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Sri Sarada DeviThe Holy Mother

শ্রীশ্রীমা সারদা দেবী

Sri Sarada
Devi

The Holy Mother · 1853 – 1920

“No one is a stranger, my child; the whole world is your own.”
Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, seated, in a white sari
Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, seated, in a white sari

Mother of all

The Universal Mother, in our own age

Of the divine incarnations of Shakti, Durga personifies protection, Sita sacrifice, Radha divine love – all manifested on an epic and glorious scale. In our era, the Holy Mother, Sri Sarada Devi is the divine incarnation and personification of the Universal Mother.

For, is not a mother about compassion, forbearance, forgiveness and fortitude? In the Holy Mother, there is that and far more.

There is same-sighted love for all – not just for those related by ties of blood, community, caste, or religion.

There is her intense spirituality and renunciation.

Underlying it all is her outward ordinariness and her unassuming, modest nature that kept her divine powers hidden so she appears less distant, more accessible.

Read more about her

The Mother’s word for today

“Ah! How kindly Sri Ramakrishna treated me! Not even one day did he utter a word to wound my feelings.”

On Sri Ramakrishna

More sayings

A life in brief

From Jayrambati to the whole world

Full timeline
  1. 1853

    22 December

    Birth at Jayrambati

    Born to Ramachandra Mukhopadhyay and Shyamasundari Devi, a poor but pious Brahmin family, and named Saradamani.

  2. 1859

    Betrothal to Sri Ramakrishna

    At about five years of age she is married to Gadadhar — Sri Ramakrishna — in what was really a betrothal. She stays on with her parents.

  3. 1872

    March

    The walk to Dakshineswar

    Hearing rumours of his ‘madness’, she walks with her father to Dakshineswar, falling ill with fever on the way. The Master receives her lovingly.

  4. 1872

    June

    The Shodashi Puja

    On the night of Phalaharini Kali Puja, Sri Ramakrishna worships her as the Divine Mother Tripurasundari and offers at her feet the fruits of all his spiritual practice.

  5. 1886

    16 August

    The Master’s Mahasamadhi

    When she goes to remove her bracelets as a widow, she sees the Master in a vision: ‘I have only passed from one room to another.’

  6. 1886–1887

    Pilgrimage to Vrindavan

    Deep spiritual experiences; at the Master’s bidding she begins to give initiation — Swami Yogananda being the first to receive it.

  7. 1909

    Udbodhan — the ‘Mother’s House’

    Swami Saradananda builds the Udbodhan house so that she may have a home of her own in Calcutta; thousands come here for her blessings.

  8. 1911

    Pilgrimage to the South

    She is received with great devotion at the Ramakrishna Math in Madras and Bangalore, and worships at Rameswaram.

  9. 1920

    21 July

    Mahasamadhi

    After a long illness she passes away. Days before, she gave her last message: ‘If you want peace of mind, do not find fault with others… No one is a stranger.’

Tributes

How they saw her

“She is Sarada, Saraswati; She has come to impart knowledge. She has descended by covering up her beauty this time… She is full of the rarest wisdom.”
Sri RamakrishnaThe Master
“Without Shakti there is no regeneration for the world… Mother has been born to revive that wonderful Shakti in India; and making her the nucleus, once more will Gargis and Maitreyis be born into the world.”
Swami VivekanandaLetter from America
“Inside, the ocean of realization; outside, absolute calm. How ordinary and easy she appears… Through Mother’s grace attainment of liberation becomes easy.”
Swami BrahmanandaFirst President, Ramakrishna Math & Mission
“To me it has always appeared that she is Sri Ramakrishna’s final word as to the ideal of Indian womanhood… the stateliness of her courtesy and her great open mind are almost as wonderful as her sainthood.”
Sister NiveditaDisciple of Swami Vivekananda

Sacred geography

Places hallowed by her presence

01Bankura, West Bengal

Jayrambati

Her birthplace and lifelong village home. The Matri Mandir now stands where she was born, and her later house is lovingly preserved.

02Hooghly, West Bengal

Kamarpukur

Sri Ramakrishna’s native village, a few miles from Jayrambati, where she first lived with the Master and later endured years of poverty.

03North of Kolkata

Dakshineswar

The Kali temple on the Ganga. In the small room of the Nahabat she lived for thirteen years, serving the Master in silence.

04Kolkata

Udbodhan, Baghbazar

The ‘Mother’s House’, built by Swami Saradananda in 1909. Her shrine and room are kept as they were.

05Howrah, West Bengal

Belur Math

Headquarters of the Ramakrishna Order on the Ganga. Her temple stands at the spot where her body was consigned to the flames in 1920.

06Uttar Pradesh

Varanasi

The holy city where she stayed in 1912, blessing the Ramakrishna Mission Home of Service and recording some of her most memorable conversations.

Devotion

Sing to the Mother

Hymns and stotras to the Divine Mother as sung in the Ramakrishna tradition — with lyrics in English script and recordings to listen to.