In its vast ambit of ideal Space
Where beauty and mightiness walk hand in hand,
The Spirit’s truths take form as living Gods
And each can build a world in its own right.
Sri Aurobindo – Savitri: CWSA, Vol. 33, Book Two, p. 261
…. I thought that instead of reading the Dhammapada I could read to you something which will both interest you and show you how Sri Aurobindo visualised our relation with the gods.
You know, don’t you, that in India especially, there are countless categories of gods, who are all on different planes, some very close to man, others very close to the Supreme, with many intermediaries.
….
There are gods of the Overmind who are the great creators of the earth—until now. There are the gods of the Vedas who are mentioned in everything that has come down from the Rishis. And there are the gods of the Supermind, those who are going to manifest on earth, although of course they exist from all eternity on their own plane.
Here Sri Aurobindo is speaking mostly about the Vedic gods, but not exclusively nor in a very definite way. At any rate these gods are higher than the gods of the Puranas.
Here is what Sri Aurobindo tells us.
In fact, it is a prayer:
Be wide in me, O Varuna;
Be mighty in me, O Indra;
O Sun, be very bright and luminous;
O Moon, be full of charm and sweetness.
Be fierce and terrible, O Rudra;
Be impetuous and swift, O Maruts;
Be strong and bold, O Aryama;
Be voluptuous and pleasurable, O Bhaga;
Be tender and kind and loving and passionate, O Mitra.
Be bright and revealing, O Dawn;
O Night, be solemn and pregnant.
O Life, be full, ready and buoyant;
O Death, lead my steps from mansion to mansion.
Harmonise all these, O Brahmanaspati.
Let me not be subject to these gods, O Kali.
So Sri Aurobindo makes Kali the great liberating power who ardently impels you towards progress and leaves no ties within you which would hinder you from progressing.
The Mother – Questions and Answers : CWM, Vol. 9, pp. 376-377
Why does Sri Aurobindo give more importance to Kali?
It is good and necessary to possess all the divine qualities that these gods represent and symbolise; that is why Sri Aurobindo invokes them and asks them to take possession of his nature. But for one who wants union with the Supreme, for one who aspires for the supreme Realisation, this cannot be sufficient. This is why at the end he calls upon Kali to give him the power to go beyond them all.
For Kali is the most powerful aspect of the universal Mother and her power is greater than that of all the gods in her creation. To unite with her means therefore to become more vast, more complete, more powerful than all the gods together and that is why Sri Aurobindo places union with her above and beyond all the others.
Mother – On Thoughts and Aphorisms : CWM, Vol. 10, pp. 84-85
The Gods are Personalities or Powers put forth by the Divine—they are therefore in front limited Emanations, although the full Divine is behind each of them….
Of course, the gods exist—that is to say, there are Powers that stand above the world and transmit the divine workings. It is the physical mind which believes only in what is physical that denies them. There are also beings of other worlds—gods and Asuras etc.
Sri Aurobindo – Letters on Yoga – I : CWSA, Vol. 28, p. 456
The Gods are in the universal Self—if identified with the universal Self one can feel their presence there.
Sri Aurobindo – Letters on Yoga – I : CWSA, Vol. 28, p. 456
There are many forms of Agni,—the solar fire, the vaidyuta fire and the nether fire are one Trinity—the fivefold fire is part of the Vedic symbolism of sacrifice.
***
Vayu and Indra are cosmic godheads presiding over the action of cosmic principles—they are not the manomaya purusha or pranamaya purusha in each man. You have a mental being or purusha in you and a vital being or purusha, but you cannot say that you are in your mind Indra or in your vital Vayu. The Purusha is an essential being supporting the play of Prakriti—the Godhead (Indra, Vayu) is a dynamic being manifested in Prakriti for the works of the plane to which he belongs. There is an immense difference.
***
Yes, Mitra is rather a combination of the two powers [Mahalakshmi and Mahasaraswati].
***
I indicate the psychological powers which they [six Vedic Gods] bring with them:
Mitra—Harmony.
Varuna—Wideness.
Aryaman—Power, Tapasya.
Brihaspati—Wisdom (Word and Knowledge).
Vishnu—Cosmic Consciousness.
Vayu—Life.
Sri Aurobindo – Letters on Yoga – I : CWSA, Vol. 28, pp. 458-459
Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva are only three Powers and Personalities of the One Cosmic Godhead.
***
Brahma is the Power of the Divine that stands behind formation and creation.
***
As for Vishnu being the creator, all the three Gods are often spoken of as creating the universe—even Shiva who is by tradition the Destroyer.
Sri Aurobindo – Letters on Yoga – I : CWSA, Vol. 28, p. 459
Shiva is the Lord of Tapas. The power is the power of Tapas.
Krishna as a godhead is the Lord of Ananda, Love and Bhakti; as an incarnation, he manifests the union of wisdom (Jnana) and works and leads the earth-evolution through this towards union with the Divine by Ananda, Love and Bhakti.
The Devi is the Divine Shakti—the Consciousness and Power of the Divine, the Mother and Energy of the worlds. All powers are hers. Sometimes Devi-power may mean the power of the universal World-Force; but this is only one side of the Shakti.
***
Mahakali and Kali are not the same, Kali is a lesser form. Mahakali in the higher planes appears usually with the golden colour.
***
Ganesh is the Power that removes obstacles by the force of Knowledge—Kartikeya represents victory over the hostile Powers. Of course the names given are human, but the Gods exist.
Sri Aurobindo – Letters on Yoga – I : CWSA, Vol. 28, p. 460
