In the last post we have concluded that our material universe came into existence by repetitive

somnambulist action by the nescient night, under the presence of Supreme Divine Consciousness
and his will. Now the next few lines describe the state of such a material universe, soon after its
creation, specifically earth.

Athwart the vain enormous trance of Space,

Its formless stupor without mind or life,
A shadow spinning through a soulless Void,
Thrown back once more into unthinking dreams
Earth wheeled abandoned in the hollow gulfs
Forgetful of her spirit and her fate.
The impassive skies were neutral, empty, still.

MEANINGS OF SOME DIFFICULT WORDS

Athwart = at right angles to, across.

Vain = Characteristic of false pride, conceited, waste, glorious.

Stupor = the feeling of distress and disbelief that you have when something bad happens
accidentally, Marginal consciousness, numbness, trance.

Impassive = unexpressive, insensible.

At this stage, when our material universe has just come to existence, “The impassive skies were
neutral, empty, still”. Sri Aurobindo states clearly that at this infant stage of our material universe, it
was in the inconscient state where things were mechanical and impassive. We look towards the sky
whenever we pray or say thanks to God. This is because when we look towards the sky, it gives a
semblance of the Supreme, being so vast, wide, deep, easy to find yet difficult to understand. But at
this stage, the sky was neutral and empty. Here empty means absence of complete and profound
consciousness and spirit of Supreme. Now immobility and silence dominated the universe.

Here, “Earth wheeled abandoned in the hollow gulfs”, that is earth was abandoned and she was not
having any idea of her spirit and her fate. She was “A shadow spinning through a soulless Void”.
Where our mother earth was abandoned? The next lines state the answer.
Athwart the vain enormous trance of Space,
Its formless stupor without mind or life,

The earth was abandoned in the Space, which was in an enormous trance and this trance neither had
any mind nor life.

CONCLUSION

Therefore at this stage, the Earth was abandoned in the Space, which in a mindless and lifeless
trance, that is full of inconscience. These lines suggest that up till now the material universe has
come into existence, but it is full of inconscience. Therefore, for the continuity of creation, the
Divine event, there is a need of profound consciousness and spirit of Supreme. How theses are filled
into this material universe is discussed in the following posts
.

Reference: “Savitri an Approach and a Study” By Sri A B Purani.