Sri Aurobindo - Karuna Yoga

Note on the Text 737
Sri Aurobindo’s passing. The thirteen-line paragraph was expanded
to the seventy-two lines beginning “Queen, strive no
more to change the secret will. . . . ”
Editions of Savitri
Sri Aurobindo revised the proofs of the first edition of Part
One, making numerous final changes and adding more than a
hundred new lines. In 1950, Part One of Savitri appeared in
book form. Parts Two and Three could not be similarly revised.
They came out in 1951 in a second volume, thus completing the
first edition.
The second edition was issued in 1954 in one volume under
the imprint of the Sri Aurobindo International University Centre.
Some obvious errors in the text of the first edition were emended
at this time. A few of these were evidently due to the mishearing
of Sri Aurobindo’s dictation.
In 1968, the first edition of Part One was reprinted with
some new textual corrections. The third complete edition (1970)
contained further emendations. Comprising Volumes 28 and
29 of the Sri Aurobindo Birth Centenary Library, it was also
brought out as a single volume in a reduced format. This was
reprinted a number of times between 1973 and 1990. Several
typographical and other errors were rectified in the 1976 impression.
The fourth, critically revised edition appeared in 1993 and
is reproduced here. This edition was the outcome of a systematic
comparison of the printed text of Savitri with the manuscripts.
Each line was traced through all stages of copying, typing and
printing in which errors could have occurred. Readings found to
have come about through inaccurate transcription or misprinting
were corrected. Accidentally omitted lines were restored to
the text. This has resulted in a very slight increase in the length
of the poem to its present 23,837 lines.