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GOLDEN WORDS OF
HOLY MOTHER

I am the mother of
the righteous; I am
the mother of the
wicked as well. Never
fear. Whenever you
are in distress, just
say to yourself 'I have
a mother.'"

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 "I tell you one thing.
If you want peace of
mind, do not find
fault with others.
Rather see your own
faults. Learn to make
the whole world your
own. No one is a
stranger, my child;

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 the whole world is
your own."

"God is one's very

own. The more
intensely a person
practices spiritual
disciplines, the more

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 quickly he attains to
God."

"Never fear. He is
ever looking after
you. Do His work and
practice Sadhana. A

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 little work daily
drives away idle
thoughts from the
mind."

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"Call on the Lord who
pervades the entire
universe. He will
shower His blessings
upon you."

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"The mind is rendered
pure as a result of
much austerities. God
who is purity itself
cannot be attained
without austerities."

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 The grace of God is
the one thing that is
needful. One should
pray for the grace of
God.

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 Repeat the name of God
always in the innermost
core of your heart, and in
all sincerity take refuge in
the Master. Do not bother
to know how your mind is
reacting to things around.
And do not waste time in
calculating and worrying
over whether or not you
are progressing in the
path of spirituality. It is
ahamkara (vanity) to
judge progress for

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oneself. Have faith in the
grace of your Guru and
Ishta.
Be sincere in your
practice, words and
deeds. You will feel
blessed! His blessings
are always showered on
all creatures on the
earth. It is needless to
ask for it. Practice
meditation sincerely and
you will understand His
infinite grace. God

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 wants sincerity,
truthfulness and love.
Outward verbal
effusions do not touch
Him.

Sri Ramakrishna
would tell me, “One
should always be
active. One should

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 never be without
work. For, when one is
idle, all sorts of bad
thoughts crop up in
one's mind.”

To pray to God and

meditate on Him for

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 even two minutes
with full
concentration is
better than doing so
for long hours
without that.

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 Don't relax practice,
simply because you
do not get his vision.
Does an angler catch
a big carp every day,
the moment he sits
with the rod. He has
to wait and wait, and
many a time he is
disappointed.

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 God is one's very
own. The more
intensely a person
practices spiritual
disciplines, the more
quickly he attains to
God.

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 Even if the mind be not
concentrated, do not
give up the repetition of
the holy word. Do your
duty. While repeating the
name the mind will be
steady like a candle
flame in a place
protected from the wind.
It is the wind alone that
makes the flame flicker.
In the same way, our
fancies and desires make
our mind restless.

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If you want peace of
mind, do not find
fault with others.
Rather see your own
faults. Learn to make
the whole world your
own. No one is a
stranger, my child;

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 the whole world is
your own.

Even the injunctions

of destiny are
canceled if one takes
refuge in God.
Destiny strikes off

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 with her own hands
what she has written
about such a person.

Difficulties come, but

they do not last for
ever. You will see that
they pass away like
water under a bridge.
The Master used to

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 say, “At the time of
death I shall have to
stand by those who
pray to me.” These
are words from his
own lips.

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 One's love of God
depends entirely
upon one's inner
feelings. Love of God
is the essential thing.

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 As wind removes a
cloud, so does the
name of God disperse
the cloud of
worldliness

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 As you smell the
fragrance of a flower
by handing it or the
smell of sandalwood
by rubbing it against
a stone, so you obtain
spiritual awakening
by constantly
thinking of God.

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 One must be patient
like the earth. What
iniquities are being
perpetuated on her!
Yet she quietly
endures them all.

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 Each has to get the
result of the actions
one has earned for
this life. A pin at least
must prick where a
wound from a sword
was due.

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 You see, my son, it is
not a fact that you
will never face
danger. Difficulties
always come, but
they do not last
forever. You will see
that they pass away

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 like water under a
bridge.

Don't be afraid.
Human birth is full of
suffering and one has
to endure everything
patiently, taking the
name of God. None,

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 not even God in
human form, can
escape the sufferings
of body and mind.

I tell you one thing

my child -- if you want
peace, do not find
fault with others.
Rather, see your own
faults. Learn to make
the world your own.

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No one is a stranger,
my child; the whole
world is your own.
(From Sri Sarada Devi's last
words, spoken before
passing away on July 20,
1920)

To err is human. One

must not take that

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 into account. It is
harmful for oneself.
One gets into the
habit of finding
fault...

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To make mistakes is
man's very nature;
but few of those who
criticize know how to
correct them.

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 It is in the very
nature of man to see
defects. You should
learn to appreciate
virtues. Man is no
doubt liable to err,
but you must not take
notice. If you
constantly find fault
with others, you will
see faults alone.' ...
`do not look at the

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faults of others lest
your eyes should
become vitiated.'
Let me tell you how to
love all equally," said
Mother. "Do not
demand anything from
those you love. If you
make demands, some
will give you more and
some less. In any case
you will love more
those who give you

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 more and less those
who give you less. Thus
your love will not be
the same for all. You
will not be able to love
all impartially.

