Holy Mother’s Influence on Indian Society

           Of the Holy Trio, the influence of Swami Vivekananda on Indian society is most evident.  For, he not only traveled far and wide, and delivered scores of lectures and wrote many letters and articles, his vast literature is available for all to study.  Through Swami Vivekananda, people came to know about Sri Ramakrishna, and his life and ‘Gospel’ is being read all over the world today.  His influence too is evident.  But this is not the case with the Holy Mother, Sri Sarada Devi.  She had remained almost totally concealed during her life time.  Even when she had started her spiritual ministry, she was known only to a small circle of devotees and initiated disciples.  Swami Vivekananda hardly spoke about her.  Reference to her though very significant, is only very occasional in the Works of Swami Vivekananda.  Although he wanted to publicly proclaim the glory of the Holy Mother, he was dissuaded to do so by Swami Yogananda, another of his brother disciples.  Thus, even the introduction of the Holy Mother to the Indian society was delayed.  It was only after her centenary in 1953 that she and her teachings have came into lime light and have spread into the Indian society.

            Secondly, whereas the influence of Swami Vivekananda is evident even in the socio-political spheres of life, the Holy Mother’s influence is more insidious and not very evident on the surface.  This is one of the reasons why it is difficult to asses the influence she has produced upon  society.

Influence of the Holy Mother on Indian Society during her life time:

          The Holy Mother’s influence during her life time was produced on the individuals, on the Ramakrishna Mission and on some institutions for the welfare of women.

Mother’s influence on the individuals:

            The Holy Mother might have remained concealed as long as Sri       Ramakrishna was alive.  But once her spiritual ministry started, her influence gradually started being felt.  This was mostly at the individual level and spiritual level. The influence of the Holy Mother was felt on three types of people.  First, there were the initiated disciples, who after initiation felt a spiritual awakening and their life was transformed.  Secondly, there were the people of evil tendencies and bad character, who were metamorphosed by her influence.  And lastly there were those arta or suffering people who needed support, strength and consolation

            The devotees who came in her contact, were spiritually elevated and their lives were transformed. Then there were the ruffians. Take for example, the case of Amzad. Although he may not have given up stealing, he was definitely less aggressive and dangerous after coming in contact with the Mother.  A great gain for society!

            The Holy Mother had no less a role to play in the transformation of another evil character: Dana Kali.  He was a drunkard and a debauch.  At the indication of Sri Ramakrishna, the Holy Mother gave a mantra to Dana Kali’s wife, who for twelve years did Japa for her husband.  The effect was that Dana was transformed. Jogi, the palanquin  bearer was a strong built person and would beat his wife in a drunken state, because the couple had only daughters and no sons. Although people were afraid of Jogi, he in his turn was afraid of the Holy Mother.  The Holy Mother warned him never to beat his wife, and he never did that since then.  Was it not a great gain to society?

            The Holy Mother never rejected any fallen woman. Even when women of respected families objected, she firmly rejected their objection and allowed women of ill-fame to come to her so that they might not be deprived of her benign blessings.  The result was that such men and women were transformed.

            And how many were the suffering people, who received love, consolation and solace from her!  Devotees would visit her once a year and pass the whole year peacefully and joyfully.  A peaceful person radiates and transmits joy to others.  This is how the joy and peace of Holy Mother would spread in widening circles, influencing  society.

(a)   Influence of the Holy Mother on the Ramakrishna Mission:

            The Ramakrishna mission has deeply and widely influenced the Indian society.  And it is well known that the Holy Mother had played a decisive role in the inception and growth of the Ramakrishna Mission.  It was she who had clearly visualized the future order of monks and how they would group themselves.  After the passing away of Sri Ramakrishna, when his monastic disciples got scattered and went about as wandering monks, it was the Holy Mother who repeatedly prayed that they be united and live together as a close wit group.

            There were also vital decisions which were altered or relinquished at the advise of the Holy Mother.  It was she who did not allow the newly purchased land and the monastery building to be disposed off for obtaining money for relief works.  It was, she again, who disallowed the introduction of animal sacrifices during the worship of Divine mother at the Belur Math.   Both these were momentous decisions with far reaching consequences.

