Tribute to Sri Sarada Devi

Tribute

to

Sri Sarada Devi

Swami Aparananda

Monk of Ramakrishna Order of  India

Contents

Copyright

INTRODUCTION

PREFACE

Universal Divine Energy

Birth of Holy Mother

Early Years

Sri Ramakrishna in Kamarpukur

Orissa & South India Visit

Visit to Dakshineswar in 1872

Mother’s life: 1881 – 1884

Divine Manifestation

Master’s Mahasamadhi

Holy pilgrimages

Stay at Kamarpukur

Guru-Shakti

Stay in Puri, 1888-1889

Events: 1890-1899

Events: 1900-1905

Events: 1906-1909

Events: 1912-1917

Her Last Years: 1918-19

Mahasamadhi

REMINISCENCES OF HOLY MOTHER

As the Apostles Saw Her

Swami Nikhilananda

Swami Virajananda

Swami Madhavananda

Swami Vireswarananda

Swami Saradeshananda

Swami Vasudevananda

Swami Prabhavananda

Swami Yatiswarananda

Swami Sankarananda

Swami Vishuddhnanda

Swami Ishanananda

Sister Nivedita

Chandramohan Dutta

Kumudbandhu Sen

Lavanyakumar Chakravarty

Sarayubala

Bhavatārini Devi

Suhasini Devi

Closing Meditation

Notes

Copyright © 2025 SWAMI APARANANDA

All rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced without express written permission of the publisher.

ISBN: 9781300800682

Printed in the United States of America

INTRODUCTION

​One can find several interpretations about the true nature of a human being. Some consider a human being to be a physical being while others view a person as an emotional, intellectual or moral being.  There are also those who say that a human being is a divine being or a spiritual being having an inmost soul, quite separate and different from the physical body but working through it, to fulfill a special purpose through the process of spiritual evolution. In the fullness of this process of evolution, the highest manifestation takes expression as universal love in a human personality. This power is always working subtly in human societies, binding them together despite the many noticeable differences, in what is usually known as ‘unity in diversity’. It is a mystical universal power that is very difficult to understand but is ever active in this world.

​The truth is that there is one universal soul (the Divine Reality) ‘one without a second’ according to Chandoggya Upanishad. This living universal conscious being is usually known as God or Supreme Being. This Universal Reality divides itself into many and appears as the universe of experience, in both the animate and the inanimate.

​As a human evolves, this Divine spirit can manifest itself as a pure conscious soul or as a free soul. In other words, a human being’s inherent strength is infinite, and infinite are the latent capabilities that reside within.

​All creatures – Gods and angels, prophets, and saints, the worldly and wicked are manifestations or offspring of the universal Godhead. This Divine Reality, according to Vedanta, is the ultimate reality which is known as Brahman (Universal conscious being). The inscrutable potency of Brahman, known as Sakti, projects and preserves the universe as animate and inanimate beings. Sakti is the totality of creation, with all its pairs of opposites: good and evil, pain and pleasure, life and death. Sakti functions through both knowledge and ignorance. Both are necessary to perpetuate creation. The Godhead and Its potency (Sakti) are inseparable, like fire and its power to burn, like a gem and its luster, like a word and its meaning. From time to time, this Godhead, with Its potency (Sakti), takes a special human body to help created beings become aware of their spiritual nature and to understand that they are free souls in Ultimate Reality. The concept of Motherhood, and Its worship of God as Divine Mother, forms a special feature in spiritual evolution in the religious ideals of the Indian people. In this age, Sri Ramakrishna, a follower of truth, began his communion with the Godhead through the performance of worship of God as the Divine Mother. Sri Ramakrishna cherished a life-long devotion to Her. According to Sri Ramakrishna, worship of God as Divine Mother is the final stage in spiritual evolution. To Sri Ramakrishna, Divine Mother is the Blissful Mother of the Universe – a living, conscious, cosmic intelligence, Ever Awakening One – whose true nature is Divine consciousness and who is one and the same as the Ultimate Reality known as Brahman.

