Earth-nature fears the assault of ether and of fire; it trembles at the naked power of Truth; it cannot bear the might and sweetness of the absolute Voice. When the Divine Mother stood in front of Aswapati, to give him a boon, she spoke in a voice “absolute and wise”, addressing him as “the Son of Strength”. Aswapati’s was no longer the frail earth-nature to break under the weight of her Presence; he could stand there firmly and resolutely, even insisting on what he wanted from her. But for us, for wee-bits, it will be an assault of fire and of ether; under it we will easily crumble or get crushed. Too great her presence for mortality to bear,—“too immense my danger and my joy,” as she tells Aswapati. Man is too weak to bear the Infinite’s weight and truth born too soon might break the imperfect earth. Such is the danger she herself indicates. If such is the answer Aswapati get, then it will be perhaps safer for the petty humanity to remain what it is. It will be only through the long centuries of preparation that there might be a chance of our standing the onslaught of the divine influx, the rush of the ether and the impetuous all-burning all-consuming fire.

For the aspirant soul there are powers of light and truth, the guardians to protect it from the evil and the hostile. There are the four great luminous kings, Varuna, Mitra, Bhaga, Aryaman, to take it safely on the heavenward route. The beauty is “they had read the riddle of death and found the secret of immortality.” They can protect us against the assault of the ether and the fire themselves.

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