Divine Dowager: The Life and Teachings of Saradamani, the Holy Mother

Saradamani's reputation as the Holy Mother of the Ramakrishna Order was due to two factors: Her devotees and disciples loved her as their own mother and worshiped her as a goddess because she was the widow of the late Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, who had been considered a god. Second, and more important, Sarada's character and conduct endeared her to everybody who came in contact with her. Treating all her associates as her own children she not only compensated for her deprivation of biological motherhood but by appropriating the values of the Calcutta middle class she discovered sources of empowerment in a preeminently male monastic order of a patriarchal society. Thus the success of Sarada's holy motherhood owed largely to her personal qualities, but its historical significance must be comprehended in the context of the evolving concept of Hindu (especially Bengali) motherhood. This pioneering study, based primarily on vernacular sources, explores the transition of Sarada's life of missed motherhood to a career of holy motherhood. Narasingha P. Sil is a Professor of History at Western Oregon University.