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Editions of Savitri
How and Why Do They Differ?
All editions of Savitri have been prepared with the same purpose: to publish Sri Aurobindo’s epic in his own words, exactly as he wrote and revised it. Yet each edition has differed somewhat from previous editions. This fact may seem puzzling, but it has a simple explanation. Before Savitri appeared in print, it passed through the hands of those who copied, typed and typeset Sri Aurobindo’s lines. These were not easy tasks. The manuscripts were difficult to read, Sri Aurobindo’s revision was complex, and the work was often done under pressure of time. Not surprisingly, words were sometimes miscopied, mistyped or misprinted, dictation was heard incorrectly, punctuation was missed, or entire lines were left out. Thus the first edition did not agree at every point with what Sri Aurobindo had written or dictated. There were even some obvious errors, as will be shown by the examples on the following pages. Part One of Savitri was published in 1950, shortly before Sri Aurobindo’s passing. But he could no longer see well enough to check it with his own eyes. In the 1954 edition a number of corrections were made, after consulting the manuscripts whenever possible. This was done with the Mother’s approval. Further corrections were made in the Centenary edition. In the 1970s, the first thorough study of the manuscripts of Savitri was begun. Many discrepancies were found between what Sri Aurobindo had written or dictated and what was copied, typed and printed. In the Revised Edition, these discrepancies have been removed. The lines that had been accidentally altered have thus been restored to what Sri Aurobindo intended.
Page-13 Facts and Figures
Many people assume that Savitri was printed with little or no change for the first forty years. These are the facts:
Examples
Savitri contains more than 180,000 words; 99.75% of these are the same in all editions. Examples of differences in the other 0.25 % are given below. These examples are grouped under three headings according to the principal causes of error: (A) typographical errors, (B) mishearing of dictation, (C) miscopying and mistyping.
* Lines printed in footnotes are not included in the totals. ** Differences in wording are termed "verbal". These do not include variant spellings or misspellings of the same word. *** Differences in punctuation, capitalisation, hyphenation and spelling are termed "non-verbal".
Page-14 A. Typographical errors 1. Misspelled words (a) 1950 edition:1 Each part in us desires its absolute …. (b) 1954 and later editions: Each part in us desires its absolute. . . .
Here the misplacement of a "b" produced two nonsensical words in the text published during Sri Aurobindo’s lifetime. The intended words are obvious. Most misspellings in editions of Savitri were corrected in the next printing. Errors of this kind usually came about through the accidental insertion, omission, substitution or transposition of individual letters:
1950 edition insconscient (for "inconscient"; page 123, line 33) worsihp (for "worship"; page 301, line 38) 1954 edition Hs (for "He"; page 74, line 19) lightining (for "lightning"; page 473, line 21) Beacause (for "Because"; page 591, line 1) vison (for "vision"; page 595, line 29) ministrelsies (for "minstrelsies"; page 788, line 1) 1970 edition ("Centenary") Obsoured (for "Obscured"; page 223, line 27)2 approching (for "approaching"; page 395, line 36) unconsious (for "unconscious"; page 449, line 35) exgiuous (for "exiguous"; page 591, line 22)
2. Incorrect words (a) 1948 fascicle and 1950 edition:3 Her dreadful strident in her shadowy hand…. (b) 1954 and later editions:4 Her dreadful trident in her shadowy hand….
* Errors are underlined.
Page-15 This is almost as obvious as the preceding example. The misprint, "strident", is an English adjective, but here a noun is required and "strident" (loud and harsh-sounding) has no meaning in this context. The word dictated by Sri Aurobindo was "trident". Yet "strident" was printed twice during his lifetime. This shows that such mistakes could escape Sri Aurobindo’s notice when the proofs were read to him.
3. Inappropriate words (a) Sri Aurobindo’s dictation and typed copy: And slowly wakes beneath the blows of life…. (b) 1948 fascicle; 1950, 1954 and 1970 editions:5 And slowly wakes beneath the glows of life…. (c) 1993 edition ("Revised"): And slowly wakes beneath the blows of life….
Here "glows" is grammatically possible, unlike "strident" in the previous example. But it does not give a convincing meaning. The word Sri Aurobindo dictated was "blows" and there is no evidence or likelihood of his changing it to "glows". The substitution of "g" for "b" in the first printing was clearly a typographical error, like the "s" that appeared before "trident" in the same fascicle. This sentence describes how the knowledge that is asleep within us is awakened by the experiences of life. Cf. another line in Savitri, where "blows" occurs in a similar context:6 Perception answered Nature’s wakening blows….
4. Misleading words (a) Sri Aurobindo’s manuscript; 1950 and 1954 editions:7 Our thoughts covet the everlasting Light…. (b) 1970 edition ("Centenary"):8 Our thoughts cover the everlasting Light…. (c) 1993 edition ("Revised"): Our thoughts covet the everlasting Light…
Page-16 This typographical error produced a statement that makes sense, but is not what Sri Aurobindo intended. The word written by him and reproduced up to 1954 was "covet". An "r" was substituted for the "t", no doubt accidentally, when the Centenary Edition was typeset.
