It
is rainy season. Puddles of rain water have formed on the road and children are
beside themselves with joy. Ah! How cool it is, and to play in the puddles! One
baby has made a paper boat and is making it float in the mini lake, while the
other is making a drain to drain away the accumulated water. Suddenly one child
slips down. He is hurt and, of course, all its clothes are spoilt by mud. All
other children collectively laugh aloud. Poor child! He can't even weep! With
tears in the eyes and bitterly ashamed to be a mocking lot in front of so many
children, it is trying hard to suppress its cry. Suddenly, hearing the noise,
its mother comes out of the house. Seeing her, the child bursts out into a loud
cry. The mother quickly picks up the child, and takes him into the house. She
pats and consoles it, changes its dress and dresses it in clean clothes after
thoroughly washing it. This is a regular day-to-day affair in every family.
There is nothing abnormal or unusual in washing and cleaning of a child by the
mother if it has spoilt itself or has slipped down. This is not a very
difficult task either. After all, who will wash and clean the child if not the
mother. In the same strain, the Holy Mother used to say: "If my child gets
smeared with dust, I will have to wash and clean him. Who else will do
it?"
But
this statement of hers was not made in the context of physical or bodily cleaning.
The Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi used to perform the arduous task of washing
moral blemishes tarnishing the character of people with the ease and
spontaneity of a mother. To transform others' character, to destroy the sins of
others, or to vicariously bear the suffering caused by others' sins on one's
own body in the form of pain or disease can be done only by rare few highly
evolved spiritual giants. Jesus was one, so were Sri Ramakrishna and the Holy
Mother. She once said: "All can become the mother of virtuous. How many
would like to be the mother of the wicked? If I don't bear the sins of others,
who else will?" About the purpose of the divine advent of Sri Ramakrishna
and herself, she had once said: We have come for this (emancipation of the
fallen and sinners) only. We have not come only to eat rosogullas. [Holy Mother
Sri Sarada Devi, Swami Gambhirananda, Sri Ramakrishna Math, Madras, 1999,
p.400]
Who
can sanctify others? To be able to absolve others of sins and passions, one
must have, to begin with, purity of the highest degree. We cannot expect to
wash a dirty cloth with dirty water; similarly, an impure person cannot purify
someone else. Instead, he or she will get all the more impure if he/she comes
in contact with a person of bad character. Novices and spiritual aspirants are therefore
advised to remain away from people of dubious character. Mental purity and
impurity and spirituality are infectious and are communicable. Individuals with
pure character can transmit it, to the degree of their purity. The Holy Mother
was undoubtedly the very embodiment of purity. Rightly has the poet-saint Swami
Abhedananda said: "To Her whose life story is sanctifying and character
pure, To Her whose life breathes sanctity, To Her who is verily the embodiment
of purity, To Her my repeated salutations." In the course of a conversation,
once she said to a disciple that she had consciously never committed any sin
in her life, and that the physical ailments like joint pains, etc., by
which she was suffering, were not due to her own sins but due to bearing the
sins of others. Besides, she asserted, she was blessed by the divine touch of
Sri Ramakrishna at the tender age of five. Where then was there the possibility
of any sin? [ibid, p.400]
Sri
Ramakrishna too has attested to the perfectly blemish less character of Sri
Sarada Devi. He was so deeply impressed by the immaculate purity of the Holy
Mother's character that in later days he bore witness to it in these words:
"If she had not been as pure as she really was, if she had lost self-control
and seduced me, then who can say if I too might not have lost self-control and
come down to the physical plane? After my marriage I prayed earnestly to the
Mother (of the universe), "Mother, do please totally eradicate all passion
from my wife."Living with her at that time, I realized that the Mother (of
the universe) had really responded to my importunity.' [ibid. p.47]
Sri
Ramakrishna considered the Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi as pure as Ganga, which
could not be tarnished by the touch of the dirtiest object. The Holy Mother
used to remain always engaged in daily chores, like an ordinary worldly woman,
which gave the impression to the onlookers that she is deeply entangled in the
world. Such a thought arose once even in the mind of Yogin, a close companion
of the Holy Mother. While taking bath once, however, in the Ganges, she saw Sri
Ramakrishna in a vision, who, pointing to the dead body of an infant floating
in the Ganga, said to her that just as Ganges does not become impure by the
touch of the corpse, similarly, the Holy Mother cannot become impure by worldly
involvements. The fact is that Sri Sarada Devi was purer than even the Ganges!
Once a lady of her household on returning home from the town complained that
she had become impure due to touching something impure on the road. She therefore
wanted to take bath. It was winter and the Holy Mother advised her not to take
bath, lest she might catch cold, and instead just wash her hands and feet. She
was not satisfied with this simple prescription. So the Holy Mother asked her
to sprinkle Ganges water, and take a sip of that all purifying holy water. When
even this was not accepted, the Mother made a startling suggestion: "Then
touch me!" This was not an egoistic statement made by an immature saint!
