Claude de Warren
May 2023
Original English text: Ilion, Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust 2007
Book Four
The Book of Farewells
It is in the man who lives ordinary human life through the power of yoga that the spiritual life finds its most powerful expression.
Sri Aurobindo [1]
In Book I, The Book of the Herald, Sri Aurobindo sets out the question he proposes to examine in Ilion, namely what can be preserved from the outer forms of the old yogas in the new yoga, which concerns the totality of being, integrating spirit and matter, from the heights of the spirit down to the smallest cells of our body.
In Book 2, The Book of the Statesman, the adventurer is invited to consider the possibility of uniting the forms of the ancient yogas that made possible the grandiose achievements of the past with the new yoga of the depths, subject to a few concessions, the main one being the recognition that the new spiritual path no longer involves a refusal of life and a mastery imposed from the heights of the spirit (Troy must give Helen back). This point of view is supported by the ‘fallen’ statesman Anténor. He represents not only the spiritualised higher mind, but also an achievement in works. For this union to be possible, he asserts that desire and the ego must be totally annihilated in perfect humility and total abandonment to the divine, in the knowledge that this is not a definitive reversal but a realisation that must allow a return to the path of the Spirit.
In Book 3, The Book of the Assembly, the problem of the reorientation of yoga is considered from several other points of view, the two main ones being those of Laocoon and Pâris.
With Laocoon, “Apollo’s seer obscured by fate”, it is the point of view of superior intuition-vision that is evoked, that of the seer-prophet. But the light he offers “both illuminates and blinds”. In this part of his being, the adventurer shows a lack of humility
Pâris is the symbol of the quest for ever greater mastery with a view to equality. But he is also Alexander, “the man who rejects his outer nature or life”, a symbol of renunciation of life. He defends the idea that we must power over both our own nature and the outside world by a will imposed from above. This view encourages the pursuit of ancient yoga without compromise, whatever the end result.
Aeneas, who bears the seeds of humanity’s future evolution towards Love, confirms the continuation of the battle.
Summary of Book 4
The dialogues in the Book of Farewell concern only the Trojan camp. Even if there is still a certain ardour in the adventurer to defend the ancient yoga that separates spirit from matter, what dominates is the awareness that his end has come, that everything was for the best and that we cannot oppose the forces that direct evolution.
Different aspects of this yoga of ascent, sometimes very different, are expressed.
There is the enlightened higher mind, represented by Anténor, which refuses to become further involved in the inner struggle. However, the part of this higher mind that remains strongly attached to the form of the old yoga, embodied by his son Halamos, and its latest development, the universalized mind, represented by his grandson Euros, want to get fully involved.
Aeneas, the evolution in the path of love, is also of the opposite opinion and separates from Antenor.
The scene then moves to King Priam’s palace.
Hélène and Pâris, in a final loving dialogue, reassure each other that what was to be was for the best.
Then Priam gives the floor to Cassandra: we understand that knowledge of the future cannot be understood because of the maintenance of a certain will to power, i.e. the adventurer’s awareness of being the author of his actions. Paris therefore misunderstands the meaning of his words, which announce the destruction of Troy and also the future of the victors, the Achaeans.
The quest for evolutionary truth, embodied by Hélène, acknowledges that she is the reason for the war and its inevitability. She describes herself as “a monster of fatality and a prodigy of beauty”.
Polyxena, who represents the last “strange” achievements in the ascension, laments the fact that she cannot unite with Achilles: these achievements cannot endure and bear fruit in the new yoga.
After a digression on the best tactics in yoga, attack or defence, the rest of the song concerns Pentheles, the most advanced realisation in the liberation of the spirit, which concerns liberation from suffering and the union that brings divine ecstasy.
She trains the universalized mind, Euros, to accompany her in the final moments of this terrible inner struggle and then to share with her the marvels of this achievement.
The Book of Farewell. Detailed study
Impatiently, stimulated by Ares, quick to shout the war cry in their souls ,
They all rushed home to feed their warrior valour.
In proud anticipation, Ilion turned her thoughts to the sea,
Waiting for the sounds that were dear to him and the clamour of the melee to rise .
Behold, the sons of Priam returned to their citadel with their father,
Then the grey Talthybios emerged from the city gates in his chariot;
At the end of Book 3, we saw that the Trojan leaders had decided to reject Achilles’ offer. This decision is in line with that of the force sitting at the highest of the supermind – Zeus – taken before the start of hostilities. In fact, every movement in evolution must develop to its conclusion, a movement represented here by what in Troy refuses Achilles’ offer. It is also said that in the initial impulse is inscribed the unfolding as well as the end of every movement. The end of the Trojan War was therefore already inscribed in the perjury of Priam’s son, Laomedon. Laomedon refused to fulfil the promises he had made to Apollo, the god who leads us towards the mind of Light, and to Poseidon, the god who watches over the purification of the subconscious. These two divinities had built for him the walls of the citadel of Troy, in other words the defences erected to protect the yoga that launches out towards the Spirit. The seeker therefore failed to heed the calls of the highest mental light and the intimations from the subconscious mind to reject the separation of Spirit and Matter.
Then came the judgement of Paris, which established the primacy of Love through renunciation of the world over the just movement of evolution represented by Hera and submission to the Master of Yoga represented by Athena.
He is the force that watches over the destruction of outdated spiritual forms and also supports the struggles of yoga to eliminate false orientations, Ares, who stimulates the ardour of yoga stretched towards the spirit (stimulated by Ares, quick to raise the war cry in their souls). As Aphrodite’s lover, Ares will support the Trojan side right up to the last moment, even though his logical place is on the side of the Achaeans.
Each component of this yoga then looks inwards to strengthen itself. (Everyone then hurried home to feed their warrior valour).
In the consciousness of the adventurer, the conceptual framework and practices established for the liberation of the Spirit reject with a sense of superiority the other goals and forms of yoga and prepare to fight them with ardour. (In proud anticipation, Ilion turned her thoughts to the sea, waiting for the sounds that were dear to her and the clamour of the fray to rise
In the palace of Anchises, Aeneas, meanwhile, without taking off his cuirass,
Hastily eating the cereal of his country, – millet cakes
Lined with venison, prepared by the gentle hands of Créüse.
With her calm eyes watching him eat, she smiles at her husband: 10
“Always you go to battle, O warrior, always you fight
Far ahead of the ranks and eventually find Ajax the Locrian,
Or try to distinguish the dangerous cry of Tydides from the warlike hoot;
You’ve barely heard it, and that’s where, leaving everything behind, you’re heading your chariot, O you unyielding in your courage.
At the end of the previous book, Aeneas ratified the decision of the Trojan assembly. Here we find him in the company of his wife Creuse whose name – derived from κρείων – means “sovereign”, “mistress”. She is the daughter of Priam and Hecuba and represents the great mastery that Aeneas is working on, the one who will guide future evolution towards Love. Sri Aurobindo and Mother have told us that humanity is not ready to receive divine Love in all its purity. Its impurity means that it would be instantly destroyed if it did.
In the internal conflict represented by the Trojan War, this aspiration for greater mastery is essentially opposed to two other forms of yoga, that which aims for greater awareness represented by the “little” Ajax and that which does not separate spirit from matter illustrated by Diomedes.
As we have already mentioned, there are two Ajaxes in mythology, the ‘Little Ajax’, also known as ‘Ajax the Locrian’, and the ‘Great Ajax’, son of Telamon.
He is already dead, killed by Penthelesia, when the events described in Ilion begin
We saw in Book 3, however, that as early as The Little Iliad and the works of Pindar, tradition has it that he committed suicide after Achilles’ weapons were attributed to Ulysses rather than to him, i.e. when the adventurer realised that it was not this still essentially mental consciousness, however vast it may be, that could direct yoga into the depths of the vital.
Ajax, however, is considered to be the greatest in strength and courage after Achilles, meaning that this expanded consciousness in the heights comes just behind the yoga of the depths as a power of realisation.
The oldest tradition, dating back to Phecydes in the 5th century BC, says that he is a son of Actaios, “an opening of the consciousness towards the heights”, and Glauce, “brilliant”. He therefore represents a consciousness that is the result of a very brilliant opening of the consciousness to the heights of the mind, undoubtedly a universalisation of the mind.
He symbolises a conscience that accepts the need to purify the depths, because the Great Ajax, in a later version, is a son of Aeacus, and therefore a cousin of Achilles, the hero who embodies the work of purifying the deep vital. According to the Iliad, in strength and bravery, the Great Ajax is only surpassed by Achilles.
The Iliad also tells us that Hector and the Great Ajax represent yogas of equal value, because the two combatants proved to be of equal strength in a single combat that ended without either of them dying: in the adventurer, the highest consciousness turned towards the purification of the depths and the aspiration to fusion with the Absolute are of equal magnitude.
The name Ajax is built without a consonant, with the single vowel I as the structuring letter, the symbol of consciousness. Although of lesser value than his namesake, Little Ajax is nonetheless the symbol of a high conscience. According to Homer, he is the son of the ‘divine’ Oilée (Iliad XIII, 697ff). In this passage from the Iliad, the two Ajaxes fight side by side, but the Locrian fighters are not equipped for close combat. They stand behind the warriors of the great Ajax and harass the enemy with their bows. This lesser consciousness would be linked to the intellect and the higher mind (Locride), while the other would be more vast and ‘penetrating’.
In the first Book, Sri Aurobindo, through the mouth of Achilles, describes certain characteristics of the Achaean heroes, in which we understand that the little Ajax, the Locrian, represents a high consciousness that wants to seize the results of yoga by force. It is a movement that ‘pulls’ the forces of the Spirit towards itself.
Saved from the envy of Argos and the hatred of Lacedemon,
Saved from the greed of Crete and the brutal rapine of Locrian.
It is this impatient desire for results that explains why Little Ajax did violence to Cassandra, out of a desire to have a clear vision of the future.
The other Achaean hero that Aeneas wants to fight is Diomedes, the one “who cares about the Divine” or unifying consciousness, who aims to achieve non-duality. By its very nature, he is a yoga radically opposed to that which separates spirit from matter. He is in the line of those who walk forward, the adventurers who have achieved mental silence (Endymion) and joy in union, for his grandfather is Oeneas, the symbol of divine intoxication (see Plate 9).
And yet I am the most fortunate of women, I who, left in your manor, do not tremble,
Peaceful at the feet of old Anchises when I catch a glimpse of you
Alone, with my features whistling all around you, and with the strength of my trembling soul I say:
Here he is, striking a blow at Ajax! Here he is confronting Diomedes!
So great are the two powerful beings, always there to protect you,
Phoïbos, son of the Thundering God, and your mother, Aphrodite of gold, 20
And the Fates are calling for you, O predestined leader of the future.
But if my thoughts are not worried about the one who is their good,
My heart, Aeneas, is constantly aching with pity for the other iliac women
Who are losing their children and their beloved husbands in the same battle
Or brothers who are too dear, – pity for eyes that are filled with tears, for hearts that are mute.
Will there be no end to this war that rumbles eternally around Troy
Hollow, whose name means “the mistress, the sovereign”, represents a yoga goal that aims to achieve total mastery over oneself, including the anxiety that might arise from the death of one’s spouse, i.e. the end of the corresponding work. She also embodies a capacity for vision with the eyes of the soul, and an absolute faith in the destiny that must be fulfilled through Aeneas “(working in the direction of) evolution”. For there are two major forces guiding this evolution, Apollo and Aphrodite, forces that watch over the development of mystical light (the Mind of Light) and love in man. This evolution cannot cease with the fall of Troy, symbolising a reversal in the direction of yoga, even if for the time being the seeker (and humanity) must give priority to another direction, that of the incarnation of Truth
The Iliad tells us that Aeneas will flee Troy before the final fall of the city for fear that the line of Dardanos will die out.[2] In the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, the goddess predicts to Anchises that his descendants will reign over the Trojans. In the figurative representations from the 6th century BC, he is most often shown carrying his father Anchises on his back and accompanied by a young boy and a woman
(My heart, Aeneas, is constantly aching with pity for the other Iliac women who are losing their children and their beloved husbands in the same battle).
The last line of this passage hints at a great weariness of this inner conflict that drags on in the adventurer’s consciousness (Will there be no end to this war that rumbles eternally around Troy?).
The hero, son of Anchises, replied to Créüse:
“No doubt the gods protect, but Death is also always powerful.
In her dark envy, she prefers to strike down the brave and those who inspire love,
Work with spite to shorten their days and make the sunlight a widow; 30
Disappointed, she especially lashes out at those she loves in Heaven;
Striking at their lives through their hearts, it reaps their loves and pleasures.
You’re right, you don’t have to fear for my life during the battle:
As for yours, I’m still afraid that, having missed me during the fight,
Death, thwarted in his divinity, does not come here and find you in his wrath.
Nevertheless, Phoïbos and my mother, Golden Aphrodite, will act to protect them.”
Whereupon Creusa’s quiet lips replied to Aeneas:
“So it is possible that I shall leave before you, Aeneas, and see
Your lips lowered over my dying eyes in farewell.
This is the happiest ending for a woman, here, in the midst of the sorrows of the world; 40
We hope that afterwards, there, the hands that have been disunited will join together.”
So she spoke, without knowing the gods.
It is generally accepted that in yoga, the further one progresses, the more difficult the trials, and the more the seeker must gradually abandon all his supports in order to rely solely on the Divine (Disappointed, she (Death) lashes out above all against those beloved by Heaven…). Courage and endurance are sorely tested, and the adventurer must endure the repeated assaults of doubt and uncertainty about the path to follow, and the attacks of forces that seek to destroy everything that tends towards the Light of Truth (…Works with rancour to shorten their days and make the light of the sun a widow). The adventurer is forced into detachment, deprived of the pleasure of the senses, of purely earthly loves and sometimes even plunged into a night of the soul that deprives him of all divine comfort (Striking their lives through their hearts, it cuts short their loves and pleasures).
This part of the adventurer is certain that what it represents, the evolution of consciousness, cannot cease. But it fears losing what it has worked so hard for, the achievement of perfect mastery, although it hopes for some protection from the forces of the supermind. (As for yours, I always fear that, having missed me in battle, death, thwarted in its divinity, will come here and find you in its wrath).
This perfect mastery, however, accepts to disappear, because what was good in evolution at a certain stage of the path and has been accomplished to its end becomes an obstacle if we cling to it in the next phase. (This is the happiest ending for a woman).
But later, the adventurer will recognise that everything along the way was useful in its own time, and both goals and past practices will be vindicated in hindsight. (It is our hope that then, there, the hands that have been disunited will join).
But mastery, however advanced, does not allow contact with the higher planes of the mind or with the Divine. This is why Sri Aurobindo tells us: “Thus she spoke, without knowing the gods”.
…then Aeneas, on his way out,
Hugged the knees of his father, the ancient and powerful Anchises.
“Bless me, Father; I’m off to battle. With your blessing,
May I this very day throw Ajax to the ground and slaughter Diomedes,
And tomorrow I’ll be looking at the deserted beaches of the Troad”.
Disturbed and joyless, making no reply to the bellicose Aeneas,
Anchises sat still for a long time, silent and sombre,
Looking into her soul, her eyes closed to the sunlight.
“Prosperous, Aeneas, son of a goddess,” he replied slowly 50
“Prosper, Aeneas; and if some misfortune befalls Troy,
Always endure the will of the gods with constant piety.
Their only will is what Necessity shapes under the constraint of Silence.
It has given man labour and war as the law of his transitory state.
Fight; she will grant you the crowning of your deeds or their prescribed term,
May your passage on earth be glorious, or may you be forgotten in the silent darkness.
But always do as your mother commands, and load your ships.
Who can know what the gods have veiled in the mist of our hopes?”
In the oldest tradition, Aeneas is the only mortal born of the union of Aphrodite with a mortal, Anchises. This suggests that the adventurer has made significant progress in the field of Love at this stage of the yoga, a love that is no longer given to a single person but to the divine, for the whole of humanity and for all living forms.
The name Anchises (Ἀγχίσης formed with Ἀγχί, near and Σ, human consciousness) would suggest this closeness of soul with all that lives. It represents what in the adventurer senses the end of Troy, the end of the foregrounding of the quest for union in Spirit and the quest for Love before that of Truth. That is why he is sombre and joyless (troubled and joyless, saying nothing to the belligerent Aeneas, Anchises sat still for a long time, silent and sombre).
According to a relatively late tradition, Zeus had blinded him he had revealed the name of Aeneas’ mother. This is the sign of a turning inwards, of inner contemplation (Looking into his soul, with his eyes closed to the sunlight).
In this way, he represents the mystical light that comes from the psyche, the light that can truly “see” and “foresee”. His response to his son is therefore marked by great gravity.
This echoes Sir Aurobindo’s words: ” Endure and thou shall conquer “. The Nature that manifests itself through evolutionary Necessity – in this case the fall of Troy or the change of direction of yoga with a view to human evolution – in fact obeys the imperious designs of the Spirit that reigns in Silence, designs that we cannot understand
(Their only will is what Necessity shapes under the constraint of Silence
This is why this part of consciousness does not clearly express what it ‘sees’, even though it hints at it in the last two lines of this passage (load your vessels).
She insists that man must work tirelessly to perfect himself, accepting the law of duality and the need to be a spiritual warrior in this phase of evolution towards the world of Unity, the supramental. (She has given man labour and war as the law of his transitory state. Fighting).
It repeats the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, the need to work and fight without backing down from anything and without attachment to either the work or its fruits. (It will grant you the crowning of your deeds or their prescribed end, / Whether your passage on earth is glorious or you are forgotten in the silent darkness
Then she summons the adventurer to remain faithful, against all odds, to the love developing in him and in humanity, Love being the ultimate goal of manifestation (But always do what your mother commands).
Finally, she warns him to remain flexible and open to all eventualities, because most likely the adventurer can only envisage victory or death at this point – the continuation of the old yoga or its disappearance – but certainly not another path, as illustrated by Aeneas’ flight from Troy.
(…load your ships. / Who can know what the gods have veiled in the mist of our hopes?
Leaving the house of his fathers, Aeneas quickly reached the house of his fathers.
To the city where the wheels of chariots now echoed 60
The sound of weapons rang out, and the warlike trampling thousands of men flowed in torrents.
The men turned and recognised Aeneas,
Their hearts were enlarged, and they went into battle with higher thoughts.
Through the noise and the crowds he strode towards the haughty home of Anténor,
Headed for the entrance courtyards and trod the bronze of its threshold
Who had endured the footsteps of so many lost princes.
But as he crossed the brazen square, Euros, the youngest son of Polydamas,
Leaping to her feet and laughing with sudden pleasure,
Rushed from the great hall. Clutching the fatal hand hardened by war
With a palm as smooth as a maiden’s or a child’s, 70
“You are welcome, Aeneas,” he said, “and good fortune has sent you!
Now I’ll go to the battlefield; you can talk to my grandfather Antenor.
And he will listen to you, even if his reluctant heart scolds him.
I’ll have the joy of setting off in your chariot or fighting alongside Pentheles.
To make myself famous by putting in his hand the javelin that will bring down Achilles”.
In the adventurer, this yoga of love is a powerful encouragement for the other parts striving for greater mastery. (The men, turning round and recognising Aeneas, had their hearts enlarged, and set off for battle with higher thoughts).
We saw earlier that Anténor represented “the higher spiritualised mind ” which had been rejected by the higher consciousness of the adventurer who had acquired or was working to acquire mental silence and establish the enlightened mind (the lineage of Electra. See Plate 16). The practices that had contributed to the development of this mind had ceased some time ago ([Aeneas] trod the bronze of his threshold, which had endured the footsteps of so many vanished princes).
Euros is the youngest son of Polydamas, himself the son of Anténor. Polydamas is the symbol of “many masterships” and his son is the symbol of a new extension of consciousness not yet fully developed for achieving an even “greater” mastery with the help of the spiritualised higher mind
Euros would represent the universalisation of the mind or cosmic consciousness realised on the plane of the higher mind. Sri Aurobindo tells us that cosmic consciousness can be experienced on any inner or higher plane of consciousness. The inner planes of consciousness are accessed by an inward movement, and the higher planes of consciousness, which are also linked to the individual, by an upward movement. But all these planes of inner and higher consciousness are also universal. It is through a third type of movement of consciousness, namely horizontal enlargement or extension so as to embrace the universe, that we have cosmic consciousness.
Because of the “youth” of the universalisation movement, the spiritualised higher mind (Antenor) is reluctant to allow this promise of future development to clash with another part of consciousness that relies on more established practices (the Achaeans).
But this enlargement is impatient to be put to the test and hopes that the conscience that is to dominate the future will recognise its validity
Aeneas replied with a smile: “Without a doubt, Euros, your bravery
You will fight against Epios and kill him.
Who’s to say this hand wasn’t chosen to pierce Menelaus
But for a while, oh hero, she’ll have to take on the bull instead,
Until, through play and struggle, his gentleness is trained to strike.”
Considering what Epios represents, it’s likely that Aeneas’ smile is a sign of friendly irony. Euros is the symbol of a practice that has yet to prove itself, whereas Epéos, called the divine Epéos by Homer, is an accomplished Achaean warrior, a practice that has long since been perfected.
Epéos belongs to the Asopos lineage, as does Achilles (see Plate 25). He is therefore descended from Aeacus, king of the Myrmidons, the symbol of the highly advanced researchers who are interested in the slightest movements of consciousness, right down to the very depths of vitality. His great-grandmother was a daughter of Nereus, the “old man of the sea” who marked the appearance of life in matter. His grandfather is Phocos, “the seal”, the symbol of yoga that works on the border between the vital and the body, because the seal lives on this border, between sea and land.
His father is Panopaeus, “he who has the vision of the whole”, in other words, a universalised vital consciousness, a very great achievement in yoga. According to Apollodorus, he is himself an architect, and therefore represents a capacity for developing new forms of yoga. It is more a capacity for vision than a quality necessary for the spiritual warrior, which is why he describes himself in the Iliad as a poor fighter. Some traditions attribute to him the construction of the Trojan horse: as a visionary, he sees what is needed to bring about the end of the ancient yogas. Perhaps his name means “he who is above”.
It is hard to see how a yoga in the process of development, oriented towards mastery, however vast, could annihilate this capacity to see the whole in the vital, this universalisation of vital consciousness. However, if Euros also represents the beginning of a universalisation of the mind, then it is easier to understand why Sri Aurobindo brings these two heroes together.
Aeneas continues with the same friendly irony, quoting Menelaus, “the one who cares about freedom” or the one who possesses “an unshakeable will bent on the goal” and is working to achieve the truest form of future yoga towards greater freedom, Helen.
This evolutionary wisdom therefore sees that this new form, in order to acquire greater mastery, must first strengthen itself through contact with the “power of realisation of the luminous mind” represented by the bull, according to the symbolism of the bull indicated by Sri Aurobindo.
With passion Euros replied: “But, Aeneas, from what I’ve been told,
This battle is the last; for today Penthelesia
Confronts and kills Achilles, bringing about the end of the Argians.
So I will never have taken part in that famous war.
What will I say when my hair is as white as old Anténor’s?
The men will ask me: What were your exploits during the titanic campaign?
Son of Polydamas, which of the Argians did you slay
To bravely avenge your father? Shall I say then: I was hiding in the city.
I was too young and was content to climb the iliac ramparts,
I’ve seen the comeback or the rout, but I’ve never seen the feat or the triumph? 90
Friend, if you don’t take me with you, I’ll die of grief before the sun goes down.”
Pulling Aeneas by the hand, he led him into the vast manor house;
They hurried across the paving stones of the great hall, laughing,
The graceful child and the great hero and statesman,
The flower of a lineage belonging to the present, and the star carrying the load of the future.
Euros to the enthusiasm of youth: this part of the adventurer’s consciousness still wants to believe in the possibility of new forms of yoga oriented towards the enlargement of the spiritualised mind through greater mastery with a view to the triumph of the path that separates spirit from matter. She has no doubt that the realisation of divine intoxication will put an end to the attempt to reorient yoga, thus putting an end to this interminable inner conflict (This battle is the last; for today Pentheles will confront and kill Achilles, bringing about the end of the Argians).
This new practice from the spiritualised higher mind, which has no doubts about the spiritual path confirmed by millennia of evolution, fears that its participation in maintaining this path will not be recognised in the future as essential to the pursuit of this millenary path (What will I say when my hair is as white as old Antenor’s? Men will ask me: What were your deeds during the titanic campaign?)
The yoga of the future runs the risk of forgetting that the spiritualised higher mind has played an important part in the maintenance of these spiritual forms confirmed by the ages, even if the resulting mastery has not been able to develop to its full potential (Son of Polydamas, which of the Argians did you slay to bravely avenge your father?).
So this new effort at enlargement persuades those who are most advanced in the yoga of love to involve them in the inner conflict.
Thus would be united in the struggle to maintain the millennia-old yogas what is their finest achievement – a vast spiritualised mind – and the greatest achievement and best organisation of yoga working to establish Love in the adventurer and in humanity. (The graceful child and the great hero and statesman, the flower of a lineage belonging to the present, and the star bearing the charge of the future).
The quest for Love – in the divine sense of the term and as the goal of evolution – cannot, of course, cease, even if temporarily the adventurer has to sink into the muddy memories of evolution to purify them with the sword of sincerity and self-sacrifice. This is why Aeneas is the star who carries the burden of the future when the reign of Truth is established.
Meanwhile, in his bedroom, surrounded by his sons and his sons’ sons,
Old Anténor shouted to the survivors of his blood:
“Listen, you fruit of my loins, and you children, their offspring!
Not one of Anténor’s kin will go back into battle.
Or else he will be overwhelmed by my curse , and the thirsty points of the Argian javelins 100
He will die in sin and his name will be forgotten.
I have often sent my blood to be shed in vain in battle
Fighting for Troy and its greatness, conquered by my labours and those of my fathers.
All the debt is paid now; Troy is throwing us back under the thrust of the immortals.
We owe a great deal to the mother who bore us and to our country;
But in the final analysis, our life is ours, the gods’ and the future’s.
Gather the gold of the house and our parents, O you sons of Antenor.
Warned by a voice in my soul, I will leave this city tonight,
Fleeing fate and taking my treasures with me; the ships reunited and refitted
By my care and that of the gods, will receive them into the narrow Propontide. 110
Guided through the waters of God, holding on to Poseidon’s rage,
Puffing up their sails, they cut across the crests of the ocean
Towards the uncharted distance, abandoning to their fates the condemned and the wicked.”
