Sarada Devi and Sara Bull - Part 5

Another facet of the Holy mother Sri Sarada Devi was that she was immensely practical in all matters, esp. the worldly. To her there was no distinction between the sacred and secular. While it is true that some of her grooming in the practical and worldly matter were done in her early days by Sri Sri Thakur himself, it would not be unfair to claim that her second nature was practicality. Sri Ramakrishna acknowledged it many times, like the occasion when she did not travel with him to the religious festival in Panihati. When Sara Bull had asked her whether Guru’s directives should be obeyed in non-spiritual matters, Holy Mother said that in matters of the world sometimes Guru’s directives can be disobeyed if done in an unselfish way and if personal judgment finds other, more favourable courses. Sara Bull was sometimes overbearing and controlling, esp. in her dealings with Swami Vivekananda in her earlier days when she tried to teach him in some ways of dealing with people in the society, preaching to the “right kind” off people and so on. Vivekananda had an absolute faith in her financial acumen but he did not always agree on social matters. So Sara Bull sometimes had tough times dealing with her son, but the Holy Mother never had these problems. She used to disapprove or control others actions rarely and even when she did, she displayed so much love and concern that it was quite apparent that her unselfish judgment was the correct one. People therefore obeyed her automatically, without being enforced.

The mother took on her the responsibilities all her children, wayward or good and therefore tried day and night for their welfare, through her own incessant japam, meditation and prayers, through active work. We all remember the scene in which the mother was removing the pebbles from the front yard dead at night so that devotees did not stumble on them. The person witnessing this had an impression that the mother was basically removing the obstacles from the path of the devotees so that they reach their goals quicker. The mother fervently prayed for the establishment of the Belur Math, after she saw the monasteries in Buddha Gaya, to every stones and images that she encountered. How much did she labour to provide salvation to her inworthy sons and daughters, even when she was very ill! She steadfastly held to the responsibility and the burden imposed on her by Sri Thakur. When the attendants complained, she said stoically that their (Sri Ramakrishna’s and her) advent was for that purpose, i.e. to deliver mankind. In the midst of everything she never once faltered on her responsibility and obligation towards her own relatives, as she was supposed to set examples.

So one may ask, what was the Holy Mother’s mission? In one sentence – her mission was to set mankind free. In order to do that she had to toil hard to demonstrate an ideal that she had set for the future humanity – of working selflessly for others, of loving others for the sake of loving, of breaking all barriers and upholding dignity of mankind in the face of adversity and the troubles of life. She showed us that one can be spiritual under all circumstances, always holding on to the God as the central pillar while playing on the arena of the world.

Sara Bull also had a mission to fulfill, on a smaller scale. Her mission was a part of that of the Holy Mother’s, to help in her mission, by being a facilitator, a supplier of resources, by contributing towards its overall development. She supported the Holy Mother financially by sending a monthly contribution. She also supported the Holy Mother’s favorite sons – Sarat Maharaj and Swami Vivekananda in all respect. Sara was also sannyasi from inside, she was given ochre clothes by none other than Swami Vivekananda himself and she possibly lived that ideal till the end of her life. Her role was therefore not insignificant, but extremely important part of the Holy Mother’s and Sri Ramakrishna’s mission. Their paths did not converge, they were one and inseparable, a smaller lane feeding into a main street, that nevertheless served an important role for the transit of people that walked through the main street.