'Who' by Sri Aurobindo - Poem Review

Sri Aurobindo.

A patriot and a freedom fighter.

But, above all " A Poet".

This is one of his poems titled 'Who'.

'WHO' by Sri Aurobindo

In the blue of the sky, in the green of the forest,

Whose is the hand that has painted the glow?

When the winds were asleep in the womb of the ether,

Who was it roused them and bade them to blow?

He is lost in the heart, in the cavern of Nature,

He is found in the brain where He builds up the thought:

In the pattern and bloom of the flowers He is woven,

In the luminous net of the stars He is caught.

In the strength of a man, in the beauty of woman,

In the laugh of a boy, in the blush of a girl;

The hand that sent Jupiter spinning through heaven,

Spends all its cunning to fashion a curl.

These are His works and His veils and His shadows;

But where is He then? by what name is He known?

Is He Brahma or Vishnu? a man or a woman?

Bodied or bodiless? twin or alone?

We have love for a boy who is dark and resplendent,

A woman is lord of us, naked and fierce.

We have seen Him a-muse on the snow of the mountains,

We have watched Him at work in the heart of the spheres.

We will tell the whole world of His ways and His cunning:

He has rapture of torture and passion and pain;

He delights in our sorrow and drives us to weeping,

Then lures with His joy and His beauty again.

All music is only the sound of His laughter,

All beauty the smile of His passionate bliss;

Our lives are His heart-beats, our rapture the bridal

Of Radha and Krishna, our love is their kiss.

He is strength that is loud in the blare of the trumpets,

And He rides in the car and He strikes in the spears;

He slays without stint and is full of compassion;

He wars for the world and its ultimate years.

In the sweep of the worlds, in the surge of the ages,

Ineffable, mighty, majestic and pure,

Beyond the last pinnacle seized by the thinker

He is throned in His seats that for ever endure.

The Master of man and his infinite Lover,

He is close to our hearts, had we vision to see;

We are blind with our pride and the pomp of our passions,

We are bound in our thoughts where we hold ourselves free.

It is He in the sun who is ageless and deathless,

And into the midnight His shadow is thrown;

When darkness was blind and engulfed within darkness,

He was seated within it immense and alone.

This poem is one of the most intellectual poems I have ever read. It is a beautiful rendition of God and His Creation. The imagery in this poem is magnificent.

It is like He is painting on canvas His creation. This whole universe and the beyond was made by Him. The glow of the divine and His essence was present in each and every creature He created. He made the winds blow. He has created the gamut of the space and universe.

He is present in our hearts and our souls and in the deepest corners of nature. He has been inextricably woven into the fabric of this universe. We are incapable of seeing Him but He is present.

Always.

Omnipresent. Omnipresent. Omnipotent.

He is connected to our lives.

The beauty in this world is because of Him.

Everything is because of Him.

He is in the strength of a man and in the exquisiteness of a woman. He can be felt in the laugh of a boy and the blush of a little girl.

With ease, He has sent Jupiter spinning through heaven. This is His naughty and mischievous behavior.

He has spent time and thought into making each and every part of this universe, even the most trivial things like the curl or a lock of hair.

He is intelligent and cunning. He is instrumental in the making and working of this world. But no one knows his true form. He is both bodied and bodiless. His existence is unknown but is believed in. No one knows if he is of the feminine or the masculine, or if he is known by the name of Brahma or Vishnu or any other.

Many still look for the form of the divine.

But still...

Unknown.

He can be seen in the dark-skinned beautiful god Krishna and in the fierce and naked warrior goddess, Kali. He can be seen in the pinnacle of Kailash as Shiva and we have watched his journey of a man from mortal to immortal as Narad Muni.

He takes immense pleasure in inflicted torture and pain. He is passionate and compassionate.

Ecstatic.

In our sorrows. Delightful.

For our weeping.

Woos us back.

His compassion and love and care.

Beauty is His creation. Music is His laughter. Music is the song of God. Our love is His kiss and our heart beats because of His. Everything is a reflection of His emotions. He is both ruthless and compassionate. He remains whole.

He is the one who facilitates evolution. He is something that cannot be removed. He is incomprehensible.

He has created different yugas or eons. He has created this universe out of great love and care. Everything has been preordained. He is the supreme Master. He is close to our hearts but we are unable to see because of our pride and pompousness and trivial thoughts.

He was there before the creation of this universe and He will remain after this world turns to ashes. He will be seated in the great darkness when all light is gone. He will stay eternal and resplendent and beyond all materialism.

When His creation turns to dust. Purposeless. He will remain undestroyed.

He has many forms:

• The Immanent Self.

• The Cosmic Self.

• The Transcendental Self.

And He shall stay.

Alone on His throne. Shrouded in darkness.

Amaranthine.

Wow.

This was a pretty hard poem to write about. It was a ride in itself.

Not for the faint of the heart.

Hope you like it.

Sirisha, over and out.