Since PH is professing that Savitri is primarily a ficitious creation with the exception of some parts in Book of Traveller of the Worlds and Book of Yoga, the onus of proving it to be fictitious is on him. The proof presented by him of Sri Aurobindo's quote has been found to be a mischievous misrepresentation. But now since this has become an issue does it automatically imply that the onus of proving that Savitri is not a fictitious creation falls on ones who perceive and believe it to be otherwise? As this question is taken up in detail someone will have to go into what would constitute fictitious creation in the present context. I have just jotted down my personal experience and belief about Savitri, which may not form part of any academic discussion about Savitri, but nevertheless is a testament of a beneficiary of Savitri and Savitri's environment. ________________________________________ Often I seriously joke with friends and family that if there is one thing I be allowed to take from earth after death then it would be the book Savitri. That is how precious I value Savitri. In my experience it is "The Word that touches the heart and finds the soul". And as spiritual seekers and devotees of The Mother and Sri Aurobindo we understand that finding of the soul is the one most important thing to pursue. All the rest are details. In this enterprise of the consciousness to find the soul, Savitri, for me, is THE KEY. So what is Savitri? Is it just a book, just a good book, just a masterpiece? No. For me it embodies the veritable consciousness of Sri Aurobindo. The Mother has referred to it as "the supreme revelation of Sri Aurobindo's vision". This revelation of vision is an output of Sri Aurobindo's tapas, fruits of his supremely developed consciousness. What Sri Aurobindo remarks about Savitri, the Person, I have felt to be equally valid for Savitri the book as well --"Savitri is the Divine Word, daughter of the Sun, goddess of the supreme Truth who comes down and is born to save" and that Savitri is "incarnations or emanations of living and conscious Forces with whom we can enter into concrete touch". Many of us who have had the privilege of entering into concrete touch with Savitri the Power through Savitri the book and growing by its grace have found by experience the validity of the fact that Savitri cannot be approached by just mind or by even the sharpest of intellectual pursuit. As Sri Aurobindo writes about understanding Savitri (or any spiritual writing) -"If one has faith and openness that is enough. Besides there are two kinds of understanding—understanding by the intellect and understanding in the consciousness. It is good to have the former if it is accurate, but it is not indispensable. Understanding by the consciousness comes if there is faith and openness, though it may come only gradually and through steps of experience. But I have seen people without education or intellectuality understand in this way perfectly well the course of the yoga in themselves, while intellectual men make big mistakes, e.g. take a neutral mental quietude for the spiritual peace and refuse to come out of it in order to go farther. It is necessary to curb the mind's impatience a little. Knowledge is progressive—if it tries to leap up to the top at once, it may make a hasty construction which it will have afterwards to undo. The knowledge and experience must come by degrees and step by step. " So the point is that to even test the validity or merit of spiritual writings the features of faith and openness within one's consciousness are indispensable. For many of us who have approached Savitri in some measure with faith and openness the benefits are measureless -- It is "The Word that ushers divine experience". In the instances where faith and openness will be wanting Savitri may appear as complex and heavy. Tired of such futile attempts one may even angrily conclude it to be a "fictitious work". I even propose that the degree of success of a sincere and sustained attempt to get in concrete touch with spirit of Savitri would be a definitive test of one's faith and openness to Sri Aurobindo. (In case of PH I feel that if after 38 years of being in Ashram and active involvement with archives he claims and professes Savitri to be fictitious and that too with fraudulent means then it is a forfeiture of his right to be an Ashramite. And if authorities fail to take note of this deficiency then that would open doors for future subversion of Sri Aurobindo's and the Mother's work on earth. On a personal level negating Savitri amounts to seriously negating one's future's impending possibilities. And for the Ashram to passively accept or support this view amounts to compromising the pace of Mother's and Sri Aurobindo's work. In fact I am reminded of the image of a person cutting the very branch on which he is sitting.) There is a reason why the book was named Savitri and not Satyavan or The Divine Event or The Conquest Over Death. It is named Savitri because it embodies the consciousness that triumphs over Death. And Savitri offers the unique opportunity to make the most of this Power to work within us towards sculpturing our immortal self on earth.