Aum Savitryai Namaha!

26

Savitri

A power dwelt in her soul too great for earth,

A bliss lived in her too large for heaven,

Light too intense for thought and love too boundless,

For earth’s emotions lit her skies of mind

And spread through her deep and happy seas of soul,

All that is sacred in the world drew near,

To her divine passivity of mood,

A marvellous voice of silence breathed its thoughts,

All things in Time and Space she had taken for her.

In her they moved, in her they lived and were,

The whole wide world clung to her for delight.

—SAVITRI, BY SRI AUROBINDO

In the Vedas the most famous goddess connected with the sun is Ushas, goddess of dawn. Some of the most beautiful hymns of the Rig Veda are addressed to her. She is described as the daughter of the sky. Night is her sister. At times she is spoken of as the wife of Surya, god of the sun. Ushas is said to travel in a shining chariot, drawn by ruddy horses or cows. The rishis of the Vedas describe her in the most poetic terms. She is a beautiful girl dressed by her mother, a dancing girl covered with jewels, and a gaily attired wife appearing before her husband. She is like a fascinating damsel coming out of her bath; smilingly she unfolds the irresistible power of her attraction and lowers the cloth covering her bosom. Her quiet modesty is like that of a shy maiden, conscious of her beauty, ushered into society by her mother.

She dispels not only the darkness of the night but also the darkness of ignorance in the minds of human beings. She illumines everything, including the darkest recesses of the mind. She is the giver of both life and health. She causes the birds to fly from their nests, and like a housewife she sends forth all creatures to attend to the needs of their day’s routine.

She is eternally young, since she is born anew every day. Yet she is immeasurably old, since she is immortal. She wears out the lives of successive generations, which disappear one after the other while she continues, undying. The souls of the departed are said to go through her and pierce the orb of the sun.

Hail Ushas, daughter of the sky,

Borne upon thy shining car,

By ruddy steeds from realms afar,

And ever lightening draws nigh,

Thou sweetly smiling goddess fair,

Disclosing all thy youthful grace,

Thy bosom bright, thy radiant face,

And luster of thy golden hair.

—RIG VEDA, HYMN TO THE

GODDESS OF DAWN

The Gayatri mantra is a famous hymn to the sun god from the Savitri Upanishad. Actually gayatri is the name of the meter in which the mantra is written. But the meter is conceived of as a goddess, called Gayatri. In looks, she is something like the Vedic goddess Ushas. Repetition of the Gayatri mantra is compulsory for all Hindus, not just Brahmins, though the Brahmins were the custodians of this mantra for centuries. Even though it appears to be a hymn addressed to the sun, it is actually addressed to the supreme consciousness and is a prayer for enlightenment. It is universally applicable. It is nothing but a prayer for spiritual light addressed to the Almighty as tat savitur, “that sun of supreme consciousness,” which lights up everything, including the physical sun. The word savitur is masculine and refers to the sun. The feminine counterpart is the goddess Savitri. This hymn has been regarded as the greatest of all mantras. If there is one mantra common to all Hindus, it is this.

Aum bhur bhuvah svaha,

Tat savitur varenyam,

Bhargo devasya dheemahi,

Dhiyo yo nah prachodayat.

Let us meditate on the supreme and his glory,

Who has created this universe (earth, sky, and heaven),

Who alone is fit to be worshipped,

Who is the remover of all ignorance,

May he enlighten us!

The rishis had a thorough knowledge of the subtle effects of sound, and they devised this mantra to have great mystic power and enable human beings to expand our consciousness and allow us to reach the supreme. Daily repetition of this mystical mantra with sincerity and devotion will help us attain our highest potential, both materially and spiritually. At dawn we should turn our face toward the rising sun, which is the visible manifestation of the supreme reality, and repeat this mantra. At midday we should think of the sun at its zenith and repeat the mantra. At sunset we should turn toward the setting sun and repeat it once more. It can be repeated as many times as one wishes.

