HOLY MOTHER SARADA DEVI IN THE LIGHT OF SRI SRI CHANDI–II
Holy Mother Sarada Devi in the Light of Sri Sri Chandi–II SWARAJ MAZUMDAR
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o far as Sarada Devi’s ‘Mahàlakshmi’ aspect is concerned we may cite one or two instances where she herself had revealed it, as always, with her typical modesty. It was afternoon of 1 February 1907. Holy Mother was kneading the dough at Jayrambati. A swami, then a young man, went to see her for the first time with the belief that Sarada Devi was none but Jagadamba (Mother of the Universe) Herself. But the unexceptional sight of the Mother performing a common household chore somewhat puzzled him. ‘Is it Màyà?’ he wondered and put the same question to the Mother. She replied, ‘What else! . . .Had it not been so, I would stay as Lakshmi sitting by the side of Nàràyana in Vaikuntha [the abode of Vishnu].’22 Mark, she was conscious that she was ‘Lakshmi’. That is why whenever some of her disciples wanted to offer flowers at her feet, she always asked them not to offer Tulasi (leaves) which are only meant for Nàràyana. Secondly, after the passing away of Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother was about to remove her gold bangles when the Master appeared and prevented her from doing so. But she actually removed them when she began to live at Kamarpukur where the orthodox narrow-minded villagers started criticizing her for wearing a red-bordered sari and gold bangles. They thought it was outrageous for a Brahmin widow to use those things. After a few days, however, 2012
Sri Ramakrishna appeared to her and said, ‘Don’t discard your bangles. Don’t you know Vaishnava-tantra [scriptures]?’ Mother asked, ‘What is that? I know nothing about it.’ Sri Ramakrishna said then: ‘Gour-mani [Gouri Ma] is coming to you this afternoon. Listen to what she says.’ Indeed that very afternoon Gouri Ma came and explained to Holy Mother that, according to the Vaishnava scriptures, she could never be a widow, because her husband was none other than Lord Vishnu, who is eternal and ever present. Moreover, as because she was Goddess Lakshmi, if she gave up her nominal ornaments and dress, the world would lose all its grace.’23 Thereafter Holy Mother put on her bangles again and waved aside all social criticism. Thirdly, it is also on record that Holy Mother was worshipped by devotees as Goddess Lakshmi on the day of Lakshmi puja.24 They could offer such puja because she accepted it consciously. Finally, the devotees of Sri Ramakrishna who have attended the vesper service at any Math or Mission centre must have noticed that the prayer to the Mother begins with a few shlokas of the 11th chapter of Sri Sri Chandi known as ‘Nàràyanistuti’. The shlokas (10-12) are: Sarvamangalamangalye shive sarvàrthasàdhike/ Sharanye trayamvake gouri nàràyani namo’stu te//
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Srishtisthitivinàshànàm shaktibhute sanàtani/ Gunàshraye gunamaye nàràyani namo’stu te// Sharanàgatadinàrta paritrànaparàyane/ Sarvasyàrtihare devi nàràyani namo’stu te// That is, ‘O Divine Mother Nàràyani, (ie the Shakti of Nàràyana) You are the beneficence of all that are beneficent; You are all good; in You is the fulfilment of all desires; O radiant three-eyed Mother of the Universe, the giver of refuge, we make pranams to You. ‘O Devi Nàràyani, You are the Divine Power of creation, preservation and dissolution; You are eternal support of the gunas [ie attributeless] and yet the embodiment of three gunas. We offer pranams to You! ‘O Mother of the Universe, You save the humble and the distressed who take refuge in You; You remove the sufferings of all. O Nàràyani, our pranams to You!’ Who is this ‘Nàràyani’? Lakshmi, Vishnumàyà or the power of Nàràyana. She is the ràjasika aspect of Sri Sri Chandi. If Holy Mother were not Lakshmi Herself, this prayer would not have been addressed to her at the vesper. Swami Vijnanananda also said once that ‘The Master is like Nàràyana and the Holy Mother is like Lakshmi. You should pray to the Holy Mother for strength without which nothing can be done.’ Mahàsaraswati
Coming to the sàttvika ‘Mahàsaraswati’ aspect (sustaining power) of Mahàmàyà Sri Sri Chandikà as reflected in Holy Mother’s life, we must remember first what Sri Ramakrishna said about her, because it was the Avatàra himself who first opened our eyes about her transcendental nature. Sri Ramakrishna said to Golap Ma: ‘She is Sarada—Saraswati. She has come to give 18
