Explanation of 1st Four Cantos in English Canto I I woke up from a profound sleep towards the end of one deep dark night. All was quiet around me. I became a witness to a magnificent vision that I continued to see daily. Everything I saw occurring in front of me was for the benefit of the world. It surely came directly from the Supreme. In my daily encounter with the truth, the Supreme Creator and my Guru, Sri Aurobindo, inspired me. At once, I knew that my Guru’s power of tapasya, his grace and his influence had made me an instrument through which a great Epic has to manifest. I clearly heard the divine humming, clear sound of OM, coming from my navel centre. I remained in tune with it and let the grace flow. It was as if ambrosia was flowing directly from heaven. I became a medium of the Divine dictate and wrote what I was asked. OM is at the root of all the creation and it enlightens the whole world. It consists of three letters [au-ou-m = OM] and through their play, the Aksharbrahman, the primal universal sound is heard. The creation begins with – au, is maintained with - ou and is completed with m. The nasal sound continues the transition again from m to au. With this movement of the nasal sound, the creation starts. In this way, OM continues with the commencing, continuing, and dissolving of the creation. This sound, which arose from the navel centre and manifested with a dazzling light, is the underlying basis of power and joy (ananda). Thus, - OM - is the lord of all Creation. The Veda says that one should meditate on –OM - that is the image of Narayana with four hands. He is the lord of all. OM is the Supreme Being and the absolute Reality in the universal form -Viratswarup, august and calm. The sound of OM upholds the creation. With meditation it is felt everywhere, and is worshipped daily as the Supreme Lord. I heard the sound of OM arising from my navel centre. I woke up from my beautiful dream and became conscious of what was happening around me. I saw a divine splendour enveloping me totally. This is what I want to disclose here. I awoke from this blissful dream, my heart full of joy and my body thrilled. I continued hearingOm, Om Narayana in a harmonious rhythm from my navel centre.

Explanation of 1st Four Cantos in English Canto II In the beginning, OM is the form of the Supreme Divine that is unexpressed and unmanifested. From OM, the three figured Godhead Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwar manifest. Sound is the Brahman and is manifested as the source of all creation. In the German philosophy it is given the name Das Wort (The creation through utterance), in Sanskrit it is the Aksharbrahman. This is the beginning from where the worlds of Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwar manifest - Brahma as the creator, Vishnu as the protector and Maheshwar as the destroyer of the Universe. When the creation began, the Vedas came out from the source of Brahman as a cosmic truth light-called Aditya holding the complete memory of the creation. With the manifestation of creation from the vast light, a great power came as the metre (chhanda) and that had the power of realisation. This was accepted and worshipped by the Rishies. The Rishies saw the movement of the original verse known as Gayatri, having three feet - each foot with eight letters - known as the Gayatri metre. Au - is for Brahma [the creator], ou - for Vishnu [the protector] and m - for Rudra [the destroyer]. The nasal sound, the Anuswara - continues to flow even after the completion of the sound that manifests as the creation. Creations have manifested by the light of Brahman, continued with the power of Vishnu, dissolved by the power of Rudra and again arose through the power of Pingala (who stands on the - Anuswara - which is the continuation of the nasal sound). First, there is the encircling movement of these three letters [au, ou, and m] twice. On turning the third time, it will stop on the third letter - m - to create a foot of Gayatri (a metre of eight letters). These eight letters make one foot, and when repeated three times three feet are created. Gayatri exists on the - OM. The Rishies say that the conscious force Gayatri is the mother of the Vedas as she is the great power that manifests the Vedas. Thus three turns of eight letters, creates the enlightened Gayatrichhanda. . Gayatri is the source of the Vedas. She is supreme, omnipresent and she is the great power that manifests all the other rhythms and is known as Maheshwari. The Rishies, who always meditate on the Gayatri, say that to them the power behind this three feet verse of eight letters appears in three different colours and shapes at different times of the day. Gayatri is first seen to be ablaze with the dawn - red colour - immersed in the meditation of the creation, giving the rhyme and the rhythm. Meditating on the universe in the morning, the Goddess Gayatri manifests in red colour having four hands, seated on a goose. She is called Brahmani, the power of Brahma, the creator. She awakens the universe, while holding in her hands lucid water and grass. She sprays water over the unconscious human being in sleep, leads him to consciousness, making him aware of his own force and power inherent in him and in this way provides movement and rhythm of poetry.

