Sri Sarada Devi

  

Sri Sarada Devi (1853—1920) 

O MOTHER GRACIOUS! 

THOUGH WE ARE MIRED IN VICE, 

YOU HAVE HELD US TO YOU WITH INFINITE GRACE. 

BINDING OUR HEARTS THROUGH THE TIE OF LOVE DIVINE, 

YOU HAVE CHANGED THE ENDLESS FOLLY OF OURS TO SHINING VIRTUE. 

INDEED THIS IS A GREAT WONDER!

ॐ यथाग्ने-र्ााहिकाशक्ति: रामकृ ष्णे क्तथथता हि या । 

सर्ाहर्द्या-स्वरूपाां ताां शारर्ाां प्रणमाम्यिम् ॥

     Om Yathaagner-Daahikaa Saktih Raamakrishne Sthitaa Hi Yaa | 

     Sarva-Vidyaa-Svaroopaam Taam Saaradaam Pranamaamyaham ||

                              O Mother Sarada, 

          You Are Inseparable From Sri Ramakrishna As Heat Is From Fire; 

                     You Are The Embodiment Of All Wisdom.

                           To You I Offer My Salutation. 

                                                        —SWAMI SARADANANDA

     Sri Sarada Devi, Known By Her Devotees As The Holy Mother, Was The Spiritual Counterpart Of Sri Ramakrishna. Sarada Devi’s Quiet And Saintly Life Played A Key Role In The Renaissance Of Hinduism, Especially Regarding The Upliftment Of Women And The Re�Establishment Of The Ideal Role Of Women In Society. 

A Profile

     Sarada Devi Was Born In The Humble Village Of Jayrambati On December 22 In West Bengal. She Was The First Child Of A Pious Couple Ramachandra Mukherji And Shyamasundari Devi. Sarada Devi’s Life Was One Of Extreme Simplicity, Hard Work, Loving Service, And Intense Spiritual Practice. From Childhood She Was A Tremendous Help To Her Parents In Performing Various Household Duties, Including Bringing Up Her Younger Brothers. She Used To Say About Her Early Life That She Would Wade Neck-Deep Into The Water To Cut Grass For The Cattle And Carry Puffed Rice As Refreshment For The Workers In The Fields. 

     Married At An Early Age, She Joined Her Husband, Sri Ramakrishna At Dakshineswar Much Later When She Was Eighteen Years Old After Hearing Reports Of His “Divine Madness.” Though Joined By Marriage Theirs Was A Spiritual Union, A Mutually Elevating Relationship Between Kindred Souls. Sarada Was An Exalted Personality In Her Own Right; Her Noble Bearing And Modest Behaviour Enhanced Her Deep Spirituality. Sri Ramakrishna Recognized Her Wonderful Spiritual Capacity And Tenderly Trained Her In All Ways, So That Her Inner Life Would Expand, Which It Did Like A Full-Blown Lotus.  

     Sarada Devi Lived An Unassuming Life Of Quiet Prayer And Active Service To Her Relatives, Sri Ramakrishna, His Disciples, And Devotees For Years Together In And Around Dakshineswar, Often In Very Trying Circumstances. The Kali Temple Officials Commented That They Had Heard She Lived In The Compound, But Had Never Seen Her. Her Main Spiritual Practice Throughout Her Life Was Selfless Service. Always Cheerful And Self-Effacing, She Herself Would Cook The Food, Serve Everyone Meticulously, And Clean Up After The Meal. She Would Take Every Opportunity To Perform The Smallest Service To One And All Without Distinction. She Continued To Serve All Until The End Of Her Life. 

     Once When A Woman Of Questionable Character Wanted To Take Sri Ramakrishna’s Meal To Him, Sarada Unhesitatingly Agreed. When He Asked Her Why She Did This, She Simply Replied That When Someone Approached Her Calling Her “Mother” She Could Not Refuse. Sri Ramakrishna Once Strongly Objected To Her Serving His Young Boy Disciples Generous Evening Meals, Mentioning That It Would Spoil Their Spiritual Life. She Firmly Replied That He Need Not Worry About It; She Would Take Care Of Their Spiritual Welfare. Such Was The Mother’s Heart! Sri Ramakrishna Was Greatly Pleased With Her Spirited Response. 

     During The Last Days Of Sri Ramakrishna’s Life, Sarada Devi Devotedly Served Him Round The Clock At Cossipore Attending To His Every Need At The Expense Of Her Own Health And Convenience. One Day He Indicated To Her That She Also Would Have To Help Him In His Divine Mission. When She Shyly Objected, He Said, “You Will Have To Do Many Things.” After All, Over The Years He Had Been Preparing Her To Assume The Spiritual Responsibility Of The Many People That He Knew Would Be Coming To Her For Solace And Inspiration In Future. 

