Shri
Sarada Devi
The
Holy Mother - A Symbol of An Ideal Motherhood
by
Mrs. Jai Kishori Pandit
Shri
Sarada Devi
The
Holy Mother, Shri Sarada Devi, symbolizes the
ideal motherhood of women, ancient and modern. Her
life is an enigma. On the surface, it appears to
be just the homely life of a Bengali Brahmin lady,
mostly in a rural setting. Yet her deportment
discloses unmistakable marks of dignity and love
of an order that may easily be called superhuman.
In the galaxy of the greatest women of the world
the Holy Mother shines apart in conspicuous
luminosity. Perhaps such a life appeared at this
critical moment in the history of India to
illumine the way out of the present welter of
cultural conflicts.
Born
in a tiny village of Bengal, lapped in Nature's
beauty, but devoid of modern amenities, the little
girl, Sarada, had something out of the ordinary in
her mental make-up. The momentous event of
Sarada's early life was her marriage to Shri
Ramakrishna at the age of 5. A shocking piece of
news to the modern world and particularly to its
western section. The sequel of Sarada Devi's
marriage is replete with scenes and incidents
remote from ordinary life. The pathos of anxious
expectation and worrying misgivings relieved by
happy and dramatic turns of events, the hazards of
dangerous hurdles in the way eased by peaceful
solutions and safe endings - all these made her
advance firmly and steadily towards peace and
blessedness.
Shri
Ramakrishan's life was a boon to humanity, Sarada
Devi seems to have come as a Iministering angel.
She focussed all her mental and physical resources
for preserving the precious life of Shri
Ramakrishna, there-by setting a brilliant example
of one-pointed service of a wife to her husband.
Unfathomable love was at the back of her
scrupulous service.
Cast
in the mould of absolute selflessness like Shri
Ramakrishna she stood out in unique splendour as
an endearing mother, enfolding all who came to her
with her limitless affection which was not
reserved for any particular group. Broad as the
sky and deep as the ocean her heart was open to
all. Finding that her niece, Nalini, blinded by
the prejudice of untouchability, could not serve
food to a Muslim dacoit Amjad by name, with due
regard, the Holy Mother volunteered to do it
herself and she went so far as to clean the place
after the meal was over. In her eyes Amjad was as
much her child as Swami Shardananad, a worthy
monastic disciple of the Master and her own
devoted attendant. Equality in her eyes of these
two persons shows unmistakably the superhuman
stand which she took during the days of intense
orthodoxy.
According
to the scriptures motherhood sanctifies a woman.
It is the consummation of her life, when a woman
becomes a mother; her feelings and emotions get
more purified than in wifehood. She becomes free
from all taints of body-consciousness. That is why
motherhood is sacred. It requires every woman to
unfold herself as a mother and not as just a
woman. Shri Sarada Devi was an universal mother
who served her disciples with the same care as a
mother serves the children she gives birth to.
She
would strive her most to provide her children with
the best food available in the place that would
suit the requirements of different individuals.
Like a true Indian mother, she would not take her
meals before her children were fed. The tenderest
feelings of her heart were, however, vividly
exhibited when any of her children would take
leave of her. Indeed, a person who had the good
fortune of tasting her motherly love at Jayrambati
or any other place could enrich his assets for his
lifelong spiritual journey. This exquisite
sweetness embodied in the Holy Mother was
wonderfully matched by her dignified bearing as
well as her sagacious dealing with people and
their affairs. Though a wife, she was really a nun
with the purest heart fixed for ever on God;
without actually being a mother, she was in every
sense the loving mother of numberless children.
For all practical purposes she appeared to be an
ideal householder. Her concern for her brother's
family, particularly for some of its members,
would at times look like earthly attachment even
to the eyes of a sincere spiritual aspirant. This
wonderful synthesis of contradictory elements in
her life presents a unique manifestation of
perfection on the human plane.
No
barrier of caste, creed or colour could stand
before the unimpeded flow of her limitless love.
Freed entirely from the shackles of society, the
Holy Mother had liberty, equality and fraternity
as the very breath of her life. In her life, and
in her teachings she has left a balm for suffering
humanity. She was very courteous and liberal in
her attitude towards others. This was demonstrated
again and again through her actions. As a widow in
the last century coming from a small village in
Bengal, the Holy Mother accepted two foreign
ladies as her own, so much so that sister Nivedita
felt so close to her that she would behave like a
little child and always sit nearest her feet.
The
Holy Mother was an embodiment of patience,
disinterestedness and selfless service calmness
and love. Her life is a typical example of how
women can serve the family and the society. Her
patience with the members of her family and
certain devotees was something not attainable by
ordinary human beings. Her courtesy and kindness
and consideration to all, whether good qr bad,
have no comparison. Her forgiving nature was
something divine which itself is an external
manifestation of her high spiritual attainment.
Her
disinterested love and compassion were not
confined to her relations and disciples only.
There was a woman suffering from foul - smelling
cancer of the ear, whom even her relations had
discarded but the Holy Mother saw to it that this
woman was taken to the nursing - ashram. Sympathy
and love for others in distress were the chief
characteristics of her nature. Gentle and patient
as she was she could never tolerate cruelty and
injustice. When she heard the cries of a woman who
was beaten by her drunken husband, she ran to the
police and raising her voice, asked the man to
desist. The man immediately obeyed the Holy
Mother. The women of our day should draw
inspiration from her and emulate her life.
We
have to cull out these virtues from Holy Mother's
unique life and see how they can be useful to us;
we have to practise them in our own lives.
According to Swami Vivekananda putting such noble
ideas into practice is practical vedanta.
The
Holy Mother was endowed with all the feminine
virtues which have been traditional good qualities
of an Indian woman and mother. She has shown by
her life that India is travelling towards a
greater possibility which will create a better
culture and civilisation, showing the way for
fulfillment of woman's destiny as an ideal mother.
[Professor
Jai Kishori Pandit enjoys reputation as an able
teacher and scholar of English]
Source:
Koshur
Samachar
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