Sri Aurobindo Poems: Sri Aurobindo is a renowned Indian Poet, writer, and Spiritual leader. The poetry of Sri Aurobindo mostly explores the themes of spirituality and human trust in the Almighty. Sri Aurobindo also made an Ashram in Pondicherry, India Ashram provides all the necessary things to lead a happy and healthy life and despite being a famous poet Sri Aurobindo was also a Yogi and played a big role in India’s freedom struggle.
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1-Sri Aurobindo Poems: The Ideal of the Karmayogin
Not by the Prayer, the Penance, nor the Fasting
Shall men come near to me; not by the Gifts
Shall these attain the Vision and the Ecstasy.
But only by the rightness of their hearts,
The truth of lives and knowledge of their minds,
By all these things shall men attain to me.
Beyond all lusts, all falsehoods, all desires,
Beyond all creed, all sect, all arrogance,
The heart that beats in brotherhood with man
Is nearest to the God.
When they shall know
That all life is one, one only is the life,
All change, one change, one only, and all selves,
They shall attain to me.
Not by the eyes
Can He be seen, nor by the flesh attained;
Only by the soul is the Immortal known;
Knowledge of Him is gained by purity
Of soul; this is His light, reflected pure
In the clean mirror of the stainless mind.
He who would reach the Spirit’s ecstasy
And wake to the undying Beatific Bliss,
Forgetting all which holds us to our joys
And sorrow of the little mortal life,
From body’s long enchantment must be free
To follow the deep urge of his soul, obey
His inner law and call of the Divine.
The law of God alone must guide his feet,
His actions, that no bonds of earthly birth
Can hold him back from seeking Him, who seeks
Alone to be with God. With mind withdrawn
He enters into Him and all His Life.
Explanation :
The Poem “The Ideal of the Karmayogin” explores the essence of a Karma Yogi who dedicates their life to spirituality and helping others. The poet says that many people think that karma yogi is divorced from the worldly life but it is completely connected to the world. The karma yogi leave their ego aside and serve their life for the betterment of the people in the society.
2- Invocation
Thou who pervadest all the worlds below,
Yet sitst above,
Master of Time, son of Eternity!
Grant me thy vision, O Deathless One.
Thy power and beauty come upon me now.
I rise to meet thee, O Infinite.
It is I, heart of my being,
Who ask thee.
Thy omnipresence all the worlds declare
Thy love and wisdom fill the Universe;
And thou art gracious and compassionate.
Thou art my force, my fire, my potent will,
Myself my purpose and my endless joy.
Upon thy lap I cast my load of sin.
With thy embrace heal thou my deep distress.
Thou art the wisdom that inspires my thought,
My life’s delight and my heart’s upward beat.
Thy wisdom is in all my daily life.
Thou art my power to raise my fallen soul.
I look to Thee as to my single hope.
Thou art in me the love that conquers death,
The sympathy of all my heavenly self.
The sweetness of the joys of the Infinite
Makes glad the life of creatures and of gods.
The magic wine of Immortality
Makes beautiful the body of the earth.
The offering of thy rose of Love divine
Sprinkles with scent the chalice of my soul,
And thy sweet wine out of the hundred eyes
Widens the gaze and deepens in the heart.
Thou art my light, my fullness and my peace,
And mine my treasure, mine the infinite.
I give my soul to Thee to be Thyself
Because Thou art, and I am.
Thy embrace and Thou, we are.
Explanation :
The poem “Invocation” is a cry from the poet to the Divine power of the world. In the poem, the poet asks his God to show himself and become an idol for all his followers. The poem shows a sense of salvation and surrenders himself to the god.
3-Sri Aurobindo Poems: Invitation
Thou who survivest in the strong, silent spaces
Where all things pause from their deep-going ways
And joy is thine and singing stills its sound
And truth its meanings, there to clasp thy brow,
Thy neck with arms of purity, thy lips,
Thy body’s desires and thy mind’s pure thought,
The spirit’s stillness and the body’s peace
In an ineffable clasp.
Thou the unseen,
The secret face behind familiar eyes,
The voiceless spirit in the laughter and cry,
The Light within the gems of every shape
And the heart of every passionate delight
And in the brooding of grey silences
A white-clad Presence pale and delicate.
I have desired thee many days and years
And dreamt a moment’s interview with thee
Now that I am sure that thou art very near.
In the noise and whirl of thought, in the deep hush
Of our hearts’ silent spaces where thy peace
Is like a spear of white fire thro’ the dense
Red heart of a continent; in the driven gusts
Of mortal life, in the noise and wild haste
Of our hearts’ days, behind all, always, near.
I am very sure now thou art very near.
Come to me thro’ the flood, come thro’ the tears,
Come thro’ the pain and the noise, come in the night,
Over the mountains of difficulty, come
Thro’ sorrow and anxiety and loss,
Come through the pain of things, come to my heart.
Explanation :
In the poem “Invitation” the poet seeks help from his creator, the divine spirit. The wants to break the limitation of a human being and meet the divine spirit. The poem beautifully describes the conversation between man and god, the spiritual power and essence of spirituality.
