December 06 2015 Sunday: Mother As I Saw Her (Being Reminiscences of Holy Mother Sarada Devi)
06-December-2015 (Sunday)
Mother As I Saw Her – Second Part
Swami Saradeshananda
APPENDIX
ABOUT THE RECORDER OF THE REMINISCENCES – 01
We give below a brief account of the recorder of these precious Reminiscences, Swami Saradeshananda, so that the readers may be assured of their authenticity.
Swami Saradeshananda was born and brought up in a very orthodox Hindu family. His premonastic name being Gopesh Chandra Chakraborty, he is familiarly known in the monastic circles as Gopesh Maharaj. The Holy Mother endearingly amended his name a little and called him Gopeshwara and once remarked, “Whenever I utter your name, I remember the Gopeshwara Shiva of Vrindavan.” The name of Saradeshananda was to him by his Sannyasa Guru, Srimat Swami Shivanandaji Maharaj, President of Sri Ramakrishna Math, in the year 1930.
From his early boyhood Gopesh showed signs of his devotional and monastic proclivities. As a boy of tender years he came into contact with Indra Dayal Bhattacharya, a noted devotee of Sri Ramakrishna (who in later years became Swami Premeshananda), and it was from him that he came to know about the presence of the Holy Mother at Jayarambati. Indra Dayal gave him three beautiful photographs of the Holy Mother, the contemplation of which tended to intensify his attraction for the Mother. It may be noted that in those days the picture of the Holy Mother was not available to all and sundry. They were not sold, but given only to close devotees as a very precious and sacred gift.
[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 233]