In the Iliad, Homer mentions more than ten children of Anténor, “the spiritualised higher mind”, and he describes the death of four of them. One of the sons, Agenor, the symbol of ‘courage’, was withdrawn from battle by Apollo just before he was killed. Homer says that the youngest, Acamas, who is “tireless”, is like the immortals. This brings to mind Mother in the Diary, who says that she is never tired, even though she is over 90 years old and has been given an incredible amount of work by her disciples.
This higher spiritualised mind refuses to allow anything derived from it to become involved in the inner battle. Many of its particular developments have been stopped before completion. But it knows that some of them will not be able to stop themselves from getting involved, so it refuses the possibility that this particular yoga and its results will be totally forgotten in the future (Of Antenor’s kin, not one will go back into battle or else he will leave overwhelmed by my curse).
The adventurer knows that the intervention of the higher mind, however spiritualised and enlightened, carries no weight in the outcome of the inner conflict (I have often sent my blood to be shed in vain in battle).
Everything that the higher mind had to contribute to human evolution has been accomplished, so he can say that “All the debt is paid now”.
This mind recognises that the recent developments of yoga in the liberation of the mind, supported by the forces of the supermental, have rendered it useless (Troy rejects us under the thrust of the immortals).
He also admits that he is a fruit of evolution and of the foundations of this quest in the spirit that enabled his development, but he does not want to abdicate completely, leaving the decision of his usefulness to the forces of the spirit and of future evolution (We owe much to the mother who bore us and to our country; but in the final analysis, our life is ours, to the gods and to the future).
He asks that the practices associated with him and their results be gathered together, because guided by an inner intuition, he intends to abandon the present inner struggle with a view to the future (Gather the gold of the house and our parents, O you sons of Antenor. Warned by a voice in my soul, I shall leave this city tonight, fleeing from fate and taking my treasures with me 😉.
This mind, following new and unified paths developed with the help of the supermental powers, intends to embark on the beginning of a purification of the vital represented by the Propontide, which constitutes the entrance to the Black Sea. Remember that Pontos is the symbol of the evolution of life (see Plate 2) and that Antenor had suggested to the Trojans that they accept Achilles’ offer. Whoever enters the Propontide towards the East enters a yoga of purification of the vital (the vessels reunited and refurbished by myself and the gods will receive them in the narrow Propontide).
This crossing of the Propontide, which precedes the great turbulence of the one who advances into the Black Sea, is nonetheless an obligatory passage in evolution and subject to the strong disturbances that the subconscious will bring to this yoga of purification (Guided through the waters of God, holding on to the rage of Poseidon)
This spiritualised mind will make its way, whatever the outcome of the inner conflict from which it emerges, towards unexplored horizons of evolution. (Giving full rein to their sails, let them cut across the crests of the ocean towards the unexplored distance, leaving the condemned and the wicked to their fate
Homer does not tell us what happened to Anténor. If this escape from Troy was successful, as later authors such as Virgil say, we can deduce that this part of the spiritualised higher mind – which is detached from the inner conflict and its outcome – works to open up the paths of the future and prepare Odysseus’ journey.
Thus spoke Antenor, and his children heard him in silence;
Impressed by his voice and fearing his curse, they obeyed, albeit sadly.
The only Halamos replied to his father: “White hair is terrible,
Venerable and beloved, of a father, and frightening his curse for his children.
But someone is crying in my heart, and his voice is that of my homeland,
She for whose love I would accept eternal torment in Tartarus
Forgive me, if you will; if the gods can, let them forgive me. 120
For I want to lie in Troy’s dust, embracing her ashes,
The resting place of Polydamas and the many comrades I cherished.
So let me go into the shadows, present in memories or completely forgotten,
But having fought for my country, and in my loss, faithful to my nation .”
Then, in his senile wrath, Antenor replied to Halamos:
“Go therefore and perish condemned with the condemned and the hated of heaven;
The gods, no more than your father, will show you mercy when you die.”
Halamos left the room, and with grief in his chest
He fought with anger; he went towards his dark destiny, without a backward glance towards those who were dear to him.
In mythology, a father’s curse on his children indicates that the seeker is heading down a path that is not in line with the one the father represents, and which will most often prove to be a dead end or a premature attempt. This was the case, for example, with Oedipus’ sons, Eteocles and Polynices, who killed each other outside the gates of Thebes, symbolising a premature attempt to purify the chakras or centres of consciousness.
In this passage from Ilion, the various working modalities of this spiritualised higher mind accept the new direction that is being given, somewhat reluctantly, for the seeker is afraid of going astray. Only one modality, represented by Halamos, opposes it.
None of the authors of Greek mythology mentions a son of Anténor named Halamos. Only a city called Lamos is mentioned in the Odyssey. We have not found the key used by Sri Aurobindo for certain names of Ilion, including Halamos, nor can we use the meaning of the letter-symbols.
From the words of this hero, we can only deduce that he represents what in this spiritualised mind remains strongly attached to the form of the ancient yoga . (Yet a being cries in my heart, and its voice is that of my homeland, for whose love I would accept eternal torment in Tartarus).
Tartarus being the symbol of Nescience, this attachment does not seem to be able to be undone, not even by the forces of the supermental (if the gods can, may they forgive me). Halamos would therefore represent that part of the spiritualised mind which is very strongly attached to the old form of yoga, which cannot bring itself to change the direction of yoga and even prefers to disappear from the memory of the path (So, let me go into the shadows, present in memories or completely forgotten, but having fought for my homeland, and in my loss, faithful to my nation).
The spiritualised mind that has been rejected by the most recent developments of the yogas of the liberation of the Spirit (Anténor) has not accepted this rejection and manifests an “aged wrath”. He reiterates the absolute necessity for the adventurer to rid himself of all attachments, especially those to spiritual forms or structures that have outlived their usefulness. Evil is what was necessary in the past but is no longer good for the future. This is why both the forces of the spirit and yoga, which has made the spiritualised mind possible, unreservedly condemn this attachment represented by Halamos (The gods, no more than your father, will be gracious to you when you die).
This inner tug-of-war between what moves towards the future and what remains attached to spiritual forms, painful but very resolute on both sides, can only cease with the disappearance of this attachment (Halamos left the room, and the grief in his chest fought with anger; he went towards his dark destiny, without a backward glance towards those who were dear to him).
As they passed through the great hall, the son of Antenor and the son of Anchises met. 130
At the point where the paths of their destinies knotted and crossed for the farewell,
One was hastening towards Hades under the curse of the gods and his father,
Fortunate and blessed the other; and yet their judgement and virtue were equal.
The son of Cypris to Antenorides: “I was looking for you and your brothers,
Anténor’s reed; your advice is sorely needed today,
Infinite is our need for the arm of those who are strong, the courage of those who do not back down
The confrontation of myriads of men with their javelin alone in an unequal battle.”
Halamos replied: “I’m on my way to Priam’s palace,
Where Troy still lives, far from the halls of my ancestors
I will speak there, not here . As for the members of my family, they are resting in the house 140
Sitting unarmed under their panelling while their brothers fall in battle”.
The attachment of part of the spiritualised mind to the old forms and that which will work towards the development of love in the future then begin an inner dialogue (the son of Antenor and the son of Anchises met). This is a moment when the adventurer notes that up until now the two paths – the spiritualisation of the mind and the growth of love – have walked together, but that they must separate under the necessities of evolution (At the point where the paths of their destinies knotted and crossed for the farewell).
Sri Aurobindo tells us that up until then they have been equally important, both from the point of view of mental development and the ability to pursue the ideals that the adventurer made his own (and yet their judgement and virtue were equal).
However, the person in charge of the future development of the yoga of love needs to see things clearly in this transitional period, because we mustn’t forget that “intuition has been obscured by fate”. He therefore appeals for enlightened discernment (I have been looking for you and your brothers, branch of Antenor; your advice is sorely needed today).
Indeed, he feels that the aspiration for greater freedom (Menelaus, husband of Helen and the other Achaeans) combined with the need to purify the depths of life (Achilles) is so powerful that fighting them requires unfailing determination. (We have an infinite need for the arm of the strong, for the courage of those who are not deterred by the confrontation of myriads of men with their javelin alone in an unequal battle).
But the part of the spiritualised mind which remains attached to the ancient forms refuses any rapprochement with the future development of the yoga of love as long as it remains close to the spiritualised mind which wants to go in another direction (Where Troy still lives, far from the halls of my ancestors; I will speak there, not here).
And Euros responds sharply to the hero: “So take me instead.
To battle with you; I will wage war against the Greeks instead of my uncles:
One respondent for all, I will occupy their position in the clash with the enemies.”
But from the threshold of his room Anténor heard him and scolded him:
“You scoundrel of my heart, you source of torment that you are! Go to your room! and be quiet,
Bound with ropes if you don’t stop, and whipped into silence, you little scatterbrain!
This will cure your thirst to fight, and our home will find peace again.”
Reprimanded by the old man, Euros slipped out of the great hall, displeased.
But with an indefinable smile that lights up her beauty like a moonbeam. 150
Yoga, which works to universalise the spiritualised higher mind, although it is not yet fully developed, then proposes to replace all the other aspects of this mind in the inner struggle. Euros gets no more response from Halamos than he did from Aeneas, only a reprimand from his grandfather. If this most advanced part of the spiritualised mind is upset, it is nonetheless confident in its possibilities, which bring it closer to the truth, beauty being a symbol of truth (But with an indefinable smile illuminating her beauty like a moonbeam).
But the Dardanides born of the white Aphrodite said to Antenor:
“The Anténorides learn late in life to flinch in the face of Argian spears:
Already this boy of their blood has the courage and value of Polydamas;
A life once honoured and noble should not be tarnished in its decline.
The state of mind of a child would put grey wisdom to shame.
If virtue and Troy were to be forgotten because of an offence committed by the people.
Because, even if the people don’t listen to us, we are bound to our nation:
Above the people are the gods; above a man is his country;
This is the divinity worshipped first and foremost by the households of noble beings.
For it is the will of our nation that governs us in our homes and in battle, 160
And it is for its well-being that we offer our lives and those of our children.
Men rise to the human state, not under the guidance of their will or their passions,
By selfishly seeking their own good, but that of the gods, the State and the ancestors.”
Aeneas is referred to here as the Dardanide to recall his affiliation with Dardanos (see Plate 16) in the same way as Priam, Hector or Paris, meaning that his word carries weight in the discussion with Anténor, who is not of the royal lineage.
This yoga of love recognises that the spiritualised mind offers strong resistance to what requires further purification (the Argians ‘the brilliant, the pure’). (The Antenorides learn late in life to flinch before the Argian spears).
The yoga of love therefore takes up the defence of this incipient enlargement or universalisation of the spiritualised mind, assuring that its development has already reached the realisation obtained by a very great mastery in this field (Already this boy of their blood has the courage and worth of Polydamas). The opposition of the well-established spiritualised mind should not in the way of the aspiration of this broadening movement, if it is not to be the object of later rejection in Yoga (A once honoured and noble life should not be tarnished in its decline).
If ‘the offence of the people‘ can be understood as the rejection of the mind in the most advanced Trojan yoga, the yoga of love pleads the cause of virtue obtained through mastery and psychic transformation, as well as the achievements obtained in the liberation of the spirit, trying to soften mental intransigence (what am I saying! the state of mind of a child would put greying wisdom to shame if virtue and Troy were to be forgotten for the offence of the people).
Many parts of the being pursue their own satisfaction completely independently, unwilling to submit to the demands of the more advanced parts who follow a demanding yoga, obliged only to obey the forces of the spirit world, the gods. Nevertheless, the more advanced parts are bound to the essential form of this yoga, in other words to the pursuit of a particular ideal symbolised by the fatherland (For, even if the people do not listen to us, we are bound to our nation: above the people are the gods; above a man is his fatherland).
This ideal is what the most evolved adventurers of consciousness strive for and submit to (This is the divinity worshipped first and foremost by the homes of noble beings). This ideal is supported by the inner Will – not the Will of the ego – which indicates and imposes the right direction and the right action, both in the inner being and in the struggle of the spiritual warrior (For it is the Will of our nation that governs us in our homes and in battle). And it is to satisfy this ideal that the adventurer gives of himself and his achievements (And it is for his well-being that we offer our lives and those of our children).
Indeed, the seeker cannot rise above his animality and overcome his ego by his personal will derived from intelligence (the buddhi) or the powers of his vital. Instead, he must submit to the forces of the spirit, to the ideal, and integrate the achievements of the past (Men rise to the human state, not under the guidance of their will or their passions, selfishly seeking their own good, but that of the gods, the State and the ancestors).
Anchor angrily replied to Anchises’ belligerent son:
“Great is the soul within you, and inflexible your will, O Aeneas ;
Undaunted, it advances towards its goal, even if it ruins a city.
What’s more, you have as your guides those immortals who are always young and who see most deeply,
One with her heart, the other in her mind, Cypris and Phoibos.
Yet a man who did not know this might think, looking at you, Aeneas:
By driving Priam’s race to its ruin, he puts the city in danger 170
In the hope of building a throne on the ruins of the Troad, with no rivals.
I too have gods to warn and guide me, Athena and Hera.
The paths of those who are guided, whose eyes are none other than the gods,
Different from those of other mortals, and they walk illuminated by a secret light.”
The inner debate about the path to follow, between what works for Love and what works for Wisdom, continues with equally “convincing” arguments on both sides (Anchor angrily retorted to the bellicose son of Anchises).
The spiritualised mind recognises the greatness and determination of the aspiration towards love, which with perseverance and endurance works towards its ideal without concern for results, without attachment to a specific form of spirituality, without attachment to the work or the fruits of the work, according to the Bhagavad Gita (Great is the soul within you, and inflexible your will, O Aeneas; without discouragement, it advances towards its goal, even if a city were ruined by it).
This mind knows that this yoga of love has the support of the supermental forces which help humanity to progress in this direction, namely those represented by Aphrodite and Apollo. (In addition, you have as your guides those of the ever-young immortals who see most deeply, one with her heart, the other with her mind, Cypris and Phoibos).
These two divinities provide the seeker with what is called “penetrating vision”, i.e. the ability to perceive things as they really are. This vision of Reality is based on two centres or chakras, the heart or psychic centre, Anahata, and the centre in the middle of the forehead, Ajna, which represents direct knowledge. Each acts through different powers: perception of the soul or psychic centre for the first, and purified intuition for the second. These two divinities are ‘still young’, because humanity has made very little progress in these two capacities of perception.
Apollo is nicknamed Phoibos, “he who shines”. It is he who must lead humanity beyond reason, towards true Knowledge, towards the Mind of Light, through Intuition.
Here, Aphrodite is called Cypris, a name derived from that of the island of Cyprus. Hesiod recounts the legend of Aphrodite’s birth, in which she was born from the foam of the sea that formed around the sex of Ouranos, thrown into the sea by his son Cronos. It is the symbol of the creative power of the spirit which, in contact with life, generates Love. Homer, however, does not follow this tradition, making Aphrodite the daughter of Zeus and Dione (see Aphrodite in the chapter on the Olympian gods on the greekmyths-interpretation.com website).
Hesiod says that Aphrodite landed in Cythera but was only born in Cyprus, a name whose structuring letters Κ+ΠΡ, mean “who opens to a just movement in relationship” or “love that is about to blossom”. This might suggest that the first evolved form of love appeared with Greek civilisation
Mother describes the progression of human love in these terms:
“First of all, we only love when we are loved.
Secondly, we love spontaneously but we want to be loved in return.
Then you love, even if you’re not loved, but you still want your love to be accepted.
In the end, we love purely and simply, with no other need or joy than that of loving”. (Mother’s diary 16/4/1966).
These two powers of the spirit, Aphrodite and Apollo, see deeply but also beyond time. They therefore know that the structures of ancient yoga are doomed, even if they support them to the last moment.
The spiritualised mind sees the yogas most advanced in the conquest of the spirit disappearing one after the other in this inner conflict (Hector, etc.) and suggests that one of them, that of love, might want to take the lead of the spiritual adventure alone, ignoring the fact that the support of the gods Aphrodite and Apollo is only temporary.
And yet this is what happened with the expansion of Rome and Christianity in the millennia that followed: the quest for Love took precedence over the quest for Truth and Knowledge, at least in the outward religious forms.
This mind even suggests that it could be a manipulation of the spiritual ego so that the path of love is the only unanimously recognised way of uniting with the divine in the spirit. (Yet a man unaware of this fact might think, as he watches you, Aeneas: by pushing Priam’s race to its ruin he is endangering that city, in the hope of building, without a rival in Troy, a throne on ruins).
In this debate, the spiritualised mind states that two powers also support it, that of the master of yoga represented by Athena, the mind of discernment which helps the development of the inner being, and that which imposes the right movement in evolution, Hera (I too have gods to warn and guide me, Athena and Hera).
Sri Aurobindo ends this passage by saying that the paths and practices (yogas) guided by these powers of the supermind differ from other yogas in that they work according to an inner light or guidance, which is therefore secret in the sense that it can only be shared with great difficulty, or perhaps even of which the seeker himself is partly unaware. This can also be said of seekers or adventurers in consciousness and of ordinary people. (The paths of those who are guided, whose eyes are none other than the gods, differ from those of other mortals , and they walk illuminated by a secret light).
Moved to anger by the sarcasm, Aeneas replied coldly:
“You were always full of elevation, and nourished with wisdom, ancient Antenor.
So be favoured and guided in your journey, while taking care that anger and evil
Do not arrogate to themselves more august names, and counterfeit the gait of immortals.”
And with a smile on his lips, but anger in his heart, old Anténor,
Among men the wisest of mortal wisdom, replied 180
“We are mortals, led or lost, and we walk illuminated by a light that is not our own;
Those who wander the most are those who consider themselves the stranger to error.
You will not hear in this battle the clamour of men of my lineage
Just as the Greeks once did with their country, making Fatality flow back.
He alone will be heard, as long as the stern gods are patient,
Who has just come out, a victim offering himself to Hades,
The last that their will snatched from the doomed house of Anténor.”
The scene continues in Anténor’s palace, in other words in the mental structure that the yoga of love is trying, if not to convert, at least to call to a different attitude.
This yoga of love resents being accused of a manipulation that would lead to the destruction of all ancient forms. It recognises the past value of mental development towards the heights of the spirit, which have enabled the acquisition of great wisdom. However, he warns against this part, suggesting that through lack of purification, it could still be subject to interference or at least to a strong influence of the passions on the mind. This mixture could lead to great illusions, where the seeker thinks he is guided by divine forces when in fact he is guided by his ego and his vital demands. Thus, for example, he may mistake ego anger for ‘holy anger’. “You were always full of elevation, and nourished with wisdom, ancient Antenor. Be therefore favoured and guided in your walk, while taking care that anger and evil do not arrogate to themselves more august names, and do not counterfeit the gait of the immortals).
The last word in this inner ‘discussion’ goes to the highest human wisdom acquired in the higher mind, represented by Anténor, a wisdom which nevertheless still belongs to duality (Among men the wisest of a wisdom for mortals). This wisdom does not claim to possess the truth, for it is not even that of the supermind – that of the immortals – even if it receives its influences. It admits that it can make mistakes, while recognising that the light – the consciousness – that guides it and all the planes of being, does not originate in the mind. Because of a lack of purification and elevation, it can be misled. ( “Led or misled, we are mortals, and we walk illuminated by a light that is not our own.)
And Sri Aurobindo continued Anténor’s speech by condemning mental arrogance: Those who wander the most are those who consider themselves the most alien to error. Mother also insisted on this point, saying that “mental arrogance is, of all factors, the most unfavourable to the action of Divine Grace” (Diary of Mother, Volume 7, 19 November 1966).
The seeker then stops the participation of the higher mind in the inner conflict, tired of the struggle and regretting the forms/practices he has already been forced to abandon, and which are represented by his dead children such as Iphidamas (a strong mastery by the mind) (You will not hear in this battle the clamour of the men of my lineage).
He says that he can no longer circumscribe what is opposed to yoga, which seeks liberation in the spirit through the separation of spirit and matter, as he used to do (as once contained the Greeks and their country, making Fatality flow back).
The only branch of this spiritualised mind that will remain in the conflict for some time to come is represented by Halamos, the symbol of “attachment to the form of the old yoga” or perhaps even attachment to the idea that the seeker is the author of this mental yoga and its achievements.
In his commentaries on the Bhagavad Gitâ, Sri Aurobindo explains that if the first movement is to detach ourselves from the work and its fruits, the second is to renounce the claim to be the authors of the work ourselves. (He alone will be heard, as long as the stern gods have patience, who has just come out, a victim offering himself to Hades, the last whom their will has snatched from the condemned house of Anténor).
With anger in their hearts, they parted and parted forever.
Coming out of Antenor’s palace, Aeneas, with a quick step,
Returning to the city, where tanks were now circulating in haste 190
And filled with a growing rumour of war and the march of thousands of men;
Eventually, on the upward curve of Troy, he joins the Anténoride on its way to the crest.
Climbing the steep slope up to Priam’s palace,
All white in the proud fortified citadel. Ascending in silence,
No sooner had their feet attempted the assault on the hill, than the two men heard behind them
A call in a soft voice, and the hurried steps of sandals running briskly
Turning round they saw, with the red in their cheeks and the fire of a look in their eyes
Full of silent challenge and plea, the adolescent beauty of Euros.
“Runner of mischief,” said Halamos, “could you not sit still in your room?
You can be sure that the strings and the wand will be waiting for you, Euros, when you return.” 200
The child replied with a laugh: “I made my way through the ranks of the fighters,
I dove under the wheels of the tanks to get here, and I’m not going back.
I too am going to Priam’s palace for the Council of War.”
Under the weight of their thoughts, they slowly climbed the road to their ancestors,
Facing the iliac hill where Laomédon’s manor house once stood;
They looked down from the ridge, saw the roofs at their feet
From the houses of their homeland, they heard the rumours of Troy far below.
Anténor and Aeneas represent two lines of Yoga which, from the turning point represented by the Trojan War, will no longer be compatible in the pursuit of a quest that would still separate spirit from matter. (With anger in their hearts, they parted and parted forever
The tipping point in this inner conflict is approaching (Aeneas, with a quick step, retraced his steps through the city, where the chariots were now moving in haste, filled with a growing rumour of war and the march of thousands of men).
Perhaps in the following verses Sri Aurobindo wants to give us an indication of the respective achievements of the higher spiritualised mind and the enlightened mind, the former having fulfilled the first injunction of the Gita, indifference to the results of the work but with a remnant of attachment to the work itself (Halamos), while the second (Aeneas as descendant of Tros and son of Assaracos) demonstrates a powerful light or consciousness with powerful achievements in the field of equality, (and as nephew of Ilos and Ganymede) liberation and inner joy. (He eventually joins, in the upward curve of Troy, the Antenorid on his way to the ridge climbing the steep slope up to Priam’s palace, all white in the proud [proud] walled citadel).
It should be remembered that there is a real leap in consciousness between the higher mind and the enlightened mind, characterised essentially by the acquisition of mental silence.
But this enlightened mind has shut itself up in its achievements and certainties, in its “fortified citadel”, because however high the achievements of the mind may be, they do not hold the powers needed to move on to the next stage of evolution, the supramental.
These two inner movements are then joined by the most recent development in the mind, a vast expansion of consciousness represented by Euros. This is a yoga of Knowledge which is true – Euros is beautiful – light, endowed with a great power vision. Although still relatively undeveloped, it asserts itself in the inner combat, self-confident determined, though not entirely sure of being accepted by the forms established by the enlightened mind (the two men (…) turning round saw, with the red in their cheeks and the fire in their eyes full of mute challenge and plea, the adolescent beauty of Euros).
The reaction of the part of the spiritualised higher mind still attached to the old forms, manifests itself in a certain condescension resulting from a disbelief in the capacities of this brand new expansion of the mind, but does not reject it at this stage (“Trickster,” says Halamos, “couldn’t you just sit in your room? Be sure that the ropes and the wand are waiting for you, Euros, when you return.”
This still young cosmic mental consciousness feels that it has won the game and will be able to make its contribution to the inner conflict (I too am going to Priam’s palace for the Council of War).
The following verse could indicate that the parts of consciousness represented by Aeneas, Halamos and perhaps Euros, are still subject to the influence of the thinking mind, for these three characters are “Under the weight of their thoughts”. However, recapitulating the path they have travelled (they slowly climbed the road of their ancestors), they have attained an elevation of consciousness – a witness consciousness – which enables them to consider with detachment the play of the lower parts of the being not yet illuminated. (They looked down from the ridge, saw at their feet the roofs of the houses of their country, and heard, far below, the rumour of Troy).
However, in Priam’s palace, the comings and goings of the domestic slaves
Spreading through all the corridors; an abundance of smoke, rich in aroma, spiralled upwards
From the kitchens, and exhaled from the laborious lungs of Hephaestus. 210
In the depths of the halls and chambers, voices echoed and gathered,
Anklets rattled and clanked, their song echoing from one doorway to the next,
Imitating the haste of happy people through the music and laughter of their race;
There was the sound of weapons, the footsteps of great men and the murmurs of women,
The happy voices of the condemned in the marvellous manor of Laomédon.
The rooms of its splendour were six in number, and it contained one hundred and one chambers.
Rising on columns that evoked the thoughts of its inhabitants,
Thoughts that transcended the earth, even if in the end they crumbled into ashes;
Hephaestus is the divine blacksmith, the god who embodies the supermental powers that create the new forms of yoga, those designed to protect oneself as well as to lead the warrior’s combat. By introducing him in connection with the kitchens of Troy, Sri Aurobindo uses the image of the bellows of the forge, but he probably also wants to indicate that what nourishes yoga in this ascent of the spirit is composed of new forms (an abundant smoke, rich in aroma, rose in spirals from the kitchens, and exhaled from the industrious lungs of Hephaestus).
We have already indicated in Volume 1 that the Trojan achievements represented
by the children of Tros indicate a great progression in equality, which also translates into “pure spiritual and inner happiness, invariable spiritual ease in one’s natural being”, “clear joy and the laughter of the soul that embraces life and existence” (Sri Aurobindo, The Synthesis of the Yogas, chapter XIII, the action of equality).
This is illustrated by the singing of the anklets and the laughter, which is on a higher level than the usual human happiness (Imitating through the music and laughter of their race the haste of happy people).
Dejection can no longer prevail, because the adventurer has long since detached himself from the results. So he can maintain a cheerful equality, whatever the outcome of this inner conflict (Joyful voices of the condemned in the marvellous manor of Laomédon).
Sri Aurobindo then mentions six halls and the one hundred and one rooms of the palace supported by columns (the halls of his splendour were six in number, the palace had one hundred and one rooms).
