Opening Remarks
All evolution, as we are being told, is the result of a descent that releases into action the corresponding plane of consciousness concealed within matter. This process is now being described about life.
Gifts of the descent of Life
Overflowing from her bright magnificent plane
On the rigid coil and sprawl of mortal Space,
Here too the gracious great-winged Angel poured
Her splendour and her swiftness and her bliss,
Hoping to fill a fair new world with joy.
As the power and force of Life descends from its own native plane into this material field, it brings with it her splendour and swiftness and joy to fill this dumb material world. These powers are natural to life in its own plane and it tries to infuse them into matter.
Forced delight on earth’s insensible frame
As comes a goddess to a mortal’s breast
And fills his days with her celestial clasp,
She stooped to make her home in transient shapes;
In Matter’s womb she cast the Immortal’s fire,
In the unfeeling Vast woke thought and hope,
Smote with her charm and beauty flesh and nerve
And forced delight on earth’s insensible frame.
In a beautiful analogy Sri Aurobindo compares this descent of life upon earth to a goddess entering a mortal breast filling his earthly days with wonder and joy. So too the powers of Life descended in earthly frames awakening within it the immortal will to live and joy and think and dare and hope to be. She filled this world with the charm and beauty of living things and creates passages in tissue and nerves for delight to course through.
The birth of living and sentient creatures
Alive and clad with trees and herbs and flowers
Earth’s great brown body smiled towards the skies,
Azure replied to azure in the sea’s laugh;
New sentient creatures filled the unseen depths,
Life’s glory and swiftness ran in the beauty of beasts,
Man dared and thought and met with his soul the world.
It is because of this descent and intervention from a higher plane of Life that matter was transmuted into living matter and corresponding to this new force, there came into being beautiful trees and birds and beasts. Earth felt a new joy and responded to heaven with a smile. Amidst these things, man too woke up and began to think and aspire and hope.
Closing Remarks
Thus we see how life emerged in matter. It is not through a series of random accidents even though it seems so, but through a dumb call from below and an answer from above that Life began. It is a top-down view that reconciles evolution and intelligent design that we find here.