​Sri Ramakrishna used to consider Sri Ma Sarada Devi as the very potency (Sakti) of Brahman manifested to help Sri Ramakrishna’s Divine Mission in the present age. God’s Love for man – unselfish, unsolicited, and undeserved – has been stressed by the mystics and prophets of all religions. In Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi’s life, this truth is found to be present and real all the time. Why do people worship these great souls of the world? All major religions and all saints, prophets and mystics emphasize the need for spiritual discipline to spiritual aspirants for the purification of their hearts. So also, is importance given to the need to kindle their inherent Divine spirit which otherwise remains covered. Though an incarnation of God is eternally pure, enlightened, and free in essence, but that incarnation practices all kinds of spiritual disciplines to set an example for others. That is why God becomes man, so that man may become God. When, in course of time, righteousness declines and wickedness prevail, God becomes incarnated to restore spiritual values. A Godman practices disciplines most intensely because it is His mission to bring about the liberation of many and to arouse the spiritual consciousness of humanity. It is a known fact that a profound and protracted struggle is necessary for an ordinary man to develop even a small amount of God consciousness. This Divine power becomes incarnated in the flesh to fulfill a cosmic spiritual necessity. Sri Sarada Devi, the Divine consort of Sri Ramakrishna, fulfilled the purpose of this wonderful spiritual truth in this age.

​Sri Ma Sarada Devi willingly accepted Sri Ramakrishna’s wish to carry out His Divine Mission for all people in the world. Spirituality is awakened by the transmission of light from the living, through the living, to the living. Spiritual truth is living truth, co-existing with, and inherent in, God Himself. Initiation is the descent of God through a human channel and is bestowed upon a living disciple. This bestowal may be designated as Grace. This is a law of the spiritual world and has been demonstrated by Godmen, like Krishna, Christ, Chaitanya and Ramakrishna, who in spite of their Divine nature accepted human teachers, as it were, to set an example for the common man.

​Spirituality can literally be handed down like any physical object if the teacher possesses it and the student is capable of receiving it. An aspirant can be initiated by a look, or a touch, or by mystical words. Only the most exalted teacher can awaken spirituality by a look or a touch, and that too, only in exceptional cases. The imparting of a mystical word, called the mantra, is the usual method of initiation. Real mantras are not created by the human intellect. They exist in the cosmic mind of God and are revealed to a qualified teacher. Holy Mother said, ‘The mantra purifies the body. One becomes pure by repeating the name of God given by the Guru.’ The mantra is to be repeated regularly by the disciple with concentration and devotion. It has an intrinsic power. It kindles the spark of spirituality in the disciple. A disciple once asked Holy Mother if the mere repetition of the Holy word taught by a qualified Guru really helped the aspirant if he did not possess intense devotion. Mother replied, ‘Whether you jump into water or are pushed into it, your cloth will be soaked, will it not?’

​Spiritual experience involves the descent of God and the ascent of the soul – the Grace of God intertwines with the right effort of the seeker. That the Holy Mother was a teacher par excellence goes without saying. In a relationship with the disciple, she acted as mother, teacher, Divinity incarnate. But, for the most part, she covered herself with a veil of humanity.

​Holy Mother lived for thirty-three years after her return from Vrindavan in 1887. From the fullness of her heart, she bestowed her Grace upon all. Men and women of every station and stage of life came to her. Among them, there were high and low, young and old, students and lawyers, physicians and teachers, revolutionaries, spiritually evolved souls and people entangled in the world and some eccentrics as well. None went away empty-handed after approaching her. Even those few who could not get anything from Mother directly, in any form or inspiration, unconsciously received Mother’s divine powers which radiated their souls. Drawn by her irresistible attraction, one and all came to her. She seemed to be waiting for them. ‘Let them all come,’ her motherly heart said. ‘None will be rejected. Suppose they have lived sinful lives; will they be deprived of my blessings on that account?’ Sri Ma Sarada Devi initiated just about anywhere - in the shrine room, from her sick bed, on roads and railway platforms, in meadows and under trees. In her company, all felt that they were in the presence of an affectionate mother and made all kinds of demands upon her – reasonable and unreasonable, and to the best of her power she tried to satisfy them. If no devotee came to her on a particular day, she would say, ‘No one has come. These days seem to be passing in vain.’ And lo! very shortly a seeker would arrive. This went on until nearly the end of her life. One day, Holy Mother said seriously to a disciple, ‘He is unfortunate indeed who does not feel my compassion. I do not know anyone, not even an insect, for whom I do not feel compassion.’