The halls refer to the collective, the rooms to the individual: this is the image of a set of practices of this yoga of liberation in the spirit which can be grouped into six categories. These categories can undoubtedly be compared to the Sadhana chatushtaya of the Vedanta and Jnana Yoga teachings. These teachings mention four pillars of knowledge, including six virtues: mental tranquillity, control of the senses, detachment, patience or endurance, faith and concentration (There were six halls of his splendour).
The number ‘one hundred and one’ brings to mind the tale of the Thousand and One Nights. So we’re talking about a huge number of practices organised into six categories.
All these practices are based on the mental constructs specific to this yoga, which reach great spiritual heights, heights that transcend our humanity, but which all the same end up collapsing. (Rising on columns whose rise evoked that of the thoughts [was similar to the thoughts] of its inhabitants, thoughts that surpassed the earth, even if in the end they collapsed into ashes).
This brings to mind Sri Aurobindo’s poem The Labour of a God
“But our skies were too bright, too far away,
their ethereal substance too fragile;
too splendid and sudden our light could not remain;
the roots weren’t deep enough.
Apollo had dreamt it to the sound of his lyre; the roofs were a sublimity of it.
In the shape of a dome, which seemed to want to shelter the lives of men under an allusion to the heavens ; 220
Apollo’s columns stood in marble, his roofs in marble,
The wealth conquered over the vast world was suffering under the weight
Of marmoreal purity, of golden magnificence. And there shone not
Only the brutal splendours of matter, but mystical or powerful representations
Populated the ceilings and walls, a work that even the gods admire,
Finding it hard to believe that such forms were imagined by mortals
Here on earth, where vision is blurred and the soul is cluttered.
This structure and organisation of yoga, aimed at liberating the spirit and stabilising the intuitive mind represented by Taygete (ancestor of Helen), was supported by the force governing the development of the Mind of Light, Apollo. The lyre can be associated with “a touch of truth”, which is one of the four powers of the intuitive mind, the expression of a higher harmony (thus Apollo had dreamt him to the sound of his lyre).
The grandiose summits of this yoga structure and its realisations seemed to want to bring knowledge by partial identification with the divine symbolic form, the circle (the roofs [summits] were a sublimity in the shape of a dome, which seemed to want to shelter the lives of men under an allusion to the heavens).
In ancient times, marble was perhaps the most valuable building material, but surely the stone which, polished, had the greatest beauty, and was therefore a symbol of truth. The foundations of this yoga, inspired by the Mind of Light, a mind of vision, were therefore very true, as were the boundaries of its highest achievements (Apollo’s columns were built of marble, his roofs of marble).
The following verse is difficult to understand: Wealth conquered on the vast world suffered under the weight of marble purities, of golden magnificence. We suppose that this refers to the powers acquired by the adventurer in various fields, which are negligible compared to the truth already incarnated (the marble) and the lights coming from the supramental, the golden colour being the symbol of the light of Truth or Knowledge coming from the supramental planes and illuminating the supramental and Intuition planes.
This line could also express the fact that the achievements on the path of ascent represented by the Trojans are a lightening, a subtlety, a rejection of the material that weighs them down. This marble and gold, even the most beautiful, would then make them feel uncomfortable, a certain suffering.
In addition to the conquests achieved through mastery, the Trojans’ highest achievements included access to the very highest truths of the spirit, which can only be transmitted in the form of symbolic representations that themselves carry elements of Truth, and therefore of power. (And it was not only the brutal splendours of the material that shone here, but mystical representations or powerful representations populated the ceilings and walls, works that even the gods admired).
These Truths come from the planes illuminated by the supramental – illuminated mind, intuition, supramental – where Truth manifests itself more and more as we ascend (Cf. Sri Aurobindo’s description of these planes in The Divine Life, Book 2, chapter 26, Ascent to the Supramental).
This admiration of the gods is the image of the astonishment of the supramental consciousness which sees that Truths from the supramental can reach the planes below it. For up to the highest level of the supramental, even if he has finished with the mixing of planes – the disturbance of intuition by the mind, the vital or the physical – the adventurer is still subject to the duality and ignorance from which we come, which disturb the two major centres of perception, the ability to see in truth from the centre between the two eyes (Ajna) and that of direct perception of what is right through the heart centre (Anahata). (I find it hard to believe that such forms were imagined by mortals here on earth, where vision is blurred and the soul lives in clutter).
Scrolls inscribed in precious stones, reminiscent of the austere thoughts of the ancients,
Followed the contours of the stone, and the shapes of the snake and the Naiad
The high walls of Priam’s palace 230
Mixed up with tempting Dryads who then fled, and Satyrs who chased them,
To the games played by nymphs in the sea and forests, and their encounters with mortals,
To the assemblies and battles of the Trojan demigods, to their famous deaths,
To the wars and loves of men, and the prowess of radiant immortals.
Once again, reference is made to the rejection of matter and vital expressions and to the thought that underlies this rejection, a thought that advocates the austerity of the sannyasin and renunciation as an ideal. The ancients had made this ideal the goal of the highest value to be pursued by the adventurer of consciousness. (Scrolls, inscribed in precious stones, recalling the austere thoughts of the ancients, followed the contours of the stone).
In this highest symbolic representation of the forms of yoga that have led to the highest realisations in the spirit (Priam’s palace), we find first of all the serpent, symbol of evolutionary power. This symbol is also present in the biblical Genesis where it incites the woman, symbol of the intuitive part of man, and therefore the first to perceive evolutionary change, to eat of the apple of Knowledge which was to lead to the acquisition of discernment. The symbolic form of the serpent also evokes the cyclical mode of evolution (see The cycles of the mind in the history of humanity). (The shapes of the serpent and the Naiad were embossed on the high walls of Priam’s palace).
The Naiads – pegai potamon – belong to a particular category of Nymphs, who designate the spirits or forces of nature that preside over evolution according to Nature. They reside in the springs of rivers, meaning that they are the origin or principle of each of the movements of consciousness-energy that direct evolution according to Nature, and not according to Consciousness.
The Dryads describe the category of Nymphs who live in groves (alsos: sacred woods), and represent the forces that preside over the development of non-individual plant life forms. They are therefore the group-souls of the plant world who oversee the growth of primitive sensations and reflexes – mainly attraction/repulsion – in the plant world. Sri Aurobindo illustrates this with the image of temptation and flight (Mixed with tempting Dryads, then fleeing).
Homer mentions the Naiads and Dryads, but not the Satyrs. Their representation was developed later with the myths linked to Dionysus. The Satyrs represent the reproductive instinct that translates into sexual urges in man (…and the Satyrs who chased them).
Sri Aurobindo continues his description of the planes of which the adventurer of consciousness has drawn up a precise inventory.
First of all, the games of the nymphs, which express the spontaneous and joyful movement of the forces of nature in both the plant and animal kingdoms as long as the animal ego has not yet appeared, i.e. when the first movement of individuation of the animal in relation to the laws of group or herd functioning has not yet manifested itself. This is the level of Thaumas, son of Pontos in the diagram of vital growth (see Plate 2) (At the games of the nymphs in the sea and the forests).
At this level of evolution, the adventurer is able to establish conscious relationships with these forces and group-souls. In Mother’s Agenda, mention is made not only of Mother’s exceptional perception of the plant kingdom and flowers in particular, but also of her interactions with the soul groups of several categories of animals, including snakes. (…and their encounters with mortals).
Then it is the achievements in the liberation of the Spirit that are mentioned, with the Trojan heroes reaching the stage of demigods, the liberation of Nature conferring on man in the future the status of a god in his own right, when he has reached the height of the supermental. The assemblies are attempts to bring together different practices, the battles are those of the spiritual warrior waged with a view to these realisations and the famous deaths are illustrations either of failure or of the cessation of a particular type of yoga which is no longer necessary for evolution (To the assemblies and battles of the Trojan demigods, to the famous deaths). These assemblies and battles are the expressions, on the higher planes of the mind where Troy is situated, of the action of the forces of separation and fusion.
There is also a symbolic representation of the action of these two forces at the level of the personality, resulting in inner conflicts and particular attractions or preferences, for example for certain types of achievement depending on the nature of the seeker (To wars and to the loves of men).
Finally, it is said that the adventurer at this level has perceived in himself and in humanity the action of the forces of Truth manifesting themselves at the level of the supermental (and to the prowess of the radiant immortals. A more accurate translation would be: and to the deeds of the golden immortals).
Pillars adorned with gods and giants stood on pedestals.
In the shape of a lion, or resting on bulls, giving an ample size
In the rooms where they took off ; or, shaped with princely slenderness,
Adorned with flowers and reeds, like virgins standing on the Ida,
They guarded the stone partitions and separated the alcoves from the bedrooms.
Carved ivory, embroidered dresses, highly prized sandalwood riches from the Indus, 240
Triumphant and abundant in Priam’s palace;
Chiselled, fragrant doors protected the joys of its princes.
We have already mentioned the pillars as being the foundations on which the highest realisations rest. Sri Aurobindo mentions here two categories of pillars.
The first category, through the image of the Battle of the Gods against the Giants in which Heracles took part, long after his famous works, evokes the perception not only of the action of spiritual forces (the gods) but also of the very powerful forces that reside in the depths of our nature at the level of our cells and that block the manifestation of their powers: forces of coiling, repetition, mimicry, etc. illustrated by the Giants (Pillars adorned with gods and giants…).
These pillars were either sculpted in the shape of a lion at the base or rested on sculpted bull bases.
In the first work of Heracles, the lion indicates an accomplished ego that must be defeated in order to be replaced by the psychic being, but it is also a symbol of strength, courage, power and might (Sri Aurobindo, CWSA Vol. 30 Letters on Yoga – Book III The Opening of the Inner Senses – Symbols). Both symbolic points of view can be considered: advanced yoga cannot be realised if there is no accomplished ego, and this yoga also needs the strength and courage of the adventurer.
According to Sri Aurobindo, the bull is a symbol of strength and power, but above all the symbol of the “power of realisation of the luminous mind”. In this case, the pillars are not sculpted at their base, but rest on plinths representing bulls: it is no longer a question of emergence, but of mastery, of the powers of the mind. The mind, through the development of concentration and intention, can develop powers that are unknown to ordinary people, only evoked by what may seem like miracles or black magic.
These pillars, signs of power and mastery, give a feeling of majestic grandeur to the collective yogas (the rooms where mantra recitations, sacred chants and various collective practices take place) (Pillars decorated with gods and giants rose on lion-shaped pedestals, or rested on bulls, giving an ample grandeur to the rooms where they took off).
While the first category of pillars relates above all to the movement of ascension of the planes of consciousness, the second category of supports for this advanced yoga in the liberation of the spirit relates more to the individual practices of purification/liberation and mark the separation between yogic work and rest or personal activities. These yogic practices, which have been elaborated by the masters with precision and delicacy (fashioned with princely slenderness, adorned with flowers and reeds), evoke very high aspirations to union in the spirit (similar to virgins standing on the Ida).
This yoga is symbolically separated from life by stone walls or screens, indicating that the spirit/matter separation is truly consolidated (they kept the stone partitions and separated the alcoves from the rooms).
Three categories of spiritual support are mentioned: carved ivory as a symbol of purity, embroidered robes representing elevated spiritual functions and sandalwood from the highest conquests of the spirit (the Indus is located to the east of Greece) used as incense to facilitate the interiorisation and elevation of the spirit. (Carved ivory, embroidered dresses and the highly prized sandalwood riches of the Indus triumphed and abounded in Priam’s palace).
The practice of the yogas most advanced in the liberation of the spirit was protected by ‘doors’ manifesting the truth and purity of the senses (chiselled and fragrant doors protected the joys of its princes).
This inventory of the achievements of the adventurer who has reached the level of the enlightened mind in this description of Priam’s palace brings to mind what Apollonius of Rhodes says in his account of the conquest of the Golden Fleece, namely that the Egyptians engraved the entire spiritual path in stone.
There, in a bright, intimate room, Pâris was arming himself.
Next to him, Hélène was busy with her divine white , absorbed in her task,
She fastened his cuirass, tied his leggings and put on his hauberd,
Making her body quiver with its touch, ravishing like heaven the ardent desire of humans.
Caressing the insensitive metal with her hands of delight ,
She pressed her lips against the gleaming armour, then leaned in, whispering:
“Cuirass, allotted by the gods, protects the beauty of Paris ;
Keep for me that for which I lost my country, my child and my brothers.” 250
Tenderly she knelt at his feet, in front of the strings of her lover’s sandals;
One of the finest examples of the achievements of yoga in the quest for liberation of the spirit is Pâris, one of Priam’s sons, a symbol of the realisation of equality through great renunciation. Achieving detachment to the end through the path of renunciation, that of Sannyasin, detachment from everything that binds or hinders the quest for union with the divine in the spirit, is what brought Paris closer to Helen, who is the symbol of the quest for greater freedom. Every movement must be completed before a new evolutionary direction can take effect. It is this final achievement of renunciation that will be played out on this last day of the war. This renunciation confers a certain inner light. As Helen is the most beautiful of the Trojan women, she is the symbol of the quest for the highest and purest evolutionary truth. (There, in a bright and intimate room , Paris was arming himself. Next to him was the divinely white Hélène.)
This ideal of greater freedom, which is not yet perceived as necessarily requiring liberation from nature, is therefore involved right to the end in the struggle to find the divine in the spirit through renunciation, which is the only possible goal of yoga: it helps to maintain the protections of her practices (absorbed in her task, she attached her breastplate, tied the leggings and put on the shroud).
What Hélène represents, the quest for ever greater freedom, is the highest aspiration of seekers of truth and adventurers of consciousness (Making her body quiver with her touch, which ravished like heaven the ardent desire of humans).
The protections of this yoga of detachment acquired through mastery are not linked to a higher level of consciousness, because the gradual expansion of consciousness corresponds to greater and greater sensitivity, which is not the case here with the insensitive metal of the armour (Caressing the insensitive metal with his hands of delight).
The forces of the supermental accompany this true movement of detachment/renunciation to the end, which is why its protections have been “allowed” by the gods (Cuirasse, allotted [allowed] by the gods, protects Pâris’ beauty).
In a final movement, just before a shift in consciousness that will be developed in the following verses, this part of the adventurer’s consciousness begs to be allowed to keep the work of detachment and equality for which it has given up the basis of its yoga and its associated practices and their still-growing results. (Keep for me that for which I have lost my country, my child and my brothers).
It should be noted that Hélène does not address the gods, but only that which protects this achievement of equality, Pâris’s breastplate.
We must remember that Paris is also Alexander, the man who “pushes away”, the symbol of that which separates spirit from matter. So while detachment can only be achieved by rejecting life and the world, it certainly cannot be complete. True detachment must be achieved in life, without any rejection, but through perfect equality before gain or loss, sorrow or joy, pain or well-being.
This pursuit of an ideal of freedom has a final movement of respect and gratitude for this high achievement in detachment and progress in equality (Tenderly she knelt at his feet, before the cords of her lover’s sandals).
Then, as she looked up, her mood changed, for within her rose
The inner genie that had united Greece and was about to reduce Troy to ashes.
A perfect smile, full of peril, gradually broke over her beauty
Like the sun on Paradise, she cast a strange glance at her lover,
That of a goddess who, playing with the love of a mortal,
Spend an hour on earth before soaring, all white, towards Olympus.
“You’re the winner again, Pâris: the ascendancy of your spirit
Lead today’s Troy where you will, O you mighty being veiled in your
The first in dance and revelry, and in the joy of the fray 260
Who wouldn’t leave home and hearth without remorse for the love of you?
Winner, you still reign over Troy, over Destiny, over Helen.
At this moment a reversal of consciousness occurs in this part of the adventurer under the effect of the inner guide. Sri Aurobindo uses the term Daemon (δαιμων translated here as Genie) and not Athena to indicate that this is not an action of the highest supermental, but of the inner divine as it may be perceived by the adventurer. It is this divine who has brought together the elements – qualities, particular yogas, awarenesses and practices – that must put an end to the yoga that separates spirit from matter (Then, as she looked up, her mood was changed, for within her rose the inner Genie who had united Greece and was going to reduce Troy to ashes).
There seems to be an astonishing contradiction in the smile that appears on Hélène’s face, a face of beauty that reveals the truth of evolution. At once a “perfect” smile that suggests peace, inner joy and perfect harmony. And at the same time, a smile “fraught with peril”, hinting at the action of the divine force, the Shakti in its destructive form, Kâli. This smile prefigures a radiant future for humanity. (A perfect smile fraught with peril gradually rose over her beauty like the sun over Paradise).
The adventurer then manifests a powerful distancing through the action of the witness consciousness. This consciousness has an accurate vision of the evolutionary movement at the level of the supermind, and sees the interplay of forces in a completely different way than the ordinary human mind can apprehend it, a game which might seem strange if not cruel to the latter. For man’s vision and understanding are always extremely limited by the action of his mind, and he cannot rise to the consciousness that reigns above apparent contradictions (she cast a strange look at her lover).
The inner conflict that is approaching its denouement, and which is symbolically the consequence of Paris’s love for Helen, is comparable in its duration to an hour in the life of a goddess, which is an insignificant length of time at the supermental level. This moment brings us back to the cause of the war, the choice by the shepherd Paris-Alexander of Aphrodite as the most beautiful of the three goddesses ahead of Athena and Hera. The truth of the divine game is in no way affected by this interplay of forces, which led the ancients to say that men were cattle for the gods (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad I. IV. 22). (That of a goddess who, playing with the love of a mortal, would spend an hour on earth before leaping, all white, towards Olympus).
This Witness Consciousness sees the realisation represented by Paris – equality and detachment through renunciation of worldly life – as the highest achievement of Yoga up to this ultimate tipping point. This had already been recognised by the spiritualised higher mind, Anténor: “Now the greatest of us is Pâris” (Cf. Book 2). This realisation, which is true and powerful, is what has the greatest influence on the orientation of Yoga, which seeks to merge with the Divine in the spirit: detachment and equality are in fact the first realisations described in the Bhagavad Gîta (Here you are again the winner, Paris: the ascendancy of your spirit leads where you want today’s Troy, O you powerful being veiled in your beauty).
This non-attachment to action and to the fruits of action makes it possible to live in the moment and to maintain equality or inner peace, both in the pleasures of the soul and in the battles of yoga (the former in the dance and revelry, and the latter in the joy of the melee). This realisation of equality incorporates two successive movements. The first is passive equality (or impassivity) in the face of the impacts and phenomena of existence, which can be based on one of three movements – endurance, indifference and submission.
The second is an active equality that responds to impacts and phenomena by imposing the seal of divine knowledge, bliss and power on the life of the soul in nature (see The Synthesis of Yoga, The Yoga of Self-Perfection, Chapter 12, The Path of Equality).
For such a realisation, what seeker would not be prepared to break his ties, to renounce his beliefs, his external surroundings and his affections (Who would not leave home and hearth without remorse for the love of you?).
Until this moment in the yoga of the liberation of the spirit through renunciation of life, this realisation is considered to be the most advanced and powerful from the point of view of the structure of yoga, from the point of view of what is perceived as destiny – i.e. Divine Will – and from the point of view of spiritual evolution (Winner, you still reign over Troy, over Destiny, over Helen).
Can you always win like this? Is Death no match for your beauty?
And Fate no whip for your sins? How splendidly the years have passed,
Years of this heaven of the gods here, O kidnapper, since I left the family hearth,
You captured me and took me by force to your ships on the waves, and to my own joy!
Troy is surrounded by spears, its children and its glories fall;
Magnanimous heroes fell face down in the darkness;
You and I are still here! Mothers lament the fact that our pleasure lasts.
Wilt thou then, O son of Priam, keep me forever in Troy? 270
It is said that my mother was Fatality, and that Zeus begat me for the present hour.
Are you a god too, oh hero, disguised in this human robe?
Radiant, unconcerned with death and sin, as if you were sure of your bliss
What if today Fatality were to get its hands on you, Pâris?”
Doubt grows in the consciousness of the adventurer, who wonders whether this highest realisation in the separation of mind and matter should still be perpetuated as the ultimate Truth of yoga (Can you always win in this way? Does Death have no hold on your beauty
From the point of view of the true evolutionary perspective (Hélène), the adventurer is well aware of the imperfection and incompleteness of this realisation, which yoga in the heights of the spirit has considered as untransformable (And Fate no whip for your sins?).
This vision of evolution, looking back over the period that is drawing to a close, sees the glorious achievements in equality and the realms of the spirit that have taken the adventurer to the frontiers of the supermind (With what splendour the years have passed, years of this heaven of the gods right here.)
The Trojan War began with the judgment of Paris, which was caused by the anger of Eris, goddess of separation, who had not been invited to the wedding of Thetis and Peleus. This wedding indicated the moment when the adventurer should consciously move towards a purification of the depths of vitality, in other words a gradual unveiling of the truth of matter buried beneath millennia of evolution. But the adventurer – and humanity in his wake – had rejected this direction, preferring to deepen the conquest of the higher planes of the spirit within the separation of spirit and matter
Sri Aurobindo takes up the idea that this orientation was imposed by the most advanced part of the being in equality and inner peace through the renunciation of life, the image of which is the abduction of Helen (O abductor, since, taking me away from the family hearth, you captured me and took me by force to your ships on the waves…). But he adds that it could not have been otherwise, both for the adventurer and for humanity (...and for my own joy!). Mythology does not say that Helen opposed this abduction, and Sri Aurobindo even tells us later that she agreed in her heart.
The adventurer pursues his awareness, noting that under the onslaught of the need to evolve, many very old or even new practices that led to glorious achievements have fallen into oblivion (Troy is encircled by spears, its children and its glories succumb; magnanimous heroes have fallen face down in the darkness).
But the principle of a yoga of renunciation pursued apart from the world with a view to greater freedom still dominates the spiritual quest, to the detriment of many other aims of yoga. And the adventurer wonders if this is really the direction of future evolution (You and I are still here! Mothers lament so that our pleasure lasts. Will you then, O son of Priam, keep me forever in Troy?)
The next verse confirms that it could not be otherwise, since it was the inevitable and foreseen outcome of a supernatural creation (It is said that I had Fatality for my mother and that Zeus begat me with a view to the present hour).
Hélène’s last words in this passage leave ambiguity hanging over her commitment to Pâris, a commitment that we might expect from marriage. With an inner questioning that uses irony on itself, the adventurer wonders whether this equality achieved through renunciation is a perfect realisation of the supramental, beyond duality, and therefore immortal, because it is linked to the psychic. It would then no longer be a form of yoga that corresponded to a specific period of yoga and human spirituality and must now be overcome, but an obligatory passage for evolution (Are you too a god, O hero, disguised in this human robe, radiant, unconcerned with death and sin as if you were sure of your bliss?) His conclusion is rather that these are the last moments of this particular yoga and that greater equality must be sought (What if today Fatality were to get its hands on you, Pâris?).
He looked calmly at the face that Greece had fallen in love with, at the body longed for.
The great Troy had been immolated; he calmly fixed that goddess’s smile, Adorable and fearsome, on the lips he loved,
Saw in the woman the daughter of Zeus, and was not shaken.
“Argos’ temptress,” he replied, “a trap designed to take over the world,
So you hope to escape! But the gods could not take you, O Helen : 280
How then could your will, captive of mine, how could it, even by arms,
The unfortunate man who lost you, the Spartan, the illustrious Menelaus?
Zeus himself is his accomplice.
When, like a god, he wants without remorse or desire.
You have been mine on this earth ever since I saw you and claimed you as my own: and you certainly didn’t say anything,
But your eyelids lowered, veiling the acquiescence of your heart.
I’ll know how to get hold of you in the afterlife, whatever it may be, O Helen,
Just as I knew it here on earth, so I shall know it in heaven as I knew it in Sparta
I will enjoy you on the Champs Élysées as I do today on the Troad.”
To know the right evolutionary direction is what all parts of the being aspire to. It is more than an aspiration, it is an imperative need that has already shaken many forms of yogas (He calmly looked at the face with which Greece was infatuated, the body to whose desire the great Troy was immolated).
This “equal” consciousness contemplates the truth of evolution, which can unfold in harmony as well as in destruction. It admits, without being shaken, that this evolution follows a plan derived from the supermental. (He gazed calmly at this goddess-like smile, Adorable and fearsome, on the lips he loved, saw in the woman the daughter of Zeus, and was not shaken).
The name Argos comes from the root “Arg”: to be white and/or to be agile. It is a symbol of purity, light, speed and agility, all qualities that can describe the adventurer of consciousness in search of the right evolutionary direction towards greater freedom. This quest for freedom is what we all aspire to, the liberation of the spirit and the liberation of nature as described by Sri Aurobindo (“Temptress of Argos,” he replied, “a trap designed to take over the world”).
The adventurer who has achieved equality through renunciation perceives that evolutionary truth is no longer entirely on his side, but clings desperately to his beliefs. Even the forces of the supermind have given him no indication that yoga should evolve in a different direction (So you hope to escape! But the gods could not take you, O Helene).
Hélène, representing a goal and not a yoga, cannot symbolically have a will of her own. A goal is linked to the yoga that seeks to achieve it (how then could your will, captive of mine). Nor is it another form of yoga born of the aspiration which pursued this goal before this inner conflict arose, which can reappropriate this goal by trying to eliminate certain practices turned towards heights and which refuse life symbolised by the Trojans (how could it be, even by arms, the unfortunate man who lost you, the Spartan, the illustrious Menelaus?).
This part of the adventurer is convinced that the will rid of all desire, of all expectation, turned solely towards greater detachment, receiving support from the highest supermind and identified with the divine Will, cannot be defeated. It is no longer a question of personal will, that of the ego, but of the Will born of union with the divine. This is the second realisation indicated by the Bhagavad Gita, by which the seeker has not only freed himself from all attachment to the act and its fruits, but has also renounced considering himself as the author of the act. Since he has become an instrument of the divine who acts through him, there can no longer be any remorse, since he does what the divine wills (everything yields to a man; Zeus himself is his accomplice when, like a god, he wills without remorse or desire).
Consequently, it does not matter what the final result is, whether this yoga retains its first place in future yoga or is replaced.
At this point in the evolution of the seeker and of humanity, this section affirms that this yoga of the liberation of the spirit through separation from life was a necessary and inescapable step. It was a question of acquiring equality and union with the divine through renunciation of the world (You are mine on this earth since when I saw you I claimed you: and of course you said nothing, but your eyelids lowered, veiling the acquiescence of your heart).