The sun is the abode of the supreme Brahman. It is the first visible manifestation of the absolute. The Rig Veda glorifies the sun as Pratyaksha Devata or the divinity that can be seen before us. While scientists are aware of only the physical properties of the sun, the sages discovered its spiritual aspect, which is directly linked with the evolution of life and the expansion of intelligence. The rishis realized that the sun has an active spiritual field, which they called Surya Narayana. They found that the energy of the sun was born out of rita, the cosmic law of harmony, the pulsating rhythm of the deep spiritual laws of the supreme spirit. The sun is not just a huge mass of atomic energy but a radiant mass of life-giving vitality for all creation. The spiritual values inherent in the sun express themselves in various degrees through different creatures and reach their highest expression in the human being. The sun inspires us to push forward and evolve to the unconditioned freedom of the absolute. The Gayatri mantra throbs with this intense yearning on the part of the human race to evolve toward its highest potential.

Thus savitur is nothing but the supreme itself. Hence the Gayatri mantra is not just a hymn to the sun god but a paean of praise to the supreme Brahman. The goddess Savitri is the presiding deity of the Suryamandala or the solar orb along with its aura. She is said to be the mother of the Vedas. Brahma in his role as custodian of the Vedas was the first to worship her. The story of how she came to be born on earth is told in the Puranas.

Once there was a king of the solar dynasty called Asvapati. He had a highly spiritually minded queen named Malati. Though they wanted children they had none, so their guru, Vasishta, advised Malati to worship the goddess Savitri. She went to the holy lake of Pushkara and did tapas for many years with no result. Dejected, she returned to the palace. Her husband told her not to worry and that they would perform austerities together. They did severe tapas for a hundred years. At last a celestial voice announced, “Repeat the Gayatri mantra ten lakhs of times and your wish will be fulfilled.”

At this time the great sage Parasara appeared on the scene and told the king of the glory of the Gayatri mantra. “O King!” he said. “If you repeat the Gayatri mantra just once, all that day’s sins will vanish. One hundred repetitions will take away the sins of one year. One lakh destroys the sins of this birth and ten lakhs destroys the sins of other births. If a thousand lakhs are done, liberation is attained.”

Parasara then instructed the king on the type of japa mala or rosary to be used in counting: “The japa mala should be made of the seeds of the white lotus or of crystal. It should be purified by being dipped in milk or Ganga water and consecrated at the feet of one’s favorite deity. If a person repeats ten lakhs of mantras on such a mala, he or she will receive the vision of the Devi Savitri.”

The king performed the rites as commanded by the rishi on the fourteenth day of the black fortnight of the month of Jyesta for fourteen years. He offered fourteen different types of fruits, flowers, and incense to the goddess and distributed wealth to fourteen Brahmins. He used the following mantra to invoke her: “I meditate on that Savitri, the mother of the Vedas, who has the nature of aum, and whose color is that of burnished gold. Thou art effulgent like the rays of the noonday sun and adorned with many jewels and ornaments. Thou art the bestower of happiness and liberation, the consort of the creator. May thou be gracious unto me.”

After repeating this mantra and performing the prescribed rituals for fourteen years, King Asvapati and his queen received a vision of the goddess. She said, “O King! I know your desire. Your wife wants a daughter and you want a son. You will both get what you want.” Thus having blessed them, the goddess returned to the celestial regions.

Soon after, the king received a most beautiful daughter, whom he called Savitri, after the goddess. When Savitri came of age, the king brought many proposals for her, but she would have none of them. She had already seen the man she would marry in one of her excursions into the forest. He was called Satyavan, and he was the son of the blind king Dyumatsena. The king had been deposed from his kingdom and had gone to the forest, where he lived the life of a sage, accompanied by his faithful wife and son. Asvapati was not happy with his daughter’s choice, even though he knew that Dyumatsena was a noble man, and he had heard that his son was the soul of truth and honor. At this time, sage Narada came to Asvapati’s court and gave him another distressing bit of news. Looking at Savitri’s palm, he told the king that her husband would die after just one year of marriage. The king was grief-stricken and exhorted his daughter to give up her scheme of marrying such a man. But she was adamant and prayed to her mother goddess Savitri to give her the courage to keep to her decision and also to give her a long life as the wife of Satyavan.