knowledge.’25 Another time he said: ‘[She is] the giver of wisdom—intelligence personified. Is she an ordinary woman? She is my Shakti!’26 He also said to his nephew Hriday, ‘My boy, her name is Sarada; she is Saraswati. That is why she likes adornments.’27 Indeed, in ‘Devikavach’ which is read to propitiate Goddess Chandi, Devi Saraswati is also described as ‘Bràhmi hamsa-samàrudà sarvàbharanabhushità’, ie Devi, comfortably seated on a swan, is adorned by all kinds of ornaments. In this context, let me ask you readers: Have you seen the emblem of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission? What is most prominently visible in the picture? A white swan, of course. According to Swamiji, who designed this emblem, the ‘Swan’ represents the Supreme Self.28 Of course, it is so. Who are we to say it is not? Nevertheless, I personally love to imagine fondly that this swan is the mount of the Holy Mother, Sarada Saraswati, who is of the nature of Consciousness (Chidrupà), who is Brahmamayee, who is one with Paramàtman, Brahman, or the Supreme Self. Being the ‘Sangha Janani’ (Mother of the Order), she rides the swan; she is always at the centre-stage although she is not visible in the picture. She is not, because she loves to remain hidden always in spite of being the driving force of the Ramakrishna Sangha. She has sustained and nourished it since its inception, continues to do the same at present, and would hopefully shower her grace on it in the centuries to come. Now, in his exposition of the nature of inscrutable Mahàmàyà, Sri Ramakrishna again and again said that Màyà has essentially two aspects—Vidyàmàyà and Avidyàmàyà. Avidyàmàyà or the ‘màyà of ignorance’ entangles one in worldliness; it
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binds jivas. But Vidyàmàyà or the ‘màyà of knowledge’ leads them to liberation. In the fourth chapter of Sri Sri Chandi we find that Indra and other gods, while praising Devi for killing Mahishàsura and other demons, say, ‘ya muktih-hetuh. . .sà. . .paramà vidyà bhagavati [tvam] asi. . .’ ‘O Devi, You are that Brahmamayee paràvidyà which is the cause of liberation.’ While defining vidyà, Hindu scriptures say vidyà or superior knowledge is that which liberates us—‘sà vidyà yà vimuktaye’. Therefore Medhà Rishi also describes Mahàmàyà Chandi in the first chapter (1.57-58) as ‘sà vidyà paramà mukterhetubhutà sanàtani/ samsàrbandhahetushcha saiva sarveshvareshvari’—‘She is the supreme knowledge of Brahman, beginningless and infinite, who is the cause of liberation. Again it is She, who is the cause of worldly bondage and controller of Brahmà, Vishnu and other gods.’ That is, Chandikà in Her sàttvika aspect as Saraswati liberates the spiritual aspirant by virtue of brahmavidyà. She is Vidyàmàyà. She is the giver of wisdom and transcendental knowledge. Holy Mother Sarada in her Saraswati aspect is this Vidyàmàyà. She is of the nature of pure sattva—shuddha sattva pradhànà. She is like moonlight—luminous but without heat. An interesting incident
In this connection, let us recount an interesting incident that had taken place in Kashi. In 1912 Holy Mother was there, staying at ‘Lakshminiwas’. Swami Brahmananda was also then staying at the Ramakrishna Ashrama that was not far off from Lakshminiwas. The Swami used to go to that house every morning to pay respects to the Mother. But he would not go upstairs for the fear of being overwhelmed with emotion. One day Holy Mother through Golap Ma asked the Swami why Shakti or 2012
the Divine Mother is propitiated at the beginning of worship. Swami Brahmananda said: ‘It is because the key to the knowledge of Brahman is in the keeping of the Divine Mother. There is no way of communing with Brahman unless the Mother graciously unlocks the door.’ Holy Mother’s biographer Swami Gambhirananda writes: ‘Having said this, the Swami began to sing a “Baul” song and dance ecstatically. When this wonderful song and dance were over, he burst into laughter and left the place hurriedly.’29 Now let us see briefly how Holy Mother ‘unlocks the door’ of transcendental knowledge and how she gives us wisdom as Goddess Saraswati. Secondly, what kind of knowledge she has given us in order to liberate us from the fetters of ignorance? Put simply, transcendental knowledge is the knowledge of the ultimate non-dual Reality, described in the Upanishads as Brahman. In other words, it is the knowledge of the Oneness of existence, an unspeakable, unshakeable experience that jiva and Brahman are one and the same. But how does she impart this Selfknowledge or Brahmavidyà? Definitely not through Upanishadic mahàvàkyas which the Rishis used to utter before their disciples. She simply does it by offering her unconditional motherly love and compassion to one and all irrespective of caste, creed, nationality, religion and character. Through her inexpressibly pure life she has exemplified the ideal of the Motherhood of God as Sri Ramakrishna wished and by way of that explication transmitted Brahmavidyà to countless spiritual aspirants, often without their immediate knowledge. One may wonder how that is possible. But to remove our doubts, Mother told one devotee: Suppose you are having a deep sleep on your bed
