21-04-2016 Thursday
Holy Mother By Swami Nikhilananda: 094
In The March of Events – 06
Sri Ramakrishna used to say: ‘Women must be active. They should not sit idle, otherwise useless and injurious thoughts will fill their minds.’ He kept a close watch on Sarada Devi so that she might not spend any time in idleness. Besides her arduous regular duties she had to do many odd jobs. One day, for instance, the Master gave her some jute fibre and asked her to plait it into strings which could be used for slings to hang pots of sweets in his room for his young disciples. With the rejected fibres she stuffed her pillow. She slept on a hard mat under which she spread some hessian. Referring to this kind of austere bed, she said later on to her devotees: ‘Now I use a soft pillow and a mattress. How different from the hard bed I slept on at Dakshineswar! But I slept then as well as I do now. I don’t feel any difference.’
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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