4- A God’s Labour
Creation’s perilous saviours, Matter’s priests,
Unwearying founders of the boundless thought,
Holders of the world’s perilous frontiers, kings,
O’er people and minds and life and body and life,
Here in the seats of God’s miraculous works
Declare what happy man can never know.
Your work is ended, here is not your rest.
In a perilous world of fallen light and air
And in a soil of sorrow and dim sight
Ye built the knowledge of eternity.
O spirits strong, arise, exceed yourselves;
Your work is done; become what none can be;
Hasten, transcend; in your own glory cease.
We would possess you and our soul’s desire
Is to re-make ourselves in you, who are we,
To cast off the grey human imaged self
And like the gods to know what once we were,
The being of calm and grandeur and delight,
Of power and divine beauty and endless skill,
Artists and sculptors of the works of God.
To be what now we struggle to become
And move in the world with splendid feet of God.
We would be rapturous fire and original light,
An eager and passionate god-ecstasy
And joy of greatness and vast absolute force,
A living centre of rapturous feeling’s law,
A body of the incarnate Absolute.
Our minds that now must struggle still and serve
And seek the light like a pursuing bird,
Seek the Truth’s body in its temple pure
Shall be delivered from the circle of Night
And know at once its opposite, Heaven’s Light,
The conqueror of all oppositions, the Sun,
The one supreme Reality, God’s face.
Then shall we know, our hearts of knowledge sure,
The heart of God, Love, beyond sight and touch,
All we have dreamed beyond our labour’s reach.
In an ever living world we shall breathe, our lives
Shall be an endless movement in the pure.
Explanation :
The poem “A God’s Labour” is a self-analyzing poem. The poem revolves around the evolution of human beings from wicked and struggle to perfect being. The poet wants the readers to become one with god and start a spiritual journey towards perfection and nobility.
5-Sri Aurobindo Poems: The Bride of Fire
Bride of the Fire, clasp me now close, –
Bride of the Fire!
I have shed the bloom of the earthly rose,
I have slain desire.
Beauty of the Light, surround my life, –
Beauty of the Light!
I have sacrificed longing and parted from grief,
I can bear thy delight.
Image of Ecstasy, thrill and enlace, –
Image of Bliss!
I would see only thy marvellous face,
Feel only thy kiss.
Voice of Infinity, sound in my heart, –
Call of the One!
Stamp there thy radiance, never to part,
O living sun.
Explanation :
The poem “The Bride of Fire” is a very complex poem. The revolves around the theme of a spiritual journey to meet the divine power, the soul unites with the divine after death. The poem makes the reader think about human existence and the mystery of self-realization.
6- The Golden Light
Thy golden Light came down into my brain
And the grey rooms of mind sun-touched became
A bright reply to Wisdom’s occult plane,
A calm illumination and a flame.
Thy golden Light came down into my throat,
And all my speech is now a tune divine,
A paean-song of Thee my single note;
My words are drunk with the Immortal’s wine.
Thy golden Light came down into my heart
Smiting my life with Thy eternity;
Now has it grown a temple where Thou art
And all its passions point towards only Thee.
Thy golden Light came down into my feet,
My earth is now Thy playfield and Thy seat.
Explanation :
The poem “The Golden Light” describes the warm and vibrant rays of sunlight during the sunrise and sunset. The poem explores the theme of beauty, tranquillity, and wonder. The poem beautifully shows the essence of and beauty of sunlight.
Why is Sri Aurobindo so famous?
Sri Aurobindo is so famous because he developed a spiritual practice called Integral Yoga.
7- The Dreamboat
Who was it that came to me in a boat made of dream-fire,
With his flame brow and his sun-gold body?
Melted was the silence into a sweet secret murmur,
‘Do you come now? Is the heart’s fire ready?’
Hidden in the recesses of the heart something shuddered,
It recalled all that the life’s joy cherished,
Imaged the felicity it must leave lost forever,
And the boat passed and the gold god vanished.
Now within the hollowness of the world’s breast inhabits –
For the love died and the old joy ended –
Void of a felicity that has fled, gone for ever,
And the gold god and the dream boat come not.
Explanation :
In the poem “The Dreamboat” the poet embarks on a journey of dreams and desire on his boat. The poem explores the themes of imagination, dreams, and the pursuit of a spiritual life. The poet signifies this boat journey as a spiritual journey.
What is the theme of Sri Aurobindo’s poems?
The theme of Sri Aurobindo’s poem is spirituality.
8- O Coil, Coil
O coil, honied envoy of the spring,
Cease thy too happy voice, grief’s record, cease:
For I recall that day of vernal trees,
The soft asoca’s bloom, the laden winds
And green felicity of leaves, the hush,
The sense of Nature living in the woods.
Only the river rippled, only hummed
The languid murmuring bee, far-borne and slow,
Emparadised in odours, only used
The ringdove his divine heart-moving speech;
But sweetest to my pleased and singing heart
Thy voice, O coil, in the peepel tree.