It was a brave declaration of one's own perfect purity, and the power of
sanctifying others, by the Divine Mother, who was absolutely sure of her divine
purifying stature!
Inability
to see the faults of others is yet another sign of the Holy Mother's great
purity. What we are within, we see without. A child does not differentiate
between a sinner and a saint. To him all are good. Since its heart is pure, it
does not find thieves and dacoits without. The Holy Mother, too, was absolutely
pure like a child. In the course of a conversation she once said:
"Formerly I also took notice of a lot of other people's drawbacks. Then,
praying for long to the Master with tearful eyes, "Master, I can no more
bear finding faults," could I at last get rid of the habit of picking
holes in other peoples' clothes. When I was at Vrindaban, I used to visit
Bankubihari (Krishna in a bent pose) and prayed to him, "Your form is bent,
but your mind is straight. kindly straighten the windings of my mind."
[ibid, p.369]
The
result was that the Holy Mother was not able to see faults in others, even when
pointed out. Once Golap Ma, one of her close companions, was scolding a
maid-servant. The Holy Mother casually asked what the matter was. Golap Ma, in
reply, almost accusingly said, what was the use of telling her the mistake done
by the maid-servant, since she will not be able to appreciate the fault. The
Holy Mother, in response, said: "All find faults; if I don't, the world
will not be destroyed. "Although the Holy Mother was pure by birth, she
had done severe austerities to acquire absolute purity. At Dakshineswar, while
meditating at night, looking at the full-moon, she prayed earnestly with folded
hands, "Make my heart as white as your rays." [ibid, p.110]
The
fact is that the Holy Mother's mind soared far above the concepts of sin and
virtue. One may be pure, but may not be inclined to help others. Hence the next
condition for purifying others is the feeling of compassion towards the sinners
and the suffering. It goes without saying that the Holy Mother was the very
embodiment of compassion, love and mercy. She spent her whole life for the good
of others. And this help was more spiritual than material. The Holy Mother
would melt with pity if anyone called her as "Mother" and would unhesitatingly
accept that person as her own, even though he or she might be the worst of
black-guards. After the Mahasamadhi of Sri Ramakrishna, the Holy Mother,
initially, did not find any reason or purpose for continuing to live. However,
she soon realized that she was to continue to live to fulfill the purpose for
which Sri Ramakrishna had incarnated, i.e., for the good of the world, for the
emancipation of the virtuous. There are hundreds of instances of the Holy
Mother's compassion, and we need not go into the details. But, one may be pure,
compassionate and yet not be able to help others get over their sins if one is
not endowed with special spiritual power. The Holy Mother had much greater
spiritual power and capacity to digest the sins of others, than the other
monastic disciples of Sri Ramakrishna. The Holy Mother could initiate and
purify people with intense demonical tendencies, whom other spiritual giants
like Swami Brahmananda and Swami Premananda could not help. Once, three
devotees came to Jairambati with a letter of introduction from Swami
Brahmananda. But the Holy Mother initially refused to initiate them and asked
them to go back to Belur Math. The devotees, however, again approached her next
day and importuned her more piteously to initiate them. After repeated
importunities she agreed and initiated them. Listening to the detailed account
of the whole incident later at the Belur Math, Swami Brahmananda and Swami
Premananda were stunned to silence. After a long silence Swami Premananda
heaved a long sigh and said with folded hands, "Mercy, mercy! Its by this
glorious compassion that the Mother is protecting us forever. We can't express
in words the poison that she has accepted. If we had done so, we would have
been burnt down to ashes." [ibid, p.402]
How Mother Purified Others
The
Holy Mother accomplished this stupendous task of purifying others of their sins
in various ways. First, the Holy Mother purified the disciples by imparting
them spiritual initiation. It is said that during initiation, the sins of the
disciple are transmitted into the Guru. The Holy Mother used to say, "I
impart mantra out of pity. They become importunate, they weep, and their sight
fills me with mercy. Out of compassion I grant initiation. Else what do I gain?
One has to take over sins by giving initiation." [ibid, p.400]
Due to unholy company or
contacts, an average individual's mind gets impure; while the highly evolved
souls like the Holy Mother are not mentally tarnished. Instead, their body
suffers. The Holy Mother said, "If we don't take over the sins and
sufferings, and don't digest them, who else will?" And again, "A pure
man's touch brings joy".