​It is almost impossible to write anything about Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi without her blessings and grace. According to our understanding, no one can write anything correctly and truthfully about Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi as she is beyond our complete comprehension. These works are not to be viewed as being something right or wrong. That retracts from bringing to us her heart’s profound benevolence. Because she is our Mother, we can say something about her and encourage others to make the effort to understand Mother’s life, her teachings, and activities during her lifetime. Mother is Mother and we have no fear about presenting anything about Sri Ma. We have full confidence in her. She would not mind anything written about her, since, through these many, many ways we are only trying to think of the Divine Mother of the Universe. By thinking of her as the Divine Mother of the Universe (Blissful Mother of the Universe), we will be spiritually and morally benefited. We are sure that one day we will be able to get her blessings as her blessings are always upon everyone. This much we can say. Without her grace and blessings, we cannot understand her Divine nature. We invite everyone to take a step forward and think of Sri Ma Sarada Devi and try their best to make her a part of their life. Her blessings and grace, which is like the soft breeze blowing all the time, can then be understood in a proper way. Doubts, confusions, finding fault with others and yielding to temptations are the characteristics of our life in the world. Whether we understand it or not, Divine Mother herself has incarnated this time to take care of her children. Commenting thus about our Holy Mother in this introduction, we now proceed to encapsulate into this work the simple yet wondrous profusion of her life amongst us.

PREFACE

A mother’s fondness for her child is a natural phenomenon. In this fondness, no other emotional feeling is involved. It is a pure love and is an affection that works only in this kind of relationship as in the caring bond between a mother and a child. This natural phenomenon is noticed not only in the life of human beings but in the life of all living beings.

Love has been recognized by sincere spiritual practitioners as the most dynamic aspect of the soul. It is a ‘living power’ that works in the universal life and is a composite of great binding forces which anyone can feel in his or her own life. This universal love is fully manifested even in a simple loving home. It then becomes a dynamo of divine powers which works in life in its various forms and in numerous ways. Of all the revealed truths experienced in human life, wisdom of the divinity of the soul and knowledge of the immortal nature of the soul are the highest. Such divine knowledge also removes all afflictions of life, all confusing thoughts and clears away all doubts from the human heart. All sorts of wrong concepts and misunderstandings from narrow short-sightedness are then resolved in life when one attains this knowledge of the immortal soul, the existence of a universal living divine being and of a supreme intelligence which is guiding this universe. That attained wisdom and realized knowledge is imbued with the practical and effective power to send out the greatest blessings possible in human life. This power carries the full potential to grant the experience of infinite bliss.

In the present age, we did find amongst us just such a great soul. Incarnated as Sri Ma Sarada Devi, the spiritual consort of Sri Ramakrishna, the saint of 19th century India, she manifested as the divine mother in physical body. She gave the gift, of that immense power of the universal divine motherhood of God, which we can even now still avail of.

The Kathopanishad declares, Many there are who do not even hear of Atman (divine spirit), though hearing of Atman (divine self), many do not comprehend. Wonderful is the expounder and rare the hearer, rare indeed is the experiencer of Atman taught by an able preceptor. Kathopanishad 1. 2:7

As the scriptures also do, the sages and saints of the world too speak about creation in the following way – The whole universe, of the living and the non-living, is the projection of one universal divine energy. The panorama of this world drama is a continuous process under the command of this inscrutable power of the Almighty One - Whose nature is Pure Consciousness. This mystery of life can only be solved when the potential divinity of the soul is experienced. Whatever be the conditions in the physical world, the situations of human beings in it remains the same – the same story of birth and death, uncertainty of life, fear of future, afflictions, grief and delusion, and above all, the horrible conflicts among different classes, castes, cultures and cults.