When a misprint happens to give a plausible meaning, readers will not suspect a mistake and are more likely to be misled than by obvious typographical errors. Several Centenary misprints resulted in such unintended changes in meaning, e.g.:
B. Mishearing of dictation 1. Confusion of vowels (a) 1950 and 1954 editions:9 Feeling earth’s smallness with their boundless breadths.,.. (b) 1970 edition ("Centenary"):10 Filling earth’s smallness with their boundless breadths….
This line occurs in several manuscripts. It begins with "Filling" in all versions in Sri Aurobindo’s hand. In one MS, the sentence is found in its final form: The universal strengths were linked with his; Filling earth’s smallness with their boundless breadths, He drew the energies that transmute an age.
After writing this in his own hand, Sri Aurobindo dictated a longer version of the passage, adding several new lines before
Page-17 this sentence. At this time, the scribe who was taking dictation wrote "Feeling" instead of "Filling". He evidently misheard, confusing the similar vowels of the two words.
2. Confusion of consonants (a) 1950 and 1954 editions:11 The mighty daemon lies unshaked within…. (b) 1970 edition ("Centenary"):12 The mighty daemon lies unshaped within….
There is no such word as "unshaked". The next line is: "To evoke, to give it form is Nature’s task." The words "to give it form" imply something that was previously formless, i.e. "unshaped". This must have been the word dictated by Sri Aurobindo. The scribe apparently misheard the "p" as a "k", another unvoiced consonant.*
3. Words identical in sound (a) 1951, 1954 and 1970 editions:13 Assumed ears of the fawn, the satyr’s hoof…. (b) 1993 edition ("Revised"): Assumed ears of the faun, the satyr’s hoof….
Satyrs and fauns are related Greek and Roman spirits depicted in forms that are partly human, partly animal (mainly goat). The ears of a young deer ("fawn") would be entirely out of place in this sentence describing the "Idols of an oblique divinity". Sri Aurobindo did not spell out each word when he dictated. Evidently his scribe confused two words that sound the same, but are spelled differently and have different meanings. Most of the important emendations of mishearings were made in 1954 and 1970. The Revised Edition contains a few new ones. But the errors corrected in 1993 belong mainly to the next category.
* Similar confusions of "k" with "p" and "t" occur elsewhere in dictated lines in Savitri. Cf. "stop" (1951, p. 125,1. 12) emended to "stalk" (1954, p. 547,1.4), "awake" (1951, p. 118,1. 26) emended to "await" (1970, p. 474,1. 26), and "mate" (1951, p. 283,1. 3) emended to "make" (1970, p. 655,1. 14).
Page-18 C. Miscopying and mistyping 1. Omission of lines (a) Sri Aurobindo’s manuscript, revised by dictation: A primal Air brought the first joy of touch, Contracting and expanding this huge world In its formidable circuit through the Void; The secret might of the creative Fire…. (b) Copied by the scribe: A primal Air brought the first joy of touch, Contracting and expanding this huge world In its formidable circuit through the Void; [52 lines omitted]
The omission of the 52-line passage beginning with "The secret might…" occurred because the scribe turned two pages at once while copying.
(c) Typed copy revised by dictation: A primal Air brought the first joy of touch; A secret Spirit drew its mighty breath [line added} Contracting and expanding this huge world In its formidable circuit through the Void; [52 lines missing]
The added line was written by the scribe on a carbon copy of the typescript. This was overlooked at the next stage.
(d) Sri Aurobindo Mandir Annual, August 1950: A primal Air brought the first joy of touch, [line omitted] Contracting and expanding this huge world In its formidable circuit through the Void; [52 lines missing]
This is the form in which the passage was printed during Sri Aurobindo’s lifetime. Fifty-three lines were missing.
Page-19 (e) 1951 and 1954 editions:14 A primal Air brought the first joy of touch; A secret Spirit drew its mighty breathe Contracting and expanding this huge world [line omitted] The secret might of the creative fire….
In 1951, the editors of the second volume of the first edition discovered the fifty-three omitted lines and restored them to the text. But another line was dropped at the same time, and there were several inaccuracies of transcription.*
(f) Revised edition:15 A primal Air brought the first joy of touch; A secret Spirit drew its mighty breath Contracting and expanding this huge world In its formidable circuit through the Void; The secret might of the creative Fire….
In the Revised Edition, all lines have finally been restored to the text in the form in which Sri Aurobindo wrote or dictated them.
2. Errors within a line (a) Sri Aurobindo’s manuscript: Only the mute Alone can for ever be. (b) Copied by the scribe (wrong capitalisation): Only the Mute alone can for ever be. (c) Typed copy; 1951, 195416 ("for" omitted): Only the Mute alone can ever be. (d) Centenary edition17 (capitalisation corrected): Only the mute Alone can ever be. (e) Revised edition ("for" restored): Only the mute Alone can for ever be.
* For example, a full stop was added after "breath", breaking the connection between "breath" and "Contracting and expanding". In 1970, the full stop was changed to a comma, with a semicolon after "world".
Page-20 This example illustrates the general pattern of the history of the text of Savitri up to the present: (1) Sri Aurobindo’s lines passed through other hands and suffered from occasional inaccuracies in copying, typing and printing. (2) The most obvious of these mistakes were corrected in early editions, up to the Centenary. (3) After systematically comparing the manuscripts with the copies, the text was restored to its authentic form in the Revised Edition.
References
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