Whatever the outcome of the inner conflict and future yoga, this stage will remain engraved in the subconscious as a just step in individual and human evolution. The Elysian Fields is one of the domains of the kingdom of Hades and is the place where the souls of great heroes go after their death, those who have been particularly deserving in life. It is a place of material consciousness – that of the corporeal unconscious – symbolising progress or achievements that have been brought to a conclusion.
The term Élysées Hλuσιον can be understood with the letters Λ+ ΣΙ as a realisation of human consciousness on the path to freedom. Sparta “that which arises”, the city of Helen and Menelaus, is the symbol of a structure in which the new can manifest itself. The Troad is the province where Troy or Ilion is located (I will know, in whatever afterlife there may be, how to take you, O Helen, just as I have known it here on earth, – yes, I will know it in heaven as in Sparta; I will enjoy you in the Champs Élysées as I do today in the Troad).
She let a moment’s silence pass, like someone under the spell of ecstatic music. 290
That she is alone with her lover to hear in the sky,
Then, in her irresistible beauty, she rose, divine among women.
“Yes,” she cried, “what the gods do is good, and the actions of mortals :
This game of the world is a good thing, and joy, and torment.
Praised be the hour of the gods when I married the illustrious Menelaus!
Even more praiseworthy are the ships whose keels split the seas to reach Helen,
Churning the unfeeling wave that knew not the bliss of its burden!
Praise be to the end of the hour when I walk with you through the gates of my husband,
Laughing with joy in my heart at the arms that carried me and chained me!
Death can never undo what life has done for us, Pâris; 300
Whatever happens, the time of our intoxication will never have passed.
Hélène agreed with Pâris’s vision of evolution: if the principle of the quest for greater freedom seemed for a moment to be chained to the yoga that separates spirit from matter, he accepted that the divine plan is perfect whatever happens and that the best conditions are always present at any given moment for the evolution of the individual as well as for that of larger groups and the whole. (She let a moment’s silence pass, like one who is under the spell of ecstatic music that she and her lover alone can hear in the sky).
So it’s not a question of torturing ourselves in anticipation of the future, but of enjoying the moment in perfect consecration and obedience to the divine. Everything is perfect at every moment, but it is a relative perfection that must tend towards divine perfection. In this evolutionary vision, everything takes its rightful place, both the action of the forces of the spirit that support evolution and that of mankind; both the action that has its source in non-duality and that that stems from duality. (Then, in her irresistible beauty, she rose, divine among women. “Yes,” she cried, “what the gods do is good, and the actions of mortals
This total acceptance of the divine game even goes so far as to consider without being disturbed extremes that evolved man considers revolting and unacceptable, such as torture. Sri Aurobindo has told us that the greatest pain can indeed be the preparation for the greatest ecstasy (This play of the world is a good thing, and joy, and torture [torment]).
The adventurer looks back on his past and realises that everything was perfect in his development, from the moment when he first yearned for greater freedom to the time he spent completing his quest for union with the divine in the spirit by renouncing the world (Praise be to the gods for the hour when I married the illustrious Menelaus! Praised still more are the ships whose keels split the seas to reach Helen)
The adventurer didn’t know the new path to the liberation of Nature, so it was easier to rely on a yoga that had already proved its worth (Churning the erratic waves [the insensitive wave], whose burden knew no bliss!).
Although the previous movement is coming to an end, the adventurer is full of gratitude for having lived it to the end, for having achieved the liberation of the spirit through the equality obtained by renouncing the world (Praised be to the end the hour when I walked with you through the gates of my husband, laughing with joy in my heart at the arms that carried me and chained me!)
(Death can never undo what life has done for us, Pâris; no matter what happens, the time of our intoxication cannot have been invoked).
It is also a good thing that nations meet in the shock of battle,
Let heroes be killed, let a theme be created for the songs of the poets,
Songs that will set hearts aflutter at the name of Hélène and the beauty of Pâris.
It’s still a good thing that empires fall for the eyes of a woman,
For Helen, Hector had expired, Memnon had been slaughtered,
The valiant Sarpedon fell, Troilos perished in his adolescence.
Troy in flames for Helen, with her glory, her empire and her riches,
This is the sign of the gods, the symbol of things subject to death.
You who are related to the masters of heaven and, in the image of your noble race, free in your movements 310
On this ancient Trojan stage with the gods as spectators,
Play your part to the end, O marvellous and splendid actor:
Fight and kill the Greeks, my compatriots; come back victorious,
For the price of the game, find your delight in the Argienne Hélène.
Tear from my breast a foretaste of the joy denied to those whom death claims,
And in the kiss of my lips, steal a spasm from the intoxications of heaven.”
She embraced him whole, and her arms of desire formed a terrifying belt,
The divine ceste of the terrible Aphrodite. Like the gods when they have drunk of a wine that is not earthly,
He swelled up under her kisses and rejoiced in her ruin.
The part of consciousness that seeks greater freedom recognises that evolution cannot stand still, that the old spiritualities must be destroyed to allow the new to emerge and that the practices attached to them must disappear (It is also good that nations meet in the shock of battle, that heroes are killed).
It is necessary, however, that past achievements remain in the memory, as much in the memory of the adventurer as in that of the people, following a defined progression. It is necessary for these achievements to be sung by those who have had access to higher truths, for the call to greater freedom to always stir the soul, for equality to always be seen as an essential truth and the basis of all achievement (a theme must be created for the poets’ songs, songs that will stir hearts in the name of Helen, and before the beauty of Paris).
It is a necessity that vast spiritual structures collapse under the call of the Ideal, that for the Truth of evolution the extension of consciousness and aspiration, both turned towards the heights of the spirit (Hector and Memnon), the impulse of the supermental for victory over illusions through personal effort (Sarpedon is a rival of the gods), as well as the movement towards the heights for the liberation of the spirit (Troilos), have disappeared. The fate of Troilos, one of Priam’s youngest sons and a symbol of the most accomplished work in this direction, because he is a paragon of young male beauty, is linked to that of Troy. He is therefore pursued and killed first and foremost by Achilles, the yoga who brings about the shift towards purification of the depths.
(It is still a good thing that empires fall for the eyes of a woman, that for Helen Hector expired, Memnon was slaughtered, the valiant Sarpedon fell, Troilus perished in his adolescence).
These forms of yoga, so well established, so organised, so widespread in humanity, and which have enabled so many achievements, were developed in a certain period of evolution and must disappear when the time comes (Troy in flames for Helen, with her glory, her empire, her riches,
this is the sign of the gods, the symbol of things subject to death).
By mentioning that Paris is kin to the masters of heaven, Sri Aurobindo is either referring to the origin of the lineage – Zeus united with Electra – or simply wanting to indicate a realisation of the adventurer close to the supermental. He also indicates the liberation of the spirit for the heroes of the lineage, emphasising that the movement must continue to its end (You who are related to the masters of heaven and, in the image of your noble race, free of your movements on this ancient Trojan stage which has the gods as spectators, play your part to the end, O you marvellous and splendid actor).
The adventurer of consciousness must consider events as Arjuna must, with detachment and equality, without concern for the result and with the awareness that he is not the author of the act, for it is the divine game, a game in which the ego must disappear in order to be fully played. Then, having accomplished the task given to him and fought the spiritual warrior’s battle, he will be able to understand and enjoy evolutionary truth. (Fight and kill the Greeks, my compatriots; when you return victorious, as the prize of the game, find your delight in the Argian Helen).
On the other hand, spiritual forms and practices destined to disappear cannot benefit from the joy that the right evolution brings (Tear from my breast a foretaste of the joy denied to those whom death claims). This evolution, whatever the price to be paid, leads to divine intoxication, of which the adventurer can have a foretaste if he follows the injunctions given to Arjuna by the divine within (And in the kiss of my lips, steal a spasm from the intoxications of heaven)
In the last verses of this passage, it is said that the adventurer achieves in a part of his being a total surrender, a total love for the divine in its dynamic, evolutionary aspect, which also manifests itself in destruction. This is the third stage described in the Bhagavad Gita, where the adventurer, having fully admitted that he is not the author of the act, that it is the Divine Mother who directs, organises and carries it out through him, becomes a totally transparent tool in Her hands. This total submission brings a divine joy that has nothing to do with earthly joy, a foretaste of Ananda. What at the ordinary earthly level is first a vital sexual desire, then a mastery and transformation, is at the highest level Eros, the principle that unites Existence and Consciousness, the attraction or reciprocal Love of Spirit for Matter (She embraced him whole, and her arms of desire formed a terrifying belt, the divine ceste of the terrible Aphrodite. Like the gods when they have drunk of a wine that is not earthly, he swelled up under her kisses, and rejoiced in her ruin).
As they conversed, at this hour of their farewell on earth, 320
A young slave girl with nimble feet came into the room:
“Pâris, your father and mother wish to see you; there, in the outer room
Reserved for foreigners, Aeneas and Halamos await your arrival.”
Then, with the Argian, he headed for Priam’s spacious chamber
In the depths of Laomedon’s dwelling, where Troy looked towards the heights of Ida.
Priam and Hecuba, the ancient white-haired sovereigns,
Waiting for him there, seated in their ivory armchairs, calm in their grandeur;
Cassandra, buried in her dresses, huddled at their feet to escape her visions.
The end of the old Yoga is near, which will see a new evolutionary direction for spirituality and human evolution (As they conversed thus, at this hour touching their farewell on earth). This part of the adventurer – the equality acquired through renunciation – allied to a first experience of union with the highest of divine Love, under the aegis of his lineage, is invited to enter into dialogue with the parts of his being linked to the development of human love and to what remains attached to the form of the spiritualised mind. (Paris, your father and mother wish to see you; there, in the outer room reserved for strangers, Aeneas and Halamos await your arrival).
This inner dialogue takes place in the depths of our being, where the aspiration to union with the Divine (Ida) lies in the liberation of the spirit (Troy) (Then, with the Argian, he headed for Priam’s spacious chamber in the depths of Laomedon’s dwelling, where Troy looked towards the heights of Ida).
Priam was named the ‘redeemed one’ after Heracles destroyed Troy, symbolising the adventurer who was given a second chance to include life in his yoga. However, Priam was united with Hecuba: the adventurer turned once again towards a goal that renounced the transformation of vital and corporeal external nature, extricating himself from everyday life, its difficulties and conflicts.
It was this couple who determined the yoga of the liberation of the spirit through the renunciation of life (Priam and Hecuba, the ancient white-haired sovereigns, were waiting for him there).
The corresponding yoga has nonetheless built a solid foundation of purification of the mind (white hair), development of the psychic being and equality (sitting in their ivory armchairs, calm in their grandeur). In Greek mythology, white hair symbolises a purified mind and golden hair an intuitive mind
Sri Aurobindo also told us that intuition had been obscured by fate.
This is confirmed by the myth of Cassandra, daughter of Priam and Hecuba, which appears in Agamemnon by Aeschylus, a playwright of the 5th century BC: wishing to win Cassandra’s favour, Apollo promised to teach her the art of prophecy. She learned the art but refused the god’s favour, who in return deprived her prophecy of the power of persuasion.
The adventurer is already a “seer”, but he refuses to recognise its origin, namely an emanation of the light of Truth. He puts off as long as he can his visions of the destruction of Troy and the carnage, in other words of everything that must be destroyed to bring about the overthrow (Cassandra, buried in her robes, had huddled at their feet to escape her visions).
“O my father,” said Pâris, “since your thoughts have followed me, your blessing
Will not fail to help me today in my fight against the valour of Achilles. 330
It is also certain that the gods will end up obeying the power of our courage,
Pallas and Hera, Artemis with sandals of fire, Zeus and Apollo.
The immortal radiances always serve man when, firmly, in an uprising of his will,
He rises to the heavens like an unflickering flame:
Ares is at work in his heart, Hephaestus burns in his toil.”
The adventurer relies on the certainties inherited from long practice to continue firmly rejecting the purification of the depths of vitality (“O my father,” says Pâris, “since your thoughts have followed me, your blessing will not fail to help me today in my struggle against the valour of Achilles).
He wants to persuade himself that, thanks to his courage, perseverance and endurance, the forces of the spirit that support yoga will all end up supporting the struggle to preserve the old. The gods who support the Achaean camp, such as Pallas-Athena, the force that helps the development of the inner being identified with the master of yoga, and Hera, the force that ensures that evolution follows the divine plan. But also the gods who still appear to support the Trojan camp, such as Artemis, the power of purification always focused on the future, Zeus, the highest light-force of the supermind, and Apollo, the god of the Mind of Light, the light-consciousness that sees the future. (It is also certain that the gods will end up obeying the power of our courage, Pallas and Hera, Artemis with sandals of fire, Zeus and Apollo).
Through his long practice of yoga, the adventurer is convinced that the forces of the supermind are always there to help him as long as his inner fire burns without wavering, with an intense aspiration towards union with the divine in the spirit supported by his will. We can assume that at this stage, it is no longer the will of the ego but that which is united with the divine will perceived by the psychic and purified of all mixture. Two forces support him in his yoga: that which supports the spiritual warrior, which destroys the forms and cuts the links that are no longer necessary for evolution, especially in the affective vital, thus helping detachment (Ares); and the fire of aspiration which builds the forms necessary for evolution conceived in the supermental, such as the dwellings of the gods, as well as the supports for the practices and the necessary protections such as the weapons and armour of the heroes (Hephaestus).
If it should be otherwise, i.e. if the help of the spiritual powers is lacking, and if it is not a question of a personal lack, it is indeed a necessary reversal of yoga, the cause of which escapes the adventurer, that must take place. This cause is therefore called fate. (The immortal radiances always serve man when, firmly, in an uprising of his will, he rises towards the heavens, like a flame that does not flicker: Ares is at work in his heart, Hephaestus burns in his labour.)
Priam replied to his son: “Everything happens on earth, Alexander,
According to the prior will of the gods, and yet we mortals have to fight,
Knowing that everything is useless, we nevertheless make an effort; because our nature always grips us
And it’s dragging us along like cattle, herded and pushed towards the slaughterhouse or the pasture.
This is how the most high gods fashioned these–instruments of their action and of their good pleasure; 340
They use failure and pain as much as the strength of the victor;
They collapse in the blow that is struck, resist in the sobs of those who are struck.
They are so powerful that I too must follow the ordinary paths,
And I, who know, send for you, urged on by Cassandra.
Speak, O my child, since Apollo has willed it, speak once, then keep silent.”
Sri Aurobindo attributes to Priam a capacity for vision and knowledge that integrates and surpasses those of his many children, even if they are less developed in him, since children are always an extension of the latent potential of their parents (I who know). What he cannot clearly express, he will have his daughter Cassandra express. Priam is addressing his son here as Alexander and not as Paris, in other words as that yoga which rejects human nature as untransformable.
This part of the consciousness has recognised first of all that there is no chance, that everything is part of the divine plan, but that we have to fight. Even if we are convinced that our personality can do nothing useful, that is, as long as we are not totally united with our psychic being which holds the keys to the right act, the right feeling and the right thought, we must fight for the needs of evolution. We must be spiritual warriors, ignorant of cause and effect, because that is the divine will. This state of consciousness sees that these struggles, which are essentially resistance to the new and want to maintain the old, are pointless.
(Priam replied to his son: “Everything happens on earth, Alexander, according to the prior will of the gods, and yet we mortals have to fight, knowing that everything is useless, yet we make the effort).
This consciousness then recognises that the essence of what constitutes us, wherever group consciousness still dominates – everything that is not individualised within us – is directed by forces of nature that wield us as they please, for what seems from the human point of view to be the good pleasure of the forces of spirit, a game whose rules we cannot perceive. Just as we enslave cattle to our needs, so our nature leads us to develop and ultimately sacrifice ourselves to satisfy the unfathomable designs of the forces of spirit and evolution. (For our nature always grabs hold of us and drags us along like small cattle, herded and pushed towards the slaughterhouse or the pasture).
To this end, the forces of the spirit make equal use of what attracts us and what repels us, what delights us or overwhelms us with pain, our victories and our defeats, because they have an equal role in our evolution. The awakening of consciousness occurs even more easily in suffering than in well-being, because suffering is the tool put in place by Nature to emerge from inertia and ignorance. (This is how the most high gods have fashioned these –instruments of their action and their good pleasure; they use failure and pain as much as the strength of the victor
These forces of the spirit therefore participate in the blows that strike us just as much as they help us in the distress caused by these blows (they fall in the blow that is dealt, resist in the sobs of those who are struck).
Even an adventurer of consciousness who has reached the heights of the liberation of the spirit, the realms of the impersonal and of divine Knowledge in Spirit, is obliged to conform to the demands of the forces that govern the planes of his lower nature until these are transformed. This Knowledge must spread throughout consciousness the visions of the future obtained through yoga with the help of a very high light-knowledge, even though it knows that these visions will have no influence on the course of events, nor will they change the dominant state of consciousness in that part of the mind. (So powerful are their goads that I too must follow the ordinary paths, and, I who know, send for you, urged on by Cassandra).
The adventurer cannot help but relate these predictions to himself, since this gift of prophecy is a consequence of a realisation, Cassandra being “ the one opened her consciousness to the heights of the human spirit “. But what reaches her consciousness is obscured and distorted by the mind and its hopes. He knows deep down that there is no point in insisting. (Speak, O my child, since Apollo has willed it, speak once, then keep silent)
But buried in her clothes, Cassandra replied to her father:
“No, because my heart has changed since I begged to see him, troubled by Apollo.
Why should I speak? Who in Troy will believe me? Who ever believed me
In Troy or in the world? Only my comrades approve of the outcome and the disaster,
Not men in their thoughts, not my brothers or my loved ones. 350
They are all happy to be deceived by their hopes and are angry with the warner,
Half-blind prophets of a hope kept alive by the gods in human beings!
They would know better if they were completely blind, seeing nothing or only darkness.
I too once hoped, when Apollo pursued me with his love in his temple:
The ray of prophetic vision was already shining around me,
I was intoxicated, and felt the joy of the god in his vision,
Without yet knowing that knowledge is, for mortals, linked to blindness.
For either they are content to walk among the colourful dreams of the senses,
Treading the green earth and believing that the touch of things is real,
Or, if they see, under the curse of the gods, their vision easily turns into a lie 360
And, stumbling, leads them astray more than those who cannot see.
So we are either blind in the dark or dazzled by vision.
Sri Aurobindo repeats what he said a few verses earlier, that Cassandra is “buried in her clothes”, thus insisting on the fact that the adventurer hides his visions of the coming change from himself as much as he can.
But the visionary consciousness, at first convinced that it could change the course of events by persuading that which has the most influence over that which is attached to the old, changed its point of view under the pressure of the force that watches over the development of the Mind of Light, Apollo. (No, because my heart has changed since I begged to see it, troubled by Apollo.
The adventurer understands that the forces opposed to change still have too much influence in his being to understand and accept the evolutionary truth, both those that support the highest spirituality in the liberation of the spirit and those that support development according to Nature (Why should I speak? Who in Troy will believe me? Who has ever believed me in Troy or in the world?)
The problem which is then examined is the one on which Mother has worked for a long time, namely the possibility of adapting forms to the movement of Becoming without the necessary destruction which has been necessary until now because of the progressive rigidification of these forms (Only the denouement and the disaster approve me, my comrades). Neither the ordinary human mind nor the highest spiritual realisations can hear the voices that warn, inwardly and outwardly, and change accordingly (Not men in their thoughts, not my brothers nor my loved ones). The hope that tomorrow will be better thanks to external changes causes us to reject with irritation what heralds destruction if nothing changes in depth. This hope is a mixture of knowledge and deceptive ignorance. Maintaining the tranquillity of relying on what exists and what is known gives us a contentment that is sustained by the forces of the spirit that ensure that every movement develops to its conclusion. (All are happy to be deceived by their hopes and are incensed at the warner, half-blind prophets of a hope maintained by the gods in human beings!)
Knowledge coming only from within, without any interference from the mind, would be more accurate, because the mind provides a false light (they would know longer completely blind, seeing nothing or only darkness).
Sri Aurobindo then recalls the myth as told by Aeschylus. The adventurer, in his ascent of the planes of consciousness and through the liberation of the mind, was close to receiving the light of Truth manifested through the surmental (Apollo is a son of Zeus). This light gave him knowledge of the three times – past, present and future: trikaldrishti – an exact knowledge. (I too once hoped, when Apollo pursued me with his love in his temple: the ray of prophetic vision was already shining around me).
This proximity to the exact Knowledge of the three times, and especially of the future, brings a thrill of rapture and great joy. But the adventurer is still unaware that unless he has attained the supramental consciousness or light of truth, or even fully developed the supramental consciousness, the flashes of truth that reach him are still mixed with ignorance. (I was intoxicated by this, and experienced the joy of the god in his vision, without yet knowing that knowledge is, in mortals, linked to blindness).
For it is a long and gradual ascent that leads from the intellect to the supermind, with the development of intuition and its gradual purification from all mixture and influence. At the very first level, reason accepts as truth only what is perceived by the senses. This is followed by an initial broadening of the mind and a first illumination, and then a slow development of the intuition, which must, through many stages, gradually replace reason in its entirety, and then extend not only towards spiritual heights but also in its cosmic breadth. (Cf. Sri Aurobindo, The Divine Life, The Ascent to the Supramental) (For either they are content to walk amidst the colourful dreams of the senses, treading the green earth and believing the touch of things to be real, or, if they see, under the curse of the gods, their vision easily turns into a lie).
The adventurer who has not realised the supramental in all its extension and possibilities may still be subject in his visions to an irruption of ignorance from the untransformed subconscious and unconscious in the other parts of his being. His visions may still be incomplete or tainted by error and falsity.
Unaccustomed to the highest lights, the adventurer is dazzled and convinced that he has touched the supreme Truth. He loses even the sense of discernment that critical reason might have brought to his early intuitive experiences. What’s more, the outside world often gives him a gratifying image.
There are several myths in mythology that illustrate either this dazzlement – such as the story in which we see Semele, the mother of Dionysus, consumed by the vision of Zeus – or the illusion of having reached the goal, such as Ixion.
Mother also tells us that many people are trapped by vital entities and, at the extreme, by Asuras who manifest themselves in flamboyant forms surrounded by dazzling lights
Sri Aurobindo therefore insists that reason, with criticism and doubt as its instruments, must not be rejected too soon, at the risk of serious spiritual downfalls. It is better to humbly follow the evolutionary path of the whole than to claim too soon to have visions, inspirations or revelations from the world of Truth, sent by the Divine. (And, stumbling, they are more misguided than those who do not see. So we are either blind in the dark, or dazzled by vision
In this way, the gods protected their designs and thwarted the wise men;
Their golden shield stands in the way of the face of Truth.
But incited by the Terrible Being, the one who always sits veiled within us,
Fighting the gods and using them, I thought it was different. I shouted to Apollo:
Give me your pure vision, not the one you give to your prophets,
Bright but cloudy; let this vision be clear and without pity for error,
O god whose features reach far, you whom the sun veils and death protects,
Then I’ll know you love me!
Man in his current state of evolution would not be able to withstand the sudden irruption of Truth, because just like Love, it would explode his mind, his vitality and his body. This is why the forces of the spirit, in addition to supporting evolution, also have the task of protecting humanity from premature evolution (Thus the gods have protected their purpose and defeated the wise; their golden shield stands in the way of the face of Truth).
The gods are spiritual powers that support and help us to evolve, even if we often only understand their actions after the fact. If they prevent us from gaining access to certain knowledge and powers prematurely, it is for our own good. But the adventurer doesn’t fully understand this yet, and is impatient to find out what the future holds. This is where a power lurking within us comes into play, the Terrible Being who fights the gods and uses them. We understand it as the “will to power”, the will to equal ourselves with the Divine, not through the complete annihilation of ourselves, but through the power of the ego. To know the future and express it is to become all-powerful over others and to hold the keys to the future in our hands. When the adventurer has reached a high level in the planes of mental consciousness, this will to power can even make use of the powers of the supermind to achieve its goals or fight them when they oppose it. The adventurer may think he has freed himself from it, but he has not, and it is waiting in the shadows to bring him down. Sri Aurobindo said that of the three powers that hold humanity in their hands – money, sex and power – power was the most difficult to conquer. (But prompted by the Terrible Being, the one who always sits veiled within us, fighting the gods and using them, I thought it was different).
The adventurer claims from a power of light-knowledge a vision of Truth that is complete and undistorted by the action of the lower, not fully enlightened, planes of mind, vitality and body. He is perfectly aware that the gift of prophecy coming from the planes of the enlightened mind and the intuitive mind brings a vision-knowledge that is true but imprecise and incomplete, and therefore with the possibility of misinterpretation. Only prophecy from the Mind of Light, which receives Knowledge from the supramental, can be accurate. (I cried out to Apollo: give me your pure vision, not the one you give to your prophets, luminous but cloudy).
It requires for its action a capacity for vision that only this mind of Light can give, precise and total, i.e. which sees the results of the action in all its details as well as for the whole (this vision must be clear and without pity for error).
Let us remember that the god Apollo is a power of the spirit that directs the results of action, those of the spiritual warrior, towards the Truth of the future (O god whose features reach far). He is a power of the supramental that illuminates from the illuminating power of the supramental that reaches him (you whom the sun veils).
Today’s human beings, with their egos, could not cope with total Knowledge. So the oblivion brought about by the current death/(re)birth process is a blessing for humanity (and one that death protects).
The adventurer, if he acquires this gift of perfect vision, will know with certainty that he has acquired a power of the supermental and therefore that his realisation of this plan is well on the way (Then I’ll know that you love me!).
He agreed, alarmed and reluctant, 370
Under the compulsion of Fate and his heart; but I flouted him, broke my promise,
And a fatal courage helped my heart to lose itself in laughter.
Now I always remember his face, suddenly calm and merciless,
I always hear the divine, implacable voice: “Since you deceive
The gods themselves, and you weren’t afraid to lie to Apollo,
From now on you will speak the truth, but no one will believe you:
Scorned for your words, and even more rejected for their cruel fulfilment,
Harassed by the gods, you’ll have to speak out, even as your despondent heart yearns for silence.
For in this game you have dared to play with the masters of heaven,
It is you, young girl, who have lost; your voice and your bosom belong to me.” 380
Since then I’ve known everything in advance; that’s why anxiety is my lot.
Since then, all those I love must perish, killed by my tenderness.
Even of what I refused him, violent force will dispossess me
When I am seized amid the flames of my city and the clamour of its merciless victors.”
The adventurer receives this gift of accurate prophecy as an encouragement from the forces of the spirit. Cassandra is reputed to be very beautiful, which illustrates an already highly developed and purified intuition.
