Sri Ramakrishna commissioned his spouse Sri Sarada Devi to carry his spiritual legacy forward. He was the prophet of the new age. He first realized and then offered a religion suited to the modern world. Sarada witnessed intimately what that religion was and how he gave it by examples at every movement of his life. Likewise, Ramakrishna, too, thoroughly scanned her to find out how pure and powerful she was under the guise of an unassuming ordinary woman and how surely capable of bearing the brunt he wished to lay on her. They knew each other like the palms of their hands. Therefore, there was a clear understanding between them regarding their joint responsibility to show The Light towards Peace. Hence, they peculiarly deemed themselves equal.
It was notably more peculiar to Sarada’s conduct to have accepted this as correct, being a woman of such a period when a married woman would have imagined it a blasphemy to consider herself of the same status as her husband. To be able to comprehend the true significance and import of the nuances of her husband’s spiritual practices and accomplishments spoke of another of Sarada’s astonishing peculiarities that established her absolute right to become his spiritual consort to do his work without any hesitation or dithering. Sarada’s amazing rise from a disciple and wife of Ramakrishna to his spiritual height didn’t happen by any slip-shod means. It happened in consequence of her silent, serene, sustained prayers and austerities in the seclusion of the Purdah.
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Her heart and mind flowed incessantly in quiet contemplation steadily to trances, away from public gaze, which endowed her with a celestial Peace. “Instead of luxuriating in the enjoyment of inner peace, (she) worked till the last moment of her life to transmit that peace to others.” She also gave the secret of having peace to us. She said: “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.” She palpably demonstrated this secret at every moment in her life. Sarada was not known beyond a small circle of her close associates during her husband’s lifetime. No male follower of her husband saw her face. She was self-effacing and shy.
Moreover, the stringent social norms for a married Brahmin woman did not permit her to mix with others outside her caste. She did not have the minimum access to formal education because of the restrictions in force against wo m en’s education then, particularly in rural areas. In this way, she virtually lived an incarcerated life. But then, she was too sharp and receptive, because of which she easily learnt by hearing and watching her husband who taught her every detail of household work and how to still remian detached from it, attaching the mind to God relentlessly. She found her husband by no means dogmatic or exclusive. With her elevated common sense she internalized everything for which Ramakrishna lived.
“Therefore, today, she is a model for householders and world renouncing monks.” Sarada covertly grew to be modern in thought and perception in spite of her traditional demeanour of extreme simplicity. She wore no slippers or stitched clothes and slept on a mat on the floor. She woke up much before sunrise and sat in meditation, after finishing her bath. The whole day she did back-breaking labour by serving her husband and cooking for his guests, who came without notice until late at night. None other than two or three widows who guarded her from trespassers knew how she managed them quietly. She was never unhappy about that hard life. She said her heart was always full of joy like a pitcher full of water. Her husband worshipped her and let her realize that she was Divine Mother, as a result of which she consciously acted as the mother of the universe.
Her husband saw Kali in her, and she also saw Kali in him. Both were in that way confirmed of their Divine non-difference. Sarada affirmed this by worshipping herself, placing her photo beside Ramakrishna’s on an altar. To a few of her spiritually mature disciples she revealed her divine aspect. These novelties evidently made her modern amidst the traditional saints. So, their lives and works were recognized as Divine Plays, which were seen as directly proportional to and complimentary with one another. It was only when her husband passed away that she stepped out in public.
Earlier, no one had even seen her photograph. Now she freely visited places and took it upon herself to discharge the duty her husband had allotted her. She initiated both men and women from all castes as well as from other races with no reservations. She ‘deepened’ the faith of her disciples in Ramakrishna’s teaching of the validity of all religions for realizing God, as the one suited to the present age. She said she was ‘mother of all’, whether saint or sinner. She gracefully gave mantras to sanysins, and sanyasa to brahmacharini. Her motherhood knew no distinctions. It was her forte where she did not brook the slightest encroachment, not even her husband’s. Above all, Sarada took the reins of the Ramakrishna Order in her hand.
She didn’t even allow Swamiji to do things which she thought were incorrect. Everyone in the Order was at her beck and call. Each was under her protective care. Benign scolding sometimes issued from her for correction, but not a single word of condemnation ever. Hers was a voice of reason and righteousness, difficult to ignore. On the other hand, her dealings with people and society were unprecedented for any woman during that period of Indian history. She was overtly denying communal differences, dearly treating men and women of other communities as her own children. She was feeding them and sometimes eating with them as well in her house without the fear of being ostracized. She went to the extent of letting foreign ladies stay with her, for which she was even ready to part with the company of upper-caste close devotes who disliked it.
She strongly advocated girl’s education despite the opposition of bigoted conservative Hindus. She opened a primary school in her village where no provision of education for poor children was available. She dug a tube-well there for clean drinking water, after observing people drinking contaminated pond water. For irrigation purposes, she sought Government help to dig a canal from the nearest rivulet. For 34 years she, thus, continuously worked for the temporal and spiritual welfare of mankind with a pragmatic, progressive and modern outlook, fulfilling her husband’s expectation from her. She set a perfect example of how to translate his teachings in practice effectively, which was a clear illustration of practical Vedanta. Her followers are now forming organizations to work in her fashion, emulating the Vedantic religion and philosophy she reflected in her day-today behaviour and activity in the simplest terms.
For instance, there is an organization in Coventry, England called ‘Sarada Vedanta Society’ where people are being educated giving primacy to her life and teachings. As its name indicates, so also its shrine, where her photograph is placed in the middle, instead of Ramakrishna’s, shifting from tradition. The appeal of Sarada Devi increased by and by. She was at last out of her husband’s shadow. People of all walks of life thronged for her blessings and guidance. She became legendary for her divine character, love and affection. Even after almost 125 years of her departure, the intensity of her attraction remains sky high. It was observed that a conspicuous awakening was occurring among women everywhere with her advent. Marking this, Swami Vivekananda’s brother disciple and the second president of the Ramakrishna Order, Swami Shivananda said: “Holy Mother (Sarada Devi) assumed a human body to awaken the womanhood of the entire world.
Don’t you see, since her advent, what an amazing awakening has set in among the women of the world? They are now resolved to build up their lives gracefully and advance in all directions. A very surprising renaissance is swaying women in the fields of spirituality, politics, science, literature, etc. And more will come. This is the play of the Divine Power. Ordinary mortals cannot understand this mystery.” Swamiji believed Sarada Devi was born to revive the glory of womanhood. He said “making her nucleus, once more will Gargis and Maitreyis be born into the world”. He planned to start an organization for this purpose, in which she would be ‘the central figure’. Keenly studying her personality, Sister Nivedita wrote: “In her, one sees realized that wisdom and sweetness to which the simplest of women may attain. And yet, to myself the stateliness of her courtesy and great open mind are almost as wonderful as her sainthood.
I have never known her hesitate, in giving utterance to large and generous judgement, however new or complex might be the question put before her.” Anyone can see the far reaching and magnifying impact of her life (22 December 1853- 20 June1920) of 67 years in modern times. Today, she is dear to everyone who knows about her. Her sublime matriarchal influence is transforming countless minds, cutting across castes, communities, countries and the fallen. She said: “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.’”
(The writer is associated with Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Narendrapur)