After someone finished

her sweeping and
threw the broom into a
corner, Mother said,
"How strange, my dear!
The work is finished,

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and you throw it away
carelessly. It takes
almost the same time
to put it away slowly
and carefully as to
throw it away. Should
you despise a thing just
because it is
insignificant? 'Him that
you

save, saves you in

turn.' Won't you need it

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 again? Besides, this
thing too forms a part
of our household. From
that point of view also
it deserves some
consideration. You must
give each one his due
share of honour. Even a
broom must be shown
some honor. The
smallest work must be
done with reverence.

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I am the mother of
the wicked, as I am
the mother of the
virtuous. Never fear.
Whenever you are in
distress, say to
yourself, 'I have a
mother.'
I can never refuse
anyone who
addresses me as
Mother.

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 Do not look for faults
in others, or your own
eyes will become
faulty.

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Meditations on Holy Mother Sri

Sarada Devi

DR. M. LAKSHMI KUMARI

Like the proverbial ray of the

full-moon, which reaching inside the shell of
an oyster in the depths of the blue sea, is
said to condense into an exquisite priceless
pearl, so did divine grace descend into the
noble Mukherjee family at Jairambati on
that auspicious day-22nd December 1853-to
condense into the immaculate gem, 'Sarada',
who was to bless this world later as the
divine consort of Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna
Paramahamsa. Blessed became Jairambati,
nay the whole Bharatvarsha; blessed became
Indian womanhood receiving this priceless
jewel; blessed was indeed became millions
who called her 'Mother' and entered through
her into the sanctum sanctorum of the Divine
Mother. My prostrations unto her.

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 Why bother about this gem
when we are in the midst of glittering
artificial American diamonds of dazzling
hues and brilliance? Of what relevance are
Holy Mother's life and teachings to us in this
new millennium of quantum mechanics,
multimedia, universal fashion shows and
globalised brutishness?

The answer lies in the very

context of our assembling here. We are
seated beside the universal temple of Sri
Ramakrishna. 'Universal', that is the key
that will open the human possibilities in the
coming centuries. The time demands that we
grow from the individual into the universal in
every sense of the term. The call of the
millennium is to expand our awareness, our
vision, urging us to find new role models to
model our lives and activities. We should
strive to manifest the universal, the infinite,
and the unlimited within us. Only then can we
get rid of all the material mechanical
fragmentations and troubles that torment us
today, and manifest our true Divine Self.
This was the call of Sri Ramakrishna,

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Vivekananda and Holy Mother. This should be
the aim of education and of religion and this
should also be accepted as the goal of life.

Only by unifying and

universalizing our-selves can we recapture
the vision of our Vedic seers and look at the
world and proclaim that the - whole universe
is one family-not a mere lip service but a
realization at the heart level. This is the
vision that made Swami Vivekananda address
the Parliament of World religions in those
soul-stirring words: "Sisters and Brothers of
America." Contemplating on the life of Holy
Mother makes it possible for us to unify and
universalize our narrow little minds and to
capture the glory of that vision.

Before Sarada had time to

recognise herself as an individual, she had
already become part of Sri Ramakrishna and
her blossoming into womanhood became, in
the hands of the expert Master, Sri
Ramakrishna, the unfoldment of her divine
motherhood. Before long she became the
repository of her Master's inimitable

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spiritual effulgence, manifesting an
enchanting vision of the Supreme truth in
her day-to-day-life. It is no wonder then
that, like Sri Ramakrishna, she also lived a
life which can rightly be called a living
commentary on the true meaning of life.

Under Sri Ramakrishna’s direct

supervision her spiritual practice helped her
to achieve such a profound unification and
extraordinary universalisation that in all her
life we find her absolutely in tune with the
entire world nobody or nothing being ever
strange for her, Orthodoxy stood aghast,
but dared not interfere, as shackles were
broken at her magic touch. Imponderable
Upanishadic truths became illustrated in her
life as in Sri Ramakrishna's revealing to
humanity how principles and values could be
brought alive, how advaita can become
poetical and practical in human life. As she
trained herself to remove all 'otherness' or
impurities, she became one with Truth itself.
Like a lotus leaf in water, she couldn't be
touched by worldliness.

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 Human ignorance is centred in
our habit of mistaking what we comprehend
through the senses and mind as real and
superimposing this miscomprehension at all
levels of our consciousness and asserting this
wrong knowledge at all times and places
through all that we do. To the extent this
ignorance is removed, to that extent the
mind gets filled with right knowledge, a
phenomenon, which became so explicit in
Holy Mother’s life, Self-assertiveness and
motivations totally disappeared with her
total surrender to her Lord and Master and
she became His instrument to carry out His
work. She was one of the rare souls who
showed through her simple life that,
‘Knowledge is life, knowledge is being,
knowledge is pure existence, knowledge is
what you are’. Thus she made her name
anwartha – true in meaning – as she became
one with the supreme knowledge. This
knowledge harmonised itself with the
motherliness in her and manifested as dana –
a supremely charitable disposition towards
one and all irrespective of their man-made

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differences and distinctions; as dama – an
extraordinary self-control and as daya –
infinite compassion towards the entire
creation. Every action of hers bore the seal
of Divinity, devoid of even the slightest
touch of ego, display or selfish motivation,
She reminds one of poet Rabindranath
Tagore's words: 'That training is the most
intricate which brings out the utter
simplicity of the tune.'

