made a vehicle for the expression of the highest things. The Veda, the
Upanishad, the Mantra, everywhere owe half their power to the rhythmic sound
that embodies their inner meanings.Sri Aurobindo
Letters on Poetry and Art
SABCL - Volume 27
Part 1. Poetry and its Creation
Section 1. The Sources of Poetry
Sources of Inspiration
The World of Word-Music
Nishikanta seems to have put himself into contact with
an inexhaustible source of flowing word and rhythm — with the world of
word-music, which is one province of the World of Beauty. It is part of the
vital World no doubt and the joy that comes of contact with that beauty is vital
— but it is a subtle vital which is not merely sensuous. It is one of the powers
by which the substance of the consciousness can be refined and prepared for
sensibility to a still higher beauty and Ananda. Also it can be made a vehicle for the expression of the highest things. The Veda, the
Upanishad, the Mantra, everywhere owe half their power to the rhythmic sound
that embodies their inner meanings.
6 December 1936