One may well ask - Is there any permanent peace in the midst of such diversities? The answer is Yes, there is. And there is one who can bestow upon the whole of humankind whatever they wish to get. And that one is our divine Mother, Sri Ma Sarada Devi. With the passing of time, more and more people are coming to learn about Sri Ma Sarada Devi who is the very source of the wish-fulfilling tree (Kalpataru).

Nowadays, many authentic narrations about Sri Ma Sarada Devi are available in different literary forms. Many have written articles, wonderfully produced her life-story and included in them the authentic instructions of the Mother.

The present author has attempted to again bring her extraordinary yet simple life story with reminiscences of devotees and by gathering the teachings of the Holy Mother collected from different sources. This bouquet of thoughts is reverentially placed as sacred offerings at the lotus-feet of the Holy Mother, Sri Sarada Devi. It is truly heartfelt as innumerable lives continue to be transformed by her living presence as the love of her Divine Motherhood receives all as her own. Everyone also has an equal right to approach her and to adore the Mother.

The author has no wish to get any credit nor any name or fame for this work and only seeks Holy Mother’s blessings to guide us to remain the faithful followers of the Divine Mother all the time.

References:

Holy Mother, Sri Sarada Devi – Swami Gambhirananda (The author has taken most of the events of Sri Ma’s life from this book.)

Holy Mother – Swami Nikhilananda

Sri Sarada Devi, The Great Wonder. Published by Ramakrishna Mission, New Delhi.

Reminiscences of Sri Sarada Devi. Published by Advaita Ashrama, Kolkata.

Sri Mayer Padaprante (In Bengali) - Swami Purnatmananda

Universal Divine Energy

A few words on Universal Divine Reality

​Not many souls in this earth feel for others. There may however be a few souls so great, so compassionate, so gracious, so tender and affectionate that they, out of their unbounded love for humankind, take upon themselves all the sufferings and miseries of people. Yet so silent are their doings that people have not the capability to recognize their greatness during their lifetime! But a few fortunate people have felt the touch of the spark of their Divine Power.

​At the present age, such a great soul is revealing her hidden divine greatness, bit by bit, to the present world. She is the ‘divine consort’ of the nineteenth-century saint of India, Sri Ramakrishna; and she is known to us as the Holy Mother, Sri Sarada Devi.

​From a spiritual standpoint, Sri Sarada Devi, the Holy Mother, is regarded as the Divine Mother of the Universe, which indicates her Universal Divine Power. This is not an exaggerated statement but rather upholds and underscores a philosophical significance. A spiritually enlightened soul perceives this visible universe, of name and form, as founded upon one Divine Conscious Reality known in Vedanta (religion of Hindus) as Brahman, or Ultimate Conscious Reality, the Uncreated One. Functions of creation, preservation and dissolution of the Universe are carried on by the Brahman’s Maya Shakti, an inscrutable energy of Brahman. Brahman and Shakti are inseparable. These activities of the Brahman are accomplished on the cosmic plane (to be perceived only by the yoga-process). It is a living energy of the Cosmic Intelligence. In other words, the whole universe of the living and non-living is the projection of this living Divine Energy, which is the finest existence. Hindus regard this Divine Energy as the Divine Mother of the Universe or Universal Divine Power.

​When this Universal Divine Power incarnates as a human body, that Divine Being is regarded as the Divine Mother of all beings, a repository of all knowledge, all powers and so on. It is a free soul. This Divine Power liberates other beings from the bondage state. This Universal Conscious Being is manifested to a greater degree in human evolution as an individual conscious being and can be realized through the yoga path.

