Preparing for the Miraculous

84 eleven talkscourse that they hewed out the road by preparing the Earthfor the descent and action of the Supermind. To this endthey had to fight the good fight as no incarnated beings beforethem had done, for – and this is essential – the Avatar,to achieve the change he has come down for, has to takeupon him the entire burden of the past, the burden of theevolution. In Savitri we find the lines:But when God’s messenger comes to heal the worldAnd lead the soul of earth to higher things,He too must carry the yoke he came to unloose ...But though to the outward eye no sign appearsAnd peace is given to our torn human hearts,The struggle is there and paid the unseen price;The fire, the strife, the wrestle are within.He carries the suffering world in his own breast ... 19[He]Fought shadowy combats in mute eyeless depths,Assaults of Hell endured and Titan strokesAnd bore the fierce inner wounds that are slow to heal. 20And in that marvellous poem “A God’s Labour,” whichcould also be called “The Avatar’s Song,” we read:My gaping wounds are a thousand and oneAnd the Titan kings assail,But I dare not rest till my task is doneAnd wrought the eternal will. 21Although in a case like this comparisons are otiose, wemight say that the Mother’s burden has been no less, aswitnessed for instance by some of her conversations in TheMother’s Agenda. At that time her transformational work in19 Sri Aurobindo: Savitri, p. 446.20 Id., p. 230.21 Sri Aurobindo: Collected Poems, p. 535.