Sri Sarada Devi – The Holy Mother of Dakshineswar

 Sri Sarada Devi, known affectionately by her devotees as the Holy Mother, was the spiritual wife of Sri Ramakrishna. Unlike Ramprasad, Kamalakanta and Raja Ramkrishna, whose devotion to Kali was expressed through intense spiritual practices and songs, Sarada Devi lived outwardly in a quiet and simple way. Harding describes her as a woman who rarely displayed the passionate signs of divine love that were so visible in Sri Ramakrishna and other saints of Kali. She preferred to remain hidden and kept her own divine nature concealed. 

Her early life was simple and joyful in the small village of Jayrambati. As a young bride, she quietly prepared herself for the time when she would leave her parents' home and live with her husband. When disturbing stories about Sri Ramakrishna's supposed madness began to reach the village, Sarada Devi listened to the women around her and became deeply concerned. She wanted to go to Dakshineswar herself and see what was happening to him.

The journey to Dakshineswar was long. Sarada Devi travelled along dusty roads through rice fields and open country, but after several days she became seriously ill with a high fever and had to stop at a rest house. It seemed that she would not be able to continue. During this difficult time, she experienced a divine vision. A dark woman of extraordinary beauty appeared beside her, gently touching her head and body with cool hands. Sarada Devi felt relief from her suffering and asked the woman where she came from. The answer was: Dakshineswar. 

Sarada Devi then said that she had hoped to go to Dakshineswar, see Sri Ramakrishna and serve him. The mysterious woman assured her that she would recover and would soon see him. Shortly afterward, an opportunity arose to continue the journey when several villagers planned to travel toward Calcutta on an auspicious day for bathing in the Ganges. Sarada Devi's father agreed to accompany her. 

Sarada Devi eventually lived for many years in a very small room on the ground floor of the Nahabat at Dakshineswar. The room was only a little more than seven feet across, yet it served as her bedroom, storage room and guest room. She slept there, kept her food and cooking utensils there, and received women devotees who came to see her. 

Her life in Dakshineswar was quiet and modest. She was very shy and generally avoided being seen. She would leave her room early in the morning, bathe in the nearby Ganges before others were awake, and then return to her small room. 

Although her outward life appeared ordinary, Harding writes that people who came into contact with Sarada Devi felt something unusual in her presence. She cooked, cleaned and attended to family matters like other Indian women, yet people experienced her love as exceptionally sweet. They felt that she gave them more than they could receive even from their own mothers at home. 

Sri Ramakrishna regarded Sarada Devi in a special way. Their marriage was never consummated, and Harding describes their relationship as a spiritual union. Sri Ramakrishna taught her spiritual matters, and when she once asked how he regarded her, he answered that the Mother who was in the temple, the Mother who had given birth to his body and now lived in the Nahabat, was the same Mother who was massaging his feet. He said that he always saw her as a form of the blissful Divine Mother. 

Sarada Devi also experienced Kali throughout her life. Harding writes that she had visions of Kali and suggests that she was aware of her own divine nature. Yet she continued to live in the ordinary circumstances of family life and rarely allowed that nature to become visible to others. 

One of the stories associated with her took place during a journey from Jayrambati toward Calcutta. Sarada Devi was travelling with several village women, but the group stopped at Arambagh because the dangerous Telo-bhelo fields lay ahead. The area was known for robbers, and in the middle of the fields stood an image of Kali associated with the dacoits. The image was known as Kali of the Robbers. 

Sarada Devi eventually became separated from her companions and found herself walking alone after sunset. In the darkness she encountered a frightening-looking man carrying a large stick. She immediately understood that he was a robber. His wife soon appeared as well. Instead of responding with hostility, Sarada Devi addressed them with trust and affection, calling herself their daughter and explaining that she had been left behind by her companions. 

The couple, who belonged to the Bagdi community, took Sarada Devi into their care. They treated her as their own daughter and would not allow her to continue walking while she was exhausted. The following morning they safely accompanied her to Tarakeshwar and returned her to her companions. Harding writes that the robber later abandoned his former way of life and took up ordinary work, while the couple continued to regard Sarada Devi as their beloved daughter and even visited her at Dakshineswar. 

The story also contains another connection with Kali. The robber later told people that when he first encountered Sarada Devi, he suddenly saw the full manifestation of Kali before him. 

Sarada Devi served Sri Ramakrishna and regarded him as an embodiment of Ma Kali. When Sri Ramakrishna entered Mahasamadhi, she cried out to the Mother Kali, asking why she had been left alone. Shortly before his death, Sri Ramakrishna had told her that the people of Calcutta seemed to be moving through darkness like worms and asked her to take care of them. When she replied that she was only a woman, he pointed to himself and told her that she would have to do much more after all that he had done. 

Sri Sarada Devi continued her service for thirty-four years after Sri Ramakrishna's death. Harding presents her as the quiet companion of Sri Ramakrishna whose devotion to the Divine Mother remained largely hidden beneath the simplicity of her everyday life. 

Source & Note

This article is based on Elizabeth U. Harding’s Kali: The Black Goddess of Dakshineswar (Nicolas-Hays, 1993). The material has been edited and adapted for this publication.