Homage to Maa Saradamani

 Sri Sarada Devi

 

 

Om Jananim Saaradam deviim,Raama-krishnam jagad-gurum

Paada-padme tayoh sriitvaa,prana-maami muhur-muhuh

 

Saradamani Mukhopadhyay, was the wife and spiritual consort of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, a nineteenth-century Hindu mystic. Sarada Devi is also reverentially addressed as the Holy Mother (Sri Sri Maa) by the followers of the Sri Ramakrishna monastic order.

                                                                    

Endearingly known as ‘Holy Mother’, Sri Sarada Devi, the spiritual consort of Sri Ramakrishna, was born on 22 December 1853 in a poor Brahmin family in Jayrambati, a village adjoining Kamarpukur in West Bengal. Her father, Ramachandra Mukhopadhyay, was a pious and kind-hearted person, and her mother, Shyama Sundari Devi, was a loving and hard-working woman.

Sarada Devi was born in Jairambati, a village in present-day Bankura in the state of West Bengal, India. She was married to Ramakrishna in 1859.

Swami Vivekananda regarded Holy Mother Sarada Ma as Divinity itself. Once he remarked at the Belur Math, “Mother is the incarnation of Bagala in the guise of Saraswati. Outwardly she is all peace, but inwardly she is the destroyer of the power of evil.”

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.

After Ramakrishna's death, Sarada Devi began her pilgrimage through North India, accompanied by a party of women disciples including Lakshmi Didi, Gopal Ma, and Ramakrishna's householder and monastic disciples.

The greatest teaching of Maa Sardamani which appealed me most is:

QUOTE

The last advice to the grief-stricken devotees by the Mother,  "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.

UNQUOTE                                                                                                       

Although uneducated herself, Sarada Devi advocated education for women. Sister 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 believed that with the advent of Holy Mother, the spiritual awakening of women in modern times had begun.

Do the Master’s work, and along with that practice of spiritual disciplines too. Work helps one to keep off idle thoughts. If one is without work, such thoughts rush into one’s mind.

When a man sees defects in others, his own mind first gets polluted. What does he gain by finding faults in others? He only hurts himself by that.

Within the ambiance of her natural simplicity and modesty, she set a unique example of an ideal disciple, nun, wife, teacher, and also mother to her countless spiritual children. Those who associated with her were overwhelmed by her unconditional love and selfless service. All were her children irrespective of nationality, religious affiliation, or social position. No one was ever turned away. She accepted all.

Om Jananim Saaradam deviim,Raama-krishnam jagad-gurum

Paada-padme tayoh sriitvaa,prana-maami muhur-muhuh