In her second form - she is dazzling in her golden colour, holding the thread of work and rhythm and manifesting with love and unity. Meditating at noon - she appears in a golden colour with four hands, seated on the Garuda (the eagle, the great bird). In this form, she is named Vaishnavi being the power of Vishnu. She holds in her hands a conch (shankha), a wheel (chakra), a club (gada) and a lotus (padma). She nurtures and maintains the universe with a thread of divine love, pure joy (ananda) and power of unity. In the evening, she looks radiantly beautiful in a pure dusky shade and she manifests as the power of destruction. She has the power to destroy the creation and to plunge the soul into an unconscious state. Meditating in the evening, she appears to have a smoky sombre colour, with four hands and is seated on the white bull. In this form, she is the power of Maheshwara and is called Maheshwari. In her hands, she holds the javelin to destroy the evil forces and the demons - by removing the world's delusion that makes humanity believe in the reality of worldly objects and in gratification of sensual pleasures. In this way, she spreads profound peace on earth. Such are the powers of the Goddess Gayatri. On that Gayatri Devi, who is the giver of purity, through whose power the Vedas are uttered from the mouth of the Brahman - on that Gayatri Devi, I meditate. With the light of Brahman, the four Vedas came out from his four mouths - and they are named Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda, and Atharva Veda. The Rishies said that the Sama Veda came from the east, the Rig Veda from the north, the Yajur Veda from the west, and Atharva Veda from the south. The Gayatri exists in all of the four Vedas, enlightening the words of Brahman. She is also the creatrix of the other six meters (chhandas) - described as follows. First is the powerful Gayatri with three feet, each foot consisting of eight letters, having twenty-four letters in all. The Gods worshipped another form of Gayatri with four feet - each foot having six letters. In this form, the metre was called divine Gayatri. Worshipped by the Rishies and Gods in these two different forms, a metre came into being, four feet with twenty-eight letters, named Ushnika. Ushnika has two kinds of movements and shapes - At times, it consists of three feet and other times of four feet. Another metre consisted of eight letters with four feet, thus thirty-two letters in all. The Rishies adored this metre and called it the Anushthupa metre. Further, there is the Vrihati metre of thirty-six letters, having four feet, each foot of nine letters, or having three feet, one foot of twelve letters and other two feet having eight letters each. There is also the Pankti metre with forty letters, consisting of four feet, each foot of ten letters - called Viraja. Another is the Trishthupa metre, with forty-four letters, - having four feet, each foot of eleven letters. Next, one is the Jagati metre with forty-eight letters - four feet, each foot of twelve letters. From the Anushthupa to the Jagati, all the metres have four feet as they manifested in different combinations. The Rishies adored these metres - the first among them being the Anushthupa. The Anushthupa metre, which is the most powerful manifested new creations, is omnipresent and is the most favoured by the great poets.

