The Compassionate Mother - Brahmachari Akshaychaitanya 083
Satwik Joglekar
23-January-2022 (Sunday)
Passages from:
THE COMPASSIONATE MOTHER SRI SRI SARADA DEVI – 083
Chapter 17
BEREAVEMENTS – 05
Towards the end of the first quarter of 1898, the Mother again came to Kolkata and stayed at 10/2 Bosepara Lane (Baghbazar). During this time, many memorable events had occurred in her life one after the other. In mid-October 1898,14 (14 The sixth day of Kartik, according to the Bengali calendar. —Ed.) on the second day of the worship of goddess Durga, Swami Vivekananda went to her in the evening to make obeisance at her feet. Having been offended by the Master, he expostulated, “Such indeed is your Master, Mother! Just because a Fakir’s disciple in Kashmir used to visit me, the Fakir cursed me saying, ‘He shall have to leave this place in three days with stomach trouble. And that is what happened with me with immediate effect. Could not the Master so much as obstruct the power of an ordinary Fakir?” At this, the Mother replied, “My boy, we hear that even Shankaracharya had allowed his body to be afflicted with a disease.15 (15 Shankaracharya had defeated a Tantrik in argument when he was at Kamakhya. The Tantrik avenged his defeat by cursing him that he should get fistula, which he did get. — Ed.) Your suffering from disease is the same as the Master suffering from it. He did not in fact come to destroy; he came to build. These are all occult sciences, which have to be accepted. Our Master heeded even such things as the cry of a lizard or a sneeze.16 (16 At these sounds, one must stop doing anything, as they augur evil. — Ed.) Swamiji replied, “No matter what you say, I don’t accept all this.” The Mother then said, “Is there any other way out than accepting. For, sure enough, you are tied to his hem-string”. With tearful eyes Swamiji held her feet with his both hands. [Narrated by Ashutosh Mitra]
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The Compassionate Mother Sri Sri Sarada Devi
The Oldest Biography of Sri Sarada Devi by Brahmachari Akshaya Chaitanya
Translated by Swami Tanmayananda
Revised and Edited by Swami Shuddhidananda
Advaita Ashrama, Kolkata, 2009. p. 127--