Mother As a Form of Divine Love

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>From today's Times of India

http://www.timesofindia.com/articleshow.asp?art_id=1700269927

 

Mother As a Form of Divine Love

 

 

SWAMI DESHIKATMANANDA

 

[ SUNDAY, JANUARY 06, 2002 12:08:29 AM ]

 

THE mother aspect of God is glorified in the Hindu

scriptures. In the Sapta Sati or hymns to the mother,

her divinity is acknowledged. In the Hindu tradition,

the names of Pancha Ratnas or the five jewels, are

remembered by the married women.

 

They are Sita, Savitri, Damayanti, Mandodhari and

Tara. These women were known as Pativrata Siromani, or

women whose penance was for the sake of their

husbands. Chastity has the power to make the woman

Tejo Maya or one who emits an aura of light.

 

In other religions, the mother aspect of God is not

accepted, let alone worshipped. But in the Hindu

tradition, the mother aspect of God as Durga, Kali or

Vaishnavi are accepted and worshipped to attain mukti

or liberation from worldly desires. The divine

manifestation of the mother may be worshipped as an

idol in the form of clay or metal.

 

Bhagwan Sri Ramakrishna demonstrated to the whole

world that the divine mother can be realised by

worshipping even a stone image with the longing of a

devoted heart. He worshipped the stone image of the

Goddess Kali with a heart full of love, and had a

powerful vision of her.

 

He was able to experience the presence of the divine

mother everywhere and in all beings. He worshipped his

own wife Sri Saradamani Devi as the symbol of the

divine mother and as an expression of divine love.

 

When the divine love expresses itself through a woman,

she becomes a universal mother. For her there is no

distinction of caste, creed, religion or nationality.

All the barriers are broken and her love captures the

hearts of all.

 

Sri Sarada Devi’s love was such. She, as the eldest

daughter, had to shoulder a great responsibility for

her family. She was a tremendous support to her mother

Shyama Sundari Devi. She did the humblest of chores,

without the slightest Ahankar or ego, even after she

had started to be venerated by thousands of followers

as Holy Mother.

 

When Sri Ramakrishna married her, she was 5 years of

age. By the time she became a young woman, he had

already taken sanyasa. She then became a disciple of

Sri Ramakrishna.

 

Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi showered her love for

everyone, whether a Muslim, a Christian or an

untouchable. Divinity and humanity were deeply

ingrained in her nature. Wonder-struck at her

character, Brahmachari Rashbihari once asked her:

‘‘Are you the mother of all?’’ ‘‘Yes’’, she replied.

 

‘‘Even of these lower creatures?’’ pressed the

inquirer, to which she replied in the affirmative

again. A brahmachari once saw a Muslim of dark

appearance, emaciated body, ragged clothes and with a

sorrowful expression, tottering into the mother’s

compound.

 

With an endearing voice mother called out to him,

‘‘Amzad, my son come in’’. He then started narrating

about his suffering to the mother. In the evening, the

brahmachari noticed that the man’s face was lit up

with a happy smile and he was altogether a changed

person.

 

He had bathed and rubbed oil over his rough skin; then

he had a full meal and walked home, blessed as he was

by mother’s divine grace.

 

There are innumerable such incidents in mother’s life

which are an eye opener, for the modern women. Holy

Mother Sri Sarada Devi is a role model for modern

women as a good daughter, sister, chaste wife, active

worker and as a mother of all.

 

Her wisdom were unique. As a Sangha Janani or the

mother of the Ramakrishna Mission, she had to solve

many vital problems of the organisation even when

Swami Vivekananda was spreading the message of Vedanta

or non-dualism. Her opinion was final and accepted by

all.

 

According to the philosophy of Vedanta, the world is

non-dualistic in nature. This means that everything in

the world is pervaded with brahman or the supreme

consciousness.

 

Vedanta puts forward the view that this universe is

full of ananda or bliss of the supreme being or God,

and life on earth is the unfolding of this

spirituality in every being. Vedanta, in other words,

contains the essence of the Vedas.

 

Holy Mother said once, ‘‘But one thing I tell you — if

you want peace, my daughter, don’t find fault with the

others, but find fault rather with yourself. Learn to

make the whole world your own. Nobody is a stranger,

my dear; the world is yours’’.

 

 

 

 

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