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and someone silently shifts your bed to another room, can you deny when you are fully awake, that you have been shifted to a new place? It is also like that. Sri Ramakrishna says, Paràbhakti and Paràvidyà or Brahmavidyà are one and the same. Brahmavidyà is the supreme knowledge of the Self or the Absolute non-dual Reality, while Paràbhakti is supreme devotion to God or Saguna Brahma and complete self-surrender to Him. In paràvidyà the lower self is totally annihilated by way of austerities, discrimination and meditation. And in paràbhakti the lower self melts like butter in the warmth of unselfish, one-pointed love for God. In the end both turn out to be the same thing; the devotee and the man of knowledge (bhakta and jnàni) reach the same goal because both are devoid of their puny self. Their narrow view of the self is gone. Mother prepares soup for us
Holy Mother knew the limitations of average seekers, their inability to digest the rich dish of pilau, ie the highest truth. For them she prepares fish soup. She generally placed before them the ideal of self-surrender in the language of dualism or bhakti. The sum and substance of her teaching is: Take shelter at the feet of God, for He is the doer. It is best to surrender all desires at His feet. Let Him do whatever is best for you. If one can surrender oneself in this way, one receives His grace and is blessed with His vision or realization. Holy Mother was not in the habit of giving spiritual sermons to the devotees from the very beginning. First she would accept them—Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Parsees et al—as her very own children. She would say, ‘To a mother, a son is always a son’, or ‘My son, if so much as a thorn pricks one of you, a sword enters my 20
heart!’ Then she would drench them with her nectar-like love. This love was an unimaginable blend of closeness, care, sympathy, concern, sweet words, forgiveness, grace and, of course, affectionate feeding. Thus she would reject none, make all her own, and make them feel that she was their real mother on whom they could depend. Except in a few cases, she would always conceal her Divinity and supernatural powers lest her children got frightened and an undesirable distance was created between the Eternal Mother and Her children. She used to say, ‘Off with such great ideas of divinity; think of me as a human being, and go on doing the works just as at present following my direction and using your intelligence. You have no fear whatsoever.’ 30 Thus she first made all her own, convinced them of this filial bond, inspired them to call her ‘Mother’ and then, if someone was eager to seek her guidance, in one or two words she would remind them that the goal of life was God-realization and give them simple instructions in spiritual disciplines. If someone even then said, ‘Mother I can’t practise any spiritual disciplines’ or ‘Mother, I can’t practise any spiritual disciplines’ or ‘Mother I can’t meditate at all’, she assured them saying, ‘Never mind. Just look at the picture of the Master’ or ‘Do not worry about meditation. Just try to remember the Master; that is enough.’ Annihilation of the puny ‘I’
Mother knew that Avidyàmàyà has created an ‘I’-consciousness in the jivas and out of this ‘I’-consciousness arise desires and man separates himself from the Universal Self or Brahman or God. So, this puny ‘I’ has to be crushed anyhow. But how an ordinary person can do that? Most of her children therefore used to tell her: ‘Mother, how much longer can we fight with our
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mind? One desire goes but another pops up.’ And what did Mother say? She said, ‘As long as ‘I’-consciousness remains, desires will certainly arise. Those desires will not hurt you. The Master will protect you. He will commit a great sin if he does not protect those who have taken refuge in him and have taken shelter at his feet. Depend upon him and so lead your life.’31 Being the personification of knowledge, ie Goddess Saraswati, Holy Mother knew that love is the essence and cream of spiritual realization, it is the means of attaining liberation as well as the end where the sàdhaka finds himself posted at the close of the long tortuous journey. Therefore, through the alchemy of her unreserved universal love, she first conquered the hearts of the devotees, made them humble and somewhat egoless, then inspired them to give up desires (which cause bondage) as far as possible and depend on herself (who is one with Sri Ramakrishna) for everything. Her love gave the devotees adamantine courage, faith and confidence that they were being taken care of by the Mother who would never leave them in the lurch. Once, when a devotee expressed his fear that even after receiving the grace of the Mother his spiritual life was perhaps going to be ruined, Mother firmly assured him that even Providence cannot destroy the future of her children. On another occasion she averred, ‘My children are already liberated.’32 As a result, most of them became fearless and got firmly rooted in the consciousness that they were the children of the Divine Mother. Thus her love gradually transformed them and made them surrender to her. Her children
But who are her children? This question arose time and again. Many thought they are only those who received initiation 2012
from her. But Mother promptly corrected them and asserted: ‘All those who have come, who are coming, and who will come in future are my children. My blessings are for all.’ Even those whom we call ‘foreigners’, she said, are her children. On many other occasions she said she was the Eternal Mother. ‘Is there anyone’ she asked a devotee, ‘who is not born out of my womb?’ or, ‘I am the only Mother of the Universe; is there any other mother? Even the ants and insects are my offspring.’ In Sri Sri Chandi we find the same assertion when Devi Chandikà asks the arrogant Shumbha, the brother of demon Nishumbha, ‘Ekaivàham jagatyatra dvitiyà kà mamàparà’33—‘I alone exist in this universe who else is there?’ She said, ‘Always remember that the Master [the ground Reality, Brahman] is behind you. I am also with you [as His Shakti]. As long as you remember me, your mother, why should you be frightened?’34 This assurance rings like the declaration of Sri Krishna in the Gità (7.14)—‘Daivi heyshà gunamayi mama màyà duratyayà/ Màmeva ye prapadyante màyàm etàm taranti te.’ That is, ‘since this Divine Màyà of Mine, which is constituted by the gunas, is very difficult to cross over, those who take refuge in Me alone cross over this Màyà.’ In other words, he becomes then freed from the bondage of the world, from the snares of the ego which is the product of ignorance, and attains knowledge. Thus we find that Holy Mother’s love induces us naturally to accept her, call her the Eternal Mother, the Shakti of Brahman, and instills in us the knowledge that it is She who is the sustaining power behind this universe. Didn’t even Achàrya Shankara have to recognize Shakti? Didn’t Advaitist Totapuri have to accept ‘Mother’ at last even though he possessed the Knowledge of
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Brahman? They had to. We too have to do the same. Sri Ramakrishna came to give us this Knowledge and Holy Mother has shown us how to attain that Knowledge gradually, gracefully and easily through childlike surrender to her feet. The kind of knowledge Mother imparts
Gità (4.38) says, ‘Na hi jnànena sadrisham pavitram iha vidyate’—‘There is nothing here so purifying comparable to Knowledge.’ But what is Knowledge really and what kind of knowledge Holy Mother imparts? The Skanda Upanishad (II) says, ‘abheda-darshanam jnànam’, that is, nondifferentiation, samesightedness or the Knowledge of Oneness is jnàna. Sri Ramakrishna says, ‘To know many things is ajnàna, ignorance. To know only one thing is jnàna, Knowledge—the realization that God alone is real and that He dwells in all.’35 Indeed, when Knowledge dawns, what happens? Holy Mother says, ‘Does one grow a pair of horns?’ No. One attains jnànachaitanya. That is, one realizes the oneness of the individual soul and the Universal Soul. The narrow view of the self is then totally gone; the jiva-bhàva is entirely dissolved in Universal Consciousness. He goes beyond life and death. This is the essence of brahmavidyà that is enunciated by the Upanishads or Vedanta. Sri Sri Chandi also preaches the same Vedantic truth from its own perspective. That is why Holy Mother Sarada says, ‘When one attains true knowledge, God Himself ceases to exist separately. One calls upon the Eternal Mother and in the end finds Her in all creation. Everything then becomes One. That is all.’36 Swamiji’s experience
This is what happened in the life of Swami Vivekananda after his tremendous spiritual experience at the dilapidated 22
