Sarada Devi
Sri Sarada Devi | |
---|---|
British India
(now West Bengal, India) | |
Died | 21 July 1920 | (aged 66)
Cause of death | Black fever |
Religion | Hinduism |
Spouse | Ramakrishna Paramhamsa |
Religious career | |
Guru | Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (spiritual consort) |
Honors | Shree Shree Maa |
"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.'"[1]
Sri Sarada Devi (
Sri Sarada Devi was born in
Biography
Birth and parentage
Saradamani Devi was born of Brahmin parents as the eldest daughter on 22 December 1853, in the quiet village of Jayrambati in present-day West Bengal, India.[2] Her parents, Ramachandra Mukhopadhyay and Shyama Sundari Devi,[3] were poor. Her father Ramchandra earned his living as a farmer and through the performance of priestly duties. According to traditional accounts, Ramachandra and Syama Sundari had visions and supernatural events foretelling the birth of a divine being as their daughter.[2][4]
Sarada lived the simple life of an Indian village girl. As a child, Sarada—then known as Saradamani—was fascinated by traditional Hindu folklore and narratives. As in the case of most girls of rural upbringing, she did not receive any formal education but learned to serve others as she helped her mother run a large household and looked after her younger brothers.[5][6] During the terrible famine of 1864, Sarada worked ceaselessly as her family served food to hungry people.[7] She was interested in the clay models of goddesses Kali and Lakshmi, which she worshiped regularly. She is said to have started meditating from her childhood, and traditional accounts recount her mystic visions and experiences.[2] According to Sarada Devi, she used to see a bevy of eight girls of her age coming from an unknown place and escorting her in her chores during her childhood.[6]
The mother and brother of Ramakrishna thought that a marriage would be a good steadying effect on him, by diverting his attention away from spiritual austerities and visions.[8] It is reported that Ramakrishna himself indicated Saradamani as the bride.[9] In May 1859, Sarada was betrothed to Ramakrishna. Sarada was 5 years old and Ramakrishna was 23; the age difference was typical for 19th century rural Bengal.[10][11]
After the betrothal, Sarada was left to the care of her parents and Ramakrishna returned to Dakshineswar.[9] Sarada next met Ramakrishna when she was fourteen years old, and she spent three months with him at Kamarpukur. There, Ramakrishna imparted to Sarada instructions on meditation and spiritual life.[12] Ramakrishna's frequent bhava samadhi (ecstasy)[13] and unorthodox ways of worship led some onlookers to doubt his mental stability, while others regarded him as a great saint.[14] Sarada joined Ramakrishna at Dakshineswar in 1872 on her own accord when she was eighteen, after hearing these rumours about his mental health. She found Ramakrishna to be a kind and caring person.[11]
At Dakshineswar Kali Temple
At Dakshineswar, Sarada Devi stayed in a tiny room in the nahabat (music tower).[15] She stayed at Dakshineswar until 1885, except for short periods when she visited Jayrambati.[16] By this time Ramakrishna had already embraced the monastic life of a sannyasin; as a result, the marriage was never consummated.[11][17] As a priest, Ramakrishna performed the ritual ceremony—the Shodashi Puja where Sarada Devi was made to sit in the seat of goddess Kali, and worshiped as the divine mother Tripurasundari.[18][19] According to Swami Saradananda a direct disciple of Ramakrishna, Ramakrishna married to show the world an ideal of a sexless marriage.[20] Ramakrishna regarded Sarada as an incarnation of the Divine Mother,[21] addressing her as Sree Maa (Holy Mother) and it was by this name that she was known to Ramakrishna's disciples.[22]
Sarada Devi's days began at 3 am. After finishing her ablutions in the
During Ramakrishna's last days, during which he suffered from throat cancer, Sarada Devi played an important role in nursing him and preparing suitable food for him and his disciples. It is reported that after Ramakrishna's death in August 1886, when Sarada Devi tried to remove her bracelets as the customs dictated for a widow, she had a vision of Ramakrishna in which he said, "I have not passed away, I have gone from one room to another."[27] According to her, whenever she thought of dressing like a widow, she had a vision of Ramakrishna asking her not to do so.[28] After Ramakrishna's death, Sarada Devi continued to play an important role in the nascent religious movement.[22] She remained the spiritual guide of the movement for the next 34 years.[29]
Pilgrimage
After Ramakrishna's death, Sarada Devi began her pilgrimage through North India, accompanied by a party of women disciples including Lakshmi Didi, Golap Ma, and Ramakrishna's householder and monastic disciples. The party visited the
In Calcutta
After the pilgrimage, Sarada Devi lived alone in