​Human mind is not satisfied only with religious ideas and thoughts. Human mind wants to transcend all the limitations of the senses and wants to come face to face with what exists behind the scenes. Human beings realized that, of all the powers of nature, his own mind and internal sense-world influences his experience. The search after ultimate Reality based on outer nature becomes futile and therefore the mental world falls back upon itself and the search becomes inward. Man continued inquiring more deeply into the different stages of the mind and discovered higher states than either waking or the dreaming. This state of things we find in all the organized religions of the world called either ecstasy or inspiration. In all organized religions, their founders, prophets and messengers are declared to have gone into states of mind that were neither waking nor sleeping, in which they came face to face with a new series of facts relating to what is called the spiritual kingdom. They realized things there much more intensely than we realize facts around us in our waking state – Superconscious state. We find the same truth declared amongst both the Jews and the Christians.

Swami Vivekananda

Thus, a tremendous statement is made by all religions - that the human mind, at certain moments, transcends not only the limitations of the senses, but also the power of reasoning. It then comes face to face with facts which it could never have sensed, could never have reasoned out. These facts are the basis of all the religions of the world. All the existing religions of the world claim for the human mind this peculiar power of transcending the limits of the senses and the limits of reason and this power they put forward as a statement of fact.

​Most people have and harbor wrong notions about Spiritual Reality, as well as, about what is meant by true spiritual life. True spiritual life is a subject of realizing the Uncreated Divine Consciousness that exists and is the inmost Spirit of all beings. Such experience results in the awareness of Divine Consciousness, whose true nature is the experience of eternal peace, happiness and bliss within the depths of the mental world. It is only in that state, when that Divine Light shines within the depth of the heart, that all the knots of the heart are cut asunder, all doubts are resolved, and the influences of karma diminish. Therefore, pursuit of spiritual life is a sincere attempt to gain spiritual strength with sufficient encouragement so as to enlighten the inner self of the individual life. Divine Consciousness is an eternal Reality. Unless and until one’s inner self can recognize it, it remains hidden. It is a being and becoming.

​To realize the Lord, who is Divine Consciousness Itself in oneself and in all beings, and to act according to the realization is the wonder of all wonders in the world and It is pure Bliss. That state can only be experienced. To experience Bliss and to get oneself merged into that Ocean of Bliss is really a wonder in human life. Truth is Truth. And Truth is not bound by any time, space or causation. To know that is the true quest of Yoga.

Birth of Holy Mother

Jayrambati, the native village of Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi and her birth

​District of Bankura belongs to the fertile province of West Bengal, India, but the district itself is not fertile, with its people often suffering from famine. The little village of Jayrambati lying at the south-east corner of the district has the special blessings of Mother Nature for its abundant crops of paddy, wheat, sugarcane and vegetables.

Jayrambati is about three miles west of Kamarpukur, the native village of Sri Ramakrishna. The small, perennial rivulet Amodar flows from the north-western corner of Jayrambati and its transparent water meanders eastward for a mile like a playful child, demarcating the northern limits of Jayrambati. Then the rivulet Amodar takes a south-easterly turn and washes the boundary of Mukundapur which forms a part of Kamarpukur and then flows southward. The narrow and shallow stream forms deep whirlpools here and there, attracting fish and fisherman alike.

​In the northern side of Jayrambati village, the streamlet forms a beautiful peninsula, triangular in shape and raised in the center. The green grass and tall trees which cover it make it a cool retreat for those who want a shelter from the day’s heat. Resounding with the chirping of birds and decorated with fruit and flowering trees was a favorite place for Swami Saradananda, Yogin-Ma, Golap-ma and others (associates of Sri Sarada Devi) who, after a dip in the brook Amodar, sat under a tree which adorned its center in those days, and meditated or read the Gita or the Chandi for a considerable time.

The natural situation of Jayrambati is very fine. It is surrounded almost on all sides by extensive agricultural fields. The Mukhopadhyay (or briefly Mukherji) family, in which Sri Sarada Devi was born, settled in this village a long time ago.

