Passages from Sri Sarada Devi and Her Divine Play! 18-April-2021 - 285
Satwik Joglekar
18-April-2021
Sri Sarada Devi and Her Divine Play! 285
Passages from “Sri Sarada Devi and Her Divine Play” – p: 286 – 286
By Swami Chetanananda
Vedanta Society of St Louis
CHAPTER 18
MAHAMAYA’S MAYA – 10
With the Relatives – 02
It so happened that this young doctor had been betrayed by his wife; as a result, he used alcohol and drugs heavily. He confided his problem to his friend Ashu and said that he was planning to kill himself. Soon after this, M. invited Holy Mother and some other devotees to his Jhamapukur house for a festival. Holy Mother performed the worship in M.’s shrine. Meanwhile Ashu visited his doctor friend who lived nearby and said to him, “Please come with me.” Without knowing where he was going, the doctor followed Ashu, wearing casual clothing. On the way Ashu told him, “I told you previously if you received initiation from Holy Mother, your mental agony would go away.” “But I have already eaten my food,” said the doctor.
Ashu said, “The Mother will decide about it.” Ashu took his friend to M.’s house and asked him to wait downstairs. He went to Holy Mother, who was still in the shrine, and requested her to give his friend initiation. The Mother agreed and said that the doctor should immediately come to the shrine. After receiving initiation, the doctor felt tremendous peace and his face beamed with joy. Thus Holy Mother changed this young doctor’s life. Later in 1906 or 1907, this doctor helped with the relief work of the Ramakrishna Mission in East Bengal and treated many devotees without charge.
When Holy Mother was living at 2/1 Baghbazar Street, she was taken by horse carriage to various places for sightseeing. One day in April 1905, Ashu took her to the studio of B. Datta on Chitpore Road and arranged to have some photographs taken. A group picture was taken with Holy Mother, Lakshmi, Nalini, Radhu, and others. Sometime during the next month Swami Virajananda arranged to have a picture of Holy Mother taken at the studio of Van Dyke Company on Chowringhee Road (now Jawaharlal Nehru Road).15 [15 Ashutosh Mitra, Srima, Calcutta, 1944. p. 39, 62]
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