07-02-2016 Sunday
Holy Mother By Swami Nikhilananda: 033

Early Life - 09

The poverty amidst which Sarada grew up could not, however, rob the family of love and happiness. From the time she was a little girl, she was active in helping her mother cook and in looking after her young sister and brothers, and her uncles. In later life she once remarked: ‘I took good care of my uncles. I wonder if modern girls would do so much!’ Her father helped her lift the heavy rice-pot from the stove, and she took the children to bathe in the Amodar. She used to pick cotton in the field and with it made sacred threads, used by brahmins, thus adding slightly to the family income. Sometimes Sarada would wade neck-deep into water to cut grass for the cattle, and often she carried refreshments to the field for the workers. One year the paddy crop was destroyed by locusts, and the little child gleaned grain from one field after another. From childhood she lived an active life. It was never necessary to remind of her duties. Using her intelligence, she anticipated them and performed them cheerfully. By nature serious and reflective, she did not quarrel with her playmates. On the other hand, when they fell out with one another she acted as the pacifier. In play, it is said, she impersonated the mistress of the household. She loved her dolls, the favourite ones being of Kali and Lakshmi, two of the Hindu goddesses, whom she devoutly worshipped with flowers and sacred leaves. One day, some years later, while watching the worship of Jagaddhatri,1 (1 Lit., ‘The Support of the Universe,’ an aspect of the Divine Mother.) she was absorbed in such deep concentration that a visitor mistook Sarada for the image of the Divine Mother.

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Holy Mother - Being the Life of Sri Sarada Devi Wife of Sri Ramakrishna And Helpmate in his Mission By Swami Nikhilananda p: 23

Location: Bangalore