23.
Sahana Devi44 was a singer of the supreme heights. She had a most glorious singing voice. She was extremely fortunate because she was so closely connected with Tagore. She was a student at Tagore’s Santiniketan, and she sang for him many, many times. Tagore was deeply enamoured of her soul-stirring voice. She also composed many songs.Dilip Kumar Roy was responsible for bringing Sahana Devi to the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. When Dilip-da joined the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in 1928, he inspired Sahana-di to do the same. Tagore was very upset when Sahana-di left Santiniketan. When she went to the Ashram, he sent an unforgettable message: “Had I been an Emperor, like the Moghul Emperors, I would have sent my army to bring you back from the Ashram.”
During my Ashram days, I basked in the sunshine of Sahana-di’s affection.
RTM 125,1. In 2006 Sri Chinmoy prepared a book about Sahana Devi. It has not yet been published. These stories are excerpted from the manuscript, which is entitled Sahana Devi: A Singer of the Supreme Heights.↩
Sri Chinmoy, Rabindranath Tagore: the moon of Bengal’s Heart, Agni Press, 2011