​Sri Sarada Devi was born into this Mukherji family in Jayrambati on Thursday evening, 22 December 1853. Her father was Ramachandra Mukherji and her mother Shyamasundari Mukherji. Sri Sarada Devi was the first child of the parents. The Mukherji family was not wealthy but were very pious Brahmins. The Mukherjis were the hereditary priests of all the deities of the village, of which the most important was the shrine of Simhavahini along with two of her female companions, Chandi and Mahamaya.

​Ramachandra Mukherji lived together with his three younger brothers – Trailokyanath, Ishwarachandra and Nilmadhav. This family somehow made a living with the little that was earned by farming and from priesthood. About her parents, Sri Sarada Devi said, My parents were very good. My father was a devout follower of Rāma (Incarnation of Hindus). He was very orthodox and would not accept any gift from people of other castes. How kind my mother was! And how guileless she was. Her mother would say, My household is for God and His devotees.

​After Sarada’s birth was followed by a sister named Kadambini, followed by five brothers named Prasannakumar, Umeshchandra, Kalikumar, Varadaprasad and Abhayacharan. Sarada’s sister Kadambini and two of her brothers named, Umesh and Abhaya died early. The other brothers grew up, set up separate houses and reared their own families. Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi spent a long part of her life in the cottage of her Uncle Prasanna which has since been purchased by the authorities of the Ramakrishna Math and added to the Holy Mother temple properties.

​When great souls incarnate in a particular family by taking a human body, they always have some events mixed up with their life-story which are almost impossible to explain rationally. Sarada Devi’s life similarly had an extraordinary event that had taken place in connection with her birth. Once when mother Shyamasundari Devi was living with her father in the area of Shihar, a village not far from Jayrambati, she was sitting in the dark beside a potter’s oven under a bel (bilva, aegle marmalos) tree. There suddenly issued a jingling sound from the direction of the oven, and a little girl came from the direction of the oven down the branches of a tree. The little girl laid her soft hands around Shyamasundari’s neck, whereupon Shyamasundari fell down unconscious. She had no idea how long she thus lay there. Her relatives searching for her came there and carried her home. On gaining consciousness she felt as though the little girl had entered her womb.

​Ramachandra was getting ready to go to Calcutta in search of increasing his earnings for his family. The thought of his family’s poverty weighed heavily on his mind. One day, as he was engrossed in that thought, before departing for Calcutta, he fell asleep and dreamt that a little girl of golden complexion embraced him from behind by throwing her delicate arms around his neck. The incomparable beauty of the girl, as also her invaluable ornaments, at once marked her as out of the common run. Ramachandra was greatly surprised and asked, Who are you, my child?

The girl replied in the softest and sweetest of voices, Here am I come to you. Ramachandra woke up and the conviction grew in him that the girl was none other than Lakshmi, the goddess of fortune. Soon thereafter he left for Calcutta and returning home after some time, he heard what had happened to his wife. Spiritually-minded as he himself was, he readily believed everything. Henceforth, the holy Brahmin couple lived the purest of lives in expectation of the divine child.

Early Years

Sri Sarada Devi's Life at Jayrambati and Kamarpukur during her early years

Sarada Devi lived with her parents in their ancestral house in the village of Jayrambati. Her family was poor and Sarada spent much of her life in poverty, but this proved to be a boon. There were more opportunities for her to show affection, sweetness and love for everything around her. Her father Ramachandra could not raise enough rice paddy from his land to meet the expenses of the family, so he had to find another way and grew cotton as well. Her mother Shyamasundari Devi carried Sarada as a little girl to the cotton field where she would lay Sarada down and then go to pick cotton pods. 

As Sarada grew up from child to youth, her faculty of moral duty began to manifest in different directions. She joined hands with her mother in domestic work, picking cotton and then spinning this cotton into sacred threads. She looked after her brothers and bathed them in