Aswapati's Yoga starts by the
release of his soul from the bondage and limitations of the body, life and
mind, the apparent being of man. He feels within him a spiritual being, and
also experiences new faculties and states of consciousness beyond mind as a
result of his upward effort. He ascends from his mere human status, expands out
of his ego-personality, grows wider and awakens in him the working of new
powers of nature. He leaves not only the ego-limit but the earth consciousness
and journeys to other planes, below and above, sees them and their working and
their effect on the earth consciousness. All along he remains the witness—the
detached observer. He acquires the knowledge of the constitution of man and
that of the universe.
Maintaining throughout his status
of the witness and therefore of a wide impersonality, Aswapati sees the Vision
of the Truth in which "Existence is a divine experiment" and
"cosmos is soul's opportunity". He saw in the Vision that only by
bringing down a higher Power than the Mind can man realise his divine destiny.
He sees the dual aspect of Purusha
and Prakriti—Self and Nature—working throughout the universe and he found that
behind the duality, which to the outer view, wears the aspect of an opposition
and even conflict, a purpose, is working out. He comes to know the cosmos as
the result of the working of the Absolute, the Perfect and the Alone,—the three
fundamental aspects of the Supreme. In the actual dynamis it is the working out
of the Absolute, the Perfect, and the Immune,—the Immune being the Divine
immanent in each being and object untouched by the imperfections of nature. He
saw that it is the Divine that has assumed human nature and the purpose of
man's life is to put on the Divine Nature.
This work cannot be done by man
alone; a higher Power must come, or must be brought down. The effort to bring
down such a Power can only be done by "an inward turn" in man. No
external method could succeed, He also saw that the solution of man's problem
does not lie either in an escape from life and nature into the Spirit, or in
his merging in the Infinite. The solution lies in a new creation on earth based
on the Reality, not on the mind or on any other power. Aswapati gathered hope and
aspiration in his heart for this great work.
He experienced the ascent of his
own being to spiritual heights beyond Mind and also the descent of the higher
Power into himself. He remained a witness maintaining complete silence. He saw
the resistance of the inconscient Nature and the alternate movement of ascent
and descent. The resistance was due to Nature not being ready for a radical
change.
He knew by an inner experience that
the Self is something greater than the instruments of nature—mind, life and
body, that the Self is Eternal and Infinite. Even Nature has many powers hidden
behind her outer appearance which can be brought to the surface and developed.
In his voyage over the cosmic planes he at last came to the Cosmic Being and
from there saw the possibility of transcending the Cosmos.
He realised his oneness with the
Transcendent Divine. Then he looked down on the depth of his own being and saw
the need and the possibility of a new creation on earth in which "each
lived for God in him and God in all". He saw that it was possible to
reconcile thought and will, time and Eternity. He felt that the Supreme is not
merely a status but a transcendent Person, a Mother-Might, a Heart that
attracted all. He tore desire from its bleeding roots and when he was free then
instruments of his nature began to acquire cosmic range, his nature tended to
become universal. A powerful aspiration rose in his heart to unite with the
Supreme. He got the vision of the divine Mother and he pleaded before her for
humanity. He prayed for a boon of divine Grace to help humanity to overcome
Ignorance and Death. The divine Mother gave him the assurance that a Divine
being, her own emanation, would be born on earth. Savitri was that incarnation
of the divine Grace.
The yoga of Aswapati and that of
Savitri need not be thought of in contrast to each other, though doubtless a
difference in the stress of the yogic movement is seen in both. In fact, the
two together can be seen as one integral movement. It can be said, for instance,
that the yoga of Savitri is the yoga of Transformation. But Aswapati also
attains a kind—degree—of transformation which Sri Aurobindo calls psycho-spiritual.
The Transformation, in case of Savitri, is triple: The Psychic, the Spiritual,
the Supramental. Aswapati’s yoga may be called the yoga of Ascent mainly, and
that of the Vision of Reality in its triple States: the Individual, the
Universal, the Transcendent. He ascends from the mind to planes above and
reaches the Transcendent; whereas Savitri awakens the Soul in her and brings
down the infinite power of the Divine Consciousness in herself and in her
nature. Savitri brings about the change in Nature which is necessary to secure
Victory over Death. Aswapati maintains throughout the position of the witness,
Savitri carries out the Divine dynamis. Aswapati sees the Vision of the
Supreme, Savitri brings down the Fire. Both pursue the yoga not for an
individual but for a universal fulfilment. Both of them strive to change what
seems to be the established law of the cosmos by bringing down a Higher Power
than mind into the earth consciousness and earth nature.
Savitri's yoga and her life mission
become one when she descends into the abyss of Darkness, and Death. Thereafter
her work—a very difficult one—consists in rejecting the negations of the
Inconscient and in affirming her soul's resolve. It is well known to yogis that
very often the yoga is not so much endangered by frontal attacks of the powers
of Darkness as by their subterranean undermining influence, false or half true
logic, deceiving music or apparent solicitude for the so-called Truth. It is
remarkable that the negations of Death take two contrary forms—negation of any
true ideal, as all is inert Inconscient or its result and denial of any
achievement on earth—on the ground of impermanence of everything earthly. Death
seems to leave the human soul in a cruel dilemma. Equally remarkable appears
Savitri's choice after attaining the Everlasting Day—the region of Light and
Truth. She could have chosen what Sri Aurobindo calls "negative
Eternity", or the Non-being aspect of the Reality—whether as Inactive
Infinite or Silent Being, or indifferent God or One without a second. It is
here that most of the aspirants lose grip of their seeking. They get enamoured
of the partial Light, or, baffled by the vastness of the universal problem,
fall into the choice of an individual attainment, leaving the human problem
unsolved. True solution, if any, must be here on earth and for all men. In maintaining
the sincerity of her pursuit, the largeness of her aim, constancy of the will,
indomitable faith and unfailing energy Savitri is unique. We find at the end
that her choice turns out to be the choice of the Supreme in her. Aswapati creates
the possibility for the descent of the higher Power, Savitri incarnates the
power and effectuates the transformation.
Sri Aurobindo's Savitri: an Approach and a Study by AB Purani