Dedicated to Sri Sarada Devi

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"Holy Mother" painted by Swami Tadatmananda

Used courtesy of the Vedanta Society of Southern California

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Dedicated to Sri Sarada Devi
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Holy Mother By Swami Nikhilananda: 095 22-04-2016

22-04-2016 Friday
Holy Mother By Swami Nikhilananda: 095

In The March of Events – 07

Cooking consumed a great deal of Sarada Devi’s time and energy. Now and then she received help from a maid servant. During the first part of her life at Dakshineswar she cooked for only a few people: the Master, his mother, and from time to time relatives and occasional guests. But from 1880 the number of Sri Ramakrishna’s devotees increased and she often had to cook for them. Three kitchens were set up. She had to cook for herself, for the Master, and for the devotees. Sometimes special food had to be prepared for Gopaler-Ma, an orthodox widow and devotee of the Master, who was a strict vegetarian. Before her meal was cooked the oven had to be washed with Ganges water in order to remove all pollution from the touch of fish or flesh. For male devotees different dishes had to be prepared to suit their taste. On the occasion of the Master’s birthday Sarada Devi had to cook for as many as fifty or sixty people. She often made chapattis, the Indian bread, from seven or eight pounds of flour. One disciple, the elder Gopal,1 (1 After the Master’s death, Gopal renounced the world and received the name of Advaitananda.) did the marketing for her, and later another disciple, Latu1 (1 When he became a monk he received the name of Adbutananda. He was among the first disciples of Sri Ramakrishna to embrace the monastic life.) kneaded the flour and washed the dishes. Suresh, a householder disciple, gave ten rupees a month to meet the expenses for devotee’s meals. The brunt of managing the household fell upon ungrudging Sarada Devi.

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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: 62 – 63

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