     After Sri Ramakrishna’s Passing Away, She Returned To His Native Village Kamarpukur As He Had Instructed Her To Do. There She Lived A Life Of Extreme Privation And Loneliness. Being A Young Widow With No Money, She Had To Follow The Social Traditions Of The Time. This Required Her To Be Confined And To Somehow Manage To Acquire Her Own Food And Other Basic Necessities. During Those Austere Days, Her Only Consolation Was The Vivid Consciousness Of Sri Ramakrishna’s Guidance And Protection. Eventually, Some Of The Monks And Devotees Came To Know About Her Difficulties And Made Provisions For Her In Calcutta. For The Rest Of Her Life She Spent Her Time Either In Calcutta Or In Her Native Village Jayrambati, Always At The Service Of Others Including Some Of Her Unruly Difficult Relatives. The Challenges She Faced In Her Domestic Setting Only Highlighted Her Extraordinary Patience And Fortitude. 

     A Significant Incident Took Place While She Was Staying In A Garden House At Belur. There Along With Another Woman Disciple She Underwent A Severe Austerity Known As Panchatapa Which Means The Austerity Of Five Fires. The Aspirant Lights Four Fires On All Sides And With The Burning Sun Overhead Practises Prayer And Meditation From Sunrise To Sunset. Various Interpretations Have Been Given For Her Submitting To This Ordeal. She Herself Explained That It Was For The Sake Of The Devotees And Another Time That It Was Part Of Her Sadhana. When Questioned, She Replied, “Why Even Mother Parvati Had To Do Austerity To Attain Siva.” Some Record It Was To Get Rid Of Some Psychic Disturbance. Yet Another Important Interpretation Is That She Did It As A Preparation For Her Spiritual Ministry. All Of These Reasons Surely Have Some Truth In Them. 

     As Destined And Predicted By Sri Ramakrishna, Sarada Devi Became The Spiritual Guide Or Mother Of Sri Ramakrishna’s Disciples, Including The Young Monks Who Had Gathered Together Under Swami Vivekananda’s Care. From The Inception Of The Ramakrishna Order, She Was There Behind The Order Gently, Lovingly Guiding The Lives Of Its Members, As Well As The Organisation As A Whole. She Also Served As An Inspiration To Women Through Her Ideal Life To Form An Equivalent Order Of Nuns, Known As Sri Sarada Math And Ramakrishna Sarada Mission. 

     In Addition To This, Mother Who Was Shy And Retiring Now Had To Shoulder Even More Responsibility By Accepting Literally Hundreds Of People As Her Own Disciples By Initiating Them With A Mantra. Always Active, Yet Ever Engaged In Worship, Meditation, And Japa, She Has Demonstrated To Ordinary Women How To Spiritualize Their Daily Lives. Her Calm, Patient Nature Amidst The Trails And Hardships Of Life Is A Living Testimony Of An Ideal Spiritual Life Made Practical. 

     Holy Mother Emphasized The Importance Of Maintaining The Integrity Of Hindu Traditions. Although She Gave Fresh Impetus To Many Customs And Observances, She Always Pointed Out The Value And Glory Of The Ancient Traditions. Once While She Was In Orissa, She Met A Man Who Had Impulsively Embraced Christianity As A Youth, But Who Earnestly Wanted To Return To Hinduism. She Welcomed His Wish Wholeheartedly. She Then Instructed Him To Perform A Few Preliminary Rites And Repeat The Gayatri Mantra. 

     Mother Also Reiterated The Ancient Instruction Of Our Scriptures To Serve Others As A Form Of Worship, Seeing God In Them Without Distinction Of Caste Differences Or Other Social Restrictions. A Few Incidents Illustrate How Modern She Was In Her Thinking And Attitudes, Yet Deeply Rooted In The Eternal Principles Of Hinduism. She Lovingly Accepted The Offerings Meant For The Shrine That Were Given By One Of The Local Mulberry Thieves In Spite Of The Loud Protests From A Prejudiced Devotee. Mother Sternly Rebuked Her Saying That She Knew Who Was Good And Who Was Bad. She Used To Say, “To Make Mistakes Is Human, But How Few Who Criticize Know How To Help.” Again There Was A Muslim Of That Group Of Robbers Named Amzad Who Was Hired To Do Some Work At Mother’s Home. 