At last the king agreed and gave Savitri in marriage to Satyavan, who took her back to his hermitage in the forest. For one full year Savitri prayed with all her heart to the goddess Savitri to grant her the life of her husband. On the concluding day of her vow, which was supposed to be Satyavan’s last day on earth, she insisted on accompanying him to the forest when he went to cut wood. As the day wore on, she noticed that Satyavan became more and more exhausted. At last he lay down with his head on her lap. Just at that time Yama, the god of death, approached and took away Satyavan’s life in a noose. With her perception sharpened by her austerities, Savitri was able to see all these happenings. She kept the lifeless body of her husband gently on the ground and followed Yama.

Yama saw her following him and asked her, “O Savitri! Why are you following me? No mortal can come with me to my abode. If you want to come with me you will have to shed your body. The time has come for the death of your husband and that is why I am taking him away, but your time has not yet come and you will not be able to follow me to the nether regions. It is only due to your great austerities that you are able to see me at all. The time of birth and death of each being is decreed by his or her karma. No one can go against karma.”

Savitri then asked Yama to explain the nature of karma and how it could be overcome. Yama said, “Karma is produced by the actions of individuals and is of two kinds, good and bad. Those actions that do not go against the dictates of dharma are considered good and will result in beneficial karma. Actions done for the sake of God without expectation of reward increase devotion to God and lead to liberation. Now, Savitri, return to your home and look after your aged parents. This is your dharma at the moment.”

Savitri said, “A wife’s dharma is to follow her husband wherever he goes. Where shall I go, leaving my husband? Pray instruct me, for you are the greatest of all teachers.” Yama said, “O Savitri! You are a portion of the goddess and hence you are precocious beyond your years and filled with knowledge. Ask three boons from me and I shall grant them.”

Savitri immediately said, “Let me have a hundred sons by my husband Satyavan. Let my father-in-law get back his eyesight and his kingdom, and let my father have many sons.”

Yama agreed to this, and swiftly Savitri said, “O gracious Lord! How will I get sons from Satyavan unless you give back his life?”

Yama was pleased by her presence of mind, perseverance, and deep devotion to her husband, and he said, “My child, I am pleased with your devotion and intelligence. Worship the Devi Savitri, who is none other than Mula Prakriti, and all happiness shall be yours. Take your husband and return to your home and live happily with him. Undertake the Savitri vow for fourteen years, which is what your parents did, and you will certainly attain liberation, along with your husband.” Saying this, Yama blessed Savitri and told her to go back to the spot where she had placed the corpse of her husband.

When Savitri returned to the tree under which she had kept her husband’s body, she found him getting up as if from deep sleep. He had no memory of what had happened and thought he had fallen asleep. She told him the whole saga and they rejoiced at his miraculous return from the land of the dead. They returned to the hermitage and repeated the wonderful tale. Soon after, Dyumatsena got back his eyesight and his kingdom, and Savitri and Satyavan went back to their land and worshipped the goddess as advised by Yama. Savitri’s parents also got many sons, as promised by Yama. All of them attained liberation from their mortal coils after many blessed years spent conducting the affairs of the kingdom, worshipping the goddess Savitri, and repeating the Gayatri mantra.

She pressed the living body of Satyavan;

On her body’s wordless joy to be and breathe,

She bore the blissful burden of his head,

Between her breasts, warm labour of delight,

The waking gladness of her members felt,

The weight of heaven in his limbs, a touch

Summing the whole felicity of things,

And all her life was conscious of his life,

And all her being rejoiced enfolding his,

The immense remoteness of her trance had passed;

Human she was once more, earth’s Savitri,

Yet felt in her illimitable change.

—SAVITRI BY SRI AUROBINDO

Thus ends the twenty-sixth chapter of Shakti, known as “Savitri,” which narrates the story of the goddess Savitri and her descent to the earth.

Aum Aim Hreem Kleem