19-January-2012 (Thursday) : Reminiscences of The Holy Mother!!!
19-January-2012 (Thursday)
Reminiscences of The Holy Mother!!!
SWAMI SARADESHANANDA-16
Mother was still sitting in the same place with a heavy heart and her son was about to go to the outer room in order to rest, when Mother’s loud wails suddenly reached his ears, “Alas, tomorrow my child will not be able to change her sari after her bath. When looking for it she will remember having left it behind at Mother’s house.” The attendant rushed to Mother with great concern. The lady devotee had spread out her wet sari to dry on the bank of Punyapukur after her bath but had forgotten it and left it behind. Now there was an outburst of the pent up grief that Mother had suppressed so long. She sobbed loudly. One childless woman rudely remarked, “That woman, with so many children, how can she manage anything!” Her strident tone and harsh words only served to aggravate Mother’s grief. Shedding tears she continued to bewail in a broken voice, “It is only natural to forget. Is parting so easy to bear? She could not spend even one night with me, could not say even one word to unburden herself.” Upon the attendant’s glancing thoughtfully at the sari, Nalini-didi said condescendingly, “He has just returned having run after them once; there is no need to go again, and they will have travelled a long distance by now.” One look at Mother and the son could no longer contain himself. Taking the sari, he assured Mother, “They cannot have gone far. I shall give it to them and return at once.” Mother was happy and she spoke tenderly, “Son! The sun is hot, do take an umbrella.” The devotees had gone quite a long distance. They were astonished to see him running back again. On seeing the sari, the lady remembered that she had spread it out to day and had forgotten to bring it back. They were ashamed and humbly apologized saying that so much trouble need not have been taken to return the sari. When the attendant-son conveyed to the Mother’s anxiety and sorrow, they were at first struck with wonder. Then they were thrilled to the core of their beings; their hearts were full with this experience of Mother’s love.
After all, this love is not that of a foster mother. It is not possible to establish such relationship in such a short while. It was a meeting for only a few moments. But the love they had experienced had been eternal. It was as though a child had got back his long last mother after wandering about here and there for so long.
(REMINISCENCES OF Sri Sarada Devi by Monastics, Devotees, and others - Compiled and Edited in Bengali by SWAMI PURNATMANANDA - Translated by MALOTI SEN GUPTA : P 32-33)
