Opening Remarks
The meeting of Savitri and Satyavan is fated. And yet the circumstances have to be finely tuned. One turn and things may have taken another direction.
Ill-poised fate
A look, a turn decides our ill-poised fate.
The balance of fate often hangs on a thin thread of circumstances woven out of the loom of life.
The hour that most concerned
Thus in the hour that most concerned her all,
Wandering unwarned by the slow surface mind,
The heedless scout beneath her tenting lids
Admired indifferent beauty and cared not
To wake her body’s spirit to its king.
The hour that most concerned r had arrived. She had strayed here unwarned by her surface mind. Her eyes were admiring the beauty around and cared not yet to cast a glance on her king Satyavan whom fate had brought here.
Chance ignorant roads
So might she have passed by on chance ignorant roads
Missing the call of Heaven, losing life’s aim,
But the god touched in time her conscious soul.
So may have she passed on the roads of chance and ignorance missing the call of heaven, losing her aim. But her soul was alerted just in time at the right moment.
Vision settled
Her vision settled, caught and all was changed.
Her vision caught a glimpse of Satyavan and all was changed.
Symbol figure
Her mind at first dwelt in ideal dreams,
Those intimate transmuters of earth’s signs
That make known things a hint of unseen spheres,
And saw in him the genius of the spot,
A symbol figure standing mid earth’s scenes,
A king of life outlined in delicate air.
At first her mind dwelt in ideal dreams that often indicate the meaning behind things. It saw in Satyavan the hint of a genius, a symbol figure standing put as a king of life outlined in delicate air.
Her heart looked out
Yet this was but a moment’s reverie;
For suddenly her heart looked out at him,
The passionate seeing used thought cannot match,
And knew one nearer than its own close strings.
Yet this was but for a moment in a state reverie. But suddenly her heart looked out at him and saw with a passionate seeing that thoughts cannot match. Her heart felt that he is one near and close, intimate to her own heart.
All in a moment
All in a moment was surprised and seized,
All in inconscient ecstasy lain wrapped
Or under imagination’s coloured lids
Held up in a large mirror-air of dream,
Broke forth in flame to recreate the world,
And in that flame to new things she was born.
All was seized in a moment, all was surprised with a hidden ecstasy and imagination began to colour her dreams. It broke forth as if to recreate the world in the flame of love. In that flame she felt born to new things.
Mystic tumult
A mystic tumult from her depths arose;
Haled, smitten erect like one who dreamed at ease,
Life ran to gaze from every gate of sense:
Thoughts indistinct and glad in moon-mist heavens,
Feelings as when a universe takes birth,
Swept through the turmoil of her bosom’s space
Invaded by a swarm of golden gods:
Arising to a hymn of wonder’s priests
Her soul flung wide its doors to this new sun.
She felt a mystic tumult in her depths. She was deeply moved as in a dream world. Life rushed through every sense to gaze at Satyavan. Glad thoughts began to arise as if in some mystic moonlit space. Feelings arose as when a universe is born. Her bosom felt the turmoil as if invaded by a swarm of happy luminous gods. Arising to a hymn of wonder her soul opened wide to this new sun that came to her as Satyavan.
The Master’s spell
An alchemy worked, the transmutation came;
The missioned face had wrought the Master’s spell.
She felt transmuted by an alchemy of love. The face of Satyavan had brought about the wondrous spell.
Two approaching eyes
In the nameless light of two approaching eyes
A swift and fated turning of her days
Appeared and stretched to a gleam of unknown worlds.
As the gaze of Satyavan fell upon her, a swift turn of fate appeared and opened a gleam of unknown worlds.
Mystic shock
Then trembling with the mystic shock her heart
Moved in her breast and cried out like a bird
Who hears his mate upon a neighbouring bough.
She trembled at the mystic shock in her heart with the birth of love. Her breast moved and cried out in joy like a bird hearing her mate on a neighbouring bough.
The chariot stood
Hooves trampling fast, wheels largely stumbling ceased;
The chariot stood like an arrested wind.
Savitri suddenly stopped the chariot as if under a spell arrested by the winds of fate.
Closing Remarks
Savitri’s gaze falls upon Satyavan and love is born in her heart.