But the highest consciousness in his being knows that this is granted reluctantly because it is premature. The seeker has not yet reached the point where he can integrate the gods within himself without succumbing under their weight. The adventurer must also have been warned in advance that the overthrow illustrated by the fall of Troy was inevitable (he granted it, alarmed, reluctant, under the compulsion of Fate and his heart;).
The playwright Aeschylus tells us that to obtain this gift, she promised to unite with the god. Other authors do not mention the promise, only the fact that she did not fall in love with the god.
For the adventurer, the fact that Cassandra gave herself to the god Apollo meant perfect consecration to the Mind of Light, a mind from the plane of Truth that sees the present and the future, events in progress and their consequences, both as a whole and in detail. Cassandra is also Alexandra, “the one who rejects matter”, as the 4th century BC tragedy writer Lycophron called her. She is thus linked to her brother Paris-Alexander, the one who rejects matter and incarnation. Uniting with the god Apollo would have meant renouncing this separation of spirit and matter, something the adventurer was not yet ready to do (but I flouted him, broke my promise).
Sri Aurobindo mentions that it was a “fatal courage” that prevented the adventurer from maintaining himself in the Mind of Light, which may seem strange to us. We understand it as a remnant of courage associated with the ego, a blind courage that fights to maintain a spirituality that separates spirit from matter and the refusal to submit to the movement of becoming, to act in the direction of the visions that are given to him, all in a certain unconscious joy (And a fatal courage helped my heart to lose itself laughing).
Remember that at this stage of the journey, the adventurer already has a certain familiarity with the forces of the supermind, and sometimes even a conscious proximity to the action of a specific force. Indeed, the gods have manifested themselves on the battlefield and even intervened, sometimes openly.
Cassandra, who represents the highest capacity for vision, can therefore ‘see’ the god and ‘hear’ his voice. The adventurer accurately perceives this force of light-consciousness of the supermind, which can help as well as become ruthless in absolute calm, i.e. free from all vital and mental considerations, when the adventurer does not follow exactly what he perceives (Now I always remember his suddenly calm and ruthless face, I always hear the divine and implacable voice). He recalls the moment when he failed and the consequences that this entailed: the ability to know the future and the right action that this implies, but the impossibility of conforming to it in the rest of his nature, which remains subject to the old, attached to the certainties of the past (“Since you deceive the gods themselves, and were not afraid to lie to Apollo, you will henceforth tell the pure truth, but no one will believe you”).
The parts of the being that are very attached to the forms of the past and that hope to reach greater spiritual heights, do not want to contemplate a change of direction, still less the painful destruction of what they have built with so much trouble. Everything in the being that is warned of painful changes to come is rejected by everything that remains attached to security, and even more ashamed when they occur as announced (Despised in your words, and even more rejected for their cruel fulfilment)
Under the pressure of the forces of the supermental, the adventurer will not be able to stop himself from formulating his visions to himself – or communicating them to humanity -, even though he only wishes to enter into silence (Harassed by the gods, you will have to speak, even though your dejected heart will burn to remain silent). For this power of vision granted by the surmental is a realisation, and therefore definitively acquired, and not an experience that does not last. So the divine sometimes grants what is asked of it, even if it is premature and the seeker has to bear the consequences. (For in this game you have dared to play with the masters of heaven, it is you, young maiden, who have lost; your voice and your bosom belong to me
In the two verses that follow, it is difficult to understand why knowledge of the future can be responsible for any kind of destruction out of love. Our hypothesis is as follows: because of the obligation to speak and communicate the future to all parts of the being, this knowledge also communicates its anguish. (Since then I have known everything in advance; that is why anxiety is my lot. Since then all those I love must perish, killed by my tenderness).
Although the adventurer initially refused to fully accept the light of truth that had been granted to him, no doubt wanting to continue to believe in his power to change the course of events, he will be forced to make it his own under the effect of evolution before it is taken away from him when the yoga of the cells begins. Cassandra becomes Agamemnon’s slave after the fall of Troy, before being killed by Clytemnestra on their return to Mycenae.
The ability to foresee the future, still active for a short time at the beginning of purification with a view to improving the mental man, can no longer be active in the yoga of the body (Even of what I denied it, violent force will dispossess me when I am seized in the midst of the flames of my city and the clamour of its merciless victors).
Her brother’s voice softly replied to Cassandra:
“Sister of mine, whom the fearsome Apollo afflicts and possesses,
All those whose eyes manage to pierce this curtain plunge their gaze into the indistinct
They have glimpsed one thing and imagined another, because they are deceived by their nature,
It is in their hearts that they see the forms of what is dreadful or joyful,
Just as our eyes, in the dark, are deceived by uncertain shadows 390
This is the vision of those who tear the veil drawn by the terrifying gods.
Our hearts are constantly weaving thoughts and images together:
It is on the basis of what he is that he sees what we down here call truth.
So is your tender, loving nature,
Tormented by this war and your own fears for your loved ones,
Sees calamity everywhere; when the outcome seems consistent with the vision,
Because in any war the beloved and the cherished must fall,
Then the heart laments: It has happened, and all that I lament will happen.
All the light escapes him, and all he dreads is suffering.
Look, darling, at the bright side, and if you have to prophesy,
Tell us instead of the great Peleid slain by my javelin in the assault.” 400
Then comes the response of a slightly condescending affection, like that of an older brother who sees his enlightened little sister tormenting herself over visions to which he gives no credence. It is a response from the discerning intelligence, from the equality achieved through renunciation, which has already had the experience of clairvoyances at the lower levels of the mind and the vital, without understanding that the visions now come from another level, from a penetration into the supermental of the light of Truth. (To Cassandra, her brother’s voice softly replied: “Sister of mine, whom the dread Apollo afflicts and possesses).
The adventurer knows from experience that these visions obtained in the planes below the surmental are blurred and inaccurate, because they are subject to the interference of the mind and the vital. They are modified by desires, fears, hopes and all the imaginary projections of the ego, in much the same way as our imagination can transform the shadowy outlines of real objects into fairies or monsters in the night. (All those whose eyes manage to pierce this curtain plunge their gaze into the indistinct; they have glimpsed one thing and imagine another, for, deceived by their nature, it is in their hearts that they see the forms of what is dreadful or joyful, just as our eyes, in the dark, are deceived by uncertain shadows
If the perception of the future is veiled from us, it is in fact for our protection. Very few people could maintain their equilibrium and equality of soul with this knowledge. Even though we are partly aware of this, we never cease to want to know the future and to project ourselves into it, spurred on by our desires and our thoughts, in order to protect ourselves against uncertainty and the obligation to adapt to the movement of becoming that our animal nature hates. For we are born of the inertia of the beneficial unconsciousness of the mineral, of the processes of cellular winding, as much as of the reassuring repetitions of the vital and the dogmas and immutable opinions of the mental, all things that our nature never ceases to want to maintain. Ultimately, the world we consider to be true is the one perceived through the filter of our desires, our attractions and repulsions, our imaginations and our thoughts.
This part of consciousness represented by Paris, more influential than the others, is therefore convinced that the vision of evolving Truth is impossible. (This is the vision of those who tear the veil drawn by the terrifying gods. Our heart is constantly busy weaving thoughts and images: it is according to what it is that it sees what down here we call truth).
This intelligence, although already partly installed in the enlightened mind, cannot perceive the Truth of the visions of that other part of the being which perceives the future and has developed great compassion. His response is therefore to favour the optimism that has hitherto been a requirement of yoga. Pessimism, which always predicts the worst, even subconsciously, is a source of discouragement and plays into the hands of the forces that oppose evolution. This optimism does not deny the reality of the pain created by the destruction of the forms of the past, but sees pessimism as an unfounded extension of the present into the future (Thus your tender and loving nature, tormented by this war and its own fears for those dear to you, sees calamity everywhere 😉
In any inner conflict, beliefs and forms to which we are attached must disappear, but this part of consciousness affirms that this does not imply the final outcome. It asserts that in any spiritual battle, when practices and their results to which the seeker is attached must disappear, which is inevitable, this should in no way induce the future. (when the outcome seems in line with the vision, since in any war the beloved and the cherished must fall, then the heart grieves: it has happened, and all that I lament will happen).
With this limited vision, blinded by the pain of loss, man cannot see the truth behind it. So this part of the adventurer who has conquered the freedom of the spirit tries to persuade himself that his visions are wrong and wants to convince himself of the relevance of this ancient yoga, which will end up asserting itself as the evolutionary truth against that which wants to plunge into the depths of the being, the vital subconscious, to purify it and bring it light. This part calls for us to concentrate on the victories of yoga turned towards the heights. (All the luminous escapes him, he only apprehends suffering. Look, darling, at the luminous side, and if you must prophesy, tell us instead about the great Peleid slain by my javelin during the assault”
But with a voice of grief the sister answered the brother:
“Yes, he shall fall, and his murderer also shall perish, and Troy with his murderer.”
Rejoicing in his ardour, Paris replied to Cassandra:
“Let this one word be fulfilled; the gods will know how to set aside the rest.
Look once more, O Cassandra, and comfort your mother’s heart:
Behold, O seeress, my safe return with the spoils of Achilles.”
And with a voice of grief the sister answered the brother:
“You will return for your hour while Troy still stands under the sun.”
Understanding the omen with his exultant spirit, Pâris then said:
“Do you hear, my father, and you, my mother? She who used to prophesy misfortune 410
Now we can see the dawn that brings our night to an end: a dawn that is still painful,
Because the heart of Achilles must be pierced through a heart that we love.
Destiny, paid for by this misfortune, end by moving away from Troy!
Bless me, my father, and you, O Hecuba, long-suffering mother,
Forgive again the death in battle of your children for Hélène and Pâris.”
At this stage of the journey, the visions could not be communicated clearly to the consciousness, only in riddles, as the Pythias did at Delphi. They then had to be interpreted by the priests. But the underlying feeling could be perceived, as here sadness (But with a voice of affliction the sister answered the brother). But the exaltation that comes from freeing the spirit through renunciation and self-denial prevents it from being perceived (Se rejoicing in her ardour). In the same way, this exaltation prevents the vision from being interpreted correctly (Understanding the omen with an exultant spirit).
Paris assumes that he will not be the one to kill Achilles, since Cassandra tells him that he will return safely from the coming confrontation. He is convinced that once Achilles is dead, no one will be able to defeat him, and that divine forces will then prevent the destruction of Troy. But it is a Trojan, and therefore “a beloved heart”, who will kill Achilles and be killed in his turn.
In this part of himself, the adventurer refuses to trust his alarmist visions but interprets them in the way he expects. He wants to believe that, having put an end to the main force that is trying to pull the whole being towards a purification of the depths, the ancient yoga of union in the spirit that renounces life will able to continue, supported by the forces of the spirit (“Yes, he will fall, and his murderer will also perish, and Troy with his murderer”. (…) “Let this one word come true; the gods will know how to set aside the rest. (…) “You will return in your own time, while Troy still stands under the sun.)
The adventurer, in this most spiritualised part of his being, convinces himself that the inner conflict is close to ending in favour of what exists, without any major upheaval, even if one last form to which he is attached has to be abandoned. (She who usually prophesied misfortune now perceives this dawn putting an end to our night: a dawn that is nonetheless painful because the heart of Achilles must be pierced through a heart that we love).
He orders in his mind that, satisfied with this last sacrifice, fate should stop trying to destroy the old forms of yoga (Fate, paid by this misfortune, finally turn away from Troy!)
Hecuba, Priam’s wife, symbolises the goal of a yoga that distances itself from the process of incarnation, aiming only for union with the divine in the spirit. This goal is difficult to achieve, and it takes a seeker a very long time to reach it (Hecuba, the long-suffering mother). The adventurer regrets that many of the most advanced practices have had to disappear in this inner conflict, because what fights within him to ensure that the path to greater freedom through the renunciation of life endures feels responsible for it (Forgive the death of your children in battle for Helen and Paris).
With tender compassion, her mother drew her close and whispered:
“All has been forgiven you since childhood, for your hyacinth curls
And your sunny eyes, O miracle of charm, O Pâris.
Paris, my son, even if Troy should fall, your mother forgives you
And bless the gods who in their radiance have lent you to me for a time. 420
They have the destiny and the results, we have the joy of our children
The very sorrows they cause us are precious, as long as they love us.
Fight and kill Achilles, the cruel murderer of your brothers;
Avenger of Hector, return, my son, to your mother’s arms.”
But this aim of a yoga that supports the conception of a spirituality separate from life (Hecuba) cannot contradict one of its expressions, even if this yoga were to come to an end (Paris, my son, even if Troy were to fall, your mother forgives you and blesses the gods who in their radiance have lent you to me for a time).
The curls of hyacinth hair are an image often used by poets to describe curly hair which resembles the petals of the Hyacinth, whose most common colour is a deep blue. Sri Aurobindo is most probably referring to this colour and not to the reddish-yellow or orange-brown which is the hyacinth colour of the mineral, or even to the saffron colour which is that of the dress of renunciants (sannyasins). Blue is the colour of the spiritual planes, and the deep blue of the hyacinth can be that of the enlightened mind or the intuitive mind, the “sunny gaze” tilting us more towards the enlightened mind, which is the plane of the Trojans. This high achievement in the ascent of the planes of consciousness alone justifies the ancient yogas, even if one of their artisans were to disappear (All has been forgiven you since childhood, for your hyacinth curls and your sunny eyes, O miracle of charm, O Paris).
In accordance with the injunction of the Bhagavad Gita, the adventurer has renounced the fruits of the work as well as the desire to be its author, retaining only the joy that comes from work done for the divine alone (To them [the gods] belongs destiny and the result, to us the joy we have of our children). And even if the yoga is not followed impeccably and there are falls, these are precious as long as maintains the aspiration and the will to reach the goal (The very sorrows they cause us are precious, as long as they love us).
This part of the self, represented by Hecuba, maintains to the very end its desire to separate spirit from matter and to oppose any yoga that seeks to purify the depths of the subconscious. (Fight and kill Achilles, the cruel (terrible) murderer of your brothers; avenger of Hector, return, my son, to your mother’s arms).
The Iliad tells us that Achilles was killed by Paris with the help of Apollo. It was Ulysses (Odysseus) who continued the work of purifying the depths, having taken up Achilles’ weapons.
Then, with his august calm, Priam the monarch said to Paris:
“May you return with this victory, and thus gladden your mother’s heart.”
At this point, the venerable father of Paris was addressed by Helen the Argian
Brilliant, immortal and sad like a star approaching dawn
And now sees her pale companions fade from her vision:
“Forgive me too, and you, my parents, even love Hélène 430
The cause of all ruin and death; but I came from the gods to bring about this collapse,
Born as a torch to set empires ablaze, and afflicted by this beauty.
Without having known a father’s embrace or a mother’s caresses,
I was begotten by the distant gods, and like a stranger here I was raised by the earth,
Not out of affection, but out of the fear that thunderbolts command.
The monstrous birth of this foreigner is twofold: Furies and immortals
The touch of one or the other causes suffering to humanity, which cannot stand contact.
I was both, a monster of fate and a prodigy of beauty”.
Priam, who had a very large number of children, represents the highest and most extensive developments in the fields of liberation of the spirit, inner joy and equality, achieved through a yoga that separates spirit from matter. Among these developments, equality and inner peace have reached a very high degree of completion (Whereupon, with his august calm, Priam the monarch said to Pâris).
The adventurer then takes stock of the causes of this inner war that led to so many upheavals in yoga. He knows that the conquest of freedom is not a passing aspiration, that it is the foundation of eternal evolution. Hélène comes from Argolide, Argos meaning brilliant, radiant, pure. But this evolution goes through a phase of profound questioning and destruction of the old forms of spirituality, which are comparable to very pale lights in the face of what must manifest itself, and Sri Aurobindo tells us that she is “sad like a star approaching dawn and now sees its pale companions fade from its vision”. Undoubtedly the adventurer cannot avoid a very human phase of nostalgia at the disappearance of forms that have sustained seekers in their quest for the divine for millennia.
The adventurer convinces himself that there has been no fault in his yoga, that he is not responsible for this inner conflict, even if this new direction of evolution has not followed the path that was logically foreseen by the place in his being where it first manifested itself and grew (the place of Helen’s birth and marriage when she agreed to follow Paris to the Troads). (“Forgive me too, and you, my parents, love even Helen, the cause of all ruin and death”).
He knows that it is the forces of the spirit that reign over evolution, that are the cause of it, and that he has followed the evolutionary Truth that can destroy even the largest and best established structures, without being able to do anything to oppose it. Hélène is the most beautiful of women, a symbol of the truest purpose. Her name is written like the word ἑλένη meaning ‘torch’, which is why Sri Aurobindo compares Helen to a torch (but I was born of the gods in view of this collapse, born as a torch to set empires ablaze, and afflicted with this beauty
Helen is the daughter of Zeus and Leda, wife of Tyndare and Queen of Sparta (symbol of a structure where the new can emerge). Of course, Zeus was absent from her youth, because her paternity only represents a new impulse from the supermind. Even if this impulse, in its maturation and initial effects, always accompanied the adventurer, he was unaware of its presence and action (Without having known the embrace of a father (…) I was begotten by the distant gods).
As for his mother, Leda, she is the symbol of a yoga of spirit/matter unity. At this point in his evolution, separation still dominates the adventurer’s consciousness, as does the quest for higher mental development symbolised by Clytemnestra, Helen’s half-sister. This is undoubtedly why Sri Aurobindo says that Helen cannot receive “a mother’s caresses”.
When this new impulse manifested itself in the adventurer (and in humanity), the latter was still far from being able to integrate the forces of the supermind within himself without succumbing under their weight, so these forces seemed remote to him. This impulse was already the prelude to a necessary reversal of yoga towards the depths of matter, so it was life, matter and not spirit that took care of it in its early days (and like a foreigner here I was raised by the earth)
This brings to mind Mother, who was totally materialistic in her youth.
This fragile impulse, which was not welcome in the consciousness attached to separation, was constantly threatened with succumbing under the weight of established things. It developed not in confident peace but in fear of disappearance, obliged to follow the movement imposed by the highest forces of the supermental, thunder being an attribute of Zeus (Not out of affection, but out of the fear commanded by thunderbolts or rather Not out of affection but out of fear, compelled by thunderbolts).
This new orientation of yoga and of human evolution towards greater freedom, the result of an impulse from the supermind, has its origin in the combined action of two different categories of forces.
Those of the supermind who pull humanity upwards as quickly as possible without leaving anything behind.
The Furies or Erinyes. Their significance – the forces that put us back on the right path – was seen in Volume 1. Let’s remember that these are forces that come from the ‘essence’ of the Spirit’s power, its life-giving and creative part, and which put man back on the right path of evolution when he strays from it. They were born of the drops of blood from the castration of Ouranos by his son Cronos. This deviation is either the result of ‘perjuries’, which concern those who do not follow the path their soul has set for itself in this life, or of ‘family crimes’, which either cut the seeker off from his source or halt or oppose new evolutionary processes. In the present case, it is this opposition to the New that must be annihilated by these forces. (The monstrous birth of this stranger is twofold: the Furies and the immortals).
Ordinary men cannot withstand the action of these forces, which both make them suffer. For the former, the forces of the spirit, by a call to the heights, to a greater knowledge and perfection that their nature, born of ignorance and inertia, cannot withstand for very long. This is why humanity ‘crucifies’ the divine envoys or avatars. For the latter, the divine forces that monitor the evolution of a creation, that do their divine work of putting it back on the right path, impassive to the destruction and suffering that this can generate. (The touch of one or the other causes suffering to humanity, which cannot stand contact
Hélène is the symbol of this new orientation that appears at the end of an evolutionary period. At the same time, she brings the destruction of old forms that are no longer good for evolution and a new evolutionary truth (I was both, a monster of fate and a prodigy of beauty).
Slowly Priam the monarch replied to the Argian Helen:
“The gods made you what you are; you could not be different 440
Your actions were theirs; you couldn’t stop them.
Who then is to condemn, or who is to be forgiven? Shouldn’t my people take it out on me?
Murmuring: Priam has lost what his ancestors had gathered;
Cursed from heaven is this king, and cursed are those who are born his subjects?
The very high gods act masked; the author of the act is hidden by his work.
Each of us receives our punishment, the fruit of a seed we have forgotten;
Each of us curses his neighbour and protects his heart with illusions:
So, like children, we accuse and hate each other, and we get angry.
Enjoy, my child, the joy of the radiance your beauty brings you.
I, who live on this earth like a stranger bound by my body 450
Wearing my sadness as I wear the imperial purple,
Yet I praise the gods for my days of seeing you as I near my end.
Troy can rightly perish after beholding your beauty, O Helen.”
He became silent, turned away from the words.
In this inner dialogue, the part of the consciousness that still governs the past forms of spirituality responds to the new orientation by absolving it of all responsibility, for nothing can stand in the way of the action of the higher forces of the spirit. Even if the adventurer has already achieved within himself a certain conscious transparency to their action, the spiritual forms of the past still offer great resistance to the New that seeks to manifest itself. It is in fact a battle of the forces of the spirit. The resistance is all the stronger because advanced achievements have solidified beliefs. The forces of the spirit find it easier to manipulate ordinary humanity to their will. (“The gods made you what you are; you could not be different: your actions were theirs; you could not stop them.)
That part of consciousness which manages the heritage of spiritual methods – aims and practices – sees that from many points of view coming from particular forms of yoga or states of consciousness, it can be considered as the one which is the cause of successive disappearances and abandonments of practices and therefore also of results. (Shouldn’t my people take it out on me, murmuring: Priam has lost what his ancestors had gathered; cursed from heaven is this king, and cursed are those who are born his subjects).
We cannot understand the action of the forces of the Spirit because Nature masks the Spirit’s design: we act without being aware of the ultimate goals decided by the powers of the Spirit (The most high gods act masked; the author of the act is hidden by his work). On the other hand, a divine wisdom plunged us into oblivion when we were born, but we have to bear the consequences of our actions in past lives or even of certain forgotten desires and actions in the present life (Each of us receives his punishment, the fruit of a seed he has forgotten.
To escape a responsibility that we are unaware of, we blame others and circumstances, thus protecting ourselves from guilt and shame, but this is only an illusion. Blaming others allows us to have righteous anger and hatred, like children unable to take responsibility for their lives, to accept that they have chosen them and that they are the creators of them. (Each of us curses our neighbours and protects our hearts with illusions: so, like children, we accuse and hate each other, and anger takes hold of us
So this part of consciousness recognises the supremacy of evolving Truth, whatever forms it manifests itself in, because this consciousness knows how to recognise it behind appearances. (Enjoy, my child, the joy of the radiance of your beauty).
The adventurer who has achieved liberation in the spirit and lives in the vistas of the spirit feels the body and the untransformed lower nature as a suffocating prison, hemmed in by narrow limits (I who dwells on this earth as a stranger bound by the body).
His sadness may be linked to the disappearance of the ancient forms for which he has worked so hard. It may also be due to the fact that the more consciousness is developed, with imperial mastery over oneself, the more sensitivity grows, with painful compassion for the suffering of unawakened humanity (Wearing my sadness as I wear the imperial purple).
The colour purple can be that of very high forces. (Sri Aurobindo says of the colour purple: “Both [purple and crimson] are vital lights, but seen from above, they represent the original forces from which the vital forces are derived”
Despite this, this highest consciousness of the adventurer, in these final hours of the tipping point, at last gratefully recognises the evolutionary pressure towards greater freedom as the Truth for which the old truths and the old spiritual forms must disappear. (Yet I praise the gods for my days which have seen you as I come to my end. Troy can rightly perish after beholding your beauty, O Helen).
This recognition that humanity must evolve towards greater freedom is the ultimate testament to what has been achieved through the ancient spiritual forms and practices. (He became silent, turning away from the words).
On this note, Pâris and Hélène
They set off, nimble and happy, with their mother following in their footsteps,
Once the mother of Troilos, once the mother of Hector,
She stood at the door, her death in her eyes, and held back by her tenderness,
Like a prisoner staring at a fleeting ray of sunlight,
She scanned the corridors, looking for Paris, long after he had emerged from her vision.
The powerful yoga that worked for the pursuit of the divine in the separation of spirit and matter, represented by Hector, and the last yoga that appeared for the liberation of the spirit, symbolised by Troïlos, have ceased to exist.
If the part of consciousness working towards perfect equality through renunciation, in the separation of spirit and matter, has not yet realised the inevitability of the reversal (Pâris), the same cannot be said of the goal (Hecuba) which has given rise to so many new and ultimate practices and achievements in the conquest of the spirit, symbolised by the children of Priam and Hecuba. Hecuba represents those who wish to achieve divine perfection outside incarnation, in the paradises of the spirit and not on this earth. This goal or ideal knows that his end is very near (his death in his eyes). Even knowing this, he cannot help but remain attached to the most beautiful conquest of this yoga, equality achieved through great renunciation.
Then, in the silent room, Cassandra, seized by Apollo 460
Staggering to her feet, she twisted her snowy arms in mourning,
Cried to the heavens in her pain; for the impetuous god tortured her bosom:
“Unhappy that I am, by Apollo’s scheming and bitter gift!
Three times unhappy, to have been born in Troy and in the line of Teucer!
So, O gods, do you treat those who have served you and toiled,
Those who, in your name, have carried the burden of greatness.
Blessed is he who wields the axe or bends over the furrow
With no thought for the good of mankind, and no desire for knowledge.
Woe to me for my wisdom, which will not be appreciated or listened to by anyone
Woe to you, O King, for your fortitude that cannot deliver! 470
Better the eye that is sealed, more fortunate the weak mind.
The adventurer of consciousness cannot prevent the arising of visions from the light of Truth that cause him suffering, because the mind, turned towards separation, towards logic, does not want to take them into account, even though they are purified of all interference (twisting his snowy arms as a sign of affliction).
He convinces himself that he has been the plaything of the supermental force that carries the light of Truth, having received a gift that cannot be followed by effects, forgetting that he was the origin of it through lack of consecration. (He regrets that this gift of vision was obtained through the yoga of the liberation of the spirit, which advocates renunciation, both in the organisation of its practices and in its aim. We understand that Sri Aurobindo is retaining the tradition according to which Teucer is the father of Tros, and therefore the ancestor of the lineage, and that he must not be confused with Teucer son of Telamon (Three times unfortunate, to have been born in Troy and in Teucer’s lineage!
It seems that this part of the adventurer’s consciousness is subject to a certain discouragement considering the enormous effort of the spiritual discipline undertaken to achieve the liberation of the mind. In a similar vein, Sri Aurobindo might have said that if he had known in advance the difficulty of his yoga, which went far beyond the liberation of the mind, he was not very sure he would have undertaken it (Thus, O Gods, do you treat those who have served you and toiled, those who, in your name, have borne the evil burden of greatness).