Secondly,
the Mother purified others by loving assurance and making them confess and
surrender their good and bad deeds to God. This was important for those disciples
who had a severe sense of guilt and who used to be burdened as it were by the
psychological burden of sins committed by them. The Mother would ask such
disciples to specifically utter, "I am surrendering all the sins committed
by me till today." By such a declaration, their guilt feeling used to be
removed and they used to plunge into spiritual practice with greater and
unhindered zeal. Such confession, repentance, is one of the standard
psychological method/technique accepted in all religions as a sure way of
getting rid of the burden of past sins. This act of confession and getting
initiated into spiritual life and giving up of the past life and its actions is
called in theology 'conversion' and is considered equivalent to rebirth. God
gives, as it were, a chance to the individual to forget his past and start a
new life after relinquishing his past evil deeds done consciously or
unconsciously, knowingly or unknowingly. This psychological process is
sometimes termed 'justification'.
But
this is not enough and by this alone one does not become a saint. To become
spiritual and sanctified, one must not repeat the evil deeds, and follow the
path shown by the guru and must do spiritual practice in accordance with the
guru's instructions. This is called 'sanctification'. The Holy Mother utilized
both these methods in purifying others: First, she would instill confidence and
faith in them by making them realize their spiritual relationship with her.
This would destroy the sense of guilt and raise them to a higher level of
consciousness. Secondly, she would goad them to do spiritual practices. She
would say, "I have done what I had to do at the time of initiation; but if
you want to enjoy the fruit thereof, do spiritual practice."
A
woman of a respectable family had gone astray through some evil impulse. She
felt repentant and by good luck reached the Holy Mother. She stood trembling at
the doorway with a sense of guilt and said, "What will be my lot? I am not
fit to draw nearer to you in this holy chapel." The Mother stepped forward
and throwing her holy arms round the woman, said, "Come, my daughter, come
in. You have realized what sin is, and you are repentant. Come, I shall
initiate you. Lay everything at the Master's feet; and cast away all
fear." [ibid, p.399]
Thirdly,
the Holy Mother would herself do spiritual practice for her disciples,
especially for those who were spiritually weak, or who had to face social or
personal difficulties and obstacles in life, and were not able to do regular
Japa and meditation.
Finally,
her superhuman love used to transform the character of the worst sinners.
Amzad, a well-known figure in the drama of the Holy Mother's life, was a known
robber. But he would behave as a docile child in the Holy Mother's presence. He
would even prove a most resourceful person when anything was required for the
Holy Mother's needs.
There was such a tremendous,
purifying, soothing and sanctifying charm and power in the pure personality of
the Holy Mother that whosoever came in its presence would be sanctified and
elevated. The devotees would feel that by seeing her once or saluting her or
touching her feet in the morning, their whole day would pass joyfully. Another
devotee felt that his whole year would pass peacefully if he but once visited
the Holy Mother at Jairambati!
Once
a householder devotee of the Holy Mother came to her and unhesitatingly disclosed
to her all his evil passions by which he was being badly assailed. The Holy
Mother silently listened to him but did not say a word of advice or consolation.
She simply went on gazing at him. The poor devotee remained seated near her
feet for some time and when there was no response from her, quietly got up and
left, depressed and despondent. He felt all the more guilty for telling such
things to the Holy Mother, which, he thought, ought not to have been told to
her. For seeking comfort and consolation, he went to 'M', the compiler of
"The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna". Finding him sad, 'M ' asked the
reason. The devotee described the whole event and said that the Holy Mother did
not speak a single word, but simply went on gazing at him. 'M' was delighted
and said with zeal that now he need not worry. "If the Mother has looked
at you, you need not worry anymore!" Then 'M' recited a line from a famous
Bengali song which meant, "One would float in the ocean of bliss if the
Divine Mother simply turns and looks at him." The Mother had already
showered her gracious glance at him. He therefore need have no worry.
Conclusion
But
the Holy Mother's mission of destroying the sins of people is not yet over. She
is continuing to do it through her presence in her pictures. The Holy Mother
herself used to say that the picture (chaya) is not other than the person
(kaya) whose picture it is. The picture of saints and sages not only represent
them, but their very presence can be felt in them. If we accept this principle,
we can say that the Mother is actually present in her pictures even today. Through
them She is showering Her gracious and benevolent, all purifying glance on all
who come into its gamut. Let us keep her photo in our rooms and pray to her to
continue to shower her gracious glance on us, her feeble children, who are
unable to get rid of our evil propensities by our self effort and spiritual
practices. The Holy Mother has promised to grant whatever one asks of her,
addressing her as mother, 'Maa' or 'Mamma'. She has nothing which she cannot
give. Let us, therefore, with full conviction believe that She is our real
Mother, and call on Her, "Oh Maa, grant us purity. Make our character as
pure as yours." Rightly has the poet saint Swami Abhedananda said: "Binding
our minds to Thee with the bonds of Thy love, Thou dost transmute our very
vices into virtues."