Ma Sharada Devi
Do you ever feel like you can’t balance your spiritual journey with your daily career or chaos?
Let’s meet someone who actually lived that balance - Sri Sarada Devi Ma, the Holy Mother.
Born in 1853 in Jayrambati, Bengal, Sarada Devi was married as a child to Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, one of the greatest Kali devotees and spiritual revolutionaries of our time.
But their marriage wasn’t like our ordinary marriages - it was a spiritual partnership. He initiated her, trained her, and later worshipped her himself as the living Divine Mother in the legendary Shodashi Puja.
While Sri Ramakrishna guided monks like young Narendra (later Swami Vivekananda), it was Ma Sarada who quietly held the household together - cooking, cleaning, serving, and spiritually nurturing everyone who came, all from a tiny room in Dakshineswar.
But she wasn’t just a supportive figure.
She took on a guru’s role & made a huge real contribution to our movement. You see, in Hinduism, our mantras are so powerful that they need to be properly given as a gift or deeksha to seekers by authorised gurus.
But giving deekahs means taking on the seeker’s sins & bad karma, so many high gurus, including Ram Krishna, sometimes avoided it as they felt them to be hopeless cases, or because it might hurt their spiritual progress.
Not Sarada Ma, though. Like a mother with infinite love, she accepted everyone & treated them as her own - initiating thousands with sacred mantras that changed their entire lives.
This act was inspired by her core belief & teaching - Don’t find fault in others. See God in everyone. The whole world is yours. The Nirguna God has taken Saguna forms in everyone, so when you start seeing God in every single being you meet, you will obviously want to serve them.
This wasn’t just a preaching - Ma lived it. She hugged beggars, scolded arrogant disciples, and stayed awake all night praying for people who insulted her.
She believed in Bhakti (devotion through daily japa chanting), but never rejected doing her Karma or giving Jnyana. And so she showed us how to pursue all the yoga margas in harmony.
Even Sri Ramakrishna, seen by many as an avatar, said “She is Saraswati herself - who has come here to give this simple but deep knowledge.”
If you’re ever in Kolkata, do pay a visit Udbodhan House (Mayer Bari) - the home where she lived and got mahasamadhi at the end.
You’ll still feel a loving mother’s presence & energy there, I promise.