            Far more important than this was the Holy Mother’s instruction to the head of one of the centres, who expected strict obedience from his subordinates. Holy Mother advised him to win them over by love rather than punishment.

(b)   Influence of the Holy Mother in  initiation of welfare activities for women:

            Under this head, at least three institutions can be mentioned, whose inauguration and working was deeply influenced by the Holy Mother: The Ramakrishna Sarada Math, the Saradeswari Ashram of Gauri Maa and Sister Nivedita’s school for  girls.  The latter two were started during the Holy Mother’s life time.  Although it was Swami Vivekananda who had inspired Miss Margaret Nobel to come to India for women’s education, she (later Sister Nivedita) was deeply influenced by the Holy Mother.  Mother’s presence in her school was hailed as a divine event.  The holy Mother too envisaged keen interest in the school and encouraged Nivedita profusely

            The very name of the Saradeswari Ashram, started by Gauri Maa at the instance of Sri Ramakrishna, testifies to the influence of the Holy Mother on it.  The Holy Mother often visited the Ashrama and was virtually worshipped by Gauri Maa and the inmates of the Ashrama.  Durga Puri Devi, the second in command was an initiated disciple of the Holy Mother and was deeply influenced by Her spiritually.  She has also written a beautiful life of the Holy Mother.

            The Ramakrishna Sarada Math, of course, was started much later.  But its foundation, by way of the training and inspiration of its pioneers was laid by the Holy Mother. Sarala Devi, who later became the first president of the Sarada Math, by the name Pravrajika Mokshaprana, was a disciple of the Holy Mother.  The Holy Mother is the presiding deity of the Sarada Math and continues to inspire and guide by her benign celestial presence. 

Influence of the Holy Mother on Indian Society after her passing away:

            The Holy Mother has continued to inspire, guide and influence the Indian society, even after her mortal coil has disappeared.  Her teachings and life are available for us, and more and more people are being attracted towards her.  There are a number of incidents of how people, who have not known anything about the Holy Mother, have been attracted by her picture and have found motherly love and solace through it.  They have fell that the picture is of their own mother and a look at it, they feel, is enough to remove their stress and sorrows, loveliness and helplessness.  Just like the Swami Vivekananda message, “Arise, Awake, and Stop not till the goal is reached”, the Holy Mother’s assurance, “I am a mother of the virtuous, I am the mother of the wicked”.  “Whenever you are in distress, say to yourself, ‘I have a mother’”, has given strength, support and consolation to innumerable people even after the passing away of the Holy Mother.

            The Holy Mother had once said, that she had practised virtue much more than what was needed to set an example.  This is literally true. Apart from her picture and utterances, the Holy Mother’s life is an excellent guide on how to live in the world, discharging one’s duties and at the same time enjoying the bliss of the Divine; to get attached to worldly activity as well as to get detached when required.  According to Sister Nivedita, the Holy Mother is Sri Ramakrishna’s final word as the ideal of Indian womanhood.  She however, wondered whether the Holy Mother was the ideal of ancient Indian woman or the woman of the future.  Swami Budhananda goes a step further, when he states that not only is the Holy Mother an ideal for Indian women alone but she has set ideals which can be emulated  even by men all over the world, for, she represents  the Ramakrishna ideal in totality.  A large number of  people, both men and women, have modified their lives in the light of the life of the Holy Mother. When after reading Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda, people read the life and teachings of the Holy Mother, they get a new light, a new direction.   More than the teaching of Swami Vivekananda it is the Holy Mother’s life, which is one of the best demonstration of Practical Vedanta in the day to day life.  It may not be possible to provide statistical details of how may people in Indian society have been influenced by the life of the Holy Mother, but the fact is that any one who has been introduced to her life and teachings, even once, has not remained uninfluenced.

