SRI SARADA MATH AND RAMAKRISHNA SARADA MISSION

DR. Lekshmi Ramakrishnaiyer

Blessed are those moments in history when avatars descend upon earth. But uniquely blessed is that moment when three avatars came together the Trio of Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Sarada Devi and Swami Vivekananda. They came in Trio to accomplish a great mission. Sri Ramakrishna, through his God-intoxicated life has revealed to mankind what exactly is the purpose of human life. Holy Mother Sarada Devi through her enigmatic but magnificent personality was explicating the true meaning of spirituality. Swami Vivekananda through his untiring lectures and writings has proclaimed in clear terms the art of practicing Vedanta in daily life. They took different roles to teach mankind one and the same truth. God-realization is the ultimate aim of human life.

It may be said that the life of the Trio is anchored on the ideal of Motherhood of God. For Sri Ramakrishna, this is the most exalted conception of God one can adore. Holy Mother was demonstrating throughout her life what this ideal is. Swami Vivekananda, too, took hold of the different facets of this choicest ideal all through his life in his respect for his own Mother, Mother Sarada Devi, Mother India, Goddess Kanyakumari Devi, Dakshineswar Kali Ma, and Kshirbhavani Devi. Their true mission was to install in our minds this paramount ideal of Motherhood of God.

Though these great avatars have left us physically, their spirits work with us, showering their blessings upon us. In fact, Swami Vivekananda established the Great Ramakrishna Sangha which is but the only physical corpus where the Trio lives eternally. But it is a truism that the Sangha comprised of the twin organizations of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission of men and Sri Sarada Math and Ramakrishna Sarada Mission of women is the fructification of the silent but the ardent desire and dynamite will of Holy Mother. She is the hidden string holding together the wonderful beads of the various centers of the Sangha all over the world!

Swami Vivekananda, the salt and sinew behind the genesis of the Sangha has opened a new chapter on the Indian concept of monasticism. The ancient Hindu ideal of monasticism was that of nivritti marga, a life, renouncing this world and going in solitude for a life of contemplation. Swami Vivekananda the man of extreme foresights could foresee that the ideal of monasticism that is best suited for the new age is a golden mean between pravritti and nivritti marga i.e., a life of renunciation in action. It keeps the spirit of renunciation of the nivritti marga but allows room for pravritti or Karma. This exactly is what he took for the motto of the Sangha, “Atmano mokshartham Jagat hitaya cha’- Liberation of oneself through service of mankind. For Swamiji, “to work is to worship, to labour is to pray, to conquer is to renounce”.

Swamiji could find that his life mission will be fulfilled only if there comes an independent monastic order for women and the founding of Sri Sarada Math and Ramakrishna Sarada Mission was a dream comes true of the intense desire of that great mind. Swamiji was fully aware that the note of renunciation and spiritual learning heard loudly in the Upanishadic times in the voices of Gargi and Maitreyi has become feeble in the long run of the time. But he had unshaken faith in the power of women in realizing the Vedantic ideals. Hence he ruled out all possible objections against women pursuing the spiritual ideal. Sister Nivedita interprets this noble idea of Swamji in the following way.

“Women must rise in capacity, not fall… a race of women would be created…..and they should work out the problem for women. No home, save in their work; no ties, save of religion; no love but that for guru, and people and motherland”.

Perhaps, Swamiji could have felt that in propagating the messages of Sri Ramakrishna and Sri Sarada Devi and in installing the ideal of Motherhood of God in modern minds, a spiritual force centering on Sri Sarada Devi, the embodiment of Motherhood of God is unfailingly necessary. He convinced that she would be a centre of divine power from which would radiate rays of spirituality, knowledge, devotion, renunciation, purity, tolerance, contentment, compassion and service-all in one. In one of his letters he wrote:

“Without Shakti, there is no regeneration for the world…mother has been born to revive that wonderful Shakti in India; and making her nucleus, once more will Gargis and Maitreyis be born in the world……to me, Mother’s grace is hundred thousand times more valuable than Father’s. First build a Math for Mother. First Mother and Mother’s daughters, then Father and Father’s sons”.

Today this vision has been materialized with the multifarious activities of the Order of Sri Sarada Math and Ramakrishna Sarada Mission in which Sannyasinis and devotees engage themselves wholeheartedly in Social education, health, famine relief teaching and preaching of Vedanta as well as the great messages of the Trio.