The Holy Mother
A Symbol of An Ideal Motherhood
by Mrs. Jai Kishori
Pandit
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 or 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.
(Courtesy Koshur
Samachar)
[Professor Jai Kishori
Pandit enjoys reputation as an able teacher and scholar of English]
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