart like a sweet alien note.
Time's message of brief light was not for her.
In her there was the anguish of the gods
Imprisoned in our transient human mould,
The deathless conquered by the death of things.
A vaster Nature's joy had once been hers,
But long could keep not its gold heavenly hue
Or stand upon this brittle earthly base.
A narrow movement on Time's deep abysm,
Life's fragile littleness denied the power,
The proud and conscious wideness and the bliss
She had brought with her into the human form,
The calm delight that weds one soul to all,
The key to the flaming doors of ecstasy.
Earth's grain that needs the sap of pleasure and tears
Rejected the undying rapture's boon:
Offered to the daughter of infinity
Her passion-flower of love and doom she gave.

MEANINGS OF SOME DIFFICULT WORDS

Ephemeral = Brief, Momentary, Lasting for a short time.

Anguish = Agony.

Transient = Brief.

Abysm = A bottomless gulf or pit, hole, or well.

Ecstasy = A state of elated bliss.

Lure = Attract.

Hastened = Speed up eagerly.

Apparent = clearly evident to physical senses.

Akin = Similar or related to quality in nature.

Sap = the fluid of a plant.

Doom = an unpleasant or disastrous destiny.

In our last post we have discussed how Goddess Usha, the Divine Mother withdraws and
reasoning behind the same. I hope now we are clear that how every dawn is a “Symbol Dawn”
that symbolizes the transformation of our Nature from the Nescience to the consciousness, by the
advent of Light. Also we concluded the actions performed by Goddess Usha and spreading of the
common day light.

Now Sri Aurobindo introduces us to Savitri, in this part. This is such a glorious portrayal of the
Divine Mother that this becomes an evidence of the altitude of Sri Aurobindo’s poetry and its
order of Vedic Saints. If you read this second part of this canto, you will realize why Sri
Aurobindo is known as “Maharshi” as this of the Divine Mother he makes here looks as beautiful
and as sacred as in any Sanskrit Stotra.

And Savitri too awoke among these tribes

That hastened to join the brilliant Summoner's chant
And, lured by the beauty of the apparent ways,
Acclaimed their portion of ephemeral joy.

Now, as the common day light spreads, all the creatures spring into their routine life, all wake up
the creatures on land, air and the leader here the man also begins his routine life or “lifts the
burden of his fate”. All these creatures including man “hastened” that is speed up “to join the
brilliant Summoner’s chant”. Here brilliant Summoner means Sun. When he rises, he spreads a
message encouraging us to get on with our daily activities once again. When we get on with our
routine in the morning, everything appears very beautiful because of fresh sun light or apparently
because Goddess Usha lit these common meaningless shapes into miracles. Men(We) are
attracted or “lured” by such “beauty of apparent ways” and we rejoice the same or “Acclaimed
their portion of ephemeral joy”. Ephemeral means momentary or brief. Why this is joy is
ephemeral is because we are satisfied by the apparent beauty of the Nature. We have forgotten
that a Spirit is veiled behind it which eternally and infinitesimally Glorious or we are not
conscious about it. We don’t even know what we rejoice is ephemeral. But still we rejoice it.
Because this is our limitation. In our natural state we can not feel the Divine veiled behind the
matter. We need to prepare ourselves for it, and we all know which is exactly our Sadhana. So,
among such tribes, Savitri too awoke. Here the word “among” has a significant mark and it lifts
the image of Savitri as Divine Mother. Sri Aurobindo does not say Savitri awoke “with” all such
tribes, which would equalize the Divine Mother with all the creatures. In the beginning we had
discussed the Etymological Meanings of the names in Savitri. We concluded that Savitri
originates from the root “Su” and emerges from “Savitru” which means the One who creates,
gives birth to, and sustains till the end or the Supreme. Therefore Savitri means a Divine Grace
embodied or some one who has descended from the Supreme. Therefore Sri Aurobindo puts in
the most appropriate word, like our ancient saints who wrote so many adorations to the Supreme
and the Divine Mother. Therefore, Savitri who is a descendent from the Supreme, who is native
to His place, therefore, she does not take part in this ephemeral joy of all the creatures. This is
why Sri Aurobindo is known as Maharshi.
This paragraph can also be explored in another way. Considering the time of Mahabharata in
which the tale of Savitri moulds, here we can understand this paragraph as follows.