Sarada Devi went to Calcutta because she had many hardships in Kamarpukur. She had no financial resources and no one could take care of her. She tried to hide her situation, but it leaked out. When the devotees at Calcutta heard this, they persuaded Sarada Devi to come to Calcutta.[33]
At Udbodhan House, Sarada Devi was accompanied by other women disciples and devotees of Ramakrishna, Golap Ma, Yogin Ma, Gopaler Ma, Lakshmi Didi and Gauri Ma being the best known. An increasing number of people began to flock for guidance, instructions and spiritual initiation.[34] Other Western women followers of Ramakrishna Order including Sister Nivedita[35] formed close relationship with her.[36][37] According to her biographers, her innate motherliness put visitors at ease. Swami Nikhilananda, her direct disciple writes, "Though she had no children of the flesh, she had many of the spirit."[38] She regarded all her disciples as her own children.[39]
Sarada Devi received the highest reverence from the Ramakrishna Order and its devotees. Ramakrishna had bade her continue his mission after his death and wanted his disciples not to make any distinction between himself and her. According to her devotees and traditional biographers, the hospitality of Sarada Devi was unique and was characterised by motherly care and solicitude.[40] Traditional accounts recount the mystical experiences of her devotees. Some dreamt of her as a goddess in human form, though they had never seen her picture before. Others reportedly received their initiation from her in their dream. One such example is of Girish Chandra Ghosh, the father of Bengali drama, who reportedly saw Sarada Devi in a dream when he was nineteen years old and received a mantra. When he met her many years later, to his astonishment, she was the same person in the dream.[41]
Last days
Sarada Devi spent her final years moving back and forth between Jayrambati and Calcutta. In January 1919, Sarada Devi went to Jayrambati and stayed there for over a year. For the next five months, she continued to suffer. Shortly before her death, she gave the last advice to the grief-stricken devotees, "But I tell you one thing—if you want peace of mind, do not find fault with others. Rather, see your own faults. Learn to make the whole world your own. No one is a stranger, my child: this whole world is your own!" This is considered as her last message to the world.[34]
She died at 1.30 am on Tuesday the 21 July 1920 at Mayer Badi (in the first floor of the Shrine Room), Kolkata. Her body was cremated at the Belur Math, opposite side of River Ganga where Ramakrishna's body was cremated at Kashipore, Baranagore, Ratan, Babu ghat. The place where she was cremated is now known as Holy Mother's ghat at Belur Math. Today a temple stands at that spot.
Teachings and quotes
Sarada Devi did not write any books; her utterances and reminiscences have been recorded by her disciples including Swami Nikhilananda, Swami Tapasyananda.[42] Though uneducated Sarada Devi's spiritual insight and utterances are highly regarded by scholars like Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, who writes, "We have bits and pieces of her exquisite remarks as testimony."[11]
- Practise meditation, and by and by your mind will be so calm and fixed that you will find it hard to keep away from meditation.[43]
- The mind is everything. It is in the mind alone that one feels pure and impure. A man, first of all, must make his own mind guilty and then alone can he see another man's guilt.[44]
- "I tell you one thing. If you want peace of mind, do not find fault with others. Rather see your own faults. Learn to make the whole world your own. No one is a stranger, my child; the whole world is your own."[44]
- One must have devotion towards one's own guru. Whatever may be the nature of the guru, the disciple gets salvation by dint of his unflinching devotion towards his guru.[45]
Impact and legacy
Sarada Devi played an important role as the advisory head of a nascent organisation that became a monastic order devoted to social work—the Ramakrishna Mission. Gayatri Spivak writes that Sarada Devi "performed her role with tact and wisdom, always remaining in the background."[11] She initiated several prominent monks into the Ramakrishna Order. Swami Nikhilananda, who was a freedom fighter and a follower of Mahatma Gandhi,[46] accepted Sarada Devi as his guru and joined the Ramakrishna Order. He eventually founded the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center in New York.[47]
Although uneducated herself, Sarada Devi advocated education for women. Nivedita started a school for Indian women with her blessings. She entrusted Devamata with the implementation of her dream—a girls' school on the Ganges, where Eastern and Western pupils could study together.
Swami Vivekananda wrote a letter to her to get her opinion about his intention to attend the Parliament of Religions in Chicago. Only after receiving the blessing from her did he decide to go to the United States.[citation needed]
See also
Notes
- ^ Mookerjee, Nanda (1978). Sri Sarada Devi, consort of Thakur Sri Ramakrishna. Firma KLM. p. 15.
