A Short Life of Holy Mother

A SHORT LIFE
OF
THE HOLY MOTHER
SWAMI PAVITRANANDA
(Publication Department)
5 DEHI ENTALLY ROAD
CALCUTTA 700 014

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PREFACE
In the following pages will be found the story
of a life which was lived so silently and unosten-
tatious that its very simplicity was bewildering.
Yet the depth of its richness seemed unfathom-
able even to those who were universally re-
spected for their spiritual greatness. Indeed such
a life defies analysis, and it is much more diffi-
cult to portray it. We may not comprehend great-
ness as a whole, but still does not even a partial
glimpse of it often bring us infinite good? Therein
lies our justification for making the present at-
tempt.
In preparing this work we have got consider-
able help from the following books: Sri Rama-
krishna Lilaprasanga, Mayer Katha, Parts I & II, and
Sri Sarada Devi. Of these the first two are in
Bengali, published by the Udbodhan Office,
Calcutta, and the last one is in English, published
by the Ramakrishna Math, Madras.
Advaita Ashrama
PUBLISHER
Mayavati, Himalayas
September 2, 1942

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CAMBRIDGE, MASS.,
Sunday, December 11, 1910
Beloved Mother,
This morning, early, I went to church—to pray
for Sara. All the people there were thinking of Mary,
the Mother of Jesus, and suddenly I thought of you.
Your dear face, and your loving look and your white
Sari and your bracelets. It was all there. And it seemed
to me that yours was the Presence that was to soothe
and bless poor S. Sara’s sickroom. And—do you
know?—I thought I had been very foolish to sit in your
room, at the evening service to Sri Ramakrishna, try-
ing to meditate. Why did I not understand that it was
quite enough to be a little child at your dear feet? Dear
Mother! You are full of love! And it is not a flushed
and violent love, like ours, and like the world’s, but a
gentle peace that brings good to everyone and wishes
ill to none. It is a golden radiance, full of play. What a
blessed Sunday that was, a few months ago, when I
ran in to you, the last thing before I went on the
Ganges—ran back to you for a moment—as soon as I
came back! I felt such a wonderful freedom in the bless-
ing you gave me, and in your welcome home! Dearest

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6
THE HOLY MOTHER
Mother! I wish we could send you a wonderful hymn,
or a prayer. But somehow even that would seem too
loud, too full of noise! Surely you are the most won-
derful thing of God—Sri Ramakrishna’s own chalice
of His Love for the world—a token left with His chil-
dren, in these lonely days, and we should be very still
and quiet before you—except indeed for a little fun!
Surely the ‘wonderful things of God’ are all quiet—
stealing unnoticed into our lives—the air and the sun-
light and the sweetness of gardens and of the Ganges.
These are the silent things that are like you!
Do send to poor S. Sara the mantle of your peace.
Isn’t your thought, now and then, of the high calm
that neither loves nor hates? Isn’t that a sweet bene-
diction that trembles in God, like the dewdrop on the
lotus-leaf, and touches not the world?
Ever, my darling Mother, your foolish KHOOKI
(baby),
Nivedita
A LETTER BY SISTER NIVEDITA
TO THE HOLY MOTHER

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CONTENTS
Chapter
Page
I THE DISCOVERY OF SARADAMANI
9
II THE DARLING OF THE VILLAGE
12
III MARRIAGE
15
IV FIRST VISIT TO DAKSHINESWAR
20
V RELATIONSHIP WITH THE MASTER
26
VI FAITH AND INNOCENCE
32
VII DAKSHINESWAR DAYS
36
VIII FORESHADOWING THE FUTURE
42
IX THE PASSING OF SRI RAMAKRISHNA
48
X TRIALS AND SUFFERINGS
52
XI PILGRIMAGES
57
XII IN CALCUTTA AND AT JAYRAMBATI
62
XIII AS A SPIRITUAL FORCE
68
XIV THE ALL-LOVING MOTHER
76
XV LAST DAYS
86
CULLED FROM STRAY TALKS
89

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I
THE DISCOVERY OF SARADAMANI
After Sri Ramakrishna had the first vision of
the Divine Mother, he was consumed with a thirst
to have it constantly. He was like a man who had
once had access to an invaluable treasure, but
which had again been closed to him. So he was
burning with a desire to repeat that experience.
His desire was so intense and his longing so se-
vere that he could no longer behave like a nor-
mal man. Seeing his strange actions and behav-
iour many thought that he was out of his mind.
The news reached his old mother, who was at
their native village, Kamarpukur. She felt very
anxious for her son and had him brought to her,
so that by careful nursing she might cure him.
When Sri Ramakrishna came to Kamarpukur,
his mother thought that marriage might bring
down his mind to worldly things and he might
be cured of his divine malady. So she sent emis-
saries here and there to negotiate with various
persons but a suitable bride could not be found.
Strangely enough, Sri Ramakrishna took a child-
like interest in these proceedings; and finding his

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10
THE HOLY MOTHER
mother in a great predicament about his bride,
he himself suggested that there was a little girl
who might be suitable—the daughter of Ram
Chandra Mukhopadhyaya—at Jayrambati, only
six kilometers away.
His mother, Chandramani, took up this sug-
gestion, sent a man to Jayrambati and learnt that
the girl, beaming with divine effulgence, was not
only the pet child of her parents and family but
also the idol of the whole village. There was some-
thing in her which even at that early age drew
everybody to her. Whoever saw this little girl
could not but feel a fascination for her. So Chandra
Devi at once agreed to have her as her daughter-
in-law. The marriage was arranged and per-
formed with Sri Ramakrishna’s own consent, in
spite of the fact that his thoughts constantly
soared high above the earthly region.
The name of the bride, who was afterwards
known as the Holy Mother to innumerable dis-
ciples and admirers of Sri Ramakrishna, was
Saradamani. Her father, Ram Chandra Mukho-
padhyaya, was a very pious Brahmin; her mother,
Shyamasundari Devi, was also known for her
great piety. Being very poor, Ram Chandra had
to struggle very hard for his livelihood and the
maintenance of the family. The income from his
priestly duties was too meagre for his needs, so
he had to supplement it by agricultural pursuits

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THE DISCOVERY OF SARADAMANI
11
and the making of sacred threads. Nevertheless
Ram Chandra was known for his kindness and
generosity. He had a very tender heart which felt
distress at the suffering of others. In 1864, when
a terrible famine devastated Bengal and the little
village of Jayrambati and the neighbourhood did
not escape the ravages of the scourge, Ram
Chandra would daily feed large a number of
starving people out of his surplus produce of the
previous year, without caring for his own diffi-
cult circumstances. No wonder Ram Chandra was
the object of great reverence and deep affection
of the whole locality.

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II
THE DARLING OF THE VILLAGE
Saradamani was born on 22 December 1853,
about seventeen years after the birth of Sri
Ramakrishna. Born in a poor family, though the
darling of all, she had to do many of the hard
household duties to help her parents. She was
the eldest child, and she had to take care of her
six younger brothers and sisters. She would take
food to the servants in the fields, she would cut
grass for the cows in neck-deep water, and she
would collect grain from the fields in the paddy
season. All these have a very touching interest
when we know that afterwards in her advanced
years she gave spiritual ministration to thousands
of persons who would have been ready to spend
literally everything to fulfil her slightest wish. But
even in more favourable circumstances she lived
the same simple life—liking her ordinary village
dishes, doing the duties and following a routine
of life similar to those of other women of that poor
little village. Actually her life was more strenu-
ous than theirs as her family was very exacting
and also because many devotees would flock to

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THE DARLING OF THE VILLAGE
13
her village home. But in her early age, when she
would be going about in the fields and doing hard
labour, though her presence would invariably
light up joy in the surroundings, who did know
that here was an almost divine being walking in
their midst!
As a young girl, Saradamani was rather grave
for her age. None would find in her any childish
frivolity, and she had little interest in the games
commonly played by children of her age. But she
was the embodiment of innocence and simplic-
ity, and her love for other children was compel-
ling. That made her the natural mediator when
there was any quarrel among other girls. She
would prefer to play with the clay images of the
deities Kali and Lakshmi rather than with ordi-
nary dolls; and would worship them with great
devotion with flowers and sacred leaves. She had
a great aptitude for meditation. One day while
the worship of the goddess Jagaddhatri was going
on, she sat meditating on the Divine Mother with
so much absorption that a bystander was struck
with awe at the sight.
Saradamani had little formal education. Along
with her younger brothers she would now and
then go to school, but nobody took her education
seriously. On the contrary, she sometimes met with
positive discouragement. Later at Kamarpukur,
when she was found reading a Bengali primer,

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