Book Two: The Book of the Traveller of the Worlds

Aswapati now moves from dusk towards the Night. His face is turned away from all that is human and living and joyous and beautiful. His steps take him towards the grim solitude of the Night.

All that is found in the higher states is recreated here as its dark imitation, thereby trapping the fallen beings in a web of lies and propaganda, mixed with terror and fear and the perverted joy of a fallen state.

Aswapati now reveals to us how Darkness and Hell have a hold on the human consciousness and influence our lives, creating here too a reign of Hell. Sri Aurobindo reveals to us what really is Evil and how it operates under the garb of organized religions and creeds.

Evil is not just a state or a domain, it is an institution in its own right. There are beings that live and thrive by evil, they are described as Rakshasa and Asura in Indian mythology and with similar terms in other mystic lores. Aswapati goes down into the pit where they live and draw their power from.

Hell has its own atmosphere, its own way of life and of being which is very different from higher states. We are shown step by step how to identify all that is inspired and moved by darkness and evil.

Evil twists the truth. It uses its body, drives away the original spirit and then twists it beyond recognition. Such is its action upon nature and man.

It is the dark side of Prakriti, and accordingly Aswapati encounters in this realm the dark feminine energies. These forces of darkness are rampant in the world of glamour and are often used by the Asuras to destroy humanity and lead it towards death and sin.

The journey towards the heart of darkness seems endless. It moves from grey to dark and further towards the dark extreme of creation.

Here Sri Aurobindo is cautioning us of what the aspirant may encounter on the Eternal’s Road. At the same time he reminds us of the ever-present Help and the Grace that we must always summon and pray for.