Preparing for the Miraculous

176 eleven talksa range of intermediary beings between the present humanand the future supramental species. These transitional speciesor subspecies in the making he gave no name, callingthem in general “a new humanity.” The Mother, however,did give them a name in French, “surhommes,” literallymeaning “overmen.” She said: “This was certainly what heexpected of us: what he conceived of as the overman, whomust be the intermediate being between humanity as it isand the supramental being created in the supramental way... It is quite obvious that intermediary beings are necessary,and that it is these intermediary beings who must findthe means to create beings of the Supermind. And there isno doubt that, when Sri Aurobindo wrote this, he was convincedthat this is what we have to do.” 9Somewhere in October, solicited from many sides, SriAurobindo said to Nirodbaran: “My main work is beingdelayed.” For, as Nirodbaran wrote: “Many interruptionscame in the way. The preliminary work of reading old versions,selections, etc. [of Sri Aurobindo’s own writings beingprepared for publication], took up much time before we actuallycould start [i.e. continue working on Savitri].” Still theurgency in Sri Aurobindo’s remark startled Nirodbaran, ashe had never seen Sri Aurobindo hurry for anything. “Whenthe last revision was made and the Cantos were wound up,I said: ‘It is finished now.’ An impersonal smile of satisfactiongreeted me, and he said: ‘Ah, is it finished?’ How wellI remember that flicker of a smile which all of us craved forso long! ‘What is left now?’ was his next query. ‘The Bookof Death and the Epilogue’. ‘Oh, that? We shall see aboutthat later on.’ That ‘later on’ never came and was not meantto come.” 10 For the subject matter of Savitri were the experiencesof Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. Death had not9 The Mother: Questions and Answers 1957-58, p. 57.10 Nirodbaran: Twelve Years with Sri Aurobindo, p. 266.