The adventurer may regret for a moment the toil of ordinary men who seek neither Knowledge nor the greater good of humanity through liberation from its slavery. For Sri Aurobindo, the three fundamental yogas – the yoga of divine works, the yoga of devotion and the yoga of knowledge – are ultimately yogas of Knowledge. Moreover, he refused from the outset to accept an individual liberation that would leave the rest of humanity unchanged. (Blessed is he who wields the axe or bends over the furrow without thinking of the good of humanity or aspiring to knowledge).
The adventurer recognises that the exact intuitive capacity obtained by this individual liberation in the spirit cannot be recognised or followed by any other part of his being, just as avatars are rarely recognised in the outside world and often hunted down. The achievements represented by King Priam cannot lead to liberation from Nature and its laws. Illuminations and powers from above are incapable of transforming the lower parts of the being, of liberating the vital and the body. (Woe to me for my wisdom, which will be appreciated and listened to by no one! Woe to you, O King, for your fortitude, which cannot deliver!)
So he says to himself that it is better to be free of visions, to be devoid of knowledge from above, that is to say, to have renounced being a brilliant mind, to have renounced the gifts of the spirit and spiritual consolations, in order to follow a path of ignorance without any power. (Better is the eye that is sealed, more fortunate the weak spirit).
In vain, oh mortals, your hopes struggle against brass Necessity.
Virtue will lie in torment, for the gods need its torment;
Sin will be punished, even though its crimes were imposed by the gods in their anger.
In the end, none of them will matter: the coward will perish, and so will the hero.
Troy will succumb to sin, and its virtues will not protect it;
Argos will grow through its crimes until the gods destroy it forever.
Behold, your love bears fruit in me, O Loxias, redoubtable Apollo.
Unhappy as I am, by the flame that approaches the home of my fathers!
Unhappy as I am, by Ajax whose hand seizes my tresses! 480
Woe betide him who violates me and him who cherishes me!
Woe betide any ship that leaps too quickly to the other side of the azure Aegean!
Woe betide your splendid slaughterhouse of Hell, O Argian Mycenae!
Woe betide the wicked wife and the cursed house of Atreus!”
And so, in a swan song, she sounded the death knell for the people,
Beyond Priam’s palace and beyond the nation in arms
Who, resolute, went to war with the pride of the centuries she had conquered,
Centuries brought down by a single day of heavenly wrath.
The light-filled room gradually darkens, just as the thoughts in your head do.
Like a vision from Hades; in his ivory chair King Priam sat, like a 490
Throned among the spectres of vanished kings and forgotten empires.
Human hopes are directed towards preserving or improving the old. They are futile in the face of the evolutionary imperatives set in motion by the forces of the spirit (In vain, O mortals, your hopes struggle against Iron Necessity).
Good and evil, sin and virtue, the forces of fusion and those of separation, play an equal role in evolution because “both nourish the divine child” according to the Vedic verse “Dawn and Night, two sisters of different forms but of the same spirit, nurse the same divine Child “.[3] It is important to understand that the Aurora indicates the developing elements in humanity today that are preparing for the reign of the Light of Truth.
But those who think they are virtuous must face up to their own shadow, because thinking they are virtuous is a very big obstacle on the path, because it feeds the ego. (Virtue will lie in torment, for the gods need its torment). In the same way, whatever deviates from the right movement must be forcibly brought back to it, even though these deviations stem from the fundamental ignorance from which we come. They are necessary for the evolution of consciousness towards what is right, and it is for this reason that the forces of the spirit have imposed them. Sin will be punished, even though its crimes were imposed by the gods in their anger
These deviations that we call sins actually play an indispensable role in the evolution of consciousness. When we can rise above good and evil and understand the evolutionary process in depth, then the notions of good and evil, as well as those of cowardice and courage, fade away in the face of this evolutionary necessity, which treats them on an equal footing with a view to the development of consciousness. (In the end, neither will matter; the coward will perish, and so will the hero).
Through this gift of vision, the adventurer sees that the structure of the ancient yoga will disappear because of an error due to ignorance, the error of having separated spirit from matter. (Troy will succumb to sin and its virtues will not protect it).
The adventurer ‘sees’ even beyond the fall of Troy, beyond the great reversal of yoga.
The name Argos means ‘luminous, brilliant’. It refers to mental brilliance, the brilliance of the superior mind that discerns. The Argolid is part of the Achaean alliance that opposes the Trojans.
Historically speaking, Argos was definitively eclipsed by Sparta from the 6th century BC, then subdued by the Romans in 146 BC along with the rest of the Achaean League. The cycles of the mind and Roman domination, through Christianity which re-established the separation of spirit and matter, extinguished the nascent light brought by Greece.
In mythology, the Argolid was first associated with Perseus and the works of Heracles ordered by his uncle the Argian Eurystheus, i.e. the victory over fear and the purification/liberation of desires and the ego. The province was then linked to the fate of the Atreides, who committed various crimes, Mycenae, of which Agamemnon was king, being very close to Argos.
This mental light will disappear forever when it is replaced by the Apollonian light, a light from the world of truth. (Argos will grow by its crimes until the gods destroy it forever).
Adventurers can already see that the more time they spend in this yoga of the liberation of the spirit, the more accurate their clairvoyance becomes. The epithet ‘Loxias’ attached to Apollo is a reminder that the oracles given by this god, particularly at Delphi, are ‘equivocal’ because they are transmitted by the Pythia in short, incomprehensible sentences. Although they are interpreted by priests, they are always somewhat mysterious and uncertain, and therefore open to error.
The first “clairvoyances” of the adventurer who ventures into the higher planes of the mind are always imprecise. But when he ascends to the Mind of Light, he finds that his clairvoyances become more and more accurate. (Behold, your love bears fruit in me, O Loxias, redoubtable Apollo).
In the verses that follow, Cassandra evokes the succession of events to come, as recounted by the Pseudo-Apollodorus. First came the murder of the sleeping Trojans. Then, when Ajax the Locrian saw Cassandra hugging the wooden statue of Athena, he raped her. When they had killed the male Trojans, the Greeks set fire to the city and divided up the spoils. As his choice share, Agamemnon received Cassandra and made her his concubine.
The adventurer sees with sadness the destruction of the old forms of spiritual quest by a purifying fire. (Woe is me, by the flame that approaches the home of my fathers!)
Then the conscience of the outer personality, represented by Ajax the Locrian, part of the Achaean contingent, also known as “little Ajax”, or “the lesser conscience”, interprets the visions to its advantage by forcing them to say what it wants or hopes, as illustrated by the rape of Cassandra. In doing so, the adventurer goes against his inner perception, which symbolically provokes Athena’s fury. When the Achaeans return, pursued by the goddess’ wrath, little Ajax ends up being swallowed up in the sea by Poseidon’s action: the lesser consciousness descends into the subconscious. (Unhappy as I am, by Ajax whose hand seizes my tresses! Woe, thrice woe, to him who violates me…)
It should be remembered that this ‘little Ajax’, son of Oilée and symbol of the ‘little conscience’, the mainly intellectual conscience, should not be confused with the ‘great Ajax’, son of Telamon, cousin of Achilles, and therefore involved in the purification of the depths of the subconscious.
Cassandra will be murdered at the same time as Agamemnon, the symbol of a “very powerful aspiring mind”, when they arrive in Mycenae (…and he who will cherish me!). The visions of the future will disappear when the will to improve the present mental man ceases and yoga in the body begins. For, from then on, the path is no longer mapped out or perceptible in advance. (Cf. Sri Aurobindo, The Labour of a God).
The myth continues as follows: as Athena’s anger had not been appeased, and little Ajax had not been sacrificed, Agamemnon and Menelaus quarrelled. Menelaus was in favour of leaving immediately, Agamemnon in favour of staying and sacrificing to Athena. Menelaus was caught in a storm and lost many of his ships. Many of the ships in Agamemnon’s fleet also sank shortly afterwards in a storm that Athena had asked Zeus to save, as the little Ajax was on board one of them.
This part of the story explains that after the great overthrow of yoga, mental consciousness and all that is attached to it must cease to intervene in yoga once and for all. The adventurer has dithered too long to take this decision himself, so it is the powers of the supermind who force him to do so, with many more suppressions of ancillary capacities. (Woe betide any ship that leaps too quickly to the other side of the azure Aegean!)
The next two lines refer to the series of murders and incest that mark the Pelops lineage, the last being that of Aegisthus killed by Orestes to avenge the murder of his father Agamemnon. The ‘bad wife’ is Clytemnestra, Agamemnon’s wife, who was Aegisthus’ mistress throughout the war and then assisted Aegisthus in the murder of her husband (Woe to your splendid slaughterhouse of Hell, O Argian Mycenae! Woe betide the wicked wife and accursed house of Atreus!) We cannot explain here the stories linked to this cursed lineage; the reader should refer to the website greekmyths-interpretation.com.
The swan song is a metaphor already known in ancient Greece, referring to the swans that are supposed to sing a magnificent song just before they die. This vision emanating from the light of truth imposes itself like an inexorable fatality on that part of consciousness which, out of ignorance, refuses evolution and continues to defend the structures and practices developed over centuries, as well as the associated achievements and powers. It will only take a short time to put an end to it. Thus, it often takes a very long time of preparation to achieve a tangible result with yoga, which is swept away in a few moments when it is no longer necessary for evolution. (Thus, in a swan song, she sounded the fatality over the peoples, beyond the palace of Priam and beyond the nation in arms which, resolute, marched to war with the pride of the centuries it had conquered, centuries which were brought down by a single day of heavenly wrath).
This vision, which was very clear for a moment for the enlightened consciousness, fades because it is very blurred for the thought, just like the ‘shadows’ of the kingdom of Hades, symbols of what has taken refuge in our unconscious . (Like our thoughts, the luminous chamber gradually darkens, like a vision of Hades).
What represents the accomplishment of the ancient yogas up to this day of final changeover is then compared to the ‘shadows’ of the underworld, like a yoga that has had its day and will join in the unconscious all those that preceded it in human evolution, with their immense achievements, and which have disappeared from the memory of humanity. (King Priam sat in his ivory chair, like a shadow enthroned among the spectres of vanished kings and forgotten empires).
However, in his carefree and joyful valour, Priamide hurried along
Towards the vast pillared megaron where Deiphobos in armour
awaited his appearance with the Trojan warrior chiefs.
Now, as he walked along the women’s rooms, the chambers that housed
The daughters and wives of King Priam, and the wives of his sons with their playmates,
Nests of joy peopled by murmurs and laughter with a melodious accent,
Bustling like trees full of birds on a morning of indecisive light
Where, in a garden for kings, a walker with a heart bathed in sunshine passes by,
Polyxena, who was waiting for him on her doorstep, stepped forward abruptly, 500
She took his hand and, staring at him, spoke to her brother.
Not even Pâris’s radiant strength could help him;
Deserted by joy, he turned his face away from her beautiful, painful eyes.
“So the hour I dreaded has arrived, and you are leaving, O Pâris,
Armed with the power of Destiny, to strike at the being of my heart in battle.
For, as a victim of Hades, he is doomed, as you are and as I am.
This is what you prefer: that your father and mother burn with Troy
In their palace, you could not be moved, nor could your country persuade you,
No more than you care about your sister’s happiness, pierced by your arrows.
Will she remember everything, my sister Helen, when in Argos 510
She will live out her days in peace with her husband, the illustrious Menelaus,
Holding her child in her lap? Yet we, bereft of joy, shall lie in Hades.”
The part of the consciousness represented by Paris remains convinced of the favourable outcome of the inner conflict and wants to share the joy of his misinterpretation of his vision with the yoga movements sharing the same goal, the maintenance of the old. (However, in his carefree and joyful valour, Priamide hastened towards the vast pillared megaron where Deiphobos in armour awaited his appearance with the warrior chiefs of the Trojans).
In mythology, women and girls represent the realisations as well as the goals for which yoga practices work, both working towards the progression of states of consciousness. When the seeker carrying the light of truth is ready to undertake a new practice, many applications come to his consciousness from which he must choose (Niches of joy…Mises en effervescence… Where in a garden for kings, passes a walker whose heart is bathed in sunshine).
Polyxena was the youngest daughter of Priam and Hecuba. She is not mentioned by Homer, but appears in ceramics from the middle of the 6th century BC. According to the oracles, the fate of Troy was linked to that of her brother Troilos, who is mentioned by Homer.
Sri Aurobindo follows a version that incorporates elements from ancient and later authors. Achilles killed Troilus at the beginning of the war when he went to fetch water outside the walls of Troy with his sister Polyxena. On this occasion, Achilles and Polyxena fell in love with each other. In one version, it is said that Achilles appreciated her lucidity and insight.
The name Polyxene means “many strange things, different” or “foreign in many ways”.
With the letter Xi in its uppercase form (Ξ) expressing an upward/downward identity, and the lowercase letter (ξ) a descent of the spirit into matter, we can understand that this heroine, who is very beautiful and therefore very real, represents an irruption of new abilities or powers stemming from the spirit. It is not a power of vision that characterises Cassandra, but rather the manifestation of strange, unexpected faculties, resulting from the ascension of the planes of consciousness, and very newly appeared; for she is Priam’s youngest daughter.
This could be the reason for the mutual attraction between Achilles and Polyxena, the first possible link between the yoga of freeing the mind and the yoga of purifying the depths of the subconscious. One version says that they were secretly married.
This part of consciousness, which is part of the yoga separating spirit from matter, but which aims at different goals in many respects, understands that the ultimate possibility of rapprochement is going to disappear, symbolically the death of Achilles. (Even the radiant strength of Pâris was of no help to him then; deserted by joy, he turned his face away from his beautiful painful eyes. “And so the hour I dreaded has come, and you go, O Paris, armed with the power of Fate, to strike at the being of my heart in battle).
In fact, Polyxena understands that Paris and Achilles will die, and so will she. This perspicacity understands that it will soon be the end of the purification of the vital subconscious symbolised by Achilles, of the equality obtained through renunciation represented by Paris and also her own end. With the end of the inner conflict, all this will descend into the unconscious (For, a victim of Hades, he is condemned, as are you and I).
These new faculties cannot agree with those who want to stop the movement of purification of the subconscious, whatever the consequences. But they reluctantly accept that this is the end of the most accomplished practices, realisations and structures in the yoga of the liberation of the mind, and that there will come the ‘pain’ of what in this yoga hoped to go hand in hand with purification. (This is where your preference lies: that your father and mother should burn with Troy in their palace could not move you, nor your country persuade you, any more than you care about the happiness of your sister, pierced by your arrows
These new faculties feel very close to this ideal of greater freedom, and Polyxene calls Hélène her sister even though she is only her sister-in-law. She wonders whether the adventurer will retain the memory of this terrible inner struggle and of all that has been sent back into the unconscious when peace has returned to him: (Will she remember everything, my sister Hélène, when in Argos she lives out her days in peace with her husband, the illustrious Menelaus, holding her child in her lap? But we, deprived of joy, will be lying in Hades).
Undoubtedly, at the major turning points in evolution, those of the researcher as well as those of humanity, particular faculties manifest themselves for a short time as an announcement of the possibilities that will emerge and stabilise in the future. But by waiting for those distant times, they sink back into the unconscious, biding their time.
Paris replied: “Oh my sister Polyxena, don’t put all the blame on me:
We are trapped by the gods; for it is the white Aphrodite, doing with us both what she will,
Who, pitiless, imposes this. Our hearts are reduced to impotence
And when it drags them along, they must love by force, for death or joy
She weighs them on uneven trays, then distributes them to one or other.
Happy is he who can descend into bottomless Hades holding his beloved.”
The equality achieved by the renunciation of life, represented by Paris, states that it is love, manifested by a reciprocal and irresistible force of attraction, that imposes the movement of evolution. The adventurer is merely a toy in its hands. In yoga, this attraction occurs between a practice and a goal towards which the adventurer strives. For Helen and Paris, between a goal of evolution towards greater freedom and the practice of equality in separation that seeks the final achievement of the liberation of the spirit. For Polyxena and Achilles, between the possibility of new powers and faculties stemming from the spirit and the completion of vital liberation.
The adventurer must endure this force whatever the end result, an accomplishment or a premature end. Indeed, most practices never achieve the hoped-for goal, the perfect development of the state of consciousness for which they are working. Very few achieve this and, becoming a realisation, descend into the unconscious where, symbolically, they go to the Champs-Élysées. The unequal pans of Aphrodite’s scales no doubt indicate that the results are not proportional to the effort, the difficulty of the practice and the time spent, without the seeker understanding why.
But in her anguish Priam’s daughter replied to her brother:
“The immortals, happy in heaven, use them wickedly with my days 520
Yes, I accuse and curse the gods, who ignore our pain.
To begin with, they forced my heart to love an enemy,
Someone whose terrible hands have been stained with the blood of my brothers.
Now they’ve taken the two people I love more than heaven,
The brother and the husband, and push them to fight so that they kill each other.
But no, you’d better get going, because there’s nothing you can do about it, me or Hélène.
Since, to please Zeus and his daughter, I have to make a spectacle of my death,
Because now, to please them, my heart must be handed over like a bloody victim,
Let it be so! May I be adorned and shine at the altar!”
Opening wide, blind, absent eyes, she turned away and entered her room 530
He stood still for a moment, then slowly made his way to the megaron;
The radiance of her eyes was dulled and her radiant beauty darkened.
The adventurer finds it hard to accept that these new abilities, embodied by Polyxena, have only just appeared and are doomed to disappear in obedience to the evolutionary truth represented by the gods.
(The immortals, happy in heaven, use my days wickedly; yes, I accuse and curse the gods, who do not take account of our pain).
He does not understand that they are meant to bridge the gap between the old and the new Yoga, even if the new destroys practices to which he was attached, either because they have served their purpose or because they are no longer needed in the new evolutionary phase. Perhaps this attraction is also necessary to herald new possibilities in the future, (To begin with, they forced my heart to love an enemy, someone whose terrible hands were stained with the blood of my brothers
In particular, he must renounce what he holds dear above all else, the yoga that has enabled him to achieve what Polyxena represents – the renunciation represented by her brother Paris – and the purification of the deep vital represented by her husband Achilles. The lower vital, always rebellious to the light, must be purified and transformed. In fact, these two yogas are incompatible, because how can you purify the deeper vital if you don’t participate in all aspects of life, which is why Achilles will be killed at his weakest point, his heel, which brings him into contact with matter. (Now they’ve taken the two people I love more than heaven, my brother and my husband, and driven them into battle to kill each other).
In the verses that follow, Sri Aurobindo seems to confirm that Polyxena represents a capacity on the plane of the intuitive mind that gives the ability to know the future, although this capacity is not linked to vision as in the case of her sister Cassandra, but rather to an intuitive knowledge “that always acts directly from a hidden identity”.
For the death of this heroine, he follows the very ancient version of Arctinos of Miletus, of which we have a summary by Proclus, that of the immolation of Polyxena by Neoptolemos, the son of Achilles, on the latter’s tomb. Neoptolemos, ‘the new battles’, will follow on from the purification of the deep vital to tackle the yoga of the body.
His death, linked to that of Achilles, makes us understand that during the great changeover of yoga, once vital liberation has been achieved, these capacities will not be able to endure. And neither the work of equality in separation, nor these new capacities arising from the spirit, nor the evolutionary goal of greater freedom can oppose this disappearance. (But no, get going, because there’s nothing you can do about it, nor I, nor Helen. Since, to please Zeus and his daughter, I must make a spectacle of my death, since now, to please them, my heart must be handed over as a bloody victim, so be it! Let me, having adorned myself, shine for the altar!)
Without waiting for the last moment of the reversal, the possibility of developing these new abilities recedes into the background of consciousness. (Opening wide, blind, absent eyes, she turned away and entered her room;)
The power of vision represented by Cassandra could neither convince nor destabilise the adventurer, because it is temporarily rendered ineffective by a power of the supermind that oversees the development of the Mind of Light (Apollo). But these new abilities, born of the Spirit and closer to identity with the Truth, shake his certainties (He remained motionless for a moment, then slowly moved towards the megaron; the radiance of his eyes was dulled and his radiant beauty darkened).
Meanwhile, Pentheles was arming herself in Priam’s palace.
Beside her, mute and imposing, stood her captains, dark warrior clouds
From the distant East, Surabdas, the implacable Surénas,
Pharatos built like a mountain, Somaranès, Valaros, Tauron,
Sumalos that nothing could bring down, Arithon, Sambos and Artavoruxès.
The princes of Phrygian Troy had also gathered there to deliberate,
And Euros, son of Polydamas, accompanied them, of all the Trojan boys
The most tenderly loved by the glorious virgin
The Amazons are referred to in the Iliad as the Antianeirai, those who are “unattached”, in other words the accomplishment of the liberation of the spirit through detachment and mastery, but in the separation of spirit and matter. The Amazons live at the mouth of the Thermodon, ‘the fire of union’.
The name of their queen, Penthesileus, means “one who is free from sadness, from the affliction caused by mourning”, mourning being separation. This corresponds to the realisation of union in the spirit, which manifests itself in divine intoxication. It corresponds to the end of all mental, vital and psychological suffering. Mother tells us that she had even acquired the ability to abstract herself from all bodily suffering, but that this ability had been ‘taken away’ or ‘forbidden’ when she took up the yoga of the body.
The captains who accompany Pentheles symbolise the most advanced practices of the yoga of ascent which accompany the realisation of union in the spirit. (Meanwhile, Pentheles was arming herself in Priam’s palace. Near her, mute and imposing, silent and powerful, stood her captains, dark warrior clouds from the distant East).
The names given by Sri Aurobindo in the following verses do not appear in mythology. We therefore give their interpretation with many reservations.
The two names Surabdas and Surénas seem to refer to Phoenicia Φοινίκη whose ancient name is Συρ, which gave its name to Syria. The name Phoenicia derived from φοῖνιξ purple, would indicate a vital power.
Surabdas would then be the symbol of “the incarnation of unity linked to vital power” and Surénas “evolution according to the law of the nature of vital power”
These two names therefore refer to the vital powers developed in ancient spirituality.
Pharatos, built like a mountain, would represent on the basis of our symbolic letters “that which shines in the spirit in a just way”.
Somaranès (σωμαρανεσ) would be “the evolution of the body according to the just law of nature”, and Valaros “the just movement towards transparency”.
Tauron, constructed with the word ταῦρος, bull, would represent “the realising power of the luminous mind”.
Sumalos, whom nothing could bring down, on the crest, would represent the liberation of the spirit at the very top, Arithon, “a powerful inner being” and Sambos, close to Sambas, the flute player, would be the symbol of harmony.
Artavoruxès could represent “a rapid movement towards the heights of the mind”.
So in this part of the adventurer’s consciousness, at this moment, there is a concentration of advanced practices and realisations with a view to pursuing the liberation of the spirit (The princes of Phrygian Troy had also gathered there to deliberate)
The most advanced realisation is particularly attached to the greater openness achieved by the mastery imposed from above (And Euros, son of Polydamas, accompanied them, of all the Trojan boys the most tenderly loved by the glorious virgin).
She paused in her preparations to stroke his curls and scold him:
“Euros, lost for decency, do you run around the city like a wandering child
In your haste to mingle with the men in armour and the tanks moving smoothly forward
From the rooftops, would you like to observe the dancing stain that is a battle?
You’d better throw the dart or go to the palestra with your own kind
You’d be bringing closer the moment when you can share in this greatness, rather than damaging your eyesight.
And consuming you from a distance, facing the distant lights that veil the exploits of the mighty.”
Let us remember that Penthelesia, “she who is free from the affliction caused by mourning”, that is, the consciousness of immortality, is the daughter of Otrere, symbol of the right movement of ascent in the spirit, and of Ares, the force that separates, and here in particular the spirit from matter.
This realisation begins by testing with some irony this new yoga of widening consciousness resulting from greater mastery (Euros is the son of Polydamas). It questions its impatience and haste, and doubts its power, since it has just been developed in the yoga that aspires to merge with the impersonal. She does not even propose a withdrawal that would allow observation by the witness consciousness, but advises this new yoga to prove itself.
But giving her a smile that was made alluring by her concern, Euros replied:
“I did not come to Priam’s palace, leaving the home of my ancestors,
To see these far-off lands, but in search of javelins and armour. 550
Didn’t you promise me long ago that in your chariot I would fight Achilles?”
Uncertain, he stared at her, her beauty similar to that of a cub at play;
The heroes who heard him laughed for a moment,
But they were moved by sympathy, for they remembered the days of their childhood,
They thought of Troy, still mighty, and of the rose-tinted dawn of their lives,
When they sighed after the shock of combat and the weight of armour.
At this point, the adventurer wonders whether this beginning of the universalisation of the mind, to which he refuses the role of mere witness, will be recognised by the yoga most advanced in ascension as a necessary element in the maintenance of ancient practices. He reminds himself that this recognition has already been made, as a future aid in the struggle against the yoga of descent into the subconscious (Didn’t you promise me long ago that in your chariot I would fight Achilles?).
Euros’ beauty is then compared to that of a lion cub, and a few verses later, Penthesilea is compared to a lioness who proudly watches over him. For Sri Aurobindo, the lion represents life force and courage. Perhaps this comparison and the laughter of the heroes meant that the adventurer did not expect that this beginning of universalisation of the mind – of cosmic consciousness on the plane of the enlightened mind – could provide him with support in his inner conflict in favour of that which wants to maintain the old. (Uncertain, he looked at her insistently, similar in her beauty to a lion cub at play; the heroes who heard him laughed for a moment…)
The spiritual warrior then remembers how impatient he was to get results when he started new practices, when he still had no doubts about the soundness of his path of liberation in the spirit, which separated spirit from matter. (...Yet they were moved with sympathy: for they remembered the days of their childhood, thought of Troy still mighty, and of the rose-tinted dawn of their lives, when they sighed after the shock of battle and the weight of armour).
Rejoicing, with the pride of a lioness watching over her cub in the desert, –
She’s crouched down with her paws out in front of her, enjoying her gambols,
The virgin replied:
“In my nation, younger people than you have ridden the steed and chariot of war. 560
Euros, arm yourself; from the shelter of my shield you can gaze upon the Phthians;
Grabbing my features from the edge of my tank and passing them to me to throw during the battle,
Perhaps you’ll have the javelin that will bring down the Phthian Achilles.
What do you say, Halamos? Wouldn’t such a feat be a perfect start?
