Earth, Love and Doom
Mythico-Symbolic Dimensions of Sri Aurobindo’s Savitri
— Nanda Kishore Mishra
Pages: 235 Dimensions (in cms): 14x22 ISBN: 978-81-7273-383-4 | Hard Cover | |
| Publisher: Authors Press Group, New Delhi | ||
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About Earth, Love and Doom
This scholarly study begins with an overview of Sri Aurobindo's life and his philosophic and spiritual thought. The next chapter discusses Sri Aurobindo's poetics, in which vision is the characteristic power of a poet. Subsequent chapters deal with symbolism in his poetry, a comparative study of myth and symbol in world literature and in the context of Savitri, Aswapati's spiritual odyssey of the soul, and a look at the major symbols of fire, the sun, the dawn, light, and night in Savitri, with reference to the Vedas and Upanishads. The final chapters study symbolism in Savitri and the Divine Comedy, and the use of myth as an instrument of higher knowledge and vision in modern literature.
REVIEW
Earth, Love and Doom has many ingredients of a good book. It includes useful and interesting material on the use of symbolism in poetry, on many of the primary and minor symbols used in Savitri, and on comparisons with other symbolic poems. If it had gone through a good editor, it could have been edifying. Unfortunately, it is plagued by errors, poor writing, and typos. There is a lack of attention to detail together with a deficiency in clear expression that is disappointing and sometimes exasperating. For most of the book there is not much insight or originality, rather it seems more an academic elaboration of relevant and sometimes not so relevant issues pertaining to the use of symbolism in Savitri, but the last chapter does introduce some new insights and fresh thought on the poem.
The book begins with a biographical sketch of Sri Aurobindo. After a somewhat circling chronology of major events in Sri Aurobindo's life, it attempts to outline the Integral Yoga. While this part of the chapter bears on the subject matter of Savitri, it is not a very clear exposition of this complex subject. It makes some of the main points, but lacks subtlety and depth of understanding.
The second chapter discusses Sri Aurobindo's poetics, emphasizing overhead aesthesis, that is, poetic inspiration from the higher spiritual consciousness. Again, it hits the main points well enough, but lacks precision in setting the context and explaining various details. In some cases, there are gross errors, though it is not clear whether this is due to lack of understanding or faulty expression, because often erroneous statements are later contradicted by appropriate ones.
Chapter Three discusses the use of symbolism in literature in general, and in Sri Aurobindo's poetry in particular. After describing various senses of the term, the author develops an interesting interpretation of symbolism: "the study of the correspondence between the natural orders as a whole to the supernatural order." He then introduces some important symbols in various poems of Sri Aurobindo as well as in those of other poets. These symbols also find expression in Savitri, but their use in Savitri is not elaborated at this point.
The fourth chapter discusses myth and legendary tales from psychological and literary standpoints, and then proceeds to a summary of the tale of Savitri. In between these two parts, the author seems to fall into a quicksand as he frames Savitri as "a mythicised romance with symbolic overtones." He seems to place the poem into a genre to which it is ill-fitted and overemphasizes its romantic character while not appreciating the spiritual and cosmic dimensions it expresses and symbolizes. But, fortunately, these superficial interpretations are later contradicted by more apposite statements that situate the poem appropriately. The summary of the tale in the second part is passable, but is attended by various dubious interpretations and comments.
Chapter Five attempts to summarize Aswapati's yoga and his discovery of the secret knowledge in Book I of the poem, as well as his travels through the inner and higher planes of consciousness in Book II. This is not an easy task, but the author is helped by liberally using quotes from the text, as well as quotes from other commentators. This compact prose summarization of important phrases and lines is attended by some commentary which helps to put it into perspective.
Chapter Six is called "Major Symbols" and Chapter Seven "Other Symbols." Here one expects to delve into the symbolism of Savitri, but there is nothing much new or deep here. In the former chapter, the author discusses the symbols of the sun, dawn, light, and night, from the viewpoints of the Vedas and other spiritual traditions, and then in Savitri, by pointing out various instances of their use and interpreting their meanings. Chapter Seven considers symbols such as python coils, "the red Wolf", the sphinx, and luminous herds of cows, sometimes briefly giving the meaning without further exploration. Overall, the study of these symbols is relatively superficial and repeats what others have already written.