     Once When The Workers Were Being Served Their Meal, One Of Her Nieces Treated Him Rudely Because Of His Social Status. Mother Immediately Began Serving Him With All Respect And Courtesy And Even Cleaned The Area After The Meal Was Over. When Challenged, She Retorted, “Amzad Is As Much My Son As Sharat [A Monastic Disciple Of Sri Ramakrishna And Saintly Monk Of The Ramakrishna Order].” How Open-Minded She Was. “Everyone Can Break Down Something,” She Said, “But How Many Can Build It Up? 

     Another Example Of Her Striking Insight And Adaptability Is Her Interaction With Swami Vivekananda’s Western Women Disciples, Notably Sister Nivedita. To Put The Foreigners At Ease, She Parted With Social Conventions, Including Eating With Those Outside Her Caste. She Even Stretched Out Her Hand To Josephine MacLeod As Is Customary In The West When Greeting Someone. Yet, She Managed To Maintain And Honour Her Own Sacred Traditions. Sister Nivedita Remarked About Mother’s Broad Attitude And Behaviour, “This Gave Us All A Dignity And Made My Future Work Possible In A Way Nothing Else Could Possibly Have Done.” 

     Holy Mother Left This Mortal World On July 20 At The Age Of Sixty�Seven. She Has Handed Down One Of The Greatest Legacies For Spiritual Seekers, That Of Utilizing Every Moment Of One’s Life In A Very Natural, Spontaneous Way To Commune With God. As T. M. P. Mahadevan Remarked, “There Can Be No Greater Purifier Of The Mind And Heart Than Meditation On The Significance Of The Mother’s Life.”

For Posterity 

     Swami Vivekananda Held Sarada Devi In The Highest Esteem And Regarded Her As The Ideal For Women Of The Modern Age. He Felt That With Her Advent Women Would Begin To Rise Up—A New Self-Awareness Would Dawn And That Going Forward This Would Have Far-Reaching Consequences For The Elevation Of Women In Society. It Is True; One Cannot Help But Notice The Rise Of Women Worldwide In All Fields Of Life—In Spirituality, Politics, Science, Art, Literature, And So On That Have Followed Her Birth. 

     One Might Wonder How Mother’s Unadorned Village Life And Simple Message Of Loving Compassion, Forgiveness, And Moral Strength Can Help Modern Women In Both The East And West To Fulfil Their Highest Potential In Today’s Fast-Paced World. And Yet, Paradoxical As It May Seem, This Is Exactly The Message That Is Needed To Counterbalance The Materialistic Influences Of The Times. 

     Holy Mother Has Shown That Women’s Liberation, Empowerment, And Recognition Are To Be Gained Neither Through License Not Mere Self-Assertion, But Through Nobility, Dignity, And Refinement Of Character. Self-Restraint And Self-Respect Are The Foundation Of Real Freedom And Creativity. She Is A Paragon Of Human Excellence—An Ideal Woman, An Extraordinary Example Especially For Women In Today’s World. No Other Ideal Can Generate Such An All Embracing Acceptance And Positive Force As The Ideal Of A Mother’s Heart. This Compassionate Feminine Power Manifested Fully Through The Holy Mother.

Selected Teachings 

     1. I Am The Mother Of The Wicked, As I Am The Mother Of The Virtuous. Never Fear. Whenever You Are In Distress, Just Say To Yourself, “I Have A Mother.” 

     2. It Is Essential That One Should Work. It Is Through Work Alone That One May Break Asunder The Bonds Of Karma; Only Then Is One Free From Desires. One Shouldn’t Be Without Work Even For A Single Moment. 

     3. The Purpose Of One’s Life Is Fulfilled Only When One Is Able To Give Joy To Another. 

    4. Let Me Tell You How To Love All Equally. Do Not Demand Anything Of Those You Love. If You Make Demands, Some Will Give You More And Some Less. In That Case You Will Love More Those Who Give You More And Less Those Who Give You Less. Thus Your Love Will Not Be The Same For All. You Will Not Be Able To Love All Impartially. Commented [SA2]: T To R 

     5. I Tell You One Thing—If You Want Peace, Do Not Find Fault With Others. Rather See Your Own Faults. Learn To Make The World Your Own. No One Is A Stranger, My Child; The Whole World Is Your Own. 

FOR FURTHER READING: 

     1. Swami Tapasyananda, Sri Sarada Devi: Life And Teachings, Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai. 

     2. Swami Tapasyananda, Sri Sarada Devi: The Holy Mother, Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai. 

     3. The Gospel Of The Holy Mother, Recorded By Her Devotee-Children, Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai.