Sri Sarada Devi(1853–1920)is known as the Holy Mother among the devotees and admirers and was the spiritual consort of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa who is worshiped as an God incarnate all over the world. Sri Ramakrishna revealed her as an incarnation of Goddess Sarasvati who came to remove ignorance of the suffering humanity.
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THE GOSPEL OF SRI SARADA DEVI
February,
1914
Sri Sarada Devi at Baghbazar |
I
went to Baghbazar one morning with a basket of flowers. I offered it to the
Holy Mother. She was exceedingly happy and began to decorate the image of Sri
Ramakrishna with the flowers. Some of them were blue. She took these in her
hands and said, "Ah,
what a pretty colour! There was a girl at Dakshineswar named Asha. One day, she
came to the temple-garden and picked a red flower from a plant with dark
leaves. She cried, 'Dear me! Such a red flower on a plant with dark leaves!
Goodness gracious! What a strange creation of God!' Sri Ramakrishna saw her and
said, 'My dear child, what is the matter with you? Why are you weeping like
that?' She could hardly utter a word. She was weeping incessantly. Sri
Ramakrishna at last pacified her."
The Holy Mother was in an exalted mood and
said, "Look
at these flowers with a blue colour! How can one decorate God without such fine
flowers!" She took a handful of them and offered them to the
image of Sri Ramakrishna. A few flowers dropped at her feet before they were
offered. She cried, "Dear me! How they have dropped at my feet before I
could offer them to the Lord!" "It is very nice," I said. Then I
thought, "To you Sri Ramakrishna may be a higher being; but we do not make
any distinction between you and him."
A widowed lady came into the room. I asked
the Mother about her. The Mother said, "She took initiation from me about a month ago.
She had accepted another Guru before. She later felt that it was a mistake and
came here for initiation. I could not convince her that all teachers are one.
The same power of God works through them all."
Sri Ramakrihna's House at, Kamarpukur |
We were resting after the midday meal and
the talk turned to Kamarpukur. The Holy Mother said: "While I was quite young, the Master once came
to Kamarpukur with stomach trouble. During the early hours of the morning he
would wake up from sleep and tell us about the dishes I should prepare for his
midday meal. I would follow his directions. One day I found that I had not a
particular spice with which he wanted the vegetables flavoured. My
sister-in-law (Sri Ramakrishna's elder brother's wife) asked me to cook without
that spice. The Master heard those words and said, 'How is it? If you have not
the spice, get it from the market. It is not proper to cook the curry without
the spices necessary for it. I sacrificed the rich dishes of Dakshineswar
temple and came here for the flavour of that spice, and you want to deprive me
of that! That won't do.' My sister-in-law felt abashed and sent for the
spice."
"The Brahmani (i.e. Yogesvari, the Sannyasini who
instructed Sri Ramakrishna in Tantric practices) was then with us. The Master
addressed her as mother, and I therefore looked upon her as my mother-in-law. I
was rather afraid of her. She was very fond of red pepper. She used to cook her
own dishes-all hot stuff. Often she offered me these preparations. I would
silently eat them and wipe out the tears from my eyes. When she asked me how I
liked them, I said in fear, 'Very nice!' My
sister-in-law, however, would remark, 'Oh! they were very hot!' I noticed that
the Brahmani was displeased at such remarks. She would say, 'Why do you say so?
My 'daughter' approves of these dishes. Nothing can please you. I will not give
you my curries any more."
The
conversation again turned to flowers. The Mother said, "One day while living
at Dakshineswar, I made a biggarland of seven strands with some jasmine and
rangam (Ixora). I soaked the garland in water in a stone bowl and quickly the
buds turned into full blossoms. I sent the garland to the Kali temple to adorn
the image of the Divine Mother. The ornaments were taken off from the body of
Kali and She was decorated with the garland. Sri Ramakrishna came to the
temple. He at once fell into an ecstatic mood to see the beauty of Kali so much
enhanced by the flowers. Again and again he said, 'Ah! These flowers are so
nicely set off against the dark complexion of the Divine Mother! Who made the
garland?' Someone mentioned me. He said, 'Go and bring her to the temple.' As I
came near the steps, I found some of the men devotees there-Balaram Babu, Suren
Babu and others. I felt extremely bashful and became anxious to hide myself. I
took shelter behind the maid, Brinde, and was about to go up the temple by the
back steps. Sri Ramakrishna noticed this instantly and said, 'Don't try those
steps. The other day a fisherwoman was climbing those steps and slipped. She
had a terrible shock, fractured her bones and died. Come by these front steps.' The devotees heard those words and made way for me. I
entered the temple and found Sri Ramakrishna singing, his voice trembling with love
and emotion."
A few women devotees now entered the room
and the conversation stopped. It was time for me to take leave. Again the
Mother began to talk about God-realization. She said, "Do you know, my
child, what it is like? It is just like a candy in the hand of a child. Some
people beg the child to part with it. He does not care to give it to them. But
he easily hands it over to another whom he likes. A man performs severe
austerities throughout his life to realize God, but he does not succeed, whereas
another man gets realization practically without any effort. It depends upon
the grace of God. He bestows His grace upon anyone He likes. Grace is the
important thing"
SOURCE: The Gospel of Sri Sri Sarada Devi
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gospel of sri sarada devi
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GREATNESS OF SRI SARADA DEVI
Swami Brahmananda |
Swami Brahmananda was the spiritual
son of Sri Ramakrishna. He was the first President of Ramakrishna Order. Swami
Vivekananda considered him as the spiritual dynamo. In his earlier incarnation he was a companion of Sri Krishna at
Brindavan.
It
is hard to understand Mother’s greatness unless she herself reveals it. Through
the grace of Sri Ramakrishna one may recognize the Divine Mother in her.
* * * *
Who
can understand our Mother? Even great yogis cannot understand her, what to
speak of others. Is it the function of an ordinary being to have digested the
worship of an incarnation like Sri Ramakrishna? From this one has to understand
what a great container of power the Mother has been taking the sins and
afflictions of many people on herself, and redeeming them. Could any one else
but the Divine Mother Herself have this power?
* * * *
Our
Mother is Mahamaya Herself. But such is her Maya that none can understand her.
Inside, the ocean of realization; outside, absolute calm. How ordinary and easy
she appears? Even the incarnation cannot keep under control such divine moods
and devotion. One, however, can somewhat understand Sri Ramakrishna through
some inklings. But it is extremely difficult to understand the Mother. How she
has kept all deluded with her love!
Ah,
boundless is her grace. What a yearning for the jivas? She has been herself
calling unto people, cleaning them, giving with them peace and redeeming them!
If
you want the grace of Sri Ramakrishna, first propitiate the Mother. The Mother
is the supreme Primordial Power Herself (Parama Prakriti). She holds the key of
the knowledge of Brahman in her hand. Liberation, bliss and all that are in
Mother’s keeping. There is no difference between Sri Ramakrishna and the
Mother. Through Mother’s grace attainment of liberation becomes easy.
SOURCE: Sri Sarada Devi, the Great Wonder by Advaita Ashrama
SOURCE: Sri Sarada Devi, the Great Wonder by Advaita Ashrama
Labels:
greatness of sri sarada devi
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TEACHINGS OF SRI SARADA DEVI
CHAPTER-2: THE SPIRIT OF DISPASSION [PART-II]
11. Referring to a man
who criticized those who renounce the world, Mother said, "My child, men
such as these are deeply drowned in the world. They never acquire love for God.
They simply carry on, 'coming into the world, suffering the calamities therein,
and going away from it' again and again. If after doing so many a time, the
Lord has mercy on them in some birth, they will attain liberation
12. "How little
intelligence does a man possess! He may require one thing, but asks for another.
He starts to mould an image of Shiva and often ends by making that
of a monkey. It is best therefore to surrender all desires at the feet of God.
He will do whatever is best for us. But one may pray for devotion and
detachment. These cannot be classed as desires."
13. "In one word,
one should desire of God desirelessness. For desire alone is at the root of all
suffering. It is the cause of repeated births and deaths. It is the obstacle in
the way of liberation.
14. "There is no
happiness while living in this body. The world is full of sorrow. Happiness is
only an empty word. Only those who have received the grace of the Master can
recognize him as God, and that is their real joy."
15. "What is there
in this world? Tell me what is good in this life? That was why
in the end the Master took only bitter things. I would try to give him sandesh
and he would say, 'What is there in sandesh? It is just the same as clay.'
16. "Do you notice
this human body? Today it is and tomorrow it is not. And the world is full of
misery and pain. Why should one be eager to have another birth? The body is
never free from its attendant troubles."
17. "However
spiritual a man may be, he must pay the tax for the use of the body to the last
farthing (i.e. undergo suffering and death incidental to the embodied state).
But the difference between a great soul and an ordinary man is this: the latter
weeps while leaving this body, whereas the former laughs. Death seems to him a
mere play."
18. "Everything,
husband, wife, or even the body, is only illusory. These are all shackles of
illusion. Unless you can free yourself from these bondages, you will never be
able to go to the other shore of the world. Even this attachment to the body,
the identification of the self with the body, must go. What is this body, my
darling? It is nothing but three pounds of ashes when it is cremated. Why so much
vanity about it? However strong or beautiful this body may be, its culmination
is in those three pounds of ashes. And still people are so attached to it.
Glory be to God.
19. "The whole
world is a dream; even this (the waking state) is a dream ... What you dreamt
last night does not exist now. ... A farmer who had lost a son dreamt at night
that he was a king and the father of eight sons. When the dream vanished, he
said to his wife, 'Shall I weep for my eight sons or this one?' "
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MOTHER'S DAY
Tomorrow is Mother's Day.May the Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, the Mother of all Bless us.
Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi |
Labels:
mother's day
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