Worthy of the son of Polydamas and the warrior house of Anténor?’
From the point of view of the highly advanced realisation represented by Pentheles, this enlargement must be given every opportunity to interfere in the inner conflict, while at the same time keeping a benevolent eye on it, since it is somewhat ignorant of the risks it is running. This great master has already incorporated new practices into his yoga so that they can prove their worth (In my nation, younger people than you have ridden the steed and chariot of war).
It therefore accepts that this universalisation of the developing mind supports and assists it in the inner conflict. However small her participation may be in what would consecrate the end of the yoga which descends into the depths of the vital subconscious, it would be a perfect beginning in the achievement of greater mastery in the mental domain (What do you say, Halamos? Wouldn’t such a feat be a perfect beginning, worthy of the son of Polydamas and the warrior house of Anténor?)
Halamos shuddered and slapped his aching chest with one hand,
replied darkly, bringing the threat of Fate down on the noble-hearted virgin
“Mighty maiden of arms, why do you mock your friend, even if unintentionally
Better said, because the world will find out, and my death will reveal it,
We who are of the family of Anténor, fight murdered by the imprecation of a father. 570
Do not take the boy in your chariot, Penthelese, lest the Furies
Aim only through the shield and its wielder to carry out the curse of the ancestor.
Neither your valour, nor her delicate beauty, will make them stand aside or regret.”
The indomitable fortitude of the virgin replied to Halamos:
“Curses fly from the lips when a man’s soul is irritated,
Just as the blessings soon flow in around the beloved head.
Yet I’ve never seen an imprecation sharpen the tip of a javelin;
Never has the power of a blessing made Death shrink from the condemned.
Fate, the gods, the Furies, are none other than bravery, skill and chance.
Give me the boy; shaped by the assault will return a hero. 580
“Do as you will,” replied Halamos, “Fate will protect him or destroy him.”
What in the adventurer remains an “attachment of the higher mind to the form of ancient yoga”, represented by Halamos, fears the disappearance of this emergence of the universalised mind, symbolised by his nephew Euros. This part of the consciousness does not understand why it is being contradicted by the most advanced achievement in the liberation of the spirit (Mighty virgin of arms, why do you mock your friend, even if unintentionally?).
The part of the spiritualised higher mind that is very attached to the old is certain that the totality of consciousness will eventually understand that the decision of this higher mind to withdraw from the inner conflict will be the cause of the end of this attachment. (To put it better, for the world will come to know, and my death will reveal, we who are of the family of Anténor, fight assassinated by the imprecation of a father). The same end is foreseeable for this beginning of universalization of the mind if it takes part in the inner conflict, which the adventurer tries to avoid.
Earlier, we mentioned the significance of the Furies or Erinyes, the forces that set the seeker back on the right path. They usually intervene in the wake of family crimes, but they can also ensure that curses are carried out, such as Oedipus’ curse on his sons, or those the Atrides lineage (Do not take the boy in your chariot, Pentheles, lest the Furies
Only aim through the shield and its wielder to carry out the curse of the ancestor).
These forces, born of the blood of Ouranos, are superior to the gods and implacably carry out divine orders. Under no circumstances can they be diverted from their goal, and they are insensitive to the disappearance of achievements, however powerful they may be and however much they participate in evolutionary truth (Neither your valour, nor its delicate beauty, will make them stand aside or regret).
In the adventurer, the achievement of “liberation from suffering” through mastery, on the plane of the intuitive mind, one aspect of which is intuitive discernment, cannot accept the inescapability of the consequences of mental and vital formations made in the lower planes, whether positive or negative – curses or blessings pronounced by mortals. By “formations” we mean the concentration of mental and/or vital energies directed towards a particular point.
In other words, the adventurer believes that he is able to protect himself from the influences of these formations, whether they come from outside or have been generated by him. (Curses fly from the lips when a man’s soul is irritated, just as blessings soon flow around the beloved head
For this part of the consciousness, these formations are in no way inescapable for the spiritual warrior (Yet I have never seen an imprecation sharpen the point of a javelin; never has the power of a blessing made Death recoil from him who is condemned).
Valour, skill in deeds, and a sequence of events whose causes we do not perceive and which we call chance, are what the ignorant call the forces of destiny, spirit and karma, understood as the consequences of bad deeds. This part of our consciousness affirms that we are the masters of our destiny, the creators of our lives at every moment, according to the Vedanta concept (Fate, the gods, the Furies, are none other than bravery, skill and chance).
As a final argument, she asserts that involvement in life and the struggles of yoga transform stammering into mastery (Give me the boy; shaped by the assault will come a hero).
In his inner dialogue, the adventurer gives in on this point and accepts the implication of the universalization of the mind that just emerges in the inner battle, accepting all the consequences (Do as you will,” replied Halamos, “Fate will protect or destroy him).
Then, with a voice like the sound of heavenly trumpets awakening the heroes
And where the lips of the golden-haired Valkyries blow, Penthesileus
Shouted the delighted teenager, exultant and with laughter in his eyes:
“Go, find the javelin, gird up the sword, put on the breastplate, child of the Great Ones.
When you stand in arms on the plain of Xanthe, the battlefield of your ancestors,
Make sure you fight this day like Pentheles’ comrade in arms.
Without getting emotional, budding hero, look Achilles straight in the eye.”
Like a hound being let loose, he ran towards the Hall of Armour.
Where the shields of the Great Ones were kept, and the arms of the manor of Teucer; 590
There he snatched the leggings, breastplate and helmet from the hands of the domestic slaves.
Worn by Troilos, the marvellous teenager who, before his worth had matured,
He defeated the Greeks, drove his chariot to the ships and fought Achilles.
He dressed his young body in it and, exultant, ran back,
Carrying javelins and a sword, and all the happier for the clank of his armour.
In this passage, we have added the second line which appears in the version published by the Ashram but did not appear in Raymond Thépot’s version. There is therefore a shift of one line in the numbering from the French translation to the end.
The Valkyries are minor deities from Norse mythology, in the form of young, blonde-haired women with wings. They had the power of life and death over warriors in battle. Their mission was to choose the most valiant among them and take them to Valhalla, to Odin’s palace, where they would later become the heroes who would fight alongside the god at Ragnarök, the prophetic end of the world. They were probably meant to awaken the heroes to the sound of their trumpets for this ultimate battle. It is said that they could see the future and the destiny of men.
Only in certain respects are they similar to the warrior women of the Nordic sagas, the Skjaldmös, who have been likened to the Amazons.
This difference in version is no doubt due to the fact that the Amazons resemble the Skjaldmös more than the Valkyries and that Sri Aurobindo hesitated to introduce this comparison. The idea is that of an awakening of the universalized mind (the young Euros) so that it can take part in the ultimate battle, similar to that of the Ragnarök (Then, with his voice similar to the sound of the celestial trumpets awakening the heroes and where the lips of the golden-haired Valkyries blow). The golden hair of the Valkyries indicates a totally purified connection to the highest planes of the Spirit.
The highest realisation in the spirit – Penthelesus – instructs this awakening of the universalised mind to equip itself with practices for spiritual combat, whether very intimate or against more distant elements, as well as those that can protect it from attack (Go, find the javelin, gird up the sword, put on the breastplate, child of the Great Ones).
The Xanthe or Scamander is the current of consciousness energy of human consciousness subject to the alternation of forces in the mind which supports the movement of progression of the inner being in its aspiration to unite ever more closely with the divine. (When you stand in arms on the plain of the Xanthe, the battlefield of your ancestors, be sure on this day to fight like Pentheles’ comrade-in-arms). The yoga that works to expand consciousness in the heights of the mind is worth the yoga that seeks to purify the subconscious (Without getting emotional, budding hero, look Achilles straight in the eye).
There is a certain impatience and perhaps a too great haste on the part of this vast mind to engage in the inner conflict (Like a hound being let loose, he ran to the Armoury where the shields of the Great Ones were kept, and the arms of Teucer’s manor; there he snatched the leggings, the cuirass and the helmet from the hands of the domestic slaves…).
This equipment had been that of Troilos, a very handsome teenager like Euros, one of Priam’s youngest sons, symbol of the beginning of a new practice with a view to an even greater liberation of the spirit according to the symbolic letters of his name (ΤΡ+ Λ). Linked to the fate of Troy, he was killed first by Achilles, the yoga that achieves the shift to purification of the depths. (…whom Troilos had borne, the marvellous adolescent who, before his worth was ripe, defeated the Greeks, pushed his chariot to the ships and fought Achilles).
In the meantime Deiphobos, the man at the head of the melee, at Aeneas’ request,
Opened the doors of their warlike debate to the valour of the virgin :
“I do hope that our courage will wear all our opponents down,
Heave triumph to his ancient seat on the towers of Pergamum;
The clouds of Zeus come and go; his eternal sunlight outlasts them all. 600
But there are only a few of us fighting, and nations in armour are besieging us.
Today, an innumerable, well-ordered enemy is sweeping across Troy,
Pushed back with great difficulty by successive shocks, comes back enlarged
Of a crowd of Myrmidons; they fight with a hope that, having been ruined,
Is restored by the merciful heavens, and this time under the command of a man
who is a conqueror and a slaughterer,
One of the sons of the gods, one whom the gods have armed for battle.
We, with no help other than the inflexible Ares and the mystical Apollo,
Like mere mortals struggling with the stubborn courage of mortals,
Hated and despised, alone in the world, rejected by the nations,
We fight with the gods, mankind, Achilles and the many against us, 610
To save our country from death in this bitter hour of its destiny.
Deiphobos is the one “who destroyed the fear that causes flight with (purifying) fire”, and the fearless are therefore at the forefront of the battle (Meanwhile Deiphobos, the man at the head of the fray…).
Under the pressure of evolving consciousness in search of a growth in love, what is fearless in this movement of liberation of the spirit invites in the inner debate the most advanced of realisations about the strategy to follow. (...at the request of Aeneas, opened the doors of their warlike debate to the valour of the virgin)
The fearless opens the dialogue by expressing his hope that the long resistance of the forms of ancient yoga that aim at union with the divine in the spirit will weary his adversaries. Pergamum, the citadel of Troy, its highest structure, means ‘very married’, i.e. ‘very united with the divine in spirit’. (I do hope that our courage, wearing down all our adversaries, will hoist triumph to its ancient seat on the towers of Pergamum).
The adventurer on the path must endure many ‘nights’ or periods of darkness (doubts, anguish, etc.), but none can put an end to the light that comes from the supermind, which always returns (Zeus’ clouds come and go; his eternal solar clarity outlasts them).
However, the adventurer is aware of the imbalance of forces present. The forms and practices that seek to overthrow the old yoga are numerous, well-organised and protected, reinforced now by the practices that aim to purify the subconscious (But we are few to fight, and nations in armour besiege us. Today an innumerable enemy, well commanded, is breaking into Troy, repulsed with great difficulty in successive shocks, and is returning swollen with a crowd of Myrmidons).
These practices and qualities associated with a yoga of the depths were for a time set aside, symbolically during the Achilles strike. A dispute had broken out between this hero and Agamemnon because the latter had stolen his prize, Briseis. Achilles withdrew from the battle with his Myrmidons. This story illustrates the omnipotence of the mind, which asserts itself for almost the entire duration of the inner conflict. Until Agamemnon, very close to defeat, keeps a low profile in front of Achilles and gives him back Briseis (they fight with a hope that, after being ruined, is restored by the merciful heavens…)
Achilles had given his armour to Patroclus. When Patroclus was killed by Hector, he was stripped of his armour. Thetis, the goddess of the deep sea and Achilles’ mother, asked the god Hephaestus to make him new armour, including the famous shield described in the Iliad
The new yoga of the depths which accomplishes the liberation of the vital is a yoga which has been endowed with powerful protections by the forces of the supermental and which makes the old yogas pale. (...and this time under the command of a man
who is a conqueror and a slaughterer, one of the sons of the gods, one whom the gods have armed for the struggle).
The ancient yoga notes that only certain forces of the supermental support it: the force that maintains the right movement until its planned end before destroying it, and the force of the Mind of Light manifesting itself through the supermental and supporting the structures it has created (We, with no help other than the inflexible Ares and the mystical Apollo). Remember that Apollo helped to build the walls of Troy.
At this moment of reversal, the adventurer is aware that he is clinging to the old yoga with the stubbornness of ordinary men who have not acquired the flexibility of adaptation to the movement of becoming which is a characteristic of the higher planes of consciousness (like mere mortals struggling with the obstinate courage of mortals). (Hated and despised, alone in the world, rejected by the nations, we fight with the gods, humanity, Achilles and the many against us, to save our country from death in this bitter hour of its destiny).
This is why the conflict between prudence and boldness has divided our opinions
On the battle against the Argians, whether it was fought far from the city, on the sea plain,
In other words, below the Xanthe, the impetuous river that is Troy’s friend.
This last solution has the approval of my brother, and is advised by Anténor’s son,
Prudent masters of war who prepare their aggression through defence.
As for me, I find wisdom more far-sighted than temerity;
I’m not opting for slow destruction behind vain defences,
But just like Zeus, with his thunderbolt for a javelin and on the chariot of the storm,
Disperse and chase across the skies the heavy mass of clouds, 620
In the same way, I want to chase the Greeks across the plains to their lair by the Ocean,
And right away, during the battle, I jumped at my opponent’s throat.
Striking the enemy without delay is only prudent for armies that are inferior in numbers.”
Then Pentheles, whose forehead was never bent, replied to the Dardanides:
“I’ll fight my enemy wherever I find him, whether it’s on the banks of the Xanthe,
Or in front of ships’ moats, where the railings provide shelter,
Or if, through the Scamander, they venture to march deeper on Troy”.
With a stern look, the Trojan agreed: “So they must fight, those who want to triumph,
Taking the fight to the enemy before it takes the fight to itself.
The adventurer then asks himself what is the best strategy to save the ancient yoga, seeing in himself opposing impulses, some from the mind encouraging waiting and others from the vital energy stimulating attack (This is why the conflict between prudence and boldness has divided our opinions).
The ultimate inner battle must focus on one or other of the following possibilities: either to be fought on the ordinary terrain of the seeker’s evolution in duality, without regard to the structures and forms that made the ancient yoga so strong (On the battle against the Argians, whether it is fought far from the city, on the sea plain); or on the terrain of the ancient yoga and its highest achievements in the field of the descent of supramental influences (Either on the banks of the Xanthe, the impetuous river friend of Troy).
The Xanthe is the stream of energy consciousness where opposites merge, where the river’s icy and hot springs mix. It leads beyond space and time, as explained in the first volume: “Head first, unable to suffer Space and its limits, Time and its slowness”. From the point of view of the supramental, that of the gods, it is a movement coming from the supramental (golden yellow), but from the point of view of the human intellect, it is a movement resulting from the alternation of the mind calling for the crossing of limits towards the infinite and the eternal, and therefore an aspiration to total and definitive immersion in the unique infinite existence, the ultimate goal of the exclusive yoga of knowledge.
To fight on this terrain is the choice of both “equality obtained through renunciation” (Pâris) and “the attachment of the spiritualised higher mind to the forms of ancient yoga” (Halamos). (The latter solution meets with my brother’s approval and is recommended by Anténor’s son).
It is by defending the highest realisations acquired that the ancient yoga will be able to maintain itself and not by descending to lower levels (Prudent masters of war who prepare, by defence, their aggression).
But what in the seeker is represented by Deiphobos, “the one who destroyed the fear that causes flight by (purifying) fire”, urges action. This part of the conscience cannot accept a passivity that it is convinced leads to defeat, since defences on the terrain of the mind are illusory. (As for me, I find a wisdom more farsighted than temerity; I do not opt for slow destruction behind vain defences).
This part compares itself to the highest force in the supermind, Zeus, who with lightning bolts of his power and light (of Truth) purifies the mind of all that obscures it. These lightning bolts act on the whole, because lightning and thunder were given to Zeus by the Cyclops. This part of the consciousness identifies the forces that aspire to something else and turn to the purification of the subconscious as disrupters of the liberation of the spirit (But just as Zeus, with his thunderbolt for a javelin and on the chariot of the storm, scatters and drives across the heavens the heavy mass of clouds…)
Convinced of its power and superiority, it prefers to position the inner conflict on neutral ground without relying on established spiritual achievements, and to deny the parties who want change any opportunity to express themselves, the throat being the centre of mental expression. (In the same way, I want to chase the Greeks across the plains to their lair on the edge of the ocean and, during the battle, jump at my opponent’s throat).
This is followed by a comparison with a saying of popular wisdom: “The best defence is an attack”, which, however, contradicts a maxim of Sun Tzu’s in “The Art of War”: “Invincibility is found in defence, the possibility of victory in attack”. (Striking the enemy without delay is only prudent for inferior armies).
The highest conquest in the yoga of the spirit does not decide between the two possibilities, ensuring that the conflict will take place where the other part of consciousness is positioned. Either on the ground of the current of energy consciousness that leads to the total liberation of the spirit, or on that of the protections established by the yoga that wants change, or on the ground of alternation in the interplay of cosmic forces (Then Pentheles, with her forehead never bent, replied to the Dardanides: I will fight my enemy wherever I find him, whether it be on the banks of the Xanthe, or in front of the moat of the ships, whose railings serve as shelter, or even if, through the Scamander, they venture to march deeper into Troy.
The fearless approve the strategy of attack as offering the best chance of victory. Imposing on the whole consciousness the superiority of past achievements is the only way to win and preserve the old forms (With a stern look, the Trojan approved: “Thus must they fight, those who wish to triumph, bearing down on the enemy before he himself seeks confrontation
But Pâris, the radiant Priamide, said with his carefree laugh: 630
“The joy of battle, the joy of storm and the joy of gambling
Are married in your blood, O virgin, daughter of Ares.
Would you like to see us fight like the imperishable, we who are human?
Come on, may the gods do with us what they wish, may Ares and his daughter rule!
Blood always knows more, and knows what is hidden from the thinker.
Throw your life, your wealth and your fame on the wings of a moment
The gods never granted mortals more vehement joy!”
Penthesileus, the powerful virgin in arms, replied vigorously:
“Pâris and Halamos, traits of the god of war, fear nothing for Troy.
I’m not saying this to boast, you inflexible-thinking gods who are watching us 640
But in the vision of my strength, and of the soul that sits within me :
Me, alive and warring, myrmidon fighters, forcing the currents,
They won’t be washing in the Scamander, as they used to boast,
The wheels of their victorious chariots, red with the blood of the vanquished.
When, cut down by some warrior god, I lie in the fields of Troy,
You can then, if you like, take up the fight behind the swift Xanthe with its high banks.”
A part of consciousness, that of equality which does not care about results and can look at victory as well as failure with an equal eye, with detachment and the laughter of the soul, is not fooled. She discerns an impurity due to mixtures in the realisation that has been achieved in the separation of spirit and matter through the renunciation of life (Pentheles is the daughter of the god Ares). This impurity results from mixing the essence of this realisation with the pleasure of mental conflict, with the vital excitement of emotional storms arising from the subconscious, and with the joy of betting on an uncertain future. (But Paris, the radiant Priamide, says with his carefree laugh: the joy of battle, the joy of the storm and the joy of the bet are married in your blood, O virgin, daughter of Ares).
This part knows that it cannot yet play on equal terms with the forces of the supermind and submits to their decisions. In particular, it accepts that the force of the overmind which, in the mind/matter separation, maintains the evolutionary movement until its foreseen end, associated with the highest realisation it has allowed, decides the strategy. (Would you like to see us human beings fight like the imperishables? Come on, let the gods do with us what they wish, let Ares and his daughter rule!)
It sees that the deepest springs of action are always hidden from thought, and that vital instinct is more reliable than thought.
She then draws a comparison with what happens in life, when an intense intoxication surpassing all other pleasure is caused by a lightning surge of dopamine and adrenaline when a man stakes his life, his wealth and his reputation in the space of an instant. Likewise, without being able to oppose it, it sees that in the great inner uncertainty about the path to follow, the highest achievement is ready sacrifice itself on a throw of the dice. (Blood always knows more, and knows what is hidden from the thinker. Throwing away your life, your riches and your fame on the wings of a moment’s dice : the gods have never granted mortals more vehement joy!)
It is therefore this most advanced realisation that takes the decision to act. She affirms that this is not a decision of the ego but of the soul: she says she has achieved great humility while being aware of the strength and power of will obtained in the ascent of the planes of consciousness up to the intuitive mind, as well as the conscious union with her psychic being (Pâris and Halamos, traits of the god of war, fear nothing for Troy. I say this not to boast, inflexible-thinking gods who observe us, but in the vision of my strength, and of the soul that sits within me).
This highest realisation of the liberation of the spirit, which has made possible the liberation from the affliction of separation, affirms that as long as it is maintained, the yogas who wish to purify the depths of the subconscious in every detail, by forcing the currents of evolution, will not be able to oppose the yoga of the spirit as they have done in the past. (I, living and warlike, the Myrmidon fighters, forcing the currents, will not wash the wheels of their victorious chariots, red with the blood of the vanquished, in the Scamander, as they were so blusteringly accustomed to doing).
When this realisation can no longer be effective in the face of the yogas that descend into the depths of the subconscious, in other words when liberation from suffering is no longer a sufficient argument, then the adventurer can resume the fight on the terrain of renunciation and an expansion of the spirit beyond time and space. (When, slaughtered by some warrior god, I am lying in the fields of Troy, you can then, if you wish, resume the fight behind the swift Xanthe with its high banks).
Halamos replied: “I would never willingly fight like that,
Throwing Troy like a bet in Ares’ game of indecisive dice.
But that’s the way it’s going to be, if that’s what you want; but listen to my advice.
Massed in battle, let us direct the rain of our javelins against a single power, 650
The head of the great Peleid, who once again gave victory to the Argians.
The Greeks will be easy to destroy, once Achilles has been slaughtered and is lying on the soil of Troy,
But if the Peleid lives, it’s fire that will sooner or later put an end to Troy.
Combine the speed of Orestes with the stubborn strength of Aeneas,
The fatal arrows of Paris in Pentheles’ projectiles.
The others, meanwhile, a powerful screen of our bravest and strongest,
Conquer Pylos and the Argolid, Crete and the Locrians.
You, Deiphobos, face the intractable bronze-clad Diomedes;
I, with the spear of Polydamas, will risk holding Ajax in check and discouraging him,
Although his feet are impatient with the chase and eager for speed; 660
Forming a retreating core, which a strong and experienced captain
Guarding the fords of the Xanthe with our youngest conscripts,
Strengthens the sagging front, and acts as a fresh force for tired soldiers.
So if the fierce gods prevail, we won’t be chased across the plains like cattle,
But resolutely, without haste, we shall fall back on Troy.”
In this inner dialogue, the spiritualised part of the higher mind, which has developed greater receptivity with a view to liberating the spirit, cannot of course agree with any action that is not based on reason. But it no longer carries much weight in inner decisions. (Halamos replied: “I would never, of my own free will, fight a battle like that, throwing Troy like a bet into Ares’ indecisive game of dice. But let it be so, as you wish).
However, when it comes to planning and organisation, it has retained all its importance because that is the role assigned to reason. It should not be used to make plans, but as a tool to carry out what has been perceived by intuition (though, listen to me).
She proposes that the adventurer concentrate all his forces against the yoga of purification of the depths of the subconscious, because if this movement is stopped, it will then be easy to put in their place the other yogas which have allowed achievements far less advanced than those obtained by the ascent in the spirit. (Massed in combat, let us direct the rain of our javelins against a single power, the head of the great Peleid, who still gives victory to the Argians. The Greeks will be easy to destroy, once Achilles has been slaughtered and is lying on the soil of Troy).
Indeed, this spiritualised superior mind knows that the yoga of the heights has no chance of standing up to the yoga of the purification of the subconscious vital depths supported by the inner fire. (But if the Peleid lives, it is fire that will sooner or later put an end to Troy).
This superior mind develops its strategy, firstly by mentioning the need for a union of four forces represented by four heroes.
Firstly, Sri Aurobindo mentions a hero from the opposite Achaean camp, Orestes, which may seem rather surprising at first sight.
Orestes is the youngest son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, and therefore the latest development of the aspiration. A major characteristic of the seeker must be the speed with which he covers the path, never stopping any longer than necessary as soon as he feels that a movement, whatever it may be, is coming to an end, whether it be a relationship, a particular commitment, a search, or any other event in his life and quest. As the most recent development in aspiration, Orestes embodies this speed of evolution. His name, on the other hand, indicates with the structuring letters (Ρ+ ΣΤ) a just movement from highest of aspiration, rectitude.
By naming a hero from the Achaean camp, the mind wants to boost the speed of progression of the yoga of heights, a speed that characterises this hero and seems to be lacking in the Trojan camp, which is subject to a certain immobility as a result of past achievements frozen in time.
Aeneas is the son of Anchises and Aphrodite and belongs to the Trojan lineage. He represents the powerful and obstinate movement of evolution towards Love.
The last two heroes mentioned are the most likely to cause major losses in the opposing camp: the actions of equality, which nothing can resist (Paris), and the even greater and absolute power of actions arising from non-duality in the spirit, the consciousness of immortality. (The term for Pentheles’ projectiles is ‘missiles’). (Join the speed of Orestes to the stubborn strength of Aeneas, the fatal arrows of Paris to the projectiles of Pentheles).
These four heroes will be protected by a screen formed by the other Trojans in charge of containing the attacks of the troops from the Achaean camp, who represent less evolved yogas or less developed qualities.
First of all, there are the troops from Pylos, all those who have passed through the symbolic gateway onto the path, whose king is Nestor, symbol of the evolution of rectitude or the evolution of consciousness towards the heights.
Those from Argolid, whose name means fast and bright-pure, symbolising seekers who move swiftly along the path of purification.
Those from Crete, representing the opening up and expansion of the mind.
(The others, meanwhile, a powerful screen of our bravest and strongest, will take Pylos and Argolida, Crete and the Locrians by force of arms).
In particular, it is “he who is without fear”, Deiphobos, who will have to face “he who cares about the divine”, Diomedes, King of Argos, symbol of that which in the seeker is most advanced on the path of purification and best protected. (You, Deiphobos, face the intractable bronze-clad Diomedes)
Halamos, “the spiritualised superior mind attached to the form of the ancient yoga”, will apply to this mind the control of great mastery to discourage the intellect, although the latter never gives in and is hungry for rapid and utilitarian progress. (I, with the spear of Polydamas, will venture to hold in check and discourage Ajax, though his feet are impatient of pursuit and eager for speed).
