Today is Savitri Vrata (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savitri_Brata).
On this day, two books always come to my mind. One is Savitri Vrata katha
(Story of Savitri) read today in every Odia household and another Sri
Aurobindo's Savitri (of course it's about Savitri!).
This book - "Savitri - a Legend and
a Symbol" an epic poem by Sri Aurobindo, has been lying at my home book shelve
for more than twenty years - almost never opened, never read by anyone in the
family. During my graduation days, I attempted in reading and making a sense of
it. My brevity lasted only two days with only three pages of reading of which, most
of the time was spent on browsing the dictionary. If someone has a little
superiority complex of having master over the English language and vocabulary,
he/she should try reading this book. First few pages should be enough to show
him the mirror. Such strong is the vocabulary, poetic brilliance of symbolism
and metaphoric mysticism that even Englishmen fear to dive into it. You can read this book at http://savitrithepoem.com.
This must be the greatest epic in the English language. This is one exceptional
epic by one exceptional man. Salute to him.
Like all poetry, it's the poet's own muse;
his/her own egoistic expression that a reader has to tolerate. Savitri is no
exception. My guess is that, the number of earthmen who understand 20% of it
should be in single digit. Its central theme revolves around the transcendence
of man as the consummation of terrestrial evolution, and the emergence of an
immortal supramental gnostic race upon earth"
I got translations of Savitri too in my
native language Odia. The first one by Mohapatra Nilamani Sahu, who instead of
simplifying the text, further complicated it with narrative obscure Odia prose.
While reading that, I felt, understanding in English itself could have helped.
And the other one by Nimai charan Mohapatra who translated it again into Odia
poetry ! It' again kind of a biblical translation understanding which is another
nightmare. Each of these Odia author
tried to show their brilliance in Odia and did the same mistake what Sri Aurobindo
did!
Sri Aurobindo envisioned about Superman
who will get a descent from Divine leading to the "triumph of spirit over
matter" but it all depends on human receptivity, human willingness to
transcend the present limitations and man's preparedness to be disillusioned
about his own hypocrisies. It is not a question of an individual transcending;
it is the question of humanity transcending.
You may agree with me that, if at all
Sri Aurobindo wanted humanity to show some sort of preparedness, he perhaps missed
the bus as a Guru or as a coach. Humanity is dying today. In the day to day
struggle, what humanity needs to survive today is solace, comforting words,
words that can heal; Simple words that an average person with average IQ like
me can understand. Literature should be for the masses; if it's not helping the
society, it's of no good use.
I often wonder why Manoj Das never
produced a translation of Savitri! Perhaps he's even confused between
Over-fitting and Under-fitting!!
Savitri 2.0! Anyone listening in the
cosmos....???