Savitri wakes up among such tribes who “hastened” or very keen or eager to join the chanting,
the adoration of the “brilliant Summoner”, the Supreme. That is following some way of
Sadhana. “And lured by the beauty of the apparent ways”. But still, they are not capable of
finding the full Glory of Divine and are satisfied by the “beauty of apparent ways”. This is
because they still are exploring the reality of Divine, still searching for Him, still looking His
Grace, which Savitri has embodied with Her. Therefore, she does not take part in the small
happiness of this tribe. She is somewhat neutral, like the “eye of deity” that peered through the
dumb deeps of the Nature in the earlier part. This is confirmed by the following line:

Akin to the eternity whence she came,

Savitri is our Divine Mother who is “Akin to eternity” that is She is familiar with the eternity, as
She has descended from the Eternal, the Supreme. Not since some time, it is “whence she
came”. That is since Her avatar.

No part she took in this small happiness;

As she is a descendent from the Supreme, She has embodied his Eternal Bliss and Delight and
therefore is not at all interested in the “small happiness” of this tribe and she does not takes part
in it.

A mighty stranger in the human field,

The embodied Guest within made no response.

“The embodied Guest within”, the Supreme embodied in Her who is too great for this “human
field” that is “A mighty stranger”, makes no responses to the various excitations now taking
place. This is again a Vedic Concept flowing through Savitri. The Supreme is residing within us
like Guest in a house. In Shri Mad Bhagavad Gita also such a Truth is flowing. The following
verses prove it.

EmÉSìèrxOûÉlÉÑqÉçÇiÉÉcÉ pÉiÉÉï pÉÉã£üÉ qÉWãûµÉUÈ |

mÉUqÉÉiqÉãÌiÉcÉÉmrÉÑ£üÉã SãWãûÎxqÉlÉç mÉÑÂwÉÈ mÉUÈ ||

Upadrustaanymantaacha Bharta Bhokta Maheshwaraha |

ParamaatmetiChaapyukto Dehesmin Purushah Paraha ||

The One who Supervises, Permits, Does, Experences, The One who is Supreme, is seated in
this body.

We are not conscious about this. But Savitri is conscious about this profound reality. That is
why She does not take part in the small happiness being rejoiced by the other tribes.

This is why Savitri stand inline with the Vedas and Sri Mad Bhagavad Gita in today’s
philosophical world. It is not like just another poem which intends to give you some aesthetic
pleasure which is again temporary. Savitri gives us what we need for our Sadhana. That is why
reading Savitri itself is a Sadhana.
The call that wakes the leap of human mind,
Its chequered eager motion of pursuit,
Its fluttering-hued illusion of desire,
Visited her heart like a sweet alien note.

Our human mind is such that it “leaps” towards every attraction, which is like a “call” for it, as
if a wild animal leaps on the prey. Every attraction evokes a response in our mind, which makes
us to pursue such a call eagerly, however “chequered” or checkmated or challenged we may be.
Because our mind is driven by the “desire” which creates a colorful “illusion”. But Savitri is not
like us. The beauty of Nature in the apparent mode which is a call for us, or the brilliant
Summoner’s chant or any attractions that influences us can not have any effect on Savitri. But
still they visit “her heart like a sweet alien note”.

Time’s message of brief light was not for her.

Here “Time’s message of brief light” means our common day which lasts from Sunrise to
Sunset, which is our day is bound to Time. But for Savitri who is a native of Eternity, her Day is
also Eternal. Days and Nights are for us, not for Her. She belongs to such a place where there is
no night!

In her there was the anguish of the gods

Imprisoned in our transient human mould,
The deathless conquered by the death of things.

