Marriages do not work out as we expect them to do because of the gap between the ideal and the strength and sacrifice needed to realise it. This is very much missing today in the fast food and utilitarian culture imported largely from the West. But the Divine is always willing to help us realise the Ideal. He is not the spoilsport to our happiness but the helper and guide and it is only rarely that he does not grant a sincere prayer, and only when He sees the harm that may accrue through it. The reason why relationships end up badly is not God but our incapacity to love. A love full of demands, expectations, wishes and desires based on the need for pleasure or happiness is not so much love but emotional and vital hunger. So too a love calculating gain and loss is a business and a marriage based on social benefits is a transaction. These are as good as failures even if it succeeds by outer standards. So grow in love and try to make it beautiful and sincere. That is all that is needed.

Dear Alok da, I would like to know more about Dutta who was Mother’s companion from Britain. Are there any books that write about her? Or can you tell me something about her? What did she represent?
Dutta also known as Ms Hodgson was The Mother’s friend since adolescence. She traveled with the Mother wherever She went and stayed in Pondicherry until leaving her body.
The name Dutta was given to her by Sri Aurobindo meaning ‘Offered one’.
She is indeed the one who was the first one to exclaim on the Siddhi day ‘The Lord has conquered death’ which…