Explanation of 1st Four Cantos in English Canto III The supreme poet Pingala (Shiva) descended in the world to manifest a new creation with the sound of Anushthupa and to begin a new human cycle - (Kalpa) consisting of the Satya Yug (golden age), TritaYug (silver age), DwitaYug (bronze age) and Kali Yug (iron age), in the above order. At the end of the Iron Age, the Golden Age again commences. This is the constant turning of the time wheel. The poet - PingalaMaheshwara - appeared, wearing a mass of matted hair, to save the humanity from the bondage of animalism. With a deep voice, he spoke to Kashyapa the creator of gods, who observed him with astonished eyes. Pingala said - This is the place, o great creator, where I have decided where the Epic should manifest. With it will also manifest a new creation. Please behold and grant your power and light of tapasya (meditation) to your devotee who lives here so that he may increase his ability to bear the immense force of the stream of the flow of this Epic. I have decided to manifest the Epic through this young person, who is very simple in nature and does not consider himself an intellectual, who has faith on gods, and who always has an aspiration for the Vedic knowledge. He is the medium through which the verses of the epic Devayan will be penned. Saying this, he roared in the rhythm of the Anushthupa metre. Hearing the thundering voice of the Supreme Poet, the three worlds trembled and the vast Epic manifested. The Supreme poet said to the Creator Kashyapa - Behold 0 Supreme Creator! the divine Epic, Devayan, which manifests the truth, is appearing surrounded with a beautiful light. Look! the wheel of time is turning - holding the secret meaning and manifestation of gods by unfolding the divine activity. With the creation passing through the four ages, the divine intellect was shadowed by darkness. Now, the divine intellect brightens up each day with the memory of that great encircling movement and all the creations, returns. From the Golden Age, as the universe is proceeding towards the Iron Age, look 0 Creator! look how all the creations have changed with the passage of time. Now, once again one can see how the whole creation is turning towards the Golden age from the Iron Age. I name this new Epic - Devayan as it moves one Golden Age to the next Golden Age unfolding all the secrets of the creation 0 God of all Gods, this Epic is the result of your efforts to manifest the golden age, the divine life, a supramental race upon the earth. Hence, this epic is so significant to mankind. This Epic is divided in twelve parts, each part having a thousand pages - containing innumerable shlokas (by four feet in two lines) in just one part of this vast Epic. Whatever has occurred in the four aeons, the entire manifestation is recorded here in the order that it occurred. The Devayan can be seen in the sky of eternity. See!

In it, you see the four Vedas flanking its four sides. You see the Rigveda in the east, Yajurveda in the west, Samaveda in the north, and Atharvaveda in the south. 0 great Creator, in the dark sky ornamented by innumerable stars and planets, the brightest are the Sun and Moon. There you can also see the Devayan as a bright star. In the divine blaze of light, see the sun dynasty, with the life and glory of the divine incarnation Rama (Vishnu), in the epic Ramayana. Janarddana (Vishnu) in a human form descended as Sri Rama in the sun dynasty as the famous warrior with his incomparable and unconquerable power and became uniquely victorious in the three worlds by overpowering the demonic forces. On the other side, shining like the moon, from the moon dynasty you can observe the glory and life of divine Krishna in the Mahabharata. Descended from Janarddana [Vishnu] as Krishna, he is famous for his activity through his incomparable intellect and knowledge. There are also thousands of other glorious godlike characters each glowing with divine power and knowledge. Additionally, there are many other godlike characters described in the epic who lead pure lives. They are manifested in the Epic just like stars in the sky in this epic book of twelve thousand pages. Devayan, in the Anushthupa metre, sounds as if the musical rhythms are coming straight from the beautiful Gandaharva world in a low, deep and hard sound. Within this, now and then, some other metre is heard - just as the sound of lightning comes all of a sudden in the middle of the thundering of the clouds. As we see the day and night pass - we see also the four ages passing and having the same movement in Devayan. The golden age is radiant like the day, where the Sun God and the Divine Mother with her children manifest. The Iron Age is like a night, with Kali influencing the demonic forces. In between, the time is divided into two parts. Trita is like the evening dusk and Dwita like the second part of the night. Then comes the end of the deep dark night with a beautiful description of the approaching divine dawn to awaken the consciousness of the people and the world. Then the Truth Sun manifests. O Divine Creator of all, see with your own eyes the Epic Devayan manifest in the powerful and beautiful metre of the Anushthupa giving us all a beautiful vision. Seeing its descent, the divine poet Pingala was happy and the divine creator Kashyapa calmly saw without a movement of his eyelids.