O me! for pleasure turned to bitterest tears!
O me! for the swift joy, too great to live,
That only bloomed one hour! O wondrous day,
That crowned the bliss of those delicious years.
The vernal radiance of my lover’s lips
Was shut like a red rose upon my mouth,
His voice was richer than the murmuring leaves,
His love around me than the summer air.
Five hours entangled in the coil’s cry
Lay my beloved twixt my happy breasts.
O voice of tears! O sweetness uttering death!
O lost ere yet that happy cry was still!
O tireless voice of spring! Again I lie
In odorous gloom of trees; unseen and hear
The windlark gurgles in the golden leaves,
The woodworm spins in shrillness on the bough:
Thou by the waters wailing to thy love,
O chocrobacque! have comfort, since to thee
The dawn brings sweetest recompense of tears
And she thou lovest hears thy pain. But I
Am desolate in the heart of fruitful months,
Am widowed in the sight of happy things,
Uttering my moan to the unhoused winds,
O coil, coil, to the winds and thee.
Explanation :
The poem “O Coil, Coil” is a beautiful poem by Sri Aurobindo. The poem explores the themes of imagination and spirituality. The poet shows the life of trees and the different seasons of nature and what they signify.
When is the birthday of Sri Aurobindo?
Sri Aurobindo was born on 15 August 1872.
9- Cosmic Consciousness
I have wrapped the wide world in my wider self
And Time and Space my spirit’s seeing are.
I am the god and demon, ghost and elf,
I am the wind’s speed and the blazing star.
All Nature is the nursling of my care,
I am its struggle and the eternal rest;
The world’s joy thrilling runs through me, I bear
The sorrow of millions in my lonely breast.
I have learned a close identity with all,
Yet am by nothing bound that I become;
Carrying in me the universe’s call
I mount to my imperishable home.
I pass beyond Time and life on measureless wings,
Yet still am one with born and unborn things.
Explanation :
The poem “Cosmic Consciousness” is a poem that is related to the universe and the life beyond human existence. The poem explores the theme of spirituality, the cosmos, the unity of all things, and the transcendent nature of consciousness. The poet is curious about the space and interconnectedness of the vast universes.
10- Flame-Wind
A flame-wind ran from the gold of the east,
Leaped on my soul with the breath of a sevenfold noon.
Wings of the angel, gallop of the beast!
Mind and body on fire, but the heart in swoon.
O flame, thou bringest the strength of the noon,
But where are the voices of morn and the stillness of eve?
Where the pale-blue wine of the moon?
Mind and life are in flower, but the heart must grieve.
Gold in the mind and the life-flame’s red
Make of the heavens a splendor, the earth a blaze,
But the white and rose of the heart are dead.
Flame-wind, pass! I will wait for Love in the silent ways
Explanation :
“Flame-Wind” captures the essence of spiritual fervency, depicting the soul’s passionate quest for truth and ultimate realization. It speaks to the universal human longing for spiritual transcendence and the transformative power of divine grace.
11- Shiva
On the white summit of eternity
A single Soul of bare infinities,
Guarded he keeps by a fire-screen of peace
His mystic loneliness of nude ecstasy.
But, touched by an immense delight to be,
He looks across unending depths and sees
Musing amid the inconscient silences
The Mighty Mother’s foolish felicity.
Half now awake she rises to his glance;
Then, moved to circling by her heart-beats’ will,
The rhythmic worlds describe that passion dance.
Life springs in her and Mind is born; her face
She lifts to Him who is Herself, until
The Spirit leaps into the Spirit’s embrace
Explanation :
“Shiva” encapsulates the mysticism and reverence associated with the deity, offering readers a glimpse into the profound philosophy and spirituality inherent in Hindu mythology. The poem serves as a contemplative ode to the divine presence, inviting readers to reflect on the timeless wisdom and transcendental nature of Shiva.
12- Bliss Of Identity
All Nature is taught in radiant ways to move,
All beings are in myself embraced.
O fiery boundless Heart of joy and love,
How art thou beating in a mortal’s breast!
It is Thy rapture flaming through my nerves
And all my cells and atoms thrill with Thee ;
My body thy vessel is and only serves
As a living wine-cup of Thy ecstasy.
I am a center of Thy golden light
And I its vast and vague circumference,
Thou art my soul great, luminous and white
And Thine my mind and will and glowing sense.
Thy spirit’s infinite breath I feel in me;
My life is a throb of Thy eternity
Explanation :
In the poem, Aurobindo says that all materialistic pleasure falls short in comparison to divine joy. He is thrilled with the state of self-realization and sees that all his atoms and cells are taking part in the divine joy.
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FAQs
- Who was Sri Aurobindo?
Sri Aurobindo was an Indian poet, nationalist, philosopher, and yogi from 1872 to 1950.
- What is Integral Yoga?
Integral Yoga, also known as Purna Yoga, is a form of spiritual practice developed by Sri Aurobindo.
- Where is Sri Aurobindo Ashram located?
The Sri Aurobindo Ashram is located in Puducherry(formerly known as Pondicherry),India.