            One of the fields in which the influence of the Holy Mother is seen tangibly is that of conjugal relationships.  Many couples, after reading the life of Sri Ramakrishna and Holy Mother, especially that of Holy Mother, have started living like brother and sisters. And in such instances, the female partners play the major inspirational role oftner than the male partner.  They inspire, encourage and support their spouses to lead celibate lives even while living in the household.  It is on record that husbands too feel their sexual urge reduced or subdued by intently looking at the picture of the Holy Mother.

            Holy Mother’s influence on the Ramakrishna Movement – which includes not only the Ramakrishna Mission, and the Ramakrishna Sarada mission but also the hundreds private centers scattered all over the country-- continues.  Her life and teachings are read in these centers and her benign presence is felt through her photos in the shrines of  these centres.  Books on her life and teaching are sold in plenty.  Inspired by her ideal, schools for girls are being started.  We know of few principals of girl’s schools and collages who having been inspired by the Holy Mother’s ideal, try to convey them to their students.  Such influences may not be very large, and it may be difficult to asses them but the fact remains that such influences cannot be denied.

            The Ramakrishna Sarada Mission is growing.  Many young promising girls, inspired by the ideal of the Holy Mother wish to dedicate their lives for ‘the salvation of the soul and for the welfare of the world’, and to lead pure, celibate lives.  This is significant in the present times when materialistic and hedonistic ideas are trying to take the young Indian women astray.

Influence on future Indian Society:

            Ramakrishna-Sarada-Vivekananda ideal is not only for the present generation.  It is for the millenniums to come.  It is also not only for India but for the whole world.   And as the days pass by, it will be the life and teachings of the Holy Mother that will influence the Indian society much more than that of Swami Vivekananda and Sri Ramakrishna.  Holy Mother is not a warrior saint like Swami Vivekananda, nor a prophet merged in the quiet of samadhi like Sri Ramakrishna.  She is intensely active in her own way and yet supremely calm and serene with no external expression of her spiritual brilliance.  She is, as it were, a goddess established in a state beyond the three gunas: gunatita.  Her message too transcends the messages of Swami Vivekananda and Sri Ramakrishna.  In one word, it is ‘love’. ‘Learn to make the whole world your own.  No one is stranger, my child; the whole world is your own’,  she would say.  For the future self-centered society, with nuclear families or divorced one parent families, what a great message is this!  It is this message of the Holy Mother, which is going to save the Indian society from disintegration.  Since family is the unit of society, integrity of the family must be strengthened through the Holy Mother ideal.

            The Holy Mother’s message is also going to sustain those who in the future Indian society would find themselves lagging behind in the struggle for existence.  Those feeble people, who are not even able to rise at Swami Vivekananda’s call, and are scorched in the fire of worldliness, will find solace in the lap of the Holy Mother.  She is beckoning them lovingly to come to her lap: “Don’t be afraid, so long as I am your mother”.  “Remember always there is one behind you, who will always come to you at the right moment and lead you to everlasting domain.”

             In the world of increasing competition and consumerism, the percentages of people who are active, yet restless and  unhappy will increase.  Such people have plenty but feel lonely and lost.  In spite of being a part of society, they feel alienated.  Mother’s message will shower peace on them too.  Her message is also for those incompetent spiritual aspirants who cannot renounce every thing for God, as advised by Sri Ramakrishna.  And there will be quite a big mumber pf such weaklings in the future.  Mother’s consolation will be for them: “How much, after all, can you do?  Do what little spiritual practice you can.  I shall do the rest”, or, “You need not do anything.  I am doing everything for you.”

            Apart from the problems of helplessness, uncertainty and scarcity, which are present in every society, the future Indian society is bound to face some hither to unknown challenges and shocks.  The western cultural invasion is already on.  Indian society has been exposed to what is good, as well as what is bad in the western civilization.  And it is an unfortunate fact that we often imbibe evil more than good.  The breaking down of the norms of sexual behavior leading to widespread promiscuity, and its evil consequences in India are too well known to be mentioned.  The young women are the most affected.  And who will save them if not the Holy Mother?  Her ideal of perfect chastity and modesty alone can save the future Indian women.

            It will not be an exaggeration if we conclude by saying that the Indian Society of the future can survive, and bear the burnt of the future shock, only by accepting the Holy Mother ideal.