Explanation of 1st Four Cantos in English Canto IV On hearing this - Rishi Kashyapa said to Pingala, the supramental Poet, that this epic is too lengthy and vast and it will not be easy to manifest. Human beings have now a very short span of life. To write such an epic one needs at least a hundred years. How can one human life be sufficient to manifest this vast epic, tell me, 0 Poet of poets. To that the Lord answered - 0 Creator of Gods, listen, I have decided to compress the time. From the twelve thousand pages of Devayan, take ten pages daily and through your power of words, push it towards manifestation. If ten pages could be completed daily, then three hundred pages could be manifested in a month if we count thirty days in a month. Thus in three months and ten days, one thousand pages will be manifested. Now you have to multiply this by twelve. Thus, the complete time to manifest the whole of Devayan would be three years and four months only. In this time, the whole epic will be completed. On hearing this plan of the divine poet, Kashyapa mentioned that it still was not easy to manifest. He said that for a human being to sit three years and four months quietly at one place and await the descent of the Devayan would be impossible as human beings need food and rest and in this way there is a constant distraction through hunger and thirst. Replied the poet - O Kashyap, through the immense power that you gained through your penance (tapasya) for twenty-six thousand years continuously, you have the power to support the person. With your support, surely this mortal being will be able to receive this Epic. He will have no suffering; he will sit quietly as long as the work of the Epic will continue to manifest by the influence of your power. On the other hand, his heart will be full of joy, and the flow of the Epic will make him stronger each progressing day. The Creator replied, 0 Lord of the Poets! For the manifestation of such a gigantic Epic, that is twelve times longer than the previously manifested Epics, twelve times more words are needed than before. The divine poet agreed that many times more words will be required than before. Also, many turbulences, obstacles and hostility will be coming from the forces of darkness in the process of its manifestation. Pingal asked Kashyap to invoke the elephant headed god, Ganesha, who is the Lord of all people and who gives accomplishment and perfection to all manifestations. He would also control opposition to this Epic and gather the great number of words required for it. He added that by the presence of Lord Ganesha all problems will be solved, all hindrances removed, as He is Brahmanaspati himself who manifests the creation of Brahman.

On hearing these words of Pingala - Kashyap with a melodious tone started to invoke the elephant headed God Ganesh, the remover of all obstacles. He said - I invoke at this moment of commencement of the Epic - Ganesh, the beloved son of Parvati, who is the giver of perfection, 0 Vinayaka, Brahmanaspati! I invoke the king of all who rides on a rat and request him to appear amongst the people to manifest this Epic - and thus to awaken the divine truth on this earth. O Ganesh, where there is little faith in the existence of gods, take up the work of removing all obstacles with joy. 0 Supreme King stand with the power of Rudra. Manifest yourself swiftly for the work on the earth. Your might is felt through the power of words. With your art of words, you serve the truth, and your intelligence provides constant felicity. To provide purity in words, and to invoke the divine with powerful words in order to manifest the Epic, I call on you to come quickly. On hearing this invocation, the godhead Ganesh appeared sitting on the Rat. In his four hands, he held - a conch, a wheel, a club, and a lotus. His three eyes were full of compassion, scattering grace and love all around. There appeared a pure light surrounding him and he smiled radiantly. He appeared like the golden dawn, his body having a red colour. He was attired in heavenly clothes and was wearing magnificent ornaments. Around his neck was a wonderful garland. When I saw his glorious white elephant head, it was as if I was witnessing the pure dawn. My whole body thrilled and started trembling with joy. With my inner eyes, I saw the king of poets - PingalMaheshwar before me. With him was the creator of gods, Kashyapa and with them Ganesh, the beloved son of Parvati. When I heard their divine voices and the powerful conversation of the Gods, I felt elevated and my entire being vibrated with joy. Thus, I was engaged to remember and recollect the words uttered by their divine voices. As the poor collects gold and jewels that are very rare and precious, I started to collect and compile the divine words by penning them down every day, each hour as they came from above. Days passed by turning into months and years. I heard the divine voices with an increasing astonishment without my becoming tired. My heart was blessed and swept along with the flow of descending words. I compiled and collected this vast Epic that was to manifest on the earth through me as a medium. The divine creator smiled to the poet, and called upon Ganapati; who appeared with his famous and magnificent white elephant head with a golden red halo, wonderfully dressed. He is the destroyer of obstacles and giver of perfection. He would fulfil the wish of poet Pingala to manifest the Devayan in this world.