Savitri is a descendent from the Supreme, His Divine Grace who is “Imprisoned in our transient
human mould”. She is the “deathless”, the Immortal “conquered by the death of things”.
Therefore, “In her there was the anguish of the gods”. Aguish means agony, a deeper pain. This
may seem a contradictory statement. When we adore The Mother as “Aananadamayee”, then
how to digest that she is an agony of some sort? This is needs a bit explanation. Everyone has
three types of natures as Satwa Guna, Rajo Guna, and Tamo Guna. First one, the Satwa Guna
means the one which is profoundly Divine. Rajo Guna is related to Authoritative nature, or
Ruling Nature. Tamo Guna is Nescience and completely opposite to Satwa Guna. Among these
Satwa Guna is the noblest one, undoubtedly. Now, we humans have a proper mixture of all these
three Gunas, according to our deeds, Sanskaars etc. The Asuras have completely Tamo Guna.
The Gods have complete Satwa Guna. So when a godhead takes a birth in our material world, he
wears a physical envelope, which is made up of all the three Gunas. So they feel uncomfortable
in fact very painful to be in such a physical envelope. But they sustain such agony for the Divine
Task they are here to complete. The Mother is a step ahead! Not only she sustained such an
agony, she took all the pains and deceases of many devotees and sustained them, to relieve her
children from all such troubles which become hurdles in their Sadhana. Like this Sri Aurobindo
explains such subtle and yet sublime facts so easily.

Further Sri Aurobindo continues to adore the Divine Mother:

A vaster Nature's joy had once been hers,

We have seen the vast nature of Goddess Usha portrayed by Sri Aurobindo so far. Such a vast
nature was once the Savitri’s, because She is none other, the Divine Mother herself. Savitri has
the same Glory, Power and Delight as of Goddess Usha, when She manifested on this earth.
But long could keep not its gold heavenly hue
Or stand upon this brittle earthly base.

But, Her full Glory, Power, Delight, Joy, and Felicities which possessed a “gold heavenly hue”
She could not keep for long or they could not remain in Her human body which is made up of
“brittle” earthly elements, because Her Glory, Power, Delight, and Joy are so Great that this
human body can not sustain them for long after Her manifestation.

A narrow movement on Time's deep abysm,

Life's fragile littleness denied the power,
The proud and conscious wideness and the bliss
She had brought with her into the human form,
The calm delight that weds one soul to all,
The key to the flaming doors of ecstasy.

This is again a long but very wonderful adoration of the Divine Mother and simultaneously the
picturization of imperfectness of Nature to accept Her full Divinity. Savitri had brought with a
Great Power, an Impervious and Wide Consciousness, Elated Bliss, and above all a “calm
delight” which unifies one soul with the other. When we all adore The Mother, Her Grace flows
on all of us like a flood, which induces a “calm delight” in all of us. In such a state every one
liberates himself from all the bindings like caste, religion, race etc. Also here calm delight has lot
of significance. It is not a pleasure, induced by some excitations by our senses. It is an implied
Delight with the Divine Being. But Life on this earth is bound to time- “A narrow moment on
Time’s deep abysm” – and therefore its “fragile littleness” denied all the Divine Natures Savitri
had brought with her.

Earth's grain that needs the sap of pleasure and tears

Rejected the undying rapture's boon:

Here “grain” refers to reality on the earth, which needs the “sap”, the essence of “pleasure and
tears”. The reality on the earth is the duality of pleasure (not delight or happiness) and tears.
This is the reality of our world. Earth or Nature with such a reality “Rejected the undying
raptures boon:” which Savitri had offered.

However, in turn:

Offered to the daughter of infinity

Her passion-flower of love and doom she gave.

Savitri is a descendent from the Supreme; hence She is adored as “daughter of infinity”. Earth
rejects the boon of undying rapture offered by Savitri, and in return it gave Her its “passion
flower” of “love” which is always accompanied by “doom” - An unpleasant or disastrous
destiny. This is again a snap of duality of our material world. The love on earth always has
thorns around it. Also it is not assured that if you express your love and affection, your
counterpart will reciprocate it. But Divine’s Love, which is His Grace, there is always an
assurance that we will get His or The Mother’s Love in response to our prayers, dedication and
devotion. And The Mother’s Love is a protection for Her children. It becomes a shield for us to
protect us from all sort of troubles and evil powers. Some one has said Love is the strongest
weapon and strongest defense. Love in its purest state is Divine’s Grace. Therefore once again
let us conclude that we all should aspire for The Mother’s Love and Grace.