EVOLUTION OF ‘ARBITRARINESS’ IN ‘SIGN’ IN LANGUAGE TO ‘REVELATION’ IN ‘SIGN’ IN MANTRIC POETRY (WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO SRI AUROBINDO’S MANTRIC POETRY)
Nikhil Kumar
European Journal of Literature Language and Linguistics Studies October 10, 2023 DOI: 10.46827/ejlll.v7i3.476 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that the arbitrariness of the linguistic sign is confined to the intellectual plane of Mind and below, where a "separative principle" of consciousness holds sway. Drawing on Sri Aurobindo's hierarchy of consciousness, the author contends that as this principle decays on the spiritual planes of Mind, arbitrariness decays too, so that poetry written from the "Intuitive Mind" and "Overmind" becomes "Mantra" and its signs become revelatory. |
Abstract
‘Sign’ in language, is, admittedly, arbitrary in nature. Having studied in the light of yogic revelations made by Sri Aurobindo of the hierarchy of consciousness, arbitrariness is found to be operative on the intellectual plane of Mind and the planes below it. The intellectual plane of Mind and all the planes below it are under the gravitational pull of the separative principle of consciousness operating on the plane of Mind as revealed by him. It is on account of the pull that the sign comes to be arbitrary. As one evolves, as a result of the realisation of the existence of the One Transcendent Divine, to the spiritual plane of Mind, the separative principle of consciousness operating on the plane of Mind tends decisively to decay, hence, the arbitrariness, too, in sign tends to decay, with the rise of a new movement on the plane of Mind, the movement towards the integrality of the Consciousness of the One Transcendent Divine. Here, one enters into the realm of spiritual consciousness. Sri Aurobindo reveals four planes of spiritual consciousness on the plane of Mind. On the two uppermost planes of the spiritual consciousness, the ‘Intuitive Mind’ and the ‘Overmind’, as he terms them, the separative principle decays to the extent that the poetry written from these planes, the poetry which, according to Sri Aurobindo, is ‘Mantra’ or Mantric Poetry, comes to be revelatory. Hence, the ‘sign’ in it comes to be revelatory. Article visualizations: