The Authority for the New Edition   On what authority were changes made in Savitri?   Sri Aurobindo's manuscripts are the main authority for the changes.      What Sri Aurobindo wrote has not been changed anywhere in the new edition. What have been corrected are mistakes of various kinds that occurred when his lines were copied, typed and printed. Our idea was that Savitri should consist of Sri Aurobindo's own words as far as possible. Some people may disagree with this, but it is the principle on which the work has been based.      Corrections have been made in every edition of Savitri, so there is nothing alarmingly new about wh

Letter to Dr. Karan Singh April 27, 1999  Respected Dr. Karan Singh-ji,        Apropos of my brief faxed reply to your kind letter of 9.4.99, I put down in relative detail some cardinal facts about the new edition of Savitri.      The Epic Savitri was composed spread over a period of three and half decades (1916-1950). Sri Aurobindo used different kinds of paper at different times, altered, omitted and introduced new words often along the margins of the papers and it was far from easy to make out several words of his text. While making fresh copies of the original manuscripts, his disciples unwittingly made several errors. Then came the stage when parts o

The Mother on Corrections in Savitri   An interview with Amal Kiran on 8 June 1999   According to your book Our Light and Delight [p. 23], the Mother once told you, "I won't allow you to change even a comma in Savitri." Is this true? AMAL: Yes, but she meant I could not change anything according to my own ideas. After that I made it clear to her that corrections would be only according to Sri Aurobindo's latest version. Some words had been misread and I had suggested what might be the right reading. But we would not dare to change anything on our own. I told her this. And Mother quite under

Publisher's Note   A new edition of Savitri was brought out in 1993 by the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust. This edition was the result of many years of intensive work. Sri Aurobindo's manuscripts were carefully compared with all copies, typescripts and printed texts. Wherever it was found that his lines had been copied, typed or printed differently from what he wrote or dictated, the lines were restored to their authentic form.      As there has been some misunderstanding regarding this edition, we publish here five statements by members of the Ashram. Readers having questions or seeking further clarification may write to the Copyright Department, Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicher

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