Opening Remarks
Aswapati enters a domain of anarchy. There is no order, no rule, no harmony and each lives only for himself.
The scene changed
Then the scene changed, but kept its dreadful core:
Altering its form the life remained the same.
There are many layers and levels in which Evil hides itself. The descent into the darkness is through several degrees.
A Capital without a state
A capital was there without a State:
It had no ruler, only groups that strove.
Now Aswapati finds himself in a realm where there is no ruler. Each group strove for its own selfish gains.
City of ancient Ignorance
He saw a city of ancient Ignorance
Founded upon a soil that knew not Light.
It was a dark and obscure space whose beings preferred darkness over Light.
Throne of Ego and Falsehood
There each in his own darkness walked alone:
Only they agreed to differ in Evil’s paths,
To live in their own way for their own selves
Or to enforce a common lie and wrong;
There Ego was lord upon his peacock seat
And Falsehood sat by him, his mate and queen:
The world turned to them as Heaven to Truth and God.
In this realm governed by ignorance, selfishness and evil was the way of life. This layer of humanity worships the Ego and courts Falsehood. It enforces evil and lie upon all who come under its influence. The world under its influence worshipped ego and falsehood as the highest qualities and turned with worshipping hands towards those embodying these evil propensities as if they were truth and god.
Sanctified misrule
Injustice justified by firm decrees
The sovereign weights of Error’s legalised trade,
But all the weights were false and none the same;
Ever she watched with her balance and a sword,
Lest any sacrilegious word expose
The sanctified formulas of her old misrule.
It was a world where injustice was dispensed as justice by bending the rules. Wrong and evil were turned into law that all must follow. The reign of evil was maintained by terror and instilling fear in those who lived under its influence.
Dire and naked Law
In high professions wrapped self-will walked wide
And licence stalked prating of order and right:
There was no altar raised to Liberty;
True freedom was abhorred and hunted down:
Harmony and tolerance nowhere could be seen;
Each group proclaimed its dire and naked Law.
The ways of evil had gripped everyone there. None was exempt and even high and noble professions were infected by wrong-doings and selfishness. It was a world where freedom, harmony and tolerance could not be seen anywhere. Each faction and group in this realm imposed its dire, terrible law proclaiming it as the only truth and right.
Closing Remarks
Sri Aurobindo reveals to us in details what the world has become and can become under the influence of this darkness. How every sphere of life can be corrupted and turn into a means of perpetuating the reign of Evil.