temple of Kshir Bhawani in Kashmir. This experience finds expression in many of his letters. I quote a few lines from a letter he writes to an American friend: Mother is doing Her own work; I do not worry much now. Moths like me die by the thousands every instant. Her work goes on all the same. Glory unto Mother!. . . Her will be done! . . . I am free. I am Mother’s child. She works, She plays. Why should I plan? What should I plan? Things came and went, just as She liked, without my planning. We are Her automata. She is the wirepuller.37
Swami Shivananda, another knower of Brahman, says: ‘The Mother, the Embodiment of Light, is within every heart. She is within me; She is within you. She is everywhere, in everything, from Brahmà down the smallest insect–in the movable and immovable. Pray to Mahàmàyà. . . .She holds the key in Her hands. The realm of light will be opened unto you if She graciously unlocks the door. . . . She alone is the source of the entire universe. We have all come from that Mother and will eventually merge in Her again.’38 Swami Turiyananda, the great Vedantist says, ‘The thing is to Know Mother. That is the whole of religion. Nothing else counts.’39 Why? What happens when one is rooted in this Knowledge through surrender to the Mother? The answer is—he gets supreme, eternal peace—‘jnànam labdhvà param shàntim acirena adhigacchati’ as the Gità (4.39) says. The Katha Upanishad also says (in 2.2.12 and 13) the same thing— ‘Tam àtmastham ye anupashyanti dhiràh teshàm sukham shàshvatam na itareshàm’, ‘. . .teshàm shàntih shàshvati na itareshàm.’ The Kaivalya Upanishad declares: ‘Sarvabhutastham àtmànam sarva bhutàni càtmani/Sampashyan brahma paramam yàti nànyena hetunà.’ That is, ‘Supreme
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Brahman is attained by one who sees himself in all beings and all beings in himself. There is no other means.’ The Absolute Truth
Holy Mother teaches her children the same Absolute Truth without quoting the Upanishads, without saying ‘Tat tvam asi’ and all that. Rather, in her inimitable, simple, sweet language she says: ‘My child, if you want peace, then do not look into anybody’s faults. Look into your own faults. Learn to make the whole world your own. No one is a stranger, my child; the whole world is your own.’ This is abhedadarshanam. This is the unitive knowledge that enables one to realize that he is one with the whole cosmos, one with Absolute Existence. In other words, then there is no ‘you’ and ‘I’. Only the Universal Mother exists. She tells Swami Arupananda: ‘God and His forms disappear after the awakening of Knowledge. There remains only the Mother. One finally sees. . . truth.’40 As Goddess Saraswati, the sustaining aspect of
the Primordial Power Sri Sri Chandikà, she gives us this brahmavidyà, that gives us liberation, that gives us absolute freedom, peace and bliss. The final question remains: Why can’t we realize that Holy Mother Sarada is the Primordial Mother or Sri Sri Chandikà? Mother herself answers: ‘Can everyone recognize [Bhagavati] my child? There was a huge diamond by the side of a village pond. Everyone thought it was an ordinary stone. So those who used to come to take bath in that pond would rub their feet down well with the diamond, have their bath and leave. One day a jeweller came to that pond and saw the huge stone and instantly recognized that it was a priceless diamond.’ 41 Here Mother’s hint is clear. On another occasion, she said: ‘My child, in time you will realize that I am your Eternal Mother.’42 It seems that time has come because a million voices in a million ways, from a million places are now crying ‘Mother’, ‘Mother’, ‘Mother’!
REFERENCES 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
29 30
31 32 33
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Katha, p. 170. Srima, p. 119; Holy Mother, p. 111. Ibid., p. 328. Ibid., p. 325; Katha, p. 54. Ibid., p. 92. Ibid. Swami Gambhirananda, History of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, Advaita Ashrama, 1963. p. 112. Srima, pp. 210-11. In the Company of the Holy Mother, Advaita Ashrama, Kolkata, 2000. p. 252. (hereafter In the Company) Holy Mother, p. 253. Srima, p. 309. Sri Sri Chandi, 10.5
34 In The Company, p. 23. 35 The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, Redletter Edition, Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai, pp. 598-99. 36 In The Company, p. 51. 37 Swami Vivekananda, The Complete Works, Vol. VIII, p. 517. 38 For Seekers of God (Spiritual Talks of Mahapurush Swami Shivananda), p. 94. 39 Swami Ritajananda, Swami Turiyananda (A Direct Disciple of Sri Ramakrishna), Sri Ramakrishna Math, 1963, p. 87. 40 Holy Mother, p. 232. 41 Srima, p. 336. 42 Ibid., p. 332.
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