WOMAN AS ThE MOTHER

Sri Ramakrishna paramahamsa was a great mystic, saint, philosopher and a reformer of society. He was the Guru of Narendranath who later became his disciple and came to be called Swami Vivekananda! Narendranath, an intellectual, began asking every holy person he met whether he has seen God and if he can show God to him! He was terribly disappointed as none gave him a positive answer! It so happened that Narendranath attended a meeting where Sri Ramakrishna was present. The Paramahamsa recognized him and said that he was waiting for Narendranath!  Narender was shocked and surprised! As usual, he put the same question to the saint and expected the same answer that he had received from many a holy person and Saint! But he was in for a rude shock! Sri Ramakrishna replied that he has seen God in the same way as he has seen him! He further added that he can show God to Narendranath! This answer seemed to be incredible. He wanted to test Sri Ramakrishna’s statement and met him later.

Ramakrishna welcomed him, made him sit and placed his hand on his head! The moment the hand was placed on the head of Narendranath, he fell into a delectable trance and had the vision of God that he badly wanted! The bliss and beatitude of the samadhi was such that he never wanted to come out of it! It was then that Narendranath realized that Sri Ramakrishna was not one of the common types of saints but a special and remarkable variety of Siddha purushas! He became the disciple of Sri Ramakrishna immediately.

Sri Ramakrishna's life was as strange as it was extremely spiritual and idealistic! He was the worshipper of Bhavatharini, a form of Kali, the primordial Shakti, the form of energy!! His spiritual, Vedantic leanings worried his parents. To prevent him from moving away from the cycle of Samsara, they arranged for his marriage and Sarada became his wedded wife. But the wedlock had practically no effect on his idealistic and spiritual progress! He was indifferent to his family duties and doted on Kali, his chosen deity! Young Sarada too understood the nature of her husband and cooperated with him.Though wedded, it was a kind of desireless, ideal and spiritual relationship between the husband and wife! It was, however, a cause for worry for the parents of both Sri Ramakrishna and Sarada. After many years, one of the Saint’s disciples wanted to know why he wasn't leading a family life like many other persons. The Paramahamsa was amused at this question!

Sri Ramakrishna narrated a story to illustrate the relationship between him and his wife! Lord Ganesh once happened to to scratch a cat with his nail. Returning home, he was shocked to see a mark on the cheek of the beautiful face of his mother, Parvati! He asked how that ugly Mark had disfigured her face. The Goddess replied that it was the result of his action!  Ganesh said the he had never scratched her face! The Divine Mother reminded that he had scratched the cat with his nail. But Ganesh wondered how that scratch could appear on the cheek of his darling Mother. She replied that She is the manifestation of everything in the universe!Any person who hurts a creature hurts her! That is how the scratch had appeared on her face! Lord Ganesh was shocked and surprised. Every woman was mother to him! Realization of the motherhood of woman made Ganesh give up marriage. Sri Ramakrishna considered every woman as his Divine Mother!

Not only was Sri Ramakrishna's' life bereft of conjugal felicity,  it was an example of the deification of womanhood! He considered every woman as his Divine Mother Kali and worshipped her inwardly and sometimes physically! He considered his own wife, Sarada as an embodiment of the Universal Mother! He literally made her seated and offered the same worship that he offered to his Goddess! This is a remarkable quality that we don't perceive in any other saint or sage! He practiced and experienced all religions and true to the bhakti doctrine, surrendered himself totally to his Goddess Kali! He suffered tremendous agony for Her vision and went to the extent of cutting off his head with the sword when the Divine Mother presented herself in his vision! When will our society consider woman as the personification of the Goddess? We are alarmed at the manner in which modern society is treating women. We must take the example of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa in respecting the woman and give her the right place in society!!