Every bit of hers meets its opposite with a much stronger hostility and antagonism

Re: 08: A Shrine for the God of Love

RY Deshpande Sat 07 Apr 2007 07:28 AM PDT

A magic leverage The book Savitri is writing is the saga of Consciousness-Force working in this material creation, the divine saga of manifestation, the drama of despair and delight. Its blueprint is in the Transcendent, its action is on the cosmic stage, its dénouement in the Shadow hidden behind the God of Love, its resolution is with the sword of victory. The difficulties are there, enormous difficulties born from the Creator himself in his contrary greatness. Every bit of hers meets its opposite with a much stronger hostility and antagonism, with fallacy, betrayal, violence. But (Savitri, pp. 19-22)
To stay the wheels of Doom this greatness rose…She must face the engines of the precarious and dangerous universe; she must hold the wheel in her firm hand and drive the car of success; she must operate the leverage that gives the desired direction to the course of events. The flame of her soul and not the troubled throb of the locomotive should lead the course of action. What is that sudden leverage Savitri has to operate?

A prayer, a master act, a king idea

Can link man's strength to a transcendent Force.

Is it that? When that comes into operation, then miracle is made the common rule, and a mighty deed changes the course of events and things; “A prayer, a master act, a king idea”—is this sufficient to win victory over the tallest of the antagonist powers? Are these three independent alternatives or possibilities that can link man’s strength to a transcendent Force? Or, is the prayer a master-act and a king-idea doing whatever is to be done? Or, is the master-act, a king-idea and a prayer? Or, is the king-idea a master-act and a prayer? For a bhakta the first will take care of the other two; similarly, for the man of action, his action is at once prayer and knowledge, as much as for jnani his knowledge becomes complete with bhakti and karma coming to it. Any one of these can put the aspirant soul in contact with the divine Force who will do for him whatever is to be done for him. This is the Vedantic sadhana bringing the high fruits of spiritual attainments, the great siddhis, for which all labour is undertaken, all effort made. This is the method given to the warrior-soul on the battlefield of life. But can that battle give victory over death? Will it?

In these two pentametric lines Sri Aurobindo has practically written the whole of his Synthesis of Yoga. But is this yoga for Savitri good enough to conquer Death? It is not. In it there is not sufficient security for the God of Love to dwell in her; the hunted bird does not get adequate repose and safety in it. Along with the Vedantic sadhana Savitri, to win mastery over the forces of Nature, must also do the Tantric sadhana, to deal with Nature who has her roots in the Inconscient working. Savitri has to write her Book of Yoga differently, in another script, with another font and format, in another style. Jnana-Bhakti-Karma can link us to the transcendent Force, but the imperative is, the transcendent Force must work in us and take possession of us in every respect. Savitri must harbour it in her soul.

Another Mantra has to be discovered for that. When the Mother was practising occultism in Algeria under Théon, she had discovered the Mantra of Life. Théon wanted it to be given to him but the Mother refused to do so. He became violent and maliciously cut off her life-cord; but she managed to come back. She was not even thirty at that time. Later, in Pondicherry, she gave it to Sri Aurobindo. But her supreme discovery to make the God of Love live in her was another Mantra, the Mantra of Surrender to the supreme Lord. “What Thou Willest, What Thou Willest” became the king-idea and the prayer and master-act for her. What is it that one cannot achieve with it, with “What Thou Willest, What Thou Willest”? Isn’t it that which made the God of Love happy in her? Of course, of course.

But perhaps there is something more to it than just that. The Mother’s Mantra “What Thou Willest, What Thou Willest” has something absolutely remarkable. It is not “What Thou Willest, What Thou Willest” just in her mind, or in her heart, soul, spirit; it is in the very physical itself that it got established. The body’s cells opened to it and started constantly chanting “What Thou Willest, What Thou Willest”. That is the magic leverage she got hold of, the golden rod waving which she achieved all that was to be achieved in the sanction of the Supreme.