Canto IV: The Secret Knowledge

Having revealed to us the essential Unity of creation because of the One Divine Presence within it, Sri Aurobindo now reveals to us also the fundamental unity between the static and dynamic aspects of Creation, that is to say, between the Divine Reality behind it and the Divine Force that has gone into it.

Though creation appears to our senses as a number of separate objects hung in Space and connected through the play of Time, behind all its variations and multiplicity, there is the One. It is the One Reality that has become the Many. This is the great secret we are here to discover.

The Divine Shakti concealed in all things is the Source of all hope. However much our present ignorant nature may fumble and falter, She will lead creation eventually to its inevitable Divine Goal.

The Divine Grace is always with us through all the difficulties, struggle and pain that we encounter in our long evolutionary journey. It is there even when appearances and dark and we do not see it. This is the truth we must always hold within through all the long and difficult journey and the dark passages of life.

In the passage that follows we have a description of the upper pole of the ladder, the stair where the great Gods reside, the Overmind world that borders on the Supermind. Sri Aurobindo describes the relation these great and luminous beings have with our world, the mysterious and ill-understood way of their working, their effect and influence upon our humanity.

Essentially the Mind is a dividing consciousness that by its very nature cannot arrive at an Integral Truth. It is only by removing the dense veil of Ignorance and discovering the Divine Truth hidden in our hearts that we can rediscover the lost Unity.

The lines that follow give man supreme hope that whatever the appearances, the transformation is going to be. It is being prepared behind the veil and often the darkest hours are the one’s followed by the New Dawn that is bound to arrive.

Instead of being bewildered by passing appearances that easily deceive we should rather tune ourselves to the inner Truth that is trying to manifest. Then we too shall share the wisdom of the gods and our actions leave a trail of light towards the future.

Sri Aurobindo bids us to rise from our present state of Ignorance into the Light and Truth of an illimitable vast Consciousness. Until we do that we shall never really fathom the true cause and the inner reason that moves our destiny. And yet there is hope, and the passage closes with a glance into the Future that is bound to be splendid and meaningful.