Finally, in this organisation of forces that want to pursue the conquest of the spirit in the separation of spirit and matter and in the old forms, the new yogas that help on the path towards non-duality, led by a yoga whose effectiveness has been acquired in this field, will constitute a force of protection and support in the event of wear and tear on the other fighting forces. (Forming a nucleus in retreat, let a strong and experienced captain guard the fords of the Xanthe with our youngest conscripts, reinforce the sagging front, and manifest himself as a fresh force to the tired soldiers
With such organisation, the adventurer is convinced that even if the forces of the spirit do not support this ancient yoga, there will still be a possibility of victory by retreating with dignity. (Therefore, if the fierce gods prevail, we shall not perish, driven across the plains like cattle, but resolutely, without haste, we shall retreat to Troy).
The Priamide replied: “Wise is your opinion, branch of Anténor.
The Achaeans of the south are nothing but chaff, only Hellenic boldness,
Only the wild rush of the Locrians saved their legions.
Let’s set up on this battlefield: you, Halamos, cover the Xanthe,
Rescuing us if necessary, where the enemy will be closing in on the iliac fighters. 670
Pâris, my brother, you and the mass of our troops will help the Aeotians.
Myself and Aeneas’ javelin alone will suffice for the Argians.”
“I’d rather fight,” cried Halamos, “in the front line against the Locrians!
But there too, let it be as you wish; for it is the same glory and the same service,
Whether you’re fighting on the front line, or watching over your country’s destiny from the rear”.
This is how they planned the battle.
Among the Achaeans of the South, “those who concentrate”, are Ajax the Great, “the high consciousness”, and Agamemnon, “a powerful aspiring mind”, while among the Locrians is the little Ajax, symbol of “the small consciousness”, that of the intellect and the higher mind. The Hellenes represent those who devote themselves to ascending the planes of consciousness, Hellen being the ancestor of the lineage.
The beginning of this passage would therefore mean that the highest achievements in the spirit have more to fear from the opposition of the least developed than from that of the more evolved yogas and capacities, which is understandable. (The Priamide replied: “Wise is your opinion, branch of Antenor / The Achaeans of the south are but chaff, only Hellenic boldness, only the wild rush of the Locrians save their legions).
The adventurer then organised his defence of ancient yoga.
The “spiritualised higher mind strongly attached to the form of the ancient yoga”, represented by Halamos, will have to protect the movement towards non-duality in the spirit, and possibly support what of the ancient yoga might waver. (You, Halamos, cover the Xanthe, / Rescuing us if need be, where the enemy will close in on the iliac fighters).
Pâris-Alexandre, “the work of equality obtained through renunciation”, will be the main thrust of the attack, helping what is trying to manifest itself (the Eoens). No province or city is indicated in the Iliad corresponding to this tribe. We therefore assume that Sri Aurobindo created a name in connection with the goddess of the dawn, Eos, symbol of the eternal new (Pâris, my brother, you and the mass of our troops will help the Eoens).
Deiphobos and Aeneas, symbols of “that which is free from fear” and “that which works towards the evolution of love”, will suffice for the attack on the Argians, “that which shines, that which is pure” and “that which advances rapidly in yoga”. (Myself and Aeneas’ javelin alone will suffice for the Argians).
However, the higher spiritualised mind would have preferred to be opposed to the intellectual mind, knowing itself to be superior, but it does not insist on choosing what is fearless. (“I would fight more willingly,” cried Halamos, “in the front line against the Locrians! But there too, let it be as you wish).
This spiritualised mind is indifferent to being recognised or not (to glory). It has accepted that the yoga that seeks to conquer or annihilate that which opposes it has the same value as that which, far removed from combat, works silently for the future by protecting what exists (for it is the same glory and the same service whether one is fighting on the front line or watching over one’s country’s destiny from the rear).
This is how the adventurer, positioned in the yoga of the liberation of the mind, mentally organises the final moments of the conflict (This is how in thought they arranged the battle).
Meanwhile, Euros, beaming,
had returned, and the shine of his armour brightened the room:
His conscious walls were delighted by this vision of adolescence and warrior value;
The household gods sighed and smiled at her courage and beauty,
They had seen so many of them, in a hurry to fight, pass over their parquet floors 680
Never to return, charming and strong, curly-haired and greying,
All following the same path, like the conscious masks of a single sinuous procession,
Who, crossing a bright light, make their way towards the darkness before them.
Mention is made at the beginning of this passage of the ‘conscious walls’ of a room in Priam’s palace. These walls represent the structures and foundations of the yoga of liberation of the most advanced mind, which have been elaborated by sages who have reached a very high level of consciousness. It should be remembered that the gods Apollo, emanation of the light of Truth, and Poseidon, the master of the subconscious, built the walls of the citadel. In other words, the adventurer practising a yoga elaborated in the highest consciousness rejoices in the evolutions to come due to a beginning of cosmic consciousness on the plane of the enlightened or intuitive mind. (In the meantime, the radiant Euros had returned, and the shine of his armour brightened the room: his conscious walls were delighted by this vision of adolescence and warrior worth).
The forces of the spirit which watch over the forms of yoga working for inner perfection could testify to having seen many other yoga practices disappear, undeveloped or well-established, right or powerful, impatient to thwart a new impulse. (The household gods sighed and smiled at his courage and beauty, having seen so many of them, in a hurry to fight, pass over their floors never to return, the charming and the strong, the curly-haired and the greying). All these practices followed the same logic, like a procession of masked actors on a theatre stage, shining for a moment before disappearing (all following the same path like the conscious masks of a single sinuous procession, which, passing through a bright light, make their way towards the darkness before them).
Then, smiling proudly at her captains, Pentheles,
Her wild and warlike nature softened by this mother’s heart
That woman never loses, seized Euros and exclaimed:
“When Troy has such children, who can fear for its destiny?
The truth is, Euros, I’ve been dying to take you on in combat
Preferably the Locrian Ajax, or the Phthian Achilles.
I would make you my captive, and earn an everlasting reputation, 690
I’m feeling greedy and happy, like a lioness devouring her prize with her eyes.
What am I saying, I could never leave you behind, my charming little Trojan,
But when this war is over, I will take you to the mountains of my country
And, in the manner of a brigand taking a happy captive in spite of himself,
I will give you as a perfect gift to my sisters Ditis and Anna.
Euros, over there, on my land, you’ll be able to see mountains like you’ve never seen before,
From their craggy peaks, besieging the skies of the son of Cronos,
Covered in virginal whiteness and chilling her feet with their vastness.
You’ll love our wooded peaks and fruit-filled valleys,
Of wide, dreamy Elysian lakes and enchanting rivers. 700
You’ll make smooth progress all day long through mystical woodlands
Where silence is interrupted only by the cry of birds and the splash of water.
There you will be able to see, O Euros, what Pentheles’ childhood was like.
You will rest in my father’s house and walk through the green gardens
Where I played ball with my sisters, Ditis and Anna”.
The adventurer who has achieved the liberation of the mind considers that the emerging universalisation of the mind is in some way a consequence of this liberation and rejoices in it. He imagines that such universalisation could establish the superiority of the ancient yogas. (Penthelesia, her savage and warlike nature softened because of that motherly heart that women never lose, seized Euros and exclaimed: “When Troy has such children, who can fear for her destiny?)
For a time, however, the adventurer thought he was comparing the yoga of heights with that of width, imagining that the latter would be dependent on the former, leaving aside that of the depths. (In truth, Euros, I have a strong desire to confront you in combat in preference to the Locrian Ajax or the Phthian Achilles. To gain eternal renown, I would make you my captive). He considers that the liberation of the spirit cannot be surpassed by any other liberation or achievement (I, who feel greedy and delighted like a lioness devouring her prize with her eyes). Without confronting the two realisations, he still wants to maintain the supremacy of the conquest of the heights of the spirit, keeping the universalisation of consciousness as a captive under the control of the highest spirit (What am I saying, I could never leave you behind, my charming little Trojan).
Once the inner conflict is over, however, he wants to be able to share the realms won by this highest achievement in the liberation of the spirit.
Ditis and Anna are two other realisations linked to the liberation of the spirit. Ditis may be related to Dis Pater, the Roman god of material or subterranean riches, perhaps illustrating powers over matter. Anna is a symbol of abundance in Vedic mythology. Using the symbolism of letters, Ditis would be an achievement linked to union in the spirit and Anna to powerful evolution according to Nature. (But when this war is over, I will take you to the mountains of my country and, like a robber taking a happy captive in spite of himself, I will offer you as a perfect gift to my sisters Ditis and Anna).
In these realms of the spirit there are very pure links, difficult to access, with the highest level of supermental consciousness (Zeus is the son of Cronos). (Euros, over there, in my land, you will be able to see mountains such as you have never contemplated before, their craggy peaks besieging the sky of the son of Cronos, covered in virginal whiteness…). Access to these realms, however, requires isolation and solitude, translated here as coldness, a solitude that accompanies this access to the lowest levels of the supermind in this yoga of ascent (...and freezing his feet by their vastness).
An expansion will be welcome in many ways. Both for the highest realisations, for the powers gained in outer nature, for the dream-like achievements in unity and for the streams of consciousness/energy of those high realms of spirit full of magic (You will delight in our wooded peaks and fruit-rich valleys, in wide, dreamy Elysian lakes and enchanting rivers). In this very high realisation, where union with the divine in the spirit is achieved, there are no longer the obstacles resulting from unconsciousness in duality (You will advance smoothly all day long in the midst of mystical woodlands…). Mental silence and vital peace are interrupted only by the “call” of thoughts to which the adventurer no longer clings and the foam of emotions that no longer disturb him (Where silence is interrupted only by the cry of birds and the splash of water).
This broadening of consciousness will be able to recognise the path taken towards union in spirit, which has put an end to the sadness of separation and made possible the other two realisations symbolised by Ditis and Anna. (There you will be able to see, O Euros, what Pentheles’ childhood was like. You will rest in my father’s house and walk through the green gardens where I played ball with my sisters, Ditis and Anna).
Dreamily she remained silent, but if by chance the touch of a god had made her prescient,
Telling him to think, for the last time now, of the places that had haunted his childhood,
And to contemplate in her soul, with a love that bids farewell, the memory of her sisters
And of the lovely, faraway land where she had played all her springtimes,
This touch from a god was brief; for immediately she changed, dreaming only of triumph, 710
And his heart yearned only for the assault on Achilles.
And so they left Priam’s condemned and haughty palace,
Where the air still seemed to sob with Cassandra’s complaint;
Dressed in their shining armour, radiant with beauty and courage,
Sons of the passenger demigods, on their way to their final battle,
They descended the ancestral hill of the inhabitants of Pergamum, heading towards the Great Gate.
With the thunder of an endless march, the whole of Troy armed for battle,
Its streets and palaces flowed towards them in an inexhaustible stream.
The adventurer then stops projecting himself into the future (Musing she ceased). If even this moment when he recalls the path he has travelled to achieve liberation in the spirit was the effect of a supermental power, it was very brief. This power would have given him the knowledge of the approaching end of this yoga towards the heights of the spirit and would have forced him to revisit the past, as is said of the last moments of the dying who recall the best moments of their past life with gratitude and inner joy. He therefore recalled one last time the symbolic landscapes that surrounded this growth towards the liberation of the spirit, as well as the two realisations that accompany the end of the pain of separation.
(but if by chance the touch of a god had made her prescient, urging her to think, for the last time now, of the places that had haunted her childhood, and to contemplate in her soul, with a love that bids farewell, the memory of her sisters and of the ravishing and distant land where she had played throughout her springs, this touch of a god was brief).
This part of the adventurer’s consciousness is quickly brought back to his inner conflict and the desire to perpetuate the old yoga, by stopping the yoga that turns towards the depths. (For immediately she changed, dreaming only of triumph, and yearning in her heart only for the assault on Achilles).
This concludes the presentation of the inner conflict as seen from the Trojan side, from the part of consciousness most evolved towards dissolution in the Spirit. This is the point of view of the Achaean coalition, which will be examined in the following songs. A sense impending disaster, however, lingers at the back of consciousness. (This is how they left Priam’s condemned and haughty palace, where the air still seemed to sob with Cassandra’s complaint).
These advanced practices and realisations are true, free of all fear and endowed with luminous protections (Clad in their shining armour, radiant with beauty and courage).
The ultimate developments of yogas who have achieved liberation of the spirit and union with the divine in the spirit, but who are destined to disappear, descend from the spiritual heights where this inner evaluation took place. They are demigods, because the liberation of the spirit is only half the battle and must be followed by the liberation of nature. Remember that the name Pergamum, the citadel of Troy, means “very married”, a powerful achievement of union in the spirit that is reached after crossing a final threshold represented here by the great gate of the citadel. (Sons of the Passenger demigods, on their way to their final battle, they descended the ancestral hill of the inhabitants of Pergamum on their way to the great gate).
The totality of the consciousness, turned upwards with its qualities, its mastery and its practices, is mobilised for the ultimate battle (Resounding with an endless march, the whole of Troy, armed for battle, flowed out to meet them, in an inexhaustible stream, from its streets and its palaces
Then, at the sound of Deiphobos’ voice, which dominated the din,
With a sinister, reluctant slowness, the gates 720
Which will close on a blood-red evening, and through the gaping door,
The virgin Pentheles urged her steeds forward with a shout,
Announcing in a loud voice: “O my steeds of the East, we’re heading straight for Achilles!”
Behind her, all happy in the chariot, Euros on all sides patrolled with his eyes
In his fear of seeing his grandfather Anténor standing in the way,
And it was hard to believe in his destiny, which allowed him to pass through doors without incident.
After her, the ranks of her Eastern fighters advanced heavily, with a thunderous roar.
Pâris and his armies followed, resplendent, gold on his armour
And gold on his helmet; a great bow hung limply from his shoulder,
A javelin weighed against his arm, when on his chariot he passed through the gate. 730
It was the victory over fear that, among other achievements, enabled the liberation of the spirit, and therefore the crossing of this high threshold. Symbolically, then, it is Deiphobos who can order the opening of the gates of the citadel. (Then, at the sound of Deiphobos’s voice, which dominated the din, the gates opened wide, with a sinister, reluctant slowness, closing on an evening red with blood
That which has conquered the pain of separation, accompanied by the forces acquired in the most advanced realisations, dashes forward to put an end to the yoga of the depths which wants to work in the subconscious; (...and through the gaping door, the virgin Pentheles urged her steeds forward with a cry, announcing in a loud voice: “O my steeds of the East, we are heading straight for Achilles!)
This realisation is supported by the recent enlargement of consciousness through the universalisation of the mind. But this enlargement is on its guard because it still fears a limitation by the spiritualised higher mind. (Behind her, all joyful in the chariot, Euros on all sides patrolled with his eyes in dread of seeing his forefather Anténor standing in the way, and finding it hard to believe in his destiny to pass through the gates without incident).
Pentheles is accompanied by her troops of Oriental fighters, i.e. the most advanced yogic practices and skills (after her, the ranks of her Oriental fighters advanced heavily, with a thunderous noise).
The gold mentioned on the armour and helmet of Paris no doubt indicates very powerful protection on both the vital and mental levels, gained through the yoga of equality. (Paris and his armies followed, resplendent, gold on his armour and gold on his helmet). This yoga developed a powerful concentration devoid of tension towards the goal, as well as a capacity for action at a distance. (A large, powerful bow hung limply from his shoulder, a javelin weighed against his arm, as he rode through the gate in his chariot).
Then came Deiphobos, leading their troops
And Aeneas, the valiant hero. Behind them, Dos, Politès,
Helenos, son of Priam, Thrasymachos, the grizzled Aretes;
Adamas, son of the North Wind, arrived in a hurry like his father;
Then Oros, whitened in harness, and Eumachos, allied with Aeneas,
Who was the brother of Creüse, and the man of Troades
The richest, giving it only to Anténor and Priam, monarch of Ilion.
Halamos passed by on his chariot, and Arinthéos, taking his Lycian conscripts with him.
Of all the legions of men, who were the last to leave Troy in a hurry?
Promised to the sword, for never more, of the ancient city, 740
The footmen, nor the rumbling chariots, would head in great pomp towards the Xanthe
Aetor the ancient and Tryas, the conqueror familiar to Oxus.
The main leaders on the Trojan side of this final confrontation are then indicated.
- Deiphobos: “that which conquers fear”.
- Aeneas: “a great evolution” in the yoga of identification with all with a view to the realisation of love.
- Back: “working towards union” in the mind.
- Politès: “which aims at many achievements in the mind”.
- Helenos: “evolution towards individuation” and liberation in yoga, which separates spirit from matter (because he is the son of Priam and Hecuba).
- Thrasymachos: “who fights boldly”.
- Arétès: “who rises by his own abilities and qualities”.
- Adamas: “a very powerful mastery”. He is a son of Boreas, the north wind, a spiritual force that leads to difficult and demanding asceticism. Boreas was endowed with wings, featuring the ability to rise rapidly in the mind. (Adamas, son of the North Wind, arrived in a hurry like his father).
- Oros: “which is like a mountain”, a symbol of both stability and aspiration. (Oros, whitened under the harness.)
- Eumachos: “spiritual warrior who fights justly and nobly”. This is the yoga that most enabled the acquisition of powers after the spiritualised mind and the yoga that leads to the liberation of the spirit (Eumachos, allied to Aeneas, who was Creüse’s brother, and the richest man of Troad, yielding it only to Anténor and Priam, monarch of Ilion). This verse most probably refers to the namesake Creüse, whose name means ‘sovereign’, ‘mistress’, a symbol of mastery, and who, according to Apollodorus, was the daughter of Priam and Hecuba. Eumachos would therefore also be a son of Priam and Hecuba, although Apollodorus only mentions Archemachos among them. In Virgil’s Aeneid, Creüse is Aeneas’ first wife and the mother of Ascanius
- Halamos: “the ardour of the spiritualised higher mind”.
- Arinthéos: perhaps “a just inner evolution according to nature”. He comes from Lycia, the land of light or seers. (Arinthéos, leading his Lycian conscripts.)
- Aétor: this name may come from the adjective αητος meaning “impetuous”. As the brother of Antenor, we also associate it with the spiritualised higher mind. This name could also be written αἰτωρ, and could indicate that which seeks “the cause”. This higher mind can admit opposing points of view without, however, being able to include them in a single perception.
- Tryas: in Volume 2, we mentioned that there is no known Tryas in Greek mythology. Its name could mean “the highest just development (on the plane of the mind)”. This would be compatible with what Sri Aurobindo says about it, namely a very great intuitive receptivity that allows the spirit to descend into the being. The Oxus, now known as the Amu Darya, is a river that flows into the Aral Sea, beyond the Caspian Sea and therefore well beyond the Black Sea. It symbolises the high current of light-consciousness that flows easily through the adventurer.
Moreover, this name can be linked to that of the founder of the lineage, Tros, the symbol of the right movement towards the heights of the spirit. Sri Aurobindo refers to him a little further on as the Teucrian, placing him in the line of descent from Teucer, who, according to some authors, is the father of Tros. Perhaps he is identifying the two characters?
It is logical that the greatest resistances to the reorientation of yoga – the last to leave Troy – are the most powerful achievements in the heights of the mind.
(Who were the last to leave Troy in haste, of all those legions of men promised to the sword, for never again, from the ancient city, Aetor the ancient and Tryas, the conqueror familiar with the Oxus).
The last dialogue in this song is between the two men Aétor and Tryas.
At the gates they met, and with their aged eyes
They looked at each other in amazement, admiring the harness of battle on their old man.
At the end of the great gate, topped by a tower, they stopped and chatted.
“Twenty years have passed, O Tryas, chief of the Trojans,
Since your chariot is no longer seen in battle, and age has taken its toll
To the valour of your arm. Why, then, do you go back today, with your crippled body
And your withered eyes, the crowded path of battle?”
Then the Teucrian said to Antenor’s brother: “You too, O Aetor, 750
You sat, old and weary, in your home, and you had given up fighting.
And now I meet you at the gates of Troy, riding in your chariot towards the fray.”
AEtor replied: “Of these two things, which is preferable: to perish miserably
Crushed under the stones of my crumbling house, or dragged through the blood of my loved ones
And slaughtered, sacrificial victim, on the sacred hearth of my fathers,
Or stop living in combat, amidst the clamour of war and the anthem of the tanks,
Knowing that Troy, though doomed in its aftermath, still stands proudly?
This is how young men have wanted to die, and old men like you, who never grow old
Your limbs are old, but your heart is still young, and aflame with the tumult of war.”
Tryas replied: “It is better for a man or a nation to die nobly in battle, 760
Than to end up in sickness or subjection.
So I’ve come here to offer the shoulder that Laomedon leaned on,
These arms that fought on the banks of the Oxus and defeated the renowned heroes of the East
During Priam’s wars, and a heart that is loyal to Troy.
I want to offer them to the god of death on his splendid altar of battle
Like a tribute from Ilion: and if she should fall, I shall not see her end.”
Aetor replied to Tryas: “Then let us perish together,
United in the love of our race, we who were, in life, divided by our opinions.
All is embraced in death; it puts an end to conflict and hatred.”
Silently, they passed through the portals of Ilion together for the last time, 770
Tryas and Aétor represent the most ancient yogas that were at the origin of the movement of ascent to the heights of the spirit. We need to distinguish between them if we are to understand this dialogue. Although they both had the liberation of the spirit in mind, it is said that they differed in the conception of yoga to achieve this. (United in the love of our race, we who were, in life, divided by our opinions).
Tryas is the symbol of the right movement towards the heights of the spirit that is at the origin of the lineage. Sri Aurobindo calls him the Teucrian a little further on, making him the son or descendant of Teucer (Teukros), symbol of the “right movement of separation or individuation to conquer the freedom of the spirit”. We have already mentioned that Teucer is the father of Tros, and therefore the ancestor of the lineage, and that he must not be confused with Teucer son of Telamon. If we add the fact that Tryas plays the role of a grandfather to Laomedon (I have therefore come here to offer the shoulder on which Laomedon leaned), we can imagine that Sri Aurobindo changed the name of Tros to Tryas.
Tryas would therefore be the father of Ilos, the founder of Troy, of the yoga that works for the liberation of the spirit through mastery. This origin of the movement occurred before the perjuries of Laomedon, before the separation of spirit and matter was established, before the debt owed to the work of the subconscious and the Light of Truth (Poseidon and Apollo) was paid.
As all these characters belong to the lineage of Dardanos, son of Zeus and Electra, Tryas represents a yoga that develops on the plane of the enlightened mind.
For two evolutionary cycles of the adventurer, since the moment when Paris brought Helen back to Troy, the mind, however enlightened, no longer intervenes in the orientations of yoga, having lost the influence it once had (Twenty years have passed, O Tryas, leader of the Trojans, since your chariot was no longer seen in battle). There comes a time when the adventurer’s mind is no longer preoccupied with external events, only with following the divine will (and that age has taken its toll on the valour of your arm.) Neither because of its form, which had aged, nor because of its capacity for “vision”, which had greatly weakened, this mind could no longer intervene in the action for a very long time (with your crippled body and withered eyes). So the adventurer wonders whether he should reactivate it to take part in the ultimate inner battle. (Why, then, are you now returning to the cluttered path of battle?)
As the brother of Antenor, Aetor represents a yoga belonging to a plane below the enlightened mind, the higher mind. Unlike the enlightened mind, it cannot include opposing points of view. It has developed within a framework even older than that of Tryas (perishing miserably crushed under the stones of my collapsing house). It has a certain capacity to know the future but can only consider things in their succession. (Knowing that Troy, though doomed in its aftermath, still stands proudly?)
This mind recognises that yoga in the enlightened mind has achieved one of the three conditions for access to the supramental world according to Mother, the “unlimited plasticity to be able to follow the movement of becoming” which, symbolically, provides eternal youth (This is how young men wanted to die, and old men like you, who never age). The other two conditions are the “capacity for indefinite expansion of consciousness on all planes, including the material”, and “perfect equality abolishing all possibility of ego reaction”. (Diary of Mother, Volume 3, 12 January 1962). The power of action, i.e. the influence of the aspiration towards the heights of the spirit in the yoga of the adventurer, has greatly diminished, but the aspiration itself is maintained. (Your limbs are old, but your heart is still young, and aflame with the tumult of war
For this aspiration (Tryas), the end of any practice, or more generally of any particular yoga, is obvious: better to die fighting to maintain oneself than to be enslaved to another form of yoga or deformed. (It is better for a man or a nation to die nobly in battle than to end up undignified in sickness or subjection).
This yoga recalls its antiquity with the image of the grandfather (I have therefore come here to offer the shoulder on which Laomedon leaned). We saw earlier that the Oxus, now called Amou Daria, is one of most easterly rivers in the Greek empire. It symbolises a stream of light-consciousness that flows easily, working in the adventurer by identification, from the top of the mind.
The battle on its banks depicts the victories won in the relatively recent yoga battles led by Priam (those arms that fought on the banks of the Oxus and defeated the renowned heroes of the East in Priam’s wars). This right movement towards the heights of the spirit (Tryas) has always supported the forms and practices developed from the beginning with this aim in mind, the liberation of the spirit (… and a heart that is faithful to Troy). And if they are to disappear, this part of consciousness prefers not to witness it (and if it is to fall, I will not see its end).
Although they belong to the movement of ascension of the planes of consciousness, the two ways of considering the evolution of yoga represented by Aétor and Tryas belong to two different planes of consciousness. The first is still linked to the separating, intellectual mind, whereas the second is linked to the enlightened mind and partly to the intuitive mind. (United in the love of our race, we who were, in life, divided by our opinions). The adventurer accepts that particular yogas linked to these two planes will disappear (So let us perish together, all embrace in death; it puts an end to conflict and hatred).
The imminent disappearance of these two forms of yoga, aimed at liberating the spirit through the ascent of the planes of consciousness in the separation of spirit and matter, is indicated. (Silently, they passed through the portals of Ilion together for the last time.
The adventurer contemplates one last time in silence the grandiose achievements of the ancient yogas:
Like the others, he headed for the sea, towards the battle and the Argian pikes.
Only once, while driving, did they turn round to gaze in silence
Troy erects its marbled splendour in the golden joy of the morning.
And so, as the morning ripened, the army crossed the Scamandre,
Raising dust and warlike clamour to the heavens, he marched on the Argians.
Far ahead, the plain of Troy stretched as far as the sounding ocean.
***
[1] Sri Aurobindo. Synthesis of Yoga. Vol 2 p.49
[2] Homer, Iliad XX 300
[3] “Dawn and Night, two sisters of different forms but of one mind, suckle the same divine Child.” Quoted by Sri Aurobindo in “The Secret of the Veda”.