- ^ a b c Ghanananda, p. 95
- ^ "Sri Sarada Devi".
- ^ "Sri Sarada Devi". Indian Express. 22 December 2003. Retrieved 3 April 2009.
- ^ Saradeshananda, Swami. "Introduction". The Mother As I Saw Her. Archived from the original on 15 May 2008. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
- ^ a b Ghanananda, p. 96
- ^ Pavitrananda (1967). A Short life of the Holy Mother. Advaita Ashrama. p. 3.
- ^ Jackson, p. 18
- ^ a b Ghanananda, p. 97 "Vain is your search in this place and that. Go to Jayrambati, and there in the house of Ramachandra Mukhopadhyaya, you will find her who is marked out for me."
- ^ Jackson, p. 18 "Such child marriages were still widespread in nineteenth-century India, despite vehement condemnations by both English authorities and Hindu reformers. Analogous to the Western betrothal, child marriage committed the partners to one another, with the actual of living together and assuming family responsibilities delayed until puberty."
- ^ a b c d e Spivak, p. 207
- ^ Ghanananda, p. 98
- ^ "Belur Math - Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission Home Page".
- ^ Muller, Max (1898). "Râmakrishna's Life". Râmakrishna his Life and Sgyings. pp. 52–53.
- ISBN 978-0-06-250402-9.
- ^ Ghanananda, p. 99
- ^ Carl T. Jackson, Vedanta for the West, p. 18
- ^
Rolland, Romain (1929). "The Return to Man". The Life of Ramakrishna. p. 59. ISBN 81-85301-44-1.
- ISBN 0-521-24986-4.
[Ramakrishna] worshipped her as the Divine Mother, transforming their marriage into a spiritual partnership.
- ISBN 0-19-511648-8.
- ISBN 1-932890-06-8.
- ^ JSTOR 1385254.
- ^ Ghanananda, p. 102
- ISBN 0-203-63411-X.
- ISBN 0-87481-022-1.
- ^ The Gospel of the Holy Mother, "Introduction"
- ^ Ghanananda, p. 105
- ^ Ghanananda, p. 107
- ^ Hixon, p. xv
- ^ Ghanananda, pp. 107–108
- ^ ISBN 0-87481-037-X.
- ^ Ghanananda, p. 107–108
- ^ A Short Life of The Holy Mother, by Swami Bodhasarananda
- ^ a b Ghanananda, p. 115–116
- ISBN 0-09-124041-7.
- ISBN 0-941532-57-7.
- ^ ISBN 0-89281-063-7.
- ^ Swami Nikhilananda. "Sarada Devi: The Holy Mother". Living Wisdom. p. 252.
- ^ Swami Nikhilananda. "Sarada Devi: The Holy Mother". Living Wisdom. p. 255.
- ^ Ghanananda, p. 113
- ^ Ghanananda, p. 115
- ISBN 978-81-7120-400-7.
- ^ Ghanananda, p. 118
- ^ a b Ghanananda, p. 119
- ^ Ghanananda, p. 120
- ISBN 0-06-016889-7.
- ^ Hixon, p.xiii
- ISBN 1-57607-238-X.
References
- Ghanananda, Swami; John Stewart-Wallace (1979). "Sri Sarada Devi". Women Saints of East and West. Vedanta Press. pp. 94–121. ISBN 978-0-87481-036-3.
- ISBN 0-943914-80-9.
- Jackson, Carl T. (1994). Vedanta for the West. Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-33098-X.
- ISBN 978-1-4051-0207-0.
Further reading
- Babaji Bob Kindler (2000). Sri Sarada Vijnanagita: Her Teachings, Selected and Arranged in Verse Form. SRV Associations. ISBN 978-1-891893-06-3.
- Swami Chetanananda (2017). Sri Sarada Devi and Her Divine Play. Vedanta Society of St. Louis. p. 876. ISBN 0916356078, 9780916356071
- Swami Gambhirananda(1955). Holy Mother Shri Sarada Devi. Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai.
- ISBN 978-81-7120-400-7.
- ISBN 978-0-911206-20-3.
- Swami Saradeshananda. The Holy Mother as I Saw Her.
- Swami Tapasyananda (1986). Sri Sarada Devi ; The Holy Mother. Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai. ISBN 978-81-7120-487-8.
- Sri Sarada Devi : a Biography in pictures. Advaita Ashrama. 1988.