The English of Savitri Volume 7

Six years ago, in 2015, Auroville Today reported on the publication of the first volume of The English of_ Savitri, containing the explanations of Shraddhavan on The Book of Beginnings, Book One of Sri Aurobindo’s monumental epic, Savitri. While recommending the book, we expressed the hope that Savitri Bhavan would publish the transcripts of all the classes that the author, Shraddhavan, had been giving over the years on the entire epic. At the time, admits Shraddhavan, she had little inclination to do so, and in particular not to continue Book One with Book Two, The Book of the Traveller of the Worlds,_ which, with over 7,000 lines in fifteen cantos, is the longest book in the epic, because it was considered by her as “far too difficult”. Instead, over the years Savitri Bhavan published Shraddhavan’s explanations of five other Books, and her commentaries on the first four cantos of Book Two, in a no particular order.

Savitri Bhavan has now decided to publish all of Shraddhavan’s explanations, starting with Volume VII, which contains the explanations of cantos Five and Six of Book Two. The publication of the remaining nine cantos of Book II is planned to take place in three additional volumes in the next years and will be followed by Shraddhavan’s commentaries on Books 4, 5, 6 and 8. After which, she says, the series may, perhaps, one day be republished in the sequence as given by Sri Aurobindo himself.

The aim of Shraddhavan’s explorations into Savitri – to give a better and deeper understanding of the poem by providing explanations about vocabulary, sentence structure and imagery – is again well-served in the present volume. But the explanations are far from dry and, incidentally, are mixed with a touch of irony, such as when Shraddhavan explains how something creative can come out of chaos. “In our world everything is seeking for order even though it ‘is Driven by Chance’, as Sri Aurobindo writes. Powers that come into our world, e.g. life and mind forces that originate in other planes and are ‘Strangers to earth nature’, have to ‘learn earth ways’ and have to submit to the earth’s law of oneness and harmony. This happens through clash and conflict. So they work and battle and sometimes they come together in alliances. They agree with difficulty and struggle.” And she adds, “This sounds like Auroville, doesn’t it? Creative chaos.” 

For all those who wish for a better understanding of Savitri, this volume is highly recommended reading.

The English of Savitri Volume 7

Book Two, The Book of the Traveller of the Worlds, Cantos Five and Six

Published by Savitri Bhavan

Price in India Rs 650.