September 29, 2015 Tuesday: Mother As I Saw Her (Being Reminiscences of Holy Mother Sarada Devi)
29-September-2015 (Tuesday)
Mother As I Saw Her – Second Part
Swami Saradeshananda
7. How the Mother cautioned the Monastic Disciples from mixing with Women too much – 2
If the Sadhus mixed too much with the householders, they might have the intensity of their renunciation weakened. So the less the Sadhus stayed with the householders even on the pretext of work, the better it was for them. The Mother tried to instill in the hearts of her Sannyasin sons the truth that the less they joined in the festivities of the householders, or accepted invitations for feasts from them, or received presents from them, the better it was for themselves. That was why if some of her sons did not accept invitations for feasts and festivals fom the neighbours, including the Mamas, or did not partake of savouries brought by them, she would be not sorry but rather pleased with their conduct. A certain Brahmacharin, who had taken the ochre cloth from her, left it after some time. Before that happened, he had spent a long time in a family, leaving the Ashrama. Hearing about his having discarded the ochre cloth, the Mother became sorry for him and said, “Eating the food of the worldly people, his mind has been stained.” She always praised those who lived an austere life away from people attached to lust and greed.
[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 207]
