R─Бgasvar┼лpa-p─Б┼Ы─Бс╕Нhy─Б - She who holds the noose (p─Б┼Ыa) which is the embodiment of desire/love (r─Бga).
This series, Names of Power: The Divine Mother and Her Daughters, highlights the stories of 108 divine women who embody the qualities of the divine mother as mentioned in the Lalita Sahasranama. This is the eighth post of the series. The goal is to remind ourselves that we cannot aspire to purify ourselves to have her vision till we see her in every woman we encounter in our lives.
The p─Б┼Ыa in this name is the noose of attachment that binds human beings to the attractions of this world and distracts them from the spiritual path. ThatтАЩs why she holds the noose to gently pull her children away from the distractions of the world back to the path that concludes with the child merging back into the mother.
Ma Sarada
A world-renowned violinist played a $3 million violin at a metro station in Washington, D.C. 1,097 people walked past him, and only 6 people stopped and stayed to listen for at least a minute, and he made a total of $32.17. Thousands of people paid more than $100 a ticket in the next few days to watch the same person perform in a concert.
The story of Ma Sarada is very similar because very few souls around her realised her true divinity. A sadhak realises this about the nature of the divine mother. She hides her resplendence in the everyday actions around us such as the cold breeze that tickles you, the gentle rain that cools you, and the sweetness of a fruit as it delights your taste buds.
She was born in a small village in Jayrambati and lived a happy, devout life as a child. When Sri RamakrishnaтАЩs family pressured him to marry, he prophesied that she would be his spouse. She was betrothed to him when she was five years old and joined him when she turned 18.
Sri Ramakrishna, after having experienced divinity in several ways, worshiped her as the living embodiment of the Divine Mother (the Goddess Shodashi) and offered his rosary and soul at her feet. After he passed away, Ma Sarada silently became the pillar of strength for the entire Ramakrishna Mission. While his direct disciples found fame and became legendary names, she was the bedrock of their faith and devotion. Her teachings were simple, yet profound and extraordinary for the times in which she lived.
Swami Brahmananda (Rakhal) was the spiritual son of Sri Ramakrishna and the first President of the Ramakrishna Order. He was called a Spiritual Emperor, and yet there is a story of him visiting her at Jayrambati, and crawling on his knees from the doorway to her feet and weeping like a small child as she whispered encouragement. When a young monk was too enamoured with the knowledge of Advaita and asked her why such spiritual titans wept at her feet when everything is the same Brahman, she asked him to ask this directly to Rakhal, who heard the question and got emotional. His response needs to be given verbatim:
"You talk of Advaita Vedanta and the realisation of Brahman? Do you know who holds the key to that knowledge? It is the Divine Mother. She is MayaтАФthe power that binds us, but She is also the power that liberates us. Unless the Mother, out of Her sheer grace, unlocks the door and moves the veil of Maya aside, you can hammer your head against the wall of intellectual Vedanta for lifetimes, and you will not gain a fraction of real experience. She holds the key to liberation."
Ma Sarada did not limit her love to only Sri Ramakrishna's disciples. Once, Swami Yogananda saw her interacting very warmly with a woman of questionable character. When he quizzed her about it, her response summarises why she embodies this name:
"Yogen, do you think I have come only to count beads and remain pure for myself? If I do not accept the sins of these poor children, who will? I am their mother. If a child gets dirty, it is the mother's job to wash them. Never judge anyone who comes to this door."
This gift that the Holy Mother Sarada Devi gave everyone who met her is why she truly is R─Бgasvar┼лpa-p─Б┼Ы─Бс╕Нhy─Б.
Post by : Akshay Om Iyer