The last two chapters contain some interesting and original thought. Chapter Eight compares the use of symbols in Savitri and Dante's Divine Comedy. Here the author fleshes out the significances of a few important symbols, most notably the symbol of light, in the two poems, with the aid of other scholars that he quotes. The final chapter, "Myth: A Creative Instrument of Knowledge and Vision," is by far the best in the book. It employs original thought and reflection on the world situation, literature, and the work of Savitri. It begins with a perceptive and rather dark view of the present world, and then discusses how several prominent twentieth-century writers have employed myth as a way to find meaning in it and a transformational path out of it. Here the author discusses works by T. S. Eliot, W. B. Yeats, Ezra Pound, and W. H. Auden before turning to various works of Sri Aurobindo. Among the latter, he discusses many of Sri Aurobindo's plays as well as two poems written in quantitative hexameters, the incomplete epic Ilion and the long poem Ahana. Finally, in the last six pages, he turns once again to Savitri, and pens a perceptive commentary on the poem.
Larry works at the Sri Aurobindo Centre for Advanced Research in Pondicherry facilitating online courses on Sri Aurobindo's teachings, and also edits and writes for publications related to the work of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother.
June 2014
The book begins with a biographical sketch of Sri Aurobindo. After a somewhat circling chronology of major events in Sri Aurobindo's life, it attempts to outline the Integral Yoga. While this part of the chapter bears on the subject matter of Savitri, it is not a very clear exposition of this complex subject. It makes some of the main points, but lacks subtlety and depth of understanding.
The second chapter discusses Sri Aurobindo's poetics, emphasizing overhead aesthesis, that is, poetic inspiration from the higher spiritual consciousness. Again, it hits the main points well enough, but lacks precision in setting the context and explaining various details. In some cases, there are gross errors, though it is not clear whether this is due to lack of understanding or faulty expression, because often erroneous statements are later contradicted by appropriate ones.
Chapter Three discusses the use of symbolism in literature in general, and in Sri Aurobindo's poetry in particular. After describing various senses of the term, the author develops an interesting interpretation of symbolism: "the study of the correspondence between the natural orders as a whole to the supernatural order." He then introduces some important symbols in various poems of Sri Aurobindo as well as in those of other poets. These symbols also find expression in Savitri, but their use in Savitri is not elaborated at this point.
The fourth chapter discusses myth and legendary tales from psychological and literary standpoints, and then proceeds to a summary of the tale of Savitri. In between these two parts, the author seems to fall into a quicksand as he frames Savitri as "a mythicised romance with symbolic overtones." He seems to place the poem into a genre to which it is ill-fitted and overemphasizes its romantic character while not appreciating the spiritual and cosmic dimensions it expresses and symbolizes. But, fortunately, these superficial interpretations are later contradicted by more apposite statements that situate the poem appropriately. The summary of the tale in the second part is passable, but is attended by various dubious interpretations and comments.
Chapter Five attempts to summarize Aswapati's yoga and his discovery of the secret knowledge in Book I of the poem, as well as his travels through the inner and higher planes of consciousness in Book II. This is not an easy task, but the author is helped by liberally using quotes from the text, as well as quotes from other commentators. This compact prose summarization of important phrases and lines is attended by some commentary which helps to put it into perspective.
Chapter Six is called "Major Symbols" and Chapter Seven "Other Symbols." Here one expects to delve into the symbolism of Savitri, but there is nothing much new or deep here. In the former chapter, the author discusses the symbols of the sun, dawn, light, and night, from the viewpoints of the Vedas and other spiritual traditions, and then in Savitri, by pointing out various instances of their use and interpreting their meanings. Chapter Seven considers symbols such as python coils, "the red Wolf", the sphinx, and luminous herds of cows, sometimes briefly giving the meaning without further exploration. Overall, the study of these symbols is relatively superficial and repeats what others have already written.
The last two chapters contain some interesting and original thought. Chapter Eight compares the use of symbols in Savitri and Dante's Divine Comedy. Here the author fleshes out the significances of a few important symbols, most notably the symbol of light, in the two poems, with the aid of other scholars that he quotes. The final chapter, "Myth: A Creative Instrument of Knowledge and Vision," is by far the best in the book. It employs original thought and reflection on the world situation, literature, and the work of Savitri. It begins with a perceptive and rather dark view of the present world, and then discusses how several prominent twentieth-century writers have employed myth as a way to find meaning in it and a transformational path out of it. Here the author discusses works by T. S. Eliot, W. B. Yeats, Ezra Pound, and W. H. Auden before turning to various works of Sri Aurobindo. Among the latter, he discusses many of Sri Aurobindo's plays as well as two poems written in quantitative hexameters, the incomplete epic Ilion and the long poem Ahana. Finally, in the last six pages, he turns once again to Savitri, and pens a perceptive commentary on the poem.
— Larry Seidlitz
Larry works at the Sri Aurobindo Centre for Advanced Research in Pondicherry facilitating online courses on Sri Aurobindo's teachings, and also edits and writes for publications related to the work of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother.
June 2014
