‘SPACELESS SELF’ IN SAVITRI: THE ETERNAL SELF OF SUPRAMENTAL MAN IN SRI AUROBINDO’S EPIC ‘SAVITRI’

Abstract

‘Spaceless Self’ which Sri Aurobindo unveils in Savitri in his epic Savitri is the eternal Self, the central being of the Supramental Man as distinct from Jivatman which is the central being of man. In the being of man, as he discovers, Jivatman exists simultaneously in its other poise i.e., its spark state, —the spark state which grows to be ‘Fire’, the ‘Psychic Being’ he terms it. These two poises of Jivatman, the Divine Self existing separately though one at the base in the being of man brings the separative principle of consciousness into existence to reign him. In other words, the separate existence of Jivatman, the central being, and its spark state, to be more specific, the very separation between the two gives birth to the separative principle of consciousness in the being of man. The separative consciousness manifests in limitations, finiteness. When the Psychic Being comes to be one with Its Divine Origin, Jivatman as a result of its growth into ‘Fire’ which is the spiritual ascent of man, manifesting his resultant transformation, the separative principle of consciousness comes to its end. The limitations end, and man enters into the world of Infinity consequently. What Sri Aurobindo terms ‘Spaceless Self’, the Self of the One which remains eclipsed or remains in bondage on account of the reign of the separative principle of consciousness gets its release consequent upon the oneness of the Psychic Being and the Jivatman. It rises to take over the rein of the being of man. Consequently, the Supramental Man emerges, the Man in whom the transcendent consciousness of the One, the Integral Consciousness reigns.