June 30, 2015 Tuesday: Mother As I Saw Her (Being Reminiscences of Holy Mother Sarada Devi)
30-June-2015 (Tuesday)
Mother As I Saw Her – Swami Saradeshananda
The Mother’s behaviour like a Small Girl – 1
From the time that the Mother got sick, it was the daily routine of a son of hers to go to her every night before he retired for the night, and early morning, to enquire about her health. The Sevikas (female attendants) slept on the floor of the Mother’s room. When he went to her one morning and asked about her health, the Mother at once said to him, “I am alright, my child. I am feeling hungry.’ The gaze that she turned to him was that of a little girl and the words sounded like the loving demands of a sweet child. The son was taken aback. He did not know what to do. There were at that place Revered Sarat Maharaj, Yogin-Ma, Golap-Ma, the doctors and the nurses, and there were many articles of food. He was just thinking in his mind that he should consult them before he gave her anything. In the meantime the Mother whispered something to a Sevika lying on the floor nearby. There upon she at once fetched a little basket containing a powdery substance like barley-meal, and put it in his hand. The Mother turning her face towards the son said, “Come, feed me with it.” The son was nonplussed. He could ot understand what the substance was. What was he to do? He knew the condition of the Mother’s health. The doctors had come to see her from Calcutta with the medicines, and so had Sarat Maharaj. Should he feed the Mother with the substance without informing them? And there was no time to go and consult them about it. The Mother was feeling the pangs of hunger like a little girl and was clamouring to be fed – she even brought her mouth forward to receive it! No, he could not wait any longer. How much they had been trying these last few days to feed her a little but without success; and now she was herself eager to be fed! So the son mentally took the name of the Mother, and taking refuge in her, sat on the Mother’s bed and started putting that powder in her mouth little by little. The Mother consumed it with great relish, and there shone a great light of satisfaction and joy in her eyes and countenance in general. The son, too, was very happy. She then had a drink of water. The son wiped her mouth with a towel, set her bed alright and took leave of her.
[Mother As I Saw Her (Being Reminiscences of Holy Mother Sarada Devi) – Swami Saradeshananda. Translated by Prof. J. N. Dey. Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore Madras-600004: p 161 – 162]
