Opening remarks
Savitri turns inwards to see how thoughts originate within us.
Factory of thought-sounds
Affranchised from the look of surface mind
She paused not to survey the official case,
The issue of forms from the office of the brain,
Its factory of thought-sounds and soundless words
And voices stored within unheard by men,
Its mint and treasury of shining coin.
Savitri observed how the brain merely gives form, a dress and costume of sounds and words drawing from its old treasury and mint which we call as thought and speech. But the brain is merely a factory, not the origin of thought. To know the origin Savitri goes within leaving the surface mind where we only see the end product.
A gramophone disc
These were but counters in mind’s symbol game,
A gramophone’s discs, a reproduction’s film,
A list of signs, a cipher and a code.
The surface thoughts were simply counters to dish out symbols just as a gramophone disc or a film plays out a list in a sign language where things are coded and stored.
Thought is born
In our unseen subtle body thought is born
Or there it enters from the cosmic field.
Thought enters the subtle sheath from the vast cosmic field.
Stepped out a naked thought
Oft from her soul stepped out a naked thought
Luminous with mysteried lips and wonderful eyes;
Or from her heart emerged some burning face
And looked for life and love and passionate truth,
Aspired to heaven or embraced the world
Or led the fancy like a fleeting moon
Across the dull sky of man’s common days,
Amidst the doubtful certitudes of earth’s lore,
To the celestial beauty of faith gave form,
As if at flower-prints in a dingy room
Laughed in a golden vase one living rose.
She saw how thought leaped out from her soul, yet not invested with a dress. It was luminous and full of wonder and mystery held in its vision and lips. Or it emerged from her heart with a face of flame seeking for life and love and some passionate truth. It aspired for heavenly heights and truths sublime or it embraced the world. Or it drifted like fancy as the fleeting moon amidst the dull drab life of man. It gave a form to faith amidst the doubtful certitudes of earth as if flower prints laughed in a dingy room with one rose in a golden vase.
Thaumaturgist
A thaumaturgist sat in her heart’s deep,
Compelled the forward stride, the upward look,
Till wonder leaped into the illumined breast
And life grew marvellous with transfiguring hope.
It seemed as if a magician sat in the depths of her heart compelling the forward and upward motion of thought till the illumined breast leaped in wonder and life grew marvellous with transfiguring hope.
Seeing will
A seeing will pondered between the brows;
Thoughts, glistening Angels, stood behind the brain
In flashing armour, folding hands of prayer,
And poured heaven’s rays into the earthly form.
She saw the seat of a seeing will operate in the centre between the brows. Thoughts stood behind the brain it as glistening angels in flashing armours and folded hands of prayer. They poured heaven’s light into earthly forms.
Imaginations
Imaginations flamed up from her breast,
Unearthly beauty, touches of surpassing joy
And plans of miracle, dreams of delight:
Around her navel lotus clustering close
Her large sensations of the teeming worlds
Streamed their dumb movements of the unformed Idea;
Invading the small sensitive flower of the throat
They brought their mute unuttered resonances
To kindle the figures of a heavenly speech.
She saw how imaginations soared from her breast carrying touches of great joy and images of unearthly beauty and dreams of delight and plans of miracles. Around the navel lotus she felt the large sensations of the worlds streaming their dumb movements of the unformed idea. They climbed from here and invaded the sensitive throat centre bringing unuttered resonances to kindle figures of a heavenly speech.
Wordless wish
Below, desires formed their wordless wish,
And longings of physical sweetness and ecstasy
Translated into the accents of a cry
Their grasp on objects and their clasp on souls.
She felt the play of desires and wishes below and longings for physical sweetness and joy translated into accents of a cry that grasped objects and tried to clasp the soul for fulfilling their demand.
Body’s thoughts
Her body’s thoughts climbed from her conscious limbs
And carried their yearnings to its mystic crown
Where Nature’s murmurs meet the Ineffable.
Physical and bodily sensations climbed from her conscious limbs and carried their yearning to the crown of the head where the murmurs and movements of Nature meet the Ineffable beyond expression.
Closing Remarks
Savitri scans how vibrations and energies and movements of nature arising from different parts and planes of consciousness seek to find expression through word and speech.
