Education of women

It was late in the morning. Radhu, her niece, was ready to go to the Christian missionary school of the neighborhood. Golap-Ma came and said to the Mother, ” Radhu is now a grown-up girl. Why should she go to school any more ? ” She asked Radhu not to go to school. Radhu began to cry. The Mother said, “ She is not quite grownup. Let her go to school. She can do immense good to others if she gets education and learns some useful arts from the school. She has been married in a backward village. Through education she will not only improve herself but will be able to help others.” So Radhu was allowed to go to school.

Annapurna’s mother brought a girl with her to be initiated by the Holy Mother. She said, “ Mother, this girl is harassing me for being taken to be initiated by you. I could not avoid her. Therefore I have brought her to you.”

Mother: How will it be possible to give initiation to-day ? I have already taken my breakfast.’

A.’s mother: But the girl is fasting. It does not matter at all if you have eaten anything or not

Mother : Is she ready for initiation ?

A.’s mother: Yes, Mother. She has come fully prepared for it.

The Mother agreed. After the initiation was over, Annapurna’s mother began to talk about the girl and said, “ She is not an ordinary girl. After reading about Sri Ramakrishna, she became eager for practicing spiritual austerities. She cut her long hair, dressed herself as a man and set out on a pilgrimage. She went as far as Baidyanath, over two hundred miles from Calcutta. She entered a wood and was resting there when the Guru of her mother happened to pass by that way. The Guru inquired where she was staying and informed her father. In the meantime she was kept with the Guru. Later on, her father went there and took back the girl.”

The Mother heard these words in silence and then remarked : “ Ah ! what devotion ! ” Other devotees present there, said, “ Goodness gracious! Such a beautiful girl! How could she go out alone even with all her eagerness and devotion ? ” Nalini said, ” It would surely have created a great scandal in our part of the country.”

After the noonday meal all of us lay down to rest in the adjacent room. The Mother also requested her new disciple to rest for a while. She said that she was not in the habit of lying down during the day-time. I said that she should obey the order of the Holy Mother. She agreed but after a few minutes left the bed and went to the porch. The Holy Mother remarked, ” She is restless. That is why she had left home.” She asked the maid of the girl,

” What is the occupation of her husband ? Why does he not keep her near him ? ” “ He gets a small salary; ” replied the maid, “besides, there is no one in his family. He cannot keep the girl alone in the house. Therefore she lives with her father. The husband visits the house of the father-in-law every Saturday and Sunday.” Annapurna’s mother said, “This girl says to her husband,‘You are not my husband. The Lord of the world alone is my lord, ” The Holy Mother kept quiet without giving any reply.