Today our lives, specially our

hearts, are so filled with disharmonious
notes that it is difficult to perceive that
wonderfully harmonious basic note of pure
life. The Holy Mother, by her impeccable
purity has become one with, nature itself. No
wonder the hymn on her starts with
addressing her: Prakritim paramam, Alas! We
have so polluted our nature that her
naturalness has no lesson for most of us. But
in the near future humanity would be
compelled to leave most of its artificialities
and complexities and opt for more and more
natural and simpler ways of living. Science
with its newly emerging unifying vision,

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recognising the solidarity of life, and its
interrelatedness and interdependence, would
demand new models to illustrate the
manifestation of this vision of reality in real
life, How? That is the problem for which
Mother's life provides the answer.

The new era demands that

scientific vision should play its role in
moulding human lives and aspirations. But
there is one flaw. Science can bring a vision
of oneness, but not of fulness of human
spirit. This is the realm of spiritual
awareness, of religious yearning. Science
cannot mould human character or guide its
evolution to perfection. It is precisely on
this point that the vision of the great Indian
seers scores the point. Let me illustrate with
an example in which ideal comes alive and
throbbing through the vision of the Vedic
seers, for whom the whole universe was one
family. To quote just one shloka from Rig
Veda:

Aghora-chakshu apati gneethi

shiva pasubhya sumana suvarcha

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 Veerasur devakama syo na
samno bhavat vipadesam chatuspade.

This is one of the mantras

where the bride is advised as to how she
should bear her responsibilities in her new
family and how through performing her
duties she should fit as herself into the
larger family of society.

First, she is told to cultivate

the best loving eyes-eyes that will emit the
light of caring, sympathy, love, etc., never a
ray of cruelty or harshness. She should all
the time strive to manifest the Sita in her
and not the Surpanakha. The latter was an
embodiment of desire, selfishness, sensuality
and what not. She was a ghora-chakShu.
Today we have all become ghora-chakShu and
to hide that we resort to artificial make-up
through beauty parlours. The bride is
required to manifest the best of femininity
so that her presence itself would be a
consolation to those who approach her.

Secondly, she is asked not to be

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a wife who would 'kill her husband' through
unjustified demands, instigations and so on.
She should not be a nagging wife. Her
positive influence should inspire her husband
to shed his weak nesses and be more and
more truthful and integrated. The contrary
picture would be a man who turns corrupt,
decadent and immoral through association
with a wrong woman. Such women destroy
the very moral fabric of society.

She should be kind to one and

all including the servants, domestic animals
and so on; never over-critical and
faultfinding. She should give birth to sons
who would be upholders of Dharma, and not
mere wage earners who care for nothing
other than their self-interests.

Then comes a beautiful

expression message newly interpreted for all
humanity- Devakama. An Indian bride sees
her husband as Lord and Master, thereby
effortlessly putting herself on the path of
unification. As she ascends higher in the
realms of love, her idol gets transformed

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into her ideal and through absolute
surrender to that ideal she comes near to
gods. Here lies the mystery behind the
power of chastity which was the hallmark, of
the Indian heroines. Next, as a mother when
she becomes an embodiment of self-
abnegation, even traces of ego are washed
out and she becomes established in Truth.
There is no more any bondage for such a
woman. All traces of slavery drop away and
she enjoys unlimited freedom. She may
externally choose to remain behind a veil, Ma
Sarada, who internally was beyond all man-
made barriers, worshipped by the best of
the disciples of Sri Ramakrishna as Mother
Prakriti herself.

Ordinary women who clamour

for equality, emancipation, freedom etc.
'cannot conceive of this absolute freedom of
the inner Self, of being free by being one
with Truth. Little do they understand that
their freedom is a surrender to the senses
and mind and not freedom from them.
Contemplating on this ideal we can -
understand and appreciate the vision of the

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Vedic seers, as also' their concern for the
entire humanity, whose welfare they wanted
reflected in the life of every individual. They
always saw the whole- in the individual and
vice versa.

In this age of universalisation

we should learn to break the idols and
understand the ideals - behind them. It is
time that we stopped using them to secure
some silly personal whims and fancies.
Indeed Holy Mother as also Sri Ramakrishna
were living commentaries on Vedas as we can
see from the above, simple, heart-warming
description of a bride.

To extend one's inner,

subjective realisation to the objective
relativistic world outside requires
superhuman vision and efforts. This is living
religion, living science, living spirituality. It is
in this framework that Sri Ramakrishna and
Ma Sarada would find their lives and to
adore, to worship and to live. Truly were her
they called harbingers of Satyayuga in this
Kaliyuga. Theirs is a glory untainted. We, the

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tainted, can worship them only from a
distance or through meditation. I earnestly
appeal to the women to, become aware of
their Dharmic responsibilities at this critical
phase in our nation's history. As we 'sit in
this Universal temple let us learn to get
absorbed in that magnificent unifying and
universal ideal.

Reference 1. Rig Veda. 10th Mandala 7,85.

Sukta 44

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