Esha's recollections of some episodes of her life, as narrated to Nirodbaran in Bengali, who translated it in English. This is presented here in form of a book.
Sri Aurobindo : Contact
Nirodbaran on Esha's story : Esha, the late Dilip Kumar Roy's niece, was a little girl visiting the Ashram when I came to know her through my niece Jyotirmoyee with whom she had become very friendly. She wanted to settle in the Ashram, but her mother did not want it as she was still a minor. When after many years she came to the Ashram again and stayed with Sahana Devi, I became more closely acquainted with her. By that time she had already married and obtained her divorce and had decided to settle here. I came to her help and made all possible arrangements for the purpose. Since then I have come to know her well and listened to her narration of the incidents of her life. As I found them interesting I began to note them down and was thinking of publishing them in Mother India when somehow she got wind of it and strongly objected to it. As I felt I had Sri Aurobindo's sanction for it, I did not listen to her. In spite of my disregarding her objection, luckily she did not stop recounting her saga. Of course she narrated it in Bengali and later I put it down in English as faithfully as I could. When the story began to appear in Mother India, she insisted more than once that I should stop it. My answer was that I believed it could be helpful to many readers and that Sri Aurobindo seemed to support me.
THEME/S
I asked my Lord, "You seem to have said that those who die here in the Ashram will be under your protection and bear your symbol on their foreheads."
He answered, "Does it mean that any rogue or goonda will enjoy that benefit equally with a sadhak? That is absurd. What I meant was that we would try to make the soul's passage through the subtle regions less painful and more smooth, for it is very difficult. It is absurd to think that any crook or dishonest person will have our protection because of his death here. That can't be because there is a Law of God for all things. I can't go against that Law, can I?"
"It is said that those who die in Benares enjoy that protection — "
"Certainly not the rogues! There are plenty of them. I believe, who are dying there without any concern for their afterlife. Would they also get this protection?"
"I would like to know about X. It is said that when she died you put your symbol upon her forehead. The Mother was very much surprised to see it there, it seems, for that sadhika had nothing uncommon in her. Is it true?"
"Of course it is true."
"What about Mridu? She was, I'm told, a bumptious sadhika! "
"Do you know how many thousands of births she had to pass through before she came to the Ashram? Besides, she was not a 'rogue'. She had genuine love and bhakti for me. Moreover, do you think it will be possible for a rogue to die in the Ashram? Sadhaks who die here may have defects in their nature, but their soul is certainly of a higher order. So their soul will have that protection."
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